A lot of the finer points of the Impossible Astronaut/Day of the Moon AU won't become relevant until much later, but that doesn't mean it still isn't a world of fun for a whole bunch of reasons.


An envelope was thrown onto the bed in River Song's cell in Stormcage Containment Facility. She picked it up, and upon opening and reading the letter inside, she smiled. It was an invitation, with coordinates and a time to be at the location they pointed to. It wasn't hard to guess who had sent it, especially with the colour of the invitation.

A few minutes later, alarms sounded as a guard warned a superior of his that Doctor Song was packing again, with plans to go somewhere called America.


Before she opened her eyes, the first thing Aliya was aware of was that she was on the ground, and the ground was incredibly warm. She opened her eyes to see reddish earth underneath her. She sat up and groaned, clutching her head. What the hell had happened and where was she? Hadn't she been at a market on Boranos?

A look around revealed a desert road, and she saw a car parked alongside it.

"Aliya!" The Doctor appeared in her vision and grinned at her. She was able to relax considerably, but was still incredibly confused.

"I don't understand…what happened? Where are we? I don't remember coming here." She asked he helped her off the ground.

"Don't worry, I'll explain later, promise," he said, flapping his hand offhandedly, "What's important is that you're here." He kissed her on the forehead and gave her a tight hug, which while confusing, was rather nice.

"Um…okay." For the first time, she noticed what was on his head. "What's with the hat?"

"It's a Stetson, I wear a Stetson now, Stetsons are cool." He adjusted it as he spoke, looking rather proud.

A bang rang through the air. The Stetson flew off his head, and both of them turned around to see River Song standing some way away, blowing the smoke off of her revolver.

"Hello Sweetie."

The Doctor and Aliya shared large grins.


"Right then, where are we?" River asked, flicking through her diary while the Doctor sat opposite and did the same with his own. "Have we done Easter Island yet?"

"Yes! I've got Easter Island!" He said excitedly as he found it in his diary.

"They worshipped you there," River reminded him, "Have you seen the statues?"

"Jim the Fish!" The Doctor exclaimed.

"Oh, Jim the Fish! How is he?" River asked with delight, clasping her hands together.

"Still building his dam." They laughed as Aliya joined them at the table, still completely confused as to how she had gotten to what was apparently Utah, America. The Doctor was acting so flippant about it, but not remembering was very disconcerting.

"So…what's going on, then?" Aliya asked the Doctor, nudging him.

The Doctor smiled slightly, but it soon disappeared. "I've been running, faster than I've ever run. And I've been running my whole life, now it's time for me to stop." He looked at River, his thoughts totally unfathomable. Then his gaze moved to Aliya, and it was so intense that it made her shift awkwardly under it. "Tonight, I'm going to need you two with me."

"Well we're here," River said, not having quite picked up on the strange behaviour, but very supportive of his odd words all the same. "So what are we doing?"

"A picnic. A trip. Somewhere different, somewhere brand new. Space, 1969."


The trio lay out by a lake called Silencio on a picnic blanket, clinking glasses together under the sun and enjoying the wonderful food that the Doctor had packed in the backseat of the car. For whatever reason, he really had put of lot of effort into this outing.

"I thought you said we were going to 196," Aliya said as she sipped the wine, lounging on the blanket. "And I've never seen you drink wine before."

"I'm 1103, I must have drunk it sometime." The Doctor took a swig before spitting it out. "Ew, wine's horrid! I thought it would taste more like the gums." He looked as though he just had been cheated.

"1103? Finally admitting your real age then? Or closer to it, anyway," Aliya observed, "You were claiming 908 the last time I saw you."

"So what?" He retorted. She rolled her eyes, and when she turned them away caught sight of something on the hill, and it didn't look human.

"What is that?" She flicked her eyes down to look at the Doctor.

"What's what?" He asked, and she frowned.

"What do you mean?" She didn't know what he was responding to. After all, she hadn't said anything.

"You said you saw something."

"You really are getting old, Theta. Now you're hearing things," she joked.

