The Doctor smiled thinly at Anthony as he handed him Brooke's bigger-on-the-inside suitcase. "River put a ton of clothes in there. She'll be fine. I'll be back tomorrow."

Georgia bounced Brooke higher on her hip. "Any special Time-Lord instructions?"

"Oh, yeah," The Doctor said, "she likes playing the Wii. She can read, and I packed a couple Galifreyan and maybe an English book in there. Don't read them to her. She gets annoyed. River made her several bottles of milk and put them in your fridge. If she doesn't have enough for some crazy reason, her digestive system can probably take smoothies and finely crushed food by now. And don't buckle her into a stroller. Or a car seat. She'll unlatch it. Just tell her she needs to stay put, and she will. We've already talked about that." He paused, taking a breath. "I'll be back tomorrow, Brooke." He leaned over and kissed her temple.

He patted Anthony on the shoulder. "Did you tell River goodbye?" He asked softly.

Anthony raised an eyebrow but nodded. "Yeah. Why?"

The Doctor shook his head, as if to clear the thoughts clouding his  mind. "Just wondering. See you."

With that, he turned and left the house.

Georgia eyed the door for a moment after he left, then turned to Brooke.

"So. . . you like playing the Wii?"

-----------

Darillium. October 26, 3748. 

"This is beautiful." She murmured, resting her head on his shoulder. "We should've come before."

He bit his lip and rested his cheek on her curls. "No, I don't think so."

"I don't  see why not. This is just amazing, dear."

He sighed and searched his memory, hoping to find that the River he'd met at the Library had somehow not mentioned him crying. No, she had. And his resolve was quickly fading as the night went on.

Without his permission, water that had pooled in his eyes fell and landed in her hair.

His eyes darted down, hoping she hadn't noticed.

She did.

 "What's wrong, my love?" She asked, running a hand over his cheek. "You alright?"

He choked back a whimper that was threatening to escape the more he let his thoughts run wild. "Yeah. Sorry. Fine. You're just. . ." he placed his hand over hers on his face, "you're the most amazing and beautiful and perfect woman I've ever met." He did a mental facepalm. When did he get sappy?

Her eyes grew a glint of suspicion. "Doctor, what's going on?"

"Nothing, nothing." He shook his head. "I just don't want you to forget that."

She nodded, though he could tell she wasn't satisfied, and went back to watching the towers sing.

The rest of the night went by quickly, too quickly. He gave her the screwdriver. He'd put two things in it- the neural relay and a message. He didn't know which his younger incarnation had put in the Library. He didn't understand what had happened. She was in the mainframe, yes. He knew that much.

But when she'd plugged those cables in, her body was gone. Vanished. River had done something, and it wasn't just sacrificing herself. So he put both in there and hoped for the best.

He cried silently throughout, and she didn't comment. He didn't let go of her at all, keeping contact in hopes he'd never have to let her leave.

It didn't work.

He woke up the next morning beside her, of course, and gently wrapped his arms around her bare stomach, making sure she didn't wake. She didn't, not for a while, but an hour later she pulled away.

He shot up, shaking his head frantically. "No, River, get back into bed." He tried to sound teasing, and either it worked or she ignored the slight edge of panic that was barely audible.

"Sweetie, you know that I don't usually object to that sentence, but last night was plenty of that, and I've got to get on that shuttle." She replied, pulling on her underwear and speaking firmly.

"No. River, no. Please. Just a little bit longer. I've got a time machine."

She turned to him, hands on her hips.

"Yes, you do. And I've got an expedition to go on and a husband who thinks I'll do whatever he wants, including staying in bed all morning when I've tended to his needs already last night!"

"I don't. . ." he began, "that's not what I mean. Just- sleep a little bit longer?"

"No." The answer was firm, and there was  a sense of finality she was sure to include. She pulled on a tank top and a pair of shorts. "Now, you can bring me there and kiss me goodbye, or pout like a baby and I'll fly her there. The date last night was great, I told you that, but I do have things to do. You know that. We've already agreed I can do expeditions."

