A/N - Hi again, thanks for all your lovely comments, follows etc.

I realised I have been very "Vastra-centric" recently, so here is part one of a big old chapter dedicated to Jenny.

Follows on from one-shot "Ancient History"

And...my debut effort at writing for Strax! Feedback welcomed please :)


Jenny Flint was not usually one to mull over things; she preferred things simple, clean cut, good and bad, right and wrong…trouble was her life had rarely divided neatly into any of those categories. Falling in love with a woman…well the church would tell you that was wrong, crime-fighting…polite society would frown upon her as a lady, running away from home….well, Jenny supposed anyone would find that a deplorable act.

Paradoxically, the only constant, assured, undoubtedly good thing she had was the very object that was the source of all the grey corners she found herself backed into, and also the very person who she was unintentionally ostracising with her growing consternation. Jenny's poor wife Vastra had been shuffling around as if the floor was splattered with broken glass ever since they had returned from the incident in Vastra's past. "Accidentally" (Jenny used the word conservatively, as she wasn't sure the Doctor had not intended it) meeting the younger version of her wife has unleashed an array of conflicting emotions in the young woman, all colliding and butting heads simultaneously; but this confusion wasn't directed at Vastra at all, a fact that Jenny guiltily suspected had been poor communicated by her. Given that her wife was becoming increasingly anxious at Jenny's silence, Jenny conceded to herself that she would have to explain the reason behind it soon.

Yet how to explain it?

Jenny sighed, curled up in a chair so big it almost engulfed her tiny body as she stared into the dancing flame in the roaring heath. 'I look like a bleedin' cliché' she thought to herself cynically. Her wife may feel as if she was walking on broken glass, but Jenny felt as if she was surrounded by pieces of a shattered mirror, all staring back at her, as the fire reflected from images of her own incriminating face.

Meeting Vastra's younger self had been hard to stomach at first, being called "that", "it" or Vastra accusing her older self of "bestiality" and threatening to kill them both were not the greatest confidence-boosters, it had to be acknowledged. But Jenny had known that Vastra was once like that; actually, if she really thought about it, she probably could have predicted all the bile thrown at her that day. What was incessantly clawing at her mind was not the violent, racist (speciesist…whatever you wanted to call it) version of Vastra, but just how quickly the façade had been chipped away when the younger Vastra had seen glimpses of her future. By the time they had come to part, the last thing Jenny experienced was a fleeting, sorrowful backwards glance from the younger Silurian; brief, but present nonetheless, and a monumental change for just a few hours.

Again, it came as no shock that Vastra had the capacity to change imbued in her, Jenny already had irrefutable evidence of that; but she also knew that part of Vastra's willingness to open up to the more liberal side of her personality was borne out of despair and desperation. That was not problematic for her, everything in reality needed the right force, pressure, energy (Jenny was not one to quibble over words) to cause it to change state; that was once more common knowledge. But being able to compare the two versions of Vastra right next to each other had spotlighted the sheer scale of the change; which Jenny realised now that she had never fully appreciated. When the Time Beetle had given the younger Vastra a glance into the loneliness her future self experienced, even she had begun to understand how this strange, upcoming version of herself had come to be; and as a consequence she'd gone from implying the human was a farm animal to saving Jenny's life. Jump forward to the present, and the Silurian had rescued her life several times now, fallen deeply in love with her, and been her loyal and dependable companion and wife for many happy years.

'Everyone just needs the right push' thought Jenny, thinking back to those terrible moments at Trenzalore when she had been suspended between life and death, and had been kept alive by her wife's tenacious mind, with the unintended side-effect of viewing some of Vastra's memories. The glimpses of the Silurian's solitude as she sat at her study desk fretting over her feelings for Jenny had left a lasting impression on the young woman. There was a chasm of difference between the pensive 'Great Detective' and the impetuous Silurian Warrior that had pointed a spear at anything that moved too suddenly. On top of this, Vastra had no vested interest in changing her outlook; her attraction to Jenny had been a genuinely unexpected accident, and the Silurian was powerful enough that she could have spent the rest of her life in bloody vengeance, if it so pleased her. Jenny didn't owe Vastra anything of tangible value, Vastra had no contract to care for her, and she certainly wasn't related to Jenny by blood…

And here Jenny came to the crux of the problem that was playing on her mind.

