"Nah, just usually someone starts talking about her' she's got a half a chance of showing up just to do the talking herself. Would have made my life easier, and it would be good to have her here. Alright, this one's a not easy, and who's Mels isn't any easier. Alright, I'll try to do this in some order that makes sense."
She sipped her wine then set it down. This was generally easier with paper.
"When I was little, a little before I met the Doctor, I had a best friend, and a lame dorky kid who followed us around. Lame kid.." she tapped her ring. "Rory. Best friend was Mels. I'd gotten so used to not having parents, and almost never seeing my aunt, guess it never dawned on me to ask about hers. She probably would have lied about it, anyway." she shrugged a bit, eyes misty. "Mels... Oh Mels could get into trouble worse than any other girl in Leadworth, except for me. Back then I was so sure I counted as a boy, little, flat, plain, a bit chubby maybe. I felt like Rory and I were never done bailing her out of trouble."
She fiddled with her wine glass, speaking more quietly, but not looking at Rose.
"Doctor came back when I was an adult, finished the adventure we started when I was a kid. Promised me he was just hopping to the moon and back to break in the new T.... box. Showed up again two years later. We were traveling along together, all was fine, when he decided he had to go to a museum. How he keeps score. Of course next thing I know, we're running from the guards, cause he's gone and stolen an artifact cause there was a message burned into it. Couldn't read it, guessing it was Galifreyan, since River says that doesn't translate. Might not have been though, hadn't been with him long at that point. Message was from River Song, he went to the coordinates and she flew in the doors, in mid flight, crashed right into him. She pointed to the ship she'd come flying out of, and told us to follow it."
"They then started bickering, I sort of half guessed right off, the way they argued about how to fly her. They sounded like an old married couple. It was quite amusing to watch. Never tell him I said this, but if I ever learn to fly that thing, I'm learning from River. You know it doesn't actually have to make that noise? He leaves the parking break on." Small amused snort. "Anyway, got to know River from then on, started to really like her, you know. She and the Doctor, they keep meeting in the wrong order. She says they're in opposite directions, but I don't think it's ever been that simple. But apparently the time I met her, he'd only met her once or twice before, and he kept trying to listen in on our conversations to figure out who she was."
"Alright. That was Mels. and River. One more name to this mess, and you can't tell the Doctor ay of this, of course," she said softly.
"Melody. Rory and I'd been traveling with the Doctor a while when I was kidnapped. Didn't know I was at first, they built me a Ganger, sent it along with the Doctor and psychically linked me to it. My guess is it happened somewhere between when we saw the astronaut" she whispered now, "kill the Doctor, stopping his regeneration. Oh River made it clear Rory and I could never tell him that he invited us to watch his own death...." Her lips pursed angrily at that. Then she shook her head. "When I learned how hard it is to keep a secret from that man. He invited his younger self to meet us after to go on the adventure he'd given us clues to before he died...." Her hands closed around a napkin tightly. "River slapped him. I suppose I should have too, but I was just so glad he was alive I hugged him and didn't want to stop. Rory took exception to that, of course. Anyway, during that mess, we wound up finding a space suit, same sort, 1969. When it started coming for us, I didn't think... should have... didn't. I shot the space suit, trying to save his life. But when the visor lifted... it was a little girl. I think I was kidnapped right around then."
"And yes, this all leads back to one explanation, and no I don't know a simpler way of telling it so that it makes sense. We went looking for the little girl, and we found the orphanage where she was being kept, but not her. While there, I saw a glimpse into reality, woman in an eyepatch peering through a window in a door that had no window. That's how I know I had to be taken before that point. Before that point, and after I found out I was pregnant and told the Doctor. So imagine my surprise when in the little girl's room I found a photo. Me. A bit older. Holding a baby. Made no sense then."
"Gangers don't change quite the same way. So I became sure I wasn't pregnant after all, we kept having our adventures. Then the Doctor took us to see the early days of the Gangers. Said he needed to see the tech when it was new. Also said he needed to know if I saw Gangers as people or not. And then..." deep breath..." He pointed his sonic at me. Told me to breathe and that he'd be there for me soon. Then he sonicced me, and next thing I knew... I was about to give birth on an asteroid called Demons Run."
