"River, get them all home," the Doctor said, and locked the TARDIS door behind him, almost skipping in his delight. He dashed the console, did a little spin in place, and set the controls. He knew where he was going to go, he was going to her, his River, his lovely River Song. The TARDIS hummed in merry agreement and took him to Stormcage.

River looked up as she heard the familiar sound. She wondered when he was; was he her husband and lover today, or the so-young Doctor, the one who barely knew her and didn't trust her? She glanced toward the space where he usually parked the TARDIS and saw a door open, seemingly out of empty air. He bounced out, looking manic and awed and adorably young all at the same time, and he barely paused before he flicked his sonic at the security camera and then at her cell door, flinging it open and nearly getting caught in it as it bounced back. He grinned at her, caught her up in his arms, and spun her around in a circle. She was laughing, breathless, when he put her down, and she arched an eyebrow. "May I assume by this greeting that you know me well?"

"Sort of. Well, not exactly, I mean, not in the carnal sense... yet," the Doctor said, giving River that hot-when-he's-clever look from under hooded eyes. "But I've just come from Demon's Run, and, River, I... I've just realised-" he broke off, breath catching in his throat, as she reached out and carefully adjusted his bow-tie, and then cupped the back of his neck with one hand, bringing him close. "No," he said quietly, only a breath away from her face, "Let me finish. River, I... you are beautiful." Her eyes filled with tears and he continued in a whisper, "...and so very dear to me." A tear dropped and he caught it gently with one forefinger, then gasped and closed his eyes momentarily as she captured the finger in her mouth and swirled her tongue around it, sucking lightly. "River..." She let his finger pop out of her mouth and stepped back. The Doctor stood uncharacteristically still and breathless, watching as she reached up to the back of her neck and twisted something there, and his hearts skipped a beat as her dress fell to pool at her feet.

She wasn't wearing anything under the dress.

He watched her, standing there nude but for her high, high heels before him, and she winked at him. "Hello, Sweetie," she said, and smiled, and his mouth went dry. That's interesting, the part of his brain that was still thinking said, that hasn't happened before in all the times I've... and then even his thoughts trailed off as she took a step forward and slid her hand behind his neck again and drew him down and kissed him. Then it was all sensations... her soft lips on his and his hands in her hair and breathy moans from them both until River broke the kiss and took him by the hand, leading him out of the cell. "Guards coming," she whispered, "and we wouldn't want to be caught like this, would we, my love?" And she entered the TARDIS, wearing nothing but high heels, as he stood for a moment, gaping as he watched her. She leaned out the door. "Coming, my love?" and he swallowed convulsively and followed her through the blue doors.

The console room had a new door, the Doctor noticed that right off, and as River was nowhere in sight, he assumed she'd gone through it. So he went toward it, humming under his breath, buoyant with the knowledge that she was - as Dorium had said - Human Plus. Human plus Time Lord, one of his own kind, and oh that changed everything. And then he walked through the new door and stopped short. She wasn't standing there, hip-shot on high heels, or stretched out on the bed invitingly and ready to toss him a throaty Hello, Sweetie.

Instead she was curled up in a little ball on the bed, sobbing silently into a pillow.

His first thought was a horrified what have I done? because he must have done something to make the... the indomitable River Song weep so inconsolably. Then he shook his head. He was sure he hadn't done anything wrong in the last three minutes, so something else must have happened, something she'd seen or heard or realised. He walked over and sat next to her on the bed, reaching out almost hesitantly to touch her hair. She sniffled and sat up, scrubbing at her tear-streaked face with one hand, and then looked at him, and he realized she was smiling. Not just smiling, but smiling radiantly at him through her tears. "You've done Neil Armstrong's foot and Nixon in 1969," she said, "and so have I."

