A/N: Theta or Thay – pronounced 'thā'. Xi – pronounced 'zī'. This fic also contains Classic Who tidbits. I don't own Harry Potter or Doctor Who. Sorry.
Chapter 2
Academy on the Run
Smoke billowed out of the main console. Both Time Lords coughed and tried to clear the air. The TARDIS was sparking and smoking.
"Make sure the extrapolator field is still running and the cardon matrix is set at zero."
"Got it! But the speld synthesizer is still wobbly."
"Don't worry about that." The older Time Lord shouted over the whizzing and the banging. The TARDIS lurched sideways and both flung themselves on to the console so they wouldn't go flying. A blue and a green light flashed and two sonic screwdrivers whirled.
"Where are we heading?"
The Doctor yanked the monitor screen around, "Forests of Gamma, 41st century." The TARDIS lurched again and the console sparked. "Come on, work!" He whacked a lever with one of the mallets.
"No, no, no." The TARDIS lurched one last time and both Time Lords fell into each other. Everything went quiet as the lights went out and the TARDIS groaned softly. They disentangled. The Doctor got straight back up and looked on the monitor.
"What's wrong with you?"
"Thay?" He turned to the child who called him by the shortened version of this Academy name 'Theta'. Their relationship had changed from mentor-student to more of a father-son one in the past ten years. Ten wonderful, brilliant years. He knew he was delaying the inevitable but it was worth it. The child was still here, never looking back, just like him. The child's personality was a bit more human than usual but it was the effect of growing up as a human, and the memories that came with it. It had been rough, that first year, but they had worked through it.
It had been quite easy to put the human persona of Harry Potter down once and for all, more for the show of the humans than anything else. The child was one step ahead of everyone else, even when he was human. Later, he admitted to The Doctor that it was easier not to attract attention if he didn't flaunt his intelligence. The child still had everything all set if he were to have died when he was still human and all the two of them had to do as put it into action.
It was a laugh watching the man the child called 'Idiot Manipulator' running around trying to fix everything. It was amusing during the will reading, watching the man's plans fall apart. With a mild perception filter and The Doctor being on good terms with the Goblins after saving their home planet, it was fairly simple. On the more serious side, it was good to know that the man no longer had his claws on the child. It was despicable that the man in charge of a whole community's children did that to a child. That was no way to treat a child, and he couldn't bear to see a child cry.
"Thay!"
"What?"
"Where are we?" The child gave him a sharp look and The Doctor rubbed his face. He had gotten lost again. He referred to the monitor again, nothing. He dashed to the door and opened it. They were in a cupboard.
"Let's test your knowledge. Where are we?" The Doctor stepped back and let the youngster have a look. He wasn't so young anymore. He had more knowledge of the universe that any other Time Lord his age would be jealous of. The child was almost ready to assume the name he had picked out for himself when he was eleven, almost ready to explore the universe himself. But The Doctor wasn't ready to let go just yet.
The twenty six year old Time Lord was not amused. The child had grown out his curls some over the last couple of years so now it looked more like a mop than anything else. He also wore a leather jacket, similar to the one The Doctor's last regeneration was so fond of, over a grey zip up sweatshirt and a navy tee that neither of them seemed to remember who it belonged to, or really cared for that matter. And a pair of denim trousers and black canvas trainers. The boy looked like he just stepped out of the 21st century. Which was all fine and dandy. Oh, how they had run.
"We are in a janitor's cupboard, Thay. Really?"
"What's outside of it?" The younger Time Lord rolled his eyes and opened the cupboard door. There were shelves among shelves of books. He bounced out and grabbed a book from the nearest shelf, examined it closely and then sniffed it.
"Xi, we haven't got all day." That was the younger Time Lord's nickname, he hadn't gained enough knowledge to earn his title yet.
"By the architecture, I would say it was late nineteenth century, but there is heating and electricity. The categorical system on these books suggests the Library of Congress and the state of them, early twenty first century. What are we doing here anyway? We've got our own library plus there's a planet called The Library."
"Ah, yes. The Library of Congress, of Washington D.C., America. The largest collection of rare books in North America and the world's largest archive of legal material, films, maps, sheet music and sound recordings."
"But America. Why?"
"Who doesn't like America. Home of the brave. One of the superpowers of the Earth. Have I ever told you I met Benjamin Franklin? Brilliant man; nearly died. He meant to introduce me to Thomas Jefferson. We should put that on the list. Oh and Bach. Funny I haven't met many classical composers. Nine hundred years and I only even met a single one and that was Beethoven, not even Mozart. Welllll, Romana never really like him, he always came off as a bad mannered show off with a bad hair style."
"Thay!"
"Oh yes! Books! The greatest weapons anyone could possibly possess. I don't know, the TARDIS, she kind of just dumped us here…and we're going to find out why."
"At least we don't have to watch out for spoilers." Xi remarked, putting the book back on the bookshelf. "Because travelling with you would be like one big spoiler." He laughed. The Doctor didn't respond. Xi sighed.
"Let me help you like you helped me." This was true. The first year travelling together had been rough. Each had been battling their own demons and their own losses. Xi, himself was still struggling with the whole Time Lord thing as he grew up human. Tensions had been high and more than once the TARDIS had crash landed somewhere after a shouting match. They had worked through it though, but every so often the nightmares would come crawling back.
