CHAPTER 52

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THE NEW DALEKS

Oswin and John desperately wanted to have their honeymoon now that they were finally checked into the hotel, but they definitely couldn't do that with Harmony there with them. So Oswin decided to leave her with someone that she would trust with her life.

She just wasn't sure how good he would be with kids.

"Are you sure about this, Clara? Harmony's already scared enough as it is," John said warily.

"Are you sure that it's not you that's scared, John? You never have liked him," Oswin said.

"I can't imagine why. He's only wanted to kill me since the moment he met me," John said.

"Yeah, but doesn't everyone have that reaction when they first meet you? I know I did," Oswin said with a chuckle.

John frowned as he said, "Since when did you start doing stand up comedy, Clara? You know what I'm worried about. Harmony's going to start screaming as soon as he shows up."

"I don't think so, John. I know children and I think she's going to have the exact opposite reaction," Oswin said.

"Fine. Just remember that I tried to warn you when she runs out of here screaming at the top of her lungs," John said with a sigh.

Oswin looked at him with a warm smile as she said, "You really are worried about that aren't you? You're trying to protect her."

"Of course I am. She's just a little girl. She's not used to seeing the ugly side of the universe like we are. I hope that she never has to get used to it. I wouldn't wish that on anyone," John said with a sad look on his face.

Oswin gave him a peck on the lips and said, "You're going to make a wonderful father."

"I hope so. I know one thing for sure. Clara's not even going to get to so much as look at a guy until she's fifty," John said.

"She'll be our daughter, John. Somehow I don't think a force of nature like I know that she's going to be will never be held away from boys that long," Oswin said.

"I'll make sure that they stay away from her even if I have to wind up giving them Retcon pills in order to make them forget her," John said with a serious look on his face.

"I see I'm going to have a really fun time with you when she starts dating," Oswin said with a grin.

"YOU WON'T HAVE TO WORRY ABOUT ANYONE TRYING TO HARM YOUR FUTURE CHILD, EMPRESS. I WILL EXTERMINATE ANYONE WHO EVEN LOOKS AT HER IMPROPERLY," Epsilon said as he suddenly appeared in the room.

"For once, I completely agree with him on something," John said emphatically.

"That definitely has to be a sign of the Apocalypse or something. With you two around, Clara's going to be lucky if she gets to date before she's eighty," Oswin said as she shook her head at both of them.

"I HAVE COME TO TAKE CARE OF THE CHILD AS YOU REQUESTED, EMPRESS. WHERE IS SHE?" Epsilon asked as he immediately got straight to the point.

"I'm still not sure about this," John said.

"She'll be fine," Oswin said dismissively as she went into the next room of their honeymoon suite to get Harmony who was in there watching television.

"What is this? It's really cool," Harmony said as soon as Oswin entered the room.

"Oh, that's a show about an alien that travels through time and space. It's called 'Doctor What?' I think. His companion is a real cutie isn't she? She's my favorite actress. I'd watch her in anything," Oswin said with a huge grin.

"No, I didn't mean the story that I'm watching on it. I meant the box it's playing on. I've never seen anything like it before. I didn't know that anything like this even existed. It's amazing!" Harmony said with a smile filled with wonderment on her face.

Oswin looked at her in absolute shock as she said, "You're never seen a television before?"

"No, the people who kidnapped me didn't have them. I've also never had any toys or anything else to enjoy," Harmony said sadly.

"You were kidnapped when you were a baby weren't you?" Oswin realized with horror.

"Yes, I was," Harmony admitted.

"So you've never even met your mother and father have you?" Oswin asked as she began to tear up.

"I think I did once. I remember that she was very beautiful and kind with long red hair, and my dad was a soldier I think. I don't remember much," Harmony said with a distant look on her face.

"I'm going to find them for you, honey. I promise," Oswin said.

"Don't cry, Aunt Clara. I know I'll see them again," Harmony said.

"How do you know that?" Oswin asked.

"I met a man once. He was the most handsome man that I've ever seen and oh so kind. He told me that I would and I believe him," Harmony said with a large smile on her face.

Oswin frowned not sure what to make of that as she said, "Harmony, I have someone that I want you to meet. He could be just a bit scary to you when you first meet him, but he won't hurt you I promise. He's a very good friend of mine. You're going to be staying with him for a little while, and then I'll come back and get you, okay?"

Harmony nodded in a knowing manner as she said, "I understand. You and John want to do adult things without me around."

Oswin choked as she said, "Y – Yeah."

