"Okay, left, sharp turn!" Amy shouted, holding a map as Rory drives the Mini car. Rory turns, almost causing Delaney to get butthead with the window and they cross a previous path. "Okay, right! No, no, no I mean left," Amy said, then turned the map again. "No, sorry, right, right! I definitely meant right."
"I can see why Arthur didn't let you drive," Delaney quipped, holding the hand grip. Amy's way of pointing out directions was bad enough. The thought of her driving a real car makes Delaney uncomfortable. Whoever her driver examiner was, she hope he's doing fine after Amy's exam.
"Now loop the loop! Stop! Stop!"
Rory slams on the brakes as soon as he sees the Tardis. Then, they all get out of the car to see the Doctor and the Tardis in the middle of the crop circle they just made.
The Doctor holds up the Leadworth paper with a headline that reads "Leadworth's Crop Circle". "Seriously?"
"Well, you never answer your phone," Delaney pointed out, rubbing her head. Her head was spinning with all the car's revolutions. She might need a dozen pills tonight.
"Okay, you've had all summer. Have you found her? Have you found Melody?" Amy asked.
The Doctor paused. "Permission?"
"Granted," Rory let him, taking the newspaper as the Doctor hugs Rory's wife.
"You know who she grows up to be, so you know I will find her."
"But you haven't yet," Amy concluded, can't help but feel disappointed that even now, he can't find her daughter.
"Hang on. What's this bit?" Rory asked, pointing at a line through the middle of their crop design in the photograph.
"That wasn't us."
Delaney's eyes went wide as she spotted a car driving towards them through the corn. "Look out!" she yelled.
They dive for safety as the Chevrolet Corvette skids to a halt by the Tardis. A young woman with black-and-white polka top, black leather jacket, dark jeans, and black combat boots gets out of the driver seat, while on the passenger seat, a familiar black-haired man with green hoodie and a big backpack on his shoulder also comes out, holding his mouth and stomach.
"Excuse me," Arthur said before he walked a bit far and vomited.
"You're over exaggerated," Mels commented to Arthur before looking at the Doctor. She had wanted to meet the Raggedy Doctor for a long time. Good thing she finally did this time around. "You said he was funny. You never said he was hot."
"Mels!" Rory realised.
"What are you doing here?" Amy frowns. "And where did you meet Arthur?"
"He suddenly appeared in the car while I'm following you," Mels shrugged, glancing at Delaney who helps Arthur.
Delaney raises her eyebrow. Arthur isn't a carsick person, so there's no way he suddenly vomits without reason. And she's not surprised about his sudden appearance? No normal person would be fine about it. "So why did he vomit?"
"He always likes that when I'm driving."
"Er, where did you get the car?" Rory noticed.
"Stole it from Jeff," Arthur replied before drinking the hot water in a thermos he carried. "Which is why she's in a hurry. Police on their way."
"Oh, Mels, not again," Amy grumbled. 22 years old, but her behaviour is still the same.
"You can't keep doing this. You're going to end up in prison," Rory reminded her.
"Sorry," the Doctor stops them from talking, clueless. "Hello. Doctor not following this. Doctor very lost. You never said I was hot?"
"Is that the phone box? The bigger on the inside phone box?" Mels gasped and touched the box. "Oh, time travel. That's just brilliant. Yeah, I've heard a lot about you. I'm their best mate. Arthur's my guardian."
"Then why do you just show up now?" Delaney asked her, finding this very suspicious. She had stayed with Amy and Rory for months now, trying to help the grieving couple who had lost their daughter. In her stay, she had heard them mentioning their other friend, Mels, who had been travelling across countries. Not only that, but as far as Delaney knew, it was Second Arthur who had lived in Leadworth for 12 years, not the Third. Meaning, indirectly, Mels had admitted that she knew Arthur's identity as a Time Lord. But Arthur wasn't someone who would carelessly reveal information about himself to strangers. So, who's exactly this woman before her? "Arthur said that you practically hate this place and prefer travelling around. You never even attend their wedding!"
"The women were all brilliant. The men…were a bit shy," the Doctor remembered.
"I don't do weddings," Mels replied as the sirens got closer. "And that's me out of time."
"Mels!" Amy and Arthur shriek as she pulls a gun in Arthur and Delaney's direction.
"For God's sake!" Rory shouted, tired that she had done this. Again.
"What are you doing?" Delaney demanded, not raising her hands, but standing beside Arthur to keep him safe. He's not in good condition, and the blonde can guess that she did it on purpose so he won't have the energy to stop her.
"I need out of here, now," Mels urged with the helicopter coming, too.
"Anywhere in particular?" the Doctor asked, trying to diffuse their situation before this woman accidentally killed his son and future daughter-in-law.
"Well, let's see. You've got a time machine, I've got a gun. What the hell. Let's kill Hitler."
▪︎▪︎▪︎
Mels yelped at the sudden motion and accidentally pulled the trigger, causing the Tardis's rotor to get haywire and the entire Tardis was out of control.
"You've shot it!" the Doctor shouted, glaring at her. "You shot my Tardis! You shot the console!"
"It's his fault!" Mels said, gesturing to Arthur, who's trying to help the Doctor navigate their destination, his teeth gritted hardly at the commotion.
"Argh! How's it Sunny's fault?"
"He said guns didn't work in this place. He said we're in a state of temporal grace."
"That was a clever lie, you idiot! Anyone could tell that was a clever lie to keep everyone safe from an idiot!" the Doctor scorned.
