Hello! I was so nervous about posting this story but then I saw that a few people have read it which was quite lovely to see. I won't usually post chapters this fast, I just thought I would post the first few to see if people like then and if its worth continuing :)

Nella felt her head spinning. The world around her shook, then she suddenly found herself stumbling onto concrete. She hissed in pain as her bare arms scraped against the rough surface. A second later, a hand grabbed her wrist and pulled her up, steading her.

As the world stopped swimming in front of her eyes, Nella realised in confusion that it was daytime. She looked around, then regarded the strange woman with a suspicious glare.

"Okay, time's up. Who the hell are you and where the hell are we?"

The woman looked her up and down, concerned.

"Nella? You're shaking." She noted, leading her towards a nearby rock and forcing her to sit.

Nella frowned. Had she told this woman her name? She couldn't remember. Her head was too fuzzy. Obviously she must have.

"Sorry about that, I know travelling can often make you feel a bit off colour. Are you alright?" She placed a hand on her shoulder. Nella shrugged her off.

"You're avoiding my questions." She snapped.

The woman laughed.

"Oh, I like young you."

"And I don't like you. " Nella retorted, confused as to what the woman meant by 'young' her. "And I don't like being kidnapped, so please tell me where we are and, for that matter, why on earth those people were chasing us."

"Me. They were chasing me. You just got in their way. What are you doing here, by the way?"

"I asked you first."

The woman ignored her. "I'm assuming you haven't come from this time period. You aren't dressed for it. She looked her up and down thoughtfully, "Judging by your clothing I'd say early 21st century, correct?"

Nella raised an eyebrow. "Well yes, obviously. It's 2018. That's what year it is."

"So how did you end up here? Where's the Doctor?"

"What do you mean? What doctor? You brought us here with your weird watch thing, remember?"

"Vortex manipulator." She corrected. "I mean, how did you end up in a 51st century museum if you came from 2018? Did you come in the TARDIS?"

Nella stared at the woman.

"I beg your pardon. What are you talking about? Are you insane?"

The woman frowned.

"Nella? Nella, please tell me you know what I'm talking about."

Nella frowned.

"Sorry, I don't…" she trailed off, not really sure what to say. The woman visibly slumped and she asked one last, half-hearted question.

"Please tell me you know who I am."

Nella shook her head.

"I'm sorry. Should I? Are you a friend of Joe's? Because if he sent you to make sure I'm getting everything–"

"No, oh god no. I don't …" The woman trailed off, then sighed heavily. "Well, I guess this day was going to come eventually." She held out her hand.

"Doctor River Song. Nice to meet you"

Nella paused for a moment, staring at her hand thoughtfully.

"Nella Plum." She said after a moment, reaching out to shake her hand, only to stop when she saw the state of it.

"Though you seem to already know that. Sorry again about the… biting." She muttered apologetically, motioning to the red scabs.

River laughed. "Don't worry, I've had far worse."

They were silent for a moment, before the woman, River, spoke again.

"Well, we need to get back inside that museum. We've jumped forward a couple of hours, so they'll be opening again soon. What were you doing in there, by the way?"

"Um, I was…" Nella trailed off, trying to come up with a reasonable explanation. River raised an eyebrow.

"You were what?"

"I was in the Pompeii exhibit, I had one of the display cases open… then I don't know. There was some sort of hole and I fell through. The next thing I knew I was in that corridor."

"Why did you have one of the display cases open?"

Nella shifted uncomfortably. "Umm, its sort of a long story?"

River smirked and raised an eyebrow. "That somehow ends in you breaking into a museum?"

Nella bit her lip and sighed. She didn't trust this woman, she didn't even know who she was, but she also had a feeling she would able to sense if she was lying.

"I'm… a bit of a computer nerd I guess you could say." She finally tried, "I bet some guy $100 that I could disable the Hunterson's security system." Not a complete lie, but River didn't look convinced.

"So that's why you were stealing an artefact?"

No.

"I wasn't stealing it." She snapped defensively, "I was borrowing it. I was going to bring it back. Anyway, when I lifted it up there must have been a secret hatch or something underneath and I fell through it."

River smiled and shook her head.

"No, you didn't."

"What happened, then?"

