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tellitslantLike Water to Sky
by Kathryne, tellitslant@ livejournal.com
Fandom: Doctor Who
Pairing: Romana I/Sarah Jane Smith
Rating: NC-17
Notes: Written for the lovely and patient![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
ladyvivien as part of![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-community.gif)
romanathon. I am sorry for being so ridiculously late, m'dear, but, um, I blame you being too fabulous for me to work on the story. ;) Thanks to sakuracorr for beta and reassurrance. Huge thanks to soupytwist, who slept through the writing of half of it but gave me great comments and the lovely title. *g*
Summary: Before meeting the Doctor, Romana does some research.
Romana stepped out of the TARDIS and looked around, wrinkling her nose fastidiously. So this was Earth. It certainly didn't look like much, she thought. Granted she had arrived at dusk – exactly when she had meant to, and hadn't they made some amazing improvements to the newer model TARDISes – but nothing she saw in the waning light of the single sun struck her as at all remarkable. It was also rather unpleasantly wet, she noticed, tugging the hem of her white dress up above her ankles and stepping lightly in her heels. And she understood that the area they called England was in that state more or less perpetually.
How odd, then, that the Doctor kept coming back to this place.
Well, that was why she was here, wasn't it, to learn more about the Doctor before she was sent off with him on a quest that the President of Gallifrey himself had told her about. Not long out of the Academy, Romana still approached every task like an assignment, and in this case that meant research. She had made a valiant attempt at slogging through the vast Matrix file on the Doctor before deciding to take a slightly easier approach and speak directly to people who had travelled with him previously, and that generally meant humans.
One borrowed TARDIS and a few trips later, she was no more enlightened than she had been when she started out, she admitted to herself. From what Romana knew of Earth and its slowly-evolving society, she couldn't very well wander in and start asking questions about time travel, even of the ones who had travelled through time. So she'd been discreet, hadn't revealed herself to the people she'd tracked down, and hadn't anything to show for her efforts. All she'd managed to do was to confirm the impression she'd picked up from the files as well as from bits of half-heard gossip: the Doctor was eccentric, quite possibly quite mad, a genius if he ever put his mind to it, and his fondness for humans was completely inexplicable.
Perhaps this next human could shed some light on the strange workings of the Doctor's mind. If not, Romana thought, she might just have to give up. She took a last look behind her to be sure she could easily find the TARDIS – it had disguised itself as a streetlight, appropriate in the darkening gloom – and set off through the streets of Croydon.
It didn't take Romana long to find the coordinates to which the TARDIS had tracked Sarah Jane Smith. It was a large wooden building, and Romana barely spared a glance for the sign outside before she pushed through the door. It swung shut behind her, the words 'Black Dog Pub' darkening as the rain pattered down onto the wood.
The room inside was loud and busy, but populated mostly with men, and it didn't take long before Romana spotted her target. Sarah was sitting at a corner table, head bent over a notebook and jean-clad legs curled underneath her. She had ink all over the cuffs of her green blouse and seemed to be scribbling words out as fast as she was jotting them down.
Romana knew Sarah had travelled with the Doctor for several years, but somehow it was difficult to reconcile the dark-haired woman in front of her with the reports in the Matrix files of Daleks and Cybermen. Sarah looked too small in the bustling atmosphere of the room to have inhabited the same world as the determinedly over-the-top Doctor. Perhaps having been back on Earth for nearly a year had served to mitigate the effects of travelling with the Doctor? Regardless, Romana hoped that Sarah would be as easy to talk to as she appeared.
Romana had studied some Earth customs before she set out on her trip and had picked others up along the way. She knew the fastest method to get someone to talk to her. Walking up to the man behind the bar, she pointed at Sarah's table, flashed a dazzling smile, and proclaimed, "I will take two of whatever she is drinking." She felt quite proud of herself.
When she sat down next to Sarah with two glasses of foamy black liquid, Sarah didn't look up or acknowledge her immediately, choosing instead to focus on the way her pen was racing across her page. Romana was just considering whether or not to feel insulted when Sarah finally spoke.
"Now look, I've told you enough times, leave – oh!" she started vehemently, only to break off as she looked up and registered the woman beside her. "I'm so sorry," she said, flushing so deep a red that Romana could see it even in the dim light. "I thought you were – one of the men over there – just because I went once – well, never mind. I thought you were someone else, and you're not, which is a pleasant surprise. What brings you over to my table?" She gathered herself and smiled charmingly at Romana.
Romana nudged one of the glasses across the table to Sarah, who took it with a nod of thanks. "You seemed as though you could use someone to sit with," Romana said, surprising herself. It was the truth – she had noticed from the doorway how solitary Sarah looked in the rowdy atmosphere – but it wasn't a truth she had really intended on telling.
