A/N Hello loyal readers! I've switched to a mature rating starting with this chapter. In which River learns something new about the Eighth Doctor. (Seriously though. This is fairly smutty. If that's not your thing, skip to the second half of the chapter.)

The TARDIS door wasn't even closed when he started in on her. "What in the name of Rassilon were you thinking? Are you trying to destroy the good will between Senovia and myself?"

River waved a hand at him dismissively. "Don't be so melodramatic. I simply asked the girl how she came to be this planet's queen. A question that any legitimate leader should have no trouble answering. A question you might have asked under other circumstances."

His eyes narrowed. "Don't you think that's rather disingenuous of you? That was no innocent question. Everyone in that room understood what you were suggesting."

"Oh did they?" she chuckled and settled herself in an upholstered chair. "How very perceptive of them. So why don't you tell me. What was I suggesting?"

"You were insinuating that she came to rule by duplicitous means. That she's somehow taken advantage of the Sepelevi. You all but spelled out that you don't trust her."

River shrugged. "I don't trust her."

The Doctor scoffed. "Are you always this suspicious when meeting people that are different from yourself? Or do you just specifically hate the Vhodrali? Don't you think you could give Senovia a chance before you jump to paranoid conclusions?"

River clenched her jaw, determined not to let him bait her. "I'm not being paranoid. I'm being skeptical. Something I had to learn at an early age to survive."

"It's a shame you never learned to play nicely with others." he muttered, walking to the console. "That particular lesson would be much more helpful in our current circumstances." He started fidgeting with some switches.

River sighed heavily and joined him at the controls. "Doctor what are you doing? Seaside accommodations? Cave tours? You're avoiding the problem we are meant to be solving."

And there it was: his inscrutable face. He was definitely hiding something. "I'm not avoiding anything." he said derisively. "I'm just being cautious."

She watched as he fiddled with a lever, pressed a couple buttons and peered at a computer screen intently. River knew enough about the TARDIS controls to know he wasn't really doing anything useful. Just trying to look busy. Definitely hiding something. "What about Romana? Have you even bothered checking on your friend?"

He looked up from the controls, anger flashing in his eyes now. "What do you know about my friend? About Gallifrey? About any of this?"

River returned his penetrating gaze. "I know that she's one of your oldest friends and just about the only other Time Lord alive you trust. I know that you have no interest in the petty scheming of the high council but you do care about what happens to the people that live on Gallifrey." She paused. "And I know you're hiding something from me."

The Doctor's face was etched in stone. "I'd hate to break it to you Professor, but you don't know everything about me. And I don't have to explain myself to you if I choose to keep a secret." His voice had gone so cold she felt the urge to check herself for frostbite. "You're a stranger to me and I owe you absolutely nothing. Though I'd be more than happy to drop you somewhere if you don't like the way I choose to handle things."

His vicious words were a kick to the ribs and she was surprised at the venom behind them. Her eyes narrowed. That was just fine. She could be plenty vicious too.

"No, I don't know everything about you. But one thing I do know: you're not always right Doctor. And sometimes you're so stubbornly sure of yourself that you become blinded to other possibilities. I happen to think you are being incredibly careless bringing Maci here. You don't know this girl queen or where her loyalties lie, even if you think you do."

A muscle in his face twitched. "That girl queen happens to be an adult who has been through some horrible trauma in her life. You're so prejudiced against her kind that you can't accept the possibility that someone like her, an orphan with an appalling past, can be a compassionate ruler? That she may even deserve to be?"

River actually laughed in disbelief. "Your lack of self awareness only further proves my point. Do you not believe that Maci, an orphan with an appalling past could be a compassionate ruler? That she might deserve to be the Last Pythia? Anyway, who the hell are you to decide for her? If you take away her choice in the matter, you're no better than the zealots that murdered her parents and stashed her on earth to further their own agenda."

His eyes went from icy to burning in the space of seconds and he began shouting. "I didn't ask to be brought into any of this. But now here I am, faced with impossible options. And I never asked you to come along and I certainly never asked for your advice. Your second guessing me and provoking a friend who has agreed to help us is not nearly as helpful as you seem to think."

