Archive of Our Own

Fire rained down around them and they ran like mad.

The formerly snowy slopes were melting away into hissing steam. River jumped aside as a rivulet of lava ramped over a rock and splashed down beside her, continuing on as a molten stream.

The remaining snow was both a bane and a boon. The Doctor slid in the mud, slithering a few yards down the slope before finding his feet again.

The noise was deafening. Thunder from a clear blue sky. The ground shook. River grabbed the Doctor's muddy sleeve and hauled him down the incline away from the firestorm behind them.

They hopped cherry red streams, dodged falling boulders, and frantically brushed cinders off of their clothes as a nearby tree exploded into flame.

The mountain rose red above them, spewing its vengeance on the sleeping hillside.

A Sontaran ship zipped past over head and took a pot shot at them before flying off into space.

The landscape was red and white, black and blue. River slammed gratefully into the the Tardis. The ship recognized her and opened the doors. She all but fell inside. She turned and yanked the Doctor in, from where he stood, admiring the fiery cavalcade.

She slammed the door. "Good Grief! Are you always like this?" she demanded. He looked at her through a soot blackened face, his eyes a brilliant green. His waistcoat was smeared with mud, his hair stuck out like a scarecrow. She was sure she didn't look any better.

"Like what?" he asked.

She threw up her hands in exasperation, he was grinning, the daft man. "You're hot then you're cold. First an ice cave then a firestorm!"

"You'll get used to it." He tapped her on the nose with one long sooty finger. The Tardis rocked and he jumped up to the console and threw the dematerialization lever just as the world exploded.

"I doubt it," River said, hanging onto the railing, giving him a look that was half turned on, half terrified. "You're the only man I know who could start a volcano with a screwdriver."