When We All Meet

This is my first Doctor Who fic (but my 17th overall fanfic, yikes!), and I'm not really sure of the time period . . . I guess you could say it was after the episode 'Cold War'.

This, of course, means . . . River, would you-

River: SPOILERS!

Yes, there are many spoilers. If you haven't seen Season 7 at least to the end of Part 1, beware!

Oh, and when I say 'mates' I mean 'friends'. That's supposably what they say in Britain. I'm an American so I dunno if it's true . . .

I'm sorry for not including Sarah Jane or Mickey . . . I just thought that'd be too many people. And that would bring up some new dilemmas and such . . .

Clara's not in here either because this is mostly companions that the Doctor hasn't seen for a while (not including before the Time War).

If the ending confuses you, tell me in your reviews and I'll explain over PM.

So, yeah . . . enjoy and review please! And no flames!

The Doctor blinks repeatably and gazes around the bright white room.

"Clara!?" he shouts. "Clara? Where are you?"

"Doctor?" The Doctor jolts when he hears the familiar voice. He knew it wasn't Clara, it was too . . . Scottish. He whirls around and exclaims,

"Pond! Amy Pond! Amelia Pond!" Standing in front of him was the red-headed girl he had known since she was seven.

This girl had traveled with him, more like ran with him, for so long. She had draggled along Rory Williams, her lovestruck fiancé, and made him wait 2,000 years for her. She had given birth to a part-timelord, and had not been creeped out by the fact that the Doctor had fallen head over heels for her. In other words . . . she was . . . amazing.

"Hello, Raggedy Man," Amy says with ease, grinning.

"Amy . . . but how . . . how are you here!?" exclaims the Doctor, adjusting his bow tie.

"We came to see you," smiles Amy. She reaches out her right hand. Out of seemingly nowhere, Rory appears and grasps his wife's outstretched hand.

"Hey, Doctor," he says. The Doctor beams.

"Rory! Rory Pond!" he cries.

"But, Doctor, that's not how it works-" Rory is interrupted by Amy clearing her throat.

"We have been over this a thousand times. Now then, Doctor, we brought someone else along too . . ." A flash of white light appears on Amy's right. Another figure is brought into view, her hands on her hips.

"Hello, Sweetie."

"River!" cries the Doctor. Unable to contain himself, he rushes forward towards his wife. He opens his arms, and River, laughing, falls into them. She buries her face into her Doctor's shoulder, feeling his arms wrap around her gently.

"It's been so long," he mutters into her curly hair. River pulls back.

"Has it? I only just saw you three days ago. Oh, what a day that was . . ." She smiles mysteriously. The Doctor raises an eyebrow.

"And what day was this?" he asks, looking into her eyes. She leans closer to him, a smile still on her face as she whispers one word . . .

"Spoilers." The Doctor's reaction was immediate.

"Oh, get out," he teases, and then pulls her closer. Their foreheads pressed close together, their noses barely touching, lips inches apart . .

Another blinding flash of light startles the pair into breaking apart.

"Oh, my head," groans a familiar voice. The woman stands up, looks around, and huffs in disgust.

"Oi! Where the hell am I, anyway?" She looks around until she spots the Doctor. She marches straight up to him. "And who are you?" The Doctor blinks.

"Donna?" he whispers, shocked but seemingly pleased. Donna looks as if she could slap him.

"Do I know you? Because if this is some kind of joke, notice I'm not laughing," she says, rolling her eyes. The Doctor touches his face, as if just remembering he had one.

"Oh, right, new face . . ." he murmured. "Not really new anymore, but still . . ."

"New face? New face?" screeches Donna. She looks right into the Doctor's eyes. "What the hell is-" She suddenly stops in mid-sentence. There was something in his eyes . . . something familiar . . .

"Oh my God . . ." she whispers, "it's you! It's really, really, you!" The Doctor smiles.

"Hello, Donna Noble." She grins.

"Come here, Spaceman!" she cries. The Doctor jumps forward and hugs her. River looks at Amy and Rory. Their expressions all look alike . . . expressions of pure bafflement.

"River, Amy, Rory, meet Donna Noble," smiles the Doctor. "She's one of my good friends, and a former companion. Donna, this is my mother-in-law Amy, my father-in-law Rory, and my wife Riversong. But call her River for short." Donna blinks.

