The Silurian detective: Of chaos and romance
A/N: Well here we are, at the third story of the trilogy. Now if you haven't guessed from the title, this is finally where Vastra and Jenny are going to get together! I've probably dragged it on a bit too much but I wrote a short love story for my friend so I think I'm finally ready to do it for these two :D Do enjoy.
It was dark. True, it was night but Vastra was certain that they had never been this dark before. Turning down into an alley way, she saw the darkness grow even more.
"Jenny, are you certain that this is normal?" The Silurian asked the dark haired woman that stepped into the alley, a hand clutching the katana that was sheathed below her coat.
"I've already told you, ma'am. It gets darker every winter." She stood next to Vastra, her eyes meeting the hidden gaze beneath the hood. "Just before Christmas and it starts getting light again, you'll see." Glancing back towards the entrance of the alley, Jenny sighed. "Fred, hurry up already."
A scuffle of feet could be heard before the figure of their older friend could just be seen in the almost non-existent light. "Sorry girls, just making sure that we aren't being followed."
Vastra started to walk deeper into the shadows of the narrow way. "No one will be following us, Fred. Everyone went home hours ago and you know that not a single person would be out this late now. Not even the police."
"But the police have to be looking for the kidnappers, don't they?" Fred asked uncertainly. "I mean it is their job."
Shaking her head, Vastra rubbed her hands along the wall until she felt the cool touch of metal. "30 people gone in a month. That's pretty much a person a day. Even the police are too terrified to catch whoever's doing this. That's why we're here."
The door gave a horrendous creak as it was pulled open. Jenny frowned at it in concern. "Unlocked? Do you think that this is a trap?"
"I'm not sure." Vastra replied. "Nothing's happened here for about 3 years. Georgina said that it was abandoned. I guess someone might have just broken into here for a joke."
As she stepped into the building, the sound of her boots echoing across the room cried around them. Fred winced as the noise repeated itself against his ears, the contrast to the silence outside surreal. A light could be seen glowing dimly above. Vastra made to move towards it but Jenny grabbed her arm. "What are you doing? That light could be anything and you're just going to walk right up to it?"
"Calm down, Jenny. Georgina told us that this place was safe." She shook her friend's hand off of her arm.
"How can you be certain that she's trustworthy?" Jenny started. Vastra sighed and went to speak but was interrupted. "Yes, she did help us against the Sontarans but don't you think that you're being a bit reckless? What happened to the human hating Vastra?"
The Silurian turned back to look at Jenny furiously. "You wanted me to be more trusting. How many times did I have to listen to you go on about saying that humans can be friends with Silurians? I've got you and Fred but when Georgina tries to help, you get all suspicious." Jenny stared at her friend in silence. Vastra's voice lowered slightly. "What happened to the Jenny that persuaded me to stay on the surface?"
"I... I just don't want you to be let down. Humans aren't as perfect as I made them out to be and Georgina's an example of that. I'm sorry if I got a bit... Protective." Jenny looked at the ground glumly.
Vastra stepped back over to her and pulled the woman into a hug. They let their arms rest around each other for a while, both content just to comfort the other with their touch. After a few moments, Vastra pulled away and smiled at Jenny, forgetting that she couldn't see her face.
Fred gave a cough behind them. "Glad to see that you've made up but shouldn't we be looking for clues?"
The two women looked embarrassed for a second before looking about the room. While Fred went over to the light, Jenny pulled out a box of matches and lit one, passing it to Vastra. Using it to see into the dark corners of the room, she smiled back at her companion. "For a minute there, I thought that you might have been jealous of Georgina."
Jenny blushed before giving a broken laugh. "In your dreams maybe." She moved away from Vastra and lit her own match. "So what kind of clues should we be looking for?"
"Well according to Georgina most of the dead bodies that were found in here showed the same effects that the victims of the Gelth at the beginning of the year had. The Gelth that we defeated hadn't mentioned killing so many people. I know that that doesn't prove that he didn't do it but the way they were killed was so different to his style. If it really was a Gelth that killed those people, there should be signs of gas pipes in here." Vastra explained.
"I hate to think that there could be another one still out there, killing more people." Jenny replied. "Do you think that it could be a Gelth that's been kidnapping? Doing something similar to what happened here?"
Vastra nodded. "It's too much of a coincidence. Although it would be nice to know what we're up against, I don't like the idea of going back to see the Queen and to make sure that the Gelth that we trapped in her pipes was locked away securely." A loud crash was heard on the other side of the room followed by a yell. "Fred! Are you alright?"
