Ch 8

They made their way cautiously through the halls, passing familiar rooms until they found the girls. The girls were huddled in a corner, Vastra holding the baby and shielding all the children protectively.

"Vastra...?" The Doctor murmured, stepping into the room.

She stood quickly, looking startled, "Is everything alright?"

"Well," He looked down at the ring he held in his palm. "It could have gone worse."

Arthur had not stopped wailing since Missy had come, crying about how much he wanted his Mummy and Daddy. The Doctor carefully took Arthur back into his arms, rocking him. "Sh, sh. It's okay I'm here now."

He settled down once the Doctor was holding him, though he still mewled for River. The Doctor sighed quietly, turning to the girls. "You two alright?"

Amelia nodded, though Freya didn't answer, huddled into a ball, protecting the small cube she held in her hands with all she had.

"Freya, lovie... do you know what's in that box?" He asked slowly.

"I think so." She whispered.

"Tell me then." He kept a calm tone.

"Mummy's in here. The mean lady said Mummy was in here."

The Doctor nodded. "That's right. Mummy's mind has been put in there." He replied softly. The cube could actually hold her indefinitely, unlike the TARDIS.

"Can you get it out?" She whispered.

He shook his head. "Not really, at least not until there's a body to put her in."

"But she has a body already. Why can't you use that one?"

"It's too broken, love." He whispered. "I'm sorry."

"I can fix it!" She pressed, "I have the light, I can fix it!"

"No." He responded quickly. This had been another promise to his wife: to not let the girls use their regeneration energy. "It won't work on her." He lied. "She's already been gone too long."

"Then find another way to fix her!"

"I am." He continued in a soothing manner. I'm trying my best to find another way to fix her, but it will take time."

"But she needs to come back now. I can't wait!"

"Come here." He murmured. She crawled closer to him, a bit hesitant. He reached out his hand to her. "You are such a strong girl. You are so brave for going through this, and we will get Mummy back. I swear, but you have to be a little stronger and be patient, alright?"

"For how long?" She asked, holding the cube tighter.

"I don't know, dear." He apologized. "As soon as I possibly can."

"I miss her." She whimpered.

"I miss her too." He agreed, pulling her into a one armed hug. She hugged him back, silent tears rolling down her cheeks. "Do you want to see if we can find away to talk to her?" He asked.

Missy had said she intended to toy with River, which indicated that she had some way to communicate with his wife. She nodded, reluctant to let go of the cube.

"Amelia?" He looked to the other girl, thinking she'd want to join, too. Amelia crawled over, taking his hand. He offered a smile to them both. "The console room with have what we need."

They nodded, following him quietly. Vastra and Jack followed as well, both on high alert.

Arthur was growing fussy again, wanting to hear a story. "Settle down, lovie." THe Doctor uttered, trying to think of one he'd want to hear. "Girls, what was your favorite story that Mummy used to tell you?"

"The one about the princess and the dragon." Freya responded first.

He nodded, beginning to retell the tale to Arthur. Arthur started to settle down, eyes fixating on his bowtie. The Doctor smiled weakly.

They arrived in the console room and he shifted the baby to one arm. "Freya, dearie. I'm going to need the cube now."

"Why?" She held the cube tighter, reluctant to give it to him.

"I've got to toggle a few things so we'll be able to talk to Mummy." He said softly.

"Don't break it." She whispered, hesitating before holding it out to him.

"I won't." He took it with as much care as possible and set it gently in a slot on the console. Handing Arthur to Vastra so he could work quicker, he set about connecting wires to the box and switching settings on the console. He pulled the screen around front, everyone's eyes on him as he worked quietly.

It was good few minutes before the screen turned to static then started to form an image. River began to appear on the screen. She looked to be trying to fiddle with something.

"Mummy!" The girls ran closer to the console.

Her head snapped up and she stared out at them. "Amelia! Freya!"

"Why are you in a box now?" Amelia questioned immediately. "Just come out and come back!"

"I can't, my love. I'm sorry, it's not that easy."

Her lip wobbled. "But you got out into the box…"

"Well that's because someone else moved me, I can't do it on my own." River explained.

"...And Daddy doesn't have a place to move you back." She echoed her father's words, the situation starting to make more sense.

She nodded, "I'm sorry, sweetie."

"What's in there?" Freya asked, half thinking that if the cube opened there'd be a miniature River inside.

"What do you mean?"

"You're in a box and we hafta take care of it or else you'll get hurt." It wasn't exactly the most clear answer, but it was the best the distraught girl could give.

"Only my mind is in the box, sweetheart." She explained, not going into the details as it was too complicated, "The rest is just wiring."

"But I can see all of you, not just your head." She frowned.

