CHAPTER 6

I do not own Doctor Who or Merlin and I am making no profit off of this.

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Author's Note: This chapter takes place just after The Further Adventures of River Song Chapter 39. Also from now on Christina will take over the narration duties for this story. Christina thought that it was only fair that she should narrate her own story since River does hers and I just couldn't say no.

TURNING POINTS

Hello, readers. I know it's a sudden change and all, but I figured that if Melody could bore people with her internal monologue then why couldn't I? Tell my thoughts to people I mean not bore them with them. I'll leave that kind of thing to Melody. I'm sure that my thoughts are much more interesting than hers anyway and probably a lot less cryptic. So without any further digression, here we go.

While in the process of trying to ask River what to do about helping Ishtar, I quickly got sidetracked into an enormous fight between River and the clockwork robots called the Symmetry who had taken over River's mind and used her to almost kill Rose Tyler. River (with some help from her family and friends including yours truly) managed to finally defeat the Symmetry and wipe them out in payback for that.

While I was very glad about that after seeing just how devastated that River had been by being forced to attack Rose against her will, I was still no closer to solving my own problem. In the chaos that had ensued after River decided to attack the Symmetry, I still hadn't had time to ask her anything. Now in the aftermath of that fight, I was determined to talk to her in private about it.

"Melody, I didn't just come here to tell you about becoming engaged. I have something to ask you about," I finally said after she finished talking with her mother right after the fight ended.

"I thought you'd never ask. You want to know if you should do everything that you can to help Ishtar find her super weapons even if you have to steal in order to do it," River said unsurprised.

"How did you . . . ?" I started to ask as she took me by complete surprise.

Then I just had to smile and shake my head at her as I said, "Never mind. All you would say would be spoilers anyway."

River laughed as she said, "You're learning, Chrissy."

"Please, don't call me that," I said with a sigh as I gestured for her to follow me into my room on her and Donald's TARDIS where I stayed whenever I traveled with them and shut the door behind us.

"I bet everyone's driving you mad calling you that now, aren't they?" River asked with that huge grin on her face that she always has whenever she's really enjoying herself.

"Let's just say that if I didn't love Lydia so much I'd probably strangle her for starting that whole thing. Please don't tell me that everyone starts calling me that permanently," I said.

River just kept grinning away at me and said nothing.

"I see you're no help as usual. I bet you won't even answer my first question," I said as I pretended to be annoyed with her.

It was a game that we often played with one another. We would both pretend to not be able to stand one another and to get on each other's nerves. It was River's way of saying that she loved me without really saying it. If you're really bothering her, she'll let you know very quickly. It won't be through playful banter either. Believe me. It'll be much more serious than that.

"It's really bothering you that she's asking you to steal again, isn't it?" River asked as she quickly got to the point of the conversation.

"Yes, of course it is. I've finally dedicated myself to going on the straight and narrow and along comes Ishtar trying to tempt me into going straight down the wrong path once again. I don't want to be a thief anymore. I'm better than that, Melody. I know I am. I help people now and I save lives. I don't need to steal. I don't want to," I said in an emotional voice.

She put a comforting hand on my shoulder as she said in a serious voice, "Yes, I know you're better than that. You always were. You're one of the few people that I trust completely if that makes you feel any better, Christina. You won't be doing it for yourself this time though. You'll be doing it for the greater good and to save lives. If the weapons of the previous Time War are as bad as the ones from this universe's version of it, then no one and I do mean no one should be allowed to keep them. You should do anything possible to keep them out of the wrong hands which would be pretty much everyone's."

I began to fight back tears now as I got to my biggest fear about this whole thing, "What if . . . What if starting to steal again makes me go back? What if I become who I used to be again? I don't want that to happen, Melody. I'll lose Casanova and Lydia if that happens and even more important I'll lose myself. I like myself now, Melody. I don't want to lose who I've become, and I'm so scared that that's what's going to happen if I do this."

"No, it won't. You're a good person, Christina. You were always a good person no matter what. The Doctor never would have given you the time of day if he hadn't saw something special about you. You won't go back to who you were if you do this. I know you won't. Besides that, Lydia and I won't let you. If you even think about it, I'll shoot you where you stand," River said.

You think she's kidding, don't you?

"Thank you, Melody. I really do appreciate that. I just . . . I'm just still unsure about this whole thing. I want to help recover these weapons, but I don't want to destroy myself while doing it. Besides that, I can't help but wonder why me? Why is she asking me to do this for? Why not ask someone with real power or skill like the Doctor, Rose, Jenny, or you?" I asked as I continued to spill my guts to her in a way that I never would with anyone else but Lydia or Giacomo.

River smiled enigmatically as she said, "That's the real question, isn't it?"

