Disclaimer: We do not own Doctor Who.

Chapter 19

River could remember so much and so little. She had the mind of a Time Lord, but it had been messed with by the Silence for so long, it was likely irreparable.

River couldn't remember very much from her first regeneration, at least she couldn't while she was awake. All she could really remember was running in fear, cold and sick. Then, she was little Mels.

That is where the memories really start. Some were bad, some bittersweet, but most were good after she found Amy and Rory.

In her third regeneration, it got more complicated.

She could remember so much happening, yet there were still holes. Random years seemed to be missing completely. Little moments here and there would come up where she couldn't quite place what she was forgetting. Melody Pond rarely forgot without good reason.

Some of her favorite memories were with The Doctor, and some were with Renee.

She could remember finding out she was pregnant and being terrified. She didn't want to go to Amy and Rory; they would react like any parents. They would be excited and angry and sad and disbelieving. She definitely didn't want to find The Doctor; he could be at any point in his timeline. He likely wouldn't be able to handle news like that.

She did have one friend at Lunar University. She called Anita.

Anita, who had previously been her grad student, had become an alumna only a few years previously and now taught classes. She was mostly there for the digs, the same digs she had loved in grad that River had supervised. They became fast friends on the girl's first.

It just so happened that Anita had been teaching a small class when River called. She'd answered the phone in a whisper. "Hey, I can't talk now. Can I come by at lunch?"

River consented, but her desperate tone alarmed her friend.

"What is it? Do you need me to come over now? There's only ten minutes left. I'll be right there."

"No, I'll be-"

"Talk to you in five."

"But you said-"

The line went dead.

Anita was there for her the entire pregnancy. And despite growing to love the child growing inside her, River never stopped despising pregnancy itself. She had everything in the extreme, from the morning sickness to cravings to hormones.

"Time Lords don't mess around," Anita had tried to joke with her on a particularly bad day. River had moaned in response and ducked her head under her duvet.

And she remembered every day with little Renee. She remembered the first time she held Renee, the first time Renee smiled, the first time Renee had held her finger. Everything.

Everything except the birth.

Peculiar, yes, but River had always written this off to painkillers.

She had.

.

There was a loud bang from the front room, and River heard a girl scream Rory's name. She looked up as the girl was running in. Her brown, nearly black hair was tied back in a messy braid. Her tall frame was covered in what appeared to be remnants of a forest.

She laid eyes on Renee and looked surprised. "You're back!"

But Renee wasn't about to let the girl's entry go easily. "What's wrong?"

"Where's Rory?"

"Not here," Anthony said, going to the girl and putting a hand on her shoulder. "What happened?"

"I found Marina."

"Marina's missing?" Renee asked.

River was completely lost at this point. "Who are you?"

The girl looked to River. "I could ask you the same question."

Renee didn't give either of them the chance to answer though. "Where's Marina? Is she okay?"

"I don't know. I didn't want to move her. She's hurt, and she's gotta be drugged or something. She's talking madness. We need Rory."

River couldn't tell if Anthony knew anything about the rest of the family's experiences, but she knew both Amy and Renee had thought the same thing when they heard the girl say those words.

If she was a friend of anyone in the Pond line, she was in danger. Clearly, that danger had caught up to Marina.

"But you left her alone?!" Renee stood from the table. River could only see the back of her head from her position, but she could hear the anger in her daughter's voice clearly. "We have to make sure she's okay!"

The girl with the dark braid tried to answer but was interrupted by a choking breath. Instead of trying again, she just nodded and left the room, pulling Anthony with her.

Renee followed the two. River started to go along, but Amy took her by the arm and pulled her back to the table.

"I'll go with them. You stay here and update Rory on what happened."

She opened her mouth to argue, but Amy didn't give her the chance.

"I don't know what happened to you two, but you've been quiet. You're only quiet when you're trying to hide something. Stay here."

Though River had improved a lot since her run in with the gaseous poison, she was admittedly not back to her full self. That wasn't going to keep her from her daughter for a single moment though.

"No. You can come, or you can stay here for Rory. I've got to make sure they're okay."

With that, she pulled away from Amy's grip and went out the front door.

The teens were entering the woods beside the Williams's house. Now, River had no idea why the girl with the braid could have happened upon someone in the woods beside the house in which she did not live. That said, she wasn't about to question it. She'd lose sight of them.

The air was crisp in the morning, and it bit against her face as she ran after them. Her curls flew backwards, adding to the bedhead and vortex hair she already sported.

She caught up with the group as they were huddled around... River didn't know. She went closer, and arched her neck to see.

A teen, about the same age as the others, was lain on a patch of rocks and dirt. Her long, lean legs were bare to the thighs, and a sweatshirt covered her upper body like a blanket. Her hair appeared to be blonde, but River couldn't really tell. It was dirty and matted. Something dark stuck in clumps to the hair on the back of her scalp.

"She was shivering," the -haired girl said. She was slightly out of breath.

Renee knelt down and put her hand under the girl's nose. The girl opened her eyes and looked up at Renee.

River's daughter seemed so relieved at the girl responding, that River let out a breath of relief as well.

The blonde's eyes meandered around. River knelt beside her daughter to help and found that she could only then hear the girl's breathing despite Timelord senses. They were oddly shallow.

"Marina," Renee whispered, "What happened?"

The blonde, Marina, mumbled something incoherent. River picked out the words alone, Renee, and Not Renee.

"She's been missing since the day after you left," Anthony said. "Bella's been out of her mind over you two."

Renee pulled off the sweatshirt to begin assessing Marina's injuries. Her T-shirt and shorts were stiff with mud and sweat. River focused on her head. She had an inkling she knew what the dark substance was.

The wind pulled at River's hair all of a sudden, getting in the way. She pushed it back, annoyed. The leaves shushed them like a warning.

She leaned forward and fingered the matted areas. It was slightly sticky.

Further confirmation, something River had hoped she wouldn't get.

She tried to touch the girl's scalp, looking for wounds. She didn't get that far before she could feel something warm.

River pulled her hand back, scared to hurt the girl, and found her fingertips glazed with blood at various stages of coagulation.

Bella buried her face into Anthony's shirt. Anthony wrapped his arms around her but said nothing.

Renee was angry. The wind was still picking up pace, and she looked like an angry goddess with her hair whipping around her head as it was. Her blue-green eyes glared at the scarlet on River's hands like it was, in itself, the cause of the girl's misery.

River wiped her hand on the grass and said, "We need to get her back to the house. The wound is going to get infected out here."

Except she couldn't hear herself. The wind was so loud, it drowned out her voice.

"Renee!" she yelled. "We need to get her to the house!"

Renee nodded and helped River to lift the girl. Renee hesitated a bit, especially after seeing the blood they were leaving behind, but River knew better than that.

The wind was nearly strong enough to blow them over now. River looked up as if to scream at the gods. Her actual goal was to curse pretty much any deity which would listen, but that was quickly forgotten as she saw something and metallic fly by. It nearly touched the treetops.

River swore and picked up the pace. Someone had come for a visit, and River had a feeling it wasn't going to be anyone she wanted to see.

A/n: Prepare yourself, people. We're about to drop a bomb. *evil smile*