"I'm fine... Ah, well my foot hurts." The man called back as he looked at the pile of metal that had fallen on his leg. "It's caught on something."
His friends hurried to his side. "Just give me a minute." Jenny grimaced as she started to untangle the pieces of wire that was buried beneath the metal. "How did it fall down anyway?"
"I was climbing up this frame to get to the light when it collapsed." He pointed to the light that had fallen a few feet away.
Vastra approached the light and was disappointed to see that it was nothing more than a lantern, the oil inside dripping slowly to the floor as the flame within started to fade. "Oh, how ordinary."
"How impolite, Madame Vastra." A familiar voice smirked above Vastra's crouched body. "We spent a good few hours at the market picking that out for you."
"I had no idea that you knew how to purchase items with money and not thievery." Vastra remained in her position. "Who do you mean by "we"? I thought that the Red Raven worked alone."
There was a click of fingers and then the hiss of a match bursting into a life. Light suddenly spread across the dark room, following set paths that snaked all over the floor. "Why don't you stand up and take a look?"
Getting to her feet, Vastra saw the fire dance over its oil rivers, illuminating a red haired woman holding two guns, one each held to Fred and Jenny's heads. Confusion riddled the Silurian's face as she looked at the person that had whispered to her and was met with another gun and another red haired woman.
"Surprised?" The woman nearest to Vastra chuckled. "Don't feel stupid for not figuring it out, no one else did." She moved away but kept the gun pointed at Vastra. As the two red haired women stood next to each other, Vastra realised how the Red Raven has escaped.
"You're twins." She said simply.
The two looked at the other and grinned. "Identical twins." One of them said triumphantly. "Clarissa and Marjorie, the Red Raven pair."
"But your sister died." Jenny muttered. The thieves that had the exact same features from their hair to their figure giggled to themselves.
"Why yes, that was what we wanted you all to think. Marjorie simply pretended to have died so that if anyone figured out what my night time job actually was, she could free me."
The other twin, Marjorie, nodded. "Every single break in was performed by the both of us. Clarissa would gather information on our next target while I sold the items from our latest heist to a dealer friend. Such a beautiful routine that you attempted to destroy."
"If we have one flaw, it is that we seek revenge." Clarissa pouted slightly. "You interfered and learnt too much. I'm afraid to say that you've sleuthed your last, you and your friends."
They placed their weapons against the foreheads of their prey as softly as a mother would plant a kiss on a child. "Now, now, you haven't told us how you knew we were here yet." Fred mumbled.
The two thieves let out a dark laugh. "How true, why we knew where you lived, we planned to kill you the night I broke Clarissa out but you lived in a busy street and the police were already after us. We followed your lovely friend home. She promised to see you again so we influenced her into informing you both off this tragic warehouse. It was so satisfying to hear you knock down the building frame.
"Oh it was. I'm afraid that our chat must now come to an end." Clarissa pulled out something from under her coat. Its cold touch could be felt through Vastra's hood. "Do you remember this? The lovely axe that you stopped me from stealing. I wonder how it shall feel to bite through your neck." Slowly, Clarissa started to lower the hood. "The pretty neck of a too good for your own good detective. Goodnight, my..."
A horrified scream was released from Clarissa's throat as her eyes fell upon the face of a Silurian. It stopped suddenly as the dart like tongue dug into her jugular, poison shooting throughout the woman's body. Marjorie stared in shock as her sister fell to the floor and the monster that had killed her shot her a glare, the green scales rippling with the light of flames.
"Demon!" She shrieked, turning her guns towards Vastra. Before a shot could be fired, the ceremonial axe that had caused so much trouble was plucked from Clarissa's cooling hands and launched. It hit its target and silenced Marjorie's voice. A bead of blood fell from the cracked skull and then she too collapsed to the floor besides her sister. In under a minute, the Red Raven was nothing more than an urban legend.
Jenny and Fred turned away from the dead pair while Vastra lifted her hood back up. Watching her friends step outside, she picked up the still burning lantern and smashed it over the two thieves. She didn't look back as the flames started to leap and grow.
Standing in the alley, Vastra, Jenny and Fred avoided eye contact. After the fire snapped loudly, Vastra spoke. "We should go."
No one showed any signs of agreement, but the two silent humans turned back out onto the street, their silence not breaking. It held throughout the rest of their journey.
As they all stepped inside of their home, Jenny muttered something about bed before leaving the room. Fred had been sleeping over regularly since the kidnappings had started as they had all gone out together, hunting for whoever had cast the spell of fear over London pretty much every evening. They also decided that it wasn't safe for him to go home alone. He was as much a target as anyone else.
