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“Oof!” The Doctor’s hat falls forward on her head, the brim covering Sarah’s eyes shortly after she collides with a taller and broader body that had been walking in the opposite direction just seconds ago. After taking a few seconds to steady herself, one hand pushing up on the hat as the other clutches the strip of photographs in her hand. When a face comes in to focus, she scoffs. “Harry Sullivan, what are you doing here?”
“I could be asking you the same thing,” comes the reply, as Harry readjusts the scarf around his neck. “The Doctor sent me to find you when you hadn’t shown up and – I say, what’s that you’ve got there, old girl?”
Sarah Jane blinks and looks down at the paper in her hand and flushes lightly despite herself. Oh, what had she been thinking, walking into the TARDIS holding the only piece of evidence of her latest trip to Milliways? In her defence, it wasn’t as if she had thought she would encounter anyone between this door and her room, thinking she’d have just enough time to hide the photographs under her pillow before rushing to meet up with the Doctor and Harry in the console room. It never quite seems to work that way, she realizes now, as her face grows stern.
“Oh, it’s absolutely nothing, Harry. Least of all any of your business.”
He shakes his head, taking a step forward and tilting his head to try to get a better view of the strip. Harry’s eyes narrow and as he stretches a hand forward, Sarah pulls hers back closer towards her chest. The action does nothing but increase the suspicion in his eyes. “Is that a bloke in those pictures, Sarah?”
“Harry-”
“I didn’t realize you were seeing someone,” he interrupts, and for a moment there Sarah thinks she sees a slightly crestfallen look on his face. But surely that’s in her imagination, eh? “Not with… well, I guess I just never really considered it.”
At that, she sighs, taking one last look at the picture strip – of hers and James’ smiling faces and his attempts to kiss her neck in one of the photographs and that one in which his face is filled with nothing but shock – before burying it in the pocket of her blue blazer. Letting out another breath, she looks up at Harry with all seriousness.
“It’s. It’s something that started just recently and please don’t mention this to anyone, especially the Doctor,” Sarah Jane starts, suddenly feeling very foolish. Not mention to the Doctor? That was a rather daft thing to say, wasn’t it? Why did she even—She shook the thoughts away. There were too many, and as strange as it felt to be back from her extended stay in Milliways, it didn’t feel strange at all. “
So it is back to the reasoning. “I don’t want to give him any reason not to let me tag along on his travels, you see. And James, well, he knows I’ll be gone sometimes and he--” He is grinning. Harry is grinning at her. Sarah stops mid-sentence and stares. “Harry! I don’t see anything funny about this situation.”
He chuckles, placing a comforting hand on her shoulder. “Your secret’s safe with me, old girl. Although, I would like to meet the chap someday. I didn’t see much by those photographs of yours, but he looks like a decent enough fellow. If I’m going to be keeping quiet, I want to make sure.”
“Harry, I don’t need you to protect me,” Sarah says with a sigh. It’s easier than admitting that he’ll probably never meet James. It’s a rather strange image that pops into her head, trying to imagine Harry in a place like Milliways. Best not to. “As I’ve shown time and time again, I’m perfectly capable of--”
“Ah, but you’re jumping to conclusions, Sarah. I’m only saying this as your friend, no injury meant at all to your aptitudes,” he answers with a humorous tone in his voice. It makes her smile softly, chuckling softly at the absurdity of this whole conversation. In the middle of the TARDIS no less, where just about anyone could—
“And what’s this? The two of you having a chat without me when the Brigadier so direly needs me?”
Of course. Today was just the day for interruptions. Harry’s hand drops immediately back to his side and Sarah looks up at the Doctor innocently, quickly pushing aside all thoughts of Milliways. She’ll have time to dwell on them later. Right now, she is here for a reason after all. Which includes laughing at the Doctor’s choice of wardrobe (especially that silly plaid hat), something she had managed to forget in the past few weeks.
“Come on, get a move on,” the Doctor barked, pointing a finger down the hallway. “There is absolutely nothing amusing about this, Sarah Jane. The Brigadier better have a good enough reason to drag us two hundred and seventy million miles to clean up his mess. Let’s hop to it, shall we?”
There’s shared amusement as Sarah falls in step behind Harry and the Doctor marches them outwards and in to Scottish countryside, far from any nearby highway. After laughter is silenced with another mock-serious glare from the Doctor, he pulls out a device to guide them to a road (or so he hopes, Sarah can’t help but think).
Steps later, after a fortuitous car ride by the serious looking and rather medieval thinking Duke of Forgill, they reach the inn in which UNIT has set up camp. It’s after the Duke bids his farewell and Sarah Jane and the Doctor finally stop teasing Brigadier Lethbridge-Steward for his kilt that answers for their return are finally obtained:
“Doctor, the destruction of these rigs is a complete mystery. Do you want more men to die?”
