Misfire

Disclaimer : I do not own Doctor Who or any of its associated characters. Danielle Fielding belongs to DanniFielding and is used with permission. She's from The Time Child series, which is a really interesting read so go give it a look.

Note : This is my first time portraying the Fourth Doctor and Sarah Jane. I haven't seen any of the episodes they are in and only know him from reading about him, watching music videos, and various teaser videos like the one I got this dialog from. This comes from "The Ark in Space"

Well this was a weird place to land. It didn't seem to be the TARDIS, but neither was she anywhere on Earth she recognized. She seemed to be in a triangular shaped passageway with voices coming just ahead of her. Well, she hoped she'd landed with the Eleventh. Late Tenth would be good too, just as long as she didn't have to deal with the Ninth, early Tenth. She'd had about all she could stand of that jerk for one lifetime, thank you. As she propelled herself forward through the tunnel the voices ahead of her became clearer until she could pick out the words and at least two distinct voices; one male and one female.

"I keep...getting...stuck." A woman's voice, agitated and strained. And then she came up behind the woman and got a view of the woman's backside. A man's voice crackled over some sort of intercom, but it was too garbled for her to understand. Where was she this time?

"Come on Sarah, hurry." A deep voice, masculine and not at all familiar. But the name certainly was.

"Sarah Jane?"

"Who's that?" The body in front of her squirmed but couldn't get turned around.

"Don't worry, sweetie, I'm just passing through. No need to get all worked up, you'll just get stuck."

"Sarah Jane, is that someone with you?"

"Doctor? Where are you?"

Doctor? The Doctor was here? But the voice didn't sound like...wait...if this was Sarah Jane, and she was actually traveling with the Doctor than this was territory she wasn't familiar with. She knew his faces, at least she'd seen pictures and watched the 50th anniversary episode where it showed them all at the end. If she remembered right, and she probably didn't, Sarah Jane traveled with one of those two Doctors. Or was it both? All she could remember was that one had that super long scarf and was pretty much Sherlock Holmes with curls. Yeah, this was not her expertise, well out of it in fact. So she'd best stay out of the way as much as possible and hope he didn't look too closely at her. After all, he hadn't met her yet. Not until his Ninth regeneration.

Sarah Jane didn't seem to know who she was either, meaning this was probably the first time they'd met. She'd never gotten that, since the woman had known her when she'd seen her every other time she figured she just hadn't found her early enough yet. Looked like this was her meeting Sarah Jane. The woman made a grumbling sound, and then the coaxing tones of the Time Lord came from ahead of them.

"Straight ahead. Look, I'll shine a light." And there it was. Danni had to remind herself not to be offended as he dismissed her presence so completely so quickly. He was probably being clever, and it was possible this regeneration had a one track mind. Right now his mind was on getting Sarah Jane out of the vent/tunnel thing and continuing on with whatever adventure they were on together. She was an afterthought, this was not her adventure and she wasn't going to interfere.

Well then, so he wanted to be rude? She could do that. "I'm Danni, by the way. Not the best way to meet for the first time, looking at your bum and all that." She grinned cheekily though she knew the other woman couldn't see her.

"I'm Sarah Jane, but you knew that already, right?"

"Yeah, long story. Spoilers."

There was a short snort of laughter. "Time travel, always the way." Though she seemed to be taking it in stride. She'd always thought Sarah Jane was a clever woman. Had to be, to put up with the Tenth like she had. And of course this Doctor, but that was aside the point.

"Sarah? Can you see?"

Despite the differences in him, Danni still knew this man better than most others ever would. He was getting worried about his companion, or assistant as he called them. The tone in his voice had changed just enough to tell her that. He was noting her continued involvement, she was sure, even if he didn't acknowledge her. But she was in the dark this time, so she'd get to enjoy it. Enjoy not knowing what was going on for once, then get to return to her Doctor and tell him all about it. That was if she landed back with the Eleventh again. She hoped so, she missed him when they were apart.

"Yes." And then she stopped, squirmed, and let off a feminine sound of frustration and dismay.

"You alright sweetie?" She reached forward and patted the other girl on the leg, letting her know she wasn't alone on the vent.

"Yes, but..." She spoke louder and to the Doctor. "Doctor I can't move!"

She could practically see him hovering near the exit, though Sarah Jane blocked her line of sight. "Course you can, you've got this far." Encouraging her, trying to get her to keep coming towards him, to keep trying. She didn't know him, but she'd bet he was wringing his hands in worry despite how calm he sounded. Always best to keep it under control in situations like this.

"No! I'm stuck!" Danni pushed at the girl from behind, even going so far as to wedge her fingers against the younger version of who would be one of the most brilliant women she knew and try and shift her enough that she wasn't wedged stuck anymore."

"Don't panic Sarah Jane." She told her quietly.

