Fic: (Un)guarded (11)
Title: (Un)guarded (11)
Fandom: Doctor Who/The Sarah Jane Adventures
Rating: T
Words: 2059
Summary: Just when the adventure couldn't get anymore...Adventure-y?
Notes: Took me forever to pull this part of the story apart... Didn't imagine Martha or Jack would make an appearance.
--
The Doctor and Sarah came down the stairs, his arm across her shoulders. They found Liz and the Brigadier in the living room, curled up on the yellow sofa with the teenagers nowhere to be found. They remained out of sight as they both listened to them speak.
“Darling, I really think you’re worrying about this for nothing,” the Brigadier said, leaning his head against hers, his feet out in front of him on the coffee table. They had only been talking about the Doctor and Sarah for the better part of a half hour when they didn’t know what was going on upstairs. “We can’t stop the evitable, can we?”
“It’s just so odd sounding, Alistair. The Doctor loves Sarah Jane,” Liz said, her own legs tucked up under her. Her hand rested on the Brigadier’s chest, and he covered it with his own. “You know, the scary part is, I can see it in his eyes only because he’s not trying to hide it. We’ve done our best to protect her, haven’t we?”
“Yes, but maybe she didn’t need our protecting as much as we thought she did,” the Brigadier said. “We really didn’t quite consider the possibility that the Doctor has needs. Everyone needs someone, Liz. Universal constant and all.”
The Doctor reached for Sarah’s hand, linking their fingers with one hand as he touched her face with the other. It didn’t need to be said. He leaned in and kissed her forehead, aware of the bandage before moving to her temple, looking down to see her smile. “Doctor, are you still out there? You can quit eavesdropping now. Bring Sarah with you.”
Both of them smiled before entering.
--
Martha Jones-Smith had been standing outside a local café for nearly thirty minutes when he arrived, nearly out of breath in his long coat and silver earpiece.
“Minnie Mouse, as I live and breathe,” Jack said, grinning from ear to ear with his arms open as he hugged her and kissed her cheek. “Where’s Mickey?”
Martha tilted her head.
“Cardiff, which is more than I can say for you,” she said, matter of fact. “There have been some problems with the Rift.”
“Tell me about it.”
“Alright,” Martha said, taking him serious. “It’s highly erratic. Energy levels off the charts. He and Gwen have been scanning the greater London area for any more of those bulbs just in case they didn’t all land in Ealing. I take it you saw them?”
Martha turned so that they could walk along the sidewalk, pushing a stray hair behind her ear.
“Quite up close actually before UNIT arrived. Sir Alistair is not really the kind to be trifled with.”
“Well, there is that, yes. He’s really quite the gentleman if you get to know him a bit. Otherwise, he comes across as a bit of a dragon,” she said, noting the people in the street and shops around them. “Mickey mentioned a surge of artron energy. The TARDIS was there, wasn’t it?”
“Yeah, but I didn’t really get a chance to say much,” Jack said, sighing as he scratched the back of his head. He thought earlier, including the fact that everyone seemed to be hovering around the condition of Sarah. “He was busy.”
“Busy?”
“Yeah.”
“The Earth could have been destroyed by those things, and he was busy?” Martha had stopped walking to look at Jack. His face held a hesitancy that she hadn’t seen before, and was more than curious about. “Jack?”
“Sarah Jane got hurt.”
“Is she alright?”
“I tried to ask.” Jack shook his head, and Martha looked away. “But you know Sir Alistair. The Doctor was there, he just-I don’t know, Martha. Wasn’t really occupied with the matter at hand.”
“You mean saving the Earth really wasn’t on his list of priorities? What are you not telling me?”
“I am telling you,” he said. “I’m telling you that something’s different. I don’t know what it is, but it’s clearly affecting him.”
“He asked me to keep an eye on Donna. Make sure that she was adjusting to life on Earth and all.” Martha thought for a moment about her short conversation with the Doctor. “She doesn’t remember any of her time with him. I tried to ask the details, but you know him.”
“I do.”
“So, what are you going to do now?”
“Try and figure out what happens next. Something’s coming, I feel it.”
“Me too.”
--
Sarah entered first, a sly smile crossing her lips as the Brigadier and Liz watched the Doctor following her. She tried to give him breathable space by moving away from him, but he ended up standing next to her.
