A/N

Om my gosh! I am so sorry. At first I thought I had already posted this chapter only to realise that I had, in fact, not. And then my computer and FFnet had a huge argument! I'm being completely serious here, I'll have you know. My computer didn't like FFnet's attitude and simply refused to cooperate. And then FFnet was throwing a hissy-fit and wouldn't let me upload the chapter! The gall of some websites, I swear!

*Cough* Anyway, here's the next chapter. Finally!

Oh, and if you spot any discrepancies (a letter in the wrong place; a line-break where there shouldn't be one; a new paragraph at the wrong spot and so on) I apologise; feelings were hurt and my computer and FFnet are still sulking.

Life in Mercy wasn't easy.

It had taken her two weeks to get out of bed, mostly because Jex didn't want her to take any risks. The alien doctor had taken quite the shine to her, seeming to have taken her under his wing. Pro- bably because they were both not from around there.

The rest of the town took to her easily. As long as their favourite doctor liked her it was all well for them. They didn't know where she came from, that she was from the future, simply that she was a lost soul that Jex had taken on. Apparently he did that.

It had been the marshall that found her out in the desert, a good man named Isaac. He'd been to a town a few miles out and was on his way back when he found her all bloody and unconscious off the road. He'd picked her up and placed her on his horse and had taken her all the way home to his town. She owed him her life.

When asked about her past she simply told them that she had no home. Because she didn't, not anymore. When they asked about her family she simply said they were lost to her and they assumed she meant "dead", she never corrected them.

She didn't even tell Jex where she was from, not really. He never found out how she'd gotten the- re, where she'd come from or anything specific about her past. He assumed because it was painful to talk about so in the end he stopped asking. Truthfully, she didn't trust him.

There was just something about the way he behaved. When he talked about atoning for past sins he got a darkness in his eyes. When he said he was repaying the town he made it sound like it was for more than simply saving his life. He made it sound like it was his second chance or somet- hing, which would have been fine, if not for the fact that it made her wonder about his first chance. Maybe a tad bit hypocritical considering, but she couldn't help it. Something was just off about him. Maybe it was the way he was always aware, always knew exactly what was going on and the way his eyes always kept a clear view of the exit. The way his eyes wouldn't meet hers when she asked about his life before Mercy, like there was something he was hiding. He was just shifty, somehow.

So, no, she didn't trust him. She was grateful though. And it was difficult not to like him for being so helpful in spite of her strange situation. She just made sure to remind herself of her good instincts and how she'd never been wrong so far.

He offered her a position as his assistant. She accepted. In return he gave her food and shelter, that same room she had woken up in that first day, and a small allowance that she made sure to save up for future uses.

Whenever she wasn't helping the good doctor she was holed up in the marshall's office. It was a small town and there wasn't much in the way of crimes so the resident marshall Isaac never had much to do. She made it her mission to make sure he never got bored, seeing as she owed him her life and all. That it helped stave of her own boredom certainly didn't hurt. The marshall in ques- tion was utterly annoyed at first but soon learned that she was a stubborn person.

They met up at least once a day. He was teaching her chess.

She still cried herself to sleep some nights. It was unavoidable, but those nights were getting fewer. If Isaac heard her, which she was sure he did, he never once commented.

Life in Mercy wasn't easy. But it was life. And she didn't have much in the way of alternatives. She was stranded in a time-period she knew very little about and her young age certainly didn't help matters. Maybe when she got older she could move on to some other town, preferably a city, but until then... life in the slow-lane.

Until the gunslinger came.

She had been living in Mercy for nearly four months when she woke up one morning only to find the whole town circled in by some strange sort of border. It was stones and branches and it went around the whole town in a circle.

Completely non-plussed by this, Isaac at first thought it was someone messing around. Then Jenkins tried to step over the "border".

He was the first one they had to patch up.

They were trapped. No way out. And they knew why.

"Why does he want you, Jex? It's a simple question!" She asked for the fourth time. "What part are you having issues with?"

"Alright, lets calm down here." Isaac stepped in between.

They were in the marshall's office, the three of them and a handful of other towner's. They had bandaged Jenkins just an hour ago and still they didn't know why the self-proclaimed gunslinger wanted their doctor. Isaac had managed to calm everyone down and have them return to their homes but it was only a matter of time.

"No! I will not calm down!" She shrugged his hand off. "We're trapped here, Jenkins lost his leg, and we have no idea why. What is going on, Jex?"

