CHAPTER 49
I do not own Doctor Who and I am making no profit off of this story.
Thank you for all of your reviews, favorites, follows, and story alerts.
While Koschei was searching for Goth inside of the mini Matrix, Lily was finding out just what had been going on while she had been lost in her own mind. She had found out the full details of what had happened to Rose at the hands of the Black Guardian and the Dalek Emperor and how she had lost her powers. Rose also let her know telepathically about the Silence following her and about the secret that she had to keep until the time was right. Lily's thoughts then changed to a new topic as she suddenly remembered something.
"What about my teaching career back in 1890? Who's been teaching my classes?" Lily asked.
"I've already arranged for that, Mum," Allison said.
"What do you mean?" Lily asked.
"I found the perfect person to take your place until you were ready to come back. She's already learned so much just by watching you that I knew that I was leaving things in good hands," Allison said.
"Holly," Lily guessed with a smile.
"That's right. She's been working with you long enough to know how to do the job, and she knows all about the curriculum. All I had to do was to give her a jury rigged perception filter and shimmer combo that I came up with just by studying some of the books in your TARDIS' library. I'm so much smarter now that I'm a Time Lady that it's unreal. Not that I was a dunce before. Anyway this device I came up with makes her look just like your last incarnation because that's who they still expect to see," Allison explained.
"Why didn't you just use the one that I've used since I regenerated?" Lily asked.
"It was damaged during that last fight with the Monk that you and Dad had. I probably could have fixed it, but I just decided to make a new one just for the challenge of building something from scratch. I'd never done that before. It was amazing," Allison said happily.
"You're my daughter alright," Lily said proudly.
"It seems she inherited your engineering skills, Mum. It must have skipped me. I can make some things, but I'm definitely not as good as you," Rose said.
"I think that you may surprise yourself someday and find out just how wrong you are. You told me how you supervised the building of the Dimension Cannon yourself back when you were still human. That should have been a clue even then that you were more than human if the Doctor had taken the time to notice," Lily said.
"I didn't really have time to think too much about it. I was in the middle of a massive Dalek attack that was threatening the entire universe at the time. I was kind of busy," the Doctor said in an annoyed voice.
"Yes, and then you were too busy sending her away afterwards," Lily said.
"Mum," Rose said in a tone that meant that she wanted her to drop that line of conversation immediately.
"I guess it's just as well. I might never have seen you again if you hadn't gone back to Pete's World so it all worked out for the best anyhow," Lily said as she smiled at Rose.
"That's right. So let's stop talking about it," Rose said with a sigh.
"Your mother never lets anything go. She still has a grudge against me for eloping with you for our first marriage," the Doctor said.
"I do not. I forgave you for that a long time ago. What do you take me for?" Lily asked.
The Doctor started to say something that was no doubt either rude or sarcastic, but the piercing glares of both Rose and Lily quickly shut him up. He didn't want to go through that double slap again by any means.
"You're trained him well, Rose. I'm proud of you," Lily said.
Rose just laughed as she put her arm around the Doctor to let him know that they were just joking around. He still looked like he'd rather be anywhere but there at that moment despite her reassurance.
"So you're planning to finally get married to Robin I hear?" Rose said changing the subject so that the Doctor would stop squirming.
"Who told you that?" Lily said as she looked suspiciously at Allison who began to whistle.
"I have my ways," Rose said and then she winked at Allison when Lily's head was turned to look at her.
"Well, it's true. I do plan on marrying him if he ever asks me. So far though I haven't gotten either a proposal or a ring," Lily said.
"You've both agreed to it though, haven't you?" Rose prodded.
"Yes, we have. It's just that I like the traditional approach. Well it's traditional on Earth anyway, and I've always liked Earth myself," Lily said with a smile.
"He'll do it, Mum. I think that he's just waiting until both of you are alone," Allison said.
"He'd better be if he knows what's good for him," Lily said as she pretended to be angry.
"So have you made any plans for the wedding?" Rose asked.
"You want to know if I have a role for you in it, don't you?" Lily asked with a mischievous grin.
"You know I do. I want to be a part of it," Rose said growing annoyed.
"Calm down. I couldn't have a wedding without my Maid of Honor, could I?" Lily said with a huge smile.
Rose hugged her tightly then and said, "Thank you!"
"Who else would it be?" Lily asked.
"What about Allison?" Rose asked.
"I gladly stepped out of the running. I'd rather it be you. I'll be one of the Bridesmaids," Allison said.
"Are you sure? I'll step aside if you'd rather do it," Rose asked her.
"Yeah. I'm sure. It's okay," Allison said smiling.
"Thank you, Ally," Rose said as she then hugged her sister too.
As Lily watched her two daughters interact with each other, she thought about how lucky she was now. Once she had been alone for so long with no one to talk to or to tell her secrets to. Now she had two daughters, an adopted son, and now apparently another son as well as the love of her life with her. That wasn't even counting Ivy, Isabella, Holly, and yes, even Violet. She thought of them all as her family too. Lily knew more than anyone else the true importance of having a family when you had been without one for so very long as she had.
