The Pros and Cons of Silence

by DarkSideofParis

*SEQUEL TO LIVING THE LIFE OF ALLY* Alex knew her life would never be the same again after she met the Doctor, but she never expected to witness his death, learn of an alien cult gunning for him, nor begin suffering mysterious pain attacks. And, of course, River. But maybe these wild events will finally get them to admit their love? 11/OC AU Season 6. 2nd in the Alex Locke Series.

38. Adjusting - June

A/N: This chapter does contain elements that border on M-rated. Personally, I think they're not much more mature than what you'd see on a teen drama (like Gossip Girl or Riverdale) but let me know if you feel otherwise. A reviewer suggested I post warnings for that kind of thing, so I'm testing it out here. If you wish to avoid those moments, the first starts after 'Hopefully not after someone she loved died' and ends at 'June 14, 2011' and the second starts at 'She studied it carefully' and ends at 'As she headed back to the read-through. . .'.

Alex's outfits for this chapter can be viewed at my Tumblr, under the name 'darksideofparis'.

~The Pros and Cons of Silence~

June 5th, 2011

The rest of May passed by in a bit of a blur. By the end of the month, Alex had gotten a lot of what she'd set out to do accomplished. She'd alerted Torchwood to keep an eye out for Melody, though Alex highly doubted they would find anything, and got the locks changed. Amy and Rory had been more than happy to cooperate after Alex told them exactly why they needed to be changed. The details of her memory had startled them. Aside from new housekeys, Amy now carried a can of Mace on her every time she went out of the house. Alex was tempted to do the same, but since she was trying to get herself back to normal, she refrained. For now.

She had also spoken to Lacey, Marigold, and some of the Bristol group, but she had yet to tell them about her altered biology or Melody/River. Alex simply couldn't find the words to say. It wasn't really a conversation that could be had over the phone anyway. She would tell them. Soon. Ish.

Overall though, Alex found herself blissfully happy with her life; Amy and Rory were doing much better, her job at the library was going along swimmingly and, best of all, her relationship with the Doctor was even better than before. They would talk every day, sometimes twice, and they never hung up without expressing their love for each-other.

Alex was baffled as to why she ever thought she could leave the TARDIS and, by extension, her feelings for the Doctor behind. If she could have, she would have gone back and told her younger self that the idea was ridiculous and that her worries were all for naught. Things with the Doctor were surprisingly easy. By far, it was the nicest relationship Alex had ever had. She and the Doctor usually talked in the morning, sometimes while Alex was at the library waiting for the afternoon rush. Sometimes they would talk in the evenings while Alex was preparing dinner. Sometimes it was while she was watching TV when she couldn't sleep, something that had been occurring more and more within the past few days.

Like today. It was Sunday morning and Alex hadn't slept in three days. She simply didn't feel tired, not even slightly. She still felt refreshed and energized, ready to take on the day . . . which could be annoying, whenever she happened to be awake in the middle of the night. Thankfully, there were distractions. Reading was her main one. It was an excellent way to pass the time. The only problem it came with, though, was when she finished her TBR pile, as she'd discovered last night.

"You finish your book yet?" the Doctor asked. As Alex's Blackberry was set to speaker-phone, his voice rang out into her bedroom.

Alex checked her reflection in the mirror. Her hair was nice and smooth, not a fly-away in sight. Her bangs needed to be trimmed and her highlights were due for a touch-up, but other than that, her hair was perfect. "Yeah," she answered as she fumbled through the makeup drawer in her bureau. She pulled out a stick of pink lip-liner and started applying it. "Finished Pirate King last night. I'm officially done with the Mary Russell series."

"The series isn't over yet," the Doctor chuckled.

Alex rolled her eyes. "You know what I mean. Now I need something new to read, preferably a series. I already know I'm not gonna sleep tonight."

"Let's see . . . Chronicles of Narnia?"

"Read that when I was ten. I'm not opposed to a re-read, but I'd prefer some new stuff."

"Discworld?"

Alex carefully applied a pretty pink lipstick. "Read the first book, wasn't for me." She paused to rub her lips together and blot them with a makeup wipe. "Way too much going on in them."

"There's Game of Thrones," the Doctor mused, "but I don't think you'd like that."

"From what little I've seen and heard about the show, I'd say you're right."

"What are you in the mood to read? Historical fiction again?"

Alex crossed the room to sit on her bed. She considered the question as she fastened the straps to her black heeled sandals. "I wouldn't mind some more historical fiction, yeah," she mused. "I love learning more about other time periods, especially in the absence of a certain time-traveling alien of mine."

She could practically hear his grin through the phone. "Well, then, it would be remiss of me not to help you in this matter, since I can't take you time-traveling right now. Let's see. . . First thing that comes to mind is the Outlander series. I've never read it, but previous companions of mine have loved it."

Alex stood up and went back to her bureau. She opened her jewelry box and started rifling through it. "Any particular reason?" she asked as she pulled out a gold stud earring.

"Mainly because of the male lead. Donna was always going on and on about him. I think he's Scottish and wears a kilt. Rose, at least, liked the time travel aspect as well."

After a little more rifling, Alex finally located the other gold stud. "A sexy male lead and time travel? I'm sold!"

The Doctor laughed. "Figures. Perhaps I should be a librarian as well."

"Hmmm. . ." Alex wrinkled her nose. "I don't think so, Doc. You can't keep quiet that long."

"I can too!"

"You really can't." Alex fastened the studs and tucked some hair behind her ears so that the earrings would be noticeable. "How about we agree that you're my personal librarian? I'm your only customer."

"Better vice-versa," the Doctor argued, his tone silky. "And as my personal librarian, does that not mean you would have to help me find whatever I wish, even if my requests are a bit . . . salacious and involve the librarian herself?"

Alex shivered and inadvertently dropped the cross necklace she'd just pulled out. "Stop that!" she exclaimed, bending down to retrieve the necklace. "Or people will be asking me why I'm blushing in church!"

Not that it would be the first time people asked her why she was blushing for apparently no reason. It wasn't Alex's fault that the Doctor had taken to making rather sexy comments and innuendos in their phone calls the last two weeks. Nor was it Alex's fault that she was often left red for several minutes afterwards as she remembered his words, uttered in that low, sinful tone he knew she loved.

The Doctor chuckled in that very tone but obliged. "Remind me again why you're going to church?"

"I always go at least once a month." Alex fastened her mother's necklace around her neck. The delicate gold cross rested in the hollow of her throat, just a few inches above the TARDIS charm on her sonic necklace. "But Amy, Rory, and I are all going today. Amy's parents are back in town. They've been in Inverness for the last month, and they invited us all for brunch afterwards."

"Sounds . . . fun."

Alex snorted. "You sound just like Amy and Rory."

"Pond's not looking forward to seeing her parents?"

"Yes and no. She's happy to see them, but she's terrified that they might notice she recently gave birth."

"You told me she doesn't look like she was even pregnant!"

"I did. And she doesn't. She's just being paranoid. What's gonna happen is we're going to attend church, listen to Reverend Jeffries deliver a sermon, spend a little time after gossiping with the villagers, and then go to brunch where we'll listen to Augustus and Tabetha talk about Inverness and Amy's relatives. Afterwards, we'll come home, watch crap TV, and eat dinner." Alex shrugged. "Nothing spectacular."

"I'm so sorry," the Doctor said sagely.

Alex couldn't help but giggle. A plain old Sunday afternoon was definitely the opposite of spectacular to the Doctor. "I appreciate your concern, Doc. Now I gotta go. Thanks for the book recommendation."

"You're welcome, Ally. Talk to you later?"

"Definitely. Love you."

"Love you, too."

Once she hung up, Alex grabbed the Blackberry and tossed it into a simple cream clutch. Joining it was her lipstick, debit card, and car keys. After pausing to make sure she had everything, she headed towards the kitchen.

Rory was already there, ready to go. He was rather polished today, no doubt more due to meeting his in-laws than attending church. He wore a sky-blue polo, khakis, and tan loafers with no socks. He was also wearing a fancy silver watch around his left wrist; Alex recalled that it was a gift from Augustus and that Rory hated wearing it because the band pinched his skin.

"Hey, Roranicus. You're looking awfully spiffy today."

Rory chuckled. "I did try." He fiddled with the band on his watch.

"You know you don't have to wear that watch if you don't want to."

"I really do. This is the most expensive thing Augustus has ever given me. As a wedding present, no less!" Rory sighed and released the band. "You look spiffy, too. New dress?"

Alex beamed. "Yep! Good eye." Her spaghetti-strapped dress was a rich cream color with pale pink pinstripes and detailed with black buttons and a tied strap around the waist. Alex had chosen it today because it was rather modest, the hem extending past her knees. Perfectly appropriate for church. "I got it a few days ago at Kendra's mom's yard sale. She said Kendra only wore it once."

"Of course she did," Amy said, coming in just in time to hear the remark. "It's got way too much fabric for her."

Alex and Rory snorted. "Probably true," Alex chuckled. "You look good, Ames."

"She's right," Rory agreed. He stepped up beside Amy and pressed a kiss to her forehead. "You look great."

Amy rolled her eyes, but the blush in her cheeks indicated she was pleased, nevertheless. Her outfit consisted of a red polka-dot maxi dress. There was a slit up the right side, showing off quite a bit of leg, but no one in church would be surprised. This was Amy, after all. She'd paired the dress with the red stilettos she'd worn in her wedding, her gold 'A' necklace, and a matching red clutch. Her long red hair had been tamed into a bun with a braid running across the top of her head.

"I'm just ready to get this over with," Amy admitted. She wetted her lips nervously. "I mean, what if—"

"Amelia, for the thousandth time," Alex cut in, "your parents are not going to realize you gave birth. You literally do not look like you were ever pregnant."

It was true. Amy's stomach was flat as a board. According to Amy, her figure had started shrinking a few days after she gave birth and by the time Alex returned to Leadworth, she was at the same size she'd been at pre-pregnancy. There weren't even stretch marks to indicate the experience. It was like she'd never been pregnant at all. The Doctor had told Alex that this was most likely due to whatever drugs Kovarian and her team had been giving Amy. However it happened, it was a good thing it did. Otherwise, Amy would be fielding a lot of questions from very nosy and gossipy villagers.

"If you say so," Amy said now, though she didn't sound very optimistic.

Pressing another kiss to her forehead, Rory wrapped his arm around Amy's waist and turned her in the direction of the door. "Come on, girls," he said, wrapping his other arm around Alex's shoulders. "Let's get this over with."

~The Pros and Cons of Silence~

St. George's Chapel was crowded, as it always was on a Sunday morning. As Alex pulled her car into the parking lot, she observed several villagers milling about the lawn. Children were playing in the small, wooded area off to the side of the church as their parents kept an eye on them. The older residents of the village stood near the church doors, gossiping about everyone present. The teenagers stood at the edge of the parking lot, doing much the same, though their gossip mostly concerned their peers and the fastly approaching A-Levels.

Augustus and Tabetha, however, stood apart from all the groups. They approached the '56 as Alex put the car in park.

Augustus, as usual, was beaming away. "There's my girl!" he cheered as Amy stepped out of the car and into his open arms.

"Hi, Daddy," Amy greeted, hugging him back.

"And my favorite son-in-law!" Augustus quickly swept Rory into one of those side-arm man hugs. Both clapped each-other on the shoulder.

"Good to see you again, Augustus," Rory smiled as he quickly hugged Tabetha.

Once they pulled back, Tabetha cupped his cheek. "I heard from Dr. Ramsden that you had a bad bout of flu just a few weeks ago," she said worriedly. "Everything okay?"

Rory coughed uncomfortably. "Oh, er, yes, Tabetha. I'm perfectly fine now. Just . . . wasn't feeling well. I'm better now though."

Not a lie, Alex thought. She suspected Rory had done that deliberately. While she, Amy, and Rory had all agreed that no one, not even Augustus and Tabetha, were to know of Melody/River, she knew Rory had too much respect for his in-laws to try and lie to them. And while he hadn't been the dictionary definition of 'sick' that one week, he certainly hadn't been feeling well during that period. He still wasn't 100%, but he was a lot better now.

The answer seemed to satisfy Tabetha. She turned her head and caught sight of Alex. "And Alex!" she exclaimed, pulling her into a hug before Alex could even get a greeting out. "It's so good to see you! You really must come by the house more often! Is that a new dress?"

"New to me," Alex said as she was released from Tabetha's grasp. "Got it the other day from Mrs. Benson's yard sale. It was Kendra's, but she never wore it."

"Of course," Tabetha nodded. A twinkle appeared in her eyes and her lips curved into a smirk. It was a look Alex was quite familiar with; it was the same one Amy got whenever she was being mischievous. "Too much fabric, I suspect."

Alex giggled. "Tabetha, you're wicked!" She glanced across the parking lot to the church steps where Kendra and her family were gathered. Kendra's church attire consisted of a gauzy, white, bell-sleeved dress that just barely covered her bum, black suede knee-high boots, and a matching hat. It was attire that would be more at home in a photo-shoot for Vogue than ten o'clock church services.

"But," Alex added, "not entirely wrong."

Tabetha followed her gaze. She shook her head at Kendra's so-called church clothes. "Honestly," she muttered. "A nice girl at heart, but no common sense. Not a lick."

"Tell me about it," Alex muttered.

Augustus patted her shoulder. "She still giving you trouble at the library?"

Alex smiled ruefully. "Not as much as she was in the beginning, but there's been no improvement either."

"Yes, we heard there was an incident at story-time while you were gone, didn't we, Beth? What was that all about?"

For the next several minutes, Amy, Alex, and Rory updated Augustus and Tabetha on all the Leadworth gossip. Both shook their heads and chuckled inaudibly at the Mummy Laid an Egg incident, Augustus expressed despair at the thought of The Queen's Garters potentially closing (Mrs. Temple had just filed for divorce with a bid for full ownership of the pub), and Tabetha reacted with pity for Elsie Margraves.

"Also a nice girl," she remarked as they walked to the church. "But not much sense, at least not romantically. Are she and Edward still seeing each-other?"

"If they are," Amy said, "they're doing it very quietly. No one's seen them out together."

"Kendra swears she saw them going into the Greenleaf the other night," Alex revealed, "but it was dark and raining then, so who knows?"

"It's not surprising, really," Tabetha mused. "That Edward cheated, I mean. He's always had a wandering eye, especially with the young ladies. Amelia, that lodge party you worked, the one for Morris Tyler's fortieth birthday? Didn't you say Edward tried to cop a feel?"

Amy grimaced. "Yeah," she said, shuddering at the memory. "Claimed he was drunk, but I'm not so sure."

"Of course he wasn't! I told you and Alex at tea the day after, Temple men have always had an unerring ability to hold their grog. Remember that story I told you two about his father and the contest he had with that visiting sailor from Germany?"

"Oh, yeah!" Amy started laughing hysterically. "The sailor bloke had to be carried out and Mr. Temple was still sitting and talking after ten pints!"

Alex shifted awkwardly as Amy and Tabetha continued laughing over the memory. Emphasis on memory. While Amy and Tabetha remembered discussing the Temple men's ability to drink people under the table, Alex did not. She didn't remember drinking tea – or whatever she alternatively drank – with Tabetha, nor whatever they ate.

That was the only problem the Doctor's reboot of the universe had caused. Amy had her parents back and had wonderful memories of camping with her dad in the Highlands, family vacations to Barry Island, shopping for her prom dress with her mom, and so much more. Rory had his own memories of the elder Ponds, such as asking their permission to propose to Amy. But Alex had zero memories of hanging out with Augustus and Tabetha. When the universe rebooted, Alex had no recollection of the new timeline – just the old one.

Sometimes, it wasn't a problem. Amy and Rory were always careful to stick to their old timeline memories around Alex. Rory even admitted to her that he considered that timeline to be the 'proper' one. And when the time called for her to be around Augustus and Tabetha, Amy and Rory shared their memories of the new timeline with her.

As far as Alex could tell, her presence in the new timeline hadn't been significantly affected. She still met Amy and Rory after nearly running them over, promptly moved into Amy's house, and became their best friend. But there were memories of events she didn't have – the elegant tea party Tabetha threw for Amy's bachelorette party, for example. The only bachelorette party Alex remembered was the one Mels organized at the strip club in Gloucester. Then there were the family Christmases where the elder Ponds gave her gifts Alex couldn't remember receiving – a gift certificate to Henrick's, a vintage copy of Le Morte d'Arthur, a tartan scarf in the exact colors of the Docherty clan, and more.

Usually, she could ignore this and play along with Augustus and Tabetha's memories of her. But sometimes, like now, it was difficult playing a part you didn't completely know. It was like someone had only given Alex half of a script and expected her to perform her part flawlessly by that night. She felt confused, worried that she might mess something up and, most importantly, left out.

These weren't things she liked feeling. Thankfully, before she could dwell on them, they were being swept along with the crowd into the church.

St. George's had been built during the later Middle Ages but unlike other churches of that era, it wasn't particularly grandiose. The walls were made of simple white stone that had to be power-washed at least once a year. The ceiling arched into a point and was supported by several thick mahogany beams. There were several windows, but none of them were made of stained-glass. The only extravagant thing in the church was a print that hung in the entryway – Raphael's St. George and the Dragon, specifically the version that hung in the Louvre.

Alex paused to admire it, as she always did when she came here. It was one of her favorite paintings. She liked how the scene it showed was right at the climax of the story – St. George getting ready to deliver the fatal blow on the dragon while the princess, intended as the dragon's lunch, fled in the distance. She loved that Raphael had painted pieces of a broken lance beneath St. George's horse, indicating just how difficult killing the dragon was. Not to mention, but she liked that this specific print hung in the church. It made sense, since St. George was the patron saint of England, and his slaying of the dragon was his best-known story.

"I don't see why you like that so much, Alex," Amy commented when she saw her friend admiring the painting.

"Not everything can be a Van Gogh, Ames," Alex shrugged. This was nothing new. Amy expressed her dislike of the painting every time she set foot in the church.

Amy rolled her eyes. "I know that! I just mean it's not very impressive. Take that dragon. Doesn't look much bigger than a St. Bernard. How it was supposed to devour a princess is beyond me."

"Fair point," Alex conceded, as she always did. The dragon was awfully small. It didn't exactly scream 'terrifying beast with a taste for human flesh'. Still, that didn't detract from her liking of the painting.

Augustus chuckled and shook his head. "Just ignore her, Alex. Amy thinks Van Gogh is the pinnacle of the art world."

"Not disagreeing with her," Alex smiled as they went into the chapel.

The chapel was packed with villagers. Most were still standing around, but a few had already claimed their seats. The Pond-Locke party did this, grabbing the second to last pew in the back of the room. Since most people preferred to sit near the front, this seat offered the group a good vantage point to observe their friends and neighbors.

Kendra and her family had claimed the middle pew in the front row, right in front of the pulpit. Mayor Bascomb and his wife were standing, shaking hands, and generally acting like a traditional politically affluent couple, while Kendra and her parents sat in the pew. Kendra, unsurprisingly, was texting.

Edward Temple sat in the pew behind them. His alleged girlfriend was nowhere in sight. As for his estranged wife and son, Alex spotted them on the other side of the church, sitting in the back pew.

Mrs. Delia sat in the pew directly in front of the Ponds. She was humming contentedly to herself as she worked on her knitting. Her grandson Jeff sat beside her, fiddling with his phone. Since his encounter with the Doctor during the Prisoner Zero debacle, Jeff's life had taken a dramatic turn. He now worked as a computer programmer for the UK Space Agency. He lived in a very posh flat in Wiltshire but came to visit his grandmother on the weekends and his days off.

Michael the ice cream man came in with his parents and older sister. Shannon Darcy and her girlfriend arrived, wearing matching blue dresses. Right behind them came Archie Alden and his elderly parents. Archie looked rather handsome in a cream seersucker suit, pale blue polo, and loafers. His auburn hair had been swept to one side and he'd recently gotten some color. His freckles were all but faded due to his tan.

Alex noticed him looking in her direction and quickly diverted her gaze. After realizing Archie's feelings for her, she'd been careful not to be around him too much. The last few library readings had been difficult but were helped by a mixture of Kendra's bumbling and a sudden influx of sixth-formers preparing for their GCSE's and A-Levels. There'd simply been no time for Archie to try and ask her out again.

Though that won't be the case for long, Alex thought. Testing started this week and then the students would be on summer break, leaving Archie with plenty of free time on his hands. More than enough time for him to seek her out at the library, which was typically empty during those first few weeks of school-sanctioned freedom.

She was pulled out of her thoughts by Amy exclaiming, "Mels! What's she doing here?"

Alex spun round in her seat, eyes automatically narrowing. Sure enough, walking through the entryway was none other than Melody Ukuthula, aka Mels. Like Kendra, Mels wasn't particularly dressed for church either: her outfit consisted of a white tank top, low slung black jeans with more than a few rips in them, dusty black boots, and a black leather vest. Her heavy boots clunked against the floor as she walked, attracting stares and, directly after that, mutters of disapproval.

If she was aware of all the staring and disapproval, Mels ignored it. She merely smirked as she approached the Pond pew. "Amy! Rory!"

