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River stood guard, her gun held steady in front of her as she stared out into the forest watching for any Weeping Angels that may approach. She was doing everything she could not to focus on the fact that the Doctor stood to her right was the youngest she had seen and that he would just get younger and younger. He was currently using her scanner to take readings of the area around them, trying to piece bits of information together to figure out what was going on. He couldn't help but think back to the last time he'd encountered the Weeping Angels. He and Danni had gone out on a date... he shook his head, it was very distracting.
"It doesn't open it from here, but it's the Primary Flight Deck." Father Octavian confirmed, examining the large circular door before moving to a small hole next to it, "This has got to be a service hatch or something."
"Hurry up and open it, time's running out." River replied, still angry at the man for revealing to the Doctor that she was currently residing in Stormcage and that she was only on the Byzantium to get a pardon, not that she needed one.
"What?" The Doctor's head jolted around so he was looking at her, "What did you say? Time's running out, is that what you said?"
"Yeah. I just meant..."
"I know what you meant. Hush!" He interrupted, River shooting him an offended look, "But what if it could?"
"What if what could?" River pressed.
"Time. What if time could run out?" He lowered his screwdriver and the scanner, his eyes darting around as his mind tried to join the dots. It was all related, he just didn't know how.
"Got it!" Octavian exclaimed, having unlocked the service hatch but he realised neither of them were paying attention.
"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 recognise the Daleks!" The Doctor ranted, River repositioning her grip on her gun. She knew he needed time to ramble to get to where he wanted to be, "OK, time can shift. Time can change. Time can be rewritt... Ah! Oh!" He trailed off, Octavian shooting him a confused look before looking up at River.
"Dr Song, get through, now." He commanded and she moved over as he ushered her though, "Doctor?" He called but the Doctor didn't reply, doing calculations in the air, making a clockwork motion then and anti-clockwork motion, "Doctor?" He called more firmly this time as the Doctor grinned.
"Time can be unwritten." He declared before his face fell, realising that wasn't a good thing. He smacked his forehead against a tree in frustration before storming off slightly, "It's been happening and I haven't even noticed!"
"Doctor, we've have to move." Octavian insisted but the Doctor moved further away.
"The CyberKing! A giant Cyberman walks over all of Victorian London and no-one remembers." He exclaimed, it all made sense. No one remembered the CyberKing because it never happened, Amy didn't remember the Daleks because they never invaded Earth, it never happened.
"We have to move it!" Octavian stated, annoyed that he wasn't being listened to. He stood up and approached the Doctor, "The Angels could be here any second." He placed a hand on the Doctor's shoulder to try and direct him into the hatch but the Doctor shrugged it off.
"Never mind the Angels. There's worse here than Angels!" As he finished speaking the lights went out, covering them in darkness for just a second before they flashed back on. The Doctor spun on the spot, alarmed to see an Angel holding the Bishop around the neck in a headlock.
"I beg to differ, sir." Octavian replied, his voice wavering in fear. The Doctor pulled out his screwdriver, sonicing the Angel.
"Let him go." He demanded calmly.
"Well, it can't let me go, sir, not while you're looking at it." Octavian explained.
"I can't stop looking at it, it'll kill you." The Doctor retorted.
"It'll kill me anyway. There's no way out of this. You have to leave me!" The Doctor shook his head. He wasn't prepared to lose anyone else, so many people had died for him he had sworn this regeneration would be different, he would save anyone who tried to help him.
"Can't you wriggle out?" He suggested, still scanning it. Maybe if he could find a weak spot he could break the stone and free the man trapped behind it.
"No. it's too tight. There's nothing you can do." The Doctor knew he was right, because he had been so involved in figuring out the cracks in the wall he'd let this man get captured and he was going to die, "Sir, there's nothing you can do." Octavian reiterated.
"You're dead if I leave you." The Doctor told him, not willing to accept it.
"Yes, yes, I'm dead. And before you go..."
"I'm not going!" The Doctor cut him off. There had to be a way, something he could do to save him.
"Listen to me. It's important! You can't trust her."
"Trust who?" The Doctor asked, dropping the sonic down by his side.
"River Song. You think you know her, but you don't. You don't understand who or what she is." Octavian explained.
"Then tell me." The Doctor commanded but the man shook his head slightly, having no movement in the grip of the statue.
"I've told you more than I should. Now, please, you have to go. It's your duty to your friends." The Doctor's teeth clenched, he had to save Amy. If he was going to get the Angel out of her head then he had to stay alive.
"Just tell me why she was in Stormcage?" The Doctor pressed.
"She killed a man, a good man, a hero to many."
"Who?"
