The Doctor meets River
This takes place just at the end of "The Lodger"
NB: the first 5 lines are the same as those towards the end of The Lodger, to help set the scene.
"You need to leave that note for me in the paper shop," said the Doctor
"Right little matchmaker you are? Can't you find me a fella," Amy said, frowning slightly. The Tardis made a strange whining noise. The Doctor listened to part of the console with his stethoscope.
"Ohhh, the rectifier's playing up again. Hold on, I'll have to fix it."
"Doctor I'm starving, there's a lovely little pizza place just down the road from here."
"Is that right," he said, his full attention still on the rectifier.
"Yeah, my aunt used to take me to it when we went on holidays here in the summer. Can't we please get some pizza first, and then fix the Tardis and write notes later?" she begged.
He looked at her for a second. Even though taking the time to go and have pizza wouldn't make any difference to leaving that note, because with the Tardis he could choose the exact time they went back to leave it, his preference was for constant action, rather than sitting over a pizza attempting small talk. Amy was looking at him with a pleading look on her face. He gave in.
"Ok, pizza it is," he sighed. Now that the decision was made, the Doctor decided that he was actually rather looking forward to this. He was quite fond of 21st century Earth food and humans' quirky little habits that surrounded eating. Out of all the times and places he had ever visited, apart from his own of course, 21st century Earth was probably his favourite. He had always been fascinated in it from a scientific point of view. His interest had first been sparked when he was assigned to do a project on 21st century Earth when he was a teen at the Academy. After his exile to planet Earth he had found the people from the era particularly remarkable. While technologically advanced enough to not be too primitive for him to have a good conversation with, they were still somewhat backward, making them very interesting to study and observe. He liked the clothes of this time, and how easily they could be convinced that aliens were in fact real and not myth, and how easily they believed in him and what he could achieve. These people yearned for a real hero and had more than once found it in him. He had picked up quite a few companions now from the 20th and 21st century. All of them amazing women. He liked that the women were so independent and forthright. It had only been about fifty years since women's rights had come into play, and they still seemed to be finding where they really belonged in the community and were still so in awe of their new found freedom.
The Doctor and Amy walked casually down the road; both lost in their thoughts, to the main square of Colchester. The Doctor had enjoyed living so close to the main thoroughfare for the three days with Craig; it was an excellent place to live. After the delicious pizza in the quaint little Italian pizza place, Amy convinced him to look at the market stalls that were set up in the middle of the square. The Doctor wasn't too interested in shopping. He was not much of a collector and liked to live simply. His Tardis, and even his room in the Tardis were quite spare. He preferred being busy, he preferred action; he did not have time for collecting. The thought popped into his mind though, that with the ability to time travel, he could be one of the best collectors in the universe if he so wanted. As he stood by, watching Amy haggling for a necklace with green gems he thought for a moment that he saw someone familiar walking through the busy throng of people. Her outline caught his eye again. She turned to the side, and he watched as she smiled and said a passing word to one of the vendors.
"No, it can't be," he whispered. Amy turned around abruptly to see what was going on. The Doctor was beginning to walk away from her.
"Doctor?" she said, confused, abandoning the green gems.
The Doctor had at first intended to walk up and greet the young woman, but then stopped, as he realised it may be too early in her timeline to see him. He watched her. It was the youngest he had ever seen her.
Amy came to stand beside him and tried to see what he was looking at. Amy looked at the Doctor's face. She hadn't seen him with such an expression before. He looked like he was in awe, but also deeply saddened. As if he was reminded of past hurtful events. He looked as if he was standing on the edge of a precipice, and he was deciding whether he should jump, or simply turn and walk away. Walking away would be easiest, but who knows what treasures would be at the bottom of the fall?
"Who are you looking at?"
He pointed through the crowd.
"It's River," she breathed. "She's so young."
"Yes she is. By far the youngest I have ever seen her."
"She can't be any older than me. Come on, let's go say hello!" Amy grabbed the Doctor's hand and tried to pull him through the crowd. He twisted his hand and released himself from her grip.
"No. We shouldn't. It may be too early in her timeline. The River I have met has barely told me anything about us yet, because it is too early for me. I should give her the same space and respect."
" But what if this is when you were meant to meet?"
"Amy," he said warningly. The Doctor began to turn away when…
"Doctor!" an excited yell from River as she saw him through the crowd. He turned around to see her running towards them.
"Doctor," she puffed as she reached them. She had a gigantic smile on her face, her young eyes dancing with excitement and life.
The Doctor looked at her. She was so young. His eyes wandered over her briefly. She was much more slender than she was as an older woman. She was not yet curvy, with small hips and chest. Her frame was slight, but quite well muscled, her stance showing her tenacity and stubbornness. She was wearing army pants, a black singlet and combat boots. Her hair was not as blonde as in the older River. It was a light brown, and long, half way down her back, but still full and vigorous. The Doctor surprised himself when he realised that he found her breathtaking. Her large blue eyes looked up into his. He felt kind of shy and embarrassed all of sudden, as if he didn't know quite how to act. One very new part of him just wanted to hold her, but how much did she know of him, what was she hiding behind those cheeky eyes?
