CHAPTER 63

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THE SECRET OF ELLIE OSWALD

"Why so hesitant, Rose? Afraid of how Clara will react if she finds out the truth? Or are you so used to keeping secrets from everyone that you don't even know how to tell the truth anymore?" The Matriarch said in a voice filled with anger.

Little Clara began to mumble something then in a clearly troubled voice that instantly made the Matriarch sigh and say, "Sorry, Sweetie. You're right of course. That was uncalled for I know. That was more like something that the old me would have said."

The baby babbled again in response and this time Rose answered her instead of the Matriarch as she said, "Don't you worry any, yeah? She's not going to go bad again, okay? I promise that she won't."

"I'm sorry. I just don't like not even knowing for sure who my own mother was. I know that you're connected to her in some way though. I've been able to feel that ever since I became a Guardian. I have no idea why Ozzie couldn't. Maybe she just didn't want to know," The Matriarch said in an apologetic tone as she gently stroked the baby's hair in order to reassure her.

Rose smiled at her now as she said, "I think the Grace didn't allow them to find out because they respected my privacy. They must have blocked them from knowing it somehow. Apparently you're too stubborn to be stopped that way though. I can already see that you're going to be a regular handful you are. I'm definitely glad that I don't have to be the one to rein you in, yeah?"

"Rose, please tell me the truth. I deserve to know. I swear that I won't tell the other Claras if you don't want me to, but I need to know the full story for myself. Please," The Matriarch pleaded.

Rose and the Matriarch's unseen observer could now barely keep himself from laughing out loud with glee (not that anyone could have heard him anyway since he wasn't even truly there) as he finally prepared to hear the full story at last. He was certain that he could definitely use this knowledge to his advantage once he finally knew it. Maybe he could even use it to drive a huge wedge between Rose and her precious Claras once and for all.

Rose took a deep breath and briefly hesitated before she finally said to the Matriarch, "First of all, let's get this clear right from the start. I'm not your Mum. Ellie was. She's the one who gave birth to you and raised you not me."

The Matriarch nodded even as she said in a confused voice, "Why do I feel her presence every time that I'm around you now then? I've sensed it ever since I became a Guardian and there's a part of her life that I wasn't allowed to see even when I was remaking reality. Somehow either the Grace or you made sure that no one could read that part of her timeline. You even treat Clara like she used to treat her or do you think that I didn't notice how you act around her. You don't treat her like a friend would, Rose. You treat her like a parent does her child."

"She feels like my child sometimes even though I know that she isn't. Not really," Rose admitted with a fond smile.

"Okay, please clarify that just a bit more if you would," The Matriarch demanded in an impatient voice.

Rose hesitated once more and briefly looked extremely upset as she said, "It all started back at the end of my first incarnation when I regenerated and became human after I was almost killed by the Daleks. The power of the Bad Wolf wasn't able to go into a fob watch like the rest of me did though. It was much too powerful for anything like that to contain it, yeah? So I had to find another place to store it."

"I always thought that the Bad Wolf stayed in the Vortex until you opened your watch again," The Matriarch said in confusion.

Rose shook her head as she said, "It wasn't there for the whole time. It was only there from the first day that I met the Doctor as Rose until I opened the watch. Before that it was somewhere else."

"I'm so confused right now, Blondie. I really don't have a clue what you're talking about unless you mean . . . Oh, my stars!" The Matriarch said as her jaw suddenly dropped in surprise.

Rose smiled as she said, "Well, it certainly took you long enough, didn't it?"

"Alright, spill it. Come on. Let's hear it right now, Bad Wolf Girl. I want the full story," The Matriarch said in an anxious voice.

"As I was becoming human, I only had seconds to find a place to store my powers so I had to choose very carefully, yeah? It had to be someone who I could trust not to misuse them while they had them. I also wanted the Bad Wolf to be somewhere near the human version of me so that it could watch over and protect me if I ever needed its help. I quickly searched through my future while the Chameleon Arch went to work and found a person that I sensed I could trust who lived near me and would constantly be around me at all times growing up. The only problem was that she was supposed to be hit by a car a few years after I was adopted by the Tylers," Rose said.

