Jessie walked back into the TARDIS console room, checking her outfit of black tights, knee-high boots - ICER gun slid inside one, the real deal inside the other - a short denim skirt, and a pink T-shirt. "What do you think of this?" she asked, spinning experimentally. "Will it do?"
The Doctor snorted. "In the late 1970s? You'd be better off in a bin bag." She squeaked in protest, and he grinned at her before getting a CD. "Hold on. Listen to this." She burst out laughing when she heard what was playing as the Doctor nodded to the beat. "Ian Dury and the Blockheads. Number One in 1979."
"You're a punk!" she laughed.
"It's good to be a lunatic!" the Doctor sang along to the lyrics.
"That's what you are," she giggled. "A big old punk with a bit of rockability thrown in."
He raised an eyebrow at her. "Would you like to see him?"
"In concert?
"What else is a TARDIS for? I can take you to the Battle of Trafalgar, the first anti-gravity Olympics, Caesar crossing the Rubicon, or Ian Dury at the Top Rank, Sheffield, England, Earth, 21st November, 1979. What do you think?"
She grinned. "Sheffield it is."
He grinned back. "Hold on tight!"
She grabbed one of the coral structures as the Doctor began to fly the TARDIS. She yelped when they rushed through the Vortex, and she laughed when he began beating the rhythm of the song onto the console. "Stop!"
The TARDIS stopped, and she was thrown to the floor. She hardly cared. She was laughing so hard, and from the sound of it, so was the Doctor. "1979!" he exclaimed, jumping to his feet and pulling her up as well. "Hell of a year! China invades Vietnam." He grabbed his coat and went for the door. "The Muppet Movie. Love that film. Margaret Thatcher. Urgh." He opened the door, grinning at Jessie. "Skylab falls to Earth, with a little help from me. Nearly took off my thumb." She followed him outside. "And I like my thumb. I need my thumb. I'm very attached to - "
He cut off, and Jessie stepped out after him to see rifles right in her face. "Hey!" she whined. "Point those somewhere else!"
"My thumb," the Doctor said slowly. "1879. Same difference."
"And I thought twelve months late was bad," she joked lightly.
"You will explain your presence," the captain told them. "And the nakedness of this girl."
Jessie squeaked and looked down at what she was wearing when the Doctor spoke again. "Are we in Scotland?"
In a Scottish accent.
Her head shot up, and her jaw dropped at him, and he sent her a wink when the captain seemed confused. "How can you be ignorant of that?"
"Oh, I'm . . . I'm dazed and confused. I've been chasing this . . . this wee naked child over hill and over dale," the Doctor replied, still speaking in a Scottish accent and being extremely cheerful for having guns pointed at him. "Isn't that right, ya timorous beastie?"
I'm so going to kill him later, she thought, then gave a small smile. "Och, aye! I've been oot and aboot!"
He grimaced. "No, don't do that."
She couldn't resist. "Hoots, mon!"
"No, really, don't," the Doctor insisted. "Really."
She smirked at him when the captain spoke up. "Will you identify yourself, sir?"
"i'm Doctor James McCrimmon, from the township of Balamory," the Doctor lied easily. "I have my credentials, if I may." The captain nodded, and the Doctor took out his psychic paper and showed it to him. "As you can see, a Doctorate from the University of Edinburgh. I trained under Doctor Bell himself."
Bell? she thought. Dayyyum. "Let him approach," an upper-class female English voice came from the carriage behind the men.
"I don't think that's wise, ma'am," the captain called back.
"Let them approach."
The captain nodded. "You will approach the carriage, and show all due deference."
Jessie followed the Doctor to the carriage, who smiled as the door was opened. "Jessie, might I introduce her Majesty Queen Victoria." Jessie's eyes widened when she saw the Queen. "Empress of India and Defender of the Faith."
"Jessie Nightshade, ma'am," she introduced herself with a small curtsy. "And my apologies on being so . . . " She made a face at the Doctor. "Naked."
"I've had five daughters," Victoria replied, waving a hand. "It's nothing to me. But you, Doctor . . . show me these credentials." He did, and she examined them, and her face brightened. "Why didn't you say so immediately?" she asked. "It states clearly here that you have been appointed by the Lord Provost as my protector."
"Does it?" the Doctor asked in surprise, taking back the psychic paper. Jessie jabbed him in the side, and he quickly covered. "Yes, it does. Good. Good. Then let me ask, why is Your Majesty traveling by road when there's a train all the way to Aberdeen?"
"A tree on the line."
"An accident?"
"I am the Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland," Victoria scoffed. "Everything around me tends to be planned."
"So an assassination attempt?" Jessie asked. "There are people out to kill you?"
"I'm quite used to staring down the barrel of a gun," Victoria assured her.
"Sir Robert MacLeish lives but ten miles hence," the captain told them. "We've sent word ahead. He'll shelter us for tonight, then we can reach Balmoral tomorrow."
