A/N This has another bit that wasn't actually in the episode but I added to make the scene more Doctor/Rose-ish. Hope you all like it anyway. Enjoy and happy reading! This chapter is also un-checked so I hope its all okay and readable.

Disclaimer: I own no rights to Doctor Who, though it's probably one of my top ten dreams… how nerdy is that?


Chapter 7: School Reunion

"A cafeteria?" Martha asked in confusion and shock, of all the places she had been with the Doctor she was sure that they had never set foot inside a cafeteria… or a school for that matter. "Seriously?"

"What's wrong with that?" He asked, not really paying her that much attention.

"Nothing I suppose. So what's going on then?"

"Mickey called us thinking the school was suspicious. I ended up as a physics teacher and Rose… well, see for yourself." He grinned cheekily while pointing to where the food was.

It was obviously lunchtime, and the dinner ladies spooned food onto people's plates, the Doctor moving along the line with his tray. She recognized Rose as one of the dinner ladies and couldn't suppress her giggle at the glare she sent the Doctor as he walked by, splashing the food onto his plate with more force than was necessary.

Some time later the scene showed the Doctor sitting at a table in the middle of the room, spearing a chip on his fork and staring at it distastefully. Rose came over with a dishcloth to wipe his table down, using it as an excuse to talk to him.

"Two days." Rose said resentfully, not happy about her role in the situation.

"Sorry, could you, just there's a bit of gravy." Martha rolled her eyes and crossed her arms.

"Oh, you're just asking for it mate." She muttered, not sure if the Doctor heard her.

"I know," he said joyfully beside her. Obviously he did.

Rose wiped the table where he was pointing and looked at him sharply, obviously not amused.

"No, no, just there." He pointed again, enjoying the situation all too much in both of the girls opinions.

"Two days, we've been here." She said again, deciding not to comment on his annoying attitude.

"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." It was the first time Martha had heard Mickey being referred to as Rose's boyfriend and she had a very hard time believing it. Maybe in the first few memories but now… not a chance, she thought as she watched the interaction.

"You eating those chips?" She picked up one without asking his permission and bit into it, chewing with a blissful look on her face.

"Yeah, they're a bit... different." He screwed up his face.

"Different how?" Martha asked him.

"Ah, they were coated in an alien race's natural oil." Martha almost gagged at the explanation as Rose shoved the rest into her mouth.

"I think they're gorgeous. Wish I had school dinners like this."

She sat down beside him, scooting the chair closer to his side.

"It's very well behaved, this place." The dark girl had already thought the same while looking around at all the kids, sitting quietly and eating their meals.

"Mm." Martha really wished she could yell at the girl to spit the chip out, the very thought of it creeping her out and making her shiver in disgust.

"I thought there'd be happy-slapping hoodies. Happy-slapping hoodies with ASBOs. Happy-slapping hoodies with ASBOs and ringtones."

"See," the Doctor directed at Martha. "Don't tell me I don't fit in." The two Doctor's spoke together making a strange echoing effect. They both looked very impressed with themselves and Martha just shook her head, reminiscent of the way Rose was at the same time.

A dinner lady approached their table and gazed sternly down at them.

"You are not permitted to leave your station during a sitting."

Rose stood up and looked accusingly at the Doctor. "I was just talking to this teacher-" "Hello," the Doctor interrupted, "-he doesn't like the chips."

The dinner lady looked abruptly affronted. "The menu has been specifically designed by the headmaster to improve concentration and performance. Now, get back to work."

She left and Rose walked away from the table, twirling around once as she spoke to the Doctor.

"See? This is me. The dinner lady." Martha couldn't help but think that both Doctors look like they enjoyed that twirl a little too much. She saw some student watching them both, no doubt ready to start some gossip about the two of them, and Martha doubted whatever they came up with would be that much of a stretch.

"I'll have the crumble." The Doctor called out after her, sending her a teasing grin.

"I'm so gonna kill you." But the laughter in her voice told all present that it was an empty threat.

She returned to her station, the Doctor grinning manically the whole way.

"I'm so surprised she put up with you," Martha said while the scene altered.

