Disclaimer: …why me?

Ch.25:

The Doctor strode through a museum, pointing at displays as Amy followed.

"Wrong!" he said. "Wrong! Bit right, mostly wrong. I love museums."

"Yeah, great." Amy replied. "Can we go to a planet now? Big space ship, Churchill's bunker…? You promised me a planet next."

"Amy, this isn't any old asteroid." The Doctor told her. "It's the Delerium Archive, final resting place of the headless monks, the biggest museum ever."

"You've got a time machine, what do you need museums for?" she asked.

"Wrong!" he exclaimed. "Very wrong! One of the Phoenix's. That was not a fun trip. They thought she was a goddess and I had kidnapped her. I spent five days in a dungeon. Oooh, one of mine. Also one of mine."

He peered into a display case.

"Oh, I see." Amy said. "It's how you keep score."

Something in the next display caught the Doctor's eye and he went to investigate it. Inside was an old box with strange symbols burned into the top.

"Oh great, an old box." Amy muttered.

"It's from of the old starliners." The Doctor told her. "A Home Box."

"What's a Home Box?" she asked.

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

"So?" she asked.

"The writing, the graffiti-Old High Gallifreyan." He said. "The lost language of the Time Lords. There were days, there were many days, these words could burn stars and raise up empires, and topple Gods. Also used to yell at your mate in the Phoenix's case."

"What does it say?" Amy asked.

The Doctor hesitated, as if he didn't really want to translate it.

"Hello, sweetie." He finally said grudgingly.

Before Amy could do anything, The Doctor smashed the glass and grabbed the box and they ran as alarms went off and two guards chased them. They jumped into the TARDIS and the Doctor quickly took them away.

He hooked the Home Box up to the console.

"Why are we doing this?" Amy demanded.

"'Cause someone on a space ship 12,000 years ago is trying to attract my attention." The Doctor said. "Let's see if we can get the security playback working."

Grainy black and white footage of a woman winking at a camera started. It switched to the woman with her back to the camera, facing a door.

"The party's over, Doctor Song…." A man said, "…yet still you're on board."

Doctor River Song turned to face him.

"Sorry, Alistair." She said. "I needed to see what was in your vault. Do you all know what's down there? Any of you? Because I'll tell you something. This ship won't reach its destination."

"Wait till she runs." Alistair told the guards with him. "Don't make it look like an execution."

"Triple-seven, five…" River said, looking at her watch, "…slash, three, four, nine by ten.

The Doctor and Amy exchanged a look.

"Zero," River continued, "twelve slash acorn." She looked at the camera. "Oh, and I could do with an air corridor."

The Doctor quickly began to type on the keyboard.

"What was that?" Amy asked. "What did she say?"

"Coordinates!" the Doctor replied.

"Like I said on the dance floor," River told the man, "you might want to find something to hang on to!"

A timer began to beep frantically and Alistair realized what was about to happen and grabbed a pipe. The guards did the same as River blew them a kiss and the door behind her blew open. She was carried into open space and the TARDIS materialized behind her. The door opened and the Doctor reached out and grabbed the woman, both of them landing on the floor with a grunt.

"Doctor?" Amy demanded.

"River?" The Doctor asked.

They both stood and watched the ship fly away.

"Follow that ship." River ordered.

She and the Doctor ran to the console, River taking of her heels as she went, and began to fly the TARDIS after the ship as Amy watched.

"They've gone into warp drive," River said. "We're losing them! Stay close!"

"I'm trying!" the Doctor replied.

"Use the stabilizers." River told him.

"There aren't any stabilizers!" the Doctor shot back.

"The blue switches!" she shouted.

"The blue ones don't do anything." He told her. "They're just…blue."

"Yes, they're blue." She shot back. "They're the blue stabilizers!" She flipped them and the ship became quiet. "See?"

"Yeah, well, it's boring now, isn't it?" he said. "You and Lily, always on about stabilizers. "They're boring-ers. They're blue boring-ers."

"Doctor, how come she can fly the TARDIS?" Amy demanded.

"You call that flying the TARDIS?" The Doctor asked, sitting in the jump seat to sulk. "Ha!"

"Okay." River said, ignoring them. "I've mapped the probability vectors, done a fold back on the temporal isometry, charted the ship to its destination, and parked us right alongside."

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

"Of course we've landed." She told him. "I just landed her."

"But it didn't make the noise." The Doctor protested.

"What noise?" she asked.

"You know, the…" he said, making a horrible noise.

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

"Yeah, well, it's a brilliant noise." The Doctor sulked. "I love that noise. Come along, Pond, let's have a look."

"No, wait!" River called. "Environment checks."

"Oh, yes, sorry!" the Doctor said. "Quite right. Environment checks." He stuck his head out the door. "Nice out."

"We're somewhere in the Garn Belt." River told him. "There's an atmosphere. Early indication suggest…"

"We're on Alfava Metrazis, the seventh planet of the Dundra System." The Doctor interrupted. "Oxygen-rich atmosphere, toxins in the soft band, 11-hour day, and…" he put his head out the door again. "Chances of rain later."

"He thinks he's so hot when he does that." River told Amy.

The Doctor rejoined them at the console.

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

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

"Well, yeah." The Doctor said smugly.

"Yeah, The Phoenix always said it was a shame you were busy that day." River said, deflating him quickly. "She said she could've used a bad example. Speaking of, where is your annoying mate? I thought she'd be out here, bitching at me for putting you in danger again."

