A/N: Alex's outfit for this chapter can be viewed on my Tumblr, under the name 'darksideofparis'.
~The Pros and Cons of Silence~
"Well, now," Melody said briskly. "Enough of all that." Without further ado, she whipped out Hitler's pistol and aimed it directly at the Doctor. "Down to business."
While Amy and Rory reared back at the sight of the gun, Spencer swiftly stepped in front of Alex. Considering Melody's mental state and her previous actions, he wouldn't put it past her to try and shoot at Alex again. That thought in mind, he carefully steered Alex by the shoulder until she was completely out of Melody's sight. Alex complied with the move, but that didn't stop her from getting on tiptoe to peer over Spencer's shoulder.
Having spotted Spencer's quick move, the Doctor made an internal sigh of relief. Yes, he currently seemed to be the object of Melody's attention, but there was no telling how long that would last. She'd said that she would make Alex pay for her supposed transgressions. He had no doubts about her no longer wanting to fulfill that promise. Therefore, until he could figure out how to subdue Melody, he needed to keep her attention focused on him.
"Oh, hello, I thought you wanted to marry me?" he smiled, affecting an air of nonchalance that he only partially felt.
"I told you," Melody said as she walked closer to him. "I'm not a wedding person. Besides," she added, craning her neck to try and look at Alex. "I think your girlfriend would object to that."
Damn right I would, Alex thought, though she knew better than to express this out loud.
"Doctor," Rory called. "What's she doing?"
Alex sighed softly. "Only what she was taught and programmed to do."
Rory blinked incoherently. "Where'd she get the gun?"
The Doctor took this one. "Hello, Benjamin," he quoted. He'd seen Melody grab it from the chair in front of the mirror while she was checking out her new appearance.
Melody smirked, but it wasn't one of pleasure. More one of maliciousness. "You noticed." Without another word, she pulled the trigger.
Yelping, Amy and Rory jumped back. Spencer shoved Alex back, the latter clutching his shirt in fright. But then they all realized . . . no actual bullets had come out. Indeed, a quick look at the Doctor, still standing, confirmed this.
"Of course I noticed," the Doctor grinned, recalling how he'd darted to the chair and taken the bullets out while Melody was busy regenerating. "As soon as I knew you were coming, I tidied up a bit."
Once again, Melody gave him a malicious smirk. "I know you did." She quickly dropped her useless gun and moved to pull another out of her pocket.
"I know you know," the Doctor retorted. He smirked satisfactorily at the banana now in Melody's hand. He'd managed to switch the fruit-bowl around when she'd pressed herself up against him and complimented his bowtie.
Melody stared at the banana for a moment, then let out a huff. "Goodness, is killing you going to take all day?"
Still affecting an air of nonchalance, the Doctor reached out and took the banana from her. "Why?" he asked, tossing the fruit over his shoulder. "Are you busy?"
"Oh, I'm not complaining," Melody laughed. As she spoke, she turned and grabbed a sharp letter opener off the desk. Swinging back around, she moved to hurl it at the Doctor. However, a buzzing sound rang out and the object was knocked out of her hand. She looked accusingly at the Doctor, only to find that he was staring in Alex's direction. Indeed, the young woman had partially stepped out from behind Spencer and was aiming her sonic necklace charm at Melody.
"Alex!" Spencer hissed at the same time as the Doctor, giving her a wink, said, "Very nice."
Alex shrugged modestly, though secretly she was very pleased. "I learned from the best," she said with a pointed smile at the Doctor. Then, ignoring Spencer's attempts to move her back into place, Alex fully stepped away from him. As much as she liked that Spencer wanted to protect her, she didn't want to give Melody the impression that she had to be protected from her. No, if she was going to be in the same room as Melody, she wanted the psychopath to know that she wasn't afraid of her, that she would sooner fight than hide.
She stared Melody down, her bright copper eyes turning dark. Melody met her gaze head on. A small smile now graced her lips. Alex wasn't sure if it was a sign of respect for facing her or amusement at her doing so. Probably the latter, she thought. "You know," she said slowly, "if you were really in a hurry, you could've just run him down or shot him back in the cornfield. No one would've been able to stop you."
Melody gave her an acknowledging nod. "True. But we'd only just met! I'm a psychopath. . ." She turned slowly towards the desk, inching the actual gun out of the fruit-bowl. ". . .not rude," she muttered, before whirling around and firing.
Amy and Rory jumped, the former letting out a slight shriek. Spencer and Alex sprang to the side, out of the line of fire. The Doctor, however, remained still. In his hand was the gun clip.
Seeing that Melody was once more weaponless, Amy strode forward. Melody was her daughter, had grown up as her best friend. She wouldn't harm her mother . . . right? In any event, Amy had to try. "You are not a psychopath!" she cried, almost sounding like she was pleading for Melody to believe it.
Melody stepped forwards and she and the Doctor began to circle each other. "Oh, mummy, mummy, pay attention. I was trained and conditioned for one purpose. I was born to kill the Doctor."
"Yes, I know that!" Amy snapped. Though Melody wasn't looking at her, she shot her daughter a glare. Maybe looking at her sternly would make her listen? "But you escaped! I know you did! You eventually managed to make your way to Leadworth and met us! I mean, for God's sake!" she cried, flinging her arms in the air. "He's my best friend! Are you really going to kill your mother's best friend right in front of her?!"
"Believe it or not, mother dear," Melody said, risking a glance at Amy, "I'm doing this for your own good."
"My—" Amy couldn't even finish the thought, so shocked was she. Beside her, Rory was much the same, his jaw agape as he stared incredulously at his daughter.
Melody nodded. "It's true! He," she pointed one sharp fingernail at the Doctor, "has been manipulating you since you were seven!" She smiled sadly at her parents. "It's not your fault," she said gently. "It's just what he does."
"I think you give me far too much credit," the Doctor remarked.
Melody ignored him. "But don't worry, 'cause I'm going to fix it." She turned back to the Doctor, her features contorting into a sneer. "As soon as I get my hands on another weapon, that is."
Spencer surreptitiously checked his ankle holster, making sure his pistol was still there. He wouldn't put it past Melody to somehow get a hold of it without him realizing. Once he was satisfied that his gun hadn't moved, he thought on Melody's words. Well, that explains why she doesn't have any qualms on killing her parents' best friend, he thought. Kovarian had evidently spun tales to a young Melody of how the dark, dangerous Doctor got innocent humans in his grasp and manipulated them into thinking him a wonderful hero when he was really a vengeful, wrathful god. She'd impressed upon Melody that she was going to be a hero and save her parents and the rest of the universe from the Time Lord's wicked deceptions. As far as brainwashing went, it wasn't a bad way to go.
Alex, having come to these same conclusions, couldn't help feeling a bit of pity for Melody. Twisted as her thinking was, she clearly thought she was doing her parents a favor. She did love them, that much was clear, and wanted to protect them. A noble goal, though it didn't excuse what was going on here. "Well, he's not like that!" she cried, pulling Melody's attention to her. "I'm sorry, Melody, but you were lied to by . . . well, your caretakers for those first few years."
"My caretakers – good word to describe them, by the way – were many things." A shadow passed over Melody's face, disappearing almost as quickly as it appeared. "But they didn't lie to me. Not about things like this." She spun to look at Amy and Rory. "When they found me back in '96, they could've taken me back with them. But they didn't! Instead, I got to go to Leadworth and meet you!"
