A/N: Happy Valentines Day to all my lovely little companions out there! ;D I finally got some buffer chapters on my other story (name will be posted below) for it to be posted, it'll probably be posted same time as this one is, this one's my baby though, so it will most likely always be posted first. ^^ Sorry about the wait and everything, and my strange tendencies to always post at night, hopefully I'm not keeping any of you awake. Sorry, I'm rambling, you just go ahead and read. Enjoy!

Chapter 26

The four of them, or five according to Alli and Luna, pulled up to the school in Sarah Jane's car. Everyone about piled out when Luna noticed the Doctor's trouble with the door. She stifled a smirk to the best of her ability and reached around his seat to the door, pulling up the lock. He shot out of the car before anyone else saw his brief streak of stupidity and nodded to Luna in thanks.

She shook her head and finally let crack a smile.

"Well, better get to class." She started to slip away into the rest of the herd of children before the Doctor grabbed her hand and pulled her back.

"Actually, Luna, I want you to go with the girls to the Maths room. Rose and Sarah, you crack open those computers, I need to see the hardware inside. Here, you might need this."

Rose reached out her hands expecting the sonic screwdriver but watched as he reached back and handed it to Sarah Jane instead. She was about to scowl but he turned back to her, putting Luna's hand in hers.

He stood close and spoke softly so only she could hear him over the roar of surrounding children. "Don't let her wander off, Rose. I think they did something to her and I don't want anything worse to happen. I need you to keep her away from them and keep her safe."

She nodded in shock, caught deep in his gaze of sincerity.

He broke off the intimate moment to shout directions at Mickey.

"Mickey, surveillance. I want you outside."

"Just stand outside?" He whined, "What, you're gonna let a kid go in there but not me?"

"Well duh, Mickey. It is a school after all." Luna teased, Rose tugged her hand trying to appear stern but had a small smile showing.

"Alright, sorry." Luna sighed.

Crack

"You said you didn't want to go back in there anyways, so there's no reason to be upset. I have to go in, I don't want to be counted as truant." Alli chuckled with her twisted reasoning, reveling in the motion of his mouth gaping like a fish.

"Here, take these." Sarah Jane said, tossing him her car keys. "You can keep K-9 company."

"Don't forget to leave the window open a crack." The Doctor called back, making fun of Mickey's petulant behavior.

"But he's metal!"

"I didn't mean for him!" He hollered back smirking, only grinning because of Alli's laughter of course.

"What're you gonna do?" Rose asked him as she pulled Alli along to keep up with his brisk walk.

"It's time I had a word with Mister Finch." He spoke calmly, but the underlying tone was menacing to say the least.

As the Doctor made his way into the cramped hallways of the school, he purposefully leaned over the railing and stared down at the figure of Mr. Finch as he looked up at him. The headmaster spun on his heels and made his way towards the school swimming pool, at least the Doctor assumed this was his destination as it was the most private place it speak at the moment. He prowled through the doors of the pool and met the lone Krillitane standing on the other side.

"Who are you?" He demanded, holding back a curt tone.

"My name is Brother Lassa. And you?" He asked pleasantly, as if he had all the time in the world.

"The Doctor. Since when did Krillitanes have wings?" The Doctor quickly brought the subject to avoid beating around the bush that he seemed to be attempting to do.

"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." He grinned with a disgusting admiration of the slaughter that he spoke of, the Doctor on the other hand was reeling at what he said.

Alli Rose had already given him that information, not just that, she had the correct time line for the current date and the death toll that the Krillitanes had produced when he only asked to explain what the they were. That was by itself incredible knowledge but what made it even more staggering to him was the fact she had all the documented knowledge of the universe crammed in her head, yet somehow she sifted through it all and managed to relay what she looked up in barely six point three seven seconds. Not only would this pose as a problem for her traveling through time and space with him, but now these Krillitanes were using her for something that she could potentially have unlimited information on. He needed to know what they were doing to her. Now.

