Of Assassinations and Reunions

The Tardis—To River

Amy idly spun her wedding ring around her finger, tapping her feet against the console. The Doctor was working down underneath, his face dirt and his sleeves pushed up past his elbows. Rory was in back in the kitchen presumably getting a snack of some sort. Meanwhile she sat in boredom and boredom did not sit well with Amelia Pond.

"Doctor, can we go?"she whined.

"What?" he asked, popping up his head.

She rolled her eyes, smiling a little. "Can we go somewhere now?"

The Doctor ruffled his hair, looking sideways at her. "Well..."

"You always want to go somewhere!"she complained. "Don't you dare tell me you're not in the mood."

"I wasn't going to say that," he said, climbing up to the main level. "Where do you want to go?"

She paused, grinning mischievously. "I want to see River."

He stared at her for a moment, and she laughed aloud at his half horrific face.

"Every time we see her, something goes wrong," he moaned.

"Oh come on, at least we haven't had anything bad as the Pandorica lately," Amy said, smiling widely. "Plus, nothing bad happened last time. I thought your little moment was cute."

"That's what went wrong," the Doctor said, shuddering. "Gandalf, remember?"

She gave him a very smug look, knowing full well that the whole space-Gandalf was the biggest load of lies he ever spouted. River seemed to think so too.

"I don't know what she's told you, but I am not..." he paused, squinting at her. "What has she told you?"

Amy shrugged innocently, loving her sudden sense of control. Little did he know, that River hadn't told him anything more than he had.

He scrutinized her a minute more, but she was confident he couldn't read anything but perhaps a bit of self-satisfied arrogance in her face. Eventually he sighed loudly, and moved to the console.

"I can't guarantee we find her, and if we do I can't be certain where in her time stream we'll land. I've been keeping record in the Tardis archives though, and it seems to me, that we might not meet her very many times more, which means we're likely to run into her earlier during her time stream as I seem to be missing one or two pieces in between the time she first met us and the time in January. Other than that though, I'm not sure we'll ever meet her again."

"What?" Amy cried. "But you haven't married her yet!"

"So she did tell you something," he crowed, but his eyes were slightly troubled.

"Well... not in so many words, but it's clear as day," she muttered, angry at giving herself away.

"Rest assured, Pond," he said teasingly, "I am not going to marry River."

"You don't really believe that though, do you?" she asked. "And it scares you doesn't it."

The Doctor stared her straight in the eyes, and she took an instinctive step back. He really was frightening sometimes.

"It is a possibility, but I don't like it," he said simply, though his voice was dark in tone.

"Why not?"

"I told you, by my records, I don't see any huge gaps which need filled, leading me to believe River and I won't meet very often again. There is space where I could marry her, but I don't know why I would."

"Because you love her, and she loves you," Amy said. "That's why most people get married."

"I don't," the Doctor said, shuffling his feet a little nervously. "Attraction? Sure. Curiosity. you bet. I even get married to save the world now and again, but as a rule, I nevermarry for love."

Amy stared at him in shock and confusion. Shock that he would confide in her (but really after two and a half years of traveling with him, she learned that he would tell her just about anything under the right circumstance), but confusion at his words themselves. What kind of person married for every reason but love? Certainly, she never would have thought that the Doctor was such a person. Well, not never. There was that whole thing with Marilyn Monroe and then again with that brunette on Planet 9, which of course made her question, but on the whole, the Doctor seemed like someone who would play true to his heart(s).

"But... you do love her?" Amy asked hesitantly, still stunned.

He shrugged. "Sure, but then I love you too."

"That's different," she said. "Do you love River in that heart breaking, can't-get-enough-of-her sort of way?"

"I don't love people like that very often, Amy," the Doctor explained sadly. "I don't actually know if I still can. With River, I like fighting with her, I love the way I hate how much she knows, and I worry for her and want her safe. But could I marry her, spend my life with her?" He shrugged again. "It would take me a lot more time, properly ordered time, to truly know."

Amy hugged him tightly, silently wondering at the pain in his voice. Very often he had said. Her instincts told her that it had happened before, and perhaps not so very long ago. Still, she didn't dare pry when she had already gotten more than she expected out of him. He pulled away, but she kissed his cheek as he let her go. He smiled gratefully, and then it was as if nothing had happened at all.

"Go get Rory," the Doctor ordered. "And you might want to grab a raincoat. It rains more often than not at the Stormcage."

"We're visiting her in prison?" Amy asked with a quirked eyebrow.

The Doctor laughed, shaking his head. "The planet isn't just a prison. River lived there for quite some time before she was imprisoned. If we're lucky she'll be around. Now go on."

Amy grinned and skipped down the hall to find Rory. She was glad to finally be on the move, but she had a feeling her mind would be preoccupied during the entire trip.

A/N So now we get the basic stage set. The story takes place about a year and half after the end of the fifth season. Originally, when I planned this, it was meant to take place later. Amy and Rory weren't in it, and I was playing with the idea of the Doctor being in his 12th incarnation. That way River and the Doctor could have had more time to fill in the gaps. However, I think it fits a little more realistically in the time period I ultimately chose especially when you think about him still having feelings for Rose. Personally, I believe he would never stop loving her and that's why I didn't mind setting it later. Logically though, I realize he would move on eventually. The fact that River's identity gets revealed in season six was a big factor in ultimately deciding to move the time up. I also figured that a year and a half was long enough, they probably would have run into River a lot anyway. So yeah, there's a little more background explanation. Next chapter should be up tomorrow as I managed to get two chapters done today, not including this one.