Chapter Seventeen: An old friend
It was only a couple of days following the incident with the werewolf, they had been relaxing at a spar, when I received a phone call from Mickey calling them home. He had discovered something odd at a local primary school, and he wanted their help to figure out what was going on. With Rose and I teaming up against him, the Doctor agreed to go undercover to find out if what Mickey had found would lead to anything suspicious (the undercover was his stipulation for investigating what Mickey had found).
The Doctor had replaced the physics teacher, Rose was working as a dinner lady, while I had gotten a place working as the librarian. They didn't all start working at the school at once – it would have been too suspicious. First it was Rose, then a few days later was me, before nearly two weeks after Rose got her placement, the Doctor joined them.
The first odd thing that I noticed during the week I spent as a librarian, was that the kids liked reading the texts books. And I don't mean the assigned reading, mandatory for everyone to read books, but the optional for those who want a bit of a challenge to read text books. They were rarely on the shelves of the library. Yet the fiction books – the stories – remained on the shelves gathering dust. It was probably the weirdest school library I had ever been in.
Since the Doctor had had his first lesson that day, I left the library and headed to the canteen to meet with him. By-passing the food line, I headed straight for the table where the Doctor was sat with a tray of food.
"Hay," I greeted him, taking a seat next to the Doctor who beamed at me.
"Hay, how's the library?" The Doctor asked with an amused smile.
"Good, although it's weird." I spoke quietly as I stole a chip only to grimace in disgust. "Normally the kids would be all over the fiction books, but not a single one has been checked out in the time I've been here. But the non-fiction books are all checked out. And they're advanced books as well. Books that I would expect a sixth form or college to stock, not a high school. And I checked, most of those books were ordered after the new headmaster took control." I informed him.
"Yeah, there was something odd with a kid in class today. He knew knowledge that was way beyond planet earth." The Doctor agreed before pulling a face as he bit the chip he had picked up.
"Yeah, I thought they tasted wrong as well." I agreed with his face.
Rose joined them then, wiping at the table as an excuse to talk with them. "Two weeks." She hissed at them angrily.
"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." The Doctor filled Rose in, in the hopes of stopping her from grumbling since they'd had to put up with it from the moment that she got the job. Luckily, she was staying in her room at mom's place while the Doctor and I slept in the TARDIS (or hid in the library using the time differences to get away from the normality for a little while).
"You eating those chips?" Rose asked, taking a seat.
"Yeah, they're a bit different." The Doctor said, pushing the tray to Rose who took a couple more chips.
"I think they're gorgeous. Wish I had school dinners like this."
"I made you lunch four days a week." I frowned at Rose insulted.
"Yeah, but mum made sure I had school dinners every Wednesday." Rose quickly back tracked. "I much preferred your lunches."
"I should hope so." I said, putting on an air of someone who had been deeply insulted.
"It's very well behaved, this place." The Doctor observed, looking around at the children.
"Mmm" Rose hummed in agreement, but she had never really liked children and believed most of them were right terrors.
"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 smirked proudly.
"Only on over-rated TV programs." I informed him with a laugh.
"You are not permitted to leave your station during a sitting." The head dinner lady came over to the table to snap at Rose.
"I was just talking to these teachers." Rose informed the lady.
"Hello," the Doctor and I both wiggled our fingers in greeting. I absently noted that I was starting to pick up on some of the Doctor's mannerism if I was able to respond in the exact manner as him at the same time without any conscious thought. I wondered if that was a good thing, or a bad thing? At least if I was picking up things from him, then it was likely that he was also picking up things from me and out of the two of us I was better at polite social interactions with the civilian population.
"They don't like the chips." Rose informed the lady in a whisper.
"The menu has been specifically designed by the headmaster to improve concentration and performance. Now, get back to work."
The dinner lady marched off while I narrowed my eyes. I wasn't a dietitian, but I knew a thing or two about eating healthy having recovered from starvation so many times, and helped others recover. Every day, chips were on the menu, and there was very little meat and variety of vegetables. Whatever the menu was for, a healthy and balanced diet to increase concentration it was not.
"See? This is me. Dinner lady." Rose got up and started walking away from the table with a little curtsy type action while holding onto the apron.
"I'll have the crumble." The Doctor called out cheekily.
"I'm so going to kill you." Rose warned with a pointed finger, but she failed to hide her smile.
A tall, dark skinned teacher that I recognised as being the IT and maths teacher, walked by and to a group of kids sat a table over from the Doctor and I. It was then I noticed that every single student on that table – baring one - was eating the school lunch. Looking around, I found this held true of everyone in the hall – only one child in the whole school had a packed lunch. What was going on here? A normal school generally had about half and half, in regards to school meals.
"Melissa," the teacher addressed one of the girls at the table. "You'll be joining my class for the next period. Milo's failed me, so it's time we moved you up to the top class."
I frowned. Milo was one of the kids who was always coming into the library and grabbing the advanced books and asking questions when he couldn't find the answer that he wanted in a text book. I would go so far to say he was the smartest kid I had ever interacted with – and I was including Hermione in that statement.
"Kenny, not eating the chips?" the teacher addressed the kid who was eating his home prepared lunch in an almost disapproving tone.
"I'm not allowed," the kid – Kenny – responded despondently as he picked at his carrot sticks.
