the hourglass (doctor who fan fiction)

Flesh and Stone pt. 2

I began to feel dizzy. "Juno? Juno, what's wrong?" River and Amy rushed to my side. "Juno, what's wrong?" Amy asked.

"Four."

I swayed and sat down, laying on a nearby tree trunk. "Med scanner, now." River demanded. "Doctor Song, we can't stay here. We've got to keep moving."

"We wait for the Doctor."

"Our mission is to make this wreckage safe and neutralise the Angels. Until that is achieved-" River interrupted, "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. 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?" I heard River say. "Oh, yeah." the Doctor responded. "I hate you."

"You don't." the Doctor said to River. "Bishop, the Angels are in the forest." he informed Octavian. "We need visual contact on every line of approach." Octavian ordered his clerics. "How did you get past them?" River asked. I saw someone couch down in front of me. It was the Doctor. "I found a crack in the wall and told them it was the end of the universe." he said. "What was it?" I asked. "The end of the universe. Let's have a look, then." he grabbed the med scanner from River. "So, what's wrong with me?" I questioned. "Nothing. You're fine." River gave a reassuring smile. "Everything. You're dying." the Doctor said.

"Doctor!" River scolded. I looked up, "Yes, you're right. If we lie to her, she'll get all better." the Doctor looked down to me, Right. Juno, Juno, Juno. What's the matter with Juno? Something's in her eye. What does that mean? Does it mean anything?" he leaned in closer to my face, looking in my eyes. "Doctor." I said. "Busy." he mumbled. "Scared." I shot back. "Course you're scared. You're dying. Shut up."

"Okay, let him think." River rubbed my shoulder. "What happened? She stared at the Angel. She looked into the eyes of an Angel for too long-" a cleric yelled, "Sir! Angel incoming." Another cleric informed, "And here."

"Keep visual contact. Do not let it move."

"Come on, come on, come on. Wakey, wakey. She watched an Angel climb out of the screen. She stared at the Angel and, and..." I spoke up, "The image of an Angel is an Angel."

"A living mental image in a living human mind. But we stare at them to stop them getting closer." he turned away. "We don't even blink, and that is exactly what they want. Because as long as our eyes are open, they can climb inside." the Doctor looked back at me, "There's an Angel in her mind."

"Three." I said. "Doctor, it's coming. I can feel it. I'm going to die." I tensed up. "Please just shut up. I'm thinking. Now, counting. What's that about?" he picked up his walkie-talkie. "Bob, why are they making her count?" he asked. "To make her afraid, sir." Angel Bob replied. "Okay, but why? What for?" the Doctor quizzed. "For fun, sir." The Doctor threw the communicator away. "Doctor, what's happening to me? Explain." I demanded. "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." he explained. "Then what I do?"

"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." he thought out loud. "Then what? Quickly." River said. "We've got to shut down the vision centres of her brain. We've got to pull the plug. Starve the Angel."

"Doctor, she's got seconds." River warned. "How would you starve your lungs?" he asked Amy. "I'd stop breathing." she replied. "Juno, close your eyes." he crouched down in-front of me. "No. No, I don't want to." I shook my head. "Good, because that's not you, that's the Angel inside you. It's afraid. Do it. Close your eyes." he held my hand. I squeezed my eyes shut. "She's normalising. Oh, you did it. You did it." I heard River exclaim.