Here we are. It's been FIVE chapters since A Good Man Goes to War, but we've made it, guys! This is a super long chapter because I wanted to celebrate my exams ending tomorrow plus, I wanted to get to the good stuff. There's a new Outtake on the separate fic; just a small prequel, so check that out and...well, I hope you like this!
H x
Miracles Out of Nowhere
Chapter 34
Susan was still stuck in New York, four months after letting Melody left. She'd not run into her, whatever she looked like. It pained her to think of Melody, so she focused on the end goals- convincing herself it was the right decision. Good news was the Silence was still following her. Meaning that they had no clue where Melody was. She'd gotten away.
Susan ran through the streets, through the crowds to her destination. Feet pounded against stone as she ran, hearts beating as she looked wildly around her. Her hair was now tied back loosely by a piece of string and her face was dirty. She would probably be unrecognisable to the few alive to know her, ragged and poor. But she was alive, and that's what counted.
Susan used her arms to power her along, thankful for the two hearts in her chest that were beating at double time, as she checked her hands, seeing two more tally marks crawling on her hand, near her thumb. Damn. They were close. But so was she.
Then she saw it, an old abandoned building. Well, they wanted people to think that. The Time Agency. There she would get a Vortex Manipulator, and get to her little Pond. Susan ran full pelt into towards the New York building, on the edge of the park in the large and dim lit street, glancing up at the star filled sky before powering on. She had to get there. She got there. Susan pounded on the door, pushing it open and hurrying through, slamming it closed and leaning against it, breathing laboured. This had been her life; this was probably always going to be her life. Running.
How had her Grandfather done it? Always running –you just got tired. But she was running to something now, and that made all the difference. Melody Pond, here she came. Susan looked around at the surprisingly open planned building, and the two men inside, who seemed shocked by the appearance of Susan. She could hardly blamed them- she probably looked feral to them; a raggedy, young girl in a dirty dress, scruffy hair and scars and pen marks littering her skin. Scratch feral, she probably looked mad.
"How did you get in here? Who are you?" A stern looking man with a cropped black haircut and suit asked her, and Susan cursed. Low level perception filter- she shouldn't have been able to be here. The man who'd asked her put a hand on the stunner at his hips and gave a look to his partner, who was a shrewd man with ginger hair.
"I need a Vortex Manipulator. Now." She demanded. Now she was here, she wished she had come up with a plan. Already, the two men were advancing on her, but Susan saw something else by the far doorway, and screamed, pointing at the looming Silent. The two Time Agents turned, raising stunners and firing on the Silent. Susan ducked at the sound of the blasts, hands covering her ears as she ran across the room to a flight of stairs and she jumped the steps, two at a time, running away and onto a landing. Susan ran for the nearest door and grabbed the handle, pulling it open before slamming it to a shut.
It was a storeroom. Thank god. A workbench in one corner, the rest of the walls lined with metal shelves of some sort, laid with confiscated items and other manners of tech she didn't have time to identify. She was here for one thing; time travel. She needed to get to Berlin. That year, and that city. If everything went to plan, the Ponds would have the TARDIS, and the old girl would take them to her. She was always a clever old thing.
Susan moved away from the door, hearing more shouts and shots firing, which could mean one thing. More danger. The Silence had reinforcements. Susan turned from the shelves back to the door, which had a bolt. She barred it in place, not for the first time wishing she had some sonic technology, before turning back to the room, eyes scanning it in search for a Vortex Manipulator.
She lunged towards the workbench as soon as she heard a battering on the doors. She was running out of time. Susan put a hand in her pocket, hand clasping around a long shard of glass with a cloth wrapped around at one end- a makeshift weapon. In these past months, she'd had to defend herself. She was used to it. Her other hand scrabbled around the workbench, pulling out draws and pushing around blueprints, throwing papers over her head till she saw one and gave grin of triumph before suddenly the door was battered through, door splintering and wood flying around the room. Susan shielded her eyes, grabbing the manipulator as the Silents stood in the doorway.
Quickly, she attached the leather strap to her writs, flipping up the covering flap to see the device itself as the Silents advanced, hissing, their mouths becoming gaping black holes and raising their hands threateningly. Fear pounded through Susan as she let out a groan of frustration before it was finally secure, and she looked up, backing away from the Silents as she typed in the space time coordinates.
