As it continued to walk in their direction, the corpse asked, "Hey, who turned out the lights?" While River took a quick glance over towards the Doctor before moving around him, the corpse asked, "Hey, who turned out the lights?"
It was then that River pointed her gun at another bookcase before she yelled, "This way, quickly! Move!"
And while the Doctor grabbed Annabelle and dragged her along with him and the others, the corpse asked, "Hey, who turned out the lights?"
* * *
After stepping into another room through a hole that she made with her gun, River turned to the others and said to them, "Okay, we got a clear spot. In, in, in!" While the archaeologists entered the room after Annabelle and the Doctor had entered it, River told them, "Right in the center, in the middle of the light. Quickly! Don't let your shadows cross."
Then River turned to the Doctor and said to him, "Doctor..."
In turn, the Doctor said to her, "I'm doing it."
Then River said, "There's no light here. Sunset's coming. We can't stay long." While the other archaeologists glanced over at Annabelle and stared at the dried-up blood spots on Annabelle's clothing that had come from just how deeply she had dug her fingernails into her own head, River leaned forward and asked the Doctor, "Have you found a live one?"
The Doctor replied, "Maybe, it's getting harder to tell." Then he lightly hit his sonic screwdriver as he asked it, "What's wrong with you?"
As she looked around herself, River said, "We're going to need a chicken leg. Who's got a chicken leg?" After Other Dave had handed her his own lunch, she said to him, "Thanks, Dave."
Then she quickly took it out of the aluminum foil that was wrapped around it before she tossed it into the shadow that the Doctor was crouched in front of.
And just like before, it was reduced down to nothing more than a simple bone the second that it had hit the shadowed part of the room.
As she backed up from the shadowed part of the room, River said, "Okay. Okay, we got a hot one. Watch your feet."
The Doctor told her, "They won't attack until there's enough of them. But they've got our scent now. They're coming."
While the Doctor moved towards another part of the room and one of the archaeologists had taken it upon himself to glance over at Annabelle and the blood that was now leaking out of her palms, Other Dave asked River, "River, who is he? You haven't even told us. You just expect us to trust him."
In turn, River said to him, "He's the Doctor."
With a shake of his head, Mr. Lux asked her, "And who is 'The Doctor'?"
River said to him, "The only story you'll ever tell, if you survive him."
Then Anita said to her, "You say he's your friend, but he doesn't even know who you are."
With a mere turn of her head, River told her, "Listen, all you need to know is this, I trust that man to the end of the universe. And actually, we've been."
While the Doctor made his way over towards another part of the room, Anita said to her, "He doesn't act like he trusts you."
With a nod of her head, River replied, "Yeah. There's a tiny problem. He hasn't met me yet." Then– after walking past Annabelle and watching how her veins continued to be on display as her shaking only continued to worsen with each passing second that Donna was gone– River came to a halt just beside the Doctor and asked him, "What's wrong with it?"
The Doctor told her, "There's a signal coming from somewhere. Interfering with it."
In turn, River said to him, "Well, use the red settings."
With a mere turn of his head, the Doctor said to her, "It doesn't have a red setting."
With a nod of her head, River said to him, "Well, use the dampers."
The Doctor replied, "It doesn't have dampers."
As she pulled out her screwdriver, River told him, "It will do one day."
After taking the screwdriver from her, the Doctor stood back up and asked River, "So, sometime in the future, I just give you my screwdriver?"
With a nod of her head, River said to him, "Yeah."
Then the Doctor asked her, "Why would I do that?"
With a shake of her head, River said to him, "I didn't pluck it from your cold, dead hands if that's what you're worried about."
With a mere raise of his eyebrows, the Doctor asked her, "And I know that because...?"
With a sigh, River said to him, "Listen to me, you've lost your friend, you're angry, I understand. But you need to be less emotional, Doctor, right now..."
In turn, the Doctor said to her, "Less... I'm not emotional."
River told him, "There are six people in this room still alive. Focus on that. And while you focus on that, perhaps focus on the fact that Annabelle is barely holding on to whatever small bit of control that she has left in an attempt to keep herself from killing every single person in this room, solely because of the fact that Donna Noble is lost, and she doesn't know where it is that she went off to."
With his eyebrows furrowed, the Doctor asked her, "Well, why would Annabelle care about that when she's never even cared about a human before?"
