Jace:

I was at school. I hadn't been to school since I was 8, and now I was freaking a year 11. "Good morning, class. Are we sitting comfortably?" Oh, and dad was my teacher."So, physics. Physics, eh? Physics. Physics. Physics! Physics. Physics, physics, physics, physics, physics, physics, physics. I hope one of you is getting all this down, Jacey." Don't you dare. "Okay let's see what you know. Two identical strips of nylon are charged with static electricity and hung from a string so they can swing freely. What would happen if they were brought near each other?" Two of us put our hands up, me and a boy in glasses. And dad knew I knew as he taught me. "Yes, er, what's your name?"

"Milo."

"Milo! Off you go."

He spoke in a dead voice, incredibly matter of factly. "They'd repel each other because they have the same charge."

"Correctamundo!" Oh God. I was teaching him about normal teacher etiquette after this. "A word I have never used before and hopefully never will again. Question two. I coil up a thin piece of microwire and place it in a glass of water. Then I turn on the electricity and measure to see if the water's temperature is affected. My question is this. How do I measure the electrical power going into the coil?" Milo and I again."Someone else, not my daughter. No? Milo, go for it."

"Measure the current and PDs in an ammeter and a voltmeter."

"Two to Milo." I smiled a little, then looked at the smart boy. "Right then, Milo, tell me this. True or false. The greater the dampening of the system, the quicker it loses energy to its surroundings."

No hesitation. "False."

Dads turn. "What is non-coding DNA?"

"DNA that doesn't code for a protein."

My go. "Sixty five thousand nine hundred and eighty three times five?"

"Three hundred and twenty nine thousand nine hundred and fifteen."

We asked one together. "How do you travel faster than light?"

"By opening a quantum tunnel with an FTL factor of thirty six point seven recurring."

Our jaws dropped. But then it was lunch time and we had to go annoy Rose for the second day in a row, as she was a lunch lady. I was having packed lunches though, much to the schools annoyance. Not my fault that they didn't have a vegetarian option.

"Two days." Rose told us later when she came to wipe down the table.

"Sorry, could you just?" I pointed to the table, smiling. "There's a bit of gravy. No, no, just, just there."

She wiped it, but only because she had to. "Two days, we've been here."

"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. And that's Jace's level." Hey, I was a Time Lord, remember?

Rose wasn't all to bothered about this. "You eating those chips?"

"Yeah, they're a bit different." I wouldn't know.

She sat down with us, grabbing one and taking a bite. "I think they're gorgeous. Wish I had school dinners like this." It was gross and coated in animal fat.

"It's very well behaved, this place." More interested in the chips. "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." I could do that pretty easily.

Then the head dinner lady came over to tell off Rose. "You are not permitted to leave your station during a sitting."

"I was just talking to this teacher and his daughter." We waved. "He doesn't like the chips. And you don't have any vegetarian food."

She wasn't impressed. "The menu has been specifically designed by the headmaster to improve concentration and performance. Now, get back to work."

"See?" Rose asked, walking back to the serving hatch. "This is me. Dinner lady."

Oh, this was too good to pass up. "I'll have the crumble." It was the only thing I can eat.

"I'm so going to kill you."

I had a free period next, as did dad, so I was allowed to come and sit with him in the main staff room, doing some far too easy biology home work, while Dad spoke to some history teacher. "Yesterday, I had a twelve year old girl give me the exact height of the Walls of Troy in cubits."

"And, it's ever since the new headmaster arrived?"

Parsons nodded. "Finch arrived three months ago. Next day, half the staff got flu. Finch replaced them with that lot, except for the teacher you replaced, and that was just plain weird, her winning the lottery like that."

"How's that weird?" Yes, dad, how was that weird?

"She never played. Said the ticket was posted through her door at midnight." Thanks for waking me up for that by the way, dear father.

He took a mouthful of coffee, pretending to be innocent. "Hmm. The world is very strange."

Then Finch entered, and we all looked at him, dad standing behind my chair protectively, one hand on my shoulder. "Excuse me, colleagues, and Jace, of course. A moment of your time. May I introduce Miss 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."

