Thanks as always to everyone who's reviewed, favorited, or followed this story! I'm slowly working through the song suggestions. If you have any you'd like to see, send them in a review, and I'll add them to my list. This chapter is a little longer and more action-oriented than usual, but I promise to add a little romance in there somewhere.

Disclaimer: All rights to their respective owners, etc.

Song: Cha Cha Bang (Van Susans) Suggested by: Momo Spock

"So what do you think?" River asked, gesturing to the view of the cityscape below.

"Okay, you were right," the Doctor answered reluctantly. "It was worth it."

The two of them had been sitting in plastic folding chairs atop one of the city's tallest buildings all afternoon. They weren't exactly sure which city this was; River had just remembered passing through on one of her usual expeditions. With some difficulty, she had convinced the Doctor to spend all day here, rather than on some alien planet. So, fairly early in the day, they had parked the TARDIS on a nearby street corner and had ascended the elevator to the top level.

And he had to admit, it was relaxing, watching the cars drive by lazily, in no particular hurry to get anywhere. It was like watching the clouds drift across the sky or waiting for a shooting star on a clear summer night. Sure, there were more important things he could have been doing, but this was a refreshing change.

"There's quite a crowd gathering down there," the Doctor observed as another group of people joined the cluster huddled about a block from the base of the building. "Is there something going on?"

"Not that I know of," River shrugged. "It's probably nothing. Maybe they're just waiting in line for something."

The Doctor glanced down once again. "It really looks more like a mob than a line."

River refused to let the throng of people concern her. "I'm sure it's nothing we need to worry about, dear."

However, the Doctor, well acquainted as he was with danger, was not so easily convinced. "River… did you notice anything strange about this particular building when we arrived?"

"Not particularly, no," she sighed, leaning back in her chair and closing her eyes, her face reflecting the golden rays of the sun.

"You didn't think it was odd that the lobby was completely empty?"

She spoke without opening her eyes. "I thought it was a little unusual, yes, but I'm sure it's just a slow business day." She jumped a little, eyes shooting open, when she felt the Doctor reach into the holster at her waist, taking her scanner. "Well I don't know what you expect to find," she huffed impatiently.

"I'm just checking the records of this building," he answered, fingers flying across the screen. "Something about this place feels… off."

In seconds he had brought up the complete list of records for the building. Scrolling to the bottom, he checked the very last thing that had been added, and his eyes widened.

"Doctor?" River asked, getting up to walk over to him. "What is it? What's wrong?" She looked over his shoulder at the final building record. It read:

19 October 2014: Building scheduled for destruction.

Beneath that was a procedure detailing how the building would be destroyed with the use of explosives in order to clear the way for a newer, more structurally sound construction. It stated that the offices housed within had been vacant for weeks, and that the doors had been locked since then.

River shot a piercing glance at the Doctor. "Maybe 'sonicking and entering' was not the best idea."

"Hey, you told me they probably just hadn't opened for the day," he said defensively. "Besides, are we going to stand here arguing, or are we going to get out of here?"

River took a deep breath. "Okay, fine. What time does it say the detonation starts at?"

The Doctor checked the scanner. "Six o'clock in the evening." He then held up his arm to check his watch. "It's exactly five fifty-three now. We have seven minutes to reach the bottom."

"No problem," River said with a hint of urgency in her voice. "We can just take the elevator. We'll be in the lobby in five minutes at the very most." However, once they got to the elevator and pressed the button with the arrow that pointed down, they realized their mistake. River cursed under her breath. "They must have shut off the power already."

"Then we'll have to take the stairs," the Doctor said without missing a beat, pulling her to the doorway that led to the staircase. "How many flights are there again?"

River cringed. "Forty."

"Okay, okay, okay," the Doctor said, running a hand through his hair. "We now have…" he checked his watch, "six minutes left. Six minutes for forty levels means we'll need to descend seven floors per minute, leaving us just a bit of time to exit the lobby."

"Well, what are you waiting for?" River said impatiently, gripping his hand. "Run!"