"Look at it," the Doctor said, pointing to the moon that was already visible despite it being daylight. "Of course, the humans did a lot more than look, big silvery thing in the sky and they couldn't resist it. Quite right."

"The moon landing was in 1969," River pointed out, "Is that where we're going? To see history in the making again?"

"No… way more happens in 1969 that anyone remembers. Human beings…thought I would never get done saving them," the Doctor said, in an odd tone of voice that was somewhere between exhausted and relieved. It worried Aliya for some reason she couldn't put her finger on. He had said in it past tense.

There was a lot about all the whole business that just felt off somehow. He looked at River like she was a breath of fresh air he had been missing, with an affection in his eyes he couldn't hide but a sadness too. And then there was the way he was looking at Aliya, which was just downright weird. It was like he found her funny, but in a way she couldn't understand. There was also that intensity in his eyes that she had caught a few times upon turning around and finding him staring at her.

Just what was going on?

A car pulled up on the nearby hill, and when Aliya looked at it curiously the others did too. River clearly also had no idea what it was doing there, but the Doctor did not look surprised. He stood and raised a hand in greeting to the person who had stepped out, an old man returned the gesture.

"Who is he?" Aliya asked as she stood.

"Oh my god…" River said in surprise as she gazed into the opposite direction. The other two turned around to look.

A figure in an Apollo spacesuit stood in the water, facing them.

"You both need to stay back," the Doctor commanded as he looked at the person in the water without a single trace of surprise in his face or voice, "Whatever happens now, you must not interfere. Is that clear?"

Aliya and River studied him.

The former spoke up. "Why would we want to interfere?" Her question went unanswered when the Doctor merely walked toward the shore.

"The only reason we would want to interfere would be if something terrible happens," River said quietly, sounding as anxious as the other woman felt.

"I know," Aliya replied, "That's why I'm worried."

The Doctor and the astronaut now stood facing each other, but River and Aliya couldn't see the astronaut's face, not even when they raised the helmet visor. Whoever was inside the suit, the Doctor wasn't surprised to see them. River and Aliya watched as the two appeared to talk. The Doctor even seemed to be gentle, assuring the astronaut of something. The moments seemed to last hours and neither could ignore the terrible feeling of foreboding washing over both of them.

But then the astronaut lifted its arm, and a shot of energy came out to hit the Doctor full on.

"Doctor!" Aliya screamed in shock, and she ran towards her best friend, desperate to help him. Another shot hit the Doctor just as River grabbed her and stopped her going any further.

"Aliya, stop!" She yelled. "We have to stay back!" The Doctor was shot for a third time, and this one sent him to the ground.

"No!" Aliya fought against River's grasp. She was a Time Lady, and stronger than a human, even if it wasn't by much. Any other human would not have been able to hold her, but River Song stood her ground and kept Aliya back, despite the look of distress on her own face.

The Doctor looked at his hands which had begun to glow, and the golden light was soon visible at a distance.

Aliya saw it and stopped struggling. "It's okay, he's regenerating. That's not so bad," she whispered, her voice shaking with relief while River remained grim.

The Doctor turned to the two of them with tears in his eyes. Aliya had never seen him cry before. They both stared back, pain reflected on their faces. He said something they couldn't hear, but Aliya knew it was an apology. The light engulfed his face and he stretched his arms out in preparation, closing his eyes in an effort to be mentally ready for the change about to happen.

Another shot hit him, and the golden energy vanished as he fell to the ground. River's eyes widened and she did not stop Aliya when the other woman began running towards him again, instead joining her.

"No, Doctor!"

"No!" Aliya screamed again, running at full sprint.

They both crouched beside the body of the Time Lord, with Aliya sitting by his head. She waited impatiently as River scanned him, and when the machine made the noise that told them the horrible truth, she pressed her ear to the man's chest. Neither heart was beating.

Tears began to fall heavily from the Time Lady's face while River's expression turned hard. She stood up and pulled out her gun, firing shot after shot as the astronaut retreated into the water. None of them hit home.

