an - So sorry that i haven't uploaded in a while. I have been busy with school and my grandmother passed away recently. So i have been feeling really depressed lately and I just couldn't write anything. BUT i'm trying to get into writing again, so enjoy :)
Maze of the dead, at the Byzantium
Everyone recovers from the jump. Andy is sitting on the ground. The Doctor stands "Up! Look up!"
"You ok?" River asks Andy.
"What happened?" Andy asks River, not answering his question.
"We jumped"
"Jumped where?" Andy asks.
"Up, up, look up!" the Doctor continues.
"Where are we?" Andy asks, looking around.
"Exactly where we were" River answers him.
"No we're not"
"Move your feet!" the Doctor tells Andy, crouching down and sonics an indentation on the floor.
Andy looks around "Doctor, what am I looking at? Explain"
The Doctor groans, standing up "Oh, come on, Andy, think! The ship crashed with the power still on, yeah? So what else is still on?" they are standing on the bottom of the Byzantium.
"The artificial gravity. One good jump," She jumps in enthusiasm, "and up we fell. Shot out the grav-globe to give us an updraft, and here we are!" She returns to sonic the indentation.
"Doctor. The statues, they look more like angels now" Octavian tells her, pointing his gun at them.
"They're feeding on the radiation from the wreckage, draining all the power from the ship, restoring themselves. Within an hour, they'll be an army!" the indentation opens up into the ship just as the lights start going out. "They're taking out the lights. Look at them, look at the angels. Into the ship, now, quickly all of you!"
"But how?" Andy asks, looking to the Doctor just as she jumps down the hole, "Doctor!" He peers into the hole to see the Doctor standing upright.
"It's just a corridor. The gravity orientates to the floor. Now, in here, all of you. Don't take your eyes off the angels. Move, move, move!" She uses the screwdriver on a keypad.
"Ok, men, go, go, go!" Octavian joins the Doctor, "The angels, presumably they can jump up too?"
The door closes once everyone is inside. "They're here. Now. In the dark, we're finished" a large door behind them closes, blocking their only escape, "Run!" the Doctor shouts, but it's too late.
"This whole place is a death trap" Octavian shouts after her.
"No, it's a time bomb. Well, it's a death trap and a time bomb. And now it's a dead end. Nobody panic," the angels try to come in the exterior door. "Oh, just me then. What's through here?" the Doctor asks pointing at the door behind her.
"Secondary flight deck" River tells her.
"Ok. So we've basically run up the inside of a chimney, yeah? So what if the gravity fails?" Andy asks panicked.
River begins to work on bypassing the power.
"I've thought about that" The Doctor tells Andy.
"And?"
"And we'll all plunge to our deaths. See I've thought about it. The security protocols are still live. There's no way to override them, it's impossible"
"How impossible?" River asks her, still working.
"Two minutes" the hum of the engines powers down and their way in has reopened and they can see the cavern outside.
"The hull is breached and the power's failing" Octavian tells them.
The lights go out. The arm of an angel can be seen through the opening. "Sir! Incoming!"
"Doctor! Lights" Andy orders.
The Doctor uses the sonic to help River. The lights come on briefly and they see an angel making its way inside. The lights go out again and come on brighter to show four angels inside the corridor with them.
"Clerics, keep watching them" Octavian demands.
"And don't look at their eyes. Anywhere else. Not the eyes. I've isolated the light grid. They can't drain the power now" the Doctor tells them.
"Good work, Doctor" Octavian compliments her.
"Yes, good. Good in many ways, good you like it so far..." the Doctor turns to Octavian before she turns to the door again.
"So far?" Andy questions her.
"Well, there's only one way to open this door. I guess I'll need to route all the power in this section through the door control" the Doctor explains.
"Good, fine, do it" Octavian tells her, as she moves to the front to look at the angels.
"Including the lights. All of them. I'll need to turn out the lights" the Doctor reveals.
"How long for?" Octavian asks her.
"Fraction of a second, maybe longer. Maybe quite a bit longer" the Doctor guesses.
"Maybe?"
"I'm guessing. We're being attacked by statues in a crashed ship, there isn't a manual for this!" the Doctor snaps, going back to the door.
"Doctor, we lost the torches. We'll be in total darkness" Andy reminds her.
"No other way. Bishop?" the Doctor goes to Octavian.
"Doctor Wolf, I've lost good clerics today. You trust this woman?" Octavian asks River. The Doctor stands watching them.
"I absolutely trust her" River tells him truthfully.
