"Where's the Doctor got to?" Amy asked, entering the lounge with a tray of snacks.

Rory shrugged, with a 'who knows' expression. "Said he needed some air and bolted."

River set down the wine bottle and glanced at the telly. Amy and Rory had taken a fancy to that American program about the White House. It seemed like a bit of harmless fun after their own adventures there. A snatch of dialogue caught her attention, and she frowned. "I'll go check on him," she offered.

"River…is everything all right?" Amy asked.

River pasted on a bright smile. "I'm sure he's fine. Back in a mo."

"Don't you two go disappearing on us!" Amy called after her.


River found him tinkering under the base of the console. "Are you all right?" she asked.

"I'm fine," he replied in a tight voice.

"No, you're not."

"Then why did you bother asking?" The TARDIS spat a shower of sparks in his face and he cursed. "I'm sorry," the Doctor said quietly, a long moment later. "It's stupid…a thousand years old, and I get worked up by a stupid television program. Stupid…doesn't even look like her," he mumbled.

"No, she doesn't. But she is a secretary named Donna, who is ferociously loyal, and seems like the most ordinary person in the world, except for when she has totally brilliant insights. Sounds an awful lot like someone you used to travel with."

"Someone who can never remember all the things we did, and all the things we saw, because of me."

"Someone who is still alive, because of you," River countered. "It's OK that it hurts, you know. It proves that you're -"

"What, human?" the Doctor spat.

"Alive," River said sharply. "You are alive, and you can remember every single moment you spent with Donna Noble. You can remember her, and you can remember for her. Forever."

"How d'you always know the right thing to say?"

"I know you," River replied simply. "This happens a lot, doesn't it?"

The Doctor nodded. "I'll smell chips, and look around for Rose, to ask if she's hungry. I'll be working on a fascinating mathematical formula and want to show Adric."

"But you wouldn't trade the time you had with them - any of them - for anything, would you?"

"No. Of course not. And I wouldn't trade this, either." Sarah's words to Rose, never intended for his ears, replayed in his mind. 'Some things are worth getting your heart broken for.'

River smiled and held out her hand. "Let's get back. Amy's afraid we'll swan off without a word."

He opened his mouth to say that of course, he wouldn't, but then recalled who he was speaking to, and settled for a smile that didn't fool her one bit.


Author's Notes: OK…so I was contemplating my annual West Wing DVD marathon, when the idea of similarities between Donna Moss and Donna Noble took up residence in my brain and wouldn't go away. I don't generally write River, but she seemed the best person to have this particular conversation with him. Takes place late 6th season(ish).