The Dread of Tomorrow and Yesterday – Chapter 38
A/N: We finally have a River episode! I know a lot of people have been waiting for this and I was really excited to write this particular episode! We get the first meeting between River and Rhea. I wonder what kind of relationship they'll have together. Hell, we might even get some jealousy on Rhea's part. We've only got the Doctor's jealousy so far, it might be interesting to see what Rhea's like if she's jealous.
Replies to Reviews:
NicoleR85: I agree with you about Francine and Jackie. Rhea will get angry when Jackie tries to slap the Doctor. I feel like women slap men entirely too much in this show. I mean, Amy slaps Rory and Jackie, Francine, Donna and River slap the Doctor. I think it sends a bad message that women can get away with hitting a guy because they're women. While, Rhea doesn't slap, she'll probably just punch him in the face, but, hopefully, she won't do that a lot. The Master... I can't wait to write those chapters, it's the first season finale I plan on doing, so it'll be soon.
Guest: Rhea feels more comfortable with Eleven because she hasn't had that kind of moment with him yet. I know of one chapter that's coming up that will have an Eleven/Rhea moment, but that's a bit far along, I don't know if there's one earlier :( It will be fun to see him in that situation, I can't wait to write it :)
Thegirlwholives: Nup, sorry, no relationship at this point. I love dragging it out :) It was quite an emotional rollercoaster in that chapter, wasn't it? My opinion on Amy... I like Amy in a lot of episodes. I liked her in the second half of Season 5, the second half of Season 6 and Season 7, mostly. I agree with you, though, I thought Amy just got a bit full of herself in Season 6, especially in The Rebel Flesh/The Almost People. And she seemed so much more worried about the Doctor rather than her daughter in Let's Kill Hitler. But I liked her in Season 7, I think she needed those 2 years without the Doctor to get her priorities straight. I can understand cold feet, but I don't understand why she went off with the Doctor the night before her wedding, and she didn't even tell the Doctor about her getting married. I love Rory, he's my favourite after Donna and River. I think he sees the Doctor for what he is and I don't believe Amy deserves him until Season 7. River Song is my favourite after Donna. I think she's the only one on equal footing with the Doctor. I think she and the Doctor had great chemistry and I think the Doctor really loved her. I just wish we had gotten to see more River and Rory moments. I think Rory would have been a great overprotective father, I mean, he's a Centurion. I'm glad you think Rhea's like River, I think they go well together. Rose... Now, don't get me wrong, I do like Rose. In Season 1. Season 2, meh. Season 4, I hate. I didn't like her in Season 2 because I think she got too arrogant and too possessive of the Doctor for no reason, but I liked certain scenes in Season 2, like the The Satan Pit ending and The Idiot's Lantern ending. I liked her in Season 1. I feel like she's heralded as the greatest companion the Doctor has ever had. I like Rose in fandom, because they write her a little more mature and less arrogant, but I can't see any of that in her, unfortunately. Season 4 was horrible for me with Rose. It's my personal headcanon that she and her Dimension Cannon was the reason that Dalek Caan got through the Time Lock in the first place. She didn't seem to be any more mature in that Season. If we had seen her married and have kids with someone other than the Doctor, I would have been happy, because that's more realistic, loving someone is one thing but actually getting the chance to be with them is completely different.
Marmalade1512: Oh, Rhea has such a bad view of herself. You never know, Rhea and River might have met when she was younger, this story's full of timey-wimey meetings. But, there's a whole chunk of Rhea's life that she's tried to black out ;)
grapejuice101: Hope you liked my choice of episode and I was going for sad for the ending, so I'm glad you said that :)
Tokala: Spoilers. You'll find out, I promise. I like 9/Rose too, because Season 1 was the first season I watched. Ooh, I never actually thought of 10/Clara/11, I wonder if there are any good fanfics around that pairing. I'm not a huge fan of 9/Rose/Jack, because I ship 9/Jack too much. My OTP would either be 11 or 10/River and probably 10/Donna. And I do love Doctor/Master in any era, I seriously believe they had a thing going on in the Academy. My OT3 would be 10/River/11 or 10/Donna/10.2 or maybe even 9/10/Rose, as long as there are two Doctors, I'm fine ;)
Delightfully Tacky: It was a hard ending, wasn't it? I'm so glad you like the story so far and we'll get bits and pieces of her dark secrets in the next couple of chapters, I promise.
whatwouldyoudo: I'm so glad you like the story! I'm sorry, but Dream Weaver (Bad Moon Rising is actually the second story in the series) hasn't been posted yet. I'm still writing it, unfortunately. I've finish seven chapters and there looks to be like around another 11 chapters to go, I'm trying to see if I can actually finish the first story by the end of June, but we'll have to see.
Warnings: Sexual innuendo, some sexual imagery, nothing too serious in this chapter.
The Time of Angels: Devil in Disguise
The sleepless night found Rhea wandering through the dark corridors of the TARDIS, bored out of her mind. One of the doors in the corridor started to glow, furiously, as she approached closer to it.
"I'm gonna take that as a sign." Rhea sighed and realised how stupid she sounded, talking to herself in an empty corridor. She reached out and turned the doorknob, cautiously, pushing the door open. She found herself in a brick-walled room, probably the size of an entire upper floor of a house. In one corner hung a punching bag. In another, she could see a cage, just perfect for one person with vertical steel bars. She could see a rack of weapons up on the opposite wall, not to mention a martial arts dummy sitting in the middle of the room. Dark blue training mats littered the floor, the leathery feel making Rhea reminiscent as she stalked the room.
"Ooh, I so hit the jackpot." Rhea breathed, a smile forming on her face.
Martha, hesitantly, knocked on the door to Rhea's training room.
"Come in." Rhea called out.