Amy sprang up and nearly toppled over her parents in her haste to hug Mels. "Mels! It's great to see you!"

"Likewise." Mels pulled back from the hug and studied Amy critically. "Hmm . . . there's something different about you."

Amy tensed. "Oh, no, there's really not."

Mels shook her head. "No, there really is. Have you lost weight?"

"N-no. That would imply I'd put on weight and needed to lose it . . . which I haven't!"

Seeing that his wife was floundering under Mels' gaze, Rory hastened to step in. "What are you doing here?" he asked as he swept Mels into a hug.

"Following you," Mels shrugged. Her gaze slid past Rory and onto Alex. "And the Southern belle," she added with a sneer.

Alex merely leaned back in the pew, crossing her legs demurely. "You were really that bored, Melody?" She couldn't help but enjoy the way Mels' lips pursed at the use of her full name. If there was one thing in this world Mels hated more than Alex, it was her full first name. "I didn't think you had a lot of time on your hands with your new job." Mels had recently started work as a management consultant for Magpie Electricals, an electronics company looking to expand its business outside the British Isles. "Unless . . . don't tell me they fired you already?"

"Of course not, Ally," Mels retorted. "In fact, a brand-new store is opening in Paris next month, thanks to me."

"Well," Alex shrugged. "You know what they say: 'every dog has her day'."

Mels' eyes widened at the hidden insult. But before she could retort, Augustus jumped in. "Easy, girls," he chuckled uncomfortably. "We are in church after all."

"I'll behave if she does," Alex said, glaring at Mels.

Mels matched the glare right back. "Touché."

"So, Mels!" Tabetha cried with heavily forced cheer. "Are you here to worship today?"

Mels sat down between Rory and Alex, literally forcing Alex aside in the process. Alex grumbled something in Spanish, but otherwise gave no indication that Mels' action had annoyed her. "Oh, you know, I'm not Protestant, but church is a good place to see and catch up with old friends." Mels gave Tabetha an innocent smile.

Not that it worked. Tabetha merely nodded absently. "Yes, that's true, but I'm sure you could find the service interesting, even with your different religion." Whenever questioned about her religious beliefs, Mels claimed to believe in the traditional religion of the Zulu, from which she was descended. It was a claim Alex had always found dubious. Then again, she found most things dubious when it came to Mels. "Why, Alex is a Catholic, yet she comes here at least once a month!"

Mels gritted her teeth. Honestly, why did this keep happening?! She was always being compared to Alex.

Oh, Mels, why can't you hold down a job like Alex? She's been at the library for about three years now!

Mels, why aren't you as nice as Alex? Such a sweet girl, why, she helped Mrs. Delia the other day with her rose bushes!

Oh, Mels, why can't you be a nice, law-abiding citizen like Alex Locke? She never gets in trouble! Oh, Mels, Alex Locke may have had a bit of a lead foot when she first came here, but she's not like that now. And she's certainly never stolen a bus!

She was absolutely sick of it.

Sure, Alex may have a steady job, helped the elderly plant their rosebushes, and coaxed Maddie Hayworth's cat out of a tree, but she wasn't a bloody saint. Mels had no idea why all of Leadworth had cast Alex in the role of an angel and Mels herself as the devil. Whatever the reason, it wasn't fair.

It also didn't help that Amy and Rory barely did anything about it. In fact, they were always on her case too! Why couldn't she act more like Alex, behave like Alex? For the love of God, if it were humanly possible, they would probably ask her why she didn't just physically transform into a copy of Alex!

It hadn't always been like this. In the good old days, she, Amy, and Rory were a tight niche. Sure, they sometimes scolded her about some of the pranks she pulled and the shenanigans she got into, but nothing like they did after Alex showed up. After meeting the perfect little Southern belle, Amy and Rory had gotten a lot harsher on her. They were no longer tolerant or even mildly amused of her antics; now they wondered why she couldn't grow the hell up and act like an upstanding citizen.

An upstanding citizen like Alex.

Now, Mels was pushed to the side. Alex had taken her place. The worst part of it was that she had done it so effortlessly. It was like sliding a puzzle piece into place, something so simple that you didn't really think about how significant an act it was. But Alex had done it and was now reaping the benefits; Amy and Rory's undivided attention, the love and approval of their parents, everything that Mels had sought to obtain when she became Amy and Rory's friend.

She wasn't sure how yet but somehow, someday, Alex would pay for what she'd stolen from her.

"Oh, I imagine there's a few fundamental differences between Protestantism and the Zulu religion," Alex remarked. "It's rather different compared to Protestantism and Catholicism. Besides, I'm used to it. I went to a Baptist church back in Bristol. That was all we had."

Mels rolled her eyes. Even when Alex disliked her, she had to try and help her as well. Another thing people loved about her.

Thankfully, before anyone could further discuss the differences between various types of religion, the service started. Everyone stood to sing 'Praise God, From Whom All Blessings Flow'. Split seconds after Gladys Norwell, the church's aging piano player, struck the final note, Reverend Jeffries began to preach.

Reverend Jacob Jeffries was in his mid-forties with a heavily grizzled face. He stood at over six feet tall, towering over the little pulpit. Despite his tall height, his frame was rather skinny, a side-effect of the chemo and radiation he'd undergone little more than a year ago for (thankfully) benign squamous-cell carcinoma of the neck. Not that anyone would have ever known he'd had cancer in that area based on his voice. Reverend Jeffries' voice was big and booming, easily reaching everyone in the church. It reminded Alex of Brother Mark at Bristol Baptist; his voice was powerful too. It was probably a requirement for clergymen. They had to make sure everyone in the congregation could hear them, as well as ensure that no one fell asleep . . . as Mels seemed to be doing now.

Today's sermon was on passion, specifically how to go about having proper, Protestantism-condoned romantic passion while also making sure you retained passion for the Lord.

"As Romans 12: 10-11 says," Reverend Jeffries thundered, "'Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves. Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord'."

Alex smiled to herself. Reverend Jeffries and the Bible probably wouldn't condone how she and the Doctor undertook passion in their relationship. Religion wasn't even a faint thought in their heads, unless you counted the desire to worship the other's body over several days in bed.

"Hey, Ally, why you so red?" Mels hissed in her ear. She smirked. "Not thinking impure thoughts, are you?"

Alex's already crimson cheeks flushed. "Of course not," she whispered. "It's a bit stuffy in here, is all. Now, hush." She fixed her gaze on Reverend Jeffries and did her best to block out Mels' sniggering.

Alex probably could have gotten back into the sermon and away from her naughty thoughts about the Doctor, except for the fact that Reverend Jeffries took a sharp turn and started going into improper examples of passion within Christianity; specifically, Jezebel.

Alex rolled her eyes and nearly groaned at Jeffries' comparison of Jezebel to women who did not abide themselves to passion within marriage. Honestly! she thought. Jezebel was only trying to make sure her religion was the one the Israelites practiced! There's absolutely no mention of her being unfaithful to her husband! Vain, spoiled, controlling, and willing to lie and murder to further her cause, yes, but nothing about promiscuity!

Alex surveyed the congregation. Several members of the older generation were nodding along to every one of Reverend Jeffries' words. Augustus and Tabetha and several of their generation were listening, though not really registering what was being said. Amy and Rory looked rather bored, Mels was dozing again, Kendra was surreptitiously texting, Shannon Darcy and her girlfriend had their heads together, presumably whispering sweet-nothings to each-other, and Archie. . . Archie looked physically pained.

It took a moment for Alex to figure out why. Archie and his parents were sitting in the back and mostly had their pew to themselves. The only other person sitting there was Elsie Margraves . . . and her face was completely pale. She was wringing her hands and kept shifting like she wanted to get up and run for the door.

Alex looked back at Reverend Jeffries. He was still going on about 'loose women' and that, like Jezebel, those who did up their face and wore finery were no better than the painted women also portrayed in the Bible. She turned again to Elsie. Elsie was a very pretty girl with long, wavy black hair, big blue eyes, and a buxom chest. Her looks were further emphasized by her carefully made-up face. Today, she had winged eyeliner Alex would kill to learn how to do and her lips were a bright crimson color that served to compliment her pale complexion, rather than heighten it.

Alex started to frown. Reverend Jeffries was well-known for living his life as close to the standards presented in the Bible as possible. It wouldn't be unexpected of him to have heard about and deeply disapprove of Elsie's relationship with Edward Temple. And, as so many had done over the centuries, it also wouldn't be unexpected of him to condemn the woman and ignore the man.

At that point, Alex tuned out the sermon completely. It was a whole bunch of bullshit, anyway. Something she and the Doctor agreed on when it came to religion was that they hated when people twisted it around to try and justify their own backwards beliefs or evil acts such as murder and child abuse. Just what Reverend Jeffries was doing now.

Alex instead considered the topic of the sermon: passion. While she didn't really have that towards an almighty God, she did have it in spades with the Doctor. She struggled to control the blood flow to her cheeks (didn't the Doctor say he could control that?) as she remembered his salacious comment this morning and how they almost consummated their relationship before Amy's phone call lured her back to Leadworth.

If he were here, we'd have already had sex now, she mused. It was rather exhilarating and made Alex's hearts pound. She had enjoyed sex in her past relationships – usually considering it a gigantic plus – but never as much as she enjoyed the mere possibility of it with the Doctor. Yet another thing that was different with him.

Her musing and attempts not to daydream about various scenarios that all ended in her and the Doctor finally shagging kept Alex occupied through the rest of the sermon. Once Reverend Jeffries finished, the collection plate was passed around, the congregation sang 'Jesus, Lover of My Soul', did a final prayer, and then church was over.

~The Pros and Cons of Silence~

For the next fifteen minutes afterwards, Alex was forced to socialize with the rest of the congregation. She pointedly ignored Reverend Jeffries' attempts to talk to her, instead engaging his eighteen-year-old daughter Grace in conversation, asking about her rapidly approaching A-Levels and what she intended to do during the summer. Based on the way Grace kept looking at one of the Donaldson triplets, she intended on spending a lot of time with the boyfriend her father knew nothing about.

Alex also kept a close eye on Amy and Rory. This was the Ponds' first social outing in a while, and she was incredibly curious/worried to see how they would do. Fortunately, Amy's anxiety at anyone suspecting she'd undergone pregnancy faded with each new greeting and Rory got really into making up the different adventures they'd all gotten into during their time in America. Alex managed to overhear something about crashing a wedding at a Vegas casino and seeing Harrison Ford outside Grauman's Chinese Theatre.

Finally though, they were able to head to brunch. Mels was invited but she must have sensed the half-heartedness in Tabetha's tone because she declined. She didn't even stick around to talk to anyone after the service, merely got in her Mini Cooper and sped out of the parking lot.

Now, the Pond-Locke party sat at a large round table in one of Leadworth's more upscale dining establishments. The Greenleaf Tavern was one of the village's older buildings, dating back to the Victorian Era. According to Amy and Rory, the building was once a private residence, then a medical hospital during the two world wars, then for a brief time a public house, until finally reaching its current incarnation: Leadworth's answer to a four-star hotel and restaurant.

"Cheers!" Augustus proclaimed, holding out his mimosa glass.

Everyone else immediately followed suit. "Cheers!" they cried as they clinked their glasses together.

Alex leaned back in her chair and took a long sip of mimosa as Augustus and Tabetha started updating Amy on all her various relatives. Instead of listening to the fishing exploits of Amy's uncle Mark, she instead admired her surroundings.

The Greenleaf Tavern's sunroom was the main dining room and for good reason – it was the most beautiful room in the tavern, at least in her opinion. The walls had been painted a delicate shade of tangerine that seemed to positively shine when hit by all the sunlight. The floor was a gorgeous white and blue patterned tile that had reportedly been specially ordered from China. All of the furniture was wicker, and plants in all shapes, sizes and varieties surrounded the diners, creating a somewhat exotic yet still very posh atmosphere.

Wonder if I could get the Doctor to take me here on a date, she mused. Alex had no doubt the Doctor would bend over backwards to please her, especially if she requested a specific place to take her, although she doubted he would enjoy the rather stuffy, refined atmosphere of the Greenleaf. Maybe The Queen's Garters for a pint? Assuming it's still here in a few months.

For the first half of brunch, things were fine. Amy and her parents happily chatted about her various relatives while Alex and Rory occupied themselves to mimosas and complimentary poppy seed bagels and cream cheese. Once everyone's food was served, conversation ranged from Amy, Rory, and Alex's supposed trip to America (Alex actually impressed herself with her easy lie about window shopping on Rodeo Drive) to comments on the sermon (everyone was in agreement that it had been directed towards poor Elsie Margraves) and plans for the rest of the summer (Augustus and Tabetha were thinking about taking a holiday to Paris in August).

It was just what Alex had told the Doctor would occur. Until it wasn't.

It was as they were eating a dessert of cinnamon rolls that Tabetha turned to Amy and Rory and said, "Now, I don't want you two to think I'm pressuring you, but I was just wondering. When do you plan on making me a grandmother?"

Amy and Rory froze. Alex, in the process of lifting her mimosa glass to her lips, abruptly dropped it.

"Shit!" she exclaimed, jumping from her seat as the glass shattered against the beautiful tile.

Rory seized on the distraction she'd inadvertently provided. "Oh, I'll get someone to clean that up," he babbled as he practically launched himself out of his chair. "Just, just stay there, Alex, I'll get it."

"Oh, Rory, don't be silly," Tabetha laughed. "A waiter will come and get it—"

But Rory had already vanished from sight.

Alex slowly sank back into her seat. Just to have something to do, she grabbed another cinnamon roll and started devouring it. Anything to distract her from the train-wreck unfolding in front of her.

Amy fiddled with the napkin in her lap. "Um, Mum, why are you asking?" Her voice came out slightly shaky, not that Augustus or Tabetha noticed.

"Well, it's coming up on a year. Like I said, Amelia, I'm not trying to pressure you or anything, but your father and I had you in less than a year—"

"TMI," Alex muttered through a harsh bite of cinnamon roll.

". . .we just began wondering. Besides, a little Amy or Rory running around the place would be so cute, don't you think?"

Amy swallowed thickly. "Very."

"And you want to make Alex a godmother, don't you?" Augustus chuckled. "Gotta keep her in the family somehow!"

Amy and Alex exchanged a look, remembering all too well that Alex was a godmother now. She was already irrevocably tied to the Pond-Williams family.

"Oh, yes!" Tabetha exclaimed with a little clap of her hands. "Oh, Alex, you would make such a wonderful godmother. I must insist she be that, Amelia." She dropped her voice to murmur, "Not Melody. Too wild, that one."

Amy took a shuddering breath at the utterance of her daughter's name. "Y-yes." She hurriedly blinked away burgeoning tears. "Rory and I are in agreement on that."

Alex couldn't stand watching Amy suffer anymore. "But I'm not gonna be a godmother for a while," she cut in. She gave the elder Ponds her sweetest smile, the one that charmed practically everyone. "Things were a bit different for your generation, I'm sure."

"Oh, very," Augustus chuckled.

"Well, it's like that now. Our generation likes to have fun, not be tied down to too many responsibilities. Rory's already got his nursing job and he's plenty busy with that."

"Yes!" Amy cried, pouncing on the convenient excuse. "It's just . . . not practical to have a baby right now."

Alex nodded firmly. "Precisely. Amy and Rory already have responsibilities and, like you said, Tabetha, it's only been about a year since they married. They're still enjoying having themselves to themselves." She forced a chuckle. "Gets a bit difficult when a baby comes along."

"Very true," Tabetha nodded sagely.

"So, I don't think we'll be getting any Amy or Rory Jrs. any time soon."

When her parents looked to her for confirmation, Amy gave a short tilt of the head. "Right," she murmured.

Tabetha shrugged. "Oh, well, I'm sorry, Amy, but I had to ask. Of course, I also wonder if you and Rory have discussed the subject of children in depth—"

"Speaking of Rory!" Alex shrieked. She coughed, willing her voice to do away with the hysterics. "Where is he? He should've been back by now."

Augustus frowned. "That's right. . ." He craned his head and peered around the crowded sunroom. "Wonder where he's got off to."

Alex hastily stood, being careful to avoid bits of broken glass and spilled mimosa. "I'll go and find him. Probably got stuck waiting for a waiter that wasn't busy. Hey, Ames, why don't you tell your parents about that new bookstore Kendra's cousin is opening?" She shot Augustus and Tabetha another sweet smile. "It's all I've been hearing about at the library for the last few weeks. Kendra's convinced she's going to get a job there." Without another word, she sped away from the table.

Alex only came to a halt once she reached the front hall of the tavern. With a weary sigh, she collapsed against the door to the coat room.

Goddammit to hell, she thought. Why the hell didn't I consider the baby question?! Of course people were going to be quizzing Amy and Rory on when they'd start producing children, especially the grandparents of those potential children. Alex hadn't thought it would be a mere year after the wedding but then again, plenty of couples had children shortly after getting married. It was plenty common back in Bristol. The summer after her senior year, Alex had attended no less than five gender reveal parties thrown by members of her graduating class.

Alex closed her eyes and shook her head. And to think Amy's biggest worry was that people would know she'd given birth! Her friends had been doing so well recovering from the trauma of Demons Run and now it had all been dredged back up again.

Just as she was wondering how the hell she would help the Ponds recover from this, someone tapped her on the shoulder. Alex jumped and let out a squeal.

"Whoa!" a voice cried. "Sorry, Alex, didn't mean to startle you."

Alex turned and found herself looking into the hazel eyes of Archie Alden.

Aw, shit, just what I needed on top of everything else! Alex adopted a sweet smile, though not quite as sweet as the ones she'd given Augustus and Tabetha. "Archie, hi. I didn't know you were here. With your parents?"

Archie gave her one of his signature brilliant grins. "Yeah, can't dine in the sunroom 'cause of, you know, the allergies. And yes, Mum and Dad are here. They love coming here after church."

"I imagine it's the only time they get to come out and interact with everyone." Archie's parents were well into their seventies and were residents of the local nursing home.

"Yeah, unfortunately. The rest of the week, they're dealing with shuffleboard tournaments and arguing with Mrs. Poggit for control of the TV."

Alex smiled politely. "Well, good on you for taking them out. Now, I really hate to ditch you, Archie, but I was actually looking for Rory." She made to step around him, but Archie blocked her path.

"Oh, yeah, Rory stopped at my table. He asked me to locate a waiter for you guys, said you dropped your glass." Alex glanced back into the sunroom. Sure enough, a waiter was kneeling on the floor beside the Pond table, carefully picking up pieces of glass with a napkin.

Alex slowly turned back to Archie. "Ah, well, that was nice of you."

"Oh, please," Archie scoffed with a wave of his hand. "Anyone would've done it."

Maybe, but someone with a crush on me definitely would!

"Anyway, I'm glad I saw you, Alex. I've been trying to talk to you for the last few weeks, but you've just been so busy."

"Oh, really?" Alex laughed lightly, but on the inside, she was panicking. Please, please, please let some kind of alien invasion start so I don't have to have this conversation!

Unfortunately, no spaceships crashed into the Greenleaf, no one started screaming, nor did the sounds of intergalactic gunfire ring out. The only sounds Alex could hear were laughing and talking from other diners and the rattle of cutlery.

"Yeah, not that I blame you though!" Archie added hastily. "I mean, I've been plenty busy, too. But this is something I've been wanting to ask you for a while now and seeing you now, I thought, 'no better time'."

Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit. Alex closed her eyes and raked a hand through her hair. There was no getting out of this. She would just have to let Archie ask her out, then let him down gently. "Okay, Archie, what is it you want to ask me?"

"Well, Alex, I was wondering whether you would like to. . ."

Here it comes, here it comes, here it comes.

". . .audition for the summer play?"

Wait. What?

Alex blinked. He wasn't asking her out? "Sorry, what?"

Archie sheepishly ran a hand through his hair. "I was hoping you might like to audition for the summer play. I know you're not a member of the dramatic society and you're probably already plenty busy with the library and Kendra, so you have every right to say no—"

Alex held up a hand to stop his babbling. "Why are you asking me, Archie? Like you said, I'm not in the dramatic society."

"Well. . ." Archie shifted uncomfortably. "I'm sure you've noticed that our society is, well, not exactly. . ."

"I get it," Alex said quickly. It was a sore subject for Archie that the amateur dramatics society he had personally created and organized was considered a laughingstock by the rest of the village. Amy hadn't been exaggerating in the Leadworth reality created by the Dream Lord – the dramatic society was bad, plain and simple. Alex had been forced to come to that same conclusion after watching their spring production of The Music Man. Mangled lines, Harold tripping over Marian not once, but five times during the 'Marian the Librarian' scene, having to wait almost five minutes for what was supposed to be a one minute quick-change . . . the list went on and on. Alex had left after the first act.

"Well, I'm trying to make it not like that. I've been recruiting some people who I think will make this production a good one. And I immediately thought of you." He grinned at her. "You're a great actress, Alex."