Harmony laughed as she said, "You don't need to be embarrassed, Auntie. It's just me."

"You really are incredibly smart for your age aren't you?" Oswin said in disbelief.

"I always have been. That's part of the reason why the bad men want me," Harmony said sadly.

"You don't have to worry about them with my friend around, sweetie. Come on. Let's meet him, okay?" Oswin asked.

Harmony nodded as she followed Oswin into the next room. She immediately froze as soon as she saw Epsilon, and for half a second Oswin feared that John might be right.

Then a huge smile lit up Harmony's face, and she ran straight up to Epsilon with an excited squeal of glee. She looked him up and down with joy as she giggled to herself.

"It's a Dalek! Oh, I've always wanted to meet a real Dalek! This is so cool!" Harmony shouted.

"I AM EPSILON," Epsilon said as he looked at her quizzically.

Why was this child not afraid of the Daleks?

"It's nice to meet you, Mr. Epsilon. My name's Harmony. This is going to be so cool!" Harmony said with a large grin as she shook Epsilon's suction cup tipped arm enthusiastically.

"You know about Daleks?" John asked as he stared at her in disbelief.

"Yeah, the men in the suits told me about them. They said that they were extremely dangerous, but Mr. Epsilon seems nice. They obviously lied to me. Not that that surprises me. They lie a lot," Harmony said with a sigh.

"Maybe you could try to find out more about these men that took Harmony for me, Eppy. I'd really like to pay them a visit," Oswin said.

"I WILL DO MY BEST, EMPRESS. DON'T WORRY. THE CHILD WILL BE SAFE WITH ME. THESE MEN, WHOEVER THEY ARE, WON'T DARE TO COME TO SKARO," Epsilon said.

"I hope you're right," Oswin said in a worried tone.

"Are you sure that you're okay going away with him?" John asked Harmony.

"Sure. Mr. Epsilon's cool!" Harmony said enthusiastically.

"Okay then. It won't be for long. We'll be back before you know it, Harmony," John said still looking a bit shocked by her reaction.

"Okay. See you later," Harmony said.

Then Epsilon used his emergency temporal shift to take himself and Harmony to Skaro. Oswin and John were now finally alone at last.

"So, Mr. Harkness, I finally have you alone at last. Whatever shall I do with you?" Oswin said with a seductive smile on her face.

"If you don't have any ideas yourself, I can offer a few suggestions," John said with an equally seductive smile.

"I bet you can. I'm sure as Jack's son that you were born with those 'suggestions' implanted in your DNA," Oswin said.

"Care to try them out and see if they work?" John asked.

"I don't care if I do," Oswin said as the two of them began to kiss.

Now I think that it's best in order to preserve Oswin's privacy (and to preserve my life because she'd probably send Epsilon after me) to leave what happened next to your imagination. I'm sure you can all fill in the blanks just fine for yourselves without my help anyway. I'll just say that this was most definitely the night when Clara Harkness' existance was assured and leave it at that.

That's right. That means exactly what you think it means. Oswin won't find out about it until later though.

As Oswin and John finally got to enjoy their long-delayed and much deserved honeymoon at last, the Matriarch was listening to the future Davros scream with a smile on her face as she used her unique brand of 'persuasion' on him with a mind probe. As soon as she switched the probe off, she grinned at him enthusiastically.

"Well, Davros, now do you want to tell me what I need to know or should I set the mind probe up higher?" the Matriarch asked.

"I won't tell you anything. I never will. Oswin did me an enormous favor by ridding the universe of the threat posed by them. I can see that now. I'll never be able to make up for all of the pain and misery that they caused before that, but at least I can make sure that it never happens again. If I have to die in order to ensure that, then that's a small price to have to pay in order to make sure that the Daleks never terrorize anyone ever again. In fact, it's probably what I deserve," Davros said with a stoic look on his face.

The Matriarch looked at him with a smug look as she said, "It really is true what they say isn't it? A pretty face really does soothe the savage beast. All Jacqueline had to do was look at you, and you instantly lost all of your cool points. Ever since then, you've been a lousy excuse for a villain. I mean you're the guy who created the Daleks! That means something. That sets you up on a grand pedestal of pure evil. Is this really how you want to go out? Killed by a mind probe while your Daleks have become nothing but a bunch of pathetic goody goodies who help little old ladies cross the street and rescue cats from trees? Is that really what you want your legacy to be? Where's the real Davros at, huh? You used to be somebody, Dalek Boy. Now you're just an old has been who lost his mojo over a beautiful girl. I'm disgusted with you."