Sarah's mouth twisted and she took a healthy swallow of her drink, and it was Romana's turn to apologise. "I'm sorry," she said, awkward in her sudden uncertainty. "I didn't mean to imply...." She trailed off and took a sip of her own drink to cover her confusion. The thick, yeasty taste was strangely appealing, and they drank in silence for a minute as Romana tried to understand her error.
"It's all right," Sarah said finally, her glass more than half empty. "Look, we haven't got off to a very good start here, have we?" Her smile was more forced than it was before, but she held her hand out to Romana steadily. "Sarah," she said. "I'm Sarah. And you?"
"Romana." Sarah's hand was hot in Romana's, her grip firm, and Romana told herself that she pulled back quickly only to keep Sarah from feeling two pulses jumping against her fingers.
"There, now we can start again," Sarah said. "So, come here often?" Her smile was freer this time, if slightly bitter.
"Um," Romana replied.
"Hey, just a joke," Sarah said, putting her hand companionably over Romana's. "I know you don't, actually. I'm in here a fair bit."
"It's a very nice place," Romana said diplomatically.
Sarah laughed at her, but Romana couldn't manage to take offense. "It's a dump." She paused, and her eyes flitted up and down Romana's form before she spoke again. "D'you want to get out of here?"
Romana nodded and followed Sarah out.
Outside it was still raining, and Sarah popped open what Romana thought was an absolutely ingenious portable shelter mechanism. "Share the umbrella?" Sarah asked. "My flat's not far." They walked in silence for a few blocks, Romana watching the play of streetlights over skin and puddles of water, until they reached Sarah's door.
Inside, Sarah hung up their coats, put away the umbrella, and generally avoided looking at Romana, who stood in the entryway. Finally Sarah turned to her, keeping a careful distance between them. "It's funny," she said slowly, "but you remind me very much of a man I used to know, and I'm not sure why."
"A friend?" Romana asked carefully.
For the first time, Sarah's smile reached her eyes, and her entire face radiated warmth. The unexpected change startled Romana. "Oh, more than a friend," Sarah replied. "We did a lot of travelling, he and I."
Maybe she was actually going to get some useful information this time. Romana decided to press further. She stepped closer to Sarah, looking down at her intently. "And then what? Did he leave?"
Sarah sighed. "We left each other, really," she said. "Not before time, I suppose. Doesn't mean I don't miss him, though. And you remind me of him, the way he was when I first met him. Isn't that odd?"
"It's a positive comparison, I hope," Romana said, half-teasing.
Sarah turned away, wrapping her arms around herself. "Oh, I don't even know, it's so confusing. Sometimes he was the sweetest, gentlest person in the universe, and others he was the most infuriating man. It's just so confusing." She took a deep breath and turned back to Romana, smiling shakily. "Sorry, I didn't mean to go all silly on you. Can I get you something else to drink?" She didn't wait for Romana's nod, but brought a bottle of wine over to the table and poured glasses for both of them. They sat side by side for a moment.
For the first time since she'd begun her journey, Romana found herself considering what life with the Doctor had to be like from the human perspective. Most humans probably wouldn't be capable of comprehending the universe in which the Time Lords travelled. This one, though, this Sarah Jane Smith had been with him for years and had managed to come back to her own life afterwards. How extraordinary. Romana was impressed almost despite herself. She laid a careful hand on Sarah's shoulder, surprised when Sarah leaned readily into her arm.
"It must have been very strange," Romana said thoughtfully, gazing down at the top of Sarah's head where it was nestled into her shoulder.
"What?" Sarah asked, swallowing her last gulp of wine. She reached for the bottle and refilled her glass and Romana's. Romana shrugged mentally and took another sip herself. It really was quite nice.
"Strange to come back to a sedentary life after travelling with someone like your friend, which must have been very exciting. Was it a difficult choice, then, to say goodbye?"
Sarah stiffened in Romana's arms and set her empty glass back on the table with a solid thunk. "Look, it wasn't my choice, all right? I didn't want to leave him, but I had to. I had to, and now I'm here, and this, this is my life and I have to make the best of it without him." She turned to face Romana, her cheeks flushed with emotion. "I have to," she repeated quietly.
Romana blinked in shock, taken aback by the excess of emotion. She only had a moment to fumble for a proper response before Sarah leaned the last few inches between them and kissed her.
Sarah's mouth was shockingly warm, and her lips tasted pleasantly of the wine they'd been drinking. One of her hands had settled on Romana's stomach while the other curved around her head to draw her down, and Romana could feel her skin tingling in response to Sarah's heat. She slid her arm around Sarah's slight frame and kissed her back.
Sarah pulled away first, and Romana shivered as the cooler air hit her heated skin. She looked at Sarah and swallowed hard, wondering if her own lips were as red as Sarah's. From the look on Sarah's face, she suspected they were. She reached out, cupping Sarah's face in her hands and running her thumbs over Sarah's mouth. This time Romana initiated the kiss, but Sarah responded just as passionately as before.