"Oh, you know you love it." He responded playfully, in good spirits, at least for now.

They came into a scene just as a man Martha presumed to be the headmaster left the room that only teachers occupied. A red-headed woman looked around the room and Martha's eyes found the Doctor, looking at the woman as though he'd just seen a ghost, very slowly a smile coming over him the longer he stared.

The woman caught his eye and approached him confidently.

"Hello." She said enthusiastically.

"Oh, I should think so!" Even now the Doctor couldn't help the smile when he saw her, remembering all their good times together. His happiness diminished slightly when he thought back on Rose's reaction. He knew Martha wanted him to explain but didn't bother, knowing it wouldn't be much longer until the situation explained itself.

"And, you are?"

Seemingly unable to take his eyes off her the Doctor snapped out of his daze. "Hm? Uh, Smith. John Smith." How original, Martha thought, wondering if he ever used anything new.

"John Smith? I used to have a friend who sometimes went by that name." Oh, so she used to know him, she realized quickly, wondering where Rose was. As thoughts of the girl entered her mind she laughed internally, this should be entertaining.

"Well, it's a very common name!" He was quick to respond, apparently not wanting her to know it was him.

A look of reminiscing came over the woman's face as she shrugged while she spoke, wrapping her arms around herself. "He was a very uncommon man." You can say that again. That was definitely one way to describe the Doctor.

She held out her hand to him in a friendly way.

"Nice to meet you." She said sincerely.

"Nice to meet you! Yes! Very nice! More than nice, brilliant!

"Bit over enthusiastic don't you think?" Martha asked him rhetorically, wondering how the woman didn't notices something was off. First the name plus the way he was acting.

"Um... so, um, have you worked here long?"

"No! Um, it's only my second day."

"Oh, you're new, then? So, what do you think of the school? I mean, this new curriculum?"

The Doctor's eyes were still glued to her as his smile widened at her sentence.

"So many children getting ill, doesn't that strike you as odd?"

The Doctor grinned still wider. "You don't sound like someone just doing a profile."

"Well, no harm in a little investigation while I'm here." She said slyly, smiling secretively up at him before starting to walk away.

"No. Good for you. Oh good for you Sarah-Jane Smith." Wait Sarah-Jane… Sarah-Jane Smith? Martha thought to herself, realizing where she knew the name from. She was a reporter… No wonder it was so easy for her to be there… probably not for the same reason she had told everyone else though.

Without further ado they stood in a hallway, looking into a small room as Sarah-Jane backed away from the TARDIS, face looking beyond shocked as she walked out into the hallway, door closing in front of her. The Doctor stood behind her with a serious look on his face, one hand in his pocket as she turned to see him.

"Hello, Sarah Jane." His voice was deeper now, much more sober.

"It's you. Oh... Doctor." She spoke in a whisper, disbelieving as she looked at the man in front of her.

Martha's head filled with the possibilities of what had happened with them in the past, wanting Rose back just to see her reaction to everything.

"Oh, my God, it's you, it's... it's... you've regenerated." A smile gently spread across her face as she started getting over the shock, obviously it had been a along time since they had seen each other.

"Half a dozen times since we last met."

"You look... incredible."

"So do you."

"I got old. What're you doing here?"

"Well... UFO sightings, school gets record results - I couldn't resist. What about you?"

"Same." They laughed together but all too quickly the joy dropped from Sarah's face and tears filled her eyes as she spoke again. "I thought you'd died. I waited for you and you didn't come back, and I thought you must've died."

The Doctor felt the same shame he felt back then well up in him. He knew his own reasons and he still believed them, in most cases, but he hated that he had hurt her so much. He didn't wish he could take it back, only that he had said goodbye properly to her… he never seemed to be able to say the proper goodbye… never. He fought back tears as memories came rushing back, of leaving Sarah-Jane behind but mostly of that day on the beach, being the Time Lord who ran out of time.

He breathed deeply to get himself back under control and went back to watching, noticing he had missed some.

They were now skidding down another hallway and almost ran right into Rose who was running in the same direction from a converging corridor.

