Once they were at the restaurant, the Doctor took K-9 out of the boot so that he could fix him. The place was practically deserted accept for one other couple and the owner. Rose marched up to the counter and started to demand chips as Jack, the Doctor and Sarah Jane took a seat at one of the booths. Since they had just eaten a few hours before neither Jack nor the Doctor were hungry but Jack planned on getting the Doctor a tea once Rose stopped making a scene. The Doctor was too busy pretending not to notice Rose as he began working on K-9.
"I thought of you on Christmas Day. This Christmas just gone? Great big spaceship overhead. I thought, oh yeah, bet he's up there," Sarah Jane informed him.
"Right on top of it, yeah," The Doctor commented. He scrunched up his face a moment in thought. "In fact we all were. Almost left Rose up there too." Hearing her name, Rose turned to the Doctor. She had a large plate of chips in her hand and she smiled as she approached him.
"There is no room at this booth Rose. Go and sit with Mickey," Jack ordered as he pointed to the table Mickey was at.
"Oi, why me?" Mickey complained.
"I want to sit with him," Rose pouted. She put her free hand on the Doctors shoulder and he couldn't help the shudder that ran through him. He pulled back from her as he tried not to look at her.
"Twenty?" Mickey asked, standing up and coming over to Rose. Jack reached into his pocket. He pulled out the money and handed it over to Mickey. Grabbing Rose's arm he drug her away from the booth as she complained.
"It's a good thing you didn't leave her," Jack commented continuing there previous conversation. "Then you would have started a war. I don't think the Sycorax would have appreciated your gift." The Doctor laughed, nodding his agreement. He continued to work on in silence for awhile but Sarah Jane wasn't done talking to him. There was one thing that had bothered her for years and she needed an answer from him. The problem was finding a way to ask him. Finally she decided the best way would be to just come out and say it.
"Did I do something wrong, because you never came back for me. You just dumped me," Sarah Jane stated. The Doctor didn't look at her as he swallowed hard. He had always meant to go back for Sarah but one thing led to another and he never found the time to.
"I told you. I was called back home and in those days humans weren't allowed," The Doctor answered her. It was a lame excuse and he knew it, but it was also the truth of why he had left her on Earth to begin with. "Besides you didn't need me. You were getting on with your life."
"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?" Sarah Jane demanded to know. The Doctor looked up at her briefly.
"All those things you saw, do you want me to apologize for that?" He asked her in surprise.
"No, but we get a taste of that splendor and then we have to go back," Sarah Jane informed him. She looked at Jack almost apologetic as he reached out and rubbed the Doctor's back. He was taking in her words that she was saying and while he didn't think the Doctor would just abandon him, he had obviously abandoned companions before. Just because he was sharing the Doctor's bed now, did that really make him so different? "You could have come back."
"I couldn't," he answered swallowing hard.
"Why not?" Sarah Jane demanded to know. He didn't answer her as he concentrated on fixing k-9. The war though raged inside his head and for a moment he was back to being a medic on the front line. He pushed the thought away as he took comfort in Jack's hand rubbing his back. He leaned slightly more into Jack's touch as he pulled another wire out of K-9. He soniced it, hooking it back up to where it belonged. As he hooked the other end, the robot's lights flashed.
"Master," K-9 said happily as he turned on. His voice was slightly squeaky and Jack laughed at it. The future models voices had been fixed to sound deeper as most people didn't like the original voice.
"He recognizes me," The Doctor told Jack happily, as he scratched K-9 under his chin.
"Rose, give us the oil," Jack called out. Rose looked at him confused.
"What oil?" She questioned her mouth full of chips.
"The oil you were suppose to be getting from the lunch room," the Doctor answered her.
"No, I was in the science room with the mice," Rose answered him. He ran his hand through his hair and massaged the back of his neck as he slowly counted to ten. It didn't help. He quickly changed the setting on his sonic screw driver and pointed it at her.
"Doc," Jack's voice warned. Sighing he lowered it.
"We need that oil," The Doctor informed Jack. "Without it we won't be able to tell what species we are dealing with."
"Rose left some of the school chips in the car, would those help?" Mickey asked the Doctor.
"Yes they would," The Doctor informed him happily. Mickey headed out to the car, grabbing the small thing of chips Rose had left. He brought them back in and sat them down in front of the Doctor.
"Those are mine," Rose pouted.
"Quiet Rose," The Doctor snapped. He took one of the chips and rubbed it on a probe for k-9 to analyze. Rose took the rest of the chips as soon as she wasn't being watched and retreated back to her table to eat them. The Doctor made a face at her. "Come on boy."
"Confirmation of analysis. Substance is Krillitane Oil," K-9 informed them.
"They're Krillitanes," The Doctor spoke mainly to himself as he took in the information.
"That is bad," Jack said.
"Very," The Doctor agreed with him. "Think of how bad things could possibly be, and add another suitcase full of bad."
"And what are Krillitanes?" Sarah Jane questioned not understanding how bad it was. The Doctor explained to her that they were a culture that went around the universe invading species and stealing the traits that they wanted. He wasn't surprised that Jack all ready knew about them because the Time Agency would have tried to prepare them for dealing with different aliens and you had to be care with the Krillitanes. If they saw a species they liked they would invade them for no other reason then to steal that trait.
"So the question is what're they doing here?" Mickey asked.
"It's the children. They're doing something to the children," The Doctor answered. With the information they needed, they said goodbye to Sarah Jane and made plans to meet up with her at the school in the morning. The Doctor hoped that this time they would be able to leave Rose behind and they could make a quick getaway once the school was secured. They went back to Rose's flat and the Doctor said goodnight as he went to the bedroom with Jack to rest for the night. Jack sat down on the edge of the bed watching the Doctor as he began to undress.
"Did you mean to leave Sarah behind?" Jack asked.
"No, I always meant to go back for her," The Doctor told him, giving him the same answer as he had given Sarah Jane.
"Are you going to leave me behind one day?" Jack wondered. The Doctor stopped changing as he turned to look at Jack.
"Of course not," The Doctor answered. He moved to sit next to Jack, taking his chin in his hand. "I don't age. I regenerate. But humans decay. You wither and you die. Imagine watching that happen to someone who you love." He paused as he kissed Jack softly on the lips. "They could spend the rest of their lives with me, but I can's spend the rest of my life with them. I have to live on. With you Jack it is different. Even if Rose hadn't cursed you with immortality I wanted to try. I didn't want to be alone."
"You don't have to be Doc," Jack kissed him, leaning back with him on the bed as he stroked the side of the Doctor's head. The Doctor looked up at him with lust in his eyes as he kneed the Doctor's legs apart, settling between them. He had all night to show the Doctor just how much he loved him.