She could practically feel the hot rancid breath on her shoulders and neck as she ran. She tore down the empty, abandoned street filled with buildings reduced to rubble, her breath rasping in her throat as she hissed, "Not gone. Not gone!"
A voice crackled to life in her ear. "What do you mean 'not gone?' I did a scan. It said there wasn't any left on the grounds."
"Well," she snapped back, risking a glance back. She squeaked at the sight of nasty, jagged teeth. Massive jaws had parted, as if the creature had intended to lunge forward and snap her up. "Maybe," she continued as she whipped her head back around and forced herself to run even faster. "You should have told that to the thing trying to eat me!"
"I'm on it. Take the next left. I'll be waiting," the voice informed her, and she forced herself to push on as fast as she could, exhausted. She'd been running for several minutes, and she was quickly losing the ability to stay ahead of the monstrous creature on her tail. But when she rounded the corner, she laughed breathlessly and barreled right into the set of arms waiting for her. As soon as she'd tackled them in a near hug, the world vanished and between one blink and the next, she'd shifted positions. Now, the pair stood in a rickety old building that looked keen on crumpling over their heads.
"Alright there, Jaybird?" he chirped, and she flashed him a smile, even as she panted heavily for breath.
"As alright as I can be, Jack," Jay O'Connors answered, doubling over. She propped her hands on her knees and simply wheezed for air for a few moments, doing her best to catch her breath. She gave him a weak thumbs up, which only served to make her friend chuckle. Jack peered out the window as she gave herself as long as she could before focusing on the situation at hand again. Jay touched the earpiece she wore to ensure it was still there. "Seriously," she said, still breathless and very much annoyed. "Didn't you check for life signs in the western half?"
"Of course I checked," Jack protested, but then pointed at something below. Jay glanced down, taking in the alien they'd been trying to track for the last few weeks. It was big, and resembled a rather interesting mix between a tiger and a slimy bug of some kind. Jay really didn't like it. The odd green-brown coloring only made the creature that much uglier to look at. She wondered what it was called. He would have known.
Hastily, Jay shoved her mind away from such matters, focusing on those that were more important to her. "Right," she said, clearing her throat. "We need to figure out what it is. Have you seen anything like it before, Jack?"
"Once." He was frowning at it.
That look didn't bode well. "Okay, you want to expand on that?" she prompted warily, and Jack made a face as he glanced at her.
"Yeah. Everyone got killed. Nasty creatures, those." He ran a hand through his dark hair, thoughtful, and Jay studied the alien for a few moments, once again struggling to not think of everything the Time Lord could have told them or done. She let out a puff of air, and a short strand of golden hair flew in the breeze she created. Jack watched the creature for a few moments longer. "Hear anything interesting, Jaybird?"
Jay shook her head. "No," she said firmly. "And thank goodness for that." She mindlessly flicked a wrist, ignoring the pins and needles in her fingertips. She wasn't at risk of being downed anytime soon either, even with all the running she'd done in the last few hours anytime the creature inevitably tracked them down again. She waited until the creature had disappeared again to ask, "Do you know where it comes from?"
"Nope," he said, popping the 'p.' "And my friends back at Torchwood couldn't find anything."
"Mickey neither." Jay grimaced, frustrated. That meant they'd have to figure something else out. "Guess we're going to go and dump it on some abandoned planet again, right? I hate doing that. I always feel bad about it." And she did. She truly did feel horrible about abandoning the aliens who couldn't talk back but acted like wild animals and killed everyone they could get their claws on. It wasn't their fault, and Jay was sure if she could understand them better or know more about them, she could help rather than leave them to likely starve to death. Neither she nor Jack were willing to end their lives though, and they'd agreed that creatures like this had at least a chance on other planets.
The fun part was actually getting them to other planets.
It involved a lot of tranquilizer darts and a lot of rushed movements with the vortex manipulator, which sometimes shorted out and left them stranded.
"Nothing from UNIT either?"
"No, Martha said their databases didn't have anything." Jay sighed heavily, somewhat annoyed by that. Not at Martha, of course, but because of the lack of information. Oh, well. She couldn't dwell on a situation like this one. There were lives on the line. "Well, then, Jack. Got that tranquilizer gun ready?"
He picked it up from where it had been resting, abandoned in his rush to get her to safety. "Whenever you're ready, Jaybird. Just bring it past here."
She hummed in agreement and then headed for the nearby stairs, calling over her shoulder as she gave him a playful, mocking salute, "Give me five minutes. Five minutes, and I'll have it in place. Don't be late. You know how I feel about people who are late."
As Jay toweled her hair dry, she studied herself in the mirror, her lips pressed into an unhappy line. There were shadows beneath her eyes, heavy and everlasting. She'd had them for months now. Her golden hair had been cut again, resting at her chin, and while easier to care for, she sometimes missed having it longer. At least it was easy to comb out with her fingers now though, she supposed as she ran her fingers through it, cocking her head. She wondered if someone else might have spotted the differences. She certainly felt different than she had several months before.
It had all started with Wilf. Wilf had been kinder than she'd ever expected him to be. Sylvia had found them as she'd wept in the street, and though Jay wasn't Sylvia's favorite person and vice versa, the woman had been kind enough to agree when Wilf had suggested Jay could stay with them for a little while. Donna had moved out, after all, and would certainly be away for a while on her honeymoon. Jay had been beyond grateful, thanking them through her tears as Wilf had guided her to their car even as she'd grieved for the Time Lord who'd left her behind.
