Reunions and Wolf Cubs
Chapter 2
I do not own Doctor Who!
"Gotta be careful, they'll be back soon." She raised her head, staring in confusion at the small girl who was now beside her.
"Who're you?" she slurred. Her head hurt and she'd been strapped to this table almost since the moment her ship had crashed landed on this stupid planet in this very wrong universe. She was never going to find her Dad now.
"Don't have a name," the child answered, "only the blooded ones get named if they don't go mad first." She paused in her efforts to free the small blonde. "Do you have a name?"
"Jenny, my Dad's friend named me Jenny." She shivered. What had these people done to her? Her body didn't feel right.
"You're special like me," the little girl said, "they've been hurting you like they hurt me and soon they'll be sending you to the ring."
"Special how, and what ring?"
You hear things in your head, the girl thought in the way of an answer. The training ring, where they send all of us. We're templates, or I am.
Head throbbing, Jenny didn't have the energy to use her developing telepathy. "What did they do to me?" She even sounded wrong, her voice was different.
"They made you look like your real age," the girl whispered, finally freeing Jenny's wrists. "Help is coming, that's what my dreams sing."
Jenny was confused. "What are you talking about?"
"I dream things that haven't happened, that might happen, sometimes that have already happened. That's why they hurt me, to find out how I do it so they can change the others. They want to make the perfect fighter."
"How do you know so much?" Jenny eyed the girl. She was only a little bit taller and, possibly, only a little bit older. She was five and a half, more or less, although she should look closer to twenty. The little girl couldn't be more than four or five based on size alone.
"Because I know what they're thinking, sometimes I can hide before they hurt me or send me to the ring." She was breathing hard and rubbing at her chest as if it hurt, almost as if she were relearning how to breathe properly.
That certainly explained how and why she could speak so well. Jenny had been born, so to speak, as an adult with all that information already installed. She opened her mouth to ask another question when the girl froze and whimpered.
That was all Jenny needed to be up and trying to find a way out of the cell. Barring that, at least find a place where two small children could hide from whoever was coming. They had just gotten under cover when their time was up.
Four fully grown men wearing leather trousers and jerkins with heavy boots on their feet entered the room. A fifth man, thinner than the others and wearing a long lab coat (or this world's equivalent at least), entered behind them and flicked the lights on.
"I told you to use the molecular chains you idiots!" He yelled at them upon noticing the empty table. "Search the cell, find her now! I'll not have another template running around thinking it has free will."
"Certainly Struan," one of the men replied, looking bored. "And which men should I send after your first failure, again? You're experiments are leading us nowhere."
"My experiments are almost complete Dayaks!" Struan snapped. "That girl was pure Time Lord, the perfect specimen for my work. The last remnant of a dead species and your men's incompetence has once again resulted in my failure."
Jenny bit her lip hard to keep herself from crying out. There wasn't a Doctor in this universe? No Time Lords at all? Is this what her Dad felt like, knowing he was alone in the universe? Is that why he traveled with people like Martha and Donna?
We're going to have to run, and run as fast as we can. They're going to find us!
The girl's warning came too late however as one of the men found them. He snagged their collars, dragging them up to dangle from his huge fists. The girl dangled, still struggling to breathe while Jenny's respiratory bypass kicked in. Jenny tried to escape the man's hold, but he simply shook her until she stopped.
"Put the blonde on the table, send the template to the training ring and see if beating it will make it more pliable." Struan ordered.
"No, take them both to the ring. See how the little freaks handle live training." Dayaks said, his man obeying him. "As for you Struan, use what you already have. Our employer requires fighters for his games, not science experiments." He smiled darkly. "In fact, place them with the beast. If they lose, at least they will be more useful in death than they were in life."
They were taken to a crudely made ring where some kind of animal was chained up. Jenny didn't recognize it, but the other girl knew it by at least its reputation.
"Get out before it kills you," they were told before being tossed into the ring.
A week so far and she had little to show for it. The message still came, so at least the one who needed help was still alive. Rose arrived at the last location, irritated at the dead ends she'd found so far. She'd left clues in her wake; most justice systems in this universe knew what to make of the words Bad Wolf showing up. She hoped that whatever the authorities found here could be used to track the rest of the rings down on at least this planet.
Children were a soft spot she and the Doctor shared. Someone having children, barely trained, scared, sometimes even children driven mad fighting for their lives for entertainment was sick on a level Rose had never encountered. Daleks might be hate personified, but they'd been created that way. The people doing this had chosen to do this. That, in Rose's opinion, made them worse than the Daleks. This wasn't for survival, like Daleks using humans to engineer or clone more Daleks. No, the people doing this did it for entertainment. Both were wrong, but one at least was understandable if still unforgivable. Not that a Dalek would want or even care about forgiveness, but that was beside the point. Faced with human and humanoids like this, and Rose could almost begin to forgive the Daleks some of their lesser evils.
The newest warehouse looked just as deserted as the others. This place felt different however. Scanning for life forms using her sonic screwdriver, it pointed her downwards. It looked as if they took the term 'underground fighting ring' literally in this location.