"Well, that's where all the wiring comes in. It creates a sort of virtual world for my mind to spend time paired with a virtual recreation of my body. That means you can see me, and it looks like I'm in an ordinary room, but if you opened up the box it would only be wires.'

"...Oh." She looked down, disappointed.

"I'm sorry." River breathed, her heart breaking for her daughter.

The adults all stepped into River's view, wanting to talk to her as well. River brightened a bit when she saw her friends. All three smiled, it being the first time any of them had been able to see her. Arthur only whined.

"Oh, Arthur, my love. It's alright." River called, "Mummy's here!"

Vastra adjusted the boy in her arms so he could look right at his mother. He cheered up at the sight. "Nuh!"

"Hello my baby." River smiled, touching the screen. Arthur flailed out his hand for her and Vastra brought him right up so he could touch the screen as well. "I hope you're being a good boy." River murmured, smiling at him.

Arthur gurgled, and Freya shook her head, not thinking he was any sense of the word.

"What's wrong, Freya?" River frowned, noticing the girl's expression.

"He's not been good at all." She huffed, crossing her arms.

"What do you mean?" River looked at the rest of the people in the room to confirm Freya's claim. None of them were in full agreement.

"He's loud and annoying and he took you away!"

"Oh, no, sweetheart. He didn't take me away." She shook her head.

"Yes he did!" She stomped her foot. "It's all his fault you're gone. If he wasn't here, you'd still be."

"But you can't blame him. It's not really his fault, Freya. He didn't have a choice. I was the one that made the choice, so if it's anyone's fault, then it's mine."

"You never wanted to die! You never chose to. He wanted to take you away!"

"No, sweetie, he didn't. He didn't know that he was going to take me away. Only Daddy and I knew. If I had wanted, then I could have chosen not to have Arthur, but I wanted to have him."

"Why would you do that?" She whimpered.

"Because I wanted you to have a little brother, and I wanted your Daddy to have a son. When I found out what was going to happen, I loved him too much to not have him."

"You left us all alone!" She finally gave in to crying, plopping down to sit where she stood.

"I'm sorry, sweetheart. I know, I'm so sorry. I wish I didn't have to." River wanted to reach out and hug her daughter, but she couldn't.

The Doctor scooped up Freya and held her, knowing it was what River would do if she'd been able to.

Tears stung in River's eyes, though she tried to hide it, "I'm so sorry."

"It's alright, Riv. She'll come around. She just needs time, like you said." He murmured.

"This is all my fault." She whispered, shaking her head, "I'm sorry, I just couldn't...I couldn't lose another baby."

"Neither could I, River." He admitted. "If I was in your position, I would have done the same." She sunk to the floor, head in her hands. She felt horrible now.

Amelia tugged on Vastra's skirts. "Why's Mummy so sad now?"

"She feels like she let you down." Vastra whispered, "She wanted to have your brother, but she also didn't want to die. She made the choice that she felt was the best, but she feels like you're disappointed in her."

Amelia thought about this. "I'm glad to have a little brother, but I want Mummy, too."

"I know." Vastra murmured, bending down to hug her.

"But I know it's not her fault or Arthur's fault." She added.

"But your sister thinks that, and that's what's hurting her."

"I tried to tell her that she's wrong. But she won't listen."

"I know, I'm glad you tried to help."

"I don't think she really thinks that. She's just really sad. We all are." Amelia pointed out.

"Yes, that exactly what I think. And the only way to really mend sadness is to give it time to run it's course."

"But I don't want Mummy or Freya to be sad that long." She frowned.

"Well, we could try to cheer them up." Vastra offered, giving her a small smile.

"Lift me up to Mummy?" She asked.

She nodded, scooping the girl up so she could see her mother. Jack took over holding Arthur.

"Mummy! Mummy, I know you're sad. It's okay to be sad and cry, but I wanna talk to you." Amelia looked over her Mum's crumpled form.

River quickly composed herself and looked up at her daughter, giving her the best smile she could manage, "What is it my darling?"

"I'm not disappointed. I mean, I'm really sad because you went away, but I really like my baby brother and so does Auntie and Daddy and Freya but she won't say so." Amelia wanted her mummy to know how brave she could be.

River's smile became more genuine, "That makes me very happy, Amelia."

Amelia smiled, a proper smile. "Freya doesn't really blame my brother. She's just sad. But you're going to come back because Daddy rescued your ring and can fix you and it'll be okay again."

"My ring? What happened to my ring?" She asked, smile fading slightly.

"The evil lady who keeps trying to be my evil step mum took it, but Daddy protected us and fought her and got it back and then she went away somewhere." She explained, realizing River hadn't known all this. "I don't like her at all. She keeps trying to mess with us and she didn't let Daddy see you and I think she's the one who put you in there."

