The Second Will Cost You - an Oshamir College AU - Chapter 10
Sequel to The First Hit's Free
Chapters: 10/11
Rating: Explicit
"I always feel like an imposter in places like this," Osha mutters, trying to shrink into his side. "I never feel like I belong."
"Of course you belong," Qimir says. "I’m here, and you belong with me.”
He smiles at her, and she smiles back, biting back the question that's been on the tip of her tongue for months:
Yes, but who are you, really?
It had taken a lot of sweat, some tears, and a little more blood than she'd expected, but Osha Aniseya has survived the agonizing process of reinvention. She'd set ablaze the carefully planned, meticulously organized life that had been plotted out for her and built something new from the ashes: a new apartment, new major, and a new boyfriend.
For a few weeks, in that magical warm haze of late summer, everything is perfect. But as the cold winds of fall and a new school year beckons, Osha starts to realize that when it comes to having someone like Qimir in her life, all of the chaos that they had gone through may have been just the tip of the iceberg.
An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works
Chapter: 8/9
Author: StormDancer/soulmatesinmusicandlife
Rating: Mature
Tags: Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics; Fake/Pretend Relationship; the traditional end-of-hiatus fic; Omega Patrick Stump; Alpha Pete Wentz; Pining; hiatus-appropriate angst; but also hopefully social commentary?
Word Count: 6.7k/75k
Summary:
Patrick knows certain things, going into planning for Fall Out Boy’s return. He knows the world expects certain things from omegas, and punching assholes who deserve it isn’t one. He knows the world excepts certain things from him, and Soul Punk wasn’t it. He knows all of Pete’s flirting is just a joke, and Pete acting like his alpha is just Pete playing his part. He knows that if he sets a toe out of line, everything he’s trying to rebuild could come crashing down, and he really will be just as has-been at 28.
Wanting something to do with her hands, Sakura poured herself a glass of water before joining Kakashi at her small kitchen table. She kept her legs to the side to avoid bumping knees with him—anything to keep from touching him, as if he would somehow be able to glean the truth if they even grazed against each other. Gripping the glass between her palms, she looked at him. "What did you want to talk about?"
He was fixing her with that contemplative stare again. He didn't answer right away, and when he finally spoke, his voice was thoughtful. "I know something is wrong. I think that more happened in the past than what you put in your report." He angled his head slightly to catch her gaze even as she tried to glance away from him. "I need you to tell me what you've been hiding."
Sakura's heart was thundering in her chest now. Trying to distract him, she asked, "Isn't this the kind of thing you'd send an aide to do? It's not the Hokage's job to follow up on badly written reports." She tried to give him a joking smile but faltered when he didn't return it.
"Some things you have to do yourself," Kakashi replied. "And in this case, I am fairly certain that whatever it is has to do with me." His voice was gentle but firm. "Isn't that right?"
Fandom: ragehappy
Ship: Jerevinwood, past Freewood
Words: 3.8k
Tags: Sky Factory 3 Gods AU, (temporary) character death, blood sacrifice, magic rituals, amnesia, jealousy, relationship drama, religious imagery, cults
Summary: The Solar Queen is dead, long may the Dark God reign!
OR Gavin has but a moment to work through his feelings before everything goes to shit.
Read here on Ao3 or Patreon. The rest of the story is available there for early access, as well as outtakes and (soon) Behind the Scenes stuff. Updates will happen once a week every Thursday!
The day darkness embraced the world, the worshippers of the Dark God rejoiced, for they could feel the change in the air and they knew that they had won.
But there were those who did not pray to the Dark God, and in those days they were many: these people were very, very afraid of what should have been a happy occasion to all. They prayed to the other gods, who were inferior to the Dark God in all aspects, and thus they prayed to them for help.
Thus they prayed to the Blood Mage, who is closest to the Dark God in might. And the Blood Mage told them:
“Fear not, my children, for it is I who facilitated the Dark God’s ascension.”
And the Blood Mage said: “I am the Right Hand of the Dark God, who rules these realms.”
Reassured, the Blood Mage’s followers rejoiced, for they too realized what a happy occasion this was. And so they burnt the incense and prayed to both, the Dark God and his right hand, the Blood Mage, from thereon.
But not all were convinced by His words, and still they feared.