Her chair creaked as she leaned further into Romana's embrace, and she smiled. "Come on," she said, standing and catching Romana's hands in hers. Romana let herself be led out of the room, concentrating on the gentle pressure of Sarah's fingers in hers and the soft slide of their skin together.
Sarah stopped in the door to her bedroom and leaned against the frame. "Is this… all right?" she asked hesitantly, drawing patterns on the back of Romana's hands with her fingertips.
Romana paused for a split second. Part of her mind was still trying to analyze what was happening – after all, she certainly hadn't reacted like this to any of the Doctor's other former travelling companions. If she were honest with herself, though, she didn't really care. This was her first real experience with humanity other than studying the race at the Academy, and she intended to discover as much as she possibly could. "Yes," she replied firmly, enjoying the height she had on Sarah and the way she could gaze down into the other woman's upturned face.
"Good," Sarah declared impishly, pulling their bodies together and coaxing Romana's mouth down to hers once more.
Romana wound a hand through Sarah's hair, tugging her head back and pressing kisses along the exposed length of her neck. She felt Sarah's solitary pulse accelerate under her mouth and paused, wondering. Had the Doctor ever felt the odd beat of a single heart, tasted the almost too salty skin of a human, of this particular woman? Was that why Sarah was so unwilling to discuss leaving him, letting him go?
Sarah moaned and clutched at Romana's arms, urging her on, and she abandoned her train of thought. She wasn't likely to get an answer, but the high probability that she was right in her speculation certainly provided her with an interesting insight into the Doctor's character.
Ducking out of Romana's arms, Sarah took a few steps towards the bed. She unbuttoned her blouse and let it fall from her shoulders to the floor, only to ruin the seductive image with a hastily-suppressed giggle. She stopped to undo her jeans, and Romana took the opportunity to step up behind her. She reached around and took Sarah's hands in her own, holding them still. Sarah tipped her head back against Romana's shoulder, looking up through lidded eyes.
"Slow," Romana said, and Sarah let her hands fall to her sides. Romana popped the top button of Sarah's jeans and rested her fingers just under the waistband, feeling the rise and fall of Sarah's breathing. Sarah shivered and reached behind her, inching the hem of Romana's dress up her leg.
"Not this slow," Sarah corrected her, finding the hem of the dress and dragging her nails over the flesh beneath it.
Romana gasped at the unexpected contact and bent to kiss Sarah again. "You make a very persuasive argument," she whispered against Sarah's mouth, sliding one hand down Sarah's jeans. Her fingers rubbed along the outside of Sarah's knickers, tracing the outline of the dampness she found there and pressing the fabric back against Sarah's flesh. Sarah moaned and pressed her hips forward, trying to increase the friction, but the tight material of her jeans restricted Romana's movements.
With a growl of frustration, Sarah spun out of Romana's grasp and turned to face her. "Let me see if I can convince you further," she said, running her hands up Romana's sides and gathering the silky material of her dress. Romana lifted her arms, allowing Sarah to slip the dress off and drop it on the floor. Time Lords weren't burdened with an excess of self-consciousness, or of modesty: Romana stood comfortably in a bra and knickers as Sarah explored her body with eyes and then fingers, touching every possible bit of exposed skin. Romana felt her temperature rise as Sarah's fingers flitted over her collarbones, the inside of her elbows, the curve of her hips, skillfully avoiding all the places Romana most wanted to be touched.
Finally she grabbed Sarah's wrists. "All right," she said, pressing a kiss to the underside of each in turn. "I'll concede your point." Sarah bit her lip, trying unsuccessfully to keep from smiling as Romana drew her towards the bed.
As the backs of Romana's legs hit the bed, Sarah gave her a light shove, and Romana let herself fall back onto the bed. Sarah knelt above her, and Romana felt a blush creep up her chest and into her face at the sight of Sarah in her bra and partially undone jeans. Hooking her fingers into the belt loops, she tugged, bringing Sarah sprawling on top of her.
"Is this better?" she asked, undoing Sarah's bra and running her palms up and down the smooth skin of Sarah's back. She cupped Sarah's arse through her jeans and Sarah moaned, bringing one leg up between Romana's thighs. Romana arched upwards at the touch.
"Mmm, but is it good for you, darling," Sarah teased, then yelped as Romana rolled them and pinned Sarah beneath her.
"Good enough," Romana retorted, a half-smile curving her full lips as she tugged Sarah's undone bra off. Drawing her thumbs over Sarah's nipples, Romana marvelled at her delightful responsiveness. What fascinating creatures humans were – endlessly adaptable and surprising. No wonder the Doctor was so captivated by them.
Taking advantage of Romana's momentary inattention, Sarah flipped them over again. "Just 'good enough'?" she asked, pulling off Romana's bra. "That sounds like a challenge." She slid down Romana's body, the rough material of her jeans rasping against sensitized flesh. Kneeling on the floor between Romana's legs, she reached up and dragged Romana's underwear off. "Good," she said, crawling back onto the bed and placing kisses up the insides of Romana's legs. Romana writhed against the bed and spread her legs wider.
