A/N: Since you've all probably read TIA at the start of this story, the 'flashback' scenes of the Doctor meeting Amy and Rory and River in the desert and diner are not going to be here, this is mostly only going to have new scenes that weren't written in TIA. Also, the events that take place in the past, what the Doctor tells Winston, will be in italics. Enjoy!

~8~

The Graduation of River Song (Part 1)

Winston Churchill, the Holy Roman Emperor, sat in his office of the Senate House, having his blood pressure checked by his Silurian doctor, Malokeh, while he went over paperwork. A steam engine train whistled outside which made him glance up, watching as a car floated by the window, attached to a hot air balloon. He grumbled at the static on the radio but the sunspot activity and solar flares were creating massive interference leaving him in the quiet, making him aware of all sounds outside like the pterodactyls shrieking in the park and the Roman chariots rolling past. He shook his head and returned to his work, trying to help hash out the War of the Roses before the second year really started because he'd really rather be enjoying Charles Dickens' new book about Christmas and ghosts of the past, present, and future all happening at once in peace.

"Not too many late nights in Gaul, I hope," Malokeh remarked.

He sighed, "Just the one. I had an argument with Cleopatra. Dreadful woman. Excellent dancer."

"I can tell from your blood pressure."

Winston looked back at the grandfather clock behind him, "What time do you have, doctor?"

Malokeh checked his pocket watch, "Two minutes past five, Caesar."

"It's always two minutes past five. Day or night, it's always two minutes past five in the afternoon. Why is that?"

"Because that is the time, Caesar."

"And the date. Always the 22nd of April. Does it not bother you?"

"The date and the time have always been the same, Caesar. Why should it start bothering me now?"

"I want to see the Soothsayers. Where are they?"

"In the Tower. Where you threw them the last time."

"Get them!"

~8~

Two Roman soldiers held the arm of each of the two soothsayers being led down the corridor in chains. Both were dressed in traditional Roman garb, a tunic, sandals, with a small toga sashed over them. One was dressed in light blues, the man, his hair long with a scruffy beard, while the other, a woman, heavily pregnant, was dressed in reds and light pinks, her blonde hair held back in a Roman bun.

~8~

The soldiers forced the male soothsayer to his knees before Winston while they left the female to remain standing beside him, "Leave us!" Winston ordered and the soldiers left. He eyed the two soothsayers, their heads bowed, "Tick tock goes the clock, as the old song says. But they don't, do they? The clocks never tick. Something has happened to time. That's what you say. What you never STOP saying. All of history is happening at once. But what does that mean? What happened? Explain to me in terms that I can understand. What happened to time?"

"Do you really want to know?" Evy asked softly as she moved to look at Winston.

The male soothsayer looked up as well, revealing the Doctor, "A woman."

~8~

EARLIER…

The Doctor gingerly put an ice pack to the back of his head as he fell down onto the jump seat, Evy piloting the TARDIS, muttering to herself about him and his idiocy and listening to the TARDIS as she broke her vow of silence against him and filled Evy in on all that he'd done since he'd left her. Evy had been fuming. And with good reason.

He'd sent her to Jack after they had dropped off Amy and Rory and run. In his mind he'd been protecting her. He was determined to find a way to save himself, if not for him than for Evy and their child. He would not die, not now, he wouldn't leave them like that. So he'd run, out into space, travelling to its farthest reaches, trying to find more on the Silence, on this Madame Kovarian, on his death date. Anything that could help him work out what to do. He had no idea what he might encounter on the way and couldn't bear the thought of Evy coming along only to get hurt or killed. So he'd left her with Jack, promising himself that he would come back for her as soon as he found a way out of his supposedly fixed date of death.

He hadn't known it would take nearly 200 years and counting. For Evy, it had been only two weeks since he'd left her, but that didn't matter with the Link. She hadn't guarded her mind nearly as much as he had tried to do. Every minute her mind was downloaded with about three days' worth of his travels. Her mind absorbed it and assimilated it, making her aware of what had happened with him, in a way no other species could manage. And she was livid that, in his timeline, she'd lost about 194 years with him. He really hadn't thought it would take that long.

So…when she came at him and started smacking him and punching his chest and kicking his shins and screaming and crying and cursing him…he'd accepted it, for what else could he do? Especially when he rightly deserved it. In fact…the only reason she hadn't massacred him was the fact that he had had to live 194 years without her. In the end, he almost hoped she hated him or was angry enough at him to want to leave him to face his death alone…but she'd caught his thoughts and gave him one hell of a wallop on the back of the head, telling him he was not getting rid of her that easily ever again, in fact she'd even gone ahead and programmed the TARDIS so that, if she was ever teleported out of the box, she would reappear back in it...unless the box itself saw a danger in being there and needed to teleport her out.

