Inspired from something Neve(?) said. Vastra's trapped in a Circus/freak show. Jenny got hired as her handler. The muses were feeling especially mushy and unrealistic with this one so hopefully it's mildly palatable. _


The man led his newest worker through the tents and cages. "You're to feed her and make sure she don't get sick or anything. Just toss her some raw meat every now and then." One of the tigers growled making the man whack the cage with his cane causing it to flinch and back away.

"She's smart so treat her like this cat here: don't underestimate it. If you can't do that, well there's always someone else to take your place."

He smacked the cage again for emphasis before continuing down the aisle of cages. "You're to get her ready for showtime. Get it riled up so the 'Wild Lizard Woman from the East' earns its keep. You got all that?"

"Yeah."

"Good, well here she is." The cage was separate from the rest and situated in a corner. The man hit the cage with his cane but the creature inside didn't move from where she laid. "Eh, lazy thing. Doesn't move much until the show when you get her ready with that stick over there. And that's bout it. Oh, one more thing: Don't remove the chains. Bout the only thing keeping you alive as this one will fight if given half a chance. Well, leaving you to it now as I got a lot to do. Welcome to the freak show, girl."


Jenny move tentatively to the cage to push the meat in. The creature stirred at the smell and lifted her head to glare at the human before zoning in on the food. Slowly, it got up from where it was laying and sluggishly walked to where the meat was, its forked tongue flickering in and out.

Jenny's eyes widened. When she took the job, she never imagined she'd be handling a real monster. No one wanted the job. If the rumors were true, she would be the fifth handler in the past two months. She sat down in a nearby chair and watched it. Though she was at first a bit disturbed by how it ate, she couldn't help but be fascinated by the beast. After it finished eating, it gave one last look to Jenny and returned to near the center of the cage where it curled up into a ball. Jenny watched it for a few more minutes before heading back.


Jenny reluctantly picked up the stick and looked hesitantly at the beast still in the center of the cage. It was nearly showtime yet she didn't want to harm the lizard but if she didn't do her part, she would be back on the streets again. She gently poked the monster but it barely moved. Jenny sighed and prodded it a little harder, "Come on please? I don't want to hurt you."

It let out a breath suspiciously like an exasperated sigh and got up, swaying a bit on its legs. Jenny placed the stick down with relief. "Thanks."

During the show, the creature hissed and glared at the other humans who came to see her. It bared its teeth at them which made them laugh. Jenny remained silent in the front and prevented any foolhardy audience member from sticking a limb into the cage.

After the show, the creature curled up into a ball in the center of the cage again. Jenny collapsed in a chair next to it. "That went well."

She was met with silence.


Jenny smiled when she finally found a small book about lizards in the market. After haggling down the price, Jenny took the book with her when she went to check on the creature.

She pushed in some meat that finally made it move. After watching it for a little while Jenny opened the book with a deep breathe. Seeing all the black squiggles on the page nearly made her shut the book. No, she was going to do this.

An hour later had her sitting up in her chair. She looked up at the curled up lizard, back down in the book, and up again. "You're cold!" she blurted out. The lizard ignored her. Jenny began pacing back and forth. There was no way her boss would let the lizard have a blanket. She frowned until a thought hit her.

The creature startled when a thump sounded close to it. It raised its head and its eyes stared at the old heavy canvas sheet.

It raised its head to look at Jenny suspiciously who was staring expectantly. Tilting its head, it looked at the canvas again before cautiously grabbing it and wrapping it around itself. Jenny smiled, happy to remember that part of the circus tent had ripped away due to old age and she was able to bargain for the scrap. She'll go hungry for a little while, but it was worth it to see the lizard moving more energetically around in the coming days.


The creature looked up at the ceiling, warmed up by the heavy canvas sheet. The strange mammal gave it to her and treated her well compared to her colleagues. During her 'performances' the little one would only gently prod her once or twice as oppose to the sharp jabs she'd become used to and it even fed her regularly with larger portions. Still, it would be good to remain cautious of the female. After all, these mammals were dangerous fickle apes. She was startled from her thoughts when she tasted blood in the human's scent, different from the her usual menstruation time. She got up and cursed in anger when she saw the the split lip and bruised left eye.

Jenny looked up at the agitated hissing sound the lizard made and was shocked it was looking angrily at her right behind the bars, canvas where it dropped it. She relaxed a bit when it lifted its chained hands to gesture to the lips and eye.

"Oh, that. I'm alright, really. You should see the other guy. I kicked him in the groin, kneed him in the head and then got a few more hits in."

Jenny matched her description with a pantomime of her actions. The lizard snarled back, still eying the injuries.

"No really, I'm okay." The creature looked suspiciously at her before sighing and returned to its canvas. It was cold after all. With its back turned to Jenny, it didn't see the little smile Jenny had. Perhaps she was completely misinterpreting the situation, but it's been a long time (since her parents kicked her out) that someone actually cared for her.


The creature shook awake when it heard commotion outside the tent. It tilted it's head at Jenny who quickly ran over to the cage with some metal jangly things.

Its eyes opened wide when Jenny inserted the things and the door opened. She looked dumbstruck at the agitated human.

"Come on, you have to go now. They're gonna sell you to another guy and he's absolutely brutal."

The creature didn't understand the words but the door was opened and clearly the female wanted her to go. The lizard quickly made its way to the opened door and paused. Was this a trick? The gate was opened so wide. What will it do if this was real, continue on its quest for revenge?

As it gazed at the little human who was helping it, it concluded that perhaps not all the humans were scum. Or at the very least, this small one will be spared. It hissed once in thanks before running out of the cage. It felt so good to be free.

Jenny watched the lizard escape before quickly closing and locking the cage and returning the keys to her passed out boss. That should confused them for a while. She needed to leave quickly before they suspected anything about her. Jenny still wasn't sure if she did the right thing but since the creature let her live and there weren't any screams of horror, she couldn't help but feel some happiness at that.


Three Years Later

Jenny fought hard against the Tong thugs but they soon had her restrained. Jenny spat in the leader's face. She wasn't going down lightly. As he raised his fist to hit her, his eyes opened wide before he collapsed on the floor.

In rushed a masked figure who, after a few minutes, effectively defeated all of the gang. Jenny was amazed that one person could take down a gang of six grown men so easily. Once done, the stranger looked at Jenny with narrow eyes before they widened.

"Why are you always leaving me behind! I'm the Doctor and - oh, hello. I'm guessing my green scaly friend here just beat up everyone here eh?"

Green scaly... Jenny hadn't looked away from the masked one who was looking a her with similar intrigue.

"Okay, now I feel awkward. Do you know each other?"

His companion shook off its shock before extending a hand down to the other woman while pulling its scarf down covering the lower portion of its face. "Hello again, Jenny." It said hesitantly with a small grin.

Jenny grasp the hand and was pulled up though she couldn't stop looking at the very familiar scaly face. It tilted its head at her. "That is your name, 'Jenny'?"

Jenny finally found her voice. "You can talk!"

The lizard laughed. "I could always talk, but it is difficult to learn a language that is completely different from your own."

The Doctor looked between them, fascinated. This was going so much better than the Wales fiasco. It was also quite cold and he wanted a cup of tea. "Okay nice to see you two know each other but it's freezing cold, why don't we move this to the Tardis?"

The lizard nodded. "Shall we? I am Vastra."

Jenny swallowed and nodded. Her life was about to get much more interesting.