It was boring. Far too boring. And, Gosh, it smelled terrible. The stone floor behind her was uncomfortable and the noises she could hear disturbing. People screaming, crying, moaning, cursing. 14th century England really wasn't her cup of tea, especially when she got herself thrown in prison for witchcraft.

"Calm down, darling, I'm not going to eat you."

"Although…" she thought, looking at her cell companion. She was crawled on the opposite side of the room, praying and staring at River, terrified. She was a young woman no more than 25 and despite River's insistence, she hadn't given her name or the reason of her imprisonment. She only kept calling a River a "devil's creature" while holding her crucifix. She was pretty enough, River decided, though she'd probably need a good bath. At least, the girl was a distraction. River was still trying to figure out how to get out of there.

Initially, she had been supposed to join her team for a digging in the 24th century, but the disposable time-travel devices that they gave to the students were junk. They had received instructions on what to do if you weren't sent at the right place but she'd been busy flirting with the newbie that day. She didn't have a gun because it had seemed useless against the dead people she was supposed to visit, and the only weapon she had carried was a dagger hidden in her boot. Unfortunately, the men who seized her had taken it from her after a body search - during which said men had taken "outrageous liberties" as she had scolded. She'd been sentence to death at the stake - apparently, they weren't so fond of women appearing out of nowhere with a device screaming "Error ! Error ! Assistance is being contacted !" Damn, their assistance clearly needed to reassess their execution speed because she'd been in that cell for six hours already.

"Mental note : no matter what, always bring a gun," she sighed.

She'd been trying to slow down the use of guns since Berlin - since she discovered what a heartless assassin they had made of her - but, well; Her life was definitely too complicated not to take precautions. Oh, what a day Berlin had been. Trying to kill the Doctor and falling for him at the same time. Questioning her whole life. And then changing said life to study archaeology. At the beginning, it had been an excuse to get to know more about this extraordinary man, to know where he'd been, what he'd done, whether she truly had been right to sacrifice her lives for his. And somehow, through those pages and stories, through the few memories she had from their sole encounter, she had felt the urge to make him hers. That simply seemed delusional, though. He was the Doctor, a man known throughout the universe for his battles and victories, goodness and strength, wisdom and pacifism. And who was she but a girl that just happened to stand in his way because of her parents ? That day, when he refused to watch her being tortured by the Teselecta, he had acted out of friendship for Amy and Rory, she believed. But then… There was the blue, TARDIS-shaped book he gave her as a promise of oncoming meetings. And the words he whispered at her ear as he was dying, the message for River Song. She shivered thinking about it. She was longing to see him again.

"How can ya witch smile knowing you're soon going to hell ?" said the girl in an angry yet trembling voice.

"Oh, but I'll be leaving hell as soon as I get out of there, sweetheart, and I could help you escape if you'd be so kind as -"

"I'll never have business with a concubine of Satan !" she cried.

River rolled her eyes. "Look, you can't be an angel if you found yourself here."

The girl opened her mouth to reply, River was finally about to discover the crime of her companion when someone was thrown off in their cell.

Someone with an anachronic suit and a chin bigger than allowed.

River's hearts missed a few beats and she got on her feet. The Doctor ? Had he come for her ? Was this their first real adventure ? She checked herself out quickly. If she had known, she would have chosen a deeper neckline.

"Well, they've certainly not been taught manners…" The Doctor got up, removed the dust on his trousers and set his eyes on her. "River ?" he asked, confused. So, no. He hadn't come for her. River ignored the disappointment that pinched her hearts. But then, what were the chances they encountered here by luck ?

"Doctor," she answered in a flirting tone.

He adjusted his bowtie and leant on a wall. She liked it. He seemed pleased to see her.

"What are you doing here ?" he asked.

"Let me return you the question."

"I have no idea, actually. I wasn't supposed to land in the 14th century, but I guess the TARDIS decided it was time for me to pay a visit to a certain wife of mine."

He had come closer and lowered his voice. It sent waves of heat all over her body. She more or less knew about that marriage thing. It was quite popular in the general history of the galaxy. She couldn't wait to find out how it would happen.

