Disclaimer: I do not own the Doctor Who franchise or any such things, I am not earning money from these writings and do not own the characters or transcripts (nor claim they are 100% correct), umm, I think that's all...

Spoilers for up until the end of Matt Smiths time as the Doctor mostly, but also possible spoilers for all future episodes too.

Parings: (10thDoctorDuplicate)John Smith/Rose Tyler, 11thDoctor/River, Amy/Rory, some Mickey/Martha, those are the definite pairs, but there is also the possibility I'll be making this into a Jack/11thDoctor/River pair too, though still not full decided yet…

Now I want to give a big shout out to all my reviewers! You guys are awesome! Every time I get one of your reviews or PMs I'm like 'wow, now I really need to write more!' you guys really keep this story going 😊 And I love all your questions and musings too! They really give me the incentive to continue so I can share my own ideas and plan with you.

Also note that I haven't had a Beta go over this chapter, so sorry for any mistakes.

Now on with the, yet again, long-awaited chapter,

… … … … … … …

Chapter Seven: Flesh and Stone

…

Previously:

"What?! No! You can't end it like that!" was the general outcry.

"At least we're not skipping one," Martha commented nodding towards the screen, the 'menu' having dropped down one, from 'The time of Angels' to the one directly beneath.

"'Flesh and Stone', well that sounds cheerful," Rory commented sardonically.

Amy rolled her eyes then jumped to her feet, "right bathroom break, then back into it?"

…

With the cliffhanger ending of the previous 'episode' it didn't take everyone very long to settle back down to continue watching.

[Tunnel]

The Doctor shoots at the Byzantium hitting the Grav globe causing it to explode.

DOCTOR: Up. Look up.
Everyone struggles to their feet on an artificial surface, although the tunnel walls are the same.
RIVER: Are you okay?
AMY: What happened?
RIVER: We jumped.
AMY: Jumped where?
DOCTOR: Up. Up. Look up.
AMY: Where are we?
RIVER: Exactly where we were.
AMY: No we're not.
DOCTOR: Move your feet.
The Doctor sonics a circular hatch in the floor, with six inset lights around it.
AMY: Doctor, what am I looking at? Explain.
DOCTOR: Oh, come on, Amy, think. The ship crashed with the power still on, yeah? So what else is still on?
The camera moves out and rotates through 180 degrees. Our gallant heroes are standing upside down on the hull of the Byzantium.

"Okay so that's…" Rose blinks tilting her head slightly, "Nope, doesn't sit well with me," she shoots John an annoyed uneasy look as he snorts at her discomfort.

Martha, Mickey and Rory look equally displeased with the situation, Rory especially seems uneasy seeing the seemingly perilous position his wife, daughter and best friend is in, and all without him.

DOCTOR: The artificial gravity. One good jump, and up we fell.

"That sentence… and Doctor please don't jump!" Rose groaned looking slightly pale, her heart beating extra fast as even though she knows he's fine and she's probably been in many situations artificial gravity had been holding her up the wrong way, it was different seeing it demonstrated so clearly; and she clearly wasn't alone in her thoughts, though those more used to future technologies like Jack, Jenny, John and the Doctor just looked amused at the others uneasy.

DOCTOR: Shot out the grav globe to give us an updraft, and here we are.
OCTAVIAN: Doctor, the statues. They look more like Angels now.
DOCTOR: 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.

"An hour? Well that's plenty of time," Mickey mock scoffed, the tension in his shoulders giving away his worry, causing Martha to squeeze his hand.

The circular hatch opens. A light goes bang.
DOCTOR: They're taking out the lights. Look at them. Look at the Angels. Into the ship, now. Quickly, all of you.
AMY: How?
AMY: Doctor!
The Doctor drops through the open hatch into a circular corridor. From Amy's point of view, he is standing on the side of a vertical tube.

"Arg that…" Rose sighs, "I know it makes sense and all, but seining it my mind just says no…"

DOCTOR: 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.

[Corridor]

OCTAVIAN [OC]: Okay, men. Go, go, go!
The Doctor works on a control panel.
OCTAVIAN: The Angels. Presumably they can jump up too?
The hatch closes.
DOCTOR: They're here, now. In the dark, we're finished.
A bulkhead further along the corridor starts to close.
DOCTOR: Run!
OCTAVIAN: This whole place is a death trap.
They don't make it.
DOCTOR: 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.

"Actually, everyone seems to be taking it rather well, surprisingly," Rory commented somewhat sardonically.

DOCTOR: Oh, just me then.

Jenny squeezes his hand earning her a smile.

DOCTOR: What's through here?
RIVER: Secondary flight deck.
AMY: Okay. so we've basically run up the inside of a chimney, yeah? So what if the gravity fails?
DOCTOR: I've thought about that.
AMY: And?
DOCTOR: And we'll all plunge to our deaths. See? I've thought about it.

"Well at least you've thought about it," Amy snorted.

"I can see why you're the one panicking then," Martha commented looking concernedly at the Doctor, also wondering if all those times he'd seemed so unaware or unconcerned with the dangerous situations they'd been in, he'd actually been more aware then her, and decided it was probably very likely.

DOCTOR: The security protocols are still live. There's no way to override them. It's impossible.
River is working.
RIVER: How impossible?
DOCTOR: Two minutes.

Mickey snorted, "she knows you so well Boss,"

The outer hatch is open.
OCTAVIAN: The hull is breached and the power's failing.
The lights go out. An arm is silhouetted against the open hatch.
MARCO: Sir, incoming.
AMY: Doctor? Lights.
The Angel is starting to enter. Another flicker, and four are inside and the hatch is closed behind them.
OCTAVIAN: Clerics, keep watching them.
DOCTOR: And don't look at their eyes. Anywhere else. Not the eyes.

"You hear that Amy, not the eyes," Rory teases her getting a swat in return.

"Shut up stupid face,"

DOCTOR: I've isolated the lighting grid. They can't drain the power now.
OCTAVIAN: Good work, Doctor.
DOCTOR: Yes. Good, good, good. Good in many ways. Good you like it so far.

"Well that doesn't sound ominous at all," Jack quipped

AMY: So far?
DOCTOR: 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.

"Damn," Jack muttered, John looking equally as grim.

OCTAVIAN: Good. Fine. Do it.
DOCTOR: Including the lights. All of them. I'll need to turn out the lights.

"Damns right," Rose muttered obviously having heard Jack before and now understanding.

OCTAVIAN: How long for?
DOCTOR: Fraction of a second. Maybe longer. Maybe quite a bit longer.
OCTAVIAN: Maybe?
DOCTOR: I'm guessing. We're being attacked by statues in a crashed ship. There isn't a manual for this.

Everyone's eyes tightened seeing the worry and panic in the Doctor, and knowing he had to be feeling the pressure of having the lives of everyone in the corridor on his shoulders and that as much as their faith in him was good and well placed, it was also a massive burden; one they too were all guilty of putting on his shoulders more often then not.

AMY: Doctor, we lost the torches. We'll be in total darkness.
DOCTOR: No other way. Bishop.
OCTAVIAN: Doctor Song, I've lost good Clerics today. You trust this man?

"Why's he asking her? I didn't think he trusted her, what with her prison sentence and all," Martha asked confused.

RIVER: I absolutely trust him.
OCTAVIAN: He's not some kind of madman, then?
RIVER: I absolutely trust him.

The whole room couldn't help but grin at Rivers reply.

"Well at least she's not lying," Mickey grinned.

DOCTOR: Excuse me.
OCTAVIAN: (sotto) I'm taking your word, because you're the only one who can manage this guy. But that only works so long as he doesn't know who you are. You cost me any more men, and I might just tell him. Understood?
RIVER: Understood.

The room frowned again at the reminder that River had done something to get herself imprisoned, and that it was something the Doctor would clearly be against; not to mention Jacks reaction. Glancing back at Jack now, they could practically see the tense displeased air shimmering around him. Rory, Amy and the Doctor on the other hand seemed mildly amused as they shot each other knowing looks; that at least partially settled their nerves.

OCTAVIAN: Okay, Doctor. We've got your back.
DOCTOR: Bless you. Bishop.
OCTAVIAN: Combat distance, ten feet. As soon as the lights go down, continuous fire. Full spread over the hostiles. Do not stop firing while the lights are out. Shot gun protocol. We don't have bullets to waste.
DOCTOR: Amy, when the lights go down, the wheel should release. Spin it clockwise four turns.
AMY: Ten.
DOCTOR: No, four. Four turns.
AMY: Yeah, four. I heard you.

