I own nothing!
PLEASE NOTE: This is technically a 'Watching the Show' fanfiction. But only in episodes where actors overlap.
lossofmerlin: Thanks! I definitely to make this enjoyable for you! :)
Velvetpru'd: Thanks! I definitely will continue for a long while!
rachel6564: I certainly hope it is! Thanks!
Percabeth Jackson: I will update as soon as possible! :)
Ladynightwing58: Thanks! I've also been searching for one of these. It is what lead me to make this. :)
GingerTyPerior: I'll update this as soon as possible!
King Uther was played by Anthony Head who also played Finch.
The episode is 'School Reunion'.
"So," Arthur began, a little bit awkwardly. "Who are we going to see the reincarnation of first?"
The Doctor looked into one of the crystals. "By the looks of it, King Arthur...your father."
Arthur looked up in surprise and hope.
"Don't get your hopes up, though." the Gallifreyan warned.
"And why should I not?"
"...You'll see."
Arthur looked like he was about to take his sword out and behead the Doctor right then and there.
[Outside the Headmaster's office]
(A man comes down the stairs of Deffry Vale High School and walks to the Headmaster's office. A girl is sitting on a chair nearby.)
"That's Father!" Arthur realized, before looking confused. "What is he wearing?"
"This is in the future, Arthur." Leon reminded.
"Yes," the Doctor continued. "Let's refrain from asking questions as it is all in the future."
FINCH: What do you want?
Gwaine raised an amused eyebrow, "He seems nice,"
Arthur looked at him in a threatening fashion.
Gwaine opened his mouth, but then closed it due to the looks he was getting from the other knights.
NINA: The nurse sent me, sir. I was in English and I got a headache.
"Aw," Gwen said looking at the little girl.
FINCH: Then don't bother me, go home.
NINA: I can't.
FINCH: Why, is your mother at work?
NINA: I live in Ambrose Hall. The children's home.
"What does that mean?" Percival asked looking around at the Doctor for answers.
The Doctor quietly sighed before looking up, "It's another meaning for an orphanage, it's where children can go and be supported once their parents die,"
"I believe we have one of those in Camelot," Arthur said, "It's not very big though,"
"May I suggest expanding it then sire?" Leon replied, "To make sure children don't starve once their parents die,"
"Or if their parents abandoned them," Gwaine continued.
FINCH: No parents. No one to miss you. I see why the nurse sent you. You poor child. Poor thin, child. Come inside.
"The 'no one will miss you part' was to much," Gwen stated.
"Why did he mention how thin the girl was?" Gaius raised the 'Eyebrow of Doom'.
The Doctor sighed and watched Arthur's reaction to all this very carefully.
(He opens the door and the girl walks through.)
FINCH: It's nearly time for lunch.
"Something's amiss here," Arthur furrowed his eyebrows in confusion at his father's actions.
(The door closes behind them. There is a screech and flapping of wings, and a scream.)
"Oh my god," Arthur leapt into a standing position, "My father is a-a-a-a thing! That just killed a girl,"
The Doctor looked up, "Arthur please sit down, that technically is the reincarnation of your father," he pause, "Sort of, he is an alien that takes forms from other creatures he encounters,"
"So my father didn't really kill that girl?" Arthur was seriously confused.
"Arthur," Gwen looked up, "That is still the reincarnation of your father, but in alien form,"
[Physics laboratory]
(Up on the first floor, there is a change of class. The teacher enters, wearing a brown suit and white sneakers.)
"I feel suspicious about him now," Gwaine leaned over, drunkenly.
"You're not the only one." Arthur looked towards the Doctor, who was busy looking at a 'cute, furry, defenseless' animal, as Merlin had named it.
DOCTOR: Good morning, class. Are we sitting comfortably?
(The Doctor writes on the board.)
DOCTOR: So, physics. Physics, eh? Physics. Physics. Physics! Physics. Physics, physics, physics, physics, physics, physics, physics. I hope one of you is getting all this down. Okay let's see what you know. Two identical strips of nylon are charged with static electricity and hung from a string so they can swing freely. What would happen if they were brought near each other?
Everyone raised there eyebrows in confusion.
"What?" Elyan looked confused.
Surprisingly, Gaius did not know the answer. "I am not sure..."
"It's just some stuff that men of science figure out in the future. It then becomes a standard of physics knowledge." the Doctor explained.
"Physics?" the Once and Future King asked.
"Physics is a branch of science that includes energy stuff and nature stuff." he answered shortly. "There will be a lot you don't understand, but please try to limit the questions."
(A young boy with spectacles puts his hand up.)
DOCTOR: Yes, er, what's your name?
MILO: Milo.
DOCTOR: Milo! Off you go.
MILO: They'd repel each other because they have the same charge.
"They'd repel because they have the same charge?" Gaius looked interested. He would have to remember this for later.
DOCTOR: Correctamundo! A word I have never used before and hopefully never will again. Question two. I coil up a thin piece of microwire and place it in a glass of water. Then I turn on the electricity and measure to see if the water's temperature is affected. My question is this. How do I measure the electrical power going into the coil?
(Just one hand goes up. Everyone else looks totally bored.)
"Milo seems to be the only one who knows the answer to anything." Gwen stated. "Does that have something to do with...you know..." she did not mention Arthur's father, and for that, he was thankful.
"You'll see. This will explain everything."
DOCTOR: Someone else. No? Okay, Milo, go for it.
MILO: Measure the current and PDs in an ammeter and a voltmeter.
DOCTOR: Two to Milo. Right then, Milo, tell me this. True or false. The greater the dampening of the system, the quicker it loses energy to its surroundings.
"Now, you are focusing only on Milo." Percival noticed.
Leon nodded in agreement. "Why?"
"I was just as confused as you are now."
Everyone's eyebrows raised.
"Okay, so I wasn't as confused as you, but I was still pretty confused." the Doctor admitted.
MILO: False.
DOCTOR: What is non-coding DNA?
MILO: DNA that doesn't code for a protein.
DOCTOR: Sixty five thousand nine hundred and eighty three times five?
MILO: Three hundred and twenty nine thousand nine hundred and fifteen.
DOCTOR: How do you travel faster than light?
MILO: By opening a quantum tunnel with an FTL factor of thirty six point seven recurring.
(The Doctor's jaw drops.)
"He seems...knowledgeable." Gwen looked on in shock.
"Sure, of course he was." the Doctor agreed, thinking Gwen would have made an excellent companion if she wasn't part of several fixed points in time.
[Canteen]
(Chips are still on the menu here. A young blonde slops mash into the Doctor's tray. He walks away with a grin. A little later she goes over to wipe his table.)
ROSE: Two days.
"Who's this?" Arthur looked confused.
