Written for
femme_slash_fan!
Apologies again for the lateness! Hope you enjoy!
Pairings: River/Amy, implied River/Sarah-Jane, River/11
Spoilers: None really. More AU, although with elements of Who storyline. Assumes that River doesn’t remember where she came from/who her parents are to begin with.
Title: It's never easy, but sometimes it's right...
“Drunk and disorderly, River? A bit pedestrian for you,” observed Sarah-Jane as the curly haired woman was brought up from the holding cells and presented to her.
“Sarah-Jane?” River’s head flew up and her eyes grew wide as she took in the sight of the woman before her.
“The one and only,” grinned Sarah before turning to the policemen who had brought River up from her cell and confirming that River was the person she was looking for, and that her fine had been paid.
“What are you doing here?” asked River, rubbing her wrists where the handcuffs had been removed. It wasn’t that she didn’t like handcuffs. Under the right circumstances she would all but beg to be restrained in their unrelinquishing grip, but somehow, in a police station they never quite held the same attraction.
“Oh just my bit,” smiled the older woman. “Mr Smith keeps tabs on people of interest. When your name cropped up on a list of arrests it was brought to my attention. I must say, I expected something a little more…out of the ordinary.”
River could only shrug as she fell in step beside the brunette. “You call it drunk and disorderly, I just call it Tuesday.” She ran a hand through her unruly curls and blinked a few times to focus as the sunlight assaulted her eyes.
Sarah-Jane turned to look at River with eyes full of concern. This wasn’t the River she knew. “Time’s been hard you on, hasn’t it?”
River let out a snort of laughter. “Hard? More like it screwed me up and over and every which way in between.”
Sarah reached out and placed a gentle hand on River’s forearm. “Would you like to talk about it?”
“You wouldn’t want to know,” said River, shaking her head.
“River, please,” pleaded Sarah-Jane. “It might seem like a lifetime away to you, but I still remember it. Us,” she smiled. “And regardless of how often I see you, I do care about you. Come on, at least let me drive you back to mine and you can get a shower and some clean clothes.”
River hesitated, but on looking at Sarah-Jane’s pleading eyes, nodded reluctantly. She felt a warm hand take her own, and let herself be tugged along.
*
“Luke’s off at University so it’s just me, Mr Smith and K-9 now,” sighed Sarah Jane as she pushed open the front door, River following her inside. “Décor aside the place hasn’t changed since the last time you were here, so you know where the bathroom is. There should be some clean towels in the rack.”
“Thank you for doing this Sarah-Jane,” said River. “I do appreciate it. Really, I do.”
Sarah-Jane simply smiled.
*
As River let the hot water cascade over her, it occurred to her that this was the longest she had gone without a drink in quite some time. Linear time that is. Her musings were interrupted by a light knock at the door.
“There’s a set of fresh clothes just outside the door. If they don’t fit just give me a shout and I’ll see what else I can find.”
River smiled at the sound of retreating footsteps. She hadn’t seen Sarah-Jane in, goodness, she couldn’t even begin to count the years - especially owing to the fact it had probably been a different number of years to both of them, and yet she still knew just how to handle her. Turning the shower off she reached for the biggest towel on the rack, wrapping herself in the soft cloth before reaching for another and wrapping it around her hair and padding over to the door and pulling it open just enough to reach the clothes neatly piled outside.
*
The welcome smell of pancakes greeted River as she descended the stairs dressed in surprisingly well fitting jeans and a warm cowl neck jumper.
“Feeling better?”
River allowed herself a small smile as she slid onto one of the kitchen chairs. “I feel a lot less like something someone threw up.”
Sarah-Jane chuckled as she turned towards the table, a stack pancakes in one hand and a jug of syrup in the other. “Well that’s something I suppose.” She put the plate down, pushing it towards River who waited all of two seconds before reaching for the fork. “And I’m sure you’ll feel better once you’ve eaten something.”
River nodded enthusiastically.
“And then you can tell me what’s turned you into a rather irritable drunk.”
*
“Mistress Song.”
River jumped at the tinny mechanical voice. “Jeez, K-9 who quietened your systems down?”
“Mistress.”
River turned to look at Sarah-Jane.
“What? You travelled with the Doctor too, his tinkering with anything and everything mechanical is contagious!”
At this River could only shrug and nod in agreement. “Well, it’s nice to see you again K-9.”
“The sentiment is returned on the grounds that I am not to accompany you on any more ‘walkies’,” announced the metal dog.
River rolled her eyes. “It was one Dalek fort!”
“My systems were almost beyond repair,” stated K-9.
“But look at you now, running better than ever!” River called after K-9 as he trundled out of the room.
“More than could be said for some,” said Sarah-Jane as she moved to sit on the arm of the couch. “You’re still running. Question isn’t how well, it’s from what?”
“Believe me Janey, you don’t want to know,” sighed River as she leant her head on Sarah’s thigh.
Sarah-Jane smiled at the old familiar name and instinctively started running her fingers through River’s damp curls.
“Or once you do know, you won’t want to know me.”
With gentle hands Sarah-Jane tilted River’s head up so that she met her eyes. “River, there’s nothing you could say to me that would make that happen. Whatever it is, you can tell me. You are like no one else in this universe, so I’m not expecting some trivial thought here, River. Whatever has you this…this wound up, I know it has to be huge.”
River nodded, tears running down her face. “I’m in love with my mother.”