'River, they've got me. Don't come here. They want you. They don't kill me just through you. Please, please, run!'
River stood in the control room with shaking legs. The Doctor was gone just a minuit before; she heard his steps after the closing door's, and then silence. Nothing, just silence. Not a cry, not a shoot. This was the worst kind of trouble: the silence. She knew it. She knew they shouldn't came here, it was too dangerous, they would never have come here, never!
Her limbs shook with extreme force, she couldn't move just leaned against the fence and held the little flashing recorder. It was definitely a recording, there was just this sentence, nothing more. She could follow the singal back to him, but what's then? They weren't there for him: they were after her, they was to catch her. But why? What could she do to him, what they couldn't? Why they wanted her?
She always knew they planned more then just to kill him. It would've been too easy, too senseless. He knew so much, he experienced so many, they wanted something from him, it was clear. But what? Why they needed her to get to that information? She always knew that was dangerous to travel with the Doctor, but never thought it was dangerous like this. Someones taking him, to get to her – actually, wouldn't it be more simle getting her? The Doctor, always brilliant, always thinking: how was it easier getting him than her? It didn't make any sense...
She turned on the nanorecorder again. She heard the sentence again.
'River, they've got me. Don't come here. They want you. They don't kill me just through you. Please, please, run!'
There was a tiny interference when the flashing dropped out for a moment. She frowned but the flashing got normal again. But the transmittion got different. There was a breathing to hear. Her heartsbeat dropped out. She held her breath. Something happened. And a silent moan was heard.
'Hello Sweetie.' the Doctor's voice was fading. 'It's weird not to hear it from you, Honey.' his breathing was heavy. She wondered how much they injured him. 'I know you hear me, I repaired the live channel. How's the transmittion?' he joked.
'Oh shut up you moron!' she shouted at the recorder. She was shaking from nerves.
'Don't shout at me, I don't have much time to calm you.' the voice replied. She's got taken aback.
'Do you hear me, Doctor?' she asked from the little flashing thing.
'No, no, I don't hear you. But listen. You should not come here. I know it would be easy to follow the signal, but don't! They want something, not from me. I'm just the hostage to lure you here. Don't come! Be sensible!' his voice turned to cough. She held the recorded worriedly. She did not know what to do. He sighed.
'Listen. Soon I'll be tired of talking to an empty space. The Silences are keeping me awake, I don't know why. Maybe they think I'll make a mistake, for example giving them your location, or asking you to save me but don't! River, please, run! I'll be okay. Just please, don't try to find me! Run, River, for me, please, run!'
The transmission was over. She stood there with nothing to hold on. Her husband was taken, asking not to rescue him, apparently in pain, and she didn't know what to do. She had nothing. Then suddenly the red flashing was back.
'Hi again. I know you've got my former message just a minuit ago, but here days go faster than by you. Hard these days, to get my message through, 'cause of the time-dismatch. Never mind. Each day they'll turn the recorder off, each day I'll turn it back. Time is all I have: I'll waste it all on you. They cannot stop me. River, it's important. You have to sleep. You are tired, we've run the day over, you haven't sleep for many days. Honey, you have to sleep. When you wake up, turn your radio on. You'll hear a simple song, that I made up... that I made up for you.' his voice was weakening again.
'Sorry... My chest is under something heavy...' she heard him coughing. 'Never mind. But it's important you have to sleep. For me.'
'How could I sleep?!' she cried out. She was sobbing at now.
'Honey, please. Don't argue.' his voice faded. 'Sorry. I have to leave. They are coming again. Funny I remember just you when they leave. To keep you away from here, to keep you safe. Sleep now. They don't leave me to sleep. Sleep for me as well. Sleep, Honey.'
The red flash ended. She felt the hysteria coming upon her. She took a deep breath and shook her head clear. She had to save him, no matter what he asked. She could handled them, she would shoot them all, if he wouldn't stop her. She couldn't bear knowing him in danger if she could help. No matter what they wanted from her. She had to save her Doctor.
She was to start to pilot the TARDIS when the red flash came back. She caught up the nanorecorder and suggested it like it would've given the Doctor back.
'Hi Honey, it's me again. When you're driving, turn the radio up, 'cause I can't sing loud enough.' his voice was like he wanted to say something but could not. He sighed.
