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crack_van2013-05-08 10:27 am
stars-inthe-sky.livejournal.com) wrote in crack_van2013-05-08 10:27 am
Entry tags:
"A Game of Equals" by Irony_Rocks (explicit)
Fandom: Doctor Who
Pairing: River Song/The Doctor, Amy Pond/Rory Williams, Martha Jones/Mickey Smith, Ninth Doctor/Rose Tyler
Length: ~95K words
Author on LJ:![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
irony_rocks
Author Website: Master list
Why this must be read: James Bond-style spy AU featuring the whole NewWho gang. Do I really need to say more? (In case I do: Irony's one of those authors who writes almost everything better than almost anyone, and this entry is no exception. When I found "A Game of Equals" for the first time, I literally disrupted my entire Sunday to keep reading it. That awesome. The translation of all the characters into a spy setting is delightful--I particularly love the code names to distinguish between the AU versions of the Doctors.)
He awoke groggily in the passenger seat of his own car – a deep blue Aston Martin that he nicknamed Sexy, equipped with more gadgets and weaponry than most submarines. He’d designed it himself, and never let anyone else drive it. And here she was, one Miss River Song, driving his car on a high-speed chase down the coastline.
“What?” he began with a yell, disoriented.
“Hello, sweetie,” she returned. “I’d find something to hang on to, if I were you.”
“What are you doing driving my car?” he demanded, and someone fired at them from the front car. “And who's shooting at us?!”
“Look,” River said. “The way I see it, we’re both after the same thing. What you’ve been told about me has been a lie. I am not your enemy, Doctor. In fact, if I were a betting woman, I’d say I may be your greatest ally.”
“Why the bloody hell should I listen to anything you have to say?” he asked, then swiped angrily at his lips. “And was your lipstick poisoned?”
“Don’t be so overdramatic!” she chided. “There was just a sedative in it, not a poison.”
“Oh, well, just.” He scowled. “Pull the car over right now, and—”
“Can’t,” she said, and took the next left turn hard, so hard, in fact, that he slammed right into her. “Hands, Doctor!” she teased with a laugh. “You’ll have to do more than swing me around the dance floor once before you can get a more intimate feel of me. But I do love that you tried.”
He flushed, then scowled again, adjusting the lapels of his jacket. “Who are we chasing?”
“Three guesses, and the first two don’t count,” she returned airily, then fired her gun at the vehicle in front of them, another sports car going dangerously high-speed through all the twists and turns of the road; thankfully, River seemed adept at handling his baby, and she was managing not only to keep up, but she was firing off a few rounds with expert marksmanship. Whoever River Song was, she was more than just some bloody thief, that was for sure. “Look,” she said, “Give me twenty-four hours to track down a lead. Just twenty-four hours. Tag along if you like. If I don’t prove to you by then that this game is rigged against me, that I’m a patsy, then I’ll go quietly back to prison. You can even cuff me, yourself.” She smiled. “It might even be fun.”
“Is that so?” he returned, distrustfully, then looked to the road. “Tree, tree! River, look out for the tree!”
She swerved away easily. “You’re too good of an agent to be sent on a mission to recover some crown jewels, and you know it. There is something bigger at play. If you don’t trust me, then trust your instincts. What are they telling you right now?”
“That you’re insane!” he snapped at her.
“Well, rumor has it you’re a mad man, so we’re well matched, don’t you think?”
He looked to her, and she met his glowering gaze, very collected, her own eyes crystal clear, and from one moment to the next, something changed. He couldn’t have named it, beyond a collection of gestures: one eyebrow rising in a narrow elegant arch, the wind rushing through the wild locks of her hair, an upward tilt to the corner of her mouth; inconsequential details that meant nothing, changed nothing. Of course nothing changed. He blamed the adrenaline or the concussion – surely he had a concussion – but the air between them suddenly went electric. He was leaning towards her before he realized it.
“Twenty-four hours,” he told her. “And if this is some sort of trap or ruse, River Song, you’ll greatly rue the day the you ever decided to play games with me.”
