Silurian and Maid Chapter II

Going from a poor, homeless Matchgirl to a maid of a wealthy woman was quite a transition. Especially when said employer turned out to be a Lizard Woman from the dawn of time.

As it was, my job was a tad bit unusual in certain regards, most especially meals.

In the morning, I would wake up as the sun was rising, bathe and dress before preparing my breakfast as well as the Madame's. Vastra's breakfast usually consisted of raw meat strips served with a pint of pig's blood from the basement, kept warm through the furnace down there. I would then wake Madame Vastra, to varying results. Sometimes she would wake up instantly, other times she would grumble at the hour, and most often she would hiss primevally. Generally I would leave her meal on the table and see to daily chores.

First and foremost was the stoking of the hearths, keeping them warm and crackling for my Mistress. Then I would see to the green house opposite of the sitting room, taking care to water the exotic plants and make sure they received amiable sunlight.

Around noon I would take a break and make Madame Vastra and myself some tea, as by now she would be awake definitely. After noon, I would see to chores such as dusting and cleaning every inch of the house, taking great care to leave everything spotless.

If it was a wednesday or saturday I would go out and buy goods for myself and the Madame from the market and butcher respectively. The butcher seemed to be a friend of Madame Vastra as when I asked for the meat and pig's blood he simply brought it up and told me to give her his regards.

In the evenings, if Madame Vastra remained indoors she and I would simply remain in the sitting room, reading. I found myself engrossed by the Lizard Woman's library, everything from religious texts to romantic novels to biographies on various historical figures, to Shakespearian plays and poetry.

Being the daughter of a librarian, I enjoyed an impressive collection of literature at my own house, Vastra's own was considerably larger with much more variation. I suppose this was because of her disconnection to the human race. She had books on human anatomy as well on workings of the human brains, I assume this was to study more on every person's emotions and reactions, but I couldn't be sure. She also did not understand the reason behind poetry, it was a great mystery to her. It made sense I suppose, from what she told me, the Silurians were very forward with intentions and didn't have many variations in figures of speech to use. As that was, the Madame was extremely confused when I first used sarcasm in her presence. It was on one day when I was going on my biweekly visit to the market and butcher's. I made some sarcastic remark about how the food I got her was getting better looking by the day. She gave me a perplexed look, clearly not understanding what I meant as she believed Humans enjoyed cook meals because they supposedly tasted better.

To be fair though, the nights where the Madame and I sat in quite company were few and far between. She often went out in the dark of night, removing her dress and going out in what looked like a combat uniform of some sort. At her hip was a sword of Japanese make, beautifully curved with a single edge. My Mistress completed her attire with a heavy cloak that covered her form discreetly.

Though she always assured me I could go to sleep, I never did fall asleep until she returned. I had no idea what she was doing out there, and I didn't ask for it wasn't my place to do so. She wouldn't return until around midnight, and usually she would simply drop her sword and cloak, marching up the stairs to her room, falling asleep instantly.

Dutifully, I would wash her robe and polish and sharpen her sword for her next use, then I would go to sleep as well. Awakening a few hours later for the next day.

The days followed like this with unnerving repetition, I found myself doing exactly the same thing, in the exact way, at the exact time as I had done the day before. While on one hand it was work and I was clothed, fed, and bathed for it, it still made me feel small in the shadow of Madame Vastra, a woman of a different species who walked with such authority most would at least bow to her. At the same time however, she was not demanding. She understood certain chores took time to complete and I occasionally needed time to see to my own devices. In spite of her apparent 'need' for a maid, I felt Madame Vastra's need for me was more for pity's sake and not for a necessary need for household upkeep.

It had been a month since I had been hired as the maid of the household, it was now mid-January, and rather brisk outside. It was the end of a rather long day, the winds from outside called for extra wood for the fires. It was around midnight, and Madame Vastra had not returned from her nightly errands. This happened on occasion, and of course the Madame assured me nothing out of the ordinary happened, but tonight was different. I could feel something was wrong.

It was only when a frantic knocking on the door at half-past one called me from my station in the sitting room. At the door was Madame Vastra, but something was wrong, she had a long gash on her crown as well several damp spots in her uniform. She was bleeding, severely.