Martha slowly stepped into the room, seeing that Rhea was currently doing a handstand on one of the training mats. What was so interesting was the position of her legs. Instead of standing vertical, Rhea's legs were folded, Indian style, giving the impression she was sitting on the floor upside down.
"Wow, how'd you manage that, then?" Martha asked, her eyes wide.
Rhea's legs unfolded and straightened into the air and they curled to the other, completing a cartwheel. She laughed, smoothing down the lycra in her tights. "A lot of practice, believe me."
"I didn't realise how flexible you were." Martha said, shyly.
Rhea reached over and wiped the sweat off her forehead with a fluffy towel. "Just stretching." She said, modestly. She smiled at Martha. "What's on your mind, Dr Quinn?"
If Martha could see the bite mark and the resulting bruise on her neck, she didn't say a word. For that, Rhea was definitely indebted to her.
"I was just wondering if I could ask you a favour." Martha said, hesitantly.
"Ask away." Rhea waved off.
"Could you… I mean, would you teach me how to fight?" Martha asked, a bit of confidence returning to her voice. Rhea stilled and turned to face Martha, questioningly. Martha hurried to explain. "It's just I saw you fight the-"
"Hold it right there, Medicine Woman," Rhea interrupted her. "If you're going to mention anything that happened other than Shakespeare or Lazarus, don't bother, 'cause I haven't done it yet."
"Oh, oh!" Martha's eyes widened. "Right, sorry." She said, sheepishly.
"Are you sure you want to learn how to fight, Martha?" Rhea asked, slowly. "The only reason I know is because it was out of necessity. Ten years ago, I never would have dreamed of being this." Rhea gestured down herself.
Martha nodded. "I really want to learn. I don't want to feel helpless like I did when Lazarus attacked us." She said, firmly.
Rhea bit her lip. "I can respect that." She said. In fact, that had been her five years ago. "Did you ask the Doctor?" She flinched, slightly, as memories of last night returned to her. She had no idea how she was going to look him in the eye from now on after everything that had occurred between them last night. She wasn't used to meeting any of her bedmates the next day, even if they hadn't actually gotten to the bed or done something bed-worthy. "I don't want to do anything that he wouldn't approve of."
Martha shook her head. "It's my decision." She said, stubbornly.
Rhea lifted her hands in a surrendering gesture. "Okay, I understand. But I'm warning you now, I'm not a nice teacher. I'm going to teach you the way I was taught, and my trainer was not the least bit nice." She chuckled. "In fact, the first time I met him, he threatened to slit my throat." She reminisced.
Martha looked at her, shocked. "Really? Why?"
Rhea shrugged. "He had issues." She smiled. "But we had heaps of fun sorting those issues out." She smirked.
Martha grimaced, not knowing whether they sorted the issues out through fighting or through another way, but not wanting to know either. "So, will you teach me?" She asked.
Rhea nodded. "Fine, I'll teach you." She gestured to the rack of weapons. "Pick up a bamboo stick."
"What?" Martha asked, frowning.
"A bamboo stick." Rhea repeated, going over to the rack herself, picking up two and tossing one of them to Martha, who caught hers, haphazardly. "Now defend yourself." The bamboo stick in her hand swung and struck Martha across the face, who screamed in both shock and pain. Rhea clucked her tongue and circled the girl. "You have to be quicker than that."
Martha winced every time she was hit by the stick, which, out of fifty times, was probably forty five. After a long winded session of being struck and hearing Rhea's lecture, she realised that she had a long way to go before she could even begin to reach Rhea's level.
After an hour or two, Rhea stopped the training and led her into the Med-Bay, putting antiseptic on any wounds that had drawn blood. Then, the two women walked into the console room, where the Doctor was tinkering with something or the other. The Doctor looked up, immediately, flushing when he looked at Rhea and paling when he saw the red marks and bruises littering Martha's jaw and arms.
"What the hell happened to you?" The Doctor exclaimed at Martha.
"We were training." Rhea said, offhandedly, not looking at the Doctor in the eye.
"Training? You hit her?" The Doctor asked, incredulously.
"She asked me to teach her how to fight. I acquiesced. That's all. Don't make a big deal out of this." Rhea glared at him, giving him the first look she had since she had left him out in the corridor last night. "Hey, when you're fighting with bamboo sticks, there's only so much you can soften your blows. I pulled my punches as best as I could." She said, defensively.
"Yeah, she really did." Martha said, wincing as she touched one of her cuts.
Suddenly, she and the Doctor heard a clang when the bamboo stick that Rhea was clutching in her hand fell to the ground. They looked over to see her stumbling around near the console, her head held in her hands. The Doctor's eyes widened and he ran over to her to pull her up against the console. His hands moved across her hair and head as Rhea's eyes squeezed shut in pain. Rhea didn't even have the strength to push him away, as much as she may have wanted to.
Rhea let out a choked sound of pain, the glow rising from her skin. She shoved herself away from the Doctor's arms, missing his flinch of hurt, and sank to the ground, her nails digging into her scalp. When her hands left her face and her eyes opened for the first time, the pain receding, slowly, she looked up at the brightly lit TARDIS. She shoved herself onto her feet and looked around, expecting the Doctor or Amy to be around. Just then, a familiar red-headed figure in a miniskirt traipsed into the console room, pausing when she saw her.
"Okay, you look different." Amy said, slowly. "Did you just do that jump-y thing that you do?"
"Yes," Rhea groaned, her eyes blinking a few times. "Where's the bow-tie wearing giraffe?" She asked, looking around. Amy snickered.
"Oi!" A deep voice called out and a tall, gangly, frame walked up the stairs and joined the two. "Who're you calling a giraffe? And, by the way, bow ties are cool."
Rhea snorted. "I'm sure you think so. And you are a giraffe. You certainly walk like one." It was easy to talk to this Doctor and look him in the eye, he didn't look like the Doctor who had pinned her against the wall last night and ground into her, kissing and almost screwing within an inch of her life.
