A/N: WARNING #1: this chapter is very emotional, especially at the end, so have your tissues ready.

WARNING #2: This is a slight spoiler to avoid any confusion. In the dream scene at the beginning of this chapter, Nova is subconsciously projecting her mind into her father-guardian's mind. So when reading the dream scene, the point of view is mostly her father-guardian's and not her own. Of course, Nova is not yet aware of her mind-projection ability, but it will be explained and further explored at some point later in the story.

Chapter 15: Daddy's Girl

It's dark in the prison ward, with barely any light shining through the thin cracks in the eroded stonewalls. There is a pungent odor in the air, like sewage, and the tiniest sound of a drip somewhere close. Not much is really known about this dismal place, but one thing that is known is the literal as well as metaphorical fear that resides within these walls, especially within the cell that which I am caged in.

Tight arms cling tight to me from my right, and, without hesitation, I wrap my arm around the shoulders of the owner. "It's okay, dear," I say in a deep yet comforting tone, "I'm sure she's fine, wherever she is."

"I want her back," my wife sobs in the crook of my neck. "I want her back in my arms."

"I know," I assure her, tightening my hold on her, "I miss her too. She's a strong young woman; she'll be alright." She is our daughter, after all; she'd never leave us indefinitely, despite what she said in her letter. I am certain of that.

"Do you think she'll come and rescue us?" Hazel—poor, poor Hazel—asks, her little voice shaken and sorrowful in the cell next to us.

"Of course, Hazel," I say in a hopeful tone. Even though I'm not very positive with our predicament, better to give them false hope than no hope at all. "She always comes back. Once she finds her real mother and father, they'll come looking for us. We'll see her again soon."

"I'm scared," Hazel sobs in her own cell. "I want to go home." If only I could share with her the same comfort that I am giving my wife, it would be like receiving the same comfort from her own parents, but alas that is not possible.

"We all do, Hazel," I assure her. "Nova will come for us; we just need to hold on for her a little while longer."

In that moment, I struggle to hold back a choked whimper, fearing for my wife's and Hazel's safety as well as my own, knowing how dangerous and utterly psychotic these people who captured us—these so-called 'Vokanari'—are. These are the people who want to take advantage of my daughter, to turn her against her own family, including us, and I will not allow that to happen.

"Yes," one of the twisted psychopaths sniggers to us, a perverted grin plastered on his greasy face, "the little Time Lady will come for you, and when she does, we will be waiting. She will run right into our trap, and we will finally have her."

His words sprout something dark in me, and I find myself balling my hands into fists. Before I could say anything, Hazel beats me to it. "You're wrong!" She exclaims at the guard. "She's stronger and cleverer than you! She'll never be foolish enough to join your freakazoid cult!"

Knowing how deadly these people are, I shout, "Hazel! No! Don't talk back! Let us handle it!" If they harm her, I'll never forgive myself.

Instead of lashing out, the Vokanari guard laughs hysterically and says to me in a mocking tone, "Handle what, 'Dad?' You're stuck in a cell! You can't defeat us, and nor will your little Time Lord child! She left you, never to return again."

Before I can say anything, Hazel talks back again, saying, "No, she left to protect us! From sickos like you!"

"Hazel!" I warn again. "Stop!" Not that she's wrong. Nova had often worried that she'd attract danger to our house because of her otherworldly abilities and biology, and had often talked about leaving us once she came of age, but I never thought she'd actually go through with it. I expected her to eventually get over her fear and accept who and what she is—more than that, she would continue to be human—but that was not meant to be. Now I fear I may never see her again.

The Vokanari guard then turns to Hazel and walks in front of her cell, that smirk ever present on his face. "Oh, really? Tell me, why was it so easy to snatch you after she chose to separate from you? Not a very good friend to abandon you with 'sickos' like us, huh?"

His words make that darkness in me grow stronger in my veins. "Say one more word about our daughter," I growl, "and I'll break your fucking nose." My wife protests, panicked that the guard would hurt me if I did, but I ignore her. I truly mean what I said. No one insults my daughter in front of me.

The guard then turns back to me, continuing as if I never said anything at all. "Not a very good daughter, either, leaving you without so much as a 'goodbye.' Then again, she was never really yours, was she? She was just a pet to be sat for."

That's the final straw! When the guard reaches the bars, I take the opportunity to punch him hard in the nose, exactly like I said I would. I hear my wife scream in horror, but it falls on deaf ears as seething anger takes over my body.

"Big mistake!" the guard growls, rubbing his heavily bleeding nose. "You will royally pay for that! In death!"

Suddenly, he lunges at me with something sparking at the tip, and I feel a massive burst of energy and pain flow through my body when it hits me square in the chest, sending me to my knees.

"NO!" both my wife and Hazel scream as the world begins to cloud around me, and I am greeted with silence.

The world suddenly comes back into focus, but the room remains dark as I struggle to get my bearings. I sit bolt upright, skin sweating, throat throbbing, and chest burning, like I've been hit with the world's most powerful lightning strike. As I clutch my chest in pain, I glance around the room to discover that I am back in my bedroom at home, though there is a strange droning noise that is faint but still noticeable. I can also feel a slight vibration in the floor, which is something I've never felt at home before.

