Fanfiction || Inconsistencies of Recollection || Amy/River || Part Two

[cuzimastripper]

Title: Inconsistencies of Recollection
Author: Sapphire Smoke cuzimastripper
Beta(s): firefly_124, Doom_Kitteh (Twitter)
Fandom: Doctor Who
Rating: PG-13 (so far - will probably end up being R/NC-17)
Pairing: Amy/River
Length Thus Far: 20,975 words
Timeline: Post "The Big Bang"
Summary: Sometimes a memory is all we have left, even if it feels tampered with.
Other Parts: PART ONE

A/N: So yeah. I procrastinated, went on vacation, and then procrastinated again. I'll try to do better. lol.

CHAPTER FOUR
A Surprising Greeting

Seeing River again was… awkward.

The problem with that isn’t even the general awkwardness either; it’s that the last time River saw her, things were good. She’d just got married; she was having fun, flirting a bit with her for laughs. There was nothing wrong with that. But that wasn’t the last time Amy saw River.

Because that was a week ago for her… and about two and a half decades ago for River.

The Doctor and Amy had landed on the plant Hyplèan and accidently ran into River while trying to chase down an alien that was trying to get its yellow, flabby little hands on some kind of transmitter. It just so happened to be buried after an avalanche in the same area that River was digging in. The archeologist couldn’t be more than twenty, all spunk, sass, and eager to finally be out at a real dig, even as a student.

But it wasn’t the fact that River was young, or the fact that they were chasing around a flabby yellow alien that made it awkward. It was how River greeted her.

* * *

“Amy! Did you see where it went?” The Doctor calls out to her in a hushed whisper as they zigzag their way through all these tents that litter the ground around the dig site.

“If I did, don’t you think I would have told you?” Amy whispers back, slightly annoyed by this game of cat and mouse they’ve been playing for the better half of the last couple days. “Or do you think I would stall you so me and the walking booger could go for tea?”

“Don’t be silly, Pond. Yxnix don’t drink tea,” the Doctor responds, either completely missing or ignoring her snark. But it’s late, she’s tired and it looks like this thing’s run off completely.

“Why don’t we look for it when it’s light out?” Amy suggests quietly as they tiptoe around a few more tents, being careful not to wake anyone since explaining why they’re in a private dig would waste more time than needed.

“Because then we-aha!” he interrupts himself as he points across the darkness of the clearing. Amy follows his gaze until her eyes land on the big, yellow alien, who notices it had just been spotted. It makes a sound that resembles a squeak before it takes off again, darting through the tents. Amy and the Doctor chase after it before it seems to disappear again in the sea of tents and archeology equipment. “I’m going to head it off!” the Doctor calls before he heads off in another direction entirely, leaving Amy to try to continue following the alien, even though she has no idea which way it went.

“Great,” Amy mutters as she watches the Doctor take off. But she continues running lightly through the area, trying to get a glimpse of its nasty, yellowish green skin. After a moment she stops though, about ready to give up. She runs her fingers through her long red hair as she sighs. “Great,” she repeats to herself. She wraps her arms around herself; it’s beginning to get a bit chilly.

Her eyes scan the darkness for any sign of the Doctor or the alien, but nothing seems to be in sight. She shivers a bit as the wind whips through the trees, hoping that the Doctor at least did manage to head it off. But that hope comes crashing down around her as all of a sudden it peeks out behind the tent in front of her. It takes one look at her, and in noticing she’s not with the big bad scary Doctor, starts to growl as it advances on her. “Shit,” she swears as she backs up. “Doctor!” she yells, no longer caring about who she wakes up at this point. She was not about to become alien food just so other people can get a good night’s rest.

“DOCTOR!” she screams again just as the thing launches at her. She backs up so quickly she trips over one of the tent bars, screaming as she comes crashing down into someone’s bed and onto said person, just as the alien lands in front of them, growling menacingly.

“What the f-!?” comes the mumbled protests of the girl Amy just landed on, but as she wakes up she takes one look at the alien and grabs a blaster from underneath her pillow, pointing it at the creature. “I’m not in the mood for this,” she warns. The alien, encountering a weapon, seems to be a lot less sure of its intimidation and turns around, taking off running.

“Crap,” Amy mutters, not even bothering to acknowledge who she just landed on. But she knows she can’t afford to lose the alien, so she tries to get up to go after it, only to be roughly pushed down on the bed as the girl stands over her, pointing a blaster at her head in her half awake state.

“Who are you?” the girl demands, the darkness not allowing for much of an identification for either of them. The voice though, that voice sounded so familiar to Amy…

“I… I just…” Amy sputters, not exactly being used to being put in these kinds of situations without the Doctor’s quick answers and psychic paper. Plus, with a blaster being pointed at her head, it’s not exactly a good environment to think.

“You just what?” the girl asks, danger behind her voice as she steps closer. The small slit in the opening of the tent lets the moonlight wash over the girl’s features though, illuminating her face. Amy’s eyes go wide. There was no mistaking who it was.

“River??” she asks, astounded.

River blinks, caught off guard in her sleepy state that this person knows who she is. So she grabs Amy’s shirt, pulling her towards her so she can get a good look at her in the moonlight. Amy’s about to protest from the unnecessarily rough behavior until River’s eyes widen in acknowledgment and she lets her go. “Amy?” she asks, just as surprised, which surprises Amy even more that she knows who she is when she seems so… young. God, she was barely older than Amy herself.

Then River’s face breaks out into the biggest smile Amy thinks she’s ever seen the woman have as she exclaims, “Babes! What are you doing here? Why didn’t you call?”

Did River just call her ‘babes’? Jeez, she must be young.

River just laughs a little at the absurdity of the whole situation. “You almost gave me a heart attack,” she tells her with a giggle, before she touches Amy’s cheek and does the most surprising thing in the world: she leans in and kisses her soundly on the lips. Amy’s eyes go wide and she freezes, her brain going too fast to even contemplate what was going on in that moment. Why was River kissing her?

But River doesn’t seem to notice her hesitation as she pulls back and stands up, holding out her hand for Amy to take. Amy, seemingly in a state of shock, can’t do anything else but let River take her hand and help her to her feet. “Is the Doctor here?” River asks.

Amy just nods mutely. River still hasn’t let go of her hand; instead she’s laced their fingers together.

What the hell is going on? Did they land in an alternate universe instead of just a planet?

“Ran off on his own then, I imagine,” River says with a little laugh. “What were you doing falling into my tent? Anxious to get back in bed with me already?”

