CHAPTER 80

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JOURNEY'S AFTERMATH

"I just can't believe that Amaya's still on the loose despite everything that's happened lately. I mean Rose finally managed to capture and imprison every last one of those Brethren posers and even made sure that Erebus can't get out of the Void again anytime soon. And yet Old Crag Face still managed to slip through her fingers again in the end somehow. You don't think she made some kind of deal with that Trickster bloke do you? It's the only way that I can explain how she always seems to get away with everything all of the time," Donna said with a frown to the other Wolves as they traveled through the Vortex in her TARDIS.

"Naw, she's just incredibly lucky is all. It's a special power that only the worst universal scumbags have in my experience. I often wonder if they have to win some kind of bottom feeder contest in order to get it or something. From what I hear of him, the Trickster isn't too much of a problem these days anyway. He's actually gone soft over a girl if you can believe it," Dorothy said with a smirk.

"I can't believe any of that story honestly. Razor Teeth actually has a girlfriend? It really is true what they say isn't it? There actually is someone for everyone apparently," Donna said with a wry grin.*

"I'd like to think so," Lilith said more to herself than anyone else.

"And what's that supposed to mean?" Donna asked in surprise.

"It's nothing, Mother Donna," Lilith said dismissively with a sad smile.

"Yeah, you're right. It is nothing. There's nothing wrong with you whatsoever, Lilith, and don't you forget it. Anyone would be extremely lucky to wind up with you as a girlfriend. If even a giant spider lady with really bad breath can wind up stealing my fiancé away from me on our wedding day than anyone can find themselves a perfect match, got it? Just remember if anyone ever has a problem with you then you just send them over to me, and I'll soon straighten out their attitude for them," Donna said as she smiled at Lilith proudly.

"Yeah, I just bet you would," Dorothy said with a chuckle as she instantly earned herself a dirty look from Donna.

Lilith smiled at Donna gratefully as she said, "Thank you, Mother Donna, but not everyone will be able to see me as you do. As much as I know that you love me, even you must acknowledge that I'm not . . . I'm not truly one of you. We all know that. I've done many things in my past that I now regret that anyone would have a hard time looking over once they found out about them and that's only made worse by the fact that this humanoid form that I wear now isn't truly my own. No one would love my true self except for another Carrionite I'm afraid."

"That's not true, Lilith. I love you," Emmy quickly said as she put an encouraging hand on her shoulder.

"Yes, because we're family. No one would or even could love me in a romantic sense however. Not once they found out the truth about me. I'll never truly fit in or belong anywhere because I'll always be stuck between two worlds, yours and that of my adopted people, and I'll never truly belong to either one. Nothing you can say or do will ever change that," Lilith said in an emotional voice.

"You're wrong. You belong in my world, Lilith, and you always will . . . even if you are more than a bit annoying at times," Emmy said as she hugged her.

"That goes double for me, Lilith. You're my daughter. That automatically means that you always have a place to call home and it will never matter to me what you've done or what you look like. You'll always have a place to belong as long as I'm around. Understand?" Calliope said in a voice filled with love as she quickly joined Emmy and Lilith in a group hug.

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said anything I know. I didn't mean to upset you or sound as if I'm not grateful to have all of you in my life because I always am each and every day. It suddenly hit me just now though that I've never had a real romantic relationship with anyone. Perhaps it's because I tended to use my charms to lure men to their doom in times gone by," Lilith said in a voice filled with regret.

"That's all over with now and from what I can see you were being completely manipulated by your mothers back then anyway so it wasn't really your fault," Donna protested.

"I know you like to believe that, Mother Donna, but believing a thing doesn't necessarily make it so," Lilith said.

"It's so if I say it's so, Witch Girl," Donna protested with a defiant look on her face.

"Not even you can change the nature of reality just by being cross with it, Mother Donna," Lilith said with a fond smile.

"Just you watch me," Donna said in a furious voice.

"You know I can actually see Donna screaming at and browbeating reality into submission until it finally gives up and just goes along with her," Ileana said with a chuckle.

"Well, it certainly worked with the Doctor," Michelle quipped.

"I'm sure poor Theta never had a chance from the moment that he first met you," Emmy agreed as she began to laugh.

"Yeah, yeah, laugh it up, all of you. Just remember that I'm keeping track of each and every thing that someone says about me. I'll remember all of this," Donna said in a threatening tone.

"You know you remind me a lot of someone that I used to know on Gallifrey back in the old days. You both have that same fiery attitude and take no prisoners charm about you. You aren't related to a woman named Cliodna Brightshore by any chance are you?" The Corsair said with an evil smile.

Donna immediately glared at the Time Lady as she said in an extremely indignant tone, "No, I'm not related to Amy flipping Pond! How could you even suggest such a thing anyway, Pirate Girl? She and I have absolutely nothing in common. I mean do I look like I have stilts for legs or wear skirts that are just a little bit too short to you?"

"You know that might explain a lot actually. Maybe you're secretly Amy's long lost daughter or maybe . . . it's the other way around," Ileana teased her.

"Oi! Watch it, Lana!" Donna said with a threatening look on her face.

"So they always do this do they? It's a wonder that you even have a team left, and Donna hasn't killed every last one of them by now," Clara's echo said to Martha with a smirk.

"To be honest, Kate Stewart was more than a bit concerned that that might actually happen at the start of the Bad Wolf program. Donna isn't exactly well known for her people skills," Martha said with a grin.

