Burning Stars {A Doctor Who Fan Fiction} [REWRITE IN PROGRESS!]

Chapter 13

Simultaneously, Amy and Rory took sharp intakes of breath. They shared a look with each other before both turning to the Doctor. "Come again?" Rory asked, voice raised an octave or two.

"Well...apparently River and I...have a daughter..." the Doctor said slowly, avoiding their eyes.

"If it's worth anything, I only found out about three days ago," I piped up. The Doctor gave me a look that said 'you're not helping at all'.

Amy abandoned Rory's side, walking straight up to the Doctor and slapping him across the face. Hard. His head turned in the other direction, hands rubbing the red mark now forming on his face. "Okay, probably deserved that..." he muttered.

He faced Amy again, only to be met with another slap to the other side of his face. Rory stepped in, gently pulling her out of reach from the Doctor.

"That was for making me a grandmother at only thirty-one," she said, whisper-shouting so that Brian wouldn't hear. "And the other was for not telling us sooner!"

"I only just found out myself!" the Doctor whispered back.

"Is that why you were scared of the picture?" I asked, recalling him cowering away from the thick piece of paper like it would bite him if he got too close.

"Not scared, shocked. There's a difference," he answered, sounding like a child angry over a toy.

"She does look like you, Doctor," Rory said, looking between the Doctor and I. "And just a bit like River."

"Rory, you're supposed to be on my side. And mad at him," Amy corrected him. She mimicked Rory's actions. "But you're right."

"Oh, Annabelle, if I'd known you'd get me out of things like this, I'd have picked you up ages ago," the Doctor said, making his way over to me. "Huh. I never realized how short you were. Must be from Amy's side."

"Oi!" Amy yelled. "Not my fault my dad's all stumpy."

"What? Nothing's wrong with short. Short gets you into places." He stuck his hand over my head, measuring me up to himself. I didn't even reach his shoulder. "Short is useful."

"Wait, wait. Doctor, what about Kovarian? And the Silence? They...wanted Melody, didn't they? And Annabelle's Time Lord, too, yeah?" Amy asked, looking at me worriedly.

"I'm nearly positive they never got to her. Seeing as she hasn't tried to kill me yet. And she's three-quarters Time Lord."

"Yes, still in the room, y'know," I said, crossing my arms. "How come you keep saying 'Melody' and River? And why would I try to kill you?"

"That's a story for another day," the Doctor insisted, flashing half a smile. He started tinkering with the TARDIS controls as Brian stood up, packing away the thermos and little lunch box he'd had.

"Oh, come on. Don't I have the right to know?" I asked, helping him flip switches. He responded with a warning look, this one saying 'don't do this in front of our guest, he's only just come to terms with the time travel'. "Fine. As long as you tell me eventually."

The Doctor grinned, pulling down one last lever. The TARDIS shook, sending the stepladder from the materializing-around-the-Ponds incident toppling. "Okay, 2012. The day I picked you up from." I noticed the sadness in his voice.

"Doctor, just come back soon, okay? Not ten more months later," Amy warned. Brian stepped outside, Rory helping him carry the fallen stepladder. When the door opened, I shivered; it felt like the temperature in the TARDIS had dropped significantly.

"Okay...maybe a couple weeks I'll come back. It'll be sooner this time. There's a couple planets I'd like to show Annabelle anyway," the Doctor insisted, covering the previous disappointment in his voice. Rory stepped back inside.