1977
Lavinia Smith is a sensible woman. She's a scientist, and she's spent years training her mind in the art of rational thought. She's been expecting a knock on the door since her niece disappeared into seemingly thin air. She isn't surprised when several young men in uniform appear on her doorstep. The younger one, who'd introduced himself as Harry Sullivan, tips his hat respectfully at her. She is more surprised when he flashes a name badge for the Unified Intelligence Taskforce, which seems to be very official paperwork for an organisation that doesn't exist.
"May we come in, ma'am? We need to talk to you about Sarah Jane."
She lets them in.
At first, she argues with what they tell her, but as the evidence piles up- official government records of the Doctor, black and white photographs of her niece standing next to a tall man in a scarf, a note in Sarah Jane's handwriting on 18th Century parchment... she finds herself believing them. She's spent years learning that she can't deny what's right in front of her eyes, even when she wants to.
After that first meeting, they all meet up frequently to chat over tea. They laugh and cry and stories about Sarah Jane, keeping her memory alive.
Sometimes it even helps.
The Gorgons drive away with the Talisman, but Maria barely notices. She can't take her eyes off the statue of her dad. She hears a quiet sob, almost a whimper, and it takes her a moment to realise the sound is coming from her.
She tries to step towards him and falls, her knees giving out under her.
"Dad." She whispers, barely audible.
"Maria. Maria we can't give up yet."
She's only just aware of Sarah Jane talking to her. She's too busy thinking of what she could have done differently. Her phone should have been on. She shouldn't have left. She shouldn't have-
"Maria! Listen to me. You are not going to lose it. I know things look bad, but there's always a chance, Maria."
Maria's eyes narrow at Sarah Jane.
"This your fault. If I hadn't met you, he'd still be okay. Everything was fine before you told me about aliens!"
She regrets the words almost as soon as they're out of her mouth. She knows it's grossly unfair, but she can't unsay it. Sarah Jane doesn't respond though. Instead she smiles grimly, and holds out her hand to help Maria up.
"I know, Maria. But we have to try to fix him. And I need your help for that."
Maria deflates in the face of her friends calm acceptance of her anger.
And she takes the offered hand.
Luke sits in the convent library and worries. Sarah Jane can look after herself, and she has Maria with her, but he's still worried. He looks around to distract himself, and his eyes catch on a statue of Medusa. He went through a mythology phase a few weeks ago, and read through the majority of the main Greek myths on a lazy Saturday with Sarah Jane.
Human history is particularly fascinating to him; maybe it's because of his unique 'birth', but he often feels like an outsider looking in on society. Science explains the world around him, but he has to look to history to understand the people. These nuns seem to share his fascination with history, given how old their building is. Religion, so far as he can tell, mostly involves preserving history and old traditions. The weight of that history is thick in the air of even this building, which can't be more than a few hundred years old.
Wait.
The building. He remembers reading about old buildings having secret rooms sometimes. Like Sarah Jane and Maria's room. He remembers Sarah Jane saying this Abbey is from the 16th Century. Luke figures that if anyone has something to hide, it's these nuns. Looking around the room with a closer eye, he notices a thick layer of dust on everything. Almost everything. He cautiously nudges the perfectly clean statue of Medusa, smiling broadly when a passage opens. He enjoys having a hypothesis confirmed.
"My scan indicates that Mr Jackson is undergoing massive molecular transmutation."
Sarah Jane is pacing furiously, while Maria sits, pale and wan, on the floor.
"Well yes, Mr Smith, we can see- wait. Did you say he is undergoing? The process is incomplete? Could it be stopped?"
Maria's head lifts at that, eyes starting to shine with hope.
Mr Smith sounds concerned, in as much as a robot voice ever can.
"It is possible. The transformation is not yet stabilised. But... I do not know how to do it."
"Please, Mr Smith. You've got to work it out. It's my dad!"
"I'm not sure if there is sufficient time. My scan suggests molecular stabilisation will be complete in approximately ninety minutes."
Sarah Jane isn't prepared to give up. She much prefers Maria with a light in her eyes, working to fix the problem, to the Maria sitting quietly on the floor mourning her dad.
"There must be something you can do, Mr Smith."
The super computer sighs in a way that sounds almost human. "Perhaps if I was more familiar with the Gorgon..."
