I don't know how this ended up being 9,000 words, but it did! Enjoy all!
Small trigger warning for some emotional abuse/humiliation near the end. This is not always a happy story...
However, do leave a review and let me know how you're enjoying the story!
Hally cursed Mickey Smith under her breath again as she sat listening to the 60 something year old man who was droning on about the molar mass of Carbon. It was his fault that she was currently sat in a Year 11 chemistry class. She was 'apparently' the only one who could possibly pass as a human teen, so she'd been forced into enrolling as a transfer student at Deffry Vale High School. Hally let out a soft sigh to herself, she was so incredibly bored with this easy human school stuff. She smirked to herself, imagining how their tiny brains would explode at the sight of a quantum star map.
Although, thinking about it, Hally had lucked out more than Rose. Who, hilariously, was having to pose as a school dinner lady. Hally had laughed for a full 10 minutes when she'd seen Rose get dressed in her dinner lady outfit on her first day. Then again, Rose didn't have to deal with being a student in The Doctor's physics class. That had been hell… Why was her father so embarrassing?
So here Hally was sat, trying to observe the teachers and students for any 'strange goings on' as Mickey had termed it. All the while trying to not boil over the conical flask of hydrochloric acid.
After they'd finished working on their practical experiments the teacher clapped his hands and turned to the class.
"Great work everyone. Now, based on the work we've just been doing… Can anyone tell me the products of the reaction of zinc with hydrochloric acid?" He leant forward on his desk, looking around expectantly. Hally looked around the room, noting the mainly blank faces. In the corner of her eye, a hand shot up.
"Yes Melissa?"
Hally turned to look at the girl. There seemed to be a general sigh of relief from the class that someone had decided to answer for them.
"Zinc chloride and hydrogen." Melissa answered quickly.
The teacher nodded appreciatively. "Excellent, and looking at the equation on the board, who can tell me which substance is oxidised in the reaction?"
Again, only Melissa's hand went up. Hally couldn't help but roll her eyes slightly.
"Zinc, Sir."
"Wonderful, Melissa. And do you know why?"
Melissa looked slightly smug. "Because it loses electrons."
Hally scoffed slightly, there really was no reason for this know it all to be acting so mighty. It was primate level stuff.
Unfortunately, the teacher seemed to pick up on Hally's irritation as he directed his next question to her.
"Ms Smith… as you seem to have something to say, I'll ask you this… what base could you use to neutralise the hydrochloric acid and what would the reaction produce?"
Hally suppressed the desire to roll her eyes at the patronising human. "Sodium Hydroxide. Producing Sodium Chloride and water." She shot back at him, revelling in the slightly surprised look on his face.
Amusingly, Hally could also feel Melissa's glare burning into the side of her face.
"Mmhmm, and if I have 25cm cubed of a solution of sodium hydroxide in a flask, concentration 0.5 mol/dm cubed. How many moles of sodium hydroxide do I have?" The teacher asked, looking between both Hally and Melissa for an answer.
"0.0125." Hally blurted out, irritation blossoming in her lower belly as she heard Melissa give the same answer at exactly the same time.
The teacher chuckled lightly. "Indeed." He crossed his arms, watching Hally with intrigue. "Ok, one more. What is the relative atomic mass of…Rutherfordium?"
"267." Hally replied instantly, smirking when she realised that Melissa hadn't answered. She shot her a glance and was a little amused to find her staring at Hally, a look of confusion on her face.
The teacher nodded slowly. "Correct." He seemed to consider her for a moment. "You've not been here long have you Ms Smith?" When Hally nodded, he grinned. "Well then, you really must try the chips for lunch. They're excellent."
With that the bell went and everyone filed out of the classroom. Hally followed most of the crowd into the canteen. She smiled sweetly at Rose as she got to the front of the lunch queue and Rose dumped half a plate of chips onto her tray. Hally felt someone slip into the queue just behind her and Rose sent a glare to whoever had just cut in the line.
"Afternoon, ladies." The Doctor grinned at them both. Oblivious to Rose's glare.
Hally turned round to look at him. "Hey!" She huffed, trying to keep her voice down. "You can't hang out with me. I can't be seen hanging out with a teacher. It's not cool." She tried to turn her back on him, pretending like she'd not been talking to him.
The Doctor laughed. "You know you don't actually go to school here right? You don't need to be cool." With that, he grabbed his own food and headed to sit down at a nearby table.
Hally scowled, looking between Rose and The Doctor for a moment, before deciding to follow him.
She happily munched on her chips, the teacher wasn't wrong. They were amazing. She watched as Rose came over to their table, pretending to wipe it.
"Two days." The blonde hissed at The Doctor.
He smirked slightly. "Sorry, could you just? There's a bit of gravy. No, no, just, just there."
"Two days, we've been here." Rose gave up on wiping and sat down with them both.
The Doctor popped a chip into his mouth. "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."
"Oh! There was a girl in my class who was doing molar calculations in her head. That's not normal for apes right?" Hally added in.
Rose sighed loudly at Hally's derogatory term, before stealing one of the chips off of The Doctor's plate. "You eating those chips?"
The Doctor made a face, pushing the plate towards Rose. "Yeah, they're a bit different."
"If by different you mean delicious, then yes." Hally grinned.
Rose nodded in agreement. "I think they're gorgeous. Wish I had school dinners like this."
The Doctor ignored both his companion and daughter and looked around the canteen. "It's very well behaved, this place." He muttered, almost to himself.