"This Doctor and his timorous beastie will come with us."
"Yes, ma'am. We'd better get moving. It's almost nightfall."
"Indeed. And there are stories of wolves in these parts. Fanciful tales intended to scare the children. But good for the blood, I think. Drive on!"
"Timorous beastie?" Jessie hissed to the Doctor as they walked with the soldiers. "Timorous beastie?"
"First thing that came to mind," the Doctor replied in a whisper, reverting back to his London accent. "Like the accent?"
"Love it," she told him, patting his arm. "The thing is that when you say assassination, I think of presidents and world leaders. I don't think of her."
"1879? She's had . . . " He tilted his head, thinking. "Oh, six attempts on her life?" Jessie's jaw dropped and he grinned at her. "And I'll tell you something else. We just met Queen Victoria!"
"I know!" she squealed.
"What a laugh!"
"She was just sitting there!"
"Like a stamp."
An idea came to her head. "I want her to say 'we are not amused.' Five bucks says I can make her say it."
"Well, if I gambled on that, it'd be an abuse of my privileges of a traveler in time."
Jessie pointed at him. "Fine. Ten bucks."
He looked at her. "Done."
***
Jessie looked around Sir Robert's estate when they made it. She had learned that the captain's name was Reynolds, but it was mainly the Doctor who did the talking. "Your Majesty," a finely dressed man said as he entered the courtyard.
"Sir Robert," Victoria greeted in reply. "My apologies for the emergency. And how is Lady Isobel?"
"She's indisposed, I'm afraid." Jessie tilted her head, noting the sweat on his brow. "She's gone to Edinburgh for the season, and she's taken the cook with her. The kitchens are barely stocked. I wouldn't blame Your Majesty if you wanted to ride on.
"He's lying," Jessie whispered to the Doctor. He only gave a small nod of acknowledgement.
"Oh, not at all," Victoria replied. "I've had quite enough carriage exercise. And this is charming, if rustic." She looked around the place in approval. "It's my first visit to this house. My late husband spoke of it often. The Torchwood Estate. Now, shall we go inside And please, excuse the naked girl."
Jessie winced. "Sorry," she apologized.
"She's a feral child," the Doctor brought up, and Jessie was ready to slap him. "I bought her for sixpence in old London Town. It was her or the Elephant Man, so - "
"Thinks he's funny, but I'm so not amused." She looked at the Queen. "What do you think, ma'am?"
"It hardly matters," she answered. "Shall we proceed?"
Jessie cursed. "So close."
The Doctor just chuckled, but his attention was caught to a locked box a few soldiers were carrying. "So what's in there, then?"
"Property of the Crown," Reynolds replied briefly. "You will dismiss any further thoughts, sir. The rest of you, go to the rear of the house. Assume your designated positions."
***
Jessie looked around the Estate, then heard Victoria when they entered an observatory. "This, I take it, is the famous Endeavor."
She gasped in surprise at the huge bronze telescope. Robert nodded. "All my father's work," he confirmed. "Built by hand in his final years. Became something of an obsession. He spent his money on this rather than caring for the house or himself."
"I wish I'd met him," the Doctor murmured. "I like him. That thing's beautiful." He turned to Robert with a questioning look. "Can I - ?"
Robert nodded. "Help yourself."
Jessie followed the Doctor as he approached the telescope. "What did he model it on?"
"I know nothing about it." Jessie ran a hand over the bronze, holding the other one up to see her gauntlets beginning to shimmer on. She quickly shoved it into her pocket before anyone noticed. "To be honest, most of us thought him a little . . . shall we say, 'eccentric.' I wish now I'd spent more time with him and listened to his stories."
"It's a bit rubbish." Jessie turned to the Doctor, grinning as he peered up into the lens. "How many prisms has it got? Way too may. The magnification's gone right over the top!" He stood up, shaking his head. "That's stupid kind of - " He cut off and quickly turned to Jessie. "Am I being rude again?" he asked.
"Yep," she confirmed.
"But it's pretty!" he quickly told Robert, turning back to the telescope, and Jessie grinned and patted his arm. "It's very pretty."
"And the imagination of it should be applauded," Victoria added.
Jessie tried once more. "Thought you might disapprove, Your Majesty. Stargazing. Isn't that a bit fanciful? You could easily not be amused, or something?" She winced. "No?"
She heard the Doctor snickering behind her. "This device surveys the infinite work of God," Victoria replied. "What could be finer? Sir Robert's father was an example to us all. A polymath, steeped in astronomy and sciences, yet equally well versed in folklore and fairytales."
"Stars and magic." The Doctor grinned. "I like him more and more."
"Oh, my late husband enjoyed his company," Victoria agreed. "Prince Alert himself was acquainted with many rural superstitions, coming as he did from Saxe Coburg."
"That's Bavaria."
"When Albert was told about your local wolf, he was transported," Victoria told Robert.
"So what's this wolf, then?" the Doctor asked, curious.
