-0-
Jenny watched in sadness as her time-ship was destroyed, and she turned to Rassilon. The Time Lord president bristled with pride, arrogance and cruelty. They had been brought to Gallifrey fairly quickly, her ship and the TARDIS Romana and Narvin had been given, to quietly leave Gallifrey in exile.
The two had given them the rundown on the things Rassilon had been doing since his resurrection (resurrection? She hadn't even known Time Lords could do that). But what worried her was the general feeling on Gallifrey; ever since she'd caught some of the detached and dispassionate looks from the Time Lords, Jenny was left wondering if her father was the odd one out.
All of the Time Lords didn't seem to care one way or another about the universe. Why they bothered with the war, she didn't know? But even with some of the Citadel damaged, after she'd caught sight of some of the Time Lords, Jenny had a feeling that for many of the Time Lords, this war was nothing to worry about.
"What will you do with us now?" Jenny asked quietly, her mood a far cry from her usual bubbly self.
"You will be put on the frontlines, my dear, Jenny," Rassilon replied. "I've seen enough of your biodata to know you are an expert fighter. We need someone like that."
"From what I've heard you've got dozens of fighters out there."
Rassilon ignored her observation. "And your presence will be broadcast throughout time and space."
Jenny gaped at him. "You're going to turn me into bait, for the Daleks and my dad?"
Rassilon laughed. It was a cruel laugh. "Indeed, my dear. Can't you think of anything better?"
Jenny swallowed her anger. It would do no good right now to get mad, even if it would make her feel better. "What about my friend?"
"He is of no use to us," Rassilon waved a hand dismissively.
Jenny narrowed her eyes at him. She didn't believe him. While she had trouble finding out and working out just who and what Noah was, Jenny had little doubt the Time Lords would have that trouble. But she said nothing.
-0-
Jenny had been born and bred for war. But as she took part in the Time War and fought on the frontlines, it was not long before she realised this was a war of far greater magnitude than anything else she had experienced since leaving Messaline.
The Daleks were relentless and as she took part in the fighting, her skills allowing her to survive, she saw that the Time Lords were utterly useless; for all of their knowledge and their skills with time travel, they had spent so many centuries stagnating into nothing, and now they found it impossible to adapt. To her relief, Rassilon had allowed her to work with Narvin, Romana, and Noah - the Time Lords had realised Noah's skills, while no use to them, might be of greater use in the war.
Romana and Narvin had not fought themselves, they'd both been directing the war from Gallifrey. Romana was soon something of a mentor to Jenny, and the two had dozens of conversations (Jenny had the feeling that the Doctor and Romana both had something going when they'd travelled, but she wasn't certain); thanks to the older Time Lady, whenever she had the time during the battles, Jenny soon learnt more about being a Time Lady.
"Thanks for teaching me these techniques; I always knew when something had time travelled, I just didn't know how to read it," Jenny said.
Romana smiled. "You're more than welcome, Jenny."
The two women had swapped stories; Romana had told her of some of her travels, what life was like on Gallifrey (Jenny privately thought it was so boring), and Jenny reciprocated when she related her own birth and her travels in time and space.
"How long do you think the war will last?"
"If Rassilon had his way, forever," Romana replied grimly.
-0-
Jenny gaped at the man before her in surprise, stunned anybody could be so stupid to jump for bait. "You're my dad?" He whispered.
He looked different; his face looked prematurely aged, with short hair, he hadn't cleaned himself for weeks and weeks, it seemed, and he looked like he had seen better days clothes wise.
For himself, the Doctor looked stunned. "You're really my daughter?"
Jenny didn't bother asking him how he knew; thanks to Romana, she knew Time Lords had a telepathic 'link' with their offspring. But what surprised her was how willing he was to accept her whereas the Doctor who had been on Messaline with Donna and Martha had been quick to condemn her very existence.
"Yeah, I was 'conceived' after the Time War," she said.
"After, so the Time War will end?" The Doctor smiled.
Jenny bit her lip. She wasn't sure if she should tell him what she knew.
"It will," she said simply before she looked around the battlefield and then back again, in disappointment. "Why won't you get involved in the Time War, we need your help?"
"It's not my war."
"You say it like its so simple," Jenny spat, disgusted with his nonchalance. "Do you know how many lives have been lost because of the Daleks, and the Time Lords? Why don't you do something constructive with your knowledge and skills and actually help?"
The Doctor looked away. "I don't want to be involved," he shuffled his shoes, like a little boy who'd done something wrong before the headmaster.
"Why?" Jenny was disgusted with his cowardice. She had been fighting in the Time War for months now; she was tired of the never-ending fighting while Narvin and Noah both worked on looking for a way to escape without the Time Lords noticing.
And all the time, her father, who'd had the gall to lecture her so holier than thou, who had condemned her for being a soldier, was saying something like that.
Jenny had done her best for months since leaving Messaline, to be a good person, to be better, so she would not murder or kill anybody…and all the time she had been following the preachings of a coward.
She had been fighting in this war too long.
"It's complicated, but I will have no part of it, and neither will you; that's why I came here, so then we can both escape-," the Doctor lifted his gaze, his expression so childishly hopeful Jenny was stunned by how much it actually hurt. "Just come with me."
"What, go back to your TARDIS, and get away?" Jenny smiled.
Suddenly she had an idea.
So far, Jenny, Romana, Noah, and Narvin had been kept under watch by the Time Lords. Maybe they could take advantage of this.
"Yes!" The Doctor grinned, not looking suspicious by her new and sudden joy.
"And what about Romana? My friend Noah? Narvin? Are you going to condemn them to Rassilon's whims? We've been trying to get away for a while, and get back to our part of the timeline?"
"You don't want to be with me?"
Jenny had to hide her disgust at the thought of the Doctor's desperation. "Look, I don't belong here. My friend - Noah and me - we were travelling through the vortex when we jumped backwards in time, and ended up in the Time War."
The Doctor rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "Mm, you jumped a time track. That explains a lot. But how come that happened, surely the Time Lords of your time stopped it?"
"Can you help me and my friends?" Jenny snapped, not in the mood to tell this version of her father about what happened to the Time Lords. But then she decided she'd had more than enough of him and his questions. She punched him before he could react.