Disclaimer: Just like the Doctor and the TARDIS, I don't technically, legally own Doctor Who. I simply borrow the characters for a test drive on occasion, with every intent to return them, of course. Just haven't gotten around to doing it yet...
"And then in the year 4259, Dr. RatNik L'Yurope at last uncovered the lost planet Cardonia, shrouded beneath the silvery remnants of a continuous chain reaction of supernovas that lasted for nearly three centuries," Professor Song lectured to her Freshmen Archeology students. "This find would eventually lead to the discovery of the entire galaxy of Locony, containing some of the most technologically advanced societies to date."
"But how do you know that the supernova debris was silver?" a particularly inquisitive Silurian named Franklin interrupted. "Most stars give off more orange-based gases."
The professor smiled as she leaned forward on her podium. "Quite a simple answer, really. I was there."
The class erupted into laughter, as their their teacher often made jokes referencing her age by claiming to have been at events from millenniums ago. But River only smirked as she tucked her vortex manipulator deeper into the folds of her robe.
"Alright, class dismissed," she announced. "Don't forget that your papers on the five most significant archeological finds of the thirty-third century are due next week."
It wasn't until the students began filing out that she first saw him. A young man almost trying too hard to appear inconspicuous among the crowds while ambling his way towards the front of the classroom, but it can be quite difficult to do so when wearing that ridiculous red bow tie.
River turned her back and began erasing the notes on the blackboard (an artifact from the late twentieth century that she had managed to dig up from the burial sites of New Orleans), pretending that she hadn't noticed him. By now the lecture hall was completely empty save the two of them. Just how she liked it.
She could barely make out his footsteps as they thud closer and closer, with her heart rate keeping perfect time. At the last possible moment she twirled around and ducked under his arms raised in a fruitless attempt to spook her. But she was quick to rise up again, just managing to breathe in a "Hello, Sweetie" before she met his lips.
The Doctor pouted childishly underneath the kiss, which only made it all the more enjoyable for River. But he gave in soon enough as his gangly arms wound their way around her waist and pulled her in even closer.
It was not until after quite some time that the Doctor broke the kiss and leaned his forehead against his wife's. "One day I'll manage to sneak up on you."
"Mmhmm." Her eyes fluttered open so he could see the mocking laughter in them. "That'll be the day."
With a good-natured chuckle, the Time Lord moved away and leaned casually against her desk, giving River a chance to get a good look at him.
"You've gotten older," she remarked.
"So have you," he countered.
River laughed. "Just a word of advice, Sweetie. That's not something you say to your wife."
"But it is something you say to your husband?" The Doctor asked, frowning.
She waved dismissively with her hand. "Women care more about that sort of thing. And I'm actually doing you a favor, Doctor. You asked me once to teach you how to handle girls, because quite frankly, my love, you're pretty rubbish at it."
"No, I'm not!" he cried out indignantly. Then he paused to think for a moment. "Well, there were a few times when Martha got a little moody. Then Rose used to get all worked up for absolutely no reason. And Donna would get angry at me all the time! Feisty little redhead that one was, makes me wish I was one... wait a moment. What did I do that was so bad that I asked for your advice, anyway?"
River's lip curled up in that far too familiar smirk that both irritated and enchanted him. "Spoilers."
"Of course," the Doctor sighed. "Okay, let me rephrase it a little. It's not that you look like you've aged physically. Can't have been too long since I last saw you. But there's just something in your eyes that makes you look older, and wiser, and..." Realization dawned on his face. "Sadder."
Taking a step closer, he asked quietly, "How long since Manhattan, River?"
The silence that ensued was one far too uncomfortable than what should have been between a husband and wife.
"Two months," she said at last, not daring to make eye contact.
"Oh." The seconds continued to slip away, then he added, "Been almost a year for me."
And as River's gaze finally flicked up to meet her husband's, seeing the evident pain in them that undoubtedly matched her own, she knew it wasn't going to get any easier.
"How about you tell me why you're here?" she asked in an attempt to move past the painful memories that resurfaced for both of them.
The Doctor raised a nonexistent eyebrow. "To see my wife."
"But at the university, sitting in on a class you despise?" River rebutted. "I know you better than that, Sweetie. What is it?"
Once again settling back on the desk, the Time Lord got that faraway look in his that betrayed how old he truly was. "I'm looking for a girl."
Once again, River gave him the smirk that seemed to spend more time on her face than off. "I bet she's pretty. They always are."
"Yes..." he replied distantly, and his wife waited patiently for him to discover blunder. And sure enough...
"Hold on, I didn't mean that! I mean, she is pretty, but not as much as you, of course. And what do you mean 'they always are'? That's not true... okay, maybe it is. But don't get mad! I've had far too many bad experiences of girls fighting over me... wait, I probably shouldn't have told you that. Forget I said anything! It's just, it's just..."
When he finally did the wise thing and accepted defeat, River rewarded him with a smile that showed nothing but amusement. "Go on, say it."
"Love you, dear," he mumbled.
"That a boy." She moved to sit beside her husband on the desk. "Tell me about her."
The Doctor leaned back as he stared off into the far distance of his past. "Her name was Clara Oswin Oswald, and she was absolutely brilliant."
Then he proceeded to tell River all about Soufflé Girl, the woman who lived in two entirely separate eras and died in both. There had been no second chances, no miraculous resurrections. Both times she was gone. Period. The end. It was the same exact girl, with no recollection of any past lives, who simply refused to leave the universe. But if there's one thing the Doctor loves, it's a good mystery just waiting to be solved.
"So what do you need me for?" she asked once the story was finished.
The Doctor's face rapidly changed to a comical shade of red. Moving away from River and nervously fiddling wit hem of his tweed, he replied, "Oh, no reason really. Just thought I'd introduce her to the wife, that's all. Why would you think that- that I had a specific purpose in mind?"
"I don't know, perhaps because of your sudden inability to meet my eyes?" she teased. "Come on, Doctor. Out with it."
Still intent on studying his coat, he said, "Three weeks I've been looking, and I haven't gotten any closer to finding her than when I started. She could be literally anywhere, or anywhen, I suppose. What I really need is, is..."
"Is what, Sweetie?" she asked innocently, but the Doctor knew better than to believe that anything about River could be innocent.
He opened his mouth to speak, but no words came out. He shifted anxiously from one foot to the other, laughing despite the fact that nothing in the room was being funny.
Finally, after raking a hand through his hair, the words tumbled out all at once: "Ineedanarcheologist."
River paused a moment, drinking in this historic moment. "Come again?"
Glaring, the Doctor repeated, "I need an archeologist."
Cupping a hand to her ear for good measure, she said, "Sorry, a little louder?"
"I. NEED. AN. AR-CHE-O-LO-GIST!" he shouted.
He braved a glance at his wife, but her triumphant grin made him immediately avert his eyes again. "Happy now?"
"Quite."
She leaned over and made a grab for his hand, then proceeded to drag him out of the lecture hall.
"Now let's get started! I have an odd feeling that this is going to be a fun little project."
So! This is going to be a three-parter, and since I'm on vacation, I'm hoping to get it all out by Monday. Hope you liked it!