A/N: Thank you to all my readers! I appreciate all of your support and reviews! Please continue to leave reviews as they help with motivating me for this story! I can't believe that I'm already at Chapter 28, but as much as it has been more than a year since I started this story, I want to thank everyone that has supported me throughout this adventure.
I apologize that this is an extremely short chapter, but I was having some trouble getting this chapter up at it's full length. So here's an unnaturally short chapter 28! I will try to make it up with a better chapter 29!
. : Hmmm…. Interesting point you bring there with the Christmas Special… Guess you'll have to wait for that episode to come into the story! I can't wait to get started on that as soon as possible! Thank you so much for the review!
Please remember that I only own my OC(s) and every other right belongs to BBC and the creators of Doctor Who.
Chapter 28: Silence in the Library
River looked apologetic as she responded, "No. It's just a freak technology. But whatever did this to her, whatever killed her, I'd like a word with that."
The Doctor then put a steely look in his eyes as he said, "I'll introduce you."
With that, Iris thought through this. Evangelista was gone, and this meant that no matter what happened, she couldn't stop Donna from being saved into the computer and the others' death. But she wanted to make sure of one thing:
The Doctor would not be alone at the end of this adventure.
~~ ….. ~~
The Doctor paced around as he demanded, "I'm going to need a packed lunch."
With that, River quickly responded, "Hang on."
Iris watched River dig through her bag and was standing by the Doctor when the Time Lord asked,
"What's in that book?"
That's when Iris and River simultaneously responded with, "Spoilers."
The Doctor glared at Iris, not liking how the women seemed to get along fine from the start. Something made him feel irritated that Iris found River Song more than friendly. And that led him to ask the archaeologist,
"Who are you?"
River rolled her eyes as she smirked and responded, "Professor River Song, University of…"
The Doctor shook his head and corrected her with, "To me. Who are you to me?"
River sighed and answered him, glancing back to Iris, "Again, spoilers."
With that, she handed the man a metal box containing food, saying, "Chicken and a bit of salad. Knock yourself out."
The Doctor seemed to realize that he was not going to get a straight answer from the woman and grabbed it. With that, he returned to the center of the group and eyed Iris, putting on an angry look onto his features and tossing the flashlight before catching it again as he said,
"Right, you lot. Let's all met the Vashta Nerada."
The Doctor handed Iris the lunchbox as he then proceeded to scan the area with his sonic screwdriver. Iris switched the weight onto her left feet as she watched him move about. But the Time Lord quickly ran into Proper Dave, causing him to ask,
"Proper Dave, could you move over a bit?"
The man looked confused and asked, "Why?"
The Doctor just gave him an irritated look as he said with annoyance, "Over there by the water cooler. Thanks."
The man, still confused, just followed the Time Lord's instructions. Iris sighed at that, causing River to shake her head and smirk. Amusement filled her eyes while Donna watched the mysterious River Song for a while before whispering,
"You know him, don't you?"
At that question, Iris saw River smile sadly as she said, "Oh God, do I know that man. We go way back, that man, Iris and me. Just not this far back."
Donna eyed Iris and warily asked, "I'm sorry, what?"
Iris looked over at River, who looked a little bitter as she said, "He hasn't met me yet. I sent him a message, but it went wrong. It arrived too early. This is the Doctor in the days before he knew me. And even though Iris recognizes me, she hasn't gotten to know me herself yet. And him, he looks at me, he looks right through me while Iris doesn't know much about me… and it shouldn't kill me, but it does."
Donna looked a little frustrated at the mysterious way River was mentioning her relationship with the two other time travelers and asked the woman with irritation,
"What are you talking about? Are you just talking rubbish? Do you know him or don't you?"
Iris sighed and quietly grasped Donna's hand and responded in lieu of River, "Donna, for her… her future is mostly our past. I haven't met her until today… but River has met me probably countless amount of times… It's all strange, but just like how we can travel to the past, so can she."
Donna warily eyed River, before nodding, while whispering to Iris, "It's just that… well, she speaks in riddles like you and the Doctor. It's not exactly easy to comprehend."
Iris smiled a little as she responded with, "I know. But Donna, I will be here to help you understand as long as I can."