Hally shrugged, following his gaze. "Yeah… but so was the academy?"
"Yes, and that place was archaic." He looked back at her knowingly.
Hally nodded, looking back at Rose. "Mmhmm, kept everyone in line with threats of hanging you from the ceiling by your ankles."
Rose's mouth dropped open.
The Doctor shook his head and gave his daughter a disapproving look. "No… that's Hogwarts."
"Oh… oops." Hally smiled innocently.
"Really though. 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 Doctor grinned goofily.
Hally snorted. "I could lead a riot? If you want?"
Before The Doctor could no doubt tell Hally what a terrible idea that would be, another of the dinner ladies came over to their table. "You are not permitted to leave your station during a sitting." She hissed at Rose.
"I was just talking to this teacher." Rose motioned to The Doctor, who waved stupidly.
"Hello."
Rose rolled her eyes at him. "He doesn't like the chips."
The dinner lady straightened up, looking ruffled. "The menu has been specifically designed by the headmaster to improve concentration and performance. Now, get back to work."
Rose huffed and sent The Doctor a glare as she got up. "See? This is me. Dinner lady."
"I'll have the crumble." He called after her.
"I'm so going to kill you." She muttered as she half stomped back to the kitchen.
Hally chuckled darkly, popping another chip into her mouth.
"So, notice anything else weird? How are you finding classes?" The Doctor began picking at his lunch again.
Hally shrugged. "I don't think so. Classes are easy. I feel smart." She grinned. "Although, the teacher I had earlier didn't really seem all that impressed with my smartness." She pouted childishly.
"Hmmm…" The Doctor nodded slowly.
Hally looked past The Doctor, watching Headmaster Finch as he stood up on the balcony overlooking the canteen. Seemingly watching them all from above.
"The Headmaster's a bit creepy right?" She whispered and The Doctor took a quick look over his shoulder, catching sight of Finch.
"He seems alright." The Doctor looked back at her.
Hally frowned slightly. "I don't know. I'm getting Rassilon vibes."
The Doctor raised an eyebrow. "That's a bit dramatic. I think you're just reacting negatively to authority. As per." He sent her a wink and Hally stuck her tongue out childishly.
A group of Year 11's walked past their table, a few of them giving Hally very weird looks. She blushed and sighed. "Umm, I think I need to go. Hanging with you is doing very poor things for my street cred."
The Doctor snorted. "You're 350 years older than all of them, they're never going to think you're cool."
She got up, narrowing her eyes at him. Hissing loudly. "I can be cool."
Before she slipped away, Hally grabbed another chip and made her way out of the canteen. She figured she'd head toward the playground and try and gather Intel from out there. Before she could get to the playground doors, a strong arm stopped her. Hally looked up and saw one of the teachers.
He smiled kindly down at her. "Ms Smith, yes?"
"Yes." Hally smiled, waiting for him to continue.
"I've been told that you're exceptionally bright. Do you mind telling me what school you went to before?" The teacher was about a head taller than Hally and seemed to be smiling down at her knowingly.
"OH… yes…" Hally nodded, eyes widening. "Umm… that'd be… the…" Hally frowned, failing to think quickly. "Oakdown Academy?" She blurted out, coughing awkwardly.
The teacher grinned, baring his teeth. "Have you eaten lunch?"
"Umm… yeah. Those chips are amazing, right?" Hally laughed awkwardly.
"Indeed. Ms Smith we've got a special top set class we'd love you to join. It's for especially bright students." He manoeuvred himself so that Hally could no longer see out into the playground and had no choice but to follow him down the corridor.
"Right. Sure. Sounds fun." She forced a laugh and let him lead her through into one of the IT classrooms. The classroom was about half full of students waiting patiently in front of their computers for the teacher. He guided Hally to a seat and she sat, looking around at the others.
"I'd like you all to put your headphones on now, please." He explained, nodding encouragingly to Hally. Slowly, she picked up the headphones and placed them onto her ears, the screen flickered into life.
The next thing Hally knew, the end of the day bell was ringing loudly. She jumped slightly, pulling the headphones off her head. She could see her own startled face staring back at her on the black computer screen. All the other kids around her were grabbing their things and rushing out, so she quickly did the same.
She made her way to The Doctor's classroom, where they'd all planned on meeting before staking out at the school. A few of the kids were still filing out, but The Doctor waved her in.
"Hey."
"Hey Kiddo." He grinned, wiping down his whiteboard.
Hally made a face and The Doctor looked over his shoulder at her.
"Yeah, doesn't really work does it? Won't try that again." He winced and Hally nodded appreciatively.
"Anyway, how were the rest of your classes?" He smiled, leaning on his desk.
"Well about that… I have no idea…" Hally quickly explained to him everything she could remember that'd happened after she'd left him in the lunch hall. "I can't remember a thing from when I put those headphones on, to when the bell went."
The Doctor moved over to her quickly, his face set into a deep frown. "Well are you alright? Do you feel alright? Nothing hurts, does it? What about your head? Headache? Blurry vision? What about long term memory?"
Hally huffed and batted his hands away. "No, seriously, I feel fine. I think I'm fine. Stop faffing."
The Doctor narrowed his eyes at her as if trying to see if she was lying but she just crossed her arms, shooting him a look.
The pair waited a little while before meeting up with Rose and Mickey, they were going to explore the school after dark, to see if they could find anything to explain the strange goings-on.
The four were wandering along one of the corridors, heading in the general direction of the canteen.
"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." Rose whispered, looking through a classroom window.
