FIC: The Ice-Puzzle (Doctor Who; River/Doctor, PG)

[tellitslant]

Title: The Ice-Puzzle
Author: tellitslant
Fandom: Doctor Who
Pairing: River/Doctor
Rating: PG
Word count: 2000
Disclaimer: BBC. Transformative work. Etc.
Warnings: none
Notes: Extremely, extremely belated fic for owlsie in return for this adorable fanart – the exchange theme was "snow."
Summary: The Doctor is trapped on an ice planet with the TARDIS out of commission. But who brought him there, and why?



"Doctor, you promised me Space Florida!" Amy folded her arms and frowned. "This is not Space Florida."

"Ah, no." The Doctor stared out the TARDIS door. "No, it isn't, is it." He'd been aiming for the beach – he was sure he'd been aiming for the beach – but that was definitely not a beach outside. It was a similarly large, flat stretch of land, true, but instead of the automatic sand and rhythmic waves he'd been picturing, there was nothing but white. Vast blankets of sparkling white snow covered the ground as far as the Doctor could see, ending, off in the distance, in towering white cliffs.

It wasn't even Space Florida during an unexpected ice age, which had been his first thought.

"Well?" Amy said, shivering in the cold breeze coming through the door. "Come on, Space Florida, let's go then!"

"Oh? Right." The Doctor tore himself away from the winter wonderland and shut the door. "Let's try this again!" He spun the dials on the console, fiddling with the coordinates – coordinates he was sure he'd set properly the first time – and yanked the handle. Instead of the usual wheezing groan, however, the TARDIS just grumbled disconsolately and refused to move.

"Come on, now, what's the problem?" the Doctor asked. He rattled off a command on the integrated typewriter and pulled a lever. The TARDIS beeped at him insolently – he was sure that sound had been insolent! She was doing it on purpose, the cheeky thing! But why?

"Doctor?" Amy asked. "Is something the matter?"

"I think we're here for a reason, Amy," he said, studying the console. "The TARDIS wants us here."

"Oh, I am not going out in that," Amy declared, pointing at the closed door. "You said Space Florida, not Space Siberia." She flopped down on the chair in the corner, shoving her oversized sunglasses up on her head. "You go liberate the ice monsters or whatever it is needs doing. I'm just going to stay in here. Where it's warm."

The Doctor opened his mouth to protest. "Ah!" Amy forestalled him by lifting a finger. "No. Just go. I mean it!" She picked up a book and began to read, ignoring him ostentatiously. The Doctor closed his mouth, shrugged, and went to rummage in the wardrobe for winter wear.

It wasn't actually that cold out, he discovered as he hiked towards the towering cliffs, the snow squeaking beneath his feet. His screwdriver said it was a chilly -5° Celsius, but he was moving quickly enough to keep him quite warm. Perhaps the wooly hat, thick mittens, down coat, and enormous scarf had been overkill. He unwound the scarf, glanced around, then dropped it in his wake. He hadn't seen another soul; not even a set of tracks marred the surface of the snow aside from his, leading directly back to the TARDIS. The scarf wasn’t going anywhere.

Not five minutes later, the proximity alarm on his screwdriver went off. He whipped it out of his pocket and checked the readout.

One lifeform. Humanoid. "Hmm," said the Doctor, altering his trajectory slightly to head towards the reading.

A few hundred metres later, he ran across the tracks. "Hmm!" he said again, scanning them. One lifeform, humanoid. Passed by about five hours and – he tasted a pinch of snow – seven minutes earlier. And there was something... familiar... about the biosigns.

An ominous rumble from the nearby cliffs interrupted the Doctor's thought process. He looked up to see a chunk of ice crumble from midway up the cliff face, triggering a small avalanche that shattered the silence. The ground under the Doctor's feet shook slightly as the snow pack came to a halt at the bottom of the cliff. "Hmm," he repeated thoughtfully, stepping onto the existing path and shortening his stride to match that of whoever had left the tracks.

The Doctor was regretting having abandoned the scarf by the time he eventually spotted the tent. The sun was still bright, but the wind had picked up, cutting through his coat. Dustings of snow from the powder clouds raised by the continuing small avalanches kept settling on the back of his neck, making him shiver. He'd tugged his hat down over his ears, but his nose was red and he was sure there were icicles forming in his eyebrows. So when he saw the tent, he didn't think twice, only stumbled towards it and pushed through the flap.

A puff of warm air greeted him and he shut his eyes in momentary gratitude, feeling his cheeks tingle as they started to thaw. Someone laughed and his eyes flew open as he spun to look beside him.

"Hello, sweetie," River said from where she was lounging on an overstuffed sofa. "You're just in time. Mulled wine?" She looked like she'd just walked out of a ski lodge, clad in a blue cowl-neck sweater, thick black tights, and, incongruously, fluffy white boots with little pompoms dangling from the back. Somehow, they suited her perfectly.

"River!" The Doctor whipped his hat off and ran a hand through his hair, trying to calm the staticky strands. "What are you doing here?"

She unfolded herself gracefully from the sofa and crossed to him. Unzipping his coat, she slid it from his shoulders. He stuffed his mittens hastily into the pockets and let her hang it from a peg on the tent wall.

When she turned back, she had a mug of mulled wine in one hand and her little blue book in the other. She pushed the mug at him and smiled. "We have a few minutes," she said, settling back into the sofa and patting the cushions next to her. "Shall we compare notes? Where are we up to?"

