The Dread of Tomorrow and Yesterday – Chapter 60
A/N: Okay, so I'm sure a lot of people have forgotten about this story, if not been anxiously waiting for me to update. I'm really sorry about that, guys. I got really caught up in uni work and my writing time was mostly given to fixing up my Vampire Diaries story. But I haven't forgotten this one at all. I promise to get back to updating this one whenever I write a new chapter and I'm going to do it in turns between my three stories. I start university tomorrow, so this chapter is like me marking the occasion because it's been so long since I updated. So, I hope you all enjoy!
Replies to Reviews:
grapejuice101: Thank you so much! You know, now that I look back, I just realised that I recognised the Headmaster from Merlin. And I'm glad you're like the new side of Rhea.
setsuna1415: Thank you so much! I'm so glad you're liking the twist to Rhea and the Doctor's relationship and you have no idea how long I've been waiting for this chapter too.
NicoleR85: I'm so glad you liked it. I think Rhea would quite love Sarah Jane because of how frank and decent she is and that would appeal to Rhea a lot. And she's two old for the Mean Girl, bitchy thing in people, so she's definitely not going to take any of Rose's crap.
Alexandria: To be honest, I hated this episode too. I mean, Sarah Jane is a queen and I love everything she's in. I actually started watching The Sarah Jane Adventures way before I watched Doctor Who. But Rose pissed me off in this episode. She acted so entitled and bratty and jealous and showed just how immature she really was. Which really put me off this chapter. I haven't watched Classic Who, but I'll take your word for it that Sarah Jane and the Doctor just had a platonic relationship. I wouldn't want to make them romantic anyway. But New Who did make it seem as if Sarah Jane was in love with the Doctor and she just fell for him all over again when she saw him as the 10th Doctor. But, hey, that doesn't affect the way I write my story. The Doctor's in love with Rhea and he's been that way for a very long time. No one else would have a chance and I'm so glad you liked this chapter!
beulah2013: Okay, so as I told you already, Rhea will be sticking around for the whole Reinette episode. She won't be an imaginary friend along with the Doctor to Reinette, so she'd probably be taking Rose's role in that whole episode. As for the kiss and the jealousy, well, I'm keeping my mouth shut on it for now ;)
Pompeii1224: I don't know if I'd write her history with the Doctor (1-8), but she was definitely there through all those times.
DRWfangirl: Thank you so much and that's fine. Seriously, I don't expect people to stick a reviewing schedule. Review whenever you want. I cherish every single one. No, not really. Rhea was kind of comfortable using a gun before she met her husband, but everything he did to her consolidated her desire to become skilled at using one. I have no idea when I'd be doing Classic Who. As you can probably see, I kind of suck with the updating. And I haven't even watched Classic Who yet. But if I do end up watching it, it will take me ages to come up with an effective way to take things with Rhea and the Doctor. So, who knows?
PrincessMagic: I'm glad you did!
Audrie-13: I think that's what sucks about this episode. They used a great woman like Sarah Jane who wouldn't, on an ordinary basis, get sucked into this jealous drama for the purposes of propping up the Doctor/Rose relationship. Rose actually was much more jealous than Sarah Jane. Sarah was willing to put it aside, but Rose started on her again. Well, I'm glad I managed to change your opinion. I had no idea I could do that, to be honest. I am so glad you liked the chapter, hun :)
Lady Artimes Blaine: See, that's what I was thinking too. Wouldn't that be the epic-est thing to write though? A rewrite of New Who where 9 finds Donna instead of Rose and he starts to fall for her and he regenerates into 10 and they're still in love and that would be so awesome. That is so going on my to-do list. Hopefully, you like the ending to School Reunion :)
LookAliveSunshine03: Thanks, hun :) I'm so glad you liked the chapter. I'm a huge of 10's episodes, but 9's still my favourite Doctor. I'm glad you liked my little twist to the dynamic between Rose and Rhea and Sarah and the Doctor. I felt like Rhea and the Doctor were the parents, trying to make the little kids (Rose and Sarah) stop kicking each other. I have no clue about Classic Who. One, I've not actually watched any of Classic Who, so that itself will take me ages to do. And two, by the time I finish Classic Who and actually figure out how Rhea would fit into it, it would be ages. Frankly, I have my hands full with New Who, but there will be allusions to some of the Classic Who episodes as I go along.
Marmalade1512: Thank you so much!
vic90: Well, I've already written Human Nature/The Family of Blood and I've planned what I want to happen in The Girl in the Fireplace, so let's just say that even if their relationship seems a bit rocky in those times, the Doctor and Rhea will still pull through.
Impactblue: I am so glad you liked it. I know, I miss 11 too. But he's coming up soon, I promise. I could never forget him. I love him too much. Nothing with Amy and Rory just yet, but I'm sure I can work an episode with them in it as soon as I finish the first season finale I'm going to cover. Probably not those episodes, but I may be tempted to do Amy's Choice earlier than The Vampires of Venice because the latter would have to include the 'Amy kissing the Doctor bit' as well. And to be honest, I have no idea what to do with Amy's Choice. But, who knows? I'll have fun with it.
Dementra: Thank you so much! That is such a great compliment. I was really worried that I was doing exactly that, but your review makes me feel really good about my story. I'm trying to establish a relationship between each of the companions and my OC so it doesn't detract from the actual episodes and make the companions useless now with Rhea's appearance in them. And thank you so much for letting me know about the interludes. Partly the reason why I like to keep it vague is that Rhea doesn't really see the Doctors differently. I mean, she's attracted to them in different ways, but she can see that they're fundamentally the same person. But I can understand why it would confuse people about whom exactly Rhea is with. So, I will endeavour to make it much clearer. Thank you so much for your feedback. It was really appreciated.
