One of my submissions for the Hearts of Time Saga challenge put forward by LizzeXX.

What if? Angel loses the Baby.

The Doctor winced as he heard Angel cry. He could feel his hearts breaking. He'd felt odd around Angel since his regeneration, strange little feelings niggling at the back of his mind. All of them centered on the Time Lady, but he'd ignored them, pegged them down to friendship and nothing more. But he'd felt jealousy whenever someone like Rory hugged her, and he hadn't thought about why.

He'd been protective of her, but he'd thought it was because Angel was the only living member of his people left in the universe that it hadn't occurred to him it was something more.

Now he knew the truth.

Angel was his Mate. Not in the friend sense of the word. When Time Lords Mated, it was for life. But the bonds could be broken over time, and right now the Doctor was feeling as if the bond he felt with Angel was breaking. It felt like it. He could feel the pain over the bond as Angel sobbed for losing the baby.

Her baby.

Their baby.

The Doctor hadn't expected that, but Time Lords could only reproduce with others of their kind, and from what he remembered from the stories Angel had told him about how unlucky her family was when it came to pregnancies, it only made him feel worse.

He'd forgotten her. He'd forgotten Angel, his Mate. The one thing in his life that made him feel like a person. How could he have forgotten her?

How?

And now they'd lost their baby, and now the Doctor remembered the mating. Rory had punched him in the face; he felt like he'd deserved it for ignoring Angel and forgetting about her, treating her like dirt. He had no one but himself to blame for this because he'd taken them all to the place where their last adventure had seen Angel injured. She'd been smacked in the abdomen when the blow had been meant for him, but he'd gotten out of the way and it hit her instead, and then she started screaming, and blood started spilling. Rory had kicked him, punched him, shouted at him that Angel had been pregnant, and he'd just killed their baby for landing them in danger all the time.

The Doctor had been numb with shock, and he hadn't believed it until he felt overwhelming agony coming not from him, but from Angel. Then he remembered, he remembered mating with her. And the Doctor could not help but hate the universe for making him remember his beloved mate in the most painful way possible.

Amy and Rory didn't say anything to him over the next couple of days. Angel had stayed in her room, and refused to come out. For everyone the events had been so shocking they couldn't even speak about it because they didn't know what to say - Amy because she didn't understand what had happened. Deep down Amy had always known there was more between the Doctor and Angel than the Doctor said, but she'd ignored it, acted like whore around him. Amy felt like shit because of how she'd acted, and if she'd thought her guilt over Rory hadn't been bad enough, but she hadn't expected Angel to be pregnant. She hadn't known and the signs had been there for all to see, and she'd ignored the obvious.

Amy had always been jealous of the relationship she'd seen with Angel and Rory, though they were just friends, and Rory seemed to be the only person that Angel would allow near her. When the Doctor had stepped into the room whilst they'd been talking, she'd taken one look at him, and she'd screamed her head off until he'd left, and even then she still cried her eyes out. The sounds only making the Doctor feel much, much worse.

Rory, however, with his relationship with Angel was the exception. He had plenty to say, and none of it was good. The Doctor had already been punched by him for his carelessness, his obliviousness, and his desire to get those around him killed. The Doctor was haunted by the way his adventures scarred those around him; he would forever think back to the days of his Fifth incarnation and how Adric had died, and later Tegan had left.

The cavalier way the Trial in his sixth life had gone, showing how he'd betrayed and abandoned Peri to the likes of the slimy Kiv still made him cry, but he'd never imagined his life like horrifying adventures had hurt his friends, but this time his Mate had paid the price for his recklessness.

Angel appeared, and everyone perked up as she approached the console, but then their eyes took in the bag she was carrying. She refused to meet the Doctor's eyes.

" Angel," he tried to say, but the Time Lady wouldn't look at him. Instead she took something out of her pocket.

" What're you-?" the Doctor started to say, but when he looked at the bracelet in her hand and clipped it on her wrist, he gasped as he felt something in his mind, like he'd lost a part of himself now he was aware of the mating. " No," he gasped. He collapsed to the ground as he realised he'd lost something, that he'd gone too far.