"Oh, come on, Archie, you can't tell that by my telling you what plays I was in in high school—"

"I saw the YouTube video of your production of Romeo and Juliet." Alex had forgotten that play had been posted online. Bree's mother had filmed opening night and posted it online soon after, utterly thrilled by the fact that she'd managed to get her daughter to join the drama club and that she'd subsequently gotten the part of the Nurse.

"Your Juliet was incredible," Archie continued, his words bleeding in admiration. "I've never seen an interpretation of Juliet that plays hard-to-get with Romeo."

Alex couldn't help but smile. Juliet Capulet was one of her favorite (if not the favorite) roles she'd ever played. Her uncharacteristic interpretation of Juliet as someone who initially rejects Romeo's advances and subsequently makes him work to earn her affection raised a few eyebrows during rehearsals but paid off on opening night. "Well," Alex shrugged, attempting to feign modesty, "it's all there in the lines. You just have to look for it."

"And the death scene!" Archie enthused. "I've seen a lot of actors make it so melodramatic, but you didn't."

Alex vividly recalled struggling with that death scene. She'd wanted to make it seem like Juliet's death was an inevitability, that despite how hard she and Romeo tried, they could never be together in life. She wanted to portray Juliet's frustration with the outcome, as well as her slowly dawning realization that she could still be with Romeo – but at a fatal price. She didn't want to portray Juliet's death as some hastily conceived notion by a hormonal thirteen-year-old girl, but as an acceptance that this was the way things were meant to be. Juliet matured so much over the course of the play – she had to be mature at her death as well.

"I did try. I wanted to make her mature in those final moments, you know? Obviously, she's frustrated with how things have worked out so far and she just wants to have her happy ending. Then she realizes she can have it."

"But not the way she initially thought," Archie finished, nodding along.

Alex grinned. "Exactly! Are you thinking I'll make a good Juliet again?"

Archie chuckled. "No, sorry, Miss Capulet. I've got quite the different play in mind."

Alex waited for him to tell her what it was, but Archie remained silent. Damn it, I hate when people don't tell me things! "What is it?" she demanded, resisting the urge to bounce up and down in impatience. After all, this wasn't the Doctor she was talking to.

Archie bit his lip. Was he . . . nervous to tell her? "The Importance of Being Earnest."

Alex's eyes widened. "Really?" she exclaimed, her jaw dropping.

"Y-yes. Um, you may not have heard of it—"

"Of course I've heard of it! It's one of my favorite plays!"

Archie's nervous countenance faded away. "Really? I didn't know that!"

"Oh, yes!" Alex nodded firmly. "Before I had to leave Octavian, we read it in my British Literature class. Let me tell you, I enjoyed it so much more than Beowulf."

"As someone who's had to study that poem, I don't blame you." Archie stared at her, his eyes full of expectation and a tinge of nerves. "So . . . can I put you down for auditions?"

Alex didn't give her answer a second thought. "Yes."

~The Pros and Cons of Silence~

"It was so awkward," Alex said later to the Doctor. She pressed her Blackberry tighter against her ear and stared out her bedroom window. Shortly after returning home, the weather had taken a sudden turn for the worst. At the moment, the sky was completely dark. Thunder rumbled ominously in the distance. "I mean, Rory practically threw himself out of the chair and Amy was trying not to cry the whole time."

The Doctor sighed. "Yes, I can't see how they could have been prepared for such questions. It's a bit early to start thinking about children, isn't it?"

"You would think." Alex fell back against the pillows on her bed. "Thankfully, they seemed to take the whole 'we're not having kids yet' thing pretty well."

"Are Amy and Rory ever going to tell them about River?"

"Originally? No, but I think they're discussing it now." Alex glanced up at the ceiling, as though in doing so she would be able to hear the conversation that had been going on since they all came home two hours ago.

"Really?" The Doctor sounded surprised. "I mean, I know the conversation is bound to be a bit strange, but since they know about time travel—"

"Actually, they don't," Alex cut in. "Um, no one in Leadworth really knows."

She could easily picture the Doctor blinking incoherently on the other end. "They don't? But, I would've thought, after my appearance at the wedding. . ."

Alex sighed. This was a bit of a tricky subject and she had hoped she wouldn't have to discuss it with the Doctor. "Yes, well, again, you would think. The thing is, Doctor . . . well, in Leadworth, your name is kind of . . . taboo."

He was silent for a long moment. "Taboo?"

"Er, yes. It's just that everyone was convinced you were a product of Amy's overactive imagination for so long and then it turned out you weren't and now, well, it's just difficult for them to process and talk about. They don't really want to deal with the fact that Amy really did meet a time-traveling alien that one night."

There came a slightly exasperated snort. "I think I see now. A bunch of humans who, despite all evidence pointing directly at it, can't openly admit that there are such things as aliens?"

"Well . . . yes. But it's not everyone though!" Alex hastened to add. "Kendra asks about you all the time!"

"I'm not sure how to feel about that."

"Feel flattered, Doc. She's completely jealous of the fact that you're my boyfriend." Ugh, there's that word again. Really gotta come up with something else. "But, back to subject. It's especially difficult for Amy's parents since they thought you were imaginary and sent Amy to all those psychiatrists. Then you came to the wedding and, well, I guess it was just pretty awkward for them. Didn't know how to respond so they didn't say or ask anything."

"And they know nothing of the time and space travel part?"

Alex shook her head, even though she knew he couldn't see her. "No, sorry, Doc. They've never asked, and Amy's never volunteered. It's this big elephant in the room that they refuse to acknowledge, that everyone here does."

"Are the Ponds aware of this?"

"They are. They told everyone they were going to Thailand for their honeymoon because of it and that I was going with them." Alex snorted. "That got the gossip mill running."

"What? Why?"

Alex chuckled. "Oh, some of the town elders and a few of Amy and Rory's old classmates think I'm in some kind of triad relationship with them."

"What?!" The Doctor was indignant. "Whose going around saying stuff like that?! Alex, please tell me no one's ever accused you of that to your face!"

"Calm down, Doc." Alex couldn't help but giggle. "No one's said that to me, but people who don't believe it have told me about it. It's kind of funny, actually."

"It's still disrespectful to you," the Doctor grumbled. "And to the Ponds."

"Maybe, but none of us care. Amy and Rory think it's hilarious and so do I. The idea that people think a girl can't go with her two married friends on their honeymoon and have it all be platonic and best friend-y is a bit funny. There just has to be something scandalous going on. . . I mean, come on, can't you see how ridiculous that is?"

"Yes," he said, somewhat reluctantly.

Alex knew he was still outraged over the gossip. "How about this? If someone does say that to my face, or the next time I hear about someone spreading it around, I'll tell you and let you punch them in the face?"

His beam practically traveled through the speakers. "Deal!"

"It's a deal then," Alex laughed. "So, anyway, getting back to point. Amy's parents have absolutely no knowledge of time or space travel. If Amy and Rory do decide to tell them about Melody/River, they're gonna have to cover the traveling first." She groaned as a sudden thought came to her. "And I'm probably gonna have to be there to help." That's gonna be an awkward conversation.

"Well, if they do decide to tell them, I suppose I could . . . come and assist." The reluctance to do so was clear in his voice. Either he was trying to hide it and failing miserably, or he was purposefully expressing his feelings on the prospect. Alex suspected it to be a mixture of the two.

"I thought you didn't like dealing with companions' families?" The Doctor had told her about his interaction with Jackie Tyler shortly after bringing Rose home a year late, as well as how he hadn't gotten along with Martha's mother (the Doctor hadn't elaborated, but Alex suspected there was quite the story behind it) or Donna Noble's. The way he avoided Amy's parents like the plague at the wedding suddenly made much more sense.

"I don't, usually. But, in this case . . . well, I am basically family now, right? I'm Melody . . . River's godfather, so it's not like I can stay out of it, right?" He took a deep breath. "So, basically, if you need me there and/or if the Ponds want me there, I'll be. There, I mean."

A slow smile stretched across Alex's face. Good lord, she thought she couldn't love this man any more than she already did, but then he goes and says something like that. . .

"You're definitely family, Doc," she murmured softly. "And not just to me, you know. I know Amy and Rory agree. I'll mention it to them, okay?"

"Okay," he said softly. "Now . . . wanna talk about something more pleasant?"

Alex giggled. "Please."

"Alright then. Let's see. . . Oh! I know!" Suddenly, his voice lowered into that sinful tone she loved. "What are you wearing, Ally?"

A shiver ran down Alex's spine. "Hate to disappoint, Doc," she said, her voice slightly breathy, "but I didn't dress for the occasion."

He made some kind of strangled coughing sound. "Y-you mean, y-you're not . . . right now?!"

"What? No!" Alex rolled her eyes. "I'm dressed, you dork. What I meant was that I'm not wearing anything like fancy Parisian lingerie or fishnets or stilettos, stuff like that."

"Ah." He didn't bother to hide his disappointment. Alex figured it was over the fact that she was clothed and not because she wasn't wearing a negligee or anything like that. She'd never understood the appeal of such things. You only wore them for a few minutes, and they often ended up getting torn off your body (at least that's what happened in romance novels) so they were ultimately rendered useless.

But maybe the Doctor would like to see me in one? Another shiver ran down her spine and her brain started searching its mental Rolodex for the closest lingerie shops.

She was pulled out of her plotting by the Doctor asking, "So what are you wearing, Ally?"

"Black long-sleeved Aeropostale – that's a store – sweatshirt, black leggings, and white socks."

"And your necklace and ring?"

Alex spun her parents' melded together wedding bands on her finger. "Both on," she affirmed. "As usual."

"Ah, I see. Somewhat literally. You see, I've been trying to visualize you when we talk. Sounds strange, I know—"

"Not at all! I mean, to be honest. . ." She bit her lip. "I do that too, sometimes. Well, actually, all the time. Visualize you. So, you see, it's . . . not really that strange."

"That's good," he said through a sigh of relief. "I mean, well, I miss . . . seeing you all the time."

Alex blinked back the sudden tears in her eyes. "I miss seeing you too, Doc." Another thing she never thought she'd say or feel. In the past, she could go days without seeing her boyfriends and never spare them more than a passing thought. But now, with the Doctor, she wanted him with her at all times. The stretch of time until late August seemed vast and unbearable. "I wish . . . I wish you were here."

He let out a long, wistful breath. "Oh, Ally," he murmured mournfully. "I wish I was there, too." But they both knew he couldn't be. He had to look for Melody. He owed it to Amy, Rory, and the goddaughter he'd known for all of half an hour.

Alex hastened to change the subject. How did they go from him asking what she was wearing to them expressing how much they missed each-other? They were supposed to be talking about happy things! "Hey, did I tell you that I'm going to be auditioning for a play?"

"What? No, you didn't! Alex, that's amazing! What play?"

"One of my favorites." Alex picked up her copy of the famous play. She'd gotten it second-hand at the Octavian bookstore. It was one of only a few books she'd kept after getting kicked out. "The Importance of Being Earnest."

"Oh, that's a brilliant play!" He sounded so genuinely happy for her that it made Alex start to tear up again. "Saw it on opening night, in fact. I loved it so much I went back twice!"

"Can we make it a third time, please? I'd love to see it in its original opening, as well as meet Oscar Wilde."

He chuckled. "Of course, love. We'll do that as our first date night when I see you again. Though I hope you know that Oscar's not really known for being a ladies' man."

"I know that!" Alex said with an eye roll. "Are you saying that he's likely to flirt with you?"

"More definitely than likely. I've met him before. Fortunately, I introduced him to Alf and was able to get him off my back."

Alex assumed that 'Alf' referred to Lord Alfred Douglas. "Ah, well, I'll try to control my jealous tendencies. That is, I'm guessing, why you're warning me?"

"Got it in one. Though I must admit, seeing you so jealous is rather. . ."

"A turn-on?" Alex smirked.

"Got it in one, again."

"Pleased to hear it."

He chuckled and went back on topic. "So how did it come about? I don't recall you being a member of the Leadworth dramatics society."

"No, I'm not. But Archie asked me today. Apparently, he saw a video of me doing Romeo and Juliet—" Alex cut herself off at the sound of the Doctor's low growl. "Now don't be jealous. It's not a date or anything."

"Not to you, but does he know that?"

"It's just a play," Alex said firmly. She had reached the conclusion that Archie wasn't romantically interested in her. Kendra was once again being overdramatic. Archie had only wanted to talk to her to ask her about auditioning for his new production. Nothing more, nothing less. "We'll be co-stars, nothing more. We might go out to the pub a few times with the whole cast, but it's just a play."

The Doctor let out a sigh that indicated he wasn't entirely happy about this, but ultimately agreed to her declarations.

A few minutes later, they hung up, once again with their traditional 'I love you's'. Alex tossed her phone to the end of her bed and looked out the window. The storm had rolled in. Rain pelted angrily against the glass and by the looks of it, the wind was ferocious. The trees in the front yard were swinging back and forth. Alex just hoped a branch didn't fly into the telephone wires again. The last time that happened, the whole village was out of power for two days as they waited for someone in Gloucester to come and fix it.

Her stomach growled. Alex groaned. Despite the fact that she'd had so much food at brunch, she was hungry again.

She was just stepping into the kitchen to search for a snack when the doorbell rang. Alex blinked. Who on earth would be on their doorstep in the middle of a storm?

It was the postman and he looked none too happy about being there. "Package for you," he said brusquely, thrusting a large box into Alex's arms.

Alex attempted to sign her name on his clipboard while still holding the box. "I'm sorry, it couldn't have waited until tomorrow?"

A gust of wind threatened to blow the postman's hat off. He clapped both hands to it and growled under his breath. "No," he scowled. "Person paid extra to make sure it was delivered as soon as it got to us."

Alex's breath hitched. No one she knew would pay extra for that. Except for one person. . .

The moment she signed his clipboard, the postman fled back to his car, muttering foul things about the rain, wind, and special deliveries in the middle of a storm on a Sunday all the way. Abandoning her food search, Alex set the box on the kitchen table.

There was a myriad of postage stamps on the box, but Alex was able to determine that the package originally came from France, specifically from the Shakespeare and Company bookstore in Paris. I told the Doctor just yesterday I want to go to there.

She wasted no time in tearing the package open. The contents made her gasp, laugh, then tear up.

It was the Outlander series. There were seven books in total, with the very first one, Outlander, on top. Resting on it was a note stamped with the official Shakespeare and Co. logo.

Hello, love.

Since you decided on Outlander, I decided to go ahead and get the books for you. Don't protest – this is what boyfriends (as much as I detest that word) are supposed to do, right? I figured you wouldn't have the time to do so today, so I thought I'd go ahead and handle it for you.

Hope you enjoy, Ally. Try not to drool too much over this Jamie character.

Love,

The Doctor

Alex grinned. God, he was so thoughtful and considerate. She definitely loved him even more now.

She carted the box to her room and set Outlander on her nightstand. She admired the bold blue cover for a few moments before grabbing her phone and pulling up a text draft.

Hey, Doc. Thanks for the books (and you really shouldn't have!)

She was about to send it when her finger paused over the button. Alex couldn't help remembering their conversation about missing seeing each-other in person. Suddenly, it hit her. "Dear God, why didn't I think of that before?" she muttered as she hastily pulled up the camera function.

Alex tried not to think too much about how she looked as she took the photo. The Doctor had seen her in pajamas for God's sake! He'd even seen her in the mornings after they shared a bed, when her hair was all messy and she had morning breath.

She studied the photo. She was smiling away, teeth nice and bright, hair smooth and shiny. Perfect by all accounts, but she was still self-conscious.

Alex shook her head and placed the photo in her text draft. Honestly, she was never self-conscious about her looks! Being in a relationship with the Doctor shouldn't change that. She wrote out her text beneath the selfie.

Hey, Doc. Thanks for the books (and you really shouldn't have!)

Hope you enjoy the picture. It's not the same as being with you physically, but it's a nice substitute, right?

Alex was surprised when she got a reply only a minute later. She had no idea the Doctor knew how to text.

You're very welcome, Ally (and yes, I should have!)

'Enjoy' isn't the right word. 'Adore' might be better. You're right, it's a nice substitute. Still, nothing can compete with the real thing, but feel free to try.

Since I didn't want you to feel left out. . .

Beneath the text was a photo of the Doctor. The photo itself was slightly grainy (presumably because Martha's cell phone was an older model) but Alex didn't care. Her eyes all but devoured the image of the Doctor in the console room jumpseat. His tweed jacket was nowhere in sight and the sight of his shirtsleeves made Alex swallow thickly and caused a swoop of heat to develop in her stomach. He was giving the camera a close-lipped smile, but his emerald eyes were twinkling in mirth.

Alex beamed as she sent her reply.

I DEFINITELY don't feel left out! Thank you, dear. Almost forgot how handsome you are. :*

Almost forgot? How horrid! Mustn't let that happen. And what does :* mean?

Means I'm blowing you a kiss, Doc.

Oh. In that case :* back atcha.

You're such a dork. I love you. :*

You know you love it, Ally. Love you too. :*

~The Pros and Cons of Silence~

Half an hour later, the storm continuing to rumble overhead, Alex was plugged into her laptop. She was watching the 2002 film version of The Importance of Being Earnest. Since she was about to audition for the play, she figured she ought to re-familiarize herself with the material. That and she just loved this movie. Colin Firth as Ernest was such a good acting choice and Reese Witherspoon was surprisingly good as Cecily.

She had just gotten to the part where Cecily meets Algernon for the first time when there came a knock at her door. Knowing what that meant, Alex quickly paused the movie. "Come in."

Amy and Rory entered. Both were carrying spoons and pints of ice cream; Amy pralines and cream, Rory plain vanilla and Alex's regular milk and cookies.

"Oh, dear," Alex murmured, shutting the laptop. "Are we eating ice cream to celebrate or because we're all depressed?"

Amy and Rory exchanged a look. "A bit of both, I think," Rory answered.

Amy nodded. "Definitely a bit of both."

Alex set her laptop on the nightstand and scooted further up her bed. "Come on, you two," she said, patting the bedspread.

The Ponds wasted no time in making themselves comfortable. Amy maneuvered herself into a traditional lotus position while Rory leaned against the windowpane, stretching his legs out in front of him. Alex sat perched against the pillows and headboard. She took her ice cream from Rory and ate a quick spoonful. She waited until the Ponds had done the same with their ice cream before asking, "So what's the verdict? Are we telling Augustus and Tabetha about River or not?"

Rory blinked. "How did you know we were discussing that?"

"Took a shot in the dark. Good one, though. So? Verdict?"

Amy took a deep breath. "We're telling them. We're just . . . not sure when."

Alex sat in silence for a few moments, processing this. "Oh, wow," she finally said. She honestly couldn't think of anything to say. She really hadn't expected Amy and Rory to come to this decision. If bets had been taken on this, she would have bet her whole inheritance on them staying silent.

"Yeah," Rory snorted. He swallowed a spoonful of vanilla. "Can't believe it myself."

"It's just. . ." Amy paused, searching for the right words. "Well, that baby talk at brunch today just kinda. . ."

"Set you off?" Alex said gently.

The Ponds nodded morosely. "Yeah," they answered quietly.

The three sat in silence for a few minutes, all of them thinking back over the talk as they continued eating their ice cream. Alex waited until she'd made a small dent in her ice cream before speaking. "You know," she said hesitantly, unsure as to how the Ponds would react, "I was, um, talking to the Doctor and he said that if you did decide to tell Augustus and Tabetha and that if you wanted him to, he would come and assist with the conversation."

Rory's eyebrows raised. "Really?" he said doubtfully. "I thought he didn't like dealing with families."

"Yeah, every time I tried to introduce him to my parents at the wedding, he would make some excuse and run off," Amy recalled.

"Yeah, he doesn't have good experience with past companions' families," Alex explained. "Specifically, the mothers." Amy and Rory snorted. Alex smirked before continuing. "Nevertheless, he said that since he's Melody's godfather, he's basically family now and he can't really stay out of it. So, if you want him there, he will be."

Amy smiled softly. "That's good of him," she murmured. "I . . . I think I would like him there. Rory?"

"Definitely," Rory affirmed. He took a large bite of vanilla. "Might make the conversation go a bit easier."

"I dunno about that," Amy muttered. She winced, imagining how bad the conversation could go. "We've gotta cover time travel and all that before we even get to Melody."

Alex tried to reassure her. "It won't be that bad. I mean, look at Marigold. She took it well, as did everyone else in Bristol."

"My parents aren't like them, Alex," Amy pointed out. She sighed as she took a spoonful of peaches and cream. "They may not take it well." There was a touch of fear in her voice.

Alex patted her shoulder, not knowing what else to do. What could she say? Amy was right. Augustus and Tabetha Pond were different people than Marigold and Lacey, Ross, Bree, and everyone else in Bristol. They might not take the news that their daughter and son-in-law traveled through time and space with an alien very well. And that wasn't even factoring the revelation that they had a granddaughter who they may never meet in infant form. . .

"Did he say anything else?" Seeing Alex's confusion, Amy added, "About Melody. Has he found her yet?"

Alex winced. "I'm afraid not. I'm sorry, Ames."

Amy nodded, but as her gaze drifted back to her ice cream, Alex caught a glimpse of a tear in her eye.