It had taken some time to orient herself, though she didn't think too long. Within a week, she was actively doing her best to help out around the Noble home, learning what she could about normal life in the twenty-first century. She told Wilf bits and pieces about her own time, and he'd been utterly fascinated by it all. She'd even told him about the adventures she'd had with Donna, and she hadn't been blind enough to miss the fact that Sylvia had listened in on more than one occasion.
Soon enough, however, grief turned to anger. She'd become angry, furious that she'd been abandoned in such a way. A promise had been broken - the only thing she'd ever demanded be promised to her broken. The note she kept tucked away into the coat she still carried meant nothing. One promise had been broken. Who was to say another couldn't be?
At the very least, she'd somehow managed to keep her phone on her - and, much to her surprise, the psychic paper. It had been unintentional, she was sure. He couldn't have possibly known what he'd left in those pockets, which she'd emptied one evening to simply see out of pure curiosity. Along with the psychic paper had come several bananas, a yo-yo, and several other objects. She'd even pulled a shoe out at one point, puzzling her.
It had taken several times and several days to get a hold of anyone useful, and by then, she'd been closing in on the small deadline Sylvia had made. She didn't mind Jay so much at that point, but Donna would be coming home soon, and they couldn't risk Donna coming by unannounced and discovering Jay there. So, Jay had doubled down on finding someone. Her first instinct had been Jack or Martha. Neither had answered. She would have called Sarah Jane had she been able, but she didn't have that number either. So, Jay had gone down her rather small list, bypassing the TARDIS number installed into the phone, eventually coming across one she'd not put in herself. Gwen Cooper. The name had rung a bell, so she'd called.
It had turned out that Gwen was a member of Torchwood and a damn good friend of Jack's. She'd been entirely surprised, recalling mentions of Jay from the Dalek invasion, and had agreed to come get her. Gwen had come just in time, too, for they were pulling away in a car when Donna had pulled in, barely glancing their way. Jay had watched over her shoulder sadly for some time, even after no longer being able to see Donna, and had wondered if not remembering might have been easier.
Jack had, as Jay had anticipated, not been on the planet at the moment. He'd been busy hopping around with the vortex manipulator, only sparsely checking in, and Jay had tried to not be too distressed. Gwen was nice, as were the others in Torchwood, and they'd set her up with a place to stay temporarily, until Jay could figure something better out. Her luck had been just right not too long after that.
After nearly three months of trying, Jay had finally gotten a hold of Martha Jones. Martha had immediately come to find her, explaining that she'd been on a mission with Mickey, who was at her hip when Martha showed up on Jay's doorstep. Jay couldn't imagine how she'd gone so long without hugs like the one Martha gave her as soon as she rested eyes on her. It had been the first time since the day she'd been left behind that Jay broke down crying once again, still wearing that damn coat.
When Martha and Mickey had settled, Jay had explained it all, and Martha had been ill-looking as she listened to all of it. She'd not gotten such dreams, she'd told Jay, but both she and Mickey had experienced some odd blackouts during that period of time. It hadn't lasted long, but neither had been able to come up with an explanation for it. Martha had figured something had happened upon discovering that her family had also suffered similar blackouts, but that their mutual friend had fixed it. Jay had confirmed that and then had reluctantly explained what had come after that, how he'd left her behind and how she'd known she would not see him with that face again.
And so, Mickey had taken over the conversation then. He'd told her about what he recalled from the last time he'd switched faces, and how Rose had dealt with it all. It had made her feel a little better, but then...why hadn't he come back yet? She was four months down the road and he'd not even given her a sign that he was coming back. When Jay had asked for their response to that thought, neither could give her answers.
But life moved on, and the pair helped Jay settle into a new way of life. She'd been pleased when they invited her along on small missions they took when UNIT sent Martha to deal with odd jobs here and there. UNIT was apparently fully aware of their presence and knew exactly who either of them were, but had decided to do nothing for the time being. Torchwood checked in on occasion, too, reporting that they'd not yet heard back from Jack.
It had been yet another few months before Jack had finally appeared out of nowhere in her kitchen one morning. Jay had been shocked by the sight of him, dressed in some comfortable fuzzy pants and a simple T-shirt with a cup of coffee in her hands, and she'd promptly dropped it when he'd materialized so suddenly he nearly slammed into the small, cheaply built table Gwen had found at a thrift store for her. Her run down apartment was made up of similar purchases, scrounged together from meager cuts of Martha's paycheck, which Martha forced her to take.
It had been a similar reunion with Jack. He'd hugged her tightly when she'd cried. He'd told her what he recalled of similar situations, reminding her as kindly as he could how long it had taken the Time Lord to show back up in his own life and explaining where he'd been. Much like Martha, he'd been bouncing around time and space, enjoying life, helping people, and doing his best. He'd invited Jay along. At first, she'd refused. What if her Time Lord came looking and she wasn't there? But then…
She couldn't live her life like that, simply waiting.
So, she'd gone with him, ensuring to regularly check in with Martha. Now and then, she and Jack would take an extended break on Earth in the year 2008, which then stretched into the early months of 2009. Before Jay knew it, it had been a year, and he was still gone.
The attacks hadn't been as bad as they'd been, but Jay supposed that had more to do with the fact that she hadn't been running nearly as much. She did, of course, still run, and oftentimes, Jack did, too. But it wasn't like when she'd traveled before. It wasn't every time she turned around. Rather, it was simply less common. Many of the missions they took were more secretive, hiding and waiting until the opportune moment. As such, she'd only had a handful of attacks since the day the Master had returned. Jay couldn't say she didn't appreciate that. Quite the opposite, actually. She was grateful for it. No one wanted to be subjected to such pain.
Jay was certain. Others would have noticed the differences, too. There was no way they hadn't.
