A/N: I'm sorry for being MIA a bit longer than normal. Picking up as many hours as I can at work along with an important exam, add to that an unexpected family emergency, and writing took a backseat the past couple weeks. But, here is the first part of School Reunion! Many have expressed concern since as far back as the first few chapters of Storm of the Wolf that I would change Sarah Jane's character or leave the story out. So, fear no more.
Undercover
John was laughing at a story the Wolf was telling him about one of her misadventures on a planet of very hospitable slime creatures when they were interrupted by his super phone ringing. The Wolf went silent as John pulled it out and checked the caller ID. He grinned when he saw who it was and tilted the screen so the Wolf could see as well.
"Hello, you've reached the good ship TARDIS, here for your space and time travel needs. How may we help you this fine day?" he greeted Kate Stewart cheerily.
"John!" Kate said with what sounded like relief. "Thank God. Could you and the Wolf come to Earth? I think I may have a situation."
"Sure thing. Here, talk to the Wolf." John tossed the phone to the Wolf, who caught it easily and put it to her ear.
"Kate, so good of you to call!" she answered. "Where and when are we headed?" she asked the teen.
"April first, 2006, my place," Kate requested. "I'm on my Easter term break, but some of the local schools aren't off until next week. I think there's something weird going on at one of them, but I haven't even told Father yet."
"We'll be there before you know it," the Wolf promised. Kate thanked her fervently and hung up. The Wolf handed the phone back to John, who had gotten up to move beside her.
"Where are we going?" he asked, re-pocketing the phone.
"Just a few months after the Sycorax at Christmas, the Stewart's. Shall we go and see what's wrong?" The Wolf landed the TARDIS neatly in the Stewart's front yard.
Kate was eagerly waiting for them outside. Once the Wolf and John exited the ship, she bounded up and grabbed the Wolf in a tight hug. When Kate let go of the Wolf, she gave John the same treatment. "I'm so glad you came!" she said excitedly. "Father and Mum are visiting my aunt for the week – left me in charge of watching her flower beds." She eyed the flowers with distaste.
"Ah, yes," the Wolf said. "Doris and her precious – oh no."
"What?" John asked, confused.
"Well, we may have a slight problem," the Wolf admitted.
Kate's eyes widened. "You didn't," she said in disbelief.
"No of course not!" the Wolf protested. "Let's take this discussion inside, shall we?" She tried to usher the other two into the TARDIS.
John craned his neck around the ship to see what the matter was. "Oh, Wolf. Doris is going to kill you," he breathed. The Wolf had managed to land a corner of her ship too close to one of the flower beds, crushing two of the plants beneath it.
"No, she won't," the Wolf denied, "because you and I are going to take care of whatever problem we have very quickly, and be gone before Doris gets home. Isn't that right, Kate?" she called.
Kate looked up from where she was inspecting the pulverized plants. "And leave me to her?" she asked incredulously. "She'll murder me in my sleep for letting two of her begonias come to harm!"
"Can't we just replace them?" John suggested.
"She'll know," Kate whispered ominously.
"Forgetting for the moment the imminent danger we are all in –" the Wolf began as she once again pushed the two into the TARDIS
"Not me, I didn't do anything," John interrupted. "I wipe my hands clean of this situation."
The Wolf ignored him. "Can we actually focus on what we came here for?" she asked Kate. "What's going on? You mentioned a school?"
"Right." Kate got on topic. "One of the local schools – there's something weird going on. I didn't want to call in UNIT. The military would only freak everyone out and tip off anyone who is up to something. And –" the teen blushed a bit, "– I kind of wanted to be able to do something without involving Father. I've been hacking into UNIT's secure files off and on," she rushed to continue, "and I found out some things. Three months ago, there was massive UFO activity. They logged over forty sightings. Lights in the sky, all of it. Just above the school." Kate went over to the console and grabbed the laptop that still lived there, quickly pulling up the UNIT server. "The 'buffalo' password still works – can't believe they haven't thought to change it." She tapped a few more keys and was a met with a large 'Access Denied' sign. "But I can't get any photos or detailed information on the UFO's. It gets all classified and secret by something called Torchwood. Keeps locking me out."
"Hmm," the Wolf pulled out a pair of reading glasses John had never seen before and stuck them on her nose before she took the computer from Kate. John stared at her, trying to figure out why all of a sudden the Wolf needed spectacles.
Although, she does look good with – Nope. John shut that thought down quickly.
"John?" the Wolf asked, looking up at him expectantly.
"Huh? What?" he stuttered unintelligently.
The Wolf rolled her eyes, smiling affectionately. "Did you hear what I just said?"
"Uh, no. Sorry," John apologized, a bit embarrassed.
"I asked, 'How do you feel about getting a job?'" the Wolf repeated.
John pretended to think it over before he shrugged. "I could use the money," he replied with an easy grin.