"This plan of yours, what is it?"

He cocked his head with curiosity at his sudden question. "You don't know." He stated.

"That's why I'm asking." He ground out, his anger getting the better of him at the thought of her mind being possibly destroyed by their own greed.

"Fascinating." They both began a slow pace towards the other as they sized themselves up. "I always thought of the Time Lords as such a pompous race. Ancient, dusty senators, so frightened of change and… chaos. Peaceful to the point of indolence. Of course, they're all but extinct, leaving only you. Yet, you seem to be something new."

"If I don't like it… then it will stop." He warned him, amusing the indifferent alien.

"Would you declare war on us, Doctor?" He chuckled in disbelief when they finally reached the other.

He nearly growled when he spoke. "You're crossing a very dangerous line with me. You hurt someone under my protection, a child at that. You should know that I used to have so much mercy, but I'm so old now, my patience with you is running thin."

He glared him down when they were just inches away, the entertained twinkle the man had in his eyes were snuffed out by the Doctor's overbearing fury.

"You get one warning. That was it." The Doctor spun around and plowed through the doors of the swimming pool, leaving him alone before he could even recollect himself to speak.

Alli watched him stalk away through the crowds of children that were dwarfed compared to his elongated size before he vanished around the corner. Rose tugged her hand and they continued their way to the IT classroom Alli had been in previously. When they stepped into the room she rubbed at the side of her head when a hint of pain from the memory threatened to leak through. Sarah continued to make her way to the computers to find a way to crack them open while Rose crouched down to examine her sudden discomfort.

"You alright, love? You're head hurtin' or something?"

"Nah, I'm fine. Just tired." She shrugged off, she moved over to one of the seats and sat down, messing around with the computer.

After about five minutes of Sarah struggling with the sonic and Alli playing games, she sat up and tried fidgeting with it a bit more.

Banging it against her palm in frustration. "It's not working." She grunted.

Alli spun around in her seat at the opportunity to have a go with it. "Can I try?"

"No." Rose immediately said to her, "Give it to me." Alli sulked back in her seat while Rose knelt down to work on the hard-drives.

"Used to work first time in my day." Sarah reasoned.

"Well, things used to be a lot simpler back then." She snarked at her, Alli's brow shot up in surprise at her rude attitude towards the woman. Even though she was much better at understanding people than Luna, this anger they held towards each other made barely any sense.

"Rose, can I give you a bit of advice?"

"Uh-oh." Alli muttered, concerned about another insult war breaking out between the two.

"I've got a feeling you're about to." Rose muttered as she continued on with her attempt to open up the programming on the computer.

"I know how intense a relationship with the Doctor can be, and, I don't want you to feel I'm intruding."

She promptly spun around to face her, causing Alli to lean back in her seat to avoid getting caught in any crossfires.

"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."

"No? With the big sad eyes and the robot dog? What else were you doing last night? 'Cause you must have some standards if you thought he had something as serious as a family and you were still pullin' that!"

Alli's eyes nearly popped out at that statement. What all had she missed last night?

"I would never stoop so low! I was just saying how hard it was adjusting to life back on Earth." She shot back.

"The thing is, when you two met they'd only just got rid of rationing. No wonder all that space stuff was a bit much for you." She held a nastily smug look at that comment as she paced a few steps away and fiddled with the sonic, earning an irate comment back.

"I had no problem with space stuff! I saw things you wouldn't believe."

Rose spun around to face her, taking on the unintended contest. "Try me."

"Mummies."

"I've met ghosts." She shot down in disinterest.

"Robots. Lots of robots."

"Slitheen. In Downing Street."

"Daleks!" She shouted.

Rose scoffed at that one. "Met the Emperor."

Alli's head was zipping back and forth between the two like a tennis tournament with a shocked expression. Rapid fire started as the experiences with the Doctor became more and more impressive.

"Anti-matter monsters."

"Gas-masked zombies."