With a heavy sigh, Jay fumbled with the necklace that dangled at her throat. Once there had been two. Now, only a single, wonderful key hung from a chain there, always kept on her on the off chance that she'd come across the wonderful blue box that she loved. It was a habit though, messing with it. It soothed any lingering thoughts and nerves, and she took a deep breath before turning away.
When she emerged from the bathroom, Jack was slouched comfortably on her rickety old plaid couch. He was prodding thoughtfully at it and she grinned as she dropped to sit beside him on it. "What, not to your liking?" she teased.
"No, not really. You need to freshen the place up a little, Jaybird. None of it matches and none of it's comfortable."
Jay pretended to sink back into the couch, only to wince when a spring jabbed her in the spine. "You might have a point," she admitted after a moment. They sat there in companionable silence for a short while before she asked softly, "Do you think that alien will be okay?" They always did their best given the circumstances, but she was confident that their best was never enough.
"I found a planet with a lot of hunting," he said simply. "It should be."
Jay let out a soft breath of relief. It had been a better mission than normal then. With a heavy sigh, she leaned into her friend's shoulder and Jack casually tossed an arm around her shoulders, giving her a comforting squeeze. She appreciated it. After a moment, she elbowed him gently in the ribs. "Hey, didn't you have a meeting with Torchwood?"
He glanced at his watch and huffed. "Ten minutes ago."
"Well, then," she drawled, "get going. And call to let them know you're on your way, or they're going to start harassing me again, and I'm going to have to explain to Mickey why I have this really big phone bill."
"You don't have phone bills. You just overheard them talking about it." He ruffled her hair playfully. "You'll be alright for a little while? I'll be back after. We can go get some dinner, just you and me. And maybe Martha, if we can get her to come. We could use the psychic paper, see if we can get a free meal somewhere fancy."
"I'm going to take a raincheck on the cheating for food, but that'd be nice," Jay agreed. "Thanks."
He merely smiled cheekily and rose to his feet, brushing himself off. Jay watched him with amusement. He still had that odd coat that he claimed to have a fondness for, a World War II style coat as Martha had called it. He wore it every time she saw him, just as she often found herself wearing the long brown coat she'd stolen accidentally. Jack gave her a stern look that made her want to roll her eyes, clearly warning her to stay out of trouble. Jay could have laughed.
As if he could prevent her from getting into any kind of trouble.
When Jack had gone, Jay found herself sitting in the silence of her little apartment. She hated it, she realized. This little apartment. Hated it. She much preferred her room back on the TARDIS, where she'd left so many trinkets from her adventures throughout time and space. If she was going to be stuck in this time and place, she wished she could have had her little souvenirs.
Slowly, Jay's eyes drifted to the coat she'd tossed unceremoniously onto a hook that hung near the front door and her heart ached at the sight of it. Unable to help herself, Jay drew herself to her feet and meandered over. She brushed her fingers fondly over the coat, smoothing out wrinkles and touching the tear that still lingered in the side, where a blow of electricity had scarred her hip. She blinked back a few tears as she rubbed the fabric gently between her fingers and sighed heavily.
She missed him.
She wouldn't let herself say his title, not wanting to draw up too much pain like it tended to do. But she missed him every day. It was a constant fight, distracting herself. She oftentimes found it too difficult to distract herself and would fall into angry, grieving moments that frustrated her to no end.
Carefully, Jay slid her hand into the pocket and withdrew the note she kept tucked inside, her lips pressed together as she opened it and studied the familiar writing. She knew what it said without having to read it, but simply seeing the chicken scratch on the other side was comforting in itself. "'I promise I'll come back,'" she read aloud softly. A scoff escaped her. "Then where the hell are you?"
Yet, she carefully put the note away after a few moments of looking at it, pretending that there weren't tears in her eyes. She smoothed the coat again, and then forced herself to back away from it. She turned away entirely after a moment, crushing the hope that threatened to rise in her chest.
I promise I'll come back.
But he'd never said when.
Tapping her finger glumly on the table, Jay pretended to pay attention to the argument occurring less than three feet away from her. Well, discussion, as the boys would have put it. Mickey and Jack were discussing something she could care less about. Jay suspected it was something related to the last mission she and Jack had completed. But she couldn't have said. She was too busy thinking, staring at the information on the paper in front of her. A frown encompassed her face. How had it come back? It was the third time this alien, this odd slimy bug-cat that she and Jack had only just dealt with, had returned to Earth, in the very same location.
The thing didn't even have access to a ship, let alone the fact that it was very unlikely the alien could actually steer anything. It was a puzzle that she simply didn't understand. She let out a loud sigh, cutting off the argument as she rocked back a little and turned to Martha, who'd been looking at a few things herself in silent thought. "Martha," she said, "what do you think? How's it getting back? I thought of a wormhole, but the last thing I saw cross through wormholes was covered in this hard shell to protect it. This thing would have likely been killed if it went through a wormhole."
Martha hummed in thought as she looked at the image Jay slid her, pointing out the soft fleshy bits. "Teleport?"
"It's not capable of that technology though," pointed out Jack, forgetting his argument with Mickey.
Mickey nodded. "All the info I got on it said it was like some animal."
"We're animals, too, don't forget," murmured Jay absent-mindedly, lingering on Martha's suggestion for a few moments longer. Eventually, she gave up, frustrated. "This makes no sense," she grumbled, shoving the image away entirely and angrily grabbing her plate so she could finish the pasta she'd ordered. "Absolutely no sense." They'd tried three separate planets, too.
"So maybe it has nothing to do with the alien. Could it be something else?" suggested Martha. "Like another species?"
"I don't think so, we would have noticed something by now," Jack answered. "Torchwood would have picked up on signals."
