Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

The Doctor needed a break. A lot has happened– Fine time, Rogue, Sutekh, Ruby’s departure, the Star Seed, Joy, Anita-- It was overwhelming to say the least. He was tired. It’s funny. He’s supposed to be fixed, he fixed himself as Sandshoes, now all that fixing’s been undone. He needed a distraction. He leaned on the console, lost in thought. Somehow, a question Anita asked kept on echoing in his mind.

‘Anita, I... I... have a... slightly complicated life.’

‘Oh God, you're married, aren't you?’

‘No! No, it's not that’ , he lied.

Well, sort of a lie? Is it a lie if he’s widowed? But still. His mind returned to River. No. She’s gone . He sighed as he turned to the console, leaning his hands on it. He paused for a moment before pulling a lever. The Tardis jolted in the vortex. He let his trusty old ship choose his destination. He leaned on the railings and sighed.

The ship landed with a loud thump and he exited the box. Okay. Not what I expected. He looked around. It was quite dark, but the surroundings looked familiar. He looked around. No… His hearts dropped. He turned back round, heading back to the blue box but it was locked.

“This is not funny! Let me in now. You know I can’t be here!”

He was in the Library. THE Library. He banged on the box’s doors, pleading with her to let him in but she wouldn’t budge. ‘Why? You know I can’t be here. Just let me in!’ A thump could be heard then the Tardis made the familiar wheezing sound. ‘No! What are you doing? No, girl, stop! Don’t-!’ But the Tardis had already vanished. No, no, no. This can’t be happening right now. I can’t be here. No, no no. Okay, honey, relax. Maybe it’s not so bad. She’ll probably come back. He exhaled sharply. He still wasn’t sure when he was. Maybe he could talk to River? Maybe that’s why he was here? To visit his wife?

BANG

BANG

BANG

He heard from a distance. It sounded like someone banging on a door. He heard the door kicked open as what sounded like two people barged in and closed the door shut again. Wait, wait, wait, no.

“Oh! Hello! Sorry to burst in on you like this. Okay if we stop here for a bit?” He heard one of them ask.

Oh, hell, no! He peaked from one of the shelves. It was him and Donna.

“What is it?” Donna asked.

“Security camera. Switched itself off.” Sandshoes responded.

No, no, no. Why did she bring me back here? Why?

“Nice door skills, Donna.” He heard his younger self say.

He zoned out, trying to stay hidden and figure out why. WHY?? Just why?? His past self and Donna continued talking in the background. I shouldn’t be here. I shouldn’t be here. Why? She knows I can’t interfere. Even just being here might damage the timeline.

“OH! I’M THICK!” His younger self shouted, causing him to jump, accidentally knocking something over.

Crap.

“Who’s there?” Sandshoes shouted.

The Doctor just sighed. Welp. The damage is done. Screw it. He slowly revealed himself. Raising his hands to show he’s unarmed. “Alright. Hi. Sorry.”

“Who are you?” Donna asked.

“I’m…” Damn, what should I say? Not ‘John Smith’. They’ll know something’s up. “...Pond. Arthur Pond.” Okay. Good save. Using Rory’s name.

“Hello, I’m the Doctor. This is Donna Noble. How did you get in here, Arthur? More to the point, why are you here? Were you the one that sent that message?” His younger self questioned him.

“No. I didn’t send any message. Sorry. I really don’t mean to be here.”

Sandshoes eyed him doubtfully. “How did you get here? The computer said Donna and I were the only two humanoid lifeforms in the whole planet. So how did you get here?”

“I… I had a device- a vortex manipulator. It was broken and I tried to fix it… But I lost it in the shadows. Somehow, my instincts tell me the shadows aren’t safe.”

Skinny hummed. “You have good instincts then, Arthur.”

“Doctor? That shadow. It’s gone.” Donna interrupted.

Skinny and the current Doctor took a look at what Donna was referring to.

“We need to get back to the Tardis.” Skinny said

“Why?”

“Because that shadow hasn't gone. It's moved.”

The Nodes interrupted them “Reminder: The Library has been breached” It repeated over and over again.

The Doctor felt his hearts race. No, no, no. Not now. Not her. I can’t do this right now.

A door is blown open, as a flash of bright light and smoke filled the entrance. Six space-suited figures enter. One of the space suited figures approached Skinny.

No! NO! NO!!

The space woman untinted her visor. “Hello, sweetie.” River smiled.

Chapter Text

“Hello, sweetie.”

“Get out.” The older Doctor winced at how harsh his younger self was towards River. 

“Doctor”, Donna and the older Doctor said in unison.

“All of you. Turn around, get back in your rocket and fly away. Tell your grandchildren you came to The Library and lived. They won't believe you.” It was almost irritable how cold he was being.

River ignores him as she pops her helmet off. “Pop your helmets, everyone. We've got breathers.” Oh my word, the hair. The beautiful space hair. Oh, River.

“How do you know they're not androids?” Anita asked. Anita. Funny how people can share the same names. He recalled Anita Benn.

“Because I've dated androids. They're rubbish.” Oh, funny girl. The older Doctor smiled.

A man spoke up. Lux. “Who is this? You said we were the only expedition. I paid for exclusives.”

“I lied, I'm always lying. Bound to be others.” She learned from rule 1.

“Miss Evangelista, I want to see the contracts.” Lux boy said.

River turned back to Skinny. “You came through the north door, yeah? How was that, much damage?”

“Please, just leave. I'm asking you seriously and properly, just leave. Hang on. Did you say expedition?”

Lux responded “My expedition. I funded it.”

“Oh, you're not, are you? Tell me you're not archaeologists.” Skinny whined

River smirked at him. “Got a problem with archaeologists?”

“I'm a time traveller. I point and laugh at archaeologists.”

“Ah. Professor River Song. Archaeologist.” She said smugly.

The Doctor huffed softly at River, though he mostly goes unnoticed.

His younger self responded to River.“River Song, lovely name. As you're leaving, and you're leaving now, you need to set up a quarantine beacon. Code wall the planet, the whole planet. Nobody comes here, not ever again. Not one living thing, not here, not ever.” Skinny turned to Anita “Stop right there! What's your name?”

“Anita.”

“Anita, stay out of the shadows. Not a foot, not a finger in the shadows till you're safely back in your ship. Goes for all of you. Stay in the light. Find a nice, bright spot and just stand. If you understand me, look very, very scared.” The older Doctor crosses his arms at his younger self. Skinny looks round the crew. “No, bit more scared than that. Okay, do for now.”

“Priorities?” The Doctor asked his younger self.

Skinny scoffed at his older self. “Yes, alright! You!” He approaches Other Dave “Who are you?”

“Dave.”

“Okay, Dave.”

“Oh, well, Other Dave, because that's Proper Dave the pilot, he was the first Dave, so when we-” The older Doctor chuckled a bit at Other Dave

“Other Dave, the way you came, does it look the same as before?”

“Yeah- Oh. It's a bit darker.”

“How much darker?”

“Oh, like I could see where we came through just like a moment ago. I can't now.” Both Doctors’ faces went grim.

“Seal up this door. We'll find another way out.”

Lux interrupted. “We're not looking for a way out. Miss Evangelista?”

Miss Evangelista approached the three holding contracts. “I'm Mister Lux's personal everything. You need to sign these contracts agreeing that your individual experience inside the library are the intellectual property of the Felman Lux Corporation.”

