Disclaimer: Doctor Who © BBC

Author's Note: Alright, another long one! There will be more interactions between Rose and River, don't worry! This isn't it! And to answer the questions of will this turn into a Doctor/Rose fic: It's submitted into the Doctor/River category for a reason ;-)

The Doctor had faced many challenges in his past. He'd battled Daleks and stopped Cybermen, both at the same time on a few occasions. He'd gone up against the Weeping Angels and Sontarans. He'd faced many demons, and had even faced the devil himself. Lost great battles, and won countless others. The many friends he'd made over the years had come and gone, and some he even had to watch die. He'd stopped the end of the world from happening, and had also been the cause of it. However, the one thing the Doctor had absolute no control over, was an epic battle between Rose Tyler and River Song.

Letting the two partner up for their mission was something he wanted to interfere with, but he knew he had no power over. Who knew the kinds of chaos the two would create as they fought over him? At least that's what his ego was telling him. He'd weighed the potential that they could possibly become friends and get along quite well, considering the circumstance...however that thought was properly shoved aside as he remembered their banter when they'd first arrived.

This is a very not good idea. Very bad indeed! He thought to himself as he chewed on his bottom lip. He was brought out of his thoughts by the shaking of his arm, and the faint sound of someone talking.

"Doctor?"

"Huh? Yes? What is it?" His head darted up and River was sitting faced towards him, studying his face. One of her eyebrows raised and a noticeable smirk played across her lips. Oh god those lips...

"Is that alright with you?" River asked and batted her eyelashes playfully.

"Yes, of course it is." He answered quickly, straightening his bow tie. He looked about the van at the faces staring back at him. Rory was shaking his head slightly and Amy was also smirking. He looked back at River and frowned. "What?"

"You have no idea what I'm talking about, do you?" The smug look never left her face as she spoke.

"Er...Not exactly..." The Doctor admitted and River shook her head laughing. He watched her hair dance as each curl bounced. Oh god how he wanted to run his fingers through them again. He smiled as he remembered how they felt, how sweet they smelled.

The Doctor was once again brought out of his thoughts as the van came to an abrupt halt. He fell forward and hit his head against the seat in front of him. He grumbled as he looked up at Rose and glared. No doubt she'd been keeping a close eye on them and decided to slam on the brakes. She smiled innocently back at him.

"We're here." Rose announced as she motioned out towards the Torchwood headquarters of her world. "I'll go get the communicators and from here we can all split up. Sound good?" She hopped out of the van before anyone could answer her and ran inside.

The rest of the gang emptied out of the doors and stretched. The ride hadn't been long, but they all weren't used to regular driving after growing accustomed to flying in the TARDIS. A few minutes later and Rose emerged from the building with an assortment of supplies with her.

"Ooo what's all that?" The Doctor asked giddily, almost hopping in place.

"These are the communicators I was able to grab. Fairly simple, they just clip around your ear and are controlled with these dials on the side." She passed them out to everyone and showed the buttons, which lit up as she touched them. "This one controls the volume, just slide the little lever up or down. It'll lock in place so you won't have to worry about it turning down on its own." She demonstrated. "The one to the left of it will connect it to the rest of them, that way we'll all be on the same frequency and no outside party can listen in on our conversations. We all just need to synch them real quick, so hold it down until all the lights turn blue." Once all the lights were the same Rose continued. "Last is the mute button on the end. Tap it once to mute it, twice to un-mute. You'll still be able to listen in on everyone else, but no one will be able to hear you, so don't forget to un-mute it when talking."

They all attached them and got used to the controls, muting them and making sure everything else worked properly.

"Right, what's all of that?" Amy asked as she looked at everything else Rose was holding.

"Just some essentials for investigating abandoned buildings. Flashlights, maps, and a few other tools I've put in these packs." She handed them the satchels to look around as belts.

River declined the bag and pointed down to the one strapped around her waist already, "I came prepared." She smiled.

"Oh, ok..have you had that on you the whole night?" Rose asked, not remembering her wearing it when she'd first seen her. Though, she had to admit, she wasn't exactly paying attention to what she was wearing and more with how she was being around the Doctor. Definitely being all flirty that's for sure.. Rose thought to herself.

"When doesn't she have it, is more like it." The Doctor interjected and removed only what he needed from the bag. The maps that Rose referred to were actually stored inside of a watch, which produced a hologram of where they were located. Little green dots indicated everyone in the group with red ones surrounding them.

