A/N: Currently Doctor Who Trash, and this idea popped up while watching. This is a River Song/Doctor romance with a slight twist. If people are interested in reading more, I'll likely try to do quantity over quality and start pumping out more chapters. Rated T for now but will likely change to M later on. Each chapter will vary in length and be set in a specific time with a specific Doctor. Please enjoy!
The Doctor, Eleven
Oh my love
Oh it was a funny little thing
To be
The ones
To've seen
A disgruntled cab driver shouts profanities at the Doctor as he exits the Tardis. And he waves at him, carelessly, obliviously. He's parked in the middle of the .
People stare as he licks his finger then checks the air. "Oh. Don't tell me. Don't tell me," he says, approaching a less than enthused couple walking the pavement. "New York"—and a car honks furiously as it's forced to maneuver around the Tardis—"City. Manhattan." The man shoves him; the woman clutches her purse. They speed off, and the Doctor moves onto the next person: an elderly woman with a lumpy tote bag. He sniffs the air. "Ooh, New Year's Eve. What fun!" She hits him with her bag. He recovers, easily, and dances onto the next person waking past, a teenage boy with ripped jeans and a mullet. "1987! Wonderful!"
He spots River smirking at him in the distance, her diary in hand. She tried to kill Hitler and nearly succeeded in ending his own life last he saw her, and now she's here undoubtedly causing chaos in New York. Her eyes brighten as he approaches; she's still so new. She doesn't know him yet. Not really. "Hello sweetie," she greets in her usual way.
She moves in for a kiss and he nearly gives in before memories of their last encounter come flooding back to him. Poison. Regeneration. All that Time Lord mumbo-jumbo. He slides a finger in between their lips to stop the motion. And they stand like that, frozen in time as New Yorkers shove past them uncaring. River's brow furrows in confusion. But he's already moving on, his attention now on the cold wind blowing around them. "Thursday. 7PM." He skips away, giddy. "Oh, wonderful. Just wonderful!"
She frowns, following. "What is?"
"Oh, nothing," he says as he begins to hop, having spotted the chalk-smeared hopscotch drawing nearby. "Just the end of the world is all. I'll get to it eventually."
She stops. "Eventually?"
He waves it off, uncaring. "Yeah. I'm handling it."
She opens her mouth to protest. He kisses her so there's no lecture. Oh, how he hates lectures. River melts in his arms and suddenly all he cares about is how perfectly well they fit together, her hands on his face, his arms wrapped around her waist. They're the only people in this universe—
"Coming through!" And they break apart quickly as some pink blob skateboards pass them. It's a girl, holding up the Doctor's psychic paper as people frantically jump out of her way. "Don't wanna die? Move out of my way!"
The Doctor laughs, pointing at the girl. "See, I told you I was handling it."
"Who was that?"
"I haven't the faintest idea." He moves swiftly back to the Tardis. A line of cars gather behind it. "Hopefully I know her." He goes inside, then pops his head back out, a look of concern springing to his face. "Oh but this is New York. She could have mugged me and fed my regenerating body to the rats for all I know." He exits again, ignoring the frantic honks behind him to move the inconveniently parked blue box. It was just a girl. A young one at that. Younger than his usual crowd, which is odd. And she has his psychic paper. Why? "Let's go investigate, shall we?"
"Are you sure? I thought you couldn't muddle with your future."
"Spoilers. Right." He hesitates. What harm can one girl do really?
"Hey, buddy, you wanna move out of the way?" shouts some passerby witnessing the chaos. But the Doctor isn't listening, suddenly realizing how much harm one girl can actually do. Something pushes him forward, toward the responsibility.
He locks the Tardis. "Wouldn't hurt just to pop in and say hello," the Doctor decides. "Could be fun meeting my future self. Haven't done that in a good while."
"Two Doctors. Think of the possibilities."
"Down, girl." He takes hold of her hand and rushes them forward, toward the excitement, toward the responsibility. He grumbles slightly at his sudden maturity.
The girl glides into some rundown corner shop where the overhead lights flicker and the cashier reeks of Chesterfield cigarettes. She flashes the psychic paper at him as she passes the register.
