Chapter 20: Inside Out

In the oxygen forest, Father Octavian shielded his eyes from the blinding light. He turned around to confirm his fears- the crack was expanding. It, previously much smaller, was now taller than most of the trees, and frankly, quite terrifying.

"Ms Pond, with haste" he said, and held Amy's shoulder tightly, steering her through the oxygen forest.

"But where are the Angels? Has this ship got scanners?" the Doctor asked Rose.

She bit her lip. "Ah, yeah, but would the Angels show up on them?"

"Good point. But seriously, where would they go?"

"Never mind that," Rose said, "Do you have any idea what that damned crack is?"

He scratched his head. "Err… No. When I first saw one, it was two points of space and time, pressed together. And now… It's like, anything that goes into it ceases to have existed…"

"Like with the soldiers, yeah? That's why Father Octavian couldn't remember them"

"The only reason that me, you and Amy can remember them is because we're separate from the time stream, time travellers."

"In the parallel universe, it was a gateway, for the Daleks to get through. Is it possible they're two different things?"

"No, they're too similar to be different things." The Doctor paused. "Did you get any readings off the crack in Pete's world?"

"Uh, yes, actually. According to th-" she stopped herself before she could say 'the Doctor'. "According to him," she amended, "the crack was an absence, with any matter or heat. Time itself, within the crack, didn't exist. It was, to say the least, weird…"

"No time existing in the cracks" the Doctor mused. "Maybe they're inverse reactions to something, a cataclysmic event"

"You'd need something massive for that though. What could generate that kind of power?"

The Doctor rubbed his face, obviously uncomfortable with the lack of answers. "No idea, honestly." he said simply.

A moment of silence was shared between the Doctor and Rose.

In his mind, the Doctor had several threads of thought. One was the problem of the angels. Another was of the crack, and the threat it posed. And the one on his mind at the moment, was the enigma of Rose Tyler.

From what he could tell, the human Metacrisis Doctor had been killed by the Daleks, and Rose had somehow been transported to this world. The Daleks had come to the world because he had let them go, and now Rose was blaming him.

Fantastic.

What else could he have done, though? The Daleks would have destroyed the Earth, if he hadn't let them go. Rassilon, if the Earth had been destroyed in 1941, then Rose Tyler wouldn't have even been born!

Rose was trying to find a scapegoat for the anger and misery she felt towards the Metacrisis' death. She had been stranded in a parallel world for who knows how long, unable to properly grieve the death of her fiancée, and when meeting the Doctor, all those feelings had been raked up again.

Meanwhile, Rose was thinking along the same lines. Meeting the Doctor again had brought up all that she had dealt with following the death of the Metacrisis. She had been angry, because the Doctor was the reason that the Daleks had been in the universe in the first place. But she couldn't help but think that maybe, just maybe, it wasn't of his doing, that he hadn't meant for the Daleks to escape.

God, Daleks let loose. That was a terrifying thought. She hadn't heard anything of them while at Father Octavian's charity, but knowing the Daleks, they were probably hiding in the dark, scheming equally dark plans. Then again, she hadn't really been observant for quite a while at Father Octavian's base, practically catatonic for some time.

It had freaked her out, seeing the Doctor again, because he had regenerated. She had seen some blurry footage and half focused photographs from around the place before hand, but meeting him… He was so different, yet so the same. This Doctor reminded her so much of the Metacrisis though, that it made her heart ache.

Both Rose's and the Doctor's musing were interrupted by Father Octavian, who had begun speaking over the control system.

"Doctor, Ms Tyler? Do you read?"

The Doctor pitched forward into reality. "Loud and clear, Father Octavian. What's up? Still no Angels?"

"No, Doctor. However, I've noticed some change in the crack."

The Doctor exchanged a worried glance with Rose.

"How so?" Rose asked, leaning forwards.

"Well, it's increased in size for one. Have a look yourself." Father Octavian said. In the background, Amy could be heard talking to Father Octavian in an indignant tone.

"Oi, Father! You didn't tell me this." The Doctor chuckled at this.

Rose tapped a few buttons on the control desk. "Main entrance to the oxygen forest should be opening." she murmured.

The entrance that had been previously used to enter the oxygen forest slowly cranked open. The sound of metal grinding against metal was loud, as the door was damaged and dented in several places.

"Oh, god." Rose said softly, looking at the crack that had been revealed. Even through the dense forest, the light from the crack could be seen, a penetrating white light. It seemed to have grown two fold, a hulking figure even amongst the tall trees.

The Doctor whistled at the sight. "Yep, it's certainly grown a bit."

Rose checked the control desk readings. "Scans indicate an increase of 125% in size. Why's it doing that though? Could something be coming through?" she questioned the Doctor.

"I don't know honestly, but I doubt it. It could just keep expanding, and expanding, until it swallows up everything in the universe. Actually, that sounds about right."