Oh, the Doctor thought distractedly, that means... there are no spoilers here. She and I both remember the... oh. "River..." he said miserably, "I... I'm sorry. I didn't mean... well yes, I did mean it at the time, I was so angry and worried about Amy and you seemed so smug and I... I'm sorry." His voice dropped to a whisper. "I hurt you... and I am so very sorry for that." He hoped she would understand how much he regretted that he had hurt her that day, using his best weapons - his words - against her. She was sitting very still and watching him, waiting for him to finish working through his thoughts aloud. "I... River... I said horrible things to you, about you, but I couldn't have said them to someone I didn't..." he trailed off, confused. And then suddenly he understood. "I trust you," he said, wonderingly, "I did even then. What an amazing thing." He beamed at her. "Right, so we've both done Space 1969 - catchy, that, I was rather proud of it at the time too - and that means... River! That means we're not back-to-front, we're timey-wimey, and... and-"

"Oh... shut up," she said, just as she had in Stormcage after that adventure, and then she kissed him. The kiss, however, was not just as it had been that night in Stormcage. This kiss had no flavor of goodbye or even see-you-next-time-call-me to it; this kiss was hot and desperate, all teeth and tongues, and it shot heat straight through his body. The Doctor groaned her name as he buried his hands in her hair as though to keep her there with him. So beautiful, he thought, and wet and sweet and... oh my lovely River... and then he could feel her mind tangling with his along with their tongues... oh my love, so afraid I had lost you, but you're here with me... and he noticed that she was crying again even as she kissed him. He stroked her hair gently and murmured her name against her lips as he carefully pulled away from her mouth and pressed his lips against her forehead.

"Please don't cry, River," he said quietly into her hair as he smoothed the tears away with one thumb. "Please." He took a deep breath, steadying himself, and placed a last gentle kiss to her forehead before he looked into her eyes. So green and dark and sad, he thought abstractedly, so lovely... He cleared his throat. "River," he said softly, "May I touch you?"

"You'd better," she said, with a little catch in her voice, and he did touch her, his hands moving almost of their own volition, slipping out of her hair and down the slope of her throat to her collarbone. Her eyes fluttered shut and she moaned and he thought the sound might undo him entirely; she was so lovely and amazing and so perfectly River Song, and he closed his own eyes while he tried desperately to regain control of his own body. The breathy sound of her moans and the Time Lord energy sparking through her very being and the sight of her... he needed her, so much, and he must tell her. He opened his mouth to speak but she laid a finger over it and shook her head. "No," she murmured, "Show me."

He lifted her up and gently laid her down on the bed, and then he stood back and just looked at her. "River..." his voice was hoarse with longing and need, his mouth and throat were dry again, and he adjusted his collar. She shook her head at him again, a silent admonishment that he was to show her, not to tell her with words, and he slowly untied the bow-tie from round his neck and let it drop to the floor. The shirt and the braces and the trousers soon followed, and he lay down beside her, with nothing between them but a pair of TARDIS-blue boxers. She smiled at him and he felt his hearts skip again as he carefully took her face between his hands and kissed her.

This kiss was searching, and needy, and gently exploratory, and although he ached for her, he could control himself now. One of his hands went into the amazing wealth of her hair, and the other skimmed lightly down the side of her throat until it reached her breast, stroking it as she arched into his touch with another of those breathless moans. The hand in her hair brushed against her temple and they each whimpered into each other's mouth as their minds joined their bodies in the lovemaking.

moans whimpers sighs my love, my only love stroking caressing rubbing pinching soothing always and completely, my River licking and sucking and little nibbling kisses there, right there, yes, please, now, NOW, touching and loving and in and, oh so tight, so perfectly River, yes, moving together, bodies and hearts and minds and oh, my love, Sweetie, now, please, PLEASE right now! Her body contracted around him and they came apart together, shouting with joy and ecstasy with both their minds and their voices, and slowly - so slowly - shuddered to a soft and languorous stop, still connected in both mind and body.

And finally, limbs entangled in a loving embrace, they drifted off to sleep, love and trust echoing along the link between slumbering minds.