Fic : Second Chance (PG) | Sarah Jane/Peter Dalton, OC & SJA kids | 17/?
Title : Second Chance
Author : Jen
Rating : PG at the moment, possibly higher in later parts.
Pairing/Characters Sarah Jane/Peter, Luke, OC (Nicole)
Summary : Sarah wished for one more chance with Peter; the Universe gave it to her. After changing the past she finds that living her life over again brings up problems she didn't see coming...
Spoilers : specifically "Invasion of the Bane", references for the whole series
Prequel : Those Left Behind by self_preserving.
Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Part 8
Part 9 Part 10 Part 11 Part 12 Part 13 Part 14Part 15 Part 16
Part 17Part 18Part 19Part 20Part 21Part 22Part 23Part 24
~~
"Can I live here with you?" the Archetype asked.
Sarah hesitated. "I don't know," she admitted. "It's not up to just me."
"Peter?"
"And Nicole. My daughter."
"Daughter?" he asked.
Sarah couldn't help but smile. "Yes. My daughter."
"Yours and Peter's? A family unit."
"Yeah."
"And I can't be a part of that?"
"I'd have to ask."
"When?"
Sarah intended to say that she didn't know, but she heard the key turn in the lock and her heart almost stopped. "Stay here, and don't say anything," she told not-yet-Luke.
Walking into the hallway, she attempted to smile at Peter but he saw through her in a second.
"What is it?" he asked.
~~
"No."
"Peter..."
"You cannot be serious?"
"He has no one else!"
"And that means we have to take him in?" Peter asked. "Sarah, think about it logically. How on earth can we adopt him?"
"Mr Smith..."
Peter sighed, rolling his eyes at the mention of the computer in the attic. He'd gone away on business, come back and his wife had done some interesting installation work. Nicole had only just moved out for University and it seemed like luck that she'd not found out so far.
"Please, Peter," Sarah said, dropping her voice. "He has no one."
"I know," he said, pulling her into his arms. "And I understand, love, I do. But think about it. How can we explain it to Nicole? Adoption takes ages, months... I'm serious, Sarah. She is not getting involved in any of this. She is going to have a normal life and nothing is going to get in the way of that."
"This doesn't have to..."
"Sarah, think about this with your head for just one second, please," he begged. "Right now you're thinking with your heart, and it's one of the reasons I love you so much... but we can't do this. We can't turn our house into some... refuge for alien waifs and strays."
"He's not alien," Sarah pointed out. "He's human."
"He's also only a few hours' old yet looks, what? Thirteen?"
"Fourteen," she corrected. "And that's hardly his fault. You want to punish him because aliens chose to grow him?"
"I am not punishing him..."
"He wants to stay."
"He doesn't know what he wants!" Peter exclaimed. "Love, if we could do this..."
"We can, I know we can."
"How do you know?" he challenged. "You can't know how things will play out, you can't know how Nicole will react. You don't even know if he is who he says, who he thinks he is."
"He's just a kid."
"So he says," Peter said. "Love, he could be programmed to do anything and he wouldn't be aware of it."
"I trust him."
"And that's fine, love," he said, kissing her forehead, "but I have to think about protecting my family. You and Nicole? You're my priority, always will be."
"Do me a favour," she asked, "and think about it?"
He sighed, looking into her eyes. "No promises."
"Not asking for them."
"OK, I'll think about it," he agreed, just as the banging on the door began.
~~
Peter couldn't help but be slightly impressed and proud of his wife as she fought back against the Bane that had previously chased them up the stairs. As Sarah and Maria checked out the black stain on the carpet (great, another replacement job) he stood next to the boy that she wanted them to look after. He seemed harmless enough, although slightly weird. She'd explained that he was still learning and he realised that he was comparing this boy to Nicole when she was his age.
Fourteen, full of hormones and temper tantrums, work and friends and running about. This boy was only hours old and he remembered his daughter at that age. Asleep in his arms, that perfect 'o' of her mouth, and suddenly he realised why Sarah had asked him what she did.
"Oh my flippin' heck!"
"No, don't go up there!" Sarah exclaimed, pulling him out of his focus on the boy.
It was ironic, these kids poking around in the one place he wanted to keep Nicole out of. When Sarah had done out the attic as her "base" they'd told Nicole that it was her office, and she filled it with junk and papers and books and things that would never have held their daughter's interest. So far it had worked, but Peter could feel it start to slip away from him.
