Blood of a hundred Dalek's and blood of the innocent people who simply wanted to live. Oh he saved the rest of the planet, they'd live. But the city was blackened and charred, and nobody would set foot in it ever again.
He was in the process of twisting wires around one another in a wall conduit when he heard the footsteps approaching. His head turned, alert like an animal.
And then he saw her.
River silhouetted in the smoke and the fire, her outline possibly one of the most easily recognisable of any.
"What do you want?" he said, and his voice was harsh.
River stood still and watched him. Just watched him. She needed a moment to witness the sight before her, to see what he had become. The rumours, she thought, had been dramatised, spiralled out of control by gossip, but seeing him now, she realised they hadn't done him justice.
"And so we have come full circle, my love. You bring me out of my own devastation to find yourself in yours."
She spoke simply, no taunting or judgement. It was the tone she always used when she was disappointed in him, bringing forward a knowledge she had always carried from being a child. She knew him so completely, perhaps more so than he knew himself. She was his conscience, his guidance, the angel on his shoulder and the devil in his heart.
As she spoke he glanced sidelong in her direction. Her words went on and so his attention turned to her. He released his hands from his task and he turned towards her. His expression was grim, and he wore the marks of the battle he'd been through.
"Oh I see how it is," he said, his words thick with sarcasm. "You say your little speech at me and then that makes everything just hunky dory. I head off with you and everything is right in the universe again."
"Isn't that your method, Doctor?" River answered simply, lifting her chin slightly and keeping her eyes upon him. She'd seen him try it on many people before, even her. He was a man who used words rather than weapons, to convince people to see good in the world and themselves. And, River? She had learnt that from him.
"Tell me what's happened," she stated. It wasn't a question.
"Because I saw this coming before you even did," River told him, not moving from her spot, her eyes following his uneasy movement. "And it had to happen. It did. You had to do this, because this always happened. You've become the Doctor people fear and right now the universe is carving your legend across the stars. The Doctor. The Oncoming Storm. The Mighty Warrior. Turn and run because if you look at him long enough he'll destroy you too."
She turned her head, breathing in the bitter air and sighing against the night.
"Do you know where we are?" she then asked. "Did you even stop to think when you dropped out of the sky and rained hell on this innocent planet? It's a simple place, a quiet place. Too peaceful to deserve Daleks. Too peaceful to deserve this."
Then she looked at him straight, her eyes unflinching. "They don't even have a word for pond."
And right at that moment, the Doctor would discover why the people of the Gamma Forests saw him as warrior.
He was again twisting wires together as she spoke. He acted as though he was paying no attention to her, completely ignoring her. But of course, he wasn't. He heard, and he listened, and the reactions were there in the flinching of the muscles in his fingers and the creases around his eyes.
Each of her words another to set his nerves on edge.
"Of course I know where I am," he said, and somehow the quiet in his voice was more terrifying than any shouting could be. "That's it, don't you understand? I always know."
He flashed her just the briefest of looks.
"And they were right," he said. "Run. Run whoever crosses my path because your days are numbered. And don't make mistakes. The very worst of mistakes; trying to think you can be my friend. Nobody can make friends with death. So run, River Song. Run as fast as you can."
River took a couple of steps closer, moving with caution, trying to avoid circling him.
"No," she said, her eyes stayed fixed on him while he concentrated on the wires. "I never run away. You know that. I run with you, Doctor. That's the only running I'll ever do."
She came to a halt a couple of feet from him, looking down at him, her face stoic.
"Tell me what happened," she said again. "Because something did. Something made you do this."
She had no idea, of course. She couldn't possibly have any idea. But that was the whole point, wasn't it? She was one of his greatest examples of everything he did wrong. Every moment he spent with her he was merely leading her to her death.
But he wouldn't accept that now. He wouldn't allow history to tell him how the future would happen.
"Not any more you don't," he said, pulling a cable in the conduit, a small explosion heard a distance away.
He turned back to her then. "You run away from me, River Song. Not with me."
"No," she said again, her tone unrelenting and firm.
"If you want me gone, you're the one who's going to have to do the running."
She stepped forward again, her boots crunching quietly in the dirt.
"Well, you are good at that, aren't you?" Her tone held a thin edge, sharp enough to cut. She wasn't fighting him to make him angry, she was fighting him to make him react, because she needed that to remind him who he was. The moment he lost the will to fight her, she'd lost the entire battle.
The Doctor didn't care about the tone in River's voice. At least that's what he told himself. He wanted her to hate him, because if she hated him then she was safer.
"Run away from you?" he asked with a sarcastic smile, as though he found the idea quite preposterous.
"Then you're going to have to run after me," said River, her voice having changed. It was now dangerous and not the kind that came with a flirtatious smile. Her hand went to her thigh holster, pulling her Alpha Meson gun from the leather fastening. She tilted the weapon towards her, twisting the button and causing the barrel to glow steadily in the dark. "Waging war and destruction across the universe. You're not the only one who can do that, Doctor. If you can take it out on others, then so can I." It was a threat, a reckless one, but if she had to turn herself into an enemy to keep the Doctor close, then she would do anything.
His head turned towards her and he watched her as she readied her gun. And then, without a pause, he rounded on her. He took her by the wrist, a harsh grip that would mark later. His other hand gripped her other arm, and he turned her, pushing her hard back against the metal wall behind her.
"Waging war and destruction?" he said, an angry his in her face. "I'm saving their lives. Their just too blind to see it. I fight the bad guys. Don't make yourself one."
He pushed her a little harder against the wall, a warning.
"Don't make yourself my enemy, River, you wouldn't want to see what would happen if you did."
