2002
Date: January 3
"Jenny?"
"Yes love?"
Mara swirled her pancakes around. "Was I born on Earth?"
Jenny bit her lip. She had hoped she would be able to push off questions like this for a couple more years. She still hadn't fully decided how much of the truth Mara should know yet. It could be dangerous for her. On the other hand, it put Jenny in an awkward position. She knew Mara would easily be able to tell if she attempted to lie to her, so that option was out. All that was left to her was a very carefully worded truth.
"No," she said finally. "You were born on a space station."
"Oh," her seven-year old sister said before she looked up at her. "Where were you born?"
Jenny pursed her lips. "Well…I was born on a planet called Messaline."
"Is that a nice planet?"
Memories of Messaline's war torn, desolate landscape flashed through her mind. Although at this point she was certain that the terra forming device had made the planet habitable, she couldn't imagine it as anything other than what she remembered.
That whole life seemed so long ago now. Sometimes it was easy for her to forget that she had been born a soldier, with the sole purpose of fighting and dying for a war she didn't really understand. That is, until her dad and Donna Noble discovered the founder's ship and brought peace to the Human and Hath factions.
She hoped she had grown enough that she was more than a soldier now.
"I suppose it is," she said finally.
"Can we visit your planet someday?"
She blinked, and bit her lip. "Well, maybe. You'll have to ask our mum and dad about that."
"Oh," Mara said, and turned back to her pancakes. She was quiet for a moment, but Jenny could feel the follow-up question in her mind. "Jenny?"
There is was. "Yes?"
"When will Mum and Dad come back for us?"
She sighed heavily, and reached out for Mara to take her hand. She gave it a squeeze, and smiled at her little sister reassuringly. "Soon, love."
"Promise?" Mara asked in a small voice.
Jenny nodded. "I promise."
Date: June 17
"But Jenny, why can't I stay home?" Mara whined for the umpteenth time that morning.
"Because your sitter is sick and I didn't have time to find a replacement," Jenny explained once again as she and her sister entered the Torchwood hub. "Jack said you could come in with me today instead."
Mara huffed. "Fine."
"Hey there, little Tyler!" Jack crowed as he caught sight of the two of them. "How's my favorite niece?"
"Oi," Jenny protested.
Jack snorted. "Okay, how's my favorite seven-year old niece?"
Mara smiled brightly up at her Godfather. "Good! Jenny says I get to be here today."
Jack nodded. "That's right. I have my office all set up for you, if you'll follow me milady." He bowed forward and swept a hand towards his office.
Her little sister ran off in the direction of his office, and Jenny shot Jack a grateful smile. "Thanks, Jack."
He grinned back at her. "Pleasure is all mine."
She chuckled to herself as she settled into her computer terminal. There were times when she wondered who was more the child—Mara or Jack.
Jenny squinted at her computer screen as the system fired back up from sleep mode. There was a small blip on the edge of the rift's radar. And, as Jenny watched it, she noticed that it was steadily growing bigger.
Her eyes widened. "There's something coming through the rift!" Jenny called out.
She heard Jack drop something and then footsteps running in her direction. Another second later he appeared from his office. "What is it?"
Jenny squinted at the readings and tapped the keys of her computer. She growled in frustration. "Damn thing froze!"
"Well, did you at least see where it's going to land?" Jack asked.
"Right—"
She was interrupted by a loud boom and a bright light. She and Jack covered their eyes until the light began to subside.
"Here," Jenny finished.
The two of them shared a look before they ran towards the railing to see where the foreign object had landed.
But there, in the center of their hub, was a man. His clothes were torn, his face was dirty, and his hair was more than a little disheveled; but Jenny still recognized him. It was the eyes—she would never forget those eyes.
"General Cobb?"
The man seemed to finally come back to his senses, and his head immediately snapped in her direction. He set his jaw, and aimed a pistol in her direction.
"Jenny Tyler," he snarled. "I knew if I looked long enough that I would find you."
She raised her hands to her head. "Cobb, don't shoot."
"Give me one good reason," Cobb hissed.
"Cos you'll be dead before you even release the trigger," Jack said.
Both Jenny and General Cobb glanced over to where Jack had his own weapon aimed at the General's head.
Cob sucked in his cheeks and turned his eyes back to Jenny. "This doesn't concern you, boy."
"That's my best friends' daughter you're pointing your gun at," Jack said in a low voice. "Not to mention she's also my partner. Of course this concerns me."