"Silence will fall." They rattled to her. Susan had heard it before, still didn't know what it meant- they just spoke in riddles. Trenzalore, a question, silence falling- it was gibberish. Blood ponded in her ears as she backed away, the Silents ever advancing. She couldn't type fast enough. She was going to die. Electricity crackled at Silent fingertips. Susan's back hit the wall and she let out a terrified gasp, looking around wide eyed as she finished typing. She looked around, and saw exactly what she was looking for.
"No it won't." She faced them, yelling over the whirling wind as they summoned the power. "Silence won't fall because I'm going to keep babbling and you just try and stop me. Melody will be just fine- you'll never get to her. I'm going to save her, and my grandfather. So I have one thing to say to you. After everything you did to Melody, that you did to me, after all of that...BYE!"
Susan ran to the window, and ran through it. Glass flew out as electricity missed her, and she was falling and falling, but she pressed the button on the manipulator and in her own burst of electricity; was gone.
/
Far away and years into the future, in a vandalised crop field, lay a blue box in the centre with a Mini parked in front of it and three friends outside them both. The Doctor held up a newspaper with the headline and pointed at it. The Leadworth paper had a headline that read "Leadworth's Crop Circle".
"Seriously?" He asked, and Rory held his arms out.
"Well, you never answer your phone." Rory reasoned and slammed his door shut on the Mini as Amelia started forwards, wanting to know, having to know if the Doctor had found her baby. Alright, granted, there wasn't a crib with him and he wasn't holding her, but she could be in the TARDIS. He had to at least have located her, right?
"Okay, you've had all summer. Have you found her? Have you found Melody?" She asked him, and the Doctor walked forwards, thinking of what to say, before he handed the newspaper to Rory.
"Permission?" He asked the Roman and Rory took the newspaper, nodding.
"Granted." Rory agreed and the Doctor quickly enveloped Amelia in a hug, tight and consoling that offered both friends comfort. The Doctor rubbed her back warmly as he spoke into her ear.
"You know who she grows up to be, so you know I will find her." He implored to her. Amy let go and pushed away.
"But you haven't yet." She stated, worried, and the Doctor could only look back with sad eyes. Amy started again. "Have you even found Susan?" The Doctor opened his mouth, about to answer, with what he was unsure of when Rory turned to them both, the paper open in his hands.
"Hang on. What's this bit?" He asked them, and Amy and the Doctor went over, to see a line through the middle of their crop work on the paper.
"That wasn't us." Amy said and the Doctor snatched the newspaper from Rory's hands, holding it up against the light and inspecting it, walking around as if he were trying to figure out wherever the line would meet them.
"Er…I don't-" He muttered, confused as he looked at the image, when suddenly, the sound of an engine caught the trio's attention, and the Doctor puts down the newspaper, to see a red car charging towards them through the field. All three let out a yell of terror as it sped towards them and moved out of the way, Amy and Rory hitting the floor but the Doctor was almost run over by the car, collapsing on the floor as the Chevrolet Corvette ground to a halt, just shy of the TARDIS.
A young woman stepped out of the car, in a sleeveless leather jacket and dress with boots. She had dark skin, dreadlocks and a knowing smirk as she surveyed the Doctor on the floor, who immediately put a hand up to shield his eyes from the sun.
"You said he was funny. You never said he was hot." Mels told them all, as she looked down at the Timelord.
/
Susan landed a foot from the ground and collided with it hard, making her wince as she rolled over onto her back, groaning in pain. That had not been the best exit strategy. She made a note not to jump out of any windows in the near future. Susan sat up, pushing her dress down around her and checking the Vortex Manipulator on her wrist that suddenly sparked and grew hot. Susan let out a cry of pain, unbuckling the strap quickly before throwing it away as it caught fire. It was shot. She was stuck. Great. Well, it had been a workbench she'd gotten it from, it had been faulty most likely. She just hoped she'd gotten to the right place and time at least.
Susan got to her feet, and for the first time looked around her. It was an alleyway- as if she hadn't seen enough of them in the past few months. But this was a dead end, doors behind her and the building surrounding her, made of pale stone. Susan frowned, not sure where she was. She saw the way to an open road and took it, ducking behind some boxes as people passed, before running out and looking around.
The slight breeze whistled through her hair and she brushed it back as her eyes widened. A white stone building surrounded her, and the imposing façade was adorned with a stylized eagle, wings outstretched, above a wreath inside which is a swastika. On either side of the entrance, the stone was draped with red banners waving in the breeze and ordained with the most notorious of logos; the black swastika within a white circle.
