Hi, here's part three.

They walked to Finch's office, when they got there they discovered it was locked, so the Doctor took out the sonic screwdriver to unlock it "Maybe those rats were food." he suggested

"Food for what?" Rose asked.

The Doctor opened the door and went inside "Rose." he said "You know how you used to think all the teachers slept in the school? Well, they do."

Rose, Mickey and Sarah Jane followed him into the room, they looked up and saw humungous bats hanging from the ceiling. "No way!" said Mickey and he ran, followed by Sarah Jane and then Rose. The Doctor was last and he shut the door behind him

Mickey ran all the way outside, Rose followed him "I am not going back in there." he said as he caught his breath "No way!"

"Those were the teachers?" Rose said

"When Finch arrived, he brought with him seven new teachers, four dinner ladies and a nurse, 13." said the Doctor "Thirteen big bat people. Come on." He turned to walk back inside

"You've got to be kidding." said Mickey

"I need the Tardis." the Doctor replied "I've got to analyse that oil from the kitchen."

"I might be able to help you there." said Sarah Jane "I've got something to show you." she led him to her car and opened the boot, he removed the cover that was hiding something.

"K9!" he said happily. "Rose Tyler, Mickey Smith, allow me to introduce K9. Well, K9 Mark 3 to be precise."

"Why does he look so... disco?" Rose asked.

"Oi! Listen, in the year 5,000 this was cutting edge." said the Doctor "What's happened to him?"

"One day, just.... Nothing."

"Didn't you try and get him repaired?" he asked

"It's not like getting parts for a Mini Metro. Besides, the technology inside him could rewrite human science. I couldn't show him to anyone."

"ooh, what's the nasty lady done to you, eh?"

"Never mind the tin dog, Doctor, we're busy."

--

A short time later they entered a chip shop "Sarah, Mickey, you two go ahead, I want to talk to Rose." the Doctor said. He and Rose walked back to Sarah Jane's car "I'm sorry."

"For what?"

"For not telling you about Sarah Jane."

"Oh, Doctor, it's fine." Rose said "You had companions before me, and you'll have 'em after I'm dead and buried. Just tell me about them later okay?"

"Okay, now, how about we go analyse that oil." he said

"Love to."

They headed back into the chip shop. Rose was waiting for her chips and tuning out Mickey's gloating "2 quid, love." said the woman

Rose handed over the money "All this time you've been giving it 'he's different', but the truth is, he's just like any other bloke."

"You don't know what you're talking about."

"Maybe not." Mickey said "But, if I were you, I'd go easy on the chips."

--

"I thought of you on Christmas Day, this Christmas just gone." said Sarah Jane "Great big spaceship overhead, I thoughy 'Oh, yeah! Bet he's up there.'"

"Right on to op it, yeah."

"And Rose?"

"She was there, too."

"Did I do something wrong?" she asked "'Cause 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."

"I waited for you." she said "I missed you."

"Ohm you didn't need me." said the Doctor "You were getting on with your life."

"You were my life." she said "You know what the most difficult thing was? Coping with what happens next. You know, 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?"

"All those things you saw, you want me to apologise for that?"

"No, but...we get a taste of that splendour and then we have to go back."

"But look at you, you're investigating." said the Doctor "You found that school. You're doing what we always did."

"You could have come back."

"I couldn't."

"Why not?" The Doctor didn't answer her "It wasn't Croydon." she said "Where you dropped me off, it wasn't Croydon."

"Where was it?"

"Aberdeen."

"Right." said the Doctor "That's next to Croydon, isn't it?" she shook her head with a small smile. K9 turned on. "Oh, hey!" he said "Now we're in business!" He stood up

"Master?"

"He recognises me!"

"Affirmative."

"Rose, give us the oil."

Rose stood up and joined them, handing the Doctor the oil as she did so. He opened it "I wouldn't touch it, though." she said "That dinner lady got all scorched."

"I'm no dinner lady." said the Doctor "And I don't often say that." He dipped his finger in it and rubbed some onto K9's sensor. "Here we go." he said "Come on, boy, here we go."

"Oil extract... analysing."

Mickey laughed "Listen to him, man!" he said "That's a voice."

"Careful." said Sarah Jane "That's my dog."

"Confirmation of analysis." said K9 "Substance is Krillitane oil."

"They're Krillitanes." said the Doctor

"Is that bad?"

"Very." answered the Doctor "Think how bad things could possibly be and add another suitcase full of bad."

"And what are Krillitanes?" asked Sarah Jane

"They're a composite race." the Doctor replied "Just like your culture is a mixture of traditions from al sorts of countries, people you've invaded or been invaded by, you've got bts 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 are they doing here?"

"It's the children." he answered "They're doing something to the children."

Sarah Jane and Mickey took K9 out to the car and the Doctor and Rose waited a few minutes before following.

--

"How many of us have there been travelling with you?" Rose asked

"Does it matter?" he asked

"Yeah, it does, if I'm just the latest in a long line."

"I've travelled with lots of people Rose, but you're so much more than that."

"I've been to the year 5 billion, right, but this...this is really seeing the future. You just leave us behind. Is that what you're going to do to me?"

"No, not to you."

"You were close to Sarah Jane once and now you don't even mention her." she said "Why not?"

"I don't age." answered "I regenerate. But humans decay. You wither and you die. Imagine watching that happen to someone you love. You can spend the rest of your life with me...but I can't spend the rest of mine with you. I have to live on, alone."

"What if there was a way..." she started "We'll talk about it later."

"That's the curse of the Time Lords."

They were attacked by the Krillitane and the Doctor shoved Rose down

"Was that a Krillitane?" Sarah Jane asked.

"It didn't even touch you, it just flew off." Rose said "What did it do that for?" The Doctor didn't answer.

They all went their separate ways, Rose and the Doctor walked back to Jackie's, Mickey went to get his car and Sarah Jane went home.

"What did you mean earlier?" the Doctor asked Rose as they walked

"About what?"

"You said 'What if there was a way?'"

"Oh, I just thought that maybe the Tardis could change me, help me live longer, but never mind."

"She might be able to, but let's leave it for now." he said

They returned to the flat to find it quiet. Rose checked her mother's bedroom and found her passed out in the bed. They sat in the living room for a while, before Rose got up and went to bed. The Doctor stayed up the rest of the night, trying to figure out what to do about the Krillitanes

Okay, and that's part three. The next part will be up ASAP, cause I want to finish this episode today and Girl in the Fireplace tomorrow as I'm not particularly fond of either of them. I hope there's enough change in this for everyone, the next is getting changed a bit more than this and I won't tell you how until I get to it.

TTFN

Julie