The Doctor just ran a hand through his hair and locked the TARDIS. "Look for anything unusual, alien life, artifacts, you name it." He hadn't really needed to say anything but they couldn't work well with that tension between them.
They searched the three floors of the library, inconspicuously scanning things. They found nothing.
"We might as well start questioning the locals." Xi suggested, after coming up with nothing. The Doctor agreed and Xi headed straight for Alien Sightings and History section. He knew if there was something amiss, that the people there would be more than willing to talk. It was relatively quiet for a late Thursday evening according to Xi's watch. The only person who was there was a young woman in her twenties with curly brown hair that reached down her back. Xi stopped short when he saw her, nearly causing The Doctor to run into him before pulling him back behind the bookshelves. The Doctor gave his younger counterpart a questioning look.
"Who is she?" All it took was one look at Xi's face before the message was clear to whom it was. "Oh. Are you sure you want to do this?"
"Positive. If anyone noticed anything or knows anything it will be her." Xi turned to go around the bookshelf when the Doctor grabbed his upper arm. He looked back.
"Never ignore coincidence."
Xi approached where the young woman was standing, reading a book. He caught the title on it and approached the bookshelf. His finger traced against the spines of the books as he 'searched' for the one he needed. Drawing close to the woman, she seemed to sense his presence, looked up, gave him a small smile and stepped out of the way. He felt her eyes follow him as he continued to look for his 'missing' book. As his hand reached to spot where he knew the book would have rested if it were still there, he frowned and sighed frustrated. He heard her give a small chuckle and he turned towards her. She grinned at him and held up the book for him to see.
"Is this what you are looking for?"
"That would be the one."
"Any particular reason?" Xi raised an eyebrow.
"Now why would a pretty girl like you be interested in alien activity anyway?" The young woman smirked, and Xi caught the look on The Doctor's face on the other side of the bookshelf. The Doctor complained more than once how similar he was to Jack. Having never met Jack, the only comeback he had was, 'It worked when I was human.'
"I would say the same about you." She countered. "So what is it you're looking for?"
Xi crossed his arms and leaned against the bookshelf facing her. "The Legend of the Blue Box. You heard of it?"
A glazed look passed over the woman's eyes. "I have actually, that's what I have been researching. Shall we compare notes?"
"Sure."
"I'm Hermione, by the way. And you are?"
"Xi."
"Interesting name. Is it short for anything?"
"No, just Xi. Like the Greek letter."
"Fascinating. Anyway my things are over that way." She pointed down the rows to a table laden with book. He motioned her to lead on. She closed the book. Once her back was turned, The Doctor signaled he was going to look around some more.
Xi followed Hermione as she prattled away. It had been ten long years since he had seen her, and she thought him dead. Nothing much had changed about her and he was glad about that. He watched her rearrange her work station as she continued to talk away. She finally sat down and stopped for breath.
"I'm sorry. I must have been boring you. I used to have these two friends that would get on my case about it but…" she trailed off.
"It's alright. I found what you were saying interesting and found no need to interrupt." She smiled at him.
"So how about these notes?" He reached into the pocket of his jacket and pulled out the beaten blue journal. "How did you fit that in your pocket?"
"They're bigger on the inside." He placed the beaten blue journal on the table when a strange beeping sound could be heard. Xi fished around in his pocket again and pulled out a strange y-shaped instrument that was flashing and beeping. He tossed that onto the table as well before opening the jacket and pulling out a silver rod from the inside pocket. He held the rod in his fist and held down the end as the other end lit green and whirred. Hermione stood up and leaned across the table to get a better look.
"What's that?"
"A detector."
"What does it detect?"
"Non-terrestrial life forms."
"No, really?"
"Really. It also whirls and beeps when there's stuff."
"Very descriptive. I'll give you the benefit of the doubt. So are you some type of alien hunter."
"Hunter, no. Finder, yes. Come on, work!" He flipped the gadget over and pointed the rod at it again.
"And that in your hand?"
"This?" he held it out for her to see. "A screwdriver."
She looked a doubtful. "A screwdriver?"
"Yes, that's what I said." Then he slammed the screwdriver down on the table. "I'm even trying to sound like him." Without waiting to be asked he jumped right into an explanation. "I have a friend, no, a mentor, I've been traveling with." He picked up the screwdriver again and twiddled with the detector. "I was so lost and alone and then he found me. We started running and we haven't stopped since and it's been wonderful."
The detector then started to beep more rapidly. "Gotcha." Then he stood up and pointed the device perpendicular to the rows of bookshelves. There was nothing there at first, but a few moments later The Doctor came sliding around the corner.
"What?" Xi asked no one in particular as he watched The Doctor fly down the corridor, his over coat billowing behind him before he skidded to a stop next to Xi. "You really need to get some better trainers."
"But I like my trainers! I had to get rid of one pair because they were soaked in Randium radiation." He caught sight of Hermione standing there. "Hello! I'm the Doctor!" A roar and a high pitched, rapid beeping distracted the two Time Lords for a moment before The Doctor turned to Hermione.
"Basically, Run!"
