Melody stepped into the time machine, hesitating by the door for a moment. This had been a very confusing day. First, she'd taken her first trip though time to Nazi Germany. Then, she'd died. Then, she'd killed The Doctor (well, almost killed The Doctor, he was technically still alive for now). Now she was supposed to pilot a time ship to save her parents at the bidding of a man who was supposed to not care about them. It wasn't confusing when she thought he didn't care. Yet, with his dying breaths, he did the one thing that could make her question killing him: care about her parents.

She shook that thought off, moving toward the machine's controls at the center of the room. The Doctor had told her she'd be able to fly the TARDIS. She'd assumed that meant that the buttons would be labeled or there'd be an instruction manual or maybe even an informational video, but there was nothing apparent. Great. How the hell was she supposed to drive this thing?

She looked up at the column in the center of the control room wondering what to do next, when, suddenly, it started to move. She let out a startled gasp. She hadn't done that. Except… she had. Her hands were on the console though she had not consciously put them there. In fact, they were still moving.

Melody jerked away from the controls, horrified. That was not her. There was something in her mind, she realized suddenly. It had snuck in without her noticing, but now that she was paying attention, the other entities presence was obvious. She felt her heart beat pick up as she registered the magnitude of the consciousness imposing itself on her own.

Even with her limited mental abilities, she could tell that it was huge and powerful. Melody's mind, weak and mangled by a childhood she couldn't quite remember, could offer no defense against it. It could shred her mind at the drop of a hat.

It was the ship, Melody thought and she wasn't sure if it was her own idea or if the thing had offered the information up. She had learned a bit about the Doctor's TARDIS. There were rumors that the ship was sentient in some way, but Melody had never imagined this. She'd had no idea it was telepathic and could literally force her body to do its bidding.

The ship was confirmed to have a countless number of rooms that could change and be rearranged at will. She'd assumed it had been at The Doctor's will, but that was obviously wrong. If the ship could control her, it doubtlessly had control over itself. Which meant Melody was helpless to it not just mentally, but physically as well.

And that was it, wasn't it? It had been a trick. The Doctor didn't care about her parents or want her to save them. It had been a well played ploy using the one thing she cared about against her. He'd served her up to his ship in revenge for killing him.

There were infinite ways it could hurt her physically and mentally and it had complete control over her. It could make her flay her own skin or watch as she stuck her own hand into hot coals. It would make her walk to each new room, unsure of what torment waited behind the door. Melody hadn't had this body long; she didn't know yet how the nerve endings were wired. She supposed the machine and she would discover how her body reacts to pain together.

They certainly had time. It was a time machine that could simply exist in the void for as long as it wanted as far as Melody knew. There was nothing to force it to stop or even pause for a moment. That coupled with the fact that she still had 9 regenerations left meant it could literally torture her forever.

With that thought, Melody completely descended into a blind panic. It was quite a long time before any rational thoughts entered her head. The first thing she registered was the humming. It was a soothing sound that her body seemed to instinctually sync up with. Her breath began to match the ebb and flow of the sound and her heartbeat slowed to a more normal rhythm.

She was lying on the floor, she realized, but the metal was not cold. It had warmed to about the temperature of a normal human body and was vibrating softly to the rhythm of the humming. She felt herself trying to curl into its warmth.

The TARDIS's presence was gone. Except, it wasn't. The humming wasn't just a sound, there was a telepathic element to it as well. Yet, it wasn't in her head anymore. It's consciousness was just barely brushing up against her mind, being sure to stay on the other side of her poorly erected walls.

Melody laid curled up on the floor for a few minutes more. Eventually, after her body had relaxed a bit more, there was a noise over the humming. A woman appeared out of thin air a few feet away. Melody waited, not moving, for her to do something, but she just stood there with a neutral expression. After a long moment, Melody slowly sat up, hugging her knees to her chest and wiping the wetness off her cheeks with the back of her shaking hand.

"Who are you?" she asked the figure.

"I am the TARDIS voice interface," she answered tonelessly and without moving a muscle of her face other than her mouth.

"You're the TARDIS?" she asked, her eyes darting around the room and then back to the woman.

"I am the TARDIS voice interface," it repeated, "You refused to speak in your head."

Melody thought about this for a moment. "Are you going to hurt me?" she finally asked.

The interface's expression didn't change, but there was a distinct change in the air. "No," it said.

"Why not? I killed The Doctor. I shot you. Don't you know that?"

"Yes," she answered.

"But, I don't understand."

There was a long pause. Melody would have wondered if she was going to respond at all except she could feel a kind of rolling in the air that felt like contemplation. As though the TARDIS was having trouble translating her thoughts into real words. "You are my child," if finally said. "I made you."

"You made me?"

"Yes, with The Orange One and The Pretty One."

Melody blinked at the hologram. "Well that's a bit difficult to digest."

She didn't respond to the comment. "We need to save The Orange One and The Pretty One," she said.

"Right. Okay. How?"

"I need to tell you," she said.

"Okay," Melody said waiting.

"No," she said. "I need to…" She paused, thinking again, "show you." Melody still wasn't sure what she meant until The TARDIS's consciousness, which had been keeping its distance, surged forward a bit to brush up against her mind. Melody flinched.

"Oh," she said. She really didn't like the idea of having someone else in her head. Even if the TARDIS was asking for her consent instead of just forcing its way inside, the idea of it still felt like a violation. Yet, this was for Amy and Rory; this was for her parents. She could do it for them.

"Okay. Okay, just don't…" she was unable to put what she was asking into words, but The TARDIS seemed to get it.

"No," she said, "Safe. My Water is safe."

Melody nodded and got to her feet. The voice interface disappeared, but the soothing humming increased a bit in volume. Melody closed her eyes and attempted to open her mind, though she wasn't quite sure what she was doing

The TARDIS brushed up against her mind again and Melody tensed, but didn't try to push it away. When it was clear she wasn't about to go into a blind panic, The TARDIS gently started to ease into her mind.

Despite the fact that the presence in her mind was soft and only projected warm, protective thoughts, the most primitive part of Melody rebelled. Her breathing quickened and her stomach rolled.

She didn't think she could do this.

The TARDIS paused to try to let her adjust. The humming picked up, but this time she could hear the telepathic part of it more clearly. Some part of Melody she wasn't even aware of instinctually reached toward the sound and tried to match its tempo. Soon, though panic still coursed through her body, her thoughts started to calm.

Melody opened her eyes. There was a mental nudge and she felt herself step toward the console, but now that she was aware of what was happening, she realized she could have stopped the movement if she wished. She allowed her hand to be guided to a leaver and the TARDIS began moving though time. The TARDIS's presence in her mind was still disconcerting and she wouldn't call it being there a nice feeling, but it wasn't unpleasant. Maybe she'd explore the connection more in the future, but, for now, it was time to save Amy and Rory.

AN: I hope you enjoyed this story. I proofread my own stuff (not very well). As always, tell me if there is something major wrong. Thanks for reading and have a good day.