The Doctor sat down on the edge of the sofa, resting the mug on his knees, and eyed River's book warily. "Why are we here, River?" he asked again.

"Patience," River said, touching his arm lightly. "Now, I'm guessing...." She looked him over, taking in every detail from his clothes to his stance to his untidy hair. "Relatively early, right? Have we done the Byzantium yet? The Pandorica?"

"Ah, yes to the second, no to the first – wait, no, reverse that," he said, flustered. "River, did you – was bringing the TARDIS here your doing?"

"Sorry?" River made a note in her book, then laid it and the pen aside. "Oh, the TARDIS, yes. She and I had a few words; she owed me a favour." She reached for her own mug of wine and grinned at him over its rim. "Don't worry, sweetie, she only agreed because she knew how much you'd enjoy this."

"You – she – enjoy what?" he sputtered. "Enjoy floundering through snowdrifts? When I could have been on a beach enjoying the sun – "

" – getting a terrible sunburn, more like it," River interrupted. "I know how sensitive your skin is. Here, hold this." She handed her mug to him and he juggled them ineptly, managing not to spill any wine. Turning her hand, River studied the screen on her wriststrap. "Not long now," she said, pressing a button.

The walls of the tent shimmered suddenly and turned transparent, revealing the snow-covered hills and, directly in front of the sofa, the icy cliffs. They seemed closer than the Doctor remembered; another chunk of ice fell as he watched, looking much larger than any of the others, but the impact barely shook the tent.

"It's magnified," River said before he could ask, slipping her mug from his grasp. "You'll want to see this up close."

"See what?" the Doctor asked, exasperated. First a near mutiny by his TARDIS, now River wouldn't answer his very simple questions – well, that wasn't news, of course, but – "River, enough with the mystery. Just tell me why I'm here!"

"Just wait, sweetie." River urged him back into the sofa cushions with one hand. He resisted for a moment, then gave in and sank back next to her. She gave him a fond look. "Now watch."

The Doctor took a petulant swallow of his wine, then another, larger gulp as the taste registered. All right, he decided, letting himself relax more fully. He could wait a few moments longer.

"There," River breathed, curling her legs under her and leaning forward. He darted a glance at her out of the corner of his eye, then looked out through the magnifying glass walls of River's tent.

The sky was darkening, but the cliffs were – brightening? The Doctor squinted, sitting upright in spite of himself. The outer layer of ice was hollow; blue light shone through it, showing ghostly silhouettes flickering in the internal cavity. As he watched, another sliver of ice cracked away from the cliff wall, then another, until the blue light shone directly through an opening. Were those buildings inside? The Doctor stood and stepped close to the tent wall, pressing his hand to the surface; he barely noticed River taking the mug from his other hand before he spilled the remains of his wine.

Ice and snow were falling rapidly now, like the cliff wall was peeling away from itself, a cocoon opening to let a butterfly out. The buildings in the hollowed-out cliff appeared in bits and pieces, revealing themselves slowly to the Doctor's fascinated gaze. They were astoundingly intricate, light, airy confections of latticework that shimmered like mirrors in the blue light of the lanterns within.

Finally the metamorphosis shuddered to a stop, leaving an entire city standing in the shelter of the cliff. The Doctor stared, amazed. As he watched, several small flying objects darted out of holes in the buildings, converging on the piles of snow and ice that had accumulated at the base of the cliff. They began carrying away the debris, revealing the smooth ice beneath.

"Incredible, isn't it?" The Doctor started – he'd almost forgotten River was there. She was watching him, not the spectacle outside, her eyes dark. "The White Bees of Winter opening their hive to the outside world. Something so beautiful from such destruction, a beginning in an end." She smiled at him. "I thought you might find it worth watching."

"River, I – yes." He turned from the scene outside and took her hands in his. "Thank you. It was – it was worth all the deception."

River laughed, her expression unwontedly tender. "It so often is." She clung to his hands briefly, her fingers cold in his grasp, then pulled away purposefully. "Now, get your coat back on," she said briskly. "We've only got an hour or so to get away."

"Get away?" The Doctor scrambled his way back into his coat. "Before what?"

River tossed his hat to him and pulled a long, dark trenchcoat on, belting it neatly. "Before the bees swarm," she said, shooing him outside. She pressed another button on her wriststrap and the tent collapsed, folding in on itself into a tiny cube that she picked up and stored in a pocket. "They'll be looking for fresh meat; the queen will be emerging soon and she'll need to feed once she's killed all her rivals."

"Oh." He shoved his mittens on and glanced down. His tracks from earlier were still visible, but at the rate it was growing dark, they wouldn't be for long. "So I'd better go, then."

"Yes." River tucked her hands in her pockets and gazed up at him serenely. "I'm glad you came. Do enjoy the beach – and remember the sunscreen, won't you?" She took a step backwards and disappeared.

The Doctor stared into empty space for a moment before starting to retrace his tracks. After a few steps he broke into a jog, then a run, listening to the hum of the bees behind him as it increased in pitch.

He darted breathlessly into the TARDIS and flattened himself against the doors. Amy poked her head into the console room. "Took you long enough," she said. "So was there a good reason? Can we go now?"

The Doctor threw his coat over the railing and moved to the console. The TARDIS hummed under his touch, responsive as ever, but he spared her a dirty look before resetting the controls. "Yes," he said obliquely, not turning. "Now we can go. Get your beach things." He pulled the handle back, sending them rocketing through the vortex; Amy squealed in delight and dashed out of the room. "And, Amy!" he called after her. "Don't forget the sunscreen!"