"Oh, my god!" Amy shrieked.
"What?" Rhea asked, turning to Amy.
"You have a love bite on your neck!" Amy crowed, eyeing the bruise with delight.
Rhea's hand fell to the mark, covering it self-consciously. She chanced a look at the Doctor, who was blushing, not looking at her in the eye. She felt the urge to blush as well, but she was beyond embarrassment at this point.
She rolled her eyes. "Leave it alone, Amy!" She warned. She shook her head and looked at the Doctor, who was avoiding her gaze and Amy's gaze by looking at the monitor. "Where are we going?" She asked, coming up beside him and pressing her hands against the console, leaning back.
"A museum." The Doctor said, happily. "I love museums, don't you?" He said, looking at her and beaming.
A smile spread across Rhea's face. "No." She said, flatly, and grinned when she saw his dejected look. She patted him on the shoulder, patronisingly. She swallowed as a flash of her sinking her teeth into that very shoulder while she wrapped her legs around his waist appeared in her mind. Oh, Rhea, Rhea, Rhea, you are so screwed. The guy's not even wearing the same face, he practically ground you into the wall last night and you're still fantasising about him any chance you get. Suddenly, a wicked thought occurred to her of re-enacting last night's scenario with this Doctor, winding her legs around his waist and yanking on his flopping hair, while she pulled his bow-tie off with her teeth and shoved that tweed jacket off his shoulders, imagining what sound it would make when it hit the floor. Or maybe she could kneel down in front of him and pull open his trousers with her teeth… Shut up, Rhea, and control your hormones. You're acting pathetic, ready to fling yourself at him any chance you get. You stupid slut.
"Well, we're going!" The Doctor said, stubbornly. Rhea rolled her eyes and simply watched him, fondly, while he pulled down a lever and pressed the button for dematerialisation.
The museum looked as if it were based on the plans of a medieval church. The Doctor strode through, pulling Rhea along behind him by her hand, pointing at displays and giving her his expert opinion, while Amy followed.
"Wrong! Wrong!" He eyed something in a glass case. "Bit right, mostly wrong. I love museums." He exclaimed, wrapping an arm around Rhea's waist.
"Yeah, great. Can we go to a planet now?" Amy begged. "Big space ship, Churchill's bunker...? You promised me a planet next."
"Okay, spoilers." Rhea reminded her. She turned to look at the Doctor. "Churchill? Like Winston Churchill?"
"Later." The Doctor promised her and Rhea sighed, knowing that she would have to be satisfied with his answer.
The Doctor looked over at Amy. "Amy, this isn't any old asteroid. It's the Delerium Archive, final resting place of the headless monks, the biggest museum ever."
Amy frowned. "You've got a time machine, what do you need museums for?"
"Wrong! Very wrong!" The Doctor spotted something lying on a table. "Oooh, one of mine." He told Rhea, excitedly and quite smugly. "Also one of mine." He said, peering into a display case.
Rhea snorted and turned to Amy. "I think it's how he keeps score, to be honest." She said, snarkily, making Amy laugh.
Something in the next display case caught the Doctor's eye. It was an antique box with a circular hole. Intrigued, the Doctor looked at the top which bore strange symbols, circling around the glass case, while Rhea watched the myriad of expressions on his face with growing interest.
"Oh, great, an old box." Amy said, dryly, rolling her eyes.
"It's from one of the old star liners. A Home Box."
Amy frowned. "What's a Home Box?"
"Like a black box on a plane, except it homes. Anything happens to the ship, the Home Box flies home, with all the flight data." The Doctor explained.
Rhea raised an eyebrow. "So?"
"The writing, the graffiti, Old High Gallifreyan." Realisation dawned in Rhea's eyes. "The lost language of the Time Lords."
"But… you're the last Time Lord. Who else knows that language?" Rhea asked, hesitantly, not wanting to upset him.
The Doctor swallowed hard and looked at her, knowing someone else who knew that language beside himself, but right now, she didn't know. "There were days, there were many days, these words could burn stars and raise up empires, and topple Gods." His voice was a low whisper.
Rhea raised an eyebrow. "What does this say?" She asked, narrowing her eyes at the box. God help anyone if they were trying to screw with her mystery man. She'd shoot them in the head and turn her back on the corpse if they were pulling his leg about this.
"Hello, sweetie, darling." The Doctor said, grimacing.
Rhea's eyes widened. "Well, that's an interesting message, definitely."
Alarm bells rang as the Doctor ran through the museum, Rhea and Amy rushing beside him, the home box tucked underneath his arm. They rushed into the TARDIS and Rhea closed the door behind them just as two guards chased after them.
The Doctor hooked the home box up to the console.
"Why are we doing this?" Amy asked.
"'Cause someone on a space ship 12000 years ago is trying to attract my attention. Let's see if we can get the security playback working." The Doctor explained.
Grainy black and white footage of a middle-aged woman with blonde curly hair and slinky chiffon black dress winking at the camera appeared on the monitor, as if the woman knew that they were watching her. The footage then switched to the woman with her back to the camera, facing a door.
"The party's over, Doctor Song…" A man called out over the monitor. "…yet still you're on board."
Doctor Song turned to face the man. "Sorry, Alistair." She told the man over the monitor.
Rhea frowned at the monitor. Who the hell is this woman? And how does she know the Doctor's language. He knows who she is, he didn't seem surprised when he saw her face on the screen. Who is she?
"I needed to see what was in your vault. Do you all know what's down there? Any of you? Because I'll tell you something. This ship won't reach its destination." Doctor Song told the man, harshly.
"Wait till she runs. Don't make it look like an execution." Alistair ordered his men.
Doctor Song looked at her watch. "Triple-seven, five…slash, three, four, nine by ten." The Doctor and Rhea exchanged a look. "Zero, twelve, slash, acorn. Oh, and I could do with an air corridor."
