"Well, don't just stand there. Move your feet, yeah?" She demanded as people around them spun in jitterbugging circles.

"It wasn't me," he protested, grabbing both of her hands and swinging her away from him.

River stopped twirling a couple of feet from him and looked up with pursed lips and eyebrows turned inward. She pointed up to the airwaves. "Wake Up, Little Susie?"

"A fun little piece of nostalgia, yeah?" The Doctor's feet continued to kick back and forth as he held his hands out to the scolding River. He smiled innocently and tried to look less giddy and proud of himself.

She rejoined him but refused to let him off the hook so easily. "Not for 1945! You can't throw these kids ten years in the future…"

"Twelve, to be exact…."

"Doctor….."

"Oh, fine!" With the push of a button on his sonic, the music transitioned seamlessly into a big band hit. "Happy now?" he answered with feigned chagrin.

"Marvelously!" River winked at him and marched her swinging hips up to him before whirling away once again.

The Doctor studied her as she danced him around the room. This River was a bit different than the River he was accustomed to meeting. She was playful without the…umm, well, condescension. It was refreshing. She had tamed her hair into the popular victory rolls and her lips were painted a bright red that was customary for the time. She wore the same light blue frock as the other volunteers, but she had finished up her look with red heels that matched her lip color. Yes, a very different River altogether.

And how she managed to swing those hips and balance it all on those shoes would be one of the mysteries that would creep up on him in the future when his world got a bit quiet.

River was shimmying just outside of arm's reach when a sweetheart song filled the room. Ugh, the sick feeling crept back up and squeezed his middle as she walked towards him. His brain played out how badly it would go when he vomited candy floss all over her. There weren't enough soldiers in the city to protect him from the fire he was sure to come under. Was there even room under that dress to hide weaponry?

"Frightened, are we?" she asked before wrapping her arms around his neck and swaying their bodies to the music.

"Isn't this a bit…unseemly…for the times?" he asked with a quiver in his voice. After trying out several awkward positions for his hands, they finally settled near her lower back.

"Look around, Sweetie. The rules of propriety don't apply here tonight," she answered as she motioned to several other couples dancing closely and without reservation or care of opinion.

Her head rested on his shoulder and the smell of her filled his nose as they moved. He felt her muscles shift under his hands and saw the slight back-and-forth of her hips when he looked down over her shoulder. The sound of the music was as intoxicating as the feel of her pressed against him. His senses were nearing overload. Except perhaps for taste. He shook his head to rid his brain of the thought that raced through.

The song began to fade, and River lifted her head up to him. "See, that wasn't so….." The Doctor had turned an alarming mixture of green and white. "Are you okay?" She backed away from him a bit.

"I think I need a bit of fresh air – rather crowded in here all of a sudden," he explained sheepishly.

She took his hand and led him towards the front door. She stopped and put up a finger before walking back to the crowd. The Doctor's gaze followed her as she found Mitsy and gave her a hug after speaking to her quickly. River hurried back over to the Doctor and pulled him out of the door. He continued looking over his shoulder, and Mitsy waved enthusiastically before turning her attention to another young man.

He looked ahead of him as they walked into a wall of people. "How's this for uncluttered breathing, yeah?" she laughed. He was pushed into her by the masses behind him. He instinctively braced himself by grabbing her by the hips. She placed her hands over his and walked as hurriedly as the crowd would allow. The street was still packed as far down Broadway as he could see, yet he felt less crammed than in the U.S.O. He reasoned the dancing had a bit to do with his sudden panic. He was man enough to admit that his center was thrown askew a bit still by the closeness of River Song. However, in the middle of this jubilee, it seemed fitting to be so close to her. Truth be told, he was no closer to her than he was to the bloke behind him.

The difference is that he wasn't as tempted to kiss the fellow behind him as he was when River turned her head and looked up at him, smiling brightly. And kiss her is exactly what he did. She winked at him once more after he had left a light peck on her forehead.

They made no hurry to leave the laughing and loud celebrations that stretched for blocks down New York's most popular street. They slowly made their way, block after block, until there was a thinning in the swarm of euphoric Americans. They were in a more residential part of the city, and people were still milling about, doors swung open as neighbors came and went freely from each other's homes. Women sat on outside steps chatting with each other while their husbands stood in larger groups on the sidewalks, drinking beer and giving the occasional slap on the backs to passersby.

"The great thing about this city is that nearly any weekend looks just like this," she explained as he studied his surroundings, as any self-respecting time traveler should do.

"Not Tuesdays usually, I'm guessing," he answered.

She chuckled, "No, not usually."

The Doctor turned to look at her, a bit confused, "How would you know, exactly? How long have you been here?"

"A few months. Not long enough, really. I love it here, even before seven o'clock this evening."

