Wolf Signal

Chapter Four: A Name

by Lumendea

Disclaimer: I do not own Doctor Who.

Careful not to splash too much water on the woman, Jenny gently washed the dirt off her face with a moist hand cloth. Every move her made was careful as Jenny kept her eyes open for any signs of injury and watched the woman's steady breathing rate. They'd checked the woman for major injured where they'd found her, but there had been nothing. In fact the medicine men of the village were confused as to why she was even unconscious. Jenny suspected shock or some kind of drugging, but was at a loss to explain the woman's sudden appearance without a ship or any injuries. People did not just fall from the stars in her, admittedly, limited experience.

After a brief debate the villagers had moved the stranger into the room where Jenny was sleeping so she could watch over her. A few visitors had come and asked questions of her hosts and the storyteller had come by only to look at the sleeping woman and nod solemnly. Sighing, Jenny dropped the cloth back into the bowl of water Yliva had given her and sat down on the floor. Her curiosity as to what had happened to her mysterious patient was beginning to wear down Jenny's patience even as she

The woman was a bit older than her in appearance, but with the same sort of facial structure and coloration as her. She had a pretty face and full lips and Jenny had noted she had brown eyes when they'd opened her eyelids to check for signs of trauma. There were thin tiny laugh lines around her eyes that were just visible and a soft row of worry lines between her eyes that Jenny doubted were usually visible. As she ran the soft wet cloth over them Jenny willed them to go away, hoping that the woman's rest for whatever reason she as unconscious would at least be restful.

Washing the woman's hair was a bit more difficult so Jenny settled for rinsing out clumps of dirt and mud a little at a time. It took more time as she had to empty the bowl of dirty water quiet often and refill it, but as the mud washed away she found the task oddly soothing. The woman's hair was a shade of blond darker than her own and lightest at the ends which Jenny guessed the difference was from exposure to sunlight. The hair was decently long and looked well cared for with no signs of split ends anywhere though the ends were a bit uneven.

Leaning back against the wall, Jenny studied the woman as a whole picture. She was completely still except for her breathing and the long dress was in surprisingly good shape for having been in that impact, of course how the woman fell from the sky was a mystery in itself. It was taking all of Jenny's self-control to not seek some way of waking the woman up and demanding answers in exchange for the use of her bed. But she was at a loss for how to wake her up safelty.

Suddenly, the woman groaned and rolled over on her side. Jenny jumped in surprise with widening excited eyes and moved closer to her guest. The woman's eyes widened and Jenny's own blue eyes met a pair of warm brown ones that were wide with surprise as she took in Jenny next to her. Surprisingly there was no hint of panic or alarm, just confusion and a bit of curiosity. Jenny could barely contain her grin of excitement.

"What happened?" she croaked out, siting up slowly and carefully.

Jenny quickly handed the woman a cup of water which she examined for a moment before sipping slowly. Her eyes were fixed on Jenny for a long moment before they slid around the room. There still was no alarm or panic as the woman took in the environment, but instead a sense of caution and planning.

"I'm Jenny," she announced in as friendly a tone as she could, "You're safe. We found you in a crater after you... crashed I guess."

"I crashed here?" The woman asked sharply, looking back at Jenny immediately.

"Yeah, I did too. My ship the Lupo Difestia crashed on this planet three weeks ago. This planet is Keribos," Jenny explained calmly, her hands twitching in her lap. "The locals are very friendly and brought you here. The house belongs to Zedia and her husband Tifgo."

The woman was quiet for a moment, eyes glazing over with thought and she nibbled at her lower lip. Then she lay back on the bed and stared up at the wooden ceiling. Jenny gave her a moment, she couldn't be certain, but the woman's body language was saying that she didn't know anything either. Nothing was said and Jenny just listened the woman's deep breathing.

"What is your name?" Jenny asked after a moment seeing that the woman was starting to drift off again.

"Rose Tyler," the woman answered before closing her eyes and sighing. "My name is Rose Tyler."

….

Grinning, Jack could barely contain himself as the TARDIS materialized a few meter from the lift with the telltale grinding sound that was audible even through the cameras. Leaning over Tosh's station Jack watched the blue box solidify into view. A wind kicked up around the box sending a a stray newspaper was fluttering through the air. Jack laughed as the people on the walk just glanced at the box, shook their heads and moved on.

"Wow are most humans really that daft?" Mickey asked behind him, "Hate to think that Big Ears was right."

"Big ears?" Gwen asked with a frown, "I thought you were talking about the Doctor."

Smirking, Jack and Mickey glanced at each other before Jack winked at Gwen who gave him an irritated look in return. It just made Jack's smile widen and a laugh escaped him before he could help himself.