I immediately took the Madame to her room, laying her down on her bed as I began to cut away her clothing. She was unconscious and cooler than usual. I added more wood to the hearth in her bedroom and inspected her injuries. She had several puncture and open wounds on her, ruby-red blood pooling out of them.

While I knew how to treat injuries of a person fairly well, clean the wound with alcohol and use a heated needle and boiled thread to close the wound and cover it with warm clean cloths. Here, I was treating a reptile woman who's very scales made such a procedure damn-near impossible. I may have not been any biologist or veterinarian, but even I know that a lizard would heal differently than a human.

Doing what I could in what time I had, I boiled water over the fire and poured some of the boiling water into Vastra's wounds to clean them. She hissed in her sleep, but the water cleared the blood and dirt from the injuries at least somewhat. Knowing I had to do something, I ripped up parts of my apron and put them into the boiling water, allowing them to heat. I then removed them and placed the ripped fabric in Vastra's wounds, covering them with the remnants of my apron.

The bleeding stopped and Vastra stopped shivering. I breathed a sigh of relief as I stoked the fire one last time, prepared to leave. It was now three o'clock, and I was sure that I had bags under my eyes by now.

"J-jen?" A strained voice asked, I turned around to see Madame Vastra partially conscious, looking around through blurred eyes. I went to my knees by the bedside, grasping Vastra's hand in my own, squeezing.

"I'm right here Madame." I said, bracing my arm on her opposite shoulder so she didn't strain the bandaging.

"Where are we?" Vastra asked, seemingly unfamiliar with her own bedroom, she was delirious I realized.

"Home." I said, noticing her blue eyes were dazed and unfocused. "I treated your injuries the best I could Mistress, but my knowledge Silurians is mostly based off guess work."

Vastra reached for something on her nightstand, but couldn't quite reach it. "Thin wallet of paper. Give it to me." She ordered, I reached over and grabbed what she indicated, a rather plain wallet made of leather with a blank page on the inside. I handed the wallet to her, I found it odd that she didn't ask for a writing utensil, she must have really been diluted. She opened the wallet and...talked to it?

"Doctor, I've been wounded. Some silver humanoid that can sprout weapons from nothing. Need your assistance immediately." Madame Vastra gasped out into the the paper before handing it back to me, I was confused and perplexed. The logical part of me thought that my Mistress was dazed to the point of hallucination mistaking the paper for a telephone. The other part of me open to the strange things I had discovered since meeting Vastra told me it was something that was more than it seemed.

I pulled the covers over the Madame's body and made ready to leave the room for the night, that is until Vastra spoke.

"Please...Stay." Vastra pleaded weakly, pleaded. I stood there thinking of the implications of such an act, but I couldn't bring myself to say no.

"Of course Mistress." I said, departing quickly to collect my sleep clothes from my own room. It was now half-past three and much past my usual bedtime, leaving me drowsy as I added more wood to the fire and changed into my sleep clothes, pulling a chair up next to Vastra's bed.

"Jenny?" She asked, her eyes still unfocused. I grabbed her hand supportingly.

"I'm here." I said, rubbing her scaly hands with the pad of my thumb. She shivered and pulled herself closer. I immediately put another blanket over her and wrapped and arm over her shoulders.

Vastra shivered again, then looked at me in the eye. I met her gaze, she looked so vulnerable.

"Lay with me." She said silently, I looked at her with a startled gaze. "Please." She softly added. Not knowing if I was was either being controlled or I was doing it of my own free will, I lay in Madame Vastra's bed, slipping under the covers as my Mistress wrapped around me. I wrapped my arm around her back, pulling her closer to me.

My Lizard-Woman employer stopped shivering and began to mewl softly in the back of her throat. "You're so warm." She purred, before closing her eyes and falling asleep.

I lay there, my mind scattered from exhaustion yet still trying to find a coherent thought to elaborate upon. Madame Vastra had been attacked, that much was certain, and it obviously was not an unprovoked attack. The odd thing was, assuming my Mistress was fighting during the night, was that this was the first time she had been injured, by something obviously not human.

My Silurian employer was fast and reactive, the much I could tell as a maid. When I attempted to wake her one day, she grabbed my wrist and snarled, being only partially conscious. If something could be able to sneak up or get an attack on the Madame they couldn't be human. If I tried to tap her on the shoulder, she would have my wrist in a crushing grip, glaring at me with those predator like eyes.

