CHAPTER 55

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TEMPUS FUGIT PART 3

Eve still sat inside of her Dalek casing with her gun stick pointed straight at her family during the entire time that Amy had fought with the Time Controller but she looked far from willing to use it. In fact for several moments she had actually seemed paralyzed with uncertainty as if she was unsure what to do anymore without the Time Controller there to constantly give her orders.

Jenny actually began to hope for a brief moment that it was all almost over now and that soon Eve would be returned to her normal self once again.

Then Jenny's blood ran cold as her daughter's expression suddenly changed from looking troubled and uncertain back to the triumphant smirk that she had been wearing earlier. That was when she knew that Amy had failed to stop the Time Controller.

This was immediately confirmed for her when Eve said in an excited voice, "The Time Controller has triumphed! Very soon now the Daleks will be the undisputed masters of all of time and space. If Grandmother was your last hope to stop them, then you have just made your final mistake, Grandfather."

"Is . . . Is Mum . . . ?" Jenny asked hesitantly even as the Doctor's expression darkened and became troubled.

To Jenny's surprise Eve actually looked at her with eyes filled with compassion for a brief moment as she said in a soft voice, "No, she escaped. She's alright."

Eve's smug smile immediately returned though as she said in an unconcerned tone, "Not that it really matters. The Time Controller will find her sooner or later. No one can run from the Daleks forever."

"Maybe not but I've certainly given it a good try," The Doctor said with an arrogant smirk.

Jenny instantly began to smile with undisguised relief now as she realized that not only was her mother still alive but so was the Eve that she knew. Her daughter was still in there somewhere.

If only she could find some way to reach her once again. Maybe she could still save her.

She knew that it was probably never going to happen at this point, but she had to hold onto that last slim bit of hope. She simply had to.

She could never allow herself to believe anything else.

As if she could read her mind, Eve suddenly turned to look at Jenny with an expression filled with pity as she said in a weary tone, "Mother, you might as well accept the truth now. There is no saving me. I've been gone for a very long time. So very long."

"No, I don't believe that. I'll never believe that," Jenny said defiantly.

"You weren't there, Mum. You didn't see what she did to Dad and how she just . . . she never even hesitated. It was just like he had never even mattered to her at all," Ianto said in a voice filled with sorrow.

"None of you do. All that has ever mattered to me are the Daleks. I'll gladly sacrifice the entire universe to them in a heartbeat. If I'm willing to do that, then why does it surprise you that I wouldn't even bat an eye over the destruction of my own father?" Eve said in a hard voice.

"And what about me? Would you kill me too?" Jenny asked as she looked her straight in the eyes with an unflinching gaze.

"Of course I would," Eve said without hesitation.

And then she immediately looked away in shame causing Jenny's hearts to soar.

Even the Doctor realized what that meant as he said, "It seems you still have a way to go before you're one hundred percent Dalek, Eve. Daleks don't feel shame over anything that they do. They're incapable of it. Daleks also don't feel love. Not for anyone."

"You're deluding yourself, Grandfather. I don't feel love at all anymore. I'm not sure that I ever did actually," Eve said with a snort.

"You're just as horrible a liar as your mother, Eve," The Doctor said with a smile.

"Am I? Let's just see about that then," Eve said as she pointed her gun stick straight at the Doctor with a look of glee on her face.

"No! Shoot me first!" Jenny commanded as she instantly stepped in-between her father and her daughter.

"What?" Eve said in a surprised voice.

"Mum, no! I can't lose you too!" Ianto screamed as his eyes begged Jenny to move out of the way.

Jenny ignored him and continued to look defiantly at Eve as she said, "What's the matter, Eve? I thought you didn't love anyone. Prove it. Kill me first. Show everyone that you're a true Dalek at last. Then no one will ever doubt you again."

Eve hesitated and actually looked upset as she said, "Why are you doing this?"

"I want to end this right now either one way or the other, Eve. If I'm right and the little girl that I already love with all of my heart is still in there somewhere, then there's still time to save you and fix all of this before it's too late. And if . . . if you're truly gone, then I don't want to be here to see what happens next anyway. I couldn't bear it," Jenny said in a voice filled with determination.

"Mum, please move. I can't stop myself. I can't . . . I c – can't . . . I don't want to hurt you. Please don't make me hurt you," Eve said in a voice filled with shame as tears ran down her face.

"Hold onto that feeling. That's what separates you from them, Eve. You can still feel something besides overwhelming hatred. As long as you do, they can never take you over completely," The Doctor said in an encouraging voice.

"Eve, it's going to be okay. We'll fix all of this somehow if you'll only help us. Please, Eve. Help us," Jenny pleaded as she began to slowly move toward her.

"Mother, please! I'll do it. He'll make me do it," Eve warned as her finger hovered over one of the many switches in front of her.

Jenny didn't waver in her resolve as she said in a voice filled with iron, "Before you do, there's one last thing that I want you to know first. No matter what you've done or will do in the future I'll always love you, Eve. Remember that. Can you say the same thing about the Time Controller? Somehow I doubt it. He doesn't care about you, Eve. He'll gladly toss you aside without hesitation as soon as he gets what he wants. So if you're truly going to serve the Time Controller, then you must do this. You have to truly not care about anyone anymore. You have to kill the one person who will always be on your side no matter what. If you really want to be a Dalek, then just do it. It's time to prove who you really are."

"Mum, don't. Please don't. She's not the same person anymore," Ianto pleaded.

"I'll never believe that," Jenny said in a stubborn voice.

Eve's voice cracked with emotion now as she said, "I'm sorry but I must do what he commands. I must obey without question."

Then her finger moved towards the switch for the gun stick as she said in a mournful voice, "Please forgive me."