Alex raised an eyebrow. "Did that out of the kindness of their hearts, did they?"
"Hardly," Melody scoffed. "I figured out eventually that it was to make sure they got together and I was conceived. But!" she added brightly. "I didn't mind! The chance to have you raise me after all?" She smiled broadly at her parents, not noticing how they didn't smile back. "Who could pass that up?"
They hardly could have raised you when they were children themselves, Alex thought. She didn't say that though. Melody surely wouldn't take kindly to that.
"So, what about last month?" Spencer jumped in, deciding to take advantage of Melody's chatty mood. "Why'd you leave them then, if they were at such risk from the Doctor?"
"Well, I had to leave." Melody turned a baleful glare on him. "You showed up. I couldn't do anything with you sniffing around. UNIT are known friends of his. What would they want to do but take out the woman trying to end him?"
You got that right, Spencer thought.
"When I realized you were guarding Alex, I decided a little vacation was in order. Amy and Rory made it no secret they were leaving at the end of the summer, so I knew there was plenty of time to get some things in order. Pay the bills, resign my post, possibly look at selling the cottage. . . Plus I had a real hankering for French food."
"And while in Paris, you realized you were being followed."
"Not initially," Melody admitted. "Don't blame your little lackey, she's quite good, but no one's been trained like me. I spotted her before the end of my first week."
"And you didn't do anything about it?"
Melody shrugged. "Why should I? Confront the guard or causing her to go missing would just raise the alarm, wouldn't it? And like I said. . ." She turned back to the Doctor, giving him a salacious smirk. "Thanks to Mummy and Daddy, I knew when he was going to show up."
The Doctor shook his head. "People at Demons Run really knew what they were building, didn't they?" he remarked as Melody took a step closer to him. "My bespoke psychopath."
"I'm all yours, sweetie," Melody murmured. She moved in and gave him a light kiss on the lips, causing the Doctor to grimace and Alex to scowl.
"No one calls my boyfriend 'sweetie' but me," Alex snapped. God, I really need to find a better term! she thought, mentally grimacing at the word 'boyfriend'.
Melody raised a quizzical eyebrow at her. "Not even this River person?"
"I try to make her not to."
Melody shrugged. "Fair enough, stupid name." She sashayed over to the window the TARDIS had crashed through and jumped up on the sill. "Oh, look at that!" she gasped appreciatively. "Berlin on the eve of war. A whole world about to tear itself apart." She turned back to face the group. "Now that's my kind of town. Mum, Dad, don't follow me, and yes, that is an order."
The Doctor raised an eyebrow. "No warning for me, then?"
Alarm bells started ringing in Alex and Spencer's heads when Melody's sinister smirk cropped up. "No need, my love. The deed is done. And so are you two."
Two? the Doctor, Alex, and Spencer thought.
The Doctor took a step forward, about to ask Melody just what she meant by that, only to suddenly stumble, nearly collapsing onto the floor.
Alex gasped. "Doctor!" She moved to rush towards him, only to abruptly fall to her knees. A whimper escaped her at the sudden, overwhelming rush of pain running through her body. Her nerve endings felt like they were on fire, her blood seemed as though it was boiling, and her limbs shook erratically, unable to stay still.
"Alex!" Spencer shouted as he dove down beside her. He started to gather her into his arms, only to think better of it when Alex let out a gasp of pain.
Meanwhile, Amy and Rory scrambled over to the Doctor. "Doctor, Alex, what's wrong?!" Amy demanded as she and Rory moved to help the Doctor up.
The Doctor didn't answer her. Instead, clutching his chest, he fixed a set of narrowed emerald green eyes on Melody. "What have you done?!" he yelled. Aside from the pain currently wracking his body, he also sensed white-hot anger sizzling in his veins, begging to be unleashed on the woman in front of him. He didn't care that she had apparently poisoned him. Oh no, he'd have gladly welcomed it so long as she didn't touch Alex. But she had, somehow, and that just filled him with rage. "River, answer me!"
Melody, either oblivious to or just ignoring his ire, rolled her eyes. "Oh, River, River, River. More than a friend, I think." Looking behind him, her smirk deepened at the sight of Alex struggling to breathe, clutching her chest while Spencer hovered over her. "What would your precious Ally think of that?"
The Doctor's face twisted into a snarl. "What have you done?!"
"It was never going to be a gun for you, Doctor, or even for Alex. The man and woman of peace who understand every kind of warfare except, perhaps, the cruelest."
"Lipstick," Spencer hissed through gritted teeth. His jaw tightened as the dots in his mind started connecting. "Poisoned lipstick, I'm guessing. Administered when you kissed him." He glanced at Alex, specifically at the still bleeding scratch on her neck. "And poisoned nail polish?"
"Give the man a gold star," Melody laughed.
A low growl echoed throughout the room. It took a minute for everyone to realize it was coming from Spencer. His eyes were more gray than blue as they narrowed on Melody. His hand shot towards his gun.
Melody's eyes widened slightly at the action. She knew this trained UNIT soldier would shoot her without question. Never mind that her parents were in the room. No, if he got the opportunity to take a shot at her, he would take it. And he probably wouldn't miss.
Her heart beating anxiously, Melody hastily looked back at the Doctor. She had to get one final shot in, metaphorically speaking. "Kiss, kiss," she smirked, blowing him a kiss for good measure.
Spencer whipped out the gun. He pulled the trigger. But Melody was already gone. In perfect fashion with her older self, she'd jumped out the window.
"Damnit!" Spencer snapped. He ran to the sill and peered out. From the looks of it, they were on the top floor of the Reich Chancellery, meaning there was at least a twenty-foot drop to the street below. Not that that would have been a concern to Melody. Being part Time Lord, she could most likely survive jumps and falls that would otherwise kill a human. However, it meant that going after her would be that much more difficult.
While Spencer was analyzing possible alternate routes to the outside world, Rory was frantically looking back-and-forth between the Doctor and Alex. "What's wrong with you?" he cried. "What has she done to you two?"
Alex gritted her teeth as her muscles spasmed, and her body continued to shake. "Haven't you been paying attention?!" she snapped. "Your batshit crazy daughter poisoned us! Him through that kiss and me by scratching my neck!"
"But we're fine!" the Doctor insisted. He might have been more convincing had his voice not sounded so rough and strained, as though the vocal chords were already beginning to shut down.
Through her pain, Alex glared at him. "I don't feel particularly fine!"
The Doctor winced. "Well, no, we're dying," he admitted. "But I've got a plan!"
"What plan?" Amy asked.
"Not dying! See? Fine!" With a slight growl, he pulled away from the Ponds' grasp and managed to crawl over to Alex. She was now curled up in the fetal position, grimacing and mewling with pain. Taking care not to cause her any undue agony, the Doctor gently wrapped his arm around her and leaned down to whisper in her ear. "We'll be fine," he said softly. His hearts ached, not from the poison, but from Alex suffering once again and him unable to do anything about it. "I promise, Ally." He then kissed her forehead, hoping he hadn't just made a promise he wouldn't be able to keep.
~The Pros and Cons of Silence~
"Scanning him," another Teselecta crewmember, a young woman named Anita, called out. She examined her monitoring screens. "He's dying alright."
"But he can't be!" Jim protested.
