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The year was 1939. It was still seven years before I needed to clean the office. Things were becoming untidy, but I could still figure out where things were.
There was a disturbance at WNYAR, New York Action Radio. I had snooped around the building myself, but I sensed that if I took on whatever was in the building alone, I would be in trouble. So I retreated to the office.
I sent a message to the only man I knew who could help me investigate this disturbance. He had more experience than I had when it came to the threat that I believed was at WNYAR.
A man appeared at the door. But it wasn't the man I was expecting. I noticed the man had curly hair when he walked up to the window of my office. I had my hand by my gun in case the man tried to do anything to harm me.
The man knocked on the door. “Excuse me? I received a message from Melody Malone.”
“Who are you?” I said.
“I’m the Doctor.”
I released the grip of my gun. It was the man I was looking for. Except he didn't look like the man I was looking for. Well, not the one I knew well.
I walked to the door and let the Doctor in. This Doctor wore a green velvet jacket and grey trousers. I’m not sure if he was a Doctor before my Doctor or if he’s a Doctor after my Doctor. But he was a Doctor, and I needed help from one of them, no matter what he looked like at that moment.
“I see that you have a gun,” the Doctor said to me. “I hope you won't be using it. I was lucky the last time someone operated on me after I was shot. That was in the 1980s. Since it’s the 1930s, we might not be as lucky.”
I told the Doctor about my discovery at WNYAR.
“It sounds like there’s an Axos in the building,” the Doctor told me.
“An Axos?”
“A creature made up of many components. It likes to come to Earth to take energy from it and use it as fuel. I'm guessing what you saw was the Axos ship. I’m glad you asked for me. There's no way you can take on Axos by yourself.”
“Well, I wasn't looking for this version of you, Sweetie. I was looking for another version of you.”
“Another version of me?”
I hushed the Doctor. “Spoilers.”
“We need to drain the energy out of Axos. But we’ll need to be careful. There might be Axons walking around the studio. If they capture you, they’ll try to destroy you. You may end up turning into a pile of dust if you bump into one.”
The Doctor and I returned to WNYAR and started sneaking around the station. It was dark and eerie. Strange for a station that was supposed to put on a production of The Three Musketeers in a couple of days.
At first, the snooping was going along well. We didn't sense anything out of the ordinary. Other than the near total darkness, of course.
Then I felt tentacles wrapping around my legs. It was an Axon. I screamed. “Doctor, I’ve been caught!”
“Hold on, Melody!”
The Doctor pulled out his sonic screwdriver. This screwdriver looked a lot like the one the curly-haired one with the hat and the scarf had, but I knew the Doctor I was with was not that Doctor. He aimed the screwdriver at my legs just as the Axon was about to shock me. The Axon retreated from us.
“Melody, are you okay?”
“Yes.”
“Actually, you just gave me a brilliant idea.”
“How? That Axon almost killed me.”
“I know what we need to do to drain the power out of Axos.”
The Doctor started turning on every light in WNYAR. “Melody, turn on every electric thing you can find in the station. And hurry!”
I did what the Doctor told me to do, stepping over the weakening Axon in the process. I turned on tape reels, microphones, switchboards, and all sorts of lights
I assumed we were successful when I smelled the stench of Axos filling up WNYAR.
Since we were the only non-threatening things in WNYAR at the time, the Doctor and I had to clean up the ashes Axos and the Axons created after their energy was drained from their bodies. You can see why I don't want to touch a broom until 1946.
I do hope the person that was in charge of sending the Axos ashes didn't sneeze all over the place. There were enough ashes to fill a whole dumpster.
The Doctor and I talked outside of WNYAR after we were done. I didn't want him in the office after the Axos threat was over. If I had him in the office after what I did to him next, it would complicate things between us. Well, mostly him, because I’m not sure where this Doctor was in his timeline, but he’s not supposed to know who I am yet. Certainly he’s not the Doctor I’m supposed to meet when I die—he’s the only one I know is earlier than my Doctor.
“How did you know there was something not of this world in that radio station?” the Doctor asked me.
“I can't say, Sweetie.”
“How did you know to contact me? I’ve never met you before—or have I? You’ll have to forgive me. I’ve often forgotten who I was in this body. I do hope the problem’s resolved in my next incarnation. Wait. Charley, is that you?”
“I don't know who Charley is.”
“Charley is one of my companions. The last time I saw her was in Singapore. I don't know what happened to her. I do hope she survived. That is, if she’s not you.”
“I’m sorry, Doctor, but I’m not Charley. But she sounds like a lovely woman. I might look for her myself one day. But I haven't thanked you for saving my life yet.”
“I don’t need any compensation for what I do.”
I pulled out my tube of hallucinogenic lipstick and applied it to my lips.
“It’s what I’ve always done for years,” he continued.
I kissed the Doctor on his lips. The Doctor was stunned at my sudden kiss; he didn't respond. For a minute, I missed my Doctor and all the fun times I had with him. But I knew I would see him again someday.
As for this Doctor, I ran away from him as fast as I could after I kissed him. I hid in a place I knew the Doctor didn't know about in 1939 New York and watched him.
The Doctor blinked after we kissed. “Where am I?” He pulled out a stopwatch. “I’ve got to be going. I know I’m late for something somewhere. I don’t know what that is, exactly. I’m sure I’ll figure it out when I get back in the TARDIS.”
With this Doctor on his way back to his TARDIS without any memory of me, I returned to my office, ready to take on my next client, whoever my next client was.