"I'm going to go and see if Georgina's alright." Vastra said quietly. Fred nodded and she left him in the living room.
It felt strange for her to be walking alone. Stranger still was that her friends hadn't tried to stop her. She sighed, feeling truly alone for the first time in such a long time. Her mind was whirling with thoughts, each one more hurtful than the last.
Jenny and Fred's look of fear. Of disgust at her killing of the twins. They both knew that she had murdered before, for the safety of London but neither had actually seen her take the life of another human. How would they act now? Would they... hate her?
Regardless of how she felt, doing something would help clear her mind and Georgina was undoubtedly in danger. The Red Ravens would have had to have held Georgina against her will as the letter had mentioned the Sontarans, something that neither of the sisters could have known. One thought remained wriggling in the back of Vastra's mind however. Had Georgina really been forced to write a trap or had she done so willingly?
It seemed like the trusting Vastra hadn't lasted very long.
xxxxx
"Temporal energy at 75%. Approximate time until full power; ten days." A speaker blared out.
A dark haired man who had been sleeping on a simple and uncomfortable mattress jerked awake as the announcement was called out across the ship. He leapt up and quickly got dressed before running to the control room. It was empty apart from a stern looking woman wearing a mauve suit, her back as straight as if a plank of wood was strapped to her body beneath her clothes. It could have travelled all the way up to her hair which was held above her head, falling like a waterfall of brown curls at the top.
"Ten days?" He cried out to her. "But we'll miss the alignment."
She nodded slightly but kept herself facing the computer screen which was gazing into. A few clicks on the keyboard and she turned to regard the panicking man that was overreacting in front of her. One eye blinked, the other a mystery behind the eye patch.
"That would be true if I hadn't made the necessary preparations." She smirked. "Derek, you need to have more faith in me. Trust must exist if we are to succeed."
Sighing, Derek chewed on his knuckles. "You're right, we're just so close to the end, for me to finally get my revenge. I'm sure that you can understand why I'd be jumpy. Still, you can tell me of your plans in advance next time."
"3 days. That's all we need." She turned back to gaze into the screen. "This Angel is a strategist, taking a victim once a night in order to gain enough power before contacting others of its kind. It will have sensed that we have been draining the temporal energy and all it will take is a slight depletion of its own personal strength in order to stir it into a murder spree."
Derek bit his lip as his leader of the moment's face broke into a dark grin at the thought of her own genius. He quickly changed the subject. "What about the others? Are they as successful as we are?"
She stood up and went to another monitor. "Of course, my Flesh plans have reached their base on Earth and combined with the data that you recovered on the Cybermen, our army will soon be complete." Glancing back at him, she smiled sweetly. "Do you have no faith in them too? I know that they are less benign than I but their age spans centuries compared to my own. They will not fail. Once the plan is finished, that is when you should show caution."
"Do you have anything for me to do? Doing nothing for a month is not what I wanted for my revenge." He said hopefully.
"As a matter of fact, I do." She switched on a computer. "Please observe the Queen. If those detectives suspect that this is the return of the Gelth than they may seek to check their first foe. We must make sure that they are not killed in the upcoming attack." She pressed a finger to his lips when he went to speak. "That is your job." She assured.
He shook his head as he took a seat in front of the screen. "Believe me, it's no job. It's my reward."
xxxxx
Vastra had memorised Georgina's address from her letter so knew exactly where she lived. However, if she had indeed betrayed them, the address would probably be fake. If she had been held against her will, the address would be real, telling them that she needed help. Whatever the answer was, Vastra had never been to Georgina's home before and so this was a mystery.
The letter had been just as mysterious. Short and to the point, it had explained how Georgina had returned to the Torchwood base and had taken some documents about other extra terrestrial occurrences on Earth as well as more sentimental objects. After filtering through the files, she had found one about activity related to the Gelth 3 years previously. The murders had been covered up but the case never solved. Georgina suggested that they check it out as a possible link to the kidnappings.
Now that the letter had been proven as fake, it wasn't hard to figure out that the Red Ravens had posted it a few hours before sunset, intending for the detectives to leave not long after its arrival. At the time, it had been the only decent lead they'd had. The twins may have wanted to kill Vastra no matter what but even she doubted that they could kidnap a person a day just for a devious plot. Something else dark was hiding in London.
