Alright, it can be said that this story is slowly turning into a dangerous obsession for me… I've got notes, outlines, rough drafts… Everything for this one story. It's a bit scary. And just so people know, the Torchwood bit of this is from before Owen goes all undead. That's just a bit too weird for my tastes, so that won't be incorporated into any of my stories.
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"Hello, this is the Kirligo under command of Seren Lokaci demanding that you identify yourself under regulations of the Shadow Proclamation. And before you ask, no, I don't remember with article that would be, but I know it's in there somewhere."
"This is Torchwood Three in Cardiff," a male voice that was vaguely familiar to Rose responded. "State your intentions for being in Britain."
"Oh, so you're Torchwood. See, that actually makes sense, putting an organization for defense of hostile aliens in a location to monitor the Rift, seeing as that would create a hotspot for aliens to come through," Seren said. "And we're just passing through, honest. Used a bit more energy than planned in avoiding getting sucked into a black hole, and now we've got to refuel. It'll only take three or four days, then we'll be on our way. Trying to track somebody down, actually. But… You're Torchwood. I think it would be best for both of us if you just let us refuel and be on our merry way, and in return we won't go telling the world that two out of three of us are aliens. But again, you're Torchwood, so what kind of aliens we are is going to remain confidential. Do we have a deal, mister…?"
"Captain Jack Harkness at your service."
Rose leapt up, pulling the radio away from Seren, ignoring her indignant cry. "Jack? Is that really you?"
Meanwhile, in the Hub, Jack felt as if someone had just kicked his legs out from under him. "Rose?"
"Yes, yes, it's me, Jack!" Rose shouted, tears beginning to slip down her cheeks. "Oh, you have no clue how good it is to hear from you! Oh, have you seen him? Do you know how he is, Jack?"
"Same here, Rose," Jack said. "And I ran into him a while back… He's getting better than he was, at the very least. But he still isn't what he was, Rose."
"Someone in Torchwood who knows the Doctor," Seren said, taking the radio back with a quick glare at Rose, "and from the sound of it, was a companion at one point. Oh, Rassilon, Emrys, I think the universe got turned upside down."
"Wait a minute," Jack said, suspicious because of Seren's choice of words. "How do you know the Doctor? And why do you talk like he does?"
"Been trying to find him," Seren answered, calm and collected. "And as for the second question, I'll make a deal with you. Let me park my ship somewhere to refuel, and I'll explain. Plus you and Rose could catch up, since it seems you know each other."
"How big your ship?" Jack asked.
"On the outside? About the size of a station wagon," Seren said. "It's dimensionally transcendental, well, to an extent, anyway. More the size of a double-decker bus inside."
"If you feel comfortable with it, you can park inside the Hub," Jack said. "But you'll have to promise not to steal our other guest's ship."
"Why would I want to do that if I have one of the best non-sentient spaceships ever built?" Seren asked. "And it's not boasting, bud, because I didn't think it was very good until someone told me so. Er… I don't think I ever caught his name… I need precise coordinates, though. You give me them, and I can teleport this puppy into your 'Hub'. I've got short range teleportation abilities on the Kirligo."
After a few more minutes, Seren hit a button, and the entire ship warped down into the Hub. As soon as Seren had landed, Rose was out the door, and Jack caught her in a crushing hug. "Oh, Rose, I missed you…"
Seren came out, but her happy expression changed when she saw Jack, turning into one of shock. "You're a Fact!" she squeaked, and wrenched something out of Emrys' hand before any of the Torchwood team could see what it was. "And… Time Lord!" Seren was suddenly racing through the Hub, ignoring Jack as he ordered her to stop.
"Don't you dare pull out a gun," Emrys warned, yanking out a pen when Jack moved his hand to his waist. "She won't hurt anyone… Unless it's somebody like... Well, let's hope it's not that one nutter we met. If it's him, she'll punch him in the face or something, but she won't do any real damage. It's just not in her nature."
