"And his face!"

Grant leaned on the railing of the Ward mansion, looking down at Jake, his second-in-command at SHIELD. The agency was slowly building up with their help, and while there were still Cybermen on the loose, England had been liberated.

Currently, he was getting to know the duplicate of the woman that had died by Cybermen hands. While the woman who had died was Sally Harper, her duplicate was Saleen Harper. And while they both had the same badass attitude, this woman had loyalty he was impressed by.

Plus, having a woman who was cryogenic and could control water and earth was something to be impressed by altogether.

"Did she really slap him?" Jake asked with a grin.

Saleen grinned, laughing hard as she tried not to spill the water bottle she had. "So hard, too! I'm sure Jessie would've laughed so hard at that if it had been any one of us except the Doctor."

"What did you say he looked like again?"

"Leather jacket, really short hair, blue eyes that could burn you to death."

Grant frowned, coming down the stairs. "That doesn't sound like the Doctor."

Saleen grinned. "No, it doesn't." She took out her friend's phone and looked through the camera roll. "Time Lords are tricky." She held up the phone, and Grant narrowed his eyes at the three in the photo: Jessie, the girl who didn't exist in this world, and two others. One had black hair and blue eyes, smiling widely at the camera, arms folded. Jessie, however, seemed to only care for the war-like man in the leather jacket on her other side.

Grant's eyes narrowed. He didn't really know Jessie, but for some reason, an urge to protect kicked in. "That's the Doctor?"

"Before he regenerated, yeah," Saleen confirmed, smiling softly as she found another picture, this one of the Doctor he had seen, Jessie, Saleen, and five other people, and with a tug in his gut, Grant recognized one of them.

Jake did, too. "Is that - ?"

"Skye," Grant said hoarsely.

Saleen nodded. "This past Christmas." She grinned wider. "Right after he regenerated, too. Earth invaded by the Sycorax, and the Doctor wakes up just in time to save our asses."

Jake snorted, and Grant shook his head. "He's incredible, I'll give him that," Grant admitted.

Saleen's smile faded. "And I can't see them again."

Jake held out an arm, and after a little hesitation, Saleen leaned into him, swallowing. Grant looked down at the table, deciding what he wanted to do. "Saleen, do you really want to help out here?"

"Yes," she replied instantly.

Grant looked at her. "Report to SHIELD headquarters tomorrow at nine hundred tomorrow."

Her jaw dropped. "Are you - ?"

Grant gave her a small smile. "Welcome back to SHIELD, Agent Harper."

Her wide grin made the decision worth it.

***

"So goes the next in many casualties in your impossible war, Bad Wolf girl."

Jessie looked around to find herself in a rocky place with clay jars. "What do you mean?" she asked.

"Fate takes many people. Your first casualty was Captain Jack Harkness, but you . . . you brought him back. But then went your Doctor."

"He's still here!"

"But he is not the one you knew."

Jessie closed her eyes, trying to rip the Beast's voice out of her head, but then the two Doctors' faces began blurring together. She couldn't tell one from the other. "Leave me alone!"

"And now your best friend has been taken, and you have no way of contacting her. How do you know that her first battle out with the Cybermen did not end in her death?"

"Delete. Delete. Delete."

She shivered, looking for a way out, but the darkness around her kept closing in. "What are you doing?" she shouted.

"Grant Ward. Jack Harkness. The Ninth Doctor. Saleen Harper. All names of those you have lost. Who's next? Is it your current Doctor . . . or is it you?"

"No!"

"I shall be seeing you soon, Bad Wolf girl. Prepare for war, Jessie Nightshade. Prepare for war."

The Beast's laugh echoed through the chamber, and the darkness encased her entirely.

***

She woke up screaming, shooting straight up in bed, gasping for breath. She thought she heard a faint worried trill in the back of her head, but she thought she had just imagined it until she heard running outside her bedroom door. The Doctor yanked it open, his eyes searching for hers immediately. The lights began to turn on slowly, and she could see the worry and fear in his eyes. She shook her head, putting a hand over her nose and mouth to stifle the sobs that were threatening to come out. The look on his face softened, and he walked over, sitting next to her and wrapping an arm around her. She fell into his grasp, burying her face into his shoulder, openly beginning to cry.

He didn't say anything. He didn't have to. He just sat here holding her, letting her cry. "Another nightmare?" he asked after a few minutes.

She nodded miserably. "Yeah."

"What was it this time?"

"Said I'd lost another casualty in my impossible war," she replied, sniffing and pulling back. He reached up to tuck her hair behind her ear. A cup of hot chocolate appeared on the dresser, and he handed it to her. She took it gratefully, tipping her head back to drink. "It said I'd lost Saleen."

"If I know Saleen, I know she's not dead," the Doctor told her. "Not her."

"It said I would see it soon," she whispered, her hand shaking. The Doctor uncurled her fingers from its tight grip on her cup and took it from her grasp. "I've faced Dark Elves, Gelth, Slitheen, Daleks, and Cybermen . . . I don't know about this Beast."

The Doctor smiled sadly at her. "You don't always need to be strong."

"I feel like I need to. Saleen was, even when it felt like we were neglecting her. And now she's worlds away."

"World apart, maybe, but she'll always be with you here." He put a hand over her heart, and Jessie shuddered, leaning into him. "Go back to sleep," he whispered, kissing the top of her head.

When he began to stand, she reached out and grabbed his hand. "How long's it been since you last slept?" she asked.

He stopped, thinking. "Er . . . "

She tugged him back. "You are not leaving this room until you've gotten sleep, no matter how great your 'Time Lord biology' is."

The shutting of her door and the click of the lock symbolized that the TARDIS was on her side. The Doctor sighed in mock frustration. "Both of my girls ganging up on me," he muttered. "Really?"

Jessie smirked and flopped back down on the bed, closing her eyes. She heard the sheets ruffle, and the Doctor's arm came around her waist. She turned, seeing that he was out of his suit jacket and tie, shoes off as well. She buried her face back into his shoulder as he pulled her closer. "'M never gonna leave you," she whispered.

She could tell he was smiling when he replied. "And I'm never going to leave you."

She didn't know if the Doctor had nightmares. However, she knew that that night, neither one of them had one.

***

She hummed to Herself, watching Her Thief and Her Wolf comfort each other, even in sleep. Time was running out. She could feel it. She only hoped that the time left was enough.

Her Wolf was beginning to notice. It wouldn't be long before she would know for sure. But still, the TARDIS had to try.

In the darkness, She kept on working. She kept doing her best to push what She was doing, to keep Her Wolf with Her Thief. She cracked Her Heart again, drawing the Vortex from it to spiral into the Asgardian's body. She smiled to Herself, putting most of her effort into this. The Beast was right. The doomsday was coming.

She only hoped that She was done changing Her Wolf before that happened.

***

So, TARDIS . . . what exactly are you doing? Anybody have an idea?

Next up is "The Impossible Planet"/"The Satan's Pit" story arc. We're getting closer towards the end, and who's excited/scared to see what happens to Jessie then?

I will already tell you that I am not sending her to the parallel world. That's all Rose, and if it isn't obvious, Jessie is far from Rose. Something . . . different is going to happen. And that's all I will say at this time. In the words of River Song . . . "SPOILERS." :)