"River? We've met before?" he said carefully
She gave him a confused look for a moment and then this passed quickly back into a large smile.
"Yeah we have, but time travel right? Hasn't happened to you yet?"
He smiled back. "Was I wearing this face," he said, making a gesture towards his face.
"Yeah…. You have more than one face?" She looked partly disgusted, but also intrigued, as if she thought that maybe he had a wardrobe full of faces which he switched regularly.
"How much do you know about me?" asked the Doctor furrowing his eyebrows.
"Not much. I met you briefly the once. I had just turned eighteen. We didn't get to talk much. We were caught up in the middle of a very intense problem involving a Dalek invasion. You saved my life-"
" - Probably shouldn't tell me too much, since it hasn't happened to me yet. You have always been very strict with not letting me know about my future."
"You've met me in the future?" an excited smile donned her lips.
The Doctor grimaced mentally. What could he say to this woman since everything that he had shared with her hadn't happened to her yet. Why were they only meeting at the extreme ends of their lives?
"How come we keep meeting? Do I get to be your companion at some stage? Do we work together? Am I going to work in Torchwood, or as like…. an alien scientist in a government lab somewhere? Tell me please! This is so exciting," she rambled on animatedly, hardly stopping for a breath.
The Doctor was baffled. He didn't know quite what to say to this overly excited youth.
"River, this is Amy, she is my current companion."
"River." Amy says and shakes her hand. The distraction failed; quickly River's attention was back on the Doctor.
"So please Doctor, I have always been one who can't help but flip to the back of the book and read the end when I'm only half way through. Tell me about when I meet you again. Am I old? Do I get fat and grey?" The Doctor looked completely lost for words. This young and puppyish River was doing his head in. Amy stepped in to intervene.
"Ok you two, how 'bout we stick to current events, like the here and now. You're both giving me a headache."
She led them over to a cafeteria and sat them down.
"Why don't you tell us about yourself River, except for the time when you met the Doctor."
Over coffee, River explained that she was twenty-two and that she had recently moved out of her parent's house into a rental with three friends from college. She had finished a joint bachelor of science and archaeology with class I honours and was now doing her PhD. She had been working in the army reserves, which was good for her fitness and pocket. She had an intense interest in all things scientific and all things dangerous. She was an adrenalin junky and as a hobby enjoyed collecting and teaching herself how to use many types of weapons, both ancient and contemporary. She had a large collection of swords, knives, throwing axes, bows. She also had a gun licence and was a regular member of the Colchester Gun Club. She had her black belt in tae-kwon-do and Muay Tai and also did kickboxing. She said that since meeting the Doctor, she also had developed a strong interest in alien life and had been doing some of her own investigating…
"Talking about the Doctor, how much do you know about him?" asked Amy.
She looked at the Doctor intensely, "I know that you're an alien. That you're from Gallifrey. But you're the last. I know you are a Time Lord and that you have a spaceship called the Tardis, which can travel anywhere in space and time. I didn't know you have multiple faces." She had that slightly disgusted, yet fascinated look again.
"Well you see, I don't grow old like humans do. I change. I regenerate. This is my eleventh face."
"How old are you then?"
"907".
"Blimey!" River was drinking this all in. "Doctor, what I was saying before about doing my own investigating. I thought maybe this was why you were here."
He looked keenly interested as he handed her a photo of a body.
"There have been people going missing. Going missing for days on end, and then their shrunken corpses turn up. The bodies are dry, as if all their fluid has been drained. Almost like they are sucked dry. It happened to one of my flat mates. It was her cat, mind you, not her herself. It was so dry, like it was embalmed. All these deaths, they've been in my street and the next two. No where else."
"Fascinating. Well Pond, it's looks like our work here isn't quite finished," the Doctor smiled.
They headed back to River's rental. All her housemates were there plus extras. It was only 6pm, but already they were quite drunk. To River's surprise, instead of awkwardness, Amy and the Doctor became the centre of the conversation, laughs all around. The Doctor said he was a visiting archaeology lecturer from London and that Amy was his research assistant. River had been assigned to take them to dinner tonight. The young uni students were about to go out for drinks and then hit the clubs, and asked if River and her companions wanted to come. They politely refused.
As soon as they were out the door, the Doctor asked River, "What did your friend do with her dead cat?"
"We buried the cat in the yard."
"Good, let's dig it up. I want to have a look."
On the way outside, River handed the Doctor a shovel and Amy said, "This is kind of gross, isn't it? Digging up a shrunken cat corpse?"
"Well because it's 'embalmed' and all dried out, it will probably look and smell exactly the same as when it was first found, so it shouldn't be all that bad."
