Yowzah Oneshot Collection (3)

161(G)

            Capture the Moment

                  plausiblescully

I have pictures of all your faces.

She certainly does. Most of them she had actually taken herself. It had started out unintentionally; she'd be looking for the Doctor or happen to stumble across the TARDIS in her travels, only to discover she had gotten the wrong one. The first couple of times she had been slightly disappointed, knowing full well that she couldn't approach him. She would snap a photo and be on her way, ready to try again to find her Doctor.

But once, while spying on his fourth incarnation—she rather liked this one, with his curly brown locks, infectious grin, and even that ridiculous scarf, though she would never admit to it—she had paused halfway through typing coordinates into her vortex manipulator when she'd heard him call out "Sarah Jane!" He'd mentioned her before, calling her "one of my very best friends" and "dear Sarah Jane."

Out of curiosity, River lingered a moment, watching the two of them until they disappeared inside the TARDIS. It was interesting to see how he interacted with his other companions, what crazy outfits he was wearing that had no doubt been hand-picked, how different he had been back then, but also how similar. Slowly, River began to seek out these younger versions of him...

You never show up in the right order though.

She's watching a very young version of him now—perhaps his youngest incarnation—although he looks older than she's ever seen him. His white hair is slicked back and deep creases wrinkle his forehead. She likes how this him is possibly the best representation of everything Doctor; a jovial old man in perhaps his truest form. A grin comes to her face as she snaps the picture and makes a mental note to show it to baby-faced him later.

This is definitely a post-Time War Doctor. One giveaway is the fact that this version of him appears to be closer to her age—if she were human that is—but there's also his darker personality. This Doctor's sense of humor is more on the snarky, sarcastic side. This is probably another one of the Doctor's most accurate representations, because he is bitter and angry and he's not so good at covering it up yet. In recent incarnations he's learned to hide his rage better, even though sometimes it is still very present. His companions have always helped him—and River knows this Doctor will find someone soon—but it pains her to watch him wallow in his guilt and self-hate right now, so she quickly takes her picture and leaves.

Today she happens upon a Doctor with blond hair (that's different) who looks to be younger but she knows this must be an older version based his fashion sense, which is still quite terrible. It's gotten better as time progressed, but it still leaves something to be desired. The closest he may have ever gotten to a normal outfit would probably be the one his ninth incarnation wore—a leather jacket over a simple maroon sweater with black pants and boots—which matched his brooding mood. This blond Doctor, whom River estimates is his fifth or sixth incarnation, wears a white blazer with red trim and white pants with red pinstripes (Really Doctor?) along with a matching hat. Him and his hats.

Immediately she sighs. More pinstripes, gray on brown this time, and on his entire suit. She had thought he'd given up on them, maybe he'd been going through a phase or something. But this body compensates for poor taste, indeed. "A long of streak of alien nothing" he'd told her his friend Donna had called this body, oh but she loves it.

He is a lanky six-foot-something, with quirky eyebrows that don't match, deep brown eyes that speak of great sadness, and fantastic, animated hair that sticks out at all angles. River assumes this is the Doctor that came right before hers, and she wonders if they go back this far, or this far forward, depending on how you look at it. Hoping that they do—because oh the things she would do to this Doctor—she snaps a few more pictures than necessary (but who can really blame her?) and is on her way.

By now she has documented most if not all of the Doctor's faces in her diary. When the TARDIS materializes today and he bounds out of the doors with floppy hair wearing familiar tweed and a red bow tie, she is mildly surprised but nonetheless grateful to see him. She smiles fondly at her clumsy, limb-flailing Doctor as he saunters over to her and sweeps her into a kiss. She can tell he must be close to Manhattan because of the way he so easily shows his affection and still bounces around like an excited little boy.

"And how are you, Wife?" he says with a smile, his hands resting on her hips.

"Never better, Sweetie." She sighs contentedly as she brings a hand to the side of his face. "It's good to see you." This you. "Strange, never thought I'd miss the baby face so much," she mumbles, studying his features.

"Wha—River... What have you been up to?" the Doctor asks a bit worriedly.

River's grin turns mischievous. "Nothing, Sweetie. Just a bit of fun is all."

The smile returns to the Doctor's face. He draws her close to him and clasps his hands behind her back. "You bad, bad girl..."

"Oh, Doctor," she chuckles, "Just wait till you see the pictures."