Chapter Text
It wasn’t often that River Song got a quiet evening. When she wasn’t running around with her spouses (which one depended on what mood she was in) or teaching at the university, she usually ended up grading papers and writing exams for the students, spending long evenings sitting in her office buried in paperwork. In fact, actually getting a day off was such a rarity that when the opportunity for one came about River found she was at a loss at what to do. She woke up early (sleeping in was never a habit she’d gotten into), had a strong cup of coffee and made some breakfast pancakes, and spent most of the day in her modestly sized garden deweeding and maintaining the flowerbeds. She hadn’t thought she’d have the patience for gardening, used as she was to running around the universe stirring up trouble, but after a busy week sometimes the calm and repetitivity of the task was exactly what she needed to help her relax.
It was a warm day and River tied up her curly hair with a hair scarf and hummed happily to herself as she set to work, digging in the soil with her trowel and planting some new bulbs to bloom in the spring. Although in this instance, ‘spring’ was relative. Due to the lack of oxygen on the moon, all of the neighbourhoods were encased in a gigantic glass dome with an artificial atmosphere supplied throughout the settlements. There were no seasons and it never got too cold or too hot, the neighbourhoods instead maintaining a comfortable warm temperature which could only be adjusted in an individual’s own home. There was dawn and dusk, and these settings were controlled by the main hub in the heart of the city, adjusting the light inside the domes according to the Earth’s rotation; that beautiful shining planet always visible in the sky no matter what time it was on the moon.
After gardening, River enjoyed a soak in the tub, made herself some dinner, then sat outside in her garden with a glass of wine and a good book as the sun ‘set’ inside the dome, the stars twinkling brightly in the night sky above her and the solar-powered lights around her garden fence lighting up as the evening got darker. River sighed happily and took a sip of her wine, turning the page of her book. As much as she loved running around the universe and teaching at the university, sometimes just one’s own company was all that was needed for a relaxing evening.
A sudden, curious smell caught River’s nose and she raised her head sharply, reaching for the gun hidden under the table. The atmosphere never changed inside the dome, so anything new was instantly recognisable, but River could have sworn she could smell burning. The air bristled around her and felt heavy, like the calm before a thunderstorm.
Zzzzzzzzzap!
With a bright flash of light, a woman dropped from the sky and fell ten feet to the grass below, landing with a pained cry on her side and bringing with her the stench of smoke and ozone.
River was on her feet in an instant, gun raised and pointed at the intruder, but the woman was in no hurry to get up, and she only turned her head and looked up at River with pain in her eyes, clearly fighting against the pull of unconsciousness. Her clothes were too big for her thin frame and River could see spots of blood and dirt on her face and in her hair, the dirty blonde locks falling into her eyes as she tried to sit up.
‘Who are you?’ River demanded, gun not wavering. ‘How did you get through the security field?’
Security fields weren’t standard inside the dome, but River took her privacy and security very seriously and had installed one over her house. Theoretically, it should be impossible to teleport anywhere on her property.
Theoretically.
The woman looked confused and she regarded River through glassy, unfocused eyes that were growing heavier with every passing second. She managed to sit up, holding her weight heavily on her elbows as she looked up at her.
‘Melody?’
River dropped the gun in surprise but quickly brought it back up again. There weren’t many people who knew her true name. She was never sure if her parents or husband would know it whenever she ran into them, always unsure at what point in their timeline she’d interrupted their lives in, and the only others who would have heard it were her kidnappers at Demon’s Run.
The woman’s eyes rolled back in her head and she slumped against the grass, lying still as unconsciousness finally claimed her.
River waited a few moments, just in case it was a trap, and then lowered her gun and tucked it into her belt when it became clear that her intruder wasn’t going to get up anytime soon.
River crouched in front of her and gave her a quick once over, frowning as she took in the woman’s ragged appearance. She was wearing black trousers and a black t-shirt that was too large for her, shoulder-length blonde hair streaked in dirt and dust and hanging across her face. River brushed the hair away to look at her more closely, and the more she saw the more worried she became.