"Then why'd you say ten?" Rory asked her, Amy just smiled back slightly tense and said, "Spoilers," causing Rory to sigh unhappily and hug her tighter sensing her displeasure at the memory.

DOCTOR: Ready!
He plunges his sonic screwdriver into a control unit.
OCTAVIAN: On my count, then. God be with us all. Three, two, one, fire!
The lights go out, the Clerics start shooting at the approaching Angels.
DOCTOR: Turn!
AMY: Doctor, it's opening. It's working.
They get the bulkhead open just enough to squeeze through.
DOCTOR: Fall back!
The Doctor is last through the bulkhead. It clangs shut again.

"Oh thank god you all made it through," Martha breaths out softly, even knowing they weren't safe yet.

They run along a short corridor and into the Secondary flight deck

[Secondary Flight Deck]

RIVER: Doctor, quickly.
AMY: Doctor!

"You always have to be the last one through, don't you," Rose sighed unhappily before smiling at John when he squeezed her hand in comfort.

The Doctor dodges inside at the last second, as the door closes, and runs to the controls. The Angels thump on the door and the wheel starts turning.
AMY: Doctor!

"You know just yelling his name doesn't really help anything," Rory teased her

"Shut up," Amy swatted him back pouting slightly

AMY: What are you doing?
Octavian has placed a device on the door. The wheel stops turning.
OCTAVIAN: Magnetized the door. Nothing could turn that wheel now.
DOCTOR: Yeah?
The wheel turns.
OCTAVIAN: Dear God!

"Yeah, best not to jinx things," Mickey commented in a phoney wise voice, getting an amused look from Martha.

DOCTOR: Ah, now you're getting it. You've bought us time though. That's good. I am good with time.
AMY: Doctor.
The wheel on a second door to the right of the main one starts to turn.
OCTAVIAN: Seal that door. Seal it now.
Marco obeys.
RIVER: We're surrounded.
And now the door to the left.
OCTAVIAN: Seal it. Seal that door. Doctor, how long have we got?
DOCTOR: Five minutes, max.
AMY: Nine.
DOCTOR: Five.
AMY: Five. Right. Yeah.
DOCTOR: Why'd you say nine?
AMY: I didn't.

"You clearly did though," Rory said looking worriedly at Amy.

"I know that now stupid," Amy snarked back as she sent an awkward smile to the others looking at her in concern.

RIVER: We need another way out of here.
OCTAVIAN: There isn't one.
DOCTOR: Yeah, there is. Course there is. This is a galaxy class ship. Goes for years between planet falls. So, what do they need?

Martha snorted softly, "even in the middle of a crisis you still try to get everyone to think for themselves, don't you," she commented.

"Well I might not be there to help them next time they're in trouble," the Doctor shrugged, "better they learn to think for themselves,"

RIVER: Of course.
AMY: Of course what? What do they need?

"Food," Mickey answered.

"Water," Martha added.

"Air," Jenny piped up.

"Entertainment," Jack smirked and then smiled at the looks he received, "What? You don't want to see me when I'm bored,"

"Fuel," Rory offered unsurely.

OCTAVIAN: Can we get in there?
DOCTOR: Well, it's a sealed unit, but they must have installed it somehow. This whole wall should slide up. There's clamps. Release the clamps.
AMY: What's through there? What do they need?
RIVER: They need to breathe.
The rear wall of the flight deck slides up to reveal -
AMY: But that's. That's a.

"Wow," Martha breathed out impressed

"That's so weird," Mickey commented, though he too looked amazed.

RIVER: It's an oxygen factory.
AMY: It's a forest.
RIVER: Yeah, it's a forest. It's an oxygen factory.

"A beautiful bit of technology," John muttered to Rose.

"It's fantastic!" Jenny grinned up at her dad who grinned back at her.

DOCTOR: And if we're lucky, an escape route.
AMY: Eight.
RIVER: What did you say?
AMY: Nothing.
DOCTOR: Is there another exit? Scan the architecture, we don't have time to get lost in there.
OCTAVIAN: On it. Stay where you are until I've checked the Rad levels.
AMY: But trees, on a space ship?
DOCTOR: Oh, more than trees. Way better than trees. You're going to love this. Treeborgs. Trees 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. This vault is an ecopod running right through the heart of the ship. A forest in a bottle on a space ship in a maze. Have I impressed you yet, Amy Pond?

"Just a bit," Amy grinned cheekily at her best friend.

AMY: Seven.
DOCTOR: Seven?
AMY: Sorry, what?
DOCTOR: You said seven.
AMY: No. I didn't.
RIVER: Yes. you did.

"What's with the numbers?" Martha asked in concern and worry, what most of them were thinking, though none expected an answer from the only two who knew the answer.

"More pressingly, why doesn't Amy know she's saying them," Rose frowned, concerned for the red haired, even though she knows things must have worked out alright as Amy was sitting in the room with them.

Rory just held his wife closer to him as a way to remind himself everything worked out alright as she was with him now; and Amy cuddled into his arms to both comfort him and herself as this was certainly not her fondest memory.

OCTAVIAN: Doctor, there's an exit, far end of the ship, into the Primary Flight Deck.
DOCTOR: Oh, good. That's where we need to go.
OCTAVIAN: Plotting a safe path now.
DOCTOR: Quick as you like.
BOB [OC]: Doctor? Excuse me? Hello, Doctor? Angel Bob here, sir.

"What do they want now?" Rory grumbled grumpily, though to be fair he felt he had all the right to be grumpy, his wife, daughter and best friend were all in danger (again) and where was he during this? Safe and oblivious on Earth!

DOCTOR: Ah. There you are, Angel Bob. How's life? Sorry, bad subject.

Jack snorted slightly in mild amusement at the Doctors comment.

BOB [OC]: The Angels are wondering what you hope to achieve.
DOCTOR: 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?
BOB [OC]: The Angels are feasting, sir. Soon we will be able to absorb enough power to consume this vessel, this world. and all the stars and worlds beyond.
DOCTOR: Well, we've got comfy chairs. Did I mention?
BOB [OC]: We have no need of comfy chairs.
DOCTOR: I made him say comfy chairs.

"Doctor!" Martha huffed in exasperation though there was amusement mixed in their too, while Rose rolled her eyes but smiled none the less and Jack smirked.

AMY: Six.
DOCTOR: Okay, Bob, enough chat. Here's what I want to know. What have you done to Amy?

"Oh he's serious now," Mickey mocked slightly, causing Matha to whack him gently on the arm.

"Hush," she shushed him, she like the others were keen on getting answers.

BOB [OC]: There is something in her eye.
DOCTOR: What's in her eye?
BOB [OC]: We are.

"Okay, that's not creepy," Jack commented with a slight smirk getting unamused looks from the others.

AMY: What's he talking about? Doctor, I'm five. I mean, five. Fine! I'm fine.
RIVER: You're counting.
AMY: Counting?
DOCTOR; You're counting down from ten. You have been for a couple of minutes.
AMY: Why?
DOCTOR: I don't know.

"Not often he admits to that," Mickey muttered to Martha, getting him another light swat on the arm.

AMY: Well, counting down to what?
DOCTOR: I don't know.

"I hate not knowing!" John pouted slightly, displeased with not having been able to work it all out yet, but settled as Rose squeezed his hand back.

BOB [OC]: We shall take her. We shall take all of you. We shall have dominion over all time and space.
DOCTOR: Get a life, Bob. Oops, sorry again. There's power on this ship, but nowhere near that much.
BOB [OC]: With respect, sir, there's more power on this ship than you yet understand.
There is a screeching sound.
RIVER: What's that? Dear God, what is it?
OCTAVIAN: They're back.
BOB [OC]: It's hard to put in your terms, Doctor Song, but as best I understand it, the Angels are laughing.

"Well that's not a good sign," Jack commented in a light voice, though there was a tension in his eyes that belied his tone.

DOCTOR: Laughing?
BOB [OC]: Because you haven't noticed yet, sir. The Doctor in the Tardis hasn't noticed.

