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Melody had a hell of a day. One moment, she was late for work, the next she was in the middle of some time-travelling alien crisis.
“I still don’t understand. What does this… ‘Silence’ want with me?” Melody asked the bow-tie-wearing alien who called himself ‘The Doctor’.
“I… I don’t know. I just— I have to keep you safe. I need you to stay in here until I sort all of this out.” He started pacing the room.
Melody sat on the chair next to his console thingy in order to take a breather and process everything. “Oh my word. I can’t believe time-travel is actually real. This is… Insane.”
“Yep.” He busied himself with whatever he was doing.
The Doctor told Melody to stay in the Tardis while he investigated outside. He also told her not to touch anything, so she didn’t… Well, she tried.
Her curiousity got the better of her as she twisted a knob. It seemed to change the light intensity.
She played around with more of the controls. Weird. It’s almost as if… She understood how it worked. But it was more of instinct, like something whispering in her mind, guiding her. She wondered if the ship itself was talking to her. It was a crazy thought but he did seem to talk to her like she was sentient.
Melody moved over to what she thought was the communications panel. She pressed a random button.
Suddenly, a hologram appeared, startling her. She stared at the hologram. It was a gorgeous middle-aged woman with curly blonde hair. She felt… Familiar. Melody pressed a button to play the holo-recording.
“Hello sweetie.” The holographic woman said. “I’m recording this message with the time-locked recorder. Hopefully I’ve got this working properly.” The whimsical expression on the woman’s face faded into a more sombre expression. “Doctor… Before anything else, I would just like to say I’m sorry. She swallowed a lump in her throat. “If you’re watching this, then chances are I don’t exist anymore…”
That made Melody feel uneasy. She probably shouldn’t be watching this but it’s too late now.
“Now, I know you’re probably confused right now, but I need you to just stop and listen…” The woman was holding back tears. “I lied… I told you that you could save me— That you could bring me back to Amy and Rory, but I lied…”
Amy and Rory? Those were her parents’ names… Before she could write it off as a coincidence—
“Melody Pond cannot be raised by Amy and Rory yet still become River Song…” Melody’s heart stopped for a second. What the hell? What is that supposed to mean? “I’m sorry I lied to you. I… I just wanted my parents to be happy… Even if it meant never being the woman I am now… Even if it meant erasing River Song to let Melody Pond live…”
What the f—? What did she mean by that? What did she mean she erased herself to let Melody live? She talked about Amy and Rory like they were also her parents… Oh…
“Amy and Rory didn’t get to raise me… The Silence trained me to kill you until my second incarnation… But maybe… By letting you save my younger self… Amy and Rory won’t have to suffer…” This woman… This River Song… She was who Melody could have been. “I’m sorry, Doctor. I—” The recording froze
Before Melody could process it all, the Tardis doors opened.
“Alright, Melody! I’ve figured out what the Silence are planning—” He froze when he saw her back turned to him as she stared at the hologram. “Melody…”
“Who was she?”
“I… I don’t know—”
“Bull-crap! Who was she?” She waited for a response. He didn’t give any. “She was me, wasn’t she? This… River Song… ” She scoffed at the realization.
He shifted uncomfortably.
“She is… And you knew, didn’t you? You knew who I was— Who I used to be before your time-travel crap changed me.” She sighed, rubbing her face. “You knew. You knew who I was. You knew why the Silence were targeting me, because of this crappy timeline nonsense.” She paced around uncomfortably. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
He swallowed a lump in his throat. “I was trying to protect you.”
Melody clenched her jaw. “I had a right to know.”
“I’m sorry.”
“I nearly died because of this Silence group and I didn’t know why! You just kept the truth from me! You lied to me!”
“I know, I’m sorry—”
“Are you?” She snapped at him. “Why? Why did you lie?”
The Doctor sighed. “I… Because I thought it would hurt.”
“You know, I think I could’ve coped.”
“No,” He interrupted. “I thought it would hurt… me. And I was right.” Melody’s anger subsided slightly. “You meant everything to me. After what happened, I… I tried to live my life without you, River… And it was hard. I… I lost you… And I never got to tell you… I love you.” When those words left him, it was as if he let go of a heavy weight.
Melody’s eyes grew glassy. She didn’t know what to say. They stood in silence for a long while.
“I… I understand… River meant a lot to you… B-but I’m not her. I don’t have the memories you shared. I can see why she would’ve loved you. You seem like a very lovely guy, but… I… I don’t love you… Cause… I don’t even know you.”
The Doctor closed his eyes and quietly gasped for air. “Y-yeah…”
She cupped his face. “I really am sorry, Doctor…”
He nodded and sighed, wiping his face. “I-it’s fine…” He dashed to the console and explained his plan to stop the Silence. He says he’s fine… But rule 1, the Doctor lies, a voice in her mind whispers.
After stopping the Silence, the Doctor took Melody home. The Tardis landed with a loud thump.
“Okay! Here we are. Earth. London. 2034. Your apartment, right before you left.” He exclaimed.
“I suppose this is goodbye?”
He froze then nodded slowly. “Yeah…”
Melody took a step outside. “I… I really am sorry… About River. I… I bet we were fun…”
He smiled softly. “You have no idea.” He took a step back.
“Doctor!”
“Yeah?”
“… Take care, alright?”
He smiled. “Take care yourself, Melody Pond… Say hi to your parents for me.” He closed the door and the Tardis began to fade away.
Melody sighed and sat in her bed. She was happy with what she had but couldn’t help but wonder what could’ve been.
…
The Doctor sat in his Tardis as he let the ship free-fly through the vortex. He stared at the image of River before closing it and pulling the randomizer switch.