Watching the Doctor

by RedRobyn2

The Doctor is stranded in prison, dealing with the revelations of the Timeless Child and the memories of her time travelling, all alone. Until the Tardis decides enough is enough and gathers her and some of her more recent companions to help her deal with her past and make some amends by watching her adventures. Characters watch the show, set after Timeless Child/Pre-Resolution.

34. The Forest of the Dead

Hello everyone!

I know, late again. What can I say? Deadlines are kicking my butt. Still her's the next chapter - The Forest of the Dead

I'm not going to make any promises about when I next upload but I will do my best to have it done within 2-3 weeks.

As always, please let me know what you think! Your comments mean a lot to me. Also, who would you like to see interact in the next break or soon (i already am planning some Martha/Donna comfort, but anyone else you think would be good to see?

Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoy!

Robyn

---

The group, thankfully, didn't have to wait long for the next video to start. Apparently even the Tardis knew better than to try and test Amy's patience when her daughter was involved, as the next title immediately appeared on screen.

"Forest of the Dead?" Bill muttered with a raised eyebrow, "That's not reassuring." She couldn't help but glance at River. All the suggestions and hints so far weren't in favour for a happy ending for River and the picture on the Doctor's desk at St Lukes weighed heavily on her mind.

No one missed the glance River, Donna and the Doctor shared, or the way Amy and Rory tensed further (if that was possible). But no one else spoke, allowing the next video to start, everyone watching in eager anticipation for answers.

[Stacks]

DAVE: Hey, who turned out the lights? Hey, who turned out the lights?
(River uses the squareness gun on the wall.)
RIVER: This way, quickly. Move!
DAVE: Hey, who turned out the lights?

The room immediately breathed a bit better, glad to see the group out of the pressing danger that the last video had ended on. They doubted it would last long (knowing that both the Doctor and River were present, especially) but it lifted their heart slightly to see them escape all the same.

[Girl's home]

(Our heroes escape is on the television.)
GIRL: Dad, the library, it's on television now.
FATHER: How many times, darling? The library is just your imagination.

"I don't think it is the library that's in her imagination." Clara remarked.

(She changes channels and gets different views of the library, until the exterior of a hospital appears, with an ambulance driving up to it. A patient is taken out of the back.)
GIRL: Donna?

Like the young girl, several members of the room had exclaimed, "Donna?" as well, confused by what they were now seeing on screen. Although, they were relieved to see her unharmed and were eager to get answers as to Donna's fate.

[Hospital]

(It is a posh private hospital. Donna is sitting on the bed looking at herself in a large mirror. There is a knock on the door then Doctor Moon enters.)
MOON: Hello, Donna.

"That's the same Doctor as we've seen with the young girl." Rose said, I wasn't a question but the Doctor still nodded.

"Is Donna in the computer now too?" Ryan asked, half-jokingly as he wasn't confident in his previous suggestion as to what was going on. Donna, River and the Doctor shared a glance but offered no actual answers, and their expressions weren't easily read, even by those that knew them best.

DONNA: Who are you?
MOON: I'm Doctor Moon. I've been treating you since you came here, two years ago.
DONNA: Oh God. Doctor Moon, I'm so sorry. What's wrong with me? I didn't know you for a moment.
MOON: And then you remembered. Shall we go for a walk?

Donna frowned, an uncomfortable feeling settling heavy on her shoulders. Knowing how much of her life she'd lost and only just regained (it was less about the length of time and more the impact on her that time had had), the idea of losing her memories even for this short time in the computer left her unsettled. She hadn't really considered how reliving it would affect her, she'd focused more on the things she'd missed the first time and how everyone would react to River's fate, instead of her own experiences which may have been a mistake.

She didn't miss the concerned look the Doctor sent her, but for once she couldn't think of a loud response to try and convince everyone nothing was wrong.

[Hospital grounds]

MOON: No more dreams, then? The Doctor and the blue box, time and space.
DONNA: How did we get here?
MOON: We came down the stairs, out the front door. We passed Mrs Ali on the way out.

"Is Doctor Moon gaslighting Donna?" Yaz asked, eyes narrowed at the screen. She wasn't sure if this 'Dr Moon' was real or a computer simulator but she wasn't liking how this was going. No one had answers for her, but they all looked more uncomfortable as Donna's situation unravelled in front of them.

(A small sign in front of the building reads CAL.)
DONNA: Yeah. Yeah, we did. I forgot that.
MOON: And then you remembered. Shall we go down to the river?

"And then I remembered." Donna muttered, the words feeling like lead on her tongue.

[River]

DONNA: You said river, and suddenly we're feeding ducks.

"You're too stubborn for this to work on you completely." Martha smiled, a mixture of proud of her friend and an attempt to comfort her. No one was quite sure what 'this' was exactly, but they knew it was no match for Donna Temple-Noble.

LEE: Doctor Moon. Morning.
(A man with fishing gear walks up to them.)
MOON: Donna Noble, Lee McAvoy.

Donna's eyes widened upon seeing her fake husband again. She couldn't deny that she'd thought about him on several occasions (before her memory was wiped by the Doctor at least) but she'd never thought she'd see him again. It wasn't like she wasn't happy with her actual husband, and it wasn't like anything they'd had was real, but she couldn't interpret the feelings swirling in her head.

DONNA: Hello, Lee.
LEE: Hello, D, D, D
DONNA: Ooo, you've got bit of a stammer there. Bless.
LEE: D, D
DONNA: Oh, skip to a vowel. They're easy.

[Hospital grounds]

DONNA: How did we leave it, him and me?
MOON: I got the impression he was inviting you fishing tomorrow.

"And you are the only one, seeing as the guy didn't even say a full word." Mickey muttered.

[Lee's room]

(Donna enters in a sequined dress.)
DONNA: So. Fishing.

"Not really the right outfit for fishing, Donna." Martha shook her head fondly, her smile dipped when Donna just shrugged. To those that knew the red-head, and even those that had just met her during their time in the room, the unusual silence was worrying. It was rare Donna was this quiet, her normal method was loud in the face of everything, so this silence was incredibly concerning.

[River]

(Yes, really fishing, sitting under a large umbrella in the rain.)
LEE: D. D.
DONNA: Gorgeous, and can't speak a word. What am I going to do with you?

[House]

(Get carried over the threshold in a white wedding dress, that's what.)
LEE: Welcome home, M, Mrs McAvoy.

"How fast is this going?!" Bill exclaimed wide-eyed. The whole group was getting more unsure about the situation on screen. They were pretty sure it was some kind of computer simulation (what else could it be?) but they weren't confident in any decisions. This whole situation was eerie, and despite how happy Donna seemed on screen, the emotions weren't shared by the one in the room.

[Living room]

(Doctor Moon is looking through the family album while the children run around.)
DONNA: Stop it. Stop it now. We've got a visitor.
MOON: You've done so much in seven years, Donna.

"Seven years!?" Several members of the group exclaimed at once, turning to Donna in shock.

Even the Doctor blinked, Donna had never shared much of the simulation with her, only sharing brief mentions of it over their time together. Both of them had ended up haunted by their time in the Library, one way or another.

"It wasn't that long. I don't know how long it was but it wasn't anywhere close." Donna announced, the simulation hadn't been designed to be cruel, in fact it had aimed to create a happy life for everyone in its protection, but she couldn't help but feel that made it all the crueller.

River spoke up with a comforting smile aimed at Donna, "It wasn't. Maybe an hour at most." She glanced at the Doctor who only hummed, it had been a long time since then for her, River was much more likely to remember unfortunately.

DONNA: Sometimes it feels more like seventy. Mind you, sometimes it feels like no time at all.
(Doctor Moon picks up his briefcase to leave.)
MOON: Can I just say what a pleasure it is to see you fully integrated.
(Moon fritzes out to be replaced by the Doctor fiddling with his sonic screwdriver.)
DOCTOR: No, the signal's definitely coming from the moon. I'm blocking it, but it's trying to break through. Donna!

"Doctor!" A few members of the group spoke up, happy to see the Doctor trying to get through to Donna. For once it meant that the Doctor was aware Donna was in danger and was trying to help, but it also meant that he and River were in a semi-safe situation for the moment and could try to find her.

(Moon returns.)
MOON: Sorry. Mrs Angelo's rhubarb surprise. Will I never learn?
DONNA: Oh, the Doctor. I saw the Doctor.
MOON: Yes, you did, Donna. And then, you forgot.
DONNA: Doctor Moon. Oh, hello. Shall I make you a cup of tea?

Donna and the Doctor weren't alone in scowling at the screen. They had already had enough of this poor fake reality that Donna was forced into, they wanted her safe back with the Doctor and River (and they'd quite like to know what was going on, and to have all three safe and away from the Library, but sadly that didn't look like it was going to happen anytime soon).

[Rotunda]

(The large moon is hanging high in the orange sky. River cuts a square in the wall with her gun and enters.)
RIVER: OK, we've got a clear spot. In, in, in! Right in the centre. In the middle of the light, quickly. Don't let your shadows cross. Doctor.
DOCTOR: I'm doing it.
RIVER: There's no lights here. Sunset's coming. We can't stay long. Have you found a live one?

"Oh, great. What's worse than being chased by shadow piranhas, but being chased by shadow piranhas at night!" Rory said, throwing his hands in the air in frustration. Amy put her hand on his arm in an attempt of comfort, both sharing a long look as their worry for their daughter (and the Doctor, and Donna) only grew. They were stuck in the awful situation of wanting desperately to know what happened to River, but also not wanting to have their worst fears confirmed.

DOCTOR: Maybe. It's getting harder to tell. What's wrong with you?
RIVER: We're going to need a chicken leg. Who's got a chicken leg? Thanks, Dave.
(She throws the meat into the shadow, and once again it is just bone before it hits the ground.)