'Do you remember our wedding, Dear? When we married, and you looked into my eyes and it turned out that it wasn't me? I fear I won't see you again. I'm here for many days, I know, although there's no natural light here.' he cleaned his trouth. 'When you'll be older, and the memories fade about these Silence, you have to know I'll still feel the same as on that day – for as long as I live, which seems to be not much, but honestly, who wants to live his tousand-and-two-hundredth birthday? Nay, I lived enough. Just do something for me: you won't say my name, no time, will you? Don't say my name, please, when the song is over. See you around, dear!'
What?! What did he blither?! That stupid song, then driving – he always told her he doesn't drive the TARDIS, he pilots her. Then what's that all about? Why their wedding? Why mentioning the Tesselecta? What about his name? Why would she ever say it?
'Oooh...' she realized. 'They want his name.' she said half-loud to herself. 'He wanted to give me lead. But what to? Tesselecta, driving, a song, I'm being older... Oh come on!' she kicked the consol. The TARDIS hummed in disagreement. And she pulled her eyebrows.
'Oh...' she realized. She put the recorder in the consol and let the TARDIS read the coordinates. She hurried in the garage.
'Oh you will never get her. She's much cleverer than you think.' the Doctor said to a Silence who billowed at him.
'She will give us what we want, and she'll kill you.' it said.
'You are so very very wrong. You don't know her. You've got her for some dreadful years, but you couldn't get to know her. You was too busy training her you forgot to psych her out. Oh, big, big mistake. Never take a woman easy. Not a woman like her.'
'She cannot harm us. She will kill you.'
'Oh you never get bored saying this, don't you? You tried it. Twice. Aaand you failed. Twice. Honestly, what do you think, how will it turn out? I think she'll kick your ass.'
'We will find her before she finds you. When she lands your spaceship near, we'll get her.'
'If she lands her near. You can't be so stupid to take her so easy.'
'We trained her. We know her. We...'
It could not end the sentence: a loud jangle was heard when the door was broken to pieces. The Silences fell back when River parked the motorbike in the middle of the room.
'Hello Sweetie.' she winked at the Doctor.
'Hi Honey.' he flirted back.
'Are you comfortable?' she asked grinning at him.
'Ah, well, not very, but never worse.' he shrugged. 'Could you please let me free?'
'A minuit Sweetie, first we should do something with these 'ugly-again' things.'
The Silences were back on their feets. She pointed her gun on them.
'First give me the sonic!' he shouted.
'Always the sonic, uh?' she shouted back while she was shooting right then at the charging Silences. She stepped to the table and tossed the sonic to him.
'You'd better be fast, they're many!' she shouted at him but he was already on the floor collapsing.
'Sorry Honey, I thought I would have enough strenght to stay but it seems I don't.' he crowled on the floor to the motorbike. She hurried to him while shooting and helped him up to sit on its backseat.
'Never mind, I'm fine.'
'Of course you are.' she rolled her eyes on him. 'Now hold on, we have to use the fast-made exit.'
She jumped on the first seat and made the engine start. The motorbike made an awful noise and jumped off from the building. They were in a desert, only some windlestraw was seen beside the cracked ground.
'How did you find me?' the Doctor shouted in her ears. She laughed.
'Following your instructions.' she shouted back.
After a minuit she stopped the bike.
'Why are we stopping? We have them at our heels!' he argued. She pulled her eyebrows.
'Are they? Well, I know a pretty sexy vehicle to carry us away.' she made her flirting face.
'Oh stop it. I don't see my TARDIS anywhere.' he said sulking.
'Of course you don't. You only see a dry tree. Oops, it has a switch on its trunk, what's that? Oh, maybe a doorknob?'
His eyes widened.
'Nnnoo. Nnoo, you didn't dare.'
'Yes I did. I had to mask her, just in case of trouble.'
'You repaired the chameleon circuit!' he amazed.
'Yes I did. Could we drive in?'
'You repaired it!'
'Yes, step over it! Slap your finger or anything, we'd betted hurry.'
He slapped his fingers and the trunk opened like a door. She drove the motorbike in and the door closed. She parked it at the lover level of the control room and helped him off the bike and sat him in the chair. She put in the coordinates of the time vortex and pushed the stabilizers. She always flied her soft.