"When you said 'job'," John growled at the Wolf as he sat down next to her at the lunch table two days later, "I did not expect to be teaching. Composition. You have me teaching Composition. You couldn't have gotten me a spot teaching a subject I have any kind of expertise in? Biology, chemistry, anything else? I haven't had a Composition course in fifteen years!"
The Wolf miserably failed at hiding her smirk. "Don't blame me for the places the school had open," she defended herself.
"Like you didn't have a direct hand in the magical resignation of two teachers on the same day," John hissed back.
The Wolf rolled her eyes. "Oh stop complaining. Could be worse. I could have gotten you a job as a lunch lady." She pointed out a stain on the table. "Could you just? There's a bit of gravy. Just there," she teased. John glared at her, but kept the remainder of his grumblings to himself as they ate their meal. "Do these chips taste funny to you?" the Wolf asked a few minutes later.
"A bit, yeah," John acknowledged. "They're alright, though. Must be a different oil." He snagged a few and chewed them thoughtfully.
The Wolf pushed her tray away, making a face at the offending chips. "It's very well-behaved, this place," she commented, looking around. "I expected at least some rowdy behavior going on. Bullies stealing lunch money, food fight, hoodies with ASBOs. Happy slapping hoodies with ASBOs and ringtones." John gave her a strange look, having no earthly idea what she was talking about. "Huh? Huh?" she nudged. "Oh, yeah. Don't tell me I don't fit in."
John raised his eyebrows and changed the subject. "Okay, but two days we've been here. And I don't know about you, but Composition is not exactly a mind-shattering topic. I haven't noticed anything strange, have you?" he asked in a whisper.
The Wolf nodded. "Yup, Kate was right. She's got good instincts. Boy in class this morning – got a knowledge way beyond planet Earth."
"So what next?"
"We go back to class, keep an eye on the children. If they are the target, we need to figure out why."
John nodded, agreeing. "You done?" He indicated her lunch tray.
"Yeah, thanks."
John piled her tray on top of his and went to return them both to the kitchens. Some of the lunch people were carefully moving a large barrel with strange symbols on its side. They were fully equipped with breathing masks and heavy duty protective gauntlets.
"Careful, keep it steady," one warned. "Don't spill a drop." The cart rattled. "I said, keep it steady. That's it. Easy now. Steady." They moved it safely into a back room.
John curiously watched their odd behavior, but moved on. As he dropped the trays off with the rest, his cell phone rang. He moved to an out of the way corner to take Kate's call. "What have you got?" he asked.
"Confirmation," Kate answered. She was currently holed up in the TARDIS with a computer, the ship keeping her company as she searched the web. "I still can't get into anything locked by Torchwood, but UNIT did confirm the UFO sightings as legitimate before it all became classified. As far as I can tell, they think it was a harmless visit and the aliens – whoever they were – didn't stay for long or even land."
"Yeah, but I'll tell you what. Three months ago, turns out all the kitchen staff were replaced," John informed her. "And this lot are weird. Plus, they have a bunch of new teachers in the Maths department."
"See?" Kate said triumphantly. "There's definitely something going on."
"Yeah, the Wolf confirmed it. She thinks maybe one or more kids are the target." John was interrupted as a second barrel the lunch crew was carting in toppled over. One of the women was splashed and immediately started screaming. "I've got to go," John said quickly and hung up.
"Get her up, get her up!" one of the crew yelled as they hauled the now smoking woman to her feet and pulled her into a back room. John tried to follow, but his way was blocked. "What're you doing?" the woman in charge asked.
"I have medical training, I can be of assistance," John told her, trying to get past.
The lunch lady blocked his way again. "No need. She's quite alright." There was a sudden scream and then it was quiet. "It's fine," the woman excused. "She does that." She went into the room and closed the door before shutting the blinds so John couldn't see in. John just stood in front of the door for a moment, utterly confused. He was going to have to tell the Wolf about this later.
"Yesterday, I had a twelve year old girl give me the exact height of the Walls of Troy in cubits," a teacher called Parsons told the Wolf.
"And it's ever since the new headmaster arrived?" the Wolf confirmed.
Parsons lowered his voice. "Finch arrived three months ago. Next day, half the staff got the flu. Finch replaced them with that lot, except for those two teachers you and McCrimmon replaced, and that was just plain weird. Her winning the lottery like that, and the other inheriting a bunch of money."
"How's that weird?" the Wolf played innocent.
"She never played. Said the ticket was posted through her door at midnight. And he'd never heard of the relative that left him the money."
The Wolf nodded. "Hmm. It's a funny old world, that's for sure."
Their conversation was interrupted by the arrival of the headmaster, Mr. Finch himself. "Excuse me, colleagues," he called. "A moment of your time." Talk died down as Finch turned to reveal a middle-aged woman standing behind him. "May I introduce Sarah Jane Smith. 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." With a cool smile, he left the room.
