Well, it's Christmas! So, as promised, here is the first and last Consequences Christmas tale! It's quite rushed and very slight, but it's something to tide you over until series 4 kicks off next month. Hope you enjoy it, bearing in mind it was mostly written in the last couple of hours!
One last thing: Merry Christmas!
The Box of Delights
The moonlight reflecting off her face accentuated her beauty, the
whiteness of the snow all around helping contribute to the ethereal glow that
seemed to bathe her entire being. As she
looked around, she smiled, drinking in the surroundings and the company.
“Now, Doctor Song,
is this the sort of thing you had in mind?” The Doctor was dressed in his
finery, resplendent in top hat and tails once again.
River, wearing an
extremely warm-looking faux-fur coat over a glorious crimson evening gown,
nodded. “Perfect. As always, you know what this
lady likes.”
“Well we can’t have
you going about saying your husband doesn’t know how to show you a good
Christmas now, can we? So, how about,” he whipped a hand out from behind his
back, seemingly pulling two glasses out from nowhere, “a glass of mulled wine?
All the rage at Christmas, so I’m told.” He handed one to River, who gratefully
accepted, and brushed snow from a nearby bench so as to allow the pair of them
room to sit.
River sipped at the
beverage, then looked curiously at the Doctor. “You don’t like wine. Why have
you got two glasses?”
The Doctor shrugged.
“It seemed polite. It’s what people do,
isn’t it? Besides,” he looked down at River’s now half-empty glass, “I’m sure
you could manage it after that one. Especially in this cold.”
River smiled slyly.
“Oh so that’s it. Get me intoxicated and have your wicked way with me? You
don’t need to go to all that trouble sweetie.”
The Doctor was
flustered, not knowing where to look or what to say.
River laughed. “Oh
you should see you face! Don’t worry my love, I’ll be gentle.”
The Doctor stood up,
paced, then sat down again having seemingly achieved nothing. Yet, when River
looked, in front of them was a gentle fire. “Well now, that’s a little better
isn’t it?” The Doctor was clearly trying to change the subject, and River
didn’t attempt to turn the conversation back to its previous course. “Now what
I thought, what I always like at Christmas, is a good story by an open fire.
The kind your parents will tell you, just before...” He looked at her sadly.
“Sorry, wasn’t thinking.”
River waved aside
any suggestion of upset or offence. “I may not have had a happy childhood with
the kind of Christmases that children should have, but I’m making up for it
now. In fact, mummy and daddy dearest received a visit from their wayward
daughter only the other day. Father’s quite the chef! Who knew?”
The Doctor looked at
her, unsurprised.”Of course he is! Rory the Roman, living a life for 2000
years. He may have been plastic, but he wasn’t idle all the time, I’m certain
of that. Unless he was, in which case it is
a big surprise, but...” He held up a hand as if to stop himself. “I’m going to
tell you a story of Christmas past –well, my
past. Just because it’s a Christmas story, you understand, and well, who doesn’t
like a good festive tale with their mulled wine on a wintry night?”
River turned,
holding her glass with both hands and getting comfortable. “Ok sweetie, “she
smiled, “I’m all ears.”
The TARDIS landed,
completely of its own volition. The Doctor thought little of it, he was used to
its idiosyncrasies by now. A few hundred years of travelling for so long with
companions, yet now alone for the first time in a very long time. It was for
the best, he was sure of that. People had died, good people, and he didn’t want to be responsible for any more
unnecessary deaths. So they’d been taken home, the pair of them, free to live
their lives safely without his interference. He sighed, looking at the empty
console room. “Yes, I shall miss them.” He looked above him, as if speaking to
some unseen force. “Not that I had a choice in the matter! Sent back to their
own times, their memories of me erased. It’s...it’s not right!” The TARDIS made
an unsavoury noise, and the Doctor backed away, as if fearful they’d heard him.
“Well I’d better take a look outside then, hadn’t I?” he said, wringing a
handkerchief through his hands and dabbing his brow with it.
The doors to the
ship were open, and outside it the Doctor could see snow and little else. Aside
from a figure, a child stumbling towards him with clothes that were far too
inadequate for the adverse conditions.
“Don’t be afraid!
Follow my voice!” He called out, and he could see the distant form heading
towards him. “That’s it! I’ll come out to meet you then we can go inside for a
nice mug of cocoa and get you warm.” The child was gaining ground, almost at
the Doctor, yet suddenly stumbled and fell in the snow.
The Doctor hesitated
briefly then dashed out into the snow, hefting the fallen child over his
shoulder and haphazardly making his way back to the TARDIS. As he crossed the
threshold, the doors closed behind him of their own accord and he headed
straight for the sickbay.
Finally, reaching
his destination, he laid the child down on one of the beds, letting the TARDIS’
automatic scanning equipment check her for signs of any infection or disease.
Knowing it would take time, he headed back to the console room, brushing the
snow from his frock coat.
He collapsed into a
chair and sighed once more. “Oh dear, I wonder what it is you want from me this
time?” He asked it of no one in particular, half expecting a message cube to appear
before him, like the one he’d sent what seemed like decades ago. Could it have
been that long? Surely not. He sat for a while, looking into the console’s
polished surface at the older figure that stared back at him. His hair was
greying now, not like the rich black it had once been. Would they ever carry
out his sentence as they kept threatening to, he wondered.