"Luke. Extra class. Now." the teacher ordered and the two addressed students followed him out of the canteen without complaint.
"Let's go talk with the other old teachers in the staffroom." I told the Doctor quietly.
"Milo was the kid in my class this morning who had knowledge beyond planet earth." The Doctor informed me as we left the canteen.
"Yeah, I've seen him in the library every day." I agreed. "The books he was reading were really advanced, and some of the questions he asked I didn't even know where to begin answering."
"You noticed anything else odd that could explain the sudden surge in intelligence?" the Doctor asked curiously.
"Beyond the fact that every kid was eating the school prepared meals?" I questioned.
"How's that odd?" The Doctor asked confused.
"Most parents can't afford to pay £2 every day for their kids to have a school meal. That's £10 a week or £420 a term. That's a lot of money. It's cheaper to buy ingredients and make their own school lunches or give the children left-overs from their dinner the night before." I explained.
"Right, and then there's the chips. There was something wrong with them." the Doctor agreed as they entered the staffroom. I let the Doctor take the lead then, as he approached the history teacher who was stood off to one side. He may not be the best at social situations and social cues but when it came to getting information and getting people to talk, there wasn't anyone better at it then him.
"Yesterday, I had a twelve-year-old girl give me the exact height of the Walls of Troy in cubits." Parsons told the Doctor.
"And, it's ever since the new headmaster arrived?" the Doctor clarified while I made a cup of tea for them. I wasn't sure how he had gotten the man talking so quickly, but I wasn't going to question it when he got results.
"Finch arrived three months ago. Next day, half the staff got flu. Finch replaced them with that lot, except for the teacher you replaced, that was just plain weird, her winning the lottery like that."
"How's that weird?" the Doctor exchanged a slightly worried look with me when I gave him the tea. I had told him that using the lottery every time he needed someone out of the way didn't always work.
"She never played. Said the ticket was posted through her door at midnight."
"Hmm. The world is very strange." The Doctor hummed as Parsons left us and Mr Finch – the headmaster – entered the room with someone behind him.
"Excuse me, colleagues. A moment of your time. May I introduce Miss Sarah Jane Smith." My gaze narrowed on the women with greying hair who was stood next to Flinch. "Miss Smith is a journalist who's writing a profile about me for the Sunday Times. I thought it might be useful for her to get a view from the trenches, so to speak. Don't spare my blushes." And with that he left.
Seeing that Sarah was approaching the two of us, I gently grabbed the Doctor's hand. I knew he missed his old companions, and he did try and keep an eye on them, but he didn't intrude and he didn't look too deeply for fear that he would find that he had ruined their lives.
"Hello." Sarah greeted us with a happy smile.
"Oh, I should think so," the Doctor responded with a dopy smile on his face.
"And you are?" Sarah asked, slightly cautiously having not expected such a greeting.
"I'm Annamae, and this is my partner John Smith." I introduced, seeing that the Doctor was still pulling himself back together.
"John Smith." Sarah smiled sadly. "I used to have a friend who sometimes went by that name."
"Well, it's a very common name." the Doctor responded.
"He was a very uncommon man." Sarah said sadly before pulling herself back together. "Nice to meet you."
"Nice to meet you. Yes, very nice. More than nice. Brilliant." The Doctor continued, beaming away.
"Er, so, er, have you worked here long?" Sarah asked, trying to get to the reason she was there.
"No, it's my second day." The Doctor answered.
"And I've only been here a week." I added.
"Oh, you're new, then." Sarah said happily. "So, what do you think of the school? I mean, this new curriculum? So many children getting ill. Doesn't that strike you as odd?"
"You don't sound like someone just doing a profile." The Doctor pointed out.
"Well, no harm in a little investigation while I'm here." Sarah said bashfully.
"No. Good for you." The Doctor said grinning goofily once more as Sarah moved away to talk with some of the other teachers. "Good for you. Oh, good for you, Sarah Jane Smith."
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That night they returned to the school to do some uninterrupted investigating since they now had some more information. Mickey had found that a UFO had fallen to earth only a few days before Mr Finch took over as headmaster. And Rose had seen the oil burning one of the dinner ladies when she spilt some on her.
"Oh, it's weird seeing the school at night. It just feels wrong. When I was a kid, I used to think all the teachers slept in school." Rose shivered as they stood in the entrance hall after walking down a deserted corridor from where the Doctor parked the TARDIS.
"Good thing you didn't go to a boarding school then – they really did sleep in the school." I told her with a smile. Having gone to a boarding school for seven years I didn't find it odd wondering empty school corridors at night. And even then, the corridors of Hogwarts were far creepier than this.
"All right, team." The Doctor said brightly before he pulled a face. "Oh, I hate people who say team. Er, gang. Er, comrades." The Doctor shook his head when I poked him. The word he was using wasn't really important right now. "Anyway, Rose, go to the kitchen. Get a sample of that oil. Mickey, the new staff are all maths teachers. Go and check out the maths department. Annamae, I want you with me checking out Finch's office. Be back here in ten minutes." The Doctor ordered before he turned and led the way down the corridor.
They were walking down a corridor when the noise of someone moving around caught their attention. Exchanging a look, the Doctor led the way towards the storage room where they had left the TARDIS. Opening the door, they found Sarah Jane staring at the TARDIS in shock.
