I must warn you of a slight amount of pain in this chapter, but don't worry just keep reading... so back we go...Back to the TARDIS!
Clara ran behind the Doctor, his sonic had buzzed when they were watching a parade of three headed aliens whom the Doctor said, were all called Sheila, and he shouted as he ran through the back streets, that the TARDIS had returned. He was pulling her along at a fast pace then stopped suddenly, nearly making Clara trip over onto her face, he caught her and marched up to the TARDIS doors muttering at the blue box about how she had worried him sick and asked "Well, where is she?" at least three times. He paused and looked back at Clara, smiled, and clicked his fingers, the doors opened to reveal a crowd of confused and irritated people.
"But the angels, they took you!" Vastra was talking to two people who she couldn't see "But how are they here?" Clara thought, she noticed Jenny and Strax nearby, at least here were some faces she knew. Two people, one, the long legged women, Clara recognised but the other, a small framed man with broad shoulders and a large nose spoke for the both of them to Vastra "We were, then, we glowed and we were here." the large nosed man said, " The Doctor must have saved us!" the long legged women said gleefully, her Scottish accent seemed similar to the Doctor's own.
"And me!" Another older ginger women squealed.
The group all fell into conversation about their respective pasts, seemingly unaware of the two people who had just entered. Clara didn't hear all of it, but from she gathered, they were all ex companions of the Doctor. The ginger long legged woman who she overheard was called Amy suddenly turned to the large-nosed man, who was apparently her husband Rory, "Where's our little girl?" The group looked confused, and then an attractive black women walked forward to the ginger couple, "What's her name? Who is she?"
Clara watched as the Doctor walked forward, "River Song." he answered, the group turned toward him,
"And who are you?" An angry looking blonde stomped toward him, but a tall thin man who Clara suddenly realised was a former face of the Doctor grabbed her arm and held her back, "No, Rose, that is not a good idea..." he pulled her back warily. "Handy! Good to see you!" the Doctor extended a hand out to the thin Doctor, the man took it and shook it warmly. The Doctor walked around the group shaking hands, hugging and saluting members, calling each by name, "He obviously hadn't realised none of them knew who he was." Clara thought. She fought sight of the Doctor who had done an entire round of the crowd then stood up on the pilot chair and cleared his throat. He paused. "I'm the Doctor! Fantastic, allons-y, Geronimo!" the group's eyes widened.
The Doctor just stared at the sight before him, all of them, from his new forms since the war, all of them. From Rose to Clara. "Um well hi everyone!" he continued to speak, remembering faces, regrets, laughter and tears, then swallowed the demons and continued speaking, "I have no idea why the old girl," indicating the TARDIS, "Has brought you all here but I think it has something to do with..." Amy marched forward, " Raggedy man! Where is my..." Rory took Amy's hand "Our." he growled, "Our," Amy continued, "daughter?" the Doctor swallowed hard, like he was trying to swallow a huge stone. "She died Amy, saving me, I didn't know her then, first time, last time problem, meeting in reverse, she was consumed by the data core of the largest library in the universe, just because she knew if I died instead of her, I'd never meet her, I'd never meet you...It hurts me every moment of every day. She knew everything about me, the only one who ever did, all my secrets including the most important one of them all, my real name. The last time she ever really saw me, she saw a man who only looked at her with sorrow and regret, she saw no love in that man's eyes that she knew would know her so well. All she saw were the eyes I give to a person I am sorry for, not the one I love." The group gasped and started to shout at him from all sides but the Doctor turned away, he was silent for a second, he had to say something, something to change the subject. How he felt about his wife, was his business and his alone, but his hearts betrayed him, he's never really been able to grieve over his wife, he just distracted himself by the mystery of the impossible girl, his Clara, he turned back, tears threatening to fall, "All the things we could have done, all the things I wanted to say to her, and I NEVER can. I will never ever forget her, Melody was the best of me." The doctor grabbed both the Ponds into a hug and hung his head. "I'm sorry, so sorry to all three of you." the bereaved parents stood there, silent and still, too shocked to speak, they turned to a corner of the console, clinging to one another and then, Clara swore she heard sobbing. The Doctor stared at them, unmoving, he felt the empty pit of despair he stored his wife's memory in rising and enlarging again, it hurt, he suddenly shouted, "It hurts!" He clutched his head in his hands, the pain was spanning his entire body, it felt like something was being ripped out of him, he glowed all over, massive streams of golden light,
"Doctor what's going on?" the group all panicked, "Are you regenerating? How? Why? You're not dying are you? What's going on?" the questions circled the crowd surrounding him, "This isn't a regeneration, this is, is, no you are not coming out! Go to sleep, you child, I swear to Rassilon! Stay inside my head!" the crowd took steps back, confused and scared. The glow grew brighter and then it stopped, but that wasn't what shocked the group, Clara walked forward, followed by Amy and Rory.
