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Her gaze swept over the rows and rows of inmates in high tech shackles until it was drawn to a mane of golden curls.
The feeling of her hearts beating unevenly as their eyes met.
Yet River met hers like one would those of a stranger, a passerby, taut lines of worry from her current predicament while her brain worked a mile a minute to save her skin, not even a glimpse of recognition.
Just like that she was thrown back to The Library, how cruel Time had been to them with their fractured, messy moments of respite.
A new moment now, a new page in their diaries.
“Unsanctioned time and space travel, we wanted to get her for contraband too but we could never get a hold of whatever she was carrying” She turned to the guard and the man nodded to River “Have you met her before, Doctor?”
A grin “You could say that.”
“Nasty thing. She’s going to the colonies, one of those pods over there has just her name on it” he nodded with a cruel smirk.
A flash. A bang.
Suddenly many guards were swarming River as she moved through the rows trying to escape, a guard slapped her and another grabbed her jacket.
Swiftly she took it off and kneed another officer, making her way towards the pods, it was then that the shackles locked onto one of their batons and she fell.
For very different reasons, both the Doctor and the guard accompanying her ran to the commotion, River had been pulled back to her feet roughly and the shackles tightened.
“As I was saying, nasty thing this one” He sneered, but before wrath could take the better of her the Doctor held up her psychic paper “You should release her to me, it is clear that your officers can’t manage such a dangerous individual and she can’t be allowed to go around messing with the timeline. I’ll take her to an isolation facility on my ship.” she assured him, winking at River when he turned away for a moment
Alone in the TARDIS a slap rang through the room and the Doctor held her cheek “Oi! What was that for?!” she protested, although she couldn’t keep the mirth from her face.
River glared, “The notebook is almost full. We weren’t supposed to meet again”
“Things change, there’s more of me running around than I thought, this universe was about to end… usual stuff” she shrugged and then grinned “Now then, let’s get out of here, shall we?”
“In a minute, wife.”
River’s lips on her own caught her off guard but in an instant she was holding onto the stiff fabric of the prison jumpsuit for dear life, a surge of vulnerability and pain in the safety of her familiar touches. They pulled back reluctantly when someone started banging on the TARDIS door and River hopped on the control panel to drive them away.
Walking out of the TARDIS parked in the garden of a small seaside cottage the Doctor leaned against the fence “What did you get this time? Will we have a whole squadron chasing us?” she smirked.
“Not unless you rat me out, I presume. I got the Black Scrolls of Rassilon” a grin spread on her face as she held up the object.
The Doctor blinked “It’s a no then.” she said quietly and River tilted her head but didn’t investigate further. She always could read her better than anyone else.
“I should write a chronicle of this, make it accessible. Make it known.” She offered as the Doctor leaned into a gentle caress on her cheek.
“I suppose that would be the thing to do for an archeologist” she agreed, reaching up to run her fingers through her curls “I’ll write you an introduction” she grinned, forcing herself away from the pain for a little longer.
It wasn’t hard to fall into a rhythm with River, the Doctor would keep herself busy tinkering in the TARDIS while River wrote, then they would chase a sense of normalcy neither of them knew for real.
Kisses and long walks on the beach, testing wonky inventions, eating pizza and biscuits courtesy of the TARDIS kitchen.
“The chronicle is done.”
It was late at night when River spoke those words, the Doctor pressed a kiss to her nose and brushed her hair back.
The Doctor didn’t feel like smiling, but still she let some excitement shine through, for River “I’ll take care of the introduction tomorrow!”
Her wife pushed her lightly “Or don’t. We can take a few more days…” she offered, burying her face in the crook of her neck and just holding her tighter.
The Doctor smirked “I won’t, we both know that.” she pressed a kiss into her hair.
“Will she take care of you?” River whispered, scoring her nails down her back very lightly, making her shiver.
A moment of hesitation and a deep breath “I think she’d like to” she murmured and River pulled back to kiss her slowly, taking her time and savoring the moment. The moonlight through the window, the silence, the softness and warmth of their bodies under the thick eiderdown. It tasted like a last kiss.
“Promise me you’ll let her.”