We Will Rise |2| The Ascension

Chapter Sixteen: Blink

"This place is creepy," Martha muttered as the trio climbed over the fencing surrounding Wester Drumlins.

"I'm not surprised," the Doctor admitted. "I read Sally Sparrow's folder. There are Weeping Angels about."

McKenzie shivered. "I take it they look like actual angels, right?"

"Yeah, like statues. Until you look away," the Doctor agreed.

"Like that one?" Martha pointed over to an angel statue by the door to the building.

The Doctor nodded. "Don't let it out of your sight."

"There's someone else here," McKenzie realised, her eyes widening as she heard footsteps. She ran off, speeding towards the blond man in an effort to tackle him out of the way of the Weeping Angel—to no avail. Together they slumped to the ground in the past.

The blond guy finally spoke. "I'm assuming this is something to do with time travel, then?"

McKenzie froze, before sitting up to look at the man she'd tackled. "Steve Rogers."

Steve smiled. "Hi. What the hell just happened?"

"Well," McKenzie began, but she was cut off by the Doctor sliding down the wall a few metres away. "Oh, hey, honey. Basically, there're these things, these creatures called Weeping Angels. One touch sends you back in time."

"And we touched one?" Steve asked, getting to his feet.

"Yeah. You were gonna fall on it, so I ran to, uh, stop that, and failed apparently." McKenzie shrugged, going over to help her boyfriend up. "Look who I bumped into."

The Doctor blinked, before shaking Steve's hand. "Hey."

"Doctor," Steve greeted, nodding. "So, what do we do now?"

McKenzie sighed. "Well, if Martha's still in 2013, we can leave instructions for her to fly the TARDIS back to—" She heard a groan behind her. "Or not."

"Hi," Martha smiled weakly as she pulled herself up. "Sorry."

The Doctor got the folder Sally Sparrow had given them out of McKenzie's toolbelt, opening it up. "Well, I think we should go to Wester Drumlins. It's up to Sally Sparrow now."

***

Dr Harrie Watson was many things, but not usually a housebreaker. When she'd been assigned to the Wester Drumlins case, she'd been intrigued—who wouldn't have been, when three of the missing persons were superheroes? She hadn't, however, been so excited about the prospect of wandering around a dilapidated old house in the middle of the night. Still, that was the job. Not every case could be escorting government officials, after all.

Inside, the wallpaper was peeling off the walls, and most of the furniture was either rotting or broken—in many cases, both. Chandeliers laid strewn across moth-eaten sofas, remnants of the decadence of the past. On one wall, she could see paint underneath the wallpaper, a painted message from years gone by.

Curious, Harrie pulled at the paper, revealing the words 'Beware the weeping angel.' Then, 'Oh, and duck! Really, duck!', and even lower, 'Sally Sparrow, duck now!'

Something smashed through the window behind her, and she ducked reflexively. She looked out, only to see a statue of a winged angel, its hands covering its face. Swallowing, she turned back to the wall, pulling off the last of the wallpaper to reveal the end of the message: Love from the TARDIS Crew, 1969.

***

Later, she visited the house of her partner, letting herself in. At the same time, she phoned her up, eyeing the TV in the front room, which showed a still of the very couple they'd been trying to find.