Chapter Seven : School Reunion

♥✰♥

CLAUDIA DIDN'T CARE MUCH FOR CHILDREN.

She never had and she probably never would. She liked Ben, Lisa's son, and occasionally other kids they'd end up with on hunts. But she didn't really get along with them very well. Claudia always thought they were rambunctious, reckless, and frankly, annoying.

Besides, most of them were blessed with a childhood she'd never get to have and a part of her was jealous of that.

So going undercover as a Latin teacher in the small private school, Deffry Vale High School seemed just about the worst cover she could think of. She'd prefer to be a lunch lady but when she interviewed for the position, the Headmaster stated they were missing a Latin teacher and would love to refill the position.

The Headmaster, who, was by all means, incredibly creepy.

With an annoyed look at the Doctor for dragging her into this position in the first place, she used her knowledge of the language and was to teach the extra-curricular at the will of students.

So far: five had signed up.

"Say it with me, class," she said again, staring out at the blank faces of the kids in front of her. "Bonum. Mane. Good morning."

Nothing.

Claudia sighed, gesturing a hand up and taking a seat at her desk. "Yeah, whatever, I don't even care. Just do your other homework, use it as a free period."

Lost in her thoughts, she stared down at The Hobbit, which she hadn't read a page of since beginning her travels with the Doctor, and thought about the last time she'd gone undercover at a school.

She and her brothers were investigating a string of murders at a high school they'd spent months in. It was one of the longer schools and they all felt attached to it, or at least, the boys. Claudia hadn't had the best time in school, especially there, where she was mocked for her baggy clothes and unruly hair and "boyish demeanor."

Dean protected her for a while, but he got a girlfriend and Sam made a few friends. She defended herself against the bullies physical torments, but the notes and crude drawings; the mental torture really did her head in.

She wasn't very happy to go back.

Looking on it now, sat in a British private school teaching Latin to five students, she'd do anything to be a kid again -- to be with Sam and Dean again. Before the demons and angels, before Sam died and her and Dean stopped being a family.

♥✰♥

"Do you like the fries?" Claudia asked, taking a seat next to the Doctor in the cafeteria. "I don't think I like them, they're strange."

"Nor me," he smiled, "fries, you're so American."

"That's been established, thanks for pointing out the obvious."

His smile fell and he looked over her face curiously. Her eyes were darting around the school, landing on certain kids an a painful look would cross her face.

"You alright?"

She nodded, half-listening, her mind full of thoughts of her brother. "Yeah," she smiled tightly. "Fine."

He didn't say anything further but didn't look to believe her.

"Two days," Rose's voice startled Claudia as she wiped the table.

"Sorry, could you just," the Doctor pointed at a clean spot on the table. "There's just a bit of gravy."

"Two days we've been here."

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

"You eating those chips?" Rose cut him off.

"Yeah, they're a bit...different. Claudia doesn't like them either."

"They're too soft, I like fries crunchy and extra salty," Claudia said half-heartedly. Rose squeezed her shoulder.

"I think they're gorgeous. Wish I had school dinners like this," she moved around the Doctor and sat on his other side.

"It's very well behaved this place," the Doctor commented. Claudia nodded.

"That I'll agree with. Kids are usually fighting, kissing, talking over one another. This is high school, I thought there'd be much more going on."

"Exactly," the Doctor agreed. "I thought they'd all be happy-slapping hoodies. Happy-slapping hoodies with ASBO's. Happy-slapping hoodies with ASBO's and ringtones," Claudia snorted at his words, shaking her head fondly. "Eh? Eh, eh, oh yeah. Don't tell me I don't fit in."

"You don't," Claudia said plainly.

"You are not permitted to leave your station during a sitting."

Claudia looked at the head lunch lady with raised eyebrows. Rose swallowed thickly.

"I was just talking to these teachers."

"Hello!" The Doctor grinned, Claudia mustered a half-wave.

"They don't like the chips."

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

"See?" Rose waved over her uniform. "This is me. Dinner lady."

"I'll have the crumble!"

"I'm so gonna kill you."

♥✰♥

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

Claudia and the Doctor exchanged a knowing look. Something was definitely off. They were sat in the teacher's lounge, the pair side by side, leaning against a table, snacking on a pack of chips, as the Maths teacher agreed with how strange the students had become.

"And it's ever since the new headmaster arrived?" The Doctor questioned.

"Finch arrived three months ago, next day, half the staff got flu. Finch replaced them with that lot."

Claudia looked around at the other teachers, eyes narrowing in suspicion. That's incredibly odd...but it didn't strike her too much as paranormal. Still, she toyed with her father's ring on her finger and thought of her brothers. What would they think in this situation? Which creature would they suspect?

"Except for the teachers you both replaced, and that was just plain weird, her winning the lottery like that."

"How's that weird?"

"She never played. Said the ticket was posted through her door at midnight. And the one you replaced, Claudia, he got into an accident the night before you were brought on. But he'd never driven."

Claudia and the Doctor exchanged a darker look, knowing someone was behind these strange coincidences. If there's one thing Claudia learned in her life: there was no such thing as coincidence.

"Hmm," the Doctor took another bite of the chip. "The world is very strange."

"Excuse me, colleagues," Finch spoke up from the doorway, a middle-aged woman with him. The Doctor turned, stiffening, his face softening as he saw the woman. Claudia looked between the two, knowing that look anywhere. "A moment of your time."

It's the same look she had when Sam had come back from the dead a few years prior, and when she'd seen Dean again after decades in hell. The look of pure adoration and confidence -- they'd definitely met before.

"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."

Claudia frowned at the poor joke and rolled her eyes. "That guy is so weird," she muttered as he left the room, Sarah Jane Smith making her rounds.

"You know her?" Claudia asked him gently. He didn't appear to hear her, watching Sarah Jane for a moment, but turned his head to Claudia, acknowledging her a minute later, not sparing her a glance.

"Oh, yeah, yeah, we--well, she's--she's--Sarah Jane Smith," his grin widened as the woman approached the pair.

"Hello," Sarah Jane smiled at them.

"Oh, I should think so," the Doctor grinned. Claudia's mouth fell into a straight line and she shook her head.

"And you are?"

"Sorry about him, he doesn't know how to speak properly when there's a woman around. I'm Claudia, nice to meet you. This is the--John, John Smith," she caught herself, nearly blowing her cover.

"John Smith?" Sarah Jane smiled. "I used to have a friend who sometimes went by that name."

"Well, it's a very common name," the Doctor brushed off, tugging at his ear.

"He was a very uncommon man," she crossed her arms, staring off as if remembering something, before catching herself and reaching a hand out. "Nice to meet you both."

"Nice to meet you!" The Doctor exclaimed before Claudia had a chance to speak. "Yes. Very nice. More than nice. Brilliant."

"Em, so have you worked here long?" She asked the pair, eyes flickering to Claudia.

"No, we--"

"No, um, it's only my," the Doctor winced as Claudia elbowed him. "Our second day. Our second day."

"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?"

The Doctor's grin widened, a prideful look on his face and Claudia sighed next to him, knowing the woman was mostly likely getting creeped out.

"You don't sound like someone just doing a profile," the Doctor's voice lowered, moving his head closer to Sarah Jane.

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

Claudia smiled, thinking of Bobby, who did the exact same in all possible situations, no matter if he were on vacation or not, and looked between the Doctor and Sarah Jane again. She wondered how they knew each other. How come Sarah Jane didn't recognize him?

The changing faces. She must've known him with a different face, perhaps the same one Rose first met him in. How many could he have? She had to ask him about the details of his people later.

"No, good for you," the Doctor said as Sarah Jane turned, moving to another teacher. "Good for you. Oh, good for you Sarah Jane Smith."