Jay murmured uncertainly. "Maybe. I don't know. Sometimes, signals get past even Torchwood. Look at the TARDIS." So easily it could sneak past Torchwood. It had done so just a year ago, when the Master had come back to haunt them. Jack had told her as such himself, and Gwen had confirmed it over the phone when she'd curiously inquired further during a spree of searches she'd done. Jay rocked her chair back, thinking hard. "I don't think it wants to be here, regardless. It gets angrier every time it shows up. Next time, someone's going to get hurt. We really need to do something."
And at the rate they were going, it wasn't looking to be something nice. Jay hated that - a lot. She wished the creature could simply be taken home, to where it belonged. The alien was likely scared and confused and angry that it had been moved in such a way. Its home was gone, ripped away from it, and now it had no way back.
Jay thought the story was rather familiar.
"Right," she muttered, rising to her feet and brushing off her lap. "I'm going to go walk around and think about it some more since we're not getting anywhere here. I'll check in when I get home."
Martha watched her quietly. "Jay," she began, but Jay ignored her old friend, simply donning the long trench coat that she so often wore and giving them a playful salute in farewell. Martha looked frustrated. Jay felt a little guilty about that as she headed out, falling into step along a lengthy sidewalk that she knew would lead her to a small park. Jay walked quietly along it, simply listening to anything and everything as she pushed her hands into her pockets.
Martha had tried to discuss the idea of moving on with her once. Just once. Jay had shut the idea down almost immediately. As angry and lost as she was, she couldn't imagine the Time Lord never showing back up in her life ever again. It simply wasn't an option. So, here she was. Waiting for a mad man in a blue box of infinite possibilities. It sounded every bit as impossible as it should have been, but Jay didn't care.
She was confident he'd show up again. Earth couldn't stay out of trouble for very long, after all. It never could. And where the trouble was, he'd be. Whether it was the face she'd fallen in love with or a new one, or even an old one. He'd be there.
Jay let out a loud gust of air, rifling through the massive pockets of the coat she wore. She fumbled with the psychic paper in one as she walked, and a ball of yarn in the other. A smile tugged at her lips as she pulled the yarn ball out to study it. It was made of nearly iridescent yarn. Beautiful, and certainly not made here on this planet. It was alien for sure, and absolutely stunning. It was incredibly soft, too, and even reminded her of the soft fur of a puppy she'd been able to scratch the ears of recently.
A thought suddenly occurred to Jay, and she stopped dead in her tracks, fumbling the yarn and nearly dropping it. Puppy. She slowly turned her face to the west, in the direction of the creature that so often made its appearance in this strange, abandoned area that had been cleared out with the assistance of UNIT. Anyone who went there, UNIT had declared, did so of their own will and put themselves at risk from an unknown source of trouble. Of course, that had brought more people than it had chased them away. Nevertheless…
Her fingers twitched, remembering how the puppy's soft fur had felt beneath her fingertips. The puppy had whimpered nervously, even curling its lips a little at her as it tried to squirm away. Jay hadn't forced the interaction for long, remembering J.J.'s reaction to her. The dog had been entirely unwilling to be near her, which she had suspected was due to the poison.
But it wasn't the dog she thought of. Rather, she found herself thinking of the worried look on the owner's face. He'd frowned severely and fussed over the dog long after she'd started walking away, thanking him. It was the same look Jay had seen on multiple people over the course of the time she'd spent aboard the TARDIS. She'd seen it on Wilf's and Jackie's faces, too. On Sarah Jane's.
On her own mother when Lucas had taken a rough tumble and hurt himself.
"Oh, my God," she breathed, whirling around and darting back in the direction she'd come. She yanked her phone out of her pocket, dialing the number that would give her someone at Torchwood. Ianto Jones picked up several rings down the road and she was already breathless as she hissed, "Where is it?"
"Where's what?"
"The alien, the one Jack and I just dealt with for the third time. It's back, right? We were told it was back. Again." She yelped when she ran into someone. She hastily apologized to the startled woman, and then rushed onwards, coat flying around her legs. "I mean, we knew it was back already, but where is it exactly? Same spot, same area?"
"Yeah. According to the scans we did." Ianto wasn't someone she'd talked to very often and Jay knew he wasn't overly fond of her. She was fairly sure it was a little jealous twinge in his gut. She knew he was fond of Jack, and got frustrated how often Jack hung around her instead of Torchwood as of late. Now wasn't the time to think about things like that though.
"Right, start scanning for a similar life form or maybe more. Something we would have bypassed before. Anything related to that alien, I want to know. Thanks, Ianto." She hung up without another word and bolted into the restaurant she and the others had been eating in. They were still there, all deep in discussion. She didn't bother to figure out what they were talking about, only slapped a hand down on the table, making all three jump. Other occupants in the place stared at her, annoyed. Jay ignored them all and gave a wild grin.
"I know why it keeps coming back," she told them excitedly. "It always comes back to the same place. Every single time, right? So I was thinking, why does it do that? Why that particular place? Then I remembered Jack said it used to be an old Torchwood facility, one of the ones from before Torchwood was reformed. And you know what the old Torchwood was always interested in?"
"Aliens?" suggested Mickey, rocking forward with interest.
"If it's alien, it's ours," muttered Jack under his breath, making Martha roll her eyes.
"My cousin worked there," she reminded him warningly, and Jack muttered a quiet apology. Martha flashed him a quick smile and then focused on Jay, curious. "Alright, so there's something from Torchwood there?"
"Not just anything. There's only one thing in the world anyone would tear themselves apart to find." Jay's blue eyes lit with joy as she breathed, "Their children. Martha, look what your parents did for you and still do. Torchwood would have captured at least a remnant of a young one, right. Maybe it's already deceased and we don't know, but maybe the alien just wants that piece to remember its young one by."
