Chapter 14

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The kitchen door slid shut behind River, and she gestured tensely at the table. Jenny sat down with a bounce, staring curiously around her. "It's been years sine I traveled in a ship with a full kitchen—ooh! D'you s'pose he has bananas?" She stilled as River handed her a mug of tea. "I hope he's all right."

River shrugged, circling her spoon in her mug of tea. "Rose is with him, I'm sure he'll be fine."

Jenny nodded, biting her lip lightly. "Right, right. Rose." She looked down, tapping her nails gently against her mug. "She seems nice, right?"

River's eyes narrowed. "I wouldn't know. She's your mum." Her jaw tightened. "Was it funny for you, watching me scramble around while you knew all the answers?"

The blonde stared at her. "What? No! Is that what you're thinking? No wonder your adrenaline's so high."

River's lips firmed into a straight line. "Stop it. You know I hate it when you do that."

Jenny cocked an eyebrow, her eyes lighting up with mischief. "You didn't mind it on Midia."

River's hand tightened on her mug. "Yes, well that was before you vanished." She cleared her throat. "I kept looking for you, you know—I called and called and I damn near created a paradox with how many times I visited the Library, until James stopped me But you were just gone."

Jenny paled. She reached across the table for River's hand, but the archeologist flinched away before she could reach her. Jenny sighed softly, tightening her hand into a loose fist. "I'm sorry, River. I'm so sorry."

The older woman smiled tightly. "Those seem to be very popular words. Too bad they're not worth much."

Jenny drew in a breath, tilting her head. "River, don't be like that—"

River slammed her mug on the table, her milky tea spilling across the glossy patina of the table. "Stop it. Don't you sit there, all smiling and reasonable—you left me when I needed you most, Ana. Or, no—it's Jenny, isn't it?"

"Do you think I wanted to? You and James—no matter where we were, if I was with you, I was home. To have to leave that..." Jenny looked away and fiddled with her tea, dipping her finger in the liquid and drawing absentminded patterns on the table. A shadow passed over her face, and she sighed. "And it's both, actually. After I was created, Dad refused to call me anything but 'a generated anomaly'. It was Donna that gave me an actual name."

River leaned back, studying Jenny carefully. "Hence 'Dr. Noble'."

"Dr. Ana Molly Noble." She grinned impishly for a moment, and River rolled her eyes. Jenny sighed, slouching down and crossing her arms. "I thought it was funny."

River smirked, wiping up the mess on the table before she took a sip. "I'm sure you did." Her plain gold wedding band glinted in the light, and Jenny's lips tightened a fraction as she nodded at it. "So you and James, huh? I never thought you were one for monogamy. 'Old-fashioned and simple-minded', I think you called it."

River blinked and looked down at her hand, then chuckled softly. "You're very predictable, did you know that?" Jenny's mouth dropped open in outrage, but her protest lodged in her throat when River pulled out a small gold ring on a chain. "We had to guess what size you wore—wasn't hard, really. We both had plenty of experience with your fingers."

Jenny swallowed harshly. "You... you've been wearing it all this time?"

River smiled softly. "James had one, too—just in case he found you first."

Jenny bit her lip, blinking rapidly. "Both of you?"

"Always."

She opened her mouth, closed it, cleared her throat. "I thought you'd hate me."

"I tried, but... I know you. Whatever happened, you didn't just run off on a lark."

"It was you." River froze and Jenny babbled on, her words crowding together in their hurry to get out. "You came to me after the incident on Pevash and insisted I had to stay away for a while, that I couldn't see or contact you or James again until today." She paused, watching River carefully. "Where... where is James?"

River swallowed, looking down. "He's gone, Ana. Jenny. Whatever your name is." She caught Jenny's horrified look and smiled miserably. "Oh, he's not dead—at least, not according to his friends—but you, me, everything we were fighting for... it's gone. They wiped him, Jenny. He had no idea who I was. Well, beyond the book."

"Oh, River."

Her face crumpled at Jenny's whisper, and she clenched her hands into fists. "I really missed you, love. Are you sure it was me?"

Jenny leaned across the table, gripping River's fists and coaxing them loose. "I'm sure, River. It was not her." She paused and smiled, cocking an eyebrow. "You look good as a blonde, by the way."

River blinked. "What, seriously?"

Jenny tossed her ponytail, smirking. "Not as good as me, of course, but what can you do?"

"Oh, shut up." River bit her lip, taking a deep breath. "And it was actually me me?"

Jenny smiled, her eyes soft and sympathetic. "Every inch of you."

River's eyes shut as she let out a shaky breath. "I was beginning to think I'd be Flesh-hopping forever."

Jenny rested her chin on her linked hands. "They don't know, do they?"

Her lips tightened. "It's my business, I can handle it."

"How long do you have left in this body?"

Her jaw clenched, but after a long moment River answered. "A week."

Jenny pursed her lips, raising her eyebrows. "Don't you think you should warn them, in case you end up as a puddle on the floor? You might not have had to deal with it, but trust me, the cleanup is hell." She pulled out the cobbled-together screwdriver, twirling it idly between her fingers. "Not to mention, the neural relay's already full."

River stilled. "That's me, isn't it?" Jenny nodded, and she sighed. "Thought so. Say what you like about your father, no one can call him subtle." Her lips curled up. "He is a bit dishy, though."

Jenny rolled her eyes. "That's my dad you're talking about."

She shrugged. "I'm just being honest."

"Like that time you propositioned the president of Burundi in front of her husband?"

"He was a bit too distracted by James to mind, if you'd recall."

Jenny laughed quietly, but her smile soon faded. "You said he wasn't dead, but... what happened?"

River looked down, tracing the grain of the tabletop. "The Agency has him. They tried to ambush your family earlier, but your dad and his friends stopped them. They didn't realize all the black ops teams are sabotaged from the moment they receive their assignments." Her lips tightened. "If a mission goes wrong... no survivors, no witnesses."

"Then... how are they all alive?"

She sighed and shrugged. "James recognized it, and he got us all in here. He'd be in here, too, if it weren't for that device he grabbed. I still have no idea what was so important."

"I can answer that for you, at least." River and Jenny jumped, startled, and spun to see Rose standing in the doorway. She smiled tiredly at them, walking over carefully to join them. She grimaced as she sat, rolled her shoulders with a sigh. "It was a prototype he'd been working on, a trans-temporal beacon linked specifically to the TARDIS. Apparently he didn't trust the Doctor's communication skills." Her lips quirked up. "I can't say I blame him for that, but if the Time Agents had gotten their hands on it? We'd have walked right into their hands, and he wasn't about to let that happen." She bit her lip, blinking rapidly. "He talks about himself like he's a coward, but he's one of the bravest men I've ever known."

Her shoulders tensed, and she straightened her spine. "Which is why we're going to get him back. My little one's not going to grow up not knowing her godfather."

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