The café is empty except for their little group and a tired looking employee who'd brought them drinks and retreated behind the door marked Staff Only. Rose, the Doctor, and Mickey are arguing over the top of the metal dog, while Maria and Sarah Jane sit in a booth, talking quietly. Sarah Jane is shooting glances at the Doctor out of the corner of her eye like she can't quite believe he's quite real. She looks fragile, like a stiff wind might blow her over.

"I thought... I thought something must have gone wrong, when he didn't come back. But he just left."
Maria is at a loss for what to say; how can she begin to help her friend through this?

She's never seen Sarah Jane look so unsettled, and she feels a pang of frustration at the Doctor for coming back and disrupting their tentative calm.

It's all very well for him to swan around leaving people behind, not caring to know anything else. She squashes the thought, but a small rebellious part of her mind holds on to it. It isn't fair, how he treats people.

She tries to keep the thoughts off her face. It's a losing battle, but Sarah Jane is miles away.

Maria changes the subject, trying to get Sarah Jane's mind off the Doctor. "Should we call UNIT? I mean, we're dealing with aliens. Again. Isn't this their thing?"

Sarah Jane gives Maria an incredulous look, and motions towards the Doctor. "Why," She asked calmly, "Would I ask UNIT when we have the real thing on hand?"

"I thought you said that Brigadier was your boss."

"Well, he certainly likes to think so." This with a hint of a smirk.

Before Maria can respond, Sarah Jane shakes her head emphatically. "Besides, even my friends in UNIT tend to go in all guns blazing. I'm not a fan of guns. Side effect of travelling with him." She jerks her chin towards the other booth, where the Doctor is pouring the vial of oil into a little hatch on K9's side.

"Master?" The metal dog's ears swivel and he speaks in a robot voice. The Doctor smacks his hands on the table triumphantly and Maria jumps slightly.

"K9! You're back!"

"Affirmative, Master."

"K9?" Sarah Jane is standing up, glittering eyes fixed on the dog. K9's ears swivel towards her.

"Mistress?" Sarah Jane claps her hands together, for once looking her age. "K9!" She almost trips over the table in her rush to pet the metal dog. Her metal dog.

For all the world, she almost looks like a regular teenage girl loving on her pet dog. Except of course that the dog is metal.

The Doctor stands by, looking a little smug. Still, he can't be patient for that long. He manages another thirty seconds before he has to butt in. "I hate to break this up, but K9, we need to know what that oil is. Can you analyse it?"

K9 tilts (its? his?) head and makes a thoughtful whirring sound. "Affirmative, Master. Substance is Krillitane oil."

"Krillitanes! That explains it." He looks up and sighs at the blank looks on everyone's faces. "They're a composite race. Like humans, but they're a bit more literal about it. You lot take bits of language from people you conquer; they take physical characteristics as well. The last time I saw Krillitanes, they looked just like us except they had really long necks."
Maria smiles as she realises where Sarah Jane got her 'lecture mode' from.

Rose, never one to be left out of a conversation for long, jumps in. "What are they doing here?"

The Doctor's attention shifts back to the humans in the room, while still gazing off into the middle distance.

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

He spins around and addresses Sarah Jane. "Are the students at this school unusually intelligent? Your brother is, right? He's in my science class."

Sarah Jane is already shaking her head. Maria listens with interest as Sarah Jane explains the unusual circumstances around Luke's... conception. She'd gotten the crash course on Luke's past, but Sarah Jane had been a little vague on the details. She knew it was something to do with the explosion at the Bubbleshock family, and that Luke isn't quite human, but that's all.

The room is quiet as Sarah Jane recounts the last few years, finishing with the Slitheen incident and UNIT's decision to employ Maria as well.

The Doctor looks sad, but Sarah Jane plunges ahead before he can say anything, sympathetic or otherwise.

"But now that you mentioned it... Luke said this morning that he was talking to one of his classmates about physics. I admit a lot of what he says goes over my head," She gives a self-deprecating chuckle that Maria doesn't believe for a minute. "-But come to think of it, most other eight year olds don't know a lot about string theory..."