Thus they prayed to the Fae Knight, He who stands in opposition to all that the Blood Mage was. And the Fae Knight told them:
“Fear not, my children, for I will fight the evil that is the Blood Mage, and I will fight the evil that the Dark God brings.”
And the Fae Knight said: “Gather, my children, and I will give you the means to defend yourselves.”
And so they did, and the Fae Knight granted them dragons to ride into battle, and he granted them sanctuary high above in the canopy of gigantic trees, where they could rest in between saving those who fled the Dark God’s clutches.
But still there were those who did not believe in the Blood Mage, nor did they take the Fae Knight's offer.
Thus they prayed to the Phoenix, for it is Her flame that keeps us warm. And the Phoenix told them:
“Fear not, my children, for I have no quarrel with the Dark God.”
And the Phoenix said: “What need do you have for the Sun, when all you need I provide?”
And thus the Phoenix granted her most devout access to the eternal flame which warms the earth from within. There, they felt safe and warm and in no need to fear the Dark God and his ilk.
***
Gavin woke to a strange room on a strange bed. He blinked up at the colourful lights strung across the ceiling, his mind still caught in the webs of his dreams. He sat up slowly, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. The bed was raised on flat logs, the mattress filled with leaves and feathers underneath the sheets. Gavin ran a hand over them, trying to remember where he was since this clearly wasn't the temple.
His heart seized in his chest. He might never go back to the temple.
Swallowing as the memories of the last days came back to him - as well as the memories of his dream, which for once remained crystal clear - he looked around. The room he'd slept in was nearly double the size from the small room he'd shared with Jeremy over the years, but that still left it a little cramped in between the furniture. Everything was made of the same kind of wood, and Gavin had a suspicion they were made out of the tree they were placed in.
A low table stood in the center of the room, with five seat cushions strewn around it. In one of those sat Lindsay, head bent over whatever she was holding in her left hand, working on it with the carving knife in her right. As if feeling his gaze in her neck, she looked up and gave him a brilliant smile.
"Good! You're awake!"
She dropped her work on the table, revealing a green… stone? It seemed too flat for a stone. She had clearly been working on it for a while, the edges were smoothed down and the surface held intricate carvings. Gavin slipped off the bed and walked over to sit across from her.
"What is that?" he asked, nodding to indicate the stone.
"This?" Lindsay's smile softened, a mischievous glint entering her eyes. "It's a talisman of protection. I'm nearly done with it."
Gavin blinked, tilting his head. He'd never heard of such charms. His curiosity was piqued. "What's it made of?"
"Shed dragon scale." Lindsay picked up her knife and continued her work. Gavin didn't recognize the symbols she carved into the scale, but he could feel the magic built up around them as she worked. "It's a way to practice fey magic, so I doubt you've seen it before."
"It's pretty," Gavin offered, shrugging one shoulder. Lindsay hummed agreeably.
"There's food on the counter," she mentioned offhandedly, eyes on the carving. Gavin huffed and went to get it, eating in silence while Lindsay continued to work.
With the shock of everything that was revealed settling, and his talk with the Dark God fresh in his mind, Gavin felt ready to tackle that talk once more. He felt calmer if nothing else. And… he still had many questions.
Questions he wanted to ask Jeremy.
But he wasn't ready to face him yet, he didn't think. And besides, Lindsay was right here.
"You have questions," Lindsay stated without looking up from her work. Gavin closed his mouth and nodded. Lindsay rolled her shoulders and cracked her neck, before finally meeting his eyes. "Alright. Shoot."
Too many words fought their way up, so many questions left unanswered, and Gavin didn't know where to start.
"Why…" He licked his dry lips and tried again. "Why didn't you just tell me?"
"For several reasons," Lindsay admitted, then hesitated. Gavin arched a brow to encourage her to continue. Lindsay bit her lip. "You have to understand, we had no idea what we were doing."
Gavin remained silent as Lindsay gathered her thoughts, watching the scritch scritch scritch of the knife.
"Everyone always expects gods to be omniscient," she mused, guiding the knife in tighter and tighter circles. "But… we're not infallible, obviously. We make mistakes all the time. Sometimes they're happy mistakes-"
The knife slipped out of the spiral, cutting a line through the neighbouring symbol.