"You really think there's alien babies running around the area?" Jack questioned thoughtfully, looking excited. He agreed with her it appeared, and it gave Jay some hope that maybe she was onto something, and wasn't imagining things. He was nodding, too. "We haven't picked up on anything-"
"I just asked Ianto to do another scan." Jay looked at each of them desperately. "It's the only thing I could think of. There's no way anything would keep coming back when it knows we're here unless there was something it desperately wanted. And with the kind of alien it looks like it is, it's not seeking technology, or money, or something like that. It's lonely. It's worried. It's scared and angry. It wants its child."
"Well," Martha said, climbing to her feet. "It's worth looking around for at least. What do you think, Jay? Want to team up and see what we can find? Mickey still has a few files to finish sorting through that might not be as corrupted as we thought, and Jack can be on standby to get us out of trouble."
Jay smiled brightly at the idea. "Sounds like fun to me. What do you two think?"
Mickey wrinkled his nose, not excited to be left out of the action, but admitting that he really did have some files he needed to sort through. They could have information the rest of them might need regarding what was happening. Jack didn't seem too excited to be on standby, preferring to be smack in the middle of the action, but neither disagreed.
"Let's get going then, shall we?" Jay said excitedly, rocking back on her heels with a wide smile that Martha returned. "And this time, Jack, please make sure the thing's not in the western side of the town."
The abandoned section of town was quiet as Jay and Martha cautiously picked their way through it, step by step. There was no sign of the alien that returned. At least, not for the moment. Jay was grateful. The thing was fast, and it took a lot of energy to get away from - energy that she really didn't have, if she was being honest. She was exhausted and hadn't slept well the night before. But she kept that to herself, not letting Martha so much as think that she might not be up to the task. She was tired, but working like this helped.
It was as they were ducking into an old Torchwood building that Martha struck up the conversation Jay tried desperately to avoid now. "Mickey's been looking, and-"
"I told Mickey not to bother," Jay said curtly, taking on an agitated expression. She didn't like when the others tried to push their way into her problem. She would have loved to find the one who'd left her behind, but not like this. She wasn't sure if he'd keep this promise, but he'd promised nonetheless. He'd come back. He had sworn he would.
"Yes, but he was looking," Martha said, prying an old door open, "and he's not seen a single mention in the last year or so. Nowhere. Not even when we took a look at other locations. Absolutely nothing."
"I would think so." Jay pushed past her, taking the lead and trampling down the stairs into a large basement that was dimly lit from openings in the ceiling. "It's not just this planet he shows up on. You should know this by now, Martha. If he wants to show up, he'll show up. He promised. And maybe, you know, he broke the other promise that I considered a little more important, but there's always the chance-" She broke off, clamping her mouth shut. "I don't want to talk about this now," she said through gritted teeth.
"You'll have to sit down and talk about it eventually," Martha told her gently as she followed, checking to make sure her ear piece was working. "It's eating you up. Something more is eating you up, and we don't want to just sit back and watch. We're your friends, Jay. And I know Jack offered to try and get you to your family and that you refused."
She had initially loved the idea. Jack had come up to her one day and suggested that she visit her family, which she'd mentioned on the side once or twice. She'd not told him about her father or mother, only Lucas and his beautiful wife Sonya. He'd offered to take her to see them. Jay had been delighted with the thought and had started to agree, but had faltered. Lucas was her brother. He knew the man from the stars, and he'd seen how much Jay loved the life she'd been able to lead with him. He'd ask the difficult questions that Jay wasn't ready to answer, just like Martha had tried now. So, she'd rejected the offer, instead murmuring that she'd go the moment the TARDIS came back.
Jay gritted her teeth. "Don't worry about it, Martha. I'll go see Lucas when I feel that I want to." This had been a bad idea, coming out with Martha like this. She should have known this would happen. Jack had tried this once, and Jay had made sure he knew not to do it again as soon as they were safe. She didn't like being bombarded in such a way.
Martha tried to say something else, but Jay ignored her, instead pausing when she heard something. She shushed Martha hastily, pressing a finger to her lips. Martha frowned, but closed her mouth, listening, too. After a few moments, a weak sound came again, and Jay took off at a dead run. "I knew it," breathed Jay, darting around a bunch of rubble within the basement. She followed the soft sounds until she found what she'd suspected the adult alien was looking for.
"Oh, no," whispered Jay. It was one of the most heartbreaking things Jay had ever seen. The alien before them was tiny, no larger than the puppy she'd seen. It was like a miniature version of the adult stalking through the world above their heads, all slime and baby teeth. Jay didn't care. She shrugged her beloved coat off, not wanting it to be ruined by the slime, and shoved it at Martha before darting over to help.
The baby alien was trapped, chained to the wall with a rusted collar, and Jay wondered what the hell had allowed such a thing to happen. It was weak, laying there and staring at her fearfully from multiple blinking eyes. But it didn't try anything, not as Jay gently whispered to it, stroking its head and inspecting the collar. Martha stared in sad horror, waiting to see what Jay wanted her to do.
"I need something to get this collar off," Jay murmured, prying at it but coming up unsuccessful. She eyed the baby alien with some interest, noting that for as long as it had been chained, it really ought to have been dead. It had been here for years. Her gaze drifted around, landing on a series of mismatched bowls. One was still wet with water. Someone had been caring for it, but unable to come back in the last week or so, likely because of the alien that had been wreaking havoc in its search.
"Hold on." Martha began searching her pockets and when she came up empty-handed, left to find a tool they could use. As she did, Jay touched a hand to her ear. "Jack, Mickey, we found it."