I lay there beside Madame Vastra for what felt like hours, until sleep finally caught me in it's grasp. I didn't sleep well, to be expected when you just saved your employer's life and laid in bed with them for the night.

I awoke to the sound of a frantic knocking on the main door below. I carefully removed myself from my sleeping Mistress's grasp, and added a log to the cinders of the fire. From the light bleeding through the windows it must have been mid-morning by now.

The knocking became more frequent and louder, throwing a robe over my nightclothes I opened the door. Beyond the door was a tall man in an odd dress suit with a brown overcoat, and odd looking shoes. Upon looking to his face, I gasped and stepped back. It was the man from the blue box in the alley.

"You!" I said, stepping back.

"'Ello!" He said, rushing past me and up the stairs to the second floor of the building.

"Wait! What are-" I began, but stopped short as he turned towards Vastra's room. "Stop!" I yelled, slamming the door and bolting up the stairs to stop the man.

I found him sitting on the edge of Vastra's bed, like an old friend visiting after so long. He held her hands tenderly as he studied her sleeping form. He wasn't threatening her or even looking at her with horror, if anything he seemed familiar with her appearance.

"Who are you?" I asked, watching him cautiously, he may have indirectly saved my life that one night, but that didn't mean I trusted him. He looked up at me with strained brown eyes.

"The Doctor." He said, obviously not up for conversation.

"Doctor Who?"

"Just the Doctor." He said, checking Vastra's bandages. "You didn't stich her injuries?" He asked. One thing that became apparent to me was although this man looked young, his eyes were old. Very old.

"No." I said dumbly, still entranced by his ancient gaze. "I may not know much about Silurian biology, but I'm pretty sure you're not supposed to try and stitch the wound closed. You'd have to go through or under the scales." I said, the Doctor smirked.

"Good." He said with a smirk, pulling a silver object with a blue top out of his coat. He pointed the strange device at Madame Vastra's bandaged wounds, it made a strange buzzing noise. "You saved her life, and left residue from the weapons that wounded her."

"And that is good because?" I asked, this Doctor talked rather fast without much explanation.

"Because, now I can trace the residue back to whoever wounded Vastra." The Doctor said, pocketing his device and sitting up abruptly.

"What was your name?" He asked, rather forwardly.

I looked at him with mild suspicion, but he knew Madame Vastra, and he hadn't done anything I saw that could have indicated him as anything except a friend. "Jenny." I said, for one second I saw a flicker of pain go up in his eyes.

"Lovely name." He said, putting on a forced smile and departing from the room. "Nice meeting you Jenny, but I've got to run." He said, turning on the heel and practically running out the door.

"Wait!" I yelled, it must have had more force and command than I had thought, because the Doctor stopped and turned in place, his dark ancient eyes focused on me. Summoning confidence I strode towards him. "I'm going with you."

"No, you stay here. Look after her." He said, ready to turn and depart. I don't know if it was mistrust, stubbornness, or insanity that guided my actions, but I grabbed the Doctor by his arm and forcefully turned him to face me.

"Listen to me, I haven't known Madame Vastra long, but she's done more for me than anyone has in a long time. She took me in and gave food, clothes and a place sleep, those simple things were kinder gifts than anything I was given since I was ex pulsed from my family." I said, never once breaking eye contact with the man from the blue box. "So excuse me, Doctor, if I want to make sure this thing that hurt her is either destroyed or cast away so as to never return again." I said, he obviously got the point as he nodded in understanding. "Let me get my coat." I said, walking hurriedly to my own room where I dressed warmly but inconspicuously.

When I finished dressing, and brushing my hair, putting it into a knot on the back of my head, I found the Doctor still waiting patiently at the foot of the stairs. I grabbed my purse and hat, walking straight up the Doctor.

"Ready?" He asked. I nodded firmly.

"It could be dangerous." He warned. I smirked.

"Danger is my forte." I said, he smirked widely.

"I can tell why she hired you." He said, opening the door for me like a gentleman, so few of them now adays.

Stepping outside I felt the morning air was chill but not too dreadfully cold, it was mostly the winds that caused it. There weren't that many people out as it was a sunday and most people were resting or preparing for the next week.

The Doctor shut the door behind him and strode out into the street, no restraint or composure in his gate, just a rapid hurriedness. I followed quickly, picking up my skirts to follow.