It made Alex's hearts twist. Amy still retained such hope that her baby would be returned to her, but Alex and the Doctor weren't very optimistic. The Doctor's search for Melody had run into a dead end. He had interviewed every person on Demons Run that the Judoon and Silurians arrested and even a couple that the Shadow Proclamation had managed to track down, but so far nothing. No one had any idea where Melody, Kovarian, or the rest of her crew had gone. It was like they had vanished into thin air. In their phone call earlier, the Doctor had revealed that he was going to go back to Graystark Hall to see if he could find anymore answers, but his tone indicated he wasn't very optimistic.

Alex glanced at Rory. Unlike his wife, Rory seemed pretty calm at this news. It wasn't because he didn't care, Alex knew, but rather that he was approaching this horrid situation a bit more realistically. He'd told her as much a few weeks ago.

They were having their regular Wednesday lunch at the local café. It was the ideal location since it wasn't very far from the hospital and just across the street from the library. How the subject had come up, Alex wasn't sure, but over a shared slice of coffee cake, Rory had divulged his true thoughts on Melody's recovery.

"I don't think it's gonna happen," he admitted. He prodded a piece of cake with his fork. "It's just . . . the little girl in the astronaut suit. We know that was Melody, right? So, she's not a baby anymore. We've already interacted with her there. I know Amy thinks we'll be getting a baby back, but I know we won't. And it's not that she's not remembering that it was Melody we saw in the astronaut suit, it's just that she wants her baby back and nothing else."

Rory let out a long, rather weary sigh. "I don't think we'll ever see Melody again." The words were said so quietly Alex almost didn't hear them. "It's just River now." He snorted, though it wasn't one of amusement. "And God, I don't even know how to feel about her! She's my daughter but she's so . . . well, she keeps trying to hit on the Doctor and he's her godfather! That doesn't really say that she's all there in the head, does it? And then I hate myself for thinking that because it may not be entirely her fault that that's the way she is. . ." He trailed off and sighed again.

"Just . . . don't say any of this to Amy, okay, Alex? She's pretty fragile about this, even if she's doing better than she was at the beginning of summer."

Of course, Alex had promised. And as she looked at Amy, now laughing over some story Rory was telling, Alex resolved that, when the time came, she would help Amy face the difficult realities concerning Melody/River.

How difficult those realities would be had yet to be determined. Alex just hoped that, for Amy and Rory's sake, they wouldn't be too grim or challenging.

~The Pros and Cons of Silence~

June 6th, 2011

The next day, Alex learned that her wish would not be granted. Not that she knew that as she sat in the front row of the Leadworth Dramatic Society's theater.

The theater was actually the local school's auditorium. Since the school didn't have a drama club (due to lack of interest), nor was the room used very much, they let the dramatic society use the auditorium for a very small fee.

Alex looked up from her copy of Earnest to study the rest of the people Archie had recruited. Since the play only called for nine actors, it was a small number.

First, there was Henry Vernon. He was around Alex's age with dark hair and eyes, a square-cut jaw, and a well-built frame that came from his days spent playing for The Queen's Garters team. Alex suspected that was why he was here, as a favor to his teammate. He was currently sprawled out on the floor before the stage, texting.

Next there was Veronica Stackmore, which wasn't exactly a surprise. Veronica was a member of the dramatic society and was arguably the society's most talented member. However, Alex mainly knew her from Amy and Rory's stories, none of which were very flattering towards Veronica. According to the Ponds, when they'd gone to school with her in the '90s, Veronica was the spoiled daughter of Leadworth's mayor. She was vain, cruel (especially towards Amy) and ruled their class with an iron fist. She was also scared of nothing . . . except for Mels. It was a tidbit that always made Alex smirk and her dislike towards Mels lower slightly.

At the moment, Veronica was perched in an aisle seat in the very row Alex was sitting in. She was examining her reflection in a compact mirror, alternatively rubbing her lips together and fussing with her long, wavy, light brown hair.

In the seat directly behind Alex sat Evelyn Warner. Mrs. Warner was a retired schoolteacher (she had actually been Amy and Rory's ninth grade history teacher) in her mid-fifties with graying blonde hair cut to her chin and piercing blue eyes. At the moment, she was knitting a scarf.

Up on stage were two of the Donaldson triplets, George and William. While they were part of a set of three, George and William were often mistaken for twins. Both were tall and lanky with auburn hair, though George's was cut short while William wore his long and shaggy. The twins were currently running lines; William was reading the part of Lane, Algernon's butler, while George read the rest.

Sitting on the right-hand steps leading up to the stage was Dr. Cole Coggins. Rather than work at the hospital, Dr. Coggins was the head of Leadworth's nursing home. He was a brawny man in his late forties with short, graying brown hair and a bull neck. He had apparently just gotten off his shift from the home since he was still wearing a white doctor's coat. He was currently reading a copy of the script, a pair of black horn-rimmed glasses perched on the end of his nose.

Then there was Archie. He was standing off to the side of the auditorium, writing notes in his script. Since school was officially out for the summer, he was dressed very casually in a faded t-shirt advertising the dramatic society's production of A Midsummer Night's Dream from two years ago, tight-fitting jeans, and a pair of beat-up white Converse. He was laser-focused on the script but every few seconds, he would look up towards the door, as though expecting someone to walk in.

Looking around, Alex realized that was exactly what Archie was waiting for. Counting herself and Archie, there were only eight people on hand to play the characters. The script called for nine. There were enough men to play all the male characters, but for women there was only her, Veronica, and Mrs. Warner. There were four women in the play. They were missing someone.

After a few more minutes of alternatively checking his script and then the door, Archie sighed and stepped forward. "Alright, guys, it's already after five, so I guess we'll go ahead and get started." No one missed the dejected tone in his voice. Whoever had stood auditions up, it was someone Archie had deemed important.

Henry, George, William, Dr. Coggins, and Mrs. Warner moved to seats in the front row. Archie stood in front of them. As he spoke, his eyes went to each and every member of his cast. "Now, today we're doing auditions, but we're not doing them for every character. Some of you have already been cast." He nodded to Mrs. Warner. "Mrs. Warner, for instance, has agreed to play the role of Lady Bracknell." Everyone clapped politely, making Mrs. Warner smile bashfully. "And Dr. Coggins has agreed to play the Reverend Canon Chasuble, mostly because he can get an authentic costume from his priest brother." Laughter erupted as everyone clapped. Dr. Coggins, for his part, gave an exaggerated half-bow.

"And as for me," Archie chuckled nervously, "I'll be playing the lead, Jack 'Ernest' Worthing."

"Typical," George muttered beside Alex. "The director casts himself in the good part." Alex chuckled and made a shushing sound. George, hardly bothered, beamed.

"Those who will be auditioning are Veronica, George, William, Henry, and Alex. Male roles up for grabs are Algernon, Lane, and Merriman, and female roles are Gwendolen, Cecily, and Miss Prism."

Veronica frowned. "But there are only two girls!" she exclaimed, gesturing to herself and Alex. She narrowed her eyes at Archie. "We need a third girl, Archie. Because I refuse to participate in another As You Like It incident."

Archie winced. Though she had no idea what incident Veronica was referring to, Alex winced as well. She felt a lot of sympathy for Archie. It wasn't his fault that the promised third girl hadn't shown up. It did not, however, suggest good things for the production ahead.

"I know that, Veronica," Archie said in a tone usually reserved for the most difficult of students. "And I'll find one, don't worry." Veronica snorted in clear disbelief but didn't press the subject further.

They started with auditions for Algernon. Henry and William competed against each-other. Alex studied them carefully. She had done the exact same thing in high school, watching people audition and trying to figure out what character would suit them best. For Algernon, while William could pull it off, she thought Henry had a bit more mischievousness and cunning in his interpretation.

Those qualities fit the character perfectly. Algernon was rather cunning in his plan to figure out Jack's address in the country and subsequently visit it to win Cecily's hand. He was also capable of mischief, since he'd invented an invalid friend to 'visit' whenever he wanted to get out of an unpleasant social engagement. William, known around Leadworth as the 'serious triplet', didn't really bring out those qualities the way Henry did.

In her opinion, Alex thought William was best suited for one of the minor characters, either Lane, Algernon's butler or Merriman, Jack's servant. Those roles required a lot of seriousness and gravitas, the kind of qualities William had in spades.

Her opinion was reinforced when William read for the role of Lane next. Though Lane didn't have many lines, William made you pay attention and fully made the part his own. The same couldn't be said for his brother George, who read next. He was a bit too playful in his delivery.

Both Donaldson's read for Merriman and then male auditions were over. "Okay!" Archie said with a clap of his hands. "Thank you, Henry, George, and William! Next, we'll be reading for Gwendolen Fairfax. Veronica, you can start."

Veronica gave him a smug grin as she rose to her feet. She tossed her long hair over her shoulders, exposing her large peacock feather earrings. Her walk to the stage was reminiscent of the stride of a pageant queen. Even when she wasn't acting, Veronica was carefully playing a part.

"Okay, Ronnie, we'll start with Gwendolen's monologue after she meets Cecily."

Veronica didn't even blink at the nickname, something Alex knew she hated. Instead, she nodded, flipped to the correct page in her script, and took a deep breath. After a few moments, she released it and launched into her lines. "'It is strange he never mentioned to me that he had a ward." Veronica/Gwendolen gave a slight laugh. "How secretive of him! He grows more interesting hourly. I am not sure, however, that the news inspires me with feelings of unmixed delight. I am very fond of you, Cecily; I have liked you ever since I met you! But,'" and on this Veronica frowned, "'I am bound to state that now that I know that you are Mr. Worthing's ward, I cannot help expressing a wish you were – well, just a little older than you seem to be – and not quite so alluring in appearance.'" These final words were spoken with a touch of jealousy, an emotion that only increased the longer Veronica spoke.

"'In fact, if I may speak candidly – Well, to speak with perfect candor, Cecily, I wish that you were fully forty-two, and more than usually plain for your age. Ernest has a strong uptight nature. He is the very soul of truth and honor. Disloyalty would be as impossible to him as deception. But even men of the noblest possible moral character are extremely susceptible to the influence of the physical charms of others.'" Veronica/Gwendolen tilted her head in thought. "'Modern, no less than Ancient History, supplies us with many most painful examples of what I refer to. If it were not so, indeed, History would be quite unreadable.'"

And she was finished. Everyone clapped in delight. There was no doubt there that Veronica was a good performer. Veronica smirked and bowed. When she rose, she was looking directly at Archie. "Hope that impressed you, Archie!" She gave him another smirk. This one looked rather flirtatious.

Alex rolled her eyes. I hope Archie doesn't fall for such an act!

A quick glance assuaged Alex of her worries. Rather than appearing flattered, Archie was red-faced. He coughed uncomfortably. "Um, hmm, yes, well, uh, thank you, Veronica. Alex? You're next."

As she climbed up to the stage, Alex smoothed out the skirt of her sleeveless, black, lace-trimmed dress, paired with a jean jacket, flat, black, strapped sandals, and a pair of turquoise earrings and matching necklace she'd borrowed from Amy. Her two hearts were beating anxiously. Funny. I haven't been nervous for an audition since my very first one!

Alex went to center stage and took a deep breath. Without waiting for direction from Archie, she flipped to the page Veronica had just read from and began.

"'It is strange he never mentioned to me that he had a ward.'" Rather than give a light laugh, Alex let out a full one. Gwendolen was a bit of a kooky character and any strange thing she learned about Jack 'Ernest' Worthing would easily be written off as a mere eccentric by her.

'"How secretive of him! He grows more interesting hourly!'" Her bubbly manner slowly disappeared until Alex had a thoughtful, disconcerted expression on her face. "'I am not sure, however,'" she began apologetically, "'that the news inspires me with feelings of unmixed delight.'"

Alex forced herself to look pained and a bit self-conflicted. Veronica's interpretation was good but when Alex read the lines, she didn't see Gwendolen as wildly jealous. A little jealous, yes, but also apologetic and full of self-loathing. Gwendolen had admitted that she liked Cecily and now she was admitting she wished the ward were older and less physically attractive. She was bound to be full of hatred towards herself for being so petty, as well as remorse.

"'I am very fond of you, Cecily,'" Alex insisted, her voice gentle but firm in its declaration. "'I have liked you ever since I met you! But I am bound to state that now that I know that you are Mr. Worthing's ward, I cannot help expressing a wish you were – well, just a little older than you seem to be – and not quite so very alluring in appearance.'" These final words were said as a compliment.

"'In fact, if I may speak candidly – Well, to speak with perfect candor, Cecily, I wish that you were fully forty-two, and more than usually plain for your age.'" Alex gave a wince to indicate she/Gwendolen couldn't believe what she was admitting. "'Ernest has a strong upright nature. He is the very soul of truth and honor. Disloyalty would be as impossible to him as deception.'" The words were said matter-of-factly and with more than a bit of feeling. After all, at this point, Gwendolen didn't know that her fiancé was masquerading as someone he wasn't.

"'But even men of the noblest possible moral character are extremely susceptible to the influence of the physical charms of others.'" Alex switched her voice to lecture-mode. "'Modern, no less than Ancient History, supplies us with many most painful examples of what I refer to. If it were not so, indeed, History would be quite unreadable.'"

Applause broke out. It was actually louder than the one Veronica got. Veronica seemed to notice this, for she abruptly stopped clapping and slouched in her seat. She scowled when George and William let out enthusiastic whistles.

Alex blushed. She was used to getting a bunch of applause and praise for her acting, but no matter how often it happened, it was still a little startling.

"Great job, Alex!" Archie enthused. He was giving her his signature beam. "So long as you're up there, wanna read for Cecily?"

"Sure." Alex was just flipping to the directed page when the auditorium door opened.

All heads turned in that direction, causing the figure that had just burst in to falter.

Elsie Margraves tucked a piece of long, wavy black hair behind her ear. "Hello," she said softly. She gave a timid wave. "Um . . . am I too late?"

"No!" Archie cried. There was a grin on his face now, wider and brighter than the one he'd given Alex just a few seconds ago. "No, not at all, Elsie." He waved his hand beckoningly. "Please, come on down."

Elsie slowly walked down the aisle. Her gaze went back and forth from the floor to the rest of the cast. Alex couldn't blame her for her nerves. The whole cast was gaping at her. George and William's jaws were nearly on the floor, Henry's eyes were bulging, and Mrs. Warner was giving Elsie a cool once-over.

Honestly! What is this? The Scarlet Letter? Wanting to make up for her cast members' rudeness, the moment Elsie risked a look at her, Alex gave her an encouraging smile. She was pleased when Elsie smiled softly in return.

Once Elsie had settled into the free seat next to Archie, Alex launched into Cecily's monologue. She admittedly hadn't studied this one as much as Gwendolen's, but a quick glance over gave her the sense that Cecily was just as kooky as Gwendolen.

"'You silly boy!'" Alex/Cecily laughed. "'Why, we have been engaged for the last three months! It will be exactly three months on Thursday." Her voice dropped to a conspiratorial whisper. "'Ever since dear Uncle Jack first confessed to us that he had a younger brother who was very wicked and bad, you of course have formed the chief topic of conversation between myself and Miss Prism. And of course a man who is much talked about is always very attractive. One feels there must be something in him, after all.'"

Alex abandoned the conspiratorial whisper to go back to a normal volume. "I daresay it was foolish of me,'" she said matter-of-factly, "'but I fell in love with you, Ernest. The engagement was actually settled on the 14th of February last. Worn out by your entire ignorance of my existence, I determined to end the matter one way or the other, and after a long struggle with myself, I accepted you under this dear old rose tree.'"

Once again, the auditorium exploded into applause. George and William once again let out whistles and Dr. Coggins even attempted to start a wave. Archie beamed again. Veronica settled into another scowl, which only dropped once she took to the stage again.

Veronica's portrayal of Cecily didn't alter much from Alex's. She played Cecily kooky as well, though a bit more than Alex had. Then, once Veronica was back in her seat, it was Elsie's turn.

Poor Elsie's knees were shaking as she climbed the steps. Once she was standing before them, Alex could see that her whole body was trembling. She wondered if Elsie would make it through the scene without fainting. She also wondered what had made Archie ask her to audition. As far as she was aware, Elsie had never expressed any interest in acting.

Elsie tightened her grip on the script, her knuckles turning the same color as her nail polish. She took a deep breath, then another.

"Take your time, Elsie," Archie told her. "Whenever you're ready." Unseen by him, Veronica yawned and inched her phone out of her skirt pocket.

Elsie nodded and took a few more deep breaths. Finally, she gave a small nod. She was ready.

"'You silly boy!'" she laughed. When she spoke her next line, it was very matter-of-fact, but contained an undercurrent of something else. Softness and even a bit of yearning. "'Why, we have been engaged for the last three months. It will be exactly three months on Thursday. Ever since dear Uncle Jack first confessed to us that he had a younger brother who was very,'" Elsie dropped her voice to a scandalized whisper for the next few words, "'wicked and bad, you of course have formed the chief topic of conversation between myself and Miss Prism. And of course a man who is much talked about is always. . .'" She trailed off, a blush coming to her cheeks. "'. . .very attractive,'" she finished quietly.

The bashfulness continued for the rest of the monologue. Alex was amazed. A quick glance around revealed her cast members felt the same. Elsie had carefully crafted Cecily into a timid young lady of the time period, but who also contained hidden depths. In this scene, her Cecily was actively taking a risk and professing her attraction and love for Algernon, a man she had only ever heard about in passing. It was an exquisite portrayal of a dreamy, romantic young woman with a hidden core of strength and daring.

It was, Alex thought, a perfect self-portrait of Elsie herself.

"Great job, Elsie!" Archie was practically skipping as he stood and faced the group again. His eyes shined and Alex knew it was all due to the performance of the young woman he'd desperately sought for his production. "Alright, whoever's auditioning for Miss Prism, get ready!"

Veronica and Elsie were the only ones to audition for that role. Of the two, Alex thought Veronica was best suited for the part. Miss Prism was a snooty, self-centered character, and had no problem with asserting her opinions on others. It was a part that would require very little acting for Veronica.

All too soon, auditions were over. Archie assured everyone that the cast list would be posted by the following evening and that rehearsal dates and times would follow soon after.

Her hearts all but skipping in excitement, Alex headed home. By this point, the sky had turned dark. It was a bit early for it to do so, but rain was again in the forecast for later this evening.

The house was also dark, and Alex flicked on every light she passed. Rory was working the late shift at the hospital. Amy was off with Mels and not expected back until late. Alex just hoped that they weren't doing anything potentially illegal. The last thing she wanted to do was abandon her plans for the evening to go and post bail.

At the moment, all Alex desired to do was kick off her shoes, fix a bowl of popcorn and Red Hots, and finish the rest of Outlander. She'd made a decent dent in it last night after Amy and Rory went to bed. It truly was a great book. She'd been immediately sucked into Claire's adventures in the Scottish Highlands, her perils against the horrid Black Jack Randall, and her steamy romance with Jamie (he was quite the dishy character). She'd had to stop at the part where Claire and Geillis are charged with witchcraft in order to get ready for the library. The cliffhanger had been on Alex's mind all day, made worse by the fact that it had been an unusually busy day, leaving her with no chance to read. It was so horribly aggravating, in Alex's opinion, when one wanted to read but couldn't.

She had just changed into white socks and pink and white Hello Kitty pajamas (bought on a whim at a Wal-Mart Black Friday sale years ago) when her Blackberry emitted its familiar Rascal Flatts ringtone.

"Hello?"

"Ally." The Doctor sighed her name like it was his salvation. Immediately, chills ran down Alex's spine.

"What's wrong?" she demanded.

"No, don't worry, I'm fine," he assured her, "but I'm not so sure about Melody. Well, her psyche at least."

"Well, Doc, we both know River. I mean, I may not like her, but she seems fairly sane to me."

"I'm not so sure about that." His tone was dark, and Alex found herself shivering again.

She sat down on her bed. Something – instinct maybe – told her she needed to be seated for this conversation. "Elaborate," she instructed. "I assume you went to Graystark? What'd you find?"

"I did. And . . . it's disturbing."

Alex recalled the trip she'd made to Graystark with Canton and Amy. As best as she could remember, the little girl's room – Melody's – had seemed perfectly normal. Of course, they hadn't managed to have a good look around before the Silence arrived and kidnapped them. It was possible that there was something in that room, or the orphanage as a whole, that was enough to make the Doctor worry about Melody's mental health.

"I'm guessing this is about more than creepy paint on the walls?"

"The orphanage was completely cleared out when I arrived. I fused another nanorecorder into my hand. No encounters at all."

"We must've spooked them," Alex guessed. "When you did the Neil Armstrong broadcast, they must've worried we'd come back to really finish up the job."

"Possibly," said the Doctor in the kind of voice that indicated he didn't actually believe that. "But remember that astronaut suit I told you about? Melody forced her way out of it. More likely, she ran away and Kovarian and the Silence had to abandon base in order to look for her."

"I wonder if they ever found her." Her mind mulled over the possibility. Though Melody was clearly part-Time Lord and thus much stronger physically and mentally than her captors, she was still a little girl. Little girls, unfortunately, couldn't hide forever. "I mean, 1969. On her own for all that time?"

