A/N: Welcome back, y'all! Thought I'd post a new chapter early since I've been in the zone all week. I hope you enjoy :)
Chapter 8: Search for a Song
The Doctor continued to scream and sob on the TARDIS floor in anguish over what was left of his wife's Flesh body for the next several minutes. He couldn't help but feel like he had truly lost her, that she was gone from him forever—both of them, including his unborn daughter—but in reality that wasn't true. Despite this truth, he stayed on the floor, letting his anger consume him until he was calm enough to act. Eventually, as the TARDIS 'cleaned up' the mess (in reality she had simply made the Flesh puddle disappear from existence), he got up from the floor and set a course for his old friend's house in Victorian London with a single goal in mind—rather, two goals combined into one: save River and his daughter and stop the Silence once and for all.
Once the TARDIS landed in Paternoster Square, 1892, the Doctor immediately rushed to No. 13's front stoop and frantically rung the bell and banged on the door until one of the homeowners answered the door.
Surprisingly, it was Jenny Flint, Madame Vastra's maid and wife, who answered. "Doctor!" she exclaimed, surprised, herself, to see him. "What an unexpected surprise! What brings you here?"
"Jenny!" He gave her a light smile and looked past her shoulder into the house. "Is Vastra home?"
"No, sorry," she shook her head. "She's out hunting at the moment, but she should be back soon. Strax is here with me, though. Why? What seems to be the matter this time?"
"It's River!" the Doctor said, feeling his hearts beating so fast to the point where they felt like they were going to burst. "She's gone!"
Jenny frowned. "Gone? You mean 'missing?'"
He nodded. "Yes! They did it again, Jenny! The Silence—they took River again…and our baby."
Jenny was shocked at this. "Your baby? So you and Professor Song have a child now? That's brilliant, Doctor! Congratulations!"
He replied with a heavy sigh, "Yes, well, now's not the time for celebration. She's in terrible danger; so is River!"
Jenny smiled. "You have a daughter? Even more brilliant!"
The Doctor groaned this time, not having any time for sentiments. "Point is, I need you three again to help me save them. You helped me so much in rescuing Amy last time, and I would really appreciate it if you helped me rescue my wife and daughter this time. Please, Jenny. You lot are the only ones I can trust who can help us. I can't lose them again. River needs you. My whole family needs you. Please." He could feel his guilt eating at him again, and he'd be damned if he were to arrive too late to save his wife and daughter. For all he knew, he may have already been too late at this point, considering how much time he wasted with the Flesh River, all because he didn't want to lose her.
Jenny paused for a few seconds before nodding and responding, "Okay, Doctor. I'll talk to Madame Vastra once she returns home. I'm sure she'll understand and would be willing to help you again. I know I am."
"Thank you, Jenny!" the Doctor sighed in relief, reaching out and kissing her on the forehead in delight before rushing back toward the TARDIS. "Tell her everything once she gets back, and be ready when I get back! I have to tell the In-Laws about their daughter and granddaughter!"
"We'll be ready, Doctor!" Jenny called back to him. "You can count on us!" As he was entering the TARDIS, he heard Jenny call to Strax as she reentered the house and shut the door, "Strax, call Madame Vastra! Tell her to come home immediately! We have an emergency!"
With that, the Doctor travelled to the Ponds' house in Present Day London, anxious to tell them what happened but, at the same time, worried about how they would react to finding out that their daughter was kidnapped by the Silence again, this time with their unborn granddaughter, which also upped his guilt. Regardless, he forced his guilt aside and banged on the Ponds' door with the same amount of apprehension as he felt on Paternoster Row.
Amy answered the door, happy to see him instead of surprised. "Doctor! What's up? How's Mels? Did she want to see us?"
"No!" he said as he automatically pushed past his mother-in-law and into the house.
"'No?'" Amy frowned as she closed the door and followed him into the living room where Rory was solving Sudoku puzzles in his recliner with Strictly Come Dancing playing on the TV. "What do you mean, 'no?' What's happened to her? Is she alright? Has she had the baby ye—"
"No, Amy!" the Doctor snapped, his stress-level rising. "She's gone!"
"Gone?" Rory repeated Jenny's earlier question as he set his Sudoku aside, turned off the TV, and rose from his recliner. "What do you mean, 'gone?' You don't mean, like…gone, gone, do you?"
"Yes!" the Doctor said immediately before shaking his head. "I mean, no! I mean…" He groaned as he pulled restlessly at his hair. "I don't know! All I know is that they've done it again!"
Amy frowned, trying to make sense of her son-in-law's gibberish. "'They?' 'Again?' Are you talking about the Silence? They've got Mels?"
The Doctor sighed again before explaining, "Remember what happened in your kitchen the last time River was here?" He then shook his head before rephrasing, "Oh, what am I saying; of course you don't remember. Anyway, it was the Silence! The Silence attacked you and River that day; that's why you don't remember! After they knocked you both out, they swopped River's real pregnant body out with a Flesh avatar, and that's what I've had on board my TARDIS with me ever since…at least before I was forced to disintegrate her."
"A Flesh avatar?" Amy gasped at Rory. "Just like they did to me during our honeymoon?"
