A/N: I bring fic! First things first, I want to let everyone know that this year on my LJ I'm doing a Christmas gift fic this year. This means that if you want a fic from me for christmas, just leave a comment on the post (It's all explained there) This post does allow anonymous posting, so if you don't have a LJ account you can still get a fic. Just sign your name at the bottom so when I post it, I won't have a million fics that say "For Anonny". Link for the post will be at the end of the fic. I'm nervous about this chapter, I'll admit! Beta'd by qaffian_luvr
Review Responses:
Bad Werewolf: Mal is one of my all time favourite characters in Sci Fi, so I'm glad I carried him off well. As for the River Song/River Tam thing... well, you'll see! (Re: Chinese- Yeah, I scaled back for this chapter!)
The Winged Lion of Coruscant: D'aww, thanks! I hope staying up till 3 didn't get you more sick, though, cause I'd hate to be the cause of that!
Warnings: Vivisection, disturbing imagery, femslash, violence.
Somewhere, Rose Tyler was staring up at the skies in horror. She stood on top of the Torchwood base with Sheila, their tough-as-nails team leader, and Hugh, their residential tech genius. He also unofficially doubled as their doctor, but no one talked about that.
"The stars are going out," Sheila said, breaking the silence. "Like we don't have enough shit to deal with."
"What's causing it?" Rose asked Hugh, who only shrugged.
"Buggered if I know. The equipment says the stars aren't there anymore. I can only read dust."
"We need to get you through," Sheila decided, squaring her jar. "We are going to get you back to your universe so you can find your Doctor."
"Will it work?" Rose asked. Sheila turned and stared at her newest recruit.
"We don't really have any other choice. Are you ready to save the world?"
"Yes." Rose Tyler squared her shoulders and thought of the man in the little blue box. Wherever he was, she hoped he was safe.
--
Wherever he was, the Doctor decided, he wasn't safe. He didn't regret any of his actions, knowing what they meant for River. He had known what would've happened to her and when he had seen the raw terror in her eyes, the Doctor knew that she did too. He had sort-of planned on Donna and Jenny bullying the Master into going to Ita and charging the TARDIS up by themselves, so they could rescue him, but things didn't hadn't gone the way he had expected.
He had been placed before the soldiers' leader, a man who had looked positively livid that River Tam had slipped through his fingers. But before the man could order his interrogation (Or torture, for that matter. The Doctor knew how these things worked) he'd received a message and the Doctor had found himself being shuttled onto a ship.
Now, two days later, he was still under constant watch, which had left him unable to escape before being once again whisked off the ship. This time, he got a glimpse of children playing in a park and mothers looking at him in distaste before he was escorted into an imposing sort of building, taken down seven stories in an elevator, and deposited into a chair.
The Doctor straightened up, glancing at his surroundings. The room he was in was completely white, save for the two blue chairs and the window looking out on the park. He was seated at the end of a long white table with the other tall blue chair at the far end of it. The door opened and a man strode in, followed by guards and two assistants.
"The Doctor, I presume?" the man asked, settling into the chair across from the Doctor.
"Oh yes," the Doctor replied, eyeing the man. "And you are?"
"Agent 17," the man replied with a cordial smile that didn't reach his eyes.
"Why do agents always have numbers instead of actual names?" the Doctor asked conversationally, leaning back in his chair.
"Ah, that's right," the man replied, holding his hand up. One of his assistants quickly placed a file in his palm and Agent 17 flipped through it. "You've met Agent 35, haven't you?"
"Not recently."
"In the past seven years?"
"Well," the Doctor waved the question away. "That really depends on how you want to measure time."
The man slid a picture across the table. The Doctor glanced at it.
"Do you recognize the two people in the photograph?" the agent asked. It was a security pictire of the Doctor letting Annabelle Lee and Gareth out of the TARDIS on Londinium.
"The Companions you tried to kill?" the Doctor asked, eyes beginning to lose their friendly guise.
"The Companions who would have told the Federation about Agent 35's work. We have research to protect here, Doctor."
"Ah yes, your research." The corners of the Doctor's mouths tightened. "I've seen some of it and what it involves. Can't say I approve."
"Referring to River Tam, no doubt."
"The young girl whose mind you stripped apart? Yeah, that's not research. It's scientific cannibalism."
"We do what our government asks us to do," Agent 17 replied calmly. "If sacrificing one girl's life can save everyone then yes, we will research on human subjects."
"Really? What have you learned from your research that could everyone in the universe? What are you saving them from?"
"People like you," Agent 17 said, looking through the file again. "Your fingerprints say you don't exist. You have a ship that can disappear from midair."
"And I'm a threat for that," the Doctor finished, his glare sharpening. "Are you telling me that my crime is existing?"
"We have tried to recreate such models," Agent 17 explained. "Of course, we did not know where to start. Our last attempt proved fatal."
"Tinkering around with revolutionary new designs does tend to end in explosions."