"You don't want to know, sir. You really don't." Octavian promised and the Doctor leant closer. There was only one person who people would hide from him, the one person in the universe whose death would be something to hide and he had to make sure it wasn't her. Just because he said 'man' it didn't mean he wasn't lying.
"Who did she kill?"
"Sir, the Angels are coming. You have to leave me." Octavian tried, his breath coming out in pants as it became harder and harder to kill.
"You'll die." The Doctor pointed out sadly, realising he wasn't going to get an answer.
"I will die in the knowledge that my courage did not desert me at the end." He replied calmly, for above all things he was a man of God, "For that, I thank God and bless the path that takes you to safety."
"I wish I'd known you better." The Doctor admitted, tears in his eyes as he stared at the man he was about to let die, and there was nothing he could do, there was never anything he could do.
"I think, sir, you know me at my best." Octavian corrected him and the Doctor nodded.
"Ready?" He asked quietly and Octavian closed his eyes, a smile spreading across his face.
"Content." He replied and the Doctor sniffed, swallowing down the lump in his throat as he steeled himself. He rushed over to the hatch, diving through it to the sound of breaking bones and he paused for a moment, letting himself mourn a man he'd severely underestimated, and it had cost him his life.
~0~0~0~
River was already working on the machinery inside the primary flight deck, kneeling on the floor and changing wires when the Doctor came in.
"There's a teleport!" She told him, "If I can get it to work, we can beam the others here." She jumped up to see him close the hatch behind him, "Where's Octavian?" She asked as she worked on the control panel.
"Octavian's dead," She stopped as he strode past her, talking bluntly and quickly so he didn't have to dwell on it, "so is that teleport. You're wasting your time. I'm going to need your communicator." He picked up her communicator without waiting for permission as River reeled from the news. If the man was dead, not only was that devastating in itself but who would vouch for her and get her the pardon she'd worked so hard to gain?
The Doctor flicked through the channels on the communicator, trying to find the clerics so that they could bring Amy to him.
"Hello? Hello? Please say you're there. Hello? Hello!" Amy's voice came through, she was obviously panicking.
"Amy? Amy, is that you?" He asked, confused. She shouldn't have the communicator, one of the clerics should.
"Doctor?" She asked, sounding relieved at the sound of her imaginary friend's voice.
"Where are you? Are the Clerics with you?" He asked her.
"They've gone." His hearts dropped; that's what he'd feared. They were never going to be able to resist the crack, he couldn't and he knew what it was, "There was a light and they walked into the light. Doctor, they didn't even remember each other."
"No. They wouldn't." He replied sadly, turning to the console and flicking through the security cameras to look for Amy.
"What is that light?" River asked as she continued work on the teleport.
"Time running out." He told her before turning back to the radio, "Amy. I'm sorry, I made a mistake. I should never have left you there." He apologised.
"Well, what do I do now?" She asked.
"You come to us. Primary Flight Deck, other end of the forest." He told her, flicking a few switches before taking out his sonic screwdriver.
"I can't see! I can't open my eyes." She reminded him, sounding dubious. He held up his screwdriver to the bottom of the communicator, flicking through the settings.
"Turn on the spot."
"Sorry. What?" She asked and he frowned, moving the communicator back to his mouth for a moment.
"Just do it." He snapped then soniced the device again, keeping the noise going to help guide her, "Turn on the spot. When the communicator sounds like my screwdriver, you're facing the right way. Follow the sound." The whirring sound from the communicator filtered through as she spun on the spot, stopping on the same sound as the sonic screwdriver, "You have to start moving now. There's time energy spilling out of that crack and you have to stay ahead of it."
"But the Angels, they're everywhere." Her voice wavered with fear and he forced himself to keep calm, it was his fault they were there so he had to save her.
"I'm sorry, I really am, but the Angels can only kill you." He told her, lying to her wouldn't do her any good.
"What does the Time Energy do?" She exclaimed. He pointed his screwdriver at the door, keeping the sound continuing on as he held the communicator to his mouth again.
"Just keep moving!" He commanded firmly, not wanting to talk about it. He couldn't imagine what would happen if his little Amelia was eaten by the cracks. After spending so much of her life next to one but never being eaten by it, not only would it be heart-breaking to him but who knew what it would do to the universe?
"Tell me!" She pressed and he sighed angrily, stopping the noise.
"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." He told her, becoming furious at his uselessness with every word, "Now, keep your eyes shut and keep moving!"
"It's never going to work." River pointed out and he spun on the spot.
"What else have you got?" He screamed at her and she tensed, intimidated by his rage, "River, tell me!" She watched as he turned back to the communicator, sonicing it once more and firmly ignoring her. He was so young, he had no idea who she was and she couldn't get him to trust her, not like this and not this emotional. There was a loud clanging from the outside of the deck, the sound of something climbing across the roof and she jumped, spinning and looking upwards towards the noise.