In response to his words, River repeatedly blinked to herself before she said, "Dear God, you're hard work young."
Then the Doctor asked her, "Young? Who are you?"
It was then that Mr. Lux yelled, "Oh, for heaven's sake! Look at the pair of you! We're all going to die right here, and you're just squabbling like an old married couple."
After the Doctor and River had quickly looked back at one another, River said to him, "Doctor, one day, I'm going to be someone that you trust. Completely. But I can't wait for you to find that out. So I'm going to prove it to you. And I'm sorry. I'm really very sorry."
Then she took a step towards the Doctor and whispered something into his ear– something that Annabelle would have caught, if it weren't for just how out of it she was at that exact moment– before she took a step back from the Doctor.
After the Doctor simply stared at her with furrowed eyebrows for at least a couple of seconds, River asked him, "Are we good?" When he only continued to stare at her, River asked him, "Doctor, are we good?"
With a quick nod of his head, the Doctor said to her, "Yeah. Yeah, we're good."
In turn, River said to him, "Good."
Then she took her sonic screwdriver out of his hand before she made her way back over towards her fellow archaeologists.
It wasn't long afterwards that the Doctor started to walk over towards the others as he said to them, "Now, what's interesting about my screwdriver, very hard to interfere with. Practically nothing's strong enough. Well, some hair dryers, but I'm working on that. So, there is a very strong signal coming from somewhere, and it wasn't there before. So, what's new? What's changed?" When no one said anything in response to his words, he yelled, "Come on! What's new? What's different?"
With a mere turn of his head, Other Dave said to him, "I don't know. Nothing. It's getting dark."
With a mere tilt of his head, the Doctor told him, "It's a screwdriver. It works in the dark." Then he looked up at the skylight before he said, "Moonlight. Tell me about the moon. What's there?"
Mr. Lux said to him, "It's not real. It was built as part of the library. It's just a doctor moon."
Then the Doctor asked him, "What's a doctor moon?"
Mr. Lux told him, "A virus checker. It supports and maintains the main computer at the core of the planet."
After pointing his screwdriver up at the moon, the Doctor said, "Well, it's still active. It's signaling, look." After taking a couple of steps closer to them, he said, "Someone somewhere in this library is alive and communicating with the moon. Or possibly alive and drying their hair."
After bringing the screwdriver up to his ear, he said, "No. Signal is definitely coming from the moon. I'm blocking it, but it's trying to break through."
It was then that River yelled, "Doctor!"
With a quick turn of his head, the Doctor yelled, "Donna!"
In response to hearing the Doctor yell Donna's name, Annabelle quickly turned her head and saw Donna for just a second before Donna suddenly disappeared right in front of them.
Then– with a mere point of her finger– River said, "Doctor, that was your friend." While the Doctor took a couple of steps towards where Donna was standing, River asked him, "Can you get her back? What was that?"
In turn, the Doctor said to her, "Hold on, hold on, hold on. Trying to find the wavelength." Then– after letting out a yell– he yelled, "Being blocked!"
It wasn't long afterwards that Anita said, "Professor..."
River said to her, "Just a moment."
Anita replied, "It's important." While the Doctor and River continued to have their screwdrivers pointed at where Donna had just stood only a moment ago, Anita said, "I have two shadows."
After both the Doctor and River had quickly turned around to look over at Anita, River said, "Helmets on, everyone. Anita, I'll get yours."
While the Doctor continued to pull Annabelle closer to himself, Anita replied, "Didn't do Proper Dave any good."
In turn, River said to her, "Just keep it together, okay?"
With a tear rolling down the side of her face, Anita said, "Keeping it together." With a mere turn of her head, she said, "I'm only crying. I'm about to die, it's not an overreaction."
After the helmet had been put back onto Anita's head, the Doctor pointed his screwdriver at Anita as he said to her, "Hang on."
After the visor to Anita's helmet had darkened, River said, "Oh, God, they've got inside."
The Doctor replied, "No, no. I just tinted her visor. Maybe they'll think they're already in there. Leave her alone."
With furrowed eyebrows, River asked him, "You think they could be fooled like that?"
With a mere turn of his head, the Doctor said to her, "Maybe, I don't know. It's a swarm, it's not like we chat."
Then Other Dave asked, "Can you still see, Anita?"
Anita said to him, "Just about."
