Fic : Second Chance (PG) | Sarah Jane/Peter Dalton | 6/?
Title : Second Chance
Author : Jen
Rating : PG at the moment, possibly higher in later parts.
Summary : Sarah would give anything to see Peter one last time. With a little help from the Universe and the Doctor, she may just get her wish.
Spoilers : fair game for everything up to and including "The Wedding of Sarah Jane Smith" from S3.
Part 1 ~ Part 2 ~ Part 3 ~ Part 4 ~ Part 5
~~
For the next couple of days, Sarah kept a low profile. She allowed things to happen as they had done and tried to work out what she was going to do next. Her attempts at finding the fortune teller failed, and there was no one she could really talk to about what was going on. When the days turned into weeks Sarah resigned herself to the fact that the dream maker had really hit the reset button, and with no help or rescue forthcoming she was going to have to live her life all over again.
Which would have been fine if it hadn't been for a knock on her door just over a month after her "return".
"You are a hard woman to track down," Peter said as Sarah opened the door to find him standing there. "But worth the effort I'm sure, Miss Smith."
"How...?" she began.
"I have my ways," he smiled, "and I'll happily tell you everything over a coffee."
Her careful plan of not changing things was spinning wildly out of control. He wasn't supposed to find her, they were not supposed to do this. She was certainly not inviting him in. Not a chance.
"You're a bit disturbed by this, aren't you?" Peter said. "I promise I'm not stalking you."
"Then how did you find me?"
"My firm have recently taken on a new client," he explained. "A mutual acquaintance if you like. Your aunt has considerable assets that need attention."
"My aunt...?" Sarah said, her head beginning to spin.
"I've spent the last week working closely with her, and when she mentioned her niece I thought nothing of it. But a few days ago I had cause to call 'round to her house and I saw a photo… Once I had a name, the rest was easy."
"You know my aunt," Sarah repeated, the thought burning a hole in her logic.
Peter had come so close to her life before. She knew her aunt had taken on new lawyers to sort out her estate, and her foreknowledge meant that she knew Lavinia would be very impressed with the Dallas Group's work. Peter would had seen her photograph at her aunt's house all those years in the past, only without that meeting he never would have known who she was.
"Are you OK?" Peter asked, his velvet voice deep and soft with concern.
"I think I need to sit down," Sarah whispered, stumbling back into the flat. She didn't protest when he followed her, guiding her to the old sofa and settling her down.
He fetched her a glass of water and sat on the coffee table so he was facing her. "I'm sorry if I scared you..."
"No, it's not that," she assured him, taking a sip of the tepid water. "It's just..."
"Fate?" he guessed, a corner of his mouth curling up in a smile.
For what seemed like the first time, Sarah saw him. He was still the handsome man she remembered. Or was that he would still be the same man? Her head swam with past, present and future and she gave up trying to work it all out. He was noticeably younger of course, but there was still that air of sincerity she'd first been attracted to. His eyes were still warm and inviting and when he smiled they still shone.
"Yeah, fate," she said eventually. "This was meant to happen."
"If you don't mind me saying, you don't seem the type to put much stock in fate and all that nonsense. From what your aunt told me about you I would have expected..."
"What?" she asked.
"Your aunt gave me the impression of a strong-willed, independent young woman."
"I can't be both?"
"Of course you can," he said, his hand unconsciously moving to her leg.
Sarah said nothing in response, just put hers over his. "I just think that if something is meant to be then it will be. No point trying to make something work if it's not going to happen. The Universe has its own rules, it's not up to us to guess what they are."
"The Universe?" he asked. "Well, seeing as the Universe saw fit for your aunt to become my client, thereby giving me the means to find out who you are, does that mean I can see you again?"
"You're seeing me now," she smiled, her fingers running over the back of his hand.
"You know what I mean."
"So do you," she countered.
"I know a little restaurant not far from here," he said in a low voice. His fingers moved against the soft fabric of the trousers she was wearing, a gentle caress of her leg. "We could go for a late lunch?"
"Sounds good to me."
~~
They'd been dating for two months before she let him back into her flat. It was another three weeks before she let him stay the night. Every morning she'd wake up, expecting to be back in the twenty first century, but every morning she was still living in the 80s. She was only not disappointed by this fact on the mornings she woke up next to Peter.
She did the 'done thing' and took him to dinner with her aunt. Lavinia had been suitably impressed by Peter Dalton the lawyer, but Peter Dalton her niece's boyfriend was a very different matter. By the end of the evening he'd gained Lavinia's tentative approval, which was tempered with a comment on how Lavinia expected her niece to be able to make sound decisions for herself, but with Sarah's almost flighty nature she wasn't going to go out and buy a hat just yet.