"Howdy!" the man who stood before them wore a long purple coat and old man shoes, but no bow tie. "Why Hello older me! I think you need some help, our wife is missing and she is definitely causing trouble somewhere so let's go, Comon! Comon! Comon! Wait!" the previous Doctor span and felt for his bow tie, his face fell, "Oh where is it?" he said annoyed. A glow shot out from the current Doctor's head again and hit past Doctor, a purple bow tie appeared. "That's better, don't you think silver fox?" the older doctor laughed heartily, "Most definitely raggedy man!"
"How are you here?" Clara asked, "You're dead." The young man turned and smiled, " That's rude and Well physically, yes, but technically I'm alive in his head."
"All my faces, all of them, are right in here." The older Doctor tapped his temple.
Jack walked forward, "Did you say your WIFE was missing?" he cocked his head at the two time lords. The two men turned and smirked awkwardly at one another. The rest of the group, bar a few more knowledgeable individuals just stared, struck dumb by the bombshell of the Doctor's new found domesticity. Donna recovered first. "You're married, just tell us, she isn't some kind of mad-women, is she?" the older Doctor laughed, the younger answered, " She's our amazing bespoke psychopath!" both shared a knowing smile.
"River?" Amy and Rory asked, hesitant to hope that their daughter had escaped her fate.
"Well you know rule 1 don't you?" raggedy chirped. "The Doctor lies!" Amy and Rory said in unison,
"Left me like a book on the shelf," Clara realised, the two men turned to her, both of their eyes darkened. "You," Clara pointed at the younger version, "You said she died, you never went back, for your WIFE!" Both men stared, emotionless, at her, as if not really looking, more at some past memory. "We married twice." raggedy spoke quietly, "I still wear the ring from the second time, the time she truly became our wife." The older man raised his hand and the younger smiled. Reaching into a pocket in his coat, the younger version took out a small black box, and opened it to reveal an exact copy of the older Doctor's ring, he put it on, "Might as well," he admired the ring for a second "I just didn't really want certain people," looking at the older Doctor, who nodded "knowing about her situation. If they knew she was alive, who knows what they would do to her." the two men shared a long serious look.
"Who are they and what would theydo to River?" Clara said concerned.
"Kill her to get to you." Both Doctors froze at that voice. Amy and Rory clung even closer than before, "No, not my baby, not again." Amy buried her head into Rory's shirt. The group turned to the console screen, the horrid twisted face of Madam Kovarian greeted them.
"How did you find her? How did you bring her back? Her body is dead! Only her mind remains. Unless..." the older Doctor nearly fell into the console, he gripped the console, his knuckles white. "Perhaps I should let the saviour of your friend's precious little girl explain? Although, from the look on your face, I'd say you may have an idea." Kovarian stood aside to reveal Tasha Lem standing next to a hooded figure, both Doctors eyes narrowed sharply. The younger strutted forward "Oh, you were brave Tasha, for once in you life you were brave, and now look at you Tasha Lem, using her for your dirty work again. Tell me, was hurting the innocent child enough for you? Do you know Melody had the most beautiful little mind when she was born, it took me years to finally heal the wounds YOU inflicted, now I've got to start all over again!" Tasha looked across at the hooded figure and chuckled. " Ha Doctor! You think I did this! Thank my partner here, without their expertise, Your little wife would still be a data file in a book! Let me be the one to reintroduce you, to an old friend." The Doctor staggered back, "No, how did you escape? You were trapped, you can't be here!" the hooded figure stepped forward, the group in the TARDIS huddled round the console screen, as the hooded figure undid his cloak, it fell to the ground.
