Notes: I'm terribly sorry for the delay in updating this story. I won't make excuses. But I am extremely happy with how this turned out, so I really hope you like it too. I will say that I've decided not to do a rewrite of Vincent and the Doctor because it was awesome and I don't want to ruin it. It happened, there will be mention of it, but I'm not going to do the actual episode. Please review!

Chapter Twenty-five – River and James

"So, River, where shall we go first?" Jamie asked the woman next to him.

"I know just the place," she replied with a smirk.

She placed his hand over her Vortex Manipulator and sent them off to coordinates she had already set before he even asked. They materialized in the middle of a busy street that was very familiar to Jamie. He had been here hundreds of times.

"Barcelona? Why here?" he wondered, sounding slightly disappointed.

"Walk with me, James?" River suggested and offered him her hand.

He looked at her curiously for a moment before accepting the invitation and clasped her hand, allowing himself to be led down the street towards the marketplace. They walked in silence for a while before River turned down a side street toward a large plaza with a grand fountain. She sat down on the edge of the fountain and dipped her fingers playfully in the water as she waited for him to join her. With a shrug, he sat next to her.

"This was the first place you brought me when I met you. It was a very difficult and confusing time for me and you brought me here. I wasn't even sure who I was anymore, James. You helped me to find myself," River told him as she stared into the flowing water of the fountain. Her smile was small, but she seemed to be reminiscing over happy memories.

"Why do you call me James? I asked you once and you said that I told you to call me that," he questioned. She seemed to be ready to finally tell him some things about herself and her relationship to his family perhaps, so he wanted to make sure that he got all the important parts covered.

"You've been on a journey the last few years. A journey to discover yourself, apart from your parents. They'll probably always call you Jamie, even when you're centuries old. It's cute and it's because they love you, but you'll always be their little boy. You told me that the fact that I had always called you James, even as a little boy, made you feel grown up and important. I respect that," River explained, her blue eyes meeting his for the first time since they had arrived.

"Thank you," he whispered and considered the best way to ask his next question. "Who are you, River? What can you tell me?"

"I'm..." she began, but her throat suddenly closed as her eyes filled with tears. River took a shuddering breath and clasped both of his hands in her own as she leaned closer and whispered in his ear.

Jamie's eyes grew wide as he heard her say his name, but this time, it wasn't James. He knew exactly what this meant. Only one person would ever know this name aside from his own parents. River was his wife. He didn't know what to do. He was sixteen! The first time that he had met her, he was only eight, and somehow, his father had met her before he was even born. He stared at her in shock, his mouth gaping as he tried to process this revelation.

"It's alright, James. Plenty of time for all that. Right now, let's go find some trouble," River said reassuringly and pulled him along behind her as she ran back towards the marketplace.

Their travels were much like the adventures that his parents had always taken. They saved people, got arrested here and there, almost died too many times to count, but it always worked out in the end. Despite his knowledge of who she would be to him in his future and her past, their relationship for the moment never went further than friendly hugs and one or two chaste kisses.

One day, James had the urge to see what his parents were up to. He had managed to create a setting on his Vortex Manipulator that would lock onto the TARDIS. He and River decided to give it a try. Upon activating it, they found themselves just outside of the TARDIS, in a very dark, damp room.

"Well, this is cheery. I wonder what trouble they've landed themselves into this time?" Jamie commented as he took in their surroundings.

"It feels like we're on some kind of sailing ship," River added, as she felt the floor sway slightly.

They were about to go in search of James' parents, when the TARDIS started sounding like it was dematerializing, but something was wrong. James was about to try the door when the Doctor and a man that looked rather like a pirate ran out of the doors. The Doctor stumbled slightly as James caught him.

"Dad! Are you alright? What's going on?" he questioned and they both stared as the TARDIS disappeared surrounded by a slight greenish haze.

"Ok... ok. Ok, TARDIS runs off on its own. That's a bit of a new one," the Doctor mumbled as he tried to slow his racing hearts. He suddenly realized whose arms were holding him up. "Jamie! What are you doing here?"

"We're just travelling. I decided to lock onto the TARDIS to join you for a visit," James told him.

