If you want to help me financially, you can do it on
https://ko-fi.com/neverluckysmile
Amy glanced down at the map as she and Rory flew through the middle of the corn field. This seemed like such a good idea at the time, but as Rory spun the wheel and she went flying into the door of the Mini she decided next time she'd stay at home.
"OK, left, sharp turn!" She exclaimed and Rory jerked the stering wheel around, causing her to slam into him as they crossed over where they'd just been, squashing the corn stalks down as they sped along, "OK, right! No, no, no I mean left." Was she even holding the map the right way? She turned up around and it made slightly more sence, "No, sorry right, right! I definitely meant right. Now loop the loop!" They spun around as Rory did what his wife told him, finishing the pattern they were trying to draw in the field, "Stop! Stop!" He slammed on the breaks, coming to an abrupt stop. They both climbed out to see the Doctor in the middle of the crop circle they had just made, leaning against the TARDIS in a brand new jacket. He was holding a newspaper and held it up to show the pair.
"Seriously?" He exclaimed, referring the the fact that the crop circle described in the main headline read 'Doctor'.
"You never answer your phone." Rory replied, slamming the door shut as Amy approached the Doctor, face searching his for answers.
"OK, you've had all summer. Have you found her? Have you found Melody?" She begged. The Doctor looked over her head at Rory, passing him the newspaper.
"Permission?" Rory nodded.
"Granted." The Doctor pulled her into a hug, squeezing his Amelia tightly.
"You know who she grows up to be, so you know I WILL find her." He told her gently but Amy pulled back.
"But you haven't yet?" He shot her an apologetic look, "There's something else we should tell you. It's about..."
"Hang on, what's this bit?" Rory interrupted them, holding up the newspaper. The word 'Doctor', the picture on another page, now had a line running through the middle of it.
"That wasn't us." Amy remarked as the Doctor snatched the paper off of Rory. He walked around, holding it up in air as he tried to work out where the line originated from. They paused as the sound of another engine began revving towards them. They looked up to see a red sports car speeding towards them. The trio screamed in unison and dived out of the way, Rory and Amy heading one way and the Doctor the other towards the TARDIS. The Corvette screeched to a stop centimetres from the Doctor's face and a young black woman stepped out, wearing a pink and black dress, tights and knee-high boots. She looked down at him, crossing her arms and smirking.
"You said he was funny, you never said he was hot."
"Mels?" Rory exclaimed angrily as the two Ponds rushed over to make sure the Doctor was okay.
"What are you doing here?" Amy asked her.
"Following you, what do you think?" Mels replied, as if it was obvious why she'd turned up out of the blue. The Doctor pushed himself up using the car, slightly unsteady on his gangly legs. The girl was new, so he was intrigued, but she also had tried to kill him with a car, so he was torn.
"Um, where did you get the car?" Rory asked, dreading the answer as she shrugged.
"It's mine..." She trailed off slightly as the police sirens wailed in the distance, "..ish."
"Oh, Mels, not again?" Amy asked, more resigned than surprised. She'd been like this throughout their childhood, the girl just didn't want to play by anyone's rules but her own.
"You can't keep doing this. You'll end up in prison." Rory pointed out.
"Oh leave her alone!" Another voice cried out in exasperation, "It was my idea." The passenger door opened on the Corvette and another girl climbed out. The Doctor's jaw fell as Danni eyed the crowd, "You two are just so boring these days." The Doctor stepped slightly closer to her, looking her up and down in confusion. Her red hair had gone, replaced by a browny blonde pulled back with a headband, the bangs loosely flowing around her face. She wore short denim shorts with tights underneath, a black tank-top on top with a military green jacket on top of that.
"Danni?" He breathed and she stepped back from him.
"What?" She snapped in reply, "Miss me?" She turned to Mels, "The police were right behind us."
"Sorry, hello, Doctor not following this. Doctor very lost." He exclaimed, forcing her to turn around and face him, "What's going on? Why are you blonde?"
"I fancied a change." She replied, "Mels suggested it. She said the best way to get over your ex was to have a makeover. Didn't you, sweetie?"
"If your old man dumps you, nothing makes you feel better than a new haircut." Mels called over as she approached the TARDIS.
"Ex?" The Doctor repeated quietly and Danni glared at him.
"You tell me." She snapped before heading over to her new friend, hooking her thumbs into the back pockets of her shorts.
"So this is the phone box?" Mels asked and Danni nodded, "The bigger-on-the-inside phone box?" She reached out, feeling it as if to make sure the box actually existed, "Time travel - that's just brilliant."
