Bits in Between
Chapter Twenty: Neighbors
By Lumendea
AN: This takes place after the end of Child of Earth.
…..
Sarah Jane Smith hadn't thought much of the moving lorry when it had pulled up down the road. That house had been on the market for months, and she hadn't really been concerned. Just as long as the new residents left her alone, she just hoped that they didn't have young children. Driving down Bannerman Road was bad enough with all the trees, high fences, and joggers as it was. If someone had told her that the lorry arriving marked the beginning of a change in her life, she would have thought them daft.
The reality was that while Sarah Jane was brave, insightful, and highly intelligent, she lacked a certain self-perspective. Her aunt had always been a great source of inspiration to her. A respected scientist and single woman who took her in after the deaths of her parents and never made one sound of regret. Sarah Jane had modeled herself on that. She'd become a journalist despite some of the old guard men making displeased sounds and had written many award-winning articles.
And that was without ever breathing a word about aliens or the Doctor. At the time, she'd been ready to leave the TARDIS, or at least she'd said so. She'd even snapped at the Doctor that she had to go, but then they'd said goodbye, and he'd dropped her off. It had been a bluff, and she hadn't thought it could actually... Given that he returned to UNIT over and over again and the Brigadier just took regeneration with barely a shrug, she'd expected to see him again. Maybe he'd pop round for tea in a year or so or tempt her back into the TARDIS for a bit.
But he didn't. The Doctor didn't return. He left a package for her containing K-9 who'd helped her in some investigations and saved her life a few times, but he'd never returned. K-9 couldn't tell her anything about where he was and what had happened. A dark dread that he'd sent K-9 as some sort of last message crept in. He was dead; he had to be. He'd never come back and given her K-9 to keep her safe because he wouldn't be around to do it anymore.
Except he wasn't. She'd gone on living her life with the grief of the Doctor's death always in the back of her mind. Sarah Jane could admit now that she'd kept others at a distance. She had some friends, but she never told them the whole truth, and over the years, even her contact with UNIT faded. Never marrying, barely dating except when someone forced her and not entertaining the idea of children, she'd just kept going from story to story, from challenge to challenge.
And it hadn't been back until that lorry showed up. The Tylers were nice, a bit different with the young, barely adult daughter buying the house. Jackie Tyler was very blonde, had a rough way about her, and had no filter. Sarah Jane honestly rather liked that last part, but she was also a gossip, and it hadn't taken Jackie long to agree with Gita Chandra that she was a miserable old woman in her big house. Sarah Jane hadn't cared and had avoided the two women.
But it hadn't stayed that way. Rose Tyler, a girl she'd originally dismissed as nothing more than a successful young woman, turned up during her investigation into the Gorgon's Circle. That moment when Rose pulled her into that side room and put a hand over her mouth was a critical moment in her life. It was the third major changing point in her life.
The first had the death of her parents, which had resulted in her dear aunt raising her. The second had been meeting the Doctor. Here was the third, a renewed connection to the Doctor and the amazing life in the stars she'd left behind.
It was bitter, in a way. To know that the Doctor was still out there but had never returned. Sure he'd sent K-9, but she'd been sure that was a final goodbye before something horrible happened. Ian and Barbara had each other, and Rose was so bright-eyed that at first, Sarah Jane didn't think she really understood what her life was about.
But time passed. Rose wasn't around all the time, but suddenly her life expanded. There wasn't just work now; there were people to talk to and laugh with. There were others who properly understood that madness of that man in his blue box. She'd met the Doctor again and seen him with Rose. The suspicion didn't totally settle in then, but there was something there. Something that allowed the Doctor not to be worried about the apparently out of temporal sync relationship. It was closure, and Sarah Jane gave into the fourth major crossroad in her life: Johnny Chesterton.
Happiness wasn't elusive anymore, and life just kept changing. There were more adventures, but her favorite was adopting Luke and later Skye. They were a challenge unlike anything else, and they both saw the planet with such wonder. She smiled more in a day than she used to in a month. The lonely woman of Bannerman Road was gone and in her place someone who was happy.
Finding out about Rose and the Doctor had been a shock, but there wasn't the jealousy that she expected. She had Johnny, and somehow Rose and the Doctor just fit. Sarah Jane knew that Rose would look after their friend and he after her. She was able to be happy for them even if she was a bit irritated at Rose for keeping secrets even though she did understand a bit.
Of course, with no longer being the crazy lonely woman of Bannerman Road came the neighbors. With Rani being her unofficial journalism apprentice, Gita always wanted to chat and check-in. It was flattering that Gita thought she was a good mother. Jackie was a little harder to read. There was a sharpness to the woman that made her hesitate. Rose didn't see much of herself in her mother, but Sarah Jane saw enough to know that Jackie wasn't a soft woman.
No, Jackie Tyler wasn't a soft woman. She wasn't hard, she loved Rose fiercely, but the pair were passing ships. They cared but didn't have much in common except their stubbornness and determination to just get through the storms.
Still, as the TARDIS vanished with Rose finally onboard, Sarah Jane invited Jackie to ride back to London with them. The sad look in the woman's eyes was enough to break her own heart. She'd tried to give them space, but she'd heard their last exchange. Jackie had swallowed down everything that Sarah Jane was sure she wanted to say for Rose's sake. Sarah Jane hoped that if she ever faced anything like this with Luke or Skye that she could be so loving and let go. So when they made it back to London, she joined Jackie for a cuppa.
"Will she be safe?" Jackie asked once they were seated in the Tyler's kitchen.
Sarah Jane took a sip of the tea; Jackie really did make a wonderful cuppa. "Normally yes," Sarah Jane finally said. "But not always, Jackie. Rose will face frightening things with the Doctor." Jackie made a sound of pain and horror. "But she will also have the joy of looking out over a world and knowing she helped save it. She'll have the reassurance of knowing she's helping others, seeing amazing things, and traveling with one of the best beings to ever live." Sarah Jane paused, wondering how much she should say.
"She's in love with him," Jackie groaned. "My Rose… she's in love with that alien."
Smiling, Sarah Jane almost laughed at herself. Of course, Jackie knew. She was a Mum. Sarah Jane had learned all too well over the last few years that some things a mother just knew about her children. It hadn't taken long for her to learn Luke's moods or Skye's tells. Reaching across the table, she took Jackie's hand and squeezed.
"Yes, but Jackie the Doctor is in love with her too." Sarah Jane looked towards the window, feeling a slight pain in her chest. It was sort of regret, but not quite. It couldn't be regret because she had Johnny, who thought she was beautiful and brilliant, and they had their two beautiful and brilliant children. "And he protected me, protected all of us fiercely, but he will protect Rose even more so. He is in love with Rose, just as much as she is with him."
"I'm not sure that's reassuring," Jackie sighed. Then she shook her head and looked back at Sarah Jane. "Well, enough of that. How are Skye's music lessons going?"