"Of course not," she said, her own eyes threatening to spill out tears too.

Aliya wept, and felt as though both of her hearts had stopped beating as well, because all she could feel was hollowness in her chest. She pulled the Doctor's head onto her lap and bent over to rest her forehead on his. River had turned to look at something behind both of them. Aliya pressed a kiss to the Doctor's forehead before stroking his hair back from his face, her tears now silent but still consistent.

Memories flashed through her mind, memories of the ridiculous impossible man who had seemed like he could never die, like he could never be stopped.

The young man not yet called 'Doctor', so untainted by the universe's darkness, so eager to make her feel welcome and liked and loved. She had been one of the first to give him a taste of the heartbreak that the hands of fate would deal him over and over again.

The short one who she had only been able to see for a few fleeting moments but had clutched her hands so eagerly, the tall gentleman with an easy smile and a wry wit making jokes about husband. The lanky bohemian who she had regarded with such disdain but found difficult to keep away from all the same.

The one who wore the celery, young and blonde and capable of being achingly sweet, who had for those brief months made her so impossibly happy. She had broken his hearts for the sake of her own, for the second time, and mourned him when he turned into the absurd man in the garish clothing who all but mocked her when they met again. She had wanted to hate him so badly, but could not manage it even then because there had been those moments of softness from him that made it impossible to pretend he wasn't the same man on the inside.

The universal chessmaster in the question mark pullover she only met once but he made her laugh by playing spoons for her.

The romantic, with his Victorian attire and tired eyes that still somehow had that spark in them, who had comforted her in the shadow of the Time War and held her for as long as they could dare, for that one night.

The madman with a box. That was how he described himself these days. The idiot in the bowtie who sometimes couldn't hide the years he had lived, the people he had lost, and the things he'd had to do. He was wonderful, and he couldn't be gone, they needed more time -

Aliya's whole body was shaking.

"You can't be dead, you just can't! You can't leave me, Doctor. Not after all this time," she said uselessly. River knelt beside her.

"Aliya, whatever it was, it killed him in the middle of his regeneration cycle-"

"I know that! Do I look stupid?" Aliya growled angrily, her grief partly turning into anger towards the woman who probably thought she was just another stupid ape who knew nothing of the Doctor. River eyed her with an unfathomable expression before continuing.

"-so his body was already dead," she finished.

"Dead and regenerated are not the same thing!" Aliya argued, looking up at River. Crying did not become the more youthful looking of the two, her eyes red and glassy from all of the tears.

"He is most certainly dead." An old man's voice said from behind them. Aliya slowly turned to see the driver of the truck placing a canister of gasoline at the Doctor's feet. "He said you would need this."

The Time Lady eyed it with malice. "Gasoline," she said, "We won't be needing that, thanks." She had figured out the reason behind it and disagreed double-heartedly.

"Of course," River breathed. "A Time Lord's body is a miracle. Even a dead one."

"Maybe to you," Aliya muttered under her breath as River sat beside the Doctor.

"There are whole empires out there who would rip this world apart for just one cell." She sniffed and stood. "We can't leave him here."

"Do you think I don't know that?" Aliya asked, looking up with irritation in her eyes. "Stop acting like you are the only one who knows anything about him, because I know so much more than you will ever know!" River flinched at the harsh words, and Aliya winced the moment they flew out of her mouth, and clapped her hands in front of it. "I'm sorry, I just-" She said quickly, her eyes looking distraught before River interrupted her.

"You don't have to explain yourself to me," she replied with an edge in her tone, "But we can't leave him anywhere."

"We can take him back to the TARDIS," Aliya said, her voice daring the human woman to object.

"We're his friends. We do what the Doctor's friends always do. As we're told," River said with determination as she picked up the gasoline.

"Maybe I don't want to do as I am told!" Aliya snapped.

River raised an eyebrow, clearly becoming more than just annoyed. "Look, whether you believe me or not, I have a good idea of how much he means to you." Aliya lifted her eyebrow sceptically. "But you need to realise you aren't the only one who is mourning here."

