I had a bit of time today and wanted to put up something new since I've been pretty inactive on here for a couple months. This is my first one-shot so I hope you enjoy it!
The Doctor leaned over, head in his hands, fighting the urge to weep over her final words: "Raggedy man, good-bye." He knew there was nothing he could have done to stop her, but selfishly he had not wanted her to go. Amy Pond…he had watched her grow up, in a way. The farewell was too much for him to bear.
He turned around to face River, trying to compose himself when he saw that she was significantly less emotional than him about the situation. They were her parents, but the Doctor had known them longer. They had formed memories that could never be erased from space and time- not by an angel or even a crack in the wall.
The Doctor looked up to meet River's eyes, but noticed she was glancing over his shoulder. "What?" he asked, whirling around to investigate whatever she was looking at so intently.
Maintaining a slight distance, the Doctor observed as a fairly young man, perhaps in his early thirties, kneeled beside the Williams gravestone, placing a bouquet of multicolored flowers behind it. He was average height with neatly-trimmed dark brown hair and wore a TARDIS blue button-down shirt with a bowtie. He stood, meeting the Doctor's gaze, and smiled.
"Who are you?" the Doctor called out.
The man approached and extended his hand. "Vincent Williams, sir," he answered. The Doctor carefully accepted and shook his hand.
"They told me I'd find you here," Vincent explained. "Amy and Rory were my grandparents. They told me when I was a kid that on this exact date at this exact time I should visit their gravestone and I would meet my long-lost aunt and uncle. They said I should wear this to make a good impression. I always thought it was just a story- how could they possibly know you would be here?"
The Doctor and River exchanged shocked looks, unsure of what to say.
"My father was your brother, or so I was told," Vincent said to River. "He was adopted by Amy and Rory in 1945 and passed away from cancer just a year ago. His name was Arthur. I'm sure he would have loved to meet you."
The Doctor cleared his throat, having processed the surprising information. "Right then," he began. "Well, this is River and I'm the Doctor, uh…I suppose you could call us Melody and Uncle Doctor. Yes, Uncle Doctor…I quite like the sound of that, don't you?"
The Doctor turned to River with his usual goofy grin. He was met with narrowed, sarcastic eyes. He focused his attention back on Vincent.
"I like your bowtie, nephew," he stated surely. "Good choice."
"Thanks…Uncle Doctor," Vincent replied, clearly a tad bit uncomfortable. "So, are the other stories true then? Now that it seems Grandma wasn't quite as loony as she sounded, I'm curious as to whether or not I'm really named after THE Vincent Van Gogh. She was very adamant that my father choose the name."
The Doctor chuckled. "Yes, the stories are true. Van Gogh quite admired your grandmother actually- they would have made an adorable couple!" Vincent winced slightly.
"Absolutely not!" River interjected. "I would be WAY too ginger if Vincent Van Gogh was my father."
The Doctor laughed before a period of silence ensued.
Breaking the silence, Vincent asked, "So…can I take a look inside the magic Police box? All I've heard so far is words, and I have to make the judgment with my own eyes whether or not the whole 'bigger on the inside' thing is accurate."
"Oh- yes!" the Doctor replied. "Of course, of course." He stepped out of the way and opened the door, holding it for the newcomer. "She needs to be tidied up a bit from the hell she's just been through."
The Doctor watched as Vincent's eyes widened the same way his grandparents' had when they first entered the TARDIS many years ago. "It's real," the stunned man muttered. "All of it- it's real."
River entered the TARDIS and smirked. The Doctor knew that face.
"Are you married, Vincent?" she asked abruptly, interrupting the man's reverie.
"What?...uh…no," he responded. "Engaged though. We've been together for a few years, but I haven't been quite ready to seal the knot."
"And why is that, exactly?" River questioned. "Looking to do some travelling?"
The Doctor whipped his head toward her and she winked. He sighed, knowing the damage was done.
"Well, yeah, that would be nice," said Vincent. "She's not much of an adventurer, so married life is going to be pretty low-key and domestic."
"Don't you worry, sweetie," River remarked, "because you're about to go on a pretty amazing adventure with your auntie and Uncle Doctor."
The man's face lit up. "Are you serious?" he asked. "So the magic box actually does move and take you places? Does it take you to other planets too?"
"Yes," the Doctor answered. "She's called the TARDIS and can take you pretty much anywhere in the universe. We've also been to the end of the universe once and made some valiant attempts at parallel universes. She holds up pretty well."
River rolled her eyes. "Don't ask him any more questions," she commanded Vincent. "He likes to brag."
"Oh, shut it," the Doctor rebuffed. "What is it exactly that you'd like to see, Vincent?"
Vincent glanced away shyly. "Oh- don't be embarrassed!" the Doctor insisted.
"Well, Grandpa told me about this pretty cool experience with dinosaurs or something…I mean, I don't know if it's possible, but it would definitely fulfill my childhood dream," Vincent replied.
"Right, dinosaurs!" the Doctor exclaimed. "Of course it's possible! I've time travelled to the beginning of Earth in the Hadean Eon to its demise, where I watched it burn with the last 'human'- a piece of stretched flesh called 'Cassandra'." He paused as he thought back to this moment- a moment he had shared with Rose Tyler. Now that was a name he hadn't thought of in a very long time.
The Doctor rushed over to the controls, River by his side ready to co-pilot. He looked at Vincent, who was standing a bit awkwardly off to the side of the room.
"Well, come on then," the Doctor ordered, "hold on to something! You can get a bit nauseous your first few times through the vortex."
"That wouldn't be an issue if you'd just let me fly it correctly and smoothly," River snapped.
"Now, where's the fun in that?" the Doctor replied with a grin as Vincent made his way over to the console and took hold of a lever to balance himself.
The Doctor gazed at the door for just a moment, feeling a pang of guilt thinking about how only a few minutes had passed since his closest friends had been taken from him and now he had already moved on to a new companion. This is what they would have wanted though. He knew that.
And so the Doctor pushed a button, yelling "Geronimo!" as they swirled into the time vortex, eagerly seeking the adventures that lay ahead.