"Just like Dad. I'm starting to sense a pattern here," The Matriarch said in a thoughtful voice.

"Yeah, I had to do a little bit of jiggery pokery with the timelines in order to save your Dad. His death wasn't a fixed point in time though so it wasn't too hard. Not like your Mum's was. She was supposed to die in a car accident too and her death was fixed. There was nothing that I could do about that at the time no matter how perfect that she was to store the Bad Wolf inside. I didn't know as much about altering fixed points as I do now unfortunately or I probably could have altered her timeline completely even despite it. I was just good enough at manipulating the Web of Time though to be able to delay her death a while until the time was right. I was really pushing it but I did it somehow. I extended her timeline to the day that I first went traveling with the Doctor when he found me once again: the day of the Auton invasion of London. After that the Bad Wolf went into the Vortex for a while until I needed her on the Gamestation," Rose explained.

The Matriarch swallowed hard as she said in an emotional voice, "That's how she died. An Auton shot her when they all came to life that day. I didn't find that out until much later though. We were just told that she was killed by a bunch of street toughs as a part of some cover up story made up by Torchwood."

Now she turned to look at Rose with accusing eyes as she said, "You used her! You saved her life just so that you could have someplace to store your power for a while and then just abandoned her without any warning when the time was right."

Rose began to shake with emotion now as she said, "No, Clara. That isn't what happened at all. I never would have forced her to do anything against her will no matter how desperate that I was. I asked her right at the moment that she was about to be hit by the car if she wanted to live and told her all about it. I let her know exactly what I wanted her to do and how long that she had to live. She knew, Clara, and she agreed to it. She also agreed to never use my power no matter how tempted that she might be and she always kept that promise. I could sense that she really wanted the chance to have a family in the time that she had left so I decided to reward her for her help while I still could. That's when I saved your Dad and arranged for them to meet. Not that she ever knew that."

"So she already had the power of the Bad Wolf when I was conceived? Then that means that part of you was there then. In a way, I was still right, wasn't I? Part of you was merged with my mother when she gave birth to me too so that makes you . . ." The Matriarch said with a warm smile.

"It doesn't make me anything. Ellie's your mum not me. The Bad Wolf was dormant inside of her that whole time, yeah? It had nothing to do with anything," Rose protested.

"It's where I got the potential to have Vortex powers though," The Matriarch pointed out.

"Yeah, but nothing would have ever happened if you hadn't jumped into the Doctor's timestream," Rose said.

"I did though and that's when I finally became who I was always supposed to be. I became the child of the Bad Wolf. You're my second mum," The Matriarch said proudly.

"I'm not your Mum," Rose said again in an aggravated voice.

"You feel guilty. Because you're here and my mum isn't," The Matriarch realized.

"Yeah, I do. I wish that I could change things but even I can't alter the past that much without causing major damage to the timeline. You found out exactly what happens when it's changed too much for yourself," Rose pointed out.

"Oh, yeah. I really am very sorry about that by the way," The Matriarch said with a grimace.

Rose put a sympathetic arm around her as she said, "I know. It's okay, alright? Yeah, I couldn't change Ellie's death but that didn't mean that I couldn't do anything, did it?"

The Matriarch began to smile now as she said, "What did you do? Does this have anything to do with Ozzie's visits by Mum and that whole Hotel Ravenwood thing? I always thought that was way too much of a coincidence that she went to a place called that for her honeymoon."

"Did she tell you about that?" Rose asked curiously.

"No, not me. She still doesn't really trust me yet. Not that I can blame her. Clara finds out from her in the future and I know everything that she does. Stop stalling, Rose. What happened to Mum?" The Matriarch demanded.

Rose smiled mischievously as she said, "Well, as it turns out the Bad Wolf just happened to save her consciousness in the Vortex as she died so it was just like she never really died at all, wasn't it? She couldn't really do much there but she could use it to watch over you and the other Claras and appear to them in dreams from time to time. Oswin was the only one who ever seemed to remember them though because she was a Guardian. She even made sure to use those dreams to subconsciously guide Oswin to the Hotel Ravenwood as a sign to her that she was still there with her. She wanted her to know that she was always watching her."

