A/N-Due to certain suggestions (as addressed in the minisodes "Time" and "Space'), this chapter is rated "T."

Here's the (planned) final instalment of the "The Doctor goes to his friend River for advice, not knowing the Ponds are simultaneously visiting their daughter and learn more about him as a result" mini-series in this series. If you want to read them in the order they were intended (though not uploaded, obviously) it goes like this:

1) Ch. 40 DON'T TRAVEL ALONE 2) Ch. 46 BRAND NEW FACE 3) Ch. 48 YOU WERE A LITTLE GIRL 4) Ch. 43 SEE ME.

Chapter beta'd by the magnificent DragonflyxParodies.

"River! Knew I'd find you here."

"Oh, you did not, Doctor," River said with a grin and a fond shake of her head as she climbed from a deep hole in the ground out onto the violet landscape. He was sat casually in a chair in front of the TARDIS, tossing a rubber ball into the air.

"Sure I did. Karass Don Slava—biggest archaeological dig of the 45th Century. Who else would be qualified to lead the way? Careful with the pollen here, though. Nasty stuff," he commented, glancing around pointedly.

"Wonderful compliment, my love. And thanks for the warning, even though I've already told you time and again just how dangerous it can be.

"No you haven't!" he argued petulantly, missing the ball and as a result juggling it from hand to hand until he caught it again.

"Well, I will have done," she commented, dusting off her clothes before putting her hands on her hips, taking him in properly. Still in the tweed, eyes young and slightly aloof with her. She reached behind her for her journal, noting he didn't yet have one. "So, where are we?" she asked. She began flipping pages, about to suggest something he might have done.

However, before she could speak he opened his mouth. "So, I took your advice."

She raised her eyebrows at him, even though his attention was still, a little too thoroughly, on the ball.

"I took Amy to talk to Rory."

River nodded, closing the journal as she realised why he'd come.

"And?"

"Well... now she's brought the boyfriend along. What am I supposed to do with a boyfriend?" he moaned, finally looking at her with uncertainty in his eyes.

"I think it's what she wants to do with him, Sweetie," River quipped, a smirk playing at her lips.

He harrumphed indignantly.

River crossed her arms, raising one eyebrow at him perceptively.

"What's wrong, Doctor? Don't like him already?" Despite her teasing tone, he looked away from her, clearly pouting.

"He didn't say it, River."

"What?" she asked, moving his legs and prodding him until she could squeeze herself onto the chair as well. She smiled elatedly when he didn't protest, even accepting how snugly they fit together.

"When he came into the TARDIS, he didn't say it." His lip jutted out pathetically and River actually snorted when she finally caught on to the cause of his sulk.

"Oh, is the big bad Time Lord upset because someone wasn't impressed with his bigger-on-the-inside ship?" She nudged his shoulder playfully.

"They're always impressed, River! Must be something wrong with him." He looked away pensively.

"Or maybe you're just not as extraordinary as you think you are, Doctor."

He scoffed at her in disbelief.

"Of course I am."

"Tell that to the boyfriend."

"Rory," he spit out, as though it were a foul taste in his mouth.

"Rory," she repeated, not letting her fondness for her father edge into her tone.

"What if she leaves, River?" the Doctor asked in a small voice.

"Do you think she will?" she hedged sympathetically.

"I don't know," he sighed.

"Does she want to?" He looked at her then, a small smile on his face as she cut through to the heart of his problem, before it wistfully faded away.

"I don't think she knows," he responded, his expression torn and weary. River laid her head on his shoulder, offering the tactile comfort he so often craved in this body.

"You can only play Peter Pan for so long, my love. Someday, you'll need to accept that Wendy has to grow up." He sighed again, huffing a small laugh into her hair as he laid his chin on her head.

"But can I keep her if she wants to stay in the Never Never Land with me?" he asked quietly.

"Hmm. Only if you accept she needs to decide when to leave. Or, more than likely, convince Rory to come along as well."

"Pirate," he muttered at last. She laughed at him, grabbing his hand and kissing it before standing and helping him up.

"Go on," she told him, turning him back to his ship. "Go learn about sharing, Doctor. I have a dig to get back to."

