An: Some more of Jenny's history? With basements? *shrugs in a manner similar to Vastra when she tells Jenny "Art?" in Deep Breath*
It was coming into autumn although the September was still warm. There was a basement to number 13 Paternoster Row that Vastra had taken as a training room but that Jenny never ventured into. She had a dislike of basements.
"You wouldn't like basements neither if you had an 'ist'ry with 'em." Jenny told Vastra when the Silurian asked why Jenny was so averse to helping her put some form of heating down there for the winter.
"You have a history with basements?"
/
March 1880
Jenny had stayed one more winter in the School, not keen on a winter on the streets and then ran away when they sent her out to be a skiv, nicking a pair of trousers and a shirt off the washing line to replace her own itchy dress. She was far too big now to be a snake for anyone and sat hungrily watching people pass in the street, wondering if she was still in practice enough to lift a purse.
"Oi! Yer on my patch! Beggar orf an' find yer own yer wee varmint!" A clout around the back of the head woke her up from her daze. She jumped to her feet and swung back, remembering Albie's teachings on how to dance and dodge in a fight. Her assailant was a boy, a few years older than her and taller and surprised to find the "wee varmint" fighting back so vigorously. His shock cost him a bloody nose and an elbow to his stomach. "Yer lil shit c'mere!" He wheezed, grabbing out at Jenny but she tripped him up and then sat on his back as he led on the floor, completely winded now.
"'oo'd'yer fink you are, beltin' sleepin' girls round the 'ead." She told him off.
"Yer a girl?"
"An' wot of it?"
He rolled over as Jenny let him up, leaning on his elbows to look up at her. "Blimey. Well it still don't excuse you comin' an' takin' a prime beggin' spot orf a lad does it now?"
"Din't know it was a prime beggin' spot, did I? 'ardly looks like one." She snorted derisively.
They regarded each other in silence for a minute.
"I'm Gribble." The boy held up a hand.
"Jenny. Jenny Flint. An' 'ard as 'em." She took it and hauled him upright.
"Aye I will not be disagreein' wiv that." Gribble made a show out of massaging his ribs. She grinned and decided she liked him.
They sat down together, pretending to be brother and sister, a lie which remarkably got them a little more sympathy and they swapped life stories. Where Jenny had been a snake, Gribble had been a screw. After begging got a little harder as it got into the spring, they teamed up. Jenny taught Gribble how to wriggle in tight places and Gribble taught her how to stove in a window pane without glass smashing and all the places people hid keys to their houses and how to make and use a skeleton key if a little bit of hunting didn't do the trick. They both agreed that the ragged houses sounded like far too much religion and chores and they preferred the freedom of moving around. They took turns in dipping for purses in order to pay for a room somewhere for a night.
They lent their talents on occasion to a gang, or acted as look out for a cut of the spoils, though this was not always forthcoming and sometimes they had to scarper fast to avoid a beating instead. But the winter was coming on hard and Jenny and Gribble decided that if they wanted a bit of money in the world to help them through it, they'd have to do a job by themselves.
For Jenny's birthday Gribble gave her a flint, in a nod to how she always said she was "'ard as 'em" and they spent the day scoping out a house.
They were successful in getting what Gribble called "a bit of nice tin" but it needed turning into money. What they'd stolen before had always been food or money that didn't require anything more than taking. They found a pawn shop, but they hadn't realised that there were certain ones that wouldn't question where items came from and some that operated within the boundaries of the law. It was just their luck they picked one of the few that didn't look the other way, particularly at a pair of scruffy urchins trying to fence silver plates and the like.
The pawn shop owner took them out to the back of his shop, under the pretence he'd like to take a closer look and then grabbed them both and shoved them down into his cellar to wait while he reported them to the police. They both tried desperately to pick the lock but found that they'd been outwitted. There was a bar across the door and there was nothing they could do but sit there in the cool darkness.
