River Song sat in the bar drinking and giggling with a strange purple alien, when he entered. She drank vodkamartini – he noticed it in the first moment when he got a glimps of her. Vodka martini. The Doctor frowned. His wife, drinking with an alien vodka martini. He clenched his fists and began to pace towards the curly blond woman and her companion angrily. The male noticed him first.
'Darling, someone is nearing us - I guess with no kind purpose.' he said calm and smiling. River did not turn, just smiled and waved.
'Oh, he's my husband only.' she smiled cagily.
'Hm.' the alien hummed. 'You forgot to mention the tiny little fact that you have one.'
'Oh really?' she giggled, in that exact moment when the Doctor arrived.
'Oi! You! Get away from my wife!' he pointed one finger on the alien.
'Hey, calm down, mate, we were just talking.' he put on his hands, for the sign of good purpose.
'Talking?!' the Doctor's face got crimson. 'I saw you...'
'What did you see, sweetie?' cut him off River with a pitying smile.
'River! You were... you...' he fixed his bowtie and cleared his throat.
'Excuse me, Laurie, my husband is confused; I have to change a couple of words with him.' she turned to the alien. He raised a bit and said
'Of course, darling. See you later.' he gave a light kiss on her reaching hand and left while the Doctor spinned from one side to the other breathless. When the alien was out of hear, he stared at his wife and gasped.
'Oh, come on, Doctor, sit down.' she invited him. He obeyed and began to thrum. River rolled her eyes and waved the waiter there.
'Yes, ma'am?'
'An other vodka martini, please.' she ordered.
'I'm not thirsty.' the Doctor threw on her, and she sighed.
'It will be mine, sweetie.'
'So?' the man glared on her when the waiter left. She rolled her eyes again and snipped from her drink.
'Explain.' ordered the Doctor impatiently.
'What?' the woman asked with her eyebrows pulled up. The Doctor threw his arms wide
'This! This all!' he shouted.
'If you mean the bar, it is our hangout.' she said annoyed. She hated when he did not said what he ment.
'Yes, I know that.' the Doctor reflected. 'Who was that?'
River looked after the purple aline, who was now sitting by the counter.
'Laurie. Buisnissman. He's in close relationship to one of our common friend.'
'Dorium? He's got no friends.' the Doctor frowned.
'They're enemies.'
'Ah...' he groaned, whereon she hummed yes. The Doctor clasped his hands and cleared his throat.
'What did he want?'
She pulled up her eyebrows and sighed,
'He? Nothing.' she sat back in her chair. 'However, you should ask what I wanted from him?' she said wondering. The Doctor frowned.
'What did you want from him?' he asked cautiously.
'Information, of course.'
'What about?'
'Seismical activity on Angalet 7.'
'Why?'
She smiled cagily and giggled quietly.
'River.' he looked annoyed.
'Not natural. Mechanically produced.'
'By who?'
'Good question. My question.'
'This one knows.'
'Obviously.'
'What did you offer to him in exchange?' he frowned nervously.
'Oh, sweetie, sweetie.' she smiled annoyingly. He leaned forward.
'Tell me.'
'Don't be jealous. Nothing personal.'
'I'm not jealous.' he said annoyed.
'Just a bit.' she continued.
'I'm not!' he protested.
'No, a bit personal.' she winked.
'River!' he shouted shoked.
'And yes you are.' she smiled.
'Stop it!'
'Should I?'
'River!'
'Maybe I will.'
'You better.'
'Or what?'
'Just stop it.'
'Make me.' she leaned forward and whispered. He blushed deeply and fixed his bowtie.
'River, you shouldn't...' he said abashed, but she burst out in laughter and leaned back. The waiter arrived with the drink.
'Ma'am.' he put it on the table.
'Thank you – and a coke, please.'
'As you wish, ma'am.' he nodded. She turned back to her sulking husband.
'Are you coming with me?' she asked. He lifted his head and frowned.
'Where?'
She giggled gently.
'Angalet 7. It could be interesting.' her eyes sparkled. He hummed.
'Why should I? You have your purple informer.' he said sulkingly at last. Her smile faded to a sad seriousness.
'Because I need you.' she dropped her eyes and told quietly. He nqrrowed his eyes, but in them was confusion and affection together.
'You what?' he asked quietly. She smiled again but did not look at him.
'I need you, pretty boy.'
'Pretty boy...' he mouthed horrored. He heard this one before, long ago. She shook her head and lifted it: she looked confident once again.
'So... Are you coming?' she lifted her drink to her lips and tasted it. the waiter came and put down the coke.
'Thank you.' the Doctor said without a look on him. His eyes were fixed on his wife.
'You're welcome, sir.'
'Thanks, Jimmy. I'll pay later.' she said.
'As you wish, ma'am.' he bowed and left. The two sat there looking eye-to-eye silently.
'So?' River asked at last. He clasped his hands.
