As soon as Sarah was asleep, the Doctor now in his ninth regeneration headed to the library. He couldn't believe all of the time, to say nothing of all of the joy of raising his daughter with Sarah that so many had cost him. First to blame was the Time Lords for taking Sarah away from him. Did they know she was pregnant? It would be just like them. Then there were those who he believed to be behind this, the Sontarans. He sat down in one of the high backed leather chairs and closed his eyes. He had to find their child, for both their sakes. Behind his eyelids he ran everything he had witnessed through Sarah's memories as if he were watching a movie. On the second run-through he saw something different, actually two somethings.
First when the baby struggled, the supposed Time Lord in the center pretending to be Engin had lifted his arm in an attempt to hold on to the struggling infant. That's when he saw it. A blue band, a blue band that he recognized as a psychomorph device. They were first developed by the Rutans. So they must have stolen one from a dead Rutan. This one must have malfunctioned because when the wearer's life function ceased, the device was supposed to self-destruct. So it 'was' the Sontarans. Now he needed to find a certain General Ploket or better yet one of his old friends that was now an enemy. That would be difficult to do since the Sontarans stuck together like cement. But still…there were a few of the experimental birthers out there. Then there was the second thing he saw. That pink baby blanket they dropped, there might be some decent evidence still on that. Would Sarah have kept that? Did she own anything anymore? She certainly didn't have any possessions when he found her.
There was only one way to find out, he told himself as he left the library and was heading towards Sarah's room without even thinking about it. He softly knocked on the door. "Sarah, are you awake?" he called.
"Come in." Sarah replied.
He opened the door to find her sitting at the vanity staring into the mirror.
"You know I can't remember the last time I looked into a mirror for any other reason than to be sure I didn't have dirt on my face." she said soberly.
"You look exactly the same as last time I saw you." he said with a smile.
"If I were any other woman that would be a compliment, it would be a lie but a compliment nonetheless. But I'm not any other woman and staying the same has cost me. It cost me dearly. Everyone I loved is dead or just gone." She let that last thought hang between them.
"Not everyone is gone. Or are you talking about the old me?" he asked taken aback. He knew that she realized all his regenerations were him. But the pair had certainly bonded during that particular regeneration.
"I know that the fourth you is still in there. I know they're all you!" she said louder than she planned with frustration. "It's just that my mind has an image of this me." Sarah pointed at herself in the mirror. "I know you won't understand." she said bowing her head.
"Try me." he said crossing the floor and stooping down so that he could look her in the eyes.
"I have a picture of all of us. The you with the curly hair, the Brigadier in his uniform and hat, Harry in his navy blazer and Benton running around doing errands for the Brigadier and trying to look busy." she finished with a slight smile. "When I see this me," she pointed at her face, "my brain sometimes has trouble reconciling that they're all gone and not simply waiting for me to make an appearance and beg for a pass to get into somewhere I shouldn't really be. I miss them all, so very much. After you left they tried to close ranks about me. They tried to protect me. But after I started showing I cut myself off from them one by one. I told myself the baby and I had nothing to fear from them. They were as close to a family as I had ever had. Still I couldn't be sure someone wouldn't accidentally let something slip. But then she was gone. I never told them…about her anyway."
"Because of my new extended life cycle I had to tell them about that. As I said before, they helped me as long as they could. And now I sit here in front of a mirror that I sat in front of decades ago looking just the same as I did years ago. In the closet hang clothes I left here over thirty years ago. It's so easy to pretend that it's 1975 again. But like everything else, it's all changed. They're gone and she's gone." she finished her voice cracking.
"They are gone and for that I'm sorry. But I am so grateful that I'm here in this Tardis right now looking into your beautiful eyes staring back at me from that lovely face. And as far as our daughter is concerned, we 'will' get her back." he said with an air of authority.
"You sound so positive this time. What's changed?" Sarah asked as a small amount of hope brightened her thoughts.
"I know this is asking a lot of you but…" he started.
"But what else is new?" she interrupted.
He smiled and continued, "Is there any way whatsoever that you still have that pink baby blanket the Sontarans dropped when they took the baby? If I had it, it could help me track her."
Sarah face brightened considerably. "Yes I have it. I keep it in a plastic zippered bag to keep it safe."
"Where is it?" the Doctor asked already heading towards the door.
"It's deep in the woods. I keep my bag hidden in a small hollow behind a boulder on the side of a hill." Sarah explained as she walked past the Doctor heading for the door.