"No, no, no!" the cashier starts, pointing at one of the many Polaroid pictures on the wall behind him. His "do not serve" wall, so the text above the photos state. Next to a "Shoplifting is a crime" sign. The girl is smiling in her photo, posing even. "You are banned. Get out of my store."
"It's an emergency, Abdul." She begins packing up candy and crisps, anything that can fit in her bag. She stops, looking at the options around her. "You don't have any… uh, I think he called them Jelly babies?"
Abdul shakes his head in confusion. "Jelly babies? What?"
The Doctor claps his hands, happy. "Oh, jelly babies!" He smiles at River. "I love those."
"Figured you didn't," the girl continues, after searching for them, "but I promised I'd ask."
Abdul is quick to get things back on track. "Look, I don't care if it's the end of the world, you are not allowed in my store!"
The Doctor leans on the counter as River browses the gum options. "It is the end of the world, actually." He checks the time on his watch, and corrects himself, "Er, nearly."
"Who are you?" questions Abdul, clearly agitated.
"I'm the Doctor."
The girl scoffs, standing and moving on to the refreshments. "You are not the Doctor."
He stands straight, suddenly feeling the need to prove himself. "Am so!"
"No… you're not," she says. "I know the Doctor. You're too… little to be the Doctor."
River raises her eyebrows, suggestively. He adjusts his cuffs, uncomfortable. "I am not!"
The girl waves him off. "You are too. You're, like, fifteen!"
He shifts. "I'm nine hundred and ten, thank you very much."
"Nine hundred and ten?" River questions, surprise on her face. He's ancient in her eyes despite having such a young face. He's neither man nor boy, neither face nor body, just her, "Sweetie."
He shrugs, leaning in close. "Well, nine hundred and ten and three quarters, if you want to get technical."
Abdul looks at him like he's a lunatic before quickly turning back to the girl. "I'm calling your grandparents, Mouse!"
"Abdul! The world is ending!" she says, zipping her bag after shoving a few more bottles inside. "I'm not doing this just for the fun of it! I have a reason."
"And what reason is that?" questions the Doctor.
"We need snacks for the end of the world, don't we?"
The Doctor laughs, clapping his hands. "Oh, we do indeed! We do indeed!"
The girl smiles, satisfied. She starts to skate off. "Mouse! You little brat!" Abdul shouts after her. The Doctor stops her as she reaches the door, confiscating her bag.
"Hey!"
He looks at her. He's seen that face before. But where? She's not from his past, he doesn't think. "Mouse, is it?" She nods. What a peculiar name. He remembers all their names throughout the years, every one of them, and there is no Mouse among them, so, he concludes, he must not know her yet. "Not without paying," he tells her sternly, then tosses the bag onto the counter for Abdul to collect.
"Okay, now I believe you're the Doctor," she tells him.
The Doctor smiles, but their moment is cut short as one large cyberman barges in, forcefully breaking the door as he enters. Abdul, eyes wide open, stumbles back. "What the Hell is that thing?"
River too looks at it in surprise. Must be her first cyberman as well. "A cyberman. Terrible thing. Worst of humanity. Long story," explains the Doctor quickly before turning his attention back onto Mouse, the girl. "Now, young lady, what do you say to Abdul here?"
The cyberman moves in. "You all are not sufficient. Prepare to be deleted," it says in its robotic voice.
River reaches for her gun hidden beneath her dress and begins shooting. Abdul crouches in fear. Mouse shoves the Doctor aside, grabs the bag and skateboards out of sight. River aims for the head and it explodes. The cyberman falls to its knees before collapsing to the ground.
"You can come out now. It's safe," assures the Doctor.
Abdul pops back into sight, nearly breathless. "My life flashed before my eyes."
"Yeah, they tend to have that effect on people." He looks down at the cyberman. It used to be a human being and now… it's not. It's nothing. Just a huge chunk of metal. His attention turns back to Abdul: "Right then, payment," he continues, searching his pockets. He pulls out a few arcade coins, some marbles, a paint brush, his fez, an intergalactic alien sphere, and, finally, a plunger. "There, that should cover it…" He stops, eyeing the fez. Temptation gets the better of him and he puts it on. "That should cover everything!" He taps the sphere happily; it hums. "Now don't go spending all of that in one place."