The man left and dad was staring in wonder at this new comer, a pretty older lady with a shining around her, and she was definitely up to more than just a profile on our esteemed headmaster. "Hello."

"Oh, I should think so." Dad grinned, unable to contain some sort of childlike glee.

"And, you are?"

He was completely out of it, so I spoke. "Oh, um, this is my dad, John Smith, and I'm Jaclyn, but people call me Jace."

Sarah Jane paused for a moment. "John Smith. I used to have a friend who sometimes went by that name."

Dad, what did you do? "Well, it's a very common name." He said and I rolled my eyes.

"He was a very uncommon man. Nice to meet you, both of you."

Dad was still gushing. "Nice to meet you. Yes, very nice. More than nice. Brilliant."

"Er, so, er, have you worked here long?"

"No. Er, it's only my second day. We needed a new school for Jace because she's a little too smart, and I can be a bit over protective."

Sarah blinked a little. "Oh, you're new, then. 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." I smiled a little, hugging my arms around myself, my biology homework already finished.

"Well, no harm in a little investigation while I'm here."

"No. Good for you." She moved away from the scarily grinning dad, who was still staring after her. What was his problem? "Good for you. Oh, good for you, Sarah Jane Smith."

So we finished the day, waited for the night person to head off home, and then went back inside. "Oh, it's weird seeing school at night. It just feels wrong. When I was a kid, I used to think all the teachers slept in school." Rose laughed, looking at all the dark classrooms, kenopsic andfore lone.

"All right, team." Dad said, then made a face. "Oh, I hate people who say team. Er, gang. Er, comrades. 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. I'm going to look in Finch's office with Jace. Be back here in ten minutes."

Then he took my hand and we headed off, in the direction I could see another trail of sound, light blue and like an ocean wave.

It was Sarah Jane, the woman from earlier and who was freaking out over finding the TARDIS. "Hello, Sarah Jane."

"It's you. Oh, Doctor Oh, my God, it's you, isn't it. You've regenerated. And your companion..." Uh, not a companion, Ta.

He nodded, holding me close still. "Yeah. Half a dozen times since we last met."

"You look incredible."

Dad grinned at her. "So do you." Oh for gods sake.

But the woman wasn't all that impressed. "Huh. I got old. What are you doing here? With a school girl." Not a school girl.

"Well, UFO sighting, school gets record results. We couldn't resist. What about you?"

"The same." She laughed. "I thought you'd died. I waited for you and you didn't come back, and I thought you must have died."

He sighed, looking right at her, his warm eyes sad. "I lived. Everyone else died."

"What do you mean?"

"Everyone died, Sarah."

"I can't believe it's you." Mickey screamed. "Okay, now I can!"

Rose ran up then as we were running, me leading as I saw the electric blue of his scream zigzagging through the corridors. "Did you hear that?" Now she saw Sarah Jane. "Who's she?"

"Rose, Sarah Jane. Sarah Jane, Rose."

"Hi. Nice to meet you. You can tell you're getting older. Your assistants are getting younger. Again, I reference the kid, who is actually a student."

Oh, I'd had enough. " I'm not his assistant, and neither is Rose. Jace Smith-Monroe, 57% Time Lord with the ability to manipulate sound. I'm the Doctor's daughter."

And now she raised her eyes at Rose. "No? Get you, tiger."

We found Mickey in the maths department, so at least he didn't get lost, but he was surrounded by rather gross things. "Sorry! Sorry, it was only me. You told me to investigate, so I started looking through some of these cupboards and all of these fell on me."

"Oh, my God, they're rats." Rose grimaced, her nose wrinkling. "Dozens of rats. Vacuum packed rats."

"And you decided to scream." Dad mocked.

"It took me by surprise!"

"Like a little girl?"

"It was dark! I was covered in rats!"

I decided to be a little mean, only because I was frustrated over Sarah Jane, who had waltzed in and dad only had eyes for her, not even Rose. "Nine, maybe ten years old. I'm seeing pigtails, frilly skirt."

