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“So,” says River Song, still processing the revelation of Doctor Moon’s identity, “how did it happen?”
He winces. “Incident involving a staser gun. So many apocalypses, and they get me with a gun in the end. Let’s not talk about it, it’s embarrassing. Why not be impressed with me for preserving my own data and getting myself here, instead?”
She summons a smile for him; but she’s less happy than she should be, to have him with her forever. “It’s just hard to imagine you… ending.”
“Who says it’s an ending?”
She shakes her head, gentle as possible. “It is, though. You didn’t mean it to be, when you saved me; when you saved you. But our lives are still over, here. We can’t leave.”
“Who says?”
River stares at him.
He grins, and oh, yes, that’s her Doctor.
“You don’t think I’d lock myself into a data core with no ideas for getting out, do you? No offense to libraries, or CAL, but the TARDIS is waiting out there. She’d be lonely.”
“But…” River shakes her head again. It should be impossible.
But the Doctor always liked doing the impossible.
You can’t let them kill you. You can’t let them kill me. You can’t let anything end. Not if you can help it.
“If you had an escape plan all along,” she says finally, “why not use it? You’ve been here since long before I arrived. Why didn’t you leave?”
He looks at her like it’s obvious. Maybe it is.
“I was waiting for you,” he says. “Had other things to do in the meantime. But I needed to wait for the timeline to sync up.”
River considers that. “No more spoilers?”
“No more spoilers.”
“That’ll take some adjusting.” She smiles again — genuine, this time. “So. What’s the plan?”