"What's the use in repeating the experiment? Apparent from knowing they were around, which I'm pretty sure you already knew." Rose narrowed her eyes at the Doctor, confused about the use of repeating the experiment.

River and the Doctor shared a glance before the Doctor turned to answer Rose's question. "Know thye enemy and all that." She shrugged, avoiding the question which based on Rose's glare did not go unnoticed.

RIVER: Okay. Okay, we've got a hot one. Watch your feet.
DOCTOR: They won't attack until there's enough of them. But they've got our scent now. They're coming.

"And that's good why?!" Clara shook her head at the Doctor in exasperation. The Doctor just shrugged, nodding to the screen in answer.

OTHER DAVE: Oh, yeah, who is he? You haven't even told us. You just expect us to trust him?
RIVER: He's the Doctor.

"That doesn't really explain much River." The Doctor smiled fondly, if not exasperated, at her wife.

To her surprise River didn't answer with a joke, instead she shared a look with Jack, both of them surprisingly solemn. A brief glance around the room also revealed that the Master was sharing a similar expression (which if she ever said out loud, would likely lead to explosions).

"To those that know Doctor, it explains everything." River said.

"Not all species are as ignorant to your deeds as the little human pets you favour." The Master added, earning glares from the human members of the group. The Doctor likely would have joined in or protested if she wasn't focused on trying to interpret if that was a compliment or insult from the Master (knowing him, it was likely both).

LUX: And who is the Doctor?
RIVER: The only story you'll ever tell, if you survive him.

"Not appreciating the wording, River." The Doctor muttered to her wife, who just shrugged.

ANITA: You say he's your friend, but he doesn't even know who you are.
RIVER: Listen, all you need to know is this. I'd trust that man to the end of the universe. And actually, we've been.

"More than once." River smiled fondly at her wife, who gave her a besotted smile back. If they weren't so worried, Amy and Rory would have complained about the PDA. Amy had been so eager to know the details about the Doctor's relation with River before she'd known River was her daughter, then she decided there were some things she certainly didn't want to know.

ANITA: He doesn't act like he trusts you.
RIVER: Yeah, there's a tiny problem. He hasn't met me yet.

"Just a little problem." Ryan muttered quietly voice full of sarcasm, "Not anything major to worry about." His comment earned a snort from Yaz.

(She goes over to where the Doctor is still scanning shadows.)
RIVER: What's wrong with it?
DOCTOR: There's a signal coming from somewhere, interfering with it.
RIVER: Then use the red settings.
DOCTOR: It doesn't have a red setting.
RIVER: Well, use the dampers.
DOCTOR: It doesn't have dampers.
RIVER: It will do one day.

"You were so young." River smiled, bittersweet and sad. The Doctor's smile matched her wife's, both lost in the memories of younger days together and the ending of those times they were about to relive.

(The Doctor takes River's sonic screwdriver.)
DOCTOR: So, some time in the future, I just give you my screwdriver.
RIVER: Yeah.
DOCTOR: Why would I do that?

"Because I love you." The Doctor said, face solemn, her eyes eagerly searching River's in hopes that she'd find that her wife already knew that. It was something River struggled with, she knew, the certainty that the Doctor loved her as much as she loved the Doctor and she didn't want to leave room for doubt in that moment.

"I know, sweetie, I know." River murmured, leaning closer to her wife. The pair sharing a quiet, private moment. Or as much as they could when trapped in a room with over a dozen other people.

RIVER: I didn't pluck it from your cold dead hands, if that's what you're worried about.
DOCTOR: And I know that because?
RIVER: Listen to me. You've lost your friend. You're angry. I understand. But you need to be less emotional, Doctor, right now.
DOCTOR: Less emotional? I'm not emotional.

The Doctor received doubtful looks from the rest of the room, all adapt at reading several of the Doctor's emotions (no matter the regeneration). Everyone could tell they were worried about Donna, and curious/confused/concerned about River and the mystery that surrounded her.

RIVER: There are five people in this room still alive. Focus on that. Dear God, you're hard work young.

"I could say the same about you!" The Doctor protested with a pointed look at River.

"Are you going to?" River raised an eyebrow at her wife, daring her too.

River's look seemed to make the Doctor reconsider as she wisely shut her mouth and looked back to the screen. Even with her eyes facing the screen she could feel her wife's smug smirk.

DOCTOR: Young? Who are you?
LUX: Oh, for heaven's sake! Look at the pair of you. We're all going to die right here, and you're just squabbling like an old married couple.

"Apt description." Rory declared.

Amy snorted, "There was a good reason we had those theories about River, before we knew anyway."

RIVER: Doctor, one day I'm going to be someone that you trust completely, but I can't wait for you to find that out. So I'm going to prove it to you. And I'm sorry. I'm really very sorry.
(River whispers in the Doctor's ear, and he looks stunned.)

"What?" Bill perked up, eyes darting between the screen, River and the Doctor, "What did she say?" It was rare for the Doctor to look that stunned without a reason, whatever River said was something important.

Unlike Bill, a few people seemed to have an idea as to what River had whispered in the Doctor's ear, both Amy, Rory, and Jack glanced at River in suspicion.

However, their reactions were eclipsed by the Master, who narrowed his eyes to slits, leaning forward tense a sharp contrast from his previously relaxed position leaning back in his armchair.

He turned sharply to the Doctor and River, "She didn't." He hissed, bristling like an angry cat. Anger mainly directed at River.

River's expression was carefully schooled, but she was tense. The Doctor tensed slightly, but seemed calmer than anyone else in the room. "She did."

The Master's expression darkened, his anger turning onto the Doctor, who remained impassive in the face of her oldest friend's fury. "You didn't."

The Doctor's pursed her lips, "I did." The pair stared each other down, a silent albeit furious argument ensuing with their eyes.

They were at a standstill. No one else in the room fully understanding what was going on. Even River who knew what the Master was furious about did not understand it fully. Ryan leaned over closer towards Yaz and tried to whisper in her ear, keyword being 'tried'. His mutter of, "Do you have any idea what's going on?" was unfortunately heard by everyone in the room. It served to distract the Master's attention from the Doctor, reminding him of the other people in the room. Unfortunately for Ryan, his words drew the Master's ire to him. He shrunk back at the dark glare the Master sent him, sneering even as Yaz shot her own glare back in defence of Ryan.

The video had already been trying Amy and Rory's patience and that was really starting to show, as Amy didn't think twice about ignoring the Master and crossing her arms at the Doctor, "What did River say Doctor?" She already had a suspicion but she wasn't sure how it would draw this much anger from the Master (then again if it was what she thought, then it had caused a lot of trouble for them in the past).

The Doctor sighed, eyes darting from the Master, to River and then finally settling on Amy. This was a question that the group weren't going to let her avoid. "My name. River said my name."

The reactions from the group were immediate, a symphony of sharp breaths and wide eyes as they processed what the Doctor had said. It had been suggested that River knew the Doctor's true name, a secret that famously few knew and yet many hunted for, but it was another to have it dangled in front of them. Amy and Rory shared a long look, their theory had been right but that still didn't explain the Master's reaction (outside of him being territorial of his friend/enemy, which he'd been shown to be already).

The Doctor's declaration drew the Master's fury, which was still bubbling away, back onto her. "You didn't." He repeated.

The Doctor glared back, repeating her words as well, "I did."

"Why?!" The Master hissed, a thousand other words hidden in that one. Why did you tell her? How could you tell anyone?

The Doctor's expression softened slightly, hearing the truth behind the words. Their relationship was endlessly complicated, and rather unexplainable at times. One of the things he'd always held close, been almost proud of, was that he knew the Doctor's real name. That he was one of such a small number of people, the first (and really only) person the Doctor had ever chosen to tell. And now here was the proof that the Doctor had taken that from him. It felt like a betrayal of whatever they had left of their relationship.

"She is my wife. I love her." The Doctor said firmly, though anyone who looked closely noticed her eyes were locked on the Master's. More word hidden within her own statement: She loved River, but it didn't mean she didn't care about, love even, the Master. Their relationship was just complicated.

The Master visibly bristled at that, but schooled himself and leaned back. He turned to the screen, finishing the argument there and then. The Doctor's shoulder's slumped, whether out of relief or disappointment no one could tell, as she turned her own eyes back to the screen. Around the pair, the rest of the group shared their own looks, but wisely decided not to poke the metaphorical bear.

RIVER: Are we good? Doctor, are we good?
DOCTOR: Yeah, we're good.
RIVER: Good.
(River takes back her screwdriver and leaves him.)

The Doctor pulled her eyes away from the screen in favour of giving her wife a fond smile, "We're more than fine."

River smirked, "I'd hope so, Sweetie."

Jack winked at the pair, "Can I get in on that?"

"Jack!"

DOCTOR: Know what's interesting about my screwdriver? Very hard to interfere with. Practically nothing's strong enough. Well, some hairdryers, but I'm working on that. So there is a very strong signal coming from somewhere, and it wasn't there before. So what's new? What's changed? Come on! What's new? What's different?
DAVE 2: I don't know. Nothing. It's getting dark?

Even though the Doctor on screen wasn't actually asking them, the group in the room were seriously considering the question. Eager to get more answers now that some of the drama between the Doctor and River was temporarily resolved.

Martha glanced at the screen briefly, lips pursed as she considered the problem at hand for a moment before an idea came to her. "The Moon." Her eyes lit up as several dots connected, "It's getting dark so the moon is rising. And we've already seen Dr Moon interfering with Donna. The Moon is the problem."

The Doctor smiled proudly, nodding at Martha's suggestion in confirmation.

DOCTOR: It's a screwdriver. It works in the dark. Moon rise. Tell me about the moon. What's there?
LUX: It's not real. It was built as part of the Library. It's just a Doctor Moon.

