River froze.
After all these years, after so much time away from Madam, peace had finally begun to seep into her heart. To have Madam show up now…
Madam's Slendermen appeared on either side of her (how utterly unfair was it that she could only remember their existence when they were in front of her) and River bolted for the back of the library. There was an emergency escape back here. If she could just find – she came to a stop, wondering what it was she was running from. Shaking her head at her own paranoia, she turned around to go back to her table, only to be grabbed by two Slendermen. Suddenly remembering why she was trying to escape, she sought to throw them off, but to no avail. Their long fingers gripped her arms bruisingly, while a third approached and deftly stripped her of the weapon she'd taken to always carrying with her.
"Now, now," Madam chided mildly, "is that any way to treat us? After all we've done for you?"
"What? Like brainwashing me to kill the man I love?" River spat, trying to break free.
Madam tsk'ed in disappointment. "What is the Doctor, Rose?"
"Enemy."
River stared in horror. Had she really said that? She sagged in the Slendermen's grip. She'd always known that the conditioning was still there. But hope was so hard to quash completely.
"Very good, my dear," Madam said fondly.
For the first time in her life, River recognized that fondness for what it was: that of a master for its well-trained pet. It was the same tone she would have used for an animal. River lifted her head and barred her teeth in a silent snarl. She was no tame pet. She was the Bad Wolf. "I won't help you," she vowed, her voice a distinctive rumble. "Torture me. Brainwash me. Put me in a cage. But I won't help you. I will not be controlled. I am the Bad Wolf."
For the briefest of moments, fear flickered in Madam's eyes. Then she smiled. "Oh, I don't know about that." She turned towards the door behind her. "What do you think, Doctor?"
There was an embarrassed cough, then the Doctor stepped into the room. He leaned casually against the door and folded his arms, as if he hadn't just been caught eavesdropping. "I think, that underestimating the Bad Wolf is a poor decision on your part." He gave a slight bow, his lips twisted sardonically. "By all means, go ahead."
"Doctor-" River started, but immediately cut off when one of the Slendermen pressed her gun against her head. Despite herself, a whimper escaped.
"Don't!" Instantly, the Doctor's playful demeanor evaporated and he straightened, taking one powerful stride into the room.
"Ah, ah, ah," Madam sing-songed and the Slenderman thumbed the safety off. "I wouldn't, if I were you. She's already on her fourth body, and not even a century old yet. That's worse than you, if memory serves. And what are the chances she has a full set? How many is that anyway?"
The Doctor swallowed and relaxed his aggressive stance, taking the smallest of steps back.
Madam smiled kindly. "There's a good boy. Now then!" she waved a hand negligently and the Slendermen hauled the protesting River away.
"Don't listen to them, Doctor! Whatever they want, don't-" the last Slenderman vanished from the Doctor's view at the same time her voice cut off.
The Doctor blinked and looked around. His hearts were racing, and he was tensed for conflict, but all he saw before him was a woman with an odd-looking eyepatch staring at him in the middle of the library. "What happened?" he asked, befuddled. "Where is River Song? I heard her voice…" he glanced around, as if expecting her to emerge from around a stack of books.
"Oh, she's long gone, I'm afraid."
The Doctor's eyes snapped to the woman's. He knew that voice. He stalked towards her aggressively. "Where is she! What did you do with her?"
The woman merely smiled. "Oh, stop with the posturing. You aren't going to hurt me. You and I both know that."
He stalled in the face of her words. She was right. But the fact that she knew him so well was worrisome.
"Let's get down to business, shall we? Your precious River Song has gone on a little trip. But as I'm so generous, I'll let you see her again. All you have to do, is meet her at her destination. Simple."
"Simple," the Doctor parroted dubiously.
"Quite." The woman continued, unperturbed by his tone. She pulled out an old fashioned calendar from the pocket of her jacket. "Now, let's see here…" she flipped through the pages, stopping near the back. "Ah! Here we are. Lake Silencio, Utah. United States of America, Earth…" she paused, giving him a significant look. "Oh, but you know the place, don't you?"