Rose noticed the Doctor examining them, "I programed them to show each of us as green and any other life source as red. That way we'll know where everyone is, and if there's anyone else nearby we can sneak around them easier."

"Brilliant!" The Doctor exclaimed and flashed a toothy grin. "Look at you! Miss Tyler, Professional Defender of Pete!"

"Pete?" Amy and Rory asked in unison.

"Didn't John call it Earth yesterday?" Amy asked. "Actually, forget I asked. I have a feeling there's a long explanation.."

Rose nodded and continued, "Right, enough chatting. We should all get a move on. Doctor, is it alright if you and Amy leave from here to get to the TARDIS? It's in the opposite direction of where we're headed."

"Yeah, no problem." The Doctor answered for them both. "You're sure you'll be alright?" He was referring to Rose and River. He looked back and forth between the two, hoping one of them would cave and switch partners. He could feel the end of the world nearing at rapid speed as he awaited their answers.

"We'll be fine." The two women answered at the same time. They had fake smiles plastered on as they looked at each other.

"Right then...End of the world, I welcome thee.." The Doctor said under his breath.

Everyone said their quick goodbyes as the rest of the group piled back into the van. Once again the Doctor had an uneasy feeling in the pit of his stomach. Something didn't feel right about the situation.

"So did you talk to her at all?" The Scottish woman asked. They were a couple blocks away from the TARDIS, which she figured was enough time to get in some gossip-like small talk.

"Who?" The Doctor asked and started to quicken his pace. Of course he knew who she was talking about, but he didn't want to bring any of the drama up. Why did women like to get involved in such petty gossip?

"What do you mean who?" Amy rolled her eyes and jogged a little to catch up to him. "I'm talking about Rose! I know you heard us this morning, and don't try to deny it." She pointed a finger at him as he opened his mouth to protest.

"Alright, so what if I did hear you two. Why should I have gone and talked to her?" He asked without looking at her, and instead fiddled with the ends of his jacket.

"Well for one she's still hung up on you. I mean I know you went and talked to her last night, but that didn't seem to go over too well considering she found you and River this morning! And I'll say it again, you are sooo lucky Rory didn't catch you two." Amy's eyes narrowed.

The Doctor felt a chill run down the back of his neck at the thought of waking up to Rory holding a sword to his throat for cuddling up to his daughter. Especially after the awkward conversation they'd all had on the TARDIS. "I told her what I needed to, what she chooses to do after that is her doing, Amy. I can't make her do something she doesn't want to do. Which includes getting over her feelings for me. Which I must admit I wasn't expecting her to still have after giving her the human version of me.." He quickly added in at the end.

"Wait so you just dumped the human you and Rose off in this world and expected her to just get over you?" Amy asked, shocked. Not at his actions, but at the fact he thought it would be so simple for one of his companions to just 'get over' him. It'd taken herself plenty of time before her infatuation with him passed. She could only imagine what it must have been like to be dumped off in a parallel universe, knowing full well there was no way to get back to the person she loved. No wonder Rose was still so attached to him.

"Well when you say it like that..." He winced.

"Seriously, Doctor, you're so terrible when it comes to women.." She shook her head.

"Do I still need to talk to her?" The Doctor whined after a few minutes of silence.

"Depends on what happens between her and River. My guess is that Rose wanted more closure or something, which is why she picked to go with her." Amy shrugged.

The Doctor stopped walking and slapped his forehead, "Oh god what have I gotten myself into?" He groaned.

Back at the van, Rose and River were dropping off Rory and John at the first location. The place looked deserted, just as they'd suspected it would, but they were still being cautious about where they parked just in case. The building itself looked rundown and rusted out. Windows were shattered, and no light seemed to be shining into them. The perimeter of the area was fenced off, but even the fencing itself was falling apart. Nothing said creepy and abandoned, well, none other than creepy and abandoned.

"Geez, this place is really run down, isn't it." John stated more than asked as he opened the door. Rory swung open the side door and climbed out of the vehicle as well.

"You sure you two will be alright going to the other one on your own?" Rory asked as he looked back in to River and Rose. The father side of him had kicked in and he was feeling more protective over his daughter, even though she was much older than he was. Deep down he knew she could protect herself, especially considering she'd been raised to be a psychopath killer, but he still allowed his father-ness to take over on occasion.

"Oh, Rory we'll be fine. Stop being such a dad, will you?" River gave him a reassuring smile.