"A Doctor Moon. Not 'The', he said 'A'." Clara said, head tilted like a curious puppy as she noticed the difference in phrasing. The Doctor smirked at her but only waved to the screen in answer.

DOCTOR: What's a Doctor Moon?
LUX: A virus checker. It supports and maintains the main computer at the core of the planet.
DOCTOR: Well, still active. It's signalling. Look. Someone somewhere in this library is alive and communicating with the moon. Or, possibly alive and drying their hair. No, the signal is definitely coming from the moon. I'm blocking it, but it's trying to break through.
(An image of Donna appears.)

"Donna's communicating with the Moon." Rose said, verbally working through her thought process, "So she's definitely in the computer. You just need to get her out."

"What about the others?" Mickey asked, adding onto Rose's theory. "The node said Donna was 'saved', and that's what it said about all the missing people. Maybe she's not alone in the computer." Looking to Donna, River and the Doctor didn't earn them anymore answers, the three sharing their own look and refusing to share anymore.

RIVER: Doctor!
DOCTOR: Donna!
(Donna disappears again.)
RIVER: That was her. That was your friend! Can you get her back? What was that?
DOCTOR: Hold on, hold on, hold on. I'm trying to find the wavelength. Argh, I'm being blocked.
ANITA: Professor?
RIVER: Just a moment.
ANITA: It's important. I have two shadows.

"That is important." Nardole muttered. The rest of the room immediately tensed, tension in the room rising as the danger of the Vashta Nerada returned with a vengeance. The team's moment of safety was apparently over.

RIVER: Okay. Helmets on, everyone. Anita, I'll get yours.
ANITA: It didn't do Proper Dave any good.
RIVER: Just keep it together, okay?
ANITA: Keeping it together. I'm only crying. I'm about to die. It's not an overreaction.

"She has a point." Bill mumbled with a side nod at the screen.

(River puts the helmet on Anita.)
DOCTOR: Hang on.
(The Doctor sonics the visor black.)
RIVER: Oh God, they've got inside.
DOCTOR: No, no, no. I just tinted her visor. Maybe they'll think they're already in there, leave her alone.

"You really think that's work?" Graham asked, eyes doubtful if not hopeful.

The Doctor shrugged with a grimace, "Anything was worth a try."

RIVER: Do you think they can be fooled like that?
DOCTOR: Maybe. I don't know. It's a swarm. It's not like we chat.

"Always time for sarcasm and snarky comments with you, isn't there Doctor." Jack shook his head fondly at her.

The Doctor smiled a bit self-depreciating, "Would you like it any other way?"

Jack's expression softened, "No, no I wouldn't."

OTHER DAVE: Can you still see in there?
ANITA: Just about.
DOCTOR: Just, just, just stay back. Professor, a quick word, please.
RIVER: What?
DOCTOR: Down here.
They crouch down.

"Ah, very private." Yaz rolled her eyes, voice full of sarcasm.

RIVER: What is it?
DOCTOR: Look, you said there are five people still alive in this room.
RIVER: Yeah, so?
DOCTOR: So, why are there six?

The group tensed further, eyes immediately darting across the screen to count the people in the room. Upon seeing the Doctor was correct and there was in fact six people, and seeing that it was whatever remained of poor Dave, they somehow manged to tense further.

(Skeletal zombie Dave has caught up to them.)
DAVE: Hey, who turned out the lights?
DOCTOR: Run!
DAVE: Hey, who turned out the lights?

"Run, run, run. Just keep running." Rory muttered nervously.

[Girl's home]

DAVE [on TV]: Hey, who turned out the lights? Hey, who turned out the lights?
(She changes channels.)
DONNA [on TV]: Here we are, Doctor Moon.

"She can watch everyone? Even those in the computer?" Ryan asked unnerved by the idea, "Wait, isn't she in the computer too?"

Donna, the Doctor and River all shared a knowing look before River answered. "Cal is a bit of a different story to everyone else. It's best to just watch." Her response earned her a few frustrated sighs and annoyed looks from the lack of actual answers, but they were all starting to get (annoyingly) used to never getting all the answers they wanted when they wanted.

[Living room]

ELLA: Mummy, I made you!
(Donna's daughter, Ella, has made a plasticine figure.)

Donna watched the screen with mixed emotions. Despite never being truly real she couldn't help but feel some grief for her lost children. The whole experience had left her with conflicting emotions, the situation had felt so real while she was in it as had the emotions, and while the simulation had ended it had taken longer for the associated emotions to catch up. It had taken her some time to adjust afterwards, both her and the Doctor had taken a few days of quietly drifting through space to try and work through (in their own, probably unhealthy ways) everything that had happened, but seeing it again was leading to a resurgence of those emotions. The worried look the Doctor sent her showed she hadn't apparently been hiding those emotions well, or maybe that the Doctor still knew her well.

DONNA: Oh, that's nice, Ella. Where's the face?
ELLA: I don't know.

"On a library node apparently." Rose muttered with a disgusted look at the reminder of the nodes.

DONNA: Did you see Doctor Moon? Did he leave?
(Lee enters, wearing a suit and carrying a briefcase.)
JOSHUA + ELLA: Daddy!
LEE: Hey! Hello, you two. Come here. Big hugs. Big Daddy hugs.
ELLA: Look what I made.
LEE: Oh. It's Mummy.

"He's gotten better with words." Martha said, not unkindly, more curious at anything. After all, based on what River had said not much time had really passed in real life so it must have been part of the effects of the simulation.

DONNA: Er, it hasn't got a face. Did you see Doctor Moon?
LEE: No. Why, was he here?
DONNA: Yeah, just a second ago. You must have passed him.
(Donna looks out of the window and catches a brief glimpse of a woman in long black Victorian dress walking away.)

"Mysterious figure, caught out of the corner of your eye." Bill said, "They either have all the answers or are very dangerous."

Yaz tilted her head at that comment, "You know, you're right. It's always one of the two, but either way you're definitely going to have to find out and the only way to do that is to chase them."

"I hate our lives sometimes." Ryan muttered.

"No, you don't." Yaz countered.

"No, I don't." Ryan sighed in reluctant agreement.

LEE: You all right?
DONNA: Yeah. Yeah, I'm fine. It's just
LEE: Just?
DONNA: Nothing. It's been a long day, that's all. I'm just tired.

"It was a very long day." Donna muttered, a very long emotionally draining mess that still weighed on both her and the Doctor.

[Bedroom]

LEE: You okay?
DONNA: I said I was tired, and, and we put the kids to bed, and we watched television.

"As good as the simulation it is, its not flawless apparently. That or you're very observant." Mickey mused with a glance at Donna. So far she'd been the only person (not that they'd really seen many in the simulation) who'd really noticed the odd time jumps.

(The letterbox rattles.)
DONNA: Was that a letter?
LEE: It's midnight.
DONNA: Go and see what it is.
(Lee leaves the room. Donna looks out of the window and sees the woman in black more clearly. She is wearing a veil. Lee returns.)
LEE: The world is wrong.
DONNA: What?
LEE: For you. Weird, though. Dear Donna, the world is wrong. Meet me at your usual playpark, two o'clock tomorrow.
(The woman walks away.)
DONNA: Nutter.

"A nutter that apparently has answers." Clara shrugged, "As is the way with things."

"Normal people are boring." The Doctor declared with a wide grin at the group.

"That says everything about you Doctor."

"Oi! What's that supposed to mean?"

"I think you know, Sweetie."

[Girl's home]

GIRL: Don't go. Please don't go.

The group all glanced between each other and the screen. The young girl was still one of the biggest parts of the mystery left and her reaction was worrying.

[Playground]

(Donna brings her children to play. The woman is sitting alone on a bench.)
DONNA: All right, you two, off you go. No fighting.
(Donna sits next to the woman.)
DONNA: I got your note last night. The world is wrong. What's that mean?
EVANGELISTA: No, you didn't.
DONNA: I'm sorry, what?
EVANGELISTA: You didn't get my note last night. You got it a few seconds ago. Having decided to come, you suddenly found yourself arriving. That is how time progresses here, in the manner of a dream. You've suspected that before, haven't you, Donna Noble?

"Mystery veil woman does in fact know the answers to the mystery." Amy nodded, "Let's just hope she's a friendly mysterious woman who doesn't want to kill you." It said a lot about their lives that there was a big chance of that happening.

DONNA: How do you know me?
EVANGELISTA: We met before, in the library. You were kind to me. I hope now to return that kindness.
DONNA: Your voice. I recognise it.
EVANGELISTA: Yes, you do. I am what is left of Miss Evangelista.

The group all blinked confused at that, "But she's … she died." Rose said confused. River, the Doctor and Donna shared a knowing look but stayed silent.

Their input wasn't needed anyway, after all everyone had learnt a lot of things during their time travelling across time and space with the Doctor.

Jack was the first to speak up, "She died but the suits are high technology and the system seems determined to save everyone."

"The data ghosting!" Clara snapped her fingers as she sat up straighter in realisation, finishing Jack's train of thought.

Mickey nodded along thoughtfully, "If the data ghosting is the consciousness being temporarily held in the suit, is it possible for the computer system to back it up and save it to the main system? Add her to the simulation like that?" The group turned to the Doctor, Donna and River expectantly, waiting any sort of response to their theorising.

The Doctor smiled proudly but didn't give a verbal indicator to the group's frustrations, but before they could speak up again the video continued.

[Stacks]

(The group run through a high level walkway to another library skyscraper.)
DOCTOR: Professor, go ahead. Find a safe spot.
RIVER: It's a carnivorous swarm in a suit. You can't reason with it.

"When has that ever stopped the idiot before?" The Master snorted, finally breaking his furious silence.