Robert swallowed. "It's just a story."
"Then tell it."
"It's said that - "
"Excuse me, sir," the bald butler behind Robert interrupted. "Perhaps her Majesty's party could repair to their rooms. It's almost dark."
He said those last few words like it was a threat. Jessie raised an eyebrow as Robert took a quick cue. "Of course. Yes, of course."
"And then supper," Victoria agreed. "And could we find some clothes for Miss Nightshade? I'm tired of nakedness."
"It's not amusing, is it?" Jessie asked.
The Doctor was definitely snickering now as Victoria ignored her. "Sir Robert, your wife must have left some clothes. See to it. We shall dine at seven, and talk some more of this wolf. After all, there is a full moon tonight."
Robert nodded, swallowing. "So there is, ma'am."
***
Jessie began looking through a few wardrobes, muttering to herself. "I love Asgardian fabrics much better," she said, but found a blue dress she liked. "And then something else . . . " She shrieked when she opened another cupboard and found a housemaid. "Who are - "
"They took them," she sobbed, and Jessie instantly dropped the dress and ushered the maid to her bed. "They took everyone!"
"Hey now," Jessie whispered. "Hush, it's OK. Tell me everything."
"They came through the house," the maid told her, sniffing. "In the excitement, they took the Steward and the Master, and my Lady."
"Listen, I've got a friend. He's called the Doctor. He'll know what to do. You've got to come with me."
"Oh, but I can't, miss!"
"What's your name?"
She hesitated. "Flora."
"Flora, we'll be safe," Jessie told her, then thought of something and pulled out one of her hairpins and sent some of the Aether's energy into it. "Here, find him and give him this. He's in pinstripes, and he's probably the hyper one. He'll be with the Queen. I'll try and find things out, OK? Just go to him."
She nodded and left the room. Jessie walked out and stopped when she found a soldier knocked out. "OK," she said, kneeling down and checking for a pulse. "Not dead. Drugged most likely - "
She had time to muse on that thought before something clobbered her on the back of the head.
***
Flora tiptoed through the house to hear the voice of one of the monks. " . . . clothing has somewhat delayed her."
"Oh, that's all right," an unfamiliar voice replied, and Flora perked up. That must be the Doctor. "Save her a wee bit of ham."
"The feral child could probably eat it raw," Queen Victoria commented.
"Very wise, ma'am," the captain commented. Reynolds. That's his name. "Very witty."
"Slightly witty, perhaps. "I know you rarely get the chance to dine with me, Captain, but don't get too excited. I shall contain my wit in case I do you further energy."
"Yes, ma'am," Reynolds apologized. "Sorry, ma'am."
Flora ducked down and crawled under the table, quick to avoid anyone looking at her. She found the Doctor and tapped the edge of his leg. "Besides," he said. "We're all waiting on Sir Robert. Come, sir. You promised us a tale of nightmares."
"Indeed," Victoria agreed, and the Doctor took the moment to sit back and meet Flora's gaze. She held up the hairpin, and she nearly jumped when black and dark red energy flowed from it. The Doctor raised an eyebrow and held his hand out, and Flora dropped it into his palm. "Since my husband's death, I find myself with more of a taste for supernatural fiction."
"You must miss him," the Doctor commented, and Flora ducked back out from the table before composing herself and walking back in as if she'd never been there.
"Very much," Victoria agreed. "Oh, completely. And that's the charm of a ghost story, isn't it? Not the scares and the chills, that's just for children, but the hope of some contact with the great beyond. We all want some message from that place. It's the Creator's greatest mystery that we're allowed no such consolation. The dead stay silent, and we must wait." She looked over at Robert. "Come. Begin your tale, Sir Robert. There's a chill in the air. The wind is howling through the eves. Tell us of monsters."
"And you must come as well, lass," the Doctor told Flora, gesturing to the empty chair. "I get the feeling my child will not be coming for a while. Sit down . . . "
She curtsied and sat down. "Flora, sir. Thank you, sir."
***
Jessie groaned, wringing her head as she woke up. "Shh," a female voice above her said, and she looked up into a pair of grey eyes. "Don't make a sound." Jessie slowly tilted her head to see a cage in the center of the room, its occupant sitting with its eyes closed. "They said if we scream or shout, then he will slaughter us."
"But he's in a cage," Jessie whispered, realizing that her wrists were chained as she sat up. "He's a prisoner. He's the same as us."
"He's nothing like us," the lady replied, and Jessie belatedly realized who this must be. "That creature is not mortal."
"Lady Isobel?" she asked, as the man's eyes opened, completely black.
***
The Doctor had no idea who the maid was, but she had brought him a hairpin of Jessie's that was imbued with the Aether. Something had to have happened, but for now he paid attention to Robert. "The story goes back three hundred years," the knight began. "Every full moon, the howling rings through the valley. The next morning, livestock is found ripped and devoured."
"Tales like this just disguise the work of thieves," Reynolds scoffed. "Steal a sheep and blame a wolf. Simple as that."