"Don't panic Sarah, don't panic." His tone was coaxing, comforting even. "Ease round and try again."

"You can do it sweetie." She coaxed as well, now speaking loud enough for the Doctor to hear her as well. "I'll help, just don't give up. You aren't alone. The Doctor is waiting for you out there, remember that."

So she tried again, and again and again. Still nothing, even with Danni pushing and pulling on her. She was truly stuck and there wasn't anything further she could do. Sarah Jane started getting upset, letting off sounds of both frustration and pain as the pressure of the walls against her body began hurting. "Its okay, you'll get out of here. I'm sure the Doctor will think of something. He's brilliant, he is. Always has a plan, always another way to do something, yeah?"

"You're right." She sniffled. "I'm jammed. I can't move forward or back."

There was a pause and then a hard tone answered them back. "Oh stop whining girl, you're useless." His tone was harsh, hateful.

"Oi, rude!" She called up to him.

"And you just as useless." He called back, finally acknowledging her. He didn't raise his voice, but then again he didn't have to. He reminded her of the Ninth and early Tenth years, all the hateful things he'd said to her and how bad he'd made her feel, how often he'd made her cry. "I'll show you useless! Just wait until I get out of here!"

"Oh Doctor..." Was she crying? Ooh she was going to skin that man for this! He was horrid, making such a sweet brilliant girl cry. It wasn't even her fault that she'd gotten stuck, it was this infernal vent and its odd shape. Not conductive to girls with curves, not at all.

"Oh Doctor, is that all you can say for yourself? Stupid foolish girl. We should never have relied on you I knew you'd let us down. That's the trouble with girls like you. You think you're tough, but when you're really up against it you've no guts at all. Hundreds of lives at stake and you lie there blubbing."

"Don't let him speak to you like this Sarah Jane. You're one of the most brilliant women I know. Give that cranky, rude Time Lord up there a proper telling off. You can do it."

There was a grunt of pain then the other woman was moving again, her words coming out strained as they were punctuated by her renewed struggles to get out. "You wait till I get out."

"That's telling him sweetie." She had to encourage her, and then she'd have to get out after her and give the man a piece of her mind as well. Screw him not seeing her, he was getting a smack as soon as she set eyes on him! And then the light ahead came through as the woman in front of her finally made it to the end of the vent. She could hear her snarking at him. "Good girl." She muttered as she made the last of the trip as well and listened.

"I can manage, I don't need your help thank you."

He still set her arms around his neck and pulled her out, back to the calm sort of manner he'd had before now that she was safely out. "Yes you do, yes you do, yes you do."

Danni watched from the vent, her head popping out as Sarah Jane finally got her feet under her and smacked the Doctor for his commentary. He acted as if he hadn't just been terribly rude and cruel to them both, and that riled her up even more. What was it with the man? The younger he was the ruder he became!

"Ow." And hands went to rub against her sides and hips, showing that she had gotten scratched up crawling through with whatever that thing was attached to her. And again, the infernal man didn't seem to notice her pain. Was he that dense or just stupid this regeneration?

"Oi, Spaceman, get me out of here." She demanded harshly as she realized the vent was so high up that she'd probably get hurt trying to get out on her own. She was angry that he'd have to help her, but only because he was being an arse at the moment.

"Oh, of course, of course. Here we are now." He took her by the wrists and crossed them in front of his neck before pulling and walking out slowly from the vent as he'd done for Sarah Jane. Once she was out he leaned back just enough to let her put her feet on the ground before letting her go. Despite the scowls they both wore he beamed at them both, the familiar grin making her heart ache for the Eleventh.

"Splendid." He went over to help Sarah Jane get the thing off her, though he was still being swatted at.

"Go away."

"You've done marvelously Sarah. I'm proud of you I really am very proud of you."

Sarah Jane looked at Danni then both girls gave the curly haired Doctor the best glare of their lives. He blinked, looking from one to the other without missing a beat. "Now what have I done?"

"Done? Done!" The brunette walked right up to him and thumped him upside the head. "You said such terrible things to me, you horrible man!"

"Now Sarah, I was just trying to motivate you. And it worked. Enough of this, we have work to do, people to save."

She made a sound of frustration at him and walked away, grumbling about Time Lords and their lack of manners as he turned to face Danni. "Hello there. Who are you then?"

The redhead came toe to toe with the tall, scarf wearing version of the Doctor and slapped him across the face. "That's for calling us useless, and for making Sarah Jane cry." And then she too walked away, determined not to speak to him again until the Vortex Manipulator sent her on her way again. But she was stopped by his voice just after her.

"I did what I had to. But thank you, for helping Sarah, for believing in her."

Danni stood gaping at him until she disappeared from his time, wondering if he'd remember this brief encounter in the future. She'd have to ask him, when she saw an agreeable face of his again.