FIC: The Noble Girl: Jenny (2/6)
Title: Jenny
Series: The Noble Girl - A New Who Rewrite
Rating: T
Author: tkel_paris
Summary: The lives of a blonde teenage shop girl and her boyfriend are transformed forever when someone called the Doctor saves her life. Only...the girl isn't Rose Tyler. Written for cassikat's birthday.
Disclaimer: Hugely AU. So no, I own nothing.
Dedication: cassikat, of course. Happy birthday, my friend! :D Also tardis_mole for the major help with the earlier drafts, and bas_math_girl for the final polishing advice. Love you both! (blows a big kiss)
Author's Extensive Opening Note: This idea was floating around in my head because I thought that a certain character looked more like another character than the one who was her (sole) parent in canon. And I know cassikat wanted a Nine story without Rose. So we both get our wish here! :D
It's easy to get the idea of taking a character and putting them into a different family situation. So, take one character from the Whoverse, transform the circumstances of her birth into something normal (or as normal as one can get in DW), and give her a different family. What do you get? Possibly this story. If you eliminate one other character.
I spent a lot of time watching “Rose” to get this right. For the first time that I can remember. May I say, imagining this instead made the watching more enjoyable. I don't think I would've become interested in New Who based off of “Rose.” I didn't see anything about her to engage my interest - beyond the human sense of wanting someone in danger to be okay.
Chapter One
Dear Readers, I want you to pretend that this is the start of New Who. That this is actually an episode you're watching - with added details about the characters' thoughts and respective backstories. Suspend what you know about New Who whenever possible, and pretend there are several big mysteries to be explored later on in the series. Make your comments as though you just “watched” for the first time, and see as the series progresses what you're able to accurately guess/predict. :D
This is actually more interesting to me because a certain someone auditioned to play Rose Tyler. I didn't know that until I told one of my friends about this idea. :D
Chapter 2: Overprotected
Jenny walked numbly in front of the sofa, holding a cup of tea in one hand and her mobile in the other. Her bag, with the dummy's arm sticking out of it, lay on the sofa. She would've tossed her jacket beside it, but she felt chilled from her day's end. “I don't know what to do, Mum.”
Up in Glasgow, Donna Noble paced barefoot in her hotel room, rubbing her forehead. “What happened, Jenny?! The news is reporting how the whole of Central London is closed off due to a fire!”
“I'm not sure what I can say!” Jenny wanted to run a hand through her hair, but the tea was too comforting and she didn't have a hands-free device for her phone. She took a quick sip, aware her mum could overhear. “I was told if I said what happened, I could get people killed.”
Donna froze in her tracks. “Jenny, who told you that?! You know you don't keep secrets from the family! What sort of person tries to get away with telling you to not go to the police?!”
She swallowed, knowing she couldn't get away with lying to her mother. She never could - her mother always knew immediately. “The man who saved my life and got me out of there, he told me. He might be dead from that explosion. He said he might well die, but that he had to set it off.” She choked on the words, feeling the loss of life and still wondering about the stranger. If she hadn't thrown the lottery money box at that mannequin, then she would still have it. And couldn't admit it to anyone if she didn't want the police to wonder if she was involved. She shuddered imagining that. “What if he's right?” she managed to continue before her mother could say anything. “What if it is dangerous to talk about it? I can't risk hurting my family!”
The ginger sucked in a breath, watching the muted news as she somehow felt her daughter's anguish. As much as she wanted to know the truth, she had learned she had to trust her daughter's instincts. Usually. “Oh, my treasure. You've got yourself into a mess you had no idea you were walking into?”
“Yeah,” she weakly answered, needing another sip.
Donna nodded solemnly, trying to find the right wisdom for her only child as she rubbed her forehead again. “Right. Talk with your great-granddad. Tell him whatever you think you can, and get his help. Tomorrow, get your granddad and gran's advice on what to do. Speaking of which, have you talked with your grandparents at all?”
She shook her head, instinctively. “No, I called you right as soon as I got home.” She flinched. “Ooh, I probably should've answered my messages, right?”
Donna had to smile over how her girl's mind worked. “Well, I'm betting you've calls from them and Mickey. Possibly some of your friends. You attract loyalty.” Which made her so proud. “So, here's what else I want you to do. Return their calls, and then talk with Gramps. Where is he, by the by?”
“Not here. Means he's up the hill.” Jenny laughed lightly, knowing her great-grandy's habits.
Donna smiled despite herself. “Then go keep him company and tell him, so he's not shocked when your gran talks with him. Why he uses that phone to play music instead, I'll never understand.”
