ashes ➝ Doctor Who²

VI

It had been a long time since the Battle at Canary Wharf. Hearing the name didn't send Penelope into a spiral anymore and it stung less.

She felt different. New, almost. Sometimes when she looked in the mirror she struggled to see who she was before.

Her once vibrant curly hair was now straightened for work, making it appear darker. She had even gotten it cut to her shoulders.

Penelope looked different physically, she was fitter and properly trained.

Now she dresses differently. Black trousers were her norm, but she stuck with the coloured shirts. Pink, green, blue - although she tries to stay away from blue. And a recent development of her being able to run in heels. No one is quite sure where the skill comes from, but they all agreed it makes her much more terrifying.

When she had arrived as the boss, she had been given her own office. In that office - and every other like it - was a copy of a painting depicting Queen Victoria's description of their founder.

And she has to admit, the likeness, for how she looked back then, was remarkable. All in all, it made her seem like a goddess, and Penelope loved hearing the tales about their founder from the other agents.

Some claimed her to be a figment of Queen Victoria's imagination, a celestial being that came to her in a dream. Urging her to create a group of people to protect from unruly forces.

There were, of course, tales from the other inhabitants of Torchwood Manor from that evening. Confirming her existence.

In light of that, others claimed she was merely a passerby that needed a place to stay. A passerby who happened to be a storyteller and spun the Queen - who was known for her love of tall tales - into a story of aliens and mythic beings. With her supposed disappearance from the face of the Earth, the Queen believed her and created Torchwood to protect her people.

Of course, the truth is always far simpler. And it is known to one person in the building. But, perhaps, if the agents looked closer at the painting they would see the inscription.

'Mary McCrimmon, a kind soul in a world of darkness. Please be our light, please be our safety, please be our protection.'

And no one else knows that Penelope was Mary, and that she was the only one who understood the irony of her now running Torchwood.

Perhaps the only other person to know, one day, would be Jasper. She had been telling him of her adventures. Just because she despised the alien who took her there, doesn't mean she shouldn't share what the universe is like.

Penelope knew his previous admiration for the Doctor, and his desire to see the stars. So she did what she had to, spinning stories that made the Doctor seem like a God, no matter how much it hurt her. Jasper shouldn't lose a hero purely from how he reacted to her, she should be the only one that suffers.

Tapping her pen on the desk before her, her focus drifted slowly back to the file before her. The small - and very unofficial - file on the Borrowers had been growing at an alarming rate. But there was nothing she could do until they were called in.

And it killed her.

People were dying, but not enough to make it an emergency. Not enough for her to step in.

"Ma'am?" She looked up sharply, trying to inconspicuously cover the file.

"Yes?" The woman stepped into the room, it was someone from another floor who handled Torchwood's finance. Penelope was quick to hire more people once she realised that despite most of her team being semi-geniuses, barely any could do basic maths.

"I thought I'd tell you that you have a case. It was dropped off at the front and I was walking past. Captain Jack picked it up and they were going over it, but I didn't see you there." Sighing, Penelope sorted her desk, putting away pens and locking files in her drawers.

"Thank you Felicity. I'm glad you came and told me." Her face seemed to light up at her name being remembered and she nodded with a smile on her face. The small girl was only about 17. It kills Penelope to bring in someone so young, but she had no choice. Barely anyone knows this place exists, or at least knows the real reason it exists.

"O-Of course ma'am." Smiling to reassure her a little, she guides the girl out of her office. She's sweet.

Penelope marches down to the office and flung the door open. There was only a brief moment before they tried to hide the fear on their face, along with the briefs they definitely shouldn't have. Gwen sat away from the group of boys, a small smile hidden by her computer screen.

"I told you she'd find out." Jack looked up really sheepishly as Jasper approached her slowly. He helped train her, he knew she was getting dangerous. Cautiously, he took hold of her hands - that was how she was sure he had done something stupid.

"What's in the file Jasper?"

"Nothing interesting, that's why Jack thought we could take it, get some weight off your shoulders."

"It's another siren, isn't it." Owen practically dropped the file, confirming her suspicions. Jasper smiled at her sheepishly, annoyed that she had figured it out so quickly.

"You're getting too smart for us Adaams." She hummed, walking around him and picking the file up. Leaning one hand casually on the table, she smiled over at him.

"Maybe you're just getting slow Jasper."