"If you're going to do it, do it in style." Danni agreed, stroking the outside of the TARDIS, "Did you miss me, Old Girl?" She asked gently, smiling fondly and making Mels frown in jealousy. She wasn't supposed to be happy, she was supposed to be happy with her.
"Yeah, I've heard a lot about you." Mels declared, turning to face the Doctor who was eying the pair, confused and a bit suspicious, "I'm Danni-Girl's new best mate. Especially since you got off with that old..." She frowned and looked at Danni, who was still smiling at the TARDIS, feeling the box humming happily, "What's the name of his new missus?" Danni glanced at the Doctor out of the corner of her eye.
"Oh? River." Danni responded pointedly and Mels nodded, seeing the smile fall from her face. Good, the Doctor should make her angry, not happy. The Doctor tensed, had she just been with a version of him that married River? That couldn't be right! He wouldn't let that be right!
"Yeah, that's right."
"Mels said if she ever sees River she's gonna kill her." Danni continued, "Didn't you sweetie?" Mels nodded.
"I did. But we have other plans first." She finished.
"Who are you?" He asked the new girl, eerily calm as Amy and Rory glanced at each other. They had wanted time to warn him about the 'new' Danni but evidently Mels hadn't wanted that to happen. She had become pretty possessive of Danni since the moment she had arrived, though no one could tell why she had decided to attach herself to the no-longer-ginger woman, "I should. I know everyone in Amy and Rory's life. Why are you trying to turn my Danni-Girl against me?" Mels stalked over, her smirk hardening angrily.
"She's my Danni-Girl now." She stated.
"The cops, Mels." Danni called and Mels nodded. Danni walked over, standing next to Mels and eyeing the Doctor coldly.
"And that's us out of time." In unison Mels reached into her waistcoat and Danni into her jacket. They both pulled out guns and pointed them directly at the Doctor, cocking them threateningly.
"Danni!" Amy exclaimed.
"For God's sake, Mels!" Rory shouted angrily, believing Amy's friend to be the sole reasoning behind Danni's sudden change in character.
"What are you doing?" Amy continued.
"We need to get out of here. Now." Danni reasoned with them.
"Anywhere in particular?" The Doctor asked, his hands in the air for lack of anything better to do. He should go along with Danni, he needed to get her away from this 'Mels' and try and find out what had actually happened to make her like this. Maybe it was brainwashing, or maybe that noise in her head was confusing her. That was it, she must still have the drumming. He needed a chance to reason with her.
"Well, let's see! You've got a time machine," Mels started.
"We've got guns." Danni pointed out.
"What the hell," Mels shrugged, "Let's kill Hitler."
~0~0~0~
"It's only been two weeks." Rory reasoned, following Amy into their kitchen, carrying the majority of the shopping bags, "For the Doctor, that's barely an hour."
"I know." Amy replied as she followed him in, "But it's our daughter, Rory. Our Melody. I thought he might have been on time, for once." Rory placed his bags on the floor, ready to unpack them in a moment before walking over to his wife, taking the couple of bags out of her hands and pulling her into a hug, which she returned tightly.
"He's looking." Rory told her firmly, "He won't ever stop looking. Danni promised that he would find out what happened to her, so we have to believe her."
"But she didn't even tell us it was a flesh baby." Amy pointed out.
"She was working off River's orders." Rory replied, still finding it very difficult to associate River and his baby Melody. He knew he would, but he hadn't even known Amy was pregnant to begin with and it was all a bit of a shock, "River wouldn't tell her not to say anything if it wasn't important. Why wouldn't she not want to be saved?" Amy nodded into Rory's shoulder and they stood in each others arms for a few moments longer.
"It seems," A small voice whimpered, "I've come at a bad time." They both jumped, alarmed and spun to see Danni leaning against their refrigerator, arms wrapped around her knees and she obviously had been crying for a while. She looked up at them, tears streaming down her face as she rocked slightly, "I'm sorry I can't save Melody. I... I'm so sorry." She started sobbed lightly and Amy walked over, dropping down by her and placing a hand on her arm gently.
"Danni? What's wrong? Are you with the Doctor? Did he find Melody?" Danni shook her head, letting her head fall forward slightly.
"No, I've not done that yet." She whimpered, "He's not with me anymore." Amy frowned and turned to Rory, who looked just as confused, "I had Ten drop me off at Jack's, and Jack brought me here. I didn't want to be with him anymore." She hadn't. At first she thought being with Ten would be alright, but as much as each body was a separate entity, they were all ultimately the same Doctor who broke her heart. He'd understood, even kept apologising for his next incarnation but she had just wanted him to stop. Although, in the back of her head, she thought it might have been another reason he tried not to regenerate back when the Earth had been moved by the Daleks. So he didn't become Eleven.