"He arrived with his usual sense of timing, of course. Meaning my daughter was almost a month old. I named her after Mels, my best friend as a kid. The Doctor gathered up people to help rescue me, and one of the people... he sent Rory to go get River out of prison. River refused to come, though I didn't find that out til later. Kovarian, the woman with the eye patch, she took my baby. She let Rory rescue a Ganger copy. She made a Ganger of my little Melody, and took her away." She closed her hands into fists. "We couldn't save her."
"During my captivity, one of the soldiers, someone who joined the group that kidnapped me, hoping to meet the Doctor again, she made me a prayer leaf, my child's name in the language of her people. River showed up at the end, just after we found out Melody had been taken."
She closed her eyes. She showed the Doctor something, they prayer leaf. He went from concerned and angry to all giggly stupid like a school boy, then he hopped in his box, told River to get us all home safe and swore to me he knew where my daughter was and that on his life, she'd be safe. Or saved. One or the other. Anyway, he left, refused to answer anything. I... may not have been at my best just then. Picked up a gun, threatened River to tell me what she told the Doctor. I was tired of non-answers, I just wanted my little girl, my baby. She showed me what she had shown him. The prayer leaf. I named my daughter Melody Pond. But the soldier who made it was from the Gamma Forests. Idris had told us, but I hadn't understood, not in time. But the Doctor caught on, and River who hadn't even been there for that, she knew. For good reason. See, in the Gamma forests, the only water they have.... is a River. They don't have a word for Pond. Melody Pond. River Song."
She swallowed hard. "River. The River I spent so much time with... was my daughter."
She took a deep breath, pushing away the tears.
"This still leaves Mels. Getting to her." Odd to think she missed Mels differently than she missed Melody or River. "For the recond..." She pulled her mobile out of her pocket, showed a picture. "That's River." She flipped to another picture. "That's Mels at about 15, after we bailed her out of juvie."
She put the phone away.
"So, we waited a whole summer for the Doctor to find Melody. We knew she'd grow up into River and be a wonderful if somewhat violent woman, but I still wanted to have a hand in that, wanted to raise my little girl. But a whole summer, and the Doctor didn't show up. So, Rory and I made a diagram, got in his dad's old junker car, and made a crop circle to form the word Doctor. Sure enough, blue box pops up in the O. He hands us the paper as if to make a point that we didn't have to go that far, and while I was talking to him, Rory looked at the paper, noticed a line through the word that we hadn't made. Cue Mels in a stolen car, nearly crashing into us. Cops hot on her tail. She pulled a gun on the Doctor, demanded an adventure. By the way, if he ever says guns don't work in the box, he's lying. Mels took him at face value, shot the consol wanting to see in what way the gun wouldn't work. She was very sorry after, for what it was worth, and the box did forgive her."
"So we wound up back in Germany, World War Two. Mels was always mouthing off in class how all these human tragedies happened because the Doctor didn't stop them. So she wanted to use the box to stop the worst of them all. Except we weren't the only time travelers there. A robot from the far future, called the Teselecta had shown up, after the same target, to punish him for his war crimes. We accidently saved him. None of us were too pleased with that. Mels got caught in the cross fire between the Teselecta and him... We were able to stash both, but Mels was in bad shape, the box was in bad shape so we couldn't get her for help, and no one there was going to help. Doctor kept trying to talk to her, kept trying to get her to hold on."
She rubbed at her face, wondering if Rose had guessed where this was going. Since the Doctor knew about Regenerations and hadn't guessed, she doubted it. "Mels said that with all the stories I told her about the Doctor, growing up, said that she had always dreamed she'd marry him some day. So to keep her with him he said he would, he'd marry her, but she had to survive so he could. She pointed out he ought to ask her parents first. He said that yes, as soon as she was patched up, he'd call her folks." She took a shaky breath. "That's when she said that he didn't need to... since Rory and I were already there. And... And that was when Mels regenerated. Into River song." Confused yet? "Sady, that's the simple explanation and leaves out some very important details, but gives you the gist. River Song, Mels. Same person, different regeneration. She's the woman who kills the Doctor. She's the woman who marries him."