"Sorry, it kind of comes naturally. Can't really stop it." He smiled sheepishly, "You be careful though." He ordered in his dad voice.

"Aye-aye." River saluted him as he shut the door.

"Same goes for you." John was talking to Rose.

"I'll be fine. You watch out for yourself." Rose smiled at John as he shut the door. The two women watched as both men climbed through an opening in the fence and started walking in towards the building.

Rose started the van up and circled around, heading in the direction of the second building. It was located a couple miles down from the first, which meant it wouldn't take long for the two to get there. They sat in silence for few minutes, watching the scenery pass them by.

River started rummaging through her bag and began organizing her supplies on the seat. She'd stayed in the back in order to have enough room to sort through everything.

"What's all that?" Rose asked straining her neck as she tried to get a better look in the mirror.

"My essentials." River said as she pulled out various items.

"Lipstick? I didn't take you as the, uh...well, girly type." Rose said as she spotted the tube roll out onto the seat.

"Ah, wouldn't go anywhere without it." River winked at her. "But it isn't any ordinary lipstick." She stressed her words as she carefully stuck the tube in her cleavage. For easy access, of course.

"What do you mean by that?"

"Oh, you'll see." The older woman said and began putting some of the items back in the bag.

Rose was about to ask another question when the Doctor could be heard in their ear pieces.

"River! You'd better not have done anything with my TARDIS!"

Oh lovely, a grumpy Doctor.. The curly haired blonde thought to herself as she rolled her eyes, turning the mute on hers off, "Sweetie, I have no idea what you're talking about."

"It's not here! That's what I'm talking about!"

"Are you sure you're in the right place?" She sounded like an annoyed guardian looking after a forgetful child.

"Of course I'm sure! I'm exactly where we left it, and it's not here! Amy, tell her!" The Doctor whined.

A clicking noise sounded and Amy's voice was heard, "It's true. It's not here. I thought maybe it was all invisible again, but there's literally nothing here." She clicked her mute back on.

"See!" The Doctor said, trying to prove his point. River imagined him stomping his foot on the ground for emphasis.

"What?" River asked, hoping they were both kidding. It was then that she remembered she'd been the last to leave the TARDIS. She'd run back in to get some of her papers and had left the door open. In the heat of the moment, after being introduced to Rose and John, she'd forgotten to close the door and lock it.

"River, are you even listening?" She was brought out of her thoughts.

"Yeah, I'm here. I'm listening." She said as she smacked her forehead.

"Oh...River...Don't tell me..." Realization dawned on the Time Lord as well, and she could imagine him hitting his head against the nearest tree.

"It'll be fine, Doctor. Just meet up with us at one of the buildings. We'll find her, I promise." River clicked the mute on again and rubbed the temples of her forehead. There was silence and she figured the Doctor had also turned his mute on.

"Everything alright?" Rose asked. Part of her felt joy bubble in her stomach, in what she hoped was River messing something up, but at the same time she was worried that something bad was in the works.

"Bloody brilliant, is what it is." River snarled as she pulled out her infamous gun from of the bag, along with its holster to strap around her waist.

Rose's eyes widened and she gulped.

"Well isn't this just fantastic!" The Doctor yelled to no one as he marched off in the direction everyone was located.

"Doctor! It'll be fine! I'm sure she didn't mean to do it!" Amy hollered after him as she tried to catch up. He was tough to keep track of when he was emotional... She didn't know how River handled him so well.

"Wait a second." The Doctor stopped walking abruptly, causing Amy to almost run into him. He spun on his heel and ran back to where the time machine had been. "I'm missing something. Something that's staring me right in the face." His eyes darted around the area trying to spot what he hadn't before.

"Doctor, what are you looking at? Shouldn't we get back to the others? I'm sure they'll be waiting for us.." Amy sighed and crossed her arms.

"Shut up, I'm thinking." He walked around a few times and then stopped, staring forward and looking out of his peripheral vision. "Ah, ha!" He exclaimed! He yanked out his sonic and pointed it to the side of where he was looking.

There was a loud popping noise before Amy was finally able to see what the Doctor had spotted.

"Wait, how did that get there? It wasn't there before." She asked, confused.

"Perception filter." The Doctor said as he twirled his sonic in the air and caught it, showing off. "Changes what you see. I didn't notice it at first, but I knew something as big as the TARDIS couldn't have just been carried off so easily. Ha! Sneaky bugger!"