"Always," Jenny said with a sad smile.

A cry of rage escaped from Eve's lips as she suddenly flicked a different switch at the last second and said in a voice filled with disgust, "No! You made me . . . You made me kill my father, Controller, but you won't make me kill her too! Not her!"

Her voice became filled with defiance and she actually laughed as she said, "I'll stop you. Do you hear me, Time Controller? You've given me orders for the last time!"

Jenny didn't like the sound of that at all.

"Last? Eve, what did you do?" Jenny demanded,

"She's activated the self destruct sequence for her casing. It could go off at any moment now," The Doctor said in a defeated voice.

"No!" Jenny screamed as she automatically began to rush towards Eve.

She hadn't meant for this to happen. She wanted to save her. She had to save her.

"You don't understand. It's the only way. His control over me is just too strong. He'll make me do it sooner or later so I have to stop him now while I still can. Hopefully this will be enough to kill even me because I have to end this. I have to end it the only way that it ever can end. Good bye, Mum. I'm so sorry about Dad and for what's happened to you. It's all because of me even though I never asked for any of this. Don't worry. I can still make it right though. I can still make everything right again," Eve said in a voice filled with regret as she began to vanish right in front of Jenny's eyes.

"No!" Jenny screamed once more as Eve disappeared right before she could reach her.

"Dad, where did she go? Where is she?" Jenny demanded in a frantic voice.

"Wherever the Time Controller is I imagine. She's going to try to take him with her when she implodes," The Doctor said with an emotionless expression on his face that Jenny knew was covering up a mountain of despair that was hidden just beneath the surface.

"She can't. She can't do this. I never meant for this to happen," Jenny said in a lifeless voice as she looked at her father with a shell shocked expression on her face.

"It's not your fault, Jenny. You couldn't have known that she would react like this," The Doctor said in a sympathetic tone as he put his arms around her.

Ianto was unable to stop crying as he said, "No, I don't want her to die too. I've already lost Dad today. I can't lose anyone else. We have to save her somehow. We have to. It wasn't her fault what happened. Not really. Please help her, Grandfather."

To both Jenny and Ianto's utter amazement, The Doctor actually began to smile somehow even in that moment of dark despair as he said, "Don't worry. We're not beaten yet, Ianto. Eve was wrong. That was far from my last hope of beating the Time Controller."

"I'm glad to hear it. It's nice to know that I never quite lose my sense of hope even though it's painfully clear that my sense of fashion definitely went on the decline. A pity really. I had really hoped that I might learn to dress myself better by the time I got to your age. It looks like I actually go retro instead though. What's the matter? Did you get nostalgic for our UNIT days in this incarnation?" A familiar voice suddenly said from behind him that instantly made him cringe.

"You mean you've actually worn that outfit before?" The unmistakable voice of Amy Pond said in disbelief.

"Well, something similar to it anyway. It definitely looked better on Me than it does on Me though I think," The voice of the Eighth Doctor replied with clear disdain in his tone.

The Doctor instantly spun around now with a furious look on his face to see both Amy and his younger self standing there watching him intently.

"Oh, I should have known that you'd show up. You always were a bit obsessed with the Time Controller as I remember. Apparently things weren't already bad enough so the Universe had to make them that much worse for me. Now I have Mr. Romantic here to show me the error of my ways it seems. Come to lecture me have you?" The Doctor said with a sneer of contempt.

"Well according to Amy here we've fallen back into our old ways of hiding things from people so it seems like someone definitely should doesn't it?" The Eighth Doctor shot back.

"Why didn't you tell me that I was pregnant, Doctor? I know you knew! Don't even try to deny it," Amy challenged.

"Mum, we don't have time for this right now. Eve's in trouble. Do you know where the Time Controller is? I have to go there and save Eve before it's too late. Please help me before she dies because of me. Please, Mum," Jenny pleaded.

"The coordinates are in my Vortex Manipulator, but I think it was badly damaged by the Time Controller so I wouldn't exactly trust it right now. They could have been corrupted which would mean that we could end up anywhere if we try to use it," Amy warned.

"We have to take that chance. She's going to kill herself and she's trying to take him with her, Mum. I have to stop her. I encouraged her to fight him. I did this. Now I have to stop it," Jenny said in a panicked voice.

"Don't worry. I can link the Manipulator to my TARDIS' navigational controls, and she should easily be able to make corrections for any errors in its data. That's the least of our worries though. It's never a good idea to confront the Time Controller without some sort of plan in place," The Eighth Doctor advised even as he stared at Jenny with a scrutinizing gaze.

He couldn't help but think that she looked very familiar to him for some reason. He automatically started to reach for the spot where a stick of celery had once been on his coat in another life without even realizing it.

Then he looked at his future self intently as he said, "Unless of course I already have one."

"Well, of course I have a plan. I was just about to explain all about it to our daughter here when you had to suddenly barge in and needlessly over-complicate things for everyone. As usual," The Doctor said with open disdain for his younger self.

"Daughter?" The Eighth Doctor said in stunned amazement.

The Doctor nodded proudly even as The Eighth Doctor looked at Amy with a raised eyebrow.

"She called you her mother earlier though. I thought you said that we weren't romantically involved. Besides you look a bit young to have a daughter that age," The Eighth Doctor couldn't help but note.

"She is your daughter biologically but I adopted her because she wanted a mother. It's a good thing too because she definitely needed someone around as a positive influence. As for my appearance, I would have thought that you of all people would know that someone can be a lot older than they look, Raggedy Man. Thanks for the compliment though," Amy said with a pleased smile.