"Sometimes they can be fixed easily." As she spoke, the slash filled back in until only the perfect spiral remained. "But oftentimes… not."
She met Gavin's eyes across the table.
"We were afraid of messing up. Jeremy, especially, even if he would never admit it." She quirked a smile that invited him into the joke. Gavin dropped his gaze to his clasped hands on the table. "So we tried our best. At first… things were fragile."
"The world had just been remade," Gavin murmured, half-quoting lessons beaten into him by sheer number of repetitions.
"That too I guess." Lindsay shook her head. "It was a chaotic time for sure. But not what I meant." She set the knife down and picked up a rod with a sharpened end, pressing it into the top of the scale. "You were… fragile. We had saved you from what was eating the divinity from inside you. But… you were mortal and still technically dead."
Lindsay took a deep breath and stilled her scraping.
"Jeremy managed to breathe life back into you, with the help of all of us. But… the first few years, it was pretty touch and go. You didn't even wake up until the first decade was over. We thought…" She swallowed, her eyes covered in a suspicious sheen. "We thought we'd lost you for sure when you did."
That startled Gavin. "Why?"
"You weren't yourself. For a while it seemed for all we'd done, we had only managed to save your body… not your soul."
Gavin fell silent. The pain was audible in Lindsay's voice and visible in her face, eyes squinted shut, mouth pulled into a grimace. He'd never seen her like this before.
It wasn't right. Lindsay should always be happy.
"It got better over the years. Jeremy worked his ass off, trying to figure it out, coming up with new rituals to strengthen your body, keep you from aging… securing your soul. The rest of us had to deal with the fallout for mankind. Didn't help that Ryan was being a useless lump."
Gavin frowned, indignant anger on the other's behalf rising in his chest. "He was grieving."
"Well, yeah." Lindsay shrugged. "So were we. Wasn't a walk in the park for any of us, is what I'm trying to say." Her perceptive gaze looked straight through Gavin. "You like him."
Gavin sputtered. "No! No, I don't! What!"
Her eyebrows rose in perfect skepticism. Gavin glanced away, fidgeting with his sleeves. "...I don't even know him."
"Then get to know him," Lindsay nudged him, pulling a string of twine through the hole she'd drilled into the talisman.
"It's not that easy," Gavin murmured, ducking his head to his face. "He doesn't see me. He sees… what he lost."
"And you're still hung up on Jeremy."
Gavin shrugged, trying to ignore the pang in his chest. Maybe… maybe it was a little easier, now, to understand why Jeremy did what he did. But…
"I just wish that he told me. That he let me make that choice in the full knowledge of what was happening."
Lindsay hummed, her expression lacking any sort of judgement when he dared a glance up. Gavin fiddled with a loose thread, pulling at it until it came apart. He wished he could do the same with the knot of feelings tied around his lungs, making it hard to breathe.
"It's just… how can I know what was real? If he lied about that what else did he lie about? You know?"
"Did he lie?" Lindsay arched a brow and raised her hands defensively at his look. "Or did he do that thing where he lets you come to your own conclusions by sparse use of the truth and some hints?"
"Does it matter?" Gavin returned bitterly, crossing his arms. "I'm not sure that doesn't make it worse, actually."
"Hmm." Lindsay hummed as she twisted the ends of the twine into a knot and held up the necklace to let the scale rotate in the air. "What do you want, Gavin?"
Gavin bit his lip, hearing the echo of past conversations. He used to know what he was missing, what he wanted. But now his world turned upside down and he wasn't so sure. What did he want? For Jeremy to apologize? How could he trust if he was being sincere?
"What do you want?"
Was there something he wanted for himself?
"I want to know…" he started and trailed off. Lindsay watched him with hooded eyes, not judging, not rushing him. There were so many questions he'd like the answer to, but which were actually important.
After a long moment Lindsay cleared her throat.
"Think about it," Lindsay suggested, leaning across the table to sling the twine over his head. Gavin blinked at her, confused. "It's for you, dummy."
Gavin fumbled for the twine, lifting it to inspect the dangling dragon scale. It was the deep green of a forest, rounded into an elongated diamond shape with smooth edges. And each quadrant was filled with tiny symbols Gavin didn't know how to read, but could feel the magic being redirected in its lines.
A talisman of protection, Lindsay had called it.
He clutched it in his fist and gave Lindsay a watery smile.