He swallowed thickly. "Alright. I'll fly her there."

"Good." She reached onto her bedside table and grabbed a blaster- the squareness gun, he noticed.

He stood up and got clothes on slowly, watching as his wife checked the gun and grabbed her psychic paper.

---------

Dropping her off was probably the hardest thing he'd ever done. She wasn't wearing the suit, she'd put it on on the shuttle, but the picture was still enough to make him want to spill his guts about everything that was about to happen to her, and beg her not to leave.

But he didn't.

Instead, he pulled her into a lingering kiss, and watched her stride confidently to the boarding dock.

----------

He didn't go to Brooke right away. No, he watched the shuttle take off first, and then decided it was a better idea to stuff the pain away and go find Clara instead. After he went and cried his eyes out on her side of the bed.

That was even worse.

When he got there, he decided to watch Angie and Artie for the neighbor, anything to get his mind off his wife. Clara was asleep.

Then she told him what happened, and he found that the day could get worse.    

He immediately said that River was an ex. Maybe that would make it easier to deal with it all. He had faith that she could help herself, yes, but this time... it was getting scary.

But it didn't make it easier to deal with.

He took up the challenge from the Great Intelligience as soon as he heard it. For his friends, yes, but also for her. It sounded like a suicide mission. It might as well have been. Maybe that's why he took it.

Seeing her again. . . was terrible. He'd just seen her, in the last 48 hours from his perspective. Shouldn't that have made it easier? It hurt, though. He'd just seen her, and now he was talking to her when she was dead. It felt too fast. All this pain within the same two days. He couldn't help but kiss her, of course. Words couldn't fix what a sickening thing he'd done. His lips on hers didn't either, but it did restore his hope when she said the word.  The word. 

Spoilers.

It could have meant a lot. But he knew his wife, and he understood her. Her thoughts, her memories, her fears. Her words.

This was a promise for more. Maybe their song wasn't over yet.

He kicked himself as soon as the thought went through his mind. Of course it wasn't. She wouldn't leave him to raise their child alone.

When he dropped Clara back off, he'd went straight to their room. The Old Girl seemed to know what he was doing.

He was looking at the screwdriver. 

The blueprint, anyway. River would have to put herself into the neural relay. Connect her brain to it, anyway. He'd told her there was one in there. What she did with it was all her.

Then there was a burning in his pocket.

He took out the psychic paper and read.

The Library.

Come as soon as you can. xx

---------------

Diary entry.

The Library. September 30, 5078. 8:25 PM. 

Well, I know what's happening now. Damn idiot didn't tell me.

It looks like I've got a choice. Sweetie, if you're reading this- I'll tell you what's happening. You're passed out on the floor, handcuffed to a pole. I'm sitting in this chair getting ready to sacrifice myself for these people. I know it's right. I know you'd do it. And I get what you're doing.

The screwdriver. Ha. A neural relay and a message. I haven't seen the message yet, but I get the point.

Hate to burst your bubble, but I've got my own plan. I don't know that it'll work. I've got no idea if it'll work. I'll explain it if it does, I guess, since that's the only way it'll matter. The thing is, I don't want to live forever. Especially if it's without you and  Brooke. The only thing I do is hope and pray to whatever God is out there. Send Anthony and Georgia my love.

And never underestimate me again.

One last thing. I love you more than you'll ever know. Even if you should've told me about this. Make sure Brooke knows I love her too. She'll grow up to be perfect, I know, even if I can't get out. You're an amazing husband, and an amazing father. I love you.

I'm sorry, sweetie.

 [A/N. Am I evil? Maybe. XD I'm way too sadistic when it comes to making you wait for stuff. But you got the Singing Towers. You got a preview. I was originally going to tell you the plan in her diary entry, but I decided to make you wait. You know I love y'all... lol. 

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