"Real living dinosaurs."

"Real living werewolf."

"The Loch Ness Monster!"

This time, Rose's brow shot up. "Seriously?"

Sarah covered her face in embarrassment over what she just let slip, Rose began to chuckle at the fight that had just escalated.

"Listen to us." Rose muttered, "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." She said in disbelief. Rose looked at the older woman with much more respect than when she first met her. She decided it was time to extend the olive branch.

"With you… did he ever 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 just dribbled on your shirt?"

Sarah snickered in amusement. "All the time! Does he still stroke bits of the TARDIS?"

Rose and Alli burst into a fit of giggles as well. "Yeah! Yeah, he does! I'm like, 'Do you two want to be alone?'"

All the girls in the room was clutching their sides when Alli finally broke in breathlessly. "What's great about that, is that he actually calls the TARDIS Sexy!"

No one was even capable of breathing when the Doctor strode into the room after having his conversation with Mr. Finch. He had his hands in his pockets and looked over the room expectantly.

"How's it going?"

That was all he asked, yet Alli still fell out of her chair rolling on the floor and Rose and Sarah were supporting each other as they howled harder.

"What? Listen, I need to find out what's programmed inside these-"

He got caught off as Rose began pointing at him and earned even louder chortling from the other two. Now he was beginning to get the hint that they were laughing at him.

"What? Stop it!" He whined in a higher pitch like a child. Well that's just plain rude! I think I liked it a little bit better when they were fighting. He thought miserably.

When they caught their breath and the Doctor finished his pouting, the bell had already rung, striking as a bit odd to Alli.

"That's a bit early for the bell to be ringing isn't it?"

"All pupils to class immediately. And would all members of staff congregate in the staff room." The loudspeaker warbled, alerting Rose that the kids were going to start coming.

The clammering of students beckoned Rose to the door to send them away. "No, no. This classroom's of of bounds. You've all got to go to the South Hall. Off you go. South Hall!"

Alli was sitting back down with headphones over her ears, spinning around in her seat and getting tied up in the cord while the Doctor was looping wires around himself as well in his attempt to get inside the computers.

"I can't shift it." He grunted as he still tried to do so.

"I thought the sonic screwdriver could open anything!" Sarah protested.

"Anything except a deadlock seal. There's gotta be something inside here. What're they teaching those kids?"

"What's a deadlock seal?" Alli asked from the jumble of wires tying her up. The Doctor started spinning her in the other direction to untangle her as he explained it to her.

"Basically it's a lock that's impossible to open with any sonic device, unless you have more than one, but, seeing as I haven't got any of those on hand…" He trailed off, finally freeing her from her own handywork as she stretched with a playful smile. "There we go. You're free!"

Her freedom didn't last long when all the screens flashed on and filtered the alien codes through them. She jumped back to the screen and ignored all other surroundings, enslaved to program.

"Alli!" Rose raced to her side to pull her out of it before the Doctor stopped her from ripping the headphones off.

"Don't! You might cause damage, we don't know the process to turn it off and it might hurt her." He warned, seeing Alli begin to tremble in her seat the longer she sat there, her mouth wording numbers and letters in the form of equations, mumbling silently as she was forced to work. Her face was starting to look flushed as painful concentration etched around her eyes, sweat beading on her brow.

Rose put her hand to her forehead and yanked it back with a hiss, cradling her hand to her chest. "She's really burning up, she's practically on fire!"

"But Doctor, what exactly is this program? Why is it making her do that?" Sarah asked.

"Don't know, some sort of code? Low-level hypnosis possibly?" He murmured, still piecing together the puzzle before it finally fell into place at the recognizable equation. "No. No, they can't be! The Skasis Paradigm. They're trying to crack the Skasis Paradigm." He growled out in anger.

"The Skasis what?"

He began explaining, "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."

