Fic: Once Upon An Uncertainty Principle (The Time And Again Remix) [Doctor Who; Sarah Jane Smith]
Title: Once Upon An Uncertainty Principle (The Time And Again Remix)
Author: soubi_smalls
Summary: The Doctor is certain of only a few things. One of them is Do Not Try The Soup. Another is Sarah Jane.
Fandom: Doctor Who
Pairing: Subtle Doctor / Sarah Jane Smith.
Rating: G
Disclaimer: Not mine!
Original story: Once Upon a Time by Hhertzof / hhertzof.
Notes: Thanks to the usual suspects.
Present
The Doctor stares at the screen and thinks.
He needs companions.
Just like Heisenberg told him that afternoon when they sipped margaritas by the pool. Someone who looks at stuff can change the stuff just by looking at it (though the Doctor had suggested different wording before he'd left).
The Doctor needs someone around. Someone to stop him, as Donna had said. Someone to make it all real. All true. Someone to observe, and comment, and ask silly questions, and ask annoyingly observant questions. Someone to be irritatingly helpless, and irritatingly helpful - two classifications which both apply to many of his companions; especially Rose, Martha, Romana, and Sarah Jane.
So the Doctor likes to look after his companions. Give them what they need, if he can. Try to make the good ones stick around. Try to endure the more annoying ones as they usually have good hearts underneath (and even brave hearts, sometimes).
He stares at the screen in the console room, perched on the edge of his chair, lost in thought of companions and might-have-beens. He absentmindedly clicks the top of the biro he'd picked up in the Marks and Sparks near Rose's house in the mid-80s, a few lifetimes ago.
Martha deftly removes the biro from his hand and replaces it with a steaming hot cup of something. "Tea?" she says quietly, but with an undercurrent of, "Don't mess with me on this, Doctor, for I will Riverdance naked across stage with a carnation between my teeth before I will give you back that blasted pen." He's known her for a while and can read the undercurrents quite well now.
"Thanks," he says, and takes a sip. He splutters. "That's not tea."
Martha sighs. "I pressed the TEA button on the machine."
"Ohhhhh. That makes Cygnusian cocoa, which comes from a kind of beetle." He takes another sip while she screws up her face and inspects her own cup. "It's not bad, actually. But if you want tea, you need to press the SOUP button."
"Then how do I get soup?"
He shakes his head and says darkly, "You don't want soup. Believe me, you don't want soup."
* * *
Third incarnation. . .
"Sarah Jane," the Doctor said.
She stopped mid-sentence and looked up from her typewriter. She had a large blue inkstain on her left thumb, and her hair was pinned back in a messy bun by two pencils and a paperclip. "Mm?" She blinked, and seemed to come back to herself. "I'm just typing a report for the Brig because he asked nicely - for once. He hates doing these."
Ignoring that, he beamed down at her. "Happy Valentine's Day." He flourished the enormous bouquet of roses and the heart-shaped box of chocolates he'd bought for her.
Sarah flushed, then went pale. She rose slowly from her seat, which squeaked backwards across the linoleum floor. "You. . . you bought - you?" She gave up finishing the sentence and just stared at him.
"For you, dear girl," he said warmly. "I'm taking you out to dinner tonight, too. At the New York. You can't say no."
The Doctor was often careful of her 'feminism', as it was called on Earth in this time period. He'd visited planets and eras where the female was the stronger, or the more powerful, or both. He'd visited planets and eras where both female and male genders were subjugated by one or two other genders. He'd visited planets and eras where female and male were roughly equal in power and status and physicality.
On Earth, in this period, Sarah Jane had reasons to be a 'feminist', and the Doctor was careful to respect that. Well, when he remembered. But he was not giving her presents and taking her out to dinner on Valentine's Day because she was female and must be protected. He was doing it because she was Sarah, and lovely, and irritating in her own endearing way, and she deserved to be spoiled.
"Uh. Goodness. These are beautiful," Sarah said, smiling at him as she took her presents. "Give me ten minutes to get ready. What a nice idea - you're awfully human sometimes."
"No need for insults, Sarah Jane," he said sniffily, but then gave her a grin.
* * *
Present
"You can't change it?"
"No," the Doctor says. Martha catches his eye. Her face softens and he realises he is showing too much, so he looks away. "A car crash, perhaps. A giant alien monster, definitely. But this - not so much."