Amy’s pretty sure her brain just died, for all the use it is right now. She can’t seem to think, let alone form a coherent sentence. She’s trying to process what the hell is going on, but it just seems so bizarre. “Uh…” she starts, trying to think, and not about the fact that River just implied that they’ve had some kind of sexual relationship in her past. “Alien. Yellow.”

Yeah, because that was a full sentence.

“Are you after the Yxnix?” River asks. Amy just nods; it’s all she can manage to do at this point. She’s always had an answer to everything, but yet now that talent has seemingly failed her. All she can focus on is how River’s thumb keeps brushing up against the back of her hand while she holds it. River smiles then, holstering her blaster. “Well, we best go after it then, yeah?” She’s got an excited gleam in her eye at the prospect and before Amy can say anything, she’s being led out of the tent.

“It probably ran into the forest,” River tells her, pointing over to the thick of trees. “Good cover.”

“Right.” Once again, another one syllable word is all Amy can get out before they start walking, hand in hand, over towards the forest.

“You should have called,” River tells her as they walk.

“We, uh…” Amy starts, then clears her throat as she tries to casually untangle her hand from River’s. She wraps her arms into herself, trying to feign coldness so as to not hurt River’s feelings that she didn’t want to hold her hand. She still has no idea what bizarre world she landed in, but she knows better than to question it because with time travel, the first thing you learn is to not change too many things. If River - in this universe (is it even possible to cross to an alternate universe?)- is dating Amy, then she best not screw that up. But she can’t hold her hand if she wants to attempt to have some line of coherent thought. “We didn’t know you’d be here,” she finishes, lamely.

“I’m figuring that out,” River says, chuckling a little. “But nice surprise, yeah? Not exactly the picnic we were planning, but it’s always nice to see you.” River looks over at her, and Amy tries to put on a smile.

“Yeah,” she answers, not knowing what else to say. She felt completely like a fish out of water.

They walk in silence for a little while, weaving through the trees. Amy uses the silence as a chance to try to think; trying to find possibilities of why River’s acting this way. One, of course, was her alternate universe theory, but she doesn’t even know if that’s possible. Another is that maybe she got drunk in her future, River’s past, and thought it’d be a fun idea to kiss her and River took it the wrong way. But then again River said something that implied they were intimate, and Amy is sure she would never let it go that far. She’s married, after all. Another is that maybe River’s past was full of stuff like this and just never bothered to clue Amy in that she’s a cheating hussy in the future.

Spoilers though, right?

God, Amy’s head hurts. She’s also ninety five percent sure she wouldn’t cheat on Rory knowingly. But then a thought comes to her: Oh god, what if they ended up getting divorced? What if River ends up being her girlfriend after that?

There were too many theories, each one making her headache grow, so she decides that yes, this is an alternate universe, and this is entirely not her fault. She’s always been a flirt, but she isn’t a cheater.

“Have you told him yet?” River asks suddenly.

“Tell who what?” Amy asks as her eyes search the darkness for any sign of life.

“The Doctor,” River answers, stopping to look at Amy as though she should have known that. Amy halts too as River finishes, “about us.”

“Us?” Amy asks, vaguely aware that she’s repeating things to buy time to think of a proper answer.

“Yes, as in me and you and all of the hot, passionate shagging we tend to do when he’s not looking,” River answers, with a tone that seems like it’s questioning Amy’s IQ. Which Amy supposes is fair, since she seems to be questioning her own sanity at the moment. Maybe she’s dreaming; that’d be nice.

But really, all Amy can think is: How much is ‘all’?

“Uh… no,” she says finally, figuring that’s the best answer seeing as the Doctor didn’t know about all that. Hell, Amy didn’t even know about all that.

“Amy,” River says flatly, looking at her. She looks a little peeved. “You said you’d tell him.” She folds her arms across her chest and leans her back against a tree.

“I… did,” Amy says slowly, which makes River’s eyebrows rise before Amy clarifies. “I mean, I know I said that.” She has no idea she said that. “But it…” her brain searches for an excuse. Her headache is turning into a migraine. “wasn’t the right time?” she finishes lamely.

This is so awkward.

“What’s the big deal?” River asks, clearly growing impatient with Amy. She sighs and grabs Amy’s hand before pulling her over to her. Amy’s eyes go a bit wide but she allows herself to be pulled, and for River to drape her arms around her neck. “Don’t you want to be with me?” she asks softly, the young vulnerability so nota part of the River that Amy knows.

Deer: headlights.

What is she supposed to say to that? “I…” she starts, but falls silent. Does she tell her that she has no idea what’s going on, that this is either too early in her timeline or that she’s from a different universe? Or does she go along with it?

“Amy?” River asks, starting to grow worried and looking a little hurt at her lack of answer.

It takes two seconds before Amy realizes she never wants to see River look that way again, so she goes with her instinct and tells her assuredly, “Of course I do,” before leaning in and pressing her lips to hers softly. Just a peck, just to reassure her, even though Amy’s pretty sure she’s about to back herself into a corner she can’t get out of.

And just as she thought, the problem arose when the peck turned into something a bit more.

River pulls her flush against her, running her fingers softly through her hair as she gently teases Amy’s lips to open for her. Amy, not exactly knowing what to do since she initially started this whole thing, allows her lips to part for her, just so she can give herself time to think of how to get out of this without hurting River’s feelings and making her think she’s taking back what she said.

Why the hell did she even say that in the first place? Leave it to her to get into situations like this.

But when River’s tongue slips against hers, Amy hears herself let out a soft sigh of contentment at the feeling. River was such a good kisser. Amy always wondered, with her cocky attitude and coy flirtation, and the way she seemed like such a walking sex goddess, what it’d be like, but she never thought she’d have the chance. And here she was, hopefully in this alternate world where hopefully kissing River has no effect on her real life back in her time, and she just wants to give into it. Maybe it wouldn’t hurt to just see what it’s like. After all, it’s not like anyone would really know.

God, maybe she is a cheating hussy after all. But alternate universes don’t really count, right?

Amy closes her eyes and just allows herself to feel for once as she kisses River a little more forcefully, pressing her back firmly up against the tree behind her. She feels the soft vibration of River moaning a little into her mouth, the archeologist’s hands pulling a little on her hair with one hand while the other roams the soft curves of Amy’s figure.

And god, Amy loved every moment of it. Which would probably be a huge problem if she could think about how this could possibly affect her, but River’s lips have now left her own and are sucking softly at her neck, and she can’t think of anything else except for how it makes her insides feel like they’re on fire.

“God, I missed you,” River breathes in her ear before letting her tongue trace it teasingly. Amy shivers, a small whimper being released from the back of her throat.

