They stared in horror at the man, who coughed. "Sorry. Always wanted to say that. What I mean is, I'm here to drive you back to the Torchwood base. Jack said you probably wouldn't stick around in the hospital." He sighed. "That's another fiver I owe him. Well anyway. Shall we?" He opened the back door of the car.

"How d'we know we can trust you? Might be kidnappin' us to take us back to some secret base?" Jenny didn't move an inch closer to the car.

The man looked stumped. "Well, technically we are going to a secret base. Well, back to Torchwood Three. It's not really that secret if you've been there before. Um, but we'd better move quickly. I mean…" he gestured at Vastra.

The jacket really did stand out. "Fine." Jenny saw Vastra shiver and followed the Silurian into the back seat of the car.

She wasn't overly comfortable with it, but it did get them out of the hospital. And he was only one man. She glanced at Vastra, who had been strangely silent. The car was heated, and the Silurian had hunched in on herself in the back seat. She hadn't tugged down the jumper, her head shrouded. Such actions did little to quell Jenny's sense of unease.

When they pulled up and walked towards the stone, they saw even more guards standing around the small stone. They looked a little more intimidating than the man who had picked them up, despite wearing the same style of suit. One of them thumbed a button on a small black box and uttered something. The hatch was thrown open. Jenny and Vastra were guided by ungentle hands towards it. The fact that Vastra didn't comment on this ungraceful behaviour by apes scared Jenny. She wondered if the Silurian was not sufficiently recovered enough and cursed her own haste at wanting to get out. The driver, now seeming a friendly and helpful being, had been left behind. She swallowed as she climbed down towards the door, not saying anything either. Hopefully, Jack would be there and would explain.

There were two more guards, in armour and carrying guns of a very modern variety, either side of the door. One of them turned around and keyed the entry code and the door opened. Jack was indeed there, standing very upright and still, eyeing the overly armed people that filled his small office.

Jenny glanced around them all and then her eyes caught the small old lady in a pastel yellow skirt suit who was sat in a chair not too far away. There was a matching hat and a small handbag. She seemed very out of place in amongst the clutter and the bristling weaponry. Another alien? Jenny wondered to herself.

She looked up. "Ah. You have arrived at last. Good. You may sit down." Her voice was reedy but firm.

Vastra sagged into a chair but Jenny remained standing up, mimicking the posture of the guards, to make it clear what her role was.

"One knows what you are." The lady ignored Jenny. "You do not need to remain disguised."

Vastra silently pulled down the jumper. The chair creaked and rocked a little as she slumped a little further down, lounging as if she were back in the plant room at Paternoster Row. The old lady's eyes raked over the scales.

"Exactly as described. Of course, you are not one's first encounter with the strange and unknown. But it is still a marvel to see. I only wish the Doctor were here with you. I have never met the man, only heard from afar the chaos which usually attends his visits to this planet. Of course, he is officially banished, but I should like to meet him one day. He got on very well with the first Elizabeth. Enough that she married him. Although she ended up banishing him as well. And yet he flouts both."

"The Doctor got married?" Jenny raised her eyebrows in surprise. The old lady ignored her but wheels were slowly turning in Jenny's mind. "Wait. When you say the first Elizabeth, you mean like…Queen Elizabeth?" Vastra's head raised slightly. Jack desperately tried to catch Jenny's eye but she ignored him. "Are you the Queen?"

The Queen finally looked at her and gave a small smile. "Your lack of reverence for the monarchy is also recorded in the archives." Jenny flushed but the Queen was already looking at Vastra again. "When one heard reports that you'd turned up in Cardiff, one decided to meet with you, having read so much of your exploits from the archives. Not just of Torchwood, but UNIT and Scotland Yard."

Jenny opened her mouth, but the Queen held up a small gloved hand and she remained silent.

"I believe the phrase one uses is Spoilers." The Queen got up, a little stiffly and walked over to stand in front of Jenny. She was the same height. Some fleeting thought on curtseying flashed through Jenny's mind but the Queen had moved over to Vastra before Jenny could move.

