A/N: On a personal note, being a young adult who's never experienced Pregnancy, I don't know anything about Pregnancy, and so I had to do a ton of research online on it that I included in this chapter. So if you (especially those of you who've had kids before and know what Pregnancy is like) notice anything wrong, please let me know, and I'll make sure to fix those mistakes.

That being said, on with the chapter :)

Chapter 4: The Deviants' Downfall

Several weeks went by, and, as expected, River's pregnancy was beginning to go into full swing. The first month after the new parents'-to-be initial discovery (which was two full months into River's overall pregnancy), things were pretty normal, at least for the most part. They continued to go on their typical adventures together (and for once, their timelines were parallel with each other, much to their happiness, as it was very rare for this to happen, if at all); though, by the third month, things were becoming much more difficult for the couple. There were several moments when River would suddenly feel sick, or even dizzy, while on an adventure, which seemed to slow her down greatly, and there were multiple times when she was almost killed as a result. Once this started happening, the Doctor insisted on River staying in the TARDIS, much to River's displeasure, as it reminded her of her time in Stormcage; but at least she had the freedom to go around the TARDIS, doing whatever and going wherever she wanted, unlike in Stormcage, where she frequently had to stay locked up in a grody cell all day and night (at least on nights when her husband didn't come to pick her up). This happened for another two months—her husband going out and doing his typical universe-saving by day, and 'returning home' to take care of his pregnant wife by night.

One day, on the fifth month of River's pregnancy, the duo made an unexpected—and possibly disturbing, at least to the Doctor—discovery, and one that would end up changing their lives forever.

"Great news, dear!" the Doctor smiled at his wife as he examined the image of the ultrasound that was shown on one of two monitors in front of him—the black-and-white image of his first child in centuries. "You were right! The gender of our child will, indeed, be a girl. At least in her first body."

"That is great news, my love!" River smiled back, rubbing her hands lightly along her exposed lower abdomen and contently watching the image of her child stirring inside. "I'm so happy for us! Of course, I'd be happy to raise a son as well, but raising a girl is just fine—better, even. I always imagined my first child to be a girl."

"Yes!" the Doctor agreed. "I am very excited! I'm sure Susan will grow to be just as brave and beautiful as you."

"Susan?" his wife chuckled.

"Of course!" her husband shrugged. "That's the name I've decided! It'd be utter insanity if we didn't name her Susan."

River chuckled again. "Sweetie, it's not just up to you to decide what to name our child. That's for us, as a couple, to decide."

"I know. I just thought it'd be cool to name our child…well, after one of mine. Well, grandchild, as Susan was my granddaughter."

"Don't worry, my love. Just for you, I'll consider putting 'Susan' on the list. Maybe I'll ask Mother and Father if they have any suggestions as well. They'll be thrilled to know they're having a granddaughter. What do you think?"

She glanced at her husband, anxious for an answer, but he was silent, transfixed on the other screen that she couldn't see, which showed the child's vitals as well as an image of her DNA. However, he'd brought up an earlier image of his own DNA out of curiosity and compared the two, and the results were unexpected, hence the confusion he was currently experiencing.

"Huh…" he said, frowning as he glanced between the two images. "That's strange… Why's it glowing like that?" For some reason, their unborn daughter's DNA's third strand (the strand that controlled Regeneration) was glowing incredibly and unnaturally bright, much brighter than his own, which gave off a slightly dimmer glow.

Seeing her husband like this sent chills up River's spine. "Sweetie? Are you alright?" She wasn't sure if she wanted to know the answer.

The Doctor closed his eyes for a moment as if lost in old memories. Memories of a past long forgotten to Time itself…or so he thought. "No…" he said suddenly, opening his eyes again, the disturbing realization dawning on him. "It can't be…"

"Doctor?" River tried pushing him again. "What's wrong? Tell me."

Instead of answering, he just continued mumbling to himself in disbelief. "I never thought it'd be possible. The odds of it… But it is! How can that be?" This was something he'd never considered before. Sure, the first time he saw his child's DNA, it looked strange even then, but he never thought it was a big deal until now, when he'd compared it with his own.

His child's DNA was clearly showing signs of being one of them! The 'ones' that the people of Gallifrey were forbidden to talk about.

River's worry was skyrocketing now. "Doctor, tell me what's going on. If there's a problem with my daughter's health, I need to know. Tell me the truth, and don't even try to lie. I'll kill you if I find out you're lying, and these aren't my hormones talking." She paused, waiting for him to answer, but he still refused. "Doctor, you need to tell me right now. What is wrong with our daughter?"

"Nothing," her husband exclaimed, seemingly in a tone like she'd irked him somehow. "Nothing is wrong with our daughter. She is in perfect health."

