Chapter Text
Chapter One
The first time Matt had ever seen Alex Kingston, he was seventeen. He’d normally spend Friday nights with his friends, or his girlfriend. But his friends were at a party this one Friday, a party he didn’t particularly feel in the mood to attend. And his girlfriend was on vacation with her family, so he was stuck at home. He’d sat on the couch, feet propped up on the table, remote dangling from his hand lazily, and he was shouting angrily at the TV. Footy… The only thing worth watching on the telly. The remote was suddenly snatched from his hand, causing him to jump in shock.
“LAURA!”
His sister scoffed at him, pushing his feet down off the table and flopping on to the couch beside Matt.
“OI! I WAS WATCHING SOMETHING!”
He makes a grab for the remote, knocking a glass off the table in the process. The two froze mid-fight, watching as it tumbled to the ground and shattered upon impact.
“What was that?” Came a shriek from the kitchen.
His mother appeared in the doorway, hands on her hips as she glared around the room. He leant back, pointing at Laura, his eyes wide with fright.
“She STOLE the remote! I was watching football”
Lara glared at him, shaking her head tauntingly.
“TOO BAD! It’s Friday. ER’s on. Mum and I always watch ER!”
Lynne sighed, smiling apologetically at him.
“She’s right. We watch it every week.”
Matt grumbled as he sat back. Laura whooped, poking her tongue out at him.
“You’re welcome to join us if you want.”
Matt looked up at his mother, shrugging casually.
“Got nothing else to do”
She smiled at him, sitting in the chair next to Laura. The TV flicked over, and as the title sequence began, Matt sighed in boredom.
Ironic really. That the first time Matt ever sees Alex Kingston, it’s the first time she appears on ER. Now, he’s ashamed to admit, but he didn’t take an interest in the curly-haired surgeon. His mother gasped, clapping her hands in excitement.
“Oh! I’d heard she’d be joining the cast. Oh, I saw Alex Kingston in Moll Flanders. Simply amazing. Absolutely brilliant, she is.
And that’s all she says during that episode. And by the time the credits are rolling, Matt has fallen asleep.
It’s another few weeks before Matt is once again without plans and stuck at home. With nothing else to do, and bored out of his mind, he joins his mum and sister as ER appears on screen. He’s barely paying attention when Alex appears on screen. She pulling her top over her head, talking to one of the guys, ‘Benton’ or something. Now that, caught his attention. Can you blame him? He is male… His eyes quickly travel up her almost golden-coloured skin, lingered in her breasts, then continued their journey. By the end of that episode, Alex Kingston’s skin is all that he can see behind closed eyes.
Every now and then, he’ll join Lynne and Laura on a Friday, watching ER.
By the time the new season starts, and it’s been moved to Wednesday nights, Matt has joined them for every week.
He’s looked her up on the internet. Googling Alex Kingston…
He’s seen Moll Flanders. Seen it, saw it again, and saw it again, and saw it again, and… Well, you get the picture…
He’s watched Boudica, eyes wide and hand travelling toward his zipper. Alex Kingston with swords. Now that is a frequently recurring dream.
Alpha Dog… Need he say more.
Twenty-six years old, and he’s the youngest Doctor in Doctor Who history. He’s at the read-through, glancing causally through the script. It took him a few moments to realise the script had the name River Song printed.
He knew who River Song was… Or at least the actress who portrayed her. He’d watched Doctor Who. Who in the UK hadn’t? And when Alex first cleared her visor in Silence of the Library, he grinned like an idiot. So yes, he knew who River Song was, and she was currently standing in the doorway.
XXXXXXXXXX
He stares at his script, his throat dry and his heart racing. Alex Kingston was currently standing just a few feet away from him. The woman he’d been crushing on for so long. Alex fucking Kingston!
He peeked around his shoulder, watching as Steven greeted her with a tight hug. He jumps as a script is dropped on to the table beside him. Turning, he blinks, then smiles as Karen takes her seat.