"But sometimes a child goes missing." Flora whimpered a little, and the Doctor grasped her hand under the table sympathetically. "Once in a generation, a boy will vanish from his homestead."
***
Jessie stood slowly, years of SHIELD training making sure that her muscles let her do as she wanted, and she began to walk towards the crate. "Don't, child," Isobel warned.
Jessie ignored her. "Who are you?"
"Don't enrage him!" one of the men hissed.
"Where are you from?" Jessie continued. "You're not from Earth. What planet are you from?"
"Oh, intelligence," the man in the cage hissed.
"Where were you born?"
"This body? Ten miles away. A weakling, heartsick boy, stolen away at night by the brethren for my cultivation. I carved out his soul and sat in his heart."
***
"Are there descriptions of the creature?" the Doctor asked curiously, slipping Jessie's hairpin onto the cuff of his sleeve.
"Oh, yes, Doctor," Robert confirmed. "Drawings and wood carvings. And it's not merely a wolf. It's more than that. This is a man who becomes an animal."
The Doctor raised an eyebrow. "A werewolf?"
***
"All right," Jessie said slowly. "The body's human. What about you? The thing inside?"
"So far from home . . . "
"If you want to go back home, we can help."
"Why would I leave this place? A world of industry, of workforce and warfare. I could turn it to such purpose."
"And pray tell, how would you do that?"
"I would migrate to the Holy Monarch."
"Queen Victoria?"
"With one bite, I would pass into her blood, and then it begins. The Empire of the Wolf. Many questions."
He lunged at the crate, and Jessie quickly whipped up a hand, and she gasped as not only black and red energy of the Aether appeared in her palm, but white gold energy as well. The man grinned a feral grin. "Look. Inside your eyes. You've seen it, too."
"Seen what?" she stammered.
"The Wolf. There is something of the Wolf about you."
"Oh, you can bet there is," Jessie hissed. "I'm from the heart of the TARDIS, and I've committed genocide to those who would destroy the Earth. What about you, huh? Who's afraid of the big Bad Wolf?"
"You burn like the sun," the man sneered. "But all I require is the moon!"
***
"My father didn't treat it as a story." The Doctor looked at Flora when she started tugging on his sleeve, then saw the fearful look in her eyes. "He said it was fact."
"What?" he mouthed to her. She turned her gaze out the window, and the Doctor followed it. His breath hitched. Full moon.
"He even claimed to have communed with the beast, to have learned its purpose," Robert continued. "I should have listened. His work was hindered. He made enemies. There's a monastery in the Glen of Saint Catherine. The Brethren opposed my father's investigation."
"Lupus deus est." The Doctor looked from Jessie's hairpin, which had begun releasing tendrils of dark red and black energy, then looked up at the bald butler, which had moved to the window and had begun chanting. "Lupus deus est."
"Perhaps they thought his work ungodly," Victoria suggested.
"That's what I thought." Robert swallowed. "But now I wonder. What if they had a different reason for wanting the story kept quiet? What if they turned from God and worshipped the wolf?"
The Doctor took Flora's elbow and looked to face the butler. "And what if they were with us right now?" he asked.
***
Jessie turned away when moonlight blazed into the cell. "Moonlight," the werewolf breathed, removing his cloak.
Jessie swallowed, turning to the captives. "All of you, stop looking at it!" she ordered. "Don't look! Listen to me, grab onto the chain and pull!" She grasped her end, and slowly the others did as well. "Come on! With me! Pull!" She risked a quick look to see the werewolf transforming, then looked back at the other captives. "I said pull!" she snapped. "Stop your whining and listen to me! All of you, do it!" She glared at Isobel. "And that means you, Your Ladyship. Now come on! Pull!"
***
"What is the meaning of this?" Victoria demanded, standing.
"Explain yourself, Sir Robert!" Reynolds demanded.
"What's happening?"
"I'm sorry, Your Majesty," Robert apologized. "They've got my wife."
The Doctor stood with Flora, taking the hairpin off of his sleeve cuff and holding it up. "And my best friend, Jessie," he growled. "Where's Jessie? Where is she? Sir Robert, come on!"
"Tell me, sir," Reynolds told the butler, aiming his revolver at him. "I demand to know your intention!"
"Lupus deus est," the monk replied, still chanting. "Lupus deus est."
"What is it that you want?"
The monk finally turned. "The throne."
"In the cellar!" Flora managed to shriek, grabbing the Doctor's hand. "They're in the cellar! She's with them, she told me to get you!"
The Doctor grabbed a tight hold, then grabbed Robert. "You are explaining everything later," he warned, and the three of them ran off down the corridor."
***
Jessie winced when the werewolf was done transforming. "One, two, three . . . pull!"
The chain finally broke free of the wall, and the door to the cellar broke in. The Doctor was the first one through, followed by Robert and, to Jessie's relief, Flora. "Where the hell have you been?" Jessie barked.
