Love Never Forgets

Chapter 12

The Doctor's mind searched for a way out, and deduced there was probably only one, and that was the way he had come through. But now that the corridor was blocked by the soldiers, he couldn't get out. And from the information Rory had given him, only Madame Kovarian could put back River's memories. He decided to try to find Kovarian as soon as possible as the door he had locked wouldn't hold forever. Eventually, the soldiers would knock it down and then he would been in real trouble.
As he checked his surroundings, he came to the fact that he was in another corridor. Following it, he noticed other doors. He then realized that finding his way out again wouldn't be that easy. How big was the place? It could go on for miles and miles until it came to a stop. If it ever did.
The Doctor picked a random door and opened it. Inside was a room full of books. He stepped inside. Shelves reaching to the ceiling full of books met his eyes. They were all about some sort of biology. Mostly alien biology, but there was plenty of books about humans too. Why the Silence had so many books about biology, the Doctor did not now. He picked one out and opened it. A note fell out, and he picked it up. "Species has most similar structure to time lords. Human pressure point: heart, left side of the body." it said. The Doctor was disgusted, for he know understood why the Silence had these books. They had tried to work out which way was the most effective to kill a time lord. He felt anger. This wasn't only because the fact that they wanted him dead, it was to kill his wife and daughter too.
He closed the book again and put it back in the shelf. He decided to take mental contact with his daughter to inform her about the information he had gotten.
"Melody?" he called, searching for a presence. It took a while before she answered.
"What's going on? Where are you?" she asked, sounding a bit worried.
"The Silence knows I'm here, and if they find me they'll shoot to kill."
"I'll be right there."
"No, you need to take care of the others. If I need information, you could just search the TARDIS data."
He could imagine a pout forming on his daughter's face. "Okay. Just stay safe." Melody answered worryingly.
"I promise." the Doctor answered as comfortingly as possible. He knew that his daughter didn't like the idea of him being down there all by himself, but he couldn't bear it if he lost her too.
A distant call was heard, and the Doctor understood the soldiers had gotten through the door he had locked. On his right was another door, and he decided to go through it. On the other side was a room filled with books, similar to the one he had just been in. After the room was another corridor.
'They must love corridors here' the Doctor silently thought to himself. He ran around for a while, trying to find Madame Kovarian but with no luck. He instead found two more computer rooms, another room filled with books, something which looked a little bit like a cafeteria, and more corridors. There were no soldiers in sight, which was good for the Doctor, but a bit suspicious too.
"I haven't seen any soldiers, but I should've. Can you scan the area for life signs?"
"I'm on it."
It seemed to take a while for Melody to get the information, because she didn't answer him in a long time. The Doctor had started to worry about her when she finally showed up again.
"It has some kind of security barriers, I can't hack into it. It must be really advanced." The Doctor started to wonder what could be so secure even the TARDIS couldn't hack her way in to it.
"Thank you for checking."
"It's okay." Melody answered, and then waited a few moments before continuing.
"I remember when mum was here too." Her words were gentle, but they still brought the same old pain back. The Doctor closed his eyes, taking his time to adjust to the grief welling up inside of his chest.
"Me too." he answered.
"It feels like she's still there, like there is a presence of her in my mind." Melody went on. "It got stronger when we arrived here. Maybe it's because we're so close to her." The Doctor considered the thing. He had felt it too, like she was still there. But he had stuffed it away, thinking it was only hope. Hope for that she'd come back. "I've felt it too." he answered after a little while.
"I miss her. Maybe that's it. I wish she could be here, and that's why I have this feeling. Maybe I'm just being stupid." The Doctor could hear that his daughter, even though she told him the opposite, had a strong hope that she wouldn't let go. A thought of what she could have. He had it too. He knew that if this worked out alright, they could be a family at last.
"But I still can't shake off that feeling. The feeling of her. That she is somehow still there. It's like..." Melody struggled to find the words.
"It feels like she never left," she finished. The Doctor wanted to tell her that he felt it too, and that maybe she would come back if they just worked hard enough for it to happen. But he was cut off by someone else. Cut off by the most beautiful voice in the universe, the voice he'd missed so much. River spoke gently and lovingly, longing filling her voice.
"Perhaps I never did."