He huffed resignedly, then looked at her in assessment, giving her a light pat on the head before teasing her with a mischievous grin on his face.

"You might also want to consider showering, Doctor Song." He snapped his fingers and the doors opened behind him. "That hair of your is full of pollen. Might take ages to get it all out!" He pointedly dusted off his clothes and grains of it blew every which way.

She glared at him as he chuckled and turned toward his ship.

"Doctor!" she growled, shaking her head enthusiastically in defiance of jibe at her hair.

"See you soon, Doctor Song."

She simply rolled her eyes at him. "Oh, you hope you will, Sweetie."

Still glaring as the TARDIS took off, she huffed before hearing a shallow, "Hey, River—can we come up yet?"

She looked down into the deep hole in the ground next to her.

"Sure, Dad. He's gone."

Amy laughed at her expression when she finally made her way up.

"He does have a point you know, you do have quite a bit of pollen in your hair," Amy remarked as she reached over and gently brushed some of it out.

"Of course I have pollen in my hair! Candle Meadows. Meadows. Pollen. This is obviously your fault, Mother," she lamented grumpily, as she leant her head back and gave her hair another shake before giving up the cause as lost.

"Why my fault?" Amy asked, bewildered even as she continued giggling.

"Genes. Somehow, someway—this is because of you. And...you're the reason the Doctor keeps coming and distracting me."

"Was the reason. And—genes? That's really what you're going with?" Amy asked dryly, crossing her arms over her chest as she looked at River. They stared one another down for a moment longer, before River gave a decisive nod of her head.

"Yes."

Then they simultaneously looked at Rory, who was studiously gazing at the sky, ignoring them.

"Rory!" the two women huffed at him with matching, playful annoyance in their tones.

Finally, he looked at both of them, then turned on his heel.

"Come along Wendy, Tinkerbell. Let's get cleaned up." He put a conciliatory arm around each of them as they walked back to the camp. "If it makes you feel any better, River—I happen to know that your hair and that pollen got its own revenge on your Peter Pan."

Then he turned to smile a knowing smile at his wife, glad that when she had finally made her choice, she had chosen him to go with her through Never Never Land.

"So, I had to deactivate the device, release all the prisoners, and rewire the planet's core all in the time it took for the Doctor to free himself from the magnetised handcuffs."

"Which you put him in."

"Details, Father dear. Small details," River argued with a smirk, taking another sip of wine, relaxing with her parents at their house.

Her smile widened as she gave them time to process her story, then she turned back to Rory again, prompting him into their game.

"Okay, Dad. Your turn. One of the most difficult things you've ever had to do, let's hear it."

"Yeah!" encouraged Amy, readjusting herself to face her husband fully, anticipation in her expression as she expectantly held her glass in front of her mouth again.

Rory's ears grew slightly pink as he took one more sip of wine, looking between the two women and taking a deep breath.

"Okay... so this one involves keeping Amy safe in the Pandorica," the two women nodded sympathetically, quietly trying to gage where he was headed, "Vikings," they both sat up, now very excited, "and Jack Harkness..."

...

"But how did you manage to drag the Pandorica back onto the ship?" River asked, breathless from laughter.

"It was already on there from when they tried to carry it off," Rory continued. "The real trick was keeping them distracted long enough to get away."

"And how did you do that?" prodded Amy, face red as she listened to her husband's story.

"Well, Jack was wearing this..."

...

"I'll have to ask Jack if he still remembers how to do that," River remarked, impressed when Rory finally finished his tale. Amy was looking at Rory as though he were the most amazing man she'd ever seen, her smile wide as she finally caught her breath, and he preened at her admiration before leaning over to kiss her. Amy raised her glass, and they toasted Rory's story.

"Okay, Amy. Now it's your turn." Rory encouraged, when they'd all calmed down a bit.

"Well," Amy proclaimed, mischievously, "mine tops them all." River and Rory both turned to her, their eyes bright with excitement and anticipation.

"One word. Labour." At their incredulous faces, she smirked victoriously and took a sip of her wine.