He just stood, looking at the werewolf. "Oh, that's beautiful," he commented.
"Get out!" Jessie ordered the staff.
She turned when the cage broke, and the Doctor went into motion, shouting "out!" with her.
"Come on!" she finally told the Doctor, before heading outside.
She heard the sound of part of the cage crashing into the floor before the sonic screwdriver buzzed, and the Doctor raced out.
The Steward of the Estate began digging through the gun cupboard. Jessie herself took first the ICER gun, then the Glock she had, releasing the safety clip. The Doctor raised an eyebrow at her. "Why didn't you shoot it?"
Jessie shot him a nasty look as the Steward began calling orders. "Arms, and you five. Ready, everyone?" Acknowledgements filled the air, and then he turned to Isobel. "Take the girls. Get them out through the kitchen."
"I can't leave you," she told Robert. "What will you do?"
"I must defend her Majesty," he replied. "Now don't think of me. Just go."
She kissed him, then turned to the serving girls. "All of you, at my side. Come on!"
Flora hugged Jessie quickly, then ran after Isobel. The Doctor found his sonic screwdriver and began working on the chains on Jessie's wrists. "It could be any form of light modulated species triggered by specific wavelengths," he said. "Did it say what it wanted?"
"The Queen, the Crown, the throne . . . " She shrugged. "You name it."
There was a crashing sound, and the Doctor went back down the hallway to investigate before he came running back, grabbing Jessie in a vice-like grip. He ignored her gasp of pain as the werewolf bounded in. "Fire!" the Steward shouted, and Jessie began shooting with her ICER, stunning the werewolf a little. "Fire!"
"All right," the Doctor said, lowering her hand. "You men. We should retreat upstairs. Come with us."
"I'll not retreat," the Steward refused. "The battle's done. There's no creature on God's Earth that could survive such an assault."
"Exactly!" Jessie snapped. "God's Earth! Are you insane or what?"
The Steward lifted a hand to slap her, and Jessie recoiled instantly against the Doctor, who grabbed his arm instantly, glaring at him. "Don't you touch her," he warned in a growl. "I'm telling you, come upstairs!"
"And I'm telling you, sir, I will sleep well tonight with that thing's hide upon my wall!" The Steward walked to the corner and looked around, before turning and smirking. "It must have crawled away to die."
Jessie screamed with something grabbed the Steward and hoisted him up to the ceiling. She made retching noises when she heard the sound of meat ripping. The Doctor held her to him tighter. "There's nothing we can do!" he shouted to the men, and they began to run.
"Your Majesty?" Robert began shouting. "Your Majesty!"
"Sir Robert!" came her shout of reply, and she and Reynolds joined them. "What's happening? I heard such terrible noises."
"Your Majesty, we've got to get out. But what of Father Angelo? Is he still here?"
Victoria shook her head. "Captain Reynolds disposed of him."
"The front door's no good," the Doctor told them. "It's been boarded shut. Pardon me, Your Majesty. You'll have to leg it out of a window."
Jessie poked her head into the next room. "Found one!"
"Excuse my manners, ma'am, but I shall go first. The better to assist Her Majesty's egress," Robert said as they came in.
"A noble sentiment, my Sir Walter Raleigh," she agreed.
"Yeah, any chance you could hurry up?" the Doctor asked, going back to his London accent. Robert opened the window, and Jessie hurried to pull him back when rifle fire tried to kill them. "I reckon the monkey boys want us to stay in side," the Doctor commented.
Jessie shot with her ICER, taking out two before ducking back down. "No shit, Sherlock," she quipped.
"Do they know who I am?" Victoria demanded.
"Yup, and that's why they want you," Jessie confirmed, standing and walking back over. "The wolf's lined you up for a . . . biting."
"Stop this talk," Victoria ordered as they went out of the room. "There can't be an actual wolf!"
There was a howl as if on cue from somewhere in the house, and Jessie followed the Doctor through the corridor. "What do we do?" she asked.
"We run!"
She gaped at him. "And that's it?"
He looked over his shoulder. "You got any silver bullets?"
"I've got a couple rounds for the Glock and ICER, but no silver."
"There we are, then. We run." He looked to Victoria. "Your Majesty, as a Doctor, I recommend a vigorous jog." He demonstrated, and Jessie cocked the ICER pistol. "Good for the health. Come on!"
Jessie kept right on the Doctor's heels, waiting for the other three. "Come on!" he kept shouting. "Come on!"
She could see the library when there was a rifle shot behind them. She turned in shock to see Reynolds standing there. "I'll take this position and hold it," he said. "You keep moving, for God's sake!" Jessie swallowed as he looked to Victoria. "Your Majesty, I went looking for the property, and it was taken. The chest was empty."
"I have it," she replied. "It's safe."
"Then remove yourself, ma'am." He looked at the Doctor and Jessie. "Doctor, Miss Nightshade, you stand as Her Majesty's protectors. And you, Sir Robert . . . you're a traitor to the Crown."