"It does seem unlikely, doesn't it? But more on that later."

"Right, sorry. Continue."

"I found Melody's room. On the surface, seemed like a normal little girl's room. There was even a picture of her and Pond, probably taken not long after Melody was born."

"Amy told me about that photo. A nurse took it a day after the birth." Alex swallowed thickly. "Amy was hoping she would get a copy, but she never did."

"Don't worry, I grabbed it for her, as well as a few other photos and a couple things of Melody's. She didn't take a lot with her when she ran. Now, as I said, on the surface, normal little girl's room. Then I started digging through the drawers and the closet."

Alex swallowed. Her hearts pounded out a sharp rhythm. Whatever the Doctor had found hidden in the nooks and crannies of Melody's bedroom, it wasn't anything good.

"There were nun-chucks in one drawer, a box of grenades in another – a lot of the grenades were missing, I should add – and there was a throwing star in the top drawer of the nightstand. There were even more of these weapons in a room right below Melody's. Some kind of training room, I imagine."

Alex shuddered. Dear God, she had never considered what Melody would be exposed to in Kovarian's quest to turn her into an assassin. But this information . . . it was horrifying. She had been exposed to dangerous, life-threatening weapons, probably since she was old enough to crawl. Her hearts pounded again, this time in a rapid drumbeat. "Damn Kovarian!" she hissed under her breath.

"You can say that again." The Doctor's voice was dark, and his words trembled as he spoke, hinting at the fury he was feeling but trying to hide.

"But maybe Melody never used those weapons," Alex said desperately. She didn't really believe this, but she had to have hope, right? "I mean, maybe Kovarian just gave her those and she kept them around—"

"Did you not hear what I said about there being some grenades missing?!"

Alex flinched at his sharpness but refused to back down. "Anyone could've done that!"

The Doctor's tone turned mocking. "Oh, really? Well then, Ally, could anyone have disemboweled all the teddy bears I found in the closet? The stuffed animals on the bed that were in the process of the same?"

Any retort Alex might have made died a quick death. She sat frozen on the bed. The only sounds she could hear were her breathing, the Doctor's pants through the speakers, and the thudding of her hearts.

What? How? No, it can't be possible! Alex shook her head. No, I examined those stuffed animals and. . . Her eyes widened in realization. Looking back, just before Amy had attracted her attention – She was looking at the photos on the dresser – she had noticed some wear and tear on some of the animals' abdomens. It hadn't rung any alarm bells then but then again, Amy had distracted her. Then Melody the Astronaut came in and everything went downhill from there.

Alex didn't even realize she was crying until she felt some tears hit the hand in her lap. Shaking her head again, she furiously wiped her hand against her pajama pants and the falling tears on her sleeve.

"Ally?" the Doctor called. He let out a faint sniffle. It sounded as though he was crying, too. "Alex, are you still there? I, I'm sorry for snapping—"

"Forget it." With a last sniffle, Alex forced her tears down. Focus, Alexandria! "So, um, disemboweled teddy bears? That. . . That's not good, Doc."

"No," he sighed, "it's not. It means that whatever tactics Kovarian and the Silence have been using on Melody is working. They've been training her since birth to become a killer." He paused and Alex pictured his mouth twisting into a grimace. "My killer."

"But you said she escaped!"

"Yes, but Alex, she still has that knowledge in her head. She doesn't know anything other than how to kill people. And who knows how long she escaped for? The Silence could have tracked her down."

"But we don't know that for sure yet." She had to be optimistic, for Melody, and Amy and Rory's sakes. She ran a hand through her hair. "You can't find her infant self. That's definitely out. But maybe you can find her as a child. Let's see. . . How old did she look in the astronaut suit? Five? Six?"

"Around that age, yeah." He was silent for several moments, considering her tentative plan. Finally, he let out a long sigh. "Okay, yes, maybe, just maybe I can find her toddler self. But . . . I can't guarantee anything, Ally."

Alex smiled softly. "So long as you try, that's good enough for me. And Amy and Rory will appreciate it, too."

"Speaking of the Ponds. Ally, please don't mention anything I told you tonight. If they ask, just . . . just say I went to Graystark and didn't find anything pointing to where Melody might be."

Even though he couldn't see it, Alex nodded. "Okay." She didn't like not telling the Ponds, but it wasn't like she was lying. The Doctor really hadn't found any clues pointing to where Melody might have gone, just that she had escaped the astronaut suit and was currently MIA. Not to mention, but even if she could, how would she tell them that their daughter had been perfectly groomed to become what sounded like a sociopath?

She was still considering this question long after she and the Doctor hung up.

~The Pros and Cons of Silence~

Outlander provided a pleasant distraction to her mangled thoughts. Armed with a bowl of popcorn and Red Hots, Alex made her way through the rest of the book. She nearly cried again at Claire's decision to stay with Jamie instead of returning to the future, and once again at the description of Jamie's torture at the hands of Black Jack Randall.

She was at the very last dregs of popcorn and candy as well as pages in the book when the doorknob jiggled. A few seconds later, Amy stumbled in. "Bloody hell," she mumbled, tossing her bag on the table as she kicked off her ankle boots. "That's the last time I go pub-hopping with her. I swear it."

Alex snorted. "You say that every time."

Amy jumped and spun around. "Alex!" She squinted and raised a hand over her eyes to block out the lamplight beside Alex. Her friend was sitting in the armchair by the window, a popcorn bowl balanced on one of the armrests. Amy blinked and looked at her watch. "It's nearly three a.m."

"Is it?"

Amy nodded. She leaned against the kitchen table, nearly falling over in the process.

Alex raised an eyebrow. Amy only ever stumbled like this when she was really drunk, really tired, or both. "Ames, go to bed. You're about to fall over."

"Why aren't you in bed? Can't sleep again?"

Again, Alex blinked. She hadn't realized Amy had been so attuned to her newfound sporadic sleeping habits. "Uh, yeah. Figured I could pass the time reading." She held up Outlander for Amy's examination.

"Yeah, that's what you spend most every night now doing." Amy rubbed at her eyes. "Dunno what happened to you, but you never sleep now."

Alex stared at her. Amy knew something had happened to her? Not since that one brief moment when the Doctor dropped her off had Amy made reference to Alex being held captive and experimented upon at Demons Run. "You've never asked," Alex replied. Her words came out a bit sharper than she'd intended.

"You never volunteered," Amy pointed out. She rubbed her eyes again, smearing her eyeshadow and liner. "Rory and I didn't wanna ask, in case you didn't wanna talk 'bout it."

The words were enough to shock Alex into silence. Was it true? Did she really not want to talk about what happened on Demons Run? Alex thought she hadn't mentioned it because there wasn't a good way to introduce it into a conversation. Not to mention, but she'd been plenty busy – taking care of Amy and Rory and their trauma, dealing with the library and Kendra, and now with Archie and the rest of her cast-mates.

But what if you were seeking out distractions? a voice in her head whispered. So you didn't have to talk about it?

Alex swallowed heavily. The mere thought was enough to make her ill, so she knew it was probably true. She had admitted to the Doctor that she didn't like to show weakness to others; Kovarian and her butchers had certainly made her that. The Doctor had seen her weak in the two weeks she had spent aboard the TARDIS recovering. Alex hadn't even thought of that. I did have to rely on him a lot. There was no time to feel embarrassed or upset about being weak.

And a lot of things were different with the Doctor. They could reveal things to each other that they couldn't with anyone else. They acted differently with each other, too. Alex knew she could be weak around him while she wanted to remain strong around everyone else.

Amy and Rory were in the latter group. Alex sighed. Two of her best friends and she refused to show weakness around them, even after they'd shown plenty of weakness and raw emotions to her.

"Well," she said slowly, "maybe I do want to talk about it."

Amy's bleary eyes brightened. "Really?" She made as though to take a step towards Alex but tripped over her own feet and nearly fell over.

Alex chuckled. "But maybe not right this moment," she amended. "Go to bed, Amy. I'll tell you and Rory everything tomorrow . . . er, later today, I mean."

Amy gave her a thumbs up. "Gotcha," she said through a yawn. "Hold ya to that."

~The Pros and Cons of Silence~

June 7th, 2011

By the time quitting time at the library rolled around the next day, Alex had a fairly good idea of what she was going to tell the Ponds. Obviously, she would tell them the truth, but how to go about it was another thing entirely. It was the kind of thing that involved an intricate thought process.

Fortunately, she had been able to do this. The late-night rain had turned into a bright, sunny day, the kind of weather that made people want to get outside, not stay cooped up in a library. Even Kendra had been affected. In her phone call to Alex asking for the day off, she said that she was suffering a migraine. However, based on the loud amount of laughter and BBC1 radio in the background, Alex suspected Kendra's migraine, if she was suffering one, would be long gone by the time she and her friends reached Cotswold Beach. But, needing the peace and quiet to do her thinking, Alex let her off the hook.

Even Alex thought everyone was entitled to play hooky from work once in a while.

During her day of thinking, Alex had come to the conclusion that she should tell the Ponds about her new biology over food. Her explanation was pretty long, and she had no doubt that they would all be hungry by the time she finished it. With that in mind, right after shutting off the lights and locking the library doors, Alex drove to Leadworth's answer for an Italian restaurant.

Bello Italiano was a nice, snug little restaurant situated between the chemist's and the soon to be opened bookstore. Inside, black and white pictures of Leadworth in years gone by vied for space on the exposed brick walls with the flat screen TVs purchased just two years ago in an effort to make the restaurant as much of a gathering spot for football games as The Queen's Garters. At the moment, each TV was muted on a different show; a cooking show, a rerun of Upstairs, Downstairs, and BBC 24.

The restaurant itself was also crowded. This wasn't very surprising, considering the place was about the size of the ground floor of Amy, Rory, and Alex's house. Upon stepping inside, Alex spotted Shannon Darcy and her girlfriend looking snug in a corner booth, Jeff typing on a laptop in between bites of lasagna at a table by the window, Reverend Jeffries and his family praying over their food in the booth behind Shannon's, and George Donaldson working the register.

He grinned upon seeing Alex. "Hey, Alex! Got your order right here!" He grabbed a stack of pizza boxes off the cooling rack and slid them across the counter. "Garlic knots will be a few minutes though. There was a slight problem with the oven."

Alex chuckled and peered behind him. George's brothers, William and Arthur, were eyeing one of the ovens a bit nervously. Unless she was mistaken, a small section of William's bangs was singed. "That's alright, George."

George shook his head. "Thank God you said that." He glanced over his shoulder at the Jeffries booth. "Reverend Jeffries about had a fit when Arthur told him their pizza had been burnt and we'd have to make another one. You'd think a man of God would be a bit calmer about that sort of thing, y'know?"

"You would think," Alex said dryly. "Oh, have you heard anything about the casting? I went by the school to check, but no announcement."

"Yeah, apparently Archie's delayed. Sent in an order about an hour ago and told Will he's still trying to decide. Art's gonna run over with the delivery in a bit and see if he can get some scoop."

"Maybe you'll get Ernest or Algernon."

George seemed horrified by the suggestion. "Crikey, I hope not! That would mean I might have to make eyes with Veronica for the next two months. That's if she gets Gwendolen or Cecily. She's been telling everyone she'll get one of the two."

Alex rolled her eyes. Typical, spoiled Veronica. If there was a God, or if Archie had some sense, Veronica would get the Miss Prism role. It would do her some good to realize that she couldn't always get what she wanted.

"Don't tell Ronnie this or she'll go nuts," George said, dropping his voice conspiratorially, "but I'm hoping you and Elsie will get the main leads."

"Thanks," Alex grinned. "Me too. About Elsie, I mean."

George winced. "Yeah, God knows she needs some happiness. Some people are still giving her the evil eye, all while Temple gets off scot free!"

Alex glanced at Reverend Jeffries again, remembering his Jezebel sermon. She also recalled the cool look Mrs. Warner had given Elsie at the auditions. Honestly, 2011 and it still seems like the Dark Ages.

She made conversation with George for a few more minutes. Alex caught up on the local gossip since her usual source of information had been playing hooky at the beach, and asked George about his and his brothers' A-Levels. George had taken several business-related courses in preparation for taking over Bello Italiano someday, passing them all with flying colors. William had concentrated on computer science while Arthur hadn't taken any at all, much to the consternation of their parents.

Finally, Arthur came zipping over, carrying a Styrofoam container. "Here you go!" he said cheerfully, setting the container atop the pizza boxes. "One order of garlic knots to go, burning or singeing not included."

Alex chuckled and handed George her debit card. "Thank you for ensuring that."

Arthur grinned. "Just doing my job!" Though his gaze wasn't entirely focused on Alex. Every few seconds, his eyes darted to Grace Jeffries, currently laughing at something her mother said.

Alex smirked as she reclaimed her debit card. Young love, she thought. Nothing quite like it. Though she wouldn't trade her love for the Doctor to have that again. Her and the Doctor's love was something else altogether, something special and magical, something unique.

By the time she got home, Alex was starving. The garlic knots, considered by most in Leadworth to be an unofficial eighth deadly sin, were calling to her. Alex popped two in her mouth as she pulled up beside Rory's beat-up Citroen. Before heading inside, she paused long enough to touch up her now smudged bright pink lipstick. She had chosen it this morning because it perfectly matched her pink pleated skirt, paired with a white t-shirt, gray blazer, a thin black belt, black stilettos, and her mother's black rosary.

"Ponds, I come bearing food!" she called as she swept into the kitchen.

Amy came speeding into the kitchen. The way her eyes were lit up, you never would have guessed that she'd been throwing up all the alcohol she'd consumed last night early that morning. "Yay, pizza!" she cheered, her socked feet skidding precariously across the kitchen tiles in her haste to get to the food. Her nose twitched. "And garlic knots!"

Alex laughed and handed her the Styrofoam container. "Here, knock yourself out, Ames. Though are you sure you can eat this stuff?"

Amy waved her concerns away. "I had six bottles of water, a Bloody Mary, some aspirin, and snacked on some crackers this morning. No longer sick." She pried the container open and took a deep whiff of garlic and parmesan cheese.

Alex knew better than to get between a hungry girl and her food. "If you're sure."

"Positive," Amy said through a mouthful of garlic knot.

A clomping on the stairs preluded Rory's arrival. A towel hung around his shoulders, his hair half-dry. Alex knew that after working a late shift, Rory would have slept most of the day, only rousing himself from bed a few hours ago to keep from staying awake tonight.

"Food, thank God," he said, throwing open the pizza boxes. Plain pepperoni for Alex, sausage and mushroom for Amy, and ham and green peppers for him. He immediately grabbed a slice and started inhaling it.

Alex shook her head. "You two act like you haven't eaten in days."

"It's good food!" Amy exclaimed around another garlic knot.

Once the Ponds had satisfied their immediate hunger, they remembered Alex's promise to tell them what had happened to her on Demons Run.

"You hardly ever sleep now," Rory commented. The group sat at the kitchen table, Amy and Rory on one side, Alex directly opposite. "Every time we go to bed, you're still up, watching TV or reading."

"And your skin. . ." Amy reached across the table to grasp Alex's hand. Her skin, while not freezing, was noticeably cooler than it had been a few months ago.

Alex gently removed Amy's hand. "Yeah," she said softly. She pushed a garlic knot around her plate. "Those are just two of the things different about me now." She dropped the garlic knot and sighed. "There's no real easy way to say this . . . at least none that I could think of."

"Just tell us," Amy urged. Rory nodded in agreement.

"Okay, here goes . . . I'm no longer human."

She waited for shouts of incredulity, for denials or even scorn. What she did not expect was for Amy and Rory to look at each other, nod, and say, "Knew it."

Alex blinked. "What? How . . . how could you have possibly known?"

"It's kinda obvious when you think about it," Amy shrugged. "I mean, the not sleeping as much, your skin being as cold as the Doctor's, and the way he reacted on Demons Run after listening to your chest. . ."

"Plus the way River said before that that he should 'listen to your heart'." Rory shook his head. "Indicated there was something up with your heartbeat or that you now had more than one."

"I do." Alex placed Rory's hand on her chest. She couldn't help chuckling at the startled expression he made the moment he felt the twin pulses. "Two hearts. Means I've got really high blood pressure now."

Amy raised an eyebrow. "How high?"

"According to the Doctor, high enough that if I were still human, I'd be dead or at the very least in a coma."

By this point, Rory had grasped Alex's wrist. "Two pulses," he reported. He examined his watch, counting the beats off while keeping track of the passing minute. "Each one is 80 a minute."

Alex nodded. "The Doctor said they beat about the same as a regular human heart."

"What else is different about you?" Amy asked, popping a garlic knot in her mouth.

Alex tilted her head back, trying to think. The things that were different about her now . . . it was a long list. "Well . . . I have a respiratory bypass system now. Means I can survive longer without oxygen, and I can even store oxygen, but I don't know how to do that yet. Um . . . I can survive extreme temperatures. We tested it. The Doctor says it's because of a 'souped-up metabolism'. I can likely survive electric shocks that would be fatal to humans, but the Doctor's not a hundred percent sure and he has no desire to test it.

"I can likely survive falling from very large heights. Doses of radiation that would kill a human I can probably also survive, though if the dose is really high enough, it would still kill me. My blood's a bit different. Still red, but it's got an orangey hue now. There's also something in my blood now that keeps my arteries from being clogged, so I guess I don't have to feel guilty about eating so many garlic knots."

"Lucky you," Rory muttered around a bite of one of the aforementioned knots.

"Yeah," Alex chuckled. "Lucky me. My skin's a bit more durable now, too, I think. Oh! There's medications I can't take now."

Rory's nurse instincts immediately flared up. "Such as?" He stiffened in his chair, as though ready to rush to the bathroom medicine cabinet and throw out any and everything that was now toxic to Alex.

"Aspirin is the main one. Ibuprofen too, since the Doctor says they're chemically similar, but aspirin is the one to watch out for."

Rory thought about this. "Because it's a blood thinner?"

"Exactly. The Doctor stressed that just one dose could kill me. I also can't have anesthesia; it doesn't work on Time Lords. I can still have sleeping pills, but they would take a lot longer to work on me than a human and since I don't need that much sleep anyway now, it doesn't really matter—"

"Is that what you are now?" Amy cut in. "A Time Lord?"

"The Doctor said a genetically-engineered Time Lord, but yes, pretty much."

"Does that mean you can regenerate?" Rory asked. After what they had all witnessed on Lake Silencio, and hearing River's comment about the Doctor's regeneration cycle being interrupted, Amy and Rory had managed to get the basics of regeneration out of the Doctor. He hadn't been willing to go into too much detail, but he had revealed the most important part: if something caused fatal death to a Time Lord, they could regenerate, healing whatever injuries they had, but they would get a new body in the process.

Alex fiddled with the cap on her water bottle. "Maybe," she said quietly. "We don't know. Another one of those things the Doctor isn't willing to test."

"I don't blame him." Rory didn't even want to think about Alex possibly receiving fatal injuries, especially when she seemed a lot stronger than a regular human now. It was safe to say the Doctor probably didn't want to either.

"What about aging?" Amy asked. "The Doctor's over nine hundred years old. Will you age like that?"

"Yes," Alex nodded. "I'm not going to physically age past twenty-one, as least for quite some time, but I do have a much longer lifespan now. I'll live as long as the Doctor does, and he said that barring accidents, Time Lords could live forever."

Amy and Rory were rendered speechless by this. They sat and watched Alex calmly take a bite of pizza. This was monumental news, even more than the two hearts and now being allergic to aspirin. Alex would outlive them. When they were nothing but dust and bones in the ground, Alex would still be alive and kicking, still looking like a regular twenty-one-year-old woman. She would outlive everyone; them, their parents, Marigold, Lacey, all her friends in Bristol, everyone currently alive in Leadworth today.

Yet Alex didn't seem so much as nonplussed about this revelation.

"And you're. . ." Amy struggled to find the words. " . . .happy about that?"

Alex hastened to finish chewing her pizza before answering. "Well, yeah. Why wouldn't I be?" She tilted her head at them, taking in their baffled expressions. "The main concern between the Doctor and me when we got together was the life expectancy issue. Now that's no longer a problem." She smiled brightly. "There are no obstacles keeping us from being together."

Amy and Rory didn't say anything. Clearly, Alex had only considered the positive aspects of her much longer lifespan. But they weren't about to point out the negative ones to her. Let her reach those conclusions on her own. She would realize them eventually.

Hopefully not after someone she loved died.

~The Pros and Cons of Silence~

Smyrna, 1929. Nighttime had long since fallen over the Stapleton expedition – what remained of it anyway – and everyone was holed up in their tents, dreading that what had occurred each night thus far would do so again.

Well, almost everyone.

A strangled moan ripped itself from Alex's throat as a set of teeth bit her inner thigh. She gasped at another bite, then another, each one getting closer and closer to where she wanted it most. A cool hand grasped her hip, calloused digits digging into her skin. Its thumb rubbed circles against her hipbone. It was probably meant to calm her, but instead served to drive Alex wild.