If an ancient reptilian warrior could transform from believing that all humans were substandard, to relying on one to maintain her sanity, then why couldn't her own family, who once claimed to love her, and had raised her from a baby, bring themselves to change too?

Jenny's breath hitched involuntarily, and she had to swallow hard to maintain her composure. She had to believe that they could change, didn't she? To abandon hope on those who had raised her in the light of a new possibility would be to re-live the devastation of being cast out all over again. It was logical, was it not? To believe your biological family could learn to love you even though they didn't agree with you was not that fantastical.

Yet as soon as she had convinced herself of this, her over-imaginative mind flipped the situation on its head; what evidence did she have that her family would have the drive to initiate this change? How was she ever going to make contact with them? There was nothing to guarantee that someone lacking Vastra's keen intelligence and clarity of mind would be able to rationalise their way around such complex dilemmas to find a middle ground; and like her, her parents were not people who tolerated grey areas.

Finally, if her mind could take any more beating, there was the question of how to bring the topic up with Vastra. Given that Jenny had been mysteriously distant for a number of days; she could see that the Silurian could easily interpret Jenny's renewed interest in her biological family as some sort of retreat. Jenny knew her own behaviour had entrenched herself deep into an inexplicable hole. She'd have to be careful to emphasise that, if anything, it was the complete opposite. Shutting Vastra's worries down were always best done early on, and Jenny regretted that she had given them any space to fester. The ridiculous fact was that Jenny's respect from Vastra had only been reinforced from their little excursion to the Silurian City, and she felt horribly pathetic for having not been able to verbalise that to her wife yet.

Tonight, she vowed, she would do it. As soon as she could bring herself to stand and go to her wife, she would do it. Unfortunately it was as if her body had crystallised as it sat in her self-inflicted purgatory. She felt as if the smallest movement towards her wife would splinter her into a web of vulnerability that could be waved away and felled with the slightest hint of sympathy from Vastra. She had only managed to preserve the intricate structure of her thoughts by avoiding the reptilian woman; it was utterly foreseeable that the moment she relented to Vastra's care, she would collapse into a ball of screwed up trails of beliefs. The woman had an uncanny knack of undoing all the defences Jenny erected around herself.

No, she decided, she would stay like this, just for one more night.

"Jenny?"

'Dammit' Jenny cursed to herself, screwing up her face in discomfort, caught between fear of revealing her cracks, and relief that she didn't have to keep holding them forcibly together. One word from Vastra, and all her resolve to keep up this charade was lost, 'Such is her power' Jenny thought wryly, she couldn't even see Vastra! She sighed heavily, rattling the tense Silurian who was clearly on high alert.

"Please…please my dear can we talk?"

Jenny winced at the weakness infecting her wife's usually proud voice; that was definitely her doing. She knew she should turn to face Vastra, as the back of the chair was facing the Silurian (who was probably stood in the doorway), but one look at her wife's face would overwhelm her in her current state.

"Oh Goddess…Jenny what can I say?" Vastra's voice was breaking now, and with it Jenny felt her heart go at the same time, "What can I do to make it-"

"It's not about you!" Jenny felt her foundations cave as she finally spoke, "Oh God…Vastra, help me…"

As Jenny lifted herself to turn and look round the back of the hefty chair to finally acknowledge Vastra, her vision was already too blurred to fully make out the startled expression on the Silurian's face as she rushed forward to kneel between the fire and the distraught human. Before she had even acknowledged she was crying, Jenny could feel the steady drip of tears sliding off her face into her heaving lap.

"Gracious, Jenny! I thought…" Vastra grabbed at Jenny's hands, and the human clung back desperately, "I thought this was about the comments that…" Vastra looked disgusted at herself, which only made Jenny feel worse for not informing her sooner, "That I made" Vastra finished, struggling to hold consistent eye contact with Jenny.

"No…" Jenny sniffed, "No my love…it ain't about you" she admitted sheepishly.

Vastra could only stare back with a mixture of disbelief and the joy of reprieve.

"Then…?" Vastra was speechless, which, Jenny thought to herself ruefully, was not an easy task.

"Come here…" Jenny pleaded, eyes already stinging with exertion.

