A/N: I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry! I really am trying to find the inspiration to update PB. I promise. But the Doctor has kinda hijacked me, and he's got me 'round his finger pretty good. With that said, welcome to my first fic about Eleven and River. Ten will always be my Doctor, but I saw a picture on Draco'sLoverr's tumblr, and inspiration kinda snuck up on me like the neighbour's cat snuck up on a unsuspecting pigeon earlier today. Sorry, rambling. This sort of wrote itself, I just sort of tagged along. And cried a bit. Enjoy.
Disclaimer: I do not own Doctor Who.
Sing Me to Sleep
The soft click of a doorknob being turned stirred the both of them awake.
"How does she do that?" the Doctor groaned, burying his face deeper in his pillow.
"She's your daughter, Doctor..." River mumbled, turning over and peering at her husband.
"No, not her! The TARDIS!"
"What about her..?"
"River, where is our daughter's room?"
"Down the... hall."
Suddenly she looked wide awake. The Doctor smiled. The proverbial penny had dropped.
"We put her to bed three rooms down... on the other side of the corridor," he said in a low voice, arching an eyebrow. "So why is there a door in the corner."
River didn't have time to answer. The door that had not been there slowly swung open. The silhouette of a small girl with wiry curls was visible in the doorframe. Their daughter. She had inherited her mother's hair, her father's eyes and double heartbeat and oddly enough, her namesake's temperament.
"Sweetie? Are you all right?" River asked, sitting up straight.
The small child quickly scurried over, lithely jumping onto the bed, burrowing down between them.
"The shadows are scary," she whispered, looking at them with worried eyes.
"The shadows are fine, they just make sure you're not alone," the Doctor replied, running his fingers through the dishevelled locks. "Unless you suddenly notice you have two shadows, in which case..."
He was interrupted by a sharp smack on the arm and a pointed look from his wife.
"Tell me the wibbly wobbly story."
The wibbly wobbly story, the story of their lives, the only story that would calm her down and make her fall asleep again. River smiled, looking at the Doctor before she began:
"Once upon a time... there was a mad man who stole a magical blue box and a girl who was born with magic in her. The mad man travelled one way and the girl travelled towards him. Once, they met on a beach..."
"And she shot me!" the Doctor interjected happily, lighting up at the memory of the scheme.
"Daddy, shh!"
They laughed, and the Doctor made a move as if to zip his mouth shut. River arched an eyebrow at him. As if something so simple could keep him quiet. She continued:
"Once, they met on a beach, and that was very wibbly wobbly. They married atop a pyramid, and the girl went to prison. But it was okay. The mad man came to visit her, and he took her on adventures and they fought the Angels and the Silence. They went ice skating and had picnics on the mountainsides of Theta Omega Blue. They were very happy. In the end, they met in a library, and the girl was saved by the mad man, and they..."
The little girl was already fast asleep, curled up into a ball and lost in her own dreams. River sighed. She always fell asleep at the same part.
"Goodnight, sweetie," she whispered, kissing the little girl on the forehead, then looked at her husband. Apart from the comment about her shooting him at Lake Silencio, he had been awfully quiet.
"What's wrong, my love?"
"I still dont know how she does it," he replied, disbelief in his voice and a wrinkle showing between his eyebrows.
"Please, tell me you're not miffed about your daughter knowing this ship better than you?"
"Well, if anyone will, it's her. Donna Song. Wait, why did we settle on Song again? It sounds... Ood-y. Not that I mind the Ood. So long as they don't tell me my number's up."
"Oh, sweetie, you really do look like a 12-year-old now," River teased him.
They laughed quietly, and the Doctor tucked a stray curl behind River's ear. They shared a quick kiss before drifting off back to sleep, the image of the happy family. The TARDIS hummed her song about her thief and the child of the vortex. Donna Song, full name Donna Amelia Song, stretched in her sleep, while her mother curled protectively around her, taking hold of her small hand. Her father was lost to his dreams, not noticing the small hand placed on his shoulder, as if to say, "I love you, too, daddy".
When she woke, River found their daughter had toddled off, who knows where. The Doctor lay on his side, observing her with a loving expression. His eyes, so old despite his youthful appearance, had followed her through so much of her life.
"How did we ever take off on this adventure?" she asked, stifling a yawn.
"Well, you know, there was that night the swimmingpool turned to green jelly..." He gave her a roguish smile that made her blush pink. Too soon, though, the smile melted away, replaced by a slight frown. "River..."
"Yes, my love?"
"What happened in the Library?"
She looked at him nonplussed, surprised that he would bring up that particular meeting of all.
"We... It was you, the old you, and Donna. I was there on an expedition with Mr. Lux. The Vashta Nerada had taken over the Library. You lost Donna, and then you found her and all the others. You saved them."
His eyes filled with something that could only be sadness. River didn't understand.
"Are you sure?" he implored.
"Yes. We left and we..."
"We did what?"
She couldn't remember. Where had they gone after the library? When had Donna disappeared? When... When was their daughter born? Suddenly, their room began to swirl and fade in and out of focus.
"What's happening?" she asked, feeling panic tinge her blood.
"You're waking up."
"Is this a dream?"
The Doctor nodded solemnly.
"Where will I wake up?"
"In another dream. Don't you remember?"
"I..." She hesitated, tried to focus her mind again. Something tugged at her consciousness. "I linked myself to the computer." The details started coming back. "I'm... dreaming. In a virtual reality world?"
"Yes."
"I'm... But I remember!"
"Yes."
"So, I'm waking up now? This is not real?"
"Yes."
"Doctor..."
"You come here every night. Every night you go to sleep in the computer memory, and you dream of this, and you wake up and you live the same life, and you go to sleep and you come here. We're as real as you make us."
"Does this happen every night?"
He nodded quietly.
"But... I will come back? You will be here?"
He leaned over, kissing her gently. The illusion started dissolving, and she clawed at the dream, trying to stay in it. One final whisper carried across, and she stopped fighting:
"Always."
A/N: Sorry, again. I had really, truly intended this to be a fluffy happy thing. But... It turned into this. I hope you will take the time to leave me a review. This Doctor feels sort of foreign to me, and River... I'm really hoping I did both om them justice.