"You know if you lot don't stop poking fun at me it just might happen yet one of these days. You never can tell," Donna said with a sinister smile.

"All of this makes me so glad that I decided not to join you. I honestly don't think my nerves could stand the constant pressure," Clara's echo said with a giggle.

"Oh, Donna's bark is definitely worse than her bite. You don't have to worry about her," Calliope reassured her in a disappointed tone that made the echo instantly smile at her in appreciation.

"Everyone knows that, Callie. That's not it at all. It's just that she took me up on my offer to travel with me first," The Corsair said proudly.

"So you're not staying either?" Emmy asked in an almost hopeful tone that made Calliope wonder if she was afraid that Nabu might tell more of her secrets to the others if she stayed any longer.

It was Martha that answered however as she said, "She is and she isn't. She won't be a part of your particular group but she and Clara will be a part of our brand new Bad Wolves group. This group has been so successful that the higher ups in Geneva have decided to form a back-up group to handle all of those cases that you don't always have time to look into. As it turns out there are so many weird things happening out there these days that not even one group of Wolves are enough to handle them all anymore."

The Wolves all looked at her in surprise even as Ileana said in a snarky tone, "Are you really sure that the universe can survive two sets of us? We might cause an awesomeness implosion or something."

The Corsair laughed and pointedly ignored her as she said proudly, "That's right. I'm actually going to be the leader of my own team. I don't think that I'll call them by the same name though. I thought I might call them something much more colorful instead like The Marauders. I like that actually. The Corsair and her merry band of Marauders. It has a nice ring to it."

"Actually I think you'll find that I'm going to be the dominant one on this group, Nabu, so maybe you should just change that to Clara and her merry Marauders instead. Makes me sound like Robin Hood," Clara's echo said with a wry grin.

"Look. Let's get this straight right from the start. I like you but you are most definitely not in charge, Clara. I'll be the one calling all of the shots," The Corsair protested.

"You poor, deluded woman," Dorothy said under her breath because she knew better after having spent her entire adult life with the original Clara as her sister.

No version of Clara Oswald would ever be in a subordinate position in any reality.

"You two pipe down over there while I talk about something really important. Did you or did you not just compare me to a dog, Gran?" Donna said in a fake angry tone.

"Oh, hush, Donna. That's not what I meant at all and you know it," Calliope said as she rolled her eyes at her.

Every one of the occupants of the Console Room actually held their breath for a moment until Donna finally laughed and said, "You know you're probably one of the few people that I'd ever let get away with talking to me like that."

"Thank you, sweetheart," Calliope said with a warm smile.

"You just stood up to Donna Noble and lived to tell about it. You're definitely my hero now, Calliope," Michelle said not entirely joking.

Dorothy quickly snorted however as she said, "That's nothing. Just try standing up to my Mum sometime when she's really got a bee in her bonnet. Now that's scary."

"Actually I used to order her about when she was a little girl so I think I can handle her," Calliope said with a dismissive wave of her hand.

"So not even the Bad Wolf can freak you out, huh? Can you teach me your secret, oh Wise One?" Ileana joked.

"I'm not sure but I think part of it might be not making constant stupid wisecracks, Lana," Donna chastised her.

"Nope. That's never going to happen, Donna. I'm not about to give that up. How else would I stand out from all of the rest of you now that I'm human again? I'm the vampire hunter with an attitude now. That's my new thing. Besides, it's all a part of my natural charm. Without that, I'd just be another very pretty face instead," Ileana joked.

"So you're still going to be in the family business then?" Michelle asked in a slightly worried voice.

"And why not? Rose assured me that I'm still just as tough as ever, and I've fought vampires for longer than most of you have been alive. I think I'll be just fine," Ileana quickly reassured her as she realized that she was concerned about her.

"That still remains to be seen I'm afraid. You may well find yourself wishing that you were still undead before this day is over," A familiar voice suddenly said over the TARDIS console.

Donna instantly became alarmed now but didn't let it show in her voice as she said in a nonchalant tone, "Well, I didn't know that we had an audience. Did we put on a good show for you, Crag Face?"

Amaya laughed as she said, "You weren't half as entertaining as your daughter I'm afraid. I find all of her attempts at communication extremely amusing."

Donna's heart immediately stopped as all of her worst fears seemed to suddenly be coming true all at once.

"What have you done to her?" Donna asked in a cold voice.

"Why nothing at all, dear. What do you take me for? Some kind of monster? Can I help it if the poor impressionable girl is just a bit too nervous around strangers?" Amaya asked in a jubilant tone.

"What did you do?" Donna asked again in a voice filled with rage.

Could this be it? She couldn't help but wonder to herself if this was the event that made Lauren start to stutter in the future. What had that loon done to her child to have such a permanent and lasting effect on her?

"And spoil the surprise? I thought surely you as a friend of River Song's would know the value of spoilers. You'll just have to come to your grandfather's house and see for yourself won't you? You know you really should have taken her with you instead of letting a human take care of her. Humans rarely put up a good fight in my experience. I have yet to meet one that could actually give me a real challenge," Amaya said in a hard tone.

Now it was Calliope's turn to have her blood run cold because the human that Amaya was referring to was her sister Crystal. She had recently taken to babysitting Lauren every time that Donna had to go on a mission for the Wolves and Lee wasn't available. Calliope had actively encouraged this because Lauren seemed to be the only one in the family other than Calliope herself that Crystal felt comfortable around despite the fact that she was a baby who could speak to her telepathically.

