A/N: Greetings, y'all! Welcome to a brand new chapter! I hope you enjoy!

A quick note to all you River fans, I apologize in advance (you'll understand once you read the chapter).

TRIGGER WARNING: graphic depictions of abuse and self-harm.

Chapter 34: A Duo of Dilemmas

Of course, after everything that's happened with the 'fears' coming to life, especially Dad's 'fear' of the Last Great Time War, we felt really bad about the damages done to Madame Vastra's house (as well as the entire city), and we offered to help pay for the damages; but she insisted that it wasn't necessary and that she could pay for her own damages. In the meantime, Dad offered to let she, Strax, and Jenny stay with us in the TARDIS until things settled down, which the trio graciously accepted. Actually, it was more of a request from Dad, as he believed they could help us save my family from the Vokanari's foul clutches, to which they also graciously accepted (needless to say, the 'request' wasn't really needed, after all). Dad briefly told me the story of when he and my grandfather, Rory Williams, called in 'past debtors'—the Paternoster Gang included—to assist them in rescuing my grandmother, Amelia "Amy" Pond, and just-born mother at Demons Run, as well as the similar story of when he had the trio help rescue my grown-up mother and just-born me, so of course they were willing to help my father for a third time, this time in saving my own family.

As anxious as I am to save them, I thought I was ready to from the very beginning, but now—sitting alone in the TARDIS library, with my knees tucked against my chest, at the exact same place where Dad shared his memories with me for the first time—I am absolutely terrified. I feel like a fly caught in a web—a web that Madame Kovarian has spun not just for me but for my entire family, including my guardians. She has seemingly given me no choice but to turn myself in to become the murderous psychopath she had planned for me to become from the very beginning, or risk my entire family being killed in the most merciless way possible, starting with my bio-mother, River Song. Obviously I don't want to turn myself in, and I certainly don't want my family killed, should I refuse, but I feel like there's no other option. I feel I am completely at Kovarian's mercy, just like Mom, and I don't know how to break us free from her tight hold. I have absolutely no idea what to do, and it absolutely terrifies me to my core.

"I had a feeling you'd be here," my father's weary voice whispers from behind.

I turn to him, startled to the point of almost falling off the couch. "Dad!" I then sigh, realizing that he's alone. "It's just you."

"What were you expecting; a Zygon?" he chuckles as he sits next to me.

I frown at him, puzzled as to what a Zygon is. "Um…no. Actually, I expected…"

I then pause, suddenly changing my mind about telling him who I really expected:

My mother. Rather, my mother under the control of Madame Kovarian.

"Never mind," I sigh, shaking my head; though, from his sideways glance at me, I can tell he knows exactly what I didn't obviously want to say. Before he can question me about it, I say quickly, "Shouldn't you be resting, or something?" After everything he's been through, especially after reliving the Time War over and over, he deserves a long break.

No surprise, he responds with, "Nah. Rest is for the weary; sleep is for the dead." Typical Dad.

"Okay," I shrug, not wishing to argue.

We share a long and awkward silence, both of us just staring wearily at the fire. Though, at the corner of my eye, I catch occasional glimpses of my father turning his head back-and-forth between me and the fire as if waiting for me to say something. No surprise there, because of course he can sense the whirlwind of thoughts running through my head through our psychic link, but of course I refuse to say anything, not feeling comfortable in the slightest for telling him everything that happened between me and Kovarian.

Inevitably, he grows tired of the wait. He speaks up, saying, "You have a lot on your mind. I can sense it. You want to talk?" From his anxious tone, his statement doesn't sound like a request. Again, typical Dad.

I sigh in defeat, shaking my head. "Not really. I mean, I do, but I'm worried she might be listening—Mom, or Kovarian, or whoever the hell she is." Admittedly, I hate myself for not trusting my own mother—again, something Kovarian isn't giving me a choice. Thinking of her, I glance nervously around the library, afraid that she'll pop out and do harm to both of us. "Where is she, anyway?"