The pair didn't stop until they were outside. It was a damp yet crisp night with a full Moon. The Doctor turned to Sarah and said, "If you want we can hop back in the Tardis and I can 'advance' us to morning."
"That's not necessary. I know these woods like the back of my hand. I've been living in them for a little over a year. When I'm discovered I have to move camp, but it's a large park so I've been lucky here."
The Doctor frowned as he followed Sarah. They headed up over a small ridge. Once they reached the top, there was a large valley below. As the pair carefully picked their way down the rocky hillside the Doctor heard something crashing through the brush about a hundred feet to their left. He grabbed at Sarah's arm and warned, "Wait, I heard something."
"It's just a mountain lion." Sarah replied continuing on.
"Just a mountain lion?" the Doctor replied incredulously.
"She's seen me before. She knows I won't approach her and threaten her family. See, there she goes, watch." Sarah replied pointing in the direction the Doctor heard the sound coming from.
The Doctor looked in the direction Sarah pointed and could see a muscular mountain lion leading two smaller lions down the hillside. They were beautiful and even though he knew Sarah wasn't alone out here, it disturbed him to no end to think she had to live with wildlife. Wildlife that on a whim could easily kill her, whether she believed it or not. "All the same let's hurry and get your things and get back to the Tardis." he said with as much urgency as he could pack into his voice. "Are we almost there?"
"Yes, my tent is just behind that outcropping of trees and the bag is behind a large boulder about twenty feet away." Sarah replied picking up her pace. Even though she knew this piece of land quite well she also knew she shouldn't be running around in the night. She wished she had her flashlight. After walking another ten minutes they reached her tent. Sarah started to take the tent down but the Doctor stopped her.
"What are you doing?" he said as he lightly touched her arm to get her attention.
"Packing my things." she replied.
"You don't need a tent." he said meeting her eyes in the moonlight.
"I might." Sarah replied softly, looking almost guilty.
"I can guarantee you won't." the Doctor said with conviction.
"But if we don't find her…" she said, her voice barely above a whisper.
"We will find her. And even if we didn't, which we will, you will 'never' have to live like this again."
How could she tell him that she didn't trust that he could ever find their daughter? He seemed so sure. That was the problem, he 'always' did. But she had been burned before. It may not have been his fault but that didn't change the fact that other than the man standing before her now…she had no one. This Doctor was so self-assured and so confident that he would find their baby. Trust him? She decided to throw caution to the wind one last time. One last time, she would trust him. "All right." she replied, pulling a long piece of metal with a hook on one end from the tent.
"What's that for?" the Doctor questioned.
"I have no desire to be bitten by a snake or anything else tonight. The nooks and crannies are home to a great many things in the woods. I'll just use this to hook my bag and pull it out." she explained.
The Doctor backed up and raised his hands in surrender as he watched Sarah use the metal rod to pull out a medium size dark colored bag.
Sarah used her foot and kicked the bag around so that she could examine it in the moonlight. "Just to be sure there's nothing deadly still hanging on." she said with a nervous smile. Once she was satisfied, she picked it up.
"Is this all you have?" the Doctor asked in amazement. Sarah had left more than this behind in just one of the drawers in her room in the Tardis.
"It's all I really need." she replied. She was grateful for the darkness. She was sure she was blushing in embarrassment.
"Here, I'll carry it. You lead the way out of this valley." the Doctor said taking the bag from her.
"Fine, let's go. The sooner we get back the sooner we can find our daughter." Sarah replied with determination taking the lead.
Sarah and the baby were out for a walk. She had dressed the baby warmly and was walking outside with her. Sarah thought getting out of the Tardis and walking around a bit might soothe the baby as well as calm her own mind. What if the Doctor couldn't find a way to return the child? She was a beautiful and well behaved baby, but a baby nonetheless. She wasn't sure she was ready for a child yet. Before she could further her line of thought any further she heard something rattling coming closer around the corner. Stopping and holding the baby protectively against her chest she relaxed as she identified the sound. It was Sergeant Benton.
"Hello Miss." Benton said as he pushed the baby carriage ahead of him. "I hope you don't mind but I knew my sister had one of these sitting in the garage gathering dust and I knew you could probably use it. I cleaned it up like new but if you don't need it…" he said trailing off.
"Oh Sergeant, it's beautiful. It's perfect, how did you know we needed it?" Sarah gushed.
