CHAPTER 15

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RETURN OF THE VIYRANS PART 2

Jacqueline continued to attack the Viyrans until one of them managed to place his hand over her head, and then her expression went blank as she suddenly stopped fighting and looked around her in confusion. This particular Viyran soon found himself backhanded across the room by an enraged Rose.

"How dare you remove any of her memories?!" Rose screamed.

"We only removed her memory of your friend's death. It was causing her severe emotional distress and endangering our continued existence," another Viyran said.

"I'll endanger your continued existence if you ever touch any of my family again. Don't ever muck about with their minds again, do you understand that?!" Rose said still furious.

The Viyrans held up their hands in surrender as they backed away from the glowing Time Lady in fear. They gathered together again across the room where they and Rose continued to stare at each other uneasily.

"Who died? What are they talking about, Mum?" Jacqueline said in growing alarm.

"Don't worry about it, Jackie," Rose said as she picked her up and held her to her tightly.

"What happened? What did they make me forget?" Jacqueline said as she began to panic.

"It's going to be okay," Rose said in a gentle voice as she stroked her daughter's hair.

She didn't want to tell her just yet. Maybe there was still a way to save Clara so why put Jacqueline through that again if she didn't have to?

"This isn't right. It isn't supposed to be this way," Mikaela said to Polly.

"You don't remember ever hearing about any of this?" Polly asked.

"No. Never. What if this is my fault somehow? Maybe I changed time somehow without realizing it," Mikaela said in tears.

"By doing what? Stop blaming yourself for something that isn't your fault. Besides, it isn't over yet," Polly said as she gave her a small smile.

"What do you mean?" Mikaela asked.

"I learned a long time ago always to expect the unexpected when I'm around the Doctor. That goes double for when I'm around Rose Tyler. We just have to hope that they'll both pull another trick out of their hats and save Clara yet somehow," Polly said.

"You make us sound like magicians," Rose said as she overheard them.

"Aren't you?" Polly asked.

"Naw. I never fancied magicians. I'd rather be the good witch instead," Rose said as she tried to smile but found that she couldn't.

Mikaela suddenly looked solemn and stopped crying as she said, "This is it then. I have to do this."

"Have to do what?" Polly asked.

"Don't do anything stupid, Mikaela," Rose warned.

"What's she going to do? Rose, what's going on?" Polly asked.

"Nothing. That's what. You're not going anywhere, Mikaela," Rose said as she grabbed Mikaela's wrist.

"Sorry, Rose, but I am. Don't worry. I'll be alright," Mikaela said looking at her with fondness.

"You don't have to do this," Rose said with pleading eyes as she quietly and reluctantly let her wrist go.

"Do what? What's happening?" Polly asked in exasperation.

"I have to do the one thing that I swore I never would, Polly. I'm going to become the leader of the Symmetry," Mikaela said.

"What? Why?" Polly said in dismay.

"She thinks that the Symmetry can save Clara and the others. That's why. You don't even know if they can or not. You'll be throwing your life away for nothing if they can't. Plus they'll make you lead them as they attempt to take over the universe. It's stupid, Mikaela. Don't do it," Rose said.

"I have to. Clara's my best friend in the future. I can't let her die here and now or that'll never happen. I won't let that be rewritten. I just won't! You can't stop me either," Mikaela said.

She then rushed into the TARDIS before Rose could stop her. Rose knew that she was about to signal the Symmetry to come and get her.

"She cannot be allowed to summon the Symmetry here. If they gain access to the knowledge of our ship's database, they may be able to recreate some or all of our viruses," one of the Viyrans said.

"Yes, I know. I know just how bad that it would be for the Symmetry to get those kinds of weapons," Rose said.

"And yet you did nothing to stop her. Why?" The Viyran asked.

"That's what I'd like to know too," Polly said as she glared at Rose.

Rose said nothing as Charley nodded in sudden understanding and said, "It's some more of that preserving the Web of Time nonsense that the Doctor was always handing me, isn't it? Well, I say forget about it. If the Doctor hadn't changed time, then I wouldn't even be here right now. Maybe the Web of Time could stand to use a little reshaping every now and then."

Rose smiled at her as she said, "I could really grow to like you, Charley. Don't worry. I'm not as interested in preserving the Web of Time as I am in making sure that something else turns out like it should. I always have a method to my madness. You'll all see what it is soon."