"It's just you though, you two? On your own?" Maria asked. "Or is your daughter...?"
"No," Peter said quickly. "Nicole knows nothing about this, and it stays that way, you understand?"
"He wants to protect her," Sarah explained. "Truth be told he wants to protect me."
"But your wife can look after herself," the Archetype said. "She has already proven that."
"Doesn't stop me worrying," Peter told him with a smile.
"I don't understand."
Peter couldn't help but laugh. "Neither do I sometimes."
Sarah watched the two most important men in her life, and she smiled to herself.
"But how'd you get started?" Maria asked.
No matter how many times Sarah talked about the Doctor, Peter was still enthralled. The way her voice got when she talked about the things that she did, the things that she saw? He had grown to envy her in some ways.
"...back to a normal life. Electric bills, burst pipes, bus tickets... and rain," she finished, shooting a glance at Peter. That final comment was for him; their first kiss had been after they were caught in a rain storm. They'd missed the bus and ran for shelter, finding it in a shop doorway. Laughing and out of breath, he'd put his arm around her when he'd noticed she was shivering. Unable to stop herself she'd pushed up onto the balls of her feet and kissed him.
He smiled back at her; he was remembering the same night.
"She's completely looped the loop," Kelsey said.
"That's what I thought when she first told me," Peter chimed in. "Aliens and time travel? Sounds like something from science fiction."
"But then I met him again, the Doctor," Sarah continued. "We'd both changed, but it was funny because we were still both the same. I learnt that I could carry on here on Earth, doing what we always did. And that's when I started all this."
"And where do you fit in?" the Archetype asked Peter.
"I..." he began, throwing a look over at his wife. "I support her."
"You help?"
"If I can. This is more her thing than mine, to be honest I don't understand most of it. But it makes her happy and... And that is something that I want more than anything else in this world."
Sarah held his eyes and saw the smile in them. She knew he was softening towards the idea but he was not yet convinced.
"And the Bubble Shock factory? That's run by aliens?"
Peter couldn't help but think how calmly Maria was taking all this in, and she was a lot younger than Nicole. While he dreaded to think what Alan would say about all of this, he found himself thinking about how their own daughter would take the news that her mother's primary job these days was more about hunting aliens than stories.
"I saw a muffin in a suit," Kelsey covered, "like in the movies, it's pretend?"
Suddenly Peter saw himself in this brash young girl. He'd done the same thing when Sarah had told him about UNIT. For years he'd told himself they were all about watching the skies and report writing when, deep down, he knew that wasn't the case. On their first wedding anniversary they'd had a dinner party; the Brig, Liz, Harry and his wife had spent it laughing about various creatures and situations and he'd known that it wasn't just make-believe.
But he'd clung to the lie because it made the world seem safer somehow, he felt like he had control. Then Sarah had gone to Defry Vale and he'd had the carpet pulled out from under him.
Ironically now he felt safer than he did before. At least now he knew what was out there, what he could expect. So when that beeping began and Sarah jumped to her feet, he knew the smile that would be on her face before it came, he could hear the warmth in her voice before she opened her mouth, and he knew that while their "daft, little, metal dog" was out there, saving Earth on a daily basis, when he was gone she would feel the same sadness she felt when she sent him out there in the first place.
He now understood that saving the world came at a high personal cost on occasion, and she never let it break her.
~~
The Archetype really did learn quickly, and Peter was amazed at how well he took on instructions. Almost absent-mindedly he wondered how this young boy would be in his office; if he really did learn at this speed then he'd know more of the law by the end of the month than Peter could ever hope to know in his lifetime.
"Is this right?" the Archetype asked, holding out the mug of tea intended for Sarah.
"Looks perfect to me... I'm sorry, I don't know what to call you."
"I do not have a name."
"You must do."
"They did not name me."
"Well I can't keep calling you... what was it? Archetype?"
"How do humans get names?"
"Their parents choose one for them."
"But what if you don't like it?"
"Well, I guess you're kinda stuck with it."
"You have a child?"
Peter nodded. "Nicole."
"And you chose her name?"
"I did, yes. Sarah and I fought over it for months though."
"Months?"
"When she was pregnant. We didn't know if it was a boy or girl so we were coming up with names for both."
"How can you not know if your child is male or female?"
