CHAPTER 48
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Lily wanted to make very sure that the man that Goth had told her was her son really was related to her so she had decided to do every test that she could think of first before she told him about it. She tested his bio data extract, samples of his genetic material, his blood, and his hair. She got the samples by telling him that she needed them in order to make sure that he hadn't contracted Chen-7 from any planets that he had been to recently due to their being an sudden outbreak of the disease that had been reported.
The man in question was immediately suspicious of course when she started displaying any kind of interest in his well-being as was Rose. Neither of them had ever known her to care if said man would last the night before so for her to suddenly be concerned whether he had contracted a deadly disease or not was certainly out of character for her.
She waited until each and every test had been finished and confirmed . . . three times. Then she hesitantly looked at the results. She carefully read them all over and over again, and they all said the same thing. Without a shadow of a doubt, every test she had conducted agreed that the man Goth had told her about was her son.
As this knowledge fully hit her for the first time, she found herself becoming overwhelmed by it all; and she quickly had to sit down. She still didn't understand how this could be possible. How could no one have ever known? Why had this never come out before in hundreds of years? She knew that this man had parents who had always claimed him as their own, and she had no idea why they would have done so if he were not. Were they in on the CIA's plot too? If so, why?
There were so many questions that she wondered if she would ever have the answers to or not. The main thing that she was worried about right now though was how was she going to break this to him, and how would both he and Rose react to this? Rose in particular would be greatly affected by this because of the position that he had always had in her life. She knew that she would have to break this to both of them gently.
She contacted both of them and arranged for them along with Robin, Allison, and Ron to meet with her in an out of the way place so that no one else would ever have to know about this if the man in question didn't want them to. She wasn't sure if he would want their true relationship made public knowledge or not. Would he even want her to acknowledge him as her son, or would he even believe it even after all of the evidence? Worst of all, would he hate her and want nothing to do with her?
She wouldn't be able to blame him if he did feel that way. She had never even taken a chance to get to know him and had always looked down on him all of his life because he didn't exactly meet her standards of what a person should be. He had always been good to Rose but other than that she really hadn't found anything to like about him much.
She felt terrible now about how she had always treated him. Perhaps if she had shown him some kindness or had encouraged him in any way then maybe he would have turned out much better and would not have become one of Gallifrey's most notorious renegades. She swore to make that up to him in the future if he would let her. She would endeavor to treat him with kindness and try her best to welcome him into her family if that was what he wanted.
Lily waited at the Eye of Orion for Rose and the man in question to arrive so that they could all get this over with at last. Lily continued to worry about both of their reactions to what she would have to say the entire time. Finally, her hearts seemed like they were both about to burst out of her chest as Rose and the Doctor finally arrived in the TARDIS. She hadn't been this worried and anxious about something since she had told Rose that she was really her mother after Rose had thought of her as her best friend for so long.
"Mum, what is this about?" Rose asked with her face looking as worried as Lily herself felt.
"I'd like to know that too. You've gotten Rose all worked up. All of this secrecy of yours has made her think that you're dying or something. I don't like it when Rose gets upset so just tell us and set her mind at ease," the Doctor said angrily.
"Rose, there's something that I have to tell you about. It's going to change your relationship with the person in question forever, but it has to be done. The truth must be told," Lily said hesitantly.
"Mum, you're starting to scare me. What is this all about?" Rose asked.
"Rose, I found out that you have a brother that neither of us ever knew about. He's someone that you've been very close to all of your life and once you find out just who he really is to you it will probably change the way that you relate to him forever. Brace yourself. Your brother is . . . ," Lily started to say before pausing for a moment in hesitation.
That moment seemed to stretch out forever as time seemed to stand still. Rose began to entertain all kinds of terrible notions as to just who her brother could be.
". . . not here yet. What in the world could be keeping him?" Lily said as she finished her statement.
It was then that Rose's brother finally arrived in his TARDIS, and Lily began to brace herself for his reaction to the upcoming news. As soon as he arrived, both Rose and the Doctor gasped in shock.
