The dark hallway, absent of all human life save for a lone guard wandering through it periodically checking in the single occupied cell, may have disheartened anyone else.
For River, it only provided a source of annoyance. She threw a glare at the clock beside her. What a way to spend her first married night when he'd specifically promised to be here!
"He'd better have a heck of a good reason for this one," she muttered. She made another snarky face at her guard. He ignored it.
Maybe it was only minutes later, even though it felt to have been hours, when the man of the hour finally sauntered up to the bars and blew his caged beauty a kiss.
River headed for the door, fighting the urge to smack his face, with a flirtatious pout. "You're very late."
"Delayed" he said, with a wave of his hand. "But with every passing moment, my thoughts flew like meteors across the sky to join with your sorrows."
"Say anymore and I really will hit you"
He threw her a wink as he set to work sonicing the lock. "You know, this really doesn't do you justice" he said, with a survey of her cell situation.
"You had a better prison situation in mind?"
"TARDIS-bound. They're far too easy on you here."
River pressed up closer to the bars. "I can't imagine you as my warden." She rolled her eyes as a beam of light played on them and the guard hastened forwards to intercept her escape.
"OI! No conspiring with the prisoner! Visiting hours are over."
"Oh, I'm not visiting," said the Doctor, quite calmly. "Weren't you the one who sent the message about moving her to a specialized institution for psychological observation? No? Hmmm...well somebody did. My card" he fished his psychic paper out with one hand and flashed it under the guard's nose. "Doctor Smith, leading expert in the field. Within my care, she'll be a changed woman."
River gave a girly giggle, to play the part.
The guard eyed her dubiously. "I'm not sure..."
"Oh no worries. It's one hundred per cent legit. Have the order for transfer riiiight..." he whisked the 'paper behind his back to his other hand before holding it out again. "...here!"
"Sir, she killed a man"
The Doctor raised a brow. "Only? Well, my good sir, it's no wonder the judicial society of the galactic alliance is crumbling. There's serial killers out there and you jail this poor, confused woman who clearly belongs in a more nurturing environment. How will she ever learn the error of her ways if no one bothers to see to her mental imbalances?"
"Uh...guess so..." said the guard with an uneasy glance at River. "If you have the official release, I don't see any reason why not."
River gave a broad romantic smile as she swaggered out to sling her arms over the Doctor's shoulders. "Hello, sweetie" she murmured dreamily before giving him a very warm welcome.
The Doctor directed an astonished look at the guard as he detached himself from the moony River. "See? She's completely all wrong in the mind." He made a point of looking River over and tsking as he shook his head. "I don't even know where to begin in how mentally unbalanced she is. Give me some time to run some tests and I'll report my findings in a day or two." With a professional nod to the guard, he led River away.
The mystified guard could only scratch his head as he heard the insane laughter floating down the hall, which he could've sworn sounded more then just River's.