Chapter 19: School Reunion
Everyone was quite happy to continue straight on, deciding to stop for lunch after the next episode. Sarah-Jane hit the play button.
A man comes down the stairs of Deffry Vale High School and walks to the Headmaster's office.
"Ah." Sarah-Jane smiles over at Ten.
"Oh yeah, Mickey's coming back." Mickey grins widely. Ten looks awkwardly over at Rose, remembering the bickering that had gone on between her and Sarah-Jane. They seem to be getting on pretty well now though so he lets it go.
A girl is sitting on a chair nearby. He asks what she wants and she tells him the nurse sent her as she got a headache. He tells her not to bother him and to go home.
"Well that's hardly the proper attitude of a teacher." Martha huffs indignantly.
She says she can't because she lives at the children's home. He notes she has no parents and no one to miss her. He tells her to come through and comments that it's nearly time for lunch. The door closes behind them. There is a screech and flapping of wings, and a scream.
"What the hell?" Donna looks angry.
"That poor girl." Rose mumbles, hands over her mouth.
Up on the first floor, there is a change of class. The teacher enters, wearing a brown suit and white sneakers.
"You're pretending to be a teacher? Lord help those poor kids." Donna snickers.
"Oi! I'd be a wonderful teacher." Ten protests.
"Yeah, if they can understand a word you say." Mickey laughs. "Better you than big ears though, bet he couldn't resist calling them all stupid apes." Everyone chuckles and Nine shrugs, not denying it, which makes them all laugh harder.
The Doctor asks if they are sitting comfortably and then writes 'Physics' on the board. He proceeds to say physics several times over.
"Mental teachers were always the best. Especially such good looking ones." Jack winks over at Ten.
He continues that he hopes they are all getting this down.
"You want them to just write physics down a million times?" Nine looks at his future self in confusion. Maybe regeneration really had fried his brain.
"Weeelll, I might have gotten a bit carried away." Ten grins sheepishly.
"A bit?" Rose questions in amusement. He nods happily.
He says he wants to see what they know and asks a question. A young boy with spectacles puts his hand up. The Doctor asks his name and the boy tells him it's Milo. He tells him to answer and he gives the correct answer. The Doctor says correctamundo, a word he has never used and hopes never to again.
"Agreed." Nine nods sharply.
The Doctor asks another question. Only Milo's hand goes up as everyone else looks bored.
"Really? No desire to learn these kids." Ten looks disappointed.
"Welcome to high school." Donna laughs.
Milo gives the correct answer again and the Doctor begins to question him more and more intensely.
"He shouldn't know all of that." Jack looks uneasy.
"What the hell are they teaching those kids?" Martha looks confused and impressed.
"Nothing good, I'm sure. The Doctor is involved." Rose tries to say it with a straight face but gives in and grins when both Doctors pout at her.
He asks a final question and when Milo answers correctly, the Doctor's jaw drops.
"Rendered speechless by a thirteen year old." Donna laughs.
"Wish I'd been able to see that." Rose sniggers.
Chips are still on the menu here. Rose, working as part of the kitchen staff, slops mash into the Doctor's tray looking unimpressed while he grins at her. He walks away with a grin. A little later she goes over to wipe his table.
"You get to be a teacher and I have to get stuck in the kitchen?" Rose whines playfully.
"All the gossip happens in the kitchen." Ten winks. She glares at him, still unimpressed but he just grins.
Rose states it's been two days. The Doctor tells her there's a bit of gravy on the table.
"I'm gonna slap you." She grumbles. Nine chuckles and wraps his arm around her shoulders tighter.
She states again about two days and he tells her to blame her boyfriend who put them up to this. He continues Mickey was right and tells her about they boy in class.
"You didn't tell me he said I was right." Mickey looks over at Rose.
"I'll try and remember in future." She smiles at him.
"Well, I won't need to say it now, we know this will happen." Nine smirks happily. Mickey rolls his eyes fondly.
Rose asks if he is eating the chips and he comments they are a bit different. She states she loves them and wishes they had school dinners like this.
"You and your chips." Jack laughs.
"Well, when you run around as much as we do, I can afford some chips now and then." Rose shrugs.
The Doctor notes the school is very well behaved and Rose hums agreement as she eats a couple of his chips. He says he thought there'd be happy slapping hoodies and such like. Then looks very pleased with himself as he tells her not to tell him he doesn't fit in.
Donna, Martha, Mickey and Rose all facepalm.
"Really spaceman?" Donna raises an eyebrow at him.
"What?" Ten asks her innocently.
"You definitely do not fit in when you say things like that." Martha shakes her head in amusement.
"I can't believe that's me." Nine groans. Rose pats his arm while trying not to laugh.
The head dinner lady comes over. She tells Rose she isn't permitted to leave her station during sitting. Rose points out she was just talking to the teacher and the Doctor says hello. Rose continues he doesn't like the chips. The dinner lady says that the menu has been specifically designed by the headmaster to improve performance then tells Rose to get back to work.
