Title: All That He Can Promise
Characters: Rory, Eleven, small bits of River, Amy and the parents
Rating: All ages
Warnings: Lots of angst. No real warnings, spoilers up to AGMGTW, speculations after Let's Kill Hitler before Moffat goes and fraks everything up. I've been feeling very angsty about where he's going to go with them and I know it's going to break my heart.
Summary: Stand alone story-The Doctor and crew break in Leadworth at the end of all the madness and Rory has a fatherly chat with the Doctor.

There was an air of calm and cheerfulness in the Pond-Williams flat in Leadworth. It hadn't been that way since before their trip to America, and was a welcome change now that they all seemed to have come through this dark chapter of their lives and into the light. Rory knew it probably wouldn't last. It couldn't last with the Doctor. But it was nice having the whole family together for a change…even if approximately half of the group had no idea that the two newcomers were now related to them by birth and very possibly sometime soon, by marriage. Maybe. It frustrated Rory that River couldn't tell him. Still, he decided he'd just savor this moment. Traveling with the Doctor had taught him the importance of that. Life and everything you know could easily be turned upside down in the blink of an eye, so good times had to be treasured and loved ones had to be cherished while they were there to be had.

Outside, Amy was sitting with her parents as they showed off old family photos to River. Augustus reveled in embarrassing tales of the couple's childhood and Rory's days playing dress up as Amy's raggedy doctor, while Tabetha laughed and sipped at her tea, hammering River with questions about who she was and how she knew them. River, bless, had a brilliant answer for everything…like she had been preparing to have this conversation her entire life and they listened with rapt attention to her tales of archeological adventure and running into Rory and Amy during a day trip to Stonehenge. She was remarkable really, this daughter of theirs. Their daughter. Rory marveled at the thought and ached at the same time. There was so much they didn't know about her past; so much she couldn't tell them and it gave him little comfort to know only that she would be alright. Especially as the words she spoke not so long ago came back to haunt him again and again. His daughter's words…

"There's a worse day coming for me…The day's coming when I'll look into that man's eyes—my Doctor—and he won't have the faintest idea who I am. And I think it's going to kill me."

He watched River throw her head back with a deep, throaty laugh and genuine contentment that made his heart twist so badly. Exactly how horrible had her childhood been? How old was she now? What would she have been like if she had had a normal life on Earth? So many why's and what's and how's pounded his conscious thoughts and bubbled in the pit of his stomach that he almost couldn't look at her. He took a deep breath and turned into the living room, where the Doctor was fiddling with their television, leaving bits and pieces scattered about and sticking out from behind it as if it had been built for a child's science project. That was when something else River said as she journeyed intrepidly into those monstrous tunnels back in America struck him rather unpleasantly.

"Don't worry, I'm quite the screamer. Now there's a spoiler for you."

Good god, he didn't want to even think about what that meant as he studied the Doctor's goofy-looking grin, muffled hair and gangly arms waving about.

"I know what you're going to say, Rory, but don't you worry!" the Doctor exclaimed enthusiastically. "When I'm done here, it will be better than before. After all, why should you settle for only five hundred and twenty-eight channels when you could have eleven thousand four hundred and eighty-seven? And trust me; you will love getting channels from Sector Nine. The Definians have this program with a rather clever chap who goes on these survival adventures to uninhabited planets and builds things out of chewing gum and shoelaces."

"Doctor, I need to talk to you."

"Talk to me?" he answered without looking up. "You should be outside with Amy and your family enjoying all the domestic talky togetherness stuff."

"I want to talk to you about River."

The second Rory said her name, the Doctor froze, but still didn't look up at him. He knew that it had been hard for him to tell them they couldn't have Melody back and although he wasn't going to pretend that the whole situation didn't leave him feeling a certain level of resentment and heartache, he wasn't going to blame him either. They had stepped into a world so much bigger than they had right to know the very second they entered that blue box, and despite all they had seen and done, eventually they made peace with the knowledge that there were just some things that they couldn't change. But there were still some things that needed saying, and Rory had a feeling the Doctor knew it.

"River? Why? She is in fine fettle. Top of her game."

"She may be that," Rory answered, standing tall behind the crouched down Doctor, "I know she's not like us…me and Amy. But that's also the thing. She really is NOT like us." Finally, the Doctor raised his eyes to meet Rory, looking confused by the statement.

"Of course she's like you. She's your daughter."

"Yes, and no. I mean, yes, she's our daughter, but no, she's not like us. Amy and I, we have each other. We have Leadworth and the Ponds and my family and our friends. But River…what does she have outside of this?"

"Rory, I don't know. Her past is my future and-"

"I know that," Rory mumbled with a hint of frustration. "It's just that before Daemon's Run, when I went to her in the Stormcage, she looked at me and there was so much…I don't know. There was something about the way she looked at me. And I understand that she can't tell us why she's there-maybe we don't even want to know-but when I think that I won't be there to hear her first word or teach her to ride a bike or dance at her wedding..."

Rory watched the Doctor's expression change from curious to uneasy and he didn't mind. He wanted him to be uneasy…to feel even a fraction of the concern that he was feeling. He had been to the Stormcage. He knew what kind of place it was.

