Disclaimer: I own neither the show nor the characters. I don't earn any money; I just do it for fun.
Author's Note: This is a sequel to The Ghosts of the Past, written for last year's heroinebigbang, so I'd suggest you read that one first if you haven't already. Many thanks to my beta, csiangel and to my artist, whogate
###
Her message to Jack written and encoded so only he could open it, Sam went to the control room and asked Chuck to add it to the other files. Compressed, the data would be sent directly to the SGC. She still remembered the first time they received news from Atlantis; the Gate had opened for less than two seconds, and they had received hours of video messages, dozens of mission reports and files about the Pegasus Galaxy. Now, even if they had the Midway Station and a ZPM, the expedition still used this method to transmit reports weekly.
Thanking Chuck, Sam noticed that Elizabeth was in her office. She hadn't seen the leader of Atlantis since the lunch they shared after the debriefing. It had been an interesting one, and she had offered to work on the readings Major Lorne's team took until the Daedalus arrived. Even though she didn't know as much as Rodney did about the Ancient technology – not to mention that she didn't possess the ATA gene – it would at least occupy her mind.
She knocked lightly on the glass wall of the office, and Elizabeth looked up, smiling when she saw who it was.
"I hope I'm not interrupting you," Sam said sitting on a chair.
"Not really," Elizabeth replied, showing the laptop screen that was displaying the game of solitaire she was playing. "Apart from this morning's debriefing, I had set aside the day to check the files we're going to send to Earth, and I was done earlier than I had thought."
"And now, you've got nothing to do."
"Well, I have requests to review and sign or deny, but from what I've seen, there's nothing that can't wait a couple of hours."
They shared a smile. Sam had no doubt that on any other day, Elizabeth would have already replied to all these requests, but she couldn't blame her for wanting a break after having spent hours going through reports. She would need one too in her place.
"Is there anything I can do for you?" Elizabeth asked.
"Actually, I was going to ask the same thing," Sam replied, smiling. "I can start working on the energy readings now if you want. I just need you to grant me access to a lab, actually."
Elizabeth was about to reply that it wasn't necessary when a crackling sound and a flash of light interrupted her.
"What the...?" Sam exclaimed, and Elizabeth had no doubt of what she had witnessed.
She turned around, and sure enough John's team and River were standing in the middle of the Gateroom. The guards had been surprised and raised their weapons, only to lower them when they saw their commanding officer.
"What was that?"
Elizabeth wasn't sure how to answer Sam's question. She wasn't even sure why the team came back using River's vortex manipulator instead of the Gate. She needed to get some questions answered herself. Leaving her office with Sam in tow, she stopped on the catwalk to look at the team.
"What happened?" she asked John.
"We were surrounded by an electrical field. There was no other choice," he said, before turning his head slightly to nod at Sam. "Colonel Carter. We should probably go to the infirmary right now, just in case."
"And I've been zapped," River said, holding up her right hand.
"Why didn't you say anything?" John exclaimed, turning towards her.
"It's really nothing," she replied with a shrug.
Elizabeth sighed; she wasn't surprised by River's reaction, far from it. And John was the last one who could say something since he was as bad as River when it came to wounds. And when she saw him open his mouth, she decided to intervene.
"Alright, go to the infirmary, we'll debrief as soon as you're released."
Elizabeth had no doubt that Sam had many questions about what had just happened, and she couldn't blame her. To be honest, she had her own questions she wanted an answer to.
She didn't know how much Sam knew about River's presence in Atlantis, or even if she knew anything at all. She knew that her reports had made it all the way to Homeworld Security and the IOA, and that General Landry had probably read them too, but she had never wondered who else could read them. Not that they would tell Sam much about River; she had kept their childhood a secret, and she had only talked about River as a woman they had first encountered on a mission, and who later came to live in Atlantis, much like Teyla and Ronon did in the past.
"Why don't we follow them to the infirmary, and I'll answer any questions you have?" Elizabeth offered. "I have my radio with me if you need to contact me," she told Chuck as they walked by his station.
"Yes, Doctor."
Sam followed Elizabeth outside of the control room and into the hallways towards the infirmary. From the corner of her eye, Elizabeth could see that the Colonel had a lot of questions, and just didn't know where to start. Knowing that she would eventually cover them all – or at the very least, the most important ones – she started to talk.
"The blonde woman you saw with the team is Doctor River Song. I don't know if you saw her name in a report..." Elizabeth trailed off, and Sam shook her head no in answer. "Well, we first encountered her and another traveller on another planet. I accompanied Colonel Sheppard's team to see ruins, and they arrived almost at the same time as we did. We ended up teaming up and I took a look at the ruins with River. Long story short, the two of us were teleported in some underground tunnels, but we managed to get out, mainly thanks to River."
She quickly passed on what had happened in the tunnels, but it just wasn't something she liked to talk about. If Sam wanted to know the rest of the story, she could read the report.
"About a month ago, River faced some troubles, and she came to live with us. I cleared it with General O'Neill and the IOA. I think that the IOA don't mind her presence because she's an archaeologist, and we could use her help in some matters, since we don't have a resident archaeologist as you know."
"I see. And how did they come back without using the Gate?"
"River has access to a technology we didn't know. She wears a vortex manipulator on her wrist that allows her to travel in space if need be."
Elizabeth didn't add that it could allow her to travel through time too; in Atlantis, only she and John knew about that, and there was no reason for her to share it, even with someone like Sam.
