Begin Again

by loulouflowerpower

12/OC-Time Lady. The Doctor and the Hatter have done it again, and survived against the impossible, gaining two whole new regeneration cycles in the process, but that is just the start. A new mystery lurks in the shadows in the form of this Promise Land and a Danny Pink appears in Clara's life, disrupting the once happy flow of the TARDIS team. Just what can go wrong?

1. Chapter 1 Deep Breath, Part 1

Disclaimer: I do not own Doctor Who or any of the recognisable characters, I merely own the Hatter, Astra, and any other OC characters possibly mentioned.

...

Deep Breath, Part 1

A dinosaur, a real life, frigging huge, roaring and very sharp teethed, dinosaur, prancing along the banks of the middle of Victorian London, for the entire city to see it for themselves. Jen had to say that of all the strange and curious sights that she had witnessed during the past year that she had lived in Victorian London, not to mention her travels alongside her parents, the Doctor and the Hatter, a bloody dinosaur running loose through the streets of London was something one didn't get to see every day. She was impressed, for sure, by the sheer size of the thing, having only gotten to see pictures and the bones of the once roaming beasts, but to see one in real life was truly making her regret not jumping on the chance to go back in time and see them in person, but hey, apparently one didn't need time travelling parents to do that, not when one just randomly popped out of nowhere and began rampaging in the streets.

The entire city seemed to have turned out to stare and gasp, gathering along the banks of the River Thames to get the best view of the creature, which roared and groaned loudly, looming high above the city roof tops, passing by Big Ben as the clock chimed loudly across the city. It was far larger then Jen would have pictured, her eyes glued to the beast as she trailed along behind Vastra, and her companions, Strax and wife, Jenny, pushing and at times even forced to shove their way in an attempt to get closer to the stone railing that ran along the river, overlooking the banks of the Thames below it and the lapping water. She just couldn't take her eyes off the creature, fascinated by the size of it, but most importantly, intrigued by its sudden, mysterious arrival. How had it gotten to Victorian London? Had it escaped from somewhere? Surely not, there couldn't possibly be some secret lab hidden in the city somewhere big enough to hide that thing, so where had it come from?

"Dino!" Astra cheered excitedly, grinning widely and swinging Jen's hand, her own little hand firmly clasped in Jen's, "Look, Jen-Jen, it's dino! Can we keep it?" she looked around to her big sister with big, green, hopeful eyes and a slightly pouty, hopeful smile.

"Probably better ask mum that one, Star," Jen advised her without taking her eyes off the giant lizard, craning her neck in places to try and peer through the gaps of people that had gathered to stare and gawk. It was rather annoying being so petite, why did she have to be short? Her parents had both been above average height when they had her, and yet she was just scrapping five foot two.

"Come on, out of the way!" one of the police officer's that had gathered by the railing was calling out, pushing aside people in order to make a path for Vastra and their little gang to get through, and Jen hastily picked up her pace, finally dragging her eyes off the dinosaur to make sure she didn't fall behind...Astra hopeful pout grew slightly more disgruntled by her sister's response, though she let herself be lightly pulled along, "Move yourself, please!" the officer continued, and people hastily stepped aside, "Coming through! That's it. Excuse me, sir..."

Standing just up ahead of them, stood a man in a bowler hat and a large coat by the railing, surrounded by several police, many of them seemingly struck between doing their duty and being completely fixated upon the dinosaur wondering through their city. The man was familiar to Jen; she'd met him several times before, an Inspector for Scotland Yard, that Vastra worked with fairly often. The man was average and very human, but at least he wasn't gawking like the rest of the general public was. He did, however, look rather wide eyed and lost, and the second that Vastra and their little group stepped through the remaining crowd towards him and his eyes fell upon them, fierce relief filled his features and he seemed to sigh.

"Madam Vastra, thank God," the Inspector exclaimed, before turning back to look out over the railing at the creature. Vastra, Jenny, Strax, and Jenny gathered by the stone railing, too, looking out at the dinosaur...Astra huffily tugged on Jen's hand, until she quickly picked her up and settled her carefully on the railing, one hand wrapped around her little waist to keep her steady. They watched the creature roar and groan for a moment, a look of wonder and disbelief across the Inspector's face, "I'll wager you've not seen anything like this before".

"Well..." Vastra smirked, and casually lifted her thick, black veil aside to reveal her green scaly face, peering up at the creature thoughtfully, "Not since I was a little girl".

"Big fella, isn't he?" Jenny remarked, staring up at it curiously.

She glanced over to her, "Dinosaurs were mostly this size..." she moved to lean closer to Jenny, a knowing, flirty glint in her eyes that instantly made Jen sigh and inwardly roll her eyes. Honestly, these two, as bad as her parents...

"It's a girl," Astra piped up suddenly, sounding very knowing and innocent.

Everyone blinked and looked at her curiously, Vastra's scaly brow lifting in surprise.

"Yes," Vastra nodded slowly, eyeing the Time Tot very slightly, "Very well spotted, Miss Astra".

Astra grinned widely and lightly kicked her feet, causing the many lacy petticoats that she wore beneath the knee length, emerald green dress to bounce, the heels of her little brown, lace-up boots bouncing off the bricks of the railing. Jen smiled proudly down at her sister's lace bonnet covered head, resisting the urge to ruffle her hair. Astra was a very keen eyed little thing; nothing got passed her...much like her parents.

"Girl or not, that things way to big," Jenny shook her head, eyeing the dinosaur, before throwing Vastra a pointed look...Vastra instantly frowned very slightly and turned to look at her, "I've seen the fossils".

"I was there," Vastra reminded her, looking rather indigent.

"Well, that's all well and good," the Inspector cut in, looking slightly urgently to Vastra, "But what's this dinosaur fellow doing in the Thames?"

The creature suddenly gave another low, loud grumbling roar and suddenly seemed to shut its small eyes, squeezing them closed as it roughly shook its huge head, snorting...Jen eyed it thoughtfully, frowning, even while the air was filled with screams and shouts of alarm from the humans watching on. That was...odd, wasn't it? It almost looked as if something was bothering it, or at least it seemed to be from Jen's view point, almost like something was making it uncomfortable, even possibly causing it pain? It didn't look hurt, though...

"It's got to be time travel, right?" Jen said slowly, though she was only partly paying attention, eyes still glued to the dinosaur, "It only makes sense, yeah? I mean, you're not keeping that thing hidden very easily, especially not during this time period".

"It would appear so, yes," Vastra agreed lightly, before glancing sideways to Jenny, "Jenny?"

Jenny instantly pushed back the small, black velvet cape she wore over the top of her dress, revealing a complicated, rather steam-punk looking device that was strapped around her left wrist, and held it up towards the dinosaur. It had been a gift from the Doctor and the Hatter when they had last visited, just before they had dropped off Astra for a bit of sisterly-bonding time with Jen. A device that could scan and detect time travel particles, as well as a few other rather handy features, including, oddly, the ability to cook an entire chicken upwards of five metres...though, Vatra had rather lightly suggested that such a features was likely not technically meant for that, but was purely accidental. Jen was inclined to agree with that assessment, but it did make a nice chicken dinner under ten seconds, so no one was exactly complaining about it.

The Inspector turned to stare at Vastra and Jen, his expression full of bewilderment, "Time travelled?" he repeated incredulously.

Jen smiled slightly and glanced at him...only for her gaze to be caught by the creature, which had once again opened its mouth wide and made a weird, coughing, almost gagging sort of motion, snorting a great puff of air through its slit nostrils. Her eyes instantly narrowed suspiciously on the beast.

"Something's wrong with dino!" Astra gasped worriedly, leaning forward without a care about the possibility of falling off the wall, her attention utterly trapped on the creature.

"Yeah, I think there might be," Jen frowned deeply, tightening her hold on the toddler, just to stop her from falling, eyes on the creature as it continued to snort and oddly thrash its head, side-to-side, "Wait on..." she narrowed her eyes, "Is it...chocking on something?"

"Looks like, don't it?" Jenny agreed with a slightly wide eyed, bemused frown, the scanner attached to her wrist still aimed on the dinosaur, "There seems to be something lodged in its throat".

"Poor dino," Astra pushed out her bottom lip, her eyes filling with innocent, childish sympathy. She frowned worriedly and turned her head to look around to Jen, giving her a frown, "Fix her, Jen-Jen".

"I...don't really know how to, Astra," Jen admitted quietly, guilt instantly washing over her, along with a sense of helplessness, pulling her eyes off the toddler, unable to look at her any longer. She felt powerless and almost like a child, just pretending to be grownup, it was not a sensation she was unfamiliar with.

She had spent so much time thinking she knew so much, thinking she was so clever and quick, and just like her mum and dad, capable of doing anything and everything, but meeting her parents again, travelling with them, spending time around their friends, around Vastra. It had made her realise just how poorly prepared she truly was to try and follow in her parents footsteps. How much she had to learn before she could even try to come close to being anything like them, even like Vastra. Sure, she had the brains of a Time Lady, she was a quick learner and picked up things faster than any human could, but she was still vastly out of her depth in a lot of ways and she still struggled to come to terms with that. She understood now why her mum had been so happy for her to stick around with Vastra in Victorian London. It was because she knew it, even though Jen, herself, hadn't. A moment like this only made it more plain to Jen how out of depth she was, her parents would have known what to do, but she was clueless. And helpless.

"How could it time travel?" the Inspector demanded, then, staring at Vastra in disbelief and slight mocking, apparently not believing it for a moment...even though the evidence would suggest that of all things, time travel was quite possible.

"I don't know," Vastra replied with a slightly impatient tone, glancing at him, her expression shifting, growing slowly thoughtful, "Perhaps it was something it ate".

Jen blinked slowly and looked at her sharply, only to see her smiling very slightly, a knowing, hopeful glint in her eyes, "Wait," she eyed the lizard woman, frowning at her, "You're not suggesting...no way..."

Vastra smirked at her, but remained silent and Jen stared at her, until the dinosaur gave a suddenly loud roar and her head immediately snapped back around, her eyes widening in shock, watching as the poor creature seemed to briefly struggle, coughing and snorting, right before something small and dark blue came flying right out of its gaping mouth and swirling into the air, spinning around and around, a little blue police box that instantly made Jen's hearts leap in relief and excitement, and Astra cheer and clap in delight.

"Mummy and Daddy!" the Time Tot cried, practically vibrating herself right out of Jen's grip and off the wall, "Mummy and Daddy! Back! They came back!"

Jen could only laugh and grin widely, ignoring the little voice in the back of her head that mused about how the TARDIS had come to be in the throat of a dinosaur in the first place, all that mattered was that her parents were back, dramatic entrance and all. Typical them, of course. She watched as the time machine fell through the air and came to land with a great, loud thump right in the sandy, rock shoreline of Thames, landing with enough force to likely rattle the occupants inside, but Jen knew that her parents would just shake it off and probably laugh about it. The blue box caused almost as much upset to the watching crowd as the dinosaur had, many gasping and shouting, pointing at it in shock and disbelief, while even Vastra looked rather startled.

"Stand back!" the Inspector shouted to the crowd, pushing away from the railing and moving to start shoving people away, trying to move further up the footpath they stood on in order to get a closer look at the TARDIS, "Stand back! Stand back!" he made room for himself and braced his hands against the stone railing, staring down at the time machine with wide, shocked eyes, shaking his head in disbelief.

Jen quickly picked up Astra from the railing, the toddler squirming and struggling, seemingly not caring about anything else but getting down to the TARDIS, and Jen could sympathise entirely, but it did make it hard to carry the girl, who was borderline to heavy to be carried around on her hip these days, but Jen did her best, face screwed up slightly and moved to quickly follow Vastra, Jenny, and Strax over to where the Inspector stood. She grinned down at the box the moment she was close enough to get a good look at it, but her smile dimmed very slightly. It was covered in scratches; the paint work was slightly faded and discoloured, almost as if it had been subjected to intense heat...or cold for a long period of time, while there was even bits of paint missing from some of the panes, revealing the true, silver metal shell beneath the wooden exterior. Her hearts skipped a beat...something was wrong, very, very, very wrong, she felt it in her very bones.