"What have they locked you up for ?"

She smiled.

"Witchcraft."

He smiled back.

"I was sure it would happen someday."

He had an incredible, deep gaze, she saw. She hadn't taken the time to observe him properly previously but his eyes were really easy to drown into. She also realized he had no clue where she was in her timeline. She might take advantage on that. She was taking a look at his lips when her cell companion screamed.

"HELP ! HELP ! DEVILISH CREATURES ARE 'BOUT TO MATE IN MY CELL !"

The Doctor hadn't noticed the girl and jumped at the sound. He took out his screwdriver as guards' step came running to their cell. "Did she say "mate" ?" River asked, offended. "Come on River, we'd better leave the place !" the Doctor said, taking her hand and sonic-screwdriving the cell's door. They ran out of there only to face two knights heading their direction.

"You !" they shouted. "Stay where you are !"

They drew their swords and hurried towards them. River and the Doctor turned around and headed the opposite direction where they met no one. They carefully ran through some more corridors until the Doctor abruptly stopped, pressing River against a wall. "Steps coming from the next turn," he whispered.

They had crawled inside a dark corner, which suited River well. "Do you actually know where the TARDIS is, sweetie ?"

"Of course I know, who do you take me for ?"

He gazed at her. They were so very close. She raised an eyebrow, showing clear doubts about his capacity finding stuff he left behind. He was about to replicate when voices rose.

"I heard noises from there."

They looked at each other, struggling to find an idea. "Where is your vortex manipulator ?" asked the Doctor.

"What ?"

She had no idea what he was talking about, but she immediately regretted showing her ignorance. The Doctor frowned. "Where exactly are you in your -"

Suddenly, they were circled by swords. They faced the men, raising hands. The Doctor quickly got his psychic paper out of his pocket. "Any harm is done to us, and you'll have to answer the king," he claimed.

One of the men took the paper, looking suspiciously at whatever was written. Then he saw something - probably a seal - and he straightened, giving the paper back to the Doctor. The swords bent down around them. "My apologies, my Lord." He indicated to his fellows to return to their post and then looked back at the Doctor. "How may I serve my Lord ?"

The Doctor straightened his vest but River answered before he could. "Well, we heard that some strange blue box was around here and we would like to have a look at it."

"As you wish, milady."

The Doctor and River followed the man and exchanged a smile. After a moment, the TARDIS appeared before their eyes. "Some smallfolk brought that here with some trick and we can't open it. We plan to burn it on the morrow," the guard said. Pretending to inspect the box, River and the Doctor quietly reached the door.

"Yes, interesting," the Doctor muttered. "Well, thank you very much, I'll see that your helpfulness is mentioned to the king." He snapped his fingers and the door opened.

"What - but - my Lord ?" the guard said, stepping towards them.

River and him entered the TARDIS quickly and closed behind.

River sighed. Out of trouble, finally.

They walked to the console, hearing the guard shouting outside. River felt a welcoming vibration both inside and outside from her. She knew it was the TARDIS ; the old girl was pleased to see her. She saw the Doctor pushing useless buttons from the corner of her eyes while she stroked the console with fondness. She felt home here, more than anywhere else. Not to mention that it was the TARDIS who sent the Doctor to her rescue.

"So, where do I drop my Lady ?" the Doctor asked. River smiled mischievously. "Oh, but I can perfectly drop myself, sweetie." She encoded the coordinates and sent an impulsion of energy before initiating the manual driving. "Stop that, you can't do it properly !" the Doctor exclaimed as he hurried towards her.

He cancelled her command, but she didn't let herself do and fought back. "You know that it's useless to drop that leverage while the TARDIS is flying, don't you ?"

"Ah, stop theorizing, I'm driving by instinct !"

