CHAPTER 75

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MEET THE DOCTOR'S OTHER SISTER

Luckily River did find Rose thanks to a tracking device she had implanted in her shortly after she had returned from being trapped in another universe. Once Rose had been rescued, there was one last fight with the Trickster and an entire army of Weeping Angels that fortunately the good guys won. That was when Rose immediately rebooted the universe back to the way that it was before the Matriarch had changed it . . . with a few minor changes here or there.

She just wouldn't be Rose if she hadn't changed things for the better just a little bit after all.

As soon as the blinding white light that had been generated by the universal reboot faded, the Wolves all found themselves right back at Masada where they had been when everything had been changed. Unfortunately they also found themselves still in the middle of the same fight with the vampires that they had been in then too.

"You know if you were going to reboot reality anyway, Petal Girl, you could have also changed this while you were at it," Donna shouted in irritation as she found herself trapped in the middle of a sea of vampires.

"What are you talking about, Donna? Since when did Rose reboot reality?" Martha asked in confusion as she used her specially prepared UNIT laser to destroy several vampires around Donna in an attempt to help her.

Donna looked at her in surprise at first and then said, "Oh, I get it. This must be one of those things that humans aren't allowed to remember, right?"

"I suppose so. I'd probably be a lot more positive about that though if I had the slightest idea what you were talking about. So you're saying that Rose actually restarted the universe? Why? I'm sure it wasn't just for the thrill of it," Martha said with a frown.

"No, it certainly wasn't, Boss Lady. I'll tell you all about it sometime when we're not up to our necks in bloodsuckers," Donna said as she continued to fight off a small horde of the undead creatures with a powerful sonic blast from her Vortex Laptop.

So far it was keeping them at bay as it assaulted their far more sensitive ears. Donna wasn't sure how much longer it was going to stay that way though as it seemed almost as if they were getting closer and closer to her by the moment despite its effects on them. They actually seemed to be getting used to it in fact.

"Let me guess. The Matriarch, right?" Martha asked.

"And that's why you're the brains of this outfit," Donna said with a grin.

"You're not so bad yourself since you're the one who's really in charge of this group and we both know it," Martha said.

"Well, it's nice to see someone finally acknowledging that. Most of the time everyone else seems to think that they're the boss especially Fang Gal over there," Donna said with a smirk.

"I heard that," Ileana said with a small smile that didn't quite reach her eyes.

"I meant for you to," Donna said with a warm smile that quickly faded as she realized that Ileana was still as depressed as she had been before if not more so.

"Vampire Clara really got you down didn't she?" Donna asked with a sympathetic look.

"Well, that and suddenly being in a reality where I was cured of being a vampire and living a normal life again only to have that completely snatched away from me. That didn't exactly do great wonders for me either, did it?" Ileana said with a frown while she continued to rapidly feed on one vampire after another around her so quickly that they instantly turned to dust.

"So you still remember too then," Donna realized.

"Yep, it must be because of Rose's influence on me or maybe it's a 'gift' of being a vampire. Either way, aren't I lucky? I wish I didn't remember it either, Martha. I really do," Ileana said with a deep sigh.

"So do I," Lilith said in a voice that actually sounded even more depressed than Ileana's which was no mean feat as she used a hastily crafted incantation to wipe out half a dozen vampires at once.

"I get the feeling that this other reality was much better for her too," Martha realized.

"Yeah, it was. She was actually my biological sister there. It really doesn't matter to me either way, Martha, because she's always been my sister in my heart. It still does to her though. It's really hurting her and I don't know what to do about it," Emmy said in tears.

"There's really nothing that you can do. She'll have to work her way through this herself. Just give her time. She'll be okay eventually," Calliope reassured her as she used her staser to quickly burn out the hearts of most of the remaining vampires all at once.

"I hope so. I don't ever want to lose her, Mum. She is my sister whether she believes that or not," Emmy said in an emotional voice.

Lilith briefly smiled as she overheard her. While what Emmy had said did indeed make her feel better it still didn't completely get rid of the horrible sadness that she now felt. She wasn't sure if anything could at this point because she had gotten to live out her dream life only to have it be brutally snatched away from her. She honestly couldn't think of anything that could have devastated her more.

As she became more and more lost amidst this sea of emotion and the fury and despair over her situation continued to build up by the moment, she finally wiped out every last one of the remaining vampires at once with a powerful incantation that instantly turned them all into dust. From the way that it looked to the other Wolves, she seemed to have actually done it subconsciously because she didn't even seem to notice it. It was almost as if she had done it as a complete afterthought.