"Of course! Vortex Manipulator! Is it still working? The TARDIS couldn't get a lock on the temporal plane, then threw a bit of a tantrum and now we're stranded," the Doctor explained, hopeful that his son may have just brought their ticket out of here.

Both James and River checked their Manipulators, but looked at each other knowingly when they found both of them dead. "Afraid not, dad," he informed him.

The Doctor slumped as he said, "Bang goes our only hope of getting them out of here."

"Not much of a Captain without a ship, are you?" the other man taunted.

"And you are?" River asked, feeling that she had remained silent long enough.

"Captain Avery. Just what we need, more people waiting to die," he told her sarcastically and pushed his way past them towards the door.

They were heading back towards the room where the others were hiding, when one of the crew suddenly faced them with two pistols in his hands. There were several bags of supplies slung over his shoulder and a gold crown was looped around his arm.

"Mulligan! What are you doing? This is mutiny," Captain Avery shouted.

"She doesn't want me. She only wants Toby and the scrawny looking fellow," the man replied, sounding half crazed as he ran through the group of them.

"He's got the last of the supplies. We should go after him," the Doctor told them.

"Never mind the damned supplies. What about my treasure?" the Captain growled and stalked after the man he had called Mulligan.

"Nice to know where your priorities are," James muttered.

They found themselves suddenly under fire as Mulligan began shooting at them.

"Don't get injured! Don't get injured!" the Doctor shouted.

"Wasn't planning on it, dad. But you seem a little more worried about that then usual," James shouted back as he ducked behind some crates, pulling River down with him.

Everything seemed to freeze when they heard an eerie sounding voice singing wordlessly all around them. The Doctor checked himself over, then quickly moved to check James and River. The Captain pointed towards the bottom of the door where Mulligan had locked himself after firing on them. A green light shone between the boards.

"She's inside," the Doctor said softly.

"She's come for Mulligan," the Captain added.

"Who? Who's come for him?" River asked insistently, hoping that someone would bring them up to speed on the current crisis soon. Preferably before they got themselves into trouble.

They heard Mulligan scream from behind the door. Silence hung over them for a moment before Avery broke through the door to retrieve what had been taken.

"There's a Siren of some kind. Whenever anyone gets injured, their hand gets marked with a black spot, then she comes along and takes them. So, don't get injured," the Doctor finally explained, then joined Avery in the storage room to investigate.

"Ok, we definitely picked a bad time for a visit, eh dad?" James responded worriedly.

"Might be a bit unfortunate, yeah. Although we could probably use your help," his father replied distractedly.

"No water in here. How did she take him? You said she uses water like a door, that's how she enters a room," the Captain said and picked up the crown that Mulligan had been carrying on his arm.

"I was wrong. Please ignore all my theories up to this point," the Doctor told them, staring at the gold crown.

"What, again?" Captain Avery scoffed.

"Sounds about right," James sighed, earning himself a chastising look from his father.

"We're all in danger. The water's not how she's getting in. When we were down in the hold, think what happened. You, me, Rose, Amy, Rory, leeches," the Doctor started rambling.

"Rory? You told me Rory was dead!" James interrupted.

"What? Oh, that was a long time ago. When are you?" his father questioned, not sure how much he would need to censor himself and the others as they seemed to be out of order.

"I just graduated," he replied.

"Ah, got it. So, remember Captain, you, me, Rose, Amy, Rory, leeches..." the Doctor continued as if he were never interrupted.

"She sprang from the water," Avery announced.

"Yes, only when it grew still. Still water. Nature's mirror," the Doctor told him.

"Reflections? This Siren is coming in through reflections, like in mirrors?" River deduced.

"Yes. The siren legend. The curse," the Doctor said as he paced the room.

"You said curses weren't real," Avery accused.

"Yeah, and neither are legends or fairy tales, but a lot of them seem to be true as well," James commented and rubbed the back of his neck in a manner similar to his father's past incarnation.

"Folklore springs from truth. She attacks ships filled with treasure. Where else do you get a perfect reflection?" the Doctor told them, trying to get the discussion back to the matter at hand rather than them having a go at him.

"Polished metal," Avery realized.

