The Williams Way
By Laura Schiller
Based on: Doctor Who
Copyright: BBC
It was River who went to break the news to Brian Williams about the deaths of his son and daughter-in-law. The Doctor had felt it would be better coming from family; not to mention that he felt far too guilty too look Brian in the face. Therefore, when River materialized in the Ponds' garden to find Brian watering the plants, received a quiet hug and an offer of tea, and told him the whole sad story across the wooden patio table, she was reasonably sure of what to expect. What she did not expect was to see her grandfather shake his head, spread his hands, and say: "Well, why didn't you just take the bus?"
River blinked. "Er … excuse me?"
Another exasperated shake of the head, which she remembered all too well from the times her former incarnation had gotten Rory in trouble.
"Blimey, Melody! Here I thought you and the Doctor were supposed to be some sort of genius. If the TARDIS can't land in New York, why don't you just take it, or take that thing on your wrist, outside the limits, get into the city in some normal way, find out where Amy and Rory live, and bring them back?"
River flushed, biting down on her anger at being lectured in temporal physics by a man with all of one TARDIS flight under his belt and not a drop of Gallifreyan DNA. Also, having struggled so hard to accept the loss of her parents as inevitable, it was almost painful to watch the hope ignite in Brian's eyes.
"I'm afraid that won't work," she said, forcing herself to speak evenly. "You see, it's a little more complicated than that. Time cannot be rewritten once you've read it. They saw their own graves, they saw the book – the book I've already written. It's too late to change anything now … "
Brian quirked his gray eyebrows at her with a you-must-be-joking expression, looking so much like his son that it made her smile. Even as she spoke, however, she began to understand the reasons for that look of his, and finally trailed off into an embarrassed silence as her plans took shape. Someone less ladylike might have slapped her forehead. She simply laughed … and laughed some more, until Brian's eyebrows almost reached his hairline.
"Oh, Granddad," she finally said, "You're right. We Time Lords do tend to overcomplicate things, don't we?"
He smiled and patted her hand. "Can't see the forest for the trees, eh? Don't worry. Happens to me all the time."
"It's not as if the graves have to be authentic, do they? I've got connections in New York. I can arrange it, easy as pie." She snapped her fingers. "Oh, don't look at me like that. I guarantee there will be no murder involved,"
Since Brian knew the rough outlines of her story – that she had been kidnapped as a baby, trained to kill the Doctor, and had married him instead – even though most of the unsavory details had been left out, he still tended to be wary when she talked like this.
"If you say so," he replied.
"And as for the book, well, we won't be contradicting anything in it. Yes … yes, I really believe this might work."
Brian put down his tea, got to his feet with a tired sigh, and put one hand on his granddaughter's shoulder.
"Bring them home," he said softly.
"I will."
She squeezed his hand and nodded, thinking of another promise on these very grounds. Not them, never them. They'll always be safe. She would not let the Doctor break his word.
With a few adjustments of her vortex manipulator, she was gone.
/
The brownstone apartment owned by the Williams family was the only one with a blue door. River smiled wryly as she rang the bell.
Ding-dong.
She smoothed her curls and adjusted her denim jacket, hoping she'd come to the right place and time. Fearing that, even if she had, they might not want to see her. After all, wasn't a normal life without time travel, danger, or a part-alien convict daughter what they needed?
The door swung open, and one look into her parents' eyes disabused her of that look immediately.
Amy gasped, one hand flying to her mouth. She didn't look much older, her hair still vibrantly orange, reading glasses perched low on her nose and a pen behind one ear. Behind her stood Rory, sleep-tousled and wearing a bathrobe, evidently back from a late shift. Like a double sunrise, she watched the astonishment in their faces brighten into joy.
"Hello, Mum, Dad," River deadpanned. "I was in the area, thought I'd drop by. Granddad sends his – "
Best, she was about to say, when they interrupted her by pulling her into a hug.
She could feel a grin spreading across her face, a childlike, triumphant grin she must have picked up from her husband. The Doctor would be thrilled when he found out. Probably ticked off, too, that she had once again managed to outsmart him. She couldn't wait to see the look on his face.