"That makes so much sense now that I think about it. Of course it's him. He's always been very protective of you, and he's watched out for you all of your life. He was always nice to you even when he wasn't to anyone else. When he thought you died, that was the last straw that broke him and pushed him over the edge," the Doctor said.
"I know. Somehow I've always known. It all makes sense now. How both of us always felt about each other. The truth has always been there in my heart," Rose said.
"'I know. Somehow I've always known.' You're quoting Princess Leia in Return of the Jedi! You can't deny it anymore, Rose. You're a closet Star Wars fangirl! Admit it!" the Doctor shouted in triumph.
"Okay! Okay! You've got me. Mickey got me hooked on Star Wars and every other kind of science fiction. Why do you think I jumped at the chance to go exploring time and space with you in the first place? Well, that and getting to be with you, of course. It was really because I wanted to be with you. I was even willing to settle down and have a normal domestic life just to be with you at Krop Tor. Now is not the time to be talking about this though. We're about to have a serious moment here," Rose said.
"Fine. When this is over with though, I'm never going to let you live this down," the Doctor said with a big smile on his face.
"Remind me to slap you later," Rose replied with an evil grin.
Koschei stepped out of his TARDIS to find everyone staring at him, and he had no idea why. He had no clue why he had even been asked to come here for in the first place.
"What is this all about anyway?" Koschei asked in complete confusion.
Rose came running up to him and hugged him tightly with tears of joy in her eyes. Koschei looked at her even more confused than ever now.
He had obviously confused her tears of joy with those of sadness as he said with concern, "Is everything alright? You're not sick with Chen-7, are you?"
"I'm fine. Everything's fine," Rose said as she continued to embrace him.
"Is the Doctor sick?" Koschei asked with a smile on his face at the thought of it.
"Thank you so much for your concern for me," the Doctor said with a frown.
"Anytime, Doctor. Anytime," Koschei said with an evil grin.
"No one's sick," Rose said.
"They must be, and it must be me that's sick. That's what this is all about, right? Those tests for Chen-7 showed that I have it, didn't they? You don't have to worry about me, Rose. I'm indestructible! The whole universe knows that! I'll find a way out of this somehow," Koschei said with a hopeful tone to his voice.
"You're not sick, Koschei. I asked you to come here because I wanted to tell you something. You're not going to believe me. I didn't even believe it myself, but I'm . . . ," Lily hesitated as she was overcome with emotion for a moment.
"I can tell him, Mum," Rose offered.
"Tell me what? What's going on?" Koschei asked in frustration.
"I can do it, Rose," Lily said as she walked up to Koschei and smiled at him.
"Now, I know something's wrong. You never smile at me. You can't stand me," Koschei said.
"I was wrong to treat you that way. I'm sorry," Lily said sadly.
"Why are you being so nice to me? I am dying, aren't I?" Koschei asked.
Lily decided just to blurt it out and get it over with so she said, "I'm your mother."
Koschei just looked at her like she had lost her mind as he said, "What? Are you serious?"
"I have tests to prove it. I've done every kind of test that I can think of, and they've all come up positive. It's true," Lily said as she handed him the results of all of her tests.
Koschei looked them over for several minutes in disbelief until he finally said, "This must be some kind of trick. This seems like something that I'd do in order to get back at the Doctor. Someone's just trying to trick you. What made you even think of the two of us being connected anyway?"
"Goth told me about it. I found his consciousness still in the Matrix, and he told me that you were created from my genetic material by the Celestial Intervention Agency," Lily said.
"Well, there you go. There's your answer. If Goth said it, it has to be a lie. That man was a huge liar, believe me! He would do and say anything to get what he wanted. He's up to something. Whatever it is, it isn't going to work. I'll find out the truth for myself," Koschei said stubbornly.
"Koschei, he had nothing to do with the tests that I conducted, and they all said the same thing that he did," Lily insisted.