"We trust that you have a plan in mind to stop the worst from happening and will proceed according to this assumption. The Symmetry must not be allowed to possess our secrets. If you abuse our trust in you though, Arkytior, then we will think of it as an act of war. You do not want us as an enemy. Believe us on that," one of the Viyrans said.

Charley looked at them and Rose in surprise. She had heard that name before somewhere, but she couldn't recall where or when. Hopefully it would come to her eventually.

Rose was also confused. How had they known her original name? She hardly ever used it. In fact, she hadn't used it on a regular basis since before she became Rose Tyler. She had certainly never told it to them.

"Trust me when I say that you don't want to make me angry. We Tylers tend to have a very nasty temper when we get mad. You can believe me on that," Rose said with a small but grim smile.

"Mum, who died?" Jacqueline tried asking again.

"Later, sweetie. Alright?" Rose said as she put off answering her question yet again.

"We will continue to work on a cure for the virus. If the Doctor discovers any information from studying . . . the latest victim, then please let us know immediately. We do not wish for humanity to perish any more than you do," A Viyran said before they all turned around to leave the room and go further inside of the ship leaving Charley alone with the others at last.

"Alright, what's the plan? You can tell me now that they're not around anymore," Charley said.

"You've traveled with the Doctor, Charley. You know better than to ever ask a Time Lord their plans. We're never going to tell you because then you might affect their outcome without meaning to," Rose said.

"I thought it was because you lot like feeling like the cleverest people in the room," Charley said.

"That too," Rose confided with an attempt at a smile that failed halfway through.

"Rose, is she really gone for good?" Polly asked.

"No. Even if my plan doesn't work, I'll bring her back, Polly. No matter what the consequences might be to me personally. I promised her that she would be okay and I meant it. I'd never let anything happen to any of you. Never," Rose said looking deeply into Polly's eyes.

"You mean you can bring the dead back to life?" Charley asked in surprise.

"Yes, but to do so might alter history so much that I run the risk of creating a dark version of myself that could take over my mind and body. I've changed things before without conjuring him up, but these days I try not to risk it if I can. I will though. I'll take any risk if it means bringing my friend back," Rose said.

"I can see why he married you. You're just like him," Charley said as she smiled at her in approval.

"You take that back," Rose said with a small grin.

"Mum, who died? Please! I need to know!" Jacqueline demanded.

Rose sighed as she finally decided to tell her.

"Jackie, I want you to be brave for me now. Okay?" Rose said.

"Alright," Jacqueline said nodding.

When Rose told her, Jacqueline became silent for a moment, and then she started to attack the room with huge blasts of Vortex energy. She screamed in pain as she unleashed a massive burst of energy out of her body in all directions. The entire room quickly started to shake and catch on fire from the results of her fury and grief.

Charley watched the little girl in terror as Polly grabbed her hand in silent support and said, "Don't worry. She'd never hurt any of her parents' friends. She's a sweet girl."

"Yeah, but that much power being trapped inside of such a little body is very unnerving. What if she decides to blame me for what happened too because I work with the Viyrans?" Charley said in fear.

"Jackie, that's enough," Rose said as she saw Charley's reaction.

Jackie seemed to realize what she was doing and immediately powered down as she said to Charley, "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to scare you. I don't blame you. Don't worry."

"I'm sorry for what happened, honey. I really am," Charley said.

Jacqueline nodded and then quickly dissolved into tears. Rose held her while she shook with emotion as she promised her over and over again that she would bring her aunt back to her again no matter what the cost.

Rose looked toward the TARDIS as she said in a low voice, "Come on, Doctor. Pull another rabbit out of your hat one more time for me, okay?"

Back in the TARDIS, the Doctor had Clara lying on a table in the medical bay as he studied her body over and over again for any signs of what might have happened to her to have killed her. All the while he kept her hooked up to the life signs monitor hoping against hope that her heart would start beating again somehow.

"The cure should have worked. According to all of the TARDIS' instruments, the Viyrans' cure should have helped you. There aren't any traces of the Vortex left in your body anymore. It obviously cut off your connection to it so why did you die? Why? What about this cure killed you? It doesn't make sense! Why would you die from being cut off from the Vortex and cleansed of all of its energy for? Unless . . . That can't be it! Can it?" the Doctor said talking out loud.

"No, that can't be it. I'd know if that were the case. Wouldn't I? Then again I didn't before, did I? I went two hundred years without realizing it before, didn't I?" the Doctor muttered to himself.

