Rating: PG-13
Beta: ladyvivien
Pairing: Sarah/Ten
Spoilers: None
Summary: For hhertzof who wanted: Something at least partially set in Sarah's attic with reference to objects therein, The Doctor (any Doctor), Explanation of the computer and sonic lipstick.
Notes: Written based on spoilers for Invasion of the Bane and before I saw the episode.

As she stood at the top of the stairs, arms folded, Sarah though that she really should have been surprised to find the Doctor in her attic, reading her email. They had said goodbye, so she had not expected to see him again; however, this was exactly the sort of thing he did. She did not even bother asking him how he found her house at all, since he always had a way.

While she waited to see if he noticed her, she took the opportunity to study him. He was still wearing the same clothes as when she last saw him, so she wondered how long it had been for him since they last met. Although he would probably still be dressed the same, even if it had been years. The only time she had ever seen him wear something wildly different, except after regenerating, was in Scotland when he had gone native. Thinking of it reminded her of a long-forgotten wish to see him in a kilt but she squashed the thought almost immediately; it was not what she was supposed to be thinking of in respect to the Doctor.

She must have made a noise, though, for he spun round on her chair, not at all startled to see her, and not looking guilty for having broken in either. Although for all she knew, the TARDIS was parked in her spare room. He sprung to his feet, gave her a big grin and waved a book at her.

"Sarah Jane Smith! I love this book." He threw it at her, and she caught it - just - and turned it over to see it was her copy of UNIT - Fighting for Humankind.

She shrugged. She had written it many years and another lifetime ago. She threw it back to him and he caught it deftly in both hands. "Keep it."

He shook his head and shifted her mouse over to put it down on the mouse mat. "I've got one already."

She frowned. She did not remember seeing one in the TARDIS library, but then he probably had some way of making sure she did not see any books from her future. Something she had written, before she wrote it, would definitely have stood out.

While she pondered this, the Doctor was making his way around her attic, poking at things in it. "Have you seen him recently?" he asked her.

She stepped around him and stood behind his right shoulder, to see that he was pointing at a photograph of the Brigadier. "A few years ago. I still get invited to the UNIT reunions." She hoped he was not going to ask about the entire contents of her attic - they would be here a while. Not that she minded the Doctor being here but she could think of far better things they could be doing.

"So do I. I've just come from one, in fact." He took a step back and Sarah had to quickly do the same to avoid him walking into her. He peered up, although at what she was not sure, since his gaze was directly where she had nothing, it being too high for her to reach.

She was also lost, which was not exactly unusual when talking to the Doctor. Or being talked at by him. "But the last one was--"

"Ten years ago. Or was it eleven?" He frowned, then waved a hand, moving on to pick up her stuffed owl.

"Oh, well." She tried to remember which reunions were that long ago and whether she had gone. She took hold of the conversation while she had a chance, along with the owl and put that back where he had got it from. "Would you like a cup of tea?" She always thought better with some tea inside her.

"Yes, please. And do you have any biscuits?" He put his hands in his pockets; she wondered if that was to prevent himself from touching anything else. "Those nice ones, with sugar on. What are they called?"

She smiled. "Nice biscuits?"

He clicked his fingers and pointed at her. "That's it. Never can remember the name."

She shook her head indulgently. "I'll see what I've got."

Downstairs, in the kitchen, the Doctor nattered on about what he had been up to recently (saving the world, partying with little blue aliens, the usual really), while Sarah made the tea and let him talk. She considered asking about Rose but thought better of it. If she was not here that implied either something had happened to her, or she had broken his heart and gone back home. Either way he seemed happy enough now and she wanted to keep him that way. So she kept quiet, at least until he had dipped his biscuit (just a digestive, unfortunately, it being difficult to stock up on his favourite food when you never knew if you might see him, or in which incarnation) in his tea and stuffed his mouth with it.

"I can't believe that you just dropped in for no reason." She sighed as half her biscuit broke off and sank to the bottom of the cup.

The Doctor swallowed. "Okay, you've caught me there. I heard stories about the local madwoman round here. People say she speaks to aliens and I thought it was worth a look. While I was in the neighbourhood, so to speak."

Sarah gave up on the idea of fishing the biscuit back out and licked her fingers. "Which stories did you hear?"

He leant forward across the table and looked at her. "How many of them did you make up?"

She smiled and took a sip of her tea. "Tell me which ones you heard and I'll tell you which came from me."

"Well, let's see..." He slouched back in his chair and counted on his fingers. "There's one where you have a house full of Oompa Loompas."

"I'm more inventive than that." She picked her cup up to drink, since this could be a long list. Every time she spoke to someone she either heard a new rumour, or told them one.

"Of course." He looked up briefly. "So, the one where the tooth fairy lives in your attic is probably not yours either."

"I hadn't heard that one." She considered for a moment. "I quite like it, though."

"Aliens go to you for advice on conquering the world." He frowned. "And you tell them the White House is the best place to start."

