River stumbled to a stop with a gasp. It was snowing. Or rather… no, it wasn't. It was too warm to be snowing, and if River had things right, this was Texas, so it couldn't be snowing, absolutely not. She caught a white dot with an open hand and rubbed it with her thumb. Confetti. It was confetti. It tumbled to the asphalt around her, lodged itself in her hair, dropped onto her clothes. November. 1963. Despite the warmth she felt a chill run up her spine.
Then someone shouted roughly, "You stupid-!" But the rest was lost in a gaggle of legs and arms, and the blare of a car horn. The Doctor pushed her out of the road and the street sweeper charged by. His face hung just inches above hers, and even though he was panting, he looked like he was choosing the right words to swear at her. The crowds milling up and down the street stopped to look at them.
"Sweetie," she murmured in his ear, the tiniest of smiles on her lips, "people are staring." He hurriedly picked himself off from where he was pressed up against her, his leather jacket peeling off her skin. She would have sworn he was blushing. He sat on the curb, and then pulled himself up.
"I can't believe you," he growled. "You come all this way with that thing," he pointed with disgust at the vortex manipulator, "and the first thing you do is flirt?"
River sat upright and rubbed her sore back, shrugging. "Priorities, sweetie." Her smile faded. She sniffed and climbed to her feet. "And…thanks. The middle of the street wasn't a good place to stand." He rubbed his eyes tiredly and looked around. River continued. "What are you doing here? 1963…?" She trailed off and gasped. "Kennedy? You aren't…. You wouldn't!"
"So what?" he countered. "The world's ending as it is."
She glanced around and hissed, "The assassination of JFK is a fixed point in time!"
"Didn't you hear me? The world's ending, sweetie," he mocked her tone, " so we may as well do something worthwhile before it goes completely."
Her mouth dropped open. "Did you hit your bloody head when that column fell on you?"
He started to retort, then the sky tilted sideways. River stumbled over, crashing into something…the Doctor? The ground fell to a ninety degree angle. He grabbed her shoulders and slapped a young, knotted hand over her nose and mouth. The sunlight wavered. The world went violet, black. Then the Doctor slammed against a concrete pole. River's body hit the Doctor's, and his hands released her. She gasped and fell to her hands and knees. "What…was…that?"
The Doctor stretched his shoulders and tried to get back his breath. He inhaled deeply and gasped, "A hole."
"A what?" River's voice echoed and she looked up. The building was old and huge, a warehouse out of work. She breathed in the cloud of dust they'd stirred up. She paused to pant. The floor was a maze of concrete beams and poles.
"A hole. In the universe… in time and space, and we just… fell through." A perplexed look crossed his face. "It dissolved in that exact place and that particular moment."
"So we fell out of the universe and then back in." River exhaled and stood up. She grabbed the Doctor's hand and helped him to his feet. He nodded, shrugging, and cast her a glance, somewhere between concerned and determined.
"Who's in here?" A stark American voice stained with years of suspicion rang across the empty warehouse. River stopped, and heard the click of a gun. It walked toward them and River nudged the Doctor's shoulder. His eyebrows sunk at her. This was unexpected. River lifted her hands and circled the pole, forcing the Doctor along with her. They both stopped to find a man pointing a gun at them. His face was red and flush with sweat, and he looked like he was about to start shouting…or shooting. The warehouse turned silent, except for the noise from outside. The sun slanted in the windows at the far end.
River's mobile rang in her pocket. Her mouth dropped open and his gun swung to face her. "What's that?" he snapped. The Doctor raised his hands and River did likewise. The man's eyebrows lifted and he motioned at her with the gun.
"It's a…" River struggled for words. "A…a…um, portable telephone?"
"Take it out."
"I…" she started.
"Take it out!" His voice rang, magnified. River didn't let herself flinch and she kept one hand up while the other slid to her pocket. She brought the phone to her ear and answered it. A familiar voice started on the other end.
"Professor?" Dave said. "Where are you?"
"Um…well, that's complicated. Has something happened?" River looked at the Doctor, all tensed, and then at the man, whose face had turned into shock. He stared at the device in her hand with confusion.
"What are you doing?" he demanded. "Give it to me!" His thumb played around the trigger and he shifted his weight to hold out his hand.
"Okay, okay. Dave, I'm going to hand you over to someone else now. Please," her voice dropped, "can you try to keep him calm?"
