A/N I think I'll be changing the rating of this story to M beginning with the next chapter. Almost did for this one but fortunately, managed to keep things PG. (PG-13 at worst) :) -Ruinous79

Library, TARDIS

River sat on a comfortable gold damask sofa in a dark corner of the library. She was having a drink by herself, taking a moment alone to mourn Cadence. This particular corner of the library, back near the Doctor's impressive collection of first editions, was a favorite place of hers to sit and think. The décor here could be described as Neo-Grec with an ornamental fireplace, some paintings from the period as well as a rare klismos chair. She'd had a drink cart installed in this very spot centuries in the future and was glad to find it waiting with a crystal decanter full of her favorite Martell cognac. She sighed and raised a silent toast to the TARDIS for being the TARDIS.

The truth was, River was feeling beaten. Cadence was gone and now Haven was a catatonic mess. She wanted to deal with those rubbish androids and have a word with their creators on Felix but frankly, that conversation needed to be placed on the back burner. They had the impending arrival of the Aquarius Epta ship to contend with. The ship had been in a holding pattern, apparently waiting out the worst of the snowstorm but that wouldn't last forever. The Doctor said the storm should be over in less than an hour.

Number one on River's to-do list was to visit the bridge of the ship before they landed. She intended to have a chat with Miz Mercer to satisfy her hunch. River's instincts were seldom wrong and she was convinced that she'd get some important answers from the mysterious flight officer.

River intended to simply slip off on her solo mission via her vortex manipulator, knowing that Haven would be safe here on board the TARDIS. She saw no need to discuss her plans with the Doctor. He had the tendency to impose his own ideas of the "right" way to do things on others. River, however, was not the one.

She rooted around in her side pack and pulled out the vortex manipulator. She'd retrieved her pack from the lab once Haven had been settled in to rest. When she collected her crystal samples and the EAU results, it occurred to her that the Doctor may have already taken a peek at things but at this point, she didn't much care. The Giannesite and its elemental results seemed rather unimportant taking into consideration all they were currently facing.

She had just finished strapping the device onto her wrist when the Doctor's voice came from out of nowhere."And so I've found you." She managed to pull down her sleeve to hide the vortex manipulator in one fluid movement and looked up to greet him.

His demeanor startled her even more than his sudden appearance. He pulled the klismos chair up near where she was seated and sat down, arms crossed, looking down his nose at her. He didn't speak. He didn't seem particularly broken up or emotional about the loss of Cadence. She honestly couldn't read his emotions at all. Mainly he was acting very guarded.

She cleared her throat and eyed him curiously. She would never in a million years admit that she found his manner unnerving. "How's Haven?" she asked, keeping her voice casual.

A look of amused surprise crossed his face. "Don't you have anything at all you'd like to tell me?" he wondered, crossing one leg over the other, the ankle resting on the other knee.

The crystal, she guessed. She sighed. "I guess you found my mineral sample in the lab." He didn't answer, just raised his eyebrows and smirked. She went on quickly. "I was just about to have you look at the results for me because I'm no expert and I didn't understand-"

"Well, you're right about that." he snorted

She narrowed her eyes at him. "I'm sorry?"

"You're certainly no expert." He leaned forward and fixed her with a stern look. "Have you any idea how valuable this information might have been from the outset?"

She blinked, both at his condescending tone and the very fact that he was starting a fight about all this now. What the hell did the particle composition of the blue rock matter? Someone had died, someone she assumed he'd cared about. Why was this his concern?

She took a deep breath, willing herself to stay calm. "Doctor, isn't it possible that your priorities are a little backwards? A girl died less than two hours ago. Her sister is in a bad way. And we have a slave ship chock full of wicked humans set to arrive on world at any time. What the hell does it matter about the crystal?"

The Doctor chuckled and shook his head. "You really don't get it do you?"

Okay, now he was just pissing her off. "Enlighten me then!" she shouted.

For the first time, his face became truly angry. He spoke between clenched teeth, his blue eyes blazing into her. "No, I think it's high time that you enlighten me. You've made yourself entirely too comfortable here. I think we've been more than forthcoming with the information we have. But you've been holding back the entire time."

River stared daggers right back at him, annoyed because she couldn't argue with anything he'd said. She had been holding back. In fact, she still was. And she knew if she just told him about the planet Felix, he'd probably be satisfied... but she also knew she couldn't tell him. Not now. He'd go blundering in and get himself killed. He was far too emotional about Cadence's death, even if he was doing a good job of hiding it at the moment. So she didn't speak at all. One of the most important aspects of staying in control was knowing when not to speak.

His expression turned to one of frosty intrigue. He chuckled again, his eyes narrowed. "Interesting. There is more you know that you're not saying." he stated. "River, what aren't you telling me here?"

Her eyes went ceilingward. "You still think I have some ulterior motive? That I'm not here to help? Well you're wrong." She poured the last bit of sherry down her throat and slammed the glass down on the bar cart.