The Doctors and Donna took the contracts.

“Right. Give it here.”

“Yeah, lovely. Thanks.”

“Thank you, luv.”

The three ripped the pieces of paper in unison. Skinny turns to the older Doctor, amused that he had the same idea. “Oh, I like him.”

“He’s not with you?” River pointed to the older Doctor.

The older Doctor tensed up, remembering that River doesn’t recognize him. “Uh, no. I’m just… Passing by.”

Lux spoke up in frustration. “My family built this library. I have rights.”

“You have a mouth that won't stop.” She turns to Skinny. “You think there's danger here?”

“Something came to this library and killed everything in it. Killed a whole world. Danger? Could be.”

“That was a hundred years ago. The Library's been silent for a hundred years. Whatever came here's long dead.” River responded.

“Bet your life?”

“Always.” River responded with a big smug grin. The older Doctor’s smile faded. And she lost the bet.

Lux shouted to Other Dave. “What are you doing?”

“Well he said to seal the door.” Other Dave responded.

“Torch”, Skinny asked Lux

“You’re taking orders from him??” Lux asked as he realized he’s handing Skinny his torch.

“Spooky isn’t it?” The older Doctor teased Lux. Skinny smirked at his older self.

Skinny spoke up. “Almost every species in the universe has an irrational fear of the dark. But they're wrong, because it's not irrational. It's Vashta Nerada.”

“What’s Vashta Nerada?” Donna asked.

The older Doctor spoke up. “It's what's in the dark. It's what's always in the dark.”

Skinny was impressed with a hint of suspicion by his knowledge. “Exactly. Lights! That's what we need, lights. You got lights?”

“What for?” River asked.

“Form a circle. Safe area. Big as you can, lights pointing out.”

“Oi. Do as he says.” River commanded the crew. They do as they say.

Lux was annoyed by this. “You're not listening to this man?”

River responded “Apparently I am. Anita, unpack the lights. Other Dave, make sure the door's secure, then help Anita. Mister Lux, put your helmet back on, block the visor. Proper Dave, find an active terminal. I want you to access The Library database. See what you can find about what happened here a hundred years ago. Pretty boy, you're with me. Step into my office.” River starts heading toward the librarian's counter at the far end of the chamber, clearly expecting to be followed by Skinny. The Doctor silently cursed his younger self for his obliviousness.

Lux speaks up as he wears his helmet. “Professor Song, why am I the only one wearing my helmet?”

“Because I don’t fancy you.” The older Doctor laughed at River’s sass.

Lux took his helmet off while Sandshoes approached the computer Terminal with Proper Dave. “Probably I can help you.” Skinny told Dave.

“Pretty boy. With me I said!” River shouted to Skinny who was still oblivious.

Donna looks cheeky at Sandshoes while the older Doctor facepalms at his past self’s obliviousness.

Skinny turns to the two and realizes. “Oh, I’m pretty boy??”

“Yes.” The older Doctor and Donna said in unison.

“Pretty?” Skinny questioned.

“Meh.” Donna responded.

Skinny shrugged as he walked to River. The older Doctor approached Anita and Other Dave. “Don't let your shadows cross. Seriously, don't even let them touch. Any of them could be infected.”

Skinny is continuously impressed by this stranger. “You seem to know a lot about Vashta Nerada.” He told him as he walked to River.

“How can a shadow be infected?” Other Dave asked but the Doctors ignore him.

“Excuse me, can I help?” Miss Evangelista asked.

Anita and Other Dave refuse and insist she doesn’t help. The Doctor felt bad for her. Donna argues about Miss Evangelista helping as he moves over to watch his first meeting with River.

“Thanks.”

“For what?”

“The usual. For coming when I call.”

“Oh, that was you?”

“You're doing a very good job, acting like you don't know me. I'm assuming there's a reason.” Because I really didn’t know you.

“A fairly good one, actually.”

“Okay, shall we do diaries, then? Where are we this time? Er, going by your face, I'd say it's early days for you, yeah? So, er, exploding jewelry. Have we done that yet?” Skinny didn’t respond. He just stared at her with indifference. “Obviously ringing no bells. Right. Oh, picnic at Asgard. Have we done Asgard yet?” Oh, how his hearts broke at how she looked when his younger self recalled nothing. “Obviously not. Blimey, very early days, then. Whoo, life with a time traveller. Never knew it could be such hard work.” She looked into his younger self’s eyes, really looked. “Look at you. Oh, you're young.” I really was. More than you know.

“I'm really not, you know.”

“No, but you are. Your eyes. You're younger than I've ever seen you.”

“You've seen me before, then?”

Oh her face when she realized he really doesn’t know her. “Doctor, please tell me you know who I am.”

“Who are you?” The joy in her eyes vanished. For the first time, he notices the way her hearts break, how he broke her hearts. I am so sorry, River…

A phone ring sounded. Skinny quickly turned away from River without a second thought. I was so dense. River continued to stare at Skinny, hearts broken.

“Sorry, that was me. Trying to get through into the security protocols. I seem to have set something off. What is that? Is that an alarm?”

The older Doctor pulled River to the side. “You okay?”

River quickly composed herself. “Yes, I’m fine.”

“You’re not. I can see it, River”

River inhaled sharply. “You wouldn’t understand. And it’s Professor Song to you.”

He scoffed at that. “Try me, babes.”

“Who are you anyways? You didn’t come with the Doctor. Why are you here?”

He sighed. “Like I said, honey. I'm just passing by.”

River scoffed at him, irritated and suspicious. “Who are you really?”

He stared into her eyes. “I-”

“Hello. Are you in my television?” A little girl’s voice- CAL- could be heard from the computer terminal.

“Well, no, I'm, I'm sort of in space. Er, I was trying to call up the data core of a triple grid security processor.”

“Would you like to speak to my Dad?”

“Dad or your Mum. That'd be lovely.”

“I know you. You're in my library.”

“Your library?”

“The Library's never been on the television before. What have you done?”

“Er, well, I just rerouted the interface.”

The screen changed to ACCESS DENIED . River approaches the Skinny Doctor. The older Doctor sighs. It’s like a swap of roles.

Chapter Text

“What happened? Who was that?” River asked Skinny as he tried to get the terminal back online.

Skinny sonics the terminal to no avail. “I need another terminal Keep working on those lights. We need those lights!”

“You heard him, people. Let there be light.” River told the others. She and the older Doctor noticed Skinny reaching for her diary but River stopped him. “Sorry, you're not allowed to see inside the book. It's against the rules.”

“What rules?”

“Your rules.”

He was a bit annoyed by his younger self at how he looked at River - how he wanted to get a peak in the book. Suddenly, books start flying off the shelves.

Skinny turns, confused. “What's that? I didn't do that. Did you do that?” He asked the others

“Not me.” Proper Dave responded.

Skinny turns back to the screen. CAL ACCESS DENIED. “What’s CAL?”

It was killing the Doctor how much he wanted to explain everything with his future knowledge but he’s already done a lot of damage, any more could cause a paradox and the total collapse of the Temporal Nexus. He turned to Donna who moved next to Miss Evangelista. Donna seemed to be trying to console Miss Evangelista. Maybe I can save her. Maybe I can save everyone - save River! No, that would leave a pear-shaped causal nexus in their hands. Then why did the Tardis bring me here?? More books shoot off the shelf.