"She's…around here somewhere," Dad says, looking around with equal nervousness; though, in his case, he's seemingly afraid of his own wife, which is sick and wrong on so many levels, as no one should ever be afraid of his/her own lover, especially after he's known and trusted her for so many years.

"Someone should be keeping an eye on her," I say, "you know, to make sure she doesn't attempt to blow up the TARDIS, or something. You said the Silence attempted to do that before." I remember him telling me bits and pieces of his story of the Pandorica and his belief that a Silent—the creatures that are affiliated with the Silence organization (probably what the organization is named after) and can alter your memory to great extent—snuck on board the TARDIS to mess with the engines and whatnot, causing her to explode, creating cracks all over Time and Space, which Dad used the Pandorica to correct.

"They did," he nods in confirmation. "And don't worry; nothing is going to happen. The Old Girl will take care of her."

'I most certainly will,' Idris assures me. 'Your mother is perfectly fine, my dear. You have nothing to fear.'

"For now, maybe," I say doubtfully. "Who's to say that might change? Kovarian could take her over at literally any time. Who's to say she's been in control since the very beginning?" I then sigh, burying my face in my hands. "I just…I hate not being able to trust her; my own mother. No child should ever not be able to trust their own parent. These days, I don't even know who to trust anymore…no one besides you." At this point in my life, I feel like literally anyone I meet could secretly be a Silence member. Perhaps the Silence turned my own guardians against me during my absence, exactly like they did Mom. Just the very thought brings tears to my eyes.

Noticing this, Dad reaches out and wraps his arms around me, pulling me close like he always does. "I understand, my Nova," he whispers, rubbing by back in an effort to calm me. "This is a difficult time for all of us, but we mustn't let that stop us from doing what's right. We'll save your mother and your guardians."

"We can't let the Silence keep doing this to us," I say in an insistent tone. "They must be stopped." They've tortured us for far too long. It ends now.

"One problem at a time, Nova," he sighs. "Right now, saving your mother and guardians is all that matters."

A sudden wave of anger hits me right through both hearts simultaneously. I immediately pull away from him, saying, "That's what we should've done from the very start, from the moment Mom left! We should've gone with her, then none of this would've happened! If we'd gone with her, Haze and my guardians would be safe by now! But instead, we just had to let her go alone, without our protection, and we went on our own adventures without once thinking about what torments they were going through under the Silence's clutches! None of that should've happened, if not for us! If not for me! If not for me being born in the first place!" I feel guilty for everything that's happened. I briefly wonder what would've happened, had I not have been born, suddenly believing my birth was what started this nightmare—this Hell.

"Nova…" Dad frowns, taken aback by my words. "You can't blame yourself. Your birth had absolutely nothing to do with this."

"Of course it did!" I exclaim. "Because of me, the Silence now want you dead more than ever, and they've gone to great lengths to make that happen! If they hadn't known you'd survived the lake before, they certainly do now, especially after the news of my birth had spread, which would explain why they've been targeting you more than they used to. They kidnapped my guardians and my best friend and are using them as bait to get to me! They've turned my own mother against us, and it's only a matter of time before they do the same to me! All of this, just to turn me into a psychopath against you, exactly like Mom! I have a feeling this was always meant to happen, if not for me being born! You all would've been much safer without me!"

My corrupt self's voice suddenly rings in my ears: 'There's still time for you! You can still become this! They'll never stop hunting you! You'll have to stop running eventually! Everybody does! You can't run forever!'

"Evil Me was right," I sigh, feeling defeated, "maybe I can't run from this, no matter how much I try."

"'Evil You?'" Dad frowns, puzzled. "What do you mean?"

I sigh again and reluctantly tell him. "At one point, my worst fear came to life—that 'fear' being myself; rather, myself as a Silence member. She claimed that this was what I would eventually become, but I didn't believe her, at least at the time. Now, I'm not so sure anymore."