Rhea started to type the sequence onto the keyboard.
"What was that, what did she say?" Amy asked, looking between the two of them, confused, her hands on the metal bar underneath the monitor.
"Co-ordinates!" The Doctor exclaimed, letting out a whoop, before running over to the TARDIS doors. He reached out, one hand held out of the TARIS, and pulled River in, losing balance as he did, and they both landed on the floor, with her on top of him, her arms wrapped around her neck.
Rhea frowned and walked over, standing above them. "Doctor?" She raised an eyebrow.
"You have beautiful eyes." The Doctor said, suddenly, staring into Rhea's greener than green eyes, while the woman lying on top of him smirked at his quick reply.
"Really? That's it?" Rhea asked, incredulously, folding her arms over her chest. "You've got a strange woman lying on top of you, who just threw herself out of one spaceship and got sucked into the TARDIS, and that's the best you've got?"
"River?" The Doctor narrowed his eyes at the woman lying on top of him, wanting her to get of him before Rhea either got the wrong idea and started to get angry.
River scrambled off him and they both stood, watching a ship that was right outside the TARDIS fly away.
"Follow that ship." She ordered.
The Doctor, Rhea and River were all working the controls, while Amy stood back and watched, feeling a little left out. River hung her pink heels on the railing underneath the monitor.
"They've gone into warp drive, we're losing them! Stay close!" River ordered.
"I'm trying!" The Doctor said, defensively.
"Use the stabilisers." Rhea ordered him.
"There aren't any stabilisers!" The Doctor protested, feeling very trapped in between the two bossy women.
"The blue switches!" River said, rolling her eyes.
"The blue ones don't do anything, they're just...blue."
Rhea rolled her eyes and shoved past him, pressing down the blue switches. "Yes, they're blue. They're the blue stabilisers!" The ship suddenly became quiet. "See?" She looked up at the Doctor, smugly.
"Yeah, well, it's just boring now, isn't it? They're boringers. They're blue boringers." The Doctor said, snarkily.
"Doctor, how come she can fly the TARDIS?" Amy asked, nodding her head at River.
"You call that flying the TARDIS? Ha!" The Doctor spat, sitting on the jump seat to sulk, staring at River, contemptuously.
"Aw, did we hurt your feelings?" Rhea asked, mockingly, patting him on the head as if he were a dog. He batted her hands away, scowling.
"Okay. I've mapped the probability vectors, done a fold-back on the temporal isometry, charted the ship to its destination, and parked us right alongside." River said, triumphantly, and a large ding sounded through the TARDIS.
"Parked us?" The Doctor said, incredulously. "We haven't landed."
"Of course we've landed. I just landed her." River said, staring at the Doctor with a smug look on her face. She turned to Rhea, throwing her arms around the surprised woman and squeezing, tightly. "Oh, hello, darling, didn't get to hug you yet."
"Oh, wow," Rhea blinked a few times and cautiously wrapped her arms around the woman as well, as she usually did in situations like this. This actually seemed to happen to her a lot, so she had loads of experience on how to best deal with it. "It's not every day when a beautiful woman throws herself at me. Gotta take the chance while I've got it." Rhea said, smirking at the displeased look on the Doctor's face.
River pulled back, a strange look spreading across her face, as she stared deep into her eyes. "Wow, you are young." She breathed, looking over at the Doctor, who made a face in agreement. She paused. "Wait, you just said 'strange woman'." Hurt grew in her eyes, but her face stayed blank. "Rhea, don't you know who I am?" She asked, wearily.
Rhea shook her head. "Sorry, honey. But if it makes you feel better, I've only met two people in order. As far as I'm concerned, that's win-win."
River shook her head, turning away from her and looking at the Doctor, as if needing more confirmation that Rhea didn't know her. The expressionless look on the Doctor's face told her everything. River closed her eyes in exhaustion, pinching the bridge of her nose, and turned to face Rhea again, a very fake smile spreading across her lips.
"Wait, it didn't make the noise." The Doctor said, suddenly, taking the attention away from River and Rhea's reunion slash first meeting.
River frowned at him. "What noise?"
"You know, the..." The Doctor started to mimic the wheezing and groaning sound the TARDIS made whenever it materialised or dematerialised somewhere, making all three females give him a strange look.
"Okay, first of all, don't quit your day job, and second," Rhea sighed. "Honey, how many times do I have to tell you? It's not supposed to make that noise. You leave the brakes on."
The Doctor glared at her, the sulky look returning. "You're supposed to be on my side." He grumbled. He cleared his throat. "Yeah, well, it's a brilliant noise. I love that noise."
Rhea had to give him that. "I do love that noise too." She said, grudgingly.
The Doctor reached behind River and yanked on Rhea's arm, gracing River with a distrustful look. "Come on, Dimples. Come along, Pond, let's have a look."
Rhea yanked her hand out of the Doctor's grasps and went back over to River, not knowing why, but wanting to make sure that the woman was okay. She could see that River was shaken by the fact that she didn't seem to know her and, while she didn't feel guilty, she did feel mildly responsible.
"No, wait! Environment checks." River called out.
The Doctor's eyes widened. "Oh, yes, sorry! Quite right. Environment checks." He stuck his head out the door. "Nice out." He commented.
River and Rhea peered at the monitor. "We're somewhere in the Garn Belt. There's an atmosphere. Early indications suggest that..."
"We're on Alfava Metraxis," The Doctor interrupted her. "The seventh planet of the Dundra System. Oxygen-rich atmosphere, toxins in the soft band, 11-hour day, and..." He stuck his head out the door again. "Chances of rain later."
Rhea rolled her eyes and exchanged a look with River, who gave her a knowing, secretive smile. "He thinks he's so hot when he does that." She mused to River.
"No," The Doctor smirked at her. "You think I'm so hot when I do that."