“I missed you too,” she tells her, feeling like the thing to say, her voice a husky whisper as she desperately holds onto the bottom of River’s shirt, needing to just have a grip on something since she apparently doesn’t have one on reality. River’s lips suckle on her sensitive flesh as her hand slides under Amy’s shirt, raking her nails against her stomach. “Mmm…” Amy breathes, her head feeling so light it’s like she’s floating.

“When you were gone, I used to lay in bed at night and think of all the things I wanted to do to you,” River breathes against her neck, the sensation making a beeline to Amy’s groin. “Every place I wanted to kiss…” River goes on, kissing her neck once. “Lick…” she traces Amy’s ear with her tongue again, making Amy’s breathing pick up twice its normal speed. “Touch…” she murmurs, before her hand slides further up Amy’s shirt, bypassing her bra completely as her warm hand envelopes her breast.

“Shit…” Amy breathes, not being able to form a single thought outside of that word at the moment. River’s fingertips tease her rapidly hardening nipple before she presses her lips to ear, whispering:

“I fucked myself so many times thinking about you… and I always cum screaming your name.”

Amy’s sure she almost just came herself from the one simple, yet erotic sentence. The visuals that accompanied that made her whimper before she turned her head to capture River’s lips forcefully with her own, no longer thinking about the past or the future, only just here and now. At least, that was until she had the stray thought of: Rory would never talk to me like that.

Amy’s ripped back into reality quickly and she pulls away from River, out of breath and sure she’s so wet by now that’s she’s dripping down her thighs. But it doesn’t matter. She can’t do this. Even if this is an alternate universe, she’s married to Rory. “River,” she gasps out, trying to think of an excuse quickly. “We can’t do this now. We…” think, think, think! “have to find the Doctor.”

River looks a little disappointed through her flushed appearance and she purses her lips as she lets her hand gently fall from Amy’s body. “Yeah,” she relents with a little sigh. “I guess you’re right.”

Part of Amy wishes she wasn’t right.

* * *

It was so hard for Amy the rest of that trip to avoid River, but somehow she managed to, outside of the small kisses she gave her here and there so she didn’t arouse suspicion. But they left that planet, that time, without Amy fully giving in and cheating on Rory. But it didn’t make her feel any better, and it definitely didn’t make it any better when she saw River again.

Amy asked the Doctor if it were possible that they landed in an alternate universe, but he just gave her a funny look and explained how some kind of rift is closed now. Then he asked why. Amy just told him that she was curious.

So it wasn’t an alternate universe. That made it so much worse.

But what Amy can’t figure out, is if that was River’s past, why she never showed any indication that that’s how they used to be with each other. Did they break up, or does River not even remember? The Pandorica altered their memories to accommodate the new ones, Amy remembers that even though now she doesn’t remember how it used to be. Maybe they used to be together and after what happened it’s been erased from their memories. But then again, if that was the case, then what happened with River really did happen now, since Amy lived it, so shouldn’t River remember?

Time travel is starting to give Amy a serious migraine.

Of course she could always ask, but what if River doesn’t remember? That’d be awkward. She could be messing with time, and the Doctor has always warned her not to do that. That’s the thing with River; talking to her was always hard because they never really knew where her timeline fell in relation to theirs. Besides, if she asks, that’s like acknowledging that it was real and that she did cheat on Rory, at least in some sense, and that’s the last thing her conscience needs right now.

So instead she chooses to keep her distance from River, at least until she can figure out what exactly is going on.

A/N: I apologize for how long it's been. I could sit here and give you a list of excuses a mile long, but I'll spare you.

CHAPTER FIVE
Do You Feel Like You're Growing A Tail?

It's more predominant this time, the memory. It's like River is slapped in the face with it and as she sits on her cot, staring at the wall with her bosom heaving and her head feeling like it's just been ripped apart and stitched back together, she wonders what could have affected the change. Most of her memories of her time with Amy have been fuzzy at best; fading into nothing. But this one... the one from when she was nineteen during that dig when they went after the Yxnix, was like it was as clear as if it had happened yesterday.

As she runs her fingers through her tousled hair, she closes her eyes and tries to get the memory out of her head; maybe then her cheeks would stop burning with desire. It wasn't real and it wouldn't do to dwell on fairytales. She's an adult now, not a foolhardy teenager; she has responsibilities at this dig and so she couldn't be sitting here wasting her time being caressed by the ghost of memories, no matter how real they may seem in this very moment. It was only the aftermath of what happened with the Pandorica anyway; River supposes things were bound to fade to the forefront and then back again for awhile. She just hopes it won't be like this forever because it's hard to tell what her past was like anymore; it's hard to tell what makes her who she is anymore.

She nearly jumps out of her skin when the flaps to her tent suddenly fly open, revealing the Doctor. He always did have a way with dramatic entrances. “River!” he exclaims, “There you are! You-” he pauses, taking in her demeanor. “Are you alright?” River is surprised that he even took a second to notice something was off; he's usually so enthralled in his own mind and thought process that he barely takes notice of those around him unless it’s completely dire.

“Just a headache” River replies, standing up from off the cot. Fixing her hair to make sure she looks relatively presentable and not at all like the mess she feels, she gets back down to business. “Did you need something, or did you fancy bursting into my cot for the fun of it?” She smirks a little as she teases him.

“Me? Nothing. Well, obviously something, but it was only-are you feverish?” the Doctor suddenly asks, his voice going up a pitch or two; like it’s surprising that anyone would ever be feverish. His hand flies to her forehead and she swats him away automatically. “You look a bit flushed. Do you-?” he starts, not at all perturbed by her resistance as he takes out his sonic screw driver and starts scanning her.

“Doctor!” River exclaims, flustered by this sudden invasion of space as he treats her like nothing more than a sick child. “I'm fine,” she stresses, getting increasingly annoyed as he ducks and weaves around her, trying to scan her properly.

“Do you feel parched? Maybe like you're going to grow a tail?”

“What? No.” Sometimes she doesn't understand him. She's running a little hot sure, but more from the vivid detail of the memory than anything else. But she certainly doesn't feel parched or like she's about to grow a tail.

“Doctor!” she exclaims, finally getting fed up as she snatches the sonic screwdriver right from his grasp. His eyes widen in surprise and she cocks an eyebrow in return, holding it away from him tauntingly. “Explain, then you'll get it back. You know I hate when you go off and leave me in the dark. Are we at risk for some kind of disease? What aren't you telling me?” She needs to know; these are her people out here.