Maria really shouldn't be listening to this. She should be heading back to her room; they'd all agreed to get some sleep before trying to solve the Krillitane problem tomorrow. But after Mickey and Rose left the Doctor pulled Sarah Jane aside for a chat.

"I thought you were getting on with your life. I didn't realise-"

"You were my life."
Maria winces. She's been on the receiving end of that tone, and she didn't like it.

"I'm so sorry, Sarah. If I had known..."

"Well you didn't know, did you? You left. Flew off in the TARDIS leaving me to fend for myself."

Maria peeks around the corner. The Doctor's head is bowed and Sarah Jane is pale, but her chin is up and she's staring the Doctor down.

Sarah Jane's gaze slips past the Doctor and spots Maria before she can duck out of sight. Maria sucks in a breath waiting for Sarah Jane to start yelling, but all the fight seems to have gone out of her.

"Doctor, just... go. We can talk about this later."

He looks like he wants to argue, but in the end he just nods silently and walks away. Maria kind of feels bad for him; he looks like a kicked puppy.

She and Sarah Jane walk back to their room in silence, and she pretends not to notice Sarah Jane wiping at her eyes with the edge of a sleeve.

The next day they go to class as usual. Maria taps her foot and watches the clock throughout her first class, then meets Sarah Jane at the start of their free period. The Doctor is talking to Mr Finch, and Maria, Sarah Jane, and Rose are in the maths classroom trying to crack open the computers.

The tension that's been building for the last day is coming to a head. Sarah Jane and Rose aren't quite full on shouting, but they're not far off, either. She doesn't want to interfere; Maria knows a catfight when she sees one. She also knows jealousy when she sees it. Rose is jealous of Sarah Jane's history with the Doctor.

"Real living dinosaurs!"

"Real living werewolves!"

"The Lochness Monster!"

"Seriously?" Rose asks, and the tension breaks. Maria leans against a desk as the stress leaks out of her. Rose is still talking, but Maria tunes her out. Now she's the jealous one, as the other two girls bond over the Doctor. She hates feeling left out, but she can't begrudge Sarah Jane this. It's the first time her friend has looked properly relaxed since the Doctor arrived in their lives.

The Doctor comes in while they're exchanging stories, and their laughter is so infectious that Maria has to join in. The confused look on his face just makes it all funnier, and Maria admits to herself that he's less intimidating when he looks like a stunned mullet.

When the announcement comes for all students to go to the computer rooms, Sarah Jane sends Luke a text asking him to slip away and hide in her dorm room. Hopefully no one will look for him there and she doesn't want any (more) aliens getting a hold of him.

They station Rose outside the door to redirect students as the computer monitors start going haywire with green symbols racing across the screen. They're almost too fast to read, but Maria's gaze is drawn to them. If she focuses, she can almost see what they're saying. If she just gets a bit closer, she'll be able to...

"Maria!" Sarah Jane sounds worried. With an effort, Maria drags her eyes away from the screen. She backs away from the computers, determinedly fixing her gaze on the ceiling until the strange symbols recede from her mind.

"It's the Skasis Paradigm. They're trying to crack the Skasis Paradigm." The Doctor is crouched over the desk, eyeing the rapidly scrolling symbols suspiciously.

His explanation is interrupted by Mr Finch entering the classroom. As he and the Doctor trade barbs, Maria's heart races. Watching two aliens debate the future of her planet is uncomfortable. And what Mr Finch is offering... becoming a god. That would be enough to tempt anyone.

But just when the Doctor is looking like he might be swayed, Sarah Jane speaks up.

"No. The universe has to keep moving forwards, not backwards. Pain and loss define us as much as happiness, or love. Whether its a world, or a relationship- everything has its time. And everything ends."

She's looking straight at the Doctor as she says it.

He seems to take in her advice, because he stops looking tempted and smashes the main computer, leaving Mr Finch spluttering angrily as they run for the hallways.

