An: So help me I'm referencing Batman in my titles now, truly this fic is going off the rails.

For the weeks that it took them to fully settle in, all was mostly fine. But Jenny got slightly bored of the maid-like work, for 13 Paternoster Row took a little more maintenance than a small attic flat.

"Coulda stayed inna workhouse an' done this." She muttered as she scrubbed pans in the kitchen.

When Vastra bought a horse and cab, Jenny considered it the last straw. She threw her brush into the pail with a clang.

"Not that I mind 'osses, I used to doss with 'em when I worked wiv the dray man, but if you think I'm muckin' out a stable as well as everythin' you c'n get a new bed warmer!"

In a fit of diplomacy, Vastra placed an ad in the paper and eventually hired a man called Wesley Parker to help around the yard and care for the horse.

"It'll make it easier for me to move about." Vastra cajoled Jenny as the young woman moodily ate her dinner. "Certainly I'll be less likely to be found out or questioned if I'm in a carriage than wandering the streets."

"Still gotta do the 'ousework though don' I."

"Well, Parker said his wife wouldn't mind cleaning now and then."

"Wot about Wesley? Wot if 'e starts arskin' questions?"

"I don't think he's the type."

"An' 'ow we gonna afford to pay 'im an' 'is wife if we ain't got jobs? S'not like we c'n rely on our savings forever if we're gonna be this extravagant."

Vastra sighed and gave Jenny up for being in a bad mood. She suspected it might be boredom.

And Jenny was bored. Restless even at night, tossing and turning until Vastra told her firmly to either stop or go for a walk. She chose the latter, wandering London at night always soothed her, despite the amount of trouble she'd been in at times. She contemplated whether that was why it soothed her, the risk of a situation arising.

The decrease in chores, what with Mrs Parker coming round to dust a couple of times a week and Parker looking after the horses and the yard, meant it was really only meals for herself, and if she fancied making something for Parker. Walking through the market, buying meat and vegetables, she felt her fingers twitch. But she truly was respectable now, even if it was based off robbing a bank. And she didn't want to go to jail; even if Vastra didn't need a bed warmer any more, she still depended on Jenny. She wouldn't go as far as to call the Silurian a friend but they'd been partners in crime and that always counted for something.

Vastra too suffered from restlessness. She couldn't well read all day, every day and if she went round the markets too much, they'd have no money left, not to mention room in the house. Jenny bought her blood from the butchers and cuts of meat so even hunting wasn't necessary.

They lived in a three storey house and yet they seemed to get in under each other's feet in a way they hadn't when living in a small attic room. There were spats and flaring of tempers over ridiculous things, petty squabbles about a moved book or a misplaced cup of tea.

Vastra tried to make it up to Jenny by taking her out in the horse and carriage. Jenny stared out the window, fascinated by how different the world seemed from the height of the cab. The houses blurred together, people's faces seemed to gape and then disappear into only brief glimpses. A feather, a hat, a purse. The cab jolted over the roads; Parker had just been told to drive to any nice spots he might know rather than any particular destination and then to take them all home.

They passed down a major street, full of bustling cafés. Jenny had a brief idea of visiting one with Vastra but her musings on the impossibility of the idea was interrupted by the sight of a wanted poster; in particular the sum of money underneath being offered as a reward. She undid the coach door and leapt down to grab it.

"Jenny!" Vastra darted up in alarm, calling for Parker to stop the carriage, which caused consternation on the busy street. "Jenny! What are you do-" The young woman hooked herself back in and brandished it in Vastra's face.

She grinned excitedly, closing the door behind her and animatedly pointing at the poster once more. "What about trackin' 'im down? Looks a villain."

Vastra eyed the tatty poster disdainfully. "What?"

"Track 'im down. Hand 'im in fer the reward. We could do that. Trackin' down criminals. Like you did with the Tong gang. Only we'd get money for it. An' quite a bit too."

"We don't particularly need money you know; I know you've been worried but we-"

"Well not at the moment but it's never good to rely on it an' 'sides we do need an occupation."

"Tracking down criminals."