♥✰♥

Claudia stood next to Mickey, who she'd hugged tightly when they reunited two days prior, as they, the Doctor, and Rose broke into the school at night.

"Oh," Rose laughed quietly as they walked through the darkened hallways. "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."

"When I was a kid, one of my teachers turned out to be a vampire and he tried to kill my brother and then we ended up having to cut his head off and skip out on school for the next five months."

All three heads turned to Claudia.

"What?" The Doctor asked, blinking. Mickey and Rose seemed unnerved by her comment.

"It's true. Sam even has a scar on his wrist where the vampire clawed him -- or, well, he--he used to. He used to have a scar." Claudia's voice went quiet and she looked away, trying not to cry as memories hit her suddenly. "Sorry," she sniffled, doing a slow spin and swallowing thickly. She hadn't really said his name in months, hearing it fall from her lips with such finality...it did more than a number on her.

"All right team," the Doctor grabbed their attention again, sending Claudia a glance. "Oh, I hate people who say 'team.' Uh, gang. Comrades. Oh," he rolled his eyes at himself, "anyway, Rose, go to the kitchen, get a sample of that oil. Mickey, the new staff are all maths teachers. Check out the maths department. I'm gonna look in Finch's office. Meet back here in 10 minutes."

Mickey and Rose began to go separate ways and the Doctor looked at Claudia expectantly. "Come on then, we haven't got all night."

"Oh--me? Sorry," Claudia's cheeks grew warm as she followed the Doctor in the direction of Finch's office.

They were barely halfway down the hallway after the stairs when the screeching began. Claudia tensed, slipping her knife down from in her jacket pocket. The Doctor looked at it and rolled his eyes, but said nothing.

♥✰♥

"It's you," Sarah Jane breathed out, looking at the Doctor with a newfound curiosity as they stood in the hall near where the TARDIS parked.

"Hello, Sarah Jane."

Sarah Jane's eyes filled with tears and she let out a breath of relief. "Doctor. Oh my god, it's you, isn't it?"

"God's not here," Claudia muttered before she could stop herself, but quieted a second later. She didn't want to take this from the Doctor.

"You've regenerated."

"Yeah," the Doctor said quietly. "Half a dozen times since we last met."

"Half a dozen?" Claudia shook her head. "Please tell me more about your people later, every time you say something it's crazier than the last thing."

Neither of them acknowledged her.

"You look...incredible."

"So do you."

Sarah Jane shrugged. "Hm, I got old."

"Better old than dead," Claudia said from her new position against the wall. She'd moved to give them an idea of privacy, but her comments didn't seem to matter either way. They were both in their own world.

"What are you doing here?"

"Well, UFO sightings, school gets record results. I couldn't resist. What about you?"

"The same," Sarah Jane admitted. The Doctor smiled proudly.

"I thought you died," Sarah Jane cried out suddenly, eyes welling with tears and a heartbroken look crossed her face. "I waited for you, you didn't come back and I thought you must have died."

Claudia was reminded of the time she came back from hell, how Sam reacted nearly the same. He cried, holding her and begging her not to leave him again. He was hooked on demon blood and hadn't found the 'time' to look for her -- but he missed her nonetheless.

"I lived," the Doctor said simply. "Everyone else died."

At this, Claudia's head snapped to the Doctor's and a new curiosity bubbled within her. He'd claimed to have known her pain, to have been in a war, lost those he loved--she didn't think he was lying, she could see it but now...she wondered just how much he had lost. It made her want to reach to him, comfort him in some way, but she wasn't good at comforting others. That was always Sam's job. Her and Dean would just toughen it out, grin and bear it.

The Doctor didn't seem one for being in tune with his emotions either. She crossed her arms, watching the pair interact. It wasn't her place to comfort him, it wasn't her business. If anyone, it would be Rose and she did not want to cause trouble in that situation again.

"What do you mean?" Sarah Jane asked, face falling as confusion danced across her gaze.

"Everyone died, Sarah." His voice was just above a whisper and Claudia could hear the familiar pain in it, trying to push it down, just as she did with her own.

Sarah Jane shook her head, not asking the questions she seemed desperate to ask. Claudia decided she liked Sarah Jane then. She didn't believe herself privy to other people's pain, even someone whom she obviously respected and loved. If he needed her, he would come to her. She didn't have to force him.

"I can't believe it's you," Sarah Jane whispered, disbelief on her face again.

Not a second after her comment, a loud, high-pitched scream bellowed through the halls and Claudia's fight-or-flight was triggered. She pulled her knife out of her sleeve and raced straight past the Doctor towards the sound.

Just before she could turn down the hallway, she bumped directly into someone and fell to the ground. The other person laughed and Claudia softened with realization: it was only Rose. She slipped her knife back into her sleeve and helped the other woman up, smiling apologetically.

"Blimey, Claudia, you've got weight to you."

"I'm not sure how to take that."

Rose's eyes looked behind Claudia, finding the Doctor and Sarah Jane, who were now steps away from the pair.

"Who's she?" Rose asked nastily, her voice hostile. Claudia fought the urge to roll her eyes and squeezed Rose's arm gently.

"Rose, leave it," she said quietly, but to no avail.

"Rose, Sarah Jane, Sarah Jane, Rose," the Doctor introduced quickly with a chipper smile. Claudia shook her head at his clueless expression. This introduction would not go the way he'd hoped, but for his sake, she hoped it ended the same as hers and Rose.

"Hi," Sarah Jane's smile was clearly fake, her voice dripping with sarcasm. Claudia cringed, glancing at the Doctor. "Nice to meet you. You can tell you're getting older, your assistants are getting younger."

Claudia tilted her head, affronted by Sarah Jane's words. She knew they weren't directed towards her, but she wasn't -- and never would be -- anyone's 'assistant.'

"The Doctor's my friend and I'm twenty-six, thanks."

"Oh," Sarah Jane's face resembled a quiet shock for a moment, as if only just remembering Claudia's presence. "I--I didn't mean you, dear."

"Right, but Rose's a threat?" At her surprised expression, Claudia offered a tight smile. "I'll point it like I see it."

"I'm not his assistant," Rose spoke up finally, giving Claudia a grateful look.

"No?" Sarah Jane asked. "Get you, tiger."

Claudia rolled her eyes, grabbing Rose's arm and pulling her down the hallway quickly towards the scream's origination. They ended up in the maths department, just a few rooms down from her old room.

"Sorry," Mickey spoke up as they entered the room, "sorry, it was only me."

Claudia smiled gently, reminded of Dean when he had yellow fever and was scared of, quite literally, everything. They'd found a locker with a cat and he'd screamed for nearly a minute, absolutely terrified. She and Sam never let him live it down.

"It's fine, Mickey, everyone's scared of something," Claudia spoke up, helping him pick up the vacuum-packed rats scattered across the floor. "Why're there so many rats?" She wondered aloud, looking at them in confusion.

"You told me to investigate," Mickey continued, looking at Claudia for backup. She raised her eyebrows. "So I started looking through these cupboards and all of these fell out on me."

"Oh my god, they're rats," Rose mumbled. "Dozens of rats. Vacuum-packed rats!"

"And you decided to scream?" The Doctor stood up, smirking at Mickey. Claudia cringed, knowing he was in for it.

"It took me by surprise," Mickey defended. "Come on, Claud, help me out, it's frightening. Right?"

"Hey, I'm scared of clowns, you're scared of dead rats, it's fine, no one's judging."

Mickey looked at her disbelievingly, then turned back to the Doctor, who was grinning widely.

"Like a little girl."

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

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

Mickey grabbed his head with a baffled expression but Rose gathered their attention back.

"Hey, can we focus?" She looked over at the pair, an annoyed look flashing her face. "Has anyone noticed anything strange about this? Rats in school?"