The Doctor hummed his agreement and left the crown behind in the storage room as they all ran back to the room where the others were hiding. When they reached the door, the Doctor began pounding on it immediately, shouting, "Rose! Amy! Open the door!"

As soon as they gained access to the room, the Doctor grabbed a silver medallion from a young boy's neck and began breathing on it, in the hopes that he would cloud any reflections and protect them.

"You know, dad, you could probably just chuck it outside," James told him, getting the attention of the others in the room.

"Jamie! Oh my god!" Rose shouted and immediately wrapped her arms around him.

The Doctor did as Jamie suggested then, and threw the medallion out the small window at the top of the wall. "Be careful what you all say please. Jamie is a smidge out of order with us," the Doctor warned. "Now, Captain, you and I need to go get rid of some more reflections," he added and dragged the Captain out of the room.

"Amy, Rory, Rose, good to see you all again," River greeted them with a smile.

"You knew that Rory wasn't dead? Sorry, how are you alive?" James questioned looking between River and the man he had been told was swallowed by light from a crack at the end of the universe.

"But, you were there, Jamie? What's going on?" Rory asked, still not catching on.

"Jamie, when are you?" Rose insisted.

James sighed and rolled his eyes, frustrated that no one would tell him how Rory had apparently returned from the dead. "I just graduated," he grumbled.

"Right. Ok, both of you, mention nothing to Jamie that has happened since the Pandorica. We're out of order and those things haven't happened to him yet. We cannot talk about them or we risk creating a paradox and destroying the universe," Rose explained.

"It wouldn't..." James began but was quickly cut off by a motion from his mother.

"You don't know what happened yet. So you don't know if it would or not. We're not talking about it," Rose insisted.

"Trust your mother on this one, dear. It really was one hell of a ride," River assured him with a smirk.

James sighed and resigned himself to being the earliest in the timeline out of all of them. "I'm glad you're alright, Rory," James grumbled. He sat in the corner as he considered all of the information his father had shared about the current predicament so far.

When the Doctor returned, he informed them that they would just have to wait for now. They had removed everything from the ship that might create a reflection and allow the Siren access to them. Rory and Toby had both been marked with a black spot, therefore had to stay hidden inside. They were going to wait for the wind to pick up so the ship could move away from here.

Amy and Rory were asleep on the floor. His parents had gone up on deck to look at the stars. Captain Avery and his son, Toby, were huddled in the corner talking. James knew that River had been meeting them out of order for a long time and decided to ask her, "Is it difficult, keeping track of what everyone knows when you meet out of order?"

River smiled and pulled out her diary. "It can be. That's why we have these. I know you keep one," she told him.

"I started when I went to the University. You told us that we should and it seemed like a good idea while I was there. Added in stuff about what happened when we met you before I started writing in it," James admitted.

"I've been out of order with everyone my whole life. I guess I'm just used to it. But you were the one who taught me how important it was to maintain the timelines properly. We spent a lot of time together just after I met you," River explained.

"I'm so glad I met you," James mumbled and fell asleep with his head on her shoulder.

"Me too," she whispered with a smile and joined him for a snooze.

They were awoken suddenly by the sound of thunder and the Doctor shouting, "Man the sails!"

They leapt to their feet instantly and joined the others in trying to set the sails. They were all struggling with the various ropes as the Captain shouted nonsense at them. The Doctor was at the wheel, trying to turn the ship. James noticed Toby carrying a large bundle of cloth towards his father when the crown from earlier fell out and rolled along the deck. Despite the driving rain and restless waves, they heard the sound of the Siren returning.

A flash of green light revealed a glowing woman with dark hair, singing sweetly as she approached Toby. The boy looked at her awestruck and reached to take her hand as his father shouted behind him, "Don't let her take you!"

As their hands touched, Toby disappeared in a puff of smoke. Avery began to sob and apologize to the last place his son stood. The Doctor grabbed the crown from the deck of the ship and threw it overboard angrily.

"You couldn't give up the gold, could you? That's why you turned pirate. Your commission, your wife, your son. Just how much is that treasure worth to you, man?" the Doctor shouted at the distraught Captain.

"Doctor!" Rose chastised, sure that the man was suffering enough. She pulled him away and hugged him fiercely.

