I grinned to myself, glad at where I was sitting right now and the job that the Doctor managed to get me at this school we were checking out. I had never been to school when I was younger, according to what little memories I was getting back. All I could remember was reading a lot of books and sitting on the lap of a man as he told me about different things, though what he was telling me was still a bit jumbled up in my head. I did, however, occasionally read something in a book that sparked a surge of information about that subject that I already knew. The first time it happened, it was strange at how flashes of math had seemingly flashed before my eyes and I realized as I skimmed through the book that nothing about it was new anymore. I already knew it all.

I asked the Doctor about it, but he just smiled and said that it was good that I was getting memories back, before he encouraged me to read more books. I had begun to feel bad though, because it seemed like every time I spoke with him or Rose, that they would somehow split off from the conversation and converse about something together that I wasn't able to follow. I told him about the dream I had with the watch once and Rose had then mentioned how her father used to have one and from there the Doctor joined in and they started discussing Rose's mother—who was apparently very intimidating. I had never met this person before, so I couldn't join in on their conversation or anything, and ended up just going back to the library, downtrodden, with only the worried hum of the Tardis to keep me company.

My smile fell as I set down the book I was reading on the desk and pulled my reading glasses off my face, eyes scanning across the empty school library. No one seemed to even come in here for anything, which I found odd, and the empty room only seemed to echo my loneliness. I let out a sigh, tucking the glasses—a gift from the Doctor when he caught me squinting at pages once—into my shirt pocket as the lunch bell rang. I picked up the book and put it back in its proper place on the shelves, starting to get bored with how many books I've already read, and began my walk to the canteen. I ruffled my hair with a small frown, not looking forward to whatever greasy food they would be serving in the canteen today and silently question if there were any books I haven't read. I'm nearly through the entire school library with only a shelf left that I haven't checked and, even with how large the Doctor's library is, I think I'm about a third the way through it already. I'm getting bored.

I picked up a tray to get food, waiting in line with the rest of the staff and students and grimacing at the slop they put on my plate before I went to take a seat next to the Doctor at a table.

"Hello, Kris! How's the library?"

"I've already read just about everything." I muttered, poking at the chips on my plate with my fork.

"Already?"

I gave him a look. "No. I've already read everything."

He seemed to understand then. "Ah, right. Memory thing. Hm, odd though, you already having read so much. But then again, it is a high school library. It's not surprising."

"I've never been to high school." I told him, making him frown in thought just as Rose came over, looking angry as she wiped down the table we were at.

She had gotten the unlucky job of being a dinner lady while we were here, though the whole reason we were here in the first place was because of her boyfriend, Mickey. He was the one who thought something was up with the school and called Rose to get us down here. I didn't mind him. He was pleasant enough, though not exactly the brightest bulb in the box at times, but with the Doctor around everyone seemed a bit slow.

"Two days." Rose grumbled.

"Sorry, could you just? There's a bit of gravy." The Doctor gestured to a spot on the table that Rose went to clean. "No, no, just, just there."

She had missed, apparently.

"Two days, we've been here." She complained.

"Blame your boyfriend. He's the one who put us onto this. And he was right. Boy in class this morning, got a knowledge way beyond planet Earth."

"And no one's in the library." I mumbled, sadly, earning two odd looks. "What? There's always one person in a library to study for something. Here, there's no one."

Rose rolled her eyes, before gesturing to the Doctor's plate. "You eating those chips?"

"Yeah, they're a bit…different." He said as she snatched one off his plate.

"I think they're gorgeous. Wish I had school dinners like this."

I shoved my plate towards her, sighing. "If you really want some, you can have mine. I apparently don't care for chips."

"Mm, thanks."

"It's very well behaved, this place." The Doctor said, looking around and folding his arms over his chest.

"Mmm."

"I thought there'd be happy slapping hoodies. Happy slapping hoodies with ASBOs. Happy slapping hoodies with ASBOs and ringtones. Huh? Huh? Oh, yeah. Don't tell me I don't fit in."

Rose smiled a bit as I rolled my eyes, feeling left out once more, though I knew what ringtones were, ASBOs and hoodies were words I hadn't the slightest clue about. Though I think I read about hoodies somewhere. Aren't they some sort of jacket? But that doesn't sound right, the way the Doctor used it.

"You are not permitted to leave your station during a sitting." The head dinner lady scolded Rose, having come over while I was thinking and making Rose stand and gesture to my plate.

"I was just talking to the librarian."

I waved lazily.

"She doesn't like the chips."

The woman glared at me, making me frown at Rose, as I now got lectured.