“You’ve read this right? One of the first episodes, and my eyes are closed for over half of it! And it’s such a great episode too!” She whined, gulping down the water from her bottle.
“Maybe that’s what makes it a great episode. The fact that Amy trusts the Doctor so completely already.”
Karen stared at him, causing him to shift uncomfortably.
“That’s… actually understandable. What have you done with Matt Smith?”
He shrugged, stealing her bottle and swallowing almost half of it. His throat was so very, very dry. He swung his chair around slightly, coming his face to two bodies. Looking up a little, Steven Moffatt and Alex Kingston were smiling down at him. Spluttering, Matt choked on the water, successfully spilling the bottle of ice-cold liquid all over his lap.
At least it helped with something.
Karen burst in to laughter, clutching her sides as Alex and Steven grinned down at him. He closed his eyes, feeling his cheeks flush in embarrassment. It just had to be in front of her didn’t it… He coughed violently, yelping as Karen slaps his back, rather hard. He glared at her, wiping the water from his chin. She held her hands up in defence.
“Just trying to help.”
He swung back around, staring up at the two people in front of him. Steven’s shaking his head in amusement, and Alex… Oh, God! She laughing! Well… Her body’s shaking, and he can tell she’s attempting to keep it in, but he knows. She really, really wants to be laughing out loud.
“Good ole Matt Smith.” Steven extends a hand, looking at Alex. “Can you believe this is our new Doctor?”
Alex laughs then, eyes sparkling.
“Oh I can definitely see the Doctor in him.” Stepping forward, he expects her to stick her hand out. Instead, she leans down, embracing him in a hug. He tries so very, very hard not to look down right now, because if he did, he’d be getting a very close view of Alex’s cleavage. But his eyes go unfocused, as her hair tickles his cheek and he inhales her perfume. Stepping back again, she smiles at him.
“Alex.”
He gulps a little, nodding.
“Oh… I know”
He reddens as she raises an eyebrow, and Steven and those surrounding, laugh. He attempts to cover up the obvious fan-girling (would it be fan-girling? If he’s a boy?) but only manages to ramble.
“I mean… My mum and sister watched ER, and so I’d have to watch it, so I watched you a lot”
A smirk joins her raised eyebrow, as Karen coughs awkwardly and Steven chuckles some more. He reddens again quickly, raising his hands and waving them about.
“I meant on the telly! Cause of ER, and mum and Laura. I know who you are, cause of ER. And, you’re Alex Kingston, and all the UK know who you are, so it makes sense I’d know who you are, and I… am going to shut up now.”
He can feel his face burn as the cast laugh at him, and he can’t even lift his eyes to look at Alex. She must think he’s an idiot. He carefully looks up, but all she’s doing is smiling at him, shaking her head.
“Oh I can tell you’re going to be fun, Mr Smith”
He smiles then, feeling his confidence growing just a little. He can tell that there’s a little flirt in her words, and it makes his ego blow up just a tad more.
“And I you, Miss Kingston”
She laughs then, sitting down next to him and bumping her shoulder with his. He tenses a little, barely noticeable, but all the same. Steven clears his throat, finally taking a seat and announcing the title of the episode.
They begin reading through it, input casually being thrown in every few sentences. Alex shifts as River’s described. She grins up at Steven, a particularly happy smirk plastered across her face.
“Oh, I love the sound of those shoes”
Steven laughs, shaking his head.
“Knew you would”
Karen nods along, as do most of the other girls in the room.
“And the dress! I am so jealous of you right now.”
Alex laughs, throwing her head back. And then, they’re back to reading. It doesn’t take them long until they’re finally at the part where the Doctor and Amy meet up with River. As they’re reading through the scene, Matt has a wandering thought, and didn’t realise he’d said it out loud.
“Would be fun if River landed on top of the Doctor” he muses, eyes focused on the script.
It’s quiet for a moment, and he’s confused as to why. Looking up, he jerks as he notices everyone is looking at him. Steven grins, nodding along and picking up a pen.