At the time, Calliope thought it was probably the only way that Crystal, who felt even more out of place in her new life than Lilith did, would ever be able to truly start over again. She seemed to be completely miserable ever since she had taken her from her own Earth and only the baby had ever been able to make her smile.

Now she was starting to deeply regret that decision. It had never once occurred to her that Crystal would ever be the target of any of the Wolves' enemies because no one even knew that she existed. She knew if anything had happened to her that she would always blame herself for being so monumentally naïve.

"What did you do to my sister?" Calliope said in a voice that was so filled with cold fury that it instantly made Donna shudder.

It was almost as if she had suddenly become a completely different person in the blink of an eye. She was no longer the kind and loving woman who looked deceptively like her sweet and innocent little sister at first glance instead of her grandmother. Now Donna could see a powerful and indomitable force of will that could easily send entire armies scurrying in fear with a single look in those impossibly ancient eyes of hers.

So that was where the Doctor got it from?

"Sister? So she was actually telling the truth about that? I never would have guessed it myself. She's nothing like you at all you know. She's done nothing but endlessly whine about wanting to go home the entire time that I've been here. You'd think that she'd never been under a mind probe before," Amaya said with an evil cackle.

"Why would you do that to her? She's completely innocent! She hasn't done anything to you!" Calliope shouted in a tone that made even Ileana jump.

"She was here when I arrived. That was all the reason that I needed. I thought that she might possibly have some vital information that I could use against you. You didn't really think that I was about to let you go after you helped Rose to defeat me did you? You're all far too dangerous for me to allow you to continue to remain unchecked and uncontrolled any longer. It turned out that her mind was just as empty as any human's though unfortunately so she was really no help at all. Even the child gave me more information than that one," Amaya said in an uncaring voice.

"You put my daughter under the mind probe?" Donna said in a voice that now challenged Calliope in its fury.

Amaya actually sounded insulted as she said, "And there you go again with the baseless slanders, Donna. No, I didn't put a baby under the mind probe. Even I have some standards. No, little Lauren was all too eager to talk once she saw Calliope's sister in pain. The two of them seem to be very close. Did you know that? Fortunately for me and dear little Crystal, she was far more helpful to me. That's why I finally just contacted you. I'm certain that either you or Calliope will be more than willing to help me out in exchange for your loved ones' safety. Am I wrong?"

"What is it that you could be looking for that could possibly be worth tormenting two innocent people over?" Donna said in a disgusted voice.

Amaya now emitted a long drawn out sigh as she said, "What else am I ever looking for, Donna Noble? I need a way to free my son of course. That's well worth any cost that has to be paid in my opinion."

"You're doing all of this for nothing then, Yak Face, because I don't know any way to free him and Lauren certainly doesn't," Donna said in an anguished tone.

"Love the colorful nicknames, Donna. Keep them coming. It's most amusing. Actually that's where you're wrong. You see Lauren told me all about the Carrionite that travels with you, the one called Lilith, and her ability to manipulate reality. I want the witch in exchange for my two honored guests, Donna. Bring her to me within the next hour or I'll kill the human and raise your child as my own," Amaya threatened in a merciless tone.

"If you touch either one of them, I'll spread your atoms across all of time and space. Do you hear me?!" Calliope hissed in a voice filled with pure venom.

Even Emmy looked at her in shock now because she had never seen her mother act like this before. It only served to underscore to her just how deep a bond that she had with her sister because she had never threatened to kill anyone in her presence. She was far too gentle a soul.

"Message understood loud and clear, Eliza," Amaya said in a mocking tone as she used Crystal's nickname for Calliope.

"This is Lilith. I'll be there, Amaya. Just don't bother them anymore," Lilith pleaded as she finally spoke into the console.

"Don't worry. I won't as long as you come within the hour. I'm sure that you and I are about to become very well acquainted with one another, Carrionite, if I'm not mistaken," Amaya said in a triumphant tone before signing off.

Donna now switched off the speaker as she said, "Lilith, you don't have to do this. We'll find some other way to save them. I don't trust Crag Face. She's liable to keep all three of you prisoner instead of keeping her word."

"I know that but there's really no other choice is there? I can't let anything happen to either one of them if I can possibly help prevent it. Besides they're both innocent victims and I'm . . . not. Who better to sacrifice themselves in their place?" Lilith said in a determined voice.

Now Calliope turned those cold, angry eyes of hers towards Lilith and even made the Carrionite step backward in fear as she said to her, "Now you listen to me, Lilith Lungbarrow. You are not sacrificing yourself for anyone. Do you understand that? I'm not losing anyone today. No one! You're all my family and I value all of you regardless of whether you're 'innocent' or not. Do I make myself clear?"

"Y – Yes, Mother," Lilith said in a nervous voice.

"Okay. I'm officially more afraid of her than my mother now," Dorothy whispered to Michelle who nodded.

"Yeah, plus she easily beats Donna any day and here I thought she was the nice one of the group," Michelle whispered back with a shudder as Emmy gave her an 'I told you so' look.

Almost as if she had heard them, Calliope's voice and demeanor suddenly became normal once more as she said to Lilith in a far kinder tone, "Good. I love you, Lilith."

"I love you too," Lilith said as she hugged her.

Donna smiled as she said, "Now that that's been settled and Gran isn't outDoctoring the Doctor for the moment let's go rescue the others and finally put Crag Face out of business for good."