TheGirlWhoLives: No, it's totally fine. I can understand that sometimes people just don't feel like it. I'm the same way. I think Rhea's just over the bitchy, Mean Girl jealous drama and she has a low tolerance for it in others. She didn't see how productive it was for Rose and Sarah Jane to go at each other, so she put a stop to it right off the bat. Rose irritated me in this chapter because people act like she was entitled to be jealous when she really wasn't. The Doctor was 900 years old. Was she really expecting to be the only person he travelled with in nine centuries? That seems way too delusional. And while Sarah did start the first fight, Rose started the second one in the computer room when all Sarah wanted to do was bury the hatchet. She just sounded all immature and possessive when she had no right to. The Doctor and her hadn't made any commitment to each other and if she could make plans to go to a hotel with Mickey, the Doctor could do whatever he wanted. Anyway, I'm so glad you liked it and hopefully you like this one too!
TwitchPotter: I'm so glad you love Rhea. Did you read the ending to Chapter 59? Because that might clear up some things about Rhea's past. But I'm so glad you like the story so much and it falls into the category where you just can't put it down. That is seriously so awesome. Hopefully, you like this chapter just as much!
tarebear827: Thank you so much! I'm so glad you liked it!
Warnings: Language, Dark Themes etc. As far as I know, I don't think there's no sexual content in this chapter.
School Reunion: Remember the Titans
They cherry-pick the best bits from the people they destroy. That's why I didn't recognize them. The last time I saw Krillitanes, they looked just like us except they had really long necks." The Doctor explained in one breath.
Rhea frowned. "What are they doing here?" She asked, carefully, knowing that she would hate it no matter what reason the Doctor came up with.
The Doctor stared at Rhea with horror. "It's the children. They're doing something to the children."
Mickey and Sarah Jane hoisted K9 into the boot of the car.
"So, what's the deal with the tin dog?" Mickey asked.
Sarah Jane shrugged. "The Doctor likes travelling with an entourage. Sometimes they're humans, sometimes they're aliens, and sometimes... they're tin dogs." Mickey smiled at that and laughed, slightly. "What about you? Where do you fit in the picture?"
Mickey's eyes lit up with enthusiasm. "Me? I'm their Man in Havana. I'm the technical support, I'm..." He paled, the truth finally hitting him. "Oh, my God. I'm the tin dog."
Mickey sat down in shock and Sarah Jane grinned and patted him on the shoulder.
The Doctor rushed out of the chip shop, followed by Rhea.
"So, how many people have there been, travelling with you?"
"You mean 'travelling with us' and does it really matter?" The Doctor asked, sharply, sensing judgment from her.
Rhea remembered seeing Rose's forlorn gaze back in the chip shop, staring at the Doctor, Rhea and Sarah Jane with jealousy. She remembered the way the Doctor had treated Martha. She remembered the way he had looked down at her for her brutal tendencies back on the Byzantium.
"Yeah, it does, if it means that you're planning to ditch me once you've found my replacement." Rhea snapped.
The Doctor paused and stared at her, horrified. "What the hell is wrong with you?" He growled. "What the hell did I do to make you think I would do that to you?"
Rhea paled, staring at him.
"Seriously, after being with me for all these months, and that's what you think of me? That I'd be able to find a replacement for you?" The Doctor whispered. "You-you don't exist anywhere else in the universe. You're smart and sarcastic and beautiful and fearless and compassionate, sweet on occasion and you can be a bitch when you want to be. You're completely unique. You're my Rhea. Why on Earth would I ever ditch you?"
"And Rose? She's the just the latest in a long line, isn't she?" Rhea's voice trembled with the force of her anger.
"As opposed to what?" The Doctor asked, hurt.
"Oh, don't give me those sad eyes." Rhea snarled. "I've seen it, you narcissistic jerk. I've seen what you do to these poor girl who you deign are good enough to travel with you. If you can damage the psyche of innocent girls, why the hell would I not believe that you would leave me behind someday?"
The Doctor stared at her, looking angry and hurt. She had never spoken this way to him before. He had seen her angry, and furious and vengeful. She had thrown things at him and she had almost punched him a few times, but she had never sounded so broken and livid.
"I know I'm not good enough for you…" Rhea whispered. She paused and dragged her hand over her face, biting the pink flesh of her lower lip. "And I've accepted that." She said, reluctantly. "You've taken me to the year five billion, but seeing Sarah Jane and Rose now… this is really seeing the future for us, isn't it? You just leave people behind. Isn't that what you're going to do to me?" She asked, softly. "Do we look like dolls to you? Do you just… play with us and put us away when you're done?" She said, sharply
"No." The Doctor snapped. "Not to you. Never to you. Not to Rose."
"But Sarah Jane... you cared about her the way you care about Rose, and now... you never even told me about her. Why not?" Rhea asked, earnestly.
The Doctor cursed under his breath and ran a hand through his hair. "I don't age. I regenerate. But humans decay. They wither and they die. Imagine watching that happen to someone who you-"
The Doctor stopped in his tracks, realizing what he was about to admit. No. Not now. She can't know now.
"What, Doctor?" Rhea murmured, placing a hand on his arm.
The Doctor stared at her intensely, as if willing her to understand. "They can spend the rest of their lives with me." Rhea stared up at him, her eyes sad and sweet. "But I can't spend the rest of mine with them. I have to live on. Alone. That's the curse of the Time Lords."
"Time Lord."
The Doctor and Rhea heard someone speak and looked up to see Mr Finch and a Krillitane on the roof. It screeched and swooped down towards them. Both of them ducked, but then it just flew away.
"Was that a Krillitane?" Sarah Jane asked, rushing up to them.
"But it didn't even touch her, it just flew off! What did it do that for?" Rose exclaimed, coming out of the chip shop.
The Krillitane flew off into the night, screeching.