At the mention of the woman's name, River's looked surprised and something akin to admiration sparkled in her eyes as she muttered,
"Donna. You're Donna. Donna Noble."
Iris shook her head gently at River Song, who quickly noticed it and instantly tensed, as if catching her warning while Donna curiously asked, "Yeah. Why?"
River swallowed thickly, and she responded with, "I do know the Doctor and Iris, but in the future, like Iris said. Their personal future."
Donna felt trepidation settle in her heart at the lack of the mention of herself. Where was she supposed to be? Unable to hide her worry, she asked Iris and River,
"So why don't you know me? Where am I in the future?"
Iris grasped Donna's hand in more of a comforting gesture, to which Donna gave a tight smile. However, before any of the women could continue the conversation, the Doctor shouted out,
"Okay, got a live one. That's not darkness down those tunnels. This is not a shadow. It's a swarm. A man-eating swarm."
With that, the Doctor gestured for Iris to come stand next to him. Through their bond, the Doctor said,
"Mind giving me a hand?"
Iris rolled her eyes at that and said, "Do you need to even ask?"
The Doctor chuckled while Iris grabbed a chicken leg. She tossed it into the shadow so that everyone was able to see that the meat get stripped off of the bone by the time it reached the floor. Once the bone clattered onto it, the Doctor said,
"The piranhas of the air. The Vashta Nerada. Literally, the shadows that melt the flesh. Most planets have them, but usually in small clusters. I've never seen an infestation on this scale, or this aggressive."
Donna had quickly caught onto the seriousness of the issue at the mention of the Doctor's explanation. She asked,
"What do you mean, most planets? Not Earth?"
Iris sighed as she answered, "Unfortunately, Earth does have Vashta Nerada like other worlds."
The Doctor added on, "Where there's meat, there's Vashta Nerada. You can see them sometimes, if you look. The dust in sunbeams."
Iris eyed the crew, who tensed at the mention of that. They all began to look terrified. Iris then went to look back at Proper Dave, who was almost standing a little too still for her liking. Her eyes trailed down to the floor where his feet were, to find that there was only one shadow… for now.
However, Donna grabbed everyone's attention as she scoffed uncomfortably, "If they were on Earth, we'd know."
Iris looked over at Donna, a solemn look coming over her while the Doctor shook his head and said,
"Nah. Normally they live on road kill. But sometimes people go missing. Not everyone comes back out of the dark."
River then walked over to Iris and quietly asked, "Every shadow?"
Iris shook her head and answered, "No. But any shadow."
River quietly asked, "So what do we do?"
The Doctor responded with, "Daleks, aim for the eyestalk…"
Iris jumped in with, "Sontarans, back of the neck."
And both of them simultaneously continued with, "Vastha Nerada? Run. Just run."
River frowned as she asked, "Run? Run where?"
The Doctor looked over at the crew as he said, "This is an index point. There must be an exit teleport somewhere."
Iris grit her teeth at that but remained quiet as Lux quickly answered, "Don't look at me, I haven't memorized the schematics."
Donna seemed to have caught on as she said, "Doctor, the little shop. They always make you go through the little shop on the way out so they can sell you stuff."
The Time Lord quickly smiled at that and jumped as he said, "You're right. Brilliant! That's why I like the little shop."
Iris grabbed onto River, preventing her from walking anywhere, causing the woman to look at her with confusion. That was when Iris said,
"Proper Dave… I'm so, so sorry."
River's eyes widened at that while Dave looked over at the Asian woman with confusion. Why was she apologizing? The Doctor looked at where Iris was staring and grimaced as he said,
"You've got two shadows…"
Everyone looked down at where the time travelers were staring, only to look back up at them with horror in their eyes. The Doctor muttered out, "It's how they hunt. They latch on to a food source and keep it fresh."
Dave looked over at him and asked, his voice shaking, "What do I do?"
The Doctor held a hand up cautiously and said, "You stay absolutely still, like there's a wasp in the room. Like there's a million wasps."
River whispered out, "We're not leaving you, Dave."
Iris choked out, "Doctor?"
The Time Lord didn't seem to hear her in his intense concentration on Dave's shadows as he continued to talk with,
"Course we're not leaving him. Where's your helmet? Don't point, just tell me."
