CHAPTER 78

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STRIKING WHERE IT HURTS THE MOST

The Brethren know that I can see them. I can see across all of time and space after all. I know about each and every thing that they do often long before they actually do it.

That's exactly why the Brethren are doing all of this of course. That's why they always strike where it hurts the most . . . because they know exactly how much that it affects me.

There's a reason why they were trying so hard to hurt me of course, and it's not just because they don't like my taste in chips. They were trying to draw me out into the open so that they can get a second chance to steal my body for their big boss, Erebus, who's trapped in the Void. They'll do anything in order to make that happen.

And that's exactly why they're targeting the Bad Wolves. It's because they know that I'm always watching over them.

That's no surprise though really. I'm always watching over everyone that I love.

They thought that I would be too distracted by the little game that they created between the Wolves and the Corsair and wouldn't notice what they were really up to until it was too late to avoid stepping right into their trap but they were wrong. I could see everything that was happening and I knew exactly who their real target was in all of this.

That really doesn't surprise me any either, yeah? Like I said, they always seem to know exactly where to hit me where it will hurt the most.

My name is Rose Tyler and this is (hopefully) the story of how the Brethren finally bit off more than they could chew. You see while they were so busy trying to hurt me they underestimated the very last person that they should have ever crossed. And I'm not talking about me either.

Just like the Doctor, I only pick the very best.

Ileana had wondered before if I could hear her when she was talking about her plan to bring the Brethren to the Wolves. Yeah, of course I could. I knew about the whole thing of course.

I also knew exactly what she was really up to too. The Brethren's little trick of freezing time might have fooled the others but it never could have fooled me.

They knew this too of course which was why they did it. They wanted to attract my curiosity with that little trick of theirs and distract me from what they were doing with Mickey.

It completely failed of course and I came to save him with my own specially picked back-up crew instead of arriving completely alone as they had thought that I would. I could only hope they would be more than enough to deal with whatever trap the past version of the Corsair might have waiting for me. Just as I had hoped that Ileana was ready to deal with the present day Corsair's trap for the Wolves.

I was just about to find out exactly how right I was about both of those choices very soon now.

Yes, that's right. You guessed it. Contrary to popular belief, I don't always know everything that's about to happen. I especially have no clue if it all has to do with my own future somehow like now.

Being the Bad Wolf is definitely not as great as it looks sometimes. Okay, better make that a lot of times, yeah?

And it's definitely times like this that I wish that I was plain old Rose Tyler again with a vengeance. Then again the old Rose wouldn't have been able to save Mickey like I just did and being able to do that is more than worth any pain or trouble that I might have to go through in the future in my opinion.

"You're never going to leave this room alive, Arkytior, no matter who you brought here to help you and I'm truly sorry for that," The Corsair said with a sad look as we faced off against one another.

"I know you are. I also know all about what they've done to you and what they're trying to do to all of the other Time Lords. All of this mucking about with their biodata stops right here if I can help it and believe me I can," I said with a wicked smile as my hands started to glow with power.

The Corsair gave me such a sad look that my heart instantly went out to him at that moment as he said, "Oh, Ari, my dear, sweet friend. Even you have no idea what's really happening and I'm so very sorry for my part in all of that."

"Listen to me, Nabu, I'm going to help you. You won't be their puppet for much longer. I promise you that, okay?" I said in a sympathetic tone even as I suppressed what would have been a violent cough.

Mickey immediately gave me a questioning look because he instantly noticed this even if no one else did. I just smiled at him reassuringly even as I forged ahead with this dangerous game that I was determined to play for the greatest stakes of all: the life of a friend.

"It's too late for me now, Ari, just like it's far too late for you. You just don't realize it yet. It's been too late from the moment that the Brethren realized that the Web of Time could be successfully changed without destroying it . . . by you. That made it critical that either Erebus possesses you or that someone destroys you. They've sent me to make sure that one of those happens today and your friend was the bait in that trap," The Corsair said.

I smiled now as I said in a reassuring voice, "I know. I knew all along. Why do you think I brought the others along?"

"You have no idea what you've just walked into though. You don't even know what the trap is or you never would have come here," The Corsair insisted.

