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13 Bannerman Road...
Sarah Jane Smith, dressed to go out and looking just slightly more glamorous than usual, checked herself out in the mirror of her attic. Her son Luke sat nearby, doing some homework, while K-9 the robot dog stood vigil in the corner. "See you later, then." Sarah Jane said as she finished getting ready.
"Yeah, see ya, mum, have a good evening." Luke said, not looking up from his homework.
"You too." Sarah Jane reciprocated. "Bye, K-9."
"Enjoy your evening, Mistress." K-9 said, and Sarah Jane breezed out of the room.
Luke waited a second, then he snapped his textbook shut. "Mr Smith, I need you quickly and quietly." The chimney breast opened to reveal Mr Smith the supercomputer, without the usual fanfare this time as per Luke's request. Luke then snapped open his mobile phone and speed-dialled his friends Clyde Langer and Rani Chandra. "She's off again!" Luke told them.
~8~
Sarah Jane got into her car and drove away. Clyde and Rani came out of hiding in Rani's house across the road, Rani with her phone to her ear. "Right. We're coming over." she told Luke.
"What is she up to?" Clyde wandered as he watched Sarah Jane's car disappear down the road.
~8~
Luke snapped his phone shut and turned to Mr Smith. "How can I help you, Luke?" the supercomputer asked.
"Activate tracking device, Mr Smith." Luke ordered. "Aerial satellite scan."
A graphic of the streets of Ealing appeared on Mr Smith's screen, with a steady pulsing blip moving along the streets.
~8~
Sarah Jane's car drove through the streets as a piece of alien tech the size of a sugar lump inside one of the wheel arches pulsed with a blinking blue light, transmitting the car's position back to 13 Bannerman Road.
~8~
Clyde and Rani had joined Luke inside the attic. "So what was her story this time?" Rani asked.
"She said she's going to a meeting at the town hall, about a motorway extension." Luke replied.
"Mistress's exact words. 'You never know, Luke, there could be a story in it'." K-9 added.
"Her excuses are getting lamer and lamer." Clyde snorted.
"Affirmative. Veracity level twelve percent." K-9 concurred.
"Why's she lying to us?" Clyde wandered.
Rani studied the map on Mr Smith's screen. "She's heading into town." she observed.
"Query. Am I to understand you are using my tracking system to spy on Sarah Jane?" Mr Smith asked.
"It's the 5th time she's done this in a month, Mr Smith." Rani explained. "We've gotta find out what she's really doing."
"She goes off on her own, all mysterious, what if she gets into trouble?" Clyde added.
"This is highly irregular behaviour." Mr Smith complained.
Do not exceed your function, Mister Smith. Your opinion has not been asked for." K-9 scolded.
"That told you!" Clyde smirked. "Good dog." he told K-9.
"Affirmative." K-9 waggled his ears.
Clyde looked at the screen. "She's stopped."
"Nowhere near the town hall." Luke observed.
"There, she was lying. I knew it!" Rani smirked.
~8~
Sarah Jane had parked her car and was just giving herself a final once-over in the mirror. She took out a lipstick from her bag and was about to apply it when she realised that it was actually her sonic lipstick. "Whoa. Must stop doing that." she muttered as she quickly swapped it for a real lipstick and applied it to her lips. "Right." She got out of the car and walked away.
~8~
Luke, Clyde and Rani watched the blip indicating Sarah Jane's position. "Scan for alien activity in that area, K-9." Clyde ordered.
K-9's sensors twitched. "Negative for alien activity, Master Clyde." he reported.
"I am perfectly able to complete that function, Clyde." Mr Smith reminded. "There's no need to consult the dog."
"Sticks and stones." K-9 retorted.
"What now, then?" Rani asked, getting back on topic. "Follow her down there?"
"Come on. Two minutes to the next bus." Luke said, grabbing his coat. He headed out of the room and Rani followed.
Clyde made to follow them, but stopped at the door and turned back to Mr Smith and K-9. "And you two, play nicely." he told them, then raced after the others.
"Play nicely: Instruction to human children. Conduct recreation in socially compatible mode." K-9 recited.
"Oh, be quiet." Mr Smith grumbled.
~8~
The three youngsters found Sarah Jane's car parked outside a restaurant on Morris Road. "There's the car, but where's mum?" Luke wandered.
"No sign of any aliens, either." Rani observed.
Clyde meanwhile looked in the window of the restaurant, then he froze and jumped back. "No! I did not just see that!" he burst out.
Luke and Rani joined him and peered through the window to see Sarah Jane sitting at a table opposite a handsome middle-aged man. She was holding hands with the man and was looking relaxed and happy in his presence. "Oh, my God." Rani stared.
The trio watched as Sarah Jane leaned over the table to the man, their faces inches apart. "Oh, no, they're not gonna..." Clyde squirmed as he saw the couple kiss each other. "Oh, people are eating." Clive grumbled, then he heard a wheezing and groaning noise coming from somewhere nearby. He turned towards the noise, trying to see where it had come from, then shrugged as the sound faded.
"Wow. Just wow." Rani remarked as the trio retreated from the window and walked across the road.
"Nobody over 22 should be doing that in public." Clyde muttered. "Actually at all."
Rani rolled her eyes at him. "Shut up, Clyde. Aw, that's so brilliant, she's got herself a man!"
"What're we gonna say?" Luke wandered.
"We're not gonna say anything." Rani decided. "She wants to keep it a secret, so we never saw that, and we don't know. Yeah? Luke?"
"Yeah." Luke concurred. "We thought she was hunting aliens!" he remarked, and the three friends all burst out laughing.
~8~
Later, the trio were back in the attic of 13 Bannerman Road. "He looked really posh." Clyde remarked. "I bet he's called Henry or..."
Suddenly, Rani heard footsteps coming up the stairs. "She's coming." she warned, and the trio all picked up their textbooks and did their best to look nonchalant as Sarah Jane entered.
"What're you all doing up here?" she asked them.
"Well, the exams are coming up, so we've gotta work." Clyde lied.
"Luke's been helping us." Rani added. "Did you have a good evening?"
"Yeah, how was the, er, meeting?" Clyde asked sweetly.
"Nothing special." Sarah Jane lied. Then, she saw that Mr Smith was active. "Why's Mr Smith still out?"
Mr Smith's screen was still displaying the tracker feed on Sarah Jane's car. "Information. Sarah Jane's car is now parked outside the house."
"What?" Sarah Jane stared. "Mr Smith?"
"Oh, hello, Sarah Jane, I have been tracking your position as instructed by Luke."
"Big mouth." Clyde grumbled. "You did that on purpose."
"K9, what have they been doing?" Sarah Jane asked the dog.
"I have been instructed to withhold information." K-9 replied.
"What was your exact instruction?"
"Mistress Rani instructed me not to relay the information that you were followed to your assignation."
"The gob on you!" Rani glared.
"You've been spying on me?" Sarah Jane frowned at the youngsters.
"We were worried." Luke defended. "When you've kept something secret before, it's always been a disaster."
"Does that give you the right to poke into my private business?" Sarah Jane challenged. There was a second of silence, then Sarah Jane laughed. "I was about to tell you anyway!"
"Who's the lucky fella, then?" Clyde asked.
"His name's Peter Dalton, and yes, he's very lucky, and rather marvellous."
"Yay! Where'd you meet him?" Rani probed.
"Oh no, that's all. End of discussion." Sarah Jane said firmly, pushing the trio out of the door. "You two, home. Luke, bed. I'll be in to say goodnight. Go on, go off!"
"Sweet dreams!" Clyde smirked as he and his friends left the room.
"I should be angry." Sarah Jane said to herself. "Why am I not angry?"
K-9 extended his eye sensor. "Mistress, I detect you are experiencing a heightened emotional state. Alpha waves high, heartbeat fast, increased serotonin."
"Oh, K-9, always the romantic." Sarah Jane snorted.
"Affirmative."
~8~
Luke was soon in bed. Sarah Jane came in to say goodnight to him. "Honestly, I was about to tell you." she said as she sat down on the bed. "I think. I'm not exactly an expert on matters of the heart."
"Neither am I." Luke said.
"I thought something was bound to go wrong, with my track record. Only it keeps getting better.
"I didn't know you had those sort of feelings." Luke commented.
"Men were interested before, but then I'd think, how can a relationship go anywhere with my bizarre life?"