"1938." She let out a sigh of dread as she looked around Berlin, on the eve of war. "I forgot about the Nazis. How did I forget about the Nazis?"
/
"How bad is it, Rory? What can we do?" Amy implored to her husband as they and the Timelord crowded around the fallen Mels. She'd been shot; by Hitler nonetheless and was currently fighting for her life, her breathing shallow.
"Just keep her conscious!" Rory instructed before addressing Mels, not wanting his friend to die. "Stay with us, Mels!"
"Hey! Look at me. Just hold on." The Doctor told Mels with a smile, trying to reassure the injured woman. She gave a breathy chuckle at him, and smiled back.
"I used to dream about you... all those stories Amy used to tell me…" She told him, the Doctor listening to every word intently as Amy stroked Mels' hair and smiled at the many memories. "I got told them by…" Her words faded as she focused on not showing pain, the trio unaware of whose name she might have said.
"What stories? Tell me what stories. Vampires in Venice, that's a belter!" The Doctor replied, grin widening but behind his eyes was the desperation to keep Mels alive and well. Rory was working hard on her wound that just kept on bleeding.
"When I was... little... I was going to marry you..."
"Good idea! Let's get married. You stay alive, and I'll marry you, deal? Deal?" He answered quickly, smile never wavering as he watched her intently. Mels smiled back.
"Suzie wouldn't be happy with that ...anyway; shouldn't you ask my parent's permission?" Mels said the first portion of the sentence quietly, and the Doctor's fast mind glazed over it, thinking it perhaps another friend who didn't like weddings, no, he focused on the next part to keep her talking.
"As soon as you're well, I'll get them on the phone." He grinned.
"Might as well do it now... since they're both right here." She smirked, knowing what they didn't and the Doctor, Amy and Rory all paused, frozen at the revelation and not quite knowing what it meant. "Penny in the air." Amy, the Doctor and Rory glanced at each other, all looking for an answer before back at Mels, who only smiles back. The Doctor backs up, sitting up suddenly as Mels' hands began to glow with the tell-tale signs of regeneration. "Penny drops!"
"What the hell is going on?" Rory let out, worried and confused and the Doctor grabbed both Ponds by the arm, pulling them away from Mels.
"Back, back, back! Get back!" He cried, pulling them back as Mels stood up, slowly and looking at her hands that were glowing ever brighter, before back up to the group in front of her that were backed up against Hitler's desk.
"Last time I did this, I ended up a toddler. In the middle of New York. Right after Suzie told me to run." Mels told them all as she moved centre stage, the energy glowing brighter and brighter.
"Okay, Doctor, explain, what is happening? Please!" Amy cried at her friend, looking in shock at Mels, knowing that energy radiating from Mels' palms looked familiar but it couldn't be, what was going on? The Doctor had stopped and stared at the mention of this 'Suzie' again. If he was right in his identification of Mels then that meant…
"Mels. Short for..." The Doctor addressed Amy, never taking his eyes off of Mels.
"Melody." Mels told him, confirming what he had thought. But Amy and Rory were none the wiser.
"Yeah... I named my daughter after her." Amy told him, not getting what he was on about. The Doctor gulped as Mels smiled, knowing that the Doctor knew. He was a clever boy. Oh, it was all going to change now.
"You named your daughter... after your daughter." He told Amy slowly, and Amy looked around in shock, meeting Rory's startled gaze as the Doctor continued in a much more sorrowful voice. "Suzie…is Susan."
Amy stared at Mels as Rory faced the Doctor, the Doctor shooting him a small look that was a mix of confirmation and hollowness. For if Mels was here, if Melody had always been here- then where was his granddaughter?
"Took me years to find you two. I'm so glad I did. She told me so much about you. And, you see, it all worked out in the end, didn't it? You got to raise me, after all." Mels told them with a smile, looking at her parents who only looked back in horror and shock.
"You're Melody?" Amy asked, her voice thick.
"But, if she's Melody, that means that she's also..." Rory started to say but Mels cut across.
"Shut up, Dad! I'm focussing on a dress size!" Mels shouts out in pain before the regeneration energy consumes her body in light and her arms are thrown out, head thrown back as she screams as the change overcomes her. The trio shielded themselves, ducking for cover as she regenerates and the Doctor ran across the room, grabbing the bullets from a gun on the chair. If it was Melody that was coming- well, she'd probably want a gun. The Doctor managed to make it back to the desk, throwing himself down against it in time for the final scream as Mels became Melody Pond.