"Raggedy Man? Don't tell me I actually wore rags when I first met you? I definitely wouldn't put it past me," The Eighth Doctor said with a sigh as the Doctor gave him a dirty look.

"Please! We have to hurry!" Jenny pleaded once more.

"Don't worry, Jenny. We can be there before your daughter even arrives. I'll just take us back to the exact moment after Amy left," The Eighth Doctor said as he started to remove the Vortex Manipulator from Amy's arm.

"It's about to get very crowded on the Time Controller's ship soon. Maybe it's just as well though. Even she might need a little help this time," The Doctor said with a mysterious smile.

"She?" Jenny asked in confusion.

Even as the Doctor started to finally explain his plan to her at last, the Time Controller was just about to find out all about it himself through first hand experience. At that moment he had no idea what was soon headed his way however. He was far too busy still trying to force Eve to kill Jenny instead.

He knew that he had only to press her just a little bit further and she would soon bend to his will. She always did sooner or later after all because he had completely crushed any lingering sparks of rebellion and free will within her long ago while she was still a child.

Not that there was ever any doubt in his mind that that would be the eventual outcome of course. She was only a Time Lady after all and therefore naturally inferior to her Dalek masters.

"YOU WILL EXTERMINATE JENNIFER HARKNESS! OBEY IMMEDIATELY AND WITHOUT HESITATION! YOU WILL OBEY!" The Time Controller ordered Eve once again through his mental link with her.

"I've always loved how for a member of a so-called superior species that you've always been so painfully thick. You're not even aware that Eve isn't even in the same time zone as Jenny anymore," The Doctor suddenly said from behind him taking him completely by surprise.

The Time Controller was immediately filled with confusion and more than a bit of fear and uncertainty at this sudden unexpected turn of events. Not out of fear of the Doctor per se but because it was simply impossible that he could ever be surprised by anything. Period.

He was directly connected to the Time Vortex and therefore had intimate knowledge of the very ebb and flow of Time itself to such an extent that he could accurately predict every possible future event way ahead of time. So how had he not foreseen the Doctor's arrival? And for that matter how had he not seen Eve leaving Earth?

An unsettling thought immediately went through the Dalek's mind at that moment that he quickly squashed down.

That wasn't possible after all. He had made sure that she could not interfere the moment that he started this plan. There was no possible way that she could be involved in this.

"YOU HAVE INTERFERED IN MY PLANS FOR THE LAST TIME, DOCTOR! YOU WILL BE EXTERMINATED!" The Time Controller shouted as he suddenly swiveled around to face his mortal enemy.

As soon as he did so however he immediately realized that the Doctor had not come alone. Unfortunately for him he had not foreseen this event either.

"No. Today you're the one who's going to be exterminated," Jenny said in a furious voice as she pointed her blaster straight at the center of the Time Controller's eye stalk.

"Jenny, don't do this," The Doctor said as he looked at her in surprise.

She had moved so quickly that he hadn't even seen her pull the gun out.

"I'm sorry, Dad. I know this isn't your way and normally it isn't mine either. Today I'm going to make an exception though because I have to. I'll just have to live with the consequences of this somehow no matter what they are even if it means that you'll always hate me because today I'm saving my daughter, and no one and nothing is going to stop me this time. This is for Eve," Jenny said as she started to pull the trigger.

"YOU ARE TOO MUCH LIKE YOUR FATHER. YOU WILL NEVER PULL THAT TRIGGER. YOU COULD NEVER KILL IN COLD BLOOD," The Time Controller taunted with absolute certainty.

In fact the odds of Jenny pulling the trigger were exactly zero percent. It happened in none of the many futures that he could see.

He never stopped to think that there might be a reason for that however.

"Maybe not but I could. You already made me murder my own father after all so you can't possibly say that it's not in me can you? You put it there!" Eve's voice said from behind him as she suddenly appeared right next to him and grabbed his casing tightly.

That was when the Time Controller realized that Eve's casing was set to self destruct at any moment. Yet another event that he had not foreseen.

"Eve, don't. Let me do this," Jenny pleaded.

"No, the Time Controller's right. This isn't you, Mum. I don't want you to taint yourself this way. Let me do it. I'm already lost anyway so it's okay, right?" Eve said in a reassuring tone.

"No, it's not. It's never okay for me to lose you," Jenny said defiantly.

"DO NOT WORRY, JENNIFER HARKNESS. YOU WON'T HAVE TO MOURN HER FOR LONG. TODAY YOU WILL ALL FALL TO THE POWER OF THE DALEKS!" The Time Controller shouted as a massive blast of Vortex energy emerged from his casing.

Eve's casing immediately disintegrated into atoms as soon as the energy reached it as the Time Controller instantly nullified its threat to him in a single instant. Eve was now left on her knees before the Time Controller and completely defenseless against him at that moment as he aimed his gun stick directly at her.

"DID YOU TRULY THINK THAT YOU COULD DEFY ME AND SURVIVE? LET YOUR COMPLETE AND UTTER EXTERMINATION BE THE ULTIMATE PRICE FOR YOUR BETRAYAL. I NO LONGER NEED YOU ANYMORE NOW THAT YOU HAVE PROVEN YOUR BASIC UNRELIABILITY TO ME. AFTER ALL I CAN ALWAYS USE MY BACK-UP CANDIDATE. YOU WILL BE REPLACED BY MY OTHER HYBRID," The Time Controller said in a cold, dispassionate voice.

"The Master and The Rani's child," The Doctor said in a horrified voice.