"That—that's cheating!" accused Rory when he'd processed her words.

"Labour?! That's what you're going with?" River asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Big head. Small body," Amy demonstrated to her daughter with her hands.

"Yeah, but-" Rory protested.

"How many people have you pushed out of you lately?" Amy cut off her husband, who admittedly, couldn't answer this. "I created a person."

"That can't count," River said sceptically.

"Are you, or are you not here?" Amy challenged resolutely.

River rolled her eyes. "Obviously, but-"

"And would you be if it weren't for my very amazing feat of making you?" Amy continued pointedly.

Rory and River exchanged a look, knowing they'd never be able to argue with that one.

"You win," they both conceded begrudgingly, simultaneously sipping their wine in defeat. Amy grinned in triumph.

"I know," she sang.

Still thinking of a way to beat her mother at this game, River started when she felt the tablet in her pocket indicate a message. Reading it, her eyes widened before she typed into it abruptly.

"Mum, Dad, go into the other room. Please." At her expression, they nodded and grabbed their glasses, and with a practised ease swiftly turned aside any photos or personal give-aways that might contain spoilers for the incoming Time Lord.

All too soon, with the familiar landing of the TARDIS, River gazed intently as the doors opened and the Doctor trudged out, looking down and grief in every line of his face.

"Doctor?" River asked hesitantly.

He looked at her, such sadness in his eyes that River wanted nothing more than to comfort him, but she didn't know where they were yet and she held herself still as she waited for a cue.

"River," he croaked out, and sounded so broken and pleading that she immediately ran to him and gathered him in her arms.

He held onto her tightly, breathing her in as he tried to pull himself together.

She pulled back, searching his lost eyes as she cupped his face.

"What happened, Sweetie?" she asked tenderly.

"He's gone, River," he told her, "He jumped in front of the gun and then it took him and now he's gone."

She nodded, accepting his embrace as he pulled her tightly to him once more.

"Who, my love?"

"The boyfriend. Rory. There's... well, she can't remember him. Can't even remember he ever existed. And I had to leave him, River! He saved my life and I had to leave him behind to save her! She begged me to fix it and I couldn't. I dragged her away! My little Amelia was screaming and crying and I took off! And Rory. He... he really was a good man, River. He didn't deserve that. And now... it's like he was never even there at all." With this he pulled away from her, dejectedly pulling a ring box from his pocket and staring at it in remorse.

"That's- that doesn't make any sense, Doctor," River said, timelines crossing and uncrossing and recrossing in her mind, momentarily puzzling her as they worked themselves out.

"Oh, of course there are still traces of him in the universe," the Doctor spat angrily, now tossing the ring box back and forth between his hands and pacing restlessly.

"I'll say," River commented dryly, unable to share the as of yet private joke before once more being swept up in her husband's misery.

"But Amy, River. Have you ever... I hurt her. And now… I can't ever take that back. And worst of all, she doesn't even know it. Donna all over again."

"No—no it's not Donna, Doctor. This wasn't your fault. Don't take this one too."

"You didn't know him, River. He would've loved her… forever."

"I know Amy, Doctor. And I promise you this… she'll be okay. She will be okay."

He sat on the sofa, sighing miserably while she sat down to join him.

"I suppose you're right. But still… one of the hardest things I've ever had to do—watch her fall apart and hope that I could keep her together, knowing that it was my fault she'd broken in the first place."

She looked down momentarily, then embraced him once more.

"I'm going to tell you something, Doctor. Something you won't accept for a long, long time."

He looked at her pleadingly, and she sighed as she gently caressed his face.

"You won't always be able to save Amy. And—you won't always have to."

He stared at her uncomprehendingly, not yet aware of Amy's ability to find her Rory no matter what, to survive when everything around her fell apart, to live without her Raggedy Man—and to never need him as much as he needed her. River tried to convey part of her mother's strength to the Doctor through a sympathetic look alone, knowing she was once more condemned by the limits of knowledge and time.

He stared at her for a moment more, before turning and looking at something over her shoulder.

Then he nodded, and a slow smile made its way across his face, belied by the sadness in his eyes.

