Summary: When one letter manages to flip-flop everything the Doctor has ever known he realizes that withholding the universe's most guarded secret is no longer the easy task it once was. The writer of the letter needs his help, and alongside Amy, Rory and River, he dares to meet the strange young girl from the future who seems to know as much about him as he knows about himself. And it's this young girl, he realizes, that the Silence will really fall for.
A/N: Okay, so my first attempt at Doctor Who fanfiction, Haha. Here's to hoping I'm able to pull this one off! So, please enjoy!
~xxx: Chapter 1: Seera, England 2374 :xxx~
Doctor,
My name is Seera Song, and I know you don't remember me, or rather, can't, but I know you and I remember. It's sad how we ended up this way, and I haven't seen you in over 700 years, and even that was only a quick glimpse. You haven't seen me since I was 17…but that's enough of that.
I'm writing to you because I need your help. The silence are coming and it's only a matter of time before they find me. Silence will fall when the question is answered.
Your name is –
The Doctor quickly closed the letter in fear of someone around him, though he knew he was alone, reading the name scrawled in elegant print. Something akin to panic arose within him, tightening his chest and making it hard to breathe.
This had to be a sick joke of some sort, or at least, he hoped it was. How could anyone know his name? It was his secret, and the one only he knew the answer to. He pulled his sonic free from his jacket and ran it over the letter with trepidation. It was, as he feared, that this letter was all too real.
With a deep breath, he opened the letter again and began reading the rest.
I won't answer, and my silence will fall with me, but I'm begging you to help.
If not for yourself, then because I am your daughter. How else could I know something so personal about you? I understand if you find this hard to believe, but it's true, all of it.
It hurts to have to ask you for help, because I unfortunately know what it implies. I'm in my 12th regeneration, and this is my last chance.
-Please, Daddy, help me.
Seera,
England – 2374
His daughter? he thought with shock. He ran his hand through his hair and sat back in the chair. He'd faced many 'unbelievable' things, but this…he almost couldn't believe it. He ran his sonic over the letter once more, and the answer was still the same.
It was real and everything this Seera said was true, as far as he could tell.
"Seera Song…" He muttered.
Why did it sound so familiar, like he'd said it a million times before? Song…
As in… River Song?
Were they going to have a daughter or, maybe even more children in their future? No, that couldn't be…it just couldn't be.
But he wasn't willing to take the chance that it wasn't/
He jumped up from his seat and rushed to the room Amy and Rory were sharing. He opened the door, found them sleeping soundly and turned on the lights, much to their dismay.
Amy sat up and rubbed her eyes, "Doctor? Is something wrong?"
"Someone needs our help." He told her before ducking back into the hallway and back out to the control center.
Amy and Rory appeared moments later, half dressed and groggy, but still ready to help. "What is it, what's going on?"
The Doctor paused as he settled his hand on one of the many levers, "An old friend needs our help." He informed her quietly, "Now. We'll need River too, I'll leave her to you, and for gods sake put some trousers on."
Amy nodded with a slight grin, and left the room. Rory stood silently as he watched the Doctor jump about, "Where are we going?"
"England, twenty-three-seventy-four."
Rory nodded slowly, "Who, might I ask, are we going to be helping?"
Doctor looked up at the roman with an almost apologetic look in his eyes, "Her name is Seera."
"We haven't met her before, have we?"
"No." But, he thought, neither have I, at least not in an instance where he was able to remember her.
He knew he'd had a family before, long ago, but… he'd had one, had being the key word for him. It was true enough he didn't remember them, but there were reasons for that he couldn't remember either.
With a sigh, he jumped about to the other side of the control. He pulled the small informal screen closer to him, with some of Seera's personal data pulled up on it. He nearly gasped with surprise.
Name: Seera Song
DOB: September 15, 2374
DOD: July 12, 2374How was that possible? Unless this Seera, who claimed to be his daughter, was a Time Lord (or rather, Lady) how could she have the means to time travel so? And why would she need to return to her birth year?
His thoughts went back to the letter; it had said she was in England, in the year 2374. It was November, if he wasn't mistaken. How had she…?
~xxx-xxx-xxx~
Seera choked back a strangled cough as she pressed her back against the cold, wet wall lining the alley. She could hear the heavy footsteps and voices of some of the men chasing her, as they got closer. The others kept running down the street, their sounds fading into the distance.
She wanted to cry, to scream out in pain and fear because if she didn't do something soon, this was the end of her. With a knowing sigh, she realized that staying put wouldn't keep her alive longer and she grunted as she pushed herself away from the wall. She kept low to the ground and after running a short distance pressed herself against some of the garbage bags and cans settled outside a dumpster, hoping to conceal herself a little better.
Her eyes watered with fear that the Doctor hadn't gotten her letter, or that he didn't care because he couldn't remember her. If only she hadn't been so stupid all those years ago. He'd still love her and she wouldn't be all alone.
Seera watched and waited as the voices grew closer. She could see shadows now in the dim light from the street and held her breath.
A scream would have escaped her lips had it not been for the hand covering her mouth and the arm wrapping around her torso, pulling her flush against a body behind her.
Lips pressed against her ear through her hair. "Don't make a sound, I'm here to help. What I say run, I want you to run out into the street and go left. Do you understand?"
