An Apple A Day (Sarah Jane)

[Deleted]

Oracle looked absolutely shell shocked.  Unsurprising, as Sarah Jane had shot her off just like one, meters through the air from one roof to the other.  Not to mention the impromptu regression therapy.  And saving both their necks with some well timed expenditures of her St. Elmo's fire, or whatever that was.

She'd stared at the young woman long enough that she put the brakes on as soon as she looked forward, having caught up with traffic.

"Seat belt please." She prompted. "And lets get that foot back up, shall we?  We'll stop at the next convenience and get you some fresh ice ginger beer? That should help your stomach. "

She was about to start winding her way more quickly through the traffic when it dawned on her that Oracle might prefer a smooth ride at that point.

"I don't know that I trust him, Oracle, but I understand his personal code of conduct.  I'll expect you to stay close.  I may even tuck you away somewhere entirely safe until I know if he needs to speak with you or not."

[Oracle]

Oracle was aware that Sarah Jane was staring at her a little because of how fast the cars where coming at them, she started to tell her politely to watch the road when Sarah Jane put on the brakes.

"Seat belt please." Oracle chuckled a tiny bit “Yeah no kidding.” quickly she pulled her seatbelt across her chest till she heard the satisfying click of it buckling.

"And lets get that foot back up, shall we? We'll stop at the next convenience and get you some fresh ice ginger beer? That should help your stomach. " Not arguing Oracle propped her foot up some and waved away the comment about the Ginger beer comment “I’m fine.. it just felt like everything hit at once ya know.”

She continued to listen to Sarah Jane as she talked and shook her head no at the thought of her tucking her away “And leave you with no back up? Not on your life.”

[Deleted]

Her driving smoothed out as she focused on it. She'd never really thought about trying to before. Oracle looked alarmingly pale when Sarah Jane checked her passenger side mirror, the woman's young face lit ghostly by a passing car's lamps.

" 'Just' indeed, young lady. Everything DID hit you at once. So we are stopping, and well get you soda crackers and gingerale. And anything else I can lure you into."

She almost made a biting tease as she would to one of her close friends about being so very staunch. She bit her tongue as she realized Oracle had been absolutely serious.

"Maybe an icepop?" is what she said instead.

[Oracle]

She couldn’t help it, Oracle slowly pulled her legs up to her chest, careful to mind her ankle as she did and rested her cheek on her knee, not in a trying to make herself small sort of way just out of habit and comfort way, while listening to Sarah Jane.

" 'Just' indeed, young lady. Everything DID hit you at once. So we are stopping, and well get you soda crackers and gingerale. And anything else I can lure you into." “Ok yeah, soda crackers would probably be a good idea.”

Turning her head she placed her chin on her knees and watched the road through the front windshield “…What’s an icepop?” she asked genuinely.

[Deleted]

As Oracle curled up smaller than seemed reasonable, Sarah Jane was feeling like some child-napper. Even Oracle's endless keen observings, a hyperviglance that Sarah often saw in hardened soldiers, had eased back into weariness.

Some rescue. Oracle wouldn't even need rescuing if Sarah Jane had not interfered.

"Soft ice like hail with sugar. Cold candy." she smiled reassuringly at the Ginger. "The red ones make you look like you have lipstick on, the blue ones make you look like an alien. Here we go."

She would take them to a little mom and pop right off the main highway.

[Oracle]

Oracle couldn’t help but laugh a little when Sarah Jane said that the blues ice pops made you look like an alien “Well then, it won’t be too far a stretch for me.”

Keeping her head forward she moved her eyes to look over at Sarah Jane for a second, before returning her attention to the road, some human feelings she couldn’t understand but she had become pretty decent at reading body language over the years. “It’s not your fault you know, this probably would have happened sooner or later.”

[Deleted]

Her mouth trembled a moment. Almost broke. She sniffed back hard her tears and schooled her face.

Forgiveness sometudes felt like having ones arms freed after having them tied behind your back.

And this from the girl who had pick pocketed her yesterday. That made Sarah Jane loose one small gaffaw, another hard sniff as her nose ran with the force of that unexpected laugh, and she pressed the back of one hand to her nose to hide it as she disloved into a short chuckle.

"Oh, ORAcle!" She caught her breath, and shot the Ginger a confused amused look.

"After everything that happened to you, how did you ever grow to be so forgiving? "

She 'gently' crossed three lanes of traffic to take the next exit. She watched carefully behind her for a tail.

[Oracle]

"After everything that happened to you, how did you ever grow to be so forgiving?" Oracle sat there for a minute, thinking of a response to Sarah Janes question. There was really no straight forward answer to it.

“Forgiving? I never really thought about it like that. I’ve only ever really thought of it as….”’ she couldn’t exactly find the words for it ““To be wronged is nothing, unless you continue to remember it.” Confucius.”

She shrugged “Plus, there was no way to know that what we were looking for would be tracked how could we.”

[Deleted]

"Oh, good heavens, no wonder the Doctor attached himself to you. I was a harder nut to crack." She chuckled, swerving and grinning down the ramp.