Davros laughed as he said, "It won't work. I no longer have any ego to appeal to, and my anger and rage over what I became are now long gone. Jacqueline taught me how pointless all of that was, and I'll never become that person again. I'd never dishonor her like that by ever going back now."

"I thought that might be your answer, Dalek Boy. The small part of me that's still my original self had to give you a chance though . . . before I do this!" The Matriarch said with an evil smile.

Then she turned a switch on the mind probe and turned it on full power as Davros screamed in agony.

An hour later, the Matriarch called her partner and said, "I have the information that we needed. It took longer than I thought because the old man had a much stronger mind than I would have ever given him credit for, but I finally did it at last. Soon the real Daleks will live again! It's just too bad that Davros won't be there to see it. This is definitely much better than our original idea of having the Sontarans wipe Oswin's Daleks out so that we could give the planet back to the Thals. They're just a bunch of Dalek wannabes anyway. Nothing beats the real thing."

"Fantastic! I expected nothing less of you though. You always do what everyone else considers to be impossible and make it look easy. Now we're going to make the days of those so-called 'good' Daleks seem like nothing more than a bad dream," The Matriarch's partner said.

"Well, you would know, wouldn't you? Just give me some more time, and I'll soon bring the Daleks back in their full glory. I'll recreate them and make them just as nasty as they used to be if not better, and then we'll be paying Skaro a little visit. It's time that the true Daleks went back home at last," The Matriarch said with a chuckle.

Several days later, Oswin finally returned to Skaro with a huge smile on her face that just refused to go away while John went to tell his parents in the future the good news that they had just found out earlier that day. Harmony immediately ran into Oswin's waiting arms as she gave her a massive hug. Oswin now felt more than a bit guilty about having left her for so long. It was obvious to anyone that she had missed her.

"Aunt Clara, I'm so glad that you're back. Are you pregnant yet?" Harmony asked with a mischevious grin.

"You really are wise beyond your years aren't you, Harm? I think I might just be actually," Oswin said with a grin.

"Really? I was just joking. You mean that you're really pregnant?" Harmony asked in surprise.

"Yep, I think I just might be. I was going to ask the Daleks to make sure of that," Oswin said.

"Oh, I really hope that you are. You'd make a wonderful mum," Harmony said with a smile.

"Thank you, sweetie," Oswin said touched by her words.

"Sweetie?" Harmony asked.

"It's a term of endearment. It's what I call people that I really care about," Oswin explained.

Harmony smiled as she said, "I like it. I think I'll start using it."

Then she marched over to Epsilon and said, "Hello, sweetie."

"SWEETIE?! I AM NOT SWEET!" Epsilon said indignantly.

Oswin laughed as she said, "You kind of are actually. We'll keep that a secret just between us though."

"THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS A SWEET DALEK!" Epsilon said in an insulted tone.

"Okay, okay. You're not sweet. You're nowhere near sweet. You're mean, nasty, and downright despicable," Oswin said.

"THANK YOU SO MUCH, EMPRESS," Epsilon said proudly.

"Whatever floats your boat, Eppy," Oswin said as she rolled her eyes at him.

"Empress, ignore him. He just isn't used to compliments," Angela said as she emerged from a back room.

"Hey, Angie! I hope that Harmony wasn't too much trouble," Oswin said.

"No, she's been just fine. She did accidently shoot the eyestalk off of one of the Daleks when she was playing around with a gun, but I immediately explained to her that she was never to touch guns again," Angela said.

"What? Where did she get a gun?" Oswin asked in concern.

"It seems that she already had one on her somewhere. I have no idea where she hid it though. My theory is that it was in pieces, and she reassembled it. The people that she's been staying with must have given it to her. After all, they have been trying to turn her into an assassin, Empress," Angela whispered.

"So you found out more about her then?" Oswin asked intrigued.

"Yes, we've found out everything about her. We probably shouldn't talk about this in front of her though," Angela whispered back.

Oswin nodded as she said to Harmony, "Harm, why don't you go play with Epsilon for a while?"

"Oh, you have something that you don't want me to know, right? Okay. I hope that you'll tell me later though. Come on, sweetie. Let's play hide and go seek," Harmony said to Epsilon.

"I'm not sweet!" Epsilon said in frustration as Harmony led him out of the room.

"Good old Eppy," Oswin said with a fond smile on her face as they left.

