Wrote this real quickly. I apologize if it's not that good, but, hey, I'm tired. Enjoy, anyway!

~Byzantium~

The second that the River woman left the room, Marina cursed at herself. How could she have just done that? Marina, the trustworthy, by-the-book, for-the-greater-good, angel had just allied herself with a strange woman she'd intended to bring down! She ran out of the room and stared down the hallways, but, as if by some magic force, River was gone.

She sighed, and kicked the wall, confused and utterly unsure of what to do with herself. She couldn't chase after River; she'd already said she wasn't against her. But she had a feeling that River was up to something… illegal. And Marina just wasn't okay with that. But, when she had the chance to detain, or at least fight River, she'd fallen under her spell.

After thinking things through, leaning up against a wall, Marina closed her eyes, and sank down to the floor. She sat for a moment, then put on her shoes and stood back up, walking slowly towards the party.

She was just inside the doors to the ballroom, when she was tackled with a squealing hug. As a blonde mass of curls collided with her mouth, Marina tried to regain her footing.

"Pft—Kitty!" she said, stabilizing herself on a table.

"Oh, Marina! Marina!" she squeaked, jumping up and down, waving her left hand frantically in front of her friend's face.

"Is that a…" Marina asked, in excited awe.

"It is! Bob asked me only a moment ago! Oh you haven't met him! Come on—come ON!" With that, Kitty dashed off into the crowd.

Marina, giddy for her friend, followed after her, thoughts of River slowly but surely slipping out of her mind.

However, once introductions had been made between Bob and Marina, and they mingled around, enjoying the music and the people, Kitty, and Marina all took a table off to the side, while Bob visited the buffet to bring back some food for them all.

While he was away, Kitty suddenly looked out into the space where people were dancing, and exclaimed, "Marina… is that your uncle?"

Marina peered around, to look in the direction of her friend. Sure enough, there he was, dancing at a party. And with a woman! Kitty and Marina snickered and grinned at such an adorable thing. The woman looked simple enough, with cropped black hair and a dull blue dress, probably the mother of a passenger on the ship. They turned away, laughing, as Bob came back with three plates of finger-foods.

"You wouldn't believe the food here," he comments, taking his seat next to Kitty. "They had deep-fried lettuce."

"Well, it is America," Marina replied.

The three of them had a nice few minutes of laughing and joking, when Kitty suddenly remembered to tell something.

"Oh, and you know Marina's uncle?"

He nodded. "Head of security, right"

"Yes, yes! Well," she leaned in close and said, "we saw him not ten minutes ago dancing with a woman like they were young again! Imagine that!"

They all laughed, Bob at the thought, Marina and Kitty at the memory.

"Mind you, there they are, now!" Kitty squealed, pointing back into the dance floor.

And Marina felt her heart flop to her stomach. Because, there was no way what she was seeing was real. She refused to believe that, in the five minutes the girls had their backs turned, that the safe, black-haired woman had gone, to be replaced by the curly-haired and dangerously sexy River Song.

"I've got to go," she said abruptly, rising from the table, and exiting before Kitty or Bob could protest.

When it was certain she wouldn't be coming back quickly, Kitty said, "Blimey, what's wrong with her?"

In fact, Marina was wondering the same thing about herself, as she made her way to the door, not to leave, but to get a better view of her Uncle Alistair and the River woman. River's eyes looked intent, not like the eyes of a partying woman, but that of a secret agent on an assassination mission. And, perhaps she was both.

All Marina knew was that, after a particular song ended, she whispered something in Alistair's ear, then left the dance floor, in the direction of Marina's door. As she mad her way, the assassination expression took over her face completely, and she locked eyes with Marina. River passed through the doors without a word, but Marina knew the instruction: Follow.

"Where are you going?" asked Marina, as she followed River down the corridors, away from the party.

River turned around, about to reply, but, seeing something over Marina's shoulder, said instead, "I think they'd like to ask you the same question."

Marina turned around, to see Kitty, closely followed by Bob, walking down the hallway after them.

"Yes, actually, I would!" said Kitty. "You've been shifty and spacey all night. Now you're running after this random lady, and I'm worried. Just tell me what's going on."

"I'm sorry, Kitty," replied Marina, "But I'd like some answers, too." She turned back to River. "Explain everything. Now."

River's stony eyes went from Marina to Kitty to Bob, and she replied, "I can't. All I can say is this: Help me or don't. Bob, that's your name, right? Bob, I'll see you again, if all goes well. Now get yourself off the ship before the party ends and we take off."

"What? No way. How do you know my name?" he replied, clearly not trusting this woman. And he was right to.

"I'm a friend of Father Octavian. Now go. You'll help me later."

"But what do you need our help with?" cried Kitty.

"Oh, I don't need your help. But it's a hard task for one girl, and you know too much, already. I need more allies than enemies at the moment."

However, nobody could reply, for, at that moment, two security guards, the ones from before, raced around the corner, shouting "That's her!"

"Run!" ordered River. And, for some reason, they obeyed.