Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow
Summary: River couldn't help it, this was the first time she saw a younger incarnation of the Doctor. Smirking, she started to walk towards him when she noticed that a blonde girl was making her way towards him. One-Shot, Ultimate Angst alert!
This story is AU because in this story's timeline, Rose got sucked into the void at the end of Doomsday, Pete did not appear, so in Journey's End there had been no Rose or Meta-Doctor.
This is set in The Idiot's Lantern, after the Doctor kills the Wire, and when he comes back to the street party to see Rose. But my version of that scene will be very different than the canon one.
This is actually my first attempt at writing River, and I hope I keep her in character. If you are a River x Doctor shipper then I get the feeling that you won't be pleased with this.
The title is actually based on the song 'Will You Still Love Me' Lykki Li's cover.
"Tonight you're mine completely
You give your love so sweetly
Tonight the light of love is in your eyes
Will you still love me tomorrow?
Will you still love me tomorrow?
Will you still love me tomorrow?"
River sighed in boredom as she glared at her vortex manipulator. For some unknown reason it was acting up and it wouldn't work until it rested at least for twenty minutes. She had been tempted to use her spare vortex manipulator that she always carried inside her pocket but then decided against it when she noticed where exactly she had landed in the first place. She was in the fifties by the looks of it. When she looked up and saw flags of Britain all over the place and the street parties she realised that she was during the coronation of the Queen. Feeling adventurous, River decided to hang around and so looked around. Adventure was in every corner, so who knew maybe something was going on here as well.
She was looking around, observing the people when she noticed that something was niggling in her mind. Frowning, she looked around and finally noticed what was reaching out to her. Her eyes went wide when she saw the TARDIS parked sixty feet away from her. Immediately a smile overtook her face when she noticed that, if the TARDIS was here then that meant that the Doctor was here too. She hadn't seen him in months and the chance to see him now made her immensely happy. However the smile slowly turned into a frown when she noticed that the TARDIS did not recognize. In fact this TARDIS was prodding her mind very suspiciously and did not welcome her. The TARDIS always welcomed her yet now it did not like her right now.
'What's wrong old girl?' River asked confused but that seemed to make TARDIS even more suspicious. Immediately the TARDIS withdrew from her mind and build a strong wall that River couldn't penetrate anymore. This shield that the TARDIS build hurt her and left River puzzled. But soon her confusion abated away when she noticed a man with brown pinstripe suit standing twenty feet away from the TARDIS. His hair was unusually gelled up but she recognized him from the pictures. Standing there was none other then the Tenth Incarnation of the Doctor. Now it all made sense. This TARDIS did not recognize her because she never met this past TARDIS nor the Past Doctor.
'No wonder she did not like me, I must have freaked her out.'
She couldn't help but observe this young Doctor. He looked very different than her Doctor (aside from the obvious physical differences), he seemed...lighter almost. As if the fate of the world did not depend on his shoulder. No matter how much her Doctor tried to remain jolly, River knew he wasn't. But this Doctor, his happiness did not seem false. They actually looked very real. It made her wonder why there was such a big difference.
She also mildly wondered just who this Doctor was travelling with. Was it Martha Jones who had walked the Earth? Or was it the brilliant Donna Noble who saved the world from Dalek Invasion? Both prospects excited her. From the stories she had heard she admired them both and had always wanted to meet them. This was her opportunity.
She knew, she really knew she shouldn't interrupt with timelines, paradoxes could occur but River couldn't help it, this was the first time she saw a younger incarnation of the Doctor. She wanted to meet him and his current companion. Smirking, she started to walk towards him when she noticed that a blonde girl was making her way towards him. She wore a blue jacket of some sort and wore a fifties frilly pink skirt. A girl River certainly did not recognize. There was no way she was either Martha or Donna because she looked nothing like them and River had seen pictures of the former two. So who was this girl? The Doctor certainly recognized her though. When the Doctor's gaze fell on her, a blinding huge grin overtook his face and he literally ran towards her. With a speed that was definitely inhuman, he reached the girl in few minutes, and he enveloped the mysterious girl in his arm. He hugged her with intensity, as if his life depended on her. If that hadn't shocked River to death then what he next did, certainly had. Once the Doctor pulled away he leaned down to pepper kisses down her cheek affectionately. He also muttered her name and it was only then did she finally get the name of his mysterious companion.