“What's causing that? Is it the little girl?” River asked

“But who is the little girl? What's she got to do with this place? How does the data core work? What's the principle? What's Cal?”

“Ask Mister Lux.” River responded

“CAL! What is it?” 

“Sorry, you didn't sign your personal experience contracts.”

The Doctor zoned out the conversation and sneaked away. He grabbed his sonic, trying to hide it from the others. He engaged the mini-screen and tried using the Tardis recall feature, but of course, no luck. He sighed in irritation.

“There was a message from The Library. Just one. The lights are going out. Then the computer-” Yes, he’s heard that all before.

What do I do? What do I do? Think, Doctor, think!

“I trust this man with my life, with everything.” He heard River tell Lux. His hearts clenched at that. Oh, how she trusted him and how he let her down.

“Four thousand and twenty two saved. No survivors.” He heard his past self say. He approached the group.

“Four thousand and twenty two. That's the exact number of people who were in The Library when the planet was sealed.” River explained.

“But how can four thousand and twenty two people have been saved if there were no survivors?” Donna asked

“That's what we're here to find out.”

“And so far, what we haven't found are any bodies.”

The Doctor turned to an open panel. He squints his eyes in confusion as he hadn’t noticed it before. He realized that’s the panel Miss Evangelista walked through when she died. They all heard a scream. He rushes through the panel, everyone else following suit. They find a skeleton - Miss Evangelista’s body, or what’s left of it.

“Everybody, careful! Stay in the light!” The Doctor warned the others. Skinny just stared at him in suspicion again as he himself was just about to say that. Not a lot of people know of Vashta Nerada and this man seemed to know a lot about them.

“You keep saying that. I don't see the point.” Proper Dave replied.

“Who screamed?” Skinny asked.

“Miss Evangelista.” Proper Dave answered. And that’s her right there.

“Where is she?”

River activated her comm device. “Miss Evangelista, please state your current-” The device echoed from Skele-Vangelista’s collar. Skinny raised his eyebrows and just looked at the corpse like he expected it and hoped it wouldn’t be the case. River approached the corpse. “Miss Evangelista... please state your current... position.” River reached around the skeleton’s collar, grabbing the comms relay. “It's her... It's Miss Evangelista.” The crew and Donna stared in shock.

“But we heard her scream a few seconds ago. What could do that to a person in a few seconds?” Anita asked.

“Took a lot less than a few seconds.” The older Doctor replied, to Skinny’s annoyance.

“What did?”

“Hello?” Miss Evangelista’s neural relay spoke.

River tensed up “Er, I'm sorry, everyone. Er, this isn't going to be pleasant. She's ghosting.”

“She’s what?” Donna asked.

“Hello? Excuse me. I'm sorry. Hello? Excuse me.” Donna looked so confused and scared.

“That's, that's her, that's Miss Evangelista.” Donna realized.

“I don't want to sound horrible, but couldn't we just, you know?” Proper Dave suggested.

The older Doctor retorted “This is her last moment. She just died, so excuse me, but have a little respect?” Proper Dave nodded. “Thank you.”

“Sorry, where am I? Excuse me?” Miss Evangelista’s data ghost asked.

Donna was so confused and scared “But that’s Miss Evangelista.”

“It's a data ghost. She'll be gone in a moment.” River explained. “Miss Evangelista, you're fine. Just relax. We'll be with you presently.”

“What's a data ghost?”

“There's a neural relay in the communicator. Lets you send thought mail. That's it there. Those green lights.” Skinny explained.

“Sometimes it can hold an impression of a living consciousness for a short time after death. Like an afterimage.” The older Doctor added.

“My grandfather lasted a day. Kept talking about his shoelaces.”

“She's in there.” Donna insisted.

“I can't see. I can't. Where am I?” The dataghost asked.

Donna couldn’t understand or believe it. Everyone explained it to her. Miss Evangelista asked to speak with Donna as they had one final conversation. When she started looping, River decided to turn the comm unit off.

“That was, that was horrible.” Donna muttered. “That was the most horrible thing I've ever seen.” Oh poor Donna. She was so young and scared and confused.

“No. It's just a freak of technology.” River explained. “But whatever did this to her, whatever killed her, I'd like a word with that.”

“I’ll introduce you.” said Skinny as he ran back to the rotunda. The others followed suit. The older Doctor stared at Miss Evangelista’s corpse for a moment.

“I’m sorry.” He mumbled before following everyone else.

“Right you lot!” He heard his younger self shout as he entered the rotunda. “Let's all meet the Vashta Nerada.” He put down the packed lunch as he scanned for a live swarm. The older one watched his younger self scan the floor.

“You travel with him, don't you?” He heard River ask. “The Doctor, you travel with him.” He hadn’t really paid attention back then so hearing it again might be nice.

“What of it?” Donna. “You know him, don't you?”

“Oh God, do I know that man.” River replied. “We go way back, that man and me. Just not this far back.” The older Doctor lowered his head in guilt.

“I'm sorry, what?” Donna questioned.

“He hasn't met me yet.” River explained. “I sent him a message, but it went wrong. It arrived too early. This is the Doctor in the days before he knew me. And he looks at me, he looks right through me and it shouldn't kill me, but it does.” The Doctor felt his hearts clench at that. How cruel it must’ve been for her. He glanced away as Donna asked her if she actually knows him or not. Skinny asked her to stay quiet as he’s working. River realizes she’s Donna. “Donna? You’re Donna. Donna Noble?”

“Yeah. Why?”

River let out a shaky breath. “I do know the Doctor, but in the future. His personal future.”

“So why don't you know me? Where am I in the future?” Donna asked. At home. With a family. A husband and a daughter. And then you’ll have a brother. The Doctor smiled in reminiscence.

Skinny interrupted the women’s conversation “Okay, got a live one!” Skinny announced as he grabbed the packed lunch. “That's not darkness down those tunnels. This is not a shadow. It's a swarm. A man eating swarm.” He threw a chicken drumstick into the shadow as all the meat disappeared from it. “The piranhas of the air. The Vashta Nerada. Most planets have them, but usually in small clusters. I've never seen an infestation on this scale, or this aggressive.”

“What do you mean, most planets? Not Earth?”

The older Doctor replied. “Mmm. Earth, and a billion other worlds.”

“Exactly!” Skinny pointed to the older one in approval. “Where there's meat, there's Vashta Nerada. You can see them sometimes, if you look. The dust in sunbeams.”

“If they were on Earth, we'd know.”

“No, babes.” The older Doctor replied. “You wouldn’t. Normally they live on roadkill.”

“But sometimes people go missing.” Skinny added.

“Not everyone comes back out of the dark.” said the older one.

River shined her light in the darkness. “Every shadow?”

The older Doctor replied. “Er, no, honey. But any shadow.”

River eyed the older Doctor distrustfully. “So what do we do?” River asked.

Skinny answered. “Daleks, aim for the eyestalk. Sontarans, back of the neck. Vashta Nerada? Run. Just run.”

“Run? Run where?”

“This is an index point. There must be an exit teleport somewhere.” Skinny suggested.

“Don't look at me, I haven't memorised the schematics.” Lux spoke up.

“Doctor.” Donna spoke. “The little shop. They always make you go through the little shop on the way out so they can sell you stuff.” Donna always was brilliant. The older Doctor smiled at his former companion.

