Author's note: I do not own any places, characters, creatures, or objects that you recognize. Quotes taken from Forests of the Dead (and one from Casablanca...)
I'm new to fanfiction and looking for a response, to see if I should post more to this story or not. Please let me know what you think

The Doctor came to suddenly, his overactive brain racing as he remembered his situation. His eyes snapped up and he lunged forward.

"No!" He cried as he was jerked backwards, one arm refusing to move with the rest of him. "No no no no no, that's my job." He snapped at the mad, mysterious, infuriating woman sitting in the chair in front of him.

"Someday soon, sweetie, you're going to have to learn to accept help. Then, and now, you don't have a choice." She smiled faintly as she shook her head, the riot of curls she had pinned back shaking. She had the air of someone recalling memories fondly.

He glanced at his uncooperative arm. "Why am I handcuffed? Why do you even have handcuffs?"

She laughed. She laughed, she's about to kill herself and she laughed, who is this woman? The Doctor wondered frantically.

"Spoilers." She said with a wink.

"This will kill you, I have a chance, you don't have any." His voice rose at the end with his frantic plea.

"You wouldn't have a chance. And- and I don't have a choice." Her voice steadied as she spoke. "I'm timing it for the end of the countdown, clean download."

"There's always a choice River. Let me do this." He was pleading. So many people giving their lives to save him. So many, too many.

"If you die here, then I'd have never met you."

"Time can be rewritten."

"Not those times. Not one minute, don't you dare." She glared at him fiercely.

"River, please-"

"No. Shut up. I'm dying, I get to talk. Thing is, this means you've always known how I was going to die. All those times we had, you've always known it would end here. The last time I saw you, the future you, you showed up on my doorstep and she handed me a parka. We went to Woman Wept and walked beneath the hundred foot waves and you cried. You said it was the cold and the wind, but you cried, and you wouldn't tell us why. Don't tell her Doctor, I don't want her to be sad. Don't tell her."

"Who, River? Who can't I tell?" He took a deep breath, "River, what you said before, I only ever told one person that, I don't even sound like that any more."

"Spoilers, Doctor. Don't be sad Doctor, you have all that to come. All of us together, across the stars, watch us... run." She pressed the ends of the cables together and the Doctor's vision exploded into white light.

Even after he saved her imprint to the hard drive, he was tempted to go back and look through the diary. She'd said she was someone he trusted, trusted with his stories, with his past. But that part of his past was too painful, he couldn't imagine telling that to anybody.

"Doctor," Donna said quietly from his side, "Doctor, let's go."

"Right, right you are." He straightened his tie and strode to the Tardis, with forced cheer he called back to his companion, "Let's go then!"

Rose moaned as she flopped into her cushy desk chair. She felt bruised everywhere. After a long morning chasing aliens around London, the chair was a godsend.

Well, if she was perfectly honest, less of a godsend and more like the diligent application of skills. If Torchwood wanted to keep their offices safe, they shouldn't teach their field agents how to break through just about any lock on earth or nearby systems. She was fairly certain her dad knew she'd stolen the chair, but he never said anything about it.

Possibly because he liked the idea of the high-and-mighty Yvonne Hartman sitting on one of the stiff roller chairs the rest of the employees used. The director of Budget and Inventory always set Rose's nerves on fire. Her dad seemed to agree, and even her mum, who tried so hard to get along with everyone she met in this parallel world, couldn't stomach the woman. She'd been in place in the old Torchwood, before Pete Tyler had taken over, and bitterly resented the changes he'd made. Rose thought she was a bit like Cassandra, the last human. Always whinging on about humans being the most important. Hartman didn't see the point in negotiation or aiding stranded travelers. Her favorite line, 'If it's alien, it's ours.' didn't sit well with any of them. Plus, her mum had grudgingly admitted after Rose pressed, that Hartman had been in charge of Torchwood in the other universe, the real universe, and it was her fault that things had gone the way they had.

Yeah, that was probably why he hadn't minded that she'd stolen the chair for her own office.

She opened her laptop to start writing a report about today's incident. So much paperwork. It was times like this, she thought, when she'd rather be anywhere else. Suddenly, she felt a strange tugging in her stomach. A soft song sounded in her head as the feeling grew, the same feeling as when you drop suddenly on a roller coaster or, as she'd found more recently, parachute out of a zeppelin. The voice singing in her head was so beautiful, she closed her eyes and followed it back into her mind. When her head collided with the desk, she was already gone.