With an arm held out in front of the archaeologists, the Doctor said to them, "Just-Just-Just stay back." While River had put her helmet back on, the Doctor said to her, "Professor, quick word please."
In turn, River said to him, "What?"
After crouching down in front of Anita, the Doctor said, "Down here."
River asked him, "What is it?"
The Doctor told her, "Like you said, there are six people still alive in this room."
River replied, "Yeah, so?"
The Doctor asked her, "So... Why are there seven?"
It wasn't long after each of them had turned their attention over towards the suited body that stood on its own on the other side of the room that they could– once more– hear Proper Dave ask, "Hey, who turned out the lights?"
As he quickly grabbed Annabelle by the arm and started to drag her away with him, the Doctor yelled, "Run!"
Once more, Proper Dave's voice asked, "Hey, who turned out the lights?"
* * *
While the archaeologists quickly ran past him, the Doctor said, "Professor, go ahead. Find a safe spot."
River told him, "It's a carnivorous swarm in a suit. You can't reason with it."
With a raise of his hand, the Doctor said to her, "Five minutes."
After taking a couple of steps away from the Doctor, River said, "Other Dave, stay with him. Pull him out when he's too stupid to live. Two minutes, Doctor."
It wasn't until she went to grab onto Annabelle that she suddenly stopped when Annabelle had harshly grabbed at her suit-covered arm and pulled River closer to herself.
With a scowl on her face and her veins still on display, Annabelle said to River, "If you really think that I am going to let some random woman grab my arm like that, then think again. Because I would rather that Vashta Nerada—"
It was then that the Doctor said to her, "Annabelle, go with the Professor."
With a scoff, Annabelle turned to him and asked him, "You're joking, right?" When he didn't respond to her words, Annabelle asked him, "Do you really expect me to go out of my way to follow some woman that I don't even know?"
As he kept his gaze focused solely on the closed door in the hallway, the Doctor said to her, "Just do as I say, Annabelle. Go with the Professor and I'll catch up with you in a few minutes, alright?"
After letting out a sigh, she turned her gaze back over to River and stared up at her for one more second before she sped after Mr. Lux– leaving River to look between Annabelle and the Doctor for a couple of seconds and then proceeded to run after her.
* * *
While Annabelle paced around the inside of the room that the four of them were inside of, River said, "You know, it's funny, I keep wishing the Doctor was here."
Anita replied, "The Doctor is here, isn't he? I mean, he's coming back, right?"
After letting out a sigh, River asked her, "You know when you see a photograph of someone you know, but it's from years before you knew them? It's like they're not quite finished. They're-They're not done yet. Well, yes, the Doctor's here. He came when I called, just like he always does. But not my Doctor. Now, my Doctor... I've seen whole armies turn and run away and he'd just swagger off back to his TARDIS and open the doors with a snap of his fingers. The Doctor, in the TARDIS. Next stop everywhere."
It was then that the Doctor said to her, "Spoilers." As he made his way down the stairs and back over towards them and Annabelle had quickly turned her head and started to slowly uncurl her hands from fists, he said, "Nobody can open a TARDIS by snapping their fingers. Doesn't work like that."
While the Doctor walked past her, River told him, "It does for the Doctor."
As he turned around to look back at River, the Doctor said to him, "I am the Doctor."
In turn, River said to him, "Yeah. Someday."
Then the Doctor took a couple of steps over towards Anita and asked her, "How you doing?"
Then River asked him, "Where's Other Dave?"
The Doctor told her, "Not coming, sorry."
In turn, Anita asked the Doctor, "Well, if they've taken him, why haven't they gotten me yet?"
As he looked around himself, the Doctor said, "I don't know. Maybe tinting your visor's making a difference."
Anita replied, "It's making a difference alright. No one's ever going to see my face again."
With a mere snort of her nose, Annabelle told Anita, "Well, it's better than not having a face at all."
While River only glanced over at Annabelle, the Doctor asked Anita, "Can I get you anything?"
Anita said to him, "An old age would be nice. Anything you can do?"
The Doctor said to her, "I'm all over it."
It wasn't until he started to turn his back on Anita that he suddenly stopped when she said to him, "Doctor." After the Doctor had turned to look over at her once more, Anita told him, "When we first met you, you didn't trust Professor Song. And then she whispered a word in your ear, and you did. My life so far, I could do with a word like that. What did she say?"