"She's not some kind of madwoman then?"
"I absolutely trust her"
"Excuse me" the Doctor goes back to work on the door.
"I'm taking your word, because you're the only one who can manage this girl. But that only works so long as she doesn't know who you are. You cost me any more men, and I might just tell her. Understood?" Octavian threatens River, quietly.
"Understood" River says, going back to his work.
"Ok. Doctor, we've got your back" Octavian tells her.
"Bless you, Bishop"
Octavian announce to his clerics "Combat distance, ten feet" the two closest clerics to the angels move back without taking their eyes off them.
"Andy, when the lights go down, the wheel should release. Spin it clockwise, four turns" the Doctor tells him.
"Ten" Andy says randomly.
The Doctor turns back to him, "No, four, four turns"
"Yeah, four, I heard you" Andy takes his position at the door.
"Ready!" the Doctor places her sonic into the circuit.
"On my count then. God be with us all. Three...two...one" the lights go out "Fire!" the clerics open fire on the angels. The Doctor, Andy and River try to get the door open.
"Turn!" The Doctor shouts.
"Doctor, quickly!"
"It's opening, it's working" Andy and River slip through the opening.
"Fall back!" the clerics move through the doorway followed by Octavian and the Doctor. They move down a similar corridor to another door. The Doctor holds the door open with her sonic as the others go through.
"Doctor, quickly" River shouts.
"Doctor!" Andy yells.
The Doctor runs to join them as the door closes quickly behind her. The flight deck is in major disrepair with exposed wires all over the console. The Doctor immediately goes to one of the controls. "Doctor!" Andy shouts as the hatch lock spins and Octavian places a device on the door. "What are you doing?" Andy asks him.
"Magnetized the door. Nothing could turn that wheel now" Octavian tells him.
"Yeah?" The Doctor bets, suddenly the wheel begins to turn slowly behind Octavian.
"Dear god!"
"Ah, now you're getting it! you've bought us time though, that's good. I am good with time" The Doctor says, messing with the console.
"Doctor!" Andy shouts as another door wheel is spinning.
"Seal that door. Seal it now!" Octavian orders. A cleric places a magnetic device on the second door.
"We're surrounded!" River says.
The third door begins to spin open "Seal it, seal that door" and the third door gets a magnetic device. "Doctor, how long have we got?" Octavian asks her.
"Five minutes, max"
"Nine" Andy says just after her.
The Doctor looks at Andy "Five"
"Five, right yeah" Andy looks at her weirdly.
"Why did you say nine?" the Doctor asks him.
"I didn't"
"We need another way out of here" River says looking around him.
"There isn't one"
"Yeah, there is, course there is. This is a galaxy class ship, goes for years between planet-falls. So" The Doctor snaps her fingers "What do they need?"
"Of course" River realizes what she means. The Doctor snaps her fingers again at him.
"Of course, what? What do they need?" Andy asks confused.
"Can we get in there?"
"Well, it's sealed unit, but they must have installed it somehow. This whole wall should slide up" the Doctor presses against the rear wall, "There's clamps. Release the clamps!" She uses the sonic on the clamps.
"What's through there? What do they need?" Andy asks, still confused.
"They need to breathe" River tells him.
The door slowly rises. The Doctor smiles and Andy is awestruck. Andy moves to stand by the Doctor, "But that's...that's a..." the door opens fully, and it reveals a lush vegetation and trees.
"It's an oxygen factory" River tells him.
"It's a forest" Andy says.
"Yeah, it's a forest, it's an oxygen factory" River nods.
"And, if we're lucky, an escape route" the Doctor says.
Andy lets out a laugh in disbelief before saying, "Eight" The Doctor turns her head in confusion.
"What did you say?" River asks him.
Andy looks back at River before turning to look at the forest again, "Nothing"
"Is there another exit? Scan the architecture, we don't have time to get lost in there" the Doctor turns the conversation away from Andy and back to the escape plan.
"On it!" Octavian steps into the forest, "Stay where you are until I've checked the Rad levels"
"But trees! On a space ship?" Andy laughs in disbelief.
"Oh, more than trees, way better than trees. You're going to love this" she steps into the forest, "Treeborgs..." She opens a section of peat moss to reveal circuitry, "Tress plus technology. Branches become cables, become sensors on the hull. A forest sucking in starlight, breathing out air. It even rains. There's a whole mini-climate. It is an eco-pod running through the heart of the ship. A forest in a bottle, on a space ship, in a maze. Have I impressed you yet, Andy Pond?"