An alarm rang. AWOOGAWOOGAWOOGAWOOGAWOOGAWOOGAWOOG-
"Can't you shut that off?" Martha yells, hands clapped to her ears.
* * *
Tenth incarnation. . .
He left her a lipstick, and K-9. If she'd come with him and Rose it would've been - strange. The missus and the ex, as Mickey said.
It would've been lovely, too.
* * *
Present
The TARDIS is, as always, far too attuned to his mental state. He pats her gently on the left random oscillator generation frequencier and the alarm stops. "You're going to ruin your hair," he says to Martha. "Look at you. You spent hours with the hairdryer this morning and look at what you've done to yourself!"
Martha's mouth opens wide in outrage. "I did NOT," she says, but she can't stop herself from reaching up surreptitiously to pat at the sides of her head, and he crows in triumph. "Shut up, you," she says, and while the words and face are different, the exasperated affection is pure Sarah Jane, and the Doctor realises his face is crumpling.
"You should go to her," Martha says quietly. "Go to her before it happens."
* * *
Fourth incarnation. . .
"You shouldn't've wanted to leave me, then," the Doctor said pettishly to no one.
The TARDIS was empty.
Then he realised. "I left her on Valentine's Day. Oh, Sarah."
* * *
Present
It's early evening, and he's grinning like an idiot, and he rings the doorbell, and Sarah Jane answers.
He stares at her for a moment, and does what he's thought about for a long, long time. He gathers her into his arms and kisses her, and he can tell from the look in her eyes that she's starting to feel the headaches, the blurred vision, and all the other horrible effects of the brain tumour that can't be cured even with the technology of his people, but he can also tell that she's delighted to see him, and wants to be kissed, so he stops telling and keeps kissing her.
When he stops, he says, "Get dressed, Sarah Jane. I'm taking you out on the town."
"No flowers this time?" she says teasingly, but she runs upstairs like the girl in her 20s that she used to be, and returns five minutes / an eternity later, wearing a beautiful blue dress. It's strapless, tastefully tailored to set off her waist and hips, and flares out at the knee.
He stares in wonder, then takes her to Armando's in town.
* * *
The Doctor needs companions - to observe, to ask silly questions, to help, to care, to be protected. And they need him, too. So he likes to give them what they need, so they can help him save the universe.
But sometimes - just sometimes - he can be with a companion for his own sake. And hers.
Author: soubi_smalls
Summary: The Doctor is certain of only a few things. One of them is Do Not Try The Soup. Another is Sarah Jane.
Fandom: Doctor Who
Pairing: Subtle Doctor / Sarah Jane Smith.
Rating: G
Disclaimer: Not mine!
Original story: Once Upon a Time by Hhertzof / hhertzof.
Notes: Thanks to the usual suspects.
Present
The Doctor stares at the screen and thinks.
He needs companions.
Just like Heisenberg told him that afternoon when they sipped margaritas by the pool. Someone who looks at stuff can change the stuff just by looking at it (though the Doctor had suggested different wording before he'd left).
The Doctor needs someone around. Someone to stop him, as Donna had said. Someone to make it all real. All true. Someone to observe, and comment, and ask silly questions, and ask annoyingly observant questions. Someone to be irritatingly helpless, and irritatingly helpful - two classifications which both apply to many of his companions; especially Rose, Martha, Romana, and Sarah Jane.
So the Doctor likes to look after his companions. Give them what they need, if he can. Try to make the good ones stick around. Try to endure the more annoying ones as they usually have good hearts underneath (and even brave hearts, sometimes).
He stares at the screen in the console room, perched on the edge of his chair, lost in thought of companions and might-have-beens. He absentmindedly clicks the top of the biro he'd picked up in the Marks and Sparks near Rose's house in the mid-80s, a few lifetimes ago.
Martha deftly removes the biro from his hand and replaces it with a steaming hot cup of something. "Tea?" she says quietly, but with an undercurrent of, "Don't mess with me on this, Doctor, for I will Riverdance naked across stage with a carnation between my teeth before I will give you back that blasted pen." He's known her for a while and can read the undercurrents quite well now.
"Thanks," he says, and takes a sip. He splutters. "That's not tea."
Martha sighs. "I pressed the TEA button on the machine."
"Ohhhhh. That makes Cygnusian cocoa, which comes from a kind of beetle." He takes another sip while she screws up her face and inspects her own cup. "It's not bad, actually. But if you want tea, you need to press the SOUP button."
