~42nd Century Ood World~

It was a very snowy winter's night. But all the nights were snowy for Jenny. The guest compound of whatever the old factory was had become her temporary home. Well, the locals were alright, preferred singing, held their brains in their hands, but at least they were friendly. Jenny was stuck there, so why complain. She had heat, power, communication with the outside. But there was only one human there. Everybody else lived in a human settlement a long, long way away. She lived in an abandoned industrial compound, having adjusted most of the living quarters to her liking. Spartan, but cozy.

And she had a friend. A friend who had just come in with a delivery. "Auntie Jenny! Auntie Jenny!"

Given what had been done to them, Jenny was surprised the Ood who had taken over the compound after the humans left would allow a timelord and a human, much less a nosey kid, live there. But all she'd had to do was ask if they know where her father, the Doctor, was and they offered to let her stay. That was a good thing.

But the instrument of her escape had just been brought in by Arei, a little orphan boy who had become as attached to her as a son to a mother.

"I brought it Auntie Jenny!" The boy held out a small wooden box. "It took forever! And the dealer said its a piece of junk. He doesn't think it will work anymore, especially for somebody who isn't a time agent!"

"That's because your dealer doesn't know anything about the Timelords. In my hands I should be able to get this stupid watch humming like a bee."

"But there are no such things as Timelords. They're a story you always told me. I've been near you my whole life but there's only been this world and this time. The closest thing we have to a timelord are the cheapskates who made that." Arei protested.

"Really?" Jenny strapped the Vortex manipulator onto her wrist and grinned like a shark. "Haven't you noticed Arei? I never age, I never grow older. Come here....." Jenny pulled the boy to her and pressed his head to her chest. "listen......."

"One, two, one two...." Arei counted. "Two hearts? But that's always been the way it is."

"Only a timelord has two hearts Arei." Jenny let him go. "I'm going to find my dad." Jenny darted through the door back into the quarters that were her home for the past twelve years. Ood!" She called, "My bag, I'm going!"

"Jenny is leaving for town?" The nearest one asked.

"Nope. Leaving for good!" Jenny stormed through the place, grabbing things and stuffing them into a backpack. "My shuttle is roughly 2,500 years in the past. I NEED it. And once I'm sure its alright I'm going to use this thing to find my dad." She showed the alien the vortex manipulator, in full working order. "Happy songs all of you." Jenny swung her coat on. It was a thick sheepskin thing, kind of a biker look. It didn't have any sleeves, a little cold. "Where's that damn screwdriver? Its just like my dad's, I'm going to go on adventures the same as him!"

If Ood could smile, the one watching her leave would have been. "We will sing for your good fortune on the journey."

"Thanks." Jenny gave the ringleader a hug before rushing back outside. "I have payback to give that John Hartt." Jenny grinned hugely. "For stranding me here!" She checked the inside pocket of her coat. "Sonic screwdriver, check. Psychic paper, che........."

Arei was standing there. "Jenny, don't go!" Jenny had taken Arei in when he was two, raised him like a son. And suddenly the female timelord felt so so so sorry to be leaving. "What am I gonna do? I'm TWELVE."

Jenny suddenly saw him, as plain as day, her father, the doctor. 'I am this boy's mother, human or not. I can't abandon him. I know!' "Arei, I'm not going to leave you behind. Aren't you coming too?"

"I can come see the stars with you????" Arei squealed and threw his arms around Jenny. "THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!!!!!"

Jenny smiled at the Ood who had gathered to see her go. "Thank you so much for having me. I must have been a horrible bother for twelve years."

"We are happy to give shelter to the daughter of Doctor. We will be fine in your absence, please have a safe journey."

"Thank you!" Jenny gave the bunch a salute. "Hang on tight to me Arei! We'll use this to find John, he's on EARTH, in the exact Era I want to go. All I need to do is look for the one vortex manipulator on Earth. And I'll find him!"