It was a constant source of friction. Although Wilf carried his cell phone with him when he went star-gazing, he used it to play music - not to take calls. At his age, and knowing his very recent history with the threat of stomach cancer, that they couldn't call him alarmed all of his girls. Especially now that Eileen, his beloved wife, was gone. However, this wasn't the time to get into that. “I will. How's the first day gone?”
A snort escaped Donna despite herself. Her girl was sometimes too eager to change the subject when things got too personal or uncomfortable. “Too soon to tell, but I haven't put my foot in it so far.”
Jenny had to laugh. “And how much trouble could you have got yourself into? Especially after a five hour train ride? Besides, you wouldn't. You're too good for that.”
Donna grinned, glad that she'd managed to lift her daughter's spirits. "I got here at 2:50 and then started a sit-in protest at 3 and then went for a coffee and joined another protest. Threw a few petrol bombs and mugged a bloke for his laptop. But don't worry, I got to the hotel before the riots started."
Now she groaned. “Mum! Leave that humour for someone who'll appreciate it!”
Maybe that knocked her out of the worst of that, Donna hoped with a silent snort. “You'll do what I said, love?”
“Of course. Miss you, Mum.”
“I miss you, too. Be safe.” She hung up, turning off the telly so she could focus on her preparation for the next day.
When Jenny heard the call disconnect, she clicked to the other line - which was receiving a call. “I'm alive! I'm physically alright!”
In the kitchen of her home, Sylvia Noble was holding the phone so Geoffrey could also hear, her free hand grasped by both of his. They sat at the old family table, needing the support as their eyes were focused on the news. “It's on the telly!” Sylvia exclaimed. “It's everywhere! You're lucky to be alive! Friends and family have been calling to ask about you! What the hell am I to tell them?!”
“I'm well aware that I'm lucky to be alive, Gran!” Jenny snapped. Three strong women sharing the same home for nearly sixteen years? Two of them for almost nineteen before that? It bred a lot of tension, which made her glad she and her mum now lived in Ealing with Great-Grandy. If that was uncharitable, it wasn't intentional. Sometimes a person just needed their own space. Or someone else needed them more. “I'm also well aware that at least one person I know is probably dead!” Her voice broke. Wilson, maybe Derek... How many were gone?
Geoffrey tried to not shake. This was his only child's only child. “What happened, sweetheart?”
Jenny closed her eyes. Granddad was always so gentle and nice. Rather like Great-Grandy in that way. Many people were surprised that he wasn't Wilfred Mott's son when they watched the two together. She swallowed, trying to find words. She settled on, “I'm not really sure.”
“You're a smart girl,” Sylvia snapped, her fear escaping through her tone. “I bet you can figure it out. You can certainly figure some problems out so fast, people question whether you even started.”
That was the problem here, Jenny thought. She knew far too much, and yet nowhere near enough. And yet it was a familiar one - how many times had she researched something and then discovered that the interpersonal details derailed her plans? Too often.
A knock on the door saved her from having to reply. “That'll probably be Mickey. Listen, Gran and Gramps, I'll call in the morning after I've rested. Tell everyone that I'm in a bit of shock. It's the truth. They should accept that, right?”
Sylvia sighed heavily. “Fine. Just make sure you've told your great-grandfather. He's clearly out of the house, ain't he?”
“It's his thing, Sylvia,” Geoffrey gently reminded her. “He has our girls looking out for him now.”
Jenny had to smile. Her grandparents definitely loved each other. It was clear even through the snipping that sometimes happened because of the strong personalities involved. Another knock sounded. “Love you both,” she sad softly. “Bye.”
“Bye,” they chimed as couples married for a long time could do. Though she could hear her gran's intent to talk further on the subject soon enough. She would willingly bet her future earnings on it.
As Jenny closed the mobile, she put down her tea on the nearest table, then went and opened the front door.
Mickey rushed through in an instant, a jacket on over his white shirt. “I've been phoning your mobile! You could've been dead!” He shut the door and hugged her tightly. “It's on the news and everything! I can't believe that your shop went up! There's loads on fire. Six of 'em all in a row. Which went up first? It looked like your shop when up first. What happened? Some sort of gas leak or something?”
Jenny felt tears over the care. To think she might've died today. “I'm alive, Mickey,” she whispered, unable to find anything else to say and grateful that nervousness made Mickey talk more. Just like a lot of males she knew.
He pulled back a little, eyeing her for injuries. She seemed okay, which was good. But her expression was shaken, and she was pale. “Well, what happened?”
She swallowed. Oh, God! How to explain this?! She didn't want to lie to her boyfriend. Not when he'd been there through so many things in her recent years.
