A/N: Welcome back, y'all! This chapter is a much chiller one, now that all the craziness from the last chapter is over. I hope you enjoy :)
Chapter 10: Lost and Found
River sat, sobbing over the loss of her daughter. Her parents stood by, attempting to console her, her mother with her arms draped over her shoulders. The Paternoster Trio stood awkwardly to the side, away from the family, feeling sad for them and seeming unsure of what to say to lift the family's spirits.
Meanwhile, the Doctor stood at the TARDIS console, brooding and staring gravely at the controls, wanting to operate them to go after his daughter, but he didn't know where his enemies were taking her, therefore he couldn't go after them. This was all his fault. If he hadn't wasted all that time with River's Flesh self—if he had stayed with her that day at her parents' house—he could've prevented all of this from happening. Rather than his daughter be born surrounded by his enemies, she could've been born surrounded by her family instead. If only he'd been a bit harsher with his wife…
But it was too late. The Silence had won—again—and there was nothing he could do. He was completely out of options. He let the Silence get away again, all because he was too sentimental to his wife, when he should've been more strict with her—'the sentimental idiot,' as she always called him. Now his daughter had to pay for his mistakes, his stupidity. Now she would grow to be just like her mother—his new bespoke psychopath—and there was nothing he could do to fix that. Nothing.
"I'm sorry, River," Rory sighed, placing a comforting hand on her shoulder. "We'll get your daughter back…somehow."
"We have to!" Amy agreed. "We can't let them get away with this! Not again! First, our daughter, and now our granddaughter! This can't go on!"
"They already have, Mother!" River sighed sadly. "We're too late to go after them! They could be anywhere in Time and Space!"
"So we search everywhere!" Rory shrugged. "Obviously they're taking her somewhere but not nowhere!"
"What would be the point?" River shrugged back. "The universe is infinite! You'd have to search every planet, every galaxy, every era… It's impossible!"
"We can't just give up!" Amy groaned, standing up. "Like I said before, we never give up on family, no matter what happens! You lot may have given up, but I haven't! I'm not gonna let them turn my granddaughter into an assassin!" She then said, approaching her son-in-law anxiously, "Doctor, what do we do? Surely there has to be something we can do! Anything!"
"I'm sorry, Amy," he muttered, still staring solemnly at the console, "There's not. River is right. There's nothing we can do for her now. She's gone."
"Seriously?" Amy exclaimed in disbelief, throwing her hands up in exasperation. "You're giving up too? Since when do you give up, Doctor?"
"I have no choice, Amy!" he snapped at her. "Just like I didn't have a choice back at Demons Run when they took River!"
"But that was different!" Rory argued. "As bad as it sounds, if they hadn't taken River, she wouldn't have grown up to be the woman we know now! But your daughter still has a chance to be saved!"
"We can't, Rory!" the Doctor said, his anxiety increasing as he ran his fingers restlessly through his hair. "Like River said, she could be anywhere in Time and Space! It would be impossible to physically search everywhere! The only way it could be possible is if I psychically connect—" He paused, suddenly realizing something as he began slapping himself on his forehead. "Ugh, I am so stupid! Stupid, stupid, stupid Doctor! That's it!"
"What's it?" Amy frowned.
"What's going on?" Jenny asked, just as confused as Amy.
"Doctor, please explain!" Vastra agreed with the other ladies.
"Spit it out, man!" Strax demanded.
"I can use my psychic link to locate her, using the TARDIS's Telepathic Circuits!" the Doctor explained happily as he rushed to that side of the TARDIS console. "That was how Time Lords were able to locate other Time Lords back in the day when they weren't on Gallifrey! With River, I had to use a physical sample of her DNA, since she is not a full Time Lord; but since my daughter is an almost full Time Lord, our psychic link should work in locating her! Thankfully, our link is very strong!" He groaned to himself again. "Blimey, I can be so thick sometimes!"
"Well, what're you waiting for?" River said. "Do it before she's lost forever!"
"Doing it now!" her husband said as he placed his hands on the Telepathic Circuits. He closed his eyes in concentration, only thinking of his daughter, as he whispered softly to the TARDIS, "Come on, Old Girl… Find her… Bring me to her…"
"Where're we going?" Jenny asked, still seeming as confused as everybody else.
"I don't know," Rory shrugged, "but hopefully to our granddaughter."
A few seconds later, the group felt the entire TARDIS shudder as the deafening sound of the Cloister Bell began ringing out.
"What was that?" Jenny screamed over the noise as she covered her ears. "What's going on?"
