A/N So... Sorry for not updating very often, got pretty busy. So, to apologize, I gave you a really really really long chapter! Yay! Happy Holidays, all!
I don't own.

"You already know how I was taken, so I'll skip over that portion of my childhood. I was taken to this man… Kovarian always called him the Lord President and insisted that I do the same. When I didn't… I was punished."

The Doctor grit his teeth, as if it was taking all of his willpower not to go and destroy the "Lord President" right then and there. River placed her hand on his shoulder, and he visibly relaxed, collapsing into her touch. Right up until he realized what River said she had to call him.

"Lord President? Did he have any other name that you know of? Any at all?"

River shushed him. "Spoilers. I'll tell you when I tell you, and not a moment sooner."

The Doctor sighed and rolled his eyes like a petulant teenager, but motioned for her to continue. Before long, River was lost in the sea of pain and memories.

5-year-old Melody Pond woke up to the unchanging, amber-colored sky, still breathtaking in its monotonous beauty. How she hated it. At least, she hated it as much as a 5-year-old could hate anything, which was surprisingly a lot. And she wasn't sure if she was 5. It had been 365 days since the last time Madame had woken her up with the cold announcement of, "you're four years old. Congratulations. You age like a human," and then forced her to learn something new, so she assumed…

She lied wrapped in the coverings of her bed for a moment, listening to the blessed silence of nothing. She was up early; a relief. The Lord President and Madame wouldn't be up to fetch her for a while yet. She could relax into her pillows, her only savior from the darkness of her life. Oh, she hated the man—the Lord President, she corrected herself, eyes darting around to make she he hadn't heard her thoughts—and the wo—Madame—more than she hated the glowy orange sky. She hated them as much as someone who was 6, she decided. A 6-year-old could probably hate more than any five-year-old. Maybe she was really 6, and Madame had gotten her human years wrong. But would that mean she hated them as much as someone who was seven…?

There was a rap on her door that made her fly out of her bed, hit her nightstand, and run into one of the walls that was so close to her at every turn. The room spun as the door opened and Madame walked in.

"Wake up, Pond. We've got a big day," she said, a self-satisfied smirk gracing her lips.

"Because it's my birthday," asked Melody in a small, hopeful voice. Hopes were always meant to be dashed.

"Oh, right. Five… Oh, Rassilon…

Anyways, work to do. Up and dressed in ten. Go!"

Melody jumped to life. The door was shut with a bang. Melody ran around her room, throwing on a golden-silk dress, pulling her thick, light brown hair up into a messy ponytail, and shoving her feet into a pair of Grecian sandals. She ran to the Hall, where her "training" took place every day and bowed before the Lord President.

"Good, Ms. Pond. I see you are perfectly punctual. I'm glad of it: That means more time for your training." His voice echoed across high ceilings and reverberated in Melody's sensitive eardrums. He pulled out a device, pressed a button, and pointed at the hologram floating above it. "This man," he paused to make sure she was listening. She was. She knew what would happen if she didn't. "Is the reason you are here. He is a danger to the universe, and you have to stop him. Or else, it means the destruction of our race and all races in existence."

Melody nodded, not trusting her voice. The man looked nice enough. Messy brown hair, partially tamed by gel in the front but cropped short in the back, a funny suit jacket, pants that were too short on him so you could see his bright white socks, a dark maroon bowtie, and a Stetson. She didn't understand why he was so dangerous, but she knew better than to ask. Her duty was to observe and follow orders. Her duty would lead to a psychopathic mindset that would not be scanned out of her mind by a simple Sonic Screwdriver to the brain.

"His name is the Doctor. Your job will be to kill him. But you cannot feel any remorse about it. If you do, the mission will fail, and you will die before you have a chance to get near him. I'm sure you don't want that," he ended, voice sickeningly sweet. "Now. We begin your training."

And begin it did. She quickly put a pair of pants and a shirt on, both black, and started out fencing. And fencing. And running. And, when she was about to drop, the Lord President stopped her.

"Come, Melody. Look at this man. Look him in the eyes."

Melody forced her aching jelly-legs to move her over to where the Lord President was standing. She gazed into the kind eyes of the Doctor. As she stared, she felt a creeping feeling in her mind, and the feeling became more than a feeling, it became a presence. The presence wrapped around her mind, and, with deliberate force, squeezed. Pain exploded behind her eyes, and she fell to the ground. A sob tore out of her chest, and the Lord President looked over her impassively. She came to hate this mysterious Doctor, who was the cause of all her pain.

The Doctor looked at River, eyes another hundred years older after hearing River's tale. "They did this to you every day?"

"More or less. Sometimes it would be different. Once, they forced me to regenerate. That's when I knew I was part Timelord. That's when I knew I was like you…" Her grip on the Doctor's shoulder tightened as she remembered.

The Lord President called for Melody Pond personally the day of her twentieth birthday. She rose gracefully out of bed, face impassive. She threw a dress on over her night gown, skillfully taking the night gown off under her dress while the Lord President stood impatiently in her doorway. Her room was much larger than it had been when she was 5. If she had cared at all, she might have noticed it was growing with her. Now, her entire attitude to the monotony was as impassive as the expression of the man before her.

"Come. There is much to do today." He swept out of Melody's room, expecting her to follow.

"What, no birthday wishes," asked Melody, smirking slightly. She followed him into the familiar Hall.

"We are doing something… different today, Ms. Pond," he said, his back toward her, once she entered the Hall.

"What would that be, my Lord President," she questioned with a sweeping curtsy.

"Regeneration." He turned, a glove—gauntlet—on his right hand and clenched his fist. The breath flowed out of Melody. She choked, gasped for breath, gazing imploringly at the Lord President, but nothing happened. His face tightened at the effort. Suddenly, there was silence. Melody's body collapsed limply to the ground. For a moment, nothing happened. Then, a bright, golden light was emanating from her pale pores, turning them darker, curling her hair, making her about six inches taller, and turning her eyes from a crystal blue to a chocolate brown. The light faded and she stood up. She looked at the Lord President, a new gleam gracing her eyes.

"So, what would my… "mission" be?"

"Kill the Doctor."

"Then, he sent me to earth, to find you. And find you I did, nearly killed you, too, Sweetie."

The Doctor shook his head. "One thing you never told me. What is the "Lord President's" real name?"

River hesitated. With how… Volatile the Doctor could be, she was afraid to tell him.

"Rassilon. His name was Rassilon. And Madame Kovarian is the Rani."

The Doctor's eyes filled with fire, and he called out the door of the TARDIS to Amy and Rory. "We're going on a trip, a long one. Grab your coats!"

A/N: Thanks for reading and bearing with me! please to review? I'll give you a dalek in a santa hat... (or find one and post a link to the picture to the next chapter)