"Well, it just laid an egg!" the Inspector exclaimed suddenly, gaping at the time machine.

Jen blinked and turned her head sharply to give him a stare. Blimey, the Victorian education system had something to answer to, it truly did.

"It's dropped a blue box marked 'Police' out of its mouth," Vastra levelled him with a long look, looking utterly bemused and dubious, and the man looked back to her. She frowned at him deeply, "Your grasp of biology, it troubles me".

Jenny suddenly reached around Jen, who barely stopped herself from laughing at Vastra's remark, and grabbed the lizard woman's arm, pulling her forward. Jen, struggling very slightly with Astra on her hip, stepped forward as Vastra let herself be dragged along by her wife, Strax moving to stand close by them. There was a set of stairs that led down to the river shore and Jenny dragged Vastra all the way over to it, Jen and Strax coming to stand by them. It had the advantage of meaning that they now also stood away from the gathered crowd, who were too busy gasping and pointing at the TARDIS to care about them. Jenny looked eagerly to Vastra, eyes bright.

"It's the TARDIS," she hissed to Vastra, smiling widely with excitement. She looked to Jen and Astra, then, and her smile widened.

"It would seem so," Vastra nodded, her voice soft.

Jen looked at her sharply, frowning very slightly, "What do you mean, 'Seems so?'" she asked in confusion and slight alarm, frowning at her, "Do you think something's wrong?"

The little niggling voice in the back of her head agreed that yes, there was something surely very wrong, but she ignored it, again. She didn't want anything to be wrong, this was her mum and dad, she couldn't stomach the thought that something might have happened to them, she'd never forgive herself if they had gotten hurt or something, and she hadn't been there to help them. She knew what they would say, she was the kid, she wasn't supposed to be the one to protect them, but she loved them with all her hearts. She'd do anything to keep them safe, if anything had happened...Vastra considered her briefly, her eyes softening and she slowly reached out her hand to touch Jen's shoulder, a gesture that Jen recognised to be one born out compassion and sympathy, a gesture meant to reassure, meant to comfort, and she hated it. He gave her a calming look, but it fell flat and did little to ease the fear that was swiftly rolling over Jen.

"Anything can happen when one travels throughout space and time, Jen," she said softly, almost seeming to be trying to prepare her, "And the Doctor and the Hatter are far from strangers from getting themselves into trouble. Nothing at all may have befallen them, or..."

Jen licked her lips and felt light headed, "But you think something has happened, don't you?" she insisted more anxiously, frowning at her, peering into those sharp, blue eyes intently, "Vastra, you do, don't you?"

"Something wrong with Mummy and Daddy?" Astra asked, then, her big green eyes growing wide with alarm and fear, and her little bottom lip began trembling as she looked from Jen to Vastra, seeking answers.

Jen winced and instantly felt guilty. Some big sister she was, hey? Here she was, supposed to be the brave one, supposed to be the responsible one, and she was too busy freaking out herself and sending Astra into a panic in the process. Her mum and dad had left her in charge of taking care of Astra for them, they had trusted them with her, and she had failed, hadn't she? She glanced at Vastra and then quickly back to Astra, and even though she didn't have the hearts for it, she managed to plaster a smile across her face.

"Something happen to Mum and Dad?" she repeated with a mock shocked gasp, hugging the girl to her...her hearts melted as Astra instantly wrapped her little arm around her neck, burying her face into her neck. She hugged her tighter, "Nah, never, not them. They're just fine..." she looked at Vastra and gave her a careful look.

Vastra gave her a tight smile and squeezed her arm, before releasing her and dropping it back to her side. Jen swallowed and briefly closed her eyes, trying to summon up the same strength that she knew her parents would have in this moment. They always managed to laugh off this sort of thing, even when they knew something bad had happened, always managed to somehow lesson it in front of Astra, for her sake, cushion or save her entirely from the true blow. Jen didn't know how they did it, but she knew it was a skill she would have to learn. She wanted to learn it.

"We'll take care of this, Inspector!" Jenny called over to the human man, waving a dismissive hand towards him and flashing a bright smile.

The man turned quickly turned around to look back down to them, "But what if that thing goes on the rampage?" he asked nervously, and pointed back over to the dinosaur, which seemed calmer now that the TARDIS was no longer chocking it...but still quite present, large, and with many sharp, sharp teeth, just ready to possibly take a quick snack of one of the locals.

Strax dutifully stepped forward and lifted up a large, white sack that he had hauled along with him, since they had left the carriage. Vastra took the sack from him and, smiling pleasantly at the Inspector, walked back up to him as she reached inside the bag, fishing out a curious little device. It was about hand-size, but with bright yellow lights glowing from it and covered in four spikes on either side of the circular body. She calmly held it up and began pulling the spikes out, lengthening them, while the man gaped at it.

"Place these lanterns on the shoreline and bridge," she instructed the rather nonplussed looking man, holding it out to him...he took the device, blinking blankly at it, "Encircling the creature at twenty foot intervals".

"What will they do?" he carelessly waved the device around in one hand by one of the spikes.

"They will emit a signal that will incline it to remain within their circumference," she replied, though judging by the still blank expression on the man's face, he barely understood a word she said. If Jen wasn't so worried, she would have laughed. Vastra barely seemed to notice the man's lack of comprehension, turning swiftly away from him, "Jenny, Jen, Strax! With me!"

Varsta walked back over to where they remained standing by the top of the stairs, and Jen instantly straightened her shoulders and lifted her chin higher, falling into her solider stance, as Jenny had dubbed it fondly, but she felt almost as if she was about to walk into the unknown. She dreaded the idea that something bad had happened to her parents, but given everything and how they had arrived in the TARDIS, the fact that they hadn't immediately tumbled out of the blue box...well, it said far more then Jen wanted to admit. She just wished she knew how to prepare Astra, but she just didn't know what to do or say. Instead, she fell into step closely on Vastra's heels, bracing herself.

"So it's them, then?" Jenny asked Vastra quickly, looking rather hesitant herself as they began to make their way down the stone stairs, down towards the damp, rocky shoreline. She kept shooting supposedly discreet, little glances at Jen, which the blonde ignored, "The Doctor and the Hatter?"

"A giant dinosaur from the distant past has just vomited a blue box from outer space," Vastra said as they reached the shoreline and stepped down onto the rocky, sandy shore, her voice briefly trailing off as they found themselves standing on the same level as the TARDIS. She stared at it, before glancing sideways to Jenny, "This is not a day for jumping to conclusions..."

"Not exactly much of a leap," Jen commented flatly, gaze fixed on the box, hearts pounding...up close, the paint was in even worse shape, faded and scratched up, missing entirely in places. She'd never known the TARDIS to be able to get so beaten up; her dad was going to be so upset when he saw it.

Vastra shot her a look from the corner of her eye and then looked to Strax, fixing him with a stern look, "Strax, if you wouldn't mind?" she gestured towards the time machine.

Jen frowned and moved to step forward, only for a hand to suddenly land on her shoulder, causing her head to snap back, finding Jenny giving her a kind, but wary frown.

"Let Strax go first, Jen," Jenny told her gently, smiling thinly, "Just...in case".

Jen blinked slowly, blankly, at her, "What...why?" she shook her head, baby blue eyes darting from Jenny's kind, soft face and to Vastra, who was watching her with a firm, but considerate glint in her eyes. She tightened her hold on Astra, swallowing uneasily, "They're my parents," she reminded them, firmly, "I should..."

"Which is why you should let Strax check first," she cut across her, voice still gentle, but there was an almost pleading look in her eyes now, her smile tensing, "If..." she paused, eyes shifting down to Astra, who was eyeing her with a deep frown, and quickly dragged her gaze back up to Jen. She sighed, "Well, just in case, yeah? You never know".

She stared at her, caught between horror, caught between shock, not quite knowing how to react to that...the implication. She felt sickened and afraid, and suddenly struck by the fact that she was way too young to be trying to deal with this. Her parents...they weren't trying to suggest that they had died, were they? God, she couldn't...she just couldn't handle that, she'd barley had them in her life for a year, losing them now would be just too much. She hugged Astra to her and turned back around to look at the TARDIS, blood running with ice and a deep terror curling inside her chest, almost chocking her, the only thing keeping her slightly balanced was Astra in her arms, relying on her, trusting in her to keep it together.

Strax marched forward purposefully, his blue armour covered by a black cloak, which swished about him. He didn't hesitate as he came to stand before the TARDIS doors and lifted his closed fist, wrapping it sharply, twice, against the front door. He lowered his fist and stepped slightly back, straightening his back proudly and pushing out his barrel chest, looking ready to jump into action, should the need call upon it.

"Hello?" he called through the door, voice loud and stern, full of authority, "Exit the box, and surrender to the glory of the Sontaran empire!".

Suddenly, the TARDIS door sprung open, emitting a plume of smoke from within, and a strange, grey haired man leaned out of the box. Jen's mouth fell open in shock...no way, absolutely, no way. He was a tall man, thin and wiry looking, with thick, greying hair and expressive, thick eyebrows to match, and sharp, stern, silver eyes that immediately landed on Strax and seemed to almost cut straight through him, full of annoyance and impatience.

"Shush!" the man hushed the Sontaran sharply, before very suddenly disappearing back inside the box, slamming the door shut again.

Strax stared at the doors, eyes wide and a rather startled expression across his face, any hint of confidence he'd previously shown utterly gone, "Doctor?" he said slowly, hesitantly, his fist half raised towards the door...though, he made little attempt to knock again.

The door sprung open again and instead of the grey haired man, a woman leaned out, her pretty, mature face bright with a happy, cheerful smile, a mess of wild, strawberry blonde curls surrounding her face. She popped her left ankle casually behind her right leg and grinned broadly at Strax, leaning her left shoulder against the doorframe, thin, shapely eyebrows lifted politely. Jen just about dropped Astra in shock. That was the thing about being a Time Lord...or Lady, as her mother would often correct her, they always recognised their parents. It was purely biological, ingrained into them on a basic level, no matter what age they might be. They always knew.

"Oh, hello," she greeted Strax, though there was no recognition in her striking blue eyes, voice lightened by a lyrical accent, "I don't suppose you've seen a dinosaur about the place, have you? Probably a funny question..." she shrugged lightly, smiling still, nodding along...oblivious to the very same dinosaur rampaging about the place, just on the other side of the river bank, "But she was quite big, lots of teeth, possibly a bit grumpy...we tend to have that effect on people," she giggled lightly, waving a dismissive hand, "And things. And plants. And...I'm rambling, yes?" she paused, frowning deeply, eyeing Strax carefully, not giving him a chance to speak, before she sighed heavily and shook her head, "Oh, dear. Another rambler, apparently. And with this accent! Goodness me, how annoying that must sound..."

She jumped slightly and trailed off, when quite suddenly the grey haired man appeared behind her, wrapping his arms around her waist and resting his chin almost on top of her head, eyes narrowed directly on Strax with a suspicious glare.

"Sleepy?" he eyed Strax closely.

Strax frowned, looking positively baffled, "Sir?" he said slowly.

"Bashful?" he questioned, slightly more insistently. He paused, then, and seemed to remember that he was practically hugging the woman, the Hatter, from behind, and smiled softly and pressed a tender kiss to the top of her head, making the woman smile widely, right before he silently and easily, picked her up by her waist, ignoring her slight yelp of surprise and indignation, judging by the huffy look that crossed her face, and moved her aside, in order for him to release her waist and step forward, glare firmly fixing back on Strax again, "Sneezy?" he continued, stepping closer to Strax, practically looming over him, "Dopey?" he paused and grinned, then, realisation seemingly hitting him, "Grumpy".