It had taken almost an hour of walking to reach Georgina's street and yet she had not encountered a single hansom, let alone a human on foot. As she knocked on the door, her blood ran cold metaphorically as well as literally. It swung open on its own, a lantern flickering eerily in the dark hallway. Stepping cautiously into the house, Vastra gripped her sword tightly; uncertain of what could be hiding in the shadows.
The first room she entered was a complete mess. A bookcase had been knocked down, scattering its load across the floor. What had once proudly stood in the centre was a small oval table which was now shattered; its pieces lay about, covered with deadly splinters. Behind the upturned sofa, a figure could be seen. Hurrying to its side, Vastra saw the familiar blond hair that cascaded over Georgina's face.
Brushing it to the side, the young woman's face was revealed, appearing strange without her glasses. Vastra placed her fingers to her neck and sighed with relief when she felt a pulse. Lifting up the sofa, she lowered Georgina's unconscious body onto its more comfortable surface. The gentle breathing gave a start as Vastra slapped her friend on the cheek.
She coughed before blinking quickly. "Water..." Georgina croaked.
Not wasting a second, Vastra ran to the nearest room which thankfully contained a full teapot. Pouring the still slightly warm water into a cup, she returned to the living room where she gave the liquid to the thirsty woman that drank it not too gracefully.
Smacking her lips roughly, Georgina placed a hand to her head and moaned. "Those bitches know how to knock someone out. I swear that my head is never going to be as perfectly shaped again. I've got a bump the size of Westminster Abbey."
Vastra laughed at Georgina's cursing, glad that no permanent damage had been given. "What did they do to you?"
"Well after I'd written the letter, they started to destroy my living room. I went to stop them but they hit me with their axe. I suppose that I should be grateful that they didn't use the sharp edge." She took another sip of water before going to place the cup on her table. When she saw the remains of it, she threw the cup across the room with a sigh. "From your apparent non-murdered state, I assume that you went to my address first?"
She frowned when Vastra gave a shake of her head. "No, me, Jenny and Fred went to the warehouse but the Red Ravens' weren't expecting someone like me to be a detective. Don't worry, they won't be bothering you again."
Georgina smiled at that. "Good, I hope you made them pay for turning my living room into a complete and utter ruin."
"Aren't you annoyed that they made you write a fake letter to me?" Vastra frowned.
"Well not really. The letter isn't a fake, 3 years ago, there were bodies of people found in that warehouse." She paused and got unsteadily to her feet. "Although, I wasn't going to send it to you, the murders weren't at all like the ones of the Gelth. They were shot by guns. Sontaran guns as a matter of fact."
Vastra went over to where Georgina was looking through a box on the mantelpiece, one of the few items in the room that hadn't been attacked. "What? But that means that they've been here before or maybe never left. Fred had a theory about why they'd take people: to make a Cyberman army."
"No, that wouldn't make sense." Georgina replied, pulling out a pile of paper from the box.
"That's the same conclusion I reached." Vastra smiled. "Why would the Sontarans use the Cybermen when their own army was already effective? Besides, a Cyberman's purpose is to convert every human to a Cyberman as well. The Sontarans would find no benefit in enslaving a species that has been wired to continue its own productivity. The Sontarans also seem too proud to consider seeking help."
Handing the Silurian one of the sheets of paper she had picked up, Georgina clutched her head once more and sank back onto her sofa. "Here's something interesting that I found. That leaflet is from a society called I.S.I.S. so if you didn't find any clues at the warehouse, I suggest you speak to them. They will most probably want something in return, something extra-terrestrial."
Vastra scanned the leaflet. "Seeking information and objects from the stars? They sound a bit like Torchwood only greedier."
"Now don't exaggerate." Georgina smiled slightly at her own joke. "It does seem like too much of a coincidence for them to appear so soon after the destruction of Torchwood. They have most probably been waiting for their chance to take over the alien activity of the city."
"Well if that's so than they are the best hope to solving all the disappearances. Do you mind if I stay here for the night before going?" Vastra asked.
Georgina shook her head. "You saved my life, stay as long as you want." She staggered out of the room, calling over her shoulder as she went. "I'm off to bed, there's the guest room first door on the left upstairs."
Shoving the leaflet into a pocket, Vastra followed her hostess up the stairs and went into the room she had been given. Not bothering to undress, the exhausted Silurian collapsed onto the bed, ready to fall asleep.