Sounds registered first, children screaming and a beast's roaring. Rose could hear men cheering, shouting, and judging what they were watching. Anger welled up inside her as she got closer.
This wasn't training, or not just training as she caught sight of a second ring where more children were being forced through drills in sword work and hand to hand. She used 'forced' because willing students didn't have overseers wielding whips to 'encourage' them to learn and punishing them if they fell down. It was the first ring, however, that drew her attention.
Two girls, a blonde and a brunette about five or six based on size, were trying to avoid the claws and teeth of the creature in the ring with them. The creature itself looked like some kind of bear/lion hybrid with antlers and a long spiked tail. Both girls were wounded and tiring quickly.
It tore at Rose's hearts to see this just as it angered her. The strangest thing, however, was the draw she felt to the two girls. She could hear the TARDIS practically singing as it viewed them through her eyes. Something about these girls was special, and it was up to Rose to save them.
Looking around, Rose grinned. A fighters training facility, and it was perfectly set up for gymnastics. She used that to her advantage (and thanked Jack in her mind for the few play sword fights they had engaged in using foam blades he'd found somewhere on the TARDIS) to get into the ring.
She didn't want to kill the beast. The poor creature was in pain, angry and scared as well as hungry. Maddened as it was, it might even be a kindness to put it down. Not that she had much of a choice in the end as it practically impaled itself on the long blade she'd picked up.
"I'm sorry," she told it softly.
It groaned and startled her when she felt it brush against her mind. No wonder she had been able to feel its pain. He was empathic with a little bit of telepathy, intelligent enough to agree to be in a fighter's ring willingly for sport but not the torture he had endured here. His kind never took part in fights to the death, just roughhousing because they found it to be a fun pastime to share with their humanoid brethren. He was thanking her for ending his pain.
Standing, bloody blade still in hand, she turned to look at the shocked faces around her.
"How did you get in here?" One man demanded. "Seize her, and get those little freaks back to their cages!"
"No, you are all going to line up against that wall," she pointed with her sword, "and wait for the authorities to collect you. As for the children, you will release them to me and allow us to leave."
"And why would we do that?" The man who had spoken before spoke again. "You're one woman, against all of us."
Rose chuckled. "I'm giving you a chance, but only one. This ends now, today. You'll not be turning any more children into entertainment for your sick games."
She'd done her research. This sort of thing was abhorrent to the people on this planet. Children could be trained, sometimes even from birth, for the rings but they never fought until they became of age to give consent and show they understood what they would be doing. Here, that meant fifteen years old. Not a single child in this place could be older than ten. Many of them already bore scars that only came from fighting and killing.
Rose had long ago given up trying to understand why she knew things she had no idea how she knew. She just chalked it up to her new biology and what the Torchwood scientists had done to her.
The men laughed, clearly thinking she was kidding. Even with blood on her, bloody sword in hand, they thought she was a joke.
She smiled, raised her hand, and snapped her fingers. Silently, since she didn't leave the brakes on, her TARDIS (out of nostalgia she had it disguised as a Police Box although it was red instead of blue) materialized and began to beep.
"You have three minutes until Lady Sandor arrives with her men," Rose told them, "I suggest you make this easy on yourselves and do as I suggested." At that moment an incredibly tall woman dressed in battle armor carrying an unsheathed sword burst into the room followed by more men and women dressed much the same way. "I lied." Rose ended with a shrug.
Now, who sent for my help? She sent softly, more wondering to herself than anything else and not expecting a reply. She felt a tug on her pants and she looked down to find the two girls she had rescued.
"You really came to help," the dark haired girl whispered softly, staring up at Rose in complete and utter awe.
Rose knelt down so she was on the same level as the girl. "Of course I did sweetheart, it's what I do."
"Your ship sings. I hear it in my dreams." The little girl continued.
"That's a TARDIS," the blonde little girl said, staring at the ship, "only it's not the same color as Dad's. He said his was blue, a big blue box." Her lip was trembling, a reaction she had never had to something before.
"Yes it does, and yes it is," Rose stared at the little blonde. She could see it, the girl did look like her Doctor.
How was that possible? Gallifrey was little more than a myth here. No Daleks had survived or appeared from the void, thankfully, and they weren't missed by her. Time Lords were a legend; one Rose had been weaving herself into for the last decade or so.
"Could you take me home?" She asked. "I want my Dad, even if he thinks I died before I want to find him and Donna and travel with them like I was supposed to." Jenny was as close to tears as she'd ever been right now. "This isn't my world and I want to go home!"
"Shh," Rose gathered the girl into her arms. "I don't know how to take you home little one, I can't get back either."
"Can I come to? I don't want to stay here, they'll just send me off somewhere and I don't want to be alone." The little brunette girl, one who had never been hugged or given a kind word, desperately wanted to go with this shining woman and her magic box.
Rose, for a brief moment, hesitated. These were children, but they needed her. The both of them could hear the TARDIS and the ship could hear them. She wanted them along.
"Yes, but I need your names first."
"Jenny," the girl in her arms replied, "she doesn't have a name." She didn't know, or understand entirely why, but she trusted this woman.