"The same headteacher who eats his students?" Martha frowns.
Rose begins to walk off saying this is her, dinner lady. The Doctor calls after her he will have the crumble.
"You're asking for a smack." Donna snickers.
"Yes, you really are." Rose agrees with a mock glare towards Ten.
Rose mutters she is going to kill him. A dark teacher walks over to a girl with a pony tail. He tells her she will be joining his class next as Milo failed him. He then asks Kenny why he isn't eating the chips. Kenny is eating a home prepared lunch from a Tupperware box and says he isn't allowed. The teacher tells Luke he has extra class now. Luke and Melissa follow Mister Wagner out. Headmaster Finch stands on a balcony overlooking the canteen and watches it all.
"Kids happily going to extra class?" Jack looks surprised.
Rose is drying up when other dinner ladies wheel a large cooking oil drum through. It has lots of strange symbols on the side. They are wearing breathing masks and heavy duty protective gauntlets. They are extra cautious while moving it.
"Seems a little excessive for stuff you'd find in a school kitchen." Martha notes.
Rose's phone asks what he has and Mickey states he has confirmation. Mickey is using the internet somewhere with books in the background. He claims he just got into the army records and they recorded massive UFO activity three months previously. He says he can't get photos because it keeps locking him out. With the message - Torchwood Access Denied
Ten stiffens angrily. After the last episode he was even more upset with them given that it was partly his fault Torchwood even existed. Rose can almost feel the anger and distress rolling over the Doctor in waves so she grabs his hand and squeezes it gently. He turns to look at her and the anger burns in his eyes but she thinks she can see guilt in the mix as well. She wonders what he has to feel guilty about but now is not the time for that conversation.
Rose adds that three months ago the kitchen staff at the school were replaced, calling the new lot weird. Mickey points out he was right to call them as something is definitely going on. Rose says she thought he had called them just to call her home and he asks if she thinks he would make up an emergency. When she agrees he points out that he wouldn't do that as every time he sees her an emergency gets in the way.
"Well, can't just let the aliens blow up Earth can we?" Nine asks.
"No but you could visit a little more often when nothing actually happens." Mickey points out.
"That wouldn't be interesting at all." Nine argues. "I need something to do while Rose visits Jackie."
"You make it sound like you plan on going off on adventures every time we stop home." Rose raises an eyebrow at him.
"Well, if you inform Jackie about...well...this...us, I don't really want another slap thanks." He scowls and rubs his cheek in remembrance. Rose snickers.
"I'll protect you from the big bad Jackie Tyler."
"My hero." He tells her dryly.
The next barrel of oil topples over. One of the women gets splashed and starts screaming. Rose says she has to go.
"What the hell is that stuff?" Donna asks. Everyone shrugs, either they don't know or won't tell.
The head dinner lady tells the others to get her up and Mickey asks what is going on. He doesn't get an answer as the injured woman is hustled into the office and the blinds are pulled down. Rose redials. The head dinner lady pops back out asking Rose what she is doing. Rose tells her she is calling an ambulance and the lady tells her there is no need, she's alright. There is a whumph! like a sudden fire, and a scream.
"That doesn't sound alright." Jack points out with a frown.
She comments that it is alright, she does that.
They all snigger slightly at such a blatant and ridiculous lie.
"She randomly causes a massive puff of smoke and screams?" Rose raises an eyebrow in confusion.
The woman goes back into the smoke filled office. Rose sees that the spilt oil has eaten through metal. In a classroom the teacher from the canteen earlier tells the children to put their headphones on. Symbols and equations scroll down on the slaved computers and the children start typing faster and faster.
"What the hell?" Jack looks concerned.
"What are they doing to those kids?" Martha asks. As usual, she gets no answer from those who know.
On the staircase, Headmaster Finch is speaking to Sarah-Jane.
"Hey, it's Sarah-Jane." Jack calls enthusiastically. She smiles at him.
"Yes, one last adventure for me." She nods. "And what fun it was." She adds with a grin to Mickey and then Ten and Rose.
Finch is telling her about the improvements and that school lunches are free but compulsory, advising her to try the chips. Sarah-Jane says he might be working the children too hard but he is getting good results which is the most important thing. He agrees, calling her a woman of vision.
"You most certainly are." Ten agrees with a fond smile.
"Much higher praise coming from you." She grins back.
"I should think so." He smirks.
Sarah-Jane comments she can see everything quite clearly. In the staff room, the Doctor and another teacher are talking about another student who knows things they shouldn't. He explains that Finch arrived three months ago and the next day half the staff got flu to be then replaced with the current lot.
"Nobody questioned that half the teaching staff and all the kitchen staff were replaced at exactly the same time?" Jack shakes his head.
"I did." Sarah-Jane smirks at him.
"Well, I should think so after everything you must have learnt from travelling with him." Jack agrees.
"I did too." Mickey puts in.