"Hello, Sarah Jane." The Doctor greeted, causing Sarah to spin around in shock and fright.
"It's you. Oh, Doctor. Oh, my God, it's you, isn't it? You've regenerated." Sarah accused.
"Yeah." The Doctor agreed. "Half a dozen times since we last met." The Doctor admitted.
"You look incredible." Sarah complemented.
"So do you." The Doctor responded with a smile.
"Huh, I got old." Sarah said self-deprecating.
"Oh, I think it suits you." I complemented with a smile. "Wouldn't put you a day older than thirty-five."
Sarah shot me a smile. "What are you doing here?" Sarah questioned, getting back on topic.
"Well, UFO sighting, school gets record results. I couldn't resist. What about you?" the Doctor said happily.
"The same." Sarah admitted, before she turned sad again. "I thought you'd died. I waited for you and you didn't come back, and I thought you must have died."
"I lived. Everyone else died." The Doctor admitted darkly. I grabbed his hand comfortingly. He found it a bit easier to admit in this body compared to the last but the wound was still very raw.
"What do you mean?" Sarah asked confused.
"Everyone died, Sarah." The Doctor repeated.
"I can't believe it's you." Sarah breathed, allowing the painful topic to slide.
A scream rang through the corridors and they all took off running.
"Okay, now I can!" Sarah said with a laugh. I grabbed Sarah's hand with my spare one creating a chain as we all ran.
Rose met up with them at an intersection in the corridors as they came to a stop briefly.
"Did you hear that? Who's she?" Rose asked quickly.
"Rose, Sarah Jane. Sarah Jane, Rose." The Doctor introduced as they took off once again. This time the Doctor and I were leading while Sarah ran beside Rose.
"Hi. Nice to meet you." Sarah greeted before addressing the Doctor. "You can tell you're getting older. Your assistants are getting younger."
"I'm not his assistant." Rose said offended, while I rolled my eyes. Assistant, companion, in the end they were the same word.
"No? Get you, tiger." Sarah teased while the Doctor looked to me uncomfortable.
They finally came across Mickey who was standing in front of a pile of flat packed rats.
"Sorry! Sorry, it was only me." He quickly reassured the group when they came to a stop next to him. "You told me to investigate, so I started looking through some of these cupboards and all of these fell on me."
Bending down I picked up one of the packets with a frown. They didn't do dissections in schools anymore, until the students got to college and university. If the teacher wanted to demonstrate the structure of something, then they would get fresh organs – generally from a butchers' – and then incinerate it within a few days to prevent it decomposing and creating a smell. They had absolutely no reason to keep vacuum packed rats.
"Oh, my God, they're rats. Dozens of rats. Vacuum packed rats." Rose said in disgusts.
"And you decided to scream." The Doctor teased Mickey. This teasing relationship with Mickey wasn't something that had changed with the regeneration.
"It took me by surprise!" Mickey defended.
"Like a little girl?" The Doctor questioned with a raised eyebrow.
"It was dark! I was covered in rats!" Mickey said in response to his teasing.
"Doctor." I interrupted before the Doctor could continue teasing. "That's enough. You know Mickey isn't used to this."
The Doctor pouted at me. "Fine." He agreed.
"Hello, can we focus?" Rose interrupted. "Does anyone notice anything strange about this? Rats in school?"
"Well, obviously they use them in Biology lessons. They dissect them. Or maybe you haven't reached that bit yet. How old are you?" Sarah asked in a snarky tone.
"Excuse me, no one dissects rats in school anymore. They haven't done that for years. Where are you from, the dark ages?"
"Anyway, moving on. Everything started when Mister Finch arrived. We should go and check his office." The Doctor interrupted before a fight could start.
"I don't mean to be rude or anything, but who exactly are you?" Rose demanded of Sarah as they began briskly walking down the corridor. Sarah and Rose were at the front while the Doctor, Mickey and I were behind them.
"Sarah Jane Smith. I used to travel with the Doctor." Sarah said proudly.
"Oh. Well, he's never mentioned you." Rose said snarkily.
"He's told me all about your adventures." I inserted, seeing that Sarah was offended by Rose's intentional insult. This was the reason why the Doctor didn't talk about the others with his current companion unless they were already aware of the others or had shown an acceptance towards them.
"Well, he's never mentioned her to me." Rose inserted with a role of her eyes.
"Ho, ho, mate. The missus and the ex. Welcome to every man's worst nightmare." Mickey said with a cheerful smirk while I rolled my eyes and the Doctor looked a mix between confused and offended.
When they reached the headmaster's office, the Doctor used the sonic screwdriver on the lock.
"Maybe those rats were food." The Doctor suggested as he opened the door only to pause.
"Food for what?" Rose asked hesitantly.
The Doctor and I both stared at the thirteen bat things hanging upside down from the ceiling. They were huge, about the same size as a human being, if not a bit bigger.
"Rose, you know you used to think all the teachers slept in the school? Well, they do." The Doctor moved aside so everyone could see inside the headmaster's office.
"No way!" Mickey shouted before turning and bolting. The others followed at a more sedate pace, with the Doctor closing the door behind them.
"I am not going back in there. No way." Mickey informed them when he reached the court yard.