The Doctor shot them a mock wounded look, although she was fairly happy to see him less outright furious and back to his annoyed, grumbly self. She didn't doubt he was planning some kind of scheme that he would try to enact sooner or later but she trusted the Tardis to protect them.

River took a more aggressive approach. "Finally done pouting, are you?"

The Doctor could see the Master physically bristle in anger; teeth clenched in anger as he prepared a snarled comment to shoot back. Clapping her hands to distract him (and everyone else as she could feel the tension building around her) she mentally begged the Tardis to quickly play the video again, and thankfully her prayers were answered as the video continued before any more fights could break out.

DOCTOR: Five minutes.
RIVER: Other Dave, stay with him. Pull him out when he's too stupid to live. Two minutes, Doctor.

"You frustrate the hell out of me." River announced with a frustrated glare at the Doctor.

"Love you too."

(Zombie Dave barges through the doors.)
DAVE: Hey, who turned out the lights?
DOCTOR: You hear that? Those words? That is the very last thought of the man who wore that suit before you climbed inside and stripped his flesh. That's a man's soul trapped inside a neural relay, going round and round forever. Now, if you don't have the decency to let him go, how about this? Use him. Talk to me. It's easy. Neural relay. Just point and think. Use him, talk to me.

Amy swallowed, glancing at the Doctor worried. This whole situation and the Doctor's suggestion was giving her horrible reminders of their time on the Byzantium with the Weeping Angels. Specifically, the Angel that used the Cleric Bob to speak and taunt them. That whole mess had featured in many of her nightmares, even after the mystery of the crack was solved, but especially after the angel sent her and Rory back to New York for the last time.

The Doctor caught her expression out of the corner of her eye and swiftly figured out what she was thinking about (the fact Amy was rubbing her eye like it still had stone dust in it helped), and she quickly sent her what she hoped was a comforting smile.

DAVE: Hey, who turned out the lights?
DOCTOR: The Vashta Nerada live on all the worlds in this system, but you hunt in forests. What are you doing in a library?

"What is a library but a fallen forest?" Clara muttered almost absent minded, before what she said actually hit her.

Her words also resonated with other members of the group. Yaz shot up straight in her seat, "They're from forests? That must be how they got there! They were in the books." That solved one of only many mysterious, but it still felt good to feel like they were getting somewhere.

OTHER DAVE: We should go. Doctor!
DOCTOR: In a minute. You came to the library to hunt. Why? Just tell me why?
VASHTA NERADA: We did not.
DOCTOR: Oh, hello.
VASHTA NERADA: We did not.
DOCTOR: Take it easy, you'll get the hang of it. Did not what?
VASHTA NERADA: We did not come here.

"Because they were already in the paper, they were taken from their home when the trees were cut down and turned into books. They didn't choose to be here." Rose said.

"But they did choose to hunt." Jack grimaced, "They seem the kind to take advantage of an opportunity like this."

DOCTOR: Well, of course you did. Of course you came here.
VASHTA NERADA: We come from here.
DOCTOR: From here?
VASHTA NERADA: We hatched here.
DOCTOR: But you hatch from trees. From spores in trees.
VASHTA NERADA: These are our forests.
DOCTOR: You're nowhere near a forest. Look around you.

"Slow Doctor. Very slow." The Master tilted his head, smirking smugly as he mocked the Doctor.

The Doctor glared at him, arms crossed, as she pursed her lips, "I had a lot of other things to think about."

"Excuses, excuses." The Doctor made the executive decision to ignore him for her own sanity.

VASHTA NERADA: These are our forests.
DOCTOR: You're not in a forest, you're in a library. There are no trees in a (the penny drops) library.
OTHER DAVE: We should go. Doctor!
DOCTOR: Books. You came in the books. Microspores in a million, million books.

"Slow." The Master drawled out mockingly. She continued to ignore him.

DAVE 2: We should go. Doctor!
DOCTOR: Oh, look at that. The forests of the Vashta Nerada, pulped and printed and bound. A million, million books, hatching shadows.
OTHER DAVE: We should go. Doctor!

"He's repeating that one thing." Bill whispered, face going ashen as it clicked. She glanced at the Doctor desperate for a negative answer but the Doctor just grimaced confirming her fears.

DOCTOR: Oh, Dave! Oh Dave, I'm so sorry.
(Other Dave is also a skeleton now.)
DAVE: Hey, who turned out the lights?
OTHER DAVE: We should go. Doctor!
DOCTOR: Thing about me, I'm stupid. I talk too much. Always babbling on. This gob doesn't stop for anything. Want to know the only reason I'm still alive? Always stay near the door.
(The Doctor opens a trapdoor with his sonic screwdriver and drops. The girl watches him on the television as he hangs on to a support strut and inches his way along, screwdriver clenched between his teeth.)

The whole group let out a breath glad to see the Doctor escape but tensions were high with Other Dave's death. That was another member of the group down, they were dropping far too quickly for anyone's liking (preferably no one would be dying quite frankly).

[Playground]

EVANGELISTA: I suggested we meet here because a playground is the easiest place to see it. To see the lie.
DONNA: What lie?
EVANGELISTA: The children. Look at the children.

As Evangelista mentioned it the group all turned their attention away from Donna and onto the children playing in the background. It didn't take long for them to notice exactly what was wrong with the scene.

"They're all the same." Martha announced, eyes widening as she turned to Donna and the Doctor for answers.

Instead of either of them, it was River who answered (as she knew the most about the computer system, not that any of the group was aware of that yet). "It's an amazing advanced system but even then, it can only go so far."

DONNA: Why do you wear that veil? If I had a face like yours, I wouldn't hide it.
EVANGELISTA: You remember my face, then? The memories are all still there. The library, the Doctor, me. You've just been programmed not to look.

"A bit like a perception filter?" Clara asked, head tilted in consideration as she sent a questioning look at the Doctor.

The Doctor hummed in consideration. "In a way. Except instead of showing what you want to see, it makes you not notice the inconsistencies."

DONNA: Sorry, but you're dead.
EVANGELISTA: In a way, we're all dead here, Donna. We are the dead of the library.

"Donna's not dead." Martha declared firmly, eyes daring the Doctor to correct her.

"She's not." The Doctor nodded in firm agreement, attempting to reassure the group who had tensed at Evangelista's words. "She's not."

DONNA: Well, what about the children? The children aren't dead. My children aren't dead.
EVANGELISTA: Your children were never alive.
DONNA: Don't you say that. Don't you dare say that about my children!
EVANGELISTA: Look at your children. Look at all of them, really look.
(All the children in the playground are Ella and Joshua, repeated over and over.)
EVANGELISTA: They're not real. Do you see it now? They're all the same. All the children of this world, the same boy and the same girl, over and over again.
DONNA: Stop it. Just stop it. Why are you doing this? Why are you wearing that veil?
(Donna pulls off Evangelista's veil. Her face is distorted, skewed and stretched. Donna and the girl scream.)

Several members of the group flinched back at the unexpected sight.

"What happened to her?" Yaz asked horrified. The Doctor, Donna and River shared a knowing look but refused to answer, turning purposefully back to the screen instead of meeting anyone's questioning eyes.

[Reading room]

(Night has fallen. River and her remaining team are in another round room. She is checking the shadows with her screwdriver.)
RIVER: You know, it's funny, I keep wishing the Doctor was here.
ANITA: The Doctor is here, isn't he? He is coming back, right?

"That's not what you mean." Jack said, eyes sad but alight with understanding. If anyone could understand River's struggles with the younger Doctor it was him. He'd met and seen several iterations of younger Doctors in his time after Game Station when he was trying to find him and Rose, but he'd never managed to find the one he knew until the mess with Martha and the Master.

"No, it's not." River nodded back, expression tight even as she shared an understanding look with Jack. They'd been enjoying each other's company during their time here watching the videos. It was always nice to meet a fellow time traveller who'd dealt with the Doctor, it also meant they could team up on the Doctor when they were being impossible.

RIVER: You know when you see a photograph of someone you know, but it's from years before you knew them. and it's like they're not quite finished. They're not done yet. Well, yes, the Doctor's here. He came when I called, just like he always does. But not my Doctor. Now my Doctor, I've seen whole armies turn and run away. And he'd just swagger off back to his Tardis and open the doors with a snap of his fingers. The Doctor in the Tardis. Next stop, everywhere.
DOCTOR: Spoilers. Nobody can open a Tardis by snapping their fingers. It doesn't work like that.

"Yes, it does." Rory said, they'd seen their Doctor snap their fingers and open the doors countless times.

Amy glanced between the pair, mind whirling as she put together the pieces, "It's because of River that you know you can do that." It was a statement not a question, the Scottish red-head confident in her assessment.

"The joys of time travel." If the Doctor's smile was a bit strained no one commented on it.

RIVER: It does for the Doctor.
DOCTOR: I am the Doctor.
RIVER: Yeah. Some day.

"I was the Doctor long before I met you." The Doctor said not unkindly, but unable to say nothing.

"Yes, and long after me hopefully." River nodded, "But you weren't my Doctor back then." The Doctor's expression saddened with the mention of River being long gone. She'd already thought that had happened, and had started to learn to live with it. But here was a miracle, River was alive (alongside so many of her other friends and family thought lost to her in different ways) and the thought of losing her (losing them all) again was unthinkably painful. Yet a pain she had a horrible feeling she would have to endure anyway. No one knew how long their time in the room watching videos was going to last or what was going to happen afterwards.

DOCTOR: How are you doing?
RIVER: Where's Other Dave?
DOCTOR: Not coming. Sorry.
ANITA: Well, if they've taken him, why haven't they gotten me yet?

"Luck?" Mickey offered with a shrug.

DOCTOR: I don't know. Maybe tinting your visor's making a difference.
(Anita has two shadows.)