~The Pros and Cons of Silence~
The Doctor groaned as he pushed himself up, assisted by Amy and Rory. Spencer, momentarily putting his plans for pursuing Melody on hold, rushed over to pull Alex up. Even with his tight grip, Alex struggled to remain upright. All the nerves in her body felt like jelly – jelly that ached when prodded or pushed in any way – which made her legs shake and her muscles contract painfully.
Spencer grimaced. "It's almost like it's worse for you." He took a quick look at the Doctor. The Time Lord definitely appeared to be in pain, though not on a level anywhere near Alex's.
"Must've given me a higher dose," Alex scowled. If she survived this, Melody/River was going to get one hell of an ass-kicking.
"Okay, what do we do?" Rory asked, his nurse instincts taking over. "How do we help you?"
The Doctor dug in his jacket pocket and removed the sonic screwdriver. "Take this," he directed, passing the device to Amy. "The TARDIS can home in on it." He ushered Rory and Spencer towards the window. "Now go, get after her!"
Neither Rory nor Spencer hesitated in obeying. Both rushed to the window and looked for any sign of Melody. Incredibly, they spotted her almost immediately. She was approaching a group of Nazi soldiers, looking, for all intents and purposes, as though she were out for a stroll.
Not that the Nazis much cared for her motives. All they were concerned about was this strange woman who most definitely didn't belong on the property. As one, they raised their guns at her.
Though Spencer couldn't see it, he had no doubt Melody was smirking as she called, "Hello, boys!"
At the same time this was going on, Amy was using all of her upper body strength to help lug the Doctor and Alex over to the TARDIS. God, I'm out of shape, she thought, though this was quickly put on the backburner as they approached the ship. "You said the smoke was deadly!" she cried as Alex opened the TARDIS door, the ship automatically unlocking upon sensing her Thief and Ally's current turmoil.
The Doctor waved her off. "Oh, yeah, yeah, the smoke's fine. The poison will kill us first."
Somehow, Alex managed to roll her eyes. Oh, yes, she thought snidely. Very reassuring!
The Doctor leaned against the doorframe and hauled Alex to him. For a moment, he kept her pressed against him. His hearts constricted painfully, feeling her body shake and convulse as the poison ran through her. It was so similar to how she'd acted when she experienced the effects of Demons Run in her Ganger body, moments that he never wanted to be reminded of ever again.
He leaned down and lightly kissed her forehead. His lips tasted the fine sheen of sweat that now coated her skin. It was a detail, however minor, that served to make him even angrier than he already was. He turned to Amy. "Now get after River," he ordered.
Amy didn't move. "I don't understand, okay? One minute, she wants to marry you and then she's going to kill you, apparently for my own good, and then she decides to kill Alex. . ."
"Ah, well, she's been brainwashed," the Doctor explained through gritted teeth. "Probably been fed a lot of stories about how you and Rory fell victim to me and killing me would make her a great hero."
"And she's a psychopath," Alex picked up. Her back arched as a tremor of pain ran down her spine, but she forced herself to finish her explanation. "It all makes sense to her!"
"Plus," the Doctor added, "she's a woman." Amy gave him a sharp look for that remark, and Alex even managed to scowl at him. The Doctor rolled his eyes. "Oh, shut up, we're dying!" He pushed Amy towards the window before grabbing Alex's hand and rushing her into the TARDIS.
Inside the console room, the smoke was still going strong. The Doctor and Alex used the collars of their jacket and cardigan, respectively, to cover their mouths.
"Extractor fans on!" the Doctor shouted up at the ceiling. A moment later, there came a whirring sound, and the smoke began to clear. "Oh!" he cried, blinking in surprise. "That works?"
Alex shook her head. "Oh, shut up," she groaned. Still holding the Doctor's hand, she pulled him along with her as she struggled to the console.
Suddenly, the Doctor pulled her to a stop. Alex looked up to ask him what he was doing. But before she could, she was abruptly lifted off the ground and placed over the Doctor's shoulder. Alex gasped in astonishment. How could he do that with the pain he was currently in? "Doctor—"
"Don't argue," he said, cutting off her protests. "It's fine. I just can't stand to see you hurting and struggling."
And with that, he stumbled towards the console. Alex continued to rest over his shoulder, making no further move to object.
~The Pros and Cons of Silence~
Outside, Spencer and Rory had managed to shimmy down a couple of crates, a large stack of which they were now crouched behind. They took care to keep silent as they tensely watched the scene in front of them.
"What are you doing here?" one of the soldiers, a captain by the looks of his uniform, demanded.
"Well," Melody smirked, "I was on my way to this gay gypsy bar mitzvah for the disabled when I suddenly thought, 'Gosh, the Third Reich's a bit rubbish, I think I'll kill the Fuhrer'." She looked at the somewhat incredulous soldiers expectantly. "Who's with me?"
The Nazi captain lowered his pistol. "Shoot her."
As soon as the captain stepped aside, the soldiers fired on Melody.
"No!" Rory gasped, his exclamation drowned out by the gunfire.
Gunfire which quickly came to a halt as the soldiers saw that their weapons had no effect on this strange woman. Instead of lying in a bloody heap on the ground, Melody was merely crouched, her arms wrapped tightly around her bullet-ridden midsection.
She raised her head and grinned at them. "Tip for you all. Never shoot a girl while she's regenerating." With that, she rose to her feet and unfolded her arms. A huge burst of regeneration energy spread outwards, striking the soldiers head on. They toppled backwards, groaning in pain and bewilderment. It was a little-known fact about regeneration energy; useful for second-hand healing in small doses, almost deadly in larger ones.
"Ah! Now that hit the spot!" Melody said cheerfully. As she spoke, she moved quickly over the soldiers, snatching up a few of their weapons and strapping them to her back. She then hopped on a nearby motorbike. "Thanks, boys!" she laughed as the nearly unconscious soldiers continued to groan. "Call me!"
At that moment, Amy hopped down. She stared incredulously first at the nearly unconscious Nazis, then at Melody. "What are you doing?!"
Melody didn't even glance at her. "New body, new town. I'm going shopping!" And without another word, she sped off.
Spencer, Amy, and Rory immediately started looking for something they could use to follow her. Before they could look too closely though, another Nazi soldier on a motorbike pulled up beside them. He looked first at the soldiers, then at the trio.
Shit, Spencer thought as he resisted the urge to chew the inside of his cheek. How were they going to get out of this?
After a quick glance at Amy, Rory turned to the soldier. "Look," he began, his face flushing. "I know how this looks. Let me explain everything from the beginning. . ." Before the soldier could respond, Rory raised his hand in salute. "Heil!" he cried.
"Heil!" the soldier saluted. Before he could utter another word, Rory punched him in the face. The soldier sank to the ground.
"Damn," Spencer marveled, he and Amy gaping down at the now unconscious Nazi. "Why didn't I think of that?"
"Come on!" Rory called as he ran past the solider and climbed up on the motorbike.
Spencer and Amy shook themselves out of their shock and rushed to join them. Amy climbed on behind Rory, with Spencer behind her. As Spencer adjusted himself on the seat, Amy leaned closer to Rory and whispered, "Can you ride a motorbike?"
Rory shrugged. "I expect so. It's that sort of day."
~The Pros and Cons of Silence~
As they sped off, neither of the trio looked back at the unconscious group they'd left behind. Hence, they didn't see the soldier Rory had knocked out slowly get to his feet, his movements stiff and mechanical.
The soldier was, of course, the Teselecta.