"You're telling me it was really searching for a child?" Jack demanded, and Jay's lips twitched at the corners as she smoothed a hand over the head, ignoring the way the slime stuck to her fingers.
"Of course. It's chained up. We're trying to free it. Hopefully the mother won't find us." Jay's smile widened when the small creature nudged at her fingers hopefully, its baby teeth prickling her skin. One by one, each eye blinked, and it looked up at her with faint interest, too weak to do much else. Jay hummed gently to it.
"Here," Martha called, jogging back over with a set of wire cutters, rusted by age, in hand. "Let's try this."
Between the pair of them, they went to work on trying to free the little alien. It whimpered and Jay paused to check and make sure they weren't hurting it in the process, but after some finagling and caution, the alien was freed. Immediately, Jay scooped it into her arms, wincing at the slime that stuck to her, and said, "Martha, do you have any snacks on you?"
She searched her pockets and shook her head. She even tried the pockets of the coat Jay had pushed at her. Jay was annoyed with herself for not thinking to keep something in there. She looked the little alien over and decided that it would be alright until they could get it some food. "I wonder who was taking care of it," Jay commented as they ensured it was ready and started back up the stairs. Both were pleased that they'd come up successful in their search. "It looked like someone had been feeding it."
"Who keeps an alien chained in a basement and then feeds it?" pointed out Martha, and Jay shrugged. In a dangerous area, nonetheless. "Maybe they were after the parent? Look at Torchwood One."
"I don't know…" Jay glanced around as they emerged. The alien began squirming excitedly in her arms, pleased to be outside, and Jay smiled briefly at it before ushering Martha along. They made a beeline for the meeting spot that Jack would be waiting at, very aware that Jack was listening and ready to come jump in if need be. "I want to get this guy back with its mother," she said under her breath as they walked, "but I think we need to get it something to eat first, build its strength back up."
"Hold on, wait a second. You're not bringing it back with you, are you?" questioned Mickey, and Jay grinned broadly.
"Maybe." She hefted it up a bit and it seemed to purr.
"Your funeral."
"Watch it," Jay muttered, glancing over her shoulder. There was no sign of the mother, who'd returned to the area supposedly. "I wonder where she is," Jay commented quietly as they rounded a corner and found Jack waiting for them. She furrowed her brow, puzzled. Normally, it would have sniffed them out by now if it was around. Maybe it was worried they'd hurt the baby alien and was hesitant to approach? In any case, Jay smiled at Jack when they reached him, holding the baby up for inspection. "You didn't get the right scans done last time, Jack."
"Apparently," he said with a wry grin. He curiously studied the creature, which blinked back at him with its many eyes, and then shrugged. "Ready?"
"Ready," they agreed, and together, they used the vortex manipulator to leave the area.
When they hit the ground again, Jay staggered slightly, feeling a little sick. She wished Jack still had some of that medicine she'd gotten him some time ago, but she'd ended up using most of it during her time with him. He'd teased her for it relentlessly, commenting that she'd had some foresight on him being the one who'd needed it. The alien squirmed in her arms, protesting, but she kept a tight grip and hummed soothingly.
Jack had taken them back to her place, and Martha stepped away to check in with Mickey properly as Jay ordered, "Jack, see what I've got in the fridge. I should have some meat in there we can feed to him. Grab all of it if we need to." She made a small mental note to not just pile all of the meat into the little guy. It would hurt him as much as it would do good if she did so. He'd not eaten in a while.
Jack went to do exactly that, and Jay trailed after him into the kitchen as he went to work on digging through her food. She smiled sheepishly when he commented casually, "When you said to look through the fridge, I thought I might need to move things around. Jaybird, how much are you actually eating? There's barely anything in here."
Jay cleared her throat and wouldn't look him in the eye when he tried to meet her gaze. "I'm not hungry," she said simply, earning a scoff from him as he withdrew a package of ground beef. The alien saw it and immediately whimpered, squirming and drooling. Jay flinched at the feel of the drool on her arm, but only smiled at it as she carefully set it down. Jack crouched and tore the package open and after some prompting, the alien was tearing into the meat hungrily.
Jay watched fondly. "Poor guy," she echoed. He was immensely hungry, as they'd expected, and before long he'd devoured all of the meat. When Jack came up empty-handed after trying to find more, the creature eventually gave up on licking up every little trace and scurried back into Jay's arms. "I almost wish we could keep him," she admitted, petting it. As slimy as the creature was, she found herself to be quite fond of it. But its mother would miss it, and it likely missed its mother. Jay would never force another creature to stay away from the one it loved most.
The alien nosed at Jay's fingers hopefully, but Jay only stroked its head. "Sorry," she said. "We're out. But let's get you to where you need to be." She glanced at Jack. "Should we tranquilize the mother again? I don't know how happy she's going to be with us."
"It'd be safer," Jack pointed out, pushing his hands into his pockets. He was watching her closely, Jay realized. She wasn't sure why, but she could see his mind working overtime as he considered something or another. After some time, in which all they heard was the alien's soft rumbles and Martha speaking quietly with Mickey, Jack said carefully, "Jaybird, we're worried about you."
Jay tensed, annoyed. "I'm fine," she said a little sharply, but Jack pushed on.
"Your fridge shouldn't be empty, not like that. And you look like you barely live here." Jack made a small gesture to the rest of her old, run down apartment and the rickety furniture she'd gotten. "I know Martha gets you payment for the work you do. Why aren't you making a home here?"
"Because I don't need it."
"Even if he does come back-"
"When." Her eyes burned with tears, even as a familiar surge of uncertainty raced through her chest. "He promised he'd come back." Even if he had broken a promise he'd already made, making this promise almost useless to her. "I'm fine, Jack. I'm fine."