He felt his hearts twinged in fear at what they were trying to do, it was even worse that they had Alli helping with it. She had all the knowledge in the known universe on hand, this wouldn't go well if she was stuck in the program for much longer.

"What, and the kids are like a giant computer? Is that's what wrong with her?" Rose began questioning, rubbing her back to try and calm her jerking.

"Yes." He said, answering both questions. "And the learning power is being accelerated by the oil. That oil that comes from the kitchens, it works as a- as a conducting agent, makes the kids cleverer." He spat, leaning over the desk and glaring at the screen Alli was typing away at.

"But that oil's on the chips. Me and Alli have been eating them." Rose squeaked looking on in concern at him.

"What's fifty nine times thirty five?"

"Two thousand and sixty five." She said without a beat, proving his point. "Oh my god. Is she gonna be okay?" She breathed out, looking back at the small child in even more fear.

This was when the Doctor nearly pulled out his hair. "I'm not hundred percent certain how exactly her brain might be able to handle it. From what I could already tell she's certainly upped the part of her brain for recollection and memory storage at the time it took her to look up Krillitanes from all the knowledge she had in the first place. That itself is an impressive amount of speed, but the oil is speeding that up, faster than she had originally planned and… oooh." He groaned.

"What?"

"She already told me last night, that's why Luna hid it! She said it felt like her mind was melting because it is, if the oil is burning through her head at the speed she's going at, it's gonna kill her." He growled out at dangerous tones.

"I don't understand, why would they do that?" She hissed, comforting her as best as she could.

"They probably just thought she was some clever kid they could throw into their pile and use her to their advantage."

"But why use the children? Can't they use adults?" Sarah questioned once more.

"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."

"Let the lesson begin." A familiar voice broke in. Everyone, save Alli, had turned to look at Mr. Finch standing in front of the door, still looking smug even as they figured out his plan.

"I must say, you have quite the remarkable child on your hands, she solved nearly seventy percent in just one day. We're closer than ever to solving it, thanks to her. Think of it, Doctor. With the Paradigm solved, reality could become clay in our hands. We can shape the universe and improve it."

"Oh yeah? The whole of creation with the face of Mister Finch? Call me old fashioned, but I like things the way they are. You know, when you aren't melting children's minds for more power." He ground out, trying his best to hold back his temper.

"You act like such a radical, and yet all you want to do is preserve world order? Think of the changes that could be made if this power was used for good."

"What, by someone like you?"

He stepped closer. "No, someone like you." The Doctor's eyes widened at what he was offering. "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."

Sarah knew how tempting it must have be for him and tried to help him see what was wrong with this. "Doctor, don't listen to him!"

"And you could be with him throughout eternity." He switched to her, luring her into the idea as well. "Young, fresh… never wither, never age, never die." He turned back to the Doctor. "You can even keep the child safe, protect her from any pain or suffering. Their lives are so fleeting. So many goodbyes. How lonely you must be, Doctor. Join us."

"I could save everyone." He breathed out, his eyes were glazing over at the thought.

"Yes." He pressed, victory starting to show prematurely.

"I could stop the war."

"No." Sarah reasoned. "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 it's time. And everything ends." She knew it was time for her to move on past the Doctor, to let go, and she knew this would make him see.

The Doctor gained a hardened look back in his eyes, his anger came back with a vengeance when he still heard Alli typing away furiously as her mind burnt. He picked up the closest chair and hurdled it at the massive screen on the wall, shattering it to pieces and shutting down the other computers like dominos. Alli blinked tears out of her eyes and looked around in confusion at the scene taking place.

"Out!" He screamed taking her tiny hand into his grip and pulling her pass a very wrathful Mr. Finch.

They hurdled down the staircase to get away from the screeches that were multiplying and coming their way before they collided with Mickey and a kid Alli recognized as Kenny.

"What's going on?" Mickey questioned before being answered by the alien, bloodthirsty outcry that sounded down from the direction they were running from.

"Run now! Ask questions later!" Was all she was able to shout out as she was dragged along by the Doctor's long stride.

