Ch 5

Soon the pair of Gallifreyans were out the door and walking downtown. River explained the buildings around them, pointing out their favorite shops and restaurants. If her anecdotes triggered a memory, the Doctor would tell it to her to make sure it was correct.

River seemed to relax a tad more around him keeping an inward focus on her emotions. The Doctor was rather surprised that her anger that had been so apparent at the Hub was so hidden at the moment. He wondered if she'd blow up at him later or just wasn't that angry anymore. He couldn't say he didn't appreciate this time with her, though. He felt much less alienated.

She brought him to a few shops at the mall, letting him look around, not really inputting her opinion. He picked out a few things and went to the changing room. River waited outside, sitting down in one of the available chairs.

He stepped out a few minutes later. "...Well?"

"It's...different." River murmured, looking him over. The coat had much more sheen than tweed could produce, as was a navy blue, except for the red inside.

"I was aiming for mysterious."

"Ah, well you could call it that. I think it's a bit more magician." She laughed weakly. "Still, it looks rather good on you."

He smiled weakly back. "I'm glad you think so."

She nodded, drawing a bit closer. Her eyes raked over his face, going over the creases. He was very aware that it wasn't his new clothes she was looking at anymore.

"...Well?"

"I didn't think you'd take it so personally when I said I was going to replace you with someone older." She murmured.

"It was the only thing I could remember when I was regenerating." He told her.

She looked away again, something in her face changing. "Oh, I see."

"Did I say something wrong?" He frowned.

"No, of course not. Is this what you're planning on buying?" She asked quickly.

His frown didn't leave, knowing that he must've upset her again. "I think I'll stick with this and a few shirts."

"Okay." She nodded, "We can get lunch if you want."

"Alright." He didn't actually remember the names of any of the restaurants. "Suggestions?"

"Well, there's a restaurant a few blocks over that we used to like to go to. I can take you there."

"That'd be nice."

"Why don't you pay for those things and we can go."

He nodded and went to the cashier, then the two of them left.

"We need to talk about what we're going to tell everyone." River murmured as they walked down the street. She was back to avoiding his eyes.

"Everyone as in...?"

"The people we see all the time. Our neighbors, our human friends, the people at the children's school." She listed.

"Be people who can't know who we are." He summarized. "I'll need a new alias."

"I suppose so." She sighed, "And we also need to figure out what to tell them happened to my husband since they won't realize, or at least can't know, it's you."

"I suppose that leaves a lot of options. Maybe we should just say the truth: He died."

She stiffened, "I suppose that would be best."

"What will that make me, then? A work colleague?"

"A work colleague that lives with us, that makes sense." She snapped at him, her carefully crafted facade cracking for a moment.

"I was just generating ideas since you're so bloody full of them." His tone wasn't quite as harsh, but plenty bitter. "I'm not going to pretend to be some distant fucking relative or something for the sake of normality. Nothing about this is normal."

She stopped walking, flinching at his words. She wasn't used to him snapping back at her so quickly and she couldn't recall ever hearing him swear so readily before. "...I'm sorry." She whispered, "I didn't mean to snap..."

"Yes, it must be hard trying to constantly bottle everything up." He muttered, staring intensely at the sidewalk.

"You know I'm suddenly not so hungry anymore." She shook her head, turning and walking away from him as fast as she could. His words stung, she was trying to be accepting and open, but the sudden change and the guilt that came with it was hard. She briefly thought about how things probably would have been much different if they didn't have children, if they hadn't been living together, but here and now she was attached to him by emotions and responsibility.

He knew going after her wouldn't make much difference to the emotions festering in the both of them, so turned the opposite way to attempt to find his way home.

River was upset and didn't know where she was headed, not paying attention to what streets she was turning down. She just wanted to be away from him.

Suddenly her cell phone rang, showing the number of the person she'd been talking to earlier. Her hands were shaking as she took out the phone, answering immediately, "Hello?"

"Professor Song," Said the man on the other end. "Have you had a chance to think about my offer?"

"I thought I already gave you my answer." She breathed, trying to keep her voice from shaking.

"One can change so much in the course of a few hours." He hummed.

"You know, now is really not a good time." She murmured. She was so tempted to take him up on his offer, even though she knew she shouldn't.

"Would tonight be a better time?"

"Is that an offer for dinner? Again?"

"As a matter of fact, it is." He hummed.

"Well, unfortunately, my means of transportation is out of commission for a while, so unless you're willing to come pick me up, you're out of luck."

"To convince you of this, I can do anything."

"Careful, you don't want to sound too desperate."

"I thought I sounded heroic." He teased.

"I'll send you my address and then I'll see you tonight." She almost smiled at the rush of rebellion she felt.

"Looking forward to it, Professor."

She hung up, sighing and leaning against the wall of the building she had stopped beside, closing her eyes. The Doctor was no longer in sight. He was somewhere trying to make his way home while navigationally blind.

