NOTE: Sorry about the long wait. I haven't been feeling all that well. This chapter doesn't thrill me, but it kinda had to happen to bring all the characters on the same page. Or perhaps it doesn't thrill me because I wrote it while feeling so miserable. Either way, I hope it makes for an easier read than it was to write!

Chapter Twelve

"Hello, Sweetie. You look fabulous."

"Of course."

"I wasn't talking to you, Doctor." River clarified. "I was talking to the TARDIS."

"Ah."

Amy chuckled at the Doctor and he shot her a sour glare that did little to curb Amy's mirth. River ran her hand lovingly along the TARDIS door before pushing it open. Even though she didn't spend much time in the TARDIS stepping into the time machine somehow always felt like coming home. Having been born a captive on Demon's Run she certainly never considered the asteroid home, and despite spending her early years on Earth she didn't have the same attachment to it that the Doctor seemed to. Since she wasn't about to call Stormcage 'home' River figured that the TARDIS was as close to a home as she was likely to ever get.

River hadn't even realized how much she had missed the TARDIS until now. Walking up to the console she smiled to herself and readjusted some of the settings that the Doctor had misaligned. With everyone inside she gently set the ancient craft into flight into deep space near her favourite nebula. The Doctor gave River a questioning look, instantly having noticed that they had moved. River shook her head sadly to inform him that they were not heading towards the Crown of Rassilon. Looking defeated the Doctor walked over to the chair near the console and sat down heavily.

Amy hadn't realized that they left Eylsiandia, but it didn't take a keen eye to catch the wordless exchange between the Doctor and her daughter. It was hard to ever know what was 'normal' behaviour when it came to them, but something was definitely off between them this time around. An uncomfortable silence fell over the main chamber that neither River nor the Doctor seemed interested in breaking.

Eventually Rory to step up to Amy and look at her expectantly. She returned his look with a 'what do you expect me to do about it?' expression of her own. Rory encouraged her to break the silence by giving her a nudged towards River. Amy retaliated by giving him a slight push in the Doctor's direction.

"Stop it you two." The Doctor interrupted, rolling his eyes. "River and I aren't having a fight."

"Then what is wrong?" Amy demanded.

"I have something the Doctor wants and I won't give it to him." River explained.

"But don't worry," the Doctor managed a smile "I'll talk her into it."

"Not likely." River teased.

"We'll see about that." The Doctor got up and stalked River around the console. "I can be very persuasive."

"Really?" River asked with a raised eye brow as she reached out and hooked a finger into one of the Doctor's suspenders. "Since when?"

"Remember on Vestra..."

"No, please, stop," Amy begged "I can't take you two being playful with one another right now."

"Yeah, I'm with Amy on this one." Rory added. "Can one of you just please tell us what is going on?"

River looked to the Doctor to explain. He avoided the question by going to the front doors and pulling them open. Amy was about to complain about not getting an explanation when she caught sight of the vivid nebula that lay in view outside the TARDIS doors. Studded with bright stars the oddly hourglass shaped cloud of gas was a beautiful swirl of colour. Everyone joined the Doctor by the doors and enjoyed the majestic view of deep space.

"The Bow Tie Nebula...very funny, River." The Doctor said drily.

"Coolest place in the Universe." River chuckled.

"Any place I go automatically becomes the coolest place in the Universe." The Doctor replied confidently.

"What about that night on Quel that was far from coo..."

"Remember what I said about you two being cute?" Amy reminded the pair.

"Sorry." River apologized and drew Amy into a hug.

"So...now will one of you tell Rory and I what all this running around collecting artifacts and such is about?" Amy demanded.

River lost the mirth that had been in her eyes. She pulled away from Amy and looked to the Doctor once again to explain. Closing the doors the Doctor hesitated to offer an explanation. He looked to River but she just shook her head. The Doctor sighed heavily.

"I'm reconstructing the Matrix." The Doctor admitted.

"The Keanu Reeves movie?" Rory asked confused.

"What? No...I...uh, no, I don't think so. No." The Doctor replied. "The Matrix was a powerful supercomputer on Gallifrey that held all of the Time Lord knowledge, and certain Time Lord memories, even personalities. It could even predict the future to a certain degree. I have a copy of the raw data in my mind, but I need a physical computer to be able to properly accesses it."

"Why?" Amy asked.

"If I opened my mind directly to the vastness of the Matrix information without a computer interface I would be instantly driven insane."

"No," Amy shook her head "I mean why are you reconstruction the Matrix. Clearly River is against it."

"I need it for a few reasons. One of them is to reach Aleena."

"What?"

"It is more than Aleena not calling me that has kept me from going back to check on her. I can not get the TARDIS to fly there no matter what I try. Using the Matrix I may be able to fix that and force the TARDIS to land on the Minyan world."

"Then I'm with River," Amy said firmly "I'm against it."

"Amy..."

"After all these months I can not understand your continued obsession with getting back to that woman." Amy interrupted. "If the TARDIS doesn't want you to go there then I'm fairly certain she has a *good* reason not to! Might have something to do with how you were treated by them the last time."

