"Hey, Theta. So, River's here and she knows we're here. I'm going to go find out what she wants. When you're finished doing… Well, whatever you're doing, come find us. I'm sure she's up to no good."

The Doctor looked up at the ceiling and away from his newspaper, wondering if Danielle was going to give him any more information. Like, for example, where she was going to find River. Or where he was supposed to find her.

Nothing came though and he sighed, folding up the paper nicely before placing it down on the table in front of him. He wasn't worried about what she would be getting up to. If she didn't think it was River then she wouldn't have gone out on her own. In fact, he was more surprised that she had gone out at all.

He picked up his cup of tea and took a sip. He knew that she was still feeling the side effects of wiping her own memory and she had been very rapidly pulling away from everything that wasn't him. Normally he loved having her attention and being able to hold it, but he knew that this time, it came from a dark place that he didn't want her to dwell in. He could capture her attention legitimately, he refused to play into her fears of what was waiting to take a little bit more of who she was. If it wasn't Missy, it was herself.

So he'd been trying so hard to get her out of her shell. He was taking her to new places, just as she had requested. He'd been giving her space to come to terms with leaving the TARDIS, almost like a child being given warning as to when they were leaving the park. She'd used it on him many times before and it always worked.

That's what he was doing now. He was reading a newspaper from sometime in the 1800's, from Glasgow, that the TARDIS had materialised for him while he drank his tea. He had been giving her time to either get herself ready or come to tell him that she really wasn't up for a trip out. All she had to do was say the word and they could stay home. It was how he knew that she really did want to get back to travelling; she had yet to ask him to stay home. Somewhere, inside her perceived ambivalence, was the Danni he knew and adored. She was just terrified of coming out.

Which made her little trip out to see River all the more surprising. She was venturing outside of her own accord. It was definitely a step in the right direction, and for a moment he did wonder if he should try and follow just to make sure she didn't get into any more dangerous situations. But, he knew, that if she had thought there was something wrong she would have waited. Their life wasn't all running around and fighting bad guys. In fact, that was only a small portion of their lives. Like, fifty percent.

Maybe sixty.

He raised his cup of tea again, ready to enjoy it knowing he could relax a little longer when he came to the startling conclusion that their life might have been calm and wonderful, but he knew River got into a lot more trouble than they did. In fact, trouble seemed to follow that woman around, if she wasn't looking for it herself.

Maybe he should just check on them. Something bad happening could be made all the worse for Danni if she started panicking. He trusted her abilities, but she wasn't feeling herself and River wouldn't take that into consideration.

He grabbed his jacket on the way out of the kitchen, newspaper and tea abandoned. He'd chosen to land during the Christmas period because they both had a bit of a nostalgic love of the festive period and he thought mixing it in with the new would be rather enjoyable. He hoped she'd grabbed a coat.

Not that he liked the baby her or anything. If she wanted to freeze, he guessed, that was up to her. He wasn't particularly happy about it because she was still prone to human illnesses and he didn't want to catch something. And, despite being her mother, River wouldn't consider keeping her as safe as possible, and she certainly wouldn't worry about her getting ill.

He shook his head as he made his way to the front doors. He didn't have time to rant about River in his head. He could do that later, to her face. He just hoped he could catch find them both. They could have been anywhere by…

He frowned, pulling on the front door. It didn't open. He tried again, giving it a little jiggle but it still didn't budge. He tried pushing it, just in case he'd forgotten how to open them as he'd been to sleep since the last time they'd left, but still nothing happened.

Now deeply worried, he went back over to the console. "What has that archaeologist done to you now?" he asked his time machine, typing on the console. It wouldn't have been the first time River had locked him out of an adventure. He needed to see what she had done.

It turned out, though, that it hadn't even been River who had picked up his wife, but a short, round man in a bobble hat. That did nothing to calm his nerves, nor did it explain why the front doors wouldn't open. He checked everything he could possibly think of – including whether or not the TARDIS's dimensions had been stolen again because that could have been the issue – when the door opened. He turned around, poised for attack.

"We really should go back for Nardole!" Danni complained, stepping into the TARDIS. He blinked, surprised. How did she even manage to get in?

