I have nothing to say. Apart from...
10. New Tricks
"Stay back, my love."
The golden light continued to pour out of her, flying around the room but always returning, seeming to brighten her face.
She took a few forced steps away from the console, and pulling herself up by the banister, she managed to begin ascending the staircase that led to the exit of the control room.
She stopped halfway up, another burst of energy nearly knocking her off her feet. She pulled as much strength as she had inside of her, and staggered to The TARDIS kitchen. The Doctor followed as quickly as he could, his efforts stifled by the time energy that flowed out behind her, slowing his movements.
The TARDIS sensed the gravity of the situation, and connected the corresponding doorways immediately, so that she staggered into the kitchen, with The Doctor following close behind her. Her breathing was quick and shallow, coming out in pants as she braced herself on the kitchen table. All the while the amount of energy exuding from her was increasing, drowning her in the light that should've been saving her.
"River – what's happening?" He reached out towards her but she shook her head and backed away.
"Stay back!" she warned, taking deep breaths. She stood as still as she could, closing her eyes and scrunching her face in concentration.
"River, you can't change – I-I love you. Don't go, please..." His face was stretched into a painful expression, worn thinly over his downturned features.
She didn't respond – she didn't get a chance.
Her face disappeared behind a stream of energy as she stood still, her arms flung out beside her as the room exploded with light.
The wound in her chest was obscured by her clothes, but all around her light suddenly pulled back and shot at her, absorbed by her body as quickly as it had appeared.
She gasped - her eyes wide with shock, then collapsed, The Doctor catching her before she hit the ground.
...
"How long has she been like this?"
Lying on the bed in front of them was River, unconscious but still breathing, every breath that rasped from her throat still alive with time energy.
Jack stood at the end of the bed, looking down on her, as confused as The Doctor was by her condition.
The Doctor himself was sitting by her bedside, face stark white and hands that gripped one of his wife's shaking.
"An hour, maybe two..." his voice shook with worry, cracking with the grief of not knowing how to help her. "Jack, what's happened to her? I can't lose her – I just can't..." he buried his face in his hands for what seemed like the umpteenth time that hour, just waiting for any sign from Jack that he knew how to help her.
"She's regenerated." He said simply.
"But her face hasn't changed!"
"She's only part timelord, Doctor. Perhaps not even that – but she's human plus, and was exposed to the time vortex just like they were. She's regenerated, but her face hasn't changed – she's healed herself."
"H-Healed herself?" He looked down at his wife, resting on the bed, bewildered by the miracle that her body had performed.
"I can't be sure – but it seems like she's done half your process – healed her wounds, but her body hasn't changed. Now she's in a sort of healing coma, unconscious." He gestured awkwardly to her after that last, more obvious observation.
"But she's alright?" The Doctor was still anxious - he had not known anyone with her unique DNA before, did not know how to treat her.
"Yes – she's completely stable."
The Doctor was a man of science, but even he offered thanks to whatever higher power might be lurking out there in that moment.
Jack continued -"I think the only thing we can do know is let her rest – give it a bit of time before we try and wake her up, and we still need to work out how we're going to do that..."
But The Doctor's mind was elsewhere. Now that he knew River was safe, he could only feel anger in his mind, ferocity boiling in his blood and whistling through his frame.
He gritted his teeth, tone now dark and dangerous.
"Look after her. I need to do something." He didn't offer an explanation as to where he was going, and Jack didn't think it best to even ask.
The Doctor stood up from his chair, bent down to kiss her on the forehead, then took her vortex manipulator and alpha meson blaster from the bedside table.
After one last look at her pale frame, humming with time energy, he turned away and started walking determinedly towards the control room, feeling his temper rise to bubble beneath the surface of his stony exterior. His eyes were cold with hatred for people that would pay – he was The Doctor, The Oncoming Storm – and he would make them regret the day that they were born.
You didn't honestly think I'd kill off Alex Kingston's River did you?
In the next chapter, The Doctor will be wearing his OncomingStorm face. Or maybe he'll have one of River's "SayItAgain...OneMoreTime*MEEEEERRCYYYYY*" moments.