Ch 78

The ringing in her ears was the first thing River noticed as she woke up. That and the pounding headache. She opened her eyes, finding her vision blurry and fleeting. The searing pain in her abdomen was what really began to bring her out of unconsciousness. Her hands instinctively moved to clutch her middle but were met with resistance from a rope that tied them behind her back. A groan next to her indicated that the Doctor was tied up as well.

Building tops were visible around them, indicating that they were on a roof. River was still trying to piece together what happened, unable to remember exactly where she was. As her vision became clearer, she began to make out the faces before her. Two faces—a man's and a woman's. One mind.

"How many times have you died?" asked the man.

River didn't answer, having trouble even processing the question. She couldn't even tell who was talking, the faces before her spinning. She glanced next to the grey-haired man tied up next to her, who seemed to be having an equal amount of trouble with his senses.

"How many different times?" This question was posed by the woman who was almost certainly Missy, but River couldn't tell for sure with the vertigo.

"Have you burned? Have you drowned?"

"We know Old News here has fallen plenty, but what about you?"

Their voices flowed which each other's uncomfortably smoothly. River struggled and grimaced in pain, trying to get out of the bonds. Either she was getting weak, or the rope was stronger than expected.

"I suppose what we're really asking, my dear is—" the Master spoke.

"-Any requests?" Missy finished for him.

The Doctor muttered something barely audible, slumping back and losing consciousness again.

Missy lifted up a heavy object, going to knock River out again. The Master took her wrist, stopping her. "No need, darling. Dance?"

"In a moment, dear. I'd rather not listen to her moan while we plot how to kill her."

"I like the sound of pain." He smirked. "Does that not do it for you anymore?"

"It's more irritating than pleasurable coming from her."

He considered this, then nodded. "It's not as fun when that baby is doing all the work for us, isn't it."

Missy hummed and swung at River's head again. "Not at all." The sonic in the Doctor's pocket started flashing red as River was knocked out once more.

-x—

Pain… searing pain across her abdomen and in her head. That's all River could register. Something was making it worse, jolting her back and forth—she really wish that would stop. It was like someone was shaking her.

"Come on, trollop. Wake up before he does."

River heard this, groaning when she tried to make words.

"We don't have time for this. He's going to wake up, we should just leave her." Missy hissed.

"No! I can't believe you'd even suggest that—she's my wife!" The voice next to Missy no longer belonged to the Master.

"Here, I've got a way to do it." Missy muttered, "Stand back."

River finally woke up to a smack across the cheek, blinking in shock.

"See? Works every time," Missy preened.

"Shut up," the Doctor growled, untying River. "Can you stand?" he asked her.

"Think so..." River managed, somewhat impressed with herself that real words came out this time.

Her husband wrapped his arm around her as support. "Missy's got a ship, we'll go up as many floors as we can. The Master won't stay out for long."

"Okay..." River said weakly, though didn't have a clue as to what was going on. She put most of her weight against the Doctor, hoping that she wasn't groaning as much as she thought she was.

They made their way forwards, the Doctor mostly carrying River as Missy hurried to the pilot's seat of the ship.

"What's going on?" River asked as they entered the ship.

"Long story, dear," Missy called back. "No time for it, just hold onto something."

She looked at her husband, "Docto-ghh!" She clutched his wrist tightly as the pain intensified.

"Breathe." He winced, more at seeing her in pain than at the pain in his wrist.

"Is he okay?" she breathed.

"I don't know," he admitted. It was at this point that she realized the sonic was in his other hand and glowing red.

"We're running out of time."

The ship lurched aggressively forwards, barring any more conversation between the two. "Hold on!" Missy shouted.

They all gripped onto whatever the could find as Missy flew them out of the city. She charged the ship full-speed at the level's ceiling, bursting through to the next floor and the next until the engines started smoking with the damage. It was on level 507 that the ship finally sputtered and came to a crash.

The three timelords, practically choking on the smoke, scrambled out of the ship and into the sunlight. This level of the ship was covered in grass (not including the skid from where the ship landed) with trees scattered about.

A few meters away, a little girl who looked about Terra's age watched the three stumble out of the wreckage.

