"Hello, Captain Harkness," I said. "This is the good ship TARDIS."
"Jen!" Jack laughed enthusiastically. "Hey, you OK?"
"Oh, I'm wonderful," I replied, flicking a couple of switches as I walked around the console. "Absolutely brilliant. Fantastic," I paused. "Actually, scratch that. No, we're not so great at the moment if I'm honest, Jack."
"What's wrong?"
"You ever heard of Demon's Run?" I asked.
"The Battle of Demon's Run, yes."
"Right, well… we're stuck in the middle of it and we need help," I explained. "Dad's already there, he told me to pick up people who owe us."
"Do I owe you?"
"No, but you're immortal," I grinned. "If we're fighting, like, properly fighting… then you're going to come in handy," I lowered my voice. "Jack, they've taken a baby. They've taken Amy and Rory's baby."
"OK. I'm there, anything you need."
"Where are you? I'll pick you up."
"Millennium Centre, January eighteenth, 2012, at about seven thirty a.m., you got that?"
"On my way." I hung up the phone, inputted the coordinates and landed in Cardiff within half a minute. The TARDIS doors opened, and I looked up as I sensed Jack saunter inside.
"Wow," he breathed, gazing around the room. "New desktop. Nice."
"Better or worse than the coral?" I asked.
"Ah, well," he grinned, strolling up the ramp to the console. "The coral was my first TARDIS. I don't think I can ever let go of that."
"Good answer," I replied, and leapt up to hug him. "Oh, it's been a while since I saw you!"
"I know, Jen," he laughed. "I missed you."
"Likewise. But I've kept myself busy," I replied, letting go of him and turning back to the console. "Now, back to business. Anyone you can think of who will help us?"
"Gwen, Martha, Mickey, Sarah Jane…"
"No, not them. Too risky," I shook my head. "Gwen's got Anwen to look after, Sarah Jane has Luke and Sky… and Martha and Mickey, I already know that they don't come," Jack frowned. "Nothing bad."
"Right."
"What about Rex?" I asked him, hopping to the other side to flick some switches. "He's immortal, too."
"He and Esther have a house in Washington." Jack replied.
"Good," I nodded. "Give us a hand, will you?" The pair of us instantly got the TARDIS off the ground, flying her across Earth to North America.
"What the hell is this place?" Rex exclaimed, just as Jack slammed the doors closed and I immediately took off.
"It's called the TARDIS." Jack grinned, moving past him to help me fly again. Rex gazed at the ceiling, stumbling up the ramp slowly.
"And before you say anything derogatory, Rex Matheson, this is my home." I added, putting the engines on pause so that we were floating above Earth.
"But… it was just a box." He stammered.
"Yeah, I know, bigger on the inside and all that," I said quickly, pulling the piece of paper from my pocket. "Get over it, and fast. There's more important things going on."
"Like what?" He asked, snapping into action mode.
"I'm on a recruitment drive," I replied, putting Dad's old glasses on. "Our best friend and her baby have been taken, and we need all the help we can get. Dad gave me a list of people to pick up."
"Who's next?" Jack asked.
"Doctor River Song!" I exclaimed, inputting the coordinates. "Stormcage," Jack opened his mouth. "Don't even go there, Harkness."
"What?"
"I know that look." Rex smirked.
"Oh, turn it off, I'm breaking in, not out," River chuckled, swaying dreamily to the alarms as she put the prison phone to her ear. "This is River Song, back in her cell. Oh, and I'll take breakfast at the usual time. Thank you!" As she put the phone back on the wall, I saw her eye catch sight of me in the shadows.
"Oh, are they employing women as guards now?" She asked cheerily, sashaying forwards. "About time, isn't it?"
"River," I interrupted, stepping into the light. She stopped, her eyes widening. "Hello."
"Hi." She breathed.
"Do you know who I am?" I asked tentatively. "Sorry, but I don't know what point we're at. Timelines."
"Yes," River stuttered. "Jenny."
"Good," I smiled. "You look happy, River. Where've you been?"
"It's my birthday," she began. "Your Dad took me ice skating on the River Thames in 1814, the last of the great Frost Fairs."
"Ooh, nice," I grinned. "The Frost Fairs are brilliant. I think Dad mentioned that… didn't he get Stevie Wonder to sing?"
"Yes, under London Bridge," she laughed. "But you must never tell him."