"Well, well, well, Doctor, how is my oldest buddy?" The Doctor's grip tightened further into the console. The Master bowed theatrically "How did you escape?" he growled, extending out every word.
"Well, you can thank our people for that, Doctor, they rescued me, trying to make amends for the violence they caused. I found myself in the care of the silence, they brought me back to health, I even have my own army. For a while I was content to work quietly behind the scenes, then, when I heard of all your escapades, I just had to mess with you again. So I asked the silence for their experiences with you, and I came across her..." The Master's grin became angled and horrid, the Doctor shut his eyes briefly. "She really is amazing, Doctor, a female time lord-human hybrid, well at least she was..." The Doctor looked up sharply, "What did you do?!" his anger was slowly seeping through his words,"Just be less emotional, like River told me, less emotion." he thought, his face softened. "What did you do to her?" The Master's face fell, annoyed by his enemies apparent unfazed nature toward his own wife. "I located her in the library, that took a long time, the women is extremely hard to pin down," The Doctor smirked, then mentally berated himself for the memory of River that popped into his head, "Darrilium certainly was a night to remember." he thought. The Master had noticed the wandering of the other time lord's mind and cleared his throat. " I took along these two lovely ladies here and they ransacked the place, much to my annoyance, though I had only one task, to find our fellow time lord. I reached the core and deleted all unnecessary data like those stupid human friends of hers." Donna grabbed the Doctor's arm, "Evangelista! She was barely more than 22. What about the little girl? She was 10!" The Doctor turned to Donna and placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. He then faced the Master again, his face redisplaying the anger from earlier, " All of them, dead?" his tone was low and dark, the Younger Doctor, who had been listening with his head down, raised his head, and shared a saddened look at Handy and his older counterpart. "All of them!" he smiled maliciously. "I downloaded Melody's mind into the pocket watch I used to store my own to trick you. Then when we were back at base I..." The Doctor butted in.
"You found a way to open a stable time Vortex, download her mind into it, and then hoped the time lords take pity on the part time lord that just appeared in front of them." The Master clapped slowly. "And they did, they did right?" The Doctor didn't know for certain but he was pretty sure.
"Yes they did, but they didn't just bring her back, they improved her." Both Doctors shut their eyes, they suddenly looked much older and weathered,
"Does she has a new name? Do you know it Master?" The Doctor was scared now. "No. She doesn't speak, doesn't even make a sound." the Master answered, "I'm telling the truth, her name is a mystery even I have not solved." The Doctor was about to enquire further when the Ponds walked forward, "Doctor, what has he done to our daughter?" The doctor turned to the group, who had been completely silent apart from the odd gasp or whisper when the Master appeared, they were staring intently at him,and younger him.
"She has been made into a full time lord," he said quietly, "The human part of her is all gone, she kind of isn't even my wife any more, that's why..." The Doctor stopped talking and turned back to the screen, "Show me her." he ordered them.
"Certainly! We've been waiting for you to ask." Kovarian said slyly. The three of them moved to one side to reveal a cell block and a darkened figure was chained by their wrists and ankles, their head hung over forward , limp and seemingly lifeless. "Light her cell up." Tasha Lem ordered to someone off screen. Blinding florescent lights illuminated the cell, the group all stepped back shocked, the younger Doctor whimpered and turned away briefly before walking forward again to join the older version. Both stared at the women who now hung before them, the women who formally had such a love of life now resembled a piece of meat hung up in a butcher's shop. Her wrists were obscured from his view by giant cuffs, squeezing tightly into her skin. Her arms were covered in blood which must have come from the tightness of the cuffs on her tiny wrists. The blood had soaked the top part of her dress. The dress that must have been cream and long originally, now was short and tattered, and dirty brown in colour. River's toes only just touched the floor and she had balanced herself precariously on the ground, water and blood pooled at her feet. Amy pushed past her husband to see their daughter and screamed, "My Baby! Melody! Oh god! No! Melody!" Amy's legs sank beneath her and Rory caught her but he just stared at River, tears running down his face. Rose had hidden her head into John's chest and Donna had looked away in fear. The other members of the group's faces were a mix of horror and terror. The two Doctor's stood in complete silence, the younger's lips quivered slightly, and older felt his eyes watering. Both shared a long look at each other then the elder spoke.
