Office blues (Open)

River sighed as she sat at her desk in the university, completely ignoring the huge pile of expedition proposals she had cluttering her desk, not concerned with the substantial clutter of requests for her to lecture at various universities, her attention fully focused on the little blue diary she had open in front of her, ignoring the expensive computer on her desk in favour of the pen and book.
She let herself get swept away into her mind as she wrote, detailing her last adventure with the Doctor into the old faded pages, always happily taking longer than it needed to complete the task that kept their time lines in the right order because for those few hours when she worked on their diary, she got to relive it all again. It was a blessing to get to record the time she spent with him, the him who knew her, as these occasions were drawing further and further apart, and one day he wouldn't know her at all, and it would all be over.
She took a deep breath as she finished her recount, taking a moment to look back over the pages, a fond smile on her lips as she let herself be taken by all the adventures they had shared, not snapped out of her small trance until she heard a knock on her door.
"Come in" she called out with a small sigh, closing her diary as she sat up to give whoever was on the other side of the door her attention. Her small holiday in her own mind was over.

Tyra hesitated before pushing the door open enough to peer around it curiously. Her uncle (Jack as she recently found out his name was) sent her an obscure text detailing an address and a River Song to get a hold of for information about the Doctor. But when her eyes landed on the woman, they widened slightly then narrowed slightly. She hardly looked the type to know anything about an alien that traveled through space/time, much less have anything to tell her other than what she already knew. Just as she was about to back out of the room with a muttered apology, her gaze landed on a blue book laying on the desk, the design painfully familiar to the point where it caused her to pause.

"Where did you get that book?" She finally asked, finding her voice at last as she took a slight step into the room, keeping the wall to her back the entire time while the door stayed cracked, instant escape should she need it. Tyra raised her eyes to look the woman in the face, face carefully arranged to give nothing away before nodding at the blue book. "That thing, where did you get it? I've only ever seen it in sketches, but never... Never saw it in real life." Silently cursing herself for acting so awkward, she took another step forward, an easy smile flashing across her face in the progress. "The name's Tyra, by the way. Just Tyra."

River looked up, surprised to see a woman she had never met before facing her. She didn't look like a student, and what more she rarely saw students, only having agreed to guest lecture various classes but never take a full class by herself, and she didn't look like one of the many lecturers she had turned down.

Her brow furrowed when, instead of receiving a greeting, she was asked about her diary, her eyes darting down to the blue book she held so dear before she looked back at the woman who had appeared in her office.

Of course, the third place people would show up in her life from.

"That would be my diary" River answered the question as politely as she could muster, no point offending someone because of their rude behaviour if she could help it, especially since she didn't yet know this woman or why she had shown up in her office. "It was a present from my husband many, many years ago, I don't know where he got it but I could always ask him for at least the planet he found it if you're that taken with it" she offered, slightly confused and bemused by the attention of one little book.

"Lovely to meet you Tyra, I'm Professor River Song" River completed the introduction with a small smile "What can I do for you?"

Tyra's eyes drifted from the book and back again, drawn by the cover alone before she shook herself from her thoughts and flashed another smile. "Thought you might be River, Jack Harkness told me about you. He said you could tell me a little bit about the Doctor... I've been trying to find out what I can about him." She said idly, turning to study the office curiously for the first time since she entered. "And that diary... It's not that I'm taken with it... It's more of the factor my mother wrote about it a lot in her journal. Sketched it even, I'm not sure she met you more than once or twice in her life, but she seemed pretty sure it held a lot of secrets about him she didn't know about..." Trailing off, Tyra focused on a small picture with unneeded attention, trying to hold back the choked up feeling in her throat before continuing.

"She was one of his form's best friend... They were closer than I've ever seen to people without actually being in a relationship, it was... Nice to see her be close to someone after my father." She added, tactfully keeping out the little titbit of information she knew about her father before turning to look at River again, another easy smile flashing across her face. "I'm not trying to pry or anything, but in all honesty, what Doctor do you know? You don't look like the type to go after the suits, much less one that wears converse like an idiot."