The Doctor threw his hands up in mock surrender. "I honestly don't care about your motives at this point." he sputtered. "I just want you to tell me what else you know. About the ship, about the planet, about the androids. Just something of use."

"Doctor." she said in a firm tone. "I'm quite sorry that I didn't show you the Giannesite sample sooner. But I assure you, there's nothing else to tell. At least, not about all this." She shrugged. "If it seems I'm withholding information, that's likely because I know things from your personal future that I could never tell you."

He didn't speak for a long time, just studied her, as if trying to decide whether she was being honest.

To her surprise, he suddenly got up from the klismos chair, and sat beside her on the sofa. He sighed and rubbed his hand across his forehead.

"I'm not dealing with any of this very well." he admitted, sounding uncharacteristically contrite. "And perhaps I'm more bothered than I care to admit to be dealing with someone who knows me far better than I know them."

River blinked, not sure where this was going. She figured she'd better humor him. "That's understandable." she reassured him.

And then he scooted closer to her. "River, I have a confession to make and I know my timing leaves something to be desired." He shifted his weight toward her and allowed one of his hands to settle on one of hers.

She stared at him as if he was suddenly wearing clown make up. "I'm sorry... what exactly do you think you're doing right now?" she asked, shaking his hand off of hers and looking him up and down incredulously. He appeared to be making a move on her. River knew from experience that grief did strange things to people. But this guy? No way.

He sighed, sounding both embarrassed and exasperated. "If you'll just hear me out..." he insisted, his tone completely rational. This time his hand went to her shoulder, and he leaned in a bit closer. "I just can't stop thinking about what happened in here the other day." his voice was low and he was staring directly into her eyes.

And suddenly River knew just what he was doing. The sneaky bastard. A dirty little smile appeared on her face. He had no idea who he was dealing with.

She relaxed and tilted her head to one side. "Go on..." she encouraged in a flirtatious tone, her hand falling onto his upper thigh as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

To his credit, her response hardly made him break character at all. The hand on her shoulder simply slipped down and captured the hand she'd placed on his thigh, keeping it from traveling anywhere... else. "What you suggested the other night..." he said softly. "Did you really mean that?" His other hand reached up and gently swept a strand of curly hair behind one of her ears.

River leaned in so they were face to face, their noses nearly touching. "What if I did?" she murmured.

The Doctor was an authority on rare books. He had traveled to distant galaxies and learned about countless cultures. He was an art aficionado, an expert in transdimensional technology and a master at Venusian aikido. He was even fairly skilled at scrapbooking. He was not, however, particularly knowledgeable about how to seduce a woman. And that was his current predicament.

Fortunately, River didn't take much persuading. She was looking at him like she wished to do unspeakable things to him. Which was precisely why he'd quickly grabbed her hand when she placed it on his thigh. She had just asked him a question. "What if I did?"

His mind froze. How to answer? He cleared his throat and allowed the hand that had been touching her hair to rest against the side of her face. All he needed to do was place his fingertips against her temples for about thirty seconds and he'd be able to get a telepathic read on her secretive little mind. He just needed to stall a bit longer so he could free up his other hand. "I suppose I'm just curious what exactly you had in mind." Even mid-ruse, the Doctor regretted his words instantly. Because he was very much afraid that she was about to answer his question.

She chuckled, running her free hand from his chest slowly down toward his abdomen. The Doctor concentrated on not jumping up and running out of the room. "Where do I begin?" she asked in a teasing manner. Then she leaned in and began to kiss his ear. He froze, his eyes wide. He had not anticipated this. He'd assumed at most he'd have to snog her for a moment.

How had he gotten himself into this? The positioning was all wrong and he needed both hands for this to work, one against each side of her head.

Her mouth was now all over his neck, unspeakably hot yet somehow, the contact was causing cold chills to overtake him. He actually had goosebumps. It was an unsettling response.

And it turned out, River was a multitasker. While she was working on his neck, the hand that she'd trailed down to his abdomen continued to trend downward. He may not have had experience in such physical proceedings, but he had an excellent comprehension of physical anatomy. He reached down and grabbed her hand just in time, interlacing his fingers firmly with hers. This was really going to be more difficult than he thought.

She finally pulled away from his neck and looked at him, her green eyes wide and innocent. "Is something the matter Doctor?" she asked.

He exhaled. He was afraid he was just going to have to go for broke and kiss her. Before she could make another move, he abruptly let go of both her hands, grabbed a hold of her face and placed his lips against hers. Perfect he thought, his fingertips resting against her temples. He closed his eyes and attempted to make telepathic contact.

Then she opened her mouth and began to kiss him using her tongue. He very nearly choked on his own. She couldn't just make this easy, could she? He was growing immensely agitated and finding it hard- er difficult, to concentrate on the task at hand. And why was the library suddenly growing so warm? He would need to take a look at the TARDIS climate control system when he had a few minutes.

