the hourglass (doctor who fan fiction)

Forest of the dead pt. 3

"Oh, Anita." River ran in. "I'm sorry. She's been dead a while now. I told you to go!" the Doctor yelled at us from the terminal. "Lux can manage without us, but you can't." River punched the Doctor, knocking him out. "River!" I yelled. I ran over to the Doctor who was slumped over. "Help me." she said. She grabbed handcuffs out of her pocket and handed a pair to me. I quickly cuffed him to a nearby pole. "What do we do now?" I asked, as I turned around I got punched as well.

"Autodestruct in two minutes." I heard a voice say. I groaned, trying to sit up. The Doctor woke up beside me. "Oh, no, no, no, no. Come on, what are you doing? That's my job." he tried to get up. "Oh, and I'm not allowed to have a career, I suppose?" she said, sitting on a seat. She was hooked up to loads of wires. "Why am I handcuffed? Why do you even have handcuffs?" he asked. I looked to my hands and saw I was handcuffed too. "You handcuffed me too?" I questioned. "Spoilers." she said with a smile. "This is not a joke. Stop this now. This is going to kill you! I'd have a chance, you don't have any." he yelled. "You wouldn't have a chance, and neither do I." she yelled back. "I'm timing it for the end of the countdown. There'll be a blip in the command flow. That way it should improve our chances of a clean download." she looked at the countdown. "River, please. No." I said, hoping she would listen.

"Funny thing is, this means you've always known how I was going to die. All the time we've been together, you knew I was coming here. The last time I saw you two, the real you, the future you, I mean, you turned up on my doorstep, with new haircuts and a suit and a dress. You two took me to Darillium to see the Singing Towers. What a night that was. The Towers sang, and you both cried." River said. Tears formed in my eyes. "You wouldn't tell me why, but I suppose you knew it was time. My time. Time to come to the library." she looked over at me then back at the Doctor. "You even gave me your screwdriver. That should have been a clue." she looked over at the two screwdrivers and her diary that were just out of the Doctor's reach.

"There's nothing you can do."

"You can let me do this." the Doctor yelled frantically. "If you die here, it'll mean I've never met you." she yelled back. "Time can be rewritten." he said. "Not those times. Not one line. Don't you dare." she paused, "It's okay. It's okay. It's not over for you. You'll see me again. You've got all of that to come. You and me, time and space. You watch us run." she looked at me with a sad smile.

"River, you know my name. You whispered my name in my ear."

"Nine, eight, seven," the computer said. River put something over her head.

"There's only one reason I would ever tell anyone my name. There's only one time I could."

"Hush, now." she whispered.

"Four, three,"

"Spoilers." she gave us one last smile.

"Two, one."

River joined two power cables together, a blinding light lit up the room.

Me and the Doctor were leaning against a wall waiting for Donna to come back. "Please be patient. Only three can teleport at a time. Do not state your intended destination until you arrive in your designated slot." a computer said. We saw her walk up. "Any luck?" the Doctor asked. "There wasn't even anyone called Lee in the library that day. I suppose he could have had a different name out here, but, let's be honest, he wasn't real, was he?" she looked at the Doctor and me. "Maybe not." I said. "I made up the perfect man. Gorgeous, adores me, and hardly able to speak a word. What's that say about me?"

"Everything." I mumbled. Donna looked at me. "Sorry, did I say everything? I meant to say nothing. I was aiming for nothing. I accidentally said everything." I exhaled. "What about you two?Are you all right?" she asked us. "I'm always all right." the Doctor said. "Is all right special Time Lord code for really not all right at all?" Donna asked the making him turn. "Why?" he questioned. "'Cause I'm all right, too." she said. "Come on."

The Doctor put River's diary on the balcony rail. "Your friend, Professor Song. She knew you two in the future, but she didn't know me. What happens to me? Because when she heard my name, the way she looked at me." her voice echoed. "Donna, this is her diary.  Me and Juno's future. I could look you up. What do you think? Shall we peek at the end?" his hand was on the diary.

"Spoilers, right?" she tilted her head.

"Right." he gave us a smile. He put River's sonic screwdriver on the diary. "Come on. The next chapter's this way." We walked back up the stairs.

The Doctor ran back for the screwdriver. "Why? Why would I give her my screwdriver? Why would I do that? Thing is, future me had years to think about it, all those years to think of a way to save her, and what he did was give her a screwdriver. Why would I do that?" he asked. He opened the sonic and saw that it contained a neural relay, which has two green lights on it. "Oh! Oh! Oh, look at that. I'm very good!" he exclaimed. "What have you done?" Donna asked. "Saved her." I said with a grin.

We ran through corridors of bookshelves. "Stay with us! You can do it, stay with us! Come on, you and us, one last run." he yelled. We turned and made it to the gravity well. "Sorry, River, shortcut!" he sonic'd the terminal. "Platform disabled." a computer beeped. The Doctor grabbed me and we dove into the gravity well. The last light was blinking. We ran into the core room and the Doctor sonic'd River back into the core.

The Doctor and me returned to the Reception. We looked at each other and he gave me a smile. He snaps his fingers, and the door opened. His smile grew bigger. Donna was waiting inside. We walked in and stared at the doors. He snapped his fingers again and the door closed.

<—————>

"Doctor?" I called. "Hm?" he lifted his head from under the console. "I," I began. "I want to go home." I fiddled with my necklace. He stood up and walked over to me. "Is there a reason why?" He asked taking my hands in his. "I want to visit my friend for a while. Is that okay?" I looked up at him. He looked pained, but masked it with a smile. "That's perfectly fine." He walked over to the other side of the console. He changed the direction of the tardis, taking me back home.

When the tardis materialized, I walked to the door. "Come back for me, Doctor." I turned around. He smiled from the console. "I always will." He ran to me and gave me a hug. "I'll come take you away and show you the planet of gold." he whispered in my ear. I giggled. "Sounds perfect." He released me from the hug. "See you later, Juno." He leaned on the outside of the tardis. I waved and walked off into the streets of London.