"Rose." the Doctor's voice was pained, as if she was gone and he'd never be able to get to her again.
They decided to not press the topic anymore.
DOCTOR: Sorry, could you just? There's a bit of gravy. No, no, just, just there.
ROSE: Two days, we've been here.
DOCTOR: Blame your boyfriend. He's the one who put us onto this. And he was right. Boy in class this morning, got a knowledge way beyond planet Earth.
"Way beyond planet Earth?" everyone raised there eyebrows.
"Another thing you discover in the future. Far in the future." the Doctor decided that that would be his answer to everything.
ROSE: You eating those chips?
DOCTOR: Yeah, they're a bit different.
"Different...how so?" Gaius looked interested.
"They didn't taste like the were supposed to. It could have just been a different recipe, but to me, it was very suspicious." the Doctor answered.
"Do you mean someone was slipping the children a draught?"
The Doctor blinked. He was good at this, too. "Something like that."
ROSE: I think they're gorgeous. Wish I had school dinners like this.
DOCTOR: It's very well behaved, this place.
"What are other places like, then?" Leon questioned.
"Other schools have a lot of kids who don't want to be there and basically start fights and stuff." the Doctor answered.
The others nodded.
"School?" Gwen asked in confusion.
"A school is a place to educate children."
"Camelot should have one of those..." Arthur decided, not noticing everyone else's smiles.
ROSE: Mmm.
DOCTOR: I thought there'd be happy slapping hoodies. Happy slapping hoodies with ASBOs. Happy slapping hoodies with ASBOs and ringtones. Huh? Huh? Oh, yeah. Don't tell me I don't fit in.
(The head dinner lady comes over.)
JACKSON: You are not permitted to leave your station during a sitting.
"She seems...strict." Gwaine decided that that would be a suitable word.
ROSE: I was just talking to this teacher.
DOCTOR: Hello.
ROSE: He doesn't like the chips.
JACKSON: The menu has been specifically designed by the headmaster to improve concentration and performance. Now, get back to work.
"So, the reincarnation has a plan to improve concentration and performance to above-Earth standards. What is he planning?" Gaius thought over.
The Doctor's jaw almost dropped. He was way smarter than the Doctor had originally assumed in the legends.
ROSE: See? This is me. Dinner lady.
DOCTOR: I'll have the crumble.
ROSE: I'm so going to kill you.
(A dark teacher walks over to a girl with a pony tail.)
WAGNER: Melissa. You'll be joining my class for the next period. Milo's failed me, so it's time we moved you up to the top class. Kenny, not eating the chips?
"Milo's failed?" Gwen swallowed.
"Does that mean that he met the same fate as the girl in the beginning?" Arthur asked.
"I never really found out, but I would assume that he did." the Doctor's eyes flashed with a brief amount of guilt.
(Tubby Kenny is eating a home prepared lunch from a Tupperware box.)
KENNY: I'm not allowed.
WAGNER: Luke. Extra class. Now.
(Luke and Melissa follow Mister Wagner out. Headmaster Finch stands on a balcony overlooking the canteen and watches it all.)
Arthur shuddered, but Gwen was there to put her arm around his shoulders.
"He's being creepy..." Gwaine decided.
[Kitchen]
(Rose is drying up when other dinner ladies wheel a large cooking oil drum through. It has lots of strange symbols on the side. They are wearing breathing masks and heavy duty protective gauntlets.)
"Why are they wearing all of those things?" Leon asked.
"What they are wearing protects them from what is inside. What is inside is the 'draught' they are feeding the children." the Doctor answered.
Everyone looked slightly sick.
JACKSON: Careful. Keep it steady. Don't spill a drop. I said, keep it steady. Careful. That's it. Easy now. Steady.
(Rose's phone rings.)
JACKSON: Right. Second barrel. Quickly now!
ROSE: What you got?
MICKEY [OC]: Confirmation.
"Who's this?" Percival inquired.
"R-Mickey."
[Library]
(Mickey is using the internet somewhere with books in the background.)
MICKEY: I just got into army records. Three months ago, massive UFO activity.
"UFO?" Arthur asked.
"Unidentified Flying Object." the Doctor answered. "You've probably seen a few, haven't you?"
"Yeah...but those were caused by magic."
"Not everything was magic."
Everyone shuddered at that thought.
[Kitchen]
MICKEY [OC]: They logged over forty sightings. Lights in the sky, all of that.
[Library]
MICKEY: I can't get any photos, because then it gets all classified and secret. Keeps locking me out.
(With the message - Torchwood Access Denied)
ROSE [OC]: Tell you what, though.
[Kitchen]
ROSE: Three months ago, turns out all the kitchen staff were replaced. And this lot are weird.
"Why would they replace everyone just like that?" Elyan questioned.
"To make sure that everyone was on there side. They didn't want anyone telling the outside world what was going on." the Doctor answered.
"Is my father really going to do that?"
"Your father was a great man, Arthur." the Gallifreyan started. "He is not the same person as the guy who is doing all of this. He may look the same, but he doesn't have the same morals."
[Library]
MICKEY: See? There's definitely something going on.
[Kitchen]
MICKEY [OC]: I was right to call you home.
ROSE: I thought maybe you called me home just, well, just to call me home.
MICKEY: Do you think I'd just invent an emergency?
"Yes," the Doctor groaned.
[Kitchen]
ROSE: You could've done.
MICKEY [OC]: That's the last thing I'd do.
JACKSON: Watch it!
[Library]
MICKEY: Because every time I see you
[Kitchen]
MICKEY [OC]: An emergency just gets in the way.
(The next barrel of oil topples over. One of the women gets splashed and starts screaming.)
Everyone's eyes widen.
"What just happened?" Leon inquired.
"Now mate," Gwaine put his arm around him. "It is pretty obvious what just happened. Why it happened, is the question."
The Doctor almost groaned. They'd all be such good companions.
ROSE: I've got to go.
JACKSON: Get her up, get her up!
[Library]
MICKEY: Rose, what is it?
[Kitchen]
(The injured woman is hustled into the office and the blinds are pulled down. Rose redials.)
"What is she doing?" Arthur sighed.
"The thing in her hand is a future way of communication, as you just saw with Mickey."
JACKSON: What're you doing?
ROSE: Calling an ambulance.
"Ambulance?" Gwen questioned.
The Doctor smiled, they were asking all the right questions. "An ambulance is a way to get injured or sick people to a place they can heal quickly."
"We could probably make one of those too...with a horse and a cart..." Arthur added another onto his growing list.
Everyone smiled once more.
JACKSON: No need. She's quite all right.
(There is a whumph! like a sudden fire, and a scream.)
JACKSON: It's fine. She does that.
"What a woman she must be." Gwaine sighed.