The Doctor stopped and they all gathered around him. "All right, team. Oh, I hate people who say team. Umm, gang. Um, comrades? Anyway, Rose, go to the kitchen. Get a sample of that oil. Mickey, most of the new staff are Maths teachers. Go and check out the Maths department and Hally check out the IT classroom again… I'm going to look in Finch's office. Be back here in ten minutes."
Everyone nodded and went their separate ways on their mission. Hally found her way back to the IT classroom she'd been in earlier and started to have a look around. She tried to turn one of the computers on, but nothing happened. There were so many wires running along the floor. Was that normal?
Suddenly there was a loud, shrill scream from down the corridor and Hally quickly ran out of the room. Not without first almost tripping over a chair. She rounded the corner, heading towards the Maths department when she noticed that Mickey, Rose, The Doctor and a random woman were already at the scene.
The Doctor seemed to be trying to introduce the woman to Rose. "Rose, Sarah Jane. Sarah Jane, Rose."
Hally caught up to them and wiggled her way into their huddle.
"Hi. Nice to meet you." The older woman smiled kindly at Rose before looking to The Doctor. "You can tell you're getting older. Your assistants are getting younger."
"I'm not his assistant." Rose countered, looking at Hally for backup.
Sarah Jane chuckled. "No? Get you, tiger." She sent a knowing look at The Doctor.
"What's going on?" Hally asked, looking at Mickey who, judging by the sheen of sweat on his forehead, had been the one to scream.
However, before he could explain, Sarah Jane jumped in again. "Seriously Doctor, she's even younger. Is she even 18?"
Hally turned to look at the woman. "Excuse me?"
Sarah Jane laughed at her condescending tone and Hally, scandalised turned to The Doctor.
"And what exactly IS a Sarah Jane?"
He rubbed his forehead. "We travelled."
Hally raised an eyebrow. "Oh did you now?"
"Enough." He growled, looking at Mickey accusingly.
"Sorry! Sorry, you told me to investigate, so I started looking through some of these cupboards and all of these fell on me." Mickey tried to explain quickly, moving to the side so they could all see.
"Oh, my God, they're rats. Dozens of rats. Vacuum packed rats." Rose gaped, looking at the pile in disgust.
The Doctor, however, was not impressed. "And you decided to scream?"
"It took me by surprise!" Mickey tried to defend himself.
"Like a little girl?"
"It was dark! I was covered in rats!" Mickey whined. But The Doctor didn't let up.
"Nine, maybe ten years old. I'm seeing pigtails, frilly skirt."
Rose cut in, perhaps feeling sorry for her boyfriend. "Hello, can we focus? Does anyone notice anything strange about this? Rats in school?"
Sarah Jane scoffed. "Well, obviously they use them in Biology lessons. They dissect them. Or maybe you haven't reached that bit yet. How old are you?"
Hally swore she saw Rose bare her teeth at the woman. "Excuse me, no one dissects rats in school anymore. They haven't done that for years. Where are you from, the dark ages?"
The Doctor raised his voice, moving himself in between the two women. "Anyway, moving on! Everything started when Mister Finch arrived. We should go and check his office."
He turned on his heel and stalked back up the corridor towards the Headmaster's office and begrudgingly everyone followed. Hally could hear Rose questioning Sarah Jane up ahead and she jogged to catch up to them. Linking arms with Rose as a show of moral support.
"I don't mean to be rude or anything, but who exactly are you?" Rose asked, squeezing Hally's arm knowingly.
"Sarah Jane Smith." The woman announced proudly. "I used to travel with the Doctor." She said as if that would explain everything.
Rose pretending to mull it over for a second, before adding flippantly. "Oh. Well, he's never mentioned you."
Hally sniggered at the look that befell the woman's face. The Doctor must have seen the car crash that was about to happen because he tried to cut in.
"Oh, I must've done. Sarah Jane. Mention her all the time." He laughed nervously.
"Hold on." Rose pretending to think. "Sorry. Never."
"What, not even once? He didn't mention me even once?" Sarah Jane asked, her voice hitching up an octave.
Mickey laughed, clapping The Doctor on the back. "Ho, ho, mate. The missus and the ex. Welcome to every man's worst nightmare."
Hally let out a squeak. "And the daughter." She waved her hand in the air. "Let's not all forget me. For I am the most important." She grinned, sending Sarah Jane a wink.
Her mouth fell fully open at that and as she turned to The Doctor for an explanation, he made an indistinguishable noise, rushing off down the corridor.
Finally, they arrived, in awkward silence, at the door of the Headmaster's office. The Doctor made quick work of the lock with the sonic screwdriver. Silently he eased open the door, whispering just loud enough for them to hear him. "Maybe those rats were food."
"Food for what?" Rose whispered back from behind him.
The Doctor paused, halfway into the office. "Rose, you know you used to think all the teachers slept in the school? Well, they do." He moved slightly to the side, leaving the view of the giant bats hanging from the ceiling wide open.
"No way!" Mickey exclaimed in fear, turning and running from the office. The Doctor slowly and carefully shut the office door, turning to his remaining team, before they all followed Mickey out into the schoolyard.
"I am not going back in there. No way!" Mickey cried, bracing himself on his knees as he tried to catch his breath.
The Doctor was quickly doing the math out loud. "When Finch arrived, he brought with him seven new teachers, four dinner ladies and a nurse. Thirteen. Thirteen big bat people." He looked back towards the school, starting to head back inside. "Come on."