I have also never had a dream like that before. What was that dark place? Why was Hazel and my mother-guardian there?

Moreover, what happened to my father-guardian? In the dream, I was seeing everything from his point of view, and I could sense everything he was thinking and feeling, including the pain he felt when that sicko had attacked him with the electric stick. Was he alright? The sicko swore he was going to make my father-guardian pay for punching him in the nose "in death;" did that really happen? Is my father-guardian dead? If he died…

No, I shake my head, he's fine. Both of them are. So is Hazel. She's at home, and they are downstairs making you a nice, warm breakfast. That was all just a dream; nothing bad would ever happen to them.

But what about my bio-parents? I respond to my previous thought, like my mind is having a two-sided conversation. I recently met them in person; didn't that happen, like, yesterday? Aren't I supposed to be with them now, in London?

That's when I suddenly remember. This room isn't actually my bedroom; this is, in fact, a copy of my bedroom back home in an impossible blue box that is bigger on the inside than it is on the outside. It is also one that is not from Earth, nor are my parents…and me.

My eyes suddenly flood with tears, realizing the reality of the situation. My trip to London, the attack in the alley from the Silence (Vokanari), and meeting my bio-parents for the first time…none of that was a dream like I thought; it was all real. The pain I felt when I left my guardians without saying goodbye. The fear I felt when I was attacked in the alley. The anger I felt toward my bio-parents for leaving me on Earth without an explanation as to why they gave me up in the first place, nor the fact that I was three buses, a long walk, and a taxi from human.

And now the fear I have for the safety of my guardians, wherever (or whenever) they are. That dream felt so real, it was like I was actually there, in place of my father-guardian. Everything he felt and how much he was feeling it, I felt it too; but even though I wasn't actually there, even across all of Time and Space, I felt it just as much as he did.

How did I do that? I ponder to myself, frowning at the sheer impossibility of it. How could I have seen, thought, and felt everything that he was seeing, thinking, and feeling, when I am nowhere near where he is? How is that possible?

Of course, the obvious answer should be that it is not possible, but somehow I made it happen, and I don't know how. Could it be a Time Lord thing? I wonder. In any case, it's one of the weirdest things I've done—especially since I seemed to have done it unconsciously—and it probably won't be the last weird thing I do.

Maybe my fath—the Doctor might have some answers. Unfortunately, I don't trust him, and if it's true he may be the only one with those answers, I may not have a choice. Perhaps my mother, River, might know a thing or two about Time Lord 'things.' She is half-Time Lord, after all.

With heavy hearts, I slowly pull the covers off my body and swing my legs over the side of the bed. As I stand and stretch, I see that sometime in the night (or sometime earlier, as it's difficult to determine the normal time of day in a time-machine, if there is such a thing as 'night,' 'day,' 'yesterday,' etc.), my bio-parents had delivered Hazel's and my luggage to my room and stacked them against the wall by the dresser. After I mentally thank them, I begin opening every suitcase and sort through what's mine and what's Hazel's. Sorting through Hazel's things makes me think of her in that dark place, having who-knows-what done to her. She must be utterly terrified, wherever or whenever she is, and it makes me immensely guilty for what's happened to her.

That guard was right; I wasn't a good friend for leaving her side. I thought I was doing the right thing by leaving her—by leaving them all—but I was wrong. Because I left, they were taken, and now I'm not sure I'll be able to fix what's befallen them, or whether they're even still alive. If I ever find them, I'll be sure to give the Vokanari what's coming to them like I promised.

After finding a clean pair of jeans, a T-shirt and jacket, I take them into the bathroom, undress from my old clothes from the previous day, and jump in the shower. After twenty minutes of showering, I dry off, dress into the clean clothes, and do my hair up in a simple Dutch braid running from my forehead to the center of my back. Once I'm fully dressed for the day, I exit my room and into the dim, otherworldly hallway outside.

As I struggle to figure out how to retrace my steps that the Doctor took when he carried me from the Control Room to my room, I think about our first meeting yesterday. We didn't exactly have very good first impressions with each other (partially because of my socially-awkwardness, but mainly because of my constant anger toward them for giving me up, which now seems pointless and irrational, as none of what we've been through all these years was their fault), but I am determined to fix that. After all, if it's true about what they said about there no longer being a safe place for me in the universe except here in the TARDIS, I'll be spending a lot of time with them (no pun intended), so I'll have to get to know them at some point. Now that they've taken me back (I think, as right now it seems only temporary until the Vokanari are defeated for good), I want to learn to love them like a true daughter would toward her true parents.

Once I get my bearings, I walk down the hexagonal-shaped hallway until I reach the Control Room, where I can hear my bio-parents having a serious argument. Instead of intruding on their conversation, I quietly listen in instead behind the wall at the top of the stairs.

"River, I really must protest!" the Doctor is saying to his wife by the control console. "You betrayed them, therefore they will kill you!"

"I'm well aware of that, my love," she answers calmly, "but it is necessary. Yes, I betrayed them when I fell in love with you, but they also trained me. I know how to fight them; I can use my training against them. If you go, they'll kill you, and I can't let you die…not again. Besides, Nova needs protection, and you're the only one who can protect her. It has to be me."