Her head lolled to the side as a pair of cool lips dropped feather-light kisses on her thigh. Each time the lips passed a love bite, they sucked carefully at the teeth-marks. Alex whimpered at the feeling of delicate sucking, drawing her blood vessels to the surface and breaking them. She'd have bruises in the morning, but she didn't give a shit.

Her arms, which up until now had been lying loosely above her head, lowered to the figure kneeling between her legs. One hand gripped the man's hair while the other ran circles across his bare, sweaty back. The Doctor hummed at her ministrations, rewarding her with a kiss to the top of her knickers. He smirked against her clothed mound at the near moan she let out.

Alex ran the hand in his hair down to his cheek. "You're much too good at teasing," she murmured.

He turned his head to kiss her palm. "You complaining, Ally?"

She started to chuckle, only for it to break off into a long, low moan as the Doctor began playing his tongue along the outline of her knickers. "N-no," she hissed, her hips bucking against his mouth, "but that – oh, God! – m-might not be the case for everyone else in camp."

The Doctor chuckled against her thigh, causing Alex to shiver. "And what are you saying, Ally?" He lifted himself up so that he was hovering above her. He brushed her bangs to the side so as to better see her flushed face. "That I'll be making you scream soon?" He darted down and abruptly began sucking and biting at her pulse point.

Alex groaned at the feeling of his teeth nibbling at the already well-abused spot. Her head fell to the side, and she stared vacantly at the surroundings of the luxurious tent Lord Woolcroft had given them. Their shirts and his bowtie had landed on the cedar tea-chest, his trousers lay with her boots on the Persian carpet, and her jeans and bra had ended up at the foot of their massive and surprisingly comfortable pallet.

She hummed at the feeling of the Doctor pressing long, slow kisses down her neck. Blinking a few times, she was able to regain coherency. "It's possible," she murmured.

He smiled against the hollow of her throat. "I daresay it will be a welcome change from the panicked screams and ominous wolf-howls of the last several nights." Raising his head, he tilted her chin so that their eyes met. Dark green met dark copper, each set of pupils blown out in arousal. "Besides," he whispered, leaning down until he was speaking against her lips, "they think we're married, don't they? Isn't that what a husband is supposed to do to his wife? Make her scream and beg for mercy, then send her into the heights of ecstasy?"

Alex shivered. How this man could be so eloquent when pressed against her with underwear as the only barriers between them was beyond her. But his words were so very true. She was never more grateful than she was right at this moment that once again, she and the Doctor had been mistaken as a couple. They may not have gotten to this point otherwise.

"Yesssss. . ." she hissed as his fingers slipped beneath the waistband of her knickers. Her arms suddenly felt weak, and she let them flop to her sides. The Doctor licked his way down her chest, pausing to worship her breasts. Alex clutched the thick Egyptian cotton sheets and gasped out her pleasure as the Doctor teased every inch of her body.

Every one of her senses was focused on this moment. She tilted her head back and watched through heavily lidded eyes as their shadows twined together on the dimly lit walls of the tent. Her skin burned at his touch, never registering the cold night air, and rubbed against the silky cotton sheets almost sinfully. Her ears only heard their pants, groans, and moans of pleasure. She smelled a mixture of their scents – her Chanel No. 5, his musky cologne, and the tea leaf and fig soap they'd been using the last few days for washing up – the kerosene coming from the lamps lit all around the tent, and the heady smell of sex, all sweat and heat.

And for taste. . . She sucked greedily at his tongue as he plunged it into her mouth, doing so at the same time he plunged elsewhere. . .

A carnal moan tore from Alex's throat. Her legs clenched tighter around him. She couldn't stop moaning from the pleasure. No doubt everyone in the expedition could hear her. If the wolves did come out tonight, they would have no trouble locating her.

The Doctor swore against her lips. "They'll definitely hear you, Alexandria," he said, voice strangled as he attempted to hold himself back.

She made a whining sort of sound and planted her hands on the lower portion of his back. "Less talking," she gasped, "more making me scream."

He kissed her slowly and lazily, murmuring, "As you wish. . ."

June 14th, 2011

Alex bolted upright in bed, gasping for breath. Her hand automatically went to her chest where her hearts were beating furiously. Her skin wasn't exactly flushed, but Alex could still feel a bit of dampness on her forehead. Not to mention, but certain areas of her body were warmer than others.

With a groan, Alex flopped back down. The clock on the nightstand read 1:17 AM, but there was no way she was getting any more sleep tonight. Not after that dream.

She supposed it wasn't really surprising. Just a few hours earlier, she and the Doctor had gotten into a more . . . salacious conversation than usual. It wasn't exactly phone sex, just more extreme flirting than they usually did. At one point, Alex had brought up them sharing a bed in 1929 Smyrna and how every day they had woken up tangled together. The Doctor had groaned and murmured something about how grateful he was that she hadn't felt a certain part of his anatomy every time they woke up like that.

Now really, could her subconscious be blamed for coming up with such a steamy dream after that revelation?

With a little groan, Alex climbed out of bed and headed for the living room. There was no way she could read right now, especially not books that were as steamy as the ones in the Outlander series (she was on Drums of Autumn now). Sex scenes with Jamie and Claire would only cause her to imagine herself and the Doctor in their place.

Fortunately, Alex found a Friends marathon on and happily spent the hours until dawn watching the various antics of Ross and Rachel, Monica and Chandler, and Phoebe and Joey. Thoughts of steamy encounters with the Doctor were far, far away.

Of course, they couldn't disappear forever.

~The Pros and Cons of Silence~

"So, anyway, I told Tristan there was no way I was gonna do that. I mean, who does do that? It's bloody painful, if you ask me, or at least it sounds that way. But Tristan was like, 'oh, no, babe, it won't hurt'. . ."

Alex stared into her compact mirror and applied a bit more red lipstick than was necessary. Anything to keep from reaching over and stapling Kendra's mouth shut. For the past quarter of an hour, Kendra had talked of nothing but of her unwillingness to do a certain sexual position her boyfriend kept requesting. It probably wouldn't have been so annoying if Alex's thoughts weren't already in the gutter. And if Kendra's words didn't have the unintended side effect of having her imagine doing that certain position with the Doctor.

Continuing to try and block Kendra's words, Alex tossed her compact and lipstick into her purse and turned to stare out the window. It was a dull and overcast day, as it usually was in England. The weather was supposed to be better tomorrow but for now, the sky was a miserable gray. It was unlikely that anyone would be coming to the library today. Therefore, she had no choice but to listen to Kendra and her dilemma with Tristan.

"So, what should I do?" Kendra tilted her head to the side. Her blue-green eyes were wide with naivety as she looked to Alex for answers. "I mean, I love, love, love Tristan, but he keeps badgering me about this."

"Dump him," said a new voice. Alex jerked up. Standing before the front desk were none other than Archie and Veronica.

It was Archie who had spoken. He looked Kendra right in the eye and spoke solemnly. "Kendra, if a guy doesn't respect your wishes, he's not worth keeping. It just means he doesn't respect you, nor do you come first to him. Any guy with half a brain knows that he should treat his girlfriend like royalty."

"And Tristan clearly does not have half a brain," Veronica smirked. She leaned against the desk and examined her black and gold crackle nail polish, a fashion trend that had just recently made its way to Leadworth. "Take Archie's advice and dump him, Kendra. You'll be a lot better off in the long run."

Archie nodded vehemently. "Exactly."

Kendra drummed her fingers against her chin. "Well, I suppose. . ."

"No 'suppose' about it!" Archie cried. "Either he respects you or not. Dump him, Kendra."

Alex could tell Tristan was about to be history when Kendra gave Archie a simpering smile. "Oh, Archie," she sighed, "you're so right. And so smart." Her fingertips slowly slid up the desk to rest against Archie's hand. "How did you get to be so smart?"

Archie's face flushed. He tugged at his t-shirt collar. "Um, well, that is to say, Kendra. . ."

"He actually attended uni and learned some things," Veronica snapped. Narrowing her eyes at Kendra, she linked her arm through Archie's and rested her head against his shoulder. Classic possessive girlfriend move. "Unlike some of us," she continued, giving Kendra a pointed look, "who stayed home and memorized the storylines of all the Emmerdale characters."

Kendra pursed her lips. "Touché," she muttered.

Smiling like a proud parent, Veronica turned to Alex. "Archie and I," she squeezed Archie's arm, still linked through hers, "got to thinking and figured that we might want to do read-throughs here today, if that's all right with you." She raised an eyebrow, silently challenging Alex to say no.

"We figured that with the weather and all no one would be here," Archie elaborated. "And with that, it seemed kind of a waste of time to have everyone meet at the theater tonight when the library's unoccupied now."

"And we can't afford to waste time," Veronica said with a grimace. "We've lost two weeks already." She spun around and patted Archie's shoulder. "Not that that's your fault, Archie."

It had been two weeks since the auditions and though everyone knew what character they were playing, they hadn't started preparing in any way. No read-through, no basic blocking, nothing. This was due to Archie's hay-fever acting up. It had been a bad enough reaction that, after a week, Veronica ultimately ended up taking him to the hospital. Rory had examined him and later told Alex that Archie had gone home with a prescription for a steroid nasal spray. The nasal spray took several days to take effect, forcing the group to lose another week as Archie recovered.

Though looking uncomfortable with Veronica's closeness, Archie shot her a grin. "Thanks, Ronnie."

"I have no problem doing read-through here," Alex said. She stood up and brushed off the dust on her long black pencil skirt, paired with a denim shirt that tied in the front, black stilettos, and gold hoop earrings. "But will everyone else be able to do it now?"

"George and William are on stand-by," Archie revealed, "and they promised to bring food if you said yes. Mrs. Warner will be by right after ladies' bingo finishes at one, and Elsie's shift finishes at one thirty, so she'll also make it."

"Henry was a bit on the fence about it," Veronica picked up. "But he agreed when I said I'd drag him here by his tie if I had to."

Alex pressed her lips together to keep from smirking. "Well, that's good. And Dr. Coggins?"

"Can't leave the nursing home till they lock up for the night," Archie said apologetically. "But his part's so small it doesn't really matter. So long as we have the leads, that's the important thing right now."

Alex stepped around the desk. "Well, you can tell everyone who is available that I formally give permission."

Veronica rolled her eyes, but Archie chuckled. "Thanks, Alex. I owe you one."

As it was half past noon now, Archie sent out a mass text informing everyone that read-through would take place at two. This would give the rest of the cast plenty of time to make it when their other responsibilities were done and give Alex time to prepare the library.

She and Archie quickly wiped down the large rectangular table that sat in front of the periodical room and moved it to the center of the library. Veronica, surprisingly, volunteered to sweep and vacuum. Kendra, naturally, showed no desire to help. She remained behind the desk, playing Solitaire on her computer.

At exactly 1:17, Mrs. Warner came in. Despite the fact that it was still rather warm outside, even with the overcast sky, she wore a pink cable-knit sweater and wool slacks. Just looking at her made Alex want to crank the air conditioning up.

"Hello, dears," she greeted. She claimed a seat at one end of the table and placed her knitting bag before her.

"Afternoon, Mrs. Warner," Veronica smiled back, though it was slightly stiff. She was in disbelief of Mrs. Warner's attire, too. It was a stark contrast to Veronica's own spaghetti-strap white sundress. "Um, aren't you a bit . . . warm in that?"

Mrs. Warner's blue eyes widened. "Oh, not at all, dear!" she laughed. "Why would you think that? Actually, I think it's quite cool out, especially for this time of year." She studied Veronica's sundress. "I would ask if you're cold, Veronica, but I suppose you young things are a bit more resilient than older people like me."

Veronica didn't know how to respond to that. She was saved from trying to by Henry's arrival and was soon engrossed in his conversation with Archie over how Archie's nasal spray was working out. Alex was left to converse with Mrs. Warner, who was more than happy to discuss the new knitting project she and several members of ladies' bingo were working on. By the time Elsie arrived at a quarter to two, Alex had learned more than she'd ever wanted to know about the different kinds of knitting patterns.

Elsie was still dressed in her white and red diner dress and bright red Keds, her hair pulled up in a ponytail. Despite her attire and the fact that she smelled vaguely of French fry grease, she was still undeniably pretty. Archie's head swiveled to her the moment she stepped in.

Hmm, Alex mused. Interesting. That was definitely something to keep an eye on.

Elsie smiled at Archie but quickly made her way past the rest of the cast. Alex couldn't blame her. Veronica was giving her the stink eye (though that was probably for attracting Archie's attention) and Mrs. Warner had her head tilted in appraisal.

Giving the older woman her best narrow-eyed glare (which caused Mrs. Warner to lean back in shock), Alex hastened over to Elsie. Someone had to show her that not all of the women in the cast disliked her. "Hi, Elsie!"

Elsie jumped, then saw it was Alex, the one person save Archie who had seemed happy to see her at auditions. She smiled shyly back. "Hello, Alex. Um, I figured since we were meeting at the library and all, I would just drop these off." She reached into her messenger bag and pulled out a small stack of paperback books.

"Oh, no problem." Alex studied the books. Call Me Irresistible by Susan Elizabeth Phillips. His at Night, Sherry Thomas. When Beauty Tamed the Beast, Eloisa James. And How to Marry a Duke by Vicky Dreiling. There's a clear theme going here, Alex thought.

As though sensing her thoughts, Elsie blushed. "I like romances." She gave what Alex suspected to be an attempt at a nonchalant shrug.

Alex smiled. "So I see. Have you read Phillips' First Lady?"

Elsie brightened. Now that she was no longer in fear of being made fun of, she was more than thrilled to discuss a topic she loved. "Yes! I loved it. But I've not read the other books, and I understand some of the characters in Irresistible have their own novels?"

"They do. Meg's in What I Did for Love and Teddy's in a whole bunch. I can't remember the exact titles, but I can look them up for you, if you're interested?"

Elsie nodded frantically. "Oh, yes, that would be great! Thank you, Alex."

"No problem. I'll do it after read-through, okay?"

Right at the stroke of two, George and William arrived. Both carried a stack of white Bello Italiano pizza boxes with a Styrofoam container on top. "We come bearing food!" William proclaimed, setting his stack on a nearby table.

"Thank God," Henry said, his nose twitching at the delicious smells. "I'm starving."

George set his own stack down. "We've got two cheese pizzas, two pepperoni pizzas, two containers of garlic knots and, for the health-conscious," he procured a single container from a plastic bag, "salad. Dressing not included."

The only person who touched the salad was Mrs. Warner. Everyone else helped themselves to pizza and garlic knots. Once everyone was settled around the table, Archie procured his script and opened it to the first scene. "Alright, everyone, let's get started. First, let's go around the table and tell everyone who we're playing. I'll start. I'm Archie and I'm playing Jack 'Ernest' Worthing'."

Alex, seated on Archie's right-hand side, went next. "I'm Alex, and I'm playing Gwendolen Fairfax." She'd been ecstatic when she went by the school last week and saw her name high up on the cast list. She had nearly rendered the Doctor deaf when she called immediately after to tell him the news.

Elsie was seated next to her. "I'm Elsie," she said, her voice just above a whisper. "And I'm playing Cecily Cardew."

George gave the group a wide grin. "I'm George, the best looking of the Donaldson triplets, and I'm playing Merriman."

Mrs. Warner, at the end of the table opposite Archie, shook her head at George's antics. "I'm Evelyn, and I'm playing Lady Bracknell."

William was seated on her right-hand side, directly opposite his brother. He gave his brother a narrow-eyed look, then said, "I'm William, the actual best looking of the Donaldson triplets, as well as the only one who doesn't lie, and I'm playing Lane."

Henry rolled his eyes. "I'm Henry, and I'm playing Algernon."

Veronica was last. As Alex had expected when everyone started to sit down, she'd placed herself on Archie's left-hand side. "I'm Veronica and I'm playing Miss Prism." There was no mistaking the disdain in her voice. Alex had been quite pleased when she saw where Veronica's name was on the cast list. Veronica was now learning that she couldn't always get what she wanted, even if she flirted at the director.

"Alright, then," Archie nodded. "Let's begin. Act I."

The reading of Act I went perfectly. Read-throughs, aside from learning how to say certain words or lines, were also meant to help actors start connecting with their characters. Archie was clearly already tapped into his. His Ernest was suave and mischievous with an undercurrent of serious responsibility. Henry, just as he had been at auditions, was impish and cunning as Algernon. Mrs. Warner struggled a bit, but Alex could already see the haughtiness and sternness required of someone playing Lady Bracknell. William and George had just the right amount of seriousness and gravitas in their roles, though George was still a bit too playful in some of his delivery.

Alex, for her part, wasn't sure about her own first performance. Any actor is their own worst critic and Alex knew she couldn't rely on herself as a practical, unbiased judge. When she hadn't been making her way through the Outlander books every night, she'd been studying her lines, trying to get a feel for Gwendolen's character. Gwendolen was kooky, certainly, but there was more to her than that. Even though the play had been written to poke fun at social conventions in late Victorian London, the characters themselves weren't caricatures. It was just a matter of studying the lines to see what kind of people they were.

Archie called for a break at the end of Act I. As several cast-members went to replenish themselves at the refreshment table, Alex stood up and stretched. As she lifted her arms above her head, she noticed that in the course of half an hour, the library had suddenly become a lot more popular.

There weren't any kids but there were a lot of Leadworth's young adult and adult population spread out throughout the library. Shannon Darcy, for once without her girlfriend, was sitting with a group of friends at the table by the computer station. All were laughing about something. Every so often though, one of the group's eyes would slide over to the read-through table.

Arthur Donaldson and Grace Jeffries had secreted themselves in the biography section. Both were watching the read-through table, but Alex could see them playing footsie as well.

Michael the ice cream man was sitting by the magazine rack, absently flipping through a cooking magazine. Jeff was on his laptop in a back corner, though it seemed less like he was doing work and more like he was trying to appear that he was. His grandmother, Mrs. Delia, was sitting with several members of ladies' bingo. All of them kept glancing at the read-through table.

Alex made her way to the front desk. Kendra had abandoned virtual Solitaire in favor of flipping through the latest issue of Cosmopolitan UK. She looked up from Lea Michele's interview as Alex approached. "Bumping now, isn't it?" she marveled.

Alex snorted in agreement. "When did everyone come in?"

"Not long after you all started reading. They've not come up here or anything. Just sat down and started watching."

Veronica came up just in time to hear this. "Watching?" she blinked.

Kendra nodded. "Yeah. Really weird."

"Not really," Veronica retorted. Her face brightened. "They've heard just how good this production is gonna be and they want a little sneak-peek of it."

"Or we've heard what a travesty another dramatic society play is gonna be and we came to make fun," a new voice sneered.

Veronica's face paled. She and Alex spun around. "Mels," Veronica nodded. Her voice came out slightly shaky, which didn't go unnoticed.

Mels smirked nastily. She rested one elbow on the desk, right above Alex's workspace. "Veronica. Are you cold? You're shaking awful bad."

Veronica wrapped her arms around herself, as though that could somehow keep her from shaking more than a wet dog. "I'm fine," she said stiffly.

As much as Alex liked that Veronica was accountable to someone, this was just going too far. "Melody," she sneered. Sure enough, Mels' attention was pulled directly to her. Alex smiled a fake smile and crossed her arms. "I can assure you, this play is going to be fantastic. Archie's done a terrific job with the cast. Or maybe you didn't notice? I understand you fall asleep during several important things. Play rehearsals, church services. Is that why I've never seen you date anyone? 'Cause you fall asleep at all the important moments?"

Mels' eyes narrowed. She started to retort but Kendra chose that moment to jump in.

"Hey, look at this!" she cried, desperate to break up the steadily escalating conflict. She held up the magazine. "'28 Celeb Men Strip Naked for You'! Doesn't that sound exciting and more interesting?"

Mels took the proffered magazine. "Definitely interesting," she purred, her eyes lingering on a photo of a popular British film star. Suddenly, she smirked. "Although I doubt you'd find it so, Ally. Downside of being a good little Catholic girl, I suppose."

Kendra snorted. "Good Catholic girl?"

"Kendra. . ." Alex said warningly.

She didn't take the hint. "Alex would be interested, Melody, but she currently isn't. She has a boyfriend."

"Kendra!"

That got Mels' attention. "Boyfriend?!" Her shock quickly gave way to amusement. "And whose the poor sap that's stuck with you?" She tapped her chin, considering the possibilities. "Not George or William, they're too young. Hmm . . . Henry Vernon?" She studied Alex's face, searching for a positive or negative. Alex merely stared at her. "Okay, not Henry. Hmm, what about. . ." She snapped her fingers. "Archie! Yes, that's it. He's paid an awful lot of attention to you since you came here, hasn't he?"

Veronica's eyes narrowed, first at Mels, then at Alex. She fiddled with one of her dangly gold Chanel earrings, presumably to try and mask her urge to wrap her hands around Alex's throat and eliminate her rival.

The action didn't go unnoticed by Mels. "Oh, Ronnie," Mels tutted. "Don't feel so bad. All that simpering and hanging off him. . . You never had a chance. Men don't like to be fussed over or treated like a stripper pole."

