ashes ➝ Doctor Who²

VII

Jasper watched in confusion outside of Penelope's office, she was glaring down at a letter she had opened. He was going to talk to her, but started watching her expressions instead. Granted he should've moved on by now, but it felt like it had been too long for a normal excuse to work.

He saw her sigh and turn back to facing the table, sighing heavily and placing the letter down on her desk. It seemed more like irritability rather than straight anger, and it sent a myriad of thoughts spinning round her head. What was in the letter? Who was it from?

"Uh- What are you doing?" Turning quickly, Jasper hushed the intern and pulled them up with him. Now he has an accomplice so that he wouldn't be entirely at fault.

"I was going to knock but she looked really angry at the letter."

"How long have you been there? I'm sure the Captain said you had left a while ago."

"That is.. unimportant, what I really want to know is what's in the letter." The smaller girl scanned the room as Jasper watched, concerned that anyone would simply just start to spy on somebody with him. That was quelled, however, when he realised he had probably been there around 10 minutes.

"The stamp on the letter is the same one on my letter. I know what's making her so annoyed." She knocked on the door and Penelope turned to face them, confusion quickly flitting across her face as she had never seen them together before. And beckoned them both to enter. Jasper held the door open to the girl as she walked in and placed her letter on the desk. "Finance Minister write to you as well."

"Yes, I mean- what the hell does the guy want?"

"Exactly, it's not like he's going to live to see what happens after our meeting." Both of the adults in the room suddenly realise that this child is potentially insane, and that is most likely their fault. Or mainly Penelope's in this case.

Felicity - sweet, innocent and barely able to walk the earth without crying for the creatures it carries - was tarnished the minute she stepped foot into Penelope's office. That woman was already her idol, and after learning that Penelope knew who she was? The poor girl needed a sit down in an empty conference room. After that she sort of made it her business to handle anything that Penelope needed aside from the finance department.

It had been a hectic couple of months at the office with Felicity following her every move, learning all she could and taking any work that she would offer. And - not that she would ever admit it to anyone - Penelope had adored the girl being around. It filled a very specific hole in her heart. She couldn't help herself, the girl had become so much like herself that it had become second nature to teach her along the way.

But in this moment, the humour of the Finance Minister not making it much longer, it made her realise that she had ruined the girl. She was such a bad influence - specifically in this moment because she had been complaining about the Finance Minister still being alive at the last 'random' audit for their offices.

"I wish I could reprimand you Felicity but that would be denying the truth." Jasper watched, confused, at the interaction between the two of them, because, to his knowledge, he had never seen them together before. He coughed lightly and both of them turned to face him, it was uncanny, watching Felicity move in tandem with Penelope. He softly grasped her forearm and pulled her towards him, not knowing how much this 'mini-Penelope' knew.

"I just wanted to know if we're able to progress on the- on that case yet." Penelope flicked her eyes over to Felicity and gave a subtle shake.

"Sorry Jasper, not at the moment." Felicity was watching them carefully.

"Understood." It was here she stepped forward, hovering just between them, eyes squinting at them both.

"Are you two dating or something?" Jasper let go of her arm, quick as anything and Penelope stepped back so that she could face Felicity properly.

"No! Felicity-"

"So why the emphasis on that case then." It was like a light was lit behind her eye as she pulled Penelope close, side eyeing Jasper accusingly. "Are you, you know, hooking up in the office then?" The last part was whispered but Jasper still heard it very clearly, looking away from the two to pretend that the whisper was between them.

"Felicity, no. He is my co-worker. As far as the company rules apply, I'm pretty sure I own him." She stood up straight and gave the man a once over.

"I bet he enjoys that as well."

"OKAY! Felicity I think it's time you went home to pack for our trip tomorrow. Hmm?" She started ushering the girl out of the office. "We have to go down to that meeting, and it's quite a trip so please take the time to pack and rest." The shy exterior of the girl had been completely stripped from her hours working with Penelope as she complained and gossiped behind closed doors. So she enjoyed every moment of this.

"Yeah, okay ma'am. But we both know you're just getting rid of me so you can make out in here."

"I will see you tomorrow Felicity." It was strained and nothing could hold back Jasper's smile, which irritated Penelope even more when she turned to face him. She sat down at her desk, sorting through files and the letter, trying to order everything as an excuse to ignore Jasper.

It was quiet for a small moment before Jasper sat down in the chair opposite her desk, a sickening grin on his face.

"So.."

"Shut the hell up Jamie."

"You never call me Jamie unless I've done something wrong, did that really hit a nerve? Anything you want to talk about." She looked up to glare at him, and it was a little disheartening to see the lack of blush anywhere on her face. He couldn't actually tell if she was annoyed with his comments or Felicity's. Either way, it didn't look good for him.

"I want you to go and tell Jack to prepare for a trip down to the countryside tomorrow. The stupid Finance Minister never listens to me, or women in general for that matter. So I'm taking the two of you to distract him whilst Felicity and I deal with his secretary. Who is more than happy to take over and take our actual finance report."

"Sounds good to me Penelope." She looks down before glancing back up with a softer look and sighing. She leant back and rubbed her eyes tiredly. Jasper felt guilt start to build up in him from how he wrongly perceived what her reaction would be to his comments.

"Thank you. Please pass it along to Jack." He stood up, tucking the chair in behind him and made his way to the door. The air was heavy and he felt hot pricks all over his body, the guilt eating away at him. So he stopped and turned around, surprising her a little.

"I'm sorry for making comments. I didn't think about how you'd take them. Sorry."

"It's just.. it's still a little sensitive Jasper." He nodded, using every ounce of his training to keep his voice level and push down any sort of guilt or disappointment he may have felt.

"Of course."

"Let's just put it past us please. Like it never happened." He nodded once more and left the room, waiting until he got to the lift to start breathing again.

In all honesty, he isn't quite sure why he feels like this. It's not like he's in love with Penelope, she's just one of his closest friends right now and he feels bad for not taking her reaction into consideration. Like she said, keep it all in the past. It never happened.