Cautiously, as if suspecting this was all too easy, and with the countenance of an animal advancing towards a trap, Vastra rose herself and perched on the edge of the chair (there being plenty of space due to Jenny's petite frame). Almost immediately Jenny felt her body pull towards Vastra's like a magnet, the craving of withdrawal hitting her senses with full force. Climbing across the Silurian's lap and allowing the older woman to slide under her limp body, she surrendered to lie her body across Vastra's lap, leaning her head on the far arm of the chair where Vastra started stroke it soothingly, with her legs tucked away in the opposite corner. All maintenance of the illusion of strength was lost.

They sat just like that; Jenny sobbing into her perplexed wife, for a good few moments before Vastra dared to speak.

"Please dear…" she began, still stroking the soft brown hair tied up on her wife's head, "Could you try to explain what is happening?" the Silurian ruefully coughed out a forced laugh, "I was convinced you were angry at me"

"No…" Jenny whispered, only just managing to croak the single word out.

"I would understand" Vastra choked, "If you saw me differently after…"

"No!" Jenny said more forcefully, "Vastra how could you-"

Vastra cleared her throat pointedly, and Jenny stopped herself mid-sentence, knowing that her recent avoidance of Vastra could only have been construed as displeasure with the Silurian. It was a logical assumption to have made, given their recent adventure in Vastra's past.

"Care to explain?" Vastra added, slight exasperation starting to show in her tone, but only just fraying the careworn edges.

Jenny pushed herself up off the chair and slid her legs to stand up between Vastra and the fire; she was sick of acting so helpless. If she hadn't refused to engage Vastra in the first place, this conversation would not have been necessary. After acclimatising to standing again, correcting her wobbly legs, and clearing the imminent head rush, Jenny finally looked her somewhat bewildered wife back in the eye with her usual determination.

"I'm sorry Vastra" she shook her head to herself, "I guess there's still a small part of me that ain't that good at just spitting it out" Jenny slumped her shoulders, "Guess I have ma family to thank for that"

'Back to thinking about them again already' Jenny cringed. It was a predictable weakness though, after what had happened when they had discovered Jenny's 'preferences in companionship', as Vastra had so chastely put it.

"But I am not your family…" Vastra spoke levelly.

"You are!" Jenny countered.

"You know I did not mean it like that. What I meant is I am not your blood kin Jenny" Vastra arched her brow, "Our continued companionship is entirely choice, not arbitrary. Although I will admit I have little control over my feelings for you, I didn't have to pursue it" Vastra spread her arms out demonstratively at the room, "We built our family from scratch with no pre-existing mould, you were born a descendant of your parents whether you like it or not." Vastra frowned in a dismayed fashion, "So how could you think I would react like them?"

'Just like that, she's disarmed my whole argument' Jenny could have slapped herself, 'Of course the two situations are not comparable'. She had nothing to say back to Vastra now, and wasn't even sure her original worry was worth bringing up any more. She knew that Vastra hadn't been talking about the same thing that had originally caused all this, but the two concepts seemed to fit together neatly; of course it had been stupid to extrapolate Vastra's change of heart to the context of her parents – the two sets of circumstances were wildly unrelated.

Just as Jenny had begun to think that her prolonged angst over her family had been completely unwarranted, Vastra chimed in with another perceptive observation.

"Is that what this is all about?" Vastra asked.

Jenny had been stood there, biting her lip absentmindedly in silence as she turned Vastra's words over in her head. This had clearly been enough time for the Silurian to be her famed powers of deduction to good use, and surmise the root of Jenny's fretful behaviour. Jenny was always awed by how frighteningly well Vastra knew her.

"Yes" Jenny conceded, still feeling shut down by Vastra's earlier arguments.

"My dear, you know how I rattle on" Vastra spoke encouragingly, watching her wife with interest, "Please, voice your concerns"

Buoyed by her wife's genuine tone, Jenny relented, and finally gave her the full details of her quandary. Vastra would only try to help her after all, she decided. Her wife had never deliberately barricaded any of her suggestions or thoughts; on the contrary she had explicitly gone great lengths to reassure Jenny when she had voiced previous anxieties. Jenny turned to study the flames in the hearth again, finding their natural patterns and colours soothing.

"Vastra, when we met your younger self" she began, the warm glow of the fire drying the tear tracks that were turning sticky on her face, "I saw just how much you'd changed"

Jenny heard her wife shuffling in her seat anxiously; she suspected she still wasn't completely at-ease, so she hastened to relax her, still regretting that she had allowed her beloved to believe all this distress was her fault. Vastra remained respectfully silent, listening attentively even in her discomfort.