"Where'd you meet him?" Luke asked.
"In the shoe shop." Sarah Jane replied. "We just got talking, and he gave me his phone number."
"I didn't know people of your age did that sort of thing." Luke said cheekily.
"Cheek! I wasn't going to call him, but then I bumped into him again and it got me thinking. I cut myself off from people for all those years. How could anyone like me, with what I know, what I do, ever have proper friends? But then I got you, and Maria and Clyde and Rani, and things changed, and perhaps they're changing on this front, too."
"You look really happy."
"But there's still the big problem, isn't there?" Sarah Jane mused. "I can't suddenly spring it all on Peter. Oh, by the way, I used to go travelling through space and time in a phone box with a Time Lord."
"Here's my son who was created as part of an experiment by the Bane." Luke added.
"I've got a talking computer and a robot dog." Sarah Jane continued.
"Oh, by the way. My lipstick, it's deadly." Luke laughed.
Sarah Jane laughed too, and hugged her son. "But I do want you to meet him." she continued. "Can we just keep all this madness quiet for a bit longer, hmm? See how things go." She got up to leave. "And whatever happens, we're okay, you and me? Good night." She left the room and Luke settled back into bed.
Suddenly, just for a second, there was a wheezing and groaning sound somewhere in the distance. Luke bolted upright, but the noise had gone.
~8~
Three days later...
A smartly dressed Luke checked himself in the mirror as K-9 watched. "I hope I look ok." Luke remarked as he tried to tame his shaggy hair.
"Okay. Adequate but unremarkable quality." K-9 recited.
"I don't know how I'm supposed to react. What am I supposed to call him? Peter? Mr Dalton? Dad? What if I don't even like him?" Luke fussed.
"Regret I do not have the answer to these questions, Master Luke. Suggest consult another human being."
Just then, Sarah Jane poked her head around the door. "Come on, Luke, he'll be here any moment. Chop, chop." she ordered, and was gone in a blur.
"Right. Stay quiet, K-9. He mustn't find out about you, got it?" Luke asked the dog.
"Understood." K-9 acknowledged.
~8~
A post van was parked outside No. 13 and Sarah Jane was signing for a large cardboard box that the van was delivering to her. Rani opened the front door of her house to see Clyde walking past. "Oi! Clyde! What're you doing here?" she asked him.
"I think I left my phone charger in the attic." Clyde replied, nodding to Sarah Jane's house.
"Oh, yeah?" Rani raised a brow.
"All right, I want a good old look at the mystery man." Clyde admitted.
"Hold on, so do I." Rani said, and they set off across the road together.
Sarah Jane had finished signing for the box and the postman returned to his van just as Peter arrived at the wheel of a shiny black convertible Mercedes Benz. Sarah Jane waved at him with a big smile, and Peter waved back.
"Oh, hi, Sarah Jane. Is that your new man?" Clyde asked as he and Rani approached.
"What are you doing here?" Sarah Jane asked them.
"Er, well..." Rani began, but before she could say anything else, the box in Sarah Jane's arms suddenly bulged, as if there was something alive inside it.
Just then, Peter joined them, carrying a big bunch of red roses. "Hullo there!" he greeted Sarah Jane, and offered her the flowers. "These are for you."
"Oh. Thank you." Sarah Jane nodded, a bit dumbstruck.
"Everything alright?" Peter asked.
Thinking quickly, Rani took the box from Sarah Jane. "Oh, thanks for looking after that for me." she lied. "Come on, Clyde."
"But..." Clyde began, then admitted defeat. "Hello." he said to Peter, and he and Rani headed back over the road to the Chandra house.
With her hands free, Sarah Jane took the flowers from Peter. "Oh, Peter, they're lovely. Thank you."
"Are you sure everything's alright?" Peter asked her.
"Yes. Oh, they're beautiful."
Rani and Clyde meanwhile arrived back at the Chandra house to find Rani's mother Gita at the front door. "Ooh! Is that Sarah's man arriving?" she asked eagerly.
"Mum, have you got no shame?" Rani moaned.
"Least we were trying to be subtle." Clyde smirked. "What is that?" he wandered, looking at the box in Rani's arms.
"How should I know?" Rani shrugged, carrying the box into the house.
Luke meanwhile had come out of No. 13. "Now, this must be Luke." Peter commented.
"Nice to meet you, Mr Dalton." Luke said politely.
"It's Peter, please." Peter said kindly. "I've heard all about you. You're the apple of your mother's eye, I can tell you." He and Luke shook hands, then Peter eyed Sarah Jane's home. "So, this is where you live. Amazing place."
Rani had put the box in her living room and joined her mother and Clyde back outside. "Blimey, he's quite dishy. She's done all right for herself." Gita remarked.
"Cool car." Clyde added, eyeing Peter's Merc.
Gita then decided to breeze over to No. 13. "Mum, come back!" Rani hissed, but her mother paid her no attention. "Clyde!" She pointed inside her house, and Clyde obeyed.
Gita joined Peter and the Smiths. "Oh, hello. Just popping to the shops. Do you want anything?" she asked Sarah Jane innocently.
"No thanks." Sarah Jane waved her off. "Peter, this is Gita from across the road."
"Ooh! Peter and Gita, funny!" Gita tittered.
"Gita, nice to meet you." Peter said politely.
"Pretty flowers." Gita commented, seeing the rose Peter had given Sarah Jane. "I run a flower shop, my darling, Bloomin' Lovely, on the parade? You should pop in, I'll give you a discount. I do lovely displays for weddings."
"And that's quite enough of that, thank you." Sarah Jane rolled her eyes.
"Well, I'll be off, then." Gita said, and began to set off.
"The shop's that way, Mrs Chandra." Luke smirked, pointing in the opposite direction to where Gita was going.
"Oh yeah. See ya!" And Gita went off in the correct direction of her shop.
"Oh, let me just pop these in some water." Sarah Jane said, and took the flowers inside her house.
~8~
"Ok, he looks alright." Clyde conceded as he and Rani entered the Chandras' living room. Suddenly, the box bulged again. "Did that just move again?"
Before Rani could reply, an eyestalk poked it's way out of the box.
~8~
K-9's sensors twirled. "Alien activity detected. Alert!" He began to roll out of Luke's bedroom. "Activating stair negotiation, hover mode."
~8~
Clyde and Rani backed away as two eyestalks poked out of the box. "It's alive!" Rani realised.
"Let's hope it's harmless!" Clyde breathed.
The box burst in a shower of polystyrene to reveal a Travast Polong. "Stop! Stay calm! We're going to help you!" Rani tried to placate the creature, but the Polung had other ideas and scurried towards the open front door.
"I don't believe this!" Clyde grumbled as he and Rani gave chase.
~8~
Sarah Jane was just closing the door to No. 13 when K-9 burst excitedly through and outside. "Mistress, emergency! Alien activity detected." he announced.
"K9, shut up!" Sarah Jane hissed, looking panic-stricken to where Peter and Luke were talking by the car. "Get back inside. He mustn't see you! It's all meant to be normal."
But K-9 had other ideas. "Alert, Mistress! Previous instructions overridden. Danger!" And he trundled past Sarah Jane into the street.
Luke saw him. "K-9!" he hissed.
Peter had seen K-9 too. "Hello, what's that?" he asked.
Luke did some quick-thinking. "Oh, it's mine. It's a toy. It comes from Japan. It's a robot dog. K9, get it?"
"Alert!" K-9 announced as he trundled towards the Chandra home.
"But it talks." Peter stared.
"Yeah, it's got this programme with a few phrases." Luke lied.
"Do not look at me. Everything is normal."
"It's... a prototype. It always finds its way home again." Luke said as K-9 continued towards the Chandras.
"You know, I would like one of those." Peter remarked, buying Luke's cover story.
Sarah Jane walked over to them. "Let's go, then." she said hastily.
"The toys kids have nowadays." Peter commented, "Computers and everything, it's incredible! Remember that thing with the horse? I thought it was the best thing in the world, you had to put stuff on it's back and..."
As he was talking, Sarah Jane looked over his shoulder to see Clyde and Rani rummaging through the bushes, which were shaking as the Travast Polong scurried through them. "Stop it!" Clyde urged Rani.
"How do I stop it?" Rani countered.
"Alert! Alert!" K-9 announced as the Polong burst out of the bushes and up the path towards him.