"My sister has five kids and she swears there won't be a sixth and in every case she has used one of these. After her fourth she wore the last pram out so she only used this for her last one." he finished and then scratching his head added, "At least I hope it was her last. Her kids are a powerful group. Not a quiet one in the bunch. Not like the one you're holding now." Benton smiled at the contented child in Sarah's arms.
"Well Sergeant, I'll take very good care of this. Tell your sister how much I appreciate being allowed to borrow this. Hopefully we won't need to borrow it long." Sarah gushed as she laid the child down on the soft mattress in the cushy pram. Smiling first at the infant and then at Benton she asked, "Have you seen the Doctor? He's not in the Tardis."
"Yes Miss. He's in the Brig's office. He said if I ran into you to tell you to join him there. I'll walk you there." he said, smiling at Sarah.
"So, how's it going with Stacy?" Sarah asked slyly.
"So far, so good. We're going out tonight. Thought I might try the Olive Pit. After all it worked well for the two of you. Maybe Guido puts something magical in the food." Benton suggested.
"I don't think the food's magical, it's great food just not magical. I think Stacy really likes you." Sarah added.
"Why do you say that?" Benton was blushing now. He always blushed around women, especially one as beautiful inside and out as Sarah.
"I saw the way she was looking at you. If it's not love, it's the most intense case of severe like I've ever seen." Sarah laughed remembering the wedding. It was hard to believe it was only yesterday. So much had transpired in such a short time she thought as she looked down into the pram and gazed at the baby's sweet face.
As they entered the Brigadier's office Sergeant Benton opened the door to the outer office. As they entered, the Brigadier's secretary jumped from her desk to see the baby. "Oh how beautiful." she gushed. "Can I hold her?"
"I'd really love to let you but she won't let anyone other than the Doctor or myself hold her."
"Trust me; this one has quite a set of lungs. My ear's still ringing from her serenade last night." Benton supplied.
"I understand. They're in the office. They said to send you in when you arrived." she replied smiling. "By the way, your wedding was wonderful. Thank you for inviting me."
"Thank you for coming. We were honored that you came. See you soon." Sarah replied as Benton held the door open for her.
"Ah, there they are." The Doctor stood when he heard Sarah talking. "What have we here?" the Doctor asked gesturing at the carriage.
"A loan from the good Sergeant's sister." Sarah replied as she pushed the pram in the room out of the way.
"Thank you Benton. We're very grateful. And how are you doing?" he asked as he reached into the pram and the baby caught his finger. "You're not causing my new bride any trouble are you?"
"She's been the perfect little angel." Sarah answered.
"You're both naturals." the Brigadier stated, watching the pair fuss over the baby.
Sarah frowned slightly. "Well, before we get any more settled into this situation, did you find out anything from the scan?"
"The Brigadier and I were just discussing that. The romper had Void stuff on it. It wasn't saturated with it, but on it all the same." he said with a smile.
"Just exactly what is Void stuff?" Sarah asked incredulously.
"Void stuff is background radiation. Background radiation that can only be picked up by traveling from one reality to the other."
"Radiation?" Sarah asked with a panic in her voice as she reached out and patted the baby to reassure herself that the baby was alive and healthy.
"It's harmless radiation. There's absolutely nothing wrong with her." the Doctor said as he reached over and placed his hand on top of Sarah's.
"So you know where she belongs?" the Brigadier asked, then added, "You can take her home." To him it was as simple as that.
The Doctor answered the Brigadier as if he were answering a child. "My dear Brigadier, do you have any idea how many thousand or even million realities there are out there? I mean really sometimes…"
"I just thought that maybe there might be some sort of marker on all those fancy readings you recited to me before Miss. Smith joined us." the Brigadier defended.
"Brigadier, you…" the Doctor stopped in mid-sentence. Looking at first the Brigadier and then at Sarah he said, "You know if I adapt the chronometer to allow for the reading from the…it just might work. Brigadier you're a genius! Well maybe not a genius but very intuitive all the same. I'm very impressed!" he gushed with an ear to ear smile on his face. "I have to get back to my readings." He kissed Sarah and headed for the door.
Before Sarah could even react he stuck his head back in the door. "Don't worry I'm not going anywhere, just doing some calculations. You can take your time with the baby. See you at dinner." And with that he disappeared.
"So Miss. Smith. Or is it Mrs. Smith?" the Brigadier asked Sarah.
"Sarah Jane would be fine Brigadier." Sarah said distractedly as she gazed back at the door.
"All right Sarah Jane would you and the baby do me the honor of having lunch with me?" He knew the Doctor and he knew the way he barricaded himself in the Tardis when there were calculation to be made. He didn't want Sarah to be hurt by his distraction to detail. Besides, he found Sarah good company.
