To Be Loved

Chapter 19 - Forest of the Dead

Forest of the Dead, part 2 -

River pulled the Oracle and Lux out of the room and called the platform back up with her sonic.

"Go on, we've got something to do", River told Lux.

He hesitated but stepped on the platform and it took off. River smiled at the Oracle and pulled her back to where they'd left the Doctor and Anita. The latter had collapsed into a pile of bones in a spacesuit and the Doctor had gone back to work.

"Oh, Anita", River kneeled down shortly.

"I'm sorry. She's been dead a while now. I told you to go", the Doctor told them.

"Lux can manage without us, but you can't", River walked up to the Doctor and punched him, knocking him out.

"What are you doing?", the Oracle asked, crouching down to check on her husband.

River chained him up, "He would stop me. But this is it. I'm doing this."

"You can't-", she choked.

"There are three options in this room to take this on. And I am the only one who doesn't have a future to go to after this", River argued with her.

"Everybody has a future to go to."

"Yes, but yours is my past. Everything that will happen to you over the next few centuries. I've already been there. And I can't have either of you die and change that. So help me."

The Oracle got up, contemplating that River unfortunately had a point. She wasn't going to do it herself with her child on the way and she certainly wasn't going to let the Doctor do it. So she got to work. They started to rewire cables as River sat in a throne of sorts and the Oracle stood in front of her.

"The Last Centurion's a bedtime story", the Oracle spoke up, "That's what you whispered in my ear. You said The Last Centurion was going to save us all and I trusted you. You said you knew me as a child. There are so many dots around you and I can't seem to connect them."

"You'll find out. And I'll be there. And you'll be very emotional", River muttered, not looking up, "It's funny because I know now that you knew this all along. All the time we spent together you always knew this is how it would end. And you never said."

"The next couple centuries, you said. How old are you, River?"

"I popped by here and there. I didn't just follow you about the entire time", she smiled, "But I'll be there. You said so. You showed up, the last time I saw you, popped by to save me from my own silliness and then you took me to the Singing Towers of Darillium. We had dinner and the longest chat because for once it all matched. You cried. And now I know why."

The Doctor woke up and spotted them, "Oh, no, no, no, no, no. Come on, what are you doing? That's my job."

"Oh, and I'm not allowed to have a career, I suppose?", River sassed.

"Why am I handcuffed? Why do you even have handcuffs?"

"Spoilers."

"This is not a joke. Stop this now. This is going to kill you! I'd have a chance, you don't have any."

"You wouldn't have a chance, and neither do I. We're 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."

"River, please, no."

"Doctor, will you not waste time? I'm sorry but River's right. I am not going to let you do this. You won't just leave me alone now", the Oracle argued and picked up more wires to put around River.