CHAPTER 72

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

Thank you for all of your favorites, follows, story alerts, and reviews!

ENTERING THE WORLD WITH A BANG

"You and your big mouth! You know I never thought I'd ever sympathize with my brother about anything but I actually feel sorry for him for having to deal with you as a mother-in-law all of this time," Emmy said to Jackie Tyler in a furious voice as they both raced for their lives from what seemed like the entire population of Thoros Minor at that moment.

"How was I supposed to know that those people would have such thin skins? I mean who tries to kill someone just because they give them a little constructive criticism?" Jackie said with a frown as she struggled to catch up to the much faster Time Lady who was already far ahead of her.

"Constructive criticism?! You told their Queen that she needed a breath mint. Then you told the King that he needed to pay more attention to his personal hygiene and less to his evening snacks. And as if that wasn't enough, you thought that the Princess was a man. That went over really well," Emmy said.

"Well, how was I supposed to know? She looked like a man to me. It's an easy enough mistake," Jackie said defensively.

"I am so tempted to leave you here right now," Emmy grumbled as she barely dodged a stray energy blast that came a little too close to her head.

"You wouldn't dare," Jackie said as she pushed herself even harder to keep up with her just in case she actually did try it.

"Wouldn't I?" Emmy said as she looked back at her with an evil grin.

Then to their complete and utter surprise they suddenly found themselves in the Console Room of a TARDIS. They both looked at one another in confusion as they briefly wondered what was going on. Had the Time Lords actually sent someone to help Jackie after all?

"Sounds awfully tempting I must admit but it's probably not a good idea. Rose is very attached to her for some reason," A voice said from behind them.

"Oh, it's you," Jackie said with a frown.

"Well, there's gratitude for you. I did just save your life after all. The people on Thoros Minor have been known to eat humans and even the occasional Time Lord from what I hear. Or would you rather I just left you there?" Lily Wright, Rose's birth mother, said in an irritated voice.

"I wouldn't. Thank you, Lily. I at least appreciate being saved from a fate worse than death even if certain other people don't," Emmy said with a grateful smile.

"I don't need her help. I can find Rose all by myself," Jackie said defensively.

"Yes, because you've been doing such a great job so far. Not only have you not found anything, but you've almost gotten yourself killed. Bravo," Lily said with a chuckle.

"Don't pay any attention to her, Lily. She obviously woke up on the wrong side of the bed . . . about forty years ago. So how did you know where we were?" Emmy asked curiously.

"Your mother asked me to keep an eye out for you so I've been using a bug that was on her TARDIS to listen in on you and make sure that you were alright. I figured you'd get into trouble on this planet though with Jackie along so I came straight here and waited to see if you'd need my help or not. It's a good thing too isn't it?" Lily admitted.

"You bugged Mum's TARDIS?" Emmy asked in disbelief.

"Not me. Koschei did actually. Don't take it personally. He bugs everyone's TARDIS. He always likes to know what everyone's up to at all times. He says it's to keep everyone safe in case someone becomes mind controlled," Lily said with a sly grin.

"Right. Well for once I'm not mad about that kind of extremely stalkerish behavior from him. I'll still tell Mum to give the TARDIS a thorough search all the same when we get it back if it's all the same to you, Lil," Emmy said.

"Be my guest if you can find it. He hides them so well that I'm still not sure that he hasn't bugged my TARDIS. That's not important right now though because looking after you wasn't the only reason that I came here," Lily said as she looked at Jackie intently.

"Did you find them?" Jackie asked with a hopeful smile as her earlier animosity towards her was completely forgotten for a moment.

"No, not yet but I think that I may have come across something that could help us find them. The Doctor's friend Polly Wright, no relation to me by the way, accidentally saw them for a few minutes on a device I created a long time ago called the Time Space Visualizer that lets you see events happening all through time and space. I've been constantly monitoring the one that I have for days now, and she just comes upon them entirely by accident a few minutes after she switches one on. You've got to love how the universe works sometimes," Lily said.

"So that told you where to find them then, right? Is that why you're here so that we can all go rescue them together?" Jackie asked eagerly.