They all burst into the canteen to try and make it towards the TARDIS before the headmaster burst through the doors as well, followed by an entourage of his bat-like brethren.

"Are those my teachers?" Kenny asked in a bit of a daze, the Doctor didn't bother looking at him as he monitored the room but answered anyway.

"Yeah. Sorry."

Crack

"If it makes you feel any better, they could also be the lunch ladies or the nurse." Luna commented.

"Doesn't really make me feel better."

"Well, I tried."

"We need the Doctor and the female child alive." Mr Finch shouted over them. "As for the others? You can feast."

"Duck!" She shouted, tossing Kenny under the table and picking up a nearby chair to defend herself.

"Get down!" The Doctor shouted to her, using similar tactics to fight off the hungry creatures. Her scream snapped his head towards her direction and felt fear settle in his stomach.

A Krillitane was swooping down and gripping Luna's wrist, just as it was beginning to lift her off the ground it was blasted to the side by a red beam and dropping her back on the ground, further aggravating the headmaster as he screamed.

"K-9!" Sarah cried out in pride for her brilliant dog.

"Suggest you engage running mode, mistress." His robotic voice peeped.

"Come on!" The Doctor shouted out in agreement, sending everyone out the doors. "K-9, hold them back!"

"Affirmative, master." The Doctor nodded and made his way out as well as K-9 shot at the circling Krillitanes. "Maximum defence mode!"

The Doctor sealed the doors behind him as he ran after the group, unaware of K-9's diminishing power supply.

"Power supply failing." His beams whined down in energy but he still shot at what he could until there was nothing left.

"Forget the shooty dog thing" Mr. Finch groaned at them, getting them back on track.

"Power… supply… failing."

They all were regrouped in the Doctor's classroom as he paced back and forth, running his hands through his hair. He stopped when he finally realized something.

"It's the oil. Krillitane life forms can't handle the oil." He murmured, he then shouted in his excitement causing everyone to jump "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?" He asked towards Rose.

"Barrels of it."

A clambering and clawing at the door alerted them that the Krillitanes had caught up to them, now attempting to break the door down.

The Doctor spoke in quick session over the panic. "Okay, we need to get to the kitchens. Mickey-"

"What now, hold the coats?" Luna rolled her eyes, trust him to complain in the worst moments. The Doctor continued speaking like he hadn't said anything

"Get all the children unplugged and out of the school. Now then, bats, bats, bats. How do we fight bats?"

Luna stared at him like he was the one who dribbled on his shirt, he looked at Kenny to see he had a similar stare. She glanced over his shoulder to see the fire alarm and grinned at Kenny.

"Would you care to do the honors?" She asked him, holding her hand out towards the alarm.

He waltzed over towards it and smashed the glass with his elbow, sending the ringing down throughout the school. The Doctor grinned at him and pulled open the battered door to find the overgrown bats gripping their ears in agony.

They all hurdled past them and down the hall, Mickey branched off to free the children from the school by the time the ringing abruptly stopped. They passed the canteen and were re-joined by K-9.

"Master."

"Come on, boy. Good boy." He cooed as he rolled along side them.

They burst into the kitchen and he made a bee-line for the metal barrels. He growled as he jumped to the next one, then the next one, then the next one.

"They've been deadlock sealed. Finch must have done that. I can't open them."

"Can't we just pry them open with something?" Luna asked as she dug through the utensils for a makeshift crowbar.

"Can't. This is titanium, one of the few metals that can't be dissolved by the oil's composition, but the point is it's much stronger than your run-of-the-mill stainless steel."

"Then what do we do?" She shouted, tossing the ladle back into the drawer.

"The vats would not withstand a direct hit from my laser, but my batteries are failing." K-9 relayed, seeing as that was the only option he had, the Doctor had no other choice.

"Right. Everyone out the back door. No exceptions." He added pointedly to Luna as she opened her mouth to object. "K-9, stay with me."