Rose.
River's eyes went wide as she finally realized the girl infront of her was none other than the mysterious Rose. Oh River had heard of her but hardly knew her. She didn't even know what Rose's last name was or even what she looked like. The Doctor did not talk about her, he did not even tell her anything about her. He had told her all about his other companions but none about this Rose. The only reason he had even told her the name Rose was because River had found a locked door inside the TARDIS with the image of a rose carved on it. She couldn't get it but when she asked the Doctor his eyes had darkened and he told her it belonged to someone called Rose. He hadn't mentioned anything else after that. Even when she prodded him, he never said a word. The only thing she knew was that he had somehow lost her after the Battle of Canary Wharf when he had had to open the void but he never said anything else. He had clammed up when she wanted specifics. River had assumed that perhaps the Doctor and Rose parted in bad terms so she stopped. But the image right in front of her showed the opposite. The Tenth Doctor seemed to do anything but love her. River was not blind, not only did his action reciprocate the love but his eyes were filled with that emotion.
He looked at her in a way he never looked at her.
Something else was also niggling at the back of her mind. It was then her mind picked up the telepathic bond. She could feel the familiar mind of the Doctor from the Tenth Incarnation but his mind was mingled with a golden presence, they were intertwined together. When her eyes fell on Rose again, she noticed that the golden presence was her. The Doctor's imprint was all over Rose's essence. It was a big territorial stamp, any telepathic creature would be able to see that. Rose was his bond mate, he had bonded with her.
This information itself hit her like a stab in her heart.
The Doctor had never initiated the bond with her. Oh she knew his name, in a way they were married but he had never actually initiated the Gallifreyan bond with her. Gallifreyans marriage ceremony included exchanging of the names but the telepathic bonding of both individuals was the final stage. He had never initiated that and she had assumed that he was just not open to do it. She knew the Doctor was a very private person. But the evidence in front of her showed that he wasn't completely opposed because Rose was his bond mate.
Tears formed in her eyes at that.
"I saw you from the corner of my eyes back then, didn't realize it was you until now."
When she heard the familiar voice of her Doctor, River turned around to notice it was him there. He was standing there, with his hands stuck inside his pockets in his tweed jacket. But he wasn't looking at her, no his green eyes were trained on Rose and his past incarnation, were the Tenth Doctor was whispering sweet nothings in Rose's ears. He did not have a smile on his face.
River took a deep breathe to compose herself before she spoke up.
"She is your bond mate." River stated it, there was no question.
The Doctor simply kept looking at his past, he did not deny it.
"I do not understand, why would you leave her then?" River asked instead of asking why he had bonded with Rose and not her. She did not want to sound so petty and decided she wanted to know why he would leave her. He had told her when Gallifreyans bonded they bonded for life. They became fiercely protective of them and could go mad slowly if they are deliberately separated from their bond mate.
"Where is she?"
The Doctor was quiet for few moments, still gazing at them. Just as River was about to give up on him in frustration he spoke up.
"Dead. She got sucked in the void." he said it nonchalantly but River could sense tremble in his voice that he had tried his best to hide. That statement itself confused her.
"How could she be sucked inside the void? She is from this universe it shouldn't affect her, isn't she?"
"We had accidentally landed in an alternate universe once before we made it back here. Both of us were covered in void when I opened the void so it affected us both."
At this River's eyes went completely wide. She had always assumed and gotten the impression that Rose was alive, just somewhere else but that revelation itself shocked her. What also horrified her was that the Doctor was still alive. The sheer loss of one's bond mate would cause irreversible and horrendous pain. She was surprised that the Doctor was still alive.
River then finally said the words that had been nagging her.
"You never look at me like you looked at her." River stated.
But the unspoken words were still there, the fact that he loved her more than he did to her. River had always assumed she knew the most about the Doctor, that she was his pillar of support. But everything that she had assumed was crumbling down now.
"You still love her," she said it when she noticed the way he was looking at Rose with longing still in his eyes.
This statement finally got his official attention because he looked away from his past and looked at her. River could easily recognize the regret in his eyes. River couldn't help but give out a bitter laugh. When the Doctor opened his mouth to say something, River looked away. The Doctor stopped, closed his mouth and after a while spoke up.