"Of course not," I nodded. She skipped to her cell, still chuckling to herself. "Listen, River. Before you lock yourself back up, I need you to come with me."
"Demon's Run." She muttered instantly.
"Yeah," I replied. "Dad sent me. Amy's been taken, and her baby. We need you."
"I can't."
"I'm sorry? What?" I snapped, shaking my head in disbelief.
"I can't, Jenny," she repeated. "Not yet, anyway."
"River, how many times has he been there for you?" I sighed. "Come on. Do this for Dad, if not for Amy."
"This is the Battle of Demon's Run. The Doctor's darkest hour," she continued, opening the cell door. "He'll rise higher than ever before and then fall so much further, and I can't be with him till the very end."
"Why not?"
"Because this is it," River said dramatically. "This is the day he finds out who I am." I stared at her.
"Right, so come with me now, and you can tell him who you are." I said.
"I can't."
"River, come on!"
"Jenny."
"Seriously, he put your name at the top of the list."
"Jenny, I've told you-"
"We need you, River," We paused, glaring at each other heatedly. I'd never been as angry with her as I was then.
"OK," I said lightly, turning away. "See you, then." River didn't reply. I just heard the clang of metal on metal as she shut herself in her cell, and I re-entered the TARDIS.
"Where is she? Where's this River?" Rex asked as I stomped up to the console.
"She's not coming." I replied, slamming down a lever. Jack and Rex both stayed quiet, but I could feel their awkward questioning looks behind me.
"Jen, are you-"
"I'm fine, Jack." I interrupted sharply, then felt instantly guilty for snapping at him. He'd done nothing wrong. In fact, both him and Rex had come along to rescue Amy, even though they'd never met her. That was a thousand times more than what River had done.
"OK," Jack nodded. "Who's next?"
"Right. Vastra, Flint, you two head up to the control room," I ordered as the TARDIS landed at Demon's Run. "Captain Avery, Toby, Strax. Airlocks," I sprinted to the doors, holding them open as everyone hurried out. "Jack, Rex, you're with me! And Dorium," I paused. "Hide." Locking the doors behind us, Jack, Rex and me ran.
"Jen, where are we going?"
"To find Dad. Then Amy and Rory and the baby."
"Jenny," Rex grunted, falling a little behind as we made our way through the corridors. "Where the hell are we? I mean… you fly this, this… box, and you pick up a lizard, and a potato, and this blue guy…"
"They're my Dad's friends, Rex," I whispered. "And this is Demon's Run. You're here because we need you, OK?" He made some sort of agreeable noise, and we carried on for a few more seconds. I slowed as we rounded a corner, the boys skidding a little as they stopped behind me.
"What's wrong?"
"Headless monks." I replied under my breath. Peering around the wall, I saw a row of the cloaked figures drifting away.
"What are they?" Rex hissed.
"They're a religious order," I breathed. "Believe in listening to the heart, not the head," I kept my eyes on them until they disappeared. "OK. Come on." We took the other corridor, and just as I reached for my phone to call him, we bumped straight into Dad.
"Jenny!" He exclaimed, a grin instantly appearing on his face as we hugged tightly.
"We've been looking for you." I smiled over his shoulder.
"Well, here I am," he chuckled. "You did well. Nothing out of the ordinary," he looked behind me. "Hello!"
"Doctor." Jack nodded, a slightly uncomfortable look on his face.
"Captain Harkness!" Dad laughed, pulling him in for a hug. "I haven't seen you in years! And may I say, still young as ever."
"Yeah, you know how it is, Doc," Jack replied, finally allowing a smile. "The whole immortality thing."
"Of course." Dad nodded, looking a little guilty before turning to Rex. "Lovely to meet you, Mr Matheson. Jen's told me all about you." I snorted as Dad did his kiss-on-both-cheeks thing, Rex so uncomfortable that he just let him do it. Jack laughed loudly.
"You're her Dad?" Rex questioned disbelievingly, coming to his senses.
"Yes." Dad nodded enthusiastically, throwing an arm around my shoulders.
"Come on, Rex," I sighed. "We're not human, remember?"
"Yeah, well. He looks barely out of high school."
"Regeneration. It's a lottery." I shrugged.
"Anyway," Jack interrupted. "What's the plan, Doc?"
"Ah! The plan. Yes, the plan," Dad muttered, leading us further down the corridor. "The plan, Captain, is to find Amy and her baby."
"Yeah, but, how?" Jack persisted.