"Hang on!" Delaney warned as the monitor showed them Reich Chancellery before a big impact hit the entire console room, knocking them out on the floor, following a large thick smoke. "Out!"
"Everybody out," the Doctor insisted as everyone left the Tardis and entered a large room. "Don't breathe the smoke, just get out!"
"Where are we?" Amy asked.
"A Nazi room," Arthur replied before leaning on the Tardis. Oh boy. His body was already exhausted. His stamina also seemed to be taking its toll on his new body and he 100% knows for sure that Mels' driving intact had nothing to do with it. Yep, absolutely nothing.
"What kind?" Rory wondered.
"A nasty one," Delaney remarked darkly, tugging her violet cardigan, slowly realising who the room might belong to with a huge swastika in the room.
"Mels, don't go in there!" the Doctor yelled and took her gun away.
"Oi!" She protested and decided to walk around the room.
"Bad smoke. Don't breathe the bad, bad, smoke. Bad, deadly smoke because somebody shot my Tardis!"
Rory has gone to a man on the floor. "Doctor, Artie," Rory called, kneeling beside him alongside Amy. "This guy, I think he's hurt."
"Don't worry. He's fine," Arthur assured Rory as the Doctor put the gun in a fruit bowl. Its owner gets up from behind his desk. Amy and Rory stand up, Arthur still leaning on the Tardis, Mels watches from a distance, while Delaney stands not far from the Doctor, folding her arms.
"Ooo, hello. Sorry, is this your office?" the Doctor asked the man. "Had a sort of collision with my vehicle. Faults on both sides, let's say no more about…it."
"Who?" Rory breathed.
"Is that?" Amy blurted as she and her husband stood between the Doctor and Delaney. "No, it can't be, Doctor?"
"Thank you, whoever you are. I think you have just saved my life," Hitler said.
"You have got to be kidding me," Delaney muttered.
"Believe me...it was an accident," the Doctor insisted.
Hitler looks at the Tardis. "What is this thing?"
"Awa an' bile yer heid, you numpty psycho," Arthur warned, slipping his scottish accent that the 12th Doctor will be proud to hear it…but would make his mother (from the future) pissed so much.
"What did he mean, we saved his life?" Amy hissed. "We could not have just saved Hitler."
"As much as I would love to see this doaty asshole die for good," Delaney murmured, remembering all the hideous crimes he had committed from a textbook history. "We need to preserve the timeline. He died 7 years later."
"You see? You see?" the Doctor glared at Mels, who's not perturbed at all. "Time travel, it never goes to plan."
Suddenly, the fainted man stands up.
"No, stop him!" Hitler yelled, sounding frantic before shooting him with his gun.
The Doctor and Delaney quickly dodge, while Rory punches Hitler and grabs his gun. "Sit still, shut up."
Amy goes to the fainted man. "Are you okay?"
"Yes, yes. Yes, I'm fine. I think he missed," he replied.
"He was going to kill me," Hitler insisted.
"Shut up, Hitler!" Rory and Delaney snapped.
"Rory, take Hitler and put him in that cupboard over there," the Doctor suggested. "Now do it."
"Wait," Delaney stops him and proceeds to kick Hitler's stomach. Then, before Rory does something, Arthur also approaches them and punches his jaw.
"Okay, go on," Arthur smiles.
Rory nods and drags the man. "Right. Putting Hitler in the cupboard. Cupboard, Hitler. Hitler, cupboard. Come on."
"But I am the Fuhrer!"
"Right, in you go!" Rory said and shoved the man in a large cupboard lined with shelves.
"Who are you?"
"None of your business," Arthur condemned, walks closer to the cupboard, and shuts the door into his face. He doesn't need this asshat around him anymore.
"Are you okay?" the Doctor asked the fainted man.
"Oh, I…"
Arthur snapped his fingers, using small pieces of the Vortex so the mysterious men fainted to the ground. He can sense that the man's not a robot. Why there's a humanoid robot, he had no clue so far. But, he can tell that Hitler was telling the truth about this man's intention on killing him (shame it didn't work). It would be better to keep it off, just to be safe.
"Why did you do that?" Delaney frowns.
"That's not a man, that's a robot."
Before anyone can ask him what he meant by that, Amy interjects by asking, "Mels?"
Arthur looked at Amy's direction, finding Mels clutching her side. "On no," he breathed. Crap, he didn't help his mom from getting shot (even if said shot needs to happen anyway). "He shot you."
"Lousy shot, too," Mels added, smiling in pain and collapsing.
"Mels! Mels!" Amy cried as they all reached her, trying to save her.
"How bad?" Delaney asked.
"No, no, no, no! I've got to stop the bleeding!" Rory remarked.
"Rory, what can we do?" Amy pleaded.
"Just keep her conscious. Stay with us, Mels."
"You're gonna be fine, Mels. You're gonna be fine," Arthur assured her. His mother already did this once, but still, an assurance isn't bad. Especially when it comes with regeneration.
"Hey, look at me. Just hold on," the Doctor gestures to her to see him.
"I used to dream about you," Mels recalled. "All those stories Amy and Arthur used to tell me."
"What stories? Tell me what stories. Vampires in Venice. That's a better."
"When I was little, I was going to marry you."
"Good idea, let's get married. You stay alive and I'll marry you, deal? Deal?"
"Shouldn't you ask my parents permission?"
"As soon as you're well, I'll get on the phone."
"No need," Arthur remarked. The Doctor frowns, realising how calm he is. Way too calm, in fact. "They're here. With us."
"Penny in the air," Mels winked as she slowly stood up. Everyone except Arthur and Delaney just let their mouths wide open as her hands practically glowed. "Penny drops."