Here we go, Martha thought, a tiny smirk crossing her face.

"Did you hear that?" Rose asked in a breathless, slightly panicked voice. Her eyes flickered from the Doctor's meeting Sarah's for the first time and some of the adrenaline drifting away as she narrowed her eyes suspiciously.

"Who's she?" Her voice was sharp and Martha laughed out loud at the uncomfortable look on the Doctor's face.

"Rose, Sarah Jane! Sarah Jane, Rose." He explained quickly, probably attempting to escape the inevitable.

Rose looked rather unpleasantly surprised as they shook hands in an unwilling sort of way.

Sarah spoke with an extremely fake smile painted onto her lips. "Hi. Nice to meet you." She turned to the Doctor. "You can tell you're getting older, your assistants are getting younger." She said condescendingly.

Rose's face was outraged as she looked to be fighting the urge to step forward and sneer at the woman. "I'm not his assistant."

The Doctor scratched his ear uncomfortably, completely hopeless in the situation. "Right, how are you going to get out of this one?" Martha asked in good sport, laughing at his expression that seemed almost as horrified as the one in the memory.

"I didn't." He murmured, grimacing in remembrance of his and Rose's rather painful conversation.

"No? I get you, tiger." The Doctor sped off, not allowing Rose to retort as they followed him. They found Mickey in one of the class rooms, surrounded by a load of vacuum-packed rats.

Martha snorted with laughter at the realization that the scream was him, the Doctor joining her good humor for a second. "Sorry! Sorry, it was only me. You told me to investigate, so I- I started looking through some of these cupboards and all of these fell out of them."

The Doctor bent down and picked a few up to examine them closely. "Oh, my God, they're rats. Dozens of rats. Vacuum packed rats." Rose spoke in a disgusted tone, of course, who liked to find a whole mountain of yellow rats in a school.

The Doctor mocked Mickey in a round of verbal sparring the younger boy was sure to lose before Rose interrupted them, an incredulous look on her face. "Hello, can we focus? Does anyone notice anything strange about this? Rats in school?"

Sarah –Jane spoke up, no sign of the fake smile on her face any more. "Well, obviously they use them in Biology lessons. They dissect them. Or maybe you haven't reached that bit yet. How old are you?"

"Ouch," Martha muttered, enjoying the scene greatly and wondering what would ever happen if she was in such a situation.

The Doctor and Mickey looked shiftily between them, warily wondering whether they should step in.

"Excuse me, no one dissects rats in school anymore. They haven't done that for years. Where are you from, the dark ages?" Martha raised her eyebrows. Feisty, she rather liked this new side of Rose; she definitely wasn't a push over.

The Doctor quickly intercepted the conversation before it got any further out of control, both looking as though they were willing to resort to physical violence at any minute. "Anyway, moving on."

Sarah Jane obviously badly wanted to make a cutting retort but settled for throwing Rose the dirtiest of looks, which was returned full force.

"Everything started when Mr. Finch arrived. We should go and check his office." The Doctor concluded, moving from the room.

He chucked the rat he was holding back to Mickey, who dropped it as they followed the Doctor out and down the corridor.

Rose spoke once more to Sarah Jane through gritted teeth, obviously trying to at least keep the appearance of being civil. "I don't mean to be rude or anything, but who exactly are you?"

"Sarah Jane Smith. I used to travel with the Doctor." She said proudly, obviously trying to compete with the blonde.

Martha sucked I a breath thinking of what a bad idea that was. She didn't know about the other woman or how long she travelled with the Doctor but she did know if she trying something like that with Rose, the blonde Londoner was sure to win.

"Oh!" Rose smiled slightly, looking smug. "Well, he's never mentioned you." She said casually.

The Doctor was quick to jump in and save himself, eye's flying nervously between the two as his chocolaty orbs begged Rose to just agree with him, though for once he was not listened to.

"Oh, I must've done. Sarah Jane. Mention her all the time." He scratched the end of his nose.

Rose pretended to think about it, probably wanting to mess with the Doctor just as much as she did the other woman. "Hold on... sorry, never."