He kept touching everything under his hands to stop her navigating the ship, but she was at least as quick as him. They were turning around the console, focused on their doing, but the TARDIS was shaken by their opposite demands and the Doctor found himself thrown on the barrier behind him. River took that advantage and started to initiate single-control with her fingerprint - she wasn't even sure the Doctor knew it existed - but he saw what she was doing and swooped in on her. He caught her two arms with one of his from behind and cancelled her manipulation again with his other hand. She laughed and turned around to face him, her back against the console.

"I'm driving, honey, he said, proud of himself." She put her hand down behind her, looking for one particular button under the console. "So you think", she smiled. She pushed and the TARDIS suddenly stopped, floating in the vortex. The Doctor slightly bit his lip and clenched his jaw, his hands still on the console on each side of her.

"That's not going to lead us anywhere."

"Well, yeah, it seems you're stuck here until you let me drive."

"Not going to."

She tilted her head. "You'll get humiliated, then." Before he could react, she slipped under his right arm and walked backward while pushing some more buttons and encoding some more coordinates to restart the ship. She was looking at him provocatively while doing so. He was watching her intensively, not even trying to stop her.

"Look, I can do it with my eyes closed. I almost feel sorry for you." She took her eyes from him a second to look at the screen. "Oh, we're almost there, aren't we ? I'd say I won this round, but I'm sure -"

And suddenly his lips were on hers. She let go of the handle she was holding and her hands raised in closed fist. She hadn't expected that. She hadn't seen him coming. His hands were on her waist, pressing her against him and she felt all dizzy and hot and amazed. She put her hands on his neck and the kiss deepened. He was electric and sweet and he tasted like boiling tea and stardust. He seemed so comfortable with it - so used to it that it felt odd and grandiose at the same time. She would never get tired of it, that much she knew.

Then the Doctor's lips left hers to kiss her on the jaw and in her neck and she thought she would die of pleasure right there. Shivers were running on every surface of her skin. Finally, he stopped the kissing and smiled at her. "You were saying ?" he teased.

But he hadn't let her enough time to recover. She was breathless, probably blushing like a young girl and confused. He quickly realized something wasn't normal. "Are you okay ?"

"Yes," she said, raising her eyebrow to pretend it was true. "Well, I would say that's cheating !"

She tried to laugh, but it sounded more like strangling noises. The Doctor stepped back, looking afraid. "Where are you ?" he asked in a voice suggesting he already knew.

River ran a hand through her hair to try to appear composed.

"Well, if I recover, last time was, you know, me trying to kill you and ending up bringing you back to life."

The Doctor looked unbelievingly at her for a second, then bended his head and rubbed his hands nervously while making an awkward, big step on the right. "You should have mentioned that," he said, coughing. The embarrassment had passed from her to the Doctor, it seemed. She leaned on the console, amused by his reaction. "You almost asked, but you didn't."

He looked at her again. He was the one reddening now. He pointed her, his finger coming up and down as he was struggling to find his words. "You… you… couldn't…"

"What, have a preview of the enflamed kisses you're going to give me at some point ?" she smiled, definitely enjoying the situation.

"Ah !"

The Doctor hid his face in disarray and she openly laughed.

"You're so young ! And I'm so… I was so… I thought you were much older !" he exclaimed.

"That's fine, Doctor."

She landed the TARDIS at her digging site, in 24th century England, and then came closer to him. She approached her mouth to his ear and pressed her body against him. "Now that you've set the bar so high, I'll be much looking forward to seeing you again," she slipped at his ear, and then dropped a light kiss on his lobe.

He backed away his face to look at her desperately, shaking his head. "You really aren't trustworthy, Melody Pond."

She was already halfway from the door, all cheered up.

"Oh, don't be so grumpy, sweetie. I owe you a spoiler, now !"

She got out of the TARDIS, pleased to see she was at the right place. She saw her team in the distance and headed towards them, her mood far better than a few hours ago.
Oh, yes, definitely looking forward.

So, this was my gift to JadeThe2nd as part of the 2017 River Song Secret Santa project !
Thanks to seriesluvr for the beta-reading !
I wasn't sure whether it was possible that they met between Berlin and the wedding but who cares in the end ? :)
Reviews much appreciated !