"Better," Sarah said, reaching the apex of Romana's thighs and finding her dripping wet. Romana's hips jerked as Sarah dragged two fingers through her wetness; her eyes widened as Sarah brought her fingers up and licked them clean, gazing deliberately at Romana.
"Best," Sarah concluded, dipping her head down and taking Romana's hips in her hands. Romana groaned and buried her fingers in Sarah's hair, her head falling back against the bet at the first touch of Sarah's tongue. Romana was hot – she could feel the sweat slicking her body – but Sarah was hotter. If her hands on Romana's hips were warm, her mouth was burning, every sensation intensified by the scalding heat until it was almost too much. Romana whimpered and tried to pull away, but Sarah held fast, and before long Romana was completely overwhelmed. She cried out softly as she came and slumped bonelessly against the bed.
Sarah sat up, smiling, and licked her lips. "Very good?" she asked smugly, curling her body along Romana's right side.
"Very good," Romana agreed breathlessly, running her hand down Sarah's side and just under her waistband. Sarah sighed softly and rested her head on Romana's chest, stretching under Romana's teasing fingers.
Suddenly Sarah jerked up and away from Romana. She pressed both hands to Romana's chest, one on either side, but there was nothing at all sexual about the gesture. In fact, it seemed almost angry.
"Sarah? What is it? Is something wrong?" Romana asked, looking around the room in confusion. She hadn't noticed anything worrying, but the way Sarah was acting was very disconcerting.
"Two hearts," Sarah hissed. "Or should I say, binary cardiovascular system," she corrected herself.
Her expression had twisted into an ugly mask of hatred and self-loathing, and Romana swallowed hard. Her heartbeats. Sarah had heard both of them when she laid her head on Romana's chest. And now Romana had been exposed. "Sarah, I – " she tried, unsure what explanation she might offer but sure that she needed to say something.
"Shut up!" Sarah said, clambering backwards off the bed, her eyes never leaving Romana's. "Just shut up. You fucking Time Lords are all the same. Nothing but lies ever come out of your mouths. Well, I don't want to hear it. No more fucking lies. Who sent you? Was it the Doctor? Did that bastard send you to check up on me? Funny way you chose of doing it," she added, giving the still-naked Romana a glare that nearly made her feel embarrassed.
"Sarah, no one sent me," Romana insisted, climbing out of bed and grabbing her dress. She tugged it over her head without bothering with her underwear.
"Right," Sarah said dryly, crossing her arms. The posture accentuated rather than concealed her half-nude state, and Romana looked away. "So you were in that pub for no reason at all, and that the woman you decided to buy a pint for was the only one in the room who'd previously met a Time Lord was a complete coincidence?" Sarah snorted. "Sorry, try again."
Romana opened her mouth to speak, but Sarah held up a hand to forestall her. "Actually, never mind," she said simply. "Just get out."
"But – " Romana protested.
Sarah shook her head. "No. Just go. I don't want anything more to do with the bloody Time Lords. And if you see the Doctor, you can tell him that." She paused. "Well?" she demanded, after a moment in which Romana simply stared at her.
Moving with as much dignity as possible, Romana collected her bra and pants from the floor and her boots and coat from the front door. Sarah followed, watching carefully. She had thrown her blouse back on without buttoning it, but her face was set in disgust.
Just outside the door, Romana turned, needing to try to explain once more. "Sarah, I am sorry," she started.
"Get stuffed," Sarah snapped, slamming the door in her face.
Romana stared at the door, dumbfounded. She almost lifted her hand to knock; the lights inside snapped out, and Romana drew back. Bundling her coat around her, she turned to walk back to the TARDIS.
The rain had picked up, and by the time she got inside the TARDIS, Romana was soaking wet. She walked through the TARDIS without bothering to activate the lights, finding her way into the control room from memory. Her hair was cold and clammy, dripping down the back of her neck, but she ignored it, intent on setting the coordinates as quickly as possible. Away from this bloody planet, that was all she wanted. Back to Gallifrey, and then on to whatever this quest was.
Romana slapped her palm down on a button and the TARDIS whirred into life. As the Earth disappeared from her viewscreens, Romana tried and failed to relax. All the gossip and stories and the very few facts she'd ever heard about the Doctor were swirling around in her head, coloured by the sorrow and guilt she felt about the way she'd left Sarah. It wasn't really her fault, she told herself.