"It's quite useful when a team is cut off from the Gate by enemies," Sam mused out loud, already seeing what they could do with it off-world.
"I see what you mean, but River only has one, and I can't request of her to let us study it. She's our guest."
"Yes, I understand what you mean," Sam replied. "And I would never ask either. You may want to ask the team to leave it out of the report, though. Sadly, I'm quite sure the IOA would like to study it, no matter what."
"Are you asking me to tell them to falsify their mission report?" Elizabeth asked, with a raised eyebrow and a smile.
"No. Like you won't ask them either. There are things the IOA need to know, and others they really don't. This is one of the latter."
Elizabeth nodded in understanding. She also didn't trust the vortex manipulator in their hands. If they were to know that it allowed time travel, too, they would want to use it. It wouldn't matter that it could be dangerous; they wouldn't listen to her or SG1's warnings. No, there were just some things that were better kept from the IOA.
"Just like I'm certain there are things you haven't told me about River Song," Sam continued as they rounded the last corner to the infirmary. "But I trust you to have told me what is important and that the rest isn't."
Elizabeth smiled, but didn't reply anything as they entered the infirmary. There was nothing she could have said anyway: Sam was right.
They spotted the team easily at the back of the room, and walked towards them. They were all sitting on beds, and two nurses were currently with Rodney and Teyla while Carson hovered near River's bed. To their surprise, she was writing in her notebook, completely ignoring the Scottish doctor.
"Ah, Elizabeth!" Carson exclaimed when he saw her. "Can you please tell her that I really need to take a look at her injured hand?"
"And I said, I just need a minute to finish this," River replied.
"What are you writing?" Elizabeth asked.
"This text was on the pillars and the altar stone. I haven't been able to memorize everything, but this is what I remember. I thought it might be useful to know what happened, and if anything had been done to us," she added, looking at the good doctor.
"Alright, two minutes," Carson conceded. "But then, I will need to treat your wound."
River nodded without looking up from her notebook. She had already filled five pages and was well on her way to fill a sixth. She hadn't always been impressed with how much she could remember; she had only found it came in handy. When she was Mels, she hadn't used her ability for school, but to remember every single detail of Amy's stories about the Doctor. After Berlin, it had obviously changed, and she had come to really appreciate it, even though remembering everything wasn't something she would wish on anyone.
"And… done," she said, putting her pen back into her bag. "I'm all yours, Doctor Beckett," she added, showing her hand to him.
"Can I take a look in the meantime?" Sam asked, pointing to the notebook.
"Colonel Carter is an astrophysicist, too," Elizabeth explained to River. "She might be able to find out what happened."
"Go ahead, Colonel," River replied, handing Sam the notebook with her free hand.
"It's impressive how much you remembered," Sam marvelled at the pages River filled with her writing.
"It's a trait of my people," River simply said.
Sam nodded absentmindedly while skimming through the text River had transcribed. It might have been missing some parts of the text that had been written on the ruins, but the answer they were looking for was hopefully there somewhere.
"Ok, lass. The electrical field you told me about slightly burned your hand when it touched you, but it doesn't seem serious. I'm going to put some disinfectant on it and bandage your hand. How are you feeling otherwise?"
"Nothing life threatening is happening if that's what you're asking. Nothing hurts, strong heartbeat," she said, careful about dropping the plural on the last word.
"Good. Elizabeth, I'd like to keep them for a while longer, if you don't mind. They're fine, but I just want to put them through a couple more tests just to make sure."
"Do we have to?" John all but whined from the bed he was sitting on.
"Sorry, John, but Carson is the one making the decisions on this," Elizabeth answered with a smile. "Colonel Carter and I will be waiting for you in the briefing room when you're done."
"Would you mind if I hold onto this?" Sam asked River.
"Please do."
Sam thanked River and she and Elizabeth left the infirmary.
###
A couple of hours had passed before the team and Carson arrived in the control room. As they walked into the briefing room, Elizabeth noticed River's bandaged hand, but aside from this, there was nothing to indicate that the electrical field had done them any harm. Sam handed her notebook back to River as she walked past her.
"Did you find anything useful?"
"Not really, no. There's no mention about that device in the text, or at least, none that I noticed. The text is mostly a history of the people who lived on the planet."
River wasn't surprised; she hadn't been able to see anything important about the device either when she was transcribing the text from her memories. At the very least, the text would allow them to learn about a new culture of the Pegasus Galaxy, even though, from what they had been able to see, they had now disappeared.
"What about you Carson?" Elizabeth asked, turning towards the doctor. "Did you find anything suspicious with the team?"
"No. Aside from River's injury, they all appear to be unharmed. I'd suggest a daily check-up for the next week just to be sure I haven't missed anything."
"Agreed," Elizabeth replied. "Now, can you tell me what else happened on this planet?"
John started retelling the mission from the moment they walked through the Gate. The others cut in from time to time, to add a detail their leader forgot to mention. When he reached the moment they arrived at the ruins, John nodded to River to carry on.
"I scanned the ruins and didn't find any trace of energy. And neither did Doctor McKay," she added, to which the scientist nodded. "I was the first one to enter the circle. I immediately noticed the writings on the pillars and I took out my notebook to write it all down for you. That was when Doctor McKay noticed the energy levels rising."
"Yes. It appeared out of nowhere, and we were soon surrounded by an electrical field. There's no way of knowing what would have happened if we stayed there."
"It couldn't have appeared out of nowhere, McKay," Sam said. "It must have been activated in some way. Did any of you touch anything?" she asked, and everyone but River shook their head no. "Doctor Song?"
