This brief tale has been slamming around in my head for a while now. It's been a long time since I wrote any *Who*, so please bear with me.
11 has grown on me this series, and River? Is just perfect.
Aftermath
The cell door shut behind her with a final click and she allowed her shoulders to slump; giving the impression of defeat to all who watched. No more wandering through uncharted tombs for her; no collecting data on lost kings. Here she would stay, locked away in Stormcage until such times as others deemed her fit for release.
Ignoring the sounds of the guards as they passed, she carefully placed her few belonging on the sparse bed – a change of clothes wrapped around a blue book - and looked around at the grey walls of her new home. In the silence of her head she smiled, it was a small price to pay to keep his secret; and she took comfort in the fact that he had fooled them all. To let the ones out there who had wanted him dead, needed him to be gone. Believe it was so.
She would endure anything for him, willingly. Let universes fall and the world never be, just to let him live.
"Is he worth it?" She'd asked her mother. The answer came back without a pause.
"Yes, yes he is"
And that had been that. She'd given up her life for him in more ways than one, this was the only existence she had now and would he be part of it? Time would tell.
The endless rain beat down outside as she settled herself in the drab bed, pulling the covers over herself and willing sleep to come. She hoped there'd be more to this then endless grey days, but she would stay without complaint, to keep his secret – that he lived in the shadows and she had *killed* her love.
The lights had dimmed when she awoke, stirred by something… different, something had changed while she'd slept. Alert now, she tensed; her body ready to spin into action. Trying to decide what had changed… There was a smell … of flowers?
Throwing the cover back, she swung her legs out and stood up quickly, ready for anything. In the dark shadows, one seemed to take a step back and she stared at it, willing it to take shape, daring it to move.
"Err… hello?" He stepped forward into the dim light, that smile on his face she loved so much. In his hands, he toyed with a single rose; so dull in this light, but she knew it would be red. She smiled back, relaxing her stance, and knew full well that any camera's watching would be recording static.
"Hello" He laughed, in a high-pitched unsure way and offered her the rose.
"You didn't have any… before I mean… and …"
"Yes?" Taking the flower, their hands touched and she stared into his eyes. No robot now, this was him, the man. He grinned back.
"A bride should have flowers on her wedding day"
A half laugh, half sob caught in her throat and in one smooth motion, he'd picked her up and turned towards the deeper darkness. With a click of his fingers, a door opened and bright warm light spilled out into her cage.
"But... You didn't?"
"Take the brakes off? Not usually… well, just this once! It is our wedding night after all"
The door closed behind them and the darkness emptied.