'What sould I do?1
She grinned 'We'll see.' and drank out her martini and stood up. 'Shall we?' she asked.
'F'course.' he grabbed his coke and stood. 'Let's go.'
'So what happened on that planet?' the Doctor asked while pacing to the TARDIS.
'Some months ago seismical activity was detected at Angalet 7. It's an all-covered planet, so what caused it? It does not even has a core, so no vulkanos, no geysers. Not on the whole planet, so not on the spot of happen.'
'What was found?'
'Nothing.'
'That's the worst kind.'
'I like it too.' she smirked. The Doctor laughed a bit, but went serious immediately.
'When did you read about it?'
'In 43m'7.h.'
'How did you get there?!' he asked astonished.
'Vortex-manipulator.' she winked.
'Aah, awful form of tripping.' he said disgusted.
'You get used to it.' she shrugged. 'But now I have a time lord to give me a lift, don't I?' she grinned and winked at him. He smiled back.
'Yes you do.'
'Alright then, let's go.' she stepped to the blue door. 'Hello, sweetie.' she whispered.
'Urm... hello?' the Doctor said confused.
'I wasn't talking to you.' she spinned around smiling.
'Oh...' the Doctor flushed.
She opened the door and stepped in, the Doctor following her. When he closed the door, she was already at the consol, tiping in the coordinates.
'Oi, you!' he shouted at her. She pulled up her eyebrows and glazed at him.
'Yes, sweetie?' she asked self-confident. He swallowed hard and answered cautiously.
'It's my TARDIS. Let me fly her.'
'I fly her better and we don't want to misland, do we?' she said her hand on her hip.
'No, but I can land her properly.' he said sulking.
'Yeah, f'course you can.' she said sarcastically. 'With the brakes in.'
'Oi! Shut up! That noise is brilliant!'
'No it isn't, sweetie! But hush, we landed.' she started toward the door.
'No we did not.' the Doctor protested.
'Brakes out!' she shouted back while pacing out of the doors. The Doctor grimaced and threw his arms around himself annoyed, but followed her quickly. He found her a few meters away, scanning the landscape. He stood next to her, his hands in his pocket, narrowing his eyes on the desert.
'Lot of rocks.' he facted.
'Yeah, I knew you'd like it.' she replied, not looking up from the scanner.
'No...' he whispered. 'It remembers me to something I do not want to.'
River looked up, to his cold and so bitter face, and thinking about all the different places which fitted this view: Mars, Midnight, Skaro... Gallifrey. Was there something he did not tell her about?... she wondered.
'Doctor...' she stepped to him and tried to touch his shoulder, but he spinned around and clapped his hands.
'Alright, let's look around.' he grinned. He stepped away from his wife and started to pace forward. She sighed and squeezed her eyes; Pain. He don't want to tell me about it, she thought. She breathed deep and started to walk after him.
'Where do we began?' she asked when she reached him.
'Anywhere. Everywhere. Where should we? Give me coordinates.'
River lifted her scanner and tiped in something.
'785a4611σ.' she told.
'Great!' he clapped his hands, then licked his right forefinger and held it up.
'Fourteen feet North-West and twenty-one yards North. What time is it?' he asked.
'Eleven six am.' she answered.
'Right then. There.' he pointed towards a huge cliff. River rolled her eyes and followed his long paces.
'You know you could only ask me to tell you where we are going. There's no one you should impress.' she remembered him. He stopped and turned to fer frowning.
'You are here.' he said coldly.
'Yes! Hello sweetie.' she said annoyed.
'No, no...' he squeezed his eyes and shook his head and reached for her hand. 'River, you are here to me.' he said affectionately. She frowned at him.
'You don't have to impress me, sweetie.' she whispered.
'No. I don't have to, I want to.' he looked into her eyes deeply. She frowned harder at him, searching his eyes, looking for what he hided down in his soul, but she couldn't find. She reached for his cheek and smoothed it.
'What's the matter, Doctor?' she asked worried. He smiled sadly and pulled her closer by her waist.
'River, I love you and I want you to know it and feel it whereever and whenever you are. You are my wife, and it means everything to me. I want you to know it.' he said seriously. He wanted her to remember it desperatly. He knew it would be important one day: her, to remember this. On that planet of books, when he first meets her.
She wanted to say something, but she couldn't, she didn't know what to say. Why was it so important to tell her now? Yes, she knew he loved her, even when he did not acted like that, she knew it. But what happened if he had to tell her right now, why now? She did not understand.
He smiled sadly at her, knowing she was puzzled, and he wanted to hold her forever to dispel it. But he knew he couldn't – he only could took her chin in his fingers and kiss her deeply, as long as he could – till tears formed in his eyes and he had to let her go. When they parted, he rested his forehead on hers and hugged her tighter than before.
'You are the only one I have, Melody Pond, and I want you to know this, understood?' he breathed heavily. She nodded silently, resting in his arms, squeezing her eyes and wondering how she deserved the love of this man.