"Nardole can take care of himself," River dismissed as she followed her daughter in, closing the door behind her like it was nothing at all.

"How are you not more worried?" she asked. "He's your friend, isn't he?"

"I guess," River offered, trying not to suggest she cared at all for anyone she knew beyond what they could do for her.

"You guess?" Danni replied. "How can…" She finally caught sight of the Doctor, who looked absolutely baffled by the appearance. River she could understand, but her? "Are you okay, sweetie?" she asked, concerned.

"How did you get in?" he asked bluntly. Still concerned, she shrugged.

"By-By opening the door?" she offered. She was still holding her key, so she gave it a little wave. "You know, the usual way?"

"But how?" he exclaimed. "I-I tried and-and," he stopped, looking up at the rotor. "What have I told you about ganging up on me?"

"Doctor, what's going on?" Danni asked but River rolled her eyes. She didn't have time for any of his dramatics and instead walked up to the console.

"We really should get out of here," she told her daughter.

"We should find Nardole," she pointed out but kept her attention on the Doctor, who's confusion seemed to be upsetting him. "What's happening?"

"I couldn't get out. She wouldn't open the doors," he explained. "Who's Nardole? And what is that?" He pointed to the bag in her other hand. She looked down at it, vaguely confused before grinning a little sheepishly.

"Oh, that," she replied. "Um, that is the head of King Hydroflax."

His eyebrows rose. "The head?"

"Yeah…" Danni replied, drawing it out slightly. "We kind of stole it."

"You…" He paused slightly, trying to compute what she had just told him. "You stole some king's head?" She nodded. "I have so many questions," he admitted. "But we've talked about your stealing, Danielle."

Suddenly feeling like she was being told off by another parent, she straightened, on the defensive. "He was rude to my mum," she protested. "And he did, technically, offer it up himself!"

"Also there's the diamond," River reminded, although the smirk on her face just said that she was just happy that Danni was defending her.

"Oh, yeah, that too," Danni agreed offhandedly, chucking it down on the pilot chair. The King protested, which just made her smile. "He robbed a vault, or something, and got a diamond lodged in his head. To be honest, he seems a bit of a moron."

"That doesn't mean you can just steal his head!" the Doctor exclaimed.

"He eats his enemies!" Danni exclaimed right back. "Dead or alive!"

The Doctor scrunched up his nose and Danni smirked, smug. She knew he'd feel the same when he heard what the man had done. Because, really, who ate their enemies?

The Doctor pointed at River. "This is her bad influence," he decided. "This only happens when she's about!"

"Not true," Danni argued. "I'm like this a lot of the time. Have you not seen the gene pool I came splashing out of? I didn't stand a chance." She smirked, stepping closer to him and placed a hand on his arm. "Plus, you love it really," she purred. "You wouldn't have me any other way."

How could he argue with that? With the twinkle in her eye and the smirk on her lips that had been absent for a long time, now, he felt like she was finally coming back to him. If only for a moment, at the very least. He pulled her closer and she let out a noise of surprised delight. "You are quite right," he agreed lowly.

He leant down to kiss her when a loud, continuous beeping started coming from the bag. Danni frowned, looking over at it. "What is that?" she asked lowly, concerned. He tried to hold onto her for a moment longer but she broke free, walking over and picking it up. He growled under his breath; River always found a way to interrupt their moments.

Danni opened the bag and saw Hydroflax with his eyes closed and his mouth open, the beeping coming from the ring that his head was sat on. "I think his head's died!" she exclaimed. The Doctor walked over, snatching the bag from her hands.

"No, I think he's just powered down, conserving batteries," he promised her and her shoulders sagged in relief. "It's an in-built life-support system. I'm not sure what powers it."

Danni shook her head. "I don't think that's the noise, though," she replied as she took the head out of the bag. The ring around the… urgh… neck was flashing in time with the beeping. "I think it's a distress signal."

"A homing beacon?" River asked and Danni nodded. "So the rest of him is coming?"

"He must be very cross. He's lost his head," the Doctor snapped in reply.

"Time we were off, then," she replied, unfazed by his tone. She quickly activated the engines, ready to take off but the TARDIS just stuttered before going silent again. Danni frowned, walking up to her mother.

