Disclaimer: All rights belong to the BBC and Steven Moffat.
"I've always felt like there were a few things between the Doctor and River we should never see. What does that woman do to him the moment the door is shut?"
-Steven Moffat
The Doctor's arms and legs flailed about the console with excitement, though his excitement was hardly for the sake of their destination. Oh, no! Instead, he was trying to convince Amy and Rory to stay with him just a few more days while the enigmatic River Song was still there. It was not often that the four of them had the opportunity to travel together and he knew that River seemed to like the Ponds. Besides, the Ponds were always first-rate companions for a good time and…well…protection.
"Really!" the Doctor exclaimed with a broad grin, throwing the wibbly lever with a flourish and turning on his heel to address Amy and Rory, who were pulling their backpacks onto their shoulders by the door. "The Planet of the Lamps! Honestly, not as boring as you would think—cross my hearts," he swore, making X motions over his lapels with either hand. "Went there by accident when I first started traveling! You would not believe the variety of light fixtures that you could find! Imagine! A planet completely designated for the intergalactic marketing of lamps!"
"Doctor," Amy groaned with a smile as Rory stood in front of her, adjusting her shoulder straps to level out the weight on her back. "We do want to go, but just not now. We haven't been home for ages and people are starting to notice that we seem to disappear a lot and look a lot different when we get back. It's just a week."
"I—i—i—in my time, or yours?" the Doctor asked, contemplating the idea of simply cheating and making a quick forward time-jump.
"In yours and ours, you need to spend some time with other people than just us," Amy replied firmly, fixing the Doctor with a steady gaze and a cocked eyebrow. Nodding to River, Amy went on. "Besides, I'm sure that River wouldn't mind babysitting for a little while, would you, River?"
River, who was sitting cross-legged in one of the pilot chairs—feet bare and still dressed in a tank top and jogging pants—with a pair of round reading glasses perched on her nose, blue diary in hand, and her mess of curls falling behind her as she propped her forehead on a fist as she wrote, she looked to Amy and Rory at the sound of her name. A mischievous grin and one prettily raised eyebrow to Amy was her affirmative answer and the Doctor silently gulped and adjusted his bowtie as his neck was suddenly rather hot around the collar.
"Of course, not," River smiled, never even lifting her head from her hand and the Doctor eyed her nervously, like a little boy who was about to be left to play with a little girl. "I like to give Stormcage something to get riled up about, every once in a while, anyways. The old dogs need a good run—I think that I can take another week."
"See?" Rory asked, pulling at the straps of his own backpack as the Doctor descended the stairs to stand next to them—a child begging not to be forced into a play-date with a girl. "You two can go and…well, I don't know…keep a planet from blowing up and almost getting yourselves killed, or…whatever it is that you two do."
The Doctor's eyes widened and he gulped visibly, a blush rising up on his cheeks and reddening his ears. Even from where she sat near the console, River noticed and smirked as she watched them in silence. Amy and Rory, however, thankfully did not and Amy rested a hand on the Doctor's shoulder in mock mother-like comfort.
"Doctor, I promise that it'll be fine. River won't let you get into any real trouble," she said, pulling him into a quick hug and Rory took the more subtle farewell and gave his arm a firm pat. Pushing the door open, Rory was the first to step out and Amy followed, but stopped and turned at the threshold to point at River with a serious expression that River returned jokingly, eyes widened and ready to receive her instruction. "And I'm putting you in charge, missy! You two be good and you look after him—don't let him go and get himself killed, or anything."
"Yes, ma'am," River grinned with a wink and the Doctor pulled an affronted expression as the corners of Amy's mouth pulled up conspiratorially.
With that, Amy turned again and closed the door behind her, leaving the Doctor staring at the blank blue wood after her. Pressing her temple into her fingertips, River watched his back as he breathed in and out slowly and River knew him well enough to know that he was steadying himself to try and seem "cool" and in control of the situation.
"So," River said lowly for the mere pleasure of seeing this young him react—young him was much more work, but at least she could taunt him a little. Her smirk widened as she saw his shoulders stiffen at the sound of her voice. "Where do you want to go, Sweetie?"
The Doctor stood frozen for a second or two, but then suddenly turned on his heels and slowly swaggered back towards the console, looking anywhere but at her.