"There's a question!" Dad laughed, clapping his hands together. "Jen, where are the others?"
"Vastra and Jenny are at the control room, and the others are in the airlocks. Apart from Dorium. He's hiding."
"What about River?" I paused.
"She's not here."
"What?" Dad mumbled, his face falling.
"She wouldn't come," I explained. "Dad, I tried-"
"No, no. It's not your fault," he said quietly, shaking his head. "Right, yes. OK. Come on!"
"On this day, in this place, the Doctor will fall!" Colonel Manton shouted authoritatively over the soldiers' heads as they cheered. "The man who talks, the man who reasons, the man who lies, will meet the perfect answer," I scowled as they applauded again. "Some of you have wondered why have we have allied ourselves with the Headless Monks. Perhaps you should have wondered why we call them Headless. It's time you knew what these guys have sacrificed for faith. As you all know, it is a Level One Heresy, punishable by death, to lower the hood of a Headless Monk. But by the divine grant of the Papal Mainframe herself, on this one and only occasion, I can show you the truth. Because these guys never can be persuaded," I watched from our hiding place as he lowered one of the Monks' hoods, revealing the twisted, burnt-looking skin where their neck once was. "They can never be afraid," he ripped back another. "And they can never ever be-"
"Surprised!" Dad grinned, pulling his own hood down before the Colonel could. "Ha ha! Hello, everyone. Guess who?" He chuckled, stepping forwards to address the rows of soldiers watching. "Please, point a gun at me if it helps you relax," I tensed as every soldier did as he said and the Monks pulled out flaming swords. "You're only human."
"He's definitely the Doctor." Jack said, satisfied. I merely giggled in reply.
"Doctor, you will come with me right now." Colonel Manton ordered.
"Three minutes forty seconds," Dad shouted. "Amelia Pond! Get your coat!" The lights flickered off. That was our cue.
"I'm not a phantom."
"Doctor?"
"I'm not a trick."
"Doctor?"
"I'm a monk."
"Doctor, show yourself!"
"It's him! He's here! It's him!" Shot.
"Weapons down! Do not fire!" Another bang.
"No! Doctor! Doctor!" The voices from the hall became muffles as Jack and me made our way upstairs, pausing to sonic a door open just as they got louder again.
"We are not fools. We are not fools. We are not fools."
"I have a fleet out there. If Demon's Run goes down, there's an automatic distress call." Colonel Manton called throughout the asteroid.
"Not if we knock out your communications array," I replied. "And you've got incoming."
"Danny Boy to Captain Harkness. Danny Boy to Captain Harkness."
"World War II finally coming in handy." I muttered as Jack gave orders to Danny Boy.
"Give 'em hell." He ordered with an excited smile.
"What's next?" Jack asked.
"You go to the control room," I replied as we hurried down more corridors. "I'll meet you later."
"Where are you going?"
"To find Amy. I have to make sure she's OK."
"OK." We separated along a forked corridor, me going left and Jack right. Sprinting through the dark hall, I really hoped we weren't too late to save the baby.
"It's OK. I knew you were coming," Amy said as I walked through the large white doors. "Both of you. My boys."
"And me!" I grinned, hopping down the steps quickly.
"Jenny!" Amy exclaimed, hugging me as soon as I reached the floor.
"You OK?" I muttered.
"Yeah," she replied. "I'm just glad you're all here."
"'Course we are," I smiled. "We're never going to leave our Amelia in the lurch," I looked over her shoulder. "Gonna introduce me to the little Pond, then?"
"Meet Melody." Rory nodded, presenting his baby daughter in his arms. She was adorable, her eyes gazing around the room in awe as her little legs kicked the air.
"Hello!" I chuckled, taking her tiny hand in my fingers. She gurgled in response. "Nah, she's all yours, Melody," I replied. "But really, you should call her mummy."
"Yes, not big milk thing." Dad nodded beside me.
"OK, what are you doing?" Amy questioned.
"We speak baby." We replied simultaneously.
"No, you don't."
"We speak everything," I shrugged. "Good old TARDIS."
"No, it's not," Dad continued, still talking to Melody. He adjusted his bow tie. "It's cool."
"Doctor? Take a look," someone said. I span around to see Vastra stood on the white balcony above our heads. "They're leaving. Demon's Run is ours without a drop of blood spilled. My friend, you have never risen higher." I followed her stare out of the window, where the soldiers were preparing for a war.
"OK. Ponds, TARDIS. Now." I ordered, pointing out of the room.