They were all shocked when the wind shifted and one of the beams swung violently. It collided with Rory and threw him overboard into the rough waves.

"Rory! Rory! I can't see him. Doctor? I'm going in," Amy shouted and began to peel the heavy wool coat off of her shoulders.

The Doctor and Rose both ran to hold her back from jumping into the ocean. "He's drowning. He's drowning! You go in after him, you'll drown too. There's only one thing that can save him now," the Doctor insisted.

"What are you talking about?" Amy cried as she struggled against the arms holding her on the ship.

"The Siren. She wants him. We have to release her," the Doctor told them. He opened one of the water barrels. As soon as she appeared, he shouted to her, "He's drowning. Go and find him!"

At that command, she dove into the water and a green light glowed beneath the waves.

"Alright, dad. I know you had a reason for that. Now explain," James insisted.

"That thing isn't just a ravenous hunter. It's intelligent. We can reason with it. And maybe, just maybe, they're still alive somewhere. We have to follow," the Doctor explained.

"You think it's just teleporting them somewhere?" Rose reasoned.

"Are you mad?" Avery shouted indignantly.

"If we ever want to see them again, we have to let the Siren take us. We'll prick our fingers. All agreed? Yeah?" the Doctor prompted and at everyone's acknowledgement, he used a sharp piece of metal from nearby to jab everyone's hands.

The Siren appeared and the next thing that they knew, they were awakening on the floor of a spaceship.

"Where are we?" Amy grumbled as she pushed herself up off the metal floor.

"We haven't moved. We're in exactly the same place as before," the Doctor told them as he looked out of the window in front of them onto the deck of Captain Avery's ship.

"We're on a ghost ship," Avery whispered in fear.

"No. It's a real spaceship. It must be trapped in a temporal rift. Out of phase with our reality, but trapped, just like your ship, Captain," James explained.

"Good explanation, Jamie. Much less wibbly-wobbly than the one I was going to give. So, all the reflections have suddenly become gateways," the Doctor told them as he threw a chunk of metal from where they were standing through the window.

The glass however, didn't shatter. It warped slightly as the metal passed through and landed onto the deck of the ship. "Ever look in a mirror and think you're seeing a whole other world? Well, this time it's not an illusion," the Doctor told them.

They heard the beeping of the distress call that had originally led the TARDIS here and decided to find the bridge of the ship. They ran into a few dead aliens along the way, but eventually found the main computers.

"I don't understand. If this is the Captain, then what's the Siren?" Amy asked.

"Apparently not the one controlling the ship," Rose commented.

"Same as us. A stowaway," the Doctor reasoned and scanned the deceased alien in front of him to see what caused his death.

"She killed it?" Amy asked.

"Human bacteria," the Doctor informed them as he checked the readings on his sonic.

"What?" Amy gasped.

"A virus from our planet. Airborne, travelling through the portal. That's what killed it," the Doctor explained and Rose pulled him back from the body before he touched it.

"Wait a minute. If the Siren comes from here, but didn't kill them, then what is she?" James wondered. A stowaway didn't seem right.

"Come on, let's find out," River prompted and led them all to continue searching the ship.

They eventually found a room that had a dozen or so people lying unconscious on floating beds. The Captain recognized the men as his crew that had gone missing, then found his son. "Toby!" he shouted and ran to check on him. Rose followed and established that the boy was still alive.

"Rory!" Amy cried and ran to his side.

"The TARDIS!" the Doctor exclaimed and nearly collapsed in relief against her doors.

"We have to get them out of here," Avery insisted as he tried to find a way to disconnect his son from the machinery attached to him.

"Wait. His fever's gone," the Doctor noticed. "She's keeping him alive. His brain is still active, but all its cellular activity is suspended. It's not a curse, it's a tissue sample. Why get samples of people you are about to kill?" the Doctor wondered as he noticed a circular patch of skin next to each patient, matching the black spot on their hands.

"What if... Doctor, what if she was never trying to kill them? Think about it, yeah? She takes people who are injured. What if it's like nanogenes?" Rose suggested.

"Oh, Rose! You are absolutely brilliant!" the Doctor cried and swept her into a spinning hug.

