Archive of Our Own ^beta

"Oy!" Rose shouted after the UNIT officer, "Now you've got it, don't lose it again!"

Sarah Jane slumped down to sit on the edge of curb as the UNIT lorry drove off. She imagined that she could still hear the alien caught in the shoebox, thumping violently in the back of the lorry. She and Rose and Rose's old friend, Jack Harkness, had captured the small but vicious alien that had eluded UNIT for weeks, but she was just as happy that the creature was no longer her problem. The anti-social noise-maddened Hrundt needed a planet all it's own, she agreed, but that planet should not be Earth.

They'd captured the alien, but in the process it had ruined her hose (as well as leaving some rather nasty scratches on her shins, and she suspected that her skirt would never be the same again. And... "oh, that beggar!" she cried, slipping off her shoes.

"What?" Rose wandered back over. In her resilient youth, Rose looked only slightly rumpled, not anything like as destroyed as Sarah Jane felt. Then again, Rose hadn't been the one restraining the Hrundt until the UNIT Containment Team arrived.

"The Hrundt's saliva appears to be acid. Where it bit my pumps, it's eaten holes through the leather." The two of them gazed sadly at the remaining bits of shoes. "And they cost the world, too."

"UNIT can reimburse you for damages, then," Rose said, bucking up, "and we'll spend an afternoon down on Oxford Street finding another pair, yeah?"

"What we really need," Sarah Jane said, "is an understanding cobbler, who can build us shoes we can wear with a suit but that are good for running in. Oh, and it got my blouse, too!"

"Either a cobbler, or the TARDIS's wardrobe," Rose agreed. Both of them were silent for a moment, in appreciation of the unlimited variety that they'd found there.

A plain black sedan drove up and stopped next to them, and Jack Harkness rolled down the window. "Ladies! Your chariot awaits!"

"Took you long enough!" Rose said, "You missed all the action!"

And he had, rather, Sarah Jane thought. Oh, he'd been brave enough to try and stop the Hrundt when it flew straight at him, but he had lingered behind during the chase. And not once had he suggested -- in word or deed -- that Sarah Jane and Rose weren't up to the task or that they might need protecting.

Mr. Harkness appeared to be one of the new generation of liberated men. Rose took it for granted, being, as she was, one of the new generation of liberated women. But it was a bit harder for Sarah Jane. It wasn't that she didn't appreciate it, but she wasn't used to it. If you've only lived on the side of a mountain, she thought, then walking on the plains must not feel like walking at all. And after living all her decades around more or less chauvinistic men (and yes, even the Doctor was paternal when he wasn't downright protective), working with a man who automatically assumed that she was his physical and mental equal was... incredibly refreshing.

Jack was saying, "I don't get along all that well with UNIT."

Meanwhile, Rose was pulling out the duffle of spare clothing out of the boot. They'd learned to keep spares handy. Rose pulled out a jumper for herself and clothes for Sarah.

Sarah glanced around at the warehouses and the utter lack of people on the street, then at the car, where Jack sat watching them, with a small satisfied smile on his face.

"Mr. Harkness!"

He raised his eyebrows in response.

"I'm going to change clothes now. Eyes front, please!"

"Yes, Ma'am."

Sarah took her clothes to the back of the car, bent over just enough to see Jack Harkness grinning at her in the rear view mirror. He was shameless -- and appreciative, which was also a nice change: most of the other young men they met had eyes only for Rose. She raised the lid of the boot to block his view, then changed.

Once they were all piled into the car, Rose commanded, "Home, James!" and they left the warehouses behind.

"Ms. Smith," Jack said, formally. "May I buy you a drink?"

"A drink sounds good," Sarah said. "Come in when we get home, and I'll open a bottle of plonk while we put our feet up."

"I don't think that's what he meant," Rose said.

"I was thinking," Jack said, "Of something more along the lines of cocktails and Cole Porter, with some dinner afterwards if you're up to it."

"Oh, I'm up to it," Sarah said pleased. "Although my wardrobe isn't."

"I don't care," said Jack.

"Then I don't either," Sarah decided. She pulled the makeup kit out of the duffle. She might not be used to Jack yet, but she had a feeling he could grow on her.