Sabrina relished the feel of the alien sun on her skin and the sand between her toes. A book was open in her lap, a class assignment. Might as well enjoy it at a great location. Not that she had made a decision about staying in school or not, it's just that if she did go back she didn't want to be behind.
It had been two weeks since she had restarted her adventures. Mostly it had been quiet, really fun. Lots of festivals and exploring other cultures but sadly no revolutions, as Dad had once said 'Trouble is just the bits in between'. They had been on a real life pirate ship recently. That had been really fun, but it just felt like something exciting was bound to happen.
Digging her toes deeper into the powdery light grey sand, Sabrina let go of some of the tension she'd been holding onto these last few months. Looking around, she couldn't remember the name of the planet. It was the wrong one anyway, the TARDIS taking them where they needed to go rather than where they wanted to go. Rory had assured her it was safe as houses here, and it was always a thrill to not know what was going to happen. As long as you never completely let your guard down.
Amy and Rory were a little ways down the beach, doing whatever it was that newlyweds did. It seemed like everyone in the family was happily coupled. She'd been dating this one bloke David. He was nice, funny and handsome, but it wasn't serious. Their relationship was missing that spark that the others seemed to have. What Tony and Trisha and Rory and Amy and Mum and the Doctor seemed to have.
Heaving a sigh, Sabrina flopped on her back. The Doctor was the single most contentious part of her life. It wasn't that she didn't like the Doctor; maybe it would have been easier if she hated him. But she loved him very much in fact, loved him like a favorite uncle or a father. Yes, she definitely loved him like a father. And that was the root of the problem. It still felt like a betrayal. And she knew that her dad wouldn't want her to think of it that way.
Logically, she understood that her dad and the Doctor were at one time the exact same man. Logically, she knew that the Doctor having a different face than her dad was due to a regeneration, a normal process for his species. And logically, she knew that one day the Doctor would have a new face; whether or not that was in her lifetime was not something she wanted to think about.
Amy had come back from their adventures in 1969 calling him Dad. Part of Sabrina was so jealous that she could either blur the line between the Doctor and Dad so easily or that she could think see him as that in his own right.
Sabrina pulled out a battered old photo from her book. It was of her and Dad. She was seven and they were on some planet at an intergalactic zoo. Dad was crouching so that he was at her level, and they both had these huge grins on their faces. They had been so happy.
Dad would have known exactly what to say to guide her. He would have known which direction she should take. Not that Mum hadn't been completely supportive since they had talked a week ago, it was just, damn it, she missed her daddy.
It was all still so confusing, emotionally. The Doctor would more than likely remember this trip and remember this photo. He was both Dad and not Dad at the same time. She pushed it back into her book, tears stinging in her eyes.
More than anything right now, Sabrina wished she had someone that she could talk to objectively about this. Sure, she could call Martha or Sarah Jane, but they just seemed too close to the Doctor. Maybe Jack or River could be her sounding board.
No, she really wanted to talk to Mels, but face to face or even phone time seemed to be out of the question.
About a month after Rory and Amy's wedding, Mels sent Sabrina an email saying that she was going to travel the world. No real goodbye and very little real contact since then. All she seemed to get was the random email or a short phone call letting Sabrina know she was still alive.
Mels had only called Amy, Rory and Mum a handful of times. It was odd but not completely out of character for her. One day Mels would probably just show up outside her flat, likely pick the lock if Sabrina wasn't home and have one hell of a story to tell.
Setting down the book, Sabrina stood, picked up her trainers (just in case there was running to be done) and walked barefoot down to the water's edge. The water here seemed denser than Earth water, and it was green. Her feet slipped into the water, and it felt like walking into slightly watery lime green Jell-O. Sabrina giggled and splashed the water a bit. This is just what she needed, a nice distraction from everything in her life.
Rory and Amy had moved back down the beach, closer to Sabrina when a bright light flashed in the sky. An object was falling through the atmosphere, a bright orange plume of smoke in its wake. Sabrina hurried over to her brother as he and Amy stood up.
"I though you said this was a primitive planet?" Amy said, brushing the sand off of her.
"It is, but that doesn't mean that someone can't crash land and scare the locals," Rory said as he tracked the path of the object. "Come on, you two. Back to the TARDIS. We need to get to the crash site before anyone else does. People might be hurt."
Sabrina slipped her trainers on and hurried to grab her bag. No need to leave a copy of Rebecca lying around. The trio quickly made their way up the beach and back to ship. Once inside, Rory headed to the scanner and began reading the swirly circular Gallifreyan text.
"So what it is it?" Amy asked, leaning over his shoulder.
Rory's finger trailed down the screen as he read through the information. "It's a human ship, not sure what century. Humans built those things out of kits. I'm showing one life form on board." He tapped the screen. "Now that's interesting."
"What?" Sabrina said as her brother flipped switches and turned dials, no doubt setting a course for the crash site.
"It's a human ship, but those are not human life signs," Rory said as he gently landed the ship. "Come on, they may be hurt." He ran out the door with the girls trailing behind.