The Doctor nodded slowly. He knew what this was. He'd found out about his death date accidentally. This was them telling him officially.
"Splendid!" she consulted her notebook again. "April 22, 2011," she glanced at her watch. "How's 2pm for you?"
He laughed darkly. She sounded like she was setting up an afternoon social, not plotting his eternal demise. "You've gone to such trouble to organize all this. Surely you don't think I'm so stupid as to not realize it's a trap."
"On the contrary, Doctor. I have the utmost respect for you." She put her calendar away and folded her hands, settling on the edge of a nearby table and giving him her full attention.
There was a pause as they studied each other.
"You'll come," she asserted confidently. "How can you not? It's River Song. Your eternal Achilles' heel."
"I'll save her from you."
"Oh, Doctor." She shook her head and her voice was laced with pity. "It's not her you should be trying to save. It's yourself. But you won't. You'll stand there and let her shoot you through the hearts. You won't have a choice."
The Doctor rocked back on his heels, stunned. That she was so confident in her plans to tell him so plainly was frightening. Then it hit him. Eyes wide, he said, "it's fixed. You fixed it! How?"
The woman smiled. "See? And on so few clues, too. Brilliant." She stood, brushing imaginary specks of dust from her skirt. "I really must be off. See you in 2011, Doctor." She walked calmly past him and through the door.
ooOO00OOoo
The Doctor scrubbed a hand down his face before turning and walking back to the TARDIS. Here at the end of his life, it all made so much sense. All the little things he'd not understood before were coming together in one perfect pattern. Why was River in jail? Because she'd killed someone. But who had she killed? For the longest time, he'd not known. Now he did. She killed him. And he killed her. What a neat little circle they made. Was there no end to their drama? No way for them to simply live in peace?
He entered the TARDIS, softly closing the door behind him. He leaned against it, shutting his eyes wearily, listening to the Old Girl hum soothingly in his mind. As he always did when it was just the two of them, he spoke to her in the musical language of his people, the only language with words to describe some of the things he saw and felt.
«This is it,» he told her. «I don't know what to do. River has been captured, my death a fixed point.» One lone tear traced its way down his cheek. «Is this really how our story ends? So much love, and still we kill each other.» He swallowed thickly. «I don't want it to end.»
"And so it shan't, my Doctor."
His eyes popped open. Golden eddies of light swirled all over the console room, and from beyond the central pillar, a person stepped into sight.
"Rose!" he cried, leaping forward.
She held up a hand, arresting his forward motion. "My Doctor." Her eyes glowed golden, wisps of time escaping them every time she blinked.
Bad Wolf stood in front of him, in all her glory.
"So sad…always so lonely. I promised you forever, and forever is what you will get. And I'm so sorry, but it must be this way. I want you safe."
"I don't know what to do," he said helplessly. "Both our deaths are fixed-"
«Are they?»
He paused, stunned by her question. Said in Gallifreyan, those two words were layered with such meaning that it could take him years to tease their full import out. Which could very well be her intention. But though her words required study to understand, their impact was immediate: hope.
"Rose…" he whispered, in awe of all she had done/was doing/would do for him.
She glided towards him silently, eddies of time wafting off her with every beat of her heart. She raised her hand, placing it against his cheek.
He closed his eyes and leaned into the caress, trapping her hand beneath his own. "I still don't know what to do," he confessed quietly.
«Time Lord.» she chided.
Once again, he was rocked by her words. Time Lord. Lord of Time. Time's Champion. The One Who Sees Time As It Is. All that and more contained within his title. She was telling him to look at it with the eyes of a Time Lord. To use the abilities he'd left dormant for more than three centuries.
She pulled her hand away and he stared at her in panic. "Don't go," he pleaded.
"I must," she said regretfully, "the Daleks await."
They shared one last look before she retreated back behind the column to evaporate, taking the vortex with her. Despite himself, the Doctor dashed up the ramp and around the rotor to stare at where she'd been. Gone. To his personal past where she would vanquish the Dalek Emperor and he would give his life for hers.
«Oh, my precious girl.»