"And if I happen to find myself in danger, let me tell you, the Doctor is not stupid enough, or sentimental enough, and he is certainly not in love enough to find himself standing in it with me!"
Chapter 1
The cobbled streets of New London 3 were quite peaceful, passersby looking in shop windows as they passed with shawls wrapped around their shoulders. The city was built to mimic old London town, as it had been nearly four hundred years previously in the days of Charles Dickens. New London 3 was the one place on Earth still desperate to keep to its roots, banning the spaceships and anti-grav cars that packed other metropolises like Neo Roma and Beijing 2. This was good news to those looking for an escape from technology and stories of space travel. This was not such good news to a certain time travelling couple on a vacation away from Darillium.
River landed the TARDIS silently, as always, and threw the Doctor beside her a smug look. "There. Now, was that so difficult?"
The Doctor shook his head, but smiled none the less as he stuffed his Sonic into his jacket pocket. "She likes the noise. And so do I."
River kissed him with a smile, and then shook her head. "That noise tears her brakes apart. It's no wonder why you have to repair her so often." River started toward the door, but halted as she noticed the Doctor still at the console. "Are you coming?"
He held up a finger and dashed off. "I'll just be a tic. I need to get my other coat."
River laughed. "You always say that, and you always come back wearing practically the same thing." She watched him disappear through the upstairs corridor and then turned back to the door. "I'll just be outside! I want to check the weather."
River opened the door and stepped out, onto a patch of cobblestone damp from a recent winter's snow. She gazed around the street and her grin widened. It was like a perfect little Christmas town, decorated with oil lamps and even a few carolers. She shivered against the cold and pulled her jacket in closer to herself. Then she noticed two people approaching, who looked nothing like the nearby carolers singing in their scarves and woolen sweaters.
The man in front wore a silver uniform filled with badges and eyebrows angrier than those of her husband. The woman beside him wore the same, and in addition carried a silver scanning device. The man spoke first. "Are you the owner of this vehicle?"
"One of them."
The man crossed his arms. "Space travel is strictly forbidden in this city. Time travel even more so. Were you aware of this fact?"
River eyed the man's creasing brows. "I was not."
The man frowned and looked at his associate. "Do you have that scanner?"
"Yes, I do," the woman replied, holding the device up and pointing it at the TARDIS. The man shifted his weight onto one foot.
"See where it was manufactured. And what their towing policy is. It's comin' out of your pocket, you know."
He looked pointedly at River and she stifled a laugh. "Gonna be a hell of a bill."
His eyebrows creased further at this, nearly meeting, until the woman made a high pitch, incoherent exclamation.
"Sir, it's...it's from Gallifrey! The planet of you-know-who...it's a; it's a…"
The man's eyes bulged as he eyed the machine.
"Good lord! I never thought...he dare come here after we've finally rebuilt."
River's grin dropped immediately. The woman in front of her turned to her darkly and raised the scanner. It beeped and whirred immediately. "She's human...no, wait...there's something of the Timelords in her. Augmented lifespan...used regenerative energy...traces of Timelord DNA on her lips."
The woman showed the scanner to her co worker, who took out a pair of gray handcuffs. Before River could say 'wait', they were deadlocked on her wrists. The man eyed her cockily. "You'll be taken to our finest prison...whatever you are. And then we'll find the Timelord known as the Doctor."
All River had time to do before they dragged her into their little horse drawn carriage was knock a piece of psychic paper onto the cobblestones beside the TARDIS doors.
. . . . . .
The Doctor finally finished drying his favorite red-lined coat in the time winds beneath the console and sighed. As he threw it on, he called out, "Sorry, River. I forgot I'd dropped it into a pool on Maldravani when we were there last week. Are you ready?"
