We spend the rest of the night planning, still aware of a heavy tension between us. Before we know it, it's morning and we stand outside the school, surrounded by uniformed teenagers.

I stay beside Rose and Mickey but my gaze wanders over to the Doctor every now and then. He remains oblivious to the fact. "Inara, Rose and Sarah," he instructs, "you go to the maths room, crack open those computers. I need to see the hardware inside. You might need this." Sarah accepts the sonic from him. "Mickey, surveillance. I want you outside."

Mickey frowns, glancing to Rose for any sign that she may disagree. He gets nothing. "Just stand outside?"

"Here," Sarah Jane tosses him her car keys, "take these. You can keep K9 company."

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

He scoffs, "What? He's metal."

"I didn't mean for him!"

Following his lead, Rose glances over, curious. "What about you?"

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

—

Desperate to get away from Rose and Sarah Jane, I head over to the teacher's desk. The lack of paperwork and supplies is strange. If I didn't know better, I'd assume that there was no teacher at all for this classroom. It's just empty and untouched.

I hear a huff behind me and glance back to see Sarah Jane emerge from under one of the many computers, sonic in hand. "It's not working."

"Give it to me," Rose says, taking over.

"Used to work first time in my day."

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

The woman glances over to me but I only shrug. "Can I give you a bit of advice? Both of you, actually," she begins.

Sighing, she sits up again and types something into the computer. "I've got a feeling you're about to."

Sarah Jane looks over again, perching on the edge of the desk. "I know how intense a relationship with the Doctor can be and I don't want you to feel I'm intruding."

"We're not worried about you," I say, making my way over to them. I know that it's true. She's not the problem. She isn't a threat. Whatever it is that has me feeling so uncomfortable, it's about the Doctor.

Just the Doctor.

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

Rose glares sharply up at her. "No?" She scoffs incredulously. "Big sad eyes and the robot dog, what else were you doing last night?"

Wincing, I try to gesture for her to stop, over Sarah Jane's shoulder so that it isn't too obvious. My efforts earn me another scathing look. "I was just saying how hard it was, adjusting to life back on Earth," she tries to explain, clearly growing more and more exasperated by the second.

"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."

"Rose, seriously?"

She rolls her eyes and fixes me with a new look that I gradually recognise — betrayal. "Oh, come off it. I saw how you were looking at them two last night. You think the same!"

I hurriedly shake my head. "No! No, I don't. This isn't about her and you know it."

Finally, the tension is too much and Sarah Jane storms up to her. "No, let her say her piece, Inara. 'Cause I'd jolly well like to say mine. And, for your information, I had no problem with 'space stuff'. I saw things you wouldn't believe."

Rose shrugs. "Try us."

"Mummies."

"I've met ghosts."

"Robots. Lots of robots."

"Slitheen, in Downing Street."

"Daleks."

"Met the Emperor."

"Anti-matter monsters!"

"Gas mask zombies!"

"Real living dinosaurs!"

"Real living werewolf!"

"The Loch Ness Monster!"

"Seriously?" Both of them glance over to me. Shocked at her bizarre declaration, Sarah Jane covers her mouth. I rest a hand on each of their shoulders, bridging the gap. "Okay, this isn't working. This isn't about us. This is the Doctor. You both care about him but this... brings it all to light... makes you realise. We're not gonna be around all the time. We're not his forever. Everything ends at some point."

Chuckling, Rose shrugs me off. After a moment of hesitation, she wraps her arm around me. "Thanks, Inara, for that surprisingly morbid bit of information."

I smile. "It's what I'm here for. And, honestly, I think we need to remember that nobody's worth a petty argument. I mean, the Doctor's not perfect. Sometimes he can be a real idiot. I don't think he even needs those glasses. To be honest, I looked through them once. They're just plain lenses."

The blonde chuckles and looks to Sarah Jane. "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 just dribbled on your shirt?"

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

"Yes! Yes, he does! I'm like, 'Do you two want to be alone?'"

And suddenly we're all laughing. Even when the door opens and he appears. "How's it going?"

Our laughter rises, louder and more shrill. I wipe my eyes and try to take a deep breath but then I see his face and it's happening all over again. I can barely breathe.

"What? Listen, I need to find out what's programmed inside these."

We can hardly speak.

"What?"

I wipe a tear from my eye and try to address him, only to double over with more raucous cackles.

"Stop it!"

The tannoy speakers blare out a harsh buzzing sound before anything else can be said. "All pupils to class immediately, and would all members of staff please congregate in the staff room."

"It's starting," he realises. "Keep them out of this room!"

Already, we can hear the growing din of approaching students. I sprint to the doors, blocking them as a group tries to enter. "No, no. Sorry, guys. This classroom's in use at the moment. Go on, go to the—" I fumble for a better solution "—um, South Hall. South Hall, all right?"

The Doctor has yanked out the control box for the teacher's computer by the time I return. Throwing some of the longer walls over his shoulder, he starts to scan it with his sonic. "I can't shift it."

"Thought the sonic screwdriver could open anything," Sarah Jane counters, watching anxiously.