"I don't know," he replied stubbornly, ascending the steps and toggling a switch here and there on the console—switches that River knew did nothing when adjusted in that order.
"What about that Planet of the Lamps?" River asked, brows drawing together in feigned thoughtfulness. Finally, she closed her diary, lifted her head from her hand, and let her bare feet fall to the cold glass floor. "I've never been there."
"It's boring," the Doctor said dejectedly, sneaking wary glances at her as he rounded the console but evaded her general area.
Unable to withhold a crooked smile, River stood from her chair and set her diary on the console and she did not miss the Doctor eying it with hungry curiosity—but, she knew that he would not look. Even this young, she knew that he was old enough to know that the foreknowledge could be detrimental and disastrous.
"It's not just my diary, you know, Sweetie," she said, watching for the slightest twitch of reaction to her words. "It's yours, too. You're just not allowed to look until your older."
"Spoilers," the Doctor said firmly, reprimanding her, but he continued playing with various switches, knobs, and levers that led to no real action.
"That's not spoilers," River argued lightly, slowly stepping towards him and leaning back against the console, her hand folded neatly between the console edge and her back. "You already know that I'm someone from your future—that's how you know that that diary holds your future…and that's how you know why you can't look at it."
"Can you show me what I've already done?" the Doctor asked and River knew that he was testing her.
"No, because I haven't done that yet," River answered, sneaking a hand backwards slowly and adjusting a control that dimmed the lights considerably. "It's the same for me as it is for you—I'm just further along in your timeline. Besides, even if I could, what would be the point of seeing what you've already done?"
"To see it from your point of view," the Doctor answered, preoccupied and spinning in circles on the spot to look around the console room. "What did you do?"
"Amy and Rory would have noticed that we hadn't moved if they saw the TARDIS exactly where they left it," River replied simply, inching closer to where he was standing with his back to her. "I made her invisible."
"I could have done tha—," the Doctor began but choked on his words when he turned back to face her and found her leaning against the console, almost chest to chest with him. River smiled mischievously as he flushed and his hand immediately went to adjusting his bowtie nervously.
"Then why didn't you?" River asked, furrowing her brows challengingly as the Doctor creeped backwards, away from her, until he bumped into the handrail behind him and froze.
"You didn't give me a chance to get to it," the Doctor objected, his pride peeking out through the obvious bundle of nerves that had him evading her.
River cocked an eyebrow at him, calling his bluff, and she pushed away from the console slowly. As soon as she took the first step towards him, the Doctor slinked away with renewed energy and pulled a brilliant smile, retreating around the other side of the TARDIS.
"How about we play a few pranks of a platoon of Sontarans, eh?" the Doctor suggested hurriedly, trying not to let her notice that he was hiding behind the time rotor as he flipped switches with actual purpose now and punched coordinates. "Nothing too serious, of course—after all, Amy did tell you not to let me get myself killed! But a bucket of water over the doorway, plastic wrap on the toilet, a whoopee cushion, or two—I think that we could get away with that alive!"
River leaned back against the console calmly as he went on, perfectly aware that he could not send them off without pulling the lever that she had purposefully placed herself in front of. He would have to make his way around to her and when he did, River swiftly caught the hand that he tried to sneak behind her in her own and held it tightly.
His eyes were finally forced to meet hers and River held his gaze steadily as he gulped when she slowly lifted his hand up and pressed her lips to his large knuckles.
"N—n—n—now, River," the Doctor admonished, gently managing to pull his hand away and beating a hastily backwards retreat towards the step that led down a corridor. She followed at a slower pace, but caught him up when his back ran into the handrail again and he had to catch himself to keep from falling to the floor. "Let's…let's just th—think about this for a moment."
"Think about what, Sweetie?" River asked innocently, taking both of his hands in hers tenderly and helping him back to his feet. Much closer to being as close as she wanted to be, River took advantage of their proximity and pressed her lips to the underside of his jaw softly.
"A—uh…about…um…," the Doctor stammered dazedly and River smiled as she listened to him rambling. The Doctor blinked hard as he struggled to keep his eyes open and at the alert, the warmth of River's lips and tongue on his pulse driving him mad and he suddenly found his hands wrapping around the warm flesh of her bare arms. "The um…Sontaran—uh, pranks…I think."