A sudden bleeping
from the console shook him from his daydream. The scan was complete, so he
headed back to the child, who when he arrived was still sleeping. He looked at
the screen next to the bed, displaying the results of the scan, and his face
fell. “Oh dear, that’s not good at all. Well we’ll see about that...” His hands
played over the various switches that were positioned all around the area. He
could at least make her comfortable, that much he was certain of. Maybe take
her on a trip. Yes, one last journey. Maybe then they’d let him go, finally
make happen what they’d sentenced him to all that time ago.
Perhaps it really
would be the end of this life after all.
The child opened her
eyes. Looking up she saw a small man with a mop of greying hair standing over
her. She didn’t remember much about what had happened before she’d fallen, but
she assumed that this man was her saviour.
“Hello,” she
offered, a little nervously at first.
“Hello,” said the
man with an infectious grin. “It’s nice to see you awake at last. I thought you
might like it here.” He gestured around their surroundings.
She looked, and it
seemed to be a wooden cabin, like the kind she’d read about in books. She stood
up, slowly, the man stepping back to allow her the space to move around. She
saw a window, the man offering his arm to help her reach it. She took it
gratefully. She reasoned that if he had planned to hurt her he would have done
so by now. As they moved towards it, she could see outside a frozen pond and
trees covered with snow, yet as she turned she could see a roaring log fire
warming the room.
The man helped her
back to her seat and sat in a chair next to her own. “I expect you’re wondering
who I am,” the man said.
The girl nodded.
“Well,” the man
looked around, seemingly nervous in his own skin, “I’m a sort of...doctor,
and...”
The girl’s eyes
brightened. “So you’re going to make me better?” She coughed raucously.
The man closed his
eyes, then opened them with an impish grin on his face. “How about some cocoa?
And then, if you like, we could try some ice skating. Have you ever been ice
skating before?”
He pulled two
steaming mugs seemingly from nowhere and handed one to the girl, who accepted
it gratefully. They both drank in silence, neither really knowing what to say.
Suddenly, as they
finished, the man leapt up and grabbed her by the arm. Almost instantaneously
it seemed they were outside, sliding about on the ice. They both tried to hold
each other up, both falling over and laughing repeatedly.
“Now, have you ever
built a snowman? Not a Yeti, they’re very different. Well not the real ones of
course, but....” The man tailed off as the girl started gathering snow and
making it into a rather elaborate figure that looked remarkably different from
a regular snowman. The detail was very precise, looking more like a specific
person than a formless lump of snow. It had defined arms and legs, and a very
distinct face which the man thought he might recognise, but couldn’t place.
Once formed, the
girl immediately threw a barrage of snowballs at the shape, causing it to
collapse and be at one with the rest of the ground once more.
The man was by now
making his way back to the cabin, and the girl followed at a pace, stopping to
have to cough viciously, then dashing after him once again.
They sat and warmed
themselves by the fire, and it was then that she noticed the Christmas tree for
the first time. Underneath were wrapped parcels, which the man began to pass to
her.
“All yours. It seems
I’m on Father Christmas’ naughty list this year.” He gave another feint
toothless smile and watched as she opened the gifts, all containing new warmer
clothing to replace the borrowed items she currently wore.
“Do you mind if
I...?” He shook his head.
He watched as she
disappeared into another room, and saw one present remained under the tree. He took
it out and opened the perfect cube of a box. Inside was a glowing white
container which he held to his head.
“Well,” he said,
eyes open and staring at the object, “well that changes everything.”
She’d collapsed
again not long after, and the Doctor knew immediately what he had to do. The
message made it very clear, and he’d crossed into a timeline he should not have
done in the first place. He’d only wanted to help, but again, in their eyes, he’d
interfered and time needed to be set back onto the right track. If he didn’t
then they would take matters into their own hands.
Reluctantly, he
carried the girl outside of the TARDIS, and set her to rest on the soft ground.
As he did so, he whispered into her ear. “Now, don’t you worry. Everything will
be quite alright....”
River reached out
and placed a hand on the Doctor’s arm, then pulled him in for a passionate
kiss. The Doctor didn’t rush to extricate himself, but upon doing so managed to
utter, “What was that for?”
She smiled, that smile again. “Oh you know, you
wonderful clever man.” Turning around she saw a wooden cabin behind her. “I
thought I recognised this place, but I assumed it was from my dreams. Amazing
how regeneration affects the brain, isn’t it?”
“Ah,” the Doctor
started, but didn’t get very far.
“I always thought –
always – that the one Christmas I could remember from my childhood I’d
imagined. But it was you, all along, even though you didn’t mean to.” She threw
up her hands. “How do you do it?”
The Doctor shrugged.
“Well, if it’s any consolation I have no idea at all. Which really isn’t much consolation at all, is it? I
mean that was hundreds of years ago and you said yourself that regeneration
does funny things to the brain and it does. It had no idea that that child
was...”
“Me. And you told
me, when you left me for that first time. You told me not to be scared, that
there was a trick, that I would be alright.” She paused, remembering the events
as if it were mere moments ago. “And you were right. And here I am, living
proof!”
The Doctor smiled,
and stood up. “And what proof you are River! A dance, in the snow? I’ve got
Frank and Deano all ready to sing?” He gestured behind him, where two men stood
and waved, and upon the Doctor’s thumbs up, began to sing.
As ‘Winter Wonderland’
could be heard all around them and they twirled in the moonlight by the frozen
lake, River whispered in the Doctor’s ear. “Just one question – where are we? I
have a good idea, but...”
The Doctor leant in
close. “Where else Doctor Song? Where else could we be but my box of delights.”
She held him close. “Merry
Christmas sweetie.”
And they danced.