"Hello, can we focus?" Rose asked us, because we were getting way of topic. "Does anyone notice anything strange about this? Rats in school?"

Sarah Jane looked at her like she was about 6. "Well, obviously they use them in Biology lessons. They dissect them. Or maybe you and the kid haven't reached that bit yet. How old are you two?"

"Excuse me, no one dissects rats in school anymore." I glared. "They haven't done that for years. Where are you from, the dark ages? I'm 15, but like I'm said, I'm a Time Lord."

Dad was looking a little wary now. "Anyway, moving on. Everything started when Mister Finch arrived. We should go and check his office."

We started walking that way, and I was walking inbetween Rose and Sarah Jane, in a way that wasn't violently hostile, but it would definitely going to end up in a cat fight if the wrong words were said. "I don't mean to be rude or anything, but who exactly are you?"

"Sarah Jane Smith. I used to travel with the Doctor."

"Oh." I frowned in mock puzzlement, walking backwards to look at her. "Well, he's never mentioned you. Only mentioned my mum, Lucie."

Dad realised we were digging him a hole with his white angel Sarah Jane. "Oh, I must've done. Sarah Jane. Mention her all the time."

Rose and I paused. "Hold on. Sorry. Never."

"What, not even once?" She asked us as we went around a corner. "He didn't mention me even once?"

Now that was how you did that, and when we reached the office, Rose and I were a little happy with the corner we'd backed them both into. Never underestimate how I worked, because I got jealous, and she was really just trying to smarm us. "Maybe those rats were food." I muttered, looking in the office.

"Food for what?"

"Rose, you know you used to think all the teachers slept in the school?" Dad asked her, moving me closer to him. "Well, they do."

There were 13 massive bats hanging from the ceiling, and we all ran back out, Mickey terrified. "Iam not going back in there. No way."

"Those were teachers."

Well, surely it was obvious? "When Finch arrived, he brought with him seven new teachers, four dinner ladies and a nurse. Thirteen. Thirteen big bat people. Come on." Dad and I headed back towards the doors, but I shoved my hands into his old leather jackets pockets when he tried to take on.

"Come on? You've got to be kidding!"

"We need the TARDIS. I've got to analyse that oil from the kitchen."

And of course, Sarah Jane came to the rescue there. "I might be able to help you there. I've got something to show you."

She showed us to her car, and dad grinned and laughed at the weird thing in the boot and I could see what was wrong with it. "K9! Jacey Smith, Rose Tyler, Mickey Smith, allow me to introduce K9. well, K9 Mark Three to be precise."

"Why does he look so disco?"

"Oi!" He pouted. "Listen, in the year five thousand, this was cutting edge. What's happened to him?" Could you not see? His battery charger was shot, meaning it was very slowly building up again, as well as the cabling rusting.

"Oh, one day, he just, nothing."

That didn't sound good. She was obviously not looking after it, hence the rust. "Well, didn't you try and get him repaired?"

"Well, it's not like getting parts for a Mini Metro." She snapped at me, as I tried to repair him, but I didn't want to use my ability so close to the school. We could be being watch. "Beside, the technology inside him could rewrite human science. I couldn't show him to anyone."

Now dad was petting the metal dog. "Ooh, what's the nasty lady done to you, eh?"

"Look, no offence, but could you two just stop petting for a minute?" Even Rose was getting annoyed. "Never mind the tin dog. We're busy."

We headed to a chippy, where Sarah Jane and dad started to try and fix K9, as Mickey and Rose got chips. "I thought of you on Christmas Day. This Christmas just gone? Great big spaceship overhead. I thought, oh yeah, bet he's up there."

"Right on top of it, yeah."

"And Jace and Rose?"

"They were there too. Jace spoke for the world, nearly saved them."

She paused for a moment, and I could see the darker blue of hurt in her voice as she continued. "Did I do something wrong, because you never came back for me. You just dumped me."

"I told you. I was called back home and in those days humans weren't allowed. Hell, if they knew Jace existed..." They didn't like humans then. But I was mostly Time Lord.

Dad didn't even look at her. "I waited for you. I missed you."

"Oh, you didn't need me. You were getting on with your life."