Mickey didn't like her silence. “What was it, what caused it?”
Jenny swallowed, thinking quickly of something that was true but still held things back. For his sake. Just in case the Doctor, whoever he was, was right. “I wasn't in the shop, I was outside, I didn't see anything...”
He glanced at her beverage on the table. “What're you drinking?” He grabbed it and sniffed. “Tea?! No, no no, that's no good, that's no good.” He put it down. “You're in shock, you need something stronger.”
Jenny groaned. “You know I hate drinking alcohol!”
Mickey knew that, but he was worried. And he knew that her own mother would agree that his idea was sometimes the answer to letting off steam. “You deserve a proper drink. You and me, we're going down the pub, my treat. How about it?”
A sly smile crossed Jenny's lips. “Is there a match on?”
He grinned, knowing he couldn't fool her. “Well, that's not the point. We could catch the last five minutes at most. I'd rather make sure you're alright.”
Jenny waved him off playfully. “Go on then, have one for me. I'm fine, really.”
He gestured at the dummy's arm in the living room, blinking at the sight. “What's that?”
Sighing, she led him in. “Something I...found nearby. I picked it up, was gonna return it tomorrow.” How to explain her need to pick it apart?
Mickey saw she was in deep thought, escaping her emotions. “You spoken with Mr. Wilf?” That was what he called her great-grandfather.
“Not yet. He's probably up the hill.”
“Well, go see him. I'm sure he can help make sense of things.” He rubbed her shoulder. “Meanwhile, what do you need it for?”
He had a point. She nodded. “Go on, then. Get rid of it.”
Mickey grinned and gave her a kiss, lightly tickling her at the waist. She giggled and gently swat at his arms. He relented when he saw her laugh reach her eyes. “I'm glad your 'Aunt' Suzette introduced us.”
She smiled. “I'm glad she was able to help you and Jackie start fresh in Acton. Did you both a world of good.”
He picked up the arm. “You've all been a help since Gran died.” Clearing his throat, he waved with the arm as he walked backward out of the room.
“Careful!” she exclaimed. “I don't want anything breaking!”
He had a knack for managing this. He'd memorized the layout of Wilf's home. Laughing, he used the arm to wave again. “Buh Bye!”
She couldn't help but laugh as she followed him. “Bye!”
Mickey got an idea and pretended to strangle himself with the arm's hand as he walked outside. Jenny snorted. “Oh, go on!” Mickey only laughed as she closed the door. She shook her head fondly and hurried to shut off the news. Time to see Great-Grandy.
She also ignored the weird fluttering inside. It said that trouble was about. But she'd seen so many weird things today that she figured she was just on hyper-alert.
Outside, Mickey strolled with a jaunty bounce to the wheelie-bin. He opened it and chucked the arm inside. He went right to his yellow Beetle to head home.
He didn't hear the sounds of creaking plastic coming from the bin.
With an extra coat on to compensate for the chill in the air, Jenny was out of the house. She looked up at the sky as much as down at the ground - to not trip over a surprise.
Up the hill was a familiar walk for Jenny. She and her mum had taken it countless times over the years. Even when her mum was struggling to make ends meet, she would put aside the time to go up and watch the stars with Jenny. The time let her bond so much with her grandfather and great-grandfather, and Jenny now was a regular visitor to her great-grandfather's sanctuary.
Watching the stars had always been a comfort. It felt like there were so many journeys that could be made, so many stories to be discovered every time she looked up. She loved them so much it earned her a few nicknames growing up. Some she liked more than others. It all depended on who gave them to her.
She heard her great-granddad working for a moment in the allotment shed before he came into view. Her body relaxed on seeing him. He was as close to her mother's comfort as she could get tonight. And lord did she need it!
Wilfred Mott had a sixth sense for knowing when any of his girls were near. He glanced over to confirm. “Aye aye,” he muttered aloud with a grin, plainly happy to have company, “here comes Trouble the Younger.”
Jenny grinned widely, feeling a little lighter. He'd apparently called his granddaughter Trouble since she was four. When Jenny was learning Latin from her mother, she also read about Roman history. Talking about Elders and Youngers had led to a new nickname - for her, but not for her mum. She snapped her posture to 'attention.' “Permission to board ship, sir?” She smartly saluted him, just as he'd taught her when she'd begged to learn about how soldiers and sailors acted.
He laughed and waved a bare hint of a return as he went in front of his camp chair. “Permission granted.” Her eagerness to learn about the life of soldiers had amused him - just as her overall thirst for knowledge did. Although he did his best to answer her questions, he wasn't keen on talking about the combat he'd seen. Like most people of his generation, it just wasn't done.