“You're right. Brilliant! That's why I like the little shop.” Skinny beamed, walking over to check the shop.

“Alright let’s move it!” Proper Dave announced. The older Doctor sighed.

“Actually, Proper Dave.” The older Doctor stopped him. “Look, can you just stay where you are for a moment?” His younger self was a bit confused.

“What is it?” Skinny froze as he realized. “Oh...” He approached Proper Dave. “I'm sorry. I am so, so sorry. But you've got two shadows.”

Chapter Text

The Doctor watched as his younger self tried to reassure Proper Dave, making believe that he could still be saved. It was a lie, obviously. Rule 1: The Doctor lies. The Doctor clenched his jaw. How much longer is he going to relive this? How much longer is he gonna let things play out as they should rather than save them?

“Now, the rest of you, helmets back on and sealed up. We'll need everything we've got.” Skinny commanded.

“But, Doctor, we haven't got any helmets.” Donna pointed out.

“Yeah, but we're safe anyway.” Skinny reassured her.

“How are we safe?” Donna argued.

“We’re not.” The older Doctor. “He was lying to shut you up. Rule 1. The Doctor lies.” Skinny, Donna, and River stared at him in confusion.

“Who are you?” Skinny asked. “You said you ended up here by accident but you seem to know exactly what we’re dealing with. You even seem to know who I am. So I’m gonna ask again. Who. Are. You?”

The older Doctor only stared at his younger self as he tried to intimidate him. “Spoilers.” was all he let out. River squinted as she watched the conversation play out. She was starting to get worried and suspicious as well as the others.

Skinny scoffed in response. “You’re from my future. Just like Professor Song.” River glanced at the older Doctor, having her suspicions on who this man was.

The older Doctor continued to stare at him. “Like he said, helmets on.” He changed the subject.

“No!” Skinny grabbed his older self by the collar. “We’re not done here.”

“Doctor!” River shouted. “Please, will you stop being an idiot for a moment and focus on the problem at hand??”

Skinny let go of the older man with a scoff.

“What good are the damn suits anyways?” Lux asked. “Miss Evangelista was wearing her suit. There was nothing left.”

“We can increase the mesh density.” River suggested. “Dial it up four hundred percent. Make it a tougher meal.”

“Okay.” Skinny soniced Proper Dave’s suit, doing as River suggested, increasing the mesh density. “Eight hundred percent.” He held his sonic out “Pass it on.” He freezes as he realizes River already pulled out her own sonic.

“Gotcha.” River responded.

“What's that?”

“It's a screwdriver.”

“It's sonic.”

“Yeah, I know. Snap.” River got work on sonicing the others’ suits. She glanced up and realized that the older Doctor also started sonicing some of the others. Both her and Skinny’s suspicions increased at this.

Skinny pushes his suspicions aside as he grabs Donna and takes her to the little shop as he tries to teleport her. “Can't send the others, Tardis won't recognise them.” Except River. Always was the Tardis’s favorite. But still, she would’ve been caught in the data core. The Doctor pushed his thoughts aside.

“Doctor!” River called out to Skinny as Proper Dave has one shadow now.

The Doctors frown as Proper Dave has one shadow again. “Where did it go?” Skinny asked.

“It's just gone. I looked round, one shadow, see?” Proper Dave replied.

River sighed in relief. “Does that mean we can leave? I don't want to hang around here.”

Lux spoke up. “I don't know why we're still here. We can leave him, can't we?” He turns to Proper Dave. “I mean, no offence.”

The older Doctor sighed in irritation. “Lux boy. Respectfully. Shut up.”

Skinny continued examining Proper Dave. “Did you feel anything, like an energy transfer? Anything at all?” He asked curiously.

“No, no, but look, it's gone.” Proper Dave starts turning around to show him.

“Stop there. Stop, stop, stop there. Stop moving. They're never just gone and they never give up.” Skinny explained, sonicing the floor. “Well, this one's benign.” He remarked.

“Hey, who turned out the lights?” Proper Dave asked. It’s too late. I’m sorry, Dave. Dave continued asking, to everyone's confusion. Skinny asked him to turn around, revealing his visor to be completely dark. “What's going on? Why can't I see? Is the power gone? Are we safe here?”

Skinny tried to calm Dave down but then everyone soon realized he was ghosting. Skinny tried to talk to Dave, to River and the older Doctor’s protest. Dave grabs Skinny by the neck, revealing him to just be a skeleton. River quickly sonics Skele-Dave’s chest unit, electrocuting the suit, freeing Skinny. “Back from it! Get back. Right back.” Skele-Dave lurches forward, limping almost.

“Doesn't move very fast, does it?” River commented.

“It's a swarm in a suit. But it's learning.” The Doctors say in unison, causing another suspicious glare from Skinny to the older one.

“What do we do? Where do we go?” Lux asked.

“See that wall behind you?” River replied. “Duck!” She warned as she fired a squareness gun on the wall.

“Squareness gun!” Skinny exclaimed.

“Oh-ho! River Song, I love you!” The older Doctor accidentally blurted out to River’s surprise.

“Uh... Thank you? I have that effect on people.” River replied. “Now, everybody out! Go, go, go! Move it! Move, move!” She rushed everyone. They ran through stacks of bookshelves.

They eventually lost Skele-Dave. Skinny starts sonicing a light fitting. “Trying to boost the power!” Skinny explained. “Light doesn't stop them, but it slows them down.” He continues sonicing the light.

“So, what's the plan? Do we have a plan?” River asked as she helped him sonic the light. Skinny noticed River’s sonic screwdriver resembles his.

“Your screwdriver looks exactly like mine.” Skinny remarked.

“Yeah. You gave it to me.”

“I don't give my screwdriver to anyone.”

“I'm not anyone.” No, you’re everything.

“Who are you?” Skinny insisted.

“So what’s the plan?” River changed the subject. Skinny explained how he teleported Donna back to the Tardis before realizing she’s not there as he hasn’t received a signal. Skinny approaches a nearby node asking about Donna as it’s revealed that the node has Donna’s face. The Doctor had forgotten how uncanny it was to see his friend’s face like that.

“Hey, who turned off the lights?” Skele-Dave approaches.

“We need to move. Now!” The older Doctor urged everyone. He grabbed his younger self that was still shocked seeing Donna’s face on the nodes. They ran until they reached a dead-end, being trapped between the shadows.

“Doctor, what are we going to do??” River asked Skinny but he had a complete mental shut down after seeing Donna’s face on the node. River groaned at Skinny’s uselessness as she aimed her squareness gun for the bookshelves, urging everyone to move. The older Doctor urged everyone in. He paused for a moment as everyone escaped. He gripped and punched the shelves in anger- guilt?- sorrow. He took a deep breath before following the others. He continued asking himself. Why am I here? Why did she bring me here? Why? Was living through it once not enough?? They all made their narrow escape as they reached a rotunda.

Chapter Text

River created another hole in the wall with her squareness gun. She hastily entered it, ushering the others to follow suit. Skinny immediately got to work scanning for a live swarm. The older Doctor couldn’t help but feel worried about how panicked River was. She took a piece of chicken leg from Dave and threw it in the darkness, and well enough, there was a live one. River looked so scared. Looking back, it was probably the most scared he’s seen her. He supposes she was scared it was her last time. She had her suspicions in Darillium since her diary was nearly full and now she’s scared because she’s right. The others start questioning River on the Doctor’s- Skinny’s- identity.

