Chapter 1-

Going through Fire and Water

Rain pounded at the windows, only pausing its cacophony to allow the deep bellows of thunder make their presence known. A genetically modified clone warrior from outer space, also known as Strax, stood alone by the window of 13 Paternoster Row, but his mind wasn't occupied with worrying about his comrades in this atrocious weather. Instead, he was glaring up at the dimly shining orb hanging in the sky. So far, the Moonites had thwarted all his plans of invasion. Presently, they'd forced him to discard the idea of gaining upper ground. They had the upper ground. An extreme upper ground.

"Damn Moon," he spat, concluding his daily 'Operation: Destroy Moonites' plan-of-attack brainstorm.

Meanwhile, on the other side of London, two women trudged together in companionable silence.

Jenny grimaced as she took another step and realised her boot was half-filled with water. Every layer of clothing she had on was soaked, and the cold gnawed at her extremities. She quickly glanced up at Vastra, who seemed unbothered by the weather. Jenny didn't realise how long her eyes were lingering on her mistress until the lizard woman herself looked at her maid. Jenny turned away as their eyes met, embarrassed and ashamed at her lack of etiquette.

"Is everything alright?" Vastra asked, her question barely loud enough to make itself heard above the hammer of the rain.

"Y-yes, Ma'am," came the reply. Had it not been for the Silurian's exceptional hearing, that reply would have been deemed inaudible.

Another 5 minutes later, and Vastra stopped abruptly outside a dark, multi-story building. It was one of the oldest in Victorian London, but by no means was it fragile. Aside from several cracks in the ceilings, it was untarnished. Perfect, even.

The walls seemed to hold its breath as the two women entered. A thick layer of dust coated nearly every surface, muffling any sound that was emitted. This, Vastra thought a little offhandedly, could prove to be both an ally and an enemy.

"I'm afraid we're going to have to split up," whispered Vastra. Jenny's heart sank. Although she'd received more-than-adequate training from Vastra, without her mistress by her side, her confidence flickered like a blown flame. Evidently unaware of what her brain was actually thinking, Jenny's lips parted and spoke.

"Yes Ma'am."

Vastra nodded.

"I'll take The Eastern Wing, and you, the West." With that, they left each other and parted. Neither noticed the claw marks on the Western walls.

Shivering, Jenny drew her katana carefully, the steel-on-steel 'snick' calming her a little more. It was horrifying how easily her mind played tricks on her in this environment, but she couldn't afford to lose focus. Madame Vastra had predicted their target was to strike here tonight, and Jenny would be ashamed out of her wits if she was to miss them.

She stood on a particularly creaky floorboard, and gingerly retracted her foot. A draught blew down the dark corridor, causing a few oil paintings to shudder. Jenny winced. She was meant to be the hunter, not the hunted. Drawing attention with creaky floorboards was not the way to go.

A guttural growl echoed out from (seemingly) all around the maid. Her eyes scanned the shadows, prying out any signs of movement. It didn't take years of experience to know that a growl without a body was never a good thing.

Something heavy and clawed suddenly pinned Jenny to the ground from behind. The impact of hitting the ground knocked her only weapon out of her grip, which skittered away over the stone floor. She twisted her head around to be greeted with the sight of dripping jaws. Jaws dripping with something other than saliva. It stank, and Jenny was doing her hardest not to retch. She was also doing her best to squirm out from under it, but her efforts were rather fruitless, presently. To be completely honest, Jenny thought she was taking the situation far too casually, considering what was at stake. Then again, facing dangers daily tended to have that effect on you.

The creature had an iron grip, and the hope of escape was threatened with long, shining claws. Jenny assumed it was a liberty to not be able to report the power the beast held in its jaws. Now, all she needed to do was get back on her feet. As the saying went, easier said than done.

Hoping her flash of inspiration would work (she almost laughed at the convenience), Jenny pushed as hard as she could on her right side. This just levered the beast off her back, allowing her to use her own fall momentum and arm power to continue to fall on top of the creature, hopefully stunning it momentarily. Mid-fall, Jenny grasped her katana sheathe with her left hand. Whilst the sheathe wasn't made for combative use, it wasn't exactly flimsy. She drove it into the beast's abdomen, causing it to double up and snarl at her. It straightened up and literally came eye-to-eye with its attacker, who took the opportunity to identify the creature. Whilst she was doing so, she heard a familiar set of running feet approaching her.