"Oh, I'm all for playing pranks on a military fleet," River muttered against his skin, never breaking contact, and the Doctor shuddered slightly when her hands left his to wrap around his waist possessively. "But how about we let it wait for a little while…I think that I'd like to go to bed for a little while."
"Ooooor we could play pranks on the Judoon!" the Doctor suddenly exclaimed—focusing all of his strength and concentration on pulling himself together and straightening his thoughts out—and extracted himself from her gingerly, desperate to get detach himself from her before she notice the effect that she was having on him. Rolling her eyes with a disappointed sigh, River turned to find him bouncy around the console once more. "Much more aggressive, but they're not the brightest stars in the galaxy! We shouldn't have a problem getting away!"
"Doctor!" River interrupted him sharply, moving forward and crossing her arm over where he was trying to punch in new coordinates. "I really don't feel like playing pranks, right now."
The Doctor swallowed hard at her closeness and pulled his arm away from where she had hit trapped on the console. He could feel her soft wisps of breath on his chin as she glared up at him with darkened eyes and it took everything in him to keep from snatching her up and kissing her senseless, though he was perfectly aware that she would hardly have minded.
"Well…, you're not a very good babysitter," the Doctor countered, his defenses growing weak and, for once, he honestly could not keep up and know what to say to get himself out of a situation that he did not want to admit that he enjoyed being in.
River feigned offense and, with raised brows, she challenged him. "Oh, why don't you let me show you just how good I am, Sweetie," she said and it was not a question.
"Oh, you've already shown me quite a few times, dear," the Doctor replied, the flirtatious words slipping off his tongue before he could even think about what he was saying.
The dangerous look in her crystal green eyes sent a shiver up his spine and he gulped. When he saw her hand twitch towards his out the corner of his eye, he was off—darting up the steps and down the corridor, away from her, as quickly as his legs would carry him. With a light chuckle, River smiled and turned to follow him at a leisurely pace, her bare feet silent as she ascended the steps and listened to his booted feet thudding down a distant corridor.
River padded silently after him, listening with humored enjoyment at him clambering around, searching for some place to hide. For at least a minute, she could hear various items crashing to floors and doors being opened and slammed and when everything finally went quiet, she had made her way into another corridor lined with old wooden doors.
"I know where you are, Doctor!" she called teasingly, folding her arms over her chest and rubbing her feet against her pants legs, in turn, as the cold of the metal-lined corridors began to sink into her.
"No you don't!" the Doctor argued, his voice sounding as though it were coming from a distance.
"You're in the library, Sweetie," River called back, coming to stand in front of one of the many doors and turning to face it patiently.
A second later, the door was cracked open and the Doctor stuck his head out, his brows furrowed and jaw cocked to the side in confusion and frustration.
"How did you—?" he began but finished with a groan, then took off again, down to the end of the corridor and around a bend.
"And now you're in the conservatory!" River called to him again.
She heard the conservatory door open and slam shut and the Doctor's boots clapped against the metallic floors as he slammed another door behind him. Unconcerned, she looked down at her bare feet with their cold toes—she was really beginning to wish that she had left her socks on, at least.
Rounding the corner that the Doctor had moments before, River strolled up to one of the many archways and pressed her hand to a scanning pad on the nearby wall. As she had expected, the large archway door slid open smoothly to allow her passage and she came to a halt just inside of the telescope room as the doors slid closed silently behind her.
She could see the outline of that head of hair that she so loved just above a short wall that ran the length of the platform that stood at the opposite side of the room. He obviously thoughts that he had found the perfect hiding spot, but River stood still and watched in silence for a moment.
This Doctor was so young—so very young and River could not ignore the nagging ache that his running away caused in her hearts, despite the enjoyment that she did get out of teasing and playing with him. She had been in his position, after all—so long ago now. There had been a time when she was the young one, almost at the beginning of her timeline, and he had come into her life and made her realize who she truly was. This man had proved to her that she was not the psychopath that she had grown up believing and accepting that she was. No, this man had loved her even as she had killed him. He had made love to her, gently and carefully, at first, then progressively more and more passionately and fiercely as she had fallen deeper and deeper in love with him.