"Isn't that what Prisoner Zero boasted?" Martha questioned apprehensively, "Using pretty much those exact words too…" the others share a worried look.

OCTAVIAN: Doctor.
DOCTOR: No. Wait. There's something I've missed.
A steaming W crack in the bulkhead above the entrance, and it is widening.
AMY: That's, that's, that's like the crack from my bedroom wall from when I was a little girl.
DOCTOR: Yes.

"Okay, what's with that crack? It was on that spaceship UK too!" Rose frowned, she didn't like it at all and just knew it boded ill for the Doctor, they all felt that way.

"Nothing good," John frowned, a crack in the universe was definitely very bad news, "but what could have caused it?" he mused quietly, getting a side glance from Rose and the Doctor, Rose because she heard him and the Doctor because he had a good idea at the thoughts trailing through his meta-crisis self's head.

DOCTOR [flashback]: Two parts of space and time that should never have touched.
OCTAVIAN: Okay, enough. We're moving out.
RIVER: Agreed. Doctor?
DOCTOR: Yeah, fine.
RIVER: What are you doing?
DOCTOR: Right with you.
He scans the crack.
RIVER: We're not leaving without you.
DOCTOR: Oh yes, you are. Bishop?
OCTAVIAN: Miss Pond, Doctor Song, now!
AMY: Doctor? Come on!

"Thanks Doctor," Rory said softly to the Doctor who smiled softly and nodded, while Amy rolled her eyes at her boys, protective idiots that they were.

DOCTOR: So, what are you? Oh, that's bad. Ah, that's extremely very not good.

"So- good news then Doc?" Jack grinned at the Doctor and received an eyeroll from the majority of the room.

He turns around to find himself surrounded by Angels.
DOCTOR: Do not blink.
One grabs the back of his jacket collar.
DOCTOR: Argh!

"Dad!" Jenny cried gripping tightly to the Doctors sleeve.

The Doctor put his arm around her shoulders hugging her to him with a gentle smile and kissing the top of her head.

[Forest]

RIVER: Amy? Amy, what's wrong?

[Secondary Flight Deck]

DOCTOR: Why am I not dead then?
The Angels are reaching towards the crack.
DOCTOR: 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 now power, that's the fire at the end of the universe. I'll tell you something else.
Bang! The Doctor runs into the forest without his jacket.
DOCTOR: Never let me talk!

"Oh like anyone could stop you with that gab of yours," Martha commented in amusement, her relief at the Doctors lucky escape could be heard in her voice and seen on everyone's faces.

[Forest]

RIVER: Amy, what's wrong?
AMY: Four.
Amy sways and sits down, then lies on the mossy tree trunk.

And the tension was back.

RIVER: Med scanner, now.
OCTAVIAN: Doctor Song, we can't stay here. We've got to keep moving.
RIVER: We wait for the Doctor.
OCTAVIAN: Our mission is to make this wreckage safe and neutralise the Angels. Until that is achieved-
RIVER: Father Octavian, when the Doctor's in the room, your one and only mission is to keep him alive long enough to get everyone else home. And trust me, it's not easy.

"Wow, how exactly does she know you again Boss?" Mickey teasingly asked.

The Doctor scowled back, before turning his head away pouting.

Everyone smiled slightly, but were glad to hear Rivers thoughts, well save for Jack who was suspicious and John who felt very uneasy each time River showed how close she was/would be, to him.

RIVER: Now, if he's dead back there, I'll never forgive myself. And if he's alive, I'll never forgive him. And, Doctor, you're standing right behind me, aren't you?
DOCTOR: Oh, yeah.
RIVER: I hate you.
DOCTOR: You don't.

"Oh stop flirting you two," Amy smirked causing the Doctor to splutter and pout at her, which just caused her to laugh, and Rory gain a slightly uneasy look about it.

Everyone else blinked slightly, surprised at the very thought of the Doctor actually flirting with someone.

DOCTOR: Bishop, the Angels are in the forest.
OCTAVIAN: We need visual contact on every line of approach.
RIVER: How did you get past them?
DOCTOR: I found a crack in the wall and told them it was the end of the universe.
AMY: What was it?
DOCTOR: The end of the universe.

"Was it really?" Jenny asked her dad quietly, receiving a small smile back.

DOCTOR: Let's have a look, then.
AMY: So, what's wrong with me?
RIVER: Nothing. You're fine.
DOCTOR: Everything. You're dying.

"Doctor!" Rory and Martha both cried, causing the Doctor to raise a finger to pause them and pointed back at the screen.

RIVER: Doctor!
DOCTOR: Yes, you're right. If we lie to her, she'll get all better. Right. Amy, Amy, Amy. What's the matter with Amelia? Something's in her eye. What does that mean? Does it mean anything?
AMY: Doctor.
DOCTOR: Busy.
AMY: Scared.
DOCTOR: Course you're scared. You're dying. Shut up.
RIVER: Okay, let him think.

"Thank you River," Rory said and Amy smiled in agreement, meanwhile the tension in the room had ramped up a bit at the way the Doctor was acting. They all felt bad for Amy, they would all be feeling terrified at this point, but they knew the Doctor was trying his hardest to figure out how to save her.

DOCTOR: What happened? She stared at the Angel. She looked into the eyes of an Angel for too long
MARCO: Sir! Angel incoming.
PHILLIP: And here.
OCTAVIAN: Keep visual contact. Do not let it move.
DOCTOR: Come on, come on, come on. Wakey, wakey. She watched an Angel climb out of the screen. She stared at the Angel and, and
AMY: The image of an Angel is an Angel.

"Oh," John breathed out horrified.

DOCTOR: A living mental image in a living human mind. But we stare at them to stop them getting closer. We don't even blink, and that is exactly what they want. Because as long as our eyes are open, they can climb inside. There's an Angel in her mind.
The face of an Angel is visible in Amy's pupil.

"Oh god!" was the horrified exclamation that pretty much summed up the feelings of the entire room, even as Rory held Amy almost painfully tight and Amy closed her eyes and breathed a shaky breath, this was not a pleasant memory at all, in fact a large portion of her nightmares still featured this moment, and occasionally she'd still have a little panic when she rubbed sleep from her eyes.

AMY: Three. Doctor, it's coming. I can feel it. I'm going to die.
DOCTOR: Please just shut up. I'm thinking. Now, counting. What's that about? Bob, why are they making her count?
BOB [OC]: To make her afraid, sir.
DOCTOR: Okay, but why? What for?
BOB [OC]: For fun, sir.

"Oh I didn't think I could hate these stupid Angels anymore then I did," Rory growled out getting many agreeing nods, and a small gently kiss from Amy, which soothed his temper slightly.

The Doctor throws the communicator away in annoyance.

Amy reached out and gave the Doctors hand a small squeeze.

AMY: Doctor, what's happening to me? Explain.
DOCTOR: Inside your head, in the vision centres of your brain, there's an Angel. 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.
AMY: Then what I do?
DOCTOR: If it was a real screen, what would we do? We'd pull the plug. We'd kill the power. But we can't just knock her out, the Angel would just take over.
RIVER: Then what? Quickly.
DOCTOR: We've got to shut down the vision centres of her brain. We've got to pull the plug. Starve the Angel.
RIVER: Doctor, she's got seconds.
DOCTOR: How would you starve your lungs?
RIVER: I'd stop breathing.
DOCTOR: Amy, close your eyes.
AMY: No. No, I don't want to.
DOCTOR: Good, because that's not you, that's the Angel inside you. It's afraid. Do it. Close your eyes.

"Come on Amy," Rory coxed hoping for once she'd do as she was told and not be super stubborn about it.

Amy squeezes her eyes shut. The med scanner changes from red to green.
RIVER: She's normalising. Oh, you did it. You did it.

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief and the rooms tension levels lowered significantly. And though they knew the trouble was far from over, at least for now they were alive and okay.

PHILLIP: Sir? Two more incoming.
PEDRO: Three more over here.
RIVER: Still weak. Dangerous to move her.
AMY: So, can I open my eyes now?
DOCTOR: Amy, 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.

"Please listen to him for once Amy," Rory begged his stubborn wife, in response to which he received a cheeky grin that did nothing to fill him with confidence.

OCTAVIAN: Doctor, we're too exposed here. We have to move on.
DOCTOR: We're too exposed everywhere. And Amy can't move. And anyway, that's not the plan.