Angel used his distraction to walk to the controls. She started setting the co-ordinates carefully. The TARDIS hummed. Amy, who'd always just thought of the TARDIS as though it was a machine of magic, could've sworn the ship was humming sadly. Like it was alive...

The Doctor stood up, gasping, and he became aware of what Angel was doing. " What're you doing, where are we going?"

" Where am I going, I think you'll find," she corrected him with a look he couldn't identify. The Doctor had seen that expression before, but he'd never imagined it to be in Angel's face. Ever.

Contempt.

" I'm leaving you," Angel said, and she pressed the control to send the TARDIS to its next destination.

" No," the Doctor said.

Angel licked her lips. " I forgave you for forgetting me. But I will never forget how you recklessly provoked the Gli. What were you thinking? You knew they were very sensitive and quick to anger, and yet you just made stupid comments. Because of that the only thing I had left in the whole universe is dead, because of you."

Self hatred gripped the Doctor's hearts when his mind processed what Angel had just said, how she'd described the baby. Not once did she say anything about it being his. Angel just looked away. " I can't forgive you for that. I never want to hear from you ever again. I just want to be left alone, where Daleks, Cybermen, and the other races you enjoy prodding can't touch me."

The TARDIS landed silently, sadly. Angel went over to Rory, ignoring Amy and the Doctor completely. " Goodbye, Rory," she whispered. Rory nodded, sniffing. Angel wrapped him in a gentle hug. " I'll miss you, my companion."

" And I'll miss you too, my pilot," Rory whispered as he held her.

Finally Angel let go. She hadn't wanted to, but she had to get out of the TARDIS.

Oh, that reminded her.

" Bye, girl," she looked up at the ceiling.

The TARDIS groaned.

Angel picked up her things and walked out the door. She didn't look back.

Angel watched a few months later as a bright yellow bus appeared, driving towards her. She'd gone straight to Jack, who'd helped her through the pain of what'd happened to her baby, though she had needed to stop him from going after the Doctor and making the Time Lord pay.

She watched as Amy got off the bus followed by Rory, both carrying packs, calling to the driver, "Thanks!"

" You're very welcome." The driver replied. Rory looked around and spotted her. " Angel! You're here!"

Angel nodded, and she held up the TARDIS blue envelope. " I got this along with a note. I was tempted not to come to be honest with you."

Rory nodded, not blaming her.

Amy interrupted them. " Hi Angel, how are you?"

Angel smiled at her, but her smile was bittersweet. " I'm fine, Amy."

"Uh! This is it, yeah? The right place?" Amy asked. "Nowhere, middle of? Yeah, this is it." Rory replied. The bus drove away, revealing the Doctor sitting on a red car

"Howdy!" The Doctor called.

" Doctor!" Amy called. The Doctor laughed, "Ha-ha! It's the Ponds!" He jumped off the car hood. " Pond One and Pond Two!" He hugged Amy.

" Hello, Ponds, come here!"

" So someone's been a busy boy then, eh?" the Doctor chuckled. "Did you see me?"

Angel folded her arms, watching him. It was good to see the Doctor again, but she couldn't help but hate him for what he'd done.

Amy was oblivious to what she was feeling of course. " Of course! Stalker!"

" Flirt!" The Doctor joked back.

Rory held up his hand. " Husband."

The Doctor noticed him at last and let go of Amy. " And Rory the Roman! Oh, come here!" He hugged Rory instead. As he hugged Rory he took notice of the fourth person nearby. Angel. He numbly let go of Rory, who was more than happy by the gesture, and licked his lips. Angel's face was impassive. She didn't move to hug him. There was no love in her eyes.

" Hello Angel," he said to break the silence.

" Hello Doctor," she replied distantly. Part of her wanted to hug him, but she couldn't. Images of blood dripping down her legs, her own screaming in her eyes reverberating around her head as she realised her baby had died because the father was a reckless fool. Her hearts had mended themselves, but she knew she would never let herself be touched by the Doctor again. She refused to go through the pain again. She would and could never forgive him for the death of their child. Part of her blamed herself for not trying to remind him of the Mating, and in the end her baby had paid the price. She was never going to let that happen again.

" You got the envelope, then," the Doctor said. He'd been trying to speak to her over the bond for the last few months, but Angel was silent and he doubted she was going to speak to him much anytime soon.