"It smelt like burnt rubber," said River dryly.
"Odd, but at least not overly sickening," he smiled at her comically.
As the Doctor examined the cat carefully, River stood by hoping that her friends didn't come back early. They would never look at her the same way if they saw what they were doing.
"Look at this…." the Doctor said carefully turning the cat over to reveal a massive wound which wrapped around its neck and went part way down its body. The overall circumference of the wound was about the size of a saucer.
"It looks like a massive leech bite," said Amy.
"While that seems absurd, I believe Amy is right. A massive leech bite indeed. That would explain why the bodies have seemed so dry and bloodless. A leech will suction onto an animal, or human and it will keep feeding until it is completely full of blood. If this thing is as large as this wound suggests, then it's no wonder these bodies are so bloodless. A leech this large would have kept sucking until the victim was completely devoid of fluid."
"So why haven't any of the bodies been covered in blood?" said River
Amy looked at her quizzically, but the Doctor knew where she was going.
"Yes! Why aren't they? Because, they should have been, shouldn't they? Why no blood left on the outside of the victims? You see Amy, so that the blood will keep flowing steadily from the wound, a leech secretes an anticoagulant into the blood, which means that this wound on the cat should have bled a lot. But yet I see no blood on the cat at all. This suggests that maybe this creature is more intelligent than a simple worm. After sucking out all the blood it looks as if it has either sucked or licked the blood off the cat as well. Yes, feel the cat. It is quite sticky. Worms, or leeches cannot lick, or put things inside their mouths and suck them clean." He sonicked it and tutted to himself.
"That's awful," said Amy.
"Yeah, death by suckerage" said the Doctor, turning the cat back over.
"It must have been so painful," said Amy
"Actually, if this creature is similar to leeches, maybe not. They release an anaesthetic when they attach to help prevent the host trying to remove them before they are full. It's possible its victims died painlessly."
She shuddered. "They still give me the heeby jeebs."
"Well leeches, or annelids, have actually proven rather useful," he said as he continued to examine and sonic the cat. "They can be used for medicinal purposes. I have seen them used in many races and subraces of several planets, especially jungle planets for medical blood letting. The species Hirudo medicinalis has been used for thousands of years on Earth to relieve many ailments including but not limited to….
"Not helping."
"They are also hermaphrodites," he offered cheerily. He placed the cat back in the hole.
"So," he said clapping his hands together. "If all the blood is gone, and the corpses are missing for days, and then turn up elsewhere, we may not be dealing with just a giant leech, but something else, something dangerous. But is it intelligent life, or is it just a very large, very hungry alien insect? It certainly isn't from Earth, that much is clear. But where is it, where is it hiding? You say it has only killed in this street and the two surrounding it? It shouldn't be too hard to find. We need to lure it out; I need to find what we are really dealing with here. We need meat. Lots of meat."
"We have a freezer full of steak in the garage at home."
"Perfect."
Back at the rental, the Doctor was pacing up and down in the main living area.
"Ok, so let's think of all the things that deter leeches," said the Doctor.
"Fire," said Amy.
"Here," River throws him a cigarette lighter from her pocket. He weighs it in his hand.
"Why do you have this?"
"I like to burn things."
He wasn't sure if she was being serious or not, and wasn't sure if he'd rather she had it to burn things or to light cigarettes.
"Salt!" said Amy
"Caustic substances… like alcohol, vinegar!" River
"Lemon juice. Insect repellent." Amy
"Ok let's forget the alcohol since we may use a flame," he said waving the lighter.
"I could bring deodorant spray so we can use it in conjunction with the lighter. Like a miniature flame thrower," River offered.
"You are a rather violent young woman aren't you?" frowned the Doctor.
"It comes with the package," she smiled at the Doctor and then said more seriously. "Ok my housemate has got bottles and bottles of insect repellent in his ute. They are big time campers. The rest of the items you'll be able to find in my pantry." She pointed it out as she left to get the insect repellent.
A short time later they had laid out all the items they needed on the kitchen table.
"Ok then, let's drench ourselves in insect repellent and wear clothes that cover up all our skin. Do you have water guns?" asked the Doctor.
"Yes…. super soakers," said River, looking slightly confused.
"Let's fill them with vinegar and lemon juice. Now, I must advise you that these substances cause the leech to basically vomit up its stomach contents. So beware. This is a very large leechie, with a very large stomach."
When almost everything was prepared River excused herself to her room, while Amy and the Doctor put everything in cardboard boxes for ease of carrying.
When she came out she was lugging three bows and three quivers of arrows. She laid them out on the kitchen table where the rest of their gear was being prepared.
"What are these for?" inquired the Doctor.
"For killing your monster."
The doctor ran his hand slowly over one which was elaborately carved. His hands shook slightly, as if he desired to take up arms once more and embrace violence to fight his battles again. But no, he couldn't give in to that. He had made a promise to himself. That road only ever led to more pain. He withdrew his hand.