"Well, obviously, they use them in biology lessons, they dissect them," Sarah Jane said, turning to Rose with a false smile. "Or maybe you haven't reached that bit yet. How old are you?"

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

"Anyway!" The Doctor said loudly, looking very awkward about their encounter. Mickey and Claudia exchanged a smirk, finding the entire situation a bit funny. "Moving on...everything started when Mr. Finch arrived. We should go and check his office."

He tossed the vacuum-packed rats at Mickey without another word and left the room, the rest following in a small group behind him. Rose brushed past Claudia to the Doctor's left side as Sarah Jane rushed to his right.

Mickey and Claudia fell in line behind the trio, exchanging a knowing look. Here it comes.

"I don't mean to be rude or anything," Rose started, "but who exactly are you?"

The Doctor slowed his steps, walking behind Sarah Jane and Rose as Mickey and Claudia followed him.

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

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

"Oh, I must've done," the Doctor spoke up casually, but Claudia could detect the nerves in his voice. The entire situation made him extremely uncomfortable. "Sarah Jane. I mention her all the time."

"Hold on...sorry...never."

"What, not even once? He didn't mention me even once?"

Claudia rolled her eyes. "Maybe because bringing up the past hurts and pain doesn't always make for a fun conversation."

The Doctor glanced back at her, eyes connecting with her appreciatingly. She smiled tightly, trying to help, but truly believing her words. The Doctor did seem to have a fondness for Sarah Jane, akin to one she held for Ben or Jo. It wasn't the same affection he showered Rose in, but it was enough to matter. Enough to hurt. He didn't want to relieve that pain, the pain of losing her, by speaking about her to Rose -- and he shouldn't have to, either. It was his life, his pain. Whether or not he allowed Rose to be part of it should be up to him.

At least, that's what Claudia believed.

"Oh-ho, mate," Mickey clapped a hand on the Doctor's shoulder. "The missus, the ex, and the mistress. Welcome to every man's worst nightmare."

"I'm not a mistress, Mickey," Claudia sent him a dark look, "include me in your joke again and I'll separate your eyes from your head, got it?"

Mickey swallowed, dropping the hand from the Doctor's shoulder. "Got it, sorry Claudia."

♥✰♥

"Maybe those rats were food," the Doctor spoke up as he sonic'd Finch's office door.

"Food for what?" Rose asked.

He didn't answer, opening the door slowly and Claudia looked up over his shoulder, eyes widening. Hanging from the ceiling were dozens of large bats buzzing loudly, asleep.

"Rose?" The Doctor asked quietly. "You know how you used to think all the teachers slept in the school?" He stepped aside, letting the rest of them enter the room. Chills ran down Claudia's spine and she held her breath, feeling exactly the same as when she encountered a den of vampires.

No sudden movements. No loud breathing. Quiet. Careful.

"Well," the Doctor continued, "they do."

"No way," Mickey gasped, turning and sprinting back down the hall, Sarah Jane following in suit, then Rose, Claudia, and followed by the Doctor. Mickey and Rose sprinted across the school towards the entrance doors, but Claudia and the Doctor followed at a quick pace, walking in quiet company. Sarah Jane moved a bit behind them, but her heels clicked down the darkened halls all the same.

"I am not going back in there!" Mickey grinned, shouting at Rose as soon as they made it outside. "No way!"

"Those were teachers?" Rose asked the Doctor in shock.

"When Finch arrived, he brought with him seven new teachers, four dinner ladies, and a nurse: 13," the Doctor answered. "Thirteen big bat people. Come on," he turned back, heading back in the doors.

"You've got to be kidding!" Mickey held his hands up, shaking his head. Claudia smiled gently. If he was this startled over giant bats -- she wondered how he'd react seeing a ghost.

"I've got to analyze that oil from the kitchen," the Doctor informed him.

"I might be able to help you there," Sarah Jane spoke up. "I've got something to show you."

They followed Sarah Jane across the parking lot to a small fiat and she opened the trunk with a wide grin. The Doctor pulled back a plaid blanket off a large object, and grinned in excitement when he spotted it.

"K-9!" He exclaimed, grinning like a kid on Christmas. Claudia leaned in between Mickey and Rose, getting a better look. It was a rusted old tin robot, in the shape of a dog, with lots of buttons and scratches. Claudia raised her eyebrows, but tried to hide her judgement.

She'd held onto a bracelet Sam bought her at a dollar store for Christmas when they were eleven and hadn't taken it off since. She didn't exactly have room to judge one's affections for inanimate objects.

"Rose Tyler, Mickey Smith, Claudia Winchester, allow me to introduce K9. Well, K9 Mark 3 to be precise."

"Hi, K9," Claudia said slowly, trying not to laugh. Rose bit back a smile, looking over at her with laughter in her eyes. Mickey gave them both a confused stare. They were equally as lost as the other.

"Why does he look so...disco?" Rose asked.

"Oi!" The Doctor rebutted. "Listen, in the year 5,000 this was cutting edge."

"Was or will be?" Claudia wondered quietly. "Time travel's weird."

"What's happened to him?" The Doctor asked Sarah Jane.

"One day," she frowned, "just...nothing."

"Well, didn't you try and get him repaired?" The Doctor asked, nudging K9's snout.

"It's not like getting parts for a Mini Metro," Sarah Jane argued. Rose and Claudia exchanged a look. "Besides, the technology inside him could rewrite human science. I couldn't show him to anyone."

"Ooh," the Doctor leaned down, cooing at the tin dog. "What's the nasty lady done to you, eh?"

Claudia raised her eyebrows, looking at Rose with wide-eyes, finding her doing the exact same thing. They looked back to Sarah Jane, who gave them a smug look and a smirk. Claudia rolled her eyes, feeling her liking for Sarah Jane dissipate by the minute.

"Look, no offense, but can you two just stop petting for a minute?" Rose called as she headed to the front of Sarah Jane's car. "Never mind the tin dog, we're busy."

♥✰♥

Claudia leaned against the window of the booth, sitting across from the Doctor and Sarah Jane as they worked on K9. She glanced over at Mickey and Rose, realizing now she'd followed the wrong group into the building. They were far too engrossed in each other to pay attention to her and she sat on her phone, finger hovering over the call button as Sam's name sat on the screen.

She hadn't called him in months, though not a day passed that she hadn't thought of him. She wondered if his number had changed, if someone else had it now. If she'd call the number and have a woman answer, with an entirely different name and life story.

She wondered if Dean ever stared at his phone, debating on calling -- just to hear Sam's voicemail. Just to hear his voice one more time, to hear his nervous laugh at the end as he finished the audio, and the classic rock blaring in the background. He'd recorded it at Bobby's, the summer before he died, just after he got the new number.

They'd all been reading lore on angels, trying to understand how Castiel knew so much and pulled Dean out. Why he'd pulled Dean, but not Claudia. It was just after she'd been let go, her mind aching and her PTSD stronger than ever. Dean blasted the music to help calm her nerves, Sam made her coffee and Bobby brought books in to make her feel better.

While Dean and Bobby had fallen asleep at the couch and desk respectively, Sam and Claudia stayed up talking and reading as much as they could. She'd mentioned his automated voicemail and how she'd gotten it the first time she called after coming back, and he laughed, changing it at her request.

It was a good night, one of the better ones. They didn't have too many of those after that. Not after the whole Ruby fiasco and letting Lucifer out of the cage. They were hardened warriors then, too worried about losing each other to focus on small things like voicemails or omens.

"I thought of you on Christmas Day," Sarah Jane's voice brought Claudia back to the present and she glanced up, watching the pair for a moment, feeling like someone else entirely. "This Christmas just gone. Great big spaceship overhead, I thought 'oh, yeah! Bet he's up there.'"

