Disclaimer: I do not own Doctor Who. I only own Alex.

The next morning, Alex took a lightning-fast shower and dressed in a tight long-sleeved, gray t-shirt dress, black tights, and black leather boots. As she fastened a short necklace with a watch charm on it around her neck, she thought about her and the Doctor's conversation about her mind several hours ago. A lot of it made sense. Still, she'd be lying if she said she wasn't a little scared of these strange abilities her mind seemed to have. And Alexandria Locke wasn't scared of anything, or at least, it took an awful lot to scare her.

Alex hurried out into the corridor and bumped into Amy, who was dressed in a red hoodie, black tights, a black skirt, and sneakers. "Hey," Amy greeted. "How'd you sleep?"

"Fine," Alex answered. And strangely, she had. That talk with the Doctor seemed to have soothed her and she hadn't dreamt anymore that night. "You?"

Amy shrugged. "Pretty well. I had a dream about my w-….you know."

Alex raised her eyebrows. "You mean your wedding?"

Amy's eyes widened. "Shh!" she hissed. She looked around for the Doctor. Not seeing him anywhere, she turned back to Alex. "God, don't be so loud when speaking about it!"

"What are you so ashamed of?" Alex demanded. She put her hands on her hips and narrowed her eyes at Amy. Alex had learned a long time ago that Amy was somewhat fazed by the look in her eyes, particularly when she was on the receiving end of them. "You love Rory, don't you?"

"Well…"

"Amy!" Alex cried, throwing up her arms. "How can you not be? He's had a crush on you your whole life, he stuck by you when everyone insisted that the Doctor was imaginary, AND I know for a fact that you love him as well."

"Alex, I don't know how to explain it…" Amy shifted uncomfortably.

"You're in love with the Doctor, aren't you?" Alex guessed. Really, it was pretty obvious.

"I am not!" Amy said hotly.

"But you are attracted to him and wouldn't mind getting him into bed, right?"

"Honestly Alex!" Amy cried. "Do I think the Doctor is hot? Yes, I do. Do I like him? Yes, I do. But LOVE? My God, I don't know him that well."

"That didn't answer my question," Alex pointed out.

Amy rolled her eyes. "Alex, what if I'm making a mistake marrying Rory? I mean, I'm twenty-one! I'm still young! Honestly, do you see yourself as being married right now?"

"My personal views on that scenario don't matter right now," Alex dismissed, although she had to admit that Amy had a point. They were pretty young and Alex couldn't see herself being married at all. The very idea was hard to imagine. "What does matter though, is why you refuse to tell the Doctor about your being engaged."

"Maybe I don't want to go home yet," Amy told her. "I mean, this is a fantastic thing we're doing right now. How could I give this up for marriage? And you know the first thing he'll do if I tell him is drop me off back in Leadworth."

Unfortunately, that's another good point. He probably would do that, Alex thought. But still, she thought that Amy was being pretty stupid, pining after the Doctor when a guy who she really loved and who loved her back was waiting for her back at home. There was also a small burning in Alex's stomach at the possible idea of Amy being in love with the Doctor, or at least being sexually attracted to him. Was that…jealousy? Absolutely NOT! Alex mentally screamed.

Her thoughts on that matter were quickly shoved aside when she noticed Amy had started talking again. "But you won't tell him Alex, will you? I mean, if anyone needs to tell him, it's me obviously. Just keep quiet, okay? Please?"

Alex sighed. I know I'm going to regret this…sorry Rory! "Okay, fine," she agreed. "But you better tell him soon."

Amy nodded, relieved. "I will, I promise. Now, come on!" Grabbing Alex's arm, she pulled her in the direction of the control room.

In the control room, the Doctor was already at the console, typing in coordinates. He looked up as the girls entered the room. "Morning you two. I was thinking a nice, safe trip today. No Daleks or anything to fight!"

"Not a safe, boring trip, okay?" Amy said. She could certainly understand the Doctor's want for a safe trip after what had happened with the Daleks and Alex going trance-like yesterday, but that didn't mean she wanted it to be boring either.

The Doctor rolled his eyes. "It's not going to be boring Pond," he retorted. He turned to Alex. "Ally, you'll probably enjoy this. How about a museum?"

Alex instantly perked up, even more than she already was, making Amy involuntarily groan. She loved Alex, but Alex on absolute adrenaline high was just a teensy bit annoying. That girl was already chipper and cheerful. Why add more? "Sounds fun!" she chirped, ignoring Amy. "I love museums."

Fifteen minutes later, Alex was dragging along behind the Doctor along with an equally bored Amy. Apparently, when the Doctor had said museum, he meant alien museum. And while that was all fine and dandy, Alex preferred to actually have a vague idea of what was in said alien museum rather than going in with blinders on.

The museum in question appeared to be straight out of the medieval era except for several glass cases full of strange looking objects scattered all around the room. Ahead of them, the Doctor was enthusiastically pointing out several random objects that were probably important but which just looked like junk to Amy and Alex.

