NOTE: I swear I'll think up a proper plot and direction for this story any minute now...honest.


Chapter Three

"That can't be good."

River stared down at her palms that were streaked with tiny gold spirals. She had noticed the marks once they had returned to the safety of the TARDIS after having left the dead Reaper behind. When she ran a finger along her palm the gold scattered and swirled angrily under her skin. The more she stirred the patterns the more the phantom wound in her shoulder flared. It had been better after her failed regeneration, but now this new dose of energy from the Doctor was reopening it. She wasn't paying much attention to where the Doctor was at work at the console with Amy and didn't hear him call her name.

"River?" The Doctor repeated a bit louder.

"Yes, Love?" River replied as she slipped her hands into her pockets and turned to face him.

"Something wrong?"

"No." River lied.

The Doctor eyed River suspiciously for a moment. River just smiled brightly at him. She didn't want him knowing about the effect the Vale Blade was having on her in case she needed to do it again. The Doctor took a breath to say something but he seemed to think twice and just sighed. Amy came up to stand next to the Doctor.

"Are we here, are we back on Earth?" Amy asked.

"Yes." The Doctor nodded. "But I don't know if it's safe to open the door, it was a lot harder to get the TARDIS here than it should have been. She didn't want to come here and usually she has good reason for not taking me where I want to go."

"I'll go first." River volunteered.

Before the Doctor could protest River turned and headed for the door. She opened the door and cautiously looked out. It was a bright sunny day in Leadworth where the Doctor had landed the TARDIS in Amy and Rory's backyard. River fearlessly stepped outside and looked around. The sky was cloudless and the air was still, but it certainly felt like a normal day. She looked back into the TARDIS where the Doctor and Amy were waiting and shrugged, a move she instantly regretted but managed to turn her wince into a smile.

"Seems okay." River announced.

"It's awfully quite." Amy remarked as she followed the Doctor outside.

"It's always quiet in Leadworth...one of the reasons I can't stand it."

"Doctor!" Amy and River both admonished.

"What?" The Doctor asked confused. "Amy, if it wasn't so dull here you wouldn't feel the need to keep running off with me. Speaking of which let's go. Now that we know everything her is fine we should see if River and the Valeyard are at any of the coordinates that we agreed on."

Amy nodded and was just about to follow River and the Doctor back inside the TARDIS when something caught her eye through the glass patio door.

"Rory!" Amy cried happily.

"What?" The Doctor asked looking over his shoulder.

Amy was already at the patio door when the Doctor caught sight of something that was painfully out of place in the overly tranquil back yard scene.

"Amy, wait! Stop!"

Amy didn't pay any attention to the Doctor as she raced inside. The Doctor took off after her with River right behind him. Rory was inside in the den sitting on the couch with a somewhat blank expression in his unfocused eyes. Amy called out to him again but got no response. She had almost reached him when the Doctor wrapped his arms around her waist and hauled her back a few steps.

"Don't touch him!"

"Doctor, what is wrong with you? Let me go. Rory..."

"Amy, he can't hear you. Look closer."

With her heart racing Amy stopping fighting the Doctor for her freedom and looked to Rory. When she realized that Rory still hadn't moved her stomach twisted in a knot. Rory was sitting on the couch as still as a statue, his chest wasn't even rising and falling from breath. The Doctor released her when it was clear that she wasn't going to try to touch her still husband.

"Wha...what's wrong with him?"

"He's frozen in time, I fear that it's probably a world wide problem. Radiation from the explosion. There was a bird outside trapped in mid-flight. I should have noticed the time stop sooner, but honestly I was more concerned about another Reaper coming for River."

"Rory..." Amy whimpered as she reached out to him.

"No, don't touch him, I'm not exactly sure what will happen to either of you if you do."

"What are we going to do?"

"It'sokay,Amy,theDoctorwillthinkofsomething." River said in an unnatural quick cadence. "AtleastnowweknowwhereRoryis."

"River, why are you talking so fast?" The Doctor asked concerned.

"I'mnottalkingfast,Doctor,you'retalkingslow."

