I do not own Doctor Who.
This fic was written for Shannon because she was my beta...and I am sorry for any mistakes there are. I was incredibly sick while writing the majority of this. I hope you like it okay bye (:
River appeared out of nowhere in a long corridor lined with bookshelves and display cases, her vortex manipulator sparking as she walked quickly for the last door on the left.
She pulled it off her wrist and tucked it in her boot, straitening her dress shirt and patting her mane of curls.
She opened the door and entered a filled amphitheater, just large enough for a hundred people to fit, and walked calmly and gracefully down the steps to the stage.
The room grew quiet as every person spotted her and bowed their heads in respect.
River paid no attention to the reaction they gave. It happened every day and she found if she let herself notice it, it did nothing but upset her.
She didn't deserve any of the praises she'd been receiving since she won her pardon. A pardon was all she'd asked for and all she'd deserved. The clerics, however, believed she'd done some great act in addition to helping them with the Weeping Angels and had been writing songs of her bravery and goodness every since.
As she reached the stage, she crossed to the desk and pulled out an old brown leather book.
All eyes in the room were on her.
She slipped on a pair of reading glasses and sighed, finally looking up at her audience.
"Alright, class. It's time to stop gawking and pull out our books. Today's lecture is on page 653 of your Ancient Cultures of the Traxiforn text book."
The class pulled out their books and small quiet chatter filled the room.
Every one of Professor River Song's students was wondering why she stayed on at the university to teach if she could be doing anything and everything she ever dreamed of.
The answer, of course, was that she already had.
"Now, the Traxiforn had a fascinating monetary system. It was, and still is, one of the best conceptually since the dawn of time. -"
River sat at her desk grading papers. She loved teaching with all her heart, but grading assignments was not something she particularly enjoyed.
As she wrote the final score at the top of one of the papers, her sleeve fell away from her wrist and she paused her writing for a moment to run her fingers along the dark green mark she'd noticed a few weeks before.
It had steadily grown a little longer over time. At first, she thought she was going crazy, but then she'd measured and realized how rapidly it's size was increasing.
Even now, it had grown since the last time she'd looked. It wrapped nearly all the way around her wrist.
The door to her classroom opened and interrupted her thoughts. Quickly River pulled her sleeve back into it's place and continued grading.
A tall thick man in a black suit and dark glasses entered and walked down the stairs towards her.
River pretended not to care much, but secretly sized him up and down, just in case.
"Professor Song." he said. His voice was deep and dangerous.
Still River didn't look up.
"Yes? How can I help you?"
As she flipped to the next assignment, the man placed a hand over the page, forcing her to look up at him.
She sighed and leaned back in her chair.
"Can I help you? I've really got a lot of work to do and-"
A knife emerged from his sleeve and the tip slammed into her desk.
River stood calmly.
"I don't know who you are or what you think you're doing, but you have most definitely overstepped your bounds. Leave now and I won't hurt you."
The man laughed, obviously certain she was bluffing.
She rolled her eyes and crossed her arms. They were all the same. How could a small woman ever hurt a man the size of a tree?
"I'll give you to the count of three. One-"
"You'd better run, sir."
River looked up towards the door.
"Sheldon what are you doing here?" she asked, not wanting him to get caught in the crossfire. He was her best student.
"I had a question about-"
The man pried his knife out of her desk and wielded it threateningly.
"Two-" River continued, scratching her arm casually.
"Professor watch out!" Sheldon cried as the man lunged suddenly, but River had already side stepped nimbly and the much larger man nearly lost his balance.
She walked away from the man and towards the end of the stage where Sheldon was standing. When she reached center stage she felt the man's footsteps behind her and she turned, annoyed.
"Seriously, now. Why are you here? To kill me? Alright. Come here. I'll give you a head-start. Pick your poison. Neck from the front, neck from behind, abdomen, back...Well come on! Don't be shy. I don't give head starts very often."
The man looked confused but came up and took his position of choice. Sheldon looked terrified as he took her by the hair, pulling her head roughly back against his shoulder and pressing the blade against her throat.
River smiled.
"Alright, now, are you sure about this?" she asked him.
"Yes. I'm sure. It's been a pleasure, Professor Song."
The instant his knife hand tensed, River's hands shot up and grabbed his wrist. In one fluid blur of motion, she was out of his grasp and had his arm twisted painfully behind him, the knife point pressing into his side.
"Now are you listening to me?" she asked, exerting no effort in holding him in place.
He nodded and grit his teeth, pained.
"Good. Go back to whoever you're working for and tell them to come try it themselves next time." she whispered in his ear. She raised her knee and brought her foot down on the outside of his, buckling his leg inward and, no doubt, snapping a few tendons.
She let go of him as he fell to the ground, crying out with pain and cursing her.
River ignored him and walked over to Sheldon. His eyes were the size of baseballs as he watched his Professor and mentor with a knife at her throat, disarm a man easily twice her size and break his leg as if he was a toy.
She was incredible.
The man pressed a button on his watch and disappeared in a flash of light.
"Sorry about that. They never stop coming. Maybe this time they'll stay away. Now what was it you needed, Sheldon?"