"Wrong! Wrong!" he called out, pointing to an object in one of the cases. He pointed to another one. "Bit right, mostly wrong." Smiling to himself, he strode on. "I love museums."

Alex and Amy rolled their eyes. "Yeah, great," Alex said.

"Can we go to a planet now?" Amy begged. "Big spaceship? Churchill's bunker? You promised me a planet next." He actually had last night before they had gone off to bed, with Amy pointing out that they had yet to see an actual planet.

"Amy, this isn't any old asteroid," the Doctor argued. "It's the Delerium Archive, the final resting place of the Headless Monks."

"Headless Monks?!" Alex cried, trying to imagine such a creature.

"The biggest museum ever," the Doctor continued, either ignoring or just having not heard Alex's comment.

"You've got a time machine," Amy reminded him. "What do you need museums for?"

"Wrong!" he shouted at another display. Alex and Amy peered at the contents inside, but couldn't figure out how it was wrong. "Very wrong!" He darted over to another display in the middle of the room. "Ooh, one of mine." He pointed at an object. "Also one of mine."

Amy and Alex looked at each-other, grinning. They had figured it out. "Oh, I see," Alex remarked off-handedly, skipping over to the Doctor's side.

"It's how you keep score!" Amy teased, laughing a little. She quickly joined the Doctor and Alex, standing on one side of a case the Doctor had stopped at while Alex stayed on the other side with him.

Amy stared down into the case. Inside was a large gray box with strange markings on it that the Doctor seemed completely transfixed on. "Oh, great, an old box," she announced, bored.

"It's from one of the old starliners," the Doctor supplied. "A Home Box."

Alex stared at him. "What's a Home Box?"

"Like a black box on a plane, except it homes. Anything happens to the ship, the Home Box flies home with all the flight data."

Amy shook her head, not seeing the point in all this. "So?"

Alex stared at the graffiti on the Home Box. It was made up of strange symbols that reminded her of algebra symbols which reminded her of the book the Doctor had been reading last night that he wouldn't let her see. "The writing, the graffiti?" she guessed, looking at the Doctor. "You recognize it, don't you?"

The Doctor nodded. He had doubted that Alex would forget about the Gallifreyan she had seen him reading last night. "Right," he confirmed, nodding at her. "It's Old High Gallifreyan. The lost language of the Time Lords."

He looked at them seriously, even more so than they had seen from him so far. "There were days, there were many days, these words could burn stars and raise up empires, and topple gods."

Alex and Amy were much more interested now. "Well?" Amy cried excitedly, somehow resisting the urge to jump up and down with excitement.

Alex's eyes twinkled with excitement and she as well repressed the urge to bounce up and down. "What does it say?" she demanded.

The Doctor kept his serious expression on, even though inside he was already cackling at what the girls would think when he told them what it said. "Hello, sweetie," he answered.

Alex and Amy's faces fell, just as he had expected. "What?" Alex blinked. "THAT'S what it says?"

Suddenly, before either one of them knew it, the Doctor had broken the glass top of the case, grabbed the Home Box, and was running back to the TARDIS. Amy and Alex hurriedly followed him as alarms sounded and two guards chased them. The two slammed the door and turned to the Doctor, who was attaching the Home Box to the TARDIS console.

"Are you insane?" Alex demanded, racing up to him. "Who in their right mind steals a bloody box from a bloody museum?!" Oh God, I'm turning British! She thought wryly.

"Why are we doing this?" Amy asked, hoping that there was a good reason for this and not that the Doctor had temporarily lost his mind.

As the Doctor fixed a final wire onto the box, he replied "Because someone on a spaceship twelve thousand years ago is trying to attract my attention." He turned to the monitor above him. "Let's see if we can get the security playback working."

On the screen, a grainy black and white video appeared. The trio watched as a woman with curly blonde hair, wearing a dress and really high heels walked down a corridor. She paused, pulled down her sunglasses, and winked at them before the image shifted, showing the same woman, this time in front of an airlock door.

"The party's over Dr. Song," a man's voice rang out on the video. Alex could just make out his head at the bottom of the screen. "Yet still you're on board."

The woman turned around. "Sorry Alistair," she replied in what Alex instantly found an annoying voice. It was all smug and superior, something Alex didn't like hearing in people's voices. "I needed to see what was in your vault. Do you all know what's down there? Any of you? Because I'll tell you something; this ship won't reach its destination."

Melodramatic much? Alex thought.

"Wait till she runs," the man identified as Alistair ordered. "Don't make it look like an execution."

The woman, not in the least bit fazed, simply looked down at her watch. "Triple-seven five slash three four nine by ten," she started rattling off. "Zero twelve slash acorn." She fluffed up her hair like a beauty queen. Then, as an afterthought, she added "Oh and I could do with an air corridor."

Alex and Amy stared at the screen as the Doctor started racing around the console, pressing random controls. "What was that? What did she say?" Amy asked.