She's clearly talking about the Vokanari, I realize. She seems to be planning to find them to get my guardians back, and the Doctor is very against it. Of course he'd be concerned for his wife, I think to myself, especially when she's seemingly planning to return to the people who made her the murderous weapon that she was when she was a child. This thought makes me want to step in and interfere, but I stay put and continue listening.

"It doesn't have to be you," the Doctor highly disagrees. "I can send the Paternoster Gang instead. They can find them just as easily as you, if not more so. Plus, there's three of them and only one of you. I don't want to lose you." I can tell in his voice that he is struggling to fight back tears, and he is about to lose the battle, but River is having none of it.

"You won't lose me," she says, shaking her head. "I'm a child of the TARDIS. I'll always find my way back to her…" She then caresses her husband's cheek lovingly. "Back to you." Even she sounds like she is struggling to fight back her own tears, and I can't help but think, Man, I never would've thought they'd be so emotional, especially about goodbyes. Then again, I was never good with goodbyes either, and I'm still not.

"River…" the Doctor sighs as a single tear slides down the cheek that River is caressing; clearly he lost the battle with himself to not cry for fear of losing his wife to the 'freakazoids' that are the Vokanari. "Our daughter… If you die…"

To hide her own tears, River abruptly gathers her husband in a tight hug, which he returns, immediately burying his face in her curls. "Doctor, stop! Nova will be fine, with or without me. She has you. You said you wanted to train her; this is the perfect opportunity. While I'm away, you can spend time with her, get to know her…be a father to her. She needs you."

"She needs you too," he whimpers in her curls. "She needs a mother. It's what you've always wanted since you married me."

"True," she nods, "but she's grown up now; she can look out for herself. But she needs to know where she comes from…what she is. You are the only one who can help her see that, help her understand."

"I can't do it alone," the Doctor whimpers again, wrapping his arms around her more tightly, like if he lets go for even a second, she would disappear forever. "I lost her once, and I just got her back; that doesn't happen very often. I don't want to lose her again. I don't want to lose you either. I want us to be together…the three of us, as a family."

"We will," she assures him, pulling away slightly where her arms are still around his neck and their faces are close enough to each other where their noses are almost touching, "but not until the Silence are defeated once and for all. As long as they're out there, they'll just continue to hunt us down, and they won't ever stop until we're dead…until you are dead. They want Nova to be their next weapon against you, and they're using her guardians as bait to get to her. She wants to save her family, but we can't let them take her. That is why I am going to find them, and I have to go alone. Please, my love, try to understand. I am doing this for you…"

What?! I scream in my head as a response to her statement, just shy of slamming my fist against the wall in disbelief. Uh-uh! No way, you are not leaving without me! I got them into this mess; I will get them back!

"For her," I hear River finish her statement, and I suddenly pause, as her voice sounded like she was facing the direction of where I am hiding, like she senses that I am here listening.

"Nova?" I hear the Doctor ask, his voice also sounding like he's facing my direction.

His question makes me fail to suppress the immediate thought that pops into my head: Crap! Do they know I'm here?

"Yes, Nova," the Doctor answers as if he read my mind, "we know you're there. Come on out." He sounds dead serious, like he actually heard me; though how that's possible, I have no idea.

"Uh…hey," I say as I awkwardly step out from behind the wall.

"How long have you been listening?" the Doctor asks in a concerned tone, making me think it was wrong of me to listen in for as long as I did.

"Not long," I admit honestly as I walk carefully down the stairs to them. "You're leaving?" I ask River, turning to her.

"Yes, sweetie," she says as she pulls me into a hug. "I've decided to search for your guardians, while you stay with your father where you'll be safe."

"I want to go with you," I insist after I return the hug.

"I'm sorry, Nova," she shakes her head as she caresses my cheek, "you can't. It's too dangerous."

"I don't care!" I say, shaking my head back at her. "I want to help! It's my fault they're in this mess. It's my responsibility to save them."

"I know you do," she smiles apologetically, "but that's what the Silence want, for you to come to your guardians' rescue. In so doing, you'd be running right into their trap."

"Technically, so would you!" I argue. "So would anyone! It doesn't matter who'd be coming; literally anyone in the entire universe would be in as much danger." As sinister of a group as the Vokanari is, I would imagine they'd trap anyone who'd cross their path, if they don't choose to kill them first.

"Exactly my point!" the Doctor exclaims, making both hearts jump to my throat. "Thank you, Nova! You are your father's daughter!" He smiles at me, genuinely impressed, but I just stare at him, completely dumbfounded. Perhaps he'd argued this exact thing just before I arrived, and he was happy to discover that I seemingly shared his exact way of thinking; not to mention that I was also seemingly taking his side in the argument.

Which, yeah, I suppose I am, I can't help thinking in my head. I mean, River does seem to want to take my place in the search for my guardians, risking her life to do so, even though it should be my responsibility, and mine alone. Not that I don't appreciate her help, of course; I just don't see why she feels the need to take up a responsibility that was never hers to begin with. This thought gives me the vibe that this is something my bio-parents do on a daily basis—to take up other people's responsibilities so they don't have to. The fact that my bio-parents are willing to save people from those burdens, and take the weight of it all for themselves, astounds me.

