The Doctor took a deep breath before he opened the door. If he got sucked into deep space, he was never going to speak to the TARDIS again, and the fact that he would be dead was only half of the reason.

When the door opened and he didn't get sucked out he hesitantly stepped out and looked around. It was surreal. It looked like the model of Ancient Gallifrey that was inside the Gallifreyan Museum. The Gallifreyan Government discouraged actually visiting pre-Time Lord times to prevent any meddling with their own timeline.

Surrounding him was a village made of a rose colored marble, that, as far as he knew, was only native to his home planet. But this was definitely not Gallifrey. The purple grass that covered the ground was definitely not of Gallifrey.

He slowly began making his way down one of the streets searching for signs of life. It looked as if everyone had dropped what they were doing and fled. When he peeked inside the windows there were meals abandoned, still steaming, and toys in gardens where children had been playing.

"Hello? Is anyone here?" the Doctor called out as he walked. No answer was forthcoming. "There has to be someone here somewhere."

The Doctor rounded a corner and came face to face with a temple reminiscent of the Parthenon in Athens on earth, but much smaller and made of the same marble as the rest of the houses in the village. But what was it doing here on the edge of the universe, made from Gallifreyan stone.

If he was going to figure out where he was he was, here was as good a place as any. As he approached the temple an elderly man in a long green toga and long white beard and hair stepped out from behind a column and slowly walked towards him with the assistance of a much younger man, possibly 20 or 25.

Hiding behind the columns of the temple other people in similar dress peeked out at him with fear in their eyes.

"Hello," the Doctor called cheerfully as he neared the old man standing nervously. "I seem to have taken a wrong turn. I was wondering if you could tell me where I am?"

The old man blinked, confused. "You do not know where you are?"

"No, I believe I just said that." The Doctor could still be rude once in a while.

"You are a Time Lord are you not?" the fear in the elder's voice evident.

It was the Doctor's turn to be confused, "Yes, but how would you know that. And why are you hiding from me?"

A murmur spread across the crowd. The elder ignored his question and seemed to become braver. "Why have you come here?" he demanded.

"I don't even know where here is. It looks kind of Gallifrey, but since it was destroyed that isn't possible."

A young woman from the crowd spoke up, "Gallifrey was destroyed?"

The Doctor looked at her curiously, but before he could respond the young man standing with the elder accused, "How do we know this isn't one of Rassilon's tricks to get to the Doorway."

"Rassilon? He's been dead for thousands of years, not to say that I haven't had my own run-ins with him, but still, he's long gone by now," the Doctor answered.

The elder approached him carefully and looked into his eyes as if he were searching for something. The Doctor in turn studied him. He appeared to be even older up close. His skin was wrinkled and spotted, his long hair and beard were whispy, and his green eyes were pale, but they were still keen. "Who are you?" he finally asked.

"I am the Doctor. My ship brought me here, probably by mistake. I'm looking for a way to get to an alternate universe," he answered. He figured if they knew who the Time Lords were, even if they feared them for some reason, they would be aware of alternate worlds and the like.

Another murmur passed through the crowd. "Your ship. Did you come in a TARDIS?" the elder questioned seeming to get excited.

"Of course. I came in the TARDIS, there is only one left. And I'm the last of the Time Lords."

Tears filled the old man's eyes, "May I see it?"

Bewildered, the Doctor shrugged, "Sure, I guess, but only after you tell me where I am."

"You are on Karn. The hidden planet. We were brought here to escape being slaughtered by the Time Lords who sought to destroy us and steal the Key to the Portal of Pythia."

The Pythia? He had heard of her. When he was at university they taught that she was an evil tyrant that had been overthrown by Rassilon, forcing the Gallifreyan people to worship her. Of course, Rassilon was no saint himself, but still. Why would these seemingly fearful people be guarding anything of hers, if it were even the same person?

"Who brought you here?" the Doctor asked as he led the people slowly to his ship.

"A brave soul. He was a friend of the usurper, but did not wish to see innocent people die. I believe that he had seen what Rassilon had become. He never told us his name, just said that those who knew his name usually died. When he left us he said that he was going to destroy himself so no one could find us or the Portal."

"How long ago was that?"

"I was but a child, the youngest of Lady Pythia's people. I am now the oldest and the Keeper of the Key. That was 500 years ago now, and I am feeble and weak."

At first the Doctor was surprised until he noticed the odd force field surrounding the planet, possibly a cloaking device designed to keep what this planet hid safe from Rassilon and his followers. It could affect the passage of time, or the TARDIS could have sent him a few thousand years into the past. It was hard to tell with the way she was driving, and his watch didn't want to work right now either.

Once they reached his ship the Doctor and the Elder, who had by now identified himself as Homer, entered. The old man's eyes shown as he gently ran his hand over the coral like columns. "I know this TARDIS," he whispered, barely audible. "I was only 5 years old, but I remember her like it was yesterday."

Of course at first the Doctor thought Homer knowing his ship was strange, but the TARDIS did have a life before he 'high jacked' her when he was young Time Lord and they took off together. No one really cared, she didn't hit it off with any other Time Lords for thousands of years and she just kind of sat there, like she was waiting for someone or something special to come along.