The next morning, the school bell rang and the children flocked towards the building. The Doctor, Rhea, Mickey, Rose and Sarah Jane got out of Sarah Jane's car and strode towards the school. The Doctor paused for a moment to give them all instructions.
"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." Rose held her hand out, but instead of handing his sonic screwdriver to Rose, he handed it to Sarah Jane, making Rose grimace. "Mickey, surveillance. I want you outside."
Mickey frowned. "Just stand outside?" He asked, a little put out.
Sarah Jane chucked him her car keys. "Here, take these, you can keep K9 company." She said, warmly.
"Don't forget to leave the window open a crack." The Doctor reminded him.
"But he's metal!" Mickey said, confused.
"I didn't mean for him." The Doctor said, and winced when Rhea smacked him upside the head.
"Don't be rude." She scolded, making him nod, reluctantly.
"What're you gonna do?" Rose asked them.
The Doctor looked down at Rhea. "I think it's time we had a word with Mr Finch."
A pair of shiny black shoes walked down a crowded corridor. They paused a moment. Mr Finch looked up and saw the Doctor and Rhea leaning over the stairwell, looking down at him and making no attempt to disguise the fact. After giving them a hard stare, Mr Finch went on his way and the Doctor and Rhea continued on up the stairs.
Rhea shoved open the door to the swimming poor room, where Mr Finch was waiting for her and the Doctor on the opposite side of the water.
"Who are you?" The Doctor asked, coldly.
"My name is Brother Lassa. And you both?" Mr Finch asked.
"The Doctor, and this is Rhea. Since when did Krillitanes have wings?"
"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 you've shaped human." The Doctor grimaced.
Mr Finch shrugged. "A personal favourite, that's all."
"And the others?" Rhea asked, referring to those creatures that were hanging from the ceiling last night.
"My brothers remain bat form. What you see is a simple morphic illusion. Scratch the surface and the true Krillitane lies beneath." All three began to walk slowly towards the same side of the pool. "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. The last."
The Doctor ignored him. "This plan of yours, what is it?"
"You don't know." Mr Finch smirked.
"That's why we're asking." Rhea said, pointedly.
She could practically feel the tension rising in the room as the Doctor and Mr Finch squared off against one another.
"Well, show me how clever you are. Work it out."
"If I don't like it... then it will stop." The Doctor warned.
Mr Finch considered the Doctor, carefully. "Fascinating. Your people were peaceful to the point of indolence. You seem to be something new. Would you declare war on us, Doctor?"
"I'm so old, now. I used to have so much mercy." The Doctor said to himself, quietly. His eyes fell onto Mr Finch, his dark eyes boring into Mr Finch's. "You get one warning. That was it." He said, simply. And he grabbed Rhea's wrist, turning his back on Mr Finch and beginning to walk away.
"But we're not even enemies. Soon... you will embrace us." The Doctor turned back. "The next time we meet, you will join with me. I promise you."
Mr Finch walked past the Doctor and Rhea with a knowing smile on his face and left the pool. The Doctor and Rhea watched him go suspiciously, brow furrowed.
"Now, that has to be the creepiest confrontation I've ever had." Rhea muttered.
Mickey wound the car window down, folding his arms and looking extremely grumpy.
"'Surveillance'. If you ask me, it's just another way of saying "go sit at the back of the class with the safety scissors and glitter"." He grumbled to himself.
He glanced at K9 who was not switched on but had his head poked through the gap between the two front seats. He sighed.
"That'd be me talking to a metal dog, then."
Sarah Jane was crouched beneath one of the computer desks and was desperately trying to switch on the sonic screwdriver. She came out, hitting the keyboard, and stared at the sonic screwdriver. Rose sat with her legs crossed on one of the chairs.
"It's not working!" Sarah Jane exclaimed, grimacing.
Rose rolled her eyes. "Give it to me."
Rose took the sonic screwdriver off Sarah Jane, rolling her eyes again, and ducked underneath the desk.
"Used to work first time in my day." Sarah Jane remarked.
"Well, things were a lot simpler back then." Rose smirked.
She turned the sonic screwdriver on and it whirred and buzzed as she held it to the back of the computer.
"Rose, can I give you a bit of advice?" Sarah Jane asked, hesitantly.
Rose's lips tightened and she straightened up. "I've got a feeling you're about to." She said through gritted teeth.
"I know how intense a relationship with the Doctor and Rhea can be, and I don't want you to feel I'm intruding-" Sarah Jane attempted to say, softly.
"I don't feel threatened by you if that's what you mean." Rose scowled, although she knew she was lying through her teeth.
Sarah Jane nodded, pleased to hear it. "Right. Good. Because, I'm not interested in picking up where we left off."
And she was telling the truth, she had made a life for herself, the Doctor and Rhea never actually far away from her thoughts. A part of her had always held her back from doing anything permanent, the same part that had always hoped that the Doctor and Rhea would come back for her. But now, after seeing them after so long, she knew those days were gone and would never come back. And she could be okay with it. She would miss them. They had been the most extraordinary friends she had ever had, but she could survive without them.
Sarah Jane's comment was the straw that broke the camel's back for Rose. Jealousy rushed through her skin, blinding her for a moment through the intensity.
"No? With the big sad eyes and the robot dog? What else were you doing last night?" She asked, sharply.
Sarah Jane winced. "I was just saying how hard it was adjusting to life back on Earth..." She trailed off.
Rose stood and walked away a few paces. "The thing is... when you two met... they'd only just got rid of rationing. No wonder all that space stuff was a bit too much for ya." She said, mock-innocently.
Sarah Jane walked up to her, seething. "I had no problem with space stuff. I saw things you wouldn't believe." She said, indignantly.
"Try me." Rose said, coldly.
"Mummies." Sarah Jane said, proudly.
"I've met ghosts." Rose said, triumphantly.
