River Song arrived in time to watch the Doctor fall. She closed her vortex manipulator, and averted her eyes as the Doctor hit the ground. The sound of his impact was horrifying; she couldn't imagine what his body must look like. The Doctor, the man she had known all her life, the man she had loved, lay broken at her feet. She had feared this day all her life. Leaning back against the TARDIS, she wiped away her tears. She had to be strong now, for the Doctor.
She only had one chance to say goodbye.
The Doctor woke to the smell of ash and a golden glow over his eyelids. For a moment he laid peacefully, images of Clara and the TARDIS swirling around in his mind. Soon the memories came flooding back. The forest, the blonde girl, the cybermen, Trenzalore. Clara had been shot, and he had fallen from the cliff.
It didn't take the Doctor very long to piece together the next step. A sense of dread came over him. He wasn't feeling any pain, and there was a tingling sensation running all over his body. It was starting.
He heard the sound of footsteps coming towards him. High heels?
The Doctor opened his eyes.
"You know how to make an entrance," said his wife. The TARDIS was behind her, in the few meters between the Doctor and the cliff. It was lucky he had missed them both.
"Did I impress you?" He asked with a cheeky grin.
"You certainly could have chosen a smaller cliff to throw yourself off of," she replied, looking up to the sky. From here, the top of the cliff wasn't even visible.
"The cybermen, the moved the TARDIS down here. They wanted me to jump."
"It's ok. It doesn't matter now," River said sadly.
"How did you find me?" The Doctor asked. He slowly stood up from the ground. River couldn't believe the broken man that had landed mere minutes ago was now fully repaired and having a conversation.
"That girl up there, she's smarter than you know," River said.
The Doctors eyes widened. "Clara? She sent you here?"
"Clara from your future."
The Doctor smiled from ear to ear. The golden glow was starting to appear over his hands, but he ignored it.
"Yes, she survives the gunshot. She came to me, and told me where I could find the TARDIS. She warned me to watch out for the cybermen, and to duck for cover when the time came. This wasn't quite what I had in mind," River said.
"Clara, from my future, sent you here just to be with me?"
There was a flash of sadness in River's eyes.
"She didn't want you to be alone now."
The Doctor finally looked down to his hands. The regeneration energy was surging through him, rushing through and around his veins.
"River, what happens to me?" The Doctor said grimly.
"Spoilers," she replied.
"No, River, I need to know. The girl up there, the one who shot Clara, she called me a monster. She said millions of people die on this planet because of me – future me. River, you have to tell me if it's true. I can stop the regeneration. I can die right now, even if it means losing Clara. None of it has to happen."
"No," River lied. "That girl is wrong. What happened on this planet, there was nothing you could do. Doctor, you need to regenerate. You have so much left to do, so many thousands of lives to save. Including the girl up at the top of this cliff, bleeding in the snow. She needs you now."
"Not me," the Doctor gritted his teeth, "the man I'm about to become. River, if you're wrong about this, millions could die. I've been a warrior before, and I would rather die right now than be that man again."
"You have to trust me," River said. A tear rolled down her cheek. She couldn't bear lying to him like this. To be honest, River had never met the Doctor's future regeneration. But she had been told of the things he had done, the decisions he had made. River had decided to keep away from him, and remember the Doctor as the man who stood before her. After tonight, the Doctor would likely never see her again.
The Doctor sighed. He only had seconds left.
"I went to see my parents before I came here," River said.
The Doctor smiled. "Amy. How is she?"
"She gave me this letter to give to you," River said. She walked forwards and put the note in his hands. She could feel the energy rushing though him.
"I don't have time to read it," the Doctor said. He could feel his particles changing and building rapidly as he fumbled with the note.
"But you do have time for this," River said quietly. She leaned forward and kissed him.
For those few seconds, the Doctor forgot about the regeneration, about Trenzalore and the cybermen. He was with his wife, and that was all that mattered.
River gently pulled away.
"Thank you, my Doctor. Thank you for everything," River said. Tears were falling from her cheeks. She started to back away from him.
"River, please…"
Golden energy started to shoot from the Doctor's arms. Internally, the pain became excruciating. Every atom in his body altered, stabbing him like needles under his skin. The golden light surrounded him as he started to scream.
River turned away from her husband and walked into the shadows. She cursed to herself as she wiped her eyes again. She knew she should have let him stop the regeneration, but she couldn't face her Doctor dying like this in the dark. At least she was saving Clara's life..but at what cost? River thought of all those she had put in danger just by letting him live.
As far as she was concerned, the Doctor was gone now. The man he was turning in to wasn't the Doctor. He wasn't a warrior either, not according to legend. This man was much worse. There was another word for him, a word her Doctor had been afraid of.
River entered co-ordinates on her vortex manipulator. She needed to leave before he finished regenerating.
Monster.
