CHAPTER 14

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THE MOTHER OF TERROR

Amy's TARDIS materialized outside of the House of Brightshore, her family's ancestral home, on Gallifrey. Amy rushed to knock on the door of the ancient structure with a huge smile on her face. It felt so good to come home again. She hadn't been here in a while. It was just like recharging her batteries to come back here every once in a while.

Rory came slowly outside with an extremely depressed look on his face. He looked like he had been marked for death.

"What is it, Dad?" Julia asked with a concerned look on her face.

"You called me Dad!" Rory said as he flashed Julia a brief smile.

"Well, I figured you needed something to keep your spirits up. What's so bad about Grandmum anyway? Does she have a very bad temper or something?" Julia asked.

"You'll see," Rory said as a grim look quickly returned to his face.

The door opened, and Amy was greeted by an older brunette woman in her mid-thirties who had kind, gentle eyes. The minute she saw Amy her face broke out into a huge smile, and she pulled her into a huge hug.

"Cliodna! It's so good to see you again!" the woman said as she continued to hug her tightly.

Julia could hear Amy struggling to breathe now even as she smiled at the woman. It sounded like she was crushing the life out of her!

"I love you, Cliodna. I love you so much," the woman said as she started kissing Amy's cheek now over and over again even as she continued to slowly squeeze the air out of her lungs.

"Oh, no!" Julia said as she realized at last just what Rory had been so afraid of.

"Yeah, now do you see what I was talking about?" Rory asked as he started to tremble in fear of what would happen when Amy's mother finally noticed him.

"See ya!" Julia said as she started running back toward the TARDIS.

"Traitor," Rory called out behind her.

As Julia rushed back into the TARDIS, Selene said, "Oh, I see you've met Mum. Run fast, Julia. Run far. You'll never get away though. No one can escape her mighty hug!"

"She's not that bad, sweetie," Sirona said as Julia cowered behind her.

"Are you kidding? I think she broke a rib the last time she hugged me. It still hurts when I laugh too hard," Selene said.

"Oh, I really look forward to this then," Karen said with a frown.

"You could just stay here if you want. She doesn't even know about you," Selene said.

"Not that we wouldn't want you to come if you want to," Sirona said.

"I'll gladly let you go in my place," Julia offered.

"I wish I could save you, Jules. I really do," Selene said as she looked at her sadly.

"Gran's not that bad, Julia. I promise," Sirona said as she stroked Julia's hair in an attempt to calm her down.

"I don't want to go out there. Tell her I stayed home on Earth," Julia said.

Meanwhile outside, Amy's mother finally let her go just before she would have passed out in her arms. She had finally seen Rory and rushed to greet him as Amy tried desperately to stay conscious. She was pretty sure that her ribs were still intact this time.

"Hello, Cessair," Rory said as he prepared to take what was to come like a man.

"Hello, Rory! Give me a hug!" Cessair said as she rushed towards him.

She quickly proceeded to crush him in her arms just as she had her daughter. Rory involuntarily yelled in pain, and Cessair laughed at him in a good natured way.

"You silly man! You're such a kidder! You act like I'm strangling you. You're a big strong man. How could little old me possibly hurt you? You're so funny!" Cessair said as she kissed his cheek repeatedly.

Amy slowly walked back towards her mother as she said, "I came to bring Sirona and my little Julia here to see you, Mum. You're going to love Julia. She's the sweetest kid you'll ever meet."

"I'm sure that I will plus I'm so happy to see Sirona again. I always knew that she was still out there somewhere. I could feel it. Imagine her turning out to be Amber. I always did like Amber. Now I know why," Cessair chattered away happily.

"Amy, help me!" Rory said in a weak voice.

Cessair laughed at him as she said, "That husband of yours! He's such a kidder!"

Sirona decided to have mercy on Rory as she came outside and said, "Hello, Gran."

"Sirona!" Cessair said as she rushed towards her and hugged her even tighter then she had Rory.

"I'm so glad that you're okay. I knew that you were still with us. I knew it. I never lost hope," Cessair said in tears.

"It's good to see you again, Gran," Sirona said as she tried very hard not to cry out.

Julia poked her head out of the TARDIS, and then quickly pulled it back inside as she saw the reaction on Sirona's face. She shivered as she ran to Selene and said, "Please let me stay in here! Please!"

"It'll be okay, Jules. Don't worry," Selene said in a surprisingly gentle voice after she saw just how truly terrified that her little sister was now.

"You see what you did? You've got that poor kid scared to death," Karen said.

"I didn't mean to. I was just joking. Honest, Julia, I was just joking," Selene said in a guilt laden voice.

"No, I saw the look on Sirona's face. She's in pain," Julia said terrified.

Mum, Julia's scared. Go easy on her when you hug her, okay? Selene said telepathically to Cessair.

I was going to anyway. Cliodna said she's only a child. A human child at that. I'm afraid I might break her. Cessair admitted.

She'll be okay as long as you just don't hug her too tightly. She's a good kid, Mum. Just be gentle with her, and she'll love you as much as I do. Selene promised.

