CHAPTER 77

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LEARNING ONE'S TRUE WORTH

"I still say that we shouldn't do this. It's just all a bit too convenient for me. The Corsair calls Ileana and just happens to offer her the very same deal that we were just talking about? It can't be a coincidence especially after time was mysteriously stopped like that just as soon as we started talking about it. He's setting us up, Boss Lady. Every instinct I have is telling me that," Donna warned Martha.

The Wolves were currently traveling in Donna's TARDIS to a park in Cardiff where the Corsair had told Ileana to meet him. Clara's echo meanwhile was still back at their headquarters at UNIT HQ. She had been very firm about not wanting to go along with them. She didn't want anything else to do with the Corsair after the way that he had betrayed her the last time that she had met him.

Donna couldn't help but think that she was being a whole lot smarter than the rest of them at that moment.

"So you mean your Donna Sense is tingling?" Emmy asked with a snicker.

"That's not all that's going to be tingling if you don't stop with the smart remarks," Donna threatened.

"I agree that it's very risky but what choice do we really have, Donna? The Corsair could literally be anywhere he wants to be in time and space. If we don't do this, there's no way that we'll ever find him," Martha argued.

"I still don't like it. Maybe I've been hanging around Petal Girl too long, but I'm getting a really bad feeling about all of this," Donna said in a worried voice.

"So now you have the Force too?" Emmy quipped.

"I'll show you the Force in a second if you don't quit it, Hyena Girl. I'm being extremely serious here," Donna said in an extremely irritated tone.

Don't pay any attention to her, Donna. She's only making jokes because she's worried too. She does that whenever she's secretly upset about something. Calliope explained to her telepathically.

She does it all the time anyway though so how can you tell? Donna asked.

I'm her mother. I can always tell the difference between when she's joking just because she's happy or because she's actually extremely worried about something instead. You'll be able to do that someday too with Lauren. Calliope answered.

Right now I can't even talk to her for two seconds without getting into an argument with her. Somehow I think it's going to take a while before I can get to that stage with her. A long while. Donna replied with a frown.

You worry too much. It'll happen before you even realize it. Soon you'll know her better than she even knows herself. Trust me. Besides that's not what you're really worried about anyway is it? Neither is this mess with the Corsair. You're worried because Lauren isn't stuttering yet and you don't know why. Calliope replied.

Okay. How on Earth did you know that? I thought I was the only one who could hear her so far. Donna asked in surprise.

Mother's intuition. See? It really does work. Calliope answered with a wry grin.

"Let me guess. She just did that trick where she knows exactly what you're thinking without even having to read your mind, didn't she? I hate that," Emmy said with a frown as she saw the look on Donna's face.

"Don't worry about it, Donna. I'm sure that whatever caused it is completely normal," Calliope said out loud to Donna as she purposely ignored Emmy.

"Yeah, I hope so. I'd hate to think that it was something that I did . . . or didn't do," Donna said in concern.

"Can anyone join in on this conversation or do you have to know the secret code in order to understand it?" Emmy asked in a confused voice.

"It's none of your business, Emmy. Just stay out of it. If they wanted anyone else to know, they would have told us," Lilith said even as she gave Donna a sympathetic look.

Emmy smiled as she said, "That's easy for you to say. You already know what it's all about anyway, don't you? You just did your Carrionite Thing with them where you found out exactly what it is just by listening to them talk for a minute, didn't you?"

Lilith sighed as she said, "Yes, but I didn't do it on purpose. It happens sometimes by accident whether I want it to or not. It's instinctual. Like I said, it's nobody's business but Mother Donna's."

"Fine. Keep me in the dark then. I'm only your sister and your best friend. That's all," Emmy said with a pouting look.

"That guilt trip won't work with me," Lilith said with a smile.

"Gah! You're just as bad as Mum," Emmy said with a groan.

"Thank you," Lilith said with a pleased look.

Michelle couldn't help but smile as she watched Lilith and Emmy interact. She was so happy for Lilith that she finally had the life that she had always wanted now. It just made her more determined than ever to have that for herself. Someday she was going to have bickering children just like Emmy and Lilith. She promised herself that.

Well, actually they could tone down on the bickering just a bit come to think of it.

"Well, it's certainly easy to tell what you're thinking, Cupcake. You actually want to have a family like theirs. I have no idea why though. I always thought that you'd aim just a bit higher than that myself. Not everybody's kids are as bad as those two, you know?" Dorothy teased her.

