Yowzah Oneshot Collection (3)

59(G)

The Question Hidden in Plain Sight

           SnubNosedSilhouette

Prologue

The first thing on Amelia Pond’s mind after climbing out of the Aplan temple was that she needed a good, long shower.  Possibly followed by a soak in the tub.  Possibly rounded out by yet another shower.  In all the years she had fantasized about traveling through space and time with the Doctor she had never imagined just how disgusting alien dirt and mud would be when mixed with her own cold sweat. She’d also neglected to consider how frequently she would have the opportunity to find out exactly what that particular combination smelled like.

After the issue of cleanliness was dealt with, however, she realized she had a question.

“Doctor,” she asked, wandering into the Console Room while toweling her hair, “you’d met River before today, right?”

The Doctor, who was currently half-hidden underneath the console, up to his waist in a tangle of cables and wires, feet tapping on the glass floor as he worked, suddenly stilled. 

“Yes, I had,” he answered in a quiet voice she nearly didn’t recognize.

“How did you first meet her?”

He pushed himself out from underneath the console, pushed the enormous goggles he was wearing onto his forehead, and gave her a long, measured look before responding.  “It was awhile ago.  Why do you ask?”

“Just curious, I guess.  I mean, she’d obviously seen you loads of times, but you’d only seen her a few.  You knew things about her, though, like that she’ll be a professor in her future.”

He said nothing, and for a moment Amy wondered if she’d offended him by asking the question.  If she was right - if River really was going to be his wife some day - then perhaps she was prying into things he’d prefer to keep private.  She picked at a seam on the jumpseat, and decided that if he hadn’t answered by the time she counted to thirty she’d tell him to forget it and retreat to her room.

“Yes, when I first met her she introduced herself as Professor Song.  This is the first time I’ve seen her when she hasn’t had that title.  Bit of a mistake, telling her about it.  I’ll know better next time.”  The Doctor reached out to fiddle with a dangling cable, deliberately avoiding eye contact.

“So you’re admitting that there will be a next time!” Amy grinned. 

Wordlessly, the Doctor replaced his goggles and pushed himself back under the console again. 

“Oi, I’m not done with you yet.  You didn’t answer my first question - how did you meet?”

This time the Doctor didn’t extricate himself from his repair work.  His voice was muffled by machinery, but Amy could still hear him clearly. 

“She called.  Used my psychic paper that time. Bit of a shock for her that I didn’t immediately know who she was.  We... we saved some people together.  Quite a lot of people, actually.”

Smiling at the idea of the Doctor and River’s first adventure together, and at the idea of the kind of “shock” the Doctor had likely received when River had flirted with him for the first time, Amy gathered up her towel and rose from the jump seat.  She was very much looking forward to the next time they ran into the future Mrs. Doctor.

The Question

Three months back in Leadworth, Rory reflected as he stared at a spot on the ceiling in their room on the TARDIS, has completely buggered my sleeping patterns.