"Now that they're gone, Empress, I'll tell you what I found out. Once I took the gun away from her, I examined it and realized where it came from. It was made with technology that I linked to the renegade religious order called the Silence."

Oswin's mouth dropped open as it all finally came together for her at last.

"The gun. The red hair. The men in suits that she can't remember who stole her from her parents. Her name's Harmony which is a word having to do with music. She even said 'Hello, sweetie!' How can I be such an idiot? She's River! I found River Song back when she was still a kid!" Oswin said in shock.

"Yes, that's what I found out too, but I had to test her DNA first to find out her real identity. This is Melody Pond before she was fully converted into an assassin by the Silence. I haven't told the Daleks what I found out because they're terrified of River Song. You're the first one that I've told," Angela said.

"Keep it that way. I don't want the Daleks to know who she is. They're liable to panic, and Melody definitely doesn't need to find out about her future that way. Well, I guess I know what I have to do with her now. I have to . . ." Oswin said and then stopped as she choked up.

"You have to return her to the Silence so that she can become River Song," Angela finished for her.

"I can't. I just can't. I know that I'm supposed to in order to preserve the timeline but I can't. I can't just turn that sweet little girl over to those monsters so that they can turn her into an assassin," Oswin said.

"You're thinking about your own child, aren't you? You're letting your emotions overrule your good judgment," Angela said.

"You bet I am! I can't do it. I just can't. I can't hand her over to them," Oswin said as she began to cry.

"She has to become River or the Doctor's timestream will be completely unraveled and so will Clara's. If River doesn't save him in the library, then Clara will never have met him, and the current version of her will cease to exist. Who knows what else may be changed without the Doctor there to stop it? You told me what the unraveling of his timestream did on Trenzalore," Angela pointed out.

"I know what you're saying, but I just don't know how I'm going to do this. I just don't," Oswin said in tears.

Angela put a sympathetic arm around her as she said, "Empress, you don't have to send her back right away. I did some research on River's life, and it seems that there was a period of time where the Silence lost track of her and didn't get her back for a few months. A lot could happen in that time. Maybe she could actually have a few happy memories to balance out all of the bad ones to come. Who's to say that that wasn't what helped her finally turn against the Silence? Maybe this was supposed to happen."

"Maybe. Maybe I could give her some happiness by letting her live out a life as a real child for a while. I just don't see how I could take care of her for that long and then just give her back. I know myself, Angie. I don't even want to give her back now. If I hold onto her for that long, I'll never give her back," Oswin said.

"You'll have to sooner or later whether you want to or not. Why not just make it later though?" Angela encouraged her.

"Alright. I'm not sure if I can actually do it or not, but I'll definitely give her some memories of a real childhood if it's the last thing that I do. I'll even tell Amy and Rory and let them come and meet her. They won't be able to tell her who they are of course, but at least they'll get to spend some time with her growing up whether she knows who they are or not. I'm going to enroll her in Rose's school too. She should get to be around other children her age for a while and learn about something other than killing," Oswin said.

"That sounds like a good idea. Now I'll tell you what I found out about the Matriarch. Surprisingly the Daleks don't seem to know anything about her. Either they've never heard of her or all of their records on her have been erased. I suspect the later might have happened due to what Lily Wright learned about her which I learned about from Rose who paid us a visit during your honeymoon in order to warn us about her. Lily met her recently when she tried to help the Sontarans defeat the Rutans so that they would help her destroy the Daleks. Maybe that's why she kidnapped future Davros so that he would tell her something that would help her to destroy the Daleks since she seems so intent on doing that. That's not the most important thing that Lily had to say though. It seems that she thinks that the Matriarch is somehow . . . Clara Oswald," Angela said.

"What? No! No way is that Clara and she definitely isn't me!" Oswin protested.

"Lily believes that she may be an echo of Clara's gone bad or maybe some twisted alternate universe version of her. It's possible. What you told me about her does make her sound a lot like you or Clara," Angela said.

"It would explain why she hated me so much I suppose. That's just great. There's an evil me out to get me. I thought this sort of stuff only happened to the Doctor," Oswin said.

Then she began to look depressed as she added, "I can't believe that either Clara or I could have anything of that woman inside of us."

"I'm so sorry," Angela said as she embraced her.

"You should be so glad that you don't have a dark side, Angie. You'll never have anything to be ashamed of," Oswin said.

"I also don't quite feel real sometimes either. I feel like I'm not quite complete somehow, and it makes me feel empty in some way," Angela admitted.