"What the hell's going on?" Rory demanded.
"Back! Back! Back!" Arthur warned, dragging Amy and Rory away. "Get back!"
"Last time I did this, I ended up a toddler in the middle of New York," Mels recalled, looking at Arthur rather sadly. "We're separated in Florida. I thought I would never get to see you again."
"Arthur, explain what is happening, please," Amy pleaded. Arthur clearly knows more than he lets on.
"She's regenerating, like us," Arthur answered. "She's a Time Lady."
"WHAT?" the Doctor yelped.
"Her name…Melody," Delaney murmured.
"I named my daughter after her," Amy elaborated, not understanding what's the big deal Delaney had with her friend's name being the same as her daughter's name.
The Doctor glances at Amy. "You named your daughter…after your daughter."
"At least mine was named after you," Arthur quipped, nudging Rory, who's still staring with wide eyes and gaped mouth. Good thing River choose Rory's middle name as his first name, nobody would immediately suspect their relationship as family.
"It took me years to find you three. I'm so glad I did," Mels continued. She had been desperate to search for her missing friend after they got separated while escaping Kovarian. It was a miracle that she found him and her parents in Leadworth at the same time period. "And you see? It all worked out in the end, didn't it? I met Arthur, and you two got to raise me after all."
"You're Melody?" Amy gasped at the implication that their daughter had been with them this entire time.
"But if she's Melody," Rory realised, "That means that she's also—"
"Shut up, Dad. I'm focusing on a dress size," Mels said and screamed as the regeneration began. The Doctor, Arthur, and Delaney quickly look at each other and know what to do as Melody Zucker slowly changes into a familiar woman with big curly hair.
River Song gasped. "Whoa! Right, let's see, then." She takes a look at her body. "Ooo, it's all going on down there, isn't it?" Then, she touches her hair and runs into the mirror. "The hair! Oh, the hair. It just doesn't stop, does it? Look at that. Everything changes. Oh, but I love it. I love it! I'm all sort of…mature." She strikes a Mrs Robinson pose. "Hello, Benjamin."
"Oh God," Arthur blabbered, wrinkling his nose while Delaney just gawped.
"Who's Benjamin?" the Doctor whispered.
"You don't wanna know," Delaney faltered as River checked her teeth.
"The teeth. The teeth, the teeth! Oh, look at them." In a hurry, River pins the Doctor against Hitler's desk. "Watch out, that bow tie." She turns around. "Excuse me, you lot. I need to weigh myself."
As she runs off into a side room, Amy and Rory slowly follow the Doctor as the three of them lean against the desk, trying to process the shock news. Arthur and Delaney simply stand in front of them, not even perturbed by the news since they both had suspected who Mels is.
"That's Melody," Amy realised.
"Yup," Arthur nods.
"That's River Song," Rory added, dumbstruck.
"Not quite," Delaney argued.
River came back. "Who's River Song?"
"Spoilers!" Arthur replied with a hidden smile, while his father and grandparents just looked at her, too shocked to speak.
"I hate that word! You always said that word everytime I asked about you!" River grumbled, then remembered something. "Hang on, just something I have to check."
"Is anybody else finding today just a bit difficult?" Rory asked.
"No, just you," Arthur stated.
"Really? I'm getting a sort of banging in my head."
"Yeah, I think that's Hitler in the cupboard," Amy quipped.
"That's not helping."
"This isn't the River Song we know yet," the Doctor emphasised as he steps closer to his son. "This is her right at the start. Doesn't even know her own name. And you know her, don't you?" He gazed right at Arthur's grey eyes. "For the last 12 years, you keep an eye on River and her parents."
He shrugs. "Someone should. You're busy, and Dela's…not available. Who else but me?"
Delaney frowned, hugging herself. Actually, she could have gone with the Doctor before he met Amy after regenerating. However, she was resting from all the adventures she had experienced since entering the Tardis. Never mind the aftermath of the Crucible...Delaney didn't want to remember how heavy her heart was with what happened to her boyfriend.
Her thoughts were cut off with River's excited voice as she returned. "Oh, that's magnificent! I'm going to wear lots of jodhpurs."
"Oh, God," Arthur grunts, covering his face with his hands while Delaney just turns away, pinches her nose, trying not to show her red face at what River just implied.
"Well, now, enough of all that. Down to business."
"Oh, hello. I thought we were getting married," the Doctor reminded her as the gun pointed to him.
"I told you I'm not a wedding person," River stated, keeping the gun steady on her hand.
"Doctor, what's she doing?" Rory asked.
"What she's programmed to do," Delaney realised.
"Where'd she get the gun?"
'"Hello, Benjamin.'"
"You noticed. Impressive," River admitted to the young woman, and tried to fire it, but the chambers were empty.
"Of course I noticed. Me, him, and him know," the blonde gestures to her boyfriend-slash-husband and father-in-law-slash-friend, remembering she took the bullets out while River was regenerating.
"As soon as I knew you were coming, we tidied up a bit," the Doctor clarified, having swapped the bowl into another side.
"I know you did," River told him.
"I know you know."
She points a banana at him instead of a gun from the fruit bowl. "Goodness, is killing you going to take all day?"
"Why? Are you busy?"
"Oh, I'm not complaining." She grabs a letter opener and Arthur flickers his hands, sending it away.
"No, Mels," Arthur pouted. During his stay for 12 years, he had made sure that all instincts and programming thanks to Kovarian and the Silence had been erased. But his mother' reaction indicates that they had, once again, intervened to restore all of those back to River. "What did I tell you about the urge to kill someone?"