Sarah looked shocked and annoyed, not sure whether to believe the girl or not. "What, not even once? He didn't mention me once?"

They both walked off as Rose sped up, Sarah Jane following looking as if she was going to ask more questions that the Doctor dreaded as he looked on circumspectly.

Mickey slapped a hand onto the Doctor's shoulder with a grin. 'Ho ho, Mate! The missus and the ex. Welcome to every man's worst nightmare." Martha laughed, oh she definitely liked him. She couldn't have put it better herself.

Suddenly the Doctor spoke quietly, reverently. "I already knew I was in trouble," he grinned sadly. "She never walked ahead of me like that, ever." And as far as she could tell it was the truth. I all she had been shown she had never seen Rose voluntarily leave the Doctor's side for no reason. Oh he is in trouble… about time to.

The Doctor, Sarah Jane, Rose and Mickey were then in a chip shop. The Doctor and Sarah Jane sitting at a table by the window some ways away, chatting and laughing over a robot dog, too far away to hear. Mickey and Rose stood by the counter.

The Doctor straightened attentively, always happy when something came up that he had never seen nor heard before, curious and always willing to learn more about Rose. "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'." The Doctor frowned, he didn't like the turn the conversation was taking, it being obvious what they were discussing.

Rose seemed to have to wrench her eyes away from the pair she had been watching intently, a cluster of emotions emanating from her. "I'm not listening to this." She said in denial. Martha sighed in irritation, unable to believe the Doctor hadn't realized what sort of an affect the whole situation was having on Rose.

"Although, I have prepared a little 'I was right' dance that I can show you later." They both wished that Mickey would shut up, his words only hurting Rose more. He definitely wasn't acting like a boyfriend, or a friend, or even a civil acquaintance for that matter.

He sniggered as the shopkeeper held her hand out to Rose.

"Two quid, love." Rose gave her the money and took the chips, eating immediately.

"All this time you've been giving it, 'he's different!' when the truth is, he's just like any other bloke." The Doctor lowered his eyes, having no idea she defended him so much to Mickey. He felt awful and felt a massive urge to go over and tell his past self to go talk to the perfect little human they both adored right that instant… and he would, if it would do anything.

They sat down at a table away from the Doctor and Sarah Jane.

"You don't know what you're talking about," Rose said, still quick to defend the Time Lord.

"Yes he does." The Doctor whispered to the ground, knowing Martha almost definitely heard him but not caring. He hated knowing that at any time he had hurt Rose, in any way.

"Maybe not. But if I were you... I'd go easy on the chips."

"Oi! What was that suppose to mean?" The Doctor jumped in protectively. He felt a very human urge to punch Mickey Smith in the face for saying such a thing; Rose had always been perfect, Sarah-Jane or no. He had no right to say such a thing. He watched sadly as Rose hesitated in continuing to eat, a look of self-doubt crossed her eyes that he hadn't seen since she had started travelling with him. He growled under his breath, feeling Martha's hand on his arm urging him to relax.

The scene changed to make them now pay attention to the Doctor's and Sarah's conversation, only staying with them for a sort amount of time, just long enough to get the point across.

"You know what the most difficult thing was? Coping with what happens next, and 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?" Sarah spoke sadly, watching him intensely for his reaction.

The Time Lord furrowed his brow in confusion. "All those things you saw; do you want me to apologize for that?"

"No, but we get a taste of that splendor and then we have to go back."

The Doctor just smiled at her. "But look at you, you're investigating. You found that school, you're doing what we always did."

"You could've come back." Sarah Jane pushed, not understanding.

"I couldn't." his voice had dropped a few tones, both in volume and pitch and Martha knew he was hurting.

"Why not?" Sarah whispered, still not understanding.

The Doctor did not answer and Sarah Jane shook her head as the Doctor switched his sonic screwdriver back on and returned to repairing K9 without answering her.

Martha saw then, it wasn't just her. Even his old companions didn't understand him as much as Rose did. They all pushed him in the same way, in the wrong way, and never knew when to stop. They ended up hurting him, unintentionally of course, but doing it all the same.

