CHAPTER 47

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THE NEW LIFE OF MERCY HARTIGAN

Oswin had been preparing for her wedding to John non-stop ever since she had come back from Telos which couldn't delight her friends more. They had been worried for some time now about her becoming more Dalek than human from being around the Daleks so much. Her throwing herself into planning the wedding however cheered them up somewhat because what could be less Dalek than that?

Epsilon had even encouraged this by telling her that he had everything handled until the honeymoon was over. For once Oswin didn't argue with him. Maybe it had something to do with spending more time with her and Clara's grandmother, Abby, who had been around her as much as possible this entire time at Clara's insistence.

Oswin had been having the time of her life reuniting with her grandmother and finally being able to talk to her as herself instead of pretending to be the other Clara. It had gone a long way in making her feel better than she had in quite some time.

For some reason though, she still kept having an uneasy feeling like something was wrong. She had felt that way since Telos, but she still didn't know why.

She soon would though.

It was coming up on the final day before the wedding, and with a heavy heart Oswin realized that she was going to have to return to Skaro for the final preparations since the wedding was going to be held there. Unless she changed her mind that is.

"What's bothering you, Clara?" Abby asked Oswin when she caught her staring off into space at Clara's home one day near the time of the wedding.

"I don't want to hold the wedding on Skaro, Gran," Oswin admitted.

"I don't blame you. I didn't want to go back there anyway whether you're in charge or not. I don't have any good memories of that place," Abby said with a shudder.

"That's not fair, Gran. My Daleks are a lot better than the ones that you remember. You met Delta. They're all like him now more or less," Oswin said.

"I like Delta but I'm still not a fan of being back on a whole world filled with Daleks whether they're like him or not. After they try to kill you a half dozen times you kind of develop a phobia about them even towards a nice one," Abby said grinning.

"Yeah, I guess I can see your point. That has nothing to do with why I don't want to go back though. I just . . . I like being around people again. I was around Daleks and only Daleks so much lately that I was starting to become more and more like one. It was scaring me and I know that it was scaring my friends. I know that Clara put you up to being around me so much to help me snap out of that kind of thing. I know that because I know how I think, and that's exactly what I'd do if the same thing were happening to her," Oswin said.

"That's not the only reason that I've spent so much time with you. I would have done it anyway because I wanted to get to know you. I guess it isn't too surprising that you're just like my Clara. I still don't quite understand how you exist, but I'm so glad that you do," Abby said.

Oswin smiled and became emotional as she said, "Thank you. You don't know how long I've wanted to talk to you and Dad and hear you say something like that. That's one down, huh?"

Abby put her arm around her as she said, "If you want to talk to your father, I'll try to smooth things over for you first. I know that you want to see him. Of course we're going to have to break the whole news about the Doctor to him first. I never had the courage to tell him about that myself. How do you explain about the Doctor after all and not come off sounding like you belong in a rubber room?"

"I could bring a Dalek with me to help convince him," Oswin offered with a grin.

"You might have to. We'll just have to hope that he doesn't faint at the sight of one. He's not as tough as we are after all," Abby said chuckling.

"I'd like to tell him soon. I'm not sure if I'm ready to tell him yet before the wedding or not. I'm already stressed enough. I would like to have him there though," Oswin said.

"We'll do whatever you want to about it. It's up to you. One thing's for sure is that I'll definitely be there and so will my other Clara. Is the Doctor going to be there too?" Abby asked hopefully.

Oswin smiled at her as she said, "You really want to see him again don't you?"

"Definitely now that I know who he is. Do you think that one of you could set that up?" Abby asked hopefully.

"I won't have to. He's going to be at the wedding," Oswin said.

Abby suddenly became excited as she said, "I'm definitely going to come there in my best dress then. Tell me, Clara, do you think that I've still got it? Will he be stunned by me? Be honest."

"He'll probably pass out when he sees how gorgeous you are, and I'm sure Rose will be instantly jealous," Oswin said with a warm smile.

Abby laughed as she said, "You're a terrible liar, Clara. Thank you anyway though."

"She's not lying. I already am jealous," Rose said through Clara when she came into the room.