"I had it for 12 years! And I'm doing this to protect you!"
The Doctor narrows his eyes. Protect Sunny? Why would killing him make Sunny safe? "If you were trying to keep me away from Sunny, you could've killed me in the cornfield."
"We'd only just met. I'm a psychopath. I'm not rude," River denoted, grabbing the gun from the fruit bowl, but the Doctor has the clip.
"You are not a psychopath!" Amy disagreed, not liking how her daughter acted like this as River threw the gun away. "Why would she be a psychopath?"
"Because that's what they taught her," Arthur explained while River and the Doctor circled against each other. "Kovarian and the Silence had taught me to become an assassin. But when they knew I didn't fit the criteria, they changed their plan to her instead."
"The woman who was born to kill the Doctor," Delaney noted grimly.
"This is what they were building. My bespoke psychopath," the Doctor uttered.
"I'm all yours, sweetie," River smiled, leaning her face to kiss him…but then got pulled away by Arthur.
"Mels," Arthur said cautiously. "Have you forgotten about our promise?"
She looked hesitant before shaking her head. "I have to," she insisted. As much as it hurts her to break that promise to the only closest friend she ever had, she must do this. Or else, she'll lose him again.
"No, you don't—"
"I have to! They'll kill you again if I fail! They warned me!"
"They won't find me," Arthur promised, a dreadful realisation that the Silence must have found her during her travelling and know his whereabout.
"You can't be sure."
"Again?" Delaney repeated, her breaths quickened. "Why do you mean…again?"
River looks down. "They always hurt him. Always. If I fail on one task, they break his bone. If I disobeyed their order, they injected him with poison. I tried to hurt them back…and they locked him into a coffin. Even if I did as they said…they…dissect his body just because they can." Her face went hard when she looked at the Doctor. "I can't fail again. So don't be angry when I do this."
Delaney quickly shoves the Doctor away as soon as River runs to him. But alas, River had read her action and instead, aiming a needle to the Doctor's neck. He winces, pulling the needle as he staggers, while River steps back, not caring at all.
"Mels!" Arthur yelled in frustration as he held his father. Amy and Rory quickly support him.
"Doctor, what's wrong?" Amy asked.
"What have you done?!" Delaney snapped, angry at whatever River did.
"River!" the Doctor cried as she simply stepped closer to the window.
"Oh, crying for a woman's name is not going to change my mind," River imparted, start to get annoyed by this whole 'River' thingy.
"What have you done?"
"It was never going to be a gun for you, Doctor. The man of peace who understands every kind of warfare, except, perhaps, the cruellest. Kiss, kiss."
"Don't!" Delaney shouted as River jumped out of the broken window.
"What's wrong with you? What's she done to you?" Rory demanded.
"Poisoned him," Arthur specified, stiffened.
"But I'm fine," the Doctor drawled. "Well, no, I'm dying, but I've got a plan."
"What plan?"
"Not dying. See? Fine."
"That's not a plan!" Delaney berated him.
"Yes, it is!" He insisted.
"Okay, what do we do? How do we help you?" Rory questioned.
"Dela, take this," he gave her his sonic screwdriver. "The Tardis can home in on it. Now, you three go. Get after her."
"I'll keep him around. Get River. Go!" Arthur assures them as he drags his father into the Tardis, while Amy, Rory and Delaney chases River. "Extractor fans on!"
"Oh, that works?" the Doctor wondered as the smoke slowly disappeared.
"You really need the manual," Arthur intoned, shook his head and helped his father sit on the chair, ignoring the small numb sensation that had appeared in his body. His own body had already started to deteriorate and the situation would only get worse if his father didn't recover from the poison.
He hoped they had enough time like he had seen from his visions.
▪︎▪︎▪︎
As Delaney climbs down, she watches River standing with two Nazi soldiers. "What are you doing here?" one of them demanded, pointing the gun to her.
"Well, I was on my way to this gay Gypsy Bar-Mitzvah for the disabled, when I thought gosh, the Third Reich's a bit rubbish. I think I'll kill the Fuhrer," River replied as Rory already climbed down behind the blonde. "Who's with me?"
"Shoot her," he said, walking behind the line of soldiers.
Rory watches from his hiding place. "No!" he cried.
"Wait!" Delaney stops him as they fire many bullets at River. Delaney knows a thing or two about regeneration from Rose, to Arthur, to the Doctor himself.
Just like she suspected, since River had just regenerated under 15 hours, her body can still heal herself. The woman lifts her head and smiles. "Tip for you all. Never shoot a girl while she's regenerating," she said, using regeneration energy on the soldiers, throwing them backwards and knocking them unconscious. She laughs. "Now, that hit the spot." She takes a couple of machine guns and climbs onto a motorcycle. "Thanks, boys. Call me."
"What are you doing?" Amy demanded as she's already joined Delaney and Rory, who hold her back.
"New body, new town. I'm going shopping."
The moment River drives away, another soldier comes out on another motorcycle.
"Look, I know how this looks. Let me explain everything from the beginning," Rory entreated. Then, he changes his tactic the moment he sees the soldier reaching for his holster. "Heil!"
"Heil!" He replied and Delaney proceeded to kick his nut, making the soldier cry in pain.
"That's good too," Rory confessed, then climbs on the motorcycle. Inwardly, Rory made a note to never make Delaney go berserk. "Come on!"
"Can you ride a motorbike?" Amy asked after she and Delaney climbed it.
"I expect so. It's that sort of day."
▪︎▪︎▪︎
"Sunny," the Doctor called weakly as he scans his body.