"Same applies to you Mickey Mouse." Jack smirks. Mickey rolls his eyes.
He adds that the only one not replaced like that was the one the Doctor replaced, telling him that was weird, the way she won the lottery.
"And the other replacements weren't weird at all." Rose rolls her eyes.
The Doctor asks how that was weird and he replies that she didn't play the lottery. The Doctor agrees the world is very strange. The headmaster then enters and introduces Sarah-Jane.
"I very nearly had heart failure then. And I can't get that." Ten tells her, shaking his head in fond amusement.
"How do you think I felt when I realised it was you?" She retorts with a smile.
"Glad I changed into someone so much more handsome?" Ten winks. She rolls her eyes at him.
"Not the first thing on my mind."
The Doctor is stunned at her appearance. She greets him and he says he should think so.
"Really? Sarah-Jane, you should come with us if it'll keep him this lost for words." Rose grins.
"I'm sure it would wear off fast." She gave a slightly sad smile back.
She asks who he is and he introduces himself as John Smith.
"Some things never change." Sarah-Jane laughs.
"I don't have time to think up a new name every time I go undercover." Nine defends.
She says she used to have a friend who sometimes went by that name. He shrugs and says it is a common name to which she replies he was very uncommon man.
"Only very uncommon? Not unique, I'm hurt." Ten pouts at her. She ignores this but her lips twitch as if trying to repress a smile.
They continue talking about the school and when she comments that there is no harm in a little investigation while she is here he looks rather pleased and proud, telling her good for -Jane moves away from the grinning Doctor. He adds good for her again when she is out of hearing range. Later he is in the corridor and he still looks rather shell shocked before grinning to himself.
"It really was good to see you again." He tells her softly.
"Yes, I noticed." She laughs. "It was good to see you again as well."
The end of day bell rings. Kenny walks into the now dark room to investigate a strange sort of eating sound. A nasty large set of teeth snap at him from behind a row of computer screens, then the teacher stands up. He tells Kenny to run along. After dark, Sarah Jane Smith breaks into the school. The Doctor, Rose and Mickey go through a door and Rose comments it's weird seeing school at night. She adds she used to think the teachers slept at school.
The Doctor, Sarah-Jane and Mickey all burst out laughing.
"What?" Rose asks.
"Well, you might be more right than you thought in this case." Mickey sniggers.
They split up, Mickey heads to the maths department, Rose goes to the kitchen for a sample of the oil while the Doctor says he is going to look in Finch's office. He leaves and Rose asks Mickey is he will be alright.
The Doctor sniggers even harder than before.
"It caught me by surprise alright?" Mickey groans, realising what was coming up.
Mickey says he is an expert in infiltration and investigation. He leaves and then comes back, asking which way to the maths department.
Everyone laughs, including Mickey.
Rose gives him the directions. Sarah Jane is breaking into the headmaster's office when she hears noises and chases something flying in an upper corridor. Rose gets the oil sample as instructed, then looks up as something screeches overhead. Sarah Jane opens a storeroom door to discover the Tardis parked inside. She backs out and then turns around to find the Doctor behind her.
"It's bloody scary when you do that." Rose smacks Nine's arm, having found him hovering silently behind her on the TARDIS several times.
"It's not my fault you humans have rubbish hearing." Nine protests.
"You could try clearing your throat or something." Jack nods with a smirk. Nine mock glares at him.
"Then you'd just complain that I scared you by doing that as you didn't hear me coming." He defends.
He says hello and she looks a little shocked and nervous. She notes his change in appearance and he confesses he had regenerated half a dozen times since they last met. She says he looks incredible and he returns she does too but she says she got old.
Both Doctors wince slightly at that. Ten more so than Nine because he knew what that small statement caused him to do to Rose. That visit more than anything had truly slammed into him that she would age and die before his very eyes so he had pushed her away. Something he had been given a chance to fix, or a least a version of him had a chance to fix his mistakes.
She asks what he is doing there and he replies he couldn't resist, asking her the same question. She gives the same reply. Then she states she waited for him and he didn't come back, making her think he had died.
"I'm sorry." Ten mutters. She smiles softly at him.
He tells her he lived but everybody else died. She is confused to he repeats that everyone died. She states she can't believe it's him. They hear Mickey scream and she says she can believe it now.
They all laugh.
Rose runs up asking if he heard that and then asks who Sarah-Jane is. The Doctor introduces them both and Sarah-Jane greets Rose before telling the Doctor she can tell he is getting older as his assistants are getting younger.
Rose resists the urge to snap at her, having a better understanding now than she knows she does in that moment on screen.
"I'm sorry about this, Rose." Sarah-Jane tells her, looking a little sheepish about her behaviour.
"I'm sure I'll have plenty to apologise for myself." Rose nods. Sarah-Jane laughs lightly.
Rose indignantly says she is not his assistant and looks towards the Doctor, He looks awkward as Sarah-Jane retorts 'get you tiger.' The Doctor just gestures forwards and runs off.