My only response was to smile even while I finally coughed for the first time as I said, "Of course I do. Your TARDIS has been slowly pouring this entire room full of microscopic Vortex shielding particles since the moment you got here and when I get enough of them in my system I'll lose my connection to the Vortex and my power. If I get too much, I'll die. You're here to see if you can successfully transfer Erebus' consciousness into my body when I get weak enough. If it doesn't work out, then you'll just kill me, yeah?"

The Corsair nodded with a solemn look on his face as he said, "Yes and I'm so sorry. You were always so good to me back in the old days, Ari. You don't deserve any of this."

"And neither do you, Nabu. That's why I came here. I didn't just come to save Mickey even though that would definitely have been enough of a reason to risk my life. I – I had to help . . . you," I said in a rapidly weakening voice.

"Rose, you've got to get out of here while you still can," Mickey protested in an emotional voice.

"Sorry, that's never going to happen. He'd kill you and I can't have that. Can I?" I said with as best of a smile as I could manage in my current condition.

"Corsair, if there's anything still left of my old friend within you, then you switch off those shielding particles right now!" The Doctor demanded in an extremely worried voice.

The Corsair said nothing. He could only look away in shame which made me feel even sorrier for him as a result.

"Doctor, it's starting to affect me too but not as bad as Rose for some reason," Clara said in a weak voice as she finally began to start looking as pale now as I was sure that I was.

Luckily I was able to hold the hacking coughs back for her for now. I had no such luck though as I began to choke. I didn't need to breathe so that wasn't a problem but it definitely wasn't a good sign because it meant my body was already having severe problems.

"That's because she's protecting you with her last bit of strength," The Doctor said in a sad voice as he saw my hands continue to glow.

"Stop it, Rose. Help yourself!" Clara protested in alarm.

"Well, we've got to do something. It won't hurt us, right?" Clara's echo said as she began to become upset.

"No, but his staser will definitely open up a few new openings in certain vital parts of your anatomy so I really wouldn't recommend it," The Doctor said in a grim voice.

"I'm supposed to be dead anyway though so who really cares what happens to me?" Clara's echo said as she slowly started forward with a determined look in her eyes.

"No," I said in a hoarse voice as I struggled to stay on my feet.

"Don't come any closer or I will kill you," The Corsair warned.

Clara's echo hesitated now but her eyes said that she still wasn't thinking of giving up just yet. There was still more than a trace of defiance in them.

"Don't tempt him. He really will shoot you down without hesitation," The Doctor warned.

"Listen to him and get back over here. I'm not about to lose another echo if I can help it. I've had more than enough of that happening to me lately," Clara ordered.

"That's . . . telling her," I said with a weak smile as I started to cough violently now.

"Rose, why did you come here if you knew what was going to happen? I'm not worth it," Mickey said in an extremely upset voice as he caught me when I tried to fall backwards a minute later.

I shook my head as I said in a heartfelt tone, "Why do you think, you daft git? I love you."

Mickey's eyes filled with tears now as he said, "I love you too and that's why I can't let this happen to you."

He then quickly but gently set me down on the floor as he slowly started to sneak up on the Corsair who seemed to have all of his attention on Clara's echo at that moment. I knew that I had to act fast or I'd end up losing him anyway in a moment.

That future I could definitely see and it definitely was not a bright (or a very long) one.

"Oi! Nabu, look at me! Over here, mate!" I suddenly said as loud as I could in an extremely hoarse voice before Mickey could get within reach of him.

Luckily he didn't look anywhere near Mickey's direction as he tilted his head so that one eye was on Clara's echo and one on me. It wasn't quite what I had been hoping for, but it would do for what I had in mind.

I hoped.

"Look into my eyes, Nabu," I said as I began to focus all of the remaining power that I wasn't currently using to protect Clara into them.

The Corsair actually smiled as he said, "You were never a good hypnotist, Ari. Not even when we were young. You just never had Koschei's raw talent with it."

"Maybe not but I never had so much riding on it before as I do now either. I'm hoping that will make all the difference here today, yeah?" I said as I focused all of my will on him in that moment.

"I really wish that it could, Ari," The Corsair said meaning it.

"Oh, but it is, Nabu. It's definitely working alright. Don't you worry about that," I said with a rapidly appearing grin.

