CHAPTER 20

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DOUBLE TROUBLE

"Jen, can't I stay up to watch Doctor What? It's not my fault that it's been put on at a later time. It's not fair," Merry complained.

Jenny had agreed to stay behind and babysit Merry while the Doctor and Clara went off to look for Count Grendel. Jenny had been happy to do it because she could tell that Clara was worried about Merry with Grendel being on the loose once again. It made her feel good about herself to know that Clara realized that her child was safe with her.

Of course what Clara didn't understand was just how much of a pushover Jenny was when it came to denying Merry anything. Merry however had already figured that out a long time ago, and she was now using that to her full advantage at the moment.

To her credit though, Jenny still hesitated since Clara had given her a strict bedtime to follow for Merry and then she finally smiled mischievously as she said, "Why not? You're just watching this though and nothing else. As soon as it's finished, you're going straight to bed, okay? I don't want to hear any excuses, and if your mother asks you this never happened, alright?"

Merry smiled and hugged Jenny tightly as she said, "I love you, Jen! You're the best sister ever!"

"Sister?" Jenny asked in surprise.

"Well, Mum and your father are going to get married eventually, right? It's practically a done deal so why not start calling you my sister now? Besides I like the idea of having you as a sister. I'm glad that if I was going to have one that it turned out to be you," Merry said happily.

Jenny began to smile and hugged her back. She had honestly never even thought about Merry becoming her sister before now. She supposed that she was right though, and it really was bound to happen sooner or later.

She was glad if it was true because she and Merry got along perfectly. They never fought and they usually liked the same things. She had heard of sibling rivalry and fighting before so she was glad that that wasn't the case here so far. She hoped that it never would be.

She honestly couldn't understand why siblings would hate each other. Maybe it was because she had always wanted a family of her own and had never had one, but she just couldn't see it. Didn't they realize just how lucky that they were to have each other?

Jenny's musings were brought to an abrupt end as she suddenly heard a loud noise outside. Then her hearts almost stopped as she heard a scream cut through the night next.

"Merry, I think something's wrong. Take my hand. I'm taking us out of here," Jenny said as she started towards the little girl.

Before she could reach her however, several Movellans suddenly burst through the front door and surrounded them both in the blink of an eye cutting them off from one another. Jenny knew right away that there were too many of them for her to stop by herself. She also knew that she would never reach Merry before she was cut down.

Jenny made a split second decision as she slid her time ring off and tossed it to Merry as she shouted, "Merry, think of someplace safe. Now!"

Just as Jenny had planned, the ring fell into Merry's hand at the exact moment that she thought of a destination, and the little girl vanished right in front of the androids. She had just tricked her into saving herself before she had even had a chance to realize that she was leaving her behind. She just hoped that wherever she wound up that she would be a lot safer than she was at the moment as the androids immediately closed in on her in such a tight formation that they completely prevented her from escaping.

"That was a noble gesture, Time Lady, but ultimately a very foolish one. You should have saved yourself instead. It was never the girl that we wanted after all. It was always you," Count Grendel said from just outside of the circle of Movellans that were packed around her.

"Is that how hard up you are for a date that you have to get your androids to kidnap women for you, Count?" Jenny joked in order to cover up her fear.

"That's very witty, my dear. That droll sense of humor of yours won't save you in the end however. You see I have a far different role for you to play than that of a girlfriend. You are to be a mighty general leading your armies to final victory against your father's greatest enemies," Grendel said.

"Don't think that you're going to get away with this. My Dad and Clara are going to come looking for me as soon as they know that I'm missing so you're not going to get to keep me for long," Jenny said.

"I think that you'll find that I've already anticipated that very thing happening and planned for it accordingly. They're never going to know what I'm really up to until it's far too late to stop me or save you," Grendel said with mocking laughter.

"What are you . . .?" Jenny asked just before one of the Movellans knocked her out cold from behind.

"It's time to prepare for the Doctor's arrival because I'm sure that he'll be here soon. Let's make certain that he doesn't interfere in our plans when he does come," Grendel said with a malevolent smile.

Meanwhile back at Tish's house, she and the Master received an unexpected arrival as Merry suddenly appeared out of nowhere holding a Time Ring. Merry immediately raced to the Master and wrapped her arms around him as she began to cry.

"Uncle Koschei, they've got Jenny. You've got to help her," Merry said in an upset voice.

The Master's expression quickly went from one of shock at first to anger as he asked, "Who has her?"

"I don't know. I've never seen anything like them before. I think from the way that they moved though that they were robots. Jenny gave me her Time Ring and told me to go somewhere safe so I came here. I knew that you would protect me," Merry said as she smiled at him.

