Part Four
Author: Brightbear
Rating: PG-13 for low-level violence, slash, mild language and supernatural themes.
Spoilers: Set after The Hand of Fear and K-9 and Co when Sarah is staying at her aunt’s house. Also contains references to The Terror of the Zygons and the Planet of the Spiders.
Summary: While staying at her aunt’s house, Sarah makes some new friends, catches up with an old one and investigates a new mystery.
Author's Note: Unfortunately, the Doctor himself does not make an appearance in this story but his Tom Baker incarnation is fondly remembered. Thanks to Blue_too for his Beta job.
Disclaimer: Doctor Who belongs to the BBC and associated persons.

* * *

Liz and Brendon stood in the kitchen rolling out biscuit dough. Liz waved through the window as Rupert’s car disappeared down the driveway.
“Do you really think the Colonel did it?” asked Brendon.
“I don’t know but what’s the motive?” said Liz. “That’s the problem with all this. What’s the motive?”
“Maybe Dr Rodney simply got into an argument with someone?”
“Maybe… and stop eating the mixture.”

Brendon stopped picking at the dough and began to flatten it vigorously with the rolling pin.
“Not too thin,” said Liz. “It’ll break when you pick it up.”
He squeezed and packed together the flattened dough and began again.
“I don’t know how the break-in factors in on this, yet,” said Brendon.
“Why does it have to? Co-incidence?” suggested Liz.
Brendon shook his head, “No. They’re connected all right. I just don’t know how.”

* * *

Rather than follow the wandering trail all the way back, Sarah and Harry walked along the road back to where they’d started. It only took twenty minutes when the original trail had taken them an hour and a half. The vet surgery was still several hundred metres down the road.
“Here’s where we found the trail,” said Harry, pointing to the side of the road.
The strange prints led off into the paddock, accompanied by Harry and Sarah’s footsteps from earlier.
“So we know where it goes,” said Sarah. “But where did it come from?”

They followed the trail onwards. Sarah was not surprised to see it leading closer to the vets.
“Maybe those animals belong to Dr Rodney,” she suggested. “He’s a vet, he’d be interested in strange animals.”
Harry snorted, “The Colonel and I helped him back all his belongings into that absurd little car of his for the drive out here. We would have noticed anything squirming.”
“Are you sure?”
“Quite.”

They approached the side of the vet surgery, on the opposite side from the house. The trail abruptly cut off, mid-print.
“What’d they do? Start flying?” said Harry.
“No, someone’s tried to wipe away the trail,” said Sarah, pointing.
The next few metres of sand had been disturbed recently and looked unusually flat. A broom rested against the wall of the building.

“Subtle,” said Harry.
“Our killer probably wasn’t expecting anybody else to come snooping around so soon,” said Sarah. “Or they’d have erased more of the trail.”
Harry walked onto the swept sand and examined the wall. Most of the wall was made of wood but in the very centre was a boarded up window at Harry’s knee height.

“That’s very low,” said Harry, bending over to pick at the splintering boards.
“Probably leads to a cellar,” said Sarah. “I hate cellars.”
Something hissed at them from the other side of the boarded up window. Harry jumped backwards, nearly knocking Sarah over.
“I really hate cellars,” said Sarah.

Harry looked at her, “Shall we go have a look, old girl?”
“We’re not going to solve this mystery by standing around out here,” said Sarah.
They walked around to the front of the vet surgery. Harry walked cautiously in the front door.
“Hello? Dr Casey?” he called.
“Rupert?” echoed Sarah.
There was no answer.

They moved through the waiting room with its comfortable chairs and the posters plastered to its walls. The posters had slogans like ‘Is your pet protected from fleas’ or ‘Will you still love me when I’m older?’ above pictures of kittens and puppies.
“Where do you think the cellar is?” said Harry, looking between the three doors that led out of the waiting room.
“I was here earlier,” said Sarah. “That one leads to the back room and that one leads to Rupert’s living space so… I say we try door number three.”

Harry walked towards the door she’d pointed at, holding up a hand to stop her going first. She grimaced at him but said nothing.
“Do we really want to go down there, Harry?” she asked.
“We won’t know until we’re down there,” he said, squaring his shoulders. “You don’t have to come, old girl.”
“What? And let you go down by yourself?” said Sarah. “Not a chance.”

Harry opened the door to reveal a set of stairs that went down into darkness. He reached forward and groped along the wall until he found the lightswitch. He flicked it. Nothing happened.
“Typical,” said Sarah, from over his shoulder.
He led the way down the staircase. The steps were sturdy, regular and easy to feel with their feet.
“Stay close to me, Sarah,” he whispered. “Sarah?”