"I would be honored Brigadier. I'm glad I brought a bottle." Sarah replied as she pulled one from the diaper bag.
"I'm sure we can get that warmed in the Officer's Mess. I do have a little pull there you know." The Brigadier smiled as he walked around the desk and stood behind Sarah and peered at the baby over her shoulder. "She is quite lovely."
"Yes she is." Sarah agreed.
"Benton do you plan on standing there gawking or will you be opening the door?" he asked looking at Benton with annoyance.
"Opening the door Sir." Benton replied, immediately standing at attention while managing to look embarrassed.
After Sarah pushed the carriage through the door and they were beyond the office the Brigadier confided, "It's good to put the fear of God into Benton on occasion. If I didn't he'd think something was wrong."
"If you say so Brigadier. Though I believe that everyone here would walk through fire for you whether you put the fear of God in them or not. They all love and respect you." Sarah smiled up at the Brigadier.
"That's good of you to say Miss…Sarah Jane." he stumbled. Of course if truth be known, they would do the same for her if she only realized. The entire base had grown to love and accept this extraordinary woman as well as her new husband. The pair continued down the long hallway.
Once the ninth Doctor and Sarah reached their Tardis the pair headed for the Doctor's lab deep inside the time ship. "I don't remember this area." Sarah commented as they continued deeper into the ship.
"Before the Time War she had to be paired down a bit." Noticing Sarah's confused look he continued, "The Time Lords refitted her, so to speak. While she is infinite in a way, every room uses power. That same power was needed for her shields. So to make a long story short, some rooms were ejected and some rooms were moved all in the name of efficiency. Here we are."
The pair entered the lab. Sarah wondered if the all the Doctor's regenerations were as messy as she remembered his fourth. Looking around she decided that if not all were, this version of him definitely was. There were stacks upon stacks of paper everywhere. Stacks of crates were covering three of the walls and from what she could see the crates were filled with parts, which she could only hazard a guess to their purpose. In the center of the room was a very large stainless steel table which was covered in stacks of papers. Before Sarah could comment on the disarray, the Doctor stretched his arm straight out at one end of the table and in one quick move ran it from one end of the table to the other. Everything that had been on the table was now fluttering to the floor. "Well, that's one way to clear the table." Sarah commented.
The Doctor placed Sarah's muddied bag on the table. "You get the blanket and I'll get the scanner." the Doctor said as he headed toward the back of the room.
Sarah watched him haul crate after crate away from a table that was hidden behind several stacks of crates. She unzipped the bag and moved several articles of clothes away from the bottom of the bag. She pulled out a clear plastic zippered bag through which a pink blanket could be easily seen. She removed it with the respect one might give a holy object. In Sarah's eyes that's exactly what it was. It was all she had left of her baby, the only concrete thing she had left that was once attached to her child. When she closed her eyes she could still imagine her baby wrapped up in it. She always knew it was in her bag though she rarely pulled it out. It was just too painful.
As the Doctor approached the table, his arms laden with the scanner he watched Sarah. He could clearly see the pain in her eyes and the tears threatening to fall. But he knew she would be embarrassed if he reacted to her pain, so he began in what he hoped was a cheerful voice, "Great, you found it." He set the scanner on the table and adjusted some settings on it. Turning to Sarah, he saw her gingerly unzip the bag and put her nose inside the bag and inhale. He cleared his throat and Sarah looked up. "Can I?" he asked with his hand extended.
"Of course." Sarah replied as she removed the blanket and handed it to the Doctor.
The Doctor carefully spread the blanket on the table. Pulling a jewelers' lens from his pocket he placed it in his left eye and began his meticulous examination of the blanket. After a few minutes he found what he was looking for. It was a tiny bit of organic matter. Reaching into a drawer he pulled out the smallest pair of tweezers Sarah had ever seen. "What is it? What have you found?"
The Doctor turned to face her holding something so small in the tweezers that Sarah couldn't see it. "A miracle." he said with an ear to ear grin. "Do you know how amazing this is? Not only that you had the forethought to put it in an enclosed bag but after all that you've been through, that you held on to it. It's fantastic!"
"I'm glad that you're so happy but you still haven't answered my question. What is it?" Sarah asked. His enthusiasm was bringing hope to her heart.
"It" he started as he held it high, "is a remnant of our daughter's umbilical cord. On it is the most minuscule drop of blood on it."
