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Fighting for Consciousness - The Sarah Jane Adventures - Gen (Sarah Jane Smith, Luke Smith) - Words: 1,257
Written for Angst Bingo; Prompt: Tight Spaces
Summary: The helplessness of being captive in her own mind hurt more than Sarah Jane had ever imagined.
Content Notes: None. PG.
On AO3: Fighting for Consciousness
"Luke, come on out. It's almost time for lunch," Sarah Jane's voice called up the stairs, and if Sarah Jane didn't know better she would say that the alien who had possessed her had almost matched her tone of voice precisely. A little more condescending than she used with any of the children, but the words had almost been right. She wondered how much longer it would be before no one, not even Luke, could tell than she wasn't herself.
She had to give Luke some credit, he'd realized that something wasn't right within only twenty minutes or so from being home from school. The alien had only recently taken over her body, and wasn't really used to biped locomotion or audible speech. Luke, after dropping his school bag in his room and changing out of his uniform, had come downstairs for a snack and had launched into an explanation of the advanced project the science teacher at school had him working on. Usually Sarah Jane would have been asking him questions, or, on the days Luke brought Clyde and Maria home with him, they would all have a snack in the kitchen before going up to the attic to see what news Mr. Smith had for them.
The alien possessing her body, she had yet to get a species or a name from it yet, had nodded and made approving noises as Luke continued his explanation while he rummaged through the cupboards for some chocolate biscuits. Sarah Jane had felt one of her feet step in the wrong place as her body tried to walk towards Luke, and wasn't it a peculiar sensation to feel her body working without her directing it, and she nearly fell to the floor.
"Mum?" Luke had called, alarmed when she stumbled.
Sarah Jane had immediately tried to speak, desperate to both reassure Luke and to tell him to run. To say that she was fighting for control over her body wasn't quite accurate, the alien had an iron clad grip on her consciousness and was slowly squeezing against what little there was of her left. She could still think and rationalize, but it was getting harder and harder to remember who she was. The alien tried to speak as well, her mouth sloppily forming the name 'Luke', though it didn't come out quite right.
She was relieved when Luke took a step away, his brilliant brain immediately making the connections that something was wrong. Of course, she could have been having a stroke or heart failure, but with them alien control or possession seemed far more likely. It was only at that moment when she realized that the alien entity wanted Luke, had come to Earth for the purpose of finding a host like Luke. Sarah Jane raged against the crushing grip around consciousness, screaming for it to leave her son alone. Either the entity was completely unaware of her continued presence or it simply didn't care to respond.
The alien had commanded Luke to come to her and he'd quickly refused, taking another step back all the while watching as her body managed to take a few steps forward with her arms outstretched. They had shambled like that from the kitchen into the sitting room, Luke trying to talk with her all the while. The alien learned quickly from the way Luke was speaking, mimicking his speaking patterns and trying to convince him that everything was alright. Sarah Jane kept up the noisy assault in her mind, screaming for Luke to run in hopes that something might slip out. Right near the front door, the alien had lurched forward, leaving Luke with no other way to run but up the stairs.
When Sarah Jane's body, still carrying her struggling consciousness, reached Luke's room and managed to unlock it, Sarah Jane had wished she could close her eyes. She knew that Luke was clever, but there were plenty of things on Earth and beyond that cleverness was no match for. It had taken a few moments to locate the panel in the wall of Luke's room that had been wedged loose. From the chipped paint she could see that it had been removed more than once and she felt a surge of pride that Luke was resourceful and such a curious explorer. She had no idea where the vent in the wall led, hopefully somewhere out of the house, but there was no way she could fit in there after him. There was something to be sais for having broader shoulders and hips than an eleven year old boy.
The alien had set itself into a waiting pattern after it determined that Mr. Smith was not willing to help and had locked both the alien and Sarah Jane out of his systems completely. Sarah Jane could only hope that he was working on a way to remove the entity from her, or at least contacting UNIT. All the while, as the evening fell away into night and night into the next morning, the alien was learning and becoming better at mimicking human speech and behavior - her speech patterns and behavior in particular. She didn't dare sleep, though she wasn't certain that she could while her body was awake, but as the vise of the alien's presence closed around her it took everything in her to keep pressing back against those walls.
She hadn't seen any indication that Luke had escaped the house, so she could only hope that Clyde or Maria would come over soon and that the alien would not be able to fool them. Usually by ten in the morning on a Saturday they were all over at the house, either planning their own adolescent adventure or helping her to investigate some bizarre occurrence in the area. She vaguely remembered that Maria's mum was taking her to the seaside for a weekend holiday, but she didn't know if she'd said that was supposed to be this week or next. Clyde, at the very least, should have been knocking her door down by now. Sarah Jane didn't know what she wanted them to do, exactly, other than get Luke to safety.
Sometimes she thought she expected entirely too much of children who were just at the cusp of puberty. The most they could do was to tell their parents or the police that Sarah Jane had lost her mind and Luke was trapped in the house. If she got out of this, when she got out of it, she vowed to set up some kind of contingency plan, somewhere the children could go if she was incapacitated and the house was no longer a safe place. As much as she dreaded letting Luke anywhere near UNIT - they would see him as something to be studied, not as a child or a person - it was better than letting an alien possess him and take him from Earth.
"Luke, everything is alright now. You must be getting hungry, please come out. I'm terribly sorry that I frightened you," Sarah Jane's voice called again, starting up the staircase.
Sarah Jane gave one last valiant struggle as she reached Luke's room, the posters of star systems decorating his walls surrounding her in a dizzy blur as she was cut off from the senses of her body. Shortly after that there was nothing; no darkness, no light, not anything.