"How do you suppose?" I asked, the Doctor turned his head, confused.

"What?"

"What do you mean by 'I can see why she hired you'?" I asked, performing an exaggerated impression of the Doctor's voice.

"Oi! I don't sound like that!" He whined, I smirked.

"Irrelevant. Now what did you mean?" I asked as I strode beside him. The Doctor dug his hands into his pockets, as if trying to find a hidden chance for escape.

"Well, you see. I've known Vastra for a long time, and she even traveled with me for awhile. However, she and I differed on many things..."The Doctor said, his sentence tapering off as if he didn't want to elaborate.

"Such as?" I pressed, I'm usually not a prying person, but right now before me was a Friend of Vastra! He could tell me things I couldn't ask of her in person.

Inhaling a large drink of air the Doctor explained. "I have a strict rule about violence and killing." He stopped and turned towards me. "None of it. Vastra was a warrior of the Silurians, destined to and of course expected to kill. I couldn't change her mind, and she wouldn't dare question my morality." Turning his dark gaze down the alleyway, the Doctor continued walking. "She asked me to leave her here. Which I did." He said with a sort of finality.

"What is your conclusion?" I asked, not finding any connections to how this applied to what I was asking.

"You really are inquisitive aren't you?" He asked rhetorically. "Vastra finds humanity repulsing, fair in all things considered, she used to hunt prehistoric humans down for sport." He continued, my eyes fell downcast, unnerved by what he was saying. "And in all the time we travelled she never seemed to get that prejudice of humanity out of her system. That is, until you came around."

I whirled on him, surprised by his sudden transition. "What do you mean?"

"That night you were caught alone with those thugs. She and I came to save you. After you had fallen unconscious she agreed to let you stay, no hesitation." The Doctor said, the absolute conviction in his voice told me he was sincere in her words.

"She was the one who saved me?" I asked, it had been a vague thought in the back of my mind, one I had not fully considered.

"Oi! I helped too." The Doctor said lightheartedly, pulling out his silver device that began to make that strange buzzing noise again.

Momentarily forgetting our discussion, my eyes fixed on the device he held. "What is that?" I asked.

"My sonic screwdriver." He said without looking up. Naïveté aside, I could swear he was using the device to trace whatever had hurt Madame Vastra.

"Alien I suppose?" I asked, unsurprised.

"Yes, a common tool across the unive-" He stopped mid-sentance and looked at me with astonishment. "You're not surprised?" He asked.

"I didn't run when Madame Vastra revealed herself to be a lizard woman, I've become a little more open-minded to more than normal circumstances." I said, the Doctor smirked knowingly.

"She picked you for a reason." He said, continuing to tinker with his device.

Ignoring his last statement I took a look around to realize we were in the poorer part of London. I frowned, recognizing alleys and corners I used to sleep at during the night, spending days fruitfully selling matches to earn money for what food I could purchase.

In the midst of all my memories, the Doctor lunged forward, seemingly following his screwdriver as it made different pulsing sounds as he went further down the street. Turning abruptly into an alleyway, I hurried to follow him as he followed a trail of sorts. We were now walking down an alley oddly decrepit of anyone or anything, usually if there weren't any people there would at least be a dog or cat about. However, there was nothing in the alley, no human nor animal.

The Doctor suddenly stopped and tensed, beginning to look around in some sort of Paranioa. "Doctor?" I asked.

He looked ahead of us and his eyes widened, he grabbed me by the shoulders. "Duck!" He said, pulling myself with him as landed on the ground. Before I could demand why we were now on the ground, I looked up to see a silver object accelerate forward and imbed itself in the wall where we had just stood.

Looking up, I just managed to catch a glimpse of a silver human shape jump in the air and disappear. I looked to the Doctor for an explanation, but his face was solemn, and I could see anger in his ancient eyes.

"Come on." He said, grabbing me by the hand and pulling me to my feet. I followed without question, noticing him reach up and pull the spear from the wall then we began to run.

I lost track of time and displacement as the Doctor and I ran, in only a few moments I was heaving and most likely flushed. The Doctor had taken us to a street corner where a large blue box sat. It almost looked like...

"Quickly, in here!" The Doctor shouted, ushering me into the box. When I looked up, I realized that the the tall box was not small on the inside, and that it in fact was larger on the inside. There was a central pillar with what looked like controls around it, and tree-like structures that were connected to the walls and floor.