Re: ACTION!!! Wibbly wobbly info dump
She sipped her wine then set it down. This was generally easier with paper.
"When I was little, a little before I met the Doctor, I had a best friend, and a lame dorky kid who followed us around. Lame kid.." she tapped her ring. "Rory. Best friend was Mels. I'd gotten so used to not having parents, and almost never seeing my aunt, guess it never dawned on me to ask about hers. She probably would have lied about it, anyway." she shrugged a bit, eyes misty. "Mels... Oh Mels could get into trouble worse than any other girl in Leadworth, except for me. Back then I was so sure I counted as a boy, little, flat, plain, a bit chubby maybe. I felt like Rory and I were never done bailing her out of trouble."
She fiddled with her wine glass, speaking more quietly, but not looking at Rose.
"Doctor came back when I was an adult, finished the adventure we started when I was a kid. Promised me he was just hopping to the moon and back to break in the new T.... box. Showed up again two years later. We were traveling along together, all was fine, when he decided he had to go to a museum. How he keeps score. Of course next thing I know, we're running from the guards, cause he's gone and stolen an artifact cause there was a message burned into it. Couldn't read it, guessing it was Galifreyan, since River says that doesn't translate. Might not have been though, hadn't been with him long at that point. Message was from River Song, he went to the coordinates and she flew in the doors, in mid flight, crashed right into him. She pointed to the ship she'd come flying out of, and told us to follow it."
"They then started bickering, I sort of half guessed right off, the way they argued about how to fly her. They sounded like an old married couple. It was quite amusing to watch. Never tell him I said this, but if I ever learn to fly that thing, I'm learning from River. You know it doesn't actually have to make that noise? He leaves the parking break on." Small amused snort. "Anyway, got to know River from then on, started to really like her, you know. She and the Doctor, they keep meeting in the wrong order. She says they're in opposite directions, but I don't think it's ever been that simple. But apparently the time I met her, he'd only met her once or twice before, and he kept trying to listen in on our conversations to figure out who she was."
"Alright. That was Mels. and River. One more name to this mess, and you can't tell the Doctor ay of this, of course," she said softly.
"Melody. Rory and I'd been traveling with the Doctor a while when I was kidnapped. Didn't know I was at first, they built me a Ganger, sent it along with the Doctor and psychically linked me to it. My guess is it happened somewhere between when we saw the astronaut" she whispered now, "kill the Doctor, stopping his regeneration. Oh River made it clear Rory and I could never tell him that he invited us to watch his own death...." Her lips pursed angrily at that. Then she shook her head. "When I learned how hard it is to keep a secret from that man. He invited his younger self to meet us after to go on the adventure he'd given us clues to before he died...." Her hands closed around a napkin tightly. "River slapped him. I suppose I should have too, but I was just so glad he was alive I hugged him and didn't want to stop. Rory took exception to that, of course. Anyway, during that mess, we wound up finding a space suit, same sort, 1969. When it started coming for us, I didn't think... should have... didn't. I shot the space suit, trying to save his life. But when the visor lifted... it was a little girl. I think I was kidnapped right around then."
"And yes, this all leads back to one explanation, and no I don't know a simpler way of telling it so that it makes sense. We went looking for the little girl, and we found the orphanage where she was being kept, but not her. While there, I saw a glimpse into reality, woman in an eyepatch peering through a window in a door that had no window. That's how I know I had to be taken before that point. Before that point, and after I found out I was pregnant and told the Doctor. So imagine my surprise when in the little girl's room I found a photo. Me. A bit older. Holding a baby. Made no sense then."
"Gangers don't change quite the same way. So I became sure I wasn't pregnant after all, we kept having our adventures. Then the Doctor took us to see the early days of the Gangers. Said he needed to see the tech when it was new. Also said he needed to know if I saw Gangers as people or not. And then..." deep breath..." He pointed his sonic at me. Told me to breathe and that he'd be there for me soon. Then he sonicced me, and next thing I knew... I was about to give birth on an asteroid called Demons Run."