That hurt Rose's hearts. Even the Doctor had a name although no one but he knew it. "Do you want a name?"
The little girl nodded, taking Rose's offered hand. Rose did more than that. She stood up, holding both girls in her arms.
"Talia, Tally for short. Do you like that?" Rose suggested. Jenny's eyes were bright blue while Talia's were a pale green. Jenny's she recognized from her first Doctor, and something within Talia's reminded her of both versions she had known. For a brief moment she entertained the thought that they were her daughters, hers and the Doctor's. A moment was all it took for it to be cemented in her hearts.
The newly named Tally nodded, a wide smile brightening her face. "Tally and Jenny Tyler, that's us now!"
Rose found herself smiling in return. "Yes, I believe it is."
She got the distinct impression of My Wolf, My Cubs from her ship.
It looked as if she had companions after all.
Once inside the TARDIS, Rose had more to do than even she would have thought. Talia was having trouble breathing and Jenny had injuries that weren't healing. She took them to the infirmary, but didn't know, exactly, what to do. She'd mastered basic (and some not so basic) first aid, but the girls needed more than just that.
Thankfully, her ship was well versed in what was within her walls and could show Rose what she needed to know. She also had nanogenes, calibrated for Gallifreyan individuals. Rose had, to herself anyway, theorized that this particular TARDIS had either been meant as a colonization or refugee ship by the original owners. Her ship wouldn't say and she supposed it didn't really matter. Rose was just grateful to have the ship herself, and she knew the feeling was mutual.
"This won't hurt," she told them, "at least it shouldn't."
Jenny sat on the bed stoically, determined to be brave and strong.
Talia fidgeted, uncertain on what Rose was going to do.
Both girls were delighted by the shimmering golden light the activated nanogenes produced. While it wasn't meant to do so, both girls lost consciousness as the tiny robots went to work. Only the calm coming from her ship kept Rose from stopping the mechanical healers.
"I hope you know what you're doing," she told her ship, eyeing the readouts. She received her ship's equivalent of a snort. "I'll leave you to it then, I have files to destroy."
Jack had once told her, and the Doctor had agreed, that leaving biological matter behind in some places was both dangerous and often times outright stupid. It couldn't be helped sometimes, but when it could it should be done. So, she needed to get rid of anything these people had on the two girls.
It wasn't going to be a pleasant task.
Jenny found her new size frustrating. What made it worse was that there was nothing to be done about it. No, she had to wait and grow up the normal way. Her Dad was never going to recognize her like this! That is, if they ever discovered a way back home. Despite that, she was settling in and adjusting.
Tally was adjusting to living in a sentient space ship remarkably well. Clean, healthy, and safe for the first time she could remember, she was becoming a very happy child. Often, Rose would find her curled up with her blanket beneath the TARDIS consul just staring at nothing. Tally could talk with the ship just as she could with Jenny and Rose, easier sometimes. If not for the ship, she might very well have gone mad from hearing voices in her head whenever they left the ship.
New to being telepathic herself, Rose could only teach them so much. Luckily for them, this TARDIS had a full library (including the manual) still intact. Torchwood hadn't been able to cannibalize her as they had wanted. The only reason she'd remained where she'd been was because that was where she felt she needed to be. Rescuing Rose, she was slowly revealing or outright rebuilding her array of rooms (such as living quarters, kitchen, media viewing rooms, ect.).
It took four days for Rose to get their stories from them after they were out of the infirmary. Tally's was rather short. She'd never known anything but the Reaper's Ring and Struan's laboratory and cages. He had always called her the 'template' for his experiments in creating a perfect fighter. Jenny's was much longer and far more complicated with a few holes in it from when she'd crossed into this universe through a crack of some kind.
It was thanks to the TARDIS that Rose was able to stabilize them from whatever the scientist had done. Both girls were, for all intents, time tots (Rose recalled that that was what the Doctor had called himself as a child). She'd also been able to discover how old they physically were. Jenny was seven, which she decided was better than being five. Tally, who had no idea when she'd been born, was six. Both were small for their ages and only time would tell if they would remain that way.
"So where are we going now Mum?" Jenny asked. She'd decided that if she was going to call the Doctor Dad, then the woman who had rescued her could and would be her mother. Tally followed suite. It was simply something that felt right to them, as if that was the way it was meant to be. The actual logistics of such a decision never occurred to either of them.
The young telepathic seer had very quickly decided what everyone's roles were in their little family. Rose was her mother, Jenny was her big sister, and if the Doctor would allow it he would be as much her father as he was Jenny's. Rose said nothing against this notion, although she was going to fully enjoy seeing his face when these two girls called him dad. Having them made her more determined than ever to find a way home.
"I don't know, where would you like to go?" Rose wanted some place quiet. However, she couldn't just keep them hovering in the Vortex forever. They'd all go stir-crazy before long.
"Somewhere with apple grass," Jenny decided, "and bananas." She'd been to a few planets with the appealing plant and had inherited (unknown to her until Rose mentioned it) her father's love of the fruit.
"Pears," Tally added in, "and open sky."
"Alright," Rose set the coordinates. "To our first adventure."