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Travelling with the Doctor is probably the best thing that's happened to Yaz. No, not probably—definitely, and she knows that it's the same for Graham and Ryan. It is a bit odd, though, to be reminded that the Doctor travelled with other humans before them. Captain Harkness, for one, who was close enough to the Doctor to kiss Graham before realising he wasn't her. Maybe she shouldn't be surprised, then, when they run into someone who knows.
They're at Oxford University following a trail to Slitheen, the Doctor says, though Yaz doesn't know how she's already figured that out. The Doctor doesn't reveal her secrets, so they all follow her lead.
The Doctor has just introduced herself to a physics professor as John Smith and, as she corrects her name to Joan, a young man—a student, probably, but he looks like a teen—comes through the office door with a stack of papers. As the boy, because he must be young, hesitantly steps around them, the Doctor beams and claps her hands together. He looks at her strangely, but turns back to leave, having done his task, only for another boy to run in gasping and slam the door behind him.
Professor Gillian glares at the newcomer. The Doctor smiles wider. "If you're arrested again for a serious crime, you'll be expelled," the professor tells the new boy, who's moved to stand next to his friend.
"It's only a misdemeanor, and they haven't caught me yet," he says with a grin, which makes the Doctor giggle.
Reminded of the presence of her guests, Gillian introduces "Doctor Smith," a Cambridge professor, and her student interns, Yasmin and Ryan. Graham was sent to get friendly with the staff who might see things, like gardeners and security.
"Doctor Smith tells me she's interested in your theories on transcendental dimensions, Luke," Gillian tells the first boy. "You may leave, Mr. Jones, if you're done running from the law."
"Never," the taller boy tells her with a smile. Luke stares at the Doctor like he knows something he shouldn't, and his friend seems inclined to stay by his side.
Professor Gillian sighs and thanks the Doctor for stopping by. "I'm sorry about the students, but I have work I need to get to. Jones is quite the troublemaker; it's a wonder he's still enrolled."
"We're here, you know," Jones says, "and Luke wouldn't let them kick me out."
"Unfortunately," Gillian mutters, before she plasters on a smile and leaves them be.
"Would you like to come with us?" the Doctor asks the boys. Yaz worries she'll explode from the excitement. "We're going to look for suspicious behavior from the staff and locals around Oxford."
"Doctor—" Ryan begins, but he's cut off before he can finish.
"I'm sure we'll enjoy the company of Smith and Jones," the Doctor concludes, making a gesture like she's shushing him.
"It is you, then," Luke concludes. "No one said my last name."
"Maybe I knew it from your research papers!"
"Whatever you say, Doctor," Jones agrees. "Care to introduce your companions?"
"You're both less awed than I hoped," the Doctor tells them. "It must be your age. This is Yaz and Ryan. They travel with me."
"I thought so," Luke says, and he shares a look with Jones.
"Don't break the immersion, Santiago," the Doctor warns with a frown. "Don't get all cynical on me like you're not in the country illegally."
"You're one to talk," Jones—Santiago?—mutters, and he looks at Yaz and Ryan. "You know it's not forever, I hope."
"We know," Yaz says, despite all her dreams that it could be. "We'll want to leave, or she'll have to leave us. She told us how it works."
"You're learning," Luke says to the Doctor, and he sounds more genuine than he should, Yaz thinks.
"Sometimes it takes a funeral, but yeah. I learn things."
The companions don't ask and the boys just nod.
"We're looking for Slitheen," the Doctor tells them casually, which shouldn't throw Yaz as much as it does.
"Doc, Doctor, care to explain the strangers you're telling these things to?" Ryan asks, the saint.
"Luke Smith, Santiago Jones, Smith and Jones," she says, as if that explains anything. "I knew you two would get on well."
"So did everyone else," Luke says, and he smiles at Yaz and Ryan. "My mum, Sarah Jane Smith, and Santiago's gran, Jo Jones, used to travel with the Doctor. We've met her before."
"When she was a man," Santiago adds, "two different men. That's why we didn't recognize her."
"I think Graham still thinks that was some sort of weird joke," Ryan admits, "even after Captain Harkness thought he was her."
"You know the Captain?" Luke asks.
"We met him once," Yaz tells him. "He was trying to find the Doctor but the energy on us from the TARDIS messed up his precision."
"Artron energy," Luke says. "It's hard to work with."
"I wonder what it's done with Clyde, how that interacts with things," the Doctor says, before she finally returns to their task. "Has anything been strange lately?"
"Not really," Luke says. "I know a cafeteria worker was replaced under weird circumstances, but that's not especially odd."
"A few men I know in town have stopped showing up to some events," Santiago suggests, "but I think they just came to help their public image. Maybe they've given up."
"Anything helps! Now, about that cafeteria…”