Rest Now, My Warrior

Author's note: Erm, about that publishing schedule...sorry. I'll try to get something up once a week on the weekends, but college is MUCH busier than I thought it would be. For now, enjoy this piece. I've noticed a dearth of works featuring the Fourth Doctor and Sarah Jane Smith, so I decided to add a contribution of my own.

Sarah Jane should've noticed there was something wrong with the Doctor earlier.

She should've noticed the way he was slightly unsteady on his feet as they made their way back to the TARDIS. She should've noticed how he leaned against the walls of the console a little too heavily to be casual after they got in. She should've noticed how tightly he held the controls of the TARDIS as he piloted it out of 1911, into the future and back to relative safety.

She finally noticed, however, when he suddenly pitched forward while in flight, gripping the sides of the console in an attempt to steady himself.

"Doctor!" she cried. "What is it?"

"Su-tekh…" he managed between gasps, and Sarah was frightened by the pain apparent in his voice. However, when she realized exactly what he'd said, she felt as though there was ice in her veins.

"He's still alive?" she whispered, afraid now to look up and see Sutekh's horrible face staring at her from the TARDIS wall once more. It had terrified her enough when she hadn't known its source. Now, though, that she had seen exactly what he represented…

"No, no," he banished her fear as though it were nothing, waving an arm around for a moment dismissively before clutching the console again. "A far simpler matter. He tortured me earlier. It seems my adrenaline is wearing off now."

Sarah could think of nothing to say to this. They were out of danger, for sure. The menace that had threatened her future was gone, just a part of the Doctor's ever-growing list of defeated threats to the past and future alike. However, she wasn't relieved in the least. Her Doctor, seeming invulnerable and untouchable so often, so quick with a smile since his regeneration, was in pain. Agony, even. In this moment, it didn't seem to be worth it.

She couldn't manage to say anything, but her eyes certainly told a different story. The Doctor saw the sorrow in them easily.

"Don't worry about me, Sarah!" he declared, pulling a lever on the console, turning towards her and smiling brightly. She looked back at him, unconvinced. It didn't take the trained eye of a journalist to see the cracks just below the surface.

"I'm fine, see?" he continued, letting go of the TARDIS console and taking a few steps towards her. "Just go on and go to bed. I think you need some rest, don't-augh!"

The last was followed by a sudden disappearance of the smile and a collapse to the ground, where he curled in on himself as if attempting to escape the sudden spasm. She was by his side in an instant with a cry of "Doctor!"

"I'm okay," he gasped. "The pain…it's just-" here he hissed, "Just gotten a bit worse."

"Why?"

"I pushed myself too much after my ordeal earlier. Didn't exactly work wonders for my recovery."

Sarah said nothing, simply giving him a forlorn look. What would the Time Lord not give to defend her planet? Right now, it seemed to her as though the answer was 'nothing'. He'd just put himself between earth and Sutekh, between life and utter desolation. Perhaps he'd lived through it, but he was still suffering for his choice.

"You're the one who needs to get to bed," she commented, trying to ignore the pangs in her heart upon seeing him as he was. There was something so wrong about seeing the Doctor vulnerable. "Maybe you'd be more comfortable there."

He didn't answer her, just continued to hold himself rigidly.

"Come on," she encouraged. "Can you get up?"

"I don't think so," he replied through clenched teeth, shutting his eyes as if to ward off the next spasm

"Well, I'm not carrying you. You're too big," she quipped, trying desperately to keep her tone light in order to distract him. When that got no response, she scooted just a little closer to him and reached out with her hand. After a moment, the hesitation passed, and she gently touched his cheek with her hand. His skin was cool under her fingers. It was the only reminder right now that her friend wasn't a human like she was. Most of the time, he seemed so very alien, so very invulnerable, so out of reach.

"Oh, Doctor," she whispered, gently running her thumb along his cheek in a probably vain attempt to comfort him. "What can I do?"

He didn't answer her, just shuddered again, a spasm of pain working through his system. Sarah closed her eyes, unable to look at his pained expression.

"Just go rest, Sarah," he whispered after a moment, opening his eyes. His gaze was just as clear and sharp as ever, in spite of what he was going through. "You need your sleep."

"You need to be somewhere comfortable!" she parried.

"Well, that isn't going to happen, is it?" he sat up to face her, before sinking slowly back to the ground with a short gasp.

She simply looked at him for a moment before a brilliant idea came to her.