"Those were the teachers?" Rose demanded in horror.
"When Finch arrived, he brought with him seven new teachers, four dinner ladies and a nurse. Thirteen. Thirteen big bat people. Come on." The Doctor turned and started heading back into the school but he was stopped by Mickey.
"Come on? You've got to be kidding!"
"I need the TARDIS. I've got to analyse that oil from the kitchen." The Doctor answered.
"I might be able to help you there." Sarah suddenly said, jumping in excitement. "I've got something to show you."
Sarah led the group over to her car where she opened the boot. Hidden by some blankets was a robotic dog.
"K9! Annamae Tyler, Rose Tyler, Mickey Smith, allow me to introduce K9. Well, K9 Mark Three to be precise." The Doctor said happily sitting in the boot next to K9 and petting it like a real dog.
"Why does he look so disco?" Rose asked hesitantly.
"Oi! Listen, in the year five thousand, this was cutting edge. What's happened to him?" The Doctor asked Sarah.
"Oh, one day, he just, nothing." Sarah shrugged sadly.
"Well, didn't you try and get him repaired?" the Doctor asked affronted.
"Doctor it's from the year five thousand. She couldn't exactly go around showing people." I told him with a laugh. Sometimes this regenerations obliviousness was very endearing.
"Ooh, what's the nasty lady done to you, eh?" the Doctor cooed at the dog.
"Look, no offence, but could you two just stop petting for a minute? Never mind the tin dog. We're busy." Rose said belligerently.
The Doctor ignored her tone while Sarah shot her an affronted look before everyone climbed into the car. Since Sarah's house was a bit far away, they went to a local café to fix K9 and come up with a plan.
Rose went off with Mickey to their own table, while I joined Sarah and the Doctor at another table to help with K9. I knew it was painful for the both of them to meet once again after so long (and so much, in the Doctor's case) and I was hoping that my presence might lesson that blow a little.
"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 started the conversation with a smile.
"Right on top of it, yeah." The Doctor responded, giving her a smile.
"It was your first adventure, as this you." I recalled, lightly leaning into the Doctor's side and grabbing some of the loose wires from inside the K9 unit to see if they were broken.
"You were there as well?" Sarah asked curiously.
"Yeah, it was an interesting experience." I told her.
"And Rose?" Sarah asked slightly hesitantly. She seemed to have developed a problem with Rose for some reason that didn't carry over to me. It was likely er insecurity about being dropped off by the Doctor and then never contacted again until the man turned up with a 'younger model' that immediately insulted her. Whereas I had reassured her that she wasn't forgotten, and the Doctor still remembered and spoke about their adventures.
"She was there too." The Doctor confirmed.
"Did I do something wrong, because you never came back for me." Sarah suddenly demanded. "You just dumped me."
"I told you. I was called back home and, in those days, humans weren't allowed." The Doctor answered even as he continued fiddling with K9.
"I waited for you. I missed you." Sarah admitted.
"Oh, you didn't need me. You were getting on with your life." The Doctor smiled proudly.
"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?"
The way Sarah asked that reminded me of the way Rose spoke when she was in the café a few months ago. But Sarah didn't sound as heartbroken about it – she had already come to terms with the eventuality of her life. She had accepted that she can no longer be there for the Doctor and she had her own life to live.
"All those things you saw, do you want me to apologise for that?" the Doctor stopped fiddling to look at Sarah in shock.
"No, but we get a taste of that splendour and then we have to go back." Sarah tried to explain.
"Look at you, you're investigating. You found that school. You're doing what we always did." The Doctor pointed out, not trying to hide his pride in his former companion.
"You could have come back." Sarah said softly.
"I couldn't." The Doctor looked down and started working on K9 again while I gripped his shoulder.
The Doctor didn't like looking back into his past. Especially since Sarah was a companion from a time before the Time War, before it all went to hell. If he'd come back, he'd have to explain what he did and what had happened. Something he hadn't been prepared to face – especially since he had truly died and only the interference of the Red Sisterhood (who had forced a regeneration on him, outside of his sequence) brought him back – and he had known her with his third and fourth face. Four faces after that saw the Time War before the point of the Time Lock and his forgotten time, before the end of the war. Far too much had happened. And then he found Annamae, and he couldn't look back. Couldn't return to Sarah Jane while he was trying to remind himself why he travelled the universe.
Annamae knew only some of what the Doctor had faced since he'd been summoned back to his home world since he preferred to talk about his adventures. But he had told her some small things about the war, and she was slowly getting him to open up. Just as she was opening up to him about the battles she faced, since neither of them could truly live and move on, no matter how much time had passed since the events they talked about had come to past.
"Why not?" Sarah asked, just looking for the reason why it seemed the Doctor forgot about her. He didn't answer, and Sarah noticed that she seemed to have hit a saw topic with the Doctor because she changed the subject. "It wasn't Croydon. Where you dropped me off, that wasn't Croydon."
"Where was it?"
"Aberdeen."
"Right. That's next to Croydon, isn't it?"
"No, that's nowhere near to Croydon, Doctor." I told him with a laugh, my amusement immediately causing the tension within the Doctor's shoulders to relax. "You're driving skill didn't get worse – they always were that bad." Sarah joined in the laughter, obviously remembering times when the Doctor had gotten them lost or landed in the wrong place/time frame.
