Chapter One:

A/N: A guest appears in the silence of the library that changes the course of the Doctor's future as we all know.

Disclaimer: I do not own Doctor Who. I play with these characters and situations for fun, and I'm pretty sure Moffat and I would have several differences of opinion if I did work for Doctor Who.

Rose stumbled out of the stacks in a flash of gold light. Her propulsion from the Dimension Cannon made her stumble as she tried to slow herself from being thrust into the bookshelf. Once she had righted herself, she looked to her left and glanced at the books. She had entered the wrong section. She was in Children's Books, and had meant to land in Biographies. Her aim was getting more accurate, but she still had a little trouble with detailed locations. She was just glad this was not like the last time where she landed in a pond of giant koi and had to run around Barcelona (the planet, not the city) in a sopping wet leather jacket and boots. Her team thought it was hilarious and after changing and getting tea her own humor returned. She had looked ridiculous. She waited another moment studying the silence for any sign of the party she had followed. Nothing. The biggest, busiest library in the universe was completely empty of sound.

She wandered down the hall watching the shadows with trepidation. She would hate to have blasted into the library, just to end up victim to the Vashta Nerada. She wished she had time to stop and look at the beautiful floors and columns of the library architecture, and the entire universe of books at her fingertips. She wished it had been like before, where they got to save the universe while admiring the scenery, but she had a job to do. She could admire the scenery when she had found her target and gotten justice for the millions who had been killed. She shook herself and strode purposefully through the halls. She stopped occasionally to check her bearings. Entering another circular room she saw a sign that she was on the right track. Or at least here at the correct time. The TARDIS was bathed in sunlight, a celestial star bringing her closer to her goal. She ran a hand over the panel and sighed as it hummed in the back of her head.

"Hey girl, I missed you," Rose said softly. The hum increased in response. Rose smiled sadly and walked away from her.

She walked up a flight of steps and through yet another of the beautiful arches. She looked up into the books to read some of the titles. French literature. A door slid opened along the wall further down from her and she jerked away from the sound in shock.

"Bloody hell, traveling through all of time and space and I jump at a bleeding automatic door," she chastised herself.

She heard a voice speaking from the open doorway, far enough away to be a murmur, but there was no one else here. No one else in the library, except the group she had been pursuing. It had to be them. As she stepped forward to the hallway the shadows receded and she watched them closely. She was glad to have the utility attached to her belt that repelled the millions of shadow beings. She also trusted the scientists at Torchwood to be halfway decent at their jobs, but she would hate to be eaten before she could complete the mission.

She strode towards the door, her steps muffled. Through the door stepped a young woman, hair up in an eighties style pony tail and blinking stupidly at Rose.

"Who are you?" the girl asked, her voice quavering as she stared at the woman in front of her. Rose figured the girl was ready to run or scream. She was shaking like a leaf and kept glancing over her should through the door.

"A friend. The Vashta Narada, the creatures in the shadows are going to come back in a moment. You should go back inside there with the lights, yeah?"

Rose moved closer to her and the girl backed away, "How can you be here? No one is supposed to be here."

The girl eyed Rose wearily, but Rose just kept smiling at her. Finally, the girl moved towards the door and back into the circular room. Rose followed behind her, stopping just in the shadow of the doorway to survey the room. Everyone's concentration was on the Doctor. Her Doctor, who was sitting on a desk, was arguing with a portly man in a space suit. Donna noticed first. Good Donna, wonderful, brilliant Donna. Rose's mission would protect a lot of people, but she wanted to protect Donna especially. Without breaking eye contact with Rose, Donna stepped forward to his side.

"Doctor…"

"No one knows anything? The people just disappeared, but the message says they were saved."

"DOCTOR!" Donna Noble yelled at him, stepping forward, grabbing his chin and turning it to the direction of Rose. He stopped mid-sentence, his annoyed expression fell from his face. Rose wished she had a camera. The look of utter shock, confusion, and disbelief. Rose smiled sadly at him and moved forward to step into the light.

"I know this is a shock, and you have a million questions running through your head right now, but I have something I need to do," said Rose, resolve set into her face and she pulled her sidearm out and points it at River Song. River's face froze. "Melody Pond aka River Song, you are under arrest for crimes against the Universe under the Shadow Proclamation, Article 234. I am taking you into custody for questioning."

-000-

"What?" The Doctor finally managed to squawk out. "What?"