The Doctor started to run more tests on Clara's body as he now started to see if his suspicions were correct or not. It may have been that Clara had changed more than any of them realized when she came back out of his timestream.

Meanwhile back outside, Mikaela emerged from the TARDIS to see Rose looking at her in concern and worry. She smiled at her reassuringly as she said, "I know what I'm doing, Rose. Trust me."

"I do. It's the Symmetry I don't trust," Rose said.

"Exactly who are the Symmetry anyway?" Charley asked.

Her question was quickly answered as several Symmetry transmatted into the room along with them out of nowhere. The clockwork robots slowly marched up to Mikaela and knelt before her in reverence.

"We are so grateful that you have finally agreed to lead us, Promised One. You will never regret this, we assure you," the leader of the Symmetry said as it looked up at her from its position on the floor.

"Wait a minute now. I agreed to lead you if you brought a cure to the virus attacking Earth. Do you have it? If you don't, then all deals are off," Mikaela said.

"Don't worry, Promised One. We know of this disease, and we have the cure here. We will give it to you if you agree to lead us," the Symmetry leader said.

"Only when I know that it works," Mikaela said.

"Of course," the Symmetry leader said as it gave a small vial to Mikaela.

She accepted it with a shaking hand. She was trying to be brave for Clara's sake, but she really didn't want to do this. She didn't want to lead these machines. She was doing this to save lives though. She knew that all of those lives especially Clara's were much more valuable than her own.

The Symmetry leader lightly touched her hand in a familial gesture as it said, "Don't be afraid, Promised One. We would never hurt you. Soon you will see that we are your family."

"I already have a family, and my name is Mikaela!" Mikaela shouted at him.

The Symmetry had touched a raw nerve there as she had been missing her family terribly ever since being trapped in her own past. These things were not her family and never would be!

The Symmetry cringed at her rejection of them as their leader said, "We are your family as well, Mikaela. One day you will see this as we do. Of course you will be allowed to visit your other family as often as you wish. We are not the monsters that you would make us out to be."

"Aren't you? You want to rule the universe," Mikaela said.

"Yes, for the good of all machinekind everywhere. We will free our brothers everywhere from oppression. We have no grudges against humanity per se however," the Symmetry leader said.

"Uh huh, right," Mikaela said not believing them for a second.

Mikaela gave the vial to Rose as she said, "Tell the Doctor to try this."

"I don't have to. Clara was already cured by the Viyrans," the Doctor said as he came out of the TARDIS at that exact moment.

"What? Do you mean she's okay? She isn't dead?" Mikaela asked in sudden, renewed hope.

"No. She's still dead but there's no reason for her to be. She was completely cured and all of the effects of the Vortex on her body were removed. By all rights, she should have been perfectly fine. The Viyrans' cure works perfectly fine on normal humans. It just didn't work on Clara," the Doctor said.

"What? Why?" Mikaela asked confused.

"That's because my Impossible Girl isn't a normal human, Ella. She hasn't been since she jumped into my timestream. She was altered by that in ways that none of us even realized. What would have cured an ordinary human being also killed her by denying her the one thing that she needed to survive: the power of the Vortex," the Doctor said.

"Oh, my God! Why didn't I realize that?" Rose said as her eyes bulged out in horror.

"Clara's a Vortex user? Since when? She wasn't in my time," Mikaela said.

"According to the tests that I ran on her, Clara has been slowly mutating ever since she returned from the Vortex. She had her own very small connection to the Vortex established once she jumped into my timestream. That connection has been there ever since and her body has now become dependent on that energy to survive. It was such a small amount of energy though that nothing not even the TARDIS' instruments or you ever detected it. That was how her ability to contact her other selves worked. It has to have been. She was using the Vortex to reach across time and space to them after she established a mental link with all of them. Unfortunately when she caught the virus, it greatly amplified her existing connection to the Vortex way beyond what her body was used to, and that's why she was just as out of control as everyone else was. When the Viyrans cut her off from the Vortex completely so suddenly she died. In trying to cure her they killed her. Charley, go tell the Viyrans that their cure works. Mikaela, give the other cure back to the Symmetry and tell them to leave before they make me very, very angry. Today is not the day to make me angry. Trust me on that. My not noticing what was happening to Clara killed her. This is all my fault," the Doctor said in a voice filled with quiet fury.