Veronica immediately forgot her nervousness. Her spine straightened and she looked at Mels as though she were a piece of gum on her shoe. "Don't call me 'Ronnie', Melody."

"Right, you only let Archie call you that."

"Archie's my friend, unlike you."

If she was expecting Mels to be offended by that, she was sorely disappointed. Mels simply smirked and turned her attention back to Alex. "Does your 'boyfriend'," she said the word with air quotes, "call you 'Ally', Ally?"

Alex smirked. "He does, actually."

Mels actually seemed surprised by this. "Really? And you let him?"

"He's the only one allowed."

Kendra rolled her chair to Alex's side of the desk. "And he's real, Mels. Take a look." She held up the picture of Alex and the Doctor in Savannah.

Mels took the frame. She took in the Doctor's face, his attire, his arm slung around Alex's shoulders, the smiles on them both. Her lips pursed and her eyes started to narrow. Abruptly, she slammed the picture down. Kendra and Veronica both jumped and shifted back. Alex, however, stood her ground.

Mels tilted her head at the photo. "He's cute." Her expression didn't match her words though. Her brow was furrowed, as though trying to remember something.

Probably trying to figure out if he's the Raggedy Doctor from Amy's stories, Alex figured. As far as she knew, Amy and Rory hadn't told Mels about their travels with the Doctor, nor had Mels mentioned any gossip she might have heard about the Doctor appearing at the Ponds' wedding. If Mels was still in the dark, Alex had no intention of enlightening her. Mels was not the kind of person who should be gifted with the knowledge of time travel. She was the kind of person who would use it for nefarious purposes, like stealing cars or the Crown Jewels.

Alex was pulled out of her thoughts by Mels asking, "How's he in bed?"

Alex's jaw dropped. "What. . . That's none of your business!"

"Oh, come on," Mels wheedled. Her eyes were sparkling in amusement at Alex's flustering. "Just us girls. Give us a hint."

Alex opened her mouth to tell Mels exactly where she could put her 'hints', but Kendra cut her off. "They haven't slept together yet. They want to though."

"Kendra!" Alex shrieked.

"What?" Kendra stared at her. "I work here too! I notice things!"

"About my love life but not how to properly shelve books?"

Kendra waved this away. "You two are always talking on the phone and in the last few weeks, your face has been red for several minutes after you've hung up." She turned to Mels. "Definitely steamy talk. And they're always flirting. He even tries out librarian-themed pick-up lines on her."

"How do you even know that?!" Alex exclaimed.

"I listened in a few weeks ago. Your phone was charging, and you had to use the library phone to call him. I just picked up the extension. Something about The Importance of Being Earnest."

'I believe in The Importance of Being Earnest, so I'm just going to say it: I'm Wilde about you', Alex thought.

Veronica shook her head. "Kendra, I hope you never come into possession of state secrets."

"I quite agree," Alex said, giving Kendra her best glare. It worked. Kendra winced and stuck her nose back in her magazine. Not that Alex planned on letting her off that easily. Later, she and Kendra were going to have a nice, long talk about boundaries and exactly what you could and could not say to your boss's nemesis.

Speaking of nemesis. . . Mels broke back in with a hail of laughter. Several of the townsfolk's heads jerked up, expressions wary as they tried to see what Mels found so amusing. Experience had taught them that what Mels found funny typically wasn't to everyone else.

"Oh, Alex," Mels chuckled. That made Alex stiffen. Mels hardly ever called her 'Alex'. Doing so now. . . Alex couldn't explain it but for some reason, it set off alarm bells in her head. "How utterly lovely. Really, I mean it. Very, very lovely."

And with those words, Mels twirled on her heels and sashayed to the other side of the library.

Alex watched her go with trepidation. "What do you think she meant by that? 'Very, very lovely'?" Though Mels hadn't said anything threatening, those words made her want to take up arms.

Veronica, however, didn't have the same feeling of concern. She merely shrugged and said, "Who knows? Just ignore her, Alex. That girl's mental. My father's been saying for years that she ought to be sectioned."

Her words, meant to be comforting, had the opposite effect. Alex longed for the Doctor. If anyone could calm her down, tell her that she was seeing danger where there wasn't any, it was him.

Alex abruptly spun on her heel. "Tell Archie and the others I'll be back in a few minutes, Veronica."

Within a few seconds, Alex had locked herself in the bathroom. She switched on the dim light and surveyed herself in the mirror. She smirked. Call her vain, but she looked fantastic today. Even hot. Then, a thought came to her, and her smirk deepened.

Alex touched up her lipstick and ran her hands through her hair. The brown-blonde strands steadily became more and more disheveled. After a split second of hesitation, she popped several buttons on her shirt. The black lace of her bra now peeked out enticingly. Once she was satisfied with her appearance, Alex took a quick selfie.

She studied it carefully. The lighting in the bathroom, while dim, actually seemed to heighten her appearance in the photo. Her face was partly cast in shadow, but it looked more like she was in a candle-lit room than a dim library bathroom. She had made sure to get her breasts in the photo, as well as her skirt and heels. However, she doubted the Doctor would be much interested in those. From the angle that the photo had been taken, his eyes would be drawn straight to her chest.

Missing you, Alex typed beneath the photo. Especially your touch. I can't stop thinking about your hands touching me everywhere. :*

Alex's finger hovered above SEND. Should she send this? It was awfully daring, not just the texting, but the picture as well. She had never done anything like this with past boyfriends. Unlike most of her classmates, she had paid attention to the special guest-lecturer the high school brought in during ninth grade to discuss the dangers of technology.

But really, unlike her past boyfriends, the Doctor was not going to share her picture around. She knew that. He would horde it like Gollum horded the One Ring in Lord of the Rings.

But would he respond well to it? Extreme flirting over the phone was one thing. This. . . This was another thing entirely. When she'd come in here, she merely meant to call him and get reassurance that she was overreacting over Mels and her words. Not . . . this.

But it was so tempting! A thrill ran through Alex and her heartbeats sped up.

After oscillating for a few more moments, Alex finally shook her head. "Just do it," she muttered. She pressed SEND before she could change her mind.

Less than a minute later, right as she was about to leave, she got a reply.

Rassilon, Ally, are you trying to kill me?! I don't even know where to start. . .

Another text came though.

No, wait, I do. I always figured you were a black lace kind of girl. Tell me, does the top match the bottom?

Shivering, Alex rattled off a reply.

Why, yes, Doc. Matching set. One of several, actually.

Several, eh? Now why didn't I know that before?

Alex grinned. Probably because you're not in the habit of going through your companions' lingerie.

True. But for you, I'll have to make an exception. Now, not that I'm complaining, but what brought this on?

Again, Alex was slightly hesitant to press send, but did so anyways. She had started this; the least she could do was continue playing the game. Your talk last night about what I didn't feel in 1929 Smyrna. I had a brilliant dream afterwards and now I can't get my mind out of the gutter.

Oh, Ally, don't worry. The gutter isn't a bad place to be, especially if you have company. Tell me about this brilliant dream.

Instead of texting a reply, Alex called him. What she wanted to say to him couldn't be well conveyed through text. The moment he picked up, she blurted out, "Us in the tent, having sex. I was worried about people in the expedition hearing us, and you asked if that meant you'd be making me scream."

His answering hum was low and sinful. Alex leaned against the sink in an effort to retain her balance. "Is that so?" he murmured, followed by a chuckle that made Alex even more weak in the knees. "Are you a screamer, Ally? Is that something I have to look forward to?"

"Um . . . I don't know. I mean," Alex blushed, "I never have before."

"You will be." His voice was confident and even assertive. She would be like this. There were no ifs, ands, or buts about it.

Alex breathed heavily. "I look forward to it."

He chuckled again. "As do I. But what are you doing now? Perhaps we can alleviate the . . . tension right now."

Alex swallowed heavily at the veiled suggestion. How this was coming from a man she had once seen scribble all over the TARDIS walls out of sheer boredom was beyond her. She loved it though. No question about it. "Shit, I can't right now. I'm at work and the Earnest cast is here for our first read-through."

"Ditch them," the Doctor suggested. His own breathing was labored. Alex could easily picture him leaning back against the console, struggling to retain both balance and control. "Make up an excuse and go back to the house or somewhere private."

"I can't, I'm sorry." Alex was certainly tempted to say, 'screw it' and ditch, but she couldn't.

The Doctor knew it, too. "Yeah," he sighed. "Worth a try, though."

"But can I call you later?" There was no way Alex was dismissing his idea outright. "Because . . . well, trust me, there's no way this tension is going away any time soon."

"Yes!" he cried. There was a bunch of shuffling sounds, presumably from where, in his excitement, he nearly toppled off his own two feet. The Doctor cleared his throat and repeated, in a lower tone, "Yes, absolutely. I would love that, Ally."

Alex beamed. "Great!" She started to say goodbye, only for him to cut her off.

"Just one request, love. Make sure that when you call, you're still wearing what you've got on. And that those three buttons are once again unbuttoned."

In the mirror, Alex watched her eyes turn from honey-colored to a dark, aroused green. "I'll be sure to do that, Doc. And don't worry, I'll button back up. That was only for you anyway."

"Yesssss. . ." he hissed. "That lovely view is only for my eyes. No one else's. Got that, love?"

Had it been anyone else, Alex would have balked at the domineering tone, the hint of order in those words. With the Doctor, however, she just shivered. "Got it," she whispered.

As she headed back to the read-through, Alex's thoughts were not focused on establishing the character of Gwendolen Fairfax. They were focused on just how dominating the Doctor might be in bed.

~The Pros and Cons of Silence~

For the rest of read-through, Alex was barely able to concentrate. Far from being focused on unraveling the personality of Gwendolen Fairfax, her thoughts were consumed with replaying her and the Doctor's conversation, as well as how their mutual tension would be alleviated later. She got some strange looks from the cast whenever she missed a cue or flubbed a very easy line, but Alex couldn't bring herself to care. The only thing she cared about was ushering everyone out once the read-through was over, locking up, and speeding back home to call the Doctor and finish the game they had started.

Fortunately, the moment it became clear read-through was over, everyone that had gathered to watch quickly made their exit. As Alex directed George and William where to dump the empty food containers, she watched several people – Jeff, Mrs. Delia and her companions, and Mels among them – head out the doors. A few lingered, taking the opportunity the read-through had inadvertently provided to browse the stacks.

One such person was Elsie. She was back in the romance section, her fingers trailing over the spines of some Sophie Kinsella books as she scoured the shelves. Which reminded Alex. . . She needed to look up those books for Elsie.

Alex rounded the desk and sat before her computer. Blocking the keys was the framed photograph of her and the Doctor, photo side down.

That's weird, Alex thought as she flipped the frame over. I know I put it back in its place. . . Her thoughts abruptly came to a screeching halt.

Alex stared at the photo in horror. Where the Doctor's smiling face used to be, there was now only a series of white scratches. The Doctor's face had been completely scratched out.

Alex slid the photo out of the frame for better examination. Going by the feeling and shape of the marks, they had most likely been made by either a house or car key. The scratches were deep and harsh, a few even ripping the photo in places. They were also rather violent. There was no sense of order or method about them; whoever had done the scratching had been in the throes of wild emotion, causing the scratches to be haphazard. Some of them skidded off onto Alex's face or hair. Others had veered onto the Doctor's bowtie.

Still, it was clear; whoever had done this had been extremely, almost violently angry. And the fact that they had taken their rage out on the Doctor's face suggested that they were angry towards the Doctor specifically.

Alex's flushed, aroused face turned pale in the blink of an eye. She looked wildly around the library. Who could have done this? When could they have done it? And most importantly, why?

Glancing around the library again, the 'when' was fairly obvious. It had been crowded during the read-through and with everyone focused on the actors, a person could easily slip up to the desk and scratch the photo without being noticed. They especially wouldn't be noticed by Kendra, currently drooling over the nude celebrities in Cosmo.

But who and why? The cast was exempt. They had all been seated at the table, concentrated on their scripts. The photo had been perfectly intact during their break after Act I and they hadn't taken any other breaks. That left their audience, several of which had already left.

Alex sank back against her chair, the photograph clutched to her chest. The fire burning in her veins just a short while ago had subsided. Now there was nothing but a cold, ominous dread.

~The Pros and Cons of Silence~

June 26th, 2011

Amy studied her reflection in the dressing table mirror, even though she knew it would look no different from when she checked it less than a minute ago.

Long red hair pulled into a half up, half down hairstyle. Delicate pink and gold eyeshadow that matched her off the shoulder pink sundress, which itself highlighted her slight tan. Winged eyeliner for a bit of a dramatic statement. Pale pink lips, courtesy of some lipstick borrowed from Alex. Her 'A' necklace nestled in the hollow of her throat. Before the Doctor exploded the universe, she couldn't remember where she had gotten it from. Now she knew. Her dad had bought the cheap, five quid necklace at the hospital gift-shop the day she was born. Her parents officially gave it to her when she was ten and she hadn't stopped wearing it since.

With a long sigh, Amy pulled her gaze away from the mirror. She studied first the collection of perfume bottles lined along the little shelf above the table, then the canister of makeup brushes, the photograph of her and her parents on holiday in Inverness when she was sixteen, and the little silver clock Alex had bought her at the local curiosity shop. Its hands were at 2:17, as they had been for the last week. Amy kept forgetting to buy batteries.

Finally, it couldn't be avoided. The object she had strove to keep from looking at fell into sight. Alex's cell phone, the screen displaying her contacts. Specifically, the TARDIS contact information.

Amy sighed and slowly, almost reluctantly, picked it up. Ever since her conversation with Alex last month, after the latter had suggested she talk to the Doctor about both of them losing their children and feeling the urge to destroy those that threatened your child, Amy hadn't been able to get it out of her mind.

Initially, she had tried to dismiss it. The Doctor would never, ever talk about his children. Not to her, anyway. Alex was the only person Amy could see him confiding in. After all, it wasn't until Alex accidentally discovered Susan's book in the TARDIS library that they all learned she was the Doctor's granddaughter. He never would have disclosed that to them of his own free will.

Still, the thought niggled at her. It became more than just niggling after that horrible conversation with her parents earlier this month when they asked about future grandchildren. She knew she would have to tell her parents eventually about Melody/River, but they would never fully understand her grief and anger over it. She didn't blame them for it. It was just a simple fact. They had never gone through the death of a child. Not that Melody had died, but she had been taken away from her, which was basically the same thing.

Now, the thought was a ringing klaxon in her head. Tonight was her and Rory's anniversary and her parents were throwing a massive party/barbeque to celebrate. Everyone who had attended the wedding, and even a few who hadn't, were invited. And Amy knew that she was going to have to suffer through several similar inquiries to the one her parents made at the Greenleaf before the night was over.

The very thought of her neighbors and her cousin Rebecca asking When are you having kids? made her stomach drop. Alex had diffused the questions with her parents, but she couldn't do the same tonight, not with so many people. Even if she could, Amy wouldn't ask it of her. That wasn't fair to Alex. She had already done so much for them, helping her and Rory escape the heavy depression they had felt in the days immediately following Demons Run.

Amy and Rory still had their sad days, but Amy knew they were doing much better now than they had been at the beginning of summer. The only thing that might help her even more, she knew, was talking to someone about what she had gone through. Not just that, but someone who understood it, who could personally relate because they had lost their children, too.

The only person who could fully understand that was the Doctor. Though he'd never said anything to confirm it, Amy strongly suspected that his children were dead. Possibly as a result of the Time War, or maybe something mundane but equally catastrophic, like an illness or a TARDIS-crash (assuming the latter was actually a thing).

But even if he understood, would he actually confide in her? Amy studied the Blackberry again. She had tried calling the TARDIS from the house phone, then her own cell phone, but it seemed that the Doctor was either rather busy right now or screening his calls. Amy suspected the latter. She had noted that every time Alex called him, he answered.

Hence why she had snitched Alex's phone while the latter was in the shower. She had long since gotten out, but she surely wouldn't miss it for a few more minutes. Plenty of time to confide in the Doctor.

Assuming he didn't immediately hang up upon learning who was really on the other end.

With a deep breath, Amy pressed CALL.

The phone rang only twice before the Doctor answered. "Ah, Ally," he murmured, voice low. "Let's see. . . Call me William S. Burroughs, because I want to Naked Lunch with you."

Amy's horrified "UGH!" could have been heard on the other side of Leadworth. Now she knew why Alex's most recent chats with the Doctor had been leaving her red-faced.

"POND!" If Amy had been horrified, it was nothing compared to what the Doctor was now feeling. Amy could practically see the waves of alarm and terror coming out the speakers. "You're . . . you're not— . . . Don't you ever mention this to anyone!"

"No danger in that," Amy said dryly. "No one would believe me anyway."

The Doctor made a kind of derisive snorting sound, then all was quiet. For several moments, neither one spoke. Amy was starting to think he had hung up when he said, "Amelia, why are you calling me from Alex's phone?"

"Because you didn't answer when I called from my own numbers."

The Doctor didn't counter with an excuse. Amy nodded to herself. He was screening his calls.

"I'm sorry," he said finally. "I've just been . . . busy, is all."

Busy trying to track down Melody, she knew. Alex had told her a little bit about his interrogations of Colonel Manton and others who had been arrested at Demons Run, but not much else. Amy hoped that meant the Doctor was just keeping things close to his chest, as usual, and not instructing Alex to keep things from her and Rory. She didn't think she could ever forgive them for that. This was her baby, after all.

"I know," she said quietly.

"Is that why you called? For information on Melody?"

For a moment, Amy was tempted to say 'yes'. Not a day went by where she didn't think of Melody, what she might be going through, how she was being treated. Kovarian didn't strike her as the maternal type. Maybe, if she pressed him enough, she could get all the details of his search that he may or may not be sharing with Alex.

Ultimately, however, she sighed. That wasn't why she had called. Besides, if the Doctor's search was going nowhere, did she really want absolute proof of that? No, better to hold onto hope and proceed with her original motives.

"No, not that. Um, I don't know if Alex ever mentioned this to you but, well, we were talking last month, and she suggested I talk to you."

"About what?"

"About . . . well, keep in mind, your girlfriend suggested this." She ignored the Doctor's protests of how juvenile the word 'girlfriend' was. "Anyway, she suggested that I talk to you because, well, you're the only person I know who can understand what I'm going through."

"Which is?"

Oh God, he was going to make her say it, wasn't he? Amy swallowed and sat up straighter, as though doing so would make her brave enough to say the words. "Losing my child." She was pleased to note that her voice was strong and steady. When the Doctor didn't say anything, she pressed on. "I mean, Alex pointed out that you were a parent also and that you . . . you lost your children as well. You're the only person I know who's gone through that. No one else here in Leadworth has, and even if there was one, I couldn't confide in them because that would open a whole other can of worms on time travel and you, ex cetera, ex cetera. So, I thought I could talk . . . to you."

A long pause. Amy's heart thundered. Her erect spine stiffened. "Like I said earlier," she continued around a thick swallow, "I don't know if Alex suggested this to you or not—"

"She did."

Amy was slightly taken aback. The Doctor's response didn't have any emotion behind it. It sounded as though he had simply been stating a fact. "Right," she nodded. "Well, then." There she had it. The Doctor was not going to talk to her about this. She had known it all along, but Amy couldn't quite keep from feeling hurt anyways.

She was just about to make an excuse and hang up when the Doctor said, "I told Alex that it probably wasn't a good idea, but she asked me to think about it. I did, and . . . I don't think it's a bad one."

Amy's stiff spine sank in relief. "Oh. Well, good then."

There was a long silence. The only sounds Amy could hear were the Doctor's breathing, the sound of Alex's hairdryer downstairs, and Rory faintly humming Katy Perry's latest hit, 'Last Friday Night', in his study across the hall. Neither she nor the Doctor knew what to say. They had agreed to have this conversation, but not on how to begin it.

I could really use an instruction manual, Amy thought. She suspected the Doctor was thinking the same.

She was about to say something – what, specifically, she had no idea – when the Doctor broke in again. "Losing a child," he murmured, "it takes a part of yourself as well. A piece of your soul."

Amy blinked. Losing Melody, even if she hadn't actually died, it had made a part of her go missing. "Yeah," she said softly. "In the . . . in the days right after Demons Run, it felt like a part of my heart had been taken out. Rory told me once about heartstrings, and how they could actually break if a person experienced a really great loss. I thought . . . I thought that maybe one of my heartstrings broke."

"Yes, 'dying from a broken heart' isn't as much of a cliché as people think. Nor is losing a piece of your soul when a loved one dies. The part of you that connected them to you goes away. At least, that's been my experience."

He was quiet for a minute, presumably pondering what he'd say next. "But you're luckier than me, Amy. Unlike my children, Melody is still alive. She's been taken, yes, but that piece of you that's gone . . . it will come back. You still have her and hopefully, you and Rory will have more children. For me," he let out a half-hearted snort, "that ship has long since sailed."

Amy's brow furrowed. "What do you mean? Can't you and Alex have children?" She knew they obviously wouldn't right now, the relationship was still too new, but that didn't mean the Doctor and Alex couldn't have kids someday.