“That’s brilliant Matt. Change it in your script everyone. River lands directly on top of the Doctor.”
Matt’s eyes grow wide, and his head snaps between looking at Steven, the script, and finally on Alex. She’s raised an eyebrow again, once again smirking. He has a feeling that will be happening a lot. He smiles back, shrugging his shoulders. She chuckles, reaching for a pen and scribbling in his script. He’s about half-way through writing in his own, when he realizes exactly what he’s just done.
He suggested, that Alex Kingston, lands on top of him. On top of him… On top of him! He scrunches his eyes closed tightly, mentally scolding himself. He’s really, really hoping it’s a straight cut take.
XXXXXXXXX
Alex appears at his side as he’s talking to Karen. He can tell it’s her simply from the squeal from Karen. She starts gushing over her dress, her shoes, her hair… Though her hair’s always like that, granted it’s slightly more tamed now. Alex laughs, nodding along with whatever Karen’s saying. Matt can’t hear them though, he’s focused intently on the black number clinging to her body. He groans internally, suddenly remember that that body will be directly on top of him in a few short moments. Steven’s suddenly there, pulling Alex away into a corner, quietly speaking with her. Karen and Matt watch, looking at each other in curiosity. They see Alex’s draw drop slightly, eyes widen, before she’s laughing hysterically, shaking her head. They can hear, just one sentence.
“Only you Steven, could come up with someone like that, and nickname her River Song” She grinning, Steven laughing along with her.
Karen stares at Matt, eyes wide. Alex knows who River is. And Matt has a feeling, she’s going to enjoy being asked. Steven and Alex approach them, both still grinning. He suddenly calls for the crew, and both pass them. Alex smirks at them, winking as she passes. Karen shakes her head, pouting just a little.
“She knows!” She whined, stamping her foot.
Matt glances at her, shrugging.
“Aw come on Kaz. She’ll tell us. Later”
Karen rolls her eyes, following him. Steven calls for quiet, there’s a shout of ‘Action!’, and then he’s suddenly the Doctor, circling the console and speaking at an incredibly fast pace. He runs down the stairs, throws the door open, and pushes his arm out. He’s counting down in his head, attempting to slow the beating of his heart, when the next thing he knows, he’s got armfuls of Alex. She’s on top of him, straddling him, and he goes to speak, when they manage eye contact, and then they’re both laughing. He swallows, then flops his head against the floor below him. They’ll have to do it again now, which means once again Alex has to fall on top, and straddle him. And oh, how he hopes she can’t feel that!
They have to re-do the scene quite a few times. They laugh way too much. She falling again, he grabs on to her, then they start laughing, again. She leans back, resting her head on his stomach as she laughs loudly, the crew once again joining in. He’s chuckling, but awkwardly because her bum’s in the air, and her breasts are on his hips, and he swears he sees her smirk. Oh God, she can feel it! She sits up again, hands on either side of his hips, looking up at Steven as he tells her something about the way she’s falling. He’s not listening, too busy attempting to breathe. Finally, she’s off him, the he’s back at the console, running down the stairs, throwing open the door, and then she’s falling again, only this time, he’s not so excited with the outcome. Because her knee is then introduced to his groin, and he groans in pain, eyes screwed shut. He can hear the crew’s attempts at covering their laughter, hear some of the guys hissing in sympathy. And Alex is sitting on top of him, lower though, on his knees, apologizing over and over again, and he can practically hear the guilt in her voice. Karen’s laughing hysterically, asking if he’s okay in between great gasps for air. He nods slowly, though all he can think is that either Alex had a really, really bad sense of direction whilst falling, or she felt the reaction earlier, and was sadistic in some way. He groans, silently hoping the crew assume it’s in pain. It’s not… It’s really, really not…
XXXXXXXXXX
They’re on the beach now, filming the end and beginning of the two-part episode. He’s flirting madly with Alex, or, the Doctor’s flirting madly with River. But they flirt off-screen, everyone on Who does. He and Karen flirt all the time. He and Karen flirted with Arthur when he was on. They flirted with Steven too, and Karen and Alex flirt as well. It’s all good fun, a joke really. Just mucking around on set. The whole cast and crew do it. But it’s different when it’s him and Alex. He’s not sure if she notices, but he certainly does. It’s absolutely freezing, and Alex is wrapped up in a dressing gown, a cap wrapped around her head to stop her hair from getting messed up. They walk across the rocks, up to the trailers and towards the lunch van. He turns around, grinning at her as she follows him. She smiles back, shaking her head fondly. He stops, waiting for her to catch up.