When the Doctor only stared at her, Anita let out a chuckle before she said to him, "Give a dead girl a break. Your secrets are safe with me."
In a whisper, the Doctor said to himself, "Safe."
In turn, Anita said, "What?"
As he stared past Anita, the Doctor said, "Safe. You don't say 'saved'. Nobody says 'saved'. You say 'safe'." Then he quickly turned to Mr. Lux and asked him, "The data fragment, what did it say?"
Mr. Lux told him, "4,022 people saved. No survivors."
As she went to stand back up, River said, "Doctor?"
As he looked around himself and went to walk away from Anita, the Doctor said, "Nobody says 'saved'. Nutters say 'saved'. You say 'safe', but it didn't mean safe, it meant... It literally meant saved!"
* * *
As he stared at the screen, the Doctor said, "See, there it is. Right there. One hundred years, massive power surge. All the teleports going at once. Soon as the Vashta Nerada hit their hatching cycle, they attack. Someone hits the alarm. The computer tries to teleport everyone out."
Then River asked him, "It tried to teleport 4,022 people?"
The Doctor told her, "Succeeded, pulled them all out. But then what? Nowhere to send them. Nowhere safe in the whole library. Vashta Nerada growing in every shadow. 4,022 people all beamed up and nowhere to go. They're stuck in the system, waiting to be sent, like emails. So, what's a computer to do? What does a computer always do?"
With a mere turn of her head, River said, "It saved them."
After nodding his head, the Doctor quickly made his way over towards the closest table and started to write on it with his marker as he said, "The library, a whole world of books. Right at the core, the biggest hard drive in history. The index to everything ever written, backup copies of every single book. The computer saved 4,022 people the only way a computer can. It saved them to the hard drive."
* * *
As soon as a blaring alarm could be heard, Mr. Lux asked, "What is it? What's wrong?"
It wasn't long afterward that an electronic voice could be heard saying, "Auto destruct enabled in twenty minutes."
While Annabelle slowly made her way over towards where River and the Doctor were standing, River asked him, "What's maximum erasure?"
The Doctor told her, "In twenty minutes, this planet's gonna crack like an egg."
With a mere turn of his head, Mr. Lux said, "No. No, it's alright. The doctor moon will stop it. It's programmed to protect CAL."
The second that the screen that was standing in front of them had turned black, the Doctor started to hit the sides of the machine as he yelled, "No, no, no, no, no!"
While the Doctor climbed up onto the machine and pointed his screwdriver at it, an electronic voice could be heard saying, "All library systems are permanently offline. Sorry for any inconvenience..."
It was then that Mr. Lux said, "We need to stop this. We gotta save CAL!"
In turn, the Doctor asked him, "What is it? What is CAL?"
Mr. Lux told him, "We need to get to the main computer. I'll show you."
The Doctor asked him, "It's at the core of the planet?"
Then River said, "Well then, let's go."
After making her way over towards the center of the room and pointing her own sonic screwdriver at it, the lid had disappeared.
Then River told them, "Gravity platform."
As he made his way over towards River, the Doctor said to her, "I bet I like you."
River replied, "Oh, you do."
* * *
While the Doctor continued to drag Annabelle down another hallway, an electronic voice was heard saying, "Auto destruct in fifteen minutes."
After coming to a halt and looking up above him, the Doctor said, "The data core. Over four-thousand living minds trapped inside it."
River replied, "Yeah, well, they won't be living much longer. We're running out of time."
* * *
It wasn't long after they'd entered another room that an electronic voice could be heard saying, "Help me. Please help me."
It was then that River asked, "What's that? Was that a child?"
Then the Doctor said, "The computer's in sleep mode." After pressing a couple of keys on the keyboard, he said, "I can't wake it up. I'm trying."
After watching the Doctor mess around with the keyboard some more, River said to him, "Doctor, these readings..."
In turn, the Doctor said to her, "I know. You'd think it was... Dreaming."
Mr. Lux told him, "It is dreaming, of a normal life. And a lovely dad, and of every book ever written."
Anita said to Mr. Lux, "Computers don't dream."
Then the electronic voice was heard saying, "Help me. Please help me."
Then Mr. Lux said to Anita, "No, but little girls do."
Then he pulled on a lever, shortly before he ran into another room with the others close behind him.
