A/N - Oh my god. Here we go. These next few chapters will heavily influence Elise's up and coming regeneration. It's not pretty, so it will impact the personality of her next body and that body's journey.

The Doctor, the Ponds, and Elise were enjoying the nice sunny day in New York City. The Doctor and Amy were reading, while Elise was sitting in front of her easel painting Central Park. Rory was just lounging on the rocks they were perched on.

No running, just relaxing.

"New York growled at my window, but I was ready for it. My stocking seams were straight, my lipstick was combat ready, and I was packing cleavage that could fell an ox at twenty feet," the Doctor read.

"Doctor, you're doing it again," Amy told him.

"I'm reading!"

"Aloud. Please could you not?"

The Doctor turned around to look at her. "There's something different about you, isn't there?"

"What's the book?" Rory asked.

"Melody Malone. She's a private detective in old town New York."

"She's got ice in her heart and a kiss on her lips, and a vulnerable side she keeps well hidden," Amy recited.

"Oh, you've read it?"

"You read it. Aloud. And then went Yowza!"

"You know, only you could fancy someone in a book," Rory told him.

"I'm just reading it. I just like the cover."

"Ooo, can we see the cover?" Amy asked.

"No, no, I'm busy." He examined Amy again. "It's your hair! Is it your hair?"

"Oh, shut up. It's the glasses." She fiddled with them. "I'm wearing reading glasses now, on my nose, see? There you go."

"I don't like them. They make your eyes look all liney." He raised the glasses. "No, actually, sorry. They're fine. Carry on." And then lowered them.

Rory jumped up. "Okay, I'm going to go and get us some more coffee. Who wants more coffee? Me too. I'll go!" Rory grabbed Elise's arm and pulled her up.

"Hey!"

"Rory, do I have noticeable lines on my eyes now?" Amy asked him.

"Yes," the Doctor said.

"No," Rory answered.

"You didn't look," Amy said.

Rory turned around and said, "I noticed them earlier. Didn't notice them. I specifically remember not noticing them."

"You walk among fire pits, Centurion."

"Do I have to come over there?" Rory walked over to her.

"You can if you like."

"Well, we have company."

"I'll get a babysitter."

Amy and Rory kissed.

The Doctor sighed while Elise just made a disgusted face.

"Oh, do you know, it is so humiliating when you do that," the Doctor told them.

"Coffee?" Rory asked Amy.

"Coffee."

Rory and Elise walked off.

"You two are so gross," she told him.

"Just you wait missy. You'll find your own "Boy Who Waited" and then you'll understand."

Elise and Rory, grabbed coffee (or cocoa in Elise's case) and started walking back to Amy and the Doctor.

As they walked back, they heard giggling of children and tiny footsteps.

Elise's senses immediately went on high alert. "We need to get back to Amy and the Doctor. Come on," Elise told him.

They turned back and suddenly it was nighttime.

"What are you doing here?" a familiar voice asked.

Elise spun around and hugged River.

"We...we just went to get coffees for the Doctor and Amy. Hello, River," Rory said.

"Hello, Dad. Little Star."

"Where are we? How the hell did we get here?"

"I haven't the faintest idea, but you'll probably want to put your hands up."

A man was pointing a gun at them.

Rory turned around and put his hands up, while Elise clung to River.

A man came up behind River and Elise. "Melody Malone?"

"You're Melody?" Rory asked.

A limo pulled up next to them.

"Get in," the man told them.

"What's going on?" Rory asked as they got into the limo.

Elise sat next to River with her arms around the woman's waist.

"You didn't come here in the TARDIS, obviously," River said.

"Why?" Rory asked.

"He couldn't have. Besides, he would have never left Elise on her own like this. At least not yet. This city's full of time distortions. It'd be impossible to land the TARDIS here. Like trying to land a plane in a blizzard. Even I couldn't do it."

"So how did you get here?"

"Vortex manipulator. Less bulky than a TARDIS. A motorbike through traffic. You?"

"I'm not sure."

"I'm pretty sure I know how. It was the Angels."

Elise was immediately transported back to the Byzantium. She hated the Weeping Angels. They were the subject of many of her nightmares as a child.

They pulled up to a house and were led in.

River spotted a china vase. "Ah. Early Qin dynasty, I'd say."

A man appeared at the top of the staircase. "Correct. Are you an archaeologist as well as a detective?" He came down the stairs and stopped in front of them. "Early Qin, just as you say. You're very well informed."

"And you're very afraid. That's an awful lot of locks for one door," River told him.

"River, I'm translating," Rory said as the Chinese characters transformed into English.

"It's a gift of the TARDIS. It hangs around."

The man pointed at Rory. "This one. Put him somewhere uncomfortable."

"Oh, great," Rory sighed.

"With the babies, sir?" one of the thugs asked.

"Yes, why not? Give him to the babies."

They grabbed Rory.

"Rory!" Elise called after him. The other thug grabbed her.

"As for this one, put her upstairs in one of the bedrooms." The man approached her and ran his finger down her cheek.

Elise jerked her head out of his grasp.

"I'm going to have fun breaking you."