This, however, did not ease her worries. She sighed in aggravation. "Damnit, Doctor, I told you not to lie to me!"

"I'm not lying!" the Doctor insisted. "This time, I am being completely honest. Look!" He twisted the monitor toward River to show her their daughter's DNA results and vitals; he'd minimized the image of his own DNA to show later.

River frowned, skimming the monitor. "That's Time Lord DNA, and all of her vitals are normal, as they have been every day for the past several weeks. I don't see anything different this time."

"Look closer at her DNA," the Doctor said, pointing to their daughter's third strand. "I didn't see anything wrong at first, but then I compared her DNA with mine just now out of curiosity, and I saw this." He then brought back up the image of his own DNA where it was side-by-side with their daughter's DNA, showing that third strand of her DNA was much brighter than his own.

His wife shrugged. "I don't understand. Looks normal to me. Though, the 'Regen' strand on our daughter's is unusually bright in contrast to yours."

He nodded. "Exactly! It's not supposed to look like that. At least, it's not usually meant to look like that. It's meant to look like mine, at least in brightness; that's what a normal Time Lord's DNA looks like."

"Are you sure your 'Regen' strand isn't as bright, simply because you've expended all of your regenerations?" River asked with a raised eyebrow. Not that she knew much about Time Lord Genetics, but she assumed a Time Lord's extra strand's brightness would gradually dim as the Time Lord in question went through his/her Regeneration Cycle.

"No," her husband shook his head, confirming her theory to be false. "A Time Lord's body can still conjure Regeneration Energy even if they've expended all of their regenerations, at least until their final body dies." This statement made River think of that time when her husband used his energy to heal her wrist after that cursed Weeping Angel broke it in its unbearably tight grip. "That third strand will always continue to glow as long as I remain alive."

"So what's wrong with our daughter's strand being brighter than it should be?" she frowned, still evidently confused.

The Doctor shrugged. "It's not 'wrong,' per se. It's just extremely rare. In fact, that's where they get their name. 'Rare Individuals,' Rassilon called them; or 'Unspeakables,' since we were forbidden to talk about them in public. Or 'Time Lord Deviants,' as they were more commonly known; though if we ever had to talk about them, we'd refer to them as 'Unspeakables.'"

"What exactly is a 'Time Lord Deviant?'" his wife asked curiously.

The Doctor sighed, feeling uncomfortable about sharing, but he decided to anyway. "Way back in the day, back when I was a kid, Deviants were considered a myth; that was until certain Time Lords started showing the 'signs.' One Time Lord was known to have regenerated well over twelve times—'twelve' being the standard limit of regenerations per Time Lord, as you well know—and he regenerated a total of seventeen times before his final and permanent death. A handful of other Time Lords were said to have psychic abilities way beyond a normal Time Lord's comprehension. These Time Lords were said to have been extremely high-level telepaths, being able to project their minds across all of Space-Time rather than just to the person across the room."

"So they are Time Lords with abilities way beyond the standard abilities of a normal Time Lord such as yourself?" River summarized.

The Doctor nodded. "Yes. Those were some of the physical signs. Though, if you're a professionally trained doctor, like me, the most obvious sign is by looking at the brightness of the 'Regeneration' strand of a Time Lord's DNA."

"And if the 'Regen' strand is much brighter than the average Time Lord's 'Regen' strand, they are considered 'Deviant?'" River asked, nervously looking at her daughter's DNA image.

Her husband nodded again. "Yes. Although, some Time Lord Deviants had learned to hide their Deviancy by attempting to change their DNA to some extent with Regeneration, though many were unsuccessful, as they still continued to show signs after Regeneration."

"So what happened to the Deviants that were caught?" River asked, her nervousness increasing.

The Doctor pursed his lips grimly before reluctantly explaining. "They were forcibly taken to the Capital to be mercilessly experimented on; or, depending on how powerful they were, they were simply executed, deeming too dangerous to Gallifreyan Society and to the universe. There was one major event in Gallifreyan history—the second worst event in history behind the Last Great Time War—that which Rassilon dubbed 'The Deviants' Downfall.' Many Deviants planetwide were executed by his order, and the Capital televised it live to the whole world. I was just a kid when it happened, and even back then I understood what was happening. Needless to say, it was not a pleasant thing to see."

"Of course not," River nodded. Who would want to watch one of their own kind slaughtered like cattle on live television? She thought as she felt another shudder run up her spine. If she had to watch that happen to her own daughter…

"One of my best friends, aside from the Master, turned out to be Deviant," her husband continued his story, "and this I found out years after the Downfall, during my time at the Academy. Shortly after he told me he was Deviant, he was never seen or heard from again. My guess was that our government somehow found out, or overheard him, and dragged him away. I never saw him again."