River smiled ever so slightly when Tyra claimed that she had seen drawings of her diary, intrigued by the claims that her diary would ever be considered important enough to have been written about, let alone drawn. She couldn't help but be proud of how she was able to keep the content of the diary so private from the rest of the universe. It was her story, her adventures with her husband, and it wasn't something she was happy to ever share with anyone.

"Theres only one person who knows what's in this diary, and I plan for it to stay that way" she informed the young woman, unable to stop herself from smiling slightly at the chance to get to talk about her husband, her favourite subjects.

"What would you like to know about the Doctor?" she asked "Ask me what you want to know, but I'm not promising that I will answer everything or anything" she warned. She didn't know this woman, she didn't know what she wanted. She would only answer what she felt was relevant and safe.

River couldn't help but smile when she was asked about which of her husband's incarnations she knew. "I've met them all" she informed her "Mind you, he doesn't remember me meeting most of him selves. Foreknowledge is dangerous. He knows me from his tenth onwards" she explained "Though I've spent most of my time with his eleventh incarnation. I've spent some time with the idiot you speak of, but not all too much. He was so young... I'm seeing him more now, but I still see his eleventh self most" she admitted.

"But first... what did your mother write about my diary?"

Tyra tensed up slightly and tucked her hands into her pockets, for being 'Open and rather nice' as her uncle aptly put, River Song was rather close lipped about that blue book of hers, as well as her, what did she say? Husband? Letting out a low breath, Tyra leaned her shoulder against a nearby shelf, eying the older woman with a slight frown on her face. "I guard my mother's journal like you guard your diary, River." She informed her quietly, a slight challenge flickering in her eyes before she glanced away.

"About the Doctor... I only know what my mother wrote and what my uncle tells me. All of it good in a way, but I've seen him at his worst, and I'm not sure anything good that he does could ever outshine what he's done." Gritting her teeth, Tyra glared at the wall across from her, hand clenching into a tight fist before she forced herself to relax again and let out a low breath in an attempt to calm herself. "You're his wife, yeah? Then tell me something, everyone always says he's such a good man, all he does is save people and then runs off before he can be thanked properly like any modern hero... How come I get the feeling most of the time he's 'saving the world' he's actually just saving his neck and it only looks like he's helping people because they're being saved my proxy?"

River smiled ever so slightly when Tyra insisted that she guarded her mother's journal like she herself guarded her diary. "I guard my diary because the Doctor can never know what's written in it until he lives it" River smiled gently at her "It has his future written in it's pages, and he can't ever know what's in it so he doesn't change history" she explained "That's why it's so heavily guarded. I haven't met your mother yet, my dear, so you would be wise not to let me know what this interactions will hold" she explained.

River took a deep breath when she learned where the conversation was going, holding her hand out to offer Tyra the seat on the other side of her desk. "He is a good man." she answered her question "He's the best man I have ever met. He doesn't have have to do what he does, I've been with him on countless occasions when he has saved people. He could left. He could have got back in the TARDIS and left, but he didn't. He never does. There is a reason he is loved so much and by so many... What did you see?" River asked "Because so often we only get part of a story. He isn't perfect, and I would never claim that he was, but he is the best man I have ever met"

Tyra couldn't help the childish scowl that crossed her face, turning to look once more at River, she fisted her hands and stuffed them into the pockets of her coat, wishing she could be anywhere but there at the moment. "My mother is dead." She finally said stiffly, gauging the situation for a moment before leveling an even gaze into the woman's eyes, her blue ones sparking with anger when she uttered the next part.