"Oh, there were no explosions." Agent 17 held out his hand and another assistant placed another file on it. He opened the folder and slid it across the table for the Doctor to read.
The Doctor scanned the page. "…emanated a pulse that stole energy and rendered all structures in its path powerless. At least two ships were caught in the pulse, resulting in instant power failure and at least…"
"You can see why we're eager to find the schematics from you rather than continue our work."
"Twenty seven deaths." The Doctor stared at the page, triple checking the coordinates. It had hit right where the TARDIS had been traveling through before it lost power.
"No one important, at least one of the ships was involved in the… lower aspects of our Confederation."
"Every life is important," the Doctor hissed before dropping the file back on the table. "Anyway, you're out of luck. That beam hit my ship. I don't have any power either."
"It's fairly easy to restore power, Doctor," Agent 17 replied, his eyes gleaming.
"If it was, do you really think I'd still be here?"
"I think you'll tell us about that ship of yours. I think-"
The door swung open and a hurried looking technician handed a paper to Agent 17. The man read it before he startled slightly. He reread it and turned an amazed look at the Doctor.
"You've got two hearts," he breathed, causing the guards and his assistants to snap to attention. "You're not human."
The Doctor raised an eyebrow. "From what I've seen of your sympathy and decency neither are you."
"An alien," Agent 17 repeated before grinning. "But this is wonderful!"
"Sir?" one of the assistants asked nervously.
"Kim, get permission from central for vivisection. Rush it through. Jenson, prepare the labs," Agent 17 ordered, standing up and collecting his files happily.
The Doctor also stood, the fire in his eyes causing the guards to cock their guns.
"We just debated," the Doctor growled, his teeth bared. "We had a conversation and now you're going to cut me open and see how I work?"
"You make it sound like an autopsy, Doctor," the agent replied. "You'll still be alive when we're done. I wouldn't want to lose a specimen."
"I don't give people second chances. You do this and I will stop you."
"Will you?" Agent 17 asked in amusement. "Will this be before or after you're on the operating table?"
"That's your decision then?" the Doctor asked, his eyes narrowing.
Agent 17 only smiled indulgently at him before motioning the guards forward. "Take him to Laboratory Five."
"Yes sir," the men said, surrounding the Doctor in an instant. The Doctor ignored them, his eyes darting around the room, looking for a way out.
"Oh, and Doctor?" Agent 17 called cheerfully after him. "Tell our technicians about any allergies you might have. We wouldn't want our mild sedatives to kill you!"
"Mild sedatives?" the Doctor repeated incredulously. "You want me conscious?"
"Of course," the agent replied. "How else are we to know how you deal with pain?"
"This is-" the Doctor began again, but the guards hauled him out before he could say another word. He tried to escape. He twisted his arms to break their grip, he kept an eye out for possible distractions. There were none.
The Doctor found himself stripped and on a table as people in lab coats and goggles asked him questions and measured his vitals. He tried to reason with them, because most humans were decent people, really. These scientists only looked at him blankly and repeated their questions. Then, something was injected in his neck and the Doctor mentally measured the amount, calculating as the sedative was dispensed throughout his body. It wasn't enough to numb the pain.
The first scalpel descended, then another, as a million things were occurring in the Universe at once.
Agent 17 was calmly taking notes from the observation deck above the lab.
Somewhere, Malcolm Reynolds was having a meeting with his crew.
In another dimension Rose Tyler was babysitting her baby brother while Jackie and Pete went out to dinner.
The Master was pacing inside the TARDIS, trying to think of a plan.
Four stories above the laboratory, a secretary was surprised by flowers from her husband.
The Doctor was screaming.
River Tam curled into a ball and felt all of time, slowing to a crawl around her. The threads throughout the universe grew taught and began to quiver. She didn't know if they would snap.
The Doctor struggled against the bonds. He had been aged unnaturally, he had been shot and stabbed and electrocuted. He had never had people inside him like this, cutting his skin open and peeling it back so they could poke at the organs underneath. He threw his head back and his eyes opened, staring upside down at Agent 17 on the observation deck.
The last thing the Doctor remembered before his own body swallowed him whole was the small smile on the agent's face.
---
This was the first time Jenny had seen Donna angry. Not her usual Doctor-you're-being-particularly-senseless or Master-stop-being-a-bloody-bastard mad, but an actual rage. Jayne had suggested that they'd not go and risk their necks for some hwoon dahn they didn't really know. Donna had gone pale with fury and within seconds Jayne was reaching for one of his guns.
"Jayne, I don't wanna see your hand touch metal," Mal warned, watching the mercenary closely.