Andy chuckles, "Seven"
"Seven?" the Doctor joins him back on the flight deck.
"Sorry, what?" Andy asks puzzled.
"You said seven" She studies his face.
"No. I didn't" Andy protests.
"Yes, you did" River tells him, confused.
"Doctor! There's an exit, far end of the ship, into the Primary Flight Deck" Octavian tells her.
"Good, that's where we need to go" the Doctor tells him.
"Plotting a safe path now"
"Quick as you like!" the Doctor shouts, still studying Andy.
"Doctor? Excuse me. Hello, Doctor? Angel Bob here, ma'am" Angel Bob says over the radio.
The Doctor takes the radio out of her jacket and settles into the command chair, Andy following after her. "Ah. There you are, Angel Bob. How's life? Sorry, bad subject"
"The angels are wondering what you hope to achieve"
"Achieve? We're not achieving anything. We're just hanging. It's nice in here, consoles, comfy chairs, a forest. How's things with you?"
"The angels are feasting, ma'am. Soon we will be able to absorb enough power to consume this vessel, this world, and all the stars and worlds beyond"
"Well, we've got comfy chairs, did I mention?"
"We have no need of comfy chairs"
"I made him say comfy chairs!" She tells Andy, amused despite the situation.
Andy laughs, "Six"
The Doctor stands up quickly, becoming serious "Okay, well, enough chat. Here's what I want to know: What have you don't to Andy?"
"There is something in his eye"
"What's in his eye?"
"We are"
The Doctor turns to state at Andy. "What's he talking about? Doctor, I'm five" Everyone stares at Andy, "I mean, five. Fine! I'm fine"
"You're counting" River tells him.
"Counting?"
"You're counting down. From ten. You have been for a couple of minutes" The Doctor tells him.
"Why?" Andy asks.
"I don't know"
"Well, counting down to what?"
"I don't know" The Doctor repeats.
"We shall take him. We shall take all of you. We shall have dominion over all time and space"
The Doctor sits down again "Get a life, Bob. Oops, sorry again. There's power on this ship, but nowhere near that much"
"With respect, ma'am, there is more power on this ship than you yet understand"
Everyone jumps as there is a loud, horrible screeching. "Dear god, what is it?" River asks.
"They're back" Octavian says.
"It's hard to put in your terms, doctor Wolf, but as best I understand it, the angels are laughing"
"Laughing?" the Doctor asks.
"Because you haven't noticed yet. The Doctor in the Tardis hasn't noticed"
The Doctor stands "Doctor..." Octavian tries to get her attention but she cuts him off.
"No, wait, there's something...I've..." She slowly turns to see a glowing crack high in the wall "Missed" she runs back to the wall.
"That's...that's like the crack from my bedroom wall from when I was a little boy" Andy stares at it in shock.
"Yes"
"Ok, enough, we're moving out!" Octavian orders.
"Agreed. Doctor?" River shouts.
"Yeah. Fine!" She uses her sonic on the crack.
"What are you doing?" River asks her.
"Right with you" the Doctor avoids the question.
"We're not leaving without you!"
"Oh, yes you are. Bishop?" the Doctor shouts.
Octavian and his clerics are already in the forest, "Mister Pond, Doctor Wolf, now!" he shouts after them.
River grabs Andy and pulls him to the forest. "Doctor, come on!"
"So, what are you?" the Doctor looks at the readings from the screwdriver, "Oh, that's bad. Ah, that's extremely very not good" She presses her ear against the wall and when she turns back, she's surrounded by angels. "Do not blink" She climbs over the console to get past them. She tries to look at them all but there is too many of them and she is grabbed by her jacket collar.
The Doctor is still in the grip of the angels "Why am I not dead then?" She turns nervously and sees the angels have their hands up to the crack as if worshipping it.
"Good, and not so good. Oh, this isn't even a little bit good. I mean, is that it? is that the power that brought you here? That's pure time energy, you can't feed on that. That's the power, that's the fire at the end of the universe. I'll tell you something else..." there's a loud rumbling. "Never let me talk!" She runs into the forest leaving her jacket in the hands off the angels.
**********
Byzantium, Forest
"Andy, what's wrong?" River asks Andy, holding his shoulders.
"Four" Andy whimpers before he curls up on a moss-covered rock.
"Med-scanner, now!" River demands and one of the clerics gives it to him.
"Doctor Wolf, we can't stay here, we've got to keep moving" Octavian tells him.