He received many disgusted glares.
(The woman goes back into the smoke filled office. Rose sees that the spilt oil has eaten through metal.)
"What does it do to the children's stomachs, then?" Gaius looked sick.
Everyone looked away, not wanting to really know the answer, even if it wasn't bad.
[IT classroom]
WAGNER: I'd like you all to put your headphones on now, please. Now, children, the things you will see.
(Symbols and equations scroll down on the slaved computers and the children start typing faster and faster.)
"What are they doing?" Elyan inquired.
"What they are using is a future way of writing letters. It is much quicker. The children's fingers are pressing buttons, which is what they use instead of a quill. On that device, one can send letters and such across all the kingdoms instantaneously." the Doctor explained.
Everyone's jaw dropped in amazement.
[Staircase]
(Finch is talking to a not quite so young woman investigative reporter, who hasn't changed her hairstyle in thirty years.)
FINCH: Our work here. My improvements aren't confined to the classroom. Oh, no, no, no, no, no. We've introduced a new policy. School dinners are absolutely free, but compulsory. Do try the chips.
Arthur looked away, not necessarily wanting to see what his father would be doing.
SARAH: Oh, I'd love to. Thank you. And it's got to be said, the transformation you've brought about is amazing. I mean, maybe you're working the children a little bit too hard now and then, but I think good results, they're more important than anything.
FINCH: Exactly. You're a woman of vision, Miss Smith.
SARAH: Oh, I can see everything, Mister Finch. Quite clearly.
"Is she hinting that she thinks something is up at that school?" Percival inquired.
The Doctor blinked, before nodding. "I believe so."
[Staff room]
PARSONS: Yesterday, I had a twelve year old girl give me the exact height of the Walls of Troy in cubits.
DOCTOR: And, it's ever since the new headmaster arrived?
PARSONS: Finch arrived three months ago. Next day, half the staff got flu. Finch replaced them with that lot, except for the teacher you replaced, and that was just plain weird, her winning the lottery like that.
"Lottery?" Leon inquired.
"Just a game of luck." the Doctor decided to use the KISS method. (AN: My math teacher uses the KISS method. It stands for Keep It Simple, Stupid.)
DOCTOR: How's that weird?
PARSONS: She never played. Said the ticket was posted through her door at midnight.
"Did you have something to do with that?" Gwen looked amused.
The Doctor just smiled.
DOCTOR: Hmm. The world is very strange.
(The Headmaster enters.)
FINCH: Excuse me, colleagues. A moment of your time. May I introduce Miss Sarah Jane Smith. Miss Smith is a journalist who's writing a profile about me for the Sunday Times. I thought it might be useful for her to get a view from the trenches, so to speak. Don't spare my blushes.
(Finch leaves.)
SARAH: Hello.
DOCTOR: Oh, I should think so.
"Do you know her?" Leon inquired.
"Yes, she used to help me, kind of like Rose and Mickey."
SARAH: And, you are?
DOCTOR: Hm? Er, Smith. John Smith.
SARAH: John Smith. I used to have a friend who sometimes went by that name.
"See?" the Doctor put his hands out.
The others nodded in understanding.
DOCTOR: Well, it's a very common name.
SARAH: He was a very uncommon man. Nice to meet you.
DOCTOR: Nice to meet you. Yes, very nice. More than nice. Brilliant.
SARAH: Er, so, er, have you worked here long?
DOCTOR: No. Er, it's only my second day.
"You already seem familiar with everything..." Gaius stated.
The Doctor nodded.
SARAH: Oh, you're new, then. So, what do you think of the school? I mean, this new curriculum? So many children getting ill. Doesn't that strike you as odd?
"YES!" Gwaine stood up and shouted.
DOCTOR: You don't sound like someone just doing a profile.
SARAH: Well, no harm in a little investigation while I'm here.
DOCTOR: No. Good for you.
(Sarah moves away from the scary grinning Doctor.)
"I think you creeped her out." Gwaine grinned cheerfully.
"It does seem that way, Doctor." Leon added.
DOCTOR: Good for you. Oh, good for you, Sarah Jane Smith.
[IT classroom]
(The end of day bell rings. Kenny walks into the now dark room to investigate a strange sort of eating sound. A nasty large set of teeth snap at him from behind a row of computer screens, then the teacher stands up.)
"Woah." Percival said simply.
WAGNER: This isn't your classroom, Kenny. Now run along.
"He's one of them too?" Gwen looked like she might faint.
"I suppose that all the ones that were the replacements are like that." Leon assumed.
[Corridor]
(After dark, Sarah Jane Smith breaks into the school.)
ROSE: Oh, it's weird seeing school at night. It just feels wrong. When I was a kid, I used to think all the teachers slept in school.
"Why would someone believe that?" Arthur frowned.
"Well, Princess," Gwaine looked at him. "Children usually have imagination. Imagination proves that they have a brain."
The Once and Future King glared at him.
DOCTOR: All right, team. Oh, I hate people who say team. Er, gang. Er, comrades. Anyway, Rose, go to the kitchen. Get a sample of that oil. Mickey, the new staff are all Maths teachers. Go and check out the Maths department. I'm going to look in Finch's office. Be back here in ten minutes.
"Why are they all math teachers?" Percival questioned.
"Probably to keep all of them to one department so they can...do whatever they do." Gwen suggested.
(The Doctor leaves.)
ROSE: You going to be all right?
MICKEY: Me? Please. Infiltration and investigation? I'm an expert at this.
(Mickey leaves, then comes back.)
MICKEY: Where's the Maths department?
ROSE: Down there, turn left, through the fire doors, on the right.
MICKEY: Thank you.
Gaius laughed, briefly reminded of the time when Merlin first came to Camelot.
(Sarah Jane chases something flying in an upper corridor. Rose gets the oil sample as instructed, then looks up as something screeches overhead.)
"More of them?" Leon gaped.
[Corridor]
(Sarah Jane opens a storeroom door to discover the Tardis parked inside.)
"It's that box!" Arthur realized. "How long have you been with it?"
The Doctor's eyes darted up. "I don't really remember how long..." it wasn't a lie.
DOCTOR: Hello, Sarah Jane.
SARAH: It's you. Oh, Doctor Oh, my God, it's you, isn't it. You've regenerated.
"Regenerated?" everyone's eyes snapped to the Doctor in confusion.
"Er...it's a condition that has run in my family for as long as I can remember. It speeds up reincarnation so that it is almost instantaneous." the Doctor lied smoothly.
The humans nodded slowly, trying to understand what he just said.
"Like sorcery?" Arthur inquired.
"It's not sorcery, but sorcery isn't all bad."
The Once and Future King decided not to argue at that moment.