No, really it was the Doctor's fault, wasn't it? He was the one who'd left, Sarah had said. Nearly a year ago, he'd dropped her back on Earth; she'd been with him for several years, Romana knew, and to suddenly have that end, to return to a linear existence…. She shivered, chilled for reasons that had nothing to do with her wet clothes. Rubbing her own hands along her arms did nothing to warm her – she was cold all over, and in the muted light of the control room, her double heartbeat seemed frighteningly loud.
by Kathryne, tellitslant@ livejournal.com
Fandom: Doctor Who
Pairing: Romana I/Sarah Jane Smith
Rating: NC-17
Notes: Written for the lovely and patient
ladyvivien as part ofromanathon. I am sorry for being so ridiculously late, m'dear, but, um, I blame you being too fabulous for me to work on the story. ;) Thanks to sakuracorr for beta and reassurrance. Huge thanks to soupytwist, who slept through the writing of half of it but gave me great comments and the lovely title. *g*Summary: Before meeting the Doctor, Romana does some research.
Romana stepped out of the TARDIS and looked around, wrinkling her nose fastidiously. So this was Earth. It certainly didn't look like much, she thought. Granted she had arrived at dusk – exactly when she had meant to, and hadn't they made some amazing improvements to the newer model TARDISes – but nothing she saw in the waning light of the single sun struck her as at all remarkable. It was also rather unpleasantly wet, she noticed, tugging the hem of her white dress up above her ankles and stepping lightly in her heels. And she understood that the area they called England was in that state more or less perpetually.
How odd, then, that the Doctor kept coming back to this place.
Well, that was why she was here, wasn't it, to learn more about the Doctor before she was sent off with him on a quest that the President of Gallifrey himself had told her about. Not long out of the Academy, Romana still approached every task like an assignment, and in this case that meant research. She had made a valiant attempt at slogging through the vast Matrix file on the Doctor before deciding to take a slightly easier approach and speak directly to people who had travelled with him previously, and that generally meant humans.
One borrowed TARDIS and a few trips later, she was no more enlightened than she had been when she started out, she admitted to herself. From what Romana knew of Earth and its slowly-evolving society, she couldn't very well wander in and start asking questions about time travel, even of the ones who had travelled through time. So she'd been discreet, hadn't revealed herself to the people she'd tracked down, and hadn't anything to show for her efforts. All she'd managed to do was to confirm the impression she'd picked up from the files as well as from bits of half-heard gossip: the Doctor was eccentric, quite possibly quite mad, a genius if he ever put his mind to it, and his fondness for humans was completely inexplicable.
Perhaps this next human could shed some light on the strange workings of the Doctor's mind. If not, Romana thought, she might just have to give up. She took a last look behind her to be sure she could easily find the TARDIS – it had disguised itself as a streetlight, appropriate in the darkening gloom – and set off through the streets of Croydon.
It didn't take Romana long to find the coordinates to which the TARDIS had tracked Sarah Jane Smith. It was a large wooden building, and Romana barely spared a glance for the sign outside before she pushed through the door. It swung shut behind her, the words 'Black Dog Pub' darkening as the rain pattered down onto the wood.
The room inside was loud and busy, but populated mostly with men, and it didn't take long before Romana spotted her target. Sarah was sitting at a corner table, head bent over a notebook and jean-clad legs curled underneath her. She had ink all over the cuffs of her green blouse and seemed to be scribbling words out as fast as she was jotting them down.
Romana knew Sarah had travelled with the Doctor for several years, but somehow it was difficult to reconcile the dark-haired woman in front of her with the reports in the Matrix files of Daleks and Cybermen. Sarah looked too small in the bustling atmosphere of the room to have inhabited the same world as the determinedly over-the-top Doctor. Perhaps having been back on Earth for nearly a year had served to mitigate the effects of travelling with the Doctor? Regardless, Romana hoped that Sarah would be as easy to talk to as she appeared.
Romana had studied some Earth customs before she set out on her trip and had picked others up along the way. She knew the fastest method to get someone to talk to her. Walking up to the man behind the bar, she pointed at Sarah's table, flashed a dazzling smile, and proclaimed, "I will take two of whatever she is drinking." She felt quite proud of herself.
When she sat down next to Sarah with two glasses of foamy black liquid, Sarah didn't look up or acknowledge her immediately, choosing instead to focus on the way her pen was racing across her page. Romana was just considering whether or not to feel insulted when Sarah finally spoke.
"Now look, I've told you enough times, leave – oh!" she started vehemently, only to break off as she looked up and registered the woman beside her. "I'm so sorry," she said, flushing so deep a red that Romana could see it even in the dim light. "I thought you were – one of the men over there – just because I went once – well, never mind. I thought you were someone else, and you're not, which is a pleasant surprise. What brings you over to my table?" She gathered herself and smiled charmingly at Romana.
Romana nudged one of the glasses across the table to Sarah, who took it with a nod of thanks. "You seemed as though you could use someone to sit with," Romana said, surprising herself. It was the truth – she had noticed from the doorway how solitary Sarah looked in the rowdy atmosphere – but it wasn't a truth she had really intended on telling.
Sarah's mouth twisted and she took a healthy swallow of her drink, and it was Romana's turn to apologise. "I'm sorry," she said, awkward in her sudden uncertainty. "I didn't mean to imply...." She trailed off and took a sip of her own drink to cover her confusion. The thick, yeasty taste was strangely appealing, and they drank in silence for a minute as Romana tried to understand her error.