"I don't care. It's all some kind of trick, trust me. I've done these kinds of schemes before to mess with the Doctor's head, and I know how they're done. I'll tell you one glaring hole in this whole thing already. If any of what Goth said were true, then my parents would have to be in on it. I don't believe that for a minute," Koschei said in denial.
"Maybe they didn't know. The CIA are devious. They could have brainwashed them into believing that you were really theirs," Lily suggested.
"No. I don't believe it. Goth is just trying to trick us all for his own twisted reasons. Is he still in the Matrix? I want to go in there and question him personally," Koschei said in anger.
"He left the Matrix by hitching a ride with me when I left it. He tried to take over my body, but I stopped him. Then I put his mind into a Matrix like receptacle that I created just for him. He's in there right now trapped in his own memories. I thought that was good enough for him. He's reliving his whole life now including every bad day that he ever had. Just think of it as my revenge for what he tried to do to me," Lily explained.
"Where is this little mini Matrix?" Koschei asked.
"It's in my TARDIS. I decided that was the only safe place. I'm keeping his mind trapped forever. I don't want him ever getting loose again," Lily said.
"I'm going in there, and I'm going to find out the truth. The fact that he tried to take over you mind right after telling you that whole story just proves it," Koschei said as he headed inside Lily's TARDIS.
"That man is worse than you. He's so thick that you can't tell him anything," Lily said to the Doctor.
"Believe me I know. I've had to put up with him for hundreds of years. I know how useless it is to try and reason with him more than anyone. You'll just have to let him go into your little prison for Goth and see for himself before he'll even start to believe you," the Doctor advised.
"Where is Goth? Show me where he is!" Koschei ordered as soon as he entered Lily's TARDIS.
Isabella was startled by his sudden arrival and nervously pointed to a small box in the corner of the Console Room.
Koschei could see what effect his sudden entrance had on her and he apologized by saying, "I'm sorry. I'm just having a really bad day so far. It has nothing to do with you though so I apologize for yelling at you that way."
Isabella nodded and gave him a weak smile as Koschei made his way to the mini Matrix. He placed his hands on each side of it and entered into it. He was going to find out what was really going on here once and for all. Goth wasn't going to pull any kind of con job on him. He was much too brilliant to fall for his little mind games.
Lily just shook her head as she entered the TARDIS and saw what he was up to. It figured that Koschei would have to be the one.
Why couldn't her other child have been Marissa? She actually liked Marissa. At least Marissa was going to be her daughter-in-law now anyway whenever they actually got around to tying the knot together. Right now that was the only silver lining that she could see coming out of this situation.
"Perhaps we should just let Koschei digest all of this in his own time. He's just going to need time to adjust to all of this," Robin advised.
"Both of us will," Lily admitted.
"I think that you'll grow to love him if you just get to know him. He has a kind, loving side to him that no one else but me and Marissa has ever gotten to see," Rose said.
"I've certainly never seen it," the Doctor said with a grin.
"Now is not the time!" Rose said to him in irritation through gritted teeth.
"I think that you're enjoying this whole situation just a little bit too much, Doctor," Lily said with anger.
"I don't know what you're talking about," the Doctor said with a smug grin on his face.
Mother and daughter looked at each other then, and both of them decided at once what they were going to do about that insufferable smile. The Doctor screamed in pain as both Lily and Rose smacked him in the face at the same time!
His scream could even be heard inside of the mini Matrix, and Koschei laughed to himself as he searched for Goth amid a sea of the man's memories.
"Just when you think that your life is going completely downhill, something happens to lift up your spirits and to show you that there's still some good left in this rotten old universe after all!" Koschei said to himself.
Next: Koschei confronts Goth and finds out the real story about his birth and early life from him. What will he do once he finds out the truth? Also, Lily and Robin start making plans for their wedding. It's going to be huge, and I do mean huge. You have no idea just how appropriate that adjective is going to be to that whole situation. You'll find out just what I mean when our two co-stars tie the knot in Chapter 50 coming soon!