Jay rubbed the bruised part of her arm as she lazed about in her favorite room of the TARDIS. The library was always warm and welcoming, filled with silent books and the TARDIS's calm presence. Her legs were kicked up on the couch, her eyes thoughtfully tracing the black veins that laced up and down her arm. She'd let the Doctor take her blood earlier, and while she'd hated every second of it, she was hopeful of the results the Doctor had promised to tell her about. Any minute now, she was sure that he'd come through with news of some kind–
The phone in her pocket rang, interrupting her thoughts. She answered immediately without thinking much of it. "Hello?"
"Well, well, well," chirped the voice on the other end, and Jay lit up even as she simultaneously cringed. "Finally decided to pick up the phone, Jaybird?"
Jay grimaced. She could hear Jack's concern, even as he teased her. She'd been putting off several phone calls from the group of friends she'd left behind on Earth. Martha had been at the head of them all, making several. Mickey had made a few, and they'd even convinced Sarah Jane to make one, which had surprised her. She'd not known Sarah Jane well or long at all. This was only the second or third from Jack. She carefully considered her answer. "Martha's been pestering you."
"Yes and no. She's not the only one worried, you know."
"I'm fine," Jay replied immediately. She had no real reason as to why she'd not told at least one of them where she was, she realized, outside of avoiding a lecture or two. Martha was angry with the Doctor for leaving her behind as he had, and just as frustrated with Jay for not moving on. "She worries too much." Jay paused when the TARDIS hummed softly, alerting her that someone was likely seeking her out – the Doctor, she hoped, with some potential answers. "I've got to go," she said hastily.
Ignoring the statement, Jack said sternly, "At least tell me if you're safe and if you need some backup."
Jay's lips twitched. When one traveled aboard the TARDIS, they were never safe, no matter how hard they tried to be. "I don't need backup. I'm quite content where I am. Really, you don't need to worry so much, Jack." She glanced up when the TARDIS hummed a second time and found, to her surprise, Amy wandering into the library. "I mean it. I'm better than I've been in a long time."
"That sounded like–"
"Bye, Jack," Jay said quickly, ending the phone call. Amy peered at the library in awe, mouth slightly agape. Jay tucked the phone away and laughed. "It's ridiculous, right? The number of books." It wasn't nearly as large as the Library had been, but it was big enough to easily get lost in. Jay would have been okay with that. "It's my favorite room though."
"It's a lot," admitted Amy, quickly dismissing the topic. "So, who were you talking to?"
"An old friend." Jay smiled warmly. "He was checking in."
Amy dropped onto the couch beside her. She looked thoughtful, as if debating whether or not she wanted to cause trouble or not. Jay was relieved when she chose not to. Instead, Amy hummed, "So…is the pool still in here?"
"Not that I've seen. The Doctor actually moved the pool into the library?" complained Jay, mildly annoyed by the idea. She'd heard it mentioned not long ago, but it was truly annoying if it was the case. She didn't mind the fact that there was a pool in the TARDIS. In fact, it was expected. There were an infinite number of rooms, so why not? But why in the library?
Amy shrugged. "Want to go look?"
"I thought you'd never ask." Jay hopped to her feets, flicking her fingers mindlessly. Amy looked delighted that Jay liked her suggestion, looping her arm through Jay's as they set off to explore the library and see just what they could find in its depths.
They spent some time exploring, and despite the lack of pool – which Jay was more than okay with – they found a few interesting knick-knacks throughout the TARDIS library. Amy pointed out what looked like some original copies of Shakespearean plays, which resulted in them wondering if he'd acquired them after his last visit with the author himself, something Jay recalled being mentioned when she'd first joined him and Martha. Jay discovered some ancient tome with parchment that was suspicious-looking enough that they left it alone. There were some books neither of them had ever seen from other planets in languages that even the TARDIS couldn't translate.
Jay could have wandered the library forever, had the TARDIS not hummed in a familiar way, signaling that the Doctor was looking for them. Jay wondered if Amy heard it as she stopped to look over her shoulder, instinctively searching for him, because Amy didn't seem to have heard it. She didn't bother to ask, not wanting to bring more attention to the stranger parts of her life. Casually, she said, "I'm going to go check on the Doctor and see if he's finished. Want to come?"
Amy hummed, eyes locked on a shelf far above their heads containing what looked like a snow globe of some sort. "I'm going to keep looking."
Jay shrugged and left Amy to her own exploration, traipsing through the library with ease. She meandered among the shelves for some time before the TARDIS finally helped her to the door. She nearly ran into the Doctor as he went to enter the library, and she smirked at the startled look on his face. "The TARDIS mentioned you were looking for us?" she said casually, folding her arms.
"For you," he corrected, not returning her smile. It vanished from her face. She tightened her arms, wondering if she ought to just go on without knowing what he'd found. Whatever it was…it wasn't good.
The Doctor ran his hands through his hair in a way that was so familiar, it sent a punch through her heart at the same time that it brought her some relief. After a moment of organizing what he wanted to say, the Doctor quietly drew a small vial from his pocket. Jay leaned in to look and felt her stomach flip.
It was, she supposed, meant to be a vial of her blood. She'd counted them before she'd left him to his work. Six total. It didn't look like blood anymore. It had turned to black sludge in the vial, congealed and sluggish and shimmering like oil. "Is that…" She swallowed thickly. She didn't need to ask. She knew that it was her blood.
The Doctor beckoned for her to follow him. He led her through the twisting corridors of the TARDIS, and Jay followed him closely, her heart racing and thundering in her chest. She tried to soothe it, more than aware that she was scaring herself worse than she needed to be. It certainly wouldn't help her situation.
Eventually, he led her to a room she recognized. It was the lab-like room they'd used to study what was happening to her the longer things went on. She hated the room. It was a reminder of everything she didn't want to think about. Still, she said nothing about it as the Doctor steered her immediately to a microscope already set up for her to peer into. "This slide," he told her as she peered into it, seeing a familiar set of sharp, jagged black cells, "is the last one we looked at. Before I regenerated."