"The menu has been specifically designed by the headmaster to improve concentration and performance. Now, get back to work."

"See? This is me. Dinner lady." Rose complained.

"I'll have the crumble." The Doctor joked as she walked off.

"I'm so going to kill you."

"Not if I do it first." I muttered, earning a grin from the Doctor just as another teacher walked in and began speaking with a student sitting at the table across from us.

"Melissa. You'll be joining my class for the next period. Milo's failed me, so it's time we moved you up to the top class. Kenny, not eating the chips?"

"I'm not allowed."

"Luke. Extra class. Now."

The student got up and left with him, but I felt something was wrong, though I couldn't quite figure out what. The Doctor though was watching the headmaster upstairs, the man overlooking everything like a hawk. Lunch was soon over though, and the headmaster had everyone gather in the staff room for some sort of meeting, so I reluctantly left my books and went in with the Doctor as he spoke with another man about the strangeness of the school, one of the more normal ones

"Yesterday, I had a twelve year old girl give me the exact height of the Walls of Troy in cubits."

"And, it's ever since the new headmaster arrived?" The Doctor questioned the man, chewing on some chips from the canteen.

"Finch arrived three months ago. Next day, half the staff got flu. Finch replaced them with that lot—" He nodded slightly over at a group of teacher behind us. "—except for the teacher you replaced and the librarian, and that was just plain weird. The teacher winning the lottery like that and the librarian winning a cruise to the Caribbean for three months."

"How's that weird?"

"She never played. Said the ticket was posted through her door at midnight. Same with the librarian."

"Hmm." The Doctor ate another chip, looking unconcerned. "The world is very strange."

That's because you were the one to give them those tickets, idiot. I thought, giving him a look to which he winked.

"Excuse me, colleagues. A moment of your time." The headmaster said, finally showing up for the so-called meeting, though I blinked at the woman at his side. "May I introduce Miss Sarah Jane Smith. Miss Smith is a journalist who's writing a profile about me for the Sunday Times. I thought it might be useful for her to get a view from the trenches, so to speak. Don't spare my blushes."

I looked over at the Doctor, curious as to what he would think of the newcomer, but he didn't even notice, eyes having locked on her and a grin plastering itself on his face before she headed over with her own smile.

"Hello."

"Oh, I should think so."

"And, you are?"

"Hm? Uh, Smith. John Smith." He spouted out, very nearly forgetting his own nickname if I hadn't elbowed him in the ribs to snap him out of his daze.

He's either just fallen in love, or he knows her from somewhere. Though she doesn't seem to know him. Odd.

"And you?" She turned to me as I snapped out of my own daze to answer.

"Kris. Kris Daniels." I lied, having gotten used to switching my last name around, though I hadn't the slightest idea why. Past self must have done it often for some reason.

"Kris Daniels and… John Smith." She took a deep breath, reminiscing. "I used to have a friend who sometimes went by that name."

"Well, it's a very common name."

"He was a very uncommon man." She shrugged, that smile still on her face, before she held out her hand to the Doctor. "Nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you. Yes, very nice. More than nice. Brilliant."

I shook her hand as well, before she looked around, almost nervous or cautious.

"Um, so, um… Have you two worked here long?"

"No. Um, it's only our second day. Kris here is a friend of mine and we got lucky that two spots opened up."

"Oh, you're new, then. So, what do you think of the school? I mean, this new curriculum? So many children getting ill. Doesn't that strike you as odd?"

"You don't sound like someone just doing a profile." The Doctor said, making her get more cautious and a bit… spunky.

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

"No. Good for you. Good for you." He grinned as she walked off to great the other teachers, him more than a little excited. "Oh, good for you, Sarah Jane Smith."

"I'm guessing you know her then?" I asked, making him turn to me, though he looked surprised I was even there.

"Hm? Oh yeah. Her and I go way back, though I had a different face then."

I scrunched up my brows, confused. "A different what?"

The bell went off then, making him grin once more and wave at me as he started to dash off.

"Sorry, got to go. Class to teach!"

"But—" I cut myself off as he went out into the heard of students and I sighed as I dropped my hand that had reached out for him and instead slinked back to the library to be with the books. At least the Tardis paid attention to me. With the Doctor and Rose, it's like I hardly even exist half the time. Perhaps… Perhaps I should just go, next time. Disappear at the next planet and… see if they even notice. I don't belong here, after all. And something tells me… that there's… really no where I belong.