Elise tried breaking free of the thug and screamed for River. "River, River, please!"

It broke River's heart to hear her screaming, but she had faith that the Doctor would come.

"Mum! Mum!"

The thug dragged her kicking and screaming upstairs. He threw her to the floor in one of the bedrooms.

Elise heard the door lock behind her and she dissolved into tears on the fancy rug.

Elise heard the TARDIS engines and got up, running to the door. "Dad! River! Amy!"

Elise listened and could hear Amy's voice calling for Rory. "Amy! Amy! I'm in here! Let me out!"

The door opened and Amy stood there. "Elise! Where's Rory?"

"I...I don't know. They didn't bring him up here. I was so scared..."

Amy wrapped her arms around the young Timelord. "It's okay. You're safe now. The Doctor's here."

They went back downstairs.

The Doctor and River were in the study and a Weeping Angel was holding River's wrist.

"Why do you have to break mine?" they heard River ask.

"Because Amy read it in a book, and now I have no choice," the Doctor told her. He turned to see Amy and Elise. "You see?"

"What book?"

"Your book." The Doctor pulled it out of his jacket pocket. "Which you haven't written yet, so we can't read."

"I see. I don't like the cover much."

The Doctor threw himself on the couch.

Elise, despite wanting him to comfort her, could tell he was in one of his moods.

"But if River's going to write that book, she'd make it useful, yeah?" Amy asked.

"I'll certainly try. But we can't read ahead, it's too dangerous," River told her.

"I know, but there must be something we can look at."

"What, a page of handy hints, previews, spoiler free?" the Doctor asked.

"Chapter titles," Amy said.

The Doctor quickly scanned the chapter titles. "He's in the cellar."

"Gimme!" Amy held her hand out and the Doctor tossed her his sonic screwdriver.

He walked over to River and kissed her cheek. He started to leave, but stopped.

"Doctor? Doctor, what is it? What's wrong? Tell me," River said.

The Doctor looked at the chapter titles again.

"Doctor? Doctor, what is it, tell me."

Both River and Elise knew a meltdown was coming.

"Okay, I know that face. Calm down. Calm down! Talk to me. Doctor!"

The Doctor stalked over to River and for a split second, Elise thought he was going to hit her.

Elise put herself between the two of them and held the Doctor back.

"No! Get your wrist out. You get your wrist out without breaking it!" the Doctor hissed at River.

"How?"

The Doctor stormed from the room. "I don't know. Just do it. Change the future!"

Elise and River were left standing there.

Elise walked over to the book and picked it up, scanning the chapter titles to find out what set the Doctor off. Elise felt her hearts break for the Doctor, but there was nothing they could do. Elise looked at River. "What do we do?"

"I don't know, sweetie. There's no way I'm going to be able to get my wrist out without breaking it."

"It's set in stone, isn't it?"

"I'm afraid so, Little Star."

"Do it." Elise closed her eyes and heard the sound of River's wrist snapping.

River walked over to Elise and took the book from her. "Whatever you do, don't say anything to your father. He needs to believe for as long as possible, do you understand?"

Elise nodded.

They couldn't afford for the Doctor to become emotional again. That's when he made mistakes.

They joined Amy and the Doctor in the foyer.

"So, is this what's going to happen? We just keep chasing him and they keep pulling him further back?" Amy asked.

River was using her computer to track Rory. "He isn't back in time. I'm reading a displacement, but there are no temporal markers. He's been moved in space, not in time, and it's not that far from here by the look of it."

The Doctor smiled. "You got out."

"So, where is he?" Amy asked.

The Doctor paced as River tried to pinpoint where Rory was. "Well, come on, come on, come on, where is he?"

"If it was that easy, I'd get you to do it," River told him.

"How did you get your wrist out without breaking it?"

"You asked, I did. Problem?"

The Doctor laughed. "You just changed the future."

"It's called marriage, honey. Now, hush, I'm working."

The Doctor sat down next to Amy. "She's good, have you noticed? Really, really good."

"Ah, wherever it is, it's within a few blocks. There's a car out front. Shall we steal it?"

"Show me!" The Doctor jumped up and grabbed River's broken hand.

River gasped and the Doctor realized what was going on. The Doctor took the computer and the Vortex Manipulator from River and handed it to Amy.

River sat on the stairs, cradling her wrist.

"Okay, when all those numbers on both units go to zero, that's when we've got a lock, okay? It's how we find Rory."

"Got it."

The Doctor walked over to River and sat next to her. "Why did you lie to me?"

"When one's in love with an ageless god who insists on the face of a twelve year old, one does one's best to hide the damage."

The Doctor gently took River's wrist in his hand. "It must hurt. Come here."

"Yes. The wrist is pretty bad too," River tried to joke.

Elise watched as regeneration energy flowed into River's hand.

"No. No. No, stop that. Stop that. Stop it!"

"There you go." The Doctor kissed the back of River's hand. "How's that?"

"Well, let's see, shall we?" River slapped him.

"That was a stupid waste of regeneration energy. Nothing is gained by you being a sentimental idiot."

"River!" the Doctor yelled.

"No! You embarrass me."

"River!"

River stormed outside, Elise following.