Peter was about to turn around, so Sarah Jane grabbed him. "Buckaroo!" she said hastily. "Yes, it was great, wasn't it, and then there was Meccano, of course, and hula hoops, and those dolls with the string thing..." She grabbed Peter by the arm and led him to his car. "Let's go!" And she and Luke practically bundled Peter into his car.
"Yeah, I'm starving." Luke said as they climbed in after him.
"I thought we'd try the new Italian in the high street." Peter said as he pulled out of the Smith's driveway, blissfully unaware of Clyde, Rani and K-9 trying to capture the errant Polong.
~8~
Luke, Sarah Jane and Peter were soon all sat around a table in a fancy Italian restaurant, all getting along. " I'd really like to go to university, but I think I'd also like to work on my own projects." Luke was saying to Peter.
Just then, Sarah Jane's phone rang and she checked the screen to see that Rani was calling. "Better get this." she said to the boys. "Sorry." She headed off to a secluded corner and answered the call. "Rani."
~8~
Rani and Clyde were in the attic of 13 Bannerman Road, having caught the Polong and forced it into a metal dustbin. "There you go, my son." Clyde said as he sat on top of the bin to weigh it down.
"We got it." Rani said into her phone. "What is it?"
"Travast Polong" Sarah Jane replied.." Not evil, just trouble. I saw him on eBay. The seller had no idea what he was. It turns out he was in his dormant cycle."
"He would choose today to wake up!" Rani grumbled.
"Get Mr Smith to open up a link to Polongus and they'll transmat him home."
"Already on it." Rani acknowledged.
"Polongus receiving now. Earth transmitting now." Mr Smith announced.
Rani and Clyde watched as the bin was teleported away in a white light. "Problem solved." Rani told Sarah Jane. "You have fun, right?"
~8~
Luke and Peter were still talking at the table. "But Mum always has a way of getting things out of you." Luke was saying.
"It must be being a journalist, she has to know everything." Peter replied.
"Yes, that is so true!" Luke laughed.
Peter then saw Sarah Jane returning to the table. "Watch this." he winked at Luke.
"You boys ok?" Sarah Jane asked as she joined them.
"Oh yes, yes." Peter replied innocently. "Luke and I were just discussing er... Oh, never mind, it's not important."
"Oh, no, go on, what?
"Don't worry about it, Mum, it was nothing." Luke said, playing along with Peter.
"No, go on, what were you talking about?" Sarah Jane persisted. "Tell me. Come on." Both Luke and Peter exchanged amused looks. "What's so funny? What?"
"Nothing." Luke smirked.
~8~
Two days later...
Clyde was in the Chandras' kitchen, sat at Rani's laptop as Rani returned from fixing them both glasses of squash from the fridge. "What're you doing?" she asked, peering over Clyde's shoulder.
"Just being nosy." Clyde replied. "Looking up Peter's gaffe. 120 Christchurch Walk, W4."
The screen showed a Google image of a large, posh house. "Nice place." Rani remarked.
"Weird. For sale sign." Clyde said, pointing to a 'for sale' sign outside the house in the picture. He then zoomed into the image. "Newspapers in the windows. Looks empty."
"That picture could have been taken months back." Rani shrugged.
"No, no, look. It says three weeks ago." Clyde countered.
"I'll ask Sarah Jane."
"But Luke told me that she's never been to his place. Let's go round there."
"Are you joking?" Rani stared.
"We'll just have a look." Clyde persisted.
"Oh Clyde, Peter is not an alien." Rani rolled her eyes.
"I know. K9 scanned him. But Sarah Jane's loaded, right? All this money from her aunt, the house, what if he wants to get his hands on it?" Clyde suggested.
"He's a partner in a law firm. He earns thousands." Rani countered. "I know why you're doing this. You don't want things to change. Neither do I. But Sarah Jane's happy. Isn't that important?"
"Yeah. And I want her to stay happy." Clyde said, getting up and grabbing his coat. "Come on."
~8~
Peter and Sarah Jane were sat in a restaurant, holding hands. "I don't quite know how to say this..." Peter began.
"What's the matter?" Sarah Jane asked, thinking the worst.
"Nothing's the matter, that's it." Peter then decided to just come out with it. "Sarah Jane, I love you."
"Good. Because the funny thing is, I love you too." Sarah Jane smiled at him.
~8~
Clyde and Rani had arrived at Peter's house and found that just like in the photograph, the windows were covered up and a for sale sign stood outside. Clyde managed to heave a window open and dropped inside the property. "Come on." he said to Rani, who climbed in after him. "Whoa, this place is creepy." Clyde commented as he looked around. The room was completely empty, with no carpet and bare walls. There was an air of decay and abandonment to the place. "It's freezing."
"We got the right place, didn't we?" Rani wandered.
"Course we did." Clyde replied. "Look at this place, I knew it! Lair of the living dead!"
"There could be a million reasons for this, I dunno, he's got everything in storage." Rani tried to reason.
Clyde headed into the hallway. "Oh, yeah?" he challenged, pointing to a mountain of unopened post by the front door.
~8~
Peter crouched down on one knee and produced a ring box. "Sarah Jane, will you marry me?" He opened the box to reveal a diamond ring.
"Oh, it's beautiful." Sarah Jane gasped. "Oh, Peter, I love you."
"And that means...?"
"Yes, of course. Yes, yes, yes!"
The whole restaurant burst into applause as Peter and Sarah Jane kissed. When they broke apart, Peter slipped the ring onto Sarah Jane's finger.
"A perfect fit." she smiled.
As the lovers gazed into each other's eyes, Sarah Jane didn't notice the three diamonds on the ring glow red for a split second.
~8~
Later, Clyde and Rani arrived in Sarah Jane's attic to find her and Luke happy and hugging. "Hey, I've just been telling Luke. I've got some big news. Wonderful news! Peter and I, we're getting married." Sarah Jane told them happily.
"What?" Clyde stared.
"Well, you don't have to look so pleased." Sarah Jane deadpanned. "I know it's a bit of a shock, but Peter's got it all planned."
"I bet he has." Rani frowned.
"What d'you mean?"
"Sarah Jane, we went round Peter's house."
"You did what?" Luke stared.
"There's nothing there. It's empty." Clyde explained.
"What? What do you mean?" Sarah Jane frowned. But before she could probe further, the diamonds on the ring glowed again and she suddenly blinked all of her doubt away. "I know it's empty." she said nonchalantly. "He doesn't really live there. He's a senior partner; his firm got him a flat in London nearer the office."
"And you've been there? Clyde probed.
"Plenty of times." Sarah Jane answered, completely blasé. "Oh, I should be angry with you, breaking in there. It's what I'd do, isn't it? Oh, look at you. I've made you all so suspicious. But this is a happy thing, and I want you all to be part of it. It isn't the end of the world. So thanks, but there's no need to sneak around or worry about anything."
"So when's the wedding?" Rani asked.
"End of next week."
"Next week?!" Luke stared.
"Well, at my age, why wait?" Sarah Jane shrugged.
"You what?" Clyde stared. "That's mad!"
"Peter had it all on standby." Sarah Jane continued. "A nice hotel in the country. You're all invited. And you, Luke, you can give me away."
"Do I have to do a speech?" Luke asked.
"I will help, Master Luke." K-9 offered.
"Oh, it'll be full of robot joke, won't it?" Rani rolled her eyes.
"Don't you think this is a bit fast?" Clyde asked Sarah Jane, still suspicious of Peter's motives.
"Oh, you're telling me, I've got so much to arrange. A lot of changes." Sarah Jane said as the diamonds glowed again.
"Sarah Jane, anomaly detected." Mr Smith warned.
"That reminds me. First big change. Mr Smith, commence deactivation programme." Sarah Jane ordered, seemingly not listening.
"But Sarah Jane, I have detected an impulse registering..."
But Sarah Jane paid him no heed and pulled a large lever. "Initiate total deactivation, Mr Smith. Protocol Five."
"Complying. Goodbye, Sarah Jane." Mr Smith said, and slid back into the chimney breast.
"No, Sarah Jane! He was trying to tell us something." Clyde protested.
But Sarah Jane didn't care a bit. "The world can look after itself. I'm busy with something normal for a change. I don't want anything, any of this..." she gestured around the attic, "getting in the way."
"You haven't told Peter about our thing, what we do?" Luke asked.
