The Time Lord's Hope [2] • Doctor Who

29 ~ The Poison Lipstick

"Oh! Oh!" River says shaking her head and sighing in relief. "Right, let's see then." She says as she runs her hands down her hips looking at her body. "Oo, it's all going on down there, isn't it?" She raises her hands to her hair and gasping. "The hair! Oh, the hair! It just doesn't stop, does it?" She laughs running over to a mirror as the four of us stand in shock.
"Look at that. Everything changes. Oh, but I love it. I love it! I'm all sort of mature." She spins to face us catching us off guard as we all look over at her not knowing what to suspect as she strikes a Mrs Robinson pose, with her foot resting on a toppled sofa to the right of her.
"Hello Benjamin!" She says in a seductive tone and the Doctor puts his hands over his eyes. She suddenly clenches her teeth together and gasps again.
"Teeth, teeth. The teeth! Oh look at them!" She announces running over to the Doctor and backing him into a table and he looks very uncomfortable. "Watch out that bow tie." She says before spinning to face us all. "Excuse me, you lot. I need to weigh myself." She says before running off, leaving us all shaky and gobsmacked. I sort of stumble over to the leaning against the Doctor as he, Amy and Rory lean against the table and we sit awkwardly trying to take in the past five minutes.
"That's Melody." Amy utters.
"That's River Song." I reply.
"Who's River Song." River/Melody appears back in the room and we each turn our heads to face her.
"Spoilers?" I say more as a question.
"Spoilers? What's spoilers?" She asks, before seeming to have a realisation. "Hang on, just something I have to check." She says before running off again.
"Is anybody else finding today just a bit difficult? I'm getting a sort of banging in my head." Rory says as we all stare off into space, blankly.
"I think that's Hitler in the cupboard." Amy replies.
"That's not helping." Rory retorts.
"This isn't the River Song we know yet. This is her right at the start. Doesn't even know her own name." The Doctor says as we walk away from the table and walk forwards.
"Oh, that's magnificent!" River exclaims as she appears in the doorway leaning against it. "I'm going to wear lots of jodhpurs."

We stand staring at her for a moment before her smile drops and she pulls out a gun.
"Well, now, enough of that. Down to business." She says and I smile a little, glancing at the Doctor, having seen him disarm the gun as Mels had regenerated.
"Oh, hello! I thought you were coming to our wedding." The Doctor says smiling too.
"Oh, I'll be going to Kenzie's wedding, it just won't have anything to do with you." She says walking over to us and Rory leans over to the Doctor and I, who were stood ahead of them.
"Doctor, what's she doing?" Rory asks.
"What she's programmed to." The Doctor replies.
"Where'd she get the gun?" Rory asks.
"Hello, Benjamin." I reply for him.
"You noticed." She smiled shooting blanks three times, causing Amy and Rory to react.
"Of course we noticed." He eludes she gives up and looks at the gun. "As soon as I knew you were coming, I tidied up a bit." He says walking towards her and she throws away the gun.
"I know you did." She replies.
"I know you know." He replies and she pulls out a banana and I smile again looking at the desk behind her seeing the gun in the fruit bowl.
"Goodness, is killing you going to take all day?" River asks.
"Why? Are you busy?" The Doctor asks.
"Oh, I'm not complaining." She says as she grabs a letter opener but The Doctor instantly sonicks it away.
"If you were in a hurry, you could have killed me in the cornfield." He replies and she looks offended.
"We'd only just met. I'm a psychopath, I'm not rude." She says turning away as the Doctor walks back over to us, and I smile up at as he reaches me, resting my hands around his back as he does the same and we look over in time to see River grabbing the fruit bowl gun and aiming to shoot at him, but finding it free of ammo, and I hold up the magazine that was hidden away in his back pocket and I smile at her, before smiling at him and reaching up and kissing his lips.
"I have a very smart boyfriend." I grin.
"I think you'll find that's fiancé now." He jokes and I laugh.
"Wait, you're not a psychopath. Why would she be a psychopath?" Amy asks walking up to us.
"Oh, mummy, mummy, pay attention. I was trained and conditioned for one purpose. I was born to kill the Doctor." River says.
"Demons Run, remember? This is what they were building. My bespoke psychopath." The Doctor says as they circle one another.
"I really am sorry, sweetie." Melody looks over to me. "I hate to have to kill my favourite Auntie's boyfriend."
"Only River Song gets to call me that." I say to her with crossed arms.
"And who's River Song?"
"An old friend of mine."
"Stupid name." She tuts walking towards the debris. "Oh, look at that!" She says looking out onto Berlin through the open window. "Berlin on the eve of war. A whole world about to tear itself apart. Now that's my kind of town. Mum, Dad, don't follow me. And, yes, that is a warning. Kenzie, I might make an exception as long as you don't get in my way."
"No warning for me then?" The Doctor asks.
"No need. The deed is done and so are you. I really am sorry Mackenzie." River says and my eyes turn to confusion and concern as the Doctor starts forward and starts to stagger, almost falling as Rory and Amy catch him and my eyes widen, as I rush forward over to him taking his face in my hands.
"Doctor, what's wrong?" Amy asks.
"What have you done?" I yell at the woman. "River!" I shout at her lack of response.
"Oh, River, River, River. If I didn't know any better sounds like she's more that a friend." She says monotonously.
"What have you done?" The Doctor stumbles out of Amy and Rory's grip and I grab a hold of him, falling over with him as he loses strength in his legs and I land underneath him.
"It was never going to be a gun for you, Doctor. The man of peace, who understands every kind of warfare, except, perhaps, the cruellest." River says sending me a look of what seemed to be remorse and I reached up, my stomach dropping as I touch my lips, that were still glossy from the lipstick Mels had given me as my gift and my eyes shoot up to the Doctor who touched his, and I felt my eyes brim with tears, instant regret and a feeling of stupidity flooding me.
"Kiss, kiss." She says before turning and jumping out of the window.