Then she became sad as she said, "I wish that I could have done more really."

The Matriarch smiled as she said in a heartfelt tone, "No, that was more than good enough, Rose. You saved her or at least part of her anyway, and she can even talk to us sometimes thanks to you. At least I finally know for sure that she's okay somewhere. Thank you so much for that."

Rose nodded even as her face turned very serious while she said, "Do you think that I should tell Clara and Oswin? I don't feel right about keeping it from them, but I wasn't sure how they'd react to it. I always wondered if they'd be better off not knowing. Plus I didn't want things to become weird between us, you know?"

The Matriarch gave her an incredulous look now as she said, "Become weird? Things have always been weird for Clara since the day that she first met you and the Doctor, Rose."

Rose laughed as she said, "Shut up! You know what I mean. I'll always love her and think of her as family but we're really not. I don't want her to think that she has to treat me like a mother or anything and get all weirded out by that either. I'm not her Mum and don't expect her to act like I am. Ellie was her mother not me. Part of me was just hitching a ride at the time is all that happened. We're good friends and that's all. I don't ever want to try to take Ellie's place. That wouldn't be right. I'll protect her and keep her safe for Ellie's sake but that's as far as I'll go, yeah?"

"I appreciate that, Rose. No offense but that's exactly the way that I want it," A voice said behind her.

Rose suddenly whirled around in surprise and saw Clara standing there watching her with a reassuring smile on her face. She now realized to her horror that she had just overheard everything that she had said!

"You tricked me, you . . . !" Rose said to the Matriarch in a furious voice.

"Now, now! Watch your language, Bad Wolf Girl, there's an impressionable child present, you know? I didn't ask her to come here in case you were wondering. I didn't plan for it to happen. It just did. She came to see the baby, who she thought Gran was taking care of, just as we started talking. All I did was use my powers to hide her presence from you. I'm really surprised that I could do that actually. You must have become too distracted telling me that story or you would have surely found out long ago," The Matriarch said.

"Yeah, that's it," Rose said quickly with a nervous smile.

Erebus, the unseen observer who had been watching her until now, knew exactly what the reason really was however. She had been distracted because she had been using her power to keep him from hearing what she and the Matriarch were saying.

He was furious now because he now knew for sure that she knew that he had been watching her. She probably knew all about his plans to use the group of renegade Time Lords called the Brethren to free him from his imprisonment in the Void ages ago by Rassilon as well. From what he had observed of her, there wasn't much that she didn't foresee sooner or later after all.

And now the real truth about Clara's mother, whatever it was, was finally out in the open at last. He could no longer use it against her as he had planned so there was no longer any reason for him to even be here.

He decided to concentrate his focus elsewhere instead . . . to the fight between Oswin and the Mentor. He would find a way to destroy Oswin somehow despite his failure to learn anything of any importance here.

He was not about to allow Arkytior to keep an ally that powerful after all. Not if he wanted to have any chance at all of winning against her in the future.

Rose could instantly feel it as he left but she was far too worried about Clara to care too much at the moment.

"It's okay, Rose. It really is. I'm actually glad that it's all out there. I always thought that something was up between us, but I never could figure out what exactly," Clara said as she continued to smile at an uncertain looking Rose.

"Are you sure that you're okay? It's an awful lot to deal with all at once, yeah?" Rose asked.

"I'm fine. I promise. I actually kind of like knowing that we're connected somehow. I always wondered why I cared so much about you. Now I guess I finally know. There is something that I'd like to ask you though," Clara admitted.

"Name it. You can always ask me anything. From now on, I'm not keeping any more secrets. Not from you anyway. I promise," Rose said.

"Don't make promises that you know that you can't keep, Rose. Secrets are the nature of your job whether you like it or not, Bad Wolf Girl. What I want to ask you has nothing to do with any of that anyway. I – I was just wondering if you could . . . let me talk to my mother. Is that even possible?" Clara asked in a hesitant voice.

