A/N: Alright, I know I haven't updated for a long time. I know that. Sorry.

The sun shines brightly onto the brick pathway on which the TARDIS is materializing, the dense conglomerations of grass-green rose bushes with violet colored leaves raising their heads as the light flashes on their faces, the wind blows coldly, sweeping through the purple grass.

"When I open these doors, we will be the very first to step foot on this glacier for a millenium! No one will come here for the next thousand-"

River rolls her eyes slightly and pushes the doors open and indicates the rose bushes, stepping onto the warm red brick pavement as the morning's heat is transferred from the bricks to the air, waves appearing in the air.

"Hm. Glaciers. Interesting..."

The Doctor's shoulders slump a little.

"Or Sporocidionia."

"Mhm. About 40 degrees Fahrenheit (A/N: about... 5.5 degrees Celsius), main vegetation is rose bushes, no intelligent life forms registering, and predicted to be cool and sunny for the rest of the day. Unless you have something to add, sweetie?"

River gives him a competitive glance and smiles.

The Doctor puts on his pouting face.

"Wrong. There was intelligent life here that supposedly died off a few years ago. As to why-"

"Please don't tell me you had something to do with this- you've made enough of a name for yourself already. I think five unflattering names is enough for one decade, don't you?"

The Doctor shoots a deadly glare to River, but she ignores him and wanders off.

"River, rule number-"

River shivers and snaps rather impatiently, her voice smoothing into sheer silk as she speaks.

"No, rule number one is that the Doctor lies. And I'm getting my coat. Don't get yourself killed while I'm gone, will you?"

The Doctor scoffs and starts to lean against a rose bush.

"Ah!"

River snickers slightly.

"That's not funny, River!"

Melody disappears into the TARDIS, wandering into the wardrobe, selecting a coat for this planet, emerging instants later.

"Honestly, that woman will be the death of me..."

"Spoilers, sweetie!"

The Doctor looks at her in shock.

"What do you mean by that?"

River smiles, and leans in, as if for a kiss.

"Spoilers."

"Now. There has to be a reason we're he- whoa-"

"What is it?"

The Doctor turns, and River notices that he is trembling slightly and paling.

"Those natives that disappeared? They're still here. I just need to sit down, the roses are moving..."

"Doctor- the roses ARE moving. Doctor?"

The Doctor's face now holds a vacant expression, his eyes are unfocused.

The rose bushes begin to eye him up, smacking their jaws with a crunching sound.

"Don't touch him. Leave him alone."

River tries to pull the Doctor out of the fray, one hand on her unholstered gun and the other on the Doctor, but the bush shoots a thorn at her.

"You bloody bush you're... swaying..."

River fires three shots in the bush's general direction, fighting to stay awake, blinking as the struggle to remain conscious intensifies. She fires two more shots, and the bush seems to be injured, losing heads that scream as they fall to their deaths and land, smouldering, blackening as they burn green in the purple grass. She tries to fire again, but can't grip her gun and it falls from her limp fingers.

River drops, unconscious, as the Doctor is pulled into the clutches of the rose bush.

Both binary cardiovascular systems work full tilt, trying to expel the toxin.

The bush drags the bleary-eyed Doctor in, until he realizes that he is trapped.

The Doctor shouts in terror as the carnivorous rose bush nearest to him leaps up, opening its jaws and roaring at him, then squeezes his torso with its thorn-covered talons, causing the time lord to struggle and try to remove the talons with his hands, causing gashes to form. He kicks out at the bush, and elicits a cry of pain as his ribs start to fracture due to the increased pressure from the bush; the thorns embed themselves into his skin. Other bushes begin to take interest, eyeing him hungrily, licking their lips, and grabbing hold of him. Soon, he can hardly move at all.

"River! River, please! Help me!"

River remains motionless, still stunned by the thorn's poison, but untouched by the rose bushes.

"River..."

The Doctor's eyes droop closed as he drifts into oblivion, his wife's name on his lips.

A/N: That's it for now, sorry. I am working on the next chapter, but I've also managed to catch a cold (el gripe!). Well, it's a bad cold. Bad only because it's in my way. It's not severe because I've been taking echinacea (It's from those purple coneflowers. It kills colds.), multivitamin gummies (you can't actually digest a solid vitamin pill. Gummies or gelcaps are better.), and special vitamin D3 and C supplements; I am drinking a lot of orange juice, and am generally keeping my fluids up. I don't have a fever, yet. I just caught this thing, so we'll see. Don't worry- if I get worse, it won't take long for me to recover. I'll be back writing shortly after. For the next few days, you might not see me writing, though. I'll be sleeping, most likely.

Les aman con todo mi corazon. (I love you guys with all of my heart.) Sorry if my Spanish is bad. I'm in my second year of study.