The Doctor looks at his screwdriver for a moment, making a face like a child would when their favorite toy was taken away. But he turns his attention to River afterwards and reluctantly explains, “I... may have heard that the Alderay may hold other defenses that could materialize once the acidic layer has been activated. Old, ancient sciences that can transfigure entire atomic profiles into terrible beasts that will feed upon themselves. Of course rumors are rumors and you do know how the galaxy likes to make up wild stories, but you never can tell what's real and what's a fairytale these days, can you?”

Truer words have never been spoken.

But River looks at him like she can’t believe his nerve. “And you only saw fit to tell me this now?” she asks. “It's been nearly two hours since it was activated, and you didn't think I might need to know this information until now?”

“Well, I.. hey!” the Doctor exclaims, looking a little perturbed about being lectured. “You're all packing up, everyone seems fine... well except for Sally, but she's alive at least! I didn't even remember the possibility of the transfiguration until I noticed that you were flushed.” He tapped the side of his head. “Big brain in here; knowledge of the whole universe, you know. Not everything chooses to come out at the opportune moment, try as I might. So we all have to... what's the phrase? 'Go with the flow,' so to speak.” He pauses, thinking. “'Ride the tides'? No. That's- regardless, I'm seventy eight percent sure you're not dying, so that's a start.”

River narrows her eyes at him before rolling them slightly as she hands him back his sonic screwdriver. “Seventy eight, then? Well, those are decent odds.” Her voice holds a tinge of snark, but it goes unnoticed by the Doctor as River bends down, grabbing her coat.

“You'll be fine, I'm sure of it. But just to be on a safe side, maybe I should-”

“Check out my archaeologists?” River answers for him pointedly. “I'd appreciate it.” Her appreciation however sounds more like a demand and the Doctor purses his lips, realizing that he's made her cross... again. It seems to be an easy task as of late.

“Right. I'll... get on that then,” he says, turning on his heel, once again looking like he has a million other things on his mind. But he stops short and turns back around suddenly, “Oh!”

River looks at him expectantly.

“Why I came in here in the first place! Right, I had almost- well it doesn't matter now. What does matter now is that I need a key. Your key.” A pause, uncertain. “I did give you a key, didn't I?”

“A key to what? You-oh, Doctor,” River says, sighing as she realizes what he's done. A hint of an amused smile graces her lips as she chides him, “Did you lock yourself out of the TARDIS?”

“What? No! I just happened to... temporarily misplace it,” he pauses, “Or it may have gotten fused to the controls when it had a teeny, tiny, little explosion.” River's eyes go wide. “I didn't do it on purpose!” He defends quickly off of her look. “The Zanthyrians, I explained all that. Look, she'll be good as new once I can... get into it. It's just a minor setback is all. I just need a key. I did give you a key?”

River smirks at his question. It seems rather silly to her, but then again, this is an earlier point in his time line. Pulling a chain out from underneath her shirt, she holds it up; a key. His face lights up. “Excellent! Once we get into the TARDIS I'll make sure she's repairing herself properly and then I'll scan your crew.” As he leaves the tent, River follows, laughing inwardly at how adorable he can be sometimes.

The thought of some kind of ancient disease running amok through her campsite dampens her spirits though as they walk across the clearing to the TARDIS. She hopes there's no truth to the rumor because, while having to pack up and leave without anything to show for it is bad enough, losing some of her team would be far, far worse.

The mood in the campsite is sullen and bitter; everyone upset that they had come so far only to have to turn back around again. There are some risks River is willing to take; however after what happened with Sally, she found that this excavation is not one of them. She watches as her team packs up their belongings, ready to leave at first daylight.

When they get to the TARDIS, the Doctor holds out his hand for the key. “It won't work for you,” River tells him as she removes it from around her neck. “It's built only to recognize my touch.”

“What? Why would I give you a key like that?” the Doctor asks, perplexed.

River looks at him patiently and reminds him, “Spoilers,” as she reaches towards the keyhole.
It was really due to the Doctor not knowing if he would truly be him one day; something that was never quite explained to River, but she didn't exactly have time to ask as they ran for their lives. But that would be years off for him and she felt no need to change the past more than it had already had been.

However, once the key fit into the keyhole, River lets out a shout of pain as it shocks her. Then the TARDIS forces the key out of the hole, sending it flying across the clearing. Holding her blistering fingertips, she looked at the TARDIS, confused. That had certainly never happened before.

“Oh, dear,” the Doctor starts, looking between River and the TARDIS. “I was afraid of that.”

“What?” River asks, before putting her throbbing fingers in her mouth. Damn that stung.

“Well when you said it only recognized your touch, I thought it may be of Werknsty making, am I correct?” River nods and the Doctor brings his hand to his head, scratching his scalp. “Oh, we may have a bit of a problem then.”

“What is it?” River asks, taking her fingers away from her mouth, shaking them off. “Do their technologies regularly malfunction?” Because that was bloody ridiculous.

“Werknstonians have this technology that recognizes the very essence of a person; not fingerprints or eye scanners like humans use to positively identify each other,” the Doctor explains. “And while normally a person's very essence should never change, almost like one's soul, I'm afraid what happened with the Pandorica may have effected who you are, not just your memories. Then again, I suppose with your memories changing your past would be as well, which is what shaped you into who you are. If it's different, then you're different.”

“Different how?” River asks. That sounded awful; like she had lost herself.

“I don't know,” the Doctor told her honestly. “It could be something subtle, yet enough for the key not to recognize you. You don't seem very different. Well, outside of being incredibly moodier as of late.”

“Oi!” she protests, offended.

“That could just be normal hormonal changes of course. I believe it’s around your age that human females tend to go into-” he continues to ramble, but he couldn't finish his sentence. River pokes him hard in the chest, a look of fierce warning in her eyes. She was not that old!

“So help me God, Doctor. If you say one word about me being menopausal I'll-”

The Doctor looks sheepish and backtracks, “But not to worry! Just give me a day or two and I'll have this key fixed right up! … I hope. And if not, well, I'm sure I'll come up with another plan. In the meantime though, Amy and I are going to have to bunk with you.”

River raises her eyebrows at him, a hint of a smirk playing at her lips. “I think you're still a little young to be having sleepovers with me, Doctor.”

The Doctor's ears turn pink and he coughs uncomfortably. “No, I meant a... a general 'you', as in the whole camp. Not 'you' specifically, I don't think the three of us could fit in one tent. Be rather... cozy. ”

River smirks, “I knew what you meant.” But then she shakes her head as she assesses the situation. “I don't think we have another tent, I'll have to ask around. I have an extra cot in mine. But I doubt the two of you could fit on one cot. Unless...” she leaves it hanging, knowing it's going to fluster him.

