When Amelia Pond was nineteen, her imaginary friend came back to find her and save her along with the rest of the world. They had the adventure she so desperately wanted that day but then it was over almost as soon as it began. He flew off in his time machine again to who knows where or when. All that mattered was he left her again. For the first few days after he left, she waited patiently for him each night. She slept in her clothes and had more packed in a bag beneath her bed so she didn't have to waste any time getting out of Leadworth and in to the stars with the Doctor. After a couple weeks she started sleeping in her nightie but the case stayed. And it stayed packed under her bed until two months later when she and her boyfriend, Rory Williams, packed it and several other cases up to take with them when they moved to London.
Rory was sweet. Rory was kind. Rory wasn't the most handsome man in the little village of Leadworth, but he was one of the only true friends she had. They met when they were seven and became fast friends. He played along with her when she wanted him to dress up as the Raggedy Doctor. He stood up for her when other kids picked on her. He helped her tame their friend Mels, who was Leadworth's one wild child. He didn't question her decision to go from Amelia to just Amy. At some point, maybe at the very beginning, Rory fell in love with Amy. She was never sure if she loved Rory the way he loved her, or if she ever would, but she did love him. And there was something so beautiful about him that she couldn't put her finger on.
After secondary school, Rory decided he wanted to be a nurse. Amy wasn't surprised when he told her. It was the perfect job for him and he never could resist a damsel in distress. When they were young, he would patch up her scraped knees and elbows. When they got older, he constantly rushed to the aid of women who had dropped their grocery bags or were too drunk to walk home from the pub by themselves at night. He had the biggest heart of any man she had ever met. Except for maybe the Doctor. But it's hard for anyone to have a bigger heart than the man who came hurdling in to her back yard in the middle of the night when she was seven and fixed the crack in her wall that had frightened her more than anything then came back twelve years later to save her again from the terrible things that had come from the crack all those years ago. But Rory was a close second and he was hers so she decided to tag along with him to London. Together they saved up enough money to pay for the first few months' rent of a small flat they found in Central London then headed off. Amy knew deep down in her heart that the Doctor would come back for her someday but she couldn't just sit around waiting for him until he did. Life goes on.
The flat was tiny, but it had a certain charm. They moved in a few days before Rory started his classes at uni and they spent most of that time watching bad tele and trying to find a job for Amy without much luck. So when Rory started his classes, Amy took the town by herself. The first day on her own was as unsuccessful as the last three with Rory. But the second day was much better. She walked in to a little Italian restaurant called Angelo's. Angelo had a thick Italian accent and a ponytail but despite his grizzly outward appearance, he was a teddybear on the inside and his restaurant reflected that. It was lit with paper lanterns and candles on every table and everything was earthy and warm. Angelo's was the kind of place you would go to on a whim during a first date then come back once a week afterwards. Amy walked in to grab a bite to eat just as Angelo was shooing out another girl.
"After all I've done for you, you steal money from me?" Angelo shouted as he chased the other girl out the door. Amy pressed herself against one of the tables and tried to stay out of their way as they passed. "And don't you even think about asking for your last paycheck!"

The girl breezed past Amy and pushed her out of the way as she stomped toward the door and slammed it behind her. Angelo shook his hand and put his hands on his hips and watched the girl walk down the street and climb in to a taxi.
"Is now a bad time to ask about a job?" Amy asked awkwardly.
"Not at all. It keeps me from having to make a sign." He gave Amy a smile and walked over to the table she was standing by and pulled out a chair for her. "Who might you be?"
"Amy Pond." She said as she sat down.
"if I'm not mistaken, that's a Scottish accent you have, Amy." Angelo said then sat down across from her and pulled out a cigarette from behind his ear. He put it between his lips then bent down to the candle on the table and lit it.
"You aren't mistaken." She said with a smile.
"What part of Scotland ya from?"
"I don't remember. I only lived there until I was seven then I moved to Leadworth with my aunt and lived there until about a week ago."
"So, you're new in town, you need a job, and you've got a Scottish accent? I think you're just what I'm looking for. When can you start?"
"As soon as you'd like."
Angelo smiled at her as he exhaled his smoke and shook Amy's hand excitedly. Amy came in to Angelo's the next day a couple hours before they opened for lunch and was quickly taught the basics. Angelo started her out slowly by giving her the couples tables and the regulars who had been around for several new waiters and waitresses that had come along before her. Amy was a quick learner and got the hang of things quickly. After a couple of weeks, she had regulars that came just to see her. Everyone loved Angelo's Scottish waitress with her long legs, fiery red hair and sassy personality.
"God must have been smiling on me the day he sent an angel like you walking through my doors." Angelo told her with a wink one Friday night as they were helping clean up after the last swarm of Amy's admirers had left.
A couple months had gone by and Amy and Rory had started to fall in to a routine. He went to school in the day, and worked a few nights a week and Amy mimicked his schedule at work. The nights they had together, they would go to the cinema or they would walk down to Speedy's and get some chips and watch people go by. Amy still dreamt of the day her Raggedy Doctor would come and whisk her off to the stars, but she was content waiting for that day. For now she was happy living a normal life. But things changed the next Wednesday.
Wednesdays were usually pretty uneventful. Rory got up early in the morning for classes then came home to have lunch with Amy before she left for work then it was back to classes and off to work for Amy. She arrived dressed in her typical work uniform; a white button up shirt with the sleeves rolled to her elbows, a black skirt with the hem stopping mid-thigh, black tights and black lace up boots, and helped Angelo and the other waitress called Kaylie get the tables ready. The lunch crowd was nothing special, just her usual Wednesday regulars and some tourists. Amy expected the dinner crowd to be about the same. Wednesdays were almost always uneventful. For the first half of dinner, it was. Then Amy saw him.
Billy, one of the waiters that worked the dinner shift, opened the door for him and his friend and pointed them toward the table against the windows that were adjacent to the door. He thanked Billy and slid in to the booth as he shook off his coat and pulled his scarf from around his neck and sat them next to him. Billy walked back in to the kitchen where Angelo was checking on the cooks and I was waiting for an order.
"Mr. Holmes is here." Billy said to Angelo quietly. Angelo lit up immediately, wiped his hands on his apron and headed out in to the dining room to great him.
"What's so special about him?" She asked him.
"Mr. Holmes helped keep Angelo out of prison three years ago. Well, sort of. Angelo was arrested as a suspect for a triple homicide but Mr. Holmes proved that he was on the completely other side of London at the time housebreaking. Angelo paid a short visit to the prison for that but for the most part his name was cleared. Now Mr. Holmes is a semi-regular around here and never pays a dime." Billie told her.
"So he's a cop?" Amy asked, completely unimpressed by this Mr. Holmes.
"Nope." He replied.
"If he's not a cop then how did he keep Angelo from being convicted of murder? Isn't that what cops are for?" Amy's curiosity started to come out.