She had everything that she had ever wanted at last, and she couldn't be happier. The only thing that could make her life any better right now was to marry Robin. She just hoped that he actually got around to popping the question soon. She had no idea what he was waiting on.
Robin was being asked that very question at that moment by Violet, and who better to ask it? Violet was Lily's clone so she knew exactly what would be running through her mind right now.
"What are you waiting on? Ask her to marry you. She's dying for you to. It's what she'll expect from you. That and a very huge ring! Trust me on this," Violet said as she spoke to Robin alone in the library of Lily's TARDIS.
Robin couldn't get over how Violet looked just like Lily used to. He tried not to stare at her as he said, "I'm waiting until this whole matter with Koschei comes to an end. I don't want it interfering with the wedding. I want her to be untroubled by anything when I ask her. She doesn't need to worry about anything but her son and how he's going to ultimately react once he gets the answers that he's looking for. Once that's finished, then I'll ask her and not before then."
"Oh, good! I thought that I was going to have to beat a proposal out of you or that she would," Violet joked.
"No, there's no need for that. I have every intention of marrying her," Robin assured her.
"Really? Then you need to stop staring at me then. I know that I'm unbelievably beautiful, but you're supposed to be in love with her not me," Violet said with a grin.
"I wasn't . . . ," Robin started to say.
"I know. You just can't get over how much I look like she used to. I'm just playing with you, Robin. You're going to have to get used to my twisted sense of humor since I'm going to be your sister-in-law from now on. You're going to love me, Robby!" Violet said as she gave him a tight hug.
"I'm sure," Robin said as he desperately wished to get away from her right now.
We already have that in common. That's always the reaction that she gives me as well. Lily said to him through their mental link.
Lily, did you hear our entire conversation? Robin asked in his thoughts.
I'm sorry. I couldn't help eavesdropping. She's right when she says that I expect a proposal. Now that I know why you're waiting I won't have to hurt you. Lily joked.
That's good to know. Do you know if Ron and Isabella are still planning to get married at the same time as we do like they had planned before? Robin asked.
Yes, they're just waiting on us. That's another reason that I wanted you to hurry up and ask me. This is going to a double ceremony. Now to the most important question that's on my mind right now. Exactly how big is my ring? Lily asked.
As Robin sighed out loud, Violet said with a knowing smile, "She's giving you flack already, huh?"
At around this same time, Koschei finally found Goth after a long time of searching through one memory after another. He should have known to pick this memory first. It was the day that he had killed Goth and trapped his mind in the Matrix.
Goth was watching his memories unfold with an emotionless look on his face as Koschei came up to him. He turned to look at Koschei without the slightest hint of surprise on his face once he felt his presence there.
"Hello, Koschei. I expected you to come sooner or later. You've come for answers I suppose," Goth said.
"I've come to find out what your game is. Why are you telling Lily that she's my mother? I just can't understand what you're getting out of lying like that," Koschei said.
"I told her that so that she'd let me go without destroying what was left of me. I also knew that telling her that would be guaranteed to shake her up enough where I could cut through her natural mental defenses and ride her mind back out of the Matrix and into her own body," Goth explained.
"So you lied to her so that you could use her to get out of the Matrix! I knew it!" Koschei shouted in triumph.
"It wasn't a lie. I knew that the truth would be much more effective at rattling her than a lie would have been," Goth said.
"You still cling to this outrageous story of yours? Tell me the real truth, Goth, and I may let you live out eternity here. If you don't, I'm going to smash the Matrix once I leave it and destroy you forever!" Koschei threatened.
"Alright, I'll tell you the truth. You were an experiment by the Celestial Intervention Agency just like I said. We found a genetic sample of some of Sekhmet's tissues that somehow survived down through the millennia, and the men at the top of the CIA decided that someone cloned from the greatest warrior in Gallifrey's history would make the ultimate assassin to use in our more unsavory operations. Your parents were unable to have children, and they were trying every treatment that they could for help without success. We came to them under the guise of a medical research program, and soon we had created you through some expert trickery using Sekhmet's and your father's genes and bypassing your adopted mother's damaged eggs which were keeping her from becoming pregnant. We implanted the resulting product of that union, you, into your adopted mother, and she then carried you to term and never knew that you weren't really hers. She was more of a surrogate to you than a birth mother, Koschei," Goth explained.
"I've never heard a bigger pack of lies. If this were so then someone would have picked up on it sometime in the hundreds of years since then. I find it hard to believe that no one ever has," Koschei said.