"I saw her trapped in a glass prison, the TARDIS in one next to her just like it. The tenth Doctor you seem to hold in such high regard stood on the outside with two buttons. My mother cried, River. She doesn't cry over much, but when she does, it's something serious. She was a strong woman, she gave up her own regenerations to save his worthless hide, and what does he do? He chooses the TARDIS. She was dropped into the belly of a fusion core, dead, gone, she's dead at his hands. And I refuse to let him get away with it." With that left hanging in the air, she turned heel and disappeared from the room, unable to stand the confines of it anymore, the air had grown stale and she needed to get away from that woman, with her understanding smile and easy words.

It reminded her too much of her Mother. And it hurt to see it on another face.

River took a deep breath, her eyes closing as she heard her words, her heart breaking for the young woman, not knowing what there was that she could say to make her feel better. There was nothing. This poor woman had lost her mother.

River pushed away from her desk, quickly locking her diary in her draw before she got up and followed her, taking a deep breath as she grabbed the young woman's hand, pulling her back and into a hug, her eyes closed as she tried to comfort her. "I'm so, so sorry for your loss" she apologised, knowing that no words would be enough, not knowing what she could do, only knowing that revenge was not the answer for the young woman.

"Please... come back to my office" River requested, gently rubbing her back, trying to comfort her "Have dinner with me, and we can talk? I'll answer whatever questions you have... knowledge is power, after all"

Tyra nearly jerked from River's grip, instinct kicking in to get away, put distance between her and the unfamiliar person that held her. "Saying your sorry for something that you didn't do or had any part in only makes you look guilty." She finally muttered, pulling back after a moment and standing at arm's length away from the older woman, a hand reaching up to wipe at her eyes before dropping back down and looking up at her with a slightly cheeky smile. "And as for your offer to dinner, I'd accept under the circumstance that I pay. Uncle taught me a lot of things, and I'm afraid I act more like a man in situations like that." She added dryly, a shoulder lifting into a half-shrug.

Easily ignoring her offer for information, she shuffled from foot to foot before letting out a low sigh and shaking her head. "And another thing, I'm afraid I don't do too well in closed places... It took all I had not to bolt out of your office sooner. It's too closed in, not enough room to breath or move for me." She added, her head tipping to the side in thought for a moment. "Just swear you won't apologize for him. He doesn't deserve someone like you to apologize for what he's done. Until I hear those words from him, I refuse to accept them from anyone else."

River took a deep breath and nodded. "If that's what you wish" River agreed, unable to stop herself from being worried about what her husband had done, wanting nothing more than to ask him about the situation herself. But if she could help him by stopping one less person from trying to kill him, than it would be worth it.

River took a deep breath as she tried to think of what could work. "How about we get pizza from down the road and eat it in the park?" she suggested "Just let me get my coat" she requested, turning to rush back to her office, her gun finding it's way into it's holster as she pulled on her coat and retrieved her diary, tucking it safely away in her coat pocket.

"Come on" River forced a small, kind smile onto her lips, leading her down the hall "This pizza place really is a delight" she assured her. "What do you want to know about the Doctor? How about we start with small things?" she suggested.

"There's nothing small about what I want to know about him." Tyra murmured, mostly to herself as they walked along, her coat flipping slightly in the light breeze. Leaning her head back, she looked up at the cloudy sky and frowned slightly, her thoughts miles away as they walked together.

'Mama, tell me about the Doctor.' Tyra, five years old, looked up from the journal she held while sitting on Sonya's lap during one of her visits. Sonya smiled gently down at her daughter and ran a hand through her newly cut hair almost wistfully before talking. 'He's a good man, Tyra. He takes care of everyone but himself. I swear, sometimes I have to force him to eat something or to even sleep. Granted we don't need to very often, but we still do have to eventually.'

Pausing, the Time Lady held her daughter closer, a hand reaching out to turn the pages of the journal until they landed on a hasty sketch of a man's profile. 'That's him. My closest friend and one of the most important people in this universe. Why if it wasn't for him, there'd be nothing for us to enjoy.'

'But why? What did he do?'