She relaxed, sighing as her earlier heaviness returned in force.
He looked at her, ready to joke about - until he noticed how pale she looked, even in the moonlight. His face fell. “Bad day at the shop?”
“Ha ha. Big time.” The laugh was hallow, and she knew it. She could only hide things for so long from him. Very much like her mum. Fortunately, as he sat in his chair, she had a delaying tactic. “Brought you a thermos.”
“Oh, ta.” He took it gladly, but eyed his youngest girl. She was never this quiet, even when she was thinking heavily. “What's wrong, little dawn?”
It was one of the best nicknames. One she didn't object to because it was his creation, based on her middle name. He also had a talent for coaxing things out of her. She wasn't ready, so she grabbed a tarpaulin. “You seen anything? Looks like a good night for star-gazing.”
Eh. This is odd, Wilf thought as he watched her spread the tarpaulin. She's normally completely open. Sometimes too open. “Yeah,” he said instead, putting his thermos down, “I've got Iffy, that Near Earth Object I've been tracking for several months. It was knocked out of the Martian Belt. It's a dwarf planet that's got this elliptical orbit at the moment.” He would let her have a moment to put together her thoughts. “Here,” he waved her over as she sat down, “come and see, come on, here you go, love.”
She needed no encouragement. She looked, adjusting the telescope, and saw the impact-battered planet come into focus. It reminded her of most of the asteroid pictures she'd seen over the years - dark rock, but more rounded. After all, how else could it earn the title of a planet?
“I call it Iffy because it's not clear if it'll stabilse into a moon-like orbit around Mars, or if it might hit Earth,” said Wilf, watching Jenny rather than the sky. He was looking for any clues as to what was bothering her so much. Trouble was, she could be hard to read at times. Most of the time, she was an open book - her heart worn on her sleeve. But every so often, on rare occasions, she would clam up tighter than a duck's bum. That she was acting that way now was cause for concern - she'd been cheerful enough despite her mum's imminent departure this morning.
Jenny would've cringed if she hadn't heard about this before, but she doubted it'd happen. She kept looking at the nomadic object. “Suppose it did hit Earth? What would happen? Mass extinction event? Nuclear winter?”
Oh, she knew already. She just liked letting her family explain things. Made them feel more useful in the light of her extremely good memory. She also liked hearing their voices. They were all such wonderful teachers.
“Eh, it'll make the biggest bang since Krakatoa. Lots of debris in the sky, who knows what else. But I believe it won't happen. It'll pass us by. We'll get into space properly before the next big outer space rock hits Earth. In a hundred years time we'll be striding out amongst the stars. Jiggling about with all them aliens. Just you wait.”
Jenny pulled back to look him in the eye, thoughtfully. “You really believe in all that stuff, don't you?”
Ere, that was strange. She usually acted more excited about the idea that they weren't alone. She usually laughed and speculated about what they might look like. If she was thinking this much, then something major had happened. He just grinned at his youngest best girl, hoping to coax the truth from her. “I think they're all over the place these days. We just don't have the proof yet. If I wait here long enough...” He figured that gave her an opening.
Jenny thought about that for several seconds. “And what will happen if there's ever undeniable proof that aliens exist?” She looked up at the sky. “How does anyone react to seeing something that unsettles everything you ever thought about life and what was possible?” Those thoughts were running through her head ever since she'd started up the hill.
Wilf gazed curiously at her. “You know, I've known you for all of the almost seventeen years of your life, and I still don't understand half the things you say sometimes.”
She laughed through her nose. “Nor me. Least not tonight.”
“No, fair dos,” he acknowledged. “You've had a funny old time of it lately. Trouble finding work that challenges your mind.” He laughed. “We've had a devil of a time keeping up with you. Thinking of things that no one else at your age does, grasping things that only experts seem to know, or what they think they know, and all those dreams you got from your mother, bless you both.” He caught her gaze. “I wish you would tell me what really happened today. Why aren't you, the most open person I know, talking about it? What, did someone insult you again for being too smart?”
She shook her head. “No, it wasn't a case of Jane Austen's sarcastic Northanger Abbey comment being proved right that 'a woman who has the misfortune of knowing anything must conceal it as best she can.'” She imitated the accent used by Lucy Scott - the actress who played Charlotte Lucas, Elizabeth Bennett's close friend, in the famous 90s BCC production of Pride and Prejudice that every Jane Austen fan she knew was in love with. (She privately suspected it was mostly due to the presence of Colin Firth.) Somehow, she imagined that might have been what Jane Austen sounded like - although she wished she could know the truth. “Believe me, that'd be easier to deal with.”