"Yeah, this was just bundles of fun." Mickey smirks. Rose rolls her eyes at him.
They arrive where Mickey is currently picking up packed rats. He apologises saying it was just him. Rose points out they are rats and the Doctor asks him if he decided to scream. Mickey defends they took him by surprise. The Doctor continues, saying he sounded nine or ten with pigtails and a frilly skirt as Mickey continues that it was dark.
Everyone except Mickey laughs again. He just rolls his eyes and shakes his head in amusement.
"Man's got a point." Jack sniggers.
Rose interrupts asking them if they notice anything strange about rats being in school. Sarah-Jane cuts in that they obviously use them in biology lessons before noting that Rose might not have reached that bit yet before asking how old she is.
Rose bristles in annoyance. She always regretted dropping out of school for Jimmy Stone so her education was a rather sore spot for her. She knew Sarah-Jane didn't know that and didn't really mean in but that comment in particular rubbed her the wrong way. Mickey frowns over at Rose, silently asking if she is alright and she nods at him. Nine watches this exchange, feeling like he is missing something and automatically pulls Rose tighter against him to offer any comfort he can as Jack moves to do the same for Sarah-Jane.
Rose retorts that people haven't dissected rats in school in years, asking if she is from the dark ages. The Doctor, who was watching them both, cuts in saying it started when Mr Finch arrived so they should go to his office. As they walk down a corridor, Rose and Sarah-Jane walk ahead as Rose asks who she is. Sarah-Jane says she used to travel with the Doctor and Rose states he's never mentioned her.
At that Sarah-Jane winces a little. The ending had given her closure on her time with the Doctor, yet there was not a time that his never mentioning her wouldn't sting.
The Doctor again cuts in to say he must have done. Rose pretends to think about it before saying he never did. Sarah-Jane is hurt as she asks not even once as the two women march on ahead. Mickey laughs and claps the Doctor on the shoulder saying the missus and the ex, every man's worst nightmare.
"It's not like that." Nine tells him through gritted teeth. "I'll thank you not to refer to them like that."
"Well, it wasn't like that, until Rose." Ten corrects himself with a slight smile.
Outside the Headmaster's office the Doctor uses the sonic screwdriver on the lock as he suggests the rats were food. Rose asks food for what. As he opens the door and looks inside the Doctor comments that Rose was right when she used to think all teachers slept at school. Giant bats are hanging from the ceiling.
Rose laughs. "One thing I'd be happy not being right about."
"Picky, picky." Ten teases.
Mickey runs. The others follow more sedately. One wakes when the Doctor shuts the door. In the school yard Mickey states he is not going back there as Rose notes that those were the teachers. The Doctor counts up thirteen big bat people and tells them all to come on as he need the TARDIS to analyse the oil. Sarah-Jane tells him she may be able to help as she has something to show him. In the boot of Sarah's car is a robot dog.
"K9!" Nine exclaims. Sarah-Jane grins at him.
"Yes, he stopped working, until you fixed him, so I just kept him as a reminder."
"K9?" Martha asks, looking amused.
"Yeah, he was my dog." Ten smiles fondly.
The Doctor introduces Mickey and Rose to K9 Mark Three. Rose asks why he looks so disco.
"Oi!" Both Doctors protest. Rose smirks, mostly because she had to fight not to say something like that here before her future self said it.
The Doctor protests, saying in the year 5000 he was cutting edge and asks what happened to him. Sarah-Jane says he just stopped working one day. The Doctor asked why she didn't try to get him repaired and she points out parts for him aren't exactly around on Earth and his technology could rewrite human science.
"You really can be dense for someone so smart." Mickey rolls his eyes.
The Doctor asks what the mean lady has done to him. K9 is getting rusty round the edges. Something is watching them from midair. Rose cuts in to stop petting the dog as they are busy.
"Little bit jealous there Rosie?" Jack grins knowingly at her.
"Of course not, we still have a bunch of bat teachers to take care of." She huffs.
A giant alien bat creature flies across the face of the full moon.
"It looks like they are awake." She adds.
Rose and Mickey are at the counter while the Doctor and Sarah Jane have put the defunct K9 on a table. Mickey says it's been nearly an hour and he hasn't said I told you so. Rose states she isn't listening and he continues he has a 'I was right dance' for later. Rose pays for the chips and Mickey keeps going that she says he was different but he is just like any other bloke. Rose tells him he doesn't know what he is talking about and he retorts for her to go easy on the chips.
"Oh shut up." Rose tells him. Mickey holds his hands up in surrender.
"It's not like she's going to come running back to you, no matter what you say." Nine tells him nastily but with much less bite than he would have a few days ago. He hates anybody deliberately hitting Rose's confidence in herself, even if he is guilty himself of doing that by accident. He does try to tell her she is fantastic as often as possible though. Rose does hit him for his comment but he barely even notices.