Night approached quickly once I finally found a single book in the whole library that I hadn't read, though the book was about philosophy and I apparently didn't care too much about that subject, though I forced myself to read it in order to stick out the boredom. Didn't have to worry about that now though. We had met up with Mickey in the car park and were currently breaking into the school to figure out what was going on.

"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 said as we all stopped by the staircase.

"All right, team. Oh, I hate people who say team. Um… gang. Um… comrades... Um, anyway, Rose, go to the kitchen. Get a sample of that oil." The Doctor turned his pointed fingers from her over to us. "Mickey, Kris, 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!" He called out, hurrying down the hall as I sighed, heading out as well and assuming that Mickey would follow or Rose would give him directions.

As I walked though, he soon caught up, looking a bit upset.

"Hey! Why'd you just walk off like that? You shouldn't have left me back there."

"I figured Rose would give you directions and you'd catch up." I said, giving him a look. "And here you are."

"…Right… Look, are you, uh… Are you having issues or something? Something on your mind? You just seem a bit… off."

I pulled my hand through my hair with a long sigh. "Yeah…Yeah, I guess I am a bit… upset about some things."

"Oh…" Things got quiet before he spoke again. "Well, you can talk to me, if you want. I won't tell no one. Not even Rose or the Doctor, if that's what you're worried about, but um… How did you end up with the Doctor anyways? It was my first time meeting you, so I'm guessing you haven't been with him long."

I shook my head. "No. I was… picked up by him and Rose at a… hospital. I wasn't in the best of shape and… I don't have any memories of anything. Well, now I do because they've been coming back, but before… I don't remember things, you know?"

"Like what? You remember your name at least, right?"

"Yeah, but I don't remember anything else really. Where I came from. Who my parents were. Other family. Things like that. I found recently that if I read a book I've read in the past that my memory came back a bit, but nothing bigger than that. I remembered when I first picked up a book, that I had never gone to school. My… father taught me everything apparently. Him, and books."

"So you're a reader then. Huh. Sorry about the memory thing though." He said, looking sympathetic. "It's gotta suck not having anywhere to go because you don't remember."

I nodded, solemnly. "Yeah…"

"Is that's what's bothering you?" He asked.

"I suppose that's a part of it. I want to know more, but I can't get my memory back any faster than I already am, and… I feel like… like the Doctor and Rose are getting further and further away. Like I'm a tag-along."

"I know what you mean." Mickey said, surprising me. "I feel the same way and Rose is supposed to be my girlfriend. I mean, I'm happy that she's out there with the Doctor enjoying herself, you know. I want her to be happy, but they kind of go off into their own world sometimes."

I felt relief at knowing that he knew how I felt and was in a similar position. "And you haven't the slightest clue what they're talking about and you sort of just disappear."

"Yeah!" He said loudly, looking frustrated. "I wish they'd just let us in on the jokes and stuff. It's not like we're thick."

I nodded as well, my tenseness easing up as we started to walk past a cupboard, only for Mickey to stop me.

"Hey, let's check this out. See if they have anything hiding in here."

I shrugged, agreeing, and we did this with a few cupboards before he reached out to one and opened the door only to let out a… rather girlish scream as a large number of packaged rats fell out of it. I let out a snicker, earning a pout from Mickey before I started helping him pick the rats up, just as the Doctor, Rose, and…. Sarah rounded the corner and Mickey freaked out.

"Sorry! Sorry, it was only me. You told us to investigate, so I started looking through some of these cupboards and all of these fell on me."

The Doctor picked some of them up, looking at them as Mickey took a deep breath to try and calm down after the fright.

"Oh, my God, they're rats. Dozens of rats. Vacuum packed rats."

"And you decided to scream." The Doctor said to Mickey.

"It took me by surprise!"

"Like a little girl?"

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

"Nine, maybe ten years old. I'm seeing pigtails, frilly skirt."

Mickey rubbed his head at the Doctor's comment with a whine, before I waved my hand.

"Hello? There's rats in the school? I think that's a bit more important right now, as opposed to Mickey's girlish wailing."

"Hey!" He complained, before Sarah spoke up.

"Well, obviously they use them in Biology lessons. They dissect them. Or maybe you haven't reached that bit yet." She said to Rose, dauntingly. "How old are you?"

The room grew tense and the Doctor, Mickey, and I looked between Sarah and Rose as they verbally fought each other, lightning practically sparking between them.

"Excuse me, no one dissects rats in school anymore. They haven't done that for years. Where are you from, the dark ages?"

"Anyway, moving on. Everything started when Mister Finch arrived. We should go and check his office." The Doctor said, keeping them from arguing further before he tossed a rat at Mickey and began heading that way.

