A/N: Alex's outfit for this chapter can be viewed on my Tumblr, under the name 'darksideofparis'.
~The Pros and Cons of Silence~
Ba-ring! Ba-ring! Ba-ring! Ba-ring! Ba-ring! Ba-ring! Ba-ring! Ba-ring! Ba-ring! Ba-ring!
Amy glared darkly at the phone, somehow managing to do this even though she was half-asleep. How many times was this thing going to ring?! It hadn't stopped for a good five minutes! And it was so loud. You could hear it from about two corridors away, maybe three if your hearing was particularly good, which, unfortunately, Amy's was. And never mind the fact that she couldn't sleep anyways.
It was two thirty in the morning. Well, by Leadworth standards at least. Who was calling at two thirty in the morning? Didn't the TARDIS have some kind of phone system where calls were only accepted during daylight hours on Earth? If not, one should be installed.
Where was the Doctor? It was his phone. He should be here answering it! Amy looked around the control room. There was no bowtie-clad figure in sight. Either he was in the depths of the TARDIS doing whatever it was he did when she, Rory, and Alex were asleep or. . . Well, Amy couldn't really come up with an 'or'. She probably could if she wasn't operating on only three hours sleep. And if that infernal phone wasn't still ringing.
Knowing there was only one way to shut the damn thing up, Amy grabbed the receiver. "Hello?" she said, yawning slightly. "He's, he's not here. Who's speaking?" At that moment, a fly chose to intrude on her conversation.
Amy frowned and swiped it. "Sorry, the Prince of where?" she asked, flicking at the fly, now by her shoulder. "Which one? No, no, no, which prince, not which Wales." The fly buzzed around for a few moments before finally landing on the console. Amy smirked and grabbed a rolled-up newspaper someone had left by the phone. "Um, what year is this?" She finished her question by bringing the paper down on the fly. A satisfied SMACK rang throughout the room.
It was at that moment that the TARDIS doors slammed open. "I think that's probably for me!" a familiar voice shouted.
The doors slammed shut and Amy whirled around to see the Doctor. Strangely, he was dressed to the nines in a black suit, white shirt, white bowtie, black dress shoes, and a black top-hat. But even stranger was the fact that he was carrying a goldfish in a little glass fishbowl.
He darted up to the console, holding the fishbowl carefully so as not to spill any water. "Hold this!" he ordered, shoving the fishbowl at a bewildered Amy as he took the phone from her. "Hello? Ah, yes, everything's fine, don't worry." He paced back and forth along the platform, doing the exact opposite of not worrying.
"Well, exactly," he remarked as he went past Amy, forcing her to duck under the phone cord lest she get strangled with it. "Why should you be worrying? Who even mentioned worrying?" He paced back to the other side, Amy doing her ducking act again. "She's fine! Your mum, your mum is fine!" He whirled around and faced Amy, covering the receiver with his shoulder. "Don't answer this phone. I answer this phone."
"Where have you been?" Amy whisper-demanded.
He waved his hand dismissively. "Party, just a party."
But instead of being mollified, Amy just became more confused and more determined to get answers.
The Doctor put the phone back to his ear and resumed his pacing. "Um, yes, your mum is here actually, but she can't come to the phone at the moment."
Amy held up the fishbowl and peered at the fish inside. It wasn't doing anything remarkable. He didn't seriously mean. . . As the Doctor turned round to face her, Amy pointed at the fish, giving him an expression that loosely translated as Is that seriously the Queen?!
He confirmed this with a slight nod and moved in closer to look upon Her Majesty. "Well," he stuttered awkwardly as he tried to think of an excuse to give the Queen's rather frantic son. "She's . . . busy. Well, you know, the Commonwealth. . ." He put the phone to his shoulder again and bent down to meet the fish's eyes. "It's your son, ma'am," he whispered. "He wants to talk to you." He pulled back and sighed. "Oh, we can't let him see you like this, well, not hear you, not that he could hear you, you're a fish!"
Ba-ring!