She recalled that time. He'd admitted to missing those cells before. It had been just before she'd gone to help Jack with the dancing plague that had ruined so many lives. A plague she'd almost gotten caught up in herself. "I remember," she said.
"This," he continued as if she'd not spoken, switching the slides and peering in. He adjusted it, and then waved for her to look. "This is the slide from the sample I took earlier."
Jay took one look and felt something in her chest drop heavily. She ripped away from the microscope to look at him with widened, frantic eyes. "That's not…there's no way that's possible. Martha and I looked at a sample six months ago–" She broke off. The sample from six months ago had shown an increase in the spiky black cells, that they'd been larger.
But this one, the one the Doctor had shown her…the new cells had nearly overridden a third of the regular cells. Her red blood cells had begun to take a new shape. Even the plasma it all resided in looked as if it had darkened, to the point where it was hard to decipher what you were looking at in the sample.
Jay pressed a hand over her heart, rubbing the spot as if it would help soothe her racing heart into submission. She took a shaken breath. "Doctor," she murmured, "what is it doing to me?"
"I don't know," he admitted, irritably running his hands through his hair. He wasn't pleased that he didn't know. "Some kind of mutation, but there's more that I can't figure out. I'll keep looking." He threw her a comforting look that didn't really work. Jay wrapped her arms around herself and fought back an overwhelming wave of uncertainty and frustration and fear. Feeling such things wouldn't help her. It wouldn't change what was happening to her – whatever that may be.
As if he'd sensed it all, the Doctor reached a hand for her, intending to tug her into a tight hug. Before he could say something, however, the world rocked violently around them. Jay squawked as she was tossed to the floor, scrambling to try and find a way to keep from being thrown around as the lights emanated by the TARDIS turned a violent shade of red. A loud blaring alarm flooded their ears.
The Doctor yelped and took off at a run, stumbling and struggling to keep his balance, too. He tripped hard into the doorway, hissing when his shoulder bounced off the hard surface. Jay was on her feet, scrambling after him, in mere moments.
The TARDIS continued to blare alarms, and the song in Jay's head was off-key. Something was definitely wrong. Especially since the TARDIS didn't bend her corridors to give them an easier time to get to her control room. It took them twice as long to reach that control room, and the Doctor nearly slammed into the console in his rush, already reaching for various controls that would help him stop whatever was happening.
"Jay," he barked as she came up beside him, arms thrown out for balance. "What does the screen say?"
She tripped around the console, grabbing the odd, old-timey screen and yanking it down to her level. She didn't even know what she was looking at. So, Jay dragged it over for him, and the Doctor spared a quick look as the lights turned back to normal and the blaring alarms silenced. "The library," he said firmly, "something's happened in the–"
Jay was already bolting from the control room, panicked. The Doctor hollered at her to wait for him, but she couldn't hear him over the roar of worry in her head.
Amy.
Stumbling from the library, Amy uttered a long line of curses that would have made Rory give her a scolding worthy of making their grandparents proud. She was shivering violently, her lips cracked and blue, and she did her best to rub warmth back into her arms. She glared over her shoulder at the library, knowing what kind of trouble she'd be in with the sentient spaceship, with the Doctor, and likely with Jay, who had explicitly said how much she loved the library.
Amy was still sorting herself out, scowling at her own stupidity, when Jay came careening around a corner. "Amy," Jay rasped, eyes round with alarm, and Amy smiled sheepishly, still trembling from the cold. Jay fell upon her like a fretful aunt. "Are you okay?! What happened?! I left for two minutes–"
"I-I'm fine," Amy reassured, smiling sheepishly. Her teeth were chattering now, too. She could have sworn those were icicles clattering in her hair, too. "I was trying to reach this book, and I knocked over this snow globe. Next thing I knew, there was a snowstorm blowing all over and there was this sound in my ears and the lights were red."
Curious, Jay stepped around her and stared at the blizzard unfolding in the library. It was growing more and more powerful, Amy mused. The wind was howling even more, sending papers flying everywhere. She'd question how it was possible if she wasn't currently standing in a spaceship that somehow fit its infinite size into a tiny blue box.
Amy cleared her throat when something came to her attention. She pointed at the doors that were slowly being covered in frost. "We should probably close the doors."
Jay sputtered, hastily doing just that. She yelped and ripped her hands away as quickly as possible upon shutting the doors, shaking frost-burned fingers out with a hiss of pain. "Come on, the Doctor will know how to fix it," she said, rubbing her fingers on her pants.
They made their way towards the control room, both shivering as the temperature seemed to drop around them. When they made it to the control room, they nearly ran right into the frowning, irritable Time Lord. "I told you to wait," he said irritably to Jay, even as he did a quick once-over of Amy and frowned deeply.
Jay ignored him. "Amy knocked over a snow globe in the library."
He squawked, bolting back down to the glass platform on which the TARDIS console rested. Amy didn't hesitate to follow him, stuttering around her chattering teeth, "I-I didn't mean t-to. Was in m-my way."
The Doctor snorted, a brief glimpse of amusement flashing over his face. "That wasn't a snow globe," he told them. "It was containment." He worked furiously at the console, flipping switches and twisting dials. "It was holding a sentient storm. More like a virus, really. It infects the host planet and kills anything living on its surface."
Amy stared at him with such horror that the Doctor was quick to reassure, "You'll be fine once you warm up. We'll just have to step out and wait out the storm. The TARDIS can handle it on her own just fine. We'll just explore somewhere nice while the TARDIS recovers."
Amy heaved a sigh of relief, grateful she'd not done something too bad. She grimaced as her breath clouded in the air. "Well, g-get a move on then, Raggedy Man. I-I-I'm cold."
"The TARDIS doesn't sound like she's doing very good," Jay added, grimacing as the Doctor yanked the lever that would send them to wherever the TARDIS saw fit. As if to back up her words, there was an odd screeching cry from the console that made them all slap their hands over their ears. "You're sure she'll be okay, Doctor?" she yelled over the noise.
The fond look that the Doctor threw at her reminded Amy of the conversations she'd had with the two, and she wanted to roll her eyes. They were like a pair of love-sick puppies who couldn't get it together enough to actually admit anything. Which was precisely, she supposed, what the pair were doing.