Amy stepped closer and looked at the device on the ground. "It almost looks like one of those transportation pad things used in Star Trek."

"That's because it is. Though transportation pad, isn't it's technical term. But it'll suffice." The Doctor said. He scanned it again with the sonic. "Yep, definitely used to teleport the TARDIS to some other location. My guess, is one of those buildings. Care to find out?" The Doctor held out his hand to Amy who looked wary about grabbing it.

"How do you know that's where it is? And are you sure it's not some trap? We won't get zapped to death or anything?" She walked around the pad a couple times.

"It's fine! Where else would they take the old girl to, eh? Now, come along Pond!" He offered his hand again. This time she reluctantly grabbed it and stepped onto the pad with him. He used his sonic to activate it and Amy felt it pull her body left and right as they dematerialized instantly.

"Where did you get that!" Rose yelled back at the woman holding the gun.

"I brought it with me, and don't worry I'm not going to shoot you!" River said as she put it securely in the holster.

"Why do you even have a gun with you?" Rose had used multiple guns before on her quest to get back to the Doctor, years before, but she couldn't believe the Doctor would willingly let someone carry a weapon on board the time machine. He'd always been so uptight about keeping weapons out of the scenario, so she didn't know what to think as soon as she'd seen River's gun.

"Why not? They're more fun." She winked at the younger blonde.

"Does the Doctor know you have a weapon on you?" Disgust dripped off of each word.

"I'd be surprised if he didn't." River answered honestly.

"You expect me to believe he would let you have a gun on you? He hates guns, and especially people that have them." Rose retorted as she rounded a corner rather harshly.

River barely held herself up, "I never said I expected you to believe anything. And maybe that was the Doctor then, but the Doctor now doesn't mind too much about weapons. He may not use them himself, but he's a lot less stingy about them."

"Ok, so say you're right, why would you bring one with you anyway?" Rose slammed on the brakes as she pulled up to the second building. River was more prepared, and was able to hold herself in place fairly well.

"Because I choose to! Do I really need to explain myself? Why does it bother you so much?" River yelled, anger starting to boil in the pit of her stomach.

"Just...never mind, forget it. Sorry I brought it up." Rose ended the conversation sharply and opened the door. She grabbed the keys from the ignition and slammed the door behind her after she jumped out. River closed the door behind her after she got out of the van as well.

The two walked in silence until the made it into the second dark and run down building. Both of them had an eery feeling they were being watched, but there was absolutely no one around. The watches they had, showed no other life forms other than themselves.

Their little argument forgotten, they looked at each other as they walked in the entrance. They looked around the open space. It looked to be an abandoned warehouse, with no power on whatsoever.

The sound of their footsteps echoed off of the rusted metal, and they looked around the perimeter. Nothing was in sight. No person, or even some kind of machine to power the building. Had they been duped into thinking this was the place that they needed to be?

They made their way into the opening of the building and River did a final sweep of the perimeter as they became enclosed in darkness. Something was off.

"You get the feeling that someones watching us?" Rose whispered as she turned on her flashlight and shone it around the room. Reflections of cobwebs, and rats scurrying about were the only things she saw. A shiver ran down her body.

"That's because, I'm fairly certain we are." River said as she too turned on her flashlight and had it shining on a surveillance camera.

"Woah, how did you see that?" Rose asked sounding impressed.

"I've had...training, so to speak." River answered as she turned her ear piece on again. "John, Rory, keep on the look out for surveillance cameras. This place is filled with them." She said and shone her light on 5 other ones.

Before they could hear their response, a blood chilling scream and the Doctor's yelling broke through the communicators. "Amy! Leave her alone! Amy!"

"Doctor? What the hell is going on? What's happened!" Rory's voice demanded instantly.

"Rory, I'm so sorry! It was a trap! They grabbed us as soon as we got here. We tried to escape, but then they took her. They took Amy! No, wait! Don't—" There was a crackling noise before there was complete silence on his end.

Rose and River exchanged a look, but before running back to the van, River pulled out her vortex manipulator and strapped it on. "Here, this is faster." She said and grabbed Rose by the wrist and placed it on her own. Before the younger woman could say anything, they dematerialized and were sent flying across time and space in a matter of seconds.

As they rematerialized in front of John and Rory, River looked at Rose and answered her question from earlier, "This is why I carry a gun on me. God knows what other trouble the Doctor is about to get us all into." She smirked and grabbed everyone else as she pressed the button once more.