“What? No!” he exclaims at the implication. “No, I... two cots are preferable.” River tries not to laugh at his suddenly uncomfortable demeanor. He is, really, so young. She shouldn't be blamed for wanting to have a bit of fun at his expense, especially not when it's so easy.

They went their separate ways after that; the Doctor scanning the rest of her team for an ancient disease and River trying to find somewhere to accommodate them for the night. Unfortunately, they didn't end up having another tent. Rodney however did have another cot, so with his and River's extra one, the Doctor and Amy would at least have a place to sleep.

“Excellent! Pond, you'll sleep with River-” Amy chokes on a cracker she was previously attempting to eat and the Doctor slaps her once on the back to help her out, “and I'll bunk with Rodney. You don't mind, do you?” he addresses Rodney, who looks like he very much does mind, but before he has a chance to object the Doctor launches into another subject. “And I've checked your team, River. No traces of anything that I would... assume would be involved in the transformation process. However old sciences like that can be tricky to identify-”

“Uh, Doctor?” Amy interrupts, trying to brush the crackers from her shirt. The Doctor turns his attention to her and she gives him a small smile, “I think it'd be better if I slept with Rodney.”

Rodney looks like he just won the lottery.

“Oh, why?” the Doctor asks, intrigued.

“It's just that...” she hesitates, “well you know; you and River barely know each other, and don't you think you should take the time to do that since you're so close in the future? I know I'd want to if I were you.” She winks at him, her flirty demeanor back for a second, yet she can't keep eye contact with River. The Doctor tries to conceal his slight blush as he ignores Amy completely and starts fiddling with his screwdriver, like it’s the most fascinating thing in the world.

“Oh we have years for that, love,” River tells her, cocking her head to the side and smirking a little as she finally does make eye contact with Amy. “I think it's time me and you got to know each other a bit though, yeah?”

To be completely honest, River just wants to know why Amy has been acting strange lately. It wasn't like her at all to be this withdrawn. Maybe it was the fact that she hadn't seen her husband in weeks, but that was a choice, not a consequence. She could go back anytime, which makes River wonder what's really going on. It was odd to not see her smile, see her jest with the Doctor and make every situation she finds herself in the best it can be. She's trying, sure, but it all seems fake; feeble. Her smile doesn't reach her eyes; she's obviously worried about something.

When they all retire to bed that night River tries to find the... normal part within her that she seems to have been missing lately. She won't admit it out loud, but what the Doctor said about her being moodier actually worries her, especially after what had happened with the TARDIS key. Are the aftereffects of the Pandorica really changing who she is now? She realizes she's been a bit testier as of late, but wouldn't anyone be when they hardly knew what their past looked like anymore? It feels like her mind is being violated so of course she won't be the most pleasant person on the face of the planet.

As River sweeps up her hair into a ponytail, she looks over at Amy who's putting together her cot. Maybe that's what's happening to her. Then again, that doesn't explain the way Amy seems to not look directly at her. Oh, she looks at the Doctor just fine, as she did with everyone else. But not River... and with River's natural curiosity, she was hell-bent on finding out why.

“Everything alright, love?” River asks casually as she strips off her jacket, placing it over the chair. Amy looks up, confused for a moment before her eyes find the cot again as she lays out the blanket.

“Of course. Why wouldn't it be?” she asks, a little chuckle in her tone like the question is absurd.

River smirks a little - that self assured look she gets sometimes when she knows she's about to back someone into a corner - and as she sits on her cot, facing Amy, she says quite bluntly, “Because you can't seem to look me in the eyes, and I find myself wondering why.” She settles back against the cot casually, eyebrow raised slightly at the redhead in expectation.

That makes Amy freeze, but only for a second. Amy has always been good at keeping her composure and brushing everything off. She laughs a little, looking up at River to make eye contact, but once again only briefly. “What? That's ridiculous. I look at you just fine.”

“Amy, I'm not thick,” River tells her, voice gentler; less abrasive. “You feel uncomfortable with me.” As she says it, she realizes it may have something to do with how River remembers Amy in her past; Amy's future. But how could she know about that? It has yet to happen to her. Regardless, River still asks, “Why?” There's no truth without answers, after all.

Amy pauses before slowly sitting down on her cot. She takes a breath as she brings her legs up, sitting Indian style and facing River from across the room. She finally looks at her and River wishes she knew what was going on inside that mind of hers. She remembers when she used to sit and listen to Amy talk for hours; she has such a brilliant mind, so many great ideas. But this life was not the life they would share together, not anymore. And so she waits for the privilege of being let in, if only just once.

Amy shrugs, sighing a little. “I don't know,” she starts. “It's...” she pauses, looking down at the space between them before she asks, “Your memories, they're rearranging themselves, yeah? Like mine, like Rory's?” When she looks up, River nods. Amy purses her lips and says, “I just don't know what's real anymore. With you, with Rory, with the Doctor, with anyone really. I feel like the Pandorica is making this world where I have no say in my own choices; like I've been thrown head first into a place I'm supposed to be familiar with, but I'm not. Do you know what I mean?”

River nods sympathetically. “More than you realize, darling. It's hard not to know what your own past looks like. It's all jumbled and confusing; hard to distinguish between what's fading in and what's fading out. Truth and lies, all that.”

“The past? I'm more worried about my future,” Amy replies, though it's mumbled and seems more to herself as she runs her fingers through her hair, massaging her scalp. River's eyebrows knit in confusion.

“Amy, the Pandorica has no effect on the future, only the past.”

“Well that's gotta be complete rubbish then, innit?” Amy snaps, a little too harshly as she realizes and gives River a look of apology. “Sorry, I'm just... I'm stressed out. Confused. And I can't even wish for it to be like how it was before, because before I had no parents, Rory had died. It's the Pandorica that brought him back and I should be grateful. I am grateful,” she corrects, and then sighs, “I guess it was just that then I knew what was going on. I'm so used to the Doctor having solutions but he doesn't have one for this. Our memories changing is just the way it's going to be and there's nothing we can do to have any kind of say over it. In our past, our decisions should be our decisions; ones we make...made. Now it's ones the Pandorica are making. It's-”

“Violating,” River answers for her. “I know, sweetie.”

Amy lies down on her cot, looking at the ceiling. Silence washes between the two women for a moment. There wasn't much more to say about that; feeling violated seemed to cover it quite well. To not know what memories tomorrow would hold... it's difficult. Part of River wants to hold onto the old memories of Amy, just because it was such a significant part in her life. Even if it's not from this life anymore, it was still from a life once lived. That has to count for something. But she doesn't have the first clue how to go about it and from what Amy was saying it seems the Doctor didn't know how to help either.

