Chapter Text
Amy and Rory take one step outside, then dash back into the TARDIS to find warm clothing.
“It could have been far worse!” the Doctor protests. “What if we'd landed by the Manure Ocean?”
They glare at him.
“ And it's a proper sand beach, look! Not horrible lumpy pebbles -”
Amy beats him over the head with a jumper until he agrees to stop making excuses and apologise.
They go for a walk on the beach anyway, despite the weather and the fact that they are not only in Wales but in fact are perilously close to Cardiff, but it isn't exactly enjoyable.
The sea-spray is freezing (Rory gives Amy his long socks, and after about half an hour she finally gives in and dons them), a flock of seagulls try to use them for target practise (the Doctor drives those off by making a horrible noise with the sonic screwdriver, at which point the Ponds mostly forgive him for dragging them here), and the shops are nearly all closed because it's the off-season.
They eventually find a doughnut shop, and between them dig enough small change out of their pockets for a half-dozen fresh doughnuts (although it does involve sneaking in a few future, past and foreign coins and hoping that the bored cashier won't notice).
The stodginess and heat boost their flagging spirits more than the ridiculously copious coating of sugar, and they feel as though they might make it back to the TARDIS without dying of hypothermia after all.
Fifteen minutes later, they're debating walking arm-in-arm to help them huddle together for warmth when the Doctor spots something too far ahead to look like anything more than dots to human eyes, and he dashes off waving his arms without a word of explanation. The Ponds roll their eyes and follow at a slightly more sedate pace.
When they catch up to the Doctor, they find him chattering at two young men whose expressions indicate that they've met him before and are all too aware of how long he'll keep talking. They're both listening with every show of politeness, all the same, but the Doctor suddenly waves an admonishing finger at the wide space between the men and chides, “Oi! Cheeky!”
Amy and Rory have both seen the Doctor talk to thin air, inanimate objects and his own body parts before now, but to their astonishment the two men both turn to face the space which is holding the Doctor's attention and give it reproving glares.
“Ah, Ponds!” The Doctor has finally noticed their arrival. “Meet some old friends of mine – well, I say friends, we met once and it mostly consisted of us yelling at each other a lot until they believed that I really did mean no harm. And I didn't mean any harm, did I? Not that I'm blaming you, chaps, you get a lot of hate-crime, and that's on top of all the people coming after Eve -”
The Doctor isn't looking, but Amy and Rory spot the pained looks which flicker over the men's faces at the mention of this name.
“- so you were being entirely sensible, which is rather boring but sometimes it's unfortunately necessary. Oh, Ponds, I should explain: when I was running around looking for baby Melody - before she found me, as it were -”
From the sympathetic looks on the men's faces, Amy and Rory have just made the same pained expressions that Eve's name evoked.
“ - one thing I tried was setting the TARDIS to search for Human-Plus baby girls before the 23rd century, that's when humans really started to integrate into mainstream
galactic society. Only it turned out that there were rather a lot of them all the same, and one of the places I ended up was these lovely people's attic. Nicely decorated, if a bit heavy on the crucifixes – they made for lovely mobiles, though. But before I could check the baby, their friend Annie – she's not here, by the way, the lady with them now is someone called Alex whom I've never met before – popped up in front of me and kept me pinned to the wall for about half an hour while these charming gentlemen interrogated me and tried to empty my pockets. I told them they were on a hiding to nothing, and it was going to take an even longer eternity if Hal here kept lining everything up neatly, but they weren't having any of it. Anyway, eventually I managed a bit of telepathy with Annie and she finally believed me, although by that point Eve had woken up and according to her they'd never even heard of Melody. Not surprised you haven't brought Eve here, not great beach weather is it? Ooh, is she crawling yet?”
The poor men seem to be on the verge of tears by this point, but the one in the black jacket keeps his voice commendably steady as he explains, “I'm afraid that Annie and Eve both died, about a month ago.”
The Doctor seems to slump all over, like one of those push-button puppets.
“They saved the world,” the one with the long coat and the scar across his scalp adds in a broad Derby accent, starting to cry now.
The Doctor wordlessly hands over a handkerchief. (It has a question-mark on each corner.)
There is a long, uncomfortable silence.
Eventually Amy breaks it, with a very heartfelt, “I'm sorry for your loss.” Rory echoes her, and the Doctor nods in concurrence.
“Thank you,” says the one in the black jacket, his voice finally cracking slightly. The one with the scar merely nods and wipes his eyes again, unable to speak for the moment.
The Doctor eventually walks past the men and away towards the TARDIS, without another word.
Amy and Rory shuffle awkwardly, and the men stand aside to let them follow the Doctor.
They return to the TARDIS in silence, and the Doctor wanders off into its depths for the rest of the day.
( Exit, pursued by a past )