She opened her eyes. Then blinked, and blinked again. Apparently she had completely gotten used to transmat beams because she didn't feel dizzy at all.

"You know," She yelled, hoping that whoever, whatever, brought her here was nearby, "If you wanted me off-world you could have just asked!"

It was true, she volunteered for every off-world mission she could. And she was usually picked for them. Her experiences with the Doctor had primed her for that sort of thing. She was Torchwood's most skilled negotiator. Now though, after four years working at the institute, she had a reputation in space. She was not only Rose Tyler, Defender of Earth, like the Doctor claimed, but also Rose Tyler, Defender of Peace, according to the local systems.

But the empty field with its tall grass and sprinkling of wild flowers stayed silent. Well, except for the sound of rushing water. She sighed and looked intently around. The sky was spotted with clouds, but clear enough that she could see it was the exact same shade of blue as Earth's atmosphere. In fact, most everything looked like Earth. She examined the trees in the distance. Yup, she thought, birches. So, she was on Earth still, but where? She took a deep breath. The air tasted clean, so no where near a city. Then it hit her, there were no zeppelins to be seen anywhere. She gulped. She had to be a long way from civilization to not see any zeppelins. One thing she was certain of, she wouldn't find anything out by standing where she was. She set off towards the hill, hoping she would see something.

It was a few steps before she noticed the feeling of grass against her ankles. She shouldn't feel that through the thick canvas trousers of her uniform nor the sturdy boots. She looked down. Instead of the black, heavy-duty Torchwood standard she wore gold sandals and a light, floaty blue linen dress. Tardis blue.

"Breathe, Tyler. Deep breaths." She ordered herself in her best impression of Sam, the director of the Torchwood field agents. She could not allow herself to panic. She could, and would, figure out what was going on and how to get home.

The light breeze blew the loose fabric of her skirt around her calves and she couldn't help but smile to herself. It had been a long time since she'd worn anything like that dress. She was usually forced between her Torchwood gear and elaborate formal wear for galas and parties as the Vitex heiress. As far as "let's capture Rose" situations went, this was possibly the most pleasant one she'd ever been in. That being said, she still didn't know where she was, why, and how long she'd been gone. Cresting the hill, she let out a sigh of relief. A quarter of a mile away was a building. A large, mansion like building, and she could see flutters of movement inside. Humming to herself, she walked on.

At the front of the building a man was bent over the open hood of a car. A classic American car, Rose recognized from her time spent with Mickey. Was she in America then? She glanced at the license plates, but there were none. She cleared her throat.

"Hey Miss Evangelista, could you get me a-" The man said as he glanced up, then froze. He was about five years older than Rose with dark skin and a mass of curly black hair. "Hang on, who the bloody hell are you?"

"Well, rude as that was, it was obviously not you that's kidnapped me." Rose replied calmly.

"What are you on about, kidnapped? How did you get here?" He was studying her intently, and a little suspiciously. Like she was a puzzle, or a bomb that would go off if he didn't defuse it in time.

"I woke up standing in that field, when before, I was at my desk." She explained.

He stared at her for a minute more.

"Right, well, let's ask River." He told her and turned to walk inside.

She followed him. It had been a long time since she'd completely panicked in a situation, she wanted to keep that streak up.

"So, you're awfully calm for being kidnapped." The man said with a sly glance over his shoulder.

She smirked. "It wouldn't be the first time and I doubt it will be the last."

"You said you were at your desk, do you work at the Library?" He asked.

"Uh, no. Sorry, what library?"

"The Library, you know, the planet?" He looked at her like she was an idiot.

"Huh, nope. Is that where we are?"

"Sort of, we're- ah, I'll let River explain it." Now he was just confused.

"Hang on, are you human?" Last time she checked, few people talked about visiting planets. Fewer who wouldn't recognize her on sight.

"Yes, are you?"

"Yeah. Um, this might sound odd, but when are you from?" Her heart pounded in her throat. It would be significantly harder to get home if she'd traveled in time.

"5026."

She swallowed. "Oh." She leaned against the dark wooden wall of the stairwell, remembering how to breathe.