Thus explained his current predicament, the bruises spotting his body, and his throbbing headache. But still…he watched her working, grumbling, and couldn't help a small smile. He'd missed her so much, been so tempted, nearly been ready, to get her, when she beat him to it. He wanted her back so terribly and really, he should have known she would find a way back, despite how impossible it was. He'd done everything he could to prevent her from sensing the TARDIS landing, from allowing her to find him, that he'd forgotten the technology available to their friends, especially Torchwood and UNIT and the fact that the TARDIS, no matter what, gave off a distinct Artron Energy reading that their computers would detect. He couldn't deny, though, that just having her there with him unburdened his soul. No matter how dark things had gotten for him in the last 200 years, Evy was back, his Evy, his Luna, his moon, and with her the darkness that he'd been left in was illuminated once more. And with her there, he'd be able to beat anything because he would do anything for her. And he would NEVER leave her again, not ever.

"You better not," she called, hearing his thoughts. However badly she'd been hurting and missing him those two weeks, it had only been two weeks, not nearly 200 years.

She'd tried so hard to keep being angry at him. She'd been terribly sad at first, then fuming, then terrified, then bitter, and back to sad, the baby twisting and shifting her emotions so much that she was certain she'd actually scared Jack enough to take 10 years off his immortal life. But she'd also been hurt, hurt because every second she could feel how much he suffered without her there, how much he missed her, how he barely managed to hang on and resist finding her again. And she couldn't be mad at him for that, she couldn't lord that over him, he'd suffered enough. However badly she'd been hurting and missing him those two weeks, it had only been two weeks, not nearly 200 years. It seemed like the TARDIS, for all the silence she gave the Doctor, had seen how badly he'd hurt without her there and had spoken of nothing but how happy she was that Evy was back, how much the Doctor needed her, she'd listened to her describe the mess the Doctor had been without her. She would have her work cut out for her just getting him fighting fit again while also taking care of their child. She smiled just a bit, putting a hand on her stomach. While she'd been with Jack, they'd gone over everything she knew about the Silence, getting his point of view on it, a fresh perspective, and now...she had a plan.

~8~

"Imagine you were dying," the Doctor said as he and Evy slowly approached their target, lying there in a wrecked ship, fires around it, helpless and powerless, "Imagine you were afraid and a long way from home and in terrible pain," he tipped his Stetson, "Just when you thought it couldn't get worse, you looked up...and saw the face of the devil himself. Hello, Dalek."

The Dalek tried to fire but its weapons were drained, "Emergency, emergency, weapon system disabled, emergency! Emergency! Emergency!"

Evy quickly flashed her sonic, disabling the locks on its casing lid, "Oh be quiet," she told it as the Doctor worked on opening it, "We need to know what you know about the Silence, everything. And if that means hacking into your data core...so be it."

The Doctor stepped back, removing a panel that would allow Evy to have better access to the data core wires and controls. He had to admit, in the near 200 years he'd been searching for information, he hadn't ever thought to start with the Daleks. And when he saw Evy smile and look at her sonic, at the information she'd extracted, he knew she'd been right in her assumption that 'the enemy of my enemy is my friend,' of course the Daleks would know something about another group that was trying to kill him.

~8~

The Doctor leaned around a corner on the docks of Calisto B that night, watching as a shadowy figure walked into a bar. He looked over at Evy and nodded, taking her hand as they followed. They walked in, straight up to the bartender, a red alien standing behind a grate, "Gideon Vandaleur," Evy spoke.

"Get him," the Doctor demanded, "Now."

"Who says he's here?" the bartender asked. The Doctor simply put the Dalek eyestalk on the counter. Needless to say, the bartender scurried off.

The Doctor looked over at Evy to see her let out a little breath of air, a curious expression on her face, "You alright?" he asked, squeezing her hand.

She nodded, she felt…odd, a bit…fuzzy? If that were the right word. She blinked, "Just a bit tired," she admitted.

He nodded and pulled her over to the nearest table, helping her sit as they waited. He looked around and spotted a book on the table, 'Knitting for Girls' and picked it up, flipping through it.

"We never did make it to that knitting lesson," Evy remarked, drumming her fingers on the table lightly.

"Or the biplane lesson," he agreed. He looked up when a hooded figure, the one they'd been following, approached and sat down before them. It lowered its hood to reveal a pale man with blonde hair, wearing an eye patch, "Father Gideon Vandaleur. Former envoy of the Silence. Our condolences."

"Your what?" Gideon frowned.

"Gideon Vandaleur died six months ago," Evy replied as the Doctor soniced the man still.

She'd noticed that little fact after doing some digging with Jack. After she'd told him of Madame Kovarian, he'd spoken of one or two people he'd run into during his time as a Time Agent who also wore eyepatches. He'd only gotten the name of one, a man, Gideon Vandaleur. Jack and Martha had been able to get her access to technology from Torchwood and UNIT, which she'd pieced together to create a small program of her own. She'd used it to hack into the Shadow Proclaimation, looking for more information on Gideon. If one envoy of the Silence existed, then she could use him to find more...but there he was, Gideon Vandaleur, written off as deceased, six months ago. When she'd extracted the information from the Dalek, it knew of a few envoys of the Silence, including Gideon, but there he'd been listed as still living, the information recently updated, sending up a red flag

The Doctor leaned forward and looked into the eye of the Teselecta, "Can we speak to the captain, please?" the little soldier inside ran off.

~8~

The captain stood before his chair in the Teselecta, looking out of the monitor at the Doctor and Evy, sparks flying around them from whatever the Doctor had done with the sonic.

"Hello again!" the Doctor called, "The Teselecta, time-travelling, shape-changing robot, powered by miniaturized people," he grinned at Evy, "Never get bored of that!"

"What have you been up to since Berlin?" Evy commented, a knowing smile on her face. It was clear what they were doing. After finding out that Melody had been raised and trained by the mysterious Silence, they were clearly trying to learn more about the orgnaization, about why they wanted the Doctor dead, about who they were.

"Doctor!" the captain glared, "What have you done to our systems?"

"They'll be fine, if you behave," he waved them off.

Evy rolled her eyes, "You're using a unit that can disguise itself as Vandaleur for a reason. You're investigating the Silence..."

"Tell us about them."

"Tell you what?" the captain frowned.

"One thing. Just one. Their weakest link."

~8~

The Doctor sat opposite a Viking-like alien in an eye patch in the Live Chess Arena, Evy standing in the first row of the stands, watching on. There was a chess table stationed between the men, one piece charged with electricity, the crowd cheering while Evy smiled at how her Link had managed to corner the Viking.

"The crowd are getting restless!" the Doctor grinned, seeing the Viking hesitate to make the only move he had, "They know the Queen is your only legal move. Except you've already moved it 12 times, which means there are now over four million volts running through it," it looked up at the crowd, "That's why they call it 'live' chess. Even with the gauntlet you'll never make it to bishop four alive."

"I am a dead man," it agreed, "Unless you concede the game."

"But I'm winning."

"Name your price."

"Information."

"I work for the Silence. They would kill me."

"They're going to kill me too, very soon, and my Link through me. I'm not just going to lie down and take that. I'd like to know why they think we have to die."

"Dorium Maldovar is the only one who can help you."

"Dorium's dead. The Monks beheaded him at Demons Run."

"I know. Concede the game, Doctor...and I'll take you and your Link to him."

The Doctor glanced back at Evy before nodding and tipping over his piece, conceding the game as the crowd booed.

~8~

The Viking led the way through an underground tunnel, a lit torch in his hand while the Doctor and Evy followed behind, hand-in-hand, the Doctor slightly in the lead. Evy frowned, eyeing the skulls all around them.

"The Seventh Transept," the Viking muttered, "Where the Headless Monks keep the leftovers. Watch your step, there are traps everywhere."

The Doctor grimaced at a scurrying noise, "Ew! I hate rats."

"There are no rats in the transept."

"Oh, good."

"The skulls eat them," he told them as the skulls moved to watch them pass, "The Headless Monks behead you alive, remember?"

Evy eyed the pedestals in the center of the next room, wooden boxes resting on top of them, "And some are in boxes because..."

"Because some people are rich and some people are left to rot. Dorium Maldovar was always very rich," he put the torch into a sconce and the Doctor stepped forward, scanning a beautifully decorated wooden box. The latch unlocked and Evy stepped beside him, sliding the door open to reveal Dorium's head…which coughed.

"Thanks for bringing us here, Gantok," Evy called back.

"My pleasure," Gantok replied, before pulling a gun and aiming it at them, "It saves me the trouble of burying you," he turned it on the Doctor, "Nobody beats me at chess!"

The Doctor opened his mouth to warn Gantok that he was about to step on a trap but Gantok moved too quickly, falling through a trapdoor with a scream, "Gantok!" the Doctor shouted as they rushed over. They looked down into the pit to see Gantok surrounded by skulls, attacking him, eating him alive.

"I'm going to be sick," Evy murmured, turning away with a squeamish look on her face, she never did well with skeletons...and now...knowing their heads were still alive in a way...she could feel her stomach churning at the thought.

The Doctor quickly soniced the door closed again, the slamming waking Dorium who called out, "Hello? Is someone there?" Evy and the Doctor walked over, "Ah, Doctor! Evy! Thank God it's you. The Monks, they turned on me."

"Well...I'm afraid they rather did a bit," the Doctor nodded.

"Give it to me straight, Doctor! How bad are my injuries?"

"Well..."

Dorium laughed, "Oh, your face!"

~8~

"This is absurd!" Winston shouted, eyeing the Doctor as he stood behind Evy, who was sitting on a chair, his hands on her shoulders, "Other worlds, carnivorous skulls, talking heads. I don't know why I'm listening to you."

"Because we were all friends in another version of reality," Evy told him, absently rubbing the side of head, which was starting to throb a bit in the stirrings of a migraine, "You sense it don't you? Just like you sense something wrong with time."

"You mentioned a woman..."

"Yes," the Doctor nodded, "We're getting to her."

"What's she like? Attractive, I assume."

"Hell."

Evy snorted, "In high heels."

Winston nodded, "Tell me more."

~8~

"Oh, it's not so bad really," Dorium said, "As long as they get your box the right way up. I got a media-chip fitted in my head years ago, and the wi-fi down here is excellent. So I keep myself entertained."