The Doctor waited until the TARDIS had come to a screamingly-loud halt, nodded firmly. "She'll be alright. Come on, let's get going. The sooner we do, the sooner the TARDIS can start." He shooed his shivering companions to the double doors.
Amy was the first out, eager to see if she'd warm up quicker. She stopped, caught unprepared by the chaos she'd set foot into. She'd nearly bumped into an equally startled young man, who dropped the mass of metal he held in his hands. It clattered noisily to the ground. He stared at them, eyes widening further when the Doctor and Jay piled out after her.
"Hi there," Amy chirped, smiling past her noisy teeth. "Don't m-mind us."
Jay snorted softly at Amy's greeting as the man anxiously called for security.
So much for somewhere nice.
They were lined up shoulder-to-shoulder, with two security officers behind them, in an office. Jay was eyeing the desk warily. She couldn't put a finger on it, but she thought it was relatively familiar. Enough so that she leaned in and muttered to the Doctor, "Doctor, where did the TARDIS bring us?"
He cheerfully beamed at her. "No idea."
"So helpful," muttered Amy, who was looking as if she felt better outside of the freezing, frigid air of the TARDIS. Jay hoped their time machine would be okay. There had been several people peering at it with interest as they were led away.
Jay rubbed her hands anxiously on her legs, grateful that she wasn't at risk of having any episodes. The situation could be a lot worse. She had the Doctor and Amy, too, which was a comforting thought–
A door opened behind them, and all three immediately craned their heads to look. A woman with graying hair stepped through the doors, dressed in a simple white blouse and black skirt. Heels clicked on the floor as she faltered in the doorway, her blue eyes snapping wide as she rested her gaze on Jay. Her lips parted. "Jayden?"
Jay stiffened, immediately rocking to her feet and making security suspicious enough that they tightened their grip on their guns. She rounded on the Doctor, hands curled into fists as she glowered at him. He smiled sheepishly, fidgeting with his bowtie as if it would settle his nerves. "Unintentional. Set the coordinates for random, and the TARDIS decided this was where she felt was safest to recover."
"Right," said Jay sarcastically, not believing him for an instant. She clenched her jaw, simply glaring until she felt he was guilty enough. Only then did she turn and greet tightly, "Hello, Mother." She was just glad she'd taken the time to choose a shirt with long sleeves when she'd woken up, even with the bracelet that would have hidden them anyways.
Amy's eyes snapped wide and she gawked, eyes snapping between the pair. "That's your mother?"
Julea O'Connors turned a sharp, thoughtful look on the pair with her daughter and furrowed her brow in confusion. It only grew when she looked again at Jay before the confusion cleared with understanding. "Lucas said the ship you were on was capable of time travel, as unbelievable as it is. I suppose it's impossible to dismiss the idea any further when the evidence stands before me." She turned to the pair of security guards, dismissing them with a tight smile. They hesitated only briefly before leaving, closing the door tightly beside them. "Now," she said, turning back to them. "Who are your friends?"
Jay's chest tightened with emotion. Not even a thought to ask how Jay was doing. Jay could tell it had been years for her mother since she'd last seen Jay. Her hair hadn't had a strand of gray the last time they'd met. Lucas had been nine. Who knew how old he was now.
When Jay didn't answer, Amy took it upon herself to answer. "Amy," she said confidently, not bothering to stand as she greeted Julea with an almost cocky smile. "Amy Pond. And this is–"
"The star-man." Julea's lips quirked. "Lucas used to tell stories of the star-man, though I do recall you looking very different the last time we met, Mr. Smith."
"I had some work done," said the Doctor with a small shrug, and Julea looked amused, though she decided against asking further. She turned her attention back on her tight-lipped daughter.
"Come," Julea told them, beckoning for the trio to follow her. "I am unsure of why you've chosen to stop by now, but you're more than welcome to stay for dinner."
Jay wanted to refuse the offer. Desperately. But then Julea added, "Lucas and Sonya will be there, too. We have weekly dinners, and you just so happened to choose the day in which we're having one to visit."
Her heart ached at the thought of seeing Lucas. Jack had offered on more than one occasion, though his success rate at nailing specific coordinates with his vortex manipulator tended to rival the Doctor's at being on time. She'd refused every single time, not wanting to talk about what had happened with her brother. On top of that, now she had a Doctor with a new face, which meant she'd have no choice to discuss it. There was no avoiding the topic.
Even if she was traveling with the Time Lord again, the fact that he'd left her behind would always be a sensitive subject.
Amy didn't let her choose. "Dinner sounds good to me. Right?" She elbowed the Doctor, who wisely chose to remain silent on the matter, deferring to Jay with a glance.
Julea took Amy's response as answer enough. "Good. You'll want to clean up first, I presume, and you, my dear, look like you could use a towel." She furrowed her bow, confused by the dampness of Amy's hair. Amy touched it thoughtfully, humming in agreement. "We'll surprise him with it."
Julea spun away without waiting for an answer, expecting them to follow. Amy hopped to her feet and trotted after her, pausing in the doorway to wait for the Doctor and Jay as they followed a little more slowly. The Doctor bent his head towards hers, apologetic and hopeful at the same time. "I thought it might be a good place to visit while we waited."
"I could have used a warning," she hissed back as they walked through what Jay now recognized to be one of her family's factories, though she was startled by the fact that they clearly still ran it. Then again, Lucas had likely taken over with his mother at a relatively young age, so it wasn't impossible. "Honestly! Seeing Lucas is one thing, but my mother?!"
"I aimed for the last place we went," he told her with a grimace. "The TARDIS got a little confused."
"Don't blame her, she's sick now." Jay huffed. "You're the pilot. Sentient or not, the TARDIS is your ship. Honestly. At the rate we're going, I'm going to make sure the TARDIS doesn't let you drive anymore."
"It's my ship," he protested, echoing her words, and Jay snorted.
"And you are terrible at driving her," she retorted.
"Stop your lovers' quarrel and look up, would you?" interrupted Amy in a drawl, her eyes gleaming mischievously when both automatically snapped their mouths shut and gave her matching glares. She'd been waiting for them to notice her, questions clear in her gaze, but she seemed satisfied enough with the responses she got when they both squawked at her.
