Amy whirled around as a knock sounded at the nursery door. She eyed it warily. She'd seen the Doctor down in the hanger and how he had bested the army, but she hadn't seen him since. For all she knew, they could have captured him and killed him and regained control.
"Who's that, who's there?" she demanded as she tried to find a weapon. She rummaged through one of the drawers of the table beside her and pulled out what looked a lot like an electric toothbrush. "You watch it, 'cause I'm armed, and really dangerous, and . . . cross!"
"Yeah, like I don't know that," Rory's voice scoffed on the other side of the door.
Amy's eyes widened. "Rory? Rory, is that you?"
"Yeah, it's me." Amy heard the whirring of the sonic screwdriver. "Hang on a minute."
Amy dropped the toothbrush and bit her lip. "They took her," she said thickly, her eyes watering. "Rory, they took our baby away."
The door slid open, revealing Rory in all his Roman Centurion glory, along with a little white bundle in his arms. "Now, Mrs. Williams," he smiled as he stepped into the room, "that is never, ever going to happen."
"Oh my God," Amy gasped. Her gaze narrowed on her daughter as Rory walked over. "Oh my God." She leaned down to examine Melody, looking for any possible signs that Madame Kovarian and her army had done something to her. "Where's she been? What have they done to her?"
"She's fine. Amy, she's fine, I checked. She's beautiful." He swallowed hard, trying to force himself not to cry, but it didn't work. Tears quickly started flowing down his cheeks. "Oh, God," he choked. "I was going to be cool. I wanted to be cool, look at me."
Amy laughed, tears springing to her own eyes. "You're okay. Crying Roman with a baby. Definitely cool. Come here, you!" She pulled Rory into a deep kiss.
They were still going at it when the Doctor poked his head in. He grimaced. "Ugh, kissing and crying. . . We'll, we'll be back in a bit."
A hand snaked out from behind the doorframe and whacked him upside the head. "Ow!" the Doctor cried. He turned and shot the owner of the hand a dirty look.
"I see you're still rude then," Alex's voice quipped.
Amy and Rory broke apart and laughed at the familiar banter. "Oi, you two!" Rory called. "Get in here, now." The Doctor obediently walked in, pulling Alex along behind him.
Alex wasted no time in darting over to Amy, grasping her in a tight hug before the redhead could so much as blink. "Thank God you're okay," Alex murmured in relief.
Amy hugged her back just as tightly. "You too," she agreed, though as she glanced down at Alex, doing a double take upon seeing her completely brown hair and very thin frame, she couldn't help but think that Alex didn't look very okay. But now wasn't a good time to bring that up. There was something else she had to say.
She pulled back just enough to look Alex in the eye. "Hey, um. . . I just wanted to say . . . I'm sorry about all I said back with the Flesh. Really." She'd had a lot of time to think over that adventure, and she now understood why Alex had reacted so angrily to her dismissal of the Ganger Doctor. It was because Alex knew she herself was Flesh and was taking the comments personally.
"It's fine," Alex said breezily, as if the matter wasn't that important, though she wouldn't deny that she felt greatly pleased at Amy's apology. She tugged Amy close again. "And I'm sorry I called you a stupid, fat elephant."
Amy pulled back in shock. "You called me a what?!"
"Uh, nothing. Now who's this?" Alex whirled around and peered at the baby in Rory's arms.
"My daughter," Rory beamed, successfully changing the subject as Amy quickly focused back on her child. "What do you think?"
Alex let out a little squeal. "Oh, she's gorgeous!" She bent down a little, getting closer to the baby. "Hi, baby," she cooed.
The Doctor wrapped an arm around Alex's waist and peered down at the infant. "Hello," he greeted with a smile. "Hello, baby."
"Melody," Amy corrected.
"Hello, Melody Pond!"
Rory rolled his eyes in exasperation. "Melody Williams—"
"Is a geography teacher," Amy argued, cutting him off. "Melody. . ." She paused long enough to smile at Alex. ". . .Alexandria Pond is a superhero."
Alex's jaw dropped. "Y-you. . ." She swallowed and took a deep breath in an effort to regain speech. "You . . . named her after me?"
Amy rolled her eyes, though anyone could tell that she was pleased by Alex's reaction. "Of course! Had to name her after my two best friends and, most especially, her godmother."
Alex's jaw dropped so low, she absently wondered if it would hit the floor. "Godmother?" she repeated.
Rory chuckled. "Naturally," he affirmed as he rocked Melody back and forth. "Amy and I agreed a long time ago that you were the one we wanted raising our kids in case something happened to us." It had been a very brief conversation shortly after their wedding night; out of all their friends and family, Alex was the only person they could see raising Melody in the way they wanted. Melody's other namesake, Mels, would more than likely have Melody taken away from her by child protective services after pulling some crazy stunt.
Alex couldn't help the tears springing to her eyes. She hastily blinked them away and continued to beam down at her goddaughter. Goddaughter. She was a godmother. She could definitely get used to that.
She gently ran a fingertip across Melody's nose. Her goddaughter's nose crinkled at the contact, and she waved her arms. She wasn't trying to wave her away though; more like she was cheering at her godmother's touch.
Alex giggled and continued to trace Melody's features. "Is there a godfather in the picture?" Her eyes widened as she considered the possibilities. Of Amy and Rory's male friends, there were very few that she would consider proper parent material. "Oh, God, please don't say Ricky. Anyone but that slimeball."
Amy and Rory looked at each-other for several moments. They seemed to be having a silent conversation. Amy raised an eyebrow, Rory tilted his head, then nodded. The Doctor and Alex merely watched in fascinated confusion.
Finally, the Ponds looked at them. "Well," Rory shrugged. "That depends. Would you consider your boyfriend to be adequate?"
This time, both Alex's and the Doctor's jaws dropped. After a moment, Alex managed to compose herself. She risked a glance at the Doctor. He was staring at Amy and Rory, then at Melody, then at the Ponds with an expression that could only be described as utter shock.
"I . . . um. . ." The Doctor rubbed his chin. For once in his long life, he was at a complete loss for words.
Surprisingly, not once in his long life had anyone ever asked him to be a godfather. Well, there was the King of Terzia in the 22nd century, but that had been more ceremonial than anything. The position was never meant to be anything more than that. He'd never been a godparent on Gallifrey either, not even to his nieces and nephews. He could understand why he hadn't been chosen, he wasn't exactly around much, but it still hurt a little. The Doctor adored kids, had treasured his own children and later, Susan.
