Ch 13

Once they were finally barricaded in the room, River closed her eyes, trying to catch her breath, before looking down at her wrists.

"May I see?" The Doctor asked, out of breath.

She nodded, holding her arms out to him. He gently traced over the swollen, bruised skin, doing his best not to put any pressure on them. "I'll make you temporary splints. You'll need them until we can get somewhere with help."

She winced, despite his gentleness, "Okay." She breathed, "I'm sorry."

"You did what you had to." He murmured, searching the room for something to make the splint with. They seemed to be in a religious sort of chamber, as there was an altar there, though it was shaped like a bed. He started taking apart what he could.

River stayed out of the way, feeling rather useless as she could do almost nothing with her hands.

"Aright." He came back to her when he had enough things to split her wrists with. "This won't be comfortable."

She shook her head, "I don't want it then."

He frowned. "If your wrists don't heal properly, the long term effects won't be any less harsh."

"Fine." She sighed, "Here."

He started with her right hand, carefully securing a piece of a bar and a piece of wood on her wrist with his bow tie. She winced, holding still so he could finish.

He pressed a kiss to her fingers when he'd finished. "Almost done, just one more wrist to go."

She tucked her head against his neck, "Can we rest first?"

He nodded. "Yes. Whatever you need." Her body was shaking slightly, not because she was afraid, but from the sheer physical shock it had just endured.

He wrapped his arms around her, sitting them gently on the floor.

"Are you alright?" She whispered, nuzzling his neck.

"Are you?" He asked back.

"I asked first." She teased.

"Oh very well." He gave in. "I'm... alright, given the circumstances."

"I'm sorry for leaving you." She whispered, "But I couldn't let her get to Arthur."

"I don't hold you to any fault on that. Our children are first priority."

She nodded, leaning in to give him a soft kiss. Their lips moved against each other's gently and lovingly. "I love you." She murmured against his lips.

"I love you, too." He whispered, stroking her cheek with his thumb. "You never answered my question."

"I'm alright." She breathed, leaning into his hand, "Especially since you came to my rescue."

"You were the one who came to my rescue first." He chuckled.

"Yes, but you saved me from getting my organs cut out." She kissed his jaw.

"Now what kind of husband would I be if I let that happen?" He smiled.

She laughed softly, "I was quite impressed with your breakout."

"I'd been working at the chains for days. They were weak already." He explained.

"Ah, so it had nothing to do with me and the lives of any potential future children being in danger?" She asked playfully.

"Nothing at all." He teased.

She pouted, playfully, "Oh, pity."

"Does that disqualify me from getting any potential future children?"

"Well, no. I suppose not." She looked up at him, "Do you want them?" They hadn't really talked about it yet.

He shrugged. "I don't know yet."

She laced her fingers through his, "Alright." She murmured, "Take your time."

He nodded. He didn't really have any objection to another kid, but Arthur was only a few months old and Missy was still a huge threat. It wasn't the time to be thinking about babies. "How about that other wrist?"

She nodded, holding her other wrist out to him. He wrapped it up as quickly as he could, not wanting her to be in pain for long. She tried not to wince, needing another break after he finished.

"We need a plan." He advised. "And quickly."

"Do you have any ideas?" She asked, eyes still closed.

"Not very goods ones." He admitted. "And not ones I'm sure will work."

"Well, we need to find a way to stop Missy from following us home." She murmured, looking up at him.

"Or else the kids won't be safe." He added in agreement, then swallowed worriedly. "All the other times, it didn't work. All the other times, she came back and the consequences keep getting worse. ...but I don't know if I can bring myself to take the permanent solution."

"If you won't do it, I will." River stood, pacing. She didn't want to endanger her children and there was only one way to stop that from happening.

He nodded slowly. "That would be better, but we don't exactly have an armory." He looked around.

"And I can't use much else with broken wrists." She sighed, walking around the room, "There has to be something in here though."

"My chains, you can use the wood pieces as a club..." He stood and did the same as River, peaking around corners and behind curtains. "Ooh, that could be useful."

"What?" She asked, walking to his side.

He pulled the curtain back further to reveal a display case. To their luck, it was a showing of old fashioned weaponry, mostly pistols. "I guess we do have an armory."

"Doctor..." River murmured, "I don't think I'm going to be able to do this. I won't be able to use any of this with both of my wrists broken."

"Then..." He looked at her. "We'll work together. As it should be."

"But you do realize that you're going to have to do the actual..." She hesitated to say the word.