"It has to be something more than 'fear' keeping the TARDIS from landing on the new Minyan world."

"Are you sure?" Amy asked seriously. "All three of the women in your life don't want you going back there. Maybe you should listen to us."

The Doctor went to look to Rory for support but Rory quickly put his hands up and took a step back. Rory knew better than to let the Doctor drag him into the middle of an argument of this nature. Much to the Doctor's surprise River stepped up to his side to rescue him from her mother.

"It's getting late." River announced to the group. "Let's put all decisions and discussions aside for the night? We can look at everything with fresh eyes in the morning."

Amy didn't agree right away. She eyed the Doctor mistrustfully and in return he beamed at her his most innocent smile. The smile didn't work and Amy crossed her arms over her chest. River stepped over and uncrossed Amy's arms and held her hands with a reassuring squeeze.

"Don't worry," River smiled "I won't let him do anything stupid tonight."

"Promise?" Amy asked with a slight smile.

"It's a big job, but I'll do my best.."

The girls shared a giggle before Amy and River gave each other a good night hug. Amy gave the Doctor a gentle hug before whispering one last word on not making any rash choices concerning Aleena. Rory took Amy's hand and they wandered off to their bed room. River waited until she was sure they were gone before turning on the Doctor.

"More lies, Doctor?"

"I had to." The Doctor sighed. "I shouldn't have even told you the real reason for the Matrix, the more people I tell that I've seen the future the worse the problem becomes."

"True."

"Besides, I do want to get back to Aleena, and I have tried everything." The Doctor said and then suddenly lit up. "Hey, maybe you can fly the TARDIS there."

"Me?"

"I've tried overriding every safety measure I can think of and she just won't even try, but maybe for you it will work"

"Are you finally admitting that I'm better at flying the TARDIS than you are?" River teased.

"No." The Doctor replied indignantly. "Absolutely not. I'm just saying that in this *one* case you might have an advantage over me."

"Whatever you say, Dear." River leaned in and kissed the Doctor's cheek. "But are you sure you want to see Aleena again?"

"I'm worried about her, and I told her I would help."

"Show me when and where."

The Doctor took River's hand and brought her back up to the console. He gave her the coordinates that would take them a month past the due date of Aleena's child. River skillfully set all the coordinates and adjusted the required levers and dials. The coordinates were not difficult ones and it wasn't long before she set the TARDIS into flight. The Doctor looked at the monitors in disbelief.

"It's working."

"Just needed a woman's tou..."

River was cut off as the TARDIS jolted out of the Vortex violently. Thrown forward into the console River was knocked breathless. Managing to stay on her feet she pushed herself away from the console and checked the monitor. The coordinate readings didn't make any sense, she reached up and tapped on the screen to make sure that it was displaying correctly.

"It's almost like we bounced off something." River noted. "Doctor?"

Not getting a response River turned around and found herself alone. It took her a second to look to the glass floor. Sprawled out on the floor the Doctor was just coming back to his senses. River expected him to peacefully wake having perhaps just been dazed from hitting the console however the Doctor jolted awake with a wail of pain.

"Doctor?!"

River dropped to her knees by his side as the Doctor clamped his hand down on his shoulder and cried out again. Under his shirt the Nova Diamond flashed a brilliant white. Having no idea the powerful crystal was under his clothing River jerked back in surprise. The Doctor tried to speak but couldn't find his voice as he gapped for each breath. Having slammed into the console when the TARDIS had jolted he had reopened the Vale Blade wound.

The Doctor had previously tried to keep the injury secret from River, but there was no hiding it now. When bright red blood seeped through his shirt and stained his jacket River pried the Doctor's hand away from the area and tore open his shirt. The original Vale pattern was still etched in faint white scars over his chest but were distinctively different than the purple marks she was used to seeing, but she didn't have time to think about that right now. River was far more concerned with the blood soaked bandage taped to the Doctor's shoulder and the brightly shining necklace around his throat.

"Ohmygod..." River breathed in horror. "Doctor, what is this?"

"Old injury." The Doctor muttered as he struggled to sit up and failed.

"How old? Why didn't you tell me? Why isn't it healing? Is that a Nova Diamond? Why is it glowing? Isn't that right at the Rassilon's Test nerve center?"

Still laying on the floor the Doctor just looked at River wearily.

"Sorry, too many questions." River apologized. "I'll stick to just one: are you actively dying?"

"No."

"Good."

"Did we get to Aleena?" The Doctor asked as he forced himself to sit up.

"No."

"I don't understand, why can't I get to her?"

"Let's not worry about that right now. We need to stop the bleeding."

"Nothing really stops it completely. Just help me up."

"Can you stand?"

The Doctor nodded and with River's assistance he got unsteadily to his feet. River slipped under his right arm to help him walk. She could feel his whole frame shaking with the effort it was taking to move. River expected the Doctor to lead them to one of the medical rooms, but instead they stepped into a room that looked like a deep forest glade with a small deep natural pool. The opaque blue water in the pool had curls of steam rising from the surface.

"This room is new." River noted as the Doctor brought her closer to the edge of the pool. "Very tranquil, I like it."