"I'm still not used to that," Abby said as she stared at her other granddaughter uncomfortably.

"Neither am I," Oswin agreed feeling just as uncomfortable as her grandmother.

Rose had recently been forced to merge bodies with Clara in order to save her life after River Song almost killed her when she had been brainwashed by an enemy of hers. Unfortunately Rose was so weakened by River's attack she couldn't separate herself from Clara right away. She had been stuck inside of Clara's body for several days now as she tried to regain her strength enough to escape from her.* This was extremely weird for everyone around her because they never knew for sure now whether it was Clara or Rose speaking.

"You? What about me? I have another person stuck inside of me. If it wasn't Rose who I trust completely, I'd be even more freaked out about that than I am. There are certain things that I don't want anyone to know about me," Clara said as herself now.

"I'd never tell anyone anything that I find there. Not that I'm looking mind you," Rose said through Clara.

"I appreciate that, Rose," Clara said as herself.

"I really hope that you don't do that in public, Clara. If you do, I'm going to have to move away from you pretty quickly," Oswin said with a grin.

"Rose promises to behave herself. It could be worse. It could be the Doctor stuck in my head. He'd never shut up," Clara said laughing.

"I think I'm going to hold the wedding somewhere else besides Skaro. I'm not sure where I could hold it at such short notice though," Oswin said.

"Good. The less that you're there the better," Clara said quickly.

"I'm going to have to go back eventually. They really do need me there. What do I do then?" Oswin asked.

"You'll have John with you all the time by that point, and he can help you stay yourself if anyone can I'm sure. If he doesn't get killed by Epsilon that is," Clara joked.

Oswin rolled her eyes as she said, "He wouldn't dare. Besides that I think he's gotten to like him these days. He hasn't threatened to exterminate John in a while now."

"I'm really glad that you two can joke about stuff like that these days. You know you companions these days sure have it easy compared to me. In my day, Daleks were cold-blooded killers. We didn't have any nice Daleks back then, and we also didn't have sweet lovable handsome Doctors either. We had tetchy old men with no discernable sense of humor whatsoever and we liked it," Abby said joking.

Both Claras smiled at her as Oswin said with a smirk, "Don't tell me. You had to walk to the TARDIS every day through two miles of snow?"

"Don't be cheeky," Abby said with a chuckle, "It was just one mile."

"Oswin, you could hold the wedding at the House of Lungbarrow on Gallifrey if you want. I'm sure the Doctor won't mind. You're just like a part of the family anyway. Or you might ask Marissa if you could hold it at her House," Rose suggested through Clara.

Oswin smiled at that as she said, "Do you think that she'd do it? I'd love to have it at her old home. She's not the head of her house though is she? That might cause some problems."

"Don't worry about that. I happen to know the current head of Marissa's house, and I'm sure that it's not going to be a problem," Clara said.

Oswin looked at her oddly and then she put two and two together as she said, "Cydonia? Cydonia is the head of Marissa's House? So our Cy is related to Marissa and Lissa? That makes us family then. Sort of. You never told me that!"

"You never asked and I can't remember everything. I have to keep track of about a billion Claras all throughout time and space you know," Clara said grinning.

"I like being almost related to Mari," Oswin said in a happy voice.

"Let's ask Cy and Mari about holding the wedding at the House of Deeptree then.** I'm sure that Cydonia will jump at the chance to keep you away from Skaro for a little while longer," Clara said.

"I just love how all of you other mes conspire against me," Oswin said as she shook her head.

"Careful. You're starting to sound like the Doctor," Rose joked.

"Don't even go there, Rose," Oswin said.

"How do you know that was her? I can't tell the difference," Abby asked.

"I just know. Clara's eyes and her face just seem to look different whenever Rose speaks. Maybe it's just because I know myself so well," Oswin said.

"Maybe we should ask Cy right now to make sure that we can do it. I'm sure that she's going to say yes though. Fancy taking a trip to Gallifrey, Gran?" Clara asked.

Abby was overjoyed by this prospect as she said, "A chance to get to see where the Doctor came from? Just try to keep me away. When do we go?"