"I'm more concerned about who she is," Alex sniffed.

"Coordinates!" the Doctor cheered, answering Amy's question. He ignored Alex's question, figuring they wouldn't be around River long enough for the girl to get to know her.

On the screen, the woman started talking again. "Like I said on the dance floor, you might want to find something to hang onto." Blowing them a kiss, the airlock door behind her opened and she was sucked out.

The Doctor whooped a little, somewhat excited, and raced down to the door. Opening it, he held out his hand and a split second later, the woman from the video came sailing in, landing right on top of him. "Doctor?" Alex called out, a bit perturbed to see this woman lying on top of the Doctor.

"River?" the Doctor asked before helping the woman up.

The woman, who Alex had now identified as River - What a stupid name, she thought - got up and stared out the door. "Follow that ship!" she ordered. She quickly shut the doors before she and the Doctor raced up to the console. A minute later, the TARDIS was chasing after the spaceship. Amy and Alex held on to the railings for dear life as the Doctor and River piloted the TARDIS.

River pulled off her heels and hung them on the monitor. "They've gone into warp drive!" she called. "We're losing them! Stay close!"

"I'm trying!" the Doctor cried.

"Use the stabilizers," River advised.

The Doctor gawked at her as the ship rattled and shook, sparks flying around. "There aren't any stabilizers!" he shouted back.

As the ship shook again, Alex closed her eyes. PLEASE let the Doctor be wrong, she prayed. Stabilizers would be good right now.

River nodded to some blue switches near the Doctor. "The blue switches!"

"Oh, the blue ones don't do anything," the Doctor argued. "They're just…blue."

River rolled her eyes. "Yes, they're blue," she responded, heading over to them. "They're the blue stabilizers!" She pushed them down and the TARDIS suddenly became still and quiet. Breathing sighs of relief, Amy and Alex released their death grips from the railing.

The Doctor, however, wasn't nearly as relieved as they were. In fact, he simply looked annoyed, even more so as River smirked and said "See?"

He narrowed his gaze at her. "Yeah, well, it's just boring now, isn't it?" he shot back. He fiddled with the switches. "They're…boring-ers. They're blue boring-ers!"

Amy stepped up to him and whispered in his ear, while also watching River, "Doctor, how come she can fly the TARDIS?"

"You call THAT flying the TARDIS?" the Doctor mocked incredulously, giving River a contemptuous gaze. "HA!" He fell back into a jump seat.

Alex went over to stand next to him. "Well, I have to admit, you seem like you're driving with blinders on half the time." The Doctor shot her a look but focused back on River, making sure she wasn't messing up the console.

"Okay," River said as she pressed several buttons and switches in an organized and efficient manner, "I've mapped the probability vectors, done a fold-back on the temporal isometry, chartered the ship to its destination and," she pressed a final button with a triumphant look on her face, "parked us right alongside."

"Parked us?" the Doctor sneered. "We haven't landed."

"Of course we've landed," River smiled, leaning on the console. "I just landed her."

The Doctor got up and walked over to her. "But it didn't make the noise."

"What noise?" River asked, fiddling with the knobs on the monitor.

"You know, the…" The Doctor paused and then proceeded to make a poor gasping, raspy imitation of the TARDIS's materialization noise. Alex winced and she was pretty sure the ship was insulted as well, judging by the fast hum that ran underneath her fingertips.

"It's not supposed to make that noise," River revealed. "You leave the brakes on."

Amy smirked and Alex fell back into a jump seat from laughing so hard. The Doctor pointedly ignored them, instead telling River "Yeah, well, it's a brilliant noise! I love that noise." He turned to Amy and Alex. "Come along Pond, Ally. Let's have a look."

"No, wait!" River disagreed. She swung the monitor over. "Environment checks!"

"Oh, yes, sorry," the Doctor said, looking at Alex and rolling his eyes. Alex smiled and decided to humor River. She went over to stand behind her. Amy joined them as well. The Doctor, meanwhile, opened the doors and stuck his head outside. "Nice out," he announced dryly, pulling back in.

River ignored him. "We're somewhere in the Gann Belt. There's an atmosphere. Early indications suggest-,"

"We're on Alfava Metraxis, the seventh planet of the Dundra System," the Doctor interrupted. "Oxygen-rich atmosphere, all toxins in the soft band, eleven hour day and…" he stuck his head out the doors again, "…chances of rain later," he finished. As he spoke, River stared bewilderedly at the monitor as the exact same information the Doctor was rattling off came onto the screen.

Alex looked over and winked at him. That had certainly been impressive.

River rolled her eyes and turned to Amy. "He thinks he's so hot when he does that," she commented. Well, he is, Alex thought appreciatively, not even bothering to give herself a mental scolding.

"How come you can fly the TARDIS?" Amy asked her.

River smiled. "Oh, I had lessons from the very best."

"Well, yeah," the Doctor said smugly.