"We wait for the Doctor" River brushes him off, using the scanner on Andy.
Octavian steps closer to River, "Our mission is to make this wreckage safe and neutralize the angels. Until that is achieved..."
"Father Octavian, when the Doctor is in the room, your one and only mission is to keep her alive long enough to get everyone else home. And trust me. It's not easy. Now, if she's dead back there, I'll never forgive myself, and if she's alive, I'll never forgive her. And, Doctor, you're standing right behind me, aren't you?"
"Oh, yeah" the Doctor answers behind him.
River faces the Doctor "I hate you!"
"You don't. Bishop, the angels are in the forest" The Doctor informs them before she goes to Andy's side.
"We need visual contact on every line of approach" Octavian orders.
"How did you get past them?" River asks her.
"Found a crack in the wall and told them it was the end of the universe" the Doctor informs him.
"What was it?" Andy asks curious.
"The end of the universe. Let's have a look then" She checks the med-scanner.
"So. What's wrong with me?" Andy asks.
"Nothing. You're fine" River lies.
"Everything, you're dying" the Doctor tells him right after River.
"Doctor!" River scolds her.
"Yes, you're right, if we lie to him, he'll get all better! Right. Andy! Andy. What's the matter with Andrew? Something's in his eye. What does that mean? Doesn't mean anything" the Doctor rambles.
"Doctor" Andy tries to get her attention.
"Busy" the Doctor ignores him.
"Scared!" Andy shoots back at him.
"Course you're scared. You're dying, shut up!"
"Ok, let her think" River tells Andy.
The Doctor stands up "What happened? He stared at the angel, he looked into the eyes of an angel for too long..."
"Sir! Angel, incoming!" an angel is watching from the trees. "And here"
"Keep visual contact, do not let it move!" Octavian orders.
The Doctor paces and slaps the sides of her head "Come on, come on, wakey, wakey! He watched an angel climb out of the screen. He stared at the angel and...and..."
"The image of an angel is an angel" Andy repeats what was written in the book.
"A living image in a human mind. We stare at them to stop them getting closer, we don't even blink and that's exactly what they want, cos as long as our eyes are open, they can climb inside. There's an angel in his mind" She puts a hand over her mouth.
"Three. Doctor, it's coming. I can feel it. I'm going to die!" Andy whimpers.
"Please just shut up, I'm thinking. Now counting, what's that about?" the Doctor wonders, she takes out her radio, "Bob, why are they making him count?"
"To make him afraid, ma'am"
"Ok. But why, what for?"
"For fun, ma'am"
The Doctor growls in frustration and throws away the radio. One of the clerics watches the Doctor and turns back to look at the angel when he hears a branch crack.
"Doctor, what's happening to me? Explain!" Andy demands.
"Inside your head, in the vision centers of your brain, there's an angel" She sits down by Andy, "it's like there's a screen, a virtual screen inside your mind, and the angel is climbing out of it, and it's coming to shut you off"
"Then what do I do?" Andy asks her.
The Doctor stands again "If it was a real screen, what would we do, we'd pull the plug. But we can't just knock him out, the angel would take over!"
"Then what? Quickly!" River asks.
"We've got to shut down the vision centers of his brain. We've got to pull the plug, starve the angel" the Doctor tells River.
River looks at the scanner "Doctor, he's got seconds"
"How would you starve your lungs?" the Doctor asks.
"I'd stop breathing" River answers quickly, distracted.
"Andy, close your eyes!" The Doctor tells him, hurriedly.
"No, no, I don't want to" Andy protests.
"Good, because that's not you, that's the angel inside you, it's afraid! Do it! Close your eyes!" the Doctor kneels by his side.
Andy hesitates but closes his eyes when the Doctor nods her head. The scanner beeps and the readings return to green.
"He's normalizing" River sighs in relief, "You did it! You did it!" he puts away the scanner "Still weak, dangerous to move him"
Andy sits up, "So, can I open my eyes now?"
The Doctor is bending down in front of him "Andy, listen to me. If you open your eyes now for more than a second, you will die. The angel is still inside you. We haven't stopped it, we've just sort of...paused it. You've used up your countdown. You cannot open your eyes"
"Doctor, we're too exposed here. We have to move on" Octavian tells her.
The Doctor straightens "We're exposed everywhere, and Andy can't move, and anyway, that's not the plan"
River is sitting next to Andy, comforting him "There's a plan?"