"I highly doubt it. When Alex was still human, there was about a 5% chance. Time Lords weren't meant to . . . dance with other species and as such, we were only compatible reproductively to other Time Lords."

"Yes, but what about now? Alex isn't exactly human anymore."

"True, but her body's been extensively altered. I can't get into the files Kovarian kept on her, so even I'm at a loss as to how much she's been changed. Her reproductive organs may not even be functional, let alone compatible to mine."

"Why the hell would they fiddle with Alex's reproductive organs?!" Amy exclaimed.

The Doctor's voice held a touch of darkness when he answered. "Who knows? But I wouldn't put it past them."

"Still. I don't think you should completely discount the possibility. Not till you have definite proof, anyway."

"Perhaps," he hummed. "Though to be honest with you, Amy, I'm not sure that I'd even be capable of being a parent now. I believe that part of me died a long time ago."

"Bullshit," Amy retorted. "I've seen you with kids, Raggedy Man. I remember how you treated me when I was a kid! You actually listened to me about the crack in my wall when no one else did and tried to fix it."

"Being kindhearted towards children and actually being a parent are two different things, Pond."

"Maybe to you, but not to me. Hate to break it to you, Raggedy Man, but your parental instincts are still alive and kicking."

The Doctor was silent for a while, considering this declaration. Amy hoped he gave it serious thought, not just flicked it away like a pesky fly.

When he spoke again, it was with the clear intent to get the focus back on Amy. "Like I said, Pond, you and Rory are lucky. What happened with Melody/River is horrible. I wouldn't wish it on my own worst enemy. But she is still alive. There is that. If there's one thing I hope you get out of this whole travesty, Amelia, it's that it could have been much, much worse."

Amy frowned. "You mean . . . like her dying?"

"Precisely."

Amy reached over to the dressing table and fiddled with a lip-gloss she had left out. "For a moment on Demons Run, I thought she had." She rolled the lip-gloss tube back and forth, trying to focus on it instead of the horrible image in her head. "When the Headless Monks came out and began to attack, Rory hid me and Melody in the back behind some crates. I held her to me, praying that Rory would be fine and we could all go home and live like a regular family. Then, without any warning, she dissolved. Melody just . . . exploded into that white Flesh goop. In less than a second, my baby was gone."

There was a long silence as the Doctor processed this. Suddenly, there came a loud litany of alien swearing. Amy jerked the phone back as the Doctor launched into what sounded like a Gallifreyan curse-filled tirade against Kovarian and any and everyone involved with her. His outburst was concluded by the sound of something smashing in the background and the TARDIS's irate hums.

Amy sat silently, listening to Alex's hairdryer cutting off, Rory's humming become a touch louder, and the Doctor's ragged breathing. He was still panting as he said, "Oh, Amelia. I am so, so sorry that happened to you."

"Yeah, well," Amy shrugged, though she knew her nonchalance wouldn't fool him for a minute. Before he could call her out on it, she said, "Can I ask you a question?"

"Technically, you just did."

Amy rolled her eyes. "Doctor."

"Okay, okay, yes, Pond. What is your question?"

Amy rolled the lip-gloss back and forth. "Well, when she was trying to talk me into talking to you, Alex said that since you had been a parent, you would understand the . . . the urge to. . ." She groaned. God, why was this so hard? This was the Doctor she was talking to, one of her best friends. Gritting her teeth, she forced the words to come out, visualizing them as bullets coming out of a gun, fast and harsh. "The urge to hurt or destroy whatever threatens your child."

There was a long silence. Amy wasn't sure if the Doctor was simply thinking over what she'd said or whether he was so appalled by it that he couldn't find the words to express his feelings on the subject. Finally, though, he said, "You haven't asked your question, Amy."

"Um, well, I guess my question is. . . Do you? Understand that urge, I mean?"

To her surprise, the Doctor answered almost immediately. "I do."

"Oh?"

The long sigh he let out showed that the Doctor was rather reluctant, but he obliged her silent request. "No one knows about this, not even Alex. At least, she doesn't know yet. I daresay I'll tell her about it sooner or later. But I don't want you telling her or anyone else, Pond, alright? This is just between us. Got it?"

Even though she knew he couldn't see it, Amy crossed her heart. "I promise."

"Okay, then. . . A couple years ago, me and two friends of mine, Martha and Donna, were taken rather unexpectedly by the TARDIS to the planet Messaline. When we landed, we found ourselves in an underground bunker."

She had a pretty good idea where this story was going. Most of the Doctor's stories began the same way. "Let me guess," Amy said dryly. "You were minding your own business, marveling at an alien bunker, when a bunch of armed guards came running up and captured you."

The Doctor laughed. "Very astute, Pond! Only it was soldiers, not guards. But we weren't taken prisoner, at least not right away. Before that, they forced me to put my hand in a machine. It took a tissue sample, taking samples of my diploid cells, which were split into haploids, then recombined in a new pattern and grown very quickly into . . . well, essentially a kind of clone version of me. The machine made one person biological mother and father."

"So . . . the clone was related to you?"

"My daughter," the Doctor corrected softly. "Jenny." He chuckled, but Amy couldn't detect any humor in it. "Not that I accepted her as that immediately though. You see, the inhabitants of Messaline, human colonists and another fish-like species called the Hath, were at war with each-other. They were using the machines, called progenation machines, to create new soldiers. The soldiers were automatically implanted with military knowledge and common sense, but nothing else. Names had to be assigned. It was actually Donna who named Jenny. She took it from what I said Jenny was, a generated anomaly."

"You didn't immediately accept her as your daughter?" Amy could admit, she'd been gobsmacked when she discovered she was pregnant and just seconds away from giving birth. But after ultimately seeing Melody, taking in her tiny features, features that could have only come from her and Rory, she had accepted it. She had instantly loved that little baby, filled with a sense of adoration and fierce protectiveness. She couldn't understand the Doctor not feeling the same away upon seeing Jenny.

The Doctor sighed, long, low, and regretful. "No," he murmured. "I wish I had. Believe me, Pond, I do regret that. But all I saw when I looked at Jenny were the Time Lords and the family I lost in the Time War. The hole they left. . . I wasn't sure if I could face that every day, Jenny being a living, breathing reminder of them."

"It wouldn't have stayed like that," Amy said softly. "Jenny would have helped, I'm sure of it."

"That's exactly what Donna said. You'd have liked Donna, Pond. Oh, blimey, it's probably a good thing you two will never meet because you'd get on like a house on fire. Two fiery gingers. I'd never have a moment's peace again."

"Who says we won't meet?" Amy grinned. "Whoever this Donna is, sounds like she kept you in line. I'd definitely like to meet the woman capable of doing that. She could give Alex some tips!"

The Doctor was suddenly silent. Dread rushed through Amy. She didn't know a lot about the Doctor's past companions, outside of the stories they were featured in. She knew of Ace, featured in that mad story about a killer gingerbread man, Sarah Jane Smith, Jo Grant-Jones, Susan, and a couple others. However, the Doctor had never gone into specifics about them. Not with her and Rory, anyway. Amy had no doubt Alex knew plenty about past companions but was too respectful towards the Doctor's privacy to mention them.

What Amy did know, however, was that not all companions left on their own terms. She wasn't naïve. Traveling with the Doctor, mad and amazing and thrilling as it was, was also dangerous. She knew that, she had accepted it, and she always tried to live each day traveling in the TARDIS without regrets. There had been close calls, Demons Run being chief among them, but so far nothing that had seriously compromised her life. But that couldn't be the same for some past companions. Some of them had probably met horrible ends. Some of them never got to go home. Perhaps Donna, going off the Doctor's telling silence, had been one of them.

Before Amy could try to change the subject, the Doctor was talking again. "There was also the fact," he said, a bit pointedly, indicating Donna and her departure wasn't to be discussed, "that Jenny was bred to be a solider. That was all she knew. She was supposed to follow orders, not question them. It hadn't even occurred to her that she could do that before she started observing me and Donna. It put us into some conflict. One of the first things she did after coming out of the machine was to set off explosives to seal a tunnel the Hath had come through, separating us from Martha and the TARDIS. She called Martha's capture 'collateral damage'."

Amy winced. Okay, she could sort of see now why the Doctor wouldn't have hit it off with Jenny right away. "Still, she was your daughter. The questioning orders had to come in at some point. It was practically in her DNA!"

"Yes," the Doctor chuckled. "That's true. And it hit her sooner than I thought possible. At one point, the human army was chasing us. Jenny, in the only way she knew how, decided to try and protect Donna and I by shooting back at them. She was then presented the opportunity to shoot General Cobb, the army's leader. But she didn't. Instead, she shot at a pipe, releasing gas, and allowing us all time to escape.

"We eventually found what the humans and the Hath were initially fighting over. There was a myth they had, a creation myth, that when a goddess created the universe, she looked at her creation and sighed. They believed that sigh was caught in some form, which they called the Source. However, the Source was actually a terraforming device, something that makes hostile environments habitable. Donna also managed to figure out, based on plaques that were spread out everywhere, that the war actually began only seven days prior. After the colonization mission commander died, there was a power vacuum created between the humans and the Hath."

Amy immediately understood. "All of the original colonists died in the first few days of the war. Since those machines kept creating soldiers, the original story just became like a big game of Telephone."

"Exactly, and when the humans and the Hath learned this, and saw the terraforming device doing its work, they laid down arms." He paused and Amy heard him swallow thickly. "Except one."

Again, Amy immediately knew where he was heading. "General Cobb," she said softly.

"Yes." There came what sounded like a sniffle. "I robbed him of his great victory over the Hath. He took a shot at me. But Jenny. . ."

Amy's heart sank. She'd known it was coming, but she had hoped she was wrong. "Jenny jumped in front of you." A tear ran down her cheek. "She took the bullet instead."

The Doctor let out a shuddering breath. It sounded as though he was just barely keeping himself together. "Yes," he whispered. "Jenny was so much like me – too much really – in mind and spirit, but not enough in body. She had two hearts but not the ability to regenerate. She. . . She died in my arms. I had promised her she could come with me in the TARDIS, see all sorts of new worlds." He let out a rueful, almost mocking laugh. "I had already started thinking about where to take her first. Something simple. I figured twenty-first century Earth, so she could see a planet I'm very fond of, see where Donna and Martha came from. Nothing spectacular. I didn't want to overwhelm her. Figured we could take a picnic in Hyde Park, relax, introduce her to new foods while she pestered me with questions." His tone abruptly turned bitter. "But it wasn't to be."

More tears streamed down Amy's face, threatening to ruin her impeccable makeup. She hurriedly wiped them away. Poor Doctor, she thought. Poor Jenny. Just as he accepted he was a father again, had someone to care for and love, it was all taken away in one quick moment. He'd been making plans. A picnic in Hyde Park! Maybe he would have shown Jenny Speaker's Corner, the 7th of July Memorial, the weeping beech, and the ducks in the pond. Maybe they would have fed those ducks together. Jenny wouldn't have had any idea what a duck was. She probably would have marveled at them.

Amy had made such plans, too. Seconds after Melody was put in her arms, she started imagining colors for the nursery, if pink was too cliché, if the nursery should be decorated the way it was in the Leadworth reality created by the Dream Lord. She had made a list of what she would need. Nappies was number one, followed by a crib, toys, a changing table, a rocking chair, a mobile. She'd wondered how she would introduce her parents to their new grandchild, if they would love her. She'd thought about the trips they could take, ordinary ones that didn't involve TARDIS travel. She and Rory would take Melody to Barry Island, where she and her parents had gone on vacation, and later to Inverness, to visit family.

So many plans made. And all of them struck down in a single moment.

"I made plans, too," she murmured. "So many of them I can't remember them all."

"Me too."

Amy sniffled. "What happened to General Cobb?"

The Doctor sighed. "Ah, now we're at the answer to your question, Pond. The moment Jenny died, I . . . well, I was livid. Full of grief, thinking of all the things we'd never get to do together. All I could think was that there was another one of my children lying dead at my feet. For a few moments, I didn't even think. I simply went over to Cobb, grabbed his gun, and held it to his head."

Amy sucked in a breath. She recalled how shocking it was when the Doctor grabbed a gun in the Maze of the Dead. Seeing him holding it, aiming it. . . She hadn't known the Doctor for very long, but even at that point, she could see just how wrong it was. 'The Doctor' and 'gun' didn't belong in the same sentence. Unless that sentence was 'The Doctor was being held at gunpoint'.

"Yeah," the Doctor said wryly, hearing her gasp. "That was Martha and Donna's reactions as well." He sighed deeply. "I won't lie to you, Pond. I was deeply, deeply, deeply tempted to pull the trigger. I wanted to. I wanted to see the man that had just killed my daughter out of petty revenge die. I wanted to do to him what he did to her. If I had pulled the trigger, I highly doubt I would have regretted it. Maybe someday, but not in those immediate moments afterwards."

"But you didn't." It wasn't a question. Amy knew him. No matter how tempted he might have been, how right he might have felt, the Doctor would never have killed Cobb.

"No. I didn't. There had already been so much violence by that point, generation after generation of soldiers dying for nothing. An example had to be made. I told Cobb, 'I never would'. Then I put the gun down and told both armies to form their society out of the idea of a man who never would."

"Did they?"

"I don't know. They were certainly cooperating as they prepared Jenny for a funeral, right as we were leaving. I have no idea if it stayed that way though. I haven't been back to Messaline since."

Not even to visit his daughter's grave? Amy couldn't imagine that. As grim as it was, she liked the idea of visiting someone's grave. It was a permanent marker of who that person had been, what they were to others, a place where they could be honored and remembered. Maybe, when Alex heard this story, she would be able to persuade the Doctor differently. Alex would want to lay flowers on Jenny's grave. If the Doctor was correct, Jenny was the closest Alex would ever get to a daughter.

"So, as you can see, Pond, I do know what it feels like to want revenge for someone hurting your child. I admit, part of my destroying Gallifrey was in revenge for all the members of my family that had been slaughtered by the Daleks. I very nearly killed Cobb. And I daresay, if you were given the opportunity to kill Kovarian, you'd take it, wouldn't you?" His voice wasn't condemning or disapproving. Actually, it sounded empathetic.

Amy shuddered, a sob coming out despite her best efforts. "Yes," she whispered. Still whispering, not wanting Rory to hear, she said, "Alex told me what you would've done had they killed me at Demons Run. I want any and everyone involved there to burn. I know it's not right, Doctor, I know a lot of them were captured and they're awaiting trial and all, but I still think they should pay. Dearly."

"It's alright, Amy. What you're feeling, it's a universal feeling. Every loving parent wants to protect their child. When that child is threatened, they lash out. It's what everyone who cares about their children does, Pond. It's neither right nor wrong; it just is."

Amy considered this for several moments. She was still thinking about it when the doorknob on the bedroom door rattled. "Ames?" Alex called. "Are you ready?"

"Yeah, almost! Give me a sec!"

"Oh, right," the Doctor said. "Today's your and Rory's anniversary."

"Should I be expecting a gift from you?" Amy teased.

He laughed. "I believe Alex attached my name to her gift, but yes. Might be a little late though."

"Knowing you, I wouldn't expect anything else."

She could practically hear him rolling his eyes. "Hilarious, Pond," he said dryly. "Really, you should be a comedian."

Now it was Amy's turn to roll her eyes. "Ha bloody ha."

"But," the Doctor said, tone turning serious. "Happy anniversary, Pond. Really. I'm sorry to miss it."

Amy smiled softly. "Me too." Then, because she just couldn't let the Doctor off that easily, she smirked and added, "Though I won't miss all that drunken giraffe dancing."

"OI! I wasn't that bad! I haven't danced in at least two centuries. Cut me some slack for being a bit rusty!"

Amy laughed ('rusty' was a bit of a light word to describe the Doctor's dancing) when the doorknob rattled again. This time, Alex stepped in. "Hey," she started to smile, only to frown when she saw her Blackberry in Amy's hand.

"One sec," Amy mouthed. She ducked her eyes away from Alex, trying to regain some privacy. "I've gotta go now. But thank you, Doctor. Really. It. . . It really helped."

"Glad I could help," he said softly. And with a click, he was gone.

Amy handed the phone off to Alex. "Sorry, hope you weren't missing it."

Alex tucked the phone into her brown leather clutch. "No, it's alright." She smiled softly. "How'd it go?"

Amy almost snorted. Nothing got past Alex, especially the reason Amy had borrowed her phone. "Not bad. But. . ."

"Can't talk about it?"

Amy turned back to the mirror. Her makeup wasn't too badly smudged, but it still needed a bit of touching-up. "He asked me to keep it between us," she said as she started dabbing at her mascara tracks. "Though he did say he'd probably tell you about it someday."

Though Alex couldn't deny feeling somewhat disappointed at not hearing what the Doctor had told Amy, she accepted it. "Okay," she nodded. She picked up a tube of mascara. "Need some help?"

Amy nodded. "Yeah, thanks."

A few minutes later, just as Alex was blotting Amy's lipstick, there was a knock at the door. Rory stepped in. "You two about ready?" he asked. "We promised Augustus we'd be there no later than five thirty." He glanced at his watch. Once again, he was wearing the fancy silver watch with the pinching band, paired with a light blue seersucker suit, white collared shirt, yellow tie, and tan loafers.

"Yes, Roranicus," Alex smiled. She tossed the lipstick-stained tissue into the trashcan. "You're looking awfully spiffy tonight."

Rory chuckled. "I did try. And so do you. Look spiffy, I mean."

Alex grinned. Her dress was newish, another buy from Mrs. Benson's yard sale. Alex couldn't understand why Kendra had gotten rid of this dress. It had quickly become one of Alex's favorites. It was short sleeved with an ankle-length hem and a multi-colored flower pattern. She'd paired it with a brown leather, gold buckled belt around her waist, light brown, strapped platform heels, and gold hoop earrings. She'd kept her makeup fairly simple with her favorite natural eyeshadow and pink lip-gloss. All in all, perfect attire for the somewhat formal barbeque Augustus and Tabetha were throwing for Amy and Rory's one-year anniversary. "Thanks. And don't forget to compliment your wife."

"I was saving the best for last," Rory said smoothly. He looked across at Amy. His whole demeanor softened into something Alex wouldn't hesitate to call soppy, if he and Amy weren't two of her best friends. "You look great, Amy," he said softly. He crossed the room into her open arms. Alex politely turned her head as the two kissed.

Once she was sure they were done, Alex turned back. She cleared her throat. "Well, come on!" she called. "Don't want to be late! You know how your mother fusses, Amy, if we're late."

Amy shuddered. "True." With a final check of her face in the mirror, she hopped up and grabbed her clutch. "Alright!" she beamed. "Come on, Mr. Pond, Ms. Locke. Let's go to a party!"

~The Pros and Cons of Silence~

A/N: I know it's a few days late, but. . . HOW ABOUT SPYFALL PART 1?! Days later, I'm STILL obsessing over that twist ending! I can't WAIT to write it for Alex!

Also, personal request: Please keep mentions of spoilers on tonight's episode to yourself until after 9:30 EST in the U.S. I will be watching and I can't wait to see what happens!

Fun Fact: Veronica Stackmore is actually already a part of the Whoniverse. She appears in Doctor Who Magazine comic 'Imaginary Enemies'. I borrowed her and aged her up. I can't wait to delve more into her character. :)

Roll Call:

Henry Vernon: Henry Cavill

Veronica Stackmore: Kelley Missal

George Donaldson - Oliver Phelps

William Donaldson - Jamie Phelps

Arthur Donaldson - Milo Manheim

Elsie Margraves: Lily Collins

Notes on reviews. . .

NicoleR85 - I'm glad you liked the chapter! I really love writing Alex being in Leadworth and all the things that are happening there. Hope you enjoyed the chapter!

Guest - Alex saw on the Caller ID that it was the Doctor calling. That's why she answered the phone the way she did. She was flirting. Thank you for the information on how the elementary school system works in the UK. I'll try to keep that in mind in future chapters.

Purplestan - They said I love you! I never really thought about it being significant that Alex says it first, but you are right. Lots of fics tend to have the man saying it. Hmm. . . Who do you think is related to Alex? There are quite a few candidates in the Whoniverse. I don't want to say exactly when we'll find out, but it will be a lot sooner than you think. Hope you enjoyed the chapter!

bored411 - Putting a warning up might be a good idea. I did it for this chapter because of Alex's dream and her and the Doctor's suggestive conversation, so we'll see how that goes. I may still have to do a one-shot collection though, just to be safe. Hope you enjoyed the chapter!

Kylie Winchester - I'm so glad you love the Alex Locke Series! Hope you enjoyed this latest chapter!

ShadowTier - I'm so glad you loved the chapters! I loved writing all the adjustments Alex has to go through. It's so interesting to challenge characters like that to me, see how they go through various events, whether it breaks them or strengthens them. Puzzling out of everything? Yep, you definitely have to do that with my stories. :) Lol, the Archie story is funny! Hopefully, my Archie will help you get past that. Hope you enjoyed the chapter!

BlueDarkDragon - You're welcome! Happy New Year to you, too! Hope you enjoyed the chapter!

Please review and see you later!