"Sorry! I've got another call coming in." He pressed the answer button on the phone cradle. "Hello?" He frowned as a bunch of yelling came out the other end. "There is not a bit of use yelling, Ambassador. Your Warrior Chief is trapped in my TARDIS, and until you've turned Her Majesty here back into a human being, he's staying put. Don't worry, he's perfectly safe. . ." He trailed off as his gaze landed on the rolled-up newspaper, now containing a tiny little carcass that hadn't been there half an hour ago. He looked at Amy, who cringed at the mixture of dread and alarm on his face.
"Just putting you on hold," he muttered into the phone. He placed it back in the cradle before carefully picking up the newspaper. I knew I should've tossed this after Alex was through with it!
The paper in question was a Leadworth current edition of The Wall Street Journal. The TARDIS had given it to Alex that morning as it contained an article about some big buying deal between G-Locke and smaller, but also well-known publishing company Infinity House. What it basically boiled down to was that Alex was now $15.5 billion dollars richer, and G-Locke Publishing had acquired the rights to many popular magazines along with an undisclosed future Stephenie Meyer book series. Alex was the wealthiest companion the Doctor had ever had, even though she had yet to see a cent of her inheritance.
G-LOCKE, INFINITY DEAL! the headline boasted, the fly carcass sitting right on top of it. The Doctor stared at it in horror. "What have you done?" he breathed.
Amy winced. "I thought . . . it was a fly."
The Doctor sighed. "So much for the slaughterer of ten billion souls," he muttered, tossing the paper over his shoulder to land with a splat on the lower-level floor.
"What is going on?!"
"I was at a party. There was a slight incident."
Yeah, right, Amy thought. 'Slight' and 'the Doctor' didn't go together. It was go big or go home with him. "Wait, what, so you sneak out at night to parties?" Wonder how Alex will feel about that.
"What?!" a Southern-accented voice cried out. The two turned to see Alex storming down the stairs, frowning furiously at the Doctor. Despite the fact that her hair was in a wretched-looking ponytail, and she was clad in only a short, long-sleeved, white nightgown and socks, she still managed to look rather frightening and intimidating.
Alex planted herself in front of the Doctor who, needless to say, looked rather terrified at her sudden appearance. "You sneak out at night to parties?! Seriously? What on Earth do you get up to in there. . . Hang on." Alex looked him up and down, taking in his fancy attire. It was rather handsome, but she wasn't about to admit that. "You're dressed up. You never dress up." Her eyes narrowed, giving the Doctor a frightening view of copper-colored storms. "Was River at the party?"
He took off his top-hat and started rushing around the console. "Wh-wh-why would she be there?"
Alex rolled her eyes and followed him. Did he really think that would work?
Amy stayed in the exact same spot, knowing well to stay out of their way when they started arguing.
"Do not lie to me, Doctor," Alex warned. She put her hands on her hips and kept her eyes tightly fixed on his. "You're horrible at it."
"Somebody's in trouble," Amy softly sang to the fish.
By this point, the Doctor and Alex had been officially together for two weeks. Well, two weeks, one day, seven hours, fifty-three minutes, and twelve seconds, to be more precise. Things had changed aboard the TARDIS in that time, not horribly and drastically, but for the better.
For starters, it was now quite common to see the Doctor and Alex making out in any area of the time machine. Amy and Rory had seen them kissing on one of the library couches, in one of the TARDIS's many hallways, outside Alex's room, against the kitchen counter, against a shelf in the library and, the couple's personal favorite, on the control console. Those two could barely keep their hands off one another. The fact that they hadn't had sex yet was surprising.
The only reason Amy knew this was because she'd cornered Alex the morning after she saw the two kissing outside of Alex's room. It'd been in the kitchen, when Alex was attempting to make eggs sunny-side up and failing miserably.
"So. . ." Amy smirked, her voice going up an octave.
Alex looked at her and raised a confused eyebrow. "So what?" she asked. The eggs in the pan hissed and Alex jumped, barely dodging a streak of grease.
"Oh, come on, Alex. You know what I mean."
Alex poked at the eggs with the edge of her spatula, grimacing at the blackened contents. "No, not really," she said distractedly as she dumped the ruined eggs into the trashcan.
"It's not like you to play coy."
"Play coy over what?"
Clearly, the only way to handle this was to take the bull by the horns and say the words outright. "Playing coy over the fact that you and the Doctor had sex!"