Her intruder’s face was pale and she had small circular burn marks on either side of her forehead, red and angry and clearly new. River had seen burns like that before and she hoped her suspicions as to their origins were incorrect, although she knew that was unlikely to be the case. The stranger’s bottom lip was swollen and torn and dried blood had trickled down her chin from where someone’s fist had clearly impacted with her face. There were bruises on her arms in the shape of fingertips and River worried what she’d find under the two big clothes, if any more bruises and cuts were littering the woman’s pale skin.
River tucked her gun into her waistband. Whoever this woman was, she was clearly the victim of the situation and River doubted she posed a threat, although her knowledge of River’s true name was certainly worrying. There was also no sign as to how she’d managed to teleport at all, no obvious transportation device catching River’s eye. It was possible she hadn’t needed one if there was a teleport wherever she’d come from, but she’d known to program it for this specific address and that was troublesome also.
The woman wasn’t heavy, and River was easily able to carry her into the house and set her down on the sofa, tucking a blanket over her as she set off to the kitchen to grab fresh water and her first aid kit. She cleaned the stranger’s face as carefully as she could, paying extra attention to the burns and her busted lip and applied a fast healing gel to both.
River contemplated what to do. Taking the woman to a hospital, where she clearly needed to be, was too much of a risk. She knew River’s real name, who knows what else she knew about her? Similarly, phoning the authorities was also out of the question. The woman was clearly running from something and, whilst River didn't really want to become involved if she could help it, she was too much of a soft heart to deliver her back into the hands of those who may have injured her in the first place, especially considering the two burn marks on her forehead. River had seen those injuries a few times, burns from electrodes when a person’s memories and identity was ripped from them. It was the cruelest form of torture, leaving the victim a memory-less husk who could be ‘reprogrammed’ according to their captor’s will and forced to do things that may previously have gone against every fiber of their being. The freshness of the burns told River that they were new, and she hoped the woman had managed to escape before the reprogramming had taken place. Although how she’d escaped River couldn’t even begin to imagine. She must have one hell of a fight or flight response.
The woman was breathing softly, still deeply asleep, and River tilted her head at her, curious. She was very pretty, but while her features were soft and relaxed River fancied that underneath her gentle exterior she was feisty on the inside. Judging by what she must have gone through already she was certainly intelligent, able to think her way out of situations at the drop of a hat. River reached for her wrist to check her pulse, and almost dropped it in shock when two separate heartbeats pulsated against her fingertips.
There was a stethoscope in the first aid kit and River’s own heart was almost hammering out of her chest as she pressed the smooth metal disk over where the stranger’s heart would be, hardly daring to hope and almost unable to breathe.
Not one heart, but two.
‘Oh please, please,’ River breathed quietly, listening to that familiar quadriphasic beat, excitement filling her veins.
It would explain everything. How the woman had managed to get through the security field, how she’d known River’s true name. A cursory examination of her pockets brought up nothing, however. No sonic screwdriver, no psychic paper, no TARDIS key, and River tried not to get her hopes up, preparing herself instead for disappointment. Time Lords weren’t the only species with two hearts, although they were one of a few that looked like humans, and River knew that the Doctor only had a limited number of regenerations before he also had to accept death like everyone else. This woman couldn’t be the Doctor. Another Time Lord perhaps, but not River’s.
The woman’s eyes opened, and River held her breath.
‘Where am I?’
The woman practically jumped off the sofa, terror in her eyes. She cried out immediately and fell to the floor, crawling backwards away from River as fast as she could, almost hyperventilating in her anguish.
‘It’s alright,’ River said soothingly. ‘You’re safe, I’m not going to hurt you.’
The woman’s back hit the patio doors and she tried to get to her feet again, crashing to her knees with a whimper when she tried to put weight on her leg. There were tears falling down her cheeks and she looked lost in her too-big t-shirt, like a child playing dress up with their parents’ clothes. She was clearly confused and frightened and nothing in her body language suggested that she was a threat. River remembered her days in a New York orphanage, locked in an astronaut’s suit, and she felt her heart go out to her. River knew only too well how fear and desperation made you feel.
River sat carefully down on the floor in front of her, ignoring the dirt smears the other woman’s panicked scrambles had left on her cream rug and held a hand out to her.