"I hate to say it but she actually fights better when she's depressed. She's definitely not holding back anymore that's for sure," Donna said in a shocked voice.

"W - Where am I? What's going on? Please. Someone help me. I don't know where I am," An extremely confused voice suddenly cried out nearby that instantly broke Lilith out of her thoughts.

She was almost thankful for that as she raced towards the sound of the voice. Then her face fell as soon as she saw who it was.

"You!" Lilith said in a furious voice as she realized that it was the Vampire Clara who was responsible for all of this in the first place.

"Do I know you? I don't remember you. I don't even remember how I got here or even where here is for that matter," The woman said in a bewildered and clearly frightened voice.

"Okay, you can stop pretending now, Soufflé Vamp. None of us are falling for it. Got it? It's finally time to come clean with us now that we've finally gotten rid of your Fang Squad. What did you do with that Eye that you were looking for and exactly who are the Brethren anyway?" Donna said in an angry voice as she and the rest of the Wolves quickly joined Lilith.

"I didn't understand a word of what you just said, Ginger. You must have me mistaken for somebody else. That actually has happened to me once or twice before. Apparently I have a lookalike out there somewhere," Clara's echo said with a look of pure confusion written all over her face.

"Now there's an understatement if I ever heard one. Exactly how stupid do you think that we are anyway?" Emmy asked in an annoyed voice.

"Well, I really can't say for sure, can I? I only just met you after all," The still confounded looking echo said with a shrug.

"Oh, she is good. She just managed to completely insult us without ever actually coming out and doing it," Calliope said with a small smile despite herself.

Ileana had been strangely silent this entire time up until this moment when she finally said at last, "She's not acting, girls. She really doesn't remember anything, and that's not the only thing that's different about her either. She's not a vampire anymore. I see that you finally got your wish, Clara. I'm glad that at least one of us made it."

"What? Are you sure, Fang Gal?" Donna asked in disbelief as the others looked at the echo in absolute shock.

"Positive. Who would know better than me after all? I don't feel the least bit hungry around her anymore," Ileana said in an almost envious voice.

"Okay, I'm officially getting frightened now. Please don't tell me that you lot are some kind of freaky cannibals or something," The once monstrous Clara said in a worried tone.

"No, actually she's what you used to be: a vampire. Only she's a far nicer one than you ever were. I don't know why but when you Claras go bad you really go all the way. Maybe it's the whole narcissism thing. A lack of a conscience finally unleashes it completely," The voice of the Doctor said from nearby.

The Clara echo turned to see him standing nearby as she looked at him with a faint of glimmer of recognition in her eyes while she said, "You're called The Doctor, aren't you? I don't know how I know that but I do."

"Yes, all of Clara's echoes seem to always know me somehow no matter what body I have at the time. Some part of you remembers me I see just as I'm sure that that same part of you remembers everything that you had to suffer through because of me," The Doctor said.

"I don't know what you're talking about. I don't understand any of this. The last thing that I remember is that this horrible monster came to our world and wanted to kill all of my people. Maybe it was a vampire. I don't know. I never was sure what it was. That's when you or someone who acted a lot like you tried to help us and almost died at his hands. You would have to if I hadn't distracted him long enough for you to finally kill him," The Clara echo said.

"In the original reality, I must not have killed him in time to save you from being bitten and completely drained by him," The Doctor said with an actual tinge of regret in his voice.

"Why are you saying that to me? That's a horrible thing to say," The Clara echo said in a disgusted voice.

"Yes, but it's true. You know that it is deep down. You just don't want to remember it. I can't really say that I blame you," The Doctor said with sad eyes.

"Alright, Spaceman, what's going on here? And don't tell me that you don't know either because you always know. I know it can't be a coincidence that Soufflé Vamp is suddenly normal once more. Either she had her history changed by this mysterious Brethren like she wanted or Petal Girl did it instead with her cosmic reset switch. So which is it?" Donna demanded.

"Your second guess was right actually, Donna. Rose saved this version of Clara and gave her exactly what she wanted. She did this both because she has a kind heart and because locked somewhere in her mind is information about The Brethren and exactly what they're up to that we desperately need to know. We never would have had a chance of finding out what she knew if she had still been a vampire after all," The Doctor answered.

"So I was right. You do know what's going on. You know exactly who these Brethren people are, don't you?" Donna said in triumph.