"YES, DOCTOR. HE TOO IS A HYBRID OF SORTS SINCE THE RANI WAS ONCE HUMAN AND STILL THINKS AND ACTS HUMAN IN MANY WAYS DESPITE BEING A TIME LADY ONCE MORE. I MANIPULATED THE TIMELINES IN ORDER TO ENSURE HIS CREATION JUST AS I DID THAT OF EVE HARKNESS, AND I HAVE BEEN SLOWLY INDOCTRINATING HIM TO BELIEVE IN MY CAUSE JUST AS I DID WITH HER. I AM NEVER WITHOUT A BACK-UP TO ANY OF MY PLANS, AND HE WILL DO JUST AS WELL AS SHE DID IN THE ROLE OF THE HYBRID. IN FACT HE MAY DO EVEN BETTER SINCE HIS FATHER IS THE MASTER. WHO BETTER TO BRING ABOUT THE DESTRUCTION OF THE TIME LORDS THAN THE SON OF THEIR GREATEST RENEGADE?" The Time Controller said defiantly.

"No. No more back-ups. No more Hybrids. No more causing pain to anyone anymore. In fact no more you period," Jenny said as she began to finally pull the trigger without any further hesitation now.

She would gladly break her own rules and hate herself for an eternity for the sake of her daughter.

Fortunately for her however the Time Controller had already begun to scream in pain before she could even fire. His entire casing began immediately coming apart piece by piece as the familiar sound of a sonic screwdriver filled the air from somewhere behind him.

His gun stick had fallen off within moments of the attack or he would have already shot his assailant down without mercy by now.

"It was you wasn't it? You made me pregnant! You created my baby as another one of your back-ups. Well, you're not getting it. You won't corrupt him or her like you did to Eve," Amy said in a determined voice as she continued to point the Eighth Doctor's sonic screwdriver at the Time Controller.

The Eighth Doctor looked at Amy in amazement before saying to his future self in a tone of disbelief, "She's definitely not like our usual kind of traveling companion is she? She just took it from me and started using it before I could even try to stop her."

Luckily for Amy he had already modified his sonic to cut straight through the Time Controller's defenses after completely insulating it from being affected by his Vortex abilities with a heavy layer of internal Vortex shielding. He had planned long and hard for this confrontation the instant that he had realized that the Time Controller still existed.

And then Amy had just completely stolen his thunder away in a single instant.

"Yes, she does that. Don't worry. You'll soon get used to it. I've found it's best to just point her at the enemy and watch her sort them out because she's every bit as good at this as we are now if not better. It's much less painful that way in the long run," The Doctor said in a nonchalant tone.

Amy looked at him in surprise and more than a bit of gratitude for that comment. It was the first time that he had ever admitted that out loud as far as she knew. She could now feel the Eighth Doctor looking at her with renewed respect and more than a bit of curiosity since he knew just how hard it was for him to admit that anyone was better than him at anything.

She could practically hear him asking himself 'Who is this woman?' She couldn't help but grin at that thought for a brief moment despite how serious things were.

"Not for the Time Controller it isn't," Jenny said with a grim smile as she watched her mother continue to slowly and systematically dismantle the Time Controller's casing with undisguised pride.

Amy now looked at the Doctor in anger once more as she said in a threatening voice, "It won't be painless for you either, Doctor, if I discover that you knew about my baby's connection to the Daleks and didn't tell me."

"BABY? WHAT BABY? I FORESAW NO CHILD FOR YOU. NO. THIS IS NOT POSSIBLE. I COULD NOT POSSIBLY MISS SO MANY FUTURE EVENTS AT ONCE. I CREATED THIS TIMELINE. IT BELONGS TO THE DALEKS!" The Time Controller protested in a voice filled with fury.

"Not anymore," A familiar voice suddenly said from all around them.

"NO. THAT IS NOT POSSIBLE. I TIME LOCKED THIS ENTIRE SECTION OF THE TIMELINE AND SHUT YOU OUT OF IT FROM THE MOMENT THAT YOU LEFT THE DOCTOR'S SIDE. THERE IS NO POSSIBLE WAY THAT YOU COULD HAVE REENTERED IT," The Time Controller said in disbelief.

"She could have if she had had some inside help," The Doctor said with a wicked smile.

The Time Controller's voice filled with seething hatred as he said, "THE TIME FLOW ANALOG."

The Doctor nodded as he said in a smug voice, "That's right. I didn't create that machine just to attempt to stop you from moving time forward. It would have been nice if it had worked in stopping you right then and there of course, but I knew that it probably wouldn't based on my past experiences with you. That's why I mostly just used it as a temporary distraction so that I could focus all of your attention on it for a few moments while Susie carried out my real plan to stop you right under your non-existent nose. You see Lilith had left Jack a way to always be able to contact her from wherever she was. Luckily it still worked even through your time lock because it had already been there when the lock had been established."

"What are you talking about, Dad? I remember Lilith saying that Jack would be able to get in touch with her if he wanted to but she never said how," Jenny asked curiously.

The Doctor now produced a crystal ball out of one of his pockets as he said, "This is the crystal ball that I once trapped Lilith and her mothers inside. It still contains a tiny bit of her essence due to her long stay there and that was all Lilith needed as a Carrionite to create a link between it and her. She had intended for Jack to use it to contact her but I had Susie use it instead."

"So let me get this straight. We're working with Carrionites now? Apparently my standards have become pretty much non-existent in my old age," The Eighth Doctor said with a frown.

"Shush. Don't interrupt me when I'm explaining things just because you're jealous that you didn't get my superior intellect and devastating good looks. You'll be me one day soon enough so just make do with what little you have got until then. Besides she's actually very nice once we get to know her," The Doctor said dismissively.

Then he turned to look at the Time Controller with a smile of triumph (while simultaneously ignoring the death glare from his other self from behind his back) as he said, "Once Susie told Lilith what was happening, she slowly began to try to use her abilities as a Carrionite to break through the Time Lock and secretly loosen your hold over this huge muck-up of a timeline that you've created to the point where it's no longer really yours anymore."