Inside, Captain Carter let out a frustrated sigh. "Okay," he said as he settled into the captain's chair. "This time, let's do the bike, too."
His crew wasted no time in drawing up the motorbike. Within just a few seconds, they were following the Ponds and Spencer through the streets of Berlin.
Jim peered at the information he'd pulled up on his computer screen. "You see," he cried, pointing at it. "He can't be dying!"
Indeed, the information displayed proved as much. His screen showed two images: one of the Doctor standing in the Utah desert, and one of Alex, cropped from the photo Amy and Rory had taken at her 21st birthday party in Savannah. Written underneath the photos was 'The Doctor and Alex Locke'.
Beneath the Doctor's photo were the following words:
Death Date: 22/04/2011
Time: 5:02 pm
Location: Lake Silencio, Utah
The information beneath Alex's photo was nearly the same, except for one key difference.
Attempted Death Date: 22/04/2011
Time: 5:02 pm
Location: Lake Silencio, Utah
Jim nodded to himself as he read the last bit of information. It was common knowledge that Alex Locke had been approximately 22 years old at the time of her attempted murder. The scans they'd done just a few minutes ago revealed that she was now nearing 23. Her part at Lake Silencio was done. But the Doctor had yet to reach that date.
"But the Doctor is confirmed deceased!" Carter protested. "We have his records."
"But he doesn't die here," Jim explained. "He dies in Utah, by Lake Silencio, April the twenty-second, 2011, less than a minute after the attempted murder of his girlfriend, Alex Locke."
"Time can be rewritten," Anita reminded him. "Remember Kennedy?"
Jim shook his head. "This time can't. It's a confirmed fixed point. The Doctor must always die exactly then. He always has and he always will."
"Then someone's screwed up," Carter grimaced. "Because he's dying right now."
~The Pros and Cons of Silence~
Somehow, the Doctor had succeeded in getting himself and Alex up on the platform. He gently lowered Alex to the ground before all but collapsing down next to her. The two struggled for breath, their respiratory bypass systems only capable of doing so much.
Alex smiled weakly as the Doctor tugged her closer to him. She rested her head against his chest. His hearts, she noted, were beating furiously. She could feel her own banging away, going like drums at a rock concert, trying so hard to keep her body going despite the poison running rampant through her system.
The Doctor ran his fingers through Alex's hair. As he did so, he felt a cool load of adrenaline making its way through his veins. He couldn't help but smile a little, pleased than even through his agony, his body could still react pleasantly to Alex's presence.
Unfortunately, his happiness couldn't last long. He winced as the poison-manufactured pain hit him harder. It hit Alex the same way, too, based on the whimper she let out. Her head drooped lower on his chest and her currently chocolate-colored eyes started to close.
"Ally!" the Doctor called. He took her shoulder and shook it a little. "Come on, Ally girl, stay with me." To his relief, Alex's eyes fully opened, but her head remained drooped.
"Okay, we're shutting down!" he groaned. He looked up at the console. "We need an interface. Voice interface! Come on, emergency!"
A hologram of the Doctor immediately appeared before them. "Voice interface enabled," it announced in the Doctor's voice. Unlike the Doctor's actual voice, however, the hologram's tone was bland and devoid of emotion.
"Oh, no, no, no, no, no!" the Doctor shouted. "Give me someone I like!"
The interface obliged. In the blink of an eye, it morphed from the Doctor to Alex. For some reason, the interface chose to show Alex in the kissogram outfit she'd been wearing when she and the Doctor first met. The Doctor's eyes roved over the Alex hologram, lingering on the very short black skirt for a moment.
Alex's eyes, in stark contrast, widened in shock. Why the hell would the TARDIS – because it had to be the TARDIS who operated the voice interface – show her in that?
Before she could ponder it further, a violent tremor ran through her body. Her back arched and Alex unwittingly let out a little sob.
The sob yanked the Doctor back to his senses. He glowered at the interface. "Don't show me her when she's lying on the floor dying next to me!" he snapped. "Someone else!"
The image of Alex shifted away. It was replaced by none other than Rose Tyler.
"Oh, thanks!" the Doctor groaned. "Give me guilt!"
The image changed again, now displaying Martha Jones.
The Doctor shook his head. "Also guilt!"
Again, the image changed, morphing into Donna Noble.
The Doctor winced, remembering those horrible final moments he'd spent with Donna, erasing her memories of him against her will. "More guilt!" he choked out as his back suddenly stiffened and his chest began to ache. With a shout, he put a hand over one of his hearts. It was beating erratically, desperately pumping more blood into his damaged system. If they continued beating at this rate, it was just possible his hearts would burst before the poison even finished him.
Taking a deep, shuddering breath to try and calm himself, the Doctor turned back to Alex. No doubt she was worried about him, even while going through her own battle. And, knowing her, she probably had questions on just who the women the interface had presented were.
Much to his alarm, however, Alex hadn't even noticed his reactions and turmoil. How could she, when she was now writhing in pain? Her eyes were squeezed tightly shut and she had a hand clutched over the scratch on her neck. The Doctor watched helplessly as she bit on her bottom lip to keep from crying out. She bit down so hard that she drew blood.
Resisting the urge to swear (particularly towards Melody/River), the Doctor shot the interface a desperate expression. "Come on!" he cried. "There must be someone left in the universe I haven't screwed up yet!"
When the interface didn't respond, he shut his eyes and leaned his head back against the railing. At the same time, the pain in Alex's system eased up slightly, enabling her to release her lip and open her eyes. Tears welled up when she saw the agonized look on the Doctor's face, but she refused to let them fall. Instead, she shifted a little, moving her head up to his shoulder and resting it in the crook of his neck. With a little head tilt, she was able to brush his shirt collar aside and rest her cheek against the bare skin of his neck.
The Doctor smiled weakly. Alex's breath was hot and ragged against his skin. In any other situation, this would have made him desperate for more of her touch. But now? Now it only made him anxious as to how much longer his Ally had left to live. Even through the agony he'd experienced back in Hitler's office, he'd been able to hear Spencer's observation on Alex's state. She really did seem worse than him. Oh, when I get my hands on you, River. . .
These dark thoughts were cut off by a new, startingly familiar sound ringing throughout the console room. "Voice interface enabled," a young, female, Scottish-accented voice announced.
The Doctor and Alex wearily opened their eyes. Standing before them was little Amelia Pond, dressed in the nightgown and wellies she'd been wearing the night she met the Doctor.
"Oh," the Doctor sighed in relief. "Oh, Amelia Pond, before I got it all wrong. My sweet little Amelia."
"I am not Amelia Pond," the interface said flatly. "I am a voice interface."
"Hey, let's run away and have adventures. Come along, Pond."
Amelia's image continued to stare at him impassively. "I am not Amelia Pond. I am a voice interface."
The Doctor laughed. "You are so Scottish." But his amusement was quickly tempered by the life-threatening situation at hand. "What's happened?" he asked.
The interface shifted slightly to address him. "Your system has been contaminated by the poison of the Judas Tree. You will be dead in thirty-two minutes."
"Okay," the Doctor nodded, right as he grabbed the back of his suddenly aching neck. He glanced at Alex. "So, basically better regenerate, that's what you're saying?" Unfortunately, being on his thirteenth life, there was no question of regenerating for him. But Alex potentially could.
However, the interface quickly shot this hope down. "Regeneration disabled," it said matter-of-factly. "You will be dead in thirty-two minutes."