"And then? That Hartt guy was really scary from what you told me! Are you gonna tear him limb for limb."

"I'm not even looking for him." Jenny set the coordinates. "My dad is in and out of twenty first century earth ALL the time! And Hartt is there too. If I can lock onto his signal I can get to the Earth of THEN I just have to wait for him to come back. My shuttle can take me to Earth, but not to the right TIME." She found it, beeping. "There we go! Arei, hang on tight!" A final wave to the Ood and the pair was gone.

~Cardiff 2008~

"EARTH!" Jenny gasped as she came out of the vortex. "Come on Arei!"

"COME ON WHERE???" Arei's eyes boggled at the huge buildings, the shops with clothing on manequins in the window. "Where on earth /is/ here?"

"Darn, it didn't tell me that." Jenny jabbed at the tiny device on her wrist. "Oh well, when in doubt, ask for directions. That couple there, out for an afternoon stroll." Jenny slid her sleeve back over the dial face. "Its alright Arei, we'll ask for directions." She reassured the boy.

"Ooooh, Rhyss I like that one!" The black haired woman was pointing to a manequin in a green evening gown. "Its a policeman's thing, I have tickets for us! Come on, I want that one. It goes well with my hair don't you think?"

"Sure does darling." Gwen pulled her husband into a kiss.

"Scuse me." Jenny completely, totally, and naively interrupted a romantic moment. "I'm Jenny, this is.... my little brother Arei, we're kind of lost. Where are we?"

Gwen's face twitched. "Cardiff market, where do you think?" She said, annoyed. "Don't you know a romantic moment when you spoil it?"

"Sorry! Sorry. Well Arei, there you go, we've got to run."

"Just as long as we don't actually run in to Captain John. How on earth did you escape the /first/ time?"

"Took his watch, I gave it back, kicked his arse, he dropped me on that Ice ball where I found you. Long story. Come on, I'll give you a ride." She picked the boy up piggyback. "And the worst part was he took all the liquer."

Gwen's eyes boggled. "Hang on. Rhys this will only take a minute." She dialed her cellphone. "JACK!"

"What did I do /now/?"

"Do you know any of the other time agents? Any of them besides Hartt."

"A fair few."

"One named Jenny?" Gwen asked.

"No clue, why?"

"I think, one of them just ran by me. She had a little boy in tow, said he was her little brother." Gwen frowned. "But as they walked away, they were talking about a fight with Captain John. And ASKED for directions, like it was the most natural innocent question in the world. NOSY her!"

"I don't recall hearing of any brother sister pairs but there's a good lot of us. And Hartt said the Agency had fallen in." Jack frowned. "Where are you?"

"The Market, the one with all the dress shops." Gwen told him. "Three months ago we caught a trio of stray weevil there. Remember?"

"I know the one, let me."

Arei hmmed in Jenny's ear as they walked. "Jenny, what's your plan? You can't walk the whole earth looking for your dad!"

"I don't know. I'm going to see if I can track down a lead Arei, I can use the vortex manipulator to follow it up. The Doctor NEVER stops, so pinpointing his location is going to be difficult."

"But you don't know anything about Earth." Arei replied, "How are you going to get a lead if you don't know where to go?" Jenny slowly became aware that they were being followed, she slowed for a bit, looking at one of the dresses in a shop window. If she were lucky, she could get a look at her persuer's reflection.

Jenny sighed gustily, "You're right, its a stupid plan. All I know is that Dad comes to the twenty first century a lot because that's where Martha and Donna live." Jenny groaned, they were being followed, the man following her wore a military coat, navy blue, kind of outdated. He was lounging against a nearby lightpost, and he was in earshot. "John /also/ lives in the twenty first century. That means there's a time agent down here. I simply told the manipulator to find the Time Agent nearest Earth in the 21st century. We ended up here in Cardiff. And I /am/ gonna look for the red bandit Arei. I won't let him hurt you but payback is gonna be a bitch."