"Gorram woman doesn't know her ruttin' place," Jayne replied, causing Donna's eyes to practically glow with anger and a loud smack rang out through the kitchen. Zoe and Mal were up in a second, but a table was between them and Jayne as he grabbed his giant knife. He brought his arm up, but never had the chance to swing it down as Jenny barreled into him. He grunted and tried to swipe at her, but she jammed her fist into his face and kicked his legs out from under him. As he fell, she wrestled the knife from him and put the blade at his throat. He tried to push her off but she kneed him in the gut and pressed the knife into his skin.
"Settle down," she hissed, her Messaline soldier instincts roaring in her ears. "I'll let you up when you're calm."
"I don't have to listen to you!" Jayne roared as Jenny's eyes narrowed.
"Actually," Mal's voice drifted from directly above them. "She's holdin' a knife at your neck and looks mighty comfortable with it. I think you might want to."
"Get off him, please," Zoe's voice said tightly, but Jenny could tell that the gun in the other woman's hand wasn't aimed at her.
"Certainly," she said and stood up, keeping the knife. She dropped it onto the counter, far out of his reach as Mal settled him back in the chair with a few choice words.
"Jenny!" Donna cried, making sure she was unharmed. "Don't do that again, you nearly scared me to death!"
"I wouldn't get hurt, Donna," Jenny assured her, giving up a tiny smile. Zoe turned to look at her, her dark eyes curious.
"Where did you learn to do that?" the woman asked, sizing her up. "Most men three times your size can't take Jayne down."
Jenny shrugged. "There was a war where I come from. The Doctor saved me."
"So you're not his niece, you're a soldier."
"No. I'm his daughter." Seeing all the surprised looks in the room Jenny hurried to continue. "I mean, he's older than he looks and I'm really quite young, but I'm still his daughter. I was raised out of his DNA and, well, given military training. We had a war to fight. He saved me and ended the war."
"That's what he does," Donna added, turning to Mal. "The Doctor travels around and stops wars and saves people."
"Really?" Mal's face darkened. "Then where was he during the War of Independence? Why didn't he stop us massacring each other?"
"Fixed event in time," the Master's voice said from the doorway. "We're time travelers. Last of our entire race. There are rules even he won't break, because he can't."
"What's to stop him?" Mal demanded.
The Master shrugged. "With a fixed point? The universe eating everything infected so it can cleanse the wound. When time is in flux? Usually nothing. He meddles far too much with humans. Rather annoying, really. It's amazing I haven't killed him myself."
"I thought…" Kaylee began, stammering as the Master looked at her, feeling the weight of his stare from behind his glasses. "I thought you loved him!"
"I'm not going to explain anything to you," the Master sneered before his face sobered. "The fact remains. They took what didn't belong to them and I want him back."
"You expect us to storm an Alliance base?" Mal asked, laughing. "I'm a lot of things but I'm not suicidal. Well, maybe when the situation demands it, but not for someone who's not my crew."
"You wouldn't exist without him," Donna said. "I wouldn't either. I'd be eaten by spiders or, hell, I'd probably be popping out fat babies."
"Spiders?" Simon asked, confused.
"Long story," Donna said with a sigh, shaking her head. "But I still know that if the Doctor dies, it'll be safe to say that the entire human race is doomed."
"Taking a prisoner out from under their nose would make the Alliance look rather foolish, sir," Zoe pointed out.
"We can't just stroll into Verbena. There aren't usually strange people walking onto a base armed to the teeth. They'd shoot us on sight." Mal pointed out.
Inara slowly shook her head. "Not unless we're disguised."
"As?"
"There's a gala tomorrow night. I was contacted by a few clients who wished to know if I would accompany them. I've declined of course, but… that could be our way in."
"They know our faces," Mal said.
"Not ours," Jenny said suddenly. "This is the first time I've ever been in this area."
"Mine as well," the Master admitted. "It'd be easy enough to smuggle a few weapons in on our persons, while the rest of you posed as staff."
"These kind of shindigs have weapon screenings," Mal pointed out. "It'd tag any weapon we could give you."
"Not if I use this," the Master replied, holding up his laser screwdriver. "It can disable the system."
"You sure?"
Jenny grinned. "He got the land lock off the ship, didn't he?"
"Only the people who get into the party are guaranteed a way in," Zoe suddenly said, looking up from her chair. "I don't think only two of you will cut it."
"I'm going too," a small voice said from one corner of the couch. They all glanced at River, still curled up in a ball. She didn't raise her head to look at them and she sounded pained.
"River…" Simon began, and she finally raised her head.
"They took him instead of me, Simon. He knew and he protected me. I can fight. I'm going,"
"But your face-" Simon began, but Inara gently placed a hand on his arm.
"I have dresses with veils that will fit her. No one will think anything of it."
"A man strolls in with two young girls and nobody finds anything the least bit suspicious?" Mal demanded. "Are all the rich hwun dan that dumb or just the ones that throw parties?"
"Companions often wear veils with men who don't want others looking," Inara explained. "Jenny looks enough like Master to pass as his niece. She's of debutante age, it wouldn't be at all out of place."