Jenny was about to nod vigorously and then realised why Vastra was looking amused. "Well obviously not us! But like…other criminals. Dangerous ones. You c'd do it. You c'n fight n stuff right? An' I can be scout, find stuff out, talk to people, like I used ter do fer the police an' the gangs back in the day." Vastra looked at the poster again. "You'd be 'elpin' people too. Cleanin' up the streets. Women wouldn't be snatched away no more. Harmless match girls wouldn't be accosted down dark alleys."

"Alright. We'll look into it." Vastra sighed, mostly because she found she couldn't disappoint the eagerness on Jenny's face.

Jenny grinned and rolled up the poster. "I'll see what I c'n find out then ma'am."

"Be careful!" Vastra called after her as she leapt down from the carriage again. "Really…" she massaged her temples. Still, it was an intriguing idea. The Doctor had wanted her to help people and working in the circus hadn't been enough, maybe this would impress him more?

Jenny returned to 13 Paternoster Row, filthy and tired but triumphant. "I found out where they hide." She grinned, writing down an address as Vastra tried to berate her on coming home at quite this hour of the night and looking like she'd been dancing in a sewer.

"And am I to go…find him?"

"Well try not to eat 'im if you want the reward." Jenny snarked as she stripped off her clothes ready for a bath.

"Well I suppose I'd better dress for battle then. Not that one could call an encounter with an ape battle." Vastra tugged out the small trunk where she stored her Silurian outfit and changed into it, the light mail jangling slightly and catching Jenny's attention.

"Wot is that?" She paused in letting her hair down out its bun.

"It is what Silurian warriors wear."

"Oh."

Vastra didn't particularly want to expand on that subject and walked out.

"Be careful!" Jenny called after her. She felt a pang of worry but Vastra could take care of herself. And it was only one man.

Still, she waited anxiously in the hallway, pacing back and forth, twisting her hands in her skirts until the door opened and Vastra came in.

"Are you alright?" she rushed to check for injuries but couldn't see any obvious ones.

"I'm fine, Jenny." Vastra fended off Jenny in order to shuck her cloak. "The man was exactly where you said he'd be and was hardly in a condition to fight. Really, you'd think a criminal would save some of the money from his exploits rather than just drink it away. Or at least buy a weapon."

"Well where is 'e then?"

"I dropped him off outside the police station."

"At this time of night? But they'll be closed! Though I suppose it is nearly mornin'" Jenny heard the chimes of the mantel clock and felt a sleepless night catch up with her.

"Well he's securely tied up. And if it's nearly morning then he won't have to wait long to be arrested."

"What if someone unties him?"

"I left a note."

"You left a note?"

"Merely detailing that this was a particular criminal they had been looking for."

"Tell me you din't sign it."

"Only with the information that they could call me V."

"V fer vigilante." Jenny shook her head. "An' what about the reward?"

"Hardly worth claiming. We were able to find him in one day. Besides, I suspect he's not exactly the most wanted in all of London." Vastra shrugged. "I almost feel guilty for having handed him over, he was so pitiful."

"Guilty?"

"Well, sorry."

"Sorry?"

"Almost." Vastra shrugged. "Besides, are we not criminals? Should we tie ourselves up as well, hand ourselves in?"

"S'not the fact 'e's a criminal, it's you feelin' sorry fer a human."

"Almost." Vastra pointed out.

Jenny sighed. "Well it was a thought."

"Hm. It is a thought that has merit. Although the experience was hardly a test of my abilities, I did like the hunting. I may have to join you on that part of the matter in the future."

"In the future?"

"Did you not find it fun, running about London?"

"Wouldn't say fun exactly…" Jenny recalled a couple of close calls with bully boys. Urchins were always a better source of information, though not always reliable, as she knew from being a runner herself.

"Well a thrill then. Not unpleasant."

"It was hardly a test of my abilities either y'know. S'hardly 'ard to go round bribin' a few urchins an' askin' a few questions in a bar. Not at that time of night at any rate. They'd be more suspicious if I tried it durin' the day."

"Well then, we'll have to find ourselves a better class of criminal, won't we?" Vastra grinned.

An: A V for Vendetta reference too. Somebody stop me.