Weeping Angels - Touching past self

As Rory reached for the door of flat 4-A, the Doctor yelled out from behind him. ‘Wait!’

‘What?’ said Rory, his fingertips inches away from the door. A moment later, blue light began to flit intermittently across its surface, and across the walls, floor and ceiling of the corridor. Rory felt the hairs on the back of his hand stand on end. ‘What is it?’

‘A Blinovitch limitation field.’ The Doctor levelled his sonic screwdriver at the door, gradually moving closer until there was a spit and crackle. ‘Nasty stuff. Not good to get too close.’

‘But can we get inside?’ said Amy impatiently.

‘In a moment…’ said the Doctor, fiddling with his screwdriver. ‘Nearly there, nearly there…’

(...)

Mark reached for one of the letters and, as he did, the fingers of his right hand came into contact with Harold’s right hand. Mark heard a loud crackling sound, like a circuit being shorted, and an agonising bolt of pain shot up his arm. For a moment he had a sensation of cramp-like numbness, and could smell something burning, and then everything went black.

***

The Doctor forced open the door to the flat and rushed in, Rory and Amy at his heels. The entrance hallway flickered with blue light, and smoke drifted in the air. It was like stepping into a night club. ‘Hello?’ the Doctor called out.

‘Anyone home?’

They made their way through the smoke into a large room with a kitchen at one end and an office at the other.

All the electrical appliances in the kitchen were going haywire, switching themselves on and off, with smoke pouring from their sockets. Blue lightning crackled across the floor, the ceiling, the walls and the large, wide window that took up one side of the room.

Rory’s eyes started to stream from the smoke. ‘What’s going on?’ he coughed. ‘This place is going bonkers…’

‘Time-energy discharge,’ answered the Doctor, advancing into the room like a prowling tiger. ‘Overloads the electrics.’

The light fittings fizzled, sending out cascades of smouldering sparks. ‘And what could have caused that?’ said Rory.

tap-tap-tap

‘I think I know.’ Amy pointed towards the office, where two men lay slumped unconscious, one on the floor, the other across the desk. They both had their right arms outstretched and appeared to be giving off steam.

‘Mark Whitaker, A and B.’ The Doctor approached the bodies. ‘Must’ve made physical contact, shorted out the differential.’ He crouched beside the body of young Mark and took his pulse, before repeating the process with old Mark. ‘They’re lucky to be alive. It seems young Mark decided to pay his older self a visit.’

***

Touched by an Angel, Chapters 13-14