Ch 80
River was finding it harder and harder to stay awake. The Doctor would speak or tap her each time she closed her eyes for more than 30 seconds, frightened every time she did.
Finally, there was the sound of familiar footsteps coming up the stairs. The Doctor stood as Missy reentered looking ruffled.
"Did you find the TARDIS?" River asked, sitting up a bit more.
"Yes and no." She flopped down into a chair. "I determined that the lights the humans saw were definitely your ship, but I can't change the day settings without putting all of us in a whole lot more danger."
"So then we'll wait." River murmured, glancing at her husband.
"That wouldn't be wise in your condition." Missy shrugged. "Not to mention that there's going to be an attack tonight, and we best not stick around."
"Then we'll change the day settings. It's the only other option."
"I am telling you, it's a bad idea. The Cybermen are kept downstairs for the same reason that keeps your TARDIS away and they're on faster time. If I make it night time, they'll come full force."
"Well, what else can we do? We're running out of time."
Missy looked at the Doctor who looked deep in thought. "They're going to come at nightfall whether it comes early or not," he said. "We can't afford to wait."
"Alright, fine. Do you want to make arrangements with the people downstairs?"
"There nothing we can do but warn them," he said regretfully.
"Really? You're not even going to try?" She frowned.
"It's not my job," he answered defensively.
"Like hell, it's not."
He glared at the comment. "I can't win this even if I tried."
Missy stared at him, seeming almost angry. "Winning—Is that what you think it's about? Do you think I suggested to help because I like a good fight? Do you still think that little of me?"
"This isn't about what I think of you. This is about a duty of care to my family."
"And what about your duty of care to the universe, huh? To the people on this ship who have given you sanctuary in your time of need so you can just run off in theirs?"
"I'm not running, Missy!" He scowled. "If I stay today, my wife will die. If I stand and fight, yes, some of these people might live another day. Not many. Not for long. If you're asking me to put a value on life… well, fine. I will. Because nothing, not one living thing on this ship is worth more to me than my wife and child. I won't fight another losing battle."
"I'm not trying to win, Doctor. I'm not even suggesting that it's fun and god knows I'm not aiming for an easy victory because this isn't easy. I'm trying to be decent, damn you! I didn't spend a thousand years in a stupid box to watch you do what I did every day of my life before that."
"I'm not fighting a losing battle." He repeated. He would be lying if he said he didn't feel any guilt about leaving these people to their own, but River was his priority, and he'd let this ship burn if it meant she'd be okay. "Deactivate the day settings. We'll wait for your signal."
"Fine. But you'd better be ready to run." She hissed, leaving again.
He looked back at River. "How mobile are you feeling?"
"I don't know if I can run." She whispered, though in truth couldn't even walk very well between the brain bleed and having just given birth.
"Depending on how fast Missy is, we might not need to. Let's just focus on getting down the stairs first, yeah? We need to be ready."
She nodded, starting to get out of bed and wincing at the pain. The sheets were still red and damp from the birth, the placenta left sitting in a dark lump in the middle of the bed. He moved to support her, offering his free arm. She nearly collapsed once out of the bed, her legs weaker than expected.
"I've got you," he whispered, tightening his hold on her. "Lean on me."
They only started moving once she seemed balanced, going slowly.
Alit was sitting at the bottom of the stairs, elbows on her knees and head resting on her fists. She looked up when she heard the stairs creak. "Are you leaving?" Alit stood.
"Yes." River answered, trying not to wince at every movement. "We have to go home."
Alit looked at the floor for a moment, then back at them. "That other lady said the scarecrows are going to come back when it gets dark. Are we going to be okay?"
"Um... you've fought them before haven't you?" The Doctor asked, Missy's frustrated words echoing in his head.
Alit nodded unsurely.
"Then I'm sure you'll do it again," he said and quickly moved on. He didn't have time for the guilt. He had to focus on River.