Rose swallowed loudly. "Oh dear."

"Yep."

"Any idea of how we can stop it?"

"No idea."

Rose stood up, and started tapping buttons on the control desk, clearly with a purpose.

"What are you doing?" the Doctor asked.

"Calling up Angel Bob. He seems like a stone statue in the know" she tapped a last button with finality.

"Hello Doctor and Bad Wolf. Have you figured it out yet?"

"Figured out what?" Rose asked, exchanging a glace with the Doctor.

"Time and space is cracked, Doctor, and you are seeing the symptoms"

"What?" the Doctor squawked. He was a Time Lord, he ought to know when time and space is cracked, for goodness sakes!

"The cracks, Doctor. They are the effects of time and space being undone." Angel Bob chimed, sounding somewhat delighted at the thought of time and space being undone.

"What happened to cause this, Angel Bob?" Rose questioned.

"The Angels no nothing of the event, Bad Wolf." the Angel blanked.

"Well, that's a load of help." she muttered. But Angel Bob spoke again.

"We require the Doctor to close the temporal gap."

Both Rose's and the Doctor's eyebrows shot up. Rose pressed a few buttons on the control desk, effectively shutting off the receiver to Angel Bob, and turned to the Doctor.

"Why would they need you? The crack hardly looks like it can be controlled."

"Well… the Doctor trailed off, clearly in thought.

In the oxygen forest, Amy Pond was walking blind- literally. She thought she had stumbled over every piece of bracken, been scratched by every twig, and tripped on every rock on her journey to the control room. Even with Father Octavian, who had been steering her through the forest with a tight grip, she felt like she had sprained at least one of her ankles.

"Not far now, Ms Pond." Father Octavian toned calmly, despite the fact that she had just ripped a large hole in her stockings. She had liked those stockings- those stocking had been very nice!

"Please," she groaned. "Call me Amy."

Father Octavian doesn't reply, but Amy imagines that he would probably ignore her wishes, and go on calling her Ms Pond. Jeez. 'Ms Pond' made her feel old, like an unmarried, old primary school teacher . Yeuch. Well, the unmarried part was true.

After a few more paces, Father Octavian halted, pulling Amy to a stop as well.

"What's up?" she asked.

"Nothing." he assured, though Amy swore she heard him pulling something out of his belt.

"Father, I'm a blind mouse at the moment. Tell me what is going on." she warned him.

She heard him sigh, and waited for him to speak.

"There's two Angels in our vicinity, Ms Pond. One at two o'clock, and the other at 9 o'clock."

She sucked in a breath. "Are they moving?" she asked.

"Not as yet, Ms Pond. I'll just message the Doctor."

A buzzing at the control desk alerted Rose to an incoming call. "Join the intercom party" she muttered, and hit the 'receive button'.

"Father Octavian to Ms Tyler, the Doctor."

"Loud and clear, Father." she spoke. "What's your status?"

"Two angels, but they're not approaching."

The Doctor moved over to the control desk. "Is Amy alright?' he asked.

Amy can be heard from the speaker, even though her voice is muffled. "I'm fine, thanks. How are you and the girlfriend?"

Both Rose and the Doctor blushed fiercely, and looked at the floor, unable to look at each other.

"Rose and I are fine." the Doctor managed.

"Riiiiiight…" Amy drawled, the suggestive tone evident in her voice.

"Would the Angels be using Amy and Father Octavian as bargaining chips?" Rose suggested.

"For what?" Amy exclaimed

"Uh…" the Doctor trails, uncertain of how to put this.

"Out with it, Raggedy Man" Amy ordered, and Rose smirked at how much the fiery ginger reminded her of Donna.

"The Angels want me to close the crack."

"Doctor, how could you do that?" said Father Octavian.

"Well… I have an idea of how…" the Doctor said slowly.

"How?" Rose questioned.

"Since the crack is, um, a gap in time and space, something that would make it, well, close in on itself, is a complicated object in space in time."

"No." Rose deadpanned, already knowing what he was going to do.

"What? What is it?" Amy said.

"Well, the most complicated object in space and time here, is well, me." the Doctor finished.

Da da dum! Here is an exceptionally long chapter for your troubles. I've gotten the plot straight in my head now, thank god. Thanks to those who forgave me for brain wipe I went through, and especially to those who proposed ideas. Shock and horror, I think I'm actually about two or three chapters off the end of this, but I think there will be a sequel. I'll keep y'all guessing though.

I'm actually going to start posting an Avengers/Doctor Who crossover in a couple of days. I don't know if anyone would actually read it though, crossovers don't have as much popularity as straight fanfics. Anyway.

Um, thanks for the amazing support, and until next update. I'm going to set a deadline for it, which shall be Wednesday. Or Tuesday, it depends which time sector you live in.

Thanks!