'He sacrificed everything to save us all a long time ago. And it still hurts him, on rare days, you can see it in his eyes. He feels the pain as bad, if not worse, as the day it happened. That's why he needs someone around to look after him, he needs someone there to remind him the universe is good, and all that he's done is worth something in the end.'

Glancing over at River, Tyra frowned slightly at her for a moment. "You and my mother are a lot alike... It's almost uncanny with what you two say and what you two do. I can tell you three items she always carried and be almost certain you have one or two of them yourself." Shaking her head, she turned back to the path ahead of them, refusing to dwell on that train of thought and forcing herself to think of other things. "This Doctor of yours. What's so important to him that he'd sacrifice my mother's life for that blasted ship?"

River took a deep breath, not knowing what she could say, not knowing how on earth she could ever describe the TARDIS and make it sound like it was more important than this poor woman's mother.

"The TARDIS isn't just a ship, my love" River tried to explain, knowing that this probably wouldn't end well. "It's all the Doctor has left of his people. It's the last TARDIS. It's not just a ship, it's living, breathing and thinking. She's the only one who's been with the Doctor since the start, and will be there until the end. They look after each other. The last Time Lord and the last TARDIS together through all of time and space... He can't just build a new one... TARDIS' are grown, not built, over so many millennia. It's the last of it's kind, just he he is. He would lay down his own life for that ship" she admitted.

"I already know all of that." Tyra said sharply, her eyes darting up to lock onto River's face once more. "What I want to know is why he'd simply toss my mother aside for a ship. A TARDIS is unique, I know, it travels through time, it's sentient, and it's grown from coral under a cluster of black holes. I know all of this. But to me, it's a ship, while my mother, his closest friend, the person that cared to keep an eye on him most of her life, ended up being tossed into the fusion core like trash, like garbage."

Stopping in the middle of the sidewalk, she stared at River, challenging her once more as she waited. "I know how to fix it's correlation circuits so they bypass the system core, I know how to adjust the fuel levels so it can go for years without a pit stop, I even know how to set up it's emergency programming as well as fix it's turntable fluctuation. She wrote it all down, she kept an inventory of what she did, what she used, and how she did it. As well as a detailed count-by count inspection and what was needed to be done to adjust everything on that ship. Lady... She called it Lady, and constantly complained about how that Doctor never took care of it as much as it needed to be." Pausing, she took a slow breath, trying to calm herself before she ended up spewing everything out at once, acting like an errant child again.

"What I don't get is how he can pass up one of the last Time Lords right in front of him, in favor of a ship that only means so much. In my eyes, it was his freedom verses my mother's and honestly, it's pretty clear who he holds in such high regard."

River was slightly taken aback by the woman's knowledge of the TARDIS, though she was unable to stop herself from feeling defensive over the ship that had formed such an important part of her life. She would have died twice if it hadn't been for her ability to regenerate, she wouldn't be the person she was if it wasn't for her Time Lord abilities... she had to admit she was bias when it came to the TARDIS, and it wasn't something she could explain.

"There isn't going to be an answer that is going to satisfy you, no matter what answer you're given" River took a deep breath, knowing that there was nothing she could say to make things better "No matter what, she was your mother. But.... Have you ever been onboard the TARDIS?" River asked out of curiosity "It's so hard to explain it without experiencing it... it gets in your head... it's such a strange, unique experience" she informed her.

"I know nothing is ever going to replace your mother, and I'm not suggesting that your loss is any less, or that it should have happened, or that it wasn't wrong, but if he hadn't left with the TARDIS, I wouldn't be here, so many lives would have been lost since. How many lives does he have to save to make up for the loss of your mother? I know how guilty he feels over every single death or loss he had experienced."

Candalynne sighed softly as she quickly pulled down the lever of her TARDIS and the sounds of it materializing in a nearby alleyway could be heard and Candalynne held onto the TARDIS' console as it shook about before it stopped as soon as it had completely landed. Candalynne shot out the doors and she quickly clicked her fingers which closed the TARDIS doors.