"Let's go to the TARDIS, Amy and Rory would love to see you again," he said it and walked towards his own TARDIS. River turned around and noticed that the Doctor was waiting for her just outside his own TARDIS. She looked at him for few minutes before she spoke up.
"I'll be in, give me-give me a few minutes alone."
The Eleventh Doctor nodded and then went inside. After he closed the TARDIS doors, River turned around to look back at the Tenth Doctor and Rose, with her feelings in turmoil.
Her whole life, everything was a lie. Everything she had believed in was a lie. She wanted to blame the Doctor but she knew he wasn't fully at fault.
She used her time sense to see the Tenth Doctor and Rose's timelines. There were several possibilities but only two timelines stood out the most, the dominant one led into a storm, fading out slightly but the second potential timeline was vibrant, brimming with bright colours that didn't seem to fade. It was then River realized that it wasn't a fixed point. Rose's fate wasn't a fixed point, it was in flux. She could see the timelines battling and by the looks of it the dominant one would probably win but those timelines gave her an idea. An insane idea.
She really shouldn't do this. If she carried it out, then her whole life could be changed, including that of her parents but would that be so bad? She loved the Doctor, he was her everything but she realized now that no matter how much she loved him he would never love her fully. He may feel for her more than simply friendship but it wouldn't be a true love. She could spend the rest of her life with him, with what they currently had now. Did she want that? Could she live with that?
She knew the answer to that.
The Doctor had finally pulled away from Rose, he was about to say something when he finally noticed the snacks everyone had out. His eyes went wide in anticipation when he spotted banana cake amongst them and immediately made his way towards it.
Rose giggled at his antics and was about to follow him when she was interrupted by a feminine voice.
"Hi"
Rose turned around to notice a woman. She had curly dirty blonde hair which framed her face. She had a smile on her face but her eyes held immense hurt. When Rose noticed her clothes her eyes went incredibly wide. The woman alone was wearing 21st century jeans, a shirt and a blue jacket, neither of which belonged in this time. It then hit her that this woman was a time traveller.
Curious that she had encountered someone that was out of their own time like her, Rose looked at her again.
"Hi, um I'm Rose, by the looks of your clothes I am guessing you aren't native?" said Rose smiling at her.
The woman looked and her momentarily surprised and gave out a bitter-sweet laugh.
"I guess you could say that."
The woman however did not introduce herself. She stuffed her hand inside her pocket and she took out what seemed to be was a small silver ring. The woman then gave the ring to Rose. Rose was so surprised that she accepted the ring.
"Wear it," the woman commanded.
At this Rose blinked incredulously.
"Wait what?" Rose said looking at her as if she was crazy.
"Wear it."
When Rose looked at her suspiciously, the woman sighed.
"I am not trying to hurt you, trust me on that. Just wear it."
The woman sounded really tired, weary and against her better judgement Rose wore the ring. Once she did, the ring glowed golden for a second and then it stopped, Rose warily looked up at the woman.
"Okay...what on earth was that? What did it do?"
"It's a clensing ring from 61st century. It cleans anything away, even the unseen bits including radiation including void. Was a bit achievement of its time, very handy," the woman said it robotically almost.
"Why did you make me wear it?" Rose looked at the woman confused, although her babbling mildly reminded her of the Doctor.
The woman then smiled melancholy towards her.
"Trust me, you will be grateful for this ring's work one day."
Stating that, the woman turned around and started to walk away.
"Wait, you forgot your ring!" Rose shouted out but the woman did not turn around. She just kept on walking.
And it did come handy one day, two months down the row.
Rose remembered it the day the Doctor put on the 3-D glasses to see the void stuff. She remembered it when the Doctor became baffled about the fact that he and everyone was covered in void stuff but not her. The pull of the void did not affect her, though it affected the Doctor. It came handy when the lever next to the Doctor became unlocked. He couldn't push it as if he had then he would get pulled in so Rose locked it easily, the suction of the pull not effecting her like it did to her Doctor. Both of them saved the world from Cybermen and Daleks.
It was when the Doctor kissed her in happiness that day inside Torchwood did Rose realize she didn't even know the name of the woman who had helped her.