4) Love a Party
Sep. 16th, 2013 07:26 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
starjargonWhat was River Doing at a Party in New York in The Day of the Moon
A/N My brain ran away with me on this one, so it’ll become its own story as I fully hash it out. But I’ve tried very, very hard to condense a version of it to my liking. I don’t want these stories to be ridiculously long, but this tied up a few (EXTREMELY FRUSTRATING) loose ends for me. Slight angst.
After months of chasing (or was it being chased?) by the monsters of so many years of her life, she was exhausted and ready for a party. Though she would never admit it aloud, they still frightened her. Whatever “they” were. She knew they’d muddled her brain as a child. They’d convinced the clerics to take her from her mother. They had even managed to make her kill her husband- sort of. Although, she had escaped them before they could kill her at Area 52. They really shouldn’t have tried to take Rory Williams away from Amy Pond. Foolish Silence. Her mother was a force to be reckoned with.
Even after all these years, River still hadn’t completely escaped the terror that surrounded her when she thought of them. And to see them over and over again these last few months had become a recurring nightmare. Even if she did forget.
So, when the invitation showed up, inviting her to one of the biggest parties in town, she decided to take a night off from the Silence and have a good time. She wore her favorite dress (it was her husband’s too, one he had always tried to get her to wear since the first night after their wedding, when he’d decided he liked seeing her in… ahem… daring outfits). After perfecting her makeup and gathering her hair in an elegant up do, she stuck a marker in her clutch, just in case, and headed off to the address given.
When she got there, she couldn’t help but smile at the thoughtfulness of his invite. Of course he would know how hard this would be for her. She had only confided in one other person about the recurring fear they still brought her, but she knew she’d probably told a future Doctor at some point in order for him to arrange the invite in order to bring her out of the slowly rising panic of the past months. Believing this, she was startled to hear the voice behind her, gentle and kind and just as understanding as he’d always been.
“Hello, Doctor Song. Or have you become a Professor yet, Melody?”
“Dad,” she said, surprised but no less pleased to hear his voice, the voice of a him who knew her, “I told you, you don’t always have to emphasize the Doctor. And no. Not a professor. Inmates would make terrible students of archeology.”
She turned around with smile on her face, which faltered slightly at the sight before her. He still held that same love she always felt from him. The same strength that made him one of her closest confidantes. And the eyes that always seemed to stare through her, getting past every mask she wore, stripping them away so she was always just his little girl. But, one thing had changed- more than she could completely fathom right now. He was old.
“H-How?”
“River. You already know the necessary answer to any questions you might ask. So skip them and dance with your old Dad, huh?”
She couldn’t help just one question as she took his arm, a slight confusion still clouding her features.
“Where’s mum?”
“Waiting, rather patiently considering, for a dance with you.”
She looked across the room at the redhead who too had aged so much.
“What’re you doing here? I mean- this party, specifically?” Her surprise outweighed the rules right now.
“1969. The Silence. You once told me they still scare you, remember? Figured you could use a few hours of distraction. And you know how I am about parties like this. Whoo hoo! Party!”
“Mum dragged you here, didn’t she?”
“A bit. But I really did insist on inviting you.”
“Thank you. I really needed it.”
They danced together a few songs, then Amy, impatient as ever, cut in and after hugging their daughter tightly and frantically, danced with her a few more. Afterward they all sat around a small isolated table, talking as she hadn’t been able to talk with their younger versions in so long. It was working, the stress of the past three months rolled off her in their company.
Finally, Rory looked at her seriously, taking her hand in his and squeezing slightly.
“Look River, we didn’t really know how to bring this up, especially now, but it needs to be done.” She turned toward him, seeing how eager he looked about… something.
“We need to ask you a favor. One we wouldn’t ask if it weren’t so very important.” Amy said.
“Anything.”
They shared a look, before Rory sighed and turned toward her.
“When all this is done- the Silence, I mean- we need you to go to Demon’s Run.”
“What?!” She was startled. “I can’t go there. I would be crossing my own timeline.”
“You can’t be there until the very end. When… when you’re not there anymore. I mean Melody you. But you have to go.”
“But-spoilers.”
“No, not spoilers. Well, sort of. But that’s not what this is about. We’ll need you River. Amy and I-“
“It was the worst day of my life.” Amy cut in. “And I couldn’t have…kept breathing… kept living… if you weren’t there with me. Please, River. It’s important.”
How could she pass up the chance to comfort them, especially since it was the loss of her that would cause the pain?
“Of course. Of course I’ll go. Did the Doctor-“
“He doesn’t know about this. We think. At least he never said- But River, that’s another thing. He’s getting too big for himself. You have to stop him before he goes too far. You’re the only one who won’t back down.”
She stared at them, contemplating. Then she sighed, realizing now what Demons Run would mean for him. For them.
“That’s when you, when he finds out isn’t it? When he starts moving toward me?”