"That's it! We'll ask Bea!"
Privately, Sarah Jane thinks that Bea isn't likely to be able to help. She doesn't say it out loud, though. Not when Maria looks energetic again. Besides, if there's any chance to get Alan back... maybe there's also a chance that Maria won't hate her forever. To Maria, she merely says, "There's always a chance."
She scoops up her bag as Maria sprints out the door.
When they get out of the car, Sarah Jane hesitates. "I think we need to split up. I need to find Luke, you talk to Bea. All the information we need is still locked inside her head." She's not quite looking Maria in the eyes as she says, "You were right. I should never have involved you in this. It's too dangerous."
Maria's frantic need to rescue her dad pauses for a moment at the defeated look in Sarah Jane's eyes. She pulls Sarah Jane into a brief hug, then pulls back enough to look her in the eyes. "I'm the one who should be sorry. Of course it isn't your fault. You tried to keep me out of this; I'm the one who wanted to see aliens."
Sarah Jane relaxes slightly, and Maria realises her friend is just as tense as she is.
"If there's a way of saving your dad, I know you can find it."
Then Sarah Jane turns and hurries away in the direction of the Abbey. If Maria didn't know any better, she'd think her friend is running away from danger rather than into it. But she doesn't have time to dwell; she turns on her heel and rushes into the Retirement Home.
"Serve the Gorgon. Serve the Gorgon. Serve the Gorgon." Luke tries fruitlessly to tune out the chanting of the nuns. Sister Helena is holding the Talisman, and he watches carefully for his moment. She turns towards someone he can't see, Talisman held loosely in her hand. He dashes in and yanks it away. He manages to get to the door only to come skidding to a halt at the sign of another nun blocking the way.
"Come on, young man, you didn't expect us to leave you entirely unsupervised, did you? We knew you'd gotten out and there were only so many places for you to go. And just in time, too. The whole party is here."
Luke turns in dismay to see Sarah Jane, held by the arms by two nuns. Her face is etched with fear and Luke stops breathing at the sight of it. Sarah Jane isn't supposed to be scared of things.
"You see, the Gorgon requires a living host. The younger the better, of course, but unfortunately we cannot use you, young man. You see, the Gorgon's host must always be female."
The air rushes back into Luke's lungs and he doubles over, gasping. Surely they don't mean to-
But they do. The nun in the doorway takes advantage of his stillness and grabs him, taking the Talisman from his suddenly loose grip. She hands it to Sister Helena over his head, vice like grip still on his arms. Sister Helena is still talking, even as she methodically ties Sarah Jane to the solid wooden chair. Almost like a throne, really, Luke thinks frantically.
"Well. Even though you are unnecessary for the transfer itself, Luke, you will be the perfect prey for our new Queen."
Sarah Jane thrashes at this, but with her limbs bound she's helpless against the blindfold the nun settles over her eyes.
"No! No!"
Luke watches helplessly as the Gorgon raises her veil and beams of light streak towards Sarah Jane.
At that moment, the heavy door slams open and Maria bursts in holding a mirror. Her heart stops at the sight of Sarah Jane tied up in front of the Gorgon. She rushes between them and holds up the mirror. For a moment the whole world shines white as the Gorgon's power reflects off the mirror and for a second Maria would swear her heart stops. Then the light is gone, and the only thing the mirror reflects is the stone statue where the Gorgon used to be.
Sister Helena blinks and looks around. "What-"
"You're free," Says Sarah Jane, removing her blindfold and pulling Luke into a hug. "The Gorgon's lost its control over you. Now- grab that!" Startled, Sister Helena grabs the Talisman away from the portal that Maria, still reeling from the close call, only just notices as it vanishes.
Sarah Jane steps briskly across and plucks the Talisman from the nun's hand before she can do anything but blink in confusion.
"Maria," Sarah Jane holds up the talisman. "We've got to get this to your dad."
Blood rushes in Maria's ears as her mind switches gears again. She almost trips over her own feet in her rush to get out the door and back to her dad before its too late. Sarah Jane and Luke follow her at the same pace, leaving Sister Helena and the other nuns blinking in sunlight streaming in through the door.