Alex dropped the pan with a loud clatter. She gawked at Amy, wide-eyed for a moment before rushing over to the doorway and peeking out. "Oh my God, would you be quiet?!" she hissed. "He'll hear you!"
"Ha!" Amy crowed. "So, you did it!"
"We did not!" Alex objected, still whispering even though Amy knew for a fact that the Doctor was in the control room several corridors away, teaching Rory how to install the emergency temporal shift break or something.
Amy frowned, puzzled. "You didn't? But I saw you two kissing outside your bedroom door last night."
Alex gaped at her as she walked back over to collect the pan. "And you automatically assumed that we were going to have sex?" She dropped the pan into the large, restaurant-style sink. "It's not even been a month since we got together!"
"I was with Rory in less than a month."
Alex grimaced and made some sort of noise that sounded like she was trying not to gag. "TMI," she choked.
Amy sighed. "So, if you didn't do it last night, what was that kiss?"
"It was just a goodnight kiss! Have you and Rory never done that before?"
Amy tilted her head back in consideration. Strangely enough, nothing like that was coming to mind. "Uh . . . nope, don't think so."
"Seriously?" Alex questioned, sounding surprised. "Never?"
"Yeah. Is that weird?"
Alex shrugged. "It's a little uncommon. . . But, back to the main point. The point is, whether or not the Doctor and I have had sex is none of your business."
"So, there will be some going on in the future?"
Alex threw her hands up in frustration. "I don't know! I assume there will be if. . ." She trailed off, looking slightly befuddled and embarrassed.
Amy leaned forwards. "If what?"
"If. . ."
"Come on, Alex. I'm your best friend. You can tell me!"
"If . . . he has the right parts."
Oh, right. The Doctor was an alien. There was no telling if he was qualified to do . . . that. "Well, he's kissing you," Amy reasoned, "quite enthusiastically at that. I'm sure he does that. Hey, when you guys are making out, do you ever feel something pressing up against your stomach?"
Alex's eyes widened and her face reddened to the color of a beet. "I-I am not discussing this anymore," she chattered, running a hand through her hair and making a beeline to the door. She paused and turned back. "And, again, none of your business, Amelia."
With those final words, she rushed off.
Of course, Amy made it her business to be informed of all goings-on in the Doctor/Alex relationship. They were her best friends, and it was best if someone who was much more experienced, i.e., a married woman, kept an eye on them. She could guide them and make sure they didn't make the same mistakes she and Rory had made in their relationship. Not that there were many but kissing another man on the night before her wedding wasn't one of her proudest moments.
Based on acute observation, it seemed as though the Doctor and Alex had become even more possessive of one another than usual. That wasn't really surprising though. It was practically guaranteed to happen when the relationship escalated. Still, sometimes it amazed Amy how jealous the two got whenever someone flirted with one of them. They both looked like they could rip that person's head off and do a tap-dance over it.
And right now, here was another green-eyed moment in the making.
"No! I do not sneak out at night to parties with . . . with . . . with River Song!" the Doctor shouted at Alex, pulling Amy back to the present. He took off his top-hat in frustration and placed it on Alex's head. Frowning, not in the least bit amused, Alex continued trailing him around the console, pausing only to place the hat on Amy's head.
Amy glanced up at it and wondered why she was being treated like a coatrack. Sure, they were arguing, but still! She deserved a little respect!
"How is she?" Alex asked faux-sweetly. She smiled a little. She almost looked like she wasn't going to tear the Doctor a new one. Almost.
Seeing that there was no way he was getting out of this, the Doctor muttered, "Fine."
"See?!" Alex exclaimed, vindicated. "Horrible!"
The Doctor sighed. He really didn't have time for this. While he kind of liked that Alex was jealous of his relationship with River – it had, after all, led them to finally admitting their feelings for each-other – it was also a bit petty of her, one of the few character flaws she had. He knew this conversation was far from over, but he could worry about that later. Right now, he needed to focus on figuring out the crisis he'd gotten himself in the middle of.
"Sorry, but I'm in the middle of a thing." He snatched the fishbowl from Amy and planted a quick kiss on Alex's cheek before rushing down the stairs back towards the doors.
"Doctor!" Amy called after him, making him stop in his tracks. "Doctor," she said a bit more quietly. The Time Lord turned to face her. Alex's face dropped its angry expression, turning into one of concern and compassion when she saw the look on Amy's face. She appeared rather upset and more than a bit confused.