He looked around the empty space and then went outside, smiling as his face met the wintry air. He shut the doors and spun in a slow circle as he took in all of the sights around him, from the yellow Christmas lights lining window frames to the horses marching proudly down the cobblestones, shoes clacking. He stopped suddenly as his boot met a small piece of paper, set in the lining of what looked like a wallet.
Silently he smiled to himself, sure that River knew exactly how much chaos she would cause dropping this little piece of advanced tech on the ground. Then he took it in his hands and looked it over more closely. His smile dropped.
"'Run. They know you. I'll break out myself. Love always, River.'"
The Doctor's head swivelled this way and that, as if he could still find her there in the square. He pocketed the psychic paper and shook his head. "River…"
The beautiful night was drawing in, bringing more people outside into the wonder of a classic fairytale village. But to the Doctor, they and the magnificence of the town might as well have been invisible. Everything blurred as his wide eyes searched only for the curly, unmistakable hair of his wife. "River," he repeated, as if her name was a mantra. "I'm on my way."
. . . . . .
"What are you?"
"I told you, human."
"Scans show you're over two hundred."
"I always ate my vegetables."
"And you have used regenerative energy in your cells."
"They were very healthy vegetables."
River smiled coyly at the soldier questioning her for the tenth time that day. Was it day? Or was it still night? She couldn't tell, nor could she care. Her world had become four gray walls, a pair of tight handcuffs, and three separate guards, all wearing that stiff uniform. She wondered if they ever took it off and relaxed. To pass the time, she imagined them each in one of the Doctor's wacky articles of clothing.
"Do you know the Timelord known as the Doctor?"
River's eyes drifted. "Perhaps."
"Traces of his DNA were found on your lips. It seems you are quite intimate."
River shrugged. "Where's the fun in only kissing people you're intimate with?"
The soldier slammed her fist on the table and turned to the man behind him, the one who had arrested River originally. "Sir," the soldier said, her voice high and full of exhaustion. "I don't think we're getting anywhere."
The man came to the table and leaned down to her level. River pictured him wearing a bowtie and chuckled. He didn't like that. "Do you think this is a joke? We are trying to keep our city safe."
"From who? The Doctor?"
The man shrank back at the name, standing stiff again. "He destroyed our old town. Blasphemed our leaders. We have finally rebuilt, and learned about him and his terrible species."
River had to admit she was curious. "What did you learn?"
The man turned away, looking at the floor. "They're a warrior race. Hell bent on destruction. Whole planets have suffered at their rage."
River quirked an eyebrow. "Are humans any different?"
The man paused for a moment, then continued. "We have studied the Doctor. A shapeshifter; a face changer. More than two faced. If you are on his side, nothing can hurt you. If you are against him, nothing can save you."
River took this interesting view of the Doctor silently. Her lips pursed together in agitation. "Did you ever wonder why he destroyed your city? Why he wreaked havoc on your leaders?"
The man's eyes shone. "We all know the stories. We are raised on the history of our people. The Doctor, that malicious traveller, promised to save us from the monsters that cursed our land. And when the monsters came, he all but joined them; couldn't stomach the fight. Our government fell to alien control for one hundred years of dictatorship. And the Doctor flew away."
River pondered over this. Softly, she said, "That's why you ban aircraft. And especially time travel. To keep aliens out. To keep yourself protected."
The man smiled, but there was nothing sweet or joyous about it. "It has been an unqualified success. No alien attack has happened here since the dark times. And none shall ever occur again."
River smiled to herself. "But he isn't here. All you have is me."
The man came beside her. "If he's not here, then I think he is going to be here very soon."
River's smile faltered, her voice softening. "Don't hold your breath."
"You either," the man said eerily. Then he turned to the guard. "Take her to the cell."
The guard quirked an eyebrow. "Sir?"
"It won't be fatal for her. She's only partially alien."
River couldn't help feeling a little afraid at the man's strange words, but she also couldn't avoid the guard's rough pulling as he took her from the chair and led her into the hallway. The last she saw of the uniformed man was his sneering smile.