"And I suppose you two would have experience with weaponry?" Mal asked with a sigh, turning to the Master and Jenny.
"Oh yes," the Master replied with a wide grin. "Only let's not tell the Doctor. He gets snippy when I kill things."
"Think we can get in through the service way?" Zoe asked Inara.
"Certainly enough to get you to the kitchens."
"You can't just land Serenity, though," Donna pointed out. "If they knew River was going to be on Santho and landlocked us they must have recognized us."
"Take the shuttles," Kaylee suggested. "It'll look like you're just coming from one of her moons or somethin' and nothin' at all like a rescue mission."
"Well, looks like we have got ourselves a party," Mal said, sitting down in a chair. "Inara, we have a couple of girls we need to get respectable."
--
"I don't like this," Simon said again as he paced Inara's shuttle.
River frowned at her brother. "I'll be fine Simon. I don't need constant guarding."
"River, they were going to kidnap you and now you're just waltzing back in!"
"They have no interest in me right now," River said quietly. "They have the Doctor."
Simon said nothing and Inara took the opportunity to fasten a gilded veil across River's face. She stepped back, looking at Jenny and River critically, fixing every little wrinkle in their dresses.
"Think it'll work?" Kaylee asked as Inara motioned for them to walk across her small shuttle. They stepped down off their stools delicately, lightly crossing the room like Inara taught them.
"Quick learners," Inara said, giving them one of her indecipherable looks as she sized them up, before smiling.
"We have another day," River said, gathering her skirt and twirling experimentally. It looked natural as she did it, and Jenny was soon following suit as Inara taught them a few dances. Simon watched from the corner with a permanent frown on his face as Kaylee tried to convince him that River would be fine and they'd save the Doctor just like they'd promised.
The Master was holed up somewhere and Jenny was fairly certain that Donna was with him. They both knew how dark the Master got when he was allowed to brood and that was the last thing the Doctor needed to come back to.
When Inara allowed them to take a break, so River could have a few stern words with her brother, Jenny took the opportunity to sit in the cockpit and stare out the glass at the space surrounding them. The Doctor had promised to take them to all those places. She frowned and hugged her knees to her chest, resting her chin on the rich fabric of Inara's dress.
"Jenny?"
Jenny turned to see River stepping into the cockpit, watching her with concern. "Just looking out while we rest."
The corners of River's mouth twitched. "Mal just sent Inara to read the Master. Do you think she'll like what she sees?"
"I don't know," Jenny answered truthfully, sliding over so River could sit on the step next to her.
"I mean, I've only known him for a week. He saved my life so I trust him but… well, the Doctor can get a bit antsy around him sometimes. Whenever the Master gets irritated the Doctor stops whatever he's doing to calm him down. Like he expects him to do something."
"Are you afraid of him?"
"Not yet."
River nodded, seemingly satisfied. "You're all scary. Things you've seen, things you will do."
"You're scared of me?" Jenny asked, shocked.
"No, not of you. Of what you can do. Of your potential." River waved her hand in front of her, gesturing at the air. "I can see threads. But I only know when someone makes a decision. But the threads remain. Different realities. Different outcomes. In the end, different people. I can sometimes hear what people think. I hear what they don't even know they want."
"Oh," Jenny said quietly. "Must be rough."
"Sometimes. Sometimes its not."
"Why is it good sometimes?" she asked, turning her head to look at River. River looked back, her eyes seeming to memorize Jenny's face. She lowered her eyes and leaned forward, brushing her lips softly against Jenny's.
River pulled back, her cheeks flushed and her eyes excited and nervous. "I knew you wouldn't mind that."
Jenny stared back at her before smiling warmly and leaning in herself.
"Yeah," she murmured against River's lips. "But we should test that theory."
-----
The Master had a headache. The drums were pounding in his head and they weren't due to arrive on Verbena for another thirteen hours. Captain Reynolds had sent the Companion after him, probably thinking that with her training she could understand his motives. The Master, realizing her intentions thirty seconds into the conversation, had spent an hour dancing around her. It was a pity she had realized it and put an end to his fun.
The Master quietly slipped out of his rooms, carefully making sure none of the women had heard him. The last thing he wanted was Donna waking up and trying to have what she no doubt thought was a warming heart-to-heart, when really all the Master was thinking about was strangling her.
He pulled Donna's TARDIS key out of his pocket. He had pinched it earlier, although he didn't know how long he had until she noticed. The Master was surprised to find that the door was already unlocked and pushed it open to find River curled up on the little white seat, staring at the control panel.
"How did you get in here?" the Master demanded.
River shrugged. "She likes me."
"You'd need a key."
"I snapped," River replied, slowly unfurling her legs so she could stand. "But I'm staying here. It's silent."
"It's never silent," the Master muttered.
"Here I can't hear thoughts or dreams. I just exist. I don't think about what happened." River turned away from him.