Peter nearly dropped the mug he was holding. Sarah had done "the talk" with Nicole, and even then the basics of biology was known to her. How on earth was he going to explain how pregnancy worked? That would lead to more questions and Peter could sense that this boy was not going to give up.
"I'll explain it all later," he decided on. "Let's get this tea up there before it gets cold."
~~
They were talking about the communicator Sarah had got last night when they came up the stairs. Peter put Sarah's drink in front of her, kissing the top of her head as he did so. Maria handed Luke the communicator and the boy began to study it.
"He knows nothing about the world, everything's new to him. I think he's some kind of experiment, like they created him."
"He's their child," Maria said.
Sarah could feel Peter flinch behind her. This was what he was afraid of. Yes, outwardly human, with no knowledge or understanding of this world. But flick a switch and who knows what he'd be.
"He's still human," Sarah said pointedly to them both, getting to her feet.
~~
With Kelsey chasing them, bottle in her hand, Peter couldn't help but be swept up in the evacuation. It seemed to be playing out as before, only this time he came with them to the factory; kids in the back.
Gripping the steering wheel she ran over the future events in her mind, trying to see how things might change with her husband in tow. If nothing else then he would see how amazing not-yet-Luke could be.
~~
Explosions were a new thing to Peter. He'd seen a number of things he'd never expected to, but an entire alien factory going skyward like it was a Bond movie was definitely a new thing.
"Their control is gone," the Archetype said, "and I'm free. This is good?"
The first hug lasted a second, but Peter couldn't help but see it. The second one was longer, the four of them holding on to each other.
~~
"And who's this?" Alan asked, indicating the boy stood between Sarah and Peter.
"This..." Sarah began, trying to work out if she could say it or not. "...is..."
"This is our son," Peter said for them. "Our adopted son."
As their new son moved forward to shake Alan's hand, Sarah glanced sideways at Peter. He was looking at her, a small smile on his face.
"And what's your name?" Alan asked.
"I don't have one."
"Oh sorry, it's an old family joke," Sarah said quickly, pulling him back. "Family names, professional names... He's called..."
Before she could say anything in came Chrissie, loud and brash as always.
"This woman is rude," almost-Luke said.
"That's my boy," Peter muttered quietly under his breath as they turned and left.
tbc...
Author : Jen
Rating : PG at the moment, possibly higher in later parts.
Pairing/Characters Sarah Jane/Peter, Luke, OC (Nicole)
Summary : Sarah wished for one more chance with Peter; the Universe gave it to her. After changing the past she finds that living her life over again brings up problems she didn't see coming...
Spoilers : specifically "Invasion of the Bane", references for the whole series
Prequel : Those Left Behind by self_preserving.
Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Part 8
Part 9 Part 10 Part 11 Part 12 Part 13 Part 14Part 15 Part 16
Part 17Part 18Part 19Part 20Part 21Part 22Part 23Part 24
~~
"Can I live here with you?" the Archetype asked.
Sarah hesitated. "I don't know," she admitted. "It's not up to just me."
"Peter?"
"And Nicole. My daughter."
"Daughter?" he asked.
Sarah couldn't help but smile. "Yes. My daughter."
"Yours and Peter's? A family unit."
"Yeah."
"And I can't be a part of that?"
"I'd have to ask."
"When?"
Sarah intended to say that she didn't know, but she heard the key turn in the lock and her heart almost stopped. "Stay here, and don't say anything," she told not-yet-Luke.
Walking into the hallway, she attempted to smile at Peter but he saw through her in a second.
"What is it?" he asked.
~~
"No."
"Peter..."
"You cannot be serious?"
"He has no one else!"
"And that means we have to take him in?" Peter asked. "Sarah, think about it logically. How on earth can we adopt him?"
"Mr Smith..."
Peter sighed, rolling his eyes at the mention of the computer in the attic. He'd gone away on business, come back and his wife had done some interesting installation work. Nicole had only just moved out for University and it seemed like luck that she'd not found out so far.
"Please, Peter," Sarah said, dropping her voice. "He has no one."
"I know," he said, pulling her into his arms. "And I understand, love, I do. But think about it. How can we explain it to Nicole? Adoption takes ages, months... I'm serious, Sarah. She is not getting involved in any of this. She is going to have a normal life and nothing is going to get in the way of that."
"This doesn't have to..."