They thanked the humans of the house on the way out and moved as quickly as they could once outside, trying to get ahead of the oncoming darkness.
They make it all the way to the tree line before the sun suddenly shut off. They knew they didn't have much time now. River picked up the pace, despite how painful it was.
"Where's Missy?" The Doctor thought aloud.
"I have no idea." River murmured, touching the baby's foot when he started whining to try and comfort him.
A loud banging sound came from the distance, which the Doctor was unfortunately sure wasn't the other Timelord. "We're running out of time."
"Then move faster." River urged.
The Doctor remembered the schematics from the book, so they had a relative idea of which direction the TARDIS would likely show up in. The two moved quickly and as quietly as they could through the trees, hopefully growing closer to their desired destination.
A snap behind them had the Doctor spinning around.
"Oi, don't get your knickers in a twist, it's me!" Missy rolled her eyes. "Give me the baby and you carry her, we need to be moving faster than this."
"Fine." River muttered reluctantly.
Hesitantly, the Doctor shifted Felix over to Missy's arms, then scooped River up into his own. Felix, surprisingly, quieted in Missy's arms. Trying to ignore his discomfort, the Doctor motioned for them to move on.
The distant sounds of the attack were only growing closer. The four of them pressed on, heading in the direction of the TARDIS.
The Doctor kept muttering things to River, mostly for his own comfort, things like: "We're almost there," and "Stay awake." It felt like ages before the blue lights came into view.
A figure was standing in front of the TARDIS as they approached.
"Put me down." River breathed, not wanting to be in such a vulnerable position. He put her down slowly.
"I thought you'd be trying to escape," said the figure.
Missy stepped in front of the Songs, baby still in hand. "Sorry we can't stay, we have a schedule to stick to."
Master rolled his eyes. "Becoming a woman's one thing, but have you got empathy?"
She laughed, "You'd be surprised, dear."
"This is your doing isn't it." He looked at the Songs. "You've ruined me."
"Actually, it was a personal choice." Missy huffed, "Now let us by and things don't have to get messy."
"Seriously? Are we really going to do this? It's me or them, darling. Easy choice."
"You're right, dear. It's an easy choice." She glanced back at the Doctor, giving him a Trust Me look, before turning back to her lesser half and gesturing to the infant in her arms. "Peace offering?"
The Master scoffed with amusement. "A baby? Their baby I presume?"
"Yes. And I'll let you do whatever you want with it—torture, experiment, whatever our twisted mind desires." She held the baby out.
River moved forward, "Missy!" The Doctor put a hand on River's arm, trying to indicate that she had a plan.
"And all you want is a free pass out of here?" The Master clarified.
"Yes! I'm giving you the better deal here. That one," she nodded to River, "is bleeding out as we speak, so it won't be much fun to torture her. At least not for much longer. So you'll get the baby now, and then the two of them in the future. What do you say, so we have a deal?"
He said nothing but approached to get a better look at the baby. Missy leaned in when he was just close enough, then plunged the weapon she had concealed in her sleeve into his back.
The Master's immediate reaction was to pull Missy against him, Felix unhappily between them. Missy pushed the weapon in deeper.
River obviously panicking now, struggling against the Doctor's hold on her.
It was a solid minute before either incarnation of the Master moved. Missy pulled jerkily away, letting her other body drop.
There was blood on Felix's blanket when she turned around. River ran to them, going to take the baby out of her arms.
"Don't worry, it's only my blood." Missy murmured. "You two need to go." She said, not looking at either of them.
"What about you?" River murmured.
"Well, someone's got to make sure that I get to where I need to be. And someone's got to help those delicate little humans stay out of trouble."
"Why are you doing this now?" The Doctor asked, hardly believing what he was hearing.
"Because it's kind, Doctor. I didn't think I had to explain that one to you."
"You know your chances of winning are very slim."
Missy sighed at him. "You know, maybe there's no point in any of this at all, but it's the best I can do, so I'm going to do it. These people are terrified. Maybe I can help… a little at least. Why not?"