"Robots. Lots of robots." Sarah Jane crowed.
"Slitheen. In Downing Street." Rose gloated.
"Daleks!"
Rose snorted. "Met the Emperor."
"Anti-Matter monsters."
"Gas-masked Zombies."
"Real living dinosaurs!"
"Real living werewolf!"
"The Loch Ness Monster!"
Rose paused, not having expected that one. "... Seriously?"
Sarah Jane covered her mouth with her hands and shook her head. Rose smiled and laughed, slightly.
"Listen to us. It's like me and my mate, Shireen. The only time we fell out was over a man, and... we're arguing over the Doctor."
Sarah Jane smirked. "If Rhea were here, she'd tell us to pick a better guy to fight over."
Sarah Jane relaxed against a desk, and Rose looked at her for a moment.
"They're distant from each other." Sarah Jane said, wistfully. "She stays a few inches away from him all the time. The Rhea I knew couldn't bear to be away from him longer than a few minutes. She looked lighter and she smiled all the time." She whispered.
"I know." Rose cracked a sad smile. "I hate what happens to her." She shook her head. "She's never consistent. I can see that it gets to them all the time. The Doctor kept looking at Rhea like he expected her to have a different reaction to seeing you again. And then, sometimes, I see Rhea staring at the Doctor, remembering something with this little smile on her face, or laughing at something the Doctor says that we don't find funny, until the Doctor realises that he hasn't done it yet. Both of them have all of these experiences with each other that the other hasn't done yet, and I think it gets to them every now and then."
Sarah Jane remembered what it was like to see the Doctor and Rhea together when she was younger. How in tune with each other they were, they moved around each other like a well-oiled machine. On occasion, she even heard them finish each other's sentences. She hated seeing them like this now. They were so tentative around one another. Rhea had walls the size of the Great Wall of China up around her heart and the Doctor kept working his way around her, looking as though he was afraid she would break at the slightest touch.
"With you, did he do that thing where he'd explain something at like, ninety-miles-per-hour, and you'd go, "what?" and he'd look at you like you'd just dribbled on your shirt, and then Rhea would say to him 'okay, honey, I know you think you are explaining yourself, but you're really not'?"
Sarah Jane laughed. "All the time!"
They both broke out into giggles.
"Do they still stroke bits of the TARDIS?" Sarah Jane snickered.
Rose snorted. "Yeah! Yeah! They do! I'm like, "do you three wanna be alone?"
They laughed madly, and then the Doctor and Rhea walked in.
"How's it going?" The Doctor asked, cheerfully.
The sight of the Doctor and Rhea made them laugh even harder.
"What? Listen, I need to find out what's programmed inside these." The Doctor told them, oblivious to what was so funny to them.
Sarah Jane and Rose took no notice of him and fell about laughing, hysterically, Rose pointing the sonic screwdriver at him.
The Doctor looked genuinely confused. "What? Stop it!"
"Something tells me that they're laughing at us and not with us." Rhea muttered to the Doctor.
The children clamoured to get inside the IT Suite occupied by the Doctor, Rhea, Rose and Sarah Jane. Rhea shooed them away, not even feeling the slightest bit guilty.
"No, no, this classroom's off limits, boys and girls. Make your way over to the South Hall. Now, get out of here, South Hall!"
The children moved away and Rhea shuts the door with a satisfied smile.
"I'm so good." She shook her head, marvelling at herself.
The Doctor, sonic screwdriver clenched between his teeth, ripped a handful of wires out of a computer and hung them around his neck as he ran the sonic screwdriver along the back of the computer. Sarah Jane watched him, looking slightly anxious.
"I can't shift it." The Doctor muttered under his breath.
"I thought the sonic screwdriver could open anything!" Sarah Jane protested.
Rhea frowned. "Actually, it can't open a deadlock seal." She commented, remembering what the Doctor had told her back on the Byzantium.
The Doctor nodded. "There's gotta be something inside here. What're they teaching those kids?"
"You wanted the program, well, there you go." Rhea muttered.
For every computer in their IT Suite was also displaying the code, including the large screen at the front of the room.
The Doctor stared at it, intensely. "Some sort of code..."
Kenny ran down the corridors, looking through every window and seeing the same thing, hordes of children engrossed in the computers. Terrified, he ran back in the direction he came from and down the stairs. He tried the main doors at the front of the school, but they were sealed shut. He rattled them, desperately trying to get them to open. Mickey noticed him and immediately got out of the car, walking over to the young boy.
The Doctor stared at the code, his eyes wide and mouth slightly open.
"No... no, they can't be..." He whispered to himself in disbelief.
"What?" Rhea looked at the Doctor, worry clear in her eyes. "What is it?"
"They've taken them all!" Kenny shouted at Mickey through the closed doors to the school
Mickey frowned. "What?"
"They've taken all the children!" Kenny repeated.
Mickey ran back to the car and ripped the blanket off K9. He pressed random buttons frantically, trying to get K9 to work.
"Come on, I need some help!" He growled, furiously.
He whacked K9 on the head, looking away helplessly when nothing changed in K9.
"System restarting. All primary drives functioning." Suddenly, K9 wheezed.
"You're working! Okay, no time to explain, we need to get inside the school. Do you have like, I dunno, a lock picking device?" Mickey asked.
"We are in a car." K9 told him.
Mickey rubbed the back of his beck. "...Maybe a drill attachment?"
"We are in a car." K9 repeated.
Mickey growled in annoyance. "Fat lot of good, you are." He hissed.
"We are in a car."
Mickey's eyes widened in realisation. "Wait a second... we're in a car." He turned around. "Get back!" He shouted at Kenny.
Kenny squinted through the window, wondering what Mickey was about to do.
"The Skasis Paradigm. They're trying to crack the Skasis Paradigm." The Doctor whispered, horrified.