"It's complicated." Was all he would say, again.

She almost punched him. Of course it was complicated! If it wasn't, the gunslinger wouldn't be keeping them prisoners in their own town. She didn't need all the details; just the who and the why. That's all. But he wouldn't meet her eyes. He wouldn't anyones eyes. Not even Isaac's.

"It doesn't matter why he wants him." Isaac said, making her eyes go wide. "He's not going to get him."

"The hell it doesn't matter!" She shouted at him. "Doesn't Jenkins deserve to know why he's going to be one-legged from now on? Don't we?"

"Enough!" Isaac exclaimed. "This isn't a posse."

"I'm not making it one." She defended. "But we still need to know."

"Riley, I swear to the Lord Almighty..." he left it open for debate but she knew what he meant. This was the year 1870, turned just last week, they weren't opposed to beating their women for disciplinary measures. Isaac wasn't a great believer in such things but he would slap her if she didn't shut up, she'd seen it before.

So she kept her mouth shut and let her eyes do the talking.

Jex wouldn't look at her, still.

She knew she had a bad feeling about him. She just didn't expect to be proven right so quickly.

She was really starting to hate living in Mercy. It was even worse now when she couldn't leave out of threat of her life. At least before she'd had the option, now she didn't even have that.

She'd moved out of Jex's place. Not that it mattered, he'd taken up permanent residence in the town jail. Apparently he didn't hold faith that the townspeople wouldn't sacrifice him one day - he wouldn't be wrong, it was just a matter of time, she reckoned. Riley had moved in with Mary Yae- ger, the preacher's daughter. Together they shared a room in the small church's annex.

It had been three weeks already and people were beginning to get desperate. The food was running out.

She still didn't know exactly what the gunslinger wanted Jex for. What he'd done to deserve such drastic treatment. Everyday she asked, everyday Isaac told her to shut it. Everyday Jex would refuse to meet her eyes.

She would spend her days by the border. Looking out at the wilderness, trying to see if she could get the gunslingers attention. He only came when she stepped over the border but he would never answer any questions, just aim that impressive hand-cannon at her until she stepped back in. If she took a step in the wrong direction he would give a warning shot. And as soon as she was back behind the border again he disappeared. It didn't look like either the hunter or the hunted wanted to share.

Again, as the sun went up, she headed for the border. It's not like she had a lot else to do. She re- bandaged Jenkins a few times and helped to treat a child's cough but otherwise there wasn't much use for her.

She sat down by the town sign and waited. For what, she didn't know, she simply waited. Maybe today would be different. Maybe today he would show himself without a border-crossing needed. Maybe.

Over her three week vigil she had learned plenty of methods of distracting herself from the bore- dom; she would sing, she would count the number of branches required into making the border, she would go through the multiplication table forwards and backwards... whatever that made the wait a bit more bearable. Last week she'd even brought the Bible, curtesy of Mary, because it was the only thing the small town had to read. She finished it within the week.

The first few days she'd gotten company, the townsfolk curious but cautious, but after the first four days or so she was on her own. So was the case again this day.

It was nearing midday when something strange happened. Something that never happened before. Something amazing.

She heard the TARDIS.

For the first time in months, she heard it. At first she thought she was imagining it, the winds could get pretty strong out there, but as she witnessed the all too familiar blue box materialise itself just a few hills over outside the border, she knew she wasn't daydreaming. She had no idea how it happened but Sexy had found her.

Grinning she got up and dusted her dress off in expectation.

The man who exited was no one she'd ever seen before. She watched as the stranger and two others exited the time-machine and walked toward the town. She didn't recognise either of them, even from this far out she could tell that it wasn't anyone she knew.

As soon as they were within talking distance, she spoke.

"Who are you?"

The man, who exited first and was wearing a tweed jacket of all things, looked at her in surprise.

"Sorry?" Was he wearing a bowtie? Yes, he was. And suspenders.

"Who are you?" She asked again, briefly taking notice of the two other people, a red-headed woman with long legs and a gangly man at her side with a somewhat disproportionately large nose.

"I'm the Doctor." He introduced proudly. "And who are you?"

"No you're not." She told him assuredly.

"Excuse me?" He seemed confounded.

"I've met the Doctor, I've been in his ship, the TARDIS right there, and you're not him." She informed him. What was going on? Wait a minute... hadn't Sexy told her that...? "Unless..."

"Unless what?" He took a few steps closer to her face as if to inspect her.

"How old are you?" She asked instead.