He gazed down at Melody. She was only a few weeks old, her features not even fully defined, but she was still absolutely adorable. While he'd formed an army mainly to rescue Alex, it was also to rescue Amy and her child. This child that was staring up at him through light brown eyes she could have only acquired from her mother, his best friend after Alex.
"Doctor?" Amy called softly. She smiled nervously. "Gonna answer or what?"
He let out a light laugh. Beside him, Alex started grinning. She knew exactly what his answer would be.
Sure enough, the Doctor nodded. "Yes," he laughed through a wide smile. "Yes, I will be Melody's godfather."
At that moment, Melody started to gurgle. The Doctor listened intently to his goddaughter's babbling. Goddaughter. I can definitely get used to that. "Well, yes, I suppose she does smell nice," he agreed, causing all eyes to shoot to him curiously. "Never really sniffed her. Maybe I should give it a go. Amelia Pond, come here!"
"Doctor!" Amy laughed as the Doctor turned to hug her. She accepted it though, hugging him back tightly.
"I'm sorry we were so long," he said while giving her a quick sniff.
Amy squirmed at his sniffing. "It's okay," she assured him, ending the hug. "I knew you were coming. We both did. Right, Alex?"
"Right," Alex confirmed with an adamant nod of her head.
"Both of you. Our boys."
"It's okay," the Doctor consoled the gurgling Melody. "She's still all yours. And really, you should call her 'mummy', not 'big milk thing'."
"Okay, what are you doing?" Amy demanded.
"I speak Baby."
"No, you don't!"
The Doctor just smiled smugly. "I speak everything, don't I, Melody Pond?" He frowned at Melody's counter coo. "No, it's not," he objected, straightening his bowtie. "It's cool."
Vastra chose that moment to rush in. "Doctor!" she called. She leaned over the railing at the top of the stairs and looked down at them with a triumphant grin. "Take a look. They're leaving." The Doctor went to the window, Alex trailing along behind him. They looked out at the hanger to see all of Kovarian and Manton's soldiers marching away under the watchful eyes of several armed Silurians. "Demons Run is ours without a drop of blood spilled. My friend, you've never risen higher!"
Alex started to grin . . . until she caught sight of Rory's face in the window's reflection. He was looking at Vastra worriedly. She watched as he turned to look at the Doctor's back anxiously, before looking at her own. His anxiety faced and was replaced with something that strongly resembled bewilderment and mild hope.
~The Pros and Cons of Silence~
A few minutes later, Alex was still puzzling over Rory's expressions. Why did he look so worried? Why did he look at her and the Doctor so differently? She peered at Rory out of the corner of her eye. He was watching Amy and a crying Melody exiting the TARDIS.
He knows something we don't, she thought. That was the only explanation for it. And she was determined to find out what.
After all, Alex hated not knowing things.
"Hey, what's wrong?" Rory asked worriedly as Amy walked towards him.
"She doesn't like the TARDIS noise. I asked him to turn it off, but it was all 'but I don't want to punch a hole in the space-time continuum'."
Alex rolled her eyes. "Idiot. Do you want me to go in and ask?" They all knew the Doctor would hasten to comply with Alex's every wish.
Amy eyed her and shook her head. "No, no, it's fine." She glanced down at the swivel chair Alex was currently sitting in. It seemed Alex's body was tiring from all the sudden moving it was doing after so long, for shortly after the Doctor went into the TARDIS for something, Alex started stumbling, her skin going even paler than it already was, if that was possible. Rory had snatched the chair from the base's security booth and ordered Alex to sit down. Alex seemed fine now, but Amy could see dark circles under her eyes and how Alex was slouching in the chair, unable to hold herself up and sit properly.
There was no way she was going to risk her friend's health just to get the Doctor to turn the TARDIS noise off so her baby could calm down.
Alex shrugged. "If you're sure."
"Rory!" Jenny called. She and Strax strode up to them. "The Judoon have escorted the Clerics out of the quadrant, Spitfires and Torchwood have returned to their own time, Captain Avery and his men are going. . ." She trailed off at Melody's continued howling. "Is she alright?"
"Yes," Amy nodded. "She's just crying."
Strax held out his arms. "Give her to me, human fool! She needs changing."
"I just changed her. I think she might need a feed."
"A feed, of course. I'll take care of everything."
Rory stepped in front of Amy, blocking Strax's way to her and Melody. "Er, I don't think you will, actually," he retorted, eyeing the Sontaran oddly.
"I have gene-spliced myself for all nursing duties. I can produce magnificent quantities of lactic fluid."
Alex wrinkled her nose. Ew.
"She's not hungry, she's tired," the Doctor called as he came out of the TARDIS. To Alex's befuddlement, he was carrying a gnarled, wooden, purple-green cot. Dangling above it was a mobile full of little wooden planets and stars. He set it down on top of a box. "Sorry, Melody, they're just not listening."
Amy stared at the cot curiously. "What's this?"
"Very pretty, according to your daughter."
"It's a. . . It's a cot," Rory realized.
"No flies on the Roman," the Doctor smirked. "Give her here."
"There we go," Amy murmured as she gently placed Melody into her godfather's arms. The Doctor beamed down at his goddaughter and carefully placed her in the cot.
Alex used her feet to roll herself over. Eyeing the cot in wonder, she gently ran a finger down the side of it before reaching up and lightly tapping one of the mobile's planets, one that looked a lot like Saturn. It swung back and forth, making Melody giggle.
"Like that, huh?" Alex smiled down at her. "What if . . . I do this?" She flicked a star charm, making it swing back and forth. Melody giggled harder and even managed to clap her hands.
The Doctor chuckled. "She's asking for more," he translated as Melody babbled excitedly. "'More, more, Aunt Ally!'"
"That's Aunt Alex, little miss," Alex corrected. She shook her finger at the baby playfully. "And it would be my pleasure." She flicked a small, round, metal charm, sending it swinging left, before turning her hand and flicking the Saturn charm, making it go right.
Melody squealed in delight. Her eyes darted back and forth as she tried to watch the differently swinging charms at the same time. The Doctor and Alex laughed, although both felt a small pain in their hearts at the realization that they would never do this with their own child. There wouldn't be any laughing at a cooing baby as he or she watched its mom flick and play with their mobile charms.
Guess we'll just have to live vicariously through you, kid, Alex thought, gazing down at the snickering Melody.
Rory and Amy smiled at their giggling daughter, but the exact whereabouts of this mysterious cot still weighed on their minds. "But where would you get a cot?" Rory asked once Melody's laughter died down.
"It's old," Amy observed. "Really old. Doctor, er. . . Do you have children?"
Alex's head snapped up. She was about to give Amy a warning look when the Doctor said, "No."