"It's a shame you were busy that day!" River called out to him. Alex giggled slightly at his put off expression. "Right then," River continued, "why did they land here?"

"They didn't land," the Doctor corrected her.

"Sorry?" River said, grabbing her heels and heading towards the doors.

"You should've checked the Home Box!" the Doctor called after her. "It crashed." As soon as River had left the TARDIS, the Doctor shut the doors and raced back up to the console.

"Explain!" Amy demanded. "Who is that and how did she do that museum thing?"

"I'm quite curious about that myself," Alex agreed, crossing her arms. Actually, she was more curious about River and her relationship with the Doctor. Something about that woman rubbed Alex the wrong way.

"It's a long story and I don't know most of it," the Doctor answered, working the controls. "Off we go!"

"What are you doing?"

"Leaving," he replied. "She's got where she wants to go, let's go where we want to go."

"Are you basically running away?" Amy asked.

"Yep," he answered, not missing a beat.

Amy narrowed her eyes at him. "Why?"

"Because she's the future," the Doctor answered cryptically. "My future."

"Can you run away from that?" Alex asked, hoping for an affirmative answer.

"I can run away from anything I like," the Doctor told her. "Time is not the boss of me."

Suddenly, something occurred to Amy. "Hang on, is that a planet out there?"

"Yes, of course it's a planet," the Doctor answered dismissively. But Alex quickly saw where this was headed.

"You promised me a planet," Amy reminded him. She clasped her hands together prayer-like. "Five minutes?"

The Doctor looked at her for a moment and then at Alex, who he noticed didn't seem very enthusiastic about the prospect. Not that he blamed her. He didn't want to be around River at all. But at the same time, he had promised Amy and he didn't want to face Amy Pond's wrath. "Okay," he sighed reluctantly. "Five minutes!"

"Yes!" Amy cheered before racing down to the doors.

"But that's all, because I'm telling you now, that woman is not dragging me into anything!" the Doctor called after her. As soon as Amy left, he went over to Alex. "You okay?" he asked gently.

Alex feigned indifference. "Why wouldn't I be?" she asked. "It's an alien planet, my first, a lot to get excited about."

The Doctor nodded, not sure how to put his thoughts into proper words that would make sense. "Right," he said slowly, drawing the word out.

Alex sighed and quickly made for the doors. "Come on," she called over her shoulder. Let's get this over with.

Alex was startled by the sight she saw outside. Crushed into a large building made of rock was a huge, burning ship. Smoke rose into the sky and Alex couldn't help but think of the people trapped inside. She hoped that there were survivors. No one deserved such an awful death.

"What caused it to crash?" River asked as they went over to her and Amy. "Not me."

"Nah," the Doctor dismissed. "The airlock would've sealed seconds after you blew it. According to the Home Box, the warp engines had a phase ship. No survivors." Beside him, Alex made a small sound of sadness for the people who had died. River glanced over at her as the Doctor wrapped an arm around her shoulders comfortingly. Alex didn't miss the slight look of discontent that crossed her face and she wondered why River hadn't even acknowledged her yet.

River turned back to a device in her hands. "A phase shift would have to be sabotage," she concluded. "I did warn them."

The Doctor and Alex looked at her, quizzical. "About what?" they both demanded.

River groaned at their simultaneous question. "It's annoying the way you two always do that," she muttered. Then, shrugging, she said a bit more loudly "Well, at least the building was empty. Aplan temple. Unoccupied for centuries."

Amy stepped up to the Doctor, a smile on her face. "Aren't you going to introduce us?" she asked, nodding to Alex and herself.

The Doctor sighed. "Amy Pond, Alex Locke, Professor River Song," he introduced, waving his hand to each woman in question as he said their name.

River gasped and whirled around. "I'm going to be a professor someday?" she cried, a grin on her face. "How exciting!" Turning back around, she laughed and called "Spoilers."

Alex frowned. Spoilers? What the heck does that mean?

"Yeah, but who is she and how did she do that? She just left you a note in a museum," Amy demanded curiously.

River smirked. "Two things always guaranteed to show up in a museum; the Home Box of a category four starliner and, sooner or later," she turned around, "him." She smiled cockily at the Doctor before turning back to Amy. "It's how he keeps score."

"We know," Amy said, smiling and stepping up to her.

"It's hilarious, isn't it?" River asked.

The Doctor laughed sarcastically and, pulling Alex along with him, went up to the two women. "I'm nobody's taxi service," he said dryly. "I'm not going to be there to catch you every time you feel like jumping out of a spaceship!"

River shook her head. "And you are so wrong," she told him. "There's one survivor," she said as the Doctor started to walk away. "There's a thing in the belly of that ship that can't ever die." The Doctor stopped in his tracks and turned to face her. "Now he's listening," she commented to Amy.

River stepped away from the group and Alex turned to look at the Doctor. "Doctor, why is it that this River person has paid more attention to you and Amy while I've been like gum stuck to the bottom of her high heels?" she demanded. From what it sounded like, River knew the Doctor better than he did with her, indicating that she was from his future. This possibility was a bit crazy but Alex deemed it quite likely considering recent events.