"Bit personal." He commented but didn't get any further because the red-head behind him interrupted.

"Riley?"

"What?" She looked her over. Who was this? A new companion? What happened to Rose?

"No." The man exclaimed in disbelief. "No way."

He took even more steps closer so that the only thing now separating them was the border, which he didn't seem to have noticed.

"Riley?" He asked, their faces so close that had she been taller their noses would have touched.

"How old are you?" She asked again.

"Roughly one thousand two hundred." He stared deeply into her eyes before running his eyes up and down her body, as if searching for some kind of indicator that this truly was her.

"Last time..." She had to clear her throat a little. "Last time, you were nine hundred."

"Holy..." The red-head spoke again, slapping the other guy in the arm as if to say -would-you-look-at-that. "Wait, how old are you?"

"Yeah, last time we saw you, you were definitely older." The guy stated.

"I'm fourteen." She told them, having counted the months as if they were still passing like at home. Her birthday was right before the gunslinger came.

"Whoosh." The Doctor, because it was definitely him, exhaled nervously. Damn, Sexy had said that he could change his face but he had said in such a way that it sounded a bit like a joke. She had only briefly mentioned it in passing and Riley honestly hadn't thought too much of it. Well, that's her proven wrong.

"How...?" The red-head started but it was the guy that took over.

"Does that mean there's another Doctor running around in there somewhere?" He gestured to the town.

"No." She said. "But the town could really use him."

She looked them over and went through the facts.

"You two" she gestured to the two companions "you know me, I don't know you, so you're from my future. Given that the Doctor is at least three hundred years older than the last time I saw him I assume that means I'm still with him, or was, until somewhat recently?"

"Don't answer that!" The Doctor held up a hand and shook his head vigorously. "Spoilers."

"They don't have to answer, Doctor, it's rhetorical." She made a face at him. "Then that means I'm going to get back home, I'm not stuck."

She grinned in relief.

"What do you mean stuck?" The red-head asked.

"When are you?" The Doctor interjected with his 'thinking'-face on. Even with a different face she could still spot it. "In our time-stream? When was the last time you saw me, exactly?"

"Wouldn't that also technically be a spoiler?" She smiled at him.

"It's already happened for me." He pointed out impatiently.

"But if it's already happened then shouldn't you know?" She teased but answered anyway. "We were just on that space station, the one with the deadly tv-shows, and there were Daleks. You left me there."

"Right." He nodded his head, as if she'd just confirmed his suspicions. He the noticed the looks on his companions; the red-head in particular had turned incredulous at her answer. He cleared his throat nervously. "I just want to state that I, at the time, thought she was already dead."

"I figured." She glared at him. "But I wasn't, so thanks for sticking around. Not."

"Wow, even as a teenager she still manages to pull the sarcasm off flawlessly." The guy observed. "And the Doctor is still as vulnerable to it as always."

"Awesome." The red-head giggled.

"Does this mean I can count on a ride home?" She asked, pointedly ignoring the two.

"Yes!" The Doctor was quick to reassure. "Of course. I think I'm supposed to, seeing as you still have a future to get to. Mainly with me."

"Brilliant, but first you have to help me." She gestured to the town behind her. "I could really use some Doctor help right now."

"Why? What happened?" The Doctor quickly stepped into his usual problem-solving role.

"And does it have anything to do with this?" The red-head gestured to the border.

"Absolutely." She nodded. "But before that, I don't actually know who you are."

"Right." The Doctor clapped his hands together. "Riley, this is Amy and Rory. No more introduction is necessary. Spoilers!"

She gave him a weird look but decided to just let it be, he usually knew what he was talking about. Besides, where was the fun of already knowing the future and what was to come ahead of schedule?

"Fine." She laughed. "And this is the border."

"Made out of sticks and stones." The guy, Rory, pointed out as if to say not-a-very-good-border-is-it.

"It's not a border as such." She hedged. "It's not built to keep people out. It's there to keep us in."

"Us? In?" The Doctor stepped over the border with ease. "How long have you been here?"

"Almost five months, but the border only came some three weeks ago." She explained as the other also crossed over. She made sure to look out for the gunslinger but he made no appearance, probably because no one was trying to get out. "We woke up one morning and there it was."

"Who built it?" Amy asked as they started to make their way down the main road and into town.

"He calls himself the gunslinger. And he's here to kill someone." That sure got their attention. "He says that as long as the town protects that someone, the border will stay up. If you try and cross it, he will shoot you. Jenkins lost a leg the first day and young Derrick almost lost his head last week."

