Struggling To Adjust (Book Three of The Bad Wolf Chronicles)

The Time Lady

Jessie laughed and leaned on the railing, throwing back her head. “Whoo!” she wheezed before hauling herself up and sitting in one of the coral structures. “So! Shakespeare.” She grinned, swinging her legs. “What’d you think, Martha?”

Martha leaned on the TARDIS console. “I don’t know what to think,” she laughed. “That was . . . incredible!”

“Brilliant!” the Doctor pitched in.

“Molto bene,” Jessie added.

 The Doctor and Jessie looked at each other, then shouted “FANTASTIC!” together at the same time before bursting out in laughter.

Martha smiled at the two of them. “Well, I don’t know about the almighty Time Lords, but I have sleep to conquer.”

“Sure thing,” Jessie said, closing her eyes. “TARDIS?”

She hummed in her mind. “Yes, my Wolf?”

“Can you show Martha a place to sleep?”

The TARDIS chuckled. “You do not want to show her yourself?”

Jessie was sure she made a face. “I think the Doctor needs to talk to me.”

“Very well.”

Jessie opened her eyes to see a chain of lights light up down one of the hallways. “Just follow the lights,” she told Martha, pointing. “The TARDIS will show you the way.”

Martha nodded. “I’ll see you two . . . whenever.”

The Doctor waved to her as Martha left, then turned and sat on the captain’s chair and looked up at Jessie. “You have a thing for climbing in this body, I see.”

Jessie shrugged. “I know,” she said, inspecting the coral. “It’s . . . weird.” She looked herself over. “It’s like I’m sort of myself living in a new body with a . . . I dunno, enhanced brain or something.”

The Doctor quirked an eyebrow. “Well, that describes regeneration fairly well.”

Jessie slumped a little, elbows on her knees. “It wasn’t your first time.”

The Doctor leaned back, folding his arms. “Why didn’t your name work?”

Jessie closed her eyes, trying to think of a reason why. “Maybe it’s because I’ve been calling myself Bad Wolf so much?” she suggested.

The Doctor shrugged. “To be perfectly honest, I haven’t the foggiest,” he told her before sitting up. “But . . . ” He leaned forward and snagged something from the TARDIS console and raised an eyebrow at her. “I did find these on the console. Just like she was waiting for someone to pick them up.”

Frowning, Jessie jumped down from the coral and walked over, holding out her hand. The Doctor smirked, handing her something, and her eyes widened at the black wallet in her hand and the silver sonic screwdriver lying on top with a gold diode. She looked up at him in shock. “You really mean it?” she squeaked.

The Doctor smiled, putting his hands in his pockets. “You’re part Time Lady now, Jessie,” he told her. “You deserve them.” He grinned. “By the way, it’s good to see you still know how to use the Aether.”

Jessie laughed, putting her psychic paper in the back pocket of her jeans. “Lilith was good,” she admitted. “I’m glad I’m alive and not someone else, to be honest.”

“Oh,” the Doctor said suddenly and snagged her trench coat from off of her shoulders. She squeaked in protest, but he smirked at her. “Time Lady now, Jessie. These pockets need to be – ”

“Bigger on the inside,” she finished with a smirk. “Mind showing me?” She held up her sonic screwdriver and smirked wider. “Might be a good time to learn how to use this.”

The Doctor laughed and nodded. “And then we’ll get started on those telepathy techniques.”

Jessie smiled and followed him out of the console room towards who knew where, but she could hear the TARDIS chuckling inside of her mind.

The man was insane.

***

Martha watched the Doctor and the Bad Wolf leave the console room, biting her lip. The TARDIS had given them a soundproof room, so she hadn’t heard any of the conversation, but she swore she could’ve seen the Doctor call her something else.

And now she had that psychic paper and sonic screwdriver thing, too!

She sighed and turned, following the lights back to her room. She hadn’t known what was between the mad man and the Aussie when she’d first met them, but she knew one thing for sure. They weren’t together.

She flopped down on her bed, looking up at the ceiling. “But does he even notice me past her?” she wondered out loud.

The lights dimmed in her room, and Martha sighed, shrugging out of her red jacket and lying down on her side, closing her eyes.

She’d figure out just what she’d signed up for when she woke up.

***

Little did she know, across the hall about an hour later, Jessie was up thinking about the same thing.

She sat at the desk the TARDIS had provided her with, playing with the many settings on her sonic. At least now if she got separated from the Doctor, she’d figure out a way how to get back.

“Right,” the Doctor said in her mind, and she straightened up. “Let’s start with something simple. Imagine something in your head.”

Jessie closed her eyes and tilted her said head, then came up with an image of the Tesseract. “Simple enough,” she thought back to him.

“Now imagine blocking it off. Build a brick wall, slam a door, shut a window . . . although, make sure you close the shutters on windows.”

Jessie concentrated, and brick by brick, she closed off the image of the Tesseract. She felt pressure from the Doctor’s mind as he tried to get past her barrier, but Jessie kept it firm. “Impressive,” he told her. “That’s brilliant for the first time around.”

She could feel his radiating worry. She frowned. “Are you all right?”

“Huh?” he asked in confusion before a barrier of his own slammed up. She jerked back in her chair. “Fine,” he said quickly. “I’m always all right.”

Liar, she thought behind her walls, but sighed and stood up. “I’m going to bed. See you . . . well, when I wake up.”

“Good night, Jessie.”

She fell back on her bed, only bothering to kick off her boots before she aimed her sonic at the lights panel. With the press of a button, the lights turned off, and she grinned. “I can get used to this,” she murmured sleepily as she buried her face in her pillow.

It only occurred to her for a slight second before she fell asleep, a critical detail she’d missed, and she didn’t even pause to consider it.

She couldn’t remember the last time the Doctor had called her Jess.

***

So, I think with the sonic screwdriver and psychic paper delivery, we can officially deem Jessie the Bad Wolf and a Time Lady! We're sticking with the silver and gold theme, and I'm already thinking up ideas for . . . oh. Hehe. Spoilers.

But the Doctor is still having some concerns, and he doesn't want Jessie to know. I think her name not working put a chink in his armor.

But, I'll start working on "Gridlock" next! I don't know where I'll be going with that, but I'll go where my inspiration blows. Sound good? Great.

See you later!