Suddenly, Amy looks over and asks tentatively, “River... what's the past like for you?”

River laughs softly, “That's a loaded question.”

Amy looks over her, voice serious. “I mean with us. Between us. Are we... okay in your past?” The way the question is posed, it seems like she means so much more than just 'okay.'

“You know I can't tell you that, love,” River whispers regrettably.

But the question makes River's heart beat harder in her chest. Why would Amy ask about them, specifically? Did she know something of their old past together? Or rather, Amy's old future? Or does Amy believe she won't be with the Doctor for much longer? River wants to ask, but is afraid of the answer. She stays silent for a moment; they both do.

Finally, “Not even a hint?” River can hear her smile in her question, like she knows already she won't get an answer but still wants to push anyway.

River chuckles, “Not even a hint. Besides, with everything changing, how would I know what's to come for you?”

Amy sighs, realizing the truth in that statement. “Yeah,” she whispers finally before rolling over, facing the wall of the tent. “I guess you're right...”

CHAPTER SIX
She Thinks We’re Assassins

Amy wishes that she had the stones to actually confront River about what happened in her past, but even when presented with the opportunity she ran scared; hiding behind half-truths and other reasoning’s that have nothing to do with the actual problem. She lay in bed that night, staring at the flaps of the tent that flittered gently from the breeze outside, listening to River’s soft breathing, her mind replaying that kiss over and over until she felt like she was about to go crazy.

Amy has never been one to overanalyze. Things happened and she went with the flow easily, but this was outside of her comfort zone. It wasn’t the sexual aspect of it; Amy has always been rather promiscuous (a feat that earned her a colorful reputation in high school) and she’s been with a woman before (once; a drunken escapade, but regardless), so it wasn’t that. But even with the casual way she approached sex, she had never cheated on anyone before. Not ever. She wasn’t that kind of person.

And yet the longer Amy lay there, the more she longed to feel the heat of River’s body against hers. There was just something about River that drew the younger woman to her.

But for being so spontaneous, Amy did have amazing self-control. So she fell asleep that night, content on keeping that indiscretion swept under the rug; something that happened while in a fantasy world. It was so long ago or so far away from now, depending on where she was in time, and therefore her adultery should come with an expiration date.

Besides, if it’s never mentioned it’s like it never happened, right?

Amy’s plagued with dreams that night and wakes up the next morning in a sweat. She can’t remember them, so she isn’t sure if it’s from guilt or arousal, but she’s pretty sure she doesn’t want to know. Wiping the hair that’s sticking to her forehead away, she looks over at River. It surprises her to find her still in bed. She took River as an “up and at ‘em” type of person. Figuring she must be exhausted from the previous day’s events, she climbs out of bed, stretching her arms over her head and yawning.

She takes the moment to appreciate the way the sunlight streamed into the tent, illuminating River’s body. It was almost like it shimmered off her skin. But then in sudden realization she realizes that’s because River’s sweating; the sunlight gleaming off the moisture. Amy furrows her eyebrows and asks tentatively, “River?” as she makes her way over to her. Then she sees the older woman shudder; almost convulse.

“River!” Amy exclaims as she rushes over to the older woman, putting her hands on River’s shoulders to roll her over. She nearly let go of her right away; River’s skin was on fire. She hears the woman whimper in her feverish sleep and Amy wipes the hair from her forehead before hurriedly throwing all of the covers off of River to cool her.

What’s going on; didn’t the Doctor say she was fine?!

“DOCTOR!” Amy screams, her voice cracking from the decibel and the strain it put on her vocal cords. It’s fearful; frantic. River did not look good at all. She takes one of River’s hands in hers and squeezes it tightly. “Hey, River, come on… wake up! Can you hear me? DOCTOR!”

Her shriek seems to echo through the valley and suddenly the Doctor bursts into the tent, looking like he was expecting to see some big, hideous looking alien trying to kill them. His eyebrows knit it confusion for a moment until his eyes land on River and then they become as big as saucers. He rushes over, using his screwdriver to scan her. “How long has she been like this?”

“I… I don’t know,” Amy stammers. “I only just woke up and found her in this state. I thought you said she was okay!” River was moaning and shivering, her breathing coming out in short erratic bursts. She still didn’t seem to be conscious at all. Amy kept smoothing her sweat-soaked hair out of her face, looking at the Doctor desperately.

“She… damnit! She didn’t let me finish the scan, took the screwdriver right from out of my… but I thought she-!” he didn’t finish his sentence, but he stood up abruptly after he finished his scan and started pacing back and forth, running his fingers through his hair as he seemed to be encouraging himself to think. “New disease, old disease,” he corrects himself, muttering, “New to us. Ancient though. Really, really old… so old that-oh!”

“What? What ‘oh’? A good ‘oh’?!” Amy asks, frantic. River’s starting to wheeze and Amy looks down at her as she pets her some more, shushing her quietly; comforting, if only she could hear her. She’s scared out of her mind; from what the Doctor said about this disease, it doesn’t progress well.

“The Alderay didn’t have the proper technology back then to protect themselves from the disease as they implanted it as a defense, meaning… meaning! Aha! Yes!” the Doctor shouts, pumping his fist into the air. Amy just looks at him in disbelief; God she hates when he does that.

“Explanation, now!” she demands loudly.

“Oh, right. Sorry, yes. They didn’t have a way to protect themselves from it, so they must have developed a… vaccine of sorts to fight off the oncoming infection as they worked. At least, I would assume, but my assumptions are unusually well guessed. So all we need is to convince them to give us some of it! Or, steal it if the need arises, but I’d rather we ask politely.”

“Sod asking politely; River is dying!” Amy screams, making him jump a little from the force of her voice. “And besides, how do you expect to go about getting this vaccine? In case you forgot, they’re all dead!” She’s shrieking now, her voice an unusually high decibel, but she doesn’t care. “And you can’t get into the TARDIS to go back for it! So what are we going to do?”

“Oh Pond, you always underestimate me,” the Doctor says with a grin as he pulls out a key from his pocket. Amy stares at it, wondering what his point was. It was River’s key, but it didn’t work last time she checked. “I was up all night. Fascinating technology the Werknstonians have, really. Did you know that even the smallest infraction of human DNA can-”

“Doctor!” Amy cries, impatient. Now was not the time for another ‘fascinating’ story.