Seren, meanwhile, wasn't aware of the conversation. She was busy, quickly zeroing in the scent of another Time Lord. She skidded to a halt when a blonde girl of about sixteen to eighteen years of age came out the lounge to avoid crashing into her, and realized sadly that it hadn't been who she had hoped it was. "Aw… You're not the Doctor… Darn. I had thought we had him this time."
What Seren didn't expect was for these words to mean something to this girl, who didn't even feel like a Time Lord, even if she was one. "You're looking for my Dad?"
"The Doctor is your dad?" Seren half-shouted, half-asked. "What?"
"Yeah. My name is Jenny. Progenation machines on Messaline," she said as mean as of an explanation.
Luckily for Jenny, Seren understood perfectly. "Well, that would explain why you can be a Time Lord without feeling like Gallifrey. Name's Seren. Me and Emrys, he's a friend of mine, we just got back from a little dimension-hopping… Takes a lot of power, that does. The fuel cells were pretty drained, so we came here to refuel. Space-time Rift, after all. And you don't find those everywhere, after all…"
"Lucky you," Jenny said light-hearted. "I didn't mean to come here. One minute, I piloting my ship through an asteroid field, next I'm crashing landing in the bay. Luckily, Torchwood was willing to let me stay here while I fix my ship. Issue is, 2008 isn't the best place to find parts for an alien spaceship. Not sure I'll be able to get flying again."
"You could come with us," Seren offered. "Emrys and Rose shouldn't mind, and even if they do, it's my ship. 'Sides, you obviously know how to fly, and I could use a copilot… Emrys is the navigator and Rose is… While, Rose can help with any aliens we run into. Plus, she knows a bit about time travel, so she could probably help with mechanics… So what do you say? Care to become a member of the Kirligo crew, Jenny?"
"Is there running involved?" Jenny asked.
Seren smiled. "Yeah, you could say that… There'll probably be more once we find the Doc, though… Rose is an old friend of his."
"Well then, Time Lady Jenny reporting for duty, ma'am," Jenny said, liking Seren already. The brunette was a nice person, and she had a good sense of humor.
"Welcome aboard, Jenny," Seren said. "Well, we're not actually on board yet, but you get the picture. Quick warning, it's bigger on the inside. Time Lord tech and all. Uh, actually Time Agency tech initially, but now it's my tech, and therefore Time Lord tech. Did I mention that Emrys and I are Time Lords?"
"Now you did," Jenny said. "Dad's going to be surprised when we find him. He thought he was the only one left."
"That's because he never met me," Seren said, and Jenny realized that for all her wonders, it seemed Seren could be a bit cocky. "Or he would have known that I was not getting sucked into that mess, and therefore it wouldn't come as a shock to him when we finally track him down. But alas, I've never met the Doctor. Pity, really. I've heard so much about the guy, but never met him."
"Well, it's obvious you plan to rectify that," Jenny said. "But I have to ask… Is it just because you're a Time Lady? Or is there something more to it?"
"Maybe," Seren said with a smirk. "But either way, if I have a second objective, and I don't share, then it's not your business, is it? I can promise you this, though. I'm not one of the bad guys. I just… I don't know. I'm only eighteen, if Gallifrey was still around, I would be enrolled in the Academy for several more years at the least. But it's gone, and I really don't know what I should be doing… Come on. We'll get you situated in one of the spare cabins."
Jenny followed Seren with some trepidation, because she just couldn't figure this girl out.
"See?" Emrys said when Seren came back to the Kirligo. "Did anyone get hurt? No. Did anything get blown up? No again. Should you have listened when I told you Seren wasn't going to tear the Hub apart? Yes."
Jack scowled. "I believe you said that if I let you park your ship here, I would get any explanation. So start explaining." Rose dug her elbow into his ribs. "Please."
"Emrys and me are Time Lords," Seren said. "So is Jenny here. Happy? Cos even if you aren't I'm going to go look around. I'll stay in the Hub, and I won't take anything. You have my word. Oh, and Emrys? Give me the pen and you can have your 'sonic marker' back."
"What?" Jack asked, but then he saw that Seren was just teasing Emrys. What she had pulled from her pocket wasn't a marker, but at first glance it could be mistaken for one.