Amy's brow furrowed. She remembered the Doctor mentioning his granddaughter, Susan. How could he not have kids if he had a granddaughter? Then again, maybe Susan hadn't been his biological granddaughter. Maybe she had been a young companion of his who developed a grandfather/granddaughter type relationship with him or was adopted. "Have you ever had children?" she asked gently.
It was then that Alex realized the Doctor hadn't even been looking at Amy when she asked her first question. His focus was all on Melody. "No," he said again. He had been talking to the baby all along. "It's real. It's my hair."
"Who slept in here?" Amy persisted.
"Doctor!" Vastra called before the Doctor could answer or before Alex could give Amy a shut-up-now look. "We need you in the main control room."
"Be right there!" The Doctor turned to Amy and Rory. "Things to do. . . I've still got to work out what this base is for. We can't leave till I know." He started to walk off, stopping only when Alex cried after him.
"Wait for me!" She moved to get out of the chair, but the Doctor spun around and ran over, forcing her back down.
"Sit," he ordered. He knelt down and placed an arm across her knees, keeping her in place. He waited until she was still before saying, "Yes, you can come with me, but please keep seated in that." He could tell she was getting tired, yet he knew that wouldn't stop her from wanting to know what was going on.
Alex frowned. "You want me to push myself all the way over there?" She pointed towards the security booth. It was quite a distance away.
"Did I say that?" The Doctor smirked and straightened up. He stepped around to the other side of the chair and placed his hands on either side of its back. He moved it forward a few inches. "Catching on?"
Alex laughed. "Yes, I believe it's dawned on me."
The Doctor started pushing her across the hanger but paused when Amy called after him. "But this is where we were? Alex and I?" The Doctor turned around, maneuvering the swivel chair so that Alex was facing Amy as well. "The whole time we thought we were on the TARDIS, we were really here?"
The Doctor looked at Rory. "Er . . . Centurion, permission to hug?"
"Be aware, I do have a sword," Rory joked.
"And I can still hit you upside the head or slap you," Alex cheekily chimed in.
"I'm very aware," the Doctor laughed. He went to Amy and pulled her into a tight hug. "You were on the TARDIS too," he murmured to her, not bothering to put 'we' there, as he knew Alex understood what had happened pretty well. "Your heart, your mind, your soul. But physically, yes, you were still in this place."
Amy nodded understandingly. "And when I saw that face looking through the hatch . . . the woman looking at me. . ."
"Reality bleeding through," Alex jumped in. "Like I said, the signals to us were a little weak, allowing us to kinda sense what was going on with our physical bodies." She swallowed heavily, remembering the searing pain she'd gone through as Kovarian's scientists cut into her physical flesh. But why?
The Doctor's face tightened ever so slightly at her words, also remembering what Alex had gone through. He forced himself to continue his explanation before he could dwell on those memories. "They must've taken you girls quite a while back," he surmised. There was no way Alex (or Amy) would have been taken while he had been there to guard her (them). "Just before America." He pulled away from Amy to look at Alex significantly. With her advanced mind, it was quite possible she remembered their kidnapping. "Ally? Do you remember when you two were taken?"
Shelves and shelves stocked full of different types of Easter candy, stuffed rabbits, and toy baskets. Screaming. Fighting.
Alex shook her head as the images disappeared as fast as they had appeared. "Not sure," she admitted. "It's kinda. . ." She paused, trying to figure out how to explain it. "It's kinda like when I remembered the Daleks back with Winston Churchill. It played right before my eyes, but then I forgot it, only to remember it in a dream later. Maybe I'll remember when I'm asleep."
The Doctor nodded. "Perhaps."
"So, their Flesh avatars were with us the entire time," Rory realized, getting them back on track. He frowned. "But that means they were projecting a control signal right into the TARDIS wherever we were, in time and space."
"Yeah," the Doctor sighed, "they're very clever."
"Who are?" Amy wondered.
"Whoever wants our baby," Rory answered.
"But why do they want her?"
The Doctor pointed at her. "Exactly!" Behind him, Alex frowned and tilted her head in thought. Why was Madame Kovarian so determined to get Melody? She had to have a good reason, at least in her mind.
"Is there anything you're not telling us?" Rory asked. Like you're telling us everything? Alex thought. "You and Alex both knew Amy wasn't real, along with Alex herself. You never said."
"The Doctor could never be sure they weren't listening," Alex explained.
"But you always hold out on us," Amy argued. Whether she was talking to the Doctor, Alex, or both wasn't clear. "Please, not this time. Doctor, it's our baby, your goddaughter. Tell us something. One little thing."
The Doctor hesitated. After a few seconds, he said, "It's mine."
"What is?" Rory questioned.
"The cot. It's my cot. I slept in there." He smiled. "And consider it a belated baby shower present."
"Oh my God," Amy smiled as she turned back to face the cot. She studied the stars and planets on the mobile. "It's the Doctor's first stars!" She turned to thank the Doctor, only to see him wheeling Alex off towards the control room.
She focused back on her daughter. Remembering how she had reacted when Alex flicked the mobile charms, she tapped one of the round metal ones. Though Melody's eyes were partially closed, she still giggled as the charm swung back and forth above her.
Rory smiled down at her. "She's. . ." He trailed off, unable to find the right words that would fully express how precious and beautiful their daughter was. Amy nodded and reached down to wipe Melody's drool with the prayer leaf Lorna had given her.
"Drop your weapons!" Strax suddenly shouted. "State your name and rank!" The Ponds whirled around as he approached, frog-marching someone. "I found it listening at the door!"
It was Lorna.
~The Pros and Cons of Silence~
The Doctor wheeled Alex into the security booth. Inside, Dorium had situated himself at the controls while Vastra stood at the back of the room.
The Doctor peered at a monitor as he placed Alex beside Dorium. "You've hacked into their software, then?"
"I believe I sold it to them," Dorium muttered.
"Anything on Alex in there?"
Dorium scowled. "Completely different software there. It's impenetrable. But I did manage to get everything else."
Alex sighed but tried not to give up. Maybe the Doctor would be able to get in with the TARDIS systems later. "So what've we learned?" she asked, leaning forward to better look at the monitor.
"That anger is always the shortest distance to a mistake," Vastra stated. Alex frowned. What the hell did she do?! She looked over her shoulder to ask, only to see that Vastra's gaze was on the Doctor.
The Doctor frowned at her. "I'm sorry?"
"The words of a very old friend who once found me in the London Underground, attempting to avenge my sisters on perfectly innocent tunnel diggers."
"Well, you were very cross at the time."
