Just a little oneshot, all fluff and no substance. As always I own nothing except the fuzzy warm feeling I get from reviews. Hint, hint.
SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS
Sarah Jane hugged her jumper more tightly round herself and tentatively moved closer to the console room. The TARDIS was quiet and still, and in spite of the harsh artificial light and the fact that they were floating in the vortex, Sarah still felt the prickle on the back of her neck that she'd always felt when she was the only one awake in the early hours. There was something inexplicably lonely about that time of night; the only few hours when the roads outside her Croydon flat were actually quiet, after the last drunks had staggered home from the lock ins and before the milkman started his rounds.
She felt faintly ridiculous, seeking out company after a nightmare like a child might; but if her travels had taught her one thing, it was that dreams were powerful. The mind was not to be underestimated, she told herself firmly, and in this way she justified the racing pulse and shallow breaths that had accompanied her waking from a nightmare about a clown of all things. Never mind the daleks and the sontarens and the other creatures she'd encountered with the Doctor, when her mind went into overdrive, it always took her back to her quite irrational childhood fear.
The Doctor. At the thought of him her footsteps became more determined. She had, briefly, considered prodding Harry awake and persuading him to talk for a while, perhaps to play a game of cards. She could always have lied, saying she simply couldn't sleep. He didn't need to know the real reason she was awake after the long day they'd had. But her hand had paused on the handle as his snores resounded through the solid metal of his bedroom door, and she'd thought better of it. He was exhausted, and there was no need to disturb him when the Doctor was almost certainly awake somewhere.
She reached the console room and it was plain that the Doctor was not there. He had a tendency to fill a room with his presence and as such it was immediately obvious when he was absent. Sarah Jane touched the console gently, the hum of the engines comforting and familiar. Silently, she asked the TARDIS to show her where the Timelord might be found. It might have been coincidence, or it might have been the TARDIS' way of answering her question; but almost immediately she noticed the door in the corridor to the right of her standing slightly open. Curious, she moved towards it, peering through the gap into the room beyond. Stark and white, unlike her own bedroom or Harry's, but perfectly in keeping with the style of the console room, the Doctor's bedroom somehow managed to look clinical and comfortable all at once. It was dimly lit and sparsely decorated, the only furniture apart from the large bed being a chair and a chest of drawers littered with tools and bits of wire. The Doctor, judging by the way he was sprawled across the bed with a book hanging from his hand, had not intended to fall asleep. Sarah smiled to herself as she looked at him fondly. She was never quite sure what she felt for the Doctor. Friendship, yes. But with a sort of desperation that made the thought of ever leaving him take her breath away and turn her stomach inside out. More than that she could not say.
She gnawed on the inside of her cheek for a moment. She wasn't sure she dared, but the alternative was to go back to her own room, with her own thoughts and nightmares again. She lifted the corner of the blanket and climbed in, tucking her feet up and moving to the middle of the bed. The Doctor was on top of the covers, so she didn't feel too awkward about moving as close as she could to his sleeping bulk. He stirred and shifted slightly, throwing out an arm and turning his face towards her. She studied him carefully. It was rare that she got this close to him, and never while he was so still and peaceful.
"Stop staring," he said suddenly, and Sarah jumped in surprise.
"Oh! I'm sorry Doctor. I thought you were asleep." Sarah said, startled.
Eyes still closed, he smiled at her.
"Do you make a habit of sneaking up on me when I'm asleep?"
Sarah giggled mischievously, rolling onto her side and propping her head up on her knuckles.
"Until now I wasn't aware that you ever slept at all, Doctor."
He finally opened his eyes, lifting his head and mirroring her pose as he rested his chin on his hand.
"Why aren't you asleep, Sarah?" he asked shrewdly and she dropped her gaze.
"I couldn't seem to drop off" she lied, giving him a casual shrug of one shoulder.
The Doctor frowned and reached out, pressing his fingertips to her neck.
"Your pulse is faster than normal. And your body temperature is perhaps half a degree lower, but ever so slightly on the rise, suggesting you've recently woken from sleep. What was it, a nightmare?"
Sarah sighed.
"There really is no fooling you, is there?"
"No. There isn't. Did you really want to?"
Sarah met his steady gaze and gave him a sheepish smile.
"I suppose not."
"Well, come here then."
And with that, to Sarah's great surprise, he tugged her into his chest, winding both arms around her, pushing the blanket down and out of the way. After a moment's hesitation, she slipped her arm around his waist, pressing her face into the fabric of his shirt. And like that they fell asleep.
SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS
Sarah Jane sat on the edge of her bed, watching the stars winking out as the clouds gathered over Ealing. It was summer, the end of a spell of several very hot days, and the threatening storm would finally clear the humid air. Sarah Jane loved a good storm, and at the faintest rumble of thunder she'd woken, the old excitement never quite wearing off, no matter how old she got.
"Sarah?" came the questioning murmur from the bed and she glanced down, smiling.
"Just watching the weather. Go back to sleep." she whispered.
"Sleep? Never." he mumbled and she chuckled at his asinine refusal to consider himself in need of any human requirements. After a moment he stirred again and opened his eyes, meeting her look with that familiar twinkle.
"Let's watch it together, eh?" the Doctor suggested, easing himself up to sit behind her, sliding an arm around her waist. Sarah smiled as she leant back against him. It was indescribably good to have him back. After so many years, there was no more wondering, no more sadness.
No more nightmares.
SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS
I hope you enjoyed it. Please do feel free to send me prompts, I'm feeling rather uninspired at present.