Midnight ⋆ Doctor Who²

2. The Second Letter

AURORA NEEDS SOMETHING TO DO. She's been standing straight, staring at the lake for an hour now, silent tears streaming down her face, her head empty. She needs something to get back on her feet. Somewhere to start looking for a way to save him.

Step one is finding out anything that looks out of the ordinary. The Doctor dying, yes, of course. But also that strange man, the one they've never seen before, coming here knowing exactly what to do.

She suddenly turns on her heels, walking straight to the old man. He doesn't take a step backwards, but he flinches a little. Her face is puffy and red, nostrils flared in anger, and she might be a bit scary. But she doesn't care, not right now.

"Who are you?" she asks, demands. "Why did you come?"

The old man gives her a crooked smile, expecting this reaction out of her. "The same reason as you." He holds out his blue invitation. She blinks at it, and gets hers out from her back pocket. His is marked with a four. "Aurora." He nods to River, and then the Ponds. "Doctor Song, Amy, Rory. I'm Canton Everett Delaware the third. I won't be seeing you again, but you'll be seeing me." He puts on his TARDIS blue cap, and leaves.

Okay, this did not help. Apart from the fact that he revealed they'll be seeing his past self later in the future, they're still stomped regarding the Doctor. Step one is a bust.

Step two is looking for the obvious.

Aurora's grip around her letter tightens. "One," she mutters.

Rory comes up to her, and puts a reassuring hand on her shoulder, always trying to be there for her. "Sorry, what?"

She holds up her letter. "The Doctor numbered the envelopes." They begin to walk back to the diner, Aurora leading them, walking very quickly. "You got four," she explains when they get inside. "River got three. I was one, Mister Delaware was five."

"So?" Rory asks, confused.

River frowns. "So, it's a ranking, ranking of what?"

"No, good, but wrong question." Aurora shakes her head. "So, where's 2?"

Rory slowly nods, still confused. "What, you think he invited someone else?"

"Well, he must have," River admits. "He planned all of this, to the last detail."

Amy stops at a booth, looking into the vague. "Will you three shut up? It doesn't matter."

"Of course it does!" Aurora turns to her, and slowly walks up to her. "He was up to something."

She looks up at her. "He's dead." Aurora clenches her jaw, shutting her mouth instantly.

"Space, 1969," River goes on behind them. "What did he mean?"

"You're still talking, but it doesn't matter," Amy maintains.

"Hey, it mattered to him," Rory says.

"So it matters to us," River adds.

She's still looking straight at Aurora. "He's dead."

"You think I don't know that?" Aurora lets out, having to lower her voice in case someone hears, or she starts crying. "Amy, if I had any more tears in my body I'd still be crying my eyes out back at the lake." And if she was alone with no one to stop her, she'd be looking everywhere for the TARDIS, the simplest way to bring him back. "But right now we have to focus. We have to do something."

Rory taps her shoulder hesitantly. "Look." She frowns and looks where he's pointing.

There's another blue envelope on a table near the back.