Now long afterwards Donna's TARDIS finally arrived at her grandfather's house. Donna immediately stormed out of it first in a near panic to discover Amaya standing in the kitchen holding her daughter in her arms with an immense smirk on her face.

"You should be proud of her, Donna. She's such a delightful little girl and so very brave too. You know I always wished that I could have had a daughter too as well as a son," Amaya said as she lightly stroked the visibly frightened child's hair.

Donna had to restrain herself from punching her right then and there as she said in a terse tone, "Enough of the small talk, Gargoyle Girl. Give me back my daughter."

"No, that lacks a certain something I think. I like Yak or Crag Face better actually. Stick with one of those," Amaya taunted her.

"Listen. I didn't come here to get a critique from you on how I should insult people. Give her back!" Donna demanded.

"Uh, uh, uh! Not until I see the Carrionite first. We had a deal, remember?" Amaya said as her smug, self-assured smile actually widened even more somehow.

That was when Lilith suddenly appeared behind Amaya and actually startled her as she tapped her on the back and said, "Yes? You wanted to see me?"

Good one, Lil. Lauren said telepathically as she laughed at the way that Amaya instantly jumped and her eyes widened in alarm.

Donna immediately let out a sigh of relief as soon as she realized that Lauren wasn't stuttering. It still hadn't happened yet thankfully.

Maybe she even stood a chance of preventing it from happening altogether if she kept her guard up. Yeah, it might alter history but just how much of a change would it really make to the future if Lauren stuttered or not anyway? Surely that really didn't matter too horribly much, did it?

It was Lilith's turn to smile in triumph now as she saw how Amaya had been taken completely by surprise thanks to her.

"Point taken, Carrionite. You could have easily taken me completely by surprise and possibly even killed me if you had wanted to just then. And yet you didn't? Why? Was it because I was holding the child or is it something else I wonder?" Amaya pondered out loud.

"I've been responsible for far too much death in my time. It's not something that I take lightly anymore," Lilith said.

Amaya laughed as she said, "A Carrionite with a conscience?! Every time I think I've seen everything the universe just seems to delight in proving me wrong. Who are you, Lilith? Lauren wouldn't tell me no matter how much that I tried to persuade her. That makes me think that there's far more to you than meets the eye because I've never seen any of your race refuse to kill before especially an enemy."

"It doesn't matter who I am. All that matters is whether I'll help you or not, and I definitely won't if I don't see Crystal right away. What have you done with her?" Lilith demanded.

"I'd like to know the answer to that myself and I'd better like what I hear," Calliope said as she quickly emerged from the TARDIS and pointed a staser straight at the renegade Time Lady's chest.

"Gran?" Donna said in a shocked voice as she once again saw the normally peaceful Calliope acting completely out of character.

"You're very protective of her. That's the one constant motivating force in your life isn't it, Calliope? Family. You seem to share that in common with Arkytior in fact. Why does dear little Crystal call you Eliza anyway? Was that your original name?" Amaya asked in a curious voice.

"It doesn't really matter. That person is dead now. She died a very long time ago along with every other trace of who I used to be. More's the pity for you because she never would have even thought about pointing a gun at anyone," Calliope said in a hard voice.

Amaya smiled instead of being afraid however as she said, "And that's why you prize her so much isn't it? She reminds you of who you were. She's the last link to your old life isn't she? It would be such a shame if something happened to her wouldn't it?"

Suddenly Amaya cried out in surprise as a crossbow bolt pinned part of her robe to the kitchen wall behind her without even so much as leaving a scratch on her. She immediately turned her head in the direction that it had come from to see Ileana standing there still holding the crossbow with a defiant look in her eyes.

"You'd better hope that it doesn't because next time that I fire this bow I won't miss. I've trained myself to become an expert archer over the last hundred years so you can believe me when I say I'll have both of your hearts and your brain stem filled with holes before you can even blink. Calliope is like family to me so no one messes with any of her people on my watch," Ileana threatened.

Michelle immediately smiled at her as she said, "You've definitely earned the last name Van Helsing alright."

"I don't care what her name is. If she fires a crossbow bolt anywhere in the direction of my daughter again, I'll send her on a special one way trip back home to Transylvania with my fist," Donna said in an angry voice.

"I know exactly what I'm doing. I've used it for centuries against people who could literally outrun the wind, Donna. It never would have even come close to her I promise," Ileana protested.

"I believe her, Donna Noble. In fact it seems my initial opinion of all of you was entirely correct. You're far too dangerous for me to allow you to continue to operate freely, and I don't even want to think about how much trouble that two groups of you might someday become. Arkytior has few too many powerful allies as it is. After today though, she will have just a few less I think," Amaya said in an emotionless voice.

"Harm any of them in the slightest and I'll never help you, Amaya," Lilith warned.

Amaya smiled smugly once more as she said, "Actually, my dear, you're not really going to have much of a choice in the matter. You see as soon as you came in this room I had already won. It proved to be far easier than I had ever hoped that it would be too. I only needed to use the child as bait to ensure that you would come and you came straight into my web without even blinking."

"Funny you should say that. You know you actually do remind me of a certain spider lady that I knew once come to think of it," Donna muttered.

"Unlike the Empress of the Racnoss however, I've already succeeded in my plans," Amaya said confidently.

"Yeah, you keep saying that, Pizza Face, but I'm not seeing any results so far. You just keep standing there staring at us instead," Donna challenged her.