"The artefact you were stealing. It was uncovered on an excavation, in Herculaneum actually, in 2007. Of course they assumed it was from there. Except it wasn't. It's not even from this planet." She paused to type something into the device on her wrist. "When you touched the artefact, it teleported you 3000 years into the future where, coincidentally, I was trying to steal the exact same thing."

"I wasn't stealing it." She snapped again. "I was–"

"Yes, yes, borrowing it. I know. I'm sure the police would have been perfectly okay with that when they caught you." River mused.

"Well I wasn't planning on getting caught." Nella huffed and folded her arms, trying to look serious but, instead, creating a look that resembled a moody toddler.

River laughed. "I really like young you."

"I really don't like you."

The older woman sighed and stood up.

"Well, whether you like me or not, we need to get back into that museum."

"Why?"

"That artefact, it's from a planet called Fal. If used properly, it allows the owner to jump through time effortlessly. If used incorrectly, the power source inside it could be used to blow holes in the fabric of the universe. There are species that would tear this planet apart if there were even a slight chance they could get their hands on it. It needs to be destroyed."

"Okay, so go ahead and destroy it. You don't need me."

River smirked. "True, but I didn't think you'd like to be left behind 3000 years in your future with no means of getting back home. I can leave you if you want."

"Oh. I forgot about that part."

"If you help me, I'll take you home. Deal?"

"Fine. I'm not exactly going to be of much help, though."

River hummed thoughtfully, then shrugged. "Well, if we run into any trouble, you could always bite them."

Nella cracked a small smile. This woman seemed okay, whoever she was.

River motioned for her to place her hand on her watch. Nella sighed and obliged. The journey was slightly less intense the second time, though that may have been partly because she knew what to expect. They appeared in a corridor much like the one Nella had found herself in hours before. It was lighter now, the first signs of daylight seeping through the tinted windows.

She began to speak, but River placed a finger to her lips and motioned to a nearby door. On second glance, Nella realised there was a light on inside. She nodded in understanding and waited for River to decide their next move.

A few seconds passed, then River motioned down the corridor. Nella nodded and let her lead the way.

The exhibit they were looking for was on the same floor that Nella had materialized on earlier. It was bigger than the one she had been in earlier, with more signs and artefacts lining the walls. To this point, Nella had completely disregarded what River had said about traveling in time as impossible, but after seeing how different the museum looked it was beginning to sound like a plausible explanation. The fact that River had a strange device that could obviously transport them places in a flash of light was also giving her a sci-fi sort of vibe.

The cube was still in the same spot, which surprised Nella. If it was so powerful and important, why was it shoved to the back like nobody wanted it? River seemed to guess what she was thinking.

"It was dismissed as a decorative object years ago." She murmured, "Once historians realised that the triangles weren't actually writing, they pretty much lost interest."

"What are they? The Triangles?" Nella asked

"Decoration." River replied. "Well, mostly. They do serve a purpose, but the actual shape is decoration. Now, How did you get the artefact out back in your time?"

"Blowtorch."

"Ah, well that won't work this time. They finally smartened up and realized it was too easy to break into glass cases. Look."

She motioned to the case containing the artefacts. Sure enough, where Nella would have expected a glass case to be, there was an odd layer of light.

"Laser shielding." River explained, "A few years back they finally smartened up and realised that glass, no matter how thick, was just too east to break. Shame, I would have liked to watch you do your thing. What else have you got in that bag?"

Nella shrugged and absent-mindedly placed a hand on the bag at her side.

"Y'know, usual stuff. A torch, some matches, pocket knife, gloves, et cetera."

"My, we are prepared. One would almost suspect this wasn't your first time breaking into a museum."

A pained expression crossed Nella's face for a moment, but she quickly replaced it with one of amusement. Unfortunately, she wasn't quick enough.

"Ha." River chuckled. "I suspected so. You don't have that anxious, 'I'm not supposed to be here' look. You look quite comfortable, actually. So tell me, Nella, how are we going to get the artefacts out this time?"

Nella looked down at the display case, then back up at River.

"You already know, don't you? Why are you asking me?"

River shrugged.

"You're smarter than the average 21st century human. Treat this like a job interview. If all works out here, maybe you could come with me. You know, travel explore, steal some more precious artefacts. Maybe even ones we can actually keep." She smiled.

Nella wasn't sure if she was joking or being serious, so she chose to ignore her.