Melody cried throughout the short journey to the other side of Demon's Run, and continued even after we left the TARDIS.
"Hey, what's wrong?" Rory asked with concern.
"She doesn't like the TARDIS noise," Amy replied as we walked through the grey warehouse-y room. "I asked him to turn something off, but it was all, 'but I don't want to punch a hole in the space-time continuum.'"
"It's not the TARDIS noise," I shook my head, then called. "Jack!"
"Jen?" I heard his reply, then saw him appear around the wall with Rex, Jenny and Strax.
"What's happening?" I asked.
"The Judoon have escorted the Clerics out of the quadrant." He began.
"Spitfires?"
"Returned to their own time. And Captain Avery and his men are going."
"Right. Good." I nodded.
"Is she alright?" Flint frowned, looking past me at Amy, who was quietly rocking Melody as she whimpered.
"Yes, she's just crying." Amy mumbled.
"Give her to me, human fool," Strax ordered. "She needs changing."
"I just changed her," Amy replied reluctantly. "I think she might need a feed."
"No, she doesn't." I said.
"No, I think she does."
"A feed, of course," Strax nodded. "I'll take care of everything."
"Er, I really don't think you will, actually." Rory snapped, stepping in front of Amy. I rolled my eyes at Jack.
"What's wrong with her?"
"She's tired."
"I have gene-spliced myself for all nursing duties," Strax said angrily. "I can produce magnificent quantities of lactic fluid." I snorted as Rex frowned at him in disgust.
"Anyway," I interrupted. "Amy, Rory, Melody. This is Captain Jack Harkness," I introduced, wrapping my arm around his waist. "And Rex Matheson, CIA. They've come to help us."
"Hi." Rory nodded, holding out his hand. "Rory."
"Hi." Rex replied, shaking his hand in an awkwardly manly fashion.
"Hello," Amy smiled. "Amy Pond."
"Nice to meet you, Amy Pond." Jack smiled.
"Stop it." I snapped.
"What?"
"She's just had a baby, Jack. And she's married." I argued.
"I was just saying hello!"
"Yes, exactly," Dad called across the room, wheeling a wooden object from the TARDIS. "Flirting, Captain. She's off-limits."
"There you go." I grinned, turning to him with raised eyebrows.
"And, if you lot had listened to my marvellous daughter, you'd know that Melody's not hungry, she's tired," Dad continued, still pushing the wooden thing to the middle of the room. "Sorry Melody, they're just not paying attention."
"What's this?" Amy asked excitedly as Rex, Strax and Flint went back to their previous tasks.
"Very pretty, according to your daughter." Dad laughed in the same tone, tickling Melody a little under her chin.
"It's a… it's a cot." Rory stated. I smiled, running my fingers along the side, admiring the shiny Gallifreyan patterns painted on the wood.
"No flies on the Roman," Dad said. "Give her here."
"Hey, there we go." Amy muttered as they passed Melody between them.
"Who's was it?" Jack asked me.
"Don't know." I replied.
"Why'd you have a cot, Doc?" He repeated. Dad continued to gaze down at Melody, occupying himself with tucking her in.
"It's old," Amy mumbled. "Really old."
"Is it yours?" Rory asked me.
"Nah, 'course it isn't," I shook my head. "I was born like this."
"Born with good looks," Jack said. "You and me are so alike, Jen."
"Shut up!" I chuckled, nudging him in the ribs. Amy and Rory frowned.
"Who are you talking to?" Amy questioned.
"Him." I replied, nodding at Jack. Dad's eyes flickered up for a moment, and Melody cooed.
"No, it's real," Dad said. "It's my hair." I giggled.
"Dad, who slept in here? Was it Susan?" I asked. He paused.
"Doctor, we need you in the main control room." Vastra's voice suddenly rang across the room.
"Be right there!" He called back, turning from the cot in an instant. "Things to do. I've still got to work out what this base is for. We can't leave till we know. Jen, Jack, with me."
"But this is where I was?" Amy asked quickly, just as we started to follow him. "The whole time I thought I was on the TARDIS, I was really here?" Again, Dad paused.
"Er… Centurion. Permission to hug?"
"Be aware, I do have a sword." Rory replied, and I smiled.
"At all times," Dad nodded, and moved to hug Amy tightly. "You were on the TARDIS, too, your heart, your mind, your soul. But physically, yes, you were still in this place."
