River Song

Sometimes, the easiest way to hide, was in plain sight. Something River Song had become rather adept at in her time travelling the universe. She could blend into almost any environment, learn about the locality very quickly, and she was also rather good at lying. This meant she had been onboard the Starship Enterprise for nearly two months now, and nobody had questioned her presence.

As one of the science officers, her knowledge meant she was able to fit in quite well, not to mention those uniforms! River had taken a particular shine to the blue dress she'd commandeered as part of her identity - it was after all her favourite colour. For now, there didn't seem to be any ulterior motive to this stowaway. She happily played the part every day, followed her instructions, offered help where needed. In fact, she seemed to rather enjoy the role, so much so that one might question if the act was becoming closer to reality.

It was yet another day on board the Enterprise, and River was just another face in a crowd of different coloured shirts, each going about their business, each with a particular task in mind. She was assigned to research for the day, but rather than accompanying her team to the lab, River seemed to be choosing her own path. Passing through the corridor, she deviated off from the crowd, only checking over her shoulder once or twice before being convinced she was unnoticed, and continuing on her way.

After finding herself caught up in the wrong TARDIS (and the wrong Doctor,) River makes her way outside, back under the nighttime sky of Calderon Beta. She doesn't want to be late for Darillium, after all. It's taken her long enough to convince him to visit, and the last time they tried the restaurant had been suddenly under refurbishment. She leans against the TARDIS, folding her arms against the cool night air and smiling as she looks up at the sky, knowing soon it'll become a most magnificent canvas of stars that would light up the planet.

She hears the door open, and glances aside, smiling when she sees her top-hatted Doctor step on out of the TARDIS. "That takes me back," she says, as he joins her. "Seeing you in that suit. Our first night. Do you remember that?"

Tonight, for once, River Song is in Stormcage.

She's only been back a few hours, and has soon fallen back into the grim routine of prison. Behind locked doors, she lies in her bed, her knees bent and her diary propped against her thighs. The storm outside rumbles forever on, but River pays it no mind, for her attention is solely on the pages of her diary, and all those memories every word generated. She needs that. When she isn't with the Doctor, it's the memory of him that keeps her going, that makes her keep her promise and stay behind bars.

Every page of her diary tells a story of the times they'd shared, long and detailed in their descriptions, to try and keep every memory beating in that old blue book. She tells of every adventure, every fight, every kiss - all with that same attention, and it's the latter of those stories that grip her now. Ink on a page becomes alive inside her head, and that gentle script instead transform into sights and sounds as clear as if she was still there that very moment.

Her eyes close and she lays the diary down on her chest for a moment, taking a deep breath as she tries to ground herself in that, take some comfort in the loving warmth of such memories, and ignore the cold, damp cell around her. If she concentrates hard enough, she can feel him right there with her, a warm hand on hers, his lips brushing her skin. Stormcage becomes nothing more than a memory itself, and he, he becomes real.