"What about a cure?" Alex asked.
A new little bubble of hope rose in the Doctor's chest.
But once again, it was deflated by the Amelia interface's answer. "There is no cure. You will be dead in thirty-two minutes."
A new burst of anger swelled up in the Doctor. "Why do you keep saying that?!"
The interface didn't so much as blink at the outburst. "Because you will be dead in thirty-two minutes."
"You see?! There you go again! Basically skipping thirty-one whole minutes when we're absolutely fine. Scottish, that's all I'm saying."
"You will be fine for thirty-one minutes," the interface agreed, still looking directly at him. "You will be dead in thirty-two minutes."
"Scotland's never conquered anywhere, you know. Not even a Shetland. River needs us." He grimaced on these last few words, even though he knew he spoke the truth. Didn't mean he had to like it though. "She's only just beginning. We can't die now."
"You will not die now. You will die in thirty-two minutes."
"Will you stop saying that?!" Alex snapped. She couldn't stand listening to this infuriatingly calm voice telling her exactly when she would die. Not to mention, it was more than a bit disturbing. No one should know the precise moment of their death. It would drive them mad. Alex certainly felt as though that was happening to her. She shook her head, focusing on the bit of defiance she still felt, despite the dire odds. "And neither of us are going down without a fight!"
The Doctor gave her a weak grin. "That's my girl," he murmured. He managed to press a kiss into her hair before they both let out almost identical shrieks of pain. Their limbs contorted, sending them sprawling. The Doctor clutched his chest, falling forwards and landing on his stomach. Alex fell on her back, immediately arching upwards as her fingernails scratched the glass floor beneath her.
"Doctor!" she sobbed. She thrust her hand out, scrabbling for his reassuring touch.
The Doctor gasped desperately for breath. His respiratory bypass system no longer seemed to be working. Still, he forced himself to try and remain strong, for Alex's sake if nothing else. "It's okay, Ally." He reached out and grasped her hand firmly. His thumb ran soothing circles across her knuckles. "Okay," he grimaced, looking back up at the interface. "We need something for the pain now." He offered the interface a wobbly smile. "Come on, Amelia. It's me. Please."
But the interface simply stared at him. "I am not Amelia Pond. I am a voice interface."
Logically, the Doctor knew the interface spoke the truth. But logic had flown out the window a long time ago. All that was left now was desperate, pleading, nonsensical emotion. "Amelia, listen to me," he pressed. "I can be brave for Alex and you, but you have got to tell me how."
"I am not Amelia Pond," the interface repeated. "I am a voice interface."
"Doctor, drop it," Alex wheezed. Her eyes started to flutter. "It's not going to say anything else."
"It will! Amelia, Amelia, please. . ." The Doctor's voice faded. Against his will, his eyes closed.
Despite her earlier words, Alex couldn't summon the strength to fight. The poison was going to win, plain and simple. There was nothing she or the Doctor or anyone else could do about it. Her now dull light-green eyes fluttered shut. Her back slowly sank to the floor, her head flopping to one side. It's no use, she thought. Interface Amelia won't tell him anything. Better to just give in to the inevitable. . .
But before Alex could follow that thought through, a voice rang out. "Fish fingers and custard and salsa dancing." It wasn't Amelia's little Scottish voice. It was a different one. Still female, but with a new accent. American and distinctly Southern. . .
The Doctor and Alex's eyes snapped open. Standing before them was the Alex interface, police kissogram outfit and all. The interface was smirking slightly, eyes turning from honey-colored to the Doctor's own dark green.
"What did you say?" the Doctor and Alex breathed.
Interface Alex rolled her eyes. "You both heard me. Fish fingers and custard and salsa dancing." Her smirk deepened. "Need me to repeat it?"
The Doctor and Alex stared at it for a moment, before they both burst into laughter. "No!" Alex cackled. "I think we're good!"
"Fish fingers and custard and salsa dancing?" the Doctor grinned. "Oh, yes!"
With this newfound encouragement, he pushed himself up and onto his feet. He turned to help Alex but was pleasantly surprised to see her managing on her own. "Fish fingers and custard and salsa dancing!" he repeated enthusiastically. Those words had helped remind him of the woman running around Berlin, trying to locate her daughter so that she might be able to help her, as well as of the woman beside him. Alex, his Ally. The one he would protect and cherish for all of time, if the universe allowed. He had to push past the pain, focus on the people who needed him, as well as the threat currently wreaking havoc outside.
Truly, getting ahold of Melody/River and getting her somewhere more . . . restricted was reason enough to force himself onwards.
The moment she stood upright, Alex beamed. Incredibly, she felt full of energy now. The poison generated pain was still there, of course, but it seemed to be on the backburner now. It was no longer a pressing concern. No, her hologram doppelganger had reminded her of her real priorities. Amy, her best friend, who desperately needed her help in managing her psychotic daughter. And the Doctor, her best friend and the one she loved with all her hearts. He couldn't die now, not because of Lake Silencio, but in general. He just couldn't die. She couldn't, wouldn't lose him.
The two linked their arms together and carefully made their way to the console.
"Fish fingers," the Doctor said as he used a hand to grab the edge of the console.
"Custard," and he pulled himself and Alex the rest of the way there.
"And. . ." He grabbed a lever, Alex keeping her arm linked with his. "Salsa dancing!"
He pulled the lever down, sending them into the time vortex.
~The Pros and Cons of Silence~
Spencer had no idea how long they'd been riding around Berlin. Too long, he thought, in regards to the Doctor and Alex. For all he and the Ponds knew, the couple could be dead by now.
Spencer winced at the taste of blood on his tongue. Slowly, he released the inside of his cheek. If he kept it up, he was going to nibble it raw.
He'd always thought that if he ever got the chance to time travel, he'd be caught up in all the new, unfamiliar sights and sounds. A whole new world, either long gone to time or way off in the future, and he would be privileged enough to see it. Unfortunately, he couldn't muster any enthusiasm for 1938 Berlin. The time period and location were definitely part of it, but it was mainly the fear of what Melody could be getting up to. Pre-WWII Berlin was a powder keg waiting to happen. To a psychopath of Melody's caliber, it was a playground for mischief and mayhem.
He was momentarily pulled out of his worries by the motorbike slowing down. Going off the look of the buildings, they were in Berlin's wealthier district. Just across the street from them was a rather ostentatious one labeled the Hotel Adlon.
Rory let out a long sigh. Try as he might, it was hard to keep his growing frustration and worry to himself. His only consolation was that Amy and Spencer most likely felt the same way. "Okay, all of Berlin. How do we find her?"
Amy shrugged. "I don't know. Look for clues."
Rory stared at her incredulously. "Clues?" he repeated in a mock Scottish accent. "What kind of clues?!"
"Shut up," Amy retorted, smacking his chest.
A split second later, multiple screams rang out in the otherwise still street.
The trio spun around, expecting carnage, a sudden attack, maybe Melody walking down the street shooting random bystanders. . .
What they did not expect to see was several men and women running out of the Hotel Adlon in nothing but their underclothes, frantically pushing each other out of the way as they ran for dear life down the sidewalk.
"Like that," Spencer said slowly, his eyes wide in shock. "I should think."
Still somewhat gobsmacked, Rory nodded absently. "Okay. . ." However, before he or the others could make a move to go and see what was happening, the sound of an approaching bike engine distracted them.