"Ha, in your dreams!" Rhea snorted.
River sighed. "And you're the only one who does." She said, referring to the Doctor's comment.
The Doctor walked back up the ramp and joined Rhea at the console.
"How come you can fly the TARDIS?" Amy asked, curiously, watching the interaction between the three very carefully.
"Oh, I had lessons from the very best." River said, mysteriously.
The Doctor smirked, smugly. "Well, yeah."
A vicious smile spread across River's lips. "It's good that Rhea wasn't busy that day." She sighed, winking at Rhea, whose lips curved into a smirk. She picked up her shoes that were hanging off the monitor.
"I love those shoes. Where'd you get them from?" Rhea asked.
"Oh, they're yours." River said, off-handedly. "You let me borrow them."
Rhea raised an eyebrow. "I must really like you." She said, surprised. "I don't let a lot of people borrow my things, let alone my heels."
"Oh, you do." River smiled at Rhea, affectionately. She turned her attention back to the doors, heading for them. "Right then, why did they land here?"
"They didn't land." The Doctor said, suddenly, making everyone turn and look at him.
River frowned. "Sorry?"
"You should've checked the Home Box, it crashed." The Doctor said, following River down the ramp.
River stepped outside the doors and the Doctor slammed the doors shut once she was out of the TARDIS, before heading back to the console.
"Explain!" Amy demanded. "Who is that and how did she do that museum thing?"
"Forget about that!" Rhea scoffed. "Why'd you shut the door?"
The Doctor worked at the controls, spinning a wheel on the underside of the console and pulling a few levers at the same time. "It's a long story and I don't know most of it. Off we go!"
"What are you doing?" Rhea asked, incredulously.
"Leaving. She's got where she wants to go, let's go where we want to go."
Amy raised an eyebrow. "Are you basically running away?"
"Yep."
"Why?" Rhea asked, crossing her arms over her chest.
"'Cause she's the future, our future." The Doctor said, looking up at her.
Rhea raised an eyebrow. "Yeah, like I haven't heard that before."
"Can you even run away from that?" Amy asked, confused.
"I can run away from anything I like. Time is not the boss of me." The Doctor glared at her.
"You are such a hypocrite. And a wimp." Rhea narrowed her eyes at him. "You show up at my doorstep and convince me to run away with you and you knew everything about me and it's okay for you to do that, but when it's someone else, you get scared."
"Spoilers." The Doctor said, looking up at him.
Rhea almost lunged for him and decked him, but she restrained herself at the last minute. "I'm going to help her. I like her. She's all flirty."
The Doctor mumbled to himself something or another.
Rhea frowned. "What did you just say?" She narrowed her eyes at him. She could only make out a few words, such as "won't always", "changes" and "library".
"Nothing, dear." The Doctor smiled at her.
"Hang on, is that a planet out there?" Amy asked, suddenly.
"Yes," The Doctor rolled his eyes. "Of course it's a planet."
"You promised me a planet. Five minutes?" Amy begged, fluttering her eyes at him.
The Doctor sighed and looked over to Rhea.
"Please," Rhea crooned and moved over to the Doctor, stroking his arm. "Let's go and see." She murmured.
The Doctor stared at her, seeing her wider-than-normal bright eyes and slow-forming pout on her lips. "Okay, five minutes!" The Doctor warned, giving in.
"Yes!" Amy pumped her fist and the two ran for the doors, the Doctor following them.
"But that's all, cause I'm telling you now, that woman is not dragging me into anything!" The Doctor shouted.
The ship they were following had crashed on top of a very large and very old stone structure. It was burning in certain areas and bits of debris were scattered on the ground around the TARDIS. The Doctor, Rhea, Amy and River stood there, looking up at it.
"What caused it to crash?" River asked. "Not me."
"Nah, the airlock would've sealed seconds after you blew it. According to the Home Box, the warp engines had a phase-shift. No survivors." The Doctor explained.
"A phase-shift would have to be sabotage. I did warn them."
Rhea frowned. "About what?" She asked, carefully, sensing that River knew something about that ship she wasn't telling anyone.
"Well, at least the building was empty. Aplan temple. Unoccupied for centuries." River began to key something into handheld scanner.
The Doctor walked back to Amy, while Rhea stood by River.
"Aren't you going to introduce us?" Amy asked, uncomfortably, but a smile played on her lips.
"Amy Pond, Doctor Sunehri Adwani, Professor River Song." The Doctor gestured to River.
River faced the two, a slow smile spreading across her face, and gasped. "Oh, I'm going to be a Professor some day, am I?" She asked, slyly. The Doctor winced at the slip. "How exciting!" She chuckled. "Spoilers!" She crowed, turning her attention back to what she was doing on the scanner.
Rhea smirked. "He's really bad at the spoilers thing, huh?" She sighed. "You think he'd learn after nine hundred years."
River levelled her with a knowing smile. "Yes, I've heard all about your first meeting." She nudged Rhea in the side. "'Bedroom things', huh?"
Rhea smiled. Her mind was immediately taken back to the events of last night. No matter what she tried, she couldn't forget what happened last night. Definitely 'bedroom things'.
Amy grabbed Rhea's wrist and yanked her back. "Yeah, but who is she and how did she do that? She just left you a note in a museum!" She whispered, furiously, in Rhea's ear.
The Doctor walked off, disgruntled.
"Two things always guaranteed to show up in a museum: The Home Box of category four star liner and, sooner or later, them." River paused, looking back at Amy with a smile. "It's how he keeps score."
"I know." Rhea laughed, returning back to River's side. She didn't know why, she really liked the woman. She was funny, smart and she gave the Doctor hell. And Rhea was someone who could appreciate that.
"It's hilarious, isn't it?" River chuckled along with Rhea.
The Doctor mocked their laugh, coming up behind them. "I'm nobody's taxi service!" He warned River. "I'm not gonna be there to catch you every time you feel like jumping out of a space ship."