"Dorium, you need to tell us about the Silence," Evy informed him.

"Oh. A religious order of great power and discretion. The sentinels of history, as they like to call themselves."

"And they want me dead," the Doctor frowned.

"No, not really. They just don't want you to remain alive nor Evy."

He rolled his eyes, "That's ok. I was worried for a minute there."

"You're a man with a long and dangerous past. But your future, the future of your family," he eyed Evy's stomach as she put her hand on it protectively, "Is infinitely more terrifying. The Silence believe it must be averted."

"You should've told us this at Demons Run," Evy remarked.

"It was a busy day and I got beheaded."

"What's so dangerous about my future?" the Doctor shook his head.

"On the fields of Trenzalore, at the fall of the eleventh, when no living creature could speak falsely, or fail to answer, a question will be asked. A question that must never, ever be answered."

The Doctor pulled out his notepad, "'Silence will fall when the question is asked...'"

"Silence MUST fall would be a better translation. The Silence are determined the question will never be answered. That neither the Doctor, his Link, or his child, will EVER reach Trenzalore."

"I don't understand? What's it got to do with me?"

"The first question. The oldest question in the Universe, hidden in plain sight. Would you like to know what it is?"

"Yes!" they both shouted.

"Are you sure?" he glanced past them, at the skulls as they turned to watch, "Very, very sure?"

The Doctor swallowed hard, taking Evy's hand as she stepped closer to him, wary of the skulls, "Of course."

"Then I shall tell you. But on your own head be it!" he laughed.

~8~

The Doctor rushed into the TARDIS, carrying Dorium's head box, "It's not my fault!" he shouted from within, his voice muffled, "Put me back," Evy walked over to the console, preparing for flight as the Doctor tossed the box down on the jump seat and moved to join her, "Ow! I've fallen on my nose," the Doctor frowned, seeing Evy looking at the date and time of his death, looming ever closer, "Have you got wi-fi here? I'm bored already and my nose is hurting! We all have to die, Doctor...but you more than most. You do see that, don't you? You know what the question is now, you do see that you have to die!"

~8~

The Doctor walked with Evy, holding her arm tucked with his, while Winston strolled beside them, into a large room, the Senate Room, "But what was the question?" he asked them, "Why did it mean your death?"

"Suppose there was someone who knew a secret," the Doctor said, "A terrible, dangerous secret that must never be told. How would you erase that secret from the world? Destroy it forever, before it can be spoken?"

"If I had to, I'd destroy the person who knew it."

"And silence would fall," Evy nodded solemnly.

The Doctor sighed, "All the times I've heard those words, I never realized...it was my silence. My death. The Doctor will fall," he looked at Evy and kissed her knuckles, looking at her sadly.

"Why are we here?" Evy asked, looking around, trying to hide the tears in her eyes from him.

"This?" Winston looked around, his hand absently reaching for his revolver, "This is the Senate Room."

"But why did we leave your office?" she shook her head. It had happened suddenly, Winston had looked out the window, listening to them talk, and turned, telling them to walk with him.

"Well, we wanted a stroll, didn't we?" he glanced at the revolver in his hand, confused as to why he had it.

"I think we've been running," the Doctor breathed, tensing, pulling Evy closer, "Why do you have your revolver?"

"Well...you're dangerous company, Soothsayers."

The Doctor looked at his left arm, seeing a black marker on it, "Yes…" he looked at Evy, startled, as she took his arm, looking at it before turning to look around the room quickly, "I think we are."

"Resume your story."

~8~

"Doctor, please open my hatch, I've got an awful headache..." Dorium called.

The Doctor made an angry, frustrated noise, when Evy put a hand on his arm, "I've got it," she whispered, walking over to the box and picking it up to sit on the jump seat with a soft exhale, she'd felt a bit dizzy for a moment there.

"Which to be honest means more than it used to!" Dorium added. Evy shook her head and opened the box, nearly laughing when she saw that he was upside down, "It's like some terrible weight pressing down on my..." he opened his eyes to see he was indeed upside down, "Oh, I see!"

"Why Lake Silencio?" the Doctor turned to lean against the console as Evy turned Dorium around, setting the box on her lap, "Why Utah?"

"It's a still point in time. Makes it easier to create a fixed point. And your death is a fixed point, Doctor."

"Been running all my life. Why should I stop?"

"You can't run away from this. Because now you know what's at stake," the Doctor's glance flickered to Evy, he knew exactly what was at stake, and that was more than enough reason not to die, "Why your life ends."

Evy stood, placing Dorium back down, and walked over to the Doctor, just winding her arms around his waist, resting her forehead on his arm as he kissed the top of her head, "Not today," he decided, turning to dial the console phone.

"What's the point in delaying? How long have you delayed already?"

"Been knocking about. Bit of a farewell tour. Things to do, people to see, there's always more. I could invent a new color, save the Dodo, join the Beatles!" he picked up the phone, "Hello, it's me. Get him! Tell him, we're going out and it's all on me, except for the money and driving," he pressed the phone to his shoulder and turned back to Dorium, "We've got a time machine, Dorium...it's all still going on. For me, it never stops. Liz the First is still waiting to kill me…" he winced as Evy elbowed him, not wanting to think about all the people apparently trying to kill him, "I could help Rose Tyler with her homework, I could go on all of Jack's stag parties in one night."

