The Garden of Ancestral Memory, Tuesday (No Time, Every Time)
The Garden of Ancestral Memory, home to all the previous (read: deceased) Doctors, would really make you wonder exactly how many of them had been on crystal meth, Jenny mused as she materialized there. It was all rather...psychedelic. "So, what's going on?" she asked, turning to Habib--just as Habib vanished into thin air, presumably back to the quote-unquote 'real' world. "Well, bugger that," Jenny muttered.
Then a voice behind her said softly, "Hello, Jenny."
Jenny turned slowly, and snorted at who she saw. "I named my prairie dog after you."
"I know," said the previous Doctor. "Handsome little devil, wasn't he?"
"Or something like that," Jenny said wryly. "How've you been?"
"Dead."
"Same. Except I got better. And shorter."
He looked away. "You've probably been wondering about that."
"No," Jenny said, and took a drag off her cigarette. "No, I hadn't given it a moment's thought. Of course I've been sodding well wondering about it, you utter, utter git."
Jeroen broke into a wide grin. "Same old Jenny." Then he sobered. "So, here's the deal. The world may end. We need you to stop it."
"No, I died, remember? Got traded in for the shinier, more ridiculously powerful model. It's her problem now."
"It's all of our problem, Jenny. The situation is simple. You can verify the details independently with Midnighter; he did some time travel recently. The Carrier's baby universe, for reasons unknown, loses containment, Jenny Quantum sacrifices herself to prevent it from overwriting the universe, and...well. What happens to Earth without a Spirit of the Century is not pretty."
"And they already had to kill her convenient built-in backup," Jenny said, referring to Jenny Q's twin who'd been driven psychotic. "So you got them me instead."
"You always were smart." His expression softened. "I'm sorry, Jenny. I know how you wanted to rest."
"Yeah, well, you didn't really want to die. We can't always get what we want," Jenny said with a shrug. "Is this sure to happen?"
The old Doctor, her Doctor, shook his head. "No, it's still in the future, which means anything is possible. They never did find out what caused the Carrier to lose containment, so maybe it was a fluke, or will be prevented in our parallel. Who knows? In the meantime...we wait. You wait," he corrected himself. "I'm dead. This is technically no longer my problem."
Jenny snorted. "You don't have to sound so relieved."
He just smiled at her. "I'll have Habib drop you off in your room, then?"
"Nah, have him drop me off at a bar, instead," Jenny requested, massaging her temple. "Between this and finals, I need a stiff one."
A few minutes later, Habib dropped her off outside of a pub she'd always been fond of. Sure, it was in England, not Virginia, but she could find her own way home from here. As she stood outside, fishing through her pockets for her 'no, really,' ID, she realized something and scowled at the doorman. "Bastard stole my Silk Cuts again."
((NFB & NFI due to being on another plane of reality.))
Then a voice behind her said softly, "Hello, Jenny."
Jenny turned slowly, and snorted at who she saw. "I named my prairie dog after you."
"I know," said the previous Doctor. "Handsome little devil, wasn't he?"
"Or something like that," Jenny said wryly. "How've you been?"
"Dead."
"Same. Except I got better. And shorter."
He looked away. "You've probably been wondering about that."
"No," Jenny said, and took a drag off her cigarette. "No, I hadn't given it a moment's thought. Of course I've been sodding well wondering about it, you utter, utter git."
Jeroen broke into a wide grin. "Same old Jenny." Then he sobered. "So, here's the deal. The world may end. We need you to stop it."
"No, I died, remember? Got traded in for the shinier, more ridiculously powerful model. It's her problem now."
"It's all of our problem, Jenny. The situation is simple. You can verify the details independently with Midnighter; he did some time travel recently. The Carrier's baby universe, for reasons unknown, loses containment, Jenny Quantum sacrifices herself to prevent it from overwriting the universe, and...well. What happens to Earth without a Spirit of the Century is not pretty."
"And they already had to kill her convenient built-in backup," Jenny said, referring to Jenny Q's twin who'd been driven psychotic. "So you got them me instead."
"You always were smart." His expression softened. "I'm sorry, Jenny. I know how you wanted to rest."
"Yeah, well, you didn't really want to die. We can't always get what we want," Jenny said with a shrug. "Is this sure to happen?"
The old Doctor, her Doctor, shook his head. "No, it's still in the future, which means anything is possible. They never did find out what caused the Carrier to lose containment, so maybe it was a fluke, or will be prevented in our parallel. Who knows? In the meantime...we wait. You wait," he corrected himself. "I'm dead. This is technically no longer my problem."
Jenny snorted. "You don't have to sound so relieved."
He just smiled at her. "I'll have Habib drop you off in your room, then?"
"Nah, have him drop me off at a bar, instead," Jenny requested, massaging her temple. "Between this and finals, I need a stiff one."
A few minutes later, Habib dropped her off outside of a pub she'd always been fond of. Sure, it was in England, not Virginia, but she could find her own way home from here. As she stood outside, fishing through her pockets for her 'no, really,' ID, she realized something and scowled at the doorman. "Bastard stole my Silk Cuts again."
((NFB & NFI due to being on another plane of reality.))