"Oi!" Emmy shouted as she overheard this.

"Yeah? What is it? Got something to say?" Dorothy said with a glowing ball of energy in her hand as she pretended to threaten her.

"You can't threaten me with that exploding ball of Vortex energy bit, Dorothy. I can always regenerate, remember?" Emmy said as she stuck her tongue out at her.

"Not after I'm through with you," Dorothy said with a smirk.

"Okay, that's enough of that, Nitro Girl," Donna said with a deep frown.

"I was just joking, Red. She knows that," Dorothy protested.

"Yeah, and I know it too but I'm really not in the mood to listen to it right now. Got it?" Donna said in an irritated tone.

"Oi! When did you shove that stick up your bum? You never used to be in this bad a mood before," Dorothy said with a grimace.

"Since when? Are we talking about the same Donna here?" Emmy asked with a chuckle.

Donna then gave her an intense glare that actually made her shiver as she said, "On second thought, maybe you're onto something there, Dorothy. It's like she's suddenly ten times worse than ever."

"Alright, that's enough, everyone. We need to concentrate on the Corsair not Donna. Donna's actually on our side despite how it looks at the moment," Martha said.

"Well, you could have fooled me," Dorothy said with a smirk.

Michelle rolled her eyes at all of this even as she looked at Ileana with concern. There was definitely something bothering her, and she didn't have to be related to her in order to tell it.

"Alright, Lana, what's going on?" Michelle finally asked.

"What do you mean? Nothing's going on as far as I know," Ileana said just a bit too quickly.

"Oh, there's definitely something happening alright. You know how I know? You haven't said a word this entire time. The Lana I know would be all over that conversation between Donna and Dorothy just now. You'd be making tons of jokes about Donna that would just wind up making her even angrier. You never even said a word. Something's wrong," Michelle said.

"I'm just worried about having led us into a trap. I'm also not sure what I'm going to say to the Corsair once we get there," Ileana said.

"No, that's not it. There's something else, isn't there? You're looking guilty about something. Are you actually thinking about taking him up on his offer? Is that it? It's okay if you're tempted, Lana. Anyone would be in your shoes," Michelle said with a reassuring smile.

Ileana briefly smiled at her as she said, "Yeah, I guess you're right. It is pretty tempting though. I have to admit that."

"Don't worry about it. I know that you'd never willingly betray us, Lana. And you know it too. You'd never do something like that behind our backs no matter how tempting that it was. So stop worrying about it so much," Michelle said.

"Alright," Ileana said as she tried her best to look unconcerned despite the inner turmoil currently going on just underneath the surface.

She still wasn't sure that she was doing the right thing or not. This could easily wind up blowing up in everyone's faces despite the Corsair's reassurances. At that moment, she actually found herself hoping that Rose really was constantly watching her so that she wouldn't be all alone in this just in case it did.

If she really was watching her though, would she like what she saw?

Before she could dwell any further on those unsettling thoughts however, the TARDIS was already landing. In just a few moments, she was about to face up to the consequences of her actions either one way or another.

As soon as the TARDIS doors were opened, the Corsair instantly strode inside the ship as if he owned it. He smiled at everyone with a sinister grin even as he briefly gave Ileana a look filled with hidden meaning.

"So you didn't trust me after all, did you, Ileana? You just had to bring your teammates into this, didn't you?" The Corsair said in amusement as he pretended not to have already made a secret deal with her.

"Just try looking at yourself in the mirror while you're wearing that wicked little smile of yours sometimes, Snake Boy. Would you trust you?" Donna asked.

"I don't trust anyone if I can help it, Donna Noble. Neither should you. You'll live a whole lot longer that way. Not that you can definitely trust," The Corsair said with a malevolent laugh.

"That's funny because I was just saying something similar to them about you," Donna admitted.

"You learn fast and have an even faster wit. I like that about you. I can already see what Theta and Arkytior see in you," The Corsair said in a smug tone.

"Did you just come here to give us phony compliments, Captain Clueless, or did you exactly have some kind of actual purpose behind all of this?" Donna asked in an angry voice.

"You're wrong, Dorothy. It's not a stick up her bum. It's a ten foot pole," Emmy said with a sigh.

"Watch it, Hyena Girl," Donna warned.