"No, it's not. My mind still belongs to the Brethren as much as it ever did I'm afraid," The Corsair said as he shook his head.

"Just you wait a moment then, yeah? It's just a little slow to catch up to the rest of you," I said as my eyes continued to glow despite the massive amount of pain currently making me want to pass out at that moment.

That was when Mickey finally tackled the Corsair to the ground even as I shouted or at least attempted to anyway, "No! Not yet!"

Clara's echo took that moment to join Mickey in his fight with the Corsair as both of them pounded on him at once as hard as they could. The Doctor meanwhile was already using his new sonic sunglasses to attempt to disable the staser. Clara on the other hand was doing her best to locate the Corsair's TARDIS as she used the Doctor's sonic screwdriver to search the entire area for it.

They were all working together as a team to stop the Corsair just as I had hoped that they would. I knew that they were only moments away from completely failing though if I didn't do my part in all of this as soon as possible.

I could already see it.

"Come on. Just a little bit longer, okay? Please," I pleaded with my body as I could feel parts of it already starting to shut down.

The Corsair would have already tried to switch Erebus' mind with mine once more by now if he hadn't been distracted. Because he was being kept so busy though the levels of Vortex shielding in my bloodstream were getting way too high and soon there would be no going back for me.

I could only hope that my plan worked out long before that happened.

Luckily for me it did. As the Corsair began to scream in agony now, I smiled because I knew that it was finally working at last.

"F – Feel that, Nabu? That's your t – timestream being rewritten," I said in a weak voice as my speech began to slur.

"My mind. It's being freed. How are you doing this?" The Corsair said in a shocked voice.

"I – I'm the Bad W – Wolf. Time o – obeys me like people obey the M – Master," I joked as I struggled to keep from blacking out.

"Do something! Turn whatever's doing that to her off!" Mickey shouted to the Corsair as he raced to help me.

"There's no need, Mickster. I've already found his TARDIS. Good job making it look like a refrigerator and then materializing it around the real refrigerator by the way. I never would have guessed that one if I hadn't had the sonic along. Now it's time to do your thing, Old Man, and shut whatever's in there off," Clara said as she opened the Corsair's TARDIS doors with what little was left of her power.

I was hoping that she'd have enough left to be able to do something like that. That's the other reason why I was helping her.

I'm not too bad at coming up with cunning plans myself, am I?

Now it all depended on the Doctor as he rushed into the TARDIS and quickly began to search for the source of the particles that were currently killing me. It definitely didn't take him long because he had Clara there to help him find the spot in the Console Room that made her feel the sickest. Then he quickly used his sunglasses to shut the flow of shielding particles down seconds later.

I sighed in relief as soon as he did. Then I immediately fell forward and Mickey caught me once more as I smiled up at him gratefully because I could no longer even speak anymore.

"Are you sure that you shut that thing off right? She seems to be getting worse," Mickey said in a worried voice.

"Are you serious? Who's more likely to know if it's been shut off right between the two of us, Mickey? Me, a proven intergalactic genius, or you, a . . ." The Doctor started to say with a smirk.

"Don't even think about calling me an idiot right now, Doctor! I am definitely not in the mood for it," Mickey warned as he checked my pulse with concern in his eyes.

That's telling him, Micks!

"I was going to say a human actually but I suppose you're right. Now is definitely not the time to point out your shortcomings or else we'd be here all day. The effects will fade in a few minutes, Rose. You didn't get enough of a dose for it to be lethal," The Doctor reassured me as he quickly checked me with his glasses.

"I'm so glad of that," The Corsair said in a relieved voice as he began to start towards me with a huge smile on his face.

"Hold on a minute there, Pirate Boy. What makes you think that I'm about to let you go anywhere especially near her after what you just did to her?" Clara's echo said as she quickly put the Corsair in a headlock.

"You don't understand. I'm freed from the Brethren's control now. Arkytior did it. She completely rewrote my biodata and changed my timestream back to normal," The Corsair protested.

"Is that true?" Clara's echo asked the Doctor in a wary voice.

The Doctor looked at the Corsair for a long moment as he used his time sense to detect the changes in his timestream and then he finally nodded. He actually smiled now as he realized that my plan had finally worked just as we both had hoped that it would.