Vastra eyed every surface, searching for anything out of the ordinary. She felt apprehensive about leaving Jenny alone, very...protective.

"Should you be possessing these emotions for an ape, Vastra?" she quietly murmured to herself. She gently shook her head but froze as something up ahead caught her eye. No, there was no mistaking it, she could taste it in the air to...a body!

Yes, it was just like every other body found in this case. Completely disembowelled and a spear protruding from its mouth, pinning them to the ground below. Vastra flicked her tongue in the air above the wounds. This one was recent. Very recent. Extremely recent. Her head shot up in fear, eyes wide. Whatever did it would still be in the building. As if synchronised with her thoughts, a 'thump' was heard in the Western wing. Wasting no time, Vastra dashed to the location of the sound.

There she was, Jenny, standing there, facing a werewolf. It was definitely a werewolf: lupine features, bipedal stance, and semi-intelligent behaviour. Proud of her maid, Vastra arrived at the side, shoulder-to-shoulder, facing the beast.

It sniffed the air, once, twice. With a snarl, it leapt at the pair. They readied themselves for the first strike, but to their surprise, the lycanthrope dove past them and landed on another figure standing in the shadows. He was accompanied by three or four of his friends, all equipped with similar attire–patchy, shabby clothes, and a javelin-like spear. Screaming, the man thrashed about on the floor whilst his friends panicked and fumbled with, what looked like, matches.

There were several cries of 'Light it now!' and 'Blow up the goddamn thing already!' and the one shout of 'Screw it, I'm off!' before a quiet hissing was heard. The werewolf's ears pricked up. It turned its head, and fled, which was followed by many curses and swears from the spear men.

Nobody realised how short the fuse was.

The blast resounded through the building, throwing the two women apart and setting anything alight that wasn't damp from the rain still pounding away outside. Choking and spluttering, Jenny groped through the smoke, trying to find her mistress, ignoring the many panicked cries coming from the men.

"Ma'am!" she croaked when she saw a familiar crested head appear through the smoke. The head turned, and stumbled towards her voice.

A harsh 'crack' sounded overhead, and a huge stone slab fell from the floor above. It seemed to fall in slow motion as it plummeted earthward. Right onto Madame Vastra.

Jenny's eyes widened as she dashed to her mistress' side.

"Can you 'ear me Ma'am?" she whimpered, trying her best to hide her fear for Vastra's sake. The lizard woman looked up dazedly, and nodded.

"Can you walk, Ma'am?"

After what looked like a huge amount of effort (and pain), Vastra looked up despairingly, and shook her head. 'She's concussed', Jenny thought.

"Right then, 'old on Ma'am," Jenny said through gritted teeth. Using her surprising amount of power, the humble maid turned into a formidable heroine in seconds, hauling her (now unconscious) comrade over her shoulder and grunting slightly in the amount of effort it took.

The smoke was like sandpaper on her throat, and acid in her eyes. The path to the entrance was still more or less clear.

"Typical," she snarled to nothing in particular. "The only bit o' debris lands on Ma'am." Staggering, she made her way to the exit, when another 'crack' sounded from above. Fearing the worst, Jenny looked up to see a main support frame crashing down, ablaze, forming a huge diagonal barrier to freedom. Cursing quietly, Jenny took a few steps back; she'd have to jump over it, there was no time to walk around.

Using all she had left, she charged at the beam. Her right leg cleared the flames, but her left leg betrayed her ability and hooked onto the burning log. Jenny winced and hissed at the pain (something she must have picked up from her mistress), but yanked her leg out all the same in a very all-or-nothing manner.

As she tumbled to the ground, starved of clean oxygen, she could only think of one thing. She had failed Madame Vastra.

A/N: First chapter, done and dusted! Feel free to read on. If not, just click 'Back' and carry on with your life.