"As you were today, old friend." Vastra glanced at Alex. The girl was eyeing the Doctor knowingly. Though Alex hadn't been there, Vastra was sure that she could guess at how angry the Doctor had been at the start of the siege. She nodded to Alex, making the Doctor look at her.
He shifted uncomfortably. Alex didn't really like it when he got angry and close to being out of control. She was always able to calm him down and pull him back. She hadn't been able to do that for a while though, and he knew it showed today in the battle and in his brief conversation with Manton and Kovarian.
Vastra noted his guilty expression. "Point taken, I hope," she said gently. She smiled as the Doctor crossed over to Alex and placed a hand on her shoulder. Alex winked up at him and placed a comforting hand on his own. Vastra waited until she was sure their moment was over before adding, "Now, I have a question. A simple one. Is Melody human?"
The Doctor literally jumped at the question. "Sorry, what?" he blinked in shock. He laughed uncomfortably. "Of course she is! Completely human! What are you talking about?"
"No one's accusing you of anything, Doc," Alex assured him, sending him another wink.
"They've been scanning her since she was born," Dorium revealed, "and I think they found what they were looking for." He pulled up a screen showing a DNA strand.
The Doctor and Alex stared at it. "Human DNA," they said together.
"Look closer," Vastra urged. "Human plus. Specifically, human plus—"
"Time Lord," Alex finished, automatically knowing what the Silurian was going to say. She bit her lip as a knot started forming in her stomach and a feeling of dread settled over her.
~The Pros and Cons of Silence~
"I heard her talking. This is a trap!" Lorna insisted. "Why would I lie to you?"
"Well, you might want to take a look at your uniform," Rory shot back.
"The only reason I joined the clerics was to meet the Doctor and Alex again."
Jenny shook her head at the woman while Amy and Rory snorted, imagining Alex's response to that. "You wanted to meet them, so you joined an army that wanted to fight the Doctor and who had kidnapped his girlfriend?"
"Well, how else do you meet a great warrior?" Lorna countered.
"Who's a great warrior?" Amy asked.
"The Doctor."
Amy scoffed. "He's not a warrior."
"Then why is he called 'the Doctor'?"
At that moment, the lights went out, plunging them into near darkness. Lorna's eyes widened. "It's starting! Please, listen to me!"
~The Pros and Cons of Silence~
Back in the control room, the Doctor and Alex were completely unaware of the danger unfolding in the hanger. The only thing their minds were focused on was how the hell Melody Pond could have Time Lord DNA when both her parents were human.
"But she's human," the Doctor insisted to Vastra and Dorium. "She's Amy and Rory's daughter."
"You told me about your people," Vastra recalled. "They became what they did through prolonged exposure to the time vortex. The Untempered Schism—"
"Over billions of years. It didn't just happen!"
"So how close is she?" Alex wondered. "Do you think she could regenerate?"
"No, no!" the Doctor shouted. He paced back and forth, his mind in a whirlwind. "I don't think so. . ."
Alex frowned. "You don't sound so sure."
"Because I don't understand how this happened!" He winced when he realized that he'd shouted at her. "Sorry." Alex just nodded, not really bothered. She couldn't understand it either.
"Which leads me to ask," Vastra said, "when did it happen?"
The Doctor looked at her blankly and shook his head. "When?"
"I am trying to be delicate. I know how you can blush. When did this baby . . . begin?"
The Doctor's eyes widened. "Oh, you mean. . ."
Alex rolled her eyes. Figures the Doctor would be comfortable discussing procreation with her but go completely red-faced when it involved anyone else. "Yes, Doctor," she said dryly. "Sex."
The Doctor blushed harder at her words. "Well, how would I know?" he cried. "That's all human-y, private stuff. It just sort of . . . goes on. They don't put up a balloon or anything!"
Vastra kept her eyes on him as he resumed his pacing. "But could the child have begun on the TARDIS in flight, in the vortex?"
"No, no, impossible!" the Doctor shouted. "It's all running about, fish vampires, and blowing up stuff. And Rory wasn't even there at the beginning. Then he was dead, then he didn't exist, then he was plastic. Then I had to reboot the whole universe. Long story. So, technically, the first time they were on the TARDIS together in this version of reality, was on their w—" His eyes widened.
"On their what?"
The Doctor looked at Alex. Going by the look of horror on her face, she had figured it out as well.
"On their wedding night," they said together.
~The Pros and Cons of Silence~
Out in the hanger, Strax examined his scanner. "Confirmed," he announced. "No life forms registering on this base, except us and the Silurians."
"The Headless Monks aren't alive," Lorna told him. "They don't register as life forms."
~The Pros and Cons of Silence~
"It doesn't make sense!" the Doctor persisted. "You can't just cook yourself a Time Lord!"
"Maybe not," Alex acknowledged, "but you have to admit, Doc, you gave them a pretty good start."
"And they've been working hard ever since," Vastra finished grimly.
"And yet they gave in so easily," Dorium remarked. "Does this not bother anyone else?"
Alex felt the feeling of dread sink lower over her. The knot in her stomach tightened and she clutched her abdomen. "No, you're not alone," she said uneasily.
"Amy!" the Doctor exclaimed. He snapped his fingers at Alex. "Remember? She worried the baby would have a—"
"Timehead." Alex groaned. And we thought it a joke when she had every reason to be concerned!
Vastra rolled her eyes. "Only you would ignore the instincts of a mother," she said to the Doctor.
"Or the instincts of a coward," Dorium added. "This is too easy. There's something wrong."
"Why even do it?" the Doctor wondered. "Even if you could get your hands on a brand-new Time Lord, what for?"
"A weapon?" Vastra hypothesized.
"Why would a Time Lord be a weapon?"
"Well . . . they've seen you."
The Doctor stared at her in disbelief. "Me?" He fell back into the chair behind him, now sitting next to Alex. Alex scooted closer to him and forced herself to stand up. She moved just enough to stand right in front of him before nearly collapsing onto his lap. The Doctor wrapped his arms around her waist, reveling in the comfort the close contact with her gave him.
"Mr. Maldovar, you're right," Vastra concurred. "This was too easy. We should get back to the others." She and Dorium rushed out of the room.
The Doctor remained sitting. He looked at Alex, tears welling up in his eyes. "Me?" he repeated.
Alex shook her head so adamantly, her hair nearly created whiplash. "No," she said fiercely. "Not you. Never. Kovarian and her army are all idiots. Complete and utter morons. Burros son más inteligentes de lo que son. They can't see all the good you've done for the universe, what sacrifices you've made to keep everyone safe. All that they think they know comes from mangled legends and Chinese whispers. They don't know the real you." She smiled softly and straightened his bowtie. "Not like I do."