"Of course you're not going to become that!" he says in a tone like the mere thought of it is ridiculous—If only that were true. "I'd never let that happen to you, my daughter, my Nova."

"But what if it does?" I say worriedly. "What if this was always meant to happen; what if I'm always meant to become that? After everything that's happened… Even what Kovarian said…"

Dad nods, remembering. "Yes, you mentioned that Madame Kovarian spoke to you directly, through your mother. What exactly did she say to you?" He suddenly looks as if he's deciding whether or not to punch a wall or worse, depending on what Kovarian said.

I shrug. "Mostly empty threats, but what she said at the very end was what mainly concerned me. She said that if I wanted any chance of saving everyone, especially Mom, I would have to turn myself in; and if I don't, she'll kill Mom, obviously earlier than she's meant to. Obviously, I don't want to turn myself in at all, but I feel like Kovarian isn't giving me a choice. I mean, I do have a choice; it's either this, or Mom dies, and obviously I don't want Mom to die, not even at the Library."

Dad sighs sadly. "Unfortunately, her death at the Library is a fixed point in Time, but that doesn't mean we can't save her from the Silence. Of course, saving your mother from being killed by the Silence is a 'must.'"

Duh, otherwise Time would be rewritten, I think but do not say. Instead I ask out loud, "So what do we do? I feel like turning ourselves in is our only option."

"There's never only one option," he says, shaking his head. "We'll find another way, one that doesn't involve us turning ourselves in but can still allow us to save your family at the same time."

"So what is that 'other way?'" I ask anxiously.

He shrugs. "I don't know, I haven't thought of it yet. I'm sure I'll come up with one when we regroup with Madame Vastra, Strax, and Jenny. They should be around here somewhere."

"What about Mom?" I ask, my worry for her increasing. "She can't be a part of this, just in case the Silence might listen in. Kovarian said she'd be watching very closely."

"Indeed, I have," a familiar female voice—though one that has been unnaturally distorted—says from behind, making the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end. Startled, we both jump from the couch to see my mother standing there, and my worry for her skyrockets once I see the twisted smirk on her face—one that's not my mother's but rather Kovarian's.

"River?" Dad says with a frown, clearly puzzled as to who is truly in control of the mind occupying the body of his wife.

But I know exactly who is in control. I glare back at her, saying, "No… It's not her. It's her."

Dad's puzzled frown deepens into an identical glare, the realization dawning on him. "Ah. Now I see." He slowly walks around the couch toward his wife—rather, toward the imposter hijacking his wife's body.

"Dad, don't," I say, grabbing his shirt sleeve and pulling him back, worried she might harm him—she does want him dead, after all—but he pulls his arm away.

"It's alright, Nova," he assures me without taking his eyes off of his wife. "I can handle this. Just stay back." This, however, does not convince me. How the hell would it?

"Don't fret, little Nova," Mom—Kovarian—says in a tone like she's speaking to a toddler. "I'm not looking for a fight. I just want to talk."

Yeah, like that would convince me even more than I already am. Not a chance, bitch!

"You 'just want to talk?'" I scoff at her. "How do you expect us to believe that? How do you expect us to believe anything you say?"

"Nova, please!" Dad says in a pointed tone, but I'm not listening.

Rolling her (Mom's) eyes, Kovarian says, "Would it help if I did this?" She then takes out Mom's gun from her holster, making me flinch; but, thankfully, instead of shooting, she tosses it to the floor at Dad's feet. "There," she smiles, "I disarmed myself; rather, I disarmed your wife. Now we can talk properly."

"Talking through someone else isn't 'talking properly,'" I growl at her. "That just makes you look like a coward, since you can't seem to want to show your own face!"

Yeah, that's right, bitch; I just went there!

"Nova!" Dad screams at me. "Stop it!"

I sigh, rolling my eyes. "This is stupid." We should be finding a way to break Mom free from Kovarian's control, not having a casual heart-to-heart—hearts-to-hearts, whatever—with her.

