Chapter 6-

Sheep in Wolf's Skin

The next morning was relaxed and nonchalant. 'Jenny's performance last night against the werewolf was amazing' Vastra thought. She wasn't seeing her maid in a new light, necessarily, just a much, much brighter one.

"Ma'am."

"Mmm?" said Vastra, looking up.

"Last night, you spoke of...weresnakes. D'ya know what they're like?"

The Silurian smiled a little, and her eyes went glassy, such as one does when retrieving long-passed events from their memory.

"No, I have never encountered one before, nor do I want to, according to some tales. By far, one of the most famous tales is the 'Great Serpent of the Loch'." Vastra leaned back in her chair, recalling how to war veterans used to tell the tale, whilst Jenny was listening like an excited child, eyes bright.

"Not much is known about where it came from, or who it used to be, but they say that it resides in, as you humans call it, Scotland, in a famous Loch by the name of Ness, to this very day.

They say that it is the physical form of the Cursed Moon itself, occasionally slithering on land to feed." Vastra shivered.

"Have you been told what one looks like?" asked Jenny, mesmerised by the words of the old and the blue eyes belonging to the one that told them.

"Yes, many times, in fact. They are larger, longer and faster than any snake, Silurian or ape. With jaws lined with fangs up to a foot long each, its bite is laced with arsenic, which happens to be ever so popular in this particular time era. It is said that the fur and scales on its skin are in a particular pattern, making it silent in any sort of environment. The colouration depends on the Silurian, as some have deeper shades of scales than others.

But above all, the eyes were described with the most detail. They say that at fire was burning in its skull, and the eyes cast out both the light and the flames. Some said the Creature of the Cursed Moon possessed the very Sun's light in its eyes." Vastra looked up from her raw sausages to see Jenny gazing at her, awestruck. It occurred to the lizard that she was the war veteran to this human, passing down ancient stories like she was there once before, herself.

When they were finished, Jenny rose and handed Madame Vastra her veil, which she donned with some assistance.

"Time to see who's lurking under all that fur, then," Vastra said grimly, pushing in her chair.

In the cellar, the candles had remained lit. If one was not told that there was a werewolf down there, they'd assume it was empty, the air was so still.

Accustoming to the dim lighting faster, Vastra spotted a smaller-than-expected figure on the floor.

"Of course..." she breathed.

The head of the body rose in greeting.

"G'morning Madame, Miss," it said, nodding respectively to each.

"Tim..." Jenny gasped. "You're the werewolf?!"

Tim's face fell a little.

"Well no, the werewolf escaped last night, so I crawled in here and bound myself up instead," came his reply, not lacking sarcasm.

"That's why the werewolf wasn't that tall...in comparison to folklore and tales at least," Vastra said, ignoring the other two's interaction. She pulled off her veil. Tim knew who she was, and if she could establish eye contact with the interrogated, it was to her advantage.

Wasting no time at all, Vastra began her pre-interrogation speech. Jenny usually said this, but she was still marvelling at how his feistiness burned on despite his situation. It reminded Jenny of herself a little, actually. However, the maid took the signal and whipped out her notebook, which was close to brimming.

"I am going to ask you some questions, and you must answer truthfully. However, you must do so with one word and one word alone. Do you understand?"

"Yeah."

"Are you aware of your actions during a transformation?"

"Yes."

"Are you and the Spear Men enemies?"

"Yes."

"Has it always been a mutual hatred?"

"No."

"Who started the battle?"

"Me."

"Why?"

"Justice."

Vastra paused, taking in the unexpected reply.

"What are they doing that deserves your judgement upon their fate?"

"Crime."

"What sort?"

"All." With this, Tim spat, and glowered at nothing in particular.

Vastra stowed away this slice of information and reminded herself to press further upon it later.

"Are you the one committing all the murders we're finding?"

"Yes."

"Is that justice?"

"Yes."

"Said whom?"

"You."

Vastra stopped, caught off-guard.

"Me? And, what would you know about me?"

"Detective."

"And how did you come across that information?"
"Seen."

Vastra supposed it made sense. The amount of cases she'd dealt with and the amount of small mammals that had bared witness made it almost impossible for him not to have heard of her, one way or another.

"Fine. Besides, I solve crimes. Killing is not part of my profession."

"Liar."

Behind Vastra, Jenny smirked.

"Ooh, I like thissun Ma'am," she finally said. The thought had been bouncing around her head for quite some time now.

Tim grinned back at Jenny before turning his attention back to his interrogator.

"We done yet, Maddum?"

"I think so. Jenny?"

"No lies detected over 'ere Ma'am," came the reply.

Vastra nodded in satisfaction.

"Now, tell me more about these Spear Men. If you lie, it will only be to your disadvantage as well."

It took the rest of the morning to drain every piece of information on the Spear Men out of Tim. It seemed that they possessed a substantial amount of power in London's underworld, from drugs, murder, prostitution and even petty thieveries. To Jenny's quiet delight, Vastra also asked Tim to give her a full description of the Spear Men's leader, which he visibly got more frustrated at as it progressed.

They all stopped for lunch at 12, Jenny unbinding Tim with worrying ease, if one was to assume Jenny was just a maid and nothing more.

"Strax?" said Vastra, halfway through lunch. The Sontaran looked up and gave the Sontaran salute.

"My powers are at your disposal, Madame!" he boomed. Jenny rolled her eyes.

"Quite the drama king, is 'e?" asked Tim, looking the warrior up and down.

"No," Jenny replied quietly. "The worryin' thing is, e's normally like tha'. 'E wouldn't know what actin' was, even if you painted it on a wooden bat an' whacked it round 'is 'ead," she paused. "Actually, it'd probably break the bat."

"Strax, how would you like to wage war on a clan of humans?" Vastra asked after patiently waiting out the humans' conversation. The potato's eyes lit up.

"It would be my honour, Madame! When do I begin?"

"When do we begin, Strax. You start after lunch, and you'll also be required to do some reconnaissance in preparation for the raid tonight."

Strax was practically jumping in his seat for the rest of lunch. His duty as a nurse had deprived him of war, which he lusted for above all else.

The mistress of the house debriefed the butler not long afterwards. Vastra smiled as the door slammed shut behind him. All one had to do was substitute some ordinary words with their war-related equivalents, and they could excite an entire Sontaran fleet. Additionally, the sight of a top hat balanced precariously on top of his round dome of a head never failed to amuse.

They barely had to wait half an hour before he returned with a complete (and surprisingly detailed, for a being of his intelligence and one only having 3 fingers per hand) map of their targeted area. Even Jenny was impressed, and despite the fact that she was constantly either irritated or angry at him, she had to praise him for his work. Sontarans hadn't gained their battle-ready reputations for nothing, after all.

With everyone's efforts, but more so Tim and Strax's, the plans were finally drawn up, and they were battle-ready when dusk came.

A/N: I feel Tim's character is a bit flimsy. Anyone else?