The Doctor shifted slightly. He hadn't thought about River's final words at the Library much before, but he now remembered some comments of hers indicating some animosity for one Alexandria Locke. Just as he was about to answer though, River called out "Doctor, can you sonic me?" She held up a device. "I need to boost the signal so we can use it as a beacon!" The Doctor sighed and rather reluctantly, did as she asked.

River did a mock curtsey in thanks and as she stepped away, Amy came up. "Ooh, Doctor, you soniced her," she mocked, laughing a bit.

Alex and the Doctor frowned at her. Alex couldn't understand why Amy liked River Song. God, what a ridiculous name! She thought again. Alex couldn't stand her. Not only was River pointedly ignoring her - although, if she was from the future, she probably had good reason - but the way she talked to the Doctor was getting annoying. She was pretty much flirting with him and Alex couldn't stand it. Not that I really care or anything, she reminded herself.

River came back over to them, done with her call. In her hands was a TARDIS blue book. "We have a minute," she said, opening the book. "Shall we?" She looked at the Doctor and Alex for a second before looking back down at her book and asking "Where are we up to? Have we done the Bone Meadows?" She looked up and sent Alex a death-glare. "Which is where Ally nearly pushed me off a cliff?"

Alex frowned at her and narrowed her eyes. "I'm sure I had good reason," she retorted. "And don't call me Ally." The Doctor stared at them with trepidation, hoping that the two wouldn't suddenly get into a fight while also wondering why Alex would try and push River off a cliff.

River and Alex eyed each-other for a moment before Amy quickly broke the tension. "What's the book?" she asked.

"Stay away from it!" the Doctor warned.

"What is it though?" Amy persisted.

"Her diary."

"Our diary," River corrected him. She looked between the Doctor and Alex, a critical look on her face when she gazed at the latter. "With a bit of Alex tossed in for good measure."

The Doctor glowered. "Her past, my…future." He shifted slightly. "Time travel. We keep meeting in the wrong order."

Alex was about to question why she was in River's diary - because she certainly didn't want to meet this woman again - when the group was distracted by four small dust tornados twirling in the sand a short distance away that vanished as quickly as they appeared, leaving four soldiers in their place. "You promised me an army, Doctor Song," one of the men said to her.

"No, I promised you the equivalent of an army. This is the Doctor and Alex." She mouthed the name Ally to the man, who seemed more familiar with it. The Doctor gave a little salute and Alex smiled, thinking that she must be important in the future if River mentioned her in the same sentence as the Doctor.

"Father Octavian, sir," Octavian introduced himself as he reached out and shook the Doctor's hand, then Alex's. "Ma'am. Bishop, second class. Twenty clerics at my command. The troops are already in the drop ship and landing shortly. Dr. Song was helping us with a covert investigation." He paused and studied them. "Has Dr. Song explained what we're dealing with?"

River looked at the Doctor critically and decided to pose her question to him, because she knew Alex was too early in her time-stream to know anything about these creatures. "Doctor," she said slowly, "what do you know of the Weeping Angels?"

The Doctor tensed and unconsciously reached out and pulled Alex closer to him. He knew the Weeping Angels alright and they weren't good. Alex looked over at him and watched him. He seemed almost…dreadful. Whatever these Weeping Angels were, he did know them from somewhere and it hadn't been a pleasant encounter.

She reached down and squeezed his hand. The Doctor relaxed almost instantly and even River was forced to make a slight smile. Even though this Alex was very early in her time stream, she had the same bad and good qualities that River had seen previously and had grown to accept.

Night had fallen rather quickly, what with the eleven hour days and all, and in that time, more clerics had arrived. All along the beach they were setting up camp and Alex couldn't help but admire their efficiency and courage. For the past while, she had been busy following the Doctor, Octavian, and River around, listening attentively to everything they said and making sure her selective eidetic memory drilled everything into her brain. Amy had followed them as well, despite the Doctor previously telling her to wait in the TARDIS, along with Alex actually. Of course, neither of the girls had any intention of following his requests.

Octavian strode along the grounds as the others followed him. "The Angel," he explained, "as far as we know, is still trapped in the ship. Our mission is to get inside and neutralize it. We can't get through up top, we'd be too close to the drives." He held up a device similar to the one River had been using. "According to this, behind the cliff face there's a network of catacombs leading right up to the temple. We can blow through the base of the cliffs, get into the entrance chamber, then make our way up."

"Oh, good," the Doctor muttered as he leaned against a table. He stared up at the cliffs and he knew that Alex was doing the same thing beside him.

Octavian stared at him. "Good, sir?"

"Catacombs, probably dark ones. Dark catacombs, great!" the Doctor cried sarcastically.

"Technically, I think it's called a Maze of the Dead," Octavian told him, completely missing the sarcasm.

"Oh, that's swell," Alex muttered.

