Before You Go (Sequel to The Visitor)

xiv. Filming to Utah

Annie spent a week at home with Margaret before both would board a flight straight to Utah, USA, which she spent several moments experiencing deja vu, besides the fact that Karen and Arthur weren't with her on the way there.

She had gotten the scripts for the back to back episodes of The Impossible Astronaut and Day of the Moon during that week, where she learned that the entire flight sequence and filming on the actual bus had been cut. Instead, they played out relatively similar to the original episode that she had watched in the First Universe.

Annie, accompanied by Margaret, arrived on set in the desert of Utah early in the morning. Matt and Karen greeted her, but all three actors were on edge for the scene ahead- The Doctor's death.

Will I really be able to go through all this again? wondered Annie as she loitered on the sand, waiting for the director to set up the shoot. It was near noon, and they were scheduled to begin soon.

"Right, Ellie," Annie let the director put her in her place, "Don't move from this mark until Matt goes, alright? We gotta do this quickly, mates; starting with Ellie because she's got tutoring in an hour."

Annie winced. Working with child actors wasn't the best thing in the world; because there are tons of laws and regulations on when kids can work on film and when they can't. Elle Rose, being nine years old (Annie was somewhat close to eleven or twelve with the Doctor near the end of A Good Man Goes to War), would have to have hours taken out of her day to learn and go to 'school'.

Annie watched as Arthur got into his place on the blanket. Karen sat beside him, Alex, too, and Matt was already standing.

"Rolling," began the director, and so they started.

Annie was already trembling, but she hid it well. When the director called for Matt, she was lightly concerned as she peered down at the water, but quickly reacted as she remembered being when the actual event took place.

She bit her lip to keep herself from crying, but it didn't work.

"Annie? What's wrong?" Arthur said his line perfectly, "Who is that?"

"It's fine," Annie shook her head in response, attempting to convey the emotion of trying to convince herself, "It'll be alright," she stuttered slightly, dropping her voice. The mic would pick up her dialogue, but Matt would need a reminder farther down.

The men working on sound created three shots from clapping pieces of wood (that would be taken out in the final cut, mainly because it was only for the actors and crew as a placeholder), and Annie quickly found herself lost in the memories.

She forgot to act in the moment. It was just her and the Doctor on that beach in her mind. "Please!" Annie could hear Karen shouting, and they were running- why were they running?

Annie was left on the blanket as Karen, Alex, and Arthur made a break for the shoreline, never feeling so lost in her life. Why were they running?