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Sarah glanced at the clock surprised that there was a knocking on the door. It was the middle of the day. The kids were all in school so it wouldn't be one of them and everyone she knew, knew it was her working hours, so none of them would be bothering her at home.
So she got up from her desk and headed for the stairs. She grabbed the door and swung it open, ready to have a go at anyone who wanted to disturb her and then her eyes landed on the guy standing on her doorstep, even though she'd never seen him before, she took one look at his eyes and she knew.
"Doctor." She says surprised but then steps closer to him and throws her arms around his neck, he puts his arms carefully around her and lifts her off her feet and she smiles into his shoulder. "Oh, my Sarah Jane." He whispers, she's not sure if she was meant to hear it but she does and she holds him tighter. They're standing there for a couple of minutes before he puts her feet back on the floor.
"What are you doing here?" She asks, curious. The doctor doesn't do house visits for no reason and worry etches across her face because he doesn't, just visit. There must be something wrong. "There's nothing wrong." He starts, noticing the worry coming across her face. She nods and calms a little, but doesn't completely settle. There's something off about him. "So what's got you here? You don't usually do house visits?" She asks as she pulls him fully into the house and shuts the door. She leads him into the kitchen and gets about making tea for the two of them. She doesn't question him for his order and makes it as she would always make it and he smiles at her as he watches.
"There's nothing wrong, I was in the Tardis and not really looking for a new adventure and thought maybe I could pop in on one of my oldest friends." He comments as Sarah passes him his tea and he smiles at her in thanks as she drops into the chair next to him, turning to face him fully. "Doctor, you don't just pop in. That's never been your style." She comments and stares at him for a moment. "What's happened?" She asks and he looks at her and she watches as the wall begins to crack. "I'm on my own." He says as softly as he can and Sarah looks at him, doesn't say anything just waits for him to talk to her, like he used to. "I've lost Clara and the thought of just picking up a new companion doesn't sound as fun as it used to. They always used to turn up, every time I run into new trouble." He admits and that's the first time she's known him to admit something like that. Maybe his regeneration has picked up some sense. He's noticed his behaviour and has avoided it.
"I'm sorry, about Clara. Was she nice?" She asked, slipping a hand into his and squeezing gently, knowing he needed the comfort and wouldn't have asked for it, but Sarah already knew the answer to her question, not because the Doctor never picked anyone who wasn't but because she knew the Brig well enough, she still visited him often and because his daughter, Kate has taken over as Chief Scientific Officer at U.N.I.T and the two of them met up regularly, to share information and occasionally chat, mostly about the Doctor. So When the Doctor's last regeneration had picked up Clara, Sarah had known about it. So she knew what sort of person the Doctor had lost.
"She was amazing. She reminded me a bit of Donna. She didn't take any nonsense from me." He said with a painful smile, a look that always crossed his face when he thought of Donna. Sarah had kept in touch with her family and she met up with Wilf on occasion. So she knew that Donna was doing perfectly fine. "She sounds great. Is she gone for good?" Sarah asked, she knew that he regularly loses his companions but some like Martha and Mickey and the Captain, leave for another type of life, but some like Rose and Donna, he has to let go and she knows they all hurt him just as much. "Yeah." Is his only reply as he gazes into his mug and Sarah squeezes his hand again. "Well if you've got nothing better to do, you can come up and meet my supercomputer and maybe do some maintenance on K-9. He's come back from sealing a black hole, so could do with a look over." She says with a small smile in his direction. If she could get him to stay for a couple of hours at least, then maybe, she could get him to stay longer and hopefully help him out of his current mood. The worst thing for the Doctor is to be alone and in his own head, he'll wander and get into trouble and have no self-preservation. So keeping him around for a while would be beneficial for him and she won't even deny that she would like him around a little. He's her oldest friend and right now, he looks it. They definitely fit together better than his last two regenerations ever did.
"I'd like that." He comments in reply to her question and she smiles and gets to her feet, grabbing her tea, the Doctor takes the hint and follows her and they head up the stairs to the attic. Once there, Sarah can keep him occupied and maybe just maybe, help him out of whatever dark hole he's rolled himself into.