" Yeah," Angel reached into her pocket and took the envelope out. " I was tempted not to bother coming, but something in me said to come. Jack loaned me his vortex manipulator, and I fixed it."

" Jack?" the Doctor asked nervously, ignoring Amy and Rory. " How is he?"

" He wanted to come and beat you up," Angel replied bluntly. " But I persuaded him not to. I'm not staying though, as soon as you get to the point I'm going back home."

Home. The Doctor's hearts panged. Home for Angel had been with him and the TARDIS, but not anymore. The TARDIS hadn't been the same since Angel had left him. She'd taken to throwing him around, tampering with the water and gravity whenever he was tinkering in the console room or in the shower.

Rory interrupted to dispel the tension by changing the subject. "Hey, nice hat." He said, complimenting the Doctor's stetson.

"I wear a Stetson now, Stetsons are cool." The Doctor replied, happy someone had noticed.

A gun fired and the Stetson is blown off the his head. The four of them turned around and saw a figure silhouetted against the sun. The figure moved slightly. Angel sighed when she saw River Song standing there, just as smug and arrogant as ever.

If River had seen Angel, she didn't show it. Instead she blew on the muzzle of her gun. " Hello, sweetie," she cooed.

Rory frowned at the way the woman so blatantly flirted with the Doctor. For himself, the Doctor looked away, and his eyes drifted over to Angel. The Time Lady just looked away, she didn't care anymore.

River smirked though it disappeared quickly when Rory coughed, and she caught his eye.

Later on the five of them went to a diner, though Angel sat as far away from them as possible. Rory watched her with worry as he and Amy grabbed some Cokes from the counter. The Time Lady sensed his attention, and she gave him a sad but reassuring smile. He wasn't reassured.

In a booth, the Doctor and River sat and compared notes about where they were in each others timestreams. The Doctor kept glancing at Angel but the Time Lady wouldn't look at him.

"Right then, where are we? Have we done Easter Island yet?" River asked, doing her best not to send superior smirks over Angel's way.

"Yes, I've got Easter Island!"

" They worshipped you there! Have you seen the statues?" River asked. Angel rolled her eyes; trust the Doctor to be worshipped whilst their baby had died because of his recklessness. Rory and Amy joined them, Rory passing Angel her bottle.

"Jim the Fish." The Doctor said.

" Oh, Jim the Fish! How is he?" River asked gushingly. Angel was beginning to regret coming, if she had to listen to River's voice one more time...

" Still building his dam." Angel snorted at that reply. The Doctor heard the snort, and sent a smile over to Angel. She looked away, and the Doctor looked down at the diary in his hands sadly. River sipped her Coke, smirking.

" Sorry, what are you two doing?" Rory asked.

Amy replied like she knew everything. "They're both time travellers, so they never meet in the right order. They're syncing their diaries. So what's happening, then? Because you've been up to something."

The Doctor nodded, and he became more sombre, sending a look over Angels way. The Time Lady turned in her seat by the counter so she could pay better attention. "I've been running...faster than I've ever run, and I've been running my whole life. Now it's time for me to stop. And tonight I'm going to need you all with me."

Angel quirked a brow at that, but she didn't say anything.

" OK, we're here, what's up?" Amy asked, leaning forwards. Her eyes were sparkling at the thought of an adventure.

" A picnic!" The Doctor replied. " And then a trip. Somewhere different, somewhere brand-new."

" Where?"

" Space...1969," the Doctor replied with a small smile, though it was tinged with sadness. Angel frowned. What was he doing?

Angel didn't like the lake. There was something...evil about it, and her time senses could feel the fracture in time around here. It was small and localised, but it was there. What were they doing here when there must've been other lakes? She couldn't help but shiver. Rory saw her shivering, and he wrapped an arm around her.

" What's wrong?"

" I don't like this place," she replied. Rory frowned, but he didn't have time to reply. Everyone else were sitting on a large and very nice picnic blanket, eating cheese, biscuits and drinking wine. Angel was sitting as close to Rory as possible and as far away from the Doctor, River, and Amy as possible. The Doctor toasted, lifting the bottle, " Salut!"

