A/N: It's taken me a while to start updating. I lost the story, so none of it is the same anymore. But here we finally are, chapter four! I hope you'll enjoy it! Read and review, please.

Disclaimer: I do not own Doctor Who. I wish I did, though.

Chapter four

I'd go hungry,
I'd go black and blue.
I'd go crawling down the avenue.
No, there's nothing that I wouldn't do
To make you feel my love.

When River slowly opens her eyes, the room is as dark as it's been for the past three weeks. The voice of one of her captors penetrates the fog inside her mind, forcing her to wake up properly. She can't break, no matter what they do to her.

"I think it's time to bring the lady down once more. Perhaps she'll be more inclined to talk to us this time," one of the creatures says. It's as slimy as a snail and covered in what looks like scales. From feeling them, though, River knows their skin is harder than any scales could ever be.

As the words sink in, River's muscles tense. She knows how she'll be brought down from where's she's hanging. And she's well aware it won't do her injuries any good. She'll also be sporting more injuries when she's hoisted back up.

If she ever is hoisted back up, that is. Because she's very week after three weeks of torture. She hasn't been fed a proper meal in that entire time, just enough to keep her alive. And the same goes for the liquids. They've also been trying to get her mad by keeping the room dark and silent, which has completely destroyed her sense of time.

There isn't any more time to think about that, as she hears the rattling of the chains keeping her feet of the floor. She feels herself begin to fall. Less than a second later, she is screaming so loudly her voice keeps bouncing off the walls for quite a while after she's closed her mouth. She's on the floor now, and her knee's bleeding where it's resting on the floor.

Her shoulders got dislocated a little over a week ago, and they've taken her down in this rough way more than once since then. By now, they've been abused so badly that she's unsure they'll ever be back to normal.

But that isn't the only injury she has. She has a long cut beside her spinal cord that's still bleeding. There are three deep stab wounds in her lower abdomen, which have been roughly stitched up to keep her alive. Her left wrist is broken and her right elbow is useless. The fingers on her right hand are broken and two are dislocated as well. One of her ankles is sprained and both the tibia and the fibula in her right leg are so painful she suspects she has at least a hairline fracture in both.

River desperately tries to get her breathing under control. If she starts to hyperventilate, this session will end in an even worse way. In fact, it could very well kill her. They've been questioning her about the Doctor from the second they brought her in here, and she hasn't told them anything yet. They're starting to lose their patience. If they decide she's more trouble than she's worth, they'll kill her. She knows this, and she also knows it won't be long before they reach that point.

"Hello, professor Song. Are you willing to cooperate today?" the leader asks. She thinks it's a male, but she isn't sure. His voice is sickly sweet and very soft, trying to lure her in.

"Go to hell. I'm not telling you anything," she says, making her voice sound as cold and strong as possible. She's using the fact these creatures are only used to each other's voices to make them believe she's stronger than she really is. Any success is good, at this point in time.

From somewhere in the back, a sound reaches her ears. Some of the Elea, the creatures that are holding her, begin to move. Within half a minute, the leader is holding something that looks like a small tube. River's never seen it before, and her heart starts to pound. They've found something new to torture her with.

"We shall not be going to the place you call hell. We shall ask you question until you answer us, willingly or unwillingly," the leader says.

And then, he presses the small tube against her arm. Now she knows what it does even if she doesn't know the name of the contraption. It burns. When the tube is pulled away, there is a blister forming already, telling her that it's much hotter than she first thought and that the heat penetrates the skin deeper, better and more locally than any heat source on earth.

Her head is swimming again. It's nothing compared to what she's been too, but her body is sensitive and she's tired. It takes all of the strength she has left not to hang her head and faint. But she pushes through. She knows the Doctor and her parents are looking for her, and she's determined to see them again.

"What's the Doctor's greatest weakness?" the leader of the Elea asks. The authority he holds in his civilisation drips from every word as his black, beady eyes bore into her green ones.

She presses her lips together and bites her tongue to ensure her own silence. She knows the answer to this question, it's the easiest one they could've possibly asked. The Doctor's greatest weakness are his large hearts. He cares about everyone, wants to protect everyone. And that can bring him down when he fails to keep everyone safe.

River cries silently when the tube again is pushes against her skin, this time against her back. One of the Elea is holding up her shirt while the leader hurts her. He creates a circle of burns, uttering a soft mumbling sound with every press of his hand.

