The TARDIS Team are returning to school where a mysterious conspiracy is lurking right around the corner. However, Willow starts to taste jealousy when she meets one of the Doctor's old friends: Sarah Jane Smith.

***

Two days. Two full days of Willow acting like a part-time librarian in a freaky school. The kids were mostly normal. Some of the teachers were nice while others weren't. She didn't have any understanding of why the Doctor would take up Mickey's suggestion to staking out this school. Nothing seemed very special about it.

In the last few hours, Willow had twelve kids who gave in overdue library books and random geeks plotted all over. Nonetheless, she was happy that some people still enjoyed reading books in the library. 

She was stuck sitting behind a desk though with several files to look through and lots of records to check. During a free period, the Doctor would check up on her though which was nice. However, she could tell some kids thought they were together from how they laughed in the background. Willow only wished it was true.

Whilst reading through one of the files, a young girl came up to the desk to talk to her. "Excuse me, miss?"

She gazed up from her work, acknowledging her. "What is it?"

"Something's wrong with your computer." The girl stated.

At first, Willow did not understand what she meant until she addressed the desktop. It was glitching like mad. "Oh, err..."

"Let me miss." The girl said, coming round the desk to see what she could do. 

"Oh, no. I'm sure I can." Nevertheless, Willow was pushed out the way as the girl started to type ferociously on the keyboard. Several equations appeared on the screen all at once before disappearing.

Suddenly, the screen went black for a few moments before lighting up again. It was fixed. An eleven-year-old girl fixed a computer. "You must come from a very smart family."

"No, not really." The girl responded with a smile before walking away.

"Wait," Willow said, stopping the girl in her tracks. "What's Pi?"

"3.14159265359"

"The speed of light?"

"299792458 metres per second."

"How many days until Christmas... 2020?"

"4,989 days"

She was flabbergasted. How could she know all that without even using a calculator? After this experience, Willow finally realised something was very wrong with this school.

***

The library was usually closed around lunchtime because the headmaster, Mr Finch, declared that every pupil must sit in the canteen for some apparent reason. Willow stood in line, waiting for food to be delivered to her red plastic plate. "Boo!" A voice spoke behind her.

She rotated her head to find the Doctor behind her. "Hey, you! How's teaching kids then?"

"Surprisingly interesting." He shrugged. "One kid though, freakishly smart."

Willow's eyes widened as she glared back at him. "Same with me. This girl fixed my computer and knew the answers to some difficult questions."

"Like what?" 

"How long until 25th December 2020?"

"Wow." They slowly moved down the line as the dinner ladies placed bits of food on their plates, including Rose as she handed them some yellow slop. She threw them a look of disgust and annoyance, hating her job with pride. 

The Doctor and Willow shared a little cheeky smirk before walking away. "She is going to kill us."

"Count on it." They sat down on an empty table where little bits of food were scattered about.

The Doctor started eating his food while Willow decided to take a bite of the chips. However, once she swallowed it, she gagged slightly from the bitter taste. "Ugh!"

"What's wrong?" The Doctor asked, slightly concerned.

"The chips." She started, pushing her plate away. "They still taste disgusting. You'd think that they would have made them taste a little better."

"Yeah, same." The Doctor picked up a chip and sniffed it, then licking it. After a quick taste, he revelled in disgust and snarled at it. "Not sure why the kids seem to like them."

"Well, they have to eat them because of Mr Finch." Before she could speak more, Willow noticed her cousin slowly moving towards them while cleaning some of the tables.

The Doctor took notice of this too. "Oh, here comes trouble!"

Eventually, she made her way over to their table to scrub it down while chatting to her "friends". "Two days," Rose muttered, clearly annoyed.

"Sorry, could you just? There's a bit of gravy." The Doctor stated, pointing out a spot on the table. She huffed as she wiped down part of the table. "No, no, just, just there."

Willow chuckled under her breath as Rose cleaned the spot of gravy up, heavily infuriated at the duo. "Two days, we've been here."

"Blame your boyfriend. He's the one who put us onto this. And he was right." The Doctor told, admitting that Mickey's suspicions of the school were correct. "Boy in class this morning, got a knowledge way beyond planet Earth."

Rose rolled her eyes before remarking their uneaten chips. "You eating those chips?"

Willow squinted down her plate, still disgusted by their bland taste. "No. They're foul."

Her cousin shrugged, taking one of the chairs and sitting down with them. "I think they're gorgeous. Wish I had school dinners like this."

"Do you remember what we had at school?" Willow wondered, trying to remember.

"I'm pretty sure it was either salad or stale lasagna with mouldy jelly." Rose replied, taking a few chips and stuffing them into her mouth.

"It's very well behaved, this place." The Doctor asserted, looking around the room with a hint of uncertainty. "I thought there'd be happy slapping hoodies. Happy slapping hoodies with ASBOs. Happy slapping hoodies with ASBOs and ringtones." 