"Well, the lasers obviously have to be powered by something and there would have to be an off switch somewhere. The question is, where?"

She looked around the room, searching for some sort of power point or at least some cords. Finding nothing, she turned back to River and shrugged.

"You tell me."

"Well, you're right about the power source and the on/off switch. The museum uses a wireless system which is why there aren't any power cords, if that's what you were looking for."

Nella nodded. She hated to admit it, but she was starting to get excited. She hated stealing things, she really did. She knew it was wrong and often hated every moment of it, but she did love the adrenaline rush it gave her.

"So? What do we do?"

"That room we passed on the way in here. That's the main security office. It's where all of these barriers are controlled from. We need to get in there."

They left the Exhibit and crept back down the hall. River stopped when they reached the security room and placed a finger to her lips. It became evident a moment later that there were people in there, and every so often shuffling and muffled voices could be heard.

'Guards.' River mouthed. She reached into her pocked and brought out a gun. Nella's eyed widened and she opened her mouth in shock. River hushed her.

Without giving her time to recover from the shock of the gun, River suddenly reached forward and pushed the door open, marching in and surprising the two guards that were seated at a desk inside. They stood up and drew their guns. River grinned wildly.

"Hello boys."

"Who are you?" One of them asked, looking between River and Nella.

"Oh, you know, just passing by. I thought I'd give my lovely friend Nella here a tour of the museum."

"Well you can't be in here, or anywhere, for that matter. We're not open. It's nighttime!"

"Oh dear. That really is a shame, isn't it." River said, but her grin didn't fade. She swiftly pulled the trigger of her gun twice, sending both the men to the ground.

River made her way over to the desk and sat down. She began typing things into the computer, but Nella stayed put near the door, glancing between the two bodies anxiously.

"You're acting very calm for someone who has just killed two people."

River laughed.

"They're not dead, don't worry. I don't make a habit of killing people who are trying to protect ancient artefacts. That would be a bit hypocritical, being an archaeologist and all."

Nella raised an eyebrow.

"You're an archaeologist? When you said doctor, I thought you meant medical doctor"

River laughed.

"No, no. My father is a nurse, though, so I guess it runs in the family."

"That Doctor you were talking about, is he a doctor of archaeology too?"

River laughed.

"No, not a doctor of Archaeology. A doctor of lots of other things, though. Anyway, no time for chatting. Back to work."

Nella sighed and reluctantly went and stood beside to her, looking over her shoulder every so often to check on the unconscious guards.

River motioned to the screen.

"What do you make of that?"

Nella frowned and scanned the writing on the screen. From what she could tell, it was a list of readings from all the different security shields. They were listed in order of room numbers, not names of exhibits, which meant that she had no idea which one they had to shut off.

"We're looking for West 4a, shield 72."

"It's not there."

River scanned the list for a moment longer, then realised she was right. She sighed.

"Well, I guess we'll have to do this the hard way." She muttered.

"Which would be?"

"Shut down the entire system." She began typing again, "It may take a few minutes longer. Hopefully there's no one else patrolling these halls. I'll have to shut down everything, though. Including the power."

The plan sounded simple enough, but River was frowning.

"Is that a problem?"

"Slightly. I mean, even if I just shut off the power to that one cabinet someone's bound to notice eventually. I have a feeling if the entire museum goes offline its going to take them a little less time to figure out that something's going on."

She turned to Nella.

"We're going to have to be quick. Go back to the artefact. I'll shut the power down from here. When the shield drops, grab the artefact and run. I'll meet you halfway."

Nella nodded and left the room, pacing swiftly back down the hall.

She stood by the display case, anxiously waiting for the shield to drop. He brain was buzzing. She was convinced that she was dreaming, either that or she'd fallen and hit her head while trying to get the artefact out. Still, her mind was filled with questions. If she really was in the future and the artefact was still here, did that mean she didn't end up stealing it? Joe would kill her if she didn't get it back to him. She was already on thin ice after the incident with that stupid security guard from the art gallery.

God, she was so far gone. She was about to rob a museum, allegedly 3000 years in the future, and all she could think about was making Joe and his crew happy. Good one, Nella.

She jumped when suddenly the lights went out and the shield around the artefact dropped. She reached down and gently lifted it up, pausing for a brief second to admire the inscriptions. Then, remembering what River had said about the museum going offline, she took a deep breath, and ran.