"You're forgiven."
Lindsay laughed, the tension draining from her shoulders. "Hey, no! You're supposed to say 'thank you', you dumbass!"
Gavin giggled, and if it sounded a little hiccupy neither of them mentioned it.
"You're just in it for the chaos, innit? I figured you out now, admit it," he accused her instead, neatly switching the topic.
"Hey! A little chaos is the spice of life!" Lindsay returned good naturedly, catching him in a headlock and rubbing her knuckles against his scalp despite his protests. "It'd be pretty boring and stagnant without a little change in scen-"
She was cut off as the door slammed open. In the blink of an eye she stood between Gavin and the door, posture defensive. It took Gavin a second to catch up, but when he leaned around her to see what was going on, it was just Michael standing in the doorway. Gavin relaxed.
Too soon.
"We need to go. Now!"
"What's going on?" Gavin jumped to his feet, stepping up next to Lindsay. Michael glanced at him with a frown.
"Grab your things. We're under attack."
***
The canopy was on fire.
People were running all over the place, parents carrying small children, older siblings dragging the younger ones by their hands. All around them the elderly and injured were carried by one or two non-combatants, taking to the platforms to be evacuated. Knights grabbed their helmets and swords with grim-faced determination as they leapt for their dragons and dove into the heat of the battle. In the distance sounded screams, the echo of steel hitting steel, and the roaring of dragons.
It was chaos.
Gavin followed Michael through the rushing crowds as the city in the tree evacuated their homes, leaving all their worldly possessions behind, each heading to their designated landing pads. Gavin caught a glimpse of the wooden boats filled with passengers flying past on the other side of the branches, carried from a cord tied to two dragons away to safety.
Lindsay stuck close to him, plastered to his back. A crackling branch dropped from the canopy, and Lindsay pushed him out of the way before it could hit him. Flames sparked as it hit the deck, starting little fires on the wooden floor. Gavin stopped to stamp them out, even as Lindsay passed him and snatched his wrist, tugging him away.
"We need to hurry," she hissed when he resisted.
"We need to help!" Gavin countered, trying to twist out of her grasp. He'd nearly managed to wiggle out when Michael hauled him back by the other arm.
"We need to get you out," he bit out between clenched teeth. Gavin shook his head, trying to shake Michael loose, too. But Michael's grip just tightened.
"We need to help them!" Gavin repeated, a desperate urge crawling up his throat. He couldn't understand why they were wasting time arguing. Wasn't Michael supposed to be these people's patron deity? Weren't they under his protection? "They're going to die if we don't! Michael, there's children, Michael!"
"They know what to do," Michael countered, a grim expression on his face. "Getting you out is our first priority, so fucking move."
"But Michael," Gavin protested, digging his heels in. But Michael was stronger, dragging him along. "They might die, Michael!"
"Some of them will," Michael returned ruthlessly, and Gavin slackened in surprise. Michael used his moment of shock to drag him up the stairs, Gavin stumbling over the steps. "More of them will die if you stay."
Gavin froze, foot hovering above the last step. Lindsay started pushing him from the back, Michael pulling at his arm. Still, it took him a moment to move again, and then it was to haul Michael around and face him.
"What do you mean," he demanded, voice cracking. "What do you mean by that?"
Michael's frown was unreadable. He grabbed Gavin's shoulder and shook him, once.
"They're after you, idiot. They won't stop trying to get in until they're sure you're not here."
Gavin stared back. A million thoughts raced through his head, the implications-
"They're here for me?" he repeated numbly. What felt like ice filled his veins, crawling through his limbs and mind, leaving him sluggish. This beautiful city… and all its people…
"It's the bloody Acolytes and Hunters, who else would they be here for!?" Michael hauled him up the rest of the stairs, clearly impatient. "The sooner we get you out of here the better."
They came for him.
They burned the tree to find him.
All these people were in danger because of him.
Michael and Lindsay led him up to the highest landing platform where Mogar the sky blue dragon was waiting for them. He followed them out in a daze, shock cascading through his entire body. Once outside he could see many dragon-carried barges leaving in all directions, the sky teeming with dragons and their riders. Arrows whizzed through the air, shafts aflame. Several of the dragons ran interference between these and the barges and the redwood.
Gavin stepped up to the railing and looked down.