They make it in time to save Alan. Maria watches fearfully as stone is replaced by skin, leaving her father unconscious on the ground. Sarah Jane scans him with her watch and confirms he's fine, just as he opens his eyes. He groans and rubs his eyes, blinking away something that looks suspiciously like stone dust.
"Where-?" But he doesn't get any further than that before Maria grabs him and hugs him, helping him off the ground. She doesn't let go when he's back on his feet. He staggers a little, under the weight of her clinging to him in a way she hasn't since she was significantly younger.
"Maria, whats-" Luckily for Maria, who is still struggling to cope with the events of the day, let alone figuring out what to tell her dad, that's the exact moment that her mum appears. Unluckily for everyone present, they now have to experience Hurricane Chrissy.
"Alan, why haven't you answered any of my calls? And Maria, love, you know we only want whats best for you-"
She's still talking, but Maria tunes her out. She knows her mum isn't looking for answers yet- she has to air all her grievances first. The events of the day are catching up with her, and she suddenly feels drained. Too many emotions in too short a time.
Somehow, she manages to say the right things to convince her parents that she's fine. They walk off together, just that little bit further apart than people who like each other would. Chrissy talks the whole way, failing as usual to control her volume in any way. As a result, Maria and her friends (and presumably anyone else within a close enough radius) can hear her telling Alan that Maria's new friends are a terrible influence, and there's no way she would have behaved like that before, and that really it's everyone's fault except Chrissy herself.
Maria smiles apologetically at Luke and Sarah Jane. "Sorry about my mum, she's..." She trails off in the face of the daunting task of explaining Chrissy Jackson. Thankfully, they seem understanding. Together, they turn and walk back into the school.
It's Luke who remembers the Talisman. "If it helped Mr Jackson... could it help Mrs Nelson-Stanley?"
Sarah Jane and Maria exchange a look. Maria spares a moment to reflect on the fact that her parents used to exchange the same sort of look. The 'don't ruin it for the kid', look.
Still, she shrugs. Bea had remembered the Gorgons, after all. Maybe the Talisman could help.
Somehow, it works.
Bea is enraptured with the Talisman, with her memories of her husband. Luke is talking softly to her, asking her questions. For someone with Luke's social skills, the bond he's formed with Bea in such a short time is quite impressive.
Maria is the only one who sees Sarah Jane slip quietly from the room.
She finds her on a quiet bench in the garden. She sits down next to her, politely pretending not to notice as her friend wipes frantically at her eyes. She just sits in silence and waits for Sarah Jane to talk.
"I was raised by my Aunt Lavinia. She was in her thirties when I met the Doctor, and... and then I vanished. As far as she knew, I was dead. My friends at UNIT eventually managed to tell her that I wasn't dead, but she never knew for certain. She must have spent years wondering."
"When the Doctor dropped me off... UNIT helped me find her. She was in a nursing home. The nurses said it was like she was just waiting for something, for years and years. Waiting to see me. And then she did, and she was done. She passed the next day."
"Seeing her like that..."
Sarah Jane shakes her head, like she's trying to knock the memory out. "She didn't know who I was, not really. There was a moment of recognition, but it didn't last. She was- she was always so bright- she was a scientist, you know, and she picked up languages as easily as breathing. The last time I saw her she was a scared old woman in a world she didn't understand, whose niece just... disappeared one day. She'll never have a moment like Bea, she'll never remember. She's gone."
When she finishes, she seems to deflate. Clearly she's been holding it in for a long time. Maria puts her arm around her and they just sit. The quiet of the garden now feels... almost oppressive, with the weight of grief. No wonder Sarah Jane hadn't wanted to come back to the Retirement Home, full of the dying.
Luke finds them eventually, when Sarah Jane has cried herself out. They sit, the three of them, for a little longer. Surrounded by the two people she loves, Sarah Jane feels a little better.
They leave the garden in considering silence. Sarah Jane stops at the entrance and pulls a 'Vote Saxon' poster off the entry gate with a huff. "Honestly. How hard is it to leave places like this out of politics?"
Author note:
I think I spend most of my life apologising for the wait on these chapters. Hope you enjoyed. Also heads up, the next chapter (which I'm planning to upload at the start of December) will be depressing. I'm trying something different... as you may have guessed with that last scene. After that, though, we will be back to our usual monster of the week. Thanks for tuning into this instalment of 'the author projecting hard onto their characters.'