"You have a plan?" Rose asked hopefully looking at the Doctor who just grinned and held a finger to his lips before pointing at the screen, causing her to sigh and roll her eyes.

RIVER: There's a plan?
DOCTOR: I don't know yet. I haven't finished talking.

"Oh one of those 'plans'," Rory commented with a sigh, "the kind of 'plans' only you seem to really pull off and mostly through luck,"

"Hey!" the Doctor pouted at him, "I'd say they mostly work because of my genius, but I suppose, to lessor evolved brains, it may appear like luck," he sniffed haughtily, receiving a chuckle from Amy only to receive a poke in the side from Rory.

"Who's side are you on?" Rory mock scowled at her.

Amy pecked him on the lips, "You know I don't choose sides between my boys," she grinned pleased with herself and Rory and the Doctor smiled too, glad to see her more light-hearted considering her more, understandably, darker mood during the current episode.

The rest of the room watched the byplay with small smiles and slight wonder, as they still weren't quite sure of the exact dynamic of the trio, and how it worked.

DOCTOR: Right! Father, you and your Clerics, you're going to stay here, look after Amy. If anything happens to her, I'll hold every single one of you personally responsible, twice. River, you and me, we're going to find the Primary Flight Deck which is
He wets a finger and holds it up.
DOCTOR: A quarter of a mile straight ahead, and from there we're going to stabilise the wreckage, stop the Angels, and cure Amy.
RIVER: How?
DOCTOR: I'll do a thing.
RIVER: What thing?
DOCTOR: I don't know. It's a thing in progress. Respect the thing. Moving out!

"All hail the Thing!" Rory snarked, causing Amy to snort slightly in amusement.

"Oy you two, watch it!" Doctor cried pointing at the amused couple.

OCTAVIAN: Doctor, I'm coming with you. My Clerics'll look after Miss Pond. These are my best men. They'd lay down their lives in her protection.

"Good! They better," Rory nodded firmly causing Amy to smile fondly at him and kiss his check.

"My Roman," she said softly to him, ensuring the rest of the room couldn't hear her, and causing Rory to blush lightly.

DOCTOR: I don't need you.

"Be nice Doctor," Martha scolded lightly, "he seems like a good man and he's been very understanding of you, he's even risking his men to look after Amy for you,"

OCTAVIAN: I don't care. Where Doctor Song goes, I go.
DOCTOR: What? You two engaged or something?
OCTAVIAN: Yes, in a manner of speaking.

"Jealous Doctor?" Jack teased getting a scowl from the Doctor, John, and a small one from Rory not that he or anyone else really noticed the later.

OCTAVIAN: Marco, you're in charge till I get back.
MARCO: Sir.
AMY: Doctor? Please, can't I come with you?
OCTAVIAN: You'd slow us down, Miss Pond.

"Well that's nice," Rose muttered getting her a grin from Amy.

AMY: I don't want to sound selfish, but you'd really speed me up.
DOCTOR: 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.
AMY: You always say that.
DOCTOR: I always come back. Good luck, everyone. Behave. Do not let that girl open her eyes. And keep watching the forest. Stop those Angels advancing. Amy, later. River, going to need your computer!
AMY: Yeah. Later.

"That must have been so hard for you," Jenny said softly looking at Amy, who smiled back at the sweet girl that she was still slightly struggling with the fact she was the Doctors machine made daughter. Then again, River was her daughter, and the friend she'd grown up with and named her after, so yeah maybe not so weird; besides which Amy thought it was pretty sweet how the Doctor was with her and if anyone needed more family it was the Doctor.

DOCTOR: Amy, you need to start trusting me. It's never been more important.
AMY: But you don't always tell me the truth.
DOCTOR: If I always told you the truth, I wouldn't need you to trust me.

John blinked at the screen in confusion, how was the Doctor wearing his Jacket when he'd lost it to the Angels earlier? No one else, save the Doctor, seemed to have noticed so he decided to stay quiet and try to puzzle it out on his own, as judging by the subtle look the Doctor threw him, he wasn't going to get any answers from him.

AMY: Doctor, the crack in my wall. How can it be here?
DOCTOR: I don't know yet, but I'm working it out. Now, listen. Remember what I told you when you were seven?
AMY: What did you tell me?
DOCTOR: No. No, that's not the point. You have to remember.
AMY: Remember what? Doctor? Doctor?

"That was really random," Mickey commented in confusion, "were you trying to keep her mind occupied by something else or something?" The Doctor just smiled to everyone else's annoyance, "What's the point in having you here if you're not even going to explain anything!" Mickey groused.

The Doctors smile grew, "Spoilers!" he all but sang in amusement.

"I'm going to start hitting people who say that," Rose grumbled, and John found himself nodding in agreement along with Martha and Mickey, he really didn't like being on the opposite side to the one who knew everything.

The Doctor catches up with Octavian and River and inputs the readings from his sonic screwdriver into her mini-computer.
RIVER: What's that?
DOCTOR: Er, readings from a crack in the wall.

John took note that once again the Doctor was missing his Jacket, so what had that been before?

RIVER: How can a crack in the wall be the end of the universe?
DOCTOR: Don't know, but here's what I think. One day there's going to be a very big bang. So big every moment in history, past and future, will crack.

John practically flinched at that, what could cause such a bang? And how could he, or rather the Doctor he corrected himself, ever hope to fix it, or where they supposed to stop it?

"John?" Rose asked, having felt him move slightly, John just smiled and shook his head at her.

"That'd have to be some Bang!" Jack whistled with a slight smirk

"Jack," John said warningly turning away from Rose to frown at the man.

"What I'm just saying…" Jack said with a suggestive grin at the Doctor.

"Well stop it!" John scowled at him.

RIVER: Is that possible? How?
DOCTOR: How can you be engaged, in a manner of speaking?

"Haha! You are jealous Doc!" Jack snickered.

"Jack," it was the Doctors turn to growl warningly at Jack.

"Well you got to admit Boss, you do sound a bit jealous," Mickey commented causing the Doctor to splutter at him.

"I do not!" he cried in a slightly higher pitch then usual, before clearing his throat and trying again in a more normal pitch, "Don't be ridiculous!"

They all laughed at him, though many of them wondered, and the Doctor pouted until Jenny gave him a hug.

RIVER: Well, sucker for a man in uniform.

"There you go Doc, you just gotta play dress up to win her back," Jack snickered and the Doctor didn't even look at him, though part of him did want to say something about the superiority of bow-ties but he knew Jack would just twist it around, so he just sulked quietly while hugging his fantastic daughter and ignored the unnatural-immortal-man that had clearly been dropped far too many times when he was a small child if he thought he the Doctor needed to play dress-ups to win over one River Song, his own wife! And no, the tops of his ears were not burning from embarrassment!

OCTAVIAN: Doctor Song's in my personal custody. I released her from the Stormcage Containment Facility four days ago and I am legally responsible for her until she's accomplished her mission and earned her pardon. Just so we understand each other.

"Earn her pardon," Jack muttered darkly, earning himself curious looks from the others and a warning one from the Doctor.

DOCTOR: You were in Stormcage?
The computer chirps.
RIVER: What? What is that?

"Nice change of subject there," Jack muttered trying for light but too much coldness seeped in to have succeeded.

DOCTOR: The date. The date of the explosion, where the crack begins.
RIVER: And for those of us who can't read the base code of the universe?
26 06 2010
DOCTOR: Amy's time.

"Okay Amy, what did you do?" Rory joke scolded.

"Oy stupid-head!" Amy smacked him on the chest lightly, "It's your time too!"

"Nope, I'm pretty sure the Doctor just said 'Amy's time' not 'Amy and Rory's time'!" he said smugly.

Amy narrowed her eyes at him then turned her look on the Doctor who shrunk back slightly into Jenny.

"Fine! It's Amy and Rory's time!" the Doctor conceded quickly, leaving Amy to smile smugly at Rory who just laughed at the Doctors cowering, not that he really blamed him, Amy could be very scary and they both knew that.

Back at the mossy log.
AMY: So, what's happening? Anything happening out there?
MARCO: The Angels are still grouping.

The Angels push their hands into the Treeborgs, and the light starts to flicker.

"Crap that's not good," Mickey spoke for everyone.