The night was lit up by the yellow and orange flicker of flames crawling up the trunk of the tree, like grasping fingers of death. It illuminated the battlefield below where dark robed figures clashed with those in familiar brown and red tunics. Above them a tangle of dragons darted in and out of the fight, dive-bombing archers to scatter them. It was a senseless slaughter.
One Gavin felt utterly helpless to stop.
"We have to do something." The words burst out of his chest without looking up to see if it was Michael or Lindsay coming to stand beside him. "They won't just stop because I leave, will they?"
"No," Michael admitted grudgingly, and Gavin saw him cross his arms from the corner of his eyes. "They won't stop until the tree has burnt to the ground."
Gavin swallowed and grasped Michael’s shoulder, turning to face him. “Then I can’t go.”
“Gavin-”
“No.” Gavin shook his head, determination warming his chest. His mind was made up. “They want me? Then we’ll give them what they want.”
“That’s dangerous,” Lindsay pointed out, sounding reasonable, but her grin turned bloodthirsty. “I like it.”
Together, they turned to stare Michael down, one serious, one excited. Michael let out a deep, shuddering sigh which sounded altogether too world-weary.
“I hate you both,” he said, rubbing at his forehead as if to stem the on-coming headache. “Just so you know.”
“At the least, it’ll buy your people more time,” Gavin reasoned. Michael shot him a droll look.
They kept Gavin sandwiched between them, as if to shield him from awry arrows. The descent took time as they circled around and around, until they had reached the dragonriders involved in the combat. Up close, the battlefield looked even worse, the grass trampled and stained with blood, bodies of humans and dragons alike scattered across the meadow. Gavin couldn’t tell which were injured and which were… dead.
Something in him snapped. Wrath rose up through his veins, an anger unlike any he had felt before. All of this was done in the name of retrieving him, like a lost toy, and Gavin was done.
The cloud of dragons parted for them like a swarm of startled birds, but there was nowhere for them to land amidst the battle. Gavin judged the distance to the ground, perhaps twenty more feet. The clinging of swords clashing resounded across the field, and Gavin steeled his heart. It couldn’t hurt worse than loss and betrayal.
He jumped. It felt like floating, gently drifting to the ground. Not what he imagined falling to feel like at all.
The landing wasn’t even jarring.
All around him, fighters whirled around, then stopped to stare. Gavin eyed their raised swords warily, opening his mouth when he felt it, the strangely familiar darkness his dreams were made of. His jaw snapped shut and his head whipped around, staring unerringly at a spot not ten feet from him.
Shadows swept in a whirlwind in the middle of the battlefield, extinguishing flames in a wide circle. Two figures emerged from the flickering tendrils, walking side by side. They glanced around to take in their surroundings, but made no move to interfere. Instead they moved like ghosts through the fighting combatants, going unnoticed by their worshippers.
Gavin grit his teeth. They didn’t attempt to stop the senseless slaughter.
Fury raged in his chest. Gavin didn't even notice how the crowds parted for him, whispers rising to a dull roar in the ringing silence. Swords clattered to the ground and people fell to their knees at the mere sight of him. But Gavin had no attention to spare for them, glare focussed on the two gods who had sent their armies to get him, who had destroyed the home of these innocents for daring to offer him sanctuary.
He was, literally, ablaze with fury.
Not that he noticed his glowing eyes or the sunlight emitted by his hair, a much brighter blond than it had been before. He didn't see the grass and flowers that strained towards him left in his wake.
He did see the awe flickering over Ryan's face, the shock chased by hope on Jeremy's. Gavin stomped right up to them, ready to give them a piece of his mind, gods or no.
He was startled out, mouth already open to deliver a tongue lashing, by Jeremy flowing into a smooth bow.
"Solar Queen," he said, his greeting echoing across the battlefield, silencing the whispers.
Gavin snapped his mouth shut and scowled at him.
"I'm not-"
A rustle of cloak and he turned to look at the Dark God who knelt before him. Ryan grabbed his hand with trembling fingers and pressed his lips to Gavin's knuckles.
"My queen," he murmured, and yet it echoed across the darkness like thunder for all to hear. "My love."
Gavin stared down at him, eyes trailing from Ryan's face, lit by an unearthly shine, to his own hand and inhaled sharply.
