Rory opened the envelope to find a check for a cool 2 million, he folded it and put it in his pocket. "Thanks" He took off his glasses and handed them back to her. Rory wasn't really in it for money, but it certainly helped. He wouldn't have to go back to his dull job at the office again. If he saved and invested right, he might not need to work at all for a long time.

"I wasn't sure at first if you'd make a good team. Something gave me the sense that you held a minor grudge against The Doctor." River was always incredibly observant of the tiniest detail. Nothing seemed too small to slip past her undetected.

"I think he's fine." Rory shrugged. "I'll admit that when I first met him I wanted to hate him but I just couldn't" He chuckled a bit, "And he acts like he likes me a lot for some reason."

"You're more likable then you give yourself credit for." River smiled. "For a serial revenge killer you're sort of cuddly actually."

"I guess that's a compliment." Rory smirked at River's slightly demeaning form of flattery.

"So... what does The Doctor thinks of me?" She asked as she sat back down on her throne.

"Um.. I think he really likes you. I've seen his shoulders tense up and his eyes wander when you're around like he's a little nervous but it's because he's ... interested.. I think." Rory paused for a moment. "I don't know if I should have said that. Maybe he didn't want you to know but I figured it was pretty obvious, especially to the likes of you. You seem to know how to read people."

"Yes, I did notice it. Just wanted to clarify if his actions were due to being infatuated by me or intimidated by me. I couldn't quite tell the difference." River laughed.

"I've noticed there's usually a very fine line between the two." Rory chuckled.

"Have you noticed that with Amy?" River smiled.

"Amy?" Rory's shoulders suddenly tensed up.

"You said yourself I'm good at reading people." River's smile grew more mischievous. "I've seen the way your fingers twitch when she's near, as if your fingertips were just itching to touch her." She loved to push people, to see how they tick. She knew there was a hidden rage underneath Rory's quiet exterior. She wanted to see what he'd do if she pushed him, to see how his mind worked.

"It's not... it's not like that. I'm not like that." Rory seemed more worried by the revelation then angered by it. "I wouldn't touch her, I would never want to hurt her."

River's face suddenly softened a bit. Rory wasn't exactly how she expected, he didn't want to take any delight in his urges to kill. He was afraid of himself, afraid he'd hurt Amy just by touching her.

"It doesn't always hurt, you know?" River's voice was suddenly warm and almost maternal. "After everything you've been through, you must have a terribly strange relationship to intimacy."

"Are you my psychiatrist now?" Rory's voice grew sarcastic and cold. "You think I haven't tried getting psychological help before? My stepdad hurt my mom, tortured her so bad. I could hear her from my bedroom crying, I caught her taking ice from the freezer and putting it up to her bloody lip over the kitchen sink. My stepdad said if I ever told anyone he'd kill me but I killed him first. He was the first person I ever killed, I was 12 years old. But when I killed him I understood, that's what we're good at. Men are good at one thing and that's inflicting pain. I know who I am, don't try to analyze me." Rory's eyes were cool and sharp as they stared into River.

"I'm sorry." River's voice was uncharacteristically shaken. She'd never had a family, she'd been raised an orphan forced to fend for herself. It was a hard life but better to be alone than to have a monster for a father. "If you don't mind my saying," River continued. "I think Amy does like you."

"I don't know about that." Rory looked at the ground growing shy again. "She just likes to flirt with people. She doesn't mean anything by it. She flirts with The Doctor too, she probably likes him more than me."

"Try talking to her. You might be pleasantly surprised." River smiled. "Now bring Amy in, will you sweetie?"

"You won't be mentioning this to her will you?" Rory looked worried again.

"Never, lips sealed" She put a finger over her pursed lips.

After River spoke with the three of them, they were flown to a hotel in Las Vegas to enjoy themselves as a gift for all their hard work.

"The Silence is obviously some one of a kind alien artifact but is it really worth 6 million and five star accommodations for 3?" Rory asked as he sipped his fruity drink by the pool. "I mean, this is great but does no one else want to know what's so great about that thing?"

"I couldn't care less as long as I'm getting paid." Amy unwrapped the towel around her to reveal a little red bikini. She rested on a reclining, plastic patio chair beside Rory and stretched. "Wake me when you figure it out." She put on her big black sunglasses and closed her eyes.

"That's an excellent question, Rory." The Doctor took a sip of his mojito and spit it back out into the glass. "I have a theory, there's a legend that talks about a relic very much like the one we just sold to Professor Song. It's said to hold an otherworldly power, the power of mind control." The Doctor told the story with a wild enthusiasm in his voice as if he were reading it to a group of wide eyed children. Instead his audience was two very skeptical 20 something's sipping colorful cocktails with little umbrellas in them. "Well, you asked for the answer, there it is."

"Let's assume you're telling the truth," Rory rolled his eyes. "If that's really the case, then we just gave a criminal mastermind the power to control people's minds?"

The Doctor's smile suddenly faded. "Yeah, in hindsight... that seems sort of bad, doesn't it?"