"She's not here." the Doctor told her.

"What did she lock herself in the music room again?" River asked, smiling.

"She's on Earth." The Doctor sighed.

"What?" River screeched.

The Doctor rubbed his ear.

"What's it to you?" he asked. "You called me, why does it matter if she's here? Last time you two met, she almost killed you. Twice."

"She's always trying to kill me." River said, brushing it off. "It's basically how we say hello. But when I call one of you, I expect to get both. Why is she on Earth?"

"Because I left her there." The Doctor growled. "To keep her safe."

"More like keep yourself safe." River scoffed. "Well, this screws up my whole plan, thank you very much."

"How would Lily not being here affect your plan?" the Doctor demanded.

"I was planning on having her vortex powers on my side." River sighed. "And when you see what we're up against, you're going to wish she was here too. Now where did they land?"

She headed towards the door.

"They didn't land." The Doctor replied.

"Sorry?" River asked.

"You should've checked the Home Box." The Doctor told her. "It crashed."

River walked out and the Doctor closed the doors behind her before heading back to the console.

"Explain." Amy ordered. "Who is that, how did she do that museum thing, and how does she know the Phoenix?"

"It's a long story, and I don't know most of it." The Doctor told her. "Off we go!"

"What are you doing?" Amy demanded.

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

"Are you basically running away?" she asked.

"Yep." He replied.

"Why?" she asked.

"'Cause she's the future." He said. "My future, the Phoenix's future."

"Can you run away from that?" she wanted to know.

"I can run away from anything I like." The Doctor said. "Time is not the boss of me."

"Hang on, is that a planet out there?" Amy asked.

"Yes, of course it's a planet." The Doctor replied.

"You promised me a planet." Amy told him. "Five minutes?"

"Okay." The Doctor gave in. "Five minutes!"

"Yes!" Amy said, heading for the door.

"But that's all, 'cause I'm tell you now," the Doctor told her, "that woman is not dragging me into anything!"

He followed her out.

The ship they followed was outside, crashed into a large, old temple. It was burning and bits of debris were all around it. The Doctor and Amy joined River, staring up at it.

"What caused it to crash?" River asked. "Not me."

"Nah, the airlock would've sealed seconds after you blew it." The Doctor agreed. "According to the Home Box, the warp engines had a phase-shift. No survivors."

"A phase-shift would have to be sabotage." River said. "I did warn them."

"About what?" the Doctor asked.

"Well, at least the building was empty." River said, ignoring the question. "Aplan temple. Unoccupied for centuries."

She began to key something into a handheld device and the Doctor walked back to Amy.

"Aren't you going to introduce us?" she asked him.

"Amy Pond, Professor River Song." The Doctor said.

"Ahh, I'm going to a Professor some day, am I?" River asked, making the Doctor wince. "How exciting! Spoilers!"

She returned to what she was doing.

"Yeah, but who is she and how did she do that?" Amy demanded in a whisper. "She just left you a note in a museum! And how does she know the Phoenix? Who is the Phoenix?"

The Doctor walked away without answering.

"Two things always guaranteed to show up in a museum:" River told her. "The Home Box of a category four starliner and, sooner or later, him. It's how he keeps score."

"I know." Amy said, laughing.

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

The Doctor came up behind them with a sarcastic laugh.

"I'm nobody's taxi service!" he told them. "I'm not gonna be there to catch you every time you feel like jumping out of a space ship."

"Like the Phoenix would let you let me die." River laughed. "She wants to be there when it happens to make sure I can't come back. And you are so wrong. There's one survivor. There's a think in the belly of that ship that can't ever die." The Doctor started to pay attention making her laugh. "Now he's listening!"

She walked away, talking into the device in her hand.

"You lot in orbit yet?" she asked. "Yeah, I saw it land. I'm at the crash site. Try and home in on my signal." She held the device up. "Doctor, can you sonic me? I need to boost the signal so we can use it as a beacon."

The Doctor took out the sonic screwdriver and grudgingly did as she asked. She dropped a small curtsey.

"Ooh, Doctor!" Amy mocked. "You soniced her!"

"We have a minute." River called. "Shall we?" She pulled out her diary. "Where were we up to? Have we done the Bone Meadows?"

"What's the book?" Amy asked.

"Stay away from it." The Doctor ordered.

"What is it though?" Amy asked.

"Her diary." He replied.

"Our diary." River corrected.

"Her past, my…future." The Doctor said. "Time travel. We keep meeting in the wrong order."

Four columns of swirling dust appeared and turned into four soldiers in desert camouflage uniforms. One approached River.

"You promised me an army, Doctor Song." He told her.

"No, I promised you the equivalent of an army." She replied. "I didn't get quite what I was hoping, but it'll do. This is the Doctor."

He gave the soldier a lighthearted salute.

"Father Octavian, sir." The man introduced himself, shaking the Doctor's hand. "Bishop, second class. 20 clerics at my command. The troops are already in the drop ship and landing shortly. Doctor Song was helping us with a covert investigation. Has Doctor Song explained what we're dealing with?"

"Doctor, what do you know of the Weeping Angels?" she asked him.

A/N: And that's the beginning of Time of the Angels. Let me know what you think. I've decided to take the approach that River and Lily don't particularly like each other, but they have a sort of grudging respect for each other.

Abbey