*hides behind a wall* Sorry guys. Life happened. But I haven't given up.

Chapter 4
The Doctor's Protector

"What do you mean she's not supposed to be here?" Amy asked, wide eyes darting around the room in confusion. "And where did they just go?"

"I would assume they're going back to Torchwood," the Doctor murmured, still shocked into near silence.

"What happens to me?" River asked.

The Doctor gave her a sad smile. "I honestly don't know. What she did should bring reapers, and it didn't. I have no idea how she did it, so I'm not entirely sure what the consequences are. You'd have to talk to Rose."

River nodded to herself. "Right." She looked up at the Doctor for confirmation. "You said they went to Torchwood?" He nodded once at her, and she disappeared.

After a long moment of silence, Amy turned to look at the Doctor. "So what do we do with Kovarian?"

As if she had planned it, River reappeared for a moment, only long enough to shoot the woman point blank between the eyes, and then disappeared again.

Without blinking, Rory replied, "Well, I guess River made her choice."

.xoxo.

It had been a week since the battle of Demon's Run. Rose had returned to Torchwood with Jack, Ianto, and Gwen, and had not yet left. Jack promised her a place there as long as she wanted it, so she intended to take him up on his offer.

But she had barely spoken since her return. Sure, casual words here and there. Discussing work was always on the table, but other than that, she was completely closed off, and Jack was beginning to worry about her.

"Rose," he called, stepping outside to the balcony of their shared flat. She spent most of her time out there now, reading during the day, and just staring up at the sky during the night.

She looked up when he called her name, but it was the only response he got. "Are we ever going to discuss this?" he implored. "I know you're dying inside."

"Jack," she sighed. She paused for a long moment, trying to find words. Finally, she started again. "Jack, did you know I've been popping back and forth between the two universes for about a century now?"

The shocked look on his face answered her question.

"I've known how to get back for quite a while. The first time I died in the parallel universe – it's like that activated whatever I am." Her voice took on a wistful tone. "The first time I did it, traveled across the void, I hadn't even meant to. I had just been sitting alone, thinking about the Doctor, wondering what he was doing, wishing things had been different. Next thing I know, I'm in Cardiff, and there's the Tardis, just sitting there and refueling. And my first instinct was to run to him, of course it was. And then I saw the doors open, and a strange man in a tweed jacket pushed two people out, telling them to enjoy the city for the night and that they would be leaving in the morning.

"I talked to the two of them, not that they would remember it. Just bumped into them, made small talk, ya know, introduced myself. I just wanted to see if they knew who I was. But there was nothing. No recognition of my name or who I was. And I realized that the Doctor had moved on – and really, that's okay. It took me a long time to accept that, but I did. Because I can still appreciate what he did for me all those years ago. I don't need him to be fantastic, because dammit, I'm fantastic all on my own.

"I'm going to live forever, Jack. It's a really long time to be alone."

Jack wrapped his arm around her shoulder and hugged her into his side. "You're not alone, beautiful. You're stuck with eternity with me. And Rose Tyler, there is no one I'd rather be stuck with than you." He paused a moment, letting her soak in his words. "Tell you what, Tyler. How about I go and grab us something strong from my liquor cabinet, and we have ourselves a long night that we're probably going to regret in the morning."

She smiled at him, and Jack was relieved to see that it was a true smile this time – one that crinkled her face and made her eyes light up. "That sounds fantastic."

Immediately After Demon's Run

"I've lost count of how old I am. It's been a few hundred years for me." Jack's eyes widened as she answered his question. Rose sat on the sofa in his office, a blanket wrapped around her shoulders and a cup of tea steaming on the table in front of her. "My doctor, er, John, the metacrisis doctor I mean, he didn't last very long. Longer than Donna, I've learned, but only a few months. I assume you know what happened to Donna?" At Jack's nod, she continued.

"John burned out six months later, but it was a slower process. Started with just headaches but progressed to the point where he couldn't even get out of bed. He knew what was happening, of course, and explained it to me. Told me how to fix it to save his life, but there was no way to do it. We didn't have the Doctor.

"I told you I've been coming back and forth for a while now, but I never really stuck around very much. I always came to Cardiff, but at first, I had some serious trouble controlling everything. Once I landed in what I'm assuming was an alternate universe." At Jack's questioning look, she elaborated. "I think I met a regeneration of the Doctor gone wrong. Called himself the Master, but had the Doctor's TARDIS. It was… a rough 18 months for me."

"18 months?!" Jack exclaimed. "I thought you never stayed long!"

"This… Master, whoever it was, found me almost immediately. I couldn't control anything, but he had… for lack of better term, destroyed the TARDIS and could use it to control me." She shivered. "He was fascinated to learn I couldn't die. He took his sweet time exploring every option."

Just as Jack opened his mouth to help fill in the blanks, he heard shouts from his team. He and Rose jumped up and looked out the window to find River standing in front of Gwen and Ianto. The two exchanged looks before sighing and exiting his office to confront her.

"River, pleasure to see you again," Rose called out, walking down the staircase. "How can I help you?"

River held her finger out, indicating for Rose to wait a moment. River disappeared momentarily, and then reappeared. "Sorry. Forgot to do something important." She locked eyes with Rose. "You and I need to have some words."

Rose nodded. "Shall we go for a walk?"

…

As the two walked around Cardiff in silence, River struggled with what she wanted to ask first. And wondered whether or not she could trust this obviously extremely powerful being next to her.

"I'll answer just about anything," Rose said quietly. "And you have no reason to be afraid of me. I'd never hurt the Doctor's wife."

River gave her a small smile. "I'm not exactly his wife anymore, am I?"

Rose shrugged. "You never really were in the first place, at least not in this reality. But in some reality you were. Kind of."

"What brought you here?" River asked abruptly.

"You did," Rose said softly. "I told you. You're call for help reached out to my universe. I couldn't let the Doctor die."

"Why not?" River asked impatiently. "Who are you?"

"On some planets, I was the Doctor's wife," Rose answered, giving her a small grin. "Just depended on what kind of trouble we got ourselves in. But as for what matters, I'm nobody. Clearly I'm nobody."

"But what does that mean?!"

"You're usually the cryptic one. I can tell you don't like it as much when you're not the one who knows more than everyone else." Rose gave a small laugh. "Trust me, it's not all it's cracked up to be. A right headache, actually." After another short pause, Rose finally gave her more. "The Doctor protects the Universe. I'm the one who protects the Doctor. He just doesn't know it."

River decided to let the subject drop, realizing she wouldn't get anymore from Rose. After a few more minutes of silence, River spoke up again.

"So what happens to me now?"

"I can do whatever you'd like. I can make it as though your previous life never existed; I can make everyone forget." River was shaking her head. "I didn't think you'd like that. You will remember what happened. You will begin gaining happy memories of growing up with Amy and Rory as your parents. The same will happen to them, and to the Doctor. For you, from here on out, nothing really changes anyway. It's just about what you remember, and if you want to, you will remember it all."

"I've had enough people messing with my head," River told her. "I'd rather not forget anything else."

Rose nodded. "Understood. If there's anything else you need, you know where to find me. Well, at least, you know the general area. Really, just call and I'll show up."

Without another word, Rose turned and made her way back to the Torchwood hub. River stood and watched her a moment longer before disappearing into the night.