"Doctor!" the Hatter huffed loudly, voice full of annoyance as she stepped out of the door, briefly stumbling in the sand. She threw his back a dark glare, "You can't just pick me up like that! I may be significantly shorter now, but I'm not a doll!"

The Doctor looked back over his shoulder to her, flashing her a broad, almost boyish smile, an expression that contrasted sharply against his aged features, "You look as lovely and beautiful as one, my dear, Hatter," he said in a slightly lower, softer voice, full of affection.

She paused, blinking lightly as her cheeks instantly grew tomato red, "I...well..." she shifted awkwardly on the spot, seemingly not quite knowing how to respond, before scowling and giving him a mock glare, "Shut up...you great big stick insect, you".

And she stuck out her tongue, almost as if to prove her point and then crossed her arms firmly across her chest, scoffing loudly. The Doctor seemed to stare at her for a moment, before laughing loudly, a full laugh that came straight from his belly, his eyes shining with affection and fondness, and slowly, the Hatter's glare slipped and a pleased smile crossed her face, a laugh leaving her own lips, seemingly against herself, almost, as her gaze dropped subconsciously to her feet. The Doctor suddenly stopped laughing as he seemed to notice Vastra and Jenny, standing several steps away, positively gaping at him, and his eyes lit up.

"Oh, you two!" he exclaimed excitedly, darting quickly over towards them, moving with swift, little footsteps that looked rather odd, and holding out an open palm towards Vastra, "The green one..." he turned his attention onto Jenny, then, his brow furring slightly, "...and the not-green one," his eyes brightened again, his eyebrows quirking thoughtfully, "Or it could be the other way round, I mustn't prejudge".

"Sounds like a pretty wise idea, Doctor," the Hatter nodded happily, and smiled as she made as if to stick her hands inside her pockets of her skirt, only to frown slightly and glance down, finding no pockets there, "Hmm, yes..." she hummed slowly, still frowning faintly, patting her thighs briefly to make up for the lack of pockets and wondering over towards him, slowly bringing her hands together down her front instead, "No judginess here, thank you...Ah, Vastra, Jenny, that is you, isn't it? Marvellous to see you again..." she bowed her head politely at them, seemingly ignoring the utterly baffled and startled stares she was getting from the pair, rocking lightly on her heels...before her expression grew slightly alarmed and she froze, "It is Vastra and Jenny, isn't it? Yes?"

"Er, yeah," Jenny replied slowly, eyeing her dubiously, features screwed up in confusion.

"Oh..." she sighed in relief, briefly closing her eyes and shaking her head, "Oh, thank God for that, how terribly embarrassing that would have been. So sorry, brains feeling all muddled at the mo," she grinned and unclasped her hands to tap her right temple, laughing slightly, "I feel rather like someone's scrambled all my memories and thoughts together, and poured them into the frying pan to cook!"

The Doctor turned sharply to look around to her, his expression morphing into one of horror, "Maybe we're sick, Hatter!" he said in alarm, suddenly grabbing her hand to tug her closer and leaning into her face, barely an inch away from her nose, in fact, silvery blue eyes wide and full of intent worry, seemingly examining her closely. She blinked very slightly at the sudden proximity, not that she was trying to get away as he brought his hands up to cradle her face between his hands.

She tried to smile, though it was a bit hard with him mashing up her face up as he was, "You might be onto something there, sweetheart," she remarked lightly, amused, her words coming out slightly muffled.

Apparently, the Doctor's post-regenerative amnesia was hitting him quite strongly this time around, though it was hardly shocking. He once regenerated and had literally no memory of who he was, though, that had been a truly traumatic regeneration and he had barely survived it, given the fact that he'd undergone heart surgery in the middle of it. This regeneration had been quite a shocker, really, and the Hatter expected that the whole brand new regeneration cycle being chucked into the mix would make it a little harder than normal; even she was struggling quite a bit. She found herself struggling to fully feel as if she could trust what she was seeing or feeling, everything felt partly baked, partly off kilter, and it didn't help in the least that she still felt completely in the wrong skin. She wasn't used to the lighter shade of hair, not used to the shift in height, not used to pretty much every little thing about this new form, physically or mentally, all the while trying to also be there for the Doctor, who she knew would end up likely collapsing before much longer, as was typical of him. She just hoped she'd be able to keep her own wits about herself long enough to keep him safe.

"Silly, Daddy!" a little voice giggled, then, full of childish amusement and innocence, "You're not sick, you just changed your face".

At the sound of that voice, for one brief, wonderful moment, the whole Universe seemed to just still and settle, to calm into something familiar and truly lovely, and the Hatter felt a sense of peace wash over her. A peace she hadn't had in so long, her racing thoughts scrambling to try and catch up with all the new sensors and feelings and ideas that were assaulting her muddled brain, all seemed to dull and fall silent, replaced by just...happiness. the Doctor's hands gently released her face and they both turned around to see their girls standing there, just a few steps off to the side of where Vastra and Jen had stood, watching them, utterly unchanged, even though the same could most assuredly not be said for the Doctor and the Hatter.

Jen's baby blue eyes were wide and startled, filled with worry and concern, but there was no hint of fear in them. No confusion, evidently recognising them for who they were and purely being worried for their own sakes, while little Astra sat upon her hip, arms wound around Jen's neck and a bright, toothy smile stretching her face chubby cheeks, green eyes alight with amusement and delight. Just like Jen, Astra showed little hesitation or fear in their change of appearance, seemingly accepting them instantly. It was a relief to the Hatter, who, while knowing that genetically Jen and Astra should still recognise them for who they were, had to admit that a tiny part of her had anxiously feared that perhaps it would frighten them. That maybe Jen and Astra wouldn't be able to see passed the physical change, the changes in personality, to see them, their parents, in them. It was a silly, stupid insecurity, she knew and was slightly embarrassed to have even indulged for a moment, but it had lingered in her mind.

"Jen," the Doctor breathed softly, gazing at the girls with a look of near wonder and adoration upon his face, "Astra...you're here," he smiled slowly, tenderly, and for a moment it seemed as if a hint of lucidity had managed to break through the haze of post-regeneration trauma. He stepped towards them, holding out his hands, "My girls, my beautiful, brilliant, girls..."

"Daddy!" Astra laughed, and practically threw herself forward...right into the Doctor's arms, who caught her with a short laugh of his own and instantly squeezed her tightly to himself, shutting his own eyes as he seemed to savour the hug.

"Astra," Jen gasped slightly, a look of angst crossing her face, hands still reaching out to try and catch the toddler. She shook her head and dropped her arms, "You've got to stop doing that".

"She's an excitable, impatient thing," the Hatter grinned proudly, stepping up beside the Doctor, "It's a family trait," she laughed faintly, gazing at Jen, running her eyes over her, checking to make sure she was well and healthy. She looked just as she last remembered her, in her scattered, jumbled memories, and it eased the weight in her chest instantly. She reached out to touch her cheek with the back of her fingers, settling her over hand on her shoulder, "Jen, my Jen, how dearly and agonisingly I have missed you..." she felt tears prickle her eyes and barely held back the urge to sob, sniffling pathetically, "Both of you".

Jen's expression softened instantly, a slightly embarrassed, but pleased, wide smile lifting her lips, even as her cheeks flushed a light pink, "Missed you too, Mum," she told her, looking into her face curiously, her eyes taking in her new features. She frowned very slightly, a slightly sad look dimming her smile, "Something bad happened to you two when you went away, didn't it? Something really, really bad".

She just barely stopped herself from saying 'You don't even know the half of it, darling,' but the tiny thread of a filter that she had left stopped her, and she merely settled on giving her a tense, tight smile. Jen seemed to read it, however, the unspoken words, and her frown deepened and she suddenly threw herself forward, her arms circling the Hatter's neck, hugging her tightly, almost fiercely. The Hatter hugged her back and sighed sadly. For Jen and Astra, it had likely only been a day or two since they had dropped off Astra for her sisterly bonding time, and while Astra evidently didn't fully comprehend exactly what had happened, merely content to go along with the fact that her parents now looked and sounded different all of a sudden, it would be harder for Jen. She would have to speak to her later...but not now. She would need to rest soon, herself, she could already feel the fragile hold that she had on reality starting to slip through her fingers, feel the call to sleep reaching out towards her, but she knew that once she had slept and recovered, she would be better. Ready to properly process.

Jen released her hold and the Hatter gave her an almost apologetic smile, before she found herself practically attacked by the excitable bundle that was Astra, who all but leaped out of the Doctor's arms to get to her, next. She laughed and cooed over Astra, while Jen took the chance to throw her arms around the Doctor. It was such a relief to have Astra and Jen back at their sides again, reunited, at long, long last...but the Hatter had to admit, she almost wished it had waited until after she and the Doctor had had the chance to rest up a little bit. Already, she could feel her eyes wanting to slip closed, the temptation to simply shut them and drop, then and there, where she stood, so very tempting, it wasn't as if she'd even hurt herself...but she had to hold on for a bit longer. The Doctor needed her, Astra and Jen needed her, she needed to know that they were all alright...and there was something else, something she had forgotten about that she needed to consider...

"Wow," Jen's exclamation of concern and surprise caught the Hatter's attention, then, and she blinked, turning around a little too sharply. She had to blink back the sudden dark dots that danced by her vision and hastily placed Astra down onto her own two feet, afraid she could end up dropping her by accident, before she looked back up. It still took her another second to comprehend what she was looking at.

A young woman had seemingly just stumbled out of the TARDIS doors; hair ruffled and mused, a slightly dazed, annoyed expression on her face, wearing a very short, red and black tartan skirt, white shirt, and black cardigan. The Time Lady stared at her blankly for an embarrassingly long moment; searching her brain...she knew this face was important, special to her. When she looked at her, she wanted to smile, she almost felt a similar sort of warmth towards this girl as she did towards Jen and Astra, but yet her face and name escaped her. How embarrassing.

"Oh!" the Doctor looked around, too, and glanced at Jen, who was staring at this new girl with rather alarmed eyes, "You remember...er..." he pointed to the girl and frowned, trailing off blankly. He eyed her for a long, awkward moment, eyes narrowed in though, "...thingy," he eventually settled on, briefly touching his lips and shaking his head, "The...er...the not-me one, but not the Hatter-one, either. The asking questions one," he turned and wondered away slightly, still agonising over it, while the Hatter looked blankly from the girl to his back, clueless. He sighed, "Names, not my area".

"Oh, I know," the Hatter suddenly cheered excitedly, pointing at the girl, who opened her mouth to answer, "Lara!"

She gave her a rather annoyed, frustrated glare, "Clara!" she corrected with a huff, utterly done, apparently.

The Hatter's face fell and she frowned, "Oh," she said slowly, narrowing her eyes slightly, "You sure?"

"Yes!"

"Well, I'm not ruling it out," the Doctor called over to them, flippantly gesturing over his shoulder, "Might not be Clara. It's a lottery..." the dinosaur gave a suddenly great roar, and his face instantly screwed up with irritation, "Oi! Big man, shut it!" he shouted and whirled around to look out over the water to the beast, only for his thick eyebrows to shoot upwards at the sight, and he gasped dramatically, eyes widening in shock...evidently, only just now noticing the dinosaur rampaging about the place, "Oh, you've got a dinosaur too!" he cried, dashing excitedly back over towards the others, only to stop short upon the creature roaring angrily. He winced, "Big woman, sorry".