"I don't know what you think I have done, but if it is for what I think it is for, then you are a little late. I was already arrested for that," said River, staring right back at Rose over the barrel of the gun. Rose shook her head. She knew this was going to be quite the confrontation. She had been following River Song through the universe, having to watch her ingratiate herself to the Doctor in his future forms. She even watched their marriage, and it killed her, but it was all leading to this. This one moment, the first time the Doctor had met her.

"I think you know why I am here, River. And it isn't for killing the Doctor."

River smiled, "Spoilers."

Rose smiled back at her, but kept her gun trained, not even blinking as she watched her adversary. She had to admit, River Song was a beautiful and clever woman. Her obsession with the Doctor was, on the other hand, unhealthy and dangerous-especially for the Doctor.

No one in the room moved or spoke for several moments. Rose continued to stare into Rivers eyes, determination sparking golden behind the hazel depths. She could feel the time vortex bubbling up in her, uncomfortable even being near River. It was worse than being with Jack.

"The Big Bad Wolf," River Song said with a sigh and her shoulders slumped. "My, what big eyes you have."

"All the better to see the time paradox you created with," Rose said ruthfully. "You have a choice, River Song. You can come with me quietly, or I can hunt you to the depths of the universe. It is your choice."

"I never had a choice."

"I know," sighed Rose, feeling the guilt rise up in her. "I know you were planted, that you had to live this life with him and let yourself get close to him. I know what that did to you, but it is also going to kill the universe. You have already killed thousands with this path."

"I won't make this easy on, you know," said River with a smile and a toss of her head. Rose nodded in understanding. She put her hand to the small headset on her ear before responding.

"I would expect nothing less. Bad Wolf to Command, I have her."

The communication bracelet on her wrist came to life and the familiar voice of Jack Harkness broke the silence of the library.

"Bad Wolf this is Papa Bear," Rose rolled her eyes at the code names. "We have you both. Prepare for Trans-Dimensional jump in five."

"What is going on here?" the portly man stepped forward bristling. "I paid a lot of money for this expedition. And went through great lengths to secure River Song from prison to preserve my family's legacy. I demand to know what you are doing here and what you are going to do with my archeologist!"

"She's under my custody now. She's a war criminal, and we need her to reverse a time paradox and put an end to…a war," Rose explained, trailing off carefully as she felt the Doctor's eyes boring into her. She knew how she must look to him, and it killed her a bit. She wanted to be the same girl who helped him get rid of a werewolf, or had lain in the applegrass of New New York. That was 'Old Rose', she was 'Militant Rose', all leather jackets and combat boots, with two guns, handcuffs, and all sorts of tech hidden on her person. She felt warn and old. Granted, she'd been living this life longer than she had ever imagined she would.

"How did you get in here?" asked Donna. "And who are you?"

"Oh, right. Sorry, I'm Rose Tyler," responded Rose, but kept her eyes on River's. She was playing light and airy, but her whole body was tense and ready to chase, or fight, River Song until she could get her locked up to be questioned and then charged. Innocent until proven guilty, but Rose had seen all that River had done and knew there was no chance of exoneration for River.

"Rose? As in THE Rose?" asked Donna incredulously. "Wow, this is quite a moment then, isn't it? I thought you were stuck in parallel world somewhere. The space dunce said you wouldn't ever be able to get back here."

"How did you get back?" the Doctor asked finally, cutting off Donna and ignoring everything she had said. "And what are you doing working with Jack?"

"I spent a number of years developing a Dimension Cannon with Pete's Torchwood. Brilliant people, combined with a rift on both sides bubbling over because of the paradox, helped me get them working. My first trip between the worlds, I landed in Torchwood 3 in Cardiff. Ran right through a wall into Jack's lovely arms."

The Doctor snorted derisively. Rose smiled, but she forced herself to keep her eyes on River and not look at the Doctor. She wanted to look at him more than anything. She wanted to look at him, touch him, rush into his arms and immerse herself in him completely, but she knew she could not. She had to wait. She had a job to do and there was nothing for it.

"Bad Wolf, we've got you. Hope you didn't eat a big breakfast, this is going to be a bit bumpy."

Rose felt the pull and the golden light from the dimension teleport as it surrounded her and River. She gambled a glance at the Doctor, "Bye, Doctor. Donna, it will be lovely to meet you."

With a flash of golden light they were gone and the group left in the library could not quite figure out what they had witnessed. The Doctor was frozen in place and trying to get back to the present task of the Vashta Nerada and the missing people in the library as a second shadow appeared, but it was difficult to work on the task at hand. All he could think about was Rose Tyler, River Song, and a time paradox in the future.