“Doctor, Sarah,” Liz said. “Since I’ll assume you know what we were talking about, I’ll skip ahead and ask how’s your head feeling?”
“Bit of a headache,” Sarah said, touching the gauze still on her head.
“It doesn’t look too bad. Nothing a good painkiller won’t help.”
“Is that your expert opinion?” The Doctor wagged his eyebrows at Liz. “After all, you are rather snug as a bug there, Doctor.”
“I could have been killed earlier. The least you owe me is the chance to be ‘snug as a bug’,” Liz said, the Brigadier’s hand stroking still stroking hers on his chest. Sarah and the Brigadier exchanged smiles before he kissed the top of Liz’s head.
Sarah couldn’t help but be a little warmed at the sight. For more than the first time, she wished that she had what they had. She thought she had almost had that with Peter, but never mind that now.
The loud zap from the garden alerted them to the fact that something was wrong, as they all shot up and left the room.
--
Clyde was lying on the ground, a fair seven feet from the door of the TARDIS when the Doctor and Sarah came out the back door. Luke and Rani were crouched down beside him, but moved as the Doctor knelt down to look at him.
“What happened?” He looked to the other two teenagers, both too afraid to response. “Luke? Rani? You have to tell me what happened here. Now.”
“Clyde tried to enter the TARDIS.” Luke swallowed the lump in his throat. “But when he went to touch her, he ended up here.”
“We told him not to do it,” Rani said in her own self-defence. They had both been in the TARDIS the day before with Sarah and the Doctor, but still wanted to go exploring. Clyde more than either of them.
“The TARDIS isn’t a toy that the three of you can simply poke in and out of. It’s like anything else we do-” Sarah’s lips were prim and proper and pressed together as she thought of the danger of trying to do something you aren’t supposed to do. “We’ll talk about this later.”
“He’ll be all right, Sarah.” The Doctor looked up at her. “Yesterday, Clyde absorbed an enormous amount of artron energy. More than you would get in one lifetime of traveling in the TARDIS. It’s no wonder the TARDIS rejected his entrance. She didn’t know what to do with the amount of energy inside of him. Not without me, of course.”
“You know how to help?” Sarah said.
“Eh, I’ve got an idea or two.” The Doctor moved over to picked Clyde up. Putting one arm under his legs and one under his neck, he lifted Clyde and moved towards the TARDIS. “God, you’re heavy.”
“The two of you will stay out here until I get back.” Sarah said, trying not to explode on either one of them. “In which we will discuss why it is not safe to try and enter the TARDIS without the Doctor or myself. Is that understood?”
“Yes, Sarah Jane,” Rani said.
“Yes, Mum.” Luke’s head hung even lower than Rani’s. Clyde was his best friend, and he knew he shouldn’t have let him towards the TARDIS doors.
“Good.” Sarah followed the Doctor. She was hesitant to enter by herself, but threw that thought away as she opened the door and felt the ship hum under her touch. He had already left the console room towards the infirmary, but Sarah didn’t follow right away.
Peter. The Doctor. Aliens around Earth and then in her backyard. Mr. Smith and the attic. Now, Clyde. It all really did feel like a bad dream she was going to wake up from. Only this time, she wasn’t sure how it was going to pan out.
Tracing her hand up the rails and walking up the ramp, she missed the white walls and shiny panels that were familiar, thought there was something homey about the warm honey colours mixed with green. She hadn’t got a good look yesterday when the kids were studying everything.
It fit him.
“I’m here,” Sarah said, placing both palms on the console and feeling the delightful hum that rose out of the ship. “I’m only sorry my children couldn’t be a bit more gentle.”
“She’s happy to see you.” The Doctor had found his way back, shoving his hands into his pockets and watching her come around towards him, her eyes were elsewhere.
“As I am to see her,” Sarah ran her hand along the console one more time before looking up. “How’s Clyde?”
“I’ve got him sleeping for the moment. I’ll take you to him if you like?”
Sarah sighed.
“Alright.”
Sarah let the TARDIS guide her without trying to over think her footsteps as the Doctor followed. She found herself making three turns, right, left, and then another right before she entered and saw Clyde lying on the infirmary bed.
“Took your advice.” Sarah looked over her shoulder to see the Doctor in the doorway; his arms and feet crossed as he smirked. “Picked up a few things to keep me in tact over the years. Definitely have used them once or twice, and not just on other people.”