"Why should I? Perhaps I never will. Perhaps that's the solution."
Clyde couldn't believe what he was hearing. "What? I don't like this."
"I know what'll stop you worrying, Clyde. You can dog sit for me. You can look after K-9." Sarah Jane told him nonchalantly.
"What? What, really? What do I say to my mum?"
"Oh, come on, Clyde Langer, when have you ever been short of excuses?" Sarah Jane snorted. "Oh, and Rani, keep Saturday free. Dress shopping. You're going to make a lovely bridesmaid.
"You're on!" Rani grinned. "And there's that wedding fair."
"I know. And your mum can do the flowers before she asks. Right, come on, everybody out. Things to do. Come on."
"K-9, walkies." Clyde said begrudgingly, still having his doubts.
The group all left the attic, with Sarah Jane being the last to leave. "And goodbye to all that." she said as she turned the light off.
~8~
Two weeks later, Peter, Luke and Clyde were stood outside Gerard House, a posh country hotel, all dressed for the wedding. As the groom, Peter was dressed to the nines in an expensive suit, while the two boys were also wearing suits, though Clyde was wearing trainers with his. Luke was checking the contents of an envelope that he'd been carrying in his pockets. "What have you got there?" Peter asked him.
"A message from our friend Maria." Luke replied. "She couldn't make it. She's got exams and her dad's tied up at work."
"My mum's gone to another wedding." Clyde added. "Too short notice, it's all been so fast. And the Brigadier's her oldest friend, of course, but he's back in Peru. Any of your family coming, Peter?" he asked.
"I'm afraid I'm the only one left." Peter replied. "Last of the line."
"Mr Dalton? Can I have a word?" the registrar called.
"Back in a sec." Peter told the boys, and walked away to talk to the registrar.
"There's something so weird about this." Clyde said to Luke now that they were alone.
"Clyde, you didn't have to come." Luke reminded him.
"I wouldn't miss this. What if something happens?"
"Just because your dad turned out bad, doesn't mean mine will." Luke snorted.
"He's not your dad." Clyde reminded.
"He's going to be. Don't spoil mum's day." Luke warned him.
Meanwhile, Gita and her husband Haresh had arrived at the hotel. "Is this it?" Gita raised a brow, looking at the other guests. "That's Emma, does her hair. Clarissa, used to be her editor. Oh, that's her accountant. I can't remember his name."
"You must be slipping." Haresh snorted.
"Bit of a sorry turnout." Gita commented. "That's what happens when you rush to get married."
"It's rather peculiar." Haresh remarked. "Marry in haste, repent at leisure, they say."
"Trust you to be the voice of doom, Haresh. Smile." Gita told him as they approached Peter.
"Congratulations." Haresh said politely to the groom as they shook hands.
"Thank you." Peter acknowledged.
Luke then stepped forward to begin the proceedings. "Hello, everybody. Welcome. It's time, so if you'd like to go in."
And so Clyde, the guests and the Chandras followed Peter into the hotel. "So where're you heading after the reception, Peter?" Gita asked. "Anywhere exotic?"
"Afterwards is a surprise." Peter answered mysteriously.
"Can't be any worse than our honeymoon." Gita remarked. "Total disaster."
"I enjoyed it." Haresh muttered.
"Brussels. There's nothing there!" Gita grumbled as they all disappeared inside the hotel.
Luke stood alone as an immaculate white Rolls Royce arrived outside the hotel. The chauffer opened the passenger door and out emerged Sarah Jane, dressed to the nines in an elegant wedding dress. "Mum!" Luke stared at his mother. Moments later, Rani emerged from the car, wearing a nice pink bridesmaid dress. "Rani, you look good!"
"I look 'good'?" Rani raised a brow.
"You look amazing. Both of you." Luke said. Sarah Jane took his arm, and they began to walk into the hotel, Rani following. "I thought you might have wanted the Doctor to give you away." Luke said to his mother.
"I need somebody reliable, and I'm so very, very glad it's you." Sarah Jane replied. "Besides, where would I send the invite, Metebelis III?" she joked.
As Rani brought up the rear, she turned her head as she heard a wheezing, groaning sound, like engines that were straining. Then she heard the first strains of the wedding march from inside and shrugged off the strange noise.
~8~
The wedding was to take place in the hotel's function room, which had been done up for the occasion. The registrar stood at the head of the aisle, with Peter standing nervously nearby. Haresh and Gita were sat on the left-hand side of the front row, while Clyde was sat on the right. Near him was a table covered by a floor-length sheet. Sarah Jane, Luke and Rani made their entrance, accompanied by the wedding march belting out of a CD player. As the trio made their way down the aisle, an usher left the room and closed the doors behind them, closing off the wedding to the outside world.
Gita was in bits already. "Look at our Rani. It only seems like yesterday she was in pigtails. Oh, Sarah looks so happy. It's just like a fairy tale." she sniffled.
"Pull yourself together." her husband rolled his eyes, though he was proud of his daughter serving as bridesmaid.
Clyde took the opportunity to lean over to the table next to him and lift the cloth up to reveal K-9 under the table. "K-9, scan." he whispered.
"All normal, Master Clyde." K-9 reported.
"Yeah, so far." Clyde commented, though he still had his doubts.
Luke had seen him. "You brought the dog?" he challenged as he and Rani took their seats next to Clyde.
"Well, what did you think was under there, the wedding cake?" Clyde retorted. "There's something wrong about this."
Sarah Jane was now at the head of the aisle, holding hands with her husband-to-be as the Registrar began the proceedings. "Good afternoon, everyone, I'm the Superintendent Registrar. We are here today to witness the marriage of Sarah Jane Smith and Peter Anthony Dalton. In each other's company they have found happiness, fulfilment and love, and they wish to affirm their relationship with this marriage. Now, I have to ask this question. If any person can show just cause or impediment why they may not be joined together, let them speak now or forever hold their peace."
Suddenly, the doors burst open and a tall, thin man in a blue pinstripe suit and brown coat charged into the room. "Stop this wedding now!" he hollered.
"What?" Sarah Jane stared at the sight of him. It was the tenth incarnation of the Time Lord known as the Doctor.
"What's going on?" Gita stared at the newcomer.
"Who the hell is that?" Haresh wandered.
"I don't believe it." Luke exclaimed, recognising the Doctor from when he'd seen him on the subwave network during the Dalek invasion a few months earlier.
"Who's he?" Rani asked him.
"Master!" K-9 exclaimed, trundling out from his hiding place under the table.
The Doctor was then joined by a beautiful caramel-haired woman in a black pinstripe suit. This was the Doctor's wife and the fifth incarnation of the Time Lady known as Gazelle. "I'm sorry, Sarah Jane, but this wedding can't go ahead." she said seriously.
But before anyone could say or do anything, all hell broke loose. A screaming wind rushed through the room, pushing back the Doctor and Gazelle as they tried to make their way closer to Sarah Jane. "Alert! Alert! Danger, Mistress!" K-9 warned, rolling in circles.
"Stop! Get away from him!" the Doctor urged Sarah Jane.
Sarah Jane was startled, but she trusted her old friend's instincts and tried to walk away from Peter, but he held her back. "No! Peter, no!" she protested.
"Don't be afraid, Sarah Jane. It's the angel." Peter said calmly.
As if on cue, a figure in white appeared in the corner of the room. The figure was Humanoid, but had no eyes or nose on it's face, just a mouth with sharp teeth. The three teenagers recognised it instantly. "It's the Trickster!" Rani realised.
"Mum!" Luke cried as he tried to get closer to his mother, but the wind was too strong and he was forced back. "Mum!"
The Doctor and Gazelle were battling against the wind up the aisle. "Sarah!" the Doctor yelled out.
"Let her go, Trickster!" Gazelle demanded.
"Too late, Time Lords!" the Trickster sneered, moving closer to the bride and groom. "You're mine, Sarah Jane Smith. Mine forever."
"Sarah!" the Doctor cried as a vortex whirled up around the Trickster, Peter and Sarah Jane.
"Doctor!" Sarah Jane screamed as she disappeared into the vortex, her scream echoing away.
"Sarah Jane! Noooo!" the Doctor yelled as he and Gazelle tried to battle their way through the hurricane that was tearing through the room.