"Yes, at least it is for his timestream up to this incarnation anyway. The effect still hasn't reached the version of the Corsair who's currently with Martha, Donna, and the others however. That incarnation is the last version, the one who would have died at the hands of House. He's several incarnations after this one though unfortunately so the change will take quite a bit longer to reach him," The Doctor said.

"That's just great. So Martha's still in danger wherever she is," Mickey said in an anxious voice.

"I'm afraid so," The Doctor admitted looking just as worried as he was in that moment.

"Doctor, I know exactly where they are right now. My future self tricked them into going to Bandraginus VI around the year Six Billion," The Corsair said.

"Why would they do that for?" The Doctor asked in confusion.

"Who cares? Let's just use the TARDIS to go there right now before it's too late," Mickey said in a frantic voice.

"No, that wouldn't be such a good idea. Once we got there, there would be no way for us to ever come back again. We'd be just as trapped there as they no doubt are now. It's become known as the Bermuda Triangle of that part of space because anyone who goes there disappears and never comes back again. You'd think that Donna would know better than that since she has my memories now," The Doctor said with a frown.

"Donna doesn't always remember everything, Doctor. She has way too many memories in her brain as it is between hers and yours. It's a wonder she can keep them all straight and doesn't start acting like you," I said in a weak voice.

He briefly smiled at me with gratitude now that he could see that I was slowly regaining my strength once more before his usual blank expression returned as he said with a snort, "Worse things could happen."

"That's what I'm afraid of. How are we going to help them if we can't leave once we get there?" Mickey asked in an upset tone.

"Don't worry, okay? Everything's going to be fine," I reassured him.

"Do you know that for sure? Did you see the future?" Mickey asked with a hopeful look.

I gave him a sympathetic look as I said, "No, I have no idea what's going to happen. Sorry. Their timestreams are all still in a state of flux right now. That's a good thing though so stop looking so worried. It means that nothing's been set in stone just yet. The reason that I'm so sure that it's going to be alright is because I already had a plan in place long before they ever left Earth. Mind you the person who's the key to my plan doesn't really know that she's a part of the plan much less that there is one but that really shouldn't matter."

Mickey immediately gave me a skeptical look as he said, "You've definitely been hanging around him too long, Rose. Since when do you have secret plans about anything? You used to go through your whole life without any sort of a plan whatsoever once."

"Yeah, and look where that got me. Jimmy Stone," I said with a grimace.

"I see your point. It's still hard to imagine you as some kind of master schemer though. I mean your idea of preparing for the future used to involve looking up at the sky with me and Shareen and talking about all of the things that we were going to do someday. That's really hard to reconcile with who you are now," Mickey said with a fond smile.

"I'm still the same more or less though, right? I mean . . . I haven't changed too much have I?" I asked in a hesitant voice.

Mickey gave me a confused look while the Doctor looked concerned. He knew what Mickey didn't after all. He was there when I had lost control of myself and blown up Telos.

"What's wrong?" Mickey asked in a perceptive voice that made the Doctor instantly look at him with surprise.

I'm not sure why he was so surprised to be honest. Mickey grew up with me after all. Who better to know my moods? He was probably the only person who knew me as well as the Doctor did.

"I – I blew up an entire planet. I undid the whole thing in the very next minute but I still . . . I let my anger take control," I said in a voice filled with shame.

"You left out the part where it was a planet full of Cybermen who were just about to kill us, Rose," Clara quickly added.

"That doesn't sound so bad to me. Sounds like you would have been doing the universe a favor if you had just let it stay blown up. You think that means that you're somehow not Rose anymore, don't you?" Mickey guessed.

I smiled at him for his perceptiveness as I said, "You're good you are. You need to teach a course in Rose 101."

Then my expression changed to a forlorn one as I said, "You said it yourself. I'm not the person that you knew anymore."

Mickey smiled as he said, "Really? That's not how it looks from where I'm standing. You almost died trying to save a man who was trying to kill you and you used up your last bit of energy to keep Clara from suffering like you were. Plus you saved my life and probably my daughter's too all at the same time. You're always looking out for everyone else and sacrificing your own happiness and well-being in the process. Now you're upset because you blew up some Cybermen. That sounds like Rose Tyler to me. That's classic Rose Tyler there."

