1997

Date: January 3

Jenny would never admit out loud how much she missed traveling through time and space. More specifically, she would never admit how much she missed the running. And not just any sort of running, no. She missed the heart-pounding, we're-about-to-die-if-we-stop type running. The, the-whole-universe-is-depending-on-us running. That adrenaline fueled, full on sprinting that she just couldn't have in her current domestic state.

She had tried once again to unlock her Vortex Manipulator during those first couple of weeks after she and Mara had landed in 1995, but her efforts were of no use. The device was deadlock sealed until after Mara's sixteenth birthday. So she had forced herself to adapt to her situation. It was like her mum used to say, if you were stuck somewhere with someone you loved then it wouldn't be so bad. So far she'd been right.

"Faster, Jenny!" Mara shouted happily as Jenny turned another corner. She had started taking Mara out in her stroller when she went for her morning run. And by morning run, she meant 3 in the morning. Her biology only required two hours of sleep or so per night, and after Mara had turned one, she'd started needing the same regimen. So, instead of sleep, they went out running.

She grinned. "Are you sure?"

She heard her sister clap her hands and squeal. "Faster, faster!"

Jenny laughed and tightened her grip on the stroller as their house came into view. "Alright, hang on!" She sprinted the last leg of their journey until they reached the front steps to the house. She slowed to a stop and released the stroller. "How was that?"

Mara let out a peal of laughter. I love it when we go fast.

"Speak out loud, Mara," Jenny chastised.

"I like it when we go fast!" Mara repeated.

Jenny smiled as she unlocked the door before she turned back to lift her little sister out of the stroller. "Me too."

Mara ran past her towards her room as Jenny hauled the stroller inside and shut the front door. "Jenny, let's play!"

Jenny took the Barbie doll Mara handed her and followed her over to the rug in the middle of the living room. She hadn't been totally thrilled when Shayne gave them to her as an early birthday present a couple of days ago, but forced herself not to allow Mara to read her dislike of the dolls. Her little sister didn't need to know she found her toy creepy. She'd had a fear of dolls since her time on Tirius V, when she helped her parents save the planet from being taken over by a race of living porcelain dolls that planned to destroy the organic inhabitants they co-existed with.

Apparently she hadn't masked her emotions well enough, however, because Mara looked up at her with wide eyes. "You don't like my dolls?"

Jenny was immediately taken over by a wave of guilt when she felt her sister's happiness crushed under her discomfort. "Oh no, it's not that, sweetheart. I just remembered something I have to do later that I don't want to do."

Her sister cocked her head to one side. "Then why would you do it?"

She sighed tiredly. She had opened herself up for that question. "Sometimes we have to do things we don't want to do."

"Why?"

She bit her lip. "Because sometimes the things we don't want to do will let us do the things we want to do later."

Mara looked down at her dolls then, and Jenny could feel the question coming before she spoke. "Did Mummy and Daddy want to leave?"

Jenny reached out and pulled Mara into her lap. "No, love. Our Mum and Dad never wanted to leave us."

"Did they have to leave?"

Jenny swallowed hard. "Yes."

"Why?"

Jenny closed her eyes and let her chin rest on the top of Mara's head. "Because they wanted to keep us safe."

"Then why did they leave?"

Jenny let out a slow breath before she shifted Mara out of her lap. "I'll tell you what, let's talk about this on another day, yeah? Today is your birthday!"

Her little sister's face broke out in the ecstatic smile she had hoped to see. "Okay!"


Date: August 26

"Go on a date with me."

Jenny stopped in her tracks and turned to face Shayne. "Excuse me?"

He swallowed, and she could see the beads of sweat on his forehead. He stepped towards her and dropped the bag of apples he'd been holding into her shopping cart. "Jen, I've wanted to ask you out since shortly after I met you. And – and I think you like me as much as I like you. Please. Just one date. If it goes badly we'll never speak of it again, but on the slimmest, tinniest chance that it'll go well, say yes."

Jenny stared at him for a moment. Shayne was not only her best friend, he was her only friend here on Earth. She was going to be stuck here for a long time—what would she do if she went out with him and ended up losing her only friend? More importantly, did she even feel for him that way?

