Ch 16
The Doctor ventured out into the flat. It was oddly quiet without any of the children's or pets' minds emitting the soft hums of dreams. He headed up the stairs. "River?" He called. "We've got to get moving, have you found what you were looking for?"
There was no answer, only the soft creaks of the old house. He swallowed, not liking the feeling that was forming in his gut. With all that was happening, he didn't think the answering silence was a good sign.
"River?" He peered down the hallway towards their bedroom. The door was slightly ajar, and the light emitting from it showed shadows of movement inside.
He reached for his screwdriver, creeping over to the door.
River was inside the room, though she wasn't alone. His eyes widened and he held his breath, trying to get a better look at what was going on without being spotted.
River appeared to be searching through a drawer and was currently unaware of the second figure who stood on the opposite side of the room as her. Oddly enough, neither person's movements made any sound, most likely the result of a sound barrier, which is why she must not have heard the Doctor's calls. Unfortunately, it also meant she couldn't hear the impending threat behind her.
He watched as the person took a step towards her. Without a second thought, he stepped into the room, putting himself between River and the intruder and pointing his sonic as menacingly as he could. "Not a step closer to my wife."
"The Consort of the Doctor has been summoned before the High Council." The figure replied, "She must be taken for trial and sentencing."
"Is that what they're calling my wife now? "The Consort"? She's got a whole lot more identity outside her association with me, you know- not that telling a pre-programmed android is going to warrant a name change, but it wouldn't be wrong of me to assume your owners are listening."
He moved backward, brushing River with his leg as to get her attention. She might not have been able to hear his stalling, but sound would hardly matter if she could get her guard up and gun in hand. As soon as she realized what was going on, River jumped up, blaster in hand.
"The Consort of the Doctor will be taken into custody." The android repeated.
"No, I don't think she will." He activated his screwdriver, sparks starting to fly from the android. With that, the sound barrier was broken and the broken android began to alarm. It wouldn't be long before reinforcements would arrive.
"We have to run." He grabbed River's hand and started for the door.
"What was all that?" She asked as they ran downstairs and into the TARDIS.
"Call it our law and order system." He muttered as he threw the ship into gear.
"Where's Terra and Ohila?" She looked around the console room.
His eyes darted around, noting that the older woman was gone. "Damn it, I told her not to go near our daughter." He started running for Terra's room. River was on his heels, the two bursting into Terra's room.
Ohila was sitting on the side of their daughter's bed, trying to convince the girl to come with her without actually knowing any sign language. Terra had her arms crossed, looking quite grumpy and unconvinced.
River was on the other woman in a moment, blaster pressed to her forehead, "What the hell do you think you're doing?!"
"Or "thank you", as some people would say," Ohila replied calmly. The Doctor scooped Terra into his arms.
"Why would I thank you for trying to take my daughter from me." River growled.
"Because that's not, in fact, what I was trying to do." Ohila stood and brushed her skirts off. "Some androids came onto the ship requesting the Offspring of the Doctor, I gave them the wrong directions, and then came to remove your daughter from danger."
River slowly backed off, "I'm sorry..." She murmured, "I misunderstood. Thank you for protecting her." Though she still didn't trust the woman, she was grateful that she had attempted to keep Terra safe.
"[What is happening?]" Terra demanded. "[I thought you were out with her?]"
River looked at the Doctor, not knowing what to tell their daughter. The Timelord sighed. "[My little star, that wasn't entirely true. I didn't want you to have any nightmares, so I didn't tell you, but the truth is there are some bad people that have come to Earth and they're trying to hurt us.]"
"[What bad people? I thought my other Daddy went away to protect us from all the bad people.]" She frowned.
He tried to ignore the words 'other daddy'. "[I did. But sometimes things don't work out the way you hope they will.]"
Her frown deepened, "[What about Amelia and Freya and Arthur?]"
"[Uncle Jack is keeping them safe.]" At least he hoped.
"We need to find a safer place for Terra." River murmured. "I was thinking...perhaps we could leave her with...my parents."
The Doctor looked surprised at the suggestion. "How would we go about that, exactly?"
"I...I don't know. But if we can find a way to get her there, she should be safe."