She laughed, having to put her cup down before she spilt its contents. "I was having a bad day; best I could do at the time. But I have been educating the populace about Daleks, it seemed like a good idea."

"You're probably right." He sighed and looked over her shoulder out of the window.

"Doctor?" Sarah wondered what had gone on with them recently that he was not telling her, but she was not to find out, as he was off on another topic immediately.

When his attention was back on her he seemed to be a different man from a moment ago, and back to his normal, hyperactive self. "I was here to investigate this Bubbleshock thing, looks very suspicious. But you seem to be on the case, and perhaps it's a good thing if you humans learn to look out for yourselves sometime. I can't be everywhere at once, you know."

She was going to dispute that but nearly swallowed the part of the biscuit still in the tea, so was preoccupied with not choking and trying to decide whether to eat it anyway, or just give up and bin it.

"And I thought you might be lonely," he continued.

She put the biscuit back on the saucer, finding a need to focus on the Doctor's abrupt change of subjects. "What makes you think that?"

"Your computer is called Mr Smith."

"Well, it wasn't as if there were many others queuing for that job."

"Sarah Jane," he said, softly, "if you--"

"No," she said quickly, covering the hand that he was idly resting on the table top with hers. "I like this life. I chose it and I can change it if I want."

"So." He sat up and coughed. "There's nothing you would do differently?" He turned his hand over and rubbed his thumb across the back of her hand.

She bit her lip. "Well, maybe just one thing." She leaned over and kissed him lightly.

"You're getting on with your life. You don't need me." He looked sad at the idea though, she thought.

"You're right," she agreed. "I don't need you. But I do want you."

He opened his mouth to say more but changed his mind and closed it again. She smiled, waiting to see what he would do next. He matched her smile and pulled her closer for a kiss, pressing one hand to the back of her neck to hold her there.

She took the opportunity to take his tie off before pulling away, taking his hand and leading him upstairs. She discovered, as she passed, that he had decided her bathroom was a good place to park the TARDIS, so that there was just enough of a gap for K-9 to manouevre around it, and certainly no space to shut the door and have any privacy. She would ask him to move it, but had other, more important, things on her mind.

Once in her bedroom he happily lay down on the bed, and kicked his trainers off. He looked quite comfortable, with his hands behind his head and bouncing slightly. "Good mattress, well sprung. What are you doing with my tie?"

Sarah had been stood at the end of the bed, twirling his tie round one hand as she watched him, but at his question she sat on him, one leg either side, and placed the tie carefully on one pillow where she would be able to retrieve it later. She leaned down for a kiss, saying nothing and leaving it up to his imagination instead.

Her hair tickled his face and he took a strand of it in one hand. She sat up enough to look him in the eye. He held her gaze and she could see in his expression that he wanted this as much as she did. So she leant back down, finding the need to undo the buttons on his jacket and shirt to get to his skin. His fingers dug into her thighs through her jeans as she hit the sensitive spots and he squirmed under her, on purpose she suspected, given that he knew how that made her feel.

He did not let her get very far with undressing him; he merely waited until she reached his waist to flip them over and press his body against hers. She had not put the tie down completely flat, so could feel its edges under her head. She did not complain, though, because he put his mouth to much better use than it had been earlier, which entirely took her mind off everything else. She would let him do what he liked for a little while, before having her wicked way with him and was quite happy if it involved both of them wearing considerably less than they did now.

She could tell already that she would be spending a pleasant evening in his company, in her bed.

~*~*~*~

It was the familiar sound of the TARDIS dematerialising that woke her, and Sarah leapt out of bed, just in time to see the police box disappearing from her bathroom. She stood in the doorway for a minute, hoping that maybe he would come back. When it was obvious he was not going to, she went back into the bedroom to pull her dressing gown around her. She sighed and slumped on the end of the bed. It seemed unlikely she would ever see him again, and she wished he had at least taken the time to say goodbye.

After staring at a blank wall, feeling sorry for herself, she stood, knowing she had to carry on regardless, and spotted something on the pillow. She picked it up and frowned. It was a tube of lipstick but did not look like any of hers. Even if it was, what would it be doing in her bed? The Doctor had been quite happy with the one she had already been wearing the previous night. Taking the cap off and twisting it open to look more closely at the colour, she heard a noise she recognised. It took her a minute to place it, since it was so unexpected but it was definitely the same sound the sonic screwdriver made.

In the bathroom, she applied it to the door and it locked firmly. She smiled. A sonic lipstick would certainly come in handy, as well as looking less inconspicuous in her handbag than the sonic screwdriver might have. Perhaps it was time to investigate that Bubbleshock firm and Mrs Wormwood in person, now that all her leads had petered out, and the Doctor was counting on her to save the world.

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Fandom: Sarah Jane Adventures | Type: Character: Sarah Jane Smith, Character: Tenth Doctor, Length: Short story, Pairing: Sarah/Ten, Type: Het, Written for: SJA ficathon | Link

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