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

As if in answer, every single screen in the room flickers to life. They flash bright green, blurred with strings and strings of numbers and strange symbols. "You wanted the program, there it is."

He stares at it, bewildered. "Some sort of code." But then I see the fear slowly creeping in as he stumbles closer, his face glowing like emerald. "No. No, they can't be."

"Doctor?" I cautiously approach, watching as realisation gradually sets in. "Doctor, what is it?"

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

My eyes widen. "What? No, that's impossible. That's... unsolvable. Even by my time, it hadn't been found. How can they possibly be that close to even attempting it?"

Rose glances between us. "What is this?"

"It's a secret only the Gods can know. That's how it gets the name — the God Maker," I shakily explain. "The Universal Theory."

"Crack that equation and you've got control over the building blocks of the universe. Time and space and matter, yours to control."

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

Gradually, his fear is overcome by anger, then more realisation. "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."

She freezes. "B-But that oil's on the chips, I've eaten them." I have too. Only, I let Rose take mine on other days once her shift finished. She has had the most out of all of us.

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

"2,065." The reply comes without hesitation. Taken aback by her own voice, she gasps, "Oh my God!"

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

He shakes his head, eyes now flaring with fury. "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."

The looming creature we see as Mr Finch steps out of the shadows behind us, his voice making me jump as I spin around to face him, "Let the lesson begin." His smirk fades but a haunting cleverness lingers in his stare. "Think of it, Doctor. With the Paradigm solved, reality becomes clay in our hands. We can shape the universe and improve it."

The Doctor raises an eyebrow. "Oh, yeah? The whole of creation with the face of Mr Finch? Call me old-fashioned, 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 the power was used for good."

"What, by someone like you?" he coldly retorts.

Now he smiles — a sly but oddly inviting smile, that of a predator. "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 civilisations you could save — Perganon, Ascinta, Capitis. Even your own people, Doctor. Standing tall. The Time Lords... reborn."

I dare to take a step towards him. "Doctor, this isn't the way. You can't save them like this."

Sarah Jane joins me. "Don't listen to him."

His focus immediately fixes on her. "You could be with him throughout eternity — young, fresh. Never wither, never age, never die." Then he looks to me. "And you... the last of your kind, just like him."

"I am not the last. It's not our time yet, we have so much longer." But my response is too timid. He knows it.

The smile grows wider, pulling at his pasty cheeks like a gaping wound. Even in this body, his appearance seems so unnatural. "I know what you seek, Silver Eyes. For all you know, the Coin is gone, destroyed... lost. Your home may not be. Don't you want to return home, Inara? Don't you long for it? We can give that to you. We can give you—" he chuckles quietly and looks back to the Doctor "—anything that you desire. You are so young. Your lives are fleeting. How lonely you must be, Doctor. Join us."

A part of me begins to wonder. Maybe he is right. Maybe my search is in vain. Maybe this is the solution, the cure to my planet's sickness. The cure to every planet's sickness.

The Doctor thinks it, too. His gaze is distant and dazed, his voice so soft and full of longing. "I could save everyone."

"Yes."

"I could stop the war."

Still, Sarah Jane steps up, desperate to bring him back. I feel her hand find mine in a reassuring grip. "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."

The hope fades from his eyes. Rushing forwards, he hurls a chair at the display board, shattering it. He reaches for my other hand. "Come on. Out!"

—

Unearthly shrieks follow us in our escape down the staircase. Reaching the bottom, I almost trip in my attempt to stop myself from colliding into someone coming right towards us. "What's going on?" Mickey yells, a young boy following closely behind him — Kenny, I remember. We don't get a chance to reply. Three Krillitanes hurtle towards us, leaping from wall to wall and keening their shrill battle cry.

Breaking into a sprint, we make our way straight to the dining hall. The Doctor rushes up to a pair of bolted doors but it's too late. Finch and his bat-like friends are already here.

I unlink my hand from the Doctors and run back over to the table where Kenny cowers. Letting me help him to his feet, shielding him with my own body as the creatures near us, he looks to me for some kind of reassurance. "Are they my teachers?" he asks, terrified.

"Sorry."

"We need the Doctor alive," Finch announces with a sneer. "As for the others, you can feast."

The Krillitanes descend on us, their yellowed teeth bared.

I motion for Kenny to hide under one of the tables and grab the nearest chair, swinging it wildly at the closest one. It growls and tries again, this time with its talons raised. They sink into the plastic. Taking advantage of its attempts to get free, I grab a second seat and bring it around in a wavering arc. It hits the creature's side and knocks it further back.

The next one takes me by surprise. Just as I turn around to see it, the boy yanks me down to the floor. It swipes at the spot where my head had just been.

With another cry, it tries to attack once more. A ray of red light strikes it right in the chest and it falls, not moving again.

"K9!"

"Suggest that you engage running mode, Mistress."

