Super excited 'cos I got revies and they were nice... which inspired me to post this chapter in two parts ('cos the second part might not get finished until after the weekend.

Repercussions

Tick tock goes the clock, she's killed him now for sure
Tick tock goes the clock, until it ticks no more.

Dr River Song ran. She'd been running for over a year, ever since she'd been deposited by Madame Kovarian back into her office, wearing her academic regalia. She ran harder and faster than she'd ever run in her life. And she'd spent most of her life running.

She knew who was chasing her this time, which was a first. Not the nameless ephemeral fear which she'd fled through much of her childhood, but a tangible pursuit from law enforcement, the Time Agency who had somehow perceived that River Song, in this time, was the now the person who had killed the Doctor.

She remembered that she had killed him. The Doctor, her saviour, was dead.

Maybe she would meet him again… in fact she must meet him again, or he would never have known who she was.

But right here, right now, he was dead, and River Song had killed him.

He had given her back her life. Given her an identity other than made-to-measure psychopath. Pointed her to a direction in her life, had indirectly led to her discovery of archaeology, a field she found endlessly fascinating. He was her parent's great friend. He'd been the first man to propose marriage to her, even if it had been done to give her a reason to stay alive.

And now she'd killed him.

River Song ran.

River Song was pursued.

But it wasn't the Time Agency she ran from.

"Well now," River exhaled, "Who on earth are you?"

River Song knew the answer before she asked. It was one of her personal rules: in a critical situation never ask a question you don't already know the answer to. Unless you desperately need the information; or a distraction. In this case, although she already knew the answer, she was playing for time, just a few seconds to implement her plan. So she asked the question.

She watched in the mirror as the man squared his shoulders and straightened his back. "Time Agent Harkness, I'm here to arrest you for…"

"Really?" River drawled. She touched up her lipstick, then turned to face him, leaning back against the counter. "Do you often come into the ladies rest room to accost dangerous fugitives?"

"It's my duty…" Agent Harkness began.

"Now, other forms of accosting in rest rooms, those I can easily imagine," River smiled, winked, and carefully moved her leg so that just a hint of her garter was showing through her split skirt. "Tell me, does the time Agency only employ incredibly handsome, virile young agents?"

"Well," the young Agent blushed slightly, his eyes fixed on River's thigh. "There are certain standards for admission..."

"I'm sure there are," River sauntered forward, speaking in a husky voice and keeping her eyes firmly locked on the time agents lips. "And I'm sure you exceed every single one of them."

"Actually," the Agent tried to look modest, but was clearly more than interested in the gorgeous woman who was making a pass at him. "I was top in all my classes."

"Hmm," River stepped in close, invading her personal space. "I bet you just love being on top."

"I'm pretty flexible about that," was all Agent Harkness managed to say before River closed in, pressing her lips to his. For a moment he kissed her back fervently, then suddenly stopped and looked around in confusion. "How did I get here? It's so beautiful."

River smiled, then whispered into the bemused Agent's ear "There's a fabulous spa just over there, maybe you should take of your clothes and hop in with me."

"I like the way you're thinking," the Agent said, carefully stripping naked then reaching out for River's hand. "Let's go."

"You jump in while I slip out of this dress," River whispered. Then she watched the Agent walk over to the plush couch, and carefully climb on top.

"This is heaven," he sighed. "All that's missing is you."

"Here I come," River bent over and picked up the Time Agent's vortex manipulator. Time Agent Jack Harkness was left enjoying his hallucinatory hot tub alone while River Song strapped the manipulator to her wrist, entered new coordinators and activated it.

River Song looked around the dimly lit bar, trying to fit each patrons face ot the description she had been given: humanoid, obese, male, bald, sad, wearing rich robes. Nothing, no-one fit the description at all. That was the trouble with the black-market information trade, there were no guarantees that the information was correct. She decided to walk around the bar once. Maybe her contact was hidden in a dimly lit nook or corner. But no, despite finding a felinoid and a Silurian in a highly compromising position, witnessing two drug transactions and what appeared to be an illegal weapons buy, there was still no sign of the man.

River sighed in resignation, then reluctantly approached the bar, sliding onto a vacant stool. When the bar tended came over she ordered a single-malt Terran scotch whiskey, then laid a hundred credit note on the bar, but kept her finger-tips on the currency. The barman looked at the note greedily, then smiled at River questioningly.

"I'm looking for a man called Doriam," River said quietly. "Is he here?"

The bartender smiled. "Of course he's here, he's always here." He pointed to a man sitting by himself at a corner table. "I don't know why he doesn't just buy this place, he does all his business here."

River lifted her fingers from the credit note and smiled. "Bring over a glass of whatever he's drinking, and keep the change." She picked up her drink and walked over to meet her contact.

"Miss Song," the fat blue man rose to his feet and welcomed her to his table. "Am I really so hard to find? Even in a place like this I normally stand out from the crowd."

River grimaced wryly as she sat down. "You certainly are unique Mr Maldovar, but much harder to recognise when the translation software substitutes the word 'sad' in place of 'blue'."

Doriam laughed, a hearty chuckle that rose up from his substantial belly. "Sad? Me? No wonder you looked lost Miss Song."

"It's Dr Song actually, River corrected. "Doctor is a wonderful title, once people hear it no-one ever asks if you're married. Makes it perfect for a woman making her own way in the world."

"It also gives one a certain status I expect," Doriam observed. "So, Dr Song, what is a woman like you doing in a disreputable establishment like this, talking to a man like me?"

"Really, Mr Maldovar, I'm sure you checked me out as carefully as I did you, so you already know that I'm on the run from the law, accused of murder, and that I've come here to trade for your assistance."

"Very business-like, Dr Song. But why do you need my help, and what can you have to offer me?" the blue man linked his fingers patiently. He loved making deals.

River pulled a slender chain from around her neck and removed a delicate gem encrusted ring. She glanced at it fondly before offering it to Doriam.

"Very pretty, Dr Song," Doriam took the ring, looked at it critically, then placed it in the centre of the table. "I suspect, however, that whatever you want is going to cost a lot more than just a pretty ring."

"Naturally," River said amiably. "But that isn't just a pretty ring. It's part of a sympathetically linked set which includes a necklace, bracelet, earring and coronet. A person with psychic ability can hold any one piece and know the location of the rest of the treasure."

"And you have the whole set?" Doriam asked greedily.

"No," River corrected primly. "It's even better than that. This ring came from the treasure vault of the Tsars of New Russia. The treasures were hidden during the Feold revolution. They've been lost ever since. The rest of the set is still there, with this ring you'd hold the location to the entire treasure."

Doriam swallowed nervously. "This is a handsome reward Dr Song, what will it cost me?"

"Information Mr Maldovar," River smiled enigmatically. "I need you to hace the archives of the Headless Monks and the Order of the Silence. This piece of paper," she slid it across the table, "Has a list of all the things I need to know."

Doriam read the list, then looked at River curiously. "Archaic spacesuit schematics, time-space coordinates, bsae locations. What are you up to Dr Song?"

"Who, me?" River tried to look innocent, tucking her wayward hair behind her ears. "Nothing much, I'm just going to change the history of the universe."