Turning, they found another motorbike had pulled up alongside them. And for the second time in as many minutes, they were greeted by a sight they had not expected to see.
The driver of the bike was none other than Amy Pond. In a movement that Spencer thought rather mechanical, the second Amy's head turned slowly towards them. . .
~The Pros and Cons of Silence~
Inside the Hotel Adlon, Melody stood before a mirror in the now empty restaurant. Surrounding her were piles and piles of clothes she'd acquired from the hotel's diners.
Well, not so much acquired as held the diners at gunpoint and ordered them to strip. But as far as Melody was concerned, the ends justified the means.
"Now look at that!" she grinned as she threw on a rather lovely fur wrap. "Now that's fun. From every angle." Her gaze was pulled away from her image to one of Amy running in.
Melody rolled her eyes. "Now dear," she said, her tone patronizing. "I told you not to follow me."
So preoccupied in her new body, as well as her irritation that her mother was trying to spoil her fun, Melody didn't register the fact that Amy's face was perfectly blank. Not the sort of expression one would normally wear when attempting to reason with their psychotic kid. Nor did she realize that Amy's running had a slightly mechanical look to it. . .
~The Pros and Cons of Silence~
This is not my day, Spencer thought with a groan.
Honestly, could things get any worse or more bizarre? First Mels appearing in the cornfield and infecting Alex with deadly poison, then her shooting at Alex and sending them to freaking Nazi Berlin, Mels regenerating and immediately poisoning the Doctor, and now an Amy doppelganger had transported them . . . somewhere. Though he didn't know for sure, Spencer suspected they were actually inside the Amy doppelganger.
Slowly, he raised his head and tried to examine his new surroundings. It was a metal and glass corridor with dim lighting. Unfortunately, not much to go on.
Beside him, Rory and Amy were carefully getting to their feet. "Okay, okay," Rory muttered to himself. "I'm trapped inside a giant robot replica of my wife. I'm really trying not to see that as a metaphor."
Unnoticed by Rory, Spencer nodded thoughtfully. The Amy doppelganger being a robot made sense. What else could it be?
"How can we be in here?" Amy wondered, gaze darting all around the corridor. "How do we fit?"
Rory reached the answer a split second before Spencer did. "Miniaturization ray."
Amy stared at him. "How would you know that?"
"Well, there was a ray, and we were miniaturized."
"As good an explanation as any to me," Spencer said as he stood. Crossing his arms, he stepped closer to the glass wall and peered out. Unfortunately, the lighting outside was dark. If there were any other corridors out there, potentially with other people, he couldn't see them. Sighing, he turned back to the Ponds. "Next question: why are we here? And another question: where is here?"
"Welcome," a voice rang out. The trio whirled around to see a gray robot with jellyfish-like tentacles rising from the ground. "You are unauthorized. Your death will now be implemented."
"Er, what's that?" Amy asked nervously.
"Uh, I don't know! It's in your head!" Rory retorted. He and Spencer quickly shifted in front of Amy, all three backing away from the newfound threat.
"Please remain calm while your life is terminated."
Frantically, Amy held up her hands. "We come in peace!"
Rory half-snorted, half-laughed at this. "When has that ever worked?!"
"Oh, shut up!"
"Both of you shut up!" Spencer snapped. Grabbing their hands, he led them into a run. A few moments later, he tugged them around a corner. . .
. . .only to come face-to-face with another one of the jellyfish robots. "Please cooperate in your officially sanctioned termination."
"Great, we're here to be sentenced to death!" Spencer growled.
Once again, they ran around another corner. And once again, they encountered another one of the robots. "It is normal to experience fear during your incineration," it said as it and the other robots cornered the trio against a wall.
Amy whipped out the sonic screwdriver. "Stop or I sonic!" she cried, aiming the device out in front of her.
"What are you doing?" Rory demanded.
"Er. . . I don't know!"
At the same time Amy withdrew the sonic, Spencer pulled out his pistol. He had no idea if it would be effective against these robots – a bullet hitting one would surely cause others to appear – but right now, it was the best weapon he had. Unless Amy figured out how to work the sonic screwdriver. Did she know how to work it? Hearing her last remark, Spencer grimaced. "Well, think of something!" he cried. He loaded a bullet into the chamber. "Or I'll have to try and shoot our way out!" And he didn't fancy doing that. Aside from potentially summoning more robots, there was also the chance the bullet could ricochet.
Truly, the sonic screwdriver trumped guns in this scenario.
"Okay. . ." Rory thought quickly, trying to remember what Alex had said back when she told them about her necklace being sonic. The Doctor had based her necklace off his screwdriver, so the devices couldn't be that different, right? "Psychic interface! Just point and think!"
Amy just blinked incoherently. "I know, but what do I think?"
"I don't know!"
It was just as Spencer was about to say screw it and shoot that a pair of doors neither he nor the Ponds had noticed slid open behind them.
Standing there was Jim from the control room. "It's okay," he said calmly, barely even glancing at the multiple, threatening robots surrounding them. "Just stay still, don't move." With quick efficiency, he slipped three wrist devices onto the Ponds and Spencer and pressed a few buttons on each. "Privileges activated," he announced. Gesturing for Spencer to hold up his wrist, Jim raised Amy and Rory's. All three of the devices now emitted a green glow. "See," he said to the robots. "Activated."
"You are authorized," the robots stated as they turned to leave. "Your existence will continue."
"And you can put your hands down." Jim waited until all three had done so before adding, "This is Justice Department Vehicle 6018. You're not guilty of anything." He smiled warmly. "Welcome aboard the Teselecta."
Spencer blinked as he holstered his gun. Apparently, things can get more bizarre.
He just hoped they wouldn't get worse as well.
~The Pros and Cons of Silence~
Back in the Hotel Adlon restaurant, Melody was still trying on clothes. She had now exchanged the fur wrap for a rather fetching Luftwaffe jacket. "I might take the age down a bit," she remarked, still completely oblivious to the fact that the Amy standing beside her was not the real Amy, but the Teselecta. "Just gradually, to freak people out."
"You killed the Doctor," the Teselecta stated. "And attempted to kill Alex Locke."
Melody didn't so much as blink at the flat monotone accompanying the statement. In fact, she barely registered the statement at all. "Oh, yes, I know, dear. I hope you're not going to keep on about it." She grabbed a matching military-style hat from a nearby pile of clothes and tucked it over her curls. "Oh, regeneration," she sighed, taking the hat off. "It's a whole new coloring to work with."
As Melody fussed with her hair (she was definitely going to have to find some products to keep it in line), the Teselecta moved to stand directly beside the mirror. "You killed the Doctor on the orders of the movement known as the Silence and Academy of the Question, and attempted to kill Alex Locke. You accept and know this to be true?"
"Quite honestly, I don't remember," Melody said, not looking away from her reflection. "It was all a bit of a jumble—"
She was cut off by the Teselecta suddenly shoving the mirror to the side. The robot opened its mouth. A blue-white beam immediately shot out and hit Melody in the chest. She stumbled back, desperate to get away from the sharp pain being emitted by the beam. "No! No!" she shouted. "Get off me!"
"Sorry," a familiar voice called out.
At the sound of it, the Teselecta stopped its attack. The robot and Melody turned to see who it was.
Both were shocked to see none other than the Doctor and Alex Locke on the small band stage, leaning nonchalantly against a corner of the TARDIS.