"What the hell is the Skasis Paradigm?" Rhea asked, crossing her arms over her chest.
"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 explained, grimly.
Rose narrowed her eyes and looked at the Doctor. "What, and the kids are like a giant computer?"
The Doctor nodded. "Yes." He paced around, the pieces of the Krillitanes' plan falling into place. "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."
Rose frowned. "But that oil's on the chips. I've been eating them." She pointed out.
"What's fifty-nine times thirty-five?" The Doctor asked her, suddenly.
"Two thousand and sixty five." Rose snapped out an answer.
The Doctor sent her a 'that says it all' look.
Rhea's eyes widened. "Madre de dio." She whispered.
"But why use children? Can't they use adults?" Sarah Jane asked, confused.
The Doctor shook his head. "No, it's gotta be children. The God-maker needs imagination to crack it. They're not just using the children's brains to break the code... they're using their souls."
Behind them, Mr Finch walked into the room.
"Let the lesson begin." Mr Finch said, ominously.
The Doctor and Rhea turned to face him.
Mr Finch approached them slowly. "Think of it, Doctor, with the Paradigm solved, reality becomes clay in our hands. We can shape the universe and improve it."
The Doctor snorted. "Oh, yeah? The whole of creation with the face of Mr 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?" Rhea asked, sceptically.
"No… someone like you." Mr Finch said, addressing the Doctor. The Doctor remained silent, having not expected this answer. "The Paradigm gives us power, but you could give us wisdom. Become a God. At my side. Imagine what you could do - think of the civilizations you could save. Perganon, Assinta... your own people, Doctor. Standing tall. The Time Lords... reborn."
The Doctor still remained silent, staring into Mr Finch's eyes and not looking away.
"Doctor, don't listen to him." Rhea said, quietly.
Mr Finch turned to her. "And you could be with him throughout eternity. Young... fresh... never wither, never age... never die. Their lives are so fleeting. So many goodbyes. How lonely you must be, Doctor. Join us."
The Doctor had a faraway look in his eyes, looking so terribly tempted by Mr Finch's offer. "I could save everyone..."
"Yes."
"I could stop the war…" The Doctor whispered.
A small smile graced Finch's lips, seeing that he was managing to get through to the Doctor.
"No." Rhea said, coldly, snapping the Doctor out of his glaze. "The universe has to move forward. Pain and loss, they define us as much as happiness or love." She whispered, a faraway look entering her eyes.
Mr Finch closed his eyes.
Sarah Jane smiled, sadly. "Whether it's a world, or a relationship... everything has its time. And everything ends." She whispered.
The Doctor stared for a few more seconds and Rhea's and Sarah Jane's words looked as though they strengthened his resolve. He gritted his teeth, picked up a chair and hurled it through the screen displaying the code, which smashed into tiny glass pieces.
"Out!" The Doctor shouted.
Mickey had started the car and was now driving it straight towards the school, right through the front doors, smashing the windows. He leapt out, haphazardly.
"Come on!" He shouted to Kenny.
He and Kenny met the Doctor, Rhea, Rose and Sarah Jane at the bottom of the stairs.
"What is going on?" Mickey asked them, confused.
The three Krillitanes half flew, half groped their way along the corridor in their direction. The Doctor and the others turned on their heels and ran in the opposite direction. The Krillitanes separated at the end of the corridor, and only one pursued them, fervently. They ran into the canteen and tried the doors on the other side, but they were locked. The Doctor reached inside his coat for the sonic screwdriver, just as Mr Finch burst through the doors followed by several of the Krillitanes.
"Are they my teachers?" Kenny asked, sceptically.
"Yeah. Sorry." Rhea shrugged, not having the patience to put it more delicately.
"Leave the Doctor and his woman alive. As for the others... you can feast." Mr Finch told his brothers.
The Krillitanes swooped down on them, like a magpie on an unsuspecting child. Rhea frantically tried to beat them off with a chair. The others screamed and tried to duck out of the way. When suddenly, one of the Krillitanes was hit with a beam of red light and fell to the floor, dead, K9 standing right behind it, its laser pointed at the Krillitanes. Mr Finch roared with rage.
"K9!" Sarah Jane shouted with glee.
"Suggest you engage running mode, mistress." K9 commented.
"Come on!" The Doctor shouted. The Doctor and the others ran, and K9 shot at the Krillitanes again and again. "K9, hold them back!" He ordered.
"Affirmative, master. Maximum defense mode!"
The Doctor reached a door and ushered the others through it. "Come on!" He slammed it shut behind them and locked it with his sonic screwdriver.
They stood in the Physics Lab.
"It's the oil. Krillitane life forms can't handle the oil! That's it! They've changed the physiology so often, even their own oil is toxic to them." The Doctor turned to Rose. "How much was there in the kitchens?"
"Barrels of it." Rose told him.
They jumped as the Krillitanes started to pound on the locked door, their claws ripping holes in it.
"Okay, we need to get to the kitchens. Mickey-"
"What now, hold the coats?" Mickey snarked.
"Get all the children unplugged and out of the school. Now then, bats, bats, bats, how do we fight bats?" The Doctor muttered to himself.
Kenny strode over to a fire alarm, broke the glass panel with his elbow and pulled down the lever. The Krillitanes immediately winced and quailed at the shrill sound that permeated the air. The Doctor beamed at the young boy and flung open the door, the Krillitanes being in too much distress to hurt them. He and the others quickly ran past. Finch, gritting his teeth, punched through a wall and ripped out a bundle of wires which cut off the alarm.
The Doctor, Rhea, Rose and Sarah Jane ran swiftly down one corridor.
K9 emerges from a doorway. "Master!"
"Come on, boy! Good boy." The Doctor cooed.
K9 trundled along with them.
"Get after them." Mr Finch growled.