His fiery anger was even more impressive than his arctic apathy. And it stirred something in her- in addition to irritating the hell out of her. Two could play the shouting game. "Oh woe is you! The reluctant hero who didn't ask for any of this." She scoffed. "You go chasing after danger. It doesn't just find you by accident. Nobody else will, so I'll go ahead and say it. Nearly every bit of trouble you've ever encountered, you've deserved."

He was so angry that he came around the controls and pointed right in her face. "And tell me exactly what I ever did to deserve encountering you? Because you are without a doubt, the worst kind of trouble there is!"

River found that his proximity to her had her pulse racing. There was something so incredibly intense about him when he got angry. She realized she was getting turned on and she chuckled, remembering a time when another argument with another Doctor ended with things getting physical.

He was still standing right up close, now with a look of confusion on his face. "What's funny?" he asked quietly.

A slow grin spread across her face and she stepped even closer. "I was just thinking, you have no idea how much trouble I really am." She gazed into his eyes as she reached out to touch his face, curious of his reaction. For a second, it looked like he might flinch away, but instead he stayed still, his brow furrowed as though he were studying her.

Her hand slid gently across his cheek and she caressed the side of his face. She traced the outline of his jaw with a light touch. Then she traced his beautiful full lips, her fingertips stroking them delicately. He shivered and she wondered how difficult it would be to seduce this version of him. He was certainly more flirtatious than all the others but also more detached in his alien way.

"What a peculiar way to end an argument," he murmured, still sounding spiteful even though she was sure she read desire in his eyes.

She dropped her hand and stepped back, feeling annoyed all over again. "You really just don't know when to shut up!"

He was still studying her. "You're one of those women who always has to get in the last word, aren't you?"

She felt fresh anger blossom inside her. "Yes well maybe I am!" she snapped at him.

A small smile appeared on the Doctor's face at last. "Well that's just too bad," he remarked before grabbing her unexpectedly and pressing his mouth against hers.

Unlike first encounters with previous Doctors, there was nothing nervous or uncertain about his kiss or his embrace as he pulled her in close to press her face more firmly against his. He knew exactly what he was doing with his lips and his tongue, kissing her hungrily as though he'd been waiting to do so since they'd first met.

His unrestrained passion and willingness to initiate things caught her off guard. She always rather delighted in throwing him off with her overtures. She was certainly into it, but it also made her wonder what he may have gotten up to with other women.

He broke the kiss off after a few moments. "Come here." he whispered, taking her hand and dragging her over to one of the jumpseats. She had no idea what he had in mind until he sat down and pulled her onto his lap so that she straddled him. He grabbed her face in both hands and began to snog her again.

When his hands began to move down her body expertly, she wondered if all this time, his Eighth incarnation was a total sex maniac and her Doctor had never bothered telling her. A shame she was only finding out now. Every place he touched on her tingled. When his hands reached her hips, he gripped them firmly and pressed his rock solid erection against her. She moaned helplessly and began to grind against him, seeking more friction, a more purposeful touch.

He must have sensed this because he pulled away from their kiss once more. "Do you want me to touch you?" he asked, his voice so low it was closer to a growl.

"Oh yes." she breathed.

He studied her wordlessly for a moment, then reached up and touched his fingertips to her lips as she had done to him. "You should say it then," he suggested, taking his time slowly tracing her mouth with a feather light touch. "Tell me what you want me to do." She closed her eyes and moaned as heat spread through her lower abdomen and she felt a tingling even lower.

She pressed herself against him once more, thinking she was doing an excellent job at making her needs known, loud and clear without words.

He wasn't letting her off the hook though. "Go on, say it," he encouraged.

She was growing frustrated with his teasing. "Why do you need me to say it?" she asked with an irritated laugh.

He leaned forward and this time rubbed his lips softly against hers, just barely touching her. Just the ghost of a kiss. Now it was her turn to shiver. He was torturing her but in the most exquisite way. She wanted to stand up, tear off his clothes and have her way with him on her terms. But she just couldn't. She was caught in his thrall and she found herself clinging to him like a life raft.

