Title: The Game

Summary: In which the Doctor loses the Game.

Disclaimer: I do not own Doctor Who.

Dedication: This is for Josie, Rachael, and Maple. Enjoy.

The Doctor and Amy Pond were sitting at what had to be one of the most boring conferences in the entire universe. Thousands of people had turned up to hear what this apparently revolutionary novelist had to say. Hundreds of species had shown face to listen to this human who claimed to have the unlocked a secret of the galaxy. Naturally, this interested the Doctor but he had realised the man was wrong in his theory within the first few lines of the speech he was currently making and the Doctor had become disinterested very quickly.

The pair were sat at the back listening to what was being said with very little interest and it had got to the point where neither of them were entirely sure what was going on anymore. "Why did you bring us here, Doctor?" Amy whispered to him, leaning to the side of her chair so she could talk quietly to him.

"I thought it was going to be interesting. I mean, I read this guy's earlier books about space shuttle development! I thought he might be interesting to listen to and he invited me to give my opinion on the matter. It would have been rude to say no," the Doctor reasoned quietly. He rested his chin on his hand, slouching in his chair, clearly fed up. Amy rolled her eyes and sighed before turning her eyes to the man at the front of the room whom was rambling endlessly on about some topic that was unknown to the Scottish time traveller.

Bored, her mind wandered and she thought about all the things she could be doing at the moment; seeing the stars, climbing over barren rocks on new planets, meeting new people and experiencing new cultures, watching paint dry...

She became distracted from this rambling when she suddenly thought something she hadn't thought in a while. She cursed herself slightly but then realised that she could have some fun with this now that she had. After all, this was one of those things that couldn't possibly be kept quiet. Once it had crossed her mind, she had to share it.

Smirking she turned around to the Doctor. "Hey, Doctor?"

"Mmm?" he responded distractedly, his eyes slightly glazed.

"... I just lost the Game," she grinned mischievously.

This did not, however, have quite the reaction she expected. The Doctor frowned at her in complete confusion and asked "What game, Pond?"

Amy stared at him in shock. "You've never heard of the Game?" When the Doctor shook his head she sighed and explained; "You know the Game. Where you're not allowed to think about the Game or you lose? And then you have to tell someone. So then it spreads and everyone loses the Game."

The Doctor's forehead creased slightly as he concentrated, thinking this new concept though. "So, the only rule to the Game is not to think of the phrase "the Game"?" he asked, to confirm his thoughts.

"Exactly," Amy nodded with a smile. The Doctor grinned back at her, liking this new but simple concept.

They were interrupted when the Doctor's name was called by the speaker. "And now, I'd like to hear from our guest, the Doctor. Please come forward sir!" The vast audience looked around curiously to see the new comer, and it was apparent that many of them were hoping for some relief from the perpetual boredom.

The Timelord sprang to his feet and hurried down the steps next to his seat and positively bounced onto the stage and hurried to the microphone, grinning over to Amy at the back of the hall before turning back to the host and nodding, "Thank you for having me here today. Thank you for your time!" He turned around to the audience again and looked around at them all, taking in every face slowly waiting for the silence to consume the room entirely.

Then, having found exactly the right moment, his face broke into a smirk and his eyes danced with childish glee. "I just lost the Game," he announced.

Author's Note: You all just lost the Game.