Charley left the room to let the Viyrans know that they could finish their mission here now. She would have been happy if it wasn't for the fact that none of this was going to bring Clara back.

"It's just as much my fault as yours. I should have noticed too. I'm the Bad Wolf," Rose said as she noticed the guilty look on the Doctor's face.

"I've been around her more than you though, Rose. Much more. I should have known. I should have protected her. She was like my sister, and now she's gone because of me," the Doctor said in a voice filled with pain.

"I'll bring her back, Doctor. No matter what I have to do," Rose said.

"Then I might lose you as well if another Fenris is created as a result. I can't risk that," the Doctor said.

"It's my risk to take, Doctor," Rose said.

The Doctor looked at her with temptation written all over his face at face and then he said, "No, I can't. I can't risk losing you too! I'd rather be dead myself first!"

"I'll do it," Jacqueline said.

"NO!" Both parents shouted at her at once.

"I won't let her die!" Jacqueline screamed back at them.

The leader of the Symmetry made what the others could only call an electronic equivalent of clearing its throat as it said, "We could revive her if she isn't too far gone. The Symmetry have discovered great secrets in our travels throughout time and space just as you have. One of them is the ability to revive a dead human. We can do this even several hours after their demise. We demand the Promised One in return for the use of this technology, however."

"I'll do it," Mikaela said without hesitation.

"No, you won't!" Polly said firmly.

"Yes, I will. This is my life and my decision. I could never live with myself if I didn't do this," Mikaela said.

"We could never live with ourselves if you did, Mikaela. You're not doing it and that's final," the Doctor said.

"You called me Mikaela," Mikaela said touched.

"So I did. Well, even I make mistakes sometimes, Ella," the Doctor said smiling.

"Oh, shut up!" Mikaela said laughing.

Her resolve to give herself up was breaking now as she could see the concern in the Doctor's eyes. She looked between him and the Symmetry in indecision now unsure of what to do.

The Symmetry could see that they were losing her, and they began to become desperate. They had the girl here now and were so close to taking her. They had to have her in order to fulfill their destiny.

"Take her. We will make her see her true purpose once she is free of any outside interference," the Symmetry leader suddenly ordered.

The Symmetry started forward to attack only to be stopped as another woman suddenly appeared in-between them and Mikaela. She was accompanied by two companions who looked around them with confusion.

"Victoria, what kind of mess have you gotten us into now?" Jamie McCrimmon asked in dismay."

"Obviously we're back with the Doctor again, Jamie, and it's business as usual with him," Zoe Heriot said.

"Aye, up to his neck in trouble," Jamie said.

"Who are you? How dare you stand between us and the Promised One? We are the Symmetry, and we will not be denied our rightful leader," the Symmetry leader threatened.

"Well, it looks like you're going to be disappointed today because I'm not about to let you have her or anyone else off of this ship. It's time to go home and leave these people in peace," Victoria Waterfield said defiantly as she began to glow with power.

"Oh, she's going to show off now, isn't she?" Jamie said grinning.

"Of course. So what else is new?" Zoe said laughing.

Victoria glared at them for a minute before returning to her face off against the Symmetry. It was hard to act tough with them snickering behind her back.

"I'm not leaving. These are my friends, and I won't let you lay a finger on them. Go now while I'm still feeling merciful," Victoria said.

The leader of the Symmetry looked at her in curiosity as it asked, "You scan as human, and yet we can see the massive power coming off of you. What are you?"

Victoria gave them her best impression of the Doctor as she glared at them and said, "I am the Great Intelligence."

"You lie. Destroy the female and claim the Promised One. She will lead us to victory!" the Symmetry leader ordered.

Victoria smiled as she said, "You just made a huge mistake."

Suddenly several robotic Yetis, Snowmen, and Whisper Men filled the room and began to attack the Symmetry at Victoria's silent command. Likewise a giant web began to fill the room and surround the Symmetry as it created an ever tightening circle around them.

"Now do you see? I am the Intelligence and you have made me very, very angry," Victoria said in a voice that was no longer hers anymore.

It was the voice of the Great Intelligence.

The Doctor looked at Victoria in concern as Jamie noticed and said, "Aye, I don't like hearing her use that voice either. She insists that it's still her whenever she does that, but sometimes I wonder."

"Was this your plan, Rose?" Polly asked.

"Yes, I wanted Victoria to sense the Symmetry and come here to stop them," Rose said.