"See?" the Doctor continues. "Nova gets it! Like she said, the Silence would be expecting any one of us, especially you and she; therefore, they would have you captured and turned against me…again, in your case. I'm willing to bet you don't want a rerun of what happened in Utah, do you?"

His last statement seems to sprout something dark in River. Her eyes bulge with anger, and she appears to be on the verge of slapping him again (this time seemingly not caring that I am present), and it makes me realize what she meant about her husband not thinking before speaking, now knowing her story. He'd crossed a huge line when he said that.

"Mom!" I speak up before she has a chance, grabbing her hands and squeezing them gently in my own. "River," I correct myself before continuing calmly, "He makes a good point. From your story, that was an awful experience. I mean, I can't imagine the things you saw…what you were forced to do, even when it was all fake. Imagine how much more horrible it would be to have that happen again, but this time it's real. You said you were trained and conditioned to kill him. What if the Silence caught you and somehow made your conditioning return, stronger this time? Or worse, they kill you? You don't have to go. He said he knew a gang that could find my guardians for us; I doubt the Silence would expect them. Why can't he send them in your place?"

"Because they haven't dealt with the Silence like I have," she says honestly, shaking her head. "For many years, they trained me to kill your father; therefore, I have loads of experience with them. I can use all of that training against them, force them to tell me where they've taken your family. It has to be me, and only me. I don't want either of you getting hurt…not again."

In that moment, the Doctor abruptly pulls River away from me and holds her firmly by the shoulders, forcing her to listen, intense emotion blossoming in his watery emerald eyes. "River, please, don't do this!" he demands in a desperate and fearful tone. "We can think of another way—a safer way, where no one gets hurt."

River then reaches up with a gentle hand and caresses his cheek again in an attempt to calm him. "Sweetie, you're acting like I'm going to barge into their base with absolutely no plan," she sighs. "I've fought them before, several times, not just in training. They taught me every trap they've ever used, what happens when a victim walks into one…even how to avoid them. Needless to say, many of their traps have been brutal, even gruesome, and I don't want either of you to walk into one of those traps blindly. I can do this. You have to trust me."

The Doctor releases his own tearful sigh, glancing down at the floor. "I do trust you. I always trust you, River Song, Melody Pond. But…I just don't want you to get hurt. You, my wife, the love of all my lives. Now and forever. Your parents would kill me if you got hurt."

Her parents…I think in my head. My grandparents. Clearly these people care a lot about him, and he cares a lot about them, including me.

"Me too," I say, stepping forward. "I mean, I don't want to lose you either. I want us to be a family again, too…a proper family. Together. I don't want to be separated again…not from anyone." I am done being split from people, whether they split from me or I split from them.

My bio-parents glance at each other guiltily, knowing exactly what I am talking about and how I feel. They know I am referring to when they gave me up, and I never want them to do that to me again, now that I am back in their lives, even if it is just for a short time. They can both sense the anger in me for seemingly leaving me again, which is true, especially since I hadn't even spent twenty-four hours with them. River seems to believe that she is doing the right thing by taking up the responsibility for me—for us, the Doctor and I—and is saving me from something terrible happening (having me become a murderous psychopath against my own father), and a small part of me believes her, but I can't help but still feel worried for her safety, and I can tell the Doctor feels the same way.

"Oh, Nova," she says tearfully, pulling me into a hug with her free arm and tightening her hold on her husband with her other arm. He wraps his arms around us both, but I only return River's hug. "I know how much you want to help, but you can't. Not yet. You're not strong enough."

"Then make me stronger!" I insist. "Teach me! You promised you would. Both of you." River said she'd help me improve my combat skills, and the Doctor said he'd train me for something else, though I never found out what. Perhaps I could find out now that I've recovered from the previous day…or earlier, or whenever it was.

"I can't," River shakes her head apologetically. "Your father can."

I glance at him as he says, "Yes, Nova. You wish to know where you come from, what you are… I can teach you everything you need to know. There are other abilities and skills Time Lords have besides Regeneration."

"Like what?" I ask curiously.

"Spoilers," he answers with a smile as he plays lightly with my braid over my shoulder.

"Seriously?" I can't help groaning, annoyed, with a roll of my eyes. "Why does everything have to be 'spoilers' with you guys?" It must run in the family, I think, which is ridiculous.

Then again, it could also be a time-travel thing, seeing as they're both time-travelers, coming from all over Time and Space. Something tells me they don't meet in the right order, hence why there are so many secrets between them…between us. Perhaps they know how the other dies, but they can't say anything about it in front of each other because they would risk changing the future with fatal consequences as a result; at least that's how things tend to happen in the Sci-Fi movies. I can't imagine having a life like that, knowing everything there is to know about your lover, only the lover doesn't know you as well as they should normally when their lives are parallel, and vice versa. That must be really difficult for my parents. How do they cope with a life like that?

"It's complicated," River sighs, mimicking the Doctor's smile. "Everything will be explained to you in due time, but you won't be hearing it from me." She then pauses, connecting her forehead with mine. "I know it feels like I'm leaving you again, and you don't want me to leave you again, but I won't be gone long. I'll be back."