“Didn’t think you were ever paying attention.” Walking around the bed, she stood on the right side of Clyde as the Doctor approached Clyde’s left. “He will be all right, won’t he?”
“The TARDIS doesn’t do particularly well with strangers.” The Doctor checked Clyde’s pulse for a moment before putting his wrist back down. “But yeah, he’ll pull through. I’ve programmed filters throughout this room and the rest of the TARDIS that are attuned to Clyde and will help get the excess energy out of him.”
“Is that dangerous?”
“Oh no. Feels more like a faint tickle most times. Figured I’d make him sleep so that he wouldn’t try roaming about. Much like you in that aspect, I’m fairly sure. We’ll leave him just enough energy to make him feel only slightly intergalactic.”
“Like me?”
“Well, maybe not like you. But definitely close,” the Doctor said. “He helped defeat the Trickster. Surely, he can’t be all that bad.”
“He is still just a child sometimes.” Sarah looked down on Clyde with a rather maternal loving face as she touched his hand. “Who I wish would use his brain instead of his curiosity when it comes to new things.”
“Some things you learn with age,” the Doctor said. “In my personal experience.”
“I’ve warned them all time and time again-”
“When you don’t think or listen, you ended up feeling, Sarah. I mean, that’s the other option besides thinking, is feeling. Or sometimes you feel a bit of both, and your world is spun out of orbit. And it doesn’t really ever feel the same again.”
Sarah just looked at him, noticing his off the wall rambles, and the way his expression changed. There were a lot of things that she had always wanted to ask him about, but had never had the time or courage. She was only hoping he would stick around long enough for her to ask.
The Doctor noticed Sarah’s eyes narrowing, feeling the emotions that wanted to explode and didn’t. He couldn’t fault her anger anymore than he could fault his own.
“Right, because I wouldn’t know anything about that.” Saying nothing else, Sarah turned and walked out of the infirmary.
After all the emotional turmoil of the day, he knew they had both struck each other’s nerves without meaning to.
He still had a lot to learn about human love.
Chapter Ten: Wake Up, Sarah Jane // Chapter Twelve: Shifting Planes
Fandom: Doctor Who/The Sarah Jane Adventures
Rating: T
Words: 2059
Summary: Just when the adventure couldn't get anymore...Adventure-y?
Notes: Took me forever to pull this part of the story apart... Didn't imagine Martha or Jack would make an appearance.
--
The Doctor and Sarah came down the stairs, his arm across her shoulders. They found Liz and the Brigadier in the living room, curled up on the yellow sofa with the teenagers nowhere to be found. They remained out of sight as they both listened to them speak.
“Darling, I really think you’re worrying about this for nothing,” the Brigadier said, leaning his head against hers, his feet out in front of him on the coffee table. They had only been talking about the Doctor and Sarah for the better part of a half hour when they didn’t know what was going on upstairs. “We can’t stop the evitable, can we?”
“It’s just so odd sounding, Alistair. The Doctor loves Sarah Jane,” Liz said, her own legs tucked up under her. Her hand rested on the Brigadier’s chest, and he covered it with his own. “You know, the scary part is, I can see it in his eyes only because he’s not trying to hide it. We’ve done our best to protect her, haven’t we?”
“Yes, but maybe she didn’t need our protecting as much as we thought she did,” the Brigadier said. “We really didn’t quite consider the possibility that the Doctor has needs. Everyone needs someone, Liz. Universal constant and all.”
The Doctor reached for Sarah’s hand, linking their fingers with one hand as he touched her face with the other. It didn’t need to be said. He leaned in and kissed her forehead, aware of the bandage before moving to her temple, looking down to see her smile. “Doctor, are you still out there? You can quit eavesdropping now. Bring Sarah with you.”
Both of them smiled before entering.
--
Martha Jones-Smith had been standing outside a local café for nearly thirty minutes when he arrived, nearly out of breath in his long coat and silver earpiece.
“Minnie Mouse, as I live and breathe,” Jack said, grinning from ear to ear with his arms open as he hugged her and kissed her cheek. “Where’s Mickey?”
Martha tilted her head.
“Cardiff, which is more than I can say for you,” she said, matter of fact. “There have been some problems with the Rift.”
“Tell me about it.”
