A/N: Why, hello there! This is my first fanfic, so please review and help me to improve :) This story takes place just before River goes on the expedition to The Library in season four. This is just the first chapter, and I will try to have the next part up sometime this week! Enjoy! :D
The Doctor half-walked, half-ran, half-skipped into the TARDIS closet and began to dig frantically through his clothes. He tossed the unwanted articles of clothing behind him haphazardly with no apparent intention to clean up anytime soon. For several minutes he worked like this, slowly making his way down the rack on the wall. Finally, his eyes lit up and he pulled out a black suit jacket. In one swift motion, the Doctor threw off his coat and shrugged on the jacket. He spun around and leaped over the sizeable mound of clothes he had created so that he could get to the mirror on the other wall. When he reached his destination, he spun again, striking a pose when he came back around. Then, he turned to the left, adjusting the jacket and admiring himself. To the right he did the same thing. Excited, he spun one last time and made a different pose, just for good measure. He paused, an already huge grin growing bigger, and said:
"He-llo, Sweetie!"
A few minutes later the Doctor strode into the control room of the TARDIS, head held high and a look of smug confidence on his face. He was dressed nicely: the black suit jacket he had picked previously, black pants with a white belt, black shoes, and underneath the suit jacket, a pale pink shirt and a white bowtie.
In a grand gesture, the Doctor grabbed the railing of the steps that lead to the main floor of the control room and jumped down before running to the console and nearly sliding into it. In an excited frenzy, he ran around the console smashing buttons, pulling levers, and flicking switches. The engines of the TARDIS began to wheeze and off they hurtled, the Doctor and the TARDIS, into the time vortex. As they flew, the Doctor examined the scanner screen and made a few adjustments to the settings on the console. No less than a minute later, the TARDIS landed. The Doctor scrutinized the scanner one last time and then dashed for the main doors. Before he opened them, however, he stopped and looked in a reflective surface by the door to straighten his bowtie, which had gone slightly askew during the flight. This final preparation completed, he reached for the doors and stepped outside.
The TARDIS had taken him to 51st century Earth.
"A little dull, isn't it?" He muttered under his breath. The TARDIS door shut behind him as he walked away slowly and took in his surroundings. "Hadn't really expected you to be here," he mumbled again as if he were talking to someone, though nobody was around. "Although," he said after a slight pause, "there isn't much I really can expect from you, is there." The Doctor smirked at that and continued walking towards the large brick building in front of him that was obviously his intended target.
He walked to the front of the building to see exactly where it was he was supposed to be going. A sign on the front designated it as "Lux Exploration, Inc." The Doctor hopped up the concrete steps and tried the glass door. It opened without complaint and he slipped inside.
The lobby he was standing in was large and obviously built to impress. Natural light poured in through the windows near the ceiling, which was at least twenty feet high. A large wooden reception desk sat opposite of the doors, but it was unoccupied.
Hesitantly, the Doctor walked towards the desk, his shoes clicking loudly as they hit the polished marble floor. There was a small red button on the edge of the desk and the Doctor eyed it.
Little red buttons are typically not meant to be pressed, he thought. I really shouldn't press it.
His fingers loomed over it hungrily. The room was completely, eerily silent. Suddenly his hearts began to race. Something felt very wrong. Slowly, the Doctor looked up and examined the room. There was absolutely no sound and he hadn't seen one living soul yet. The building was too big for no one to be inside of it. The size of the lobby also caused a tremendous echo. If there was someone there, any sound they made should have carried to right where he stood. But it hadn't.
The Doctor turned his gaze to the little red button on the reception desk again.
If this little red button really were dangerous (as little red buttons so typically are), why would it be just left out for anyone to push? If it were a threat, it would be covered up and locked away. Right?
He let his fingers slide over the top of the button gently. But not gently enough. The button sank with a small click and the Doctor jumped back, quickly removing his hand. Nothing happened. The silence was undisturbed save for the echo of a small yelp of surprise he had let out. The Doctor didn't move and only listened. His echo faded away and, still, nothing happened.
Now we're in trouble.
The Doctor had almost started to relax when he heard something. Quietly at first, then growing louder and louder, were footsteps. They echoed all around him and the Doctor turned frantically, trying to discover the source of the sound. Suddenly, the footsteps stopped and the echo began to die away. The Doctor froze again. His back was to the reception desk, so he slowly began to turn his head around. Before he could see the desk again, however, the sound of a throat being cleared came from behind him.
The Doctor leaped into the air, spun his body around to face the desk, and pulled out his sonic screwdriver all in one motion. Upon landing, he saw a woman standing behind the desk holding a clipboard. She had apparently come from the other side of a door that was slowly swinging shut behind her. She raised her eyebrows.
"Can I help you?" The Doctor looked at her for a moment in confusion before lowering his sonic screwdriver, which he had been pointing at her.
"Oh," was all that came out of his mouth. The woman turned her head slightly to the side and repeated him.
"Oh?"
"That was – oh. Okay. Okay… Sorry! I'm th- Smith! Doctor Smith." The Doctor moved to the desk in a few large steps and held his hand out for her to shake, only to realize too late that he was still clutching his screwdriver. The woman looked at his hand with furrowed eyebrows and the Doctor quickly shuffled the screwdriver to his other hand, still somewhat hesitant to put it away. Even with his hand freed, however, the woman made it clear she had no intention of shaking it. Awkwardly, the Doctor dropped his arm to his side and stood up straight.
"Can I help you, Dr. Smith?"
This woman is no fun at all.
"I'm looking for Professor River Song. Do you know where I could find her?"
"She just left. I can leave her a message if you like, although she probably won't see it for a few weeks." The Doctor sighed heavily.
"No, no that's alright. Could I have her address, though?"
"No. That's confidential information."
"Of course it is." The Doctor began to turn around, shoulders slightly hunched in frustration. "Thank you, anyway. Goodnight." Slowly, he walked towards the doors. He stopped before he reached them, however. Something the receptionist had said was nagging at the back of his mind. He turned back to look at her again. She hadn't moved from where she stood, watching him leave.
What is so important about that?
He decided to ask anyway.
"Why did you say that Professor Song wouldn't receive my message for a few weeks?"
"She's heading an expedition. They leave tomorrow and don't return for at least three weeks." Something inside the Doctors' mind started to panic. Without a word, he bolted outside. He pushed through the doors and grabbed the corner of the brick wall on the outside of the building, pulling himself around so he could see the sign next to the door. A look of horror and despair engulfed the Doctors' face as he slowly traced each of the letters embossed on the bronze sign.
L. U. X. E. X. P. L. O. R. A. T. I. O. N. I. N. C.
"No," he lamented. "Not now. No, no, no…"
No, no, no, no, no, no, no…
"NO!" The Doctor slammed his fist onto the sign, breaking open the skin in a few places. Forcefully, the Doctor pushed himself away from the sign with both arms and sprinted away, towards the TARDIS.