"You don't understand! You never will. You have a life, a home, a prison cell, somewhere that you belong, and you have probably have friends and family."

"So what? I'm not allowed to be independent?"

"I don't have any of that!" Aliya interrupted before the other woman could say anything more, her face contorted with pain and loss. "He is the only thing I have left at all, the only one I can turn to throughout time and space. And now you want to burn him."

River's expression softened for a moment, and it looked like she was going to say something in way of an apology before her frown returned.

"I want to do as the Doctor has instructed, because I know that it will be the best course of action. So stop being childish and get out of the way," she said firmly, giving her a look that dared her to object.

Childish? Aliya bristled internally. The nerve of some people! At least twenty times older, and she is accusing me of being childish…. She had not decided how to react until River tried to pick up the Doctor's body. All thoughts of the age jab were forgotten.

"Don't touch him!" Aliya said fiercely, wrapping her arms tighter around the body, cradling him.

"We have to do as he says. No one can be allowed to get his body," River insisted.

"I won't let them, I'll guard it with my life," Aliya argued. River knelt beside her once more.

"And that's exactly what he wouldn't want." Her eyes bored into the red rimmed ones that were still flowing tears. With a jolt, Aliya realised she was right and her whole body slumped with defeat.

She looked across the lake and saw the boat parked on the shore nearby.

"We can use that," she whispered, "It's the least he deserves."


River surprised Aliya by taking her hand as they stood in front of the boat and lowered the torch to the Doctor's body. The flames covered him in seconds and they pushed the boat out into the water. From the shore they watched, leaning on each other for comfort, River's arm around Aliya's shoulders. It was the second gesture in less than ten minutes that Aliya had not expected, but felt surprisingly natural. River knew her better at this point in their timelines, and if this was what their future friendship was then Aliya was glad.

But what future was there, with the Doctor dead? Both of them loved him in different ways, and saying goodbye was the one thing they were not prepared to do.

"Who are you? Why did you come?" River asked suddenly, breaking the silence. Aliya was confused for a second before she realised the questions were addressed to the old man who stood some way behind them.

"Same reason as you," he replied. The two women turned and approached him. He was holding out a blue envelope. River took out hers, and the silver three on the back matched the four on his. Aliya stared at them with confusion before becoming aware for the first time of a lump in her jeans pocket. When she pulled out the envelope, she blinked with surprise before showing them the two.

"I didn't come, or least I don't remember how or why if I did, but…" She shrugged helplessly.

"Doctor Song, Aliya," the man said, nodding to both of them, "I'm Canton Everett Delaware the Third. I won't be seeing you again, but you'll be seeing me." He nodded, gave them a small smile, and put on his hat before picking up the gasoline and walking away back to his car. The two women watched him go.

"Four," River said.

"I know. You're three, I'm two, so who's number one?" Aliya was following the exact same trail of thought. "And how the hell did I get here?"

"I don't know, but I intend to find out. Can we go back to the diner? I don't think I can bear staying here," River said. The two of them made for the Doctor's car.


By the time they got back to the diner, the sky was completely dark which had made the drive back more than a little uncomfortable for both of them due to Aliya's fear of the dark. River had offered her hand to hold, and Aliya had been surprised by how much it had helped even if taking it had been awkward at first.

"Do you think he could have invited anyone else?" Aliya asked as they walked into the diner.

River shrugged. "It's hard to say, but he must have. He planned this, all the way down to the last detail."

"And I hate him for it," Aliya whispered. She had finally managed to stop crying, but her eyes were still incredibly red and puffy.

"You and I both," River said gravely.

"This isn't going to change anything; he's still dead."

"Yes, but he said something about 1969 and space, what did he mean?"

"He's dead, it might not mean anything!" Aliya protested. River raised an eyebrow at her, making her take a deep breath and reconsider. "But it mattered to him," she said slowly, and River nodded.

"So it matters to us."