Lily looked at her sympathetically as she said, "No, Jackie, I'm sorry but I don't know where they are just yet. Thanks to Polly I have a very good lead that may just help us though. You see her Visualizer not only automatically recorded what she saw which was definitely Earth, but it also recorded something else even more important. A set of partial coordinates which I just now managed to find!"

Lily smiled in triumph at them as Emmy laughed and jumped around like a child while her hearts filled with joy.

"What are both of you getting so worked up about? You said it was only partial coordinates so we still don't know where they are, do we?" Jackie said in a disappointed voice.

"It narrows it down considerably though. All we have to do is search a few dozen universes instead of all of them plus we know that they're on Earth. We should find them in a couple of weeks at the most. They're coming back, Jackie. They're really coming back," Emmy said in excitement.

"Are you sure?" Jackie asked as she actually started to allow herself to hope for once.

"I'm positive," Emmy said.

Both Lily and Emmy were completely surprised when Jackie gave Lily a massive hug a moment later as she began to cry tears of joy on her shoulder.

"Thank you! Thank you!" Jackie said in an emotional voice.

"Don't worry, Jackie. I won't tell anyone that you did this if you don't. You do have a reputation to uphold after all," Emmy said with a chuckle.

"Oh, I don't care. Tell them whatever you want. My Rose is coming back again!" Jackie said with joy.

Then she looked at Lily and said apologetically, "Sorry. Our Rose is coming back again."

Lily grinned and nodded in approval as she said, "Yes, and unfortunately she's bringing the Doctor back with her."

"Yes, unfortunately," Jackie said with a slight smile.

"Shut up, both of you. He may be annoying and more than a bit mad but he's my brother and . . . I miss him," Emmy said in a sad voice.

"I won't tell anyone that you just said that if you don't tell them about me hugging Lily," Jackie said.

"Deal," Emmy said as she shook Jackie's hand.

Lily grinned at the both of them as she brought them straight back to Calliope's TARDIS so that they could finish the search together. With the three of them working together, she knew that they would be back to listening to the Doctor tell them all to shut up in no time.

She then eagerly pulled her cell phone out of her pocket and called Calliope with the good news. She knew that she would want to be the first one to hear it.

Calliope was at Joan Redfern's home where she was helping Joan get prepared for her wedding to John there later that day (because Joan didn't care if the place that she got married in was someplace special or not as long as John was there) when she received the call. When she saw who was calling, she couldn't help but smile.

"Found them already, did you?" Calliope answered in a knowing tone before Lily could even say anything.

"And how could you possibly know that?" Lily asked suspiciously.

"I just did. I've known all along that they would be back sooner or later even though everyone else thought that I was in denial about it. So how much longer do you think that it'll take? Joan and John really wanted the Doctor at the wedding as the Best Man," Calliope said.

"Well, you're not concerned at all are you? In fact, you're a little bit too certain about their return. If I didn't know better, I'd almost think that you were getting just as bad as Rose about knowing more than you let on, dear," Lily said in an accusing tone.

"Spoilers," Calliope said making Lily shake her head at her even though she knew that she couldn't see her.

"Isn't that my line? Hello, Calliope," River Song said with a mad smile as she and Donald Noble suddenly appeared next to Calliope after having traveled there using River's Vortex Manipulator.

"Hello, River, Donald. Joan's in the back room getting dressed if you want to see her," Calliope said and the two of them immediately walked back there because they were both eager to see what Joan looked like.

"I see Melody's there already. Maybe you should get Donald to fill in for the Doctor. He definitely won't be making this wedding I'm afraid," Lily said.

Suddenly a familiar wheezing groaning sound filled the air and everyone including Calliope looked on in surprise as the Doctor's TARDIS materialized in the middle of the room. Lily could hear it on the other end of the phone and gasped in surprise.

"Is that . . . Is that Cassiopeia or is it . . .?" Lily asked in breathless anticipation.

"No, it's too early for it. It can't be," Calliope said to herself in a low voice that was suddenly filled with doubt.

Then she smiled as she saw the TARDIS doors open and a smiling man in a question mark sweater came out of it saying, "I take it that I'm not exactly the Doctor that you were expecting."

"No, it's one of his past selves instead. The seventh one. I remember now that he said that he was coming," Calliope informed Lily over the phone.

"How much do you really know about what's going on, Calliope?" Lily asked.