"River? Sweetheart?" He sighed softly. Jack's ears pricked up at River's name, and turned away, fiddling with a small device. River must have heard him as she lifted her head up from staring at the floor and turned her face away from the screen, "River?" The younger Doctor spoke up "Look at me honey." she turned herself slowly, the chain creaking against the rust of the wet environment, until her back now faced him. The two Doctor's both felt a horrid sense of dread.
"River?" The elder spoke again, "Please look at me, Please, I just want to know you to know its me. River? Please, honey, its me, I'm your husband, I'm the Doct..." The Doctor couldn't speak, River faced him, her eyes were dark and large black circles were below them, a large purple bruise had formed below her right eye and a bluish bruise was on her collar bone, the dress had ripped there. "Riv..." The Doctor choked on her name, a mix of anger and sadness filling his throat, "River," he began again "Can you see me?" she nodded, "And me?" The younger asked, River nodded again. Tasha Lem walked forward and the Master and Kovarian moved back, "Now, Doctor, here is the deal, hand yourself over quietly and we return Melody to the safe walls of the TARDIS." Clara stood beside the two Doctors and the Master smiled "And what happens if he doesn't hand himself over, River is a time lord, you wouldn't kill her!" Clara felt smug, but the Doctor's eyes were still uneasy, a look the group were soon learning was much more frequent these days.
"None of us would kill her, but the clock is ticking till she dies." The Master said, his face dead-pan.
"What do you mean?" The Doctor growled.
"You'll find out if you exchange yourself over, and your pretty little woman will be saved." River jerked at his comment, her eyes narrowed sharply. The Doctor's eyes shifted toward his wife then back to the Master, "How long?" he asked.
"One day, that's all, one full day of time travel." the Master answered. Tasha Lem smiled sickly, "Just to persuade you to side with our offer, Pull up the chains!" The group all lunged forward, even Kovarian and the Master seemed concerned, "But mother superious, it could kill her! She would regenerate, the energy would overload her system, she would die." Kovarian pleaded with the superior woman. "She went through worse when we trained her...Every punch and kick she took, made her tough, this will only strengthen her further. Raise the chain!" Lem ordered again, Amy and Rory cried at the two Doctors and the two versions of the time lord both leaped forward, "NO!" they both screamed. The guard raised the chain, River's feet went clean off the ground, her head lurched backward, but she gritted her teeth together and slammed her mouth shut, she didn't scream, her legs kicked wildly, but they were constrained by the ankle restraints. The younger Doctor looked at the elder, the elder spoke, "Stop, please, stop, where's the meeting site, I'll make the exchange, just let her down, take the chains off, please, she isn't part of this, you're only using her, like you always have, please, let her down." Tasha Lem waved her hand and guards let down the chain, River dropped to the floor hard. She didn't move for a second, all held their breath, then slowly she raised her head, and pushed herself, painfully, to her knees, and dragged herself to the cot on the side of the cell. Tasha Lem huffed, "I told you, it would only strengthen her resolve." she said to Kovarian who looked only at River in wonder. River looked at her arms and legs, sank slightly into the bed, and squeezed her eyes shut. Suddenly a golden light shot out all around her, it dispersed and River was fine, she was healed completely. The three captors looked annoyed, River looked up at them, folded her arms and smiled smugly. The Doctors looked only at their wife.
"Let us talk to her." the younger said.
"Alone." the elder added.
Tasha Lem looked unsure but nodded, "You have one minute." she ushered the others out of the room, the door shut and the Doctors both walked forward,
"Hello Honey!" The younger chirped, though the concern he truly felt filtered through.
River reached for some paper on a desk near her and wrote in a pen from the nearby drawer. They waited for a second and then River held up the sign, The Doctors and the Ponds laughed despite the situation, "Hello Sweetie! Xx" the paper read. The group had so many questions but thought it best to let the two doctors and River's parents have some time with her. "How long have you been there?" Rory asked, River wrote again, on the back of the paper this time, "6 hours and I've only escaped once Dad... Gotta fix that... How is everyone then?"
The group were struck dumb by how cheery Melody seemed, considering what she'd just been through. Clara was the one who voiced this, River looked at Clara for a second before writing a response. "I've been through worse, trust me when I say I really have...Remember Alpha nine Sweetie?" The two time lords shuddered, "Vividly dear, I try not to think about those worms..." the elder squeezed him face up.