Aliya swallowed and nodded. "He still needs us."

"Yes. And we have to focus."

The Time Lady nodded, but all she could think about was the horrible way she had treated River at the lakeside. "River, I'm sorry for how I acted back there. It was childish, and it was out of line."

"It's okay," River said, giving her a small smile, "Part of me wanted to be doing exactly the same thing."

Aliya, on a whim, lurched forward to hug the other woman tightly. River's body went stiff with surprise, but her arms quickly tightened around Aliya's waist and she hugged her back with a familiarity that was strange but also warm and reassuring and everything that Aliya currently needed.

"It's going to be okay, sweetie," River said into her ear, her hand tracing down her back absently, "I don't know how, but it will be. And I know you think you're alone now, but you're not. You've got me. And I get the idea you don't know me so well yet, but we can change that."

A fresh set of tears started falling from Aliya's eyes as she pulled back just enough so that she could meet River's eyes. "I...I'd like that," she said softly, sniffing loudly. "I'm so glad you're here. I'm not sure I'd have the strength to do this on my own. Lord knows what stupid shit I'd have already done by now."

River laughed and pushed some of Aliya's hair behind her ears, her touch so gentle that it made Aliya blink with surprise. "I'm glad you're here too, sweetie. Frankly, I'm only managing to be this sensible due to a lot of practice."

Aliya nodded, lowering her arms from around River's neck and briefly turning her head away to try and gather her wits. What she saw made her freeze and forget whatever words she had been about say to River.

"What is it?" River asked urgently.

Aliya rushed to the counter to talk to the server at the same time that River approached the envelope. "Who was sitting there?"

"Just some guy," he said, shrugging. Aliya nearly let out a scream of frustration but used some of her self-control and stood next to River instead, who had the envelope in one hand and her scanner in the other.

"The Doctor knew he was going to his death so he sent out messages," River said, "He sent them to people he could trust, his friends."

"Us," Aliya confirmed.

"Who was number one? Who did the Doctor trust the most?"

Aliya took the envelope and held it to her nose. It smelt like him, tweed and that other smell she could never identify but was so very Doctor. She forced herself to stop the tears returning.

If River's theory about the numbers relating to priority of trust, she couldn't help but find it fascinating that she was number two, and not River. River knew his name, yet she had come second to herself and one other person...still, it was somewhat comforting to know that the Doctor trusted her so much. She supposed he had known her a lot longer than River, and their relationship was linear, so that probably had a lot to do with it.

Just as Aliya was about to reply, the door in front of them opened, and both of them gasped. There stood the Doctor, very much alive.

River and Aliya stared at him, completely frozen in shock before the former finally spoke.

"This is cold," she said, her voice cracking slightly. "This is cold, even for you."

Aliya continued to stare at the Doctor, so many emotions flooding through her system that she had absolutely no idea how to react. Was he real? Had everything at the lake been a trick? Should she be relieved, or happy, or sad, or angry? The only thing she knew she felt for sure was confusion.

"Or hello, as people used to say," the Doctor said with confusion as he took in their faces. "Just popped out to get my special straw. Adds more fizz." Then he tried a different tactic and smiled pleasantly instead. "Aliya, glad to see you, was a bit worried when you disappeared on Boranos. And when I say a bit, I mean rather a lot."

"Doctor?" Aliya whispered, and without waiting for an answer threw herself at him, wrapping her arms around his neck as hard as she could. He made an 'ofth' noise on impact, and placed his arms around her gingerly while throwing a very confused look at River that begged for information. When he got nothing, he looked down at the blonde who was still hugging him so much it was starting to get painful.

"Um…Aliya?" He got no response. "Great, my own personal limpet."

"If you value your nose the way it is, you'll take that back," the Time Lady mumbled into his shoulder. She finally backed away from him, but he was surprised to see her looking upset. "How can you be okay? You shouldn't be okay, you weren't. How are you okay?" She demanded as her voice broke.