His usually tan skin was glowing golden.
***
Outside the sanctuaries granted to the followers of the Phoenix and the Fae Knight, the people were afraid and growing hungry. For without the sun, the fields did not yield and nothing could grow.
So they prayed to the God of All Things That Grow. And the God of All Things That Grow saw their peril, and His soft heart wept for mankind. Thus He went to the Dark God, to plead their case.
“Without the Sun, I cannot make things grow,” said the God of All Things That Grow. “Please, Your Darkness, the humans go hungry and will surely starve.”
“I will aid you in this, God of Growth,” said the Dark God. “Under one condition: you will bend the knee and swear loyalty to me above all.”
“I will do this,” said the God of All Things That Grow, “if you keep your end of the promise.”
And thus the God of All Things That Grow swore His Oath, and the Dark God granted him the wisdom to build a machine which would replace the Sun forever more. And the God of Growth brought these plans to His followers, who wept in gratitude.
And thus the cloches were created.
***
It flares like a fire again
And it's burning my memory
And it feels like I'm trembling within my little world
I'm shaking on my way to the other side, but I'll be brave
And I'm leaving my soul to the enemy just to see you again
(And we'll reunite in my subjection)
My hope for resurrection fades away
I can't get back what we have missed
And what we never did
Cause all there is to be needs my reflection
(And I see light in my suppression)
An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works
Chapters: 15/16
Fandom: Star Trek: Picard, Star Trek: Voyager
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Raffi Musiker/Seven of Nine, Past Bjayzl/Seven of Nine, Raffi Musiker & Cristóbal Rios, (Background) Agnes Jurati/Cristóbal Rios, Elnor/Hugh | Third of Five, Agnes Jurati & Raffi Musiker, Elnor & Raffi Musiker, Hugh | Third of Five & Seven of Nine, (Background) Tom Paris/B'Elanna Torres
Characters: Seven of Nine, Raffi Musiker, Bjayzl (Star Trek), Jean-Luc Picard, Cristóbal Rios, Hugh | Third of Five, Emil | La Sirena's Emergency Medical Hologram, Vup (Star Trek), Agnes Jurati, Elnor (Star Trek), Ian | La Sirena's Emergency Engineering Hologram, Enoch | La Sirena's Emergency Navigational Hologram, Mister Hospitality | La Sirena's Emergency Hospitality Hologram, Emmet | La Sirena's Emergency Tactical Hologram, Soji Asha, Jake Sisko, Tom Paris, Rozyani, K'tri'Xyr (Original Character), B'Elanna Torres, Miral Paris
Additional Tags: Hurt/Comfort, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Romance, Minor Injuries, Additional Warnings In Author's Note, Raffi is everything Bjayzl wasn't, Post-Series, Crew as Family, Male-Female Friendship, Emotional Manipulation, past abusive relationship, Hugh | Third of Five Lives, Implied/Referenced Dubious Consent, Past Gaslighting, Found Family, Fluff and Humor, Past Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Identity Issues, Angst, Minor Character Death, Implied/Referenced Self-Harm
Summary:
Raffi wasn’t Jay... and it might take Seven a while to get used to that.
A look at Seven’s growing connection with Raffi contrasted with her past relationship with Bjayzl. Set against the eventual rescue and rehabilitation of Hugh from the Artifact.
An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works
Chapters: 9/10
Fandom: Doctor Who (2005), Doctor Who
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Thirteenth Doctor/River Song, The Doctor/River Song
Characters: Thirteenth Doctor, River Song, Yasmin Khan, Ryan Sinclair, Graham O'Brien, Dorium Maldovar, Missy (Doctor Who), The Master (Dhawan)
Additional Tags: Action/Adventure, Slow Burn, Space Wives, Psychological Trauma, Past Brainwashing, River Song Being River Song, Partial Mind Control, The Fam doesn't trust River, Post Darillium Pre Library, Angst, 13 loves her wife, Fluff and Smut
Summary:
A chance meeting in the biggest shopping centre in the galaxy, a dead body and a confused assassin. It seems as though something or someone has triggered River Song's childhood conditioning. It's up to the Doctor and the Fam to work out who is behind it. Maybe the Doctor can finally undo the damage she was responsible for so long ago and get some more time with her wife before she sets off to the Library.