"What is the Doctor's greatest strength? Tell us, professor Song, and we shall no longer hurt you," the leader whispers in her ear. The scent of mud and rotting plants wafts off of him, making River gag.

She loses control of her stomach, throwing up the very little food she's been given so far. She's trembling from the cold and she's just lost precious calories. The world around her is spinning so badly she thinks she might vomit once more.

Eventually, everything stands still again. She don't know how much time has passed, but her stomach feels more normal and she's not as dizzy anymore. She lifts her head again and stares at the Elea with as much hatred and contempt in her eyes as she can manage. They probably won't understand or recognise the feelings she's conveying, but it makes her feel better and more powerful.

What also makes her more powerful it that they've again asked her a question she knows the answer to. The Doctor has two great strengths, namely his believe in love and his power to forgive those who've wronged him if they show they deserve it. Those two things make him the best man who's ever walked the earth.

"Well then. Before we resort to less than friendly measures once more to make you speak, we shall ask you one last question. What is the Doctor's name?" the Elea's leader demands to know.

This time, she refuses to even think about the answer to that question. Obviously she knows it, as she's the Doctor's wife. But in this weakened state, she fears these creatures might penetrate her mind if they would want that; she hasn't met them before and she's no idea what kind of technology they possess. With the other answers they could cause harm, but they wouldn't be able to kill the Doctor or destroy the universe. His name could do just that.

Her train of thoughts is interrupted when she's slapped across the face. Judging by the sting in her nose and the blood trickling from her lip, the first is broken and the second is split. The pain makes her gasp a little.

But they don't stop there. The Elea work together to add to her collection of cuts and bruises, push and prod the ones she already has and push her into a great pool of darkness she's not sure she'll ever escape from.

After a while, five minutes or maybe fifty, she can't tell, she begins to lose the fight. Her eyes fall close and she's struggling to breathe. The Elea keep going, speaking once in a while as if they're trying to keep her conscious.

Suddenly, however, there's a sound that overpowers their voices. And it's a sound she knows so well she feels tears begin to fall down her cheeks, tears of happiness this time. It's the TARDIS materialising.

The Doctor doesn't like to use weapons, but her father is of a different opinion. Rory lashes out at every creature within reach, not afraid to use his sword when they refuse to back off when he swings a fist in their direction. The rage that comes off of the man and even of the usually so calm Amy makes the creatures scatter. But only two things matter to River, that her parents are fine and that the Doctor is there.

She's absolutely not surprised to find the Doctor is the first to appear by her side. Her parents love her and she loves them, but the Doctor loves her in a completely different way. She's his life, he's even said that to her once. Her parents would do anything to save her, but they haven't been around each other enough to be a true family.

"Amy, get the door!" the Doctor screams as soon as the Elea aren't anywhere in sight anymore. River pulls a face at that sound because it makes her head pound even more.

"I'm so glad you made it," River says, her voice so fragile and soft she almost doesn't recognise it. It earns her a very worried look from her husband, who softly wiped the tears from her face.

The TARDIS door clicks open and the Doctor lifts a hand to untie the ropes keeping her up. He slings his other arm around her, probably aware she won't stay upright without support. Less than a second later, Rory is there as well, and he places his hands over her hips to keep her straight as well.

"Alright, here we go. Rory, stand behind her to make sure you have a hold on her," the Doctor orders.

With one last pull, River finds herself leaning against her father. But not for long, because the Doctor immediately takes her into his arms and carries her towards the TARDIS. it hurts, but she doesn't have the strength to walk and the Doctor is being very careful with her.

Amy opens the door to the infirmary, and the Doctor places River on the first bed. Straight away, he begins to unbutton her shirt to investigate the damage. As he does that, he keeps River's parents busy.

"Rory, you're a nurse. Grab me something to disinfect and dress these wounds. Take out a suture kit as well, judging by the blood I think we'll need it. Amy, fetch some towels and some water to give River a wash. We need to clear away all of the dried blood to see what we're doing and she'll feel better when she's been cleaned up a little," the Doctor says.

"I'm cold," River admits. Although it hurts, she reaches for one of the Doctor's hands. He takes it, linking their fingers. With his thumb, he slowly brushes across her skin in soothing circles.

"I know. As soon as we've got you all sorted out, I'll get some extra blankets and make you comfortable," he promises.

By now, her shirt's come off and she can feel his eyes go over her stab wounds. He raises his hand when Rory and Amy arrive and open their mouths to say something, warning them to keep silent. For once, they obey his order.

