Another Song Begins [for bowtimeandspace]

[songofsong]

With Charlotte, Ella and Joshua tucked up in bed, River Song made her way to the bedroom door. She smiled as she looked over her sleeping children, making sure they were still and content before she went to turn off the light. Her fingers flicked the switch, but the light remained on. Frowning in bemusement, she tried the switch again. Still

Comments

[bowtimeandspace]

River Song was dead.

Of course that was hardly news. For as long as the Doctor had known her, she'd been dead. She died before he even began to understand who she was, or what she'd be to him. She knew his name. One of the only people who ever had. She'd been his wife, had his child. They'd had such adventures, and now those adventures were over.

Oh he'd tried to go back, tried to see her before she died, but it had been too hard. Going to Darilium had almost torn him apart, and so he'd thought going further back in her timeline would be easier. But it wasn't. It wasn't at all.

So he couldn't go back. He couldn't see her. He didn't trust himself or what he might do. He tried to push her from his mind. Tried not to think of her at all. He tried to have adventures that had nothing to do with her. But it was hardly so simple. They had a son, after all. And though he was safe and cared for, he was still without his parents. Without the Doctor because he couldn't bare to see him knowing she was gone.

But he couldn't handle it. He didn't want to handle it.

The Doctor left people alone all the time. He left them and ran away, never to see them again. He could handle that. He saw people die, there were people he could never see again, and somehow, he handled that.

He was almost shocked to find he couldn't handle this.

But, he decided, he was the Doctor. He could do something about that.

[songofsong]

Dave wasn't happy.

He and River had had their first big argument.

Not that they were a couple. But people didn't have to be couples to have arguments.

It had all kicked off when Dave complained that the batty old Mrs Norris around the corner had almost run into him with her car. River had barely looked up from her book when he ranted and her only comment had been that it hardly mattered, she wasn't real and nobody could die here.

It had sparked off a heated discussion about her not allowing anybody to even try to have a second chance and him being foolish enough to pretend that they could have some kind of life here.

It had ended with River storming off and shutting herself up in her study like she always did. Dave had never been in there, River wouldn't let him in.

Always with her secrets.

She had them before and she still had them now.

Later, Dave had found her and apologised. River had promised to try harder and gave their life here another try.

That night was the first time River kissed Dave.

[bowtimeandspace]

After the event with the Vashda Nerada the Felman Lux Corperation had seen to it that the Library had been completely shut down. CAL had been kept running, of course, as it would always be, but the planet was off limits, and so much so that it had a laser perimeter set around it. It couldn't be crossed, not even by a member of the Lux family themselves.

But then of course the Lux family didn't have a TARDIS, and none of them were even half as crazy as the Doctor.

He had to see River, he'd decided. He needed to see her, if only to say a real goodbye. The last time she'd seen him he didn't even know who she was. It wasn't right. He wanted to give her a goodbye. He wanted a goodbye of his own.

Of course he knew that he couldn't step foot into the Library. He wouldn't. It was the forests of the Vashda Nerada and he'd promised them that. But the computer was just a computer, and on the TARDIS he had some of the greatest technology there was, and so he had to try.

It would be dangerous, of course, but dangerous wasn't something he was ever scared of.

And so he began his work. He flew the TARDIS into the perimeter of the Library, and he would stay there until he succeeded.

[songofsong]

The hour was late and River was working quietly in her study. The door was closed to give her her privacy. Dave still never came in here and that was the way she preferred it. She needed her own space and he understood that.

Every moment in here, she spent time researching the computer they now lived in, finding out what exactly they were made of and if it was ever possible to get in here.

She had been doing it less and less in the recent works. Rather than losing herself to hours of work, she'd taken the children to the park, she'd gone to the cinema with Dave, she'd even taken a trip to the local university to investigate their archeology department.

Tonight was the first night in weeks that she'd sat in her study, but she ignored the books and diagrams around her, each describing and deconstructing the computer matrix. Tonight, she simply sat in there, reading her diary, thinking about the Doctor, her son and her parents. As much as she was trying to make a life here, she never wanted to forget the family she had lost.