The others raised their glasses. " Salut!"

" So when are we going to 1969?" Rory asked.

" And since when do you drink wine?" Amy asked. Angel didn't say that the Doctor's alcohol tolerance was zero.

" I'm 1,103 - I must have drunk it some time," the Doctor replied to Angel's shock. He took a drink from the bottle and he spat it out. " Oh, wine's horrid! I thought it would taste more like the gums."

" It's been 200 years since I last saw you?" Angel asked, not needing to see the look on River's face. The Doctor caught her eye, and nodded grimly.

" 1,103? You were 908 the last time we saw you." Amy commented.

" You've put on a couple of pounds. I wasn't going to mention it," the Doctor replied with a quick look at Angel that only Rory noticed. The Doctor knew Amy was pregnant, but he didn't say a word of it because of Angel and the memory of her leaving him.

Amy looked up. "Who's that?" she asked staring up at the sand dunes. Rory followed her stare, and he saw no one. "Who's who?"

Amy looked over at Rory, her face frowning. " Sorry, what?"

Rory himself frowned, and sent a look over Angel's way. The Time Lady was staring up at the point where Amy had been staring at, as if she could sense something they couldn't. He looked back at his wife, becoming concerned. "What did you see? You said you saw someone.

"No, I didn't."

The Doctor interrupted. " Ah! The moon, look at it! Of course, you lot did more than look, didn't you? Big silvery thing in the sky, you couldn't resist it. Quite right."

" The moon landing was in '69. Is that where we're going?" Rory asked.

The Doctor looked away. "Oh, a lot more happens in '69 than anyone remembers. Human beings... I thought I'd never get done saving you."

Angel frowned, her sense of foreboding growing. What was he doing?

A pickup truck pulled onto the sand behind them and an older man steps out. The Doctor stood and held up a hand in a wave.

" Who's he?" Amy asked. Just the question on Angel's mind.

Rory and River stood up, they'd seen something else.

"Oh, my God!" River gasped.

Amy stands and looked with the others as an astronaut stood in the lake. Angel frowned, her bad feeling growing.

" You all need to stay back. Whatever happens now, you do not interfere. Clear?" the Doctor said, staring at each of them, looking at Angel the longest before he walked over to the astronaut. Angel watched him go.

" That's an astronaut. That's an Apollo astronaut in the lake. Look."

Everyone watched silently as the Doctor spoke with the astronaut. He then bowed his head as the astronaut raises its arm.

Amy whispered. " What's he doing?"

Angel's eyes flew open. " No!" she screamed, but she was too late. The astronaut fired and the Doctor staggered backwards.

" Doctor!" Amy and Angel shouted. Amy went to rush towards the Doctor but Rory and River held her back.

" Amy! Stay back! The Doctor said stay back!"

Angel wanted to move, but she couldn't. She was paralysed with shock. This was why the Doctor had written to her. He'd known he was going to die, but why...She winced as the astronaut fired again and this time the Doctor fell to his knees.

" No!" Angel shouted and tried to run forwards but River caught her. " You have to stay back!"

Angel caught something in her tone, and she looked into River's eyes. For once since her regeneration and her last meeting with this woman, Angel could see no malice in her eyes. But there was something else there beyond that...

River was broken from the spell of looking into Angel's eyes as Amy shouted, " No!"

But it was too late. Angel's eyes widened in horror as the Doctor stood up as regeneration energy began to waft from his hands.

" Doctor!" Amy called, but Angel's voice was louder. It was full of pain. No, this couldn't be happening...

The Doctor looked over at his friends, staring at each of them. When his eyes caught Angels, he stared at her the longest.

" I'm sorry." The Doctor whispered, though she heard him, and he tilted his head back as the regeneration started. But the astronaut fired again and the Doctor collapsed to the ground.

River screamed. " No! Doctor!" The four run to the Doctor's body as the astronaut slowly walked back into the lake. Angel got there first, and she put a hand on his chest. Wait, there was something odd about it, like it wasn't him...

" Doctor, please!" Amy begged as she and River knelt beside the body and River took her own readings of his vital signs with her handheld device.

" River... River!" Amy pleaded with her, but the device whirred and beeped in the negative. No life signs.