The trembling man spoke hurriedly, "On the floor, by my bag."
Iris then said through the bond, "Doctor! Listen to me."
Upon hearing her yell at him through their bond, the Doctor tensed slightly while getting the man's helmet. While he was retrieving it, he asked, "What is it?"
Iris continued watching him as he began to put the helmet onto Dave, as she said through their bond, "Beware the forest of books."
The Doctor glanced warily at his surroundings and frowned. The forest of books? What did she mean by that? But before his mind could continue thinking on the hint the woman had given him, Donna caught his attention as she spoke up,
"But, Doctor, we haven't got any helmets."
The Doctor shrugged and said, "Yeah, but we're safe anyway."
Iris kept a poker face as the red-haired woman asked, "How are we safe?"
The Doctor looked decently guilty as he responded with, "We're not. That was a clever lie to shut you up. Professor, anything I can do with the suit?"
Iris spotted Lux opening his mouth. And before the man could spout a rude comment, Iris said, "We could probably increase the mesh density of these things. Also, Donna, feel free to hit the Doctor on the backside of his head for me?"
Donna smirked a little evilly at that and did just that. The Doctor jumped in shock as he rubbed the area Donna had hit him and said, "Ow! What was that for?"
Iris rolled her eyes and said through the bond, "You're being rude. I get that you're stressed, but please, don't be rude to Donna."
The Time Lord looked decently guilty about what Iris mentioned and quietly muttered something under his breath, which Iris didn't catch. Her eyes narrowed at him, suspecting he must have said something concerning her, but couldn't hear what he had actually said.
River chuckled at the interaction, thinking that her relationship with the Time Lord must not change much, reminiscing to her memories before she said, "Dial it up 400%. Make it a tougher meal."
The Doctor nodded, getting where the two women were going with this. With that, he took his sonic screwdriver out and started to adjust Proper Dave's suit. As he was doing this, River took her own out, waving her eyebrows at Iris with a satisfied look. Iris smiled at that, seeing how River seemingly felt comfortable to joke around with her despite the seriousness of the situation. The archaeologist was quickly increasing the mesh density like mentioned, when the Doctor spoke up,
"800%. Pass it on."
But as he was about to hand River his sonic screwdriver, River held her own up, showing him that she had one too as she said, "Gotcha."
The Doctor immediately frowned and asked, "What's that?"
Iris rolled her eyes, which she seemed to be doing a lot lately as she responded with,m "It's a screwdriver. What else?"
The Doctor pouted and said, "It's sonic."
River chuckled as she answered, "Yeah, I know. Snap."
Iris chuckled along with her while the Doctor gaped for a while. When he finally managed to grab his senses together, he handed Iris his sonic screwdriver so that she could help the woman upgrade everyone's spacesuit.
But before he could go, Iris grabbed his arm and looked up in his eyes. They looked down curiously at her. The Doctor saw an intense look in her own brown eyes as they glimmered in the illuminated area of the library, as she said through their bond,
"Doctor. I promise that whatever happens, Donna is going to be safe. I want you to know that. Do you trust me?"
The Doctor felt the urgency in her, despite the calm look she maintained on her face. She seemed to be able to hide her emotions from others at a glance a little bit better than that of her human self in serious situations like these.
The Doctor nodded as he said, "I trust you."
Iris gave him an unbelieving look as she tightened her grip on his arm and said,
"There might be a time that might not seem like she's safe, but you have to believe me when I tell you that she's safe. Give me your word."
The Doctor tensed at that as he searched her eyes and found the answer he was looking for as he responded with gently through their bond,
"I cross my hearts that I'll trust you."
Iris then released his arm and nodded, watching him go take Donna away to the teleport machine. Now she could only hope for the best. So, she decided to do something that she had believed she wouldn't do. She prayed to Evangelista that the girl would help Donna.
She eyed the two friends of hers disappear into the shop and then walked over to River. That was when River quickly turned around and said, "Any hints for me?"
Iris raised an eyebrow at that and questioned her, "River… if you met my future-self…"
River sighed and nodded grudgingly as she smiled tightly, saying "I know. That you will only give hints when you can. But if you were to scale this…"
Iris tensed and whispered, "Out of ten… probably a ten."
