EVERYTHING HAS ITS TIME

A/N: A little tribute to Elizabeth Sladen. Rest in Peace.

Chapter One

None of them could believe it.

Sarah Jane Smith seemed so invincible, so otherworldly at times. They had seen her fight monsters time and again and defeat them with hardly any effort. Any situation she could get out of with barely a scratch. And yet, in the end a simple thing like cancer was going to claim her life.

She lay there in the hospital bed, frail and weak, while her son and her friends sat near her, offering their support and comfort and strength. None of them had known that she had been battling cancer for years, she always kept it a secret from them in the hopes that she would stay in remission. But then the cancer came back, stronger than before and Sarah Jane was forced to tell Luke, Clyde and Rani the truth. She tried to remain stoic for their sakes even though Luke could see the fear in his mother's eyes when the Doctor told her she would only have months to live. Since that time, Sarah Jane had spent ever precious moment preparing for the day when she would take her final breath while her son and friends hoped and prayed that she would recover or that the Doctor would come and find a way to cure her before it was too late. Luke phoned Maria and her and her father flew back from Washington D.C. to visit with Sarah Jane, a visit that seemed to put renewed wind in her sails but it just wasn't enough to save her and now here she was at death's door while Luke, Clyde and Rani kept her company and prayed for a miracle.

Sarah Jane leaned up in her bed and grabbed the small plastic cup that was half full of water. She took a sip while she glanced around at the three worried teenagers keeping vigil.

"You know, you can go and do something else. I'm not ready to snuff it just yet," she said to them with amusement.

"We're just thinking," Rani said.

"Oh?" Sarah Jane said, sitting the cup down and refilling it with water from a plastic pitcher, "what are you thinking about?"

"We want the Doctor to come and save you," Clyde said.

Sarah Jane gave him a shocked look for a moment and then laughed softly.

"I take it you've been hoping for this ever since you found out I had cancer, eh?" she said.

The three teenagers nodded and Sarah Jane smiled fondly at them.

"Would it shock you if I told you I don't want to be saved," she said to them.

The three teenagers glanced at one another.

"Why?" Rani said. "You don't want the Doctor to come and save you?"

"No," Sarah Jane said. "It's not his place to save me, not from this at any rate. If it were a monster of some sort then yes, I would welcome his intervention but this, this was meant to be. I told the Doctor once when he was tempted to gain god-like powers so he could save the people he loved that everything has its time and everything ends. It's my time now. I've fought this cancer for many years and briefly won the battle but now it's come back and I believe it's time for me to go on to what lies ahead, the next great adventure in life, the one the Doctor's never been on. The Doctor has more important things to deal with than rescuing me from myself."

"But he should be here at least, to say goodbye," Luke said angrily. "You traveled with him. He owes you that much at least."

"Well, maybe he will come to do that," Sarah Jane said. "He has a time machine so he might know when to come and bid me farewell. Now that I wouldn't mind seeing. A fond goodbye to a dear, old friend."

"If there was some way we could get in touch with him, to tell him," Rani said.

"Like before, calling him, Mister Smith still has the mobile number. We can ring him and ask him to come," Luke said.

"Would you mind if we did that?" Clyde said.

Sarah Jane beamed.

"I would like it very much, but only for a visit, mind. Don't start begging him to save me. I'm ready to die and I don't want to place the burden of saving me on the Doctor's shoulders. Alright?'

The three teenagers nodded. They stood up and kissed her cheeks and forehead, whispering to her that they would be back soon. Sarah Jane nodded and settled back in the bed, watching with love in her eyes while her son and friends hurried from the room.

It took them twenty minutes to go by bus back to Bannerman Road. All three teenagers rushed into the house, flew up the stairs and ran into the attic.

"Mister Smith, we really need you!" Rani yelled as they ran over to the brick wall hiding the supercomputer.

The wall opened up revealing Mister Smith.

"Rani, what can I do for you?" Mister Smith said in his prim voice.

"We need you to use the mobile number to call the Doctor," Luke said. "We need to contact him so he can come see mum before it's too late."

"Calling the Doctor…" Mister Smith said as the three teenagers breathed a sigh of relief.

"You don't have the guts," Amy said to the Doctor.

She, Rory and the Doctor were standing in the console room of the TARDIS discussing where they'd like to go next. Amy asked if they could go to an amusement park for the day, one with lots of roller coasters and this led to Amy teasing the Doctor about actually riding the rides and specifically the roller coasters.

"I don't have the guts?" the Doctor said. "Pond, I've ridden roller coasters in the past."

"What about the scariest one ever made?" Amy said.

"I don't know. Which roller coaster is the scariest one ever made? You tell me the name and I'll tell you if I've ridden it or not. Anyway, what does it matter? Why would you think I would be afraid to get on a roller coaster?"

"Because amusement park rides don't seem like your style," Amy said.

"And why is that?" the Doctor said.

"Well, because it's a little hard to imagine you riding one in your tweed jacket," Amy said, fingering the lapel while Rory chuckled.

"People wearing tweed don't ride roller coasters?" the Doctor said.

"No, they do, it's just that you seem so…serious at times," Amy said. "I can't imagine you whooping and hollering and sticking your arms up in the air while riding one."

"Rory, did I or did I not change into swim trunks and go romping around in the surf when we went to the Bahamas a fortnight ago?" the Doctor said to Rory.

"You did," Rory said, nodding.

"Did I or did I not join in the fun of swimming and splashing and having a merry old time with the two of you?" he asked Rory.

"You did," Rory said.

"Then why in the hell do you think I wouldn't join in the fun and ride amusement park rides, Pond?" the Doctor said to Amy while Rory giggled. "I am not that anal, alright? I do like amusement park rides and I will ride roller coasters."

"Okay, then find us an amusement park with the most scariest roller coaster in the world," Amy said.

"Fine, I will, just to prove a point and shut you up," the Doctor said, moving to his monitor. "I'll have the TARDIS search for…"

Everyone fell silent when they heard a mobile ringing in the Doctor's trouser pocket.

"Wait, you have a mobile?" Amy said as the Doctor took it out. "Seriously?"

"It wasn't mine originally, it was given to me by a friend so she could keep in contact with me," the Doctor said, opening it up.

Amy and Rory watched while the Doctor said hello and then listened. They could hear a man's voice but they couldn't tell what he was saying. However, the Doctor looked more and more stricken with each passing second and Amy glanced at Rory, wondering what was happening.

"I will. Course I will, if that's her wish," the Doctor finally said. "Just give me the date and time and the name of the hospital and we'll be there straight away."

The Doctor listened and nodded.

"Right, I'll come round to your attic first and you can ride with me there," he said. "Just wait a tic and listen for me. Okay…bye."

"What's wrong?" Amy said when he ended the call and put the mobile back in his pocket.

"Very old friend is dying of cancer and wants to see me. Sorry, the amusement park will have to wait," the Doctor said to her.

Amy and Rory nodded sympathetically. Rory put his arm around Amy's waist while the Doctor set a course for Bannerman Road. They arrived in seconds and the Doctor powered down before he and his companions headed for the door. Amy and Rory looked over his shoulder when he opened the door. In front of the TARDIS were three teenagers. The Doctor stepped down from the TARDIS and hugged them all while Amy and Rory followed behind him.

"Everyone, these are my current traveling companions, Amy Pond and her husband, Rory. Rory, Amy, this is Luke, Rani and Clyde. Luke is the son of my friend, Sarah Jane, and Rani and Clyde are her friends and my friends as well. So, now that introductions are finished, everyone inside so we can go visit Sarah in hospital."

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