Rose smiled as she said, "I'll see what I can do, okay?"

Clara beamed from ear to ear and hugged her tightly as she said, "Thank you. I love you, Rose."

Then she quickly added, "Still not calling you my Mum though. That would be much too weird."

"I'm okay with that. Honestly I am because I'm not your mum, Clara. I'm really not," Rose reassured her.

"And that, Sweetie, is what we call denial. Get used to it. You'll see it a lot in our little family for sure," The Matriarch said to Little Clara with a chuckle.

"Oi! Shut up, you!" Both Rose and Clara said to her at once with angry glares on their faces.

"Yeah, you're not related. Not in the slightest," The Matriarch said as she continued to laugh at them.

Even as the Matriarch faced the extremely dreadful possibility of receiving the full might of both the Tyler and the Oswald Slaps at once, Oswin (remember her?) was currently leading her Dalek army against the Mentor in a titanic struggle to free Angela from her before it was too late. Even despite the fact that the Mentor had been completely cut off from her own forces by Oswin's Daleks however that didn't make her any less dangerous of an opponent. This was a fact that Oswin's group of Daleks had quickly discovered for themselves as the Mentor with her superior firepower was quickly either disabling or outright demolishing several of them at a time. She showed no signs of slowing down any time soon either.

"We can't keep taking losses like this. We've got to turn this around somehow before we all wind up joining Angie in front of Law and Order Girl's Dalek firing squad," Oswin said in a worried voice.

"What we need is a distraction. If we can have her concentrate her fire on someone or something else for a minute, then we can use that time to hit her from behind with everything that we've got Maybe that would be enough to at least wound her and make her back off if nothing else," Abby proposed.

Oswin looked at her in surprise now as Abby said, "What?"

"You're making battle plans as easily as if you were discussing the weather, Gran. It's just . . . more than a bit weird," Oswin admitted.

Abby smiled smugly as she said, "I was fighting Daleks long before you were born, Clara Oswald. It's like second nature to me now even after all of this time apparently. I had to learn to think fast if I wanted to survive in the Doctor's world after all especially since I had the old man with the cane to deal with who was far from being the best fighter of our little group. I usually had to make extra sure to keep an eye on him during the fight. This is actually easier on me now that I don't have to do that anymore to be honest."

Oswin continued to stare at her in disbelief as she joked, "Who are you and what have you done with my Gran?"

"Oh, let's not get that started up again," Abby said with a groan.

"This new you is definitely going to take some getting used to alright. I don't even want to know how Dad is going to react," Oswin said.

"I don't look forward to that either to be honest. I'm actually more afraid of him than I am of the Mentor," Abby admitted.

"You would be. Not that I blame you," Oswin said with a smirk.

John just shook his head at her as he said, "I knew that I wasn't getting an ordinary woman as a wife when I married you, Clara, but this is even more than I bargained for I think. Magically rejuvenated little old ladies who suddenly turn into master Dalek hunters are a whole new level of weird even for us."

"When was I ever a little old lady? I'll have you know that I was the local Tae Kwon Do champion of my age group for several years in a row," Abby said proudly.

"I can believe it," John said with a warm smile.

"SO WHAT OR WHO WILL WE BE USING AS ABIGAIL'S DISTRACTION, EMPRESS? I'LL GLADLY VOLUNTEER IN ORDER TO SAVE THE OTHERS," Epsilon offered without hesitation as more and more of his group continued to fall to the Mentor by the moment.

"NO, I WILL VOLUNTEER. YOU ARE FAR TOO USEFUL TO THE EMPRESS TO LOSE THIS WAY. TAKE ME AS THE SACRIFICE, EMPRESS!" Daphne pleaded just a little too loudly.

Oswin couldn't help but smile at that gesture as she whispered to John, "Looks like Eppy's got himself a girlfriend."

"Eh, she could do better. I'm rooting for Dalek Omega for her myself," John said with a shrug.