"Right now," Rose said through Clara.

Rose took over Clara's body and began to glow with golden energy as she instantly transported the three of them to Gallifrey. While Abby looked around her in awe once they got there, they quickly got everything cleared with Cydonia and the other important members of the House of Deeptree to hold the wedding there the next day. Marissa was very glad to say the least that she wasn't going to have to go to another wedding on Skaro after the near disaster that almost happened to her wedding there.

It wasn't like this one was going to go any better though, but no one realized that at the time even though they definitely should have by now.

Soon all of the preparations for the wedding were complete, and the big day had finally arrived at last as everyone gathered together for the main event. Oswin chickened out at the last second despite Abby's urging and didn't reveal herself to her father. Now she was mentally kicking herself for that because she had really wanted him to be there.

"It's okay, Clara. Don't worry about it. He wouldn't want you to get upset if he knew," Abby said as she saw the sad look on Oswin's face while she was getting ready for the wedding in her dressing room.

"I should have told him," Oswin said.

"Don't let it bother you so much. I never had the guts to either," Abby said.

"How about we all change that then? As soon as the wedding is over, the three of us come clean," Clara said.

They all looked at one another in terror. It was definitely much easier said than done, but they eventually all nodded in agreement.

Then they were interrupted by Claranamon of all people who came into the dressing room dressed like every inch the Egyptian princess that she was. Abby looked at her in shock because she looked just like her Claras. If she wasn't dressed as she was, she wouldn't have been able to tell her apart from them.

That is until she spoke. She spoke with a noticeable accent and in a regal sophisticated style that instantly set her apart from her Claras.

"Hey! I'm so glad that you could make it especially after we almost beat each other senseless over John. I'm still a little sore from that," Oswin said laughing.

Claranamon, who was secretly possessed by Mercy Hartigan of course, smiled and said, "I'm certainly not holding any grudges I assure you. In fact, I've brought you a wonderful new wedding present in order to prove that to you."

"Really? What is it?" Oswin asked intrigued.

Mercy looked at Clara and Abby with a bothered look on her face as she said, "Could I give it to you in private? No offense to either of you, but this is something that I'd prefer to happen just between us. It's an object that's very close and personal to me."

"Are you sure that you really want to give it to me then?" Oswin asked trying to give her a way out if she really wanted to keep whatever it was.

"Oh, I definitely want to give it to you, Oswin. I have no doubts about that," Mercy said with a strange smile on her face that Oswin couldn't interpret.

Oswin knew instantly that something was wrong because she of all people should know what every expression on a double of hers meant.

That sense of something being wrong that she had been feeling for some time now suddenly increased, and everything in her was shouting at her that it had something to do with Claranamon. She had to find out why she was here, and she had to do it while Clara and her grandmother were still there since Claranamon wanted them to go away so badly.

"Why don't you just quit acting so shy and just give me the present already. Surely there's no need for secrets between us Claras. I mean if you can't trust yourself then who can you trust?" Oswin said in a friendly manner that she wasn't certain that she really felt at that moment.

"This is a very personal item that I wish to give you, Oswin. I would really appreciate getting to give it to you privately," Mercy said in a less polite voice this time.

"Well, tough because that's not going to happen. Either give it to me now when my family's here or don't give it to me at all," Oswin said as she suddenly dropped her friendly act completely.

Clara looked at her questioningly, but Oswin signaled for her to go along with her on this. She silently nodded in agreement while Mercy became more and more agitated by the moment.

"Well, what's the hold up? Give it to me," Oswin demanded.

"Why are you acting like this? It's almost as if you don't trust me. How can you be suspicious of yourself?" Mercy said in a furious voice.

"I'd never be suspicious of myself," Oswin said as she immediately gestured to Clara to get Abby out of the room quickly.

She was almost sure that she had just figured it all out, and if she was right this was definitely not going to be a safe place to be in a minute.

"You know don't you?" Mercy said with a sinister smile.

"Know what?" Abby asked confused.

"Gran, you really should leave," Clara said in a worried voice.