She slowly walked out the alleyway and saw two women talking. She recognized one, it was Tyra but her and Candalynne hadn't really talked but Candalynne was pretty sure Tyra knew what she looked like and who she was to The Doctor and Candalynne cleared her throat. "Hello Tyra, hello.... erm." She looked to River Song curiously. "Have I seen you before? Maybe in one of my past regenerations?" She asked, tilting her head curiously.

Tyra let out a long sigh and pulled away from River, already feeling frustrated that she couldn't get her point across to her. "Look, I know you won't exactly understand what I've gone through, you won't understand anything about it until you see it for yourself. Let me put it this way, how would you feel if your mother had been in that glass case instead of mine? What if it had been your Doctor you know so well who had pushed the button, hm?" A familiar voice cut through her statement, making her turn and study the woman walking towards them right then.

Frowning slightly, she shuffled from side to side again, her nerves starting to get ahead of her once more while she tried to remember where she saw this woman before and if she even got a name from her at the time. "Ah, yes, hello." Tyra finally said quietly, blue eyes flicking between River and the newcomer a few times before she gave up and simply slumped slightly. 'What is it with these people always showing up? Suppose I should be grateful it isn't one of him this time.'

(Not my best reply but I just woke up like five minutes ago)

River took a deep breath, closing her eyes momentarily at the young woman's words, not knowing what to tell her, knowing that nothing she had to say was going to help. "He's my husband, Tyra" she told her, trying to be gentle and not irritated "And I love and trust him. I can't make a judgement without talking to him, and until I've heard his side of the story I'll always side with him. We wouldn't work if he didn't have my trust and I his. I've done things in my past I'm not proud of too, and he never judged me, especially not without learning my side of what had happened" she explained.

River's head snapped up when she heard a familiar noise, her face lighting up when she assumed it was her husband, though she was soon frowning when she came face to face with a woman she had never met before when she stepped out of a TARDIS. It wasn't him, and it wasn't his TARDIS.

"Professor River Song" River introduced herself to the stranger, holding her hand out to shake her hand with a polite smile "I don't believe we've met before"

Candalynne smiled at Tyra and she looked to River and she bowed her head politely before shaking the hand she held out with a soft and polite smile. "I don't believe we have met before either. But I can't always remember my past incarnation's lives and who they met so I am hopeless with remembering most of my own history." She said with a slight laugh before bowing her head politely. "My name is Candalynne Ariella." She said politely before looking around. "This place is new to me but my cousin is such a pain, she likes to explore where ever she wants..." She sighed and rubbed the back of her head. "She is a part of my TARDIS you see... so she controls where I go."

(This is my last reply for a while today. I gotta get downstairs for a bit, eat, get coffee, smoke a cigarette, get coffee... Yea, you see my point of interest here )

Tyra shuffled from foot to foot before she gave up waiting and began making her way towards a nearby restaurant, the smell of taco meat and spices gaining her attention as she drew near. Just before she opened the door, however, her phone went off, making her pause and grimace slightly. "What is it? I was about to get something to eat." She snapped, hand gripping the phone a little tighter than needed as she answered it.

"Well, nice to hear from you too. My day's been just fine, thanks for asking." Jack's voice sounded from the speaker, wry amusement dripping from each word before he resumed his usual teasing tone. "Don't bother with getting anything to eat, there's been a few sightings down in South London, not sure if they're pranks or anything, but I'd suggest getting down there to find out. Don't use your Manipulator either, you need to start walking to places like that if you ever plan on keeping your strength and stamina up." With that, he hung up on her and left Tyra standing there once more.

"You know, just one time, I'd like to be the one to hang up on him for no reason." She grumbled, snapping the phone shut and stuffing it into her pocket before casting a glance over in the direction of River and Candy with a slight frown, wondering if she should even bother with asking them or not. With a shrug, she turned and set off for South London, hands tucked away and eyes straight ahead of where she was walking. It should only take ten to twenty minutes to get there from where she is now, and from experience, that would be just enough time to get there before things either vanished or got worse. It was a fifty fifty chance really anymore.