"I loved you all the more for it, if that were possible" Jenny wiped a hand across her face, rubbing her sore eyes with visible strain, "If you can believe that, sounds ridiculous really – spent nearly all the bleedin' day getting threatened and insulted. But that weren't you, not my you anyway"

A heavy exhalation of breath was enough of an indicator to Jenny that the message of safety had finally transmitted itself to Vastra, at least partially.

"It made me think Vastra, we ain't set one way for life" Jenny ran her fingers down her puffy cheeks, "People can change, make mistakes…don't stop them from making the right choice later on"

"Jenny…" Vastra's tone was wary, "You're not saying you want to leave and go back are you?"

"No!" Jenny swung round in an instant, her look horrified, "God, Vastra, of course not!"

"Sorry…" the Silurian looked to the floor, knowing how foolish her question was, "I've just been a little on edge as of late"

"Yeah, well" Jenny smiled ironically, "That's my fault really. I didn't tell you cause I thought you'd take it the wrong way"

"Such delightfully backwards thinking my dear" Vastra chuckled despite herself, "I commend you on its ingenuity"

Jenny approached Vastra with the intention of cuffing the cheeky reptile on the crest (as was one of her favourite teases) but instead found herself drawn down to an affectionate kiss, which seemed to still both of their overreacting nerves. It felt wondrously like home again to be behaving intuitively with her lover once more.

"Come my love" Vastra rose from the chair and took the impossibly exhausted human into her strong arms, "Let us talk this through further upstairs, I think you need to lie down"


By the time Vastra had coaxed Jenny up to their bedroom, the woman has regressed into a near-childlike state, clearly emotionally spent. Vastra had effectively muzzled Jenny's troubles with a blanket of affection, and for at least a moment, they seemed happy to growl from under cover. Jenny more or less allowed Vastra to play maid for once (and not in a good way), and the Silurian was commendably patient given Jenny's treatment of her the past few days. Jenny was shocked that she seemed to have escaped retribution for her actions; her wife's devotion to her made little sense sometimes.

The entire process was a blur, Jenny feeling like a robot being inputted with commands. She was vaguely aware of the soothing, low tone of Vastra's voice, and the gentle guidance of her cool, scaled hands, but until she suddenly noticed she was tucked up in bed, she had no idea how disengaged she was being.

Jenny exclaimed in surprise at the presence of the bed cover over the top of her; she had also apparently managed to get changed. Next to her, a terrified looking Vastra monitored her with a vigilance that would be envied by elite scouts.

"Better?" Vastra smiled, her guard falling for a microsecond before she returned to her tireless watch over Jenny.

Jenny nodded to acknowledge her thanks; she hadn't felt well-rested since their return to Paternoster Row several days ago, and so fighting the urge to fall asleep in her comfortable state was proving to be a great challenge. Vastra stroked the side of her wife's face delicately, prompting a wide yawn from the descending human.

"I know you must rest my love, but pray tell me, is it your intention to seek out your family once more?"

Jenny could not manage to shift her seemingly heavy head to the side, but did give a flick of the eye in her wife's direction. Vastra was "investigating" her, Jenny was sure of it, and she would have to do something about it…right after she slept, of course.

"Yeah…" she murmured, not really meaning to, but unable to stem the tide of honesty in her weakened state.

"You know, my dear" Vastra paused, choosing her words carefully, "There is a vast difference between fixing something that has been broken" Vastra clenched her fist solemnly, "And creating something new" Vastra splayed her palm out like a blooming flower.

Jenny watched her, somewhat transfixed in her beleaguered state, trying to diffuse the meaning from Vastra's words, but sensing she was missing a large proportion of it.

"And…" Vastra carried on, watching Jenny with caution, wary of her wife either lapsing back into sorrow or falling asleep, "It matters whether we are dealing with good people who made a few bad choices, or bad people who were skilled at hiding their true intentions"

"Mmm…" Vastra was flickering in and out of Jenny's eyes, split up with dark red and then black as her eyelids slid open and shut. She was aware of the inherent sense in her wife's words, and she hoped that it meant that Vastra was considering helping her, but the energy to convey these thoughts had been absent in her system for days. Jenny felt herself sinking into the soft sheets of their bed, surrendering to the primordial need to rest.