I quickly followed, not liking the tension between the two women in the hall. Unfortunately, they caught up quickly and the Doctor and I were caught between them both as they continued.

"I don't mean to be rude or anything, but who exactly are you?" Rose smiled, sickeningly sweet.

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

"Oh. Well, he's never mentioned ya."

"Oh, I must've done. Sarah Jane. Mention her all the time." The Doctor said, getting involved, though I doubted that now was the time.

That, and he's lying. He's rubbing his nose, so it's pretty obvious. I mused, glad that the two women had moved ahead of us, though the tension only grew worse at the Doctor's words.

"Hold on… Sorry… Never."

"What? Not even once? He didn't mention me even once?"

"Ho, ho, mate." Mickey grinned, putting a hand on the Doctor's shoulder. "The missus and the ex. Welcome to every man's worst nightmare."

We made it to Finch's office and the Doctor used his sonic screwdriver to unlock the door, speaking to us over his shoulder.

"Maybe those rats were food."

"Food for what?" Rose questioned as he headed into the office.

"Rose… You know how you used to think all the teachers slept in the school?" He stepped further in, allowing us to file in afterwards and catch sight of what he was looking at hanging from the ceiling. "Well, they do."

"No way!" Mickey said, bolting out the door upon catching sight of the bat-like creatures hanging upside down off one of the pipes on the ceiling.

The rest of us hurried out after him, running out of the school, though I fast-walked along with the Doctor near the back.

"I am not going back in there. No way." Mickey shouted, breathing hard as Rose gasped out.

"Those were teachers."

"When Finch arrived, he brought with him seven new teachers, four dinner ladies and a nurse. Thirteen. Thirteen big bat people. Come on." The Doctor turned around, making to head back in the school, but Mickey wasn't having it.

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

"I need the Tardis." The Doctor said, briefly turning before walking once more. "I've got to analyze that oil from the kitchen."

Sarah stopped us though. "I might be able to help you there. I've got something to show you."

She took the Doctor's arm and led us towards the car park, heading towards what I could only assume was her car and opening the back to show us a large cloth covering something. The Doctor pulled the cloth off and grinned.

"K9! Rose Taylor, Mickey Smith, Kris Eaton, allow me to introduce K9." He reached over, messing with some of the robot dog's insides. "Well, K9 Mark Three to be precise."

"Why does he look so… disco?"

"Oi!" The Doctor said loudly, offended as he pulled his head out of the boot of Sarah's car. "Listen, in the year 5000, this was cutting edge. What's happened to him?"

"Oh, one day he just…" Sarah shrugged. "…nothing."

"Well, didn't you try and get him repaired?" The Doctor questioned, messing with the dog once more.

"Well 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?" He cooed, petting the dog's head and making noises as he scratched the dog behind the ears.

I looked over as well, feeling something in me getting upset at the unresponsive dog. "It's looks like he's run out of energy, right? He's just a little rusted and a bit beat up. Should be easy enough to fix, though I don't know how much longer he'd last once he was." I peeked out from the boot. "He's a pretty old model."

Everyone's eyes stared back at me in surprise and even I blinked in confusion for a moment, confused.

"Did I really just say that?"

Rose and Mickey nodded, but the Doctor grinned and messed up my hair with a hand before placing an arm over my shoulder.

"Sounds like you were quite the whiz then, eh? And not just from any old time either. After the year 5000, huh? What do ya say you help me fix old K9 up then?"

I looked at him in surprise. "Me? I don't even know why I said that!"

A brief image of a young girl playing with a similar robot dog flashed through my mind, my father chuckling in the background before he grew serious and rushed towards her and grabbed her, running away from the dog just before it was destroyed by something, the little girl crying and reaching towards it as she was carried off.

"Kris? Kris, are you alright? You're crying."

I blinked out of my trance, putting fingers to my face and finding them wet with tears as the group looked at me in worry. I quickly wiped them away, feeling embarrassed, and nodded.

"Y-Yeah. Sorry. It was just a… sad memory."

"Of what?" Rose asked innocently and I looked at her before over at K9.

"A dog. Like that one. I was little and was playing with it with my father before… something happened. He picked me up and ran and the dog… was destroyed…" I frowned slightly, an aching in my chest. "He was my… only friend."

I shook my head, feeling the atmosphere I was causing and pulled a hand through my hair, knowing that I needed to fix this.

"Sorry. We should, um, get going. Alien bat things in the school and all that."