"Oh, it's too late for that now. Far too late," Mercy said in her own accent as she finally dropped all pretenses at being Claranamon.

"Do you really think that you can beat both me and Clara together, Mercy? That is you, isn't it? You might as well give up right now because you're not in Ace's body anymore. If you think that you can beat me as Claranamon just because she give me a good fight before it's not going to happen because I was deliberately holding back against her then. Claranamon is just an ordinary woman after all, and I'm still a Guardian," Oswin boasted.

"Do you really think that I'm that stupid not to come prepared against you, Oswin? I definitely brought you a gift for your wedding you see only it's not one that you're going to like. Didn't you ever wonder how I possessed Claranamon in the first place?" Mercy said.

Suddenly she came out of Claranamon's body in the form of pink gas and headed straight for Abby possessing her immediately as Oswin said, "You used a psychograft on her."

"I briefly captured her during the fight between all of your Claras and the Cybermen and used it on her in secret then. I was even inside of her body for a brief time at that point just to see if it worked. Didn't you ever wonder how I knew about your wedding when you had never mentioned it around me?" Mercy asked through Abby.

Oswin winced as she realized that she hadn't even caught that. Mercy had made a crack about her not living to see her wedding, and it never even occurred to her to ask herself how she had known that. She knew it because Claranamon knew it, and she had just been inside of her head!

"You really do cover all of your bases don't you?" Oswin said in a disgusted voice.

"Oswin, what's going on?" Claranamon said as she began to come back to her senses.

"She won't remember a thing of course. None of my hosts do. Now if you want me to leave your grandmother, you'll let me take control of your body as I originally planned. If you don't, I might just have to do something terrible to the old dear," Mercy said.

"With what? Gran doesn't carry any weapons," Oswin said wondering where she was going with this.

"No but Clara is a weapon from what I've learned about her. She has the power of the Vortex. It's very limited but it will be enough to kill dear sweet Gran if I were to possess her mind and force her to use it on her," Mercy said.

"You really are a piece of work, Mercy. Somehow I don't think that you can possess Clara though. I think that she'll be way too strong for you," Oswin said.

Clara and Oswin exchanged a knowing look as they both realized at the same instant that Mercy didn't know about Rose being in Clara's body too. They had no way of knowing for sure what would happen if Mercy tried to possess her with Rose already in there, but they had to take that chance because if she possessed anyone else Abby would be in great danger.

"Do you think that I won't do it? Don't call my bluff, Oswin, because I will. If you don't surrender yourself to me willingly without a fight right now, I'll possess Clara and use her to kill the old woman instantly before you can stop me. You love her too much to allow that to happen and she loves you. Don't make me do it. I'd really rather not," Mercy said.

"What's the matter, Mercy? Developing a conscience?" Oswin asked.

Mercy hesitated as she wondered why she had even said that. Murder of any kind had never bothered her before. Ever since she had possessed Claranamon though, she had begun to feel strange as if she were absorbing some of her personality into hers somehow. She was determined not to let that stop her though. She was going to take Oswin's place no matter what.

"One last chance, Oswin. Surrender or I jump into Clara's mind next," Mercy threatened.

"Go right ahead. I really don't think that you can," Oswin said as she crossed her fingers hoping against hope that she wasn't about to be proven wrong.

"Let it be on your own head then," Mercy said as she left Abby's body and drifted directly into Clara's.

As soon as she did so, Oswin knew that it was Rose who spoke next as she said, "Oh, you really shouldn't have done that, Mercy. I really hate psychografts. I'm not too fond of you either, mate."

Clara glowed with Vortex energy, and Mercy came immediately flying out of her body in the form of a pink gas once again. Before she could get too far away from her however, she immediately began coming apart right before their eyes.

They could all hear Mercy's screaming in their minds as the gas that composed her consciousness now began to drift farther and farther apart. They stood there and watched in silent awe as the gas quickly dissipated completely in a matter of moments and disappeared from their sight.

They all heard one last scream from Mercy, and then they heard nothing else.

"What just happened?" Abby asked.

"She tried to possess Clara while Rose was already in there. Trying to possess two minds at once was apparently too much for her. It tore her apart," Oswin said with a hint of sadness in her voice.

