A/N: No, I haven't forgotten about The Only Water in the Forest Is the River-I'm still working on it and should have the next chapter up in a few days. But this popped into my head and wouldn't let go, so here it is. I hope you like it.
Taxi Service
Because there's someone coming. I don't know where he is, or what he's doing, but trust me. He's on his way. There's a man who's never going to let us down…
-Amy Pond, "A Good Man Goes to War"
One
He answered the phone sounding somewhat resigned. She never called just to chat. "Yeah?"
"Rory?" Damn, she hadn't meant to sound so needy.
His voice changed. "Mels. What's wrong?"
"I need-I need you to come get me."
"Just tell me where. I'll be there."
"I'm in a pub...in Brighton."
"How the hell did you end up in Brighton?"
"Peter brought me. And then he left me here to go hook up with some girl he just met."
"I'll kill him this time; I swear I will," Rory muttered under his breath.
"It's fine, really. I just...I need a ride home. And I'm not in the mood to steal something right now."
"Don't steal anything. Just wait for me. I'm coming, I promise."
"I know. I'll be here."
He got there far faster than should have been possible, really. She didn't want to think about how fast he must have driven. But she was beyond grateful as he slid onto the seat next to her. "You all right?"
"Yeah. I'm fine. Thanks." She rested her head on his shoulder.
He traced a bruise along her cheek and a cut above her eye. "What happened here? Did Peter-?"
"No, no. I got in a bar fight." She shrugged. "Not a big deal."
"Oh, Mels. Come on, let me treat the cut. Can't really do much for the bruise at this point."
"Yeah, okay. Practice your skills on me then, Nurse." She kept her tone mocking; she couldn't reveal how much it meant to her that he'd come and was taking care of her.
But he was Rory, and he knew anyway. He just rolled his eyes at her and got to work.
Two
"Rory?"
"Yeah, who's this?"
Oh, hell, she'd miscalculated and gone too early in his timestream. River swore to herself. "Sorry, it's River. I need-well, I need you to come get me." A horrible thought occurred to her. How badly had she buggered it up? "Have we-have we met yet?"
"Yeah, yeah, we've met. Just didn't expect you to have my mobile number. But it's fine. Just tell me where you are, and we'll be there."
Bless. Even not knowing who she was, he didn't hesitate. "Thank you. I'm in a dive on Meldave. I can give you the coordinates to give to the Doctor."
"Okay. Just hang on; we're on the way." There was a pause. "Is something wrong? Besides being stranded, I mean. You sound...I don't know, a bit off."
Dear Rory. Barely even knew her and still looking after her. It reminded her of when she first met him as a kid. She'd been bigger than he was, and he'd done the very same thing. "I'll be glad when you get here, but otherwise I'm fine."
"All right then. See you in a bit."
He slid into the seat next to her. "We're here. How badly did the Doctor do with the timing?"
"Oi!" the Timelord in question said from behind them.
River laughed. "Not bad at all. I've only been waiting a couple of hours."
"Good." Rory looked around. "So where's this? When's this?"
"You're in the 51st century. I'm in uni. I came with a date and a couple of friends. But they all met someone else and took off."
Rory frowned. "Rude."
"Yeah." River stared into her drink.
He patted her shoulder awkwardly. River wished she could ask for a proper hug, like he would have given Mels or like he would give her once he knew who she was. But she couldn't, so she stayed silent.
"Let's get out of here, yeah?" Amy was eyeing River suspiciously. Probably wondering why this woman she barely knew had her husband's number.
Great. Like she needed to invoke the wrath of Amy Pond. She'd really have to do better with the timing from now on.
And the Doctor looked somewhat...wounded. And confused. So he didn't know why she would call Rory either.
Maybe he didn't even know why she hadn't called him. Maybe this Doctor hadn't promised her the universe and then dumped her at the Sisters of the Infinite Schism yet.
Everyone was too bloody young, it seemed.
River followed them into the TARDIS, eager to leave all of this behind. She gave the Doctor coordinates for Luna.
Amy came to stand next to her, leaning against the console. "Why'd you call Rory?"
River sighed. "I'm sorry. He's too young. You both are, I guess. But...in the future, we're all good friends"-that was safe to say, right? That wasn't giving too much away?-"and you wouldn't have thought anything of it."
Amy studied her for a moment, then nodded. "Yeah, okay. We've actually got a friend like that back home. She called him once from a pub in Brighton when a date left her there." The ginger laughed. "Guess he's just the guy to call when a bloke runs out on you."
"Guess so." River managed to keep a straight face. "He should advertise-Rory's Intergalactic Taxi Service."
"No, thank you," Rory said.
At the same time, the Doctor sputtered, " It's my TARDIS! I'm the one providing the taxi here!"
Three
She carefully blocked the incoming call information so if she got a Rory too early in the timeline she wouldn't give any spoilers. He sounded wary when he answered the unknown call.
Her own voice came out far needier than she'd intended. "Dad?" She hoped rather fervently his response wouldn't be, "Sorry? Who is this?" Although that would at least let her know she'd got it wrong again and enable her to end the call quickly.
But that didn't happen this time. His tone changed immediately. "River? What's wrong?"
"I need-I need you to come get me."
"Just tell me when and where. I'll be there."
"I'm in a pub on the 32nd asteroid from the lone gas giant in the Tylandria cluster of the Mandolin Galaxy. Tell the Doctor-"
"I'm not telling the Doctor anything," Rory cut her off. "This may be spoilers, but we just did Apalapucia, and I won't risk him getting to you too late."
River frowned. How on earth did Rory plan to get to her without the Doctor? "He's never been too late, Dad. I jump off buildings and cliffs and out of airplanes and spaceships because I know he won't be late."