Willow couldn't help but giggle at him while secretly blushing after he noticed. Rose, however, didn't take notice of them and continued to eat. "Huh? Huh? Oh, yeah. Don't tell me I don't fit in." He said to Willow, attempting to make her smile. It certainly worked.

"You are not permitted to leave your station during a sitting." The head dinner lady told Rose, storming over. 

The confrontation alarmed her so much that it caused her to rapidly stand to explain herself. "I was just talking to this teacher and the librarian."

They both grinned at the stern woman who glared back. "Hello."

"They don't like the chips." Rose whispered audibly. 

The head dinner lady took a deep breath and spat at them. "The menu has been specifically designed by the headmaster to improve concentration and performance. Now, get back to work."

She marched off as Rose dazedly rolled her eyes at her. Finally, Rose started to head back to her station. "See? This is me. Dinner lady."

"I'll have the crumble." The Doctor commented.

Then, Willow decided to join in. "Oh, I'd like the chocolate pudding!"

With her back turned to them, she informed. "I'm so going to kill you." The duo laughed as they continued to eat what wasn't bland and revolting while Mr Finch watched them from overhead.

***

Later, Willow and the Doctor were in the staff room, talking to some of the teachers and investigating. At some points, they were lounging about and eating some good food that was happily provided. To be honest, it was nice for both of them as they had no thoughts of fear and regret that would trouble them. They were discussing normal things and grew closer by the minute. 

It was clear to most of the teachers that something was going on between them, yet they did notice the connection they both had. Though the Doctor and Willow liked each other, they would never admit it.

Ultimately, Willow decided to get some more coffee for themselves while the Doctor continued to investigate the strange happenings of the school. As she was leaving, somehow she managed to collide with someone. "Oh, my-" She exclaimed as she bumped into a middle-aged woman who was standing next to Mr Finch. "I am so sorry. I should really look where I'm going."

"Oh, it wasn't your fault! I'm not hurt." The woman stated.

She gave a small smile before her eyes shifted to the view of the Headmaster. "Good afternoon, Mr Finch."

"Afternoon Miss Hughes, this is Sarah Jane Smith." Mr Finch informed, introducing her. "Miss Smith is interviewing me for the paper."

"Oh, a journalist!" She grinned. "Wow, that's amazing!"

He turned to his female companion. "Miss Hughes is our part-time librarian. Unfortunately, the old librarian had to go to the hospital."

"Oh, what happened?" Sarah Jane asked, concerned.

"An unfortunate accident." Mr Finch explained. "I'm afraid she fell down the stairs."

There was something sinister about Mr Finch that gave Willow shivers. Something didn't feel quite right with him, especially since it sounded like he didn't care about the old librarian. To be frank, Willow wanted to escape their conversation as soon as she could. "Well, it was nice chatting to you both but I'm afraid I'm on coffee duty for Mr Smith and I. He goes mental if he doesn't have it."

"Well, you better go quickly as the bell is scheduled to ring in a few minutes." The headmaster told her.

She nodded, flashing a quick smile towards Sarah Jane. "Nice to meet you, Miss Smith."

"You too." She raised her hand, gesturing Willow to shake it in which she did.

Shortly after, Willow travelled in the opposite direction as Mr Finch and Sarah Jane entered the staff room. She wished that the coffee machine was in the staff room, however, for some reason it was located in the library.

Once there, she took the two empty coffee cups she had taken with her and placed one in the machine. Willow pressed a button and watched as the brown liquid poured out. As she waited patiently for the cup to fill, her eyes fluttered over to something tucked under the machine. Once the coffee cup was filled to the brim, she switched it off before taking the little sheet out from beneath. 

It was neatly folded, showing signs that someone put this under the machine for a reason and now Willow wanted to know why. With her fingertips, she carefully unfolded it and started to read what the note said.

Don't trust the teachers! Save the children! They're doing something to the children!

The handwriting was too clear to be a student, meaning it had to be an adult who had written it.  This merely continued her theories on this peculiar school.

As she finished filling the cups with coffee, Willow gazed around the area while slipping the note in her pocket, in case one of the teachers was watching her. She couldn't be too careful. When exiting the library, the bell abruptly rang, signalling that it was the end of class. Willow quickly walked down the hallway as fast as she could while children ran past her. "Careful!" She warned. "Hot coffee. Don't want any of you to go to the hospital!"

At the end of the hallway was the Doctor, grinning to himself in disbelief as Willow wandered up to him. "What's got you smiling?" She asked, handing him his coffee.

"Nothing." Although he said that, Willow could tell that he was very joyful about something.

She picked the note from her pocket, fluttering it in his face. "Found this in the library."

The Doctor took a hold of it, starting to read what it said. "Looks like we weren't the only ones who were suspicious."

"I guess that the old librarian didn't tumble down the stairs by accident." Willow theorised as she took a small sip of her drink.