/
"Gribble went to prison on account that he was old enough to go at 14 and I got sent to a Reformatory. Not only for thievin' but they thought it was vulgar that I was dressin' like a boy. A lady came to my trial and wrote an article about me, 'ow I represented the moral ills of the lower classes an' the like."
"Truly infamous." Vastra remarked, very much amused by this story. "And this is why you dislike basements so much?"
"Not just that." Jenny curled up in the chair opposite Vastra's. "It were when I'd got out of the Reformatory…"
/
Jenny had spent a year and a half in the reformatory by the time a lady who'd come round to hire someone in the name of charity, decided that Jenny looked obedient enough that she could be transformed into a decent member of society.
She'd been quiet the past few months, ever since her friends had been taken away. The poke hole was enough to make anyone quiet. But the first night she spent in the lady's house she picked the lock on her door, stole the lady's purse and ran back onto the streets. She still had the flint Gribble had given her. He'd still be in prison of course but there wasn't a thing she could do for him. The money in the purse was enough to buy rank lodgings for a while, even after buying a shirt, trousers and jacket from a shop. Her boots from the reformatory were good enough to do her for the summer. And it was a glorious summer of freedom that Jenny spent hanging with the mudlarks and other urchins by the docks.
But autumn followed and it was cold and Jenny was running out of money. Not wanting to risk another stint in a reformatory, and certainly not in a prison, she wondered if she couldn't find her family. Her father was still in a workhouse by all probability and she had no idea what had happened to Cathy and Jess when they left but she remembered her aunt. She'd come to look after them after her father had broken down for a second time. She'd been a bit religious and moralistic but maybe that meant she'd take Jenny in as charity. She'd married a shop keeper; they'd taken Megan with her to be their child when they'd discovered they couldn't have any. A little overconfident, seeing as they hadn't taken her in as well even back then, Jenny tracked them down soon after her birthday.
/
"But when I got round there, they weren't too pleased ter see me. They hadn't taken me afore cos they knew I'd been hangin' out with the mudlarks along with Albie and thought I'd be a bad influence. But apparently, I truly was a bit infamous. They'd seen the piece that lady'd written, bein' religious types an' the like, an' they knew I'd been in a reformatory an' 'ow I'd nicked the purse off that lady and run away an' me turnin' up on their doorstep dressed in trousers again just confirmed everythin' really. So they yelled at me 'ow I was disgustin' an' the like, knocked me round the head an' locked me in their cellar before callin' the police on me. Twice that 'appens you end up with a general distrust of any dark place that's underground. Not to mention the pokeholes in the reformatory."
"How did you escape?" Vastra was far less amused by this story.
"Well they din't have a bar on the door an' they din't search me neither before throwin' me down there, so I used a skeleton key I'd 'ad made, grabbed some money from the till, cos if they was gonna get me arrested on account of bein' a thief, then I thought I might as well live up to it, an' was on me merry way before the police turned up to collar me."
"You really weren't lying about being a criminal." Vastra wondered.
Jenny rolled her eyes. "Did tell yer."
"So you never got to see your sister again, after they took her?" There was an undertone of empathy to Vastra's voice.
"No." Jenny said shortly.
And that was the end of that conversation.
But telling Vastra got Jenny thinking about her family. She didn't really know what had happened to any of them. She knew Gribble had died of the cold, the first winter out of prison but what about her other family too? Her chosen family. Jacob. Lettie. Gracie. She asked Cris the next morning to spread the word among the others; the names and descriptions.
There wasn't a trace of Jess Flint so Jenny assumed she'd gotten married. Cathy Ashdown also didn't crop up although there was a rumour of a divorce. Eventually a report came in from an escaped workhouse lad who told her that he'd known a Fred Flint that had died in the workhouse and was buried in a pauper's grave somewhere.