"I think her luck's run out." Ryan grimaced as they all noticed the double shadow.

ANITA: It's making a difference all right. No one's ever going to see my face again.
DOCTOR: Can I get you anything?
ANITA: An old age would be nice. Anything you can do?
DOCTOR: I'm all over it.

There were mixed emotions in the room with that comment. They had all come to accept, hate but accept, that Anita was likely doomed (although there was some hope if Evangelista was apparently saved in the computer that the others might be too) yet here was the Doctor still attempting to reassure her everything was okay (with debatable success).

ANITA: Doctor. When we first met you, you didn't trust Professor Song. And then she whispered a word in your ear, and you did. My life so far. I could do with a word like that. What did she say? Give a dead girl a break. Your secrets are safe with me.

"Bit hopeful there. The Doctor's not going to share that word." Amy snorted; it was close to a miracle that she'd shared it with River who they married. No matter how close to death Anita was, there was no chance he was ever going to share his name with her, it was far too dangerous.

"He better not." The Master hissed, dark eyes locked on the Doctor daring her to disagree. The Doctor rolled her eyes at that but gave a subtle shake of her head.

DOCTOR: Safe.
ANITA: What?
DOCTOR: Safe. You don't say saved. Nobody says saved. You say safe. The data fragment! What did it say?
LUX: Four thousand and twenty two people saved. No survivors.
RIVER: Doctor?
DOCTOR: Nobody says saved. Nutters say saved. You say safe. You see, it didn't mean safe. It meant, it literally meant, saved!

"Finally worked it out, Doctor?" Rose teased, reaching for a lighter atmosphere to relieve them all from the heavy tension that had periodically weighed the room down as the situation on screen became worse.

"Yeah Doctor. What took you so long?" Clara joined in, "Getting slow in your age, old man?"

The Doctor huffed, rolling her eyes, but everyone could see the smile tugging at her lips. "U didn't get all the extra clues you lot did, thank you very much!"

[Playground]

DONNA: What happened to your face?
EVANGELISTA: Transcription errors. Destroyed my face, did wonders for my intellect. I'm a very poor copy of myself.

That comment earned the screen a series of grimaces and concerned looks.

"But Donna seems alright?" Graham asked, a bit confused (thankful but confused). From what'd he'd seen of the fiery woman the on-screen version of herself didn't seem to have been affected much by entering the simulation in terms of alteration of personality and appearances.

The Doctor gave Graham a weak smile as she tried to explain, "The computer had a lot of practise saving people so Donna was alright and 'translated' well. Evangelista, however, died. There was less material to translate over so to say, so it was a poorer copy, and the system had much less practise with dead people." Graham nodded his understanding as the video continued.

[Girl's home]

DONNA [on TV]: Where are we? Why are the children all the same?
EVANGELISTA [on TV]: The same pattern over and over. It saves an awful lot of space.
DONNA [on TV]: Space?
EVANGELISTA [on TV]: Cyberspace.
GIRL: No, don't tell! You mustn't tell!

"Why doesn't she want them to know the truth?" Bill asked curious.

The Doctor, Donna and River all shared one of their knowing looks before the Doctor answered. "You'll see."

[Reading room]

(The Doctor has got into a Library Archive File.)
DOCTOR: See, there it is, right there. A hundred years ago, massive power surge. All the teleports going at once. Soon as the Vashta Nerada hit their hatching cycle, they attack. Someone hits the alarm. The computer tries to teleport everyone out.

"And it grabbed them mid-teleport, stored them essentially." Jack nodded in understanding, pieces of the picture finally clicking together, "And when you tried to teleport Donna to the Tardis it thought it had to do the same to save her."

RIVER: It tried to teleport four thousand twenty two people?
DOCTOR: It succeeded. Pulled them all out, but then what? Nowhere to send them. Nowhere safe in the whole library. Vashta Nerada growing in every shadow. Four thousand and twenty two people all beamed up and nowhere to go. They're stuck in the system, waiting to be sent, like emails. So what's a computer to do? What does a computer always do?
RIVER: It saved them.

"I am not a bloody email!" Donna protested the comparison vehemently. "You take that back, Spaceman!"

The Doctor immediately held her hands up in surrender as she came under fire from her fiery companion, but she was saved any sort of argument as the Tardis decided to keep playing the video.

(The Doctor draws on a large polished table.)
DOCTOR: The library. A whole world of books, and right at the core, the biggest hard drive in history. The index to everything ever written, backup copies of every single book. The computer saved four thousand and twenty two people the only way a computer can. It saved them to the hard drive.

"Question is, how do you get them out?" Nardole muttered with a glance at River. He had a bad feeling he knew where this was going to go.

[Bandstand]

EVANGELISTA: Your physical self is stored in the library as an energy signature. It can be actualised again whenever you or the library requires.
DONNA: The library? If my face ends up on one of those statues.

Donna grumbled audibly at that, very annoyed that that fear had come true but unsure exactly what to do about it now, so settled for making her annoyance known to the rest of the group who winced at the reminder.

EVANGELISTA: You remember the statues?
DONNA: Wait, no, just hang on. So this isn't the real me? This isn't my real body? But I've been dieting.

"Love your priorities, Donna." Martha grinned at her friend, reassured to see her time in a simulated reality hadn't changed her one bit.

EVANGELISTA: What you see around you, this entire world

[Girl's home]

EVANGELISTA [on TV]: Is nothing more than virtual reality.

[Bandstand]

DONNA: So why do you look like that?
EVANGELISTA: I had no choice. You teleported. You're a perfect reproduction. I was just a data ghost caught in the Wi-Fi and automatically uploaded.
DONNA: And it made you clever?
EVANGELISTA: We're only strings of numbers in here. I think a decimal point may have shifted in my IQ. But my face has been the bigger advantage. I have the two qualities you require to see absolute truth. I am brilliant and unloved.

"Oh Evangelista. No one's unloved." Donna sighed, expression sad as she remembered poor Evangelista who seemed to have no luck in life or death.

"Well said Donna." The Doctor smiled proudly, "Well said." She glanced around the room taking a moment to lock eyes with everyone one by one, here she was surrounded by loved ones and she wanted them to know how much she cared, despite how terrible she was at showing it most of the time. If her glances with both River and the Master lasted just that bit longer than with anyone else, well no one had to know.

DONNA: If this is all a dream, whose dream is it?
EVANGELISTA: It's hard to see everything in the data core, even for me, but there is a word. Just one word. Cal.
(The girl is crying. She changes channels.)

"So, you're all in a simulation based of the dreams of a young girl?" Rory asked, "Why is she the one controlling it?"

The Doctor and River shared a long look before River answered for the pair, "Just watch dad."

[Playground]

(Ella has fallen from a swing.)
ELLA: Mummy, my knee!
DONNA: Oh! Oh, look at that knee. Oh, look at that silly old knee!
EVANGELISTA: She's not real. They're fictions. I'm sorry, but now that you understand that, you won't be able to keep a hold. They are sustained only by your belief.
DONNA: You don't know. You don't have children.
EVANGELISTA: Neither do you.

"They may have been a simulation but that didn't make them any less real to me." Donna whispered to herself, a reply to Evangelista that the other woman would never hear. She couldn't help but glance quickly at the Doctor, if anyone would understand the grief of lost children it was her.

[Girl's home]

EVANGELISTA [on TV]: Donna, for your own sake, let them go!
GIRL: Stop it! You'll spoil everything! I hate you! You're going to ruin everything! Stop it!
FATHER: Sweetie, what's wrong?
GIRL: Shut up!
(She points the remote at her father and presses a button. He vanishes.)
GIRL: Daddy! No! Daddy!
(She throws the remote on the floor.)

"The regrets of a tantrum-ing child." Martha sighed. Being a mother, she knew exactly what kids could be like, even if hers wasn't at that age yet.

"I think with reality falling down around her, she has a right to a bit of an emotional display." Mickey commented with a grimace at the situation, things didn't seem to be getting better despite there being more answers.

[Reading room]

(An alarm sounds.)
LUX: What is it? What's wrong?
COMPUTER: Autodestruct enabled in twenty minutes.

"Oh great!" Rory sighed, hand on his forehead and voice near hysterical, "because things can't get any worse! Just what you need a countdown!" Amy squeezed their joint hands, offering a sad understanding smile in an unusually quiet and calm manner as she tried to calm her panicking husband down. Rory took a deep breath, eyes closed, before he squeezed her hand back. They were both just desperate to know their daughter's fate.

[Girl's home]

ELLA [on TV]: Mummy, what did the lady mean? Are we not real?
JOSHUA [on TV]: Where are we going?
DONNA [on TV]: Home!

[Living room]

(The lighting is red and the alarm is sounding.)
JOSHUA: That was quick, wasn't it, Mummy?
ELLA: Mummy, what's wrong with the sky?

"This is just cruel." Rose argued, shaking her head at the situation on screen. It was unfair to Donna to put her through that, but life was rarely fair as they'd all discovered countless times in their travels.

[Reading room]

RIVER: What's maximum erasure?
DOCTOR: In twenty minutes, this planet's going to crack like an egg.

"Hopefully nothing hatches out of this one." Clara muttered as she shared a glance with the Doctor. Quickly catching on to what Clara was thinking about, the Doctor shook her head. This wouldn't be like the moon. The pair's exchange drew a few curious looks but most were far to focused on the current mess they were watching to ask any questions.

LUX: No. No, it's all right. The Doctor Moon will stop it. It's programmed to protect Cal.

[Girl's home]

MOON: Now you really must stop this, you know. You've forgotten again it was you who saved all those people, haven't you? And then, you remembered.
GIRL: Shut up, Doctor Moon!
(She grabs the remote and makes him vanish.)