"You think Rickey?!" John snarked earning him a swat from Rose.

MARCO: Are you getting this too?
PHILLIP: The trees? Yeah.
AMY: What's wrong with the trees?
PEDRO: Here too, sir. They're ripping the Treeborgs apart.
PHILLIP: And here. They're taking out the lights.
AMY: What is it? What's happening? Tell me. I can't see.
MARCO: It's the trees. ma'am. The trees are going out.

Everyone held their breath a little at that, their concern for Amy and the clerics growing.

[Outside the Primary Flight Deck]

OCTAVIAN: It doesn't open it from here, but it's the Primary Flight Deck. This has got to be a service hatch or something.
RIVER: Hurry up and open it. Time's running out.
DOCTOR: What? What did you say? Time's running out, is that what you said?
RIVER: Yeah. I just meant
DOCTOR: I know what you meant. Hush. But what if it could?
RIVER: What if what could?
DOCTOR: Time. What if time could run out?

There were some concerned and worried looks passed around the room but no one spoke up, most too unsure what the would mean, other then it would be extremely bad, and the last few more then worried and wondering if such a thing was possible and what exactly it would mean.

OCTAVIAN: Got it.

[Forest]

PHILLIP: Angels advancing, sir.
PEDRO: Over here again.
MARCO: Weapons primed. Combat distance five feet. Wait for it.
AMY: What is it? What's happening? Just tell me!

"Um I know you can't see, but there's nothing wrong with your hearing, is there? I mean they're pretty much shouting out what's happening," Mickey raised an eyebrow questioningly at Amy, who flushed slightly and frowned/pouted back.

"Oh she's probably just scared," Martha protested in defence of Amy, "having your sense of sight taken from you in such a dangerous situation, you're going to want as much information as possible to try and make up for it; it's only natural," she smiled at Amy who smiled back in thanks.

MARCO: Keep your position and, ma'am, keep your eyes shut. Wait.
A bright light floods through the forest.
MARCO: The ship's not on fire. is it?
PEDRO: It can't be. the compressors would have taken care of it. Marco, the Angels have gone. Where'd they go?
AMY: What, the Angels?
PHILLIP: This side's clear too, sir.
AMY: The Angels have gone?
MARCO: There's still movement out there, but away from us now. It's like they're running.
AMY: Running from what?

"Good question," John frowned.

"All I know is that it's probably not good," Rose muttered in response, "and probably to do with that light,"

MARCO: Phillip, Crispin, need to get a closer look at that.

"That doesn't sound like a good idea," Martha frowned in apprehension, "I mean it was enough to scare the Angels into fleeing.

AMY: What are you all looking at? What's there?

[Outside the Primary Flight Deck]

DOCTOR: Cracks. Cracks in time. Time running out. No, couldn't be. Couldn't be. But how is a duck pond a duck pond if there aren't any ducks? And she didn't recognise the Daleks. Okay, time can shift. Time can change. Time can be rewritten. Ah. Oh!

"No!" John jerked suddenly, looking at the Doctor, shock and dread waring on his face, and the Doctor looked back grimly not putting anyone at ease.

[Forest]

MARCO: It's like, I don't know, a curtain of energy, sort of shifting. Makes you feel weird. Sick.
AMY: And you think it scared the Angels?
PEDRO: What could scare those things?
MARCO: What are you doing?
AMY: Point me at the light.
MARCO: You can't open your eyes.
AMY: I can't open them for more than a second, that's what the Doctor said. Still got a bit of countdown left.

"Amy-!" Rory groaned out in utter exasperation, her stubbornness was surly going to get her, them (because there was no way he was letting her go it alone), killed one day; Amy just grinned back at him unrepented.

MARCO: Ma'am. you can't.
AMY: I need to see it! Am I looking the right way? I have to be quick.
MARCO: Very quick.
Marco points her at the light.
AMY: Okay.
Amy opens her eyes.
AMY: It's the same shape. It's the crack in my wall.
MARCO: Close your eyes, now.
AMY: It's following me! How can it be following me?

"Close your eyes Amy," Rory sighed unhappily.

Amy falls to her knees and Marco puts his hand over her eyes.

"Thank you Marco, at least someone has sense," he sighed getting an elbow to the side from his mildly amused wife.

MARCO: Are you okay?
AMY: Yeah. It was the same shape.
PEDRO: Marco, you want me to get a closer look at that?
MARCO: Go for it. Don't get too close.

"Wait what about the other two?" Martha asked confused at why they were sending another man when they had sent two already and not even tried to contact them yet.

Amy raised a finger, "wait for it," she said softly and sadly pointing back to the screen, even as she hugged Rory tightly, getting terrible flashbacks to his disappearance into the light and the Doctors too for that matter she thought as she pulled her legs up onto the couch and tucked her toes under the Doctors leg, feeling more comfortable now she had tangible proof her boys hadn't vanished on her again.

AMY: Hang on. What about the other two? Why not just wait until they're back?
MARCO: What other two?
AMY: The ones you sent before.
MARCO: I didn't send anyone before.
AMY: You did, I heard you. Crispin and Phillip.
MARCO: Crispin and who?

"Um, how could he have just completely forgotten the other two?" Rose asked confused but wasn't getting any answers from Amy who was busy tucked up between her two boys, nor the Doctor who was watching Amy with a soft look, and John seemed too deep in thought to give her any ideas, and the others were as lost as she, so with a sigh she let it pass.

[Outside the Primary Flight Deck]

OCTAVIAN: Doctor Song, get through, now. Doctor? Doctor.
DOCTOR: Time can be unwritten.

[Forest]

MARCO: Amy, there never was a Crispin or a Phillip on this mission, I promise you.
AMY: No, I heard you. Before you sent Pedro, you sent Crispin and Phillip, and now you can't even remember them. Something happened. I don't know what, and you don't even remember.
MARCO: Pedro?
AMY: Yeah, before you sent Pedro.
MARCO: Who's Pedro?

"Crap," Mickey summed it up for everyone.

[Outside the Primary Flight Deck]

DOCTOR: It's been happening all around me and I haven't even noticed.
OCTAVIAN: Doctor, we have to move.

"Doc, I think you should start listening to him," Jack said tensely, he was really concerned for the doctor and wished he were there to watch his back, as with the Doctor this mentally distracted, he was quiet vulnerable.

DOCTOR: The CyberKing. A giant Cyberman walks over all of Victorian London and no one remembers.

Everyone got an interested look at that snippet but looking around no one in the room seemed familiar with this tale save the Doctor himself, not even John seems to know.

OCTAVIAN: We have to move it. The Angels could be here any second.
DOCTOR: Never mind the Angels. There's worse here than Angels.
An Angel gets its arm around Octavian's throat.
OCTAVIAN: I beg to differ, sir.

"No! That poor man!" Jenny cried upset.

DOCTOR: Let him go.
OCTAVIAN: Well, it can't let me go, sir, can it? Not while you're looking at it.
DOCTOR: I can't stop looking at it, it'll kill you.
OCTAVIAN: It's going to kill me anyway. Think it through. There's no way out of this. You have to leave me.
DOCTOR: Can't you wriggle out?
OCTAVIAN: No, it's too tight. You have to leave me, sir. There's nothing you can do.

"He doesn't deserve this, he was a good leader to his men," Martha says sadly, her time working at UNIT made her better understand and sympathise with the Bishop.

"He's a very brave man," Rose commented, and the others nodded in agreement with their comments, no one wanted him to die.

[Forest]

AMY: Something's happening. Pedro was here a second ago and now you can't even remember him.
MARCO: There never was a Pedro. There's only ever been the two of us here.
AMY: No, there were five of us. Why can't you remember?
MARCO: Listen. Listen. I need to get a closer look at that light, whatever it is. Don't worry, I won't get too close.
AMY: No. No, you can't. You mustn't.
MARCO: Here. Spare communicator. I'll stay in touch the whole time.
AMY: You won't, because if you go back there what happened to the others will happen to you.
MARCO: There weren't any others.
AMY: There won't be any you if you go back there.
MARCO: Two minutes. I promise.
AMY: Please, just listen to me!

"I can't believe he just left you alone like that!" Rose cried out horrified, "it must have been terrifying being alone and not even able to open your eyes,"

"Not to mention the fact that everyone who'd gone already hadn't come back," Martha added worriedly.