"That doesn't sound very good." The Doctor tutted at the violence and Riley couldn't help but to stare at him. He seemed... younger, somehow. And not just because his new face was younger, but because he didn't seem as haunted anymore. Maybe he was finally getting over the Time War. "But persistent. It sounds persistent."

"Human?" Amy questioned.

"No, and neither is the man he's after." She told them but she didn't get much further. They were now in the middle of the town and the Doctor had noticed the oddities, as she knew he would.

"Electric lightening." He hummed.

"The street lamp?" Rory wondered. "It's just a lamp."

"About ten years too early." The Doctor tutted at him.

"That's only a few years off." Rory tried to skirt over it.

"That's what you said when you left your phone charger in Henry the Eighth's en-suite." He jutted his finger at the younger man before stopping to observe the rest of the town.

"You left your charger in Henry the Eight's en-suite?" Riley couldn't help but laugh.

"You laughed the first time, too." He remarked. "This is so strange, seeing you like this."

"Why? Because I'm younger?"

"Yeah." He nodded. It was indeed very weird.

"Sorry." She shrugged.

"No, don't be." He dissuaded her. "It's not bad, just... weird."

She was about to respond but got distracted when she saw the Doctor enter the town bar along with Amy. "Oh, God no."

She just knew he was going to mess things up somehow. He may have changed his face but in the end he was still the Doctor and the Doctor worked as a magnet for trouble. That was just how it was. Riley and Rory were quick to follow but it was too late.

She entered just in time to hear him introduce himself as "the Doctor".

"Bollocks!" She sighed in frustration. She could already picture how this was going to end.

The patrons all stood up abruptly and she tried to make her way to him but Wilkins, the horse-shoer grabbed a hold of her to stop her. She cursed him silently and tried to get Rory's attention but the man had already moved next to Amy.

She watched, resigned, how Abraham measured the Doctor for his coffin.

"Oh, don't be...!" She tried to speak up but Wilkins jostled her to get her to keep quiet. Of course they wanted her to keep quiet, they thought they had found a solution to their problem. They didn't want her to ruin it.

"I got a question. Is you an alien?" One of the boys asked.

"Don...!" Wilkins placed his filthy hand over mouth, eager to hear the answer. God, she hated people sometimes. Bloody sheep!

Please, please, be smart. Riley begged in her head. Please do the smart thing and lie. Of course he didn't. Trouble-magnet!

"Well, er, bit personal. It's all relative, isn't it? I mean, I think you're the aliens, but in this context, yes. Yes, I suppose I am." He smiled, as if they were asking just to be friendly. Oh, why hadn't he stuck around and heard her explain the situation first?

They lifted him up and carried him out in spite of Amy's loud protests. Riley knew where they were going and knows she has to stop it. She stomps Wilkins on his foot, making him let her go with a curse, and follows the crowd. She notices that Amy and Rory too have been swept along but don't try to call out to them or anything, too focused on getting to the front.

They throw him over the border. Actually threw him over. They couldn't just politely push him over?

"Wait!" She shout to try and get their attention. They pay no heed. When the Doctor turns around to face them they take out their revolvers and point them at him. "Wait!"

The gunslinger appeared in the distance.

"Wait!" She elbows her way to the front and situates herself between the Doctor and the guns.

"Riley, girl, get out of the way." One of them growls at her.

"No chance." She steps closer to the mouth of his weapon. "Let him back in."

"No." One of the men in the back shouts. "You heard him. He's an alien doctor."

"Yes, I heard him!" She shouts back. "And he's here because I asked him to be!"

That got their attention. Behind her the Doctor had seen the gunslinger and was trying to get over the border again only to have his face shoved with more guns.

"He's my friend! And if you all don't let him back in I will push you over the border myself!" She threatens, making the men standing closest to her back away. They may be stronger than her but one misstep would be all it took.

"Preacher." One of the men speaks up, ignoring her. "Say something."

Mary's father starts to pray for the Doctor's soul, making her even more angry. She was really starting to hate this town. She was about to implement drastic measures but, thank the heavens, Isaac had arrived on the scene. Which was a really good thing, because she had no idea what drastic measures to implement. Maybe drag one of them over the border? It would have taken all her strength and then some but she could be persistent when she wanted to.

He fired a hot into the air, getting all their attention.

"You, bowtie." He pointed at the Doctor. "Get back over that line."