The Doctor shook his head as he said in a disgusted voice, "All that I know is what Rose saw in a vision of the recent past as she was rebooting reality. She saw someone from The Brethren contacting the vampire Clara and making that deal with her, but she never actually saw their face or where to find them. As for whom The Brethren are, all that I know is that I once ran across them before with Ace back when I wore the question mark sweater. They were a despicable group who would actually make deals to change the history of others or to alter certain events in history in exchange for money or some other form of payment. They perverted the Web of Time and completely subverted its Laws that they had sworn to uphold in exchange for personal profit."

"Theta, you make them sound like Time Lords," Calliope realized.

"They are, Mother. They're a colony of renegades who went rogue long ago and struck out on their own after having a falling out with Rassilon over the direction that the Time Lords would take with their newfound mastery over Time. They decided that Time should be made to serve them and wanted to use their control over it in order to gain power for themselves instead of merely maintaining and preserving the Web," The Doctor said.

"Why have I never heard of these people before if they're from that long ago and where have they been all of this time?" Calliope asked.

"Obviously Rassilon hushed talk of them up and removed them from the official histories. As for where they've been and exactly what they've been up to over the centuries, I'm not entirely certain. Not yet anyway. I will find out though because whatever they're up to could have serious repercussions on history if what I suspect about their latest plan is true. That's why I'm here," The Doctor said.

"To pick up this Clara and find out what she knows about them?" Emmy asked.

"No, I came here to hire all of you," The Doctor said.

Martha looked at him in surprise as she said, "Hire us for what, Doctor?"

"I want you to investigate The Brethren for me. I want you to find out what this version of Clara knows and try to use it to find out where they are and what they're up to right now," The Doctor said.

"Don't I get a say in this?" Clara's echo asked indignantly.

"No, after what you did you definitely don't, Ex-Soufflé Vamp. You're going to help us and tell us exactly what you know. Then and only then we'll take you back home wherever that is. Understood?" Donna said in a firm tone that immediately told the echo that she was in no mood for an argument on the subject.

"Fine," Clara's echo said with a defeated sigh.

"Why us though? Why don't you do it instead?" Donna asked The Doctor suspiciously.

"They already know me. That's why. They don't know any of you though except for Dorothy, and she can always disguise herself with her powers. They won't expect any of you to be looking into their affairs so maybe you can get further and find out more than I ever could alone," The Doctor said.

"We'll certainly do our best, Doctor. I'm not sure how we can find out what this Clara knows though if she doesn't even remember it herself," Martha said.

"You don't need to worry about that, Martha. I can find out what she knows in the same way that I can always find out a person's true name. Well, unless they're a Time Lord anyway," Lilith said.

"I thought as much, Sister," The Doctor said.

"Doctor, you don't have to call me that anymore. I'm not really your sister," Lilith said in a sad voice.

"Are you so certain about that?" The Doctor asked with a brief smile.

"What do you mean?" Lilith asked as she realized that he knew something that she didn't.

"Take a look in your pocket, Lilith. What do you see there?" The Doctor asked.

"Lilith looked at him blankly as she said, "What do you mean? There's nothing in my pocket."

"Oh, I think there is. Try it and see," The Doctor said with a knowing look.

Lilith immediately did as he said and then gasped in shock as she pulled out a silver fob watch.

Her eyes instantly went wide as she said, "Is this what I think it is?"

"You tell me. Don't you hear it calling to you and telling you who you truly are? It seems that you really are my sister after all," The Doctor said with a small smile as Lilith began to cry with joy.

"Hold on. Wait just a minute here. As much as I'd love for this to be true, how could it be? I never had a sister until Kimberly was born. I think I'd remember it if I did," Emmy said suspiciously.

"Actually . . ." Calliope started to say and then immediately stopped talking as she stared at Lilith in wonderment.

"What do you mean 'actually'? Are you saying that I had a sister that I never knew about?" Emmy asked in shock.

"Yes, she was created from a Loom that used both your father's and my genes in order to create her just as I used one to create you once since your father died long before you were born. That was when both Brax and Theta were grown and I was lonely. I wanted someone else to love preferably a girl since I hadn't had one before. The first girl that the Loom created had a serious defect in her genetic structure and was instantly dying from the second that she was born. I tried everything to help her but nothing worked. She . . . She died in less than a day. I've never told anyone about her until now. I never even got to give her a name," Calliope admitted in a choked voice.

"What happened to her body after that?" Emmy demanded in an almost numb tone as a slim look of hope started to fill both her and Lilith's eyes.

"I don't know. She was cremated as all dead Time Lords are I always presumed. She was dead though. I know she was," Calliope said as she struggled not to cry.

