[Doctor Who] Two of a Kind
Title: Two of a Kind
Fandom: Doctor Who
Rating: K
Word Count: 1,079
Summary: The old doctor and his wife River spend the day at the waterside with their very adventurous, imaginative granddaughter Amy
A/N: Written for the Different Songs AU Ficathon at spoiler_song
Two of a Kind
“She’s a bit young to be diving off the pier by herself, isn’t she?” the old doctor says to his wife.
His wife, about fifteen years younger and still sporting a full head of naturally golden curls, laughs and jabs him playfully in the side. “Leave Amy alone. She’s eight. We’re right here. She’ll be fine.”
“Gram! Gram!” the little redheaded girl calls. She’s standing with her toes hanging off the last plank of the pier
“Yes, sweetie?”
“Are you going to watch me jump?”
“Of course I am! I can’t wait to see you. You’ll be wonderful.”
Amy offers them a toothy grin, the red apples of her cheeks bobbing up.
The old man gives his bowtie a jerk and mutters, “Next you’ll be saying that she gets to marry that Rory fellow.”
“Rory? Whatever are you talking about, dear?”
“You know, he’s that young lad from down the street, always wanting to put a plaster on a teddy bear or some other ridiculous thing like that. If Amelia’s over to visit, he’s sure to turn up. A most unwelcome guest, I say.” His voice rises almost to a shout as his speech continues.
His wife stays calm. She looks out to the pier, watching her granddaughter with a smile. Amy dips her toes in the water, testing it. River glances sidelong at her husband. “Can’t say that I have. Not anything ridiculous, as you put it. Rory Williams is a charming little boy. I think it would be sweet if he became Amy’s first boyfriend.”
“First boyfriend?! River, I think you must be the senile one. No no no! Boyfriend? No! That would be very not good. Just think of what her mother would say!”
“Susan is much more forward-thinking than you, sweetie,” River says, patting her husband’s arm.
He hums disapprovingly. “They both takes after you, they do.”
“Thank God.”
Amy’s voice pipes over to them again. “Grandfather!”
“Yes, Amelia?”
“Come here!”
“What is it, Amelia?”
“Come here! I want you to jump with me.”
The blond woman laughs at the look of panic in her husband’s deep-set blue eyes. “You’d better get up,” she says. “You know our granddaughter. She won’t say no once she’s got her mind set on something.”
The doctor grumbles as he rises slowly to his feet. “Grandfather!” Amy says plaintively. “You have to take off your jacket! You can’t jump into the water with that on.”
“I most certainly will not take it off!” he protests, giving the tweed a little shake. “And I won’t jump either.” But he makes his way down to the edge of the pier, however reluctantly.
“If you’re going to be difficult,” the little girl says, “will you at least hold my hand before I jump?”
He cranes his neck over his bony shoulder and sees River shading her eyes with her hand and smiling at them. She nods a few times, encouraging. Turning back to his granddaughter, he sighs. “Ok, Amelia.” He offers his hand, and Amy slips her own small hand into it. Their fingers lock together. For a minute or two, they simply stand like this, Amy swinging their clasped hands. “Aren’t you going to jump?” he asks finally, his voice kind.
“Yes, I’m just trying to think of a story first.”
“A story?”
She nods seriously. “We need a really good story.”
The doctor hesitates. “Well, what kind of story? Like a fairytale?”
“No! Something better. Something from outer space!”
“So you can jump into a pond? Are there ponds in outer space?”
“We don’t actually have to be in outer space. But we should have aliens in the story.”
“Ok. Aliens. Aliens jumping into ponds?” He tries to keep the smile from his face.
Amy is beginning to get annoyed. “No! We’re going to be jumping into the pond. We’re running from the aliens…In Venice!”
“Venice?”
“Yes! Vampires in Venice!”
“I thought you said we are running from aliens.”
“We are. They’re not vampires. Well, they kind of are. But they’re from space.”
The old man laughs. “Child, you have the most active imagination...” He recovers his composure and looks down at his granddaughter seriously. “I think the vampires are after you, my dear. They kidnap young ladies. But I won’t let them get to you. I’ll stay up here and fight them off. But you’ve got to jump into the water. You’ll be safe there until I defeat them. But if they get me, you’ll swim back to shore over on that bank,” he points a few feet from them, “and run back to your grandmother. She’ll protect you then. She’s quite ruthless.”
Amy nods solemnly.
“Are you ready?” he asks.
She nods again. Her eyes are round with fear. She looks around the doctor’s side and then shrieks.
“What is it?!” he cries, forgetting their little game.
“The alien vampires! Grandfather, they’re coming! They’re gaining on us!” She shrieks again.
“Well, then, hurry! Hurry, my dear. Into the water you go! Quick, before they catch us up!” He lets go of Amelia’s hand and gives her a little nudge.
She plugs her nose with one hand. “Thank you, grandfather!” Interrupting the game, she looks back at River. “Are you watching, Gram?”
“I’m watching, sweetie!”
In the next moment, Amy is back in character. “Be careful, grandfather. I’m jumping in now.” She takes a deep breath and plunges into the still lake. The old man stays on the edge of the pier, watching the big ripples swirl out in widening circles, waiting to see her rise to the surface again. She comes up a few feet in, her eyes squeezed shut. She blows a stream of water from her lips and shouts, “Did you get them, grandfather? Is it safe to come out?”
“It’s safe, Amelia.”
Now she shrieks in delight.
“Come back out of the water, my dear,” the doctor says, bending stiffly and offering her his hand again.
She swims back to him and he helps her climb onto the pier. “I’m going to go again!” she says, grinning proudly.
“All right, Amelia. I’ll watch you from over there.” He walks back to take his seat by his wife. As he lowers himself carefully into the chair, he says, “She really does take after you.”
“Oh, I don’t know,” River says. She puts her arm through his and leans her head on his shoulder. “The two of you are much more alike than you want to admit.”