"The TARDIS is struggling to land!" River replied as her parents held onto her to keep her steady in the chair. "She's trying to land on something that's already in motion!"
"What, like a spaceship?" Amy asked curiously.
"Haven't we been on enough spaceships today?" Rory grumbled in response.
"Something much smaller and faster than a spaceship," River said as she glanced at the TARDIS screen that was facing them. "More like a tiny shuttle."
"How would you know that?" Amy frowned at her.
"Look at the screen," River nodded toward the screen showing said 'tiny shuttle'; though, as they seemed to move closer to the craft, it seemed to grow larger in size—as objects typically do when one moves closer to one.
"Oh," Amy frowned to herself for missing the painfully obvious.
Meanwhile, the Doctor was ignoring the rest of the group as he concentrated on his daughter, anxious to save her. One false move, and he could lose her forever. "Come on, Old Girl…" he whispered as he sensed her getting closer to her—their—intended destination. "You can do it. Don't give up on me now. We're so close…" A few seconds later, the space/time ship shuddered again, indicating a successful landing. "There!" her pilot exclaimed in triumph as the Cloister Bell ceased, much to everyone's relief.
"We landed!" Amy praised. "You did it, Doctor!"
"We did it!" he corrected as he rubbed the side of the console in appreciation. "Well done, Old Girl!" He then said, turning to the group, "Right! Let's go get my daughter back!"
"I'm coming with you!" River said as she stood up from the chair determinedly.
"No, River," her husband shook his head. "You should stay in the TARDIS. You're still too weak from childbirth. I can handle this on my own."
"I wouldn't recommend that, Doctor," Vastra, said, stepping forward. "You don't know what might be out there. You'll need someone to watch your back. Allow me and Strax to accompany you."
"Alright, fine," he agreed reluctantly. "The rest of you, stay here."
"Hurry back, Raggedy Man," Amy said as she stood by her daughter once again. "We don't want to lose you too."
"Don't worry, Ponds," he smiled at them. "I won't be long. I'll find her."
"Be careful, sweetie," River said, worrying for both her daughter's and husband's safety.
"I will," he said as he gave her a quick peck on the cheek. "I love you. I will bring her back. I promise." He then said, nodding to Vastra and Strax, "Right, let's go!"
"Good luck!" Jenny called to them as they prepared to leave.
"May the Goddess protect us," Vastra whispered to herself as the three of them briskly set out into enemy territory.
Once they exited the TARDIS, they entered what looked like the Cargo Hold of the shuttle. Large boxes and crates filled with weaponry and other military equipment were stacked high and low, filling almost every available space. No wonder the TARDIS struggled to find a good landing spot, the Doctor thought to himself as he noticed his beloved time-machine wedged seemingly uncomfortably between two large stacks against the outer wall of the shuttle. He immediately began using his psychic abilities to find his daughter, closing his eyes in concentration.
After a few seconds, he said, pointing toward the opposite end of the Cargo Hold, "The sense is stronger that way," before turning to Strax and saying, "Strax, stay on guard in case anyone heard us land. Vastra and I will check this out."
"As you command, sir," the Sontaran whispered with a brief salute as the Time Lord and Silurian left him by the TARDIS, his gun poised and ready for any sudden attack on the group.
As the Doctor and Vastra moved closer to the area, they began hearing what sounded like a baby's soft cuing coming from a closed door, followed by a swift 'shush, they'll hear us' from someone else in the room. "Do you hear that, Doctor?" Vastra whispered to him as they slowly approached the door. "Sounds like a crying infant inside, and it sounds like there's someone else in there as well."
"Yes," the Doctor nodded. "She's in there. I can sense her." After discovering the door to be locked from the inside—the person inside must've locked the door upon hearing them approaching, the Doctor thought to himself—he used his sonic screwdriver to unlock it, and they both entered the dark room to find a young boy, who appeared to be no younger than four years old, leaning over a small cradle from which the soft cuing was coming from.
"Who are you?" the boy said, frightened at the sight of them. "Mummy says no one should be in here."
"It's alright," the Doctor said as he put his hands up in surrender. "We're not gonna hurt you."
"Are you bad guys?" the boy frowned suspiciously at them. "Mummy says I need to protect the baby from bad guys, especially from the bad man."
"You were right, Doctor," Vastra muttered in his ear. "The child is present. Right there on that table." She nodded toward the cradle that the boy seemed to be guarding. At this point, the sounds coming from it changed from soft cues to scared crying.
