The room was silent, save for a pair of voices chatting away quietly. The Doctor was helping Bill, tutoring her as he always did, and the moment came where a particular subject suddenly made all the sense to her. He was smiling proudly, tapping a pen on the desk. She was sitting beside him, an elbow resting on her knee. Her chin was atop her hand and she gladly, happily returned the grin.
Nardole was otherwise occupied on the opposite side of the room, pouring through a few older books that he’d found aboard the TARDIS. He was humming lightly to himself, sipping at his tea as he read.
There came a knock at the door a few minutes later. Closing his book, Nardole went to the door. The Doctor’s head rose. He and Bill watched in stunned silence as Nardole opened the door and nearly dropped the book in his hand.
“Who is it?” asked the Doctor. “Nardole, you look as if you’ve seen a ghost.”
On the other side came a voice he never expected to hear again, at least not in this body. Sometimes, these things were unavoidable. Time was funny that way.
“It’s just me, sweetie.” Popping her head around the door, River looked at him. There was a soft grin resting on her face, a bag slung over her shoulder. She came into the office and closed the door behind herself, eyeing him and Bill.
Bill, for her own part, was absolutely gobsmacked. She knew what River looked like. There was a bloody photograph of her on the Doctor’s desk not three feet from her.
“River?” she asked. “Are you…?”
🇵🇸