River noticed a sad gleam in Iris' eyes before they disappeared. River felt something protective of the woman in front of her. It was funny, really. This Iris was still young compared to the one in her future. Iris normally did all the protecting, and yet, here was a newly regenerated Iris in front of her own eyes, still unsure of herself, but who would slowly learn to form herself as a stronger individual.
But before River could say anything to comfort the woman in front of her, she saw Iris' eyes turn cold and guilt fill them, causing River to turn around to see what she was looking at. River quickly called out, "Doctor."
The Doctor returned next to Iris, feeling her tenseness through their bond, despite Iris hiding most of her emotions from him. He noticed how Dave now only had one shadow and asked,
"Where did it go?"
Iris reached for River's hand as she shakily let out the breath she had inadvertently been holding. Dave responded with,
"It's just gone. I looked around, one shadow, see."
River asked the two Time Lords, "Does that mean we can leave? I don't want to hang around here."
Iris shook her head and said, "It's not gone. They're still latched onto Dave."
River knew that tone Iris used. It was one she used when she felt immense amount of regret for something that she had known would happen, could nothing to stop. A fixed point in time. River squeezed the Time Lady's hand a little when both women felt irritation flow through them as Lux said,
"I don't know why we're still here. We can leave him, can't we? I mean, no offense."
Iris and River simultaneously said, "Shut up, Mister Lux."
It was eerie at how they had not only said it simultaneously, but also in the same tone of irritation. The Doctor eyed the two women warily before asking Dave,
"Did you feel anything, like an energy transfer? Anything at all?"
The man looked terrified after having heard from Iris that the Vashta Nerada hadn't let him go as he said, "No, no… but the shadow… it's gone. Why haven't they let me go?"
Iris looked apologetic as she whispered, "I'm so sorry."
The Doctor looked confused as he wasn't understanding why the Vashta Nerada was waiting and he started to sonic the floor around Proper Dave. Iris walked over to the man and pulled him back a little as she said,
"It's too late."
The Doctor finally felt the overwhelming amount of guilt from Iris through their bond as they all heard Proper Dave ask them,
"Hey, who turned out the lights?"
Iris froze at that and her eyes quickly began to scan around them as she felt anxiety get to her. Was there no way to save everyone other than Lux? But as her mind was going through different ideas rapidly, the Doctor warily asked Proper Dave,
"Dave, turn around."
Everyone waited with baited breath as the man turned to face the Time Lord. Once, Dave finally turned around, everyone gasped at what they saw while Iris winced at the black visor. The Doctor remained where he was because of Iris' tight grip that prevented him from stepping forward. Proper Dave asked with trepidation,
"What's going on? Why can't I see? Is the power gone? Are we safe here?"
Tears filled Iris' eyes, but she refused to let them fall as she barely held herself together. She needed to stay strong. She was so caught up on trying to seem calm on the outside that she hadn't realized that the Doctor glanced at her quickly with worry obviously written all over his features. She also hadn't felt the wave of understanding through their bond. He could feel her distress and her attempts to shove it down to another corner of her mind. He knew what it felt like, and how hard that was.
He had been unable to do it for such a long time after the Time War had ended. After he had… but he shook his head and looked quickly at Proper Dave, as he said in a calm voice,
"Dave, I want you to stay still. Absolutely still."
But that didn't seem to help as the man jerked, as if he had been hurt. Iris turned her head away and held onto the Time Lord tightly as she felt her hearts break a little at the knowledge that the man had finally been taken. The Doctor seemed to think the same thing, but wanted to deny it as he called out to the man,
"Dave? Dave? Dave, can you hear me? Are you alright? Talk to me, Dave."
River held her crew back as this entire interaction took place, standing behind the two Time Lords as Dave, or at least what was left of the man said,
"I'm fine. I'm okay. I'm fine."
The Doctor took a step back once he felt Iris tug at his arm to do so. He cautiously told the man,
"I want you to stay still. Absolutely still."
Dave anwered, "I'm fine. I'm okay. I'm fine. I can't. Why can't I? I—I can't. Why can't I? I—I can't. Why can't I…I-"
That was when the Doctor noticed the comm. unit lights blink on the suit that once held the man. River swallowed thickly as sadness took hold of her as she said,
"He's gone. He's ghosting."
