Greater Justice

[Sarah Jane]

The kids had gone to bed, The Archetype 2 to Luke's room, Luke to sleep on the couch. She knew they'd both be well out after their long drive. Her face was nearly blank as she took herself up to the third floor. The door, more sound proof than one would guess, she quietly closed behind her.

"Mr.Smith, I need you quickly and quietly" She said to the crystalline computer. It woke and opened, immediately, without fan fare, and without bleeding off the cooling component that usually let out great puffs of mist. Not because the kids would wake, but she simply was not in the mood.

"Yes Sarah Jane?" Said Mr.Smith in an artificially hushed tone.

Her face was grim. "I want you to place a call to the Doctor. I want you to tell him I need him. Here. Now." It was all she could say.

The computer was abnormally silent.

"Look. Mr.Smith. I know we have his number. I know you can call him. I know he can't always come, but in his long and busy life, he can find a few minutes to come here. I've never asked before. Not for myself before."

"Sarah Jane, I can make contact. It is 99% unlikely that the Doctor will be able to cross time with you in this moment. He is often elsewhere in this time."
The computer explained. Her face, oddly expressionless up until now broke into firm impatience. "I've seen him beat much worse odds than that. Surely, he can find the time. He's a Time Lord. And the TARDIS knows me. She will help us. Record."

Sarah Jane leaned in, face filling the pickup, the graceful lines of her drawn in the rich red and blue lights, and the multi- colored ever changing screen display. Her eyes are bleak, her face is cold.

"Doctor. This time I need you. This time I really need you. I've gotten into something too big that isn't isn't even on Earth, and I can't get to it to fight it. I can't . . . ." Her face went very still and lost all emotion again as she kept herself from breaking down, lips pressed together tightly for a moment. "Not on this fool telly either, Doctor, please. Find a way to come to me now. Tonight. Here. Please." There was nothing else she could say. She just looked into the pickup for a few breaths. "End recording."

"Don't you wish to speak to him if he will accept the call now, Ms.Smith?"
"No. " She said simply. "I don't. Show him that." If she spoke with him over the telly, she'd never get through it. "Now call him."
Mr. Smith placed the call.
"Monitor and sound off on this end, Mr.Smith. Play me some music. Something without words."

[The Tenth Doctor]

( I apologize for taking so long to get to this thread. Our Eight is back, so you might also be interested in seeing if Eight will do threads with you...and you can see if any of the other Doctors will as well. That way you aren't just waiting for me. I have a lot of threads to try to keep track of. I try to do them in order, but I'm trying to get the School Days board advancing, so that's why I kept replying to it.)

The Doctor was adjusting a few buttons on the TARDIS console when a sudden light flickered, letting him know that he had received a message on the TARDIS.

"Really?" he asked the console. "A call?" He sighed irritably. "UNIT. UNIT, or Churchill. I don't know if I'm in the mood for either of them."

He considered ignoring the flashing light. He was on his way to Circumvalis IV, looking for a spot of rest and relaxation, and he really didn't want to deal with that bloody military mindset right now.

The light blinked. He really, really tried to ignore it.

"Humans say curiosity killed the cat," he muttered. Then he brightened. "But I'm not a cat, so I should be fine."

He pushed a button which allowed the message to play.

"Doctor. This time I need you. This time I really need you. I've gotten into something too big that isn't isn't even on Earth, and I can't get to it to fight it. I can't . . . ." Her face went very still and lost all emotion again as she kept herself from breaking down, lips pressed together tightly for a moment. "Not on this fool telly either, Doctor, please. Find a way to come to me now. Tonight. Here. Please."

He smiled in sheer delight. "Sarah Jane Smith! What an unexpected... Oh, yeah. Message. Not live."

The message ended, and he slapped the button to play it again. "Fantastic!" A small frown. "You could have told me the date, though. An address would have been good, too. Probably didn't think I'd be able to land anywhere near the address if you gave it to me, though. Heh. I'll show you."

He worked the controls, looking for the signal beam again. He didn't find her message again, but he found something else. A repeating signal, "-.. --- -.-. - --- .-." over and over again. Emanating from Mutter's Spiral.

"That's a start. Let's see..."

He composed a response. "I've received your message, but I need to know the date and time...and location that you want me to be...because...well....it isn't always easy to guess."

Satisfied, he sent it back along the signal beacon.

[Sarah Jane]

The music stopped just moments later, and Mr.Smith spoke.
"The Doctor has sent a reply" he said.

Doctor's new voice filled the room next. "I've received your message, but I need to know the date and time...and location that you want me to be...because...well....it isn't always easy to guess."

"Record" She said.
She snapped off the binary code for Earth from galactic zero. She'd memorized it once, like a child memorizing their address in case they ever got lost. She added the address to her home to the list, letting her eyes rest on the picture of her son that stood on a little table up in the corner. Then her eyes flickered to the Grandfather clock that kept even better time than her cell phone, and she rattled off her time point starting with the Century in case there was any confusion.

"End record and send him that. No. Wait. Don't. You tell him. Just send the data. Time tick here and now. And tell him thank you. Send it. Mr. Smith, broadcast a little beacon of Morse Code that repeats 'Doctor' for him to home in on locally. Then put on Revolver. ."

The Beatles began to sing.

She tugged on her black blazer over the sweater, got up and started pacing about. She was trying to brainstorm her own solutions, but it was going abysmally.

[The Tenth Doctor]

The Doctor was under the console, tweaking and adjusting the block computation transfer bus when the TARDIS informed him that he had another message. Muttering about lousy timing, he fitted the couplings back together and stuffed the cables back into the housing.

"Let's see, here," he said, slapping the play button. Sarah Jane's face appeared, reciting space-time coordinates and giving special attention to ensuring that the exact date (in Sol-3 relative time, but he could adjust for that) was appended. "Brilliant!" he laughed. "Just what the doctor ordered."

He started to input the destination, then laughed. "Or what the Doctor ordered, hey?"

"Now, let's see. Oh, yeah. I'll be able to park her right outside Sarah Jane's back door."

He threw the lever, and the time rotor roared to life.

Shortly thereafter, with a roaring and a flashing of blue lights, the TARDIS materialized. In a room. Distinctly not 'right outside Sarah Jane's back door'.

[Sarah Jane]

The Beatles faded out and Mr. Smith's voice filled the room.
"Alien presence detected, Sarah Jane."

"Thank you Mr. Smith." She replied in an almost voiceless whisper. Her mouth quirked a little. When the Doctor was on time, he was on time. Then the delicate dark wings of her brows drew close in growing worry. Not ten minutes ago she knew there was nothing else she could do. Ten minutes ago she felt absolutely righteous in her action plan. In her impatience. In her need to see him in the flesh. Ten minutes ago, she was remembering the Doctor as the one who had always come when she called. For years.

That was many years ago, Sarah Jane, she thought to herself. The Doctor isn't like your Aunt Daisy or your Third Grade music teacher that you can just call up and invite yourself to tea with. Time Lord. A rather epic creature, and one with an agenda all his own.

She worried her thumbnail with her teeth for only a moment before she made herself stop. Instead, she strode to the stained glass window- seat and stood centered in it's little alcove. She stared out at the dark garden, wondering if she'd see the light atop the TARDIS, or the Doctor walking across the grass.

But what was that she felt under her feet? She did not bother to move, or maybe it was to hard to move that instant. It was easier to look out the window. He would find her. There was a signal beacon going off spelling "Doctor" not 15 feet from where she stood.

Or he could just ring the bell, but it wasn't his style. unless it was raining. Was that rain?

[The Tenth Doctor]

With reckless disregard for the console, or the environmental scanners, or anything else, the Doctor threw open the doors of the TARDIS and stepped outside.

Into a room that was distinctly not a back yard.

The lights were off, but there were streetlights, and his vision was superior to that of a full-blooded human. He could make out pictures and what appeared to be items that had been collected from other planets -- almost as if this were some sort of memory museum. And the pictures all seemed to have Sarah Jane in them -- Sarah Jane and his Fourth self.

"Well," he remarked, surprised, "she must have given me the wrong coordinates. I wonder if this is even her house?"

It was, of course, impossible that he had made the mistake. Obviously. If the coordinates were right, then it must just be that the lateral stabilizers needed to be overhauled. Or there had been a chronal anomaly. Really, it could be anything, so why assume he had made the mistake?

"All right, I'm here!" he called out with a smile.

[Sarah Jane]

Of all the times she'd imagined hearing the groan of the TARDIS, this moment it was unmistakably real. She dare say she'd never be fooled again. In that instant, much of her anxiety seemed to lift away from her. The Doctor. Here. She found herself nearly running out the door and down the stairs. In part to keep him from waking the children.

When she reached the fourth step from the bottom, she could see him and stopped her headlong rush. A smile found it's way to her face as she met his eyes. He was such a rake of a man. Of a Time Lord. Taking a deep breath, she leaned against the wall, folding her arms and regarding him.

Whatever he looked like, there was a depth to his gaze and a kindness to his mouth she could never mistake.

"Hello Doctor." She said, simply enough, but there was a world behind those words. Dozens of worlds they'd visited, adventures they had had together. Her love. Her fear. Her pain in this moment and her great relief to see him. Her welcome.

[The Tenth Doctor]

"Sarah Jane!" he responded, grinning like he had in the old days. "It's wonderful to see you again!"

It was, really. Absolutely wonderful. Strong. Healthy. He tried to focus on that, and not on the signs of age. He tried not to think about the fact that, someday, she'd be dead and gone - like all the others - and he would simply continue on. Running. Unable to stop.

He shoved the pain away, buried it deep, refused to look at it.

Instead, he focused on her. She had sent a distress call out, and she needed him. Something was wrong. He could read that in her expression. He would have known from looking at her, even if he hadn't received her message.

His face grew serious. "You called me here..?"

[Sarah Jane]

" . . . and you came." She gave him a subtle nod. It was a nod that gave forgiveness for times in the past that she wished he had come and had not. A small wry smile found it's way to the corner of her mouth. "And on time when it matters. Thank you." She said in a half whisper.

In that moment, she almost began to pour out her troubles, bursting with them now that he stood before her. Someone who would understand. Someone who could actually help. Then she remembered that one of her troubles was sleeping down the hall in Luke's room. Her face trembled on the edge of tears for just a moment, then she became stoney stern as she made herself wait a few more moments.

"We can talk upstairs. The children are sleeping."
Sarah Jane reached out for a moment, not to hold his hand but in simple invitation to follow her. She turned and went up the stairs and through the door.

It was a fairly large room, full of nooks and crannies. Full of books and odd artifacts. Maps. Notes. Flashlights. Alcoves, and of course the slightly steaming console of Mr.Smith. The space was also sprinkled with the half finished projects of her genius son, Luke.

There were only a few small lamps on and the soft, kaleidoscope of colors emanated by Mr. Smith's display. Usually having all the lights on left her feeling warm. This night the light had seemed too bright, harshly illuminating her problems.

[The First Doctor]

" . . . and you came." She gave him a subtle nod. It was a nod that gave forgiveness for times in the past that she wished he had come and had not. A small wry smile found it's way to the corner of her mouth. "And on time when it matters. Thank you." She said in a half whisper.

It would have been so easy to fall back into the old rhythms, to joke about stabilizer problems, to insist that he was completely reliable. But she had changed, and he had changed, and she deserved better than the antics of a young clown. "Of course I did."

Her face trembled on the edge of tears for just a moment, then she became stoney stern as she made herself wait a few more moments. "We can talk upstairs. The children are sleeping."

He really never noticed the passage of years. He was a Time Lord, after all, and -theoretically - immortal. But he didn't like change, not in his personal life. He liked remembering his surrogate family - his traveling companions - the way they were. He liked being able to pretend that they were like him, that millennia could pass between meetings, and that they would be able to pick up right where they left off.

He knew they weren't. But he was alone now, so alone, and it was nice to believe it. Just for a little while.

Her words jolted him to the core. "Children?" Young, fiery Sarah Jane, so focused on her career and on proving herself in a wretchedly backward, chauvinistic society, settled down with a family?

He followed her into the attic, which proved to be a veritable command center. Charts and books and tools - some of them clearly of non-Terran design. Half-built devices and projects. A surprisingly sophisticated mainframe computer, venting coolant gasses. All of it lit by a few rummage sale lamps.

No sign of K-9. He felt disappointed.

He waited for her to sit first. Some old habits die hard, while others are worth preserving.

[Sarah Jane]

She did not sit. She did not face him, and instead looked out the window. Things had changed. However, there was never a day she felt safer than when she had the Doctor at her back. She could feel his effect on her even now, draining away some of the terrible tension she'd been carrying for hours. She heard the surprise in his voice as he said "children" and she smiled out the window.

"The Bane invaded Earth two years ago." Surely, the Doctor would know of them and their methods. "They used the best human DNA they could get their hands on, then threw in a good portion of mine. They made an Archetype to use as a weapon against Earth." She grins now, easy, remembering those first chaotic hours that had brought her precious son to her. Now she was thinking of Luke, and this moment she can turn to him. Everything else might change, but his eyes, his posture, was always the same. Her heart pounded in her chest a moment.

"They made Luke. But they put too much of me in him, and it didn't go well for the Bane. Oh, he's a genius, Doctor " Her face shown with pride, followed by a cocky grin. "He is my son alright. He and I sent them packing." Now her face slackens, eyes distant. "But there has been a . . .a . .complication." It's the only way she can think to say it. It is so much more than that. Her eyes dart away.

Her hands have gone to fists.

[The First Doctor]

She didn't sit. Well, if she wasn't going to, he certainly wouldn't. He'd been raised better. Even if it had been a protocol-obsessed gardener doing the raising.

So he stood near the computer (Is it my imagination, or is it whirring its fan at me in a menacing fashion?) and watched as she stared out the window.

"The Bane invaded Earth two years ago."

"Yeah. Heard about that. You did a good job, there."

"They used the best human DNA they could get their hands on, then threw in a good portion of mine. They made an Archetype to use as a weapon against Earth."

He nodded. "Pretty standard procedure for them. They'll... what?"

"They made Luke. But they put too much of me in him, and it didn't go well for the Bane. Oh, he's a genius, Doctor " Her face shown with pride, followed by a cocky grin. "He is my son alright. He and I sent them packing."

"'Course you did, Sarah Jane. Of course the two of you did." There was pride in his smile, and simple joy. Now that the shock had passed, he was accepting (mostly) the idea that she had children. And the news that her son came from something as normal as the Bane's crude Birthing Looms?

That actually made it seem more normal and natural.

Now her face slackens, eyes distant. "But there has been a . . .a . .complication." It's the only way she can think to say it. It is so much more than that. Her eyes dart away. Her hands have gone to fists.

"Complication," he echoed. "What kind of complication?"

The words were simple, the tone casual. And, based on the answer, he would move heaven and earth to fix it.

Nobody touches my family.

[Sarah Jane]

Part of her wants to just blurt it out. But it wasn't what she needed. If it was, she simply could have placed a call and told him that way. Her trouble is tearing her apart though, and she cannot yet say it, first he has to understand.

"Luke." For the moment, she reverts to this safe subject. "I was there when he was 'born'. When he became fully aware. He was always mine, Doctor. And he was amazing, like a colt that got up on its legs right after being born." Another smile. "There was plenty of running that day. And since then, everything has been a wonder to him. He drinks knowledge like other children drink soda pop. He was so tender in those early days." She said, obviously recalling. It is the contrast that gets her. She must sit down. She takes a couple careful steps and sits on the couch as if it might break, or perhaps she will. She let her eyes travel the room. "See, Doctor, the things he makes, these glorious gadgets and models."

Surely they were innovative and well made little things that sat, some finished some not, but more importantly, they were clever. So very clever and beautiful as well, each in it's simple way. Luke had a hand crafted steam punk athletic that made each piece worthy of Galileo's toy box.

"Those first months, Doctor, it was like watching a new species being born. So impressionable." Her voice had dropped to a whisper. For hours now, she had not let herself think about it. Only the one time when she'd gone into Luke's room to find the girl crying in her sleep. Other than that, she'd held her own thoughts from herself.

Here they came now.

[The First Doctor]

She began to describe her emotions, watching her new son grow and develop, and he couldn't help a smile. He'd felt the same things, watching first his own daughter and then her daughter, seeing them grow and develop...

Sudden pain stabbed through him. His face convulsed and he turned his head suddenly, fighting the tears. Stop it, he said to himself, stop it.

"See, Doctor, the things he makes, these glorious gadgets and models."

He forced himself to concentrate on them, pushing the pain away, refusing to look at it. He didn't have to force himself for long. "They're..." he nodded and let out a long, low whistle, "impressive." He smiled. "He's gonna change your world forever, Sarah Jane. Your's, and the whole planet's."

"Those first months, Doctor, it was like watching a new species being born. So impressionable." Her voice had dropped to a whisper.

"They're great, aren't they?" He paused, watching her. "So. What's wrong?"

[Sarah Jane]

For an instant, she is annoyed. He sounds impatient. Then she remembers she isn't speaking with a human. She's speaking with a Time Lord. She need not connect all the dots for him, the Doctor can do that without her help. It is hard though, and she must speak around the lump in her throat. She cannot look him in the eye

"This afternoon Luke brought home a stray. Not a puppy. The Archetype Mark 2. Designed by the Bane to have enough of my DNA to be a weapon used specifically against me." She holds up a hand to keep him from interrupting here, for surely, he would be worried. "I put an end to the rogue faction of the Bane who started the project. I sent them through Horath's Portal. That isn't what is wrong, Doctor. For just a moment though, try to imagine what we would do if there were a dozen, a hundred, a thousand little Sarah Jane's come to take over the Earth." Her voice is slowly working up from a harsh whisper to well voiced anger. "It's not like I can put them though Horath's Portal, now can I? But you know what? That isn't what is wrong."

She surges to her feet with the grace of a girl and takes a step or two away from him, as though she would pace, but does not want to leave his orbit.

"I'll tell you what is wrong Doctor. She's got 46% of my DNA Doctor, and the Bane had her for a year! And do you know how to turn a child into a weapon? I know you do, and so do I! I can barely stand it, Doctor, but you know what, that isn't my problem either!"

Now she is simply sobbing as she speaks.

"My problem is, I can't stop them. I can't get to them! Somewhere there is a lab or a computer or whatever the hell they use in place of one, and it's got a sample of my DNA!! They can make my children and hurt them and I can't . . . . !!!"

Her hands fly up to cover her face, to hold in her words, to hold out the vision in her mind. Then her hands move up into her hair to make fists there as she tries to hold herself together.