"What makes you think that I know anything?" Calliope said a little too quickly.

"I heard you just now. You said that it was too early for him to be back yet. What do you know, Calliope?" Lily said in an insistent tone.

"I know that they're both going to be alright, Lily. That's all that I can say for now," Calliope said.

Lily sighed as she said, "It's all timey wimey as the Doctor might put it isn't it?"

"Oh, definitely," Calliope confirmed.

"I see. Well, we'll just have to talk about this later once it's safe to talk about won't we?" Lily said.

"I have no doubt about that whatsoever from that angry tone in your voice. Just remember when we do that I'm not too happy about this either, Lily. Until then though, I'll just have to tell you good bye. The wedding is going to start very soon now after all," Calliope said in a hurried voice.

As soon as she hung up on Lily, Calliope turned around to find Donna standing there with an accusing look on her face.

"So you do know more about this then you were telling. I knew that you were a little too calm about the whole thing," Donna said.

"Donna, I can't tell you whether I do or I don't. I really can't. I'm sorry. You know that if I could that I would. You know that I always tell you everything . . . at any other time I mean," Calliope said.

Donna's face softened as she said, "Yeah, I know. I know that this must be hard on you too especially if you do know something that you can't tell the rest of us. I know I would hate having knowledge like that. I wouldn't be able to resist telling at least someone about it. I guess that makes me a lousy Time Lord doesn't it?"

"Maybe but it makes you an excellent human being, sweetheart," Calliope said with a warm smile as she embraced her.

"I don't know about you but I'd rather be a good human than a good Time Lord any day of the week, Donna," Dorothy said as she came over to join them.

"Time Lords aren't as bad as all that, Dorothy," Calliope said.

Dorothy shot her an incredulous look as she said, "Sure they aren't. You know as someone who's been on both sides of the fence you think you'd know better than to say something like that, Callie."

"Not all Time Lords are devious and manipulative, Dorothy," Calliope said.

"Hello, Ace," The Seventh Doctor said as he walked over to them with a warm smile.

"Exhibit A, your honor," Dorothy joked as she gestured toward her original Doctor.

The Seventh Doctor smiled as if he knew exactly what they were talking about which Dorothy was sure knowing him that he probably did somehow as he said to her, "It's good to see you again. I only hate that I'm going to have to make myself forget about this before I go back. I would love to be able to remember the fact that you're about to have a child. You're going to make an excellent mother by the way."

"Well, if I am it's because I had the best role model in the universe when it comes to that particular department, didn't I?" Dorothy said with a grin.

"Yes, she was always a wonderful mother. I would ask where she and Mr. Eyebrows are but I gather that I'm not supposed to know about that," The Doctor said.

"No, it's probably best that you don't even if you can make yourself forget, Professor. Besides that the fact that I'm still here means that she's going to be alright in the end," Dorothy said.

Donna looked at her in surprise for a moment and then felt like slapping herself. Dorothy was from the future so she had obviously known all along too.

"Even as a Time Lady, I'm still left out of the loop," Donna said with a frown.

"Time could still be rewritten, Donna, so nothing is certain even if I do know what's supposed to happen. I'm just as worried about that as you are," Dorothy reminded her.

Donna nodded as she said, "Yeah, I know. I just wish it didn't seem like everyone else was in on the secret but me. I felt that way for years thinking that I was just imagining it all, and then I finally found out that I wasn't when I remembered everything about the Doctor again. It's definitely not a good feeling."

"Don't worry about it, Donna. We'll all find out the truth eventually. That's how it always works out it seems," Martha said.

"I just hope that when everything resolves itself that my powers are returned to normal again. I thought that maybe I'd like to be fully human if it was to ever actually happen, but I really miss my powers. I feel . . . incomplete without them," Michelle admitted.

"At least you're still alright without them. I . . . don't feel so good," Ileana admitted in a frightened voice.

Ileana had already told them that her own abilities that Rose had granted her with the power of the Vortex were just as unreliable as everyone else's powers lately and that included the ability that Rose had given her to resist the hunger for human blood by feeding off of other vampires instead. Her hunger was now slowly manifesting itself for the first time and getting worse and worse by the day. That was another very good reason why they all hoped that Lilith would find a way to return the universe back to normal just as quickly as possible.