"We don't need those, we have these," he gestured towards their makeshift weapons.
"Yeah but they won't kill the alien"
"That's not how I do things, River. Leave them behind. Let's go take a look at this. beastie," he said gathering up as much as he could carry.
"You know this 'beastie' has killed five people. Three from this street whom I knew well. Neighbours, friends. If we slaughter this murderous beast, it will bring peace to their loved ones," her face was filled with anguish and hate.
"No. Violence only leads to violence. Death only to death. We may yet find that this creature is intelligent. It may be lost or frightened-"
"…. Or just hungry," interrupted River.
"Heaven forbid, it may be someone's child or mother, it may be loved by another creature just like it. We talk first, and then take what action is necessary. I do the talking, I decide on the action."
River looked unsatisfied. Tears stung her eyes at the memory of finding the bloodless body of her neighbour. The Doctor recognised this pain instantaneously. He stood close to her, peering into her small face.
"If it is just a massive unintelligent bug, then maybe a kind death will be best. But you will let me decide. Not you River, you don't get to decide this. I know what you have been through is hard, and you feel that vengeance will satisfy you. But you can never satisfy vengeance. You can only feed it," he said gently but firmly.
It was the dead of night when they finally got outside. No one was to be seen. River explained that that was pretty common anytime after dark in these parts since all the murders began. People around here were scared. Too scared to go outside. Even River and her housemates were considering finding another rental.
The Doctor walked around from place to place, sonicking, smelling the air. Amy and River trailed behind with their boxes full of gear.
After they had done a full circuit, the Doctor finally came to the conclusion that the massive bug must be living underground, and must be coming up through the ground somehow for the attacks.
Walking along the road, the Doctor bent to examine a sewage inlet which was only two doors down from River's house. Around the lid he noticed loose gravel, as if it was being shifted regularly. He sonicked it.
"It's possible that our alien is coming up through these."
"So you think it's travelling around the sewage pipes?" asked Amy.
"So how does it replace the lids, surely it doesn't have hands," said River.
"If it is an intelligent creature, there is a possibility that it has found a way to replace the lids," said the Doctor, still examining the inlet.
"Or if not, I suppose the council workers could be replacing them as part of routine maintenance in the morning," said River.
"Alright," said the Doctor, straightening up. "This is a cul de sac, so we won't have to worry too much about traffic. We'll move the lid off this one to the side of the road, and throw a piece of our meat down the hole and drag another across the road, hopefully leaving a blood trail and put the rest of the meat in a pile in that spare block there. We'll be able to see both the meat and the sewage inlet from those bushes on the edge of the road," again he pointed.
"Do you think ol' leechie will go for dead meat?" River.
"I don't know. It will smell the blood though."
"What if a car comes?" Amy.
"If a car comes we can quickly jump out and stop it." The Doctor.
"We?" Amy.
"Fine, I'll jump out and stop it," The Doctor.
They set up, and waited in the bushes. The Doctor had asked them both to be as quiet as possible, firstly to keep from scaring the leech in case it was timid, secondly so that it wouldn't hear where they were in case it was vicious.
The pair seemed intent on talking anyway. The Doctor could see that Amy was fascinated by the fact that the River she had met in the 51st century was in fact originally from her time and was the same age as her. Amy had probably assumed that because they had met her in the 51st century that that was the time she belonged to, but with time travel anything was possible. The Doctor thought it also possible that he himself had taken River to the 51st century. He hoped not, because it was in that time that she had been put in the Stormcage Containment Facility. He very much hoped he had no involvement in that, especially he hoped he was not the cause of her arrest and sentencing or that he was involved with the killing of the good man she had spoken of.
A disturbance in his visual field brought him out of his thoughts. A very large worm-like shape erupted out of the sewage inlet. It rose up vertically into the air until it was about three metres tall. It was composed of about thirty segments. It was massive; its girth the same size as the sewage inlet. As it rose, the Doctor started to think it looked more like a tentacle from an even larger creature. Yes, it definitely had the appearance of a tentacle. The tentacle was tapered at one end to about the size of a saucer, complete with an anterior sucker and teeth.
The tentacle folded on itself, and then glided across the ground, following the trail of blood towards the meat. The Doctor's mind was ticking over rapidly. He felt he had seen this creature before. If it was a tentacle, maybe it could be…was it? Yes!
"Mobluncun! Yes! Of course, Mobluncun Aortican from Primitarian in the Edastica solar system!" he yelled out excitedly. The sucker seemed to turn towards them at the noise.
"Doctor, I think it heard you," said Amy, a slight note of fear in her voice.
"But surely not. Tentacles don't have ears," the Doctor.
"Tentacles?" said a surprised River.
"Yes that is but one of ten tentacles attached to a massive body still underground in the sewage pipes."
The Mobluncun did not seem interested in the meat.
"See I told you it wouldn't go for dead meat. It wants live meat." River.