As Martha came to her realization they were outside, the Doctor left the chip shop followed by Rose, Martha took note that Sarah and Mickey were a couple of meters away but still within hearing distance.

She saw the Doctor brace himself just slightly and knew this would be the conversation she had been waiting for and obviously, the one he had been dreading.

"How many of us have there been, travelling with you?" Rose demanded, evidently wanting him to stop and talk to her properly.

"Does it matter?" the Doctor retorted pointlessly, turning to face her, frustration written in every facet of his face.

When she spoke next her voice trembled, dangerously close to tears. "Yeah, it does, if I'm just the latest in a long line." The real Doctor swallowed, knowing exactly how the conversation would go and wishing he could change it.

The Doctor stopped and looked hurt. "As opposed to what?" he asked, a hint of desperate breaking through his barriers.

He stared at her, looking angry and hurt and seeing his expression mirrored back at him and hating himself for it.

"I thought you and me were," she stopped and shook her head, not willing to finish the unavoidable ending to that sentence. "But 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?"

He burst out with his answer abruptly, eyes totally sincere and voice firm with belief. "No. Not to you."

Martha's breath caught in her throat and her wondered if this would finally be it, the thing that finally threw them into action and awareness. It had to pretty close for him to be saying things like that… it was the most open she had ever seen him.

"But Sarah Jane." Her voice once again quivered and broke gently as she spoke, getting more upset. "You were that close to her once, and now... you never even mention her. Why not?"

"I don't age." He responded quickly, regret and fear burned in his eyes as he looked directly at her, both getting captured in each other's eyes. "I regenerate. But humans decay. You wither and you die." Martha found her breathing stopping completely at what he said next, completely unbelieving that he had got so close and yet didn't finish. "Imagine watching that happen to someone who you-"

They stared at each other and Martha heard a tiny sniff coming from the Doctor, but didn't turn to look at him, choosing to leave him alone knowing this was a little too close to home. She swore that she heard a whisper of a sigh escape him, carrying the last word of the sentence with it but let it slip from her mind, it really wasn't her business.

"What, Doctor?" Rose spoke encouragingly, her eyes begging him to continue, though everyone knew that he wouldn't.

The Doctor stared at her intensely, willing her to understand, his whole body beginning to shake almost unnoticeably as the effort it took to have the conversation with Rose took its toll. "You can spend the rest of your life with me."

Rose looked up at him, eyes shining with unshed tears that Martha knew were probably appearing in her own as the conversation got more and more intense. She wished they would just admit it and be happy, while they still could. But it didn't look like that would happen. She wondered how much more time they had together.

She asked the Doctor on the off chance he would actually tell her, the only answer she received was "not long enough."

She nodded though and stayed silent, hearing the tremor in his voice.

"But I can't spend the rest of mine with you," he continued. "I have to live on. Alone. That's the curse of the Time Lords."

At his last words the scene abruptly shifted, it seemed like the TARDIS could tell which scenes were especially difficult for the Doctor and passed them as quickly as possible. Only Martha was ignorant of the fact that soon that would be impossible.

Sarah Jane was crouched beneath a computer desk and trying to switch on the sonic screwdriver. She climbed out and hit the keyboard, staring at the sonic screwdriver. Rose sat with her legs crossed on one of the chairs.

"It's not working!" Sarah exclaimed in frustration.

Rose stood and moved to her, snatching the screwdriver of her and ducking beneath the desk. "Give it to me."

"Used to work first time in my day." Sarah spoke, trying to justify her inability to work the device.

"Well, things were a lot simpler back then." Rose turned the sonic screwdriver and it worked straight away as she held it to the back of the computer.

Sarah huffed in annoyance and spoke civilly to the girl. "Rose, can I give you a bit of advice?"

Rose straightened back up and muttered, "I've got a feeling you're about to."

The Doctor watched on, fascinated by the interaction and wondering how this conversation went from them at each others throats to the hysterical laughter he remembered walking in on… he wasn't sure which he preferred, but at least now he would know what they were laughing about.