"I'm so sorry, River. If you weren't my wife, you wouldn't have been put through this. I'll make up for this one way or another, I swear," the Doctor says as he looks her right into the eyes.

"There's nothing to make up for. We don't choose who we fall in love with. We fell for each other, and that means trouble every now and then. But it's worth it. The love we have, is more than worth it," she whispers, wheezing slightly as she speaks.

The Doctor tells Rory to suture the wounds in River's abdomen while he holds her hand. Amy daps at the blood afterwards and when River finally dares to look down, things don't look quite so bad anymore. She'll probably be left with three scars, but they won't be as large as she feared the first time she saw them.

"Do you think you can let your father suture up the wound on your back while you lean against me? That way you won't burst your stitches," the Doctor asks her.

It's only now that she realises he's already noticed the injury to her back. She should've known, of course, but she's not in any state to pay much attention to the world around her at the moment.

"Let's do this," she agrees, letting her mother and the Doctor guide her into the position they want to see her in. When her father sits down behind her, she panics for a second because it reminds her of the way the Elea used to sneak up on her. But she soldiers on.

Just like the first time, the injection with pain relievers stings like hell, but as soon as it begins to work she's glad she's gotten it. She can feel the pulling like before, but at least she's pain free.

"I can't do anything about the bruises and the superficial cuts, I'm afraid. Those will have to heal on their own. I have some more pain relievers to help you feel more comfortable if you'd like," Rory says as he moves in front of her.

"No more pain relievers. They'll just make me drowsy and you've taken most of the pain away already," she smiles at him, even though her voice still isn't as strong as she'd like. She doesn't like sounding so weak, but she feels more like her ordinary self again, and that's what counts.

Rory nods his assent before heading off to acquire the things he needs to make a cast for all the bones she's broken. He also puts her fingers and both of her shoulders back in their sockets and applies some ice to them to make sure the swelling goes down. He's done very quickly.

"Okay, now I have a look at your heart rate, blood pressure and body temperature. If they're too high, I'll give you something for that. You'll need some fluids and some food, and then you can get some sleep," Rory says.

The thermometer reveals she has a slight fever, but Rory isn't too worried about it. He gives her some medication for it and tells her it's most likely just the stress. Her heart rate and blood pressure aren't entirely normal either. Rory gives her something to lower them slightly.

Then, Rory gives her an IV to administer saline to deal with the dehydration. Her food for the night is a bowl of tomato soup and a sandwich with butter and cheese made by her mother. Rory tells her she needs to eat all of it because she needs the energy. Truth be told, she doesn't care why he thinks she needs it; she's hungry and she would pretty much eat anything right now.

"Promise me you won't ever do something like this again," Amy suddenly blurts out while River is taking another bite of her delicious food.

"Mother, you know I can't. I'm the Doctor's wife," River sternly replies, putting more bread in her mouth as soon as she's done speaking.

River can tell her mother isn't happy with that answer, which is understandable. Amy list her baby and never got to watch her child grow up, she had to wait for almost two years after she'd first met River to learn that River is her daughter and they barely see each other because of the lives they lead.

With just a nod, Amy leaves the room. It's enough to tell River that her mother understands and that the redhead will be okay, even if she didn't get the answer she was hoping for.

"I'd better go see what I can do for her. I'll see you first thing tomorrow, okay, River? And make sure she eats all of that, but slowly, Doctor. Else, she'll overdo her stomach," Rory says before he quickly hops through the door in search of his wife.

River and the Doctor both can't help but laugh at Rory's behaviour. The man really is a bit goofy sometimes, but it shows just how deeply he loves Amy. It's something River recognises in herself, her father's goofiness. And she also shares her mother hard-headed determinedness.

"Why don't you get comfortable, I'll grab the blankets I promised you before," the Doctor says after she swallows the last of her bread and soup.

She sinks down into the bed, somehow managing to get the pillow exactly where she wants it. Because her back will be getting sensitive again soon, she turns onto her side. When the Doctor returns, he tucks the blankets in around her and slips a hand beneath them to take her hand in his.

"When I saw you hanging there, I thought I'd lost you… You looked so pale and you weren't moving… My hearts just stopped…" the Doctor whispers, tucking some of her hair behind her ear with his free hand.

"I'm here now and I'm not going anywhere. So stop your worrying, my love, and hold me until I fall asleep," she whispers in turn. At the same time, she moves on the bed a little to make room for the Doctor.

Of course he immediately slides in beside her. And less than ten minutes later, the both of them are fast asleep.