I looked at her intently as I said, "What is so special about me, Melody? What can I do that the rest of you can't? Is Ishtar trying to test me or something? Is that it? She's trying to see if I'll succumb to temptation or not? Is she trying to trick me?"

River shook her head as she said, "No, Ishtar would never try to hurt you because she knows how much Lydia loves you. Besides that, she's the previous Arkytior. She may be a bit more manipulative and controlling at times than our Rose, but she doesn't have an evil bone in her body. She would never intentionally try to lead you astray. It's not that."

"Well, what is it then? Am I supposed to do this? Do I have something else that I'm supposed to do while I'm finding all of these weapons? Am I going to find out that I have some secret destiny that I'm supposed to accomplish like Mikaela did when she helped to destroy the Symmetry?" I asked as I still tried to get something, anything, out of her.

"Sorry, but I can't tell you anything more than I already have, Christina. The decision of whether to help or not is up to you," River said.

I groaned in frustration before trying one last approach at getting a real answer out of her.

"Melody, can you at least answer me this? If I decide to do this, will I end up regretting it in any way?" I asked.

River hesitated. I could see that part of her really wanted to answer me, but she knew that she probably shouldn't. The fact that she was hesitating at all though worried me.

"If I tell you one way or another, I might influence your entire decision. That could change your entire timeline as a result. I'm sorry but I can't say anything except to offer you some advice as a friend. Stop worrying so much and trust yourself. The fact that I trust you should say something, Christina," River said.

I smiled at her as I said, "Yes, it does. Thanks, Melody. That does say something. It says a lot."

I started to hug her and she immediately pulled away as she said, "Stop that. I've already been nice to you today. Do you expect me to hug you too? You're going to make people think that I'm sweet or something. I hate sweet."

"Yes, of course, Melody. Let it never be said that you're kind and loving in any way. I'll make sure and tell everyone just how mean and nasty that you are and how you almost beat me to a pulp just because I said hello to you," I said laughing.

River smiled as she said, "There you go. Is that too much to ask?"

"Not at all, Melody. Not at all," I said still laughing as I tried to hug her anyway despite her protests.

"Stop that," River said as she lightly pushed me away.

"It's not like anyone's going to know that I hugged you. I won't tell anyone," I said giggling.

"I'll know," River said.

"Fine. No hugs then. How about this?" I said as I gave her a kiss on the cheek.

She glared at me as her eyes widened in surprise and her hand hovered over her gun as she said, "If you weren't my friend . . ."

"You would never do it exactly because we are friends, and you know that I didn't do that out of anything other than genuine affection for you," I said firmly.

"I know and that plus the fact that you did it in private where no one could see it are the only reasons that I haven't already knocked you out cold. Don't ever do that again though, Christina," River said.

"Fine. Be that way," I said with a grin not feeling insulted or hurt at all.

This was just River being herself. Most of the time she didn't show any real emotion to anyone but Donald or her parents, but she was getting better about it than she used to be. She had told us all that she loved us after all when we helped her to get out of the depressed state that she had been in earlier.

Oh, well. I would just have to take our friendship one step at a time. Maybe one day I could openly display affection for her on a regular basis like I did with all of my other friends without it being such a big deal.

"I'm sorry. It's just the way that I am," River apologized as we left the room.

"I know. Don't worry about it," I said with a reassuring smile.

"Did I help you any then?" River asked me curiously.

"Yes, you did. You helped me finally come to a decision by what you said about trusting me which was exactly what I needed. Thanks," I said as I saw a smile growing on her face.

She already knew what I was going to do of course. She had always known. She was River Song after all. She probably knows what I'm going to eat for breakfast every day even before I do. I have no doubt whatsoever that she knows more about me, especially my future, than I do myself.

That's exactly why I value her opinion so much. Well, that and the fact that she and Lydia are my best friends. I would do anything for them, and I know that they feel the same way about me.

Shortly after that, I said my good byes, and then I left along with Lydia and Giacomo to go back to our own TARDIS. We returned there to find that Jacqueline and Willa, who we had left behind there while we visited River, weren't alone anymore.

Jacqueline was now standing there with a scowl on her face and with her back turned to Anthony Williams, her fiancé, who was doing the exact same thing to her. Willa meanwhile watched them both with an extremely uncomfortable expression. I didn't know Willa that well yet, but I knew her enough to know that she would rather be anywhere but there at the moment. So I obliged her.

"Hey, you never did really show me your room. Let's go see it, okay?" I said.

Willa looked confused at first as to why I would care about what her room looked like, and then I could tell that she quickly caught on as she said, "Okay."

"I'll go too," Lydia said as she quickly got out of there and joined us.