"What's wrong with her?" Danni asked. "Maybe you're doing it wrong."

"I am certainly not," River protested.

"What about this?" Danni tried herself, flipping a few different levers before trying to set her off into flight. Again, not much happened. "Are you feeling okay?" she asked the TARDIS, concerned for their home. She very rarely acted like she couldn't take off. "Maybe the body has done something? Interfered with her, somehow?" She looked to her husband for clarification but he shook his head.

"The engines are interfering with themselves," he explained. "The TARDIS has certain safeguards. Ones that people who live in her," he shot River a dirty look, "would know about if they weren't being distracted by their immediately family."

Danni's eyes widened in realisation. "Oh," she stated before feeling a little foolish. "Of course." She looked at River. "The head and the body are considered the same person, despite being able to be detached. The TARDIS won't take off if a life form registers as being both inside and outside at the same time."

"Of course," she replied. "She can't seal the real-time envelope."

"You have to be either inside or outside of the TARDIS for her to be able to fly. It's just good manners," Danni finished.

"That's how Clara managed to take the ride on the outside," River mused. "I did wonder how she wasn't registered as a passenger, but it was because she wasn't in the doorway, she was just holding onto it." She motioned to the head. "How do we stop it?"

Danni hadn't expected such a casual reference to Clara and it completely took her out of the moment and chucked her right back to where she had been before River had turned up; wallowing in her own mess, her own misery. She'd forgotten that she was even mourning the loss of a woman she couldn't remember, and she had enjoyed every minute of it.

Did that make her a terrible person?

"We'll have to get rid of the head," she declared instead of addressing the heaviness that was falling over the room. "Chuck it out of the door."

"We can't do that," River replied. "There's a very expensive diamond in that head that I need." Her eyes lit up in inspiration. "We can just kill the head."

"What, by shooting him in the face?" Danni retorted.

"Why not?"

Before Danni could explain her complete and utter dismay at her mother wanting to kill anyone and that she had to explain why that was a Bad Thing, Hydroflax's eyes shot open and he roared in anger. Danni yelled and immediately dropped him onto his face.

"What the hell?!" she exclaimed, angrily. "There's no need for that!"

"Do not fire if you value your lives," Hydroflax ranted.

"Why, what are you going to do?" the Doctor retorted.

"Kill me, and my body will burn," Hydroflax warned, which seemed a little odd considering they didn't have his body, they had his head.

"Burn what?" Danni asked him slowly, a little suspiciously.

"This world!"

Danni's hearts skipped a beat and she looked to River for confirmation that it was really a thing he could do. She nodded, motioning for Danni to put him down on the console.

"Suppose we believe you," River started, looking at Hydroflax as if she really didn't. "How?"

"My body contains a split quantum actualiser," he explained.

"A perpetually stabilised black hole. That's your power source," the Doctor said, rewording it at the sight of Danni's slightly confused look. She smiled at him, grateful, but he could feel the upset still bubbling underneath. The mere mention of Clara had caused her to regress back into herself. He shouldn't have expected any different, though. It was going to take more than one adventure to help her.

Still, perhaps River could stay for a little while…

"More than a power source," Hydroflax continued. "If necessary, a bomb."

"And you're just going to blow up the entire planet?!" Danni exclaimed, outraged. "All because someone stole your head!"

"Not just the planet; the whole solar system," Hydroflax boasted. "It wouldn't be the first."

River leant in closer. "It would be your last," she replied pointedly. Hydroflax didn't seem too worried, in fact he seemed rather proud.

"A fitting end for the glory of Hydroflax!"

"A fitting…" Danni started, getting angrier by the moment. "You eat people! There is no glory! It's disgusting."

"It is my right as…"

"No, it's not!" she interrupted, cutting him off before he could rant and rave about how great he was. "No one has the right to anything!"

"I shall be remembered as the King who devoured his enemies!"

"Oh, so the King who filled his big, fat, useless stomach with the losers of wars?!" she snapped back. He looked positively outraged. "No wonder we managed to steal your head," she continued, prodding him in the cheeks. "You need a better diet."