Cob cocked his head to the side. "Curious," he said. "I thought you would be with that Doctor who calls himself your father. What are you doing with this soldier?"
Jenny bristled. "That's none of your business."
"I s'pose not," Cobb said, "but it is interesting."
She lifted her chin defiantly. "Mind telling me why you have a gun aimed at me?"
"For the same reason your father left me in the hands of those brutes on Messaline," Cobb grumbled. "Revenge."
"How were the colonists vengeful towards you?"
He snorted. "Colonists. That's funny. They're soldiers! Why can't you or he accept that simple truth?" He shook his head. "No matter, I'll tell you what happened. After you left, your colonists discovered an ancient machine from the founders. Something that, once modified, could inflict pain." He reached up to touch a scar that ran along his left cheek. "Even your precious, peace-loving colonists thought it best that I endure a few sessions as punishment for my war crimes."
Jenny's hearts fell as she processed what she'd just been told. Slowly, she lowered her hands. "I'm sorry that happened to you, truly I am, but I don't see how that ends with you pointing a gun at me."
"Because you and your father are the ones who left me there!" Cobb roared. "And after today, I'll be sure that neither he, nor anyone he loves ever sees the light of day ever again."
He raised his gun to shoot.
"Jenny?"
Jenny's hearts stopped when she heard Mara call for her. She didn't dare glance back, but she could feel Mara enter the main hub. "Stay in Jack's office, sweetheart!"
"What's this?" Cobb asked, and his eyes trained on where Jenny knew Mara was standing. "Does the Doctor have a granddaughter?"
She felt Mara's indignant response to his question. "Another daughter."
Her former superior's eyebrows rose. "A daughter." He chuckled. "Well, this is just too perfect."
He whipped his weapon towards Mara, and Jenny screamed when there was a loud bang.
"Jenny!"
She reached out for Jack as General Cobb fell to the ground. She could see that he wasn't breathing, and almost felt ashamed at how much relief she felt when she saw a pool of blood begin to gather around his body.
She gasped, and felt Jack reach out to support her.
She looked to him with wide eyes. "Thank you," she said breathily.
Jack nodded wordlessly.
Jenny pulled in a deep breath, and let it out slowly. She nodded to herself. "Okay," she said, "okay. What do we do now?"
"You go home," Jack said firmly. "I'll take care of Cobb."
She shook her head without ever taking her eyes off of General Cobb. "No, that's alright. I want to stay. I want to work."
"Jenny." She felt a firm hand on her shoulder, and finally brought her eyes to Jack's. "Go home. Be with Mara. I can take care of this one."
She swallowed hard, but finally nodded. "Okay," she said.
Date: June 18
Jenny stared at Mara as she slept and tried in vain to think of any reason why she shouldn't do what she was about to do.
She knew that, logically, Mara would be safer if she wiped all traces of what had happened in the hub yesterday. The experience had only traumatized her little sister to the point where she barely spoke the entire day. Jenny knew that she would be safer, and healthier, if she didn't remember that particular experience.
On the other hand, taking memory was a violation of the mind. And Jenny wasn't entirely sure she was comfortable with the idea of doing such a thing to her little sister.
Jenny's eyes shot up when Mara whimpered in her sleep. She watched as her little sister squirmed around in her bed, and finally rolled over with a sigh.
She swallowed then, and entered the room fully. There really was no other choice. She had to do this for Mara. At least until she was old enough to fully process what had happened to her.
She sat down next to her little sister on her bed, and reached out to brush some hair away from her face. Even in sleep, she could feel the lingering terror for the past day's events in Mara's mind.
She sighed heavily, and reached out to press two fingers against Mara's temple lightly.
"Forget," she whispered.
Later, after she had effectively erased the memories of General Cobb from Mara's mind, Jenny curled up in her own bed and gave in to the emotions she had been fighting down for Mara's sake all day.
She felt the tears begin to flow, and brought her hands up to her eyes. She pressed down hard before releasing them.
She stood and pulled out the chest where she kept the few things she had from her life on the TARDIS. She pulled out the photo of her mum and dad and settled back down on her bed.
She sniffed as she stared at the photo. They had taken it shortly after her dad had taken her and her mum to the safe house. They'd given it to Jenny for her birthday.
She clutched the photo close to her chest.
"I wish you were here," she said in a hoarse whisper. "I wish you could tell me if I'm making the right decisions."