DOCTOR: Yeah. Half a dozen times since we last met.
SARAH: You look incredible.
DOCTOR: So do you.
SARAH: Huh. I got old. What are you doing here?
DOCTOR: Well, UFO sighting, school gets record results. I couldn't resist. What about you?
SARAH: The same. I thought you'd died. I waited for you and you didn't come back, and I thought you must have died.
DOCTOR: I lived. Everyone else died.
"Who is 'everyone'?" Gwen asked.
"Family and friends." the Doctor started to think about all of the people he knew on Gallifrey.
SARAH: What do you mean?
DOCTOR: Everyone died, Sarah.
SARAH: I can't believe it's you.
(Mickey screams.)
SARAH: Okay, now I can!
"Is that a common occurrence with you?" Leon questioned.
"It depends on where I am."
(Rose runs up.)
ROSE: Did you hear that? Who's she?
DOCTOR: Rose, Sarah Jane. Sarah Jane, Rose.
SARAH: Hi. Nice to meet you. You can tell you're getting older. Your assistants are getting younger.
ROSE: I'm not his assistant.
SARAH: No? Get you, tiger.
Everyone looked at Sarah like she was from outer space.
[Classroom]
MICKEY: Sorry! Sorry, it was only me. You told me to investigate, so I started looking through some of these cupboards and all of these fell on me.
ROSE: Oh, my God, they're rats. Dozens of rats. Vacuum packed rats.
"Ew..." Gwen looked disgusted at the thoughts of rats. "They store those? For what?"
"They are stored to help the children understand anatomy and such." the Doctor waved his hand dismissively. "It's not that important."
"Vacuum?" Arthur added on.
"A vacuum sucks air into it. It can make things easier to store or to clean things up."
"Merlin would love one of those." the Once and Future King thought idly.
Everyone laughed at that.
DOCTOR: And you decided to scream.
MICKEY: It took me by surprise!
DOCTOR: Like a little girl?
MICKEY: It was dark! I was covered in rats!
DOCTOR: Nine, maybe ten years old. I'm seeing pigtails, frilly skirt.
"Do you often make fun of people?" Percival inquired.
"It depends on who they are."
Everyone nodded in understanding.
ROSE: Hello, can we focus? Does anyone notice anything strange about this? Rats in school?
SARAH: Well, obviously they use them in Biology lessons. They dissect them. Or maybe you haven't reached that bit yet. How old are you?
ROSE: Excuse me, no one dissects rats in school anymore. They haven't done that for years. Where are you from, the dark ages?
"The Dark Ages? When were they?" Gwaine questioned.
"Historians, people who study history, date it as being from the year 500 to the year 1500." the Doctor almost cracked a smile at what he knew would happen next.
Everyone looked mildly horrified.
"We live in the Dark Ages?" Gwen's eyes said it all.
"Seriously?" Gwaine complained. "It doesn't look that dark."
"So only this Emrys person will outlive the Dark Ages." Arthur said immediately.
"It seems so." Gaius agreed.
Percival remained stoic. Leon looked mildly offended, but decided to not say anything.
The Doctor ignored all of their comments for now.
DOCTOR: Anyway, moving on. Everything started when Mister Finch arrived. We should go and check his office.
[Corridor]
ROSE: I don't mean to be rude or anything, but who exactly are you?
SARAH: Sarah Jane Smith. I used to travel with the Doctor.
ROSE: Oh. Well, he's never mentioned you.
DOCTOR: Oh, I must've done. Sarah Jane. Mention her all the time.
"I can see that you are being backed into a corner." Gwen smiled a bit.
ROSE: Hold on. Sorry. Never.
SARAH: What, not even once? He didn't mention me even once?
MICKEY: Ho, ho, mate. The missus and the ex. Welcome to every man's worst nightmare.
[Outside the Headmaster's office]
(The Doctor uses the sonic screwdriver on the lock.)
DOCTOR: Maybe those rats were food.
"Ew..." the humans groaned once more.
Arthur thought of the time when Merlin had tried to get him to eat rat with disgust written all over his face.
ROSE: Food for what?
[Headmaster's office]
DOCTOR: Rose, you know you used to think all the teachers slept in the school? Well, they do.
(Giant bats are hanging from the ceiling.)
"That is a lot of them." Leon observed coolly.
MICKEY: No way!
(Mickey runs. The others follow more sedately. One wakes when the Doctor shuts the door.)
Everyone flinched at the sudden surprise.
[School yard]
MICKEY: I am not going back in there. No way.
ROSE: Those were teachers.
DOCTOR: When Finch arrived, he brought with him seven new teachers, four dinner ladies and a nurse. Thirteen. Thirteen big bat people. Come on.
MICKEY: Come on? You've got to be kidding!
DOCTOR: I need the Tardis. I've got to analyse that oil from the kitchen.
SARAH: I might be able to help you there. I've got something to show you.
The humans decided to be silent, since the memory seemed to go faster when they were quiet.
[Car park]
(In the boot of Sarah's car is - )
DOCTOR: K9! Rose Tyler, Mickey Smith, allow me to introduce K9. well, K9 Mark Three to be precise.
"What is that?" Percival spoke up surprisingly.
"It is a futuristic dog." the Doctor answered. "Not important."
The humans looked amazed.
ROSE: Why does he look so disco?
"Disco?" Gaius asked.
"Not important."
DOCTOR: Oi! Listen, in the year five thousand, this was cutting edge. What's happened to him?
SARAH: Oh, one day, he just, nothing.
DOCTOR: Well, didn't you try and get him repaired?
SARAH: Well, it's not like getting parts for a Mini Metro, Beside, the technology inside him could rewrite human science. I couldn't show him to anyone.
DOCTOR: Ooh, what's the nasty lady done to you, eh?
(K9 is getting rusty round the edges. Something is watching them from midair.)
ROSE: Look, no offence, but could you two just stop petting for a minute? Never mind the tin dog. We're busy.
(A giant alien bat creature flies across the face of the full moon.)
They all shuddered.
[Coffee shop]
(Rose and Mickey are at the counter while the Doctor and Sarah Jane have put the defunct K9 on a table. The music is Love will tear us apart by Joy Division.)
MICKEY: You see, what's impressive is that it's been nearly an hour since we met her and I still haven't said I told you so.
ROSE: I'm not listening to this.
MICKEY: Although, I have prepared a little I was right dance that I can show you later.
WOMAN: Two quid, love.
(Rose pays for a portion of chips.)
MICKEY: All this time you've been giving it, he's different, when the truth is, he's just like any other bloke.
ROSE: You don't know what you're talking about.
MICKEY: Maybe not. But if I were you I'd go easy on the chips.
[Street]
(Finch is standing on the roof of the building opposite the coffee shop, watching the Doctor working on K9.)
