This is heartbreak: 13th Doctor & River Song

1

The hum of a type 40 TARDIS is surprisingly comforting and familiar, you might expect it to get slightly irritating after some time, but it is a noise that hides the silence. It is a noise that has broken a lot of silence, some silence that was awkward, some was simply when no one had anything to say, some was dangerous silence, and some was sad. The sad silence was the worst, and yet there had been so much of it. The repetitive humming had also broken happy and friendly and oh so good silence, but when that goodness left, and the people left, the silence was replaced with complete and utterly devastating silence.

The TARDIS itself had seen the Doctor sad. She always smiled, especially with this new body, which seemed to temporarily bring the mood up, but she was often still sad. That smile, that jolly smile made everyone happy, it hid what lay underneath. It was easy for people to assume everything was fine when they saw such a solid smile, but they missed the fact that it was only so solid because of all the years, decades, centuries of practise.

The TARDIS would never assume. It would never pretend she was fine just because that was the easiest thing to do. It would always stay loyal, and stay by her side, because it knew that no one else would. No one else could. It would always hum to fill that silence, because if it didn't, what else would? The humming was like a constant reminder to the Doctor that the TARDIS was always there for her. There was the comfort. There was the familiarity that there was always some good, even when everything else was bad.

That was what the Doctor always reminded herself. There is always some good. If she didn't, she shuddered to think where she would be now. For one thing, she wouldn't see the opportunity available in everything, and in that case she probably wouldn't have even left Gallifrey in the first place. Maybe that would've been better, maybe less people would die that way. Sure, she had been in a war, but she killed the people in the war anyway for the sake of stopping it. She'd gone back later, and saved everything, but the guilt still hung in her conscience.

"Doctor?" Yas asked, cutting through the silence that was layered beneath the TARDIS's hum. The silence was always there, even if it is disguised. The Doctor looked up to her companions, who were standing on the honeycomb patterned steps. She smiled weakly to show them she was listening. That smile was false, but she hoped it didn't show.

The Doctor stood up a bit straighter, and fiddled with a few of the TARDIS's controls. "Ready to go somewhere?" She asked, anticipating the next adventure she was going to take her beloved companions on. She loved the process of taking some totally normal people (who were usually humans) and showing them everything, giving their life a purpose and watching their eyes sparkle at all the new things they see. She hated saying goodbye.

The three humans smiled, their faces lighting up like small children being given sweets. Yas nodded, and the Doctor pulled the leaver on the control panel. The time machine energetically hummed louder and louder, and ran through deep space faster than the speed of light. The Doctor always left the breaks on, which meant the box was filled with loud noises, and the beings inside were jolted around by the force of movement.

Usually, the TARDIS was just as eager for the Doctor to explore new places as the Doctor herself was, but this time, it had a bad feeling about what the Doctor might be facing. Unfortunately, it was powerless for communicating to the Time Lord, so it reluctantly materialised on the planet.

~~
"Here we are." The Doctor explained eagerly. She never could resist the promising idea of another adventure, a new planet she'd never seen before, new people, new experiences. She never understood how some people weren't interested to see what there was out there.

"Where?" Ryan asked. Graham picked up his coat from where it was spread casually over one of the yellow glowing crystals with three others. He also handed out the others, and everyone took theirs' gratefully. The Doctor decided she liked her coat, it was long with lots of pockets, pockets were good, and the look she had chosen for this body seemed to work quite well. She imagined the laughs she'd get if her previous companions saw her dressed like this. She still had the suspenders though, which she had had on quite a few old bodies.

"Dunno, it's a surprise for all of us." The Doctor replied, shrugging. It was almost always a surprise when she travelled, and that's the way she liked it. Surprises were fun, and added some mystery into life. She wrapped her long jacket around herself before turning and going to the door. Her companions followed as she stepped out of the blue box into a hallway. She sighed, disappointed that it was a building and not a planet. It probably meant she'd be told she wasn't allowed here - not that she'd care or pay any attention to anyone telling her that, she never did.

"Not the best surprise you've given us so far." Graham commented as he gazed around the dull, grey hallway and closed the TARDIS door behind them all.

"All right" The Doctor huffed, her accent coming out strongly. She proceeded to take her sonic out of her pocket and scan the area around them. "Well, it's an alien planet, don't recognise the species though." She exclaimed, looking at the devise. "Lets have a look around, shall we?"

Yas and Ryan grinned at the Doctor, who marched off in a random direction, whilst Graham just examined the surroundings briefly.

They all walked through the identical and soulless halls, passing a few boring (and locked) doors (the Doctor's sonic wouldn't work on the locks; they must be wood). It was like a maze, with so many different ways to go, the building - whatever it's purpose - seemed completely endless.

"Doc?" Graham asked, after quite a while of wandering and turning in various different directions.

"Yeah?" The Doctor replied after a moment. She was in her own world, wondering where the locked doors went, and where the people were. She carried on walking, trying every door as they came into reach to check if one was open.

"Are we lost?" He asked, glancing around warily. The TARDIS seemed to be a distant memory.

"Oh," the Doctor realised right then and there that she had walked off and not really payed much attention to where she was going. "No." Of course she wasn't lost. Even if she was, there was no point in turning back now, because she wanted to know where they were.

"We are." Ryan stated. The Doctor just continued walking. The halls were plain, like whoever painted them was on a budget, or wanted a very serious and intimidating atmosphere. If they did, the Doctor could see through that easily without a second thought.

There was a sound, and the Doctor looked sharply to where it had come from. It was like paper being moved aside violently, and the sound of it was coming from an open door. The Doctor grinned, finally there was a sign of life.

"Who's there?" She asked, trying to sound confident, although she was still unsure about the surroundings. The rushed shuffling of paper stopped, and for a horrible minute the Doctor thought that whoever was in there was going to come out and they would be dangerous. However, it seemed to go completely silent, like whoever was in there was holding their breath and hiding.

The Doctor looked back at her companions and shrugged, before turning again and entering the room. There was no one there. Her fam entered behind her, and they looked around the small bunk room. There was a desk, with some messed up paper, a small bare bed, with only the mattress, and a chair. It quite frankly looked like a prison cell.

The Doctor went over to the desk and looked at the paper. The writing seemed to be about some sort of royal jewel of an alien species, called Jix, and it was apparently priceless. The Doctor's eyebrows furrowed, confused at why the information was there. She moved the top few pages aside, looking for something more interesting, and found a blue book. She inhaled sharply as she realised what it was. Her companions were distracted, to her relief, meaning they hadn't noticed what she was looking at. She put her attention back to the diary, and opened it up a little. She shouldn't, but she knew what was in there already. It was roughly half full. She needed to leave, because she couldn't cross timelines with River. She couldn't.

"Step away." A voice she recognised threatened her. She felt the gun go up to point against the side of her head, typical River. She grinned.

A/N
Hope you're enjoying it so far. Sorry if there are any mistakes.