River really seemed to be into it. Her hands were now tangled in his hair and she was practically in his lap. He couldn't help but kiss her back in the same fashion. After all, it was the only way he'd get the truth and she was potentially holding back information that could mean life or death.

Despite that this was only a fact finding mission, the Doctor found himself wondering if he was doing things correctly. He supposed he was getting the hang of it. She certainly wasn't complaining.

He was finally starting to achieve a telepathic signal, much to his relief. And then something strange began to happen. He felt a familiar odd tickle in the back of his brain, as if she were reaching into his mind.

And then her voice inside his head, plain as day.

Hello sweetie.

His eyes flew open.

And don't worry, you're definitely doing it correctly. Keep up the good work.

She was reading his mind!

He pushed her away in a sort of incredulous panic and scooted away from her so fast, he fell onto the floor.

He sat there where he landed, his hearts hammering in his chest, his hair a bit of a mess and his lips feeling a bit bruised. He blinked up at her in shock.

River stood, adjusting her clothes and smoothing down her hair. She was smirking down at him. "Credit where credit is due: you certainly gave it your all." she admitted. "But children really shouldn't play with fire."

"You knew the whole time!?" he sputtered.

She threw her head back and laughed. "Spare me. That's not the first time one of you tried to pull that one on me."

He pushed himself up from the floor and stammered. "You d-d-don't understand. I have to know the whole truth." He tried his best to reason with the most unreasonable person he'd met in all his lives. "I don't think you realize what's really going on."

She shrugged. "A girl has to have her secrets." And with that, she tapped a few buttons on the device strapped to her wrist and dematerialized with an electrical zap and a wisp of ozone.

"Uhh... Doctor?" Haven's voice came from behind him, sounding terribly uncomfortable. The Doctor closed his eyes. Marvelous.

He turned to greet her, his face flushed even though he was trying his best to play it off. "Haven, I'm glad to see you up and about."

Haven studied him curiously but didn't ask the dozen or so questions that were floating around her head regarding what she'd just witnessed. Instead she stammered, "W-w-where has River gone?"

The Doctor stuck his hands into his pockets and rolled his eyes ceilingward. "At a guess, I'd say somewhere she probably shouldn't." He looked at her for a moment, his blue eyes full of concern. "How are you feeling?"

Haven hadn't come for small talk or platitudes. There was only one thing she needed to know and she'd decided that the only way to go about it was bluntly. "Doctor, is Cadence dead?"

Had he looked remotely surprised by her question, she would feel stupid to even be asking. After all, Turlough had been talking to her for the last hour, trying to gently convince her that her dream didn't mean anything. As soon as he'd gone to shower, Haven knew she couldn't wait any longer. She went to look for the Doctor. She had to know.

But the Doctor didn't look surprised. Instead, he straightened his coat, and began to pace a bit. Haven just watched and waited.

He stopped after a minute or so and turned to look at her. "I don't know." he admitted at last. "But what I do know is that these androids are from a civilization that is far more technologically advanced than Earth. And that what the humans thought they knew about this world's minerals is all wrong."

Haven continued to stare at him, chewing at her bottom lip. Not exactly the reassurance she'd hoped for. Finally, she asked, "And what's that mean for my sister?"

The Doctor regarded her seriously as if trying to decide something. At last he said, "Haven I don't think their guns are weapons in the traditional sense. And I'm certain they are not molecular dispersal weapons." He shrugged. "There's reason to believe that Cadence isn't gone for good."

Haven let out a breath she didn't notice she'd been holding. Then she narrowed her eyes at him. "Can you think of any reason that some of this information may have made its way into my dream last night?"

The Doctor rebuttoned his coat and smiled in his charming way. "I haven't the faintest idea."

Haven rolled her eyes, still feeling exhausted and uncertain, even if a bit more hopeful. "So what do we do now?" she wondered, arms folded across her chest.

"I suppose I need to go back into the mine to learn more about the androids." The Doctor reached down and picked up River's side pack that she'd left behind on the gold sofa. He sighed as he eyed the item warily. "Though I suppose first we'll need to go rescue River from whatever trouble she's getting herself into." He led the way out of the library and into the corridor.

"I thought you didn't know where she'd gone." Haven remarked, trying to keep up.

"Oh, I don't." he explained, slinging the side pack over his shoulder. "But the TARDIS will."

They reached the control room and the Doctor headed straight for the controls, flipping a series of switches and consulting the computer monitor.

"The TARDIS knows how to find people?" Haven asked, confused.

He tapped a few keys on the keyboard, then smiled at whatever the computer was telling him. "Not strictly speaking, but in this case, she has a bit of an advantage." He turned and faced Haven, looking smug and self satisfied. "It seems my clumsy ruse wasn't entirely in vain. I may not have gotten any useful information telepathically, but I did manage to place a tiny tracking device onto the vortex manipulator she was wearing."

Haven raised her eyebrows, both amused and impressed. "I guess there's some advantage to children playing with fire after all."