***

Later on in the evening, the Doctor, Willow, Rose and Mickey managed to find their way into the school to continue their investigation by supplying more evidence into the strange happenings of Deffry Vale. "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 commented.

"All right, team." The Doctor started. "Oh, I hate people who say team. Er... gang... Er... comrades."

"You're getting off track." Willow told him, noticing he was being distracted. Unknowingly to the two of them, Rose and Mickey were giving each other the same look which meant: 'They should totally be together!'

He nodded in agreement to what Willow said, formulating a plan. "Anyway, Rose and Willow, you 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. Be back here in ten minutes."

The Doctor strode off into the direction of the Headmaster's Office, leaving the other three to their own devices. "You going to be all right?" Rose questioned her boyfriend.

"Me? Please. Infiltration and investigation? I'm an expert at this." He stated, heading off in the wrong direction. Rose and Willow patiently waited a few moments before Mickey eventually realised his mistake and returned. "Where's the Maths department?"

She leaned towards him. "Down there, turn left, through the fire doors, on the right."

"Thank you." He said as Rose and Willow headed off to the school kitchens.

***

Once they were situated in the canteen kitchens, Willow started to question what Rose had seen earlier in the day. "Well," She began to explain while putting on some gloves and checking the fallen barrel of yellow liquid. "The dinner ladies were moving this barrel that was quite dangerous to them and... then it collapsed onto one of them... I think it burned her."

"Like acid?" Willow wondered.

"Yeah, acid," Rose stated, taking a sample of the liquid and placing it into a test tube as something shadowy flew over them. However, they could only hear the screech of it. "What was that?"

"I don't know, but I think we should get back to the Doctor-" Before Willow could finish, they suddenly heard a girlish scream. The girls both glared at each other, fearful. "What was that?"

As quickly as they could, they scampered out into the corridor, trying to find the Doctor. It was dimly lit but they could still survey their surroundings. Unexpectedly, they collided with the Doctor and another woman as they were exiting the gym. As Willow gazed at the Doctor's unknown associate, she suddenly realised that it was the journalist she met earlier, Sarah Jane Smith. 

Rose backed up, noticing Willow's stares. "Did you hear that? Who's she?"

"Rose, Sarah Jane. Sarah Jane, Rose." Next, he eyed Willow and introduced her. "Willow, Sarah Jane. Sarah Jane, Willow."

"Yeah, we met earlier." She commented, confused about the Doctor's excitement. "Hold on, do you two know each other?"

"Well, sort of." The Doctor said. 

"Hi. Nice to meet you, both." She outstretched a hand to Rose, who confusedly shook it. "You can tell you're getting older. Your assistants are getting younger."

"We're not his assistants." Willow fired back, becoming annoyed by her already.

"No? Get you, tiger." She glared at the Doctor, implying something before walking off.

Willow was left awestruck. It appeared that she had been so nice to her earlier, but once she knew she was one of the Doctor's companions, she started to act differently around her. Who exactly was she?

Together, they all ran towards the sound of the scream, finding Mickey. He was standing in front of a lit-up cupboard, trying to put something away. Once he noticed the group was there, he started rambling. "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 mumbled in disbelief. "Dozens of rats. Vacuum packed rats."

"And you decided to scream." The Doctor said, picking one of the rats up.

"It took me by surprise!" He argued.

"Like a little girl?" He joked.

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

"Nine, maybe ten years old. I'm seeing pigtails, frilly skirt." The Doctor continued to joke around, causing Mickey to feel his hair in worry.

"Hello, can we focus?" Willow asked, catching their attention. "Does anyone notice anything strange about this? Rats in school?"

"Well, obviously they use them in Biology lessons. They dissect them." Sarah Jane theorised with an adequate explanation. "Or maybe you haven't reached that bit yet. How old are you?"

"I think you'll recall that I'm the librarian here. So, I think I've definitely passed that age." Willow responded.

The Doctor squinted in confusion at how the girls were acting towards each other, a little shocked. Rose, clearly offended by Sarah Jane insulting her cousin, stepped in. "Besides, no one dissects rats in school anymore. They haven't done that for years. Where are you from, the dark ages?" 

Slightly scared of what was going on between them, the Doctor finally stopped their small squabble as Sarah Jane widened her mouth in outrage. "Anyway, moving on. Everything started when Mister Finch arrived. We should go and check his office." 

They all got moving, heading down the school corridor where Willow decided to do some investigating of her own. "I don't mean to be rude or anything, but who exactly are you?"

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

"Oh, that explains it!" Willow sarcastically stated, putting on a fake smile. "Well, he's never mentioned you."

"Oh, I must've done." The Doctor thought. "Sarah Jane. Mention her all the time." 

She placed a hand on her chin. "Hold on... let me think... Nope! The name doesn't ring a bell! Rose?"

"Hold on... Sorry... Never." Rose shrugged, siding with Willow.