"Time catches up with us all!"

"Well, it has never laid a glove on me!" he picked up the phone again, "Hello?"

"Doctor," a woman answered, a nurse, "I'm so sorry, we didn't know how to contact you. I'm afraid Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart passed away a few months ago. Doctor?"

The Doctor blinked, stunned, "Yes. Yes, I..."

"It was very peaceful. He talked a lot about you, if that's any comfort. Always made us pour an extra brandy in case you came round one of these days."

"Doctor?" Evy frowned, hugging him tightly.

"What's wrong?" Dorium called.

"Nothing," he breathed, "Nothing. It's just..." he sighed, hanging up the phone and looked at Evy. He reached out and cupped her face, "It's time," he whispered as tears filled her eyes. She shook her head but he could only offer her a small smile, "It's time."

He had to do this now. He couldn't wait forever, running, till all his companions, all his friends were dead. Then no one would be there for Evy, to try and help her, to protect her and watch over her, not that there would be much left of her to watch out for. But he needed someone to be there for her if something happened to him. He needed to confront the Silence, now, find a way to stop them, before it was truly too late.

~8~

The Doctor placed a small stack of blue envelopes on the table before the Vandaleur-bot, standing before him, with Evy, sadly, "Surely you could deliver the messages yourself," the captain spoke through it.

"And cross his own time stream?" Evy shook her head.

"Best not," the Doctor agreed.

"According to our files, this is the end for you," the capatin continued, "Your final journey. We'll deliver your messages. You can depend on us."

"Thank you," he whispered, before turning and leading Evy to the door. He held it open for her to step out as the robot stood.

"Doctor, whatever you think of the Teselecta, we are champions of law and order, just as you have always been. Is there nothing else we can do?"

The Doctor just lowered his head and stepped out after his Link, nearly running into her back as she stood, stunned, before him. He looked up, his eyes widening at the person standing only two feet away...

~8~

"Why would you do this?" Winston asked, shaking his head, confused. He had gathered that once whoever was trying to kill the Doctor had done so, Evy would soon meet the same fate…he could see clear as day how much the man cared for his clearly pregnant love…why would he allow himself to enter such a situation as to speed along that process? "Of all the things you've told me, this I find hardest to believe. Why would you invite your friends to see your death?"

"I had to die," he shrugged, "I didn't have to die alone."

"Amy and Rory," Evy said fondly.

"The Last Centurion and the Girl Who Waited. However dark it got, we'd turn around, and there they'd be. If it's time to go, remember what you're leaving. Remember the best. My friends and Evy have always been the best of me."

"And did you tell them this was going to happen?" Winston asked.

"It would really help if you would let him talk," Evy remarked, looking at the Doctor's arm in alarm, seeing two more tally marks, before stepping past him, looking around the room warily, "We don't have the time."

Winston sighed, "And this woman you spoke of. Did you invite her?"

"Yes, she was there," the Doctor nodded, "River Song came twice."

~8~

The Doctor sat on a red and white picnic blanket with Amy, Rory, and River just before Lake Silencio. He poured some wine into River's glass, "Napoleon gave me this bottle. Well, I say gave...threw..." he held up the bottle in a toast, "Salute!"

"Salute!" they cheered, clinking their glasses.

"So when are we going to 1969?" Rory asked.

~8~

"Everything was in place," the Doctor recounted, "I only had to do one more thing. I only had to die."

~8~

The Doctor lifted his hand in greeting as the older Canton waved back, before slowly lowering his arm once more, looking resigned and tired.

"Who's he?" Amy asked.

River stood, looking at the lake, as Rory stood too, "Oh, my God!" she breathed, drawing their attention. Amy rose to her feet, seeing an astronaut standing, knee deep, in the water.

"You all need to stay back," the Doctor warned them, taking a few steps forward, "Whatever happens now, you do not interfere. Clear?" he looked back at them a moment before walking over to the astronaut as they watched.

"That's an astronaut," Rory whispered as he left, "That's an Apollo astronaut in the lake. Look."

"Yeah," she breathed, her attention focused on the Doctor.

The Doctor walked up to the astronaut, his hand fishing in his pocket for something while seeming unable to look the being in the face, "Hello, it's ok, I know it's you…" the astronaut lifted its visor to reveal River Song, "Well then…here we are at last."

"I can't stop it," River said, her eyes filling with tears, "The suit's in control."

"You're not supposed to. This has to happen."

"Run!"

"I did run. Running brought me here."

"I tried to fight it, but I can't, it's too strong."

"I know. It's ok. This is where I die. This is a fixed point, this must happen, this always happens. Don't worry...you won't even remember this. Look over there," he glanced back to where the trio was standing by the blanket.

River did so and sobbed, seeing herself, "That's me. How can I be there?"

"That's you from the future. Serving time for a murder you probably can't remember. My murder."

"Why would you do that? Make me watch?"