Smoke filled their lungs as they stepped outside. The tail end of the ship seemed to be on fire. The familiar buzzing of Rory's sonic screw driver filled the air. "Whoever this is, they're still alive, barely. Something's interfering with my scans. I can't pinpoint their location. There's a hatch, we can split up and search for them quickly but we'll have to get in and out fast."
Amy and Sabrina quickly agreed. Once inside, the three of them went in opposite directions. Rory headed towards the more dangerous section in the rear. Thankfully, it was a small ship and they could yell to someone else for help easily. Sabrina covered her mouth and nose with her arm as she headed towards the forward compartment of the ship.
On the other side of the door in front of her, she heard a loud moan. Quickly, Sabrina used her shoulder to push the door open. "Hello!" she called. "Hello, is anyone there? My name is Sabrina, and I'm here to help."
"Hello," a small, female voice said from under some debris.
"Amy, Rory, I found her!" Sabrina yelled over her shoulder as she pushed further into the damaged room. "Forward compartment," she yelled again.
A blonde head was poking out, and Sabrina quickly knelt down and started to move the bigger pieces off the young woman. "Can you tell me your name?" Sabrina prodded, trying to check her mental functions.
"Jenny, my name's Jenny," she said. The pain she was in was evident in her voice.
"Nice name. I had a sister named Jenny, never got to meet her," Sabrina said as she heaved the last piece off and the girl turned over, giving Sabrina the first look at her face. "Oh my God," Sabrina whispered.
"My head," Jenny moaned, and her eyes rolled back in her head as she passed out.
"Rory," Sabrina screamed, "Rory, get here quick." Movement behind her made her turn her head. "We need to get her out of here fast."
Pulling out his sonic screwdriver, Rory did a quick scan. "I think we're safe to move her. Amy, Brina, get yourselves out. We'll be right behind." With that, Amy grabbed the younger Tyler's hand, Rory scooped up Jenny and they all quickly made their way out of the smoke filled, burning ship.
They had all barely cleared the outer hull when there was an explosion. Rory, with Jenny in his arms, pressed forward. Sabrina turned around and saw the now crumpled mass that was her sister's ship. Her sister Jenny, the Doctor's daughter.
So many questions ran through Sabrina's head as she reluctantly turned and stepped inside the ship. How was she here? Dad said that she died. Was it really their Jenny? This Jenny looked exactly like the picture that the TARDIS had given her. What would have happened if she Rory and Amy hadn't been on that planet today? Or if they had been just a few minutes later?
Sabrina's feet had led her to the med bay without any conscious though of her own. Amy was cleaning Jenny's arms, and Rory was conducting a number of scans. A familiar device sat on the counter. A Vortex Manipulator, similar to the one that both River and Jack carried. Amy must have removed it from her arm. "How is she?" Sabrina asked quietly.
"Stable, but still unconscious. She'll be okay though, no major damage done," Rory said as he set down one of the instruments. "More than likely she has put herself into a healing coma. Maybe, I'm still not sure what species she is, but it's not human. Two hearts…"
"Is it… Is she…" Sabrina stumbled over the words. "She said her name was Jenny. Could she be our Jenny?"
Rory stopped dead in his tracks and rushed back to the visitor's bed. "It would explain a lot of these readings." He brushed her hair away from her face.
"Wait, like Jenny Jenny? Dad's progenated daughter Jenny?" Amy asked, curiously scrutinizing the young, blonde woman. "She looks more like Mum than Dad."
"Dad said she died on Messaline. He waited hours, and she never regenerated. This is impossible. How can she be Jenny?" Sabrina said as she watched Rory move to a computer terminal.
"I have no idea how she could be here, but impossible seems par for the course in this family." He punched a few keys into the keyboard and closed his eyes. Motioning for his wife and sister to join him, Rory said, "It's her. Come look at this. This is Dad's TNA and this is Jenny's." Pressing a few of the buttons, the two images superimposed itself over the other. The matching portions changed color. "See? A more than 50% match."
"We should call Mum and the Doctor, let them know," Sabrina said as she turned away from the screen and walked back down to Jenny. "They need to know she's here and she's alive."
"Yeah, I'll give them a call. We can't leave just yet though. I have to take care of the wreckage. That ship's too advanced for the planet. I'll see what information I can salvage from the computers," Rory said, following Sabrina to Jenny's bedside.
"I'll sit with her," Sabrina said softly. "She shouldn't be alone when she wakes up, and someone needs to explain the whole regeneration thing before she sees the Doctor."
Rory pushed a strand of hair out of Jenny's face and nodded. Amy squeezed his hand and he pulled her from the room.
An hour later, Rory and Amy were still out dealing with the cleanup. Sabrina held Jenny's hand in hers as she told her the story of the family. It was a complicated family.
"So your dad is both the Doctor and my dad. Don't think about it too hard it'll give you a headache," Sabrina was saying when Rory came back in the room.
