We're All A Little Mad Here (3/?)
Fandom: Doctor Who
Pairing: Amy/Rory, hints of Amy/Eleven
Beta: The absolutely fabulous themuslimbarbie
Part Two
A/N: Sorry about the wait, it wasn't co-operating. I don't own Doctor Who or Firefly. WARNING: GRATUITOUS USE OF FIREFLY CHARACTERS! (there's a reason for it, really). Please enjoy, and comment!
Let me ask you a question, you never really remember the beginning of a dream, do you...So, how did we end up here? - Inception
Amy marvelled at the design of the ship and the characters that made up its occupants. Most of said occupants were sitting in the kitchen area, drinking and loudly discussing issues associated with interplanetary travel. The conversation had taken a turn towards the morbid and depressing, after the pilot had made a throwaway comment about hating the latest taxes the government had placed on cargo ships. After a pause of tense silence, the rather brutish mercenary had commented:
“You shoulda done sommat about that while you were fightin in your yu bun duh war. Mind, that woulda done jack shit now wouldn’ it?”
The Doctor had looked mildly offended. The pilot had looked at the captain, obviously expecting an explosion of some kind.
The captain had shrugged, finished his drink, and simply said, “I keep telling ya Jane, gorram war is over, and we’re all just folk now.”
The Doctor had of course been annoyed at that, launching into a speech about how war was never truly over - not if people still believed in the cause they were fighting for in the first place.
Amy had escaped, making some excuse about going to see Rory, who had been whisked away by the ship’s medic upon arrival and, if she guessed correctly, was currently listening to a variety of stories about reattaching people’s legs.
Amy entered the cargo bay and immediately noticed the waif-girl watching her. Not that she was all that difficult to spot, being suspended ninja-like as she was from the first level walkway.
“Hello,” Amy said, after a moment of waiting to see if the girl would speak first. “You must be River. Captain said you’d be around somewhere. I’m-“
“Amelia Jessica Williams née Pond. Born 28th November 1988, in Inverness, Scotland but re-located to Leadworth, England, Earth-that-Was in 1996. Married to Rory Williams, Nurse and The Last Centurion. One child: Melody Pond, also known as River Song. Travelling companion to The Doctor, Last Time Lord of the planet Gallifrey. I know who you are.”
“Um. Right. That’s a bit creepy.” Amy muttered, before raising her voice to a more usual pitch. “And, how exactly do you know all that? I’ve never met you before, not that I’d tell you all that if I had.”
“It’s in your head,” the girl says, her tone suggesting it should be obvious; “And if it’s in your head, it’s in mine. I have too many thoughts, Amelia. Sorry - Amy. It’s like living with a head full of bees. All stinging and swarming….causing problems. Nobody likes me in their head. I don’t like me in their heads. But I can’t stop it; it’s not mine to stop.”
The girl stops and takes a deep breath, before performing a flawless somersault to land facing Amy.
“And yes. I am River. Like the water in the forest. But I don’t have a time-head.”
“Um. How did- right. It’s in my head. Anything else you’d care to share?” Amy is faintly nervous of the smaller girl, for despite her size she exerts an aura of ‘don’t mess with me’.
“I won’t hurt you,” River says, her eyes going slightly out of focus. “They can’t make me hurt you. Not here. Here is safe, Amy. Like your bedroom at Aunt Sharon’s, or like when the Doctor hugs.”
“I’m not afraid!” Amy protests. Not really. Just unnerved.
“Okay,” River says easily, like it doesn’t matter either way. Which, Amy supposes, it doesn’t.
Suddenly, the air thickens. Breath becomes harder to draw. Amy thinks that something momentous must be occurring, or about to occur. That, or the airlock has broken.
“Do you ever wonder if you’re real?” River asks, head tilted and eyes intent upon the other girl. “I do. I used to never know if I could trust my senses, because they’d tell me I was walking in a forest, playing with sticks and that I was sad. But they were lying. The leaves under my feet and the bark in my hands weren’t real. And now….” She trails off looking small and frightened.
“Now…what?” Amy breathes, wondering when she lost her voice.
River sighs. “Now I see myself when I look in the mirror and Simon smiles all the time and the Captain calls me albatross and I feel the metal of Serenity under my feet and hands and I’m happy. And want this to be real so much that I can’t breathe sometimes. But I still don’t know if I can trust my senses.” She says in one explosive breath, tears gathering in the corner of her eyes.
Amy cannot look away from her, although her own tears make her vision blurry.
“But then I think; it doesn’t matter if what I see and feel and touch is real. Because I’m happy and Simon is smiling and the captain is calling me albatross. I like this too much to ruin it with worrying about whether it’s real or not.” River smiles once, gentle and soft. Then she takes a deep breath and looks around, her eyes slowly sliding out of focus.
“River?” Amy asks, hesitantly.
River turns to face her.
“The Doctor is looking for you. He’s collected Rory and will be arriving here in 26.3 seconds. Time to go, Amy Pond. Pleased to have met you.” River says tonelessly. Then she performs an abrupt about face and wanders out of the bay.
Amy is about to call after her, to say goodbye or ask her if she thinks she’ll ever know if she’s real or hug her or any number of things when the Doctor and Rory walk into the bay.
“Pond! I’ve been looking for you. We’ve got to head off, as lovely as it’s been here, there’s a meteor storm about to happen in the Gynama quadrant and we absolutely have to see it!” the Doctor exclaims, grabbing Amy by the arm and beginning to drag her towards the TARDIS.
Amy smiles at his excitement, grabs Rory’s bewildered hand and allows herself to be dragged.
………………………
Sharon looks at the doctor. She’s trying to process everything he’s told her.
“Ms Carrick?” He says, bringing her out of her daze. “Are you alright? I know it’s a lot to take in, but I think this really could work.”
Sharon breathes deep and pulls herself together.
“Do it. Bring Amy back.” She smiles shakily. “Alice has to come back from Wonderland eventually, right?”
The doctor smiles humourlessly. “Of course. You’ll have to sign some paperwork to allow us to start, it being a new treatment, but once that’s sorted we can begin immediately. There should be results in the next week or two.”
Sharon nods. Only a week. She thinks. A week until I can look at my baby girl and know she sees me. She carefully blocks the little voice telling her that it might not work, and follows a nurse to sign the forms.
She’s coming back to me.
Amy’s coming home.
Part Four