"I know how intense a relationship with the Doctor can be, and I don't want you to feel I'm intruding-" She was cut off quickly by a defensive Rose.

"I don't feel threatened by you if that's what you mean."

"Right. Good. Because, I'm not interested in picking up where we left off." Martha snorted, not believing her.

Rose looked at her in disbelief and raised her eyebrows at the older woman. "No? With the big sad eyes and the robot dog? What else were you doing last night?"

"I was just saying how hard it was adjusting to life back on Earth."

Rose stood and stepped away from her and the computer. "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 ya." The conversation took a nasty turn back to familiar territory and Martha couldn't stop the laugh at how much Rose was reacting to her, especially after just assuring the other woman she wasn't intimidated by her presence.

Sarah walked up to her indignantly. "I had no problem with space stuff. I saw things you wouldn't believe."

Haven't we all, Martha thought, not thinking that was something to brag about when the person you were talking to had already been traveling with the Doctor.

When she saw the look on the Doctor's face she knew he was thinking the same thing.

Rose's voice was suddenly cold. "Try me."

"Mummies."

"I've met ghosts."

"Weeell, they weren't really ghosts or mummies, at least not in the way one would expect." The Doctor absentmindedly corrected. Martha just shook her head at him as the other two continued their back and forth.

"Robots. Lots of robots."

"Slitheen. In Downing Street."

"Daleks!"

"Oh, wrong choice," Martha commentated thinking about Rose's meetings with the evil beings.

Rose scoffed at that. "Met the Emperor." And defeated him, both observers thought, even now Rose was being modest, it was almost funny to think of Sarah Jane's reaction if she really knew all that Rose had done.

"Anti-Matter monsters."

"Gas masked zombies."

"Real living dinosaurs!"

"Real living werewolf!"

"THE Loch Ness Monster!" Sarah's voice reached a shrill pitch as Rose stopped and looked at her disbelievingly.

" Seriously?" Martha and the Doctor laughed as both of them visibly realized how petty they were being as Sarah buried her head in her hands and shook her head while Rose laughed slightly and smiled at her.

"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." Sarah Jane relaxed against a desk and Rose looked at her contemplatively for a moment.

"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?" Martha laughed loudly at that as Sarah responded "all the time" and they all laughed together, the Doctor letting out an indignant "OI!" and looking like he was going to try and convince Martha they were wrong, before staring at her and realizing it wouldn't be worth it; he was done for.

"Does he still stroke bits of the TARDIS?"

"Yeah! Yeah! He does! I'm like, "do you two want to be alone?" Both Martha and the Doctor snorted at the fact she forgot to mention that she had also got into the habit.

The Doctor raised a hand to his mouth and barked out a fake cough. "Hypocrite."

Martha smirked at him, elated at seeing him so happy again and able to concentrate on the good things.

They were still laughing madly when the Doctor waltzed into the room.

"How's it going?"

"Oh, if I'd have known." The Doctor threatened to Martha pointlessly, looking like he was coming up for thing to do for pay back.

His face sobered slightly when he stopped thinking of the things he could do for payback when he remembered once again that he'd never get the chance. He shook his mind free of those thoughts and tried to only concentrate on the here and now… or here and then he supposed.

The sight of him only seemed to make them laugh even harder.

The Doctor continued obliviously. "What? Listen, I need to find out what's programmed inside these."

They took no notice of him and fall into each other laughing hysterically, Rose pointing the sonic screwdriver at him comically.

Genuinely confused and wanting to know what had gotten into then the Doctor's voice rose in pitch. "What? Stop it!"

With that they were fast forwarded so that now the headmaster man stood beside them, speaking directly to the Doctor, the mood of the room now considerable more serious.

The threatening man approached them slowly, eyes trained on the Doctor as he advanced. "Think of it, Doctor, with the Paradigm solved, reality becomes clay in our hands. We can shape the universe and improve it."

"Oh yeah? The whole of creation with the face of Mr. Finch. Call me old fashioned, but I like things as they are.

She wasn't entirely sure what was going on but could guess by the way they were speaking and Martha felt a sudden doubt whether the Doctor would be able to stand up against this and not be tempted.

