A Man out of Time

[The First Doctor]

"Thank ye, Constable," Amy said politely, before turning to The Doctor and softly saying, "Thirty years o' work is normal for Humans, ye know..."

"Is it, my dear?" the Doctor asked as they left the station. "However does your species get anything done?"

Then, with an adventurous smile, she added, "Now, c'mon - let's go pay a visit ta Inspector Jones!"

"Quite, quite. We must... good afternoon? Have we met? You look quite familiar to me." The last was spoken to a young blonde woman, slightly damp, who had just run up to them.

“What, is going on? Why are we here?” Jenny asked. “This doesn’t look like a…” she was about to say space ship but thought better of it.

He gave her an odd look. "Ah! Yes, I remember now! The other young lady that was with my older self. My dear, I simply had not realized you were still aboard the TARDIS." Then he looked at her again, studying her features. "But I can't help but feel we have met, before. Your features are extraordinarily familiar, somehow."

[Jenny]

Jenny smiled brightly, “I found the pool,” she said in explanation for the fact that she was still wet from falling into the pool.

Jenny looked at her father. He looked so incredibly old to her eyes, old and unfamiliar. He looked more like a grandfather then a father. Susan’s grandfather, she thought.

She tried to see a family resemblance, something in the nose, the cheek bones, chin, and the shape of the eyes had a vague sort of familiarity. It was subtle, barely detectable but it was there. In many ways she thought it more obvious in this incarnation then the eleventh.

She wondered if it would be safe to tell him the truth, at least in part. She was positive that there was nothing he could do to stop her creation. He hadn’t been given a choice in the matter. So, short from getting himself killed she was sure it would be safe.

But how would it affect the future once she was created. She was unsure of how to proceed. “We haven’t met, not yet anyway. Not for a long, long, time.” She threw caution to the wind. “’ello Dad, I'm Jenny.”

[The First Doctor]

“We haven’t met, not yet anyway. Not for a long, long, time.” She threw caution to the wind. “’ello Dad, I'm Jenny.”

"Dad?" the Doctor echoed, blinking in surprise. For a wild moment, he thought that maybe - somehow - this meant that Kirililliandramachelen had survived after all. But the moment passed. This Jenny was not the daughter he knew.

But, as he looked at her, he could see a family resemblance. Her expression, the shape of her mouth, the subtle tilt to her head. He smiled.

"My daughter, eh? No, no," he said, holding up his hands, "don't spoil it." Then, overcome with emotion, he hugged her. "Welcome to the family, my dear."

[Jenny]

Jenny watched as a spectrum of emotional displays crossed the face of the man that would one day turn into the man who she knew as her father.

"My daughter, eh? No, no," he said, holding up his hands, "don't spoil it." Then, overcome with emotion, he hugged her.

Jenny couldn’t help but to be surprised when he reached out and hugged her. She could count the hugs from her father on one hand.

Jenny hugged him back, before releasing him. “So, what happened? Where is everyone? Where we off too?”

[Amy Pond]

Amy watched Jenny and this Doctor interact with a cheery smile on her lips. Then, Jenny asked what was going on.

"Well... We're in Aberaeron, Wales, an' it's the 8th of August, 2006. We were just on our way to go visit an old friend o' Tha Doctor's," Amy explained. "But... Maybe ye better find somethin' a bit more dry ta put on, first...?" she suggested, thinking that A) Jenny would be more comfortable in dry clothes, and B) the retired Inspector and his furniture would be much happier with dry guests in his home.

"There's gotta be somethin' nice in tha wardrobe that'll fit ye..." Amy said. She freakin' loved the wardrobe in the TARDIS - it had everything.

[The First Doctor]

Jenny hugged him back, before releasing him. “So, what happened? Where is everyone? Where we off too?”

"Well... We're in Aberaeron, Wales, an' it's the 8th of August, 2006. We were just on our way to go visit an old friend o' Tha Doctor's," Amy explained. "But... Maybe ye better find somethin' a bit more dry ta put on, first...?"

"There's gotta be somethin' nice in tha wardrobe that'll fit ye..." Amy said.

"An admirable summation, my dear," the Doctor said to Amy. He hooked his arms in theirs, and began walking back towards the TARDIS. "First, dry clothing. And then, we find Inspector Jones in retirement, and make inquiries."

He smiled. "And then, once we have located the Archivist, we can return that TARDIS to its proper time, make certain my older self has stopped those dah-lex things, and pick up Susan."

They entered the control room. "Now. Go and change, my dear. We'll wait."