Giacomo stayed behind and started working on the console. He was too thick as usual to understand that Jackie and Anthony were fighting. Oh, well. He'd soon figure it out when the eye of the storm passed as I was sure that it would soon.

As soon as Willa, Lydia, and I sat down on Willa's bed, I asked, "So what happened?"

"Well, Jackie and I were just talking and having a nice day at first. I found myself getting to know her better, and I liked that. Then Anthony showed up and started demanding that she choose between him and Davros immediately. He said that he wasn't leaving until she did. Then they fought for a while before they finally became silent and just started staring at each other like they are now. It was very upsetting. I've never seen a fight like that before. I guess I haven't seen a lot though. I really have so much to learn about others. I just hope that Jackie doesn't wind up getting hurt because of this," Willa said.

"We all do. I guess I can't blame Anthony for feeling the way that he does. If I were him and she was off kissing Davros while she was supposed to be with me, I'd be demanding for her to choose too. Then again I can't imagine ever picking Davros over well anybody so I honestly can't see her side of this at all even though I really want to," I admitted.

"Maybe she just sees something in him that the rest of us can't see. I mean there could be something good there couldn't there?" Lydia said sounding unconvinced of that.

I smirked as I said, "He created the Daleks, Lydia. That pretty much says it all I think."

"If he's so rotten, why does she love him then?" Willa asked confused.

"You've got me. I think she just thinks that she can change him because so far she's one of the only two people that he's ever been good to. Just because he's good to her and his sister though doesn't mean that there's anything decent about him or that he'll ever change. Then again maybe I shouldn't be so quick to judge. Someone probably thought the same thing about me once I'm sure," I said.

"You are nothing like Davros," Lydia said laughing.

"True but I'm sure people thought that I was no good though just like they do him. Maybe I should make sure that he truly isn't capable of changing before I automatically judge him," I said.

Willa smiled in approval as she said, "I just learn something new about you every day, Chrissy."

"Oh, not you too!" I said as I gave Lydia the evil eye.

"What? I can't help it if it's taken on a life of its own. It's not like I'm making everyone say it," Lydia said with an evil smile.

I looked at her accusingly as I said, "You wouldn't do that just to get to me, would you?"

Lydia became serious as she said, "No, of course not. I had nothing to do with it. Cross my heart."

I smiled as I said, "Sorry, sweetie. I couldn't help but wonder though."

"It does sound like something I'd do I have to admit. I really didn't though," Lydia said.

"Okay, okay. I believe you," I said at the scared look on her face which made her immediately sigh in relief.

Willa laughed as she said, "I love just how close that the two of you are. I wish I had a friend like that."

"Don't worry. We'll get there, Will," I said to her which seemed to make her happy.

Then we began to hear yelling coming from the Console Room which was a neat trick since the rooms in the TARDIS where supposed to be soundproof. I realized that meant that the TARDIS wanted us to hear it and do something about it.

"Well, it seems that Hurricane Anthony finally started up again," Lydia joked.

Then I realized that it wasn't just Anthony's voice that I was hearing. It was also Davros' voice.

The three of us all looked at one another in dread as we all realized that at the same time and I said, "It looks like two Hurricanes at once then. This is not good."

We all hurried back to the Console Room to find Anthony and Davros arguing while Jacqueline looked horrified. I could tell from the look on her face that she felt terrible about the whole thing.

"How dare you come here and demand that she make a decision on the spot? I told her to take her time," Davros said to Anthony.

"Of course you did because you're trying to pretend to be Mr. Nice Guy while you make me look like a world class jerk," Anthony said.

"I don't have to. You're doing a good job of that all by yourself," Davros said smugly.

"I want her to decide once and for all who she wants to be with. I'm sick of this. She says yes to marrying me and then she tells me that she was kissing you the other day. How do you think that makes me feel?" Anthony said in a hurt voice.

"She's young and confused, and that's why I gave her time to think it over instead of getting in her face and demanding an answer right away like some people would," Davros said.

"She shouldn't have to think about it. If she truly loves me, she should know right away," Anthony said in anger.

"It's not always that simple I'm afraid. Then again you're too naïve and immature to understand that I'm sure," Davros said.

"That's it. I've had enough of you!" Anthony said as he balled his hands up into fists.

Davros just smirked as he said, "Please. I can take you down with one punch."

"Really? Come on over here and prove that then," Anthony said.

"Gladly," Davros said as he started toward Anthony with a predatory smile on his face.

Suddenly Jacqueline teleported in-between them, and Davros just barely pulled his punch in time to keep from hitting her instead of Anthony. Jacqueline looked at them both in tears as she finally came to a decision about them.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to hurt either of you. I . . . I've made a decision, Anthony. I'm not going to be with either one of you," Jacqueline said as she gave Anthony his ring back.