"Mother-in-law . . . Doctor, she's almost the same age-" The Doctor interrupts her.

"It's . . . oh, what did I say it was . . . a big ball of wibbly wobbly, timey wimey . . . stuff." Donna can't help but to smile hearing those words come out of the Doctor's mouth, even if it was a different voice. She opens her mouth to speak again, but is interrupted by shout of shock.

"What the- where am I? Hello?" The rapidly growing group turns to look at the girl behind them.

" . . . Martha?" the Doctor whispers. It was beginning to be too much to handle. All of these people from his past . . . coming back . . . and meeting up . . .

"Who are you?" Martha asks, her hands shaking.

"Me?" says the Doctor, pointing at his chest. "I'm the Doctor." Martha freezes.

"But . . . how . . . your face . . ." A feminine scream cuts Martha off, and a flash of white light blinks into existence next to her. Very slowly, the blond girl pulls herself into a sitting position.

The Doctor is ready to cry. This is getting to be too much. There she was, right in front of him . . . the girl he fell in love with in his past two regenerations . . . some of that love still lingered, but how could he explain to her that River was his wife?

"Ugh," moans Rose, standing up. She looks around the room franticly. She then spots Martha and Donna, and her jaw drops. Rushing forward to them, she shouts out loud,

"How? But how are you here? Are you in the parallel universe too?" Martha is still recovering from shock that the Doctor looks different, and she says nothing.

"I have no idea where we are!" exclaims Donna. "All I know is that we're with the Doctor-" Rose interrupts Donna with a gasp.

"The Doctor? Where?" She looks around the room excitedly. "Doctor! Doctor?!" Very slowly the Doctor approaches her from behind. He gently puts his left hand on her shoulder. Rose jolts and turns around quickly.

"Hello, Rose Tyler," says the Doctor softly. Rose's jaw drops and she backs away.

"You . . . you regenerated again . . ." The Doctor nods.

"Yes . . . yes I did . . ."

"When?" Rose whispers, taking a step forward.

"Quite a while ago," the Doctor admits.

"Have . . . did . . . did you miss me?" Rose murmurs.

" . . . Yes," the Doctor says softly.

"You hesitated . . ." Rose whispered. " . . . Do you still . . . ? Does that body still . . . ?" The Doctor places his hands on her shoulders and looks into her eyes.

"Rose . . . I . . . I still have feelings for you . . . but not as strong as you're hoping . . ." The Doctor sighs. "But you don't need me anymore. You've got your own Doctor . . ." Rose smiles.

"Yes . . . and my daughter . . ."

"Your daughter?" exclaims the Doctor. "How old?"

"Five," smiles Rose. "Oh Doctor, she loves stories. We tell her tales of the man in the trench coat, and his wonderful blue box. Of how he can kill a Dalek with just a screwdriver. Of how he wears 3D glasses and sees the void. Of how he travels through time and space and sees worlds all the way across the stars . . ." She stops for a moment, looking nostalgic.

"Do you still do those things, Doctor?" she sniffs. "Travel around in the TARDIS, saving worlds with your companions? Or . . . are you alone now?" The Doctor grins.

"Oh, Rose Tyler, I am never alone. I've got all of you." He holds out his arms and Donna and Martha join them from Rose's left, while the three Ponds come in from the right. Rose starts.

"Oh? Are these three your new companions, then?" she says, looking at the Ponds. The Doctor sighs and looks away from Rose.

"Ah, well," begins the Doctor, "actually, former companions! This here is Amy and Rory and, ah . . .Riversong . . ." He blushes slightly rubs the back of his neck sheepishly.

"Doctor . . . is everything alright?" Rose asks, placing her hand on his elbow. The Doctor sighs and bows his head.

"Rose . . . I'm sorry . . . I'm so, so sorry . . ."

"Doctor, what is there to be apologizing for?!" cries Rose. "Doctor, look at me!" The Doctor turns around and looks Rose in the eyes.

"Doctor . . . what is it?" Rose asks softly.

"I'm sorry, Rose . . ." the Doctor whispers. "But I've moved on." Rose jolted.

"Doctor . . . I don't understand . . . what do you mean . . . ?" The Doctor takes her hands.

"Rose . . . I'm married now." Rose looks briefly hurt and shocked. Suddenly, her face lights up and she grins.