I can't wait to meet her. Cessair replied.

"Julia, come on out here," Amy called out to her.

"She's scared, Mum," Sirona said in a low voice.

Amy went back into the TARDIS and said, "Julia, she's not going to hurt you. Come on."

"No. She'll crush me!" Julia said in terror.

"No, she won't. I told her not to. I promise that she'll be gentle," Selene said in a soft voice.

Julia slowly let go of Selene and walked outside to see Cessair. Cessair smiled at her and very gently put her arms around her. She didn't squeeze her at all.

"I'm sorry if all of that scared you, little one. I just get a little carried away sometimes that's all. I'll be sure and be extra gentle with you though. How about that?" Cessair said to Julia.

Julia began to smile as she felt the love and warmth radiating off of Cessair as she said, "That'll be fine. So you're Amy's mum, huh? You're not what I expected."

"What do you mean?" Cessair asked.

"You're just so nice," Julia said.

"Hey!" Amy said with a grin.

"I didn't mean anything by that, Mum. I just meant that sometimes you have a bit of a temper, but your mum doesn't seem to have one at all."

"I know exactly what you mean, Julia. She inherited that from her father. I've always been very easy to get along with myself," Cessair said.

"I knew it. The two of you are already ganging up on me," Amy joked.

"That's a grandmother's job. She unites together with her grandchildren against their common enemy," Cessair said with an evil grin.

"It makes me glad that I never had any kids," Selene said.

"Well, you should. When are you going to settle down, Selene?" Cessair said.

"Here it comes. Open mouth insert foot," Selene said with a sigh.

Julia laughed. Cessair just kept getting better and better. She had finally found someone who could make even Selene squirm. She was sure now that she was going to like her new grandmother after all.

Amy and Rory walked back into the TARDIS while Cessair gave Selene a long lecture about the joys of motherhood. Selene looked at them like she wanted one of them to shoot her and put her out of her misery as they walked by.

It was too bad that River wasn't there.

"At least she's forgotten about me for a while. Maybe she'll actually leave my spleen intact this time," Rory said as he felt the bruises on his side and winced.

"I'm sorry. She's my Mum. I just wanted to let her see Sirona. I'm so glad that Julia seems to love her already. How are the ribs?" Amy asked with a grin.

"I don't think they're cracked. Not yet anyway," Rory said with a smile.

"You can stay in here for the rest of the trip I promise," Amy said.

Then Amy looked up in surprise as she realized that someone was missing from the TARDIS. It was someone who had no reason to go outside at all.

Amy looked at Rory in alarm as she said," Where's Oisin?"

"I don't know. I never saw him leave. You don't think that he's been taken over by his Cyber programming again, do you?" Rory asked.

"I hope not or I've just unleashed a terrible threat on my family," Amy said in a panic.

"Come on! Let's find him!" Rory said.

Amy pulled out her sonic screwdriver as she began to scan the area for the life signs of a Cyberman. Oisin shouldn't be too hard to find on a planet filled with mostly Time Lords.

They ran by Cessair and the others hand in hand without saying anything. They didn't want to tell the others about the situation just yet and possibly worry them needlessly. It could be that Oisin just went back to his old home to see his family. If so, Amy couldn't blame him for that. He should have told someone that he was leaving though.

She was really going to tell him off when she found him. If he was still himself, that was. Otherwise, she would probably be too busy fighting him to say much of anything. She didn't even want to think about that possibility though. She didn't want to kill Oisin. She didn't know if she could survive losing him again especially if she was the one to finally kill him.

It would tear her apart.

Rory saw the look of fear on Amy's face and knew automatically what she was thinking. He promised himself that if Oisin had gone bad that he would be the one to kill him in order to spare Amy all of that pain. He would rather that she hate him for the rest of his life then to have her have to carry that burden around with her for the rest of hers.

Amy finally picked up what had to be Oisin's life signs, and she followed them until she found him a hundred feet outside of the Capitol. She found Oisin standing in front of a large tree. He never turned to face them. Amy knew that he had to know that they were there with his advanced senses.

"Oisin, what are you doing way out here? Why did you leave the TARDIS?" Amy asked.

"I want you to kill me, Cliodna," Oisin said.

"What? Why would you say that?" Amy asked in a choked voice.

"I was approached by an enemy of yours. She wanted me to betray you. I pretended that I would help her in order to find out what she was up to. I didn't do what she wanted though. I would never do anything against you, Cliodna," Oisin said as he slowly turned to look at her.

"I know. I know you wouldn't," Amy said softly as she laid a gentle hand on the hard metal skin of his face.

"I was so tempted to though. She offered me a body again, Cliodna. She said that if I helped her that she would make me into a Time Lord again. I want that so badly. I want my life back," Oisin said.

"I'm so sorry," Amy said as she began to cry.

"I would never hurt you though. Never! No matter what the gain to myself might be. I'd rather die first. That's why I want you to kill me. I'm too much of a threat to you. What if someone takes control of me next time? I can't take that chance any longer," Oisin said.