"Well," he said, patting her hand and cheering up infinitesimally, "I'd better go make it up to her, eh?"

And with that he pulled reluctantly out of her embrace, taking a fortifying breath before standing up straight and marching determinedly towards the TARDIS.

"How can you be so sure, River?" he asked in a small voice as he paused at the door.

"Spoilers," was all she was able to offer.

When Amy and Rory came back into the room it was to stand with River in front of the painting which had drawn the Doctor's eye. As they stared at the sunflowers on the wall, they were all three plagued by silence. Somehow, their competitive little game wasn't as fun any more.

"Your parents are a menace! I don't know why I let them back on my ship!" the Doctor exclaimed as he barged into River's newest house, groaning miserably.

"Because you missed them and need someone to 'ooh and ah' at everything you do."

"Well, I- that's what I have you for!" he maintained petulantly.

"No, my love. You keep me around to have someone to 'ooh and ah' over."

"Not always," he argued in a low voice, full of resigned agreement.

"Hmm." She studied him, a smile on her face, before she leant forward and kissed him hello. He grinned and kissed her back.

"Doctor-" she whispered after a few moments.

"Mmm?" he inquired, still chasing her lips.

"You were telling me why my parents are a menace on your ship."

"Right," he said, still lost in the fairly new sensation of kissing his wife. Then, he remembered himself. "Right!" he huffed, pulling back and putting his hands on his hips. "So, the TARDIS parked inside itself."

"What?!" River shrieked, a pang of sympathy for the Old Girl running through her.

"Yeah—because Rory dropped the thermo couplings."

"How?" She winced, a bit surprised at her father's carelessness.

"He was…" at this, the Doctor became very interested in one of River's "paperweights."

When he refused to meet her eye, she nudged him again. "Sweetie?" Then he flushed, embarrassed, as he turned toward her, cheeks slightly red.

"Amy was standing above him, wearing a skirt. He looked up... glass floor…"

River valiantly tried putting a hand over her mouth to stop the very obvious snort that came out, before giving up all pretext and simply bending over and laughing uncontrollably.

"This isn't funny, River! We were almost trapped for all eternity!"

She wiped her eyes, then shook her head at him fondly.

"Oh, Sweetie, do I have to remind you of some of the trouble we've gotten into when you were the one below and I was the one wearing a skirt?"

He gaped at her, trying unsuccessfully both to give her a stern look and to not smile and blush at the memories.

"That's—that's completely different!"

"Is it, my love?"

"Yes! You and I were the only ones in danger. And it's not exactly like you complained about being trapped," he reminded her, his voice dropping in reminder.

"Hmm. Never would have, Sweetie," she purred back at him, cupping his cheek and grinning unabashedly. He smiled down at her, taking her hand in his own and kissing it, meeting her eyes in a rare, newlywed, sentimental moment, unconsciously swaying with her side to side.

"Doctor?" she whispered again.

"River," he answered just as quietly.

"Where did you leave my parents?"

"Dropped them off home for a bit. Why?" he asked, brow furrowed.

River smiled slyly up at him, pulling herself close to him, brushing his messy hair from his eyes as their movements became more and more recognisable as slow dancing.

"Well... I have all this work I'm meant to be doing. Perhaps instead I can take a break and show you there are worse things than being stuck in a time loop on the TARDIS."

His eyes lit up, then he dipped her, kissing her cheek as he pulled her back up and they both laughed. He twirled her and swayed with her until they made their way back inside his ship, his TARDIS beginning to take off then abruptly pausing and remaining mid-dematerialisation.

Suddenly, an older Amy and Rory poked their heads in the door, looking for the Doctor and their daughter. Seeing the fluctuating movements of the half-there TARDIS, they gave each other a look, then shook their heads.

"I don't know where they get it from," quipped Amy, scolding remark belied by the amused grin on her face.

"Yeah," agreed Rory. "Those two together are a menace." Then he wrapped his arm around her shoulder, kissing her on the forehead before they headed back out the door.

PS- If someone wanted to actually write that story with Jack... please do so, then let me know!

This also owes some inspiration to Kerjen's amazing story Yes, Mother in the middle.

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