"I know. It sucks," Arthur uttered, gripping his hand. "Oh, great. She hit you with the poison of the Judas tree. Just to make my day better!"
"Okay. So, basically better regenerate, that's what you're saying?"
"You know it doesn't work. The Judas tree is very deadly to the Time Lord. No cure. Only permanent death in 32 minutes," he hits his fist on the console. "If only I could use my regeneration…"
"You can't. The sun parasite—"
"Had eaten most of my remaining regeneration. This is my last body. I know. I know. Your future self warned me." And using his own Time Vortex is also not an option as well.
The Doctor gasped, tensed. "Okay," he croaked. "We need to get to River."
"But she won't. She's dead set on killing you! All because of me!"
"We can change her. It's not too late. Please, Sunny. We can talk to your mother again. Make her change her mind."
Arthur closes his eyes as the Tardis humming behind him. "Okay…let's find her," he finally chose.
▪︎▪︎▪︎
Rory, Delaney, and Amy pull up outside an impressive building. "Okay, all of Berlin, how do we find her?" Rory asked.
"I don't know. Look for clues," Amy guessed.
"Clues? What kind of clues?!"
"Something conspicuous," Delaney remarked. At that moment, the doors of the building open and the restaurant clientele come running out in their under garments. "Like that," she finished.
Then, the trio turn around at the sound of a motorcycle and see a duplicate of Amy riding it.
A bright light shoots at them.
▪︎▪︎▪︎
Slowly, the trio get up off the floor.
"Okay, okay," Rory breathed. "I am trapped inside a giant robot replica of my wife. I'm really trying not to see this as a metaphor."
"How can we be in here?" Amy frowns as she helps Delaney from tripping down.
"Umm…"
"How do we fit?"
"Miniaturisation ray," Delaney guessed.
Amy looks at her. "How would you know that?"
"I've seen it in a movie with Martha."
"All right."
There is an electronic buzzing as a big robot that looks like a metallic jellyfish complete with dangling tentacles rises from the floor. "Welcome. You are unauthorised. Your death will now be implemented."
"Um...what's that?" Amy asked.
"Er, I don't know, it's in your head," Rory pointed out.
"Please remain calm while your life is terminated."
"No thanks!" Delaney insisted as she helped Amy and Rory get away…only to have more of them coming closer.
"We come in peace!" Amy claimed, hoping it will work.
"When has that ever worked?" Rory asked.
"Oh, shut up!"
The other corridors are blocked by even more of them. "Please cooperate in your officially sanctioned termination. It is normal to experience fear during your incineration."
They are backed against a wall. Delaney pulls out the sonic screwdriver. "Hope this works," she pleaded and pointed at it.
Rory blinks. "What are you doing?"
"Turn it off."
"Can you?"
"Let's see, shall we?"
Electricity crackles as the robots get closer. As Delaney is ready to make a command using the screwdriver, the door behind them slides open and a man is there. He slips the green light devices on their wrists.
"It's okay. Stay still and don't move," he requisitioned. "Privileges activated. See? Activated."
He holds their arms up for the robots to see. "You are authorised. Your existence will continue," it stated and left.
Delaney narrows her eyes at him. This man had a formal uniform and he seemed to know the structure of this place. Whoever this person is, he or the group he's affiliated with, responsible for disturbing them to find River/Melody. "Who are you?"
"My name's Jim. This is Justice Department Vehicle 6018. You're not guilty of anything. Welcome aboard the Teselecta."
"Where is the Captain? I wanted to speak to the Captain."
"Ma'am…"
"Show. Me."
"Do as she says," Rory suggested, knowing Delaney is dead set on her words. Rory had seen how determined Delaney was when they were at Demons Run. How furious she was when she found out that pregnant Amy had been kidnapped. The anger of a mother and wife is a very scary thing.
Jim gulps and leads them into the main control room. "When you're done here, your memories will be wiped and you'll be able…"
"Shut up!" She growled, very upset with the presence of these people and their stupid damn robot that interfered with their plan to help River.
"Doctor?" Amy gaped, finding the Doctor leaning against his Tardis, wearing evening clothes, top hat and carrying a cane. Besides him, Arthur is also leaning against the Tardis, wearing a navy blue crombie covert coat with crimson lining and matching cardigan with a white collared shirt and dark grey trousers, while wearing a white converse shoes.
Delaney can't help but cackle a little bit. Arthur's entire attire doesn't quite match. Sure, the coat, the shirt, and the trouser are fit, but the converse? Not so much.
▪︎▪︎▪︎
"You're dying…and you stopped to change?" River frowns.
"Oh, you should always waste time when you don't have any. Time is not the boss of you. Rule 408."
"Teselecta," Arthur realised, remembering the robot back when he, Delaney, Claudia, and the Doctor were trying to find any information about the Silence. Early days. "Of course."
"Oh, interesting! Shall we scan using this?" The Doctor shows the cane. "Sonic cane!"
"Are you serious?" River asked, deadpanned.
"Never knowingly. Never knowingly be serious. Rule 27. You might want to write these down. Sunny, how many people in it?"
"424 life signs inside. Including Dela, Amy, and Rory."
"A robot worked by tiny people. Love it. But how do you all get in there, though? Bigger on the inside?" He scans it. "No, basic miniaturisation sustained by a compression field. Ooo. Watch what you eat, it'll get you every time.
"Dela, if you, Amy, and Rory are okay, signal us," Arthur called. The cane lights up. "Thank you."