“Listen, all you need to know is this. I'd trust that man to the end of the universe. And actually, we've been.” The older Doctor smiled at the fond memories.

“He doesn't act like he trusts you.”

“Yeah, there's a tiny problem. He hasn't met me yet.” The older Doctor frowned. How cursed they were. To live back to front and out of order. River moved over to Skinny, still scanning the shadows, asking him what’s wrong. He responds that there seems to be an interference.

“Then use the red setting.” River suggested.

Skinny side eyes her in confusion. “It doesn’t have a red setting.”

“Well, use the dampers.”

“It doesn’t have dampers!”

River held out her sonic quite proudly. “It will one day.”

Skinny gingerly grabbed the sonic from her hands, inspecting it. “So, some time in the future, I just give you one of my screwdrivers?” Oh you annoying prick. He hated how awful he treated River back then. “Why would I do that?”

River looked hurt from his accusations. “I didn't pluck it from your cold dead hands, if that's what you're worried about.”

“And I know that because?”

Before River could respond, the older Doctor interrupted them. “Because she is the one person you should trust the most, skinny boy. She has sacrificed her life for you time and time again. She broke the universe to save you and you never even for a moment stopped to thank her or let her know you loved her, because that’s the problem with you! You are alway so full of yourself, you never stop to consider how your actions affect those close to you! Five– Six people in this room are still alive but you’re too busy being too emotional and acting all clever! You’re always so certain. All sonic, Tardis, Time Lord! Take all that away, what are you? This is why everyone always leaves you! This is why you are always alone!” He took a moment to catch his breath. River stared at the man in shock at him defending her, still uncertain who he was. Skinny looks at him, shocked at his outburst and knowledge of him.

“Who are you? Both of you! Who are you??” Skinny demanded. The older Doctor just stared at him, his expression stern.

Lux interrupted them. “Oh, for heaven's sake! What is wrong with you three?? We’re all going to die and you’re all too busy arguing!”

The three stared at Lux and back to each other. River stared into the older Doctor’s eyes, a hint of recognition, but she glances away, into Skinny’s eyes. “Doctor... One day I'm going to be someone that you trust completely... But I can't wait for you to find that out. So I'm going to prove it to you. And I'm sorry. I'm really very sorry...” She whispers into his ear, leaving him stunned. “Are we good? Doctor, are we good?”

Skinny is still stunned. “Yeah... We’re good.” She takes her sonic back as he turns to the older Doctor, expression turned grim. “But, we’re not done here.” He walks away. River furrowed her brows at the older Doctor, still unsure of his true identity. Before River could make any more connections, Skinny speaks up. “Know what's interesting about my screwdriver? Very hard to interfere with. Practically nothing's strong enough. Well, some hairdryers, but I'm working on that. So there is a very strong signal coming from somewhere, and it wasn't there before. So what's new? What's changed?” No answer. “Come on! What's new? What's different?”

“I don't know. Nothing. It's getting dark?” Other Dave suggested.

“It's a screwdriver, hunny. It works in the dark.” The older Doctor responded.

Skinny glared at disco Doctor. He looks up. “Moonrise. Tell me about the moon. What's there?”

“It's not real.” Lux replied. “It was built as part of the Library. It's just a Doctor Moon.”

“What’s a Doctor Moon?”

“A virus checker. It supports and maintains the main computer at the core of the planet.”

Skinny examines his sonic. “Well, still active. It's signalling. Look. Someone somewhere in this library is alive and communicating with the moon. Or, possibly alive and drying their hair.” He twists the settings dial, changing the pitch of the sonic. “No, the signal is definitely coming from the moon. I'm blocking it, but it's trying to break through.” The sonic beams out an image of Donna.

“Donna.” The older Doctor muttered.

“Doctor!” River called for Skinny.

Skinny glances up from his sonic, seeing the projection. “Donna!” Donna’s image disappears. River asks if Skinny can bring her back and Skinny tries to get the right wavelength.

The older Doctor glances at Anita, suddenly remembering. Two shadows. Oh, I am so sorry, Anita. “Uh, you two.” He calls out, moving near Anita, avoiding her shadows.

“What? I’m busy!” Skinny responds, irritated.

“It’s important. I have two shadows.” Anita replies. Skinny and River quickly moved to Anita’s side. Skinny starts sonicing her shadows.

“Okay. Helmets on, everyone.” River commanded. “Anita, I'll get yours.”

“It didn't do Proper Dave any good.” Anita replied. River tried to calm her down as she put her helmet back on.

Skinny sonics the visor to tint it. “I just tinted her visor. Maybe they'll think they're already in there, leave her alone.” River questions if that would work and Skinny has no idea. Other Dave asks if Anita can see and she responds that she can just about. “Just, just, just stay back. Professor, Pond, a quick word, please.”

River turns to Skinny in shock when he says ‘Pond’. “Pond’?”

Skinny turns in confusion “Yeah. That’s his name. Arthur Pond. Right, I forgot he hasn’t introduced himself yet. Anyways, you two. Come on.” River froze, eyes widening, a face of realization. She glanced at the disco Doctor, hearts racing. The older Doctor tried to avoid her gaze as he approached Skinny. “You said there were 6 people alive in this room?” The older Doctor nodded, furrowing his brows before turning to the others.

“So, why are there 7?” The two Doctors asked in unison. Everyone's eyes widened.

“Hey, who turned out the lights?” Skele-Dave has caught up to them.

“RUN!” The Doctors shouted. They all ran through stacks of shelves as Skele-Dave slowly caught up. Skinny turns round to look at Skele-Dave.

“Professor, go ahead! Find a safe spot.” Skinny shouted.

River turned around, irritated with him for his naivety. “It's a carnivorous swarm in a suit. You can't reason with it!”

“Five minutes.” Other Dave caught up to them.

“Other Dave, stay with him.” River commanded. “Pull him out when he's too stupid to live. Two minutes, Doctor.” The older Doctor pulled at her arm.

“River, let’s go.” He pleaded. They stared into each other’s eyes for a brief moment before River ran past him. He turned back to his younger self, sighing before following River.

Chapter Text

The Doctor, River, and the rest of the remaining team managed to find a safe spot, a yellow lit index point. The Doctor pulls out his sonic screwdriver/ remote/ probe and begins scanning the room, making sure it’s safe, avoiding the gaze River so obviously is giving him. Once he made sure it’s safe, he crouched on the floor in exhaustion.

River moves to the middle of the room, examining the closed hatch, scanning it with her sonic. She stops scanning it and inspects her sonic screwdriver, deep in thought, unsure of what to say. “You know, usually I’d feel safe with you here... But right now, I’m not so sure.” The older Doctor freezes, not daring to glare at her. “Something bad will happen won’t it? And you can’t stop it or tell us... You’re probably not even supposed to be here.” River scoffed half-heartedly. “Spoilers.”

“What are you talking about?” Anita asked, confused as if she missed something.

River sighed, fiddling with her sonic. “It’s complicated... I suppose that’s one word to describe my life and the Doctor... Complicated.”

“River...” The Doctor muttered.

River took a deep breath. “You’ve regenerated... Again. So it must’ve been a while for you.”

The Doctor stayed silent for a moment. “... Yeah, it’s been a while.”