[bowtimeandspace]

He'd received transmissions from the Felman Lux Corporation asking him what the hell he thought he was doing and just how many laws he was breaking. He'd replied to them that he was the Doctor and if they didn't know who that was they were stupid, and if they did they knew well enough to leave him alone.

They left him alone.

It took him a while to work out what he had to do, and he would have been lying to say it wasn't daunting when he worked it out, but that didn't mean it would stop him.

To give him anything even near a live connection with the Library computer he was going to have to become data himself, and the only way he could do that would be to upload part of his conciousness to the system. If he did it, even if it worked, it would take one tiny malfunction and he could be dead, his conciousness lost, leaving his body a brain damaged shell. But then there were always complications.

The TARDIS wasn't happy about it, but he didn't let her have her way. It took him weeks to find the right frequency and sync the TARDIS matrix wirelessly with the Library computer core. He needed a stable connection before he could even attempt to reach it. It took time, and a few mistakes along the way, undoubtedly causing the odd glitch in the system. He had to be careful, he knew, his wife was in there.

But finally he got there, and finally he came to do it. It wouldn't be easy, and it wouldn't be comfortable, but he did it, wired himself up to the TARDIS, and through the TARDIS connected himself to the Library.

And then, he tried to find her.

[songofsong]

The phone had been ringing all week, only to be answered with silence. River had had enough and was complaining about cold callers, much to Dave's amusement, as there had been one time where if he had said such a thing she'd dismiss cold callers in their artificial world.

But that was only the start of strange events. Earlier that week, the school bus never turned up to take the children to school, so Dave had had to drive them himself. Then the fridge full of food had somehow emptied so they were forced to do an emergency shop before dinner. Then the washing machine burst open and flooded all over the floor before the water disappeared as though it had never existed in the first place.

For once, Dave was beginning to think it was a computer glitch.

But what could that mean? If the computer was in danger, then so were all of them. They were just parts of the system, saved into the hard drive. An error on the computer could delete them from existence.

He hadn't mentioned it to River and he didn't plan to. They had been making so much progress that he didn't want to risk losing her to the indifferent woman he had been living with in the first few months.

Even River was starting to feel like she had found her feet here. She was getting used to the way things worked, used to the family she had. She had Dave, Charlotte, Ella and Joshua and they were all important to her in their own way. They did family things, lovely things, the kind of things she had never really got the chance to do with the Doctor and Toby.

They had all sat down to watch a DVD one night before Dave had got them all ready for bed. Left alone at the television, River channel-hopped, having a search for one of the history programs.

[bowtimeandspace]

He positioned himself at the console with the scanner in front of him. on he hand he wore something that looked like a glove with wires going into it, but the wires went through into his skin and hard wired him into the TARDIS.

This would be it. This had to be it.

He adjusted the scanner in front of him, turning channel to channel, and then, all of a sudden, there she was, sitting on a sofa looking so beautiful.

River. His River.

"River!" he called, reaching out to touch the screen. "River, can you see me? Can you hear me?"

He adjusted a control on the console, trying to boost his signal.

[songofsong]

Although the Doctor tried in earnest to call to her, there was no response from River. Her television merely showed a documentary about Greek temples and River's face was impassive as she listened to the narrator. It was clear she had no idea he was there, for she simply leant forward to help herself to the glass of wine sat on the coffee table in front of her, sitting back and curling her legs underneath her as she took a sip.

She then looked up from the television as Dave returned to the living room, giving him a smile as he came to join her on the couch once more. He put his feet up on the table and relaxed back, laying his arms over the top of the couch. River asked him how the children were, sat perhaps a little closer than the Doctor would appreciate.

[bowtimeandspace]

It didn't take too long for the Doctor to realise it hadn't worked. Not worked in the way it was supposed to.

He'd got himself in there enough to see one way, but not for himself to be seen. He hadn't done good enough.

He was angry. Angry with himself for failing. His hearts rate sped as he fumed. He could see her, see her so close, and apparently close to someone else.

His anger, however, was what broke the connection. It was delicate, and the surge in his hearts send a power surge along the connection and into the Library. It shorted it out and he was forced to pull the glove back, yanking the wires from his skin in the process, leaving small burns in their wake.

It sent feedback into the Library. Just enough to cause another glitch, and this one a little bigger. Because though it was night in the Library computer, it suddenly jolted to daylight.

