Boo! New story here, from a Harry/Sarah angle this time. Well, kinda. Anyhow, although I got lots of Doctor Who stuffs from Santa, sadly Tom Baker, Lis Sladen and Ian Marter and their character were not among them.

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There's something between Sarah Jane and Harry, the Doctor knows. It's oh-so-subtle and at the same time glaringly obvious.

It's the little things that tell the most. It always has been.

He saw, out of the corner of his eye, has he pressed button after button and flicked switch after switch in a bid to stop the Thinktank countdown, the pair of them in the corner of the bunker. Harry was holding Sarah close to him in a vain bid to provide comfort and/or support as they drew ever closer to that nuclear holocaust.

She appreciated the gesture, he knew that much.

On Nerva, the first time, he saw, trying to get the oxygen switched on, the manner in which Harry supported the journalist, whom the oxygen lack had reached quicker than they had. Once Sarah woke up, although she threatened to spit in his eye if he called her 'old girl' again, she knew he was just concerned about her.

She would have been concerned about him too.

On the mutated earth, when a fully recovered Sarah rejoined him after her Sontaran torture, he knew Harry would have checked her over to make sure she was OK. The Doctor knew she would have put a brave face on it, even if she was injured badly, simply because she was Sarah, much tougher than her fragile figure indicated and she wasn't sure if Harry knew how strong she really was.

He probably would find out sooner or later.

On Skaro, when he had sent them through the tunnels to the Kaled dome, he knew that they would only have each other for comfort on that desolate war torn world, and that they would have to find their own way across the wastelands. It was impossible not to be a little scared.

But it helps if you have someone there too.

On Nerva again, beneath all the bickering between them, the Doctor knew Harry was concerned for Sarah and they were both overtired. But there was no mistaking the concern in Harry's voice when he warned him that the Cybermat poison was rapidly infecting Sarah or the firm yet gentle was he kept a grip on her during the transmat journey.

When they got a chance to finally rest on the TARDIS, it did them all the world of good.

In Scotland, he saw the way Sarah was definitely not leaving Harry's bedside. He had looked after her numerous times when she had been injured and now she was returning the favour.

It was now that they were on the train back to London and he got a chance to think about it. They were in the seat across from him. Harry was reading a book and Sarah was asleep, her head buried in her arms so that she was simply dark curls and a green jacket resting her head on the table. Every so often, the Doctor would see him glance over the top of his book at Sarah, smile fondly and then begin reading again.

His smile said the things that they both knew, but hadn't said.

The little things on the TARDIS were noticeable. Telling jokes, laughing, spinning around together until they got dizzy, pulling each other up when the fell over. Telling stories, Harry would talk of UNIT and Sarah of the Doctor's previous incarnation. Even simple things mattered: they were there for each other if nightmares began.

Maybe, thought the Doctor, Harry was better for Sarah than him.

Because Harry will be there for her after she leaves the TARDIS.