"Then, where have you been?" Rory asked, wondering why she was so upset. She had been crying for a while, they'd only been back a couple minutes so it can't have been because of what they had been saying.
"On the top of a pyramid." She whispered. Neither of them knew what that meant, so Amy shifted so she was sat next to her.
"And what happened there?" She pressed.
"He marries River." She stated before her sobbing increased and she held her face in her hands. Amy's mouth dropped and Rory looked just as shocked, neither of them thinking it would actually happen. Amy saw Danni's fingers tapping lightly on the side of her head and placed her hand over hers to stop it.
"Are you still hearing the drumming?" she asked gently and Danni shook her head.
"It's so quiet." Danni whispered, "Why would he do that to me?" Amy didn't really know what to say, so she wrapped an arm around her and helped her stand up.
"Come on, let's get you a cup of tea." She suggested gently, walking her to the living room as Rory put the kettle on.
~0~0~0~
She couldn't even begin to describe what it was like to have silence running through her head. It was painless and painful at the same time. So loud and yet so quite, sometimes everything around her echoed like the worlds worst hangover and sometimes the silence was all-consuming she couldn't hear people talking to her. She spent a lot of her time not thinking about the Doctor, rather she would search her mind for traces of the sound that had resided there. It was a better option than thinking about the Doctor, who was off somewhere, hand-in-hand with River, making little babies...
"Hello!" A female voice cried out, startling Amy who was sat on the armchair across from Danni. She'd been trying to watch television, but Danni hadn't really spoke since they'd found her in their kitchen and she was so tempted to try and ring the Doctor again. No matter what he might or might not have done, she was still not convinced the Doctor would marry River, he was the only one that had a chance of breaking Danni out of the spiral she was heading down.
"Mels?" she called, her childhood friend appearing in the doorway, "What are you doing here?" Mels shrugged, stutting into the room like she always did. Since they'd met, Mels always acted like she owned whatever room she was in.
"Bored." she replied simply, spotting the girl one the sofa, "Is that Danni?" She asked, shocked at the sight of the red-head. She remembered her clearly. She'd been trapped in something back in the 1960's and Danni had helped her out. She couldn't remember why she had been there, or who she was running from, but she could see Danni looking down at her, promising to look after her always. And here she was. Amy nodded sadly.
"Yeah, she's not..." But Mels didn't wait to listen, instead sat down next to to girl and shook her.
"Danni!" She exclaimed happily and Danni blinked, turning to look at the beaming woman next to her. Mels. Melody. River. Mels. Melody. River. It went around in her head like a mantra. A small smile stretched across her face and she pulled her in for a hug.
"Hello again Little Melody." She whispered happily into Mels ear, and Melody squeezed her tightly.
~0~0~0~
"Seriously, Rory." Amy exclaimed down her phone, "They've been gone for two days! Aren't you the least bit worried?"
"Mels always disappears." Rory replied, which was true. Mels had never been very reliable, or dependable. She could disappear for weeks on end, turn up with a smirk on her lips and a lie ready to tell them.
"But she's taken Danni with her." She had come down one morning to find a note on the counter 'going out with Mels, back in a hour, Danni x'. That had been two days ago, and that was very unlike Danni.
Although, she had become more and more unlike Danni over the last month or so. She'd been staying out late into the night, coming home drunk and with her arms around Mels like she didn't want to let go. Mels was just as bad, she barely came around to see her or Rory anymore, it was just for Danni. She had be more obsessed with Danni though when they were children, always asking Amy questions about the red-head rather than the Doctor, who Amy had wanted to talk about more. She and Amy had always fought over who got to play Danni, Amy because she wanted to secretly kiss the Doctor but Mels found the girl truly fascinating.
"Maybe Danni has zapped off?" Rory suggested, "You know how unpredictable it is. Jack's already brought her back twice."
"Exactly." Amy exclaimed, "She'd have had him bring her back again. She's still heartbroken over the Doctor."
"Amy!" Mels' voice rang through the house.
"Amelia Pond!" Danni demanded and Amy sighed.
"They're back." She told her husband as Mels and Danni strutted into the front room.
"We're back!" They cried together, both of them weighed down by multiple carrier bags. Amy shot a quick goodbye to her husband before turning to the pair.
"Where the hell have you two been?!" She shouted angrily, "Me and Rory have been worried sick!"
