Chapter Text
Najia was enjoying a soothing cup of tea after a long day at work. Her husband, hero that he was, had needed to pick up a few things for dinner and taken the girls with him, allowing Najia to bask in a few minutes of silence. Yaz had just turned seven and hit that stage where she wanted to be in charge of everything, especially her little sister. This resulted in a fair number of shouting matches that mostly consisted of the phrases "You're not the boss of me!" and "That's not how you're SUPPOSED to do it!" being bandied back and forth. Najia loved her girls, but sometimes they gave her a headache, so it was nice to savor the quiet-
A loud crash made Najia jolt. She jumped out of her chair and ran into the kitchen where a blond woman was standing next to their upended drying rack and a collection of shattered bits of glass and ceramic. "Who are you?! How did you get into our flat?!" Her heart was pounding, pumping adrenaline into her head.
"I'm so sorry. This dimension cannon thing is a real pain in the arse."
"What?! Nevermind, I'm calling the police."
"Wait!" The blonde woman held out her hand and wore a plaintive expression. "I really am sorry. I didn't mean to jump into your flat, honest. I'm just looking for my daughter. The daft girl has gone chasing after that Doctor again."
"You're not making any sense." Yet for some reason Najia hesitated. She knew how it felt to worry about a daughter and be willing to go to any extreme to protect her. She felt an odd kinship with this strange, possibly mad woman.
"Look, I can't really explain. All I can say is my daughter got herself mixed up with a bloke that's nothing but trouble. Now she's gone chasing after him because she thinks he needs her, but doesn't she know I need her?!"
"I'm sorry," Najia said. "What's your name?"
"Jackie," the blond woman said. "My name is Jackie Tyler. You?"
Najia hesitated. This potential maniac had broken into her flat and could be a murderer for all Najia knew, but she couldn't shake the weird feeling of connectedness with her. "Najia Khan."
"It's nice to meet you Najia Khan. I'm really sorry about this. Do you have a broom, I can clean up the mess. My dimension hopper needs another thirty minutes to recharge anyway."
Najia chose not to focus on the lunacy of the second half of the woman's statement. She fetched her broom and gave it to the woman. "Thanks," Najia said even though the woman was just cleaning up her own mess and Najia would still have to replace all the broken dishes.
"I swear, my Rose lives for trouble, it's like she feeds off of it. We've got a nice life in Pete's World. We've got a big house. Plenty of money. Not that money's everything, but it's nice, you know? And I've just had the baby. My little Tony is a dream. He adores his big sister. Shows it by spitting up on her mostly, but that's not the point. She's got us. She's got Mickey. Poor bloke, his Nan passed away last month. I wouldn't mind having him for a son-in-law, but Rose she's fixated on this Doctor."
Najia wasn't sure how to respond to such a nonsensical collection of phrases, but she gave it her best shot. "A doctor though. Could be worse."
Jackie scoffed. "He's not REALLY a Doctor. Do you have a daughter?"
"Two," Najia answered without thinking, and then admonished herself for revealing still more personal information.
"If either of them ever comes home with a funny looking guy with a weird screwdriver and a big blue box you send him packing, do you hear me? Don't let your girl out of your sight till he's good and gone, you got it?!"
"Alright," Najia said, a bit fearful of the woman's passion. Jackie dumbed the broken crockery into the bin. "I hope you find your daughter, and that she's safe."
Jackie gave her a warm smile. "Me too. Thanks for being so understanding." She pulled a strange device out of her pocket. "I've gotta run. Good luck with your girls Najia Khan, and remember what I said. No odd blokes with blue boxes!" Then Jackie vanished.
Najia's jaw dropped. She stepped forward and rubbed her eyes. If not for the glass in the bin she might have thought she'd imagined the whole thing. The front door opened and then slammed shut. "Mum! Yaz is bein bossy!"
"She won't listen to me Mum," Yaz yelled in response.
Najia sighed. She had more important things to worry about. That Jackie Tyler whoever she was would have to look out for herself.