"Yes, but you're NOT a time agent! You're a time /lord/! Earth is completely /unfamiliar territory/! For all we know he could be watching you from the shadows with a knife in his hand!" Arei sounded ready to panic the instant something startled him.

"Hello young lady." Jack leaned over Jenny's shoulder. "Like the dress?"

Jenny punched Jack on reflex. "oh, so sorry. I..... you startled me!"

"Really?" jack rubbed his chin. "You looked kind of lost, and you know a pretty lady like you is pretty vulnerable in such a big city. Plus you've got a kid in tow."

"Oh, right." Flash the psychic paper. "I'm Jenny, this is my brother Arei. We're visiting from..... oh drat where is it Martha comes from." Jenny frowned. "London! That's it, we're down here visiting from London."

"Really? What part?" Jack was eyeing the two suspiciously.

"Um.... um..... um............" A flash of Donna saying something about being from Chiswik london. "Chiswik! That's it, we're both from Chiswik!" Jenny groaned inwardly.

"Really...... since when do they sell psychic paper in Chiswik?" Jack asked

"Jenny that's not Captain John is it???? I'm scared! The story you told me he sounded like the boogieman!" Arei sniffled, about to cry.

"Don't cry Arei, I'll protect you, and no, I have no idea who he is." Jenny fell into a fighting crouch, ready to punch and bolt. "But you better identify yourself quick, something tells me you aren't your run of the mill local and if I get in a brawl with you here it'll get me in trouble."

"You first, Time Agent."

"Oh um......."

"She's no time agent, she had me try to find her a manipulator so she could find her father!" Arei sounded ready to panic. "He's a Doctor and he runs around a lot and she can never catch up to him and he has a flying blue box that goes through time and she only has a shuttle that can't so she had me find the watch thingy for her to chase after him with!" He was gesticulating wildly and threatening to fall off of Jenny's back. "She just told it to find a time agent she got in a fight with before! She stoled his manipulator cause she didn't have one of her own and she told me this really scary guy named John flung her on the world she found me in and she lived dere for as long as I can remember! She had me find an old discarded vortex manipulator so she didn't have to steal Scary John's again! Please don't hurt uuuuusssss!"

"WHAT???????????" Jack was stunned by the boy's babbling. Then he started laughing. He couldn't help it, the poor fearfull kid babbled in utter panic.

"Time to go mister blue coat!" Jenny charged, an elbow swatting Jack against the wall. Jack found a foot planted in his back. "I'm a lot stronger than your run of the mill alien. But if you know a Timelord named Doctor, tell him his daughter and her companion came CALLING!" Jenny said with a wink to Jack as she bolted. "Oh this is annoying, come on Arei, lets see if we can find dad's friend Martha. Boy will she be glad to see me!"

Jack groaned, slowly getting to his feet as the boy's babbling sank in. "Doctor's /daughter?/ Oh no. DARN. I wanted to take her out for a drink, but Doctor will be mad if he catches me with his daughter." He watched the two go. "Oh dear. I'd better call Martha." He pulled out his cellphone and dialed a familiar number. "Hey Martha, its Jack. Do you know a timelord named Jenny by any chance?"

"Shhe.........shhhhhhhhe.......... JENNY IS ALIVE?????"

"Yeah, she just tossed me to the pavement and ran off with her companion. A real fearfull boy, brown hair, dark eyes and wearing a red scarf. Odd insignia on it too, some kind of squiggly mark."

"She has a companion?????" Martha groaned. "Alright, I have doctor's number somewhere. See if you can find her again. Its a long story and unlike Doctor she doesn't mind throwing a few punches to get her point across. She was bioengineered to be a soldier and she's new to the Timelord thing."

Jenny slowed, laughing as they came to a stop. "I guess I found the wrong Timeagent. Hope I didn't hit him too hard." The young Timelord grinned. "There's the ocean that way, we can go take a rest okay."