"Listen to me. I'm not going to kill you. We'll find a way to bring your body back to you I promise. You don't have to do this," Amy pleaded.

"Who was it, and what did they want you to do?" Rory asked.

"Rory, he's upset," Amy said.

"I understand that, but I want to know who's after you. We have to be on our guard for them. How are we going to do that if we don't even know who they are?" Rory asked.

"I'll tell you who," Ishtar said as she suddenly appeared out of nowhere.

"Ishtar, right?" Amy asked.

"How can you tell? She looks just like Rose," Rory said.

"I grew up with her, Rory. Trust me. I know," Amy said.

"You're right, of course. Maybe I should start wearing a white hood and cloak so that people quit asking me who I am. That way I'll match my new counterpart," Ishtar said.

Oisin looked at her in surprise as she said, "Yes, I know that she's the one who came to see you, Oisin. It was this new Black Guardian that's been running around lately. She has terrible taste in clothing I tell you."

"Yes, like you dress so great. You have on a jeans jacket and a pair of leather pants. I must take notes so that I too can be a fashion goddess like you are someday," the Black Guardian said as she appeared next to Ishtar without warning.

"You always did have a razor sharp wit, didn't you? Too bad you never had any sense to go along with it," Ishtar shot back.

"So you're the Black Guardian now, huh? Well, now I finally know whose rear to kick. What did you do to Oisin?" Amy demanded in a furious voice.

"I asked him to do one little favor for me. That's all. It would have hurt no one. Could you do that one little thing? No! Of course not! You're as useless as the Oisin that I once knew was. Some things never change it seems," the Black Guardian said.

"What favor? I really doubt that whatever you asked him to do would hurt no one," Amy said.

"She wanted Oisin to transfer the control of your part of your family's fortune to the Valeyard. She tried to convince him that it would hurt no one to do so since you don't care about it anyway ever since you became Amy," Ishtar explained.

"How would he even have done that?" Amy asked.

"I can answer that," Cessair said as she appeared behind them.

"Mum, what are you doing here?" Amy asked as she began to worry about her mother's safety.

"I followed you because I knew that you were in trouble," Cessair said.

"How did you know that?" Amy asked.

"You're always in trouble," Cessair said.

"She's got you there," Rory said with a grin.

"Mum, why would Oisin be able to transfer control of my part of the family fortune to anyone?" Amy asked.

"I never took his name off of the list of people who have control over it. He could have broken into the computer and done whatever he wanted to with your shares of our estate. His passwords would have all still worked. I didn't have the heart to remove his name after I thought that he died," Cessair said looking straight at Oisin.

"You never told me that. I don't really care about that though. Even if he had given it to the Valeyard, it wouldn't have mattered to me," Amy said.

"Yes, but what did he want to do with it? That's the thing. He could have used your stolen power and influence to attempt to gain control over the High Council. You always use it to try and get your way, don't you? Imagine the Valeyard doing that. What if he started influencing all sorts of things with it that would benefit the Celestial Intervention Agency? He's working together with them you know. Now do you see what she's been up to? She wants to influence the government from within, and the Valeyard would have been her way of doing that. She's so despicable that she was going to prey on Oisin's pain to trick him into helping her," Ishtar said.

"I guess here's the part where I say 'Curses! Foiled by that meddling Cyberman'," the Black Guardian said sarcastically.

"She doesn't seem too worried for some reason," Amy said.

"She has a name, you know," the Black Guardian said in an angry voice.

"Really? What is it?" Amy asked with a huge grin.

"You're good. I like you. I think I'll wait and kill you last," the Black Guardian said as she quickly vanished into thin air.

"Am I supposed to be scared?" Amy asked.

"You should be. She's deadly serious, Amy," Ishtar said.

"So am I. I'm not afraid of her," Amy said.

"I can see why you and Oisin wound up together, Amy. You both have a heart of gold. You're always doing things for others ahead of yourselves, and you never get anything for it in return but pain and grief it seems like sometimes. Well today's the day that a good deed finally does pay off. Oisin, come here," Ishtar said.

Oisin slowly walked over to her, and she put her hand on his metal shell. Oisin gasped as he felt himself beginning to change. He began to glow all over his body so brightly that everyone had to look away from him for a moment. When they were able to look once more, Oisin was a Time Lord again!

He turned to thank Ishtar, but she was already gone. Amy ran to him and hugged him in joy.

"Thank you, Ishtar, wherever you are. I owe you one," Amy whispered.

"Isn't it great, Rory?" Amy asked as she returned to Rory's side.

"I'm not so sure about that," Rory said.

"Why would you say that?" Amy asked him in confusion.

Then Amy heard Oisin cry out in pain, and she saw that Cessair was hugging him. Now she realized what Rory was talking about. Amy and Rory both struggled hard not to laugh.

"I bet he wishes he was still a Cyberman now," Rory said with a grin.

Next: Now that Oisin's back to his old self again, he tries to start a relationship with Karen. Is she even interested though? Also Amy does something that she's been putting off for a long time now. She finally tells her parents and Rory's father the complete truth about herself. How will they react?