"Yeah… Alright." Rose said, leading us all to the car and we all got it before heading to a café nearby where the Doctor, Sarah, and I worked on fixing K9. Though they were talking and I was mostly doing the fixing with the Doctor keeping an eye on what I was doing to make sure I was doing it right and my memories weren't failing me.

"I thought of you on Christmas Day. This Christmas just gone? Great big spaceship overhead. I thought, oh yeah, bet he's up there."

"Right on top of it, yeah."

"And Rose?"

"She was there too."

There was a pause as the Doctor used his screwdriver on K9 for me, him not letting me use it for some reason, though I could see that Sarah wasn't too happy.

"Did I do something wrong, because you never came back for me. You just dumped me."

He stopped as I went back to work, speaking in a worried tone. "I told you. I was called back home and in those days humans weren't allowed."

"I waited for you… I missed you."

"Oh, you didn't need me." He smiled, helping me once more as Sarah sent me a glance briefly. "You were getting on with your life."

"You were my life… You know what the most difficult thing was? Coping with what happens next, or with what doesn't happen next. You took me to the furthest reaches of the galaxy. You showed me supernovas, intergalactic battles, and then you just dropped me back on Earth. How could anything compare to that?"

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

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

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

"You could have come back."

The Doctor looked at her seriously. "I couldn't."

"Why not?"

Things grew quiet between the two once more and I swallowed thickly as the tension at the table grew before Sarah changed the subject.

"It wasn't Croydon. Where you dropped me off, that wasn't Croydon."

"Where was it?"

"Aberdeen."

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

"Not quite." I muttered. "Complete opposite side of the UK."

"Oh…"

"There we go." I smiled as K9 started up. "I think we might have done it."

"Oh, hey! Now we're in business!" The Doctor drummed his hands on the table, ruffling my hair with a wink and grinned, standing before the dog.

"Master." K9 said, making the Doctor more excited.

"He recognizes me."

"Affirmative."

"Rose, give us the oil."

Rose came over and handed him the glass jar of chip oil she had, the Doctor dipping his finger in it despite Rose's next words and my grimace of disgust.

"I wouldn't touch it, though. That dinner lady got all scorched."

"I'm no dinner lady. And I don't often say that." The Doctor said, handing his finger over to K9 who examined it once he rubbed it on a plunger-like appendage.

"Here we go. Come on, boy. Here we go."

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

"Listen to him, man. That's a voice." Mickey laughed, only for Sarah to scold him.

"Careful. That's my dog."

"Confirmation of analysis. Substance is Krillitane Oil." K9 replied, making my brows furrow in confusion, my memories trying to reach me, but slipping just out of reach.

"They're Krillitanes."

"Is that bad?" Rose asked.

"Very. Think of how bad things could possibly be, and add another suitcase full of bad." The Doctor said, sounding displeased.

"And what are Krillitanes?"

"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 recognize them. The last time I saw Krillitanes, they looked just like us except they had really long necks." The Doctor said quickly, thinking.

"What're they doing here?"

"It's the children. They're doing something to the children." He turned to us then. "We need to get back to the school. Tomorrow, we bring the fight to them."

We started heading out, Sarah and Mickey carrying K9 out to the car as I gathered up the bits and pieces we left on the table and walked out with Rose and the Doctor, though it seemed that they were going to have a tense conversation too.

"How many of us have there been traveling with you?"

"Does it matter?"

"Yeah, it does, if I'm just the latest in a long line." She snapped back, making the Doctor stop and turn around.

"As opposed to what?"

"I thought you and me were… I obviously got it wrong. I've been to the year five billion, right, but this? Now this is really seeing the future. You just leave us behind. Is that what you're going to do to me?"

"No. Not to you." He said sternly, making me fidget in the background as I silently questioned if he'd do it to me instead.

"But Sarah Jane? You were that close to her once, and now…you never even mention her. Why not?"

"I don't age… I regenerate."

Is that what he meant before? When he said he had a different face back when he knew Sarah? That's… sad…

"But humans decay. You wither and you die. Imagine watching that happen to someone who you..." His voice wavered as I bowed my head and clutched K9's old parts to my chest a little tighter, knowing exactly how he felt.

I'd seen it happen myself, again and again with those people back in the hospital. I hadn't made friends with them, sure, but there was a memory. A memory back in the deepest pit in the back of my head that had me worrying. It had the same feeling. That one of lose and despair. And I feared remembering that one. Because that one could be anything. And that anything, could be the loss of someone close to me.

"What, Doctor?"

"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."

Time lords? We heard a screeching then and turned to see the headmaster of the school crouched on top of a building along with a Krillitane that swooped down at us, but not actually touching anyone as we ducked out of the way along with Mickey and Sarah.