Mickey squeaked. "Come on? You've got to be kidding!"
"I need the Tardis. I've got to analyse that oil from the kitchen." The Doctor impatiently explained.
Sarah Jane piped up. "I might be able to help you there. I've got something to show you." She grinned and ushered them all towards a small car in a nearby car park. She excitedly opened the boot, watching The Doctor's face for his reaction.
Hally peered into the boot in mild interest, however, when it opened she was met with what looked like a small, robot dog.
However, The Doctor was ecstatic. "K9! Rose Tyler, Mickey Smith, Hally, allow me to introduce K9. Well, K9 Mark Three to be precise." He grinned.
Hally cocked her head to one side. "I don't understand…"
"Why does he look so disco?" Rose laughed.
"Oi! Listen, in the year five thousand, this was cutting edge. What's happened to him?" He pouted turning back to Sarah Jane.
Sarah Jane quickly explained to him that one day he'd just stopped working and she hadn't thought introducing him to the 21st century would have been appropriate.
"Ooh, what's the nasty lady done to you, eh?" The Doctor scratched the metal dog behind the ear. Hally raised an eyebrow. Had this really been what her father had been up to for all that time?
"Look, no offence, but could you two just stop petting for a minute? Never mind the tin dog. We're busy." Rose huffed, giving both Sarah Jane and The Doctor a stern look.
They both nodded and Sarah Jane pointed out a small café across the road where they could all wait while The Doctor fixed K9. So while Rose and Mickey grabbed them some drinks, Hally sat down opposite Sarah Jane and The Doctor as he started to take the robot dog apart.
After a few moments of silence, Hally felt Sarah Jane's eyes on her.
"So… you have a daughter?" She looked up at The Doctor, who had his sonic screwdriver between his teeth.
Hally smirked slightly. Waving at Sarah Jane.
The Doctor huffed, nodding. "Yes."
Hally raised an eyebrow at him. "Oh yes. I'm his 'dirty little secret'."
The Doctor pulled the sonic screwdriver out of his mouth, pointing it at his daughter. "No… no." He turned to look at Sarah Jane. "It's just complicated. But she's travelling with me now. Daughter/Dad duo." He smiled, sending Hally a look and she couldn't help but smile back.
Sarah Jane looked between the two of them, slowly nodding.
"Oh and I'm 365 by the way. Not under 18." Hally crossed her arms over her chest defensively.
Sarah Jane let out a short laugh before turning back to The Doctor, a wistful smile on her face. "I thought of you on Christmas Day. This Christmas just gone? Great big spaceship overhead. I thought, oh yeah, bet he's up there."
"Right on top of it, yeah." He grinned.
"And Rose?" Sarah Jane added, a little jealously creeping into her voice.
The Doctor nodded. "She was there too."
There was a pause before the older woman spoke again. "Did I do something wrong, because you never came back for me? You just dumped me."
Hally bit her lip, watching the exchange. Feeling more and more like she shouldn't be listening in.
"I told you. I was called back home and in those days humans weren't allowed." The Doctor tried to explain.
"I waited for you. I missed you."
Hally coughed awkwardly and pretended to find something really interesting on the bottom of her shoe. She supposed she was slightly surprised that The Doctor had never mentioned her to his previous companion, or maybe companions. Hally had no idea how many there had been. Then again, he might not have mentioned any of his family? She knew it would be a bit of an emotional rabbit hole for her to think about it too much. They'd agreed to be honest with one another going forward and that was what mattered right? She'd made peace with their past, hadn't she?
Although she supposed, she wasn't being totally honest with him either about certain details. So perhaps he was still hiding things from her too?
The Doctor and Sarah Jane were distracted from their conversation and Hally from her thoughts when K9 blinked back into life. The Doctor grinned, clapping his hands together. "Oh, hey. Now we're in business."
The robot dog wagged its ears excitedly and responded to The Doctor in its robotic voice. "Master."
Hally frowned instantly, staring at the stupid dog. "Why wouldn't he just call you Doctor?" She grumbled, realising she was now shooting daggers at the unsuspecting K9.
The Doctor possibly didn't hear her because he just grinned. "He recognises me!"
"Affirmative."
The Doctor beckoned Rose and Mickey over quickly. "Rose, give us the oil."
Rose brought it over and The Doctor smeared some of the oil onto K9's probe, after a few moments K9 stuttered. "Confirmation of analysis. Substance is Krillitane Oil."
"They're Krillitanes." The Doctor muttered and Hally could practically see the cogs turning in his head.
"Is that bad?" Rose asked.
"Very. Think of how bad things could possibly be, and add another suitcase full of bad." The Doctor ran a hand through his hair, thinking.
"And what are Krillitanes?" Sarah asked the question everyone was thinking.
The Doctor tried to quickly explain to the group. "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."
"That's disgusting." Hally muttered.
Rose nodded. "But what're they doing here?"
The Doctor let out a long breath, looking at his daughter. "It's the children. They're doing something to the children." He frowned. "What happened in that class?"
Hally shook her head. "I don't know, I honestly can't remember anything!" The Doctor stared at her silently for a few moments before he turned around and exited the café. Everyone looked at each other in confusion for a few seconds before they silently began to follow. Sarah Jane picking up her robot dog, who was joyfully wagging his tail.
Hally could just about hear Rose questioning The Doctor again up ahead. It sounded intense, but she supposed she understood where the human was coming from. As much as Hally pretended not to notice it, she could tell that Rose had developed certain feelings for The Doctor. How The Doctor felt, now that was something Hally couldn't put her finger on.