"…. Live meat. We're live meat. It wants us. Due to the current situation I would suggest …. RUN!" the Doctor yelled.
They ran out of the bushes and onto the road just in time as the large tentacle crashed into the bushes. Amy managed to carry one of the boxes with her, but this slowed her down and she tripped, gear flying everywhere. The tentacle rose up above and was reaching down for her. River ran back and pulled her up, pushing her forwards into the Doctor's arms. The tentacle was coming for River now; she tucked and rolled out of the way, and picked up a stray super soaker. Flipping onto her back, she held the gun up with two hands and sprayed vinegar into the mouth of the tentacle. It reared back and vomited all over her. The Doctor grabbed her by one mucusy arm and pulled her up, trying to get them both away before the tentacle recovered from its currently lax state.
A man came out of his house into his front yard where the clearing was to see what was causing the commotion.
"No! NO!" the Doctor bellowed. "Stay back! Back in your house!"
It was too late, the tentacle lashed towards him and suctioned onto his chest.
"No!" the Doctor yelled.
The man stood there, as if completely numbed. His mouth opening and closing, his eyes rolling into the back of his head. His face went white and lax, he began to drool and then he collapsed. The swollen tentacle withdrew slowly back into the sewage hole.
"No!" screamed River. She escaped the Doctor's grip and ran to the man. He had a massive wound on his chest, but it had stopped bleeding because he was dead. There was no heart to pump his blood anymore. "No, no. Steve. Steve," she said, patting his face. "Wake up. Please wake up."
The Doctor stood by and watched, his heart breaking for this young distraught River. He went to touch her shoulder. She spun round.
"Don't you touch me! Don't you dare touch me! I was right! This creature is no more intelligent than a mindless killing octopus. If we had killed it, Steve wouldn't be dead!"
She turned back, and cradled him. She had known Steve well. They had gone to college together, and often shared rides because they lived in the same street. The Doctor wanted to hold her, comfort her, help her through the pain, but knew that River didn't want him anywhere near her. The Doctor began to walk away, hitting his screwdriver on his head, but then a movement caught his eye. Another massive tentacle had come out and was reaching towards River.
"River!" He dived for her and knocked her out of the way. The engorged tentacle wrapped around his middle picking him up, taking him towards the inlet in the road. He fumbled for his sonic screwdriver, but dropped it. River ran after him and leapt onto the tentacle just below the Doctor. She withdrew a long sharp knife from her jacket and hacked away viciously at the tentacle, hewing it off completely just below them. Both the Doctor and River fell hard on the road. The hacked tentacle spurted green fluids, and a deep screech emanated from the depths below. She grabbed the Doctor, who had fallen further than her and was hurt, propping him up and trying to get him away. The road shuddered beneath them and a huge crack opened up in the road sending them both sprawling forward. A massive creature was trying to rise from beneath. She could only just see its back protruding through the bitumen, trying to heave its way out. In the streetlamp light she could see it was fleshy and slimy, a dark shade of blue like the tentacles. A massive tail with a glistening spike erupted from the posterior of its back. The tail was like that of a scorpion's. She could not see its head yet and didn't think she wanted to. All its tentacles began to come to the surface, trying to lift it out. One tentacle reached for the Doctor. He tried to scramble away, but it suctioned onto some exposed skin on his ankle and began to feed. The Doctor threw his head back and cried out in pain. River threw a smaller knife concealed in her belt at the tentacle, and it reared back. But instead of dropping him, like she had hoped, it dragged him across the gravel towards the inlet.
"No stop! It can't let go because it's suctioned on," the Doctor pleaded in agony as he was dragged painfully across the road. River sized up the situation; the creature was mostly focused on getting its body out at the moment. She took this opportunity to run towards them both and grab the tentacle attached to the Doctor in an attempt to stop it from pulling the Doctor into the inlet where the hideous creature abided.
"Whatever you do, don't pull it! It will lead to further tearing of the wound, leading to massive and uncontrollable blood loss. Break the seal with a flat, blunt object. The suction of the mouth's seal must be broken, then it will loosen its jaws and hopefully release me."
Amy ran up with a shovel and threw it to River, and then aimed a super soaker at the tentacle, ready for action.
"Don't spray it yet, we need it to stay as still as possible, I need to remove the sucker with minimal damage to the Doctor."