Together, the two of them flew down the stairs, practically jumping from one landing to the next in single bounds. Still, they were well aware that time was slipping away from them. By the time they reached the twentieth floor, already four minutes had gone by. The Doctor moved to leap for the next landing, but River stopped him. She was panting hard, presumably from all the running and jumping. However, when he actually looked at her face, he could see that there were tears in her eyes.

"We can't make it," she gasped between breaths. "We're too far behind; there's no way."

"River, you can't give up now," the Doctor pleaded.

"Well then we've got to find another way," she stated definitively, "because if we don't, I won't walk away from this. You might, but I won't."

This statement stung. For a moment, the Doctor couldn't move; he couldn't even think, because the reason that statement hurt so much was that he knew she was right. But he couldn't let that get to him now. He shook his head and started to think.

Immediately, his eyes rested on the railing. He leaned over it and glanced down. On and on, it continued down in a neat square spiral until it reached the first floor. All he needed to do was find some way to safely drop down to the bottom, and they'd be as good as free. If only he had a rope of some sort….

"River!" he exclaimed. "I have an idea! We need to get out of this stairway immediately." Grabbing her hand, he pulled her through the door that led to the twentieth floor.

"Have you gone mad?!" River asked nearly hysterically.

"Just trust me," he assured her in a voice that was all too calm for the situation at hand. He led her to the elevator door, which was, luckily, just around the corner.

"We've already tried this," she sighed.

He grinned, pulling out his screwdriver. "Not like this." He sonicked the door, and it opened to reveal a large cable that led to a basement level. The elevator itself was still at the ceiling, where it had been all day since they'd taken a ride to the top. He took off his bowtie and wrapped an end around each hand before grabbing hold of the cable and swinging his feet onto it to brace himself in place. "Climb on," he instructed River, giving a small nod behind him to indicate his back.

Since there was no time to argue, she did as he directed, and he let his feet dangle, causing them to drop into a near-freefall, as the only thing slowing their descent was the bowtie wrapped around his hands. As they passed floor after floor, he could feel the fabric wearing thin, and he knew that if they did not reach the bottom soon, the cable would begin to tear at the skin of his hand instead.

However, they reached the basement in no time. Fortunately, the only way for them to possibly go was through a door to their left, behind which was a staircase leading to the back of the lobby. As they ascended, the Doctor checked his watch. Miraculously, they still had thirty seconds left. Once they reached the top, River grabbed his hand and took off sprinting, and he had no choice but to keep pace. They ran past a little sitting area, past what looked like a security booth, and finally, past the large black desk that had once been occupied by a secretary. At last, they burst through the doors just as they heard a boom from somewhere deep inside the building.

They did not stop running. Soon, they passed the little crowd of onlookers that had assembled to watch the detonation. They kept going until they were safe inside the TARDIS, where they then collapsed from exhaustion on the floor by the console.

Their breaths were heavy and frequent, adrenaline still coursing through both of them. But as they began to actually realize that they were safe, their panting slowly turned into laughter. The Doctor pulled River into his arms and held her there as the hysteria began to subside. There were so many things he wanted to say to her right now. He could tell her how happy he was that she was okay, or how lucky they were to have discovered a shortcut, but neither of those were what he found himself saying.

"River?" he said quietly. She made a small noise to indicate that she was listening. "You know all that stuff you said about how, if we hadn't made it, I would survive and you wouldn't? Well… I was thinking and… I just wanted to tell you that, for once, you're wrong. If I lost you… I wouldn't survive. Not happily, anyway. I don't want to live without you, and I don't think I would be able to live with myself if I knew that you were dead because I couldn't save you in time."

"Stop," she said softly, cutting him off. "None of that matters now. We're both safe, and I'm not going anywhere."

He took a deep breath, breathing in her sweet scent. Ever so carefully, he placed a kiss on her cheek and allowed himself to drift off to sleep fueled by exhaustion, content with simply laying there on the floor, just as long as she was with him.

Yeah, this turned out to be much longer than I originally intended. Anyway, reviews are lovely!