Finch is standing on the roof of the building opposite the coffee shop, watching the Doctor working on K9. He says come to him and a giant bat flies over. In the coffee shop Sarah-Jane says she thought of the Doctor on Christmas with the Sycorax. He agrees he was there and Rose was there too. She then asks if she did something wrong as he never came back. He reminds her he was called home and humans weren't allowed.
"You say 'in those days' like that changed." Martha looks at Ten who simply shrugs.
She states she missed him and he dismisses that saying she was getting on with her life.
"You can't be that naive Doctor." Martha shakes her head. "You think any of us that travel with you, do all the things we do with you, could ever go back and live a normal life on Earth?"
"Sarah-Jane is investigating just like we always did." Nine tells her.
"Even Mickey was looking out for strange happenings and he's never even actually travelled with you. All these lives you touch and you don't even seem to realise." Sarah-Jane smiles gently at both Doctors.
She tells him the most difficult thing was adapting back on Earth after seeing so many things. He seems confused and asks if she wants him to apologise for all the things she saw. She doesn't but points out they get a taste and have to go back. He reminds her she is investigating and she argues he could have come back. His face drops as he simply says he couldn't. She asks why not but he keeps working on K9 so she tells him he dropped her off in Aberdeen not Croydon. He looks puzzled saying that's next to Croydon but then K9 comes back to life and he is distracted.
"It's nowhere near Croydon." Donna sniggers. Both Doctors look sheepish.
"I suppose I should be grateful you even got the right planet and the right time with your driving." Sarah-Jane remarks in amusement.
"Oi!"
K9 recognises him and he asks Rose for the oil. They are still being watched by Finch and a giant bat as Rose tells him not to touch the oil as the dinner lady got scorched. He states he is no dinner lady and then adds he doesn't say that often.
"I'd be slightly worried if you often went round saying you're not a dinner lady." Jack laughs. "Although, now I'm intrigued about how often you need to say that."
The Doctor smears a sample on to K9's probe. He folds his arms and K9 says he is analysing. Mickey mocks the voice and Sarah-Jane tells him to be careful as that's her dog. K9 informs them it is Krillitane oil.
"Ah." Nine mutters.
"Bad?" Rose asks quietly.
"Yep."
The Doctor says they are Krillitanes and Rose asks if that is bad. He tells her to think of how bad things could be and add a suitcase full of bad. Sarah-Jane asks what they are and he explains they are a composite race which is why he didn't recognise them. When Rose asks what they are doing there he replies they are doing something to the children.
"What does that oil do?" Donna asks.
"It enhances intelligence pretty much. A conducting agent." Nine explains.
Outside, Mickey and Sarah-Jane put K9 back in the boot of Sarah's car. He asks what the deal is with the dog and she tells him the Doctor likes travelling with an entourage. Then she asks how Mickey fits into the picture and he tells her he is their technical support.
"You think the Doctor needs technical support?" Sarah-Jane asks. She knows Mickey has been proven to be incredibly good with computers but he still couldn't compare to the Doctor. He simply had far too many centuries of knowledge for anyone to compete.
"Sometimes." Mickey grins.
He then is upset when he realises he is their tin dog. The giant bat looks ready to attack but Finch tells it to wait for his command. Rose and the Doctor come out of the coffee shop. She asks how many there have been and he asks if it matters. He stops to look at her when she says it does if she is the latest in a long line. He asks opposed to what.
"Well, I suppose if you're nine hundred years old it was unfair of me to think you'd never travelled with anyone else." Rose admits.
"I'll tell you about the others when we finish for tonight." Nine promises. He didn't like thinking about all those he had picked up and dropped during his long life but he wasn't going to hide anything from Rose. As long as she knew she was different.
Rose states she thought they were before trailing off and saying she got it wrong. She continues this is really seeing the future, he just leaves them behind and asks if he will do that to her. He states very firmly not to her.
"I knew you were special, Rose. My next point still stands but this gave me the chance to be less stupid about it." Ten smiles gently as he gestures around the room.
Rose points out his was that close to Sarah-Jane once and he never even mentioned her.
"He was never that close to me, Rose. We were good friends and I did love him but he was never as close to me as he is to you." Sarah-Jane tells her, not looking upset about that.
"Yeah, and he mentions you quite a bit." Donna puts in. "Barely known him five minutes and he's telling me about having christmas dinner with your family." Rose smiles at her gratefully and Nine kisses the top of her head.
He looks sad as he replies that he doesn't age but humans do. He asks her to imagine that happening to someone you...and trails off. Rose asks him what.
"Imagine watching that happen to someone who you love." Ten completes his own sentence. Rose leans forward out of Nine's arms to hug Ten as her mind goes back to Bad Wolf. She contemplates what she could do this time around and if it could actually grant her greatest wish that the Doctor not be alone for the rest of his life. It gave Margaret a second chance, maybe it could help them have theirs.
