Chapter Text
"So, where are we heading?" Clara asked, eyes bulging, staring at him avidly.
If she had been told herself a year before that she'd find herself with an enigmatic man who could explore time and space, she'd have laughed to the point of hysteria. She would not have taken herself seriously at all. Now, there she was in a spaceship called the TARDIS. She tried to wrap her head around how this could be possible. However, she'd never been proficient in physics or maths, she couldn't find a scientific or reasonable explanation. The only thing she had to go on was eyesight and blind trust that she wasn't being tricked or kidnapped.
The Doctor – with a title rather than a name – smiled at her whilst whizzing around the TARDIS console. As per usual, he was babbling incessantly. "Well... well, I don't know. We could go to see the first frost fairs. I've been to the last, never the first. Don't know why. Actually, now What am I thinking. I cannot go to the frost fairs with you. We could perhaps go to the planet Paville with four moons. Talking about moons, we could pay a visit to the lost moons of Poush, only they are not now. I found them – I did a thing!" Though he was absolutely giddy resembling a kid whose parents had permitted him to overdose on sugar, there was something oddly charming about him. Perhaps it was his eyes? The ancient look about them? Maybe it was that his smile was infectious or that he was unlike any man she had ever met before?
Since The Doctor had saved her from his time streams and saved Gallifrey from falling, they had been carrying on as usual. However, Clara had a feeling that things were a little bit different. She felt as if she had a better understanding of who she was and who he was. She now knew that she was not merely herself; she was a copy. That thought was rather disconcerting though she tried – with success – to forget that most of the time. She now knew that behind his too bright smile was pain. That he was heavily burdened with guilt and sorrow. She also knew now that whatever her feelings were for the Doctor, they were unrequited, for he had a wife. The lady with the funny name and space hair.
The TARDIS made the warping sound that it always did when it landed.
"Where are we?"
The Doctor frowned slightly and continued to look at the screen as if he did not even hear her.
Her lips pursed, loudly and mildly aggressive, she said "Doctor, where are we?"
"Hmm," he replied, looking at her as if he had just realized that she there. "Oh. We are apparently on Earth, 2018."
"Oh...Earth," she responded, trying and failing to keep the disappointment from her voice. Yes, the Earth was her birth planet and it had been marvelous, massive and beautiful once upon a time. However now, after seeing the universe – all the planets and secrets and beauty it had to offer – she could not help but find the earth a little bit unimpressive. It was small in comparison. A littered waste land with polluted air compared to what she had seen. "What about the lost moons of... the lost moons you were mentioning?"
"I don't know. Sometimes, the TARDIS takes me where I need to be," - He said, stroking her fondly. Get a room, she thought, though she supposed that they were in one - "Not where I want to go. So, I guess, let's go out shall we?"
Outside, the Doctor was just as surprised as Clara was to find that they were in a corridor. The walls were a monotonous grey colour and the floor looked like rough concrete. The corridor was quite short and branched out into two identical pathways. They frowned a little bit, perplexed at what they were doing there and why the TARDIS felt the need to bring them there.
"Should we go back into the TARDIS?" Clara asked, shivering in the cold breeze. However, she realized that the Doctors attention was not with her. To be honest, she could not be too surprised. This happened a lot– she may as well be talking to thin air half the time. Perhaps he had picked something else that she failed to notice?
"Doc-" She started, because usually, to gain his attention, she had to repeat herself several times.
But before she could finished, he pressed his finger on her lips. "I hear something," he whispered as an explanation. She raised her eyebrow and tried to listen carefully. However, she could not hear anything.
The Doctor could not identify what it was that he was hearing. It didn't sound natural or genial – he was certain that he could smell the discord and danger in the air. He could make out that the sound was coming closer; this wasn't good. Something – and he had no idea what – was heading his way. Was it people talking? After all, they were on earth? No... it sounded like a word being consistently repeated. He strained his ears to listen more intently to the sound... he managed to make out what the sound was and it wasn't good at all! He instantly gripped Clara's wrist and half dragged her to the TARDIS. He tried to open the door, but it refused to open. He huffed indignantly ignoring Clara's attempts to wiggle out of his grip.
"Doctor?" She asked perplexed and slightly alarmed.
