By Your Side - A Thasmin Fanfiction

-- 11 --

Yaz's POV

Ghosts. As a police officer, she knew that she shouldn't have a fear of such childish things. But she couldn't help but feel a sense of dread creep in at the mention of them.

"Right..." said the Doctor, obviously devising a plan. She had her thinking-hard-about-how-to-save-the-day face on, staring out into space. Then she jumped around, grabbing Yaz's hand. "Yaz, we're gonna investigate the water! Ryan and Graham, ask around about all of this."

"Gotcha, Doc!" Graham called, nodding to Ryan as Yaz and the Doctor wandered back to the river.

Graham's POV

"We did it, son!" Graham exclaimed as they looked around for someone to talk to that didn't run away at the sight of them. He guessed they looked slightly out of place, modern clothes and all.

"What did we do, grandad?" Ryan asked, legitimately confused.

"Doc, Yaz... together!"

"Oh, right. Go team. Woo."

Graham stopped walking and turned to face him, "Is something wrong? They're both so happy, it's great. I haven't seen the Doc like this since... since all of that stuff with the Master."

"Yeah... you know I've had a crush on Yaz since school. It just... I should be happy, but it's hard."

"Hey, I understand, son. But don't worry – one day the perfect new Sinclair will come along."

Ryan chuckled quietly. "Come on. Let's go do this investigation work for the Doctor."

The Doctor's POV

"So, you got a theory then, Doctor?" asked Yaz as they stood observing the murky waters of the river.

"Ghosts."

"Seriously?" Yaz asked. "But ghosts aren't real."

"And I thought Daleks were a nursery tale when I was a young Time Lord. And Weeping Angels for that matter... no wonder they spent so much time in school getting us to have staring contests..."

"Doctor, focus!"

"Oh, sorry 'bout that," the Doctor snapped out of her memories. She scanned the water again with her sonic, increasing the range of her scan to see if she could pick up anything.

"Any results?" Yaz asked as the Doctor frowned at the screen of her sonic, which showed nothing out of the ordinary.

"None. It doesn't make any sense. Ghosts aren't real. But nothing is showing up! I just..."

She trailed off as she saw a flicker of something in the water.

"Doctor?" prompted Yaz. "Doctor? You okay?"

The Doctor was barely aware of Yaz's words. She stared into the river, finally seeing what was in there.

"River... River Song..." she whispered. River was dead. The Doctor knew that they could never meet again without tearing their timelines apart.

"Hello, sweetie," she whispered, words only meant for the Doctor's ears. River began to sink, smiling blissfully and holding her hand out for the Doctor.

In a trance, the Doctor took her hand, oblivious to Yaz's screaming. Yaz pulled the Doctor back by the waist, trying to stop her from going in the water. From following River Song.

The Doctor forcefully broke out of Yaz's grip, sending Yaz backwards where she landed with a thud on the riverbank.

Once again, the Doctor took River's hand, letting her lead her into the watery depths.

"Where are we going?" she asked, voice barely a whisper.

"Spoilers."

The Doctor sunk below the waves.