"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?" I could see her point.

He finally looked at her. "All those things you saw, do you want me to apologise for that?"

Sarah Jane hesitated for a moment. "No, but we get a taste of that splendour and then we have to go back."

"Look at you, you're investigating. You found that school. You're doing what we always did."

She was really upset and dad wasn't doing anything to try and help. "You could have come back."

"I couldn't."

"Why not?" He didn't answer, and just kept working on completely the wrong part of K9. "It wasn't Croydon. Where you dropped me off, that wasn't Croydon."

He paused and then looked up. "Where was it?"

"Aberdeen."

"Right." He paused again. "That's next to Croydon, isn't it?"

I rolled my eyes at the pair of them, looking at the exact parts of K9 that needed fixing, before pressing my hand to the open, rusted side of him and sent a sonic pulse to repair all of him. "Done."

"Oh, hey. Now we're in business." Dad laughed, kissing my hair. "My clever Jacey."

"Master."

And now he was even more happy. "He recognises me."

"Affirmative. I also recognise your DNA print in the pulse that restored me, Master."

"That was me, K9. I'm Jace."

The tail wagged a little. "Thank you, Mistress Jace."

Dad smiled again, stroking my hair. "Rose, give us the oil."

She came over, looking equally jealous over Sarah Jane. "I wouldn't touch it, though. That dinner lady got all scorched."

"I'm no dinner lady." I couldn't help but giggle, and he shoved me fondly. "And I don't often say that, so shut up, Jace." He smeared a sample on the little probe. "Here we go. Come on, boy. Here we go."

"Oil. Ex ex ex extract. Ana ana analysing." OK, that voice needed a little tweeking.

Mickey was loving it. "Listen to him, man. That's a voice."

"Careful. That's my dog."

"Confirmation of analysis. Substance is Krillitane Oil."

This meant something to dad. "They're Krillitanes."

"Is that bad, dad?" Sarah Jane was still confused over me being his daughter.

He nodded, taking my hand and squeezing it, more for his own piece of mind. "Very. Think of how bad things could possibly be, and add another suitcase full of bad."

"And what are Krillitanes?"

"They're a composite race." He explained, now tracing my Time Lord name lightly over my hand, Calliope. "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?"

I understood that. "It's the children. They're doing something to the children."

We headed back out of the shop and put K9 back in her car, while Rose and I stood with dad. "How many of us have there been travelling with you?"

"Does it matter?"

Rose nodded, not even looking at me. I was proof there was someone before her. "Yeah, it does, if I'm just the latest in a long line."

Dad narrowed his eyes at her. "As opposed to what?"

"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? Because I understood that there was someone else, this Lucie, Jace's mum, but it's been years. I thought there was a break between us, but there's probably been others inbetween."

"No. Not to you. Not to you and Jace."

How could he say that. "But Sarah Jane? You were that close to her once, and now you never even mention her. Why not? You barely ever tell me about mum!"

He looked right at me, his eyes so full of pain. "We don't age. we regenerate, Calliope. But humans decay." Now back at Rose. "You wither and you die. Imagine watching that happen to someone who you-" I got it. It hurt far too much to talk about mum because he loved her, and now he loved Rose.

"What, Doctor?"

"You can spend the rest of your life with us, but we can't spend the rest of ours with you. We have to live on. Alone. That's the curse of the Time Lords." Oh God... and we were the only two left. Forever, I would only constantly have dad, not a friend for longer than 70 years and I would watch them die...

"Time Lords." I heard a voice and looked up as a giant bat swooped down and dad grabbed me, holding me down quickly as it aimed for me.

It didn't touch any of us though. "Was that a Krillitane?"

Rose was stood with her arm around me as dad was looking at it fly off. "But it didn't even touch her. It just flew off. What did it do that for?"

DW

The next morning, we got back to the school, me not in the uniform this time, as I hated it. I hated being the same as everyone else, because part of me had always known I was different through the synaethesia. And now, I knew it was because I was a Time Lord. Jace,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 if Jace can't get through." Rose held out her hand, but Sarah Jane got given the sonic. Smooth. "Mickey, surveillance. I want you outside."