The Doctor stared at her in awe. He'd heard her defend him a few times, but never like this, not so strongly and passionately. "Th-thank you, Ally," he stuttered.
"No thanks needed," she murmured.
"Awww, how sweet," a voice sneered behind them. The couple whirled around to see that the monitor screen had changed. It now showed Madame Kovarian, though where, they had no idea. The background was a simple white wall.
"I see you accessed our files," she continued as the Doctor and Alex sprang out of their chair to stand and face her. "Do you understand yet? Oh, don't worry, I'm a long way away. But I like to keep tabs on you." She looked pointedly at the Doctor. "The child then. What do you think?"
"What did you do to her?" Alex demanded. She glared darkly at the woman, her eyes narrowed into little slits. "What the hell did you do to her, you twisted bitch?!"
"What is she?" the Doctor asked.
"Hope," Kovarian answered. "Hope in this endless, bitter war."
"What war? Against who?"
"Against you, Doctor."
~The Pros and Cons of Silence~
Down in the hanger, Kovarian's plan was going along just swimmingly. Just as Vastra and Dorium got to Amy, Rory, Melody, and the others, a white light appeared around the TARDIS. It faded away quickly but everyone could tell that it wasn't completely gone.
Amy clutched Melody protectively against her chest. "What's that?"
Vastra reached out and tapped it. She pulled back sharply as the light flared up and stunned her. "Force field," she surmised.
A series of loud clicks and slams rang out. "And those are the doors," Lorna said. "Locking."
"Apparently we're not leaving."
The next sound they heard was a series of chanting. "Is that the Monks?" Rory asked. Behind him, Amy did her best to soothe Melody, who had woken up and was starting to let her feelings on the increasing danger be known.
"Oh, dear God," Dorium gasped, turning pale. "That's the attack prayer!"
"Quick!" Rory wrapped an arm around Amy's shoulders and led her and Melody out of the hanger. "Come with me!"
"Commander Strax!" Vastra called.
"I'm trying to seal off this area of the lighting grid!" Strax yelled back. A second later, the lights turned back on.
Vastra nodded approvingly. "This is where we'll make our stand. Clear lines of sight on all approaches!"
In front of them, the Monks began to approach, their swords out and crackling with electricity.
In a back room a little ways away, Rory hid Amy and Melody down behind a crate. He didn't like that they were so far away, unable to let him know they needed help if something happened, but the Monks couldn't get to Melody. He wouldn't let them.
"Rory," Amy began, "no offense to the others, but you let them all die first, okay?"
Rory shook his head. "You're so Scottish," he commented, but he smiled as he said it. Amy giggled and gave him a quick kiss.
"Centurion, you're needed!" Vastra shouted.
Rory broke away from the kiss and glanced back towards the hanger. He leaned down and pressed a kiss to the back of Melody's head before striding back to the hanger.
"There should be some plasma pistols somewhere," Lorna was saying as Rory came in. She dug through a crate. "They left everything."
"Then find them, boy!" Strax snapped.
"She's definitely a girl," Vastra remarked to Jenny.
Jenny rolled her eyes. "Oh, stop it!"
Dorium started walking towards the Monks, who had stopped just outside the lights. "We don't have to fight," he argued. "I'm friends to the Monks. They know me."
"Yeah, and they know you just sold them out to the Doctor," Rory reminded him.
"Oh, they'll understand. It's only me, only silly old me." He continued towards the Monks and into the darkness, holding his arms out wide. "You understand, don't you?"
"Mr. Maldovar, get back here!" Vastra ordered.
"Arm yourself, fool!" Strax shouted.
"Dorium!" Rory called.
But Dorium didn't listen. He continued into the darkness. Soon, no one could see him. Then, there came a slicing noise. Something hit the floor with a thud.
"Mr. Maldovar?" Vastra tried.
"Dorium?" Rory repeated.
Lorna started handing out plasma pistols, but no one drew their eyes away from the Monks. They all watched the army draw closer. In front of them, waddling along, was a headless Dorium.
"The child!" Vastra screamed. Everyone aimed their pistols at the monks and Rory drew his sword. "At all costs, protect the child!"
It was going to be a bloodbath and every single person there, Monks included, knew it.
~The Pros and Cons of Silence~
"A child is NOT A WEAPON!" the Doctor and Alex shouted. The Doctor slammed his hands down against the controls. He was seething in anger, and he knew Alex was too. The couple glared darkly at Kovarian. Any lesser person would have cringed back.
But Madame Kovarian seemed too familiar with their intimidation techniques. She merely smirked. "Oh, give us time. She can be. She will be."
"Not if we have anything to say about it," Alex vowed, a dark tone entering her voice.
"And as long as we're confessing plans," the Doctor sneered, "how about you tell us what the hell you were doing to Alex?"
"Oh." Kovarian smirked harder. "Haven't you gotten in the files yet?"
"You know damn well we haven't," Alex shot back. "So skip the smugness and start talking!"
Kovarian was silent for a long moment. Finally, she said, "Listen to her heart."
The Doctor and Alex stared at her. Listen to her heart? What the sodden hell was that supposed to mean?! "What?" they cried, giving each-other a what's-she-talking-about look.
"You heard me. Listen to her heart."
The Doctor opened his mouth to retort but closed it and shook his head. Kovarian was just playing games with them and would probably never reveal what she had been doing to Alex. Only the files would tell. "Alright, fine," he gave in, "don't tell us. It doesn't matter. What does matter is that you won't get a chance to turn Melody into your little weapon you seem to think is needed. You've already lost her, and I swear, Alex and I will never let you anywhere near her again."
Kovarian gave a dry laugh. "Oh, Doctor. Fooling you once was a joy . . . but fooling you twice, along with your precious Ally, the same way? It's a privilege."
Alex's eyes widened. She felt the knot in her stomach grow tighter, now causing her physical pain. She knew there was something to that feeling of dread that had come over her. "Doctor, Amy!" she cried.
"Amy," the Doctor murmured in realization. His eyes widened and he grabbed Alex's hand.
"AMY!" the two yelled as they ran out of the security booth, Madame Kovarian smirking victoriously behind them.
They ran through the base, through corridors and halls and scaffolds they were sure hadn't been there half an hour ago. Alex kept a tight grip on the Doctor's hand as she forced herself to move as fast as she could towards her friends and goddaughter. Her body screamed in protest at this rapid movement. Her legs ached and were starting to go numb, her lungs were burning, and her heart was beating so hard, she swore she could feel it on the other side of her chest. Sweat trickled down her forehead, making Alex feel like she was being weighed down.