"I should think that you'd be more than happy to take my offer, Ileana, if only to get away from all of this constant petty squabbling once you're fully human again. So have you decided on what your answer will be yet?" The Corsair asked.

"I still don't understand what you get out of all of this. What's your angle?" Donna asked suspiciously as she spoke instead of Ileana.

"I have to admit that I've been thinking that myself. From what we've learned about you, the Brethren only do things if they're going to get something in return. What exactly do you get out of Ileana not being a vampire anymore, Corsair? Is there something that she needs to be a vampire in order to prevent? Is it something that you lot want to happen? Is that it?" Martha guessed.

The Corsair smiled as he said, "Oh, very good. I can definitely see why my old friends like you so much. You're very clever, Martha Jones, or should I call you Martha Smith instead?"

"I use either one. Somehow I don't think that you're here to discuss my last name though," Martha said.

"Oh, I don't know. A last name could have a great deal of importance to it. Much more than you realize," The Corsair said cryptically.

Something about that began to deeply trouble Martha even as she said, "You can stop with the riddles now, Corsair. Just what is this really about?"

"It's quite simple actually. I just wanted to tell you about a planet named Bandraginus VII. It was actually renamed Bandraginus VI later on after Bandraginus V mysteriously disappeared. You can ask the Doctor about that one sometime if you're curious," The Corsair said with a sinister grin.

"We don't have to. We already know all about Queen Xanxia and her weird little planet collection thank you very much. Just stick to your story, Snake Boy, and tell us what's so special about this other place," Donna said in a no nonsense tone.

"Nothing whatsoever actually except for one thing. In the far future around the year Six Billion or so, they actually discover a cure . . . for vampirism. I'll gladly give you the exact coordinates to go to in order to let Ileana have that cure. That's all that I'm here to do. What you do with that knowledge is entirely up to you of course," The Corsair said.

"No, somehow I don't think I'll go along with this, Tattoo Man. I don't trust you. You'll give us the coordinates alright, and it'll wind up leading us straight into a trap. If this cure really existed, Petal Girl would already know about it by now anyway," Donna said in a skeptical voice.

"Not if the inhabitants took special care not to ever let knowledge of their cure leak out to the wider universe. After all they didn't want to become besieged by vampires who didn't want to be cured against their wills by their enemies coming there to destroy them, did they? No, they kept the whole thing a carefully guarded secret that was known only by their own people," The Corsair said.

"Really? That sounds more than a bit suspicious to me. If it was such a carefully guarded secret, than how do you know about it?" Dorothy asked with a smirk.

"My master knows everything, Dorothy McShane Tyler. There are no secrets from him. Like I said before, he knows things that not even your mother does. She's not all-knowing despite what you've been taught to believe about her. Only my lord can claim that distinction," The Corsair said.

"If he's so all-knowing, then why is he so worried about Flower Girl? That makes him sound more like he's scared to me," Donna said.

"He should be," Dorothy said with a sinister grin.

The Corsair's smile finally faltered at that moment and turned to a look of anger instead as he said, "I'll put the coordinates into your ship's console. Use them or don't use them. It's all the same to me."

Then he proceeded to do exactly that and started to quickly leave even as he gave Ileana a quick parting smile. He was sure in that moment that he finally had them. They wouldn't be able to resist a chance to help their friend no matter what the risk might be. Very soon now the Wolves would be completely out of the way so that the real plan would finally be able to begin without their interference.

What he didn't count on was what happened next.

Just as he was about to step out of the door, Ileana grabbed him and said, "If you're really so concerned about me, then why don't we just go visit these coordinates together?"

Then before anyone could stop her, she quickly dematerialized the TARDIS with the Corsair still onboard.

"You traitorous . . . !" The Corsair started to say.

"You should have listened to your own advice and never trusted anyone, Corsair. As if I'd ever betray my friends for any reason! I just pretended to in order to get close enough to you to learn some answers. I couldn't even tell them what I was doing though just in case your boss really is as good as you claim that he is. I guess if those coordinates really are a trap, then you've just been caught in it too along with the rest of us, haven't you?" Ileana said with a smug smile as the TARDIS started to materialize.

"Uh, I hate to point it out to you, Fang Gal, but if it really is a trap you've just led us right into it," Donna said.