"SHE PREVENTED ME FROM SEEING THE FUTURE SO THAT I WOULDN'T TAKE THE NECESSARY STEPS TO STOP YOU," The Time Controller now realized.

"Yes, and I have also regained the ability to alter the nature of this reality once again despite your best attempts to keep me out of it. Of course I couldn't be sure about that until I had tested it first," Lilith's disembodied voice said from all around them.

The Time Controller turned his eyestalk towards a dumbfounded Amy now as he reached the same stunning realization that she just had and said, "YOU CREATED AMELIA POND'S CHILD. YES, IT MAKES SENSE NOW. SIMPLY MANIPULATING THE TIMELINES COULD NOT CREATE A CHILD BETWEEN HER AND HER AUTON HUSBAND. ONLY REALITY MANIPULATION ON A MASSIVE SCALE COULD ACCOMPLISH SUCH AN OTHERWISE IMPOSSIBLE ACT."

"Yes, and if I can do that then that means that I can also do . . . this," Lilith said with a smirk as she suddenly fully materialized in front of the Time Controller.

"NO! YOU HAVE SUCCESSFULLY BROKEN THROUGH THE TIME LOCK COMPLETELY! LOSING CONTROL! LOSING CONTROL!" The Time Controller cried out in impotent rage.

"That's right. You're no longer in charge of this nightmare that you've created anymore now that there's a Carrionite here to stop you are you? Your Time Lock is completely useless now that she's finally gotten through it," The Doctor said in triumph.

"You ruined my life! You took him from me without a second thought just so that you could attempt to bring about some nearly forgotten prophecy that probably isn't even real anyway. Don't think that I'm about to let you get away with that. Don't ever think that you can cross a Carrionite with impunity!" Lilith shouted as she began to instantly go on the attack against the Time Controller.

Reality now started to shift and change around them and then just as quickly change back over and over again as the Time Controller and Lilith fought for control over the timeline. The two powerful beings seemed evenly matched at that moment with neither being able to gain a clear advantage over the other, and Jenny quickly realized that this fight truly could go either way now.

"I HAVE WORKED FOR FAR TOO LONG TO CREATE THIS WORLD. I WILL NOT LOSE IT TO YOU NOW THAT I AM AT THE CUSP OF ULTIMATE VICTORY. IT IS TIME TO UNLEASH MY ULTIMATE BACK-UP PLAN," The Time Controller announced as the Vortex energy inside of what was left of his casing began to glow ever brighter by the moment.

That was when Jenny knew that she had to be the one to change the odds in their favor while she still had the chance as with a heavy heart she began to point her blaster at the Time Controller once again.

Then once again she was stopped just before she could act as a massive energy blast hit the Time Controller and completely blew what was left of his casing to pieces!

They never would know what plan he had just been about to put into action. He had never even had time to scream much less do anything else.

"You're just determined to use that gun today aren't you, Jen? Sorry but I just couldn't let you do that. You know how your Dad feels about that sort of thing. It doesn't really matter if I do it though since he already doesn't approve of me anyway," Jack's voice said from behind her as a pair of strong arms wrapped themselves around her and pulled her to him.

"How?" Jenny asked in stunned amazement as her hearts filled with joy as soon as she saw his smiling face again.

"As soon as I realized what Eve had done to her father, I pulled him back out of the black hole that she had left him in. Luckily not even its immense power could crush our good Captain completely," Lilith said with a forced smile as she realized immediately what that smile meant.

He had once had that same smile for her after all.

She couldn't find it in herself to hate Jenny for what was happening between her and Jack however. She couldn't blame anyone for falling in love with him. It was just as natural as breathing as far as she was concerned.

Jack couldn't help but laugh as he said, "What can I say? Apparently when Rosie brings you back to life again, you stay back. Even a black hole knows better than to tell her no."

"Knowing you, Jack, I wouldn't doubt it if you convinced the black hole not to kill you by flirting with it," Jenny said with a huge smile as she moved her face closer to his.

"No, I save all of my flirting for you these days, Jen. Honest," Jack said with his hand to his heart as he slowly moved his lips directly in front of hers and then hovered there.

Now that the Time Controller was gone, Jack could suddenly remember exactly how his and Jenny's lives had been manipulated by him. He was still uncertain of how Jenny would feel about him and didn't want to pressure her into anything no matter how badly that he wanted to kiss her at that moment.

As it turned out though, Jenny didn't have to be pressured into anything because she instantly kissed him without hesitation. It was a kiss that he eagerly returned as he held onto her tightly as if he feared that he might lose her at any moment.

That was when she knew beyond a shadow of a doubt. She was hopelessly in love with him.

Perhaps she always had been but had just never wanted to admit it not even to herself since she had always thought that she never even had a chance with him. After all first he was with Donna and then Lilith and never even seemed to notice her. He had never seen her as anything other than the Doctor's daughter, right?

Apparently she had been oh so wrong about that though.

"Dad!" Ianto screamed at the top of his lungs as he rushed to hug his father despite his attention being otherwise engaged at that moment.

Eve meanwhile just stood there looked at him with her mouth hanging open as she said in a voice that was simultaneously filled with both guilt and relief, "Dad?"

Jack finally pulled away from Jenny now as he said in a voice filled with love, "It wasn't you, Evie. That was never you."

"I'm so sorry," Eve said as she dissolved into tears.

Jack hugged her tightly as he said in a voice filled with bitter self-recrimination, "You don't have anything to be sorry about, sweetheart. I'm the one who should be apologizing for not realizing what you were going through until it was too late. I should have saved you from him somehow. I should have known what he was doing to you."