"Remove your hands from me, woman," he exclaimed. "You are not worthy to touch me. You are nothing."

"Oi!" the Doctor said, now rather annoyed at the disrespect he was showing his wife. "That's my wife you're talking to. You can't talk about being nothing, you're only a fifth of a person!"

"If you could really cause an explosion you would have done so already," River cut in. "You're lying."

"A king does not endanger his people for no reason," Hydroflax replied grandly, like he was doing everyone a service.

"You're endangering them now."

Hydroflax barely offered him a glance. "I'm cross."

"Well, I guess that's a good reason," Danni offered with a shrug. The Doctor looked down at her and she rolled her eyes at his look. "Oh, don't give me that," she snapped. "I didn't say that I wanted him to do it, I said it was a good reason. I once blew up a castle because the prince hit on me and it pissed me off."

"Wait, what prince?" the Doctor asked as there was knocking on the door.

"Wait, I read about that," River talked over him. "The Prince of Maldiva, right?" Danni nodded as the Doctor looked between the two.

"Yeah, that's him," she confused.

"The Prince of Maldiva?" the Doctor repeated. "What did he want, exactly?"

"Oh, he seemed like an arse," River told her daughter.

"He was."

"I would have blown his castle up too."

The Doctor was getting more and more frustrated as they both ignored him and someone kept knocking on the doors. This always happened when River was about, and the Doctor really wouldn't mind Danni talking to anyone else if he didn't think that River was doing it pointedly, so she wouldn't talk to him.

"Doctor Song," Ramone's voice called him, sounding very strained. "Are you there? I have a message for you."

"Ramone!" River cried, running towards the door before Danni could grab her arm. "Get in here!"

"River, don't!" she cried after her. They didn't know what the suit of armour was capable of. They didn't know if it could mimic voices. They had no idea if that was really Ramone.

It turned out that it was part Ramone. Before River could open the doors, the armour kicked them open. It had Ramone's head where Hydroflax's had once sat and he looked terrified.

"You're going to die!" he sobbed. The armour stepped in and River tried to run, but it reached out and grabbed her around the neck, lifting her off the ground.

"Kill her!" Hydroflax ordered.

Danni's hearts stopped as River started to flail. "Mum!" she screamed, running forward and reaching down to the pocket of the jacket she suddenly realised she wasn't wearing. She actually had no idea where it was, and therefore had no idea where he gun was. Not that she was convinced that it would do any damage – it was a good gun, but that was a very good piece of armour – but she couldn't just watch as it killed her. She had to do something.

She rushed forward and around the armour, not thinking and just acting as she shut the doors of the TARDIS. The TARDIS shuddered and jolted as she immediately set into flight without a pilot and River managed to throw herself onto the floor. Danni immediately was by her side, helping her up.

"Are you okay?" she asked and River nodded.

"Move!" she instructed as the armour continued to try and get her.

The Doctor grabbed the controls, trying to get the TARDIS back under control. "Where are we going?"

"Get the head!" River instructed, shoving Danni in front of her as they moved around the console and away from the killer suit.

"You set the coordinates," he accused. "Where for?"

"Just get the damn head!" she exclaimed as she grabbed the bag they'd brought him in and chucked it at Danni. The Doctor rolled his eyes as Hydroflax demanded for their deaths, grabbed the head and chucked it to his wife. She caught it and shoved him in the bag as the TARDIS landed.

River immediately grabbed her hand and began dragging her out. "Follow me!"

"Wait, we can't leave them in the TARDIS!" Danni protested, trying to reach for her husband, who was hot on their trail. "They'll destroy her.

"They'll destroy us if we stay," River pointed out, quite rightly.

"Well then we have to stop them," Danni protested. "They're your husbands!"

They burst out into what appeared to be a storage room, full of boxes and suitcases that felt very on brand for all of them. The Doctor was right behind them but River was doing a very good job at keeping Danni from grabbing his hand.

"I should have known," he retorted. "You're always bringing trouble into our TARDIS; I should have guessed anyone that angry would have to know you personally."

"You married me to, remember?" River pointed out.