"And when I saw that face looking through the hatch, that woman looking at me?"
"Reality bleeding through. They must have taken you quite a while back. Just before America."
"That's probably enough hugging now," Rory interrupted, and they separated. "So her flesh avatar was with us all that time. But that means they were projecting a control signal right into the TARDIS wherever we were in time and space."
"Yeah, they're clever." I nodded, sighing.
"Who are?" Amy asked.
"Whoever wants your baby." Jack replied.
"But why do they want her?"
"Exactly." Dad nodded.
"Is there anything you're not telling us?" Rory asked. "Doctor, you knew Amy wasn't real. You never said."
"Well, I couldn't be sure they weren't listening." Dad shrugged.
"But you always hold out on us!" Amy cried as we went to leave again. "Please, not this time. Doctor, it's our baby. Tell us something. One little thing." There was a pause.
"It's mine." Dad said.
"What is?" Rory snapped.
"The cot," he replied. "It's my cot. I slept in there." I shared a happy smile with Jack, who also looked a little bemused by that revelation. Dad turned around and walked away, us following immediately.
"I can't imagine you as a baby, Doc." Jack commented as we left the room.
"We all were at some point." Dad replied.
"I wasn't." I grinned.
"You still are." The pair of them retorted simultaneously, and I hit them both.
"They want Melody."
"There must be a reason."
"I know, but what? What could they possibly want with a human baby, Jack?"
"Well, she isn't just any human baby."
"What?"
"She's the daughter of the Doctor's companions. Maybe, through her, they think they can get to him."
"Yeah, that's true. I'd rather they went through me, though. Not Melody or Amy or Rory."
"I don't think your Dad wants anybody hurt because of him."
"Are you two talking again?" Dad interrupted.
"Yes." We replied at the same time.
"Could you do it aloud? It's not nice being left out of a conversation."
"It's just easier, Dad." I shrugged.
"And quicker." Jack added, just as we entered the control room.
"You've hacked into their software, then?" Dad said.
"I believe I sold it to them." Dorium replied, sat in front of the screens lazily.
"All right, Dorium, no need to be sarcastic," I teased, skipping up to him to examine the monitors, putting my glasses on on the way. "So what have we learned?"
"That anger is always the shortest distance to a mistake." Vastra replied behind me.
"Sorry?"
"The words of an old friend who once found me in the London Underground," she explained, looking right at Dad. "Attempting to avenge my sisters on perfectly innocent tunnel diggers."
"Well, you were very cross at the time." He muttered.
"As you were today, old friend." she retorted. I frowned at Jack.
"I don't like it when Dad's angry."
"Point taken, I hope," she continued. "Now, I have a question. A simple one. Is Melody human?" I snorted involuntarily.
"What are you talking about?"
"Of course she is!" Dad chuckled incredulously. "Completely human."
"They've been scanning her since she was born, and I think they found what they were looking for." Dorium said, sounding bored of the whole situation.
"What do you mean, what they were looking for?" I cried.
"Jen, look," Jack interrupted, staring at the screen. "Look again." I turned back to the DNA images.
"Human DNA." Dad nodded.
"No, look closer." Jack said.
"What?" I whispered when I realised.
"Human plus," Vastra replied. "Specifically, human plus-"
"Time Lord." I finished. There was a shocked silence.
"But she's human," Dad argued, beginning to pace. "She's Amy and Rory's daughter!"
"You've told me about your people," Vastra replied. "They became what they did through prolonged exposure to the time vortex. The Untempered Schism."
"Over billions of years, it didn't just happen."
"Human plus Time Lord. How close is that to us, Dad?" I wondered. "Could she regenerate?"
"No, no. I don't think so." He stammered.
"You don't sound so sure." Vastra accused.
"Because I don't understand how this happened." Dad snapped.
"Which leads me to ask when did it happen?"
"When?"
"When did they… you know…" Jack smirked. Dad still looked utterly confused.
"I am trying to be delicate," Vastra continued. "I know how you can blush. When did this baby… begin?"
"Oh, you mean-" Dad realised.
"Exactly." Jack grinned. Dad looked at me wide-eyed, and I stared back with just as much awkwardness.
"Jen?" He managed to spit out.
"How would I know?" I exclaimed. "You're the one who's been with them the entire time."
"Well, I don't know either!" He replied. "That's all human-y, private stuff. It just sort of goes on. They don't put up a balloon or anything!"