"It really is the end of the world, isn't it?" says Abdul, his focus on the now dead cyberman. River is leaning over it, fixing her hair and reapplying her lipstick using its metal reflection.
"Well, yeah, but, to be fair, the end of the world happens a lot."
He grabs River's hand and moves toward the exit, but halts at the damaged door. "Oh—you may still want to call her grandparents. I've got a feeling she's a bit of a rebel, that one."
They leave without waiting for a reply and head back to the Tardis. The line of cars behind are abandoned now, due to the cybermen now taking the streets. Screams of New Yorkers echo around them. A fire ignites behind them. Only River looks back.
"Shouldn't we do something about all this, Doctor?" she asks.
"Like what?"
"Save it…"
The Doctor snaps his fingers. The Tardis doors open for him, welcoming him. "Oh, I am," he says, unbothered. He steps into the Tardis and reaches a hand out for her to grab. "Probably."
River takes it without hesitation and he pulls her inside. She laughs. He snaps the doors shut.
They're floating around the nearest galaxy with the doors wide open to gaze at the stars surrounding the Tardis, but their focus is not on outside. River kisses the Doctor forcefully, passionately, her vibrant red lipstick staining his mouth, his cheek, his neck, his… He pulls away when she moves down.
"Oh, Melody Pond. My River Song," he says, breathless. He takes a moment to look at her, admiring her beauty, her mischievousness, before leaning back into the kiss. She bites his lip as her hands move to unbutton his trousers. He pulls away again, sighing. "Your parents are in the other room. They could barge in at any moment." Despite his words, despite the risk, he finds himself still drawn to those luscious red lips. She guides him down. He lifts her dress. And a star explodes, like a firework in a perfect night sky—
And the Doctor breaks free to have a look while River tumbles to the ground. "Would you look at that," he says, leaning out. He feels the heat, the radiation from it despite being so far away. He takes out his sonic screwdriver to scan it. "Oh, that is beautiful."
Her lips purse, adjusting the dress he was about to pull off. "Quite. Now I believe your fingers were heading somewhere."
He doesn't hear her. Or, rather, he decides to ignore her and lean out of the Tardis even further, daring gravity to do its worst to him. Space, in all her glory. But something is missing— someone . No matter how far he travels, no matter how much he tries to forget, she always remains. Guilt consumes him finally. He'll make things right with her, one day. "She's out there. I know it."
He says it mostly to himself but River responds: "Who is?"
He blinks, pushing it all away, like usual, and she stands. He turns to look at her. "What? Oh… no one. Well, yes, actually, not no one. Someone. A very important someone. The absolute best of me." He pauses, not truly knowing. "I think, maybe." He moves away from the door, circling River. "She's the one I've been searching for. The reason I do the things that I do," he says distantly. "You know…" But she doesn't. He's never told her. He should tell her—probably won't.
He doesn't notice her frown, instead choosing to move on, making his way over to the console. "Close the doors, would you?" And she does. The Tardis rumbles awake. He checks himself in the mirror, wiping all the visible lipstick stains away and straightening his bow tie. "Sorry to cut things so short, River, darling, but Amy and Rory are bound to make their morning appearance any moment. Wouldn't want them to catch you in just your knickers…"
"Just my knickers? I was hoping for something a bit more scandalous." She smiles but there's now a sadness in her eyes.
He pretends not to notice, not to care. "Need a lift back to University?"
The sadness disappears in time for him to kiss her cheek. "I can find my own way back, Doctor. I'm not helpless."
"Right. Of course you aren't. Didn't say you were." She's already fiddling with her metal wristband, typing in the correct coordinates to travel back. "Until next time, my dear River Song."
She zaps away and the guilt consumes him. He leans against the controls. "I'll find you. I swear it," he mumbles to himself. "One day."
And footsteps tell him someone is approaching. He straightens as Rory enters yawning, dressed in his pajamas. "Morning."
The Doctor takes a few deep breaths, sucking it all back inside him, then rushes to greet the Roman, his dear friend Rory. Today, like all the other days, is going to be fantastic, brilliant, all that and more. Because he doesn't want to think about it. He doesn't want to think about anything. Not right now.