‘I won’t hurt you,’ she said again, softly. ‘Can you tell me your name?’
The woman’s forehead creased and she opened her mouth but no sound came out. River wasn’t surprised though, she knew what the burn marks on her forehead indicated, although this poor woman clearly had no idea what had been done to her.
‘That’s alright,’ River said, smiling softly when the other woman started to panic again. ‘I’m sure your name will come back to you.’ It wouldn’t, but River didn't want to tell her that and make her panic more.
‘Where - where am I?’ the woman stuttered, knees drawn up to her chest, eyes flickering around River’s cosy living room.
‘You’re in my home,’ River said gently. ‘I think you were looking for me? I’m Melody Pond. Although I prefer to go by River.’
‘Melody…’ The woman had an adorable frown line in her forehead, and it appeared now as she thought hard. ‘I… I had to find someone called Melody. I had to… they’re in trouble.’
‘What do you remember? Who’s in trouble?’ River asked. She didn't want to push her, she knew how painful memory wipes could be, but she still couldn’t shake the feeling that this strange woman was the Doctor. A Time Lord who knew her real name and who immediately ran to her in times of trouble? The odds for were higher than the odds against, surely?
‘I don’t,’ the woman said quietly, face white as a sheet. ‘I don’t… there’s nothing…’
She looked up at River, eyes wide and fresh tears falling, and River reached out a hand to hold hers carefully.
‘I can’t remember anything,’ the woman whispered. ‘Nothing at all.’
‘You can’t stand,’ River said. ‘Is it your leg? Is it injured?’
The woman looked down at her legs, but she didn't say anything and she didn't move when River carefully pushed up the thick, heavy fabric to inspect them herself. It was immediately obvious which leg was causing her pain, her right ankle was twice the size it should be and the skin around it was purple and black with bruises.
‘Your ankle is broken,’ River said, dropping the fabric of her trousers. ‘That’s okay, I can fix that. Shall we get you cleaned up? Then I think you could do with a good night’s sleep.’
The woman said nothing, but she allowed River to slip an arm around her waist to carefully lift her to her feet, avoiding the swollen and broken ankle. River knew that there was no point trying to get any information out of her. Mind wipes were almost impossible to break once they’d started but a telepath sometimes stood a chance if they slept soon afterwards, allowing their brain time to protect the remaining precious memories before they fizzled out of existence.
Of course, there was no guarantee that this woman was a telepath. But if she was a Time Lord (if she was the Doctor, River thought), then this was her best option.
The woman was getting heavier and heavier as River helped her up the stairs, her body sagging slowly to the floor and by the time River helped her onto the bed she was practically asleep, too tired to even protest as River rolled up the material of her trousers again and eased a splint over the broken limb.
‘This won’t hurt,’ River said, holding one of the straps tightly in her hand. ‘Just try to relax.’
It did hurt, and the woman let out a sharp yelp as River pulled the strap and the splint activated, settling itself over her broken ankle and squeezing tightly to keep the bone immobilised so it could heal correctly.
‘Sorry, I lied,’ River said. ‘Open wide.’
The woman did so and River dropped a mint onto her tongue. There was anaesthesia in the sweet and River saw it already taking hold as the woman’s own exhaustion and the drug in the mint made it impossible for her to stay awake.
She was fighting it though, and suddenly her eyes went wide and she reached up a hand to grab River’s shirt, pulling her down to her face.
‘I need to find my friends,’ she pleaded. ‘Please help me find my friends.’
‘Your friends?’
River frowned and wondered again how quickly she’d managed to escape following the mind wipe. She shouldn’t have any memory of her friends, shouldn’t have any memory of anything, and yet she’d known to look for River and she knew she had people who were relying on her. People who were in danger, by the sound of it.
‘How did you know to look for me?’ River asked again, and the woman’s eyes fluttered as she fought against the lure of sleep
‘You were in my head,’ she whispered groggily. ‘Your name was in my head. I knew I had to get away, there was a flash and…’
She frowned, and River stroked her cheek gently, tucking a wayward piece of blonde hair behind her ear. The healing gel was working quickly and the burns were already fading, but not enough for them not to be noticeable.