"You can stop any time you like," the Doctor said to Octavian.

Octavian seemed to be about to retort when a cleric called "Father Octavian?" Octavian looked at the Doctor and Alex curiously. "Excuse me, sir, ma'am," he excused before going off to join the cleric. The Doctor simply waved him off, as he was now preoccupied with heading over to a table and sonicing the equipment on it.

Amy headed over to him. "You're letting people call you 'sir'," she observed. "You never do that."

"I'm surprised you aren't saying anything about letting people call me 'ma'am'," Alex said.

Amy shrugged. "That's surprising too. I figured it would make you feel old." Ignoring the stunned look on Alex's face, Amy turned back to the Doctor. "So whatever a Weeping Angel is," she said, hopping up onto the table, "it's really bad, yeah?"

"Now that's interesting," the Doctor muttered before looking up and frowning at the girls. "You two are still here. Which part of 'Wait in the TARDIS till I tell you it's safe' was so confusing?"

Amy playfully stuck her lower lip out at him. "Ooh, are you all Mr. Grumpy Face today?" she teased.

"River mentioned me in the same sentence with you," Alex reminded him, while laughing inside at Amy's comment. "Apparently, despite her Hate Alex attitude, she seemed to deem it worthy enough to mention me along with you to Octavian. Not to mention that he knew me."

The Doctor did have to admit that Alex had a point but that didn't mean he was going to let her stick around next to him as he tried to figure out how to stop a Weeping Angel of all things. He looked at the girls seriously. "A Weeping Angel, Amy, Alex, is the deadliest, most powerful, most malevolent life form evolution has ever produced, and one is trapped inside that wreckage and I'm supposed to climb in after it with a screwdriver and a torch and assuming I survive the radiation long enough and assuming the whole ship doesn't explode in my face, do something incredibly clever which I haven't actually thought of yet." He paused and breathed a bit before continuing. Amy and Alex seemed to be taking this all in, thankfully. "That's my day. That's what I'm up to. Any questions?"

Alex was about to ask what made a Weeping Angel so dangerous when Amy blinked and asked "Is River Song your wife?" Alex suddenly started coughing uncomfortably and the Doctor rolled his eyes and shook his head at the question.

Amy ignored their reactions though and continued. "Because she's someone from your future, well, and Alex's, and the way she talks to you, I've never seen anyone do that. She's kind of like, you know, heel boy." Amy bounced slightly, completely missing Alex's obvious discomfort at the question. "She's Mrs. Doctor from the future, isn't she? Is she going to be your wife one day?"

Alex had had enough of this. "I'm going to go see what they're doing," she mumbled, nodding in the direction of where a bunch of clerics were setting up what appeared to be explosives alongside the cliff face. She kept her head down as she hurried off.

Amy stared after her. Why was Alex so uncomfortable speaking about River being the Doctor's wife? Sure, there was animosity between the two for some reason but…Alex couldn't actually be interested in the Doctor in that way, could she? Amy had never seen it although she couldn't excuse the fact that Alex was different around the Doctor. Instead of being her usual uptight, proud, and serious self, she was more relaxed and playful when he was around. Plus…she giggled in his presence and that was something the Alex Locke she knew never did.

Amy turned to the Doctor, wondering if he could answer any of these new questions. "Doctor, how come River doesn't like Alex? Earlier, she said that during some trip, Alex tried to push her off a cliff!"

The Doctor shrugged. He couldn't help but wonder at that himself. Quickly, he thought of the encounter in the Library and River's comments about Alex. He hadn't thought much about it, as he hadn't connected the girl mentioned in her words with the Ally mentioned by the Daleks. But now he knew that both were the very same girl, River's words certainly revealed volumes about the Doctor's possible future personal life.

River was hooking herself up to the Library Computer, despite his tenth incarnation's begging for her to reconsider and let him loose.

"River, please no," the Doctor begged, straining against the damn handcuffs she had attached to him and a pole.

River ignored his request. "Funny thing is," she mused, "this means you've always known how I was going to die. All the time we've been together, you knew I was coming here. The last time I saw you, the real you, the future you, I mean, you turned up on my doorstep, with a new haircut and suit."

She then frowned slightly. "Alex was nowhere to be seen. I asked where she was, because in the future she's always around you even when I was around, and you said she was in her room on the TARDIS. She wasn't coming out." River snorted a little. "God, that little imp. She knew I was going to come here soon after. Must've been like her birthday and Christmas rolled into one for her, seeing me gone! The only reason she'd never gloat about it is because she knew you were going to take it hard."

"Who are you talking about?" the Doctor demanded, trying to remember if he'd ever met an Alex before. "I don't know an Alex!"

"Not yet, you don't," River clarified. "You took me to Darillium to see the Singing Towers. What a night that was. The Towers sang and you cried."

"Autodestruct in one minute," the computer announced.