"Amy!" the Doctor shouted. He turned his head to check on Alex. Her cheeks were red and drops of sweat dribbled down the sides of her face. He clenched her hand tighter in his. "Come on, Ally girl," he urged. "We're almost there. . ."
They came to a locked door. The Doctor hammered on it desperately. "Amy!" he shouted. He moved to pull out his sonic, Rory having given it to him back in the nursery, but Alex was faster.
"Move!" she yelled. She shoved him aside with her hip and pulled her necklace charm out from underneath her tank-top. She ran it over the door. A second later, the door hissed open, and the duo sprinted through.
"Amy, she's not real!" the Doctor yelled as they ran into the hanger. "Melody, she's a Flesh avatar! Amy!" He and Alex came to a stop. "Amy. . ."
"Yeah," Rory said softly. "We know."
Alex looked around the room in shock and awe. The whole hanger was a mess of destruction. Headless Monk corpses littered the ground and a small distance away, she could see the headless body of Dorium. She swallowed hard, feeling a wave of bile creep up her throat, and turned away. She now faced Strax. He was lying on the ground, evidently wounded.
"It's strange," he choked out as Rory knelt beside him. "I have often dreamed of dying in combat. I'm not enjoying it as much as I'd hoped."
"Come on, Strax," Rory pleaded. "Don't give up."
"It's all right. I've had a good life. I'm nearly twelve."
"Listen to me. You'll be back on your feet in no time. You're a warrior!"
"Rory . . . I'm a nurse." Strax gave him one final smile of acceptance and closed his eyes.
Alex felt the Doctor tug on her arm and allowed him to lead her away from Rory and Strax and across the room to Amy. The redhead sat on a crate, sobbing uncontrollably even as Jenny attempted to comfort her.
"So they took her anyway," Amy cried, her voice barely above a whisper. "All this was for nothing."
"I am so . . . sorry," the Doctor breathed. His hearts twisted painfully, and a wave of shame sank upon him. Not even two hours as a godfather and he had completely failed his godchild.
"So am I," Alex said. She felt a flood of anger and bitterness run through her, mostly at Madame Kovarian, but also at herself. She knew it was irrational and wouldn't help matters, but she couldn't help thinking that if they had done just one thing differently, Amy wouldn't be sitting here in the ruins of a battle, crying her eyes out, no child in her arms. Maybe if she and the Doctor hadn't taken so long on their reunion or maybe if she had scanned Melody with her sonic necklace, just to make sure she was alright. They would have known she was Flesh then and could have formulated a plan . . . but they didn't.
She was pulled out of her what-ifs by the sound of Amy whimpering. Alex tuned back in just in time to see her friend flinching back from the Doctor, who had apparently moved to try and comfort her. Almost hesitantly, Alex stepped closer to the grieving mother.
As she expected, Amy shrank back from her too. She now seemed to view her and the Doctor as a collective unit and blamed them both for today's horrible outcome.
Quite right, too, Alex thought sadly.
"Amy. . ." Jenny murmured. "It's not their fault."
Amy shuddered. Logically, she knew that, but at the same time, she couldn't help thinking that maybe none of this would have ever happened if the Doctor hadn't crashed into her backyard when she was seven or if Alex hadn't decided to come to England on a whim and nearly run her and Rory over. In the back of her mind, Amy knew that if given the choice, she wouldn't change a thing. Still . . . those what-ifs refused to disappear.
"I know," she wept. "I know."
Alex turned and caught Rory's eye. She gestured at his wife. She knew he would be the only other person here that Amy would let console her. Rory nodded and quickly pulled his wife into his arms. The Doctor and Alex backed up a few steps, neither of them willing to upset Amy any further.
"Doctor, Alex," Vastra suddenly called. "There's someone who wants to speak to you." The Doctor and Alex looked at each-other, as if asking the other if they should really do this, but they ultimately walked hand-in-hand over to Vastra.
The lizard woman was standing before a figure half-lying on the ground, their back pressed against a wall by some stairs. Alex's heart sank when she saw who it was. It was Lorna, and she was clutching a wound at her stomach.
"Her name is Lorna," Vastra explained. "She came to warn us."
The Doctor whipped out his sonic and gave it a quick run over Lorna. He examined the results and shook his head sadly before showing them to Alex. Alex sighed and ran a hand through her hair. Lorna's wound was lethal. She had only seconds left.
The Doctor knelt beside the girl. Alex collapsed to her knees next to him. She took a deep breath of air, grateful for the momentary rest regardless of the tragic circumstances. She smiled a little as Lorna's eyes fluttered open. "Hey," she greeted quietly.
"Hello," the Doctor said, a slight smile on his face as well.
"Doctor," Lorna breathed. "Alex."
"You helped our friends. Thank you."
"We're very grateful for that," Alex added.
"I met you two once," Lorna recalled. "In the Gamma Forests. You don't remember me. . ."
"I thought we went through this," Alex gently chastised. She reached out and gripped Lorna's hand. "Of course we remember you. Right, Doc?"
The Doctor went along with the lie. "Right. We remember everyone, Ally and I." He laughed a little, trying to force joviality into this solemn moment. "Hey, we ran, you, Ally, and I. Didn't we run, Lorna?"
Lorna nodded, a slight sparkle in her eyes at the thought that they knew who she was. Her head started to loll to the side and her eyes drifted closed. With one final squeeze of Alex's hand, Lorna Bucket passed away.
Alex blinked back tears and pulled her hand away. She turned and buried her face into the Doctor's jacket. His arms quickly wrapped around her and he rubbed her back comfortingly.
"Who was she?" the Doctor murmured into her hair.
"She came into my room and told me what was going on." Alex lifted her head, exposing her neon-green eyes. "I nearly throttled her, and when I collapsed, she helped me back into bed and told me that you were coming and how she knew us." She wiped the tears under her eyes, rubbing the skin until it turned red in protest.
"She was very brave," Vastra remarked.
Alex sniffled and nodded. "That she was." She thought back to how Lorna had snuck into her room, despite all the risks and what Madame Kovarian might have done to her if she'd been caught. Actions spoke louder than words, and Lorna's actions certainly proved how brave and how devoted she had been to the Doctor and Alex.
"They're always brave," the Doctor stated. He stood, pulling Alex up as well. He tugged her into his side and looped an arm around her hips to keep her steady until she could sit down again.
Vastra looked between the two. "So what now?" she asked. "They'd almost certainly have taken her to Earth. Raise her in the correct environment."
Alex flashbacked to the child's bedroom at Graystark and the little girl in the astronaut suit. "They did," she confirmed, swallowing thickly.