RIver laughed through a choked sob. “I should have known it was you. Especially in that ridiculous outfit of yours.” The Doctor let out a chuckle.

Anita interrupted. “Sorry, I’m not following. You know him?”

“He’s the Doctor.” said River.

“But I thought the skinny guy was the Doctor?”

“He is. And I’m him. And he’s me.” The Doctor replied.

“Sorry?”

“I’m a Time Lord. We have a thing called regeneration where we can change our faces. Skinny is a younger me, I’m an older him. He’s only just met her, but I’ve lived my life with her.”

Anita just stayed silent for a bit, doubting she'd even understand if she asked. “... So you’re the same person as him?”

“Pretty much. Same man, different face, different point in time. All very timey-wimey as I like to say.” The Doctor replied.

“He’s my Doctor.” River explained. “He’s made whole armies turn and run away. And he'd just swagger off back to the Tardis and open the doors with a snap of his fingers.” The Doctor hummed in reminiscence. “The Doctor in the Tardis. Next stop, everywhere.”

“Spoilers!” They heard Skinny from one of the upper gantries. He walks down the steps. “Nobody can open a Tardis by snapping their fingers. It doesn't work like that.”

“Yes, it does, hun.” The older Doctor replied. Skinny glanced at him, sizing him up, examining him.

“So you’re me. You’re who I become. The next Doctor.”

“A few false starts but you get there eventually.”

Skinny huffs. “You shouldn’t be here. You know you shouldn’t. The timeline’s changing, I know you can feel it.”

The older Doctor argues. “I didn’t choose to come back here despite how much I wanted to. But the TARDIS left me here and now I’m stuck here.”

Skinny stared at his older self for a moment before moving over to Anita. “How are you doing?” he asked Anita.

“Where’s Other Dave?” River asked.

“Gone, River. He’s gone.” The older Doctor replied. Skinny glanced at him. River exhaled in disbelief. The older Doctor sighed in guilt. “I’m sorry.”

“Well, if they've taken him, why haven't they gotten me yet?” Anita asked.

“I don't know. Maybe tinting your visor's making a difference.” Skinny suggested, inspecting her two shadows.

“It's making a difference all right. No one's ever going to see my face again.” Anita responds, defeated.

Skinny’s face is stern, hiding his emotions. “Can I get you anything?”

“An old age would be nice. Anything you can do?”

“I’m all over it.” Skinny replied, turning to his older self. “So what happens next?” The older Doctor sighed, not giving an answer. “You’re already changing the timeline being here, so might as well help us.” Skinny suggested. The older Doctor stayed silent for a moment before sighing.

“Safe.” He muttered.

Everyone looked at him confused. “Sorry?”

“Four thousand and twenty two people saved. No survivors.’ You don't say ‘saved’. You say ‘safe’. It should be ‘Four thousand and twenty two people safe’ but it said ‘saved’. They’re not ‘safe’, they’re ‘saved’. It literally meant ‘saved’. They’ve been saved.” Skinny’s eyes widen in realization.

“That’s a lot of ‘safe’ and ‘saved’ in one sentence. I still don’t understand.” Anita responded.

The Doctors ran up to a computer terminal, pulling up the Library Archive. “See, there it is, right there. A hundred years ago, massive power surge. All the teleports going at once. Soon as the Vashta Nerada hit their hatching cycle, they attack. Someone hits the alarm. The computer tries to teleport everyone out.” Skinny explained.

“It tried to teleport four thousand twenty two people?” River asked.

“And it succeeded.” The older Doctor asked. “Pulled everyone out, but now what?”

Skinny continues. “Nowhere to send them. Nowhere safe in the whole library. Vashta Nerada growing in every shadow. Four thousand and twenty two people all beamed up and nowhere to go. They're stuck in the system, waiting to be sent, like emails. So what's a computer to do? What does a computer always do?”

River smiles at the Doctors’ explanation as she understands. “It saved them.”

The Doctor pulled out his sonic and drew a rectangular holographic interface. Skinny is a bit stunned by this feature. A visual of the Library planet is shown. “The library. A whole world of books, and right at the core...” He zooms the image in. “The biggest hard drive in history. The index to everything ever written, backup copies of every single book. The computer saved four thousand and twenty two people the only way a computer can.”

Skinny continues. “It saved them to the hard drive.” The two Doctors smirk. The older Doctor’s face drops for a moment before the alarms go out. No, no, no, no.

“What is it? What's wrong?” Lux asks.

“ Autodestruct enabled in twenty minutes. ” The computer terminal displays a timer.

“What’s maximum erasure?” River asks.

“In twenty minutes, this planet's going to crack like an egg.” Skinny explained.

Lux tried to reassure them. “No. No, it's all right. The Doctor Moon will stop it. It's programmed to protect Cal.” But everyone noticed the expression on the older Doctor’s face. He was frozen in place, sharp breathing, teeth clenched.

Skinny was worried about his older self’s expression. “What’s wrong? What’s gonna happen?” The computer screen goes blank. “No, no, no, no, no, no, no!” He begins sonicing the terminal, River pulls out her own sonic.

“All library systems are permanently offline. Sorry for any inconvenience” The computer’s voice distorts as the audio stops.

“We need to stop this. We've got to save Cal.” Lux explains.

“What is it? What is Cal?” Skinny asks.

Lux continues, “We need to get to the main computer. I'll show you.”

“It's at the core of the planet.” Skinny argues.

“Well, then, let’s go.” River smiles as her and The older Doctor pull out their sonics and point to the middle of the floor, opening the gravity platform. “Gravity platform.”

Skinny jumps down from the terminal. “I bet I like you.”

“That is the understatement of the century.” The older Doctor responds, smiling at River, holding her hand. River looks down at their hands and back to the older Doctor. He nods. “Hadi Ama!” They all enter the platform as it goes down.

Chapter Text

The team reached the main CAL interface as Lux revealed everything. CAL is a little girl, the main computer. Lux reveals that she’s family. That’s why he kept it a secret from everyone, not to protect a patent, but to protect CAL. Skinny explains how CAL ran out of memory space having thousands of minds in her head.

“So what do we do?” River turned from Skinny to the older Doctor.

“Easy!” The pair shouted in unison. “We beam all the people out of the data core. The computer will reset and stop the countdown.” Skinny continued.

“Difficult. Charlotte doesn't have enough memory space left to make the transfer.” The older Doctor added. “But! Easy! We can provide her extra memory space.”

“How are we going to do that?” River asked. The two Doctors stayed silent.

“Someone will hook themselves up to the computer terminal, which would lead to... Difficult...” The older Doctor sighed. The others finally understood why he looked so panicked.

“No.” River responded. “No. Don’t even think about it!” She cried. “It'll burn out both your hearts and don't think you'll regenerate. Either of you!”

The older Doctor approached her. “River-”

“No!”

“River... Trust me.” He stared into her eyes. River furrows her brows. “Remember what I gave you?” Suddenly, River’s face lit up. He smiled and nodded, giving her a wink.

“You and Luxy boy, back up to the main library. Prime any data cells you can find for maximum download.” Skinny ordered.

River sighed. “I hate you sometimes.” 

“No, you don’t.”

“I know!”

The pair responded at the same time.

“Mister Lux!” River shouted. But before she left, she applied lipstick then approached Skinny.

Skinny turned to her confused. “What are you waiting for, just go- mphm!!” Skinny was suddenly stunned as River pulled him close, her lips on his. He pulled away, awfully confused. “W-wha??”