“Can we answer that?”
“No, I don’t suppose you can. But I’ll do it. Of course I will.”
“Thank you, Melody. And there’s something else.”
Rory held out a card to her with coordinates and a date.
“What’s this?”
“Things are going to get… painful for you. Very, very soon. This is a date and a place when we’ll know who you are. Use it when you’re hurting.”
She was speechless. How very like them. Her mother was always terrible with spoilers. Her father never could bear to see her sad. She stuck the card into her clutch, then realized her marker was missing from it. She frowned.
“We haven’t got much time left, Melody. It’s just about ending.”
She looked up at her father’s face, and couldn’t decide if he meant the party or something more. He held out a box to her.
“I’ve been waiting quite a while to give you this.”
Inside was a long, beautiful gold chain.
“Thank you, Dad.”
“Keep it with you, as a reminder.”
“Reminder of what?”
“There’s always a way out. You used to say that. Remember that, when things get scary. When you can’t help but feel terror, remember this River Song. You’re the girl who escapes. You fight when fate itself is against you, and no chain, prison, or monster can dare keep a hold on you. You are Melody Pond. And Melody Pond-“
“Is a superhero.”
She felt moisture in her eyes as they got up and made their way out of the ballroom. Her father held out her marker to her, he’d retrieved it from the table. She didn’t have to ask what it was doing there.
“You should run.” He said, looking at her arms pointedly, where she already had tally marks dark on her skin. She put her marker on her new chain and stuck it around her neck, the dread already beginning to creep in.
They both put their arms around her, holding her closely, keeping the monsters at bay. As she breathed in the scent of them, so different and yet so the same as the people she’d always know, had known, she felt a bittersweet feeling in her stomach. She was so, so grateful they had given her a few hours’ peace, yet couldn’t shake the feeling they were having a last.
She gathered strength from them as her mother kissed her forehead and said, “And look after you too.”
She didn’t have time to be confused by the statement before her father kissed the top of her head, then took her face in his hands as he looked deep into her eyes. “Doctor Song.” He smiled a goodbye.
She ran from them, as she always had done. Into the highest building she could find, hoping they inhabited the sewers out of distaste for heights. No such luck. She was so scared her breath caught, she didn’t know if she could handle this. When she got to the edge of the building, Canton baited her with his words. She smiled then, truly, as she repeated her the words her parents had given her and remembered the chain around her neck and what it meant. The Silence was after her. Foolish Silence. She was River Song. She, too, was a force to be reckoned with.
A/N My brain ran away with me on this one, so it’ll become its own story as I fully hash it out. But I’ve tried very, very hard to condense a version of it to my liking. I don’t want these stories to be ridiculously long, but this tied up a few (EXTREMELY FRUSTRATING) loose ends for me. Slight angst.
After months of chasing (or was it being chased?) by the monsters of so many years of her life, she was exhausted and ready for a party. Though she would never admit it aloud, they still frightened her. Whatever “they” were. She knew they’d muddled her brain as a child. They’d convinced the clerics to take her from her mother. They had even managed to make her kill her husband- sort of. Although, she had escaped them before they could kill her at Area 52. They really shouldn’t have tried to take Rory Williams away from Amy Pond. Foolish Silence. Her mother was a force to be reckoned with.
Even after all these years, River still hadn’t completely escaped the terror that surrounded her when she thought of them. And to see them over and over again these last few months had become a recurring nightmare. Even if she did forget.
So, when the invitation showed up, inviting her to one of the biggest parties in town, she decided to take a night off from the Silence and have a good time. She wore her favorite dress (it was her husband’s too, one he had always tried to get her to wear since the first night after their wedding, when he’d decided he liked seeing her in… ahem… daring outfits). After perfecting her makeup and gathering her hair in an elegant up do, she stuck a marker in her clutch, just in case, and headed off to the address given.
When she got there, she couldn’t help but smile at the thoughtfulness of his invite. Of course he would know how hard this would be for her. She had only confided in one other person about the recurring fear they still brought her, but she knew she’d probably told a future Doctor at some point in order for him to arrange the invite in order to bring her out of the slowly rising panic of the past months. Believing this, she was startled to hear the voice behind her, gentle and kind and just as understanding as he’d always been.
“Hello, Doctor Song. Or have you become a Professor yet, Melody?”
“Dad,” she said, surprised but no less pleased to hear his voice, the voice of a him who knew her, “I told you, you don’t always have to emphasize the Doctor. And no. Not a professor. Inmates would make terrible students of archeology.”
She turned around with smile on her face, which faltered slightly at the sight before her. He still held that same love she always felt from him. The same strength that made him one of her closest confidantes. And the eyes that always seemed to stare through her, getting past every mask she wore, stripping them away so she was always just his little girl. But, one thing had changed- more than she could completely fathom right now. He was old.
“H-How?”