Rolling her eyes, Amy jerked her chin towards Julea, who was walking several feet in front of them. Amy fell into step beside Jay, asking, "So that's your mom? Who's Lucas then? And Sonya?"
Jay cleared her throat, admittedly a little excited with the idea of seeing her brother, even if she hadn't been ready to do so. "Lucas is my little brother. He's older now, since things get wibbly on the TARDIS, but… Sonya's his wife."
Amy looked cheerful at the idea of meeting Jay's family. "You never said you had family."
"Everyone has a family, Amy," Jay pointed out. "I just have trouble with mine, that's all. I'm on good terms with Lucas and Sonya. But my father's half of the duo that did…well, you know, to me." She pointedly ran a hand down her arm, grimacing. "I don't really know how much Mother knew, but it had to have been enough. As it is, I could tell you right here and now who her favorite is, and it's not me."
She didn't blame Lucas, of course, but still.
It was hard to forget that when something would happen, Lucas always came first.
Amy thought about that, musing almost without thought, "I know what you mean. Old Aunt Sharon always hated when I talked about the Raggedy Man. Took me to three psychiatrists. I bit them all." Amy smiled wickedly, and Jay couldn't help but laugh. At least Amy was there.
And, Jay supposed, the Doctor, too. Even if he was making a number of questionable decisions.
Somehow, Jay wasn't surprised when Julea demanded they all change into something a little nicer for dinner. Her uncertainty spiked, however, when she found herself separated from her friends. At Lucas's home – their old home – it was one thing. Here, with security everywhere following her mother's every word, it was another. The Doctor had muttered a quick reassurement in her ear before sauntering off, looking amused. Amy hadn't been bothered at all, even excited with the idea of seeing what fashion in a future time looked like.
Jay had no doubts that while Amy would happily dress up, the Doctor would likely show up for dinner in his bowtie and tweed coat.
Alone in a guest room, grimacing at the dress that had been left for her, Jay took a deep breath to steady her anxiously racing heart. She was more grateful than ever that she'd kept the perception filter Jack had given her so long ago, and even more grateful that he'd shown her how to use it in the year and a half she'd spent away from the Doctor.
She changed swiftly, ensuring to check the bracelet dangling at her wrist. Once she was confident it was doing its magic and hiding her black-laced limbs, she went to work on grouchily yanking on the heels that would accompany the pastel green dress. She wasn't a fan of fancy clothes, let alone the damn shoes, but she'd deal with them if it meant getting the dinner over faster.
A knock stilled her fumbling efforts to buckle the heels. She glanced up, wary. "Come in," she called.
Her stomach flipped when she found that it was, naturally, her mother. Julea waved off the security personnel that tried to follow her in, muttering something under her breath. They frowned, but stayed outside, and Julea closed the door behind her.
Her blue eyes swept over Jay swiftly. "You ought to fix your hair. It's a mess."
Jay scowled at her. Once, she'd have immediately tried to do so. Now, she simply went back to buckling her shoes. It took her longer than she cared to admit, and she teetered on the heels uncomfortably, grimacing. It had been a long time since she'd worn shoes like them. "And your gray is showing, but you don't hear me saying anything about it."
Julea almost instinctively touched her hair, frowning at the thought. Her mother had always been vain when it came to appearance. She dropped her hand after a moment and said, "I wanted to speak with you. Before your brother came."
"I don't really want to speak with you." Jay lifted her chin, jaw tight. She fussed with the key that hung from her neck, ensuring it wasn't hidden behind her collar. The last time she'd seen her mother, Lucas had been missing. Julea hadn't looked well, all sharp angles and fear for her son. She'd fretted over Jay, sure, but Lucas hadn't been there, and it had been a first. Even before Lucas was born, Julea hadn't paid much attention, focused on public appearances and parties and how to support her husband's work.
As if thinking of the same things, Julea cleared her throat and mirrored her daughter's stubborn look. "I'm not surprised. I didn't think you would. But I wanted to apologize."
Jay paused, uncertain of just what that meant. "Apologize?" she echoed.
Julea averted her gaze. "I didn't know what your father was doing. It's not an excuse – I should have asked questions, attempted to figure out what was happening, but I didn't. I stood back and let him do what he'd always done. And I shouldn't have. Just as I should have done more for you than I did throughout your life. You are my daughter, and I know that I've failed you in more than one way. I'm truly sorry for that, Jayden. I can't take back what I've done, but I hope things can be better now." She offered Jay a tentative smile, and Jay found herself stumped.
She'd not expected this. A lot of things. Comments on her appearance, where she'd been, comparing her to Lucas, yes. Not this. She wasn't sure how to respond. It surprised her enough that she stared, wide-eyed and wordless, for a good, long moment. Never had Julea done such a thing to her. Never.
Jay swallowed thickly and shifted uneasily. "I…I don't know if I'll ever be ready to act like we're one big happy family, Mother. Not after what happened. But…thank you, I guess. For apologizing."
Julea brightened, eyes lighting with relief. "I understand. Thank you for hearing my apology. Now, let's go to dinner. That friend of yours, Mr. Smith, refuses to change and is all over the place." Julea scowled now. Her words threatened to make Jay grin. Of course the Doctor would be all over the place. She waved for Jay to follow her.
Still a little uncertain, but not as anxious about everything, Jay did.
Having been waiting in a surprisingly small dining room for some time, there was still no sign of Jay or Amy when the Doctor was caught off guard by a startled, "Who are you?"
The Doctor whirled on his heel and smiled impishly at the sight. A pair of people he recognized had apparently arrived for dinner, and he'd be the first to greet them. Perfect. Just like he'd hoped. He'd be able to get what he was hoping for without Jay being any the wiser.
It was Lucas and Sonya, of course. They looked about the same as they had the last time the Doctor had seen them, which meant they couldn't be more than a handful of years, if not months, later along in life than the last time they'd all seen each other. Good. It made things easier and not quite as uncomfortable for Jay.
The Doctor straightened his tweed jacket and grinned. "Been making more time-altering machines, Sonya?"