"One is told you are a great detective."

Vastra gazed dully up at the Queen.

"Indeed, that your investigations have saved the Earth from alien incursion and supernatural phenomena many a time. One is told that once again you have been instrumental just such an adventure here."

Vastra's continued silence puzzled and worried Jenny. "Ma'am?" Jenny broke her stance and crouched down beside the chair.

"Is she quite well?" The Queen enquired.

"I dunno. She never tells me about her physiology. Not enough to know. Vastra!"

The Silurian turned her head and looked at Jenny with plaintive eyes. "'m hungry."

Jenny snorted, remembering how many occasions she'd told Vastra that. But Vastra was in earnest, just as much as she'd been.

"She needs food." Jenny stood up and turned to the Queen. "After bein' so cold. And she ain't eaten well since we got 'ere."

"What does she require?" The Queen asked, beckoning a guard to her.

"Meat. Any kind. Lamb she likes. Raw meat I mean. She…"

"Lamb, then." The Queen nodded towards a random guard and he left. "So. You are Jenny Flint, yes?"

Jenny nodded, trying a hasty curtsey, before remembering she was wearing jeans. She caught Jack's eye after she'd regained her balance and he looked away hastily, trying not to laugh.

"One's great, great grandmother commented on your lack of grace. Indeed, she seemed quite taken by you."

Jenny recalled her last meeting with Queen Victoria. "Can't imagine why. Ma'am." She tacked on hastily. Perhaps she should get into the habit of being slightly more cordial towards monarchs.

The Queen merely raised her eyebrows.

"One does wonder, if the Doctor is not with you, how you will be returning to your own time?"

"We have an arrangement with…someone." Jenny cut herself off. London Below would not welcome official interest.

"Someone?" The Queen stared at her. Jenny ignored her, more concerned with Vastra, who had slipped further down in the chair.

"I should never've taken you out the hospital." Jenny sighed, crouching down beside her once more. "Not that they'd exactly know what to do with you either."

"Here." Jack walked over, shrugging off his jacket and spreading it over Vastra.

"Do you know anything about Silurians?" Jenny asked him.

He shook his head. "I've only ever met Vastra. So far. There's a long life waiting for me yet."

"She is a Silurian?" They both turned to look at the Queen. "She doesn't look anything like the Silurians I've read about in the UNIT files."

Jenny had no idea what to say. Fortunately, the guard arrived back with some lamb.

"I asked them to cut it into strips." He said as he shoved the waxed paper parcel towards Jenny.

She stared some more at this unexpected thoughtfulness. "Er…thanks. Ma'am?"

There was a susurration as the guards minutely adjusted their postures and stared fixedly at points in thin air or on the wall or indeed anywhere that was not at a ravenous Silurian gulping down strips of raw meat, fed to her by Jenny. The Queen covered the moment by striking up a conversation with Captain Jack, asking about the case. He enthusiastically launched into an explanation about dragons and flying and generally how everyone had saved the day. Jenny couldn't see quite what they'd done apart from investigate and find things out. They hadn't been able to stop anything, nor had they been particularly useful. Indeed, the only thing she could see that they'd done on this adventure was get into trouble. And she bet they wouldn't even get paid for it either. Below didn't work in currency and the money in 1998 was not going to pass muster in 1888. Not to mention the small matter of getting them home, to the right time frame, without getting further indebted to the Marquis. But that would require Vastra to be at full fitness and for the Queen and her score of body guards to let them go. There was also the small issue of sleep and food for Jenny, which her body was reminding her about quite firmly.

She slumped to the floor, with the Doctor's voice echoing in her head. "Going for two days without food or drink is all very well in an Underworld…"

There was a hiss of a rain on glass. She was warm and comfortable but ravenous and the plaintive gurgling of her stomach roused her. Grumbling, she swung her legs out of bed, feeling lightheaded. She staggered out the bedroom door and all the way down to the kitchen on autopilot before her brain managed to catch up with her.