The Doctor pulled an offended face, but they were distracted when K9 suddenly came to life. "Oh, hey. Now we're in business." The Doctor said happily.
"Master." K9 greeted in his robotic voice.
"He recognises me." the Doctor said proudly and happily as he stood to be in front of K9 while Mickey and Rose joined them around the table.
"Affirmative."
"Rose, give us the oil." The Doctor held out his hand for the small specimen jar Rose was looking after.
"I wouldn't touch it, though. That dinner lady got all scorched." Rose cautioned when the Doctor unscrewed the lid and went to dip his finger in the oil.
"I'm no dinner lady. And I don't often say that." The Doctor answered, smearing a sample onto the probe that was coming from K9's head. "Here we go. Come on, boy. Here we go."
"Oil. Ex ex ex extract. Ana ana analysing." K9 informed them with a slight stutter, showing that he wasn't completely restored yet even if he was functioning.
"Listen to him, man. That's a voice." Mickey laughed.
"Careful. That's my dog." Sarah said protectively. K9 had been the only thing of the Doctor she had left when he left her on earth. The only reminder, other than her memories, that she had of those wonderful times.
"Confirmation of analysis. Substance is Krillitane Oil." K9 informed them.
"They're Krillitanes." The Doctor breathed with wide eyes while I frowned, trying to figure out if the Doctor had told me about the race during their sessions.
"Is that bad?" Rose asked hesitantly, noting the Doctor's wide eyes.
"Very. Think of how bad things could possibly be, and add another suitcase full of bad." The Doctor answered, running his hands though his hair in an anxious gesture.
"And what are Krillitanes?" Sarah prompted.
"They're a composite race, right Doctor?" I asked with a frown. The Doctor had mentioned them, but only briefly in passing since they weren't a race the Doctor regularly came across and they were always changing so they didn't have a distinct 'culture' to teach or a shared language.
"Yes." The Doctor briefly gave me a proud smile before focusing on explaining to the others. "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."
"What're they doing here?" Rose asked.
"It's the children. They're doing something to the children." The Doctor answered darkly.
"Well we're not going to get any answers tonight. We'll have to wait till morning." I reminded the Doctor when it looked like he wanted to go and confront Finch and find the answers to his questions.
"You can stay at my house for the night. We're going to need to be well rested to stop the Krillitanes." Sarah pointed out.
"Alright." The Doctor agreed with this cause of action.
Mickey went to help Sarah put K9 into the car, while I phoned mum to let her know Rose wasn't coming home tonight since they had found an old friend of the Doctors and they were going to be catching up. Before I could say anything else, I noticed that Rose had marched up to the Doctor outside the shop and was demanding answers. Quickly saying goodbye, I headed over to stop Rose before she said or did something stupid.
"I thought you and me were... I obviously got it wrong. I've been to the year five billion, right, but this? Now this is really seeing the future. You just leave us behind. Is that what you're going to do to me? What's going to happen to Annamae?" Rose demanded angrily as she fought of tears.
"No. Never." The Doctor caught my eye as he answered. I offered him a hand, noticing how upset he was becoming as he remembered the many companions he had lost over the years.
"But Sarah Jane? You were that close to her once, and now you never even mention her. Why not?" Rose demanded angrily.
"He doesn't like mentioning his previous companions to his current ones because they react just like you're doing now. And it's not something he likes to deal with. The Doctor, he doesn't look back because he can't." I tried to explain to Rose as gently as I could without saying something about the Doctor that he wouldn't want spread around.
"I don't age. I regenerate. But human's decay. You wither and you die. Imagine watching that happen to someone who you…"
The Doctor cut himself off as I closed my eyes in pain. The both of us were used to losing people we loved, and I knew that someday I would lose both my mother and Rose. By I couldn't afford to think about that, because I knew it would drive me insane. Instead, I forced myself to live for today, even as the back of my mind let me know that someday soon it will just be me and the Doctor. But that was why the Doctor always found a new companion, because he couldn't be alone, he needed someone there to hold his hand. And although he had me, he knew that I needed companions just as much as he did.
"What, Doctor?" Rose demanded, not noticing the effect her words were having on the both off us.
"You can spend the rest of your life with me, but I can't spend the rest of mine with you. I have to live on. Alone. That's the curse of the Time Lords." The Doctor answered, pulling himself back together as he wrapped an arm around my shoulders in a familiar comforting gesture.
"Time Lord." The Doctor and I both caught the shocked whisper in the wind, causing us to look up to the roof tops behind us where Mr Finch and one of the Krillitanes were crouched. Together we grabbed Rose and pulled her down as the Krillitane's lunched itself from the roof and at them with a screech before flying off.
"Was that a Krillitane?" Sarah asked in shock as she and Mickey ran over to join the three of us.
"But it didn't even touch us. It just flew off. What did it do that for?" Rose questioned, confused as they stared in the direction that the Krillitane had flown.
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When they arrived at Sarah's house, she showed Mickey and Rose to a spare bedroom for them to sleep before turning in herself. It had been a long stressful day for them all and they needed to be rested for the next day when they confront the Krillitane. Instead of turning in, I joined the Doctor on the sofa.
"How are you?" I asked softly.