"Just stand outside?"

Sarah threw him her car keys. "Here, take these you can keep K9 company."

It was too good to pass up. "Don't forget to leave the window open a crack."

"But he's metal!"

"I didn't mean for him." I winked and he got the joke before I looked back at dad with a worried expression. "What're you going to do?"

He hugged me quickly and kissed my hair. "It's time I had a word with Mister Finch. Stay safe, Jacey."

We separated, and Sarah was just trying to use the sonic while Rose and I just stood there. I could get through, I just wanted to see what she could do. Which wasn't very much. "It'snot working."

"My turn." I moved her aside, still holding the sonic and used my hands, emitting the right frequencies to get through a couple of fire walls.

"Used to work first time in my day."

Rose rolled her eyes. "Well, things were a lot simpler back then."

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

"I've got a feeling you're about to." I muttered, trying to see what the codes were in hte monitor, tiny little bursts of colour amongst the grey and black static of the screen.

And we were right, she kept talking anyway. "I know how intense a relationship with the Doctor can be, and I don't want you to feel I'm intruding-"

"I don't feel threatened by you, if that's what you mean." Rose told her, and I sat up a little, turning my colours off to see clearer.

"Right. Good. Because I'm not interested in picking up where we left off."

Oh, come on! "No? With the big sad eyes and the robot dog? What else were you doing last night? Because I thought my dad had only been in love twice. Once with my mum and the other..." I trailed off, trying not to look at Rose. "To find out that there could have been countless others..."

She shook her head. "I was just saying how hard it was adjusting to life back on Earth."

"The thing is, when you two met they'd only just got rid of rationing." Rose said, sounding a little peeved herself. "No wonder all that space stuff was a bit too much for you."

And now we were having a bitch off. "I had no problem with space stuff. I saw things you wouldn't believe."

"Try me."

"Mummies."

"I've met ghosts."

"Robots. Lots of robots."

"Slitheen, in Downing Street."

"Daleks!"

I interjected. "I killed the Emperor with sound."

"Anti-matter monsters."

"Gas masked zombies."

"Real living dinosaurs."

"Real living werewolf."

"The Loch Ness Monster!"

Wait, what? "Seriously?" I asked her, losing complete interest in the argument.

Now Rose was laughing a little. "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, and Jace is defending her dad. 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?"

"All the time." Sarah Jane laughed, then shot one back. "Does he still stroke bits of the TARDIS?"

Oh, yes! Yes! "Yeah! Yeah, he does. I'm like, do you two want to be alone? I wouldn't be surprised if the TARDIS was my real mum!"

We couldn't help but start laughing manically, and then dad came in. "How's it going?" We were too busy laughing at him. "What? Listen, I need to find out what's programmed inside these." Nope, too far gone, I couldn't breathe, I was laughing so much. "What? Stop it!" He sounded like a little puppy!

The bell went early for lesson, and that snapped us out of it, as Rose went to stop them all coming in the room, dad and I just trying to get through the seals, but even with both my ability and the sonic, we couldn't, wires looped over the both of us in tangles. "Wecan't shift it."

"I thought the sonic screwdriver could open anything!" Sarah Jane cried, but I sighed, shaking my head.

"Anything except a deadlock seal." I told her, getting frustrated and making a window shatter with a short, sharp burst of high frequency. "There's got to be something inside here. What're they teaching those kids?"

And then the screens burst into life, making us all look at them. "You wanted the programme? There it is."

"Some sort of code." It started to revolve itself, and dad stared, looking like he recognised it. Wel, he was the smartest person alive, he would have. "No. No, that can't be.The Skasis Paradigm. They're trying to crack the Skasis Paradigm."

"The Skasis what?"

He pulled me close, for his own piece of mind and started speaking. "The God maker. The universal theory. Crack that equation and you've got control of the building blocks of the universe. Time and space and matter, yours to control."

"What, and the kids are like a giant computer?"

Wait, I got it, that made sense! "Yes. And their learning power is being accelerated by the oil. That oil from the kitchens, it works as a, as a conducting agent. Makes the kids cleverer. As clever as me."

