Rating: PG
Pairing: Sarah/Harry
Beta: hhertzof
Spoilers: Invasion of the Bane
Summary: Sarah attempts to get used to the relationships she has with her children.

"Please help! Let me out! Can anyone hear me?" Georgia shouted and banged on the door, but there was no reply from their alien captors. She hadn't really expected one but she couldn't think what else to do. She knew first aid but fear had taken over and she didn't know where to start any more. She should do CPR, she thought, but she couldn't bear the idea of doing it on a real person. And if they didn't get out of here soon, it wouldn't matter anyway.

After a quick look behind her to verify that her father hadn't made a miraculous recovery while she wasn't looking, she started shouting and banging again. "Let me out!" She wiped away the tears falling down her cheeks and ignored the the pain in her hands where they had turned red. No matter what she did, the door stayed shut and her father stayed slumped where she had left him.

Eventually she had to stop shouting because it was hard to do that and cry at the same time. Although it seemed as likely to work as any other method at this point. It took her a moment to realise she could hear a voice on the other side.

"Are you all right in there?"

She wiped her eyes before replying. "No. My dad's ill, I think he's having a heart attack or something."

"Don't worry, I'll get you out of there."

There was a sound that she recognised as the sonic lipstick, except that their last one had sunk to the bottom of the Thames the previous week.

When the door opened, she stepped back to let the man on the other side come through. He had a blue suit and clashing red trainers that looked a few decades out of date. He grinned at her but she could only stare back, unable to work out what he could possibly find to smile about. He didn't stand there long, though, but went past her into the cell and over to her father.

His grin soon faded once he bent down next to him and she heard him murmur her father's name. He looked back over his shoulder at Georgia. "Your father is Harry Sullivan?"

She nodded, not sure why it was relevant.

"Well, come on then." He hoisted Harry onto his shoulders in a fireman's lift.

Georgia followed him out of the cell, along a corridor and up a flight of stairs. She wished she was more help, but she was just glad someone else had arrived to take care of the situation. She wasn't far off eighteen, but at this rate she was never going to be grown up if she fell to pieces at the first sign of trouble. It didn't matter that she'd done this many times before because she had always been the assistant; she'd never had to be the one making all the decisions. She had never doubted that she could, until now.

It was only when she saw the blue police box parked at the top of the stairs that she could place the nagging feeling of recognition she'd had since she first saw the man. She was unsurprised, therefore, to find the inside was far bigger than the outside. The other man put Harry carefully down on the floor and ran over to the console in the middle of the room, pressing buttons and pulling levers. Georgia bent down to her father but she wasn't sure what to do. Gathering her courage, she stood and went over to the console.

"Can I help?" she asked.

"Yes." He put his hands firmly on her shoulders and moved her across. "Stay out of the way." He pushed a button on the console in front of where she had just been standing.

She bit her lip but did as she was told and took a step backwards. She certainly didn't want to do anything to make the situation worse.

It didn't take long, but it felt like an eternity before he announced, "We're here."

Georgia ran over to the door, opened it and she stepped out into a hospital corridor. She sighed with relief.

The Doctor followed her, carrying Harry again. "A&E should be just around the corner... aha!" He handed her father over to the staff who quickly had him surrounded by people and equipment.

Georgia felt surplus to requirements as she watched and asked if he was going to be okay. She hadn't really been expecting an answer at this point but it still hurt not to be told "of course he will".

Once Harry had been wheeled away she turned and said, "Thank you" to their rescuer.

"All part of the service." He grinned and made his way out of casualty.

She debated what to do for a moment before making her mind up. "No, wait!" She ran after him and caught up with him just as he opened the TARDIS doors. "I have so many things I wanted to ask you, Doctor."

He turned back to face her. "How did you know?"

"My parents used to tell me stories when I was little." She smiled. "You should see our attic."

"Your parents?" He frowned. "Who's your mother?"

"Sarah Jane Smith."

He smiled. "Sarah Jane. I can't believe she married Harry Sullivan of all people."

She shook her head. "Oh, they weren't married."

He frowned. "Weren't?"

"She died. Nine years ago." She bit her lip. Time made it easier to say but still brought it all back if she wasn't expecting it.

"Oh." He looked away from her at the floor and put his hands in his pockets.

There was an awkward silence as Georgia tried to work out what to say next. She couldn't guess what the Doctor was thinking. "Um," she began with no idea of how to continue.

"What happened? Invading aliens finally get the better of her?" He looked back at her and gave her a strained smile.

Georgia shook her head. "Sort of. It was breast cancer."

He turned away from her and leant against the TARDIS.

"I'm sorry." She gave an ironic smile - usually it was other people saying that to her. She wondered how close the Doctor and her mother had been. "She talked about you a lot."

He looked around at her and gave her the ghost of a smile.

She took a deep breath and blinked a few times to clear her eyes of tears. Talking about this was just making her think about it happening to her father too. So she changed the subject. "Don't you want to know what we were doing in a cell?"

He turned back to her and looked a little more like his old self.

"Trying to stop the Hermions, I imagine."

"Oh, yes." He kept wrong-footing her, doing the unexpected. In that he was exactly like he was in the stories she'd been told as a child. Somehow she hadn't quite believed he was real, despite the attic full of alien technology. "Did you--"

"All defeated, no need to worry."

She nodded, glad of that, at least. "I don't suppose you have another sonic lipstick? It's just that mine fell in the Thames and..." She shrugged. It wouldn't hurt to ask.

He dug around in his coat pockets and came out with a long grey instrument. "Here, have a sonic screwdriver. Better than the lipstick."

She smiled and went to take it from him but he held on to it.

"Your dad's going to be okay," he said quietly, while she was still standing close.

"How do you know?"

"I checked on our way here."

"Oh." Much as she wanted to, she wasn't quite sure whether to believe him. Much like everything else about him.

He let go of the screwdriver. "You just keep saving the world. The Earth needs you."

She smiled at him and watched as he went inside the police box and it dematerialised. Then she went back to A&E to find out where her father was. Since it didn't seem likely Harry would be able to keep up the work they were doing any more, she would have to take over her mother's position in the world-saving business. Harry wouldn't like it - he wanted her to go to university and get a proper job. But this was what she wanted to do, she'd been doing it long enough after all, and she had to admit she was glad of the excuse to be able to do it properly from now on.

She held her head up high and discovered a new-found confidence as she spoke to a nurse and confirmed that the Doctor was right and her father was going to be fine. For now at least. But she was going to make sure he was around for a good long while yet.

Share this post

• 

Fandom: Sarah Jane Adventures | Type: Character: Georgia Sullivan (original), Character: Tenth Doctor, Length: Long story, Pairing: Sarah/Harry, Series: Soap Opera, Type: Het | Link

Leave a Reply

If you haven't commented here before your review will be moderated and I have to approve it before it shows up. If you give your email address my reply will be emailed to you (check your spam folder if you're using hotmail or yahoo).