"Jackie, wait," Anthony said with a shocked look on his face.

"No, you're right, Anthony. If I truly loved you, I wouldn't have to choose. I'm not worthy of that ring. I'm sorry," Jacqueline said in a voice filled with emotion.

"Wait, Jacqueline. You shouldn't act so quickly. Think about this," Davros warned.

"Why are you on my side all of a sudden?" Anthony asked confused.

"I'm not on your side. I'm on hers. I just want her to be happy no matter who it's with," Davros said.

"Well, I'm not happy. Not with either one of you. Just go. Both of you. Go! I don't want to be with either of you," Jacqueline said.

Davros nodded with a sad look on his face and said, "I'll go back to Skaro then as I promised Oswin."

"I'll send you there. Mira will be fine at UNIT tells she gets well. I'll make sure of that," Jacqueline said as she sent Davros back to Skaro with a wave of her hand.

"How did he get here anyway?" I whispered to Giacomo.

"He took a Vortex Manipulator from someone at UNIT apparently after Jacqueline called him and told him what was going on. Don't worry. I disabled it. He can't escape from Skaro with it," Giacomo said.

"She must have hoped Davros could make Anthony leave but instead he just made things worse," I said with a sigh.

"I believe that was the idea, yeah. She's worse than me when it comes to domestics it seems," Giacomo admitted with a frown.

"Definitely," I said as I looked at the hurt look on Jackie's face.

"Jackie, I'm sorry," Anthony said.

"Just go," Jacqueline said.

Anthony then used his own Vortex Manipulator to go back to his own time. I really felt for him because he looked so guilty and upset.

I also felt for Jackie as she said, "Can I keep traveling with you? I need to do something to keep my mind off of all of this for a while."

Giacomo nodded at my silent question and I said, "Of course you can. You can stay as long as you want."

"Thank you. So what did you decide to do about Ishtar anyway?" Jacqueline asked as she eagerly tried to change the subject.

"I decided to do it. I'm going to help her," I said without any hesitation whatsoever.

"Are you sure? I know that you were all worried about it before," Giacomo asked.

"Not anymore. I can do this, Doctor. I can steal in order to save peoples' lives if I have to and not have that make me back into a thief again. I know I can," I said.

"I know you can too. I just wish that you didn't have to," Giacomo said.

"Don't worry. I have faith in you," Willa said.

"Thanks, Will. You don't know how much that I appreciate that," I said.

I could see a combination of faith and fear on Lydia's face, and I could tell that she both believed in me and worried about me at the same time. I wasn't worried though. Not anymore. I knew that I could do this.

I just wished that I knew why I had to be the one to do it when there were so many better choices available. Maybe someday soon I would know why. Until then though, I would just do my best and try to help Ishtar as much as I could.

Meanwhile just outside of my hearing, Lydia whispered to Willa, "Don't do this to her. Please. I don't want anything to happen to her."

"I have faith in her. She'll pass through the challenges ahead successfully, Lydia. I know she will," Willa said.

"I still don't see why she even has to go through anymore of this. She's more than proved herself worthy already," Lydia said.

"Yes, she certainly has to me. She still hasn't to them though. Have faith in her, Lydia. She'll succeed with flying colors. I know that she will," Willa said.

"I don't like not telling her. I love her like a sister," Lydia said.

"You know that your mother wouldn't let you even if you wanted to so stop feeling guilty about it. I promise you that if she starts to succumb to her old ways that I'll wipe her mind of the whole thing. and there won't be any harm done," Willa said.

"I don't like this. We can't the two of you just leave her alone?" Lydia said.

"You know why. She has to prove that she truly is worthy of the position that Ishtar wants to give to her. Ishtar won't just give that kind of responsibility to just anyone you know. Don't worry, okay? She'll be okay. I'm rooting for her," Willa said.

"Yeah, well I still don't like it," Lydia said with a frown.

It's needless to say that I would have totally agreed with Lydia if I had known all of this at the time. I wouldn't find out about any of that until later though. Much later. For now though, all that I knew was that I had to go give Ishtar my answer and get the location of the first weapon from her.

I crossed my fingers and hoped that the first one at least wouldn't involve any stealing. I was about to find out that I would have no such luck though.

Next: Christina gets the location of the first weapon from Ishtar and is less than pleased to discover that it's in a place that she had hoped that she would never have go to again: Camelot. That's right. It's time for Christina to cross paths with Merlin and Nimueh once more, and this time they're not the only ones that she'll meet as she discovers that the weapon she seeks is a part of King Arthur's treasury. It's going to be hard going for Christina from the start it seems.