“Woah! Get a room, you two!” Lux shouted.

Skinny turned back to River. “Uh... Right.”

“Should be kicking in any second now.” The older Doctor muttered. Skinny chuckles then does a double take.

“What’s kicking in any sec-” Just then, Skinny felt dazed and confused before passing out.

“What the hell??” Lux exclaimed.

“Hallucinogenic lipstick. Comes ever so handy.” She turns to the older Doctor. “Surprised you still had this. Was wondering where it went.” She teased.

The Doctor chuckled. “Right, honey? The data cells?” He reminded.

“Right! Come on, Mr. Lux!” He grabbed the still stunned Lux. “Anita, keep an eye on them for me.” Oh, River, she can’t. River and Lux leave.

“What about the Vashta Nerada?” Anita - Or what’s left of her - asked.

“Don’t worry, babes. These are their forests. I'm going to seal Charlie inside her little world and take everyone else away. The shadows can swarm to their hearts' content.” The older Doctor replied.

“So you think they're just going to let us go?”

“Best offer they're going to get.”

“You're going to make 'em an offer?”

“They'd better take it, because right now, I’m desperate and I'm finding it very hard to make any kind of offer at all. You know I met another Anita a while back. Anita Benn. She was brilliant. Just as brilliant as you. And by ‘you’, I meant Anita. She was brave, even when she was crying. And she never gave in. And you ate her.” He sonics Anita’s visor, revealing Anita’s skull. “But you know what, hun? I’ll let that pass if you let them pass.”

“How long have you known?”

“I’m from the future. And also, I counted the shadows. You only have one now.” He slowly walks towards Skelenita “She's nearly gone. Be kind.”

“These are our forests. We are not kind.”

“I'm giving you back your forests, but you are giving me them. You are letting them go. Do it before I change my mind.”

“These are our forests. They are our meat.” The shadows stretch towards the Doctors. The Doctor exhaled sharply, engaging a new setting on his sonic, causing the shadows to fall back.

“I’ve dealt with you before. Of course I’d have a setting against you.” He smirked before his face turned stern again. “Let me give you a word of advice, hun.” The Doctor turned to Skelenita menacingly. “Don’t play games with me. Don’t ever think you can do that. Especially when you kill someone I like because that is not a safe place to stand. I’m the Doctor. The Oncoming Storm. The Bringer of Darkness. You’re in the biggest library in the universe, honey. Now do me a favor and look me up.” He threatened as he sized the swarm up.

A moment of silence before the swarm used Anita to speak. “O-one... Day...” The swarm left as Anita’s corpse dropped to the floor.

River came rushing in as she saw Anita drop. “Oh, Anita.”

“She’s been dead for a while now, River... I’m sorry...” He patted her shoulder as he turned back to the terminal where Skinny is still dozed off.

River steadied her breath. “Okay... So what now? What’s the plan? Doctor?”

The Doctor closed his eyes and took a deep breath as he gathered his thoughts. “Okay. What I’m doing is causing a paradox- But! I can fix it. As long as Skinny remembers what I remembered back then, it should hopefully keep the timelines intact and avoid a catastrophic and pear-shaped causal nexus. Although there's Donna and Lux's memories... Let's worry bout that later.”

“Ah. Hence the hallucinogen. Making sure your younger self doesn’t remember. Smart. Taking notes from me?”

“What?”

“Nevermind. So, what next?” River asked.

“River, I need your handcuffs.”

“Ooh, Doctor! What is it with you, me, and handcuffs?” River teased.

The Doctor chuckled through a groan. “River.” She laughed as he handed him the handcuffs. He dragged his Skinny self to where he was supposed to wake up and cuffed him. He put his hand out. “Sonic and diary?”

“What?? Why?”

“River...” He continued. She groaned as she handed them to him.

“You didn’t peek did you?”

“No, Donna told me not to.”

“Clever one Donna.”

He chuckled in agreement. “That she is. I managed to save her by the way. From the metacrisis.”

“Really? That’s good!”

He hummed as he touched his younger self’s temple. Contact. “Alright. That should do it.”

“Okay, yes, but that just leaves CAL's memory space issue. What’s the next step?” No answer. “Doctor? Come on!” As he gave no answer, River’s face dropped. “Please tell me you’ve got a plan that doesn’t involve you being a sacrificial idiot!”

Oh, I did not think this through. Think, think, think. “We need spare memory so we need a spare processing unit to share with CAL. We need a big computer, just enough to give her enough memory to complete the transfer...”

“Yes! We went over that! Now tell me you’ve got a plan!” River begged desperately. “Doctor...” Her voice cracked, eyes welled up.”

He glanced at her with teary eyes. Oh, I am so sorry. Suddenly, an epiphany. “There’s one super computer I know that has enough memory to share with CAL.” River lit up as she listened to him. “If we can hook her up to CAL, in theory... It could work!” They laughed. River knew what he was suggesting. The TARDIS! But... “Problem is, his Tardis is on the other side of the planet. We won’t have time to-” Suddenly, the screeching and wheezing of the old time ship can be heard. It was his Tardis “Oh yes! You clever thing!” He kissed the door, earning a laugh from River as he barged inside. River followed suit.

“Oh... You’ve redecorated. I must say, very classic-inspired.” River commented. “And you have a jukebox as well!” The Doctor laughed. He starts grabbing and connecting wires and extension cords. River starts helping him, configuring the Tardis to the Library’s datacore.

“Time it for the end of the countdown. There’ll be a blip in the command flow and it’ll improve our chances of a clean download.”

“Already on it, sweetie.” River responded.

They frantically set everything up as the timer counted down. Less than a minute left. They all made sure everything was in place and correctly configured as the timer neared completion.

5

Final checks. Core processing units connected.

4

“Right, everything’s in place- Oop!” He fixed a loose connection.

3

“Right, primary data functions check, exhaust check-”

2

“Doctor!” River shouted as he grabbed a lever.

1

"Hadi Ama!" The Doctor pulled the lever.

BOOM!

A bright light and a small blast emerged from the console, causing the Doctor and River to fall back. They groan in pain as they got up. 

“Did it work?” River asked.

The Doctor rushed to the monitors. He stared for a moment unsure before beaming up, jumping and laughing. “Oh-ho ho! Yes! We did it!” He rushed to River, hugging and spinning her around joyfully.

“Okay! Put me down!” River chuckled. So he did. “That was intense, ey?” She teased. Her expression softened as she saw his face. His eyes were full of tears as he hugged her tightly. She wrapped her arms around him as well. “It’s okay.”

“I love you, River Song.” He muttered.

“I love you too, Doctor.” She responded.

He did it. She’s alive. She’s here. She’s okay. He kissed her forehead and just felt her. And everything was right in the world.

Chapter Text

The Doctor and River just fixed up some loose ends to avoid a paradox from developing. River took care of Lux and Donna’s memories as the Doctor made sure that all systems were in check. I did it. She’s alive. She’s safe. She’s living, breathing, and real. The Doctor could almost laugh at how unbelievable all of this was. He pinched himself, wondering if he was dreaming. Ow! Nope. Not dreaming. Probably. 

The door opened and in came River in all her glory. She was– is gorgeous. Gorgeous and alive. “Okay. Dealt with Donna and Lux. Their memories should be good to go now. I must say, they are not great kissers.” River remarked with that typical sass.