"Bullets can't stop it!" the Doctor protested.
"They'll buy you time. Now run!"
The Doctor did, ushering Victoria in front of him. Robert was behind them. Jessie stopped just outside of the door when she heard Reynolds unloading his rifle before her jaw dropped when the werewolf pounced. "Oh my God," she choked out.
"Jessie!" She yelped when the Doctor grabbed her around the waist and pulled her inside the library.
"Barricade the door!" Robert called.
Jessie helped, and then the Doctor held up a finger. "Wait a minute. Shush, shush . . . wait a minute." He held his ear against the door, hearing a howl. "It's stopped. It's gone."
Jessie shook her head. "No. Listen."
The Doctor heard what she had and turned to Robert. "Is this the only door?"
"Yes," Robert confirmed, then hesitated, then his eyes widened. "No!"
Jessie ran for the other door and quickly began barricading the door. She heard scratching from outside, but the werewolf wasn't trying to get in. "I don't understand it," Jessie muttered. "What's stopping it?"
"Something inside this room," the Doctor replied pacing. "What is it? Why can't it get in?"
Jessie took a deep breath. "I'll tell you what, though."
"What?" he asked, looking at her.
She grinned. "Werewolf!"
"I know!" She giggled and hugged him hard, grateful just to be alive, and he hugged her back. "You all right?"
"I'm OK, yeah."
"I'm sorry, ma'am," Robert apologized. "It's all my fault. I should have sent you away. I tried to suggest something was wrong. I thought you would notice. Did you think where was nothing strange about my household staff?"
"Bald and athletic," Jessie brought up. "That one creepy one seeming to give you hidden cues."
"And your wife was away. I just thought you were happy."
Jessie turned to Victoria. "I'll tell you what, though, ma'am, I bet you're not amused now."
"Do you think this is funny?" Victoria demanded.
Jessie winced. "No, ma'am. Sorry, ma'am."
"What, exactly, I pray, tell me, someone, please. What exactly is that creature?"
"You'd call it a werewolf," the Doctor replied, looking around. "But technically, it's more of a lupine wavelength haemovariform."
"And should I trust you, sir? You who change your voice so easily? What happened to your accent?"
The Doctor faltered, and Jessie smirked. "Oh. Right. Sorry, that's - "
"I'll not have it," she said firmly. "No, sir. Not you, not that thing, none of it. This is not my world."
***
"I don't suppose swords could stop it?" Jessie asked half-heartedly after a while, sitting down at a table and resting her chin on her arms.
"Mistletoe . . . " She looked up to see the Doctor looking at a carving on the door. "Sir Robert, did your father put that there?"
"I don't know," he replied. "I suppose."
"On the other door, too," the Doctor noted, looking around. "No, a carving wouldn't be enough. I wonder . . . "
"Doctor!" Jessie squealed when he licked the woodwork. "What the bloody hell?"
"Now you're talking like a Londoner!" he declared, winking at her before nodding. "Viscum album, the oil of mistletoe! It's been worked into the wood like a varnish. How clever was your dad?" He grinned, looking like a kid in a candy store. "I love him. Powerful stuff, mistletoe. Bursting with lectins and viscotoxins."
"And the wolf's allergic to it?" Jessie asked.
"Well, it thinks it is. The monkey monk monks need a way of controlling the wolf. Maybe they trained it to react against certain things."
"Nevertheless, that creature won't give up, Doctor," Robert pointed out. "And we still don't possess an actual weapon."
Jessie raised a hand. "Um, if worst comes to worst, I can always stab it to death?"
"No," the Doctor retorted instantly and sharply.
Jessie raised her hands. "Just volunteering."
"But your father got all the brains, didn't he?"
"And that was rude."
"Good. I meant that one." Jessie rolled her eyes and the Doctor held out his arms. "You want weapons? We're in a library! Book! Best weapons in the world." He began taking them off of the shelves. "This room's the greatest arsenal we could have." She caught the books he tossed to her. "Arm yourself!"
***
Jessie flipped through the books she had, frowning. "Biology . . . zoology . . . there might be something on wolves in here."
The Doctor sat up straight somewhere nearby, wearing what he called his "brainy specs." Thank God the Ninth Doctor didn't need those, she thought. "Hold on." He walked to one of the tables, laying the book he had down on it. "What about this? A book on mistletoe."
"A book on magic," Jessie guessed, closing her book and joining him.
Robert did, too. "Some form of explosive," he noted, looking at the pages.
"Hmm," the Doctor murmured. "That's the sort of thing."
"Wolf's bane." Jessie pointed to the page. "What about that?"
The Doctor just flipped the page again. "Look what your old dad found! Something fell to Earth."
Jessie raised an eyebrow. "A spaceship?"
"A shooting star." Robert began reading. "In the Year of our Lord, 1540, under the reign of King James the Fifth, an almighty fire did burn in the pit." He looked up sharply. "That's the Glen of Saint Catherine just by the monastery."