The Doctor and River were panting, collapsing onto the grass. Missy was flustered, but standing as she examined their new environment. "There should be shelter somewhere. Hey, you! Little girl!" Missy called.

The girl, frightened by Missy, turned and ran in the opposite direction, towards what looked like a house. "That was easy." Missy turned back to them. "Well, are you going to follow her with me or are you going to pop that kid out in the middle of a field?"

"We're coming." The Doctor hissed, standing and helping River up. He walked with River, practically holding her up and Missy went ahead.

When they finally made it to the house, Missy was already talking to the people inside. The little girl was there also, shying behind who seemed to be the woman in charge. The latter turned to the Songs when they came it. "There's a room for you upstairs. I've sent Rexhill up there with supplies for you."

River was surprised that they weren't immediately thrown out, having expected to have to explain and apologize for whatever Missy said before they arrived.

Missy approached River, "Are you alright?"

"Don't come near me," River hissed.

She huffed. "However much you think your husband has failed to turn me "good", there is one thing he did do: show how to feel remorse. I'm not here to kill your son again, I'm trying to help save him."

"Fine." She shook her head, "Fine, but only because you're the only other Time Lord here and if something goes wrong you might know how to help."

Missy nodded seriously, supporting her from the other side. She and the Doctor pulled River up the stairs and to the spare bedroom that they had been offered.

She was in a tremendous amount of pain now, informing her husband that the pressure was getting worse. It was clear that Felix was coming now.

"He's going to be alright." The Doctor helped River settle on the bed as Missy looked over the supplies.

"You don't know that." River shook her head, squeezing her eyes shut as she felt another contraction.

"No... but you know I'm going to do everything that I can." He murmured.

"We don't have anything to even do a scan. We have nothing." She was panicking now.

He grabbed her hand. "Look at me, Riv."

She looked up at him. There were tears in her eyes.

"We have what we have." He moved to rest his hand on her cheek, sitting on the bed beside her. "I know it's not as much as we'd like, but we're going to make it work." He spoke calmly, knowing that his worry would only make it worse. "We're going to make it work. I need you to breathe for that to happen and just listen to me, okay?"

She nodded, taking a deep breath.

He continued calmly. "I'm going to break your water. We need to get Felix out quickly to make sure we can take care of him. You're going to have to push soon, do you think you can do that?"

She nodded again, only because 'no' wasn't really an option.

He squeezed her hand tightly. "Right. Missy, do we have an amnio-hook?"

"I don't know what that is." Missy frowned.

"The one that looks like a flat crocheting needle."

"This one?" She handed him what she thought fit his description. He nodded, taking it.

Missy moved next to River, offering a hand. "Go on, break a few bones. You've probably earned it." River took Missy's hand, preparing for what was about to happen.

"This part won't hurt," the Doctor told her, "but the contractions are going to come stronger after this. I need you to push on the first one, alright?"

"Okay," she answered shakily. Her whole body was trembling, though it was hard to tell if it was from the pain or the overall distress of what was happening.

Missy said something about breathing as the Doctor carefully got to work. The gush of amniotic fluid that resulted was tinged red, and for some reason, the first thought in the Doctor's head was of how much the twins had wanted to be here for this.

Almost immediately there was another contraction. River's grip on Missy's hand tightened as she tried not to scream. Both Missy and the Doctor encouraged her to push hard, the former wincing at how tightly River was squeezing. She did as they said, leaning forward with the effort.

"Good," the Doctor said. "Again."

River sucked in ragged breaths in what little time she could between the pains, crying out at the next one.

The sonic lay on the bed beside next to them, steadily pulsing its red light. The Doctor kept glancing at it, telling River, again and again, to keep pushing. There wasn't much time for rest between the pain.

"I can't." She breathed hoarsely after a while, "I need to rest."

Missy got up to fetch a rag and shake out her hand.

"You have to keep going, Riv," the Doctor urged.

"I just need a minute." She snapped at him.

"Now don't get fussy," Missy piped up, bringing over a cloth to wipe River's sweat away. "He's not the boss. You just sit back and breathe." River took in a deep breath, still not used to Missy being on her side. "That's a good lass." Missy praised.

"When you're ready..." added the Doctor, skeptical of Missy's attitude. "I need big pushes, River."