"He's some kind of private detective." He said and gathered up menus to take out to Mr. Holmes' table.
"But the police don't go to private detectives. You're full of shit, Billy!" She laughed and snatched the menus out of his hand playfully.
"Well, they go to him." Billy told her and opened the door for her. Amy raised an eyebrow at him then walked out in to the dining room toward Angelo who was talking to Mr. Holmes and his friend. She rolled her shoulders back and put on a smile and worked the crowd as she went, saying hello to familiar faces and greeting newcomers. She crossed the dining room and stood next to Angelo while he spoke to Mr. Holmes.
"Anything on the menu, I'll cook it for you myself, for free." Angelo said and patted him on the back then he wrapped his hands around Amy's shoulders and gave her a little shake. "Just tell the lovely Amy Pond what you'd like. Oh, and I'll get a candle for the table. It's more romantic."
Angelo left Amy alone with the two men and the table. She started her normal routine of introducing the specials for the evening and asking them what they wanted to drink. The whole time, Mr. Holmes stared intently at the window as if he was waiting for someone.
"Is someone else joining you two?" Amy asked flirtatiously.
"No, don't mind him." The detective's friend said and gave her a warm smile. "I'll just have a pint of whatever you have at the bar. What about you, Sherlock?"
"Nothing for me, thanks." Sherlock turned his head and met Amy's eyes and gave her a small smile. Amy felt her breath hitch in her throat. Sherlock looked nothing like what she thought a detective would with his ice blue eyes peaking out from under his almost black curls. His pale skin almost matched the cream colored button up shirt he wore underneath his suit jacket. Amy had to keep herself from reaching out and tracing his cheekbones. He was probably just shy of being ten years older than she was but that didn't phase Amy one bit. But the way he looked at her for that brief moment did.
"Are you sure?" She asked and slid a menu in front of both men then put her hands on her hips in an effort to keep her confident appearance even though she thought her heart was going to beat through her chest.
He quickly replied, "yep," and turned his attention back to the street outside the window.
"One pint coming right up then," she paused and waited for the detective's friend to fill in the blank with his own name.
"John," he said and stuck out his hand. "John Watson."
Amy shook his hand and smiled at him. "Nice to meet you, John Watson," she said before turning around and heading back toward the bar to drop of the drink order then to the kitchen to find Angelo.
"I see you've met Sherlock." Angelo laughed when Amy caught up with him.
"Who is he?" She asked and leaned back against the counter next to him.
"He's a detective. The best one there is. I'd be in prison right now if it weren't for him." Angelo said earnestly.
"So he's really a detective?" She asked with her eyebrow raised.
"I see Billy has brought you up to date on things. Remind me to scold him for that." He replied, sounding slightly annoyed. "Why are you so interested in Sherlock Holmes? I thought you had a boyfriend, Amelia!"
"I'm just curious is all. You don't meet private detectives every day." She winked at him then darted back out to the detective's table to take their order.
"You might as well eat," He said to John when Amy arrived. "We might be here for a while."
"Are you going to?" John asked.
"What day is it?" Sherlock's eyes were still fixed on the street outside. John looked at his phone to check the day and repeated the information. Sherlock shook his head and said, "No, thanks. I'm okay for a bit."
"You haven't eaten yet today? For God's sake, you need to eat!" John exclaimed.
"No, you need to eat. I need to think. The brain is what counts. Everything else is transport." Sherlock replied hastily.
"You might want to consider refueling." Amy shrugged. She could see him smirk and let out a little laugh as a reply. She raised her eyebrows at him then turned back to John and said, "What can I get you then?"
John rattled off his order to her then closed his menu and handed both his and Sherlock's back to her. "Sorry about him," he said and tilted his head in Sherlock's direction. "I don't think he's always like this."
"Hm, interesting." Amy said, eyeing up the detective. She excused herself to take their order back to the kitchen and put the order in with the cooks then snuck behind the bar where Sarah, one of the other waitresses Amy worked with, was pouring drinks for a few guests. Amy sat on the floor with her back against the bar and waited for Sarah to finish.