"What is it Martha?" Matha had been visiting her mother. The woman closed her cellphone. "The Doctor, his Daughter came to look for him. She just knocked Jack over and ran."

"Oh dear." Martha's mother sighed. "Jack, he's that Torchwood fellow right? Give your doctor a call. Seeing how busy your timelord friend is, I'm sure he doesn't get to see his daughter that often."

Martha laughed. "you have no idea." She hurried up to her room. "Lets see, I had Jack's technician rig this for me. Should connect me to...."

"MARTHA!" Doctor sounded overjoyed to see her. He leaned into the screen to say hello. "Its good to hear from you!"

"You too Doctor. And you're never going to guess who just planted a kick in Jack's back."

Blink, blink. "Kick? Jack? Please tell me its not anybody I know?"

"Oh you know her! Doctor! Jenny is ALIVE! She's wandering around Cardiff, and she has a companion of her own. Jack said he was a little boy. I think Jack startled her. You know Jack, I don't think she realized he was a companion, she kicked him to the pavement and bolted!" Martha's grin was huge, eyes sparkling. "I thought she was dead but she's alive! And you'd better get your tail down to Cardiff before she gives him a black eye!"

"Oh, oh my. Definately coming. Tell Jack to keep tabs on her. I'll find him." Martha nodded.

"Keep an eye on her? right." Martha grinned, thinking of the meeting between those two. "That should be fun."

"Jack, I found them." Toshiko said over the cellphone. "I used the new scanner perameters you gave me to find her. Two life signs, one of them wearing a vortex manipulator, down in the park by the ocean." Toshiko frowned. "Not that far from the hub actually. I think you could walk to them."

About an hour later Jack found Jenny with Arei at a park by the harbor. Jenny was sitting on a bench looking out over the water, and Arei was leaning against her, asleep. "If you wake him, you'll get another kick Blue Coat." Jenny warned without turning around. "Arei doesn't have any family, I'm the only mum he's got."

"Jack Harkness, Captain, Torchwood."

"I made you for military the instant I saw you were following me. I was bioengineered as a soldier, I know a fellow soldier when I see one. Hell, took Donna knocking some sense into him for Dad to even notice me. He had that big an antipathy for warfare when he's so like a soldier himself. I couldn't believe he has an aversion to guns so bad he wouldn't look at his own daughter without somebody giving him a figurative blow to the head. I mean, look at me. I was there. Same two hearts, same red blood."

"That's doctor." Jack sat next to Jenny on the bench. "I'm sorry, I was so surprised to find another timelord I didn't introduce myself. I traveled with your father, I called Martha, by the way. She thought you were dead."

"Really? That's such a relief. I thougth he hated me, and thats why he went away." Jenny said quietly. "I thought he'd abandoned me." She scooched closer to Jack, carefull not to wake Arei. "I had to know why. Why would he take Donna and Martha and leave me behind?"

A smile curled Jack's face as Jenny leaned against him in exhaustion. "Why don't you ask him?" Almost as if on cue the sawing noise that indicated the Tardis was entering the area cut the air.

Jenny jumped, startled. Arei squealed and fell off the bench, then looked up, eyes widening. "Oh my.......... JENNY HE'S HERE!!!! HE'S HERE!!!!!" He hopped from foot to foot in excitement. "I'M SORRY I DOUBTED YOU! I'M SO SORRY I DOUBTED YOU!!!!!"

Jenny had tears in her eyes as Doctor came out of the Tardis door. "DAD!!!!!" She sobbed. "I woke up and you were gone! I thought you'd abandoned me! I looked all over and you were never there! I always found where you had been but never where you were!!!!"

Arei dashed after Jenny, but then halted. He grinned up at Doctor and saluted. The timelord chuckled, and Martha came out then, a huge grin on her face. "I'm sorry. I didn't think you were coming back." She apologized. "I didn't mean to leave you on your own."

"Jack said you didn't." Jenny sobbed, clinging to doctor and just bawling.