Without hesitation River used all her strength to lever off the tentacle as the Doctor writhed in agony. The free tentacle thrashed about and then began to withdraw back towards the inlet. The Doctor lay there on the road panting, blood spreading out from the wound on his ankle. He was pale, and breathing shallowly. The sucker had been wrapped completely around his ankle, leading to a raw, fleshy wound. River removed her jacket and began to quickly bind the wound firmly to slow the bleeding, Amy stood at her shoulder ready to help if necessary. River looked up suddenly when she heard a giant cracking noise as the body of the Mobluncun emerged fully, the huge tail spike moving up and down dangerously. It stood on four muscular legs, like that of Komodo dragon, with a flat lizardy head. A huge tentacle swung at Amy and River knocking them both away from the Doctor. River, recovered immediately, determined to reach the injured Doctor before this creature did him any more damage. She scrambled towards him, but too late. The massive hulking body loomed over the Doctor. He tried to stand, tried to crawl away, but as he rolled onto his back to see the creature, the massive scorpion-like tail came down, stabbing its spike directly into his chest with a sickening thud. The monster withdrew the spike and the Doctor cried out and then collapsed into a small lifeless heap.
"No!" A dark madness swept over River's face as she ran wildly towards the creature and hauled herself onto its back, only just missing being spiked in the leg. She held onto the tail so it could not pierce her. She withdrew her knife once more and stabbed it viciously again and again into the creature's fleshy back with no restraint, the madness still in her eyes. The creature reared up more than once in agony, attempting to throw off its assailant. Her knife finally spun away as she hit too close to the tail where the skin was hardened. She had opened up some terrible wounds which were oozing green fluid. She withdrew a lighter and deodorant can from a pocket in her pants and used them on this murderous creature before flinging herself off its back as it caught fire dramatically. She hit the ground and rolled away, before reaching the unconscious Doctor and pulling him away from the inferno. She reached Amy who was spraying some straying tentacles with the super soaker. She dropped it as River drew closer to help with the Doctor. River looked back at the writhing monster, shrieking hideously in pain, as it burned to death. They each pulled one of the Doctor's arms, and when they got him back onto the grass of the spare block, they rolled him over onto his back. He looked in bad shape. He was pale and limp and she could only feel a whisper of air escape from his mouth. River knelt down beside him, and took his face in her hands.
"Don't die. Doctor don't leave me," said River, her throat thick, on the verge of tears.
Amy bent over him, and shook his shoulders slightly.
"Doctor! Doctor you're not dying here, listen to me! You know you can't die here, you have all that stuff to share with River… you've seen it, you know you don't die here today."
River looked briefly at her wide-eyed, before looking back to the Doctor. His eyes flicked open, but they looked vague and unfocused. He whispered hoarsely, "This would kill any human, but not me. My enzymes can reverse the effects of the Moblunucun's poison, but I need…I need." He was sinking in and out of consciousness. River held him close and patted his cool face gently.
"Doctor? Doctor, can you hear me? What do you need?" He jerked awake again.
"I need…I need warmth, get me inside, get me warm. I need tea, black as you can make it. I need salt and a carrot blended with honey, apple cider and turmeric powder. Now listen, this is important," he said, grabbing River and drawing her close, his voice little more than a whisper, "As a Time Lord, my natural internal temperature is 15oC, but when severely injured we often go into a healing coma and our core body temperature drops to below freezing. My body recognises that I'm severely injured, and I can already feel my internal temperature dropping, but you can't let it! The enzymes I need to neutralise the Moblucun's poisons will only activate at 15oC! You need to keep me warm!" He closed his eyes, and went limp again.
They carried him inside and put him on River's bed. Amy went to the kitchen to mix up the solution for him, while River tended his wounds. She turned up the heater as high as it would go and set her first aid kit down on the bed. She put a hand on his forehead, he still felt cool to the touch. She threw her blankets over him. She attended first to the sucker wound. She pulled the blankets back from his leg and rolled up the leg of his pants before removing her blood soaked jacket from the wound. It was still bleeding continuously due to the anticoagulant injected from the tentacle. She cleaned it with soap and water and bandaged it with gauze firmly. She removed his bowtie and unbuttoned his shirt. The wound from the spike was actually smaller than she thought it would be. It looked like a wound from a sharp hot poker, only larger. The skin was cauterised and blackened. She cleaned and bandaged it anyway, and also applied some cream from her first aid kit that was supposed to help relieve pain caused by burns. He had gravel rash on his hands, knees and elbows from being dragged and a mass of bruises on his abdomen from being dropped from such a height. She cleaned the cuts and replaced his blankets. She looked at him. His face was greyish, his lips pale. His breathing came in short ragged heaves and he was sweating heavily.
"Doctor," she whispered, and kissed him gently on the head. "Stay with me. Please don't die," she said stroking his cheek. She was scared. Amy hurried in moments later and River encouraged him to drink, holding his quivering head up for him. He opened his eyes slightly and he took deep draughts, before slumping back on the pillows. The jerking and shaking began to stop, and he seemed to be able to breathe easier. He looked calmer, more like he was simply sleeping. River felt his forehead, he was still cold.
She stood up and began to take off her clothes, stripping down to her underwear.
"What are you doing?" said Amy, shocked. She threw back the blankets and climbed in next to him.
"I'm sharing my body warmth with him, it's the best way to warm someone up."
"Feel him now, he's already warmer," she said, touching his face.
"Well as long as this is all scientific, I guess it's ok."