"I think there's going to be a problem with Dr Moon stopping it." Yaz announced with a grimace. The Doctor really had the worst luck.

[Reading room]

(The terminal screen goes blank.)
DOCTOR: No, no, no, no, no, no, no!
COMPUTER: All library systems are permanently offline. Sorry for any inconvenience. Shortly
LUX: We need to stop this. We've got to save Cal.
DOCTOR: What is it? What is Cal?

"Yeah, who is Cal, and why is she so important to the system and Lux?" Ryan agreed with the Doctor on screen.

"Besides her looking like a young Clara that is." Bill's comment drew the room's attention quickly, "What? Come on you can't say she doesn't look a bit like a young version of Clara!"

Clara seemed to consider it, as did the rest of the room based on the hums of various agreement. "I'm not sure if I like the comparison." She eventually decided upon before her attention was taken back onto the danger unfolding on screen.

LUX: We need to get to the main computer. I'll show you.
DOCTOR: It's at the core of the planet.
RIVER: Well, then. Let's go.
(River points her screwdriver at the library logo in the middle of the compass rose in the floor. It opens.)
RIVER: Gravity platform.
DOCTOR: I bet I like you.
RIVER: Oh, you do.

"Oh, I really do." The Doctor grinned at her wife who matched her expression with her own mischievous grin.

"I do too."

"Jack!"

(The four step on and go down.)

[Living room]

JOSHUA: Mummy, you're hurting my hand.
DONNA: You just, you just stay where I can see you, all right? You, you don't get out of my sight.
ELLA: Is it bedtime?

[Children's bedroom]

(The children are tucked up in their attic beds.)
DONNA: Okay. That was lovely, wasn't it? That was a lovely bedtime. We had warm milk, and we watched cartoons, and then Mummy read you a lovely bedtime story.
ELLA: Mummy, Joshua and me, we're not real, are we?

"Stop it now." Martha shook her head at the screen, "This is just cruel." She didn't even want to think about what it would be like to be in Donna's situation but she could see how much it was affecting her friend on screen even if the version in the room with them had her eyes firmly locked on the screen.

DONNA: Of course you're real. You're as real as anything. Why do you say that?
JOSHUA: But, Mummy, sometimes, when you're not here, it's like we're not here.
ELLA: Even when you close your eyes, we just stop.
DONNA: Well, Mummy promises to never close her eyes again.
(The children have vanished. Donna is frantic.)
DONNA: No! Please! No, please! No! No, no! No, no!

Everyone looked away at the screen, deeply uncomfortable and pained by what they'd just witnessed. They wanted to give Donna some privacy, having a feeling she wouldn't appreciate any comments or reassurances at the moment. Martha set a mental reminder to pull he aside during the next break and remind Donna she was there if she wanted to talk about anything.

[Data core]

COMPUTER: Autodestruct in fifteen minutes.
(The Doctor looks up to see a globe with swirling energy in it.)
DOCTOR: The data core. Over four thousand living minds trapped inside it.
RIVER: Yeah, well, they won't be living much longer. We're running out of time.

"High stakes, danger all around and a timer counting down." Jack grimaced, "Why does this always happen to you Doctor?" No one could give him any answers.

[Girl's home]

GIRL: Help me. Please, help me. Please, please help me!

[Data core]

(The Doctor finds an access terminal.)
GIRL [OC]: Help me. Please, help me.
ANITA: What's that?
RIVER: Was that a child?
DOCTOR: The computer's in sleep mode. I can't wake it up. I'm trying.
(The Doctor taps at the keyboard, and toys come to life in the girl's home.)

"That's an interesting effect." Mickey muttered, the translation of things in the library to things in Cal's world/the computer simulation was very odd at times.

RIVER: Doctor, these readings.
DOCTOR: I know. You'd think it was dreaming.
LUX: It is dreaming, of a normal life, and a lovely Dad, and of every book ever written.

Clara's eyes widened as she came to a sudden realisation, "She was real, wasn't she?"

"Real? What do you mean real?" Graham asked, even though Clara's question had been directed at the Doctor. Clara just kept her focus on the Doctor who grimaced and waved to the screen in answer, there was no point explaining when (if her memory served her well) Lux was about to do so on screen.

ANITA: Computers don't dream.
GIRL [OC]: Help me. Please help me.
LUX: No, but little girls do.
(Lux pulls a breaker and a door opens. They run in.)

[CAL interface]

(A node turns to face them.)
GIRL NODE: Please help me. Please help me.

"Great now she's on one of those creepy nodes." Ryan muttered giving a glare to the node. Those things were just plain creepy.

RIVER: Oh, my God.
ANITA: It's the little girl. The girl we saw in the computer.
LUX: She's not in the computer. In a way, she is the computer. The main command node. This is Cal.
DOCTOR: Cal is a child? A child hooked up to a mainframe? Why didn't you tell me this? I needed to know this!
LUX: Because she's family! Cal. Charlotte Abigail Lux. My grandfather's youngest daughter. She was dying, so he built her a library and put her living mind inside, with a moon to watch over her, and all of human history to pass the time. Any era to live in, any book to read. She loved books more than anything, and he gave her them all. He asked only that she be left in peace. A secret, not a freak show.

"That's why he's been so cautious with the security. He was trying to protect her, protect his … aunt, I guess." Bill realised, okay that made her dislike him a bit less, but he still could have been nicer to Evangelista and the others.

"That's incredible." Jack muttered, he'd never had a chance to visit the Library during his travels (they weren't typically his scene) but he was regretting it a bit now, although he'd skip the shadow piranhas and being saved in a computer for a century.

DOCTOR: So you weren't protecting a patent, you were protecting her.
LUX: This is only half a life, of course. But it's for ever.
DOCTOR: And then the shadows came.
GIRL NODE: The shadows. I have to. I have to save. Have to save.

"She's a good kid." Martha's eyes were sad, the poor girl had been through a lot and despite how panicky and stressful it was for her she was still trying to save everyone.

"Yes, she is." River smiled bittersweet. She'd been the only one that had gotten a chance to know the young girl (not that any of the group knew that yet).

DOCTOR: And she saved them. She saved everyone in the library. Folded them into her dreams and kept them safe.
ANITA: Then why didn't she tell us?
DOCTOR: Because she's forgotten. She's got over four thousand living minds chatting away inside her head. It must be like being, well, me.

The imagery of all that chaos in their minds was enough to earn grimaces from the whole group, and a few curious looks at the Doctor's almost blasé comment. They knew the Doctor's mind worked differently form theirs (they were, at the end of the day, still an alien even though they often forgot that with how they acted – though other times it was impossible to forget) but it was rare to get an insight into exactly how. Yet this really wasn't the time for questions. The end was in sight and they all had a bad feeling about the result.

RIVER: So what do we do?
COMPUTER: Autodestruct in ten minutes.

[Data core]

DOCTOR: Easy! We beam all the people out of the data core. The computer will reset and stop the countdown. Difficult. Charlotte doesn't have enough memory space left to make the transfer. Easy! I'll hook myself up to the computer. She can borrow my memory space.

The majority of the group, those that didn't understand the consequences of the Doctor's chosen method of saving everyone, smiled happy for there to be an actual plan for once. Jack, Nardole, and the Master, however, those that knew that bit more, all turned to the Doctor with varying expressions. Some matching River's annoyed and others more concerned.

"That would kill you!" Jack's exclamation shattered the building hope most of the group was feeling.

"Yes." The Doctor answered defiantly, gaze locked on Jack and purposefully ignoring the rest of the room, "And?"

"Doctor …" Jack started, annoyance at her lack of preservation leaking through into his voice.

"Don't start!" The Doctor snapped back interrupting him. "It was the best idea and only plan that would work." River scoffed at that and the Doctor resisted the temptation to turn to face her.

That however, also seemed to be the breaking point for Jack as he immediately snapped back, loud and anger born from concern dominating his voice, "How long is it going to take to get it into your thick skull that we care about you? How long until you understand that we don't want to watch you be a self-sacrificing idiot? That we don't want to lose you?" The anger bled out a bit, his voice going hoarser at the end.

The Doctor's stern expression wavered, a swift glance at River very telling to all those watching. "I'd rather it be me than any of you."

"You don't get to make that choice."

"Neither do you." The pair looked away from each other, concern and anger both simmering far too close to the surface as the Tardis continued the video.

RIVER: Difficult. It'll kill you stone dead.

"You'd regenerate right, Doc?" Graham asked hopefully, not seeing any other way out of this mess.

Amy and Rory, however, were sharing increasingly concerned looks at River and the screen. The sinking feeling in their stomachs had turned to an anvil and had plummeted down with great effect. They had a very good idea about how this was going to turn out, and they hated it.

River answered for the Doctor, not trusting her to tell the truth. "No." The simple answer was damming, and she purposefully avoided looking at her parents

DOCTOR: Yeah, it's easy to criticise.
RIVER: It'll burn out both your hearts and don't think you'll regenerate.
DOCTOR: I'll try my hardest not to die. Honestly, it's my main thing.

"We wish it wasn't." Jack said, expression unbearably sad.

RIVER: Doctor!
DOCTOR: I'm right, this works. Shut up. Now listen. You and Luxy boy, back up to the main library. Prime any data cells you can find for maximum download, and before you say anything else, Professor, can I just mention in passing as you're here, shut up.
RIVER: Oh! I hate you sometimes.

"A lot of the time, especially times like these." River muttered in agreement with her past self. She couldn't find it in herself to regret the decisions she made that day, the video only serving to reassure she'd done the right thing, no matter how painful it was going to be for everyone to watch.

DOCTOR: I know!
RIVER: Mister Lux, with me. Anita, if he dies, I'll kill him!