"Mind you, she's not wrong," Dad says with a shrug, directing this toward Kovarian, and I'm genuinely surprised that he agrees with me. "In my humble opinion, it would be much more polite to talk to us face-to-face, but, as the humans say in Earth's modern era, 'you do you.'"

Kovarian pauses for a few seconds before shaking her head. "Hmm… Nah, I think I'm comfortable talking like this. Though, I do enjoy watching you squirm in front of your lover." Her face then morphs into one of disgust. "I don't know what that woman sees in you, and frankly, I don't think I want to know."

"What do you mean, you don't know?" I say, frowning incredulously. "You're in control of her entire mind!"

"Only the conscious mind," she corrects me. "From our location, we can see and hear everything she is seeing and hearing. And when we seize control of her conscious mind…well, you can guess what happens to poor little Melody. Her internal thoughts…well, that's a whole other part of her mind we don't wish to explore, for personal reasons."

"So, what, when your control is lifted, she forgets everything about it?" I continue growling at her. "Because that's how you work—you wipe yourselves from people's memories, and once you do, you have the advantage to do whatever you want to them, whenever you want. She has absolutely no idea that you're inside her head, that you've been in control this whole time; and even if she did, you'd just wipe that thought completely out of her head like it doesn't exist." All of this is further proof of how dangerous and psychotic these sickos are.

Kovarian snorts at Dad. "Well done, Doctor. You and the missus clearly taught her well. She seems to know more about us than she knows about herself."

"You don't know shit about me," I scoff at her.

"Nova!" Dad chastises me again. "Don't swear!"

'Like that's even important right now!' I shoot back at him telepathically. He doesn't say anything in response.

"I know everything about you, Nova Susan Song," Kovarian says in a tone like that should scare me, which it doesn't. "Rather, your sweet 'mummy dearest' does. Let's see, what have we got tucked away in this dusty head of hers?" She closes her eyes as if deep in thought. "I've got it! Blimey, there's a whole archive full of information in here! Let's have a look… You were born of both human and Time Lord descent—that one's a no-brainer, if you'll pardon the pun. Ah, you graduated as the Valedictorian of your class—impressive, though highly predictable, given your 'inherited' intellect from your father. What else… For eighteen years, you were hidden from us under the protection of a primitive human couple, and in gratitude you left them without so much as a goodbye." She opens her eyes again, chuckling. "How very foolish and naïve of you. They raise you for eighteen whole years, and this was how you repaid them? What kind of a daughter would do that to her own family? Then again, you being left under their care was only temporary, seeing as you were never their true daughter. Still…shame on you."

Her words do make me feel more ashamed of myself, now more than ever.

"Of course, there are plenty more memories," she continues. "Like I said, there's a whole archive full, but I don't have the patience to explore them all at the moment." She then smirks at me. "Not when, very soon, we will have the opportunity to discuss them over a cup of tea. Just for future reference, do you take cream or sugar in your tea, dear?"

She wants me to have tea with her? Seriously?!

"Actually, I'd prefer to have a cup of 'You're-Crazy-To-Think-That-I-Would-Ever-Have-Tea-With-A-Twisted-Psychopath-Like-You!'" I snap at her.

Burn!

"Make that a double for me," Dad says with a small snort.

Double burn!

Kovarian deepens her glare at us, not at all fazed by our words. "You seem to have forgotten what I told you before on the ship."

"No, I know what you said on the ship," I correct her. "In fact, I remember everything you said. Though, you seem to have forgotten that I DON'T CARE. Nothing you do or say can make me afraid of you!"

"'Nothing,' you say?" Kovarian says, raising a skeptical eyebrow. "Perhaps this will change your mind." She then takes out a hidden knife from her pocket and holds it in the firelight for Dad and I to see, and I immediately feel a sense of dread run down my spine, as does Dad. Kovarian smirks at our uneasiness and uses the sharp blade to cut deep into Mom's exposed arm, drawing blood. Admittedly, I am shocked at Mom's blood color, which is deep-red like human blood, as well as at Mom's complete lack of reaction (of course due to Kovarian's control).