As the group got to Sarah Janes car there was a loud screech from above their heads. They looked up just in time to see one of the Krillitanes swoop down near to the car, screeching as it flapped it's winged the flew off into the night sky.
"Was that a Krillitane?" Sarah Jane cried out, shaken.
"But it didn't even touch her. It just flew off. What did it do that for?" Rose asked. The Doctor's face was grave.
It turned out Sarah Jane had booked a room at a nearby hotel, so they all crammed in for the night to prepare for what they were going to do the next day. While Rose and Mickey raided the minibar and Sarah Jane talked to her dog, Hally was left with The Doctor.
"Are you ok?"
He'd been uncharacteristically quiet for a while now. "Yeah. Just thinking."
Hally smiled. "I meant with Rose and Sarah Jane." She smirked.
He laughed quietly. "Oh yes. It'll be fine."
Hally shrugged. "I guess humans have a hard time… considering our lifespan. It must seem so unfathomable to them."
He nodded slowly, considering her. "Mmmm. Are you ok with it?"
"Our lifespan?"
He laughed. "No… I mean, with Sarah Jane. Rose has asked a lot of questions and Sarah's upset that I didn't tell Rose about her…"
Hally understood his meaning. "No, I'm ok." She smiled, looking over at the women in question. "I don't know. I guess, I guess I understand. You and I are at a different place now compared to when you were travelling with her. I honestly would have been very surprised to find out you had told her about me." She laughed.
The Doctor smiled softly. "Sometimes, you say very wise things."
"Yeah, don't get used to it." She nudged him playfully.
"Well, one day, I'll have to tell you all about my adventures and you can tell me all about what you got up to on Gallifrey." He reached forward and gently took her hand in his.
Hally couldn't help the red hot blush that crept up her neck to her cheeks. "Ummm, yeah. Definitely." She smiled, squeezing his hand.
The next morning Hally, The Doctor, Rose, Mickey and Sarah Jane all arrived along with the hundreds of pupils of Deffry Vale. The Doctor gathered them quickly, reminding them of their plan.
"Rose and Sarah, you go to the Maths room. Crack open those computers, I need to see the hardware inside." He paused, pulling out his sonic screwdriver. "Here, you might need this." He turned to his daughter. "Hally, stay with the children. Keep them safe." Hally nodded slowly and the group tried to hide their smirks as The Doctor sent Mickey to stay in the car as back up, with K9.
"It's time I had a word with Mister Finch." The Doctor said finally, turning on his heel and striding into the school. Hally watched Rose and Sarah Jane follow him inside quickly. She turned back and looked at all the kids who were currently hanging out in the playground before the bell went to signal the first period. She crossed her arms, letting out a long breath. She totally understood why Mickey was feeling so useless. It felt a little bit like she'd been relegated to the 'safety' of outside. The good, rational side of her brain was trying to persuade her that it was because The Doctor was worried about her after what'd happened in the IT classroom. That he was just being cautious. However, the irrational, bitter half of her brain was telling Hally that The Doctor had simply swapped her for his preferred companion, Sarah Jane.
The bell went off with a shrill ring, followed by an announcement over the school tannoy system. "All pupils to class immediately. And would all members of staff congregate in the staff room."
Hally allowed herself to be herded inside the school along with all the other students. She turned off and, following some of the 'top set' students she'd seen in the special IT class the other day she made her way to the IT classroom. There she found Rose, hanging out of the doorway, trying her best to usher the kids away from the classroom.
"No, no. This classroom's out of bounds. You've all got to go to the South Hall. Off you go. South Hall!" Rose called, guiding them all back up the corridor. Hally laughed, detaching herself from the crowd and making her way over to the young woman. Hally popped her head in the door, seeing both Sarah Jane and The Doctor inside.
"What's going on, are you all ok?" Hally called, edging her way inside.
The Doctor seemed to be making himself busy with the wiring connecting all of the computers in the room. With the sonic screwdriver in his mouth, he nodded enthusiastically at his daughter. "Mhmm!"
He looped a few of the larger wires over his neck, messing around with the sonic screwdriver. Seemingly failing at getting into the system. He huffed loudly, dropping the wires back to the floor. "I can't shift it!"
"I thought the sonic screwdriver could open anything!" Sarah exclaimed.
"Anything except a deadlock seal." The Doctor groaned. "There's got to be something inside here. What're they teaching those kids?" He banged on the top of one of the computers, pointed the sonic screwdriver at it in frustration. Suddenly all of the screens blinked into life. Green symbols and patterns dancing across all of the screens.
Sarah Jane took a step back, watching the symbols. "You wanted the programme? There it is."
The Doctor ran a hand down his face, the cogs visibly turning in his head. "Some sort of code."
Hally cocked her head to one side. Similar images and symbols danced in front of her eyes as she recognised the paradigm on the screen.
"That's it…" She muttered, but it got The Doctor's attention. He whirled round to look at her. "That's what I saw in class." Hally continued. "It's not a code…" Hally ran a hand through her hair, trying to remember, trying to think of the right word. "Paradigm… it was some sort of… massive theory…" She trailed off, her face scrunched up in concentration. "I could feel it."
The Doctor's face drained of any colour. "No. No, that can't be." He looked back at the large screen at the front of the classroom. "The Skasis Paradigm. They're trying to crack the Skasis Paradigm."
"The Skasis what?" Sarah Jane asked loudly.