The Doctor put a hand up to silence Vastra as he put his entire focus on the boy, sensing that it will be a challenge to get to the cradle, as the boy looks ready for a fight, determined to protect the baby at all costs. "Your 'mummy' tasked you to protect the baby from 'the bad man,' eh?" he said calmly in an attempt to reason with the boy. "Perhaps we can help to protect you from him, whoever he may be." Deep down, he knew 'the bad man' was himself; no doubt this boy was to be another of Kovarian's weapons against him alongside his daughter, he thought. "Where is your mummy? Why has she left you by yourself? It's not safe to be by yourself if there's a 'bad man' about."
Or perhaps Madame Kovarian herself was the boy's 'mummy,' or perhaps that was just what the boy called her, evidently not understanding that Kovarian was not his true mother but rather the woman who kidnapped and brainwashed this poor boy—much like she did River back at Demons Run—and Kovarian was the only person he considered to be his true guardian, and he was clearly not old enough to know any better. And what was worse was that the Doctor didn't think he could teach this boy any better, especially considering the boy's distrust toward him and Vastra, and it broke his hearts to see an innocent child like this.
"He wants the baby," the boy continued, "but he can't touch her. I'm supposed to protect her with my life. That's what Mummy told me. I have to protect her from the bad man."
"I understand that," the Doctor said as he slowly approached him with his hands still raised in a calming gesture, "but it's alright. What's your name?"
"Nolan," the boy replied.
The Doctor nodded before saying calmly, "Nolan, you don't have to be afraid. I'm a good man; you can trust me. Me and my lovely friends here, we can save the baby from the bad man. We're here to take her to a much safer place; somewhere the bad man won't ever find her."
Nolan raised a skeptical eyebrow at this. "You say I can trust you, but how do I know you can be trusted? How do I know you're not a bad man?" He then paused and frowned, seemingly recognizing the strange man before him. "Wait… The green lady called you 'Doctor.' That's you! You are the bad man! I recognize you from that picture Mummy showed me! She says you're evil and a killer and that she wishes you were dead!"
Hearing those words come out of a four-year-old's mouth twisted the Doctor's hearts into uncomfortable knots, but he ignored them as he shook his head and said, "That's not true! I mean, I am the Doctor, but I'm not evil, and I'm certainly not a killer." At least, I'm not anymore, he thought, thinking of Gallifrey. He then continued out loud, "I'm a good person, Nolan, like you. I save people. I protect."
"Mummy says that's a lie!" Nolan snapped at him. "She says everything that comes out of your mouth is a lie! She says you destroy worlds and that you destroyed your own world once!"
"Now, what you said right there is actually true…" the Doctor sighed regretfully, "but it's not important. What's really important right now is the baby's safety. I must take her now." He began approaching the cradle one the table, but Nolan stepped in front of it, blocking the Time Lord from getting any closer.
"No!" the boy snapped once again. "You're the bad man, so you can't touch her! I won't let you!"
"I'm sorry, Nolan," the Doctor sighed again, "but you don't have that choice. You can fight me if you want, but I'm still taking her. She is my child, after all; I am her true father."
"Step away, human scum!" Strax said, having come out of nowhere, as he pushed the boy back with ease with his large gun, giving the Doctor full access to the cradle. "Interfere, and I'll blow your head clean off of your puny shoulders!"
"Strax, no!" Vastra cried. "He's just a child; he is no threat to us! Leave him be! On a side note, I'm certain we told you to stay on guard outside!" She then turned to the Doctor and whispered anxiously, "Doctor, we need to leave. Someone could come down here at any moment. Doctor?"
But the Doctor wasn't listening. He stared, transfixed, on the child lying in the cradle, her expression instantly changing from fear to happiness at the Doctor's—at her father's—mere presence. "Oh, look at you…" the Doctor whispered to his daughter, seeing her for the very first time. "You are beautiful."
Indeed, she was just as beautiful as he imagined her to be, with her mother's perfectly rounded cheeks and her father's dark green eyes. She even had his pointy chin, though not as pointy as his own. She was truly the image of perfection.
He scanned the baby with his sonic to make sure she was real and not a Flesh copy before he carefully lifted her from the cradle and cradled her in his arms, holding her close. He watched as she yawned and closed her eyes, falling asleep in the comfort of her father's embrace. In that moment, the Doctor couldn't keep himself from crying instantly at this tender sight.
"Doctor, we need to go now!" Vastra said with a little more urgency. "I can hear someone approaching!"