River lay her head on his chest, snuggling into him, enjoying the closeness. She sat up quickly.
"Something's wrong with his heart," she cried out to Amy as she was walking out of the room. Amy took the stethoscope from the Doctor's discarded jacket and listened.
"No, that's normal," she smiled. "He's a Time Lord. They have two hearts. With 170 beats per minute per heart."
"Really?" she looked at him in awe. He seemed so human. "He's amazing isn't he?"
"Yes. He's the most amazing man I've ever met."
"Amy, what did you mean before, about it not being his time to die because of all the stuff he shares with me in the future? What stuff?"
"I can't say. I can't talk about the future, River."
"Have you met me too?"
"Yeah. I did. Just the once. You were amazing. Please, don't talk to me about it though. I let things slip way too easily. I don't want to disappoint the Doctor."
River looked at him fondly before lying back down on his warming chest, as Amy closed the door behind her. The feel of his skin against hers was warm and comforting. She looked up into his sleeping face. Who was he? What connection did they share? She felt safe and calm, and drifted into a restful sleep.
The Doctor stirred, waking River up too. The early morning sun was streaming softly through the curtains. He looked around stiffly, confused, then looked down at River curled up beside him, still resting her head on his chest. She looked up at him sleepily. His colour was back, his eyes clear.
"Hey…" he said with a croaky voice, his eyes still half closed.
"Hey," she smiled.
He rested his head back on the pillow. He blinked a few times, then patted his chest. At the feel of his naked skin, he sat up suddenly, snapping to alertness.
"What happened? What on Earth am I doing in your bed, in your bedroom?" he looked at her and swallowed, furrowing his eyebrows, genuinely worried about what the answer might be.
"You're not….naked, are you?"
"Only half," said River neutrally, amused by his reaction.
The Doctor opened and then closed his mouth mutely, unsure how to proceed. He carefully lifted up the corner of the blanket and River could see he was relieved to find that he was not naked either. He looked at her again.
"Ah…River…" he said awkwardly, gripping his hands together nervously. She put him out of his misery, so he didn't have to ask the difficult question.
"Doctor, you need not worry. Nothing happened. I was keeping you warm…." she swallowed and sadness shifted her features. "You were like ice and so, so pale. You nearly died," she finished seriously. She reached out and stroked his cheek gently. He stayed perfectly still, as if torn between pulling away and coming closer.
"You really scared me for a while there. I know you said you would be fine, and I believed you. But I was still scared," she said quietly. He hugged her to him.
"It's ok," he whispered into her hair. "I always come back."
"Ah! It itches!" he said, rubbing the bandage on his chest vigorously.
"Don't scratch it," she scolded, moving his hands away. "It'll scar, or you'll make it infected. Can you take antihistamines?"
"No," he said, scratching it again defiantly.
"Well I'll get you a cold pack, that'll help. I need to change these bandages too. Stop scratching!" She swatted his hands.
She grabbed an overly large bed shirt from the bedpost and donned it before opening the door to find a young man standing in the doorway. She tried to close the door again a little, to hide the Doctor. How could she explain away a strange man in her bed?
"River? What's going on?" said the man.
"Tom. Why are you here?"
"I'm your boyfriend? Since when was there anything strange about me coming to see you in the morning."
"Boyfriend?" the Doctor exclaimed.
"What was that? Who's in there?"
"It's nothing." He tried to get past her. "I'm not decent," she said angrily.
"Well it's nothing I haven't seen before."
He pushed past her to see the half naked Doctor lying in her bed.
"Hellooo," he said with an awkward little wave.
"What the hell is this River?" he said gesturing aggressively towards the Doctor.
"It's not what you think it is. I know what it looks like, but it's not. He's sick."
"He doesn't look sick, may be a bit tired. Wear him out did you? What, were you trying to get a better job by sleeping with the visiting professor?" he spat.
He tried to slam the door in her face, but she caught it.
"Oh don't you dare, don't you dare slam my door! And don't you dare walk out before this is finished," she followed him out yelling.
The Doctor pulled his blanket up self-consciously and tapped his fingers on his knee, not sure how best to proceed.
He could hear River coming back in the house still yelling at Tom.
"He was really sick! Where else was I going to keep him! No I don't want him bad. Fine! Well just leave then!"
She came back, flushed and worked up. She changed his bandages vigorously.
"Ow! Would you mind taking this out on someone else, please!"
River's anger soon dispersed as she found that the gravel rash was completely gone and so was his sucker wound. The chest wound was still clearing up, but it looked grey now rather than black.
He took her hands as she finished re-bandaging the wound from the spike.
"You saved my life."
"A life for a life. You will save mine in your future, I have repaid my debt," she said simply, referring to the time she had first met the Doctor.
River cleared up her first aid kit and left the room leaving him to his thoughts.
….
"So this is it. The famous Tardis."
"Yes, this is her," he said patting his blue box affectionately.