It sounds like the Movellans have Jenny, Doctor. It's probably a trap for you and Clara. Tish called out telepathically.

Of course it's a trap. Things like that are always a trap, Romana. That doesn't mean that I won't go though. You and the Master stay there in case I can't get out of this one and need to call someone for back-up. The Master backing me up! Ha! Who would have ever thought that? The Doctor replied back.

It seemed ironic that he had said that because the Master looked clearly uncomfortable as Merry continued to cling to him and Tish smiled at him in amusement as she said, "Uncomfortable with the role of a hero, Koschei?"

"That's because I'm unworthy of it. I don't deserve to be thought of as safe especially not by a child. I've never brought anything but pain and death to everyone around me," the Master said.

"That's not true. You've always been good to me, Mum, and Jenny," Merry protested.

"That's right. You have because you've changed. You might as well get used to it, Koschei. You're a hero now and there's no turning back," Tish said confidently.

"I wish I was as confident about that as you are," The Master said.

"You're already changing. Don't you understand that? Look at what you're doing if you don't think so," Tish said.

He looked down with great surprise to find himself lightly stroking Merry's hair and holding her hand. He realized that he had been unconsciously comforting her the entire time that she had been there.

"See? You did it without a second thought. That's the real you. That's the you that I fell in love with, and that's the you that's going to finally be shown to the universe at last. One day you're going to be talked about in the same breath as the Doctor: as a hero," Tish said.

"Don't ever lump me into the same category as him. Besides that, neither of us are heroes. If anyone is you are. Now you as a hero I could believe. Never me though. I just do the best that I can," The Master said.

"Isn't that one of the definitions of a hero? If it isn't, it should be," Tish said.

"Stop trying to turn me into something that I can never be!" The Master screamed momentarily scaring Merry.

Tish's good mood immediately turned sour as she glared at him and said, "You will be who you're supposed to be someday, Koschei, no matter how obstinate you try to be about denying it. I know that you don't feel like a hero right now after everything that you've done, but that doesn't mean that you still can't be one. I think it will just come naturally to you just like it's coming naturally to you to comfort and protect Merry."

"Can you two please fight later? Jenny's in trouble," Merry said.

"We're not fighting. We just see his life in different terms is all. Don't worry about Jenny, Merry. I told the Doctor what you told us, and he's already gone after her. He'll find her, Merry. Don't worry about that," Tish reassured her.

"I hope so," Merry said looking both unconvinced and guilty at the same time.

As Tish tried to calm her down, the Doctor and Clara meanwhile were arriving back at Clara's house in the TARDIS to find that the front door had been ripped off of its hinges and the entire living room had been torn apart. It definitely looked like the Movellans had been there alright Clara thought as she looked at her ruined house in complete dismay.

"Oh, this is just wonderful. This is going to take forever to clean up. Doctor, do you have a way of tracking the Movellans because I'd really like a word with them about this? Maybe you could use their energy signatures," Clara suggested as she continued to look around her house with growing anger on her face.

The Doctor tried not to smile as he said, "I'd hate to be the Movellans when you catch up to them. That slap of yours could crack an engine block . . . or a jaw. Yes, I think that I can track them. I've picked up their energy signatures on the sonic. I'll just plug it into the TARDIS console, and we should be able to go right to Jenny's kidnappers."

"You don't need to, Dad. I got away from them," Jenny said as she suddenly appeared from behind Clara's overturned couch.

"Jen! Are you okay?" The Doctor asked as he immediately rushed to her side.

"Not really. I feel a little sick. One of the Movellans hit me from behind and thought that it had knocked me out. I was just pretending though, and I started to fight back. That's why this place looks like it does. Sorry, Clara. I guess I was too much for them to handle because they finally just gave up and left. Then I, uh, I guess I must have collapsed because I kind of blacked out. I don't remember anything after that until I heard you two talking. They must have hurt me more than I thought," Jenny said with a disoriented look on her face.

The Doctor looked at her with worry as he said, "Do you want to go to the medical bay?"

"Nah, I'm fine. I'm just a little woozy. I'll be fine though. I have a hard head. A little chop on the back of it isn't going to hurt me any," Jenny said as she smiled at them confidently.

"You sound like your Dad. He's always fine too. Go to the medical bay, Jen," Clara ordered.

"I keep telling you that I'm fine. Quit being so bossy, Clara," Jenny said in an annoyed voice.

"I'm not being bossy. I just want you to get yourself checked out. Go on. Off you pop," Clara insisted.

"So bossy," Jenny said in disbelief.

