Nightmares

Hello lovelies :)

After a conversation with NaviRebel16 (check out her fic... it's good!) I made up my mind to write this story. Hopefully you'll like it! Fingers crossed anyway!

Disclaimer – I don't own Doctor Who or anything related to it (except a Doctor/Donna poster, the first four series on DVD and an Adipose cuddly toy called Barry). I definitely don't own any of the characters except Evie Song who IS mine.

This story is set during 'The God Complex'. I'm just making sure you are aware of this right at the beginning so if by some weird chance you haven't seen it I won't ruin it for you! :) Also, you don't have to have read Evie's Diary, but there might be mention of some of the stuff that happens in it in this. Also, if you haven't read any of the other parts of Evie's story it might be a little confusing!

As usual, all speech that is from the episodes is in italics. Please leave me some reviews. You know how happy they make me! :D

River sighed. Her daughter was late back for the fourth time in two weeks. Now she was almost twenty-one the archaeologist had been forced to admit that Evie should probably be given the chance to go off and do her own thing, but the woman didn't have to like it. In fact, she hated it.

Pacing backwards and forwards across the Stormcage cell she kept glancing quickly at the device on her wrist, checking the time. Evie had said that she wouldn't be home much later than one in the morning, but it was now half past two and there was no sign of her. The last time she'd been this late she'd appeared in the corridor outside the cell with three cracked ribs and a fractured ankle. The time before that she had a broken arm and a large scratch which ran from her eyebrow to her chin.

The woman knew that her daughter hated her worrying more than anything; her most commonly uttered phrase was 'I'm a big girl now, I can look after myself, right?' but it didn't stop River from being unable to sleep when she knew her daughter was out there on her own in the universe. It wasn't even as if she knew where Evie was.

Another half an hour passed before Evie appeared in the prison. She materialised out of thin air, staggered slightly and promptly collapsed in a heap on the ground. River stifled a scream and fumbled with the lock. In seconds she had sunk to the ground beside her daughter, brushing the hair from her face and cradling her head gently, scanning her for any signs of serious injury.

"Evie? Baby? Speak to me!" She demanded thickly, sniffing a couple of times.

The girl opened her eyes and blinked a couple of times, trying to focus her gaze on her mother's face. "S'matter?" She slurred.

River froze. Then her face darkened and she rose quickly to her feet, dragging her daughter with her. "You're drunk?" She snapped.

"Am not." Evie argued, pouting slightly. With that expression on her face River was firmly reminded of a six-year-old Evie who'd just been told that she was too young to accompany her and the Doctor on one of their 'missions'.

"You are… bed."

Manhandling her daughter into her bunk in the cell, River glared at her before slipping into her own bed angrily. Tomorrow morning there would be explanations and arguments and goodness knew what else. River was too tired to think about that now. It was always the same when Evie came back from one of her solo trips. Her mother was seemingly unable to express how worried and anxious she had been; instead River got angry which made Evie even more reckless in an attempt to prove that she wasn't a little girl who needed looking after. It was a vicious cycle.

Lying in the dark, River's anger subsided quickly. She stared at the ceiling of the cell for a while before she heard Evie stumbling across the cell and the unmistakable signs of the young woman being sick. With a sigh, River climbed out of bed and moved to her daughter's side, moving her hair out of the way and rubbing her back gently.

At least Evie would regret this in the morning.

x-x

"Breakfast!" A man shouted, the familiar clanking rattle of the breakfast trolley stopping outside their cell.

River was already up and dressed, sitting crossed-legged on her bed reading. Evie was still cocooned in her blankets, hiding away from the morning light, the sounds of Stormcage and the smell of the breakfast trolley. She groaned loudly, the sound slightly muffled underneath her covers. Her mother smiled.

"Thanks, Jeff." She said, moving towards the bars and waiting for the man to unlock the door so he could pass the trays through the opening. River took them with a smile, placing her own down before taking Evie's. "See you at lunch!"

He mumbled something under his breath, which River strategically chose to ignore, before pushing his trolley away lazily. Shaking her head, the woman forced the covers down over her daughter and plonked the tray of tea and toast on her lap. Evie groaned, her grey-tinged face turning slightly green at the sight.

"There's something I need to talk to you about." River started, sitting on the bottom of Evie's bed and leaning against the wall. She took a sip of her coffee as her daughter groaned and attempted to hide underneath the blanket once more. Realising that this wasn't a possibility because her mother was sitting on most of it, Evie sighed and shuffled into a more upright position, taking a tentative sip of her tea.

"If it's about last night…" She began her tone defensive. But River shook her head, cutting her off. "Good, because I don't have an excuse."

"No… this is something more important. I've been given a task to do… Someone called Father Octavian is coming to collect me in a couple of hours. I don't know how long I'm going to be away, but I want you to go and stay with your father."

Evie narrowed her eyes. "I am perfectly capable of taking care of myself you know."

"I know." River agreed, though she wasn't completely sure her daughter was right. "But I thought you might LIKE to spend some time with the Doctor and Amy and Rory. I mean, you haven't actually seen them in a while, have you?"

"I saw them last month." Evie argued, determined to be awkward. Her mother sighed. "Fine… actually, I'd like to hang out with them for a while… they don't nag as much as you do!"

River laughed. "Just wait until they get older!"

x-x

Just before Father Octavian was due to collect River, the TARDIS materialised in the corridor outside the cell. The Doctor bounced out of the doors and pulled Evie into a tight hug before awkwardly patting River on the back. Since the trip he and his daughter had taken to see the Lightening Skies of Cotter Palluni's World the Doctor was far less awkward with her. He still wasn't entirely sure how to act around River though.

Evie noticed the Doctor and Amy's faces mould into expressions of surprise when River explained who was coming to get her, but they were quick to cover them with looks of interest. A surreptitious glance at Rory told Evie that he didn't know what she was talking about so she assumed he hadn't been around when whatever was about to happen to her mother happened. She decided to ask Amy or her Dad about it later.

"Well… can't stand around chatting all day." The Doctor announced, rubbing his hands together eagerly. "Things to do, people to see –"

"Places to destroy?" Evie added helpfully. The Doctor looked a little shocked and River rolled her eyes at their daughter's words.

"Knowing you two, that's probably the most accurate." She said with a sigh. Pressing a kiss to Evie's temple she whispered softly in her ear. "Love you, be careful."

"Love you too. And try not to die." Evie replied, just as softly, as she always did when they went their separate ways. The ghost of a smile flitted across River's face and she ushered the girl into the TARDIS behind the others.

She watched as the blue box dematerialised wondering about the strange looks that the Doctor and Amy had shot each other at the mention of Father Octavian. But there was no time to dwell on it, because the cleric appeared moments later and began laying down the law.

A/N: I just want to warn you now - and apologise in advance - that so far this is the only chapter I've written of this fic. Things are a little crazy with uni at the moment, but I'm doing my best to find time to write. Seriously, not having the time to do it is killing me! I will update as soon as I possibly can. The same goes for Evie's Diary.

Hope you enjoyed it! :)

B x