"Oh, my stars, Clara! Is this what we've been reduced to now? Dalek shipping?!" Abby said with a grimace as she overheard them.

"SHIPPING? I DO NOT UNDERSTAND THIS TERM, EMPRESS," Epsilon said in confusion.

"Good. It's better that you don't I think. As for who's going to be the distraction, I already have someone in mind and he's not a Dalek," Oswin said as she looked at John.

"AN EXCELLENT CHOICE, EMPRESS. HE'S EASILY THE MOST DISPOSABLE ONE OF THE GROUP," Epsilon said in what might have almost been a smug tone in a human.

"Hey! I know that I'm immortal and all that but that doesn't mean that you can use me as a human shield. It still hurts when I die you know?" John said as he gave Oswin a look of disbelief.

"Hold on a minute. Don't get yourself all bent out of shape, John. I'm not about to let that witch blow up my husband whether he can be reborn or not. No, by distraction I meant something completely different. It's more in line with what your father might do actually," Oswin said with an evil grin.

John began to smile now as he said, "I think I get it now. Are you sure about this, Clara? She may just fall hopelessly in love with me."

"Then I'll have all the more reason to slap her into next year, won't I?" Oswin said with an evil grin.

"Do I even want to know what you two are up to?" Abby asked with a look of amusement.

"Just look away when the time comes, Gran, if you don't want to get to know John far better than you ever wanted to," Oswin said.

"I can promise nothing," Abby said with a mischievous smile.

"Gran," Oswin said in fake shock.

"I'm only human, Clara," Abby said with a giggle.

"SO WHAT IS THE PLAN THEN? I'M STILL NOT CERTAIN," Epsilon asked.

"Believe me, Eppy. You'll know it when you see it," Clara said with a wide grin.

"I'm ready to go when you are, Clara. Just give me the signal," John said.

"Got it. And . . . now," Oswin said.

That was when John set down his gun and quickly raced straight over to the Mentor despite the enormous firepower coming from her at that moment. Then he proceeded to stand directly in front of her . . . without a stitch of clothing on!

"How did he do that so quickly? He was fully clothed just a second ago," Abby said in disbelief.

"He's Jack's son. Do you really have to ask?" Oswin said with a chuckle.

The Mentor was definitely not finding the situation amusing in the slightest however as she said in an indignant tone, "You are under arrest for flagrant violation of the universal standard decency code. Your punishment could be instant execution if found guilty."

"Really? Execution? I knew that I had killer looks but this is just ridiculous," John said in amusement.

"You will also receive another sentence of Contempt of Court for your flippant remarks," The Mentor said in an angry tone.

"I can't believe it. So you don't feel a thing for me? Nothing? I think I'm insulted," John said in disgust.

"Now!" Oswin shouted.

While the Mentor had been busy listing the charges against John, Oswin and her Daleks used her moment of distraction to make a sneak attack on her from behind. She was instantly taken by complete surprise and took major damage to her outer shell that caused her to immediately run for cover and flee from the area.

"I knew that Judgment Girl would be so wrapped up in trying to haul John away for his 'crimes' that she'd completely lose track of what was really important for a moment. She just couldn't help it. That shows exactly what kind of a complete nutter that she really is," Oswin said in a self-satisfied tone.

"FOR ONCE I HAVE TO AGREE WITH THE MENTOR THOUGH. JOHN DEFINITELY WARRANTS AN EXECUTION SENTENCE IN MY VIEW. IT'S ONE THAT I WOULD GLADLY CARRY OUT PERSONALLY," Epsilon joked.

"THE SENTENCE WAS A BIT OBSESSIVE IN MY VIEW. THE SITUATION WASN'T ENTIRELY DISAGREEABLE," Daphne said.

"Don't even think about it, Daph," Oswin said with a smirk.

"I MEANT NO DISRESPECT, EMPRESS. I HAVE NO ROMANTIC TENDENCIES WHATSOEVER . . . TOWARDS ANYONE," Daphne said.

"Of course you don't," Oswin said with a giggle.