"I know. Try staying in the TARDIS for long periods of time with her. She has a point though. Why don't you just go inside and sit down for a while just to make sure that you're okay before we try to do anything else, alright?" The Doctor said as he gestured towards the TARDIS.

"Fine," Jenny said as she began to sulk while she followed the Doctor inside the ship.

"I am not bossy. I'm just concerned. There's a difference," Clara said to herself as soon as they went inside.

Sometime later, the TARDIS materialized in Tish's living room, and Merry immediately rushed to hug Jenny as she came outside.

"Jen, you're okay!" Merry said with relief.

"Of course I'm okay. Why wouldn't I be? I'm a lot tougher than you think," Jenny said.

"I'm so glad. It was all my fault. I should have gone back to help," Merry said.

"I still can't talk her out of believing that no matter how silly it is," Tish said.

"It's not silly. Sisters are supposed to look out for each other," Merry said with a huge smile of joy on her face.

"Sisters?" Jenny asked.

"Yeah, remember how I said that we were going to be sisters?" Merry asked with a troubled look on her face.

"Oh, yeah! I must have forgotten. I'm sorry, Mer. I was hit on the back of the head so my memory is a little fuzzy," Jenny said.

"Are you sure that you're okay?" Merry asked with concern.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Stop worrying so much. You're becoming just like Clara," Jenny said.

"Oi! I heard that," Clara said indignantly.

"So what happened? Did you manage to find Grendel? Was he with them?" The Master asked.

"No, we never saw him. I didn't even bother to go after them. As long as Jenny was safe, I didn't care what they did," The Doctor said.

"That doesn't sound like you. You're always sticking your nose in where it doesn't belong," The Master said.

"Oh, I will soon. Believe me. I was just more concerned with making sure that Jen was okay first. Now that I know that she is why don't you and Tish go with us to try and find them? We can't let them stay on the loose now that they've tried to kidnap my daughter. They're not about to get away with that," The Doctor said with an ominous look on his face.

"So you've finally started calling me Tish now. It's about time," Tish said with triumph.

"Did I? It must have been a slip of the tongue. You'll always be Romana to me," The Doctor said as he smiled at her.

Tish sighed as she said, "Here I thought that I had finally gotten through."

"What do we do about Merry? We can't take her to fight the Movellans and possibly the Daleks too," Jenny asked.

"Won't you stay with me again?" Merry asked her with a look of disappointment on her face.

"No, I have to help this time, Mer. I'm not about to let them get away with what they tried to do without giving them a little payback for it," Jenny said.

"I'll get my mother to take care of her. She'll be here in a minute after I call her," Clara said.

"That's right. So why don't you go ahead and get on the TARDIS?" The Doctor asked the Master and Tish.

"You're right, Doctor. We might as well get started as soon as possible," The Master said as he started to go first and went in front of the Doctor.

Tish turned to Clara in surprise as she mouthed the words, "Did he just say that he was right about something?"

Before Clara could answer her however, the Master suddenly turned around and shot the Doctor in the chest with his laser screwdriver!

"What are you doing?!" Tish shouted in disbelief.

The answer soon became apparent to her as 'The Doctor' exploded into a thousand little metal pieces. Tish now finally realized the truth at last. It was a Movellan.

The Master now held his screwdriver on Clara and Jenny as he said, "You're fake too aren't you? It was all a trap to lure me and Tish straight into your hands."

Clara and Jenny both smiled now as the fake Jenny said, "How did you know? I thought that we were all pretty good myself."

"Oh, just little things here and there that all added up. There's no way that the Doctor wouldn't go straight into the middle of the fight between the Movellans and the Daleks after they had just attacked Jenny. So that was one thing that you did wrong. Another was that you called Tish Tish. The Doctor never does that. He's too stubborn to admit that she doesn't think of herself as Romana anymore. He's even worse than me about that. Also Jenny clearly had no idea that Merry thought of her as her sister now even though Merry made a huge deal of telling me and Tish all about how Jenny had seemed to like that when she said it to her earlier. With as much importance as Jenny places on family, I highly doubt that she would ever forget something like that and certainly not so quickly," The Master explained.

"It just goes to show that even when you completely copy their memories it's still no guarantee that you won't screw something up somewhere down the line," The fake Jenny said with a chuckle.

"Where are they?" Tish asked.

The fake Jenny grinned evilly as she said, "Where do you think? They're both lying knocked out inside of the TARDIS. They're going to be linked up to the Movellan battle computer while they plot up a strategy for us to finally destroy the Daleks with once and for all just like the real Jenny is even as we speak. As Count Grendel put it to us: why just settle for one Time Lord to lead us to victory when we could have five instead and make certain of it?"