I smiled and kissed his cheek as I said, "Thanks. I really needed to hear that right now."

"Whatever you're worrying about, Rose, if it involves losing yourself it isn't going to happen. I know it won't because I know you. You're just too stubborn for your own good. Always have been," Mickey said with a grin.

"Shut up," I said with a smile as I laughed at him and playfully hit his arm.

"Oh, so him you listen to," The Doctor said in a clearly jealous tone.

"He knew me back when, Doctor. I just wanted a second opinion is all," I said with a slight smile.

"Is that a doctor joke?" The Doctor said as he gave me a disbelieving look.

"Could be," I said as my small smile quickly turned into a wicked one and he immediately rolled his eyes at me.

He was trying very hard to hide his own smile at that I noticed.

"Rose, can you see Martha and the others right now? Are they okay?" Mickey asked as he began to start worrying once more.

I knew I wouldn't be able to take his mind off of that for long, but it was definitely worth a try.

"Why don't you see for yourself?" I said as the room around us suddenly changed to a view of the Wolves and what they were currently doing at the moment.

"Whoa! This definitely blows 3-D movies out of the water," Clara said in a voice filled with awe.

"Hush, I want to see what's going on," I said with a frown.

"Alright, 'Mum'," Clara said with a smirk.

I couldn't help but smile as she said that even if it was said sarcastically.

"Is this what you see all of the time?" Mickey asked as he watched Ileana start to open the doors of Donna's TARDIS with growing trepidation because the others with her clearly didn't seem to want her to at that moment.

"When I want to," I said in a distracted voice just as we all suddenly went silent at the sight of what awaited the Wolves behind those doors.

An army of werewolves.

"I hope for your sake that you've made your final peace with whatever you believe in, vampire, because these are definitely your last moments in this existence. Your friends however have a far more glorious fate awaiting them," The werewolf in the front of the pack said with a sinister smile.

Ileana though defiantly stood her ground in front of the doorway as she said, "So you actually think that I'm just going to roll over and die so that you can get anywhere near my friends? I guarantee that's never going to happen, Hairball. You see I'm the one who brought them here like the huge idiot that I am, and I'm not about to let their lives be ruined because of my mistake. Yours however are another thing altogether."

The werewolves all laughed at that as the one who seemed to be in charge said, "Do you think yourself something special, vampire? We've had thousands of your kind come here over the centuries, and now all's that left of them is the dust that floats through our atmosphere. You will be no different. So how do you wish to die? Should it be in combat or shall we make it quick for you with a single stab through the heart?"

"I was just about to ask you a similar question. I'd say that great minds think alike but I don't want to demean myself by comparing myself in any way to you," Ileana said as she began to show her fangs and prepared for battle.

"It's to be the hard way then. Excellent," The head wolf said with a huge smirk on his face that I really would have loved to wipe off of it at that moment.

"I wouldn't have it any other way, Chuckles. Let's do this," Ileana said as she began to hiss as she went into full vampire mode and charged towards them.

She hit them so fast in fact that she completely pushed them all out of the way of the TARDIS doors at that moment as she yelled behind her, "Shut the doors! Now!"

With a heavy heart, Martha did exactly as she asked as she shut the doors while saying in a mournful voice, "I'm sorry."

"What are you doing? You can't just leave her out there," Michelle protested.

"Do you think I want to? They'll kill all of us too though if we go out there to try and help her and we won't make a difference either way," Martha said in a tone that didn't sound at all sure if what she was saying was true or not.

I couldn't condemn her for that though. She had a baby to think about now after all.

"Do something!" Michelle shouted in a desperate voice as she began to hear screams coming from outside.

"Martha, she's right. We can't just let her die. We have to at least try. It looks like I can still dematerialize if it's a short hop from place to place on the planet itself so I'm going to try to materialize the ship around her. We might get some of those overgrown throw rugs too along with her but we can probably take a few of them. I hope," Donna said as she began to dematerialize the TARDIS.

Martha smiled with relief as she said, "Even if we can't, I wouldn't have done it any other way. I don't think that my conscience could have taken it."

"Martha, I didn't mean to suggest . . ." Michelle said in an apologetic tone.

