DISCLAIMER: I own nothing.
SPOILERS: None I'd know of. And the last episode that I had watched before I wrote this was 6x13 'The Wedding of River Song', so I guess that should be mentioned as a somewhat spoiler, although nothing of it is mentioned here.
A/N:Well, I thought I had already uploaded this one, but no I hadn't. And it didn't go up earlier because work and that pesky thing called life has been a real pain for the last few weeks. But nevertheless here it is. Have fun and please leave a review.
Intermediate 3 - Every River
When the day comes that I don't love you
Every star will fall out of the sky
And every mountain will tumble down
And every river run dry
- Every River – Kim Richey -
She entered the hotel and queued behind the people already waiting at the front desk, not paying attention to anything in her surroundings. She was occupied with the ominous message she had gotten from River.
'I need you. Please come.' That was all she got. And an address. So here she was.
Stepping in front of the desk Shadow was a bit surprised that she actually saw River behind it. And in a tailored suit nonetheless. Shadow cleared her throat and looked River straight in the eye, silently inquiring what was up. River slid two keycards across the desk, sneakily covered as one.
"Allow me to show you to your room." River stepped out from the counter and went to the left, carrying herself like a professional in the hotel business. But Shadow guessed that River could move like a pro in any business.
They took the elevator to the 3rd floor and walked down the hall.
"So. What are you doing here?" Shadow inquired as soon as they had stepped out of the elevator.
"I'm the assistant manager of this establishment." River answered still in this professional attitude. Shadow narrowed her eyes. Something wasn't right here.
"Alright." Shadow said doubtfully. "You called, I came. What's up?" She empathically said.
They stopped in front of a room.
"Here's your room. Have a pleasant stay." River extended her hand and Shadow shook it.
"Thank you. I will." Shadow felt that River had slipped her a note.
River turned around and left. Shadow then took a look at the note.
'Walls have eyes and ears. Telepathy monitored. Your room is clear. Don't contact me. Come to my suite at 1930. No 1202.'
Well, that explained things. River was undercover.
Shadow entered her room and suddenly felt a silence wash over her. She knew something wasn't right. But now she really felt that the buzz she had previously attributed to the electromagnetic fields of the cables in the walls was in fact the field that monitored the telepathy.
She sat down on her bed and took out a book. It was still a few hours until her meeting with River.
When the time had come, Shadow dressed up a bit and made her way up to River's suite.
She slid the card into the door and opened it. Inside she turned to the right and found a living area with River and two other women on the couch. They were animatedly chatting.
Shadow put on her smirk and let the door audibly fall into the lock and leaned herself against it with her back. The room went stone silent.
River lost all color in her face.
"Hey." Shadow challenged the other two women with her eyes. They never stood a chance. They scurried to grab their things and hurried to the door. Shadow had moved a bit more into the room towards River on the couch. Shadow's smirk now conveyed to River that she didn't mean anything evil and wasn't angry. River's face in turn gained a bit of color again.
"I see your a bit more in color now." Shadow exchanged the smirk for a genuine smile as soon as she heard the door close behind her.
"I just had them here to gather information." River tried to defend the situation when Shadow had positioned herself right in front River, who had her legs drawn up.
"Oh, shut up." Shadow exclaimed and kissed River. It heated up quickly and clothes were shed in a hurry.
After that everything was quite fuzzy for both. The next thing they knew they were on the couch beside each other; thoroughly satisfied.
Shadow looked at River with a loving expression.
"This is not right." River suddenly put forward.
"What?" Shadow was completely confused.
"I'm using you. I only called you here because..." River couldn't bear to look at Shadow.
In Shadow's head a whole barrage of lights lit up. "Stop it!" She said forcefully. "I'm here because I want to be here."
"But..." River tried again.
"No but's." Shadow swung her leg over River, so that she sat in River's lap. Grabbing River's face and looking her very deeply into the eyes she quietly added stressing every syllable. "I love you with everything I am."
It seemed a bit like River only then realized what kind of power she actually had over Shadow. She looked absolutely terrified.
"We will never have a normal life. Could we even settle down?" River interjected.
"To be honest...I don't care. All that matters to me is that we have each other. I don't care if we settle down or roam the universe. I will be happy any way it turns out in the end as long as you're there with me." Shadow smiled lovingly.
That threw River completely. She jumped up and only Shadow's fast reflexes kept her from tumbling onto her butt.
River randomly grabbed a shirt from the floor and put it on whilst walking in the direction of the door, not noticing that it was Shadow's.
She then turned around and faced Shadow, a distraught look on her face. "How can you love someone like me? I'm selfish and arrogant and...and..."
"Would you stop it!" Shadow exclaimed walking towards River, throwing on the remaining shirt. "You're neither. You are an amazing person. You care for others. You're here because you do. You could go to the ones running this and join up with them. But you don't. You fight the monsters lurking under the beds."
Shadow now stood in front of River and grabbed her by the shoulders. "And I love you because of it. I love you because you are you. You never hide who you are. You never hide what you are."
River opened her mouth to object and Shadow simply put her index finger over River's lips to silence her.
Then she stared River deeply into the eyes again. "To me, the package, although a great bonus, doesn't matter. What matters to me is this." Shadow put her right hand directly upon River's heart. "This is who you always was. This is who you are. And it is who you will always be." Shadow smiled. "And though I really hate to admit it, you might have gotten me whipped. And frankly, I don't find a reason to mind it. I can only repeat, I'm here because I want to be here. I love every second with you. And even if I can't help with the situation here, I love to be here for you in any way you need me." Shadow slid her hand down River's arm and grabbed her hand. "And now come. I really want to know what's going on here." Shadow tugged lightly and River followed.
"You're impossible, you know that?" River asked jokingly.
"Not impossible, just a bit unlikely." Shadow smiled back knowingly.
And they sat down on the couch, Shadow drawing a blanket over them, and River explained what was going on.