"When?" I ask, struggling to fight back the tears that are threatening to spill from my eyes.

"I don't know," she says with a small shrug, "but you won't have to wait another eighteen years. I can promise you that."

"I'm scared for you," I admit, hugging her tighter and, for some reason, feeling doubtful of her declaration.

"Don't be, my love," she says, caressing my cheek and wiping my tears away. "Like I told your father, I'll always come back to you." She then kisses my forehead gently. "I love you so much."

"I love you too," I say, and I truly mean it this time. I can feel my hearts tugging at me to stop her from leaving, but I ignore them. Somehow, I believe River knows what she's doing, and she will do everything in her power to return to us with my guardians and Hazel in tow. I just wish there is something I can do to help, no matter how strong I am.

I can suddenly sense the disappointment and guilt in the Doctor at my declaration toward River, like I'd stabbed him with a pair of knives in each heart. This was the second time I'd told her I loved her, and I hadn't told the Doctor I loved him once, and there's a reason why. River had saved my life twice, from the Vokanari and from myself, when I thought about ending it all on the balcony of my hotel room. Even if I'd just kept running, never stopping until I died of exhaustion, she was still willing to chase me and bring me back (if my regeneration energy wasn't going to save me first). The fact that she stuck around for me, even at a distance throughout my childhood, proves that she still loves and cares for me, and I always admired that about her, hence why I trusted her almost instantly when we met properly.

However, the Doctor did no such thing. River claimed he loves me just as much as she does, but I haven't seen any proof. I didn't see him nearly as much as I saw River in my childhood, if at all. He never chased after me when I ran from him yesterday. And I'm pretty sure when he shared his story with me about the war on his home-world, he lied about certain things, in contrast to River being honest with everything she shared about her own life.

Honestly, I don't regret not telling the Doctor I love him as well. I get the sense that he often lies about his life, even his age, and I can't trust him for that. I hate myself for feeling this way about him, but if he wants me to love him too, he needs to learn to open up to me; but he needs to learn to open up to himself first, and I get the feeling this is something he's been struggling to overcome for centuries and still is to this day.

After I step aside, he wraps both arms around his wife tightly. "I know there's nothing I can say to get you to change your mind," he whispers in her shoulder, a ghost of a smile curling his lips, "frankly, ever."

"You wouldn't have me any other way," she chuckles, massaging the back of his neck lovingly.

The Doctor pulls away and just stares at her. "You'd be right." He then leans in and presses his lips to hers, and her grip on his hair tightens as he pulls her in closer, his hand caressing her chin and neck.

Under normal circumstances, children would be grossed out by their parents kissing in front of them, but I feel no such emotion. I find it heartwarming, but also sad, as for all we know, this may be the last time the Doctor and I see River again. If that's the case, the Doctor wants to make this 'final' kiss as meaningful as possible, and one that neither of them would forget. The last thing he wants to remember is the taste of her lips against his, her soft curls against his cheeks. Seeing them like this brings more tears to my eyes.

"Be safe," the Doctor chokes back a sob, pulling away. "Be well."

"Look after our daughter," River demands, pressing her forehead against his and struggling to fight back her own tears.

"Look after you," he answers. They share one more kiss before she turns to me and hugs me one last time.

"Bye," I whimper, still feeling bummed that I can't go with her. We'd be able to find my guardians so much easier together, but she claims that she's got it covered and doesn't need help. I still can't help but be afraid for her safety, but I am also anxious to know my Time Lord heritage, and the Doctor is the only one who can share that information.

"Goodbye, my Nova," she says as she prepares her Vortex Manipulator strapped to her wrist. "I will love you always. Never forget that…either of you." She then vanishes from the spot in a flash of lightning, leaving the Doctor and I alone in the TARDIS.

"Whoa!" I exclaim in shock; literally, as there is a tingling sensation that was left behind when she disappeared.

"Yeah," the Doctor chuckles behind me. "Your mother likes to make a dramatic entrance as well as an exit." He then claps his hands together and faces the console, seemingly forgetting about his emotional episode entirely. "Right! All of Time and Space at our fingertips! Where shall I take you first?"

I don't answer. Instead, I sit on the bottom step from the control dais, facing the door, expecting River to walk right through them at any second with my guardians and Hazel behind her, but they don't come. I wait, and wait, and wait, but still no one enters. All I hear is the familiar house-key-scraping sound that the control console is making, as well as the pushing and pulling of levers and switches.

"Nova?" the Doctor asks, noticing my silence, but I ignore him still, keeping my back to him. How can he be so calm? How could he just move on and not think that that may have been the last time he would ever see his wife again? The last time that I would ever see my mother—both of them—again? I then hear footsteps behind me as the Doctor seats himself beside me, a concerned frown on his face. "Nova, what's wrong?" I expect him to wrap a comforting arm around me, but thankfully he doesn't.

"Is she really going to be okay?" I ask with worry, still staring at the door.

"She's your mother!" he exclaims in an obvious tone. "Of course she's gonna be okay. She's the queen of okay." I then sense him glance at me, but I don't return the glance. "Why don't you think she will be?"

