Ch 26
The location they materialized it was in the mountains above the Capitol and much colder than the town had been. River wrapped her arms around herself to try and keep warm, "When should I take the medication?" She asked quietly, glancing around.
"After someone see's you. We've got to make them think they're the ones who killed you... Do you want my coat?"
"I don't want you to get cold." She murmured.
"I'm alright." He said in the same tone. She shook her head, but he took his coat off anyways and put it on her shoulders. "Can I ask you something?"
"Of course."
"Do you agree with what Milva said? Am I just... leading you blindly into danger? Abandoning everyone?"
"I don't know… I don't think there really is another option for us." She whispered, "Do you think she's right?"
"I think it's more complicated that being right or wrong. I want to know if you feel like I'm forcing you into this plan."
"I don't think you're forcing me." She took his hand, pulling him close, "Like I said, there aren't many other options and this seems like our best shot."
He wrapped his arms around her for a moment, his cheek resting against her forehead.
"I love you." She murmured.
He kissed her and pressed his forehead to hers. "I love you too."
She smiled weakly, "I trust you."
He nodded, cupping her cheek, "Here's to not letting you down." She closed her eyes, hoping this moment wouldn't be their last.
After few a minutes, they pulled away and started making their way down to the city. River held the Doctor's hand tightly, watching their surroundings closely. The path was fairly hidden behind large boulders and snow banks. The citadel could be seen at small dips in the land and was growing more consistently visible as they got closer.
As the pair drew closer, people could be seen clearly inside the city, which meant that they could be seen as well. They came to a point where there would be no cover if they walked further, so they stopped in their path.
"What's the plan now?" River asked.
"There should be an entrance around here..." The Doctor glanced around.
"There. That might be it." She pointed.
Covered in lichen and icy dirt was a very faint etching in the rock of a Gallifreyan word roughly translated to, "portal of which danger lies".
"Good eyes." The Doctor murmured.
"Thanks." She muttered, reading the words.
"This route was designed by people trying to get out, not get in." He explained, seeing her expression.
She nodded. "I can tell." He started to push against the stone, a small opening appearing. She did the same, helping his move the boulder. "Are you sure you want to do this?"
"Rassilon won't stop until he thinks the threat of the Hybrid is gone or until the prophecy happen before he can stop it," He whispered. "There's no time to play his games, even if we're the biggest pieces on the board. You don't deserve to be trapped on this planet until we can find another way out. Our children don't deserve to wait and wonder if we'll come back."
She nodded, "Okay, if you're sure then let's do this." He nodded with determination and they headed into the hidden passage.
The passage was cold, dark, and musty. Winds could be heard echoing through the cave system. The Doctor took his sonic on one hand and River's hand in the other. "This way."
-x-
They were stopped in front of a door. It was a very forgotten looking door, but nonetheless, it was a splitting point. The Doctor reached into his pocket and handed River the drug the Healers had made. River clutched it tightly. "Remember to take it at a point where they think they killed you. The effects last for about twelve hours. I'll probably find you before then, but if I don't, just wait for me or take another dose."
She nodded, giving him a final kiss. "Stay safe."
"You too," he said very seriously. They pushed open the old door together.
The door led out to a grand hall that was at least half a dozen meters high and built of dark marbles and polished metal pillars. Unluckily for them, the guards were right outside the doors.
Immediately there were guns pointed at them and something being yelled in a dialect of Gallifreyan that only the Doctor fully understood. He replied in the same language before the guards very, very slowly lowered their guns but didn't take their fingers off the triggers.
"What did you say?" River asked.
"I told them who I am." He murmured. "These men served with me." She relaxed a bit. He turned back to the guards. "You will not tell Rassilon we're here?"
The soldiers shook their heads, "We won't. You have our word."
"Good. Then I need a favor."
"What do you need, sir?"