"That was three hundred years ago, more than that," Jessie pointed out. "What's it been waiting for?"
"Maybe just a single cell survived," the Doctor suggested. "Adapting slowly down the generations. It survived through the humans. Host after host after host."
"But why does it want the throne?" Robert asked.
"That's what it wants," Jessie said. "It said so. The Empire of the Wolf."
"Imagine that," the Doctor whispered. "The Victorian Age accelerated. Starships and missiles fueled by coal and driven by steam, leaving history devastated in its wake."
"Sir Robert," Victoria said, finally speaking for a long time. "If I am to die here - "
"Don't say that, Your Majesty!" the knight protested.
"I would destroy myself rather than let that creature infect me," Victoria said firmly. "But that's no matter. I ask only that you find some place of safekeeping for something far older and more precious than myself."
"Hardly the time to worry about your valuables," the Doctor snorted.
"Thank you for your opinion," Victoria said dryly, "but there is nothing more valuable than this."
Jessie's jaw dropped when she saw what Victoria removed from a small chest. "Oh my God. Is that the Koh-I-Noor?"
"Oh, yes," the Doctor confirmed, eyeing it just as incredulously as she was. "The greatest diamond in the world."
"Given to me as the spoils of war," Victoria said softly. "Perhaps its legend is now coming true. It is said that whoever owns it must surely die."
"Well, that's true of anything if you own it long enough." He held out a hand. "Can I?" Victoria nodded and handed it to him. He raised it to eye level and looked at it through the dim lights. "That is so beautiful."
"How much is that worth?" Jessie asked.
"They say the wages of the entire planet for a whole week."
Jessie snorted loudly. "Good job Skye's not here. She'd be fighting the wolf off with her bare hands for that thing."
"Knowing Skye, she'd win."
"Where is the wolf?" Robert asked, looking around. "I don't trust this silence."
The Doctor looked at Victoria. "Why do you travel with it?"
"My annual pilgrimage," she answered. "I'm taking it to Helier and Carew, the Royal Jewelers at Hazelhead. The stone needs recutting."
"But it's perfect!" Jessie protested.
"My late husband never thought so."
"Now, there's a fact," the Doctor commented. "Prince Albert kept on having the Koh-I-Noor cut down. It used to be forty percent bigger than this. But he was never happy. Kept on cutting and cutting."
"He always said the shine was not quite right. But he died with it still unfinished."
"Unfinished . . . " The Doctor grinned. "Oh, yes!" He tossed it back to her. "There's a lot of unfinished business in this house! His father's research, and your husband, ma'am, he came here and he sought the perfect diamond." He held up his hands, pacing. "Hold on, hold on. All these separate things, they're not separate at all! They're connected!" He shook his head. "Oh, my head, my head." He turned back to Victoria. "What if this house . . . it's a trap for you. Is that right, ma'am?"
"Obviously," she snorted.
"At least, that's what the wolf intended," the Doctor continued. "But what if there's a trap inside the trap?"
Jessie began to grin. "Oh, that's fantastic!"
"Explain yourselves," Victoria demanded.
"What if his father and your husband weren't just telling each other stories?" Jessie asked, looking around.
"Exactly!" the Doctor crowed, pointing at her. "They dared to imagine all this was true, and they planned against it! Laying the real trap not for you, but for the wolf!"
Jessie chose that moment to look up at the skylight, and she swallowed. "Uh . . . that wolf?"
Plaster fell from the ceiling, and they all looked up. "Yeah," the Doctor agreed. "That wolf there." When the glass cracked, the Doctor burst into action. "Out!" he shouted. "Out! Out!"
"Your Majesty!" Robert shouted as they began running.
"Get to the observatory!" the Doctor ordered, slamming the mistletoe doors shut.
Jessie continued running, then skidded to a stop when the werewolf appeared in front of her. She let out a scream, bringing her armor on and raising a hand over her shoulder for one of her swords, when hot water splashed onto the werewolf. It howled and retreated.
"Good shot," the Doctor praised.
"It was mistletoe," Flora gasped as Isobel and the other maids ran in, Flora and Isobel the ones holding the pan where the water was.
"Isobel!" Robert breathed, kissing his wife. "Now get back downstairs."
"Keep yourself safe," she told him.
"Now, go."
"Girls, come with me," Isobel ordered, waving the girls after her. "Down the back stairs, back to the kitchens. Quickly!"
"Come on!" the Doctor told the rest of them.
"The observatory's this way," Robert told them, and they went on up the staircase.
The Doctor looked at the observatory doors. "No mistletoe in these doors because your father wanted the wolf to get inside. I just need time." He looked around. "Is there any way of barricading this?"
"Just do your work and I'll defend it," Robert replied.
"If we could bind them shut with rope or something - " the Doctor began.
"I said I'd find you time, sir," Robert interrupted. "Now get inside."