"But that oil's on the chips." Rose realised. "I've been eating them."

"What's fifty nine times thirty five?"

She answered without hesitation. "Two thousand and sixty five. Oh, my God."

"But why use children? Can't they use adults?" Sarah Jane asked, looking cautiously at me. I hadn't eaten the chips, they weren't veggie.

"No, it's got to be children." Dad told her, and then kept stroking my hair that seemed to be keeping hold of the colours, getting even brighter. "The God maker needs imagination to crack it. They're not just using the children's brains to break the code, they're using their souls."

"Let the lesson begin." We all turned to see Finch in the doorway, smiling at the pair of us. "Think of it, Doctor. With the Paradigm solved, reality becomes clay in our hands. We can shape the universe and improve it."

And that was a good thing? "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, especially your father, 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?"

"No, someone like you and your precious daughter, the Girl of Colours. The Paradigm gives us power, but you could give us wisdom, and a sense of family. Become a God and Godess 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, your mother back with you, with your father. A real family."

Sarah Jane tried to step forward as I thought of mum and Katie, how they didn't deserve to die, how no one had deserved to die. "Doctor, Jace, don't listen to him."

He turned it to hem. "And you could be with them throughout eternity. Young, fresh, never wither, never age, never die. Their lives are so fleeting. So many goodbyes. How lonely you must be, Doctor, and how lonely you will be, Jace. Join us."

"I could save everyone." Dad whispered, his grip tightening on my shoulders, like he was scared to let go incase I ceased to exist. "Icould stop the war, bring back Lucie for Jace, so she had a mum..."

Sarah Jane still wouldn't let us. "No. 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."

God... She was right. It wasn't right, if they hadn't died, I wouldn't have found dad, my real, amazing dad. So I sent a shockwave of low sound at screen, and it smashed it a haze of red. "Out!"

We all got to the running part of the adventure, and Finch called his brethren as Mickey got into the school, a boy with him. Kenny, one of the other veggies. "What is going on?"

But the Krillitanes were coming at the same time and I took Kennys hand, dragging him along to the canteen, closely followed by Finch and some bats. "Are they our teachers?"

"Yeah. Sorry. Oh, and they're not my teachers, they're yours."

"We need the Doctor and Jace alive. As for the others? You can feast." Finch said, and we all ducked under the tables.Krillitanes swoop. They hide under the tables. Suddenly a laser beam fells one of the bats. Finch is furious.)

"Suggest you engage running mode, mistresses." K9 told us, and dad dragged us into the nearest classroom while K9 shot lazers.

"It's the oil." I told them, starting to pace in the class, running my hands through my hair. "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?"

Rose looked eager to help. "Barrels of it."

"Okay, we need to get to the kitchens. Mickey."

He didn't look all that happy. "What now, hold the coats?"

Actually, his job was bloody important. "Get all the children unplugged and out of the school. Now then, bats, bats, bats. How do we fight bats?!" Then I remembered, seeing off all the fire alarms quickly, keeping it going even as we ran through, the sound hurting even us as we ran, aiming for the kitchen.

"Master."

"Come on, boy. Good boy" Dad cooed at the metal dog, before we made it to the kitchen, Mickey going the other way to get the kids out. Though we had a major problem. We couldn't open the barrels of oil. "They've been deadlock sealed. Finch must've done that. I can't open them."

I tried sending a shockwave at it, and felt it respond. It was flammable. "Dad, I can-"

"Jace, no, not a chance."

"The vats would not withstand a direct hit from my laser." K9 then told us, and Dad looked at him. "But my batteries are failing."

He considered it, and then nodded. "Right. Everyone out the back door. K9, Jace, stay with me."

"Capacity for only one shot, Master, Mistress Jace. For maximum impact, I must be stationed directly beside the vat, after Jace has increased the flammability."

Wait, what? No! "But you'll be trapped inside, and I don't have the restraint to do anything but set it off-"

Dad kissed my temple, holding me close. "My Jace, you are amazing. Believe in yourself, because not only are you Bad Wolf, but you're the Girl of Colours. Listen to the world and what it tells you to do."