He turned around to see Sarah coming back down the stairs towards him. She slipped something long and round into his hand.
“Torch,” she said.
“Good thinking, old girl,” said Harry.
He flicked the torch on and shone it on the stairs in front of them. The torchbeam revealed the spiderweb that Harry had nearly walked straight into. He wrinkled his nose.

“At least they’re not evil Spiders,” said Sarah from behind him. “Just regular ones.”
“What?”
“Nothing.”

He reached the cellar floor. He raised the torch to shine it around the room. The cellar walls were old and dusty but the floor had been swept recently. Most of the floor was taken up by animal cages stacked on top of each other. On the far wall was the boarded up window.

Harry walked forward, avoiding a tottering pile that reached over his head. He walked around the cages, shining the torch into them. They were empty.
“What was hissing?” asked Sarah. “Empty cages don’t hiss.”
Something hissed behind her and she jumped the rest of the way down the stairs.
“There!” she said to Harry, pointing. “Underneath the staircase.”
Harry pivoted and shone the torch in the direction she was pointing. Four metal cages had been arranged in the recess beneath the staircase.

Three of the cages contained a small creature and the fourth showed signs of being broken. Two of them were sleeping, snuggled deep into the old blankets that lined their cages. A third was awake and blinking at the strangers. It was about the size of a dog but so fat it was nearly round. It rocked back on its squat hind legs and lifted a hand to grip the cage bars with stubby, clawed fingers. It reminded Sarah of a fat ginger cat that had belonged to her neighbours when she was young.

When nobody had moved for about a minute, the creature dropped back down onto all fours. No longer bothered by their presence, its beady little eyes kept closing and its portly little head started to droop. Sarah revised her opinion from fat cat to lazy toad. Then it yawned, its large mouth splitting open. The mouth seemed too big for its head, like the head was about to split in half and fall off. The light from Harry’s torch glinted off each of the long, blue-tinged teeth that lined its jaw.
“Ouch,” said Harry.
“Exactly,” said Sarah. “It… doesn’t look so dangerous now, though.”

“They’re not,” said a voice.
Harry and Sarah spun around to see Rupert standing on the stairs behind them. He squinted as Harry shone his torch straight into his face.
“Not dangerous?” said Sarah. “What about Jasper? And Liz’s cat?”
Rupert sighed and sat down on the step, “That was an accident. They got out… They get lonely, you see. They came looking for me. I should have stayed here with them instead of going to that stupid party.”

“Accident or not,” said Harry. “They ought to be put down.”
Rupert looked up sharply, “You don’t have a pet, do you Doctor Sullivan? People can get quite funny about their pets.”
“Even if you love your pets, you’re still responsible for them,” said Sarah loudly.
The two men jumped as if they’d forgotten she was there. She walked forward to sit beside Rupert on the stair.

“Where did you find them?” she asked.
He smiled sadly at her, “Asteroid. Or rather it wasn’t an asteroid. Some kind of alien lifeboat or escape pod. It landed in a paddock near where I was working with some cows. The alien in it was dying of his injuries. He spoke only once and it was to beg me to take care of his Fieves.”
“Fieves?” said Harry.
“Yes,” said Rupert, still talking to Sarah. “That’s what he called them. Some secret military unit took away the dead alien and the escape pod but I hid the Fieves from them. I took them in, I took care of them.”

“It was probably UNIT that took the escape pod,” said Harry. “You should have given them the creatures.”
Rupert snorted, “They were entrusted to my care and I have looked after them for more than six years!”
“There’s no telling what trouble they could get up to,” said Harry. “What if they’d attacked a child?”
The irate vet stood up to face Harry, his fists clenching. Harry interupted the other man’s angry glare by shining the torchlight in his face. Rupert shut his eyes but continued to face Harry regardless.

“They’ve never attacked anybody,” hissed Rupert through clenched teeth.
“What about Evan?” said Harry.
“Rupert…” said Sarah, uncertain whether or not to rise from her place on the step.
“Dr Rodney? Oh yes, bloody Dr Rodney, who couldn’t leave well enough alone…” said Rupert. “I tried to stop him from following that trail. He wouldn’t listen to me. I tried to get him to see reason.”
“And when he didn’t?” said Harry.

Sarah stood up, “Harry…”
“I didn’t mean to do it,” said Rupert. “But he wouldn’t listen to reason and I had no choice.”
“You murdered him,” said Harry.
“Yes.”
“Just because of your mangy, stupid little animals.”

“Its not their fault.”
“They don’t belong here. They don’t belong on Earth. We’ll have to call UNIT and get them to dispose of the little mongrels.”
“No. I won’t let you kill them,” snapped Rupert.
The vet jumped forward, his fist slamming into Harry’s face. The momentum knocked the two men to the ground.