"The water has salts from the Zenri moon it has natural analgesic properties." The Doctor explained as he gingerly pulled off his ruined jacket and shirt. "Works better than anything else I've found, but it doesn't last forever and I can't spend all day soaking in it."

"So you haven't just been collecting artifacts?" River asked as she helped him with the rest of his clothes.

"No." The Doctor admitted as he crawled into the deep murky warm pool. He disappeared below the surface for a moment before coming back up. "Ah...that is better."

"Let me see."

The Doctor reluctantly came over to the edge where River was kneeling. The cloudy blue water was stained red with blood around his shoulder as it washed the wound clean. He had crouched down so that the water came up to his neck, but when he stood up the water came to just below his chest. River reached out and removed the soaked bandage to take a look at the injury. The still bleeding knife wound held a spider web of gold spiral patterns radiating out from it. The skin around the wound was a deep angry red that was painful just to look at.

"Did Aleena do this to you?" River asked as she she continued to pour the pain relieving water over it.

"Technically Rory did it."

"What?"

River listened to the tale of how the Doctor had ended up stabbed by her father while she tended to the wound with supplies that the Doctor kept near the pool. By the time he was done with the long story River had replaced the bandage with small adhesive strips to hold the wound closed instead and he was ready to get out of the water. One of the near by trees was actually a closet and River got him a towel and change of clothes.

"Do you think the wound would heal if Rory hadn't managed to have hit you in exactly the wrong spot?"

"I honestly don't know, it's another piece of information that I hope to find in the Matrix." The Doctor said as he dried off. "The other Vale Blade wounds healed instantly, this one causes me constant pain."

"You should have told me."

"I didn't want you to worry."

"No, you didn't want me to know that were not only reconstructing the Matrix, but you're doing so in a severely weakened state." River accused. "Controlling the Matrix takes enormous concentration, how can you concentrate when you are always in agony?"

"I'm getting used to being in pain."

"That's not how pain works, my Love, it just wears you down." River said gently. "You are walking around with an open wound to an area specifically designed for torturing a Time Lord."

"No one knows that for a fact."

"I think we know it now." River said seriously. "In any case if you think the Matrix can help you fix this, then you can have the Crown of Rassilon."

"Just like that?" The Doctor asked surprised as he finished buttoning his shirt.

"Of course. I'm not going to let you suffer."

"Thank you."

"See? Sometime just telling the truth up front can make things so much less complicated."

"Don't expect me to make a habit of it."

"I wouldn't dream of it. Come on, let's go get the Crown, it's back at Stormcage."

"Right."

River paused at the weary tone in the Doctor's voice. She could understand it considering everything that he had been through and was currently experiencing, but it was just so different from the high energy manic side of him that she had been dealing with lately. Neither of the personalities seemed quite right, but then again he had always been a little bipolar.

The Doctor and River returned to the main chamber. To River's surprise the Doctor did not go to the controls, rather he went over to the small arm chair and sat down. It wasn't often that he let her fly without a fight, but she decided that he probably wasn't interested in another accident throwing him to the floor again. River landed the TARDIS in a secret spot outside of Stormcage where she had a system set up for getting in and out of the prison.

"All right, I'll be right back." River announced.

"I'll be right here, probably best if I don't come with you."

River nodded her agreement and headed for the doors. As soon as she touched the handles the lights inside the TARDIS darkened and flashed red. The Doctor leapt to his feet as the change in lights was joined by the deep warning bell sound. River turned around in alarm and looked to the Doctor for an explanation. The Doctor rushed to the console and mucked with the display. He suddenly reached up and rubbed at his temples with a growl of pain.

"Doctor?" River asked with concern as she joined him. "What's going on?"

"I don't know, it doesn't make any sense. The console is complaining, and I suddenly have another memory of you not being on Eylsiandia when we arrived to come meet you."

"What are you talking about?"

"I'm remembering it both ways. I think..."

The Doctor suddenly gasped sharply and looked up at River in a panic. He stepped up to her and touched her as if to make sure she was really there. River took a step back when he pulled the sonic out and scanned her. Reading the results he looked at her in horror.

"Doctor, what is going on?" River asked nervously.

"Your past has been rewritten."

"What?"

"Someone is mucking around in your time line, River. Someone is rewriting your past, usually that's a painful experience for someone like you or me, since our time lines are fairly unique in the Universe, but maybe we were in the Vortex when it happened and you were shielded. Even so the consequence of such an action could quickly ripple through all of time..."

"Slow down, Doctor, what are you talking about?"

"River you've become a paradox."

"A paradox?"

"I came to Eylsiandia and brought you back to the TARDIS, but while you were here someone went back further in time and prevented you from going to Eylsiandia and so you weren't there when I went to meet you."

"No. That's not possible, how can I still exist here if I'm a paradox."

"The TARDIS is working overtime keeping you here because of the even large consequences if you are allowed to stray too far outside your fixed timeline. Your time line is very special to me and the TARDIS and she is very interested in protecting it. However, the TARDIS can only do so much."

"So if I leave the TARDIS..."

"This version of you will cease to exist."