"I'm good. Fine. I'm fine." The Doctor answered slightly distantly as his eyes travelled to the stairs.
"You know she wasn't upset with you for leaving her, or even for not coming back." I told the Doctor quietly. His eyes immediately snapped back to mine in confusion. "She just wants to know that she was remembered. She fears that you have forgotten her."
"Of course, I remembered her. I remember them all: Ben, Jamie, Viki, Zoe, Sarah, Ian, Barbra…" the Doctor trailed off.
"But they don't know that. For Sarah it's been twenty years without a sign of you. I think, when we leave, we need to stop in every once in a while, or at least keep an eye on her if she needs help. She's investigating aliens after all. That's not a safe occupation."
"I'll look for her. And the others. The ones that survived." The Doctor agreed after a long moment of thought.
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The group was up early in the morning and Sarah drove them all to the school where the students were just arriving.
"Rose and Sarah, you go to the Maths room. Crack open those computers; I need to see the hardware inside. Here, you might need this." The Doctor handed the screwdriver to Sarah, not seeing the hurt expression on Rose's face who had gone to take it from him. "Mickey, surveillance. I want you outside."
"Just stand outside?" Mickey asked incredulously as he stopped travelling forward with the group.
"Here, take these you can keep K9 company." Sarah threw Mickey the car keys with a smile.
"Don't forget to leave the window open a crack." The Doctor shouted over his shoulder with a smirk.
"But he's metal!" Mickey shouted frustrated.
"I didn't mean for him." The Doctor answered with a smile on his face.
"What're we doing?" I asked curiously.
"It's time I had a word with Mister Finch." The Doctor answered, his voice turning serious.
I wasn't sure how the Doctor knew, but once they spotted Mr Finch in the corridor and he walked off, he seemed to know that the man was heading to the swimming pool. It was like they had a silent conversation in the moments when they were looking at each other, but I knew that the Doctor's telepathic abilities were still recovering and he wouldn't mentally communicate with someone like Finch.
"Who are you?" The Doctor asked as they came to a stop opposite Finch, the swimming pool between them.
"My name is Brother Lassa. And you?" Finch answered calmly.
"The Doctor and Anna. Since when did Krillitanes have wings?" the Doctor asked as they slowly began walking around the pool, Finch also following their steps but at half a pace to them.
"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."
"And now your shape is human." The Doctor said succinctly. He was being straight to the point because it was children that were in danger – children who couldn't defend themselves from what was happening and should have been able to trust their teachers.
"A personal favourite, that's all." Finch shrugged carelessly.
"And the others?" the Doctor prompted.
"My brothers remain bat form. What you see is a simple morphic illusion. Scratch the surface and the true Krillitane lies beneath. And what of the Time Lords? I always thought of you as such a pompous race. Ancient, dusty senators, so frightened of change and chaos. And of course, they're all but extinct. Only you two are left. The last." Finch's look turned hungry for a moment.
The Doctor ignored the mistaken belief that I was also a Time Lord (and wasn't that such an odd thought), and the illusion to the Time War, as he moved on with his questions. "This plan of yours. What is it?"
"You don't know." Finch observed in amusement.
"That's why I'm asking." The Doctor retorted.
"Well, show me how clever you are. Work it out." Finch challenged.
"If I don't like it, then it will stop." The Doctor threatened, now standing right in front of Finch and looking him in the eye.
"Fascinating. Your people were peaceful to the point of insolence. You seem to be something new. Would you declare war on us, Doctor?" Finch asked mockingly.
"I'm so old now. I used to have so much mercy. You get one warning. That was it." the Doctor began walking away so they could meet with Sarah and Rose to figure out what was going on. I tightened my grip on the Doctor's arm, lending him support even if I hadn't said anything during the conversation. I wanted him to know that I agreed with his current cause of action because their priority was stopping whatever plan the Krillitains had in motion and saving the children – not offering mercy and third chances.
"But we're not even enemies. Soon you will embrace us. The next time we meet, you will join with me. I promise you." Finch said confidently to their backs as they left.
They found Sarah and Rose laughing hysterically when they entered the computer labs and nothing had been accomplished other than Rose acknowledging her jealousy and moving on.
"How's it going?" the Doctor asked clueless while the girls kept laughing. I just sighed, and moved to get the sonic which I threw to him.
"Come on, they're probably going to want to calm down first before they are helpful."
"Right," the Doctor agreed, shooting an uneasy look at Rose and Sarah who were still laughing and pointing at him.
Sarah and Rose eventually calmed down enough to focus when the bell sounded and Finch ordered the students to class.
"Rose, keep the children out. The South Hall computing labs are empty so send them there," I suggested from under the desk at the front where I was routing around looking for anything that looked out of place in the system setup. If they couldn't find anything, they would probably have to call Mickey in since he might be able to hack into the computer if the Doctor and I failed.
"You got anything?" The Doctor questioned, throwing more wires around his neck while he continued trying to hack the system manually.
"Nothing. There isn't a hard copy of whatever they are using, and the codes on this thing is secured too tightly for me to get in without a couple of hours of trying." I answered in frustration, hitting the top of the computer before heading over to see if the student computers were less coded and so easier to access.
"It's never that easy." The Doctor agreed, offering his own frustrated smile in turn. "I can't shift it."