When Sarah Jane awoke, collapsed on the floor of Luke's bedroom, she was in full possession of her mind and body, and Luke was gone.
Written for Angst Bingo; Prompt: Tight Spaces
Summary: The helplessness of being captive in her own mind hurt more than Sarah Jane had ever imagined.
Content Notes: None. PG.
On AO3: Fighting for Consciousness
"Luke, come on out. It's almost time for lunch," Sarah Jane's voice called up the stairs, and if Sarah Jane didn't know better she would say that the alien who had possessed her had almost matched her tone of voice precisely. A little more condescending than she used with any of the children, but the words had almost been right. She wondered how much longer it would be before no one, not even Luke, could tell than she wasn't herself.
She had to give Luke some credit, he'd realized that something wasn't right within only twenty minutes or so from being home from school. The alien had only recently taken over her body, and wasn't really used to biped locomotion or audible speech. Luke, after dropping his school bag in his room and changing out of his uniform, had come downstairs for a snack and had launched into an explanation of the advanced project the science teacher at school had him working on. Usually Sarah Jane would have been asking him questions, or, on the days Luke brought Clyde and Maria home with him, they would all have a snack in the kitchen before going up to the attic to see what news Mr. Smith had for them.
The alien possessing her body, she had yet to get a species or a name from it yet, had nodded and made approving noises as Luke continued his explanation while he rummaged through the cupboards for some chocolate biscuits. Sarah Jane had felt one of her feet step in the wrong place as her body tried to walk towards Luke, and wasn't it a peculiar sensation to feel her body working without her directing it, and she nearly fell to the floor.
"Mum?" Luke had called, alarmed when she stumbled.
Sarah Jane had immediately tried to speak, desperate to both reassure Luke and to tell him to run. To say that she was fighting for control over her body wasn't quite accurate, the alien had an iron clad grip on her consciousness and was slowly squeezing against what little there was of her left. She could still think and rationalize, but it was getting harder and harder to remember who she was. The alien tried to speak as well, her mouth sloppily forming the name 'Luke', though it didn't come out quite right.
She was relieved when Luke took a step away, his brilliant brain immediately making the connections that something was wrong. Of course, she could have been having a stroke or heart failure, but with them alien control or possession seemed far more likely. It was only at that moment when she realized that the alien entity wanted Luke, had come to Earth for the purpose of finding a host like Luke. Sarah Jane raged against the crushing grip around consciousness, screaming for it to leave her son alone. Either the entity was completely unaware of her continued presence or it simply didn't care to respond.
The alien had commanded Luke to come to her and he'd quickly refused, taking another step back all the while watching as her body managed to take a few steps forward with her arms outstretched. They had shambled like that from the kitchen into the sitting room, Luke trying to talk with her all the while. The alien learned quickly from the way Luke was speaking, mimicking his speaking patterns and trying to convince him that everything was alright. Sarah Jane kept up the noisy assault in her mind, screaming for Luke to run in hopes that something might slip out. Right near the front door, the alien had lurched forward, leaving Luke with no other way to run but up the stairs.
When Sarah Jane's body, still carrying her struggling consciousness, reached Luke's room and managed to unlock it, Sarah Jane had wished she could close her eyes. She knew that Luke was clever, but there were plenty of things on Earth and beyond that cleverness was no match for. It had taken a few moments to locate the panel in the wall of Luke's room that had been wedged loose. From the chipped paint she could see that it had been removed more than once and she felt a surge of pride that Luke was resourceful and such a curious explorer. She had no idea where the vent in the wall led, hopefully somewhere out of the house, but there was no way she could fit in there after him. There was something to be sais for having broader shoulders and hips than an eleven year old boy.
The alien had set itself into a waiting pattern after it determined that Mr. Smith was not willing to help and had locked both the alien and Sarah Jane out of his systems completely. Sarah Jane could only hope that he was working on a way to remove the entity from her, or at least contacting UNIT. All the while, as the evening fell away into night and night into the next morning, the alien was learning and becoming better at mimicking human speech and behavior - her speech patterns and behavior in particular. She didn't dare sleep, though she wasn't certain that she could while her body was awake, but as the vise of the alien's presence closed around her it took everything in her to keep pressing back against those walls.
She hadn't seen any indication that Luke had escaped the house, so she could only hope that Clyde or Maria would come over soon and that the alien would not be able to fool them. Usually by ten in the morning on a Saturday they were all over at the house, either planning their own adolescent adventure or helping her to investigate some bizarre occurrence in the area. She vaguely remembered that Maria's mum was taking her to the seaside for a weekend holiday, but she didn't know if she'd said that was supposed to be this week or next. Clyde, at the very least, should have been knocking her door down by now. Sarah Jane didn't know what she wanted them to do, exactly, other than get Luke to safety.
Sometimes she thought she expected entirely too much of children who were just at the cusp of puberty. The most they could do was to tell their parents or the police that Sarah Jane had lost her mind and Luke was trapped in the house. If she got out of this, when she got out of it, she vowed to set up some kind of contingency plan, somewhere the children could go if she was incapacitated and the house was no longer a safe place. As much as she dreaded letting Luke anywhere near UNIT - they would see him as something to be studied, not as a child or a person - it was better than letting an alien possess him and take him from Earth.
"Luke, everything is alright now. You must be getting hungry, please come out. I'm terribly sorry that I frightened you," Sarah Jane's voice called again, starting up the staircase.
Sarah Jane gave one last valiant struggle as she reached Luke's room, the posters of star systems decorating his walls surrounding her in a dizzy blur as she was cut off from the senses of her body. Shortly after that there was nothing; no darkness, no light, not anything.
When Sarah Jane awoke, collapsed on the floor of Luke's bedroom, she was in full possession of her mind and body, and Luke was gone.
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