"Argh!" the Doctor winced, which Arthur quickly went to his side and helped him sit down. "I'm so sorry. Leg went to sleep. Just had a quick left leg power nap. I forgot I had one scheduled. Actually, better sit down. I think I heard the right one yawning."
River tries to run. The Teselecta grabs her with its beam, making her screams, clearly hurt.
"Don't you touch her!" Arthur yelled, his eyes glowing gold.
"Do not harm her in any way!" The Doctor snapped.
The beam stops, but River is trapped in an energy field.
"Why would you care? She's the mother of that boy," Robot Amy pointed out. "The woman who kills you."
"He's not dead," Arthur articulated, helping the Doctor take off his hat.
"He's dying."
"Well, at least I'm not a time travelling shape shifting robot operated by miniaturised cross people, which, I have got to admit, I didn't see coming," the Doctor confessed. "Do you, Sunny?"
"Had one encounter in the past," Arthur remembered. Vaguely, he recalled how upset and reluctant Delaney was when they met these guys. It seemed like this incident gave his wife a very sour experience. "What do you want with her?"
"You know who she is, Explorer. She's Melody Pond, your biological mother. According to records, the woman who kills the Doctor."
"And I'm the Doctor. So what's it to you?" The Doctor demanded.
"Throughout history, many criminals have gone unpunished in their lifetimes. Time travel has responsibilities."
"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."
"And then what?"
"Give them hell."
"Over my dead body," Arthur threatened. He wouldn't let his mum go through that. It was enough that he had watched and let his own father do that, past or future. He can't let the same thing happen again to his mother.
"You're not completely innocent, Arthur Jonas," Robot Amy denoted. "You're also partially responsible for the death during the Battle of Canary Wharf."
He blinks. "The what?"
▪︎▪︎▪︎
Delaney quickly slaps Carter's head from the back. "He's not responsible for that!" She yelled, angry that these people see the love of her life as a killer. Delaney continued to hit Carter, not caring about the consequences of her actions. Even as Amy and Rory quickly hold her back, trying to keep her from causing more scenes, she continues yelling at him and his crew members. "Blame the Daleks and the Cybermen for killing those innocent people, NOT HIM!"
"We only stated what the record said," a woman beside Carter alluded. Her eyes were trembling slightly, probably not expecting her sudden actions. Good, she should be.
"Yeah? Screw your record!"
"I'd ask you who you think you are, but I think the answer is pretty obvious," the Doctor quipped. "So, who do you think I am, huh? 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. Foreknowledge is dangerous," Carter hinted. "Of all people, the Explorer knows that better than anyone."
"But you can be under the family's obligation!" Arthur promulgated. "Tell him."
Carter sighs, taps keys on Amy's green wristband. Although he's not so sure about Arthur Jonas, what he just said has a point. "Say access personal records, the Doctor."
"Access personal records, the Doctor," Amy repeated.
▪︎▪︎▪︎
"Records available," Robot Amy announced.
"Question. I'm dying. Who wants me dead?" The Doctor asked, tilting his head on his son's shoulder as Arthur held him from falling. He could have asked Arthur for this information, but he didn't want to risk his son's condition, which was also dying, both because of the changing trajectory of time and because of his weakening body. No, he would not let Arthur Jonas, his son, suffer more misery and pain again. Never again.
"The Silence."
"What is the Silence? Why is it called that? What does it mean?"
"The Silence is not a species. It is a religious order, or movement. Their core belief is that silence will fall when the question is asked."
"What question?"
"The first question. The oldest question in the universe, hidden in plain sight."
"Yes, but what is the question?"
"Unknown."
"Some help you get," Arthur huffed.
"Well, fat lot of use that is, you big ginge," the Doctor sneered. "Call yourself a record—" he screamed, holding Arthur as his breathing went heavy. His two kidneys started dying too. "Kidneys are always the first to quit. I've had better, you know."
The raven-haired man snorted, remembering the first thing his future self said after regenerated. "Tell me about it." He winced. Then, the white forcefield turns to red painful energy around River. She screams in pain. "Dela! Amy! Rory!" Arthur cried. Both his hearts began to beat irregularly as his head began to spin. "Please, help!"
"What do we do?" Amy asked. "This is me. This is me actually talking. What do we do?"
"Just stop them. She's your daughter. Just stop them!" The Doctor begged. They can't lose River. Not now!
This time, Delaney asks them with a quivering voice. "How? How?"
"You know how! You had access!" Arthur insisted, holding his father as a numb sensation slowly entered his hearts. If the Doctor died now, the past and future will change. And he can feel it, the numb sensation, trying to take over him completely. His own timeline affects his body, and sooner or later, he'll die.
▪︎▪︎▪︎
"Amy, look around," Delaney whispered.
The ginger woman sees that everyone is wearing the devices and there is the same robot resting in a console. She takes the sonic from Delaney, an idea already formulated in her mind.
"What are you doing?" Rory questioned.
"Pointing and thinking. Get ready to run," Amy warned, using the sonic on her device and it turns red.
An alarm sounds and the robot rises. "You are unauthorised. Your death will now be implemented."
"Okay, Captain, release her now, or I take down the whole Teselecta."
"Amy?" Rory repeated.
"Do as she says," Delaney insisted, her eyes blazing with fire. "Or I'll make you do it. And don't you think I'll stop. You hurt my family. You hurt my future husband. You had interfered with our affair too far."
"You can't," Carter argued, although his tone wasn't so sure of his words.
"Then, you leave us no choice."
"Rory, Dela, go!" Amy yelled before they all ran for the lift.
"All privileges withdrawn."
"What have you done?" Jim demanded.