He promises she can spend the rest of her life with him but he can't spend the rest of his life with her. He has to live on, that is the curse of the Time Lords. As he says that, Finch mutters Time Lord and the Doctor looks up. The giant bat swoops down. They all duck and it flies off. Sarah-Jane asks if that was a Krillitane and Rose points out it didn't touch anyone just flew off.
"Nothing like a giant bat to bring you back to the moment." Mickey mutters.
Next morning, the pupils are arriving at the school. The Doctor tells Rose and Sarah- Jane to go to the maths room, saying they might need this. Rose holds her hand out but he gives the screwdriver to Sarah-Jane. He tells Mickey to wait outside and Sarah-Jane gives him the keys to the car saying he can keep K9 company. The Doctor calls back to leave the window open.
"K9 is metal." Martha points out.
"I didn't mean for K9." Ten smirks. "I heard Mickey calling himself our tin dog."
Mickey calls out he is metal and the Doctor calls back he didn't mean for K9. Rose asks what he is going to do and he says he is going to have a word with Mr Finch. In the swimming pool the Doctor and Mr Finch stand at opposite ends of the pool. The Doctor asks who he is and he replies his name is Brother Lassa,then asking who he is. The Doctor introduces himself and asks when Krillitanes had wings.
"You thinking about getting some?" Donna asks jokingly.
"Well, with all the boasting he does about his superior biology, you'd think he already had some." Jack laughs.
Finch tells him it has been their form for almost 10 generations. He is shaped human because it's a personal favourite but the others are in bat form under morphic illusion. The Doctor asks about his plan and Finch tells him to show how clever he is by working it out.
"You must love these guys. Actually encouraging you to show off." Donna remarks.
The Doctor tells him that if he doesn't like the plan he will stop it. Finch remarks that the Time Lords used to be peaceful to the point of indolence and asks if he would declare war on them. He replies that he is so old.
"Ha! You admit it." Rose smirks at him, used to him trying to protest he isn't that old.
"Just pretend you didn't hear that." Ten grins pleadingly.
"No chance Mister." She sticks her tongue out as he pouts.
He states he used to have so much mercy but now they only get one warning. Finch tells him they aren't even enemies and promises the Doctor will join him soon.
"Yeah right." Martha scoffs.
Outside, Mickey scoffs about being on surveillance. In the IT classroom Sarah-Jane isn't making progress with the school computers. She complains it isn't working so Rose tells her to hand it over. Sarah-Jane states it used to work first time in her day and Rose snarks that things were simpler then.
"Ooh cat fight." Mickey sniggers.
"Shut up." Both women tell him.
Sarah-Jane asks if she can give a bit of advice and Rose states she expects she will give it anyway. Sarah-Jane continues that she knows an intense a relationship with the Doctor can be and Rose tells her she isn't threatened by her.
"Liar liar." Mickey raises his eyebrow at her.
"I'm not. I'm not threatened there either." Rose shrugs. "I'm more upset about the idea of just being dumped somewhere when he wants to move on."
Sarah-Jane tells her she has no interest in picking up where they left off but Rose doesn't believe her. They argue about the different things they saw, trying to impress and outdo the other. Rose is finally impressed when Sarah-Jane claims to have met the Lochness monster.
"Really?" Jack asks, interested.
"Yep." Ten smirks.
Rose finally stops arguing and asks if the Doctor used to explain something and when you didn't understand he would look like you dribbled on his shirt.
"Yes!" All of his companions, past and present, shouted together.
"I'm not that bad." Ten tells them all grumpily.
"He is worse." Rose agrees, gesturing at Nine.
Sarah-Jane agrees he's always done that and asks if he still strokes bits of the TARDIS. Rose replies he does and often asks if the two of them want to be alone.
Everyone laughs except the two Doctors, who both grumble about everyone picking on them.
They are both laughing when the Doctor comes in, asking how it is going. They look at him and keep laughing. He is confused and slightly annoyed as he asks what and tells them he needs to find out what's inside the programme. Hysteria is setting in. He gets more confused telling them to stop it.
Everyone simply laughs harder.
Finch opens the door, to the headmaster's office, on the dinner ladies and teachers. He states they must initiate the final phase. Games of football and netball are interrupted by the tannoy telling them to get to class immediately. A girl is excited that break has finished early. Kenny is the last to go inside.
"They've broken the kids." Donna gasps in mock horror. "Who in their right mind is excited that breaktime finishes early?" Everyone shrugs.
In the IT classroom, Rose turns children away at the door. One of the teachers asks Mr Finch what is going on and he states they are having an early lunch. Wagner shuts the door on us. Flaps and screams come from inside. The Doctor does his old trick of looping wires around his neck and shoulders as he tries to get inside the CPU.
"How have you not strangled yourself doing that?" Rose asks him.
"I'm careful." Ten protests.
"Ok, how has nobody else strangled you with those?" Donna grins.
"You humans wouldn't have the strength to strangle me for long enough to kill me." He smirks.