Arthur looked away.
FINCH: Come to me. Come to me.
(A giant bat flies over to him.)
[Coffee shop]
SARAH: I thought of you on Christmas Day. This Christmas just gone? Great big spaceship overhead. I thought, oh yeah, bet he's up there.
DOCTOR: Right on top of it, yeah.
SARAH: And Rose?
DOCTOR: She was there too.
SARAH: Did I do something wrong, because you never came back for me. You just dumped me.
"Do you do that often?" Elyan spoke up.
"I try not to, but sometimes it is necessary."
DOCTOR: I told you. I was called back home and in those days humans weren't allowed.
All of the humans looked to him.
"What was that?" Arthur asked. "Aren't you human?"
"It was a slip of the tongue." the Doctor lied. "My family didn't like to talk to anyone who wasn't their kin."
SARAH: I waited for you. I missed you.
DOCTOR: Oh, you didn't need me. You were getting on with your life.
SARAH: You were my life. You know what the most difficult thing was? Coping with what happens next, or with what doesn't happen next. You took me to the furthest reaches of the galaxy, you showed me supernovas, intergalactic battles, and then you just dropped me back on Earth. How could anything compare to that?
DOCTOR: All those things you saw, do you want me to apologise for that?
SARAH: No, but we get a taste of that splendour and then we have to go back.
DOCTOR: Look at you, you're investigating. You found that school. You're doing what we always did.
"True," the Doctor agreed with himself.
SARAH: You could have come back.
DOCTOR: I couldn't.
SARAH: Why not?
(The Doctor keeps working on K9.)
SARAH: It wasn't Croydon. Where you dropped me off, that wasn't Croydon.
"Croydon?" Arthur's eyebrows knit together. "Isn't that a small town a long way away?" (AN: I'm not actually sure about that, but please just go with it.)
DOCTOR: Where was it?
SARAH: Aberdeen.
DOCTOR: Right. That's next to Croydon, isn't it?
"No." Arthur shook his head. "It is a very long ride away."
(K9 comes back to life.)
DOCTOR: Oh, hey. Now we're in business.
K9: Master.
DOCTOR: He recognises me.
K9: Affirmative.
DOCTOR: Rose, give us the oil.
ROSE: I wouldn't touch it, though. That dinner lady got all scorched.
"Yeah, what would happen if you touched it?" Gwaine seemed to be getting out of his drunken stupor.
DOCTOR: I'm no dinner lady. And I don't often say that.
(The Doctor smears a sample on to K9's probe.)
DOCTOR: Here we go. Come on, boy. Here we go.
K9: Oil. Ex ex ex extract. Ana ana analyzing.
MICKEY: Listen to him, man. That's a voice.
SARAH: Careful. That's my dog.
K9: Confirmation of analysis. Substance is Krillitane Oil.
"What's Krillitane Oil?" Gaius inquired, intrigued by this substance.
"Something that doesn't belong on Earth."
DOCTOR: They're Krillitanes.
"Is that a species or a family?" Leon questioned.
"Species."
ROSE: Is that bad?
DOCTOR: Very. Think of how bad things could possibly be, and add another suitcase full of bad.
SARAH: And what are Krillitanes?
DOCTOR: They're a composite race. Just like your culture is a mixture of traditions from all sorts of countries, people you've invaded or have been invaded by. You've got bits of Viking, bits of France, bits of whatever. The Krillitanes are the same. An amalgam of the races they've conquered. But they take physical aspects as well. They cherry pick the best bits from the people they destroy. That's why I didn't recognise them. The last time I saw Krillitanes, they looked just like us except they had really long necks.
Everyone wrinkled their noses.
ROSE: What're they doing here?
DOCTOR: It's the children. They're doing something to the children.
"Save the children!" Gwaine stood up and punched the air.
Everyone around him slowly scooted away.
"I wish Merlin was here. He would act like a real friend!"
[Outside the coffee shop]
(They put K9 back in the boot of Sarah's car.)
MICKEY: So what's the deal with the tin dog?
SARAH: The Doctor likes travelling with an entourage. Sometimes they're humans, sometimes they're aliens, and sometimes they're tin dogs. What about you? Where do you fit in the picture?
MICKEY: Me? I'm their Man in Havana. I'm the technical support. I'm. Oh, my God. I'm the tin dog.
Everyone laughed at the comparison.
"I do feel kind of bad for him." Gwen frowned.
[Street]
FINCH: On my command.
Arthur looked away, thinking about how his father always had to be in command.
(Rose and the Doctor come out of the coffee shop.)
ROSE: How many of us have there been travelling with you?
DOCTOR: Does it matter?
ROSE: Yeah, it does, if I'm just the latest in a long line.
"That is kind of hurtful." Gwen sighed.
"It's kind of like Merlin." Gaius proposed. "The latest in a long line of Arthur's servants."
Everyone laughed at the comparison, knowing that there was truth to that.
DOCTOR: As opposed to what?
ROSE: I thought you and me were. I obviously got it wrong. I've been to the year five billion, right, but this? Now this is really seeing the future. You just leave us behind. Is that what you're going to do to me?
DOCTOR: No. Not to you.
ROSE: But Sarah Jane? You were that close to her once, and now you never even mention her. Why not?
DOCTOR: I don't age. I regenerate. But humans decay. You wither and you die. Imagine watching that happen to someone who you
ROSE: What, Doctor?
DOCTOR: You can spend the rest of your life with me, but I can't spend the rest of mine with you. I have to live on. Alone. That's the curse of the Time Lords.
"Time Lords? Are they the people controlled by the box?" Arthur gestured to the box a distance away.
"Yes," the Doctor decided to go with Arthur rather than craft up another lie himself.
FINCH: Time Lord.
Arthur quickly looked away.
(The Doctor looks up. The giant bat swoops down. They all duck and it flies off.)
SARAH: Was that a Krillitane?
ROSE: But it didn't even touch her. It just flew off. What did it do that for?
[School yard]
(Next morning, the pupils are arriving at the school.)
DOCTOR: Rose and Sarah, you go to the Maths room. Crack open those computers, I need to see the hardware inside. Here, you might need this.
(Rose holds out her hand, but the Doctor gives the screwdriver to Sarah.)
DOCTOR: Mickey, surveillance. I want you outside.
"You're making him seem less important." Gwen mentioned.
"Kind of like archers." Elyan realized. "Archers are very skilled and important, but they stand away from all of the action."
MICKEY: Just stand outside?
SARAH: Here, take these you can keep K9 company.
"That's going to make him feel bad too."
(Sarah throws Mickey her car keys.)
DOCTOR: Don't forget to leave the window open a crack.
MICKEY: But he's metal!