"And look how angry I am now," the Doctor snapped. "If she's damaged, River, you're paying for the repairs."

"Hush now."

"Don't hush me!" the Doctor protested.

"Is arguing really what we should be doing right now?" Danni asked. "River, where have you brought…"

She trailed off as they burst through a set of double doors into an open room. They appeared to come out underneath a set of double stairs into a posh party, where everyone was in their best cocktail clothing and drinking cocktails. There was calming, classical music tinkling through the air and while they seemed to be curious at the new people who had entered the room, no one paid them too much attention.

Danni pulled down on her skirt, suddenly feeling rather underdressed.

River closed the doors behind them and the trio stepped into the room, looking around at the ornate decoration. "Where are we?" Danni asked again, this time quieter.

"The Harmony and Redemption, I should think," the Doctor replied before heading towards a large screen on one wall. There were couples around, drinking and talking and it all seemed rather too nice for the scenario they'd found themselves in. Even so, Danni looked over the display of the space ship's flight path, very much interested.

"It's rather nice, isn't it?" River asked her daughter, who nodded her agreement.

"We don't really do vacations anymore," she explained. "I do remember one, years ago before Missy came for me, but it's joined with so much fuzziness I'm not sure about it at all."

"Was that just on your own?" River asked, always interested in her daughter's life. "Or did you take Clara too?"

Danni shrugged, didn't reply, and stepped closer to the screen to read the smaller text, to hide the fact that she had absolutely no idea if Clara had gone, or if she'd even known about it in the first place.

"She wiped her memory of Clara," the Doctor explained quietly, and sadly, to River, who seemed rather confused by Danni's reaction. "She doesn't remember what she looked like, what their friendship was, what it felt like. Her memories have a Clara-shaped hole in them and she's still trying to figure out what she wiped, what Missy placed in her head, and what she's just plain forgot."

"Why would she do that?" River asked, horrified as she watched Danni. Her head was slightly tilted as she tried to work out what the screen was trying to tell them. She hadn't recognised anything was wrong, but she had been preoccupied.

The Doctor didn't really know how to answer her. It was partly -mainly- his fault, but he didn't want to admit it out loud. He wanted to make up for it, be a better person, show that he was a better person than what he had become. River didn't need to be a part of that. "I guess, ultimately, it was to ensure that Clara had a good death," he reasoned, knowing that it wasn't exactly a lie.

"That does sound like her," River replied softly.

"Doctor Song."

All three of them turned their heads to see a blue, bug-like waiter called Flemming heading towards them. He seemed very familiar with River, who even managed to get him to deadlock the luggage hold to keep Hydroflax at bay, before quickly ushering them towards the doors out of the room and to a table that, apparently, was waiting for them.

River stopped, though, before they entered the dining room. "I don't suppose you mind if I freshen up," she said with a smirk at Danni before reaching into one of the pouches on the utility belt she was wearing. Danni hadn't noticed it before, but she quickly made a note to check if the TARDIS had one.

River pulled out a small spray and spritz it above her head. It quickly transformed her outfit from the practical leather jacket and trousers to a beautiful black and sequinned dress, complete with clutch bag and hairdo. Danni's mouth dropped as River posed slightly. "Not bad for two hundred, eh?" River boasted modestly.

"You look amazing," Danni praised, much to her delight, before her eyes moved to the spray. "What is that?" she asked. "How does it work? Will it work on me?"

River looked at the small bottle in her hand. She had made up the little concoction herself because it was so much more convenient to carry than a whole bag of wardrobe changes. She'd never tried it, nor wanted to try it, on anyone else before.

"Let's see," she offered, spraying it at Danni. Immediately the same golden shine that had indicated River's transformation shimmered down her and she watched as her clothes changed, not into the same dress as River was wearing, but a dark blue number that had a flared skirt and cut off just above her knee. It had a lace overlay and she quickly reached up; it had even put her hair up as well.

"Oh wow," she breathed. "That is amazing."

River popped the spray into the purse. "They are clever little bots, aren't they?" she replied.

Danni turned around to her husband, a smile on her face as her skirt flared around her legs. "What do you think?" she asked him.