"But it's so small. Surely you can't get anything from that." Sarah said incredulously.
"If I were human and had human DNA profiling tools at my disposal, you would be right. But I'm a Time Lord with tools at my disposal that the human race for even the next thousand years will only dream of. And for me, this is enough. Now to put this into the scanner and set up a profile." he said as he placed the diminutive sample in the indentation of the scanner. He adjusted a few dials and turned it on. "Okay, one down and one to go. Now we need our second miracle." With that he turned and walked to the other end of the room and began removing more crates.
"What do you mean a second miracle?" Sarah asked skeptically. She wasn't sure what he could do with the sample but he seemed so happy. She was amazed he could use something so small to find their daughter. It wouldn't be the first time that he'd pulled off a miracle using very little.
"Well…" he said as he shifted yet another pile of crates, revealing a cart that was about five foot long. On it was an enclosed metal box that ran the entire length of the table. On the front was a touchscreen. The Doctor pulled it across the floor to stand in the center of the room. "First we press this." he said as he pressed a button and the touchscreen lit up with symbols in Gallifreyan. He typed in a few more commands and a drawer slid out of the front on the bottom of the cabinet. "We place this in here." he said as he carefully picked up the blanket and spread it out on the drawer. "Then I touch this." He touched another button and the blanket slid into the cabinet, now fully enclosed. "Now we just need to tell it to run an extensive scan and with any luck we'll have our second miracle." He smacked his hands together.
"Once again, what do you mean a second miracle? What are you looking for?" Sarah asked, clearly getting frustrated.
"Sorry, thought I told you." The look on Sarah's face and the way she stood in front of him defiantly with her hands on her hips told him that he hadn't. "I'm hoping that there will be trace elements of our thieves' DNA and possibly some hint as to where they come from."
"Isn't that a lot to ask from a thirty six year old blanket?" Sarah wondered aloud.
"Normally I would say yes. But I'm blessed by your foresight. You put this in that zippered bag how soon after they took her?" he asked as he took her by the shoulders.
"Probably within ten minutes. I was so distraught; I didn't even remember doing it or why I was doing it." Sarah admitted as she stared up at the Doctor.
"That's part of why I've always loved you. No matter how scared you are there's still a part of your mind that does the smart thing. This time the investigative journalist part of your mind told you to preserve the evidence. That's what you did. You may not have known at the time why you did it, but you did it all the same. You always amazed me when we traveled together. It didn't matter how terrified you were, you always looked for the underlying cause and did what you could to help. Always looking for clues and solutions, listening to everyone's problems and figuring out a way to help them and that's what you did that day. While you mourned for your loss, you did what needed to be done. You gave us the evidence to help us locate our daughter."
The Doctor pulled Sarah close and wrapped her in his arms. This was just like he remembered it. It always felt so right. He remembered being in his third body, holding her after a particularly trying adventure early on. He knew he was falling for her then. He told himself it was wrong and he fought it. But in the end she wound her way into his hearts. He also remembered what it felt like when she was gone, when they took her away. He swore he could actually feel his hearts breaking. Never again would he let someone traveling with him in. He came close with Rose, but in the end she wasn't Sarah. Now he was given a second chance to reunite a family he never knew he had. He would heal both their hearts.
Sarah remembered this, being held in his arms. She always felt so safe and today was no different. "How long will the scan take?" she asked into the Doctor's chest.
"Several hours, let's go get some rest." he said as he pulled her back to look in her eyes.
Sarah looked at the scanner uncertainly. "Are you sure we should leave it alone?"
The Doctor knew she was referring to the blanket as much as the scanner. She'd held onto it for so long. It was her only link to their baby and it would be hard for her to leave it behind. "The scanner won't damage the blanket in any way and there's absolutely nothing we can do to hasten the process along. Besides standing here waiting for time to pass will drive us crazy."
"I'm not sure I can sleep." Sarah said, looking back at the scanner again.
"Let's change into something comfortable and sit in the library. We'll read and watch the fire and…"
"Wait on time to pass." Sarah finished.
"All right, that too." the Doctor added as he slipped an arm around Sarah's waist as he led her down the hallway.
The trip to their individual bedroom doors had been a silent one, each lost in their own thoughts. Above all the Doctor knew he simply had to find their daughter; he couldn't let either their daughter or Sarah down. He'd unknowingly let her down too many times in the past and he decided he would do his best not to let her down again. They both looked up, realizing they'd reached their bedroom doors.
"So…" they both said at once.