Rose asked the obvious question, "Where exactly are you?" River looked sideways and shook her head, "Can't say, you really think they left me alone..." she wrote back. The younger Doctor was quiet, unlike him, he spoke up suddenly, "I miss you!" He placed his hand on the screen, and she smiled sadly at him, the elder turned away and took the diary out of his pocket and turned it in his hand. Tucking back the book in the safety of his jacket he joined the younger him at the screen and placed his hand next to his predecessor. "I still think about you, every day." River turned her face away again, and slumped against the cell bars. The elder had a thought, he changed hands to his left, the younger smiled. "River, look at the screen honey." The younger asked her gently. She turned slowly, her eyes red and puffy, she was crying, but she stopped when she saw the elder's hand, "Is that the ring I gave you?" She wrote, The Doctor nodded enthusiastically, "It was the only way of me keeping some contact with you, that and the diary. I just couldn't think about not hearing your voice again, speaking of which, why can't you speak to anyone?" River smirked and wrote in Big letters, the Doctor knew what was coming but waited for the answer anyway. "SPOILERS ;) Don't worry about me dear, I always have a plan."
The Doctors both realised, their time was nearly up, "River, please listen, don't be worried, I'll find a way to save you, I promise, we," the younger points to the elder, "We promise!" the elder was about to speak, "River, I have to tell you, River Song, I..." Tasha Lem and the others reappeared, River's cell was locked from view and both Doctors replaced their happy face for one of anger and steely determination. "One day of time travel Doctor, and counting." Tasha Lem said.
The Master laughed, "Shame she has to die Doctor, she's very pretty."
Kovarian was last, as the screen crackled and died, "Tick Tock goes the clock, and all the time you fly, Tick Tock goes the clock, your love will surely die..."
The connection died,leaving only a clock, counting down, the younger Doctor immediately spun into action, pushing buttons and spinning levers, typing numbers and pulling cords, but the elder stood still. When the younger hit his hand on the console hard, the elder snapped back into reality and pulled the younger to face him, "Raggedy, we can't find her, the TARDIS couldn't track her." the younger slumped into the pilot's chair and his fringe covered the young man's face, his shoulders shook slightly. The current Doctor sat next to him, he looked hopeless. Clara walked over to the two men who recoiled at her approach, "We have to think!" the younger turned to the elder, "About what? Where could she be? What idea have we got? Nothing! They would have killed her if she tried to tell us, all of the friends who were with her are dead, she is completely and utterly alone in there. Tell me bow tie, because I have NOTHING, just what plan could we possibly use to help River escape when we don't even know where she is?!" The elder fell back into the seat and put his head into his hands.
Suddenly a massive lightning flash filled the room and thunder clapped, the group rushed backwards but the Doctors both leaped forward, "River?!" they both shouted, but the person in front of them wasn't River, Clara walked toward them, "Doctor, it's a little girl, how did a little girl appear in the TARDIS?" The small girl looked around, tears streaming down her face, "Mummy? Mummy, where are you?" she went back to her search. The Doctors both stood in silence and in unison Donna and John both said "Charlotte?" questioningly. The small girl looked up from her search in response to the name and ran to the skinny man she recognised and the older ginger woman she had saved, "Doctor? Donna?" the girl, Charlotte, was terrified. John smiled sadly, "I'm sorry Charlotte Abigail Lux, I'm not the Doctor, just a copy, however those two fine men can help you." Charlotte turned in the direction that the copy Doctor pointed, one of the men, was young, but looked old, the other was older, but looked younger. They both stood staring at her, they then both ran to her and slid to their knees, Charlotte stumbled back at their erratic behaviour. "How did you survive?" The younger man said, "Where did you come from?" the elder added. Charlotte looked from one man to the other, "Doctor?" she said to both, the men both nodded, "Mummy sent me, she pointed a glowing stick at this arm band," she showed the two Doctors the strange wrist device that brought her here. "Then I was here, in a flash of light." The two Doctors looked at each other, then back at her, "Tell us what happened to you Charlotte, from the Library, to right now, everything!"