" River...," Amy said. River stood, firing her gun at the astronaut until she ran out of ammunition.

" Of course not," she whispered.

Amy was crying. "River, he can't be dead. This is impossible."

Angel sighed, she had to make her understand. "Whatever that was, it killed him in the middle of his regeneration cycle. His body was already dead. He didn't make it to the next one. He's gone, and there is nothing you can do about it."

" What about you? I thought Mated Time Lords died when their mates died," River said, and this time her voice was curious rather than malicious and sneering, but Angel didn't reply. Amy's sobbing had drawn her attention.

" Maybe he's a clone or a duplicate or something."

The man from the truck had walked down to them during all this, and he drew closer to a stop. He took off his cap in respect for the fallen Doctor.

"I believe I can save you some time," he said soothingly. " That most certainly is the Doctor, and he is most certainly dead. He said you'd need this." He put a can of gasoline on the ground.

Rory looked at it quizzically. " Gasoline?"

River took a breath, and turned to Angel. " Do you want to take this?" she asked gently, but the girl was looking down at the Doctor's body with an expression she couldn't identify. " A Time Lord's body is a miracle. Even a dead one. There are whole empires out there who'd rip this world apart for just one cell. We can't leave him here. Or anywhere."

Amy was stroking the Doctor's face. " Wake up! Go on, wake up, you stupid bloody idiot! What do we do, Rory?"

"We're his friends," River said, again looking over at Angel. "We do what the Doctor's friends always do," she picked up the can. " As we're told."

" There's a boat," Rory suddenly said, and Angel looked round and saw he was right. There was a boat close to the shore of the lake. " If we're going to do this...let's do it properly."

By the time night fell, the Doctor's body was burning in the boat as it floated in the lake. The five of them stood on the shore and watched. Angel was frowning. " Something doesn't feel right," she commented to Rory quietly so then Amy or River wouldn't hear.

Rory looked at her. " What do you mean?"

" He planned this," Angel replied. " Think of it, the envelopes, the meeting in the middle of no where complete with co-ordinates, the lake, the man with the truck and gasoline, and the boat. Doesn't that seem staged to you? Heres another thing, why is it I'm not dead? I may hate the Doctor at the moment, but we're still mated. If one of us dies then the other follows."

Rory thought about what Angel had just said, and he realised Angel was right. It did seem staged. He was about to say something when River pulled up to the man. " Who are you? Why did you come?" she asked, and Angel looked over in their direction curiously.

"Same reason as you," he said, and he pulled an envelope from his pocket. After a moment's hesitation, River pulled out hers and looked at him.

The man smiled at them. " Dr Song... Amy... Rory, and sorry, I don't know who you are?" He asked Angel.

Angel smiled at him. " I'm Angel. Nice to meet you."

The man nodded. " Nice to meet you, too. I'm Canton Everett Delaware III. I won't be seeing you again. But...you'll be seeing me." Without another word, he picked up the can and turned back to his truck.

River watched him go before turning to the others. " Five."

Rory was lost. " Sorry, what?"

River explained, "The Doctor numbered the envelopes."

The drive back to the diner was quiet, but when they got out River carried on with her explanation. Amy was still in shock. " You got three," River said, "I was five, Mr Delaware was four."

" And I was two." Angel piped up but River didn't look at her.

Rory was still lost. " So?"

Angel got it. "So where's one?"

" You think he invited someone else?"

" Well, he must have. He planned all of this to the last detail."

Angel nodded. " Yeah. The envelopes with the numbers, the meeting in the middle of nowhere, the lake, the astronaut coming out of the water, the gasoline and the timely arrival of Mr. Delaware the third, and the boat. He planned this. He must've known what was going to happen; where to come, when the astronaut was going to emerge. Everything."

River was about to say something but Amy interrupted. "Will you shut up? It doesn't matter."

"He was up to something," River insisted. " What was it?" she asked Angel.

" You're asking me? I haven't seen him in months, not since our baby died." Angel replied. River looked shocked by the admission, but only just because Amy said, " He's dead."

" Space 1969, what did he mean?" River asked.

" You're still talking, but it doesn't matter." Amy said, still numb with shock.