"Well, she's going alone," I say, still refusing to look at him. "Without help. That's the worst thing to do when infiltrating an enemy base. What if they catch her; who will save her? It can't be us, since they'll be expecting that. I mean, that's the whole point of their organization, right?"

For some reason, I feel like River's decision to leave was his fault. He should've tried harder to talk her out of leaving, but instead he just accepted her decision like it was nothing, as if she wasn't risking her life to do so, even though she was. Can't he see that he allowed her to return to the very people that made her the murderous psychopath that she was before she fell in love with him?

"Yes," the Doctor nods. "Their core belief is 'Silence will fall when the question is asked.' 'Silence' being my silence—my death."

"Speaking of which, you said River was brainwashed to kill you, right?" I ask. "In Berlin, she nearly succeeded."

"Actually, she did succeed in killing me," he corrects me, "but she used—"

"She used up her remaining regenerations to resurrect you," I finish, nodding. "Yeah, I remember you telling me that story earlier and in your letter. My point is, I'm worried that if River gets captured trying to save my family by herself, the Silence might make her brainwashing return." I refrain from saying that he made that happen by letting her leave, and that if she were to return to us, she may not be the same as she was when she left… She wouldn't be my mother anymore.

"It won't return," he shakes his head, seeming to not be worried at all. How can he not be? "She'll be fine."

"But what if it does," I say, in total disbelief that he still doesn't seem to get it; "and she kills you, properly this time? And me?" I then sigh, feeling emotional again. "I just…I don't want us to be separated again…to turn against each other. The Silence have been doing that to us for years. Stealing River away from her parents when she was first born to be turned into an assassin against you, just because of their deep hatred towards you… And now they want to do the exact same thing to me!" I sigh again, rubbing my temples painfully, beginning to feel my migraine returning. "I just…I don't know how to believe all of this. I don't understand! Why do they do this to us? Why are they so desperate to kill you, when you've done absolutely nothing to them? Why can't they just leave us alone? Let us live? Let us be normal?"

If the Silence weren't always hunting us, perhaps we'd live normal lives. The Doctor could work as a history professor or actual physician, River could work as a professor of archaeology, and I could be a college student studying computer languages, perhaps all in the same school. Then in our free time, we'd go on adventures through Time and Space in the TARDIS. The perfect life.

"It's not just the Silence that want us dead," the Doctor explains, shaking his head. "It's the whole universe…or at least those, like the Daleks, that wish to wipe us completely off the face of the universe."

"Why?" I demand, finally looking up at him.

"Simply because of what we are—Time Lords," he sighs in exasperation. "Totally racist, I know; I don't like it either."

"I still don't understand what that is," I say, shaking my head. "You said they—we—were originally from Gallifrey, and we could regenerate and live thousands of years. What else do they do? How do they live?"

The Doctor takes a deep breath before explaining. "Well, they're gone now—all except you, me, and your mum—but one thing I do is travel the universe, exploring new worlds and righting wrongs. There used to be a strict rule on Gallifrey that you could never interfere with the affairs of other peoples or planets, but I always thought the rule was silly, even in my youth. After I left, I found a way around the non-interference policy where I could interfere in ways that benefited others. By doing so, I became a hero to many, but the Time Lords disagreed with my actions and had me exiled on Earth for a long period of time as punishment. Needless to say, it was really tough, being stuck on Earth, not being able to travel around the universe without a TARDIS. At least they let me keep my TARDIS, but it was rendered inoperable where I couldn't fly."

"And now that they're…" I start to say, but then I suddenly stop, swallowing uncomfortably, knowing this is a sensitive topic to him. After a short pause, I decide to continue gently, "Now that they're gone, you can do whatever you want? Make your own rules?"

"Well, there are still rules I have to follow," he says with a shrug, "such as only interfering if it is a last resort, like when someone is attempting to change history when they're not supposed to. That's one of the major things you'll learn during your time with me."

"Speaking of which, you said last night that you wanted to train me," I say, believing his statement to be what he was referring to last night. "Train me to do what, exactly? River said something about you wanting to train me to 'take up the family business.' Is that so-called 'family business' what you do; saving planets and whatnot?" To be honest, that sounds pretty awesome. Who wouldn't want a life like that?

"And making sure people don't muck up history, yes," the Doctor nods with an excited grin. "It's brilliant! You'll love it!" He then stands up, grabbing my hand and pulling me up as he goes, taking me up to the control console. "Come on; let me show you!"

"Show me what?" I ask, puzzled.

"Hold on tight!" he says, his grin ever present on his face, as he lays a hand on a strangely-shaped lever. "It's about to get bumpy!"

"What do you—?" I start to ask, but I am interrupted as the Doctor pulls the lever down, and the TARDIS responds immediately with an aggressive lurch and a boisterous fanfare of noise that makes my ears pop. "Whoa!" I cry in alarm. "What's happening?" The TARDIS lurches again, and I am almost thrown off-balance as I grip the side of the console to steady myself. I watch in amazement as a cluster of what appear to be frozen teardrops suspended inside the cylindrical column rises and falls in sync with the house-key-scraping noise.

"Don't worry!" the Doctor yells over the noise as he operates the controls rather horribly, seemingly pulling the levers at random. "This is perfectly normal!"