"Any change?" he asked softly from the door.
"No, no change on the monitors. I think she's just sleeping." Sabrina said, squeezing Jenny's hand. "Where's Amy?"
"Well, we're back at Tony's place, so she's explaining everything to them. I called Mum and the Doctor, they're on their way. Hopefully Mum drives or who knows when they'll be here."
"Did you tell them? About Jenny?"
"Not yet." Rory rubbed a hand down his face. "He thinks she's dead. Thinks that she died in his arms but she's right here, unconscious but alive. How do we explain this?"
"We tell them exactly what happened," Sabrina said as if it was so simple.
"What if he doesn't accept her? Doesn't believe it's really her?"
"Who else can she be? Two hearts, similar genetic structure and she looks exactly like Jenny. Rory, what's really bothering you?" She may not have his big brain, but she was better at reading people than most people.
With a long look at the blonde laying on the table, Rory pulled his little sister out into the hallway and shut the door. "What if she can't accept the fact that the Doctor has regenerated? I mean, it's not something that most people have to deal with."
Without warning, Sabrina hit her brother hard in the arm.
"Ow! What was that for?" Rory hissed, rubbing his injured arm.
"She's our sister, a Time Lord or Time Lady, whichever, and the Doctor's daughter. Give her more credit than that," Sabrina said boldly.
"If she doesn't know about regeneration, though, and she sees the Doctor but doesn't recognize him, doesn't accept him, it will devastate him," Rory said softly but forcefully.
"It may not be easy for her at first, but she'll get there. We all will." Sabrina laid a hand on his arm. A small moan from the room behind them, made them aware that the patient was waking up. Sabrina turned on her heel and was at her sister's side in an instant.
"Where am I?" Jenny said, her voice scratchy, probably from the smoke she inhaled.
Sabrina picked up a glass of water she'd been keeping on the side table and put the straw to Jenny's lips. "Here, drink this." Jenny did as she was told. "You're safe on the TARDIS."
"TARDIS! That's his ship." Jenny tried to sit up but was hampered by the monitoring devices Rory had attached to her. "Do you know the Doctor?"
"Yes, Jenny, we do," Rory said gently as he began to disconnect her from the machines. "He's on his way."
"All these years." Tears pricked Jenny's eyes. "All these years I've been looking for him and now I've found him."
Sabrina reached over and took her hand, giving it a comforting squeeze. "Jenny… There's something you should know before he gets here."
Turning towards Sabrina, Jenny studied her face. "Sabrina, you're my sister, right? Your dad is the Doctor, too. I heard you while I was recovering, bits of it came through." Jenny turned to Rory. "And you must be Rory. How is it possible? Dad said that his other children died in the Time War. How long has it been for him?"
"Depends on how you look at it." Sabrina started. "In one sense it's been over twenty five years, in another it's been about two."
"What?" Jenny asked, looking thoroughly confused.
"How much do you know about the Time Lords?" Rory asked, sitting down by Jenny's side, opposite Sabrina.
"Mostly legends and rumors, honestly. People say they are one of the most ancient races, powerful and that when they die, they don't really die, they just change their faces. Their entire bodies even," Jenny said wide eyed as if it was in awe of what she had heard.
"Well, at least she's heard of regeneration." Sabrina gave her brother a small smile. "And that's as good a place as any to start. When Dad regenerated into his 10th form…"
Together, Sabrina and Rory told Jenny the truncated version of Dad's regeneration ability, the metacrisis that had created their father and had shown her pictures of what the Doctor looked like now. Jenny seemed to be taking it well, asking questions when she didn't understand something.
"So, I have a family?" Jenny had asked when Rory finished explaining that his mum and the Doctor would be here any minute. "Will he like me? Will your mum like me?"
"Of course they will. Mum will be thrilled and so will the Doctor. I promise," Rory said, leaning over to give her a hug. "I've always wanted to meet you. So has Sabrina and Tony and everybody else. In fact, the only reason they haven't all come rushing in here is because we haven't wanted to overwhelm you before the Doctor gets here."
"We can be a bit much at times," Sabrina said with an encouraging smile. "Martha will be glad to see you again."
"I'd like that," Jenny said enthusiastically. "Will Donna be here too?"
Rory shook his head. "No, Donna…"
The door to the med-bay flew open, and Amy rushed in. "Mum and Dad just arrived."
"Jenny, this is my wife, Amy," Rory said as he helped Jenny to her feet.
"Nice to meet you." Jenny beamed back. "Does that make you my sister as well?"
Amy winked. "Absolutely."
"Alright, you ready?" Rory asked, giving his newly found sister's hand a squeeze.
"I've been ready for years," Jenny said, steadying herself on wobbly legs.
"Perfect. Give me a few minutes to explain and then follow me into the control room," Rory said, heading for the door.
"Brother," Sabrina said cheekily. "Make sure you break the news about Jenny a tad bit gentler than you did about Mum."
"Brat." Rory grinned back before leaving to find Mum and the Doctor.