"I don't know yet, I haven't finished talking. Right! Father, you and your clerics will stay here, look after Andy. If anything happens to him, I'll hold each of you personally responsible, twice. River, you and me, we're going to find the Primary Flight Deck which is..." She licks her fingers and holds it up to test the air, "a quarter mile straight ahead. We'll stabilize the wreckage. Stop the angels, and cure Andy"
"How?" River asks her.
"I'll do a thing" the Doctor shrugs.
"What thing?"
"I don't know, it's a thing in progress. Respect the thing. Moving out!" she claps her hands, moving away from River and Andy.
"Doctor, I'm coming with you. My clerics can look after Mister Pond. These are my best men, they'd lay down their lives in his protection" Octavian tells her.
"I don't need you" the Doctor tells him.
"I don't care. Where doctor Wolf goes, I go" Octavian says as River comes over to them.
"What?" the Doctor looks at River and then back to Octavian "You two engaged or something?"
"Yes, in a manner of speaking. Marco, you're in charge till I get back" Octavian starts off with River.
"Doctor...please, can't I come with you?" Andy pleads.
"You'd slow us down, Mister Pond" Octavian shouts back to them.
"I don't want to sound selfish, but you'd really speed me up" Andy bites back.
The Doctor takes a seat next to Andy "You'll be safer here. We can't protect you on the move. I'll be back for you soon as I can. I promise"
"You always say that" Andy scoffs.
"I always come back" She stands up, "Good luck everyone. Behave. Do not let that boy open his eyes. And keep watching the forest. Stop those angels advancing. Andy, later!" She taps him on the head. "River, going to need your computer" She says while leaving.
"Yeah. Later" Andy fidgets nervously with his hands. A feminine pair of hands grip his. It's the Doctor, but this one is wearing a jacket.
"Andy. You need to start trusting me, it's never been more important" she whispers.
"But you don't always tell me the truth" Andy whispers back.
"If I always told you the truth, I wouldn't need you to trust me"
"Doctor, the crack in my wall, how can it be here?" Andy asks her, scared.
"I don't know yet, but I'm working it out." She looks behind her before staring at Andy again, "Now, listen. Remember what I told you when you were seven?"
"What did you tell me?" Andy asks.
The Doctor rests her forehead against his "No, no...That's not the point. You have to remember" She kisses him on the head and leaves.
"Remember what? Doctor? Doctor?"
**********
Octavian is leading River and the Doctor through the forest. There is a beeping and the Doctor checks the device.
"What's that?" River asks her.
The Doctor hesitates before answering, "Readings from a crack in a wall"
"How can a crack in the wall be the end of the universe?" River asks.
"I don't know, but here's what I think. One day there'll be a very big bang, so big every moment in history – past and future – will crack" the Doctor explains.
"Is that possible? How?"
"How can you be engaged in a manner of speaking?" the Doctor throws back at him.
"Well...sucker for a man in uniform" River smiles.
Octavian walks over "Doctor Wolf is in my personal custody. I released him from the Stormcage Containment Facility four days ago and I am legally responsible for him until he has accomplished his mission and earned his pardon. Just so we understand each other"
"You were in Stormcage?" the Doctor smiles at him, interested. The device beeps gaining their attention.
"What? What is that?" River asks looking over the Doctor's shoulder.
"The date! The date of the explosion where the crack begins" the Doctor answers him.
"And for those of us who can't read the base code of the universe?"
The date appears on the bottom as 26/06/2010. "Andy's time!"
**********
Outside Primary Flight Deck
The Doctor takes readings from the handheld device as Octavian looks for a way in. river stands guard.
"It doesn't open it from here, but it's the primary flight deck. This has got to be a service hatch or something" Octavian tells them.
"Hurry up and open it, time's running out" River says, gaining the Doctor's attention.
"What? What did you say? Time's running out, is that what you said?"
"Yeah. I just meant..."
"I know what you meant. Hush!" The Doctor hushes him, River throws an offended look at her, "But what if it could?"
"What if what could?" River snaps.
"Time. What if time could run out?" the Doctor muses.
"Got it!" Octavian has found a way inside.
"Cracks in time, time running out...No, couldn't be. How is a duck pond a duck pond if there aren't any ducks? And she didn't recognize the daleks!" the Doctor thinks, "Ok, time can shift. Time can change. Time can be rewritten. Ah! Oh!" she suddenly comes to a realization.
"Doctor Wolf, get through, now" Octavian helps River through the hatch, "Doctor? Doctor?"