The Doctor states he can't shift it and Sarah-Jane cries that she thought the screwdriver could open anything. He corrects anything but a deadlock seal. Kenny doesn't go into a classroom. Finch tells them to close the school. Alien symbols come up on his computer screen, then Security Override. He burps. The external doors all slam shut. In another computer room, the children are typing quickly again.
"What is that the kids are doing?" Martha asks in confusion.
"That's impossible." Nine mutters, staring intently at the frozen screen.
The symbols are all on these classroom screens too. Sarah-Jane states he wanted the programme, there is is. It starts to resolve itself. Kenny runs along the corridors, looking into the classrooms. All the children are working at computers. He runs downstairs to the main entrance, and tries to open the doors. Mickey spots him. The Doctor stares at the screen and announces it's can't be.
"The Skasis paradigm?" Nine looks at his future self, wide-eyed. Ten nods gravely.
"What's that when it's at home?" Rose asks.
"The building blocks of the Universe." Nine tells her. He gestures at the screen.
Kenny shouts they've taken the children to Mickey who goes back to the car and tries to get K9 to work. Once he restarts Mickey asks if he has a lock picking device. K9 tells him they are in a car. He asks for a drill attachment and K9 repeats himself. Mickey finally realises what he means and yells for Kenny to get back.
"Finally." Ten mutters teasingly.
"London eye, must be invisible." Rose reminds him with a smirk. Both Doctors glare at the reminder while everyone else grins.
The Doctor explains what the Skasis Paradigm is to Rose and Sarah-Jane. Rose asks if the kids are like a giant computer and he agrees as the oil is working as a conducting agent. Rose realises she's been eating the chips and he asks her a maths question which she answers instantly.
"Woah." Rose exclaims. "I want some of that oil now."
"It wears off if you stop consuming it." Nine tells her.
"You don't need that oil to be clever, Rose." Sarah-Jane smiles warmly.
"Thanks." Rose blushes slightly under the praise.
Sarah-Jane asks why they can't use adults and the Doctor tells her they need imagination and are using the kids souls. Finch comes in and states let the lesson begin. The Doctor states he likes things as they are and Finch offers him the power to make him a god.
"You always said you'd be a terrible god." Martha comments.
"I would." Ten agrees.
He tells the Doctor to imagine saving his own people and Sarah-Jane tells him not to listen. Finch turns to her, telling her she could be with him forever, never aging and never dying.
"Never aging and never dying isn't always a good thing." Jack murmurs.
The Doctor says he could save everyone and stop the war. Sarah-Jane speaks up again saying the universe must move forward, everything has its time and everything ends.
"Well said, my Sarah-Jane." Ten whispers.
There is a pause before the Doctor throws a chair at the big screen, smashing it. He yells at them all to get out. Mickey drives Sarah's car through the glass doors. Finch summons his brothers. They throw off their disguises in the corridors and fly to him. Mickey and Kenny meet the Doctor, Sarah Jane and Rose at the bottom of the staircase.
"Not really the time to explain." Jack laughs.
Mickey asks what is going on as the Krillitanes are coming. They run into the canteen. Finch arrives with the bats. Kenny asks if they are the teachers. The Doctor tells him they are and Finch tells the bat to feast on them all except the Doctor. They duck and hide behind tables as the Doctor swings at the bats with a chair until a laser beam hits one of the bats. Finch is furious.
"K9!" Nine breathes.
"Useful dog." Donna notes.
K9 recommends they run.
Everyone gives a collective snort of amusement.
Everyone runs. The Doctor tells K9 to hold them back and then he seals the doors. Finch tells the bats to forget the dog as K9 states power supply is failing. In a classroom the Doctor realises the oil is toxic to them and asks if there is much in the kitchen. Rose tells him there was barrels of it as the Krillitanes are battering at the door.
"You've just run into a dead end." Donna points out.
The Doctor tells Mickey to get everyone out of the school and asks how they fight bats. Kenny sets off the fire alarm. The noise hurts the Krillitane's ears. The humans escape.
"Nice!" Rose grins.
"Good thinking." Donna smirks.
Finch manages to punch through the wall and pull out the alarm wires. The noise stops. Outside the canteen K9 meets up with the group as Mickey goes into a classroom and tells them all to leave. The children don't hear him, or notice when he waves his hand in front of their face.
"I said get them unplugged first." Ten rolls his eyes.
"Well it was a bit of a hurry." Mickey retorts with a grin.
The Doctor tries his sonic screwdriver on the barrels of oil. They have been deadlock sealed. K9 states they would not withstand a direct hit from his laser. The Doctor orders everyone out the back door except K9.
"My poor dog." Sarah-Jane mutters.
"I fixed him." Ten reminds her quietly.
Mickey follows the computer power leads back to - a single wall switch. Click, fizz, and the screens go blank. They all get up and leave. The Krillitanes pause to disguise themselves as humans again. The Doctor lines up the oil barrels for K9 to shoot at. K9 tells him he only has one shot and will need to be right next to them. The Doctor points out he will be trapped inside.