"Right on top of it, yeah," the Doctor mumbled, working on K9's pieces. Claudia snapped her phone shut, blocking out the previous memory and trying to focus on her surroundings. Sam was still dead, no changing that. She was sat across from the time-travelling alien called the Doctor, and his old friend Sarah Jane chatted him up next to him, reuniting with him for the first time in years, decades probably.

She tried not to think about how much time would pass before she reunited with Dean. She tried not to think about how she'd never reunite with Sam again, or Jo, or Ellen, or Castiel. She took a small, shaky breath, wrapping her arm around the table, trying to focus.

Focus on the present.

"And Rose?"

"She was there, too."

"And you, Claudia?" Sarah Jane turned to the woman in question, a tense smile plastered on her face. "Were you there?"

Claudia stiffened, trying to pull herself from her memories and focus on the woman in front of her. "Y-yeah," she said breathlessly. "Yeah, it was my first time meeting him."

"Oh," Sarah Jane's voice shifted, "so you've just started travelling with him?"

Claudia nodded, letting out a small hum in response, too afraid her voice would betray her. Moments would come like this, the inescapable, insurmountable bouts of pain. She couldn't seem to find her voice or her eyes or remember where she was. She'd get trapped in a memory, stuck, relieving the same moment over and over again.

It happened often after Hell, and now, after losing Sam, it felt like a constant shadow hanging over her. If she stopped running, it would catch up to her, darken her sight and consume her.

"Did you hear me?"

Claudia blinked, swallowing thickly. "W-what? What'd you say? Sorry."

Sarah Jane's frowned. "Are you alright? You look a little ill."

Claudia nodded, fiddling with her Dad's ring on her finger and moving out of the bench. "I'm just--I'm just going to get some air, I'll be right back."

Claudia didn't wait for either her or the Doctor to respond, but could feel their eyes -- and Rose and Mickey's -- on her as she hurried out of the building, turning around and heaving, nausea overwhelming her.

She dry heaved and coughed, but nothing came out. Had she eaten? She couldn't remember if she'd eaten that day. Surely, she had. She'd made muffins...how long ago was that? Travelling with the Doctor seemed to have messed with her daily schedule, she hadn't had anything to eat in hours, minimum, and couldn't remember the last time she'd had a drink.

She leaned back against the glass, pulling out the pack of cigarettes from her pocket. She fiddled with one, pulling it from the box and staring with hesitation. She promised Sam she wouldn't, just before he died. She promised she'd quit.

But she was having a rough day, her head was befuddled and a huge mess -- and he was dead. How would he know?

Claudia held it up to her lips, tucking the pack in her pocket and pulling the lighter to the end, igniting the flame and inhaling as relief flowed through her body.

She wished the shop behind them wasn't all glass. Surely, Rose or Mickey were watching her. She didn't look back, though, too consumed by her own grief and pain to care enough about either of theirs.

She took another hit, setting it gently between her fingers as the smoke filled her lungs, letting it out with a slow breath.

"Those kill you know," she heard from her right. Claudia glanced over, finding Mickey watching her with a small smile.

"Everything kills," she retorted back, "just depends which is faster."

Mickey smiled, nodding inside. "If you want to come back, Doc fixed K9, we're gonna see what the oil is."

Claudia nodded, taking another hit before flicking it to the ground, releasing the breath and stamping it with her foot at the same time.

Much better.

She followed Mickey inside and ignored the Doctor and Rose's worried looks, or Sarah Jane's curious ones. She was grateful to Mickey; he didn't ask her any questions or judge her. He just observed and invited her back in. She appreciated that.

"Oh," Rose spoke up, pointing at the oil as the Doctor opened the small cannister. "I wouldn't touch it, though. That dinner lady got all scorched."

"I'm no dinner lady," the Doctor responded, smiling a second later. "And I don't often say that."

He reached a finger into the yellow oil, scooping it up and placing it on the edge of K9's dial, where a round device rested.

"Here we go," the Doctor said, closing the lid as K9's dial retracted. "Come on, boy, here we go."

"Oil...extract..."

Claudia smiled at the small voice, like a real-life robot, and remembered where she was and how grateful she was to be there. Guilt hit her suddenly -- the Doctor had taken time out of his life to show her things like this...and this was what she did with them? Mope around and miss her dead brother?

Claudia brushed the thought away. She could ponder over her self-hatred later.

"Ana-ana-analyzing..."

"Listen to him, man," Mickey grinned, "that's a voice!"

"Careful," Sarah Jane teased. "That's my dog."

"Confirmation of analysis...substance...is...Krillitane oil."

K9's words had no meaning to Claudia, but the Doctor's head turned up slowly, his eyes wide. "They're Krillitanes," he said quietly.

"Is that bad?" Rose asked.

"Very," he responded quickly. "Think how bad things could possibly be and add another suitcase full of bad."

Claudia thought of her worse scenario; Lucifer taking over Sam's body, beating Dean to death, while Michael possessed Adam, their half-brother, tossing her around like a ragdoll. Castiel in smithereens -- then Sam jumping into the pit, straight into Hell, Michael with him.

Somehow, she didn't think Krillitanes were as bad.

"And what are...Krillitanes?" Sarah Jane asked.

"They're a composite race," the Doctor supplied, "just like your culture is a mixture of traditions from all sorts of countries, people you've invaded or been invaded by, you've got bits of Viking, bits of France, bits of whatever."

"Eh, Americans are just colonizers," Claudia spoke up, "we don't really have a culture. Just burgers...and...football, I guess."

The four stared at her for a moment, but no one said anything. Then the Doctor continued as if she hadn't said anything at all.

"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."

"Gross," Claudia thought aloud, picturing Finch with a neck like a giraffe.

"What are they doing here?" Rose asked.

"It's the children," the Doctor said after a moment. "They're doing something to the children."

All hints of laughter drained from Claudia's face and she stiffened. She didn't particularly like kids, but she didn't like them hurt. If it were Ben...it would destroy Dean. She couldn't imagine what those parents would feel like if something happened to those kids.

♥✰♥

Claudia left the store a bit after Sarah Jane and Mickey, finding them sitting on the back of the car. She smiled, walking over to them and leaning against the side next to Mickey.

"Are you alright, dear?" Sarah Jane asked.

Claudia fought the urge to roll her eyes. She didn't like when people weren't straightforward from the beginning. She hated the catty, petty attitudes and fake smiles -- if you didn't like someone, just tell them.

"Fine, Sarah Jane," she snapped, leaning her head back against the car. She could really do with a nap. Or a beer. Or both.

"...as opposed to what?" The Doctor turned on Rose, gathering the attention of Claudia, Mickey, and Sarah Jane. Claudia glanced from him to Rose, concern growing at Rose's disheartened expression.

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

Claudia glanced down, hoping he'd never do it to her. It was selfish, she knew, to wish something that Rose so obviously deserved -- but she hoped he'd never leave her. She had too many people in her life that abandoned her, left her permanently. She had nothing after the Doctor. Her life was in shambles when he saved her from it.

"Is that what you're gonna do to me?" Rose asked, as though reading Claudia's mind. Her head snapped up.

"No," the Doctor said instantly, shaking his head. "Not to you."

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

Claudia's face fell at Rose's words, watching the Doctor's guarded expression. She understood now.

"I don't age," the Doctor said finally, confirming Claudia's suspicions. "I regenerate. But humans decay. You wither and you die. Imagine watching that happen to someone that you..."

Claudia looked away, putting herself in his shoes. She couldn't imagine it, not again. She'd lost so many people already -- just like he had. He couldn't be with her, he couldn't promise Rose a forever, or Claudia an indefinite. He couldn't promise either of them because they were always going to outlive him.

She closed her eyes, blue specks and a bright smile filling her mind, and she squeezed them shut, imagining them just in front of her. Millimeters from her own face, begging her -- she opened them up again, swallowing back the tears. She was fine. If the Doctor could do it, she could. She would be fine.