Charlotte was about to tell the events of the past through hours when Donna stepped forward, "You were in that library for years, your mother wasn't there, who is she?" The Doctors both smiled, "Oh, Donna Noble," the younger stood up as the elder picked up Charlotte, "What did my wife say?" Jack cocked his head, "Is that my vortex manipulator?" The Doctors chuckled, "Spoilers Jack, if I told you that, there wouldn't be any fun in finding out, would there? And no, she didn't say that..." It was Vastra who answered "I always have a plan, River, she's your mother! BUT DOESN'T THAT MEAN..." the Doctors laughed, "Oh shut up Vastra, Charlotte's my adopted daughter, If River and I had children, you'd know it, trust me on that. A time lord pregnancy is certainly not easy..." Rose put a hand on each Doctor's arm, "And you would know, hey, you said you were a dad once..." The Doctors both smiled sadly then sat Charlotte on the pilot's seat and knelt before her, "Tell us everything, sweetheart. I promise we will find Mummy, she means a lot to us." The younger said softly. Charlotte put her tiny hands on the elder and younger faces, "Are you both my Daddy then?" They both nodded, "Mummy said you were always confusing." The Doctors both chuckled, "Well she was right about that. Tell you what, tell us what happened and I'll give you one of the prize biscuits from our biscuit tub, the only other person was ever allowed in there was Mummy, and she used to hide a stash from me!" Charlotte giggled, the two Doctors sat, one on each side of Charlotte, and she explained what happened. When she got to the part when she became human again the elder Doctor turned her head to him and checked she was healthy, just as her mum had done. When he was satisfied she was completely fine, he nodded and she continued, how she was dragged to a cell and when her mother arrived, that she no longer spoke, but did acknowledge her so she must have been fairly alright.
The group listened transfixed by the girl's remarkable escape, and all were silent when she finished. The Doctors both leaped to their feet, and the younger rubbed his hands, "Now let me get that manipulator off you Charlotte." he did just that and placed it delicately on the console. The elder used his sonic and scanned the device, he smiled and showed his younger self, "Ha ha! That's my girl!" the younger Doctor jumped nearly a foot, spinning and punching the air. The elder laughed heartily. Amy and Rory walked forward hesitantly, "What have you found Doctor?" Rory said, "Have you found our daughter?" Amy said through small sniffles. The two men turned to the group from a hushed discussion they were having. "We know why the TARDIS brought you here." the younger spoke confidently, the elder put a hand on the excited child-like predecessor next to him "She was recruiting an army, my army. We're going to storm Storm cage." Jack spoke up, "But that place is impregnable, it was built to house the most terrible criminals of all history. There was only one who ever escaped and they kept coming back, like they found it a challenge. Doctor, you can't go there, she is the woman who kills you... Professor River Song."
Four of the group burst out laughing, the others turned, confused "I don't see what's funny?" Jack said, the Doctors both tried to stop laughing but instead seemed to find what Jack said so hilarious, the younger fell on the floor clutching his stomach in stomach ripping laughter and the elder hit his hand repeatedly on the console. "Doctor, she could kill you!" Rose said and ran to the men but they immediately turned serious, "That was my past, her past, we...oh my god! We're linear! Completely normal time travel in the same direction!" the two men high fived and started to fly the TARDIS. "We'll tell you about it but first we need a plan." the elder said, "Oi, old man," the younger stopped dancing round the console and smugly lent on a lever, then the level dropped beneath his weight, making the TARDIS whine angrily. "Let's just break her out like we always do, she'd like that!" the older man nodded and they continued their merry dance. Clara walked over, "Doctor, have you found her?" the younger answered, "Yes Oswald, River fed back the coordinates where Charlotte was transported from in the manipulator, clever, my wife, very, very clever. I loved braking her out just for the conversation with ab equal mind!" Jack pulled the younger to face him, the Doctor squirmed in his coat at the intimidating stare he got, "You broke Song out!" The Doctor removed Jack's hand with a light wave of his own, and straightened his bow tie. "River is good, better than most of you, whatever you think, whatever she says about herself, or what others say about her, River is good, she is the best woman we know." the younger Doctor opened a compartment under the console and picked up a spare sonic, that looked like his own, before the new Doctor changed it. The group now turned to the elder, "Time to spring out our wife..." he said slyly.