“River. You already know the necessary answer to any questions you might ask. So skip them and dance with your old Dad, huh?”
She couldn’t help just one question as she took his arm, a slight confusion still clouding her features.
“Where’s mum?”
“Waiting, rather patiently considering, for a dance with you.”
She looked across the room at the redhead who too had aged so much.
“What’re you doing here? I mean- this party, specifically?” Her surprise outweighed the rules right now.
“1969. The Silence. You once told me they still scare you, remember? Figured you could use a few hours of distraction. And you know how I am about parties like this. Whoo hoo! Party!”
“Mum dragged you here, didn’t she?”
“A bit. But I really did insist on inviting you.”
“Thank you. I really needed it.”
They danced together a few songs, then Amy, impatient as ever, cut in and after hugging their daughter tightly and frantically, danced with her a few more. Afterward they all sat around a small isolated table, talking as she hadn’t been able to talk with their younger versions in so long. It was working, the stress of the past three months rolled off her in their company.
Finally, Rory looked at her seriously, taking her hand in his and squeezing slightly.
“Look River, we didn’t really know how to bring this up, especially now, but it needs to be done.” She turned toward him, seeing how eager he looked about… something.
“We need to ask you a favor. One we wouldn’t ask if it weren’t so very important.” Amy said.
“Anything.”
They shared a look, before Rory sighed and turned toward her.
“When all this is done- the Silence, I mean- we need you to go to Demon’s Run.”
“What?!” She was startled. “I can’t go there. I would be crossing my own timeline.”
“You can’t be there until the very end. When… when you’re not there anymore. I mean Melody you. But you have to go.”
“But-spoilers.”
“No, not spoilers. Well, sort of. But that’s not what this is about. We’ll need you River. Amy and I-“
“It was the worst day of my life.” Amy cut in. “And I couldn’t have…kept breathing… kept living… if you weren’t there with me. Please, River. It’s important.”
How could she pass up the chance to comfort them, especially since it was the loss of her that would cause the pain?
“Of course. Of course I’ll go. Did the Doctor-“
“He doesn’t know about this. We think. At least he never said- But River, that’s another thing. He’s getting too big for himself. You have to stop him before he goes too far. You’re the only one who won’t back down.”
She stared at them, contemplating. Then she sighed, realizing now what Demons Run would mean for him. For them.
“That’s when you, when he finds out isn’t it? When he starts moving toward me?”
“Can we answer that?”
“No, I don’t suppose you can. But I’ll do it. Of course I will.”
“Thank you, Melody. And there’s something else.”
Rory held out a card to her with coordinates and a date.
“What’s this?”
“Things are going to get… painful for you. Very, very soon. This is a date and a place when we’ll know who you are. Use it when you’re hurting.”
She was speechless. How very like them. Her mother was always terrible with spoilers. Her father never could bear to see her sad. She stuck the card into her clutch, then realized her marker was missing from it. She frowned.
“We haven’t got much time left, Melody. It’s just about ending.”
She looked up at her father’s face, and couldn’t decide if he meant the party or something more. He held out a box to her.
“I’ve been waiting quite a while to give you this.”
Inside was a long, beautiful gold chain.
“Thank you, Dad.”
“Keep it with you, as a reminder.”
“Reminder of what?”
“There’s always a way out. You used to say that. Remember that, when things get scary. When you can’t help but feel terror, remember this River Song. You’re the girl who escapes. You fight when fate itself is against you, and no chain, prison, or monster can dare keep a hold on you. You are Melody Pond. And Melody Pond-“
“Is a superhero.”
She felt moisture in her eyes as they got up and made their way out of the ballroom. Her father held out her marker to her, he’d retrieved it from the table. She didn’t have to ask what it was doing there.
“You should run.” He said, looking at her arms pointedly, where she already had tally marks dark on her skin. She put her marker on her new chain and stuck it around her neck, the dread already beginning to creep in.
They both put their arms around her, holding her closely, keeping the monsters at bay. As she breathed in the scent of them, so different and yet so the same as the people she’d always know, had known, she felt a bittersweet feeling in her stomach. She was so, so grateful they had given her a few hours’ peace, yet couldn’t shake the feeling they were having a last.
She gathered strength from them as her mother kissed her forehead and said, “And look after you too.”
She didn’t have time to be confused by the statement before her father kissed the top of her head, then took her face in his hands as he looked deep into her eyes. “Doctor Song.” He smiled a goodbye.
She ran from them, as she always had done. Into the highest building she could find, hoping they inhabited the sewers out of distaste for heights. No such luck. She was so scared her breath caught, she didn’t know if she could handle this. When she got to the edge of the building, Canton baited her with his words. She smiled then, truly, as she repeated her the words her parents had given her and remembered the chain around her neck and what it meant. The Silence was after her. Foolish Silence. She was River Song. She, too, was a force to be reckoned with.