The noise was getting closer and he felt alarmed too. Never had he encountered those malicious monsters without feeling on edge and chilled to the bone. He had defeated them many a time, yes. But he had seen what they did and what they turned him into. He had seen them civilizations engulfed by flames and ensnared by war and destruction. They were the definition as evil and sometimes he had to almost stoop to their level to defeat them. He had no plan and no weapons. What was worse, the TARDIS was not being cooperative and he'd left his sonic screw in the TARDIS. He groaned frustrated and looked around frantically for an escape. There had to be something. Trapdoor? Passage way through the wall? He tugged on Clara's arm and pulled her down the pathway leading away from the sound.
"Doctor, what?" Clara asked, rather irritated. However, she looked back just in time to see what they were running from. Oh. All of a sudden, fear coursed through her bones .
"What... what is the plan?" She asked shakily.
"Run!" He replied – that was all he had. She seemed to sense that an picked up her pace. How hadn't she heard the Dalek's robotic and indifferent "EXTERMINATE!"?
Soon enough, the reached a dead end.
"What are we going to do?" She asked urgently.
"Erm..."
"EXTERMINATE!"
The last shot from the laser had narrowly missed Clara. Now, she was now crouching on the ground and shaking.
"No pressure Doctor but this is usually where you come up with a plan!" She hissed.
The Doctor held her hand tightly and squeezed shut his eyes. Think, think, THINK! If he had his sonic screwdriver...
EX - TERM- IN
CRASH!
The Doctor opened his eyes as the Daleks abruptly stopped. He found that collapsed on the floor was the Daleks– or what was remained of them. The Daleks head were blown in. There metallic faces – for lack of better word – were blown in and behind the Daleks was shrouded with smoke. Despite this, he could make out a figure.
"Thank you," he said to the faceless figure.
Footsteps. Footsteps coming closer. However, this was less disconcerting then when he'd heard the sound approaching him. In fact, he was feeling remotely excited – he wanted to see the face of whatever or whom ever had just saved him.
She – he gathered – seeing as she was wearing blood red high heels. Could it be? No... though that would explain why the TARDIS landed there. He looked up, delighted to see that she had untamed honey curls. His throat dried a little and immediately he felt self conscious. This time, he had not done final checks – how was he supposed to know when he'd bump into his wife? For all he knew, he could look a complete mess. As subtly as he could, he reached up and flattened his hair with his free hand and straightened his bowtie so that he was presentable. He snatched his hand out of Clara's hoping that she had not seen that.
Her lips were red – hallucinogenic lipstick or ordinary? He needed to know, because he very well did not want to go all airy and sedated when kissing his wife. He sauntered towards her as if he had not just been cowering on the floor a minute ago. The gun she'd used to kill the Daleks was still in her hand, but he'd paid no attention, as today, it had been a force of good.
"My bad bad girl, should have known,"
Clara cringed at the flirtiness of his tone.
However, River stared at him. Her lips were pursed and her eyebrows were furrowed. She gave him a look as if he was a stranger she had just met and she was assessing him for pressure points. Was this perhaps a new dimension to their flirting?
He bopped her nose and she flinched visibly and glared at him. "I am not your girl," she huffed indignantly.
"River, thanks for saving us, " Clara smiled, getting over the initial shock of nearly being killed by Daleks. To be frank, Clara was glad that River had come in the nick of time to save them. She was guessing that this was a younger River, because the slight frown she wore indicated that she had no idea who she was. The Doctor had warned Clara that they'd come across a living version of River somewhere along his time stream. She glanced side ways at the Doctor to see how he was holding up. He had told her that whenever he saw his wife, he was always flooded by guilt for knowing that they were always waltzing towards her death. The wrinkles in his face were more pronounced than usual and his eyes were clouded with more sorrow than usual. Now, she stood in front of him, flesh and blood, she was pretty much a ghost still. She wished that she could edge over and squeeze his hand in a reassuring way. However, she knew that this was not appropriate as his wife was stood in front of him. River, according to the Doctor, had the eyes of an eagle. Nothing evaded her attention.
Clara's smile was tight. When she was away, Clara could pretend that she was living a fairy tale. She'd met a prince who had saved her from a tedious and monotonous life. He insisted in whisking her away and they traveled the world together. However, River's presences reminded her that the Doctor could never love her in the way she yearned for him to. River was his princess and she was merely a jester who followed the prince around making a fool in herself by believing in silly notions of romance.
"River? Are you okay?" The Doctor asked and that was when she realized that River's frown still resided on her face. Clara raised her eyebrow confused and looked to the Doctor for an explanation.