"Oh no." Rose says sadly. The dog was slightly quirky but she knew he meant a lot to the Doctor.
The Doctor doesn't want to but K9 tells him it's the only option. They say goodbye and when the Doctor calls him a good dog K9 replies affirmative.
"He's definitely your dog." Donna rolls her eyes.
Outside, the Doctor seals the door. Sarah-Jane asks where K9 is. The Doctor doesn't answer just tells her to run and she demands to know what he has done so he goes back and drags her away. Finch arrives in the kitchen, telling them to eat him but bring him his brain. They find K9. Finch thinks he is out of power. K9 fires a sustained burst at the nearest barrel. The Krillitanes get splattered with their own oil.
"Go K9!" Sarah-Jane smiles.
"Not too shabby for a tin dog." Mickey smirks.
"Oi! K9 is far more than just a tin dog." Ten tells him.
In the school yard, Mickey is shouting at the kids to run. Finch calls K9 a bad dog and K9 replies affirmative.
"He's not a bad dog." Nine frowns.
The school blows up and the children rejoice as paper rains down on them. Melissa asks Kenny if he had anything to do with it. When he agrees they all celebrate Kenny for blowing up the school.
"He'd have been a hero where I went." Rose laughs.
"Yet you complain that I blew up your job." Nine grins.
"Little bit different." She rolls her eyes.
The Doctor apologises to Sarah-Jane. She tries to play it off but then bursts into tears and he hugs her. Outside the TARDIS, which has moved, Sarah-Janes walks up and the Doctor comes out. He offers her a cup of tea and she goes inside, noting he has redecorated.
"Yeah, it does that every now and again." Nine shrugs. "I don't play much part in the decoration choices."
"Probably because you hit her with that mallet so much." Rose sniggers.
He asks if she likes it and she says she does but preferred the old one. Rose breaks in she loves it and Sarah-Jane seems pleased to see her before asking another maths question. Rose tells her the oil wore off and Sarah-Jane says she's still clever and more than a match for the Doctor.
"Too right." Sarah-Jane agrees with herself.
"All of us are a match for him." Rose smiles around at Jack, Donna and Martha too. They all nod in agreement.
Rose agrees they both are, before calling the Doctor. He offers for Sarah-Jane to go with them. She declines as she should stop waiting for him and find a life of her own. Mickey then asks if he can come.
"Really?" Nine groans.
"You asked him once." Martha points out.
"Yeah, and I never asked again." He retorts.
Rose mouths 'no' at the Doctor.
"Ouch Rose." Mickey frowns at her. He hadn't realised she actually didn't want him on board. He'd thought it was just left over tension from the day with Sarah-Jane. Rose shrugs knowing exactly why she didn't want Mickey on board with them after that adventure. She could also guess why the Doctor then allowed it to happen.
Sarah-Jane backs Mickey and the Doctor agrees he could do with a laugh.
"That's not what I'm coming for. Your entertainment." Mickey tells him firmly.
"You have another purpose?" Nine asks.
Mickey asks Rose if that's ok and she unconvincingly lies that it's fine.
"Well, Rosie you make a poor liar." Jack tries for a laugh but everyone ignores him.
Sarah-Jane seems to note the tension and says she has to go. She looks at Rose who huddles closer and asks if she should stay with him.
"You thought about leaving?" Ten looks around at Rose sadly.
"I haven't done it yet." She deflects.
"But you know why." He looks at her shrewdly. He didn't think he had done quite that much damage with his speech outside the coffee shop. He groans inwardly as he remembers Mickey's first trip and how Rose is going to react to that. It distracts him enough he doesn't press Rose for an answer.
Sarah-Jane tells her she should as some things are worth the heartbreak.
"I'm not." Nine whispers.
"Yeah, you are." Rose sighs. "I'm just glad we get to see this and you see sense."
"I've always seen sense." He protests. She just raises an eyebrow and he mutters under his breath.
She tells Rose to find her if she needs to. Outside the TARDIS, Sarah-Jane tells the Doctor she never thanked him but she wouldn't have missed it for the world. The Doctor says it's something to tell the grandkids and her face falls as she tells him it'll be someone else's grandkids now. He looks awkward as he apologises and asks if there has been anyone. She tells him there was one man she travelled with but he's a hard act to follow and wishes him goodbye. He states it's not goodbye but she begs him to actually say it this time. He bids her goodbye.
"Thank you, Doctor." Sarah-Jane smiles.
He lifts her off her feet in a big hug, then goes back inside the Tardis. Sarah Jane turns her back and walks away as the Tardis starts to dematerialise. At the last moment, she turns back to see K9. He explains the Doctor rebuilt him and Sarah-Jane realises he replaced him with a new model.
"I love him." She beams.
She states they have work to do and K9 replies affirmative. They walk off and the screen goes black.
"Food!" Jack cries. Tables have appeared, laden with food and everyone makes their way over at their own pace.