"Huh," the Hatter gazed out over the water, too, curiously, her eyebrows lifted with a thoughtful frown and her hand moving to rest on her hip, for a lack of any pockets, while the other was tightly clasped in Astra's little hand, "What are the chances of you lot having a dinosaur too...and seemingly a remarkably similar looking one, at that!" she laughed slightly, shaking her head as she glanced at Jen and Clara, who had come to stand by the blonde's side, grinning at them, "How marvellous!"

"Wow," Jen blinked slowly, a look of surprise and alarm written across her face, staring, almost bemused, at both of her parents, "Regeneration really does mess with your head, doesn't it? I mean, mum said it did, but I didn't think it was this bad..."

Clara threw her a startled look, "That's all you've got to say?" she almost gaped at her, looking borderline panicked and ready to pull her hair out.

She gave her a slightly puzzled look, "What else am I suppose to say?" she asked her, almost curiously, "Mum mentioned that the first hours of regeneration can be pretty confusing and weird, just part of the process, I guess. She said it passes after a few hours".

"I'm not flirting, by the way!" the Doctor randomly called out to the dinosaur, holding up a surrendering hand and shaking his head, "I'm happily married!"

Clara stared at him in slight alarm, "I think something's gone wrong..." she said in a slightly hushed tone to Jen, though her gaze remained fixed on the Doctor, eyes full of fear and worry.

"Wrong!" he suddenly exclaimed, and whirled sharply around to pin her with a sharp, stern glare. Clara blinked slightly, a startled expression crossing her face, seemingly not having expected him to overhear her...she even took a small, half-step backwards as he marched directly over to her, pointing at her accusingly, "What's gone wrong? Have you ever regenerated?"

"Sweetheart," the Hatter said soothingly, if a little lightly, though she made little move to step forward, "Easy now, please. Clara...or whoever she may truly be..." she seemingly didn't notice the exasperated and concerned frowns that almost everyone shot her at that, smiling faintly, "Didn't mean anything by it, at least I don't think she did. Let's not go getting all huffy yet, yeah?"

Clara turned her head to stare, wide eyed, at the Time Lady, a slight look of disbelief crossing her face, her expression practically saying, 'Seriously?' Jen barely held down the mad, unexpected urge to laugh, eyes darting from Clara and back to her parents, unable to decide quite how to feel about all of this...but if she had learnt anything about most things, laughing was usually a good place to start when uncomfortable.

"Are you sure, Hatter?" the Doctor threw her a slightly narrowed eyed, suspicious glance, before his head snapped back around to Clara. He stepped closer to the girl, leaning down slightly so that they were near eye level...it was rather comical how much he had to bend to do so, before his eyes suddenly widened and he gasped in realisation, "I remember you!" he straightened back up sharply, bringing his hand up to touch his forehead, his expression screwing up with a look of almost horror...Clara looked hopeful for a moment, "You're Handles!" he cried, making her face fall, watching as he backed away from her, torment and anguish positively filling his face, "You used to be a little...a little robot head, and now you're..." he looked briefly startled and his eyebrows rose, looking her up and down, "You've really let yourself go".

Clara looked very slightly offended, but largely confused, looking awkwardly to Jen, first, who was biting her lip and struggling not to giggle. She elbowed her sharply, causing the other girl to only snort with laughter. She gave her a dark look and sighed, turning to almost look helplessly to Vastra and Jenny, but they merely looked silently back at her. Lastly, and almost desperately, she turned to the Hatter, but the Time Lady wasn't even looking at her, frowning over at the dinosaur with a concerned glint in her bright blue eyes. The creature gave another great roar and the Time Lady grimaced.

"The frequency is far too high, Vastra," the Time Lady whirled around to fix the lizard lady with a stern frown, "You must lower it immediately".

"I'm sorry?" Clara blinked slightly, while Vastra looked rather confused, eyeing the Hatter blankly.

She sighed, almost impatiently, "The sonic lanterns that you are so obviously using to keep dino from wandering about the city," she said with a slightly pointed look, eyes still trained on Vastra, "You have it set far higher then necessary to keep her from leaving the zone, you need to turn it down," she frowned sympathetically and turned to look out towards the creature, her gaze softening, "The poor thing is terribly uncomfortable, her head must be pounding by now..."

"How do you know?" Strax stepped forward, giving her a curious stare.

"Oh, come on, Clara," the Doctor responded instead, almost shaking his head dismissively as he turned around to look back to Strax, "You know I speak dinosaur..."

"He's not Clara," Clara hastily moved to step up next to Strax, giving the Doctor a pointed frown. She pointed back to her own chest, "I'm Clara".

The Hatter laughed suddenly, her gaze on the Doctor, who seemed quite startled by that information, his silvery eyes swiftly moving between Strax and Clara, a look of shock upon his features as he seemed to struggle to tell the difference...even after Clara had pointed it out. Clara shot the Time Lady a small glare, though it only seemed to make her giggle louder, clapping her free hand across her mouth to try and stifle the noise.

"Well, you're very similar heights," he finally remarked, only a touch defensively, still looking rather shocked. Clara frowned in disbelief and glanced sideways to Strax, eyeing him oddly, while Strax looked at her, too, a bemused expression on his features...He shook his head slowly, regarding them thoughtfully, "Maybe you should wear labels?" he suggested, before, slowly, he seemed to sway very slightly and his eyes narrowed, "Why...why are you doing that?" they gave him a worried look, Clara stepping slightly closer to him, alarmed, as he began blinking rapidly, "Why are you...?" his voice grew softer, fainter, and he squinted blearily at them, "You're going all dark and wobby. Stop that!"

He started backing away from them, looking increasingly more groggy and yet, somehow, half-suspicious, half-agitated with them, as if it was somehow all their fault. Clara and Jen exchanged a concerned look, before glancing over to the Hatter, but the Time Lady looked almost lost in her own word, her eyes unfocused and her head turned away from the Doctor, a dazed look on her face and her hand, not still firmly held by Astra, pressed against her forehead. Jen's eyebrows shot up...okay, so her mum really was feeling the effects of this whole regeneration thing more than meets the eyes, a little bit of memory loss seemingly only a small part of what was going on with her, but as for the Doctor...She frowned and looked back over to the Doctor, eyeing him. He was borderline freaking out.

"I don't think we are," Clara eyed him closely, shaking her head slowly.

"Never mind!" the Doctor huffed dismissively, waving a hand at her and turning away, blinking rapidly, his speech almost slurring, "Everyone take five!"

He looked briefly up towards the cloudy sky...and his eyes rolled back into his head, his body swaying slowly on the spot, before he suddenly tipped forward and fell face-first into the sandy, pebbled river bank, seemingly out cold. He didn't even flinch on the impact. Everyone gasped, but at least it seemed to be enough to jolt the Hatter out of her dazed stupor, the Time Lady jumping immediately into action and darting forward, letting go of Astra's little hand in order to throw herself onto the river bank next to the Doctor, but she looked far from concerned or alarmed. In fact, she seemed quite resigned as she reached out to press a hand against his shoulder blade and began to push him back up and onto his side. Jen and Clara hurried forward to help her, both far more alarmed.

"What do we do?" Clara asked the Hatter urgently, looking slightly panicked, big brown eyes darting between the Time Lady and the unconscious Doctor, half-lying across the Hatter's lap now.

"We don't panic, for starters," the Hatter told her lightly, almost looking amused, but her gaze remained on the Doctor's face. She cupped his face and smiled tenderly, using her thumb to brush some of the sand that had stuck to his cheek away, still somewhat surprised by the feel of his soft skin, laced with deep lines and no longer as supple as the Eleventh Doctor's skin had been...though, she was rather used to that after all those centuries of their time on Christmas. She sighed slightly, "I would usually suggest that we get inside the TARDIS and both have a rest in there, but the old girl suffered a bit of damage. She'll need time to repair..."

"You'll come and stay with us, Mum," Jen cut in quickly, reaching out to take the Doctor's limp hand in hers, frowning deeply, "There's plenty of room back at Vastra's townhouse, you can stay in my room".

"Hang on a minute," Jenny said with a bemused expression, and everyone looked back over to her, "I don't understand. Who is he?" she shook her head, pointing a gloved finger at the Doctor, before moving it up to rest on the Hatter, "And who are you? Where's the Doctor and the Hatter?"

"Silly, Jenny," Astra laughed, smiling widely and practically bouncing as she moved to grab Jenny's hand, peering up at the human woman with an expression that was, if she was older, almost close to being considered indulgent. It was the same sort of expression that the Hatter might have given someone, if she thought they were being naive, but didn't wish to say it so plainly, "That's Mummy and Daddy," she pointed over to the Hatter and the Doctor, swinging Jenny's hand lightly, "My Mummy and Daddy, but they changed their faces. New Mummy and Daddy, but still same Mummy and Daddy".

"That's quite right, darling girl," the Hatter smiled proudly over to Astra, who positively glowed under the praise, her green eyes, the last thing left of the Eleven Doctor, in many ways, lighting up in delight and a toothy smile stretching her lips wide. She let go of Jenny's hand and skipped over to where her mother was kneeling, still cradling the Doctor, and happily dropped onto her knees in the damp sand beside the Time Lady, and leaned down to press a kiss to her bonnet covered head...it was slightly awkward, given her position, but she didn't seem to care.

"You changed your faces?" Jenny said slowly, a bewildered expression upon her face and she turned to give Vastra a dubious frown.

Vasta, however, took it far more calmly, "Well then," she said with a slight bracing sigh, "Here we go again".

The Hatter laughed suddenly, quite unexpectedly, and they all looked at her. She shook her head, still laughing to herself and grinned.

"Oh, just an old memory..." she commented with an oddly delighted smile.

Jen glanced sideways at Clara, who was already glancing at her, both girls sharing a look. Oh, boy, this could be a wild ride...the dinosaur roaring in the back ground just emphasised it.

...

The distant roars of the dinosaur continued to filter through the streets and air of London for much of the rest of the early evening, and the Doctor, in many ways, thankfully missed much of it. It had been a bit of a strange carriage ride back to Vastra's townhouse, the Hatter seemed to be fairing quite well, her memory seemed relatively okay...but she also didn't seem fully like herself, either. Most of the trip back through London she had spent in silence, staring blankly out of the carriage window, eyes unfocused and an odd, dazed sort of expression upon her face. It was quite clear for all to see that she wasn't entirely present with them, that her mind and thoughts were elsewhere, she almost looked like she had dropped off to sleep sitting upright and with her eyes wide open, but for the fact that her hand continued to absently stroke the Doctor's thick, greying hair as his head lolled in her lap, while Astra happily sat herself on Jen's lap, Vastra, Clara, and Jenny squeezed into the same bench seat. Thank God it wasn't a very long ride...though, Vastra, curiously, didn't seem all that bothered by the tight spacing.

The Doctor remained unconscious the entire journey into the house, even, not once batting an eyelid open as Strax, Jen, and Jenny helped carry the Doctor up the stairs and into Jen's bedroom, settling the Time Lord upon her neatly made double bed. The Hatter almost seemed to automatically follow her husband and move to lie down on the other side of the bed, crossing her ankles together and lacing her hands on top of her chest, her eyes shutting without saying another word to anyone, and that was where she remained. They had all paused to take that in alone, given just how odd it was for the Hatter to not have anything to say...or to not instantly move to nurse the Doctor, but it seemed that the Hatter truly wasn't one-hundred percent herself, and so they all silently agreed to leave her to rest and draped a blanket over her.

Vastra insisted on the Doctor being changed, however, given the fact that carrying him inside had resulted in quite a bit of sand on her rugs and floorboards, a task that Strax, rather unhappily, was given, while Jen and Clara took on the slightly harder task of trying to get Astra into bed. By the time they had wrangled the Time Tot into a night gown and under the covers, and turned out the light, both girls were very nearly ready to curl up alongside the Time Lords. Five story books, a rather awkward attempt at signing a few nursery rhymes, and Clara coming close to bribing Astra with sweets, later, and Astra was fast asleep...just in time for the Doctor to finally wake up.