He pulled back a little and looked her right in the eye. "Tell me you want me to touch you." he insisted, his voice soft and intense as he pressed her down against him again.

Part of her wanted to slap the arrogant half smile off his face. Another part of her wanted badly to give in. To hand over all the power and be thoroughly dominated.

He kissed the side of her face and made his way down her jaw. When he began placing hot, open mouthed kisses on her sensitive throat, she reached her breaking point. She couldn't hold back anymore.

"Doctor please." she pleaded. "I want you to touch me." She no longer cared how desperate she sounded. She felt ready to explode.

He didn't look surprised that she'd given in. "Take off your trousers." he instructed.

She stood immediately to oblige him, unbuttoning and unzipping and kicking them to the floor of the Console Room. But when she went to pull down the lacy red knickers, he stopped her with a terse, "I like them." and yanked her back down onto his lap.

He began to kiss her once more, as he ran the fingertips of his right hand up her bare thigh until they reached her red panties. Then he started caressing her through the sheer lace. She was already so turned on that even this much contact made her shudder with ecstasy. When he slid his hand inside her panties and began to stroke her bare flesh, she gasped against his mouth and opened her legs to him even wider.

His touch became more deliberate and already she could feel the tension building, the heat beginning in her gut and spreading outward. "Oh my god!" she moaned when he penetrated her with two fingers. She stopped kissing him because it required a measure of focus she didn't currently possess. She was now gripping him by the shoulders, squeezing quite hard really as her climax grew imminent.

She could see on his face the satisfaction he was getting from this. He was sweating slightly and sounded out of breath when he spoke. "That's right," he encouraged. "Come for me."

When he took her hand and placed it on the bulge in his trousers, she was through. As the orgasm hit her like a freight train, she threw back her head and cried out.

When her legs stopped trembling and she regained her reasoning skills, she was annoyed at the smug look on his face. "You seem quite pleased with yourself." she observed, climbing off of him and locating her discarded trousers. He didn't make a move to stop her so she assumed the Doctor was done playing doctor for now.

He reclined a bit in the jump seat and grinned up at her, his boyish charm on full display. "You know, I think I've changed my mind." he announced.

She raised an eyebrow as she zipped up her trousers. "About what?"

His eyes sparkled. "That's a brilliant way to end an argument."

He waited until she'd disappeared down the corridor for a change of clothes to call Romana. What had happened between them aside, River was a very exasperating woman. And he wasn't in a hurry to let her know she'd been right about one thing: he'd waited much too long to check in with the President of Gallifrey. Who knew what sort of danger Romana could be in with all the political maneuvering and now this Pythia conspiracy?

His brow furrowed when his call went directly to her voice interface recording again. She still wasn't answering her mobile phone and it was his fourth try.

There was one other thing he could try. He could put an untraceable call directly through to the Capitol if he routed it through the emergency transceiver. With any luck, he'd get through to Romana's personal assistant Ludwyn. She was a quiet girl who the Doctor found to be fiercely loyal to her boss as well as quite clever.

He finished linking the transceiver to the spatial dampeners and entered the comm code for sector 2 of the Citadel. After flicking a series of switches, a mechanical burbling sound echoed through the console room as the call was placed.

"Citadel, President's Office." Bingo.

"Yes. Is this Ludwyn?"

A confused pause. "It is. Who's speaking?"

He chuckled. "Ludwyn this is the Doctor! Is Romana around?"

The next pause was longer than the first. And heavier somehow. He frowned. "Ludwyn?"

Ludwyn's voice sounded hushed and strange when she spoke again. "Doctor. Haven't you heard what's happened?"

He felt his hearts drop. If Romana was hurt, he would never forgive himself. "What's going on?" he demanded.

She sighed. "I'm not sure what to believe. They're saying she's involved in some plot to bring in another leader. She was meant to have her impeachment hearing this morning but after the attack on Salyavin Point last night-"

"Salyavin Point? The detention station!?" The Doctor sputtered in disbelief. "Are you telling me Romana was taken into chancellery guard custody?" It was that moment that he noticed River had returned to the control room. As stunned as she looked at these revelations, it was nothing compared to how the Doctor felt.