"Yeah, I know that was always going to be what was at risk, but I just had to see the look on his face when I took him there too. I needed to know what he was really up to, Donna, and now I can finally tell. It wasn't a trap. He'd be afraid if it was but he's not afraid. See? He's angry instead. It was a distraction is what it was. He wanted us out of the way for some reason. Out of the way of what though? That's the real question isn't it?" Ileana said.

"So what are you up to, Captain Clueless? You might as well tell us now since you won't get to carry it out anyway," Donna said.

The Corsair began to laugh as he said, "You still don't quite understand how the Brethren really works do you? Even if I don't do the job, one of the others will in my place after it's been discovered that I'm not there at the appointed time. Lord Erebus will have what he wants . . . or more accurately who he wants."

He looked straight at Martha as he said this which caused her to finally realize the truth at last as she said in a frightened voice, "Oh, God."

The Corsair actually looked apologetic at that moment as he said, "I'm truly sorry. I didn't want this. I never wanted any of this. Erebus is using me just as much as he's using all of you. We're all pawns in his little game with Arkytior whether we like it or not. Me especially since my very biodata has been rewritten so that I have no choice but to serve him."

Donna looked at him in surprise as this explained exactly why he was acting so out of character. From what she knew of it based on the Doctor's memories, biodata was like a Time Lord's temporal DNA and could be rewritten to completely change that person.

Martha was far from being concerned about this new revelation however because she was far too busy with another of her own. She now knew exactly what the Brethren were really up to and who they were after.

"We have to get back home before it's too late," Martha said in a panicked tone as she hit the fast return switch on the console.

"It's too late now. This planet has an anti-dematerialization field around it so that not even the Time Lords could visit here with impunity. They knew that one day one of them would come blundering in and discover the truth after all. They truly didn't want anyone to know what they had here not even my people. You can never leave here now," The Corsair said in a sad voice.

"Oh, I wouldn't be so sure about that," Dorothy said as she started to glow with energy.

Then her eyes widened as she discovered that she couldn't teleport away. Somehow that was being blocked too.

She looked to Michelle out of curiosity only to find the same surprised look on her face as well.

"I can't go into the Mirror Verse. They've blocked me somehow," Michelle confirmed.

"None of my spells seem to be working properly either. It's almost as if they've even blocked my power. I'm not sure how that could be though unless someone's changed the laws of the universe again," Lilith said in confusion.

"By this time in their history they've thought of every possible way for someone to leave their world and come up with a technology to block it. That's exactly how terrified that they are of vampires coming to their world. They never wanted it to become a battlefield between them and their enemies over the cure," The Corsair admitted.

"Well, that's just too bad because thanks to you one of them finally made it here anyway. I think I'm going to pay those people a visit and see if I can find some way to get us all out of here. If they're so afraid of vampires, then their worst fears are just about to become true," Ileana said as she opened the TARDIS doors.

Just as she did, she was greeted by a small army of werewolves.

One of the werewolves actually smiled at her as he said, "That's as far as you go, Vampire. You never should have come here because we know exactly how to deal with your kind. Welcome to the Empire of the Wolf."

"And that is why they cured vampirism. It's because this entire planet was taken over by werewolves and they wanted to make sure that their old enemies would never have a chance to threaten them here. This was to be their springboard from which to create a brand new empire run by the wolves," The Corsair said with a frown.

"Well, that's just wizard, isn't it? What was that about this not being a trap again, Lana?" Donna said with a sigh.

"He wasn't afraid though," Ileana protested.

"Why should I be? I have no will of my own anymore. I only do what Erebus tells me so I have no more concern about my own life anymore. He's just made me into a tool to be used for his own convenience and nothing more," The Corsair said with just a slight tinge of regret in his voice.

"No, this can't be happening. I need to get back home!" Martha said in a frantic tone.

"None of you will ever be going back home again I'm afraid. Now you belong to us and soon you will all be one of us," The werewolf leader said with mocking laughter.

Martha's heart sank now as she began to wonder if their luck had finally just run out at last. She supposed now she was about to finally find out once and for all whether Rose was really watching them or not, wasn't she?

She couldn't help but hope that Rose was at least watching over the Brethren's true goal instead though.

At that very moment back on Earth, Mickey Smith was taking care of his daughter, Rose, while her mother was away. It had been a pretty uneventful day so far ever since his last call from Martha. In fact, uneventful didn't quite describe it well enough. It was really downright boring to be honest especially for someone like him who was now used to constant alien firefights.

He was about to wish that boredom was his only problem.