The Doctor's expression became tender as he saw the worry and fear in her face. "Of course I'm okay, I'm always okay, I'm the king of okay," he said softly as he pulled her into another hug, now at least partially understanding her actions. "Oh, that's a rubbish title, forget that title."

"But anyway, Doctor River Song," he said as he let go of Aliya and turned to River, "You bad, bad girl. What have you got for me this time?" There was a crack as River slapped him across the face. "Ow! Okay, I'm assuming that's for something I haven't done yet."

"Yes it is," River confirmed.

"Good, looking forward to it," he said vaguely.

Aliya made a small noise of grief as she realised the truth of the situation, and when the Doctor turned to look at her briefly she put on a brave face. It hadn't happened to him yet, and so therefore he was still going to die. But he couldn't know that.

"What are you doing here?" She asked him.

"I was invited. Date, map reference, same as you two, or otherwise it's a hell of a coincidence," he said, grabbing the letter. "Also, Aliya, I'd still like to know how you managed to get here. Seriously, you just disappeared, next thing I know, I get this invitation and here you are. Care to explain that?"

"How old are you?" Aliya asked instead of answering him. The fact that he was just as clueless as to how she had gotten there was not in any way helpful, and she didn't want to have think about it at that moment.

"I think you know perfectly well how old I am-"

She glared. "Just answer the question! Because you are about this close to another slap." She had managed to stop her voice from shaking.

"909," he said, a little reluctantly. Aliya closed her eyes in defeat for a moment.

"So where does that leave us? Jim the Fish?" River asked desperately.

"Who's Jim the Fish?" He smiled, finding it funny, though it was plainly difficult for River to hear. It occurred to Aliya for the first time just how hard it would be to meet versions of the Doctor who hadn't experienced half of her most treasured memories with him. The other woman had a strength to her that Aliya didn't think she would ever possess herself.

"Do you understand?" Aliya asked River, while ignoring the Doctor completely.

"Yes. Do you?" River said, her voice just as careful.

"Of course."

The Doctor frowned at them. "Well I don't!" He said indignantly. "What are we all doing here?"

"We've been recruited," River said, and Aliya breathed a sigh of relief at the other woman's quick thinking, "Something to do with Space and 1969, and a man called Canton Everett Delaware the Third."

The Doctor was chewing on the straw as he walked across the diner floor. "Recruited by who?"

"Someone who trusts you more than anyone else in the universe," River replied.

He glanced at Aliya for a moment. "Who?"

"Spoilers."


"1969, it's an easy one, funny how sometimes some years are easy, 1480, full of glitches. Now then, Canton Everett Delaware the Third. That was his name, yeah? How many of those can there be. Well, three, I suppose," the Doctor rambled as he danced around the TARDIS console like a maniac.

Aliya took one look at him before descending the stairs that led to the space below the console platform. River wordlessly followed her.

"Is everybody cross with me for some reason?" The Doctor asked himself quietly.

Once down in the space underneath the console platform, Aliya buried her face in her hands, feeling only a horrid sense of helplessness. That was how River found her.

"How can I keep it from him?" Aliya whispered as River came up to her. "I've never been able to lie to him, not about anything like this."

"You will because you have to," River reassured her, and put her hand on her shoulder. Aliya nodded.

"So the Doctor knows he is going to die, so he recruits his younger self, and us. But to do what? Not avenge him…save him, perhaps? I don't really think that is the kind of thing he would do," Aliya speculated.

"We can't tell him anything, we can't even tell him we've seen his future self," River said.

"I know, River. Please remember you're not dealing with an amateur here." Aliya tried to not sound exasperated. "He's interacted with his own past, and that's so dangerous, though of course it's never seemed to stop him."

"I'm being extremely clever up here, and there is no one standing around looking impressed! What is the point of having you all?" The Doctor's voice called out, and they began to go back up the stairs.

"Don't you just want to slap him sometimes?" River muttered as they went. Aliya smiled despite everything.

"Every single day," she replied, and then became grave once more. "How can we just let him die?"