"But I am over-taxing you" Vastra scolded herself, and moved to pull the covers up over her wife, tucking her in snugly, "Sleep" she directed.

Jenny's body obeyed immediately, as if compelled by duress.


When Jenny finally awoke, it was to an empty bed and a stream of midday light into their lonely bedroom. Vastra was noticeably absent; Jenny rarely woke up after her reptilian wife, and even if she did manage this great feat, Vastra wouldn't usually venture too far without coercion or true need. Whilst this gave Jenny pause to ponder what could have driven her wife to be so uncharacteristically industrious this morning (or perhaps was more appropriate, day), her mind was still preoccupied with the revelations she had made to the Silurian the previous night, and how Vastra might surmise her chances of success.

Vastra had been right (as was often the case) after all; Jenny did want to do something about her ruminations on her family. The young woman shifted lethargically in the bed, feeling a dull pull in her limbs that had been made lazy by over-sleeping. Once she had managed the now monumental task of sitting up, and had allowed the haze to wash over her bleary eyes, Jenny felt her mind clear enough to allow her space to appraise the situation, an ability she had not had for days.

The awkward scenario she now found herself deviating into however was that once she finally granted herself the headroom to evaluate her cause, she was immediately struck with the sheer hopelessness of the situation. Jenny felt her spirits plummet rapidly as she recalled her wife's ominous warnings; she knew Vastra had not intended to dishearten her, but the hefty dose of wisdom her wife had endowed her with had done nothing to lift her optimism. The one-time maid shivered despite the comforting warmth enveloping her, feeling an artificial sense of isolation in her solitude, urgently willing her wife to return to the room. What could she realistically hope to achieve by reaching out to her estranged kin? She supposed that she should be glad they had not tracked her down already, or sent some thug to bring harm to her and end the shame she had brought upon them. She expected that, at the least, her mother had wished bad upon her, and had prayed for her erstwhile daughter's redemption (in the eyes of her God). If Jenny turned up at their door, now comparatively wealthy and well to-do, not to mention thoroughly unrepentant, she suspected they would not take her sudden appearance well. Creeping doubt began to molest her senses more determinedly the further she delved into the hypothetical fantasy; surely her mother would be incredulous at her daughter's fortuitous return, scandalised at her blatant display of deviant sexuality, and angry at her offspring's rejection of the values she was raised to abide by?

It was just as Vastra said; not everyone was equally amenable to change. It had not been so long that Jenny had forgotten her mother's legendary stubbornness, or how stoical and sullen her father was renowned for being, no matter the circumstances. Yes, Vastra had once been the equivalent of a homicidal racist (towards humans, at least), but Vastra was also a lot more logical and intelligent than Jenny's parents, and most certainly had a better reflective grasp over her emotions (perhaps even too much so, given how prone to rumination she was). Vastra had also had the help of the Doctor to nudge her into the next phase of her development, whereas now Jenny felt the burden of this task resting uneasily on her weary shoulders, ready to tip at any moment.

It was with great fortune that Vastra inadvertently broke Jenny's reverie by delicately pushing the door open and passing over the threshold.

"You awake, my love" Vastra spoke, addressing her wife with a steady deliberation.

"Yes…" Jenny replied faintly, still lost in the maze of arguments she had admittedly walked herself into, and staring at the curtained windows. Jenny blinked her eyes down with a pained frown, forcing the thoughts down like a bitter pill, "Why didn't you wake me?"

"You were not well" Vastra replied factually, but with a detectable hint of poorly-concealed anguish.

"I am not sick-" Jenny began, preparing a protest.

"Well-being is not just a matter of physical health Jenny" Vastra moved over the bed to perch companionably on her side of the bed, half-turned to Jenny, "You had worked yourself into a great upset"

"Well…" Jenny turned to look at her wife, and was immediately taken aback by the vexation on Vastra's face; it would have been easy to assume Vastra herself was the one experiencing the personal sadness that Jenny felt. Jenny felt an immediate affinity and connection with her wife, which seemed to shield her from the worst of her anxieties as she continued, "It seems it was all for nothing eh?" Jenny dropped her head, "You were right – ain't no point is there?"

"I did not say that" Vastra countered calmly.

"No, but you may as well 'ave" Jenny bunched the sheets up in her fists, eternal frustration dogging her temper, "They was 'appy to let me go once!" Jenny raised her eyebrows in a silent assent to her own words, "Per'aps it were destroyed so badly…" she trailed off evasively.