Her old body was replaced by the familiar guise of River Song; curly hair, arched brows, and green eyes. The Doctor, Amy and Rory all looked up in shock as Melody became accustomed to her new body, regulating her breathing rolling her shoulders.
"Oh! Oh!" She gasped, before collecting herself, and getting down to business. "Right, let's see, then." Melody inspected her body, looking down. "Ooh, it's all going on down there, isn't it?" She grins, excited before feeling her hair and gasping at the sheer volume of curls. "The hair! Oh! The hair!" Melody ran over to the mirror and stared at her reflection, wide eyed, like a child. "It just doesn't stop, does it? Look at that! Everything changes! Oh, but I love it! I love it! I'm all sort of... mature!" She said, spinning around to face the shocked trio, bringing her leg up onto a fallen chair and smirked. "Hello, Benjamin!"
/
Susan ducked behind a crate, as soon as she realised where she was. She wanted to slap herself. Nazi Germany. That was that best she could've come up with? She let Melody go all those months ago, only to plunge her into a different kind of danger. Stupid, stupid Susan. She watched as a patrol of guards went across the road.
Susan sunk down, head resting against the back of the crate; the adrenaline that had kept her going through it all was starting to fade. What was she going to do? She had no way to find Melody, no idea what she looked like. She only had the remote possibility that it had gone as she planned- but chances of that we meagre. How was she supposed to find her? She was smart- she wouldn't be going under Melody Pond because there were likely Silents in Berlin, especially as they had been controlling humanity. Hell, there was probably one in Hitler's cupboard.
She had no idea what she was going to do. Susan wiped away tears pricking her eyes, effusing to believe this was all for nothing. She had done the best she could and that had to be good enough. Getting up, she brushed down her rags and started off down the street, attracting as little attention as possible. She slipped on her wedding ring so as not to be detected by any other life forms beside human. The last thing she needed was to be hunted again for what she was. Everyone was well dressed in furs and hats, pencil skirts, short heels, and suits. Susan ducked her eyes down as she passed a sour looking couple who whispered to each other.
She was near the other side of the large white building when she felt it. She collapsed onto the edge of a truck as a mental wave hit her. Impossible. She was close- Melody was close and if Susan could guess right- she'd regenerated. Susan bit her lip- trying to suppress a wave of sadness that then turned into a torrent of determination. She could feel the Artron energy, practically sensing the TARDIS. Where though? She pushed off the canvas covering of the truck and into the main square, looking around her with wild eyes.
"MELODY!" She shouted, not caring about the Nazis, or any other German highborn, she only cared about finding her little Pond.
/
The confrontation was over, the kiss kissed and Melody Pond stood over Berlin, over the open window that the TARDIS had crashed through. The red banners flew high as Melody's eyes drunk in the sight.
"Oh, look at that. Berlin on the eve of war. A whole world about to tear itself apart." She told them, looking down as birds flew past and bells tolled. She gave a chuckle and turned back to Rory, Amy and the Doctor. "Now that's my kind of town. If you'll excuse me, I have a date to keep with Suzie. Mum, Dad, don't follow me. And, yes, that is a warning."
"No warning for me then?" The Doctor asked with a smile, unbeknownst to his fate, thinking that they would follow her. Susan was here, she'd admitted so and he wanted to find her, see his granddaughter again and get the whole picture of what had gone on in those years.
"No need, my love. The deed is done and so are you." The Doctor started to swagger forwards but then he swerved as a great pain hit his heats and he let out a strangled cry grasping at his hearts and Amy and Rory flew forwards to help him.
"Doctor, what's wrong?" Amy asked, panicked.
"What have you done?" The Doctor cried at River, patting his chests and fighting to remain upright as Melody Pond only smirked back at him. "River!"
"Oh, River, River, River. More than a friend, I think." Melody commented.
"What have you done?" He shouted back, losing his balance and falling onto a broken slab of marble with a groan of pain, straining just to look up to her.
"It was never going to be a gun for you, Doctor. The man of peace who understands every kind of warfare, except, perhaps, the cruellest." She explained, and the Doctor's hand flew to his lips, knowing what had been done. Melody smirked and blew a kiss to the fallen Timelord. "Kiss, kiss." She told him and jumped of the broken window, straight into Berlin, leaving the Doctor to die. Rory and Amy were by his side as the Doctor grappled with the pain of the poison that was coursing through his form.
"What's wrong with you? What's she done to you?" Rory asked with concern, hoping there was something they could do to stop it.
