An Apple A Day (Sarah Jane)

[Deleted]

Angered, she backhanded Ianto in the head.  It wasn't enough to make the skilled agent flub his driving at all, but he did make an offended sound of surprise.  Then Sarah Jane glared at him, clearly plotting, a finger held up shush style in Oracle's direction.

There had been a feud of sorts heating up between Sarah Jane and Torchwood, and Oracle had stumbled right into the middle of it.

"Give me your Torch Ianto."

"No!" he said, as if it was the most outrageous request head heard.

"Now."

"I can't."

"That isn't true.  Torch Now.  Don't pretend you don't know who you're dealing with or how much power I have in this situation.  If you don't like it, you can tell Jack later, but you have no leeway, not with me.  Not today."

Ianto moved, freed his torch from his belt, and handed it back over the seat with a groan.  Sarah Jane took it and turned back to Oracle beside her. 

"Who knows what all they've done to you." she said, unscrewing the metal case. The battery inside was not Earth made.  It was something much more capacity.  "Here, hold out your hands-"

"Ms. Smith!" He was appauled.

"Cross me one more time tonight, Ianto, and I swear I'll shoot your boyfriend in the head next time I see him."  Her voice was low and tight. 

[Oracle]

"Here, hold out your hands-" Oracle did as she was beckoned and held out her hands “Ok, but it’s a regular battery isn’t it? It wouldn’t be enough…”

"Ms. Smith!" Oracle instinctively closed her hands when Ianto spoke, pulling them back a little. "Cross me one more time tonight, Ianto, and I swear I'll shoot your boyfriend in the head next time I see him."

Reaching forward Oracle placed one of her hands around Sarah Janes “Hey, stop ok as far as they knew they were in the right. What would you have done if you thought I had been a threat just as they did?”

[Deleted]

Oracle looked like a ghost, there by the light of oncoming headlights. The impossible natural ginger of her hair was stark contrast to her skin. There were dark circles smudged under her eyes.

The young woman's gaze was so intence and urgent! Her grip was chill and firm around her wrist. In that instant Sarah Jane remembered all the times she'd stepped right in between two mythical creature's and tried to make peace. Bold as brass and not a whit of understanding. But, perhaps that is what it took. That innocent view. Sarah Jane realized she'd been behaving quite horrifying.

She slid down into the seat next to Oracle, calming herself.

"Oracle, everybody thinks they're right, it's why they do what they do. Even the wicked and the evil think they are right." she gave a little shake of her head. "A sense of rightiousness isn't enough to justify using that much power. Torchwood has. . . limited perspective. I do things the way the Doctor showed me."

Well, mostly. In the ways it mattered anyway.

"I do know what sort of threat you could be so I offered you a sandwich and a night under my roof. That is the difference."

Sarah Jane now held out the alien fuel cell from the torch. It almost glowed.

"And it's why I'm giving you this. I'm going to need your help and you look completely knackered."

Ianto was pulling off at the exit like he'd been told. He'd gone quiet and bright pink with his miff.

[Oracle]

It seemed to Oracle that she’d somewhat gotten through to Sarah Jane and couldn’t help but smirk a tiny bit when she said Torchwood had limited perspective and looked down a little before saying softly “Most people do.”

"I do know what sort of threat you could be so I offered you a sandwich and a night under my roof. That is the difference." Oracle looked up and looked Sarah Jane in the face before looking down at the fuel cell her body screaming at her to take it.

"And it's why I'm giving you this. I'm going to need your help and you look completely knackered." “Oh, you have no idea.” she managed out a small laugh “Probably couldn’t even power a 30 watt bulb right now.”

Reaching up she took the fuel cell from Sarah Jane. Instantly, she started to feel better, slightly confused she looked from the battery to Sarah Jane then back to the battery “Oh, oh this is good.”

[Deleted]

"What about the tazer holes they put in you?  You can't heal that too can you?" Sarah Jane hoped Oracle could.  As if it would some how erase the poor choices she herself had made.  To undo what had been done, though she worried that Ianto's words had hurt even more than the other insults poured upon the young woman.  Oracle's (sadly correct) assumption that people would judge her and fear her made Sarah Jane just plain angry at humans.  In some corners of the Universe, Oracle would be prized.  Revered.  But the poor kid had to come to Earth where a person could be shunned simply for the cut of their clothes.

Ianto was pulling off the highway, and she was tempted to pull out her piece again.  Her young friend's reaction was enough to slow Sarah down, however.   Words. Yes.  Words were a better weapon. Always had been.

"Tell Jack that if I see him anywhere near this girl again, our truce is off.  And believe me, you all will find yourselves disbanded and unarmed within a week.  Now, pull over and hand back the keys."