"What's that?" River asked quietly, staring at it, scared at what it could be.
"The Angels running from the fire." He told her, a grin on his face, "They came here to feed on the time energy. Now it's going to feed on them." He turned back to the communicator, "Amy, 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 manoeuvre till the beeping stops. Because, Amy, this is important." He paused, squeezing his eyes closed and taking a deep breath to steady himself before nodding, "The forest is full of Angels. You're going to have to walk like you can see." He told her. He should be out there with her, helping her back but he knew he also had to stop the Angels and the crack. If either were to get out of the Byzantium the whole universe would be a stake, and while Amy was more important to him, he had to put that first.
"Well, what do you mean?" She asked him.
"Look, just keep moving." He told her firmly, turning back to the console.
"Amy take my hand..." Both he and River froze at the shaky voice that joined Amy's and he stepped away from the console, looking at the communicator in horror.
"Danni?!" He breathed as terror struck him. An unsteady laugh answered him.
"Hello Spaceman." She replied, "I'll guide her, you just keep doing what you're doing." He shook his head and headed towards the hatch. No, he couldn't leave her there. He had to get back to her.
"I'm coming back for you. The cracks..." He started.
"Don't you dare." She snapped back before taking a shaky breath, "We'll both be fine, you need to keep him working River." River nodded.
"Will do, sweetie." She called over, working twice as hard on the teleport. The quicker she got it working, the quicker she could get both of them back. It was one thing for Amy to be there, quite another for it to be Danni.
"I'm not leaving you there." The Doctor snapped.
"You left Amy." She pointed out, "Keep working." he looked at the hatch, then back at the console. Now Danni was there Amy had a much higher chance of making it back in one piece. She knew what she was doing, but he still didn't like it. He'd promised he'd look after her, and time and time again he failed her.
"Fine!" He shouted, annoyed, "But be quick, or I'm coming to get you."
"Don't worry about that." She told him, "I don't want to be out here any more than you want us to be here. Scared and running, it's a good combination isn't it?" He nodded.
"Yes. Now hurry up."
~0~0~0~
Danni held onto Amy's hand tightly as she looked around the area they were in. There was some trees, but nothing too hazardous and no Angels in sight. The forest was quite beautiful, really. If they weren't in so much danger she would have taken the time to examine it.
"I'll move you around anything big, but listen to the beeping." Danni told her gently as they started moving, "You still need to look like you can see and if I kept telling you where to go they might notice."
"Is it coming?" Amy asked and Danni looked behind them, seeing the tendrils of the light stretching slowly their way.
"Yes." She replied, "But very slowly. We've just got to keep moving and I won't let you down Amelia." She tugged Amy to the left, around a tree as the proximity detector beeped.
"You only call me Amelia when you're scared or upset." Amy pointed out with a nervous laugh.
"Well, I'm a bit of both." Danni told her, "Let's just keep moving."
"Why?" Amy asked, talking was helping to calm her down, "Where did you just come from?"
"Rose. There's a root sticking out of the ground." Amy gingerly felt the ground with her foot then stepped over the root.
"Ah, that's when he was mean-Doctor, wasn't it?" Danni had explained everything to her pretty early on and told her some of the horrible stuff the early Doctor had said to her.
"No, it was no-Doctor." She mumbled, her eyes welling up and she blinked them away. She didn't want to think about how he'd ignored her, and she didn't have to as a group of Angels appeared from no where, causing a high-pitched squeal from the communicator as the lights flickered.
"What's that?" Amy asked both Danni and the Doctor.
"It's a warning. There are Angels 'round you now." He replied gently.
"It's okay, I can see them." Danni told her, staring at the Angels even though they weren't looking at them. They were all cowering away from the light, and she didn't blame them.
"Amy. listen to me." The Doctor called to his companion, "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 or Danni. 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. You're not moving. You have to do this." Amy's grip tightened on Danni's hand and she squeezed back.
"Just take your time." Danni whispered, "We'll be fine, just take a deep breath and step forward. I'm not going anywhere, I promise Amelia."
"You called me Amelia again." Amy whimpered and Danni winced.
"Sorry." She replied, "Now, step forward, listen to the beeping and you'll be fine."
"You have to do this!" The Doctor shouted angrily down the communicator, banging on something on the other side. Danni growled and snatched the communicator out of Amy's hand.
"Shut up Spaceman!" She snapped back, "You're not here, you're not the one surrounded by Angels so you do not get to decide when she sets off. Either you calm down or I'm turning the communicator off."
"You have to get moving. They'll notice, and even if they don't the Time Energy might grab you and I won't lose you!" He argued back.
"Oh, go hug a blonde!" She shouted back, pulling her arm back and letting the communicator fly over the group of Angels, "Oh my god, why the hell did I do that?" She exclaimed, suddenly terrified.