Jack clearly didn't believe her, but dropped the subject when Martha came to join them, looking mildly annoyed. When they peered at her, concerned, Martha admitted, "UNIT's decided the alien's become too much of a hassle. They want it dead. Mickey just got the call, about thirty minutes ago. They've got a team heading out there now. We need to get moving if we're going to help them."
Jay stiffened, looking down at the poor, clueless baby she was attempting to help. It blinked up at her with its dark eyes and her heart ached. It had no idea what they were trying to do for it. So, with her lips pressed into a hard line, she scooped it up. It was a little heavy after carrying it around for so long earlier, but she didn't mind. She only tightened her arms around it. "Let's go," she said firmly. "We need to get that mother out of there and now. Jack-"
"On it already," he promised, putting coordinates into his vortex manipulator. He swore when it suddenly sparked, threatening to stop working entirely. He slapped it a few times with the heel of his hand, blue eyes flashing. When it stopped, he tried again. "Ready," he declared. "We might get stuck afterwards."
"We can walk if we need to," Jay said confidently. "All that matters is getting this thing home to its mother."
Not for the first time, she missed the TARDIS. They were on a time limit, more so than ever. With the TARDIS...most of the time, she was sure in these situations she could have simply gone back in time if necessary, giving them a bit of breathing room. But this...now...she couldn't. There was no way around what was happening except the straight path through. "Let's go," she said. "Martha," she added as Jack bolted to get his tranquilizer gun from the closet she'd stashed it in earlier for him. "Do you think you can slow UNIT down? Get them to focus on an area the alien's not in? They trust you."
It was asking a lot. Losing any fraction of the leaders' trust would get Martha into trouble. But she didn't look as if she minded one bit as she nodded curtly, already digging her phone out of her pocket. "I've got this handled," she promised. "I'll get Mickey to help out, too."
Mickey had always wanted to hack into UNIT computers, mused Jay as she nodded, trusting Martha whole-heartedly. He'd told her once on the side, simply because he knew she'd not say anything to anyone. Jay took a deep breath as Jack came back, tranquilizer gun in hand. She still didn't like that gun, but at least, she supposed, it wasn't an actual gun. Not like the ones she'd seen so many others use.
"Ready?" Jack checked as she pressed her hand over the vortex manipulator when he offered it. She nodded curtly. Ready. They didn't have the time to screw around. They needed to find this alien and get the pair out. Grinning, Jack slammed his palm down over hers.
Jay had never been more grateful for one Jack Harkness as she cautiously picked her way down a street, very aware of the roar of engines a few streets over in the abandoned area. She kept a tight grip on the alien in her arms even as it squirmed, wanting down. Jack lingered beside her, a tranquilizer gun held at the ready. His eyes were alert, body ready to launch into action.
She wasn't sure, thought Jay as they rounded a corner and darted into the nearest cover they could find, what she'd be doing without him, where she'd be. Helping Martha and Mickey, maybe. But Jack was the one who helped her stay beneath UNIT's radar, who'd offered her a good spot among those at Torchwood without officially joining. She was like a freelancer, he'd told her once. She quite liked the idea.
The alien suddenly squirmed violently, uttering a soft sound, and Jay shushed it, stopping Jack so she could hoist it up again. The creature flailed, hissing in annoyance. "I know, I know," whispered Jay, grimacing apologetically as she fought to keep her grip. "I'm sorry, but we don't really have a-"
Hot breath gusted over their backs, rancid and reeking of rot, and Jay and Jack both froze. Slowly, they glanced at one another and then over their shoulders. Sure enough, there was the very alien they'd been seeking. The alien mother towered over them with a snarl on its maw, several beady eyes blinking at them one by one with hatred clear. It snarled once. Very slowly, Jay turned to face the creature. "Hi," she breathed, and it snarled again.
"Right," she began as the baby alien squirmed even more anxiously in her arms, wanting its parent. "So, we have the little one. We're gonna take you somewhere nice and pleasant, away from all the nasty humans." She had no idea if the alien could understand her. It hadn't indicated that it could in the previous encounters they'd had with it. But it was worth a try.
And, much to her surprise, the alien reeled back and peered at them suspiciously, jaws snapping shut. Its talons gauged the ground and Jack glanced at her, and then at the alien as it rumbled warily at them. Its gaze locked on its young, and then darted to Jay, each eye narrowing. Jay gave it an encouraging smile and elbowed Jack, realizing there was a damn good chance the creature could understand. "Get rid of the gun."
"Jaybird…"
"Jack!"
"Fine, fine." He tossed the tranquilizer gun aside and the alien stilled before grumbling, as if reluctantly accepting that they were speaking the truth. Jay shivered when the alien ducked its head, sniffing at its child, which purred in response and chirped. Jay smiled broadly at the pair, pleased. At least something was going right for a change.
"We need to get it out of here," Jack said urgently, glancing around as if UNIT would materialize, ready to take out the threat. "Martha won't be able to hold them off for very long."
Jay agreed and said, "Let's get moving then."
Jay nibbled at the tasty snack she'd snagged as she meandered through the German market, the snow falling beautifully around her. Others were out, bustling and shifting around, while for her...the world seemed to stand still, just as it had from the moment she'd been left behind. Her eyes roved the pretty lights and decorations, the people uttering among themselves in mostly German. She inhaled sharply, letting the crisp smell of food and fresh snow fill her lungs. It steadied her in a way.
