CHAPTER 55

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THE (FINAL) WEDDING OF DONNA NOBLE

The Queen of the Racnoss was puzzled at first when she suddenly found herself back on Earth with no explanation. She smiled as she realized that somehow she was free once again. She could have easily escaped, and no one would have been any the wiser as to where she had gone.

She could never do that though. She had to have her revenge on that woman. She couldn't leave until she killed the woman who had helped the Doctor that day. That horrible day that she had lost her children. She had to destroy Donna Noble. Then and only then would she go after the Doctor himself after she let him watch as she ate his friend alive.

As the Queen of the Racnoss went off to find Donna, Donna herself was entirely preoccupied with her wedding. It wasn't going to be big and fancy, but it was going to be the one that mattered. This was going to be the one that counted. She was sure of it.

She was dressed in a beautiful white wedding dress that was backless and sleeveless. It also had something that the dress maker thought was a very odd request for a wedding dress: pockets. She had pockets in it filled with extra money. She had made sure of that just in case.

"Donna darling, don't worry so much. It's going to be great. I just know it," Wilf said as he saw her looking worried.

"It better be, Granddad. I may just lose my mind and become as mad as the Doctor if things go wrong this time," Donna said.

"Don't worry, Donna. Even if that does happen, it's not the end of the world. Us crazy people can still have a lot of fun. I promise. Besides it's always fun to have a new person join our club," Lily said with an evil smile on her face.

"Not now, Lily," Donna said depressed.

"Hey, I was just kidding. I just wanted to make you laugh. It's going to be fine, Donna," Lily said.

"See? Even she thinks so, and she's even wiser than your old Granddad because she's been around a lot longer," Wilf said.

"Good one, Wilf," Calliope said laughing despite herself as Lily glared at both of them.

"I didn't mean anything by that. I just meant that you were very intelligent because you had lived longer," Wilf said looking embarrassed.

Lily smiled and said, "I understand. You're very sweet, Wilf. I see where Donna gets it from. You're too good for Calliope. You know that, don't you?"

Then she kissed Wilf on the cheek, and Calliope tried very hard not to punch her. What was she doing? She thought that they had made up.

When Lily winked at her, she realized that she was playing a game with her. It was the same game that she played with the Doctor where she pretended to hate him when she really just disliked him immensely. Hopefully she scored a bit higher than that with her now.

"I like her. I also like how she made your jealous. I still don't understand how you could be jealous of an old man like me though," Wilf said.

"I told you that I'm far, far older than you are, Wilf. Just because I don't look it doesn't mean anything," Calliope said.

"All I know is that you're the one who's too good for me, darling," Wilf said.

Calliope shook her head at him and said, "I'm going to make sure that you see just how wonderful that you really are if it's the last thing that I do."

Then she kissed him passionately right in front of Donna. Donna smiled at that. It didn't bother her now like it used to. It used to freak her out at first since Calliope looked so much younger than her grandfather, but now she was used to it since she realized that Calliope was so much older than she looked and that she was so perfect for him in every possible way. She had never seen him smile so much in her life as he had since he had met her, and she was so happy for him.

That was what she wanted for herself. She didn't know why that was so hard for her to find. Each time she had tried to find the perfect man had been a disaster though. First Lance then Shaun. Hopefully it would work out this time though. It just had to.

"Don't worry so much, Donna. This time is for keeps," Rose said as she saw the look on her face.

Donna saw the serious look on Rose's face and said, "Are you being straight with me? Do you know that for sure?"

Rose leaned over and whispered into Donna's ear, "Yes. I swear to you that this is the one. You know how I know about the future, Donna. This is it. Stop worrying."

"Time can still be rewritten though, right? I mean that could always happen. Even though I've seen Lauren that doesn't mean anything, does it?" Donna said.

"Yes, that's all true, but I won't let anything go wrong, Donna. I promise," Rose said.

"I'm trying to stop worrying. I just can't. I just know that something's going to go wrong. It always does. I'm just not meant to find true love," Donna said.

Then Rose completely surprised Donna by slapping her right in the face. Donna looked at her in absolute shock for a moment and then began laughing.

"Thanks, Flower Girl. I really needed that," Donna said as she gave Rose a big hug.

