I'm so so so so so so soooooooooooooooooooo sorry I haven't updated in WEEKS! My only excuse is that I've been working on the newspaper, marching band, and the play. I'm sooooo sorry, and thank you all for sticking around with me!

So, I am not Steven Moffat, and thanks to everyone who has reviewed/favorited/followed me or my story. It means so much to me!

Enjoy, and please R&R

Madame Kovarian busied herself in her old lab. Oh, how she had missed the smells, the deadly perfume not found on any other planet! There was nothing that could compare with it, and she couldn't believe she had lived millennia without it! She peeled back one of Melody's eyelids, thankful that she could still see the girl's pupils. If that idiot had messed up anymore, she thought, furrowing her brow in annoyance at the dead man's antics. Still, it was too bad he was dead. He could have been useful in her experiments… She shook her head, quickly returning to the problem at hand.

Kovarian swirled the misty, purple concoction she had delicately prepared since the Lord President had ordered the child's life saved. Oh, the Doctor would love this plot twist! Murdered by the woman he loved who was raised by the people he abandoned and betrayed! Kovarian could taste the sweetness of her revenge as though it was a delicacy that she craved but had only tasted once before. She savored the vision of his face, the handsome features obscured and distorted by shock and heart-wrenching sadness. She smiled as she poured the solution down Melody's throat, giving a laugh when the baby coughed and opened her bright eyes; the child was ready.

Madame Kovarian ran, child wrapped snugly in her arms, towards the President's chambers. She knocked once before pushing open the doors, kneeling in the center of the room and proffering the girl. The President gently removed her from Madame Kovarian's arms and held her up. The baby giggled for a moment, but when he refused to smile at her, the giggling turned to whimpering. And the whimpering became crying, and the crying became crying, and the crying became sobbing. When he did nothing to try and stop her, the sobbing became one long, high-pitched wail that set the President's teeth on edge.

"Do something about that infernal noise, Kovarian," the man growled, setting the girl on the plush bed next to him to hold his head. This only caused her to wail louder. The President let out an exasperated sigh.

"My Lord, I cannot. She is a child, she doesn't know any better. Once we've raised her, she won't even remember how to cry, I assure you."

"She must learn sooner than that, Madame. In fact, I would say she should learn right now." A burst of light was emitted from his hands, momentarily blinding Kovarian.

When she opened her eyes, the child was deathly silent; the only indications to her continued life were the gentle ebb and flow of her breathing, the four beats of her hearts.

"My Lord, what did you do," she sputtered.

"I merely fixed the problem. Do not fear, she won't remember the pain."

Kovarian nodded; it wasn't her place to question his methods. In fact, she found them rather effective.

"Do I get my privileges back, now, My Lord President?"

He stared at her for a few minutes, lost in thought. "I think that you've earned your place among us, Madame." He removed a small, silver fobwatch from the pocket of his scarlet robes and dangled it in front of her face, watching the longing transform her features.

It took all of her energy to not reach out and snatch the watch from his grip. He caressed it for a moment, enjoying her internal struggle before turning the watch towards her face and opening it, allowing the golden light to fill the room, whispers of Kovarian's old life flooding through her.

When the light faded, she raised her bowed head and smiled, an insane gleam in her eyes.

"Welcome home," the President said quietly, "the Rani."

Her smile grew wider. "Thank you, Rassilon."