At least the alien was safe. She'd been told that Martha had been scolded sharply for her part in everything, had nearly been demoted even, but the alien and its little one were safe on a planet full of wildlife they could hunt for food. The baby had still been rather weak when she and Jack had left them, but Jay was sure the mother would ensure it recovered entirely from its ordeal. Jay still wondered what it had been doing, chained up in a basement beneath remnants of the old Torchwood. Jack unhappily believed it was for experimenting or something along those lines; Jay agreed. She'd heard of what the old Torchwood had done regarding Daleks and something called Cybermen. Mickey had told her all about it.
Jay glanced around, wondering where Jack had gone. She'd left him to flirt with a couple who'd caught his eye, and both had been batting eyes at him when she'd decided it wasn't going to end anytime soon. Jay had no doubt, thinking about it now, that she'd not see Jack Harkness for a while. Probably not until the next day: Christmas. Her first real Christmas in which she wasn't aboard the Titanic. She and the others had already made plans to meet up, exchange gifts, and spend the day together. Sarah Jane was even coming with her son, invited by Martha. Jay had already dropped a card off for Wilf to find, trusting he'd give it to Donna.
She was so focused on what she was doing that she didn't notice someone fall into step beside her until she'd gone several twisting paths through the market and they were still there. Frowning, she glanced at them, and faltered. She didn't recognize the man beside her, which made her a little uncomfortable. He was tall and slender, on the older side, with curly gray hair. He dressed oddly formally for what was a mostly casual outing. "Can I help you?" she asked, grimacing a little. That was somewhat rude.
"No," he answered a little curtly, though she didn't think he was necessarily unkind. "Yes."
"Is it no or is it yes?" she questioned, eyeing him warily. She listened intently to him, paying close attention. She could hear it, the song that emanated from this odd man, and it wasn't unlike Donna's or even the one that had played in her ears when she'd lost anything. Actually, it was rather similar to them. A special person, then. With a special fate. "If you need help, I'm not really someone who can help you, but I know a few people who could."
"Not," he answered, "with what I need help with."
Jay stopped to stare at him, annoyed. "Look," she snapped, "I'm not in the mood for this game you're playing, so stop messing around and spit it out." Once, she might have tried to coax it kindly from him. Not anymore.
The man looked startled by her seething tone. He stopped to look at her, and Jay glared back at him. "You're angry," he said in such a startled manner that Jay couldn't help but laugh. Of course she was angry. She'd been abandoned without a word or a farewell, and she'd known that when - if - her friend came back...he'd be entirely different. She'd not even gotten to say goodbye.
That was, perhaps, what bothered her most about everything. She didn't mind that she'd have to get to know a new person, no matter how much she loved the other version of him. She really didn't care that he'd become someone new. He was still him, deep down, no matter how different he looked or acted. What bothered her most was that she'd never gotten to say goodbye to the old him. She'd have to look at this new person every day if he even remembered to come back for her and think about the closure that had been snatched away from her.
And it struck her, then and there, before this strange man who'd simply been accompanying her for some reason she knew nothing about, that she might have just briefly hated him for it.
Unnerved by that, Jay took a large breath to steady her mind, and then let it out in a big gust. "Look," she said tiredly, simply wanting to go to bed then and there. She repeated herself. "Look, it's not your fault, and I'm sorry for shouting like that. I don't know who you are, but I can get you the help you need. Maybe. I know some people. I just...I don't think I'd be of any use to you."
He looked so alarmed by this, so shocked, that Jay almost laughed again. It was as if it hadn't occurred to the man that she, some random stranger in the middle of a German weihnachtsmarkt, might not know how to happen. "But I need your help."
"But I can't help," Jay replied, starting forward again. She paused at a booth, studying the crafts of the person, who smiled charmingly at them and asked if they'd like to purchase anything. Jay smiled politely and told them they were just looking. "Really, I can't. I don't use guns. I don't know how to use any kind of weaponry. I don't even know how to defend myself." She really ought to have learned, she thought. Martha had suggested it, and Jay had been simply too tired to take her up on the offer. "Besides. I'm waiting for someone. I don't know when they're coming back, but I'll wait for them as long as I need to. I need to be ready for when they come back."
He was quiet as they went on to the next booth, his face creased in a frown. He seemed lost in thought, troubled - and pained, as if he truly felt the same kind of pain she did. After a long while of silence, he said, "There's more than the ability to use your body to save someone."
That stopped her in her tracks. Jay glanced at the man, puzzled. "What? What do you mean 'save someone?' Is someone's life in danger?"
"Always," he said, "but this particular one needs help to get out of it." He met her gaze, and Jay's stomach churned. She took a step back, a little unnerved by the old look in the man's eyes. She'd seen that old look several times. A thought occurred to her, and she hastily shoved it away, too upset to even consider it. She didn't want to even believe it was a possibility. She couldn't.
Because she was sure that if she did, she would shatter into a million pieces.
She pressed her mouth into a hard line and stared suspiciously at him. "I don't even know you."
For just a moment, there was a saddened look that appeared in those old eyes, and it only scared her further when he said, "You hear things most people cannot. Your help would be...I need it."
She took a shaken breath. "I'll help. I'll help, because I won't let someone die because I'm too stubborn." She shoved her hands into her pockets, looking over her shoulder at the beautiful market. Jack wouldn't know where she'd gone, she thought, but she would send him a message, so someone was aware if she went missing.
Relieved, the man offered her a hand, as if requesting her trust.
Jay kept her own shoved firmly into the pockets of the coat she'd accidentally stolen, wanting nothing more than to bury herself in it.
No.
A smaller, fast-paced chapter about in betweens! Next up...the surprise chapter. Can you guess what's going to happen? ;)
Thanks to reviewers (EchoMoment, savethemadscientist, and AssassinSasha15!) as well as those who favorited and followed!