She blinked once, glancing at her husband in surprise. Lucas narrowed his blue eyes, puzzling it out, and then blinked in realization. Rather than being pleased, however, he was simply wary. "Doctor…?" he guessed, and the Doctor smiled wider, very aware that the last time he'd seen the confused pair, he'd worn his old face. Lucas frowned severely, entirely confused now. Sonya looked as bewildered as him.
Before either could ask further questions, Amy waltzed into the dining room, wearing an elegant black dress that seemed to make her happy. She purposefully swirled the skirts, beaming at them. She'd clearly recovered from the incident aboard the TARDIS, for which the Doctor was relieved. She stopped when she saw the confused couple with the Doctor, however, and cocked her head to the side.
"That's…not Donna, is it?" Lucas looked even more confused, and the Doctor couldn't help the snicker that escaped him. Lucas frowned at him again.
"Amy," chirped Amy in response, offering a hand to Lucas.
"...Lucas O'Connors," he answered, slowly shaking her head. "So…not Donna."
"Not as far as I know." Amy looked interested in the idea of asking about Donna, and the Doctor made a mental note to divert that conversation as quickly as possible. It had been some time since they'd lost Donna – even more time for Jay then for him – but he doubted Jay would like to talk about it just yet. She glanced at the Doctor, who nodded when she asked, "Jay's brother, right?"
"Okay." Lucas ran a hand through his blond hair. "Okay. Right. Err, this is my wife, Sonya."
Sonya smiled charmingly, mischief gleaming in her eyes. "You had some work done, Doctor."
"A lot of people say that," he mused, touching his chin. He glanced over his shoulder for any sign of Jay. Nothing. Good. "Sonya, how would you feel about helping me with something?"
Lucas looked about as thrilled about the idea as the Doctor would about kissing a Dalek, but said nothing as his wife perked up, interested. "Sure," she agreed. "What is it?"
He beckoned her aside, waving cheerfully when Jay finally entered the room, Julea alongside her. Of course, as soon as he asked. Still, he bent his head closely to Sonya's, keeping an eye on his companions as he murmured his ideas to her. Sonya listened intently, nodding slowly as she considered.
As they spoke, Jay spotted Lucas and perked up, smiling hesitantly. Lucas lost his confused look and smiled brightly in relief. "J.J.!" he said playfully, and the Doctor thought Jay might have looked happier than she'd looked since he'd accidentally found her in Leadworth. There was nothing but pure joy as she bolted over, tripping on her excessively high heels. She threw her arms around her brother, who hugged her back just as happily before hissing something in her ear.
The Doctor suspected it had a lot to do with him and his new face, but focused again on Sonya when she said suddenly, "It could work. I'll get started on it after dinner. Lucas and I are staying the night here in the Second House, so after I get the initial plans finished, I'll swing by and get your thoughts on them."
The Doctor, pleased with this, nodded and stepped away, sauntering over to check on Jay. Before he could do so, however, Julea demanded that they all sit down to eat. The Doctor wrinkled his nose. He'd never been a big fan of family dinners, and certainly not ones that he was sure would be entirely awkward.
The Doctor found himself seated between Jay and Amy, which certainly helped, but he could tell Amy was a little at a loss when dinner was served to them. It was a complex meal, one she'd certainly never seen before. He leaned over and whispered to her, "It's not as bad as it looks." Not that he knew what he was looking at. It was part of the adventure of visiting new places and times. He never knew what he was eating.
But Jay seemed pleased enough, helping herself to the food almost immediately, which told the pair that it was edible enough. They tucked in, too, and for the most part, the meal was surprisingly quiet – until Lucas, deciding he'd had enough of the uncomfortable silence, turned to Amy and quite bluntly asked about where and when she was from, clearly interested.
Amy was more than happy to talk.
As Sonya and Julea were distracted, fascinated as Amy launched into a rather detailed explanation after a quick check with the Doctor on whether it was okay or not to be truthful about the matter, the Doctor murmured to Jay, "Alright?"
Jay hummed in response, pushing what looked like some kind of vegetable around her plate. "I think so," she murmured. "Lucas wanted to know about you, of course. Not surprising. I gave him my best explanation." She paused, checking with him. When he didn't scold her for it, she added, "And Mother apologized. I…I didn't expect that. She apologized for everything, said she should have done more regarding my father."
"That's good," he told her, but Jay seemed unsure.
"It doesn't change anything. It still happened." She sighed softly, putting her fork down. "But at least she apologized. She recognized that she did something wrong." She smiled softly at her plate. "She's never done that before. So I suppose she's changed at least somewhat. And for her, it's been a long time since she's seen me. People change. It doesn't change that it happened, but at least she's hopefully seen the error of her ways and will continue to look towards changing it."
Jay seemed content with that, and if she was happy with it…then so was he.
The Doctor was up to something. Jay knew it as she kicked off her heels and flopped face-first into the bed that took up a significant portion of her room. She wasn't oblivious.
And it was for that reason within minutes she was off the bed and kicking off the evening gown, tracking down her old clothes. She was relieved to find that they'd been left where she'd put them. Ignoring the wrinkles and not at all bothered by them, Jay grabbed her shoes, knowing for a fact she'd not be able to put them on, and scrambled back out into the hall.
She faltered just once when she saw the security personnel watching her. She'd not realized there were two posted outside her room. They looked equally startled to see her. But Jay ignored them and trotted down the large hall, seeking the guest rooms she knew Amy and the Doctor would have been tossed into. Listening to Amy's song helped guide her.
"Amy," she sang as she ducked into the room Amy had been given. Amy was rifling through some drawers and jumped, looking guilty about it. Jay snorted, unable to help the soft, amused laugh that escaped her. "What do you think you're going to find in there? This is a guest room." She paused. "I take that back. We've had some interesting people stay here."
Amy shrugged. "I was bored, and the Doctor suggested staying here until he came back. For once, I didn't see the point in arguing, but you're here now, so I'm glad we can do something now."