River suffered through a few contractions before she resumed pushing, whimpering in pain. Concerned voices floated from downstairs, as just about the whole house could hear what was going on.

River's energy was dwindling fast. It wasn't very much to begin with since the Master assaulted them and her pushes were only getting weaker.

The Doctor offered River a free hand to squeeze but had to take it back when the baby's head started to emerge more fully. It felt like ages before the head was fully born. They were only a few pushes away now, but not at the rate River seemed to be slowing down too.

Ten minutes passed and Felix didn't seem to be budging. Whatever strength River was pushing with, it wasn't meeting the threshold to make him move.

The Doctor glanced worriedly at Missy who rolled her eyes. "Well, what do you expect me to do about it?"

"You seemed so full of bright ideas," he muttered. "Riv, look at me. I know it hurts, but I need you to push harder."

River looked down at him. Sweat glistened on her skin and her expression was full of nothing but fear. She shook her head at his words, her face only paling more. "I can't."

"Great job." Missy rolled her eyes, "I'll handle it. It's like I'm the only one who cares whether this baby ends up ok or not," There was a lift in her tone that indicated she knew exactly what she was saying. "What's his name, Fredric?"

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" River scowled at her, still panting.

She grinned. "It means that all you and eyebrows have been whining about today is how to get home. 'Oh, poor me, I'm pregnant and stuck on a scary spaceship!'" She mimicked River's voice inaccurately high and irritating. "Meanwhile I've been bending backward to make sure your lovechild is born breathing."

"That is not true! How dare you say something like that." She snapped at her, her whole body tensing.

"Sure, now you try to take credit for all my hard work. If it weren't for me, you wouldn't have even gotten this far. It's like I've practically been doing all the pushing for you." Missy tapped her chin. "And was that giving up I heard from you a minute ago? Honestly, I should've expected that."

"Shut up, Missy!" River shouted. A contraction crashed over her at that moment and she screamed with the intensity of it as she pushed.

"Come on, your children could do better than that," she continued, being somehow both encouraging and annoying at the same time.

"Why are you so irritating?" River wheezed at her, while still gripping her hand tight enough to break a bone.

"Oh, there's a whole list of reasons for that, none the least of which is that I'm better than you at this," Missy replied cheerily, winking at the Doctor.

"I could strangle you right now." River groaned.

"Dear, you couldn't even lift a finger right now, let alone strangle me."

"One more," the Doctor whispered from the end of the bed. He said it quietly, both because of the intensity of the moment, and because he feared that Missy's distasteful plan would stop working if he drew too much attention away from her.

"Do you want to bet?" River's grip on Missy's hand tightened.

Missy noticeably grimaced as she a crack from her hand. "Bet on how long it's going to take you to finally have this baby? My money's on next year."

River slumped against the bed, trying to catch her breath. "I don't want you here."

"What, scared to be a mummy again?" Missy rolled her eyes.

"Get out!" River wrenched her hand suddenly away from Missy's, glaring at her as dangerous as she could manage given the circumstances.

Even Missy could tell she's struck a nerve. "Well, there goes all those perfectly good insults to waste," she muttered, more to herself than to anyone else in the room. She cradled her injured hand to her chest. "Not that it's any consolation, but I'm quite certain something's broken. Ball's back in your court, Mr. Song."

"...Missy, would you go downstairs, please?" the Doctor asked.

"Fine, maybe someone downstairs will actually care about my poor hand," she huffed, more as a way of easing the tension than a real complaint as she exited.

The Doctor looked back at his wife as the door closed. "Last push."

"I can't do this, Doctor…" she managed weakly, sounding like she might cry. "I don't want this to be happening. Not here and certainly not now."

"I'm sorry River, but it is happening." he started slowly, "And I am holding our child's head in my hands..." he searched her face. "You need to push."

She took a shaking breath, swallowing the hot lump in her throat. "O-one more?"

"One more," he echoed. He wished he could give her more—anything really; Comfort or hand to hold would do well, but the sonic was still flashing red which meant Felix had to take priority.

River shut her eyes as the pain took her once more and all she could do was scream and hold onto the sheets of the bed for dear life.

The Doctor's ears were ringing as Felix finally made a complete, but silent entrance into the universe.