The Doctor waved his hands, indicating his internal panic. "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."
"What, and the kids are like a giant computer?" Rose asked, looking around the room at the number of computers.
"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."
"But why use children? Can't they use adults?" Sarah chipped in, looking between The Doctor and Roe for answers.
"No, it's got to be children." The Doctor added. "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." He swallowed, looking Hally in the eye. She could see the concern etched into his face.
The four of them whirled around at the sound of a new voice entering the room. "Let the lesson begin." Headmaster Finch smirked at them all, before turning his attention to The Doctor. "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 Mister Finch? Call me old fashioned, but I like things as they are." The Doctor countered, but Finch only laughed.
"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?"
"What, by someone like you?" The Doctor let out a scoff.
Finch didn't seem bothered. A small, knowing smile curled up his lips. "No, someone like you." Finch's eyes narrowed and he flicked his attention over to Hally and back to The Doctor. "We could both use her mind to break the paradigm. It would give us power, but you could give us wisdom. Become Gods at my side. Imagine what you could do. Both of you. Think of the civilisations you could save. Perganon, Assinta. Your own people, Doctor, standing tall. The Time Lords reborn." Finch smiled and his eyes slid over to lock with Hally's. "All of them."
Hally heard Sarah Jane retort weakly. "Doctor, don't listen to him." Hally wasn't really listening though. Finch seemed to have turned his attention to the older woman. Hally could hear her breath in her ears. It almost made sense. She knew she could do it. She could feel it. The Paradigm was calling out to her, the dancing symbols almost aligning.
Did she want to though? Could she really justify something like that?
"I could stop the war." Hally knew what The Doctor was thinking before he'd said it out loud. A dangerous silence hung in the air for a few moments. No one in the room quite knowing what was going to happen next.
"No." Sarah Jane's voice seemed to bring both Time Lords back into the room. "The universe has to move forward." She looked at Hally. "Pain and loss, they define us as much as happiness or love." And turning to The Doctor she finished with. "Whether it's a world, or a relationship, everything has its time. And everything ends."
Hally could feel her hearts hurting, she didn't know what to do. Didn't know what to think. So she did the only thing she could think of. She looked over at The Doctor and saw in his eyes that he had made his choice. They had to do the right thing.
Hally lunged forwards and grabbed onto one of the nearest computers, sending a bolt of energy into the system to overload it. Spark flew out from a few of the desktops and in the small commotion, the quartet legged it for the door on The Doctor's command.
Running down the corridor, they suddenly ran into a terrified looking Mickey and a young boy who they quickly discovered was called Kenny. The large group kept up the pace, hearing the unmistakable sounds of wings and bat screeches from the corridors behind them. The Doctor herded them all into the now empty canteen, barricading the door as best he could.
After a very short stand-off, during which, The Doctor and his band of misfits were definitely saved by the stupid robot dog thing, everyone found themselves packed into the physics laboratory. The Doctor was pacing, trying to figure out a new plan.
"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." His eyes were alight with excitement. "How much was there in the kitchens?" He asked Rose.
"Barrels of it."
Even as she spoke, the group could hear the Krillitanes battering on the other side of the laboratory door. It wouldn't be long until they'd clawed their way in.
The Doctor nodded quickly. "Okay, we need to get to the kitchens. Mickey…"
"What now, hold the coats?"
"Go with Hally and get all the children unplugged and out of the school." The Doctor bit his lip, staring at the door which was beginning to weaken. "Now then, bats, bats, bats. How do we fight bats?"
In a stroke of genius, the boy, Kenny, broke the nearest fire alarm. Setting off the shrill bell. Instantly the battering at the door stopped and everyone managed to quickly tumble out of the physics lab and into the corridor.
Hally ran quickly with Mickey to the other IT classrooms. Mickey starting yelling and waving his arms trying to get the attention of the kids, but it wasn't worked. Their eyes were transfixed to the screen.
Hally looked around behind her at the projection of the screen up on the front whiteboard. The now-familiar symbols flickered across the screen, almost taunting her. The outside world faded away for a few moments and Hally was lost inside the symbols and shapes. Twisting, this way and that. The shapes crossing over one another, aligning and slotting into place.
Suddenly the screen went blank and Hally has to blink a few times to reorient herself. Mickey was shouting again and Hally could feel the children rising from their seats and rushing out into the corridors.
"Come on, move! Let's go! Let's go!" Mickey yelled, ushering everyone out.
She felt a small gust of air run across her back as Mickey rushed past her. Before she felt a sharp tug on her arm. "Move!" Mickey yelled at her, drawing her attention back to the children who were all rushing out of the school. Hally jumped into a run, following Mickey out into the playground. Just in time to see the school explode behind them.
A short while later, The Doctor, Rose, Sarah Jane, Hally and Mickey were making their way over towards the newly relocated TARDIS.
Hally headed inside, feeling rather exhausted. She could hear The Doctor and Sarah Jane discussing the interior decoration of the TARDIS behind her. Hally plonked herself down in one of the squidgy, yellow seats near the console, listening as Sarah Jane checked Rose over for any remaining effects of the Krillitane oil.
There was a heavy silence before The Doctor spoke again. "Errr, we're about to head off, but you could come with us?" He motioned to TARDIS console room, looking at Sarah Jane.
She smiled but shook her head. "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."
The Doctor smiled sadly, but he nodded in understanding.