"He arrived with his usual sense of timing, of course. Meaning my daughter was almost a month old. I named her after Mels, my best friend as a kid. The Doctor gathered up people to help rescue me, and one of the people... he sent Rory to go get River out of prison. River refused to come, though I didn't find that out til later. Kovarian, the woman with the eye patch, she took my baby. She let Rory rescue a Ganger copy. She made a Ganger of my little Melody, and took her away." She closed her hands into fists. "We couldn't save her."
"During my captivity, one of the soldiers, someone who joined the group that kidnapped me, hoping to meet the Doctor again, she made me a prayer leaf, my child's name in the language of her people. River showed up at the end, just after we found out Melody had been taken."
She closed her eyes. She showed the Doctor something, they prayer leaf. He went from concerned and angry to all giggly stupid like a school boy, then he hopped in his box, told River to get us all home safe and swore to me he knew where my daughter was and that on his life, she'd be safe. Or saved. One or the other. Anyway, he left, refused to answer anything. I... may not have been at my best just then. Picked up a gun, threatened River to tell me what she told the Doctor. I was tired of non-answers, I just wanted my little girl, my baby. She showed me what she had shown him. The prayer leaf. I named my daughter Melody Pond. But the soldier who made it was from the Gamma Forests. Idris had told us, but I hadn't understood, not in time. But the Doctor caught on, and River who hadn't even been there for that, she knew. For good reason. See, in the Gamma forests, the only water they have.... is a River. They don't have a word for Pond. Melody Pond. River Song."
She swallowed hard. "River. The River I spent so much time with... was my daughter."
She took a deep breath, pushing away the tears.
"This still leaves Mels. Getting to her." Odd to think she missed Mels differently than she missed Melody or River. "For the recond..." She pulled her mobile out of her pocket, showed a picture. "That's River." She flipped to another picture. "That's Mels at about 15, after we bailed her out of juvie."
She put the phone away.
"So, we waited a whole summer for the Doctor to find Melody. We knew she'd grow up into River and be a wonderful if somewhat violent woman, but I still wanted to have a hand in that, wanted to raise my little girl. But a whole summer, and the Doctor didn't show up. So, Rory and I made a diagram, got in his dad's old junker car, and made a crop circle to form the word Doctor. Sure enough, blue box pops up in the O. He hands us the paper as if to make a point that we didn't have to go that far, and while I was talking to him, Rory looked at the paper, noticed a line through the word that we hadn't made. Cue Mels in a stolen car, nearly crashing into us. Cops hot on her tail. She pulled a gun on the Doctor, demanded an adventure. By the way, if he ever says guns don't work in the box, he's lying. Mels took him at face value, shot the consol wanting to see in what way the gun wouldn't work. She was very sorry after, for what it was worth, and the box did forgive her."
"So we wound up back in Germany, World War Two. Mels was always mouthing off in class how all these human tragedies happened because the Doctor didn't stop them. So she wanted to use the box to stop the worst of them all. Except we weren't the only time travelers there. A robot from the far future, called the Teselecta had shown up, after the same target, to punish him for his war crimes. We accidently saved him. None of us were too pleased with that. Mels got caught in the cross fire between the Teselecta and him... We were able to stash both, but Mels was in bad shape, the box was in bad shape so we couldn't get her for help, and no one there was going to help. Doctor kept trying to talk to her, kept trying to get her to hold on."
She rubbed at her face, wondering if Rose had guessed where this was going. Since the Doctor knew about Regenerations and hadn't guessed, she doubted it. "Mels said that with all the stories I told her about the Doctor, growing up, said that she had always dreamed she'd marry him some day. So to keep her with him he said he would, he'd marry her, but she had to survive so he could. She pointed out he ought to ask her parents first. He said that yes, as soon as she was patched up, he'd call her folks." She took a shaky breath. "That's when she said that he didn't need to... since Rory and I were already there. And... And that was when Mels regenerated. Into River song." Confused yet? "Sady, that's the simple explanation and leaves out some very important details, but gives you the gist. River Song, Mels. Same person, different regeneration. She's the woman who kills the Doctor. She's the woman who marries him."