"His death doesn't frighten me, nor does my own. There is a far worse day coming for me," River said. Aliya took one look at the other woman's face, decided that was a story for another time, and said nothing as they got to the last step.

The Doctor seemed excited to have them back with him, and wasted no time. He launched into a fresh ramble. "Time isn't a straight line, it's all bumpy wumpy, there's loads of boring stuff, like Sundays and Tuesdays and Thursday afternoons, but now and then there are Saturdays, big temporal tipping points where anything is possible. The TARDIS can't resist them, like a moth to a flame, she loves a party, so I give her 1969 and NASA, because that's space in the 60's, and Canton Everett Delaware the Third, and this is where she is pointing."

He turned on the scanner so that they could see.

"Washington D.C., April the 8th, 1969," Aliya read out, "So why haven't we landed?" She was so very sorely tempted to ask where Washington D.C. was, but knew it would give her away as non-human, something River probably didn't know unless the Doctor's plans of keeping that a secret went up in smoke in the future. Plus the question would likely make her look stupid, so she decided it was safer to keep her mouth shut.

"Because that's not where we're going," the Doctor said.

"Then where are we going?"

"Stormcage, we need to take Doctor Song back to prison-"

"Prison?" Aliya asked incredulously, looking at River in a new light that wasn't entirely a good one. The Doctor had never mentioned that River was in prison. "And what about me?"

"We're having a bi-plane lesson in 1911, but it could be knitting, knitting or bi-planes, one or the other," the Doctor said as he sat back down in one of the seats. He said nothing, and Aliya and River slowly edged around the console to look at him. He looked defeated, but when he raised his eyes to stare at them there was a dangerous spark in him.

"What? A mysterious summons, you think I'm just going to go?" He asked. "Who sent those messages?" He looked between them with an expectant expression. "I know you know, I can see it in your faces. Don't play games with me, don't ever, ever, think you're capable of that." He was angry, and clearly felt betrayed, but did a good job of hiding it.

"You're going to have to trust us this time," River said boldly. He stood up and walked over to her, a dangerous look in his eye.

"Trust you? Sure. But first of all, Doctor Song, just one thing, who are you?" His face was so close to hers, and Aliya watched with sympathy for River, and some other strange emotion in her stomach she had trouble identifying.

River did not answer him, and merely met his gaze evenly.

"You're someone from my future, guessing that, but who?" He briefly glanced at Aliya before turning back to River. "Okay. Why were you in prison, who did you kill?"

She killed someone, Aliya thought to herself, her hearts beating faster upon hearing the alarming information. Her only ally in this secret, her new friend, the only other person that was able to help her, was a murderer. She bit her lip as she continued to process what she had learned.

The Doctor stared River in the eyes and spoke in a low tone that was dangerous and flirtatious all at once. "Now, I love a bad girl, me. But trust you? Seriously?"

"Trust me," Aliya said.

He turned to her. "Okay." He walked up to her so that their faces were as close as his and River's had been.

"You have to go and you have to do this," Aliya told him solemnly. He opened his mouth. "Don't ask why, because I can't tell you."

"Are you being threatened, is someone making you say that?" The Doctor asked her, and he looked furious at the thought, his eyes flashing and his hands clenching at his sides.

"No," Aliya said firmly.

"Are you lying?"

"No."

He studied her. "Swear to me, swear to be on something that matters." She was silent for a few moments before she finally she thought of something important enough.

"The rain," she whispered, and watched his face soften ever so slightly before he nodded a little.

"Okay."

The Doctor's eyes had lost focus just a little, and Aliya found herself wondering if he was remembering it as she did, remembering how he had taken her outside the Citadel to feel the rain on her skin for the first time. They had danced in it all night like children, and ultimately caught the Time Lord equivalent of a cold, but it was one of her fondest memories, and one of her greatest firsts. Perhaps that night had meant quite a lot to him as well.

"My life in your hands, Aliyanadevoralundar," he said quietly while intently staring into her eyes, and she smiled.

She did her best to make it look genuine, but had no idea if it was.