The Doctor ignores him, thinking. Doing calculations in the air "Time can be unwritten"
She slaps a tree in frustration, "It's been happening, and I haven't even noticed!"
"Doctor, we've have to move" Octavian tells her.
"The Cyberking! A giant cyberman walks over all of Victorian London and no-one even remembers" the Doctor rambles on, ignoring him.
"We have to move it! The angels could be here any second" Octavian puts a hand on the Doctor's shoulders.
The Doctor shrugs off Octavian's hand, "Never mind the angels. There's worse here than angels!"
The lights go out and the Doctor turns to see an angel has its arm around Octavian's neck. "I beg to differ, ma'am"
The Doctor uses the screwdriver on the angel "Let him go"
"Well, it can't let me go, ma'am, not while you're looking at it"
"I can't stop looking at it, it'll kill you" she tells him.
"It's going to kill me anyway. Think it through. There's no way out of this. You have to leave me!"
"Can't you wriggle out?" the Doctor suggests.
Octavian tries, but with no success, "No. It's too tight. You have to leave me ma'am, there's nothing you can do"
"You're dead if I leave you" she reminds him.
"Yes, yes, I'm dead. And before you go..."
"I'm not going!" the Doctor protests.
"Listen to me. It's important! You can't trust him"
"Trust who?" she asks.
"River Wolf. You think you know him, but you don't. You don't understand who or what he is" Octavian tells her.
"Then tell me"
"I've told you more than I should. Now, please, you have to go. It's your duty to your friends" Octavian pleads.
"Just tell me why he was in Stormcage" the Doctor says.
"He killed a woman, a good woman, a hero to many"
"Who?"
"You don't want to know, ma'am. You really don't" Octavian shakes his head as much as he can.
"Who did he kill?" the Doctor asks again.
"Ma'am, the angels are coming. You have to leave me"
"You'll die" the Doctor tells him sadly.
"I will die in the knowledge that my courage did not desert me at the end. For that, I thank god and bless the path that takes you to safety"
"I wish I'd known you better"
"I think, ma'am, you know me at my best" Octavian smiles at her sadly.
"Ready?"
Octavian closes his eyes "Content"
The Doctor sniffs before she runs for the hatch and closes it behind her.
"There's a teleport! If I can get it to work, we can beam the others here. Where's Octavian?" River tells her working on the teleport.
"Octavian's dead, so is that teleport. You're wasting your time. I'm going to need your communicator" she takes the communicator from River.
**********
"Hello? Hello? Please say you're there. Hello? Hello!" Andy's voice comes through the communicator.
"Andy? Andy, is that you?" the Doctor asks.
"Doctor?"
"Where are you? Are the clerics with you?" The Doctor asks him, relieved to hear from him.
"They've gone. There was a light and they walked into the light. Doctor, they didn't even remember each other"
"No. They wouldn't"
"What is that light?" River asks her, still working on the teleport.
"It's time running out" She tells River before speaking with Andy again, "Andy, I'm sorry. I made a mistake. I should never have left you there"
"Well, what do I do now?"
"You come to us. Primary flight deck, the other end of the forest" she tells him.
"I can't see! I can't open my eyes" Andy reminds her, annoyed.
The Doctor uses the screwdriver on the communicator "Turn on the spot"
"Sorry. what?"
"Just do it. Turn on the spot" the Doctor speaks hurriedly and loudly into the communicator, "When the communicator sounds like my screwdriver, you're facing the right way. Follow the sound" Andy turns in a circle and listens to the whirring sound the communicator makes. "You have to start moving now" the Doctor tells him, "There's time energy spilling out of that crack and you have to stay ahead of it"
"But the angels, they're everywhere"
"I'm sorry, I really am, but the angels can only kill you"
Andy starts walking "What does the time energy do?"
"Just keep moving!"
"Tell me!" Andy demands.
"If the time energy catches up with you, you'll never have been born. It will erase every moment of your existence. You will never have lived at all. Now, keep your eyes shit and keep moving!"
"It's never going to work" River comments.
"What else have you got? River, tell me!" the Doctor shouts at him.
There is a loud whooshing and clanging "What's that?" River asks, confused.
"The angels running from the fire. They came here to feed on the time energy. Now it's going to feed on them" the Doctor tells him before speaking to Andy,
"Andy, listen to me. I'm sending a bit of software to your communicator. It's a proximity detector. It'll beep if there's something in your way. You just maneuver till the beeping stops. Because Andy, this is important. The forest is full of angels." She takes a deep breath before sighing, "You're going to have to walk like you can see"
"Well, what do you mean?"