"Yeah and what if the Angels came back, Amy would have no chance," Jenny frowned unhappily

[Outside the Primary Flight Deck]

OCTAVIAN: Sir, there's nothing you can do.
DOCTOR: You're dead if I leave you.
OCTAVIAN: Yes. Yes, I'm dead. And before you go
DOCTOR: I'm not going.
OCTAVIAN: Listen to me, it's important. You can't trust her.
DOCTOR: Trust who?
OCTAVIAN: River Song. You think you know her, but you don't. You don't understand who or what she is.
DOCTOR: Then tell me.
OCTAVIAN: I've told you more than I should. Now please, you have to go. It's your duty to your friends.
DOCTOR: Just tell me why she was in Stormcage?
OCTAVIAN: She killed a man. A good man. A hero to many.

Jacks hands clenched tighter and his expression tightened in both anger and fear. Everyone else frowned, unhappy, worried and curious all the same; except Amy and Rory who looked concerned and the Doctor, who's expression was more sad then anything.

DOCTOR: Who?
OCTAVIAN: You don't want to know, sir. You really don't.

"Well I do," Micky muttered getting a hard look from Jack in return.

DOCTOR: Who did she kill?
OCTAVIAN: Sir, the Angels are coming. You have to leave me.
DOCTOR: You'll die.
OCTAVIAN: 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.
DOCTOR: I wish I'd known you better.
OCTAVIAN: I think, sir, you know me at my best.
DOCTOR: Ready?
OCTAVIAN: Content.
The Doctor dives through the hatch and closes it.

The Doctor pulled his daughter into a tighter hug even as he noticed a tear sliding down her cheek, "He was a good, brave man," the Doctor said softly.

"He saved your life," Jenny whispered back sadly as she hugged her father closer, "I'm very thankful to him,"

"And so he will be remembered," Rory commented softly, "that way he'll live on and his sacrifice like those of his clerics will make a difference."

[Primary Flight Deck]

RIVER: There's a teleport. If I can get it to work. we can beam the others here. Where's Octavian?
DOCTOR: Octavian's dead. So is that teleport. You're wasting your time. I'm going to need your communicator.

Martha frowned slightly at the Doctor, that wasn't the best way to break the news of a death and he was talking rather harshly, but she didn't say anything because she knew the Doctor must have been in pain, not to mention feeling angry and guilty for the death of the Bishop.

[Forest]

Amy uses the communicator.
AMY: Hello? Are you there? Hello? Hello?
MARCO [OC]: I'm here. I'm fine. Quite close to it now.
AMY: Then come back. Come back now, please.
MARCO [OC]: It's weird looking at it. It feels really-
AMY: Really what? Hello? Really what? Hello? Hello? Hello? Please say you're there. Hello? Hello?

Rory hugged Amy tightly to him, kissing the top of her head, he hated that she was out there in danger all alone. I mean it wasn't that uncommon for them to be in a dangerous position whilst traveling with the Doctor, but they usually had each other or the Doctor, or at least clear knowledge that the others were coming for them. And then there was the fact Amy couldn't even open her eyes, she was completely alone and vulnerable, all the while the Doctor thought she had the four trained clerics protecting her.

DOCTOR [OC]: Amy? Amy? Is that you?

"Oh the relief you must of felt in that moment," Rose smiled gently at her getting one back from Amy

[Primary Flight Deck]

AMY [OC]: Doctor?
DOCTOR: Where are you? Are the Clerics with you?
AMY [OC]: They've gone.

[Forest]

AMY: There was a light and they walked into the light. Doctor, they didn't even remember each other.

[Primary Flight Deck]

DOCTOR: No, they wouldn't.
RIVER: What is that light?
DOCTOR: Time running out. Amy, I'm sorry, I made a mistake. I should never have left you there.

"Agreed," Rory said firmly giving the Doctor a stern look and getting an apologetic smile back, which seemed to settle him enough the look back down at Amy who gave him a loving smile and squeezed his hand slightly as she settled further into his arms.

[Forest]

AMY: Well, what do I do now?

[Primary Flight Deck]

DOCTOR: You come to us. The Primary Flight Deck, the other end of the forest.

"But she can't even open her eyes!" Micky cried out, "how's she meant to avoid the Angels?"

[Forest]

AMY: I can't see. I can't open my eyes.

[Primary Flight Deck]

DOCTOR: Turn on the spot.
AMY [OC]: Sorry, what?
DOCTOR: Just do it. Turn on the spot.

[Forest]

DOCTOR [OC]: When the communicator sounds like my screwdriver, that means you're facing the right way. Follow the sound. You have to start moving now. There's Time Energy

[Primary Flight Deck]

DOCTOR: Spilling out of that crack, and you have to stay ahead of it.

[Forest]

AMY: But the Angels, they're everywhere.

[Primary Flight Deck]

DOCTOR: I'm sorry, I really am, but the Angels can only kill you.

Amy and Rory tightened their hold on each other, Amy remembering losing Rory to that light, and Rory fearing losing Amy to it, knowing had she been taken then he wouldn't have even remembered her, just perhaps felt a strange sadness, an emptiness he would have no explanation for.

Everyone else looked worried and fearful not knowing what exactly happened with the energy hit you but knowing it was bad and that they would probably find out soon. John on the other hand had a good idea what might happen and feared, not just for Amy and his counterpart but for the whole of that universe, even as he buried the small part of him that felt relived that Rose wouldn't be harmed, what with them being in another universe all together, still the rest of his friends, former companions would all be effected, and not positively.

[Forest]

AMY: What does the Time Energy do?

[Primary Flight Deck]

DOCTOR: Just keep moving!

[Forest]

AMY: Tell me.

[Primary Flight Deck]

DOCTOR: If the Time Energy catches up with you, you'll never have been born. It will erase every moment

[Forest]

DOCTOR [OC]: Of your existence. You will never have lived at all.

Everyone's breath caught in their throats at that, it was one thing to die, traveling with the Doctor they'd all faced death at one point or another, but to be erased completely, to be unremembered to just have not been at all… it was a horrible, terrible thought.

[Primary Flight Deck]

DOCTOR: Now, keep your eyes shut and keep moving.
RIVER: It's never going to work.
DOCTOR: What else have you got! River! Tell me!

Everyone glanced worriedly at the Doctor, they knew he wasn't angry, he was scared, scared of losing Amy, scared of losing her so completely that she never existed, that no matter what time he travelled to, she wouldn't be there..

As Amy makes her way slowly across the uneven forest floor, there is a clanging sound in the ship.
RIVER: What's that?
DOCTOR: The Angels running from the fire. They came here to feed on the Time Energy, now it's going to feed on them. Amy, listen to me.

[Forest]

DOCTOR [OC]: 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 manoeuvre till the beeping stops.

[Primary Flight Deck]

DOCTOR: Because, Amy, this is important.

[Forest]

DOCTOR [OC]: The forest is full of Angels.

[Primary Flight Deck]

DOCTOR: You're going to have to walk like you can see.

[Forest]

AMY: Well, what do you mean?
DOCTOR [OC]: Look, just keep moving.

"Would that even work, I mean wouldn't the Angels be able to tell that she's got her eyes closed? I mean they know the instant you blink?" Martha questioned softly

[Primary Flight Deck]

RIVER: That Time Energy, what's it going to do?
DOCTOR: Er, keep eating.
RIVER: How do we stop it?
DOCTOR: Feed it.
RIVER: Feed it what?
DOCTOR: A big, complicated space time event should shut it up for a while.
RIVER: Like what, for instance?
DOCTOR: Like me, for instance!

"No! No you can't!" was pretty much the response from the whole room, it was an instantaneous response to the thought of the Doctor sacrificing himself, of dying but then the true horror hit them as Jack whispered the truth that they couldn't even begin to contemplate

"But that would mean you never existed, you'd be erased…" the incomprehensible horror of that comment, that idea, could be heard in Jacks voice and the very words sent shivers down their spines even as there minds tried to figure out what that would mean for them, their lives so far with no Doctor, the world, the universe with no Doctor…would anything still exist as they knew it?

In their horrified silence the screen started playing again.

[Forest]

The communicator beeps.
AMY: What's that?

[Primary Flight Deck]

DOCTOR: It's a warning. There are Angels round you now.