They meet up with Mickey, who has a suspicious amount of broken glass in his hair, and pull the fire alarm to get the attention of the other students who seem to have been hypnotised by the strange symbols. The Doctor takes charge. "Right. Rose and Mickey, make sure all the students get out safely. Sarah, Maria- with me." Rose looks like she wants to argue, but the Doctor is already striding away.

To her own surprise, Maria finds herself sending Rose an apologetic look before she turns to follow him and Sarah Jane.

As they go, Maria quietly hopes Clyde and Rani are okay. She's pretty sure neither of them have any classes in the new building today, but she can't be sure. Hopefully everyone will evacuate when they hear the fire alarm anyway; students are streaming down the hallway and towards the doors. She's not much for prayer, but she does take a moment to hope that they'll be okay. And that Luke got back to his room okay.

They fight their way upstream through the crowd of students, heading for the fancy new kitchens deeper in the building. The Doctor somehow finds the extra air to lecture as they run. "Krillitane life forms can't handle the oil. They must have changed their physiology so often that even their own oil is toxic to them. There should be barrels of it in the kitchens."

When they get there he pulls something out of his pocket and aims it at the barrel of oil. It sounds like Sarah Jane's sonic lipstick, but it's a different shape. The sonic whatever-it-is buzzes promisingly, but stops after a second.

"Damn! Must be deadlock sealed. Sonic can't break through."

"You didn't think it would be that easy, did you Doctor?"

Mr Finch had snuck in while their little group was distracted. As Maria looks around, more of the bat people- formerly the new teachers- surround them. In the back of her mind she notices, somewhat frantically, that this school really has issues retaining its teaching staff.

She looks around for an escape route but the doors are blocked by Krilitane.

Her heart is pounding as they scramble for cover, trying to avoid airborne Krilitane attacks. Maria realises too late that a table is blocking her from avoiding being dive bombed, and she braces for impact-

Pew!

A laser shoots the attacking Krilitane right out of the air. Sarah Jane catches on faster than her- "It's K9!"

K9 is firing lasers left and right, and raises his little electronic voice to be heard above the din.

"Suggest you engage running mode, Mistress."

Sarah Jane hesitates, but the Doctor clearly agrees.

"Sarah, go. Make sure you get all the students out of the building. K9, stay with me!"

Maria makes it to a door as K9 shoots the Krilitane away from the entrance. "Sarah Jane, come on!"

Sarah Jane is clearly reluctant to leave the Doctor and K9, but she follows Maria out of the room and down the hall.

Every classroom they pass is empty, so hopefully everyone is out and safe. They don't have time for more than a cursory inspection of each room on their way before the Doctor catches up to them.

Sarah Jane looks around frantically as he runs towards them. "Where's K9?" She demands.

The Doctor looks uncomfortable. "We need to run."

Sarah Jane digs her heels in, but he bustles her along. "What have you done?" She shrieks, but Maria has caught on to the Doctor's urgency. She grabs her hand and pulls her along.

It's a close thing, but they manage to get out and seal the emergency door shut behind them before an explosion rocks the building, shattering all the windows.

The students cheer and Rose and Mickey hug victoriously, but Maria is watching Sarah Jane standing next to the Doctor.

"I'm sorry." He says.

"It's fine," Sarah Jane says, a tear rolling down her cheek. "He was just a daft metal dog."

But she leans into the Doctor, hiding her face in his shirt.

She pulls away from him after a couple of minutes, wiping her eyes and nose with her sleeve.

"We have to get to Luke."

She extracts a promise from Rose to sit on the Doctor if he tries to leave before she says goodbye before she and Maria go to collect Luke from his room. They meet at the TARDIS, parked innocuously next to a tree at the school entrance.

Luke solemnly shakes hands in turn with the Doctor, Rose, and Mickey. They all seem charmed by his careful manners, and Maria feels a glow of pride. He's not her brother, but even in the time she's known him she's watched his social skills improve.