"I know," Martha said as she smiled at her.

"Be ready for anything. We're just about to materialize," Calliope warned as she instinctively got in front of Emmy and Lilith to protect them.

A moment later as the TARDIS materialized around Ileana, the others gasped at what they saw there. Ileana's eyes were glowing with power and so were her hands where she was holding onto the throats of two werewolves. Only there weren't exactly werewolves anymore. They were becoming more and more human the longer that she held onto them.

She was actually wiping out all traces of the Haemovariform inside of them that had turned them into werewolves in the first place.

"Rose Tyler, I love you so very much right now!" Ileana shouted with joy as the two former werewolves screamed in terror and ran from her.

The feeling's more than mutual, mate.

"How did you just do that, Fang Gal?" Donna asked in astonishment.

"Well, you know how I can feed off of vampires? Apparently that works on Haemovariforms too. Who knew? Oh, wait. Apparently Rose did," Ileana said with a grin as she opened the TARDIS doors and raced outside once more with a huge grin on her face.

"I wish she had let some of us in on it. That would have really been helpful," Donna said with a deep frown.

Yeah, it would have been helpful to the Corsair who could have read your thoughts and found out exactly what I was up to. Sorry, Donna, but that's just the way that it had to be.

It doesn't make me feel like any less of a heel though.

The Wolves could now see that the werewolves were all racing away from Ileana in terror as the present day Corsair said with an appreciative smile, "Very good, Arkytior. You're just as crafty as ever I see. I definitely underestimated you. I won't be making that mistake again I assure you."

You're right. You won't.

The Corsair immediately began to scream now as he said in disbelief, "What?! My timestream. It's changing. She's changed it!"

"Sounds like Petal Girl's been really busy lately," Donna said with a grin.

You could say that alright.

"My lives are all being returned to normal. I never knew that even she possessed such power before. My . . . head," The Corsair said as he held his head in his hands as pain shot through it at the sudden shifting of his timestream.

"Here. Let me give you something for that," Emmy said as she punched the Corsair in the face and immediately knocked him out cold.

"The Fist of Arianrhod. It's the most effective treatment that there is for when you need quick headache relief. Consult your physician before taking as side effects may be broken teeth and/or split lips," Lilith joked with a grin.

"Did you just make a funny?" Emmy said with a surprised smile.

"I believe I did. I've definitely been around you just a little bit too long I think," Lilith said with an amused grin.

"You've also been watching way too much television it sounds like," Calliope said with a smirk as she shook her head at her daughters.

Lilith had definitely come a long way from the woman who had once seemed like my mortal enemy not too long ago. I was so happy for her now and for Emmy who I knew had wanted this with all of her hearts for so very long.

"Oi! Fang Girl, get in here! You can have lunch later. Right now we need to figure out how to get out of here," Donna shouted at Ileana as she continued to make all of the werewolves around her run from her.

"I'm not sure that we can leave judging by what he said," Martha said as she gestured to the unconscious Corsair.

"That may be so but that doesn't mean that we're not going to try, Boss Lady. I'm not about to have you completely miss out on your little girl's entire life if I can help it, and I'm certainly not going to miss out on Lauren's either," Donna reassured her as I could see by her expression that her mind was racing to come up with some kind of answer.

"Maybe the answer is right in front of us again," Emmy suggested.

"What do you mean, Boxer Girl?" Donna asked in a hopeful voice.

"Well, Rose had changed Lana enough so that she could suck the infection right out of the werewolves here even if we didn't know that at the time. Maybe she's had a way out of here right in front of us too this whole time. Do you think I could be right?" Emmy asked eagerly.

Eh, could be.

"If she does, I certainly don't see it. I definitely like your way of thinking though, Boxer Girl," Donna said with a shrug.

"Would you please stop calling me that?" Emmy said in an annoyed voice.

"Maybe that could be your new Time Lord name. The Boxer," Lilith suggested with a giggle.

"And yours could be The Chuckler or maybe Old Chucklehead," Emmy said with a frown.

"No, I think I like The Caster better. I never did pick one did I? I think that's the one," Lilith said in a serious voice.