Another source of shock was the fact that the poisoned couple were now dressed to the nines. The Doctor wore a posh black suit, complete with tails, white shirt, white bowtie, a top-hat, and a cane. Alex had donned a strapless, high-low, TARDIS blue dress, complete with a corseted back and fluffy tulle. Completing her ensemble were a pair of dropped earrings with huge sapphires in the center surrounded by tiny diamonds, and strappy, open-toed blue pumps. She'd even managed to put makeup on, including a dramatic smokey eye, long mascara clad lashes, and dark pink lipstick. The only holdovers from her earlier outfit were her ring and sonic necklace. The latter gleamed brightly in the sunlight coming through the windows.
"Did you say she killed the Doctor?" He looked up at his and Alex's astonished audience. "The Doctor?"
"Doctor who?" he and Alex said together.
Alex gave a little wave, rather pleased at the flabbergasted expression Melody was giving them. "You just can't keep a good thing down, can you?" she smirked.
~The Pros and Cons of Silence~
"You said he was dying!" Carter exclaimed.
"He is!" Anita insisted.
Behind them, the control room doors slid open. Jim, Amy, Rory, and Spencer all stepped in. The former was in the middle of explaining just what Spencer and the Ponds were doing here.
Not that he'd really explained a lot. The fact that they were on something called a 'Justice Department Vehicle' suggested to Spencer a law enforcement agency, though Jim was rather vague on the specifics. Especially regarding questions on just what the Teselecta was doing here. It was some kind of mission, Spencer had figured out that much, and it somehow involved Melody. But no matter how much he pressed Jim for answers, the young man wouldn't reveal anything. All he would say was, "I'm not authorized to explain that. You'll have to ask Captain Carter."
Needless to say, Spencer was very much looking forward to speaking with the captain. The man and his crew were interfering in his mission to protect Alex. He could hardly do anything for her when he was stuck inside an exact replica of Amy Pond.
"When you're done here, your memories will be wiped," Jim explained as they walked into the small, dimly lit control room. "And you'll be able to—"
"Doctor!" Amy cried, cutting him off upon seeing her friend's image on the monitors.
Overtop her, Rory and Spencer gasped, "Alex!"
~The Pros and Cons of Silence~
Back in the restaurant, Melody gaped at the Doctor and Alex. "You're dying," she said, looking more at the Doctor than at Alex. "And you stopped to change?!"
Alex shrugged. "The dead are always dressed up for a funeral, aren't they?" Her tone came off rather flippant, which was just what Alex had intended. She really didn't want to reveal to Melody just how scared she was – or how mad she thought the Doctor for insisting on them getting all dolled up.
With one hand clasped in Alex's, the Doctor used his other hand to swing his cane around. "Oh, you should always waste time when you don't have any!" he smiled as he and Alex made their way down a couple of steps to the main floor. "Time is not the boss of you. Rule 408."
Rolling her eyes at his antics, Alex turned towards the Teselecta. "If you don't mind, Doc, I'm a bit more interested in that." She raised her eyebrows at the robot, which she and the Doctor both suspected as being the same one they'd encountered back in Hitler's office. "Amelia Pond, judgement death machine. For some reason, I'm really not that surprised."
The Doctor grinned at her, then proceeded to whip open the top of his cane. Inside was a sonic end similar to the one on his screwdriver. "Sonic cane!" he cheered with a glance at Melody.
Melody just stared at him. "Are you serious?"
"That was my exact reaction when he showed that to me," Alex remarked.
The Doctor ignored her, instead choosing to reply to Melody. "Never knowingly. Never knowingly be serious. Rule 27. You might want to write these down." As he spoke, he scanned the Teselecta. Unbeknownst to him, this caused the lights and monitors inside the vehicle's control room to briefly emit a bright green glow, much to Carter and his crew's confusion. "Oh, it's a robot! With 423 life signs inside. A robot worked by tiny people. Love it! But how did you all get in there though?" He grinned again at Alex. "Bigger on the inside?"
Smiling back at him, Alex took a quick scan with her necklace. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Melody watching her intently, her gaze turning a touch envious. Well, now I know why her older self was yelling at me to give her my necklace back in 1969, she thought before studying the results. "Sorry, Doc," she said, shooting him an apologetic look. "According to this, it's a basic miniaturization sustained by a compression field."
"Oooh," the Doctor said, his eyes going wide. "Watch what you eat, it'll get you every time." Then, before Alex could roll her eyes at him again, he turned to face the Teselecta. "Amy, if you, Rory, and Spencer are okay, signal us."
~The Pros and Cons of Silence~
Amy didn't need to be told twice. Before the Doctor even finished speaking, she had already whipped the sonic screwdriver out of her jacket pocket. Keeping in mind to just point and think, she aimed the device upwards and thought about the Doctor's instruction. A moment later, the sonic emitted its familiar buzzing.
On the monitors, the Doctor's cane lit up at the same time as the lone topaz on Alex's necklace emitted a bright, topaz-colored glow.
The couple beamed. "Thanking you," they said together.
Rory hastily shoved Amy's hand down to hide the sonic as Carter whirled towards them. "How'd you do that?!" he demanded.
~The Pros and Cons of Silence~
Fortunately, before Amy could try and come up with an answer, the Doctor and Alex let out shouts of pain.
"AH!" they cried, the Doctor clutching his leg, Alex bent over with her arms wrapped tightly around her abdomen.
The Doctor toppled towards the floor but managed to catch himself at the last moment with his cane. Predictably, he tried to laugh it off. "I'm so sorry, leg went to sleep! Just had a quick left leg power nap. I forgot I had one scheduled." He started to stand, wanting to go over and comfort Alex, but his body made him quickly reconsider and he sank down onto the steps behind him. "Actually, better sit down," he said as Alex, still clutching her abdomen and grimacing, made her way towards him. "I think I heard the right one yawning."
Melody, who'd spent the past few minutes looking for a possible escape, now saw her chance. She bolted for the doors . . . but the Teselecta was a step ahead of her. The robot's head whirled around, and the mouth opened. A blue-white beam shot out and quickly surrounded Melody. Melody shouted in agony at the white-hot bursts of pain the beam emitted and struggled to try and escape it.
"Don't you touch her!" the Doctor shouted as Alex sank down next to him. "Do not harm her in any way!"
The Teselecta obliged, but it didn't release Melody entirely. The robot closed its mouth, cutting off the beam, but Melody was left in a blue-gray containment field. She let out a few moans, presumably from after-effects of the beam, but otherwise seemed unharmed. For now.
The robot swung its head towards the Doctor. "Why would you care?" Carter asked, only the voice that came out of the robot's mouth sounded exactly like Amy's. "She's the woman who kills you."
The Doctor took off his top-hat, letting it fall to the floor. "I'm not dead," he said with a smile.
"And neither am I," Alex said with a mild glare at the robot. "Thanks for acknowledging me."
The Teselecta continued to look at the Doctor, which may have proven Alex's point. "You're dying."
"Well, at least I'm not a time traveling, shape-shifting robot operated by miniaturized cross people!" the Doctor retorted. "Which," he added with a wince, "I have got to admit, I didn't see coming."
"Neither of us saw that coming," Alex snorted. "Now," she continued, pointing to Melody. "What do you want with her?"
"She's Melody Pond," Carter stated, as though this was answer enough. "According to records, the woman who kills the Doctor and attempts to kill Alex Locke."