Then, the air began to ripple, quake and shudder. The Time Lords were forced back into the aisle, while Rani's parents and the other guests began to disappear like the bride and groom had. "Mum! Dad!" Rani cried in horror.
Gazelle realised what was happening. "Brace yourselves!" she warned, and she and the Doctor hit the deck as a blinding white light filled the room.
~8~
Luke regained consciousness to find himself lying on the floor of the function room with Gazelle crouched over him. "Luke? Luke, can ya hear me?" she said as she tried to bring him round. The Doctor meanwhile was checking on Clyde and Rani, who were both sprawled nearby.
"Gaz... Gazelle?" Luke blinked as he regained his senses. He recognized her from the subwave call after the Daleks had been defeated, when they were getting ready to move Earth back to it's proper position.
"Yep, that's me." the Time Lady confirmed. "I would say it's nice to meet ya in person at last, but under the circumstances, I don't think it's appropriate."
"Doctor?" Luke looked over to Gazelle's husband as he joined them. "What, what happened? Mum and the Trickster."
"Luke, Luke, Luke, Luke, listen to me. Everything's going to be alright." the Doctor tried to reassure him. "We can find Sarah, we can bring her back, we promise."
"But we need you to be strong for us." Gazelle added. "Just like you were when the Daleks were invading. We know you can do it."
Luke stood up and looked around just as Clyde and Rani regained consciousness. "Who are you two?" Clyde stared at the two Time Lords.
"Hello, Clyde!" the Doctor greeted cheerfully. "And that'll be Rani."
"What? How d'you know my name?" Clyde blinked.
"Wait a minute. You must be... it's you two, isn't it?" Rani looked between the Time Lords. "The Doctor..."
"That's me." the Doctor puffed his chest out.
"And Gazelle."
"Hello." Gazelle gave Rani a small wave.
"Hope you're as good as Sarah Jane says you are." Clyde said to the Doctor.
"Well, you know journalists, always exaggerating. But yeah, I'm pretty amazing on a good day." the Doctor boasted.
"And pretty vain about it too." Gazelle said wryly.
"Master, query. Where is Mistress Sarah Jane?" K-9 asked.
"K-9!" the Doctor smiled at the robot dog. "Did ya miss me? Did ya miss me?" he tickled K-9's metalwork.
"Repeat. Whereabouts of Sarah Jane? Where is she?"
Clyde meanwhile had gone over to the window. "Where are we?" he wandered. The others joined him to see nothing but a white void outside.
"There's been a dimensional shift." the Doctor realised. "Time's moved on but us, and this entire building, we've been left behind."
"There's nothing out there." Rani stared. And indeed, the entire hotel was floating in limbo.
"One of the Trickster's party pieces." Gazelle commented.
"I said all along, I knew there was something wrong about all of this." Clyde burst out. "And what exactly is going on?"
"We'll explain later." the Doctor waved him off.
Then, as the teenagers recovered, they all began talking at once.
"Where's Sarah Jane? How can we be in the same place, what's going on?"
"What's going on? That was the Trickster! Where's my mum and dad?"
"If he's got mum, where is she? Where's he taken her? We've got to think of a way to find her."
Gazelle attempted to calm them down by sticking her fingers in her mouth and whistling, but only succeeded in making a raspberry noise. "D'oh, still haven't got the hang of that." she muttered.
The Doctor took out a football rattle from his pocket and rattled it loudly, silencing the teenagers. "Shush. Here's the answer to all your questions. Yes, that was the Trickster. Yes, we're trapped. Yes, Gazelle and I are the only ones who can get us out of the trap. Yes, we're gonna bring Sarah Jane, and ya mum and dad, and all the others back safe, but we can't do any of it without you." he fired off in quick succession.
"You, you need us?" Clyde blinked.
"Just like Sarah Jane does." Gazelle told him.
"My mum and dad, where are they?" Rani asked.
"Rani, just go along with them." Like told her. "I saw them save the world."
"You helped us, Luke. Don't forget that." Gazelle reminded, putting an arm around the boy's shoulder.
"Right. Come on, we can use the TARDIS." the Doctor said, taking charge as usual. "I assume everybody knows what the TARDIS is, unless you've really not been paying attention."
"Be nice, dear." Gazelle said as the Doctor took her hand.
"Right, allons-y!" the Doctor said, and led the way out into reception only to find nothing there. "Oh, no, no, no, no. It was there. It was right there!" the Doctor moaned.
Gazelle took out her TARDIS keys to find them glowing. "Wait." she told the Doctor, and the TARDIS struggled to materialise, her engines protesting.
"That noise. I've heard it before." Rani realised.
"That was us, trying to break through." the Doctor told her.
"Unfortunately, the Trickster had other ideas." Gazelle added. "He's put some sort of energy blockade around the building."
"Temporal schism is preventing TARDIS materialisation." K-9 reported as he joined them.
"Wait a minute... that's the TARDIS?" Clyde asked sceptically as the TARDIS faintly appeared. "It's just a wooden box."
"Come on, you can do it. More power. Come on!" the Doctor muttered to the TARDIS, but it was no use and the box abruptly faded again. "Okay, got no TARDIS. She can't materialise here until time moves forward."
"Nothing can ever be easy, can it?" Gazelle huffed.
"What, so we're trapped here, wherever this is?" Rani stared.
"No, 'cos what have we got? We've got K-9!" the Doctor beamed.
"Affirmative." K-9 agreed.
"And we've got you three." Gazelle pointed to the three teenagers.
"And any friend of Sarah Jane's is a friend of ours." the Doctor concurred.
"But where is this?" Clyde asked. "What's happened to the rest of the world?"
"Our present location; nowhere, no when." K-9 reported.
"No when?" Luke questioned.
Gazelle looked at her watch, that at the wall behind the teenagers. "Look at the clocks." she told them, and the trio turned around to see that the hands on the large clock on the wall had stopped at 23 minutes past three. "Time's stopped."
"What? You're joking." Clyde looked at his own watch to that it had stopped at 15:23 too.
Luke meanwhile noticed a telly on the receptionist's desk showing an excerpt from a horse race. The telly kept showing the same clip of the horses jumping over hurdles again and again. "No. Time hasn't stopped. This second's on a loop." he realised. "Twenty three seconds and twenty three minutes past three o'clock."
"And we're caught inside it." the Doctor confirmed. "This one second."
But again, where's Sarah Jane?" Clyde wandered.
"I think she's right here." the Doctor said thoughtfully.
~8~
Sarah Jane awoke to find herself lying on the floor of the function room. "What happened...?" she blinked as she sat up to find no sign of the guests or her friends.
Then she turned to see Peter standing before her, smiling. "Don't worry, Sarah Jane." he said calmly.
"Peter, what's going on? Where is everybody?" Sarah Jane asked as Peter helped her to her feet.
"Everything's going to be fine." Peter said as he saw the diamonds on Sarah Jane's engagement ring glow red again. "We're about to be married. This is our perfect day."
"Another man. The Doctor?"
"Sarah Jane, please listen to me. All you have to say is I do, and then we'll be together." Peter produced the gold wedding ring from his pocket.
"I'm so confused." Sarah Jane sighed, walking past him towards the window. "I need some air." She stopped when she saw the white void outside. "What's happened, where are we?"
"You don't understand. Just say you'll marry me. Say I do."
Sarah Jane smiled. "Of course we're getting married." She began to walk back towards Peter.
"Do you take me as your lawfully wedded husband?"
"I... I..." Sarah Jane faltered as something inside her fought back. "Oh, but there's another man. Always... the Doctor. Where's the Doctor? And Gazelle? She was there too! Doctor? Gazelle?" She reached a hand out to the door and saw her ring glowing red. It was then that she realised that the ring was controlling her. "No..." She turned around to face Peter, realising that he had tricked her. "No!" She prized the ring from her finger and threw it way, angry and betrayed.
~8~
"So we've been kept behind in this second?" Rani asked as she and her friends looked around the empty reception.
"Affirmative, Mistress Rani." K-9 confirmed.
"But the rest of the world, Mum and Dad and everyone else, they've moved on from here, forwards in time. Why has the Trickster trapped us here?" Rani wandered.
"I think you already know the answer to that question, Rani." Gazelle said, sitting next to Luke on the stairs, comforting him, while the Doctor knelt on the floor wearing his glasses.
"We're Sarah Jane's friends, all of us. Her best friends." Rani thought aloud.