"It all happened so fast." Ludwyn rushed on nervously as if she was afraid she'd be blamed. "One moment they were arresting Cardinal Wrayvius on charges of treason. The next, they had Madame President in custody and it wasn't until the following day-"

"Yes yes." the Doctor interrupted impatiently. "What did you say about an attack at Salyavin Point?"

"It was the rebels Doctor. They raided the prison." She paused. "Chancellor Samaria says that President Romana and Cardinal Wrayvius escaped together…only..."

The Doctor and River exchanged a look. "Only what Ludwyn?"

Ludwyn's voice dropped lower. "There are some on the High Council who have doubts about the President's guilt. And it's rumored that Madame President may have been taken from Salyavin Point against her will."

River's facial expression mirrored his own. Jaw clenched, eyes ablaze with fury. "Thank you for the information Ludwyn," the Doctor managed softly. "And thank you for looking out for Romana."

"Doctor… there's just one more thing."

He closed his eyes and rubbed at his right temple, thinking he wasn't sure if he could handle much more. "Go ahead."

"There's another rumor… and it could be important. They say that the President may have been involved-romantically- with Cardinal Wrayvius."

The Doctor's eyes narrowed and the only thing he could think about were the words he'd read in that ancient book.

She will be challenged by the false ruler, a Pretender she must overthrow… The Pretender shall fall from grace, a false friend being her downfall - a promise broken.

Hadn't Romana told him there was said to be a traitor in her inner circle? A traitor who sided with an opposing faction. Apparently Romana had gotten a little too close to the wrong Time Lord.

He hung up the call bursting with guilt and concern. "I have to find her. I need to get to Gallifrey- now."

He was already walking around the console, making adjustments, setting the coordinates.

"Doctor, we can't just rush off without gathering more intel." River insisted. "You've no idea where she is."

The Doctor looked up from the navigational display. "We aren't going anywhere. You are going to stay put on Sepelero and keep watch over Maci."

She visibly bristled. "The hell I will!"

He sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Alright Professor, look. You were right. I have been avoiding dealing with the problem. And because of my procrastination, something terrible has happened to Romana." He met her eyes, all bravado and bluster gone now from his voice. "Please. I need you to do this for me."

He watched as warring emotions played out across her face. Her nostrils flared and then she took a deep breath. "I'll stay and look out for Maci." she agreed quietly.

The Doctor nodded, relieved and grateful. He focused back on the controls. "I'll just drop you at the beach and be on my way." He pulled the dematerialization lever.

Nothing happened.

He blinked. They hadn't lost power. Navigation system was still online. Fluid links functioning normally.

He groaned. "Not now!" He punched a few commands into the computer and tried the lever again. Nothing.

River approached the controls, brow furrowed. "Could this have anything to do with our little underwater excursion back on Karn?"

He scratched his head in frustration. "That's impossible. The macromat field generators recovered fully from the positive gauge pressure."

She frowned and placed her hand on the console. "What's he done to you this time?" she murmured affectionately.

River Song's presumed familiarity with his space/time capsule managed to dissolve any gratitude he'd been feeling toward her moments ago. "It would be a big help if you'd give me room to figure this out." he snapped, knowing he was being petty but unable to help himself.

Instead of the predictable anger, she looked up at him with something akin to horror. "Doctor, I can't hear her."

"What are you talking about?"

"The TARDIS," she whispered. "I can usually hear her, feel her inside my mind. Now there's nothing."

"Don't be ridiculous." The Doctor scowled and leaned over the console, placing his hand against the time rotor. He closed his eyes and opened his mind.

What's wrong old girl? Speak to me.

The silence in his mind felt like he was being submerged in ice water.

"Doctor?" River asked, sounding nearly as alarmed as he felt. "What's happened to the TARDIS."

The Doctor slowly removed his hand from the time rotor and stood up straight. "I'm not entirely sure." he admitted. "One thing's for certain: our telepathic link has somehow been severed."