"It's simply misunderstandable to me!" the Doctor's loud, outraged shouts seemed to ring through the upper floors of the townhouse, "I don't know what it is! Who invented this room?"

Jen winced and glanced sideways to Clara, just as Jenny stepped out of one of the rooms just down the hallway, looking rather startled and concerned by all the shouting. The three girls hastily hurried down the hallways, lined with lovely oil paintings and thick, ornate carpet rugs, and moved to lean against the doorway that had shouting spewing from behind it...only for the door to very suddenly spring open as they reached it, almost causing all three girls topple straight into the bed room. The Doctor was wide awake, it would seem...and very, very annoyed, standing in the doorway in a white, billowing men's nightgown of the Victorian era, expression full of outrage and frustration. He glared at them upon catching sight of them.

"Doctor, please," Clara quickly stepped in front of him, her eyes slightly wide and alarmed, but she tried to give him a placating look, "You have to lie down..."

"It doesn't make sense!" he huffed angrily, waving a hand towards the bed...Jen was rather surprised to find the Hatter still lying exactly as they had left her, seemingly fast asleep and utterly at peace with the world, while her husband ranted and raved near nonsense just a few feet away. There was some sort of comedy to it all, if you squinted, she supposed, turning back to watch the Doctor wonder close to the bed, Clara following him ever step with a rather anxious frown, "Look!" he insisted, looking around to the others and pointing at the bed, Vastra eyeing him closely from by the window, while Jenny looked quite alarmed, "It's got a bed in it! Why is there a bed in it?"

Jen frowned, feeling a wave of discomfort wash over her, along with something almost like fear. So, this was regeneration, huh? No wonder her parents always looked so serious and almost grave when they spoke about it to her, in her eyes, upon first learning that Time Lords could cheat death by changing their face, it had sounded pretty cool, she'd been kind of excited about it...but her parents had quickly dashed those thoughts, describing to her that while it was perfectly natural and normal, and very useful, that it was still a very serious matter. That regeneration could be horribly painful and frightening, that it muddled with your brain for hours, if not even days, afterwards, that you find yourself in an incredibly vulnerable position for quite a long time and that you need to make sure that you're safe, and looked after. This, right now, watching her father struggle and shout, eyes wild and just not quite...right, it made her realise that her parents were right. Regeneration wasn't cool, useful, sure, but it was also kind of scary. She just hoped that if and when her time came, she had them there beside her.

"Because it's a bed room," Clara tried to explain to the Doctor, speaking slow and clearly to him, "It's for sleeping in".

"Okay," he seemed to calm down slightly, eyes narrowed suspiciously on the girl, "What do you do when you're awake?"

Jenny quickly stepped forward with a reassuring smile on her face, "You leave the room," she told him brightly, glancing at Clara...who looked rather frustrated by this point herself.

He stared at her for a moment, almost in disbelief, "So you've got a whole room for not being awake in?" he said slowly, glancing at Clara, who nodded quickly, and then to Jenny, who smiled and nodded, and then over to Jen, who barely managed a weak smile. He frowned deeply and shook his head, waving his hands around in agitation, "But what's the point?" his voice began rising again and Clara hastily tried hushing him, with little effectiveness as he continued almost ranting, "You're just missing the room!"

"Dad," Jen stepped up between Jenny and Clara, grimacing slightly, "Please, just...calm down, yeah? Astra's trying to sleep down the hallway and mum needs her rest..."

The Hatter remained completely and utterly the same, not having seemly moved an inch, only her chest moving and up down the only indication that she hadn't, in fact, turned into a very realistic stature. How the hell she hadn't cracked an eye open just to check that the Doctor hadn't completely lost it, was totally lost on Jen, but she guessed that her mother had slipped into a post-regenerative coma. It was fairly common for Time Lords to need to sleep for hours on end, helped their mind to catch up and calm after all the activity that had assaulted it.

"And don't look in that mirror!" he shouted right over the top of Jen, suddenly darting across the room to where a rather ornate, wooden and gold gilded mirror sat in the corner of the room, stabbing an angry finger at it, "It's absolutely furious!"

"Doctor, please!" Clara hurried over to his side, briefly reaching out to touch his arm, but she dropped it as he turned to frown at her, almost looking wary of him, "You have to lie down. You keep passing out..."

"Well, of course I keep passing out!" he huffed, turning to give her a look, as if she was the crazy, ranting and raving man in the nightgown, babbling about bedrooms, as if it was totally new concept to him, "There's all these beds!" he walked a few steps closer to the bed, before suddenly rounding back on her, narrowing his eyes on her, "Why do you keep talking like that?" he demanded, pointing at Clara, who blinked in confused at him, "What's gone wrong with your accent? Why...?"

"Nothing's wrong with her accent," Jenny cut in hurriedly, reassuringly, if rather confused herself by what was going on, stepping closer to the Doctor.

"You sound the same!" he accused sharply, turning to point at her.

"Dad..." Jen sighed, sighing slightly as she reached out to place a hand on his shoulder, hoping that the touch might sooth him. She'd seen her mum do that, touch people and it seemed to sooth them...he frowned deeply and looked around to her, but at least some recognition seemed to flicker in his eyes and his glare softened, "Dad," she repeated softly, giving him a smile, "It's all alright..."

"Oh, no, Jen," he murmured, his eyes widening very slightly with a look of horror. He brought his hands up to cradle her face between his hands, peering intently into her face, as if he was examining her...Jen could only blink back at him, slightly wide eyed, "My Jen-Jen...it's happened to you, too! You sound just like that lot," he shot an almost dark, accusing glare towards Clara and Jenny, as if they had seemingly corrupted his daughter, before looking back to Jen, eyes instantly softening, "It's spreading! You sound all...English!" he spat out the last word as if it was something terrible and offensive, frowning deeply, patting Jen's cheek gently before he dropped his hands from her face, releasing her with a worried sigh, "Now you've all developed a fault!"

Jen blinked slowly...okay, then, she wasn't entirely sure how to proceed with that one, and judging by the rather lost and confused expressions on Jenny and Clara, they were rather lost, too. She glanced hopefully over to the bed to her mother, desperate for her to wake up and deal with the Doctor. She'd know just what to do and say, how to handle him just so right now, she always did, but the Hatter slept soundly and peacefully on, blissfully unaware to everything. Thank God Astra also seems to have inherited that trait; Jen didn't know how she would explain any of this to her little sister right now.

"Doctor," Vastra stepped forward, then, but her voice was...different. She sounded almost Scottish, something that instantly caught the Doctor's attention as he turned to face her sharply. She gave him a gentle, serious little smile, "I need your help with something".

"Finally," the Doctor sighed in relief, and threw the other girls a slightly accusing glare, mostly aimed at Clara and Jenny, of course, "Someone who can talk properly".

Vastra looked briefly thrown, before she quickly smiled and nodded, reaching out to take both of his hands, "I'm having trouble sleeping," she said with the same accent lacing her words.

"Oh?" he frowned very slightly, concerned, not seeming to notice that she was lightly pulling him around to the other side of the bed, "Oh, well, I wouldn't bother with that, I never bother with sleep, not unless the Hatter's having her weekly sleep, and even then I usually just like to hold her while she's sleeping..." he smiled faintly, almost fondly, "No, I mostly just do standy-up catnaps".

"Oh, really, how interesting. And when do you do those?"

"Well, generally whenever anyone else that isn't the Hatter or I start's talking..."

"Oh?"

"...I like to skip ahead to mine or the Hatter's bits. It saves time".

Jen didn't know whether or not to laugh or feel a little offended on behalf of basically everyone that crossed this version of her dad's path. Her mum was going to have her handful with this one, and Astra, but who knows what her mum might be like? She could be just the same, once she woke up and settled into this new body. That was kind of a worrying thought.

"Oh," Vastra nodded and smiled lightly, looking completely intrigued by everything he was saying, while all the while gently guiding him around to sit on the edge of the bed, sitting down beside him, still clasping his hands, "Save me the time, Doctor," she urged him, peering hopefully and innocently into his face, "Project an image of perfect sleep into the centre of my mind," she lifted his hands up to her face and brought his index fingers up to her temples, before bringing her glove covered hands up to his temples in return.

Jen's eyebrows rose curiously. Okay...so this was interesting, could Vastra even psychically link up with a Time Lord mind? She'd never really had much of a chance to learn that side of Time Lords; it was something her parents kept telling her that they would teach her, so it was quite interesting to her that Vastra might be capable of such a telepathic link.

"What, do you want to psychic link with me?" the Doctor's bushy, expressive eyebrows shot up in surprise, and he levelled her with an oddly half-amused, half-very serious frown, "The size of my brain, it would be like dropping a piano on you".

Vastra smiled, innocently, and seemed to almost brace herself, "Be gentle, then," she replied lightly, shrugging slightly.

"I'll try," he said softly, and she nodded and shut her eyes, readying herself, "Brace yourself," he warned and she sat up straighter, eyes still firmly closed, and he slowly shut his own eyes, "Piano..."

And, almost instantly, his body gave a funny little jerk, almost as if an invisible force had just slapped him across the face and he suddenly tipped sideways, utterly limp and relaxed, mouth slightly gaping in sleep, collapsing half on top of the Hatter's crossed ankles. It still wasn't enough to rouse the Time Lady, even though the entire bed wobbled with quite a bit of force, near enough to almost shake her right off the side.

"I love monkeys," Vastra smirked, speaking with her normal, English accent as she smoothly rose from the edge of the bed, gazing down at the unconscious Doctor with an amused expression, "They're so funny".

"Oh, I see," Jenny huffed, fixing her with an annoyed frown, "So people are monkeys now, are they?"

"No, dear. People are apes. Men are monkeys".

"Hey!" Jen frowned at her, moving around the side of the bed, "That's my dad you're calling a 'Monkey'".

Vastra merely smiled very slightly at that, though she refrained from making any more comment as she leaned over to help Jen gently pull the Doctor's prone, limp form across the bed, back onto his side and straighten him up, draping a blanket across him. He slept on soundly, breathing heavily, and Jen smiled slightly, taking his hand and stretching it out so that it was closer to the Hatter. She knew her parents would have appreciated the gesture, if nothing else.

"So what now?" Clara asked with a curious, hopeful look to Vastra, once the Doctor was settled.

"He needs rest," Vastra said, glancing over to her as she straightened, "They both do".

"So what do we do?" she frowned slightly anxiously, her eyes darting from Vastra and back to the Time Lords, "How do we fix them?"

"What do you mean?" Jen said slowly, looking across to her with a puzzled frown. Vastra was eyeing Clara slightly, a strange glint in her blue, sharp eyes, while Jenny looked just as bemused, "'Fix them?' I don't..."

"How do we change them back!"

Jen blinked in slight shock at the almost snappish, impatient tone in her voice, her lips parting slightly as she gaped at the girl. Clara seemed to realise how she had sounded, because a look of guilt crossed her features and she grimaced, her expression softening, but the damage had been done.

"Jen, I'm sorry, I didn't mean...I was..."

"Jenny," Vastra swiftly cut across her, before Jen had a chance to even speak, to even try to reassure Clara that she wasn't hurt, just...well, quite taken aback. The lizard lady brought her gaze up to fix upon Jenny, a guarded expression upon her scaled face, "I will be in my chamber. Would you be kind enough to fetch my veil?"

Jenny frowned slightly in confusion, regarding her wife curiously, "Why, are we expecting visitors?" she questioned, and Jen dragged her eyes off Clara to look oddly at Vastra, too.

"It would seem..." she said slowly, her eyes moving to rest on Clara, considering her with an oddly intent, almost wary glint in her gaze, "...there's already one here".