"Was that a Krillitane?"

"But it didn't even touch her. It just flew off. What did it do that for?"

No one really had an answer for Rose and we headed over to Sarah's house since it was nearby, planning on staying there until morning. Thing was, everyone went to sleep pretty quickly. Sarah was in her room, Mickey and Rose in the guest room, and the Doctor, K9, and I in the living room. But the Doctor and I were still awake, him petting K9 absentmindedly on the head as I just sat in a chair reading a book that I'd already read before. I wanted to talk to him about what he and Rose had talked about, curiosity trying to get the better of me, but… I kept reminding myself again and again that I didn't belong here in this group, with them. That I was going to leave the next chance I got because I had no place here. But the Doctor seemed to sense that I was just staring blankly at the pages thinking, instead of actually reading and turning pages.

"You're not going to sleep?" He questioned, peeking at me from the couch he was sprawled out on. "Would hate if you ran out of energy while we were running about tomorrow."

I set the book down on my lap, sighing. "I don't feel tired… "

"Watch."

"Huh?" I looked at him, confused.

"A watch. You mentioned a watch before. In one of your dreams or memories."

I slowly nodded. "Yes. My father has mentioned a watch. Said it will protect me or something."

"Right." He shot up from his lying down position, looking at me. "But where is it? You don't have it, obviously, so where is it? How is it supposed to protect you if you don't even have the slightest idea where it is?"

"I, uh, don't know. My parents could have it, but I don't think that they…" I looked down. "I honestly don't believe they're alive."

"Another memory?" He questioned and I nodded slightly.

"Yeah. I haven't seen it, but I can feel that it's there. It's dark and thick and…I want to reach out towards it, but I hesitate and it always slips out of my grasp before I can get enough courage to grab it. And there's… more than one."

"What do you mean? More than one what, Kris?"

I felt my chest tighten in fear, swallowing thickly before looking up at the Doctor. "Death. There's… a number of them, all giving off the same feeling as the one I saw of my own dog… I… what if I'm a bad person?"

"You're not a bad person, Kris. I can't see you as one even if you do get your memories back and you find something like that." He stood and walked over, K9 following after him, before he ruffled my hair comfortingly. "Trust me. I can sense these sorts of things and I haven't, for one moment, sensed anything like that coming from you."

"But the memories—"

"Could be deaths caused by others that you were unfortunate enough to witness." He replied, his hand still resting on my head as he smiled downs softly at me. "I won't let you become a bad person, memories or not. After all, I am the Doctor. A little missing memory never stopped me. Now go to sleep."

I frowned up at him. "I already told you, I can't—"

I was cut off as he put a finger to my forehead and everything went dark.

The next morning, I wasn't too pleased with the Doctor for knocking me out and glared at his back the whole time as we returned to the school and separated into three groups. Mickey and K9 were to stand guard outside, The Doctor was to confront the headmaster, and the rest of us were to go to the Maths room to check computers. What's more, he gave his sonic screwdriver to Sarah when he wouldn't even let me touch it and Rose was standing right there. He then hurried off, leaving myself with a very upset Rose and a smirking Sarah and I just knew things were going to get a bit rough. Luckily, I was the one actually down there working on the computer as Rose and Sarah stole a couple of chairs and argued overhead. That is, until I needed the sonic screwdriver, something Sarah was adamant about using herself. Though it seemed she was having trouble.

"It's not working."

"Give it to me." Rose grumbled, easily working it and doing what I needed as her and Sarah started arguing again.

"Used to work first time in my day."

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

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

"I've got a feeling you're about to." Rose said, coming out from under the desk as I did the same and began typing on the computer, trying to keep out of the two's tense conversation.

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

"I don't feel threatened by you, if that's what you mean."

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

"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."

I mentally groaned, ducking my head lower as Rose stood up and walked a bit.

"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."

"I had no problem with space stuff. I saw things you wouldn't believe."

"Try me."

"Mummies."

"I've met ghosts."

"Robots. Lots of robots."

"Slitheen, in Downing Street."

"Daleks!"

"Met the Emperor."

"Anti-matter monsters."

"Gas masked zombies."

"Real living dinosaurs."

"Real living werewolf."

"The Loch Ness Monster!"

"Seriously?" Rose asked, curious now, it seems; as Sarah let out a little gasp and turned away in embarrassment. "Listen to us. It's like me and my mate Shireen. The only time we fell out was over a man, and we're arguing over the Doctor."

"What about you, Kris?"