He nodded and thought. "It would be better if all the kids could get there." His face lit up with an idea and he gestured for them to follow and he walked out of the room with Terra still on his hip. "Your vortex manipulator. It can get through Jack's shields because it's not as complicated as a TARDIS. Then we can get the others and bring them to where the Ponds were taken. We can't use technology to get back to the 1930's, but we can use the same way the Ponds did: Weeping angels."
"And will we be able to get them back?" River asked.
"Yes. New York may be impossible to get to, but if we have them bring the kids out of the city, we can pick them up when all this is over. If not... well, they'll be in good hands."
The last part made River's hearts stutter. The possibility of never seeing her children again was unbearable, but at the same time, she knew if they didn't go then the children were at risk of being killed and River would rather have them safe and alive than dead. "Okay..." She nodded, swallowing, "Do you want me to get them?"
"Let's do it together." He murmured, remembering her earlier words. They arrived at the console room and he found the vortex manipulator. "Ohila, you stay here and take care of the androids."
Ohila nodded as River took the vortex manipulator and programmed it with the coordinates. The Doctor did a quick sonic of the device so it'd be able to carry all of them at once.
"Ready?"
River nodded, holding both him and their daughter tightly. They heard voices echoing: "The Offspring of the Doctor will be taken into custody," before they vanished and landed forcefully in the Hub.
River was on her feet immediately, blaster out and scanning the room.
"Mummy!" Arthur cried excitedly when he saw her. He and his other sisters were sat on the couch playing some non-descript board game with Jack. The place was dark and lit by flashlights.
"Oh, Arthur!" She ran to hug him, "Thank goodness, we were so worried."
"Uncle Jack said there were bad guys who want to get us so we had to lock everything up and turn off all the electricity but it's really boring. Did you get them?"
"Not yet, but we're working on it. We came to take you somewhere safer." She murmured, going to hug the twins.
"Where are we going?" Freya asked.
"We're going to send you to stay with your grandmum and grandad. Just for a little while, you'll be much safer there, I promise."
"But... they're dead." Amelia frowned.
"Well, in this time, yes. But we're going to take you back in time."
"How long will we be away?"
"I don't know. We're going to come back to you as soon as we can." River murmured, stroking Amelia's cheek, "Now, we need to be quick. Get your bags and make sure you have everything you need."
"They're not going to recognize us, are they?" Freya asked.
River hesitated, "I'll send a letter with you just in case, but I don't think they will."
"[I don't want to leave you, Mummy.]" Terra whimpered.
"[I don't want to leave you either, my little star, but I have to. It's the only way you're going to be safe.]" It broke her hearts but she knew it had to be done.
Terra clung to River while the other kids got their things together. River kissed her forehead, rubbing her back comfortingly. "[I have to write a letter to your grandmum… Can you keep something safe for me?]" River asked the little girl who nodded, sniffling. River reached into her pocket, pulling out a familiar blue box, "[I want you to take care of this. And when your with your grandmum and granddad, you can use the pictures in here to tell them all about our fun adventures together.]"
Terra hugged the box close to her chest, look up at River. "[What if you get hurt while you're away?]"
"[I'll do my best not to get hurt]."
Arthur came up to them. "We're ready, Mummy."
"Okay." River quickly scribbled a note to her parents, giving it to Freya, then looked at her husband.
"We have one stop to make before you see your grandparents: New York, 2012." The Doctor addressed the kids. "Say thank you to Uncle Jack."
"Thank you." They said in unison, each one going to give him a hug.
River copied the action, "Thank you for keeping them safe, Jack."
"My pleasure, River. If you need help, you know where to find me. Good luck."
She nodded, herding the children close so they could leave. There came a banging from outside, with mechanical voices demanding for them. "That's our cue." They disappeared from the Hub.
They all found themselves stumbling onto grass, River, once again, immediately on guard. They were in the graveyard just outside Manhattan, the Weeping Angel that had taken Amy and Rory staring River down.
The kids ran to hide behind her, not understanding why their parents had taken them to a monster.
"My loves, I know it's scary, but you must let the Angel take you." The Doctor said. "No time machine can travel to New York in the time that your grandparents live. That's why it's the safest place for you, the...bad people...won't be able to get to you. But you have to let the angel take you."
Terra burst into tears. "[Then how are you going to get back to us?]"
"[We'll find a way. I promise, my love, we'll find a way.]"
River reached out to offer her hand, eyes never leaving the statue.
