Note: I do not own any of these characters….except Ardesind. But he's only here a bit. R&R! I'm just having some fun trying my hand at FanFic! Please if you have a minute, drop me a note! :D Thank you to all who are following this story. Plenty more to come!
River almost forgot to duck as she rounded the last turn. She felt a Whoosh over her curls and slowly turned around. It was the Tardis ghost. A computer virus and security checker for the ship's hard drive. She was glad the doctor had told her to duck. The last time she had encountered the ghost was quite an unpleasant memory, involving large amounts of electric shock and a cut on her back from falling into the edged metal railing.
As the ghost continued on its way she glanced around, noticing she was in a small entryway. As she moved through the archway, she scanned the room and began to laugh. It was full of hats. Every spare space had a hat or two or even five claiming it. And there was the Doctor, looking ridiculously impressed with himself and waiting for her to acknowledge the bright yellow Yarmulke he had chosen for himself.
"What in heaven's name...Sweetie, where did you get all these hats?" She knew he was old but the Doctor wasn't ever into them until this last regeneration. He grinned. "I haven't got them, River. They're all holograms. That is our adventure. You're going to pick a hat you like and that is where we will go tomorrow for the whole day." He was so pleased with himself that River just couldn't help but give in. "Alright sweetie. But promise me none of these places are too dangerous?"
She kicked her self immediately for saying it. She was River! She loved dangerous places. The Doctor knew that and he had noticed. His face had changed into confusion but he didn't say anything, waiting for her to clarify. She quickly smiled and made it into a joke, laughing smugly. "Got you didn't I, dear."
He still didn't buy it all the way, but he smirked and said, "Yeah. You 'got me.'" She ignored him and began walking around the room, in search of a hat she thought would be interesting. There's one. It doesn't look too dangerous. Then again you never know with hats. She picked up a brown and green one shaped a little oddly. Obviously it was from a different planet. "I pick this one. Where's it from?"
"Oh that one? Well lets see..." He took out his sonic and scanned it. "Its from Wekudenai in the 7th sector. We best set the course tonight. That's quite a long distance away!" "Sweetie it'll take 2 minutes to get there and you know it." "Yeah, well, what's the fun in waiting?" He smiled big and grabbed her hand.
Together they began walking back to the console. River still felt a little off but she ignored it. It was nothing. She was healthy and happy and with her man. "River, what was wrong with you earlier?" The Doctor asked, hesitantly. "It was just low blood pressure. Nothing serious, sweetie. Its from all the running I've been doing lately and the change in diet. I think you feed me too well! The change from prison food to your wonderful meals is affecting me." He could tell she was being honest with him and he left it alone for the rest of their walk, glad she was alright.
As they reached the controls, they both began flicking buttons and levers, shooting flirtatious glances at one another. The Tardis began to make the familiar noise it always made when he left the breaks on. River quickly pressed a few buttons and the noise stopped. "Oh, River, you always ruin the noise! I love that noise!" He pouted a little but she walked over to him and wrapped her arms around him. "But isn't it nicer to be in the peace and quiet? Just you and me and the calm. Don't you ever wonder what could happen in the stillness?"
He grinned and slid his arms around her slender waist. "Oh? And, tell me River, what could happen in the stillness?" She laughed. He loved her laugh! So rich and clear. It made both his hearts flutter every time. He leaned over and pressed a button. Music began to play, slowly and dreamily. They began to dance around the console, smiling at each other and happy to be together once again.
"I love it when you dance." River said.
"Oh really? Well then I guess we'll have to dance more often, wont we?"
"I should think so! If a man wants to please his wife, he had better be willing to..."
River was cut off by a loud crash and a tremor. They both snapped to attention and grabbed onto the console. The Doctor pulled around the scanner. "River we've got company!" She glanced at the scanner as another powerful tremor shook the room,nearly knocking them to the floor. Space roaches. Hundreds of them, thousands even.
"They must be migrating. They don't even know we're caught in the middle of them. What can we do, Doctor?"
He thought quickly and answered, "Hold the shields up and pray. The time energy would cause a massive panic if we try to get out. They could crush entire planets if that happened." He placed his hand on the shield control and River nodded her agreement. The Tardis continued to shake and toss them around.
"River, don't let go."
"What?" She yelled. His words were mostly drown out by the crashing and banging, and, she realized, by the ringing in her ears. She began to feel sick again and let go with one hand to grab her stomach. Suddenly, the most powerful tremor thus far hit and flung River across the floor to the stairs. She cried out in pain as she hit the ground."NO! River!" The Doctor cried, helpless. She immediately reached for the railing. He couldn't take his hand off the shields or the Tardis would be obliterated in seconds. All he could do was watch.
Her hand was mere inches from the bar when the next tremor struck. She tumbled down the flight of stairs and slid across near the door as the ship tilted slightly from the impact. "RIVER!" She didn't respond. "River, TALK TO ME!" She had been knocked out cold. Luckily she had slid into a small corner and was protected as the impacts went on.
The Doctor checked the scanner. About fifteen more seconds. He was dying to rush to her side. He could see a blood trial where she had slid and a pool around her but he couldn't tell where from yet. He had to be closer. Come on! Get a move on! Shes hurt! He thought angrily. When at last they had all gone, he ran and jumped over the railing and rushed over to her. The blood was coming from a nasty looking gash on her leg. He took off his bow-tie and used it as a bandage over it before checking the rest of her. There was a nasty bruise on the side of her stomach and a few scrapes but nothing else appeared to be wrong so he gently picked her up and carried her to the sofa by the console.
I better run a full body scan just to be sure. That was quite a fall. Come on, River. You're always fine.