"I just… I brushed my hand against one of the pillars."
"Is this how you got injured?" Sam asked.
"No. That happened just before I teleported us back to Atlantis."
"So, River activated it?" Elizabeth asked, turning towards Sam.
"It's a possibility."
"But how? I just brushed my hand against a stone pillar."
"This is how some of the technology in the Pegasus Galaxy works", Rodney replied. "It's actually how most of the Ancient technology works."
"Yes, but with the Ancient technology, you need to have the ATA gene," Carson added. "That's the Ancient Technology Activation gene that some descendants from the Ancients have."
"And I can't have it."
"Have you tested her for the ATA gene, Doctor Beckett?" Sam asked.
"No, but it's highly unlikely that she has it."
"But you've found occurrence of the ATA gene in people of this galaxy before, if I remember well."
"Yes, but…," Carson trailed off and looked towards Elizabeth, unsure of how much he could tell Sam.
"There's one simple way to settle this," John said, getting up from his chair and leaving the room.
"Where did he go?" Sam asked, but John was already back before someone can answer her.
"Here. Can you hold this, please?" he asked River, handing her a glowing stone.
The glow the stone emitted disappeared when River took it in her hand, much to her surprise.
"See, Colonel? She doesn't have the ATA gene."
"Alright. That still doesn't explain how it was activated and what it does."
"And we may never find out," Elizabeth said. "If that's all, I'll be waiting for your mission reports by tomorrow morning. And Carson, I want daily reports about the team and River, too."
"Yes, Elizabeth."
"Alright, you're dismissed. River, John, can I see you in my office now?"
They nodded, and followed Elizabeth out of the room. Sam was walking out of the room when Rodney fell into step with her. She had known that the scientist wanted to speak with her from the moment he saw she was there, but he had held himself back until now.
"I didn't know you were supposed to come," he said.
"I wasn't, actually. But we received a message from the Daedalus. They have a problem with one of their engines and the shields that no one onboard seems to be able to fix. So here I am."
"They should be here tomorrow morning."
"That's what Doctor Weir told me when I arrived."
"If you're free, maybe you could come to the labs?"
Sam tried to think of an excuse, but she quickly realised that she really had nothing to do here until the Daedalus arrived.
"I guess I can," she finally replied.
"Good," Rodney said with a big smile. "I'm going to go change. I think you remember where the labs are," he stated more than asked, but Sam nodded nonetheless. "I'll see you there, then. Just, don't touch anything, will you?"
She had to close her eyes and take a deep breath not to yell at Rodney that she was an astrophysicist too, and she knew her way around a lab. Thankfully for him, he seemed to have picked up on how she was feeling, because when she opened her eyes, Rodney was gone.
She made her way to the labs without any hurry, all the while wondering if there was any way she could murder Rodney and get away with it.
###
"Before anything else, what is Colonel Carter doing here?" John asked, sitting in one of the chairs in front of Elizabeth's desk.
"There's something wrong with one of the engines of the Daedalus, and she offered General Landry to come take a look herself."
"Is it serious?"
"I guess we'll know when they arrive tomorrow as planned, John."
"Or if they don't," he replied. At Elizabeth's look, he continued. "I mean, if they have a problem with an engine, they might not be able to reach us."
"Well, we won't find out until tomorrow morning, will we?" Elizabeth said, putting an end to this discussion; she was worried about the Daedalus and its crew too, but there was nothing they could do at the time, anyway. "Are you sure you're ok?" she asked River.
"I am. Don't worry about me. It's just a burn, and even if I had any regeneration left, it wouldn't have triggered one."
"Alright, but if anything feels wrong…"
"I'll go see Doctor Beckett, I promise. Now, onto a more pressing matter: how much does Colonel Carter know about me?"
"Just what I told the IOA and the joint chiefs on Earth in my report. We met you during a mission about a year ago, and you've recently decided to join the expedition for a while. And we'll keep it that way."
"That's fine with me."
Elizabeth didn't feel the need to mention that Sam knew that she hadn't been told everything about River. It wouldn't change anything in the end.
"So now, can I ask how you were able to read the text when it wasn't in English in the first place?" John said, turning in his chair to look at River. "It couldn't have been the… what was it again?"
"The TARDIS translation matrix," Elizabeth supplied for him.
"Yes, that. I know I haven't seen a single word in English for my part."
"Actually, it was the matrix. When you travel long enough in the TARDIS, even though she and the Doctor aren't anywhere close to you, you can still translate. It came in handy in the past, and today even more so."
"But still, there wasn't anything in what you transcribed that told us what the device you activated was," Elizabeth said.
"I haven't been able to memorize all the writings, so there might still be something there."
"I refuse to send another team to this planet until we know it's not dangerous."
"And we might not know that unless you let us go back," River replied.
"Look, I understand what you mean," John started, "but I have to side with Elizabeth on this. We were trapped, and if it hadn't been for you and your vortex manipulator, god knows what would have happened to us."
"I'm going to take a look at the database to see if I can find anything about this planet," Elizabeth added. "I'm not saying I'm black-listing this planet. I just need to make sure I won't put my people in danger. And you're one of them too," she added when she saw that River was about to protest.
"I understand," River finally said. "I'd like to take a look at my notes, if you don't mind. I didn't really pay attention when I wrote it all down," she said, getting up from her chair. "I'll see you for dinner?"
"Of course."
