"Hey, look at me. Just hold on." He said softly to Melody trying to make her as comfortable as possible.
"I used to dream about you." Melody told him, "That amazing box that is bigger on the inside. It hasn't changed. Neither have you."
"Doctor, What is she talking about?" Donna asked him. "She's been on the Tardis before?"
"Once when I was a toddler." She answered as her hands began to glow. He stood up quickly and grabbed Donna and Rose away. "Stay back," He called to everyone in the room.
"What the hell's going on?' Donna asked him furiously.
"Last time I did this, I ended up a toddler in the middle of New York." Melody explained as she stood up, her whole body glowing now.
"She's regenerating." Rose said amazed.
"Wait a minute, Melody is my daughter." Donna sounded confused now. "I named my daughter after my daughter."
"Yeah, pretty much," He responded and flinched as she slugged him in the arm.
"And you knew."
"I had no choice. I had to hide her from the Master." He tried to explain and was rewarded with being punched again.
"I'm so glad he did. And you see? It all worked out in the end, didn't it. You got to raise me after all." Melody told Donna and with that she exploded into a golden light. As she is regenerating he moves to the chair behind her and takes the bullets out of the gun and puts the gun back on the chair. He moves back to where he was standing between Donna and Rose and when Rose looks at him, he shakes his head. When the light faded a familiar face with curly hair stood in front of them. Donna fell against him and he looked at her to see if she had fainted. Her eyes were still open but she was in shock.
"Right, let's see, then." He watched as Melody examined her new body. He knew the feeling, the excitement as well as being scared and having to make sure everything turned out right. "The hair! Oh, the hair. It just doesn't stop, does it? Look at that." She ran across the room to look in a mirror above the fireplace. "Everything changes. Oh, but I love it. I love it! I'm all sort of mature." She stands next to the sofa and puts her leg up on it.
"Hello, Benjamin." She tells them.
"Who's Benjamin?" He asks looking at Donna and she just shrugs. As she examines herself in the mirror he casually turns the bowl of fruit behind him so that there is a banana facing them and the gun is in the back of the bowl.
"The teeth. Oh, look at them." Melody runs over to him and pins him against the desk with herself between his legs. He quickly grabs Rose's arm as he feels the anger flood off of her.
"Watch out for that tie." She bites at him and then pulls herself away and runs across the room. "Excuse me, you lot. I need to weigh myself." She tells them as she runs out of the room.
"My Melody, is River Song," Donna says weakly.
"Who's River Song?" Melody asks sticking her head back around the corner.
"Spoilers.' He says repeating the word she used on him back in the library.
"Spoilers? What's spoilers?" She starts to come closer but then turns and runs out of the room again. "Hang on, just something I have to check."
"Is anybody else finding today just a bit difficult?" Donna asks them quietly. "I'm getting a sort of banging in my head."
"Yeah, I think that's Hitler in the cupboard." Rose tells her and turns to look at him. "So how quickly can she regenerate again?"
"That's not helping." He says to Rose, "This isn't the River Song we know yet. This is her right at the start. Doesn't even know her own name."
"Oh, that's magnificent!" River calls to them from the over room. "I'm
going to wear lots of jumpers."
"Daddy," Kiam says quietly from where he and Amelia were still crouched over by the Tardis.
"It'll be okay, just stay there," He tells them and smiles as he sees Amelia pulls Kiam into a small hug.
"Well, now, enough of all that. Down to business." Melody say and points a gun at him.
"Oh, hello." He says casually. "I thought we were going to be friends."
"I told you I don't have friends." Melody answered him.
"Doctor, what's she doing?" Donna asks him.
"What she's programmed to." He says calmly enough as he realizes he got to her too late to stop whatever the Master had asked her to do.
"Where'd she get the gun?" Rose inquires.
"Hello, Benjamin." He answers.
"You noticed." She sounds pleased as she tries to fire the gun and it clicks the sound of the chambers being empty.
"Of course I noticed." He says and holds out a handful of bullets before placing them back into his pocket. "As soon as I knew you were coming, I tidied up a bit."
"I know you did." She says as he stands up, from leaning on the desk and heads towards her.
"I know you know." He says with a smile as she reaches into her pocket and pulls out a banana and points it at him.
"Goodness, is killing you going to take all day?" She huffs.
"Why? Are you busy?" He laughs.
"Oh, I'm not complaining." She says reaching over and grabbing a letter opener. He pulls out his sonic and zaps it out of her hand.
"If you were in a hurry, you could've killed me in the cornfield."
"We'd only just been reunited. I'm a psychopath. I'm not rude."
"You are not a psychopath." Donna says in her defense. "Why would she be a psychopath?"
"Oh, Mummy, Mummy, pay attention." River says sounding irritated that Donna wasn't keeping up. "I was trained and conditioned for one purpose. I was born to kill the Doctor."
"Demons Run, remember?" He says eying Donna. "This is what he was really doing. A child like him."
"I'm all yours, sweetie." She says stepping right up to him and kisses him lightly on the lips. He hears Rose growl in anger.
"Only River Song gets to call me that." He tells Melody and then raises an eyebrow at Rose amused. "Did you just growl?" He teases as her face turns red.
"And who's River Song?" Melody asks him.
"An old friend of mine."
"Stupid name." She tells him as she heads to the window and looks out of it." Oh, look at that. Berlin on the eve of war. A whole world about to tear itself apart. Now that's my kind of town. Mum, don't follow me. And, yes, that is a warning." She climbs up on the window seal and prepares to jump out of the window.
"No warning for me then?"
"No need, my love. The deed is done and so are you." She says as he starts to take a step forward and staggers almost falling to the ground.
"Doctor, what's wrong?" Rose asks him rushing over to grab him.
"What have you done? River!" He yells at her not even thinking.
"Oh, River, River, River. More than a friend, I think." She remarks.
"What have you done?" He tries again.
"It was never going to be a gun for you, Doctor. The man of peace who understands every kind of warfare, except, perhaps, the cruellest. Kiss, kiss." She says cruelly as she jumps out of the window and disappears.
"What's wrong with you? What's she done to you?" Rose asks him her voice full of concern.
"Poisoned me. But I'm fine." He says and tries to stand up and the pain nearly overwhelms him. "Well, no, I'm dying, but I've got a plan." He stumbles back towards the desk for support.
"What plan?"
"Not dying. See? Fine."
"Okay, what do we do? How do we help you?" Donna asks him as she helps him lean against the desk and he catches his breath.
"Take this." He hands the sonic to Rose. "The Tardis can home in on it. Now, go. Get after her." He tells them and watches Donna head to the window and look out.
"I'm not leaving you." She says as tears fill her eyes.
"Rose, you have to." He says and squeezes her hand. "I'll be okay." He stands up again and starts to head to the Tardis.
"You said the smoke was deadly." Rose tells him as she heads to the window with Donna.
"No, no, the smoke's fine, it will have cleared out by now, besides the poison will kill me first." He opens the doors to the Tardis. "Now, get after River!"
"I don't understand, okay? One minute she's fine and then she's going to kill you." Donna asks him.
"Ah, well, she's been brainwashed. It all makes sense to her. Plus, she is a woman." He watches them exchange glances with each other. "Oh, shut up. I'm dying." He says. He waits for them to disappear out the window before turning to the children. "Come on get inside." He tells them and then follows them aboard.