"It's all right," Sarah said finally, her glass more than half empty. "Look, we haven't got off to a very good start here, have we?" Her smile was more forced than it was before, but she held her hand out to Romana steadily. "Sarah," she said. "I'm Sarah. And you?"
"Romana." Sarah's hand was hot in Romana's, her grip firm, and Romana told herself that she pulled back quickly only to keep Sarah from feeling two pulses jumping against her fingers.
"There, now we can start again," Sarah said. "So, come here often?" Her smile was freer this time, if slightly bitter.
"Um," Romana replied.
"Hey, just a joke," Sarah said, putting her hand companionably over Romana's. "I know you don't, actually. I'm in here a fair bit."
"It's a very nice place," Romana said diplomatically.
Sarah laughed at her, but Romana couldn't manage to take offense. "It's a dump." She paused, and her eyes flitted up and down Romana's form before she spoke again. "D'you want to get out of here?"
Romana nodded and followed Sarah out.
Outside it was still raining, and Sarah popped open what Romana thought was an absolutely ingenious portable shelter mechanism. "Share the umbrella?" Sarah asked. "My flat's not far." They walked in silence for a few blocks, Romana watching the play of streetlights over skin and puddles of water, until they reached Sarah's door.
Inside, Sarah hung up their coats, put away the umbrella, and generally avoided looking at Romana, who stood in the entryway. Finally Sarah turned to her, keeping a careful distance between them. "It's funny," she said slowly, "but you remind me very much of a man I used to know, and I'm not sure why."
"A friend?" Romana asked carefully.
For the first time, Sarah's smile reached her eyes, and her entire face radiated warmth. The unexpected change startled Romana. "Oh, more than a friend," Sarah replied. "We did a lot of travelling, he and I."
Maybe she was actually going to get some useful information this time. Romana decided to press further. She stepped closer to Sarah, looking down at her intently. "And then what? Did he leave?"
Sarah sighed. "We left each other, really," she said. "Not before time, I suppose. Doesn't mean I don't miss him, though. And you remind me of him, the way he was when I first met him. Isn't that odd?"
"It's a positive comparison, I hope," Romana said, half-teasing.
Sarah turned away, wrapping her arms around herself. "Oh, I don't even know, it's so confusing. Sometimes he was the sweetest, gentlest person in the universe, and others he was the most infuriating man. It's just so confusing." She took a deep breath and turned back to Romana, smiling shakily. "Sorry, I didn't mean to go all silly on you. Can I get you something else to drink?" She didn't wait for Romana's nod, but brought a bottle of wine over to the table and poured glasses for both of them. They sat side by side for a moment.
For the first time since she'd begun her journey, Romana found herself considering what life with the Doctor had to be like from the human perspective. Most humans probably wouldn't be capable of comprehending the universe in which the Time Lords travelled. This one, though, this Sarah Jane Smith had been with him for years and had managed to come back to her own life afterwards. How extraordinary. Romana was impressed almost despite herself. She laid a careful hand on Sarah's shoulder, surprised when Sarah leaned readily into her arm.
"It must have been very strange," Romana said thoughtfully, gazing down at the top of Sarah's head where it was nestled into her shoulder.
"What?" Sarah asked, swallowing her last gulp of wine. She reached for the bottle and refilled her glass and Romana's. Romana shrugged mentally and took another sip herself. It really was quite nice.
"Strange to come back to a sedentary life after travelling with someone like your friend, which must have been very exciting. Was it a difficult choice, then, to say goodbye?"
Sarah stiffened in Romana's arms and set her empty glass back on the table with a solid thunk. "Look, it wasn't my choice, all right? I didn't want to leave him, but I had to. I had to, and now I'm here, and this, this is my life and I have to make the best of it without him." She turned to face Romana, her cheeks flushed with emotion. "I have to," she repeated quietly.
Romana blinked in shock, taken aback by the excess of emotion. She only had a moment to fumble for a proper response before Sarah leaned the last few inches between them and kissed her.
Sarah's mouth was shockingly warm, and her lips tasted pleasantly of the wine they'd been drinking. One of her hands had settled on Romana's stomach while the other curved around her head to draw her down, and Romana could feel her skin tingling in response to Sarah's heat. She slid her arm around Sarah's slight frame and kissed her back.
Sarah pulled away first, and Romana shivered as the cooler air hit her heated skin. She looked at Sarah and swallowed hard, wondering if her own lips were as red as Sarah's. From the look on Sarah's face, she suspected they were. She reached out, cupping Sarah's face in her hands and running her thumbs over Sarah's mouth. This time Romana initiated the kiss, but Sarah responded just as passionately as before.