"Time was in flux. The Doctor was just being his usual idiotic noble self. It'll be fine." The Master idly fiddled with the TARDIS's unresponsive controls.
"Then why are you terrified?" River asked.
"I'm not," the Master snapped. "I just don't like people touching what's mine."
River understood that more than she'd like to. She'd seen into his head. She knew. And she was sorry. River could not remember why she had sought out the Doctor when the first Alliance patrol spotted her. She had known what was supposed to happen, what it would mean. But the though of being experimented on again, allowed the panic to blind her.
She had seen herself strapped to a chair as they tried to force their way into her head, into her mind. She had seen herself fighting, trying to escape, being locked in a tiny black box. She had seen her crew rescuing her after two years of horror.
But the new images she now saw were so much worse. She could see the Doctor cut open, head thrown back as he screamed. She saw him curled up in on a tiny bed, clutching his head as he whimpered. She could see him standing calmly in the wreckage of Verbena with blood covering his clothes and teeth bared in a feral smile. This new future brought the end of everything. Hands and screams were reaching for her out of the darkness as the Universe was swallowed whole.
River realized she had been speaking out loud as the Master turned to look at her.
"He's not that powerful."
"Isn't he?" River asked. "That's why it wants him, you know."
"They want him because he's an alien. They know nothing of-"
"Not the Alliance," River interrupted. "I know you've always hated him for it. That's why you can't forgive him."
The Master sneered. "Forgiveness is such a quaint little human concept. Very well, I don't forgive him for abandoning me. I could care less about who thinks he's powerful."
River stared at him, an idea suddenly occurring to her. "You don't remember."
"Remember what?" the Master snapped. River blinked, her mouth dropping open.
"But you don't- you honestly don't remember. And you hate him because…" River trailed off, thinking of the flashes she saw from the Doctor's mind. "Neither of you know."
"Know what?" the Master demanded.
River shook her head. "If you've forgotten there's a reason. It defined you."
"River," the Master began, his voice low. "I am not having a very good day. I have been whispered about and shouted at. Tiny humans have taken something of mine and are playing with it. I have a headache and now you won't tell me what I want to know. I'm loosing my patience."
River's eyes could be unnaturally dark on her pale face. She studied him before she spoke.
"You'll remember when you need to. I won't tell you, Master. Deep down you already know it yourself. You're hiding from it. You always have been."
"Why?" the Master snarled.
"Because you loved him once," River replied before she turned and wandered up the ramp, traveling through the TARDIS's rooms. The Master let her go. He sat on the edge of the grating and put his heads in his hands.
The drums never stopped.
----
"You take care of this gun," Jayne told Jenny. "This is one of my best guns. It's dependable and light. Don't go leavin' her behind."
"The way you're carrying on, you'd think you were giving her Vera," Mal said as he strolled into the hold.
"There ain't no ruttin' way I'm givin' Vera to anyone," Jayne snapped. Jenny bent over so she could strap the extra weapon to her ankle and smoothed out her dress over it. She stood up, carefully checking all angles before she turned to Inara.
"Can you see any of them?" she asked. The Companion circled her, keeping a careful eye out for any bumps or imperfections.
"None," Inara finally approved. River was getting ready in a similar fashion while Simon hovered over her, briefly closing his eyes and swallowing his protests as each gun was hidden somewhere under her skirts. The Master stood in the hold, wearing a suit River had retrieved from the TARDIS closet. He only had his laser screwdriver into his coat pocket. He might have slipped an extra one into the breast pocket as well.
"Master, you take River and Jenny down in Inara's shuttle," Mal said once they were ready. "Zoe, Jayne and I will use the extra."
"I'm going too," Donna protested, but the Master shook his head. "If anything goes wrong you are to go into the TARDIS and press the blue button once you've taken her to Ita. It'll take you home."
"We need the rest of you on Serenity to keep it running if anything goes wrong," Mal added before turning to Simon and Kaylee. "If we don't come back, Serenity belongs to you. I know you'll keep her floatin'."
"Mal," Inara said, drawing him away from the crowd. "Do you really trust the Master?"
"No," Mal admitted. "But I trust River. With my life. She's calling the shots."
"Be safe," Inara murmured. Mal nodded and ignored any feelings the woman might have conjured up in him. This time, he knew she wasn't trying to use her wiles.
---
The plan went smooth. No one questioned "Lord Saxon and Guests". The Master choose his name for that very reason. River's eyes were clear from underneath her veil as they walked around the room. She knew people's names, he knew a few historic figures, and Jenny played the part of a debutante well. They stayed for an hour, dancing, before Jenny slipped away. River and the Master followed soon after.
"Ready?" Jenny asked as they shimmied out of their dresses, folding them into a small sack that River had rapped around her waist.
"Move," the Master ordered. Jenny reached for her gun and held it, staring at it.
"What if I shoot someone?" she whispered, remembering how it felt. She hated killing.