"Sarah, think about this with your head for just one second, please," he begged. "Right now you're thinking with your heart, and it's one of the reasons I love you so much... but we can't do this. We can't turn our house into some... refuge for alien waifs and strays."
"He's not alien," Sarah pointed out. "He's human."
"He's also only a few hours' old yet looks, what? Thirteen?"
"Fourteen," she corrected. "And that's hardly his fault. You want to punish him because aliens chose to grow him?"
"I am not punishing him..."
"He wants to stay."
"He doesn't know what he wants!" Peter exclaimed. "Love, if we could do this..."
"We can, I know we can."
"How do you know?" he challenged. "You can't know how things will play out, you can't know how Nicole will react. You don't even know if he is who he says, who he thinks he is."
"He's just a kid."
"So he says," Peter said. "Love, he could be programmed to do anything and he wouldn't be aware of it."
"I trust him."
"And that's fine, love," he said, kissing her forehead, "but I have to think about protecting my family. You and Nicole? You're my priority, always will be."
"Do me a favour," she asked, "and think about it?"
He sighed, looking into her eyes. "No promises."
"Not asking for them."
"OK, I'll think about it," he agreed, just as the banging on the door began.
~~
Peter couldn't help but be slightly impressed and proud of his wife as she fought back against the Bane that had previously chased them up the stairs. As Sarah and Maria checked out the black stain on the carpet (great, another replacement job) he stood next to the boy that she wanted them to look after. He seemed harmless enough, although slightly weird. She'd explained that he was still learning and he realised that he was comparing this boy to Nicole when she was his age.
Fourteen, full of hormones and temper tantrums, work and friends and running about. This boy was only hours old and he remembered his daughter at that age. Asleep in his arms, that perfect 'o' of her mouth, and suddenly he realised why Sarah had asked him what she did.
"Oh my flippin' heck!"
"No, don't go up there!" Sarah exclaimed, pulling him out of his focus on the boy.
It was ironic, these kids poking around in the one place he wanted to keep Nicole out of. When Sarah had done out the attic as her "base" they'd told Nicole that it was her office, and she filled it with junk and papers and books and things that would never have held their daughter's interest. So far it had worked, but Peter could feel it start to slip away from him.
"It's just you though, you two? On your own?" Maria asked. "Or is your daughter...?"
"No," Peter said quickly. "Nicole knows nothing about this, and it stays that way, you understand?"
"He wants to protect her," Sarah explained. "Truth be told he wants to protect me."
"But your wife can look after herself," the Archetype said. "She has already proven that."
"Doesn't stop me worrying," Peter told him with a smile.
"I don't understand."
Peter couldn't help but laugh. "Neither do I sometimes."
Sarah watched the two most important men in her life, and she smiled to herself.
"But how'd you get started?" Maria asked.
No matter how many times Sarah talked about the Doctor, Peter was still enthralled. The way her voice got when she talked about the things that she did, the things that she saw? He had grown to envy her in some ways.
"...back to a normal life. Electric bills, burst pipes, bus tickets... and rain," she finished, shooting a glance at Peter. That final comment was for him; their first kiss had been after they were caught in a rain storm. They'd missed the bus and ran for shelter, finding it in a shop doorway. Laughing and out of breath, he'd put his arm around her when he'd noticed she was shivering. Unable to stop herself she'd pushed up onto the balls of her feet and kissed him.
He smiled back at her; he was remembering the same night.
"She's completely looped the loop," Kelsey said.
"That's what I thought when she first told me," Peter chimed in. "Aliens and time travel? Sounds like something from science fiction."
"But then I met him again, the Doctor," Sarah continued. "We'd both changed, but it was funny because we were still both the same. I learnt that I could carry on here on Earth, doing what we always did. And that's when I started all this."
"And where do you fit in?" the Archetype asked Peter.
"I..." he began, throwing a look over at his wife. "I support her."
"You help?"
"If I can. This is more her thing than mine, to be honest I don't understand most of it. But it makes her happy and... And that is something that I want more than anything else in this world."
Sarah held his eyes and saw the smile in them. She knew he was softening towards the idea but he was not yet convinced.
"And the Bubble Shock factory? That's run by aliens?"
Peter couldn't help but think how calmly Maria was taking all this in, and she was a lot younger than Nicole. While he dreaded to think what Alan would say about all of this, he found himself thinking about how their own daughter would take the news that her mother's primary job these days was more about hunting aliens than stories.
