Christmas is in the air (Open)

[Sarah Jane Smith]

It was Christmas time. The house was decorated and the tree was up. Everything looked great. Best of all, her son would be returning very soon from University for the holidays and everything was quiet. Mr. Smith couldn't detect anything strange and neither could her watch. A normal day didn't happen very often for Sarah Jane. She put the finishing touches on the tree. It looked great. Nothing more really need to be done. Perfect. Now what to do?

She looked out the window just in time to see something strange. Lights. That wasn't too strange, but when they were shining down from the sky in broad daylight, they were strange. Especially to someone who was used to spaceships and aliens. Something was going on. It never failed; normal day turning into a usual day. Sarah Jane wasn't capable of having a normal day. She hadn't had one in years. Since the day she met The Doctor again and he made her realize just what she wanted to do with her life. But she wasn't complaining. Sarah figured a normal day would be pretty boring. She wouldn't know how to spend it.

She ran outside just in time to see the spaceship leave. So what was it doing here anyways? Sarah ran upstairs to her attic and summoned Mr. Smith. She asked him about the spaceship, but he couldn't identify the species. He did, however, manage to trace it to Cardiff. Torchwood territory. She didn't like that group. Too violent in her opinion. But she was still gonna go. Maybe she could talk them out of using weapons to deal with them. These aliens may not be dangerous. They could just be lost.

Making sure she had what she needed, Sarah Jane left her house and drove into Cardiff. She couldn't find the spaceship, but she did come across an alien. Sarah Jane had it trapped in an alley and was about to talk to it when she heard footsteps.

[DONNA NOBLE]

It was driving her absolutely mad - Donna remembered everything, and thanks to the Ood her mind was no longer at risk of burning up; but, she hadn't been able to find the Doctor.

"You have his mind... Think, Donna... THINK!" she admonished herself.

Donna knew that she might have some luck if she were able to locate some of the Doctor's other friends here on Earth, but... She was having a heck of a time locating anyone...

And then, it hit her: Torchwood!

Donna decided to go to Cardiff, thinking that perhaps Captain Jack and his crew might be able to help her find him - and if not, then there was always that fantastic rift that might possibly draw the TARDIS to Cardiff.

It was worth a shot, at least...

"Gramps, I'm going to Cardiff," Donna called out from the other room, as she gathered some things that she thought she might need. "I'm not sure when I'll be back... But, tell Mum not to worry."

Wilfred had looked at her with knowing eyes, shining proudly at his granddaughter. He knew what she was after - or rather, WHO she was looking for, and he fully supported Donna's efforts to find the Doctor again. He wished his granddaughter the best of luck and made her promise to call him from her mobile if she was successful.

It took everything in him to restrain from insisting that he come along, too. For, Wilf also loved the Doctor - like a son - and he would give anything to see that wonderful man again...

Donna tossed a couple pieces of luggage into her little TARDIS-blue car, waved goodbye to Wilf as he stood at the front door, and then drove off to Cardiff, in search of the Doctor.

And, Donna wished so, so hard... from the very depths of her heart, that the Doctor would be there - that he would come... that this wasn't going to turn into another wasted effort.

~~~~~~~~~

Some time later, Donna had arrived. She left her car in a carpark near the Roald Dahl Plaza - near the Torchwood Hub - and then started walking around...

That was when she saw a very familiar face: the face of Sarah Jane Smith!

She wasn't the Doctor, but Donna felt that running into Sarah Jane here was a good sign - a very good sign!

"Sarah Jane? Sarah Jane Smith?" Donna called out as she approached the other woman. "It is you, isn't it?" she asked with a wide smile and eyes glittering with excitement, for Donna knew with certainty that she was correct.

Of course, Donna didn't realize that Sarah Jane had actually been tracking an alien and had it cornered in that little alleyway...

[Sarah Jane Smith]

The species she had cornered was one she had never ran into before. Even when she traveled with The Doctor, all the aliens she had met, none of them had been this particular species. Sarah Jane wondered what had made it come down to Earth after so many years of staying away. Unless if it had come down before and it was a harmless creature. She had met a couple like that, though most of them were dangerous.

She didn't allow the footsteps to distract her from the alien. Distraction could be a good thing sometimes, but when you protected Earth from invaders, it was a bad thing. Getting distracted could get you hurt or killed. While she started her questioning, Sarah Jane did wonder who it was. She hoped it wasn't a human who had never ran into aliens before. As much as she didn't like Torchwood, she would prefer to meet them and deal with them than someone who would just ask a bunch of questions.

The voice was very familiar to her and she knew almost instantly who it was. Well, she got her wish. It wasn't someone who hadn't run into aliens before. Donna Noble, a companion to the Doctor. She had made quite an impression on Sarah Jane. While she'd been hugging Jack Harkness, Donna had come up and basically threw her away from him. "Keep your eyes peeled, Donna," she said. "There might be more running around."

While he wouldn't answer her questions, it didn't take long for him to fight back. He took out a weapon, pointed it at Sarah, who dropped to the ground to avoid being hit and ran towards Donna. "Watch out," she called, getting up and chasing after him.

[DONNA NOBLE]

"Keep your eyes peeled, Donna," she said. "There might be more running around."

Donna smiled with delight when she heard the recognition in Sarah Jane’s voice – and then, she saw the alien and made a horrified face.

“Oi! What are you?” Donna yelled at it. But then, it lashed out and aimed a weapon at them, causing Sarah Jane to drop to the ground, and Donna to scoot to the side, behind a large, metal rubbish bin. Then, it was off and running – and, Sarah Jane was in hot pursuit.

Donna wasn’t far behind her, and she caught up to Sarah Jane after a few moments.

“You aren’t supposed to be here, mate! Drop the weapon, and come talk to us, yeah?” Donna called out as they chased after it, hoping that the alien-thing would listen to reason.

Though… Chances were that it would not be very cooperative.

“Where… did that… thing… come from?” Donna asked Sarah Jane as they ran. She felt a bit out of shape, but the running felt really good and reminded her of the Doctor. Gosh, but it would be splendid if he just happened to show up right now – either him, or Captain Jack and his Torchwood people…

However, Donna felt that she and Sarah Jane had this handled on their own – she had a good feeling, despite the fact that she didn’t yet know what sort of alien this was, nor what its strengths or weaknesses were.


[OOC: Shall we make it a Weevil? Seems appropriate for Cardiff… *winks*]