"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."

The Doctor looked on skeptically. "What, by someone like you?"

"No." The man tilted his head at the Doctor meaningfully. "Someone like you."

The Doctor was silent, clearly that was not the answer he was expecting.

"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 civilizations you could save. Perganon, Assinta, your own people, Doctor. Standing tall. The Time Lords... reborn."

Martha watched on, amazed but also somehow not as the Doctor stayed silent and hesitated, staring at the man intensely.

"I was so close… just that one time." The Doctor whispered to Martha, his voice cracking in momentary weakness. "So close."

Suddenly Sarah spoke up loudly, urgently. "Doctor, don't listen to him."

The man turned to Sarah and Rose and stared at them intently, eyes shifting between them before landing and staying on Rose. "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." His attention shifted back to the Time Lord.

The Doctor had a faraway look in his eyes, visibly so terribly tempted. He looked up and his eyes locked onto Rose's.

"I thought about it… I thought if we could really have forever…" He looked down in shame that he ever considered such a thing. Martha grasped his arm and squeezed, trying to give him whatever amount of comfort she could provide. She understood what a huge choice this would have been for him, how hard it must have been to say no and give away everything he had ever wanted.

"I could save everyone," his eyes didn't wavered from Rose's for a second and Sarah looked between them, trying to figure out exactly what was passing between them as Rose's eyes became glassy with tears and they looked at each other with the same longing gaze.

"Yes." The man's smile widened, like he knew he had the Doctor exactly were he wanted him.

The Doctor's voice dropped even further into a whisper. "I could stop the war."

Sarah watched as he got more and more lost and the look on her face telling them she was wondering why Rose was not saying anything, speaking up quickly before they lost him completely. "No. The universe has to move forward. Pain and loss, they define us as much as happiness or love."

Martha knew that the only reason Sarah Jane was the one to speak up and not Rose was because both Rose and the Doctor had so much to gain from it. Just this once it seemed like they were both tempted to be selfish, to make it so that, as the Doctor said, they could have their forever.

"Whether it's a world, or a relationship... everything has its time. And everything ends." Sarah continued, eyes frantically flicking fro face to face.

The Doctor stared for a few more seconds, eyes shutting off at Sarah Jane's words as his resolve was strengthened again. He grit his teeth, pulled his eyes forcefully from Rose's gaze and picked up a chair, hurling it through the screen displaying the code, which smashed on impact.

Martha watched in relief and sadness as Rose closed her eyes in deep pain before breathing in and opening them again, gaining back her composure, not showing any disappointment or anger over the Doctor's choice but a sense of loss in her eyes that wasn't there before.

"Out!" The Doctor shouted, avoiding Rose's eyes as he passed.

As the memory changed Martha turned to the visibly distraught Doctor and asked a question that the scene brought up, one she needed to be answered.

"If you had that chance again… would you do it?" She asked keeping any accusation out of her voice, letting him know she would never judge him for either answer.

He ran a shaky hand through his already messed up hair and sighed. He looked down at her and she saw the answer in his eyes. Even though out loud he spoke out a quiet and broken "I don't know," she knew that given the choice, while he might resist again, the choice would be infinitely more difficult for him to make and the reverse choice would be close to impossible for him to resist.

Neither dwelled on his answer as they were transported into the TARDIS.

"You've redecorated!" Sarah stated happily looking around the previously familiar ship.

"Do you like it?" The Doctor asked.

She kept looking, fascinated. "Oh, I, I do. Yeah. I preferred it as it was, but uh... yeah. It'll do."

"I love it." Rose stated grinning at them both as she leant on the rather unnecessary metal barrier.

"Hey you," Sarah directed at her kindly. "What's forty seven times three hundred and sixty nine?"

"No idea. It's gone now the oil's faded."

"But you're still clever. More than a match for him." She tilted her head in the direction of the Doctor.

Rose smiled. "You and me both."

Sarah Jane nodded in agreement. Rose looked to the Doctor who was fiddling with the computer, as though prompting him to say something.

"Doctor?"