" Hey, it mattered to him." Rory said as he tried to comfort his wife.

" So it matters to us." River finished.

" He's dead." Amy whispered, emphasising the word dead.

" But he still needs us. I know. Amy...I know. But right now we have to focus."

Angel had turned to look away from the others...and her eyes caught another envelope. She nudged Rory and pointed at it. " Another envelope. One's here." She went over to it even as Rory went over to the man at the counter.

" Excuse me, who was sitting over there?" He asked, but the man shrugged in response. "Some guy."

Angel picked up the envelope and opened it. She took a good look at the instructions. " River, Amy, pass me your letters. I want to check something."

Bewildered, both women did as they were told, and waited for Angel to tell them what they'd found. " The co-ordinates in this one is different, the space co-ordinates are identical, but not the time co-ordinates. This one was set for a couple of hours after we originally left the diner. Did you not find it convenient that Mr Delaware arrived at a certain time?"

" What would be the point in that?" Amy asked, now her interest was roused.

River nodded, "The Doctor knew he was going to his death, so he sent out messages. When you know it's the end, who do you call?"

" Your friends, people you trust." Rory answered promptly.

River took the envelope from Angel. " Number one. Who did the Doctor trust the most?"

Angel knew the answer to that one as soon as the back door opened and in strolled the Doctor, a straw in his mouth. Amy, River, Angel, and Rory stared at him. He smiled and pointed at them.

When River spoke, Angel found herself in complete agreement with her for a change. "This is cold. Even by your standards, this is cold."

" Not just cold," Angel added. " It's heartless."

No wonder the mating bond didn't kill her when the Doctor died on the shore of the lake. It hadn't been him from her point in their time line, it had been a future version of him.

" Or, "Hello," as people used to say," the Doctor commented.

Angel felt as though her world was compressed. All she could see was a black haze, and the Doctor's smile only made her angrier than she had been before. Her hands crackled as the vortex worked in freeing itself, wanting to get out and cause him pain for what he was going to do.

She was so out of it she didn't even hear what he'd said to Amy.

" Of course I'm OK, I'm always OK," he hugged her though Angel could see he was mystified by her reaction. " I'm the king of OK. Oh, that's a rubbish title, forget that title." He let her go before moving onto Rory. " Rory the Roman, that's a good title. Hello, Rory!" He hugged him before turning to River. " And Dr River Song... Oh, you bad, bad girl, what trouble have you got for me this time?"

River slapped him.

The Doctor's head snapped back. " OK. I'm assuming that's for something I haven't done yet."

Angel moved forwards, her angry drawing the Doctor's attention. " Yes, it is. And I haven't started yet."

The Doctor gulped. " Why? What've I done?" Then he seemed to see who was in front of him. " Angel? What is it, what have I done?"

Angel held out the note. " Your handwriting," she spat. " Read it."

River tried to get in the way. " No, it's knowledge of the future-"

" Oh, shut up!" No one had ever seen Angel so angry before, not even River. The vortex crackled around her body, and the lights dimmed in the face of her rage. " Stop talking about time and the future as if you know everything. You're not even a Time Lord! We ruled Time. We wrote the rules. Compared to that, you're nothing more than a little monkey in a tree, banging rocks with sticks. Now shut up!" she spat at River before turning back to the stunned Doctor.

" I received this note. Read it." She handed it to him, and he took it to read. After a moment he didn't say a word. " You all received these?" he held up the notes. " They didn't," Angel replied. " They just received co-ordinates, but I received a note that persuaded me to come. Note the sentence I need your insight, you knew." She looked at him in disgust before revealing the vortex manipulator.

" What're you doing?" Rory asked.

" She programming the manipulator," the Doctor replied. " But why?"

Angel stopped what she was doing. " I'm tired of these games. I mated you because I thought you loved me, and naive fool I was, I loved you too, but when you regenerated you became a shallow idiot. Then I lost my baby, and now this. I never see or hear from you again. Stay away from me. I want no part in your life, but I'm not severing the connection between us. I still want to hear your presence in your mind," she went back to programming the manipulator before turning to River. " You want him, you can have him."

She triggered the manipulator but not before catching the Doctor's eye.

It was full of sadness.

Just like how she felt.