"So that you know this is inevitable. And you are forgiven. Always and completely forgiven."

She gasped as the arm of the suit rose, "Please, for Evy. Please, please just run!"

"I can't."

"Time can be rewritten."

"Don't you dare. Goodbye, River," he smiled and closed his eyes, accepting his fate, as she sobbed, shaking her head. There were five sonic gunshots and he jerked with each one. He paused a moment, frowning as he realized he was still alive, and opened his eyes.

"Hello, sweetie," River grinned.

"What have you done?!"

"Well...I think I just drained my weapon systems."

"But this is fixed. This is a fixed point in time."

"Fixed points can be rewritten."

"No, they can't, of course they can't, has Evy not told you about MARS?!"

Before another word could be spoken, a flash of light changed time.

~8~

"Well?" Winston asked as the Doctor grew quiet, "What happened?"

"Nothing," he replied.

"Nothing?" he walked over.

"Nothing happened. And then it kept happening. Or, if you prefer, everything happened, at once, and it won't ever stop. Time is dying. It's going to be 5:02 in the afternoon for all eternity. A needle stuck on a record."

"A record? Good Lord, man, have you never heard of downloads?"

"Said Winston Churchill."

Winston sniffed, "Gun smoke. That's gun smoke!" he lifted his gun, "I appear to have fired this."

"You did," Evy told him.

The Doctor looked down at the spear in his hand, "We seem to be defending ourselves."

"You are."

"I don't understand," Winston shook his head.

"The aliens who lead the Silence," Evy began, looking around, trying to spot what Winston and the Doctor clearly had, "Are remarkable, because they're memory proof."

"But what does that mean?"

The Doctor took her hand and started to try and back them out of the room, "You can't remember them. The moment you look away, you forget they were ever there."

"Except for me," Evy remarked as something on the ceiling caught her eye.

The Doctor looked at his arm to see one more mark, "Don't panic," he tried to reassure her, that sort of panic would not be good for the baby and he could already feel her shaking slightly, "In small numbers, they're not too difficult."

"Which is unfortunate for us," Evy swallowed hard, staring at the ceiling, "For they are most certainly not."

The Doctor spun around and looked up, seeing a massive amount of Silence hanging from the ceiling like bats. Suddenly a cylindrical device was thrown into the room and rolled across the floor, beeping, "Go!" he shouted, trying to help Evy quickly to the door before pulling her down to the ground to safety as the bomb went off, a flash bomb.

"Go!" a soldier shouted as armed men with eye patches ran into the room with guns, "Go! Keep the Silence in sight at all times, keep your eye drives active," the soldiers kept their guns trained on the ceiling as a woman in a black suit sauntered in.

"Who the devil are you?" Winston glared, "Identify yourselves!"

The Doctor squinted through the smoke to see a woman with red hair, "Pond," she said, "Amelia Pond."

He laughed out loud in delight, when he noticed Winston lift his gun, before dashing over, "No!" he pushed the gun down, "She's on our side, it's ok," but as Amy walked closer, he could see she too was wearing an eye patch, "No! No, Amy, Amy. Why are you wearing that?" he scrambled back to Evy's side, trying to block her from Amy as she lifted a gun of her own and fired at them both.

~8~

The Doctor came to on the Orient Express to the radio playing in the background, "The Government has again apologized for extensive radio interference caused by solar flare and sun spot activity."

He blinked blearily at the ceiling fan, spinning above him, before he jerked up, only to see Evy beside him on her side, looking a bit pale though. He let out a breath, reaching out to place a gentle hand on her stomach, feeling their child kicking beneath him, perfectly fine. Evy placed her hand on top of his, blinking awake. He dropped a kiss onto her forehead when a throat cleared. He looked over to see Amy leaning in the doorway of the office compartment, "Amy?" he asked cautiously, sitting up more, blocking Evy just incase.

"Those stun guns aren't fun," Amy remarked before leaning to the side to look at Evy, "I'm sorry," and back, "I wanted to avoid a long conversation. You need to get up though, we'll be in Cairo shortly."

"Amy Pond! Amelia Pond from Leadworth, please, listen to me!" he pushed himself up, "I know it seems impossible, but you know me. In another version of reality the three of us were best friends. We...we travelled together, we had adventures..." he tried to remain stable but stumbled into the wall for support, "Amelia Pond! You grew up with a time rift in the wall of your bedroom. You can see what others can't, you can remember things that never happened…" Evy frowned, seeing a mess of pictures, drawings, sketches, hanging on the wall of their past adventures as the Doctor picked up a model TARDIS, "And if you try, if you really, really try, you'll be able to..." Amy pointedly looked at the TARDIS in his hand and he glanced down at it too, "Oh. Oh!"

"Doctor," Evy called, nodding to the drawings.

"Oh..."

"You look rubbish," Amy remarked, eyeing them, still dressed in their dirty Roman garb.

"I might," the Doctor conceded, tossing the TARDIS to Evy and smiling at her, "You look wonderful."

Evy laughed as she put down the TARDIS.

