Disclaimer: I do not own Doctor Who. It is the property of the BBC and this is for entertainment purposes only. :)

She drew back and thrust her fist at his face with all her might. He collapsed against the glass with a loud thud, and she dragged him to the nearest pole, where she cuffed him by the wrist. She only had a little while before he came around, so she wasted no time. She looked at the computer screen, processing the information as quickly as she could so he couldn't stop her. Shaking, she set the auto-destruct feature for 10 minutes and got to work wiring things together for the download. She'd just started on the headset when a flash of white light filled the room and The Doctor spun into view.

"…. Careful! Blimey! That gets worse every time I- oh! Hello, River!" he said, looking pleased with himself. She glared at him incredulously.

"What the hell are you doing here? You can't be here; you'll create a paradox and rip another hole in the universe. He's about to wake up. Get out of here, Doctor!"

"Well, it's nice to see you, too, honey," he retorted, his voice dripping with sarcasm. He'd come to save her, and she was being a bit ungrateful.

"Doctor, I mean it. You've known all along that I was coming here. This has to happen. This is a fixed point in time."

"Fixed points can be rewritten," he joked solemnly.

"No, they can't. Of course they can't."

"Except we've done it before," he said through gritted teeth. He was standing less than a foot away from her, hoping that his back up would arrive sooner than later.

"Yeah, with a shape-shifting robot. But you don't have many more of those lying around, do you? Besides, it wouldn't have the memory capacity to serve the core, anyway!"

"River, just listen to me."

"Doctor, I have to die. This has to happen. Otherwise, you'll kill yourself and I'll have never met you."

"River, I can't let you die." He pressed a finger to her lips. "I think you know what comes next. It's selfish, I know. But it doesn't have to end like this."

"And how do you think you're going to save me? And all those people- Doctor, in case you've forgotten, Donna is still in there. I have to do this." Another flash of white light filled the room. She closed her eyes, only to open them to, well, to herself. Her jaw fell open as The Doctor stepped back and joined the River that had just appeared.

"River, meet River."

"What have you done?" she breathed.

He laid his hand on the duplicate's shoulder. "This is a flesh copy of you. She has your memories, your thoughts, your personality, and your memory space."

"That's impossible," River said.

"And did I mention it's a bit cliché? But it's the best I could come up with on short notice."

The duplicate stepped forward to look River in the eye. "I know it's hard to believe, but it's real. I was born Melody Pond. Parents: Amy Pond and Rory Williams. Raised by the Silence, trained to kill the Doctor. Yes, I know that I could have studied that anywhere. But in Berlin, half an hour after you kissed him for the first time, he was dying. He said that no one could save him. But he lied. He whispered in your ear, a message for River Song. You didn't know who you were then."

River looked into her own eyes, reliving those moments even though they were hazy. She still wasn't totally convinced that this person was her. "What did he say? If you're really me, you've never forgotten those words that he said that day. So, what was it?" The ganger leaned forward and whispered in her ear. Her eyes widened. She couldn't believe it. She looked at The Doctor, who mouthed, "Do you trust me?" River nodded, unable to find words.

"Right, then, we don't have much time," The Doctor said, sauntering forward and taking both Rivers by the hand. "She's going to take your place."

"And you're okay with this?" River asked the ganger.

"He's got a plan. I'll be fine."

"River, give her the suit. We've got to make it seem as real as possible. He won't know the difference," he said, looking at the slumped form of his tenth regeneration. "Poor man. This is going to hurt."

"Auto-destruct in five minutes."

"Hurry, River!" The Doctor ran over to the computer and hacked into the system. "I can only give you three more minutes. Now you have eight," he said, typing furiously. River shimmied out of the suit and held it out to the ganger, who took it and started to put it on.

"Is that how other people see me?" Ganger River said as she wriggled into the suit.

River laughed. "I believe I've been called 'irresistible.'"

"I know," the ganger replied, pulling her curly hair out of the collar of the suit.

"Could you two stop flirting? I mean, I like to flirt with you as much as the next person, but there's a time and a place. And right now isn't it."

They both rolled their eyes and the ganger pulled her hair back into a ponytail before taking her seat in the chair. The Doctor bent down and picked up River's sonic screwdriver before reaching into the pocket of his tweed jacket and pulling out a communicator like the one fashioned into the spacesuit that River wore.

"How did you get that?" River asked when she saw what he had in his hand.

"Ripped it off the helmet in the trailer at the Byzantium. Thought it might come in handy one day. Got a bit nostalgic, honestly. Anyway, I have to download your –well, your ganger's- consciousness onto this communicator and plug it into this screwdriver. It's how I –he- saves you. Timey-wimey. Hold on," he said, turning to Ganger River, "this shouldn't hurt. Then again, I've never had to do this before."

