Eleven's Soulmate (An Eleventh Doctor and OC story)

Twenty Two

THE MOMENT Pip closed her eyes, she immediately felt better, the pounding headache subsiding. The med scanner changes its colour from red to green. Everyone sighed with relief.

"You're fine. You're going to be okay" River assured her, the brunette now holding both River's and Amy's hands.

"Sir? Two more incoming" Phillip, one of the clerks observed.

"Three more over here" Pedro called out.

"She's still weak. It would be dangerous to move her now" River informed the Doctor, whom nodded in agreement.

Can I open my eyes now, because I dont plan on falling asleep on a tree trunk in the middle of a forest, thank you very much" Pip was back to her usual, sarcastic self.

The Doctor shook his head, before kneeling down to her level.

"Pip, listen to me. If you open your eyes 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 can't open your eyes" the Doctor told her, the brunette groaning in frustration.

"Doctor, we're too exposed here. We have to move on" Octavian pointed out.

"We're too exposed everywhere. And Pip can't move. And that's not the plan, anyways"

"Hang on, there's a plan? Blimey, why wasn't I told this?" Pip cried out, mainly in frustration due to the fact that she couldn't see anything.

"I don't know yet, I haven't finished talking. Right! Father, you and your clerics, you're going to stay here, look after Pip. If anything happens to her, I'll show you exactly why they call me the Oncoming Storm, and I'll hold each and every one of you personally responsible. And that's not a threat. That's a promise. River, Amy, you and me, we're going to find the primary deck which is... a quarter of a mile straight ahead" The Doctor took the time to glare at each cleric quickly, Pip groaning once again.

"Why do I have to stay here? Why can't I come with you. Yeah, I can't bloody see, but I want to feel somewhat useful, you know" Pip protested, obviously fed up already.

Apart from a reassuring hand squeeze from Amy, whom was pretty anxious as she didn't want to leave her alone, no one responded to her protests.

"Okay, but how?" River asked. Pip frowned. How what? Had she missed something?

"I'll do a thing" the Doctor responded, trailing off.

"What thing?"

"I don't know. It's a thing in progress. Respect the thing. Moving out!" The Doctor gestured to River and Amy to follow him, the latter seemingly anxious to leave Pip behind.

"Doctor, I'm coming with you. My clerics'll look after Miss Danforth. These are my best men. They'd lay down their lives in her protection" Octavian told the Doctor, whom seemed extremely reluctant to take him with them.

"I don't need you" he scoffed in annoyance.

"I don't care. Where Doctor Song goes, I go"

"What, you two engaged or something?"

"Yes, as a matter of fact. Marco, you're in charge until I get back" he signalled toward the cleric, whom saluted.

"So you're taking mister soldier with you. Why can't I come then?" Pip called out.

"You'd slow us down, Miss Danforth"

She scoffed at that.

"Slow you down in a minute" she muttered, Octavian barely hearing her.

"What was that?"

"I don't understand" she ignored his question. "If you're gonna take him, why can't I come? I want to feel useful"

"You'll be safer here, Pip. We can't protect you on the move. I promise you, I'll be back as soon as possible" he smiled, although she couldn't see it. As calm as he seemed, on the inside, he was a wreck. He didn't want to leave her, but he had to.

"You said that fourteen years ago, look what happened there" she shot back, growing frustrated again.

"I always come back. Good luck, everyone. Behave. Do not let that girl open her eyes. And keep watching the forest. Stop those Angels from advancing. Pip, later. River, going to need your computer!" The Doctor instructed.

"Yeah. Later indeed" Pip scoffed. She didn't trust the madman at all.

The Doctor heard this. He felt his hearts ache at how helpless she looked. He walked over to where she was sitting, bent done to her level, and grabbed her hands. She flinched ever so slightly.

"Pip, you need to start trusting me. It's never been more important"

"Trust you? After everything you put me through? You know, Doctor, I was nearly put into a bloody mental asylum because of how strongly I believed in you. That you'd come back for us. They thought I was insane. So I stopped"

"Stopped what?" He asked, feeling his hearts tear slightly.

"I stopped waiting. I stopped believing. I kept quiet" she was on the verge of sobbing, but refused to cry in front of everyone.

"I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry" is all he could respond with.

"Yeah well, bit late for that now. Suppose I'll just have to trust that you know what you're doing" her words made him smile slightly.

"I promise I'll be back" he said, kissing her forehead, before walking away. He couldn't help but still feel guilty.
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"How can a crack in the wall be the end of the universe?" River asked the Doctor, who was currently working at her computer.

Amy and Octavian stood in silence. Amy couldn't help but feel worried for Pip back in the forest clearing. They'd spent nearly all their life together, apart from the times where Pip had to go back to the orphanage, which the brunette hated. Suddenly being separated like this was hard for the red head to cope without her.

"Don't know, but here's what I think. One day, theres going to be a very big bang. So big that every moment in history, past and future, will crack" the Doctor answered.

"Is that possible? How?"

"How can you two be engaged, in a manner of speaking?"

"Well, sucker for a man in uniform" River smirked at Octavian, whom just rolled his eyes and chuckled slightly.

"She was released from Stormcage Containment Facility four days ago"

"You were in Stormcage?" The Doctor raised his eyebrow, not knowing if he could still trust her.

The computer chirps shortly afterwards.

"What? What is that?" The computer displayed a date on the screen. Everyone gathered round to look.

"The date. The date of the explosion, where the crack begins" he explained.

"And for those of us who can't read the base code of the universe?"

The Doctor had to whisper its meaning in River's ear, to which her face softened.
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Back at the mossy log, the soldiers were on lookout for any Angels.

"Anything interesting happening out there? Awfully boring having to sit here and look at nothing but those red and blue dots that appear whenever you close your eyes" Pip called out.

The nearby Angels push their hands into the treeborgs, and the lights start to flicker.

"The Angels are still grouping. Are you getting this too?" Marco spoke to Phillip, another clerk.

"The trees? Yeah." He replied.

"What's going on with the trees, then?" Pip asked, wanting someone to actually respond to her.

"Here too, sir. They're ripping the treeborgs apart" Pedro, another clerk reported.

"And here. They're taking out the lights" 

"What's happening to the trees? You.lot remember I can't see anything, yeah?"

"It's the trees, ma'am. The trees are going out"