A hundred plus years was a long time to wait for one's time traveling husband to save them. Truth to tell, once she settled in, she expected him, same face to show up exactly at the end of his deal with the Vashta Nerada. She had been ready at the exact time, smirking, waiting to be all smug and unsurprised when he showed up. Which... he did not do.
She should have remembered that mother said he was always late, but this she figured he wouldn't dare be late for. It took a few more years, and the Doctor who showed up... was not in her sketches, not in her book, not in her wallet. She was cute, however. She parked the Tardis in orbit around the Library and uploaded River from those servers to the Tardis, then downloaded her into Flesh. A temporary fix, the Doctor said. This flesh had lost the human whose mind had first shaped it and no longer felt comfortable being that person, but didn't yet know who to be. So a deal had been worked out. River would be downloaded directly into her and give her a range of experiences while the Doctor found unattached flesh that would be willing to be her new host, and Flesh for the others trapped in the system, including Cal herself and Doctor Moon. But instead of taking River along to find that Flesh and start the negotiations, she left River with a box of her stuff from the Library on a rather fascinating archaeological dig and told her "wait here". Clearly the Doctor had forgotten how bad she was at that. Or maybe she had just underestimated what waiting for more than a hundred years felt like. River gave her one hour. That was it. And she only got that because it took River that long to figure out how to fit everything she needed into the outfit the new body had arrived wearing. Hadn't even given her a chance to pick out clothes in the wardrobe.
So River was in a snug long sleeved sweater with a bit of a thick collar that was not at all to her taste, and black slacks she could live with. While she tried to figure out where she was keeping her diary, her sonic, her squareness gun and such, she plotted her first move. The second time she met the Doctor, from, his point of view was the Byzantine. Her journal, when she checked, had it listed for both his faces now, oddly. But while he was acting decidedly odd, even for him, he wasn't acting overly guilty. Not in memory or journal. Which meant....
Which meant that before then he had to know she didn't stay dead there. Which meant she knew which face she had to meet. Which meant.... She grinned and keyed her Vortex manipulator, a bit of help from the sonic let her track where that version of the Tardis was with a key index after the Library and... ah! Oh, she didn't know that world! How thrilling. With a grin she pocketed the sonic. She was tempted to land herself INSIDE the Tardis, but even parked, that was a whole other set of coordinates and work and she was eager to just get moving now that she could. She still had her key, she could let herself in if he was being stubborn.
But first it was time to find out what adventure he was on. So she hit the button and found herself on some sort of broken down ship. How exciting. She grinned, pulled her sleeve over her vortex manipulator and listened. And heard his question. A grin on her lips she moved into a smile as she slid herself through the corridors.
She had hoped to step into view in time to answer his question. Not that she knew, but never stopped her before. But the moment had gone just too long. So instead when she stepped out, she said a simple two words. "Hello, sweetie."
There was a control panel between them, and it was hardly her most dramatic entrance ever, but her heart swelled with love for that man and she couldn't wait for a perfect moment to make her entrance. Not this time. This time he needed to know she was alive. And she needed to feel alive. She needed adventure and mystery and running at his side.
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Date: 2019-07-03 07:52 pm (UTC)She should have remembered that mother said he was always late, but this she figured he wouldn't dare be late for. It took a few more years, and the Doctor who showed up... was not in her sketches, not in her book, not in her wallet. She was cute, however. She parked the Tardis in orbit around the Library and uploaded River from those servers to the Tardis, then downloaded her into Flesh. A temporary fix, the Doctor said. This flesh had lost the human whose mind had first shaped it and no longer felt comfortable being that person, but didn't yet know who to be. So a deal had been worked out. River would be downloaded directly into her and give her a range of experiences while the Doctor found unattached flesh that would be willing to be her new host, and Flesh for the others trapped in the system, including Cal herself and Doctor Moon. But instead of taking River along to find that Flesh and start the negotiations, she left River with a box of her stuff from the Library on a rather fascinating archaeological dig and told her "wait here". Clearly the Doctor had forgotten how bad she was at that. Or maybe she had just underestimated what waiting for more than a hundred years felt like. River gave her one hour. That was it. And she only got that because it took River that long to figure out how to fit everything she needed into the outfit the new body had arrived wearing. Hadn't even given her a chance to pick out clothes in the wardrobe.
So River was in a snug long sleeved sweater with a bit of a thick collar that was not at all to her taste, and black slacks she could live with. While she tried to figure out where she was keeping her diary, her sonic, her squareness gun and such, she plotted her first move. The second time she met the Doctor, from, his point of view was the Byzantine. Her journal, when she checked, had it listed for both his faces now, oddly. But while he was acting decidedly odd, even for him, he wasn't acting overly guilty. Not in memory or journal. Which meant....
Which meant that before then he had to know she didn't stay dead there. Which meant she knew which face she had to meet. Which meant.... She grinned and keyed her Vortex manipulator, a bit of help from the sonic let her track where that version of the Tardis was with a key index after the Library and... ah! Oh, she didn't know that world! How thrilling. With a grin she pocketed the sonic. She was tempted to land herself INSIDE the Tardis, but even parked, that was a whole other set of coordinates and work and she was eager to just get moving now that she could. She still had her key, she could let herself in if he was being stubborn.
But first it was time to find out what adventure he was on. So she hit the button and found herself on some sort of broken down ship. How exciting. She grinned, pulled her sleeve over her vortex manipulator and listened. And heard his question. A grin on her lips she moved into a smile as she slid herself through the corridors.
She had hoped to step into view in time to answer his question. Not that she knew, but never stopped her before. But the moment had gone just too long. So instead when she stepped out, she said a simple two words. "Hello, sweetie."
There was a control panel between them, and it was hardly her most dramatic entrance ever, but her heart swelled with love for that man and she couldn't wait for a perfect moment to make her entrance. Not this time. This time he needed to know she was alive. And she needed to feel alive. She needed adventure and mystery and running at his side.