"No, I don't like that one either. The original was far better. As for whether I've won or not, let me show you. Crystal, come in here," Amaya commanded.

Suddenly Crystal entered the kitchen with a blank, lifeless look in her eyes and slowly moved towards Amaya in a robotic manner before she suddenly stopped in front of her. Her face never betrayed even a hint of emotion as she stood before Amaya awaiting further orders.

"What have you done to her, you lying scumbag? You said that she was okay," Dorothy said as she began to glow with power.

"And she is. She's perfectly fine except for the fact that her will is no longer her own. She belongs to me now thanks to the completely odorless and invisible mind controlling gas I created that I flooded this entire room with just moments before your arrival . . . and soon so will the rest of you. The full effects of the gas should begin to be felt any moment now and once they do you'll all become the start of my brand new Brethren who will do anything that I ask you to without hesitation including kill," Amaya said with an evil cackle.

Then she turned to look at a horrified Lilith as she added, "Or use your power to free Erebus. You see I knew that you'd never willingly help me no matter what, Carrionite, so I just eliminated the middleman and completely took the choice right out of your hands."

"No, I won't be used by you again. Not again," The Corsair said in a voice filled with anguish.

"You have little choice in the matter I'm afraid, Nabu. It seems that your destiny is to always wind up being my servant sooner or later isn't it?" Amaya said with a heartless laugh.

"Wait a minute though. What's protecting you from the gas though? Why aren't you being affected?" Donna asked as she gave Lauren a quick look filled with meaning.

"As if I'd ever tell you that so that you could use it against me. Nice try, Donna, but I'm far from being a fool. Nothing can stop it now. Don't you see that? Within moments, you will all be mine to do with however I please for the rest of your lives," Amaya said in triumph.

"Oh, I see alright. I see that that means that something is keeping you from being affected by the gas. It's something that you probably used very recently too," Donna said as she crossed her fingers behind her back and fervently hoped that she had guessed correctly about the nature of Amaya's immunity to the gas as she could already feel her control of her mind starting to rapidly fade away.

She could only hope that Lauren had understood what she had secretly been trying to tell her. She was still looking at her with eyes filled with hope when the last vestiges of her free will were completely worn away at last.

Mum? Lauren said telepathically in a worried voice but Donna could no longer respond to her now.

She was completely under Amaya's control now along with all of the other Wolves.

"She can't hear you anymore, dear. She's mine now. Don't worry though. I'll take care of you from now on. I'll be your new mother and you'll never want for anything," Amaya said in a surprisingly kind voice.

I don't want a new mother. Let her go. Release them right now! Lauren shouted.

"That's never going to happen I'm afraid. The gas is specifically designed to cause anyone who breathes it to automatically become the mindless puppet of whomever they first see when the gas takes its full effect on them. That person becomes imprinted on their mind as their new master forever and only that person can release them from the gas. So you see there's truly nothing that you can do now," Amaya said in an almost sympathetic tone.

You just watch me. Lauren replied defiantly as she sounded exactly like her mother in that moment.

Then she turned to look at Donna and closed her eyes as she poured all of her willpower into trying to break through to her somehow.

Mum, help me! Lauren pleaded.

"That's all that I needed to hear, sweetie," Donna said with a satisfied smile as she suddenly regained full control of herself and punched Amaya right in the jaw as hard as she could.

"What?" Amaya said in confusion as she desperately tried to fight off Donna's surprise attack.

Then she looked at Lauren in horror as she finally figured out Donna's plan just one moment too late. It was only then that she realized that she had just made a huge mistake. Just before she had released the gas she had sprayed herself with the antidote so that she wouldn't be affected as well. Naturally some of it must have also accidentally been sprayed on Lauren as well since she had been holding her at the time . . . and Lauren was the last person that Donna was looking at as the gas finally overcame her.

She had never even considered that the child herself could be used against her.

"You truly are the DoctorDonna aren't you? You're just as good at turning people into tools to fight your battles with as he is including your own daughter," Amaya said to Donna in disgust.

Donna hesitated a moment and became filled with guilt as she said, "No, it wasn't like that."

"Wasn't it? Is that guilt that I hear in your voice, Donna Noble? That's because you secretly know that I'm right, don't you? Unfortunately for you that's not going to be the only thing that you're about to feel guilty about here today. Not by a long shot," Amaya said in a voice filled with raw, seething hatred.

Then she turned to look at Lauren with that same hatred on full display as she said, "You betrayed me and now you'll learn the price for that betrayal as I kill your mother right in front of you. Just remember this, Lauren. I would have let her live if not for you."

"No! N – No! Lauren screamed in horror as Amaya suddenly took advantage of Donna's momentary hesitation to suddenly grab the staser that Calliope had been still holding out of her hand and shoot her in the chest with it.

Donna looked at Lauren one last time with the terrible knowledge that she had indirectly caused her stuttering herself being seared into her mind just before everything went completely black. She immediately hit the ground now with a sickening sound that reverberated throughout the entire room and instantly caused Lauren to dissolve into tears.

M – Mum. M – Mum! Lauren cried as she struggled to call out to her in vain because Donna would not answer.

"I . . . I'm sorry," Amaya said as her anger finally cooled down and she could fully see the angst on the little girl's face.

To her surprise, she found herself actually meaning that. She could care less about Donna of course but it actually hurt her to see Lauren so upset because of what she had done to her mother.