Emrys dropped the pen in Seren's outstretched hand, preferring the slighter more powerful of the two sonic devices.
"Here, Rose," Seren said, tossing the pen in towards her. "Have a sonic pen. Picked it up after just missing the Doctor with the whole Adipose thing. He didn't want it and chucked it in a bin, and I figured it couldn't hurt to have a spare sonic, even it doesn't compare to my own."
"Oh?" Rose asked mockingly. "And what do you 'ave? A sonic telly remote?"
"Nah," Seren said. "Those aren't really practical, because no one carries TV remotes with them everywhere. It's a sonic torch. Far less conspicuous. Now, like I said, I'm going to explore. Later. And Emrys, make sure they stay away from the console. And all of you keep out of my room!" With that, the short teen spun and wandered off through the Hub, ignoring Jack's team as they watched her in fascination.
Jenny watched until Seren ducked around and a corner and out of sight before she shifted her gaze to Jack uneasily. "I still can't help but feel nervous around you, Captain. You just…"
"He's a fact," Emrys said. "A fixed point in time. And half the reason Seren's off exploring is so because he," a nod in Jack's direction, "was giving her a headache. Seren and I kind of accidentally established a telepathic connection one time… Long story."
"I'll make a deal with you, though," Seren said, and the group turned to find her on the walkway that allowed for people to reach the second story of rooms. "I'll explain as much as I can if you'll tell me why you have a pterodactyl flying around in here."
"What?" Emrys asked, following Seren's line of vision. "You know what; I'm not even going to get involved in this. A pterodactyl… Why do these things happen to us?"
"Because the universe loves me," Seren said, smirking. "'Sides, life would be boring otherwise. And I don't do boring, dull, or monotone. Or anything that's not fun. So, what's the story behind the prehistoric flyer?"
"She came through the Rift, and we couldn't exactly let it fly about Cardiff," Jack said.
"Fair enough," Seren said. "So, Captain Jack Harkness, I believe you have questions, and I have answers. Care to take our conversation elsewhere, because I for one don't fancy having everyone over-hear everything. And don't worry, the Kirligo isn't going anywhere for at least three days, so you and Rose can catch up later."
"Go on," Rose said. "I could use a nap, anyway. And I'm not going anywhere, Jack."
Jack looked at her, unease in his eyes. "You better still be here once I'm done talking to her, Rosie."
"I will be, Jack," Rose promised. "Now go talk to Seren, and Jack… No flirting. Because," she yanked him in close to whisper in his ear, "she secretly likes Emrys, and I'm going to try getting them together. So keep your hands off."
"Yes, ma'am," Jack said teasingly. He snickered when Rose forcibly shoved him towards Seren, glaring daggers at the American.
Seren watched the occurrence with a carefully neutral expression. Although she didn't know what Rose had whispered to Jack, she was aware of the fact that their presence was confusing the rest of Torchwood. And although she wasn't one for the center of attention (all the time), she did have a bit of a dramatic flair.
Which is why Seren, instead of using the stairs like a normal person, used the shorter route by hopping over the rail and landing on the floor, knowing that would create a slight fuss.
"Oi, whatever happened to not drawing attention to yourself?" Emrys asked, although his tone was teasing, even if he did look properly offended when Seren rolled her eyes and stuck her tongue out at him.
Jack just sighed as he ushered Seren into a conference room, already resigned to the fact that he was dealing with the equivalent of children by Time Lord standards, but at the same time none of them really could be thought of as children, seeing as they obviously knew enough to pilot a spaceship with teleport capabilities.
As soon as the door as shut, Seren turned to Jack, her smirk dissolving. "I know you have questions, so start asking, because the sooner we get this little interrogation over, the sooner I can get back to my ship, and back to finding the Doctor."
Jack sighed. Yup, definitely going to take a bit, he thought.
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Tada, chapter two is finished! And the rest of Torchwood will show up next chapter, but this one was about bringing Jenny in the plot and the happy Jack/Rose reunion that I've noticed seems to happen before the Doctor/Rose reunion in the ones that involve Jack… It's a trend I've noticed, and I must admit, there is some validity to it.