He nodded solemnly, setting his jaw. "It's not the time for me to be sentimental. Whatever she once was to me, won't matter right now. You are what matters. Our children are what matter. I have a duty of care to you all, and that means protecting you at any costs. This is just one of the costs."

She leaned in and kissed him deeply, passionately. "You can do it."

"Not without your help." He held her close. "Together, River."

"Together." She nodded, melting into the embrace.

They stayed like that for a moment before he pulled away and smashed the glass case. He collected the pistols and knives, pleased (and a bit conflicted) to find the guns already loaded.

She gave his arm a squeeze, heading back towards the door. "Now that we have the weapons, what's next? What's our plan?"

"Well... stand and fight. Missy is either going to kill us, or toy with us and then kill us. But she's not coming through that door alone and she's not coming unarmed. We need to isolate her. Once she falls, the Mainframe will fall with her. We'll need to get her vortex manipulator and we'll need to blow this place up. Also we need to not die."

She nodded, taking a deep breath, "We should try to get her in here."

"That won't be a problem." He assured. As if on cue, there came a pounding from the other side of the door.

"Sorry, we're busy." River called, hoping to irritate Missy.

The banging came harder. "See if you can use the chains." The Doctor mouthed.

"For what?" She mouthed back.

He tried to mimic the movements of fighting, hoping she'd get the message. She tilted her head, not understanding what he was trying to imply.

"Well you need something to defend yourself with." He huffed.

The next bang caused some of the barricade of furniture to fall away. She took a plank that he hadn't used for her wrists, though not without an eye roll. He tried to give her a thankful smile, the door being forced open a significant crack.

Missy was right upfront, her arm reaching through the crack.

"Visiting hours are over, Missy. Come back tomorrow." The Doctor said, weapon secure in his hand. River stood on the other side of the door, ready to wack Missy's hand.

Missy reached in, trying to push away the things in front of the door.

"Pull her in!" River mouthed to her husband. The Doctor pocketed his gun and grabbed Missy's arm, yanking as hard as he could.

MIssy fell into the room, River slamming the door behind her. Missy jumped up, anger etched on her face. She grabbed the closest thing, which happened to be a metal pipe, and started for River.

River fought back with her plank, though every movement she made with her hands was agony in her broken bones.

The Doctor panicked, taking the gun back out and raising it. His hesitation was like being chained up again. He had no idea how to aim, and there was the possibility of hitting River. The thought of having to fire it at all was enough to make his hands shake, but regardless, he pulled the trigger.

The first missed by a lot, but the second shot hit Missy, by some miracle, right through the chest, close enough to nick one of her hearts. The Doctor ran over to his wife, eyes wide in shock as he motioned for her to back away.

River struggled out of his arms, needing to get the vortex manipulator.

"River, wait. She's going to-" He cut himself off as Missy looked up at the pair, starting to glow gold.

"You have to hit her again." River called, still trying to get the manipulator.

"Why don't you just take her regeneration energy? She won't make it without all of it." He counter-suggested, though was already gripping the gun again.

"What do you mean?" She asked, staring at him.

"Take the energy to heal your wrists." He repeated, not knowing how to clarify it much further.

River grabbed Missy's wrist, trying to figure out how to take her energy. She hadn't realized that regeneration energy could be taken, she thought that it could only be given.

"You've got to invade her mind and force her to redirect the energy flow to you." He instructed.

She tried to hone in on Missy's mind, trying to do as he said. "No...! Stop...!" Missy managed, though it was already working for River's behalf.

The pain in River's wrists seemed to melt away as the light dancing around her.

"Keep your focus!" The Doctor encouraged. Missy cried out, struggling in vain to get away.

Now that her wrists had begun to heal, River's grip grew stronger, and she held Missy tightly, her focus keeping. Missy's strength and life force drained away. The light soon faded and the Timelady slumped forwards, completely limp.

River didn't lose her focus until the light was completely gone, staring at Missy's motionless form. The Doctor urged her to back away again, finding that his voice was gone. River collapsed against him, unable to look away from the figure in front of her.

"We... we killed her." He croaked.

She shook her head, "We have to finish this." It wasn't the time to dwell on what they'd done, they had to finish the job if they wanted to get back home. She walked over to Missy's body, retrieving the vortex manipulator.

"Maybe you should hold the guns now." He breathed, staying close to her.

She took the guns from him, giving him the vortex manipulator in return, "We need to try and find a way to blow this place up."