"Look Doctor, I know that she will be alright because she's here with us now and she's not a villain or some great weapon. But even though she keeps escaping, she's still going to be there, all alone in the Stormcage and I think that maybe all her life she's been in a prison of one kind or another, so maybe she doesn't know what it's like to have a family and to feel safe and happy. And I guess I just want to know that after you leave here, you'll look after her, keep her safe. You couldn't keep your promise to us about Melody, but you can still promise me this."

"River Song hardly needs my protection." The Doctor answered as he straightened up and dusted off his blazer. "If anything, I probably need protection from her! Every time we meet trouble is two paces behind!"

"I'm not kidding, Doctor."

"Neither am I! You've seen her with all the crawling about in dark tunnels and opening locked things. Oh, and dont forget about the gun thing! Even my fez couldn't escape that!"

"I said I'm not kidding."

Rory folded his arms across his chest, not so much as a sign of defiance or as a challenge to the Doctor, but more to show him that he wasn't going to tolerate anything but the most serious attention. He wasn't that clueless, young nurse trailing behind Amy anymore. His entire world had crumbled and been rebuilt before his eyes…eyes that had seen more in one year than most people would even read about in a lifetime. He was the Last Centurion, old and young at the same time, who had battled headless monks and vampires and lived to tell about it. Yes, he was still Amy's stupid face, but he was also a warrior with a sword, and he would die- even kill -to protect his family, a fact that surely hadn't escaped the Doctor, who had started to squirm a little bit. It gave Rory a small measure of satisfaction to see, but just a small one because in the end, he knew that this man was indeed their friend, and he knew that Doctor loved them, even if he never articulated it. He just needed to hear him promise, and hoped that maybe this time, it wouldn't be broken.

The Doctor turned from Rory and walked to the window overlooking the yard. It was a slow walk…the walk of a man carrying the weight of the universe on his shoulders and secrets in his eyes that darkened his expression.

"River won't stay with me. She never does. She is a creature that can't be put in a box and somehow, I think even the whole of the universe is too small to contain her."

"Maybe. But I know that someday she will stay, even if just for a little while. And I know that one day, you and her are going to…well, you know," The Doctor turned to him, wide-eyed and beet red, his mouth agape. "It's okay," Rory continued, putting his hands up in a calming gesture, "I mean, she is one of you anyway and it's right that you will be together. The thing is, you. You go about your business traveling all over and saving the universe, but you probably never stop and think about her…what she's feeling about you…how hard it must be to keep all those secrets and have no one to talk to about it. You don't think about that, do you?"

"River understands why she can't say anything. She knows the responsibility that comes from being a time traveler."

"Yes, again, I know. But she still has a heart and it can be broken. Oh, she does a bloody good job acting invincible but I've heard her talk about you, Doctor…seen the look in her eyes. She doesn't say it, but I know that she loves you, and although I've never seen her scared of anything-not all the monsters or heights or even the end of the universe itself-she is scared that one day she's going to look into your eyes and you won't know who she is or what you've had. She doesn't think I understood what she was telling me, and she'll probably kill me if she finds out I told you, but I'm still her father, even if she doesn't need me to be. I feel it inside. She's my daughter, and although I know almost nothing about her, I love her. So you tell me right now that when the time comes, you will love her too. Properly and truly. Promise me, Doctor, that you'll make sure she's happy and safe and that you will be there for her because god knows as much as I want to, I know I won't be."

When Rory finished speaking, his heart was racing and all he could do was stand there with his fists balled at his side and his chest heaving. He watched the Doctor turn to the window again and gaze out at River. She was leaning against the rose trellis now, looking sublimely beautiful in the glow of the afternoon light, and when she looked over and saw them both standing there, she smiled with that sultry, knowing, affectionate smile-her "He's hot when he's clever" smile-and at once he saw the Doctor's mien change. There was longing and fascination and amusement as well as a whole host of other complicated things that he was sure could only be shared and understood by the last two living Time Lords.

The corner of the Doctor's lips curled into a ridiculous grin as he wistfully traced River's outline on the glass. "I promise you, Rory," he said without looking at him, "I will look after her. And I will. Love her, that is. Very much so, I think."

Rory nodded gratefully. "Good. Good. Well, um…yeah. I guess that's really all I wanted to hear. Thank you." He shifted in place a little, fully aware of the awkward silence that was now hanging in the air between them then nodded again. "Anyway, I probably should see if dinner is ready."

Feeling rather chuffed with himself, Rory disappeared around the corner into the kitchen and exhaled heavily, glad to have gotten that out of his system. River and the Doctor would be gone soon, but hopefully not for long. Hopefully, they would come around again with stories of new adventures and maybe, just maybe, someday, a few grandchildren would be nice. It could happen. They were Time Lords. They could come back any time they wanted and it would be cool to have grandchildren while he was still young and could do for them what he couldn't do for River. He tried to focus on that-the good things that might be-because for a change everything was right in the universe. It would keep being alright. The Doctor promised it would.

Back in Rory's living room, the Doctor had retreated behind the television again and was putting the back cover in place when he stopped and closed his eyes. He leaned his head against the wall, pulled his knees up to his chest and let out a single tear.