It wasn't until they were inside of the next room and the robot had turned its face around to reveal the face of a young girl that the robot said, "Please help me. Please help me."
Then River said, "Oh, my God."
Then Anita said, "It's the little girl. The girl we saw in the computer."
Mr. Lux told them, "She's not in the computer. In a way, she is the computer. The main command node. This is CAL."
As he turned to look over at Mr. Lux, the Doctor said, "CAL is a child!" While Annabelle silently eyed CAL with her eyes narrowed and her head tilted to the side, the Doctor yelled, "A child hooked up to a mainframe! Why didn't you tell me this? I needed to know this!"
In turn, Mr. Lux yelled, "Because she's family! CAL. Charlotte Abigail Lux. My grandfather's youngest daughter. She was dying, so we built her a library and put her living mind inside. The moon to watch over her, and all of human history to pass the time. Any era to live in. Any book to read. She loved books more than anything. And he gave her them all. He asked only that she be left in peace. A secret. Not a freak show."
With a nod of his head, the Doctor said, "So, you weren't protecting a patent. You were protecting her."
As he made his way over towards CAL, Mr. Lux told him, "Hers was only half a life, of course. But it's forever."
Then the Doctor said, "And then the shadows came."
It was then that CAL said, "The shadows. I have to... I have to save... Have to save..."
Then the Doctor said, "And she saved them. She saved everyone in the library. Folded them into her dreams and kept them safe."
Anita asked them, "Then why didn't she tell us?"
Mr. Lux told her, "Because she's forgotten."
Then the Doctor said, "She's got over four-thousand living minds chatting away inside her head. It must be like being, well... Me."
Then River asked the Doctor, "So what do we do?"
As he quickly started to run out of the room, the Doctor said, "Easy. Beam the people out of the data core. The computer will reset, stop the countdown." As he brought a hand up to his hair from where he stood in front of one of the computers, he said, "Difficult. Charlotte doesn't have enough memory space left to make the transfer."
Then he made his way over towards another part of the room and said, "Easy. I'll hook myself up to the computer. She can borrow my memory space."
After quickly making her way over towards the Doctor, River said to him, "Difficult. It'll kill you stone dead."
The Doctor replied, "Yeah, easy to criticize."
River told him, "It'll burn out both your hearts. And don't think you'll regenerate!"
In turn, the Doctor said to her, "I'll try my hardest not to die. Honestly, it's my main thing."
While the Doctor started to point his screwdriver at the wires, River said to him, "Doctor..."
Then the Doctor said to her, "I'm right, this'll work. Shut up. Listen, you and Lux go back up to the main library. Try to prime any data cells you can find for maximum download. And before you say anything else, Professor, can I just mention in passing, as you're here, shut up!"
After the Doctor had quickly made his way past her, River yelled, "I hate you sometimes!"
In turn, the Doctor said to her, "I know."
Then River quickly made her way over towards Mr. Lux and said to him, "Mr. Lux, with me." Then she turned to Anita and told her, "Anita, if he dies, I'll kill him!"
It wasn't long after River and Mr. Lux had run out of the room that Anita asked the Doctor, "What about the Vashta Nerada?"
The Doctor told her, "These are their forests. I'm gonna seal Charlotte inside her little world, take everybody else away. The shadows can swarm to their hearts' content."
While the Doctor made his way over towards another part of the room, Anita asked him, "So you think they're just gonna let us go?"
The Doctor replied, "Best offer they're gonna get."
Anita asked him, "You're gonna make them an offer?"
The Doctor said to her, "They'd better take it. 'Cause right now, I'm finding it very hard to make any kind of offer at all." After making his way back over towards the computer in the room, he said, "You know what? I really liked Anita. She was brave, even when she was crying, and she never gave in, and you ate her."
After he pointed his screwdriver at Anita's suit and a skeletal face could be seen in place of her actual one, Annabelle simply tilted her head and stared at Anita's skeletal face with her eyes narrowed.
Then the Doctor lowered his screwdriver as he said, "But I'm gonna let that pass, just as long as you let them pass."
While the Doctor took a couple of steps away from the computer, the Vashta Nerada asked him, "How long have you known?"
The Doctor told it, "I counted the shadows. You only have one now." After glancing down at the flashing green lights on the suit, he said, "She's nearly gone. Be kind."
The Vashta Nerada said to him, "These are our forests. We are not kind."
