Sapphire and Steel is a great example of 'turning obstacles into opportunities' as the old advert goes. It had a minimal budget and special effects that frankly existed largely in the mind of the viewer. But somehow it just didn't seem to matter, good writing, excellent acting and atmospheric staging and direction made it much more engrossing and fascinating than any big budget production (remember Invasion Earth? Primeval? no didn't think so). It's ending was a big shock especially for a delicate nine year old who was still reeling from the brutal finale of Blake's 7. So let's see what happened next, shall we?
Disclaimer; all belongs to PJ Hammond and ATV. This is purely a work of fan-fiction from which I make no prophet and lay no claim to the title Sapphire and Steel or the characters contained therein.
Rating; PG
Timeline; sometime after the end of the series
Sapphire and Steel
In honesty he couldn't recall when the figure had appeared. It had just been there. Perhaps it had always been there? He also could not explain how he knew what it was but he instinctively did.
Beings lurked in the timeline, probing, observing, biding their time, trying to break through in places they had no right to be. Beings from the beginning wishing to shape the world in their own image and from the end, wishing to escape the finality and rework the past to their own ends. Endlessly seeking the weak points to exploit, to cross over into the reality stream. Weak points such as a trap set for 2 agents of the universe, bending the laws of time and physicallity.
One other thing he knew instinctively. He was losing.
He was in an irretrievable position. The game was lost and all three of them realised it. He was playing now only for time and his defeat was inevitable. When that happened the creature would walk through the door and be free to do what it wished with this world. He had no idea what would happen to himself and Sapphire. Perhaps they would simply cease to be, finally released from the eternal torment they found themselves in? Perhaps they would go free? But he wondered would they really wish to live in the reality it sought to create? Or perhaps they would simply still be here, forever.
He wondered if other operatives might be sent to try and stop it? But the likelihood was the cafe was shielded, otherwise they'd have come to rescue them long ago, nothing would have stopped Lead or Silver attempting their rescue no matter what the cost. The creature had found the perfect way in, a paradox in the timeline which was invisible from those who would seek to stop it. The only things which stood in its' way were himself and Sapphire.
And he was losing. Badly.
He lost another knight. His position was hopeless and he knew it. There were no other options, no possibilities left to explore.
Sapphire appeared at his side and placed a cup and saucer down beside the chessboard. The entity glanced at her curiously but did not shift its' attention from the game.
"I thought you might like a cup of tea?" she inquired. She placed the teabag in and added the milk as a piercing high-pitched whistle cut through the still air of the cafe. The being stared at it in amazement as Sapphire poured the hot water into the cup, stirred it and offered it to Steel.
He took a sip and smiled.
"Stalemate" he told it coldly.
It beheld the board in a mixture of shock, horror and disbelief. The truth was undeniable, their kings were locked in place, unable to move, caught in an endless cycle, trapped together. Trapped in time.
It screamed, the sound cutting through the flesh like electricity. Then it was gone, banished back from whence it came to once again await its' opportunity.
His smile of triumph widened. It had been a long time since he'd felt such elation.
She replaced the pawn she had palmed from the board when it had been distracted by the sound of the kettle. You could never underestimate the power of a cup of tea.
He took her hand affectionately. "His mistake was to underestimate my Queen"
"Look!" she told him. He glanced outside. No more stars, no more endless blackness, instead a landscape. The sun was coming up, a trickle of cars visible on the road with the rolling countryside behind it.
He reached for the door handle then stopped for a moment, barely believing the simple act of what he was about to do. They both closed their eyes, only opening them as the sound of squeaking hinges was replaced by the call of birdsong.
They both walked out into the sunlight and embraced. It was over, they had escaped after all this time. But both felt something they had never felt before.
"I'm...cold" she remarked, puzzled.
"Yes" he responded "I think I am too". Without a word they both went back inside the cafe.
They looked at one another. "So we've escaped time but not space. We're still stuck here, now, in this place. Mortal, no powers. What will we do?"
A car pulled up outside the cafe. A family walked in and sat down at one of the tables. They looked over expectantly at the pair.
He looked back around the café. "We have this place I suppose?"
She took them a menu then returned to him as he put the kettle on, glancing back over her shoulder at the mother and father playing with their pair of toddlers and infant in arms. "I think we should get ourselves one of those"
"A car?" he asked, struggling with the tea bags.
"No, a baby. Maybe more than one"
She'd never actually seen him lose his composure but this came closest. Another thought occurred to her "What will we call ourselves?"
He pondered for a second. "How about Mr and Mrs Element?"
She smiled at him "You mean Mr and Mrs Jewel?"
The End