"Mels took me to Manchester!" Danni exclaimed, "She leant me some money and we went clothes shopping! And look at my hair!" She placed her bags down and spun in her new black dress with little playing cards covering it, showing off the blonde hair Amy had failed to notice in her anger, "Do you like it?" Amy blinked, surprised by the quite drastic change to Danni's appearance.
"It's blonde." Was all she could say about it, "I thought you liked your red hair?"
"I did." Danni agreed, "But Mels thought it'd be better for me to have a bit of a change."
"But the Doc..."
"Ah, ah, ah." Mels tutted, "We're not going to speak his name." She pulled Danni up against her, "He deserves to be shot for hurting my Danni-Girl here. We've got her a new look, now we've just got to find her a new man." Danni nodded but Amy looked dubious. Maybe she should have kept Mels at a distance from Danni. She was hurting, and Mels could be pretty persuasive.
"I don't need a new man." Danni protested, slinking out of her grasp, "I don't need any man. You and me, Mels. 'Til the end of time." She grabbed her bags back off the floor, "I'm going to unpack these!" She rushed out of the room to the spare room Rory and Amy had allowed her to sleep in and Amy turned to Mels, hands on her hips.
"Oh, it's the 'angry' look." Mels groaned, dropping her bags and heading to the sofa and flopping down on it.
"You can't just up and take her places." Amy scolded, following her and towering over her like a grown-up telling a child off. This was how their relationship had always been, Mels doing something stupid and Amy telling her off for it.
"Why not? She's a grown woman, she can do what she likes." Mels countered."
"She's not well!" Amy exclaimed, "Nevermind this nonsense with the Doctor, she's suffering from withdrawal from that noise in her head. She needs help. She needs her family around her." Mels smirked.
"Oh, I see. You're jealous." Amy rolled her eyes, shaking her head.
"No, I'm not."
"Yes you are." Mels laughed, "You're jealous that she's spending so much time with me and not you."
"You're changing her." Amy hissed, "She used to like her red hair, and she used to just want to stop for a moment and relax. She used to love the Doctor, and now she's running away because you tell her to."
"She doesn't exist just for the Doctor." Mels stood up, "She's my Danni-Girl now, not his. If she wants to dye her hair, she can. If she doesn't want to see him ever again, then she doesn't have to. Maybe you should realise she's a separate person." She headed towards the small set of stairs that lead to the upstairs, "Laters, Danni-Girl." Danni appeared at the top, looking confused.
"You're leaving?" She asked and Mels shot her a casual salute.
"I'll be back." And she headed out the door. Amy rolled her eyes, it was never good when Mels became passionate about anything. It tended to border on the obsessive. Danni headed back to her room and shut the door, leaning against it as she slid to the floor, crying silently because she just couldn't stop.
~0~0~0~
Amy stepped into the karaoke bar she and Mels used to frequent, the call of her good friend Jonathan had called to tell her Mels had a blonde girl practically tied to the machine, and that he wanted to shut up shop for the night. Mels and Danni were behind the microphone, Mels propping up Danni and vice versa.
"And I just can't look - it's killing me. And taking control." Danni sang as Mels grinned.
"Jealousy, turning saints into the sea. Turning through sick lullabies, Choking on your alibis." Mels continued, not as in tune as Danni but she did seem to be slightly more drunk than Danni was.
"But it's just the price I pay. Destiny is calling me. Open up my eager eyes. 'Cause I'm Mr Brightside!" She frowned as they sang together, Danni's eyes glazing over slightly.
"I never..." She continued, "I never... I never... I never..." Mels ignored her as she seemed to start to cry and Amy walked over, holding her hand out to Danni.
"Let's take you home." She told her friend gently and Danni nodded, the pair leaving Mels to rock out again on her own.
~0~0~0~
Amy approached Danni, who had been sat on the little patio that their small house allowed them, staring up at the sky. She'd been there for the best part of the afternoon and it was starting to get chilly, after all it was only Britain, even summer wasn't that hot. The sky was dulling to dusk, but Danni really didn't seem to be moving any time soon so she slipped the blanket around her shoulders, still not used to the blonde hair that she pulled out of it to make her more comfortable, and sat next to her.
"Hey." She whispered gently and Danni glanced at her, shooting her a sad smile before looking upwards again.
"Hi." She replied just as quietly. Amy looked up and searched the sky for something extraoridinary, but nothing was there.
"Are you okay?" She settled on and Danni shook her head.
"Not really." Danni replied with a sigh, "Today would be my birthday. Another one. I've been here almost two years."
"You never said!" Amy exclaimed, "We can still do something. I'll get Rory to take us out." Danni laughed lightly, shaking her head again.