"I'm always ready and willing to give the good old Tyler slap wherever it's needed," Rose said smiling.

"Do that again though, and I'll punch your lights out," Donna said.

"Duly noted," Rose said as she shivered with fear.

"Don't mess around with her. She means it," the Doctor said.

"I know. That's what scares me," Rose said.

Then Donna winked at her and smiled. Rose relaxed but only just a little.

"That's our Donna. She can even scare the living daylights out of the high muckety mucks of the universe," Ileana said grinning.

"Donna, did that slap make you feel any better? It certainly seems to have brought your optimism back," Sylvia said as she smiled at her daughter.

"Did you tell her to do that?" Donna asked surprised.

"No, but she told me that she might do it if you didn't cheer up soon. I gave her my full permission to do so," Sylvia said.

"Thanks a lot," Donna said laughing.

"I couldn't help it. I really think that you needed it. To tell the truth, I'm the one who deserves it much more than you do. I'm sorry, Donna," Sylvia said.

"For what?" Donna asked.

"I'm the reason that you are the way that you are now. I should have encouraged you more in your life and tried to lift your spirits. I should have been happy with anything that you did instead of always criticizing you. I can see that now. I was wrong and I'm truly sorry for that. I'm going to try to be better in the future for both you and Lauren," Sylvia said.

"First of all, the funk I've been in today is in no way your fault, and second of all, how do you know about Lauren?" Donna asked in surprise.

Then Lauren walked up to them smiling as she said, "H-H-Hi, Mum!"

"Do you know how many rules you're breaking just by being here? I mean I don't really know which laws they are offhand, but I'm sure that you're breaking at least some of them," Donna said surprised.

"I-I-I don't really care. I had t-to be here. Dot got to go to her p-p-parents' wedding so why not me? I-I-I wouldn't miss it. L-L-Let the Time Lords try to stop me from coming. I'll take them all on if I have to, the uptight bunch of dumbos!" Lauren said.

"That's my girl," Donna said laughing as she hugged her.

"Why didn't you ever tell me about her? I like her. She reminds me so much of you at that age," Sylvia said.

"I just didn't know whether I should or not. I mean what if by talking about her I accidentally erased her or something? I'm still not too clear about that sort of thing," Donna said.

"I usually side with just not saying anything, but in this case I think it should probably be okay," River Song said as she joined the conversation along with her husband, Donald Noble, the Metacrisis Doctor.

"See, Donna? That comes from the highest authority. If River says something's okay, then it is. If she doesn't, then I don't do it. That's how I live my life. I'm too terrified to do otherwise. I don't like being shot," Donald said.

"He's kidding, right?" Sylvia asked Lauren.

"I-I'm afraid not, Gran," Lauren said as River grinned away madly at them.

"River, Donnie, I'm so glad that you could make it," Donna said as she greeted both of them warmly.

"I wouldn't miss this for the universe, Donna. It's not every day that your sister gets married," Donnie said smiling at her.

"Although it certainly seems to be," Donna joked.

"Oh, Donna! You haven't gotten married half as much as I have. I mean I've been married a lot," Donald said.

Suddenly both River and Rose were staring at him with intense interest as the Doctor did his best to hide behind Wilf. He definitely didn't want to face the wrath of both River and Rose combined.

"Really? Tell us more about all of these marriages of yours," River said.

"I'm e-exaggerating of course. I've only ever married the two of you. Oh, and apparently the other me married Queen Elizabeth I, but that wasn't me. That happened after I was created. That's it though. I swear," Donald said as he began sweating profusely.

Just as Donald began to look like he might faint, Donna heard the wedding music begin. She knew that that was her cue. She had to go. Just as she was about to though, Michelle ran up to her out of breathe with a terrified look in her eyes.

"What is it, Shelly?" Donna asked with a feeling of dread beginning to form in her heart.

"Donna, I didn't realize it until just now. I should have checked sooner but I didn't. I'm sorry," Michelle said apologizing.

"Sorry for what? What's going on?" Donna demanded.

"It's the Queen of the Racnoss. She's not in the Mirror Verse anymore. She's gone. She must have gotten out when Carmilla attacked me. It must have weakened my hold on her when she started aging me and stole my life force. I'm sorry," Michelle said in tears.