"Don't worry," Amy smiled at them, "We'll soon fix that," she turned and held up a tweed jacket, shirt, and bow-tie in one hand and a tan 'western' outfit with a black shirt in the other.

"Oh!" Evy smiled, getting up, "Thank you!"

"Geronimo!" the Doctor laughed, taking the clothes.

~8~

The Doctor held the tan jacket up, helping Evy into it, a size or two bigger than she normally wore to accommodate her stomach, he himself already dressed and now shaved, though his hair was longer.

"Ok," Evy called as Amy sat at her desk with her back to them, "We're decent."

"How do we look?" the Doctor grinned as she turned.

"Cool," she replied.

"Really?!"

"No," both she and Evy said.

He shrugged, "Cool office though. Why do you have an office? Are you a special agent boss lady? Not sure about the eye patch."

"It's not an eye patch," Amy told him, "Time's gone wrong. Some of us noticed. There's a whole team of us working on it...you'll see."

"And you've got an office on a train, that is so cool. Can I have an office? Never had an office before! Or a train. Or a train-slash-office."

Amy ran over and hugged him tightly as Evy just fondly shook her head at him, "God, I've missed you!" she turned to Evy as well, "The both of you!"

"Ok, hugging and missing now," the Doctor laughed, "Where's the Roman?"

"You mean Rory!"

"Mhmm," he nodded.

"My husband Rory, yeah?" she picked up a sketch pad with a drawing of a far more masculine Rory, "That's him, isn't it? I've no idea, I can't find him. I love him very much, don't I?"

"Apparently," the Doctor smirked at the sketch.

"Oi!" Evy whacked him on the back of the head with the pad.

He beamed and pulled her into a deep kiss, "God I missed that," he whispered to her.

Evy gave him an odd look and shook her head, "Only you would miss getting smacked."

"Only by you," he added, giving her another peck.

Evy rolled her eyes and turned back to the sketch, "This is really impressive Amy."

"I have to keep doing this," she told them, "I have to keep writing and drawing things. It's just so hard to keep remembering..." she leaned back against the desk.

"It's not your fault, time's gone wrong," the Doctor reassured her, "Do you remember why?"

"The lakeside."

"Lake Silencio, Utah. I died."

"But then you didn't. I remember it twice, different ways."

"Two different versions of the exact same event, both happening in the same moment, split time wide open," Evy sighed, "Just look at it," she gestured out the window, "All of history, the past, the present, even the future, is happening at once."

"Does it matter?" Amy frowned, "I mean can't we just stay like this?"

"Time isn't just frozen," the Doctor shook his head, "It's disintegrating. It will spread and spread and all of reality will simply fall apart."

There was a knock on the door and a soldier leaned in, Rory in an eye patch, "Ma'am, we're about to arrive. Eye drives need to be activated as soon as we disembark."

"Good point," Amy nodded, "Thank you, Captain Williams."

"Hello," the Doctor grinned widely as Evy gave him a little wave.

"Hello," he nodded to them, "Pleased to meet you."

"Captain Williams, best of the best, couldn't live without him," Amy remarked.

The Doctor held up the sketch as Rory walked off and laughed, "No," he made a face at the likeness.

"What's wrong?" Amy asked them.

The Doctor moved to answer but Evy snatched the sketch away, "Amy...you can find Rory, but...you have to really look."

"I am looking."

He shook his head, "Oh, my Amelia Pond. You don't always look hard enough."

"Why are you older?" Amy eyed them, "If time isn't really passing, then how can you be ageing?"

"Time's still passing for me," the Doctor remarked, knowing Evy was aging by extension, the Silence had planned for her to be destroyed by his death as well, "Every explosion has an epicenter. I'm it...I'm what's wrong."

"What's wrong with you?"

He closed his eyes and shook his head, turning around, "I'm still alive."

~8~

Rory led the way through the Great Pyramid of Egypt, now officially declared America's Area 52, with a large spire on top of it. The Doctor held his eye patch before him, eyeing it with distaste as Evy walked beside him, Amy behind, "You have to put it on, sir," Rory remarked, seeing him hesitate. He'd offered Evy one as well but both she and Amy had motioned him to keep it.

"An eye patch," he muttered, "What for?"

"It's not an eye patch," Amy repeated.

"It's an eye drive, sir," Rory told him, "It communicates directly with the memory centers of the brain, acts as external storage."

"Only thing that works on them. Because no living mind can remember these things…well, except Evy."

"You can remember them ma'am?" Rory looked at her, a bit surprised.

"Yes," Evy nodded, clearing her throat a little as it felt dry all of a sudden.

He frowned, "But that's impossible."

The Doctor grinned, "That's Evy in a nutshell."

Evy rolled her eyes, though there was a soft smile on her face.

Rory turned a corner and led them into a room with a series of containment chambers, the Silence within them, suspended in fluid, of some sort, "The Silence," he began, "We've captured over 100 of them now, all held in this Pyramid."

The Doctor walked up to one, standing before Evy as the Silent turned to eye him, "Yeah. We've encountered them before. Always wondered what exactly they looked like."