She froze with shock, her entire chest heaving with an almost sob because the words hadn't been whispered in her ear in English. It had been Gallifrenian.
He'd come for her.
"Run." The Doctor commanded.
She darted from their hiding spot, the Doctor following closely behind as they ran. She couldn't think of anything but what he'd told her. The only thing that mattered was that he, her father, had come for her!
As they entered the street she stopped, looking over her shoulder as her father emerged from the alley. "River, make her blue!" He yelled as he grabbed Seera's hand and pulled her along towards the TARDIS. He pushed open the door, closing it behind him when she was safely inside.
They both stood panting, and Seera pressed her hands to her knees as she bent over trying to catch her breath. "You came for me…"
He looked so different, she thought. Younger, even. He was still her father, she just knew it and with tear filled eyes and a weak grin, she wrapped her arms around him, "You saved me."
She'd waited for this moment for 700 years, and nothing could ruin it. What regeneration was he in, she wondered?
"Of course I did, I'm the Doctor. It's what I do." He told her, awkwardly returning her embrace.
She was vaguely aware of the three other people watching them, and she pulled back from her father, awkwardly scratching the back of her head. "Friends?" She asked.
"Yes," He answered, "this is River Song, Amy Pond and Rory Williams, the roman."
River Song? She thought. It couldn't be, could it? She looked so…lively. "Nice to meet you all." She said, still suspiciously eyeing River.
She looked back at the Doctor, eyes watering once more.
~xxx-xxx-xxx~
Was she really his daughter? He wondered as he watched her later on in the evening, interacting with River as they went back and forth arguing some point about the style of the time period. Girl stuff, he inwardly groaned.
She was averagely pretty. Her eyes were a dark blue, almost black even and her hair fell down her back with chocolate colored locks. She was tall, and leggy, beautiful but not so much so that it drew too much attention to her.
She wore boots; black ones that laced up all the way to her knees. In place of her pants, she donned a tight, thin, shiny red material and what he could only describe as grey cargo shorts, though not quite. Her top was made of the same material as her trouser-thing, but she wore a cropped, short vest over top of it.
He was with River on this one; it was an odd outfit indeed.
She was smart. He could see that in her eyes, as well as hear it as she and River spouted more rubbish at each other, something about women's' rights. That posed another question…was River this girl's mother? Surely it was no coincidence that her last name was Song.
He would need to speak with her later on, alone and if not alone, then in their native tongue so then at least Rory, Amy and River wouldn't know what they were talking about. So they wouldn't know that this young girl was his daughter.
Amy laughed as Seera spouted a rather clever line, "That's good." She leaned against Rory and smiled, "Do you mind if I ask how you know the Doctor, Seera?"
"Oh, I, um, we met a long time ago. Call me an old family friend, if you must."
"Well it couldn't have been that long ago, how old are you?"
Oh boy, he thought.
"Seven hundred seventeen." She answered.
Bloody hell. He slipped his sonic out of his pocket and from where he stood, let it scan Seera. Two ages? he marveled. She had two ages. 17 and 717. She'd told him that she hadn't seen him in 700 years, since she was 17. So, how in the…
"What? How is that possible?" Amy continued, "In years?"
"Yes. Why is that so shocking?" Seera lifted a brow with her question. She glanced at him and he sighed.
Doctor cut in, "What she means is, she's seven hundred seventeen in years from her own planet." He glared at her and scolded her in Gallifrenian. "They don't know who you are."
"Why not? You didn't tell them?"
"No."
"You drag them here and don't tell them why they needed to help you save me?"
He sighed, "No, I wasn't sure if it were real or not." He told her in English as he looked to River and Amy.
"What was that?" River asked, "Just now, Sweetie?"
If looks could kill, he thought, then Seera would have just killed River; so much for them getting along. If River was her mother, the he was in trouble. If not, he was going to have two very angry women on his hands. Both looked like they were ready to pounce on each other from opposite sides of the room.
"Who the hell do you think you are calling him sweetie?" Seera hissed.
River laughed scathingly, "I'm his wife, who do you think you are?"
"Wife?" She quipped with surprise.
The Doctor groaned as he pressed his hands to his face. It was lovely that his wife and daughter didn't get along. "Yes, Seera, she's my wife. We're married. Let's talk about this later."
He looked down at his hand as he shifted the lever under his hand, "Sooner, rather than later. What's wrong with her?"
Something was off.
Seera looked up guiltily, her blue eyes watering, "It's why I needed your help, dad. It's why I can't hide."
She was stuck, he realized. She was stuck in this year and as long as she was in the TARDIS, so were they. It's why she had two ages, one physical and one literal. How had this happened? Any of it? He'd taken a leap of faith in believing she was his child, and he couldn't deny it. She spoke Gallifrenian and knew his name, of all things.
Why had he left her then? What had happened? He wondered. It made both of his hearts ache with the thought of, maybe he'd abandoned her. But how could he have? That wasn't like him; he wouldn't leave anyone behind, not even Seera, not this time.
This was his daughter, and her life was in danger.
~xxx-xxx-xxx-xxx~
A/N: I hope you all liked it, and hope you stick around to find out what happens. Remember, reviews/faves = love!