[songofsong]

The sudden stream of sunlight through the window caused both River and Dave to jolt in surprise, turning their heads to stare at the light glowing through the curtains.

"What's that?" Dave asked, scrambling to his feet.

"Someone might have put their headlights on," River supposed, going over to the window and peering through a gap in the curtains. But it wasn't a car at all. Instead, River stared at the daylight that shone brightly before her, the sky a crisp, vibrant blue.

"Dave," she began slowly, glancing over her shoulder at him. "It's daytime."

"What are you talking about? It can't be," said Dave, coming over to get a look for himself. However, his expression fell when he realised she was telling the truth.

Then, River heard her children shouting for her, woken up by the daylight. Ella was crying and Joshua had decided daylight meant he could get up and play.

River turned and hurried from the window and to the children's bedroom. Dave went to scoop Ella up into his arms and soothe her tears while River went over to Charlotte, the creator of their world.

She was sat on her bed, a perplexed expression on her face, trying to work out what was going on with a wisdom beyond her years. Slowly, she looked up at River, her big eyes settling on hers.

"Mummy, somebody's trying to break in."

[bowtimeandspace]

With how he'd shorted the system, he had undone a lot of his work, and it was about a week later before the Doctor was ready to attempt it again.

He'd realised this time though what had gone wrong. He hadn't uploaded enough of himself, and more than that, there wasn't enough spare memory buffer in the TARDIS to give him any sort of manifestation on the other end. So he'd have to use his own memory.

If it were dangerous before, it was even more so now. But he didn't question it for even a moment.

The next time he went in, he again wired himself to the TARDIS. More wires this time though, more intricate and delicate. He'd rewired the chameleon arch and it sat upon his head, a little like a heart bypass for the mind to store a memory buffer for the TARDIS to use. It had better work this time.

And so again, he went in, and looked for an outlet to find her. A phone, a television, a computer, anything, he had to find a way.

In his mind he could see the computer like a map, he just needed to knock the right door.

[songofsong]

The nighttime glitch had thankfully fixed itself within a few minutes and since then, River hoped they wouldn't see a return of it. It had frightened the children quite badly and so an extent, frightened her.

But still, Charlotte's words had stuck with her.

Somebody was breaking in.

River knew it could be anybody, countless of people wanting to find out about the computer tucked away in the heart of the Library, but she wouldn't deny that her mind hadn't crossed the Doctor.

Later that week, River had the house to herself, as the children were at school and Dave was out. She had been spending some time cleaning up, with the television on in the background to keep her company.

[bowtimeandspace]

It didn't take him too long to find the Right outlet.

And then he saw her. He couldn't help but smile. There she was, looking beautiful again, moving around the room but not looking at the screen. For a moment, he just savoured it; looking at her. Looking at her moving as though she were alive. Saved.

But he had to break the silence. And so he spoke.

"River," he said.

He took hold of his sonic and activated it to boost the signal a little more.

"River Song, stop what you're doing immediately."

[songofsong]

The sound of that voice, of his voice was more than enough to stop her.

She had just picked up an empty glass off the coffee table and dropped it on the carpet at hearing the Doctor. She stood stock still, feeling her hearts suddenly hammer at the rush of emotion that went through her. She had to be hearing things, this had to be some kind of glitch.

Slowly, ever so slowly, she turned to look at the television.

And there he was.

[bowtimeandspace]

"Ooh that worked," the Doctor said. "Didn't think it would. Probably the first time you've ever done what I told you to."

His voice was perky, jovial, perhaps even overly so. Because if he didn't, the other emotions would overcome. The sadness, the tears, and he couldn't let that happen.

He lifted one of his wired hands and waved it at the screen.

"Hello," he said.

[songofsong]

"What.. are you doing?" she whispered, feeling her hands tremble and her legs losing their strength. He was right there on the television, as plain and as clear as anything. And it wasn't the Doctor she had seen last, the one who didn't know her. No, this was her Doctor.

Managing to move, she went closer to the television, crouching down in front of it and staring at him. "Doctor," she then said, feeling her voice crack with tears as she laid her hand on the screen, her fingers upon his face, but touching nothing but the screen.