"What, not even once?" She questioned, trying to catch up with her. "He didn't mention me even once?"

Behind the girls, Mickey consoled the incredibly confused Doctor. "Ho, ho, mate. The missus and the ex. Welcome to every man's worst nightmare."

They wandered on through the dark corridors of the school until coming to Mr Finch's office. The Doctor took lead and sonicked the door, ready to investigate further. "Maybe those rats were food." He thought.

"Food for what?" Rose questioned as the door unlocked. 

The Doctor quietly opened it, however, his eyes quickly shot up to the ceiling upon noticing something out of place. "Rose, you know you used to think all the teachers slept in the school? Well, they do."

The rest of the group stared up at the ceiling, understanding what he meant. Hanging down from the ceiling were giant bats. Willow was startled, realising the truth about the creepy teachers. "No way!" Mickey said, running off as the others followed him more sedately. The Doctor quietly shut the door, without knowing he woke one up and went after the group.

They made their way outside in the schoolyard where Mickey had stopped to force air back into his lungs. "I am not going back in there. No way."

"Those were teachers," Rose stated, still in shock from what they had witnessed early.

"When Finch arrived, he brought with him seven new teachers, four dinner ladies and a nurse. Thirteen. Thirteen big bat people." The Doctor explained.

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

"You saw it, Mickey." Willow pointed out. "We all saw it!"

The Doctor spoke once again, ignoring Mickey's cries. "I need the Tardis. I've got to analyse that oil from the kitchen."

"I might be able to help you there." Sarah Jane acknowledged, pulling the Doctor away. "I've got something to show you."

The others accompanied the two to Sarah Jane's car where she opened the boot to reveal an object underneath a blanket. Upon removing it for their eyes, she revealed it to be a metal dog. "K9!" The Doctor exclaimed in excitement, recognising it.  "Willow Hughes, Rose Tyler, Mickey Smith, allow me to introduce K9. well, K9 Mark Three to be precise."

While observing that it was some sort of robot, it looked so unlike ones they've seen before. Rose squinted at it in bewilderment. "Why does he look so disco?"

"Oi! Listen, in the year five thousand, this was cutting edge." He declared. "What's happened to him?"

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

He gazed at her. "Well, didn't you try and get him repaired?"

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

Of all the things the Doctor could have chosen to do next, he began petting the unresponsive metal dog as if it were real. "Ooh, what's the nasty lady done to you, eh?"

Willow rolled her eyes and strolled over to one of the car doors, knowing that the Doctor was definitely sticking with her. "Look, no offence, but could you two just stop petting for a minute? Never mind the tin dog. We're busy."

***

They drove to the nearest coffee shop where they could reactivate K9 and gain some answers about the giant bat people. Willow, Rose and Mickey were at the counter, ordering themselves some chips as the Doctor and Sarah Jane were getting cosy while repairing K9 in the corner. The ginger-haired girl couldn't help but eye them jealously, infuriated by her presence and how the Doctor reacted to her being there with them. On the radio, she could hear the song 'Love Will Tear Us Apart' by Joy Division. How ironic!

"You see, what's impressive is that it's been nearly an hour since we met her and I still haven't said I told you so." Mickey mentioned.

"I'm not listening to this," Rose asserted as their chips were packaged into a container.

Nonetheless, Mickey wasn't planning to stop. "Although, I have prepared a little I was right dance that I can show you later."

The woman on the other side of the counter handed them the container, asking for money. "Two quid, love."

Rose paid for the portion of chips as she pulled Willow over to a nearby table to stop her from staring at the Doctor and Sarah Jane. Mickey still chattered on. "All this time you've been giving it, he's different, when the truth is, he's just like any other bloke."

Willow sighed, annoyed. "You don't know what you're talking about."

She took a handful of chips and stuffed them down her throat, then reaching for more after swallowing. "Maybe not. But if I were you I'd go easy on the chips." Mickey recognised, making Willow understand what she was doing.

Every now and then, she proceeded to glare at the couple while ramming the rest of the chips down her throat. Because of this, Rose and Mickey hardly ate any. It was only now that she finally realised that, even after travelling with the Doctor for a year, she still didn't know anything about him and it broke her heart.

Eventually, the Doctor soon became distracted from his conversation with Sarah Jane after K9 suddenly shot back to life. "Oh, hey! Now we're in business."

"Master." It muttered in a robotic voice as the others stood from their seats to see what it could do.

A massive grin arose from the Doctor's face. "He recognises me!"

"Affirmative."

"Rose, give us the oil." He commanded.

She took the sample out of her pocket and handed it to him. "I wouldn't touch it, though. That dinner lady got all scorched."

"I'm no dinner lady. And I don't often say that." He dipped his finger into the test tube and took out a bit of the oil and smeared it over K9's probe like he wanted him to sniff it. "Here we go. Come on, boy. Here we go."