"Saving our family," Delaney declared before the lift door closed.
▪︎▪︎▪︎
River is released from the hell-energy.
"Mels, wait!" Arthur shouted, stopping her from running. Calling her River, let alone Mama, will only confuse and unsure her. But calling her Mels might give him a chance to let her save them. "You need to help them. Save your parents. Save Delaney. Don't go."
"Now, I know you're scared, but never run when you're scared," the Doctor implored. "Rule 7. Please."
"Doctor, Artie, can you hear us?" Delaney called in desperation.
"Doctor, Arthur, help us! Please!" Amy begged.
Arthur's legs became weaker as he and the Doctor collapsed on the floor. With Arthur clutching his chest and his nose starts bleeding, plus the Doctor's struggles to his feet to make his way to the Tardis, none of them can help Amy, Rory, and Delaney away from the danger inside Teselecta.
"Doctor! Arthur! Help!"
"Look at you. You still care," River noticed. Kovarian always insisted that the Doctor never cared, not even to Arthur, the man who had helped him in the past. The man that the Teselecta claimed as…her son? "I never thought you would."
"Doctor, help! Arthur, help us!" Delaney yelled. "Please help us."
"River, please," the Doctor pleaded.
"Again? Who is this River?" River demanded. Why did the Doctor keep calling her River? "She's got to be a woman. Am I right?"
"Save them, Mels!" Arthur requested.
"Save Amy, Rory, and Dela. Help us," the Doctor solicited.
"Tell me about her," River insisted. She needs to know. They're hiding something from her.
"She's you, okay?!" Arthur imparted. It might not be the best choice, but he can't let Amy, Rory, and Delaney be in danger any longer. If she wants to know who River Song is, then Arthur will provide answers. "You…You're River Song! My mother! You're the woman who is always there to save us, save our family!"
That information shocks her. These two men in front of her were her future husband and son? But that can't be right! Especially the Doctor, the man she had spent her entire life teaching to kill to save the entire galaxy from the Tranzelore War. "That's not possible."
"It is possible. You…You and the Doctor will get married. You will have me. You will become my mother! But none of those matter anymore. Save your parents. Save my…my love. Please!"
River glances at the Tardis, the Doctor, and the Teselecta.
She made her choice.
▪︎▪︎▪︎
Amy, Rory, and Delaney run down the corridor to the iris. Amy tries to open the iris but the panel won't recognize her. They are surrounded by more robots who echo each other. "You are unauthorised. Your death will now be implemented."
They face each other.
"I'm sorry," Delaney lamented.
"Me too," Amy and Rory said in unison and they hugged each other as the robots continued.
"You are unauthorised. Your death will now be implemented."
Delaney frowns when she hears a Tardis' noise. Slowly she looks up, realising that the Tardis has materialised around them.
"Doctor? Doctor, he did it. He did it!" Amy beamed.
"No, not him," Delaney disagreed. Knowing the Doctor and Arthur are dying from poison and paradox…there's only one person who can pilot the Tardis. "River?"
On a cue, River appears from the other side of the console. "I seem to be able to fly her. She showed me how," she shared. "She taught me, like she taught Arthur. The Doctor says…I'm the child of the Tardis, while Arthur is the grandchild of the Tardis."
"Where are they?" Amy asked.
▪︎▪︎▪︎
"Nonono," Delaney cried as she knelt between the Doctor and Arthur. "Don't go. Please."
Amy kneels beside the Doctor, while Rory kneels beside Arthur. "You can't die now. I know you don't die now," Amy insisted.
"Oh, Pond, you've got a schedule for everything," the Doctor jokes.
"But it doesn't make any sense."
"Doctor, what do we do?" Rory entreated. "Come on. How do we help you and Arthur?"
"Maybe I can share the Source?" Delaney suggested.
Arthur shook his head as he coughed. "You can't share the Source. It can only be used by you, Dela. Even my Time Vortex is too weak to fully heal the poison."
"Ponds, listen to me. I need to talk to your daughter," the Doctor pleaded. Rory and Amy move away from the Doctor, and let River approach. "I want you to know something."
"Know what?" River asked.
The Doctor whispers in her ear, speaking in Gallifrey, surprising her as she's understand. "My real name…is Theta Sigma. This is a family secret that you must keep till your own death. And please…save him, save Sunny."
"I…I will."
"Good," he smiles and slowly closes his eyes. Arthur clutches his chest as the numb sensation gets stronger.
"How do I save you?" River asked the black-haired man.
"My…My timeline is interconnected to the Doctor, since he's…my father," he gasped. Delaney quickly grips his hand, trying to keep her tears away as she comforts him. "We need…regeneration."
"But can't you…?"
"The sun parasite," Delaney wept. "He got infected in his second body. It ate all of his regeneration ability. He can't use it again."
River nods, finally understanding what she must do as her hands start to glow.
"What's happening?" Amy asked. "River, what are you doing?"
"What I should have done," River simply stated, pours her golden regeneration energy into the Doctor, and he revives.
"River…What are you doing?" He gasped.
"Hello, sweetie," she smiles and kisses the Doctor.
Arthur slowly takes sharp breaths as the numb sensation fading away.
▪︎▪︎▪︎
River wakes up in a bed, finding Amy sitting on the bed. Besides her, she sees Arthur and Delaney standing beside each other, holding their hand.
"Hey," Amy greeted her daughter.
"Hey. Where am I?"
"You're safe now. Apparently, you used all your remaining regenerations in one go. You shouldn't have done that."
"Mother, I had to try," River insisted, her eyes blinking. "I have to save them."