Elizabeth watched as River left her office. She didn't know what, but she had the nagging feeling that she was missing something. River was right when she said that the answers to their questions were probably on that planet, but there were too many unknowns. At least, her old friend had seemed to understand her point of view in the end. Or at least, she hoped so.
She had found out that sometimes, it was hard to tell with River. Elizabeth knew that she had been taught to hide her feelings, if not to suppress her feelings, and there are times when she noticed that River was still hiding herself behind the wall she had so carefuly built. Just like that night when she first arrived a bit more than a month before: even though there had been cracks in her wall allowing Elizabeth to see that something was wrong, River had mostly hidden her feelings from her.
"Elizabeth?" John called, jolting her out of her thoughts. "Is there something bothering you?"
"Yes... No... I don't really know, John," Elizabeth sighed.
"Does it have to do with River?"
"Maybe. Look, it's probably nothing. Why don't you go write your mission report so that you can hand it to me on time?" she suggested, changing the subject.
"Are you throwing me out of your office?"
"If you want to see it that way."
"And what other way should I see it?"
"Just think that if you're done with your report by dinnertime, your evening will be free for other things."
She wasn't one to even imply something like this usually, but she felt like teasing him today. He raised an eyebrow at the implied meaning and smiled, seeing the virtue of being done early for once.
Once John had left her office, Elizabeth leaned back in her chair, crossing her arms. Her mind went back to River, and she resolved to talk to her tonight during dinner.
###
The door of the quarters closed behind River, shutting her off from the rest of Atlantis. Her mind was made up, and while she knew Elizabeth wouldn't be too happy with her, she also knew that she was the only one able to bring her answers at the moment. And she planned to be back before anyone could notice that she was gone.
Taking her weapon and its holster out of her bag, she placed it at her hip. She hadn't gone to the locker room to get a vest; it would have appeared weird and people would have probably reported her to Elizabeth, and it was the last thing she wanted. And anyway, the planet had been peaceful when they were there earlier that day, and she counted on it to still be that way.
She entered the coordinates into her vortex manipulator, and pressed the button.
A crackle of electricity later, she was back on the planet, just outside the ruins. The electric field had disappeared, but she still took out her scanner to check it. Just like when they had first arrived, the stones weren't emitting any energy. Wanting to keep it that way for the time being, she chose to walk the perimeter. There were some writings on this side of the pillars, and she wrote everything down in her notebook. Like with the text she had already transcribed, it was mostly about the people living on this planet.
Some parts of the text were covered by moss, but she decided to leave it there. Even if it might have been safe to remove it with her tools, she chose to be cautious for once. She would be very unlucky if the only important parts of the text were the ones hidden by moss.
She reached the bottom of the last pillars, and still the text was a detailed history of the people of the planet. This only left her with the writings inside the circle of pillars. She hadn't been able to memorize everything before they had to leave rather abruptly. She hesitated briefly before stepping inside the circle; for all she knew, the energy levels could start rising the moment she stepped inside, and she would be in danger.
But she was River Song, and she hadn't been taught to run away from danger. If anything, her husband had taught her to run straight at it. And really, if need be, she could always teleport herself back to Atlantis with her vortex manipulator.
Smiling to herself, she took a step forward. She looked around, but nothing seemed to happen for the time being. Reassured that she would at least have some time to transcribe the text, she walked to the altar stone. She had noticed the writings on it when she was here before, but she hadn't had time to read the text.
After a few words, she realised that her trip here wouldn't be a complete waste of time; this part of the text was clearly about the purpose of this place. She made sure to transcribe every word; Elizabeth would be mad at her when she revealed that she came back, but maybe the fact that she had found something useful for her people would attenuate it. The text wasn't mentioning that there was a hidden device inside the ruins, but it was talking about something changing.
"'The gift brought by the unwelcome change had to be treasured by all'," River read the last sentence she had copied down. "Well, that's cryptic."
She finished copying down the rest of the text that was on the altar stone, but the meaning was still unclear to her; maybe it would mean something to Elizabeth. She took another look at the text on the pillars, but there was nothing more about this 'unwelcome change'. She looked down at the half page she had filled with the text: it wasn't much, but at least, it was something.
Still careful not to touch the stones, she left the circle. She was confident that she hadn't missed anything this time. She entered the coordinates to her room in Atlantis in her vortex manipulator and pressed the button.
Once back in her room, her eyes went to the window. The sun was slowly setting, but she still a good half hour to take a quick shower and change her clothes before she had to join Elizabeth and John in the mess hall for dinner.
###
If there was one thing she was missing, River thought as she stepped out of the shower and wrapped a towel around her body, that was her big bathroom aboard the TARDIS. While this bathroom wasn't tiny per se, it was smaller than the one she had on the ship. It also missed some of the appliances she had grown used to, like the hair dryer the TARDIS had provided her. She had to resolve to use the small one that she had found in her dimensionally transcendental bag. The shower stall was good, but she also missed the huge bathtub that allowed for recreational activities with her husband.
And alright, if she was honest at least with herself, maybe it was the Doctor she really missed. It wasn't the first time they had spent time apart – she had sometimes gone years without seeing him – but now that she had been able to properly mourn her parents, she realised that she couldn't hide any longer. It would soon be time for her to close this interlude and go back to her life.
She knew she still had to write the book, Melody Malone, but she hadn't found the willpower yet to revisit the hours when she lost her parents. She wished she didn't have to write it, but if she didn't, time would be rewritten, and her father might spend the rest of his life without her mother. And that shouldn't happen.