The inside of the TARDIS is incredible. Sarah Jane and Rose banter, but Maria and Luke just stare in amazement. 'Bigger on the inside' doesn't even begin to describe it.

The console room that Sarah Jane had so lovingly describes is cavernous, and Maria can see pathways leading off in all directions. Everything about it screams 'this shouldn't exist!' It's mind-bogglingly alien, but Sarah Jane is looking around with familiarity. She seems relaxed, like she's come home. And Maria realises that in a way, she is; she must have lived here while she was travelling with the Doctor. Maria tries to imagine getting used to this alien world of wonders, being dumped back on Earth alone, and falters. She can't even comprehend the sheer stubbornness it must have taken to pick herself up and move on with her life, but Sarah Jane had done just that.

The Doctor locks eyes with Sarah Jane, and it's like they're the only two people in the room.

"You could come with me again. I want to make things right by you." Maria's heart stops, and for a moment she thinks she feels a fraction of what Sarah Jane went through when the Doctor left her. To be left alone on Earth after seeing what the universe had to offer... its' a wonder Sarah Jane is as well adjusted as she is. Even after two stressful, sometimes terrifying adventures, Maria can't bear the thought of losing this new life.

But to her relief (and a little, private shame- why shouldn't Sarah Jane get to be happy?) Sarah Jane is already shaking her head. "I can't do that life anymore. I've put down roots here, finally."

And she smiles at Maria and Luke.

Luke and Maria stand back slightly, letting the Doctor and Sarah Jane have their farewell. Well, Maria stands back, and she holds Luke back with her.

The Doctor hugs her, and Maria can't help but feel a pang. Sarah Jane isn't hers, but she's kind of used to only sharing her with Luke. Knowing she had a whole past relationship with the Doctor, a whole part of her life Maria can't be a part of, makes her feel a little inadequate. But then she thinks of the adventures she and Sarah Jane do share, and can't help but smile. She has a piece of Sarah Jane's life that the Doctor, for all his time travel and otherworldly wonder, can never have.

The three stand hand in hand as the TARDIS dematerialises, Luke and Maria pretending not to notice the glimmer of tears in Sarah Jane's eyes. As the TARDIS fades out of existence, a figure becomes clear behind it.

Maria can't tell what it is, until-

"K-9?" Sarah Jane asks falteringly, taking a step forwards.

"Affirmative, Mistress." Says the familiar tinny voice of the metal dog.

Sarah Jane drops to her knees in front of K9 and strokes his shiny new nose.

"He replaced you with a brand new model."

"Affirmative."

"Yeah. He does that."

Sarah Jane is laughing through her tears, but Maria and Luke exchange a look over her head. Without speaking, they come to the same conclusion. They crouch on opposite sides of Sarah Jane, leaning in close. Trying to loan her comfort. Maria can't help but feel a pang of irritation toward the Doctor. It was all very well for him to fly off again, leaving Sarah Jane on earth. Leaving her and Luke to pick up the pieces. The three sit huddled together for a time, sharing warmth, and Maria starts to think that maybe everything can turn out okay after all.

Most of the new science building is unusable. The parts that weren't completely destroyed in the explosion are structurally unsound and the whole building has been sectioned off.

Good riddance.

Maria feels bad, but honestly she has enough bad memories associated with the place that she's not going to miss it too much.

Over the next few week, her fears turn out to be unfounded; Sarah Jane seems more sure of herself than Maria has ever seen her. The Doctor's return and subsequent goodbye left her with stronger foundations. She seems more solid, like she's anchored to Earth in a way she wasn't before.

Maria is just grateful to be there with her. Just her, Sarah Jane and Luke, defending the Earth. Just the way she likes it.

Author's Note:

Sorry this is a bit late! It's a bit longer than usual, so hopefully that makes up for it. I kept going back and forth on whether to split it up into two chapters, but I finally decided to just post it as is. The plot is a bit light in this one, but I decided to focus more on the relationships and Maria's thoughts and feelings etc. Besides, we've all seen the episode.

Also you'll be glad to know I survived my exams :)