"You're tired," Delaney shushes her. "Go back to sleep."
"He said no-one could save him, but he must have known I could," River recalled before falling asleep.
"Rule one. The Doctor lies," the Doctor whispered.
"She just needs to rest. She'll be absolutely fine," Arthur suggested, brushing River's hair away from her eyes.
"No, Sunny," his father disagreed, leaving a brand new Tardis-style diary on the bedside cabinet. "Your mother will be…amazing."
▪︎▪︎▪︎
"So that's it, we leave her there?" Amy asked again after they were all in the Tardis.
"Sisters of the Infinite Schism. Greatest hospital in the universe," Arthur consoled. "Won't be the last time you'll go there."
"Why?" Rory probbed.
"Spoiler," he winks, remembering that that hospital is the place he was born.
"Yeah, but she's your mother, Arthur. She's River, our daughter, and your mother."
"Amy, I know. But we have to let her make her own way now. We have too much foreknowledge," the Doctor reminded her, briefly looking at his and Arthur's death's file on the scanner. "Dangerous thing, foreknowledge."
Amy frowns. "What's that?"
"Nothing," Delaney dismisses it, turns it off. "Just a few data I manage to downloaded from the Teselecta."
"Doctor, River was brainwashed to kill you, right?" Rory recalled.
"Well, she did kill me, and then she used her remaining lives to bring me back," the Doctor noted. "As first dates go, I'd say that was mixed signals."
"Hopefully this won't be a regular thing with you two," Delaney remarked, raising her eyebrow. Sometimes, it was hard for Delaney to see the Doctor and River as Arthur's real parents. Arthur didn't have any strange tendencies like those two. If anything, Arthur looked more like Rory.
"But that stuff that they put in her head, is that gone permanently?" Rory glances at Arthur. "Because the River that we know in the future, she is in prison for murder. The Silence might undo it again like before."
Arthur shook his head. "River's smart. She knows how to resist the programming in her mind by herself. Next time you'll see her, she'll be the one we know and care about."
"Yeah, but how?" Amy wondered. "How do people even look for you?"
"Oh, Pond. Haven't you figured that one out yet?" The Doctor teased.
"River's gonna start appreciate books now," Arthur jokes, recalling Mels' distaste with history books because she disagrees with them.
Delaney looked nervously at the scanner again. "Uh, guys? Can you step away for a moment? I need to talk to Artie."
The Doctor, Amy and Rory looked at each other. Confused? Sure. But all three of them knew that whatever conversation Delaney was about to have with Arthur was highly sensitive and private. So they nodded and went out of the console, leaving Delaney and Arthur alone.
"What's going on?" Arthur inquired, confused and concerned.
The blonde girl looked back at the scanner. "Did you know?" she began. "About...your death?"
Arthur's eyes widened. His fingers clenched before he answered. "I guessed for a long time. Idris gave me a clue of sorts. Sorry," he muttered upwards, knowing the Tardis was listening. "Then, on some future adventure, I had a flash of memory that seemed rather...sad. Dad was reluctant to talk to me about it. Mama was the same. I just got an actual confirmation from Dad, Claudia and someone you know from the future."
Somehow, that made Delaney feel...relieved. Relieved that the guilt was finally out in front of this version of Arthur. "You must have a lot of questions."
"And so do you."
"I don't know where to start."
"Then don't," Arthur suggested seriously. "I won't push if the memories are too painful. Sure, I want to know. I mean, everyone wants to know about their death, right? But as Dad said, foreknowledge is dangerous."
"You know, sometimes I wish you were a pushover," Delaney admitted, shaking her head and wiping a tear from her cheek. She didn't know she was crying. "Your attitude is what made your father such a jerk."
"He wasn't a jerk."
"To me he was." Especially after Canary Wharf, she harshly thought. In fact, Delaney would never have had anything to do with aliens after the Torchwood incident if she hadn't known Martha Jones.
"I'm sorry," Arthur apologised suddenly.
Delaney stared at him in confusion. "Why?"
"Because I hurt you by leaving you heartbroken."
Oh. That. "I did get hurt," she confessed. "Your actions left me in a state of shock. You're gone, never to return. I had mixed feelings about you afterward. I stopped travelling with the Doctor, knowing I'll just see a ghost."
Delaney remembered it all. How she'd quit, settled on Messaline with her daughter, only going into the Tardis to see Donna's family. She'd wanted nothing to do with aliens, especially Arthur, who didn't know of their relationship, without breaking her heart and making her go nuts. She's been patient with him, loving him with all her heart, and she's repaid all of that by losing him for good, trapped her in a complicated situation of their romance until her own death finally reaches her.
"So why are you still doing this?" Arthur kindly asked her, looking so broken. "A ghost only makes you worse."
She closes her eyes, taking a deep breath, and stares directly at her lover. "Something happened. Spoiler, you'll be there. But it made me realise that…sometimes you can't avoid ghosts forever. In order to fully heal yourself, you must face your ghost."
Arthur smiled and nodded, understanding. "Do you want to know?" He cajoled this time, looking back at the picture of his father in Utah.
"No," she replied confidently. Delaney had many questions about what would happen to the Doctor and the implication on that file. But she's sure that they would find the answers, sooner or later. "I think you can leave that mystery to us."
"Okay," Arthur agreed, kissing Delaney on the forehead before disappearing into a bright light.
Behind her, the blonde woman heard the familiar sound of footsteps. "I could have told him," the Doctor said quietly.
She inclined her head at him, drawing in a long breath. "Foreknowledge is dangerous," she repeated.