[Forest]

DOCTOR [OC]: Amy, listen to me. This is going to be hard but I know

[Primary Flight Deck]

DOCTOR: You can do it. The Angels are scared

[Forest]

DOCTOR [OC]: 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.

[Primary Flight Deck]

DOCTOR: Just don't open your eyes. Walk like you can see. You're not moving. You have to do this. Now. You have to do this!

"You can do it, I know you can," Rory muttered softly into Amy's hair as he held her tight, the others were all worried too but part of their minds were still stuck on the thought of the Doctor no longer existing.

[Forest]

Amy threads her way through the group of Angels, then trips over a half-buried tree root. She drops the communicator.
AMY: Doctor? I can't find the communicator. I dropped it. I can't find it, Doctor. Doctor.
An Angel turns its head towards her.
AMY: Doctor. Doctor!
Then another one turns, and another.
AMY: Doctor.
Amy gets to her feet just as an Angel reaches for her throat. There is a flash of light.

[Primary Flight Deck]

River grabs Amy.
RIVER: Don't open your eyes. You're on the Flight Deck. The Doctor's here. I teleported you.

"Wow that was so close, I'm kind of glad I couldn't see how close I came just then," Amy comments with slightly widened eyes, I mean she knew it had been a close one but not like that.

"Thank you River," Rory breathed out before pulling Amy into a kiss, the rest of the room smiled slightly at them glad to see something good happen.

RIVER: See? Told you I could get it working.
DOCTOR: River Song, I could bloody kiss you.

"Hey!" Jack cried, "you never offer to kiss me!" but there was a darker look in his eyes behind the joking, he most definitely was not ready to trust one River Song with the Doctor just yet.

RIVER: Ah well, maybe when you're older.

"Is that a hint?" Martha raises an eyebrow teasingly, though truthfully, she's still very unsure about this River, especially as she was still a prisoner for killing a 'good' man.

Rory on the other hand frowns, he does not need to hear anything about his daughter and best friend kissing thank you very much, unlike Amy who finds the whole thing sweet and amusing.

An alarm blares.
RIVER: What's that?
DOCTOR: The Angels are draining the last of the ship's power, which means the shield's going to release.
The bulkhead into the forest rises to reveal an array of Angels.
DOCTOR: Angel Bob, I presume.
BOB [OC]: The Time Field is coming. It will destroy our reality.
DOCTOR: Yeah, and look at you all, running away. What can I do for you?
BOB [OC]: There is a rupture in time. The Angels calculate that if you throw yourself into it, it will close, and they will be saved.

"And why would he want that?" Micky rolled his eyes.

DOCTOR: Yeah, yeah, yeah. Could do, could do that. But why?
BOB [OC]: Your friends will also be saved.
DOCTOR: Well, there is that.

"No Doctor, if you had never existed, you would never have saved us and none of us would be safe," Rose pointed out getting a small smile from the Doctor and squeeze from John.

RIVER: I've travelled in time. I'm a complicated space time event too. Throw me in.
DOCTOR: 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.

Jack laughed at that causing the others to stare at him in shock and disapproval well except for Amy and the Doctor who grinned and John who sighed in relief.

RIVER: Doctor, I can't let you do this.
DOCTOR: No, seriously, get a grip.
RIVER: You're not going to die here!
DOCTOR: No, I mean it. River, Amy, get a grip.
RIVER: Oh, you genius.

"I'm not sure what your planning but about time you came up with a proper plan Boss," Micky cheered, and the others all grinned too, glad that the Doctor seemed so happy now, likely meaning everything was about to work out alright.

BOB [OC]: Sir, the Angels need you to sacrifice yourself now.
DOCTOR: 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.
A monitor says Gravity Failing. River puts Amy's hand on the handles of a console module.
RIVER: (to Amy) You hold on tight and don't you let go for anything.
DOCTOR: Night, night.
Gravity Failed. Feet leave the floor. The spaceship tilts and the Angels fall backwards through the Forest. They disappear into the crack, which then closes.

The room cheers, the mood a hundred percent lighter now.

[Beach]

Amy is wrapped in a blanket. The Tardis is nearby.
AMY: Ah. Bruised everywhere.
DOCTOR: Me too.
AMY: You didn't have to climb out with your eyes shut.
DOCTOR: 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.
AMY: Then why do I remember it at all? Those guys on the ship didn't remember each other.
DOCTOR: You're a time traveller now. Amy. It changes the way you see the universe, forever. Good, isn't it?

"Yes," Amy smiled back at the Doctor, "the best," and it was, it was because it was due to her memories that she got Rory back, that she got the Doctor back, that she got her parents back.

AMY: And the crack, is that gone too?
DOCTOR: Yeah, for now. But the explosion that caused it is still happening. Somewhere out there, somewhere in time.
The Doctor goes over to River who's handcuffed and surrounded by a few Clerics not far away.
RIVER: You, me, handcuffs. Must it always end this way?

Amy snickers and the Doctor pouts back at her while Rory pretends like he heard none of that.

DOCTOR: Hmm. What now?
RIVER: 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.
DOCTOR: Octavian said you killed a man.
RIVER: Yes, I did.
DOCTOR: A good man.
RIVER: A very good man. The best man I've ever known.

There's a definite tension back in the room now, though not nearly as thick and choking as before, rather a more cautious worried tension, instead of fearful, though there was a definite hint of rage hidden behind a fierce protective air if one was to study Jack just then.

DOCTOR: Who?
RIVER: It's a long story. Doctor. It 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.
DOCTOR: The Pandorica. Ha! That's a fairy tale.
RIVER: Doctor, aren't we all?

"The Pandorica?" Jenny asks her dad

The Doctor smiles down at her, "I've got the tale in my workshop, we can read it tonight," he offers causing her to beam back at him and nod her head. A few of the others were keen to hear the tale as well but didn't want to interrupt a father daughter bonding moment so looked over at John who ran a hand through his hair but after a side look at Jenny and the Doctor nodded his head to them.

RIVER: I'll see you there.
DOCTOR: I look forward to it.
RIVER: I remember it well.

"Stop flirting," Rory mumbled unhappily causing Amy to laugh at him.

"Oh hush, it's cute," she grinned.

On the other hand the Doctor pretended like he couldn't hear them though the tips of his ears did turn a bit red. Jack meanwhile frowned at them and the rest of the room smiled, if just at the Doctors obvious discomfort, though they wondered on Rory's disgruntlement, and pondered at the actual relationship between the Doctor and River.

AMY: Bye, River.
RIVER: See you, Amy. Oh, I think that's my ride.
DOCTOR: Can I trust you. River Song?

"No," Jack muttered quietly, causing the Doctor and Ponds to frown slightly at him but they let it go, well more Amy and the Doctor let it pass, Rory still frowned at Jack, til Amy squeezed his hand and smiled at him.

RIVER: If you like. Ha, but where's the fun in that?

The rest of the room frowned slightly at that, still not to sure what to make of River, nor the seeming fond relationship the Doctor, Amy and Rory had with her, nor Jacks hostility towards her and her crime.

River is beamed away in a whirl of sand.
AMY: What are you thinking?
DOCTOR: Time can be rewritten.

[Tardis]

AMY: I want to go home.

"What?! You can't leave!" Jenny cried peerining around her dad to stare at Amy with wide eyes.

Amy smiled back at her, "Of course not," causing the room to relax back again.

DOCTOR: Okay.
AMY: No, not like that. I just, I just want to show you something. You're running from River. I'm running too.

[Amy's bedroom]

The Tardis has squeezed itself in by the door. The bridal gown is still hanging on the open wardrobe door.

"Oh um," Amy looks slightly worriedly at Rory who snorts and shakes his head at her.

"I know," he says rolling his eyes at her as she gives him a sheepish grin and then kisses him.

"Love you, stupid face,"

DOCTOR: Well.
AMY: Yeah.
DOCTOR: Blimey.
AMY: I know. This is the same night we left, yeah?
DOCTOR: We've been gone five minutes.
She picks up a ring box and opens it.
AMY: I'm getting married in the morning.
DOCTOR: Why did you leave it here?

"Really Doc?" Jack questions, more relaxed now that Rivers gone.

AMY: Why did I leave my engagement ring when I ran away with a strange man the night before my wedding?