"Yes, I know." The Doctor said, closing the door behind him and throwing his coat onto one of the tree-structures, and striding forth to the console. "It's a box that's bigger on the inside. It's called the TARDIS, stands for 'Time And Relative Dimension In Space.'" He stopped and regarded me and my dumbfounded expression. "You have no idea what any of that means do you?" He asked, I shook my head dumbly.

"Well," He began, swatting at the controls of the so-called TARDIS. "basically, in this machine, I can travel almost anywhere in time and space."

"Almost?" I asked, trying to grasp the concept of a wooden box that's bigger on the inside traveling through space and time. The whole idea seemed rather silly and ludicrous.

"There are fixed points in time that I cannot tamper with, otherwise the whole balance of the universe will be destabilized." He said, inserting the silver spear into a slot of some kind.

"What are you doing?" I asked, still eyeing the 'TARDIS' with wondrous awe. The Doctor connected some cords and wires that didn't appear to match, and a mechanical 'ting ting ting' was heard from the machine.

"Scanning for objects that match the radiation from the spear, it'll lead us to it's home base and we can trap it there." The only thing I understood clearly from his hasty speech was the bit about trying to FIND the thing that had very nearly killed us.

"Doctor, what was that thing anyways?" The Doctor looked up a chilling expression, his eyes holding anger, pain, and...loneliness in his dark pools.

"A Raston Warrior Robot." He said, turning his gaze back to the console. "They were created by an ancient race, who specialized in weapons of mass destruction. The ultimate and most perfect warrior in existence."

"What's it doing here?" I asked, by the sound of this...robot, nothing on earth could stop it.

"I dunno." The Doctor said, the well greased wheels began to turn as he considered the information. "For all we know, it may have been in a dormant space pod and crashed to earth. Or it could have been lying dormant for all these years. Either way, it's here now and we need to stop it." I furrowed my eyebrows, how were we to stop a machine deemed as the perfect warrior?

"How?"

"A Raton Warrior moves in extremely fast speeds, seemingly teleporting to a different position. It stops to fire it's weapons at it's enemies, then moves again to keep the enemy in disarray. The only way we could get at it is if we could catch it unawares and manage to deactivate it." The Doctor mused, his eyes staring at the spear sticking up rather comically from the console. Suddenly, his eyes widened to inhuman dilation.

"OH!" He yelled, rushing over the spear, marveling at it in a new light. "I'm so old and thick! I am going blind in my old age." I jumped back rather surprised at his sudden outburst. He truly was mad.

"What? What is it?" I asked, mildly terrified.

"The residue from the spear is the same stuff that makes up a Raton Robot, assuming I can magnetize it, we can catch the Raton and immobilize it and get close enough to deactivate it." The Doctor said excitedly, drumming the controls to the console merrily.

"So what do we do?" I ask, still behind on account of my lack of knowledge regarding sciences. I inwardly chided myself for not reading those science texts at the house.

The Doctor ran a hand through his already disheveled hair. "Well, first we need to find it's base, then we need to lure it to the TARDIS and catch it." He said, I found it odd that he hadn't found the location of the Alien Warrior yet, unless he had and wasn't volunteering the information.

"You haven't found where it is then?" I asked, the Doctor looked up as if noticing my for the first time.

"I have found it, but I'd rather have some sort of plan before going in there. We are facing the deadliest warrior in the universe after all." The Doctor said, I released my grip on the rail to the door, and approached cautiously.

"Any ideas?" I asked, he looked up with a dark glare

"A few and none of them are good." He said, scratching the back of his neck. "One, I could try and communicate with it and ask it to stop, but it's a robot warrior, it most likely will shoot and not bother to ask questions later. Two, I can destroy it, but I will only do that if there are no other options. Three, you." He said, I whirled towards him on the last option.

"Me? What are you talking about?" I asked, since when was I an option to help capture an alien warrior?

"If and when the scanner picks it up I need someone to distract the Raton long enough got me to activate the magnetic field and to trap it. Otherwise I'll most likely get killed and...no offense but I don't really trust you with these instruments." He said, before I could protest a 'ping' sound came from the console, the Doctor turned to it before turning back to me with a ludicrous smile. "Well too late now." He said, lunging back to the console and hitting some of the curious instruments.