Jen's eyebrows rose and, once again, she found herself quite shocked and startled, her immediate response to jump in and defend Clara right on the tip of her tongue, but...she hesitated. It had taken her a while, but she had come to greatly respect and admire Vastra's judgment, the woman was highly intelligent and quite experienced, and very perceptive, noticing things that others missed, reading between the lines of things that went unspoken. If Vastra had noticed something or felt that they ought to be wary around Clara, even though it went against her own judgment, she had to at least concede to let Vastra carry out at least a little bit of an investigation. Jen knew that she was often blinded by her own emotions and that her own loyalty and friendship to Clara likely blinded her from seeing what Vastra might have noticed...so, if Vastra felt that something was off, she would trust her, to an excitant.

"Vastra..." Jen frowned very slightly, if a little hesitantly, "You will be...gentle, right?"

Vastra gave her a brief glance, "Of course, Miss Jen," she replied lightly...though, it wasn't exactly the most reassuring thing, and Jen continued to eye her closely. She pattered her arm briefly as she moved to leave the room, slipping out into the hallway without another glance at Clara.

Clara stared after her, a look of shock and almost hurt on her face. She looked to Jen, big brown eyes wide and confused, and Jen tried to give her a bracing smile, but it was the best she could do for her right now. She couldn't deny that Clara's words had shocked her, she knew that humans struggled with the whole concept of regeneration, but she had always just assumed that Clara, if it ever came to it, would go with the flow and handle it. Maybe she had been wrong. Clara looked to Jenny, then, almost as if she was seeking out reassure, before she bit her bottom lip and sniffed slightly when Jenny glanced at her with a wary apprehensive frown.

"What have I done wrong?" Clara asked in a rather miserable, bewildered tone, her eyes darting between Jen and Jenny, before she quickly lowered her gaze, anxiously toying with her fingers.

Jenny gave her a weak smile, just as the dinosaur gave a low, groaning growl from off in the distance, and she almost immediately jumped at the distraction, moving to peer out of the darkened window...Jen frowned and scuffed the toe of her lace-up boot against the rug covering the floorboards, unable to fully meet Clara's eyes right now. What was she supposed to say to her? 'You're acting like my parents are somehow broken, just 'cos they regenerated, and it's pretty plain that you're not handling it, but it's alright. I forgive you, but Vastra's pretty suspicious, so you're going to have to prove yourself to her and that's not going to be fun. Good luck'. Yeah...okay, that would sure go down well, she bet.

"The dinosaur doesn't seem very happy," Jenny commented, back turned to them.

"What's wrong with it?"

"I dunno," she admitted, smiling ruefully as she glanced over her shoulder to the other girls, Clara still looking utterly miserable, while Jen frowned unhappily down at her toes, "The Doctor's the one who speaks dinosaur," she shrugged very slightly.

"Astra would probably know," Jen said softly, finally forcing her gaze up, but she was careful not to look over to Clara, instead, looking down at her parents, sleeping peacefully still. She smiled faintly, risking a glance at her, "She's weirdly perspective like that...Mum might even be able to guess, just from...I don't know, how the dinosaur was growling, probably".

Clara managed a weak smile, "Yeah," she said quietly, sighing slightly as she looked back down at the Time Lords, a sad glint in her eyes, "That sounds like the Hatter..." she trailed off, almost wistfully.

Jen frowned slightly and glanced back over to Jenny, who was eyeing Clara with a troubled look. Clara really was struggling, wasn't she? This whole regeneration thing had completely blindsided her, she was almost acting as if the Doctor and the Hatter were dead, rather than lying before her right now. It was hard for Jen to fully understand it, she tried hard to try and see it from Clara's perceptive, but the closest she could come to was that it must have come as a great shock, but shock wasn't the only thing going on with Clara right now. It was like she was...grieving, but yet somehow denying the fact that the Doctor and the Hatter were right in front of her, still very much alive.

"Excuse me, ma'am," Jenny said to Clara, giving her a politely pointed look, "The wife doesn't like to be kept waiting".

Jen looked back over to Clara, who seemed to be almost examining the Doctor and the Hatter, a look of confusion and a deep frown furring her brow. She sighed slightly, "You go ahead, Jenny," she told the human girl, giving her a small smile, "She'll be down in a minute".

Jenny nodded and cast Clara a swift glance, before turning on her heel and leaving the room, leaving the door open just a crack. Jen turned back to look at Clara, watching her silently, waiting...she didn't have to wait long, before Clara shook her head and opened her mouth.

"Where did they get those faces?" she wondered aloud, truly seeming puzzled, her eyes tracing the Hatter's new face. She moved to kneel at the edge of the bed, crossing her arms on top of the blankets, almost touching the Hatter, but not quite, "All those freckles...how did she get them? And his wrinkles?" she looked sharply up to Jen, frowning deeply at her, "They're brand new. How can he have grey hair? He only just got it!"

"Regenerations...a lottery," Jen shrugged, her gaze moving back over to the Time Lords, her eyes softening, "That's what they told me, anyway. It's not like they have a choice..." she frowned to herself, knowing that she wasn't entirely telling the truth on that score from her parents stories, but she thought it best to not go into detail right now. Clara looked frazzled and confused enough as it was, "Clara..." she looked back to her, watching her closely, "You do know this doesn't change anything, yeah? It's still them..."

She blinked and hastily lowered her eyes, "I know," she insisted hurriedly, but her expression said otherwise, "I do. I...I know that..."

Her eyebrows lifted slightly, "Not sounding too confident there," she remarked slightly pointedly, narrowing her eyes very slightly on the girl.

She sighed and nodded, almost guiltily, "It's just..."

"Yeah?"

"Nothing," she shook her head quickly, and Jen barely held back the urge to scoff and roll her eyes, settling for crossing her arms across her chest and levelling her with a look, almost to say, 'Come on, out with it already'. She released a long breath though her lips and briefly caught her lip between her teeth, glancing up at Jen, "You're not worried at all about...well, about them not being like your mum and dad anymore?"

"Clara," Jen gave her a slightly amused look, "They're still my mum and dad, no matter what face they've got".

"I know, I know, but...but what if they were different, what if they're not the same people you liked anymore?"

"Doesn't matter," she replied instantly, firmly, meeting her eyes confidently, "They'll always be mum and dad to me, besides..." she smiled slightly, "I love them and they love me, isn't that all that matters at the end of the day?"

Clara gave her a small smile, but her expression remained troubled and she looked almost torn, her eyes drifting back to the Doctor and the Hatter, just as the Doctor gave a slight, light snore. Jen watched her as she slowly reached out to straighten the blanket that covered the Hatter from the neck down, and wondered just what was going through Clara's head right now. A low, guttural, sad growl bellowed out from outside and Jen looked out towards the dinosaur, visible through the window over the rooftops of London. She watched it sadly, poor thing...it seemed lonely.

"I am alone..." a soft, Scottish accented voice murmured, and Jen's head turned sharply, just as Clara's eyes widened in shock. The Doctor was still fast asleep, but he was speaking, "The world which shook at my feet...and the trees...and the sky...have gone," his face briefly screwed up, almost in misery, "I am alone now. Alone..."

Clara stared at him, "Are you translating?" she asked hopefully, leaning slightly further over the bed towards him, peering intently at his face.

"The wind bits now, and the world is grey...and I am alone here. Can't see me...doesn't see me...can't see me..."

Something inside of Jen broke and she suddenly, quite unexpectedly, felt tears threaten to burn in her eyes and her throat to constrict. She released a shaky breathe and moved around the bed, crossing around to perch on her edge of the bed, reaching out to take his hand in hers. She clasped it between both of her hands and bent down so that she could bring it up to her face, closing her eyes as she pressed it into her cheek.

"It's alright, Dad," she whispered, and hoped desperately that she could hear her, feel her presence and that it brought comfort to him. She kissed his hand and smiled as she opened her eyes, lowering his hand back onto the blankets, but not releasing it, looking softly into his face, "It's alright. Rest, just rest..."

"Boy!" a shout came from the hallway, and Jen rolled her eyes and sighed to herself, while Clara jumped and turned around sharply, just as Strax came marching into the room, looking positively thunderous. He fixed his glare upon Clara, "Madam Vastra is waiting".

"Okay," Clara shook her head, and straightened herself with a slight adjustment of her mini-skirt, moving to join Strax over by the door, "Whatever..."

Jen gave her a small, wary smile, "Have fun, Clara".

"You're not coming?" she blinked slightly, startled by that news.

"I think this is one thing I can miss out on, honestly," she said with an apologetic tone, before shrugging, "Besides, someone's got to check on Astra, make sure she hasn't been woken up by all this bloody noise..." she gave Strax a pointed glare at that...an expression that looked startling similar to one of the Hatter's disapproving frowns.

Strax didn't seem to catch the message, giving Clara a stern look, "I will convey you to her chamber," he informed her, standing tall and proud, before holding his arm out towards her, "May I take your coat?"

Clara gave him a puzzled look and glanced down at herself, "Not wearing a coat," she pointed out.

"What's all that?" he demanded, pointing a thick, short finger at her skirt and cardigan...Jen barely held back a laugh, ducking her head and fussing with the edge of the blanket covering the Doctor, just to keep her smile from view.

"Clothes!"

"May I take your clothes?"

Jen couldn't stop the laugh that did escape her at that, while Clara gave him a slight eye roll and pushed his finger down.

"Probably not," she replied in a hushed, but stern whisper, shooting Jen a final glare, before she turned and headed for the door, slipping outside.

Strax looked rather confused still, even as he turned to follow her, "Are you wearing a hat?" he asked after her.

"It's hair!"

"No, I think it's a hat. Would you like me to check?"

Jen laughed again and shook her head fondly as their voices disappeared down the hallway, growing softer and softer, until even her sensitive hearing could no longer hear it. She felt a little bad for leaving Clara alone to Vastra's questioning, but she also knew that she wouldn't be able to stop herself from jumping in and saying something, and she feared that Clara might be more reserved if she was in the same room. Less likely to speak freely about what was bothering her, after all, this was Jen's parents, it could be a sensitive topic. She looked at her parents and sighed, their breathing slow and even, almost in sync with one another, and she felt relief. They'd be okay, they always were, she'd had to get used to her new mum and dad when she had stumbled back into their lives a year ago, she'd just do it again. She kind of looked forward to it, but she did wish she had the chance to say goodbye to the other two. Hugged them one last time, told them that she loved them...but those things went without saying, she had learnt.

She rose from the bed and began moving around the room, putting out the oil lamps that burned brightly through the room, slowly casting the entire room into darkness, until the only light left was from the full moon in the sky outside. She'd come back and check on them later, but she doubted if they were going anywhere tonight.

"Night, Mum, Dad," she called softly as she left the room, gently shutting the door behind her.

Rest was what they needed and rest was what they would get.

...

Rest, however, was not the Doctor's first priority. That was, of course, his wife...the scent of apples filled his nose, sweet and tart, crisp on his tongue as he breathed deeply, eyes firmly shut. He wasn't sure how long he'd been asleep, possibly hours, possibly seconds, he didn't care that much, truth be told, he just needed to make sure that the Hatter was safe and well, that she hadn't gotten to sick from the regeneration. He breathed in deeply again though his nose and felt briefly at peace. She was close, had to be, but not close enough...His eyes snapped open to find an unfamiliar ceiling above his head, dark and gloomy, within a bedroom that his jumbled mind seemed to desperately try and place. He'd been in it before, he was positive, but he just couldn't place when or why, and if it was important. It felt important, but not pressingly important, so he pushed that aside and focused on his biggest issue: the Hatter.