The Doctor stood up and removed his glasses. "Yeah. Which means?" he prompted, taking off his coat and tossing it aside.
"Hostages. He can use us to get at her." Rani realised.
"Yes, we're afraid so." Gazelle confirmed. "We're the Trickster's bargaining chips."
"We've met the Trickster before, but we've never found out who he is." Clyde remarked.
"The Trickster is a creature from beyond the universe," the Doctor explained, "forever trying to break in to our reality, manifest himself. He's one of the Pantheon of Discord."
"That's a good name for a band." Clyde smirked.
"Actually, it is, now that you mention it." Gazelle commented. "But back to the point, he's an exile from the Eternals, existing only to create havoc wherever he goes."
"But we can fight him, the six of us." the Doctor said encouragingly. "And we can win." And as if on cue, there came a beeping sound and the Doctor took out his sonic screwdriver to find that it was the source of the beeping. "Ha! That's it, a time trace!" he grinned. "A hint of Sarah Jane. Ooh, she's close!"
~8~
"The moment you put that ring on my finger, I was your puppet!" Sarah Jane fumed, backing away from Peter, towards the function room door.
"It isn't like that." Peter tried to pacify her. "It was in case something went wrong. The angel said that people would try and stop us being happy. Listen..." he stepped towards her, "I'll explain."
"The angel?" Sarah Jane frowned, putting two and two together. "Of course! I saw him; the Trickster!" She flung open the door and ran out into reception, which was completely empty. "Doctor, where are you? Gazelle?" She looked around and slowly made her way past the reception desk.
~8~
The Doctor was stood on top of a settee, holding his sonic screwdriver close to his face, while the others all waited anxiously for news. Suddenly, Rani, who was standing next to the desk, shuddered. "Urgh, what was that?" she gasped.
"What was what?" Gazelle asked her.
"Felt like someone just walked over my grave." Rani explained.
Gazelle suddenly realised. "Try scanning over there, dear." she told her husband, who aimed his sonic screwdriver in Rani's direction.
"Oh, oh, oh, she's here." the Doctor said as the screwdriver's beeping increased. "She's here! Sarah!"
"Sarah Jane." Rani corrected. "She doesn't like being called Sarah."
"She does by me." the Doctor retorted.
Gazelle slipped on a pair of sunglasses and saw a ghostly figure moving towards the main doors, invisible to the naked eye, but visible through her sunglasses. "K-9?" she called, pointing in the direction the figure was heading.
"Scanning, Mistress Gazelle." K-9 acknowledged.
~8~
Sarah Jane threw the hotel's main doors open to find nothing but the white void outside. "Doctor! Gazelle!" she shouted out into the abyss.
~8~
"Doctor! Gazelle!" Sarah Jane's voice echoed.
"Mum!" Luke gasped, looking towards the doors.
"That was her!" Clyde realised.
"K9, isolate the time trace." the Doctor ordered.
"Affirmative, Master." K-9 acknowledged.
~8~
Peter followed Sarah Jane out into reception. "Sarah Jane, I want to tell you about the Angel."
Sarah Jane paid him no attention and backed out of the inner doors into the hotel. "Doctor! Gazelle!" she called out to thin air.
~8~
"K-9?" the Doctor asked.
"Temporal schism divided in two, Master." K-9 reported.
"I can't see her anymore." Gazelle added, taking off her sunglasses.
"Yes, of course. We're trapped here in 3:23:23. and Sarah Jane's trapped too, just in another second." the Doctor realised.
"Hold on." Clyde leaned back on a settee, he, Rani and Luke all crossing their arms. "You said you'd explain later. Well, it's later. Please explain."
"The Trickster doesn't want us helping Sarah Jane, so he's separated us; trapped us in two different seconds." the Doctor replied.
~8~
Sarah Jane looked at the telly on the receptionist's desk and saw the horse race, the footage looping just one movement after the loop Luke had spotted, then she looked at the clock to see it stopped at 15:23:24. "A time trap." she realised. She cast a disgusted look at Peter, then ran for the stairs.
~8~
"Doctor! Gazelle!" Sarah Jane's voice called from the first floor of the hotel.
The Doctor's head snapped up. "Oh, oh, she's upstairs." he realised. "Come on. Luke, K-9, watch for the TARDIS, you see her coming back, shout the place down."
"Orders accepted, Master." K-9 acknowledged.
"Clyde, Rani, you're with us." Gazelle added. "C'mon!" And the quartet hurried up the stairs.
~8~
Sarah Jane walked along the first floor landing and pushed a door open to find herself back in the downstairs function room, complete with Peter standing by the altar. "It's not possible." she stared.
"You can't run away, Sarah Jane." Peter told her.
"The one time I fall in love... the one time everything goes right, and it's a trap. I thought I loved you, but you aren't even real."
"You do love me." Peter took a few steps towards her. "I'm here, flesh and blood."
"Are you?" Sarah Jane challenged. "And I was worried about my secrets. Well, it turned out you were hiding something pretty big, weren't you?"
"I only kept one secret." Peter told her earnestly. "I knew you wouldn't believe me. You'd think I was mad. That's why I never told you about the Angel."
"The Angel? That's what you call him, but he, it, it's a creature, an alien being."
"Please, listen, I'll tell you everything. Please." Peter begged.
"Go on, then.." Sarah Jane conceded.
"A few months ago I was working from home. Had a stupid accident, fell down the stairs..."
~o0o~
Peter was making his way down the stairs of his home when he suddenly lost his footing and tumbled head over heels right down to the bottom.
~o0o~
"I thought I was going to die, then he appeared."
~o0o~
As Peter lay badly injured at the bottom of the stairs, the Trickster suddenly appeared before him. "Peter. I can give you life, and the true love you've always longed for." he said in a falsely benevolently voice. "All you have to do is give me your agreement. Do I have your agreement?"
"Yes." Peter murmured, too dazed to really question it.
~o0o~
"Then you are real." Sarah Jane's eyes filled with tears. "Oh, Peter, he tricked you."
"No. He found you for me. He wanted us to be happy."
"Then why the ring? Why hypnotise me?"
"He said it would protect you. But... you accepted my proposal before the ring went on. You said you loved me before the ring went on. Didn't you love me? Didn't you mean it?"
"Oh, Peter..." Sarah Jane came forward and embraced Peter.
~8~
The Doctor, Gazelle, Clyde and Rani ran along the first floor landing. "So you trained Sarah Jane, and Sarah Jane trained us!" Rani remarked to the Doctor.
"We're like your grandchildren." Clyde commented.
"Nothing like that, actually." the Doctor rolled his eyes. They arrived outside a door. "She's in here!"
They slammed through the door to find themselves back in the deserted function room downstairs. "Ever get the feeling you're going in circles?" Gazelle asked rhetorically.
"How did we end up here again?" Rani wandered.
"It's a spatial loop mixed up with a temporal loop." Clyde realised.
The others all looked at him. "You're getting good at this, Clyde." Gazelle remarked, impressed.
"How d'you work that out?" Rani asked her friend.
Clyde smirked, puffing his chest out and putting his hands in his suit pockets. "Well, we've been doing this for a while now. I have taken notes." he boasted.
The Doctor moved into the centre of the room. "Come on, come on, come on, Sarah. Let me find you." he muttered, waving his sonic screwdriver around like a magic wand.
~8~
Sarah Jane pulled back from Peter's embrace and led him over to the chairs by the altar. "And now for the things I never told you. I've fought him before. I fight creatures like him. That is my life. And he's used my past, my parents, against me, and now he's using you." she told him.
Peter shook his head in disbelief. "He saved me. He brought us together."
But Sarah Jane knew better. "I'll show you what he is. Trickster? Trickster!" she called out.
Right on cue, the Trickster appeared. "Sarah Jane."
"Why have you done this? What do you want?" Sarah Jane demanded, walking towards him.
"I want you to be happy." the Trickster answered simply.
~8~
The Time Lords scoured the function room for any sign of Sarah Jane; the Doctor scanning with his sonic screwdriver and Gazelle looking around with her sunglasses. Clyde and Rani were watching them when something occurred to Rani. "Hang on, though. This is mad. The Trickster, he's this all-powerful immortal who wants to cause chaos throughout the stars, and he wants Sarah Jane to get married. What does he get out of that?"
"Good question." Gazelle nodded. "I can see why Sarah Jane holds the both of you in such high esteem."