"River!" Dad cries on instinct at the exact same time as I scream, "Mom!"

"This is what happens when you're not careful with what you say, dearie," Kovarian says, continuing to smirk deviously at us, not having a care in the world about Mom's blood dripping on the carpet at her feet like a faucet on half. "Surely, your guardians taught you that."

Dad hesitantly steps forward, raising a hand in surrender. "Kovarian, please, don't hurt her. Let her go." I can't help nodding in agreement, tears spilling down my face.

"I will," Kovarian agrees, "once you turn yourselves in. You've seen what happens if you disobey me. The missus ends up paying the price. How much do you think her life is really worth, Doctor? More than your own life, no doubt."

"Much more," Dad confirms. "Much more than all of my lives combined."

Kovarian smirks again, this time at me. "Hmm… More than the life of your own daughter?"

Her statement immediately makes Dad and I pause and look at each other, neither of us knowing how to respond.

"See, that's the dilemma here," Kovarian continues smirking, relishing in our speechlessness. "Who would you—the Doctor, the Lone Survivor of Gallifrey, the Oncoming Storm, the Bringer of Darkness—sacrifice for the greater good? Your wife? Or your daughter?"

She pauses, waiting, but we continue to stare at each other, still uncertain of what to say.

"Think it over, Doctor," she shrugs, losing patience. "You don't have much time, and by 'you,' I mean your love. The same applies to you, Nova. Choose your destiny wisely, and your family may be spared."

She then blinks and stumbles briefly on her feet, on the brink of collapse, dropping the knife on the floor.

"River!" Dad immediately rushes up and catches her before she can fall.

Mom briefly slumps into him before looking up at him in a daze. "Oh…hello, sweetie," she says with a smile, and this time she actually sounds like my true mother—at least, I think she does. She then glances at me, still with that dazed look in her eyes. "Nova…"

"Hey," I say, frowning with concern. For all I know, Kovarian could still be in control.

"Are you alright?" Dad asks her as he gently rubs her back as he directs her to the couch to sit, as she still looks slightly weak.

"Never better," she says with a shrug. Her brows then furrow as she looks around the library as if not knowing where she is. "Though…I'm a bit confused as to how I got here. I don't remember coming in here to look for you. I must've had a reason, but…I don't remember."

Dad and I briefly exchange a knowing glance at this.

"You don't remember anything?" I ask in disbelief. "Nothing at all?" A part of me hopes she would remember something of Kovarian's brainwashing, or at least sense that Kovarian was in control of her mind. Surely, being part-Time Lord, that should be possible, right; even if it's true they can wipe her memory of ever being in control in the first place?

Unfortunately, this ends up not being the case, as Mom shakes her head, saying in an apologetic tone, "No, nothing at all." She then frowns, apparently sensing our nervousness. "Why? Did something happen? Whatever it was, I must've missed it, and for that I apologize. My mind has had a habit of zoning out lately, and I'm not really sure why. Care to bring me up to speed?"

Dad and I exchange glances again and speak telepathically to each other.

'Should we tell her?' I ask, anxious to tell her everything as well as paranoid that Kovarian may do something terrible if I did.

Dad shakes his head. 'I don't think it would really matter, Nova. The Silence may just wipe her memory again.'

'But she needs to know,' I say with a frown. Who knows; if Mom knows, maybe she'll know a way to fight back.

Dad sighs, shaking his head again. 'I know, but we can't. Who knows what Kovarian might do if your mother knows.'

I sigh back, absolutely hating the fact that the only thing we can do is nothing.

"You're talking to each other telepathically," Mom says suspiciously as she crosses her arms. "I can see it in both of your eyes. You know how much that concerns me. Tell me what's going—argh!" She suddenly clutches one of her arms in pain, and I immediately curse myself for totally forgetting about Kovarian forcing her to cut herself with her knife in front of us. She looks down at her hand covered in blood from touching her injured arm. "My arm's bleeding! How did that happen?"