"Could the child have been conceived whilst on the TARDIS?" Jack asked. "In flight, maybe?"
"No! No! Impossible!" Dad shouted, exasperatedly waving his arms in the air. "It's all running about, sexy fish vampires and blowing up stuff. And Rory wasn't even there at the beginning, was he, Jen?"
"No, he wasn't," I agreed. "Then he was dead, then he didn't exist."
"Yes, then he was plastic," Dad continued. "Then I had to reboot the whole universe. Long story."
"But there must have been some time they were on the TARDIS together in this version of reality." I reasoned.
"No, no!" Dad denied. "The first time would have been on their w-" He stopped, every facial feature becoming as wide with shock as was Gallifreyan-ly possible.
"On their what?" Vastra asked suspiciously.
"On their wedding night." Dad finished, and I rolled my eyes.
"Good Gallifrey." I sighed.
"But that doesn't make sense," he continued. "You can't just cook yourself a Time Lord."
"'Course you can't. Unless you have a progenation machine and Time Lord DNA, and unless you're not telling us something, Dad, that didn't happen." I said.
"However, you gave them one hell of a start," Vastra said, getting us back on track. "And they've been working very hard ever since."
"And yet they gave in so easily," Dorium added. "Does this not bother anyone else?"
"Amy," Dad said suddenly. "She was worried the baby would have a time head."
"A time head?" I questioned aloud.
"Only you would ignore the instincts of a mother." Vastra shook her head.
"Or the instincts of a coward," Dorium countered. He was beginning to irritate me. "This is too easy. There's something wrong."
"Why even do it?" Dad asked.
"Yes, even if you could get your hands on a brand new Time Lord, what for?" I wondered.
"A weapon?" Jack suggested.
"Why would a Time Lord be a weapon?" Dad barked.
"Well, they've seen you." Vastra replied.
"Him?" I frowned. She took a deep breath.
"Mr Maldovar, you're right. This was too easy. We should get back to the others." With that, she and Dorium left.
"Me?" Dad mumbled, sitting down in front of the screen. I looked at him sadly.
"You didn't do anything wrong, Dad." I whispered. He gave me a weak smile, then Jack pulled me away.
"Come on, Jen."
"Jenny," Dad interrupted, and I quickly walked back inside. "I know I told you to control your war instincts, that those kind of tactics don't suit our lifestyle," he paused. "Not Messalinian ones, anyway. But I need you to bring all your knowledge and expertise to the surface. To help Amy and Rory, be a soldier."
"I will, Dad." I smiled, and he kissed my forehead before I followed Jack out of the door.
I slipped through the door just before it began to seal, and stumbled a little as my toe almost got caught.
"You OK?" Jack called from across the room.
"Yep," I replied. "The doors are locking."
"What's that?" Amy asked, and I turned to the TARDIS which was enveloped in white light.
"Force field." I sighed.
"Apparently we're not leaving." Vastra said.
"Jenny," Rex snapped. "You helping, or what?"
"Yes." I replied sarcastically, and picked up a gun. I shivered. The cool metal felt wrong, and yet comfortable. It had been a while…
"You O-" Jack began, but was interrupted by a dark, echoing sound through Demon's Run.
"Is that the Monks?" Rory asked.
"Oh, dear God. That's the attack prayer." Dorium said.
"Amy, take Melody and hide." I ordered, and kept one eye on them as Rory led his wife and child to a safe hiding place.
"Commander Strax!" Vastra shouted as I loaded more guns and examined swords.
"I'm trying to seal off this area of the lighting grid." Strax replied.
"This is where we'll make our stand. Clear lines of sight on all approaches."
"I like a woman in charge." Jack commented, giving Vastra those eyes that I'd seen used so many times. She opened her mouth, raising her shoulders back in outrage.
"Maybe a little professionalism, World War II." Rex barked.
"You should know by now he's not professional, Rex," I winked, and he smirked. The Monks were gradually moving closer. "Rory!"
"There should be some plasma pistols somewhere, Jenny," a girl who I didn't know said. "They left everything."
"Good." I nodded, confused that she knew my name, but too busy to ask her.
"Then find them, boy!" Strax commanded angrily, looking at Flint.
"She's definitely a girl." Vastra flirted.
"Oh, stop it!" Flint sighed. I heard Jack groan in my head.
"Bad luck, Captain."
"Not stopped me before."
"You're terrible."
"That's what you love about me, Jen."
"Shut up!"