But as well as she couldn't write it on the TARDIS, she couldn't write it here. When the TARDIS carried memories of the four of them together, Atlantis had become her refuge, and she didn't want to taint it with the sadness that would inevitably come with writing the book. It would have to wait a little more, until she was back at her house.
Smiling at her reflection in the mirror, she ran her fingers through her wet hair. She didn't have time to blow-dry it now; she lingered in her thoughts a little too long, and if she didn't hurry up, she would be late. As it was, by the time she put on some clothes, and was out of the door, she was already a couple of minutes late. It wouldn't worry Elizabeth, but she might ask questions as she was always right on time.
She was rounding the last corner to the mess hall when she was caught in a dizzy spell. She had to lean against the wall and close her eyes to stop it. Something felt wrong; she couldn't say what exactly, but there was something going on.
She heard footsteps coming her way, and she wanted to move, but she couldn't. She could barely open her eyes as it was.
"River?" she heard Elizabeth's voice say.
As luck would have it, it was Elizabeth and John's footsteps that she had heard. She turned around to look at them, her back still resting against the wall.
"Are you alright?" John asked as they stepped closer to her.
She was about to shake her head no when she felt a lightening pain in the right side of her chest. She cried out, crumbling down to her knees. Something was very wrong indeed.
She heard Elizabeth shout her name, and felt her hands on her, and for a moment, she was brought back to that warehouse, when they were children. The last thing she heard before blackness engulfed her was John calling for a medical team.
###
River woke up when they transferred her from the gurney to a bed. She groaned as she was once more aware of the pain that was tightening her chest. She opened her eyes to find herself surrounded by two nurses and Carson giving them instructions. Elizabeth and John were hovering nearby, and she smiled to reassure them but she knew she failed when the worry didn't disappear from their faces.
"Hey there, love," Carson said prompting her to return her eyes on him. "Glad to have you back with us."
"There's something wrong," she managed to say. "Only one heart."
"You're telling me only one of your hearts is beating," Carson repeated, wanting to be sure he understood her right.
She nodded. River was glad that when she had first decided to stay Elizabeth had insisted that she told the doctor of her – almost – unique physiology. It meant that she didn't have to explain everything to him now and she could focus on her breathing.
"Carson, does it have anything to do with what happened during the mission?"
"I don't know," he answered Elizabeth's question. "Maybe."
"Elizabeth's right," River said. "I... I went back," she admitted.
"You what?" Elizabeth replied, stepping closer to the bed. "When? And how?" she asked, but before River could answer, she continued. "You used the vortex manipulator."
"I had to find answers, you need them," River said, even though she knew Elizabeth wouldn't like this answer.
"I don't need answers as much as I need you to be fine."
"I found something," River continued. "There was... something about the device on the altar stone. It's all in my notebook."
Elizabeth signalled John to go get it, hoping that Carson would be able to use the notes to help River.
She was having more and more difficulty breathing, something that everyone could see.
"Your sats are down to 93," Carson said, and River knew that while it wasn't dangerous yet, it wasn't good. "I don't want to have to intubate you just yet, mainly because I don't know whether it's going to help you. Hopefully, this oxygen mask will be enough until we find what's wrong with you."
Carson placed the oxygen mask on her mouth as he said that. River knew what was wrong, and she knew how to remedy it; she just had to convince the good doctor to get along with it.
She took a couple of deep breaths before pulling the mask away from her face.
"You need to shock me with the defibrillator," she said before he could put the mask back in place.
"What? That is crazy."
"It can work. Mom did it to the Doctor once. Trust me." When she saw she wouldn't be able to convince Carson, she looked past him and at Elizabeth. "Please, trust me."
Elizabeth hesitated for a few seconds, but she finally nodded at the doctor to do as River asked. Carson still wasn't convinced but he left to go get the defibrillator. Elizabeth stepped closer to the bed, and took River's hand in hers.
"Don't you dare die on me again," she said, before leaning down to kiss her forehead.
"I'll try my best, Bessie," River returned, knowing better than to make any promise.
Neither of them noticed that Sam had entered the infirmary and witnessed the last exchange, with a curious look on her face. She cleared her throat, and the two women's eyes fell on her.
"I ran into Colonel Sheppard and he told me what was happening. You went back against orders?" she said, looking straight at River.
"I've never been good at following orders. I must have gotten that from my mother."
Before Sam could say anything else, Carson came back with the crash cart. He still looked unsure of River's decision, and his next words confirmed it.
"Do you really want this?" he asked her and she nodded. "Alright, but we'll try this only once. If it doesn't work, we'll find another way. Elizabeth, you have to step back."
Elizabeth nodded and went to stand beside Sam. She could feel that the Colonel had a lot of questions, and she wasn't sure she wanted to answer them all. And anyway, now wasn't the time to answer them. Her focus was solely on River as Carson prepared her for the defibrillation.
Carson took the paddles and approached River's bed. The nurse declared the defibrillator as charged, but he still didn't make a move. It wasn't until River nodded that he finally placed the paddles on the right side of her chest to Sam's surprise.
Elizabeth startled when River's body arched on the bed and she groaned in pain. She fell back on the bed panting and shaking her head.
"Didn't work," she managed to croak before the nurse placed the oxygen mask back on her mouth.
"Alright. Let's get you to the scanner. And Elizabeth," he said as the nurses took River away and she was about to follow, "I want Colonel Sheppard's team in the infirmary under constant surveillance."