"Look, just keep moving"
"That time energy, what's it going to do?" River asks her.
"Uh, keep eating" the Doctor glides a hand down her face.
"How do we stop it?"
"Feed it"
River stops typing and looks to her, "Feed it what?"
"A big complicated space-time event should shut it up for a while"
"Like what, for instance?" River asks.
"Like me, for instance!" the Doctor shouts, annoyed. A high-pitched beeping echoes through the flight deck.
"What's that?" Andy asks.
"It's a warning. There are angels around you now. Andy listen to me. This is going to be hard, but I know you can do it. The angels are scared and running and right now they're not that interested in you. They'll assume you can see them and their instincts will kick in. all you've got to do is walk like you can see. Just don't open your eyes. Walk like you can see." She closes her eyes in disappointment at herself, for leaving Andy there. "You're not moving. You have to do this" Andy stands between two angels. "Now" the Doctor bangs her hand against the instrument panel "You have to do this!"
The communicator beeps slowly as Andy turns unknowingly towards an angel, it beeps quickly, and he turns to face the way he was. He slowly walks forward and turns again only to hear the beeping speed up once more. He changes direction and moved forward until he trips over a root and falls, dropping the communicator. He feels about in the dirt but can't find it.
"Doctor, I can't find the communicator! I dropped it! I can't find it. Doctor!" he keeps feeling the dirt, "Doctor..." the angels begins to move, "Doctor! Doctor..." he stands and turns only to come face-to-face with an angel as it reaches for him. Andy is engulfed in a bright light.
**********
Andy appears on the flight deck and is supported by River. "Don't open your eyes. You're on the flight deck, the Doctor's here. I teleported you" River assures him, before he turns to the Doctor. "See? Told you I could get it working"
"River Wolf, I could bloody kiss you" the Doctor cheers.
"Ah, well, maybe when you're older" An alarm blares, "What's that?"
"The angels are draining the last of the ship's power, which means...the shield's going to release!" the shield to the forest opens and they are confronted by a large number of angels. The Doctor steps forward.
"Angel Bob, I presume"
"The time field is coming. It will destroy our reality" the closest angels speak.
"Yeah, and look at you, all running away. What can I do for you?" the Doctor asks.
"There is a rupture in time. The angels calculate that if you throw yourself into it, it will close, and they will be saved"
"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Could do, could do that. But why?" the Doctor asks.
"Your friends would also be saved"
"Well, there is that" she nods.
River steps up to the Doctor, "I've travelled in time. I'm a complicated space time event, too. Throw me in"
"Oh, be serious! Compared to me, these angels are more complicated than you and it would take every one of them to amount to me, so get a grip" she tells him.
"Doctor, I can't let you do this" River protests.
"No, seriously, get a grip"
"You're not going to die here!"
"No, I mean it. River, Andy, get a grip" the Doctor repeats.
River suddenly realizes her plan "Oh, you genius!" He goes to Andy.
"Ma'am, the angels need you to sacrifice yourself now" Angel Bob tells her.
"Thing is, Bob, the angels are draining all the power from this ship, every last bit of it. and you know what? I think they've forgotten where they're standing. I think they've forgotten the gravity of the situation. Or to put it another way, angels..."
"You hold on tight and don't you let go for anything" River whispers to Andy as he places his hand on a handle attached to the panel before gripping one himself.
"Night-night" as the gravity fails due to the loss of power, the Doctor casually turns to grip a handle herself. The deck turns to its side and the Doctor, Andy and River hand on for dear life as the angels are sucked into the crack. There is a burst of light and the crack in the secondary flight deck closes.
**********
Beach, Dawn
Andy is leaning on a rock, wrapped in a blanket. The Doctor stands next to him with a cleric behind them. "Ah, bruised everywhere" Andy groans.
"Me too" the Doctor agrees.
"You didn't have to climb out with your eyes shut" Andy squints at her.
"Neither did you, I kept saying. The angels all fell into the time field. The angel in your memory never existed. It can't harm you now" she assures him.
"Then why do I remember it at all? Those guys on the ship didn't remember each other" Andy asks her.
"You're a time traveler now, Andy. Changes the way you see the universe forever. Good, isn't it?" She smiles at him and Andy chuckles.
"And the crack. Is that gone too?"
"Yeah, for now. But the explosion that caused it is still happening...somewhere out there, somewhere in time" She looks out at the ocean before walking over to River.