Abby smiled at her as she said, "Despite everything you didn't really want her to die did you? You always did have a good heart."

"You're right, Gran. I didn't but I also didn't want you to die either. Well, she's finally gone now anyway. I guess that's the last that we'll ever see of her," Oswin said hoping that it was true.

"So do you think that we can actually have a wedding now without someone else attacking us?" Clara asked.

"I've still got my fingers crossed so hopefully so. I really hope that this is the last of the surprises for today," Oswin said

She was wrong however.

In the very next moment, Epsilon appeared with Oswin and Clara's father, Dave Oswald, and said, "A GIFT FOR YOU FROM THE DALEKS, EMPRESS."

Oswin would have gladly killed Epsilon in that moment as her father looked around him at the three women who all looked exactly like his daughter in complete astonishment while he said, "Mum? What's going on here and how are there three Claras here?"

Abby Oswald smiled nervously at her son as she said, "Well, Dave, that's a bit of a long story."

"I think I'd like to hear it now starting with what this thing is that brought me here," Dave said as he pointed to Epsilon.

"I BELIEVE THAT I HAVE JUST BEEN INSULTED. FOR THE FIRST TIME, I'M BEGINNING TO REGRET NOT BEING ABLE TO EXTERMINATE PEOPLE ANYMORE," Epsilon said in irritation.

"Zip it, Eppy! You're on thin ice with me already as it is," Oswin threatened.

"Mum, what is going on?" Dave demanded.

"Clara, it's time," Abby said.

Oswin nodded as she took a deep breath and said, "Hello, Dad."

Dave Oswald then listened in complete surprise as she began to tell him the whole story at last while Epsilon stood by watching with joy in his heart. He never would have been able to forgive himself if Oswin hadn't had her father at her wedding.

He never even realized that it was a very human thing to do.

At that moment, in another part of the Capitol the dead body of a Time Lady lay in state as it waited to be burned in an upcoming funeral ceremony. Suddenly it came to life and gasped as a newly reborn Mercy possessed it just in time to save herself from complete dissolution.

She surprised herself as the first thought that came to her mind wasn't one of revenge against Oswin but of sorrow for threatening Abby. She felt ashamed of herself for ever even thinking of such a thing.

It was then that she realized that she had changed. She had somehow absorbed parts of the personalities of Claranamon, Abby, Rose, and Clara while possessing them and incorporated them into her own altering it completely. She was now almost an entirely different person from Mercy.

A much more moral person.

"I can't believe that I could be capable of such things," Mercy said in horror.

The psychograft she had used had been a prototype that the Cybermen had come across on one of the worlds that they had conquered and kept as a curiosity in case it might help with their own conversion process somehow in the future. Mercy had used it without realizing that it was a flawed version that didn't preserve the original mind but integrated it with that of everyone that it came across instead completely altering it the more people that it possessed. It had never been mass distributed for that very reason.

Now thanks to this lucky accident Mercy had basically become someone else entirely and decided to leave Gallifrey immediately and never bother Oswin again. She was already thinking of renaming herself and starting a new life somewhere else with the second chance that she had gotten.

Even as she silently slipped onboard a ship leaving Gallifrey while eagerly looking forward to a new life, she decided to call herself Abigail Wolf after the first name of Clara's grandmother and the last name of the company that had made the psychograft.

It was a name that had stuck in her head for some reason: Bad Wolf Industries.

*See The Further Adventures of River Song Chapter 37.

**As far as I know it's never been stated what House the Rani belongs to so I borrowed an existing House from the books for her (and Cydonia) to call her own. I just thought I'd note that here just in case anyone thinks it might be canon in any way.

Next: Dave Oswald finally finds out the truth about Oswin, Clara, and Abby. What will his reaction be? The Doctor meets Abby again for the first time in a very long time. Oh, and Oswin actually gets married at long last as a huge amount of guest stars show up to wish Oswin and John well! What a time for the Thals to suddenly show up again on Skaro just as Oswin is off getting married, huh? They always did have a lousy sense of timing! I wonder what they want this time.