DOCTOR: I didn't mean for him.
ROSE: What're you going to do?
DOCTOR: It's time I had a word with Mister Finch.
[Swimming pool]
(They stand at opposite ends of the pool.)
DOCTOR: Who are you?
FINCH: My name is Brother Lassa. And you?
"Why was he using an alias?" Arthur inquired.
"Names go out of style in the future, and new ones go into style. The name Arthur is still used, but, for example, it is extremely rare for you to every meet someone named Merlin. Only a select few ever meet one."
That was when it started.
"What about my name?" Gwaine inquired.
The Doctor decided to ignore them for now.
DOCTOR: The Doctor. Since when did Krillitanes have wings?
FINCH: It's been our form for nearly ten generations now. Our ancestors invaded Bessan. The people there had some rather lovely wings. They made a million widows in one day. Just imagine.
Everyone looked sick.
DOCTOR: And now you're shaped human.
FINCH: A personal favourite, that's all.
DOCTOR: And the others?
FINCH: My brothers remain bat form. What you see is a simple morphic illusion. Scratch the surface and the true Krillitane lies beneath. And what of the Time Lords? I always thought of you as such a pompous race. Ancient, dusty senators, so frightened of change and chaos. And of course, they're all but extinct. Only you. The last.
DOCTOR: This plan of yours. What is it?
"That's going to work so well," Gwaine stated, a little bit annoyed that he didn't know if his name was going to be in style or not in the future years. "Ask the enemy what their plan is."
FINCH: You don't know.
DOCTOR: That's why I'm asking.
FINCH: Well, show me how clever you are. Work it out.
DOCTOR: If I don't like it, then it will stop.
"How are you going to stop them?" Elyan inquired.
"You'll see."
FINCH: Fascinating. Your people were peaceful to the point of indolence. You seem to be something new. Would you declare war on us, Doctor?
DOCTOR: I'm so old now. I used to have so much mercy. You get one warning. That was it.
FINCH: But we're not even enemies. Soon you will embrace us. The next time we meet, you will join with me. I promise you.
[Sarah's car]
MICKEY: Surveillance. If you ask me, it's just another way of saying go sit at the back of the class with the safety scissors and glitter. That'd be me talking to a metal dog, then.
Everyone grimaced a bit at his situation.
[IT classroom]
(Sarah isn't making progress with the school computers.)
SARAH: It's not working.
ROSE: Give it to me.
SARAH: Used to work first time in my day.
ROSE: Well, things were a lot simpler back then.
"Is that supposed to be an insult?" Gwen questioned.
"I suppose so."
SARAH: Rose, can I give you a bit of advice?
ROSE: I've got a feeling you're about to.
SARAH: I know how intense a relationship with the Doctor can be, and I don't want you to feel I'm intruding.
ROSE: I don't feel threatened by you, if that's what you mean.
SARAH: Right. Good. Because I'm not interested in picking up where we left off.
"Does that mean no more fighting?" Percival asked hopefully. He didn't like seeing people fight.
ROSE: No? With the big sad eyes and the robot dog? What else were you doing last night?
SARAH: I was just saying how hard it was adjusting to life back on Earth.
ROSE: The thing is, when you two met they'd only just got rid of rationing. No wonder all that space stuff was a bit too much for you.
SARAH: I had no problem with space stuff. I saw things you wouldn't believe.
"We probably won't believe it either then." Arthur assumed.
"That's probably correct." the Doctor responded.
ROSE: Try me.
SARAH: Mummies.
Some of their jaws dropped.
ROSE: I've met ghosts.
More jaws dropped.
SARAH: Robots. Lots of robots.
"It's not really surprising if we don't know what it is." Leon shrugged.
ROSE: Slitheen, in Downing Street.
Everyone looked confused.
SARAH: Daleks!
The confused looks were directed at the Doctor, but he appeared not to notice.
ROSE: Met the Emperor.
SARAH: Anti-matter monsters.
ROSE: Gas masked zombies.
SARAH: Real living dinosaurs.
ROSE: Real living werewolf.
SARAH: The Loch Ness Monster!
"That's the last argument, right?" Gwen almost pleaded.
"Yes," the Doctor groaned, thinking of what was going to happen next.
ROSE: Seriously? Listen to us. It's like me and my mate Shireen. The only time we fell out was over a man, and we're arguing over the Doctor. With you, did he do that thing where he'd explain something at like, ninety miles per hour, and you'd go, what? and he'd look at you like you'd just dribbled on your shirt?
"I don't do that." the Doctor scowled.
SARAH: All the time. Does he still stroke bits of the Tardis?
ROSE: Yeah! Yeah, he does. I'm like, do you two want to be alone?
"Excuse me?" the Doctor was mildly surprised, since he didn't experience this part. He was kind of offended, too.
But that wasn't important.
(The sisters have bonded and laugh. The Doctor enters.)
DOCTOR: How's it going?
(They keep laughing.)
DOCTOR: What? Listen, I need to find out what's programmed inside these.
(Hysteria is setting in.)
DOCTOR: What? Stop it!
"You seem to be frustrated." Gaius noticed.
The Doctor nodded.
[Headmaster's office]
(Finch opens the door on the dinner ladies and teachers.)
FINCH: Brothers, we must initiate the final phase. Get the children inside and seal the school. Our time has come, my brothers. Today we shall become Gods.
[School yard]
(Games of football and netball are interrupted by a klaxon.)
TANNOY: All pupils to class immediately. And would all members of staff congregate in the staff room.
"How did the voice get all the way over there?" Arthur inquired.
"It's not important."
The Once and Future King looked rather annoyed.
MELISSA: Breaktime's finished early. Isn't that fantastic?
(Kenny is the last to go inside.)
[IT classroom]
(Rose turns children away at the door.)
ROSE: No, no. This classroom's out of bounds. You've all got to go to the South Hall. Off you go. South Hall!
[Staff room]
PARSONS: What is it now, Mister Finch?
FINCH: A slight change in the timetable. We're having an early lunch.
(Wagner shuts the door on us. Flaps and screams come from inside.)
"So, the staff members that weren't part of his crew were eaten?" Gwen looked sick.
At least Arthur managed not to look away; he seemed to be understanding that the reincarnations won't be the same person as the original.
[IT classroom]
(The Doctor does his old trick of looping wires around his neck and shoulders as he tries to get inside the CPU.)
DOCTOR: I can't shift it.
SARAH: I thought the sonic screwdriver could open anything!
DOCTOR: Anything except a deadlock seal. There's got to be something inside here. What're they teaching those kids?
(Kenny doesn't go into a classroom.)
[Headmaster's office]
FINCH: Close the school.
(Alien symbols come up on his computer screen, then Security Override. He burps. The external doors all slam shut. In another computer room, the children are typing quickly again.)