Then she immediately turned serious as she said, "Have we located Angela yet while the Mentor is off licking her wounds? Report."

"ANGELA HAS BEEN LOCATED SEVERAL ROOMS DOWN THE HALL FROM US BY DALEK GAMMA. SHE IS CURRENTLY IN AN UNCONSCIOUS STATE BUT OTHERWISE UNHARMED. APPARENTLY SHE WAS HIT BY A STRAY DALEK BLAST DURING THE ACT OF FREEING HER FROM HER CAPTORS. SHE SHOULD BE BROUGHT HOME IN JUST A FEW RELS NOW, EMPRESS," Epsilon answered.

"Good. Once she's been taken back to Skaro, I want you to reduce this whole place to rubble. I'm making a little regime change," Oswin ordered.

"Clara, is this really something that we should be involving ourselves in. It's not our universe," John said in a concerned tone.

"She attacked my family, John. No one gets away with that. No one. She's about to learn that the hard way. Besides I'm not about to leave her in power so that she can do that again," Oswin protested.

"Clara, there is such a thing as knowing when to pick your battles. We have Angie now. Let's just get out of here while we still can," Abby advised.

"I have to do this, Gran. I don't want her ever coming back after Angie again," Oswin said in a worried voice.

Abby couldn't help but smile as she said, "I know that you want to protect her, but we can't afford to stay here much longer. We need to go. The Mentor won't stay out of the action forever."

Oswin nodded reluctantly as she said, "Okay, I'm officially rescinding those orders, Eppy. Let's go."

"GOOD BECAUSE I NEVER ACTUALLY GAVE THEM," Epsilon said.

Everyone looked at him in surprise as he said to Oswin, "I WAS THINKING FOR MYSELF AS YOU WISHED. DID I DO WRONG?"

Oswin smiled as she said, "No, you definitely did not. I always need you to be prepared to overrule me whenever I'm being an idiot, Eppy. That seems to happen . . . from time to time."

As John loudly cleared his throat, Oswin said, "Say something and die, Harkness."

"Who, me?" John asked innocently.

"ANGELA HAS NOW BEEN TAKEN BACK TO SKARO. THE FULL DALEK FORCE WILL BE READY TO MAKE A FULL SCALE RETREAT IN LESS THAN FIVE RELS NOW, EMPRESS. I RECOMMEND THAT YOU GO RIGHT NOW HOWEVER," Daphne suggested.

"Uh uh. Not until I make sure that the others are all out first. I'm not having anyone else captured by Judge Killjoy," Oswin said obstinately.

"How very unfortunate for you then because the next one to be captured will be you I'm afraid," The Mentor said as she reentered the area with a small army of men and woman behind her.

"Who?" Oswin asked in surprise as soon as she saw them.

"We have been sent to even out the odds in this battle. You will be given to the Mentor for immediate sentencing and judgment, Oswin Oswald, and then Rose Tyler will have one less ally that she can rely upon," One of the Mentor's new army said as he pointed what Oswin recognized was a staser, a Time Lord weapon, at her.

"Who are you?" Oswin asked as she prepared to fight the army of what were apparently Time Lords that the Mentor now had on her side.

"We are the Brethren. Soon the Huntsman will be freed and then even the stars themselves will hide in terror from his shadow. Long live Erebus!" The Time Lords shouted in unison as they all joined the Mentor and her Daleks in opening fire on Oswin and her Daleks.

"Okay, I'm definitely starting to think that I should have listened to you earlier, Gran," Oswin said as she quickly dodged the torrent of lethal blasts that were coming her way now.

Abby just sighed as she said, "Clara Oswald, sometimes you're as stubborn as your father and just as thick too."

Next: It's the final showdown with the Mentor at last. Will Oswin's group succeed in escaping the Mentor's 'justice' or will the Brethren tip the balance in her favor? I wonder what Rose, Clara, and the Matriarch might have to say about that? Will even they be enough to save the day however? Oh, and if Oswin lives long enough she may just find out the truth about Ellie and whether or not Rose can contact her or not. So here's hoping.