"Ah, when- when are you from?" He asked nervously.

She laughed breathlessly. "2010."

His jaw dropped. "Yeah, I think you should talk to River."

She nodded slowly, eyes closed. "Alright." She opened her eyes and followed him up the stairs and down a hallway. He stepped inside a doorway and softly cleared his throat. A woman sat typing at a computer. All Rose could see of her was an incredible pile of caramel colored curls.

"Just a minute." Her voice was husky and warm, but Rose could hear, buried underneath, a current of sorrow. It was the same sound her voice had sometimes.

"I think this might be important."

Rose snorted, "I'll say." She said softly, mostly to herself. It may not matter to them if she got home, but it was important to her. Her family was all she had left after- well. No use thinking about that, she was going to get home if she had to mug a time agent to do it.

She wasn't expecting the woman, River, to whirl suddenly at the sound of her voice.

"Rose." She whispered, her face white. In her eyes a burst of emotions cycled through. Sorrow to surprise to joy and she flung herself at the younger woman, hugging her tightly.

"You're here, is the Doctor here too?" She asked happily, not releasing Rose, who tentatively hugged her back.

"Um, hello?" Rose said shyly.

The woman (River, Rose reminded herself) pulled away at that and looked intently into Rose's eyes. Out of the corner of her eye, Rose saw the man edge his way out of the room.

"Oh." River said, turning away, but not before Rose saw the shimmer of tears forming in her eyes.

"Hey," Rose said softly, gripping River on the shoulders for a kind of sideways hug, "it's alright. Usually it's me huggin' people who have no idea who I am."

River chuckled thickly.

"An', if it helps, you're my new favorite person."

"Why is that?"

Rose grinned, a real grin with her tongue curling around her teeth in a way she'd hardly done in four years. "Because you just told me that I'm going to see the Doctor again!"

"You know why that is?"

"Well, obviously, you know me and the Doctor, but I don't know you, and you know why I don't know you, which means you're from the future, my future, which means my future includes the Doctor." She concluded happily.

River laughed at that and faced her again. "Thank you." She said, smiling despite the tears running down her cheeks. She stuck out a hand.

"Hello Rose Tyler, I'm River Song. Would you like a cuppa?"

Rose shook her hand. "I'd kill for one."

By unspoken agreement, they were nearly silent as they prepared the tea, speaking only about the task at hand. Rose took the tray and followed River, who carried a tin of biscuits, into a sitting room. Rose paused just inside the door. On the other side of the room stood four people, including the first man she met, arms crossed, eyes focused on River. She ignored them and settled comfortably on the sofa.

"Hello." Rose said, breaking the silence.

The four strangers glanced at her before returning to glaring at River.

River sighed. "Rose, you met Other Dave before. This is Miss Evangelista, Anita, and Proper Dave. They were part of my archeology team."

"Nice to meet you." Rose said as she set the tea tray down on the table in front of River, she sat in a comfy chair opposite the older woman.

"Professor Song, what's going on? How did she get here?" That was Anita.

River cocked her head and smiled slowly. "I'm not sure."

"Then why are you smiling?" asked Proper Dave.

"Because I'm going to find out. Now, can you leave us in peace? We're having tea."

Rose bit her lip to suppress a laugh at the pouts that rose on almost every face. They filed out of the room.

River passed her a cup and she took a sip.

"Mmm. That's perfect, you do know me."

River smiled wryly. "You're a good deal easier to convince of that than the Doctor was."

"Alright, so you know me, and the Doctor. But where are we? Dave, um, Other Dave, was surprised to see another person. It was like Krop Tor."

"Well we're not circling a black hole. We're stuck in a sort of virtual reality. The question is, how did you get in?"

"Don't ask me. I was just sitting down at my desk and this- this funny sort of feeling came over me and then I was standing in a field."

"What sort of funny feeling?" River asked, peering intently over the rim of her teacup.

"There was this singing, and my stomach dropped."

"Ah. Did you say your desk? At Torchwood?" She asked urgently.

"Yeah."

"Ohhhh... So many more things in my life make sense now!"

"Sorry?"

"You're still in the wrong universe?"

"Well, now I'm here. Sorry, did you say we're stuck here?"

"Mmm. I am, you're not. And Rose Tyler, I'm going to help you get home."

Rose smiled. "River, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship."