Fic: Turn Again (2/?)

[dbskyler]

Title: Turn Again
Rating: PG
Characters: Sarah Jane, Ten, Maria, Luke, Clyde, Alan, the Brigadier, Harry, Capt. Magambo, Ross Jenkins, Rose
Spoilers: Turn Left (and the DW episodes referenced within it) and the first season of SJA
Disclaimer: This is a work of fan fiction, offered freely. Doctor Who, Sarah Jane Adventures and all characters belong to the BBC.
Summary: Sarah Jane wakes to a world where the Doctor is dead. A missing story from "Turn Left."
Warnings: Should go without saying, but let's be clear: There's character death here, folks. Not my fault; go complain to RTD. But it's all just a canon AU, so don't worry.
A/N: While there’s angst, especially in the first chapter, this story will not be an angst-fest. Promise.

Thanks to ellisbelle for the beta on this chapter! And yes, this fic is now four chapters long . . . but that does mean you get this part far earlier than you otherwise would have. Edit: Sorry, I no longer know how many chapters this will take; I'll let you know when we get there!

(Chapter One here)



Sarah lunged for the glowing puzzle box. As her fingers wrapped around it she felt a wrench, and everything seemed to spin twice around her. But when the world stabilized and she rose to her feet, she realized that she wasn't dizzy at all; in fact, the last traces of her previous dizziness had dropped away.

Trembling, she cradled the puzzle box in her hands and eagerly cast back through her memories, searching for differences -- but there weren't any. The Doctor was dead, and she had identified his body early this morning. She collapsed into a chair and let her fingers trail over the box, feeling the edges of the hard metal. She had been so hopeful. But the Doctor was still dead, and the memory was still there, and it was like a painful wound that she couldn't bandage, could only endure.

Blinking back the tears that threatened again, she looked up from the puzzle box. Then suddenly she frowned, because something was wrong. It was a very odd sensation -- like seeing a room from upside down, everything both familiar and unfamiliar at the same time. She looked around the attic and it was the same as before, but wrong. The attic was wrong. And not just the attic. As the feeling intensified she rushed to the window and everything outside was wrong, too. She took in a breath, amazed. Nothing had changed, it was all the same, but somehow it was all wrong -- the entire world was wrong. She didn't know how, or why, or what it meant; she simply knew it, with inviolable certainty. The world was wrong. And then she gasped, because along with that awareness had come the knowledge of one other, incontrovertible fact: the Doctor wasn't supposed to be dead.

She propelled herself from the window and snatched up her phone. "Alan," she said when he answered, "tell everyone to come over here right away. Hurry!" She hung up without waiting for his reply, then went to a section of her wall. "Mr. Smith, I need you!" she said, and waited impatiently for the sentient computer to appear.

"What can I do for you, Sarah Ja—" he began, but she had already placed the puzzle box into his receptacle.

"Mr. Smith, I need you to scan that. Tell me everything you can."

Data began appearing on Mr. Smith's screen, strings of numbers and symbols flashing by. Sarah paced, trying to keep her impatience in check. She heard the sound of feet running up the stairs and turned to wave everyone inside.

They entered uncertainly, looking at Mr. Smith's screen in confusion. "What's going on?" asked Maria. "Clyde went home, but do you want me to call him?"

"No, that's all right," said Sarah. "Actually, it's you and your dad who can help me the most."

Alan looked surprised, but Sarah didn't bother to explain further. Mr. Smith made a sound and instantly her attention was on him. The teenagers and Alan gathered around.

"The box is registering a temporal disruption," said Mr. Smith, "but I am unable to determine its nature or trace the source. It appears to originate from a different timeline than the one we are currently experiencing."

"What does that mean?" asked Alan.

"Oh, no," breathed Maria in the same moment. "The Trickster's back?"

Sarah held up her hand for silence. "Mr. Smith," she said, "is it possible that we're not just in a new timeline, but in an entirely new world?"

"Yes, it is possible," said Mr. Smith. "A change in events can cause a quantum break and the formation of a new parallel reality. That is one explanation for the readings I am getting."

"That's incredible," said Luke. "Some sort of quantum potentiality waveform superseding the primary matrix?" He looked around in wonder.

Sarah smiled. "So it's true then. This isn't the real world." All her hope came rushing back.

"What?" said Alan. "The world's not real?"

"No," said Sarah. "Well, it's real in the sense that it's not a dream, but it isn't supposed to be here. The Doctor wasn't supposed to die, and his death changed reality, created a parallel world to replace our own. Remember when the Trickster switched me with Andrea Yates? She didn't die and I did, and that made a new timeline that replaced the real one. This must be something similar -- but this time it's not just the timeline that's been changed, it's the whole world."

"Wow," said Maria. "And the world was changed because of the Doctor's death?"

"Yes," said Sarah.

"I cannot verify that," said Mr. Smith. "Nor can I confirm that we are within a parallel reality."

"You may not be able to confirm it, but I can," said Sarah. She took back the glowing puzzle box and held it out on the palm of her hand. "Trust me – I had possession of this when the disruption happened, and I know the world has changed."

"But if the Doctor's not supposed to be dead, does that mean we can get him back? Like we got you back?" asked Maria.

"Yes!" said Sarah. "And that's exactly what we're going to do." She knew it might not be as simple as that, but she had never felt so determined in her life. They were going to rescue the Doctor. "Mr. Smith," she said, "what information do you have on the cause of the temporal disruption?"

"None, Sarah Jane."

"Was there someone who traded places with the Doctor, someone who was supposed to die while he lived?"

"I am not registering any temporal signals that would suggest that, Sarah Jane. But I am unable to trace the nature of the quantum break."

"Right, well, never mind," said Sarah. She put the puzzle box into her pocket, then rummaged in a drawer until she drew out a strange-looking gun. "Alan," she said, "you told me that when the Trickster took Maria out of time, the Graske showed you how to get her back by firing this. It must neutralize temporal disruptions, and that's what we're faced with here. Show me exactly what you did."

Alan looked a little startled to be suddenly the focus of her attention. "It wasn't much," he said. "I just pointed it upwards and fired."

"Then do it," said Sarah, handing him the gun. He held it uncertainly for a moment, then carefully he aimed it towards the ceiling and triggered it.

Nothing seemed to happen.

"That's just like last time, remember?" said Maria. "If that's brought the Doctor back, then he's returned to where he belongs, wherever that is. Not here."

"The TARDIS!" exclaimed Sarah. "Come on!" She grabbed her things and ran down the stairs. After a moment, she heard the sounds of three people following her.

* * *

Alan drove, which left Sarah free to use her mobile. "Come on, come on, pick up," she muttered into it, until finally there was a sleepy voice on the other end.

"Hello?"

"Harry, it's me," she said. "Listen, I need you to go to wherever they've got the TARDIS, right now. I'm on my way with some friends. We'll meet you there, okay?"

"What?" said Harry. He still sounded sleepy.

"Harry, wake up, this is important. Go. To. The. TARDIS. I'll meet you there. Where is it, by the way?"

"Where's what?"

"The TARDIS!" If she could have, she would have reached through the phone and shook him.

"Sorry old girl, I think I've missed a turning here. Why do you want me to go to the TARDIS?"

"Because the Doctor might be there."

There was a silence on the other end of the phone.

"Look, I know how it sounds, but it's true. The Doctor's not dead -- well, he is, or he definitely was, but he's not supposed to be -- wasn't supposed to be -- and we may have just brought him back, although perhaps not, but perhaps he just needs some help to get through -- I did -- and anyway, if he's anywhere then he's in the TARDIS and that's why I need you to go there."

More silence.

"Look, it's too complicated to explain right now, just go! And tell me where it is -- are UNIT keeping it in that same building we were in this morning?"

"Yes, the TARDIS is here in the basement. But look, Sarah . . ."

"Good, we'll be there soon. Better alert the guards at the gate; I don't want to get delayed trying to get inside." She hung up.

Alan was good at finding shortcuts around the London traffic spots, and he had them to the UNIT building in a commendably short amount of time. The soldier on the gate to the car park raised the barricade when she gave her name, but when they entered the building and tried to pass through the lobby they were stopped by the person at the security desk.

"Look, I'm Sarah Jane Smith, I was here this morning, Harry Sullivan should have told you I was coming," said Sarah, exasperated.

"Yes, Miss Smith, he did, and he said you might have some others with you, and I take it these are them?" said the man, casting a disdainful eye over Alan and the two teenagers.

"That's correct. Now let us through."

"I'm afraid that's out of the question. I'm sure you're aware of the sensitive nature of this building. If you wish this man to accompany you, then he'll have to fill out the security paperwork and wait until we get clearance from the computer check. We'll need his fingerprints, of course. "

"I'm sorry -- my fingerprints?" said Alan. "Just to come in?"

"And what about us?" broke in Luke. "What do we have to do?"

"Nothing," said the man. "You're minor children. You can't come in at all."

"What?" exclaimed Sarah.

"Sorry, but we're going in," said Maria.

"I'm afraid you're not," said the man.

"Actually," said the Brigadier, appearing from behind them, "I believe they are." He fixed the man with an authoritative stare. Sarah could have cheered, but she settled for giving the security man a self-righteous smile instead.

He had gone a rather interesting shade of red. "Sir Alastair," he stammered. "I'd like to accommodate you, but . . . "

"Good man," said the Brigadier. "Please let me have visitor passes for everyone."

"But surely you know this is highly irregular . . . "

"Don't worry about it," said the Brigadier. "Back in my day, things were irregular all the time." He reached across the man's desk, grabbed a stack of passes and started handing them around. The man stammered for a moment, his hand reaching forward to grab at the passes but then pulling back again as if he had thought better of it. Finally he wordlessly shoved a logbook forward for them all to sign.

"Thank you," said Sarah as they headed towards the lifts.

"It was the least I could do," said the Brigadier. "Now what's all this about the TARDIS?"

Sarah wavered. "I'll tell you everything, but not right now. Please, can we just hurry?"

The Brigadier gave her an appraising look, then nodded. They entered a lift and headed down to the basement. Luke and Maria discussed how upset Clyde was going to be at missing out on being inside a UNIT base while Sarah tapped her fingers absently against the side. She wondered if she was the only one who thought the ride was taking forever. Finally they were at the basement. They entered a large and crowded space full of boxes and equipment, but as she scanned the area she caught a glimpse of something blue rising above the stacks to the right. She hurried in that direction, turning through aisles until at last with a feeling of relief she saw the TARDIS in front of her. Harry was standing by its open door.

"Okay, Sarah, here you are," said Harry. "I've even used the Doctor's key to open it for you. Now do you want to tell me what's going on?"

She went right past him and into the console room. "Doctor?" she called. "Doctor, are you here?"

She heard Harry exclaim behind her, and then the voices of Maria and Luke. Let them explain or not; she didn't care. "Doctor!" she called again. She looked all around the cavernous, green-gold room, so changed from the console room she had known. "Doctor, it's me, Sarah. Can you hear me? Can you answer me?"

She called over and over, but there was no response. The room was silent; in fact, so silent, it was getting on her nerves. And suddenly she realized why.

The TARDIS wasn't supposed to be silent. Always before when she'd been in the TARDIS there had been background noise of some sort: hums and clicks and sighs through the vents, the basic sounds of a functioning ship. Sarah stood quietly for a moment, listening, but she heard none of it now, nothing. Everything looked normal, and just as she had last seen it -- but something vital was gone.

She went to the console and laid her hands on the controls, running her fingers over the knobs and switches without disturbing anything, stroking the ship as she had seen the Doctor do so many times before. "It's okay," she murmured softly. "I know you miss him, but I'm going to get him back. I promise. Only, I need your help. Tell me where he is, please. Tell me how to reach him." She laid her hands flat against the console and opened her mind wide, trying her hardest to be receptive to the smallest hint, the vaguest impression. "This isn't right," she said. "You're a time ship, you know this isn't right. What should I do? How do I bring him back?"

An image came to her of the Doctor as she had seen him that morning, pale and lifeless, a corpse laid out under a sheet. She didn't know if the image had come from the TARDIS or from her own subconscious, but it was heartrending. She shook her head, trying to clear herself of the mental picture. "No!" she said. "It's not supposed to be like that! The Doctor shouldn't be dead."

"Sarah Jane," she heard, and she turned and saw the Brigadier standing just inside the door. "Sarah Jane, this isn't helping. You're not accomplishing anything here. It's time to come away."

She shook her head again. "I can't," she said. "I can't . . . " A rush of emotion pushed its way up, a swell of frustration and a need to do something and an overwhelming sense of helplessness, and beneath all of that deep feelings of loss and grief. "Doctor!" she called out suddenly. "Doctor, please. I don't know what to do; I don't know how to help you. Please, if you can hear me, if you can feel me trying to reach you, help me, show me how to bring you back!" She clutched at the console, eyes closing around the tears that she couldn't hold in any longer. "Tell me, please. It's not supposed to be this way, you're not supposed to be dead, you're not, you're not . . . "

She felt a prick in her arm and swung around in surprise. She saw Harry standing next to her, a needle in his hand, and then she saw nothing at all.


---------
tbc . . .

Chapter Three here