"Oh, Dad!" Eve said as she began to cry even harder (with joy this time) now that she knew that he didn't hate her for what she had done.

Lilith watched all of this with a heavy heart but said nothing. She just wanted Jack to be happy no matter what.

She still wasn't sure if Jack had fallen for Jenny because of the Time Controller's manipulations or because he had actually felt that way about her from the start, but she knew that she would find out soon enough now once the universe returned back to normal in a few minutes. The original timeline had already started to reassert itself the moment that the Time Controller had died and nothing could stop it now. It was only a matter of time.

Part of her couldn't help but hold onto the secret hope that Jack would still love her once things were back to normal though even if it did make her extremely selfish to think so.

"So is that it then? Is it really over now?" Amy asked in a slightly skeptical tone even as she smiled at the happy reunion taking place before her.

"Can't you feel it, Amy? The Web of Time is already fixing itself even as we speak. It shouldn't be too much longer now before everything's back to exactly the way that it was before the Time Controller started altering everything," The Doctor said.

"Everything?" Amy asked in a sad voice as she looked down at her stomach.

"Yes, everything," The Doctor said in a resigned voice as he gave Jenny a forlorn look.

He truly wished that it were otherwise. He would do anything to spare Jenny, Rayna, and Amy from the pain of what was about to come.

He could already see that pain in Jenny's eyes at that very moment as she too finally realized what was about to happen and grabbed Eve and Ianto's hands tightly.

"No. I won't let it. We can still save them if we bring them into your TARDIS right? The TARDIS can stabilize them and keep them from vanishing when time fixes itself. I know it can," Jenny said as she looked to the Eighth Doctor for help.

The Eighth Doctor briefly looked at his older self with uncertainty even as he told Jenny in a cheerful voice, "Yes, of course we can."

Jenny's Doctor however couldn't bring himself to lie to her as he said in a hesitant voice, "Jenny, that's a very slim chance at best. Time will right itself back to its proper course and that means that . . . the children will have never existed. It also means that Jack will likely forget that any of this ever happened since he isn't a Time Lord. I'm sorry."

The Doctor could swear that he actually saw the moment that Jenny's hearts broke reflected on her face as a cold dead look came into her eyes.

"I'm sorry," Jenny told Eve and Ianto in a voice filled with pain.

"It's alright, Mum. I never was any good anyway. Maybe next time around you'll get the daughter that you should have had instead," Eve said with a small smile.

"Don't say that. You are the daughter that I should have had. I want you. I want both of you," Jenny said as she began to dissolve into sobs while continuing to hold onto both of her children tightly.

"It's going to be alright, Mum. Don't worry," Ianto said as he tried his best to comfort her despite the fact that it was obvious that he was completely terrified of being erased from existence.

Jack now wrapped his arms around all of them as he said in an emotional voice, "Don't cry, Jenny. We'll make sure that both of them will still be born no matter what happens. I promise that we will. I won't forget how I feel about you. I won't."

"Well, what do you know? I really have changed," Lilith said to herself with a smile as she realized what she had to do now despite the terrible price that she would have to pay.

"What?" The Doctor asked as he overheard her.

Her only response was to start chanting a spell under her breath even as the timeline finally started to change at last. It still wasn't too late yet to carry out her plan though. She could feel it. She could still do this if she acted quickly enough.

The Doctor immediately became alarmed as he guessed what she was about to do and warned, "Lilith, what are you doing? Not even a Carrionite can alter the Web to that extent. Not without the power of the Vortex. You'll completely tear yourself apart if you don't stop."

"We'll just see about that," Lilith said obstinately as she continued to chant.

"What's she doing?" Jenny asked even though she was sure that she already knew.

She looked at Lilith with immense gratitude as she said, "You don't have to do this. Not for me. I don't want you to die."

Lilith smiled as she said, "Who said anything about dying? Besides as much as I like you I'm not doing this for you."

Then she looked at Jack while Jenny nodded in silent understanding. Jack immediately kissed Lilith on the cheek and hugged her in gratitude while she closed her eyes tightly and tried very hard not to focus too much on what she was giving up.

The Eighth Doctor smiled at Lilith with renewed appreciation as he said, "Apparently I was wrong to ever doubt you."

"Who is she doing it for then?" The Doctor asked in confusion since he seemed to be the only one there who didn't understand what was going on.

The Eighth Doctor rolled his eyes at him as he said, "And I thought Rainbow Man was socially awkward. I certainly can't wait until I'm you."

"Well, it's definitely something to look forward to isn't it? It's even worth having to suffer through being Captain Grumpy, Shouty, Sand Shoes, and Man Child believe it or not. Plus we get married to Clara," The Doctor said in a smug tone.

"Clara?" The Eighth Doctor asked.

The Doctor closed his eyes tightly and concentrated as an image of Clara quickly passed from his mind to his younger self's. The Eighth Doctor's eyes widened and he looked at his future self with undisguised jealousy now as the Doctor's smile widened even further.

"Not looking so bad now am I?" The Doctor said arrogantly.

"Lilith, I hate to ask but . . ." Amy started to say as she ignored the two feuding Doctors.

Lilith smiled and said, "Your child won't be affected no matter what happens, Amy. I made sure of that when I created her."

"Her?" Amy asked with a relieved smile from ear to ear.

"Let's just say that I felt as if the universe owed you a daughter after what happened to River, and I couldn't think of a better way to test if I was really able to manipulate this reality once more. Besides it's my way of thanking you for giving me a chance despite what you feared about me at first. I'll always be grateful to you for that," Lilith said with a sad smile.