Elizabeth nodded and immediately radioed Rodney, Teyla and Ronon. If the scientist protested at first, when she told him of River's condition, he agreed to come down without wasting time. She didn't bother radioing John as he would soon be back from River's quarters with her notebook and, hopefully, some answers.
"I think we need to talk," Sam said as she fell into step with Elizabeth when she walked towards the scanner.
"Yes. But not now, please."
"I understand."
From where she was lying under the scanner, River saw Elizabeth and Sam approach. She had no doubt that the Colonel would soon find out everything there was to know about her. At a time like this, it was impossible to keep a secret.
John entered the infirmary, quickly followed by the rest of his team, and after having given the notebook to Elizabeth, he was ushered towards a bed. River could see the worry on her friend's face as she followed him with her eyes. She felt guilty for having put them in such a situation and could only hope that her notes would help.
She closed her eyes as the green light of the scanner started moving up her body. She didn't know what the scanner would find, but she had no doubt that it wouldn't be good news. Even with the oxygen mask, she still had trouble breathing, and her sats had dropped slightly lower. Any lower, and Carson would have no choice but to intubate her, and she didn't know the consequences it could have on her respiratory bypass system.
Her only working heart was also beating faster, trying to compensate for its twin, but she knew it could only last so long. Her body wasn't used to have only one beating heart, and she had no doubt that it would shut down in a few hours, unless they could restart her other heart.
Her mind went back to the defibrillation shock she had just received. It should have worked, and she had no idea why it didn't. What also worried her was that her respiratory bypass system should have already kicked in, and it hadn't. It was like something was preventing it from working.
She would soon have answers; the scan was complete, and now Carson was studying the results. She tried to sit up in bed, but fell back. She groaned, hating having to lie down. Seeing this, Elizabeth and Sam stepped forward, and they each took one of her arms and helped her sit up. Even though she knew Carson would frown at it, River insisted to sit on the edge of the bed.
Elizabeth and Sam stayed on each side of her to support her. If River understood Elizabeth's presence, Sam's was more surprising; she could easily have let a nurse take her place, but she hadn't hesitated one second to do it. She had never seen this woman until a couple of hours ago, but she was still there for her in a moment of need. River couldn't help but wonder why.
She turned her head slightly towards Sam, and saw that she had been looking at her. River saw curiosity in the other woman's eyes, which wasn't surprising, but she also saw compassion. That surprised her greatly, but before she could think about it any further, Carson exclaimed.
"I'll be damned."
"What is it, Carson?" Elizabeth asked, worried and tightening her hold on River.
"I've compared the scans I just took to the one I took during your post-mission check-up and…"
"And?" River prompted when the doctor made no sign of continuing.
Instead of replying, he turned the screen towards her so she could see what he meant. The differences between the two scans were easy to spot, even for someone without a medical degree.
"Only one heart," she whispered, taking off the oxygen mask and throwing it behind her on the bed before anybody could react. "No respiratory bypass system. No wonder it hadn't kicked in," she added as an afterthought.
Even though Sam didn't immediately understand what River meant, when she looked at the scan, she noticed that her internal organs had changed in a matter of hours. River had had two hearts – and Sam tried not to think about that at the moment – when the first scan had been taken, but she only had one now.
"What's happening to her, Carson?" Elizabeth asked.
"Her body is changing, but I can't tell what's causing it."
"The device hidden in the ruins," River said, having no doubt that the answer was there. "The text I transcribed talked about change."
She reached for her notebook on Elizabeth's lap and started flipping through the pages, looking for the one where she had transcribed the text from the altar stone. Once she found it, she handed the notebook back to Elizabeth who started reading it.
"This could be the answer, indeed," she said, when she reached the last line. "The text is about a change that must occur to protect the people of this planet. It's not said whether this change happens in a human body, but it could very well be it."
"Alright. Let's get you back to bed, and I'm going to take scans of Colonel Sheppard's team to see how far along these changes are in their bodies. But we need to find a way to reverse these changes, Elizabeth," he said, and the Lantean leader nodded.
The nurses wanted River to get on the gurney so that they could take her back to her bed, but she refused. She'd rather walk there with Elizabeth and Sam's help if she needed it. Before getting up though, she took one last look at the images from the scan.
"You can go see John, if you want to," River told Elizabeth, who looked at him walking towards the scanner.
"I'll stay with you for the moment. He'll understand."
River smiled and sat up on the bed she had been occupying earlier. The nurse handed her the oxygen mask, but she shook her head no.
"It won't change anything," she told her. My sats are low because my only heart can't pump enough oxygen in my veins, even though it already beats faster than usual. Giving me oxygen could help, but only for a little while," she explained, and the nurse nodded but she still went to Carson to get her orders. "And anyway, it's only a matter of time before…"
"Before what, River?" Elizabeth asked when she saw that her friend wouldn't continue.
But River couldn't answer that question. She didn't want to see the look on Elizabeth's face when she was going to tell her that if they couldn't reverse the changes, she only had a few hours left to live. It was a situation they were going to face soon, but just not now. If she had been the only one affected by these changes, maybe it would be easier to tell Elizabeth the truth. But as far as River knew, John's team, the man she loved and the people Elizabeth was the closest to in the City, would soon be in the same situation as her.
In a matter of hours, Elizabeth could lose the people who mattered the most to her, and River refused to tell her that for the moment.
"What did you see when you looked at the scan?" Sam asked, interrupting River's thoughts. "And I mean just before we walked back here," she added.