"You don't have five of us yet," The Master said defiantly.

"We will though. I didn't impersonate the real Jenny and then take both the real Doctor and Clara by surprise one at a time so that we could replace them both for nothing. I even learned just enough about the TARDIS to fly it here so that we could be completely convincing. So yeah I'm definitely not going to let a little thing like this stop me now. We will have the two of you too no matter what I have to do in order to accomplish that," The fake Jenny said.

She suddenly whirled around and pulled a gun on Merry as the little girl looked at her in absolute shock. She knew that this wasn't the real Jenny, but it still hurt her deeply to see someone looking just like her sister holding a gun on her.

"Come with us now or I'll shoot her. I mean it. Don't even try to test me on this because I can assure you that I'm definitely not bluffing," The fake Jenny said.

"Oh, I'm so happy to hear you say that. It makes this so much easier than it otherwise would have been," Clara said as she suddenly used the sonic screwdriver on the fake Jenny and caused her to explode.

"What? Now I'm really confused," Merry said.

"Are you okay, sweetie? I'm sorry that she pointed that gun at you. I didn't think about her doing that," Clara said as she immediately hugged Merry who began to smile.

"So you're the real Clara?" Tish asked as she watched Merry's reaction.

"Yep. It's me. I sensed it through my new link with him as soon as the fake Jenny knocked out the Doctor. Then I knew that something was wrong. Of course that was pretty much confirmed when another me, an android me, tried to attack me. I defeated her pretty quickly and hid her in a closet. Then I pretended to be her as the fake Jenny teamed up with a fake Doctor that she brought out of hiding from somewhere in my house that she was going to replace the real Chin Boy with soon. The only reason that the TARDIS allowed fake Jenny to drive her was because I was still awake. She never even realized it though. Don't believe me? You can both check me with your screwdrivers if you want to make sure," Clara said.

"No, there's no need. I thought that you might be real just by observing you plus you didn't make any mistakes like the other two. They were the ones that I wasn't so sure about," The Master said.

"Wait a minute. You shot the Doctor and you weren't sure if he was real or not?" Tish asked in disbelief.

"I had to take that chance, Tish, before he had a chance to attack us first," The Master said with a grin that he didn't even try to conceal.

Everyone looked at him in anger as he said, "What? I was fairly certain that he wasn't the real Doctor. I was almost sure of it."

"We'll talk about this later, Koschei. Right now we have to go get Jenny back. I just hope that it isn't already too late. Who knows what they've done to her by now?" Clara said with an anguished expression on her face.

At that very moment, Jenny was already hooked up to the Movellan battle computer as Count Grendel stood by smiling at her as it forced her brain to help it come up with a battle plan that could outsmart the Daleks. Jenny was doing her best to fight it, but her mind just wasn't strong enough to resist it. She had no choice but to help the Movellans in every way that she could.

The immense pain that shot through her brain every time she tried to resist made certain of that.

"You'd think that you would realize that it was useless to resist by now. The harder you fight the worse the pain will get. If you don't stop, you'll suffer so much damage that you'll lobotomize yourself. I don't really care what happens to you either way of course, but I really think that we'll get a better result against the Daleks if you have a fully functioning brain," Grendel said with a smirk.

"When . . . I get out . . . of this . . ." Jenny tried to say through the pain.

"Oh, it's too late for that now I'm afraid. You'll never be free now, Time Lady. Even if your father were to somehow realize that you were missing and find you, he could never free you. It's already too late now. The computer is already too far in your brain to remove. If he tries it, you'll die," Grendel said as he began to laugh mercilessly at her.

Jenny struggled not to cry as she held on desperately to the hope that he was lying or wrong about that. He couldn't be right. She wasn't about to wind up hooked to this machine for the rest of her lives. She wasn't about to let that happen. Not now that she finally had the life that she had always wanted.

Nearby the Moment did cry and was filled with despair as she watched her invisibly. Everything in her wanted to help Jenny, but she knew that she couldn't. She wasn't supposed to interfere. She could feel that.

She wasn't sure that she could restrain herself though. Not this time.

Maybe the Moment could have stood by without doing anything, but Rose Tyler could never just stand by and do nothing when anyone, especially someone that she loved, was in pain. Right now she honestly wasn't sure which one that she was anymore.

The more that she watched Jenny struggle, the more that she wasn't sure that she cared either.

Next: Will Clara and the others find Jenny? Even if they do, can they save her or is Grendel right? What will the Moment do to help if anything?