“Stop it!” shouted Sarah.
They ignored her. Harry’s torch went bouncing across the ground and knocked against the cages. The Fieves roused from their sleep and watched the fight with blinking eyes.

* * *

Liz opened the kitchen cupboard to pull out more flour. A fat little Fieve hissed at her as it awoke. She jumped backwards, grabbing Brendon by the arm and dragging him away. The Fieve blinked at them groggily and began to stretch its legs.
“What on Earth…” said Brendon.
“I don’t know but I don’t think its vegetarian,” said Liz, steering Brendon towards the kitchen door.

The Fieve jumped down from the shelf where it had been sleeping and looked around the kitchen. It spotted Liz and Brendon and started waddling enthusiastically towards them. Liz and Brendon retreated to the hallway with the Fieve following.

Jasper came limping out of the living room, growling. His ears were flattened and his teeth were bared. The Fieve stopped in its tracks as it saw the dog. It stiffened and began to hiss. It snapped its large jaws with an audible crack. Jasper imposed himself between his humans and the intruder.
“Jasper, heel!” said Brendon.
Jasper ignored him and the hissing Fieve began to advance.

“Master, I am coming,” called a monotonic voice.
K-9 came motoring into the room, nearly tripping up Liz. The Fieve spun to face the newcomer and Brendon lunged forward to grab Jasper’s collar. Ignoring the bizarre appearance of the metal dog, Liz joined Brendon in dragging Jasper away from the Fieve.

The Fieve hissed a final time and launched itself at K-9. It barely got half-way through its leap before a red beam shot out of the end of K-9’s nose, stunning it. The Fieve twisted in the air and landed at Liz’s feet. She nudged it with her toe but it remained motionless. Brendon poked it with a finger.

“What is it?” asked Brendon.
“I don’t know,” said Liz.
She looked at K-9 and then back at Brendon.
“All right,” she said, pointing at K-9. “What’s that?”
“Well, he belongs to Sarah…”

* * *

Harry rolled on top of Rupert and began punching him. Sarah grabbed one of Harry’s arms and tried to pull him off.
“Stop it!” she shrieked. “Stop it, right now!”
A surprised Harry paused mid-punch and allowed Sarah to drag him backwards. Rupert seized the opportunity and the torch.
“Harry, this is crazy,” said Sarah, clutching his arm. “This is a matter for the police.”

“No police,” said Rupert, swinging the torch at Harry’s head.
Torch and head collided with a sickening crack and Harry slid out of Sarah’s grasp.
“Rupert!” said Sarah.
The vet ignored her and advanced on a stunned Harry as he lay on the ground.

“Rupert,” warned Sarah. “I’ll call the police!”
The vet paused and stepped away from Harry.
“Sarah, please,” he said.
He stepped towards her and she stepped away.
“Sarah, I’m not going to hurt you. You’ve got to believe me…”
As he stepped forward again, she retreated across the room towards the cages.

“Like you didn’t hurt Dr Rodney,” she asked.
“I told you, it was an accident,” he said. “Please, Sarah. They’re not dangerous. They just don’t know their own strength sometimes.”
“I know people go to strange lengths to protect their pets, Rupert,” she said. “But, believe me, they’ll be better off with UNIT and their scientists.”
“Scientists? You mean they’ll be poked and prodded for the rest of their lives?” said Rupert. “Look at them, Sarah. Do they deserve that?”

She looked over to the cages where the Fieves were watching the fight. They were starting to wake up, their heads twistly nimbly to peer first at Rupert and Sarah and then at Harry. They were all sitting on their hindlegs, resting their weight on the cage fronts. They were flexing the claws on their stubby little fingers.

“I have connections at UNIT,” said Sarah. “I can see to it that they’re taken care of.”
“Taken care of?” said Rupert. “Sarah, please, I know that any good journalist’s first instinct is to tell everything about any secret they manage to feret out. I know there’s probably no bigger story for someone like you than aliens… but can’t you consider the consequences of revealing this? Some things have to be kept secret.”
She tilted her head on the side, looking at his expression.

“I keep more secrets that you can imagine, Rupert,” she said quietly. “The existence of aliens is not new to me. I’ve known many aliens who I feared and… and one who is one of the closest friends I’ve ever had. But it doesn’t change the fact that these aliens are dangerous. You can’t keep them here.”
His face fell, “Sarah.”
She shrugged, “I’m sorry, Rupert.”
“So am I.”

He ran at her suddenly but she was expecting him. She twisted out of his way and darted behind the pile of cages. He grabbed her wrist but she was already throwing her weight against the cages. The pile swung forward and began to fall. He released her wrist to throw his hands above his head to protect himself. The weight of the cages knocked him to the ground.