"Yes," the Doctor nodded as he held the baby tighter, refusing to let her go, "let's go." Before leaving, he turned back to Nolan, who stared with malice and contempt toward him as they rushed back to the TARDIS, "I'm sorry, Nolan. I am so sorry. You don't deserve this. Nobody ever should." Nolan frowned at this, as the Doctor expected, but he knew he couldn't do anything for him, so he rushed out of the room and back to the TARDIS without another word, having no choice but to leave the boy at the mercy of the Silence.
"Doctor! You're back!" Amy cried in relief as he, Vastra, and Strax reentered the safety of the TARDIS. "Thank God! Mels was so worried!" Once the door was closed, the TARDIS automatically flew herself away, letting the Silence shuttle continue on its journey without their prized weapon on board.
"Not as much as you were, Mother," River chuckled at her as she stood up and approached her husband. "Are you alright, my love?" she asked him, not noticing the white bundle in his arms right away. "Did you find her? Is she safe?"
The Doctor smiled with tears still lingering in his eyes. "Yes, River. I found her. She is perfectly fine; and yes, this is her real body. Look." He angled his body where everyone could see the small infant snuggled contently and comfortably in his arms.
"Oh my god…" Amy gasped as she looked down on her new grandchild. "She's adorable!"
"Let me see her," River insisted as she reached out, wanting to cradle her child.
"Careful, River," Rory warned as he saw her sway slightly on her feet. "You're still not fully recovered. Don't rush yourself."
"I'm alright, Father," she shook her head. "Let me see her."
"Sit down first, and I'll hand her over," the Doctor ordered before the family did just that, settling River back down in the chair across from the console. Once she was fully settled, the Doctor carefully handed the child over to her, and she immediately wrapped her arms around her.
"She's so beautiful…" she sighed tearfully as she gently caressed the child's soft cheek, easing her into a much more peaceful sleep in her mother's arms.
"She has your chin, Doctor," Amy chuckled. "That's so cute."
"She has my eyes too," the Doctor smiled proudly.
"Does she? I wish I could see them."
"Let her sleep, Amy," Rory told his wife. "She must be exhausted after everything she's been through."
"After all we've been through," the Doctor added, thinking how close he was to losing his daughter to his enemies, just like her mother before her.
"How does it feel, Mr. Pond?" River chuckled to her father. "You and Mother have a grandchild now."
"A human/Time Lord grandchild," Amy added excitedly.
Rory paused, seemingly timid to be under the spotlight. "It feels…weird, but also very exciting at the same time. I thought it'd be years before I'd have a grandchild. I never thought I'd get one so early."
"I think it's absolutely brilliant!" Amy smiled. "I've always wanted to be a granny."
"'Granny Amy,'" River snorted at the title.
"Exactly!" Amy chuckled back. "Speaking of names, what're you gonna name her? Surely you have a name in mind."
River nodded, staring down on her sleeping child. "I do. In fact, it's a name I've been calling her on impulse since she was born… One that I think would be perfect for her…"
"What is it?" Rory asked curiously.
"Go on, Mels, tell us!" Amy said excitedly.
"Nova," the new parents said in unison.
River frowned up at her husband in shock. "Yes, 'Nova.' How did you know?"
"I heard you say it through our psychic link," he said honestly with a small shrug.
"So that's why you said the name before," Amy pointed out. "You weren't referring to the supernova at all! You were referring to your daughter! That's what I thought!"
"So you decided to name your daughter after the supernova that the Silence were messing with?" Rory said in seeming disbelief.
"What, exactly, were they doing with the supernova's energy, anyway? Were you able to find that out?" Amy asked her son-in-law.
River answered for him, much to his relief. "It doesn't matter anymore. We got our daughter back; that's all that matters now. We'll make sure they never find her again."
"What's wrong, Doctor?" Rory asked, noticing the strange look on the Time Lord's face, like he was seemingly worried about something.
Deep down, the Doctor was worried about something—worried that whatever the Silence were doing with the star's energy was going to possibly harm his daughter in the long run. Normally it wasn't healthy for there to be a star's energy inside a person's body, and he was concerned about what that much power would do to a Time Lord's body. Perhaps nothing would happen, as long as his child possessed the ability to regenerate; then again, that soldier claimed that they were merging the star's energy with her Regeneration Energy, and he had absolutely no idea what would happen once his child legitimately regenerated for the first time (or many times after that), how powerful the initial blast would be and how much damage it would cause to the environment. What if there were people around; would they get seriously hurt? In any case, a blast like that could expose her to a great many dangers, particularly the Silence, or even the Daleks, and he'd be damned if that were to happen to his daughter—to Nova.