That night, over a large glass of wine in her flat, Sarah assured Peter that her travelling days were over and she was definitely moving into the "settle down" phase of her life.
"She does seem proud of you," Peter remarked, pulling Sarah's feet up into his lap as they settled on the sofa.
"I'm sure she is," she replied, swirling the wine around in her glass. "It's just… we're not all that close, not really."
"Must have been hard then, growing up?"
"I wasn't neglected and I certainly didn't feel unwanted or unloved," she pointed out. "It's just... I guess we're both very aware of the fact that she's not my mother."
Unbidden, the memories of going back to 1951 flashed in her mind. Her mother, so young and so beautiful and so devoted to her baby daughter, making that decision to sacrifice herself.
"You OK, Sarah?" Peter asked, sensing the change in her mood.
"Fine," she whispered even though tears were starting to spring in her eyes.
"I'm sorry."
"What for?"
"...I don't know," he laughed. "For the fact that you didn't know your parents. For the fact that your aunt, while lovely, doesn't love you in the way that you deserve to be."
"And you do?" she said, intending it to be an offhand remark. When she saw the look on his face, she stopped. "Well, that was one way to ruin the moment."
Peter just shrugged but said nothing.
"If it'll make it any better," she said softly, "I love you too."
"You're stealing my thunder," he said, only half serious.
"I promise I'll let you propose."
"What makes you think I'll be doing that?"
"A hunch."
"A journalist's hunch?"
"Something like that," she smiled.
"And does you hunch tell you anything about how or when this proposal will be forthcoming, if indeed one is?"
"Not yet."
"Some journalist you are."
"Some lawyer you are," she retorted, "letting a journalist steal your thunder."
"I'd only ever let one journalist get the better of me," Peter said, beginning to gently rub her feet.
"I should think so too." As she settled back onto the arm of the sofa, she fought to stifle a yawn.
"Tired?"
"No," she lied.
"You should get to bed."
"Only if you're staying."
"If you want me to."
"I don't just mean tonight," she said. The offer surprised her as much as it did Peter, but she made sure it didn't show.
"What would your aunt say about us living in sin?" he asked.
"Given how often she's away, I don't know if she'd notice. And anyway, it's my life, not hers."
"True."
"So you'll stay?" she asked hopefully.
"I would love to," he agreed.
Sarah swung her feet to the ground and stood up, taking Peter's hand as she did so.
"Told you we were meant to be," he whispered in her ear as they headed for bed.
tbc...
Author : Jen
Rating : PG at the moment, possibly higher in later parts.
Summary : Sarah would give anything to see Peter one last time. With a little help from the Universe and the Doctor, she may just get her wish.
Spoilers : fair game for everything up to and including "The Wedding of Sarah Jane Smith" from S3.
Part 1 ~ Part 2 ~ Part 3 ~ Part 4 ~ Part 5
~~
For the next couple of days, Sarah kept a low profile. She allowed things to happen as they had done and tried to work out what she was going to do next. Her attempts at finding the fortune teller failed, and there was no one she could really talk to about what was going on. When the days turned into weeks Sarah resigned herself to the fact that the dream maker had really hit the reset button, and with no help or rescue forthcoming she was going to have to live her life all over again.
Which would have been fine if it hadn't been for a knock on her door just over a month after her "return".
"You are a hard woman to track down," Peter said as Sarah opened the door to find him standing there. "But worth the effort I'm sure, Miss Smith."
"How...?" she began.
"I have my ways," he smiled, "and I'll happily tell you everything over a coffee."
Her careful plan of not changing things was spinning wildly out of control. He wasn't supposed to find her, they were not supposed to do this. She was certainly not inviting him in. Not a chance.
"You're a bit disturbed by this, aren't you?" Peter said. "I promise I'm not stalking you."
"Then how did you find me?"
"My firm have recently taken on a new client," he explained. "A mutual acquaintance if you like. Your aunt has considerable assets that need attention."
"My aunt...?" Sarah said, her head beginning to spin.
"I've spent the last week working closely with her, and when she mentioned her niece I thought nothing of it. But a few days ago I had cause to call 'round to her house and I saw a photo… Once I had a name, the rest was easy."
"You know my aunt," Sarah repeated, the thought burning a hole in her logic.
Peter had come so close to her life before. She knew her aunt had taken on new lawyers to sort out her estate, and her foreknowledge meant that she knew Lavinia would be very impressed with the Dallas Group's work. Peter would had seen her photograph at her aunt's house all those years in the past, only without that meeting he never would have known who she was.
"Are you OK?" Peter asked, his velvet voice deep and soft with concern.
"I think I need to sit down," Sarah whispered, stumbling back into the flat. She didn't protest when he followed her, guiding her to the old sofa and settling her down.
