"You got 4, I was 5, Poppy was 1, Alex was 3 and, Mister Delaware was 6," River explains to Rory as they enter the diner.

"So?"

"So, where's 2?" Alex continues as Poppy and Amy stand still where they sat hours ago

"What, you think he invited someone else?"

"Well, he must have. He planned all of this, to the last detail,"

"Will you two shut up? It doesn't matter," Poppy tells them sadly

"He was up to something,"

"He's dead," Amy continues, her and Poppy staring at where he sat.

"Space, 1969. What did he mean?" Alex asks River and Rory

"You're still talking, but it doesn't matter," Amy says bitterly

"Hey, it mattered to him," Rory reminds her

"So, it matters to us,"

"He's dead," Poppy repeats what Amy said earlier and River grabs her hand comfortingly

"But he still needs us. I know. Poppy, Amy, I know. But right now, we have to focus,"

"Look," Rory points to a table in the far end where a blue envelope lays on it "Excuse me, who was sitting over there?" Rory asks the waiter behind the bar.

"Some guy,"

Alex picks up the envelope with a '2' on it "The Doctor knew he was going to his death, so he sent out messages. When you know it's the end, who do you call?"

"Er, your friends. People you trust," Rory guesses

"Number 2," River mutters, reading over Alex's shoulder "number opine was who he trusted the most," everyone stares at Poppy

"So, 2 was, who he trusted after one?" Poppy finally tried to get over her trance. The door behind River and Alex swings open and number two is revealed.

"This is cold," Alex glares

"Even by your standards, this is cold," River continues

"Or 'hello', as people used to say!"

"Doctor?" Poppy questions quietly

"I just popped out to get my special straw. It adds more fizz,"

"You're okay. How can you be okay?" Amy runs into his arms, hugging him tightly

"Hey, of course I'm okay. I'm always okay. I'm the King of Okay. Oh, that's a rubbish title. Forget that title," the Doctor then hugs Rory "Rory the Roman! That's a good title. Hello, Rory," He then moves onto Alex, poking her with his straw "Alex Song, planning to take my charm away?" he asks, referring to the fact she was just as smart as him "Doctor River Song. What trouble have you got for me this time?" He taps her head, testing the bounce of her curls and she slaps him incredibly hard, causing him to grab his cheeks in pain

"Okay. I'm assuming that's for something I haven't done yet,"

"Yes, it is,"

"Good. Looking forward to it," he quickly moves on "Poppy!" He opens his arms to hug her and she steps back, looking as if she was also going to slap him "What's wrong?" he asks gently and she goes to hug him, but instead also slaps him, on the same cheek River had.

"Ow!" she them inimitably kiss him, The Doctor gets into it before she slaps him again, gentler this time and pulls away.

"I don't understand. How can you be here?" Rory pokes his chest, the same way The Doctor did to plastic him.

"I was invited. Date, map reference. Same as you lot, I assume, otherwise it's a hell of a coincidence,"

"River, Alex, what's going on?" Amy asks

"Amy, ask him what age he is," River instructs

"That's a bit personal," The Doctor puts his straw back in his moth

"Tell her," River continues

"Tell her what age you are," Poppy leans on a table nearby.

"Nine hundred and ten," He looks to Poppy "you were there, we celebrated with cocktails on Mars, then we y'know," he wiggles his eyebrows suggestively

"Ugh, Too much information," Alex groans from next to River

"Yeah, but you said you were..." Amy starts but Alex raises an eyebrow quickly, giving her a look to shut up.

"When did you last see me?!" Poppy demands

"London, about a week ago," The Doctor answers uneasily but confidently

"I don't understand," Amy mutters

"Yeah, you do," her husband walks over.

"I don't!" The Doctor shouts "What are we all doing here?" The five make awkward eye contact as they try to think of something.

"We've been recruited," Alex starts "Something to do with space 1969, and a man called Canton Everett Delaware the third,"

"Recruited by who?"

"Someone who trusts us more than anybody else in the universe," Poppy says seriously

"And who's that?"

"Spoilers," Poppy and River simultaneously mutter with the same sad tone in each of their voices.

----------&-----------

"1969, that's an easy one! Funny, how some years are easy. Now, 1482, full of glitches. Now then, Canton Everett Delaware the third. That was his name, yeah? How many of those can there be? Well, three, I suppose..." The Doctor rants whilst Poppy sits bellow the console on the sling, she was struggling to be in the room with The Doctor currently. Amy, River and Alex join her. River rubs her back again, barley noticing she's doing it and Poppy leans into her.