[Amy Pond]

Amy gave a quick curtsey and a cheesy smile to the Doctor when he complimented her summary of their current situation, and then he linked arms with her and Jenny as they returned to the TARDIS for a bit of a pit stop.

"First, dry clothing. And then, we find Inspector Jones in retirement, and make inquiries."

Amy nodded. "Sounds like a plan," she said approvingly. Amy really hoped that the Inspector would be able to help them find the Archivist - she had liked her very much!

He smiled. "And then, once we have located the Archivist, we can return that TARDIS to its proper time, make certain my older self has stopped those dah-lex things, and pick up Susan."

Amy nodded again, agreeing with the second part of the Doctor's plan before she followed him into the TARDIS, and then the Doctor bid Jenny go change her clothes.

"Yup, we'll be right here. Give a holler if ye need anythin'," Amy said, echoing the Doctor's statement that they would wait.

Amy then turned to the Doctor and asked, "D'ye think that this Inspector Jones might have a way ta contact tha Archivist?" Just thinking about finding Seren somewhere in Time and Space, like finding a needle in a haystack - a very, very, infinitesimally large haystack - sort of made her head spin.

And again, Amy wondered if she should tell him that she had met the Archivist, and that they had gone out and had a fantastic time... She smiled as she contemplated it.

[Jenny]

Jenny had to agree that dry clothes would be a definite improvement over her current soggy apparel and since her getting a fresh standard issue uniform from her ship was currently out of the question, finding out what her dad had on board his TARDIS seemed a feasible place to find something.

Her father hooked his arms in her and Amy’s arms and the three of them headed back towards the TARDIS. But something her father said made her blood run cold.

“Daleks? He, I mean you, I mean future you is trying to stop them? Probably without any weapons?” Jenny said in disbelief. “Those genocidal, murderous, garbage receptacles? ”

Jenny had, had the opportunity to fight them off once and it had not been an easy mission. Dalek’s were trouble, a lot of trouble and Jenny hoped that when they returned both the Doctor and Susan would still be alive.

She needed to hurry, so when directed to change she did so with as much speed as she could muster in the unfamiliar place with entirely too many clothing choices to count. She was more then a little overwhelmed with the large variety. She discovered blue jeans, a dark blue T-shirt, and a black leather jacket that looked to be about her size and a dry pair of black boots there were not far from the once she currently worse. She put them on quickly while transferring her weapons and gear to the new found Jacket, before returning to the main control room.

[Amy Pond]

It didn't take Jenny long to change, and she was soon rejoining Amy and the Doctor near the TARDIS' control panel. Amy looked the petite blonde up and down approvingly and smiled, saying, "Much better - I really like tha jacket, too," Amy complimented the Doctor's daughter.

"So, d'we need anything else before we go?" Amy asked, looking from the freshly changed Jenny to the older-looking Doctor. "Or... Shall we just... go?"

[The First Doctor]

“Daleks? He, I mean you, I mean future you is trying to stop them? Probably without any weapons?” Jenny said in disbelief. “Those genocidal, murderous, garbage receptacles? ”

"Not having seen one in person," the Doctor answered, "I shall have to assume that your description does them justice. But I seemed quite confident that I could stop them, and I certainly wouldn't have left my granddaughter there if what I was attempting there was more dangerous than what I am attempting here."

---

Inside the TARDIS, Jenny left to find dry clothing.

Amy then turned to the Doctor and asked, "D'ye think that this Inspector Jones might have a way ta contact tha Archivist?"

"I'm hopeful he will know where she is," the Doctor answered. "We came here together when we were in the Academy - about three hundred years ago for me, and about twenty years ago local time. It is a place we both remembered fondly, and I have hopes she would have come back here."

He smiled. "If she did, Inspector Jones is one of the people she would have visited."

About then Jenny returned, wearing jeans and boots and a leather jacket. The Doctor laughed with delight at the sight, as Amy said "Much better - I really like tha jacket, too."

"Oh, yes," the Doctor agreed, "And I dare say - if the compliment won't embarrass you coming from your father - that you make an outfit like that look far better than I ever did."

"So, d'we need anything else before we go?" Amy asked, looking from the freshly changed Jenny to the older-looking Doctor. "Or... Shall we just... go?"

"Indeed we shall," the Doctor said, "Indeed we shall."

---

The Inspector's address proved to be a small seaside cottage, stone with slate roof, with a small garden filled with daffodils and tulips.

The Doctor marched up to the door and rapped it smartly with his cane. After a moment it opened, and a small woman with straw-colored hair peered out. "Yes..?"