"And it's already too late," the Doctor said grimly.
Vastra's eyes widened in disbelief. "You're giving up?" she said incredulously. She stared after him as he led Alex off. "You never do that."
He whirled around. "Don't you sometimes wish I did?" he snapped. Alex laid a hand on his shoulder, forcing his tense muscles to relax and the anger and self-loathing in his eyes to fade away. He sighed and pressed a kiss to the top of her head, a silent expression of thanks.
Just as he was calming down though, a flash of light lit up behind him, followed by a loud clap of energy. "Well then, soldier, Ally," River Song's flirty voice rang out, "how goes the day?"
The Doctor's eyes narrowed, and he shoved Alex's hand off him. He didn't want her to try and calm him down right now. No, he wanted to tear into River bloody Song. What a hypocrite, he thought as he spun around to glare at the woman. Here he had, answering all her calls and messages for help, but the one time he did the same, she turned him down. She could have prevented all of this!
"Where the hell have you been?" he growled as he stalked towards the woman, Alex just a step behind him. She was frowning at River too, but only because the woman had popped up, ruining this day even further, in Alex's opinion. Her frown increased though and her eyes started to narrow as the Doctor continued speaking. "Every time you've asked, I have been there. Where the hell were you today?!"
"I couldn't have prevented this," River said calmly, not at all perturbed at how the two were scowling at her.
"What kind of excuse is that?" Alex shot back. River interfered in stuff all the time!
The Doctor snapped his fingers at Alex concurringly. "You could have tried!" he challenged.
"And so, my love, could you," River remarked. She either ignored or didn't notice how the Doctor grimaced and how Alex's jaw clenched at the words 'my love'. She glanced over at the Ponds, who were watching the conversation with confused curiosity. "I know you're not all right. But hold tight, Amy, because you're going to be."
"You think I wanted this?" the Doctor cried, horrified at the very thought. "I didn't do this. This, this wasn't me!"
"This was exactly you," River countered. "All this. All of it. You make them so afraid. When you began, all those years ago, sailing off to see the universe, did you ever think you'd become this? The man who can turn an army around at the mention of his name. Doctor. The word for healer and wise man, throughout the universe. We get that word from you, you know. But if you carry on the way you are, what might that word come to mean? To the people of the Gamma Forests, the word 'Doctor' means 'mighty warrior'. How far you've come. And now they've taken a child, the child of your best friends, and they're going to turn her into a weapon just to bring you down. And all this, my love, in fear of you."
"Who are you?" the Doctor demanded.
River didn't answer. Her attention was now on Melody's cot. "Oh, your cot!" she exclaimed, skipping over to it. "Haven't seen that in a very long while." She tapped the Saturn charm and laughed as it swished back and forth.
"No, no," the Doctor objected as he advanced on her, Alex walking in synch with him. "You tell me."
"Tell us who you are," Alex ordered.
River rolled her eyes. "I am telling you. Can't you two read?" She gestured down into the cot.
The Doctor and Alex obediently looked down. On the bed was Lorna's prayer leaf. The strange gold lettering on the front of the cloth slowly morphed into English as the TARDIS translation systems kicked in. But instead of it saying 'Melody', it read 'River'.
Alex's eyes widened. What? she thought, exchanging a shocked expression with the Doctor. She reached down and flipped the prayer leaf. On the other side, instead of 'Pond', there was 'Song'.
Oh my God. Alex ran a hand through her hair. River was Melody? Melody Pond? Her goddaughter? No way, uh-uh, not possible.
Then she remembered something. River had flicked the mobile charm and laughed, just like Melody had done. Keeping her eyes on River to judge her reaction, Alex reached out and flicked a star charm.
River laughed and clapped her hands.
Alex's jaw dropped. She honestly wasn't sure whether to feel relieved or horrified. Relieved, because Amy and Rory's daughter was alive, or horrified because of some of the things River had done. Like murder and attempted murder, she recalled.
Beside her, the Doctor gawked at River. "Hello," he breathed.
"Hello," River beamed.
"Holy shit," Alex muttered.
The Doctor and River ignored her. "But . . . but that means. . ." the Doctor stuttered.
"I'm afraid it does," River confirmed.
The Doctor blinked several times, but ultimately accepted it. River Song was Melody Pond, Amy and Rory's daughter, his and Alex's goddaughter.
His face paled. Oh God, his goddaughter had been flirting with him. She had even kissed him. On the lips!
A rush of bile swept up his throat, but the Doctor hastily swallowed it back down. No, no, don't think about that now. Focus on something else! He'd only think about his and River's very disturbing interactions later – like when he was near a toilet.
He tried to think of other matters. Fortunately, one quickly came to him, but it was far from reassuring. He felt a twinge of regret pierce his hearts. He knew that he couldn't go back and save her from Madame Kovarian. She grew up in a specific way, which led to her being how she was now and her adventures with him.
His eyes narrowed slightly at that final thought. River's past was his future and vice-versa. Surely she knows what they were doing to Alex, he thought, giving River the once-over.
River shifted upon seeing how he was giving her a very calculating look. From the moment she told Rory she couldn't come to Demons Run, she knew this was coming. "Doctor?"
"Tell me, River," the Doctor began. His voice sounded casual, but there was a dark, warning undertone, telling River that she had better answer what he asked or else. "'Cause I know you know." He narrowed his eyes threateningly. "What did Kovarian and her army do to Alex?"
River hesitated for a second. She knew he wouldn't like what she said. "Listen to her heart."
"What?!" The Doctor's black eyes seared into her. "That's not an answer!"
"It's the best one there is. Just . . . trust me. For once in your life."
The Doctor clenched his jaw. Despite the fact that River knew all about him (or at least quite a bit), and that she was the baby he'd held not an hour ago, he couldn't bring himself to trust her. It was so difficult to do when she withheld so much information from him, probably for the sake of the timelines, but still.
However, he knew that was as good of an answer as he was going to get out of her right now. He turned to Alex and his exasperated and hateful expression immediately switched to one of worry and concern. Alex was leaning against the box that his old cot was resting on. Her face was shiny with sweat and her breathing seemed slightly labored. "Ally—"
Alex cut him off. "I'm fine!" But she really wasn't. Her whole body felt like it could fall over at any moment and her heart was beating erratically. It felt like it could beat right out of her chest. What's wrong with me? she wondered frantically. What did they do to me?
The Doctor gave her a doubtful look but didn't say anything. Instead, he pulled her to him and lifted her up by the back of her thighs. He hooked her legs around his frame while she wrapped her arms loosely around his neck.