The others looked at one another with worried glances as Donna asked, "Are you still in control or should we be getting worried, Fang Girl?"

"I'm alright. I'll be okay. I promise," Ileana said with a smile that looked a little too forced to the rest of them.

"Lana, if you have to feed . . ." Michelle said.

"I'm fine," Ileana said in a brusque voice.

"Just in case you're not, it's okay if you feed on me. I'm immune to vampirism and I'm not even sure that I can die from loss of blood since I'm not completely human anyway so I'm probably the best choice," Michelle said.

Ileana looked at her with a combination of gratitude and horror at the same time as she said, "I'm not feeding off of you, Michelle. Not you or anyone else. Period."

"Don't worry. I'm teaching her my own techniques on how to control her bloodlust. I've had to deal with this problem for centuries," Katherine reassured the others.

"Yes, blood from the butcher is so wonderful. I heartily recommend it," Ileana said with a frown.

"It's definitely better than the alternative isn't it?" Donna said.

"I prefer vampire blood myself. It feels much more guilt free to me. Too bad it doesn't quite do the trick these days," Ileana said.

"Don't worry, Lana. I will return things to normal soon enough. I think that I'm already learning how to manipulate the current laws of the universe once again at least a little anyway. Maybe it will be enough to help you though," Lilith said as she began to gesture at Ileana and concentrated.

Then to everyone's surprise, Ileana briefly glowed with power and she began to smile as she said, "I have no idea what you just did but you did it. My hunger's gone again."

"I reestablished a full connection to the Vortex for you in order to reactivate the changes that Rose made in your body. It wasn't as hard for you as it would be for the others since you're not a Vortex user," Lilith said.

"Thank you!" Ileana said as she hugged Lilith in gratitude.

"And thank you too, Michelle. I really appreciate it. Don't ever make any vampire that kind of an offer again though, not even me, because we might just take you up on it. You wouldn't want to find out whether you can die by blood loss or not the hard way. Got it?" Ileana said in a firm tone.

Michelle smiled as she said, "Got it, Mum."

"Don't get smart with me," Ileana said as she smiled back at her.

"Well, now that we know that we're not about to become Lana's lunch at any moment I say it's high time that we get this wedding underway at last then. We still need a Best Man though since the Doctor, our Doctor that is, is definitely not going to make it," Donna said.

"Will I do? I mean I am the Doctor too after all," Giacomo Casanova, Donald's clone, said as he and his fiancé Christina de Souza finally arrived at last.

"Oi! What about me? I'm just as much the Doctor as you are . . . literally," Donald complained.

"I actually am the Doctor so it should really be me," The Seventh Doctor said.

"How about all three of you?" Joan said as she finally entered the room.

Everyone who hadn't already seen her by this point opened their mouths in awe at how beautiful that she looked in her dress. Joan immediately blushed as she noticed this and quickly looked away in embarrassment.

"They're finally seeing you exactly like I always have," Donald said to her with a warm smile.

"Really? Then why did you ever leave her?" John said as he entered the room in an expensive and extremely elegant suit.

"It was because he wasn't meant for her, Sweetie. He was meant for me," River said with no hesitation whatsoever.

"Way to be tactful, River. This is her wedding day, remember? Don't rub that in her face," Christina said with a frown.

Joan smiled as she said, "She's right though. John was meant for me instead. I can see that now."

John smiled as he said, "I suppose she does have a point there."

"So you want all three of us to be your Best Man? It's going to get very crowded up there," Giacomo said to John.

"It doesn't matter. It's much better than listening to the other two whine and complain the whole time that they weren't picked," John said with a smirk.

"You've got that right. We'd never get them to shut up long enough to hear the two of you say 'I do.'," Christina said with a chuckle making the other Doctors glare at her.

"You know it's true, Sweeties," River said with a smug smile.

"Well, now that that's been settled who's going to marry them? I never did find out. That's yet another thing no one's bothered to tell me not that I'm keeping track of that sort of thing," Donna said.

"Of course you're not. We decided to let Victoria, our Victoria, do it. She is the leader of a whole race of werewolves after all and that gives her the authority to marry people," Martha said.

"Really? It's all legal and everything, Wolf Girl?" Donna asked.