"You wonder about this now?" the Master hissed, irritated. River frowned at him.
"There are options," she reminded him. The Master glared at her before he reached into his pocket and pulled out the spare laser screwdriver.
"It'll stun them. But if you break that or it gets shot, it's back to guns," the Master warned her before he started down the corridor. Jenny bit back a small smile as she followed him. They carefully made their way through white corridors until they found the door they were looking for and allowed Mal, Zoe, and Jayne inside.
"Radios," Mal said, quickly handing over the small parcels. They slipped the devices into place behind their ears and went their separate ways. Mal lead Zoe and Jayne down the left hallway while Jenny followed the Master and River down the right one. The halls were eerily clear of guards. The Master only took down five with his screwdriver. Jenny didn't check to see whether or not he was using the stun setting. She was sure she didn't want to know.
"Where is everyone?" Jenny whispered.
River didn't answer, she couldn't. There was no way to tell her that everyone had unknowingly fled. Every single guard and scientist had found a reason not to be here. The weight of the Universe was suffocating, even humans could sense it although they did not know what it was or what it meant. River suspected it always pressed closer whenever the Doctor's life was truly threatened. His threads ran across the Universe, holding it together. If they were to snap and disintegrate, the Universe might float away from itself. River could feel, now, why the Doctor always seemed weary. The Universe was too large to rest on a single person's shoulders.
They came to a split level, white stairs going up on one side, more hallway on the other.
"Perfect," the Master snapped, his eyes darting between their two choices. River blinked and listened before making her decision.
"That way," she said, pointing towards the stairs. The Master shot off, too determined in his purpose to see River holding Jenny back.
"Why aren't we following him?" Jenny asked as she looked back at River with confusion in her eyes.
River grabbed the laser screwdriver from her hands and studied it, before aiming it at one of the doors ahead of them. "I lied. The Doctor is in there."
"But why lie?"
"Because," River's mouth set into a grim little line as she used the laser to undo the door's lock. "I cannot hear if there are any lab aids still in there. It would not matter what their function was, if they were the ones who captured the Doctor or if they even approved of what was done to him. He would kill them on sight, just for being there. It would be best for the Doctor not to wake up covered in blood."
"But the laser is bloodless!" Jenny replied.
River shook her head. "Not right now. He's too angry. He wants revenge."
Jenny frowned but followed River into the room before they stopped, blinking to adjust to their sudden bright, sterile surroundings. When they could see again, they gasped. The room was enormous, every possible wall covered in white machinery, each one clearer medical or scientific in nature. In the center sat a long chair, stretched out so it was more akin to a table, thick black straps striking in the white room as they hold the body on the flat surface in place. The Doctor didn't seem to be moving and for one brief, irrational second River swallowed panic. Then she saw his chest rise and fall as he breathed and she sternly reminded herself that if the Doctor was dead she would've felt it long ago.
"He's…" Jenny began but trailed off. River understood exactly what she meant as she stepped closer. The Doctor's face seemed alien without his usual energy behind it. There were dark circles underneath his eyes and he simply looked old. His body was another thing; a long red line ran down his abdomen, with another, shorter one crossing it perpendicularly at each end. He had been cut open here, and River could still see the angry red skin. He would not scar, technology assured that, but the cuts would remain until they healed.
"Doctor?" Jenny asked quietly. He did not wake up and the air remained heavy around them.
"He can't hear us. He's hiding somewhere inside," River told her, circling around him. "But he must have learned from the first time they tried."
River paused and Jenny asked, "What?"
"Put your fingertips to his temples and give him a nudge," River finally decided. "If there are other Time Lords then he'll know it's safe."
"But I'm not ready for that!" Jenny protested.
River's eyes locked on hers, soft and encouraging. "You're ready for anything."
Jenny bit her lip nervously but nodded and placed her fingertips on the Doctor's temples. She closed her eyes and breathed slowly. River watched her face tighten with concentration. A long moment passed before the Doctor's eyes blinked open and he stared glassily at them.
"What?" he asked faintly.
Jenny removed her fingers and smiled in relief. "Hey, Dad."
The Doctor's eyes cleared and he looked around him before weakly pushing at his bonds.
"Can you-?" he asked as River returned the screwdriver to Jenny who quickly went to work. Task done, she retrieved the Doctor's clothes from a nearby table, where they had been tagged and spread out to be inspected. She helped him stand, frowning at where the bonds had irritated the Doctor's skin.
River ignored them. She stood near the head of the operating table, eyes locked on the observation room above them. The Master stood behind the glass, watching them. River could not see his eyes behind his dark lenses, but she could feel their heavy weight.
Suddenly the door opened behind him and River tensed as a man entered the observatory. She had seen his face in her visions of the Doctor, knew who he was. The man called out to the Master, who only ignored him. The man followed his gaze and saw them.
"What are they doing in my laboratory?" the man's lips read. River watched as the Master stiffened and finally turned to look at the man.