In that moment, I think about telling her the truth of everything she's experienced—or lack thereof, as she apparently has no memory of it whatsoever—under Kovarian's control, but I stop myself, thinking back on Dad's words. "You accidentally cut yourself with your knife," I say instead, "but it's okay. I can heal it for you." I then make my hands glow gold with regeneration energy, as I've done countless times before.

No surprise, Dad disapproves once again. "Nova, we talked about you using your energy like that. I don't want you wasting it."

"I'm not wasting it!" I groan, rolling my eyes. "I'm trying to help Mom! Last I checked, that's what doctors are meant to do. Clearly, you're not doing your job, so I'm doing it for you." Dad sighs in defeat, shaking his head, as I turn back to Mom. "It's okay, Mom. I got this. It won't take long."

Mom sighs as well, but unlike Dad, she smiles sympathetically. "You are just like your father, never wanting to see the damage."

Especially when we were the ones that caused the damage, I think but do not say, feeling shameful. If it weren't for me, she wouldn't be in this mess. Neither of us would.

She then continues, glancing up at Dad. "But your father is right; you shouldn't waste your regeneration energy on me. There are wounds that don't always need healing, at least not with regeneration energy."

"But I want to," I insist. "Mom, please, let me heal this one. You need it."

She glances back up at Dad again, and they both exchange concerned looks before Dad shakes his head, sighing in defeat. "Do what you think is right," she says with her own sigh, turning back to me.

"This is right," I say. "I don't like to see you suffer like this. I don't want to see you suffer ever again." She's been suffering her whole life, being under the Silence's control, being stuck in prison for a crime she never committed. From the weary look in her eyes, I can tell that all she wants is to rest, to forget everything and move on… To be normal.

With that, I proceed to use my regeneration energy to heal her arm, exactly like how I healed Hazel's arm the day I told her my secret.

"Oh, Nova…" Mom says, raising her good arm up to caress my cheek. "You don't have to worry about me. You don't have to worry about either of us. Nothing will ever keep us apart; and even if someone tries to, I will always come back to you. To both of you." She smiles up at Dad as she says that last bit.

With tearful eyes, he approaches us and wraps his arms around us. "River…"

"My Doctor…" she whispers, leaning on him as a way of hugging him back. "My Nova." We connect foreheads with each other as I continue healing her arm.

Once I finish healing her, I glance up at them to see them kissing. I watch the peaceful moment in silence, my eyes fogging up with tears. But then I notice something strange. As they continue kissing, Dad gradually raises his hands to either side of Mom's forehead, exactly like he does when he is about to send a telepathic message. I barely have any time to react once I hear his telepathic apology in my head.

'I'm sorry, River.'

Mid-kiss, Mom suddenly slumps into Dad's chest in deadweight.

"Mom!" I cry on instinct. I turn to Dad, completely appalled. "Dad, what the hell!"

"It's alright, Nova," he says as he gently lays her body across the couch. "Your mum's alright; she's just asleep."

"She passed out!" I exclaim, still in total disbelief. "You made her pass out! Why did you do that?"

"Don't worry," he says calmly, like this is all perfectly normal, even when it is far from it. "This is actually better for her."

"'Better?'" I scoff. "Have you lost your mind?" Who the hell is this guy, and what has he done with my father—my real father? He would never do this, especially to his own wife—my mother.

"Of course not!" he says in an offensive tone. He then grabs my arms and holds me firmly. "Nova, listen. Like Kovarian said, she can only control your mother's conscious mind, meaning that she can only connect to her while she is awake. With your mother unconscious, there is no connection; therefore, your mother is safer this way."

"So Kovarian can't control her while she's like this?" I ask, frowning in confusion.

He shakes his head. "No. Kovarian needs some sort of connection to be able to do it. Think of it as like trying to connect to the Internet, but there's no Wi-Fi."

I nod, finally understanding. "Without Wi-Fi, you can't connect to the Internet. Okay, I get it."