The Doctor wasted no time and did exactly that. The gunslinger disappeared behind them.

"Isaac, he said he was a doctor. An alien doctor." One of the townsfolk defended, as if trying make him see reason.

"That a reason to hand him to his death?" Isaac holstered his weapon.

"Isaac, it could be him."

"Oh, shut up, you imbecile!" Riley huffed. "You know damn well he isn't."

"Riley." Isaac gave her warning look to which she glared at him. "Alright, you lot, get back to your homes, now."

They started dispersing, leaving Riley and the three time-travellers behind. The others turned to look at her questioningly.

"You know," she glared at the Doctor. "if you'd just stopped and listened to my explanation, this wouldn't have happened."

He smiled sheepishly.

"Come on." She sighed. "I'll take you to the doctor."

"The one that him out there wants?" Rory gestured were the gunslinger was just a few seconds ago.

"Yep." She nodded. "He's taken refuge in the marshall's office."

"So, who is he? Why does that cyborg-thing want him dead?" Amy asked as they started walking.

"I don't know why. He won't tell me." She grumbled. "And when I persisted, Isaac ordered me to stop. He said that it doesn't matter since we're not going to give him up. Which I agree to, but I'd still like to know why it's happening."

"What do you think of him?" The Doctor glanced over at her. He'd always trusted her judgement, mainly because she'd almost always be right, even back when she was this young.

She hesitated before answering. "He saved my life."

"What?" Amy looked at her, startled. "Why did it need saving in the first place?"

"Long story." She avoided the question. "But he did save me. Him and Isaac."

"Yes, but what do you think of him?" The Doctor asked again, noticing that she didn't answer.

"I think..." she hesitated again before sighing in defeat. "I think there is something off about him. He never speaks about his past and sometimes he gets this... this look."

"Like what?" Rory wondered as they neared the marshall's office.

"Guilt." She met the Doctor eyes. "Heavy guilt. And shame. I don't know what he's done in the past that the gunslinger wants him so badly, but I think that he probably deserves it. And he thinks he does, too."

They'd reached the office.

"Isaac?" She lead them inside, finding the marshall at his desk.

"What now, Riley?" He sighed deeply, already having reached his trouble-quota for the day.

"Ah, yes." The Doctor started. "You. Thank you, for that out there. Very nasty, but good timing."

"Isaac, these are my friends." She told him. "Guys, this is Isaac, the resident marshall."

"Right. Straight to business." The Doctor walked over to the desk and leaned in close to the marshall, making him lean backwards in alarm. "I hear you have a problem."

Isaac looked away from the Doctor and to Riley. "I thought you didn't have friends."

"What's that supposed to mean?" She asked, offended. "I'll have you know I've got plenty of friends. They're just lost to me, as of late. But see, some of them found me!"

Seeing the still dis-believing look in his eyes she sighed before turning serious. "You can trust them, Isaac. They can help."

"That's right, we can." The Doctor beamed. "Well, mostly me. The other's can help at times too but mostly it's just me. I'm brilliant."

"Watch it." Amy warned him playfully.

"Whatever." Isaac gave up. "I assume your friend has filled you in, then?"

"Somewhat." The Doctor twirled in his place, getting a look of the office before facing him again. "You can't cross the border. But we could come in. Why?"

"You ain't carrying any food. Just three more mouths to feed. We'll all die even sooner now."

"What happens if you try to cross?" Rory wondered.

Isaac didn't answer but simply showcased his stetson. The gunslinger had shot it off his head the second day, when he'd tried to cross alongside some other able-bodied men.

The Doctor looked at the stetson, horrified.

"He shoots peoples hats!" He made it sound like it was the worst of crimes, making Riley giggle.

"I think it was a warning shot." Amy corrected him.

"That doesn't excuse it!" He huffed in indignation.

"And this doctor he wants?" Amy continued. "Riley said he'd be in here."

"He is." She nodded and turned around so that she was facing the steel bars of the jail.

The rest of them turned in unison. Jex looked back at them, from the other side of the bars, having been listening in from the beginning while hiding in the shadows.

"This is Kahler-Jex, of the Kahler." Riley introduced. "He's the doctor."

"Afternoon." He greeted, ever the polite sort.

"Hi." The Doctor waved.

"Hello." Amy and Rory spoke in tandem.

"Well, isn't this a sight." Riley just had to point it out. "Two doctors, both alien. Awesome."

A/N

Well... what did you think?