Thank you (as always!) to the lovely tenroseforeverandever. Written for the Timepetals 100 prompt "concerts." Yeah, about that word count…
Voices carried far in the tunnels.
"You're a rubbish pilot," a cockney-accented voice said accusingly.
"I am not! I'll have you know, my piloting skills are impeccable."
"Oh, yeah? Ian Drury, Sheffield, 1979? Elvis Presley, New York? Ring any bells? This time it was supposed to Billy Joel in Central Park. Where've you landed us, then? Mars?"
"Now, Rose-"
Vincent smiled fondly as he stepped from the shadows. "You are beneath Central Park, Rose."
"Vincent!" she exclaimed, stepping forward to give him a friendly hug.
"See? I did get it right!" the Doctor insisted.
"Doctor? You've changed again," Vincent noted.
The Doctor scrubbed the back of his neck awkwardly with one hand. "Yes, well, at least this time, it was in a very good cause."
"Vincent? Is everything all right?"
"Catherine," Vincent, holding out his hand eagerly. "Come and meet my friends. This is the Doctor, and Rose."
Rose had always been glad not to be able to remember the fashions that were in vogue when she was a baby, but the woman who stepped from the shadows carried it off with a simple elegance that would have made her feel gauche, if not for the friendliness of her smile.
"Vincent has spoken about you," Catherine said, extending her hand to Rose and the Doctor in turn. "You travel, isn't that right?"
"Yup," the Doctor replied, popping the 'p' and bouncing on the balls of his feet.
"How wonderful!"
"It is when he gets the landing right," Rose carped.
"Sometimes, you sound just like your mother," the Doctor muttered.
"I think this time, he did get it right, Rose," Vincent said gently.
"He was supposed to be takin' me to see Billy Joel in Central Park."
Catherine laughed merrily at their exchange. "Would you settle for underneath Central Park?"
"How'd you mean?" Rose asked, curiosity overcoming her pique.
"This tunnel runs right underneath the band shell," Catherine explained. "The sound quality is amazing."
"All right then," Rose said, a smile tugging at her lips. "Who's playin?'"
"Billy Joel," Vincent told her, in a deliberately impassive tone.
Rose laughed and rolled her eyes. "All right, I admit it. You got it right. This time."
"Thank you very much, Rose Tyler," the Doctor said, preening.
"Think you're so impressive," she muttered.
"I am so impressive!"
"Some things never change," Vincent said, sotto voce, as he offered Catherine his arm.
"Do you think they'll play 'River of Dreams?'" Rose asked, as they followed their hosts. "I've always liked that one."
The Doctor shot her a look and shook his head once, sharply.
"I've never heard of that song," Vincent remarked. "But then I'm not so well versed in contemporary music."
"Well, you can't be a New Yorker and not like Billy Joel," the Doctor said glibly, hoping to head off any further chronological mishaps. "Ah - here we are!" he continued, noting the blanket and cushions that Catherine had spread out to sit on.
They settled down, Catherine enfolded in Vincent's embrace, and Rose and the Doctor sitting companionably nearby. Fortunately, the music was loud enough to drown out any discussion of songs that hadn't been written yet.
Rose alternated between clapping along with the lively songs, and leaning her head against the Doctor's arm when the music quieted. Finally, she couldn't sit still any longer and dragged the Doctor to his feet, laughing. They danced to 'Only the Good Die Young' with wild abandon, the Doctor's long brown coat flying as he spun Rose energetically. Rose's happiness was so infectious that he was able to, if not ignore the irony of the song title, at least push it away into a far off corner of his vast mind.
Catherine looked up at Vincent and raised one eyebrow.
"What is it, Catherine?"
She bounded to her feet with far more grace than should have been possible in a dress and heels, and held out her hands. "May I have this dance?"
"I might step on your toes," he hesitated. Much as he loved music, Vincent felt ungainly compared to the Doctor's handsome new form.
"I might step on yours," Catherine replied, "but we'll never know until you try." Her clear gaze told him quite plainly that she knew exactly what he was thinking - and that nothing mattered to her, save for the wish to share her joy in the music and the moment with him.
"Then I will try, Catherine. For you."
Vincent was forever grateful that the next song was 'She's Got a Way,' which allowed him to simply sway contentedly with Catherine in his arms. He observed the Doctor doing the same thing with Rose, and wondered anew at the miracle that was love.