"I thought the sonic screwdriver could open anything!" Sarah said, half confused and half encouragingly.
"Anything except a deadlock seal."
"And wood." I interjected.
"And wood. Wood or deadlock sealed. There's got to be something inside here. What're they teaching those kids?" The Doctor ran his hand through his head in frustration.
"Doctor!" I suddenly breathed in horror as my legs crumbled. The Doctor darted forward and wrapped his arms around my waist so I could lean into him for support.
"What's happening? What's wrong?" Sarah asked confused.
"I don't know, this keeps happening whenever people die." Rose answered watching with worried eyes. She knew there was nothing she could do to help and that I would recover soon enough.
"I… the teachers…. They killed the teachers…" I told them shocked. In the time they had been at the school, Finch hadn't killed anyone – why had he suddenly decided to kill them now? That was why I had been caught off guard by their deaths. If I was expecting it, or it was only one of two, I wasn't affected. But with large numbers or no preparation time the shock was enough to shut my system down for a few seconds until I had time to process it.
"The Krillitains would have eaten them." the Doctor corrected tightly.
"That's horrible," Rose said weekly.
"There's nothing we can do for them now – they're already dead. All we can do now is help the children by figuring out what they are doing." The Doctor said as I straightened and took on my own weight now that the shock had faded away.
Suddenly the screens turned green and some kind of symbols appeared on the screen which reminded me of Runes at first glance, but after a few moments those symbols began translating into numbers and words and my head began pounding with the knowledge.
"You wanted the programme? There it is." Sarah observed.
"Some sort of code." The Doctor said also watching as the symbols became numbers in his mind when he identified the language. "No. No, that can't be." The Doctor said in horror, his eyes fixed on the screen. I stepped close and grabbed his hand, also staring at the numbers in shock as the pounding in my head continued.
"What? What is it?" Rose asked in concern.
"The Skasis Paradigm. They're trying to crack the Skasis Paradigm." The Doctor breathed his answer.
"The Skasis what?" Sarah asked confused.
"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." The Doctor tore his eyes away as he explained.
"What, and the kids are like a giant computer?" Rose guessed.
"Yes. And their learning power is being accelerated by the oil. That oil from the kitchens, it works as a conducting agent. Makes the kids cleverer." The Doctor explained, his hand once more finding its way into his hair as he thought.
"But that oil is on the chips. I've been eating them." Rose said in horror.
"What's fifty-nine times thirty-five?" the Doctor rattled of a maths equation that he knew Rose couldn't do straight off the top of her head.
"Two thousand and sixty-five. Oh, my God." Rose responded without a pause.
"But why use children? Can't they use adults?" Sarah questioned confused.
"It needs imagination," I answered before the Doctor could, finally looking away from the code. "It doesn't just need the children's brains, it needs their souls."
Before the Doctor could address his concern about my health, Finch entered the room.
"Let the lesson begin. Think of it, Doctor. With the Paradigm solved, reality becomes clay in our hands. We can shape the universe and improve it." Finch outlined their plan.
"Oh yeah? The whole of creation with the face of Mister Finch? Call me old fashioned, but I like things as they are."
"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 demanded.
"No, someone like you." Finch corrected, making the Doctor pause in shock. That was new. "The Paradigm gives us power, but you could give us wisdom. Become a God at my side. Imagine what you could do. Think of the civilisations you could save. Perganon, Assinta. Your own people, Doctor, standing tall. The Time Lords reborn."
"Doctor, don't listen to him." Sarah implored.
"And you could be with him throughout eternity. Young, fresh, never wither, never age, never die." Finch snapped at Sarah before turning back to the Doctor. "Their lives are so fleeting. So many goodbyes. How lonely you must be, Doctor. Join us."
Seeing the doubt as Finch drew on the Doctor's biggest regrets, I stepped forward and caught the Doctor face between my hands. Gentle I turned his face to me so that he was looking me in the eye.
"No." Sarah stepped forward, watching the Doctor and I with sad eyes. "The universe has to move forward. Pain and loss, they define us as much as happiness or love. Whether it's a world, or a relationship, everything has its time. And everything ends."
"Everything has it's time, and everything ends." I echoed Sarah's words and the words of the Doctor from so long ago when we stood on Platform five and watched the world burn.
The Doctor pulled back, took a deep breath and threw a chair into the screen. "OUT!"
Finch let out a screech as he followed us into the corridors, summoning his brothers. As the Krillitains left their classrooms, they removed their human disguises and gave chase. I pulled the Doctor down the staircase instead of letting him continue on down the corridor. We met Mickey and one of the children – Kenny - at the bottom.
"What is going on?" Mickey demanded, staring at the Krillitains.
"We found out what they wanted." I answered, releasing the Doctor so I could herd Mickey and Kenny into the lunch room.
"Are they my teachers?" Kenny questioned.
"Yeah. Sorry." The Doctor answered, looking around for a way out as the Krillitain's burst through the door.
"We need the Doctor alive. As for the others? You can feast." Finch gave his command.
I grabbed a chair and pulled Mickey and Kenny behind me, fending off the Krillitains. The Doctor, Sarah and Rose followed my lead and armed themselves with chairs so that they could bat away the Krillitains. Suddenly a red laser beam hit one of the Krillitains sending it crashing to the floor. Finch screeched in rage.