He strode down the staircase, and the other three Krillitanes, having recovered, followed him.
Mickey burst into one of the IT Suites of the school.
"Okay, listen, everyone, we've gotta get out of here." He called out to all of the children.
No one took a bit of notice of him, the children having all been 'plugged into' the computers. Bewildered, Mickey stared at a monitor, then waved his hand in front of a little girl's face, which elicited no response whatsoever.
The Doctor, Rhea, Sarah Jane, Rose, K9 and Kenny finally reached the kitchens. The Doctor immediately held his sonic screwdriver to one of the oil barrels.
"They've been deadlock sealed!" He cursed, trying another. "Finch must've done that, I can't open them." He said, mournfully.
"The vats would not withstand a direct hit from my laser. But my batteries are failing." K9 told him.
"Right. Everyone out the back door. K9, stay with me." The Doctor said, sending a fierce glare to Rhea, asking her silently to go with Sarah Jane, Rose and Kenny, just in case.
Rhea nodded, reluctantly, and she, Sarah Jane, Rose and Kenny ran to the backdoor of the kitchen, leaving the Doctor crouched before K9.
Mickey stood at the head computer, trying to stop the code, but without much luck. He looked very confused and then noticed the protective casing covering the wires, winding around the walls of the room. He followed it and realised that all of the cables led into one plug socket, which he proceeded to pull it out. All of the computers switched off immediately and the socket exploded with sparks of electricity.
"Everyone get out, now!" Mickey shouted, warningly, at all of the children.
The trance broken, the children immediately jumped to their feet and moved towards the door.
"Come on, move! Let's go, let's go!" He shouted, ushering the throngs of children out the door.
The Doctor moved the vats of oil within easy shot of K9.
"Capacity for only one shot, Master. For maximum impact, I must be placed directly beside the vat." K9 told him.
The Doctor rushed over to him, realising what that meant, a sharp pain slicing into him at the thought of losing yet another person. "But you'll be trapped inside." He protested.
"That is correct." K9 said, blankly.
"I can't let you do that." The Doctor said, sharply.
"No alternative possible, Master."
The Doctor looked over his shoulder as he heard the screeching of the Krillitanes in the distance, nearing with every moment. He looked back at K9, realising that there was no other choice, not if they wanted to stop the Krillitanes.
"Goodbye, old friend." The Doctor whispered, mournfully.
"Goodbye Master."
The Doctor smiled, affectionately. "You good dog." He crooned.
"Affirmative."
K9 waggled his mechanical ears and tail. The Doctor placed his hand briefly on K9's head, petting him softly, and then dashed off in the direction of the exit to the school, while K9 trundled off towards the vat. The Doctor emerged outside and slammed the door behind him, locking it with the sonic screwdriver.
"Where's K9?" Sarah Jane asked the Doctor, urgently.
"We need to run." The Doctor said, stiffly, exchanging a look with Rhea that told more than words could say, the latter closing her eyes in momentary grief.
Sarah Jane stood fast. "Where is he?! What've you done?"
The Doctor cursed and grabbed Sarah Jane, pulling her away from the school.
Mickey found himself caught up in the crowd of children running out of the school.
"Come on, guys! Let's go, let's go!" He shouted to all of them.
Suddenly, the school exploded. The children assembled outside all burst into cheer and applause, Rose and Mickey joining in, hugging each other and grinning manically.
"Yes!" Kenny shouted.
A little girl turned to him. "Did you have something to do with it?" She asked, curiously.
"Yeah, I did." Kenny said, sheepishly.
Melissa's mouth dropped open. "Oh my God." She breathed. She turned around. "Kenny blew up the school! It was Kenny!" She shouted to everyone else.
The children cheered even harder and start chanting 'Kenny! Kenny! Kenny!', patting the young boy on the back. Only the Doctor, Rhea and Sarah Jane stood separate from the merriment, Sarah Jane looking distraught as she contemplated the grief of losing her companion.
"I'm sorry." Rhea said, softly.
"It's all right." Sarah Jane waved off, weakly. "He was just a... daft metal dog. Fine, really."
And she burst into tears. Rhea wrapped her arms around her, allowing Sarah Jane to sob into her shoulder, stroking her hair as the Doctor offered whatever comfort he could by holding onto her hair. Rose turned back to look at them, momentarily, an unreadable look flashing across her face, before her gaze was directed upwards with Mickey to look at the crumbling structure of the school.
The next day was beautiful, with the sun shining and birds chirping, and absolutely no clue that an alien race had attempted to redo all of reality and remake it, by converting a bunch of school children into homemade geniuses. Sarah Jane walked up to the TARDIS, which was parked in the middle of a park, looking very unsuspecting. The Doctor and Rhea stepped outside the doors and faced her with identical beaming smiles.
"Cuppa tea?" The Doctor offered.
He and Rhea stepped aside to let Sarah Jane walk through the doors. She took in the interior, wide-eyed, the massive change from the TARDIS she had known overwhelming her. The Doctor and Rhea followed her through and Rhea shut the door behind her. Sarah Jane turned to them.
"You've redecorated!" She exclaimed.
"You should see what it looks like in the future." Rhea winked, playfully, making Sarah Jane laugh.
"Do you like it?" The Doctor asked, hesitantly.
Sarah Jane looked around, smiling sadly. "Oh, I-I do. Yeah. I preferred it as it was, but uh... yeah. It'll do!" She laughed to herself.
"I love it." Rose murmured, staring up at the TARDIS with the exact amount of wonder she had the first time she had walked through those double doors.
Sarah Jane smiled at Rose when she saw her, any past resentment having faded away. "Hey, you, what's forty seven times three hundred and sixty nine?"
Rose shrugged. "No idea. It's gone now, the oil's faded."
"But you're still clever. More than a match for them." Sarah Jane pointed out, warmly, making Rose smile.