"Not again." Leon groaned.
They didn't want to believe that children could be used like that.
[IT classroom]
(The symbols are all on these screens too.)
SARAH: You wanted the programme? There it is.
DOCTOR: Some sort of code.
(It starts to resolve itself. Kenny runs along the corridors, looking into the classrooms. All the children are working at computers. He runs downstairs to the main entrance, and tries to open the doors. Mickey spots him.)
"Is Kenny the only one with common sense?" Gwaine smirked.
"I think he just didn't want to go back to class." Elyan responded.
DOCTOR: No. No, that can't be.
[Main entrance]
KENNY: They've taken them all!
MICKEY: What?
KENNY: They've taken all the children!
"Why did he assume that? They could have been peacefully having class." Arthur reasoned.
"He didn't see it that way, Princess."
[Sarah's car]
(Mickey pushes the buttons on K9's back.)
MICKEY: Come on, I need some help.
(He hits K9's head, and it starts up.)
K9: System restarting. All primary drives functioning.
They decided to ignore the gibberish the tin dog was speaking.
MICKEY: You're working! Okay, no time to explain. we need to get inside the school. Do you have like, I don't know, a lock picking device?
K9: We are in a car.
MICKEY: Maybe a drill attachment?
K9: We are in a car.
MICKEY: Fat lot of good you are.
K9: We are in a car.
MICKEY: Wait a second. We're in a car. (to Kenny) Get back!
"That took a while for him to figure out." Gwen stated dryly.
[IT classroom]
DOCTOR: The Skasis Paradigm. They're trying to crack the Skasis Paradigm.
They all looked confused again.
SARAH: The Skasis what?
DOCTOR: The God maker. The universal theory. Crack that equation and you've got control of the building blocks of the universe. Time and space and matter, yours to control.
ROSE: What, and the kids are like a giant computer?
DOCTOR: Yes. And their learning power is being accelerated by the oil. That oil from the kitchens, it works as a, as a conducting agent. Makes the kids cleverer.
ROSE: But that oil's on the chips. I've been eating them.
DOCTOR: What's fifty nine times thirty five?
ROSE: Two thousand and sixty five. Oh, my God.
"So she can use her big brain to stop it now, right?" Gwaine predicted.
SARAH: But why use children? Can't they use adults?
DOCTOR: No, it's got to be children. The God maker needs imagination to crack it. They're not just using the children's brains to break the code, they're using their souls.
They looked sick at the thought of using their souls.
"Now that has to be sorcery."
"To an extent, it is."
"So this is proof that all magic is evil." Arthur decided.
All the other humans frowned at that.
"You will see in other moments that magic can be used both for good and evil. Like a sword." the Doctor explained, regretting agreeing that it was magic.
(The Headmaster has entered the room.)
FINCH: Let the lesson begin. Think of it, Doctor. With the Paradigm solved, reality becomes clay in our hands. We can shape the universe and improve it.
DOCTOR: Oh yeah? The whole of creation with the face of Mister Finch? Call me old fashioned, but I like things as they are.
FINCH: You act like such a radical, and yet all you want to do is preserve the old order? Think of the changes that could be made if this power was used for good.
"It would be a big improvement, but I still don't think it is right." Gwen frowned.
DOCTOR: What, by someone like you?
FINCH: No, someone like you. The Paradigm gives us power, but you could give us wisdom. Become a God at my side. Imagine what you could do. Think of the civilisations you could save. Perganon, Assinta. Your own people, Doctor, standing tall. The Time Lords reborn.
SARAH: Doctor, don't listen to him.
"Yeah, Doctor, don't listen!" Gwaine punched the air once more.
FINCH: And you could be with him throughout eternity. Young, fresh, never wither, never age, never die. Their lives are so fleeting. So many goodbyes. How lonely you must be, Doctor. Join us.
DOCTOR: I could save everyone.
FINCH: Yes.
DOCTOR: I could stop the war.
SARAH: No. The universe has to move forward. Pain and loss, they define us as much as happiness or love. Whether it's a world, or a relationship, everything has its time. And everything ends.
"And that is why it shouldn't be cracked." Gwen stated.
All the other humans agreed. It would cause more harm than good.
(The Doctor throws a chair at the big screen, smashing it.)
DOCTOR: Out!
[School entrance]
(Mickey drives Sarah's car through the glass doors.)
MICKEY: Come on!
[Staircase]
(Finch summons his brother. They throw off their disguises in the corridors and fly to him. Mickey and Kenny meet the Doctor, Sarah Jane and Rose at the bottom of the staircase.)
MICKEY: What is going on?
(The Krillitanes are coming.)
They all shuddered once more.
[Canteen]
(Finch walks in followed by the bats.)
KENNY: Are they my teachers?
DOCTOR: Yeah. Sorry.
Gwen felt a pang of sadness for the boy.
FINCH: We need the Doctor alive. As for the others? You can feast.
They all looked sick once more, and Arthur winced. Some things would never change.
(The Krillitanes swoop. They hide under the tables. Suddenly a laser beam fells one of the bats. Finch is furious.)
SARAH: K9!
K9: Suggest you engage running mode, mistress.
DOCTOR: Come on!
(Everyone runs.)
DOCTOR: K9, hold them back!
K9: Affirmative, master. Maximum defence mode.
(The Doctor seals the doors.)
K9: Power supply failing.
FINCH: Forget the shooty dog thing.
K9: Power supply failing.
"Is that sorcery?" Arthur asked.
"No, it is futuristic weapons."
[Physics laboratory]
DOCTOR: It's the oil. Krillitane life forms can't handle the oil. That's it! They've changed their physiology so often, even their own oil is toxic to them. How much was there in the kitchens?
"So that is why the lady was screaming." Leon nodded in understanding.
ROSE: Barrels of it.
(The Krillitanes are battering at the door.)
DOCTOR: Okay, we need to get to the kitchens. Mickey.
MICKEY: What now, hold the coats?
DOCTOR: Get all the children unplugged and out of the school. Now then, bats, bats, bats. How do we fight bats?
(Kenny sets off the fire alarm. The noise hurts the Krillitane's ears. The humans escape.)
"What is that?" all the humans clamped their hands over their ears.
"It is basically a device that warns them of a fire." the Doctor explained.
The humans nodded and slowly removed their hands from their ears.
[Corridor]
(Finch manages to punch through the wall and pull out the alarm wires. The noise stops.)
FINCH: Get after them.
[Outside the canteen]
K9: Master.
DOCTOR: Come on, boy. Good boy.
[Classroom]
MICKEY: Okay, listen everyone. We've got to get out of here.
(The children don't hear him, or notice when he waves his hand in front of their face.)