He took a deep breath. Well, that made things more confusing. “So why aren't you talking?”
Jenny sighed. It was time. “I know I need to. It's just... the things I saw. I feel like I'm going mad, and I don't like it. I mean tonight I...” Oh, God, how to explain without risking that fear? She threw her hands up and thrust them behind her to support her as she leaned back, staring at the sky for comfort. “I saw things tonight that disrupted everything I believe in about the world. I know more than I'm comfortable with knowing. I was told that if I ever spoke of what happened, I might get people killed.”
“What?!” Wilf sat up straighter. “Who the devil told you that?!”
“A weird man who just might have saved my life.” She swallowed, and continued in a whisper, “A man who might've died in the explosion.”
“What explosion?!”
Jenny looked at Wilf with a sad face. “Henrick's blew up tonight. I don't know how many are dead, but I know Wilson is.”
“Oh, gawd.” Wilf sank into his chair. “You saw it?”
She nodded.
“Do you know what caused it?”
She shifted. “I...think the man might've caused it with some device. Saw it in his hand.”
Wilf stared at her. “Well, why aren't you talking about it?! Why haven't you spoken with the police yet?!”
“What if he's right, Great-Grandy? What if he did survive and found out I told someone? I don't think he's the one to fear, but what if he is? What if whatever happened in there is something dangerous and I need to keep it a secret to protect my family?” She sighed heavily, her voice pensive as she added, “I can't explain why I'm so curious about him. It's like something's drawing me toward him.”
He narrowed his eyes, slightly. That wasn't making sense at all. “Should Mickey be worried?”
She groaned. “No!” she snapped. She hated when her family made assumptions in that area. “There's nothing romantic about it! Nothing!” She let go of that frustration when he raised his hands in a backing-off-now gesture. “It's like... I might've been able to find answers from him about a lot of things. Now I might never have any answers.” She pouted, flopping onto the ground as she let her hands out from supporting her.
Wilf reached down to touch her shoulder. “Oi, not like you to give up and not seek the answers no matter what, find a way. Even if it was the hard way, but you always learned from it. You know, remember when you were about seven, you accidentally took a sweet from the local shop - just didn't think about it?”
Jenny blushed. “Took me months to get over the embarrassment. Everyone from Chiswick, Hounslow, and Ealing knew within days, I swear.”
That got a grin. Gossip could travel fast in these parts. Especially about someone who couldn't avoid being talked about because people knew she was so smart. “Yeah, as soon as she realised what you did, your mum dragged you right back to the shop that same day and made you give over not only the half-eaten treat but your coin jar's contents. Right after that you never picked up anything without thinking about it first.”
She shrugged. “What's that got to do with tonight?”
“My point is you never stopped asking questions and looking around. You just learned to be more careful about how you went about it. Eh?” He flashed a reassuring smile. “You know you want answers. Are you going to let some weird man's words stop you? I don't see that happening! Not when you proved all those teachers wrong and that you're not the type to steal answers. Remember the science competition you were disqualified from because your project was considered too advanced? Even after you showed that you did the work by yourself?”
She laughed. “I remember their faces still. I won that fair and right. None of the teachers or judges believed that an eight year-old could know that much about astronomy, aerodynamics and the gravitational effect on time. And they still gave first place to a boy who clearly had help putting together a simplistic volcano model.”
Wilf beamed and chuckled. “Your mother's just as stubborn. I still remember her, six years old, her mother said no holiday this year. So off she toddled, all on her own and she got on a bus to Strathclyde! Hah! We had the police after her and everything!”
Jenny grinned. She liked that story. “Mum's relentless when she fixes on something. Guess it's hard for any female in this family to admit when we're wrong.”
He reached down to pat her shoulder. “You know you're your mother's daughter and your gran's granddaughter. Ha, where's she gone then? Where's that girl, hey?”
Jenny felt a lot better. “You're right.” She looked up at the sky, feeling the day seep down into the ground beneath her. “Cos the answers are still out there, somewhere. And I'll find them Gramps, even if I have to search a hundred years. I'll find them.”
He could see her energy sag a bit. The day was catching up to her, now that she was letting go. “Ere, come on, little dawn.” He held out his arms.
Tears suddenly appeared, and she pushed up and dove into his embrace, clinging to her only safe haven. One that had been there since she was born. It was the closest she'd come to one of her mother's medicinal hugs.
Wilf just held her, waiting for her to let the sobs out. What had happened to cause her so much grief?
He would have words with that man if he survived! Him and his cricket bat!
Chapter 3: The Strangest of Visitors