"But we just left you in 1969 and…"

She held a finger to his lips, lingering a bit longer than necessary. "Spoilers."

"I don't understand our timestreams," he complained. He missed the feel of her finger on his lips already, which he found slightly disturbing.

"Well, I think time moves differently for me than it does for you, for starters. And we're meeting quite by accident and outside of impending danger. Surely, that makes a difference. Being outside of our context probably has fewer rules," she concluded. "I don't suppose it really matters though, does it?"

He looked down at her face, even more beautiful under the lights of the city, and reached for her hand. "No, I suppose not." By accident as far she knew…

"So, you're alone?"

"No, the Ponds are somewhere in all this mess," he replied.

"The Ponds?" She looked up at him with a quick turn of her head.

"Yes. Amy and Rory, the Ponds?" He saw confusion laced with something else dance across her face. "You don't know Amy and Rory, yet?"

River dropped her eyes from his face and nodded her head. "Of course, I know Amy and Rory. Don't be silly." She kept from him how long it had been since she had seen his companions, and she mentally noted what he was failing to acknowledge about the relationship that they all would eventually share.

"Ahh, so the intrigue remains, Dr. Song….."

"…and will remain, Doctor…." When he had pressed further, she had shushed him quickly and absolutely. "Let's just enjoy tonight, honey."

They continued walking hand-in-hand down the more obscure streets of the city in order to avoid the masses. They talked about her work at the U.S.O., and the Doctor was careful not to reveal too much information about the adventures he had had with the Ponds since he wasn't exactly sure where they were in their timestreams. When he told her the story of their latest mishap, she began laughing so hard she had to stop and lean against the wall of a nearby brownstone.

"So, when the big one grabbed Rory by the ankles and began dragging him behind her, Amy picked up a chair from the table and ran after her…"

"Stop!" she choked out between guffaws.

"Well, then of course, the whole family gets involved in the chase. And since they run about as fast as their tortoise ancestors, I was able to pass them and catch up to Amy just as she neared the runway bride with the chair raised over her head…and Rory, well Rory just cried."

"No more! Give me minute, for God's sake!" She was clutching her stomach and gasping for breath.

"Long story short, it was a mess, literally. Hence, why the Ponds needed some 'feel goodiness,' as they called it," he said, answering her inquiry as to what brought them to 1945. He stood in front of her with his thumbs hooked under his braces.

River's laughing subsided, and she looked up from her downward glance with bewilderment. "Why are your pants so short?"

"What? My pants?" He screeched, horrified. She could see his underpants? What exactly what she keeping from him? And he wasn't even wearing any pants…

"Your trousers, I meant. Your trousers," she started giggling again, realizing the miscommunication. "Been here a bit too long, perhaps."

"Oh," he took inventory of his trouser situation. They looked fine to him, and he told her as much.

"Sweetie, I can see your ankles."

"Yeah, well….I can see yours, as well," he answered weakly.

She gave him a look that screamed of dumbarse. "I'm not supposed to be able to see your socks. Who's dressing you?"

"What do you mean? I am! And I think I look magnificent," he said proudly. "Anyway, short pants are cool."

"Like bow ties and braces are cool?"

"Don't forget fezzes."

"Fezzes?" She raised an eyebrow.

"Ummm….spoilers?"

She burst into laughter again, managing to say between breaths, "Wait…bow ties, braces, short pants AND A FEZ? At the same time?" She fell against him, her forehead digging into his chest, and shook with silent hysterical laughter.

"Hey! Wait just a minute…fezzes are cool…" Her knees gave away and she grabbed onto him to keep from collapsing to the ground. The Doctor just stood there and waited for her fit to end. She looked up at him once and the not-amused look on his face just made it worse. She eventually calmed down and wiped the tears from her face with the lapel of his jacket. His shirt was damp and had spots of black from her streaking mascara.

"Fezzes would be great target practice," she added.

"Yes, I remember well," he murmured.

"What was that?"

"Nothing." He looked down at her when she lifted her head from his chest. "Oh my!"

"It's dreadful, isn't it?" She giggled. "Waterproof is still a few years off."

The Doctor laughed at the black streaks lining her face. He removed a handkerchief and licked a corner. He took her face in a hand and began wiping her clean as best as he could.

She shifted from one foot to the other. "I must look frightful," she giggled nervously.

The Doctor cupped her face with both hands and smiled. "No, Dr. Song. I'd say you are rather beautiful, as always."

And just as she opened her mouth to respond in jest, he closed the space between them and brushed his lips across hers, disrupting her ability to answer him back and causing her to lose her balance.

He caught her as her knees buckled and held her close to him. He pulled away gently from the simple kiss and tucked a stray hair behind her ear.

"You were saying, River….."