In turn, the Doctor said to it, "I'm giving you back your forests, but you are giving me them. You are letting them go and you are not going to be touching her."
While Annabelle silently eyed the Doctor after seeing him point a single finger in her direction, the Vashta Nerada told him, "These are our forests. They are our meat."
It wasn't long after it said that, and the Doctor had made his way back over towards the computer that it raised its arm, and three separate shadows could be seen heading straight over to where Annabelle and the Doctor were standing.
Then the Doctor quickly turned around to face the Vashta Nerada before he said to it, "Don't play games with me. You just killed someone I liked. That is not a safe place to stand. I'm the Doctor, and you're in the biggest library in the universe." After the moving shadows had come to an abrupt halt, the Doctor said, "Look me up."
For several seconds, the Vashta Nerada continued to hold its arm up in the direction of Annabelle and the Doctor– leaving Annabelle to stand in place beside the Doctor with her eyes narrowed and her hands clenched into fists as she repeatedly looked between the Doctor and the shadows on the floor.
It wasn't until Annabelle was about to take a step in front of the Doctor that she suddenly stopped when the Vashta Nerada had lowered its arm and the shadows had started to head back over towards itself.
Then the Vashta Nerada told him, "You have one day."
Then– just like that– the suit had fallen onto the floor, which allowed the Doctor to bring his attention back over towards the computer.
And while he went back to messing around with it, Annabelle turned her attention over towards River, who said with a gasp, "Anita!"
The Doctor said to her, "I'm sorry, she's been dead a while now. I told you to go."
River told him, "Lux can manage without me. But you can't."
It wasn't long after she said those words that River made her way over towards the Doctor, who turned to look over at River before getting a punch to the face.
With a mere raise of a single eyebrow, Annabelle watched as the Doctor fell into the nearest wall and then proceeded to land onto the floor.
* * *
While River continued to mess around with the wires that she was attached to, an electronic voice could be heard saying, "Auto destruct in two minutes."
After glancing over at Annabelle and seeing the unstable Original remain crouched beside the Doctor and keep a close eye on him, River asked him, "How long?" When Annabelle only turned her head to look over at River, River asked him, "How long have you known that you actually care about the Doctor and aren't as constantly angry with him as you'd like to pretend that you are?"
With a mere snort of her nose, Annabelle said, "Long enough to know that he's an imbecile that always likes to risk his own life for the wellbeing of others, no matter if it means that he ends up losing his own life in the process."
In turn, River said to her, "Hmm. I'd say that it's been a bit longer than that, if you ask me."
Annabelle replied, "Well, it's a good thing that I didn't ask you, then."
In response to Annabelle's words, River only let out a sigh, shortly before the Doctor raised his head and said to River, "Oh, no, no, no, no. Come on, what are you doing? That's my job."
With a mere raise of her head, River asked him, "Oh, and I'm not allowed to have a career, I suppose?"
As he brought his attention over towards the handcuffs that were keeping him in place, he asked her, "Why are my hands... Why do you even have handcuffs?"
With a mere raise of her eyebrows, River said to him, "Spoilers."
While Annabelle only snorted to herself in response to River's words, the Doctor told River, "This is not a joke. Stop this now. This is gonna kill you. I'd have a chance. You don't have any."
River replied, "You wouldn't have a chance and neither do I." As she looked away from him, she said, "I'm timing it for the end of the countdown. There will be a blip in the command flow. That way, it should improve our chances of a clean download."
The Doctor said to her, "River, please, no."
River said to him, "Funny thing is, this means you've always known how I was going to die. All the time we've been together, you knew I was coming here. The last time I saw you, the real you, the future you, I mean... You turned up on my doorstep with a new haircut and a suit. You took me to Darillium to see the singing towers. What a night that was. The towers sang, and you cried. You wouldn't tell me why, but I suppose you knew it was time. My time. Time to come to the library. You even gave me your screwdriver. That should have been a clue." After watching the Doctor quickly try to grab on to one of the two screwdrivers, River told him, "There's nothing you can do."
The Doctor yelled, "You can let me do this!" When River only shook her head, the Doctor turned to Annabelle and yelled, "Annabelle, let me out of these handcuffs!"
When Annabelle didn't make a move to break the handcuffs, the Doctor yelled, "You break these handcuffs right now, Annabelle! You hear me?"
