River frowned at the man blocking the entrance of the restaurant. His impressive suit reflected his place of work—she knew for sure now just how rich the Daniels family was. He looked her over cynically. "I'm sorry ma'am, but you don't have a reservation… or the proper attire." His eyes noted, with a touch of distaste, her pants and short-sleeved blouse.

River muttered under her breath. She'd already tried arguing with him, but the thing about these types was that when you told them that the entire universe was at stake, they absolutely refused to believe you. From her pocket, she pulled up a slick silver cylinder and opened the lipstick. She popped her lips.

"Sorry about this," she said, pocketing it again. "But a girl's got to do what a girl's got to…" Before she finished, she kissed him. His face registered shock and then his eyes wavered, unfocused. She rushed forward, lunging headlong into the restaurant, shouting at the top of her lungs. More hands grabbed her. Two waiters and a chef dragged her back out of the restaurant.

"Doctor!" she screamed. "Doctor!"

They pulled her out the entrance, kicking and hollering. The chef let her go to check on the other man, snapping his fingers in his face. "What did you do to him?"

"Oh, it'll wear off in an hour or two." River rolled her eyes. The men stared back at her in horror. She lunged forward and the waiters wrenched her arms back. "Does it really have to be this difficult?" Her hand searched through the air for her gun. Missing.

The waiter on the right handed it, plucked straight off her belt, to the chef who was standing on shaky legs. "Don't move alright?" He pointed it at her, hands trembling. "I don't know what this is or where you got it, but it doesn't take a genius to shoot a gun."

River uncurled her fingers and put out her palms like she'd seen her Doctor do a thousand times. "Just calm down. I'm only looking for my friend."

The chef shifted on his feet, a panicky man. Holding a gun. From the future. "Don't try anything, alright? I'm telling you, don't move." His finger tapped nervously against the trigger. River closed her mouth and held her breath. She couldn't afford to lose her cool. Getting shot would only ruin things to a worse degree.

The left waiter sneezed. River started and the gun discharged, a blaze of light and sound bursting into the air. The chef fumbled with it, surprised, and narrowly managed to keep a hold of it. All four of them flinched at the noise. River bit her tongue, praying that he wouldn't fire again, especially not at a target.

"Give her to the police. They'll know what to do," one of the waiters said.

"No, no, no. You can't." River shook her head. "Please. I'm a friend of the Daniels family, please." The chef looked to the other waiter.

"I don't believe her," he said. River's shoulders collapsed.

"Trust me. You can ask them. Tell the Doctor, River needs him." The three men stared at her blankly, almost as empty as the one from the entrance, head full of hallucinations. The chef pursed his lips, relieved to have another option aside from having to shoot her.

"Take her into the pantry," he ordered. Shreds of dignity and command returned to his voice. "I'll make the inquiry. But," he shook the blaster at River, "you'll be jailed within the hour if you're lying."

River sighed as the waiters hauled her around the back and into the kitchen. She dragged her feet along the street to make it harder for them, but on the tile in the kitchen she only slid. They stuffed her with rigid efficacy in the pantry. River collapsed against one wall, breathing in the moist scent of vegetables and cool air. She was going to have one hell of a time convincing the Doctor of what they needed to do without having to give away his future. Without compromising her past.

It was only a few minutes later when voices entered the kitchen and the door to the pantry flew open. The Doctor stepped inside and the door shut again, both of them now in the makeshift prison. He folded his arms across his chest. He stared River down before he opened his mouth to tell her off.

That was one skill he hadn't lost.

"What the hell was that, River?" he demanded. "A chef comes in carrying your blaster gun and interrupts diner? I don't understand. What are you up to?" River glanced down at the floor where she sat cross-legged and back up.

"It's important," she said.

"You could've been killed. He doesn't know how that thing works. Could've accidently fired it at you and then where would we be? I'm not having you die. I can't lose someone else. Oy! Listen to me!"

River had looked away, staring absently at the vegetables on the racks. She felt like a preschooler being lectured by a professor, the situation out of her control. He continued. "I've lost too much already. I don't even know who you are. Just take your vortex manipulator and get out of here."

"Not forgetting that I saved your life today." River stood up and she directed her gaze right at the Doctor.

"Oh, you stupid ape!" he fumed. "You think that makes it okay? Does that excuse everything else you do? You put yourself in harm's way, and for what? For what?"

"That's what I'm trying to tell you, my love." She reached her hands close to his face, tempted to touch him, and then threw them down in frustration. "I can't go back. My manipulator broke down on me and the TARDIS hardly let me out the doors, much less let me fly her. We're a paradox. You don't know me yet."

The Doctor's eyes narrowed. He uncrossed his arms. "You keep saying that. What does it mean?"

"You meet me in the future, but it's more than that. We meet in the wrong order—your future is my past. Everything is changing. And maybe it doesn't affect you, but now, it's happened for me twice, in two different ways. It's my past, and for all I know, my future too. It's a paradox. The kind that could end the entire universe."

"When do we meet?"

"I can't—" River began.

The Doctor interrupted her. "When, River?"

River spun on her heel in frustration. "Okay, you want to know? You regenerate twice before I see you again."

"Twice?" The Doctor's mouth fell open. "When? How?"

"I can't tell you!" River snapped angrily. She took a deep breath to calm down before she did any damage. "Please. I just need your help. We have to fix this."

The Doctor shook his head. "I don't even know your name," he said, looking away from her. "I don't know anything about you. I can't trust you."

"You don't have to—"

Suddenly, his voice rose to a booming volume. "Everyone I knew died today!" He slammed the pantry shelves with an open hand. The wall rattled. His tone dropped to a deadly whisper and he stepped forward to stare into the heart of River. "So who the hell do you think you are to tell me what I need to do?"

River bit her lip to keep her chin from trembling. It didn't work. She moved back with a shaky step. Her eyes dropped to the ground where tomatoes knocked from the shelving were rolling. She couldn't handle this, she realized. She'd jumped right in without looking where she might land, and now—

Leaning against the door, the Doctor buried his face in his hands.

Now, she had this. He was so emotional. So broken. And River had thought she was doing good. Bless Rose Tyler. River didn't know how she'd dealt with it. Every time she tried anything, he was hurting more than before. A big, giant, mess. To her surprise, not even an earth-shattering paradox would change his mind.

"Regardless," she murmured, wrapping her hand around his arm, "I can't stay." She sniffed, regaining her composure and drew his hands gently away from his face. It couldn't hurt to touch him, she assumed. Things were bad enough already that nothing could make it worse. His eyes shifted up, shimmering. River felt her face soften, remembering how much she cared about him.

"I might know a man who could help… us," the Doctor muttered. His tongue rolled over the pronoun with uncertain distrust.

River released his wrists and walked backward, avoiding the tomatoes on the floor, to give him space. "Where is that, my love?"

He sighed miserably and straightened out of the corner. "On the island of Krakatoa. But it's a long shot." He scrubbed his cheeks. The door opened when he knocked on it and he glanced over his shoulder. "But I suppose it's worth a try." He hobbled out of the pantry.

River's shoulders slumped as she watched him go. "My name," she whispered before she followed, "my name is River Song."