Once he was satisfied that she wasn't going to topple to the ground, the Doctor bent his head to Alex's chest. If this were any other time, place and circumstance, a shot of heat would have run through him as he got closer and closer to a part of Alex's body he forced himself not to dwell on, even after they started dating. But now, his whole demeanor was clinical, with only the slightest smidge of worry and love showing in his eyes.
He pressed his ear right over Alex's heart. At first listen, nothing seemed to be out of the ordinary. Then he caught it.
There was an echo.
A loud echo.
A very close echo.
The Doctor's eyes widened. A surge of panic and horror swept through him. No, he mentally begged to each and every deity he knew of. Please, Rassilon, no. Not her. Not such a curse.
"Doc?" Alex stared down at him. She bit her lip at the horrified look on his face. "Doctor, what's wrong?" she demanded fearfully.
The Doctor didn't answer. He honestly wasn't sure if he could force the lie that everything was perfectly fine out of his mouth. Instead, he moved his head to the right side of Alex's chest. Please don't let it be true, he prayed to all the gods he didn't believe in as he placed his ear above her breast.
But his prayers went unanswered. Beneath her skin, beating strongly, was another heartbeat.
Another heart.
"Two hearts," he breathed. He pulled back and stared at Alex. A whirlwind of emotions ran through him. Horror, confusion, anger, worry, terror and, strangely enough . . . a glimmer of happiness?
What the blasted hell is wrong with you?! he snapped to himself. You shouldn't be glad Alex is now possibly like you!
"What?" Alex gasped. What was he talking about, two hearts? She shook her head, her eyes blinking rapidly in confusion. "Doctor, you're not making sense—" She was cut off when the Doctor abruptly snatched one of her hands. Alex's brow furrowed as he placed it over her heart for a brief second, before sliding it over to the other side. "Doctor, what's—" she started, but then she felt it. The distinct thumping of a second heartbeat.
"What?" she shuddered. Her breathing turned more ragged as her mind struggled to comprehend this confusing and terrifying development. Why the hell did she have two hearts? Had she always had two hearts? No, that couldn't be it. She would have noticed at some point or another that she had a second heart in her chest!
The Doctor hurriedly placed Alex down, seeing that she was growing more and more scared and shocked by this revelation. He had to get her inside the TARDIS. He had to calm her down and figure out what was going on.
He vaguely realized that Amy, Rory, and the others were staring at them in puzzlement, but he didn't care. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see River looking at Alex a bit sadly, knowing so much about what was going on with her, but not saying for whatever her true reasons were. But he couldn't bring himself to question her and demand that she tell him, tell Alex, what was going on, what had happened to her and why. The only thing on his mind was Alex and calming her down, doing to her what he tried his hardest to do.
Be a doctor.
He wrapped an arm around her shoulders and steered her in the direction of the TARDIS. "Vastra and Jenny, till the next time," he absently called over his shoulder. "Rory and Amy, I know where to find your daughter, and on my and Alex's lives, she will be safe." He glanced at River as he dug the sonic screwdriver out of his pocket. "River, get them all home," he ordered, allowing that dark, don't-mess-with-me tone to enter his voice. River cringed a bit at it but nodded.
"Doctor?" Rory frowned after him. What was he doing? What was wrong with Alex? Why did the two look so confused and horrified? "Alex?"
"No!" Amy shouted in protest. "Where are you going? What happened to Alex?"
Neither of them answered. The Doctor kept his arm firmly wrapped around Alex, his jaw tightening as he felt her shaking, possibly going into shock. He aimed the sonic at the force-field, forcing it to disappear. Less than a second after it was gone, he ushered Alex into the box.
"No!" Amy cried again. She, Rory, and the others watched the Doctor kick the door closed with his boot. A few seconds later, the TARDIS emitted its familiar vroop-vroop noise and dematerialized.
The second it was gone, Amy turned and glared sharply at River. "Where're they going?" she demanded, stalking over to the woman. "What did you tell them? What's wrong with Alex?"
"Amy, you have to stay calm. . ."
Amy merely picked a fallen gun off the floor and aimed it at River. "Tell me what you told the Doctor and Alex!"
"Amy, no!" Rory shouted. He ran to his wife's side. "Stop it!"
"It's okay, Rory," River said calmly. "She's fine, she's good. It's the TARDIS translation matrix. It takes a while to kick in with the written word. You have to concentrate."
Amy looked down at the cot and the Gallifreyan symbols written on either side of it. She waited a few seconds, but the symbols remained unchanged. "I still can't read it," she admitted as Rory took advantage of her distraction and took the gun away.
"It's because it's Gallifreyan and doesn't translate." River reached into the cot and pulled out the prayer leaf. "But this will. It's your daughter's name in the language of the Forest."
Amy frowned and grabbed the cloth. "I know my daughter's name."
"Except they don't have a word for 'pond'," River revealed, "because the only water in the forest is the river. The Doctor will find your daughter, and he will care for her whatever it takes. And I know that. . ." She trailed off and watched Amy and Rory critically eye the prayer leaf's intricate stitching. To their surprise, the word on the front of the cloth slowly morphed to 'River'. Amy quickly turned it over to see 'Song' on the other side.
The Ponds looked up in shock. Was she . . . how was that . . . River was. . .
"It's me," River nodded at their surprise. "I'm Melody. I'm your daughter. And as for Alex . . . well, that's complicated."
~The Pros and Cons of Silence~
A/N: . . .so, what do you guys think? Alex now has two hearts (is she a full Time Lord now?) and she and the Doctor were named as Melody's godparents . . . not that River seems to recognize that, lol.
Up next are some original chapters where we'll get a lot more answers on what Alex is now, as well as her, the Doctor's, and Amy and Rory's reactions to all the revelations at the end of this chapter. :)
Notes on reviews. . .
WSSHolmes92 - Thank you! I'm glad you loved the Dalex reunion! Lol, yeah, a future daughter IS pretty cool! :) Hope you enjoyed the chapter! :)
NicoleR85 - Thank you! I hope this chapter lived up to your expectations and that you didn't see what was coming. :)
ShadowTier - Lol, I don't think it's wrong. I mean, Kovarian is a pretty horrible person. I had shivers writing that line. It is pretty terrifying coming from the Doctor, considering how he usually acts and behaves. Lol, I think a LOT of people could have killed Jack in that moment. :) We're going to get the Doctor's reaction to Alex's scars in the next chapter. Let's just say . . . it won't be pretty. :{ Hope you enjoyed the chapter! :)
Thank you to everyone that reviewed, followed and/or favorited this story! Please, please, please review and see you tomorrow! :)