A/N: Second chapter! Hope you enjoy! Love xx Shezzi
The Doctor and Jenny clung to the console as the TARDIS lurched through the Vortex towards Earth
The Doctor and Jenny clung to the console as the TARDIS lurched through the Vortex towards Earth. It settled with a thud, throwing Jenny to floor, where she lay giggling, staring up at her father.
The Doctor grinned and stuck out a hand, pulling her up off the floor and dragging her towards the door. He stopped suddenly and glanced down at what she was wearing. "Umm…yes…you might want to get changed before we go anywhere," he told her gently.
She looked down at her clothes and snorted. They were barely more than rags at this point, smoke stained, bloody, torn rags. "Ya think?" she asked, raising an eyebrow, the expression so much like the Doctor's own that he just stared at her for a moment before gathering himself and continuing.
"Wardrobe's this way," he led her back into the depths of the TARDIS, through the circuitous route he had described to so many different companions.
Jenny stared around the enormous room, with its massive spiral staircase, eyes wide. She reached out with gentle fingers and brushed the skirt of an 18th century ball gown, then pulled back. "Definitely not me, ever," she said, although her expression was slightly wistful.
"We'll see. Maybe one day," the Doctor replied, and she shot him a look. "If you want to travel in time, sometimes you have to look the part," he told her firmly. She nodded slowly, then started to walk along the row.
She gasped suddenly, her hand reaching out, and she pulled out a pair of leather pants that looked the right size to fit her long legs and slim waist, and a baby tee in deep red. She nodded, satisfied, and started to turn away when something else caught her eye. She pulled it out, eyes widening in wonder, and she glanced at the Doctor, who just grinned.
"I'll leave you to get changed. There are underthings in the drawers just there," he pointed, then turned and left the wardrobe quickly. He leant against the wall outside the door, breathing hard. Why would she choose that? Out of everything in the wardrobe, why THAT jacket? Not that there was anything wrong with it, but…he hadn't even realized that Rose left it on the TARDIS, didn't know how it had ended up in the…wait a minute.
'You,' he said the TARDIS, who seemed almost to laugh at him. 'Rose didn't leave it, you just liked it, so you made one! You…'
'Dad? Who are you talking to?' asked Jenny, and the Doctor quickly shut up.
"Just the TARDIS," he called in to her, and could feel her confusion. "She's alive, and she's telepathic too. You'll recognize what's her and what's me as time goes on, at first it's a bit confusing, particularly if you haven't felt anything like it before."
"Okay," replied Jenny, opening the wardrobe door. She stood, grinning cheekily at him, the short black jacket over her shoulder, the tee and pants clinging tightly to her frame.
The Doctor opened his mouth to object, then thought better of it.
"Something wrong, Dad?" asked Jenny, teasingly. The Doctor shot her a look, and led her back to the control room.
"Here we are…Cardiff?" he opened the door and stared around in surprise, unsure what was going on. "Thought I told you to take us to Martha," he told the TARDIS, who sent him the mental equivalent of a shrug. He stepped out, one arm around Jenny's shoulders, and started walking. They were in a small side street, not far from Roald Dahl Plas, and he led the way over.
"As long as we're here, we might as well stop in and meet Jack. You'll like Jack, Jenny, he traveled with me, before Donna or Martha, back when…back when Rose was on board." He forced himself to complete the sentence and to keep smiling. He had left her to have a better life, he knew it, Rose knew it and had accepted it, but it didn't make his hearts hurt any less.
"Just down here," the Doctor led Jenny down a small side street to a dingy door with 'Tourist Information' written on it in rough lettering. He opened the door and ushered her inside, following on her heels.
"Good afternoon, may I help…oh, sir!" the young man behind the desk was on his feet, saluting crisply.
"Don't do that, Ianto, isn't it?" the Doctor said with a pained expression.
"Sorry, sir," replied Ianto, dropping his hand back to his side. "And yes, that's me. Here to see Jack and Dr Jones?" he asked, even as he opened the hidden door in the wall.
"Martha is here, then?" he asked, grinning in relief. He hadn't thought the TARDIS had made a mistake this time, but it was better to be safe than sorry.
"Just this way," replied Ianto, leading them down the corridor. "And who is your delightful companion?" he asked, curiously.