"Put your eye drive on and you'll retain the information," Amy added, "But only as long as you're wearing it."

The Doctor looked at Amy, "The Silence have human servants. They all wear these."

"Well if the eye drives work," Evy reasoned, "Wouldn't they have to?"

"This way," Rory nodded, leading them off, however he couldn't help but spot that the Silence were all watching them as the Doctor slipped on his patch, "They seem to be noticing you."

"Yeah," he sighed, taking Evy's hand, "They would."

"So why aren't the human race killing them on sight anymore?" Amy asked.

"That's a different reality now," Evy explained.

"What are the tanks for?" the Doctor eyed one.

"They can draw electricity from anything, it's how they attack," Rory stated, "The fluid insulates them. And I don't like how the way they're looking at you."

"Me neither," Evy agreed.

"Ma'am," Rory turned to Amy, "I'm sure it's nothing, but I should check it out. They haven't been this active in a while," he then motioned to the soldiers, "You two, upstairs, check all the tank seals. Then the floors above, get everyone checking."

"Sir!" the soldiers agreed and left.

"You go ahead, Ma'am."

Amy nodded, "Thank you, Captain Williams. Doctor, Evy, this way," she nodded to the side and led them on while Rory moved to check a tank.

"Captain Williams, nice fella," the Doctor remarked, "What's his first name?"

"Captain. Just through here."

"Just give us a moment, just need to...check something...Ma'am," he gave her a light salute before rushing back over to Rory, leaving Evy to stand with Amy.

"We're in," Amy called into her lapel, reporting back, "They're on the way."

The Doctor walked up to Rory who was checking the seals, "The loyal soldier, waiting to be noticed, always the pattern, why is that?"

"Sorry, sir?"

"Your boss, you should just ask her out, she likes you. She said so."

"Really, sir. What did she say?"

"Ah, she just sort of...generally indicated."

"What exactly what did she say?"

"She said that you were a Mr. Hottie...ness. And that she would like to go out with you for...texting and scones."

"You really haven't done this before, have you?"

"No, I haven't…" he paused, "Something Evy is very thankful for," he smiled, "Means I don't get smacked!"

'I thought you liked the smacks?' Evy asked him playfully.

'I said I missed the smacks,' he corrected her.

"See you in a moment, sir," Rory called, snapping him out of his thoughts.

"Yes," he patted him on the shoulder and walked off, "Yes."

"Come on, Doctor," Amy motioned him on as he rejoined them, "Time for you to meet some old friends."

"Attention, all personnel," Rory came on speaker as they entered the King's Chamber, the control center of the whole operation, "Attention, all personnel. Please check all assigned containment units."

A female scientist in a lab coat stood speaking to a woman with bushy light brown hair in a black dress with her back to them, "You were right. Just his presence in the building caused the loop to extend by nearly four chronons," she motioned to a digital clock reading 5:02:57, the seconds oscillating between 7 and 8.

"Hello dear, we're home," the Doctor called, seeing River standing there in the middle of the room.

River turned around, "And what sort of time do you call this?" she moved away to reveal Kovarian tied to a chair behind her.

"The death of time," a man said. They looked over to see him standing to the side, leaning on a sarcophagus, "The end of time. The end of us all. Whichever you prefer."

A/N: So many questions in this chapter. Who is this mystery man? Did they capture Colonel Manton too? Is it another enemy? Or perhaps a friend? Mickey Smith? Could it be (OMG!) Captain Jack?! (I could see him wanting to give the Doctor a piece of his mind about what he did to Evy). Who did they run into after dropping off the envelopes? And why is the Doctor at the Lake seemingly so ready to die, while we now know Evy was still alive? Is it going to play out like in the episode? Where was Evy while he was at the Lake anyway? What is up with her too, feeling dizzy, shaky, fuzzy? Is something wrong with her? With the baby? Hmmm...

So sad this isn't a 2-parter episode eh? We'll have to wait till tomorrow to find out. Just have to say, Part 2, so excited about it I am beyond tempted to post it today, but I won't. Seriously though, I hope you love the little twists I throw in there.

I made a little assumption about the Daleks kind of/sort of being in league with the Silence here. I doubt they were working together, but I did think that the fact the Doctor was able to find Gideon meant that the Dalek must have known something. The enemy of the Doctor would probably keep tabs on his other enemies as well, sort of like the alliance that was formed at the end of Series 5.

As for the title, at the end of Closing Time Kovarian states that they made River a doctor today, and coupled with her robes, I'm just guessing/assuming that it was her graduation day, hence the change in title :) The 194 years, I got from the Doctor (if taken literally) saying he was 909 when the adventures dealing with the Silence started, and now being 1103, a 194 year difference.

And we officially have a pairing name. The winning name, also on the actual poll, is...Thena! I took the poll results and added the votes I got in reviews and PMs to see if it was differen't, but in the end, Thena was still the winner :) And don't worry, I will announce the top three names for both genders of the baby when the time comes :)

Next chapter…we finally find out where River got her beloved handcuffs from. River is more like her mother than previously thought. The 'family' gathers together, one more time...will it be to mourn the Doctor and his family?