At 6 o'clock, the Tardis materialized in Dean's motel room. Why they couldn't just stay in the Tardis like normal people, the Doctor didn't understand.
Sam stopped short as they got out of the Tardis. The Doctor squeezed his way around him and laughed. Well, that was certainly unexpected.
River got out and said, "I told you we should've called first."
Sam asked loudly, "Well, how long has this been going on?"
Cas jumped, startled from his sleep.
Dean just sighed, "Good morning to you, too, Sam."
An awkward silence filled the space that just got on every fiber of the Doctor's nerves. He clapped his hands together and said, "So, Purgatory today. Let's go, up and at em, allonsy, rise and shine. Whatever you prefer."
Dean slipped his arms out from around Cas and got up, pulling his friend up with him. They walked past Sam into the Tardis.
Sam said, "We are talking about this later, Dean."
Dean rolled his eyes as the Doctor said, "As long as talking about it is on your time. Now, Purgatory. How do we get there?"
River whacked the Doctor's arm. "Be nice," she said, "This is obviously new. Let them work it out."
"Spooning with Cas?" Sam asked, "I can't say I'm surprised, and it's about damn time, but when did this even happen?"
"Last night," Cas answered.
"So, what? Are you guys a thing now?" Sam asked, still clearly perplexed.
The Doctor paced over to the Tardis console as he waited for them to wrap up their melodrama.
Dean grabbed Cas' hand and said, "Yeah, we're together."
River nudged the Doctor. "Tell me that's not adorable," she said.
"Ah, yes, young love," the Doctor deadpanned, "Is that what you're looking for?"
"Do you remember when I kissed you the first time?" River asked, "How shocked you were when I did it? Have a little empathy, Doctor."
The Doctor sighed. He didn't know these people quite well enough to care, but Cas and Dean were sort of cute together he supposed.
Sam seemed to recover from his shock, but the dumbstruck look returned when he saw Sherlock and John cuddled up together on an air mattress under the stairs leading to the console.
"Is everybody hooking up around here?" Sam asked, "Did I miss something?"
John stretched in his sleep. Sherlock shifted to compensate for the motion.
The Doctor motioned over to them and said to River, "Now, that's adorable."
River said quietly, "You're adorable. They just fell asleep like that." The Doctor tried his hardest not to blush and give her the satisfaction.
Gabriel popped in from somewhere and said, "Someone said something about hooking up? What's going on?" He took in his surroundings and bounced his eyebrows at Sam, "It's feeling like Noah's ark in here. How bout it, Sammy?"
Sam rolled his eyes and pulled out an old piece of paper from his pocket. He handed it to the Doctor.
"This is the spell Cas used to access Purgatory. It's really specific, though. It has to be the right day and the right conditions," Sam said.
The Doctor nodded and looked at the drawing. The spell, if analyzed, could probably give them coordinates to some sort of portal, but it would take a while. The sigil, however, was all the direction he needed. It wasn't written in Gallifreyan, but it was very close. The Tardis could translate it easily.
"Alright, next stop, Purgatory," the Doctor said. He scanned the sigil, input the coordinates, and whisked them off to the inhuman afterlife.
Before walking out the door, the Doctor said, "Everyone stay inside the Tardis. I'll just set the location and be right back."
"We'll be right back," River corrected, beating the Doctor to the door. It was no use arguing with her.
"Watch your backs out there," Dean said, "They can sense when something's out of place. Monsters will be gunning for you the second you open those doors."
River pulled her gun from her thigh holster and held it in front of her with a wink at the Doctor as they walked out into what seemed like a colorless forest. John and Sherlock had just woken up and everyone else had been here before, so there didn't seem to be much to worry about.
"So, what are we going to do about us?" River asked. There wasn't anything to worry about with the exception of that.
"I haven't the faintest idea what you're on about, River," the Doctor tried.
"Liar," she said, looking past the Doctor into the surrounding woods, "We've never been on the same timeline before. Doesn't it scare you?"
It did a bit. Given their mutual access to time travel, though, they could easily slip up their time streams again.
The Doctor ignored her and tried setting the vortex manipulator. Something was wrong. It wouldn't work.
"It won't pick up the coordinates," the Doctor said.
River sighed, "You're too close to the Tardis. She's interfering with the manipulator's sensors. Come on."
Why was that woman always right? The Doctor followed her further into the quiet woods.
"Are you still upset with me for not being dead?" River asked.
"No," the Doctor said, "I was never mad about you being alive, I just don't like the idea of magic. Everything has to have an explanation. You know that."
River sighed, "Oh, good. I was starting to worry."
River seemed tense, and the Doctor started to get the sense that he was the cause. They continued into the trees. A branch snapping caught River's attention, the Doctor's wife training her gun towards the sound. The Doctor set the coordinates now that they were far enough away from the Tardis' energy field.
"What are your plans for after this?" the Doctor asked tentatively.
As they headed back towards the Tardis, River asked, "What do you mean?"
The Doctor hopped awkwardly over a log rather than tripping over it. "I mean," he said, regaining his footing and ignoring the look she gave him, "After we've sorted this angel nonsense, are you going to go off and have your own adventures, or are you going to stay in the Tardis with me?"
"What kind of question is that? Of course I'll stay with you," she said, still scanning the trees.
"Well, last time I offered you sort of declined the offer since we're both psychopaths and it's too much for one Tardis or something like that," the Doctor said.
River held up her hand for him to be quiet as she listened for other noise.
She turned around and looked at him sternly. "I only said no, because I wouldn't be your companion for as long as you would need. No more regenerations make for a very difficult time travelling with you," River explained.
"And you died," he said, "We all see how permanent that was."
She sighed, "I knew you were still upset about it." She walked faster towards the Tardis, blonde curls bouncing with frustration.
The Doctor ran to catch up to her and said, "That's not what I meant."
"What I meant," River said, "Is that I have my regenerations back, so I have no qualms about following you to the ends of the universe."
"You what?" the Doctor asked, perplexed.
River stared at the Doctor like he was the biggest idiot she'd ever met. He looked at her and noticed for the first time that she did seem to stand out from the standard flow of time he usually saw everywhere else.
Maybe it was the fact that several of their new companions also were unaffected by time, or maybe he was the biggest idiot River had ever met.
"You have all of your regenerations," the Doctor said, "How is that possible?"
"I figure it's got something to do with the resurrection. Brand new time lord, brand new regeneration cycle," River said.
Something rushed at them from the treeline, and River spun quickly, shooting it in the head.
"Run," she said. Two fanged, humanoid creatures blocked them from safety. One of them hissed and managed to dodge a bullet from River Song. More creatures emerged from the woods, surrounding the time lords. River and the Doctor went back to back. The Doctor pulled out his sonic screwdriver, but it was all but useless against these things.
"How many bullets do you have?" the Doctor asked.
River sighed, "Not enough."
As the creatures started encroaching, one of their heads were lobbed off. Sam and Dean, armed with blades, took care of the assailants. Before any other creatures could attack, they raced back to the Tardis, the Doctor snapping the doors open so they could run inside. Quickly, he did a headcount and saw that all of his companions had, for once, listened to him, and were all present and accountable. "You're welcome," Dean said, wiping the blood from his machete on his sleeve. All but Sam and Dean had stayed put, but the Doctor was rather glad they didn't listen. "Thanks," the Doctor said absently. He couldn't believe River could outlive him now.
River said, "Don't worry, sweetie. You'll never be rid of me." The Doctor grinned at her, making her smile in return.
The Doctor jumped quickly to the Tardis console, tossed the vortex manipulator to Dean, and said, "Let's go trap a weeping angel, shall we?"