"You can spend the rest of your life with me," these words were so familiar now, cutting through Claudia's heart like a knife, reminding her of something she'd pushed away months ago, threatening to knock her down, "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."

A loud screeching sounded from the school across the street and they all turned, watching as one of the giant bats flew towards them, swooping down and lunging for the Doctor, swiping air, before flying back into the night.

"Was that a Krillitane?" Sarah Jane asked. Claudia rolled her eyes. They'd seen them a mere hour prior, of course it was a Krillitane.

"It didn't even touch you, it just flew off," Rose noted. "What did it do that for?"

♥✰♥

Claudia sat on the wall near the door in Sarah Jane's living room, where they'd all holed up after the Krillitane lunged at the Doctor. They didn't think it safe to head back to the TARDIS, so Sarah Jane offered to take them back to her home a few minutes away.

Exhausted, Rose hardly put up a fight and fell asleep the second her head hit the couch. Mickey slept in a big armchair and Sarah Jane retreated back to her bedroom. They all promised to meet up in the morning, bright and early, to take down the Krillitanes during the day.

The Doctor didn't sleep, he sat at the dining table, fiddling with his sonic and a stack of pencils. Neither of them spoke for the majority of the night, just minding their own business, both acutely aware of the other not sleeping.

She presumed he didn't need sleep -- after all, he was an alien species -- and he presumed she didn't want to sleep. After all, who could sleep after such horrific experiences in one's waking life?

Claudia's legs went numb as the sun rose through the blinds in Sarah Jane's living room and she stood shakily, walking outside and shutting the door gently behind her. She could only take so much more of Mickey's snores.

"You alright?"

Claudia jumped, not hearing the Doctor come after her, leaning her head against the cool stone of the outside of Sarah Jane's house.

"Yeah, fine," she nodded. "Thanks."

"You didn't sleep at all."

"Is that a statement or a question?"

"More of an observation."

Claudia hummed in response, turning her head to find him staring down at her. She hadn't noticed how much taller he was, roughly Dean's height. She was used to staring up at people, despite being a Winchester, she was the smallest one.

"Watching you...reunite with Sarah Jane, it just...I don't know. Brings back some unwanted memories. I won't get to see my brother again, or..." She took a shaky breath. She did not need to go down that memory lane. "And I don't know when I'll see Dean again. It's not like I can just show up and re-enter his life. He's doing PTA meetings and fixing up cars and...that's just not my life. I tried, you know?" She smiled bitterly, fighting back tears. "I tried to be normal. But I'm not. I never have been. I don't have a mom, my dad used to beat on us and make us into little soldiers to fight against demons, in wars that shouldn't have involved us at all, and my brothers and I were completely co-dependent, which, I'm assuming stems from our lack of social lives, the credit, of course, is owed to my negligent father, and I--I don't know what do now.

"It's like..." She sighed, not knowing where her sentences were going. It just felt good to talk. And the Doctor didn't say anything, just watched her, the sun creeping out below the skyline, beating down on them in purple, yellow, reddish hues. He just listened.

"I didn't have a house growing up, y'know? Or homework. Or bedtime stories. I learned how to shoot a gun when I was four. I've kept a knife under my pillow since before I could talk. I grew up on motel breakfast and vending machine snacks and--and Christmas wasn't a holiday we celebrated. But with Sam gone," she let out a shaky breath, looking down, away from him now, the words pouring from her chest before she could stop them. "Sam was always the one pushing to celebrate. He went to college. He was gonna go to Stanford. He had a girlfriend, and they were talking about getting engaged and adopting a dog...

"And now Dean's adapted, right? He's got Lisa and Ben, his new family. And that's good, you know? That's exactly what Sam would've wanted but I--I can't just -- it's not easy to just adapt to things without people, to just go on the next day as if your world isn't completely flipped upside down.

"I don't want you to leave me, okay?" She looked back up at him, tears falling down her cheeks. His expression softened. "And, it's not--it's not a romantic thing, okay? I-I had someone. I...we--we were happy. Okay? It's not about being with you or anything, I know you and Rose are in love or are meant to be together or whatever, it's not my business, I just...I can't stand finding something to hold onto this tightly...to need something like what you do."

She took another breath, trying to find the right words. "I know you're not, but I'm okay with dying. I know where I'm going, okay? That deal sealed a long time ago. I'm not scared of death. I'm scared of living without a purpose, without some sort of meaning and -- and I need this. I need to be with you. Travelling. Don't -- don't just--"

"--I'm not letting you fall behind," he said finally, cutting her off gently. His eyes were warm and kind, not unlike when he first invited her along. "You can stay with me as long as you'd like. I can't promise that you'll always be safe. I wish I could but--I can't. But I can promise to never intentionally leave you behind. How's that?"

Claudia nodded, wiping the tears from her face. "Yeah, that's good." She held up her pinky finger, outstretching it towards him. "Just, do me a solid and pinkie promise? It's sacred in my family, the ultimate swear. Pinkie promise you won't leave me."

His lips upturned and she could see in his eyes just how tired he truly was. He lifted his own pinkie up to hers and wrapped it around her own. "As long as you promise not to leave me."

"I promise."

"As do I."

♥✰♥

The car ride was fairly short and involved minimal chatter. After her breakdown in front of the Doctor, Claudia cleaned her face in Sarah Jane's bathroom and borrowed a toothbrush to wash up, nearly running into Rose in the process. Spotting Claudia's puffy eyes and red nose, Rose was instantly worried, but didn't ask many questions, just pulled her into a tight hug and promised she was there if Claudia needed it.

Mickey and Sarah Jane chatted most of the way to the school, though it was mostly small talk and Rose munched on a bit of toast. Not more than a minute after Sarah Jane parked, the Doctor was hopping out of the car, a hard look on his face. Rose followed quickly behind him, followed by Claudia, Mickey, then Sarah Jane.

"Rose, Sarah, and Claudia, you go to the maths room. Crack open those computers. I need to see the hardware inside. Here, you might need this," he pulled out his sonic screwdriver. Rose opened her palm, expecting it, but he reached over and plopped it in Sarah Jane's instead. A tight look passed Rose's face and Claudia rubbed her eyes.

It would be a long day.

"Mickey, surveillance. I want you outside."

"Just stand outside?"

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

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

"He's metal!" Mickey shouted, waiting by the car.

"I didn't mean for him!" The Doctor shouted back and Claudia rolled her eyes, blowing Mickey a kiss, to which he rolled his eyes.

"What are you gonna do?" Rose asked the Doctor.

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

♥✰♥

Claudia leaned back against a desk in the computer lab, Rose sitting next to Sarah Jane as the latter fiddled with the sonic screwdriver.

"It's not working," Sarah Jane sighed in frustration.

Rose sighed, reaching her hand out and grabbing it from the woman. "Give it to me."

"Used to work first time in my day," Sarah Jane commented. Claudia rolled her eyes.

"Well, things were a lot simpler back then," Rose snarked, holding the sonic to the machine and letting it buzz as it worked to open the mechanics.

"Rose?" Rose popped out from under the desk and looked at Sarah Jane expectantly. "Can I give you a bit of advice?"

"I've got a feeling you're about to."

"I know how intense a relationship with the Doctor can be," her eyes flickered to Claudia, looking her over a moment. Claudia raised an eyebrow, challenging her silently, but Sarah Jane turned back to Rose. "And I don't want you to feel I'm intruding..."

"I don't feel threatened by you if that's what you mean," Rose looked up, an innocent expression on her face.

"Right. Good," Sarah Jane nodded, as if she hadn't been trying to undermine Rose's relationship with the Doctor over the past twenty-four hours. "Because I'm not interested in picking up where we left off."

"No?" Rose questioned sweetly. "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."