"As far as I can tell, my brain wave patterns are still the same, which is good news for now. But I have no doubt they will soon start to change."
"And what would happen, then?" Elizabeth asked.
"My brain will overload."
Even though her mind didn't hold half the knowledge the Doctor's did, being the Child of the TARDIS meant her brain was the same as his. One slight change in her brain wave patterns and she would be in the same situation Donna Noble had been after the metacrisis. But the Doctor wouldn't be here to help her, and even if he was, she wasn't sure he could. Unlike Donna, she hadn't just picked up this knowledge one day: it had been there since the day she was born.
Neither Elizabeth nor Sam said anything after River had spoken. They had chosen to read the text again, hoping to find answers in it. River knew it was a waste of time; there wasn't anything in there explaining how to reverse the effects. And as far as she saw, it hadn't been written anywhere else in the ruins either. They were on their own to figure it out.
"What do you think the purpose of this device is?" Elizabeth asked Sam. "Why change the human body?"
"I don't know. Was there anything about this planet in the database?" she asked, remembering that Elizabeth had said she would check it.
"No. I couldn't find anything about it aside from the address."
"What about the rest of the text?" Sam asked, turning towards River who was watching the exchange. "Was there anything in it about why the people left the planet?"
"Actually, no," River replied, and come to think about it, it was quite strange. "There are writings on every pillar and the altar stone, but the history seems to predate the creation of this circle."
"The Wraith may have culled them all," Elizabeth replied, even though she wasn't convinced it was the right answer.
"Well, whatever happened to them, we might never find out," Sam said.
"But we still need to find out what is causing the changes in their bodies," Elizabeth said, thinking about the team undergoing another scan at the moment.
"They're not affected," Carson said before Sam could say anything else. He was walking towards them with John and his team following. "Colonel Sheppard's team, I mean. Their scans are completely normal. There's no difference I can see between the scans I took now, and the ones from earlier."
"How is that possible?" Elizabeth asked, as John stopped beside her, and took her hand in his, a rare public display of affection for them.
"I don't know. Their scans are clear right now, but I'm still keeping them under observation for the night."
"Can River going back to the planet could have accelerated the process?" Sam asked.
"No," River said. "They have human DNA and I don't."
"I should be affected too," Teyla intervened. "I have Wraith DNA."
"You have trace amounts of Wraith DNA, while River's DNA is completely different from ours," Carson replied. "But yes, you're probably right, lass. The fact that you don't have a human DNA might be the answer we were looking for, here."
"So now, what can we do?" Elizabeth asked.
When Carson didn't answer immediately, she understood that he still didn't know how to help River. They were back at square one. She should be reassured that only River had been affected by the device, but it was quite the contrary; they still didn't know how to reverse the changes.
"We should take a team back to the planet," Ronon said. "Maybe we missed something."
Elizabeth and John looked at each other, silently communicating. Her mind was already made up, but she wanted to be sure that John was agreeing with her. When she saw in his eyes that he did, she turned towards the other three members of the team.
"Rodney, I want you to work with Carson to find a way to slow down the changes, if we can't stop them. Could you help them Colonel Carter?"
"Of course."
"Ronon, Teyla, you two are going back to the ruins. I'm going to radio Major Lorne's team to join you in the Gateroom."
Ronon and Teyla were about to walk towards the door, when River's voice stopped them.
"Wait. It'll be too long if you walk there, and I'm not…"
"Don't think like that," Elizabeth said, interrupting her.
"You know I'm right. Take this," she said, taking the vortex manipulator off her wrist. She pressed a few buttons before handing it to Teyla. "Just press this button to teleport to the planet. This one will take you back here."
"I'll take good care of it, I promise," Teyla replied, smiling at River, and squeezed her hand with her free one.
They all left, until only Elizabeth and John stayed with River.
"You should go eat something and get some rest," River said, not wanting them to stay here watching her when they could do something else.
"Don't worry about us. And I'm not hungry, anyway."
"Elizabeth…"
"I'm going to get us something to eat," John said, knowing that neither of the women would back down. "Do you want anything?" he asked River.
"Thank you, but no. I don't feel like eating right now."
"Ok. I'll be back in a few," he told them, squeezing Elizabeth's hand one last time before releasing it.
When he was gone, Elizabeth brought a chair to River's bed and sat down. She took her hand in both of hers and brought it to her lips before resting her chin against them.
"What's going on in that head of yours?" River asked, seeing that something was bothering Elizabeth.
"I feel responsible."
"About what? You had no idea what would happen on that planet."
"But I convinced you to stay."
"I stayed because I wanted to. And anyway, trouble has a way of finding us Ponds. Have I ever told you about the times my father died?"
"'Times'? As in…"
"More than once. Oh yes," she said with a smile, before starting to tell Elizabeth about the first time Rory had died.
###
They had been working non-stop for about two hours, and Carson needed a break. They were still no closer to a solution. They had searched the database, but it seemed that the Ancients had never seen something like that before, or at least, they hadn't left any file about it behind.
John had been by earlier to bring them dinner as neither of them ate, but it had been left untouched on his desk. Carson looked at Sam and Rodney and noticed that they looked as tired as he was feeling. They all needed a break and to eat something, especially if they were to continue like this for most of the night.
"Alright, let's stop for a moment and eat," he said, getting Sam and Rodney's attention.