The Wolf's eyes widened at the sight of her old companion, a feeling of nostalgia hitting her hard. She hadn't seen Sarah Jane in well over four hundred years, but she still remembered their adventures together fondly. Sarah had always been one of her favorite companions and friends. The Wolf had actually been thinking about her every so often more recently – John reminded her of Sarah so much sometimes. Their love of adventure, their kindness and compassion – they were too similar. The Wolf turned away so Sarah wouldn't see that she had been staring.
"Hello," an instantly recognizable voice greeted from behind her a few moments later.
The Wolf spun around, the close view of Sarah almost taking her breath away. "Oh, I should think so," she murmured with a delighted grin.
Sarah Jane nodded uncertainly at the odd greeting. "And you are?"
"Hmm? Oh!" the Wolf exclaimed. "Kaylee Wolf, physics. Nice to meet you!"
Sarah Jane started at the familiar name, but took the Wolf's proffered hand. "Wolf," she murmured. "I used to have a friend who went by that name."
The Wolf grinned. "Then I'm sure they were a lovely person. Goes with the name."
"Well she was certainly a very uncommon – but amazing – woman. Nice to meet you."
"Yes, very nice. More than nice. Brilliant," the Wolf said happily.
Sarah Jane stared at her for a moment, unsure of what to make of the Wolf's buoyant attitude. "So, um, have you worked here long?" she finally asked.
"No. Erm, it's only my second day."
Sarah Jane brightened. "Oh, you're new, then. So, what do you think of the school?" she asked in a lower voice. "I mean, this new curriculum? So many children getting ill. Doesn't that strike you as odd?"
The Wolf gave her a sly look. "You don't sound like someone just doing a profile," she answered conspiratorially.
Sarah leaned back and shrugged. "Well, no harm in a little investigation while I'm here," she excused.
The Wolf grinned. "No. Good for you." Sarah Jane nodded and walked away from the strange woman to question other teachers. "Good for you," the Wolf said to herself. "Oh, good for you, Sarah Jane Smith."
Kate followed the Wolf and John closely as they snuck out of the TARDIS and into the hallways of the school after dark that night. "Oh, I am being such a bad influence on you Kate," the Wolf muttered. "The Brig is gonna kill me. After Doris is through, of course."
"Are you kidding?" Kate denied. "This is the most fun I've had since Christmas! Cambridge is boring compared to hanging out with you two."
"Just proving her point," John interjected in a sing-song tone.
"I'll tell you what, though," Kate said quietly, looking around at the empty school, "I don't like schools at night. Never have. It just feels wrong. You know, when I was a kid, I used to think all the teachers slept in school. With all the alien stories Father told me, I'm surprised I didn't have more nightmares."
"Alright, team," the Wolf announced before grimacing. "Oh, I hate people who say team. Erm, friends? Romans – no that's not it." John shook his head in amusement. "Anyway," the Wolf got back on topic, "John, go to the kitchen. Get a sample of that oil. From what you said, it could be volatile, so be careful. Kate, the new staff are all Maths teachers. They should all be gone, so it should be safe enough, but I want you to look for anything strange in that department."
"Why do I get the safe job?" Kate complained.
The Wolf shot her a look. "Because you don't have to explain to Doris why her daughter came home with so much as a scratch," she said drily. "I'm going to look in Finch's office. Be back here in ten minutes," she ordered, giving them a firm glance to let them know she meant business. Warning heeded, she turned and walked away.
"You going to be alright?" John asked Kate.
"Yeah, sure. Infiltration and investigation? Some of my favorite pastimes," Kate joked before hesitating. "One thing though. Where's the Maths department?" she asked with a sheepish smile.
John grinned and pointed down a hall. "Down there, turn left, through the fire doors, on the right," he instructed.
"Thank you." Kate marched off with a sharp nod, leaving John to shake his head at how he got involved with two adventure-addicted girls and meander his way to the kitchen.
The Wolf was close to Finch's office when she heard a creaking coming from another room. Cautious, she backed into the shadows to hide her form. Soon enough, a figure emerged from a classroom a few doors down. The Wolf smiled when she saw that it was Sarah Jane. As Sarah crept down the hall, the Wolf tailed her silently, wanting to see what she was up to. Her anticipation rose as Sarah got closer to the storeroom where the Wolf had parked the TARDIS that night. Sarah Jane was checking every room she passed, so it was only a matter of time before she saw the ship again.
Finally, a few minutes later, Sarah opened the right door. The Wolf heard her quiet gasp when she saw the blue police box resting there.
Now was the time. The Wolf stepped out of the shadows.
"Hello Sarah Jane."
A/N: I enjoyed writing this chapter immensely. It was one of my favorites, and I hope I did Sarah Jane and the beginning of the episode justice.