Alex put a hand on her friend's shoulder. "Amy?" Does this have to do with why she thought she was pregnant? Amy hadn't brought it up again, but maybe she was starting to reconsider.
"I. . . I need to talk to you," Amy admitted. She turned to Alex. "Both of you, really." The girls walked down the stairs over to the Doctor while Amy continued to talk. "There is a reason why I couldn't sleep."
"You mean aside from that damn phone?" Alex joked, although there was an undercurrent of annoyance in her voice. Since her room was right next to the control room, she'd been able to hear that blasted phone loud and clear. After it stopped ringing, she had almost been able to go back to sleep . . . until the Doctor started ranting and shouting.
Amy acknowledged this with a small smirk.
The Doctor didn't say anything. Instead, he just eyed her for a long moment. Then he shouted, "RORY!"
"What are you doing?!" Amy hissed while Alex looked at him strangely.
"You've got the serious face on," the Doctor babbled, appearing and sounding a little panicked. "I always shout for Rory when you've got the serious face on – RORY, SHE'S HAVING AN EMOTION!"
"Oh my God!" Alex cried, giving him an appalled look. Really?! The Doctor had surely dealt with many companions' moods before. Why couldn't he help with Amy's? Unless he knew what Amy wanted to talk to them about and he was trying to avoid it. But what could it be?
Amy looked pretty stunned too, though before she could give the Doctor her own two cents, Rory came rushing in, pulling on a red bathrobe. "What? What's wrong Amy?" he asked through a yawn.
"Why are you calling him?" Amy demanded, still whispering.
The Doctor turned to leave. "It's his turn."
Amy and Alex gawked at him. A split second later, Amy whirled around to glower at Rory. "You two have, you two have turns?!" she screeched. Rory opened his mouth to defend himself, but Alex cut him off.
"You're not going to do that with me, are you?" she questioned, her eyes narrowed in topaz colored warning. The Doctor was her . . . significant other now. He had to suffer her emotions just like the rest of the universe's general male population.
"NOOOO!" the Doctor yelled. At first, Alex thought it was a quick and hasty reply to her question, but then she saw him looking at Her Majesty the Goldfish in unabashed horror. "I've the wrong fish. I've taken the wrong fish!" He jerked the TARDIS door open and stuck his head out. "River, we've got the wrong fish!"
He whirled back around. "Uh, look, sorry, you three, I've made a mistake. I've got three hours to save the Commonwealth."
Rory scratched the back of his bedhead. "What happens in three hours?"
Alex looked at the Doctor knowingly. "Pet shops open?"
The Doctor nodded. "Exactly." He snatched the top-hat off Amy's head, placed it back on his own, and kissed Alex chastely on the lips. Then, without another word, he scrambled out the door.
The three stared at the shut door in silence for a few seconds until Amy shrugged. "Well, that was fun." She turned to Rory, a steely glare crossing her features in a split second. "Now, what's this about having turns?"
"Um. . ." Rory stuttered, scrambling backwards up the steps as Amy stalked towards him. "Well, Amy, it's, it's not as bad as it sounds—"
"Really? Because it certainly doesn't sound that way to me!"
As poor Rory hurried up the steps to try and escape Amy, Alex settled into the jumpseat, shifting around until she was perfectly comfortable. She knew the Doctor would solve whatever mess he'd gotten himself into and return, all smiling and happy and ready to bask in and celebrate his victory.
Then he'd see her and remember that their little 'discussion' about River was not yet over.
~The Pros and Cons of Silence~
Alex paged through Harper's Bazaar. It was the same issue she'd been pretending to read a few weeks ago before Amy and Rory went to bed after their . . . well, adventure wasn't the right word to describe what happened on Captain Avery's pirate ship and the Siren sickbay. Escaped might be a better one.
Alex shuddered. That incident still freaked her out. She had to go on a ship for the first time since she was five, one of her friends had nearly died. . .
Shaking her head, Alex forced herself back to her magazine. She was studying an article on the latest makeup trends when the doors slowly squeaked open. She glanced up. The Doctor was standing in the doorway, top-hat mysteriously missing and bowtie undone, eyeing her warily.