We don't waste another moment, making a run for the corridors as the dog engages with the creatures, firing lasers left and right. The Doctor locks the door of the science lab behind us. Even as the others sit and look to him for answers, I can hear the battle still raging on outside. "It's the oil!" he gasps after a moment. "Krillitane life forms can't handle the oil. That's it! They've changed their physiology so often, even their oil is toxic to them. How much was there in the kitchens?"

Rose shrugs. "Barrels of it."

The door rattles. They're already here, right outside.

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

He scoffs, "What now? Hold the coats?"

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

Sighing, Kenny doesn't wait for him to come up with a solution. He strides right up to the nearest fire bell, breaking the glass with a jab of his elbow. The bell sets off. Outside, we can hear the Krillitanes growl and groan, their attacks on the door ceasing.

"Nice one," I remark, giving him a pat on the back as we rush through the door, past the writhing creatures.

The ringing dies out not long after but it's enough for us to gain a head start. I have to stumble to the side as K9 rolls out of a broken doorway, narrowly missing him. "Master."

"Come on, boy!"

I can't help but grin and, meeting the Doctor's gaze as we continue to run, I reach down to pet the dog's head. "Good boy."

The kitchen is empty. Sure enough, there are at least six barrels of Krillitane oil waiting at the side. The Doctor aims his sonic at them but nothing happens. "They've been deadlock sealed. Finch must have done it. I can't open them!"

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

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

—

When he joins us by the exit, he is alone. Sarah Jane's eyes fill with panic. "Where's K9?"

"We have to run."

She tries to get round him but the door is already sealed. He drags her along despite her frantic cries, "What have you done?"

The rest of the school are already out in the courtyard, thousands of confused kids milling around, rushing to reunite with their friends. It's hard to stay with the others in the panic but I manage to find Rose and Mickey, pulling the latter into a quick hug.

A loud boom shakes the ground as an eruption of fire tears into the building, showering us with debris and papers.

And the unexpected happens. The children burst into a deafening chorus of cheers. I catch a distant shout of, "Kenny blew up the school! It was Kenny", followed by even more chaos.

The Doctor stands at the back, an arm around Sarah Jane as she cries. K9 really was a hero — a good dog.

——————

The Tardis is quiet. I don't mind it, though. Sat on the scaffolding with a few odds and ends to tinker with, all I can think of is Finch's promise of a salvation for my people.

Part of me knows that it was just a ploy to win over the Doctor, but another part of me can't help but ask. Perhaps the Coin truly is lost. Perhaps this is all just a waste of time. But even if it is, I can't go back; not without it. I could never do that to my people.

The prophecy must be true. I remember the Sybil's words as if she sits right beside me. "The Coin of Two Faces shall be found in the original home of the usurper; you must take it from the chest of the false prophet. Go you, Last of the Line, and find that which will save us all."

It must be on Earth somewhere. It must. There is no other possibility.

The creaking of the door snaps me back to reality. Hurriedly wiping my eyes, I watch as Sarah Jane cautiously enters. "You've redecorated."

"D'you like it?" the Doctor enquires, a little anxious for her response.

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

Rose gets up from the seats, beaming at her. "I love it!"

"Hey, you. What's 47 times 369?"

"No idea. It's gone now, the oil's faded."

Smiling, she shrugs. "But you're still clever. More than a match for him."

"You and me both."

The Doctor doesn't seem to be listening. He's too focused on the buttons of the console, although I get the sneaking suspicion that it's just an excuse not to have to say goodbye. Jumping down from the scaffolding, I ruffle his hair as I walk by. Still a little reluctant, he clears his throat, "Um, we're about to head off, but... you could come with us."

Her face falls. Looking awkwardly between us, she shakes her head. "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?" Seeing her frown, Mickey hastily adds, "Not with you, I mean." He nods towards the rest of us. "With you. 'Cause I'm not the tin dog and I want to see what's out there."

The others don't look too convinced. Grinning, she sidles closer. "Oh, go on, Doctor. Sarah Jane Smith and Mickey Smith. You need a Smith on board!"

The Doctor looks him up and down but I can already see the twitching of his lips into a teasing smirk. "Okay, then. I could do with a laugh."

He starts to laugh. A glance towards his friend is quick to dampen his excitement, though, and he nervously asks, "Rose, is that okay?"

"No, great! Why not?" she mutters, her back facing him and her arms hugging around her middle.

Sarah Jane sighs, "Well, I'd better go."

I'm the first to accept a hug from her. "Thanks," I murmur. "Really. Thank you."

Just as I am about to step back, she pulls me back in again. Her hold is gentle and comforting, although I sense something else. "Be careful, all right? Something tells me you're looking for something important. Just don't lose sight of the things you have. Promise me that. You've got some good people around you, some of them closer than you think. But some things are worth getting your heart broken over. So... take care."

Pushing aside my confusion, I offer her a smile and step back for her and Rose to embrace. "You too. Go have that adventure, and tell me all about it when you can. I'm sure you'll do great things."

"Find me, if you need to, one day. Find me."

—

A/n:
Makes me sad now I know Henstridge is gone. RIP.

Hope this was enjoyable. I'm a little tired so I can't promise that all of the typos have been edited out. Thank you so much for reading! ❤️