"Then how do I get soup?"
He shakes his head and says darkly, "You don't want soup. Believe me, you don't want soup."
* * *
Third incarnation. . .
"Sarah Jane," the Doctor said.
She stopped mid-sentence and looked up from her typewriter. She had a large blue inkstain on her left thumb, and her hair was pinned back in a messy bun by two pencils and a paperclip. "Mm?" She blinked, and seemed to come back to herself. "I'm just typing a report for the Brig because he asked nicely - for once. He hates doing these."
Ignoring that, he beamed down at her. "Happy Valentine's Day." He flourished the enormous bouquet of roses and the heart-shaped box of chocolates he'd bought for her.
Sarah flushed, then went pale. She rose slowly from her seat, which squeaked backwards across the linoleum floor. "You. . . you bought - you?" She gave up finishing the sentence and just stared at him.
"For you, dear girl," he said warmly. "I'm taking you out to dinner tonight, too. At the New York. You can't say no."
The Doctor was often careful of her 'feminism', as it was called on Earth in this time period. He'd visited planets and eras where the female was the stronger, or the more powerful, or both. He'd visited planets and eras where both female and male genders were subjugated by one or two other genders. He'd visited planets and eras where female and male were roughly equal in power and status and physicality.
On Earth, in this period, Sarah Jane had reasons to be a 'feminist', and the Doctor was careful to respect that. Well, when he remembered. But he was not giving her presents and taking her out to dinner on Valentine's Day because she was female and must be protected. He was doing it because she was Sarah, and lovely, and irritating in her own endearing way, and she deserved to be spoiled.
"Uh. Goodness. These are beautiful," Sarah said, smiling at him as she took her presents. "Give me ten minutes to get ready. What a nice idea - you're awfully human sometimes."
"No need for insults, Sarah Jane," he said sniffily, but then gave her a grin.
* * *
Present
"You can't change it?"
"No," the Doctor says. Martha catches his eye. Her face softens and he realises he is showing too much, so he looks away. "A car crash, perhaps. A giant alien monster, definitely. But this - not so much."
An alarm rang. AWOOGAWOOGAWOOGAWOOGAWOOGAWOOGAWOOG-
"Can't you shut that off?" Martha yells, hands clapped to her ears.
* * *
Tenth incarnation. . .
He left her a lipstick, and K-9. If she'd come with him and Rose it would've been - strange. The missus and the ex, as Mickey said.
It would've been lovely, too.
* * *
Present
The TARDIS is, as always, far too attuned to his mental state. He pats her gently on the left random oscillator generation frequencier and the alarm stops. "You're going to ruin your hair," he says to Martha. "Look at you. You spent hours with the hairdryer this morning and look at what you've done to yourself!"
Martha's mouth opens wide in outrage. "I did NOT," she says, but she can't stop herself from reaching up surreptitiously to pat at the sides of her head, and he crows in triumph. "Shut up, you," she says, and while the words and face are different, the exasperated affection is pure Sarah Jane, and the Doctor realises his face is crumpling.
"You should go to her," Martha says quietly. "Go to her before it happens."
* * *
Fourth incarnation. . .
"You shouldn't've wanted to leave me, then," the Doctor said pettishly to no one.
The TARDIS was empty.
Then he realised. "I left her on Valentine's Day. Oh, Sarah."
* * *
Present
It's early evening, and he's grinning like an idiot, and he rings the doorbell, and Sarah Jane answers.
He stares at her for a moment, and does what he's thought about for a long, long time. He gathers her into his arms and kisses her, and he can tell from the look in her eyes that she's starting to feel the headaches, the blurred vision, and all the other horrible effects of the brain tumour that can't be cured even with the technology of his people, but he can also tell that she's delighted to see him, and wants to be kissed, so he stops telling and keeps kissing her.
When he stops, he says, "Get dressed, Sarah Jane. I'm taking you out on the town."
"No flowers this time?" she says teasingly, but she runs upstairs like the girl in her 20s that she used to be, and returns five minutes / an eternity later, wearing a beautiful blue dress. It's strapless, tastefully tailored to set off her waist and hips, and flares out at the knee.
He stares in wonder, then takes her to Armando's in town.
* * *
The Doctor needs companions - to observe, to ask silly questions, to help, to care, to be protected. And they need him, too. So he likes to give them what they need, so they can help him save the universe.
But sometimes - just sometimes - he can be with a companion for his own sake. And hers.