"We don't have to fight them," Dorium interrupted loudly, chuckling to himself. "I'm friends to the Monks. They know me."
"Yeah, and they know you just sold them out to the Doctor." Rory retorted.
"Oh, they'll understand. It's only me," Dorium continued, walking forwards into the shadows of the room, where the Monks were waiting. "Only silly old me. You understand, don't you?"
"Dorium, don't." I hissed.
"Mr Maldovar, get back here!"
"Arm yourself, fool!"
"We're telling you, don't!"
"Dorium!" He carried on despite our cries, straight into the darkness, arms outstretched like a toddler taking their first steps. Unfortunately for Dorium, those were his last. We heard the slashing sound of metal through air, and a thump.
"Dorium?" I called nervously. There was no reply. Instead, two Monks drifted into view with a new headless (and blue) body.
"OK," I muttered. "Not the best outcome," I raised my voice. "Rory, Jack, Rex, Vastra, Flint, Strax, and sorry, what was your name?" I frowned at the mystery girl.
"L-Lorna." She stammered, her face falling.
"And Lorna," I finished. "Protect Melody. At all costs, protect Melody!"
We charged, Rory taking the lead in his centurion get-up with me as the soldier second. The others all followed behind us, but that formation didn't matter once the fight had begun. Everything got confused and muddled, Monks mixing with us and creating new individual battles constantly. I vaguely felt Jack's presence leave my head first, and caught a glimpse of his body on the floor as I span around during a one-on-one. Within a few seconds though, I heard him gasp and his thoughts rushed back into my mind, one being of success as he killed the unsuspecting Monk who'd done the same to him. Rory was next to me, waving a sword strongly in front of another Monk, when I caught the one duelling me, and it fell to the ground. I chuckled, and moved on to the next one.
"Rory!" I heard Amy scream. "Rory!" We stopped, Rex knocking out the final Monk still standing. I shared a panicked look with Rory, just before we both sprinted to the spot where she was hiding.
"Amy, what's wrong?" Rory asked as soon as we reached her. He paled as we took in the sight of her trembling, clutching the white blanket in her hands with gooey flesh melted on the floor around her.
"Melody, she-" Amy stammered, struggling between cries. "She-"
"She's gone." I whispered sadly.
"She was flesh?" Rory questioned.
"Looks like it," I nodded, picking up a little of the flesh to scan with my screwdriver. "Yes," I confirmed once the end shot up in conclusion, and I looked at the Ponds. "I'm sorry."
"Amy, she's not real!" I heard Dad yell from behind one of the doors. "Melody, she's a flesh avatar. Amy!" I glanced at Jack, who had offered Amy and Rory some quiet words of comfort once they made their way back to the group. After all, he knew all too well what it was like to lose a child.
"Amy!" Dad shouted as he ran inside. "Amy!"
"Yeah. We know." Rory snapped, and I moved to the box where Amy was sat with Jack.
"It's not over," I whispered, hopping up next to her. "We're still going to find her. Dad won't just let them take a baby." Amy sighed, resting her head on my shoulder, and I gently stroked her hair.
"Strax is gone." Jack murmured. I look up at him, but didn't say anything, and turned as I heard Dad's footsteps drawing nearer. He was pouting anxiously, and waited for one of us to speak first.
"So they took her anyway," Amy said. "All this was for nothing."
"I am so sorry." Dad muttered, and I heard the anger rise in Amy's throat.
"Amelia," I warned before she stood up. "It's not his fault. She blinked.
"I know. I know."
"Doctor, Jenny, there's someone who wants to speak to you," Vastra interrupted quietly. I frowned at Dad, and jumped off the box to follow. Dad immediately gripped my hand as we walked, and I squeezed his palm. "Her name is Lorna. She came to warn us." The girl dressed in Demon's Run uniform was laid awkwardly on the ground, tear tracks down her cheeks. She was clearly in pain.
"Hey," Dad breathed as we knelt down next to her. "Hello."
"Doctor." Lorna sighed, a ghost of a smile appearing on her features.
"You helped my friends," Dad continued. "Thank you."
"I met you once, in the Gamma Forests," she said, her breathing heavy. "You don't remember me."
"'Course we remember," I smiled at her, swallowing the guilt at the back of my throat. "We remember everyone."
"Hey, we ran, didn't we?" Dad added as Lorna flinched with the pain. "Didn't we run, Lorna?" A tear trickled from my eye silently as Lorna's closed.