She searched herself. Yes. She did have feelings for him. She couldn't deny that over the short year that she'd known him she'd started to look at him as more than a friend. But were those feelings manifesting simply because he was her only friend here or were they natural?

And, even more importantly, if things did go well, how would she continue to hide from him that she and Mara weren't human? How would he react to that news? And if he didn't react well would he tell? Nightmare images of Torchwood agents pounding down her door and hauling both her and Mara off for experimentation already plagued her dreams, how could she add to those fears by taking such a huge risk? And what if the Angels found them and she suddenly had to leave? What if being with Shayne would put him and her sister in danger from them?

All of these concerns flew through her mind within the first ten seconds of him asking the question. And yet, despite every fiber of her being that told her to say no, she instead said—

"Let me think about it."

Shayne seemed to deflate under her words, but he nodded. "Right. You have Mara to think about of course. Sure."

Jenny swallowed, and turned back to her shopping cart robotically.

She spent the next three days avoiding Shayne at work. She knew the moment she faced him she would have to give him an answer, and she simply didn't have one.

She sighed heavily. Never before had she wished so badly for her mum to be with her. She would have known exactly what to say. She always did.

She swallowed hard, and reached for the space in her mind where her parents should be. She could only just feel her dad's presence humming softly. He must have been checking in on her and Mara today.

Cautiously, she reached out towards him. Dad?

Her mind was quiet. She let out a slow breath and shook her head before she turned back to her work. But then, she felt something. A spark.

Jenny, what's wrong?

Tears pooled in her eyes as his voice filled her mind. She quickly explained the situation to him by sending him her memories.

She felt him sigh. You should go out with him.

But—

You shouldn't be alone, her dad said in a somber voice, if your mother has taught me anything it's that no one should never be alone for long.

Jenny swallowed. But what if he finds out I'm not human?

Rule number one. Always lie.

Jenny closed her eyes. How can I keep a lie like that up?

Her dad was quiet for a moment. It gets easy, he said finally. Eventually, the hard part will be remembering the truth.

She opened her eyes slowly, and stood up. I love you, Dad.

She felt a wave of affection wash over her. I love you too, Jenny.

She sniffed when their connection faded until the hum she had felt from him was quiet again. The emptiness in her mind made her head physically ache for a moment, but she shoved that aside before Mara could catch on.

Slowly, she stood and made her way over to Shayne's desk.

He looked up from the paper he was working on, and she pulled in a shaky breath. "One date."

His lips twitched upwards into a small smile. "I'll pick you up tomorrow at 7."

She nodded. "I'll be ready."


Date: November 29

Jenny set the plate of carrots and peas in front of Mara before she sat in her own seat next to Shayne. She was a bundle of nerves, but was trying to hide that from her little sister. She and Shayne had decided that it was time to tell Mara why he was around more than he used to be.

She felt Shayne squeeze her hand under the table.

She smiled at him, and then turned to her sister. "Mara, have you noticed that Shayne has been around more often than usual?"

Mara looked up from her peas and nodded.

Jenny bit her lip. "You know…you know your sitter, Haley's, friend Terrance?"

"You mean her boyfriend."

Jenny blinked, and glanced at Shayne. His eyes were as wide as hers. He shrugged under her questioning look. She turned back to Mara. "Yes, her boyfriend."

Mara's eyes lit up, and Jenny could feel her excitement. "Is Shayne your boyfriend?"

Jenny's lips pulled up into a smile as she reached for Shayne's hand over the table. "Yes he is."

Her little sister squealed and clapped. "Does that mean Shayne can take me to the park?"

Jenny glanced at the man in question again, and he raised his eyebrows. "Yeah, Jen, does that mean I get to take Mara to the park?"

She rolled her eyes at him. "I suppose so."

Both Shayne and Mara cheered, and Shayne leaned over to plant a wet kiss on her cheek. She shook her head at the two of them. "I'm clearly outnumbered here."

Shayne gave her a lopsided grin. "You'll learn to live with it."

She snorted at his teasing tone. "I guess I'll have to."

As Jenny watched Shayne and Mara interact she felt a warm feeling fill up her chest. She smiled as Mara giggled over a joke Shayne had just told her. Maybe this domestic, slow path, life wasn't so bad after all.