"Mickey Smith," A voice suddenly said behind him.

Mickey whirled around in surprise to find a man that he didn't know staring at him with a malicious smile on his face while he held a staser on him. Mickey knew instinctively just from the look in his eyes that he was there to kill him.

"Who are you and what is this about? I figure I ought to know at least that much before you shoot me," Mickey said as he tried to stall for time.

The man shrugged as he said, "Fair enough. My name is the Corsair and I work for the Brethren. I'm here to test a little theory of our master's. He believes that Rose Tyler constantly watches over you and that if we threaten you that she will come just in time in order to save you. Today you'll about to find out the truth of that belief . . . the hard way."

Mickey actually laughed as he said, "I'm afraid you've got the wrong target, mate. You should have gone after The Doctor or Jackie instead. I'm sure she'd have shown up instantly to save either of them. She's hardly going to be spending her time watching over me is she? I mean we're good friends and all, but it's not like I'm a family member or anything."

The Corsair actually looked surprised as he said, "You actually believe that, don't you? Even after knowing her your entire life you still don't really understand her at all, do you? You truly don't know just how much that she really values you."

"She loves me as a friend but she's never loved me like she does the Doctor or her Mums," Mickey said.

"Oh, Mickey Smith, you truly do suffer from a massive self-esteem problem, don't you? She loves you far more than you realize. Or do you truly think that it was just a coincidence that on Pete's World your grandmother was still alive there? She arranged that far in advance back on the Gamestation when she had the full power of the Wolf because she wanted you to get to spend more time with her. That was her gift to you just as Martha Jones was. Or do you think that it was pure coincidence that you met her as well? No, you matter a great deal to Rose Tyler, Mickey Smith. So much so that she will even risk her own life in order to save you," The Corsair said as he pointed his gun at Mickey's head.

"I'm telling you that you're doing all of this for nothing. She won't even know that I'm dead for at least a few hours I'm sure. You'll just be killing me for nothing," Mickey said.

"Perhaps or perhaps I'll be bringing her right into my hands so that I can deliver her to my master. He still needs her body in order to escape his imprisonment in the Void after all. So much so that he had the Brethren actually pluck a past version of me out of my own timestream to take the place of the version of me that just became trapped by your wife's friends. He and I both believe that this plan is a guaranteed way to make Rose come to us despite the risks to her. Care to see if I'm right or not? We're both about to find out exactly how much attention that Rose pays to you any moment now," The Corsair said as he started to pull the trigger.

Mickey's heart filled with regret now as he now knew for certain that he'd never see Martha again or watch his daughter grow up. He hoped that at least the Corsair would spare her if nothing else even as he waited for what he was certain was his own impending death. Then the Corsair finally fired at last and a lethal blast of energy headed towards Mickey at incredible speed.

It wasn't quite fast enough however.

Suddenly in a burst of golden energy Rose appeared in front of him and deflected the blast with a single outstretched hand. Then she immediately turned to glare in anger at the Corsair who couldn't help but smirk back at her in triumph.

"Hello, Arkytior. I'm so glad that you could join us," The Corsair said with seemingly no concern at all whatsoever.

Mickey meanwhile was staring at Rose in complete shock as she momentarily gave him a warm smile. She knew that she had just walked into what was no doubt a carefully laid trap but at the moment she didn't care.

To her, Mickey was more than worth the risk. Besides she had a little plan of her own up her sleeve too.

The Corsair felt a familiar presence behind him now and turned in surprise to see the Doctor standing there along with Clara Oswald and her former vampire echo.

And there they were right on schedule just as Rose knew that they would be.

"And hello again to you, Pirate Boy. I guessed you'd be up to something so I went to warn the Doctor all about you. I had absolutely no idea where you were going to strike next, but Rose here already seemed to know that. The Doctor said to just follow her in order to find out, and he turned out to be completely right, didn't he? Now you're going to tell us exactly where the Wolves are or I'm afraid things are about to get really nasty for you. Isn't payback great?" Clara's echo said with a wry grin as she mockingly waved at him.

Next: It's Rose, the Doctor, and the two Claras versus the past version of the Corsair. Will they be able to overcome whatever insidious trap that he had planned for Rose? More importantly will they be able to find the Wolves in time in order to save them from a fate worse than death? Or will the Wolves somehow be able to rescue themselves? Even if they do, how will they ever get back home again?