Mickey raised an eyebrow at the three involved, wondering again at the dynamic they had.

DOCTOR: Yeah.
AMY: Hmm. You really are an alien, aren't you.

"Yep," Martha agrees, knowing just how alienly oblivious the Doctor could be.

DOCTOR: Who's the lucky fellow?
AMY: You met him.
DOCTOR: Ah, the good looking one. Or the other one?

"Thanks Doctor," Rory sighed a rather long-suffering sigh.

AMY: The other one.

"Amy," Rory moaned.

DOCTOR: Well, he was good too.

"Oh thanks," Rory muttered.

AMY: Thanks. So, do you comfort a lot of people on the night before their wedding?
DOCTOR: Why would you need comforting?
AMY: I nearly died. I was alone in the dark, and I nearly died. And it made me think.
DOCTOR: Well, yes, natural. I think sometimes. Well, lots of times.
AMY: About what I want. About who I want. You know what I mean?
DOCTOR: Yeah. No.
AMY: About who I want.
DOCTOR: Oh right, yeah. No, still not getting it.

They were all pretty much laughing now, except for the pouting Doctor and the slightly uncomfortable John. Even Rory was finding the whole thing funny, largely because he knew who Amy would definitely pick and because he had come to terms and was much more comfortable and secure with his own relationship with Amy and hers with their best friend the Doctor.

AMY: Doctor. In a word. In one very simple word even you can understand.
Amy tries to kiss him.

Jack was full on laughing and cheering her on now, the others after making sure Rory wasn't upset also soon started laughing at the Doctors reaction.

DOCTOR: No! You're getting married in the morning!
AMY: Well, the morning's a long time away. What are we going to do about that?
She pins him against the Tardis and tries to undo his shirt.

"Go Amy!" Jack cheered

DOCTOR: Amy, listen to me. I am nine hundred and seven years old. Do you understand what that means?
AMY: It's been a while?

"Haha, she's got you there Doc," Jack laughed, even Martha couldn't help but laugh.

DOCTOR: Yeah. No, no, no. I'm nine hundred and seven, and look at me. I don't get older, I just change. You get older, I don't, and this can't ever work.
AMY: Oh, you are sweet. Doctor. But I really wasn't suggesting anything quite so long term.
Amy finally gets to plant her lips on his.

"Whoop! Yay Amy!" Jack wolf whistles.

Rory just shakes his head at his wife's actions and sends the very much embarrassed and slightly stuttering Doctor an amused, slightly pitying, slightly teasing smile.

DOCTOR: But you're human. You're Amy. You're getting married in the morning. In the morning.
AMY: Doctor?
DOCTOR: It's you. It's all about you. Everything. It's about you.

"Probably not the best time to come up with whatever realisation you just did Doctor," Martha comments amused.

AMY: Hold that thought.
Amy goes and lies down on her bed looking back at the Doctor.

Amy snickers at herself finding this whole thing even more amusing watching it like this, she did enjoy seeing the Doctor so flustered.

DOCTOR: Amy Pond. Mad, impossible, Amy 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.
AMY: That's what I've been trying to tell you.
DOCTOR: Come on.
AMY: Doctor.
The Doctor hustles Amy into the Tardis and takes a last look at her alarm clock as it clicks over to 12:00pm 6/26.
RIVER [OC]: And for those of us who can't read the base code of the universe?
DOCTOR [OC]: Amy's time.

Then the screen went black and the menu screen appeared.

"Well that was a fun way to end that adventure," Jack grinned, "thank you Mrs Pond,"

"Oh you're more than welcome," Amy grins back wickedly.

"Amy!" the Doctor and Rory both scold at the same time causing Amy and Jack to laugh at them.

"Alright then," Martha smiles, "what's the next adventure going to be?" they all look at the screen with interest, but nothing happens, the menu stays on 'Flesh and Stone' instead of moving down to another one.

"Huh? Whats going on?" Jenny asks looking around, pausing when she sees her dad with his head tilted slightly to the side like he's listening to something, "dad?"

The Doctor blinks then smiles at her and the others in the room, "apparently we get a choice here," the Doctor says, "we can either go straight into the next adventure or," he pauses for a second until Amy elbows him in the side, "Ow!" he pouts at Amy, "Or we can watch an earlier adventure," he tells the others, "like when I first met one of you or an adventure you've heard mention of or one the menu skipped over, or the screen can show us random titles for us to choose from,"

"Lets take a vote," Rory suggests, "next adventure or past adventure?"

"I vote past!" Amy chimes in, "I want to see some of your adventures! Plus see what the Doctor used to be like,"

"I vote with Amy, past," Rory nods.

"Next adventure," Rose votes with a small smile, "I want to see what happens next," plus she wasn't sure about people watching her adventures.

"I vote past," Jenny said cheerfully, "I want to watch as many of my dads adventures as possible,"

"Next, like Rose I want to see what happens next," John says, he knows his past after all and he's still not sure if he's ready to watch his adventures with Donna or and number of his other lost companions just yet.

"I say next as well," Mickey voted, he wasn't to keen on people watching the earlier adventures he'd been involved with, he knew he hadn't been as brave as the others at the start, in fact the first time he'd met the Doctor, well lets just say it wasn't his finest moment.

"So that just leaves the Doctor, Jack and Martha to vote," Amy said looking between the three in question.

… … … … … … … … …

A/N: Sorry for the long wait guys, mostly it was because life is a pain and doesn't provide me enough good writing time, but also I got a bit of writers block right around the part where the Bishop dies, and then from there, for awhile at least, I struggle to get back into the characters correct minds/voices. I ended up just pushing through that bit even though I wasn't all that happy with it, but there are certain episodes still to come that I'm super excited to write so push through I must. I hope you all enjoyed this episode and that it's a least somewhat worth the long wait, and that I didn't do the characters to much injustice.

So yes, at the end of this episode I've left it open on whether I'll be doing 'Vampires of Venice' or a past episode, largely because at this point, I'm not sure which episode I want to do next. Normally I at least make a small start on the next episode before I post the just completed one, but this time I feel like you've waited long enough without making you wait until I decide. So with that in mind if you would like to cast your own vote (if it being a past one, which one, though there are a few that I don't want to do until certain other characters are present like 'the doctors daughter' I want River there for) feel free. Of course, once I pick and start writing one, I won't change it, but your votes/suggestions will still be useful in the future when I'm once again stuck on this decision.

Now I have received a few confused questions about where in the timeline the Doctor, Amy and Rory come from and I debated answering or leaving it for you to figure out as the story goes on, but provided you've reached this far in this massive A/N (it was actually longer but I edited some stuff out just before posting) I will explain my thinking, which will also somewhat explain where I'm planning to take this story if I ever make it that far.

So Amy and Rory come in after 'the God Complex' meaning that at this confusing stage they haven't seen River and the Doctor get married nor know that the Doctor doesn't die by the lake. The Doctor meanwhile is more complicated, (warning!some slight Spoilers ahead) see the characters watching the episodes are actually from an alternate universe/reality/thing that splits off from the show before 'Time of the Doctor', because the Doctor in my story after saving Galifrey figured out a trick to save River, much like he saved himself, though he still made it look like she died there to avoid changing his past; and then he and River worked out how to retrieve Amy and Rory from the past, more details if I ever get there in the story, though I will say Amy and Rory spent a few years in the past and don't travel with the Doctor anymore as they are raising their adopted kids, though he and River still stop by regularly and take them on the occasional trips; also Clara still travels part-time with the Doctor and River as she works on becoming a teacher. So yeah that's where the Doctors from and probably River if/when she appears. Anyway, I hope this whole AU thing doesn't disappoint you all too much, in fact I hope it excites you in seeing where the story is heading as I'm still excited to explore this possible timeline. Also no worries, this won't affect them seeing further future episodes as I really want to add some, but they will know that those adventures will be from a future of an AU and so might not happen exactly the same for them.

Now in reward/because of the potential wait to come (and because I really want to see if anyone can guess who), I will tell you that, at this stage, the next chapter that a new character turns up to watch with them (but not the next chapter to come), will be 'Amy's Choice', and I bet no one can guess who the person who joins them will be! 😊 (though I am a bit worried about writing this character and what people will think of them…) Hehe, no Spoilers though!

Sorry again for the long wait and long A/N, hope to see you next time!