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The buzz of the sonic gives her away, in the end. Initially she had been doing - well, rather poorly. She had a white lab coat and a clipboard, sure, but under that white lab coat she is wearing street clothes (the most peculiar outfit of a coat over a maroon rainbow striped jumper and dark blue suspenders, coupled with trousers that left a gap between her booted feet) instead of scrubs. She hasn't even bothered to take off her own coat before putting the lab coat on.
No one else seemed to think anything was wrong with her being there. In fact Kelly, the head nurse, is happy to have her. Rory does not trust her at all. He hadn't been there when she arrived but he could see her swanning into the building the same way she did into patients' rooms.
Walking past a room, he hears the distinct sound of a sonic screwdriver. Doing his best to not sound as tired as he is, he gathers the energy for whatever insanity is about to come. It has been a few months since either he or Amy have seen the Doctor and he really doesn't want to deal with aliens at work. Again.
Keeping his groan to himself, he changes course and enters the room. "Doctor, what are you - oh." The woman stands upright, a tight smile crossing her face. "Sorry?" He apologizes, though he wasn't sure what for, or if he even should be apologizing.
"Rory the -" the next word is garbled, seemingly sticking in her throat, before she manages to recover and spit out”'Nurse!" a little too loudly. Her hand are shoved deep into her coat pockets - the blue-grey one, not the white lab one - and she rocks back and forth on her feet. "Just checking the patient."
It is only then that he lets his eyes move from her to said patient and he has to bite his tongue to keep from swearing. The man is blue - not the sort he would need to call a code for, but blue like someone has doused him in paint. The man isn’t human, and while he had his suspicions before about the woman, he was doubting not only her ‘doctor’ status, but her human one as well. "Checking for what?" he asks, already fearing the answer.
"Transport readiness. He's moving to a different hospital." There is a wariness to her stance. It is hidden, beneath a veneer of confidence and bravado, but Rory finds he can read her body language easily, like he knows her, despite never seeing her before. "I think you're supposed to be on a different ward, Pond. Off you go." She turns back to the patient.
Penny in the air.
Then she closes her eyes and blows out.
Penny dropped.
He sees her realize her mistake in the slight slump of her shoulders, in the way false pretense falls from her face as she finally looks him in the eye. "I wasn't sure you'd be in today," she say. "When I saw you come in I almost left but old Edum - he's a refugee, but you can't treat him here. He needs proper medical care."
Rory rolls his eyes but moves over to the patient's side. "What are we doing, then?"
Her lips tighten into a thin line and she swallows before nodding.
They're finally finished and Rory has finally talked the Doctor into a cup of tea at a bakery. It's well away from his house, which is where he had first suggested and nearly sent the Doctor running. It's only a little unnerving, the way she watches him like a hawk. He doesn't say anything because he also can't stop looking at her, comparing her to the Doctor he travels with.
The table by the door is the one she insists on, and she keeps tapping the side of the paper cup with her fingers. She's trying to look relaxed and happy but she's wound tight - more closed in than he's ever seen her. Him. Them.
"So, you're a woman now?" Again he isn’t sure why he is asking like it was a question but - well, it is the Doctor, isn't it?
She looks down at herself, as if checking, before giving a shrug. "Suppose so. Regeneration's always a lottery." She smiles, and she's good at faking it. She crinkles her eyes, the slight scrunch of her nose - Rory doesn't believe it, but he will let her think he does. For now.
Rory watches her sip from the cup, hears the tap of her foot against the wood of the bakery floor. He doesn't know what took her from the Doctor he knows to the person in front of him, but he can see that she needs a friend. Instead of asking the questions he wants to ask - how long has it been, how is River, the what's and the when's that are always adding up - he leans back.
Instead of asking her, he starts to share. Not things the Doctor would already know, but other things, like his thoughts of growing his hair out (which the Doctor shouts down). Either she's getting better at pretending or he can see her start to actually relax, just a little.
Their relationship has never been the best. One or the other of them always poking at a sore spot - the Doctor hitting Rory’s insecurities and Rory doing the same - but they still care for each other. The woman in front of him is still the person who married his daughter, who has brought Rory back from the dead so many times, who would go to the ends of the universe if he asked. Rory would do the same, if he could. He lets his mind wonder as she recounts an adventure she supposedly was alone for but that sounds like it would take four people. Because it's been hours now (he checks his watch to be certain and yes, they've been sitting at this table for three hours) and this is probably the most time either of them have spent together without Amy or River.
The thought triggers something in his memory and he jumps ahead, cutting off whatever she had been saying. "Are you alone now, Doctor?"
She shakes her head. "I have my - well, we never settled on a name. I think we're going with Team Tardis? I floated some others - gang, fam, but -" she shrugged.
For a second there is a war in him - but then it's settled, and for perhaps the first time, he realizes how much he's changed since meeting the Doctor. How his insecurities have faded, how he isn't afraid to stand his ground. The Doctor has brought out the best of him in those little poking moments, and Rory would be damned if he was going to sit there and let her drown in - well, whatever this was.
"Tell me about them," he said. "How did you meet?"
A flicker of sadness crossed her face but then she was launching into the tale - including how the woman she first saw died the very night they met. Then more tales and he found comfort in the way her eyes shine as she spoke, love she had for them clear to see.
It is another few hours before Rory's phone rings.
"Where are you?" Amy's voice sounds loudly from the phone.
Rory shot the Doctor an apologetic look, her shoulders in a tense hold as she looks at him, her expression all but begging him to not say anything.. "In a bakery, reading. Sorry, I lost track of time."
"The Doctor's here, wants to go to some sort of theme park."
"Theme park world!" The Doctor - Rory's Doctor, that is - yelled from the background. "Hurry, Rory, or we’ll be late!”
Rory sighed. "It's a time machine."
"Get here, before he leaves without us," comes Amy's reply. Then the line cuts off.
Rory glances at the Doctor across from him, the small smile on her face looking more real than any smile he has seen all day. "It's a fun day. Not even one pesky alien invasion."
He still doesn't stand. "Will you be okay?"
"Oh, yeah. Taking everyone for a special New Year's celebration. We’re going to visit the best ones time and space has to offer."
“But it’s summer?”
The Doctor rolls her eyes and in that he can see the playfulness of the man he knows, just as much as she’s shown him the more hidden side he doesn’t show often. “ It’s a time machine,” she says, doing her best to imitate the way he had said it just moments ago.
Rory gives her a chuckle and stands up from the table. "From this family to that fam, Doctor-" he pauses, letting the suspense build for just a moment. "Have fun."
The Doctor grins at him. "Yeah. You too. You have a blast, actually."
"That better not be literal," he warns as they walk out of the bakery. He open his arms and she hesitates for just a second before darting in and squeezing the life out of him. "We want you to be happy," he says. "I'm sure they do, too."
She pulls away and clear her throat. "Better get going. He will leave you to prove a point. Even if he comes back again moments later." He doesn’t miss the way she avoids what he said but he isn’t going to push the issue - he’s just happy he has this chance to see her at all.
So instead, Rory laughs and turns, walking away when it is obvious she isn't going to leave first. He looks back just before rounding the corner, and holds up a hand in farewell. She gives him a small wave in return. It feels wrong, leaving her like this, but a group of people walk between them into the bakery, making him lose sight of her, and then she’s gone. With a sigh, Rory tucks his hands into his pockets and makes his way back to the Doctor and Amy. He might even ask to pick up River.
It will be nice to have the family together again.