Lux asked, terrified of what he had just witnessed, "Then why is he still standing?"
But before anyone could answer that question, Dave's voice echoed through the area as it said,
"Hey, who turned out the lights? Hey, who turned out the lights?"
Iris quickly pushed herself forward and kicked the suit, causing it to fall to the floor. She then pushed the Doctor behind her and yelled out, "Run! Run, run run!"
The group quickly ran away from the suit. River took a glance back at it, seeing it slowly rise to its feet and start trudging towards them. She commented to Iris, "Doesn't move very fast, does it?"
Iris shook her head and said, "It's a swarm in a suit. It's not going to take long for that swarm to learn how to move faster."
The group were huddled together, trying to maintain a solid distance between them and the suit chasing after them. Lux's panicked voice rang out,
"What do we do? Where do we go?"
River quickly thought on her feet and then saw a location they could safely go as she said,
"See that wall behind you? Duck."
The group followed her orders and did that. She fired a gun at it, making a hole fit for everyone to run through. The Doctor realized what it was and joyfully yelled out,
"Squareness gun!"
Iris kept pushing the Time Lord in front of her as she and River urged everyone to hurry. With that, Iris looked over at River, which the woman noticed and quickly removed the hole using the squareness gun.
With that, they all continued to run as River panted out, "You said not every shadow."
Iris responded with, "But any shadow."
Not too long after, they heard from a distance, a voice say, "Hey, who turned out the lights?"
River's eyes widened at how quickly the suit seemed to be catching up to them as she held Iris' hand and yelled out, "Run!"
They continued running for a while until they reached another area. The Doctor stopped to allow the group to gather their breath. He started to sonic a light as he muttered,
"Trying to boost the power. Light doesn't stop them, but it slows them down."
River asked Iris, "So, what's the plan? Do we have a plan?"
Before Iris could answer, the Doctor quickly intercepted with a question of his own, "Your screwdriver looks exactly like min."
River smirked a little, though annoyance did flash through her slightly. She responded, "Yeah. Iris gave it to me."
Iris jumped a little at that information. She had given it to River? That was another discrepancy from what she had thought was supposed to happen. The Doctor noticed her surprise but didn't comment on it as he said,
"She wouldn't give my screwdriver to anyone. Nor would I allow her to."
River eyed him as she responded a little coldly, "I'm not anyone."
Iris felt anxious at that tone. Something about this River was different. Never in her life would she have thought River, this River Song, to be so wary of the Doctor. The Doctor didn't seem to have noticed her confusion as he asked River,
"Who are you?"
River fired back, "What's the plan?"
The Doctor sighed, realizing that the woman wouldn't relent until he told her, and said, "I teleported Donna back to the TARDIS. If we don't get back there in under five hours, emergency program one will activate."
River understood, as she said, "Take her home, yeah. We need to get a shift on."
The Doctor frowned as he got a reading from his sonic screwdriver, and said, "She's not there. I should have received a signal. The console signals me if there's a teleport breach."
River shrugged and said in a matter-of-fact tone, "Well, maybe the coordinates have slipped. The equipment here's ancient."
Iris quickly tugged the Doctor's arm, so that he would face her. Iris whispered to him,
"Doctor, Donna's not in the TARDIS. She's been saved."
The Doctor quickly tensed, anger and confusion roaring through his mind. Iris winced slightly before grasping his shoulders with her two hands and looking into his eyes. She urgently said,
"You have to trust me. I told you that Donna might not seem like she's safe. But I told you to trust me that she's alright. Compared to all of us here, right now, Donna's in the safest place in this entire location."
The Doctor's anger sizzled down as then asked her, "Where is she?"
Iris shook her head a little and said, "That's where I can't tell you other than that's she's been saved by the library."
The Doctor let that repeat in his mind. Something about how she said it caught his attention. She said, "saved by the library". He was thinking on it, not sure what to think when Dave's voice echoed through the hallways once more as it said,
"Hey, who turned out the lights?"
Everyone froze for a short second before River yelled out, "Doctor! Iris!"
The duo quickly grasped each other's hand and began to run, hearing Dave's voice continue to chase them throughout the library.