"Rory, is everybody cross with me for some reason?" The Doctor can faintly be heard above

"I'll find out,"

"Explain it again," Amy says from her spot on the floor by Poppy

"The Doctor we saw on the beach is a future version, two hundred years older than the one up there," Alex repeats what River had said seconds earlier

"But all that's still going to happen. He's still going to die,"

"We're all going to do that, Amy," River says bluntly

"We're not all going to arrange our own wake and invite ourselves," Rory enters, standing next to his wife "So, the Doctor, in the future, knowing he's going to die, recruits his younger self and all of us to, to what, exactly? Avenge him?"

"Uh huh. Avenging's not his style," Poppy laughs

"Save him?" Amy looks up at the other women

"Yeah, that's not really his style either," Rory tells her gently

"We have to tell him," Amy stands up

"We've told him all we can. We can't even tell him we've seen his future self. He's interacted with his own past. It could rip a hole in the universe," River explains

"Yes, but he's done it before,"

"And in fairness, the universe did blow up,"

"True," Poppy agrees with Rory

"But he'd want to know," Amy tries to convince everyone

"Would he? Would anyone?" Alex questions the group.

"I'm being extremely clever up here, and there's no one to stand around looking impressed!" The Doctor's head pops down on the stairs "What's the point in having you all?!"

"Couldn't you just slap him sometimes?" Poppy rolls her eyes and River nods in agreement. Poppy gets up and goes up the stairs to keep The Doctor entertained

"River, Alex we can't just let him die. We have to stop it. How can you be okay with this?"

"The Doctor's death doesn't frighten me. Nor does my own. There's a far worse day coming for me," River looks up to where Poppy's footsteps echo bellow.

----------&----------

"Time isn't a straight line. It's all bumpy wimpy. There are loads of boring stuff like Sundays and Tuesdays and Thursday afternoons," The Doctor runs around the console, rambling as he goes "But now and then there are Saturdays. Big temporal tipping points when anything's possible. The TARDIS can't resist them, like a moth to a flame. She loves a party, so I give her 1969 and NASA, because that's space in the sixties," he taps Poppy's and River's noses as he passes "and Canton Everett Delaware the third, and this is where she's pointing,"

"Washington D.C., eighth of April, 1969. So why haven't we landed?" Amy asks, reading the scanner

"Because that's not where we're going,"

"Oh. Where are we going?" Rory asks

"Home. Well, you two are. Off you pop and make babies," The Doctor tells Amy and Rory "And you, Doctor Song, back to prison. And you Miss song" he points to Alex, putting emphasis on the 'miss' "I'll drop you back wherever you came from. Poppy," he taps her head fondly "you have a private package at that spa with an important lady. And me? I'm late for a biplane lesson in 1911. Or it could be knitting. Knitting or biplanes. One or the other," he collapses on the jump seat and the others stare, it's silent for a few seconds and you could cut the tension with a knife "What? A mysterious summon. You think I'm just going to go? Who sent those messages? I know you know. I can see it in your faces. Don't play games with me. Don't ever, ever think you're capable of that,"

"You're going to have to trust us this time," River speaks up

"Trust you? Sure. But, first of all, Doctor Song, just one thing," The Doctor stands and gets close to River "Who are you? You're someone from mine and Poppy's future. Getting that. But who?" No response "Okay. Why are you in prison? Who did you kill, hmm? Now, I love a bad girl, me, but trust you? Seriously," he laughs and it's awkward again.

"Trust me," Poppy speaks up, knowing she was letter 1.

"Okay," he walks over to her

"You have to do this, and you can't ask why,"

"Are you being threatened? Is someone making you say that?" The Doctor asks, concerned

"No,"

"You're lying,"

"I'm not lying,"

"Swear to me. Swear to me on something that matters,"

"Wilfred Mott,"

The Doctor freezes and sees the slight tears in Poppy's eyes at the mention of his name, he nods slightly, understanding the importance of that name.

"My life in your hands, Poppy Watcher," he grabs her head, kissing her temple gently.

"Thank you," River turns to Poppy and she smiles half-heartedly.

"So! Canton Everett Delaware the third. Who's he?" The Doctor asks the group and the atmosphere has gone back to something somewhat normal.