"One condition, Missy," the Doctor looked at her intensely.
"Isn't there always?"
He took a breath. "Don't try to find us. Don't try to contact us if you find a different way out of here. Not for at least a hundred years."
"Fine. It's a deal." She nodded, "It'll be nice to finally be rid of you two anyway. I'll name a town after you," she added. "A really stupid one. And a pig. Now you'd better get Fredrick off this ship." She showed them into the TARDIS, "I don't want all my hard work to go to waste."
The Doctor quickly remembered himself, helping River inside. He didn't say anything more to Missy, not thinking he'd ever find the words. The door closed behind them and the ship lurched into flight on her own accord.
The Doctor led River to the medbay, taking Felix and putting him down in the warm cot the TARDIS had provided, hushing him while ordering scans of both his wife and son.
A scan of Felix showed the baby in near perfect health. His lungs were not as strong as they could have been, and his brain development was slightly behind as well, but this could all be chalked up to the acceleration. River's scan, on the other hand, was a different story.
"I'm going to put you under, Riv," he murmured. "I've got to fix the bleed."
She nodded, closing her eyes in preparation. The Doctor quickly gathered what he needed, placing a mask over River's mouth for the anesthetic. She was unconscious within seconds.
-x-
Between the procedure and the errands, the Doctor ran afterward, twelve hours had passed waiting for River to wake up. He'd moved her to their bedroom, knowing how much she disliked the medbay.
Felix had calmed once more now that he wasn't being switched into different people's arms every five minutes. He was napping in his father's arms, the latter sitting next to the bed and waiting for River to show signs to consciousness.
Her waking began with slight twitches in her hands until she finally opened her eyes.
The Doctor squeezed her hand. "Riv?"
"Hmm?"
"How do you feel?"
"Tired." She murmured.
"Can you remember what's happened?"
She nodded weakly, closing her eyes again.
He stood, hovering above her. He wasn't going push her to do much more talking but still wanted to make sure she was mentally intact. "Open your eyes, love. I need you to follow my finger."
She opened her eyes, this time successfully passing the test. "Did that all really happen? Or was it just a nightmare?"
"Really happened." He glanced at the newborn, knowing he was about to find out whether River's previous hesitation towards the baby was genuine or had just been the brain bleed.
River didn't say anything, looking at the baby and then quickly looking away. He swallowed, but knew now wasn't the time to press the subject. "I was going to call Vastra go to check on the kids."
"Could you have Jack do it instead? I'd like to have Vastra come here."
He nodded. "Of course. Why don't you rest?"
She nodded, closing her eyes again. The Doctor watched her for a few more minutes before making the phone calls.
"Doctor? Is everything alright?" Vastra answered the phone.
"Not exactly." He sighed, launching into the best explanation he could manage of what had happened today, including how River was acting around Felix.
Vastra didn't say anything for a long moment, "It sounds like she might be suffering from Postpartum Depression, but I couldn't be sure until I spent time with her myself." She murmured.
"Do you have time to come?"
"Of course. I'll have Jenny finish up on the case we're working on." She assured him.
"See you in a moment." He hung up, then piloted one-handedly to Vastra's home since Felix occupied his other arm.
She was waiting for him in the spot he usually landed. He stepped out with Felix to meet her, offering a weak smile to her.
"Oh! Isn't he precious." She cooed over the baby, peering down at his face. Felix blinked tiredly up at Vasta.
"Would you like to hold him?"
"I would love to." She nodded eagerly. He gently shifted his son over, who didn't complain too much aside from some minimal whimpers. Vastra, as usual, was wonderful at handling the newest Song child. "Has she held him yet?" She asked gently.
"Yes, just to nurse him really." He replied.
"Perhaps I should go speak with her now." She murmured. She was worried about what a traumatic delivery had done to her friend.
"I'm not sure if she's awake, but you can give it a go."