~8~
Sarah Jane eyed the Trickster doubtfully. "You want us to get married. And then what?"
You will forget all that has happened here as though it has never been, and then here is the life you will lead." the Trickster waved his hand and Sarah Jane had a vision of the possible future; marrying Peter and them clearing out her attic to turn it into an office. "I will bring you happiness."
Sarah Jane blinked back into the moment. "But what's the price? There's got to be a catch. With you there always is."
"Sarah Jane, all you have to say is I do." Peter said, getting to his feet and standing beside the Trickster.
"And if you don't, you will remain here forever." the Trickster added.
"Then so be it." Sarah Jane said determinedly.
"So will Peter. And so will your son and your friends." the Trickster reminded. "You'll condemn them to remain here. This place is nowhere. And it's forever." And with that, he disappeared.
Sarah Jane turned to Peter. "Now do you see? Now do you see what he is?!"
"It doesn't matter. You can save them, Luke and the others." Peter said, holding up the wedding ring.
~8~
"She's definitely here." Gazelle muttered, looking in the direction of the altar.
The Doctor aimed his sonic screwdriver in that direction. "If I can narrow the link ratio..."
"Wait! There's something else..." Gazelle pulled her sunglasses off just in time to see the Trickster appear before them, now garbed in black robes, looking very much the image of the grim reaper.
"Ah. You look better in black." the Doctor remarked. "Or is white the new black?"
"At last. Doctor. I could feel this moment reverberating back through the ages. The meeting of the Pantheon of Discord and the last of the Time Lords." the Trickster gloated.
"I've known the legends of the Pantheon since I was a little boy." the Doctor responded coolly. "We've fought your shadows and your changelings. I never thought we'd actually meet."
"And I know the legends of the Doctor. The man of fire, who walked among gods, who once held the Key to Time in his hands." the Trickster recited, then turned to Gazelle. "And this, of course, must be the lovely Gazelle; the woman of ice, who defeated the Wire and fought the Beast himself. Tell me, Gazelle, how is your friend Donna keeping these days?" he asked mockingly. A flicker of guilt flashed across Gazelle's face, but she quickly steeled it into a look of disdain towards the Trickster. "Look at you both; surrounded by children."
"They're our friends." Gazelle retorted. "And never underestimate children. One helped me to defeat the Wire."
"Which reminds me, you're looking a bit lonely for a Pantheon." the Doctor said to the Trickster.
"I embody multitudes." the entity responded. "And who are you, the man who has lost everybody, to talk to me of loneliness, when the Gate is waiting for you?"
The Doctor was shaken. "What d'ya mean?"
The Trickster chuckled malevolently. "Sarah Jane Smith is my prize. Even you, Time Lords, didn't realise how wonderful she is."
"What d'ya want with her?" Gazelle demanded, crossing her arms impatiently.
"What I always want from any of those I visit. Her agreement. Goodbye, Time Lords." And with that, the Trickster disappeared again in a black mist.
"I hate it when they do that." Gazelle muttered.
"Her agreement." the Doctor muttered thoughtfully. "The power of words. She says I do, and. Yes, that's it!"
"That's what?" Clyde asked.
"She promises to love and honour her husband, the wedding ring goes on and then she's agreed to it. She's totally under the Trickster's power." the Doctor explained. "Marital bliss, but she forgets all about this. She starts living a new life."
"Forgetting about her old life protecting the Earth." Rani nodded.
"And the planet's wide open, so that aliens can just barge in!" Clyde realised.
"Without Sarah and all of you saving the Earth from Ealing, it'll be absolute mayhem." Gazelle said. "Just what the Trickster craves. One of his pets tried that once before." She remembered the time beetle on Shan Shen.
"As if she's gonna say yes." Clyde shook his head.
"She may not have a choice." Gazelle told him. "Remember, the Trickster's keeping us all here as leverage."
Suddenly, the sound of straining ancient engines filled the room and the quartet saw a TARDIS blue stain appear on the far wall. "TARDIS! Beautiful. Yes! She's homing in on us. Emergency program, protecting the pilots."
"Partial materialisation." Gazelle added as the shape of the TARDIS' front door appeared within the stain. "We're in with a chance!"
Luke ran into the room, having heard the noise. "What's happening?" he asked.
"Look, that's pure artron energy." the Doctor said. "TARDIS power, equal and opposite to the Trickster's power. That's how we can fight him." Hand in hand, he and Gazelle fought their way through the wind and flung the doors open.
The teenagers attempted to follow them, but the wind was too strong. "Come on!" Gazelle urged, she and the Doctor each holding out a hand. Clyde was nearest. The Time Lords grabbed him by the arm and tried to pull him inside, but the TARDIS seemed to have other ideas and the doors slammed shut in his face. He was blasted with blue energy and fell back as the TARDIS disappeared, taking the Time Lords with her.
"Clyde!" Luke hollered as he rushed to help his friend.
"Just us, then." Rani remarked, looking at the empty space where the TARDIS had just been.
"You alright?" Luke asked Clyde as he helped him to his feet.
"Yeah. I think." Clyde nodded. "They'll come back for us, won't they?"
"What if they can't?" Rani asked.
"They will." Luke said resolutely. "I'll wait here for them. You check with K-9."
Clyde and Rani headed out into reception and approached K-9. "The Doctor said the power of the TARDIS could fight the Trickster. Something energy." Rani informed him.
"Artron energy. Residue of TARDIS engines. Known to be highly inimical to certain time-sensitive life forms." K-9 recited.
"There is no TARDIS!"
Just then, Clyde saw a crackle of blue energy in the palm of his hand. "Whoa!" he exclaimed, holding his hand up, showing it to the others.
"What's that?" Rani stared.
"Artron energy, Mistress Rani." K-9 answered.
"And I got a shot of it." Clyde realised.
"Then we can fight him?" Rani asked hopefully.
"No. I can fight him." Clyde said determinedly.
~8~
Peter paced before Sarah Jane. "We can forget all this madness. You saw. We'll be married, we'll be together. Luke and the others, we can all go home."
"Oh, it would be so easy." Sarah Jane admitted. "But that's how he works. That's his deadliest weapon, temptation. I'm not making that mistake again."
"But you'd never know."
"Peter, he wants me to stop me defending Earth. He couldn't do it any other way. So he used love."
"You're so incredible, even more than I knew. You really mean it. You'll sacrifice yourself, stay here forever."
"Wouldn't anybody?" Sarah Jane asked rhetorically.
"I couldn't do it." Peter admitted. "I'd take the offer and I'd forget. Because I would do anything to save you."
~8~
Clyde looked down at his glowing hand. "I can get close to the Trickster with this."
"Clyde, you can't!" Rani protested. "You don't know what you're doing."
"When has that ever stopped us? It's what Sarah Jane would do. It's what the Doctor taught her. I've got no choice."
"Please, don't do this."
But Clyde had already made up his mind. He opened the front doors of the hotel and called out into the abyss, "Trickster!"
Right on cue, the Trickster emerged from the void. "Clyde Langer. Why do you call me?"
"I wish to serve you. I wish to join the Pantheon."
"Clyde, no!" Rani protested as Clyde walked out into the white void and the doors slammed shut behind him, leaving her unable to help him.
~8~
Clyde and the Trickster stood facing each other in the white void. "You are of no importance." the Trickster sneered.
But Clyde knew what he had to do. "I know something. A secret. Something that can help you." he bluffed.
" You know nothing. You have the mind of a chittering insect. Be gone." the Trickster waved his hand and Clyde grabbed it.
"Gotcha!" he grinned as the artron energy engulfed them both.
~8~
Peter held up the wedding ring. "Please."
Sarah Jane looked down at the ring, then she heard a familiar noise and looked over to see the TARDIS appear in a crackle of artron energy. One of the doors opened and the Doctor poked his head out. "Sarah!" he called.
"Oh, Doctor." Sarah Jane breathed.
"Gotta be quick. The TARDIS can't stabilise. Clyde's keeping the Trickster busy for the moment. Oh, those three are just brilliant."
"What can I do?" Sarah Jane asked tearfully. "If I say no, we're trapped here forever. If I say yes, I condemn the world to the Trickster. Either way I lose. There's no way out."