"I see my words have had an unintended effect on you" Vastra grumbled at herself, self-depreciation belying her personal annoyance, "Jenny, I think you should see whether or not there is some value in this avenue of inquiry, at least to a point." Vastra bit her lip, as if she could not believe she was allowing herself to say such things, "But you must not think that it will be equivalent to my own transformation" Vastra cast a knowing glance at her stunned wife, her look now a resigned smile, "Romantic love is a terrible delusion after all"

Jenny laughed at her wife's jesting cynicism, feeling a lightness of heart not present in her since their return from the Silurian City. Her manner suddenly fell intense again however once the moment had passed.

"What if it all goes wrong Vastra? What if I bugger things up even worse than they already are?"

"Given that you have not had any manner of contact with them for several years now, I don't see how you could deteriorate the situation any further" Vastra nodded her head to the side, acknowledging how uncomforting the notion was, "But if it does, you always have me"

Vastra was almost bowled over with the speed at which Jenny threw herself onto her, embracing her wife with a ferocious devotion. Vastra just about managed to stop the both of them from crashing the floor whilst also managing to return the gesture gladly.

"You are also lucky that I have spent the entire morning formulating a plan" the Silurian smiled, relieved beyond measure.


The mission was simple: perform reconnaissance, deduce appropriate tactical projections, and engineer a withdrawal with minimum casualties (the green abomination had specified "no casualties", but it always paid to be cautious). The stronghold was poorly fortified, easily set aflame if required, but alas, the reptile had also placed a blanket ban on any incendiaries (she was terrible at the art of war, preferred to waste her time depicting the boy's weak, unarmoured body instead). The noise emanating from the building was indistinguishable – all melding into one loud rumble like the war cry of a Sontaran battle squad.

"Excellent" the spy muttered.

The smell of human poison was ripe in his stubby nose as he pushed his way assertively through the crowded doorway, felling intoxicated scumbags with just a faint hint of pressure from his muscly arms. He needed to reach the inner sanctum of the structure in order to perform his required duties, but regular apprehensions stuttered his progress significantly; vile substances on the floor, lecherous human fornicators, and frequent smashing projectiles were to name a few. But he persisted with great endurance, and finally found the long thin entrance passageway open up into a larger gathering area.

Somehow, this area managed to be even more chaotic than the previous hallway. The patrons of this despicable establishment seemed to be flitting between gorging themselves on drugs and starting meaningless fights at an alarmingly fast rate. He could barely keep a steady eye on any of marks, who threw themselves around unsteadily between wooded seats and tables, and crowded gangways full of equally disruptive mammalian detritus. Somewhere in the midst of this, young, voluptuous maidens appeared to be serving and taking payment from these grizzled warriors, seemingly unfazed by the sheer lunacy that pushed crushingly close to them.

It was wonderful, Strax decided, quite simply the best institution he has discovered yet in this substandard "London".

But now was not the time for jest and merriment. The boy had been very specific about the contact Strax was to try and intercept, and he knew better than to anger the Mistress's pet human. His employer would get rather stern towards him if he upset the warm-blooded one, and he did not want his weapons curbed any more strictly than they already were (many of his best pieces were now locked away in a cabinet in the Mistress's laboratory). The boy had given a name of "Oliver" (a pathetic, soft name for a creature, Strax thought), who was apparently always situated in one, solitary corner of this very tavern. This "Oliver" was known for information, rather well-paid for it apparently, and used these human gatherings to obtain more of his trade for free. Strax had been given an allowance to procure a select amount of information from this primitive, and was to return to the Mistress and the boy when the correct details had been extracted.

Strax had been in favour of simply torturing the man, but once again, this incredibly clever idea had been dismissed by his unwise companions.

A quick glance to the aforementioned corner saw that, as promised, a ghostly pale young man with a fiery ginger head, adorned with a plan white shirt and dirt-brown waistcoat, was sat alone, avoided by most of the rowdy humans, watching and listening intensely over a tankard of his chosen swill. Occasionally a man would approach him, slip him a coin or two, and speak intensively for a moment, before discreetly retreating. After studying a few attempts by others, Strax was certain he had memorised the routine, and made to speak to this "Oliver" himself.