"Who are you?" River asked.
The Doctor laughed. Fine, he'd play her game. "The Doctor,"
"Doctor who?" She asked, her eyebrows crinkling into a frown.
"You're husband,"
To his surprise, River howled with laugher. Though it wasn't the usual rich and warm laughter that usually fell. It was rather hollow and mirthless. What had he done wrong this time? "You're pick up lines aren't great at all. No seriously, who are you?"
It was the Doctor's turn to frown. She was taking this flirting way too far and he was struggling to keep track. He moved in closer to her and she instantly backed away glaring at him. He was about to open his mouth to ask what he'd done, but then he looked at her. He looked at her properly.
This... this was not River Song. He was certain of it. It was like when he looked at Melody Pond all those years ago in Germany. She certainly looked the part, but there were subtle differences – she wasn't fully baked... wasn't ready. For one, her eyes usually sparkled with mischief and spoke volumes of her pain. However... for once, there was happiness. No pain or sorrow at all. She held the gun as if she could not wait to drop it. He was used to her holding weapons with familiar ease. What had happened to her?
"Doctor? River? What is going on?" Clara asked, obviously having missed something vital.
"I'm not River. I think you have me mistaken for someone else," she replied, looking between Clara and the Doctor, curiously, but impatiently.
"Yes, I believe we must have," The Doctor replied, refusing to look at her. It hurt way too much than he cared to admit. Especially, because when he looked into her eyes, they were without pain. It seemed that now that she had not a clue who she was and who he was, she was happier. All he could bear to look at was the ancient looking silver pendant on her necklace. It looked oddly familiar and it was almost as if it was calling to him. Doctor, look at me. He frowned a little and then groaned, because how hadn't he realized immediately? He was getting really slow in his old age. He could not pull his eyes away from the fob watch she wore as a pendant. The design on it was intricate and worn into the silver. He remembered the days as John Smith where he'd marvel at the craftsmanship. Where he'd wonder if it were another - perhaps secret - language? However, never did he feel compelled to open the watch. He suspected that River too felt like this.
"Oh, sorry. You just look like her very much. Sorry, what is your name?" He asked wearily. His hearts felt as if they were breaking a little.
"Melody, Melody Williams," She replied. Although, this was not before narrowing her eyes, as if to determine whether he was trustworthy or not. Though, by the way her eyes had returned to it's normal size, he seemed satisfied.
"Huh, what is happening?" Clara asked advancing towards the Doctor and his wife. She was used to struggling to catch up as the Doctor running at a mile a minute. However, she had thought that River would be more considerate and explain things as they happened to her. Apparently not. Why was she pretending to not know her husband and why was he playing a long? As if the Doctor could hear her thoughts - she wouldn't put that past him because he had once mentioned that he was slightly telepathic - he fixed her with a look. A look, that told her to be quiet.
"I was closing up when I heard a sound. It sounded scary, so I picked this up," - indicating the massive gun that she had just dropped onto the ground - "It was just lying around. Then, I saw the robot things and I don't know... I just sort of ..." She indicated to the Daleks on the ground. "What are you two doing here anyway?" She asked, her eyes narrowing again.
"Erm... well, we got lost," replied the Doctor.
"Don't believe you," she replied. Though, it was less aggressive and more amused. "I suppose it's not my business. But you need to go now because I need to lock up,"
The followed her out silently. They stopped when they were stood outside of the office.
"Well, bye," Melody said.
"Bye," he called as she was leaving. He sighed sadly. No hello sweetie or pet names. She hadn't straightened his bow tie and remained silent as opposed to flirting with him. She hadn't given him a goodbye kiss. He'd never missed her more.
"Okay Doctor, what is going on? I get it, she is River Song but before I met her. And alive I am guessing. I was quick to pick up on that... but the way she acted was peculiar, so tell me, what is going on!" Clara demanded as soon as River or Melody or the lady with the funny name and space hair (as she preferred) disappeared out into the vast darkness.
Wearily, he stared at Clara and squeezed her hand. "She... she is sort of lost at the moment. Well, all the Timelord in her is anyway. That fob watch she had around her neck masks her Timelord DNA. But River Song as I knew, is still in there somewhere,"
"Well, let's go find her then," Clara replied perplexed.
"It... it is not that simple... and what if... what if she is better off like this? What if she is better off human and without me?"