"Two hours and forty-five minutes." Alex smiled. "I'm impressed. I assume you found Her Majesty and got her turned back to normal?"
Seeing that she wasn't going to bite his head off – yet anyways – the Doctor shut the door and dashed up the stairs to the platform. "Yes," he sighed. "But barely. Might've gone easier if Amy hadn't slaughtered the Warrior Chief." He cast a dark look at the newspaper, once again resting on the console. Alex must have fetched it. "But . . . River helped."
He didn't miss the way Alex's lips pressed together or how she was silent for exactly eleven seconds. "How so?"
"Flirted with the ambassador and managed to get the transformation elixir off him whilst she had him engaged in a very. . ." He cleared his throat, his cheeks reddening. ". . .compromising position."
"I'd expect nothing less from her," Alex said dryly. She put aside her magazine and sat up straighter. "So . . . I'm sorry for snapping at you earlier. That was . . . uncalled for." She squirmed a little. She wasn't used to apologizing for her jealous tendencies, least of all to the Doctor. It was a very strange experience.
"It's okay, but thank you," the Doctor replied. He could see how unsettled she was and merely wanted to reassure her. Not to mention, but this was strange for him as well.
He and Alex had shouted at each-other before and probably would in the future. They usually cleared the air afterwards. He still vividly remembered their talk after he'd shouted at her and Amy on Starship U.K. But what happened tonight was a first for them. Alex had never shouted at him, especially because she was jealous of River. Not that this was surprising. In fact, when he really thought about it, this had been a long time coming. He knew Alex was jealous of River and the woman's relationship with him – her yelling at them to stop flirting in the Silence base echoed in his ears – and it wasn't surprising to consider the fact that it had escalated since he and Alex got together. The only surprising part was that he hadn't considered all this before now.
He let out a long sigh and refocused on Alex. She was still sitting on the jumpseat, watching him attentively. "I suppose," he said slowly, "you don't like my hanging around River."
There's the understatement of the century, Alex thought, but she caught herself before she could say it out loud. "Yes," she said instead. It was simple, a statement of fact.
"You realize that there's not much I can do about that, right? River's a part of my future and she's made it clear that we have a lot of interactions."
"Yes, I understand." And she did. The Doctor couldn't risk altering the timelines and potentially wrecking the space-time continuum just to appease her jealous tendencies. "But. . ."
"Yes?"
Alex shifted around some more. "Maybe you could tell me before you have any future encounters with her? Ones that I'm not a part of. Or at least let me know if you interacted with her after one of your nighttime escapades." She said this last part with a mischievous smirk.
The Doctor chuckled. "Yes, yes," he affirmed. "I can absolutely do that." He paused. "Just to clarify, you're not upset that I sometimes go out while you and the Ponds sleep?"
Alex appeared surprised at the question. "Of course not. I'd be more surprised if you just stayed in here tinkering all night."
"Sometimes I do that. But more often than not, I go out. Just because you lot are sleeping doesn't mean the rest of the universe is."
Alex gave a dramatic sigh. "So many problems, so little time."
He chuckled again. "Exactly. Is there anything else you want to address?"
Alex considered, then nodded. Her face suddenly became more serious and her eyes bored right into his. It felt like she was trying to look inside him, delve inside his mind so as to see what he was really thinking. "Your flirting," she said loudly and quickly, the verbal equivalent of ripping off a Band-Aid. "With River. Well, with other women, too, I suppose, but mainly with River. It needs to stop."
He blinked, startled.
When he didn't say anything, Alex went on. "I know it's just a natural part of you, flirting with others. I'm pretty sure you don't even realize you're doing it half the time." She smiled and snorted. "And God knows I've flirted before to get what I want." She snorted to herself, then abruptly turned serious again. "But, with you, I . . . I can't stand it. It's . . . it just pisses me off, seeing you flirting with someone that's not me and I know that's petty on so many levels and I should really work on that—"
"Okay," the Doctor said.
It was Alex's turn to blink. She gaped up at him. "What?"
"Okay," he repeated, smiling softly while his eyes twinkled. He stepped closer to her and got down on his knees so he was at her eye-level. He placed his hands on her knees, his fingers just barely touching her skin, and he smirked at how her breath hitched. "I will," he promised, "endeavor to work on my unconscious flirting with other people." Alex rolled her eyes, but she couldn't quite fight off a smile. "Especially with River Song. But I warn you now, I won't be an automatic expert. You may have to tell me off from time to time."