"You wouldn't tell me why," River continued while still working, "but I suppose you knew it was time. My time. Time to come to the Library. You even gave me your screwdriver. God knows Alex never would've given me that necklace of hers."

"WHAT necklace?" the Doctor demanded.

River ignored the question. "That should have been a clue," she concluded. She sighed and looked at him. "There's nothing you can do."

"You can let me do this," the Doctor tried.

But River wouldn't be swayed. "If you die here, it'll mean I've never met you in the future."

"Time can be rewritten," he argued.

"Not those times. Not one line. Don't you dare," she warned. "It's okay. It's okay," she assured him. "It's not over for you. You'll see me again. You've got all of that to come. You and me…Alex…time and space. You watch us run!"

"River, you know my name," the Doctor whispered. Honestly, this had terrified him more than anything.

"Autodestruct in ten," the computer counted down.

"You whispered my name in your ear," he continued.

"Nine, eight, seven."

"There's only one reason I would ever tell anyone my name. There's only one time that I could."

"Hush, now." River said.

"Four, three."

River smirked at him and then said her final word "Spoilers."

"Two, one."

River joined two power cables together that she had been holding. There was a huge blast of light and then…she was gone.

"Doctor…Doctor…Doctor!"

The Doctor snapped out of his thoughts and turned to look at an angry looking Amy. "Right, sorry," he said. "Just…thinking! Yes, you're right. I'm definitely Mr. Grumpy Face today."

"Uh-huh," Amy said, crossing her arms. "Well, seeing as you didn't answer my question, I'll ask again. Why does River hate Alex in the future? So far, it seems the feeling is also mutual."

"I don't know," the Doctor admitted. "Why does everyone expect me to know everything? Maybe Alex runs over River's dog or something."

"Yes, I'm sure it's as simple as an accidental animal hit-and-run," Amy said dryly.

The Doctor glowered at her. "It was just a suggestion."

"A rubbish one though," Amy remarked. She hopped off the table and stood close to him. "Doctor? There's another thing I'm curious about."

"It better not be about Elizabeth I," the Doctor muttered as he examined a piece of equipment. "I'm not getting into that."

"Not that," Amy assured him, although she was pretty curious about that particular tidbit of the Doctor's life. "I meant…you call Alex Ally."

The Doctor stared at her skeptically. "Yeah, so? I call you Pond and you haven't objected to it."

"But you heard what Alex told River when she called her that, didn't you? She said not to call her Ally. One time, Rory called her Ally and she nearly killed him. And a friend of mine, Mels, she calls Alex that all the time, just to make her go crazy." Amy paused and tried to figure out what to say next. "Point is, Alex doesn't like anyone calling her Ally and she's not hesitant in telling them so, but with you, I haven't heard her object once."

"Maybe she didn't hear me that well," the Doctor dismissed, trying to ignore the feeling of triumph racing through him that Alex wouldn't let anyone but him call her Ally.

"No, she would hear that nickname loud and clear," Amy assured him. "It's just…weird, the connection between you two. She acts different around you, VERY differently. For instance, the Alex I know is NOT a giggler. But around you, she does it."

"Where are you going with this?" the Doctor asked her.

"Nowhere really," she admitted. "I'm just pointing out some facts to you."

The Doctor was about to comment - although he wasn't really sure what he was going to say - when River poked her head out of a drop module, now dressed in army camouflage. "Doctor! Doctor?" Then, as an afterthought, she added "Alex?" Alex whirled around to face her and immediately started walking over to her. Amy hopped off the table and followed the Doctor as River began calling "Father Octavian!"

"Why do they call him Father?" Amy questioned.

"He's their Bishop, they're his Clerics," the Doctor explained. "It's the 51st century; church has moved on."

Alex, who had caught up to him just in time to hear this, raised her eyebrows. Good lord, Marigold and Pastor Mark would have heart attacks if they knew about this!

They stepped inside the small unit to see a huge screen displaying black and white footage of an angel statue covering its eyes. However, Alex suspected that this statue was really the evil Weeping Angel she had been hearing so much about. Scattered all around the drop ship were other types of equipment that Alex decided to stay away from, less she suddenly cause something to explode or something.

"What do you think?" River asked from the front of the ship as Father Octavian came in. She fussed with a futuristic remote for a moment, apparently trying to make the footage a bit better. "It's from the security cameras in the Byzantium vault. I ripped it when I was on board. Sorry about the quality. It's four seconds. I've put it on loop."

The group watched the four second footage for a moment before the Doctor sighed and confirmed "Yeah, it's an Angel. Hands covering its face."

"You've encountered the Angels before?" Octavian guessed.

"Once, on Earth, a long time ago," the Doctor told him. "But those were scavengers, barely surviving."

Amy frowned and stared at the screen. "But it's just a statue," she argued.

"It's a statue when you see it," River explained.

Alex resisted the urge to roll her eyes. Yes, that clears everything up! She thought wryly. Immediately, she set her brain to work digesting the information and had already come up with a pretty good theory by the time the Doctor asked "Where did it come from?"