"I saw a muffin in a suit," Kelsey covered, "like in the movies, it's pretend?"
Suddenly Peter saw himself in this brash young girl. He'd done the same thing when Sarah had told him about UNIT. For years he'd told himself they were all about watching the skies and report writing when, deep down, he knew that wasn't the case. On their first wedding anniversary they'd had a dinner party; the Brig, Liz, Harry and his wife had spent it laughing about various creatures and situations and he'd known that it wasn't just make-believe.
But he'd clung to the lie because it made the world seem safer somehow, he felt like he had control. Then Sarah had gone to Defry Vale and he'd had the carpet pulled out from under him.
Ironically now he felt safer than he did before. At least now he knew what was out there, what he could expect. So when that beeping began and Sarah jumped to her feet, he knew the smile that would be on her face before it came, he could hear the warmth in her voice before she opened her mouth, and he knew that while their "daft, little, metal dog" was out there, saving Earth on a daily basis, when he was gone she would feel the same sadness she felt when she sent him out there in the first place.
He now understood that saving the world came at a high personal cost on occasion, and she never let it break her.
~~
The Archetype really did learn quickly, and Peter was amazed at how well he took on instructions. Almost absent-mindedly he wondered how this young boy would be in his office; if he really did learn at this speed then he'd know more of the law by the end of the month than Peter could ever hope to know in his lifetime.
"Is this right?" the Archetype asked, holding out the mug of tea intended for Sarah.
"Looks perfect to me... I'm sorry, I don't know what to call you."
"I do not have a name."
"You must do."
"They did not name me."
"Well I can't keep calling you... what was it? Archetype?"
"How do humans get names?"
"Their parents choose one for them."
"But what if you don't like it?"
"Well, I guess you're kinda stuck with it."
"You have a child?"
Peter nodded. "Nicole."
"And you chose her name?"
"I did, yes. Sarah and I fought over it for months though."
"Months?"
"When she was pregnant. We didn't know if it was a boy or girl so we were coming up with names for both."
"How can you not know if your child is male or female?"
Peter nearly dropped the mug he was holding. Sarah had done "the talk" with Nicole, and even then the basics of biology was known to her. How on earth was he going to explain how pregnancy worked? That would lead to more questions and Peter could sense that this boy was not going to give up.
"I'll explain it all later," he decided on. "Let's get this tea up there before it gets cold."
~~
They were talking about the communicator Sarah had got last night when they came up the stairs. Peter put Sarah's drink in front of her, kissing the top of her head as he did so. Maria handed Luke the communicator and the boy began to study it.
"He knows nothing about the world, everything's new to him. I think he's some kind of experiment, like they created him."
"He's their child," Maria said.
Sarah could feel Peter flinch behind her. This was what he was afraid of. Yes, outwardly human, with no knowledge or understanding of this world. But flick a switch and who knows what he'd be.
"He's still human," Sarah said pointedly to them both, getting to her feet.
~~
With Kelsey chasing them, bottle in her hand, Peter couldn't help but be swept up in the evacuation. It seemed to be playing out as before, only this time he came with them to the factory; kids in the back.
Gripping the steering wheel she ran over the future events in her mind, trying to see how things might change with her husband in tow. If nothing else then he would see how amazing not-yet-Luke could be.
~~
Explosions were a new thing to Peter. He'd seen a number of things he'd never expected to, but an entire alien factory going skyward like it was a Bond movie was definitely a new thing.
"Their control is gone," the Archetype said, "and I'm free. This is good?"
The first hug lasted a second, but Peter couldn't help but see it. The second one was longer, the four of them holding on to each other.
~~
"And who's this?" Alan asked, indicating the boy stood between Sarah and Peter.
"This..." Sarah began, trying to work out if she could say it or not. "...is..."
"This is our son," Peter said for them. "Our adopted son."
As their new son moved forward to shake Alan's hand, Sarah glanced sideways at Peter. He was looking at her, a small smile on his face.
"And what's your name?" Alan asked.
"I don't have one."
"Oh sorry, it's an old family joke," Sarah said quickly, pulling him back. "Family names, professional names... He's called..."
Before she could say anything in came Chrissie, loud and brash as always.
"This woman is rude," almost-Luke said.
"That's my boy," Peter muttered quietly under his breath as they turned and left.
tbc...