"Your laboratory?"
"My laboratory, my specimens. How the hell did you get in here?" River winced as his lips formed those fatal words. The Master glanced back at her before reaching out to the controls and flicking a switch. A screen descended upon the windows, blocking the observation room from view. River did not miss the first blood splatter across the glass the second before they closed. She turned around slowly and saw Jenny checking all of the tables to find the Doctor's confiscated sonic screwdriver. The Doctor was leaning against another table, face pale as he watched the observation deck. His eyes dropped to hers and he said nothing, but River understood what he wanted. They quietly waited for Jenny to find the screwdriver and River touched her mouthpiece to inform Mal that they were making their way to the shuttles.
They opened the door as the Master stepped lightly down the stairs. Taking the Doctor from between them, he lifted the him into his arms. The Doctor only tipped his head so their eyes met. River shut out their mental conversation before the Doctor sighed and rested his head on the Master's shoulder as the Master began to carry him down the hall. Jenny and River followed silently. Jenny never noticed the tiny droplets of blood sprayed across the Master's white shirt, and the Doctor and River didn't mention it.
----------
Mal piloted Inara's shuttle back to Serenity. River and Jenny traveled with Zoe and Jayne because River couldn't stand to be near the Time Lords any longer. The little piece of himself that the Master had left behind to block out the Doctor, allowed River to hear his own thoughts as he was far too concerned with the Doctor to care about what she would pick up. The Master's thoughts were terrifying, all of them dark and twisted. His bitterness, his anger, his love that had turned into hatred were all focused upon the Doctor. And she knew just as well as they did that the Doctor's thoughts were not centered in the same way on the Master.
They landed in time to see Simon ducking into Inara's shuttle, medical bag firmly in place. Donna was scowling on the railing, no doubt barred from being inside.
When Simon finally left, he sighed and ran a nervous hand through his hair.
"Vivisection," he finally announced.
Mal winced as Inara and Donna gasped. Jayne's head appeared from underneath them, where he had been pretending to lift weights as he eavesdropped.
"Vivi what-tion?" he asked, squinting in confusion.
"An autopsy while the person is still livin'," Mal told him shortly turning back to Simon. "How is he?"
"He'll make a full recovery. I wish I could put him in the infirmary but I think the… medical feel might be the wrong atmosphere."
"He can stay in my shuttle," Inara quickly promised. "He shouldn't move unless he wants to and I do have the most comfortable bed."
"Is he talking much?" Donna asked, eyeing the door.
Simon hesitated before he replied. "He is not saying many words aloud but… he can't take his eyes off the Master."
"Yeah," Donna sighed. "Least he's got his priorities straight."
---
Inara slept in River's room because River did not trust herself to sleep alone. She didn't want to sleep but the ache was too deep. She curled up along side Jenny and trusted that her warmth would be enough to dispel any nightmares. She awoke hours later, blinking as she heard the crew move through the ship. She sighed and turned to look at Jenny who was still asleep, a serene smile on her face. River thought and felt nothing- no voices in her head but her own. She smiled herself and wrapped the blanket around her shoulders and she surrounded herself in Jenny's scent. After hours of dark silence, Jenny drew her to the console room and they sat on the steps, watching the stars until breakfast called to them.
Mal thought he was a good captain. He fought the odds for his crew, he kept his boat in the air, and he didn't go mucking about in other people's business. So when he headed to the cockpit to see if River was setting the coordinates for Ita and found Jenny and River being… Jenny and River, he just turned around and went the way he came. He also made a mental note about having someone talk to Simon about the possibility of River growing up. Preferably he wouldn't have to do it himself; it would end with Simon immediately assuming the worse of him and punching him in the jaw and then he'd have to punch Simon right back because of manly honor, which would end in River staring at them both in disapproval, making Simon think the wrong thing again before the whole discussion devolved into a shouting match and Zoe sent them to their corners while Kaylee explained to the doctor just what Mal was trying to say about his little sister.
Because he was such a good captain he didn't make any comment while the girls trailed past him as he made tea. Of course, River looked at him and raised her eyebrows in amusement, but he was long used to River being one step ahead of him.
"We'll arrive in one day," she told him. "The sooner the Doctor can leave the better. He can't heal by staying in one place."
And Mal knew she was right, everyone did. The Doctor joined them for dinner, the circles under his eyes lessening and he acted like nothing had happen. They had all cast him curious looks, but they never asked. Only the Master remained silent.
Donna hadn't seen them speak and never heard them talk after they returned to their shared cabin. One time, the door had been ajar and she had peeked in to see them laying on the bed, facing each other. They didn't say anything. Donna had shaken her head, muttered something about Time Lords, and continued on. The ship remained silent and tense until they finally arrived on Ita and everyone silently rejoiced as the dawn of normalcy was upon them.