"And you are so wrong." River crowed. "There's one survivor." Her eyes narrowed at the scanner. "There's a thing in the belly of that ship that can't ever die." The Doctor was silent, gazing at River, curiously. "Now he's listening!" She peered into the scanner. "You lot in orbit yet? Yeah, I saw it land. I'm at the crash site. Try and home in on my signal." She held up the device and walked off, looking around at the sky. She paused and turned to look at the Doctor. "Doctor, can you sonic me?" She held up her scanner. "I need to boost the signal so we can use it as a beacon."
The Doctor sighed, exasperatedly, and took out the sonic screwdriver, using it on River's communication device. She curtseyed in that long black dress and proceeded to move through the wreckage.
"Ooh, Doctor! You soniced her!" Amy laughed. "Do you sonic Rhea too?" She said, slyly.
Both Rhea and the Doctor flushed, brightly. Well, there was almost some sonicing last night. Rhea thought. I actually never realised how symbolic that sonic screwdriver was. It might actually be some fun, what with all that humming… Down, girl. Don't you dare go down that road.
But both Rhea and the Doctor grimaced at the innuendo in relation to River, the latter pulling the former into his side by a hand around her waist. Rhea narrowed her eyes at River and the Doctor. Could there be something…? Oh, god, what is it with men and blondes? She was vaguely reminded of asking her leather-wearing Doctor whether he and Rose were in a relationship, now she had to contend with this spaceship-jumping, high-heel-wearing woman who calls her 'darling'? Not that I'm contending with anyone… there's nothing between the Doctor and I. I made that very clear last night. She blinked, remembering everything she had said to her 'matchstick man'. She was actually quite ashamed of what she had disclosed to him. She had exposed her vulnerability to him in a way that made her feel so weak and helpless.
"We have a minute. Shall we?" River called out. She opened a TARDIS blue diary with old and stained pages.
Rhea blinked. "Nice diary." She managed to say.
River smiled over at her. "Where were we up to? Have we done the Bone Meadows?" She asked.
"What's in the diary?" Rhea asked.
"Stay away from it." The Doctor warned.
Amy frowned. "What is it though?"
"Her diary."
"Our diary." River corrected, looking at the Doctor. She turned to Rhea. "You gave it to me. Said you loved the colour."
Rhea's lips curved into a smile. "I do." She said, fondly.
"Her past, our...future. Time travel. We keep meeting in the wrong order." The Doctor explained, reluctantly.
"Like me?" Rhea asked.
"No." The Doctor and River said, simultaneously.
"You are much more wibbly-wobbly than anyone I have ever met." The Doctor said, dryly.
"Plus, I don't disappear and reappear in a flash of light." River remarked. "I just meet you both in the wrong order. Nothing strange about it."
Suddenly, four columns of swirling 'dust' appeared and then solidified, revealing four soldiers in desert camouflage uniforms. The soldier at the front approached River.
"You promised me an army, Doctor Song." The soldier said, sternly.
"No. I promised you the equivalent of an army." River corrected him. She turned to the Doctor, gesturing to him. "This is the Doctor," The Doctor gave the soldier a light-hearted salute. "And this is Doctor Sunehri Adwani." Rhea nodded at the man, her body tense.
The soldier reached out and shook the Doctor's hand. "Father Octavian, sir," He turned to Rhea and shook her hand as well. "Ma'am. Bishop, second class. 20 clerics at my command. The troops are already in the drop ship and landing shortly. Doctor Song was helping us with a covert investigation." He paused. "Has Doctor Song explained what we're dealing with?" He asked, slowly.
River sighed and turned to the Doctor and Rhea. "Doctor, Rhea, what do you know of the Weeping Angels?"
Rhea watched, curiously, as the Doctor spun around, his eyes snapping to River, his entire form as tense as she was.
A transport ship had arrived and the soldiers had already set up camp. Octavian strode across the ground, followed by the Doctor, Rhea and Amy.
"The Angel, as far as we know, is still trapped in the ship. Our mission is to get inside and neutralise it. We can't get through up top, we'd be too close to the drives. According to this," He showed them his handheld device. "Behind the cliff face, there's a network of catacombs leading right up to the temple. We can blow through the base of the cliffs, get into the entrance chamber, then make our way up."
The Doctor sighed. "Oh, good."
"Good, sir?" Octavian asked, frowning.
"Catacombs, probably dark ones. Dark catacombs, great!" The Doctor growled.
"Technically, I think it's called a maze of the dead." Octavian continued, not understanding the Doctor's tone.
Rhea grimaced. "Oh, we are so screwed." She whispered to the Doctor.
The Doctor tightened the arm he had wrapped around Rhea's waist. "You can stop any time you like." He told Octavian, dryly.
"Father Octavian?" One of the soldiers called for him.
"Excuse me, sir, ma'am."
The Doctor waved off Octavian as he left. He then used the sonic screwdriver on some of the equipment set up on the table, while Rhea simply stared at him.
"So, you wanna tell me what a Weeping Angel is?" Rhea asked, her hands falling to her hips.
"They're a species of quantum-locked humanoids." The Doctor explained, not taking his eyes off the equipment on the table.
Rhea blinked. "I got the species and the humanoids bits." She said, dryly. "What do you mean by 'quantum-locked'?"
"When they aren't being observed, they can move very quickly and silently, so that they can send their victims back in time. When they are being observed they are 'quantum-locked', occupying a single position in space and becoming stone." The Doctor explained.
Rhea's eyes widened. "Well, they sound fun." She said, dryly.
"Oh, they are, believe me." The Doctor growled.
"You're letting people call you "sir". You never do that." Amy said, coming up behind them and sitting on the table. She knew that Rhea didn't really care about titles. She acted as if she didn't hear it when people called her 'ma'am'. "So, whatever a Weeping Angel is, it's really bad, yeah?" She looked at the Doctor and Rhea.