"How do you know it'll take us to them?" Freya asked. She couldn't image what danger her parents were trying to face if it meant something as extreme as feeding them to an Angel.
"Because this angel is dying," River answered, "It can only send you to one place, one time. It's the same one that took your grandparents, so it has to take you to them." River explained, swallowing the lump in her throat. "It'll be okay."
"We need you all to be very brave right now." The Doctor whispered. "You need to look out for each other until we get back."
The children nodded, all of them teary eyed. "Can't you come with us? We can all hide together." Arthur asked.
"We can't hide from this problem, I'm sorry. We've got to fix it or it'll never end."
Terra ran to hug her father's legs, crying openly. He knelt down and hugged her back. "[I love you to the moon and back, my little star.]"
"[Love you too.]"
He hugged his other children and took over looking at the Angel so River could hug the kids, too. She gave each one of them a long, warm hug, telling them how much she loved them and to be brave and good and to take care of one another.
Finally, the Song children stood in front of the Weeping Angel holding each other's hands, Terra clutching the blue box and Freya's hand.
The Doctor put his hand on his wife's shoulder. "Close your eyes, my love."
River was shaking, looking at her children for possibly the last time. Her chest felt even tighter than the last time she'd been here, so tight wasn't breathing. She could feel her face growing hot as her vision blurred with tears.
And then she blinked. Her children were gone when she opened her eyes.
"We need to go." The Doctor whispered hoarsely. She was stone still, staring at the empty place that their children had been standing in just moments before. He took her wrist, programming the vortex manipulator for her.
They dematerialized, going back to the TARDIS. They fell onto the floor of the ship, though River didn't move this time. He sat with her for a silent minute.
"We need to let the androids take us." He finally said.
She nodded, obviously trying to gather her composure, not wanting to cry in front of him. It was difficult because she knew it was the loud, messy kind of tears she was holding back. That kind that wouldn't ever stop if she let them start.
He was watery-eyed himself, not trying to hide it so much as he said shakily, "We did the right thing."
"I know, but...what if we never get them back? What if we never see them again?"
"Then they'll be safe and in good hands." He assured.
"But not our hands."
He nodded solemnly. "I suppose we'd better not die, then."
"We'd better not." She took a deep breath, eyes shut tightly.
Ohila entered the console room at that moment. "I saw five of those things enter, but I've only gotten four."
River looked at her husband, taking another breath, "I suppose that's ours then."
"Yes, I suppose it is." He stood slowly and offered a hand up. She took his hand, standing up.
"You're letting it take you?" Ohila asked.
"We have to, we have to find a way to stop them."
"I wish you luck, for all our sakes."
River nodded, "I'm sure we won't have to wait too long for it to find us."
The Doctor nodded, thinking back to the first android's threat. Trial and sentencing. "River... when we get there, they're probably going to split us up. Your "trail" is mostly likely some sort of medical examination and then an interrogation. There are some people who think the Prophecy should not be interfered with, but the High Council's opinion is what's going to matter. They want to intervene which means they want the Hybrid out of their way. I know convincing them to leave our family alone is a long shot, but it'll buy us time at the least if you can keep them talking."
She nodded, giving his hand a very tight squeeze, "Try not to get yourself killed again."
"I'll do my best. It's my main thing." He brought her hand up and kissed her knuckles. She smiled weakly, the sound of footsteps could be heard coming down the corridor towards them. He closed his eyes and pressed his face to her palm.
"I'll be okay." She whispered, pulling him closer to her, wrapping her arm around his shoulders.
"I hope so." He said in the same tone.
Behind him, the android approached, spouting its instructions. She kissed her husband quickly, then turned to look at the android. The thing had its hands held up in front of it, palms facing out towards them. "The Consort of the Doctor will comply."
River raised her hands up in surrender, "We're complying. And I do have a name, I'm not just the Consort of the Doctor."
A green light shot out from the robot's hands, creating a pair of photonic bonds around River's wrists. "The Consort has been obtained."
"Oh, handcuffs, my favorite! How did you know?" She watched the robot carefully, studying its movements.
"I believe most of the galaxy knows that." The Doctor whispered. She snorted.
The android put its hands together in a praying position. "Preparing for transport."
She took a deep breath, preparing herself to face whatever the High Council had in store for her.