Her chair creaked as she leaned further into Romana's embrace, and she smiled. "Come on," she said, standing and catching Romana's hands in hers. Romana let herself be led out of the room, concentrating on the gentle pressure of Sarah's fingers in hers and the soft slide of their skin together.
Sarah stopped in the door to her bedroom and leaned against the frame. "Is this… all right?" she asked hesitantly, drawing patterns on the back of Romana's hands with her fingertips.
Romana paused for a split second. Part of her mind was still trying to analyze what was happening – after all, she certainly hadn't reacted like this to any of the Doctor's other former travelling companions. If she were honest with herself, though, she didn't really care. This was her first real experience with humanity other than studying the race at the Academy, and she intended to discover as much as she possibly could. "Yes," she replied firmly, enjoying the height she had on Sarah and the way she could gaze down into the other woman's upturned face.
"Good," Sarah declared impishly, pulling their bodies together and coaxing Romana's mouth down to hers once more.
Romana wound a hand through Sarah's hair, tugging her head back and pressing kisses along the exposed length of her neck. She felt Sarah's solitary pulse accelerate under her mouth and paused, wondering. Had the Doctor ever felt the odd beat of a single heart, tasted the almost too salty skin of a human, of this particular woman? Was that why Sarah was so unwilling to discuss leaving him, letting him go?
Sarah moaned and clutched at Romana's arms, urging her on, and she abandoned her train of thought. She wasn't likely to get an answer, but the high probability that she was right in her speculation certainly provided her with an interesting insight into the Doctor's character.
Ducking out of Romana's arms, Sarah took a few steps towards the bed. She unbuttoned her blouse and let it fall from her shoulders to the floor, only to ruin the seductive image with a hastily-suppressed giggle. She stopped to undo her jeans, and Romana took the opportunity to step up behind her. She reached around and took Sarah's hands in her own, holding them still. Sarah tipped her head back against Romana's shoulder, looking up through lidded eyes.
"Slow," Romana said, and Sarah let her hands fall to her sides. Romana popped the top button of Sarah's jeans and rested her fingers just under the waistband, feeling the rise and fall of Sarah's breathing. Sarah shivered and reached behind her, inching the hem of Romana's dress up her leg.
"Not this slow," Sarah corrected her, finding the hem of the dress and dragging her nails over the flesh beneath it.
Romana gasped at the unexpected contact and bent to kiss Sarah again. "You make a very persuasive argument," she whispered against Sarah's mouth, sliding one hand down Sarah's jeans. Her fingers rubbed along the outside of Sarah's knickers, tracing the outline of the dampness she found there and pressing the fabric back against Sarah's flesh. Sarah moaned and pressed her hips forward, trying to increase the friction, but the tight material of her jeans restricted Romana's movements.
With a growl of frustration, Sarah spun out of Romana's grasp and turned to face her. "Let me see if I can convince you further," she said, running her hands up Romana's sides and gathering the silky material of her dress. Romana lifted her arms, allowing Sarah to slip the dress off and drop it on the floor. Time Lords weren't burdened with an excess of self-consciousness, or of modesty: Romana stood comfortably in a bra and knickers as Sarah explored her body with eyes and then fingers, touching every possible bit of exposed skin. Romana felt her temperature rise as Sarah's fingers flitted over her collarbones, the inside of her elbows, the curve of her hips, skillfully avoiding all the places Romana most wanted to be touched.
Finally she grabbed Sarah's wrists. "All right," she said, pressing a kiss to the underside of each in turn. "I'll concede your point." Sarah bit her lip, trying unsuccessfully to keep from smiling as Romana drew her towards the bed.
As the backs of Romana's legs hit the bed, Sarah gave her a light shove, and Romana let herself fall back onto the bed. Sarah knelt above her, and Romana felt a blush creep up her chest and into her face at the sight of Sarah in her bra and partially undone jeans. Hooking her fingers into the belt loops, she tugged, bringing Sarah sprawling on top of her.
"Is this better?" she asked, undoing Sarah's bra and running her palms up and down the smooth skin of Sarah's back. She cupped Sarah's arse through her jeans and Sarah moaned, bringing one leg up between Romana's thighs. Romana arched upwards at the touch.
"Mmm, but is it good for you, darling," Sarah teased, then yelped as Romana rolled them and pinned Sarah beneath her.
"Good enough," Romana retorted, a half-smile curving her full lips as she tugged Sarah's undone bra off. Drawing her thumbs over Sarah's nipples, Romana marvelled at her delightful responsiveness. What fascinating creatures humans were – endlessly adaptable and surprising. No wonder the Doctor was so captivated by them.
Taking advantage of Romana's momentary inattention, Sarah flipped them over again. "Just 'good enough'?" she asked, pulling off Romana's bra. "That sounds like a challenge." She slid down Romana's body, the rough material of her jeans rasping against sensitized flesh. Kneeling on the floor between Romana's legs, she reached up and dragged Romana's underwear off. "Good," she said, crawling back onto the bed and placing kisses up the insides of Romana's legs. Romana writhed against the bed and spread her legs wider.