"Or perhaps she wasn't. Not completely. Perhaps someone realized that the genetic defect she was born with wouldn't be lethal to her at all if she were another species and used the Chameleon Arch on her in order to turn her into a Carrionite so that her life would be saved. Perhaps this same person then delivered your newly changed daughter to two Carrionites named Bloodtide and Doomfinger so that they could raise her and take care of her as their own until it was time for her to be reunited with her family once more," The Doctor said with an enigmatic smile.

"You did all of that? You saved her?" Calliope said with an enormous smile.

"Yes, with a little help from Rose," The Doctor admitted.

"Is this the way things were in the original timeline or only since Rose rebooted it?" Emmy asked.

"Does it really matter?" The Doctor asked.

"Not to me," Emmy said with a huge smile as she hugged the completely speechless Lilith tightly.

"I still can't believe it. I – I'm actually your sister? I really am?" Lilith finally said in a stunned voice.

"Yes, you certainly are. Then again you always were. Welcome back to the family, Sis," Emmy said in a voice filled with love as she kissed her cheek.

"Remember though. You can't open the watch or you'll die. You have to remain a Carrionite forever," The Doctor warned.

"That's not going to be a problem. I'm perfectly okay with being a Carrionite as long as I know who and what I really am. That also means that I get to keep both of my mothers too. I – I still can't believe it. I'm actually a Time Lady and you all really are my family," Lilith said in an elated tone.

Suddenly Donna screamed out in pain as she said with a groan, "Well, that's just wizard! I'm about to have the baby any minute now. Why couldn't it have happened at home instead of out here in the middle of bloody nowhere?"

"Oh, yes, and that's the other thing that I came here for: to see the birth of the baby. I knew that I was forgetting something," The Doctor said with a quick smile.

"You know about this too and couldn't be bothered to tell me about it, didn't you? If I survive this, I'm going to kill you, Spaceman," Donna said in a furious voice just before she began to scream out in mind numbing pain.

Then moments later, Lauren Eliza McAvoy finally made her grand entrance into the world at last and a beaming Donna now held her with pride as she said, "She's beautiful."

"Just like her mother," Calliope said with approval.

"Doctor, I'm so glad that you could be here. I really wanted you to be," Donna said with all of her previous anger towards him completely forgotten now as she looked into the baby's eyes.

"I wouldn't have missed it for an army of Daleks," The Doctor reassured her.

"They would have been far less dangerous than having you angry at me," He immediately added under his breath.

"You'd better believe it, Spaceman," Donna said with a wink after having obviously heard him.

Then she looked at him intently for a moment before finally saying, "Do you want to hold her?"

The Doctor hesitated as he said, "I probably shouldn't. I'm not good with physical contact in this incarnation."

"Oh, come on, Doctor. Surely you can hold her for at least five seconds since you're going to be her Godfather," Donna said with a huge grin.

The Doctor looked at her in surprise now which caused Donna to laugh as she said, "Finally I know something that you don't, Martian Man. That's right. Both you and Rose are going to be Lauren's godparents. I can't think of anyone better honestly."

The Doctor looked well and truly touched as he finally held out his arms for the baby. As Donna gave her to him, he held her out in front of him like a football at first which caused her to laugh.

"You really hate physical contact in that body don't you? Come on, Doctor. She's a baby. She can't hurt you. Just hold her like you would one of your own children," Donna encouraged him.

The Doctor looked uncomfortably at first but then slowly, very slowly, he did exactly as Donna had asked him to do. Minutes later, he was holding Lauren just as he would his own child and looking at her curiously as though he were studying a new alien species.

"Well, Spaceman? What's the verdict? What do you think of her?" Donna asked.

"Her head's much too big for the rest of her body and she drools entirely too much. Plus I think she may have just dislocated my finger by holding onto it too tightly," The Doctor said.

"Good for her if that's all that you can say about her," Donna said in an angry voice.

"You didn't let me finish, Donna. Other than everything that I've already mentioned, there's not a thing wrong with her," The Doctor said with an all too brief smile.

Donna shrugged and hugged him as she said, "I think that's as close to a compliment as I'll ever get from this version of you, Doctor. I think I'll take it."

Next: Can Lilith find out anything about The Brethren from the former vampire Clara? If so, will this information help lead them to their current whereabouts and/or give them any clue about what they're up to these days? We'll find out next time as Michelle and Dorothy return to the group just in time to lend the others a hand. Plus who was speaking to the vampire Clara on behalf of The Brethren and what is their connection to The Doctor?