"K9!" Sarah shouted relieved.
"Suggest you engage running mode, mistress." K9 said, firing another laser beam to hold back the Krillitains.
"Come on!" the Doctor shouted, agreeing with K9's suggestion.
"K9, hold them Back!" the Doctor order as everyone started running for the exit.
"Affirmative, master. Maximum defence mode." K9 agreed, moments before the Doctor sealed the door.
The group ran to the physics laboratory, where the Doctor paused momentarily so that he could come up with a 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. How much was there in the kitchens?"
"Barrels of it." Rose answered.
"They've caught up," I warned moments before the Krillitanes began battering at the door.
"Okay, we need to get to the kitchens. Mickey…" the Doctor began giving out orders, but was interrupted by Mickey.
"What now, hold the coats?" he grumbled sarcastically.
"Get all the children unplugged and out of the school." The Doctor corrected. "Now then, bats, bats, bats. How do we fight bats?"
The kid – Kenny – rolled his eyes before setting off the fire alarm. The Doctor beamed over at the boy before they escaped passed the Kirllitane's who were crumbled on the floor in pain.
The group had just made it outside the canteen when the noise stopped. However, K9 met them at the door.
"Master."
"Come on, boy. Good boy." The Doctor said happily, encouraging the metal dog to follow them into the kitchens.
I closed and locked the door behind us while the Doctor ran to one of the barrels of oil and tried to open it with the sonic screwdriver.
"They've been deadlock sealed. Finch must've done that. I can't open them." the Doctor said frustrated, running his hand through his hair as he looked around the kitchen trying to come up with another plan.
"The vats would not withstand a direct hit from my laser, but my batteries are failing." K9 offered after scanning the structure of the barrels.
"Right." The Doctor said, staring at K9 for a heartbeat before continuing. "Everyone out the back door. K9, stay with me." I herded Kenny, Sarah and Rose out the fire door and towards the playground where the children had started congregating. Sarah stayed at the door, but I knew the Doctor would drag her along so I went to make sure that all the children and Mickey were safe.
The Doctor and Sarah joined them moments before the school went up. The children stared in shock for a moment before they began rejoicing.
"Oh my God. Kenny blew up the school! It was Kenny!" a girls' voice was heard over the shouting.
"Yay! Kenny! Kenny! Kenny! Kenny!" the children celebrated while the boy in question blushed.
"I'm sorry." The Doctor said, pulling Sarah into a hug.
"It's all right. He was just a daft metal dog. It's fine, really." Sarah tried to be strong but she burst into tears when the Doctor just carried on hugging her in silence.
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Once Sarah had calmed down, she decided that she needed to go home for a little while but she wanted to talk with the Doctor before he left. He promised to hang around and wait, telling her he was relocating the TARDIs to Belle Vue Park.
When they got back to the TARDIS, Rose took it on herself to show Mickey around while the Doctor and I retreated to one of his work shops. He threw me a book while he got to work. I spent a little while reading the instructions on how to make a K9 unit before helping the Doctor out.
It took them around seven hours to build a new K9 unit, but fortunately the TARDIS put them into a different time stream so that only thirty minutes had passed when they finally left the room and went to the console room. I sat on the pilot's seat with another book on an alien race while the Doctor flittered around the console, doing some maintenance while they waited for Sarah to turn up.
When the alert came on the screen, the Doctor stepped outside to greet Sarah. I smiled when she entered, looking around the console room in wonder.
"You've redecorated." She observed, a slightly nostalgic note to her voice.
"Do you like it?" the Doctor inquired, hands in his pocket.
"Oh, I, I do. Yeah. I preferred it as it was, but er, yeah. It'll do." Sarah said with a smile.
"I love it." Rose said, walking into the room with Mickey.
"Hey you, what's forty-seven times three hundred and sixty-nine?" Sarah questioned.
"No idea. It's gone now. The oil's faded." Rose admitted brightly.
"But you're still clever. More than a match for him." Sarah complimented; it was obvious she had gotten over whatever problem she had with Rose.
"You and me both." Rose agreed, also having gotten over her jealously over the older women. "Doctor?" she said pointedly.
"Er, we're about to head off, but you could come with us." The Doctor offered.
"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." Sarah said, smiling as she looked around the TARDIS, finally ready to officially put everything behind her.
"Can I come? No, not with you, I mean with you." Mickey clarified when he received shocked and confused looks from Sarah. "Because I'm not the tin dog, and I want to see what's out there." Mickey asked, blurting his question out like he wasn't entirely thinking about it.
"Oh, go on, Doctor. Sarah Jane Smith, Mickey Smith. You need a Smith on board." Sarah encouraged.
"Okay then, I could do with a laugh." The Doctor agreed after looking to me for a moment.
"Rose, is that okay?" Mickey asked hesitantly.
"No, great. Why not?" Rose said, the lie clear in her tone. Mickey looked like he had been punched.
"Well, I'd better go." Sarah admitted.
Rose moved forward and pulled her into a hug. It was obvious that they said something to each other, however they were too quiet for anyone else to hear.
"I'll see you around Sarah Jane Smith." I told her with a warm smile of farewell before she left the TARDIs with the Doctor so that they could say goodbye in privet.