Soon she was slowing them down and put pulling into a mom and pop.

She turned off the car and handed Oracle the keys. I'll be right back with Aunt Lavidia's time proven nostrom."

[Oracle]

Oracle spun the keys on a finger when Sarah Jane handed them over "Sure thing boss I'll be waiting right here."

Waiting had never been Oracles strongest characteristics, popping open the door she got out of the car and stretched some.

Her mind wandered a little as she looked up the sky, walking around to the front of the car Oracle leaned back against the hood of the car and crossed her arms across her chest "...I wonder if the planet's still up there"

[Deleted]

Sarah Jane could not keep from giving her the hard 'Obey' me stare. Afraid as she was of loosing this you woman's faith, the stare was automatic. It was to protect her, in case she got notions of going for a joyride.

At the store she quick picked up from the DEli things she knew tempted a queasy teens tummy.
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Out in the parking lot, two tazer prongs were launched, aimed most carefully by the two who drove into the parking soon after.

The Tazer was specially made and it's chain dragged on the ground. It is made to try to ground Oracle's unique abilities. It is intended to short her through the very earth if she lashes out.

[Oracle]

Oracle held up her hands when Sarah Jane shot her the ‘Obey’ me stare “Don’t worry, I’m not going anyway.” she flashed one of her cheeky grins.

-

Letting her mind wander, Oracle had managed to let slip from her attention the car pulling into the parking lot quietly.

It felt like two very forceful bee stings hitting her square in the chest “What the…” She reached up to try to pull out the pongs but stopped when she did “Oow, hey what the hell man?!”

Oracle went to slide off the car’s hood and started try to build up an electric charge sensing something was up unfortunately the second she did Oracle got a feeling like a mule had kicked her in the chest hard enough that she couldn’t help but make a noise like a slight stifled scream.

She was completely grounded; it hurt and just felt completely wrong. She started clawing at the prongs starting to panic. “Sarah Jane!”

[Deleted]

Sarah Jane did not have super hearing. What she did have was an ear pitched for a cry for help as keen as a soldier's was for the sounds of bullets wheeting through the air. At that first soft, distant cry, she'd held her breath and cocked her ears. She'd had the same reaction earlier when she'd heard a couple of men back behind the beverage cooler joshing with each other as they restocked it.

Now, groceries in a paper sack in her arms, she was listening with the whole of her when the second, barely heard cry came to her pricked ears. If she didn't run out the door and risk innocents following, she sure as hell started running, dropping her bag as she went.

"Jack! DAMN YOU TO HELL, JACK!"

-----------------------

Owen had hit Oracle with a seditive dart in the neck. It wouldn't take more than two seconds to leave her paralyzed and disoriented. It might be small consolation That Jack Harkness would never have let her hit the ground. She was scooped up without effort. His timing was perfect, reaching her just as her knees went. Oracle would be put with care on the ground as Jack went to cut off Sarah Jane's bee line for the girl on the ground.

Owen was leaning over Oracle, explaining to her that she'll be fine if she doesn't struggle.

He must mean her power, because Oracle would find herself quite paralyzed.
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"No!! Absolutely not, Torchwood! !! I lost you at the exit! That makes her MY responsibility!"

"This goes way beyond our agreement, Ms. Smith! I saw the reading emminating from Your hous, from that girl! She is too dangerous!"

"Is that why you shunned me when your friend John came to town! Or did you shut me out. Let me by!"

Another car came screaming into the parking lot.

[Oracle]

Oracles hand flew to her neck when the dart hit her neck, pulling it out she looked at it as her world started to spin and go in and out of focus. Turning to try to run Oracles knees buckled and she headed for the ground but was caught and gently laid on the ground, well thank goodness for small favors.

She couldn’t move and she had to struggle to stay awake, someone was talking to her but she couldn’t make out exactly what he was saying.

Oracle knew it was somewhere around the lines of not struggling but, she was already panicking so every part of her being had already switched to fight or flight mode and she was unable to do either of those which just doubled her panicking.

[Deleted]

There would have been quite a bit of shouting between Sarah Jane and Jack.  Tempers were flaring in a way they could never let themselves lose control with an enemy.  Jack had gone so far as to push them both out of Oracle's eyesight.  Owen was busy taking readings as he would a car, or a corpse, purposely avoiding Oracles gaze.   Impersonal.

Two more voices, an alarmed man, and a very Welsh woman.  A very rectangular man's face appeared over the fallen girl, then he started sounding as alarmed as the rest.  In moments, the 'Doctor' was pushed aside and a woman's face loomed into view.

Dark haired, pale skinned.  Dark eyebrows, and red lips that parted in concern and revealed quite a gap between very white teeth.  Leather jacket and worry.  A gun was half forgotten in her hand, but pointed safely at the sky.

"Don't you worry now, you're goin' to be all right." Her voice lilted thick and musical.  Even if the girl on the ground couldn't understand the words quite, she might get the tone.

"Oh, for Christ's sake, Jack! Did you even look at her?"