The Doctor furrowed his brow and stared at River for a moment before a terrifying realization struck him.

"We have to get out of here." The Doctor said urgently as he took Amy's wrist. "We have to get out of here *now*!"

"But Rory..."

"We'll be no help to him or anyone if we get stuck here." The Doctor informed as he dragged Amy away. "River, go, just run!"

Amy was surprised to see that River was already at the back door, having made it there in just the blink of an eye. She turned and returned to them in an actual blur of motion. She circled them frantically as the Doctor picked up the pace towards the back door.

"It's getting worse." The Doctor fretted. "River, get back to the TARDIS!"

River tried to speak to them but her voice sounded like a squealing tape on fast forward. Her every motion was as rushed and jerky as the flight of a hummingbird.

"What's wrong with her?" Amy asked alarmed.

"It's not her, it's us."

"Us?"

"We're slowing down, Amy, the radiation is grinding time to a stop for us, but it isn't affecting River." The Doctor explained as he lead her into the backyard. "Relative to one another we are at a normal pace, but from River's perspective we are barely moving."

"What do we do?"

"Hopefully we can make it back to the TARDIS before we freeze completely."

Amy didn't understand exactly what the Doctor was talking about. As far as she was concerned they were at a dead run and the TARDIS was only a few meters away. As they reached the TARDIS the door seemed to just vanish rather than properly swing open. Dashing through the door the Doctor skidded to a stop and panted for breath as though having just narrowly escaped death. Not feeling the same kind of urgency Amy just looked around for River. River was behind them at door and rushed up to them with a worried expression.

"Amy! Doctor!" River cried in relief. "Are you okay?"

"How long did it take us to get here?" The Doctor asked. "How much time did we lose?"

"Doctor, are you mental?" Amy asked seriously. "It didn't take more than a minute."

"Amy," River smiled sadly "you and the Doctor have been running for three days."

"What?"

"Three days isn't so bad." The Doctor said as he consulted his watch. "I was afraid it was going to take weeks."

"Doctor, we have to go back for Rory." Amy insisted.

"Rory is safe, he is frozen in time nothing can happen to him...literally."

"Why didn't it effect me?" River asked.

"I'm not sure." The Doctor pulled out the sonic and quickly scanned River and consulted the read out. "River, are you feeling okay?"

"I'm fine. Why?"

"Your Lindos levels are off the scale."

"What's a lindo?" Amy asked.

"It's a hormone that triggers regeneration." The Doctor stepped closer to River and looked her over. "Are you sure you're okay?"

"Never better."

"Then why are you wearing those gloves?"

Amy hadn't even noticed the change in River's outfit that had occurred during their journey that had taken three day or three minute depending on how she thought about it. River looked down at the elbow length silk gloves that she'd pulled on with a guilty expression. When the Doctor reached out to pull one of them off she peaceful held her arm out. Amy gasped sharply as River's skin was revealed. Her hands were covered in crisscrossing lines and spirals of gold that trailed up her arms before fading out just before her elbows. The Doctor gently traced one of the marks on the back of her hand and it flared brightly causing River's breath to hiss across her teeth.

"Does it hurt?" The Doctor asked as he released her.

"Only when you touch it."

"Why didn't you tell me about this?"

"You have enough to worry about."

"I wish you'd stop trying to save me from myself." The Doctor growled. "Even if you have the best intentions, you're going about it the wrong way. Lying to someone isn't the same as protecting them."

"This coming from the Lord of Liars?" River said defensively.

"River..."

"Concentrate on fixing the Universe, Doctor, then you can work on saving me."

"River, you've got it backwards."

"Doctor..."

"The Valeyard's warning, the Reaper's last words, the fact that you aren't affected by the Timonic Radiation, it all points to the idea that if we lose you, we lose the Universe."

"Careful with talk like that, Doctor." River smiled. "I'm going to start getting an ego to rival your own if you keep telling me the Universe depends on me."

"It does, I know it does. I don't know what the lock is yet, but I'm certain you are the key."