"Who was she?" I asked after a pause.
"I don't know, but she was very brave." Vastra replied, the struggle to hold in her own tears obvious in her voice.
"They're always brave," Dad said under his breath. "They're always brave," He pulled me closer next to him so that my head rested on his chest, and kissed my forehead. "Are you OK?"
"Yeah," I nodded, wiping a stray tear from my lower lashes. "Fine. Better than Amy and Rory, anyway."
"Yes." he breathed, and jumped to his feet.
"So what now?" Vastra asked. "They'd almost certainly have taken her to Earth. Raise her in the correct environment."
"Yes, they did," Dad replied heatedly. "And it's already too late."
"It's never too late," I argued, making him turn back from his walk back to the TARDIS. "We don't give up, Dad."
"Yeah, and don't you sometimes wish I did?" He snapped, just before a flash of white blazed behind him.
"Well then, soldier," River said. "How goes the day?" There was a pause.
"Where the hell have you been?" Dad began, the fury rising in him as he spoke, stomping towards her with every word. "Every time you've asked, I have been there. Where the hell were you today?"
"I couldn't have prevented this." River replied calmly, and that made my own anger bubble inside.
"You could have tried!" Dad barked.
"And so, my love, could you," she shrugged, and turned to Amy and Rory, who were stood together to our right. "I know you're not all right. But hold tight, Amy, because you're going to be."
"You think I wanted this?" Dad exclaimed. "I didn't do this. This, this wasn't me!"
"This was exactly you, all this. All of it," River retorted, infuriation the first hint of emotion she'd shown so far. "You make them so afraid. When you began, all those years ago, sailing off to see the universe, did you ever think you'd become this? The man who can turn an army around at the mention of his name," she paused dramatically. "Doctor. The word for healer and wise man throughout the universe. We get that word from you, you know. But if you carry on the way you are, what might that word come to mean?" She circled him, giving me a sympathetic smile as she passed. "To the people of the Gamma Forests, the word Doctor means mighty warrior. How far you've come. And now they've taken a child, the child of your best friends, and they're going to turn her into a weapon just to bring you down. And all this, my love, in fear of you." I clenched my fists, and felt Jack move to stand next to me.
"Who are you?" Dad asked.
"Oh look, your cot. Haven't seen that in a very long while." River ignored him, instead adopting a cheery tone as she skipped backwards to the wooden cot. Dad and me both followed.
"No, no, you tell me," Dad hissed. "Tell me who you are."
"I am telling you," River said steadily, and I frowned. "Can't you read?" I glanced down at the Gallifreyan writing on the side of the cot. Even though I was descended from them, it took a while for me to translate the patterns, but Dad got it in an instant.
"Hello." He grinned.
"Dad?" I whispered.
"Look closely, Jen." River smiled. I looked again.
"Oh." I realised, my eyes widening in shock.
"Hello." She smiled.
"Hi." I grinned, laughing a little. Was that possible? Could that even work? River, Amy and Rory…
"But River, you and I, we, we, we, er…" Dad interrupted, stumbling over his words excitedly, then proceeded to make kissing noises. I rolled my eyes.
"Please." I groaned as he chuckled, rubbing his hands together in delight.
"How do I look?"
"Amazing." River smiled.
"I'd better be."
"Yes, you'd better be."
"What's going on?" Jack asked.
"We're off," Dad replied. "Vastra, Jenny, Rex, Jack, till the next time. Rory and Amy, I know where to find your daughter, and on my life, she will be safe. River, get them all home. Jen, TARDIS." I skipped to the box eagerly, the news still running through my brain, being processed.
"Doctor!" Rory called as Dad followed me.
"No!" Amy added. "Where are you two going?"
"To find Melody," I grinned at them. "See you, Captain!"
"In you go, Jen." Dad nudged, and I bounced inside, rushing up to the console to start flying. Dad popped his head out for a second before closing the doors and running up to join me, the TARDIS making her ever-beautiful straining noise as we vanished from Demon's Run.
LunaRoseDiCaprio: Hey! I love the ending of this episode. Matt & Alex were just brilliant.
So I added a couple of characters just because Jen and the Doctor would ask for all the help they can get in this episode, and Jack and Rex can't die, so...
Hope you enjoyed it! Thanks for reading, and review! xx
P.S. I've started a blog! If you like that sort of thing, take a look at . (I write about Who sometimes. I'm assuming you guys like that show) ;)