Chapter Nine

The inside of Jen's Tardis was bright, shiny, and clean compared to the Doctor's beloved ship, which Rose was far more used to. Awestruck, she paused in the console room and spun slowly around, taking in the cool, clean, metallic lines of the ship's interior.

"You act like you've never seen one before," Jen chuckled from behind the controls.

Rose blushed and snapped her head around to look at her. "Well," she began. "It's just that the Doctor's ship looks so much… older?"

Jen laughed. "His has also seen a few hundred years more use than this one has," she replied, still chuckling. "This one barely has a dent in her as far as time travel goes."

"How old are you, anyway?" Rose asked, dropping her bag to the floor and stepping over to the console to help Jen. She was relieved to find that the controls were much the same as they were on the Doctor's Tardis, and quickly jumped in with both feet.

It took a moment for Jen to reply as she pondered the question. "I don't think I've really thought about it for a while. I suppose that I'm about 250 years old by now." She lifted an eyebrow and grinned. "Barely out of nappies as far as Time Lords are concerned."

Rose chuckled. "You said that we need to go to a point in history in which the two timelines intersect. How will we do that?" she asked, changing the subject.

"Well," Jen replied, fiddling with the controls, "there is only really one point in the history that I can think of that would guarantee that the two lines would intersect." She grinned over at the blonde. "How would you like to see the world as its being born?"

"Fantastic!" Rose replied, a grin touching her own lips.

"Right then," Jen replied. "We're off!"

Slowly, carefully, Jen slid the door of the Tardis open and peeked out into the world on which they had landed. When she was certain that it was safe to exit, the door opened all the way and she climbed out, stopping just outside to examine their surroundings.

As Rose followed her out, she noted a curious expression on Jen's face. Her brow was wrinkled thoughtfully as she looked around, attempting to place whatever rock they had managed to land on.

Finally the woman burst out, exasperated, "Rasarnia!? What the devil is he doing on Rasarnia?"

"What's wrong with Rasarnia?" Rose asked.

"It's not exactly the most savory planet in the galaxy," Jen replied. "Stick close. I did promise your mum that I'd look after you." The two women began to stroll down the street, pointedly ignoring the curious and oftentimes lecherous stares of men that passed them by. "Rasarnia is the dodgiest planet ever known," she continued as they walked along.

"What's wrong with it?" Rose asked, although she was really getting a good idea for herself what was wrong with it.

"The worst of the worst congregate here," Jen replied, wrinkling her nose at a particularly forward looking man lurking in a doorway that they passed. "Rapists, murderers, prostitutes… It's a place ruled by organized crime, and full of the most unsavory characters you'd ever meet—"

"Jack!" Rose suddenly cried out, and broke out into a run away from Jen.

Ahead of them, a dark-haired man turned curiously at the sound of her voice. When recognition lit up his face, he laughed and stepped forward to meet Rose halfway and swept her up off of her feet in a rib-crushing hug. "Rose!" he enthused, spinning around in the street with her still up in his arms. He pulled his head back just enough so that he could look at her. "Man, you're a sight for sore eyes!"

"How are you?" Rose asked, hugging him tightly and laughing. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm traveling with your favorite Doctor and mine," he replied, setting her back down on her feet. "We stopped here because there's a time-space rift running through here, and the Tardis needed to refuel."

"The Doctor?" Rose replied, unable to keep the excitement out of her voice. "He's here?"

A sudden, polite clearing of the throat behind her abruptly brought Rose back to Earth, so to speak, and she spun around to face Jen, only then remembering that she was there.

"Who's your friend?" Jack asked, his eyes trailing over Jen speculatively.

"This is Jen," Rose replied, lifting an eyebrow. "And don't go getting any funny ideas."

"Me?" Jack feigned innocence. "Funny ideas?" He held out a hand to Jen. "Captain Jack Harkness," he said, introducing himself with a wide, dashing smile.

Jen couldn't help a smile as she graciously accepted his hand. "Jen," she replied.

"Jen—?" he asked.

"Jenaria." There was a pause as Jack waited for her to continue. Jen sighed heavily. "Jen… Time Lady," she finally supplied, biting the inside of her lip to keep from laughing.

Recognition dawned on Jack's face. "So you're the other Time Lord – or Lady, as the case may be – that's been skulking about and getting the Doctor all flustered."

"That would be me," Jen smirked.

"So where is he?" Rose asked, scarcely able to contain herself any longer. She could already hear his laugh, feel his arms around her. It had been so very long.

"Ahhhh," Jack hedged. "The thing is…" he hesitated again. "I'm not really sure."

The two women shot one another a curious glance and then eyed Jack once more. "You're not sure?" Jen asked.

"See, the thing is…" Jack dragged a hand through his hair. "He's kinda… gone missing."

"Jack!" Rose cried. "What do you mean, gone missing? For how long?"

"Ahhhh… three days?" Jack replied.

"Three days!?" By now Rose was beginning to work herself up into a fine temper. "He's been missing for three days, and you haven't gone looking for him? After all the times he's rescued us, you'd just leave him—"

"Hey!" Jack replied. "You say that like I've been doing absolutely nothing for three days! I haven't eaten, haven't slept… I've spent the last three days sticking my nose into some rather unpleasant situations here on this filthy rock trying to find him!"

The two of them were so wrapped up in their rather heated discussion that both failed to notice that Jen had fallen silent, her eyes closed and brow furrowed as if deep in concentration.

"He's nearby," she finally said, opening her eyes.

Both Rose and Jack paused and stared at her. "How do you know that?" Jack asked.

"Time Lords can communicate via telepathy," she replied. She paused, and took a deep breath. "Unfortunately, I can't tell you anything more detailed than that." Glancing at Rose, she hesitated. "Something…is clouding his mind."

"What do you mean?" Rose asked, leaning against Jack for support.

"I can center in on him enough to know that he's close, but his mind is so unclear and unfocused that I can't zero in enough to make sense of anything," she explained. She folded her arms over her chest and looked thoughtful for a long moment. "Jack," she finally said, looking up at him. "Have you asked the Tardis where he is?"

"First of all," he replied, "for some reason the Tardis doesn't really like talking to me much. Maybe I should have bought her a drink or something first." He smirked at Rose. "Secondly… I, ah, can't get into the Tardis…"

Jen only stared. "Pardon?" she finally asked.

"I, ah…" he hesitated. "Kinda don't have a key…"

"Bloody hell…" Jen muttered.

"I can solve that problem," Rose spoke up, reaching under her shirt. She withdrew a small silver key on a long chain that she'd kept tucked away and safely hidden. "You may not have a key, but I do."