She sat glumly on their bed the evening of this report. Vastra was out hunting. She thought about her father. The way her mother's death had turned him into an alcoholic, how he'd turned violent, and then had just led there. Led there while Margaret had grown cold in her arms. And then Thom. She couldn't exactly mourn him but it made her feel a pang of longing to track down her other family. And there was only one other route she had left to go down.
She thought about the basement, about the cold and dark. But she was respectable now, smart enough in her maid's outfit and grown up. At the very least she might be able to see Megan. Even just a glimpse. She'd be 16 now. Maybe old enough to choose for herself to see her sister. If she remembered her. Jenny resolved to go the next day.
The shop was the same as she remembered it, although apparently freshly painted. Her hands clenched into involuntary fists and she realised she didn't even know if they still owned it or even lived there. Of if they were even in. She raised her hand and knocked.
"Can I help you?" her aunt asked as she opened it. She looked the same as ever, stiff and upright, although confused. Clearly she didn't recognise Jenny.
"It's me. Jenny. Hello." She found herself waving awkwardly, not unlike the Doctor and wondered briefly if she'd picked up the habit.
Her aunt stared at her for a long while, taking in her clothes but with a final suspicious glare let her inside.
"Well? I take it you don't need money. Come to pay us back what you stole?"
Belatedly, Jenny realised she should've thought about what exactly she was going to say.
"I…I came to see you. I was thinkin' y'see an' I was just…in the area and I figgered..." she stammered out eventually.
Her uncle came in, having heard the knock and the voices. After a moment of stunned silence, he folded his arms. "Well, look who it is. I suppose we should be glad that at least you're dressed properly these days."
"What do you want?" her aunt asked.
"I was wonderin', did ya 'ear about Da?"
"What about my wastrel brother?"
"'e died. Inna workhouse."
"Like the good for nothin' drunk he was." Her aunt spat. "It was as well we got Megan out of that house when we did." She said to her husband.
"A family of layabouts and wastrels." He sneered in reply. "And perverts and prostitutes."
"I was never…" Jenny protested.
"Your sister." Her aunt sniffed.
"Such a scandalous divorce. And then turned into a whore."
"Are you talkin' 'bout Cathy? D'you know what 'appened to 'er?"
"Don't talk to me in that tone!" Her uncle snarled and knocked her across the face. Jenny staggered backwards. "She ended up in an asylum. Just where you ought to be too! If you had any decency you'd hand yourself in!" he turned to his wife. "Get Megan."
Jenny glowered at her uncle as her aunt went to fetch Megan, not giving him the satisfaction of rubbing her cheek. He stared back. This clearly wasn't the best idea she'd ever had but if it meant she got to see Megan.
The young girl who walked in was confused, looking from her uncle to the young maid who stood in the kitchen, one cheek blazing red and twisting her apron nervously in her hands.
"Megan, this is Jenny." Her aunt explained. Megan stared at her curiously.
"If you ever see her hangin' round the house, or your school, or if she ever approaches you in the street, you come and tell us immediately alright?" her uncle took Megan by her shoulders. "She's dangerous an' a criminal. Don't you 'ave nothin' to do with 'er."
The girl nodded slowly, now shocked and looking a little scared of Jenny.
Jenny blinked, horrified, unable to say a word even as her sister walked back out the kitchen with her aunt.
"And as for you, you disgustin' little slattern." She didn't move fast enough, still stunned by what had happened and he grabbed her by the front of her dress. "Don't think swannin' back here in nice clothes will make us forget. Dressin' like a boy! Reformatories! Prison! Consortin' with women! And gangs after yer! We 'eard it all! They came 'ere lookin' fer you!" he shoved her backwards towards the door. "The shame. I don't know what got into your head to make you come but you come round here again and we'll deal with you as we dealt with you last time." He grabbed at her arm but she wrenched herself free, tearing the sleeve of her dress. "Only this time we'll be sure as to bar the door properly! Now get out!" he threw a plate at her. She ducked and it shattered against the wall behind her. "Get out of this house and don't you dare ever think of comin' near Megan again either!" he got a hold of her collar and held it tight. "She'll have nothin' to do with the likes of you, I promise you. Not now. Not ever!" he hauled her, struggling against him, to the front door and threw her out, slamming the door behind him. She stumbled on the step and hit her head on the sidewall. She felt blood but didn't stop to investigate, didn't even look back as she ran, cursing her stupidity and fighting back tears.