I took a deep breath and opened my colours out, flinching at the high pitched sonar of the Krillitanes surrounding us, before listening to the oil, using sound to heat it up just to the point of boiling, when I stopped, my head pounding. I'd done too much,

"Goodbye, old friend. You good dog." Dad smiled at the dog, picking me up before starting to run, finding Sarah Jane waiting outside the doors.

"Where's K9?"

He didn't tell her, just kept carrying me. "We need to run."

"Where is he?" She demanded, running anyway. "What have you done!"

And the school went up as we reached the front of the school, paper raining down over all the kids, and they loved it. Kenny got the glory, though he looked over to where I was now stood with dad, leaning against him and I put my finger to my lips. I was never here.

"I'm sorry." Dad told Sarah Jane, who was staring silently away from us, her eyes starting to fill with tears.

She shook her head a little. "It's all right. He was just a daft metal dog. It's fine, really." And then the tears came, and we tried to comfort her, but we'd just let her oldest friend Martyr himself.

DW

"Cup of tea?" I asked her later, with the TARDIS salvaged from the burning school, and we were now not far from Sarah Janes house.

She came inside, and then looked at everything in amazement, before shrugging a little. "You've redecorated."

Dad grinned, eager to have it up to her standard. "Do you like it?"

"Oh, I, I do. Yeah. I preferred it as it was, but er, yeah. It'll do."

"I love it." Rose smiled, and I could still see a little hostility in there, because she was here first. I was just glad that he had loved mum, and she'd not been a one night stand or something.

"Hey, you what's forty seven times three hundred and sixty nine?"

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

Oh, but I was still good at maths. "17343"

That made her laugh. "Oh, you are definitely your fathers daughter. Clever. More than a match for him."

I nodded, really liking her now. "You and me both. Dad?"

He blinked like a deer in the headlights for a moment, before remembering "Er, we're about to head off, but you could come with us."

"No." Oh... we thought she wanted to come again... "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."

And Mickey dropped a bombshell. "Can I come?" Sarah looked a bit confused. "No, not with you, I mean with you. Because I'm not the tin dog, and I want to see what's out there."

"Yes. Jacey says yes, we're having Mickey, and what Jacey says goes." I smiled, and he gave me a warm smile.

And now Sarah Jane was backing him up. "Oh, go on, Doctor. Sarah Jane Smith, Jace Smith, a Mickey Smith. You need another Smith on board."

"Okay then," he nodded after a moment. "I could do with a laugh. And Jace needs a target for shockwaves." Not happening.

Mickey looked at his sort of ex girlfriend, though they never really broke up. "Rose, is that okay?"

"No, great." Blatantly lying. "Why not?"

"Well, I'd better go."

But Rose and I reached for the older woman at the same time. "What do we do? Do I stay with him? Should Jace?"

She gave the answer we thought she'd give. "Yes. Some things are worth getting your heart broken for. Find me, if you need to, one day. Find me. And Jace, oh, come on, Jacey, he's your dad. Family is everything."

Her arm was wrapped around my shoulder as we walked back outside the TARDIS, dad smiled at the pair of us. "It's daft, but I haven't ever thanked you for that time. And like I said, I wouldn't have missed it for the world."

"Something to tell the grandkids."

"Oh, I think it'll be someone else's grandkids now."

He made a face. "Right. Yes, sorry. I didn't get a chance to ask. You haven't? There hasn't been anyone? You know."

Sarah Jane gave him a small smile. "Well, there was this one guy. I travelled with him for a while, but he was a tough act to follow, and the way he is with his daughter... No one could love a child more. Goodbye, Doctor, Jacey."

"Oh, it's not goodbye."

"Do say it." She asked, her eyes filling with tears again. "Please. This time. Say it."

He hugged her tight, lifting her up off the ground. "Goodbye, my Sarah Jane." And then we went back into the TARDIS, letting her have her last gift. K9, with the same memories. Because dad may not mention the others, but he never forgot them. And neither would I.