River turned her head suddenly when the Doctor moved towards her in a blur. She felt his grip then the slam of metal into her back. She gasped as the wind was knocked out of her, but her expression remained unrelenting. She gritted her teeth, her fingers gripping tight onto her gun which was now pushed out of harm's way, pinned to the wall.
"You're saving a handful of ants while stomping through the hive," she hissed back at him, her breaths hard and hot from her sudden adrenaline. "You know you're not a hero. You never have been. Stop building yourself up to be one then being so surprised when it crumbles from beneath you."
He let out a laugh then. Just a small laugh. An echo of one really. Right in her face. His grip on her was still hard.
"No," he said. "No, I'm not a hero. But then I never claimed to be." He went on in a whisper. "It's not my fault that people keep making that mistake. That's their problem, not mine."
But then that was exactly the problem. He thought it was his fault. It was all his fault. That was why he was doing this.
His one hand shifted then, went to her jaw, gripping it hard and forcing her to look at him.
"Are you really surprised?" he asked, his voice a low, dangerous whisper. "You think you know me so well, after all. I destroyed my own planet. Destroyed my entire race. What do you expect?"
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Blood of a hundred Dalek's and blood of the innocent people who simply wanted to live. Oh he saved the rest of the planet, they'd live. But the city was blackened and charred, and nobody would set foot in it ever again.
He was in the process of twisting wires around one another in a wall conduit when he heard the footsteps approaching. His head turned, alert like an animal.
And then he saw her.
River silhouetted in the smoke and the fire, her outline possibly one of the most easily recognisable of any.
"What do you want?" he said, and his voice was harsh.
Reply
"And so we have come full circle, my love. You bring me out of my own devastation to find yourself in yours."
She spoke simply, no taunting or judgement. It was the tone she always used when she was disappointed in him, bringing forward a knowledge she had always carried from being a child. She knew him so completely, perhaps more so than he knew himself. She was his conscience, his guidance, the angel on his shoulder and the devil in his heart.
Reply
"Oh I see how it is," he said, his words thick with sarcasm. "You say your little speech at me and then that makes everything just hunky dory. I head off with you and everything is right in the universe again."
He scoffed.
"Pull the other one."
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"Tell me what's happened," she stated. It wasn't a question.
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He didn't want anyone to have that burden. Not now. Least of all her.
"No," he said simply. "Why should I?"
And on that, he turned away from her again.
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She turned her head, breathing in the bitter air and sighing against the night.
"Do you know where we are?" she then asked. "Did you even stop to think when you dropped out of the sky and rained hell on this innocent planet? It's a simple place, a quiet place. Too peaceful to deserve Daleks. Too peaceful to deserve this."
Then she looked at him straight, her eyes unflinching. "They don't even have a word for pond."
And right at that moment, the Doctor would discover why the people of the Gamma Forests saw him as warrior.
Reply
Each of her words another to set his nerves on edge.
"Of course I know where I am," he said, and somehow the quiet in his voice was more terrifying than any shouting could be. "That's it, don't you understand? I always know."
He flashed her just the briefest of looks.
"And they were right," he said. "Run. Run whoever crosses my path because your days are numbered. And don't make mistakes. The very worst of mistakes; trying to think you can be my friend. Nobody can make friends with death. So run, River Song. Run as fast as you can."
Reply
"No," she said, her eyes stayed fixed on him while he concentrated on the wires. "I never run away. You know that. I run with you, Doctor. That's the only running I'll ever do."
She came to a halt a couple of feet from him, looking down at him, her face stoic.
"Tell me what happened," she said again. "Because something did. Something made you do this."
Reply
But he wouldn't accept that now. He wouldn't allow history to tell him how the future would happen.
"Not any more you don't," he said, pulling a cable in the conduit, a small explosion heard a distance away.
He turned back to her then. "You run away from me, River Song. Not with me."
He didn't even acknowledge her repeated question.
Reply
"If you want me gone, you're the one who's going to have to do the running."
She stepped forward again, her boots crunching quietly in the dirt.
"Well, you are good at that, aren't you?" Her tone held a thin edge, sharp enough to cut. She wasn't fighting him to make him angry, she was fighting him to make him react, because she needed that to remind him who he was. The moment he lost the will to fight her, she'd lost the entire battle.
Reply
"Run away from you?" he asked with a sarcastic smile, as though he found the idea quite preposterous.
"Don't make me laugh."
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His head turned towards her and he watched her as she readied her gun. And then, without a pause, he rounded on her. He took her by the wrist, a harsh grip that would mark later. His other hand gripped her other arm, and he turned her, pushing her hard back against the metal wall behind her.
"Waging war and destruction?" he said, an angry his in her face. "I'm saving their lives. Their just too blind to see it. I fight the bad guys. Don't make yourself one."
He pushed her a little harder against the wall, a warning.
"Don't make yourself my enemy, River, you wouldn't want to see what would happen if you did."
Reply
"You're saving a handful of ants while stomping through the hive," she hissed back at him, her breaths hard and hot from her sudden adrenaline. "You know you're not a hero. You never have been. Stop building yourself up to be one then being so surprised when it crumbles from beneath you."
Reply
"No," he said. "No, I'm not a hero. But then I never claimed to be." He went on in a whisper. "It's not my fault that people keep making that mistake. That's their problem, not mine."
But then that was exactly the problem. He thought it was his fault. It was all his fault. That was why he was doing this.
His one hand shifted then, went to her jaw, gripping it hard and forcing her to look at him.
"Are you really surprised?" he asked, his voice a low, dangerous whisper. "You think you know me so well, after all. I destroyed my own planet. Destroyed my entire race. What do you expect?"
Reply
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