(( As requested by angelicmuse for the AU Ask Meme thingy. Also, please forgive my writing of the 12th Doctor; I'm sure it's not really up to par. ^_^; ))
It had started out like a fairly normal day. Sarah was caught up on her deadlines and was using her free time to do a bit of gardening. It wasn’t a large space, but she was rather proud of it, especially given how little time she had to maintain it. The author had just turned on the water hose when an odd, sort of ‘straining’ sound reached her ears. It sounded a little like struggling water pipes, so she quickly turned off the hose...but the sound continued. Confused, Sarah turned to walk around the side of the house towards the front...and almost ran smack into what looked like a large blue...phone box?
Although not exactly a stranger to unusual events, the woman hadn’t had to deal with them in quite some time...and she found she was more intrigued by the device currently crushing her irises than she was afraid or angry. So, curiosity piqued, she stepped forward and knocked on the door. “Hello? Is someone in there?”
Before she could make a second round of knocks, the door opened abruptly and she found herself facing a tall, thin man with curly grey hair and rather hawk-like features. He frowned at her. “You’re not him, not him at all. Who are you?!”
Scottish…? This just got more and more interesting. “I’m Sarah,” she replied, curiosity winning out over wariness. “Who are you?”
“Who am I? Who am I?! Why, I’m The Doctor, of course! Now, if you’ll kindly point me in the direction of The Sorcerer and I’ll be on my way.”
“The...who?” she asked, one eyebrow arching curiously.
The man rolled his eyes at her, sighing dramatically. “Come now, girl! The TARDIS wouldn’t have brought me here if you couldn’t take me to him. Don’t make this any more difficult than it has to be.”
It was all too weird not to be connected...wasn’t it? After all, what were the chances that this was completely unrelated to what she'd gone through as a teen? Taking a breath, the author asked, “Are you talking about Jareth…?”
The Doctor seemed surprised. “Oh! Using his name now, is he. Interesting...very interesting…”
“I can’t tell you where he is,” Sarah interrupted. “At least...I can’t give you directions...and we haven’t spoken since...well...we haven’t spoken in over a decade, so I don’t think I can help you…”
“Nonsense!” the man chuckled, grabbing her hand and pulling Sarah inside the blue box...which was much bigger than it looked from the outside. “The TARDIS brought me to you, which means you can take me to him.”
“Hey!” she cried out, as he closed and locked the door behind her. “I’m not…!”
“Shhh-shh-shhh-shhh!” was The Doctor’s only response. “Really, this is most important, so stop arguing and put your hands just there.” He took Sarah’s hands and placed them on an unusual piece of equipment. “Now, kindly focus your thoughts on The Sorcerer...ah, Jareth, if you please.”
Sarah was starting to get angry...but dammit, she was still curious, too! And the idea of seeing Jareth...she didn’t even know how to feel about that...but she was certain of one thing - he wouldn’t want to see her...would he?
“That’s it,” The Doctor encouraged, just a little more…” The same sound she’d heard before thrummed around them, buzzing through the author’s bones before stopping abruptly. “Excellent! Now let’s see where we’re at, shall we?” With that, he unlocked and opened the door...the two of them looking out into a chaotic throne room...and at a very startled Goblin King.
(( Note - the idea that Jareth could be a timelord is an awesome one that I cannot take credit for. If you’re interested in interacting with an awesome Jareth with this back story, check out thetimelordking. ^_^ ))