"Oil. Ex-ex-ex extract. Ana-ana-analysing." K9 stuttered.

"Listen to him, man. That's a voice!" Mickey mocked the robot, trying to make Rose laugh.

Sarah Jane faced him, offended by his antics. "Careful. That's my dog."

He nodded as K9 resumed analysing the oil. "Confirmation of analysis. Substance is Krillitane Oil."

The Doctor's expression dropped, comprehending what he meant. "They're Krillitanes."

"Is that bad?" Willow asked, curious about the species.

"Very." He confirmed. "Think of how bad things could possibly be, and add another suitcase full of bad."

"And what are Krillitanes?" Sarah Jane queried.

He continued to stare out, remembering other encounters with their kind. "They're a composite race. 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?" Rose wondered.

"It's the children." He spoke. "They're doing something to the children."

***

Outside the coffee shop, Sarah Jane had packed K9 into her boot with some help from Mickey and a reluctant Rose while Willow confronted the Doctor upon the sudden appearance of his "old friend". "How many of us have there been travelling with you?" She questioned as they both stormed out of the cafe.

He eyed her over his shoulder, a little surprised. "Does it matter?"

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

The Doctor stopped, facing her. "As opposed to what?"

She appeared slightly stunned by his reaction, hesitating for a moment. "I thought you and me were... I obviously got it wrong. I've been to another Earth in the future but this? Now, 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." He declared quickly. Too quickly. "Never to you."

"What about Rose? Are you going to leave her behind too? And what about Jack? What happened to him? You never said!" She interrogated, making him uneasy. She was right though, what had happened to Jack on the Space Station? Little did she know that the Doctor knew something she didn't. "And Sarah Jane. I saw the way you looked at her. You share that look with me sometimes. You were that close to her once, and now you never even mention her. Why not?"

"I don't age." The Doctor emotionally spat. "I regenerate. But humans decay. You wither and you die. Imagine watching that happen to someone who you..."

He stopped, almost admitting something he's wanted to say to her for ages but he couldn't find the words. She was so beautiful and he wanted to tell her so badly but, like with Sarah Jane, he was afraid of losing her. "What, Doctor?" Willow wondered, pressuring for an answer.

"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. That's the curse of the Time Lords." He informed her. Abruptly, a screech alarmed him, causing him to look up and see one of the Krillitanes swoop down towards them.

They all ducked in fear, afraid of what it wanted to do to them. However, instead of attacking them, it flew off towards the moon. "Was that a Krillitane?" Sarah Jane shockingly asked.

"But it didn't even touch her. It just flew off. What did it do that for?" Rose gaped as the group watched it soar off into the distance.

***

Soon enough it was the next morning and the gang got to work, arriving at the school amidst many happy and tired students. They collectively exited the car, ready for anything the Krillitanes had planned for them. The bat-like species had already sent their warning signal but now it was time to send theirs. "Rose, Willow and Sarah, you go to the Maths room. Crack open those computers, I need to see the hardware inside. Here, you might need this." Rose held her hand out as the Doctor gave the sonic screwdriver to Sarah Jane without a second thought. She stood there awkwardly with her hand out, comprehending that she wasn't the favourite companion at the moment. "Mickey, surveillance. I want you outside."

"Just stand outside?" He inquired in complexity.

Sarah Jane removed her car keys from her pocket and threw them over to Mickey. "Here, take these you can keep K9 company."

"Don't forget to leave the window open a crack." The Doctor suggested.

"But he's metal!" Mickey argued, thinking that he meant K9.

"I didn't mean for him!" He yelled back as Rose giggled under her breath.

Willow turned to the Doctor, inquisitive to what he was planning to do. "What're you going to do?"

"It's time I had a word with Mister Finch."

***

Sarah Jane attempted to use the sonic screwdriver on the computers but was hardly making any progress. "It's not working."

Willow sighed in irritation, wishing she and Rose weren't spending all of their valuable time with someone they didn't get along well with. "Give it to me."

She huffed as she handed Willow the screwdriver, swapping places. She buzzed it for a bit on the computers, trying to make it work. "Used to work first time in my day." Sarah Jane noted off-handed.

"Well, things were a lot simpler back then." Rose mentioned.

After a few moments, Sarah Jane uttered. "Girls, can I give you a bit of advice?"

"I've got a feeling you're about to." The blonde frustratingly replied as Willow listened in.

"I know how intense a relationship with the Doctor can be, and I don't want you to feel I'm intruding." She explained.

"Look, Sarah Jane, we don't feel threatened by you," Willow responded. "If that's what you mean."

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

This woman was getting on the girls' nerves, thinking she was so special. "No? With the big sad eyes and the robot dog? What else were you doing last night?" 

"I was just saying how hard it was adjusting to life back on Earth-" She started.

Rose wandered a little away from the two while appending to their little argument. "The thing is when you two met they'd only just got rid of rationing. No wonder all that space stuff was a bit too much for you."