"That reminds me. I think I'll arrange for you to have a special invite to the Academy crash course so that you can be made into a proper Time Lord even if you won't ever be a Gallifreyan biologically," Calliope said.

"I like that name. It suits you. It's definitely much better than mine," Emmy said with a warm smile.

"What is yours anyway? You never did say," Lilith asked curiously.

"Oh, that must just be killing you. You can't really read the names of Time Lords at all can you? Sorry but you're never going to know, Lil. No one is. I never even told Mum. I'll keep it a closely guarded secret until the end of my last regeneration," Emmy said with a mischievous smile.

I couldn't help but laugh back on Earth because if anyone could sympathize with having made a naff choice for your Time Lord name I certainly could. I was also laughing because my friends had their sense of hope back again and I was so glad about that.

I was also glad about what I could finally see was about to happen next.

"Fang Girl, where are you? Hurry up and get in here!" Donna shouted as she looked around for Ileana who she could no longer see.

"Where is she? Is she alright?" Michelle asked in an anxious tone.

"Don't worry. I'm here," Ileana said as she quickly hurried inside.

"What kept you?" Donna said in anger as she quickly shut the doors.

"I just felt a little strange for a minute there," Ileana said with a distant look on her face.

"Are you okay?" Michelle asked with concern.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Ileana reassured her in a distracted tone.

Before Michelle could ask her anything else though, Donna suddenly said with a huge laugh, "You'll never believe this, girls, but we're going home!"

"What? How?" Martha said as she began to laugh right along with her.

As Donna began to dematerialize, she said, "I don't know and I don't care. All I know is that the TARDIS' computer just told me that I could go so I'm going."

Donna got her answer anyway though as a voice came over the console and said, "How did you ever conquer the anti-toxin, vampire? You are the first in our planet's entire history to do so. We will release you for now but don't think that you will ever be allowed to return again with impunity. Don't ever come here again or we will instantly blow your ship apart."

"Who wants to come back? I certainly don't, Fright Face," Donna said with a shiver as she thought of how close that they had all come to becoming werewolves.

Then she looked at Martha with a grin as she finally realized, "So that's what happened. They kicked us out. They were so afraid of Lana changing them all back to their original forms again that they kicked us off the planet. Good going, Fang Girl!"

"I wonder what they meant by anti-toxin though?" Martha asked with a thoughtful look on her face.

I had to admit that I was thinking the same thing myself at that moment.

"What do you think she meant, Martha? Think it through," The Doctor said impatiently even though she couldn't hear him.

"You know something we don't, don't you?" I asked with a grin.

"Yes, and it's definitely a first as far as you're concerned. Ever since you became the Bad Wolf again, you always seem to know just as much as I do," The Doctor said.

"Just as much? Really?" I said with a raised eyebrow.

"Well, you may know a little bit more . . . sometimes," The Doctor admitted in a low voice.

I laughed at him and was about to mercilessly tease him some more when I suddenly heard Ileana say something that completely surprised me.

"I – I don't feel hungry anymore," Ileana said in shock.

"What? What are you talking about?" Michelle asked in confusion.

Ileana began to laugh as she said, "I'm not hungry anymore. Suddenly I don't want to completely drain the blood from any of you."

"Uh, yay?" Emmy said in a freaked out tone.

"You don't understand. That planet did something to me just by being there. It must have been something in the air. No wonder they were so surprised that I stayed a vampire. I must have resisted their anti-toxin longer than any other vampire ever had before because of what Rose did to me. They were expecting it to change me quickly so that they could kill me like they must have done to so many others before me. It still worked though just like it did to all the others. It just took a little longer. Do you understand now? It cured me. I'm cured!" Ileana screamed with joy.

As the others began to scream along with her, I couldn't help but yell myself back home. That one had definitely taken even me completely by surprise for once.

Like I said before, not even I can see everything. A lot of the time that turns out to be a bad thing more often than not, but this time just this once it was a more than welcome surprise.

Good for you, Ileana. Good for you.

Next: Is Ileana really cured for good? And if she is, what does this mean for her future on the Wolves? Plus what will happen to the Corsair? Will his present self regain his freedom from the Brethren as well? And just how will the Brethren react to all of this? The Wolves may not like the answer to that question. Okay, I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that I'm positive that they won't.