She paused only for a second before deciding that that information could be processed later, and promptly raided the larder.

"Hello!"

She turned and threw an onion at him. He ducked. "Oi! What was that for?"

"Surprisin' me." Jenny shrugged, taking down the frying pan and starting on breakfast.

"Thought it'd be a nice one. Home again." The Doctor gestured round the kitchen. "I checked Vastra over by the way. She's fine."

"How did you get us back?"

"Well, Vastra must've mentioned I travel in time."

"The…time and dimension ship?"

"Time And Relative Dimension In Space. TARDIS. Yes."

"She said she'd only go in it to save your life."

"Step inside it was her exact words. Not stepping if you're being carried. I…you need to be here. Couldn't rely on this Marquis bloke, might get you stuck wandering below for eternity and you're needed here. Soon. Quite soon. There's something you've got to do. Something important. Big and important."

Jenny stared at him. Then looked around. "Where's Donna?" she looked at him. His face was crumpled in pain but there was something else. He looked…thin. And old.

"She uh…she's safe. She's fine. She uh…went back home. She's married now."

"Doctor…"

"Ahhh." He slumped. Teeth gritted in pain. She watched in silence. "Stuff happens doesn't it. Hah. I kept telling Vastra to be careful." He trailed off again.

"I'll go get 'er." Jenny stood to leave.

"No! I'll…you have breakfast. You haven't eaten. I can find her." He staggered out the door.

The Doctor had staggered. Jenny turned over sausages, cracked open an egg and plopped a slice of bread in the pan. But he regenerated. Rose had explained it. Whatever had happened. "He'll be fine. He won't die." She whispered to herself. "He'll just…change. Again." She didn't want him to. She'd grown to like this Doctor as well. And he'd looked so sad.

Vastra would tell her later, perhaps. The Doctor never seemed to really trust her with the full story. Or maybe he just didn't want to scare her. Maybe she reminded him too much of his companions. Maybe when he looked at her, he saw her being lost too. All the things his companions went through. Vastra had asked "Is it worth it?" He'd said "Always."

Wonder whether they'd answer the same, the people he travels with. She thought, chewing reflectively on a piece of bacon. Would she? The Doctor had said his answer couldn't be Vastra's. Couldn't be anyone else's. She had seen fantastical things, ridden on dragons and hawks. No doubt his companions had also seen amazing things. You just couldn't compare that to the life without, you wouldn't know. But she preferred this life, the excitement. Jess had been right about her in that respect. Even if she had of come from a normal home, she would never have been able to settle for it. Still, there was a small pang. A little bit of normal never hurt anyone. She wondered whether the Doctor ever yearned for it. The future where her and Vastra had been married sprang to mind.

She washed up and made tea and hung about the kitchen waiting. Vastra came in, silently and Jenny shoved a plate of cold meat and a cup of tea across the table towards her.

"Has he gone?"

"Yes."

"I wanted to say goodbye."

"He does not like goodbyes." Vastra looked weary. "Besides, we will see him again, no doubt."

"But not…him, right?"

"Who knows."

The sadness of the Doctor was clearly catching.

"Did he tell you how we got home?"

"Yes." Vastra said with a hint of asperity. "But I forgive him for that. And I am glad I got to see him. Getting forewarning of an upcoming regeneration is always nice."

"I didn't think I'd miss him. When I first met 'im, I din't like him all that much. Preferred the old Doctor. But now he's goin', I think I'll miss him too."

Vastra smiled wryly. "Such is the way of being friends with the Doctor. No doubt when we next meet him, it will follow the same pattern."

Jenny sighed. "S'a shame he brought us back tho. I'd've liked to see the dragons again."

"Should I be jealous?"

"Ha! You're the only lizard fer me."

An: No but seriously Catrin Stewart and the Queen are the same height.