"You have about five minutes left, Doctor!" River called from behind him. "I'm sorry. I really am," she whispered before he heard the distinct sound of skin-on-skin. He didn't have to look back to guess that she must have punched his younger self to knock him out again. She was back at his side a few moments later.

"You enjoyed that too much," he growled, sliding the screwdriver shut over the communicator. He placed it on her diary, beside his old one.

"Auto-destruct in four minutes."

"I've only got two minutes until he wakes up. River, use the vortex manipulator and go to the TARDIS. I'll be right behind you, I promise." He held the black bracelet that her duplicate had used out to her. Without arguing, she took it from him and strapped it on her wrist. A few seconds later, she was gone.

He walked over to the chair where River's ganger was sitting. Out of habit, he pulled out his screwdriver and scanned her, but he didn't read it. He simply shoved it back into his pocket and lifted her chin so he was looking in her eyes. "These next few minutes aren't going to be very pleasant, I'm afraid."

"What exactly happens?"

"He'll wake up in a couple of minutes and try to talk you out of it. You'll know what to say, don't worry. Although, I should mention that he doesn't know that this has happened. As far as he's concerned, our last meeting was Darillium. At the end of the countdown, you plug this headset into that computer, and it downloads your memory space. It burns you up. You can't physically survive it. But he'll figure it out soon enough. I've put your consciousness into the screwdriver. He'll plug it into the data core of the computer, and it'll save you. You'll have friends, a job, a family." He scratched the back of his head and mentally added, "I hope."

"But I won't have you," she stated. The words pierced him like knives.

"I don't… I'm not sure, River. I'm sorry."

"It's okay." She picked up the headset and started twisting wires together.

"You're lying," he accused.

"Of course I am. Have to."

"You're going to kill me for this," he said out loud, rubbing his forehead.

"For what?"

He kissed her, holding her face in between his hands. It was shorter than she would have liked, but considering the circumstances, she couldn't have asked for more. "Oh," she gasped when he broke away, "yes I am."

He stepped back and typed coordinates on the vortex manipulator. "Goodbye, River." A flash of white light, and he was gone.

She'd already landed the TARDIS on her street when he got back. A sharp slap across the face awaited him, like he'd expected. He popped his neck. "Okay. I deserved that one."

She turned back to the scanner. "Thank you. Even though it was stupid and extremely selfish of you. I owe you my life, again."

"I think we're even," he said, pulling her blue diary from his pocket. "Our timelines are moving in the same direction now." He laid the diary next to her hand, which she used to prop herself up on the console. "No more spoilers."

River laughed. "Guess this means I have to find a new catchphrase." The Doctor smiled before wrapping her in a hug. "You can read the diary, if you'd like."

"I don't need to, now. I have one of my own, remember?"

"Of course I remember."

"Well, since our lives have fixed themselves, you can come with me. The Doctor and Professor River Song, running amongst the stars. We could be the greatest things since, well, since me." She stepped back half a foot, smiling fondly.

"I have a class to teach in the morning," she protested.

"The morning's a long time away," he murmured. "Time machine." He patted the console.

"I owe it to them. To those kids. I've grown quite fond of them, actually."

"What? No stars, no planets? You just want to stay on earth and live like a … human?" His brow furrowed as he tried to understand what could have possibly possessed her to make her say something like that.

River turned away from him. "You were gone, and I established myself. I guess that's what being part human does to you." She walked away from him, headed towards the doors of the TARDIS. Without thinking about it, he followed her. He didn't exactly know why, but, he figured since he was being uncharacteristically clingy, he might as well. They walked out into the street, arm-in-arm. While she was unlocking the door, The Doctor looked around. It was a quiet night, but someone out of the corner of his eye caught his attention. Standing down the road, hands in his pockets and staring at them intently, was the blonde boy that The Doctor had met on the beach. The Doctor raised a hand to wave at him. The boy nodded in return and gave him a smile before turning on his heels and walking away from them.

The Doctor shook his head and stopped River before she stepped through the door. "Everything you are is my fault."

"Stop talking like that. You know it isn't."

"But it is. You're half Time Lord because of me. Because I couldn't tell Amy and Rory to stay home. And your childhood, I took that from you as well."

"I don't care. Our paths crossed, we got married, and I still love you. I just don't want to travel right now." She turned her face away from him. She's hiding something, he thought. She's always hiding something.

"Okay," he said, knowing that he wouldn't get very far in arguing with her.

River held her hand out to him, and he took it. He tried to read her expression, looking for something other than the love that was always there. When he came up empty, he mentally shrugged and followed her into the house, accepting her invitation before he ran off to the stars again.

He leaned up against the console, trying to catch his breath. He'd never run away faster from something than the giant phoenix that had just come swooping down at him. Some planets should really rethink their security system, he thought. The psychic paper burned in his pocket. He pulled it out and the letters appeared angrily.

10/26/2013 323 Randolph Ave. GO. NOW.

Not even her usual 'X.'