"I need you to help us with a plan." He started, going into detail. The guards were to act like they'd found River, killed her on site, then show Rassilon her "dead" body as proof. If all went smoothly, they would then take River somewhere safe to wait for him to find a TARDIS. "And," he added with a severe tone of warning, "if any harm comes to River, I will destroy the Capitol with you in it."
They nodded in understanding, faces solemn. "We will do everything we can to make sure she stays safe."
He relayed the plan to River in English. "I think it's about time to take the medicine now."
"Okay." She gave him a weak smile, "Promise me you won't do anything stupid?"
"I would, but I might be lying. Sometimes one needs a little stupid. But no dying. I can promise that if you can."
She smiled weakly, "You'd better not because if you die again I'll kill you."
"Acknowledged." He kissed her softly. She pulled him a bit closer to deepen the kiss. The guards glanced away to give them a little privacy.
"I'll keep our baby safe." She murmured, pulling out the medicine. He nodded, feeling quite tense and he reluctantly pulled away. She took the medicine, squeezing his hand for a moment, and then collapsing.
The guards looked at each other, waiting until the Doctor was out of sight before taking their guns and firing a round at the wall. At the sound of the gunshots and their shouts of an intruder, other guards came running and soon River was being carried by the guards to the Rassilon's chamber.
River was tossed roughly onto the floor at Rassilon's feet. "What is the meaning of this?" Rassilon barked.
"It's the Consort of the Doctor, Lord President. Units caught her in the northeast corridor, the Doctor was not found, but is probably close by." One of the head guards reported.
"Is she alive?"
The guard shook his head, "The guards who found her reported that they had to shoot for the safety of the situation. She was dead when I arrived."
"Idiots." He hissed. "I wanted her alive! Why isn't she regenerating? Scan her!" He demanded.
"It was a double shot, sir. They made sure to kill her, but we will do a scan to be sure."
"Get on with it." He snarled.
The guard pulled out a scanner, scanning River's body and immediately showing the results to Rassilon.
Rassilon frowned. "I see heart beats."
The man leaned down, checking River's pulse, "She doesn't have a pulse, sir."
He thought with effort. "...The child?"
"Perhaps. What do you want to do about it?"
"Take her to the Surgeon General to confirm."
The guard nodded, lifting her up once more. A few of the company ran ahead to alert the Surgeon General. The Lord President, the guards the Doctor had conferred with and other guards followed.
River was limply put on the examination table. The Surgeon General immediately pulled up a more advanced scanner, scanning River's abdomen. There, completely unaffected by the medication, was the baby: two heart beats and all.
Rassilon looked livid. He glared at a guard. "You! Give me your dagger."
She, not being one of the men the Doctor had spoken to, handed over her knife, the point glistening in the light. Russian took it with force, looking at the occupants of the room and gesturing to the fetus on the scan. "This creature is not one of us. This creature does not share our blood, our history. It is sick, a threat. An abomination!" With that, he plunged the knife down into River's abdomen.
The little heartbeat that had been displaying on the scan fluttered for a few seconds and then went flat. The guards who were covering for the Doctor looked at each other with fear that the Doctor would now carry out his threat.
"Would you like me to burn the body?" The Surgeon General asked.
"In a moment," Rassilon growled, waiting for the faint glowing light of regeneration energy from the fetus. Blood started leaking out from between River's legs and she was beginning to pale. The glow started from her middle and brightened quickly in an effort against what was happening, but Rassilon put his hand over the glow and redirected the energy to himself.
The guards watched helplessly as he did this. "We will take care of the body." One of the offered, not wanting any further damage to be done.
"Do what you please. She is nothing more than scum at the bottom of a river bed. And you, find the Doctor and lock him up before he finds her!" He ordered of another guard.
They nodded, one of the Doctor's accomplices stepping forward and lifting River, silently apologizing for the travesty that he had just witnessed. He and the other accomplice were permitted to leave the 'disgraceful mutt' and hurried from the room, trying desperately to figure out what to do. There was other medical staff here, maybe one of them would be willing to help.
