Disclaimer: No, I do not own Doctor Who or any of it's characters. No I don't wish to, as I would rather wish for them to become real instead.

Prologue

This was the moment. River could stop it now and take back the life she still vaguely remembered. She could put the timeline back on its original course, and salvage her past and her future. Any moment now she would see a flash of blonde hair and River would step forward. She'd call out a friendly hello and in that split second of a pause, Rose would be flashed back to her parallel universe. Time would straighten itself back out and return to its original course. River would have her identity again, and she would have her Doctor back.

River stared at the small device in her hand. Red lights blinked at her through the black metal, as if accusing her of what she was contemplating doing. A large crack resonated around her and she looked up, knowing what came next. Rose rounded the corner, scanning the crowds frantically, looking for the Doctor. She looked frantic and guarded, as if prepared for disappointment. River stood to go to her, wondering slightly, how many jumps it had taken to get her here. Judging by the desperateness in her eyes, River figured it had been many.

River took another step forward, bringing her closer to Rose, and now in full view of the rest of the street. Out of the corner of her eye she saw the Doctor, standing about a block away. He had stopped in the middle of the street, disregarding traffic. The device beeped loudly, reminding River that she had seconds left, she had to act now. Before it rewrote time.