Not wishing to think about these scenarios further, the Doctor shook his head and sighed, saying instead, "It's just… As much as I like the name 'Nova,' I was hoping to name my daughter after my granddaughter, Susan."
"We can still name her that, if you like," River offered. "We can use that as her middle name."
"'Nova Susan,'" Amy smiled at the name. "That's a beautiful name."
"And she can take up my surname, 'Song,'" River added.
Amy's smile broadened. "Hmm… My granddaughter's name is Nova Susan Song… I'm sold!"
"Me too," Rory agreed. "It is a beautiful name."
"What about you, Raggedy Man?" Amy turned to her son-in-law. "What do you think of the name?"
"Nova Susan Song…" he smiled. "I love it. It is perfect. May I?" He reached out as River willingly handed his daughter back to him. "Welcome to the universe, Nova," he whispered as he kissed her on her tiny head. It finally happened! After so many centuries, he was officially a father again, and he'd be damned to ever give up the opportunity anytime soon.
"Congratulations on your newest addition to your family, Doctor," Vastra said as she walked over to him. "She is absolutely exquisite."
"Thank you, Madame Vastra," he smiled at her in reply. "She will be well loved by all of us."
In that moment, Vastra brought the Doctor away from the Ponds and to the other side of the control console to whisper to him privately. "Forgive me for seeming intrusive, as I have no biological part of this family, but I can't help but feel worried for her safety as well as yours. We risked much to get her back. The Silence will be after her like a moth to a flame, you understand, as will many others. It will be a challenge for you to protect her full-time."
The Doctor sighed, glancing toward his family. "Yes, I was just thinking that myself. I may have to give her up."
"Doctor…" Vastra gasped, astounded.
"Everywhere I go, death and destruction always follow," he explained with a regretful sigh. "I can't allow Nova to be a part of that. Giving her up may be the only way to keep her safe. Safe from the Silence. Safe from me." He glanced to River, noticing her laughing happily with her parents, and sighed again. "But at the same time, I can't do that to River. She needs her chance to be a proper mother, which is a privilege her parents never had. They deserve a chance to be together; more than that, to be a family. I can't take that away from them."
"And what of Nova's…'Deviant' abilities?" Vastra asked curiously. "No doubt she'll gradually come into them as she grows up."
"Then she'll have to keep them hidden. Even the slightest exposure, even by accident, could risk the Silence discovering her location. She must never come into her powers; for a Time Lord, that typically happens after the first Regeneration, or after they've been exposed to the Time Vortex. But since she's already been exposed to the Time Vortex, much like River, she shouldn't fully come into her powers until after her first Regeneration, but that shouldn't happen anytime soon." He sighed sadly, glancing back toward the Ponds. "I've lost so much, so many people. I can't lose them. I can't lose her." He couldn't help but think of what would happen if the Silence—or any other major enemy of his—found Nova and did what they originally planned to do before he saved her. He couldn't help but wonder what kind of monster they would've turned her into with the added star's energy and how powerful her Regenerations might be with the star's energy in the mix.
"I understand, Doctor," Vastra said as she laid a gentle hand on his shoulder. "You want what is best for your child, and perhaps this is best for her."
"It is," he nodded. "I know it is. I…just don't know how I'm going to tell River. It would destroy her. It would destroy them, Amy and Rory included." He knew he would have to have this conversation with them eventually, and he knew that neither of them were going to like it, but he feared that he had no other choice. If this was the only way to ensure his daughter's safety, then he was willing to do whatever it took, no matter the consequences. Even if it risked him to never see his daughter again, then so be it.
"I understand," Vastra nodded again. "Give yourself time. For now you should take the time to celebrate with your family. You deserve a rest, even if it is for a short time. Nothing is more important than family."
"You're right," he replied. "Thank you, Madame Vastra. For everything. I'll send you, Jenny, and Strax home now."
"All the best of luck to you, my old friend," Vastra smiled as the Doctor handed Nova back over to her mother and set a course back to Victorian London.
A/N: TO BE CONTINUED!
Nova's origin story is almost fully wrapped up. Just two more chapters left, and it's back to Nova's main story :)
Any ideas on who the mysterious Nolan might be? I would love to know your thoughts in the comments. He will become a major character in Parts 2 and 3. Also, you may have already seen him in Part 1, if you read that already. Slight spoilers, lol :)
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Also, friendly reminder that I tend to have a major habit of rewriting things, so be sure to check back every once in a while (maybe even reread the previous chapter or chapters) to keep up to date on any changes I may make or add.
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