"It wasn't your fault. It was mine. I should have stopped Carmilla sooner," Lilith said as she tried to comfort her.

"That's not important right now. What is important is that I've got to be ready for anything. She could show up here to wreck things at any moment," Donna said alarmed.

"I wouldn't worry about it. How would she even know where to come anyway?" Ileana asked.

"Lance. Lance could have told her. I brought him here," Donna said as her eyes widened in horror.

"As it turns out, you're exactly right," the Queen of the Racnoss said as she suddenly appeared out of nowhere right in the middle of Wilf and Calliope's yard.

"I knew it. I just knew it," Donna said in frustration.

"I get the idea that you're here for yet another wedding, aren't you? I'm afraid that today's not going to be the date of your wedding though, Donna. It's going to be the day of your funeral instead. Both yours and the Doctor's. The only problem is that there's not going to be enough left of either of you to bury. I'll make sure of that," the Queen said.

"Are you a major class nutter or what? Do you know who I have in attendance at this wedding? Two Doctors, the Bad Wolf, River Song, Lily Wright, and the Bad Wolves. Do you really think that you're going to get away with hurting anyone much less get away from here now that they've seen you? Dumbo!" Donna said.

"When did I ever say that I was alone? I brought some friends with me," the Queen said with an evil grin as several zombies suddenly appeared next to her.

"I completely forgot about the Gelth. I had some Gelth still in the Mirror Verse too," Michelle said as she groaned in frustration.

"Do you have any other little surprises for me that you've forgotten to mention, Mirror Girl?" Donna said in irritation.

"I'm sorry," Michelle said in voice filled with sorrow.

"It's okay, Shelly. It wasn't your fault," Donna said.

"It wasn't yours either," Emmy whispered to a guilty looking Lilith.

"Yes, it was," Lilith said.

She had gotten too used to holding back, and now Donna's wedding had been ruined because of it. She should never have held back. Ever. She was just afraid that the others might have been afraid of her if they had been able to see what she could truly do or what she truly was.

As much as she tried to pretend otherwise and as much as she wished that it was otherwise, she was not human and never would be. She would never truly fit in among anyone else on this world. Deep down she knew this, and she was terrified that the others would find out too. She didn't want to lose them because they were all that she had now that she had turned on her mothers. She didn't want to wind up alone.

Better to wind up alone though then to have someone die because she failed to act.

She noticed that Rose and River were both looking at her expectantly. What did they know that she didn't? She couldn't allow herself to worry about that. Whatever it was, it truly didn't matter. Not now when so much was at stake.

The Queen laughed as the Gelth began to attack the guests at the wedding. A mass panic ensued as a fight broke out immediately between those with the ability to fight back and the Gelth. The normal humans among Donna's family and friends began to run for their lives even as the Queen silently waited for Donna with a smile of anticipation on her face.

Donna wasn't going to leave her waiting for long. She immediately came after her with something else that she had put in one of her wedding dress' pockets just in case: her sonic screwdriver.

As Donna prepared to fight for her life, Sylvia sighed and said to Wilf, "So this is going to be her life now, isn't it? She tries to get married and winds up fighting a giant spider and a horde of zombies instead. It's a wonder that Lauren turned out to be so well adjusted. Or is that will turn out? I already hate talking about time travel, and I've never even done it."

"It could be worse, Sylvia. I wound up fighting a giant vampire on my wedding day," Lily said.

"That's not as bad as my wedding day. An enemy of mine sent a clone of my mum to kill me," Rose said.

"Don't remind me. Of course that turned out to be a good thing in the end though. Violet's just like a sister to me now," Lily said.

"My Donna's fell in with a group of nutters," Sylvia said in despair.

Then she quickly said, "Sorry. No offense meant."

"None taken. I take that as a compliment personally," Lily said smiling.

"You would," Calliope said rolling her eyes at her.

"See? We can still be friends and insult each other at the same time, can't we?" Lily said.

"Yeah, I guess we can. I have to admit that I'm just too used to it to give it up now," Calliope said.

"Nutters," Sylvia said in a low voice as Wilf said, "Quiet now, Sylvia. Be nice."