"Good afternoon," he smiled. "Is Inspector Arthur Jones at home?"

The woman gave him a suspicious look. "Who are you?"

"I am the Doctor."

There was a sound of surprise from inside. "Gladys? I've got this." Footsteps were heard, and the woman was replaced by a tall, lean, elderly man with a ruff of iron-grey hair and a small iron-grey mustache. "Doctor!" he cried, shaking the man's hand. "Excellent to see you! Wonderful! Do come in!"

He looked at the Doctor's companions. "And the Archivist!" he cried, seizing Amy's hand and shaking it as well. "My dear, you've hardly changed!" Then he caught sight of Jenny. "And I don't know you," he said, offering her his hand, "but I'm guessing you're a relation of these two. Their daughter, perhaps?"

[Amy Pond]

Amy's eyes went wide with surprise when the Inspector mistook her identity for the Archivist, and she blushed when he surmised that Jenny must be their daughter.

First off, she was really, really confused about the Archivist. When Seren had visited with them not all that long ago, she looked nothing like Amy...

And then, it dawned on her: the Archivist must have had an earlier regeneration that was a cute ginger, and that would have probably been the form she held when she and the Doctor fell in love - or so Amy guessed. And then, she blushed again, a bit embarrassed to think that she might look like the Doctor's high school sweetheart - or, the Gallifreyan equivalent thereof.

For just a moment, the scene between her Doctor and herself that took place in her bedroom the night before her wedding, where she tried to ram her tongue down his throat like a drunk frat girl flashed in her mind's eye, and she kind of wanted to run away.

With a gulp, Amy tried to dispel the wave of uneasiness that had just overtaken her, and after an awkward moment seemed to have passed, Amy spoke up, saying, "Umm... Actually, Inspector, tha name's Amy." She smiled a little self-consciously - sort of like a grimace - and went on, "Lovely ta meet ye," she said, returning his greeting as best she could, with her Scottish accent lilting off each syllable that popped out of her mouth.

"Ye're right about Jenny, though - she IS tha Doctor's daught'er..." Amy continued, smiling at her blonde friend. "Though, I'm not sure if it was by conventional means, or maybe somethin' a bit more technological..." she added.

No one had ever said anything about Jenny's mum. Amy didn't know if she even had one, or not - and then, Amy had a weird notion: what if Jenny's mum was River?

For a second, Amy's eyes went wide with disbelief. She gulped again and forced the notion out of her mind.

Turning to the Doctor, Amy said, "Huh. Ye never said she and I look alike," as she wore a bemused smile, referring to the Archivist. "Or, actually... That we USED to look alike..." Amy teased the fact that she knew more than she was telling and was now grinning.

[Jenny]

Jenny followed her father and Amy as they left the TARDIS eager to get to where they were goings, finish their mission and getting back to her future father and Susan.

Despite her past fathers assurances that he was sure his future self could handle it, Jenny was not so sure. Though Jenny hadn’t known her father long, she did have his memories and if there was one thing that stood out above all others it was, that her father could be dangerously reckless beyond all belief.

She hoped that Susan’s presence would reel in his flagrant disregard for his own hide even if it was just for Susan’s sake.

The walk seemed short and so Jenny’s agonizing over leaving her father weaponless with the Dalek’s seemed equally short lived.

The home in question was a small cottage near the sea. Jenny stared at the expansion of water in disbelief as it came into view. She had never seen anything like it before. Jenny’s full attention snapped back to the here and now at the mention of the Doctor and Amy being her parents.

When Amy said that she wasn’t sure whether she was created through conventional or technological means Jenny couldn’t help but the smile. For now, that would remain her little secret. “That’s a story for another time,” Jenny said. Not wanting to give her father any more information about her then was strictly necessary.

The exchange of facial expressions that crossed Amy’s face were interesting to say the least and Jenny couldn’t help but to wonder what was going through her mind. “Who is the Archivist?” Jenny asked, looking between Amy, her father, and the inspector.

[Amy Pond]

Amy was relieved that Jenny broke the awkwardness by asking who the Archivist was. She smiled and replied, "Well... If I understand things correctly, the Archivist, once upon a time, was the Doctor's high school sweetheart."

Amy looked to the Doctor to make sure she had gotten it right, and then she continued, "I met her once... She took me an' Rory ta see tha Beatles," Amy explained. "I liked her quite a bit, but I haven't seen her since..."

[Amy Pond]

[OOC: This continues HERE]