"Hoi! Did yer master get yer one?" a merchant called out, packing up his stall and laughed.
"Whore like you probably deserved it." Another called out from a later street.
She didn't cry. She very sternly didn't cry. But she did slam the back door of Number 13, Paternoster Row, enough to make a scaly head turn, running upstairs to their room.
She stood stock still in the middle of it, her breathing ragged, grief and pain and anger warring within her as to which would surface and win.
"Jenny?" a concerned voice came from the door way. It made her want to cry and that made her angrier. She kicked out at the bed stead, grunting as she did so, ripping the sheets off but they got caught and as she struggled with them, her violent energy left her and she sank to the floor. "Jenny!"
Vastra approached her now there was no further sign of violence, taking in the mussed hair and the ripped sleeve. When Jenny turned, tears streaking through the blood on her face, and she saw the vicious cut on her temple, Vastra's eyes widened and her hands clenched in rage.
"Who did this to you? Tell me and I shall hunt them down and devour them!" she snarled as she crouched down next to Jenny.
Jenny stared at her mute and sullen, sniffing and wiping her eyes. Vastra quirked her head, half amused at the stubbornness.
"Well, let's get that cut seen to at least." She stood up and held out a hand. Jenny looked at it in surprise but grasped it, staggering upright. She felt pathetic as Vastra led her to the bathroom, a supportive arm around her waist. She sat down on a chair by the sink, aware of her ripped sleeve and her face covered in blood, tears and probably snot. Some symbol of respectability she was.
Vastra didn't ask her anything further as she tilted Jenny's head to clean the cut on her temple, before handing the cloth to Jenny so she could wipe her face. Vastra brushed her hair smooth again before deftly bandaging the cut.
"I doubt it's caused serious damage. Look at me." Vastra put her fingertips under Jenny's chin and peered into her eyes. "No. Doesn't look like it. Any headaches? Nausea? Double vision?"
"No. Why?"
"You'll be fine. Your dress is a different matter. I'll take it along to George tomorrow. It won't take him more than an hour to fix it." Vastra fingered the torn seam thoughtfully. "And if you tell me who did it, it won't take me more than an hour to eat him." She grinned although Jenny wasn't absolutely certain it was a joke.
"You don' need to go eatin' anyone." She sighed and brushed past the Silurian.
"Why not?" Vastra mock pouted, following her back to their bedroom. Jenny pulled the torn dress off and got another out the wardrobe.
"You jus' don't thas all." She sat down on the bed with a sigh, dress across her knees. Vastra came to stand in front of her and she looked up at Vastra, all regal in her smart dress and scaled head held high but those clear blue eyes looking right at her. Almost as if she was looking right into her. Jenny's heart thumped as it had once before and she shook her head to dispel the returning thought. You're beautiful. She coughed and hugged her knees to her chest. "I went to see me aunt and uncle."
"The same aunt and uncle who locked you in the basement?" there was no tone of joking now in Vastra's voice. Only contempt.
"Them's the ones."
"And it was they who hurt you?" And coldness.