"It looks like a phone box."
"Yes…. the exterior used to be able to blend in with the environment due to its chameleon circuit, but the circuit is now faulty and irreparable. It locked onto the form of a London police box after I visited 1963 London. I'm quite fond of it now though."
She pressed a hand to it, and could feel a humming sensation.
"You could come with me," he said, fiddling with his bow tie. "I could take you anywhere, anytime you want to go."
She searched his eyes. "Come back for me," she said slowly. "You've got Amy now. Finish your adventures with her and come back for me. It wouldn't be fair for us to leave now."
"Let me take you for a quick spin then, just to the moon and back. For saving my life. I promise it won't take any longer than it will for Amy to return from buying that green necklace."
She looked at him for a moment as if she really wanted to say yes, but then she shook her head. "No… I know if I go in, I won't be able to go back from there." She went to walk away, but he clicked his fingers and the Tardis doors opened. Warm yellow light spilled onto her face. The sight she saw amazed her beyond anything. She looked deeply into his eyes, he returned a smile, and gestured her inside with a tilt of his head.
She walked in and he followed, closing the door behind them. She couldn't believe her eyes.
"It's bigger on the inside," she gasped as she walked into the dome-shaped console room. She looked from the hexagonal console with the flight controls, to the wall roundels, to the time rotor. The Tardis hummed quietly.
"I know. The Tardis is dimensionally transcendental. The inside and the outside exist in different dimensions. Don't think about it too much, it will do your head in. Just believe…. and enjoy."
The Doctor ran up the stairs and fiddled with different coloured levers and buttons on the periphery of the console. River followed the Doctor, but was too breath taken to say anything. It was like all her wildest dreams had come true at once. The Doctor wanted to take her with him. Her. How could she ever come back from this, how could she go back to her life after seeing this.
"Right then. To the moon. Hang onto something."
She hung on for dear life as he pulled down a red lever, and the Tardis shuddered and jolted its way to the moon. The time rotor moving up and down rhythmically in the centre of the console.
On arrival, the Doctor ran down the stairs, and threw open the doors.
"I give you the moon," he said, gesturing her outside. She stepped up to the doorway.
"I've extended the air shell, so you can take a step onto the moon if you like. Though don't jump or you may bounce out of it and suffocate."
She took a step out. A great expanse of grey land dimpled with craters, ending suddenly in the pure blackness of space. She could see the footprints of past visitors, never to be eroded away. And then, in the blackness, a bright celestial orb. The Earth, her home. A dome of sapphire blue, swirling with white clouds. It seemed so surreal.
"July 20th, 1969, the first man stepped out onto the moon. Neil Armstrong. Eleven others followed his footsteps in the next three years. And you are now the thirteenth earthling to step out on to the moon, River Song. Pardon me, fourteenth. I have taken one of my previous companions here before."
She felt a stab of disappointment that she was not the first he had taken. But it was only momentary. How could anyone feel anything but exhilaration with this view?
The Doctor cleared his throat, "So, dear Thomas is your boyfriend then?"
"Yeah, you look surprised, what don't you think I can get a bloke?"
"No, it's not that."
"Is that a tone of jealousy I detect then?" she said quickly.
"No, it's just my alien...ness. Sometimes I sound not the way I mean to sound, and sometimes I sound exactly the way I don't intend to mean, but not the way I…." he made a strange noise in his throat and then swallowed awkwardly.
"What really happens with us in the future? Amy let something slip that maybe we share more than just a few chance meetings."
He sniffed. "Spoilers. It must be lived. Let's get you home, River Song."
After the return flight, the Doctor and River leant side by side against the outside of the Tardis, their arms touching companionably. The Doctor watched River as she stared up at the moon they had just visited. Realising his eyes were on her, she slowly turned to him.
"Come back for me Doctor," she said, and leant in and gave him a small peck on the cheek. "Goodbye."
"Goodbye River."
He watched her walk into the darkness. His heart saddened. What if this was the opportunity for them to be together and he missed it. He wished he knew what to do. How did he let himself fall for her so easily? Was it only because he knew of their future? Or were these new feelings real?
Despite what he had said to Amy when she had tried to kiss him, it had been a long time. It had been a very long time. He had quickly promised himself to not develop romantic relationships with humans once he became involved in the goings on of planet Earth. They were so impermanent, so fleeting were their lives. It was too hurtful. All his relationships with them would always end in death. But he was already married to River somewhere, somewhere in the future. It had already happened. So somehow he didn't feel quite so afraid. He had already seen her die. And the pain was not overpowering at the time because he did not know her yet. But the more he got to know this young River, the more the memory was already beginning to hurt him. At some point in his own timeline he wouldn't see River anymore, and that would be the same as seeing her fleeting life wink out. Or would it? Or would he keep popping in and out of her life until somehow he met his own demise, therefore escaping the horrible truth of the end of a loved one.
…..to be continued