The Doctor chuckled. “Okay, one more thing we need to deal with before we go.” He explained. “You see, when you... I mean when I thought you died, your sonic had a neural relay and I used it to upload your data ghost to the Library computer. And a few years later, when I was older, I, uh... I saw your data ghost. In Trenzalore. Where I’m- Or I was supposed to be buried. That’s one puzzle we need to solve.”

River hummed in understanding. “You uploaded a copy of my consciousness to the Library.”

The Doctor nodded in confirmation. “That’s right.”

She thought for a moment before proceeding, “And I still left an imprint of my consciousness in my sonic screwdriver...” She explained.

The Doctor took a moment to process that, “Which would mean... I still managed to upload you – or a copy of you – to the data core.” He realized. “So you – a version of you – is still in there.”

River nodded, “So, puzzle solved.”

The Doctor hummed. But he thought for a moment about the implications of that. He thought back to the time, as Skinny, when River depicted a life as a digital file as a bad-case scenario. “Would you be happy with a life – or I guess, an afterlife – of that?”

River took a moment to think about it. “I’m not sure. I’m not in favor of it, but maybe I’ll grow into it.” She explained to comfort him or maybe to try and convince herself. “But maybe you should ask her.” She suggested.

The Doctor stared at the console for a moment, unsure of himself. He took a deep breath, letting out tension. “Right.” He pulled the demat lever and set the tempo-spatial coordinates.

River looked at him, concerned. “I’ll come with you.”

“No.”  He replied. “No. No need. It’s fine.” He stared gazelessly.

He turned to River. “Have I told you about the time I bigenerated?”

“What?” River turned to him confused.

“Oh, I bigenerated a while back.” He explained. “Basically after I was a woman-”

“A woman??” She exclaimed in amazement.

“Oh, yeah. That was after eyebrows.” He continued. “Anyways, woman me regenerated into Skinny. First time I regenerated back into an old face.” River stared in astonishment. “And then Skinny died but instead of regenerating, he ‘bigenerated’. So, I split out of him rather than him turning into me. I exist simultaneously with him.”

River stared at him in shock. “What? So, there’s two of you? The mind races, does it not?” She teased. “So, what happened to him?”

He hummed. “With Donna and her family. Let’s pay em a visit, shall we?” He pulled a lever and the Tardis shook.

River groaned in annoyance. “Do you ever drive her properly?”

“Yeah. When I want to.” He teased. River just rolled her eyes.

The Tardis lands with a loud thump. “Here we are! Temple-Noble home, 2025. Cloudy day. Afternoon.” The Doctor explained.

Skinny barges through the Tardis doors. “Oi! You landed in the flowers! Again! I just replant-” He froze as he spotted River. “-ing them... What?”

River turned to Skinny. “Well, hello, sweetie.” She smiled smugly. “I thought you were kidding when you said there were two of you.” She walked up to him. She smiled warmly at him, cupping his face.

Skinny stared at her with glistening eyes. He turned his gaze to his older self, who nodded, assuring him. He turned back to River, holding the hand on his face. “... River.”

“I’m here, sweetie.” She reassured him. He wrapped his arms around her tightly. She hugged him back. The older Doctor smiled at the sight of his younger self and River embracing each other. He joined them and formed a group hug. 

The older Doctor explained everything. They exited the Tardis with Skinny yapping about his experiences with the Nobles, River laughing at his enthusiasm. The older Doctor stopped in his tracks. “You two, go ahead, I’ll repark the Tardis before Donna gets mad.” He returned to the blue box and started fiddling with the console. His expression turns grim as he sets course for the Library. 

The Tardis lands in the main computer room. The Doctor walked out carefully, scanning the room for a swarm. It’s safe... For now. He approached the main console node, plugging in his sonic to the port, activating the Library interface. “I need to speak to River Song.”

“Hello, sweetie.” He turned to see River’s data ghost glitching into existence. She walked up to him, cupping his face.

“Hey, honey.” He smiled. “Sorry, I haven’t visited. Been a while for you?”

“Mhm. A couple centuries or so.” She answered.

He looked down in shame. “I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be.” She smiled softly. “You already saved me. I’m just an echo.”

He pressed his lips together. He took a deep breath. “Are you happy here, River?” He swallowed a lump in his throat. “With your afterlife?”

River gazed softly at him. “I am. I wasn’t so sure at first but now... Now I am.” River reassured him.  “I was only ever worried I’d be alone but now... I have a family. This is half a life... but so am I. I’ll be fine.”

His gaze lightened, a weight lifted off. He smiled softly at her. “I love you, River.”

“I love you too, Doctor.” River smiled. “You should probably go now. I’m probably still waiting for you wherever you left me.” The Doctor chuckled. “Oh, and Doctor?” He glanced at her. “Take care.”

He nodded. “See you around, Professor Song.”

“Till the next time, Doctor.” She smiled softly at him. “Goodbye, sweetie.” She said as she disappeared.

The Doctor let out a shaky breath. “Right.” He grabbed his sonic and returned to the Tardis. He hit the ‘Set to most recent Location’ button and set the Tardis to land just right outside the Temple-Noble home. He knocked on the door and went inside

The Doctors, River, and the Nobles had dinner as they talked and reminisced about past adventures.

“I still can’t believe he’s being domestic.” River remarked. “I bet he still sneaks out. Even in Darillium he would sneak off, thinking I wouldn’t notice.”

“What?? No.” Skinny lied terribly. “I never snuck out.” He turned to his older self, hoping he'd back him up but to no avail.

Donna laughed. “Oh, I always make sure he regrets sneaking out.” She explained. “One time, he snuck Rose out and I had to ground them for a month.” Rose groaned at that.

“I bet he still dismantles stuff just to make his gizmos.” River commented.

“Oh trust me, he does.” Donna replied. “So, where you off to then after this?”

River pursed her lips, shrugging. “I’ve been declared dead in Luna so I don’t really know.”

They all nodded. “Could always just come back and let em know you were falsely declared dead.” Skinny suggested.

“Yeah, we could.” She nodded. “Oh, but that’s too much paperwork so I’ll be putting that off.” They all chuckled at that. She turned to the Doctors and smiled. They smile back at her. She looks up to the stars. “It’s getting late. We better get going.”

They nodded and stood up. “Right!” Skinny exclaimed. “I’ll be seeing you two. Doctor. River.” He nodded to them. “Doctor, make sure to save some time with River for me.” He joked.

“Oh, there’s enough of me to go round.” River retorted. “Alright! Come on.” She pulled at the older Doctor’s arm.

“Okay then. Donna. Rose. Shaun. Sylvia. Wilfred Mott!” He hugged Wilf. “Take care, me ol’ soldier.” He saluted to his younger self and waved to the Nobles. He took River’s hand as they left the house and got inside the Tardis.

“They’re lovely.” River noted.

The Doctor smiled. “They are.” He started flipping the console switched. “So, Professor Song. Here we are. No diaries. Linear. Where to?”

River smiled at him. “Oh, let me think... Me. The Doctor. In the Tardis. Next stop? How about...” She pulled a lever. “Everywhere.” The Doctor smiled as they started flying the Tardis.

Outside, Skinny stood by the doorway and watched as Disco’s Tardis dematerialized. He smiled softly before going inside and whispered, “Take care of her.”