"Get in line." The Master muttered darkly from his corner earning wary looks from the group. They couldn't tell how serious of a threat it was which only severed to scare them more. The Doctor just sighed, reminded yet again by how similar River and the Master could be at times (not that she'd ever mention it to either of them, that wouldn't end pretty)

(River and Lux leave.)
ANITA: What about the Vashta Nerada?

A few people couldn't help but think, no matter how terrible s thought it was, how Anita was still alive. She'd survived much longer than the rest of the crew had when they'd been in her position. They were all dreading the inevitable repeating words.

DOCTOR: These are their forests. I'm going to seal Charlotte inside her little world, take everybody else away. The shadows can swarm to their hearts' content.

"You're going to give the Library to them?" Yaz asked.

"Not much other choice. They're a very determined and deadly pest, very hard to remove." The Doctor shrugged; expression blank as her mind was still focused on the worst that was yet to come.

ANITA: So you think they're just going to let us go?
DOCTOR: Best offer they're going to get.
ANITA: You're going to make 'em an offer?
DOCTOR: They'd better take it, because right now, I'm finding it very hard to make any kind of offer at all. You know what? I really liked Anita. She was brave, even when she was crying. And she never gave in. And you ate her.
(He clears her visor to reveal a skull.)

"Oh god." Rose muttered, hands moving to cover her mouth in shock. They guessed that answered the question of how Anita had survived so long – she hadn't. The Vashta Nerada had just gotten much better at stealing the voices of the people they killed. A terrifying and chilling though. They gave poor Anita a moment of silence even as they were impatient to know how this all ended.

DOCTOR: But I'm going to let that pass, just as long as you let them pass.
ANITA: How long have you known?
DOCTOR: I counted the shadows. You only have one now. She's nearly gone. Be kind.

"Never cruel, never cowardly. Always be kind." The Doctor muttered the broken words to herself, curling in a bit although she kept a firm grip on River's hand as a reminder her wife was safe and alive next to her.

ANITA: These are our forests. We are not kind.
DOCTOR: I'm giving you back your forests, but you are giving me them. You are letting them go.
ANITA: These are our forests. They are our meat.

"They're not your anything!" Donna protested firmly, the mess hitting much closer to home as she had actually been there. Had actually met the people the Vashta Nerada had killed so carelessly. She knew the rest of the group cared but there was almost this weird disconnection with the people they hadn't actually met, she knew that all too well if they were feeling how she had felt in some of the other videos.

(Shadows stretch out from Vashta Nerada Anita towards the Doctor.)
DOCTOR: Don't play games with me. You just killed someone I liked. That is not a safe place to stand. I'm the Doctor, and you're in the biggest library in the universe. Look me up.
(There is a pause, then the shadows withdraw.)
ANITA: You have one day.

The group was silent, the weight of that one moment. That one comment hitting them hard. Realistically, they all knew the Doctor had a reputation, and a dangerous one at that. But it was another thing to see beings run (or at least retreat) in the face of their anger. It was hard sometimes to connect the person they travelled with to the alien that so many feared or revered.

(The spacesuit collapses.)
RIVER: Oh, Anita.
DOCTOR: I'm sorry. She's been dead a while now. I told you to go!
RIVER: Lux can manage without me, but you can't.
(River punches the Doctor, knocking him out. A little later, River is twisting some wires together.)

"River." Amy started, voice dangerously low, sounding very like a mother daring a young child to defy her rules, the mother she should have been. "Don't you dare do what I think you're about to do."

River smiled sadly but didn't back down in the face of her mother's fury, "Sorry mother. Can't make that promise."

It was Rory's broken, "River …" that almost did her in. She turned to the screen, a tight lock on the Doctor's hand as she did her best to avoid her parent's grief behind her. She's experienced the grief of losing them and now they were grieving her lost. Neither had been lost in the traditional manner, but both had been lost to the other group. The universe was often cruel like that.

COMPUTER: Autodestruct in two minutes.
(The Doctor wakes up.)
DOCTOR: Oh, no, no, no, no. Come on, what are you doing? That's my job.
RIVER: Oh, and I'm not allowed to have a career, I suppose?

Jack looked between the pair of idiots he shared a sofa with before letting out a deep sigh, "The two of you are the worst."

"Like you can talk handsome."

"Bit hypocritical there, Jack." The pair answered in sync, only earning a deeper sigh from Jack. All three ignoring the jumble of emotions almost audible from the rest of the room for their own sanity. They'd pay the price of that latter.

DOCTOR: Why am I handcuffed? Why do you even have handcuffs?
RIVER: Spoilers.

The tension was too high for anyone to make a joke with that low hanging fruit. They could all see exactly how this was going to end as much as they desperately wanted to deny it.

DOCTOR: This is not a joke. Stop this now. This is going to kill you! I'd have a chance, you don't have any.
RIVER: You wouldn't have a chance, and neither do I. I'm timing it for the end of the countdown. There'll be a blip in the command flow. That way it should improve our chances of a clean download.
DOCTOR: River, please. No.
RIVER: Funny thing is, this means you've always known how I was going to die. All the time we've been together, you knew I was coming here. The last time I saw you, the real you, the future you, I mean, you turned up on my doorstep, with a new haircut and a suit. You took me to Darillium to see the Singing Towers. What a night that was. The Towers sang, and you cried.

The group watched in tense silence, feeling like they were watching a car crash in slow motion right before their eyes. They could see the disaster but could do nothing to stop the aftermath. The video of the Doctor and Eyebrow's time on Darillium held far more meaning now. Bill couldn't help but think about the picture of River on the Doctor's desk, she'd known the Doctor had lost River at some point but it was another to actually witness it. The only slight comfort the group had was River's presence with them here, but that didn't mean nearly as much as it should when you considered how many people in the room should be or were technically dead.

COMPUTER: Autodestuct in one minute.
RIVER: You wouldn't tell me why, but I suppose you knew it was time. My time. Time to come to the library. You even gave me your screwdriver. That should have been a clue.

"I would have given you one anyway." Without the knowledge of your oncoming death was left unsaid in the Doctor's hoarse whisper to River. Her hand almost crushing River's as she mentally thought with herself over whether to keep holding her hand to remind her of River's safe presence or to pull her hand away as a punishment for allowing River to die. Not that River would have given her a choice as she held the Doctor's hand back just as tightly.

(The two screwdrivers and her diary are just out of the Doctor's reach.)
RIVER: There's nothing you can do.
DOCTOR: You can let me do this.
RIVER: If you die here, it'll mean I've never met you.
DOCTOR: Time can be rewritten.

"Not our time. Never our time together Doctor. Don't you dare." River mumbled to her wife stern in the face of the Doctor's grief.

RIVER: Not those times. Not one line. Don't you dare. It's okay. It's okay. It's not over for you. You'll see me again. You've got all of that to come. You and me, time and space. You watch us run.

Through her watery eyes Amy watched her daughter's final moments, the Doctor's attitude to her when they first started traveling together gaining a sudden, horrifying, clarity. This was the horror of being a time traveller and living in opposite directions. She kept a tight grip on her own husband, both constantly switching their gaze between the nightmare unfolding on screen and River in the room as a reminder that she was alright.

DOCTOR: River, you know my name.
COMPUTER: Autodestruct in ten
DOCTOR: You whispered my name in my ear.
COMPUTER: Nine, eight, seven
DOCTOR: There's only one reason I would ever tell anyone my name. There's only one time I could.
RIVER: Hush, now.
COMPUTER Four, three
RIVER: Spoilers.
COMPUTER: Two, one
(River joins two power cables together, and there is a blinding light.)

"River!" Rory called out desperately. Eyes wide in horror and grief, as he quickly locked his gaze on his daughter in the room with them who tried to send her parents a comforting smile. It fell flat in the face of what they'd just witnessed.

The rest of the room was in shock, their own grief hitting string and they didn't even know River as well as her parents and the Doctor. They couldn't imagine how they were feeling and were doing their best to give them some privacy.

Donna bit her lip, the Doctor's behaviour after this making so much more sense. She'd known River had died, had sacrificed herself to save everyone, but seeing it and knowing everything else about River now put a whole new perspective on it. And it wasn't a good one. They'd both suffered so much from their time in the Library, both lost loved ones they barely knew. They'd never spoken about it properly, neither having the emotional skills available to discuss it and now they were really paying the price for it.

[Staircase]

LEE: Donna? What's happening?
DONNA: I don't know, but it's not real. Nothing here's real. The whole world, everything. None of it's real.
LEE: Am I real?
(They start to wash out in bright light.)
DONNA: Of course you're real. I know you're real. Oh God, oh God, I hope you're real.
(Lee is pulled away from Donna into the light.)
DONNA: I'll find you. I promise you, I'll find you.

Donna was hit with the sudden realisation that there was a high chance Lee had been real. She's considered it briefly in the days and weeks afterwards, after the Doctor had shared the truth of the computer, but she'd always pushed the thought away a sit was too painful to stand. But it was a hard one to ignore now.

[Reception]

(Lux is working at the desk terminal.)
MAN: Excuse me?
(There are a lot of people here.)
MAN: What happened? How did we get here?
LUX: Look at you. You're back! You're all back! He did it! You're all back. Look at you!

The group couldn't really find it in themselves to celebrate everyone's return, too caught up in River's loss. Although some managed a few tight smiles at the sight, River's sacrifice had not been in vain.

[Staircase]

(Lux goes down the marble stairs to the balcony.)
LUX: Look at that. Oh, look at that. He did it. Four thousand and twenty two people, saved.
(The sad Doctor is still handcuffed to a copper pipe.)

"I'm sorry Sweetie." River mumbled to her wife, own expression echoing the Doctor's.

"Not for the right reasons you're not."

"…No." River couldn't help but quietly agree, but she still couldn't find it in herself to regret it.