And, now, it as her turn. He was where she had been all that time ago and, though she knew that the Doctor was not nearly as naïve or shy and awkward as he pretended to be—even this young, she knew that she did have to be gentle with him. She knew that he would not be what she was used to, because he was not in love with her yet. Of course, that knowledge made her want to seek solitude and cry all of her pain and loneliness out, but if she did, then how would that affect him and how he would come to feel about her?
No. This was still her Doctor, but he was a child compared to the older versions of him that she had fallen in love with and never looked back. This Doctor had sex with her—he did not make love to her, yet. This Doctor was careful and gentle and tender with her not because he was afraid of her own inexperience, but because he could not physically let go of his reservations with a woman that he had only been with a few times, even though she knew that he knew that it was far from being her first times with him.
"I know that you found me," the Doctor said quietly, breaking River's train of thought and she took a moment to collect herself before stepping towards the steps that led up to the platform on which he sat.
"Don't take it to heart," River replied, teasing only half-heartedly when she instantly recognized the Doctor's nervousness that could only be described as somewhat timid. When she took the final step and reached the platform, the Doctor looked up at her expectantly from where he sat on the floor, a lock of hair falling into his eyes. "Let's just say that future you and me play hide-and-seek quite a lot."
"I thought it'd be something like that," the Doctor replied and River was hesitant in stepping forward and sitting down against the short wall next to him.
Unsure of what to say, River opted to remain silent and, instead, turned her attention to the expansive window before them. Billions upon billions of stars, planets, and galaxies could be seen in all shapes, sizes, and colors—some close and some so far away that they were little more than specks to the naked eye—and not matter how many times she saw, River always found the view from this very spot breathtaking. How many times had she sat with the Doctor in this very spot—on more occasions than she could count, doing a little more than just sitting? She hardly knew. All that she knew what that it had been more than enough to fill a lifetime and she would not trade a single one of those moments for anything inside or outside of all of the universe. Relaxing, somewhat, River leaning back against the wall and the warm tweed of the Doctor's jacket felt good on her bare arm.
"Have you been to any of them?" the Doctor suddenly asked, his gaze drifting away from the miraculous view before him and settling on River's face—a view that he so much preferred.
"Some of them, yes," River answered, her eyes never leaving the sight and the Doctor took advantage of this moment to study her every feature when she was not looking.
"Have you been to any of them with me?"
"Spoilers," River replied sadly, finally turning her the pools of light green on the Doctor and holding his gaze with her own and the Doctor was hurt to find that he could almost feel the pain that he saw in them, though she hid it beautifully.
"River," the Doctor began after a moment of impenetrable silence, his eyes never breaking the bond that seemed to have formed with hers. "I…I love you in the future—my future—don't I?"
River's hearts felt as though they had been torn in half inside of her and it took all of her resolution and strength to keep herself from breaking down into a fit of sobs and tears right then and there.
"Spoilers," she repeated, but the forced smile did not fool the Doctor.
Taking her hands in his, the Doctor suddenly looked up at her sharply, then felt her arm and face with a palm. She was freezing. Wordlessly, the Doctor shifted onto his knees to kneel in front of her and pulled his jacket off to wrap around her shoulders. River sniffed quietly and the Doctor felt her give the slightest shudder at his touch, but he pretended not to notice—she would not have wanted him to, not now. When he finished arranging the jacket that was just a little too big for her, he sat back on his heels and waited for her to look back up at him.
It took a few moments, but River finally pulled her eyes away from the tops of her thighs and looked at him resolutely, having steadied herself enough to carry on with wherever he chose to take the conversation.
"Oh," the Doctor said softly, brushing a single tear from her cheek when it slipped from the corner of her eye. "One got away—we can't allow that, now can we?"
"Shut up," River countered, annoyed with herself rather than him.
"It's ok," the Doctor replied quietly, not quite certain what he should say. "I know that you don't want to cry in front of me, but—it's ok if you do, you know."
River met his gaze sharply at his words and she could not control the quivering of her chin as she finally felt her wall crumbling down around her and she was helpless to begin building it back up again. Another tear slid down her cheek and it was as though the flood gates had burst and a sob suddenly burst painfully from her chest.