"Poisoned me. But I'm fine." He replied, trying to calm the Roman through a pained voice straining as he tried to conquer the pain, his breathing shallow now as he changed tactics "Well, no, I'm dying, but I've got a plan."
"What plan?" Amy asked him. The Doctor let out a muffled groan as he fought to reply.
"Not dying. See? Fine." He replied and Amy let a short groan at her friend's stubbornness, despite the fact he was dying. She helped him to his feet as he gave out another yell, clutching his hearts.
"Okay, what do we do? How do we help you?" Rory implored quickly as the Timelord was aided to stand and he grappled in his long green coat, pulling out the sonic screwdriver clumsily, the bulb buzzing.
"Take this. The Tardis can home in on it." He said, handing the screwdriver to Amy before pushing Rory away and to the window with instructions. "Now, go. Get after her. Find Susan." Rory looked out the window, seeing something before he dashed out of the room to hunt for his daughter, and, hopefully, find Susan as well. The Doctor wanted them to find her; he needed to see that Susan was safe, that both of them were safe. River was at the beginning, what happens next could change the future if they didn't handle this right. But he was dying.
"You said the smoke was deadly." Amy reasoned, helping him towards the TARDIS but half dragging him away as well as he struggled with his balance.
"No, no, the smoke's fine. The poison will kill me first. Now, get after River!" He instructed her, but Amy wasn't having that, not yet.
"I don't understand, okay?" She shouted, wanting to know what the hell was going on with her daughter, the one that was supposed to be safe and certainly not a psychopath, as Amy strode after him as he collided with the blue wooden shell of his ship, clinging on and letting out an exclamation of pain. "One minute she's going to marry you and then she's going to kill you."
"Ah, well, she's been brainwashed. It all makes sense to her." He explained, before holding up a finger. "Plus, she is a woman." And as if he could sense the scolding look from Amelia Pond searing into his back, and he rolled his eyes, spewing out a quick excuse before clambering into the TARDIS. "Oh, shut up. I'm dying."
/
Susan was confused, getting mixed signals everywhere she went. She saw enough signs to know she was in the Wilhelmstrasse. There were feedback signals and energies and something in her head she couldn't identify. She'd say it was a voice but that was impossible, and tried to shut down her psychic connections as she ran around Berlin, probably looking like a wild child. Then she saw…well, she saw something, and then heard something. Something that probably suggested the exact something that she was after- a clue.
She heard gunshots. At first she ducked, shielding her ears, thinking they were for her but they sounded too distant, the ducking being an instant reflex now. She turned trying to figure out where it had come from, frowning. Who had been shot at? And why? Then she saw over an outhouse, next to the Reich Chancellery which she assumed contained a small street and trader's entrance.
"Come on…come on, Melody, show yourself." Susan muttered to herself. She thought the sound had come from there and then she saw it. She squinted and made sure, but it was definite. Gold light. Regeneration energy. It was coming from near the Chancellery. Susan was a good run from the source, so she broke out into a run instantly when, from the little alleyway, she saw a woman on a motorbike. Susan squinted as she roared past but couldn't get a good look. But it was really all the proof she need. After all, this was 1938. And she was a woman.
It had to be Melody .Susan gave a grin to herself, hearts full of hope as she pelted after the motorbike, not seeing the one that roared out of the alley 10 minutes later, which carried Amelia Pond and Rory Williams, because she was already running in the direction of the other
She ran, ran because that had to be Melody, and ran because it had worked. She wanted to whoop and jump around because this was the best news she had had in 5 or so years but her determination fuelled her as she tried to keep the motorbike in her line of sight. Suddenly a van cut across her, narrowly missing running Susan over and she let out a yell and dove back, out of the way and into chalk dust on the road. Then she was on her feet again, looking around where the motorbike had been but now, it wasn't there anymore, and she charged in the direction it had been, before looking around more. She could see Brandenburg Gate and the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe. But none of that was what she was looking for. She was looking for a woman on a motorbike and Susan span around, trying to see it.
"No, no, no…not now. Not now. I was close!" She said, her voice breaking but she clenched her jaw. She had to find Melody. Then she saw it. Outside the Hotel Adlon. Susan was on the Unter den Linden. But outside the grand hotel, barring two gentlemen greeters and some potted small trees, was a fallen motorbike. Susan started running again, up the small set of steps to the hotel.
Melody had to be inside.