Reaching out the Doctor put his hands on her shoulders. "Go get comfortable and I'll do the same. I've been thinking, how do you feel about a movie instead of the library? Maybe a movie will get our minds off of everything. What do you say?" he finished with
a smile.
"Sure. Is the entertainment room in the same spot?" she asked with a smile.
"Same spot, two doors from the library." he answered.
"Okay, see you soon." Sarah said then abruptly reached forward on her tiptoes and quickly kissed him on the lips before turning, going into her room and rapidly closing the door.
The Doctor stood alone in the hallway still staring at Sarah's closed door stunned. Maybe she was starting to believe in him again. Even if the scan was able to give him the information he needed it would take time to find their daughter. He hoped she would have the patience to get through this. Patience was not one of their strengths. But tonight was about relaxing and getting Sarah's mind off waiting for the scan results. Tonight they would relax because tomorrow may be the beginning of the fight of their lives, he thought as he entered his bedroom.
Fifteen minutes later they both met in the hallway, having left their perspective rooms at the same time. 'We're still on the same wavelength', they each privately thought. "So what do you want to see?" the Doctor asked Sarah as they walked side by side down the hall. Was it his imagination or did something change after they separated? Suddenly it seemed awkward between them.
For Sarah it was one part embarrassment for the kiss she'd at the last minute decided to give the Doctor and one part discomfort. She knew how to behave with his previous incarnation. But this one, where to begin? She knew it was still him but she also remembered how very different his third self had been from his fourth. "Listen," she began, "about that kiss…" She decided she may as well let him off the hook. "If I made you feel uncomfortable, I'm sorry. It won't happen again." She looked down as she walked.
The Doctor stopped and waited on Sarah to notice. When she did, she looked so downtrodden that he thought she might cry. "First, you didn't make me feel uncomfortable. And second, what do you mean it won't happen again?" he said as he pooched his bottom lip out and then unable to carry the charade off any longer turned his pout into a big smile.
"I just thought that this new you may not be the type that likes outward displays of affection." Sarah said as she walked back to stand beside him, feeling the need to close the distance both figuratively and physically. "I haven't been around this you enough to know what you…" she trailed off.
"True every regeneration has its own…challenges. And while I may not like the average person to kiss me full on the lips," he began as he looked at Sarah with a look that Sarah could only call conceit, "I do happen to like it when you kiss me." He reached forward and took her hands in his. "I like everything you do. I always have and I always will. No matter what body I happen to occupy at the time. You've had me wrapped around your little finger whether you knew it or not, since our first trip together."
Sarah blushed. Her previous Doctors were rarely so honest when it came to their emotions. "All right then I take back the apology. Let's forget I said anything." Sarah said as she threaded the fingers of her right hand through his left. "So what do you want to see? Wait, let me guess. You want to see the original Indiana Jones trilogy so that you can poke holes in the plot and tell me in intricate detail how they got it all wrong." Sarah smiled up into his face.
Now it was her turn to feel superior. No matter what incarnation he happened to be in, he loved to point out each and every error he thought they had gotten wrong in every movie they ever saw. The Indiana Jones trilogy was one he considered the worst. She remembered one such tirade about the fact that they conveniently left out the part where it was actually a particular alien race that showed them how to build the pyramids in the first place. She had long forgotten what specific race it was.
"Can I help it if they blatantly skipped over the real details? If they'd told the story with just a small part of it right, such as mentioning the Purlarians and how they taught the human race how to build the pyramids, it wouldn't be a total disaster. And if they'd even glossed over the fact that…"
Before he could say any more, Sarah took two fingers and placed them against his lips. "Let's save something for the movies, okay?"
"Whatever you say." the Doctor said before reaching down and claiming his own unexpected kiss. Before either could say anything to make this particular kiss uncomfortable the Doctor led Sarah further into the Tardis and into the entertainment room.
Some six hours, four servings of popcorn, a large pizza, two packages of candy and over a gallon of soda later, the credits of the last movie were rolling. The Doctor and Sarah had long since fallen asleep, wrapped in each other's arms. The stress of the day and exhaustion from the Doctor's extensive commentary on all the films had claimed them both. They were stretched out on one of the Tardis' plush sofas. Sarah's head was across the Doctor's chest and his arms were cradling her body. The Doctor briefly woke up confused before looking down. It wasn't a dream he thought, and smiled before closing his eyes. For the first time in a long time, each would have a deep and peaceful sleep.
Author's Note: Seven chapters to go. As always reviews are greatly appreciated.