Fic: "The Open Door"
Title: The Open Door
Author: hearts_blood
Fandom: New!Who
Pairing: Sarah/Ten
Rating: G
A/N: This story takes place after "School Reunion" from Sarah's PoV, and after "The Girl in the Fireplace" from the Doctor's PoV. References my story "Points of Intersection." Second of three. Reviews = love!
Summary: Sarah Jane and the Doctor share a dream.
The Open Door
She dreamed of the TARDIS that night, both the one she had called home and the one she had left that afternoon. She looked around the amber-and-green console room, peered beneath the mesh floor grates, but saw the Doctor nowhere. All she found was a door. It was locked, but there was an old sonic screwdriver in her pocket (Why is there an old sonic screwdriver in my pocket?) so she unlocked the door and pushed it open.
There was the Doctor--the new Doctor, younger but so much older, so much more alone--standing in the old, familiar white, bright console room, in his pinstripes and trainers. He smiled brightly. "Hello, Sarah Jane."
"Is this a dream?"
He nodded.
"Okay, good. Just checking." She tried to joke. "Fancy seeing you here. It's been a while since you mucked around in my head."
"I know! You don't even want to know how long it took me to get back in here--I sealed off the connection tight when you left--it's been like going through the junk room at the BM: paintings here, pieces of cuneiform crunching under your shoes, mutilated statues with their bits knocked off--rank sacrilege--"
"Sorry?"
"Wait, am I still thinking of the BM?" The Doctor frowned, then shrugged. "Meh."
"Why are you here, Doctor?" Sarah asked quietly.
He came around the console, staring at her much as he used to; the brown eyes were no less compelling or intimidating then the blue had been, but Sarah Jane had never been afraid of the Doctor. "Because I don't want to lose you again," he admitted. "And as I was recently reminded, an open door works both ways. The way, you'll always be able to reach me... if you want to."
Sarah touched her temple, feeling the first very familiar stroke at her consciousness. "But... why me? Why not Rose?" The question slipped out before she could stop herself--or he drew it out of her. He did that sometimes.
"Because I don't want Rose for this. I want you. You're still my best friend; that's never changed. And because Rose has already had me inside her head--or near enough me--and it almost killed her. And because Rose doesn't have a clue what she wants from me, she only thinks she does. And because you're my best friend and I miss you."
Sarah was still holding her head, hoping against hope that this dream wasn't a normal dream and that it was really happening. "I'm not going to have you running around in my head just to be your kept woman," she warned him. "Rose and I both deserve better."
"You won't be at my beck and call. And I won't be hopping about in your cerebellum. I just want a way for us to be able to find each other. This way, I won't show up on your doorstep thirty years late... Again." He went cross-eyed for a moment, staring down his nose. "Hmm... time factor's gone a bit screwy... I'm sure I saw you a week ago."
"No, it was just today."
"Hmm. Oh, well. Close enough." He smiled, and his ancient eyes were kind. "I don't like goodbyes, Sarah. You know that."
"You'll have to say it someday, Doctor."
"Someday's been postponed," he said heartlessly. "Don't leave me again, my Sarah Jane. I've lost everything else--everyone else. Now I've found you again... Live your life, ignore me completely until you need me. Call me and I'll be on your doorstep yesterday. But don't make me leave you behind again."
"I... dammit, I can't really say no to that, can I?"
A wide, delighted grin spread and engulfed the Doctor's face. Coming forward, he took her hands and held them tightly. "Thank you," he said simply, and kissed her.
Sarah was surprised: he felt the same.
***
She woke slowly, reluctantly, in her bedroom in Bannerman Road, the kiss still lingering on her lips. Gingerly, she stretched out rusty mental muscles and peered through the long disused keyhole.
A warm brown eye winked back at her.
***
Alone in the Star Chamber, deep in the TARDIS, the Doctor let out a rough, relieved laugh, and tried to calm his thumping hearts.
Author: hearts_blood
Fandom: New!Who
Pairing: Sarah/Ten
Rating: G
A/N: This story takes place after "School Reunion" from Sarah's PoV, and after "The Girl in the Fireplace" from the Doctor's PoV. References my story "Points of Intersection." Second of three. Reviews = love!
Summary: Sarah Jane and the Doctor share a dream.
The Open Door
She dreamed of the TARDIS that night, both the one she had called home and the one she had left that afternoon. She looked around the amber-and-green console room, peered beneath the mesh floor grates, but saw the Doctor nowhere. All she found was a door. It was locked, but there was an old sonic screwdriver in her pocket (Why is there an old sonic screwdriver in my pocket?) so she unlocked the door and pushed it open.
There was the Doctor--the new Doctor, younger but so much older, so much more alone--standing in the old, familiar white, bright console room, in his pinstripes and trainers. He smiled brightly. "Hello, Sarah Jane."
"Is this a dream?"
He nodded.
"Okay, good. Just checking." She tried to joke. "Fancy seeing you here. It's been a while since you mucked around in my head."
"I know! You don't even want to know how long it took me to get back in here--I sealed off the connection tight when you left--it's been like going through the junk room at the BM: paintings here, pieces of cuneiform crunching under your shoes, mutilated statues with their bits knocked off--rank sacrilege--"
"Sorry?"
"Wait, am I still thinking of the BM?" The Doctor frowned, then shrugged. "Meh."
"Why are you here, Doctor?" Sarah asked quietly.
He came around the console, staring at her much as he used to; the brown eyes were no less compelling or intimidating then the blue had been, but Sarah Jane had never been afraid of the Doctor. "Because I don't want to lose you again," he admitted. "And as I was recently reminded, an open door works both ways. The way, you'll always be able to reach me... if you want to."
Sarah touched her temple, feeling the first very familiar stroke at her consciousness. "But... why me? Why not Rose?" The question slipped out before she could stop herself--or he drew it out of her. He did that sometimes.
"Because I don't want Rose for this. I want you. You're still my best friend; that's never changed. And because Rose has already had me inside her head--or near enough me--and it almost killed her. And because Rose doesn't have a clue what she wants from me, she only thinks she does. And because you're my best friend and I miss you."
Sarah was still holding her head, hoping against hope that this dream wasn't a normal dream and that it was really happening. "I'm not going to have you running around in my head just to be your kept woman," she warned him. "Rose and I both deserve better."
"You won't be at my beck and call. And I won't be hopping about in your cerebellum. I just want a way for us to be able to find each other. This way, I won't show up on your doorstep thirty years late... Again." He went cross-eyed for a moment, staring down his nose. "Hmm... time factor's gone a bit screwy... I'm sure I saw you a week ago."
"No, it was just today."
"Hmm. Oh, well. Close enough." He smiled, and his ancient eyes were kind. "I don't like goodbyes, Sarah. You know that."
"You'll have to say it someday, Doctor."
"Someday's been postponed," he said heartlessly. "Don't leave me again, my Sarah Jane. I've lost everything else--everyone else. Now I've found you again... Live your life, ignore me completely until you need me. Call me and I'll be on your doorstep yesterday. But don't make me leave you behind again."
"I... dammit, I can't really say no to that, can I?"
A wide, delighted grin spread and engulfed the Doctor's face. Coming forward, he took her hands and held them tightly. "Thank you," he said simply, and kissed her.
Sarah was surprised: he felt the same.
***
She woke slowly, reluctantly, in her bedroom in Bannerman Road, the kiss still lingering on her lips. Gingerly, she stretched out rusty mental muscles and peered through the long disused keyhole.
A warm brown eye winked back at her.
***
Alone in the Star Chamber, deep in the TARDIS, the Doctor let out a rough, relieved laugh, and tried to calm his thumping hearts.