"Sorry! Coming through! Entschuldige!" Susan cried in a hurry, not really knowing where the German had come from, and she pushed past the two on guard but as she entered the hotel, but she'd barely gotten through the doors when screams met her ears and suddenly she was surrounded by people, trying to get out, pushing open the doorways. Susan was stuck, tossed into the crowd, looking which ways and up and down and side to side. She was terrified, confused and panicking because what was going on? Where was Melody? Susan bent down; shielding her face as the whole of the half-naked German elite ran her by, escaping the building as Susan waited for it all to pass.
/
"I'm shutting down. I need an interface. Voice interface." The Doctor was on his knees in the TARDIS, a feeling of helplessness washing over him as he crawled on the glass floor of his console room, gasping weakly for breath as he managed to put himself in an upright position, sitting up against the railings, legs spread out as he conversed with the TARDIS. "Come on, emergency."
"Voice interface enabled." A hologram of his own guise stared blankly at him, reciting the words. The Doctor in pain, gave a groan at the sight.
"Oh no, no, no, no, no. Give me someone I like." He moaned, grasping at air before another wave of pain hit him. The TARDIS interface then changed into the blonde locked form of Rose Tyler. "Oh, thanks. Give me guilt." He cried out in pain, hand outstretched, feet sliding on the glass floor as the poison went to work.
"Also guilt." The Doctor said as Rose turned into Martha, in her red jacket and jeans. The TARDIS then changed its interface to Donna Noble and the Doctor groaned again. "More guilt. Argh!"
He grasped at his hearts, letting out another cry of fury as the pain hit them. He screwed up his eyes, trying to regulate his breathing, trying to regulate the pain. He opened them again, wide, and then let out a cry at the next Interface's image.
"Susan!" He let out a strangled cry from pain and regret. No, not her, anyone but her. The others were fine, long gone, at the back of his mind but she was now. He had failed her now. She was as he remembered, just before Demons Run in her boots and new checker coat that he knew was hanging on the stand near the door. He wanted to tear his gaze away but couldn't because real or not- it might be the last time he saw her. His Susan. His granddaughter. He was supposed to have saved her, taken care of her so she didn't need saving, that was his job. Now he didn't even know where or when she was. The screams had fallen silent a months ago and he hadn't been able to face the question of why. He drew in a gasping breath, as she stood above him, like she was judging him.
Melody…he needed to help Melody, she was right at the start, not even River Song yet. He's got to live, to try and help Melody for Amy and Rory...and Susan. River had said that Susan had helped her, she knew Susan as 'Suzie', said she had a date with her- a plan. Clever Susan. He blinked and looked up at his granddaughter, the words tumbling from his mouth.
"Ah, I'm sorry. I got it all screwed up with you. My granddaughter." He gave a weak smile. "I tried to find you…I tried. Forgive me, please, Susan? Forgive…me…" His breath drew shallow as he clutched his hearts, eyes shutting again, screwing them up as he regained some strength, letting out a cry. "Come on, there must be someone left in the universe I haven't screwed up yet."
"Voice interface enabled." The Doctor's eyes sprang open at the small, Scottish voice of Amelia Pond and he looked at her, all wellies and toggled blue coat.
"Oh. Oh, Amelia Pond, before I got it all wrong. My sweet little Amelia." The Doctor stated, eyes wide.
"I am not Amelia Pond. I am a voice interface." The Interface replied, but the Doctor didn't listen due to choice or pain equalling delusion.
"Hey, let's run away and have adventures. Come along, Pond."
"I am not Amelia Pond. I am a voice interface." The Interface told him again and the Doctor would've rolled his eyes if he could've.
"You are so Scottish." He moaned through the pain. "How am I doing?"
"Your system has been contaminated by the poison of the Judas tree. You will be dead in thirty two minutes." She told him and he grasped at his neck, new pain hitting him in that spot, and he wiped the fringe from his eyes, mind whirring.
"Okay. So, basically better regenerate, that's what you're saying." The Doctor spoke.
"Regeneration disabled. You will be dead in thirty two minutes."
"Unless I'm cured, yeah?" His voice went high from hope as he gave weak thumbs up to the holo-Amelia.
"There is no cure. You will be dead in thirty two minutes." The Interface corrected, and he grew frustrated because of all the times he wanted to die, now was not one of them. He needed to help River, see Susan if he could, say goodbye to the Ponds. Now was not a good day to die.
"Why do you keep saying that?" He cried, the hand at his throat leaving to provide balance to his failing body.
"Because you will be dead in thirty two minutes."
"You see? There you go again. Basically skipping thirty one whole minutes when I'm absolutely fine. Scottish, that's all I'm saying."