‘It’s alright, sweetie,’ River said gently. ‘Get some sleep and we’ll talk more tomorrow.’
‘Sweetie...’
The woman smiled suddenly, her body going slack against the bed as she looked up at River through hooded eyes. A hand found River’s and squeezed and River knew, immediately and instinctively, that this was the Doctor.
‘Hello, sweetie,’ the woman said, then her face went slack and her head dropped back against the pillow, fast asleep.
‘Oh my love,’ River whispered quietly, voice full of pain as she drew a blanket up over her wife. ‘What have they done to you?’
Yaz was still screaming the Doctor's name long after the other woman had been dragged down the corridor and in the end it was Ryan who’d had to pull her back when one of the guards pulled out a gun, clearly ready to shoot her.
‘No! You can’t, you can’t!’ Yaz was still yelling as Graham and Ryan pulled her back, holding her arms tightly in case she tried to rip herself away from them and run after their friend.
‘Yaz, love.’ Graham’s voice was as soft as he could make it though tears were falling silently down his face. He hated himself for not following the Doctor, but he knew it would make no difference. There was nothing he could do to save her now. Keeping Yaz and Ryan as safe as he could was all he had left.
‘They’ll kill you,’ Ryan said, and he too sounded heartbroken. He was holding Yaz loosely, as though he also wanted to save their friend and was just waiting for an opportunity to do so.
‘Come on you two,’ Graham said, maneuvering them back into the cell. ‘The Doc wouldn’t want you getting yourselves killed on her behalf.’
‘How do you know?’ Yaz sobbed. ‘How can you possibly know what she’d want?’
‘She’d want you safe,’ Graham said, and Yaz slid to the ground, knees impacting the stone floor hard as she cried with her hands pressed tightly over her eyes. She knew he was right, but in that moment she’d rather die than have to face the Doctor with no memory of her friend in those warm, green eyes.
There were two guards stood outside their cell, guns trained on the three of them and Graham shot them such a filthy look that they took a couple of steps back, looking down at the ground as though they felt guilty at their sudden lack of humanity. Graham wondered if they had family, and how they’d feel if they’d been told heartless thugs were going to wipe the mind of someone they loved.
Ryan was trying to console Yaz, but he was crying himself and soon the three of them were a mess, sobbing and holding each other on the stone floor. They were in an impossible situation, there was no way they could rescue the Doctor now and Graham knew it was highly unlikely that she’d be able to rescue herself. The guards had gripped her so tightly when they’d discovered what species she was he’d seen her face screw up in pain and her futile attempts at getting herself free were just that.
Futile.
‘Come on you two,’ Graham said, gripping Yaz and Ryan’s hands tightly. ‘Maybe she’s got some kind of alien thing in her brain that’ll mean this kind of thing won’t hurt her. Keep your spirits up, yeah? Maybe she’ll be okay.’
Then the sounds of the Doctor's screams started to echo through the hallways and the three humans knew that no, she wasn’t going to be okay.
‘Yaz!’
Graham ran forwards and grabbed Yaz’s arms tightly when she ran towards the door of the cell but it was too late. One of the guards rammed a thin, metal stick through the bars and the end of it impacted with Yaz’s stomach, sending thousands of volts of electricity through her small frame until she was a twitching mess on the floor, curled in on herself as her body shook with pain and she cried out in agony.
‘Stay away from the bars,’ one of the guards growled at them, and Graham and Ryan dropped to their knees and gathered up Yaz in their arms, holding her tightly as the Doctor's screams continued.
Graham wanted to say something reassuring to the two young people, but there was nothing he could think of to say that would bring them any solace. They were stuck on a prison planet and their only chance at escape was having her mind wiped at that very moment.
Graham screwed his eyes tightly shut, as though that would help him block out the sounds of agony coming from further up the corridor.
It didn't, but he knew that even if it had, the sound of the Doctor screaming in pain was something he’d never forget for as long as he lived.
‘I’m sorry, Doc,’ he whispered quietly to himself as Ryan and Yaz clung to each other in despair. ‘I’m so sorry.’