"Hm?" I turned around, kind of hesitant about getting dragged into this.

"How did you end up with the Doctor?"

I flinched, looking down a bit. "I was, um, picked up by them at a… hospital."

"You were sick then?"

"Ah…" Rose glanced over at me in worry as I turned back to the computer and typed more.

"No. I was being tortured because I couldn't get infected like a normal person."

"Oh, I'm so sorry."

I shook my head. "It's fine."

Sarah was quiet for a bit, before she spoke again. "So you have no feelings for the Doctor at all?"

"He's…" I paused in my typing before resuming. "He's kind and friendly, but… no. Not that I know of. I've only known him for a week. There's… nothing between us."

"Oh." Rose said, sounding a little relieved. "With you, Sarah, did he do that thing where he'd explain something at like, ninety miles per hour, and you'd go, what? And he'd look at you like you'd just dribbled on your shirt?"

"All the time!" Sarah laughed. "Does he still stroke bits of the Tardis?"

"Yeah! Yeah, he does. I'm like, do you two want to be alone?"

They continued to laugh as I smiled slightly, just as the Doctor walked in.

"How's it going?" He spotted the two laughing women and gave them a confused look. "What? Listen, I need to find out what's programmed inside these."

They just kept laughing.

"What? Stop it! Kris, what's their problem?"

I glanced over my shoulder and smiled a little. "They were making fun of you."

"Oi!" He called out loudly, making them double over in laughter and he groaned, turning back to me as he wandered over. "What about you? Have you gotten anything?"

I shook my head, getting serious once more. "I can't access the program at all. The screwdriver wasn't even helping."

The Doctor frowned as an announcement went off for the kids to get back to class, making him turn towards the chuckling Rose and ordering her to keep the kids out of the room as he went to work trying to get into the computer too. He wrapped a set of cords around his neck and pulled the desktop onto the table, scanning it with his screwdriver as Rose and Sarah headed over.

"I can't shift it."

"I thought the sonic screwdriver could open anything!" Sarah exclaimed, worried.

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

He continued to try and get into the program, but nothing was working, until the screens were filled with some sort of green writing.

"You wanted the program? There it is."

The Doctor glanced up at the projection on the wall. "Some sort of code." He looked at it a bit longer before his face fell. "No… No, that can't be."

"What is it?" I questioned, eyes scanning the information scrolling across the screen, that nagging sensation in the back of my mind just out of reach.

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

"The Skasis what?"

"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?"

"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." The Doctor spouted, moving around the desk and leaning on it.

"But that oil's on the chips. I've been eating them." Rose muttered, looking scared.

"What's fifty nine times thirty five?"

"Two thousand and sixty five." She answered quickly, the Doctor tilting his head. "Oh, my God."

"But why use children? Can't they use adults?"

"No, it's got to be children. The God maker needs imagination to crack it. They're not just using the children's brains to break the code…they're using their souls." He said, just as the door opened and the headmaster walked inside.

"Let the lesson begin… Think of it, Doctor. With the Paradigm solved, reality becomes clay in our hands. We can shape the universe and improve it." He said, walking closer.

"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."

"What, by someone like you?" The Doctor scoffed as Finch smirked.

"No, someone like you. 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 civilizations you could save. Perganon, Assinta. Your own people, Doctor, standing tall. The Time Lords reborn."

"Doctor, don't listen to him." Sarah said, stepping forward, Finch turning to her.

"And you could be with him throughout eternity. Young, fresh, never wither, never age, never die." He turned to me, eyes sharp, narrowed. "You, there's something different about you though. Almost as if you're…" He stepped closer to me, inhaling deeply. "Not quite human…" He backed off and instead turned back to the Doctor, leaving me there confused. "Their lives are so fleeting. So many goodbyes. How lonely you must be, Doctor. Join us."

"I could save everyone." The Doctor muttered.

"Yes."

"I could stop the war."

"No." Sarah said. "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."

The Doctor sucked in a deep breath before grabbing a chair and throwing it at the large projection screen, shattering the glass and shouting at us.

"Out!"

We did as he said, hurrying out and running back towards the stairs where we bumped into Mickey and a student.

"What is going on?!" Mickey shouted, before we all caught sight of the Krillitane heading our way, making us turn tail and run.

We got as far as the canteen before Finch caught up with us, the doors being locked and no time for the Doctor to pulled out and use his screwdriver as the man and his friends headed our way.

"Are they my teachers?" The boy questioned.

"Yeah. Sorry." The Doctor apologized.

"We need the Doctor alive. The scarf wearing one as well. As for the others, you can feast."