That wasn't about to stop her from going even further though of course.

"Not yet but you will be," Lilith said as she suddenly regained control of herself and quickly spoke Amaya's true name out loud.

Amaya screamed in agony as the Carrionite began rapidly shutting down both of her hearts at once while rapidly taking the completely devastated Lauren out of her arms before she could drop her. Amaya quickly fell to her knees while the life rapidly fled from her body as she wordlessly asked Lilith how she had managed to free herself.

"How? Is that what you're asking? Well, it seems that your gas only had a temporary effect on me because I'm a Carrionite. Apparently my people have a natural born resistance to it so your plan never would have worked after all. It's ironic isn't it? The very fact that I am different from the others just helped me to beat you, and there I was wishing that I was just like they are just a few minutes ago. If I had been, you would have won today. Thank you, Amaya. I actually owe you one. I'll never feel like being different from my family and friends is a bad thing ever again now," Lilith said as Amaya finally hit the floor face first and lay on the ground in a lifeless heap.

D – Don't! Don't kill her! Y – You're better than that now! Lauren pleaded.

Lilith smiled and kissed Lauren's forehead as she said, "Yes, I am. That's why she's only been knocked out cold instead. I'm not that different from the others, Lauren. Not anymore. I promise."

I - I should hate her for killing Mum but I don't want to be responsible for any more deaths. Lauren replied in a mental voice filled with pain.

"You aren't responsible for any deaths period, baby. This was all on me. Amaya was right. This is my fault. All of it," Donna said in a weak voice as she slowly regained consciousness.

Mum! Lauren immediately screamed with joy.

"Mother Donna, don't be so hard on yourself. You were doing the only thing that you could at the time. You couldn't let Amaya win or we'd have become her mindless slaves forever. Or so we all thought anyway. I wish I had known that I would be able to overcome it. I could have saved both you and Lauren a lot of trouble," Lilith said with regret.

"Oi! Don't start with the guilt trip already now that you're finally feeling better about yourself. I heard that little speech of yours at the end there and it's all true, Witch Girl. Don't ever doubt that again," Donna said as she quickly changed the subject.

M – Mum, it w – wasn't your fault. I – I wanted to help and I knew what I was doing. Lauren replied as she saw that Donna was the one who was really feeling guilty.

"What are you talking about? You're only a baby even if you are a super intelligent one. You can't possibly know what you're doing yet. I used you and put you in danger because of it, Lauren. I didn't mean to but I did it anyway. It's my fault that you start stuttering now. It was always my fault. I'm a horrible . . ." Donna said with tears rolling down her cheeks.

"No, you're not! You're the best mother anyone could possible ask for and definitely a lot better than Amaya would have been," The adult Lauren said as she suddenly appeared next to her wearing a Vortex Manipulator.

She then immediately took Donna away with her to a part of the house that was out of earshot of her younger self so that she couldn't hear the rest of what she had to say.

"How can you say that? How can you even look at me period after what I did?" Donna said in a voice filled with pain.

"Lilith's right. You did the only thing that you could to free yourself so that Amaya didn't wind up with an all new Brethren again. I knew exactly what I was doing when I tried to help you and just how dangerous that it could be. Being in danger wasn't what made me stutter, Mum. It's the thought that I killed you. I blamed myself for Amaya shooting you and the trauma from that is what caused me to stutter. It was that and nothing else I promise. I was prepared to sacrifice myself but not you, Mum. I could have never forgiven myself if that had happened. I just needed you to know that. You didn't do anything wrong and neither did I. I was watching the whole thing and I can see that now. It was all Amaya's fault not ours," Lauren said in a voice filled with conviction.

Donna began to smile now as she suddenly realized, "Lauren, you're not stuttering."

Lauren looked at her in surprise for a moment and then suddenly laughed as she said, "I guess I finally forgave myself. Maybe you should try that too sometime, Mum."

"I'll work on it," Donna said with a smile as she hugged her.

"Please do because you'll just make the younger me feel even more guilty if you don't," Lauren admitted.

Donna nodded as she said in a reassuring tone, "Don't worry. I hear you. If there's anything that I don't want is to make my daughter into an emotional basket case when she grows up. I already know what that feels like."

"Somehow I don't think that you have to worry about it. Oops! Spoilers!" Lauren said as she winked at her.

"Oh, please don't tell me that it turns out that we actually are related to Amy somehow," Donna said with a groan.

Lauren looked at her oddly for a moment as she said, "No, but River was just like an aunt to me growing up if that counts. What's wrong with Amy anyway? I like her."

"So do I. Don't get me wrong. I think she's a good person but she's also just a bit too loud at times, way too pushy, and kind of overbearing, isn't she? I mean who would want to be related to someone like that, eh?" Donna said with a chuckle.

"Yeah, I can't even imagine what that's like," Lauren said with a mischievous smile.

Donna gave her a suspicious look as she said, "Are you trying to insinuate something there?"

"Me? Never. Believe me, Mum. I love you exactly the way that you are," Lauren said as she kissed her cheek.

Donna smiled and said, "Yeah, don't think that I don't know what you're up to but I'll let it slide. Fortunately for you, I'll let you get away with anything too just like your Gran. Speaking of her, I'm so glad that she didn't have that staser set on kill. I thought for sure that she would the way that she was acting."