"There, there, dear," the Doctor said softly, sitting down at her side again and wrapping an arm around her waist and a hand around the back of her neck, pulling her into his chest. "See? It's alright to cry, Sweetheart…you won't scare me away."
But River startled him by scrambling away from him quickly and turning to face with a look of anger mixed with confusion. Bewildered at the sudden change in her, the Doctor looked up at her carefully wished for nothing more than to comfort her as gulped over a sob for air, her fierce eyes never leaving his.
"River?" the Doctor asked hesitantly, shifting onto his knees again until their noses were only inches apart and he touched her hand. "What's the matter, Sweet—oh…."
"The younger versions of you that I've been meeting stopped calling me 'sweetheart' a long time ago," River hissed heatedly and the Doctor inwardly slapped himself for the slip up.
"Yes," he replied slowly, cowering slightly under his wife's raging gaze. "I forgot that little detail. Dammit," he spat at himself, meeting her eyes again warily.
"Do you have any idea how afraid I just was that I had spoiled everything?" River seethed, her chest rising a falling rapidly and the Doctor had to mentally remind himself to keep his focus on the conversation when he caught an eyeful of her cleavage. "One small slip on my part with younger you could potentially change our entire history together, and you come sneaking in and making me cry! I thought that I had just made a detrimental mistake!"
"B—but—but you didn't, Sweetheart," the Doctor rambled, on the defense and taking her hand in his. "It was me—proper, older me!"
His cheek stung as River gave him an angry slap, though he could tell that it was subdued and weak compared to if she had truly wanted to slap sense into him.
"You terrified me!"
"And I'm so, so sorry, dear," the Doctor apologized incessantly, leaning closer and pulling his arms around River shoulders to hold her close. She resisted him stiffly for a moment, but soon relented and sank into his chest, pressing her face into the crook of his neck and shoulder. "I just…I just know how hard it is for you from when we do get to talk—actually, properly talk from linear perspectives—and it always makes me remember how I behaved and treated you when I was younger. Really, Sweetie, I just wanted to come back, just once, and make you think that I was younger-me so that I could really appreciate all that you did for me when I was younger…. River, please," the Doctor begged.
"Oh, I hate you," River muttered sharply into his flesh, but her body said otherwise as her arms suddenly wrapped around his waist and she pulled herself into him tightly.
"No, you don't," the Doctor whispered back softly—he was forgiven.
"Of course, I don't," River replied, a bittersweet joy that both hurt and consoled her rising up in her chest, despite herself. "How the hell could I?"
The Doctor's heart sank in his chest unexpectedly at her words. He could think of so many reasons why she could and should—but she did not and he was far too selfish a man to push her away as he had when he was younger.
"Sweetheart," he said quietly, his lips brushing against her ear as he made his silent request.
River understood, as he had known that she would, and her response assuaged him.
"You'd better," she threatened, pulling away just enough to jerk his tweed coat off of her and toss it to the floor behind them.
In a sudden rush of desperation to be near her, the Doctor took the back of her neck in both hands and overpowered her lips with his own. His actions were not slow or tender, but nor were they painful or careless, and River was grateful for it. This was her husband—every touch, every kiss, every uncoordinated bump of their noses, everything.
His hands made quick work of her clothing and she unburdened him of his own attire with equal efficiency as he pressed into her further until she had no choice but to lie back on the floor and she felt one arm wrap around her back supportively and the other scrambled around, searching for something.
"Tweed," the Doctor murmured against her lips, never breaking contact, and River realized what he was carrying on about when she laid back and felt the warm material beneath her instead of the cold floor. "Always good for something."
"What a gentleman," River replied with sarcasm, dragging her lips over his chin to find his pulse again, sincerely wishing that he would stop talking and get on with it.
"I am so a gentleman!" the Doctor exclaimed with an affronted pout, pulling away for the briefest moment.
"Oh, shut up, husband," River smiled warmly, wrapping her arms around his shoulders and pulling him back into her.
The Doctor's eyes darkened with lust when they met River's and, for once, he did as he was told.
This is a oneshot, by the way, but I may add another chapter if anyone wants it.