I was lurched forward as the room shook violently. I fell forward, catching myself on the console. I looked to the Doctor, who laughed gleefully. He was...enjoying himself? Before I could ask, the ship shook again and I had to hold onto the console with all my strength.

"ALLONS-Y!" The Doctor yelled, pushing a switch in, and with a sudden slam, the shaking of the TARDIS stopped. I of course accelerated to the floor and landed with loss of breath.

I shook my head, clearing my head of the fog that infiltrated it. Looking up I saw the Doctor had replaced grin with a hard stoic expression, he turned towards me strode over.

"Are you alright?" He asked, extending his hand, I nodded and took it. As he hoisted me to my feet, his gaze wandered to the console once more, focused on a box that had an image on it and was making strange hissing noises.

"What's that?" I asked, there truly was no end to the strangeness of the Doctor's wooden box. He looked back the metal cube and smirked.

"That, my dear Jenny, would be an exterior image of the outside. Showing us where we are." He said, trying to be simple and plain, unfortunately, I was still at a lost.

"Well, where are we?" I asked, best to ignore what I didn't understand and connect the evidence of what I did know.

"The Raton's base." He said, excitedly putting his overcoat on, not questioning the potential danger that awaited us, I followed.

Opening the door, I now knew the Doctor was truthful, at least in the part that his box travelled because now we were in a poorly lit underground area of London it seemed, with arched supports in rows, it contrasted with the bright street side we had been before. I took a whiff of the air, it was less open and had a moldy and moist smell and feel, so I knew my eyes were not deceiving me.

Looking around, the Doctor's gaze fixed on a blank wall that seemed mossy and filthy, almost deliberately so. I followed closely, this intense curiosity overwhelming me.

Around a darkened corner, a silver cache of weapons lay, everything from spears, to arrows, to bolts to...Springs? Hoops? I turned to ask the Doctor only to see his gaze fixed on something in front of him, I followed his gaze to a silver human figure, it's face a smooth metallic sphere free of any expressions. It's hands only had three fingers, two big ones and a wide thumb that didn't have any visible knuckles, only a smooth surface. There were no marks on the strange figure that gave it any distinguished features. It looks as if it was a statue sculpted from metal, but given no features or details. Faceless and markless.

The Doctor stepped forward, holding his hands out to the side, approaching cautiously.

"Listen to me, I'm the Doctor. I'm not here to harm you. You are the last of the Raton Warrior race, the last survivor. That is precisely the reason that I'd rather not have to fight you."

While the Doctor tried to convey his good intentions, I knew it was for naught, the Robot slowly and subtly raised it's right arm into a horizontal position...Aimed directly at the Doctor.

"Please, I only want to-"

"Doctor, look out!"

I ran forward and grabbed the Doctor by his coat and threw him against a wall, barely making it there myself before a silver spear flew past. There was a pause then a strange sound, sounding like a friction against a polished wooden floor. I looked around the pillar only to see the Raton Warrior gone, as if it hadn't been there.

"Doctor, where is it?" I asked, he looked around like a hawk scanning for prey, intensity behind his dark eyes. "Doctor?"

"Anywhere."

"What?" The Doctor turns towards me, his gaze is the most terrifying and powerful that I've ever seen, much more than even Madame Vastra's.

"A Raton Warrior can teleport anywhere in a second. It's a moving target that doesn't simply move forward or horizontally, but anywhere. Behind the enemy, to their flank, at their base, home, anywhere. It can even-" The Doctor stopped suddenly, I stared at him in confusion as he looked past me.

"Doctor what do you-?" I realized what was happening, almost too late.

"Down!" The Doctor roared, throwing his body over mine, pulling out his Sonic Screwdriver and pointing it at the Raton that had obviously materialized behind us.

I turned to see the Raton freeze briefly, then a spark went through it's left hand to it's fingers which exploded violently. The Raton jumped and dematerialized out of the air.

It took me a few moments to realize that I had stopped breathing. I turned to the Doctor, who looked around as if on watch.

"What now?" I asked, he looked at me, I could see the gears in his head turning.

"We go through with the third option." He said, standing to his feet, already heading back to the TARDIS. I picked myself up and followed, does the man ever stop?