They looked sick again, and Gwaine actually threw up behind him.
They weren't sure if it was from what they were watching or alcohol.
[Kitchen]
(The Doctor tries his sonic screwdriver on the barrels of oil.)
DOCTOR: They've been deadlock sealed. Finch must've done that. I can't open them.
K9: The vats would not withstand a direct hit from my laser, but my batteries are failing.
DOCTOR: Right. Everyone out the back door. K9, stay with me.
[Classroom]
(Mickey follows the computer power leads back to - a single wall switch. Click, fizz, and the screens go blank.)
"At least he found a way to stop it." Gwen looked relieved.
MICKEY: Everyone get out. Now!
(The children get up.)
MICKEY: Come on, move! Let's go! Let's go!
(The Krillitanes pause to disguise themselves as humans again.)
[Kitchen]
(The Doctor lines up the oil barrels for K9 to shoot at.)
K9: Capacity for only one shot, Master. For maximum impact, I must be stationed directly beside the vat.
DOCTOR: But you'll be trapped inside.
"No!" Gwaine fake-sobbed dramatically. The others continued to scoot away from him.
"Where is Merlin when you need him?" the knight sighed.
K9: That is correct.
DOCTOR: I can't let you do that.
K9: No alternative possible, Master.
DOCTOR: Goodbye, old friend.
K9: Goodbye, Master.
DOCTOR: You good dog.
The Doctor smiled fondly at the memory.
K9: Affirmative.
[Outside the kitchen]
(The Doctor seals the door.)
SARAH: Where's K9?
DOCTOR: We need to run.
SARAH: Where is he? What have you done!
"Yeah." Gwaine stated. "Don't take a dog away from a woman." he instructed. "It will make her really mad at you."
"And you know this because?" Arthur inquired.
"No reason."
[Kitchen]
FINCH: When you find him, eat him if you must, but bring me his brain.
(They find K9.)
FINCH: The little dog with a nasty bite. Not so powerful now, are you?
(K9 fires a sustained burst at the nearest barrel. The Krillitanes get splattered with their own oil.)
"Go...K9!" there was a pause as Elyan tried to remember the dog's name.
[School yard]
MICKEY: Come on, guys! Let's go, let's go! Run!
[Kitchen]
JACKSON: Burning!
FINCH: You bad dog.
K9: Affirmative.
"Didn't he agree that he was a good dog only moments before this?" Gaius questioned.
Everyone laughed at the memory.
[Outside the school]
(The school goes KaBOOM! The children rejoice as paper rains down on them.)
KENNY: Yes!
MELISSA: Did you have something to do with it?
KENNY: Yeah, I did.
MELISSA: Oh my God. Kenny blew up the school! It was Kenny!
"They seemed happy that the school exploded and happy that they got to go inside the school early..." Leon looked a bit confused.
CHILDREN: Yay! Kenny! Kenny! Kenny! Kenny!
"It's the same with them." Arthur agreed.
DOCTOR: I'm sorry.
SARAH: It's all right. He was just a daft metal dog. It's fine, really.
(Sarah bursts into tears. The Doctor tries to comfort her.)
"And that is why I will never understand women. One moment they say it is fine, the next they are crying." Elyan shrugged.
"Kind of reminds you of Merlin." Arthur added on.
They all laughed.
[Outside the Tardis]
(Which has relocated itself from the destroyed school to Belle Vue Park. Sarah Jane walks up and the Doctor steps out.)
DOCTOR: Cup of tea?
[Tardis]
SARAH: You've redecorated.
DOCTOR: Do you like it?
SARAH: Oh, I, I do. Yeah. I preferred it as it was, but er, yeah. It'll do.
The Doctor grinned a bit.
ROSE: I love it.
SARAH: Hey, you what's forty seven times three hundred and sixty nine?
ROSE: No idea. It's gone now. The oil's faded.
SARAH: But you're still clever. More than a match for him.
ROSE: You and me both. Doctor?
DOCTOR: Er, we're about to head off, but you could come with us.
"Yeah! Go with him!" Gwaine grinned.
SARAH: No. I can't do this anymore. Besides, I've got a much bigger adventure ahead. Time I stopped waiting for you and found a life of my own.
"No!" the same knight groaned.
MICKEY: Can I come? No, not with you, I mean with you. Because I'm not the tin dog, and I want to see what's out there.
SARAH: Oh, go on, Doctor. Sarah Jane Smith, a Mickey Smith. You need a Smith on board.
DOCTOR: Okay then, I could do with a laugh.
MICKEY: Rose, is that okay?
ROSE: (lying) No, great. Why not?
"Is she lying?" Percival inquired.
"Yeah, she was." the Doctor agreed.
"She likes you." Gwaine said dully.
Gaius laughed at that, reminded of the time when Merlin had said the exact same thing.
SARAH: Well, I'd better go.
ROSE: What do I do? Do I stay with him?
SARAH: Yes. Some things are worth getting your heart broken for. Find me, if you need to, one day. Find me.
[Outside the Tardis]
SARAH: It's daft, but I haven't ever thanked you for that time. And like I said, I wouldn't have missed it for the world.
DOCTOR: Something to tell the grandkids.
SARAH: Oh, I think it'll be someone else's grandkids now.
They sighed in relief, knowing the first moment was almost over.
DOCTOR: Right. Yes, sorry. I didn't get a chance to ask. You haven't? There hasn't been anyone? You know.
SARAH: Well, there was this one guy. I travelled with him for a while, but he was a tough act to follow. Goodbye, Doctor.
DOCTOR: Oh, it's not goodbye.
SARAH: Do say it. Please. This time. Say it.
DOCTOR: Goodbye, my Sarah Jane.
"Do you often not say goodbye?" Arthur asked.
"I don't like goodbyes." the Doctor idly stated.
(He lifts her off her feet in a big hug, then goes back inside the Tardis. Sarah Jane turns her back and walks away as the Tardis starts to dematerialise. At the last moment, she turns back to see -)
SARAH; K9!
"Yes!" Gwaine punched the air once more.
K9: Mistress.
SARAH: But you were blown up.
K9: The Master rebuilt me. My systems are much improved with new undetectable hyperlink facilities.
The humans decided to continue ignoring the gibberish.
SARAH: Oh, he replaced you with a brand new model.
K9: Affirmative.
SARAH: Yeah, he does that. Come on, you. Home. We've got work to do.
K9: Affirmative.
"And that is it for this moment." the Doctor concluded.
"Who's next?" Arthur inquired.
"I don't know, it's random." the Gallifreyan answered. "But we might as well get this done as quickly as possible."
They all turned back to the crystals.
Review! Who do you want to be next? I'll update as soon as possible, but these things take a long time to create.