"Yup," the Doctor said the moment they landed on Ita. "There is a rift here. Right here, in fact. Good thing you didn't land a few hundred meters to the north."
"I am good," River reminded him. The Doctor grinned as Zoe drove the cart down, and watched as they unloaded the TARDIS where they were instructed.
"Guess this is good bye," Donna said after chucking her bags through the TARDIS door. "I want to thank you all. For everything!"
Jenny gave River one last kiss, drawing back in surprise as River pressed a wrapped package into her hands.
"What's this?"
"You'll need this, one day," River told her softly, twining her fingers through Jenny's and squeezing before watching her disappear behind the blue TARDIS doors. She pointedly ignored the crew's raised eyebrows at their goodbye.
"We'll be off, then," the Doctor said, fondly stroking the TARDIS's corner. The Master stood behind him, silent as ever. "Serenity was fantastic but I have a ship of my own to get back to."
"Good to have you on my boat, Doctor." Mal shook his hand and nodded sharply, a captain's good bye.
"You need to be careful," River told them as the Master reached for the door handle. "Your troubles aren't over yet."
"What do you mean?" the Doctor asked. He was too tired to frown, too experienced to ignore her.
"The Darkness is coming, Doctor," River warned, her dark eyes ominous. "It's coming for you."
"The Darkness?" the Doctor repeated slowly. He had heard that before.
"The Darkness. The terrible, terrible cold." And now the Master's attention was on her because he had heard those words before, spoken from his spherical children as they fled from the end of the Universe. The Doctor nodded slowly and stepped into the TARDIS, leaving only the Master behind.
He placed his fingertips on River's temples and they both closed their eyes as the Master retrieved what he had left behind. Before he could completely withdraw, River grabbed him and held him, telling him her silent message.
You know what I am talking about.
No, came the Master's irritated reply. No I do not.
Only because you choose to ignore it. But I've seen, I know. The Darkness will find you. It will consume you, Master.
I thought it wanted the Doctor. Now he was bitter, and River sadly shook her head.
It wants both of the lonely gods. You're the last ones. You stand in the way of a destroyed Universe.
The Master sharply withdrew, leaving River gasping back pain.
He glared at her before he said very quietly, "I stand in the way of nothing."
He retreated into the TARDIS and River placed her palm on the closed door, saying goodbye to her before she dematerialized, fading from their lives. She stood, watching where it once was and sighed as the Universe's pressure shifted, following the travelers to their next destination. She led the crew back onto Serenity and they left for the black once more.
---
The ship was silent as River gracefully stepped through it, reverently touching the metal walls as if she was communicating with it. She came into the kitchen to find her captain sitting at the wooden table, staring into a lukewarm mug of tea.
"The ship is asleep," she announced, sliding into the chair across from him. "Except for you."
"And you," Mal reminded her, giving up a small smile.
"I never sleep. Nightmares," River replied, running her finger along the grain in the table. The dark lines stretched across the surface, curving along other grains to meet at a certain point.
"Something wrong?" he asked, frowning in concern. She never told him what the Doctor and the Master made her see, and he was worried about her.
"I can exist without foretelling disaster," she replied, rolling her eyes.
"River," he protested. "When you spout off like this, it's hard to tell if you're looking ahead or simply rambling about whatever floats through your head. Don't know when to listen."
"You do listen," the girl replied, frowning. "You listen to everything Serenity says. You listen to the black. It'd drive most people insane."
"Yeah, well," Mal shrugged and looked into his tea again. "Short trip."
"Not true insanity." River murmured, staring at the wood grain again. "You see things too irrationally to be insane."
"Irrationally?"
"Insanity has it's own order, everything is catalogued. Right and Wrong, nothing in between. Only extremes, always the wrong answer." River looked up again. "The clearer my head gets the more foggy the world is.
"And… that's good?" Mal ventured.
A grin spread across her face, making her eyes light up. "Very."
"Can you fly through the fog?" Mal asked cautiously, knowing how important being pilot was to River but not wanting to risk Serenity.
"It's not a problem with the eyes, Mal," River replied, her tone like she was explaining something to a small child. "Mine are clearer then yours,"
"I live by my eyesight, girl. Not a challenge you should be issuing," Mal said, but he was smiling. "Now, about Jenny…"
"I'm not lovesick, Mal," River assured him, rolling her eyes. "She's got time and space in her blood. Jenny has to fly farther then Serenity could take her. She's a part of her father. The Universe needs her."
"Do you often go about kissing pretty girls?" Mal asked, amused.
"I kissed a star. Two points in the Universe. I'm a fixed point, Mal. Everyone here is."
"Fixed point," Mal repeated, remembering the Master's words. "What do we do that defines the Universe?"
River laughed, her eyes clearer then Mal had ever seen her. "We fly."
Next Time: Silence in the Library
Link to XMas fic post: It's diciple-of-time dot livejournal dot com/12743 dot html
(With actual . instead of "dot", of course)