The Mysterious Man From The Blue Box (A Doctor Who Fanfiction)

Chapter 9: Blink and You're Dead

My eyes screamed in pain as I kept them open to stare at the Weeping Angel. My eyelids threatened to fall once again, but I put it off as long as I could. Pure fear kept me wide awake and attent.

It was all rather useless. I blinked once again after only a few seconds of promising myself that I would keep my eyes open. The Angel had come closer. Its cold, hard fingers just barely brushed my skin. Once false move and I was a goner.

"Doctor!" I hissed, tears stinging my eyes. Mad hysteria had my nervous system working overtime. I could hear every cricket chirping in the night. I could see every crack and dent in the Angel's stone skin. I could feel the icy breeze whip through every tendril of my fiery red hair. Everything had lost its subtlety.

"Echo, not the time!" he barked. This time I really felt like kicking him. I was in danger, and he was still rambling off his monologue. What a gentleman. He kept on talking to buy us some more time. "Like I was saying before I was so rudely interrupted..."

"Rudely interrupted? You've got to be kidding me." I complained. He shushed me as soon as I opened my mouth. I would've rolled my eyes if I could.

"Anyway...Angels, my dear, dear Angels...you are so very stupid. You might think you're clever. No, you know you're clever. You've got the two of us back to back, so there's nowhere to run. I must commemorate you on that. I'd even applaud if I had the chance. Yet you are so very stupid.

"You see, while you've trapped us, you've also trapped yourself. Doomed yourself, really," the Doctor went on. Even though I couldn't see his face, I had a good feeling that he was smirking. "I bet you didn't even stop to think that my dear friend Echo and I are actually saving you. But assuming that neither of you will move aside for us...well, I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."

And with that, he grabbed onto my arm and yanked me sharply to the left. Naturally, I screamed as the force of his pull sent both of us tumbling onto the freshly-dewed grass. My eyes tried to linger on the face of the Angel as we fell, but as expected, I tore my eyes away as soon as I hit the ground. I tried to scurry away from them, but the Doctor still had a tight grip on my forearm.

"Let me go!" I cried, flailing around like a madwoman in attempt to get his hand off me. "T-the Angels...no one's looking at them!" The Doctor raised an eyebrow at me, yet still refused to release my arm. I figured that I looked psychopath flapping my arms around to get him to let me go, but frankly, I didn't care. I had every right to be a psychopath after a moment like that.

"Oh?" the Doctor said. "Well then why aren't they coming after us?" I gave him a confused look. His explanation consisted of a nod in the direction of the statues. I followed his nod and fixed my eyes upon the two still statues. I blinked a few times to make sure that they wouldn't move, but no, they just stood there, looking right at each other with their hands almost on each other's necks.

"But...but how..." I stuttered out. Only a mere minute ago, I was staring at the ruthless face of the Angel that would advance forward if I tore my gaze away from it. Now it stood still in its place like any good statue should.

"Remember that long speech I gave you earlier? About the Weeping Angels?" the Doctor asked, standing back up on his feet. He offered a hand out for me, which I so graciously took.

"Oh, you mean the one I barely listened to?" Yes, even after all the panicking and fear, I still had my sense of humor.

"Yes, that one," he said, pulling me to my feet. I brushed myself off after I regained my balance and my lightheadedness cleared. "If you were actually listening, you would've recalled the fact that the Angels are quantum locked."

"Surprisingly, I actually remember that," I remarked with a triumphant smile. "Quantum locked means that they can move only when you're not looking at them."

"Correct," the Doctor said, striding confidently up to the two frozen statues. He waved a hand in front of their faces and I gasped in fear that they might turn on him, but they didn't move a single muscle (or in their case, a single stone). "And considering that these statues are looking right at each other, neither of them can move. Fascinating, isn't it?" He flashed a mischievous grin similar to the grin someone would wear after discovering how a certain magic trick was performed.

"It's strange, not fascinating. Then again, I'm one to talk..." I clamped my mouth tight after finishing my sentence. Wonderful, Echo. You just hinted at the strange things you can do with your mind! Why don't you just scream out to the world that you're a psychic. A freak of nature. A species that possibly doesn't belong on this planet. No, no. I wasn't "a species." I was human. And I did belong here. How did that thought come to be in my mind?

"Hmm?" the Doctor hummed, half paying attention as he scanned the Angels with his sonic screwdriver. He glanced at me over his shoulder after I didn't reply. "Did you say something?"

"Oh um...I was just agreeing with you. It is fascinating." I lied. I really didn't care about quantum-locking and frozen statues (would that be considered an oxymoron?). I was just glad I was safe. I was just glad both of us were safe.

The Doctor's smile was radiant as I told him what he wanted to hear. "I knew you'd find it interesting." he said. I rolled my eyes as he turned back to scan the aliens.

"So, Doctor...are we done here? We stopped the Angels from taking people away. What else is there to do?" I questioned.

"We stopped these Angels from taking people away. Chances are they're still more troops moving onto the battlefield as we speak." he answered, reaching into his pocket and taking out his glasses to examine his sonic more carefully.

"So what do we do?" I asked.

"Bait 'em. They know me, and more importantly, they know that I won't let them win." the Doctor said, glee and anxiety both burning in his auburn eyes.

"I know that. But how? How the hell do we drive the Angels, who are intent on ripping a whole in the universe, away from their goal?" I asked hurriedly.

The Doctor shoved both his screwdriver and glasses into his trouser pockets and looked at me. Really, truly looked at me. In all the time I've spent with him (which wasn't really much, but it felt like I've known him for centuries), he had never looked me so straight in the eye that I felt like he was peering through my soul. I felt exposed and weak, but at this point, I didn't even care. It felt as if there was a unbreakable bond between us already. At least, that was my point of view.

He placed his hands square on my shoulders and looked me right in the eye as he spoke. "Echo, I know this might be hard for you, but you have to trust me. And I don't mean just go along with what I say. I mean you have to use every single ounce of your will and trust what I'm doing is right," He paused for a moment. I bet his eyes saw me as just another innocent child. Maybe one of his own children, if he had any. No matter what I said or did, I would probably always seem so innocent and feeble to him. And maybe I was really innocent and feeble.

The Time Lord's creased forehead had softened, and his tight jaw now unclenched itself and hung loose. I was captivated as hushed words barely formed on his lips. "Can you trust me?" he asked. His hands felt heavy on my shoulders, but the way his fingers curved over my shoulder blades made everything seem perfectly fine. It almost seemed...natural for his hands to be there.

I didn't even need to think twice. My answer was obvious. "Of course," I said softly. My serious features had loosened as well to reveal a lighthearted smile. "Why else would I have climbed aboard that TARDIS with you and followed you all the way to 1969?"

"Well, I just thought you were crazy." the Doctor cracked a joke, squeezing my shoulders before letting his hands drop off them. I was so close to opening my mouth and complaining about how I wanted his hands back on my shoulders to comfort me, but I refrained. He would just think I was completely crazy if I requested that.

"I am crazy, but I also trust you. Somehow." I teased.

"Good. Fantastic. Trust is number one," the Doctor said, rocking back on his heels. "But I've got one question for you, Miss Atkinson."

"Yes?" I replied.

He let his mischievous grin shine through again. "How good are you at acting?"