"You will be fine for thirty one minutes. You will be dead in thirty two minutes."
"Scotland's never conquered anywhere, you know. Not even a Shetland." He moaned, breathing hard. "River needs me. She's only just beginning. Susan might be there to. I need to see Susan. I can't die now." He told the Interface, getting his thoughts in order and on some slim vein of hope wanting the Interface to tell him something useful.
"You will not die now. You will die in thirty two minutes."
/
The main restaurant of the Adlon Hotel was a mess, clothes strewn on the floor and on chairs and tables. Both men and women's clothes littered the room. Melody Pond stood in front of a mirror, trying clothes on, looking at a black vest top and smirking. It looked good, it was missing something.
Susan was in the hallway, peaking out between fingers to see that the crowd had gone and she was more or less unscathed by the mob. She now had numerous questions on what had just happened- the first being, why make Germans strip? Susan straightened up and saw some doors by the far side, and had a good feeling about them. Slowly, she walked towards them, looking around the empty building before she reached them, and hesitantly entered.
Susan's eyes swept over the utter mess in the room, putting to rest the question of where the clothes were. It was Melody that saw Susan first, out of the corner of her eye in the mirror. She instantly turned and ran, practically skipping to Susan. Susan saw River Song coming and instantly gave a puzzled look. What was River doing here- and what was she wearing?
"What are y-" Susan let out in confusion, but Melody Pond/River Song had crossed the distance and hugged Susan tightly, squeezing her close as Susan froze. What was going on? Susan thought as she tenderly patted the woman on the back. She'd been like this last time they'd met. It was surely too early for Susan. Then River spoke.
"Oh, Suzie, Suzie, Suzie, you made it!" River shouted gleefully in her ear, and Susan froze as River pulled back holding her hands and swinging them like a gleeful child, a full blown grin on her face. Susan looked at her, distrustfully because there was only one person in the universe that called her Suzie. Finally River tutted, rolling her eyes. "Well, that's one way to say hello."
"Sorry?" Susan piped up, cutting herself out of a daze. No, she couldn't be…that's not who River was, surely. Susan had no idea what was going on. None at all.
"It's me! I mean, I just regenerated but I would have assumed you'd recognise me, Suzie. I came just liked you ask me to." River told her and Susan's hearts dropped as she regarded the woman. Susan cleared her throat, still staring at her, before speaking.
"Melody?" Susan tried, in utter shock, looking at the woman and River smirked, twirling round and picking up a fur shawl from a chair, and going over to the mirror.
"Yes! Isn't it exciting, and look at this." She waved the shawl at her, and Susan took shock filled steps over to her, nearer the mirror, eyes wide as she stared at River who was, in fact, Melody Pond. River was Melody? "Now that's fun from every angle. What do you think, Suzie?"
"How are you, Melody? You can't be Melody!" Susan cried out in shock, still not getting it, or wanting to because she had come too far to think that Melody would've been just fine without her. How could River have not told her? No, this was a trick, a joke, a prank, a dream. Susan screwed up her eyes and shook her, holding her temples as she wrapped her head around it all.
"Of course I can!" Melody cried out with a smile, and looked over her shoulder at the shell-shocked Susan, who had now sat down, not sure what to do with herself now. Melody smirked, raising an eyebrow as studied herself in the mirror. "Is it the hair?"
"No it's…" Susan started to say but then Melody caught another person behind her in the mirror and spoke up, frowning a little.
"Now dear, I told you not to follow me." Melody scolded and Susan frowned, before turning around and seeing Amelia Pond standing there. Susan stood up slowly, gazing at the woman.
"Amy?" Susan tried, but something was off. Well, everything was off. Melody was River and Amy was there and acting all sorts of odd. Amy walked over slowly to River and Susan stood up, frowning. "How are you here?"
"TARDIS, Suzie. I must say, it was a lot bumpier than you made it out to be. The man cannot fly it at all- though I suppose shooting the console didn't help." Melody said, not really bothered as she picked up a military jacket and put it on, trying it on as Susan just stared. So many questions.
"You were on the TARDIS? Wait, who flew it?" Susan asked, quickly, in surprise. But Melody wasn't really listening as Susan merely spluttered in her confusion. This wasn't real. All of this couldn't be real. How was this happening?
"I might take the age down a little, just gradually, to freak people out." She mused, checking her reflection. Susan had to sit down again. She was starting to get a headache, so put her head in her hands, hearing Amy talk.