"The arms of the CIA extend to every corner of society. Anytime that it looked like someone was going to discover the truth one of us would cover it up using whatever means necessary. We never wanted anyone to know what we had done especially when you started showing just how mentally unstable that you were even before you were grown. Once you became the Master, we definitely didn't want to be blamed for your creation and possibly shut down because of it so we made sure that no one could ever link you to us. Now, however, I no longer care who knows what. Let the CIA of today answer for your birth. I will stay here in my eternal cage. This is more than punishment enough to have to sit and relive what was and never get to see what could be. If you destroy this place once you leave, you'll actually be doing me a favor," Goth admitted.
"I've had enough of this. I'll drag the truth from you once and for all," Koschei said as he placed his hands on both sides of Goth's head and made direct contact with his mind.
Koschei then saw to his horror that it was all true. Goth was not lying. He couldn't believe it. His parents had been used as a part of a monstrous experiment and never even knew it. He was just someone's sick science experiment gone wrong.
Koschei released Goth and slowly walked away from him in shock without speaking. Goth began to laugh. He had to admit that knowing that he had just shattered Koschei this way had really helped to make his imprisonment here just a little more bearable. Maybe spending eternity here wouldn't be so bad after all with the memory of that look on Koschei's face just now to help keep him going.
Koschei came back to the real world and silently began to walk back to his TARDIS. Lily came up to him and tried to stop him as she said to him in a gentle voice, "Koschei, do you want to talk about it?"
Koschei never spoke. He just shook his head no and kept on walking. Lily knew that he was devastated by what he had learned, but she didn't want to leave things this way between them.
"Koschei, I just want you to know that you're always welcome here and that I'll always be willing to talk to you whenever you're ready. That's what you do for family after all," Lily said.
Koschei started to leave without reacting to her words, but he knew that she was being very gracious to him. She was willing to accept him as her son even after everything that he had done in his life. It was much more than he deserved he knew. He owed her more than just to leave without saying anything.
He turned around and smiled at her. Then he walked up to her, and the two of them embraced at last. Lily smiled as she could feel his acceptance of her in that moment.
"I'll be back to talk to you about this later once everything's fully sunken in for me. I just need some time to process everything for now. You understand, don't you?" Koschei said.
"Yes, I understand. I'll see you later than, Koschei. Are you going to be alright?" Lily asked in concern.
"I'll be fine eventually. Don't worry about me. Go ahead with your wedding, and don't let me hold it up, okay?" Koschei said as he turned to leave.
"How do you know about that?" Lily asked in surprise.
"I have my ways," Koschei said and almost smiled.
"It was Rose, wasn't it?" Lily asked.
"You're good," Koschei said as he finally smiled appreciatively at her.
"You and Rose have always been as thick as thieves together. She always told you everything sooner or later. I should have known that the two of you had to be related. You were always much closer than just friends," Lily said.
Koschei continued to walk away without any further comment and then just before he entered his TARDIS he turned around and said to Lily, "Good bye . . . Mum."
He then entered the TARDIS and left while Lily smiled. It was going to be alright. She was sure that Koschei would still have trouble coping with what he had learned here today, but it was going to be alright in the end she was sure of it.
She turned around to see Robin standing there. He had watched the whole thing. All of Lily's family gathered around him now, and she knew what was coming. Her hearts were about to beat out of her chest as she watched him get down on one knee and bring out a large ring box in one hand.
"Lily Wright, will you marry me?" Robin asked as he opened the ring box and revealed a huge diamond ring.
Lily idly wondered where on Earth he could have gotten such a ring from but decided that she really didn't care and let it go. It turned out that Ivy had given it to him from her royal collection. She had accumulated it a long time ago in her old life as Cleopatra, and it was just lying around doing no one any good so she decided to give it to her best friends. Plus she liked Robin and really didn't want to see Lily punch him in the jaw if he didn't give her a big enough ring. Not that Lily would ever really do such a thing of course.
"Finally! I've only had to wait a billion years to get you to ask me after all. Even I could die of old age waiting on you," Lily joked.
Robin and the others all rolled their eyes at her response, and she laughed at their impatience. It just wouldn't be her if she answered right away, would it? She had to have some kind of clever, witty response after all.
"Yes! You know I will. Now lay one on me, Mr. Wright," Lily said happily.
Robin obeyed and gave her a passionate kiss as everyone around them cheered in joy. Their special day was now here. After they had gone through so much just to be together again, they were finally going to get married at last!
All of them should have known that it would never be that simple. Nothing in Lily's life ever had or ever would be that easy after all; and if she were being completely honest with herself, she wouldn't have it any other way!
Next: You're all invited to the 50th chapter of Lily and Robin and the biggest wedding in a billion years. Lily and Robin's happy occasion will not go off exactly as planned though when a very huge and I mean HUGE party crasher shows up to the event. I don't think that he's just there for the free food either. He's on a strict plasma diet if you know what I mean. Now that I've left you all with that little hint as to our surprise wedding guest, I hope that you'll all return to see what will certainly turn out to be one of the wildest wedding days in history.