River was taken aback by Tyra's sudden leave, feeling guilty for having diverted the conversation from where the young woman had been wanting it to go. Was it because she wanted to hear about the Doctor and get her to admit that he as a bad man or had she grown bored by the added company. River didn't know, all she knew was that she couldn't help but worry.

River forced a polite smile onto her lips, even though she wanted nothing more than to leave and go find her husband and talk to him about what she had learned that evening.

"I know the feeling" she assured her with a small smile "My past lives are a blur as well" she promised politely, though she wanted anything but to go into detail. It was hard to keep a hold of your childhood when being so heavily guarded by memory proof monsters.

"Are you hungry? I was just about to get something to eat with Tyra, but she must have something else she needs to do" she smiled.

Infront of Tyra, a big blue machine appeared. "Where is it?!" A man screamed from inside. Looking for an animal of some sort, The Doctor frantically searched before realizing he had materialized. As he opened the doors, a badger with a vortex manipulator ran out. "Charlie get back here!" He yelled, rushing out of the doors and bumping into Tyra. "Oh hello muderous woman who wants to kill me. Wish I could stay and die, but I gots me a badger to catch!" He exclaims looking back. Not watching where he was going, The Doctor thought to himself. "A woman who wants me dead, who is also the daughter of a friend, isn't that familiar?" He thinks, before crashing into a mountain of golden curls. Falling to the ground, he automatically knows who he fell on.

"Thought I saw the last of you 10,000 years ago. I just can't get rid of you can I Professor Song?" He tells her. The last time he saw her was technically when he was 904, but chronologically, when he took her to Delerium, but there were plenty of times after that. Time travel for The Doctor and River was confusing, and always out of order.

(Dangit 13! I was about to post! Anywho, PLACEHOLDER!!)

The Doctor pulled the the space-time throttle, hearing the expected sound of the TARDIS in flight-

Whiiirr...
Whiirrr...
Whiiirr...
Whiiirr...
WHIrrr...
WHIrrr...
THUMMM...
THUMMM...
THUMMM...


He'd been looking for universal anomalies, as he did much more after he met his 13th incarnation. He took his sonic-screwdriver, his special gadget for finding anomalies, and walked outside the large white storm doors of the TARDIS. He breathed in the nice Earth air-well, semi-nice. He'd been to planets with MUCH more breathable air than this, but that's beside the point. Fixing his tie, he started to walk, quickly noticing a few familiar faces. One of them, of which he was extremely joyed to see, was his wife, River Song. He looked around to the other one's-Tyra, his 13th self, and Candalynne. "I seem to have walked right into a reunion." he said, flirtatiously grinning at River, then looking around to the others.

Tyra let out a gusty sigh and turned back around, watching the small group grow larger once more. 'Just like last time.' She thought with a small spark of irritation. Two Doctors, River and another Time Lord in the mix, would she ever be rid of them? It was like she was a magnet, drawing them towards her wherever she goes anymore. Pulling her phone out, she flipped it open and held it to her ear before it could even ring. "I know, he ran into me. Stop calling me over every small bit of information you get, Uncle." She snapped into the phone, her irritation bleeding through and making her feel frustrated.

Closing it abruptly, she simply stood there, watching the group of people talk to each other, a slight pang shooting through her chest at the sight. She almost wished she could swallow down the anger she had and join them, the stories her mother would tell her, there was always a small group of people with her. Always friends to look out for and to keep an eye out for her, people she could trust. 'Friends... Hm...' Turning her head from side to side, Tyra studied her surroundings for the moment, trying to think of something to do to distract herself from this unwelcome train of thought. She didn't need friends, she was the lone mercenary, the one person people called when they had problems with aliens. Shuffling from foot to foot, she grumbled to herself, stuck between running off and walking towards the group.