"Are you sure?" I ask a little doubtfully. "It doesn't seem very normal, especially with it being so bumpy. It feels like we're being tossed through a storm." My statement automatically makes me think of The Wizard of Oz, when Dorothy's house was pulled into the air and thrown from side to side before settling in the Merry Old Land of Oz.

Suddenly, a woman's voice interrupts my thoughts. 'Don't worry, my dear. You're not the only one who doesn't like his piloting,' it says with a slight chuckle, like she said it as a joke but also not as a joke.

"What?" I gasp, startled by the voice that sounded so clear in my head, like the woman was standing right next to me, but there's nobody there. "Who said that?" It was definitely not River; that much I know.

"Oi!" the Doctor responds in an offended tone. "My piloting is fine; perfect, in fact!" He said it like he was responding to the woman and not me.

"Wait! You heard it too?" I ask, puzzled.

"What, the TARDIS?" he answers. "Of course! I hear her all the time! Did you hear her?"

I shrug uncertainly. "I mean, I wouldn't have said anything about it if I didn't. Then again, I wouldn't have said anything about it even if I did; otherwise you might think I'm crazy. But you said you heard it too, so I'm not the only one, which is good…and weird." If I was the only one that heard the voice, that would've been highly embarrassing. Perhaps the Doctor would've felt the need to scan my brain before deciding to send me to the alien nuthouse. Thank God I wasn't the only one.

He pauses, considering my statement. "Hmm…I suppose it might be a bit weird if you're not used to hearing another voice in your head, but for Time Lords, it's perfectly natural."

"How?" I frown, staring at him.

He then flips a few more switches, seemingly putting the TARDIS on auto-pilot, which makes the flight somewhat smoother, and walks over to me, saying, "As I said before, there are other abilities and skills Time Lords have besides Regeneration, one of them being that we're incredibly telepathic. That would explain how you heard the TARDIS's voice in your head…and mine."

"At my graduation, you were there," I say, suddenly remembering. "I heard you, but you didn't move your mouth when you spoke." I never figured out how that was possible until now. He's a telepath.

"I spoke telepathically to you," the Doctor says, confirming my theory. "You and me, we're psychically connected. All Time Lords were like that once upon a time, when they still existed; now there's just us. I can sense everything you're thinking, no matter where you are in Time and Space. It's how I was able to find you when the Silence attempted to kidnap you shortly after your birth."

"You're a telepath?" I say with a raised eyebrow. I also couldn't help but say it with a slight hint of shamefulness. All those thoughts I had yesterday and today about my anger and distrust towards him…could he sense all of that?

"So are you," he admits. "Every Time Lord has this ability. You'll learn to master your telepathic abilities soon enough."

I raise my eyebrow higher at this. I am also a telepath? He can't be serious! That's the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard!

The Doctor then pauses, sighing. "Right now, I'm sensing that you don't fully trust me."

Of course not! How can I? I think about saying, but I suddenly feel my guilt grow stronger in my veins, realizing that he's telling the truth. He really can hear my thoughts. It would explain how he heard me when he and River found out I was listening in to their conversation before she left.

"I'm sorry," I sigh shamefully. "It's just…even though you're my father by blood, I don't know you." I then add awkwardly, "Plus…you gave me up, and I never knew why. I still don't. I mean I kinda do, but…not really."

"I told you, we gave you up to protect you from the Silence," the Doctor explains honestly. "Vokanari, now that they're called."

"Yeah, but I don't think that was the full truth," I admit uncomfortably. "At one point, you also said you wanted to protect me from yourself."

"When did I say that?" he asks with a puzzled frown, like he truly doesn't remember, but I never forgot it. In fact, I promised myself I'd ask him about it once I finally met him; and now that I have, this is my opportunity.

"Before you gave me up, I think," I say uncertainly, not entirely remembering when he said it; I just knew he said it, and I was always curious to know what he meant. "It was one of the very last things you said to me. Don't ask how I remember that; I just do. Anyway, ever since I've had that memory, I've often wondered what you mean by that. What is it about you that makes you so dangerous that you felt the need to protect me from yourself as well? Did you think you'd hurt me, or something?" It seems ludicrous, now that I've met him. He doesn't seem like the type of guy that would want to hurt anyone, especially those closest to him, like River and I. Why would he? He wouldn't be 'the Doctor,' otherwise.

"No!" he says, frowning incredulously. "Of course not! I would never hurt you, my daughter! Why would you think that about me?"

"No, it's not that I thought you would hurt me," I shake my head defensively. "I mean, like, beings you might attract that would hurt me, like the Silence, or some other creature. You said Time Lords attract all kinds of danger, depending on how powerful they are."

"Yes, that was what I meant," the Doctor nods, "but you knew that already. I didn't want to risk any of them getting you." He then pauses, like he knows something more but doesn't want to reveal the truth.

"But that's not the full truth, is it?" I say, my anxiety increasing. "I can see it in your eyes. Tell me."

"It's complicated," he says, shaking his head and appearing like he is about to have another emotional breakdown.

