Author's Note:

If you reviewed last chapter, thank you so much - it's always nice to get some feedback from the people reading the story :) Thanks to everyone who's alerted the story too. Okay, onways we go ...

Chapter 14: "Best be off then."

" 'When you love someone, it's never over,' Dr. Carruthers replied gently. 'You move on, because you have to, but you bring him in your heart.' " Elizabeth Chandler

After explaining the situation to Amy and Rory the Doctor took his leave, hugging them both close as their son looked on. This time he didn't promise them he'd come back.

"You've been good friends," he told them, an arm around each. "Keep a close eye on that son of yours. He's going to be something when he grows up, just like his sister."

"Don't do that," Amy begged. "Don't say goodbye like its forever."

"Maybe it is, maybe it isn't," the Doctor tried for casually flippant. "Might as well cover the bases, eh?"

"Can you just be serious for once?!" The Scottish in Amy came out when she was irritated ... which when he thought about it she'd often been. He'd been a trial to her, no doubt about it, unintentionally of course ... well, most of the time anyway.

"Me, serious?" the Doctor laughed. "After so many years you're still asking for the impossible Amelia Pond."

"Doctor," Amy all but stamped her foot.

"Best if I keep it light hearted," the Doctor said quietly, all hints at humour abruptly gone. "Look what happened the last time I decided to get serious about something. You had your baby taken away from you and even the grave isn't far enough away to stop those same people from coming after her. You don't want me to be serious Amy."

Amy turned her gaze on her husband, silent communication between them having Rory turning to the Doctor with a sigh.

"Get word to us when you can. Don't do anything stupid," he instructed, ignoring the way Amy smacked his shoulder. Clearly that wasn't what she'd wanted her husband to say. "Try to help River but if you can't, you get out of there. We don't need to lose another member of the family this week."

"Family," the Doctor smiled. If he'd ever had a family after Gallifrey, the Ponds were it. It was all getting too soppy and touchy feely though and he couldn't have that, especially when his defences were already so low. "Right, best be off then," he announced with forced joviality. "Anthony, look after your parents, study hard and one day you'll be inventing the kinds of things you saw in the TARDIS."

Anthony nodded, not sure exactly what was going on but understanding it meant he'd probably not see the funny man in the blue box again.

"Rory, I don't need to tell you to look after your family. It's what you do best." The Doctor held out a hand and shook Rory's firmly.

"Amy, don't grieve," the Doctor all but ordered, saving the hardest farewell for last. "Think about that imaginary world and all the places River and I could go there, and be happy for us."

"Is that where you're going then, inside the Library system?" Amy quizzed, sniffing as she did her best to hold back tears.

"It's one of the ideas I have," the Doctor allowed. "I'm making this up as I go along and it depends on whether I can get to the Library before Madam Kovarian and her cronies do."

"Can't you ...?" Rory waved a hand vague, indicating something timey wimey.

"Someone has to get there first Rory, and if I don't time it right, it won't be me, and once it isn't me it can't be me, time machine or not."

"See, I understand all those words separately, but not in the order you used them in," Rory complained in that Rory Williams way of his.

"Wibbly wobbly timey wimey," the Doctor grinned. "Don't forget to let Brian know what happened to you all – I might not get the chance to do it myself."

"I'll take care of it," Rory promised.

"Right," the Doctor hesitated for a moment, gave a little nod, and then spun on his heels. He walked swiftly to the TARDIS, opened the doors and stepped inside, all without looking back.

People believed that looking back was a sign of regard; that you couldn't bear to leave without as many last glances as you could fit in. The Doctor knew that true regard was not being able to look back because it hurt too much to see the people you cared about the most watching you walk away from them.

Once at the console, he pushed the emotional parting with his friends aside so that he could focus on what he needed to do next, which was to get to the Library with all possible haste. The TARDIS spun, bouncing through the time vortex before bursting back out into normal space.

Instantly, the psychic paper in his pocket gave him a big jolt. Ripping it out he found it blank. Someone was in trouble, but in such a way that all they could do was think about needing help, but not targeted enough to construct an actual message to him. Leaping to the next control the Doctor tapped out commands, scanning space around him.

There it was, a distress beacon, coming directly from the planet below.

He was too late. The Library had already been breached. A quick scan gave surprising results though – it wasn't the ship he'd visited back at Earth. It wasn't Madam Kovarian. Instead an unknown vessel was already hovering over the planet.

Cursing under his breathe, the Doctor manned the controls, taking the small ship down through the atmosphere to land on a balcony towards the outskirts of the city, far enough out that he could drop in without setting off any alarms.

The one good thing about being beaten to the punch was that whoever was visiting had done a large part of the work for him. The security protocols had already been broken, leaving the Library open for business for any and all who decided to pick that day to stop by.

He'd already taken the liberty of borrowing the solution for the Vashta Nerada he'd overheard. River would laugh when she saw him wearing a low top hat with its own sunlight hovering above. It did its job though, giving him a good foot's clearance all around where the shadows would not be able to encroach. Donning the special hat and patting his top pocket to make sure the sonic screwdriver was in its usual spot, the Doctor made his way cautiously outside.

He couldn't see any signs of activity – probably wouldn't this far out because the other ship was too large to land and was instead in orbit, hovering above the core of the planet. If they had beaming technology then he'd have a job on his hands getting to River before they did. He had to get down to that level too, fast.

Dashing down the stairs the Doctor ran as fast as he could, faster even than the day he'd done this same trip in a different body, with a fully loaded sonic screwdriver clutched in his hand. He rounded a corner and burst into the room with the platform that led straight to the core. Quickly disabling the controls, again as he had that fateful day so long ago, the Doctor leapt, letting the conduit take him downwards at a rapid rate.

He landed hard, a wave of nostalgia and grief sweeping over him when he straightened and the familiar room slammed itself into his senses. It was iexactly the same, down to the wires still connected to the control chair. As reminders went, it was as stark as it got. And he couldn't afford to let it affect him. River needed him, even if she didn't know it yet.

Getting out his sonic screwdriver he aimed it at the courtesy node wearing Charlotte Lux's face.

"Charlotte, can you hear me?" he demanded. The lifeless face remained just that, lifeless, no sign of the little girl who ran everything. More scans of the console revealed why. The planetary lock had been breached by force, enough that CAL had retreated to the segmented partition where she kept her imaginary 'real' life, to protect herself. He couldn't do anything from the outside. He needed to get in there.

Glancing around swiftly the Doctor saw the transport station immediately. It would normally just put him somewhere else in the library, unless he could trick CAL into doing what she'd previously done to 4022 people.

Rushing, his fingers flying, the Doctor entered commands to the security system, locking out all the transporters except the one in the core, which would also be locked out until CAL herself was able to unlock them all from the inside. He made sure he himself could also activate the rematerializer from inside the system – he'd need a way to come back if he had to, at a time of his choosing. He also added some extra protections to hide the separate partition. It wouldn't hold for long but it might buy him enough time to come up with a solution to the current problem.

Running to the transport pad he turned, aimed his sonic at the controls, and hit the button. In a flash he disappeared, reappearing moments later in the middle of a large, green grassed field. He wasn't alone though. Sitting on a park bench directly in front of him was Anita, Charlotte Lux, and River Song, the later immediately rising to her feet.

"What sort of time do you call this?!" she demanded accusingly.