River nodded, wishing that she was there to protect her children from Missy, "Don't worry, my love, Daddy and Auntie Vastra and Uncle Jack will protect you."

"They have been." She confirmed. "It's going to be better, Mummy. I love you a whole lot and I'm gonna give you the biggest hug ever when you come back."

"I look forward to that hug." She smiled, "Can I talk to Daddy now?"

Amelia nodded, blowing her a kiss before Vastra set her down. The Doctor stepped forwards, setting Freya down on the jump seat.

"Hi..." River breathed, touching the screen again.

He let his hand up to the screen against hers, imagining the warmth of her hand though he couldn't feel it. "Hello, love."

"Can you see me this time?" She asked softly.

"Yes." He smiled softly. "And what a wonderful sight you are for tired eyes."

"I miss you." She breathed, wishing she could move closer and embrace him.

"I miss you, too." He replied, both their expressions saying more than they ever could.

"When do you think I'll be able to get out of here?"

"I'm not sure." He sighed, wanting her out as much as she did. "The TARDIS has already started a reconstruction of your body. If could be days, a week. Probably longer. She's focused a lot on tracking Missy and keeping her out so she can't put all her energy on you at the moment."

"I want to come back to you as soon as possible." She breathed, wanting to say that even a few days was too long, but she held back.

He nodded in agreement, having the same thought. He turned the ring around in his hand, eventually holding it up for her to see.

She smiled weakly, "I wish I could wear it now."

"Me, too." He hummed. "I'm not sure where I should put it. I want to keep it safe for you."

"You'll find a place, I'm sure." She breathed, her heart aching the more she talked to him. "Is there anyway to speed up the development process?"

"Not that I've found so far." He murmured. "I'm sorry you might not be there for your birthday. I got you a present."

"Did you?" She tried to ignore the first part, not wanting to hurt any more than she already was.

He nodded, "It's in our bedroom, in the closet. The box with the blue and gold wrapping."

"How old am I turning, again?" She tried to laugh.

"I'll leave you to figure that one out yourself."

"1605!" Amelia claimed.

River laughed, "That's closer to Daddy's age, sweetie. He's a lot older than I am"

"1505?" She guessed again.

"Less than that, my sweet."

"Two hundred and eleven." This time it was Freya who spoke up, sounding quite sure that she was right.

"That's only a few years off. Though, in a more general answer: too many candles to fit on a birthday cake." The Doctor smiled.

River nodded, "I love you all so much."

"I love you, too." They all said it, but the Doctor's eyes were locked on hers, his voice separate from the girls'.

Jack cleared his throat, "Doctor...I have an idea."

All heads turned curiously towards him. "About River's age?"

"No, about getting River back faster. You said that the TARDIS is dividing its power, which is why it's taking so long to generate a new form, but we could hook up the Hub and with power like that, we could have her back in a day."

The Doctor's immediate expression was of joy and excitement, though it quickly turned to worry. "With power like that, we'd be a beacon to Missy."

Jack shook his head, "She already knows where we are, so what does that matter?"

"It matters that once we start a process like that, we can't stop it in the middle or else the whole thing will backfire and we'll have to start again from scratch. If Missy comes, we won't be able to just hop in the TARDIS and fly away and she won't necessarily be able to protect us."

"Fine, then we set up external power deferrers, wave blockers, we do this completely incognito. We'll set up other power spikes around the world to distract her. Doctor, we can do this."

He looked at River. "Do you think it's worth the risk?" He thought it should ultimately be her choice, as it was her body being affected.

"I don't know… If Jack can mask our energy signature..."

He looked at Vastra and the girls, wondering their input too.

"I want Mummy back as fast as possible. I want to do what Uncle Jack said." Freya piped up.

"I want us to be safe." Was all Amelia had to say about it.

"Doctor, don't you want your wife back?" Jack pressed.

"Of course I do." He said, almost offended that he'd even question the fact. "I also don't want to risk having that chance." He added, then sighed. "But I think..." He paused for another moment of thought. "It's worth a try."

"I'll start setting it up then!" Jack was already running out of the room and into the Hub, pulling out wires and starting up monitors.

"Vastra, I know it's a lot to ask, but could you find Ianto and take the kids out for the day? If Missy-... I don't want them to see that. I don't want them in harm's way." The Doctor asked.

"Of course." She murmured, beckoning for the girls to follow her out of the room, to find a stroller for Arthur, leaving the Doctor and River alone.

He took her in. "I ought to go help Jack." He murmured, though didn't move. "I can leave the interface open for you if you want."

River nodded, "When you finish setting everything up, will you come sit with me?"

"Of course." He nodded. He'd need to brief her on some things anyways.

"Hurry back then." She breathed, "I'll be here."

"Love you." He murmured, going off to help Jack.

"Love you too." She called.