"Professor Song, what-?" River didn't hear the rest. The man snatched the phone from her hand and mimicked her, bringing it up to his ear.
"Hello?" he ventured. A tense silence followed and he flinched. His hand hit several buttons as he dropped it. When he bent to retrieve it, Dave's voice erupted from the speaker.
"Who is this?"
He paused, then, "Oswald. Lee Harvey." Silence, again. Dave sputtered. River glanced sideways at the Doctor. His fingers tensed and uncurled. Lee Harvey Oswald. An assassin. Of the president.
"Sorry… I don't…." Dave tried to get out a full sentence. "I don't…. Okay. Okay, then. How are you doing…Mr. Oswald?"
He glared at River. "You English folks got some technology we don't know about here?"
"Sorry, but is Professor Song there?" Oswald looked out at the windows. The cheering of the crowd intensified. River could see his thoughts play across his face. The President is en route. Suddenly the Doctor moved, arm wrapping around her waist. He pulled her blaster off her belt and aimed. Her head snapped to the side.
"Are you insane?"
Oswald dropped the phone and the gun swung to face the Doctor. The Doctor's hand shook, but he kept his grip on the blaster, tight. "Doctor, what are you doing?"
"Professor Song?" Dave's voice echoed from the ground. "Are you alright? What's happening?"
"He's a killer," the Doctor whispered in a hiss. "Murderer. He kills a good man." He shook visibly. The desperation in his eyes strained his face. He wanted to do something. To do anything. Lee Harvey Oswald went totally rigid and hoisted the gun a little higher. River could see him lining up the shot to the Doctor's forehead.
"You want to say that again, Mister?" he barked. "You some kind of police? Secret agents?"
"Doctor, put it down," River tried to say calmly. Her hands cooled, clammy. "You don't want to do this."
"River! Do you know what this man does? What kind of horror the world plunges into? I can save it!" The Doctor's voice shot up, loud. He didn't even look at her. His knuckles turned white. She wondered if he'd ever fired one of those before.
"This is a fixed point!" she argued. "What do you think is going to happen?"
Oswald started shouting at the top of his lungs. "Tell me who you are this damn minute. I'll kill you now! Put down that gun!"
"Professor? Professor, what's going on?" Dave. Somewhere. Some-when.
"Look at this, River. I can save someone's life. I can do this!"
"Not like this. Not ever like this. My love, you're better than him—"
"I'll kill both of you, now!"
"Professor!" Oswald fired a shot into the ceiling. This time, River flinched. The shouting never stopped, a barrage of noise from all sides, Dave over the phone, The Doctor and the assassin screaming at each other.
"Now!"
"He's a murderer!" The Doctor's voice echoed.
"But so are you!" She immediately clamped a hand over her mouth and suddenly, bruised silence warped around them. The Doctor's face shattered. The blaster fell from his limp hand. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. You can't do this."
Oswald recoiled, stepped back. Warily, River stooped for her blaster. The second she reached it, the building shifted, the poles flipped horizontal. "Oh, no." She held her breath…
…and rammed against a lemonade stand. The impact stole her breath. She wheezed, falling forward onto her hands and knees. Another hole. Her heart pounded in her chest. It hurt. She hurt. Bringing up the Doctor's past. God, that was low. Where was he?
"Doctor?" She struggled to her feet and searched around, spinning in a circle. The crowds had doubled, throngs waiting to see the President pass by. Never knowing they were about to see history. She could see the car rolling down the street if she strained over the heads, waiting and laughing and waving. Only a few minutes. She had to find him. Quickly.
A flash of leather, black. Running.
River threw herself through the mass of people—they were buying lemonade and she was saving the universe. The Doctor sprinted down the street, his arms pumping. River screamed at him to stop, and the people around her fell silent, but she didn't notice. She pushed her way around a few women chatting and her arms hit the Doctor's back. They both collapsed onto the ground. Then bullets ripped like gashes, thundering through the air. The Doctor's face twisted. River caught her breath. Screaming started, high pitched and frantic. Through the legs and shoes stampeding around them, she could see the TARDIS. "Come on," she whispered. "Come on, let's go." She tugged on his arms, barely keeping it together herself. "Let's go home." They moved slowly through the chaos to the blue box.
"Home," repeated the Doctor, sorely. He unlocked the TARDIS and they entered. "Home."