"They pushed me an' I fell into a wall. But I s'pose. Yes. I dunno." Jenny stood up, waving a hand forlornly. "I asked the runners if they could snout out anythin' about me family see. Da's dead n buried. I thought I'd go tell 'em, maybe see if they knew anythin' 'bout me older sisters. Jess and Cathy. Thought I might get to see Megan at the very least. I thought maybe I was a bit more respectable now." She continued, looking at her dress. "But they called me a whore. They din' e'en care 'bout Da. Said it was just as well 'e died. They tol' my sister, Megan, if I ever came round again to tell 'em and they'd get me locked up. Din't even get to say a word to 'er. Musta bin mad, thinkin' they'd 'elp me." She pulled the dress over her head and started buttoning it. "Like me sister. They said Cathy'd got divorced. Came round to 'em too but they kicked 'er out. She became a street walker an' ended up in an asylum. S'all I managed to get. But I'll find 'er." Her fingers were trembling now, fumbling with the buttons. "I'll search every asylum in London but I'll find 'er. All the places I bin, that were always the place I feared most. The on'y place you can't git out of. Two of my mates went there just cos of the way they were. 'e said I should be in an asylum too cos of the way I am…" the last bit was rushed out and the last sentence ended in a sob.
Vastra had stood in stunned silence throughout the story but hissed at the end of it.
"I shall eat him! Tell me where he is. I shall devour all of them!" she snarled.
Jenny looked round at that and laughed, sniffing and wiping her eyes. "Don' be a stupid lizard. They ain't worth it. Not like s'criminal or anythin'. I'm the criminal remember." She looked down at her buttons and realised she'd done them up wrong and occupied herself fixing them.
"They hurt you."
"An' thas a crime worth death?"
"Yes!" Vastra looked a little shocked at that and Jenny's face mirrored her in surprise at Vastra saying it so plainly. "Haven't I always killed or maimed those who hurt you?" she blustered.
After a moment's consideration, Jenny realised that yes, in actual fact she had. The entire Tong Gang just for starters. She shook her head, small grin appearing on her face.
"You stupid lizard." She hugged Vastra tightly. "They ain't worth it. They ain't nuffin to me now." She sighed, not quite having the courage to finish with Yor me family now. You n the urchins. Yor me family.
Vastra felt oddly as if she were the one being comforted and it annoyed her so she shook Jenny off, holding her gently by her arms to look at her properly.
"I will help you then. Find your sister, I mean."
"You'd do that?" Jenny said in amazement.
"I am the Great Detective am I not? Not all the cases we take on are to do with desperate criminals." Vastra grinned.
Jenny blinked and then grasped Vastra's face in her hands and kissed her.
"Thank you ma'am!" She went to fling her arms around Vastra but the Silurian jerked away and stared at her.
"What on earth was that?"
Jenny's eyes went wide and she froze as she suddenly realised precisely what she'd just done.
"Um it…it were a kiss. To say thanks an' everythin'. Um. S'a human thing. Kissin'."
"Hm." Vastra looked slightly puzzled but shook it off. "Jenny, we are partners, we help each other." she stopped, uncertain how to make the point. "I will help you." She reaffirmed. "But I…if you…please do not go off into such situations by yourself again? Or if you insist upon it, at least inform me beforehand?" Vastra's hand cupped Jenny's chin. "If we find your sister, promise me you won't go alone."
Jenny nodded. "Thanks ma'am." She got the point. She wanted to hug Vastra again but didn't, feeling she'd pushed the boundaries a little far already.
But Vastra saw the little involuntary twitch, the hesitation. And there was the look in Jenny's eyes. Of uncertainty and a small sadness. She didn't like it. Not one bit. Jenny was laughter and cursing and heat, not this. So she gave Jenny a return bear hug, or rather a lizard hug, resting her cheek on Jenny's hair, curious at the sensation against her scales. She felt the young woman relax into her. "Hm." She vocalised, taking Jenny by the shoulders and pushing her backwards to observe her. Satisfied, she said "Now. Get some rest, but don't sleep, in case the blow to your head was worse than it appears. I will return with food."
Jenny stared, slightly bemused as the Silurian walked out the room with a swish but sat back down on the bed, hugging her knees to her chest once more, feeling little bursts of happiness that made her smile, despite the awfulness of the day's events.
Vastra came back with food and as Jenny ate, they discussed how they might track down Cathy.
AN: Curds and wheeeyyyyyyyyyy.