He fetched her a glass of water and sat on the coffee table so he was facing her. "I'm sorry if I scared you..."
"No, it's not that," she assured him, taking a sip of the tepid water. "It's just..."
"Fate?" he guessed, a corner of his mouth curling up in a smile.
For what seemed like the first time, Sarah saw him. He was still the handsome man she remembered. Or was that he would still be the same man? Her head swam with past, present and future and she gave up trying to work it all out. He was noticeably younger of course, but there was still that air of sincerity she'd first been attracted to. His eyes were still warm and inviting and when he smiled they still shone.
"Yeah, fate," she said eventually. "This was meant to happen."
"If you don't mind me saying, you don't seem the type to put much stock in fate and all that nonsense. From what your aunt told me about you I would have expected..."
"What?" she asked.
"Your aunt gave me the impression of a strong-willed, independent young woman."
"I can't be both?"
"Of course you can," he said, his hand unconsciously moving to her leg.
Sarah said nothing in response, just put hers over his. "I just think that if something is meant to be then it will be. No point trying to make something work if it's not going to happen. The Universe has its own rules, it's not up to us to guess what they are."
"The Universe?" he asked. "Well, seeing as the Universe saw fit for your aunt to become my client, thereby giving me the means to find out who you are, does that mean I can see you again?"
"You're seeing me now," she smiled, her fingers running over the back of his hand.
"You know what I mean."
"So do you," she countered.
"I know a little restaurant not far from here," he said in a low voice. His fingers moved against the soft fabric of the trousers she was wearing, a gentle caress of her leg. "We could go for a late lunch?"
"Sounds good to me."
~~
They'd been dating for two months before she let him back into her flat. It was another three weeks before she let him stay the night. Every morning she'd wake up, expecting to be back in the twenty first century, but every morning she was still living in the 80s. She was only not disappointed by this fact on the mornings she woke up next to Peter.
She did the 'done thing' and took him to dinner with her aunt. Lavinia had been suitably impressed by Peter Dalton the lawyer, but Peter Dalton her niece's boyfriend was a very different matter. By the end of the evening he'd gained Lavinia's tentative approval, which was tempered with a comment on how Lavinia expected her niece to be able to make sound decisions for herself, but with Sarah's almost flighty nature she wasn't going to go out and buy a hat just yet.
That night, over a large glass of wine in her flat, Sarah assured Peter that her travelling days were over and she was definitely moving into the "settle down" phase of her life.
"She does seem proud of you," Peter remarked, pulling Sarah's feet up into his lap as they settled on the sofa.
"I'm sure she is," she replied, swirling the wine around in her glass. "It's just… we're not all that close, not really."
"Must have been hard then, growing up?"
"I wasn't neglected and I certainly didn't feel unwanted or unloved," she pointed out. "It's just... I guess we're both very aware of the fact that she's not my mother."
Unbidden, the memories of going back to 1951 flashed in her mind. Her mother, so young and so beautiful and so devoted to her baby daughter, making that decision to sacrifice herself.
"You OK, Sarah?" Peter asked, sensing the change in her mood.
"Fine," she whispered even though tears were starting to spring in her eyes.
"I'm sorry."
"What for?"
"...I don't know," he laughed. "For the fact that you didn't know your parents. For the fact that your aunt, while lovely, doesn't love you in the way that you deserve to be."
"And you do?" she said, intending it to be an offhand remark. When she saw the look on his face, she stopped. "Well, that was one way to ruin the moment."
Peter just shrugged but said nothing.
"If it'll make it any better," she said softly, "I love you too."
"You're stealing my thunder," he said, only half serious.
"I promise I'll let you propose."
"What makes you think I'll be doing that?"
"A hunch."
"A journalist's hunch?"
"Something like that," she smiled.
"And does you hunch tell you anything about how or when this proposal will be forthcoming, if indeed one is?"
"Not yet."
"Some journalist you are."
"Some lawyer you are," she retorted, "letting a journalist steal your thunder."
"I'd only ever let one journalist get the better of me," Peter said, beginning to gently rub her feet.
"I should think so too." As she settled back onto the arm of the sofa, she fought to stifle a yawn.
"Tired?"
"No," she lied.
"You should get to bed."
"Only if you're staying."
"If you want me to."
"I don't just mean tonight," she said. The offer surprised her as much as it did Peter, but she made sure it didn't show.
"What would your aunt say about us living in sin?" he asked.
"Given how often she's away, I don't know if she'd notice. And anyway, it's my life, not hers."
"True."
"So you'll stay?" she asked hopefully.
"I would love to," he agreed.
Sarah swung her feet to the ground and stood up, taking Peter's hand as she did so.
"Told you we were meant to be," he whispered in her ear as they headed for bed.
tbc...