A/N: Just to warn you, I have never ever written Sarah Jane before. But she's one of my favorite characters. So I am doing my best. Hope you enjoy this chapter. And please R/R and tell me how I am doing.

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Chapter Eleven: Popping in for Tea

The Doctor looked around, "Nice house, a bit small. But nice just the same, lots of flowers and plants, Tash." He grinned as he knocked at the door. And then he froze, he should have something for Sarah Jane. The last time he met her, he had given her a new K9. But he had nothing for her now. He stuck his hands in his pockets and he pulled out a bag of jelly babies. He grinned. But that was so fourth-ish of him. Maybe not. He again dug through his pockets and pulled out a banana. He said to Tash, "Which should I give her, Tash? Banana or jelly babies? Bananas are good, but jelly babies are…well they are classic."

Tash laughed and then the door opened. The Doctor grinned at Sarah Jane, "Hello Sarah Jane. Care for a banana or a jelly baby?"

Sarah Jane laughed, "Doctor….you and your jelly babies."

The Doctor quickly put the banana away, Sarah Jane was sentimental. And sentimental was best. He held out the bag and she stuck a hand in and pulled one an orange one and she chewed on it.

"You could have told me you were coming. No warning, nothing. Just knock at the door and…"

He grinned, "I just live to surprise you Sarah Jane."

Tash was quiet; it seemed that Sarah Jane and the Doctor were friends, perhaps more than just friends. Sarah Jane's glance turned towards Tash and then the Doctor. When she didn't see Rose, Sarah Jane said quietly, "Where's Rose?"

The Doctor looked a bit melancholy, "She's gone, Sarah Jane. But….she's alive, and that's all that matters to me."

Sarah Jane nodded, from that tone of voice the Doctor used, she knew better than to go into details. Although at one time, she had been jealous of Rose. But it was easy to fall for the Doctor, his charm, his joie de vie. Sarah gulped; she had thought she had been able to move past this. The Doctor had regenerated, he had changed. He wasn't her Doctor anymore and she had accepted that, but now he was back jelly babies in hand. He wasn't too different. He still had that forlorn and melancholy personality about him, it shown through the grins, the smiles, the jokes. He was still the same old Time Lord she had met all those years earlier.

She then focused on Tash, the girl seemed familiar but, it couldn't be her could it. She had heard rumors once of a strange woman who lived in the woods, and she being the journalist that she was, went there and found an alien. She had learned a little bit about her, her name was Ta'sheeka. But she was terribly shy and afraid of most everyone. It had taken lots of time, but she had been able to learn that the girl had been banished to Earth by her own people. She had even offered to take her in once, but Ta'sheeka had refused. This girl she looked at seemed younger than her, it just couldn't be her.

The Doctor smiled, "Sarah Jane, allow me to introduce you to Ta'sheeka Nirata. She said that she met you once."

Sarah Jane blinked, "You seem a bit young, the last time…"

Tash blushed lightly, "I never told you about my people's way of aging. It's different to most species; I grow younger rather than grow older."

Sarah Jane sighed and shook her head, "Figures. I meet an alien that can regenerate and then I meet an alien that grows younger as she ages. Nothing surprises me anymore. Come in, both of you."

The Doctor nodded and said to Tash, "You first, Tash."

Tash shook her head, "No, you first, Doctor."

The Doctor shook his head, "Haven't you heard the expression, ladies first, Tash. Now get in there."

Tash shook her head, "No."

"Well you've heard it now. Now ladies first."

Tash cocked her head curiously but went in and the Doctor followed. Sarah Jane closed the door.

"So Doctor, what brings you here?"

The Doctor looked around the house, "Hmm this house isn't as small as I thought."

Sarah Jane smiled, "No, it's a lot bigger on the inside."

He grinned, "So it is...I just came to have tea, if that's alright with you?"

"Tea, it's never just tea with you, Doctor."