The building she was leaning against was a large brick one that was probably a factory at one point but was now used for storage. There was, however, a low mental hum from inside.

River frowned, heading the to sound. She crept around the side of the building, looking for the door. The doors were rusted metal, though were unlocked. She pushed the doors open, peering inside.

The humming got louder.

There were huge metal shelves reaching all the way to the ceiling and filled with boxes of all sizes. Down one of the aisles, there was a blue glow. River spotted the glow, hurrying towards it

A blue police box became visible as River rounded the corner, the top light shining brighter in her presence.

She smiled, running towards it, relieved to see at least something familiar. Upon opening the doors, however, she was not met with the usual orange glow of the console room. Instead, the light came from the reflections of the many metal surfaces of the new desktop.

River stopped in the doorway, taking a step out, her face falling. The ship hummed, trying to explain that she'd been injured and had to fix it. River sat down on the outside of the ship, putting her head in her hands. The TARDIS quieted, giving River her space.

She felt stupid for crying, but she couldn't help it. It had been a rather difficult day and this change had just pushed her over the edge. She didn't get much comfort from the TARDIS's thoughts, just wishing things didn't always have to change.

The warehouse offered her no solutions and neither could the ship. Change had come suddenly, and the only thing to do was get stuck or adapt, the latter of which took time.

River got up after a while, only feeling worse than before. She went inside the TARDIS, going to figure out the new controls. The new console was hexagonal like the last one but much more organized and geometric. Three of the six sides had levers and buttons controlling communications, the helm, and spatial navigation. One side had a circular face with gear mechanisms behind protective glass controlling fabrication. There were two diagnostic monitors, one above the control panels, and one on one of the control panels. The final side of the console was by far the newest feature: four rows of what looked like purple and blue goop for the purpose of a psychic link.

With some help from the TARDIS, she managed to figure out what to do, managing to get home. She materialized in the backyard where Arthur ran to meet them.

River did her best to smile when she saw her son, scooping him up and hugging him close.

"How come you're home after Daddy? I thought you went together." He asked.

"We got separated, I decided to take a different way home." She set him down.

"But what happened?" He held her hand.

"Nothing happened." She shook her head. They walked inside.

"I like Daddy's new coat."

"I'm glad." She murmured.

"Did you get new clothes, too?"

"No, not this time. I have plenty of clothes." She shook her head, "Why don't you go play with Terra, Mummy has to get ready to go out."

"Where're you going?" He asked.

"I'm going to have dinner with a friend."

"Auntie Vastra?"

"No, a friend from work. Daddy will be home with you all night so maybe you can show him some of the games you like to play."

"Okay." He nodded, curiosity finally sated.

She headed up the stairs, going to get ready for dinner, hoping not to run into her husband.

The Doctor was in the twins' room, trying to reconnect. Both girls were rather hesitant to "bond" with the Doctor, or at least more hesitant than their siblings. The younger children were seemingly easier to win back trust, only needing to be read their favorite books and played their favorite games with. The girls were and different story, too old for games. The Doctor had taken the strategy of just being honest to them and telling them what had happened on Gallifrey (having decided the story didn't need to be dulled down much for them).

As River got ready for her night out, the girls listened to the Doctor, asking questions and doing their best to wrap their heads around the situation. The Doctor answered their questions about regeneration and Gallifrey. It was the first time he'd really admitted to the kids that the Timelords weren't a very nice people.

River came down the hall after a few hours, looking for her daughters. She was all done up from her hair to her heels, making it obvious that she was going somewhere nice.

The girls looked up when they saw her, confused as to why she looked like she was going on a date and their father didn't.

"What have you all been doing?" River asked though she directed her questions more to the girls than the Doctor.

"Dad's been telling us what happened," Freya answered.

"Oh..." She frowned slightly, a bit annoyed that the Doctor had decided to tell the girls without consulting her or at least telling her the story first. "I see."

"Where're you going?" Amelia asked.

"I'm going to dinner with someone." She answered, "So you're going to be with Daddy tonight."

"Who with?" She frowned.

"A friend from work." River smiled.

"You don't usually dress that fancy for work stuff."

"Well, I wanted to dress up because I'm going somewhere nice for dinner." She glanced at the Doctor. His expression was kept in neutral, though he was trying to avoid her eyes.

"The TARDIS is in the backyard if you need anything." River went to hug the girls, "I'll be back in a few hours."

They all looked surprised. "How'd the TARDIS get back?"

"I found her, she's a bit different on the inside." She smoothed her dress over, "You can go take a look."

The twins nodded. "Have fun."

"I will." She headed down the stairs to say goodbye to the other two children and then to meet her ride.

In the backyard, a transport pod was hovering next to the TARDIS, waiting for her. She glanced back at the house again before getting inside. The pod disappeared from the yard once the door was closed, bringing her to the restaurant.