"The thing is, when you two met, they'd only just got rid of rationing."

Claudia winced at the jab, taking note of how both women had stopped working on the computer. She sighed, standing up and gently taking the sonic from Rose, who didn't question her, and bent down back under the computer, holding the sonic against the wires.

"No wonder all the space stuff was a bit too much for you," Rose finished.

"I had no problem with space stuff!" Sarah Jane stood then, kicking Claudia's foot. She turned around with a scowl and Sarah Jane offered an apologetic smile before continuing. "I saw things you wouldn't believe."

"Oh, here we go," Claudia muttered, aiming the sonic a bit higher as it clicked, unlocking on sequence, before moving onto the next.

"Try me."

"Mummies!" Sarah Jane said fierclely.

"I've met ghosts."

Claudia's head perked up and she looked between the two. She'd never met a mummy -- it was probably an alien of some sort. Hang on, if the Doctor didn't believe in ghosts...they couldn't have been the same ghosts she was used to dealing with. She couldn't picture the Doctor and Rose salt and burning a body.

Shaking her head, she turned back to the hand at task.

"Robots. Lots of robots."

"Slitheen, in Downing Street."

Claudia raised her eyebrows. She wasn't sure what a 'slitheen' was, but from the name it didn't sound very nice. And she knew Downing Street was incredibly popular -- that's a hard one to beat.

"Daleks!"

"Met the emperor."

Once again, Claudia didn't know what that was -- but she made a note to find the library later and catch up on her research.

"Antimatter monsters!"

"Gas mask zombies!"

Claudia wondered if they were the same zombies that ate people. She'd met her share of those and they weren't exactly kind.

"Real living dinosaurs!"

"Real living werewolf!"

"Wasn't technically a werewolf," Claudia muttered, "seriously, real dinosaurs? That's so sick," she added, thinking about Dean's love for them as a kid. He'd have killed to meet a dinosaur in real life. Maybe one day the Doctor could take him on a trip, for a birthday or something, and he could see one in person. He was a kid at heart, that would make him happy.

"THE! LOCH NESS MONSTER!"

"...Seriously?"

Sarah Jane shook her head, covering her mouth.

Claudia leaned her head back. "Oh," she frowned, seeing Sarah Jane's face. "My uncle Bobby killed one once, I want to know if it's a creature or an alien."

Both women turned to her with wide eyes.

"What is your family like?" Rose blurted, mouth agape. "Seriously, what're you talking about?"

Claudia shrugged. "I'm serious. It was like twenty years ago, or so he says, but he says he's killed one."

"I think he's lying," Sarah Jane spoke up, exchanging a look with Rose.

Claudia's heart sank. They were bonding over making fun of her. A thin smile painted her face.

"Never mind," she shook her head.

"No, come on," Rose fought back a laugh, "tell  us more."

Sarah Jane laughed at her response and Claudia felt a jab through her heart. She'd taken a liking to Rose after her confession outside her room, and felt she could like Sarah Jane if she stopped trying to compete with Rose.

Now both of them were suddenly friends -- and they didn't like Claudia?

"Wait, hold on," Rose sobered, though her voice shook with laughter, "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."

It was quiet for a moment and Claudia nearly finished the rewiring.

"With you," Rose asked Sarah Jane. "Did he do that thing where he'd explain something at like 90 miles an hour and you'd go 'what?' and he'd look at you like you'd just dribbled on your shirt?"

Claudia tilted her head, trying to recall, but she couldn't think of an instance where he'd done that yet. Perhaps with time, he'd treat her normally. Now, it seemed, they had a strange, sad understanding that they were both a little fragile and broken and never spoke of it outside each other.

She guessed that meant he didn't want to make her feel bad.

"All the time!" Sarah Jane explained, causing another laugh from Rose. "Does he still stroke bits of the TARDIS?"

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

They both burst into another round of laughter and the door opened. Claudia didn't look up, nearly finished, when the Doctor's voice sounded through the lab.

"How's it going?"

Of course, this only set the women off more and they laughed harder, holding each other for support.

"What?" He asked. "Listen, I need to find out what's programmed inside these." They didn't answer, just continued laughing. "What? Stop it."

Claudia rolled her eyes, pulling back.

"I'm almost done," she made eye contact with the Doctor. "Just hold on a sec."

The Doctor nodded, walking over and taking the sonic from her with a small smile. "Thanks," he said quietly, appreciating she'd actually followed through.

"I don't think kids being in danger is very funny," she remarked. "Here, it's about done. I can't get the last bit though."

He nodded, pulling the entire computer out from under the desk and wrapping the loose cables over his shoulders.

He scanned parts of it, a frown on his face. Rose dismissed the kids trying to come into the room, telling them to go to the South Wing.

"I can't shift it," the Doctor muttered.

"I thought the sonic screwdriver could open anything," Sarah Jane stated.

"Anything except a deadlock seal," the Doctor replied through gritted teeth. "There's got to be something inside here."

"Sounds like you need an upgrade," Claudia scratched her nose, watching as he worked quickly, examining the board and wiring to find a solution.

"What're they teaching those kids?" He asked aloud.

He tried a few minutes longer when all of a sudden, all the computers lit up with some sort of quick program. A cube twirled around on one side and the other filled with intricate lettering and numbers. Claudia frowned, not recognizing any of this.

"I'm so happy I didn't grow up with computers," she muttered.

The Doctor turned to the main screen where blocks were flying into scrolls and letters and numbers, all green and fast-moving.

"Some sort of code," he muttered, dropping the cords from around his neck and resting his fingers on the edge of the desk. "No," he whispered and Claudia looked at him questioningly. "No, they can't be...the Skasas Paradigm. They're trying to crack the Skasas Paradigm."

Claudia raised her eyebrows. "What, uh, what is that?"

"The god-maker. The universal theory. Crack that equation and you've got control of the building blocks of the universe."

She wondered if Lucifer or Michael or any of the other angels knew about such an equation. She wondered if it mattered. Would the equation be able to rid the universe of them? Or could they simply eradicate humans without it? Was it something God left behind?

God.

Her lip lifted in distaste as she thought of the coward people claimed protected the universe. He didn't protect anything or anyone. Not her friends, not innocent people, not Sam or Castiel.

"Time and space and matter," the Doctor continued. "Yours to control."

Claudia wondered what it would be like to attain such power. She'd never want it, she'd never been good with power. She'd only ask that her brother be brought back, that he could live a normal life. Be happy. That Castiel never died, that Jo and Ellen didn't have to sacrifice themselves. But then...would his sacrifice even matter?

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

"Yes. And their learning power is being accelerated by the oil. That oil from the kitchens, it works as a conducting agent, makes the kids cleverer."

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

"What's 59 times 35?"

"2065."

Claudia blinked at Rose's quick response and found a question of her own. "Wait, hold on, how come I didn't like the fries, or chips, or--whatever? I mean, they were fine, but like I--a part of me wanted to throw up when I ate them. What's that mean?"

The Doctor stared at her for a moment, contemplating, then shrugged. "Didn't like the flavor? I don't know, that's the second time you're less than normal..."

Claudia remembered the psychic paper and her heart fell to her stomach. Why hadn't she been able to see anything on it? Why hadn't she liked the flavor of the fries? Everyone had. She should've too. Unless...

"But why use children?" Claudia asked, her mind racing. "Unless there's something specific children have that adults don't," she thought back to her time in hunting. Children were innocent, full of life and laughter and, "imagination, right? They're using the children's imaginations?"

"Brilliant," the Doctor nodded to her. "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."

Claudia's body clammed up. She hated bargaining souls. She'd done enough of it to last three lifetimes and then some, the same went for her brothers and father. She couldn't imagine putting a child in that situation, in such inevitable danger for the sake of power.

"Any idea how to kill a Krillitane?"