Sarah Jane straightened up, raising her voice in Rose's direction. "I had no problem with space stuff. I saw things you wouldn't believe."

The lone ginger stood up, her fist curled around the sonic screwdriver in fury. "Try us!"

"Mummies." She didn't hesitate to begin her list. 

However, Rose had a few tricks up her sleeve too. "I've met ghosts."

"Robots. Lots of robots."

"Slitheen, in Downing Street!" Willow pointed out, just to boast.

"Daleks!"

She smirked, flicking her hair back playfully. "Met the Emperor."

"Anti-matter monsters."

"Gas masked zombies." Rose said.

"Real living dinosaurs."

The girls eyed each other for a moment, each knowing what to say. "Real living werewolf!"

"THE LOCH NESS MONSTER!" Sarah Jane screamed in their faces, leaving them in shock.

Both girls blinked wide-eyed at her until Rose spoke once more. "Seriously?" The woman stopped in embarrassment upon realising how they were all acting towards one another. "Listen to us. It's like me and my mate Shareen. The only time we fell out was over a man, and we're arguing over the Doctor. 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?

They all suddenly erupted in laughter as Sarah Jane confirmed the fact. "All the time. Does he still stroke bits of the Tardis?"

"Oh my- Yeah, he does!" Willow responded, recognising that they all shared common opinions on the Doctor and it made them laugh. "I'm like, do you two want to be alone?"

It was at this time that a former, a current companion and perhaps a girl who was something more to him finally bonded; forming an interesting friendship. As they all guffawed with each other, the Doctor stormed in and noticed the three had stopped arguing. "How's it going?" Nevertheless, he was given no response. "What? Listen, I need to find out what's programmed inside these." They continued to laugh at him in embarrassment as if he wore a hilarious fake moustache on his face or something. That's when hysteria finally settled in. "What? Stop it!"

***

Ultimately, after a long laugh, the bell rang and students started to head to their classes a bit early. From the Doctor's view, this meant that Mr Finch had put his plan into motion. Rose turned the children away at the door as they started coming in. "No, no. This classroom's out of bounds. You've all got to go to the South Hall. Off you go. South Hall!"

Meanwhile, the Doctor tried to break through the deadlock seal to get inside the CPU. The wires of the computer system were looped around his neck and shoulders as he tried to break in with no luck. "I can't shift it."

"I thought the sonic screwdriver could open anything!" Sarah Jane answered.

"Anything except a deadlock seal." He noted, struggling immensely. "There's got to be something inside here. What're they teaching those kids?"

Unexpectedly, green symbols soon appeared on all of the computers and the whiteboard, signalling it had begun. "You wanted the programme? There it is." She commented, observing the screens curiously.

"Some sort of code." The Doctor muttered, analysing as it began to solve itself. Finally, the Doctor gained some sort of grasp upon the Krillitanes plan. "No. No, that can't be."

Willow wandered up to his side, turning to him. "What is it?"

"The Skasis Paradigm." He uttered. "They're trying to crack the Skasis Paradigm."

"The Skasis what?" Sarah Jane queried.

The Doctor described thoroughly in an attempt to make the girls understand. "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?" Rose questioned.

He spun around, figuring it out. "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."

Her eyes widened in alarm. "But that oil's on the chips. I've been eating them."

"What's fifty-nine times thirty-five?"

"Two thousand and sixty-five. Oh, my God."

"To be honest, that would have been useful if it was around the time you were in school," Willow added to Rose's inconvenience. "But back to it, eh?"

"But why use children?" wondered Sarah Jane. "Can't they use adults?"

"No, it's got to be children. The God maker needs imagination to crack it." He faced the Skasis Paradigm again. "They're not just using the children's brains to break the code, they're using their souls."

Behind them, as the group were turned away, Mr Finch had crept into the room. "Let the lesson begin." He playfully vocalised. "Think of it, Doctor. With the Paradigm solved, reality becomes clay in our hands. We can shape the universe and improve it."

The Doctor waltzed forward with some unfondness. "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, 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." He sinisterly walked towards the Doctor without taking an eye off him.

"What, by someone like you?"

"No, someone like you." Mr Finch paused, seeking to sway the Doctor to join with them. "The Paradigm gives us power, but you could give us wisdom. Become a God at my side. Imagine what you could do. Think of the civilisations you could save. Perganon, Assinta. Your own people, Doctor, standing tall. The Time Lords reborn."

However, the girls knew exactly what Finch was trying to do as Sarah Jane argued. "Doctor, don't listen to him."

The demonic alien soon recognised their presence, strolling towards them eagerly. "And you could be with him throughout eternity. Young, fresh, never wither, never age, never die. Their lives are so fleeting. So many goodbyes. How lonely you must be, Doctor. Join us." 

He was toying with his feelings; his everlasting loneliness. "I could save everyone."

