Chapter Text
The container River and Tosh had worked on was ready to be placed in the pre-arranged place- on the edge of the densest part of the forest, perfect for a quick escape if need be.
"Jack, are you ready?" The Doctor asked, turning to the immortal man.
He bounced on his feet. "To be used as bait and eaten alive? Of course!"
The plan had taken complete shape by now, and everyone knew it to a T. Jack entered the first container, waiting for the door to completely seal behind him as he moved toward the next. before he opened the second door, a high-intensity beam of light was shone directly on the it. Jack donned his sunglasses and entered that container before stepping out into the spot light.
"I feel like I should be dancing," Jack said, grinning as he spoke to the Doctor through his earpiece.
"Alright, you're about to be swarmed. Ready?" The Doctor watched him through the screen, River, Rose and John seated beside him in the control room.
"Come at me, shadow piranhas!"
"I'll take that as a yes. 3..., 2...1." The light switched off, and the screen went black.
Jack's voice came through the speakers. "Ow, ow! Okay, yeah. Definitely- ow!-found me. Coming back to the doors now- flood the other side!"
River flipped a couple of switches, and the half of the room Jack wasn't in lit up. It was a very effective way to make sure the shadows followed him. Seconds later, his voice came through again. "Dammit, why did I agree to this?! It does hurt before it heals, you know!"
"Come on, back to the container. Get out of there!"
Seconds later, the screen showed the hatch being pulled open and Jack climbed through, slapping his arms and legs wildly. River watched as huge chunks of his flesh disappeared in a second, only to reappear the next. "Oh my God.."
"Lights, Doc! If you don't mind!"
"Right!" The Doctor twisted a couple of knobs and flipped a switch. The first door slammed shut, and a light shone brightly on the door Jack had to get out of to get into the next container. He ran to the other side, still hitting his legs every ten seconds, and tugged on the latch.
Once. Twice, with more weight.
Jack groaned through his microphone. "It won't open! What the-"
"Hold on, Jack, let me-" The Doctors hands flew across the keyboard, "If I can just-"
He typed furiously, trying to get the automated door to crack. It refused. After a couple minutes, he was ready to start panicking- these things, especially in such large swarms-were incredibly dangerous. Jack could be in some serious trouble.
"Thank God, River!"
The Doctor's head flew to the screen, where his wife was entering the first door.
He looked to his left. She was right there.
Cursing, he flew out of his chair, leaving it spinning, and pushed his friends out of the way.
He got to the doors just as Jack slammed one shut, he and River bathed in the light. Jack looked fine. River, however was bleeding in several places. She smacked her arm a couple times, then gripped it and winced.
"River?" John appeared behind him. "You could've been killed! What the hell were you thinking. You're not bloody invincible, you know, even if you think you are! Just because you can wave a gun doesn't mean you can withstand wounds of that.." John continued to lecture her as the Doctor walked over to her, running his hands over her and checking her injuries. They weren't horrible- none cut to the bone, though her arm had an enormous gash above the elbow that was bleeding profusely.
What was important was that she was alive.
He mentally thanked whatever deity was out there (honestly, there had to be one, there wasn't really any other way she could've survived her reckless lifestyle and crave for danger), looking over her and murmuring to himself. He was so terrified, moments before- afraid she'd torn apart by the same enemy she'd saved-well, would save- thousands of people from, afraid the timeline would change, afraid of her mortality. Afraid of what her selflessness could do to her again.
He knew she was Time Lord. Sometimes he forgot she was human, too.
His hand glowed.
River grabbed his arm with her good one. "If you even think about it, I swear I will-"
"What? Kill me?" He chuckled to himself and looked at her with sad eyes as he placed his hand on her skin. "Bit late for that, dear."
He loved her. He'd said it before, in the TARDIS, realized it in the split second, and the more he reflected the more he knew it to be true. This woman was a part of him. She held a piece of his soul, almost. Had been in his mind. Had loved him through all the horrible things he'd ever done. Had taken care of him and saved his life again and again.
Why couldn't he return the favor?
He made up his mind, in that moment. This moping and mourning for his wife, who stood before him, was over.
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Sarah Jane and Amy sat beside each other, watching the others converse. John and Rose were finally speaking to each other, Rory and Jack were chuckling, Martha and Tosh talking animatedly, and River and the Doctor in quiet conversation by a set of computers.
"So," Sarah began, nudging Amy with an elbow. "Can I get an explanation for your daughter that actually constitutes for an explanation? All I got from the Doctor was an under-a-minute rundown that I didn't understand because he was talking so fast."
The red-head laughed. "What do you want to know? How she's related to us, how she's older than us, how she's related to the Doctor, how she's a criminal? You have to pick one, because otherwise we'll be here all night."
Sarah raised an eyebrow. "How she's related to the Doctor, if you please."
"Sure." Amy pulled one of her legs up underneath her. "You know that they're married, right?"
"Uh, yes. Got that when there was some rather loud shouting about it."
"Hm..." Amy examined her nails. "I didn't think this through. I kind of have to explain everything else for them," She waved a hand in the couple's general direction, "to even begin to make any kind of sense."
"We have a while, don't we?"
"I guess so. Well, River is sort of part Time Lord-which you probably already know- but it's because she was-" At this Amy gestured emphatically in the air, "made in the time vortex. Long story short, she was kidnapped as a baby, raised as a weapon to murder the Doctor, and then sent to live with Rory and I when we were growing up. Without us knowing it was her. Yeah," She said sympathetically at Sarah Jane's sudden confusion, "It took me a few weeks to get it. She met the Doctor when we called him to ask where our baby was (at this point we were still looking for her), and we all went off on another grand adventure in the TARDIS. You know how it is.
"For us, it was a trip with our crazy friend plus our other crazy friend. We had no idea..." Amy trailed off, shaking her head.
"Oh, dear. That must have been horrible." Sarah placed a comforting hand on the other woman's arm. "I'm sorry."
"It turned out alright. Anyway," she sniffed, "She was shot, regenerated, then poisoned him so he couldn't regenerate somehow. It was sort of complicated after that, so I won't even try. But in the end, she figured out who he was to her and brought him back with the rest of her regenerations. She went off to college to get her doctorate, and then was supposed to kill him again. But she fought it, as usual, so there was an alternate timeline because she avoided a fixed point. Then they had this uber-romantic wedding on top of a pyramid with time collapsing around them (you know how he is with his dramatics). To be honest, I'm not completely sure about the specifics." She appeared thoughtful. "She drops by sometimes and he swans off with her at night. Occasionally she stays the night on the TARDIS. It's all a bit... timey-wimey."
"I guess what I should really be asking..." Sarah Jane hesitated. "Though, once upon a time, I may have had some feelings for the man, I really just want to know if he loves her. If he's happy."
"Happy?" Amy looked at the ground. "No, I don't think so. I know the Doctor knows something-something I don't think we'll ever know." She bit her lip. "He's too sad to be happy."
Amy looked at Sarah, gaze piercing hers. "But I also don't think you'll find a love in this universe as strong as theirs."