'And you are the one I have, too, Doctor.' she said quietly.
'I know.' he replied. He kissed in her hair and let her go. She looked into his eyes deeply, and saw the un-wiped tears in it. She kissed his cheek and hold his hand.
'So...' she began.
'Let's see what is there.' the Doctor finished her thought, grinning widely, and pulled her after him.
'What's in there? There's a hole in the wall, what's there?' he asked when he looked at their destination.
'Don't know.' River looked at her scanner. 'It does not show anything.'
'Nothing?' the Doctor frowned.
'Not a data.'
'Perception filter.'
'Obviously.' she nodded. He grinned maniacally.
'I like it.'
River smiled 'So do I. Let's go in.' she hurried forward. The Doctor followed her quickly. It was quite hard to see anything, 'cause the cave was completely dark. River turned on her torch, and the Doctor used the sonic to light the way. Soon they saw what they did not saw.
'What's there?' River asked, blinking hard and shaking her head to force her eyes to look on the direction she didn't want to. The Doctor frowned and followed her gaze – and passed over the point she fought to focus on.
'Look, Doctor, it's really strong.'
'Yeah, I feel it. I can't...' he shook his head. 'River, what's there?'
She blinked two more, and stepped to the wall their minds didn't want to sense. She reached to touch the wall, but her brain didn't obeyed. She stepped back and turned to her husband.
'Dismiss it, I can't even touch the wall.' she whispered to him. The Doctor stepped next to her and soniced the wall he couldn't look at.
'There?' he asked, looking at the woman askingly. River nodded, and took the step again towards the wall. It was more comfortable now to look at it, however she couldn't judge even then where the space ended and the rock started.
'I think it is a door...' she bent her brows, and reached the wall. Suddenly a loud noise filled the air, like something very big and heavy moved out of the way. She nodded satisfied.
'I think I found the knob.' she smiled at him cagily, but he didn't gave back the smile. Instead he grabbed her wrist and squeezed it to hold her back from stepping inside of the room which was now quite clear to see in front of them.
'River...' he whispered. She turned to him, and saw his troubled face, and frowned.
'What's wrong, Sweetie? Don't tell me you fear for the darkness.' she rolled her eyes.
'No, River, it's something else, something I cannot see...' he pulled her back, and stepped closer to the doorway. 'This perception filter... It messed even with my head, it was very strong. Who can make a filter like this? And above all: why?' he explained himself, and stepped before her. 'Let's be careful.' he nodded, and she rolled her eyes.
'Boring.' she told, and stepped into the room without another question. It was silent enough, which made her a bit nervous – she expected angry scientists firing laserguns at them, but there was nothing like that. Only the sound of their own steps.
'It's... weird.' she frowned, searching the room with keen eyes. The Doctor followed her inside, and looked around with troubled eyes.
'It's not weird...' he said and halted for a moment 'It's dead.' he fixed his gaze at her, and she spinned around to look at him – and he saw the horror in her eyes.
'Out.' she facted, and when her husband did not move, she grabbed his hand and pulled him out of the cave as fast as she could. He couldn't even protest, her grab was so tight and her steps are so eager to leave the darkness, that her angst came over him as well. When they reached the sunlight again, he scratched out his wrist from her grab and stopped and looked at her edged.
'What are you doing? I thought we'll take a look around.'
River gasped still with that gaze on her face, and the Doctor began to worry about her.
'River, are you alright?' he stepped closer to her, and took her hand in his. She fixed her eyes on his, still gasping hardly, and shook her head.
'No. No.' she whispered. It frightened the Doctor: he'd never seen his wife so out of her mind like that. She wasn't frightened of anything – not even daleks, or cybermen: they were only (bádogdoboz) with silly guns for her, she only laughed when he spoke about his worst meets with them – so he wondered what could make her so frightened. He tried to calm her by hugging her, but she pushed him away, and stared at the entrance of the cave.
'What's the matter, River, what did you see? What was in that cave I couldn't notice? It was empty enough, not a soul in it.'
'I wish there wouldn't.' it was only she could say, and slowly began to pace backwards, away from the hole.
'River...' the bends on the Doctor's brow went deeper.
'Shut up and run!' she turned around and pulled him after herself, back towards the TARDIS. He did not ask anymore, just run after her, now really frightened and confused about her behaviour. When they reached the timemachine, the woman stopped to catch her breath, and the Doctor caught her from fainting.
'God, River, what made you so frightened? Look at me!' he took her face in his palm while with his other arm he held her waist. She held on to his neck, and slowly calmed.
'There...' she swallowed hard. 'You were right...' she halted and inhaled deeply.
'What? What was I right of?' the Doctor frowned. 'C'mon, River, stay with me!' he shook her body as she was about to faint again.
'Death, Doctor, there was the Death in that cave.' she told and fainted in his arms.