"Now that's interesting..." The Doctor mused, before realising that Amy was there. His eyes widened. "You're still here. Which part of "Wait in the TARDIS till I tell you it's safe" was so confusing?"
"Ooh, are you all Mr Grumpy Face today?" Amy said, mockingly, making Rhea laugh.
The Doctor let out an exasperated sigh. "A Weeping Angel, Amy, is the deadliest, most powerful, most malevolent life form evolution has ever produced, and one is trapped inside that wreckage and we're supposed to climb in with a screwdriver and a torch, and assuming we survive the radiation, and the whole ship doesn't blow up in our face, do something clever which we haven't actually thought of yet. That's our day, that's what we're up to. Any questions?"
Rhea rolled her eyes. "Don't scare the girl."
"She needs to know how dangerous it is." The Doctor argued.
"Are you and Rhea married?" Amy asked, suddenly, and the Doctor stilled and Rhea paled. "'Cause you said you've known her for ages and she's from your future too, and the way she talks to you," Amy nodded at Rhea, who turned her back on the Doctor and Amy. "She's kinda like, you know, "Heel, boy!" Or maybe River Song's your wife. She's Mrs Doctor from the future, isn't she?" A smile grew on her face, focusing more on River's relationship with the Doctor. "Are one of them gonna be your wife one day?" She asked, mockingly. "Or maybe..." Amy didn't look as though she was finished, her eyes devilish. "Maybe she's Rhea's wife. They certainly flirt a lot."
The Doctor gave Rhea an uneasy look, when he saw that her face was totally blank of any expression.
Rhea swallowed hard. Wife, huh? She could be. She certainly treats him like that. Actually she treats him like I do. And she seems really fond of me, not at all like the millions of jealous girlfriends and wives that I've seen. She didn't know why the idea of River marrying the Doctor pulled at her so much. Actually, it stung quite badly. It was only yesterday she though they were having a moment, even if she'd deny that to her grave, and now she was faced with the Doctor's future wife. It wasn't like she wanted to be the Doctor's wife. She didn't even think she knew how to be a good wife. Her first marriage wasn't exactly traditional. Okay… I have to stop thinking about this. What do I care who the Doctor marries? But, wait… why would Amy think the Doctor and I are married. We do flirt a lot, but I haven't seen 'this' Doctor a hell of a lot. If Martha or Donna or Rose had said something, then maybe I'd have been worried, but I haven't even kissed this Doctor yet. Not even in his future, when Clara's there. Wait... my wife? Is that even legal? Not a bad idea, actually, and she's gorgeous and has great hair, not to mention a total badass, and she's curvy as hell... oh, great, see, this is why you aren't good monogamy material, you sure jumped off the Doctor wagon and onto the River wagon pretty quick.
"No, River Song is definitely not my wife." The Doctor said, his tone brooking no argument. But, yes. You're right." He said, grudgingly, and Rhea turned to look at him with horror in his eyes, thinking that he was agreeing to her being his wife, while Amy's lips parted in shock. "I am definitely Mr Grumpy Face today."
Rhea breathed a sigh of relief. She turned back to the Doctor and Amy, schooling her face into a nonchalant expression.
"Doctor? Rhea!" River called out from the transport vehicle. "Father Octavian!"
The three of them started to walk to the transport.
"Why do they call him Father?" Rhea asked the Doctor, quietly.
"He's their Bishop, they're his clerics. It's the 51st Century, the Church has moved on." The Doctor explained at Rhea's curious and confused look.
On a screen in the vehicle, they could see black and white footage of a stone statue, a Weeping Angel, it's body at an angle to the camera, its hands over its eyes. Rhea looked over to see River controlling the video with a remote, changed out of her black dress and heels and clad in the same uniform the soldiers were wearing, her wild, curly hair tied behind her in a ponytail.
"What do you think?" River asked. "It's from the security cameras in the Byzantium vault. I ripped it when I was on board. Sorry about the quality. It's four seconds. I've put it on loop."
"Yeah, it's an Angel. Hands covering its face." The Doctor said.
Father Octavian looked at him. "You've encountered the Angels before?"
"Once, on Earth, a long time ago." The Doctor said, in a halting breath. "But those were scavengers, barely surviving."
"It's just a statue." Rhea said.
"It's a statue when you see it." River corrected.
"Where did it come from?" The Doctor asked, moving closer to the screen.
"Oh, pulled from the ruins of Razbahan, end of last century. It's been in private hands ever since, dormant all that time."
"There's a difference between dormant and patient." Rhea pointed out.
Amy frowned at the video. "What's that mean, it's a statue when you see it?"
"The Weeping Angels can only move if they're unseen. So legend has it." River explained.
Rhea shook her head. "Don't think it's a legend." She looked at the Doctor, who nodded.
"No, it's not legend, it's a quantum lock. In the sight of any living creature, the Angels literally cease to exist. They're just stone. The ultimate defence mechanism."
"What, being a stone?" Amy clarified, confused.
"Being a stone... until you turn your back." The Doctor said, grimly.
The Doctor led the others out of the transport. "The hyperdrive would've split on impact. The whole ship is going to be flooded with radiation, cracked electrons, gravity storms, deadly to almost any living thing."
"Deadly to an angel?" Rhea asked.
"Dinner to an Angel." The Doctor corrected. "The longer we leave it, the stronger it will grow. Who built that temple? Are they still around?" He asked, hurriedly.
River looked down at her handheld device. "The Aplans. The indigenous life-form. They died out 400 years ago."
"200 years later, the planet was terraformed. Currently there are six billion human colonists." Octavian explained.
"You lot, you're everywhere!" The Doctor said, incredulously. "Like rabbits! I'll never get done saving you." He shook his head.