"Better," Sarah said, reaching the apex of Romana's thighs and finding her dripping wet. Romana's hips jerked as Sarah dragged two fingers through her wetness; her eyes widened as Sarah brought her fingers up and licked them clean, gazing deliberately at Romana.
"Best," Sarah concluded, dipping her head down and taking Romana's hips in her hands. Romana groaned and buried her fingers in Sarah's hair, her head falling back against the bet at the first touch of Sarah's tongue. Romana was hot – she could feel the sweat slicking her body – but Sarah was hotter. If her hands on Romana's hips were warm, her mouth was burning, every sensation intensified by the scalding heat until it was almost too much. Romana whimpered and tried to pull away, but Sarah held fast, and before long Romana was completely overwhelmed. She cried out softly as she came and slumped bonelessly against the bed.
Sarah sat up, smiling, and licked her lips. "Very good?" she asked smugly, curling her body along Romana's right side.
"Very good," Romana agreed breathlessly, running her hand down Sarah's side and just under her waistband. Sarah sighed softly and rested her head on Romana's chest, stretching under Romana's teasing fingers.
Suddenly Sarah jerked up and away from Romana. She pressed both hands to Romana's chest, one on either side, but there was nothing at all sexual about the gesture. In fact, it seemed almost angry.
"Sarah? What is it? Is something wrong?" Romana asked, looking around the room in confusion. She hadn't noticed anything worrying, but the way Sarah was acting was very disconcerting.
"Two hearts," Sarah hissed. "Or should I say, binary cardiovascular system," she corrected herself.
Her expression had twisted into an ugly mask of hatred and self-loathing, and Romana swallowed hard. Her heartbeats. Sarah had heard both of them when she laid her head on Romana's chest. And now Romana had been exposed. "Sarah, I – " she tried, unsure what explanation she might offer but sure that she needed to say something.
"Shut up!" Sarah said, clambering backwards off the bed, her eyes never leaving Romana's. "Just shut up. You fucking Time Lords are all the same. Nothing but lies ever come out of your mouths. Well, I don't want to hear it. No more fucking lies. Who sent you? Was it the Doctor? Did that bastard send you to check up on me? Funny way you chose of doing it," she added, giving the still-naked Romana a glare that nearly made her feel embarrassed.
"Sarah, no one sent me," Romana insisted, climbing out of bed and grabbing her dress. She tugged it over her head without bothering with her underwear.
"Right," Sarah said dryly, crossing her arms. The posture accentuated rather than concealed her half-nude state, and Romana looked away. "So you were in that pub for no reason at all, and that the woman you decided to buy a pint for was the only one in the room who'd previously met a Time Lord was a complete coincidence?" Sarah snorted. "Sorry, try again."
Romana opened her mouth to speak, but Sarah held up a hand to forestall her. "Actually, never mind," she said simply. "Just get out."
"But – " Romana protested.
Sarah shook her head. "No. Just go. I don't want anything more to do with the bloody Time Lords. And if you see the Doctor, you can tell him that." She paused. "Well?" she demanded, after a moment in which Romana simply stared at her.
Moving with as much dignity as possible, Romana collected her bra and pants from the floor and her boots and coat from the front door. Sarah followed, watching carefully. She had thrown her blouse back on without buttoning it, but her face was set in disgust.
Just outside the door, Romana turned, needing to try to explain once more. "Sarah, I am sorry," she started.
"Get stuffed," Sarah snapped, slamming the door in her face.
Romana stared at the door, dumbfounded. She almost lifted her hand to knock; the lights inside snapped out, and Romana drew back. Bundling her coat around her, she turned to walk back to the TARDIS.
The rain had picked up, and by the time she got inside the TARDIS, Romana was soaking wet. She walked through the TARDIS without bothering to activate the lights, finding her way into the control room from memory. Her hair was cold and clammy, dripping down the back of her neck, but she ignored it, intent on setting the coordinates as quickly as possible. Away from this bloody planet, that was all she wanted. Back to Gallifrey, and then on to whatever this quest was.
Romana slapped her palm down on a button and the TARDIS whirred into life. As the Earth disappeared from her viewscreens, Romana tried and failed to relax. All the gossip and stories and the very few facts she'd ever heard about the Doctor were swirling around in her head, coloured by the sorrow and guilt she felt about the way she'd left Sarah. It wasn't really her fault, she told herself.
No, really it was the Doctor's fault, wasn't it? He was the one who'd left, Sarah had said. Nearly a year ago, he'd dropped her back on Earth; she'd been with him for several years, Romana knew, and to suddenly have that end, to return to a linear existence…. She shivered, chilled for reasons that had nothing to do with her wet clothes. Rubbing her own hands along her arms did nothing to warm her – she was cold all over, and in the muted light of the control room, her double heartbeat seemed frighteningly loud.