While Annabelle only shook her own head in response to his words, River told him, "If you die here, it'll mean I've never met you."
The Doctor replied, "Time can be re-written."
With a shake of her head, River said to him, "Not those times. Not one line. Don't you dare." When the Doctor only stared at her, River said to him, "It's okay. It's okay. It's not over for you. You'll see me again. You've got all of that to come. You and me. Time and space. You watch us run."
It was then that the Doctor said to her, "River, you know my name. You whispered my name in my ear. There's only one reason I would ever tell anyone my name. There's only one time I could."
As she brought the wires over towards each other, River said to him, "Hush now. Spoilers."
It wasn't long after she said those words that a bright and white light had started to cover the entirety of the room, which got the Doctor to turn his head to look away from River.
Annabelle, on the other hand, only continued to watch River shake in place from where she sat on the chair with her eyes narrowed and her head tilted to the side.
* * *
As soon as Donna had made her way back over towards where Annabelle and the Doctor were standing, the Doctor asked her, "Any luck?"
With a shake of her head, Donna said, "There wasn't even anyone called Lee in the library that day. I suppose he could have had a different name out here, but... Let's be honest, he wasn't real, was he?"
As he turned to look away from Donna, the Doctor said to her, "Maybe not."
As she turned her head to look away from the Doctor, Donna said, "I made up the perfect man. Gorgeous, adores me, and hardly able to speak a word. What does that say about me?"
The Doctor said to her, "Everything." After turning his head to look over at Donna, the Doctor asked her, "Sorry, did I say 'everything'? I meant to say 'nothing'. I was aiming for 'nothing'. I accidentally said 'everything'."
While Annabelle only snorted to herself in response to the Doctor's words, Donna asked him, "What about you? You alright?"
With a shake of his head, the Doctor told her, "I'm always alright."
While Annabelle only glanced over at the Doctor and stared at him with narrowed eyes, Donna asked him, "Is 'alright' special Time Lord code for 'really not alright at all'?"
In turn, the Doctor asked her, "Why?"
With a nod of her head, Donna said to him, "Because I'm alright, too."
After a couple seconds of just staring at Donna, the Doctor let out a sigh as he grabbed onto her hand before he said to her, "Come on."
* * *
After the Doctor had put River's blue book down onto the ledge, Donna said to him, "Your friend, Professor Song. She knew you and Annabelle in the future, but she didn't know me. What happens to me? Because when she heard my name, the way she looked at me..."
In turn, the Doctor said to her, "Donna. This is her diary. My future." After tapping his fingers on the book, he told her, "I could look you up. What do you think? Shall we peek at the end?"
After glancing down at the book, Donna said to him, "Spoilers, right?"
With a nod of his head, the Doctor said to her, "Right."
Then he took out River's screwdriver and carefully put it on top of the book before he shoved his hands into his pockets and then turned his back on the book as he said, "Come on. The next chapter's this way."
It wasn't long after he said those words that the Doctor quickly ran back over towards the book and picked up River's screwdriver before he asked himself, "Why? Why would I give her my screwdriver? Why would I do that?" While Donna slowly made her way back over towards the Doctor and Annabelle simply sped back over towards where he was standing, he said, "Thing is, future me had years to think about it. All those years to think of a way to save her. What he did was give her a screwdriver. Why would I do that?"
It was then that he pulled a piece of the screwdriver off to reveal two green bars shown on the side of it, which got him to yell, "Oh! Oh! Oh! Look at that! I'm very good!"
Then Donna asked him, "What have you done?"
After turning to face Donna and Annabelle and showing them the side of the screwdriver, the Doctor said, "Saved her."
Then he quickly ran away from them– leaving Donna and Annabelle to simply stare after him before Donna looked over at Annabelle, who simply shook her head to herself with a sigh.
Then– just like that– Annabelle turned away from Donna and made her way over towards the closest computer.
And– after looking through it for just a little while– Annabelle couldn't help but stare at the screen with furrowed eyebrows and a bit of a frown on her face when she saw the title of a book that was displayed on the screen.
And that title just so happened to be Klaus Mikaelson: The Great Evil.
And while Donna continued to stare in the direction that the Doctor had just run off in, Annabelle couldn't help but wonder why the library had a book about her half-brother of all people– along with what he could have done to have a book get written about him to begin with.