That was instantly resolved by merely turning his head to his left and finding the sleeping Time Lady right beside him, her face, fair and flecked by the cutest, delicate freckles he'd ever seen, turned skywards, smoothed out by sleep and peace, hands neatly folded on top of her chest, moving with each breath. He smiled slowly, tenderly, and inched himself closer to her, until his nose was very nearly touching her cheek...something inside of him whispered that she'd probably laugh at him being this close to her in her sleep, but he didn't care. His eyes roamed her face, taking it all in, every freckle that dotted her nose and cheeks, one even dotted the bow of her upper lip and a few had found their way onto her neck, a wild mess of coppery-blonde curls covering her pillows, while matching eyelashes fanned out across high cheek bones. He truly did adore this woman, even in his still addled mind, which he was well aware wasn't fully functioning yet, he could recognise that. He wanted her to open her eyes so he could admire the striking blue that she had, having had barely a chance to do so yet...but he held back. The Hatter had been through it with this regeneration, she needed to sleep it off and come the morning, she'd probably be all better. He'd let her sleep, then, let her have some peace and silence, even if he longed for her to be by his side. He nuzzled his nose against hers and smiled as her head turned very slightly in her sleep towards his.

"Sleep, love," he murmured to her, pressing a kiss against her forehead, "Sleep and feel better. I'll get a head start for us".

He forced himself to pull away and inhaled the room's air again...that scent was familiar, similar to the Hatter, but yet sweeter, younger. It didn't carry the same sense of age...Jen, his Jen-Jen. Oh, this must be her room, his eyes quickly roamed the gloomy bedroom, the walls covered in rich, red wallpaper, while bits and pieces were scattered about the place, all very neat and orderly, as one might expect from Jen. It wasn't overly personal, though, one would barely notice it was Jen's room, if it wasn't for her scent filling it. He took another smell of the air and his eyebrows lifted, catching another smell, a chalky one.

Bing-go! His eyes lit up in delight and he eagerly tossed aside the blanket that had been placed over him, realising only a little late that he was possibly bouncing about the place a bit much for the Hatter, but she didn't stir. He dropped onto his hands and knees and began practically hovering the floorboards, briefly checking beneath the bed...nope, not under there. He followed the smell all the way over to the radiator on the far side of the wall and, sniffing all the while, crept his hand beneath the heater and grinned as nimble fingers caught on a stick of chalk that had rolled away and been forgotten. He withdrew it and smelt it, before experimentally running it across a couple of the bars of the radiator. That would do just nicely...he immediately set to work, concentrating hard on his task, sketching and drawing...

...

Jen smiled to herself as she peered carefully around the slightly opened doorframe of the makeshift nursery/spare bedroom that Astra was staying in, tucked up beneath a handmade, patchwork blanket that the Hatter had apparently pieced together herself during her pregnancy, just one of the many, the Doctor had fondly remarked when they had left it in the room, much to Vastra and Jenny's polite attempts to refuse such a keep sake. Astra adored the blanket, one little hand fisted into the soft, pink and blue fabric, while bright yellow stars were stitched and planets of varying shapes and sizes scattered across it...none of the colours exactly matched, but the Time Tot loved it and it was quite bright. She looked peaceful, which was a relief for Jen to see, since it had been a terribly eventful day.

The sound of a window being suddenly opened caused Jen to blink, her head turning sharply back around to look out into the hallway, her eyes falling on her own bedroom door. It might be funny to think, but she had come to learn that almost all of the windows and doors in this house had their own unique sound when opened. Some scuffed, others tended to almost catch and grind, her window tended to move smoothly, but with a loud scuffing noise of wood moving against wood. She knew that sound well, it was her bedroom window, she was sure of it...but there was no way to open it from the outside, she may or may not have needed to test that in the past and come up embarrassingly short, and the only people who could have opened it were completely out to it...

Unless they had woken up!

She cast another quick glance over to Astra, just to make sure she was still sleeping, and gently shut the door until it was just ajar, enough that if Astra did wake, she would have a sliver of light from the hallway to see. Jen swiftly walked down the hallway and grasped the brass door handle, turning it smoothly and stepping inside, her eyes immediately assaulted by the bright light that filled the room. She had turned the lamps off when she had left, but that was the least of her concerns, her eyes widening at the sight of the room, and the very empty space of bed that the Doctor had been lying on when she had left the room, the Hatter sleeping soundly, still, at least.

The entire room was covered in chalk drawings and writing, a mixture of complex mathematical equations in English and Gallifreyan, along with patches of seemingly random, meaningless sketches, that meant nothing. Most of it made little sense, to be perfectly honest, not that Jen was really taking the time to really study it all, she was rather shocked by how quickly her father had managed to completely write on almost every surface of the room, floorboards included, the rug rolled up as much as it could go without moving the bed, while a large, bare circle in the middle of the room remained clean of chalky writing. She could only assume that he must have been sitting there and writing away.

"Oi!" a loud, Scottish accented voice cried out loudly from the window, and Jen immediately turned towards the open window, lace curtains fluttering gently in the breeze, "Oi! Oi, big, sexy woman...!"

Jen dashed over towards the window and stuck her head out, the cold of the evening air hitting her cheeks and fluttering some of the fine hairs that had escaped from her plait, but she couldn't see her father. He sounded close, he must be running about the rooftops or something, she knew from personal experience that it was fairly easy to do so, but in his current state? She grimaced and closed her eyes in near despair. She seriously wasn't surprised by the idea that her father might trip and fall off the roof right now, though; would it even matter if he did? Could he kill himself while still, technically, regenerating? She didn't want to find out and, sighing, snapped her eyes open.

"Dad!" she called through the window, "Come back! Don't move, just wait...!" she moved to swing her leg over the window sill, trying to prepare herself for the notion that she might have to actually tackle him, just to save him...Something landed on her shoulder and lightly stopped her movements, and Jen was not ashamed to admit that she might have screamed, just a tiny bit.

"Easy," a light, amused, but tired voice said, and she turned her head so sharply and brought her hands up to defend herself, only to immediately freeze upon the sight of her mother standing before her, wide awake, if a little pale and drained looking, but a tiny smile tugging at her full lips.

"Mum!" she gasped, very nearly toppling off the window sill.

"My Jen-Jen," the Hatter said fondly, and reached out to gently take her elbow and help her back into the room, steadying her...but, suddenly, she gave a pained gasp and swayed slightly on her own feet, causing Jen to hastily grab her arms, partly holding her up as she seemed to struggle to remain on her feet. She groaned and shut her eyes, her head falling almost on Jen's shoulder, "Oh, dear, dear, dear, me...it's too soon," she mumbled weakly, voice coming out almost in a rasp, "Not ready, not yet. I'm still only half-cooked..."

"You need to lie down, Mum," Jen tried to urge her, trying to half-carry, half-drag her back over to the bed, "Don't worry about dad, I'll go after him..."

"No," she sounded slightly stronger, and she managed to regain some strength in her legs, enough to be able to stand largely on her own, though Jen kept her hands firmly on her arms. Bright blue eyes met baby blue, a look of determination in them, even though she looked as if she was about to keel over at the slightest glance, "Don't worry about the Doctor, he'll come back. He always does".

"But...he's not exactly in the best state of mind, is he? Someone really should go after him..."

"He'll be fine. It's probably just what he needs, a chance to run about and think, clear some of those post-regeneration cobwebs".

Jen seriously doubted that, frowning slightly as she eyed the Hatter, who looked simply terrible, "Eh, I dunno, Mum," she said slowly, warily, not entirely sure if her mother was thinking one-hundred percent clearly right now herself, "Dad's in a pretty bad state mentally right now..."

Suddenly, a horrible flash of something bright yellow flared in the distant and a great, pained growl rang out through the air, unlike anything that the dinosaur had given before. It was horrible and made something inside of Jen gasp and want to cringe away from, but instead she and the Hatter immediately turned around to look outside the window, and what a horrible sight they were greeted by. Over the rooftops and between chimneys, the dinosaur was thrashing about in a plume of fire and smoke, screaming in pain as it burned alive before all of their eyes.

"No," the Hatter gasped, horrified and shocked, "What...?" she shook her head, looking even more sickly, her voice barely a whisper, "That's an innocent creature!"

"I don't understand," Jen breathed, appalled, but unable to take her eyes off the horrific sight, knowing in her hearts that she would likely see this sight in her nightmares for weeks to come, "Who would do this?"

The Hatter was silent for a moment, an agonisingly long moment, staring transfixed in horror as the dinosaur was consumed by the flames, before it collapsed out of sight of their view, smoke still swirling into the navy blue sky. Jen looked to her and barely held back a gasp, seeing an angry, fierce expression upon her mother's face, a steely glint in her eyes. It made the blue of her eyes positively glow.

"I don't know, Jen," she said, ice positively lacing every word, "But I shall find out".

"Strax!" Vastra's distant, muffled voice shouted from somewhere below them, "Bring the carriage! Now!"

"Stay here and look after Astra, Jen," the Hatter said as she immediately turned on her heel and broke free from Jen's grasp, striding confidently towards the door without any wobbling, "We shall return shortly".

Jen opened her mouth to protest, wanting to insist that the Hatter should stay behind, that she had said so herself that she wasn't ready, but the door had already shut before a signal noise could leave her throat, leaving her staring at the door with a hand partly raised to it...slowly, she groaned and dropped her hand, closing her eyes in frustration. She thought that she could now understand just a little bit about why Max and Alice always seemed so fond and exasperated whenever they told stories of their time travelling with her mother. She hadn't changed one bit.

...

To say that Vastra, Jenny, and Clara had been startled when the Hatter had come jogging down the sweeping staircase towards them, just as they were draping their cloaks and coats about themselves to depart for the carriage, would be quite the underestimate. Vastra eyes had widened at the sight, while Clara had to take a double take and just about dropped her coat, and Jenny had cried out, 'Are you sure about this, ma'am?' all the while chasing after the Time Lady, who hadn't paused to say anything more than a quick 'hurry along, now' to the three of them before dashing out of the door. It was rather amusing, though the Hatter had slightly more pressing concerns at the moment, she did allow a small grin to touch her lips.

Strax hardly seemed to notice the Hatter amongst them as he brought the carriage up to the back kitchen door, the Hatter quickly throwing herself inside without a pause, and the others swiftly joined her, Clara squeezing into the seat next to her with a rather obviously concerned frown aimed at the Time Lady, while Jenny and Vastra took up the seat across from them, eyeing up the Time Lady with matching expressions of alarm and hesitation, seemingly not quite knowing what to make of her sudden return from the unconscious world.

"Were you awake the whole time?" Clara asked, just as Vastra gave Strax the signal for them to move on...the carriage jerking sharply as Strax commanded the horses to move, and with haste.

"Not the whole time," the Hatter replied with a watchful eye out of the window, her brow creased very slightly as she looked at the snowy, back courtyard, which they were quickly being carried from, "Just...for practically all of it. And sleeping isn't exactly how I would describe it, either; more like...I had my eyes closed and wasn't speaking".

"But you were alert, then?" she questioned, slightly more insistently, and the Hatter could practically feel her slightly incredulous glare on the side of her face, burning into her.

"If by alert you mean that I am aware of everything that occurred in the bedroom while I had my eyes closed and seemingly asleep, then...yes. I was quite alert".

"You have got to be kidding...!"

"Out of the way, human scum!" Strax shouted gleefully from up the front of the carriage, just as their ride seemed to take a sharp corner, causing those within the small space within the carriage to sway with the motion, Clara very nearly ending up finding herself planted in the Hatter's lap, if it wasn't for the Time Lady's quick hand to grab her shoulder and push her backwards, "Hi-yah!" he continued to cheer, over the thundering sound of hooves and squeak of the carriage wheels, "Jurassic emergency! Yah!"