“Oh, sweetie,” she returned with a laugh. “You won’t regret this. Game on.”
A Game of Equals
Pairing: River Song/The Doctor, Amy Pond/Rory Williams, Martha Jones/Mickey Smith, Ninth Doctor/Rose Tyler
Length: ~95K words
Author on LJ:
irony_rocksAuthor Website: Master list
Why this must be read: James Bond-style spy AU featuring the whole NewWho gang. Do I really need to say more? (In case I do: Irony's one of those authors who writes almost everything better than almost anyone, and this entry is no exception. When I found "A Game of Equals" for the first time, I literally disrupted my entire Sunday to keep reading it. That awesome. The translation of all the characters into a spy setting is delightful--I particularly love the code names to distinguish between the AU versions of the Doctors.)
He awoke groggily in the passenger seat of his own car – a deep blue Aston Martin that he nicknamed Sexy, equipped with more gadgets and weaponry than most submarines. He’d designed it himself, and never let anyone else drive it. And here she was, one Miss River Song, driving his car on a high-speed chase down the coastline.
“What?” he began with a yell, disoriented.
“Hello, sweetie,” she returned. “I’d find something to hang on to, if I were you.”
“What are you doing driving my car?” he demanded, and someone fired at them from the front car. “And who's shooting at us?!”
“Look,” River said. “The way I see it, we’re both after the same thing. What you’ve been told about me has been a lie. I am not your enemy, Doctor. In fact, if I were a betting woman, I’d say I may be your greatest ally.”
“Why the bloody hell should I listen to anything you have to say?” he asked, then swiped angrily at his lips. “And was your lipstick poisoned?”
“Don’t be so overdramatic!” she chided. “There was just a sedative in it, not a poison.”
“Oh, well, just.” He scowled. “Pull the car over right now, and—”
“Can’t,” she said, and took the next left turn hard, so hard, in fact, that he slammed right into her. “Hands, Doctor!” she teased with a laugh. “You’ll have to do more than swing me around the dance floor once before you can get a more intimate feel of me. But I do love that you tried.”
He flushed, then scowled again, adjusting the lapels of his jacket. “Who are we chasing?”
“Three guesses, and the first two don’t count,” she returned airily, then fired her gun at the vehicle in front of them, another sports car going dangerously high-speed through all the twists and turns of the road; thankfully, River seemed adept at handling his baby, and she was managing not only to keep up, but she was firing off a few rounds with expert marksmanship. Whoever River Song was, she was more than just some bloody thief, that was for sure. “Look,” she said, “Give me twenty-four hours to track down a lead. Just twenty-four hours. Tag along if you like. If I don’t prove to you by then that this game is rigged against me, that I’m a patsy, then I’ll go quietly back to prison. You can even cuff me, yourself.” She smiled. “It might even be fun.”
“Is that so?” he returned, distrustfully, then looked to the road. “Tree, tree! River, look out for the tree!”
She swerved away easily. “You’re too good of an agent to be sent on a mission to recover some crown jewels, and you know it. There is something bigger at play. If you don’t trust me, then trust your instincts. What are they telling you right now?”
“That you’re insane!” he snapped at her.
“Well, rumor has it you’re a mad man, so we’re well matched, don’t you think?”
He looked to her, and she met his glowering gaze, very collected, her own eyes crystal clear, and from one moment to the next, something changed. He couldn’t have named it, beyond a collection of gestures: one eyebrow rising in a narrow elegant arch, the wind rushing through the wild locks of her hair, an upward tilt to the corner of her mouth; inconsequential details that meant nothing, changed nothing. Of course nothing changed. He blamed the adrenaline or the concussion – surely he had a concussion – but the air between them suddenly went electric. He was leaning towards her before he realized it.
“Twenty-four hours,” he told her. “And if this is some sort of trap or ruse, River Song, you’ll greatly rue the day the you ever decided to play games with me.”
“Oh, sweetie,” she returned with a laugh. “You won’t regret this. Game on.”
A Game of Equals