"Come on Mickey," Jack called as they walked to the lift. "Any thoughts on how to tell him about this little series of occurrences?" He asked as they stepped onto the lift. Jack activated it with a nervous feeling churning in his stomach as they began to rise out of the hub.

"You're the head of Torchwood Captain Flash, you figure it out," Mickey half growled, his own nervousness apparent.

Jack grinned at Mickey as the younger man shook his head and muttered under his breath. The lift came to a slow halt as they reached the main square and found themselves less than three feet from the TARDIS. They stepped off the lift and walked toward the TARDIS as it door opened. The Doctor stepped out still pulling on his long brown coat. He gave them a wide smile, but glanced around with an odd expression and dark eyes. Natalie stepped out of the TARDIS behind him, glanced at the Doctor and closed the door with a soft click. Smiling, she turned her attention to Jack and Mickey.

"Do you need me here or is it alright if I jump on the train to visit my family?" she asked them gently as she glanced between the duo and the Doctor.

The Doctor gave Jack a questioning look, but Jack calmly shook his head and gave Natalie a dazzling smile. The Doctor huffed at Jack, but turned back towards Natalie with a smile.

"Have fun Natalie," he told her gently, putting his arm around her for a quick hug.

"Have Ianto give you lift to the station," Jack added with a smile of his own. "It's a bit nippy out. He's just inside the information office."

"Thanks," Natalie agreed with a nod and a grin. She gave Jack a questioning look, but said nothing more before she began walking across the Plaza for Torchwood's more public entrance.

"So the worlds not ending then," the Doctor said once Natalie left their sight. "So why did you feel the need to call me?" He asked with a slightly disappointed and stern tone in his voice as his eyes lingered on Mickey for a moment.

"Why don't you come down to the Hub?" Jack offered with a charming smile. "We can talk over some tea or if you like coffee."

"Jack," the Doctor said in a warning tone.

"Doctor," Mickey cut in before an argument could start. "Really we need to talk inside."

The Doctor looked at him and Mickey refused to sink under the sharp gaze. Finally the Doctor nodded and gestured them to lead on. Nodding, Jack stepped back onto the lift and waited for the others to join him. He shared one last nervous look with Mickey as the lift became to descend taking the two Torchwood employees and the Doctor back down into the Hub.

…..

The strange woman slept all through the night after telling Jenny her name. She'd drifted off with a worried sigh and a few tears leaking out of the corners of her eyes. Jenny had been loathe to leave her, but had finally left the house to work on her ship the following morning, leaving Yliva to look after Rose Tyler for a while. The temptation to remain with Rose in case she woke up again had been immense, but she couldn't handle being stuck inside any longer. When Yliva offered to watch over Rose for the fifth time Jenny had finally caved and headed out to the large cleaning on the far side of the village where the locals had taken the remains of her ship.

Sighing, Jenny rubbed the largest of the navigation system's crystalline gears with a cloth to clean it. She carefully slid the small red crystals back into their positions and double checked that all the grime and dirt were off of them. Leaning back in the cockpit chair, Jenny smiled to herself and ran her hand over the controls. She had refashioned the burned out parts of the ship's control from little things on the planet. Jenny had turned their junk into gears, gages and engine parts and every time she looked at them Jenny felt a strong burst of pride. For a moment she wondered what her father would have thought of that.

Shaking her head, Jenny pushed her thoughts about her father out of her mind. Soon the Lupo Difestia would be back in the air and she could return to her life of running and exploring. There was so much to see and do out there, she couldn't dwell on her father. Maybe she'd find him someday and maybe she wouldn't, but in the mind time she had her ship and a lovely little mystery.

"Good day Jenny," a voice called to her from outside.

Turning, Jenny slipped out of the ship and dropped to the ground. Dusting off the faded green shirt she still liked to wear, Jenny turned to see the village storyteller, the Elder, standing closely. He looked up at her ship with a smile and nodded in approval.

"You will be able to return to the night sky soon young one."

"I suppose," Jenny answered with a smile. "The engine needs some more cleaning. When I tried to start her up last week it spit out dirt."

"How is the strange fallen woman?" the Elder asked as he began to circle the ship.

"Asleep Elder. Yliva is taking care of her. She only woke up for a short time last night. Her name is Rose Tyler," Jenny informed him, cleaning off her hands with a spare rag.

"Rose Tyler..." the Elder repeated carefully, he seemed confused, "Are you sure Jenny?"

"That is what she said Elder. I'm certain that is what she said," Jenny stepped forward, "What we're expecting Elder?"

"Bad Wolf," he informed her before nodding to her. "Good day Jenny." Then he turned and started walking down the hill back towards the village leaving Jenny staring after him with a startled and rather confused expression.