"Yes."

"I could stop the war." He murmured, thinking of all the power he would have.

The Doctor was drifting away and the girls could tell. "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."

Willow edged closer to him. "You're right. One day, you'll have to let us go but we should at least treasure the time we have now. Together."

Both Sarah and Willow's words released the Doctor from re-living his pain of letting go and saying goodbye, allowing him to pick up one of the computer chairs and launch it into the glass whiteboard. It shattered into several pieces as the Doctor took Willow by the hand. "Out!" Everyone ran out of the room, except Mr Finch who was increasingly irritated by his foiled attempt to persuade the Doctor to join him. 

Once they made their way towards the staircase, they encountered Mickey with a rogue student named Kenny in tow. "What is going on?" He asked, though there was no time to explain as Finch's Krillitane brothers swooped towards them, intent on ripping them apart and leaving the Doctor spared. 

The group sprinted through the hallways, finding themselves trapped in the canteen with the giant bats overhead. "Are they my teachers?" Kenny questioned.

"Yeah. Sorry."

"We need the Doctor alive. As for the others? You can feast." Finch advised his brethren.

They all swooped across the room, causing the gang to duck under tables and chairs to protect themselves from harm. Suddenly, amongst the screams, a laser beam shot one of the Krillitanes down. Finch screamed in fury as K9 rolled in and started shooting all around. "K9, hold them back!" shouted the Doctor as everyone ran out of the room towards another classroom.

"Affirmative, master. Maximum defence mode." K9 stated before the Doctor sealed the doors and directed the others to safety.

The group managed to lock themselves in a nearby physics classroom, however, there was no escape as the Krillitanes had managed to find them. "It's the oil. 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?"

"Barrels of it," answered Rose as the aliens started battering the door down on the other side.

There was no time to lose; they had to find a way out fast. "Okay, we need to get to the kitchens. Mickey."

"What now, hold the coats?" Mickey sarcastically questioned, expecting another useless job.

"Get all the children unplugged and out of the school." He demanded, giving Mickey one of the most important jobs of all. "Now then, bats, bats, bats. How do we fight bats?"

Before he had time to think, the young quick-witted Kenny slammed his fist into the fire alarm. He knew that bats used their hearing as a strength and that their weakness was high frequencies. This allowed for their escape. 

The Doctor smiled, unlocking the door and releasing them all as the Krillitanes screamed beside them. Mickey raced to find the children while the others headed to the kitchens to finally end Finch's reign of terror. As they fled down the corridor, the fire alarm ceased which meant the giant bats could easily track them.

Once in the kitchen, the Doctor immediately used his sonic screwdriver on the barrels of oil to unlock them with no luck. "They've been deadlock sealed. Finch must've done that. I can't open them."

"The vats would not withstand a direct hit from my laser, but my batteries are failing," K9 explained to them.

The Doctor agreed his trusty metal dog. "Right. Everyone out the back door. K9, stay with me."

They all obeyed his command and exited the building as quickly as they could, leaving only the Doctor and K9 inside. He lined up all of the barrels in order to make the perfect target for his dog to shoot at. "Capacity for only one shot, Master. For maximum impact, I must be stationed directly beside the vat."

He paused, comprehending what would happen to K9. "But you'll be trapped inside."

"That is correct."

"I can't let you do that." argued the Doctor.

"No alternative possible, Master."

The Doctor placed a hand on him, petting him before saying his final goodbye. "Goodbye, old friend."

K9 hesitated for a moment. "Goodbye, Master."

"You good dog." He smoothed his hand over K9's head for the last time.

"Affirmative." It mentioned before the Doctor followed the group out of the exit.

Waiting outside was Sarah Jane, wanting her dog back. Instead, she discovered the Doctor sealing the doors to the kitchen before trying to pull her away from the scene. "Where's K9?"

He blatantly ignored the question, needing Sarah Jane to be safe. "We need to run."

"Where is he? What have you done!" She yelled, but it was too late as inside the building, K9 was prepared to blow up the school.

Everyone, including Mickey and a horde of students, ran out into the main schoolyard with a good enough distance from the school. Eventually, the whole school exploded into fire and flames, leaving nothing but a broken building with dead Krillitanes inside. An eruption of paper flew overhead as all of the children rejoiced at no longer spending their days at Deffry Vale. Soon enough, their words changed to 'Kenny' because one of the students discovered their involvement. That could go a little wrong in the future for him though.

Willow, Rose and Mickey cheered in joy, however, not all were happy. The Doctor looked down upon a sorrowful Sarah Jane who was on the verge of tears. "I'm sorry."

"It's all right. He was just a daft metal dog. It's fine, really." Nonetheless, she soon burst into tears as the Doctor comforted her in her grief upon her robot pet. All Willow could do was witness them hold each other. Although Sarah Jane and her formed a friendship together, she still withheld some jealousy towards her relationship with the Doctor. 