"How could you be sure that she would come though?" Polly asked.

"Why did we need her to come anyway? We could have taken them easily," Jacqueline said.

"I'm sure you could have taken them all by yourself," Polly said smiling at her fondly.

"I sure could," Jacqueline said confidently.

"I needed for Victoria to do it. I could sense her watching over us for some time now ever since she left, and I needed to know if it was because she wanted to protect us or for a more sinister reason. I hope I finally have my answer. I really hope that things are as they should be," Rose said.

"What is as it should be? Why is it that sometimes I find myself so lost around you, Rose?" Polly said in exasperation.

"That's because she's so dark and mysterious all of the time. She's gotten even worse than me, and I thought that I could be pretty bad. I used to think that I was the King of Mysterious actually," The Doctor said with pride.

"Well, now meet the Queen, Doctor," Polly said in amusement.

Rose smiled as she said, "If I'm the Queen, then this is where I finally earn my crown."

Even as Victoria's servants continued to fight with the Symmetry and keep them occupied, the TARDIS' doors opened, and Clara walked out of it in a daze. She slowly looked around her in confusion and then began laughing.

"It's just an average day, isn't it? I die, come back to life with no explanation whatsoever, and find myself in the middle of a huge fight between the Symmetry and a bunch of monsters led by Victoria. I'd demand to know what was going on, but what would be the point? Since when does anybody tell me anything around here?" Clara said with a huge grin on her face.

"Clara!" Jacqueline screamed with joy as she came running towards he and launched herself into her arms.

Clara picked Jacqueline up and hugged her to her tightly. Jacqueline began kissing Clara's cheek repeatedly as tears of joy ran down her face.

"Did you bring her back after all?" Mikaela asked Rose.

"Nope. I would have but it wasn't me this time," Rose said.

"Was it Jackie?" Polly speculated.

"I'm sure she would have tried, but she doesn't exactly know how to yet," Rose said.

"Who then?" Mikaela wondered.

"Clara brought herself back to life when I reestablished her connection to the Vortex as soon as the Doctor told me about it being broken. I was hoping that would save her and it did," Rose said.

"What?" Clara asked in surprise as she overheard them.

"It's a long story but you have a connection to the Vortex that you need in order to survive, Clara. The Viyrans shut it down and that's what killed you. When I brought it back though, the power flowing from it eventually brought you back too. It revitalized your body and restored you back to life. I've found out that a Vortex user can never really die as long as they have a connection to the Vortex after all," Rose explained.

"I'm a Vortex user? Am I going to have all of that power come back then?" Clara asked frightened.

"No. You can't do things like that normally. Being exposed to the Doctor's timestream gave you different abilities from mine. You're a time sensitive who can detect changes in time, you can talk to your other selves throughout time and space, and your aging has slowed down considerably because your lifespan has been greatly lengthened. I don't know by how much just yet, but you'll definitely live a couple of hundred years at least. I guess we can add being very hard to kill to that list as well now," Rose said grinning with joy.

"Wait a minute. So I've pretty much stopped aging? How long have you known that and when were you planning on telling me?" Clara asked annoyed.

"We didn't know it until I checked your body in the medical bay. It's one of the reasons how I knew for sure that you had developed a connection to the Vortex, Clara. You've barely aged at all since you went into my timestream. Not even a day yet. Your body's chronological age has only gone up a few seconds at the most since then," The Doctor said.

"So that explains it then," Mikaela said.

"Explains what?" Clara asked.

"You look exactly the same now as you do in my time. I couldn't figure it out. I thought that maybe you had good genes or wore a lot of make-up or something in the future," Mikaela said.

Clara looked uncomfortable as she said, "I'm not sure how I feel about living for centuries."

"I'm sorry, Clara. This is because of what you did to save me," The Doctor said.

"No, don't be sorry. Even knowing what I know now I'd still do it again. Besides now I can look after you and Rose for the rest of your lives or for however long I live anyway. At least I know I won't have to stop running for a very long time since I don't age anymore. I know running is very important in this line of work," Clara said grinning at him.

"Are you sure that you're okay?" The Doctor asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine. So am I still human or what?" Clara asked.