"Claudia, you can't just pick violence," the Doctor chastised. "There's always another option."

"Well, if they want to take the low road, I'll just veer them right off the edge."

He looked at her seriously. "Don't," he said sternly, ordering her. "You don't need to get your hands bloodied for this."

"My hands are covered in blood, and I'd rather it be Krillitane's than a bunch of kids any day."

"Let the lesson begin," Finch's voice spoke up from the door. The Doctor's head snapped from her direction and turned to Finch, the rest following behind him.

"Think of it Doctor," Finch said softly, "with the paradigm solved, reality becomes clay in our hands. We can shape the universe and improve it."

"Oh, yeah, the whole of creation with the face of Mr. Finch," the Doctor uttered sarcastically. "Call me old-fashioned, I like things as they are."

"You act like such a radical and yet all you want is to preserve the old order."

"Considering the old order doesn't mean the expense of hundreds of kids and probably humanity, I feel like it's the best solution," Claudia muttered.

Finch's eyes turned to her, curiously, like a hawk examining prey, but he didn't say anything to her directly. "Think of the changes that could be made if this power was used for good."

"What, by someone like you?" The Doctor asked with a smirk.

"No," Finch said quickly. "Someone like you."

Claudia's eyebrows raised. "Ooh, a plot twist. I love one of those. Too bad he's better than us and won't destroy the universe in hopes of making it better."

"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, Ascinta, your own people, Doctor. Standing tall. The Time Lords...reborn."

"Doctor, don't listen to him," Sarah Jane spoke up bravely.

"And you could be with him throughout eternity," Finch moved past the Doctor, a twisted smile on his aged complexion. "Young, fresh. Never wither, never age, never die. Their lives are so fleeting. So many goodbyes. How lonely you must be, Doctor. Join us."

Hesitation crossed the Doctor's face. "I could save everyone."

Claudia's eyes flickered to the Doctor, finding him staring at her.

"I could stop the war."

She shook her head, standing straighter.

"Don't listen to his bullshit," she swore, glancing at Finch. "He doesn't care about you. About your people. You think he wants to bring back a race that will stop him? You think he cares about my brother? About my family? And even if he did, even if, say, even if you went along with it and you brought them all back -- it wouldn't be the same. If there's one thing I've learned, it's that humanity is beautiful. And it is fleeting. Our lives are meant to be short because we experience so much. So much pain and so much heartbreak and you can't take that from us. Not for a man like him. Your people are gone, same as mine. We're meant to outlive them, to remember them. Not by who we want them to be, not who we can bring them back as, but who they were. Everything dies eventually, it's just a matter of when you're ready to let everything go."

"Everything has its time," Sarah Jane pitched in, looking at Claudia with a newfound respect. "And everything ends."

The Doctor stared at Claudia for a moment longer, looking back to the screen behind the women, and took a deep breath, running past Finch, grabbing a chair and tossing it to the screen. It shattered the screen, glass spewing all over the ground as the computers all shut down, breaking the connection.

Finch rushed from the room and Claudia moved past the Doctor towards him, but he stopped her, interlocking his hand with hers.

"Don't leave my side," he begged quietly. She looked at him questioningly but Sarah Jane and Rose were already out the door. He tugged her out past them, down the hallway to the stairs, where they ran into Mickey and a younger boy, whose name she couldn't remember.

"What's going on?" Mickey asked.

Claudia stopped, wide eyed as giant Krillitane bats leapt across walls towards them. The group turned quickly, the Doctor holding Claudia's hand tightly as they rushed downstairs and through the outdoor hallway into the cafeteria.

The Doctor let go of her hand and she reached down into her leg, pulling out her pistol.

"Oh, Claudia, come on," the Doctor groaned, reaching for his sonic in an attempt to open a locked entrance.

"Well, it'll buy us time. That or we get eaten, entirely up to you, Doctor."

They exchanged a heated look but were interrupted as the main cafeteria doors flew open, Finch bursting in with a ferocious look, his 'brothers' following closely behind, slamming open doors and rushing in.

"Are they my teachers?" The young student asked.

"Yeah," the Doctor answered, staring down the Krillitanes. "I'm sorry."

"We need the Doctor alive. As for the others, you can feast."

Claudia raised an eyebrow, flicking the safety off her gun and taking aim as a Krillitane dove straight for the student. She fired just as it reached his hair and it fell to the ground in a loud, screeching whimper.

"Kill the girl!" Finch screamed, glaring Claudia down. "Before she kills another!"

"Yeah, good luck, bud," she replied quietly, aiming at another Krillitane. The Doctor picked up a chair, swiping at the attacking creatures, but the rest of her friends just screamed and ducked. Claudia stood tall, entirely in her element, shooting down bat after bat.

Only three remained and Finch screamed loudly, terrifyingly, sending chills down Claudia's spine. She aimed her gun at the next bat, firing, but letting out a gasp of fright -- it was empty. She should really bring more bullets with her.

Just before it nicked her, a laser shot straight towards it, dropping it to the ground.

"K9!" Sarah Jane yelled.

Claudia let out a smile. "Oh, I love dogs!"

"Suggest you engage running mode, mistress," K9 said to Sarah Jane as Finch reared on him in fury.

"K9, hold them back!" The Doctor shouted as they all followed him out the way they came, K9 doing a little circle in the middle.

"Affirmative, master. Maximum defense mode!"

They ran down another hallway, then a left, into a classroom, where the Doctor sonic'd a door shut.

♥✰♥

"It's the oil," the Doctor said after they'd all caught their breath. Claudia slid her gun back into her boot, toying with one of her knives, twisting it around her fingers delicately. "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!"

"Geez, talk about plastic surgery," Claudia muttered, swinging the knife around her right hand, in between her fingers with the small hoop she clipped to belt clips.

"How much was there in the kitchens?" The Doctor asked Rose.

"Barrels of it."

Screeching sounded outside the door and Claudia stood up, holding her knife securely in her hand, pulling a second one out from her sleeve.

"Blimey, Claudia, how many weapons have you got?" Mickey asked.

Claudia smirked. "I can give you a tour if you want."

Scrapes against the door began to chip through the wood and Claudia readied herself, looking at the Doctor for confirmation.

"Just, just, hold on, Claudia," he eyed her, looking back to the door, "we need to get to the kitchens. Mickey--"

"--What now? Hold the coats?"

"Get all the children unplugged and out of the school."

"Now then, bats, bats, bats, how do we fight bats," the Doctor questioned aloud.

Claudia held up her knives. "Just open the door, Doc, I'm pretty quick with slicing and dicing."

Before he could get a word in, the fire alarm blared and they all turned to the young student who pulled it.

"I like you, kid," Claudia smiled. "What's your name?"

"I'm Kenny. You're scary."

"Yeah, okay, fair," Claudia shrugged.

The Doctor opened the door and they all rushed after him, past the screeching bats, but Claudia made sure to slice one of the bats -- in the wing, just a quick, easy, smooth slice -- just before turning the corner to ensure better security later on. It's screeching increased but she just picked up the pace, knowing it was in too much pain to charge after her.

"Master!"

Claudia turned, but didn't stop, as K9 met them in the hallway. She smiled at the small robotic dog and the Doctor leaned down, slowing his pace.

"Come on, boy! Good boy."

♥✰♥

The run to the kitchens was faster than Claudia thought it would be, but she was fairly used to running and the adrenaline had probably kicked in.

The Doctor pointed his sonic to one of the barrels and tried to open it, running to the next one when it wouldn't open.

"They've been deadlocked sealed. Finch must have done it. I can't open them."

"This sonic is growing more and more useless every time you pull it out," Claudia muttered.

"Oi!" He sent her a glare. "Don't diss the sonic, Winchester."