"You, me...handcuffs" River holds out his hands encased in cuffs, "Must it always end this way?" He smiles teasingly at her.
"What now?" the Doctor asks him, moving to stand in front of him.
"The prison ship's in orbit. They'll beam me up any second. I might have done enough to earn a pardon this time. We'll see" River tells her.
"Octavian said you killed a woman" she reveals.
The smiles slips away from his face, "Yes. I did"
"A good woman" the Doctor repeats what Octavian told her.
"A very good woman. The best woman I've ever known"
"Who?" she asks.
River lets out a chuckle, "It's a long story, Doctor, can't be told. It has to be lived. No sneak previews. Well, except for this one: you'll see me again quite soon, when the Pandorica opens"
The Doctor smiles in amusement, "The Pandorica, ha!" she leans forward and whispers in his ear "That's a fairy tale"
River laughs, "Oh, Doctor, aren't we all? I'll see you there"
"I look forward to it" the Doctor flirts.
"I remember it well"
The Doctor chuckles and steps away.
Andy walks up to River "Bye, River"
"See you. Andy" His handcuffs beep, "Oh! I think that's my ride"
"Can I trust you. River Wolf?" the Doctor asks him.
"If you like, but where's the fun in that?" He laughs and is teleported away.
The Doctor turns and looks out at the ocean. Andy steps up to her "What are you thinking?"
"Time can be rewritten"
**********
Tardis
The Doctor is at the console while Andy sits on the jump seat, arms crossed. "I want to go home"
"Ok" the Doctor tells him, quietly.
Andy smiles and joins her, "No, not like that! I just...I just want to show you something. You're running from River. I'm running too"
**********
Andy's House, Night
The Tardis has materialized in a corner of the room. The Doctor and Andy are sitting on his bed, looking at the closet where his wedding suit is hanging.
"Well!" the Doctor comments.
"Yeah!"
"Blimey!"
"I know. This is the same night we left, yeah?" Andy asks her.
The Doctor checks her watch, "We've been gone five minutes"
Andy leans over, gets the ring box and opens it "I'm getting married in the morning"
The Doctor takes the box "Why did you leave it here?"
"Why did I leave my engagement ring when I ran away with a strange woman the night before my wedding?" Andy asks sarcastically.
"Yeah"
"You really are an alien, aren't you?"
"Who's the lucky girl?" the Doctor asks him.
"You met her"
"Ah, the good looking one or the other one?" She mimes a large nose.
Andy stares at her annoyed "The other one"
"Well, she was good too"
"Thanks. So, do you comfort a lot of people on the night before their wedding?" Andy asks her.
"Why would you need comforting?" she asks confused.
"I nearly died. I was alone in the dark and I nearly died. And it made me think"
"Well, yes, natural. I think sometimes. Well, lots of times..."
"About what I want. About who I want. You know what I mean?"
"Yeah...no" the Doctor shakes her head.
"About who...I want" he gives her a suggestive look.
"Oh, right, yeah...no, still not getting it" But the Doctor still doesn't get it.
"Doctor, in a word, in one very simple word even you can understand..." he practically climbs on top of her.
The Doctor nervously pushes him away and clambers over the foot rail "Uh...! You're getting married in the morning!"
Andy walks around the bed "The morning's a long time away" He pushes her back against the Tardis, "What are we going to do about that?" He starts to undress her.
The Doctor pulls her suspenders back up "Listen to me. I'm 907 years old. Do you understand what that means?" She pushes away from him.
"It's been awhile?"
"No. No. no! I'm 907 and look at me. I don't get older, I just change. You get older. I don't, and this can't ever work" She pushes away from him again, her back to the Tardis.
"Oh, you are sweet, Doctor. But I really wasn't suggesting anything quite so...long term" He kisses her.
The Doctor pushes him away "But you're human! You're Andy! You're getting married in the morning!" She suddenly realizes, "In the morning"
Andy pulls back "Doctor?"
"It's you. It's all about you. Everything. It's about you"
"Hold that thought!" Andy lies seductively on the bed.
"Andy Pond...Mad, impossible Andy Pond. I don't know why, I have no idea, but quite possibly the single most important thing in the history of the universe is that I get you sorted out right now"
"That's what I've been trying to tell you!"
The Doctor pulls him off the bed "Come on!"
"Doctor!" Andy coos flirty.
The pushes him into the Tardis before turning to look at his clock. It changes from 11:59 6/25 to 12:00 6/26.