"You and me both." Rose said, sweetly.
Sarah Jane nodded. Rhea looked over at the Doctor who was busy fiddling with the computer, her eyes prompting him to say something.
"Doctor..." She stared at him, meaningfully.
The Doctor looked up and realisation dawned in his eyes. He turned to Sarah Jane. "Um, we're about to head off, but... you could come with us." He offered, softly.
He knew exactly why Rhea had asked him to proposition Sarah Jane. Despite what she may think, he did know how to read her. In fact, he probably knew her better than anyone, except for her own mother. He knew that the only reason Rhea had asked him to ask Sarah Jane to travel with them was because she wanted to make herself feel better for abandoning Sarah Jane in her future. He knew Rhea. She pretended to be emotionless and distant and fierce, but that sweet girl who had so much love in her heart that had existed before death and pain was still very much under the surface. She wanted Sarah Jane to feel better. To not feel like she was second best, because it was a feeling that she wouldn't wish on anyone. She wanted Sarah Jane to feel like the Doctor loved her and he did, he loved all of his companions.
Rhea looked at her, smiling expectantly. Sarah Jane looked from happy face to happy face and she shook her head.
"No... I can't do this anymore." Sarah Jane said, softly, and knowing in her heart that it was the right decision to make.
The Doctor's and Rhea's smiles faded slightly.
"Besides, I've got a much bigger adventure ahead! Time I stopped waiting for you and found a life of my own." Sarah Jane exclaimed, excitedly.
"Can I come?" Mickey asked, suddenly.
Sarah Jane looked surprised and confused. Rose, however, knew exactly what he meant and didn't look pleased at all.
Mickey realised what he had said and how it may have been interpreted and stumbled over his next words. "No, not with you, I mean... with you." He gestured to the Doctor and Rhea. "'Cause I'm not the tin dog. And I wanna see what's out there."
Rose mouthed 'no' at the Doctor and Rhea, making the latter frown in disapproval, not understanding why Rose was acting this way about Mickey travelling with them.
"Oh, go on, Doctor, Rhea. Sarah Jane Smith, a Mickey Smith. You need a Smith on board!" She smirked.
The Doctor sighed. "Okay then, I could do with a laugh."
Rhea rolled her eyes.
Mickey laughed in delight, but stopped quickly upon noticing Rose's lack of response and displeased expression.
"Rose, is that okay?" He asked, worriedly.
"No, great. Why not?" Rose asked, sarcastically.
There was a rather awkward silence as Mickey looked very hurt by Rose's disapproval.
"Well, I'd better go." Sarah Jane said, taking Rose aside, while Rhea and the Doctor returned their attention to the computer.
"What do I do?" Rose asked, quietly, glancing at the Doctor and Rhea. "Do I stay with them?" She asked, carefully.
Sarah Jane stared back at her, grimly. "Yes. Some things are worth getting your heart broken for." She said, slowly. She wrapped her arms around Rose. "Find me... if you need to, one day. Find me."
Rose gave her a small smile. The Doctor held open the doors for Sarah Jane, who stepped out of the TARDIS for the last time. The Doctor and Rhea followed her and they stood outside for their final goodbyes.
"It's daft. But I haven't ever thanked you for that time, and like I said, I wouldn't have missed it for the world." Sarah Jane said, softly.
"Something to tell the grandkids." The Doctor joked.
Sarah Jane smiled to herself. "Oh, I think it'll be someone else's grandkids now."
The Doctor looked a bit awkward at the topic of discussion. "Right. Yes, sorry, I didn't get a chance to ask. You haven't... there hasn't been anyone...? You know...?"
Sarah Jane smiled. "Well, there was this man and woman. I travelled with them for a while. But they were a tough act to follow."
She laughed slightly and the Doctor and Rhea smiled softly.
"Goodbye, Doctor, Rhea." Sarah Jane said, wistfully, her shoulders slightly slumping forwards.
"Oh, it's not goodbye-" The Doctor waved off, scoffing.
"Say it, please. This time. Say it." Sarah whispered, harshly, feeling tears sting her eyes.
The Doctor looked straight into her eyes. "Goodbye. My Sarah Jane." He whispered
He threw his arms around her and lifted her right off the ground in a final embrace. He gives her one last smile before heading back into the TARDIS and closing the door behind him, leaving Sarah Jane standing alone with Rhea outside.
"I won't say goodbye to you, Sarah Jane." Rhea murmured, her eyes searching over the weary and sad face in front of her. "I have so much time left with you that it would be wrong to say goodbye now." She smiled to herself and sighed. "You know, Sarah, the hardest thing with what happens to me is meeting all of these people, these wonderful people, who become so close to me so quickly. I never had many friends before I started travelling with the Doctor. But now, I have all of these people in my life at different times who know me so well, and I don't know them at all."
"It must be hard." Sarah Jane whispered.
"It is." Rhea nodded. A smile grew on her lips. "But I don't regret meeting any of these people. It gives me hope of a life that I thought I'd never get back again. Thank you for giving me that hope again, Sarah Jane, and I look forward to getting to know you as well as you know me."
She leaned forward and kissed her cheek, softly, and walked back into the TARDIS.
The engines start up and she walked slowly away, not looking back until it has almost gone, her eyes sparkling with tears that had threatened to spill over for days. The leaves billowed in the breeze created by the TARDIS dematerialising, and Sarah Jane was stunned to see K9 standing where it would have been hidden by the TARDIS' presence.
"K9!" Sarah Jane cried out, overjoyed.
K9 trundled over to her. "Mistress!"
Sarah Jane crouched down in front of the mechanical dog. "But... you were blown up!"
"Master rebuilt me. My systems are much improved with new undetectable hyperlink facilities."
Sarah Jane beamed in the sunlight. "Oh...! He replaced you with a brand new model!"