“Alright,” Martha said, taking him serious. “It’s highly erratic. Energy levels off the charts. He and Gwen have been scanning the greater London area for any more of those bulbs just in case they didn’t all land in Ealing. I take it you saw them?”
Martha turned so that they could walk along the sidewalk, pushing a stray hair behind her ear.
“Quite up close actually before UNIT arrived. Sir Alistair is not really the kind to be trifled with.”
“Well, there is that, yes. He’s really quite the gentleman if you get to know him a bit. Otherwise, he comes across as a bit of a dragon,” she said, noting the people in the street and shops around them. “Mickey mentioned a surge of artron energy. The TARDIS was there, wasn’t it?”
“Yeah, but I didn’t really get a chance to say much,” Jack said, sighing as he scratched the back of his head. He thought earlier, including the fact that everyone seemed to be hovering around the condition of Sarah. “He was busy.”
“Busy?”
“Yeah.”
“The Earth could have been destroyed by those things, and he was busy?” Martha had stopped walking to look at Jack. His face held a hesitancy that she hadn’t seen before, and was more than curious about. “Jack?”
“Sarah Jane got hurt.”
“Is she alright?”
“I tried to ask.” Jack shook his head, and Martha looked away. “But you know Sir Alistair. The Doctor was there, he just-I don’t know, Martha. Wasn’t really occupied with the matter at hand.”
“You mean saving the Earth really wasn’t on his list of priorities? What are you not telling me?”
“I am telling you,” he said. “I’m telling you that something’s different. I don’t know what it is, but it’s clearly affecting him.”
“He asked me to keep an eye on Donna. Make sure that she was adjusting to life on Earth and all.” Martha thought for a moment about her short conversation with the Doctor. “She doesn’t remember any of her time with him. I tried to ask the details, but you know him.”
“I do.”
“So, what are you going to do now?”
“Try and figure out what happens next. Something’s coming, I feel it.”
“Me too.”
--
Sarah entered first, a sly smile crossing her lips as the Brigadier and Liz watched the Doctor following her. She tried to give him breathable space by moving away from him, but he ended up standing next to her.
“Doctor, Sarah,” Liz said. “Since I’ll assume you know what we were talking about, I’ll skip ahead and ask how’s your head feeling?”
“Bit of a headache,” Sarah said, touching the gauze still on her head.
“It doesn’t look too bad. Nothing a good painkiller won’t help.”
“Is that your expert opinion?” The Doctor wagged his eyebrows at Liz. “After all, you are rather snug as a bug there, Doctor.”
“I could have been killed earlier. The least you owe me is the chance to be ‘snug as a bug’,” Liz said, the Brigadier’s hand stroking still stroking hers on his chest. Sarah and the Brigadier exchanged smiles before he kissed the top of Liz’s head.
Sarah couldn’t help but be a little warmed at the sight. For more than the first time, she wished that she had what they had. She thought she had almost had that with Peter, but never mind that now.
The loud zap from the garden alerted them to the fact that something was wrong, as they all shot up and left the room.
--
Clyde was lying on the ground, a fair seven feet from the door of the TARDIS when the Doctor and Sarah came out the back door. Luke and Rani were crouched down beside him, but moved as the Doctor knelt down to look at him.
“What happened?” He looked to the other two teenagers, both too afraid to response. “Luke? Rani? You have to tell me what happened here. Now.”
“Clyde tried to enter the TARDIS.” Luke swallowed the lump in his throat. “But when he went to touch her, he ended up here.”
“We told him not to do it,” Rani said in her own self-defence. They had both been in the TARDIS the day before with Sarah and the Doctor, but still wanted to go exploring. Clyde more than either of them.
“The TARDIS isn’t a toy that the three of you can simply poke in and out of. It’s like anything else we do-” Sarah’s lips were prim and proper and pressed together as she thought of the danger of trying to do something you aren’t supposed to do. “We’ll talk about this later.”
“He’ll be all right, Sarah.” The Doctor looked up at her. “Yesterday, Clyde absorbed an enormous amount of artron energy. More than you would get in one lifetime of traveling in the TARDIS. It’s no wonder the TARDIS rejected his entrance. She didn’t know what to do with the amount of energy inside of him. Not without me, of course.”
“You know how to help?” Sarah said.