Lauren smiled at them. Even in her time, Sylvia never did really get along with Calliope, Lily, or the rest of her mother's friends. She saw them as corrupting Donna. She had always treated her and her Great Aunt Kimberly well though and adored both of them. Lauren thought that she had always fancied herself as one of the few positive influences in their lives.

As Donna and the Queen fought with each other, the others had been trying to keep the Gelth from spilling out into the surrounding neighborhood while simultaneously preventing them from attacking the guests who were all pouring into Wilf and Calliope's house for safety. It seemed that for each one of the Gelth who was destroyed or trapped in some way, ten more took their place. They were apparently cleaning out morgues and funeral homes for miles around the area for bodies, and they weren't going to stop anytime soon.

Lilith soon realized this, and that was when she decided to put a stop to it right then and there.

"I'm sorry, Emmy," Lilith said.

"Sorry for what?" Emmy asked confused.

"That you have to see what I really am," Lilith said in a sad voice.

Then she transformed into her true form. Emmy thought that she looked like a giant skeletal bird of some sort. Lilith had never told her about this before. This form wasn't even the slightest bit human, and she knew that this was why Lilith was holding back before. She made it a point to make sure that Lilith knew that she didn't care about what she looked like one way or the other later on.

In her true form, Lilith quickly flew from Gelth to Gelth collecting hair samples from each of their stolen bodies and then using those samples to control them. She quickly took control of all of the bodies that she stole a sample from and within a matter of moments the remaining Gelth who hadn't already been either destroyed or captured in some way were all under her power.

Then she turned her attention to Donna who was only really able to use her sonic to keep the Queen at bay for the moment. That had all changed now because when the Gelth were all taken care of that freed up everyone else to attack the Queen. The Queen hissed in anger as she found herself having to fight all of the Bad Wolves and their friends at once. She hadn't anticipated that. She had thought that the Gelth would keep everyone else busy until she could kill Donna.

"It looks like you're outnumbered. Plan on giving up?" Donna asked with a smirk.

"I'm not finished yet. I can't die yet until I kill you. I won't rest until I do," the Queen said.

"Why do you have to die at all? Why can't we just end this peacefully?" Donna asked.

"You don't understand, do you? You and the Doctor killed my children, and I can never have any others. All that's left to me now is to avenge them. That's nothing left in my life but that. I'm all alone," the Queen said in a bitter voice.

Lilith shuddered at those words. She hoped that that never became her someday.

"I couldn't allow the Racnoss to return to threaten the Earth," the Doctor said defending himself.

"You murdered my children! Now I'll take one of your children away from you!" the Queen screamed.

She suddenly grabbed Donna and began to try to pull her apart. Donna screamed in pain as the Queen did her best to rip her in half. Sylvia and Wilf screamed in terror while the others began to fight back against the Queen immediately. Nothing they did would make her let go though.

"No. Leave her alone," Lilith said as she quickly chopped a piece of skin off of the Queen.

Then she used that skin to seize control of her mind. The Queen instantly let go of Donna. Donna dropped to the ground in agony as Lilith drew closer to the Queen.

"Do it. Kill me. It's what I want," the Queen said.

Lilith was so tempted to do just that for what she had done to Donna. Then she looked at the others and hesitated. How could she prove that she wasn't a monster if she acted like one?

"Someone tie her up while I have her under control," Lilith said.

Before anyone could make a move toward the Queen though, she began to laugh. She quickly swatted Lilith away like a fly as she said, "Stupid Carrionite garbage! Your tricks don't affect my kind but for a short time! We came up with a way to overcome them eons ago."

"Lil!" Emmy shouted in concern as Lilith flew into a tree and hit the ground with a sickening crack.

"Come on! Take me! I won't rest until I destroy all of the Doctor's Children of Time and then finally the Doctor himself," the Queen said.

"Well, that would ruin the wedding very quickly if you killed everyone attending, wouldn't it? I'm afraid that I can't have that. I'm very partial to weddings you know," a voice that was very familiar to the Doctor said.

The Queen suddenly turned around to face this newcomer and immediately went rigid as though she was in a trance.