"You killed the Doctor." Amy told Melody and Susan's head snapped up, hair falling around her face as she stared at the two women. She had heard that wrong. She had to have. The Lake couldn't have happened yet- how would it? She did all this so that it wouldn't happen. Besides, fine, he was dead, he was dead already but not now.
"I'm sorry?" Susan started.
"Oh yes, I know, dear." Melody told Amy, before glancing at Susan. "He did burn your planet, I thought you'd be more grateful, dear."
"He's my grandfather!" Susan stood up, her voice raising. "What happened here? I told you about him, about all the things he did. You were my little Pond and I loved you and you…it wasn't supposed to turn out like this!" She told Melody, who rolled her eyes like a stroppy teenager but Susan was panicking and ever so slightly mad. This was too much. Tears pricked at her eyes because she had failed. She failed. She was supposed to change it all but she hadn't and her grandfather was dead and Melody was River and her grandfather was dead and she'd failed and Melody was River. It was all surreal.
"I hope you're not going to keep on about it." Melody said, putting a hat on her head and turning to get a different angle in her reflection. Susan just gaped, not knowing how to react. Melody smiled at herself in the mirror. "Oh, regeneration. It's a whole new colouring to work with."
"You killed the Doctor on the orders of the movement known as the Silence and Academy of the Question. You accept and know this to be true?"
"No, No! She couldn't have, she was with me!" Susan cried out, protesting against it all as Melody answered herself whilst taking off the hat. "Amy!"
"Quite honestly, I don't really remember. It was all a bit of jumble." Melody said before Amy pushed away the mirror and suddenly a bright beam of light erupted from her mouth and hit Melody in the face, sending her sprawling backwards. Susan had barely any time to react because she had barely any idea what was going on.
"No! No! Get off me!" River screamed and Susan had barely taken two steps towards the two women when another voice rang out, stopping Susan cold.
"Sorry, did you say she killed the Doctor?" The light stopped and Melody and Amy faced the Doctor, but Susan was already looking, staring at the figure of her Grandfather, in top hat and tails, leaning against the TARDIS. "The Doctor? Doctor who?"
Susan's knees buckled, and she fell to the floor, staring at the blue box and the man leaning against it. Suddenly she couldn't breathe right, her vision tunnelling so all she could see was him. Her mind cast back to the last time she had seen him; at the lake and he had been dead. He still was dead. He had to be dead. He couldn't be here. The Doctor's face arched up to look there way and he saw Susan then, eyes going wide as he took her in. Susan. Susan was there. Susan was right in front of him. But Susan wasn't quite joyous in the reunion as the Doctor turned his whole body to face her in concern as she fell to the floor, terror in her eyes as she scooted backwards across the floor, her boots scrabbling on the polished marble as she worked backwards, back hitting a table leg as she stared, terrified at him.
She had been right- the thought at the back of her mind that she'd have ever since entering the hotel…it had to be right. None of this was real. When had they gotten to her? This was sick, and Kovarian had to be behind it. Why couldn't they just leave her alone? The Doctor took steps forward, eyes searching hers, looking for some reassurance she was okay but none came. He couldn't understand her behaviour as she scrabbled to get as far away from him as possible, even after she'd hit the table and couldn't move any further away, her feet still moved, trying in vain to get away as she shook her head slightly. He took another step forwards, pain in his face that had nothing to do with the poison.
"Susan?" He whispered.
Now reviews:
olivia. : Wow! Thank you! Lots of questions which I am afraid I cannot answer. Who knows what will happen to her regenerations? And for future referencedear, I update every Wednesday and Sunday :)
DanniFielding: You know, of course, how this chapter'sbeen going, my friend. I can only hope you like the end product! Susan and Melody was tricky to do, but I think I did alright.
thegirlwhowaswholocked: No problem! Glad to see you're still enjoying it! As far as Susan meeting Clara goes- I have not decided. The likely hood is yes, but I say that hesitnatly. I don't know if this is going to continue that far, or if people will like it, but I do want to do the Day of the Doctor (like really, really badly- I mean, come on! 3 Doctors, one granddaughter? Plus she could meet others for that big scene at the end- she could see One again! But I ramble...)
NorthernMage: Yes. It's not going to be a straightforward reunion in the least...
authorlouise: Yes, if Susan were to die, or have to regenerate fully, it would keep burning her up and she'd die. And yes, I will do the minisodes!
Okay! I hope you like it! Please, leave a review if you did. See you Wednesday!