I cast glances over my shoulder every so often to make sure we would not be surprised. Despite the danger, I couldn't help but feel exhilarated, the danger was addicting.

The Doctor stepped into the TARDIS, I followed, watching as he threw his coat onto one of the vine structures and precede to work on the console. He pulled a lever and the console made a strange sound reminiscent to what a steam engine sounded like, high pitched and metallic.

"There it's ready." The Doctor said, turning his gaze towards me. "Are you ready?" He asked.

"No, I don't even know what I'm supposed to do." I said, he nodded and walked towards me, the expression on his face was so somber I could swear he was going to a funeral...I hope it wouldn't be mine.

"Basically, get it's attention and run. Get it as close to the TARDIS as you can, I'll do the rest." He said slowly and carefully.

"But Doctor-!" I began to protest but he turned around with the most serious expression I have ever seen.

"Jenny let me explain!" He said, pulling a lever and then, I was suddenly out of the TARDIS, standing at the shut door.

"Damn it." I muttered, knowing I wouldn't be allowed to enter the Doctor's box, he certainly was a clever one.

Turning around, I scanned the various arched columns, trying to find a glint of silver. As one would perceive, I saw nothing, but I did know that it would come out any second, and when it did, I would have to hit the ground.

The only sounds in the dark under city was the sound of water dripping onto rock in a precise and orderly manner. It certainly didn't ease my anxiety as the only advantage I would have would be hearing. To be fair though, the sound of my heart beating in my ears would drown it out as well. As it was, I think I should have stayed at the manor.

I heard the sound again, and I immediately fell to the stone floor. The sound of a spear piercing into stone began to get eerily familiar to me, however, this time I felt the sharp cut of the spear as it sliced across my back. The cool hair felt like ice as it seeped into my flesh and into my clothes.

I looked up, seeing the Raton tilt it's head in what appeared to be curiosity. I stared at where it's eyes would be, it seemed indecisive. It jumped up again and disappeared, I reached behind me and pulled the projectile from the wall, it was a knife, and it felt well balanced in my hand.

Not wasting a moment I stood up and ran towards the TARDIS, adrenaline temporarily taking the pain away from my back and pushing me forward.

"I won't die here." I say to myself, ignoring the muscles that screamed at me to slow, but I can't. All that races through my mind is the thought of Madame Vastra, her kindness to me, her mercy, her foreign beauty. I remember the previous night where she held me as she slept, it felt right in a way. To be held and needed by someone so strong and viciously powerful holding on to someone in their time of need.

It's strange as I realized both the Doctor and Vastra's kindness, they were lonely, as I had been. They payed kindness to others so they would not feel so alone as they had. I wondered if I had ever shown such kindness to strangers, I doubted it as most would not have for me.

I was brought out of my internal musings when I heard the strange sound that the Raton made when it disappeared, it was directly behind me. I didn't think I just acted, I turned and threw the knife in my hand, the projectile flew and stabbed the Raton in the chest.

It fell to it's knees in what I could only assume was disbelief, personally I could not judge the machine. A peasant, former matchgirl throwing a weapon at a fast moving killer machine.

I stood in solemn silence staring at the machine which seemed to gaze back. I felt numb. Despite the fact that thing was made, created. Born of gears and metal, it was aware and scared. Just as I was at this moment.

With a gradual decline, the robot went limp, falling to it's side and laying it's head down on the ground. It looked oddly peaceful, ironic that a machine of war would find peace at it's end, or would that be justice?

I didn't respond when the Doctor came to me, he shook me and I didn't answer. My mind seemed to leave my body, not fixed on anything, just there.

The next thing I was aware of was being seated down at the table back at the manor, still shaking and unaware of what was around me. When I did finally come back, I saw the Doctor by Vastras' bedside, speaking in hushed whispers to her. The Madame actually smiled and laughed, a pang of jealousy ran through me, I had never been able to make the lizard woman laugh, and lord knows I tried.

I shook my head and stood up on shaky legs as I approached the Doctor and Vastra. Blue eyes flickered up to me, brown ones following them.

"Ah Jenny!" The Doctor said brightly, standing up from his crouching position. "How are you feeling?" He asked, his expression hardening somewhat as he asked, he knew what I felt, he had most likely faced it before.

"Not well." I said, knowing that even if I did lie, he would detect it. "Is it dead?" I asked, the Doctor grimly nodded.