Jay's smile widened. "Good. Because we're going to go see what the Doctor's up to. The TARDIS wouldn't stick us here on purpose. He put us here. She would have gone to your time, or somewhere that needed us. As far as I can tell…there's nothing here that would need our particular skills, so…"
"Why would he choose your family?" Amy questioned, furrowing her brow as Jay dropped to sit on the bed and pull her shoes on as best as she could. She shoved the laces into the shoe and hoped that not tying them wouldn't cause problems later.
"He's done it before," said Jay, recalling the last time she'd come to this time. "But last time, I do think he was actually trying to be nice. He and our friend Donna thought I'd want to see–"
A knock on the door cut her off, followed by a voice Jay knew well calling, "J.J.?"
"Lucas," finished Jay as Amy hopped to her feet. Jay rose after shoving her other foot into a shoe, confused on why Lucas would be here, looking for her. Amy let him in, and her tall, lanky brother ducked into the room, seeming rather amused with something.
"Stopped by your room, but security said you'd left, so I figured you'd either be with the Doctor or Amy," he said by way of explanation, running a hand through his blond hair. He frowned. "I couldn't find the Doctor though, so I decided to try here."
"Interesting," commented Jay with a lifted brow. "Seeing as Amy and I were about to go investigate what the Doctor wanted to come here for."
Understanding dawned on Lucas's face and he flashed her a grin. "Seeing as," he echoed, "I can't find Sonya, I might have a good guess."
Jay groaned. "He could just say something," she huffed, rolling her eyes. Seeing Amy's bewildered, irritated confusion, she explained, "Sonya's an inventor of sorts, Amy. The last time we stopped by, she'd accidentally created a time loop when she tried to find a way to encourage natural breezes in the gardens." She glanced at Lucas. "Is that why you were looking for me? Because you couldn't find Sonya?"
He shook his head. "No. I wanted to talk with you about Mother." There was a serious look on his face that churned Jay's stomach. When she glanced at Amy uncertainly, Lucas said, "It's up to you. It doesn't matter to me if your friend's part of the conversation."
"I can leave," offered Amy, though she looked disappointed at the very suggestion.
Jay felt bad about it. But she wanted to know before Amy knew, too. "Could you try and find the Doctor?" she asked Amy instead, and Amy nodded. She was still disappointed, but the disappointment lessened when Jay said, "I'll tell you later. Maybe."
"Sure." Amy narrowed her eyes briefly at Lucas, as if sizing him up, and Lucas looked startled when she warned, "If you cause her any problems, I'm going to kick you until you wish you'd never said a word." Threat made, Amy confidently left the room, determined to find the Doctor.
"...you're sure that's not Donna?" Lucas said, eyes wide, and Jay's lips twitched.
"Donna would like Amy," she mused. "Or she'd hate her." She truly believed that. Donna would either get along too well with Amy, or they'd clash violently. There would be no in between. "Now. What did you want to tell me?"
Lucas took a deep breath, biting his lip uncertainly before saying, "She won't tell you this because in the eyes of her side of the family, you've basically been disowned, but…she's sick. Really sick. She probably won't make it through next year."
"I don't know why I've been disowned, and I certainly don't know what that has to do with her not telling me." She supposed she finally had something big in common with her mother though.
"Because you're being left with nothing." The distress on Lucas's face made her heart ache. "Not even a penny, Jay. Not a single damn thing. I'm getting everything. It's like they've forgotten they have a whole other child, who is still alive. Who Father screwed over several times already. It's not fair."
And for Lucas, who loved his older sister fiercely, that was a difficult thing to swallow.
Jay softened. "Lucas, take it. I don't…I don't want anything." She smiled faintly at him, though her smile wavered a fraction. "I don't need it. I have everything I want." How could she take anything when she was no better off anyways? The Doctor was worried about what the poison in her veins was doing to her. It was enough to tell her that there was a damn good chance it could kill her. It was something they'd always known, but only recently were being forced to look at immediately. "Please," she said softly. "Take it, Lucas."
He wavered, studying his sister for a few moments before nodding slowly. "Okay. But if you ever need anything–"
"I'll come to you." Jay took his hand in hers and gave it a tight squeeze. "I promise. That explains why Mother apologized though. About everything that happened." Her lips pressed into a hard line. "She didn't want to carry the guilt to her deathbed. It had nothing to do with her actually being sorry about it all." Her heart ached at that. She'd truly wanted to believe that Julea would recognize her part in what had happened, but…
Julea O'Connors would always support her husband, because her appearance as a good wife meant more than anything else.
Lucas scowled, annoyed. "Forget it," he said. "You don't need whatever false apologies she gave you."
"I know." Jay squared her shoulders and shook off the overwhelming sadness. She had more important things to worry about then her mother and her insincere apologies. Like finding the Doctor, who she was going to throttle. He didn't have to lie. An honest answer was all she wanted. She'd not have tried to stop him necessarily.
They went off in search of the Doctor and Sonya, tracking down Amy not too long after starting. She smiled sheepishly as she admitted that she'd gotten lost in the large house, which had drawn soft laughter from both Lucas and Jay. The trio had set out following that, Amy's arm looped through Jay's as they sought their missing companions.
"Huh," said Lucas after some time of searching, puzzled. "The only place I can think of that we haven't checked is Sonya's workplace, to be honest. But they'd have had to take a car to get there, and by the time we get there, they could have very easily be on their way back. At this point, our best bet is to sit back and wait for them to show back up."
Jay huffed, rolling her eyes. "Of course," she muttered. She was going to kill the Doctor when she got her hands on him. Amy clearly felt the same, because she was scowling, too. She couldn't even attempt to call the Doctor, because he didn't have a cellphone he carried on him like she did. She noted that.
They really ought to rectify that with the number of times things happened.
"Well," said Amy, hands on her hips. "What are we going to do in the meantime?"
Jay couldn't help the grin that appeared on her face. It was late by now, but there would be plenty she knew about here that Amy didn't, and she wanted a turn to show off the things from her time for once. "Do you want to see the rockets being built in the warehouse? I bet we could make it there within the hour even if we went on foot. And we can check on the TARDIS while we're there."
Amy perked up, though she clearly knew nothing about what kind of rockets were being built, and Jay couldn't help but laugh.