He looked up at them. "Um, we're about to head off, but you could come with us." He offered, both of them smiling encouragingly at her.

Unexpectedly Sarah shook her head. "I can't do this anymore." She stated softly. "Besides, I've got a much bigger adventure ahead! Time I stopped waiting for you and found a life of my own."

"Can I come?"

Rose looked up at him looking put out and none too happy about the idea, avoiding everyone's eyes.

"No, not with you, I mean... with you." Mickey explained, pointing to the Doctor. "'Cause I'm not the tin dog. And I want to see what's out there."

Rose mouthed 'no' at the Doctor who looked back at her, unsure as what to do.

"Oh, go on, Doctor. Sarah Jane Smith, a Mickey Smith. You need a Smith on board!" the Doctor's eyes flickered to her before landing back on Rose, before avoiding her gaze as he agreed.

"Okay then, I could do with a laugh."

Martha smacked the Doctor on the arm firmly, hoping to make it actually hurt. "What were you thinking?" The Doctor kept looking at the scene with regret, he knew he shouldn't have done it but he didn't like denying people when they asked to come with him. "I know." Was all he said.

Rose rolled her eyes in annoyance while Mickey laughed in delight, stopping quickly upon noticing Rose's lack of response.

"Rose, is that okay?" He asked cautiously, not the only one to catch on to her distaste with the idea.

"No, great. Why not?" Sarcasm dripped from her voice but she didn't say anything else.

You could cut the tension with a knife, Martha thought, watching them as they all avoided each other's eyes in silence.

"Well, I'd better go." Sarah ended the silence abruptly, turning to Rose and pulling her to the side while the Doctor turned his attention back to the computer screen.

Rose watched him for a minute before looking back at her doubtfully. "What do I do?" She glanced back over at the Doctor again. "Do I stay with him?"

Sarah Jane nodded at her empathetically. "Yes. Some things are worth getting your heart broken for." She embraced Rose kindly, understanding the other girls struggle just as well as Martha did.

"Find me, if you need to, one day. Find me."

Rose gave her a small smile. The Doctor holds open the doors for Sarah Jane, who steps out of the TARDIS for the last time.

"They didn't know but I could hear them and I was so afraid that Rose would leave when she asked that." The Doctor muttered to Martha, a far off look on his face as he remembered listening in on the conversation.

"But she didn't. Everything was fine yeah? At least for a little while." Martha attempted to comfort him.

Let breathed out roughly and let a devastatingly sad smile out. "Oh Martha, I was such an idiot." The new scene appeared and the Doctor looked at it in trepidation. "You're going to hate me for this."

He didn't give her a chance to respond as he looked intently back at the happenings in front of them and she wondered exactly what he would do it these memories to make him so angry with himself, even the TARDIS' whole atmosphere seemed colder than usual as the memory began, like she herself was still angry it had ever happened.

A/N Hehe, as you all know, next up is "Girl in the Fireplace" (probably with "Rise of the Cybermen" and "Age of Steel", not sure yet) and you can all guess by that ending how I feel about that episode. I had a major burst of a need to write tonight, hence the two chapters, but please still review both instead of just one as I'd like to hear what you thought of each one. Thank you for reading and I wouldn't be surprised if I get the next chapter up tomorrow some time.

Also I was wondering: I have to choices for you on how to end this fic. (There's still a few chapter before this will actually come up but I decided to get your opinions early)

I could do one of the following.

Finish the memories and just have one chapter after that, I'm not sure exactly what about, but it'd have Martha and the Doctor talking, probably with the TARDIS as well, etc.

OR

I could make this a reunion fic. I'm not sure if anyone noticed but some of the stuff in the last chapter I put in deliberately so that, they weren't big enough to make a huge difference if you want number 1, but if you want this one they are setting up a way for me to bring Rose back.

Please tell me which you would prefer. Basically the choice is of just a normal sort of ending and they get back to their travels (I'd probably make it that it goes to when the Doctor drops Martha at her place and Lazarus comes into it) OR I make it a reunion fic. Please vote.

Reviews = love… so please do!

Thanks XD,
Metal.