"Affirmative."
Sarah Jane shook her head, no longer feeling the pain of resentment. "Yep. They do that. Come on, you. Home. We've got work to do."
"Affirmative."
And Sarah Jane and K9 walked off into the sunset.
That night, the Doctor found Rhea sitting in the console room all by herself, sipping on a glass of vodka, a beverage she had somehow found in the TARDIS.
"You know, every time I see you with a drink in your hand, I feel like telling you that you might have alcohol dependency."
Rhea cracked a smile, unwillingly, something which the Doctor could see in the darkness of the console room. "Alcohol isn't a coping method, it's a way of life." She pointed out. "And if you think a glass of vodka is bad, you should've seen me in my bar-hopping days."
"I'm sure I would have disapproved." The Doctor said, cheerfully, taking a seat next to her on the captain's chair.
"Why am I different?" Rhea asked, quietly. She looked up from her drink. "Earlier, you said I was different. Why?"
The Doctor shrugged, keeping his eyes away from her face. He might break. "There's no way to explain it. You know why you're different. You just don't want to think about it." He paused. "I'd never leave you. You've travelled with me as long as I've been in the TARDIS and I intend for you to travel for much longer into my future." He stared at her, intently. "There's something else, isn't there?"
"We left Sarah Jane in Aberdeen." Rhea said, plainly.
"Okay, I'm gonna need you to explain yourself a bit further."
"You have no right do this! You can't just come into people's lives, screw them up and walk away!" Rhea said, coldly, her nails digging into her palms, feeling unwilling tears rise to her eyes.
But she wouldn't let them fall. She didn't cry. She wouldn't let the Doctor make her cry.
"When you say 'people's lives', whose lives do you mean?" The Doctor asked, carefully, turning, his dark brown eyes boring into her green ones. "Tell me the truth, Rhea. There's something else going on here. I need you to be honest with me."
"I left her in Aberdeen. I didn't contact her in twenty years." Rhea whispered.
"No, we left her in Aberdeen. We didn't contact her in twenty years. You haven't done anything yet." He said, pointedly.
"Oh, but I did." Rhea laughed, harshly. "You see what this means? It makes me worse than you. It means that the Rhea that knew Sarah Jane, that cared about Sarah Jane, that left her in Aberdeen, purposely didn't contact her for twenty years."
"You didn't want to disturb the timeline." The Doctor said, reassuringly, a little half-heartedly.
"You see!" Rhea shrieked, throwing herself off the chair and stalking forwards, looking the picture of vicious feline. "Those are stupid, fucking excuses!" Her shoulders slumped, defeated, and she ran her hands through her hair. "I don't like the person I'm going to become. I don't like the woman who abandons her friends in the middle of nowhere and doesn't come back for them. I don't like the woman who doesn't talk to her friend for twenty years and makes her feel like she's worthless, like she's second choice."
"You don't like the person you are when you're with me." The Doctor whispered, reading in between the lines.
Rhea spun around on her heel and stared at him with horror. "No!" She ran her hand through her hair. "Yes!" She stomped her foot. "I don't fucking know!" Her hands dragged over her face. "I can't think straight when I'm around you, Doctor." She said through gritted teeth. "You make me want to do things that I haven't considered in years." She whispered. She licked her lips.
"My hearts beat faster every time I see you. I feel like grinning like an idiot when you smile." The Doctor confessed.
Rhea blinked away the tears, furiously, destroyed a little by his confession. She paused. "How do I look the same to Sarah Jane?" She asked, suddenly.
The Doctor paled. "Spoilers, Rhea." He said, lightly.
She shook her head, half-heartedly, in disbelief, knowing that she should've expected that answer from him.
"I have to be like this, you know." Rhea whispered, half to him and half to herself. "I have to push you away. I'm not made for monogamy, Doctor. If my husband taught me anything, it's that I'm made for sex and not much more." She took a long swig of her drink, relishing in the way the burn down her throat dulled her mind at the edges and made the sick feeling in her stomach fade away. "And seeing Sarah Jane and Rose today… it made me realise that I can be replaced."
"No, you can't-" The Doctor protested, furiously, his eyes burning with anger.
"But I can." Rhea whispered, lightly. She pinched the bridge of her nose. "And that's okay." It really wasn't. "It may not be as easy as it was with Sarah Jane and Rose," She laughed, harshly. "But it can happen. And it really is okay."
Her shoulders slumped and she felt a single tear fall over and slip down her cheek.
"Because the idea of being with you for centuries scares the hell out of me."
She sank back down on the captain's chair and chose to ignore the look of heartbreaking sadness that had appeared on the Doctor's face with her final words. She felt shards of pain slice into her veins and her heart at the thought of hurting him with her words, but she didn't know what else to. She refused to get her hopes up about her relationship with the Doctor. It would only hurt her that much more when he broke her heart. And she refused to let that happen to her again. She sounded like a tease, leading him on and dropping him when it got too much for her. But she really didn't mean to. She just got swept up in the romance of it all.
But romance wasn't her life. Romance didn't exist for her.
Love didn't exist for her.
All there was for her was numbing the pain and trying to get through each day.
"How am I gonna be an optimist about this?"
She sang and let a few tears fall into the vodka as she raised the glass to her lips.
A/N: I am so sorry about all of the angst. I know I keep piling it on there, but it kind of reflects Rhea's mindset. It's like what she said in Chapter 59. She has good days and she has bad days. Unfortunately, School Reunion fell into some of her bad days. It feels like all hope is lost for the Docthea, doesn't it? Don't worry, it'll better then worse and then better, I promise. What the Doctor did to Sarah Jane really hit Rhea had and made her question her self worth in the Doctor's life.
Oh, and by the way, that second last line is a lyric from Bastille's Pompeii.
Anyway, hope you liked the chapter and don't forget to leave a review!