They nodded and the three of them sat at the desk and started to eat the sandwiches John had brought them from the mess hall. Under Sam and Carson's watchful eyes, Rodney was wolfing down his food. If the doctor had been surprised not to hear his friend complain before, he realised now that Rodney had just been too focused on the problem at hand to think about anything else.
"Ronon and Teyla aren't back yet?" Rodney asked with his mouth full.
"I don't think so," Carson replied. "They must still be searching for a way to reverse the process."
"Do you think they'll find something?"
"Did you see anything else besides the ruins when you were there?" Sam replied to Rodney's question. When he answered negatively, she continued. "Then, I think it's on us."
They continued to eat in silence, until they were interrupted by a nurse opening the door.
"Doctor, it's River Song."
She didn't need to say more; they were already on their feet and running through the door.
"She closed her eyes and I can't wake her up," Elizabeth said when she saw them.
"River," Carson said, taking hold of her hand and squeezing it. "Come on, lass, wake up."
"It must have spread to her brain," Sam realised.
"Yes, quite probably. River, try waking up for us, please," he still tried, not wanting to give up just yet.
She seemed to finally react to his orders when he saw her mouth opening slightly, her lips forming a word. He leaned down, trying to hear what she was saying.
"What did she say, Carson?" Elizabeth asked.
"'Doctor'," he answered, turning towards her.
Sam was about to ask what it meant when a strange noise filled the room and papers starting to fly around. She turned her head towards the sound, and she saw a blue Police Box slowly materializing before her eyes. No one seemed to react as if it was a threat, and she wondered if she should sound the alarm when the door opened.
"Alright, don't get angry, I'm going but I…"
The Doctor stopped when he saw that he wasn't alone. In fact, he knew a couple of these people already. He wondered why the TARDIS took him to Atlantis when he saw River lying on the bed, pale and lifeless.
"River!" he exclaimed, running towards her, and pushing Carson out of the way; he would apologize later. "What happened?" he asked, keeping his eyes and hands on River.
"Her body is undergoing some changes," Carson replied. "She doesn't have a respiratory bypass system anymore and she has only one heart. It seems to have spread to her brain, now."
"She's not supposed to have only one heart," he said forcefully; again, apologies would be for later.
"We know. But we haven't been able to reverse the changes yet. She doesn't…," he trailed off, unable to find the words.
The Doctor nodded; Carson didn't need to finish this sentence for him to know. River didn't have much time left. The TARDIS brought him here because she felt that her child was dying. He sent a thankful thought to his ship, before focusing back on River. She might be dying, but she wasn't dead yet. She might slap him into his next regeneration later, but he couldn't just do nothing and watch her die.
He did it once, and he intended to do it again.
"Step back everyone," he said, but he didn't turn to check if they did.
He cupped River's face in his hands, and let the regeneration energy flow through him and inside her. She gasped and opened her eyes.
"No, don't…"
"Shh…"
Around them, the Lanteans were observing the scene. The golden light emanating from the Doctor's hands soon surrounded them completely, blinding the other people in the room.
As fast as it had appeared, the light faded away, allowing them to see the couple once more. The Doctor sat back, releasing River's face, and she sat up on the bed. Elizabeth wanted to go to her, but she knew that look on her face and she decided against interrupting them.
"You're going to slap me, aren't you?" the Doctor said, already mentally preparing himself for it.
"I should! You gave up an entire regeneration for me!"
"And you gave up all your regenerations for me in Berlin."
"It's not the same, I had killed you!" she retorted, pushing the covers off her legs and getting up.
"What do you think I should have done? Leave you to die?"
He stood up from the bed in frustration; she seemed to be able to provoke this feeling in him quite often. They were now facing each other, with only the bed separating them.
"You're my wife, River, I'll always want to save you."
She sighed; she had expected him to say that.
"You can't always be there to catch me when I fall."
"I can try," he replied with a small smile and she couldn't help but return it. "Now, do I get a proper hello?"
"Hello Sweetie," she said, walking around the bed. She straightened his bowtie and rested a hand on his shoulder. "You have a new coat."
"I needed a change. When are we?"
"It's been a month since I left the TARDIS."
She didn't need to say more than this for him to understand. He cupped her face in his hands once more and leaned down to kiss her. Her hands fisted in his coat as the first kiss turned into a second and then a third. When he pulled away, he rested his forehead against hers, and she knew without him saying a word that he wouldn't stay.
"You've found a new mystery, haven't you?" she stated more than asked.
"Yes."
"Then, you should go, my love. We'll catch up another time."
"Come with me."
"Not now. I'm not quite done yet."
He kissed her lips one more time before stepping away from her, and turning towards the small crowd of people.
"Well, it was nice seeing you again," he said, clapping his hands together. "Or meeting you," he added when he saw Sam. He opened the door of the TARDIS and turned back towards River. "See you soon, honey."
"Until next time, Doctor."
The door closed behind him and the TARDIS dematerialized before their eyes. Knowing that there were a few things she needed to say, and that she should respect a certain order, River turned first towards Carson.
"My mind is great, I have two hearts once again and a respiratory bypass system in working order as you could see." He nodded at her, and she turned next to Sam. "We need to talk, but it's getting late, and I think it can wait until tomorrow. And finally..."
She trailed off, choosing to walk towards Elizabeth and pull her into her hug instead of using words to reassure her. Elizabeth wrapped her arms tightly around River, and they stayed like this for a couple of minutes, neither wanting to let go.
Finally, it was Elizabeth who pulled away first.
"Never do that again," she said.
"I'll try my best."
Fin.