Rhea reached out and smacked him upside the back of his head, completely missing River's small smile. "Watch it, Willy Wonka." She threatened.
"Willy Wonka?" The Doctor gasped, offended.
"Well, you're tall and gangly, you wear a bow-tie and have horrible fashion sense." She deadpanned. "So, yes, you're Willy Wonka." She wagged a finger. "And I've seen those pictures, sweetie, you used to wear celery on your lapel and that god-forsaken monstrosity of a coat your sixth regeneration wore is still in the wardrobe!"
The Doctor opened his mouth to tell her something.
"Sir, Ma'am," Octavian interrupted their argument. "If there is a clear and present danger to the local population..." He trailed off.
"Oh, there is. Bad as it gets. Bishop, lock and load!"
"Verger, how we doing with those explosives? Dr Song, with me." Octavian ordered a displeased River Song.
"Two minutes." River told him, sharply. "Sweetie, darling, I need you!" She called out.
The Doctor's and Rhea's eyes widened as they realised they were "sweetie" and "darling", respectively, mouthing the endearments to each other, as they went over to her.
Amy stood in the transport entry, a bit disgruntled that no one was paying her any attention. "Anybody need me? Nobody?" She called out and then crossed her arms, annoyed.
She turned around and slowly moved forward in the direction of the screen, entranced by the footage of the Weeping Angel. Since the last time she had seen it, it had now moved its hands away from its face.
River showed the Doctor and Rhea a worn-out journal. "I found this. Definitive work on the Angels. Well, the only one." She amended. "Written by a madman, it's barely readable, but I've marked a few passages."
The Doctor flipped through the book in a few seconds. "Not bad, bit slow in the middle, didn't you hate his girlfriend? No, hang on, wait, wait!" He leaned down and sniffed the book.
Amy popped her head out of the transport. "Dr. Song? Did you have more than one clip of the Angel?" She asked.
"No," River shook his head. "Just the four seconds."
Even though she was puzzled by that, Amy went back inside.
"This book is wrong! What's wrong with this book, it's wrong." The Doctor scowled.
Amy looked at the video again and now the Weeping Angel was facing forward, hands down at its sides. Amy bent over and peered closely at the time code. It looped from 11:24 to 11:28, yet the position of the Weeping Angel changed. Engrossed, Amy didn't notice the door close and lock behind her.
River observed the Doctor, as he examined the book, carefully, and Rhea, as she watched the Doctor, fondly, smirking to herself. If Rhea wasn't in love with the Doctor yet, she would soon be.
"Can I ask you a question?" Rhea asked.
River smiled over at her. "Sure."
"Your hair, is that natural?" Rhea asked, her face a picture of seriousness.
River's hand immediately went to her hair and she frowned. "Yes, it is. Why?"
A smile spread across Rhea's lips. "Can I touch it?" She begged.
River raised an eyebrow. "Sure."
Rhea reached out a hand and tugged on one of the springy curls and laughed. "Oh, my god, it's like magical pixie hair!" She cackled, making River laugh. "I bet there are elves living in there." She crowed.
River batted her hands away, fondly, tugging on one of her curls, herself, and smiling to herself. "Oh, it's so strange when you two go all baby-face. How early is this for you?" River asked, another slow smile spreading across her face, holding her TARDIS blue journal.
Rhea scowled at her. "I do not have a baby-face." She growled.
"Very early." The Doctor said, looking at Rhea, quickly, before going back to examining the book in detail.
River's smile fell as she realised that 'early' went both ways for him, in regard to her and Rhea. She knew exactly how he felt, knowing someone for so long and caring for them so much, and to see them look at you like a stranger, it was the worst form of hurt. She was experiencing it with the Doctor and Rhea, but she hadn't realised that the Doctor was currently experiencing it with Rhea. She had never seen them standing so far apart. Most of the time, Rhea couldn't take her eyes of the Doctor and she'd do it, blatantly. Now, it was more like she'd sneak looks at him every now and then, grimacing when she realised what she was doing, as if she shouldn't be doing it.
River shook her head free of those depressing thoughts. "So, you don't know who I am yet?" River asked, carefully, a smirk forming on her face.
"How do you know who I am? I don't always look the same." The Doctor asked, suspiciously.
"I've got pictures of all your faces and Rhea always looks the same." River explained.
"Really?" Rhea asked, raising her eyebrows. The same? How the hell can I look the same? He's nine-hundred years old!
"Spoilers, darling." River winked at her. "You never show up in the right order though. I need the spotter's guide."
The Doctor's eyes widened, a thought coming to him. "Pictures? Why aren't there pictures?" He breathed.
A/N: I thought this would be a good place to end the first chapter of The Time of Angels. And we got to see River for the first time, as well as the blowout of what happened last night. Rhea kind of trying to suppress her memories of last night, she doesn't want to remember it, but like we saw earlier, it'll come back to bite her, I promise. I hope you guys liked the characterisation of Rhea's and River's relationship. I tried to make it a mix of care and flirting. And we got a few more insides into Rhea's future with the inclusion of River. River knows a lot about the future of Rhea and the Doctor's relationship. And I thought it an interesting parallel how it's early for the Doctor, Rhea and River and it's early for the Doctor and Rhea as well. We saw some jealousy over River on both sides in this chapter as well. The 'wife' thing stumped me for a little while. I made it so that Rhea and River were both included in that comment and we'll see more of that in the next chapter, I promise. Of course, it does make you wonder, are the Doctor and Rhea married? At least, to him? And what's Rhea's relationship to River? Are they friends, or is there something else there?
So, that begs the question, what do you think should happen in The Wedding of River Song?
Hope you all liked the chapter and don't forget to review! And the poll is open, guys, sorry about that, didn't realise that I hadn't posted it on my profile, I'll be extending it, don't worry. You have until the end of Chapter 46. Don't forget to vote!