He sat in the chair with clunged hands. She turned back to him when she was done with her. He pulled his eyebrows. She crossed her arms. He cleaned his trouth. She pulled her eyebrows. He sighed.
'Alright, then I begin it.' he crossed his arms too. 'You repaired the chameleon circuit!' he cried out.
'Yes and I saved your damned life and your secret, what else?! And, to protest, I followed your instructions.' she shrugged.
'I was to say just to disguise them, not to repair the TARDIS!' he sighed. She rolled her eyes.
'Never mind. We're safe and that's what matters.' he looked at her. 'But tell me, how did you decoded the message? I'm sorry for the double talk, I had no choice. I thought if I was talking about unimportant things they won't realize the hint behind it. But you did it quite well.' he smiled at her. But she shook her head and turned away.
'What's the matter?' he frowned. He thought he said a compliment. She just shook her head and bit her lips.
'Tell me, please.' he said it rather commanding, not asking. She spinned on her heels.
'Unimportant things, heh? Our wedding, your almost-death, your name, our song... Yes, these are the unimportant things. What matters to you, hm? Is there anything in our lives what deserves to title it 'important'? Answer me!' she stormed. He gawped but no voice came out from his trouth. Only he could do was shaking his head for protesting.
'Alright.' she said more calm 'I see. Look for me when you think otherwise, or look for me never.' and with it she turned her back and hurried out from the control room. He sat there, scorched, confused about her words. Of course he knew he was a jerk again, only he didn't know how to fix it. He never knew – how to fix their relationship. She always forgave him, but he did not do anything for it. He was a bastard every time.
Slowly he raised on his legs. He asked the voice interface for a jelly baby and ate it cautiously. When his stomach accepted it, he cautiously took some steps and faced to their bedroom. She fled there when they argued about something. It seemed it calmed her: the memories of merry evenings together under the projected sky, or dinners with fine wines and low music. He thought about them while nearing the room slowly. And suddenly he knew what to say.
He knocked at the door and waited till her inviting words and stepped in.
'May I?' he asked low. She didn't answer just nodded.
'I'm sorry for what I said.' he began. She shook her head but he continued rapidly.
'Please, let me. I'm sorry because I'm a jerk and you deserve more than me. But you decided on me, and I'll be grateful to the universe for once. And I didn't mean. You know when you aren't here, I never enter this room. I never sleep. I can't. This room is empty without you, so empty. You fill it with your beauty.'
She let herself a faint smile. He continued.
'I never thought I would love somebody again. I know you fear I wedded you because just of the situation, but no. I wedded you because I loved you and you were so kind to marry me.' he laughed a bit. 'And I remember our song. The River Flows In You. I've met Yiruma and played this simple song on his piano, and he just stood there and then said 'River flows in this song'. And after that he played it if it was his but named it after you, for me. And he was there on our second wedding just because of this. And about my name – it can't be so important than you. Nor my death. You shall live when I'm long dead.' he lowered his head. He knew she won't. But rule one: the Doctor lies, even to his wife. Some rare times, when it's nessesary.
She reached out for his hand.
'I know. I don't want to live without you. And I'll re-worsen the chameleon circuit. You'll get back your blue box as you've got it for a tousand years.' she faked a smile. He lifted her hand and kissed it lightly.
'If you wish, you can repair everything in this old box of mine.' he squeezed her hand. She laughed a bit.
'Thank you for your generous offer, but I think I should decline it.' she reached out to his face. 'You'll get back your box.'
'Thank you.' he smiled. 'And maybe you'll get back your husband in your bed.'
'Oh, you feel strong enough for being bad already?' she flirted. He gawped and blushed till deep red.
'Oh I worthed it!' she laughed laud and waved her hand. 'We will sleep tonight, together. Good?' she smiled at him. He gave a light kiss on her cheek.
'Never better.' he laid down holding her hand and fell asleep inmediately. She leaned on her elbow and watched his breath smoothing and gave him a light kiss at his forehead.
'Goodnight, Sweetie. Dream well.' she whispered smiling and laid down next to him. They were husband and wife once again – out of trouble, unhurriedly, just her and him, no running, just resting in peace.