"My goodness," the Hatter laughed slightly, grinning as she dropped her hand from Clara and looked at the wall of the carriage, separating Strax and them, "I do love someone who enjoys their job so much! How refreshing!" she glanced at Clara, who was still giving her a rather annoyed frown, and playfully battered at her shoulder, accidently hitting her ribs and causing the girl to flinch in surprise, though she seemed oblivious, "Oh, stop looking all frowny-face, Clara! And do pay attention, dear, that's a good girl..."

"Eh, Hatter?" Jenny cleared her throat, giving the Time Lady a slightly bemused, if polite look, as if she was struggling to quite know how to treat her now.

"Yes, Jenny?" she flashed her a reassuring smile.

"What do you thinks' happened?"

Her smile slipped at that question, her lips pressing into a briefly thin, tight line and a line appeared deeply between her eyes, and she brought her hands together in her lap, toying with her fingers, one twisting her wedding and engagement ring around her finger. She looked away from Jenny, her gaze returning to the window as darkened, gloomy streets passed by them.

"That, my dear, remains to be seen," she said quietly, gravely, and with a great heaviness, "There are far too many factors we do not fully know, but whatever the case may be, I think it safe to say that it is very curious and dangerous," her eyes suddenly snapped back from the window, landing on Vastra and Jenny, "Having said that, those that are responsible will be found and stopped. That, I can assure you".

A heavy, lengthy silence followed that declaration, and the Time Lady turned her gaze back to her window, sighing heavily. Clara glanced at Vastra and then back to the Hatter, only the back of her head visible to her.

"What about the Doctor?" she asked her, hesitantly, "You said he'd taken off before you had woken up..."

The Hatter smirked knowingly to herself, not turning her head to reveal her face, "Oh, I'm sure he'll turn up," she said lightly, "He has excellent timing...or terrible. I've yet to decide on that account".

Vastra smiled very slightly at that, before she swiftly cleared her expression and turned her gaze upwards, "Strax!" she shouted, and banged her gloved fists up on the swaying carriage ceiling above their heads, "Come on, Strax!" the sound of a whip being cracked broke the air and the carriage took up noticeably more speed and more swaying, causing her to grin, "That's better!"

The Time Lady frowned in disapproval and gave Vastra a look, "I shouldn't think that a giant, burning dinosaur is going to disappear any time soon," she remarked grimly, "Must we abuse more innocents for our own needs?"

"Hatter..."

"Strax!" she pounded her own fist against the ceiling, ignoring Vastra's startled expression, "If you use that whip one more time in my presence, you and your mistress will face me personally! That's a promise!"

And with that, she fell silent again and turned her thoughtful gaze back to the window, though she did smile very slightly to herself when saw the whip fly passed her window, landing on the road as they went dashing on by it. Apparently, this version of her wasn't all that bothered about using her own power that she held over others to get what she wanted...she wasn't entirely sure how to feel about that fact yet, but now was not the time to explore her thoughts on the subject, not when the smell of burning flesh began to fill her nose and cause her to almost gage, not when she heat of the great fire began to very subtly heat and warm the temperature of the cool evening air, not enough for the humans to take note of, but she felt it.

They rounded a corner of a street and swayed sharply, before they slowly began to slow as the carriage reached the Thames River, the air thick with smoke and heat now, heat that even the humans couldn't ignore. Strax brought the carriage to a stop on top of a bridge that sat above the water, and the Hatter was already scrambling for the lock on the door before the horses hooves had finished pounding the earth, climbing swiftly out and landing with a slight stagger on the dirt. Clara hastily climbed out and grabbed her arm, balancing her.

"Thank you, dear," the Hatter murmured absently, reaching down to pat her hand on her arm, before pulling herself free, her gaze already fixed on one figure that stood overlooking the burning remains, flames climbing high into the air from the water below, the man dressed in a men's nightshirt and old slippers, "Sweetheart!"

"The Doctor," Jenny gasped from behind her, as the Hatter immediately began walking the short distant over to where he stood, looking on in horror from his position standing on the stone railing.

"What's he doing here?" Clara wondered aloud, sounding shocked.

A beeping noise sounded, almost like a car being locked and the carriage door slammed shut of its own accord, but the Hatter still didn't look back as she came to stand next to the Doctor, placing a hand on the back of his leg, looking up to him with a worried frown.

"There is trouble," Vastra said to the girls, evidently not in anyway surprised, "Where else would he be?"

"Sweetheart," the Hatter murmured soothingly to the Doctor, rubbing his leg through the thick, woollen stockings someone had stuck him in, brow creased with worry, "My sweetheart, speak to me. Share your sorrow".

"She was scared, Hatter," he breathed, his voice barely audible above the crackling of flames. He looked down to her, his eyes damp with unshed tears, a look of grief and guilt written plainly across his features, "She was scared and alone. We brought her here and look what they did..." he waved a hand down towards the flames, swallowing thickly in despair.

The Time Lady felt like throwing up, she could feel the acidic taste of guilt and anger burning at the back of her throat, the familiar bitterness of disappointment and misery tingling her eyes, making her want to either shout in fury and hit something, or burst into tears and sob all the feelings out. But she didn't do either of those things; she licked her lips and almost gagged from the sickly taste of burning flesh in the air, and curled her left hand into a fist at her side, fingernails digging into her flesh.

"I know, Doctor," she said softly, closing her eyes and hanging her head in sorrow, "I know...this injustice will not go without punishment".

Vastra stepped up closer to the Time Lords, "Who or what could have done this thing?" she questioned them, frowning deeply.

The Doctor looked at the Hatter, before sighing and shaking his head, "No," he said quietly, turning around to fix Vastra with an almost dark glare.

She blinked, taken aback, "I'm sorry?"

"What he means, Vastra..." the Hatter cut in smoothly, her expression suddenly quite blank of emotion, but for a cool, calculating glint in her eyes, eyes narrowed very slightly as they turned onto the lizard lady, "Is that you are asking the wrong question, the question is far more simple and easy to answer, and it ought to be something you already well know".

Vastra merely looked even more confused.

"The question is how," Strax spoke up from his position still sitting on top of the carriage, holding the horse's reigns between his hands, "The flesh itself has been combusted..."

"No, no, shut up!" the Doctor suddenly snapped, impatiently, turning back around to wave a dismissive hand towards Strax, who instantly fell silent with a slightly taken aback blink. He scowled darkly and cast his gaze over Clara, Jenny, and Vastra, who were staring up at him, "What do you all have for brains, pudding?"

"Doctor," the Hatter lightly warned, but he was apparently already on a bit of a rant.

"Look at you!" he continued, huffing, "Why can't I meet a decent species? Planet of the pudding brains!"

"Enough, Doctor!" the Time Lady raised her voice slightly louder, and he instantly fell silent and looked down to her, a look of hesitation on his face as he eyed her stern glare warily. She narrowed her eyes slightly, "Be angry, sweetheart," she went on, softer and more gentle, "Be fiercely determined to track down those who did this deed, be loud, if you must, but what you will not be, what I will not accept or allow you to be, is rude to our friends and allies, who have been generous enough for one night," she paused, allowing her words to sink in, before fixing him with a steady look, "So, explain it to them, without insults, thank you".

"But, Hatter..."

"I said explain, or so help me, Doctor...!" she pointed a warning finger at him, glaring angrily and her tone positively challenging.

The Doctor sighed and glanced at their waiting friends, before pausing and throwing the Hatter a quick glance, "You know, dear," he began thoughtfully, regarding her curiously, his silvery blue eyes lighting up slightly and his lip curling into a slight smirk, "I do rather think I like how bossy this regeneration is".

"We are not flirting above the burning corpse of a dinosaur, Doctor...words that I never expected to utter, but ones I mean, all the same".

He smirked at her, amused, "Yes, my lady," he said with the same glint in his eyes...which caused her to blush and duck her head embarrassedly, before he quickly grew serious and fixed his attention onto Vastra, Jenny, Clara, and Strax, "A dinosaur burns in the heart of London," he began, his voice grim, "Nothing left but smoke and flame. The question is..." his bushy eyebrows rose and his sharp gaze fixed intently on Vastra, "...have there been any similar murders?"

Vastra shared a look with Jenny, "Yes," she said slowly, a look of realisation dawning upon her scaly features, "Yes, by the Goddess, there have".

"Look at them all, gawking!" he waved a hand towards the growing crowd of onlookers that had slowly began to form along the banks of the river and down the bridge, staring and gasping at the flames, pushing and shoving people aside to try and get a better look...but for one very still figure amidst them all, a figure that the Hatter's eyes were glued to. He held up his hand, then, "Question two: If all the pudding brains are gawking, then what is he?"

He pointed across the river, over to the other bank, where through the smoke and gloom, and the flickering glow of the flames, a figure could be seen turning and walking calmly along the footpath that ran along the river bank, not sparing the burning dinosaur so much of a glance, not even while stepping around shocked and curious onlookers that crossed his path. The Hatter's eyes trailed him as he walked, unblinking, even though her eyes burned from the smoke. He was of average build and height, dressed in a typical black Victorian coat and black trousers, a top hat upon his head, slightly tilted to one side.

"He seems remarkably unmoved by the available spectacle," Vastra remarked with a wary frown, while everyone turned to stare at the mysterious figure.

"Do you think that is whoever...?" Clara began...

Only for a suddenly loud splash to break through the air. Everyone turned sharply around, save for the Hatter, who was still watching the figure disappear into the darkness, to look at the spot where the Doctor had been standing, having just jumped into the water and swiftly taken off without so much as a 'Goodbye' to the Hatter, or so it would seem. Clara immediately darted forward to lean over the railing, her eyes widening in horror.

"What's he doing?" she cried, "He'll drown!"

"You do seem to enjoy underestimating us, Clara, dear," the Hatter commented lightly, turning around to fix the girl with an amused, if slightly confused stare, "Do calm yourself, now, before you end up following him...I'm afraid that you likely would drown doing that, unlike him".

"Hatter! How can you be so...so...calm!"

"He'll be fine," she smiled, shrugging lightly, "He's quite independent, really, and he's not about to let a mystery like this one slip from his hands, he just...still needs a little breathing time to sort himself out first," she blinked, then, her hand slowly lifting up to touch her forehead and her eyes squinted slightly, "Hmm, now, that is a little alarming".

"What is?"

She frowned slowly, leaning slightly forward, peering at her intently as she lifted a hand up...only to end up touching the air a good foot to Clara's left, around the same height as Clara's face, however. She poked at the air and shook her head slightly.

"I just...thought there was two of you..." she said slowly, voice lighter than normal, and higher, "My mistake".

She grinned and giggled slightly, and then...suddenly, her eyes rolled back in her head and she tipped forward, only saved from completely smashing her new face into the dirt by Clara darting forward and catching her, while Jenny and Vastra hurried forward to help. But the Hatter was out cold, this time, seemingly, for real, and Clara could only groan at the worst possible timing.

The poor Doctor definitely feels the effects of regeneration worse than the Hatter, given what we know about the Timeless Child and all of that, it makes sense, but the Hatter also doesn't have a great time at it. I kind of feel like she held it all together as much as she could, and then kind of ended up paying for it, but at least we got a taste of what sort of Time Lady she'd going to be. I've got to say, the Doctor's whole scene between with Clara and the bedroom thing reminds me so much of being at work and around dementia patients. I feel like I'm in danger of having a conversation like this one of these days. Fun fact, I wrote half of this chapter on night shift, which only brought the whole dementia patient mindset into my head all the more. I feel like that might have been where the writers were going with this. It's not completely off the mark, either.

Next chapter, we'll finally get to see this new Hatter's outfit, but before then, we'll have to get the Hatter done up in a Victorian dress, you just know I have to. But, anyway, I hope you guys enjoyed the first chapter of this story and I look forward to hearing how you found the new Hatter, thus far. Please review! :)