Fic: 'Just a Dream?'
Mar. 15th, 2016 01:06 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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irishvampire13
Title: 'Just a Dream?'
Rating: G
Word Count: 509
Claim: River Song; 15 Prompts--Poetry Randomizer
Prompt: #8--I had a dream.
Notes/Warnings: Very mild horror.
Summary: "Did you ever have a dream that, when you woke up, you could have sworn was real?"
Who wants to wrap around your dreams
And have you any dreams you'd like to sell
~*~ Fleetwood Mac
'Dreams'
He smiled softly. "So you're the one who will steal the Doctor from me." He kissed her hand. "Charmed, I'm sure."
She grinned confidently--mask in place to hide the fact that her heart was in her throat. Well-mannered the Master might be...but safe was another matter. "Steal him? I'm afraid you're mistaken, there, dear. From what I've been told, you chased him away long ago, with your possessive ways. The Doctor doesn't like to be pinned down."
The charming smile turned into rage. "Which is precisely why your husband," he sneered, "will always belong to me! The next time you see him, you may tell him that from me. He might stoop to marrying one of your kind; he might run from one end of this universe to the other." He leaned in close, lowering his voice to a deadly whisper. "But he cannot hope to be rid of me. He is mine, Doctor Song. Remind him of that."
He bowed low before stalking away into the darkness.
River sat bolt upright, crying out. Her head whipped back and forth, absorbing her surroundings.
Stormcage. Just where she was supposed to be.
Just...where she'd been.
Flashes were coming back. The Master threatening her without directly making threats. Inside her cell with her.
"Doctor Song?" A guard approached the bars, cautiously worried. "Is something wrong?"
"No...I'm not sure," she whispered. She wrapped her arms tightly around herself, feeling a frightened chill running through her, raising gooseflesh. "Was there...was there somebody here, a moment ago? Did I have a visitor?"
He shook his head, frowning. "I've been on duty for half an hour, and I haven't seen anyone. Did you have a nightmare?"
"I suppose I must have," River answered pensively. She looked at the guard, trying to smile; he seemed genuinely concerned for her. "Did you ever have a dream that, when you woke up, you could have sworn was real?"
The guard shrugged. "If I did, I don't know about it. I never remember my dreams."
"Lucky man," she whispered.
"Are you alright, Doctor Song?"
She waved him on. "I'm fine. You'd better go back to your patrol."
He nodded. "Good night."
River laid back down, hearing the guard's footsteps fade away. She was no longer shaking--not on the surface, at least. Deep within, down in her very bones, she was quivering with terror.
It was only a dream. It must have been. But it had felt so true, down to the impress of the Master's lips on the back of her hand. She stared at the spot, almost trying to find some physical evidence that her experience had been in the flesh, instead of only in her mind. Nothing--her eyes were infinitely more likely to bore holes into the skin than that she should find solid proof imprinted there.
Just a dream. That was all it was. A nightmare.
Wasn't it?
River laid awake for the rest of the night.
irishvampire13Title: 'Just a Dream?'
Rating: G
Word Count: 509
Claim: River Song; 15 Prompts--Poetry Randomizer
Prompt: #8--I had a dream.
Notes/Warnings: Very mild horror.
Summary: "Did you ever have a dream that, when you woke up, you could have sworn was real?"
Who wants to wrap around your dreams
And have you any dreams you'd like to sell
~*~ Fleetwood Mac
'Dreams'
He smiled softly. "So you're the one who will steal the Doctor from me." He kissed her hand. "Charmed, I'm sure."
She grinned confidently--mask in place to hide the fact that her heart was in her throat. Well-mannered the Master might be...but safe was another matter. "Steal him? I'm afraid you're mistaken, there, dear. From what I've been told, you chased him away long ago, with your possessive ways. The Doctor doesn't like to be pinned down."
The charming smile turned into rage. "Which is precisely why your husband," he sneered, "will always belong to me! The next time you see him, you may tell him that from me. He might stoop to marrying one of your kind; he might run from one end of this universe to the other." He leaned in close, lowering his voice to a deadly whisper. "But he cannot hope to be rid of me. He is mine, Doctor Song. Remind him of that."
He bowed low before stalking away into the darkness.
River sat bolt upright, crying out. Her head whipped back and forth, absorbing her surroundings.
Stormcage. Just where she was supposed to be.
Just...where she'd been.
Flashes were coming back. The Master threatening her without directly making threats. Inside her cell with her.
"Doctor Song?" A guard approached the bars, cautiously worried. "Is something wrong?"
"No...I'm not sure," she whispered. She wrapped her arms tightly around herself, feeling a frightened chill running through her, raising gooseflesh. "Was there...was there somebody here, a moment ago? Did I have a visitor?"
He shook his head, frowning. "I've been on duty for half an hour, and I haven't seen anyone. Did you have a nightmare?"
"I suppose I must have," River answered pensively. She looked at the guard, trying to smile; he seemed genuinely concerned for her. "Did you ever have a dream that, when you woke up, you could have sworn was real?"
The guard shrugged. "If I did, I don't know about it. I never remember my dreams."
"Lucky man," she whispered.
"Are you alright, Doctor Song?"
She waved him on. "I'm fine. You'd better go back to your patrol."
He nodded. "Good night."
River laid back down, hearing the guard's footsteps fade away. She was no longer shaking--not on the surface, at least. Deep within, down in her very bones, she was quivering with terror.
It was only a dream. It must have been. But it had felt so true, down to the impress of the Master's lips on the back of her hand. She stared at the spot, almost trying to find some physical evidence that her experience had been in the flesh, instead of only in her mind. Nothing--her eyes were infinitely more likely to bore holes into the skin than that she should find solid proof imprinted there.
Just a dream. That was all it was. A nightmare.
Wasn't it?
River laid awake for the rest of the night.