***

Sometime later, the Doctor had moved the TARDIS from the destroyed school to Belle Vue Park in order to stay out of the way of everything else. Sarah Jane had agreed to meet them there and so they did. Once she walked up, the door to the TARDIS swung open, revealing the Doctor. "Cup of tea?" He asked curiously while making sure she could step inside.

"You've redecorated." She noted as she admired the since updated TARDIS interior.

"Do you like it?" The Doctor wondered.

Sarah Jane approved, amazed at the detail. "Oh, I-I do. Yeah. I preferred it as it was, but er, yeah. It'll do."

"I love it." mentioned Rose.

She smiled at the young blonde, laughing a little. "Hey, you what's forty-seven times three hundred and sixty-nine?"

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

"But you're both still clever. More than a match for him." She added, happy to have met Willow and Rose.

"It was great to meet you, Sarah Jane." Willow grinned at the former companion, returning the compliment. "Doctor?"

He gazed up at her, understanding what Willow was insinuating. "Er, we're about to head off, but you could come with us."

For a moment, she hesitated, taking one last look before making her decision. "No. 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."

There was silence as the group accepted her choice until Mickey barked up. "Can I come?" Sarah Jane froze, glaring at Mickey in confusion. "No, not with you, I mean with you. Because I'm not the tin dog, and I want to see what's out there."

"Oh, go on, Doctor. Sarah Jane Smith, a Mickey Smith. You need a Smith on board." She stated.

The Doctor shrugged. "Okay then, I could do with a laugh."

However, Rose wasn't particularly happy but Mickey didn't notice it. "Rose, is that okay?"

"No, great. Why not?" She lied, clearly upset.

"Well, I'd better go." She looked at Willow, signalling her to come over. Clueless to why she wanted to talk to her, she strolled over. "Willow, do you like the Doctor?"

"Well, of course, I like him-"

"No," Sarah Jane whispered. "Do you LIKE him?"

Willow took a breath, gaping back at the Doctor who was busy working on the console to remark her eyeing him. She turned back, leaning in closer. "Yes, but I know it will never happen."

"I've seen the way you look at him. I've seen that look in a mirror a long time ago." She described. "Just try not to get hurt. Find me, if you need to, one day." 

The two women embraced one another before Sarah Jane exited the TARDIS with the Doctor. She was right though, falling for the Doctor was like falling for the stars themselves.

***

Outside the TARDIS, the Doctor and Sarah Jane conversed before their goodbyes. "It's daft, but I haven't ever thanked you for that time. And like I said, I wouldn't have missed it for the world."

"Something to tell the grandkids." He mentioned, thinking she had moved on.

"Well, not exactly grandkids yet." Sarah Jane stated. "It's a long story."

Upon hearing her words, he wondered for a second. "I didn't get a chance to ask. You haven't? There hasn't been anyone? You know."

"Again, it's a long story." She said with bluntness, not wanting to explore another topic. "Well, there was this one guy. I travelled with him for a while, but he was a tough act to follow. Goodbye, Doctor."

"Oh, it's not goodbye." The Doctor argued.

Nevertheless, she stopped him. "Do say it. Please. This time. Say it."

"Goodbye, my Sarah Jane." With that, he lifted her off her feet in a big hug and then headed back inside the TARDIS, ever more gleeful with himself.

Though she was sad, watching the TARDIS de-materialise in front of her eyes again; the Doctor had left a surprise. "K9!"

"Mistress."

In her shock and confusion, she knelt down in front of the no longer rusty metal dog. "But you were blown up!"

"The Master rebuilt me." It told her. "My systems are much improved with new undetectable hyperlink facilities."

In more or fewer words, she knew exactly what K9 meant. "Oh, he replaced you with a brand new model!"

"Affirmative."

"Yeah, he does that." Though they spent many years apart, the Doctor never fails to surprise her. "Come on, you. Home. We've got work to do."

"Affirmative."

And off they went. With a whole world to explore and surprises left in store for Sarah Jane Smith; it seemed that there were more sunny days to come.

***

Did she just tease something at the end?

Long story? What about?

Could there be a spinoff in the works? OH YES THERE BLOODY IS!

Abigail Smith lived a normal life or so she thought when aliens and others come knocking at her doorstep.

COMING TO WATTPAD ON THE FIRST OF JANUARY, 2021: SUNNY DAYS! A SARAH JANE ADVENTURES SERIES.

But this will only be one of two spinoffs coming soon. The other will be a book spinoff based on an original character.

Anyway, I apologise for taking so long on this! I have given plenty of reasons before and no I haven't died of Coronavirus but am increasingly concerned about it as there have been two cases around the area I live in 👌

By the time I have finished The Girl In The Fireplace (one of my favourites), that will be the end of an unofficial Act 1 of the book. Probably more will come after I've finished my GCSEs.

See you guys another time!

- Alice ❤