"Oi, can't hide anything from you either. Nah, I am just looking for a missing Loch Ness Monster. Have you seen it?" He then winked lightly, "No, I just came here to reconnect. We never really got to do that the last time I saw you. I brought Tash, 'cus she said she met you once."

Tash added, "That means that he wanted an excuse to come here."

Sarah Jane nodded at Tash, she was right about that, the Doctor wanted an excuse to come here and he had dragged a poor hapless alien with him. "So is the Doctor planning on taking you home?"

"Took, I already took her home, I left her there for about seventy two years. Then the TARDIS decided to take me back to her home and….she sort of ended up along for the ride."

Sarah Jane laughed, "Yea, that sounds just like the Doctor. He did the same thing to me. Takes me home, forgets about me and then bumps into me again like nothing at all. At least he got the location for your home right. I ended up in Aberdeen when I was suppose to be in Croydon."

The Doctor coughed and shifted a bit nervously, he didn't like being compared. Thank goodness Tash, was polite enough to...and then she spoke.

"Really? Maybe I ought to help you with that tea."

The Doctor raised an eyebrow, "What do you know about tea, Tash?"

"I don't know anything at all. But perhaps Sarah Jane can teach me." Tash got up and went with Sarah Jane into her kitchen.

He gulped; he didn't like the idea that Tash and Sarah Jane were getting chummy like this. But he had already ended up making Tash upset once, he didn't dare complain too much. He sighed and then he heard a familiar sound, a whirring of gears. And he grinned, "K9…."

Metal ears wagged back and forth and he saw the familiar 'tin dog', "Greetings, Doctor-Master."

He smiled, "How long has it been since I last was here, K9?"

"It has been twelve months, six days, and thirteen minutes."

The Doctor sighed, so it hadn't been too long since the battle of Canary Warf. He then said, "K9, it has been so long…would you like to play a game of chess with me?"

"Affirmative."

He grinned and suddenly he heard a scream, and his grin turned into a look of concern. Sarah Jane came running out of the kitchen, "Doctor, its Tash. She suddenly paled and then she just passed out."

The Doctor frowned, and remembered that Tash had been complaining of a headache earlier. He had a sinking feeling that this was related to it. "Sarah Jane. Get her on the couch."

Sarah Jane went back into her kitchen and then carried out the Mala'shraian woman and laid her down on the couch.

The Doctor took out his sonic screwdriver and waved it over Tash, "Hmm lots of activity in her cerebral cortex. Very strong energy patterns, but it's limited." He scanned himself with the sonic screwdriver, "Yep, just her. It's as if…" He paused, "As if someone was trying to give her and only her, a message."

The Doctor turned to K9, "K9 can you locate the signal coming from Tash's brain?"

"Negative. My power supply is too limited to conduct such a scan."

The Doctor looked thoughtful for a moment and then said, "The TARDIS. I'll hook, Tash up to the TARDIS, she has telepathic circuits. She should be able to figure it out. She might even be able to decipher the message."

He looked at Sarah Jane and grinned, "What do you say old girl? Feeling up to some sleuthing, it would be just like old times."

Sarah Jane shook her head, it never failed. The Doctor had come for tea and instead something ended popping up the moment he had arrived. Part of her felt like a young girl again, there was something exciting about it all. She suddenly felt that longing within her, that longing of being with the Doctor, traveling and seeing all those marvelous things once again.

She sighed. She couldn't resist. Damn it all. Just once when she had felt like she had gotten over the Doctor. She was stuck on him and his way of life, once again. "Sure, why not. But just to warn you. You had better get the time and the place right. I am not a young girl anymore and all this traveling from one spot to the next gets a little rough on me."

He chuckled, "Of course, Sarah Jane. You know me."

"That's the problem. I do know you. And nothing turns out perfect with you. I am just as likely to end up being dropped off a hundred years late."

He grinned, "Now Sarah, would I honestly do that?"

"Yes, you would." She turned to K9, "K9 stay here. And I do mean stay. Let me know the exact date and time when we get back."

"Affirmative Mistress."