Alex raised an eyebrow at the 'attempt to kill' part of the sentence, but figured it probably referred to Lake Silencio. River had attempted to kill her there. Not the case now though, Alex inwardly sighed. "And I'm Alex Locke and he's the Doctor, so what's all this to you? Seems more like an us problem," she waved her hand between her and the Doctor, "than a you problem."
"Throughout history, many criminals have gone unpunished in their lifetimes. Time travel has . . . responsibilities."
The Doctor and Alex stared at the Teselecta, their faces a perfect mixture of shock and incredulity. The Doctor let out a slight laugh, but it lacked his usual warmth. Instead, it was a bit cold, bordering on threatening, but not to where it was overly obvious. Alex knew that him being truly cold and threatening would come later. "What? You got yourselves time travel, so you decided to punish dead people?"
"We don't kill them. We extract them near the end of their established timelines."
Alex pursed her lips, already dreading the answer to her question. "And then what?"
"Give them hell."
Alex's expression tightened. "So that's what you were doing in Hitler's office earlier. Shot off by a few years though, didn't you?" she taunted. She shook her head and let out a disbelieving laugh. "Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying Hitler doesn't deserve it, but it still seems like an unnecessary job."
The Doctor stared at the Teselecta, his expression dark. "I'd ask you who you think you are," he said coldly, "but I think the answer is pretty obvious. So, who do you think I am? Huh?" He used his cane to point at Melody. "The woman who killed the Doctor. It sounds like you've got my biography in there. I'd love a peek."
"Our records office is sealed to the public." Even through the bland tone, Alex could detect a hint of finality. "Foreknowledge is dangerous."
"He'll be dead in three minutes," Alex argued. "There's not much foreknowledge left!"
"Sorry, can't do that."
~The Pros and Cons of Silence~
Amy, by this point more than a bit infuriated, spun the captain's chair so Carter was forced to face her. "That man and woman are my best friends." Her eyes were narrowed and dark, just like she'd seen Alex's do several times before. "That other woman is my daughter. You give them anything they want." Or I'll make you was left unsaid, but there was no doubt to anyone that it was implied.
"If she's family, she has privileges," Jim called over.
Carter appeared rather annoyed at Jim revealing this, but nevertheless began typing commands into Amy's wrist-device. "Say 'access personal records, the Doctor'," he instructed.
Amy obediently raised the device to her lips. "Access personal records, the Doctor."
~The Pros and Cons of Silence~
"Records available," the Teselecta announced.
With the help of his cane, the Doctor was able to push himself to his feet. Once he was standing, Alex used the end of his jacket to haul herself upright. The moment she was vertical, the Doctor wasted no time in linking his arm with hers. Together, they stared at the Teselecta, mild flashes of pain breaking through their expectant expressions.
"Question," the Doctor began. "I'm dying. Who wants me dead?"
"The Silence."
"Yes, we know that," Alex said waspishly. "But who exactly are the Silence?"
"Yes, why is it called that?" the Doctor added. "What does it mean?"
"The Silence is not a species," the Teselecta replied. The Doctor and Alex blinked in surprise but didn't say anything as the Teselecta was still talking. "It is a religious order or movement. Their core belief is that silence will fall when the question is asked."
"What question?" the Doctor demanded.
"The first question. The oldest question in the universe. Hidden in plain sight."
"Enough of the theatrics!" Alex snapped, her eyes flashing dangerously. "What is the question, specifically?"
There was a pause before the Teselecta finally answered. "Unknown."
Alex let out a squawk of outrage while the Doctor rolled his eyes. Much good that did him! "Oh, well, fat lot of use that is, you big ginge!" he retorted. "Call yourself a records—AHH!" He suddenly fell to the floor. Alex nearly went down with him, only for her own brand of pain to hit her. She pulled her arm out of the Doctor's and collapsed, landing painfully on her back.
"Ahh!" the Doctor yelped, grabbing his abdomen. "Kidneys are always the first to quit! I've had better, you know."
Alex bit down on her lip until she tasted the coppery tang of blood. "Have you had better spines? Because I think mine just gave out."
~The Pros and Cons of Silence~
"Okay," Anita said quietly. "He's finished."
"Oh my God," Amy whimpered. She spun into Rory's arms and hugged him tightly, burying her face in his neck. Rory rubbed her back, all while keeping his eyes away from the screens as well.
Spencer, however, continued to stare at them, his brow furrowed in thought. The crewmember stated that the Doctor was finished . . . but what about Alex? Technically, she'd been poisoned before him, so she should presumably already be dead. Not to mention, the Teselecta crew didn't seem to be too concerned with her. Which suggested that they weren't concerned about her death because there was nothing to be concerned about. . .
So caught up in these musings, he almost missed Carter's reply. "Well then," he said, his voice turning rather detached. "Let's do what we do. Give her hell."
~The Pros and Cons of Silence~
A/N: Hmm, what's going on with Alex? We'll find out soon! Final chapter will be out in a day or so.
Notes on reviews. . .
NicoleR85: I'm so glad we're back too! Alex is handling things . . . well, about how you'd expect. Hope you enjoyed the chapter!
the . apple . seed: Glad to hear you like the Alex AU ideas! I've already got such big plans for the AU where Alex is present from the First Doctor onwards. SO many fun changes and twists! Oh my gosh, yes, the dynamics between her and 9 and 10 will be vastly different. Hopefully I'll get to writing one of them soon! Glad you liked the bit on the Doctor's coat! I always wondered about the in-universe reason for him changing it, so I decided to come up with one I thought might make sense. Haha, glad you liked all his thoughts on the crop circle, and how he's intimidating Spencer. Lol, poor Spencer. With this chapter, his day is only getting worse. Thank you so much! Hope you enjoyed the chapter!
EchoMoment: Lol, I'm glad you found that line amusing! That was my intention, having a bit of levity in an otherwise tense and serious scene. I'm so glad the Doctor and Alex are back together too. Let the fluff commence! Yep, Alex nearly getting shot is interesting. I will say we'll find out if she can regenerate and it will be in this story, but I won't say how they come to figure it out. You make a good point on the Doctor asking Rory for permission to hug Amy. I always figured it was sort of an inside joke between the three, but I can see how it comes across as misogynistic. Yes, they did technically save Hitler by him not getting killed at that point in time, but Alex is basically reacting to Amy's (and her) horror at the idea of saving notorious dictator Hitler at all, so that's why she says what she says. Ah, I knew that France declared war on Germany, but not at the same time as Britain. I don't recall being taught that in school, so I guess it's just an American thing that we forget about France's role in declaring war. Haha, no worries! The show definitely has it's criticizing moments. Hope you enjoyed the chapter!
The Time Lord Oracle: Yep, we're back to the Series 6 episodes! I agree, Mels not being mentioned before this episode is really confusing. It's like Moffat just added her in at the last minute and didn't think the whole River is Melody plot through. Hence why I gave her a lot of build-up, so we could actually see what she was going through and why she acts the way she does. This chapter touched on her motives for killing the Doctor as regards Amy and Rory, something that always baffled me. Why would she kill her parents' best friend knowing her parents are going to be upset and horrified by it? Wouldn't that make her hesitate a bit? So, we got some clarity on that here. I'm glad you enjoyed the last chapter! Hope you enjoy this one (and the rest of Series 6)!
Eennio: Thank you! I'm glad to be back too. Hope you enjoyed the chapter!