The girls all filed out of the door and waited in anticipation for them to make their way out. Mickey made his way out the doors with all the dazed children behind him, leading them out of the school.

"How'd everything go?" Luna asked with a smile, seeing him actually do what he was told for once.

"I got 'em all unplugged, literally. Though it would 'ave been harder." He said with a pleased voice.

"That's usually how it works. Something so simple can look all extravagant and complicated, part of the reason the Doctor's ego gets so inflated." She chuckled. Mickey looked contemplative at her for a moment before finally speaking.

"Are you Luna right now?"

"Yup." She chirped, popping her 'p' much like the Doctor. "What gave it away?"

"Jus' the way you talk. It's smarter and, less jittery I guess."

Crack

"Are you saying I'm unintelligent and easily excitable?" Alli challenged with mock offensiveness.

Crack

"Just let him have it, he's finally figured it out."

"Definitely different people." He mumbled.

Sarah started getting antsy and went to wait by the doors for him and K-9 to come back out, worrying for the safety of not only the Doctor, but her last connection to her travels with the Doctor.

The Doctor was calculating where K-9 would be able to shoot from so it would have maximum power from the shot at the right moment to fully splatter on the Krillitanes and still get out in time to avoid the explosive chemical reaction while lugging K-9 out when his battery supply fails on him. In other words, he had a lot of physics to do and not a lot of time to do it. He was lining up the barrels for him to shoot at when K-9 interrupted his thought processes.

"Capacity for only one shot, Master. For maximum impact, I must be stationed directly beside the vat."

"But you'll be trapped inside!" He reasoned, kneeling beside his faithful friend.

"That is correct." He nodded.

"I can't let you do that." He breathed out. He was not only his pet, but Sarah's as well. She cared too much about him and all the history and meaning he had attached to him. K-9 left no area to reason though.

"No alternative possible, Master."

The Doctor's hearts weighed down in his chest as he stared with sad eyes at one of his best companions. "Goodbye, old friend."

"Goodbye, Master."

He stared at him in earnest. "You good dog." He patted the side of his face as his tail and ear wiggled in appreciation.

"Affirmative." He punctuated cheekily for a robot.

As he dashed out the doors outside, he looked in sorrow at Sarah Jane's worried expression when he came out by himself.

"Where's K-9?"

"We need to run." He gently grabbed her as he carted her away from the building.

"Where is he? What have you done!" She cried, struggling to get out of his grasp and go back for her dog.

The Doctor motioned to Mickey to get everyone away from the building, Mickey turned to the kids and shouted, "Come on, guys! Let's go, let's go! Run!"

They began sprinting away from the school at his words and stumbled from the loud explosion trembling the ground. They all scooped up the papers blown from the school and tossed them into the air in celebration.

"Yes!" Kenny cheered, relieved everyone was free from the trance they were under.

"Did you have something to do with it?" A young, blonde girl in a ponytail asked, Luna knew her as Melissa, and from the subtle signs and local gossip, he had a bit of a crush on her.

She went up behind him and decided to do him a favor. "You should have seen him! He pulled the fire alarm, fought off the teachers with chairs, he even broke into the kitchen and set barrels of acid on fire!" She shouted excitedly, winking at Kenny as he smiled in thanks. She backed away just enough to hear her shocked reply.

"Did you really?"

"Yeah. I did." He drawed out seriously, looking as impressive as he could. It worked as her eyes bugged out and she looked at him in a new light.

"Oh my God. Kenny blew up the school! It was Kenny!" She shouted enthusiastically. She must have a thing for bad boys. Luna thought. To each their own. Alli chuckled.

The school yard was all chanting "Kenny!", as they hoisted him on their shoulders.

Luna looked over to see Sarah Jane broken down and weeping in the Doctor's arms as he did his best to comfort her. K-9 didn't make it then, but she had a feeling the Doctor wasn't going to actually let K-9 stay dead.