"There's a main control room on the top deck." He said quietly, trying to save his emotions to deal with later.

"If you use the vortex manipulator, we can get there." She murmured. He nodded and programmed the device, gesturing for her to put her hand on. She gently placed her hand on his.

He paused, looking at her for a moment before pressing the activation.

The console room was not empty, though River immediately went to work with the guns. The Doctor tried not to look, focusing on finding the controls. The others were taken care of in no time, leaving the Doctor to work in peace.

"Alright, I've found most of the controls. Jam the door and help me find the ones for the engine." He instructed, now totally focused on his work.

She nodded, running to open the control panels on the automatic door, messing with the wires and then helping him investigate the control panel.

It took them a good ten minutes at least to fully identify what each button did. "What I wouldn't give for a sonic right now." He muttered. "Alright, reroute any power you can to the motor. It'll overload this thing and this place with go down."

She nodded, immediately going to work rerouting power and then jamming the controls so it couldn't be undone. He worked on lowering the engine capacity so it would blow more quickly.

The lights flicked and went out, the whole place starting to shake. "River, we've got to get out of here."

She grabbed his hand, helping him type in the coordinates for where the TARDIS had been left. Alarms started everywhere, and the far wall started to crumple. They weren't going to wait around and see the damage.

They left with a flash, landing flat on their backs in a very familiar console room. River was breathing heavily, frozen on the ground. Her body was still pumping with adrenaline, the blood rushing in her ears.

The Doctor managed to prop himself up on his side, turning quickly to her. "You alright?"

"...Yes." She breathed, after a moment. She was starting to calm down now. "Are you?"

"Mentally or physically?" He sat up, rubbing his head.

"Both." She murmured, sitting up as well.

"I could be better." He said in the same tone. "I could be dead, too."

"She was the reason Amelia nearly drowned, she was the reason William died, I can't... I'm sorry, but I can't feel guilty for what happened." She shook her head.

He stared at her. "She what?"

"She was behind all of that. Everything to Silence did to us..." She swallowed, not wanting to go into the details, "She was bragging about it and..." She trailed off.

His regret was knocked out of him and he scrambled to his feet. "Where are the girls?"

"Arthur and the girls are with Jack at the Hub." She stood, already heading for the controls. They started piloting as quickly as they could, the TARDIS shaking with the flight.

As soon as they landed, River ran out the doors, eager to see her children. The Doctor followed at an equal pace.

The Hub seemed empty, but soon there was giggling from upstairs. River darted up the stairs, relieved to hear giggling. The parents came into Jack's office, finding that their daughters had convinced Jack to let them put makeup on him. He looked rather like a clown.

River laughed when she saw him, "Jack, you look wonderful!"

"Arthur thinks I look terrifying. He won't let me pick him up!" The man laughed.

"Where is he?" She asked, looking around the room.

Jack pointed to the baby carrier seated on one of the side desks. "He's been fussy, but the girls helped me calm him."

"Oh, hello, my love." River smiled, walking around and lifting the baby up out of the carrier.

Arthur made a nearly toothless grin, kicking his legs out and gurgling. River pressed kisses all over his face, bringing him over to the Doctor.

"There's my little man." The Doctor smiled, taking his son from River and cradling him close.

"Did you and Daddy save the world?" Amelia hopped over to her parents, letting Freya finish Jack's makeover.

"Yes, we most certainly did." River smiled, leaning down to kiss her forehead. "

From what?" She asked.

"Don't worry about it." She murmured.

The girl nodded, "Does this mean we can go back to school now?"

"Of course, if that's what you want to do."

"Not before giving your Daddy a hug." The Doctor added, crouching to his daughter's' level.

She hugged him tightly, eager to get back to school. Arthur waved his hands greedy towards Amelia.

"You too, Freya. Come give me hug."

Freya, finally finished with Jack's makeover, hopped over to hug him as well.

He smiled widely with his children safe in his arms. What happened today wasn't something he'd hoped to repeat, but they were what he was fighting for. They would always be what he was fighting for, and he'd slaughter half the universe before letting them get hurt. "River?"

"Hmm?" She was watching the scene with a warm heart, smiling widely.

"I want another one."

She laughed softly, "How about we talk about it after we take the girls to school, yeah?"

He nodded. "Alright lovies, back to your field trip."

"Yay!" The girls ran back into the TARDIS, followed by River.

The Doctor paused before going. "Thank you, Jack."

Jack gave him a salute, "No problem!"

He nodded a thanks then joined his family in the TARDIS.