Amy had been trying to disconnect Rory and the monitors next to him began to beep loudly as he started to wake up, groaning in pain. They heard the singing begin and all of them ran to hide before the Siren appeared. She held a hand over Rory's chest and he calmed instantly.

"Anaesthetic," the Doctor gasped in sudden understanding.

"What?" Avery wondered.

"The music. The song. So she anaesthetizes people and puts their body in stasis so that she can treat them," the Doctor realized.

"You mean she's some kind of automated doctor program?" James asked.

"Yes. Exactly. Rose had it bang on. This is an automated sick bay. It's teleporting everyone on board. The crew are dead, and so the sick bay has had nothing to do. It's been looking after humanity whilst it's been idle. Look at her, a virtual doctor able to sterilize a whole room," the Doctor said in awe as he led them all out of hiding and towards the Siren.

The green woman stared at them warily as she watched over her patients. Amy went straight to Rory's side and tried to free him again. The Siren's face turned red as she scowled angrily at her.

"She won't let us take them," Amy announced tensely.

"It's not her fault. She's just a computer. We just have to figure out how to communicate with her properly. There are certain constants to medical care throughout the universe," Rose reassured her.

"She's keeping them alive, but she doesn't know how to heal them," the Doctor told her.

"I'm his wife, for god's sake. Why can't I touch him?" Amy argued, her voice sounding choked with pain.

"Tell her, Amy. Show her your ring. She may be virtual but she's intelligent. You can't do anything without her consent. Come on, sophisticated girl like you. That must be somewhere in your core program," the Doctor urged as he showed the Siren the matching wedding bands on Amy and Rory's fingers.

James and River stood slightly away from the emotional moment. Not sure how they could help as there seemed to be more than enough people involved for the moment.

"Is there anything the we can do?" James whispered.

"Don't worry about it. They'll take care of this," River assured him.

"You seem very confident of that," James commented with a knowing look.

River smirked and whispered, "Spoilers."

Their Vortex Manipulators were working again. When his parents left Amy and Rory to talk, the Doctor joined Avery to check on Toby while Rose walked over to them.

"We're going to go now, mum. I'm not sure how this turns out, but you don't need us here," James told her.

"Alright. Call us soon, love," she sighed and gave him a hug. "And you two take care of each other."

"Count on it, Rose," River assured her and gave Rose a hug as well.

It was likely a surprise to the others that they had left before everything was settled, but James knew his mother would explain. They hadn't been much help during that adventure, but it was just another sign for James that his path of saving the universe didn't run completely parallel with that of his family.

After two years of adventuring, River told him that she needed to get back to Stormcage.

"Why are you there? I mean, obviously they can't really keep you there or you wouldn't have been here with me all this time," James asked her as he crossed his arms over his chest.

"That is one thing that I can't tell you yet. But it's important that people believe that I committed the crime they think I did," she told him.

"Alright. I'll accept that for now. When will I see you again, River?" James asked his future wife.

"Very soon for you. Right now, you need to get back to Torchwood. They're going to need you," she informed him. She had already lived it, of course, and knew just how important he would be during the coming crisis.

"Thank you, River. For everything you've done for me. Not just the last couple of years, but in University too. I'm sure you must have heard this from me before, but it's a first for me. I love you, River," James admitted and took her face in his hands to kiss her properly.

Tears fell from River's eyes as she realized that this might be the last time for her that she would hear those words. She never knew for sure, her timeline wasn't exactly back to front with him, things got mixed up along the way, but it was very possible that this was reaching the end. River wrapped her arms around James' neck and kissed him back with all the love that she felt for this young man.

His telepathic link to her wasn't formed yet on his side, so she couldn't connect with him properly, but he was still telepathic and with the close physical contact, she gave it a try. River sent him a wave of love, understanding and support that nearly drowned him despite the lack of a full connection. With a gasp, he broke the kiss and looked into her tear-filled eyes.

"Thank you," he whispered. He placed his fingers on her temples. He knew it wasn't time to make the link between them, but he wanted to say this straight into her mind, "Until we meet again, my love."

Without another word, they each set their Vortex Manipulators to their destinations. With one final longing glance, and two bright flashes of light, they disappeared from the fountain on Barcelona that had marked both the beginning and end of this part of their story. But there was much more to come.