Vastra knew she should be sleeping. Her body was exhausted but her mind couldn't rest. Every time she closed her eyes, she remembered Jenny dying or worst, she completely forgetting she existed. Vastra needed to see her, to smell and taste her scent, to feel her scaleless skin and warmth, and to remember every centimeter of her.

When she closed her eyes, Vastra would be back there desperately calling out a name that was rapidly losing all its meaning. Warm nights cuddling in bed were replaced by cold dark streets filled with disgusting smells. Love and happiness faded to anger and madness, a thirst for revenge that wouldn't have stopped until she was hunted down like a rabid dog.

Vastra trembled once before clamping down viciously on the twitching. She would not be weak, she will control her traitorous body. She wasn't strong enough to stop the Whispermen or to hold the memories but she will be now. Vastra lets out a low hiss as she remembered finding Jenny's lifeless body lying on the dirt floor of Trenzalore.

No. She will die before Jenny died again. Never again. Vastra placed a kiss on Jenny's head, taking in her comforting scent. Never again.


Jenny awoke with a start, dreaming of cold hands and featureless faces grinning cruelly with mouths filled with jagged teeth. Her hands searched and she only calmed when she found familiar warm scales. Alive.

"I'm here Jenny." Vastra murmured.

Jenny noted the tiredness in Vastra's voice and sighed.

"You didn't sleep at all."

"No, I didn't."

Jenny paused, feeling how stiff the Silurian was. She could hear the ragged breathing of her wife, how the sound rattled out of her chest as if she was forcing herself to contain it. Jenny shifted slowly further into Vastra's embrace until she could place her head on Vastra's chest listening to her strong heartbeat. In her nightmares, the Whispermen had plunged their hands into her wife's chest and stopped her heart while she couldn't move, breathe, or even make a sound. She could only watch in horror as Vastra's body hit the ground, gazing up at her with dead accusing eyes.

"I'm sorry." Vastra whispered. Jenny startled as her eyes widened.

"I should have listened to you during the conference call instead of ignoring you. I should have let Clarence DeMarco die instead of listening to him. We wouldn't have been trapped so easily and you - "

"No."

Vastra looked down at Jenny in disbelief. The human struggled to get up, still feeling weak after the Whispermen's two attacks on her heart. Even now, she could feel lingering pain in her back that Strax assured her would heal up soon. The Silurian was quick to help Jenny up until she was sitting up and looking at Vastra who met her gaze.

"It wasn't your fault. If anything, it was mine. I forgot to lock the door."

Vastra shook her head. "No, that wouldn't have stopped them. They would have simply broken down the door and kept coming."

Jenny smiled sadly taking one of Vastra's hands in her own. "Exactly. They would have found a way regardless."

Vastra deflated and touched her forehead to Jenny's. "When did you get so smart?"

"Around the same time you became a daft old lizard. Now, how about we get some sleep?"

Vastra wasn't sure that was possible, but she was so tired. She helped Jenny lie back down before she wrapped herself around her. She inhaled deeply, taking comfort in the feel and smell of her human. Jenny likewise relished being able to feel the scaly skin of her wife. She could feel the last of the adrenalin from the nightmare fade and exhaustion take over again.

There were no more dreams that night.


Original Prompt: Right so am I doing this right I have no idea... Anyways, I've got you a prompt. Jenny and Vastra after Trenzalore where Vastra just sits up until dawn watching her and thinking about what happened. At some point Jenny should wake