There was no pond. Truthfully, for Crowley, that had probably been the most disappointing part of this entire island exile. He and the angel had a tradition with ponds that involved bread and ducks. Hard to have a tradition when there were no ducks. Harder still to have ducks to feed bread to if there was no pond to lurk around and tempt the creatures to their doom. And then salvation.

( It was tradition. )

All the charm she could muster and all the hallucinogenic lipstick she could spare had gotten River no closer to finding out where- or when- she was. The lipstick had been used in particular on one resort employee to gain access to the main computer system. Even that had gotten her no where. Pity Mickey wasn't here. She may never have met him, but River knew of him, and his hacking abilities. For herself, she found little more than she had already learned on the streets, in the back alleys and bars and shops. Even her scanner was giving no aid. It was functioning fine, but it couldn't help her.

Paradise Island. No coordinates. No date to speak of. And no Doctor.

It hadn't taken her long to figure out the Doctor had nothing to do with her being here. As far as he probably knew, she was still stored in the Library. Initially, that realization had been met with anger. He'd never contacted her once. He filed her away, and left her there. That was no way to treat his wife! Further speculation left only one conclusion: the Doctor presumed she could never come back, and he hated goodbyes. No contact was better than that, in his mind. He could be so exasperating!

( Yet someone had figured out how to get her out. )

He woke with a start, body jerking in the bed and eyes snapping open. The dream had been the same as it always was, and it wasn't until his breathing had returned to normal that it actually registered in his mind that he was actually in a bed. In the camp Will had built them, they slept in a bunk, and were off the forest floor. But it did not have a soft mattress on it. He didn't sleep with soft pillows beneath his head. Finally allowing his gaze to focus on his surroundings, he was on his feet almost as fast as he had woken. ( Where was he? )

That mad, impossible, wonderful man!

There was no other explanation; somehow or other the Doctor had saved her, just as he always saved her. She remembered being wired into The Library's hard drive, her beloved handcuffed to prevent him from stopping her. Handcuffs and the Doctor- now that was a whole new set of memories! Forcing herself to focus, River tried to remember exactly what else had happened. She had felt the rush of electricity for a split second and then...

( Well, then she was here. )