“Warm enough there Kingston?” he teases, grinning as her arms tighten around her chest.
“Not quite sweetie.”
He wraps an arm around her shoulders, bringing her in against his side.
“Better?”
She laughs, shaking her head.
“Not quite sweetie” She repeats, raising her eyebrow up at the challenge. He smirks, pulling her in front of him and wrapping his arms all the way around her stomach, pushing forward until they’re walking in sync.
“Now?”
She’s laughing again, she seems to do that a lot. He likes that.
“Much”
They’re walking, well, more like waddling towards the lunch van, when Karen appears at their sides.
“Awww… That’s adorable! I want a human blanket!”
Alex smiles at her, gripping his arms to her stomach.
“Going to have to find your own darling. Matt’s quite warm”
Karen hurrumphs, looking around and seeing Pete, one of the cameramen. She races across to him, speaking a mile a minute. He laughs, but nods anyway. She pulls him along, and stands just like Alex and him. Pete just shakes his head at Matt, glaring playfully at the two of them.
“Do you see what you’ve both done? Now all the ladies around here are going to expect us men to keep them warm.”
Alex rolls her eyes, leaning back against Matt. Karen grins, snuggling in to Pete.
“Wow! So warm… Good idea Alex. This is so much better than water bottles.”
They’re laughing, several of the crew passing them joining in after they’ve been told the story. Matt expects, soon enough, it’ll be all over the set, and everyone will be doing this. He just grins. Much better than water bottles.
XXXXXXXXXXX
They shoot the Byzantium scene next, inside the control room. Just Alex and Matt at the moment. They’re flirting some more, laughing a lot, messing up scenes, much to the crews amusement. Matt is just so clutzy, and when Alex’s around, clutzy seems to escalate to a whole new level. They break after a few dozen takes, and Matt takes a moment to escape outside. He’s breathing in the air, when the door opens behind him. He turns, blushing slightly when he sees it’s Alex. He hopes she thinks it’s because of the cold, but the smirk appearing on her face tells him she knows it’s not.
She joins him leaning against the wall, their shoulder’s barely touching. They don’t say anything, but Matt thinks this is better than attempting small talk. They’re just staring at the sky, when Alex sighs.
“There’s nothing quite like British air.”
He looks over at her, taking in her breathless smile and unfocused eyes. He supposed there’s a big difference, as opposed to the LA air she normally breathes. He doesn’t say anything, but he does hum. He’s content to just stand, as is she apparently. They’re there for a few moments, waiting for that blaring sound the signals the start of shooting. And there it is, right on time. He stands, passing by her when her hand snakes out. Gripping his arm, he looks down, then up at her. She smirks at him, winks, and leans up. Then, she’s kissing him. He’s mind is a little slow, thankfully his mouth isn’t. He’s kissing her back when he realizes. Alex Kingston is kissing him. Alex Kingston is kissing him. Alex Kingston is kissing HIM! His hands settle on her waist, gripping her hips. She moans into his mouth, giving him time to slip his tongue in. He licks the roof of her mouth, battles her tongue, and then… She’s pulling away. His a little unfocused, and he blinks quickly, clearing the fogginess. She licks her lips, smirks again, winks, and then slips in through the door.
He stands there, staring at the wall which her back had previously been pushed against. He’s utterly confused, but he shakes his head and grins. Shaking his head, he pushes through the door. He catches her eye, grins, and then turns away. He will get her back for that. He just will…