He thought a number of things. He thought she looked amazing no matter what she wore, but he did think the dress suited her perfectly. But it was the smile that it brought, the happiness that she wore proudly at something new that she didn't understand but loved, that made her look absolutely stunning.

He held out his arm to her and she giggled, almost skipping over to his side in her new heels – it had even changed her shoes! – and took it. It reminded him so much of her younger selves that he knew that it was pure, unconscious, happy movement and once again he really considered if River should stay with them for a little longer after their adventure had ended.

The dining room was as posh as the waiting room they'd just left, with dim lights and low chatter. "Why do I get the sudden inkling that we're not going to return the diamond to the Halassi?" Danni asked lowly.

"Where's the fun in that?" River replied, smiling at the waiter that walked past them as she took a drink from them.

Danni groaned. "River!" she scolded. "You had me steal the head of a murderous king just so you could sell the contents?"

"Where did you find a buyer?" the Doctor asked, curious. Danni shot him an incredulous look.

"Theta!" she exclaimed before catching herself. "Don't encourage her!" He shrugged, knowing she was just as curious as he was and she sighed. "Where did you find a buyer?"

River nodded out into the room. "The starship Harmony and Redemption, minimum ticket price one billion credits, plus the provable murder of multiple innocent life forms. Suites are reserved for planet-burners," she explained quietly. "Thank you. Even the staff are required to have a verifiable history of indiscriminate slaughter. This is where genocide comes to kick back and relax."

"You do bring me on the best family outings," Danni muttered and River chuckled, taking another sip before grabbing another drink from another passing waiter. She handed it to Danni.

"Mother knows best, sweetie," she replied. "I know you love it."

They were quickly shown to their table, which was in the centre of the room, with room for some unseen guest River still haven't enlightened them to the identity of.

"Is it for the money?" Danni asked. "I mean, we could get you money if you need it, right?" She looked to the Doctor, who held his hands up, suggesting he wasn't about to get into the slight argument between the mother and daughter. Really, he just thought River was stealing because she liked to steal things, but he was very happy watching his wife berate her for it.

River pulled a face. "Of course not," she replied, as if the thought was idiotic. "You know what it's like, sweetie. I've seen your tiara collection on a number of occasions."

"I have never chopped off anyone's head for one of those!" Danni protested.

"If you recall, I never chopped off his head," she pointed out as she rummaged through her clutch. "Now, should we sync up?"

She pulled out her TARDIS diary and the sight of it made Danni smile slightly. She was even carrying it around in her magical purses. That was kind of sweet. The smile faded, though, as she realised just how thumbed through the pages were, and how many River was passing as she flipped through, trying to find the best point to start from.

"That's quite full, isn't it?" she asked her sadly. River paused for barely a moment as she tried to find the story she wanted to start with.

"I guess it is," she said offhandedly. "I've never really paid attention."

That was a lie they all could feel hang heavy in the air. It was the feeling of knowing exactly what reaching the end of the diary would mean. The loss of someone else that Danni loved, would that come with the loss of memories as well? Was she about to lose another mother?

She reached out and snatched the diary out of her hand, shutting it and practically slamming it on the table. "We'll have to get you a new one," she stated loudly, and firmly, before sitting back in her chair, as if daring either of them to pick it up. "Or none at all. Diaries are boring. We have a time machine and video calls. I'll make you a hat, it can read your memories for you. Much better than paper and pens."

The heaviness didn't lift from the air as they all sat there, Danni with her arms crossed in front of her until the Doctor sighed heavily. Neither of them was going to break it, were they?

"Go on then," he said to River, who frowned.

"What?"

"How did you end up married to him?" He kicked the head underneath the table. "Sleeping beauty here."

"I married the diamond, I think you'll find," she reminded pointedly. Even Danni looked a little intrigued at the idea so she shifted, crossing one leg over the other. "I posed as his nurse. Took me a week."

"That's-that's impressive," Danni had to admit. "What about Ramone? How did he end up trailing you about?"

"Ah, now that is an interesting story," River replied. "I was…"

A waitress walked over, apologetic. "Doctor Song, your guest has docked, he should be with you in a very few minutes."

"Thank you," River replied politely. "Whenever he's ready."