"That's horrible. I'm so sorry, sweetie." She felt bad for her husband having had to grow up in such a cruel society. No wonder he wanted to leave and never come back, she thought. For a brief moment, she imagined herself in her husband's shoes, stealing her own TARDIS and flying away at the earliest opportunity, even if she was too young to pilot one; unlike her husband, who left at a much later time with his granddaughter, only to come back centuries later to fight in the worst war in history and then end it for good by committing mass genocide to his own people (that last part, she couldn't imagine doing herself).

"It's alright, River," he smiled sympathetically. "There was nothing I could've done. It was the law. All Deviants were considered too dangerous to any living being in the universe (at least that's what Rassilon believed), and they were ordered to be taken in for experimentation or executed by law."

"And apparently our unborn daughter is Deviant," his wife pointed out nervously. "I don't want to jinx it and say, 'it's a good thing that law no longer exists.'"

"Oh, don't worry, it doesn't," he assured her. "That law died with Gallifrey. Still, we need to be careful. Who knows what would happen if anyone finds out about our daughter being Deviant. Other beings, like the Daleks, may want to execute her instead, just for the mere hell of it; or the Silence, with everything they did to you."

"Over my dead body," River scoffed. Not that she remembered much of what the Silence actually did to her, and it was a good thing she didn't; but if they so much as laid a finger on her daughter…well, let's just say they wouldn't live to see another light of day.

"Mine too," the Doctor nodded in agreement.

"So where does her 'Deviancy' come from?" she frowned, puzzled. "Could it have been from one of us?"

Her husband shrugged. "Perhaps. Like I said, my DNA doesn't show any signs of Deviancy; if I had, I obviously wouldn't be alive today; I would've been taken away not long after Initiation. So maybe she inherited it from you."

Her frown deepened. "From me? You mean because I was conceived in the Time Vortex?"

He nodded. "Exactly. The Time Vortex is a very complex thing. Even the Time Lords hadn't fully been able to understand it; even I still don't, and I've travelled through it for over seven-hundred years." His own statement made him remember the time when he saw River's (or Melody, as she was named then) DNA at Demons Run, how her third strand looked strikingly similar to his unborn daughter's, except his daughter's DNA strand was significantly brighter than her mother's, about as bright as the Sun. "Though, I will say your DNA looked unusually bright when I saw the scan at Demons Run, so perhaps you showed signs of Deviancy too. Plus, you were conceived in the Time Vortex, unlike most Time Lords—me included—who got their powers by looking into the Untempered Schism."

"Could a Time Lord still become Deviant even after looking into the Untempered Schism?" River asked curiously.

Her husband nodded. "That has happened before, but, again, it's very rare. That one Time Lord I mentioned that regenerated seventeen times—he was one of those people, and he wasn't even given a whole new Regeneration Cycle either; his first Cycle just happened to have more than the standard twelve, which was very unusual."

"I wonder if our daughter will be born like that," she pondered aloud, "either with more than twelve regenerations or with much more advanced psychic abilities."

He shrugged. "It is very possible that she could have one, or the other, or possibly both abilities. We won't know until she's much older, most likely when she becomes a teenager. She definitely won't show any major signs until her first regeneration."

At this, River sighed with a smile. "Well, whatever she comes out to be, I will love her dearly." Whether her daughter was 'Deviant' or not, it wouldn't matter so long as she was part of the family.

The Doctor smiled back as he leaned in to kiss his wife as well as her exposed belly. "As will I."

A/N: TO BE CONTINUED!

For those of you who are still confused as to what a Deviant is, here is a recap:

Basically, they are Time Lords that are either born with or given extra Time Lord abilities after being exposed to the Time Vortex. They are still given (or born with) the power of Regeneration and Telepathy, but their powers could be much more advanced. For example, as mentioned in the chapter, a Time Lord could be born or given more than twelve regenerations (or possibly an infinite amount), or a Time Lord's psychic abilities could be much more advanced than the average. The Doctor is considered as a "low-level telepath," since he can project his thoughts into another person's mind from either across the room or by physical contact; but Deviants could project their minds across all of Space-Time.

You could also compare Time Lord Deviants with the android Deviants in the "Detroit: Become Human" video game, for those who had seen or played it.

As a side note, I struggled to decide whether River Song as considered a Deviant, what with her being conceived in the TARDIS while in flight through the Time Vortex. Let me know what you think in the comments about whether you think River is Deviant or not.

Friendly reminder to check back every once in a while for updates, since I tend to edit my chapters shortly after initially posting them. As most writers well know, our biggest curse is that our rewrites never end.