"This is my daughter, Jenny," the Doctor explained, as the security door rolled aside and the metal gates opened, revealing the interior of the Hub, a sight that, up to this point, he had only seen a very limited amount of on the TARDIS viewing screen.
"Nice to meet you, Jenny," Ianto said, smiling politely at her. "They're up in the briefing room," he told them, pointing to the stairs. "I need to get back upstairs, we're expecting a delivery." He disappeared back around the door, then stuck his head back into the room. "By the by, do you like pepperoni?"
"What's that?" asked Jenny, curious.
"I do, and I'm sure Jenny will as well," the Doctor said quickly to forestall the confusion. "Come on, Jenny, let's go catch up with Martha," he took his daughter's hand and led her across the hub towards the stairs Ianto had indicated.
They approached the conference room, where they could see the entire team staring hard at a projected image on the wall opposite the door. The Doctor opened the door, and they stepped through quietly, waiting for the reactions of the group.
"Oh, Ianto, is the pizza here? Great, the movie's just about to start," Martha said as she and Jack turned towards the door. They both froze, Martha's mouth dropping open in shock.
"Doc!" cried Jack, happily, jumping to his feet to greet his friend. "And who is this?" he asked with the characteristic, patent pending, Jack Harkness smirk.
"Jenny?" whispered Martha, who had finally managed to close her mouth and gather her wits about her. "But…you were dead!"
The Doctor chuckled at Martha's flummoxed expression. "I grew a new hand, she just restarted her hearts, what's so difficult about that?" he asked, grinning.
"What?" asked Martha, confused.
"First fifteen hours of her regeneration cycle, so to speak. Extra energy that allowed her body to repair the damage and restart her hearts!" The Doctor was grinning like a maniac by this point, and Jenny laughed at him.
Martha was on her feet and standing in front of the two of them before she was even conscious of moving. She reached out and touched Jenny gently, then grabbed her in a hug. A moment later, she released her and backed off slightly. "Sorry, I know we didn't really spend much time together, I'm just so happy for the two of you!" She moved to give the Doctor a hug, but Jack got in the way.
"Someone care to explain for those of us who don't know what the hell's going on?" he asked, slightly frustrated at having his repeated queries ignored.
"Jack, this is my daughter, Jenny," the Doctor told him, grinning at the flabbergasted look that came over the Captain's face before he staggered backwards to sit back down.
"Who…what…how…when?" he stammered, trying to get his head around the idea.
"It was just after the Sontaran invasion," Martha explained. "The TARDIS took off with me, Donna and the Doctor inside, no one driving, and crashed on this planet with a civil war going on. Anyway, they were creating soldiers using this machine that took DNA from the donor and created a fully grown person. They grabbed the Doctor, stuffed his hand in and, there you go, instant daughter!"
She grinned, looking so much like the Doctor at that moment that Jack, Jenny and the man in question all cracked up laughing at her. "But she was shot, we left her for them to bury, they thought it would be a good starting point for cultural integration," Martha continued, glaring slightly at the three who were still laughing their heads off.
"Oi, where's Rose?" came a gruff voice from down the table.
"Mickety-mick-mick!" cried the Doctor happily. "What are you doing here?"
"Work here, don' I?" he replied, scowling slightly. "You didn't answer my question, where's Rose?"
"Back in the parallel world," the Doctor replied, all animation gone from his tone. "With my human double. He needed her more than I did, and he could give her the one thing I couldn't, a human life and a human life span." Mickey thought about that for a moment, and nodded his approval.
"Are we gonna watch this movie?" asked Gwen, who, while enjoying the scene playing out before them, had been looking forward to this all day. Just then, Ianto appeared at the top of the stairs, almost invisible behind the stack of pizza boxes he was balancing in his arms.
"Think we're good," replied Jack, gesturing for the others to take seats around the table as he stood and opened the door for his boyfriend.
Pizza was passed and the movie started to roll. The Doctor grinned around the table, so much of his family back together, and took a large bite of pizza. Life was good. And he would go on from here to have many incredible adventures with his daughter, who was currently discovering the joys of thin bread covered in tomato paste, various meats and vegetables, and cheese.
THE END (To be continued in the next of the series when I get attacked by another rabid plot bunny!)