By the time the TARDIS arrived, it was too late. Both Doctors approached Luke with Sarah and knelt down gently beside him. The Doctors checked Luke's heart and pulse, before standing up and looking tearfully at Sarah.
"Doctor, what's wrong?" asked Sarah.
"Sarah, I'm sorry, I'm so so sorry. But your son is dead."
Sarah felt as though she was crashing down to Earth, a whole feeling of coldness breaking into her heart and squeezing itself tightly like a straight jacket around her. It was as though her whole life had fallen apart. Overcome with emotion, Sarah cried into the dead body of her son as time went by. Seconds turned into minutes and minutes into hours. Eventually, both Doctors held Sarah's hands delicately and led her back to the TARDIS.
"Are you alright?" Clyde asked Sarah, a look of concern spreading across his face.
"Yes, I'm fine, Clyde. Absolutely fine. Everything's great. Back to Bannerman road, then?"
"No, you're not. I know you, Sarah, and you're absolutely not fine." Said Maria.
"Come on, Sarah. You can tell us." said Rani, resting her hand comfortably on Sarah's shoulder.
"It's…it's…my son." Sarah gulped sadly. "He's….dead."
Sarah stood silent for a minute or two.
"I'm going to find them. I'm going to find the Sontarans who did this. I'm going to find them and then they shall die for what they did to my son.." Sarah screamed angrily, wiping tears from her face and storming out of the TARDIS.
The Doctors looked at each other in alert and chased after her.
It wasn't long before they found Sarah, who was just about to storm out of the room when the Doctors approached her.
"Sarah, you can't do this." The 10th Doctor shouted after her.
"But don't you see? They killed my son. They don't deserve to live."
"Kill them and that makes you a murderer. No, worse than that. A warrior. You will be soaked in the blood of a Sontaran fleet. That doesn't make you even. That makes you as bad as them. I should know. I killed my own people. And I regret it. Always have. Always will. Come back to the TARDIS, Sarah, and we'll find another way to stop them." The 11th Doctor said.
Sarah paused for a moment, then allowed the Doctors to lead her back to the TARDIS control room.
The 11th Doctor studied the TARDIS scanner carefully, then began to frown. The 10th Doctor noticed and joined him. Looking at the scanner, he began to frown also.
"No no no no no no no. That can't be right." The 10th Doctor muttered quickly.
"I'm afraid it is."
"Oh no, you don't mean…" said Sarah.
"Yep. We can't stop the Sontarans. This is the day the Sontarans emerge victorious over the Rutans. This is the day the Sontarans wipe the entire Rutan fleet out and win the war." The 10th Doctor interrupted.
Sarah was back in the attic. The Doctors had dropped everybody off back home. The 10th Doctor had returned to his TARDIS and both Doctors said one final goodbye before leaving. Sarah still couldn't get around the fact that her son was dead. It seemed like a dream. She half hoped Luke would pop his head around the corner and say it was all one big prank. But that moment never came. Wiping a tear from her eye, Sarah stood up and walked towards Mr Smith.
"Mr Smith, I need you."
The usual fanfare played as the computer screen and keyboard came out enthusiastically.
"What is it, Sarah Jane?"
"Can you do something for me? Project a hologram of my son so I can say one final goodbye?"
"Certainly."
A lifelike hologram of Luke appeared in the attic. It seemed solid. If anyone walked into the room, they would automatically take it for a real person. Sarah walked towards the hologram and hugged Luke tightly.
"Goodbye, Luke." She whispered fondly into his ear, as the hologram began to disappear. "Goodbye forever."