Lauren shook her head as she said, "No, she was just angry. You know Gran. She doesn't believe in needless killing no matter what the reason. Thankfully Amaya didn't understand that. She actually thought that Gran was just as bad as she is and never checked to see if the gun was actually set to kill or not. She just assumed that it was. That was yet another mistake that she made today but I think her biggest one was in underestimating Lilith."

"Lilith makes that mistake too unfortunately. I really hope that she stops that one day," Donna admitted.

Lauren only smiled as she said, "Spoilers."

"I've definitely got to keep you away from River more in the future. Apparently she's a bad influence on everybody's kids. I'm surprised that you don't have giant poofy hair thanks to her," Donna said with a sigh.

"I actually tried that once but I just don't have the right kind of hair for it," Lauren joked.

"Why are you always joking all of the time for? It's Lana isn't it? She's a bad influence on you too isn't she?" Donna said in disapproval.

Lauren laughed as she said, "No, only one woman ever really influenced me and I'll never think of her as bad in any way."

Donna smiled as she took the hint and said, "Good to know. Maybe I'm not so rotten at this job after all."

"Well, I wouldn't say that," Lauren quipped.

"You'd better watch what you're about to say next!" Donna warned as she tried very hard not to laugh.

Lauren only winked at her one last time and then gave her a final hug before she suddenly left and returned to the future once more.

Even as Donna felt somewhat better about her role as a mother, Crystal was feeling anything but good about her own that moment. She had immediately started to blame herself for what had happened and begged Calliope to take her back home as soon as Lilith freed her and the others from Amaya's control with her powers.

"Crystal, I know that you're not happy here but if I take you back home things will only be worse for you. You'll be all alone over there for the rest of your life and you probably won't see much of me at all anymore since I'm always busy with one crisis or another over here in this reality. Is that really what you want?" Calliope said in a voice that actually sounded more than a bit afraid at that moment.

It was obvious to everyone that she really didn't want her sister to leave.

"I don't belong here, Eliza. Surely you must know that by now. I don't have super powers like most of you, I don't have any special skills or abilities, I'm not a super genius, and I'm not brave in the slightest. I was completely terrified the entire time that that woman was here, and I'll probably have nightmares about what she did to my mind with that machine of hers for the rest of my life. I – I can't take this kind of life, Eliza. I'm just not made for it plus I'm completely useless in a fight. She made me into her mindless patsy and used me to lure you all here. That's how useless that I am. I'm just a weight around your neck here and you know it even if you won't admit it to yourself. I'm an ordinary person who just wants an ordinary life, and I'll never be happy with anything else. I'm sorry because I know that you've missed me but it's true. I can't do this anymore. I just can't. I'm not cut out for it," Crystal said in a voice filled with fear and pain.

"Crystal, I'm so sorry about what happened to you. I really am but I . . . I don't want you to go. I need you," Calliope pleaded in a sad voice.

"No, you'll do just fine without me. You've always been the strong one in the family," Crystal said as she shook her head.

"Crystal, I – I actually wanted to kill Amaya in order to save you today. The only reason that I didn't is because I didn't want you to see me that way. I didn't want you to be ashamed of me and what I've become. I'm not the same person that you used to know anymore. Not completely. I've regenerated so many times that it seems like most of who Eliza Newman was is gone now but when I'm around you it's like I can actually reconnect to that person again for the first time in so long. I don't feel as if I'm a bad person, Crys, and I don't usually go around killing people, but I definitely feel as if I've lost something over the centuries. It's something that I treasure almost as much as I treasure you. Don't take either of those things away from me. Please!" Calliope said in a heartfelt voice.

"I'm just too different from the rest of you though. I'll never fit in here in this kind of life," Crystal said in an uncertain voice.

"Being different is exactly why you are needed here though. Don't you see? If you hadn't been who you are, maybe Mother would have set that staser to kill. Then I might have lost my second mother today as a result of that. Thanks to you that didn't happen though. Mother needs an ordinary person in order to remind her of where she came from so that she won't ever go too far, Aunt Crystal. She needs you to keep her grounded and as much like Eliza Newman as possible. You don't have to be a hero in order to help her. You just have to be human and you definitely do a good job at that," Lilith said with a warm smile as she suddenly sat down beside her.

Crystal laughed as she said, "Yeah, I suppose that means I'm not a complete screw-up after all. I can definitely whine and moan with the best of them if nothing else."

"You're also a good shoulder to cry on and always willing to listen to me or give me practical advice when I need it too. I mean you did warn me about the Doctor after all and he was definitely trouble even if he did turn out to be my son," Calliope said with a chuckle.

"That should have tipped me off right there. You've always attracted more than a bit of trouble yourself while I've always been the sensible, levelheaded one," Crystal admitted with a grin.

"See? We do make a good team after all. We each make up for the other's shortcomings. Not that I actually have any shortcomings of course," Calliope joked.

"Of course not. You're practically perfect in every way," Crystal said as she began to actually smile once again for the first time in far too long.

She was finally starting to feel like she was with Eliza once again instead of with someone who had almost become a stranger to her. That was when she became determined to stay so that she could make sure that Calliope was never in danger of forgetting who she was or where she came from ever again. She still wasn't too sure about the constant danger part of this new life of hers, but she was much more afraid of losing her sister than any of the future Amayas out there.

Now she turned to give Lilith a grateful smile as she said, "I'm sorry that I haven't talked to you much. I'm afraid that I haven't talked to anyone in the family much really because I felt so out of place here but that's going to change from now on. It's nice to properly meet you at last, Lilith, and thank you for helping me. You're definitely Eliza's daughter alright. She always knows just what to say to me too to cheer me up just when I need it the most. You're just like her."