"Jenny....." Doctor was just a little stunned that she was actually crying. And then that day with Martha and Donna came back in full detail. Something he'd wanted to forget because it was something he'd thought he'd lost. Neither Martha nor Jack had ever seen him cry, but today Doctor had tears in his eyes. "If I had known you were coming back, I would never ever ever have left you behind."

"She's lucky she has a dad..... I was too little to remember mine."

"Doctor, Arei, /my/ companion."

"Muh parents died when I was two, Jenny took me in. The guys in town thought she was weird! She was libbing in the abandoned Ood factory!"

"oh, that place." Doctor shook his head. "They didn't go all grr on you did they? With the red eyes?"

"Naw, all I did was ask if they knew you and they started singing. They protected me from the townsfolk. You wouldn't believe how closed minded they were. I had three folks coming up there with shotguns and one guy even tried to set the factory on fire. Said it was cursed."

"That sounds like them. How long were you there?"

"Twelve years. Arei was almost the only human I saw. You have no idea what its like to spend a decade plus two on your own!"

"I do." Doctor smiled down at Jenny. "I'm sorry there aren't two tardises. I can...... introduce you to the old girl."

"Doctor." Jack arched an eyebrow. "If you come spend a couple of nights at the HUB with my team we'll throw you a party! Won't mess with the old girl, cross my heart and hope to die."

"somehow that phrase doesn't mean much coming from you."

"I could use a party." Martha smirked. "Come on Doctor, just for a couple of nights. I'm sure Jack will want to introduce you to his team. They aren't like UNIT and I'm sure they're the furthest thing from Torchwood one! They've protected the earth, not put it in trouble. I've had folks at UNIT commenting on how they show mercy to folks that One wouldn't have tolerated. Helped people when the other hubs and even some of the harder folks in UNIT wouldn't have bothered with."

Jack grinned. "Come on Doctor. Spend a couple of nights with us and then go on your merry way."

Doctor sighed. "Oh alright. I'll come. Hitch a ride Jack, come on." Doctor motioned for Jack to come inside the Tardis, for Jenny and Arei to follow.

Jack grinned, "I can give you the coordinates for the hub. Its not far." He grinned, but paused at the door of the Tardis. "Ladies first. Jenny, Arei."

"But aren't we gonna get squished?" Asked Arei.

Martha and Jack looked at each other and chuckled.

Jenny's eyes turned huge when she saw the inside of the Tardis. But Arei squealed a "WOAAAAAAAH!" When he saw the inside of the Tardis. "ITS HUUUUGE!"

Jack whipped out his cellphone. "Toshiko. I've got them. I need you to clear a space in the hub's controll room about the size of a police box. Can you do that?"

"Sure, hang on. What are you planning?"

"The doctor's ship needs a secure place to land while he's visiting us. I need you to program a protective forcefield that only a timelord can get into. Our guest had a very bad experience with One. I want him to feel his belongings are secure."

"Oh dear, we'd better keep Ianto away from him then. He might not like the Doctor."

"We'll cross that bridge when we come to it." Jack grinned at Martha.

"Alright. I've moved that stone tablet I was working on. Place it there."

Jenny was looking around, turning around and around to see every inch of the inside of the Tardis when she heard it in her head. //Little one.........// Jenny felt a warm, welcoming presence fill her mind. //welcome......... you have....... made my doctor very happy.// On instinct Jenny turned, looking up at the center console that was the computer core of the Tardis.

"Jenny, come here. Let me show you how to fly her. Jack, coordinates. Martha, help him out. Arei, there's a lever over there. When I say go, pull it, kay?"

"Okee dokee!" Arei was so happy he was practically glowing.

the engines started up, and Jenny's face spread in an ecstatic expression. //I'm where i was meant to be.// Jenny thought, a warm feeling filling her up with warmth. The Tardis stopped, and Jack reached for the door. "Come on Doctor, I'll introduce you to the team."