“I could be asking you the same thing,” comes the reply, as Harry readjusts the scarf around his neck. “The Doctor sent me to find you when you hadn’t shown up and – I say, what’s that you’ve got there, old girl?”
Sarah Jane blinks and looks down at the paper in her hand and flushes lightly despite herself. Oh, what had she been thinking, walking into the TARDIS holding the only piece of evidence of her latest trip to Milliways? In her defence, it wasn’t as if she had thought she would encounter anyone between this door and her room, thinking she’d have just enough time to hide the photographs under her pillow before rushing to meet up with the Doctor and Harry in the console room. It never quite seems to work that way, she realizes now, as her face grows stern.
“Oh, it’s absolutely nothing, Harry. Least of all any of your business.”
He shakes his head, taking a step forward and tilting his head to try to get a better view of the strip. Harry’s eyes narrow and as he stretches a hand forward, Sarah pulls hers back closer towards her chest. The action does nothing but increase the suspicion in his eyes. “Is that a bloke in those pictures, Sarah?”
“Harry-”
“I didn’t realize you were seeing someone,” he interrupts, and for a moment there Sarah thinks she sees a slightly crestfallen look on his face. But surely that’s in her imagination, eh? “Not with… well, I guess I just never really considered it.”
At that, she sighs, taking one last look at the picture strip – of hers and James’ smiling faces and his attempts to kiss her neck in one of the photographs and that one in which his face is filled with nothing but shock – before burying it in the pocket of her blue blazer. Letting out another breath, she looks up at Harry with all seriousness.
“It’s. It’s something that started just recently and please don’t mention this to anyone, especially the Doctor,” Sarah Jane starts, suddenly feeling very foolish. Not mention to the Doctor? That was a rather daft thing to say, wasn’t it? Why did she even—She shook the thoughts away. There were too many, and as strange as it felt to be back from her extended stay in Milliways, it didn’t feel strange at all. “
So it is back to the reasoning. “I don’t want to give him any reason not to let me tag along on his travels, you see. And James, well, he knows I’ll be gone sometimes and he--” He is grinning. Harry is grinning at her. Sarah stops mid-sentence and stares. “Harry! I don’t see anything funny about this situation.”
He chuckles, placing a comforting hand on her shoulder. “Your secret’s safe with me, old girl. Although, I would like to meet the chap someday. I didn’t see much by those photographs of yours, but he looks like a decent enough fellow. If I’m going to be keeping quiet, I want to make sure.”
“Harry, I don’t need you to protect me,” Sarah says with a sigh. It’s easier than admitting that he’ll probably never meet James. It’s a rather strange image that pops into her head, trying to imagine Harry in a place like Milliways. Best not to. “As I’ve shown time and time again, I’m perfectly capable of--”
“Ah, but you’re jumping to conclusions, Sarah. I’m only saying this as your friend, no injury meant at all to your aptitudes,” he answers with a humorous tone in his voice. It makes her smile softly, chuckling softly at the absurdity of this whole conversation. In the middle of the TARDIS no less, where just about anyone could—
“And what’s this? The two of you having a chat without me when the Brigadier so direly needs me?”
Of course. Today was just the day for interruptions. Harry’s hand drops immediately back to his side and Sarah looks up at the Doctor innocently, quickly pushing aside all thoughts of Milliways. She’ll have time to dwell on them later. Right now, she is here for a reason after all. Which includes laughing at the Doctor’s choice of wardrobe (especially that silly plaid hat), something she had managed to forget in the past few weeks.
“Come on, get a move on,” the Doctor barked, pointing a finger down the hallway. “There is absolutely nothing amusing about this, Sarah Jane. The Brigadier better have a good enough reason to drag us two hundred and seventy million miles to clean up his mess. Let’s hop to it, shall we?”
There’s shared amusement as Sarah falls in step behind Harry and the Doctor marches them outwards and in to Scottish countryside, far from any nearby highway. After laughter is silenced with another mock-serious glare from the Doctor, he pulls out a device to guide them to a road (or so he hopes, Sarah can’t help but think).
Steps later, after a fortuitous car ride by the serious looking and rather medieval thinking Duke of Forgill, they reach the inn in which UNIT has set up camp. It’s after the Duke bids his farewell and Sarah Jane and the Doctor finally stop teasing Brigadier Lethbridge-Steward for his kilt that answers for their return are finally obtained:
“Doctor, the destruction of these rigs is a complete mystery. Do you want more men to die?”