"Danni, what's happening?" Amy asked, "What did you do?"
"Chucked the communicator into the forest." She admitted, "Right, we really have to move. Head up straight, Amy and continue straight on."
"I don't know where they are!"
"I do." Danni reminded her, "Straight ahead, just walk slowly and I'll pull you in the right direction." She began moving forward, between two Angels and Amy slowly followed her. She pulled her hand to the right, and Amy turned slowly until Danni started forward again. As they slowly made their way through the Angels, neither were paying any attention to the ground underneath until Amy stumbled, pulling Danni over as her foot caught on a root sticking out of the uneven ground. They both tumbled to the ground, Danni losing sight of the Angels as they landed in a heap.
"Amy, get up." Danni urged her, panicking, "Get up, I need to see the Angels." Amy scrambled up unsteadily, only to become face to face with an Angel, "Amy, no!" Danni screamed, only to be blinded by a white light and they both appeared moments later in the Primary Flight Deck. River automatically grabbed Amy, steadying the girl.
"Don't open your eyes." River told her firmly, "You're both on the Flight Deck, the Doctor's here. I teleported you. See? Told you I could get it working."
"River Song, I could bloody kiss you." The Doctor replied, openly flirting with her and Danni's eyes narrowed. If it wasn't Rose, it was River bloody Song.
"Another blonde?!" Danni snapped, "You have quite the fetish for them, you must have been so disappointed when I appeared all ginger." He blinked at her, surprised at the outburst. She was almost shaking in rage, her eyes glistening as she fought back tears. He stepped closer and she stepped back, away from him.
"Danni, what's wrong?" He asked her, slightly hurt at her moving away. She'd never shied away from him, but she obviously didn't want to be near him. An alarm started blaring above them, but the Doctor ignored it, "I know you were with Rose, I heard you."
"What's that?" River asked, trying to pull his attention away from Danni who began crying at the mention of the previous companion's name.
"The Angels are draining the last of the ship's power," The Doctor replied quickly, dismissing her question as he turned back to Danni, "I know you were with Rose, but you know I didn't mean it."
"Didn't mean what?" Danni asked, sound broken, "The mean words, telling me to go home, or the fact you hugged her and ignored me completely?"
"If the Angels are draining the power," River interjected loudly, "Doesn't that mean the shields are going to be released?" The Doctor's eyes widened and he turned to see the forest on full display, an Army of Angels facing the four. He stepped in front of Danni, shielding her from them as she whimpered.
"Angel Bob, I presume." He addressed the one at the front angrily.
"The Time Field is coming. It will destroy our reality." A man's voiced echoed around them, the Angel using his voice to communicate with the Time Lord.
"Yeah, and look at you, all running away." The Doctor taunted, " What can I do for you?"
"There is a rupture in time. The Angels calculate that if you throw yourself into it, it will close and they will be saved."
"No!" Danni exclaimed, grabbing his arm as if to hold him back. He groped behind him, grabbing her hand and holding it tightly. She clung to him and his anger flared at the thought of her being that scared.
"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Could do, could do that. But why?" He asked the Angels.
"Your friends would also be saved." Angel Bob pointed out and the Doctor nodded, looking back at Danni. The thought of her being eradicated from history, of him never knowing her made his blood run cold.
"Well, there is that." He admitted.
"No, you can't." Danni sobbed, "I won't let you." River let go of Amy, rushing over to Danni's side and wrapping an arm around the girl.
"I've travelled in time." She told the Doctor, "I'm a complicated space/time event, too. Throw me in."
"Oh, be serious!" He scoffed, "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 grabbed his arm firmly with her free arm.
"Doctor, I can't let you do this." She exclaimed.
"No, seriously, get a grip." He clapped his hand on hers.
"You're not going to die here!" She promised and he grinned at her.
"No, I mean it." He pushed Danni's hand into River's, "Danni, River, Amy, get a grip." She looked at Danni's hand, then up at him, amazed and annoyed at the same time.
"Oh, you genius!" She rushed over to Amy, placing Danni's hands on the console next to them.
"Sir, the Angels need you to sacrifice yourself now." Angel Bob insisted.
"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..." He smirked as River grabbed Amy's hands, making her hold onto some more handles.
"You hold on tight and don't you let go for anything." She told her, doing the same next to her.
"Night-night." The Doctor crowed, turning and grabbing the handle next to Danni. The gravity failed and they were suddenly dangling in mid-air as the Angels fell towards the crack.
"I'm sorry I shouted!" Danni sobbed, "I didn't mean it."
"It's fine!" He promise with a warm smile, "I love red-heads!" She giggled as there was a burst of white light, blinding them all.