Lilith began to tear up as she said in a voice filled with joy, "Thank you. You'll never know how much that means to me."

"I think I do. She's a very special person just like you obviously are. In fact, I bet all of her children are just as special," Crystal said as she embraced her niece for the first time.

"The Doctor's definitely special alright but I'm not saying in what way," Donna quipped as she reentered the room.

"Donna, I . . ." Calliope said as she started to apologize.

"You didn't set it on kill, Gran, so everything's fine, okay? Don't worry about it," Donna reassured her.

"I'm more worried about what to do with Miss Universal Scumbag of 2016. Somehow I don't think just sticking her in Shada is going to be enough. She's much too clever to stay there for long," Dorothy said in an anxious tone as she looked down at the still unconscious Amaya.

"Oh, I definitely agree that's why we're going to do something useful with her instead," Martha said with a thoughtful look on her face.

"Uh, oh, Boss Lady. I definitely do not like where this is going," Donna said with a wary look on her face.

"Just hear me out, okay? This team has had lots of people on it who once tried to kill us all at one time or another and then reformed. I mean that's practically in our mission statement isn't it? Sooner or later we always seem to reform all of our enemies. Look at how changed that Lilith and Michelle are now. I honestly can't imagine my life without either one of them in it but both of them have tried to kill me before," Martha said.

"Uh, there's a big difference between them and Amaya, Martha. Prune Face is just completely off her rocker and she's way too hung up on trying to free Erebus. Nothing's going to change that no matter what you do," Donna said as she vehemently shook her head.

"I agree. She's never going to reform like the others did. It's just like a ticking time bomb waiting to explode if you try keeping her around. This is a really crazy idea even for us," Dorothy said in disbelief.

"Who said that she would be staying with you? She's going to be a part of my team instead. I absolutely insist on it," The Corsair said with a wicked gleam in her eye.

"Admit it. You just want to boss her around like she once did to you," Clara's echo said with a smirk.

"You'd better believe it. I'd really love to make her one of my merry band of misfits just to see the look on her face every time that I gave her an order," The Corsair said with malicious glee.

"Wait a minute though. How's that going to work anyway? She's still extremely dangerous and completely unpredictable. How would we ever be able to keep her under control especially with those Vortex powers of hers," Michelle asked with concern.

"Don't worry about that last part. I can handle the powers," Dorothy said confidently as her eyes began to glow.

Amaya involuntarily cried out in pain for a moment and then went back into a peaceful slumber once more as Dorothy said with a wide grin, "Am I good or what?"

"That depends, Nitro Girl, on exactly what you just did," Donna said in confusion.

Dorothy rolled her eyes as she said with a groan, "I definitely got more respect from the Professor than I ever have here. I shut off her connection to the Vortex. I gave her just enough to keep her alive but that's it. She's going to be completely out of juice from now on and just another ordinary Time Lord . . . if that ordinary Time Lord is a completely homicidal sociopath that is."

"More than a few of them are unfortunately," The Corsair admitted with a brief smile.

"She's still too dangerous though even then. She's much too smart and constantly full of dirty little tricks that she'll just love to pull on someone at exactly the worst possible time. You'd never be able to trust her," Donna complained.

"She actually gave me an idea on how to handle that herself just now. That is if this is what I think it is anyway," Martha said as she found a canister in one of Amaya's pockets and showed it to the Corsair.

"Oh, it definitely is. That's her mind controlling gas alright. Just spray her with a little of that once the antidote that she sprayed on herself wears off and she'll gladly follow whoever she's looking at when it takes effect off of a cliff if they ask her to go with them. I'll gladly volunteer for that job," The Corsair said with an evil smile.

"We'll see, Nabu. It's possible that Geneva might not even want to use this on her since it would be kind of a touchy alien rights area. Right now at least we know that we have it handy just in case that we ever need it though. I really think that we can pull this off. Even if we can't reform her at least we'll have her using her brains for us instead of against us for a change. It'll be much better than putting her in Shada where she'll probably escape the very next day," Martha said confidently.

"That's certainly true. That Maxil must really have something especially dirty on the High Council in order to stay in charge of that place after so many people have walked out of there," Donna said with a snort.

"It's Maxil. He's like the god of pompous jerks plus he's got a huge ego and is completely incompetent. No wonder the High Council loves him so much. He's right up their alley," Dorothy said with a chuckle.

"So we're agreed then, right? We're going to put Amaya on the Corsair's team and let her use her to help defend the Earth for us," Martha said happily.

"Yeah, because that doesn't have 'completely apocalyptic disaster' written all over it at all," Ileana said with a skeptical frown.

*See recent chapters of And The Story Goes On Forever if you're curious.

Next: Now that there's actually a moment of downtime for once in their lives the Wolves are preparing to finally hold the long awaited wedding of Michelle and Mark at last. Somehow (mostly because this is Guardian Who) I don't think that things are going to go quite as smoothly as our would-be bride and groom are hoping that they will though. I'm sure our returning guest star Joan Redfern (now Smith) and her husband John will be more than able to sympathize with that particular problem. Plus you know there's going to be much more to come on what happens to Amaya next. Is Ileana right about all of this turning out to be a huge mistake or will the Corsair actually be able to pull this new team of hers off?

I don't know about you but something about this whole thing makes me really nervous.