"Of course. I am the leader of an entire planet after all. My marriages are universally recognized, Donna. There's no way that John can get out of it," Victoria Collins said with a grin.

"Believe me I don't want to," John reassured everyone as he looked pointedly at Joan.

"Then let's get the wedding underway then. I have to be back before my latest companion Benny wakes up. I put her to sleep so that I wouldn't have to answer any questions about where I've gone off to that I won't be able to answer later," The Seventh Doctor said.

"Exhibit B, Callie," Dorothy said with a smug grin.

Then she suddenly began to scream in pain as she said, "Oh, no! Not now. This kid has really rotten timing."

"Oh, don't tell me," Donna said in disbelief.

"Yep, I'm having the baby. My water just broke," Dorothy said in-between gritted teeth.

"Martha, I really hope that you can deliver the baby here instead of in a hospital or we're in real trouble," Donna said.

"Don't worry. I was actually prepared for one or both of you to give birth today. I've got it covered, Donna. I could use a little help though," Martha said as she looked towards the Doctors with a pointed gaze.

They all suddenly looked away with squeamish looks on their faces and Donna said in anger, "Oi! Come on! You really expect me to believe that you can't handle a baby being born after everything that you've had to face, Spacemen?"

"The Doctor never was good at this sort of thing. He fainted at the births of both of his first two children," Calliope said with a small smile.

"Oh, that's just great then. What a bunch of wimps you lot are. All of you," Donna said in disgust.

"Not quite all of us," The Seventh Doctor said as he walked right over to Martha.

Dorothy smiled as she said, "I can't say that I'm too surprised by that actually. I can always count on you when it matters the most can't I, Professor?"

"Always," The Doctor said with a fond smile.

"Do you know what to do?" Martha asked as she looked at the Doctor with pride.

"Yes, I do. I actually did receive a doctorate at the University of Edinburgh. Of course that was in the Nineteenth Century so my skills may be a bit out of date compared to yours I'm afraid," The Doctor admitted.

"It's alright. All you need to know is the basics anyway. Let's do this then," Martha said.

It didn't take long after that before the baby started to emerge and before the day was over Dorothy was looking down proudly at the new baby boy in her arms while the Seventh Doctor joined her. The two of them both made cooing sounds at the infant while Dorothy felt so happy that he was there for that moment even though she was sad that her husband wasn't.

Donna felt a lump in her throat as she watched them together because she wasn't so sure that she would have her Doctor there at her own baby's birth. She really hoped that things would still work out just right for that to happen though.

"What's his name, Dorothy? Have you decided yet?" Donna asked.

"Sylvester. I saw that name in a book somewhere and I instantly liked it for some reason," Dorothy said.

"Sylvester?" Donna said with a frown.

"What's wrong with it? It's a very honored and noble name. I like it," The Seventh Doctor said with an enigmatic smile.

"You would," River said.

"Thank you, Professor. You're the godfather of course, and I don't mean you in general either. I mean this version of you in particular. You'll always be my Doctor," Dorothy said with a warm smile.

The Doctor smiled as he said, "And you'll always be my Ace no matter what you call yourself."

The two of them embraced while the others briefly looked away. They all felt as if they were intruding on a private moment somehow.

If they were, then it was a moment between a father and his daughter.

Soon afterwards the wedding was finally underway at last with the Doctors as the Best Man, Michelle as the Maid of Honor, and Victoria performing the actual ceremony. When Joan and John both said 'I do' and then finally kissed at last, Michelle felt as if an enormous burden of guilt had finally been removed from her heart at last.

Now at long last she finally felt like she could get married herself without feeling guilty about it. In fact, maybe that was something she should bring up to Mark very soon now.

"Well, it's about time," Ileana said as she correctly interpreted the look on Michelle's face.

Next: Michelle and Mark discuss their future even while the time comes closer and closer for Donna to give birth to Lauren. Will the Doctor, her Doctor, be there for her child's birth like she wanted? Spoilers!

Oh, and a new enemy arrives to cause trouble for Mina Harker and what's left of the community of Masada just at they're finally starting to rebuild. The Bad Wolves are immediately called in to help and quickly find out that there's an all new vampire queen in town . . . with a very familiar face.