"Simple" he sniggered, conspiratorially.


Jenny practically flew to the front door as she heard the lumbering Strax return from his errand. Vastra stayed seated, plainly not wanting to encourage the state of alert omnipresent in her wife by colluding with it.

"You're back" Jenny breathed, as Strax shuffled crab-like through the doorway, a look of victory plastered worryingly across his stout face.

"Yes…" he grinned, "I have succeeded in my mission Madame!" he shouted into the sitting room, "Do you require a debriefing report?" he asked, in his well-versed tone.

"That will be necessary Strax" Vastra's patient drawl travelled out, almost daring to make Jenny laugh if she wasn't so nervous, "Please report to the sitting room"

Jenny was always caught between being amused and impressed at Vastra's ability to communicate with the Sontaran, and despite the seriousness of the situation had to force herself to stifle a snigger as he eagerly marched towards her wife. Jenny followed doggedly behind, not wanting to miss any crucial information.

She had had her reservations with entrusting Strax with this task, but as Vastra had quite rightly pointed out, he was the only one of them who could have vaguely passed as belonging in such an environment; Vastra would have been treated with suspicion, and Jenny would have likely been recognised at her father's once regular tavern. Still, Strax's battle-hardened nature belied a crushing naivety, and Jenny hasn't been sure he would know how to handle a slippery character such as Oliver.

Jenny resigned herself to standing tensely by the door, unable to relax, as Strax stood to attention and gleefully barked back his findings at the seated Vastra.

"I located this…"Oliver" creature successfully!" Strax strove a hand forward emphatically, "He was a most pleasant barbarian!"

"Pleasant?!" Jenny groaned; she had feared this would happen.

"Why, yes!" Strax pivoted to address Jenny defensively, "We had the most enlightening conversation, and I procured the most valuable information" he gave a toothy, devious smile to the young woman, who did not return it.

"Really?" Jenny stuck her hands firmly on her hips, "Care to tell me 'ow it went?"

"Why certainly!" Strax bellowed.


"Are you…an "Oliver"?" Strax muttered under his breath, sidling conspicuously towards the side of shady-looking stranger.

"Perhaps" he replied, not taking his gaze off the crowd directly in front of him.

Strax had been trained for this eventuality, and promptly produced an ad hoc amount of his designated money to "loosen his tongue" as the boy had put it. Strax unceremoniously dumped the coins on Oliver's table, causing a loud clattering as the swivelled and fell still.

"What do you need?" the man asked, sweeping the coins off the table and into his pocket with one swift sweep of the hand.

"Information" Strax grunted, sidling in to sit at the table with Oliver, "On one of your kind" he added.

"Care to tell me which one?" Oliver replied sarcastically, giving Strax the smallest sideways glance before returning to his empty stare.

"Frederick Flint" Strax enunciated.

"Oh yeah?" Oliver piped up, now slightly more engaged with the guileless Sontaran, "Who's asking?"

Strax tried to remember what the boy had told him, "Don't give anything away" might have been one of the instructions, but he wasn't sure. This gentleman seemed polite enough, thought Strax, what harm was there in aiding his enquiries?

"A boy in my household" Strax said, at least veiling some of the more identifiable features of his story.

"A boy you say?" Oliver leaned in to Strax, as if taking him into his confidence, "Truth be told, I expected it to be a lass"

"I do get things…confused" Strax admitted, somewhat embarrassed.

"Maybe so" Oliver drew back with a very subtle raise of his thin ginger eyebrows, "Well, you'll be hard-pressed to find old Fred about no more" Oliver shrugged in a non-committal fashion, "They say 'e's dyin'"

"He has sustained a mortal injury in combat?" Strax asked, excitedly, hoping that this "Fred" may be worth his respect.

"'Ardley" Oliver scoffed, "Believe what you want, but I say all 'e's got wrong with 'im is a broken 'eart" Oliver shook his head ruefully, "Ain't b'in the same since 'is daughter went to the bad" Oliver's expression turned suddenly dark, and he leaned even closer in to the mollified Strax, to whisper in an undertone, "They say she got sweet on another match girl, and then disappeared. What's more, that match girl were 'anged for murder. Dodgy business" Oliver sat back and took a long gulp of his bitter beverage.