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

"Right," the Doctor agreed, looking around. "Everyone out the back door. K9, stay with me."

No one hesitated in listening, Claudia following after Rose and Sarah Jane outside, sending a short glance back to the Doctor, but he was already busy with K9.

Rose and Claudia waited by the parking lot when the school erupted into flames, blowing up. Mickey just made it out with the rest of the students and everyone began cheering at it's destruction.

Claudia hugged Rose, looking around for the Doctor, spotting him next to Sarah Jane, but there was no K9.

She sighed, watching them say something quietly, and he pulled her close.

K9 didn't make it.

♥✰♥

Claudia leaned against the TARDIS console, fiddling with a button and looking at the strange symbols on the console. She still wished she knew what they said, they seemed so familiar, like her father had written them down but she'd never really understood them. Or she'd seen them in passing in a book at Bobby's...

"You've redecorated," Sarah Jane's voice sounded as she and the Doctor entered the TARDIS. Rose perked up, walking over from the captain's chair where she sat with Mickey.

"Do you like it?" The Doctor asked her. Claudia wondered what it looked like before. She didn't know it could change interiors, though, that wasn't too surprising thinking about it now.

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

"I love it," Rose smiled, leaning against the railing.

Claudia smiled at their politeness. "You're all so British."

"Hey, what's 47 times 369?" Sarah Jane asked Rose.

"No idea," Rose answered with a shake of her head.

"17, 343," Claudia answered immediately, then frowned, eyebrows furrowing. "Well, that's not normal," she remarked and the Doctor glanced over at her.

"Nothing about you seems to be," he responded quietly.

"It's gone now, the oil's faded," Rose spoke to Sarah Jane, giving Claudia a confused look. "But I'm not sure what's wrong with Claudia. Guess we'll never really know," she laughed lightly and Claudia nodded, a tense smile on her face. Ah, yes, the jokes at her expense were back. Just like the old days.

"But you're still clever," Sarah Jane smiled at Rose. "More than a match for him."

"You and me both," Rose nudged Sarah Jane. "And Claudia, of course. She's like the wild card, no one really knows what she'll do next."

Claudia shrugged. "Part of my charm."

It was quiet for a minute, but Rose turned to the Doctor. "Doctor?" She asked tensely, trying to break the silence.

"Um, we're about to head off, but, you could come with us," he smiled at Sarah Jane. Claudia raised an eyebrow at the invitation, unsure of how she felt about the woman, but Rose seemed all for it, grinning at her.

Sarah Jane looked between the Doctor and Rose for a moment but shook her head, smiling apologetically. "No," she said softly. "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."

Claudia nodded, pointing a knife at her. "That's the spirit, girl."

"Where do you get all these knives?" Mickey asked, scooting away from her.

"Just wait for the tour," she winked and he gave her an odd look, turning away to Sarah Jane.

"Can I come?" Mickey asked. "Not with you," he pointed to Sarah Jane. "I mean, with you," he gestured to the Doctor. "'Cause I'm not the tin dog and I wanna see what's out there."

"Oh, go on, Doctor," Sarah Jane encouraged. "Sarah Jane Smith and Mickey Smith, you need a Smith on board."

"Okay, then, I could do with a laugh," the Doctor agreed with a small shrug.

Claudia frowned. "What, am I not cutting it?"

"Step up your game, Claudia, you're losing points with all the knife throwing."

"I'll show you where the knife's throwing."

"Funny," he smiled dryly. She scowled at him playfully and Mickey turned to Rose, a hopeful look on his face.

"Rose, is that okay?"

"No, great," Rose agreed, looking away from them all, arms crossed. "Why not?"

Claudia's hand tensed around the knife. She liked Rose, she did. But in times like these...Mickey deserved better, he loved Rose, and if she loved another she needed to break it off, not string him along. It wasn't fair to Mickey.

She'd do anything to have a moment more with -- Mickey deserved better.

A tense silence settled in the air. Sarah Jane looked over them all; the Doctor leaning against the console, Claudia next to him, toying with a knife, Mickey against one railing, and Rose a bit in front of him.

"Well, I better go," Sarah Jane said through the tense atmosphere. The Doctor moved, walking around the TARDIS to set things up. Rose moved closer to Sarah Jane and Mickey stood where he was.

Claudia followed the Doctor, observing his motions and trying to understand how the TARDIS operated.

"You're like a gnat," the Doctor waved her off. "Bug off," he waved at her.

She scowled. "I'm just trying to learn about your TARDIS, is that such a crime?"

"It is when you do it with a knife in your hand."

Claudia rolled her eyes, tucking it into her wrist holster. "See? It's gone. What's this button do?" She pointed to a button on the console, flashing a low red.

He flicked a lever. "That'll kill us, go ahead and press it, put me out of my misery."

Her jaw dropped and she let out a surprised laugh. "Doctor," she whacked his arm gently. "That is so mean, don't say things like that."

"What, you're knife girl, you can handle anything."

He gave her a teasing grin and she rolled her eyes, pointing to another button.

"And this one?"

"Set us on fire.

"Why do these button exist?"

"In case of emergency."

"Have you ever had said emergency?"

"Not yet, but with you on board, who knows."

"Ha, ha, funny, how about this one?" She pointed to another one on the other end of the console.

"To put out the fire you've just lit."

"Why is it on the opposite side of the console from the one originally pressed?"

He looked up at her in exasperation. "B-because there's a fire where you pressed it."

"But if the fire was lit here," she rushed back to the first button, "wouldn't you want the button somewhere else? How are you supposed to press a button that's sitting in fire, just to walk around the console to where there is no fire and--"

"Be back in a minute," the Doctor interrupted her, heading to the doors and opening it up for Sarah Jane. Claudia frowned, looking over the buttons.

"Totally doesn't make any sense."

"Totally does!" He shouted back at her, closing the door behind him.

She looked between Rose and Mickey, shaking her head.

"What do you guys think?"

Rose didn't answer, watching the door where Sarah Jane and the Doctor had left through, but Mickey sighed.

"I think you're going to take some getting used to. You're like American James Bond."

"So...Jason Bourne?"

"I don't know who that is, but yeah, if he exists."

Claudia thought about it for a moment. "Yeah, okay, I'll take it."

Claudia turned to Rose, eyes narrowing a fraction. She reached a hand out, nudging her.

"Earth to Rosie," she said lightly, and Rose turned, shaking her head. "Stop getting in your head, okay?" She smiled at her and dropped her hand, thumping Mickey on the shoulder.

"Alrighty, Mickey Goldmill--"

"--Wait, like from Rocky?"

"You mean one of the greatest cinematic masterpieces of all time? Yeah, I'm being generous."

"That means a lot, thanks, Bond."

"I--come on, I'll show you all my knives."

"Do I even want to see them?"

"Just--just come on, Mickey," She tugged his arm, pulling him from the console room just as the TARDIS reopened the doors. Rose and the Doctor needed to talk, and if she were going to toy with Mickey's heart, she'd take the man from the scene of the crime.

♥✰♥

six hours and 12000 words later (no, i didn't add an extra zero, it's REALLY that long) i finally finished this chapter omg. idk if anyone's reading/up at this time, but i finished and wanted to post it because I work early and will probably forget. HOPEFULLYYY the long update makes up for the lack of updates over the past few months:( back on my doctor who binge so expect a lot of updates for this and SATM. because i have a lot of readers who read both -- curiosity, which do you prefer? which character do you like more? I think Luna's sweeter but I like Claudia's pain more, and I think the Doctor is less, em, shall we say toxic with Claudia than with Luna.
lemme know your thoughts:)
thanks for reading and expect an update either next thursday or the week after (going on vacation next week, so probably won't update)
lemme know if you have any predictions/theories about this book, I've dropped a couple hints here and there. and NO, she is NOT a time lady.
love y'all! -osw