The Doctor nodded. "Yes, and they did the same to River! And now they have the real River and, soon, our baby! She could be giving birth right now, wherever she is, and the Silence are with her, prepared to snatch our child the second she's born! We have to stop them! I won't let them take my daughter away, just like they took yours away! We have to save her! We have to save them, River too!"
Sensing his son-in-law's panic, Rory approached him and laid a comforting hand on his shoulder, saying, "Okay, Doctor, calm down. We'll help you save her."
"Together!" Amy added as she laid her hand on his other shoulder.
"No, Ponds," the Doctor shook his head, stepping away from them, "I can't let you go with me. Not this time. It's too dangerous; even more dangerous than last time. This won't be anything like Demons Run; if anything it could be worse…much worse."
"That doesn't matter!" Amy shook her own head. "They have our daughter again!"
"And now, granddaughter," Rory added with a grim nod.
"Exactly!" Amy nodded in agreement. "The last time they took our daughter, we couldn't do anything to help, and this time we want to change that! Even if you plan to look for her again by yourself, we're not gonna let you this time. We're gonna help, no matter what."
"She's family, Doctor. So is our granddaughter, and so are you. We never give up on family, no matter what happens."
"Don't even think about trying to stop us, Raggedy Man, coz we're not gonna let you! Us Ponds always stick together, for better or worse!"
"Even 'til death do us part," Rory added, "for the millionth time for me…" He then paused, suddenly thinking better. "Which hopefully won't actually happen, but you know what I mean."
Amy and the Doctor both laughed at this before the Doctor reached out and wrapped his arms around them. "Ah, Ponds… Whatever would I do without you?"
"Likely do nothing but sulk in your box all day and night," Amy shrugged, "which is very bad for you, you understand. It's one of the reasons why you should never travel alone for too long. We know how you get when you do that. We've told you that a million times."
The Doctor nodded. "I know, Amy…and you're right. You are absolutely right. I shouldn't do this alone…at least, not without you two. I asked the Paternoster Gang for help, but I'm going to need more than them. I'm going to need you two as well…" He then added with a sigh, "But at the same time I don't want you two to get hurt. I hurt you both last time when I failed to find and save Melody."
"That doesn't matter anymore," Amy shook her head. "We understood why you couldn't save her. If you had saved her sooner, she wouldn't have grown up to be the woman we know now."
"Yes, but she could've grown up normal," the Doctor pointed out, his guilt reaching peak point. "Isn't that what you always wanted for your child—for her to have grown up with a normal life?"
"Of course," Amy nodded before sighing. "Sadly, it was never meant to happen…but that's okay. She's all grown up now, still alive and well. Sure, we didn't get our baby back, but we got our daughter back. We got our best friend back."
"And we will get her back again," Rory smiled and nodded. "Together."
The Doctor hugged his Ponds again, tighter this time. "Amelia Pond, The Girl Who Waited… Rory Williams, The Last Centurion… As much as I want you both safe, I would appreciate your help all the same. I would give anything to have my family back together—permanently."
"Then let's make it happen!" Amy cheered before turning to Rory. "Suit up, Rory! We're going to get our daughter back!"
"By 'suit up,' you don't mean I have to wear that ridiculous Roman costume again, do I?" Rory groaned as he left the living room with Amy to prep for their daughter and granddaughter's rescue.
"That's exactly what I mean!" Amy chuckled after him. "So what're you waiting for, stupid face? Chop-chop! We're wasting time that Mels doesn't have! I'll go get my pirate costume!"
As Amy began following her husband upstairs to their room, the Doctor suddenly exclaimed in pain, clutching his head, feeling like some invisible person had just stabbed over a thousand needles into his brain.
"Doctor?" Amy paused and looked at him, concerned after hearing his scream. "Are you alright? What's wrong?" She then frowned when she noticed him suddenly smile, and asked, "Why are you smiling?" Why would anyone smile over a migraine? he heard Amy's added thought in his head.
However, that wasn't what he was smiling about at all. He was smiling over the new psychic link he received—a new psychic link he never thought he would ever feel again since the Last Great Time War when he lost his entire family, including his granddaughter, Susan.
"I sense her…" he said as tears of joy filled his old eyes.
"Sense who?" Amy deepened her frown, puzzled. "Mels?"
He shook his head as he felt a single tear slip down his cheek. "No… My daughter. She's been born." River did it! She successfully gave birth to their first child together—their baby daughter! If only he'd been there in person to see it… If only she wasn't surrounded by Silence…
Amy was speechless. "Doctor… That… That's amazing! Congrat—"
"It doesn't matter now," the Doctor said, steering back on track. "We shouldn't waste any more time! Hurry along and get ready, Pond! River needs us sooner than later!" Amy nodded as she joined Rory upstairs, preparing for war.
A/N: TO BE CONTINUED!
For anyone wondering about Amy's pirate costume mentioned in this chapter, I imagined after the "Curse of the Black Spot" episode from series 6, Amy took a fencing class and improved her fencing skills in the class, since she seemed to have a knack for it in the episode, and decided to purchase a pirate costume to go with her swords that she practiced with, especially since Rory still has his Roman costume from the Pandorica episode. Imagine the look on River's face when she sees her parents rescuing her while dressed as a Roman (again, in Rory's case—see "a good man goes to war") and pirate respectively, lol :)
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