"You don't remember ever even coming here. In fact, you were never here. You haven't seen Donna since that day that your children died. You definitely don't remember where she lives. Now you're going to come with my priests nice and peacefully, aren't you? They'll take you to the Shadow Proclamation where they'll make sure to deal with you as you deserve. I could care less about that myself. I came here to marry someone, and that's what I'm going to do," Tasha Lem, the head of the Papal Mainframe, said.

The Silents carried the Queen away with them as Tasha said to Donna who was still on the ground, "Hello! I believe that you're the bride?"

"Yeah, or I will be if I'm still alive in a few minutes. You're the priest that the Doctor found to marry me?" Donna asked in surprise.

"Oh, I'm much better than a priest. I'm the Mother Superious of the Papal Mainframe, licensed to marry people through the universe," Tasha said with pride as she helped Donna up.

"So you're like the Pope or something?" Donna asked.

"Something like that. Are you alright?" Tasha asked in concern.

"Not really," Donna said as she gritted her teeth in pain.

"Donna, are you okay?" Sylvia asked as she ran up to her with concern.

"I don't know. She was really trying to tear me apart. If it hadn't been for Lilith, she would have," Donna said.

Then she noticed Lilith lying motionless on the ground nearby with Emmy standing over her shaking with fear.

"Is she okay?" Donna asked.

"I don't know. I don't know anything about Carrionite physiology so I can't tell," Emmy said with worry.

"She's going to be alright," Rose said.

"Are you sure?" Emmy asked.

"Yeah. I checked her with my powers. She's just been knocked out," Rose said.

"What about Donna? She's in such pain," Sylvia said.

"She's going to be alright too. She doesn't have any major damage. She would be in pain for days, but since she's supposed to be getting married I'm not about to have that," Rose said.

As Rose touched Donna, her entire body glowed for a moment as she instantly healed her. Donna smiled at Rose in gratitude and embraced her.

"Thanks, Flower Girl. I owe you one," Donna said.

"You don't owe me anything. Just get married and have a good life. Everyone knows that you deserve it after everything that you've been through especially today," Rose said smiling at her.

"I plan on it if all of this hasn't scared him away," Donna said.

"N-n-not a chance. I-I won't leave you. Y-you might leave me though for not helping you. I-I'm so sorry, Donna. I couldn't fight h-her though. I-I'm not that good in a fight. I-I was never a warrior. I was t-trying to keep everyone from trampling each other as they raced into the house so I couldn't come out a-anyway. I h-had to try to calm them down. L-Luckily no one was hurt," Lee said as he finally left the house.

"It's okay, Lee. I know that you would have helped if you could," Donna said as she kissed him.

"T-t-that doesn't make me feel any better," Lee said in an upset voice.

"Don't worry about it. I'm alright and so is everyone else and that's what matters," Donna said.

"Let's hurry up and get this over with before the Daleks decide to show up next," Calliope said warily.

As Tasha started the ceremony, Emmy sat down on the ground next to Lilith and waited for her to wake up. As soon as Lilith woke up, Emmy said, "Are you alright?"

Lilith looked at her in complete astonishment as she said, "You're not scared or repulsed in any way?"

"No, of course not. I don't care how you look, Lil. I'm trying to find out if you're alright. Are you going to tell me or not?" Emmy asked in concern.

Lilith smiled or at least Emmy thought that she did, but she wasn't sure since her true face was basically a skull so it was hard to tell. "I feel wonderful. You're sure it doesn't bother you?" Lilith said.

"Not a bit. Come on. We have a wedding to attend, sweetie," Emmy said as she helped her to her feet.

"Thank you," Lilith said.

"For what?" Emmy asked confused.

"For being such a good friend," Lilith said.

The two of them embraced and then they leaned against the tree as they watched the wedding together. Lilith stayed in her true form the entire time, and Emmy never even thought about asking her to change back.

As soon as the wedding had finished, Donna grabbed Lee and gave him such a long kiss that it looked like to all of the onlookers that he was starting to turn blue. Just before he was about to pass out, Donna let him go and began to smile so wide that it seemed as if her face just might explode from sheer happiness.

She had finally done it. She was married. This time it really was for keeps. She could feel that deep down in her soul.

"Congratulations, Donna, Lee. I'm so happy for both of you. So do I get to live now?" the Doctor joked.