"Oh, Doctor! That's wonderful!" she cries.

"Wait, what?!" exclaims the Doctor, startled. Rose squeezes his hands.

"I'm happy for you, Doctor. And you're right. I have MY Doctor, and that's what matters." She smiles. "We can still be mates, yeah?" The Doctor smiles.

"Yeah . . ."

"So," begins Rose, letting go of the Doctor's hands. "Who's the lucky girl, hmm?" Riversong smiles. She sidles up to the Doctor and Rose and looks at the blond.

"Spoilers," she smiles. The Doctor makes a sound that seems like a cross between a laugh an a snort.

"River, she has a right to know, hmm?" he says, taking her hand. River laughs.

"I think she knows by now, Sweetie . . ." Rose watches the couple in amusement.

"Well, Doctor," she grins. "Still have a thing for us blonds, huh?"

"Oh, shut up . . ." the Doctor says playfully. Rose laughs, tipping her head back. River watches the two with amusement. Rose opens her mouth, ready to speak again, when another white flash of light appears from the corner.

"Sorry if I'm late," says a man's voice. "I died a few times on the way over . . ." The Doctor's jaw drops.

"Jack Harkness?" he says, shocked.

"You called?" Jack says smoothly. "Regenerated again, huh? And what's with the bow tie?"

"Bow ties are cool," says the Doctor defensively. He looks at all of his companions closely. In that moment, in that small sliver of a second, he realizes truly how much he misses them.

Rose Tyler (Bad Wolf) . . .

Martha Jones (The U.N.I.T Commander) . . .

Donna Noble (The DoctorDonna) . . .

Captain Jack Harkness (The Face of Boe) . . .

Amy Pond (The Girl Who Waited) . . .

Rory Williams (The Lone Centurion) . . .

Melody Pond (Riversong). . .

The greatest people in the galaxy . . . the ones he could always count on . . . the ones that would always be there . . . the ones he loved with both his hearts.

"Come here, all of you," he whispers, outstretching his arms. Rose, Martha, and Donna hug his left side, Jack, Amy and Rory his right, and River hugs him straight on.

"I'm miss you all so much. I wish all you could still travel with me . . ."

"All of us?" says Jack, raising an eyebrow. "Doctor, that's a little much . . ."

"Jack . . . I know," the Doctor whispers. "But a man can dream, right?"

"Of course, Sweetie," reassures River. The Doctor smiles. The others see something in the couple's eyes, and they step away from the Doctor. They all huddle together to talk by themselves, leaving River and the Doctor to their moment.

"Doctor . . ." whispers River. "That girl . . . Rose is it?" The Doctor nods. "She's the one you told me about, isn't it?" The Doctor nods again.

"Well, River, what I said to her is absolutely true . . . my feelings for her are more friendly than romantic." River smiles and places one hand on the Doctor's cheek.

"I keep forgetting that you regenerate and change, Doctor," she whispers. "What will happen when the day comes . . . when the day comes that you'll be in your previous regeneration . . . when you don't know me . . . ?" The Doctor smiles and leans in close.

"Spoilers," he whispers. And then he leans in and kisses her, straight on the lips, with no hesitation at all. River shuts her eyes, enjoying the moment. She knew that the day was coming soon, the day the Doctor wouldn't know her . . . but it didn't matter now . . . he was there, his lips pressed against hers, his hands around her waist, holding her close. They finally break apart, his arms still around her waist, her hand still on his cheek.

"River . . ." whispers the Doctor. "Please . . . travel with me."

"Doctor, we've had this conversation," sighs River, breaking free from his grasp and turning away. "Besides, don't you have a new companion now?"

"Well, Clara, but-"

"Oh, Doctor," says River, facing him again. "Clara needs you."

"And you don't?!" the Doctor shouts back. An awkward silence comes between the two. River then punches the Doctor in the arm, swift and hard.

"Ow!"

"Don't you ever say that again," snaps River, a silent tear dripping down her cheek. "Of course I need you. I just can't stay . . . for long." She smiles slightly. The Doctor wipes away her tear, a small smile on his face too.

"Alright, River, alright . . ." he murmurs. "But please . . . stay . . . for now . . ." River smiles and buries her face into his shoulder.

"I'm not going anywhere, Sweetie."

And then . . . the Doctor woke up.