The Doctor smiled. "Good man." He closed the doors, then turned to Victoria. "Your Majesty, the diamond."
"For what purpose?" she asked.
"The purpose it was designed for."
The Queen handed over the diamond, and the Doctor ran towards the control wheels. "Jess! Lift it, come on!"
She helped him begin to raise the telescope. "Is this the right time for stargazing?" she asked, letting her Asgardian strength take over her human strength.
The Doctor grinned. "Yes, it is."
The sound of meat tearing from outside made Jessie take a quick glance towards the door. Victoria held up a jet cross and began to pray. "You said this thing doesn't work!"
"It doesn't work as a telescope because that's not what it is! It's a light chamber! It magnifies the light rays like a weapon. We've just got to power it up!"
"It won't work!" she told him, still continuing to raise the telescope. "There's no electricity!" She looked out the window to see where they were aiming the telescope. "Moonlight," she whispered, then looked back at the Doctor. "But the wolf needs moonlight! It's made by moonlight!"
"You're seventy percent water, but you can still drown," he pointed out. "Come on! Come on!"
The moonlight shone through the telescope lens as the werewolf finally broke through and went for Victoria. The Doctor slid the diamond across the floor into the light, and the light refracted to the werewolf, lifting it up and off the floor. The werewolf turned back into a young man, hanging as if crucified. "Make it brighter," he pleaded. "Let me go."
Jessie adjusted the magnification, and the light intensified. The man turned into a wolf and howled before vanishing.
"Your Majesty?" the Doctor asked, and Jessie looked over to see him looking at a cut on her wrist. "Did it bite you?"
"No," Victoria replied absently. "It's . . . it's just a cut, that's all."
"If that thing bit you - "
"It was a splinter of wood when the door came apart. It's nothing."
"Let me see."
"It is nothing," Victoria snapped.
***
When morning came the next day, Jessie knelt next to the Doctor before Queen Victoria, reminded of when Odin and Thor had knighted her as a warrior of Asgard. "By the power of me invested in me by the Church and the State, I dub thee Sir Doctor of TARDIS," Victoria said gravely, her sword hitting both of his shoulders before turning to her. "By the power invested in me by the Church and the Sate, I dub thee Dame Jessie of the Nine Realms."
"Many thanks, ma'am," the Doctor told her, looking up.
"Thanks," Jessie added, before she grinned at the Doctor. "Thor's never gonna believe me."
"Your Majesty," the Doctor said, looking at her. "You said last night about receiving no message from the great beyond. I think your husband cut that diamond to save your life. He's protecting you even now, ma'am, from beyond the grave."
"Indeed," she agreed. "Then you must think on this also: that I am not amused."
Jessie grinned, elbowing the Doctor as he sighed. "Oh yeah!"
"Not remotely amused. And henceforth, I banish you!"
Jessie looked up sharply. "What?"
"I'm sorry?" the Doctor asked as well, just as confused as she was.
"I rewarded you, Sir Doctor, and now you are exiled from this empire, never to return," Victoria replied sharply. "I don't know what you are, the two of you, or where you're from, but I know that you consort with stars and magic, and think it fun. But your world is steeped in terror and blasphemy and death, and I will not allow it. You will leave these shores and you will reflect, I hope, on how you came to stray so far from all that is good, and how much longer you will survive this terrible life. Now, leave my world, and never return."
***
In a flare of black and dark red smoke, Jessie landed the two of them on the path to the TARDIS. "The funny thing is," the Doctor said as they walked towards the TARDIS. "Queen Victoria did actually suffer a mutation of the blood. It's historical record. She was hemophiliac. They used to call it the Royal Disease. But it's always been a mystery, because she didn't inherit it. Her mum didn't have it. Her dad didn't have it. It came from nowhere."
"Was it a wolf's bite?" Jessie asked.
"Well, maybe hemophilia is just a Victorian euphemism."
"For werewolf?" she asked in disbelief.
He shrugged. "Could be."
She began laughing. "Queen Victoria's a werewolf?"
"Could be! And her children had the Royal Disease. Maybe she gave them a quick nip."
"The Royal Family are werewolves?"
"Well, maybe not yet," the Doctor said, unlocking the door of the TARDIS. "I mean, a single wolf cell could take a hundred years to mature. Might be ready by . . . oh, early 21st century?"
She burst out laughing. "That's ridiculous!" She stopped, her eyes widening. "Oh, wait . . . mind you, Princess Anne - "
"I'll say no more."
"And if you think about it, they're very private. They plan everything in advance. They could schedule themselves around the moon. We'd never know. And they like hunting! They love blood sports!" She burst out laughing and danced around the TARDIS console. "Oh my God, they're werewolves!"
They both burst out laughing as the TARDIS dematerialized, leaving the Victorian age behind.
Little did either of them know of the enemy that would haunt them for the rest of their voyages, by a single name Queen Victoria declared would be ready to fight the Doctor should he ever return.
Torchwood.