“Eh, I’ve got an idea or two.” The Doctor moved over to picked Clyde up. Putting one arm under his legs and one under his neck, he lifted Clyde and moved towards the TARDIS. “God, you’re heavy.”
“The two of you will stay out here until I get back.” Sarah said, trying not to explode on either one of them. “In which we will discuss why it is not safe to try and enter the TARDIS without the Doctor or myself. Is that understood?”
“Yes, Sarah Jane,” Rani said.
“Yes, Mum.” Luke’s head hung even lower than Rani’s. Clyde was his best friend, and he knew he shouldn’t have let him towards the TARDIS doors.
“Good.” Sarah followed the Doctor. She was hesitant to enter by herself, but threw that thought away as she opened the door and felt the ship hum under her touch. He had already left the console room towards the infirmary, but Sarah didn’t follow right away.
Peter. The Doctor. Aliens around Earth and then in her backyard. Mr. Smith and the attic. Now, Clyde. It all really did feel like a bad dream she was going to wake up from. Only this time, she wasn’t sure how it was going to pan out.
Tracing her hand up the rails and walking up the ramp, she missed the white walls and shiny panels that were familiar, thought there was something homey about the warm honey colours mixed with green. She hadn’t got a good look yesterday when the kids were studying everything.
It fit him.
“I’m here,” Sarah said, placing both palms on the console and feeling the delightful hum that rose out of the ship. “I’m only sorry my children couldn’t be a bit more gentle.”
“She’s happy to see you.” The Doctor had found his way back, shoving his hands into his pockets and watching her come around towards him, her eyes were elsewhere.
“As I am to see her,” Sarah ran her hand along the console one more time before looking up. “How’s Clyde?”
“I’ve got him sleeping for the moment. I’ll take you to him if you like?”
Sarah sighed.
“Alright.”
Sarah let the TARDIS guide her without trying to over think her footsteps as the Doctor followed. She found herself making three turns, right, left, and then another right before she entered and saw Clyde lying on the infirmary bed.
“Took your advice.” Sarah looked over her shoulder to see the Doctor in the doorway; his arms and feet crossed as he smirked. “Picked up a few things to keep me in tact over the years. Definitely have used them once or twice, and not just on other people.”
“Didn’t think you were ever paying attention.” Walking around the bed, she stood on the right side of Clyde as the Doctor approached Clyde’s left. “He will be all right, won’t he?”
“The TARDIS doesn’t do particularly well with strangers.” The Doctor checked Clyde’s pulse for a moment before putting his wrist back down. “But yeah, he’ll pull through. I’ve programmed filters throughout this room and the rest of the TARDIS that are attuned to Clyde and will help get the excess energy out of him.”
“Is that dangerous?”
“Oh no. Feels more like a faint tickle most times. Figured I’d make him sleep so that he wouldn’t try roaming about. Much like you in that aspect, I’m fairly sure. We’ll leave him just enough energy to make him feel only slightly intergalactic.”
“Like me?”
“Well, maybe not like you. But definitely close,” the Doctor said. “He helped defeat the Trickster. Surely, he can’t be all that bad.”
“He is still just a child sometimes.” Sarah looked down on Clyde with a rather maternal loving face as she touched his hand. “Who I wish would use his brain instead of his curiosity when it comes to new things.”
“Some things you learn with age,” the Doctor said. “In my personal experience.”
“I’ve warned them all time and time again-”
“When you don’t think or listen, you ended up feeling, Sarah. I mean, that’s the other option besides thinking, is feeling. Or sometimes you feel a bit of both, and your world is spun out of orbit. And it doesn’t really ever feel the same again.”
Sarah just looked at him, noticing his off the wall rambles, and the way his expression changed. There were a lot of things that she had always wanted to ask him about, but had never had the time or courage. She was only hoping he would stick around long enough for her to ask.
The Doctor noticed Sarah’s eyes narrowing, feeling the emotions that wanted to explode and didn’t. He couldn’t fault her anger anymore than he could fault his own.
“Right, because I wouldn’t know anything about that.” Saying nothing else, Sarah turned and walked out of the infirmary.
After all the emotional turmoil of the day, he knew they had both struck each other’s nerves without meaning to.
He still had a lot to learn about human love.
Chapter Ten: Wake Up, Sarah Jane // Chapter Twelve: Shifting Planes