The other door opened and Gazelle poked her head out. "I'm afraid it's all up to you, Sarah Jane." she called. "It's not gonna be easy, but you're gonna have make the toughest choice you'll ever have to make. I'm so sorry."
"What is it? Tell me what I've got to do."
"You've fought the Trickster before. You know how he operates, how he can be defeated." the Doctor prompted. He glanced to Peter, and realisation dawned on Sarah Jane.
"Oh, no. No."
"We know you're a good man, Peter, and we're truly sorry." Gazelle called regretfully to Peter. "I wish there was another way."
There was a shout of pain and everyone looked to see Clyde and the Trickster appear, both in a lot of pain as the artron energy effected them both. "Clyde!" Sarah Jane gasped in horror.
"I can't hold it!" Clyde strained, then he collapsed.
Without Clyde keeping the Trickster at bay, the TARDIS dematerialised again, preventing the Doctor and Gazelle from intervening. "Doctor!" Sarah Jane cried. "Gazelle!" Then she looked at Clyde to see that he had blacked out, then she turned to Peter. "Peter, I do love you... but the Doctor and Gazelle are right. There is another way out."
"Do not listen to her lies." the Trickster hissed as his plan started to unravel.
"Your accident. He can only talk to people who are about to die." Sarah Jane told Peter. "He comes to them in that final moment. He gives them back their life."
"What do you mean?" Peter stared at her.
"Clyde and Rani said your house was empty. Why did you never let me see your house? You died in that accident, Peter. But he needed you, so he kept you half alive. And if we got married the bargain would be complete. He would bring you back to life."
"Your love brought me back to life. How can that be wrong, to save a life? Peter protested.
Sarah Jane rushed to Clyde's side. "Look at this. This is what he'll do to millions of people unless, unless you break your deal with him."
"But I'll lose you. I'll die. I don't want you to be alone."
"I love you, but I can't love you." Sarah Jane said regretfully. "You said you'd do anything to save me. If you love me, you know what you have to do."
"No!" the Trickster cried.
Peter turned and began to walk towards the entity, coming to a decision. "You got one thing exactly right; me and Sarah Jane, we were made for each other. We're the perfect match. And I know what she would do." He held up the wedding ring.
"No... I chose you because you didn't have the strength." the Trickster spat.
"You really don't know my Sarah Jane, do you?" Peter retorted. "She gave me the strength. And I withdraw my agreement!" He threw the ring at the Trickster and it struck him with an explosion of light.
"No!" the Trickster screamed as he vanished into nothingness.
Knowing that he was on borrowed time, Peter turned to Sarah Jane. "So, here I go. I wish I'd always known you." he sighed.
"I love you, Peter." Sarah Jane said tearfully.
"And I love you, Sarah Jane Dalton." Peter said as he evaporated into nothingness. Sarah Jane reached out for him, but he was gone. She let her hand drop, her heart breaking as she leant over Clyde, sobbing.
Just then, the doors to the function room opened and the Time Lords, teenagers and K-9 all entered. "Mum!" Luke cried as he and Rani rushed over to help Clyde.
Sarah Jane crashed into the Doctor's arms. "Doctor. Oh, Doctor." she sniffled.
"My Sarah Jane." the Doctor said as he let his former companion sob into his shoulder. "You did it. The trap's broken. Time's moving forward again, We're going home."
The room began to tremble as the Trickster's power crumbled. "Hold on!" Luke warned.
"It's over." Gazelle murmured, then turned to Sarah Jane. "I'm so sorry." she said as she put a soothing hand on the grieving woman's shoulder.
A bright light filled the room, just as it had when the Trickster had trapped them.
~8~
Sarah Jane and the teenagers found themselves back where they were before the trouble began, except Peter and the Time Lords were nowhere to be seen.
"If any person can show just cause or impediment why they may not be joined together let them speak now or forever hold their peace." the registrar recited, then paused when she saw that the groom had vanished.
"Where's he gone?" Gita wandered. "Sarah's bloke, where's he gone?"
"He was just there." Haresh agreed.
Clyde, Luke and Rani all turned to each other. "Where're the Doctor and Gazelle gone?" Luke wandered.
"That all really happened, didn't it?" Rani blinked, part of her wandering if it all been some sort of fever dream.
"Oh, yeah." Clyde confirmed, looking at his hand to see it sparkling with artron energy.
"Affirmative." K-9 agreed, rolling out from under the table.
Luke ran to his mother's side. "Mum?" he asked, seeing her standing alone at the altar.
With a mighty effort, Sarah Jane pulled herself together and turned to face the audience. "I'm sorry, everybody. I'm afraid the wedding is cancelled." she announced, then she dropped her bouquet and tearfully left the room.
~8~
Later, Sarah Jane sat on the floor in her attic, petting K-9 as he stood by her side. "Mr Smith, I need you." she said as she stood up.
The chimney breast opened to reveal Mr Smith. "Welcome back, Sarah Jane." he said.
The door opened and Luke, Clyde and Rani entered the room. "Mum, are you alright?" Luke asked.
"I'm going to be fine." Sarah Jane said bravely. "I've got you, haven't I?"
"I can't believe the Doctor ran off like that." Luke commented.
"Or that Gazelle let him." Rani added. "From what I saw, she seemed like she could handle him."
"Sudden disappearing acts. That's the Doctor all over." Sarah Jane sighed. "And I guess Gazelle can't always control him."
"Sarah Jane, escalation of temporal flux." Mr Smith said suddenly.
"Temporal flux escalating." K-9 added.
A familiar wheezing and groaning noise filled the room and the TARDIS materialised. "Doctor..." Sarah Jane breathed.
One of the doors opened and the Doctor poked his head out. "What do you take me for, Sarah? Just thought we'd go the quick way."
The other door opened to reveal Gazelle. "Sorry we're late, but we got lost in the Time Vortex." She then stepped out fully and pulled Sarah Jane into a tight hug. "I'm so sorry about Peter." she said quietly. "I'm sure under different circumstances he'd have been a wonderful husband."
The Doctor meanwhile looked around the attic. "Ooo, I like it in here." he commented. "What d'you think?" he asked his wife as she let Sarah Jane go.
"Yes, very nice." Gazelle agreed. "And this must be Mr Smith..." she turned to the super computer.
"Welcome, Gazelle." Mr Smith greeted.
Rani eyed the TARDIS curiously. "Can we have a look?" she asked.
"What, in the TARDIS?" the Doctor asked sternly. "Our TARDIS?!" He broke into a cheeky grin. "Course ya can, yeah!"
"Just don't touch anything." Gazelle added as the three teenagers all eagerly ran inside the box.
The three adults all walked behind them, watching with amusement as Luke, Clyde and Rani all looked around the console room in amazement. "Oh, wow. It really is, isn't it? It's bigger on the inside." Clyde stared.
"It's beautiful." Rani breathed.
"Transcendental dimensions." Luke observed.
"What does this do?" Clyde asked, pointing to a switch on the console.
"Hey, Gazelle said don't touch." Sarah Jane chided him lightly, then turned to the Time Lords. "You came all that way for me."
"It was the least we could do." Gazelle replied.
"You're so important." the Doctor added. "Not just to us. The Trickster wanted to end your story, but it goes on. The things you've done, Sarah, they're pretty impressive, but, oh, the things you're going to do."
"The future..." Luke smiled, having overheard. "How about we could go for a ride?"
"Or back. To the dinosaurs, yeah?" Clyde added.
"Another planet?" Rani suggested.
"No way." Sarah Jane shot them down. "For one thing, you were grounded by the Judoon. And your parents would never forgive me. Go on."
"Kids." Gazelle smiled as the three teenagers left the TARDIS, shutting the doors behind them. "Think I'll take the opportunity to get changed..." And she left the console room, knowing that the Doctor and Sarah Jane needed a moment alone.
"Is this the last time I'm ever going to see you?" Sarah Jane asked her old friend.
"I don't know." the Doctor replied seriously. "I hope not."
Sarah Jane gathered herself. "Bye, Doctor. Until the next time."
"Don't you forget me, Sarah Jane." the Doctor said as they hugged.
"No one's ever going to forget you." Sarah Jane smiled as they broke apart. With a last look, she walked outside and re-joined her friends.
The Bannerman Road gang watched as the TARDIS dematerialised. "You were right." Clyde said to Sarah Jane. "They are amazing."
"And so are we." Sarah Jane smiled, pulling the teenagers into a tight hug.