Sarah stood back, trembling. Rupert was motionless under the pile of cages. She forced herself to look away and walk over to Harry. Harry rubbed the back of his head, ruefully.
“Did I miss anything?” he asked.
Sarah sat next to him on the ground, “Nothing but the usual. Bad guy dealt with.”
She sighed and Harry frowned.
“What’s wrong?” he asked.
“Nothing.”

She slid her arms underneath Harry’s armpits and helped him up. Harry winced and let her lead him up the staircase.
“We’ll need to call UNIT,” said Sarah thoughtfully. “And an ambulance for Rupert.”
“Dead?” asked Harry.
“It’s typical, you know,” she said, ignoring the question.
“What?”
“I really liked him.”

* * *

Harry and the Colonel sat on Sarah’s couch as Brendon and Liz carried in afternoon tea.
“Oh, smells good, Liz,” said Sarah, sniffing.
She leaned forward eagerly to snatch up a fresh scone. The Colonel picked up two and passed one to Harry.
“Don’t they?” asked Liz. “But I didn’t make these. I just made lunch.”
“Store bought?” said the Colonel. “Unusual of you to cut corners, Miss Patterson.”

Liz smiled as she placed a tray of herbal teas on the table, “Brendon made the scones.”
Sarah paused and sniffed the scones again, “Are you sure?”
“I watched him make them,” added Liz.
Brendon stuck his hands in his pockets grumpily, “Not game enough to eat something I made, Sarah?”
The Colonel sniffed the scone and Brendon looked offended.

Harry ate his scone in one bite and everyone turned to look at him. He chewed slowly, thoughtfully.
“Not quite up to Liz’s standard,” he decided. “But better than any packaged ones.”
Brendon beamed and Sarah took a bite of her scone. The Colonel grinned at Harry’s serious expression and ate his scone.

Liz settled into an armchair with her cup of tea, leaning down to scratch Jasper’s ears.
“So,” said Liz. “Does anybody want to tell me what really happened?”
Sarah and Harry exchanged looks. Brendon perched on a stool and watched with interest.
“Let’s just say that there was a side to Rupert… Dr Casey, that none of us knew about,” said Sarah.
“Hmm,” said Liz skeptically. “A pity. Seemed like a nice man.”
“Appearances can be deceptive,” said the Colonel bluntly. “Obviously wasn’t good enough for our Miss Smith.”

Sarah smiled at the compliment, “Well, let’s hope that you’re good enough for our Harry.”
The Colonel paused, “Pardon?”
“Oh please,” said Sarah. “Two men living alone together for eight years who argue like an old married couple? Not to mention that you seemed to share the same bedroom. You expect me to believe that that’s platonic?”
Harry smiled at her, “Wondered how long it’d take you.”

Liz frowned, “You mean you’re…”
“Gay,” said Harry. “And quite happily so.”
“That solves a few questions,” said Liz. “Why on Earth didn’t you say?”
The Colonel snorted, “Country towns aren’t known for being the most open-minded of places. It’s a pity, I rather liked Moreton Harwood.”
“True,” said Liz. “But I don’t think anybody in this room cares.”
“I don’t think anyone outside this room has to know,” said Sarah firmly.
The others in the room nodded.

“You won’t object if we stay?” asked the Colonel carefully.
Sarah shook her head, “Course not. Friend of Harry’s is a friend of mine. I will expect the two of you to be over here regularly. Especially when we need any heavy lifting done.”
“Well, in that case. I’ve been thinking,” said the Colonel.
Harry frowned, just as puzzled as everyone else.

“I’ve got all this money I’ve inherited and nothing to do,” he explained. “You’ve got a market garden business with a very competent manager in Liz but, from what I hear, significant debts after the arrest of both the previous manager and the co-owner. Would you be interested in a new investor, by any chance?”
Liz paused, “Next year’s crop should be a good one. All we need is to stay afloat until then.”
“It’s Aunt Lavinia’s final decision,” said Sarah. “But until she gets back, I see no problem with that.”
“Oh good,” said the Colonel. “I stick by my earlier statement. Plants are nice.”
“Plants are nice,” laughed Sarah and Liz together.

“Seems like everyone has some harmless secrets,” continued the Colonel. “Trust the journalist to find them all out.”
Sarah smiled, “Oh, I’ve got my fair share of secrets, Colonel. I intend to keep most of them to myself but if you’re going to be living here permanently… there’s one I should probably let everyone here know about. provided that you all keep quiet about it, of course…”
“You can count on us, Miss Smith,” said the Colonel with a mock bow.
“Of course,” said Liz.
Brendon and Harry exchanged amused looks and sipped their tea.
“You know how I said I only had one dog… well, I wasn’t being entirely truthful,” began Sarah.

THE END

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