It was at that moment that the events of the day attacked. The thoughts of Jenny and Fred's disgust burst back into life and when she did at last fall asleep, it was into a world of nightmares.
xxxxx
As the sunlight fell onto Jenny's face she leapt up with a start. For the sun to be high enough to awaken would mean that she had lost a few valuable hours. Throwing on her work clothes, she galloped downstairs and started preparing breakfast. From the lack of sounds, she assumed that Vastra and Fred were still asleep. While it was rare for Fred to be up early, Jenny's mistress would be displeased at having been left to sleep in so late. She shouldn't be too angry though as they had been up for extremely long last night. It was then that the memories of what had happened returned and Jenny froze.
She had known that Vastra would kill without discrimination, occasionally even eating the victims, not caring too much whether the enemies were alien or human but seeing it happen in front of her eyes had been too much. Two people had been murdered by a friend, a friend who lived in the same house as her. Dashing to the toilet, Jenny unloaded the little remains of her stomach, coughing slightly, tears' blurring her vision. If Vastra could kill so unmercilessly, what would stop her from taking the life of her maid?
Panting more so from her thoughts than what had brought her to the bathroom, Jenny shook her head vigorously. Vastra was her friend and would never be able to hurt her, just as she could not consider harming the Silurian. The Red Ravens had caused their own deaths, having planned to kill her and Fred would break Vastra's control, releasing her feral rage. Her care of her two friends would make her walk through fire for their safety and she had most certainly assured their continued existence.
Vastra would be worried. Jenny knew that she and Fred hadn't looked well upon the killing of the twins and nothing would hurt Vastra more than thoughts of their disapproval. Scolding herself for being too occupied with her own thinking, Jenny ran to Vastra's room with the plan to apologise.
Confusion riddled through the young woman as to where her friend could be. Remembering that Fred had seen her last, she crossed over to the room he normally slept in. Briefly knocking, she then opened the door and went over to where Fred's slowly awakening body was found wrapped tightly in armour of blankets.
Shaking him back to reality, Jenny spoke loudly into his ear. "Fred! Quick, wake up already."
"Huh? Whut?" Fred groaned into his pillow. After a minute of her continued attempts to get him up, he did so, gesturing for her to leave while he got dressed. She waited outside his door until he came out, fully clothed.
"Now are you awake enough to interpret English?" Jenny asked sarcastically. "Vastra's not in her bed so I wondered whether she told you something about where she was before you went to bed."
Fred nodded sleepily. "Oh yeah, she said that she was going to see if Georgina was alright."
"I see." Jenny replied briefly. She frowned at any thoughts that considered her jealousy and followed Fred downstairs. "But shouldn't she be back by now?"
"Well it is quite a distance, she might have stayed over." He didn't notice the look of shock on Jenny's face as what he'd suggested was registered. There came a knock at the door which Jenny hurried to answer, glad to have something to occupy herself with.
A young policeman clad in uniform was standing at the front step, identification papers held up. "Morning ma'am, I'm here with some news for your mistress."
"I'm afraid that Madame Vastra has gone out, could I take a message?" Jenny replied, curious as to what news he wished to give.
"Of course, well there's been an investigation into a factory down by the docks. Apparently, most of the workers had suddenly all resigned and so it was shut down but when a possible buyer of the place came to have a look about, it wouldn't open up. The locks have all been changed and no one can get through them. Besides that, the locals say that at night, the factory starts up. I haven't been given clearance but I'd say that this is the kind of case for the famous Madame Vastra." He handed her a slip of paper. "There's the address. You have a nice day, ma'am."
Staring at the address, Jenny made up her mind. "Fred, have you got your Bobby uniform?" She called out as she unfolded Vastra's spare cloak from its place in a drawer.
"It's at my house but why do I need to infiltrate the police again?" He answered, popping his head around from the living room.
"Not infiltrate, simply a little just-in-case." Jenny started to put the cloak over her clothes, surprised at the softness of the material and of its shield against the cold.
Fred frowned at what she was doing. "Jenny, why are you wearing Vastra's spare cloak? She had it made in case hers got dirty or ripped, not so you could dress up as her."
Lifting up the hood, Jenny bowed her head knowingly. "How true but I figure that she could use a holiday. I'll leave the address so she knows where we are going." She placed the slip of paper on the shelf near the door.
"Where exactly are we going?" Fred asked.
"Just on a case by the docks." She turned back to face him. "Now are you coming or would you rather stay here?"
Flashing her a grin, he nodded enthusiastically. "Well Vastra would never forgive me if I did." Taking her arm, he opened the door. "Come along then, Madame Vastra, we've got some detective work to do."
A/N: This chapter seems a bit slow but I think my first ones always are. In chapter two, the I.S.I.S. society will be introduced and the mystery of the factory will be plundered. Pleases leave a review about this chapter or about any ideas for the next one if you have any.