Ianto did what he was told, his jaw working with worry and frustration. "I'll tell him." the mans said, short and clipped.  He slammed the door shut.  She quickly locked the drivers side door, having locked the others already. It wasn't very dignified, but Sarah Jane started climbing up and over into the front seat.
"No . . .you stay in the back, keep your foot up, and your head down.  Lets keep you out of sight for a while."

[Oracle]

"What about the tazer holes they put in you? You can't heal that too can you?" Oh yeah she’d forgotten about those, holding up a finger Oracle reached down and gently but forcefully pulled the prongs that where left over out of herself and let them drop to the floor of the vehicle “Yeah, it’ll take a minute but I heal fairly quickly.” she figured it was the all the electric charge that she created stimulating her cells.

Oracle watched as Ianto got out of the car and slammed the door shut, she knew she should be mad at him and Torchwood in general but for some reason, she wasn’t she more pitied the small mindedness of them.

"No . . .you stay in the back, keep your foot up, and your head down. Lets keep you out of sight for a while." hearing Sarah Jane tell her to stay in the back jerked her out of her own thoughts for once she did as she was told and hunkered down in the back seat, making sure to keep her foot up.

[Deleted]

She really must catch hold of her temper.  She really must.  She was aware that if Oracle wanted to leave that it would be near impossible to keep her from doing so.  And Sarah Jane had not been doing as good a job as she would like of caring for her young charge.  Not at all.  It hadn't been easy, it seemed the girl was the hot ticket in town with Torchwood and those aliens after her . . why now?

Then it dawned on her.  It was difficult to keep the tension out of her voice as she made her realization known. More precisely, she was entirely unable to keep the tension or her growing frustration out of her voice.

"Oracle you've managed somehow to stay hidden for years.  I can't imagine how you did that, but you did.  And then there was the day in the tunnels, the weeping Angels . . .UNIT swarming the place! And you grabbed right on to that trolly and completely blew your cover! What possessed you! All those years of hiding and then you just . . . .gha! Everyone saw.  Didn't you know they'd come after you? What were you thinking?"

She was driving too fast.

[Oracle]

She was very aware Sarah Jane had told her to stay down but she moved to the center of the seats so she could look Sarah Jane directly in the eyes when the woman asked her what she had been thinking that time with the trolley “I wasn’t.”

Most times she had a plan, that time however she hadn’t. “I just knew I had to help.” Oracle shrugged and looked at the speedometer “Umm, Sarah Jane.”

[Deleted]

Well, now she was revved up, regardless of that wan little face peeking over between the seats.

"Oh, you were thinking all right! That was clear . .you just weren't thinking about yourself! What?! Oh." She slowed down enough to get the speedometer out of the red. "Now . . .get back there and stop looking at me like that. Oh . .Oracle, what am I going to do with you? It's clear Torchwood isn't going to be any help.  And . . the man I was going to go see works with both of us."

She sighed.

"When we get there, I'm going to need you to be charming . no, not like that . .just be yourself.  He's going to want to hold your head and have a little peek inside.  Will you be brave for me and let him do it?"

[Oracle]

She let out a little breathe when Sarah Jane slowed down some, she was sturdy but she wasn’t indestructible last thing she had needed tonight had been them both getting in a car crash.

Sitting back in the seat she listened to Sarah Jane "When we get there, I'm going to need you to be charming. Oracle tilted her head a little not completely understanding what her friend meant “no, not like that . .just be yourself. He's going to want to hold your head and have a little peek inside. Will you be brave for me and let him do it?"

Oracle looked out the cars window for a second, watching as the street lamps zipped by, softly “Yeah, I think I can let him do that.”

[Deleted]

She couldn't tell her that it was going to be okay. She couldn't even promise it wouldn't hurt. That was making her frown, but she assumed Oracle couldn't see it.

"I believe it will be worth it. And I'll be right there. No more leaving you alone while I go for snacks. Speaking of which-" Sarah Jane rummaged in her glove box without taking her eyes off the road. "This is not what I wanted to give to you, but I hope it fills you up a bit." She cranked her arm behind her seat, in her hand was a Double Decker and a Crunchie in their bright and rattling wrappers. The Double Decker had been bent in the middle from the paintball gun she kept in there, but at least they were fresh. Grateful for being flexible still, she extended her arm pretty far behind, hoping her charge wouldn't have to sit up to reach. Hmm. That brought a smile. Her 'charge' indeed.

[Oracle]

"I believe it will be worth it. And I'll be right there. No more leaving you alone while I go for snacks. Speaking of which-" Oracle moved up a little to see what Sarah Jane was doing. "This is not what I wanted to give to you, but I hope it fills you up a bit." reaching up Oracle took what Sarah Jane had offered before sitting up some more “Thank you.”

Quickly slipping one of them into her pocket Oracle opened the other one and took a bite out of it. “So, this guy, what’s he like?” she looked up at the rearview mirror. Oracle asked just so she knew what kind of person she would be dealing with.