Shut Up and Dance
Summary
SONGFIC. When I heard this song, this pairing was the first thing that came to mind. It features a young!Doctor and an older!River. Not entirely sure if this is how you are meant to do a songfic, as I am not including the lyrics, but this story was definitely inspired by the song.
Disclaimer
The original characters and plot line belong to those who wrote and created the amazing fictional universes. I do not own any of it. I only own my own characters and plots. Some of the dialogue within this story is identical to the original/ canon product. I claim no part of that and its entire purpose is to ensure that the characters stay as canon as possible.
Story
The Doctor looked around the club and let out a bored sigh. His current companions, Amy and Rory, had demanded that he bring them somewhere 'where we can get sloshed and dance until we drop' as Amy had so eloquently demanded after their last adventure. Rory, her new husband, had also added the stipulation that they would be no running for their lives and absolutely no alien invasions. Apparently after five adventures involving death defying activities, world saving and other such activities, they wanted a break. The Doctor didn't understand why they would want to waste their time doing such mundane activities when they could have been exploring the universe, but when Amy got that look in her eye, it was safer for everyone if he just gave in.
Which is how the Doctor found himself on Rogashin XII, in the 35th Century, staring at his companions as they danced in a crowd of humans and aliens. They had been there for an hour and the Doctor had initially kept himself amused by identifying all the different species of aliens in the club, their home planets and trying to recall if he had visited them in a past regeneration. But that had only taken him 30 minutes, so had to find other ways to keep himself occupied. Three toothpick houses, an order of fish fingers and custard and a quick hack into the bar menu to alphabetize all of the 347 cocktails that were on the clubs menu later, and the Doctor was once again bored out of his mind.
He flopped back down onto the red velvet seat of the booth in the VIP area that the trio had been given when he had flashed his psychic paper at the bouncer. As he gazed dejectedly at the flashing lights that danced across the ceiling, a sensual voice interrupted his brooding.
"Hello Sweetie," a woman's voice purred, causing the Doctor to jerk upright in his seat. "I didn't expect to find you in a place like this."
"River!" exclaimed the Doctor in surprise (he definitely, 100% surely did not yelp). "What are you doing here?"
"I heard that you were at a club and I just had to come see it," River flirted with a smile. "Here," she said as she handed him an orange drink with an orange slice and a little umbrella.
"What is this?" the Doctor asked, as he took the drink from River.
As he reached towards River, he got a strong whiff of her scent: vanilla, cloves and a hint of time. He frowned at the last one, unsure as to how this woman was able to smell of time; even if she travelled in time as much as she seemed to. It evoked a strange sense of home and longing that made him weak at the knees. He leant back into the booth, in order to get away from the intoxicating scent, and frowned as he noticed that River was sipping from another drink.
"Where were you keeping that?" the Doctor spluttered, looking River up and down in an attempt to figure out where she had been hiding the drinks. His gaze roamed over her body, noticing how the short, black dress that she wore clung to her curves in a way that left little to the imagination. Catching River's eyes and seeing the sinful smile and corresponding examination of his own body, he blushed furiously and dropped his gaze.
River laughed lightly and answered in a flirty voice, "This is a screwdriver: orange juice, orange soft drink and hyper-vodka. It's not sonic, but you'll like it. As for where I was keeping it, well, I'll tell you when you're older."
The Doctor frowned at the slight against his age, but took a sip from the drink anyway. He was pleasantly surprised when he didn't fell the impulse to spit the drink out. Unlike the wine that he'd had on their last meeting, this was actually nice. He downed the entire glass and turned to River, intending to ask just how she had found them. His attention was side-tracked as he became fascinated with the way that the club's lights caused her eyes to sparkle. As the music changed from a boppy pop song to a slow dance, River took his arm and pulled him onto the dance floor. The Doctor jerked back, turning away from River and towards the Ponds, whom were dancing on the other side of the room.
"Oh, don't you dare look back," River said, drawing the Doctor's attention back to her. "Just keep your eyes on me."
The Doctor looked deep into the blue/green eyes that were rapidly becoming all too familiar to him. He felt as though he was falling into them, into her, into the future that she promised. He could see their timelines, bound together in twists and loops. They appeared as though they danced around each other, coming together and diverging only to meet again at different points.
He broke the bond that had formed between the two of them in those moments. "You're holding something back, River," he weakly protested. He had known her long enough to know why she kept these secrets, but he still didn't like it that she knew more about his future than he did.
River shook her head slightly, a brief flash of pain flickering through her eyes at his hesitation. "Oh Sweetie, shut up and dance with me," she said and pulled him towards her by his braces.
The Doctor's hands fluttered about, unsure where they belonged before they settled on River's hip and back. His right hand slid up and down River's back, brushing against the material of the black backless dress and River's bare skin. He blushed slightly as she pushed up against him and laid her head on his shoulder. The Doctor's hearts skipped a beat at the move and he felt himself falling, falling into the future that River promised. This woman was his future, his destiny, and he decided, at least for tonight, to embrace it.
The song ended and River raised her head and moved to step back, but the Doctor tightened his grip on her. "Stay," he whispered into her ear. She gave him a dazing smile at that single word and gave him a loving kiss. The Doctor deepened the kiss, enjoying having River in his arms. Their kiss was interrupted by the loud and excited squeal of Amelia Pond-Williams, whom had approached the pair whilst they were kissing.
"I knew it! I knew it!" shouted the excited (and drunk) red head as she jumped up and smacked Rory in the arm. "I knew that she was your wife from the future."
"We don't know that that they're married, Amy" corrected her long suffering husband, as he moved out of reach of her arm.
"Oh, don't be such a Rory," Amy said, shooting him a look that was supposed to be annoyed, but ended up being adorable. She then burst into laughter at her own drunken wit.
Rory, River and the Doctor all shared a fond, exasperated look. "Why don't you take her back to the TARDIS, Rory?" suggested River.
"Good idea," Rory replied. "Are you coming back as well, or…" he trailed off, unwilling to finish that thought.
"We'll catch up," the Doctor insisted.
Rory nodded and guided his drunken wife off the dancefloor, ignoring her protests that she wanted to keep dancing. The Doctor turned back to River and pulled her deeper onto the dancefloor and pulled her close to him, delighting in the feel of her body against him. He was final going to stop running from her, before he lost his last chance of having the future she promised him.