From the other side of the console, Mickey coughed awkwardly. "Can I come?" Everyone looked over at him. "No, not with you, I mean with you. Because I'm not the tin dog, and I want to see what's out there." He grinned hopefully at The Doctor, missing the dark expression that had befallen Rose's face.
Sarah Jane smiled. "Oh, go on, Doctor. Sarah Jane Smith, a Mickey Smith. You need a Smith on board."
The Doctor considered it for a moment. "Okay then, I could do with a laugh."
Sarah Jane slowly made her way towards the TARDIS doors, The Doctor just a few steps behind her. She looked back at Hally, a warm smile on her face. "It was an honour to meet you." She said sincerely.
Hally smiled back, nodding. "You too."
As The Doctor said goodbye to Sarah Jane outside the TARDIS, Hally watched as Rose begrudgingly agreed to take Mickey on a tour of the TARDIS. Chuckling to herself slightly as she watched both of their backs retreating.
Hally let out a rather loud sigh, which caught the attention of the Time Lord who was returning through the wooden, blue doors. He flicked the console into life and the TARDIS gently whirred as she dematerialised. As soon as The Doctor had set their course he flopped down in the seat next to his daughter, watching her out of the corner of his eye.
"Are you ok?" His voice was quiet. If the console room hadn't been so silent she might not have heard him.
Hally put a small smile on her face, nodding.
"You've been awfully quiet." The Doctor continued, obviously not believing his daughter.
Hally was silent for a few moments. "I saw it." She started, looking over her shoulder at him.
He raised an eyebrow in silent questioning.
"The code. Paradigm. Whatever you want to call it." She let out a sad sigh. "Cracked it."
The Doctor watched her, considering her. He didn't speak for a minute, before. "And?"
She frowned. "And what?"
"What do you want to do about it?" He asked her gently.
Hally raised her eyebrows in surprise. He was really leaving it up to her?
"Well…" She started, licking her lips. "We should probably get rid of it." She looked down at the floor in the hopes that The Doctor wouldn't notice the water that was threatening to pool from her eyes. "Probably quite dangerous, me wandering around with the key the universe in my mind." She coughed out a strained laugh.
She felt The Doctor get up, wrapping his arms around her he pulled her up and into a tight hug. He didn't say anything. Perhaps it was better that way. She knew what he was trying to say.
I know it's hard. I miss it too.
Hally gently pulled back slightly, looking up at her father. "Can you?"
"Of course." He smiled softly down at her, before placing his fingertips gently on her temples.
Hally closed her eyes, pulling the memory of the paradigm to the forefront of her mind. She wrapped it up in as many walls as she could so that The Doctor wouldn't be able to see inside as he erased it from her memory. Hally gently pushed all her other memories to the back of her mind so The Doctor would only find what she wanted him to see.
She felt his gentle presence, it felt like he was knocking politely at the very outskirts of her mind. He found the walled memory with ease and before Hally could waste another second worrying about it, he'd wiped the image from her memory for good.
He retreated from her mind and they both opened their eyes. He gave her a sympathetic smile, before turning back to the console. Hally stood for a second, gathering her thoughts. There was a small, heavy feeling of sadness that had nestled its way into her stomach. The unmistakable feeling of guilt.
IIIII IIII
2 December 2007?
Hally had woken up, in her cell with a pounding headache the next day. At least, she'd assumed it was the next day. Looking in the small, square mirror above her sink, Hally admired the nice, new bruise along the left side of her forehead from where the guard had smashed her face into the floor.
Charming.
Hally watched as the guards opened the cell doors to take all the inmates to breakfast as usual. However, no one was there to let her out. She stood at the door of her cell, watching the others file out along the corridor until the only person left on the other side of her cell door was her favourite friend, who had gifted her the new bruise. Hally decided that she would call him 'Idiot'.
He motioned for her to step back and he unlocked her cell, stepping inside. It was then, that Hally could see what he was carrying.
Hally stared at it for a second in disbelief, looking back up to her guard's face.
"No." She muttered, glaring at him.
"This will be a lot less painful if you cooperate." His gruff voice seemed to bounce painfully off of the metal bars.
"I said no." Her eyes were wide, she could feel a prickle of pride itching its way up her back.
"You're not permitted to leave this cell without it on." The 'Idiot' countered, emotionlessly.
Hally swallowed, her throat was dry. She looked back down to his hands, eyeing the item that could only be described as a human muzzle, that the guard was cradling.
Hally drew up a sharp breath, eyes flashing with hatred. "Go fuck yourself." She growled, throwing herself back down onto her bed in rebellion.
The guard just looked at her for a moment, before turning on his heel and closing the door to her cell with a resounding clang. She wouldn't see anyone else that day.
On the second morning, the 'Idiot' barely made it through the door before Hally had attempted to bite him when she'd seen that he was, yet again, carrying that archaic device. However, annoyingly he was much stronger than her and it'd taken only a mere push for him to shove her back into her cell. The door crashing shut.
On the third day, as her guard had made his way into her cell and released the metal clasp that held the muzzle closed, Hally had burst into tears. The 'Idiot' had barely managed to begin to fasten the past of the muzzle that would clamp her jaw shut, when Hally had let out a scream and had scratched at his hands until he'd dropped it and she'd thrown herself back onto her bed. Again, the door to her cell had crashed shut and she'd been left alone.