They all walked as a group through the park when Sarah said she would join them after she calmed down, finally coming across the TARDIS.

"Well how did you get all the way over here?" Luna questioned Her, walking up and stroking the TARDIS before she looked to the Doctor for an answer.

"That would be the HADS. Hostile Action Displacement System. Since the school had blown up, She displaced herself away from the explosion or other forms of violence and relocated here. Clever isn't she?" He bragged without any sort of modesty. Luna smirked and shook her head at his fondness for his time machine, she went inside with Rose and Mickey when the Doctor got the hint to go inside as well.

The Doctor escorted the girls over to the medical bay and gave both of them tiny green pills that tasted like gummy bears.

"This, is going to neutralize the oil in you, don't want you get any more headaches now do we?"

"Hold on, I never got any headaches." Rose retorted.

"Well you would have eventually, most of those kids were fine too, but then they started getting them. Alli only got them right away since her head's more tempermental now."

Luna narrowed her eyes at him. "Alli wasn't the only one who got headaches you know. I had to deal with most of them."

"I was referring to you both! I just say Alli because technically she was here first." He defended, he began shifting around at her glare as the silence was carried over before she spoke.

"What makes you think I wasn't already there?" She growled, she stormed off into the depths of the TARDIS leaving the Doctor and Rose staring at her retreating figure. He stared in confusion at her bitter tone, unsure of what he did wrong. The TARDIS hummed angrily at him as they made their way back to the console room where Mickey was still waiting.

"This place ain't so bad once you get used to it." Mickey admired, smiling at the mismatched centre.

"It wasn't bad to begin with." Rose said in a smug tone, causing the Doctor to smile proudly at his pink and yellow companion.

The Doctor looked at his monitor and saw Sarah Jane walk up towards the doors and hesitate. He bound for the doors and opened them up for her.

"Cuppa tea?" He invited, opening the doors wide for her to see the new desktop theme.

"You've redecorated." She noticed, still leaving him in anticipation of her opinion.

"Do you like it?"

"Oh, I, I do. Yeah. I prefered it the way it was, but uh, yeah. It'll do." She stammered out, careful around her reaction to it so she didn't injure his pride.

"Well I love it." Rose boasted. Sarah figured out that this was probably why the TARDIS was themed like this.

"Hey you, what's… forty-seven times three-hundred and sixty-nine?" She teased in a friendly manner.

"No idea. It's gone now. The oil's faded." Rose shrugged off.

"But you're still clever. More than a match for him." The Doctor thanked their hearing quality wasn't as advanced as his, otherwise they would have heard his hearts stutter at the possibility of Rose-

Just stop torturing yourself. He scolded himself.

"You and me both. Doctor?" She asked, bringing him back from his thoughts.

"Er, we're about to head off, but you could come with us." He offered with hope of her joining him, just like old times.

"No." The Doctor tried to hide his disappointment but she pressed forward. "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."

"Can I come?"

Everyone turned to Mickey in surprise, especially Sarah Jane, before he further clarified.

"Not with you," He added to her before turning towards the Doctor, "I mean with you. Because I'm not the tin dog, and I want to see what's out there. I could even help out with taking care of Alli… or Luna, whichever."

No one seemed to notice Rose cringe and turn away at the request to travel with them.

"Oh go on, Doctor, Sarah Jane Smith, a Mickey Smith. You need a Smith on board." Sarah encouraged.

"Okay then, I could do with a laugh." He teasingly accepted, if Sarah Jane Smith suggested it, she must see potential in him.

"Rose, is that okay?" Mickey asked after finally picking up on her blatant disapproval.

"No, great. Why not?" She lied through her teeth, sarcasm weighing down on the invitation.

"Well, I'd better go." Sarah excused herself, Rose came up to her in need of her advice of what to do.

"What do I do? Do I stay with him?" Rose searched her eyes for help, knowing that she went through near the same thing she did, and how it felt to just be the latest in a long line of his companions.