He nods back in confirmation. "So yeah, your mother is fine. She'll be fine as long as she's unconscious…" He then pauses, feeling uncomfortable. "Which, I know, sounds horrible, but trust me, this will be better for her. Kovarian can't touch her while she's in this state."

"How long will she be like this?" I ask, looking nervously down at her prone body lying on the couch. "Once the effects wear off, Kovarian could immediately take over…or worse."

"Don't worry, I've put her so deeply under that she should be out for at least six hours, seven tops," he assures me; though it, admittedly, doesn't make me feel better. "That gives us plenty of time to sneak into the Silence base and save your family."

"So you've finally come up with a plan?" I ask hopefully. Finally, some proper action!

He pauses again, feeling hesitant. "Ah…not exactly." I raise a skeptical eyebrow at this. "Well, maybe I've got something. It's definitely a 'thing.' Well…more like half of a 'thing'… Maybe less than half…"

I sigh, my hope degrading. "You don't have a plan." Of course he doesn't, or he wouldn't be acting this way. Rule One: the Doctor lies.

"Hey, it's a work in progress!" he says in a defensive tone. "I'll have it fully thought out once we meet with Madame Vastra, Strax, and Jenny."

I shrug, glancing back to Mom. "Okay, but what about Mom? We can't just leave her here, certainly not by herself. Someone should watch and make sure nothing happens. For all we know, Kovarian may come up with a way to take control even while Mom is out, if she hasn't come up with a way already." For all we know, maybe she has.

"Don't worry," Dad assures me again, placing his hands on my shoulders. "As I said before, the Old Girl can take care of her. If your mother ends up waking up earlier than expected, the Old Girl will alert us and keep her away from the Control Room, since that's the only way in or out."

I speak up, suddenly remembering. "Actually, that's not the only way out. Mom has this." I lift up Mom's wrist with her Vortex Manipulator still attached to it.

"Ah, yes! That's right!" Dad exclaims, suddenly realizing. "Good catch, Nova!" He then detaches the Manipulator from Mom's wrist. "Yes, we should definitely keep this away, as well as anything else she might use to escape the TARDIS."

"Other than a small ring on her finger, I don't think there's anything else she might use," I say, suddenly noticing a small gold ring on her right index finger. "That's a beautiful ring; where did you get that?" Dad must've given Mom the ring as a gift at some point. "Is that an engagement ring, or a wedding band?"

Dad frowns, examining the ring. "I don't think so. I don't recognize it. She must've bought it for herself."

"Or stole it," I snort under my breath. Knowing Mom, that was more than likely the case.

"Or that," he chuckles in agreement. He then begins guiding me away from my mother. "Come. Let's find the others."

As we walk, I can't help but glance worriedly behind at Mom, feeling immensely uncomfortable to leave her like this.

"Don't worry," Dad assures me once again, rubbing my back soothingly. "Your mother will be fine. She's perfectly safe where she is. Nothing will happen to her."

I wouldn't be so sure, I can't help thinking to myself, my hearts filled with doubt.

Once we exit the library, I catch Dad glance back toward the direction of the couch where we left Mom, and I briefly catch a small glint of a tear running down his cheek. He wipes it away as he quickly turns away.

"Look after her, Old Girl," he says to the TARDIS as he leads me down the hall, away from the library and toward the Control Room.

'You can count on me, my thief,' she responds in an assuring tone as we continue down the hall without another word.

TO BE CONTINUED!

I honestly felt really bad for River after writing this chapter. As you well know, she's experienced enough hell in her life. Sorry, River :(

On a side note, I'm still in the works of the next episode; though this could be considered as Chapter 1. Sadly, I won't be updating anytime soon, but once I have this next episode close to fully planned out, I will start updating again :)

Also, I can't believe I've written almost 250 pages on this story (and that's just on 10-font)! That's about the normal length of a typical book!

Thank you to all who subscribed to this story over the last few weeks :)