"Oh, pulled from the ruins of Razbahan, end of last century," River answered. "It's been in private hands ever since. Dormant all that time."

The Doctor frowned at her. "There's a difference between dormant and patient."

"What's that mean, it's a statue when you see it?" Amy questioned.

"The Weeping Angels can only move if they're unseen," River clarified. "So legend has it."

"No, it's not a legend," the Doctor shook his head. "It's a quantum lock."

"In the sight of any living creature, the Angels literally cease to exist. They're just stone," Alex breathed, having now grasped the concept of what a Weeping Angel was. She shook her head and stared at the screen, gaze unwavering, as everyone else stared at her. "The ultimate defense mechanism," she finished.

"What, being a stone?" Amy asked.

"Being a stone until you turn your back," the Doctor and Alex said simultaneously. River sighed and rolled her eyes while Octavian and Amy looked impressed.

"Again, it gets annoying how often you two do that," River muttered, although everyone ignored her as the Doctor hurried out of the drop ship, Alex following close behind.

Outside, the Doctor eyed the ship critically, remembering what he had read about the crash. "The hyper drive would've split on impact," he revealed. "That whole ship's going to be flooded with drive burn radiation, cracked electrons, gravity storms; deadly to almost any living being."

Octavian looked hopeful at this news. "Deadly to an Angel?"

"Dinner to an Angel," the Doctor corrected. "The longer we leave it, the stronger it will grow."

While the Doctor was examining the crashed ship, Alex was more concerned about the temple it was sitting atop of. Maybe whoever built that temple could help us, she mused. "Who built that temple?" she called out. "Are they still around?" She noticed out of the corner of her eye that the Doctor seemed pleased with her. He had just been about to ask those questions himself.

"The Aplans," River answered, looking down at her device. "Indigenous life form. They died out four hundred years ago."

Octavian added "Two hundred years later, the planet was terra-formed. Currently there are six billion human colonists."

"Whoo!" the Doctor breathed. He rested against a table and looked off into the distance, marveling at this news. "You lot, you're everywhere. You're like rabbits! I'll never get done saving you."

"I'm not so sure I like being compared to a rabbit," Alex huffed.

"As if you have so many other lovely things to be compared too," River snidely remarked.

There was a tense silence between them. Alex and River were glaring at each-other and if looks could kill, they'd both be six feet under in a split second. Octavian was glaring at River, as though trying to tell her to shut up, the Doctor was watching the two women with wide eyes, ready to grab Alex in an instant if either she or River made a move towards each-other, and Amy was watching the scene with tense fascination. She caught the Doctor's eye and both silently acknowledged that for whatever reason, Alex and River did not get along.

The silence was broken by Octavian, who figured it best that they get back to the matter at hand. "Sir, Ma'am," he turned back to the Doctor and Alex, "if there is a clear and present danger to the local population-,"

"Oh, there is," the Doctor interrupted him. "Bad as it gets." He glanced over at Alex, who he saw had completely abandoned her hatred of River to focus on saving the human colonists. He was glad that she wanted to put others ahead of her petty rivalries.

"Bishop," she said, her concern over the humans winning out over breaking River's nose, "lock and load."

Octavian nodded, glad at her determination, and turned to his men. "Verger, how are we doing with those explosives? Dr. Song, with me!" He figured it best that he keep River near him and not Alex and the Doctor. After what he heard about her, it was definitely in everyone's best interest if the Doctor and Alex stayed as far away from River as possible.

"Two minutes," River protested before hurrying over to an equipment table. "Sweetie, I need you!" she called to the Doctor. She didn't bother calling for Alex.

The Doctor frowned. "Sweetie?" he muttered as he grudgingly walked over to her.

"Anybody need me?" Amy called from her place in the doorway of the module. "Nobody?"

Alex sighed and decided to hang with Amy. She didn't want to be around River at the moment. She'd probably end up scratching her eyes out, causing the Doctor to send her back to the TARDIS as punishment. Shrugging, Amy walked into the module, followed by Alex. As they stepped inside, their attention turned to the screen. The Angel had changed positions. Its face had been raised from its hands and it was now looking over its shoulder.

"What the hell?" Alex muttered, cautiously creeping up to the screen. That was impossible. It couldn't move. It was a recording…wasn't it?

A/N: Thank God it's Friday! Well...River and Alex don't seem to like each-other that much. What happens in River's past and Alex's future to make them like that? I can't say, but all will be revealed eventually!

Notes on reviews...

ElysiumPhoenix - Glad you liked the chapter, even if it wasn't what you were expecting. So much for the 'less dangerous trip' huh? :)

rycbar15 - Thanks for your encouragement! It really means a lot. I can reveal that an original adventure will be taking place after 'Vampires of Venice', so we don't have that long to wait.

Thank you to ElysiumPhoenix, rycbar15, and The Consulting Editor for reviewing and thank you to those who favored/followed this story. Please review and see you tomorrow!