"How disgraceful" Strax agreed, not really understanding lot of what Oliver meant, but simply carrying on with general sentiment to encourage rapport. Sensing Oliver needed a little more 'encouragement' Strax slammed his fist down with some extra coins onto the table. Oliver leered greedily, deftly pocketed the coins, and then continued.

"They also say" he drew uncomfortably close to Strax, "That the old man were soft. Went lookin' for 'is girl, drove 'imself to madness" Oliver snorted, "Started ravin' about some detective…utter nonsense if you ask me. No-one could make 'ead nor tail of it"

"Detective you say?" Strax asked, his interest piqued.

Oliver regarded him carefully for a number of seconds, before sliding a wily hand around the alien's shoulder companionably.

"Why, does a clever gentleman such as yerself 'appen to know somethin' I don't?" he squeezed Strax tighter whilst he lavishly complimented the Sontaran. Feeling appreciated by this Oliver, Strax saw no harm in obliging him with some help.

"The Great Detective is my employer…she is a girl one" he divulged proudly, "She also cares for the boy. They are…married" he added with an element of distaste. He hated the weak fawning of his two compatriots; it was a great weakness in battle to be so attached to another being.

"A woman eh?" Oliver chimed, struggling to hide his obvious surprise (which Strax missed entirely), "And this boy you speak of; he wouldn't 'appen to be, say, yay high" Oliver gestured in the air at around Jenny's height, "Per'aps some long brown hair? Beauty spot right 'ere?" Oliver pointed to a section of his own pale face, "Maybe twenty-something?" Oliver smiled, "Bit of an attitude?"

Strax didn't legitimately know whether all of the details singularly were true, but the picture Oliver was creating in his mind very closely resembled that of the boy. Glad to be considered useful for once, Strax continued in his state of leniency.

"Why yes, that does sound rather like the boy!" Strax exclaimed.

"Shush now pal" Oliver hissed, "That 'ere's useful information" he patted Strax solidly on the back, "Much obliged"

Strax had never felt so thoroughly pleased with himself, he wished he could spend more time in this good fellow's company, but he knew he must return to Paternoster Row before the boy's temper flared towards its recently low boiling point.

"Farewell then comrade!" Strax shouted as he threw himself up off his seat suddenly and threw the rest of his coin allowance on the table in front of Oliver, "I trust this covers your services?"

"You have no idea" the devious man sniggered.


By the time Strax had finished his recollection of the incident, Jenny looked ready to descend into apoplexy.

"Oh God" she cradled her forehead in her palm, "You told 'im…"

"My dear?" Vastra rose from her chair suddenly. Strax watched on, nonplussed.

"That will get back to my Mother; I tell you" Jenny looked up at Vastra desperately, tears threatening to burst from her eyes "She'll know I'm looking for 'im, and that I'm still…" Jenny pulled down on the skin under her eyes and then closed her hand tensely over her chin, "I should 'ave known Oliver would get too much out of you" Jenny looked at Strax tersely.

"You are most welcome!" Strax bowed obliviously and then stomped out of the room to climb the stairs with a series of loud thuds.

As the sound of Strax's footsteps faded out to cease on the upper floor, Vastra walked over to her wife's side to stroke her arm timidly.

"You should go to your Father" Vastra stated plainly.

Jenny placed her hand over Vastra's and closed her eyes; it was difficult to remain calm. She hadn't expected Strax to obtain any information, but had felt so desperately hopeless she had been willing to chance it. Now she had the information she desired, she did not know what to do with it. Worst of all, thanks to Oliver, news of her would travel back to undesired ears, making the whole endeavour so much more troublesome.

But she had to go. Now that she knew, to ignore the opportunity would be unforgivable. Her Father had gone looking for her! He had forgiven her, and she had just assumed he would react as her Mother had.

"Mother will not make it easy" Jenny croaked, the thin hold she was maintaining over her composure coming close to snapping, "I can't believe I…he…"

"It's not your fault my dear" Vastra interrupted, "But that doesn't mean you should not take action"

Jenny buried her head unceremoniously into Vastra's waiting shoulder, and cried with a force she had not experienced in years. The heaving in her shoulders was almost painful; like being jerked up and down by a puppeteer. She felt possessed with her emotions, as if she was consumed by her grief, only anchored by the watchful, silent woman who now wrapped her arms protectively around the young human's frame.

"We will do what we can" Vastra whispered, "I shall make it so"

Jenny believed her, and for the time being, that was enough.