The Doctor furrowed his brow as Sonya circled the piece of equipment they'd built, pretending she still wasn't in awe of the beautiful spaceship around them. Every now and then, Sonya's eyes would lift and study some other part of the TARDIS's control room, and the Doctor could tell that the TARDIS quite liked her. It made him grin as he told Sonya, "Think it'll work?"
"Mm," muttered Sonya, sharpening her focus again. "Maybe…do you have a sample we can try?"
The Doctor put his hand in his pocket, seeking one of the vials. He studied it closely for a few moments, grimacing as he held it to the TARDIS's light. The blood that had once lingered inside of it had coagulated entirely into a gelatinous gunk, pitch-black and not unlike what had stained the floors of the prison Jay had been kept in. His stomach flipped at the thought – at the suspicion that had begun to touch his mind since they'd first begun to see differences in Jay's blood.
Quietly, he passed the sample to Sonya, who peered curiously at it. Luckily, she asked no questions. She simply stepped up to the gadget they'd built and dumped the vial into a small metal dish in the center of it. She closed a lid and pressed a few switches and buttons. She passed the empty vial back to the Time Lord and together, they waited.
Only then did she ask him, "What is it?"
The Doctor knew he needed to be honest with the one who'd helped him build the machine meant to test the blood, but he decided to keep a few things to himself. "Someone's blood."
Sonya's dark eyes slid to him. There was a thoughtful look in her gaze that he wished would go away. While Sonya was Jay's family and seemed fond enough of them…the Doctor didn't know her. He was more inclined to trust her, since she was Lucas's wife and Jay trusted Lucas more than anyone else, but she was still relatively unknown.
Luckily, Sonya decided against questioning whose. Instead, she said, "You know I can't calibrate it to do what you need it to do if I don't even know what you're trying to figure out, right?"
The Doctor nodded once swiftly. "I don't know what it is we're trying to figure out," he admitted.
The TARDIS suddenly hummed, making Sonya jump. The Doctor lifted his head, looking over at the control console, and after ensuring that Sonya was fine to watch their little test by herself, he meandered over to check what the TARDIS had warned them about. His brow furrowed when she displayed the image of the space outside the TARDIS, revealing none other than Jay herself. She was accompanied, of course, by Lucas and Amy, and the Doctor couldn't help but smile slightly. Of course she'd come looking, even all the way at the TARDIS.
Pushing the screen away, the Doctor debated ushering Sonya and their machine away, but changed his mind almost immediately. It was important for Jay to be a part of everything, and he probably should have told her about it before he'd even gone about doing this. "We've got company," he said simply.
"Lucas is like a mother hen," said Sonya as the TARDIS doors cracked open and the trio spilled in. Lucas peered around him in shock, and the Doctor recalled that he'd been in the TARDIS once before. The space had looked entirely different back then, when he'd worn his other face, and it showed as Lucas muttered something to his sister.
"What the hell are you doing?" demanded Jay, ignoring Lucas in favor of glaring at the Doctor. She put her hands on her hips, a light scowl twisting her lips. "We've been looking for you, Doctor."
The Doctor ignored her irritation and instead sauntered over, smiling widely at her. "Come see," he said. "Sonya's helped me figure out what I couldn't make work."
"Sort of," corrected Sonya, not taking her eyes off of the machine as it whirred loudly. "I still don't know what we're looking for with it, Doctor."
"What is it looking for?" asked Jay, though she still looked annoyed. There was a hint of relief there though, too, and the Doctor grimaced. As much as they all liked to pretend otherwise, he knew that she occasionally grew panicked if she couldn't find him right away. Unless, of course, she was in the TARDIS. He felt a little guilt then, and the Doctor gently took her hand, squeezing her fingers reassuringly. He could see the way she relaxed, the tension that still lingered vanishing as he towed her over to get a closer look.
Carefully, the Doctor answered, "Anything I haven't thought of regarding the samples I took." Careful, ever so careful. Family or not, he wasn't sure they wanted Lucas or Sonya entirely aware of what was happening.
Jay's eyes flashed with understanding. Amy furrowed her brow and checked, "The blood from–"
"Yes," the Doctor interrupted, glaring warningly. Amy glared right back, rolling her eyes, but didn't finish what she'd been about to say. She knew what he meant, and she'd go along with it – though he was sure he'd get an earful for his rude way of telling her so.
Lucas decided against questioning what he was clearly missing out on. "And what have you thought of with this blood sample you're talking about?"
"Oddly shaped cells of some sort," murmured Jay, eyes lingering on the machine as it suddenly beeped, whirring to a silent halt. "And the blood changed after some time. It became thick, coagulated and black. It's disgusting, really." Her lips pressed into a hard line, a hint of self-loathing on her face as she tightened her grip on the Doctor's hand, still clutched tight in her own.
Sonya hummed, gesturing to the TARDIS console. "You said your ship would read us the results, Doctor?"
He dropped Jay's hand, springing for the screen. He considered hiding the results initially, so he could debate what to tell them, but decided against it. Jay would most certainly not appreciate it, and Sonya deserved to see the results after the work she'd put in.
"Well?" asked Amy impatiently when he simply stared at it, not bothering to bunch close and peer over his shoulder as Jay and Sonya did. She arched a slim brow, folding her arms. "What's it saying, Doctor?"
The Doctor irritably ran his hands through his hair, ruffling the strands until they seemed to stand up in every direction. He cast a wary look at Jay, thoughtful, and then returned her attention to the screen. "They're not blood cells," he said finally.
"Well, I'm pretty sure we already knew that," said Jay, frowning at him. "We thought they might be a virus-like structure, didn't we?"
He nodded slowly. "Sonya, what did you program it to look for?"
Sonya rolled her eyes, putting her hands on her hips after impatiently pushing her curly dark hair from her eyes. "Nothing in particular. You wouldn't give me anything to program into it." She leaned into Lucas when he casually threw his arm around her shoulders, muttering something reassuringly to her. As if he recognized her irritation from seeing it several times before. "I could make it far more successful with specifics. I don't know why you thought I could help if you weren't going to give me that."