The Krillitane screeched and flew at us, us ducking under tables or wielding chairs in our defense before a laser came out of nowhere and shot down one of them, making Finch shout.

"K9!" Sarah shouted, slightly relieved.

"Suggest you engage running mode, mistress." The dog replied, still shooting down Krillitane as the Doctor hurried us out.

"Come on! K9! Hold them back!"

"Affirmative, master… Maximum defense mode."

The Doctor hurried us through a set of doors before sealing them, making me pause and looked back in sadness, only for him to lead me over to a chair gently; myself completely out of breath and gasping for air.

"There ya go. Relax a bit, yeah? Catch your breath. You're still not tip-top after what happened before. I'll be sure to put a gym in the Tardis so you can get working on that too." He smiled, before dropping it sadly. "And I'm sorry. There's nothing I can do."

"I know." I said, thinking about K9.

The Doctor moved over to the front of the classroom we were in, thinking before he seemed to figure something out.

"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." Rose said, just as the Krillitane screeched and began attacking the door.

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

"What now, hold the coats?" He said, tossing his hands up in exasperation.

"Get all the children unplugged and out of the school. Now then, bats, bats, bats. How do we fight bats?"

The student, I noticed, went over to the alarm on the wall and hit it with his elbow, setting it off as I smirked and ruffled his hair.

"Good thinking!"

The Doctor laughed, before opening the door and leading us all out right past Finch and his bats, making our way to the canteen once more.

"Master!" I heard K9's voice behind me and I paused, turning with a grin as the Doctor hurried him along with us.

"Come on, boy! Good boy!"

Mickey went one way to go get the children and the rest of us went into the kitchen where the Doctor began using his screwdriver on the large barrels of Krillitane oil; myself leaning up against the cabinet and trying to keep my breathing under control as I smiled and scratched K9 behind the ears.

"Good boy."

"To the left, please." It said, making me chuckle as I moved my hand to the left.

"They've been deadlocked sealed. Finch must've done that. I can't open them." The Doctor said, before K9 spoke up.

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

"Right. Everyone out the back door. K9, stay with me."

I glanced over at the dog beside me and the Doctor as he headed over—everyone else running out the door.

"K9, you're a good dog, you know that?"

"Affirmative." It said back, ears twisting around happily. "And you are good person."

I chuckled, the Doctor helping me up as we both smiled. "Affirmative."

I then headed outside as the Doctor got everything in place, before he hurried out alone, locking the door.

"Where's K9?" Sarah asked.

"We need to run." The Doctor replied, making her upset and forcing him to grab her and pulled her around to where the rest of us were.

"Where is he? What have you done?!"

We gathered with the students and Mickey outside and the school blew up, everyone cheering as papers flew about. Everyone, but the Doctor, Sarah, and I.

"I'm sorry." The Doctor said to Sarah as the kids cheered.

"It's alright." She replied, though it was far from the truth. "It was just a… a daft, metal dog. It's fine. Really."

She started crying as the Doctor comforted her the best he could and I sighed quietly as well, knowing that that was the last time I'd see K9.

The Doctor had moved the Tardis out of the school and onto the grounds of a park, and he invited Sarah over. She was more than excited to see the Tardis, who was very glad we had returned—humming pleasingly in my head—and she spun around.

"You've redecorated."

"Do you like it?"

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

"I love it." Rose said, sounding cross.

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

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

"But you're still clever. More than a match for him." She said, nodding towards the Doctor who was hardly listening as he input coordinates into the Tardis.

"You and me both… Doctor?"

He perked his head up. "Uh, we're about to head off, but… you could come with us."

She let out a long breath, looking happy, but not as happy as one would think. "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."

"Can I come?" Mickey asked, earning odd looks. "No, not with you, I mean with you." He nodded towards the Doctor. "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." Sarah said.

"Okay then, I could do with a laugh."

"Rose, is that okay?" He asked, sensing that she was upset about something.

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

"Well, I'd better go."

She took Rose off to the side as the Doctor came over to me and ruffled my hair with a grin.

"Hey there. How you feeling? Better?"

I nodded, him having given me something that he said would help boost my energy level since they've been so low lately. "They helped, yeah."

He grinned, before heading out to see Sarah off, pausing in the doorway and giving me a look. "I'll be sure to get you some more later and get that gym up so you can start working on getting your strength back, alright?"

I nodded, waving a little, but couldn't help but still feel a little off about all of this. And somewhere in the back of my mind, I was still questioning everything. Especially what Finch said… Am I… really not human?