"Why are you talking like that? You're acting like you're not going to make it," Amy said with a worried look.

"I'll be fine," Lilith reassured her even as her entire body began to be wracked with pain from the effort of what she was trying to accomplish.

"Doctor," Amy said in an upset voice as she realized that Lilith was lying to her.

"She knows what she's doing, Amy," The Doctor reassured her.

"Don't lie to me, Raggedy Man. Don't ever think that you can get away with that. Not with me. I always know. Tell her to stop. Right now," Amy said in a furious voice.

"I'm afraid that it's already too late for that now, Amy," The Doctor said in a solemn voice as everything began suddenly changing all around them.

"Mum, what's going to happen?" Ianto asked in a worried voice.

"Nothing. It's going to be alright. I promise," Jenny said in a brave voice as she hugged both her children tightly.

And then everything went black.

A moment later Jenny could feel herself being gently shaken as Jack's voice said with concern, "Jen? Are you alright?"

"Jack? What . . . What's happening?" Jenny asked in confusion as she opened her eyes to see him lying beside her in her bed.

"Nothing serious. You were just having a bad dream is all. It sounded like a really bad one though and I just couldn't bear to watch you suffer like that. You kept screaming about losing all of us so I wanted to wake you up so that you'd know that we were alright," Jack said with a reassuring smile as he gave her a tender kiss.

Jenny looked at him with renewed hope while looking down at the wedding ring on her finger with a pleased smile as she said, "We?"

"Yeah, the babies are just fine. Both of them. I checked with one of the Doc's sonic screwdrivers while I was trying to wake you just in case. They're both perfectly healthy and I'm sure they'll each be just as beautiful as their mother when they're born in a few months," Jack said with a proud smile.

"Twins. So it's going to be a boy and a girl?" Jenny asked hesitantly as she held her breath in quiet anticipation.

"Actually it's too early in the pregnancy to tell yet even for the Doc so your guess is as good as mine," Jack said with a shrug.

Jenny was sure that Lilith had saved both of them though. She had certainly gotten everything else right after all.

"It's going to be a boy and a girl. I'm sure of it. Eve and Ianto," Jenny said with a smile of perfect contentment.

Jack looked at her in surprise and then a glazed look came over his face for a moment before he said, "Yeah, that's right. I . . . I remember."

"You do? Everything?" Jenny asked in disbelief.

Finally.

Jack nodded as he said, "Yeah, the whole thing with the Time Controller and you being pulled through time over and over again. All of it. Lilith did it!"

"I definitely want another wedding though since I kind of missed out on the first one even if I do have new memories starting to pop in my head of having been there. At least it's only one year after the day that Lilith left us so I didn't lose too much time in this new timeline that she created. It definitely could have been a lot worse," Jenny said with a relieved look.

"Jen, you don't regret it do you? I mean . . . It's hardly a regular marriage is it?" Jack asked hesitantly.

Jenny shrugged as she said, "It's not exactly the way that I wanted to go about it but if it was the only way to save Eve and Ianto then I really don't care too much. Besides I definitely don't mind being married to you, Mr. Harkness, so you can just stop worrying that I'll change my mind right now."

"Sounds good to me, Mrs. Harkness," Jack said with a warm smile.

They both laughed with joy and kissed one another passionately for a moment until Jenny suddenly pulled away and said, "I hope Lilith's alright. She never did come back in this new reality did she? I was worried about her at the end there. You don't think . . . ?"

Jack looked concerned as well as he said, "We should get dressed and find out."

Suddenly the Doctor burst into their bedroom and said, "Do the two of you still remem . . . ?"

Then he suddenly screamed as the full impact of the knowledge that Jenny and Jack were married now and about to have twins hit him at once while he watched them lying there together. He instantly passed out cold on the spot as Clara quickly rushed in and caught his head before it could hit the floor.

"Sorry about that. I tried to stop him before he could come in here, but he's surprisingly fast for a two thousand year old," Clara said with a wicked smile.

"I told you that you should have just let me go after him. My legs are longer so naturally I'd be much faster than you," Amy said from outside the door.

"Pretty sure you're not supposed to be doing any running while you're pregnant, Red," Clara said with a disapproving look.

"Oh, please. She'll be fine. That's just for people who didn't run regularly before they became pregnant. If you did, then it's just fine and I definitely did a lot of running before I became pregnant with Melody. I did a lot of running during and after the pregnancy too," Amy said in an indignant tone.

"Well, you've got me there. Definitely a lot of running in this job," Clara said with a grin.

"So it's not just your hobby anymore then?" Amy asked with a chuckle.

"It kind of tends to become a lot more than that once you've married him. He's definitely my employee now," Clara said firmly without skipping a beat.

"Our employee," Amy quickly amended.

"Our employee," Clara agreed readily.

"Very funny, Bosses," The Doctor said with a snort as he regained consciousness.

"I thought so. Feeling better now?" Clara asked as she gave him a quick kiss.

The Doctor smiled at her briefly before a look of gloom settled across his face once more while he looked at Jack and Jenny and quietly shuddered.

"I'm not sure," He admitted.

"You'll be fine," Clara reassured him as she kissed him once more.

"Clara, do you know if Lilith is alright? Has anyone heard from her in the last year?" Jenny asked as she finally saw an opening to talk to her at last.

"Yeah, I was wondering about that too when I first woke up until Rayna called just now. She's still pregnant too by the way but a lot further along than we are. Between you and me she looks like she's going to give birth any day now even though she's only about six months pregnant. I think this one's going to come a bit early," Amy confided.

"And you call me a gossip," Clara said with a fake frown that quickly turned into a smile.