On the morning of the fourth day, Hally had woken early. Staring at the ceiling as her stomach growled painfully. She'd not eaten for days now and her body was starting to hate her for it. This time, when her guard entered her cell. Hally closed her eyes and focused on her breathing as she felt the cold metal pulled tight against her jaw. The 'Idiot' slotted the back piece into place behind her head and locked the two metal pieces together with a click. Hally clenched her jaw and tried to open her mouth, but she couldn't. The front metal plate covered her mouth up to her nose and locked her jaw into place.
Hally was shaking but she swallowed down the bile that was threatening to rise in her throat. She was so humiliated and angry… but she was just so hungry.
The guard grabbed her roughly by her upper arm and escorted her out of her cell. He didn't lead her towards the canteen area as Hally had so desperately hoped for, but instead, he took her straight to Saxon's office.
Her guard didn't bother to knock on the office door, instead, he pulled her inside and deposited her ungraciously onto the couch. Hally was surprised to see that Dr Saxon was already sat at his desk, his eyes never leaving her.
Hally glared at Saxon with all the anger and hatred she could muster. He simply stared back, his expression never changing from stoic. Although Hally was sure she could see a glint of amusement behind his dark eyes. Hally sat completely still as the 'Idiot' removed the contraption from her face, taking it with him as he left, closing the office door behind him.
Dr Saxon and Hally sat glaring at one another for what felt like a full 5 minutes before Saxon sat back slowly into his chair. He brought his hands up, resting his chin on his fingertips as he so often did.
"I'm rather disappointed in you." He began.
Hally let out a hateful laugh. "Oh, disappointed are you? Well, I can't apologise enough!" She spat out sarcastically. "What the hell is wrong with you people?! You can't do this to me! Honestly, you're lucky I'm so bloody useless right now because I would tear you and this place apart!" She yelled, leaning forward on the edge of the sofa.
He let her have her mini tantrum, just watching her patiently. He watched as she regained her breath and sank back against the back of the orange couch. He raised his eyebrows, waiting to see if she was done.
When he figured that she was, he opened his mouth. "Why do you think you attacked the girl?" He asked, coldly.
Hally scoffed as if it was obvious. "Because she was going to hurt someone."
"That isn't your responsibility." He quipped back.
"So, I should have just let her hurt someone weaker than her?" Hally spat back furiously.
Dr Saxon considered her for a moment. "Do you see yourself as a saviour?"
She rolled her eyes, a self-righteous smile tugging at her mouth "No. That's not what this is about. She deserved it."
"You say that she was going to hurt someone else? But so far, the only person who's been attacked is her?"
Hally scowled. "That's bullshit and you know it." Hally looked around the room, motioning to the door. "Is that what this is supposed to be? Some kind of excuse to protect the others from me?"
Saxon nodded slowly, his eyes glittering. "Yes. You've shown yourself to be a danger."
Hally let out a bark of laughter. "No, I haven't."
He paused. "So you're not dangerous?" He asked.
Hally just glared at him.
Saxon took this as an opportunity to continue. "Do you want to hear what I think?"
"No, but I think you're going to tell me anyway." She muttered darkly.
Saxon leant forward, resting his elbows on the desk. He began slowly, quietly. "I think you're feeling powerless and vulnerable and you hate it." He raised both of his eyebrows slowly, watching her face intensely. "You're lashing out at whoever you think deserves it because you need to feel like you're doing the right thing." A small smirk played at his lips when he saw her flush furiously. "…When in fact you're just doing what you think will gain someone's approval. Namely your father." Saxon continued quickly when he saw her open her mouth to shout something at him. "Someone who, over a very short space of time, you've created a very strong attachment to, despite him being absent for most of your life. This change has altered how you see yourself, altered how you gain affirmation about who you are and how you should be. So you've altered your actions and opinions into those that would be approved by your father. Because you need his approval." Saxon sneered. "You need him to like you, to love you. But at the end of the day, you don't trust him. You don't trust that he isn't going to just abandon you again if you say or do the wrong thing. Isn't that right?" Hally's mouth had dropped open, anger and embarrassment was firing through her veins. "But you have to know, these rash actions that you take to prove yourself, you don't gain anything from them. It's only going to hurt you. At the end of the day, who takes the punishment? You do." Saxon finished bluntly.
Hally was totally silent. She couldn't make a sound. It was like he's paralysed her. Gently, one of her fingers began to tap therapeutically against the rough material of the sofa.
Tap. Tap. Tap. Tap.
Saxon seemed to notice instantly, his eyes flicked from her face down to her hand and back again.
Tap. Tap. Tap. Tap.
"What are you doing?" He demanded.
Hally looked down at her hand, pausing mid-tap as she became aware of what she'd been doing. She frowned. "Nothing…"
He watched her, Hally could see she'd sparked anger behind his eyes. "What was that?"
Hally's own anger spiked again. "What?" She ground out.
"That." He glared at her offending hand.
Hally shrugged dramatically. "I don't know?! Helps me think. It's comforting."
"Why?" Saxon sneered at her.
Hally growled, she'd had enough. "I don't know, you're supposed to be the expert. Why don't you tell me?"
Saxon fell silent and the two entered into another heated staring contest.
"I think we're done for today." Saxon snapped his notebook, which he'd written nothing in, shut.
"Fine by me."
Everyone was silent again as Hally's guard re-entered the room and replaced the muzzle on her face. Hally let him drag her to her feet without much of a fuss, heading towards the door of the office.
Just as she was about to get to the door she heard Saxon's voice.
"You don't have to try and be perfect. Who you are, is enough. All of it, the light, the dark… and the insane."
Hally stopped, turning to give him one last glare before the 'Idiot' dragged her out of the room.