[Shop]

(People are teleporting out.)
COMPUTER: Please be patient. Only three can teleport at a time. Do not state your intended destination until you arrive in your designated slot.
DOCTOR: Any luck?
DONNA: There wasn't even anyone called Lee in the library that day. I suppose he could have had a different name out here, but, let's be honest, he wasn't real, was he?
DOCTOR: Maybe not.

"I'm sorry Donna." Martha muttered quietly to her friend, her words holding a lot more meaning than just the surface ones.

"It's okay." Donna quickly answered, even though her expression and voice disagreed.

"No, it's not." Martha just shook her head, expression pained. She was sadly starting to see why the Tardis had brought them all together. The Doctor may have been the main person needing help but she wasn't the only one. They all could do with a good hug and friendly hand to hold. She'd had Mickey in the time since leaving the Doctor and she wasn't even fully okay, whereas Donna hadn't even had her memories let alone the time to properly deal with everything she'd been through, of course it was going to hit her heard now.

DONNA: I made up the perfect man. Gorgeous, adores me, and hardly able to speak a word. What's that say about me?
DOCTOR: Everything. Sorry, did I say everything? I meant to say nothing. I was aiming for nothing. I accidentally said everything.

The Doctor shook her head at her on screen self, tuning determinedly to Donna and waiting until the red head met her eyes. "It does mean everything Donna, but not in the way you were thinking." Donna had been though a lot, their first meeting with Lance being a good example, it served to reason that Donna's ideal world would be with people that loved her and that was in no way a bad thing. It was just neither Donna nor herself had been in the right emotional state for that conversation that day.

WOMAN: Stand right in the middle of the teleport, please. Keep your hands and feet inside at all times.
DONNA: What about you?
WOMAN: And remember to switch off your mobile comm. unit.
DONNA: Are you all right?
DOCTOR: I'm always all right.

"You're never alright." Donna countered; expression unusually solemn.

The Doctor was silent for a moment before finally speaking up, "Maybe not. But I don't think I'm the only one here who isn't."

"No, I don't think you are." It was the start of a conversation they both should have had a long time ago, but it was better late than never.

WOMAN: If you are pregnant, please go to teleport seven on the floor above
DONNA: Is all right special Time Lord code for really not all right at all?
DOCTOR: Why?
DONNA: Because I'm all right, too.

That was Martha's snapping point as she shuffled om her sofa until she got a good angle to pull Donna into a comforting hug. For once, the normally loud redhead didn't fight or argue and just let herself sink into the comforting embrace. There would be a lot of damage control after this video.

DOCTOR: Come on.
(The Doctor and Donna walk out just as Lee stands on the teleport pad. He sees her and starts to stutter her name, but gets teleported away before he can get a sound out.)

Donna pulled away slightly from Martha's hug, eyes widened and mouth open but unable to find any words to verbalise her feelings as she finally had defining proof Lee had in fact been real. She could already tell the 'what-ifs' were going to haunt her for a while, not that she would ever give up Shaun or the family she had now, but it was still hard not to think about. Martha allowed her to pull away, recognising Donna needed a moment.

[Staircase]

(The Doctor puts River's diary on the balcony rail.)
DONNA: Your friend, Professor Song. She knew you in the future, but she didn't know me. What happens to me? Because when she heard my name, the way she looked at me.

Both the Doctor and Donna shared a long, grieving look. They both knew exactly what happened to Donna and River's reaction made a lot more sense now.

DOCTOR: Donna, this is her diary. My future. I could look you up. What do you think? Shall we peek at the end?
DONNA: Spoilers, right?
DOCTOR: Right.
(He puts River's sonic screwdriver on the diary.)
DOCTOR: Come on. The next chapter's this way.

"Moving forward." Jack muttered.

The Doctor smiled bittersweet, "That's all we can do sometimes."

(They walk back up the stairs.)
RIVER [OC]: When you run with the Doctor, it feels like it will never end. But however hard you try, you can't run for ever. Everybody knows that everybody dies, and nobody knows it like the Doctor. But I do think that all the skies of all the worlds might just turn dark, if he ever, for one moment, accepts it.

The Doctor frowned a bit at that comment, turning to her wife, "I accept it, sometimes it just takes me a bit longer. And it doesn't mean I have to like it."

"I know Sweetie." River mumbled back, expression soft and sad.

(The Doctor runs back for the screwdriver.)
DOCTOR: Why? Why would I give her my screwdriver? Why would I do that? Thing is, future me had years to think about it, all those years to think of a way to save her, and what he did was give her a screwdriver. Why would I do that?

The group all perked up in their seats at that, desperately clinging onto the thread of hope that the Doctor had just thrown out. River had died but she was with them here, so she must have survived. The question was just how.

"Please Doctor." Amy couldn't help but plead with the Doctor on screen, desperate for any chance for River to live.

(Because it also contains a neural relay, which has two green lights on it.)
DOCTOR: Oh! Oh! Oh, look at that. I'm very good!
DONNA: What have you done?
DOCTOR: Saved her.

"You've made sure she was uploaded to the computer." Rory realised eyes widening. It wasn't the ending he's hoped for but it was potentially better than the definite death they thought they'd witnessed moments before.

[Stacks]

(The Doctor is running as one green light goes out.)
DOCTOR: Stay with me! You can do it, stay with me! Come on, you and me, one last run!

"Always." River whispered more to the younger version of her husband on screen than her wife next to her. It was so Doctor like to disguised an attempt to save her as a gift, really, she should have expected something sooner.

[Reading room]

DOCTOR: Sorry, River, shortcut!
COMPUTER: Platform disabled. (The Doctor dives into the gravity well. The last light is blinking.)

[Data core]

RIVER [OC]: Everybody knows that everybody dies. But not every day.
(The Doctor plugs the screwdriver into the core, and her neural energy is transferred.)
RIVER [OC]: Not today.
(Charlotte Node smiles.)

"So, you're in the computer?" Bill asked, a bit curious. It wouldn't be the weirdest place the Tardis had pulled someone from after all.

River just smiled cryptically, "I was." And didn't that mean everything.

[Hospital grounds]

(River is wearing a loose white robe. Charlotte and Doctor Moon walk up to her.)
GIRL: It's okay, you're safe. You'll always be safe here. The Doctor fixed the data core. This is a good place now. But I was worried you might be lonely, so I brought you some friends. Aren't I a clever girl?

The Doctor couldn't help but glance at Clara at that last remark from Cal, it hit a bit too close to the words of Clata's splinters for her liking. The likeness between Cal and Clara was odd but sometimes, rarely, coincidences did occur in the universe.

EVANGELISTA: Aren't we all?
(Anita, the two Daves and Miss Evangelista with her normal face are walking towards her.)
RIVER: Oh, for heaven's sake. He just can't do it, can he? That man. That impossible man. He just can't give in.

"Never." The Doctor smiled, though it was bit strained, mind whirling with all the ways she could have done better.

River narrowed her eyes, sensing her wife's spiralling thoughts. "Stop it."

"Stop what?" The Doctor asked, false innocence splayed across her expression.

It didn't deter River, "You know exactly what I mean. Stop it, Doctor. I made my choice, one day you'll have to accept that." The Doctor's expression wavered, grief bleeding through but she couldn't find anything to counter River's words with.

RIVER [OC]: Some days are special. Some days are so, so blessed. Some days, nobody dies at all.
(The Doctor returns to the Reception and stares at the Tardis. He snaps his fingers, and the door opens. Donna is waiting inside.)

"Just had to try it." Rose muttered fondly at the sight of Pinstripes snapping his fingers, though it was dampened by the emotional stress of the videos they had watched.

RIVER [OC]: Now and then, every once in a very long while, every day in a million days, when the wind stands fair, and the Doctor comes to call
(He snaps his fingers again and the door closes.)

[Children's bedroom]

(River closes her diary.)

"A story, what is it with Ponds and stories?" The Doctor mumbled, looking at Amy who's only focus was her daughter. Some mysterious of the universe were not made to be solved.

RIVER: Everybody lives.
(She kisses Charlotte goodnight and looks at Ella and Joshua.)
RIVER: Sweet dreams, everyone.

Donna's eyes widened as she realised River was looking after her kids, or well, the kids that had been hers in the simulation. She couldn't help but give a thankful nod to River, glad to know they weren't just gone forever even if they'd never been actually real.

The screen had barely turned blank before Amy was out of her chair, leaping to her feet with Rory stumbling up behind her. The pair marched straight over to River and the Doctor, Amy grabbing River's free hand and pulling her to her feet (though River didn't really try to resist, giving in under the weight of Amy's clear determination). "We're talking now young lady." She said, giving River no illusion of escape, before she led her little family out of the room, Amy turned ack to the Doctor, "And don't think we're not talking about this later either Raggedy Man!" And with those parting words, the three were out the door of the cinema room, likely heading to Amy and Rory's room for a private conversation.

The Doctor sighed, glancing around the rest of the room who were stretching and untensing themselves after the rollercoaster of emotions they'd just gone through, "How about we all have a break?"

There was no disagreement from anyone, not that they had much of a choice with three of the members of their little watching party having disappeared out of the room. The Doctor couldn't help but look out towards the corridor after them, she desperately wanted to know if and how River had gotten out of the room (and why she hadn't come found her), but she knew better to risk Amy and Rory's patience right now.

The rest of the group started dispersing into the rest of the little domain they had, some heading for the kitchen, others in little groups to private rooms for their own conversations. There were still people she needed to talk to too, but it was always hard to take those first steps out the door and into the inevitably emotionally charged conversations. She finally pulled herself to her feet, a target locked in her mind even as she hesitated at the side of the sofa, watching the last few people disappear into the corridor.

No point putting it off anymore, once more into the breach and all that.