"Hey! It's not gossip if you're simply telling someone what you've observed and not what you've heard," Amy protested.

Jenny and Jack quickly exchanged an exasperated look as Jenny said in an irritated voice, "Mum, what did Rayna say about Lilith?"

"Don't use that tone with me, Jen. I was getting to that," Amy said in an angry voice.

"You're such a mum," Clara muttered under her breath.

"What was that?" Amy asked with an angry glare.

"Just tell her, Legs. I'd like to know too if you don't mind. Lil is my friend too," Clara said with a groan.

Amy smiled at her mischievously as she said, "She said that Lilith had been staying with her on Gallifrey for the last few days and was waiting for us to come and pick her up."

"Pick her up? Why can't she just teleport over here like she always does?" Clara asked in confusion.

"Because she can't anymore," The Doctor answered with a knowing look.

"What do you mean, Grimmy? Is something wrong with her?" Clara asked with concern.

The Doctor shook his head as he said, "Not wrong so much as changed. To permanently force the timeline to stay a year ahead of where its normally supposed to be requires a great deal of power to accomplish and since Lilith didn't have access to the Vortex like the Time Controller did it had to come from somewhere else."

"Her natural power as a Carrionite. She sacrificed it for us. For me," Jack realized with a look of awe on his face.

"Oh, is that who she did it for? Why you in particular though? No, never mind. I'll figure it out eventually," The Doctor said with a shrug.

"I doubt it," Clara said with a smirk.

"Does this mean that she'll never have any powers again? That she's basically like a human now?" Jenny asked curiously.

"More or less. She'll have been left stuck in her human form since that was how she looked when she used up her power so she won't be able to return to her original Carrionite body. So for all intents and purposes she is a human now even though I suspect she still has a Carrionite's lengthy lifespan so she'll age much slower than a regular human would. She may not be stuck that way forever though. Her power could conceivably return to her one day after it's had enough time to regenerate itself. At least it's possible anyway," The Doctor said in an optimistic tone.

"I certainly hope so," Jenny said meaning it.

"So where has she been all of this time if she's only been on Gallifrey for a few days?" Jack asked.

Amy's already mischievous smile widened even further now as she said, "She was with you actually."

"What?" Jack said in bewilderment and then his eyes widened as he finally realized what had happened.

So did Jenny as she said, "You're the alternate Jack from the other timeline that the Dalek Emperor created. She saved you."

"And left the TARDIS with the Jack of this world who had originally wanted to leave anyway some time ago. I remember now. He decided to leave after I joined the crew and he realized that I really wasn't out to hurt Jenny," Jack said as it all came back to him now at last.

"Yeah, it took Rayna's call to bring out all of my new memories of what had happened in this timeline too," Amy said in a sympathetic voice.

"So why did she suddenly leave the other Jack? She didn't break up with him did she?" Jenny asked with concern because she wanted Lilith to be happy too.

"No, it's not like that. She just wanted to visit with us for a while in order to see Susie again because she hasn't had regular contact with her in a year in this new timeline. So while her Jack is away working on a mission for Torchwood she decided to go traveling with us for a while again," Amy explained.

Then she dramatically lowered her voice as she added, "Plus Rayna thinks that she has a special announcement to make that she's just dying to tell Susie about if you know what I mean."

"Now that's gossip, Red. I don't care what you say," Clara said with a triumphant grin.

"Maybe and maybe not. It depends on whether it's actually true or not," Amy said.

"No, it really doesn't," Clara countered.

"What are we talking about? What's the special announcement?" The Doctor asked.

"It means she could either be getting married or that she's pregnant. Maybe both," Jenny said happily.

The Doctor nodded as he said, "Ah. Oh, that makes sense then. All of it except for the marrying Jack part that is."

Jenny shook her head as she said in a warning tone, "Dad."

"I wasn't talking about you. I was talking about Lilith," The Doctor said just a bit too quickly.

"Uh, huh," Jenny said with a small smile.

She just couldn't stay mad at him. Not after the wonderful gift that she and all of the others in her family had just been given.

Everything was just far too perfect right now for her to ever be angry again.

At that very moment in a hidden location somewhere in the middle of Paris, Adelaine Dutemps saw Jenny in her mind's eye and laughed long and hard at her insipid naivety. The Time Lady's innermost thoughts at that moment were completely given away by that look of absolute peace and contentment on her face. That's what Adelaine found so incredibly amusing. Jenny actually thought that it was all over with and that she was safe now.

Nothing could be further from the truth of course.

She always had a back-up plan in place after all and no one could escape the Daleks forever no matter how hard they tried. The Carrionite and Jack Harkness had only delayed the inevitable. They had merely weakened the Time Controller and caused him to change form and gender as he hopped into his back-up cloned form in order to escape.

It was only a temporary setback at best until Adelaine could regain her strength and someday resume her original pure Dalek form once again. Nothing more.

Sooner or later she would have either Eve, Ianto, or the Rani and Master's as yet unnamed child for her Hybrid warrior. Next time she would be assured of victory because now that the Carrionite had lost her power there would be no one left to stand in her way anymore.

One day soon the very universe itself would belong to the Daleks and all of Gallifrey would crumble before them.

Soon.

Next: It won't happen right now though thankfully because Jenny has a wedding to make up for as she marries Jack all over again for the first time. Everything's going to go just fine the entire time as it all works out perfectly without any problems whatsoever. I swear. This isn't Guardian Who after all. Now after the wedding is going to be an entirely different story. Plus we'll find out the exact nature of Lilith's special announcement. Is it what everyone thinks that it is? Oh, and we'll also find out more about Rayna and the Master's child as well as he finally gets a name at last. It's about time since he may or may not be born next chapter so that might just come in handy.