"No, it's fine. I didn't want to do anything. I just..." She sniffed, "He's not coming, is he?" Amy realised what she'd been doing, something she had done herself. She was waiting in the garden for the Doctor to come back.
"I'm sorry." Amy told her.
"I've been back to Eleven." Danni told her, "The second time Jack's brought me back, it was from Eleven. He took one look at me and turned around, dropping me off at Jack's house. He didn't speak, he just stood there until Jack opened the door and I realised what he'd done. He really doesn't want me anymore."
"That's not true." Amy promised her, "He probably saw how upset you were and wanted you to be okay."
"Mels is wrong." She told Amy, "I don't want to get over the Doctor. I don't want there to be a time when he isn't mine." She paused, holding her breath and squeezing her eyes shut as she tried to force the tears away, "I don't want to go back and for him to hate me again."
"He doesn't hate you." Amy said firmly, "Did Mels tell you that?" Danni shrugged slightly.
"Maybe." She admitted, "I don't know. I've never noticed how loud my insecurities were until now. They're echoing around my head. Why did he ask me to marry him, then marry River?" Amy's eyebrows shot up.
"He asked you to marry him?" She asked and Danni nodded.
"He was trying to get me to do something." She explained vaguely, "But he didn't mean it." She laughed hollowly, "Obviously. I just... I don't understand. Doctors later than him have been lovely, but then he did that. He told me he loved her. Why would he do that, and then be so 'in love' with me? I don't get it." Amy pulled her in for a hug, planting a kiss on her head, "Was it worth it?" Amy frowned.
"Was what worth it?"
"Waiting in the garden?" Amy nodded, feeling the girl shake. She'd put on a bit of weight since she'd landed, having been almost skin and bones but she still felt so small.
"It was." She replied honestly.
"Then I'll just stay here."
~0~0~0~
Rory whistled to himself as he headed to the living room, starting slightly as he saw Danni staring at the blank television screen. Her eyes were closed, but her mouth was murmuring to herself.
"Danni?" He called and she slowly opened her eyes, shooting him an apologetic look.
"Sorry." She mouthed. He knew what she was doing, trying to fill her head with noise again, but it wasn't any good. He knew how much people could crave what they were addicted to, but it had to be stopped. He sat next to her.
"That bad?" He asked and she nodded.
"I haven't seen Mels in days." She replied. Mels was loud, and she kept her busy. That's what she needed, time to not sit and think about it. Mels offered her that, a chance to forget for a while. But it wasn't working, she wasn't moving past the need for the drumming, but it was a start. Hopefully, one day, she wouldn't remember that she needed it.
"Maybe that's a good thing." Rory started slowly and she frowned in confusion, "I think... I like you the way you are, and Mels is trying to turn you into her." She opened her mouth and he held his hands up in defence, "Not because of the Doctor, or anything. I like Mels, but you don't need to change just because he might have left you. Might have." He hastened to emphasis, "You shouldn't let him change you, or Mels. If you feel like you want to be different, then that's up to you. But you don't need to." She felt herself smile as he seemed to fluster himself up. She reached over and hugged him tightly.
"Oh, Rory the Roman." She started happily, "What would I do without you watching over us all?" She let him go and he stretched slightly, looking pleased with himself and she giggled happily, "Where's Amy, anyway?"
"I have no idea." Rory replied, "She shouted 'going out' and I haven't seen her since." Danni nodded.
"I suppose her and Mels really do have a lot in common." Amy burst into the room, Mels behind her, looking so excited.
"Look what I found outside the door!" She exclaimed, holding up a newspaper with the headline 'Leadworth's Crop Circle', the crop circle reading 'Doctor', "It's from tomorrow. I went to ask Mels if she planned on doing it, but she swears she wasn't. So it must be us." Rory walked over, looking at the article.
"That's the Miller's Farm." He pointed out and Amy nodded, grabbing his hand and pulling him to the door.
"We have to do it. Now."
"Brilliant!" Mels exclaimed, "I'm finally going to be able to meet him."
"No, you're not." Rory told her firmly, "You two stay here." And the Ponds left without room for argument. Mels crossed her arms, sulking at being stuck here while the Doctor was coming somewhere else. She had to stick to her word, she'd promised Danni he would be sorry for hurting her.
"Well." Danni drawled, "We need to follow them, don't we?" Mels looked over to see the sneaky smirk on the other girl's face and grinned back, "And to do that, we need a car."
"We don't have a car." Mels pointed out,
"There's a lovely Corvette down the street." Danni suggested, pushing herself up off the sofa, "But we'll need the keys." Mels smirked.
"I have a way."