"Please!" I say desperately. "You brought me back into your life; why can't you be honest with me? With your own daughter?" In that moment, I feel my anger return, stronger than ever. "I can't trust you if you can't be honest with me!" I scream at him. "Otherwise, what was the point of you bringing me back at all?"

My anger suddenly melts away as quickly as it had come, when I see the Doctor's eyes cloud over with tears, looking like he is reliving a past memory that he would rather have locked up in the deepest, darkest dungeon, and I suddenly feel it too—guilt, despair, loneliness. I can physically see these emotions through his eyes—eyes that have seen everything and lost even more than what they've seen. These are the eyes of a truly broken man, and one that is struggling to put himself back together.

Feeling more ashamed than I have ever been, I wrap my arms around the Doctor's neck, burying my face in his shoulder. Surprised, he slowly wraps his own arms around me, leaning his head on top of mine in seeming defeat. "Please," I sob, holding him more tightly, as he feels more deadweight now, his emotions literally weighing him down. "I don't want us to fight anymore. That's what the Silence want, for us to hate each other… For me to hate you. I don't want to hate you anymore. I want to trust you. I want…" I suddenly pause, making sure I hear myself correctly before I continue. "I want to love you, like a daughter to a father."

My statement makes the Doctor sob and hold me tighter, fearing that I might disappear if he lets go. He buries his own face in the side of my neck, and once his cheek makes contact with my skin, it feels wet and cold. He is literally crying now, and it makes me cry too, but it also seems unusual for him to be this emotional. From the stories I've heard, especially from the school intruder back in Second Grade, the Doctor is not known to cry; in fact, he is known to be some type of godly being from some high-up world that should be feared by all who cross him; but seeing the Doctor—my father—like this, this seems very ungodlike, which makes me think that the things the school intruder said about him were lies. The Doctor is just as 'human' as the rest of us in the universe.

We spend several minutes crying in each other's shoulders until the Doctor finally speaks up, his tight grip on me refusing to loosen. "I don't just attract danger," he says in a soft whisper that I can barely hear. "I end up causing it. And when I do, those people get hurt. Your mum and grandparents weren't the only companions I've had travel with me; I've had many others, some even your age. Some left…some got left behind… And some…not many, but…some died. They died because of me, because of the terrible choices I've made." He pauses again, choking back another sob. "What I told you about the Daleks destroying my home-world during the Time War…I lied. Gallifrey was destroyed because of me, because I was so sick of the War. I used a powerful weapon called The Moment, a galaxy eater, to end it all. Daleks and Time Lords alike. I killed them all, all because I couldn't stand it anymore. All that fighting…all that death…" He grips me ever more tightly at this point, and I can barely breathe, but I don't let it show. "I can't change any of that. Not ever." He begins sobbing again, this time falling to his knees, and I literally take the fall with him. We sit like that in each other's arms, neither of us willing to let go. The Doctor needs this time to let out all of his emotions, so I let him. He shouldn't have to bottle up these emotions anymore, and he certainly shouldn't have to let them all out alone. With River gone—though not 'gone,' gone, obviously—I am the only one he has.

"I'm sorry," I sob, collapsing further into his lap. "If I'd known all of the things you've been through…"

"I don't want to lose you," he says seriously. "You and me…we're the only Time Lords left. If I lose you…"

I pull away, shaking my head, not wanting to hear any more, or I would surely keep on crying until I melt. "No," I say, cupping his tearstained face in my hands. "You won't lose me. I'll be here with you. Not that I have a choice in the matter, because I don't have a home to go back to, but I'm willing to stay for you. You need someone, even at times when you won't admit it. You've been alone way too long; your old eyes tell me so. It's time to change that. Together." I can't stand seeing him like this anymore. He's lost so much, and for so long I have been making it worse by bringing him lower with my constant anger towards him. I am done being angry with him. The only thing I want to be angry toward is the Vokanari/Silence. They are the true enemy, not the Doctor. Not my father.

"Thank you, Nova," he says, this time with a smile that is forced but still a smile nonetheless. "I will never give you up ever again."

"Good, because I'm not leaving," I say, smiling back at him. "Not even after we've rescued my guardians. I want to learn who I am…what I am. I want to know my place in the universe, even if it is here in this impossible blue box. Especially if it is here. I want to make you proud, like any good daughter would." For once, I truly mean what I said.

Screw the Silence, I think in my head. If they want my father dead, they'll have to go through me—better yet, find someone else—because I'll never kill him. Like River said, I won't let them harm my dad for as long as I live, nor her or anybody else I care about.

'Well said,' I hear the Doctor say in my head; though I'm not sure if he responded to what I said out loud or in my head. In any case, I smile at him appreciatively.

"Ah, Nova…" he says out loud, wiping his eyes dry and standing up, lifting me up with him. "My Nova. You are in for a real treat." He then guides me to the door with his hands on my shoulders.

"What treat?" I ask, puzzled, and that's when I realize that the house-key-scraping noise has stopped, indicating that we landed; though where, I have no idea.

"Nova Susan Song…" the Doctor says with a huge grin on his face, in contrast to the immensely sad, pained expression he showed just seconds ago, as he opens the TARDIS door, "welcome to Contraxia."

A/N: TO BE CONTINUED!