The Doctor ignored the comment, studying the screen a little more intently. There was a bit more to it than he'd said. He wanted to understand it further before he discussed it with anyone though, clarify a few tweaks he needed to investigate. "No, this works just fine, Sonya," he reassured. "I can add some of my own technology into it later, which will add in the specifics we need."
"So…since we're done," said Amy, bouncing on the balls of her feet. "Is the library going to freeze us out some more?"
The Doctor shook his head. "The TARDIS got rid of the storm. Another hour and we'll be right as rain."
Jay's relief was clear on her face. She stroked the TARDIS console affectionately, tipping her head to listen as she hummed around them. The Doctor wondered ever so briefly what she heard – the song of the TARDIS more than likely, one she'd heard time and time again, and likely the one she'd mentioned coming from Amy.
Lucas sighed quietly, drawing Jay's attention, and her face softened. "I'll come visit again," she promised, immediately moving over to draw her tall brother into a playful side hug. "And next time, we'll have a better dinner, without Mother there to make it weird."
Lucas grimaced, and the siblings shared a meaningful look. Clearly, something had occurred, and the Doctor was immediately interested, nosey about whatever it was that they'd talked about. He kept to himself though, instead tweaking a few controls. Amy joined him at the console, bumping her shoulder against his in a playful manner as she said in a low voice, "You should let them come with us. One trip."
The Doctor immediately recoiled from the idea. "I don't do family vacations," he retorted, glaring briefly at Amy, who grinned, as if knowing she'd found an odd little tick to pick at.
And, of course, she chose to put it with another little thread he wanted to hear nothing about. "Jay would like it. I mean, it's no Pompeii, but…"
"Amelia," he gritted out, bewildered by the fact that Amelia Pond seemed out to get him. He did feel a little stab of true irritation with her word choice, too. Amy knew nothing about what had happened in Pompeii, and he didn't appreciate her commenting on it.
Her grin widened mischievously, but before she could tease him further, Lucas cleared his throat, catching their attention. The Doctor, aware that he probably looked a little more flustered than he normally would have, immediately snapped his attention to Lucas, grateful for the distraction. Amy snickered beside him, but he ignored her.
Sonya hid a smile behind her hand. Jay looked suspicious enough that the Doctor hastily said, "Right! Thank you, Sonya, I think we got what we needed–"
"You didn't get anything from my machine, thank you," muttered Sonya, smile vanishing. She rolled her eyes.
The Doctor pushed on, pretending not to hear her, "–and I think we'll be on our way now!"
He could feel Jay's gaze searing at him as he stepped forward to shoo the married couple out of his ship. Even the TARDIS was practically humming her laughter, which only served to annoy him. Why did it seem like the TARDIS sided with Jay on everything now?!
Jay cut the Doctor off, waving him off as she took over escorting her brother and sister-in-law to the doors. She spoke quietly with them as she did so, and by the serious look that appeared on her face, the Doctor guessed that it likely had to do with family matters or something similar. For that reason, he left her to it, returning to the TARDIS console.
Serious this time as she stepped into place beside him, Amy asked, "Is there anything new?"
He considered lying, but decided it would have to come out eventually anyways. He nodded slowly. "The virus-like structures are attacking Jay's cells."
"You say 'cells,'" commented Amy. "Not just blood cells then?"
He shook his head. "No. Not just blood cells. All cells." He raked his brain, thinking of the instances in which Jay suffered through a series of odd seizure-like attacks. It made sense then. If whatever it was used such surges to attack every cell in her body, then perhaps it ate away more and more at those moments, leaving behind new structures.
"So what happens when there are no more cells to attack?" Amy asked, echoing his thoughts.
"I don't know," admitted the Doctor, grimacing. The Doctor rocked back on his heels, fingers fumbling with his bowtie as he considered the matter. There were plenty of things that could happen. Death being the first and foremost idea that immediately made him decide to come back to the matter at a later time.
Mostly because he looked over his shoulder, where Jay suddenly grinned and wrapped her brother up in a tight hug, murmuring a farewell to him. His hearts ached at the mere thought. All of his companions left in the end, but losing one to death…
He didn't like thinking about it.
So, the Doctor wouldn't.
Jay came hopping back over to join them, blue eyes bright with interest as she asked, "Where are we going now then? I need a break from all the needles and family drama."
The Doctor found himself unable to help the smile that appeared as he immediately began directing her on what she needed to do with the console, steering the TARDIS with the other half of the controls and directing Amy to sit in the seat behind him. "Let's make it a surprise, shall we? Or do you want to visit anyone, Amy?"
The look on Amy's face made Jay snicker as she said darkly, "If you take me to visit Aunt Sharon, I'll find a way to steal the TARDIS myself."
The humming of the TARDIS was comforting in Jay's ears as she considered what Amy had passed on to her regarding what the Doctor had said about the discoveries Sonya's machine had made regarding her condition. She was curled up on her bed, hugging a pillow to her chest. She'd chosen to hide herself away rather than linger out in the TARDIS with the Doctor as he worked to further the machinery or with Amy as she explored some more. The news had darkened her mood, and she didn't want them to know just how badly it had affected her.
Mostly because Jay found she was angry.
With her parents, for allowing what had happened to her to happen. With Jovita, for what he'd done. With herself, for feeling so angry. Even with the Doctor, who'd left her for a year and a half, when time seemed to be something they needed to worry about. While she didn't mind their adventures distracting them often from figuring out what was wrong with her, she felt as if she'd wasted her time, even if she had helped others. She'd wasted time she apparently might have very little of.
Just like she was doing now, Jay supposed, grimacing at her own behavior.
With that in mind, Jay rocked upright and grabbed her phone, dialing a familiar number. She waited as it rang, the phone pressed to her ear. When the person she'd called answered, she felt something in her ease as she smiled and murmured, "Hey, Jack. You'll never guess where I am."
A late, but peaceful update! Initially, I was going to do more regarding the snowstorm in the TARDIS, but it turned into a more relaxed, friendly chapter, I think. I like it.
Thanks to reviewers (savethemadscientist, SiennaHertzTheTGQ, jansesu, and madscientist!) as well as those who favorited and followed! It really does mean a lot to me, especially when I'm struggling to write. 3