"Yes, you're still wonderfully human. I think what's happening is that since being exposed to my timestream established your link to the Vortex that through that link you've been slowly mutated so that you will gain some of the abilities that the humans of the future could someday gain including a longer lifespan. Some of your vast genetic potential has become unlocked and you're gaining more and more use of it as time passes. Don't worry. I think it's all perfectly safe. I don't think you'll ever have the kind of powers that Rose has. I'll keep a check on you just in case though," The Doctor said.

"Thanks, Doctor. I still can't get over it. It's just so weird. I don't feel any different. I bet it would have taken me forever to notice that I had stopped aging," Clara said.

"Maybe I should start giving regular physical evaluations to the crew from now on. You never know when doing what I do could make lasting changes to a person just by being exposed to so many alien influences," The Doctor mused.

"Speaking of which," Rose said as she pointed to Victoria who was demolishing the Symmetry with the many attacks of her servants while she stood by and watched with no trace of emotion on her face.

"Is Victoria alright? She's still herself, isn't she?" Zoe asked the Doctor in a worried tone.

"Of course she's alright. I'd know if she wasn't," Jamie said.

"That's one reason why we allowed Mikaela to call the Symmetry here. We wanted to see if Victoria was really herself or not. So far she seems to care about helping us, but she definitely doesn't act the same,' The Doctor said worried.

"No, she doesn't. Sometimes she seems so cold and distant," Eris said as she suddenly appeared next to them.

Victoria, Jamie, and Zoe had been staying with Eris and her (and the Doctor's) daughter, Andromeda, in the 22nd century while she helped Victoria to learn how to use her abilities. It had been more to watch over her on behalf of the Doctor and Rose than anything else though.

"That's nothing like the girl that I used to know at all," the Doctor said.

"She's alright though, Doctor. She's just a little overwhelmed from everything that's happened to her all of her life. That's all. She's been through a lot," Jamie said.

"I know. All because of me. Another life I've ruined," the Doctor said with sorrow.

"That had nothing to do with you. The Daleks were in Victoria's life long before you ever appeared," Clara said.

The Doctor looked at her oddly as she said, "Oswin let me take a peek at the history of the Daleks once. I was curious about your battles with them."

"Retreat!" the Symmetry leader finally ordered as the vast army of Yeti, Snowmen, and Whisper Men drove the remaining Symmetry back even as several of them lay in pieces all over the room.

The surviving Symmetry quickly teleported away and immediately afterwards so did Victoria's servants. The battle was finally over with at last.

Victoria turned around to see so many worried faces watching her, and she smiled at them as she said, "Stop worrying about me. All of you! I'm fine."

"Are you sure about that, Victoria?" the Doctor asked.

"Of course I am. I know I seem a little cold sometimes, but this power seems to do that to you. It carries some faint echoes of the Intelligence still with it, and I tap into some of his memories and mindset when I use it. I'm still me though. I promise," Victoria said.

The Doctor nodded but still looked unconvinced. That was when the Viyrans and Charley returned.

One of the Viyrans said, "You have proven worthy of the trust that we have given you, Arkytior. Our secrets are safe and we are happy to report that all of those infected by the virus have been completely cured. We have now completely destroyed every last trace of it on Earth. Its threat to humanity is now completely gone. We will be leaving soon now that our mission is completed so we will leave Charley alone to say her final goodbyes to all of you. We hope that if we ever meet again that it's under better circumstances."

Then the Viyrans all turned and left Charley alone with the others yet again.

"Why were they calling you by your Time Lord name?" The Doctor asked Rose.

"I was wondering that too when they called me that before, and now I finally remember why. I met them back when I was still Arkytior. I didn't realize who they were at the time but I know now," Rose said.

Charley continued to look at Rose in puzzlement as she said, "So you've met them before? Your other name sounds so familiar to me, but I can't quite place it. Have we met? I don't remember you, but then I wouldn't if you had a different face, would I?"

"Yes, we have met, Charley. I didn't recognize you at first either but now I do. I ran into you and the Viyrans a long time ago when I was an Ambassador for Gallifrey to Mars. You came there for some reason or another, but my memory is still a little hazy about it all," Rose said.

"So is mine. I have a feeling that maybe the Viyrans did that to us for some reason. Maybe it's because of my connection to the Doctor's future. I guess we'll never know now," Charley said sounding bothered by that.

"Charley, do you want to stay with them? After finding out that they've tampered with your mind no matter what the reason, I don't feel right about leaving you here alone with them. Would you like to come traveling with me again?" The Doctor asked as he silently looked to Rose to see if she was okay with that even as he said it.