"Yeah, I think I'll let you stick around for a little longer, Spaceman," Donna said as she hugged him.

"I'm so happy for you, darling," Wilf said as he hugged Donna next.

"So am I. Now you can get busy and hurry up and give me Lauren," Sylvia said as she held Lauren's hand.

Lauren giggled as Donna said, "Well, give me a little time, Mum. I haven't even gone on the honeymoon yet."

"Go on and go then. I want baby Lauren here ASAP," Sylvia said grinning.

Donna smiled at her. She could tell that her mother was really going to love Lauren already. She was glad. Lauren deserved it.

"So where are you going on your honeymoon out of curiosity?" Rose asked.

"We're off to Rome. Lucius Caecilius said that I could always stay at his house if I was ever in town so I thought I'd take him up on that. I did save his life in Pompeii after all. I always wanted to check in with them and see if they were okay or not anyway," Donna said.

Rose and the Doctor exchanged an odd look that made Donna wonder if they knew something that she didn't, but she didn't ask any questions. She supposed that she'd find out about whatever it was in her own time.

After Donna and Lee left in Donna's TARDIS, Katherine said to Ileana, "I didn't want to say this until Donna left because I didn't want to ruin her wedding, but I've decided that Amanda and I are going to leave the group. It's just too dangerous for her here now. I'd like to take her to Masada. Do you think that they would take us in there despite the fact that I'm a vampire? It's the only place that I think that she'd be safe."

Masada was a secret community of vampire hunters located in the Alps that was designed to be vampire proof and a place where anyone could go to seek refuge from a vampire. Ileana was the only vampire that they would allow inside since most of them respected and trusted her as the wife of Abraham Van Helsing. Katherine hoped that she could get them to change that rule by vouching for her.

"Are you sure about this? Carmilla's dead now and so is Xana. I don't think that anyone else will be going after Amanda if that's what you're worried about. Can't you wait until Donna comes back to decide this?" Ileana pleaded.

"Carmilla's been dead before and yet she still came back, didn't she? I'll wait, Lana, but I don't think that even Donna's going to change my mind. I want Amanda to be safe," Katherine said.

"I don't want to go. These are my only friends. I don't know anyone else in this time," Amanda protested.

"We'll make new friends. I promise. It's for your own safety," Katherine said.

Amanda looked so sad that Ileana's heart felt empty. She wanted her to stay too. She could only hope that Donna could change her mother's mind about this.

Meanwhile at her house in London, Joan Redfern was just coming back from a hard day's work at her job as Dr. Grace Holloway's assistant at UNIT when she saw the last person that she ever expected to see sitting in her living room. She gasped in shock as she saw who she thought was Donald Noble there.

"Donald? What are you doing here? Where's River?" Joan asked.

"Donald? I don't know what you're talking about, Joan," the mysterious figure asked in confusion.

"Doctor?" Joan asked thinking that maybe this was the Tenth Doctor instead.

"No, I'm John. John Smith. Don't you remember?" the man asked as he looked at her with concern.

"What?" Joan asked in complete bewilderment.

"I know that it's hard to believe, but it's really me, Joan. It's John. I'm back and I want to spend the rest of my life with you just like we always wanted," John said with a huge grin all over his face.

Joan immediately went to her phone as she called first the Doctor who didn't answer, then Donald who also didn't answer, and then finally the Bad Wolves. Ileana picked up the phone and quickly got an earful of scared babble from Joan until she said, "Whoa! Whoa! You said who's in your house? John Smith? As in the Doctor? Well, I don't see how that could be since both the Doctor and Donald are both here with us right now at Donna's grandfather's house. Don't worry, Joan. We'll be right there. We'll figure this out in no time."

Ileana rolled her eyes as she wondered why everything weird always happened when Donna was away. Well, at least she was finally going to get to prove herself as the team leader once and for all, wasn't she? She just couldn't help but wonder who in the world this John Smith was.

Could he really be the Doctor somehow?

Next: As Donna and Lee go on their honeymoon, the rest of the Wolves plus the Doctor, Rose, Donald, and River try to find out just who the mysterious John Smith is and where he came from. The answer to that may not be what you expect.