"Yes." Sarah reassured her. "Some things are worth getting your heart broken for." She pulled her into a hug. "Find me… if you need to, one day, Find me."

She pulled back and coasted a small smile out of the young woman. Sarah made her way to the door to find the Doctor already holding the door open for her. Completely unaware of just how much more she meant to him by convincing Rose to stay. The Doctor's hearts were racing when he heard Rose ask if she should stay, why wouldn't she? Was it really that big a deal to invite Mickey on board?

He stepped out as well and closed the door behind them when Sarah turned around to talk to him.

"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."

"Something to tell Alli Rose and Luna when we come by to visit?" He asked hopefully, grinning wider at her eager expression.

"Oh I should think so! You know it's completely justifiable I thought she was your daughter, she's just like you in every way that I'm positive that she wouldn't get enough of those tales of our adventures."

He gazed off with a distance look in his eyes. "I know she would, she's too much like me though, that's the problem." He lowered his eyes and painfully muttered, "I have no idea what I was thinking letting a child come with me."

He looked up to see Sarah place a sympathetic hand on his shoulder. "Doctor, I have complete faith in you to keep her safe. She's a smart girl from what I've seen, and from my experience, I know she'll be okay."

He smiled softly at her words and she managed to choke out her farewell. "Goodbye, Doctor."

"Oh, it's not goodbye." He shrugged off before she immediately spoke once more.

"Say it, please. This time. Say it."

He looked deep into her dewy eyes, seeing once more the young and adventurous Sarah Jane Smith he would always remember.

"Goodbye. My Sarah Jane." He smiled, pulling her in for a final embrace and lifting her off the ground with a chuckle. He gave her one last glance before he made his way back to the TARDIS, closing the door behind him. He pulled and pushed on the console, sending them into the vortex.

Sarah listened with a heavy heart as the blue box she had known for so long faded away as it had down so many years ago. She walked away as far as she could before she gave in and turned to glimpse one last view of her old life, finding the most wonderful surprise.

The crackle of leaves swirling across the pavement pattered against the familiar yet newly shiny sides of K-9. His image emerging from behind the TARDIS.

"K-9!" She shouted jovially, crouching down to meet his approaching figure.

"Mistress!" He greeted pleasantly, coming to a full stop in front of her with waggling ears.

"But, you were blown up!"

"Master rebuilt me. My systems are much more improved with new undetectable hyperlink facilities."

"Oh!" She chortled in her hands at his explanation. "He replaced you with a brand new model!"

"Affirmative." He nodded.

"Yep. He tends to do that." She mused. "Come on, you. Home. We've got work to do."

"Affirmative."

She pulled herself up and walked through the parks with a much lighter spring to her step, strolling with K-9 to her new adventures.

Jackie Tyler poured herself a glass of wine before she started to spiff up her flat. She pushed open Rose's door and clicked on the light, taking in her messy bed that Alli slept in and moved around the room as she tidied it up. Finally placing the pillows in their position, she couldn't seem to find the last one. She ducked down to look below the bed and saw the pink pillow in question under the window on the other side of the room. With a huff, she pulled herself up and strolled over to scoop it up, revealing Alli's Scooby Doo from underneath it. Jackie shook her head in amusement and simply placed the lonely toy on the bed.

A/N: Basically everything that happened here that seems like silly fluff or angst happened for a reason, it will eventually all come together. Also, name of the story is called the Right Fit, and, yes, it is for Jessica Jones. I am infatuated with our good King Tennant and obviously, was not pleased with the ending. SPOILER ALERT! If you havbe not seen all of Jessica Jones, don't read it. Seriously, I spoil the end at the very begginning. Hope you enjoy it though!

1: Do you want some other adventuers with Mickey here or dop you just want to jump straight into the way the story already goes?

2: Let me know if you have any other questions or suggstions. Until nest time my little copmanions!