"I wouldn't feel bad about it at all, Angie. Not at all," Oswin reassured her.

"You shouldn't either even if it is true, Empress. You're a good woman and the fact that you're still a good woman despite having someone like the Matriarch inside of you speaks volumes about how good a person that you truly are. Anyone can be good if they're never tempted to be bad, but it takes a real hero to be good despite the temptation to do otherwise. I'll never be a real hero for that very reason. I have no choice but to be good. It just comes natural to me," Angela said.

"Like I said, I wouldn't feel bad about that at all. I like you just the way that you are," Oswin said.

"Thank you," Angela said even though she still felt hollow inside somehow despite Oswin's kind words.

"Now I want you to make sure that I really am pregnant. I'm almost positive that I am, but I need to be sure or John is going to get killed by his mum. He's already told her that I am so it's got to be true or she's going to be so, so angry. I'd rather face a Cyberman than an angry Penny any day of the week," Oswin said with a shudder.

Angela did some tests on Oswin, and they were conclusive. She was indeed pregnant, and it was going to be a girl. She smiled to herself as she realized that little Clara was soon on her way.

Until she was though, she still had Melody to deal with, and she was going to start doing that right now. She immediately took Melody to Rose's school on Gallifrey where she told Rose the full story on her even while she filled her in about her encounter with the Matriarch.

"This is really going to be weird to have a little River here, but I'm sure that everything will turn out alright. We'll just have to watch her and make sure that she doesn't get her hands on any guns. I can't wait for Amy and Rory to get to see her. It'll be like a second chance for them if only for a little while," Rose said.

"I still don't want to give her up," Oswin admitted.

"I know. It has to be done though. At least you'll let her be happy for a little while," Rose said.

"Won't that be worse somehow though? To give her some happiness only to have it snatched away again?" Oswin asked.

"I don't think so. I think that Angela's right and that what happens to her now might just make all the difference in her never fully becoming what the Silence want her to be. It may just be that you're saving the Doctor's life yet again by doing this, Clara," Rose said.

"I hope so. I'd like for something good to come out of all of this," Oswin said sadly.

"Hey! Give me that back! Little kids shouldn't be playing with that! It's dangerous!" Ace shouted as she jerked a can of Nitro-9 away from Melody.

"I just wanted to look at it. It looks like it's even better than regular Nitro. A lot better. In fact, it's the most powerful explosive that I've ever seen if I'm judging it right. How did you ever get it in those cans like that?" Melody asked.

Ace now looked at her with a smile as she said, "You know your explosives. Let me tell you all about it."

"Oh, would you? Thank you!" Melody said happily.

"Dorothy, no corrupting Harmony!" Rose shouted.

"Aw, Mum! I'm just telling her about Nitro-9. She already knows most of it anyway it sounds like," Ace pouted.

"Alright. Don't let her play with it though. What are you doing with it anyway? I thought you quit making it when you got your powers," Rose said.

"I got nostalgic. I wanted to make some for old time's sake and to keep in practice. You never know when it might come in useful," Ace admitted with a grin.

"It might come in useful sooner than you think. Look!" Oswin shouted as several Daleks suddenly appeared above them.

These Daleks definitely weren't her own. They were all much larger, about three times as big as an ordinary Dalek, and had huge cannons in the center of their chests just like the Special Weapons Dalek.

"Oh, great! Don't tell me. They're here after you," Ace said to Melody.

"No, my bad men wear suits," Melody protested.

"I think they're here after me actually," Oswin said.

"IT IS THE FALSE EMPRESS. EXTERMINATE HER!" The new Daleks chanted together.

"Whatever makes you think that?" Rose asked with a sigh.

Even as Oswin prepared for battle on Gallifrey, on Skaro an army of the new Daleks appeared and started firing on the original Daleks. Angela and Epsilon immediately sounded an alarm and led the original Daleks against the newcomers even as Angela tried to alert Oswin about what was happening.

Nearby the Matriarch watched all of this in glee as she removed her mask to reveal the face of Clara Oswald. Soon the Daleks would be returned to their former glory, and things would be as they should be once more only with her and her partner in charge. Both the entire universe and the Daleks would soon belong to them!

Next: It's total war as the new Daleks fight the old ones for control of Skaro while Oswin fights for her life on Gallifrey! What role will the renegade Time Lord Daleks play in this and what about the Thals? Also how will Melody affect the outcome of the evil Daleks' attack on Oswin and whatever happened to future Davros anyway?