“Sorry. Right, point is; the key works now. I disabled the… well, to put it in simple terms: the part that responds to one’s essence. The TARDIS should be up and running again nicely after having a day to repair herself, so come along, Pond. We’re off to 35,000 BC! Won’t this be exciting?” He’s grinning at her, like this is all one big game. He wasn’t worried in the slightest that River would die and while normally that’s a comforting thing to her, right now it wasn’t. Seeing River like that was freaking her out; River usually seems so… strong. Right now she looked so weak and frail and it made Amy’s chest constrict.

“So we just, what? Go? And who’s going to stay with her? We can’t just leave her like this, Doctor! Look at her!”

“Amy, River will be fine, I promise you. I wouldn’t let her die… you should know that,” he tells her seriously. “We’ll be back in five minutes tops; I’ll make sure of that. I won’t let this progress to the second stage.”

“And what’s that?” Amy asks, but it’s a question that doesn’t need an answer any longer as River suddenly lets out a scream of pain, arching her back and grasping at the cot as her spine makes the most sickening sound Amy has ever heard; like it was growing. “DOCTOR!” she screams before she tries to grasp onto River, trying to calm her thrashing. “Oh God, do something!”

“Amy, we have to go, we don’t have much time!” the Doctor insists, trying to hurry her along. But Amy pushes the hand off of her shoulder and shakes her head. Her throat is tightening from hearing the sounds of River’s agony.

She couldn’t leave her here alone, what if something was to happen while they were gone? A lot can happen in five minutes, and five minutes wasn’t even a real guarantee. The Doctor has been known to be a bit off with his calculations sometimes. What if this disease progresses faster than the Doctor believes and she doesn’t make it? Dying alone is not something Amy believes River deserved. No one deserves that.

“No, you go. I want to stay with her. She can’t… I won’t let her…”

“Amy…”

“Just go!” Amy screams, turning her head back to look at him. Her eyes burn with fire and desperation and after they lock eyes for a moment, he nods his head and turns, running from the tent.

“River? River… can you hear me?” Amy tries again before biting her lower lip in worry. River stopped screaming but is now whimpering, curled into a ball and grasping Amy’s hand like she’s afraid to let it go. Her breathing is shuddered and shallow and her body is shining with sweat. “River, come on… please talk to me… please…”

“Ugghhff,” mutters River before a violent shiver racks her body. Then another sickening crack follows it and she screams, her mouth open in agony as her whole body lurches violently. Amy chokes back a sob and tries to shush her, but she knows she doesn’t sound very comforting. She only sounds scared.

“You’ll be alright,” Amy promises, leaning down and kissing the older woman on the forehead. “The Doctor… he won’t let you die. You know that right? It’s not your time. Come on…” Amy’s insides feel like they’re turning and she knows she’s about to be sick. But she holds down the urge and tries to stay strong for her.

Then River stops breathing.

“River!” Amy shrieks, shaking her. “No, River, come on! Don’t die on me, damnit!” This isn’t how it’s supposed to happen; the Doctor said the disease makes someone turn into a beast and then feed on themselves. No where in that did that allow her to stop breathing! Not right now, not ever! “RIVER! Damnit, come on! You’re not going to be struck down by some disease, you’re better than that!”

But River is as still as death. Fear gripping her chest, Amy tilts River’s head back, plugging her nose before ascending her lips down to hers. She needed to get some air into her lungs. After a couple breaths she turns to place her hands on River’s chest, compressing it to get her lungs working. Nothing happens. “Shit,” Amy chokes back a sob as she desperately tries once more. Finally, River started choking and spluttering.

“Oh thank God!” Amy cries, relieved. Her hands are everywhere on her body, petting her; caressing her like she’s something to be prized and thankful for. She feels hope fill her chest as she watches River smirk a little, eyes still closed.

“Bit…” River tries, then coughs. “Bit forward, don’t you think?” She tries to laugh, opening her eyes to look at her, but it comes out as another cough until she screams again, slamming her hands down on the cot and lurching up again as her body makes sickening noises. Amy winces at the sound, but tries not to sound too frightened.

“You’ll be alright; I promise you’ll be alright. You believe me, yeah? River?” Amy tries desperately, stroking her forehead as the archeologist shudders a few times under her touch; convulsions. River’s breathing is back, albeit heavier.

“Yeah. Fucking… peachy…” River gets out through her labored breaths, though it doesn’t sound like she believes she’ll be fine at all. “Sodding…” she starts, but doesn’t finish her thought. Another scream rips through her body as her spine cracks loudly and afterwards she lies there, deathly still, yet breathing. She’s fallen unconscious again.

“Oh God,” Amy whispers, stroking River’s face and saying a silent prayer. “Come on, Doctor… come on…”

It’s a minute or two later, but the Doctor does show up; right when he said he would. However once he bursts into the tent with the vaccine in hand - a bag full of silver powder - he’s out of breath and looking like he got himself into more than he can handle. “Pond, you need to come with me,” he tells her, a sense of urgency in his voice.

“What? No! We need to give it to her, we can’t go!” Amy protests, standing up to face him, bewilderment and shock on her face. How could they just leave her?

“No, trust me; you need to come with me. I’ll explain in the TARDIS, but I promise you we’ll get back in time. Now let’s go!” the Doctor tells her as he grabs her hand, pulling her out of the tent. Amy goes without a fight, feeling at a loss of what to do. She doesn’t want to leave River, but something about the Doctor’s tone told her not to argue. He obviously couldn’t give it to her now for whatever reason, but that thought frightened her. Was it too late? Would it not work because she was so far into the change?

When they got into the TARDIS the Doctor wasted no time putting her in gear. As Amy collapsed against the railing, feeling emotionally drained, she hears the telltale sound of the ship about to make its departure.

“I acquired the vaccine,” the Doctor explains as he flies the ship. “But the thing with a vaccine is that it’s not a cure, Amy. We can’t just give it to her as is and expect her to get better. It takes years for these kinds of antibodies to develop in one’s system to be able to fight off the infection. So, naturally, I went back in time to find a point where River was much younger. It took some searching, seeing as it’s impossible to go back on one’s personal timeline. All hit and miss and guesswork, you see. But I found her! Unfortunately, I think I went back a little too far.” His lips turn down into a frown, remembering.

“Too far?” Amy asks, “What do you mean? Is she like… a child?”

“What? No. Well, sort of. A teenager, maybe about seventeen or eighteen,” the Doctor explains as the ship makes a sharp turn, nearly making both of them fall over. When he rights himself he goes on, “Regardless, it’s before she met me and well, let’s say she was less than pleased when a strange man landed his ship in the middle of her parlor. Nearly blasted me to pieces! Which, furthermore, why parents let their kids have blasters in that day and age, I’ll never know. Dangerous. I could have lost an arm!”