"The magnetic field slowed it down just barely enough for you to kill it." Be paused. "I'm sorry you had to."

"It was necessary." I said. It was, on a personal note it was either kill or be killed, on more universal note, I stopped the greatest warrior in the universe from killing any more people.

"I suppose so."

Silence.

The Doctor stared with empathy in his eyes, regretful empathy. I could tell from the look in his eyes that I would be haunted by this for the rest of my life.

"Jenny, come here." Requested Vastra, who obviously noticed the tension and opted to break it.

I came to her side, still shaking but hoping for her sake that it didn't show. Vastra regarded me with her cool blue eyes, studying like a historian would a battle map.

She beckoned me closer until I was kneeling next to her bed side, a gloved hand reached out and caressed my cheek. I didn't move, but my expression must have been interesting as Vastra let out a hearty laugh.

"Well, I best be off." The Doctor said, leaving through the doorway.

"Doctor wait!" I called, standing and pulling my skirts up to follow him. He was at the staircase, eyes fixed on a spot on the wall, unseeing more reflecting.

"My song is ending." He said, I stared at him confused.

"What song?" I asked, he smirked and looked at me.

"The song of this face."

"Doctor what are you talking about?" I was utterly confused as to what he was talking about.

"Yow won't see this face again." I was about to make a cry of protest, but he cut me off. "Oh you'll see me, just not in this image." He finished, giving a smile before descending the stairs and showing himself out.

I didn't fully understand what the Doctor had meant, but I could only guess that his appearance will be different if we ever met again.

"Jenny?" Called Vastra, her voice tender and soft.

I immediately went back into the room and to her bed side. I knelt as before and stared into her eyed, they were soft and not piercing as they usually would be. She simply stared at me with tenderness, something I thought could not be felt from a reptile, but what would I know?

"You helped me." She said, gesturing at her wounds that already were on the mend, reptiles and their healing rates.

"It was my duty." I said, not shying from her gaze.

"Duty only goes so far as to when your employer is bleeding on the floor."

"Then where would I go? I'd be back where I started before I met you, without purpose, trying to make a scrap of a living."

Vastra appeared impressed, and I could tell from the look in her eye that we were going to be playing a game of truths once more.

"Did you only help me because I provide you with a living space?" She asked.

"No."

"Why not? It's apparent that I frightened you from the start, what would stop you from running?"

"Compassion."

Vastra's lip twitched at my answer. "For whom?"

"You."

"Such as?"

"Loneliness."

Her lip twitched again.

"You feel sorry for me?"

"Yes."

"Do you pity me?"

"No."

Vastra now appeared nervous as she asked the next question. "Why did you lay with me last night?"

I felt my cheeks flush as I tried to come up with a single word response. "Loyalty."

Vastra held back a smirk as she regarded me, something behind her lips that I knew would ask something personal.

"Do you have feelings for me Jenny?"

There it was. All of a sudden, my heart started beating rapidly in my chest, my palms began to get sweaty, my cheeks inflamed even more so than before.

"Yes."

Silence as she regarded me with those cool blue eyes.

"What sort of feelings?"

I licked my lips that had suddenly gone dry. "Romantic." I said. Vastra was lonely, something I was empathetic to, and something that I could understand. Her looks at me at times were ones I often made at people I envied or even fancied.

I believe I was developing feelings for my employer, a Lizard woman from the dawn of time.

Vastra smiled and reached up, her fingers catching my chin and pulling my face towards hers.

"Good." Then her lips pressed against mine.

Author's Note~

One Fiftieth Anniversary and Regeneration Later...

I do apologize for the lateness of this chapter, truth is I had the chapter half completed but then life caught up with me and I had to answer the call. Besides life, I have been working on a original stories, one that I hope to make a trilogy at some point, but no permanent plans as of yet, only musing and experimentation.

I do hope you all enjoy what I have written so far, and it does make me feel bad when I've left you all hanging for some months now.

As for the next chapter, we'll see. I have to update my other fanfics on this site as well as continue working on original stories, so do not expect much.

From images I've seen the first Capaldi episode will be in Victorian London with this lovely couple in it, so we'll actually see if they are aware that he regenerates, my money says not, but I like to think it so.

Anyways, I hope you all had a lovely set of holidays and I do hope you have a great 2014!