"Of course." The waitress bowed, then left.

"What about Nardole?" Danni asked, knowing that asking who they were meeting was probably not going to get her anywhere. "How did you meet him?"

"What is it with you and Nardole?" River asked with a laugh. Danni shrugged.

"I don't know," she admitted. "You sent him to me because he was charming and you were right; he annoyed me. I like him. How did you meet him?"

As River explained how she met Nardole, which was incredibly exciting and amazing and a story Danni would remember for the rest of her days, a shadow fell across the table. A very pale man with a large scar running diagonally from one side of his face to the other stood above them.

"Which of you is Song?" he demanded in a raspy voice.

"Who wants to know?" the Doctor replied shortly. It was quite obvious, even past the wonderfully bleak picture River had painted, that the man hovering over them was very shady character. He didn't appreciate either of them being brought into River's problems.

"I am Scratch," he replied, as if it meant something.

"Don't need your name," River dismissed. "Are you empowered to purchase?"

"I represent the Shoal of the Winter Harmony."

"And?" Danni interrupted, also acting like she didn't care. She knew how this sort of thing went down, and the quicker they sold the diamond, the quicker they could leave. "That doesn't matter. Can you pay, yes or no?"

"And could you either sit down or fetch us the wine list or something?" the Doctor added and River had to suppress a grin. She hated it when he amused her, it made it even harder to be annoyed at his very existence.

Scratch did as he was told. "You have the diamond?" he asked.

"Of course I have the diamond. Show me the money," she retorted. Scratch straightened, facing Danni as he ran one finger along the entirety of his scar. His skulls beeped quietly and, when he reached under his chin, let out the sound of decompressing gas. He dug his fingers in and pulled his head in two, letting one half hang by his shoulder, revealing the blue fleshy contents.

Danni turned her head, her stomach turning at the sight and the sound. She hadn't expected him to just… open his head up like that! It was disgusting and she didn't want that anywhere near where food was being served. Hadn't he heard of food hygiene.

"Just a thought, you probably shouldn't do that in a restaurant," the Doctor told him, reading her mind and confirming that it was just all around gross. She tried not to judge alien species by what they could do, but she also didn't turn back until the Doctor gave her a small nod to tell her it was safe. He'd pulled a small silver ball out of his head and handed it to River, who cleaned it up.

"Once instructed, this will transfer the necessary funds to whatever account you choose," he explained. "The diamond?"

River grabbed the bag containing Hydroflax's head and placed it on the table in front of him. "You're going to have to dig for it a bit," she said, understating slightly. "But somehow I don't think that's going to be a problem for you."

Scratch wasn't quite happy with the arrangement and he showed them as such, revealing they were surrounded by his people, all who had the same facial scar as him and a penchant for hissing on command. River, however, expertly managed to calm him down and it was rather nice to see her in action. Danni didn't get to spend enough time with her parents and it made her wonder if she should ask the Doctor if River could stay with them. Perhaps they could pick up Jack as well, if she could get them both to behave around each other it actually might be quite fun.

Scratch opened the small ball, tapping buttons on the inside as he entered the finer details of the exchanged. "One hundred billion credits, as we agreed," he declared, standing up as he handed it back to River, who entered her own details. "This accesses all the banks in the galaxy."

"Thank you," River replied, and Danni couldn't blame her. When she had been on the run, she would have given anything for a hundred billion credits. Perhaps she really would have stolen a head of a king. "Here you go, then," she continued, starting to open the bag to pull out the head. "You may need to use a spoon or knitting needle or something."

"Be it known, we do not do this for ourselves," Scratch declared to his waiting audience.

"We really don't care," River dismissed, wanting to give him the head and get away from them.

"We do it in honour of our distant and loving King, who once visited our world in blood and joy," he continued regardless.

"You really know the best people, don't you?" Danni muttered and River rolled her eyes.

"We honour thee, we prostrate ourselves in your name, Hydroflax."

As the room all got to their knees and chanted for their king, River slowly began to rezip the bag, suddenly aware of how much more complicated their situation had become.

Danni leant closer, eyes blazing, furious. "What have you gotten us into?" she hissed.