Amy blinks, trying to take that in. “So… what are we going to do? I doubt she’s going to let you administer the vaccine willingly. Are we going to have to find another River?” Then she corrects herself, “An older River?”

“No time,” the Doctor explains. “We could be searching for months and the longer time goes on, the more likely it will be that I won’t be able to program the TARDIS to come back to River’s present at exactly the right time. The functions are off ever since I spilled a cappuccino on them.” He frowns. “It was lucky I found a younger version of her as quick as I did in the first place without any help. She usually calls me to her.”

“So what’s the plan then? Tie her up and force feed her the powder?”

“What? Of course not, that would be barbaric. Besides, I need some time to make the vaccine injectable. She can’t consume it as is; it would kill her. No, the plan is that… well, you have to convince her to trust us.”

“Me?” Amy asks, taken aback. “Why me?”

“Because you’re both… girls,” he starts, sounding unsure of himself. “Of the same age, thereabouts. I don’t know, but it’s worth a shot. I clearly wasn’t getting anywhere with her on my own and I rather fancy keeping all of my limbs. They won’t regenerate, you know.” He smirks to himself, like he’s in one some kind of private joke that Amy doesn’t get.

She’s about to say something when she hears the engines roaring again; signaling a land. Then the ship is still. “Well,” the Doctor says, holding out his hands towards the door for her. “After you.”

“After me?” Amy asks, wary. “Great. If I get blasted into a thousand pieces I’m coming back as a ghost and haunting your arse, just so you’re aware.”

“Don’t be silly, Pond. Ghosts don’t exist.”

Well, that was comforting. Not.

Amy takes a deep breath, trying to calm her rapidly beating heart. It would be okay; they still have time. She’ll just convince River that they’re good people who are only here to help and then when they get back to her present she’d be okay. It would only take a couple hours, she hoped. River would be fine. She had to be fine. They could do this.

However, once she opened the door to the TARDIS she had to duck immediately as a bullet flew dangerously close to her head, hitting the ship. “Hey!” she screams, furious that she seriously just got shot at. When she looks up, a young River is standing in the middle of her parlor, gun in hand and pointing it right at her.

“River, I told you, please stop trying to blow holes in my ship!” the Doctor exclaims as he steps out, hands up in surrender. Amy follows suit.

“Who’s this then? Your back-up? I could flatten her skinny arse with my left tit,” River states oh-so-eloquently. Her face does not look like she’s kidding.

“Right, forgot to mention,” the Doctor says to Amy, “She thinks we’re assassins.” He says it in such a casual way it’s like he was telling her he forgot to fold the laundry.

“Assassins?” Amy asks in disbelief.

“Don’t play coy with me, scrawny.” That elicited an offended ‘Oi!’ from Amy, but River ignored it, “You honestly expect me to believe you don’t know who my parents are? The Corporation has been trying to hunt them down for months, I knew it was only a matter of time until you all tried to use me to get to them,” River spits out. Well, River isn’t exactly the most pleasant thing as a teenager. She takes a menacing step forward, her gun trained on Amy’s head. “Well I won’t let that happen.”

“Whoa, no! Hold on! We’re not assassins!” Amy tries, backing up a few steps. “We’re from the future; we’re here to save you!”

That sounded ridiculous even to her own ears; like a line from a cheesy B movie.

River laughs. “Save me? As you can see, I’m quite capable on my own. Now I won’t tell you again; get the hell out of my house or else I’ll see your guts as my garters. Tell the Corporation I know nothing of my parent’s affairs, I left their care when I was just a girl. They probably don’t know nor care if I’m alive.”

“No, we’re not-” the Doctor tries, but River aims her gun at his head immediately.

“Shut it. I’ve had enough of your lies.” She fires the gun again and the Doctor ducks in the nick of time.

“Hey!” Amy screams, which only proves to provoke River further as she fires off another round in her direction. She hits the floor immediately. She needed to think of something quick or they’d both be dead. At this age River was clearly a “fire first, ask questions later” kind of person.

“Assassins without weapons? How pathetic,” River says as she laughs, noticing that they aren’t doing anything to fight back. She trains her gun on the Doctor again and Amy, in a fit of fear that she’s about to kill him, shouts:

“No! We’re not assassins! You’re… you’re my lover!”

“What?” River asks, turning to Amy, confused and suspicious.

“What?” the Doctor says at the same time, clearly confused by Amy’s statement but she shoots him a look, needing him to go along with it.

As Amy picks herself up from the floor, the lies start spilling out. “You’re my lover in the future and you’re dying. If we don’t get this vaccine in you now then the antibodies won’t have time to develop properly in your blood and… and you’ll die in the future. Please… I can’t lose you, please…” And then she turns on the tears. She needs so desperately to sell this story because they couldn’t leave here without doing what they came to do. She wasn’t going to let River die.

Amy’s performance seems to have at least make River pause, for now anyway. She still stares at her suspiciously however. “My lover, huh?” she asks. “How far in the future, did you say?”

“Twenty five… maybe thirty years. I’m not sure. How old are you?” Amy asks, voice shaking as she wipes away her tears, trying to look presentable.

River smirks, but doesn’t directly answer her question. “So you expect me to believe that when I’m in my forties I’m shagging a little tart like you?” Then she shrugs, amused. “Ha. Sounds like me.”

“Please, we don’t have much time-” Amy tries.

“Shut up,” River snaps, training the gun on her head once more. “You think you can just waltz in here and tell me that without any proof? I may be blonde, but I’m not stupid.”

Proof? What proof could she possibly have? This was going from bad to worse.

“I... I don’t understand what kind of proof you need…” Amy starts, but she’s interrupted by River coming over and grabbing the front of her shirt, pulling her away.

“You, come with me. Call off your dog; we’re going to have a private chat,” River tells her. Then she smirks. “If we really are lovers, then you have nothing to fear, right?” She sounds like she’s mocking her.

Amy looks at the Doctor helplessly as she’s pulled away. “A dog?” she hears the Doctor mutter in offense as she’s thrown into another room. “I’m not a dog… not anyone’s dog…”

Amy could only hope that he’d use this time to try to turn the vaccine into a liquid so they could inject it after this was all said and done. But right now, fear is gripping her chest as she’s thrown down on a bed and a gun is pressed to her temple. How in the hell was she ever going to prove this? And the horrible thing is, she’s pretty sure it’s all up to her to sell this story.

“Alright, lover,” River says mockingly. “You’ve got five minutes to convince me not to put a bullet in that pretty little head of yours. Starting… now.”

GO TO PART THREE...