One of the guards ran off to try and find someone who would help while the other took River to safety. He found the nearest guard's quarters, putting her on one of the beds, and using a blanket to put pressure on her wound.
After about twenty minutes, one of the guards returned with two nurses, both of whom he promised were trustworthy.
"She's paling," said the first guard. "She's losing blood too fast."
"You did the right thing by putting pressure on the wound." One of the nurses murmured, getting her hands glowing.
"Can you save the child?"
"There is no point in trying to save the child if the mother is dying too. We have to focus on her first." The Doctor was going to be furious either way, but better to have at least one of them live.
The two nurses worked with hyperfocus, the minutes ticking by slowly. They were not able to do much without equipment and regulation, but they were able to stop the bleeding. They used the sheet to make a makeshift tourniquet, tearing it and tying it around River's torso.
"I'm sorry, but there was no hope for the fetus." Murmured one of the nurses
The others nodded, having figured as much. They could only imagine what the Doctor would do when he found out.
"I understand this is the Doctor's wife?"
"Yes, you must not tell anyone where she is," replied a guard.
"Of course not it's just... He is a very powerful man..."
"Yes, he is and he is going to be furious when he finds out what's happened."
"The anger of a good man is dangerous. Do you know what he will do?" Asked the nurse.
"He told us that if anything were to happen to her, he would destroy the capital." One of the guards murmured.
The nurse shut her eyes with worry. "Perhaps an evacuation is possible?"
The other nurse was quick to add: "Get everyone that you can out of here and to shelter as quickly as possible. You must be desecrete, we cannot draw too much attention to ourselves."
"Who will stay with her?" A guard piped up.
"I'll bring her to the agreed upon meeting place." The other guard offered.
The rest of them nodded. "Wait as long as you can to give the rest of us time to evacuate citizens."
He nodded, "Of course. Go quickly."
They fled the room as quickly as they could without looking suspicious. The nurses were to go to the north and south of the city and start with the people closest to the walls. The other guard was to recruit other more whom he knew were trustworthy into helping as well.
It was four hours before the guard who'd stayed behind was brave enough to take River out of the hiding place. Slowly and as stealthily as possible, he made his way down to the TARDIS repair shop with River in his arms. There were not many people roaming the halls so he made it without too much trouble.
The Doctor was there, back to the guard. He had chosen a primitive, half deconstructed TARDIS to work on, one that couldn't be tracked. The guard cleared his throat, "D-Doctor?"
He stood, though hesitated to turn around. "You sound scared." The man swallowed, not knowing how to respond. "I assume you have River with you." His tone was growing darker. "But if I turn around and see her less than in the condition I left her in, you had better run."
"W-We couldn't stop it. Rassilon would have killed us." He stammered, trying to defend himself.
The Doctor spun suddenly on him, eyes widening at the sight of the bloody cloth over River's abdomen.
"We tried to help it...I'm sorry..."
"Are you deaf?" He said in an almost whisper, before raising his voice. "I said run!"
The guard put River down and ran as fast as he could. The Doctor dropped his menacing look, rushing over to his wife's side.
"Oh, what did they do to you River?" He carefully undid the bandages, wincing at what he saw. There was a large gash, though most of the bleeding had stopped, there were still bits oozing red liquid. He quickly re-did the bindings, furry building in him. He didn't know what else to feel. He knew this was his fault, he knew he should've listened to Milva, but the guilt was too much to feel. The anger, however, was very much something he could feel right down to his bones.
He picked River up and put her in the escape TARDIS, then took one of the other TARDISes and furiously started to input something into the controls. He was not a man of empty threats and Rassilon wasn't even close to an exception to his wrath.
The room around them shifted, the escape TARDIS linking gently with River's mind once she was placed inside.
"Keep her safe." He whispered to the escape TARDIS, before dematerializing with the other TARDIS. For what it was worth, he was glad River wasn't going to see what he was about to do.