"Yeah, well, we can discuss that particular habit of yours later. Right now I need to get to you. What other info do I need?"
"It's the year 3525, the 15th of Macton by their calendar. The 11th hour of daylight. No immediate danger-I'm not in jail or being pursued or anything."
"Good to know. All right. Be there in a few."
She shook her head, wondering just what her father had in mind if he refused to involve the Doctor. Stubborn man.
But she didn't doubt for a moment that he'd be there soon. However he had to work it out, he would come. She knew that.
Sure enough, he slid into the seat next to her mere minutes later. "You all right?"
She smiled and rested her head on his shoulder. "I'm fine, Dad. Just need a ride home."
"Yeah? Is this like when you 'just needed a ride home' after Peter? Or that bar when you were in uni and I didn't even know who you were?"
She grimaced. "Maybe a little."
Rory made a sort of growl in the back of his throat. "I'll kill him. I swear I will."
River sighed. "It's not quite like that, Dad."
"Oh? What's it like then?"
She stared at the countertop, tracing a ring of condensation. "He was so bloody young. Barely even knew me at all. Certainly didn't trust me. And had no idea I didn't have my own transportation." She shrugged. "To be fair, I didn't know I'd need a lift either. But apparently that plasma blast disabled my vortex manipulator."
"Plasma blast? Are you sure you're all right?"
"Just a few minor burns, really."
He sent her a dark look. "I want to check them out when we get out of here."
She rolled her eyes. "Dad, really-"
"No arguments. I don't play the dad card often, but I'm going to here. I will make sure you're okay."
She huffed. "Fine."
"Hey, you knew what you were getting when you called me."
She had to laugh at that. "I suppose I did."
"Now." Rory showed her his wrist. He had a vortex manipulator. "I assume you know how to get us somewhere useful with this? The you I borrowed it from seemed pretty sure that you would."
"Really? It was easier for you to track down another me and use that thing than just asking the Doctor to bring the TARDIS?"
"River. Seriously, just don't. Not right now."
"Okay." She took his wrist and began entering coordinates. "There. Ready?"
"Sure." They disappeared in a flash of light.
She transported them to an isolated corridor of Stormcage. When he told her that he'd gotten the vortex manipulator from another version of herself, she vaguely remembered the time he'd come to her and asked to borrow it. She hoped she was far enough away from her other self to avoid too many problems. "Can you find your way to my cell from here?" she asked her father.
"Yeah, I think so. And for all I didn't bring the Doctor with me to get you, Amy and I are still living and traveling on the TARDIS. She's not angry with him. So you don't have to try to find your way home. Just find the TARDIS and wait for me, okay? I'll check out those burns in the med bay."
She rolled her eyes. "Seriously, if you're still traveling with the Doctor and came here in the TARDIS, why not just take it to the bar?"
"Because it didn't matter when we get here-any you knows I'm your father and almost any you has a vortex manipulator. But I would not leave you sitting there in that bar waiting for years on end."
The Doctor must have really made a mess of things on Apalapucia. River made a mental note to ask about it later. "All right then. I do appreciate it." She kissed his cheek. "I'll meet you back at the TARDIS. Tell younger me thank you."
The TARDIS wasn't too far from her cell. River slipped inside. The Doctor and Amy were waiting in the console room.
Amy gave her a quick hug. "You really need to quit getting dumped at strange bars."
River laughed softly. "Yeah, if only. Still say Dad should advertise that taxi service."
Amy snorted. "Turns out you're the only one who uses it."
"I still say it's my taxi service," the Doctor said petulantly. "And really, River, why didn't you call me? It would have been far less trouble."
"There's no guarantee you'd actually answer your phone, sweetie."
"Besides, it was you who left her in that bar." Rory entered the TARDIS, glaring at the Timelord. The Doctor shrank back a little.
Amy smacked the Doctor's shoulder. "You left her there? Doctor! How could you?"
He flailed about in a panic. "I didn't! At least I don't think I did! Have I done it yet? Is this spoilers, River?"
"No, it's not spoilers. Remember the incident with the Judoon on the Tylandria asteroid?"
His eyes widened. "But-but-you had your vortex manipulator! We even joked about who would get home first!"
"The plasma burst." Rory was still glaring. "I'm going to check her burns now."
Now the Doctor turned completely white. "Burns? River! You never told me you got hurt."
River matched her father's glare. Why'd he have to blab that, anyway? They could have kept it between themselves. "They're minor. As in, not a big deal. And I don't need them checked."
"Dad card, remember? We agreed."
"River, please let him check you." The Doctor looked miserable. "I swear I didn't mean for you to get hurt-or to be left there! Let him make sure you're okay. Please?"
Amy touched her shoulder. "It can't hurt, can it? And it would make us all feel better."
River rolled her eyes and huffed. "Oh, fine. Come on, Dad. Come do your fussing."
"You knew what you were getting," he said again. "And I haven't got to fuss over you nearly enough in your life. Let me take care of you when and where I can, yeah?"
"You've fussed over me plenty. I swear you've practised every nursing skill you possess on me at one time or another-even when we were kids."
"That's because you keep needing every nursing skill I possess. I think you're half the reason I became a nurse in the first place." He grinned at her, his expression finally relaxing. "And if you're a really good girl, I'll give you a sweet when we're done."
River giggled, glad that he'd lightened up. "No jammie dodgers or jelly babies. I'm a Cadbury girl."
"I know." Rory smiled. "Glad some things don't change."
She wrapped her arms around him. "A lot of things haven't changed. You're still the one I call. And you still always come when I need you."
He kissed the top of head. "Maybe we should call it Melody's Intergalactic Taxi Service. Your guaranteed personalized ride no matter when or where you are."
There's a man who's never going to let us down...
Because this man is your father.