Alex's honey-colored depths gazed at him in warmth, amazement, and admiration. "Thank you," she said softly. "And don't worry, I will."
The Doctor snorted and moved closer to her. Alex hastened to copy him. Their lips met in a slow glide, their tongues following a few seconds later, wet and warm as they flicked at each-other. After several moments, the Doctor pulled back and smirked at the glazed look in Alex's eyes.
"I take it," Alex gasped, her voice low with desire, "you continue to accept my apology?"
He let out a laugh. "I certainly have. But if you need me to affirm it anymore. . ." He shifted so that he was kneeling between her knees and his hands went just a touch lower. The bottom part of his palms tingled upon contact with her skin.
Alex giggled and leaned back in the jumpseat, the hem of her nightgown rising a little and allowing every part of the Doctor's skin to touch her bare legs. "I'll hold you to that," she promised. "But first I want to hear more about what happened tonight. For starters. . . What happened to your hat?"
The Doctor's jaw fixed itself into a glower. "River shot it off."
Alex sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "You poor thing. That was the one hat of yours I actually liked."
With a low growl, the Doctor's hands darted up to cup her face and pull her into a wild kiss.
~The Pros and Cons of Silence~
A/N: Sorry this chapter was late. I had a meeting with a graduation adviser to make sure that I will graduate as scheduled this May, and then I had to add on to this chapter. The section with the Doctor and Alex discussing River originally wasn't in here but I felt it was important to show them reach some resolution and at how they're tackling their personal issues as a couple now. :)
Review Replies:
secretlyanalien - Aw, thank you! He's doing better, therapy just really wears him out. He's especially okay today because he and my other dog played in the mud and got all filthy . . . so he played today, proving he's better. Glad you thought the last chapter was a good ending to 'The Curse of the Black Spot'! Haha, I so enjoyed writing Amy and Rory's reactions. Glad you liked the chocolate scene. :} The Doctor will share Amy's pregnancy scans with Alex, and it might be sooner than you think. :) I'm so glad you're excited to read adventures with the Bristol group! The ones in this story are some of my favorite chapters. :) I'm afraid you're going to have to wait a while until 'The Doctor's Wife'. Up next is 'Touched by an Angel' and then another Series 6 'Night and the Doctor' minisode, if I'm not mistaken. Hope you enjoyed the chapter! :)
TrollDragomir - I've never read it, but I'll try to check it out sometime. :)
bored411 - Thank you! It was discussed in chapter eight that Alex had a black spot because of the hickeys the Doctor gave her during their make-out right before 'The Curse of the Black Spot' began. When Alex stepped out of the TARDIS, she immediately got a black spot, though neither she nor the Doctor realized it at first, as they initially believed the Siren was going after blood and after Toby, they were focused on other things, so they didn't realize it then either. Sorry if that wasn't clear. Hope you enjoyed the chapter! :)
NicoleR85 - Glad you enjoyed the chapter and hope you enjoyed this one! :)
ShadowTeir - My dog's okay! He was just tired for the rest of the day, but he proved he was better today by playing in the mud with my other dog. :/ Haha, yeah, that chapter was pretty fluffy! What can I say, I love fluff! Yes, Amy has awful timing. Lol, glad you liked the chocolate scene! Haha, I'm glad to hear the chapter was worth your sleep deprivation. :D The Doctor will find out about Ross being Rose's cousin, though I'm not sure if it'll be in this story or not. Also, just to go ahead and clarify, Ross has never heard of the Doctor before the latter met Alex. It was my gathering from the show that Rose and Jackie kept the Doctor and his part in their lives a big secret from others, including their family and friends, so Ross wouldn't know who he was, nor the part he played with Canary Wharf. :) Yeah, I want to reference Rose because she was such a big part of the Doctor's life, being the first companion after the Time War, helping him to heal and them falling in love with each-other so, even though Alex is with the Doctor now, I want to reference the past companions and their influence on the Doctor. :)
Thank you to everyone that reviewed, followed and/or favorited this story! Please review and see you tomorrow! :)