summary: River's first visit from the Doctor.

characters: young!River/future!Doctor, mention of River's dads

warnings: au. spoilers all series.

disclaimer: fic•tion [fíksh'n]: literary works of imagination

author's notes: first instalment of my Doctor Who au-verse. the whole universe is titled You Watch Us Run. most of the stories will feature a younger River getting to know the Doctor (mostly Eleven) better. it's possible that i post these stories out of order, but there's a time line for reference on my profile page. special thank you to my lovely betas persiflage_1 and themirrorofsin.

YOU WATCH US RUN

say hello to your future;;

The strongroom had been literally buzzing when she'd reached it. Whoever said that thermal lances were impractical had clearly never had a father to teach them thermodynamics or any sort of statistical physics needed for this job. Of course, if her dad ever found out how exactly his teachings were being applied to the current situation, and how she'd modified the lance to burn with a localized diffusion pattern through about an inch of steel, well, she imagines she won't see the outside of her room for a very long time. Possibly ever. Thank God she has a thing with locks.

Except this vault seems to be one she's not meant to break into. After three separate security locks, one hallway with heat sensors and motion detectors (easily circumvented with the good old trusty screwdriver, gotta love the Early Middle Ages) she now hits the actual vault door with a dual-control combination lock. She looks from one side of the door to the other, and realises to her own dissatisfaction there's no way she can reach both. Not even if she used her left hand in combination with the toes of her right foot.

"Oh hell," she sighs and throws her head back in defeat. Back home empty-handed it is then.

"River."

She almost jumps out of her skin at the sound of her own name, and in her fright she drops her (real) screwdriver, the implement falling to the floor, rolling, until it comes to a halt underneath a sneaker-clad foot. Oh, this can't even be a little bit good. She looks up fast, right into two bright green eyes, only they're incredibly old, older than either her dads' eyes, the face young and unspoiled nevertheless. Whoever this is, he doesn't look like a police man, and she'd taken care of the security guards.

"Who are you?" She stares him up and down quickly, taking in the black sneakers, the only slightly out-of-date clothing, and the thickly framed glasses. Still, not too shabby.

"Need a hand?" he asks, and reaches into the inside of his breast pocket for something she wouldn't have been able to describe even if she'd known what it was.

"What...?" River shakes her head, but next thing she knows he's striding towards the right door controls, and something (call it curiosity) is whisking her to the left side. A few seconds later, the vault doors slide open.

The tall dark stranger walks over to her and puts his hands in his pockets. "Please don't tell your father I helped you," he says and grimaces as if he's picturing said hypothetical situation vividly. How can he know about her dad? "He'll have my head." The man shakes his head and runs a hand through his tousled hair. "Your professor dad, not the other one."

River imagines that by now her eyes are the size of micro-asteroids. "Who are you?" she asks exasperated.

"I'm the Doctor," the (still) stranger flashes her a million-pound smile, and she feels her kneecaps slightly trembling. "And I have something very important to tell you, River Song." He hunches forward to look her straight in the eyes and puts his hands on her shoulders.

"How do you know my name?" she asks.

He smiles again, and oh yes, there's the quake again. "Spoilers," he raises an eyebrow surreptitiously, and somehow, she doesn't know why, she gets the feeling the word involves some sort of private joke she's supposed to understand. "Now listen to me, and this is very important." Green eyes pinning her down; any other person would be scared senseless, but the way he looks at her, like he knows her, keeps her in place. "Next time we meet and you realise who I am: duck."

"Duck?"

"Duck."

River sighs. "What does that mean?" she asks strongly.

"When the time comes, you'll know." One hand leaves her shoulder, the other squeezing lightly. She realises she wants to know this man more than anyone else. He just helped her commit a felony, and seems pleased about it. Plus, he's a pretty boy too. "Until we meet again, River Song." He turns on his heels; River tilts her head to closely study the swagger in his hips. When he turns again, River only just has time to compose herself. "Oh, and you'll need this." He grabs something else from his pockets and tosses it over. It's a tiny black folder with a blank paper inside.

She doesn't know what it is, nor does she know how it's supposed to work.

It's the first time she gets arrested for sonicing and entering. She's sixteen. Her dads, both of them, come to get her out of jail, even though her professor dad wants to let her sweat it out for a day or two, and for weeks after that both of them ask her how the hell she managed to get into a high-security vault that was locked from the inside.

if you can, please let me know what you think!