"I'll be right back!" she declared, putting a little more pressure into her touch for a moment before getting up to go. As she promised, she was barely gone for five minutes before she returned, arms laden with items. She dropped them all on the floor except for a pillow she'd brought, which she kept in her arms as she rushed back to the Doctor.

"What are you doing, Sarah?" he asked, turning his head to face her.

"You should be somewhere more comfortable," she echoed her earlier statement. She dropped to the floor, then reached her hand under her friend's head. Soon, her fingers were entangled in her friend's wild curls as she gently pushed his head upward. With her other hand, she slid the pillow under where it would lie, then gently let his head drop. Then, she turned quickly back towards her pile of objects, grabbing the blanket she'd brought with her and rushing back to her friend's side.

He shivered again once, clenching every muscle tightly and slamming his eyes shut again. After a moment, they opened again, and he seemed to relax slightly. She smiled sadly down at her dear friend, earning a weak ghost of a smile back in turn where there was usually a broad grin.

"I'll be okay, Sarah. I'll be alright," he declared softly, tone so much more serious than it usually was. A second later, he grimaced again.

"Oh, I hate it when you do that," she complained, unfolding the blanket.

"Do what?"

"Try to distract me," she clarified, draping the blanket at last over her friend's prone body. "There, now. I can't do much about the floor, but at least you'll be a bit more comfortable."

The Time Lord said nothing in response to her. Clearly, he was riding out another wave of pain.

"Would you like me to stay?" she asked. "Can I get you anything else?"

He didn't respond then, either, just shuddered once before he was lying still.

"Doctor?" she asked softly. No point in asking if he was alright; she knew the answer to that already.

"Sarah?" he finally responded, voice sounding unbelievably quiet.

"What can I do?" She found herself lowering her own voice to that volume; strange, how people tended to do that.

"Stay," he answered, note of pleading not absent from his voice. "Stay right here."

"Of course. Of course I'll stay," she murmured, bending over and kissing his forehead in what she hoped was a comforting gesture. Then, she pulled out the extra pillow she'd brought for herself (even if he hadn't asked her, she wasn't leaving his side tonight), laid it close to his, and grabbed her blanket.

"Can you dim the lights in here?" she asked. Even as the words left her mouth, they began doing so. Perhaps the TARDIS had heard her; the Doctor acted as though their ship were just as sentient as the two of them.

"Thanks," Sarah whispered, not quite positive about whom she was thanking, as she laid down on the floor and pulled her blanket around her. Admittedly, the floor had never been a place she enjoyed sleeping on. However, she didn't want to leave her friend, and doubted she could if she tried. As it was, however, she would be able to comfort him. Perhaps she couldn't ease his pain, but at least she could be there with him.

Silently, she reached out and took one long-fingered hand in her own smaller one, even there feeling the tremors of pain.

"Thank you, Doctor," she whispered.

"For what?" He asked after the spell had ended, voice now sounding closer to its usual tendencies.

"For doing what you do."

"Of course, Sarah."

She smiled sadly, giving the Doctor's hand a quick squeeze.

The two of them drifted off that way, with Sarah Jane's hand tightly gripping the Doctor's. She stayed awake just slightly longer, listening as the shuddering breaths next to her grew deeper, more even, less affected by the pain, before letting herself surrender to the same.

She hoped he would always be there for the universe. As long as he was, she would be there for him.

Author's note: Well, that's that. I wrote this a while ago after seeing Pyramids of Mars, which as of right now with my rather limited viewing experience is my favorite Classic Who episode. Even though Three is probably my favorite Doctor and Sarah shares the spot of my favorite companion with Jamie McCrimmon...but I digress.

Anyway, I figure that the Doctor would have to deal with some after-effects of being caught in Sutekh's torture ray, whatever that was. Of course, Sarah's there to help him. I guess you can interpret their relationship in this either way. Personally, Four/Sarah is the only ship involving Classic Doctors that I like, but if it's not your cup of tea, I get that too.

If you're wondering why they're sleeping, I figured that they had a fairly stressful day, what with Sutekh and all, and that taking a nap would do them both good. And yes, I know that Gallifreyans get considerably less sleep than humans, if they have to at all, but I figure that this would be one of those times that the Doctor actually would need some sleep!

So yeah. There's my piece. The title comes from the first line from 'The Long Song'. I figured it fit fairly well for this situation, since I mention a few times that he saves the universe and all...Hope you enjoyed this, and please review! Four is one of the most difficult characters of all time to characterize, so if you've got any tips, send 'em this way!

Thanks!