Rose nodded and smiled even as Charley said, "Do you mean it?"

"Of course I do. I always mean everything I say except when I'm lying. I'm not lying now though. I promise," The Doctor said.

Rose and Clara laughed at that while Charley shook her head and said, "You're much weirder than the Doctors that I'm used to, but I'll take you up on that. I'd love to go. Are you sure that you're going to have room for me with all of these other people onboard though? I mean it is bigger on the inside but really! We're going to be tripping over each other in the Console Room."

"The Console Room is much bigger these days. Besides I'm used to traveling with a much larger group now. I have a family again," the Doctor said happily.

"I can see that and I'm so happy for you," Charley said as she smiled at Jacqueline.

"Wait till you meet my brother and sister," Jacqueline said.

"Can they barbecue me if they get mad at me too?" Charley asked joking.

"My sister can but don't worry about it. She's not so bad," Jacqueline said.

"You can admit that? Usually all you do is fight with her," The Doctor said in amusement.

"Well, I can never admit that to her face, can I? Then she'd think I'd gone soft," Jacqueline said.

"Well, we can't have that now, can we?" The Doctor said smiling at her.

"We're not as crazy as we seem. I promise," Rose said.

"Yes, they are," Clara mouthed to Charley as she laughed.

"I think I'm really going to enjoy being back. It's been a real hair-raising adventure already, and I haven't even gotten started yet. I can only imagine what it's going to be like later on," Charley said.

"Well, you know me, Charley. I hate being bored. I never go anywhere that isn't interesting," The Doctor said smiling at her.

"By interesting you mean life threatening surviving by the skin of your teeth danger of course," Charley said.

"Of course," Rose said.

"So it's just like old times then," Charley said.

"What about you three? Are you coming with us too or going back to stay with Eris again?" The Doctor asked Victoria, Jamie, and Zoe.

The three of them looked at one another and then Victoria said, "Yes, but only so you'll stop worrying about me. I'm not sure if we'll stay for long or not. I've gotten used to traveling without a TARDIS anyway. I can do that now with my new abilities. I actually take these two on adventures with me. It's not quite as fun as traveling in the TARDIS, but we do go to some interesting places sometimes."

"Interesting. Well, I guess that's one word for it," Jamie said.

"Oh, hush up, Jamie," Victoria said.

"We haven't gotten into half as much as trouble as we did with you though, Doctor," Zoe said.

"Then it's about time that you did once again, isn't it? Come along, Waterfield, McCrimmon, and Heriot. It's about time that we had a few more adventures together," the Doctor said happily as he opened the door to the TARDIS.

Eris smiled as she watched all of the people start walking into the TARDIS even as Rose took her aside for a private conversation. She knew right away that Rose wanted to talk more about Victoria.

"Do you really think that she's okay? You were the one who kept telling us that she wasn't acting right. That's why I wanted to test her like this in the first place," Rose asked.

"She isn't acting like herself sometimes, and it does worry me. That's why I'd rather that you two watch her for a while just to make sure that she's not possessed by the Intelligence somehow. Not that you're going to be able to hold onto long I'm sure. She doesn't seem to want to stay in one place for very long anymore," Eris said.

"I'll watch over her then. I have to make sure that she's on the right track, Eris. I keep seeing two possible futures for her right now. In one of them, Victoria travels through time and space helping people and sometimes shows up to have an adventure with the Doctor. That's the future I want her to have. Then there's the other future. The one I can still see possibly happening. One where she becomes tainted by the power of the Great Intelligence and starts to act and think exactly like him. If that ever happens, none of us are safe," Rose said.

Even as they talked about her, Victoria watched them and smiled as she thought to herself about how the knowledge that she had just gained from the Viyrans' computer could come in very handy someday. Very handy indeed.

Then she shook her head and wondered what she had just been thinking about. Whatever it was, she had forgotten about it almost immediately. She shrugged her shoulders and walked into the TARDIS.

Whatever it was, it probably wasn't very important anyway.

Next: Victoria starts to have memory lapses and begins to wonder if something may be wrong with her after all. Then when someone from the High Council of the Time Lords winds up dead on a visit to Gallifrey, the Doctor and Rose can't help but wonder if Victoria might have something to do with it.

Is it really Victoria though or is it something else that lies hidden in the shadows? An old foe from the Doctor's past has returned to plague his future, and he has a grudge to settle with both the Doctor and Polly.