"What did you do, Amy?" Sarah questioned when she finally noticed her on the floor.
"Don't be obvious, but look at the table by the window where the two men are sitting." Amy replied.
"What's so special about them?"
"The dark-haired one."
"Amy, need I remind you that you have a boyfriend?"
"A girl can dream."

Sarah shook her head at Amy and went back to pouring drinks. Amy remained under the bar and waited for John's food to come out. She couldn't figure out why she was so transfixed by Sherlock Holmes. Sure, he was absolutely gorgeous, but it wasn't that. There was something about the way he looked at her in that brief moment, like he could see straight in to her and straight through her. Amy had gotten used to the majority of men who walked through the doors of Angelo's to shower her with attention, not because she demanded it or expected it from anyone, just because it had become the norm. But Sherlock Holmes barely looked at her and she felt her heart leap in to her mouth. But she wasn't going to give up. She wanted to know more about the genius detective and she liked a good challenge.

oOo

"Enjoy," Amy said with a grin as she set down John's food in front of him and a cup of tea in front of Sherlock. "Just in case," she told him and nodded to Sherlock.
"Thank you, Amy." John said and winked at her.
Amy walked through the dining room checking on other tables, delivering drinks and food, but she kept a constant eye on Sherlock and John's table. John ate quietly, speaking to Sherlock every once in a while, but the detective kept his eyes fixed on something outside. Suddenly, he jumped up while throwing his coat over his shoulders, grabbed his scarf and bolted out the door. John awkwardly pushed his plate of half eaten food away and hurried after him as best as he could.
"He must be on a case," Angelo said from behind Amy causing her to jump a little.
"Angelo, you can't keep sneaking up on me like that!" She chided him and smacked his arm.
"Sorry. I didn't know you were so caught up in staring at Sherlock that you didn't hear me walk up to you." He joked. She glared at him playfully then started walking toward the table where John and Sherlock were sitting to clear it off. Angelo followed behind and blew out the candle on the table before helping Amy gather dishes. "I wouldn't get my hopes up about Sherlock if I were you, Amelia," he said quietly.
"Who said anything about me getting my hopes up?" She asked sternly.
"No one, I'm just giving you some friendly advice. Sherlock is an odd one in good ways and in bad ways. That's all I'm saying." He said then turned around and wandered off. Amy huffed and started to clean up the table. She picked up John's plate and balanced it on one arm then reached for Sherlock's still warm cup of tea. She began to wonder if he even noticed she had set it down for him until she saw the napkin that had been under it. Before he left, Sherlock scribbled a quick Thank you on it before dashing out of the restaurant. Amy smiled and tucked the napkin in to her skirt pocket. Sherlock Holmes got more mysterious by the minute and she wanted to figure him out.
The rest of the night was uneventful in comparison. Amy waited on tables and helped Sarah at the bar until closing time. She helped Billy clean off tables and carry dishes back to the kitchen for washing then said her goodbyes and went back in to Angelo's office where everyone stored their coats while they worked and grabbed hers. She decided to skip getting a cab and walk home instead. She looked up at the stars and wondered if the Doctor was up there or if he was off in some other galaxy saving the world there. Every time she looked at the stars, she missed him. She knew deep down that he would come back, he promised, but she never knew how long she would be waiting for him. She sighed and shoved her hands in her pockets then remembered the "thank you" note from Sherlock. A smile tugged at the corners of her mouth. She knew that she could be waiting for a while, but maybe now she has something to help her pass the time.
Rory was already in bed by the time she got home so she kicked off her shoes and threw her coat over the back of a chair in their tiny kitchen then padded her way back to their bedroom. Rory was waiting up for her with a book of medical terms cracked open on his lap. Amy curled up next to him and kissed his cheek.
"How were classes?" She asked as she slid under the covers.
"Fine. Lots of medical, uh, stuff." He shrugged.
"And you understand none of it." She deadpanned.
"Not yet, but I will." He laughed. "How was work?"
"Oh, you know how boring it is on Wednesdays. Today wasn't much different." She lied.
"Well tomorrow is your day off so I'll take you some place not boring." He said and gave her a soft kiss. He closed his textbook and laid it on the table next to the bed and shut the light off. He slid down next to Amy and wrapped his arms around her and before long was snoring in her ear. Eventually Amy drifted off to sleep too and instead of dreaming about the Doctor, she dreamed of roaming the streets of London with Sherlock Holmes and John Watson, solving crimes and having adventures that come second only to traveling through time and space in a blue box.