River Song.
It was definitely a stupid name, but it was what he called her so Melody allowed it stick. Just the latest in an ever-growing list of things she'd need to adjust to, which thus far included her new face, her new hair and her new wardrobe, though the last one was up for debate. The bag of clothes left with her at the hospital had to have been packed by her mum. Only Amy would have thought it appropriate to wear so many short skirts. Though with legs that long, even tea length dresses seemed a bit short.
It had been well over a year since her parents and the Doctor left her with Sisters of the Infinite Schism. After she was on the mend, she sought the counsel of Professor Artem Candy from the Department of Antiquities at Luna University. A business card bearing his name was folded into the pages of her diary. It only made sense for her to study archaeology. How else was one expected to track down a time traveller?
All the while River did her course work and sat her exams, the Doctor stayed on her mind. Thinking about him was nothing new. Her programming was centred upon knowing the most intimate details about him, every quirk, inclination or anything else that could give her the upper hand in her mission to dispose of him once and for all. But now, her thoughts were mildly curious in nature.
Well, perhaps not mildly.
The Doctor knew her, even better than Amy and Rory. And he trusted her. She couldn't help the urge to learn more about the mad man in the blue box. Vortex manipulators weren't usually easy to come by for someone at her level, but a fresh application of hallucinogenic lipstick made quick work of anyone who stood in her way.
Armed with the method of time travel, she just needed a date and a location. So why not start at the beginning? It would be impossible to see him in his youth. Even if Gallifrey hadn't been destroyed, humans weren't allowed back in those days and for all intents and purposes, she was human. Alas, she couldn't resist the urge to see the man to whom she had devoted her life wearing his very first face. So she followed the research, which led her to London in 1963.
By that time, the Doctor was elderly grump, who spent his time hanging out with teachers. On paper, he sounded positively boring. The plus side was that he had the worse Swiss cheese memory back then so River was satisfied knowing that meeting his first incarnation wouldn't upset too many apple carts.
76 Totter's Lane was the address she found herself at, but it couldn't have been right. A scrapyard? He lived in a scrapyard! She supposed that was his clever idea of blending in. At the very least, his TARDIS didn't stand as a stark anachronism in the face of her surroundings for once.
River circled the ancient blue box slowly, surveying her from every angle. Even she looked different back then. The Doctor and his TARDIS. Always different yet somehow the same. River's fingers grazed the sign on the door and she considered taking a peek inside when she heard a gruff voice behind her.
"And what do you think you're doing?"
River turned to see the Doctor, the first, the original. She'd refer to him as One in her journal entries. It was easier to keep track when she numbered his faces.
One was slightly shorter than the Doctor she had come to know with shoulder length, greyish-white hair and piercing blue eyes that bore into her suspiciously. He wore a cape over a frock coat and tartan trousers with an Astrakhan hat upon his head. There was a blue signet ring on his finger and he held an ebony cape, which he aimed right between her eyes.
"Exploring," River answered. "One man's rubbish is another man's treasure," she added with a smile.
"Exploring, you say? Hmmm?" One waved his cane around like a weapon and River took a precautionary step backward lest he take out one of her eyes. "This is private, yes, private property," he continued. "You can't just be wherever you want to be!"
River felt inclined to counter that claim with a retort that she was certain this incarnation would not appreciate, but before she could speak, their twosome became a threesome.
"Grandfather?" a young girl called from across the street.
The Doctor was the momentarily distracted and River took that as her opportunity to escape. Her hand leapt to the vortex manipulator and she got out of there in a shot, back to Luna University.
She knew all about the girl, Arkytior, better known as Susan, the Doctor's granddaughter. One day she would love to meet the woman, but for now, that was a conversation she wasn't ready for yet.