A/N: Once again thanks to everyone who has joined in following/favouriting/reviewing since the last chapter, I really appreciate every one of you taking note of this story!

In this chapter the timeline may get a bit fuzzy, I'm randomly and quickly jumping time here to get on with the story. In this chapter alone we start off in Brazil (which is late 2010), move through 2011 rather vaguely and into early 2012. The next two chapters all occur within a month (specifically January 2012), and twelve ends around February 2012. Chapter thirteen covers from about March 2012 to May 2012 and after that I hope my timeline improves in clarity.

Bruce had been incredibly careful over the years to avoid any kind of interaction that would end up unleashing the Other Guy, but after his willing change in Brazil he felt slightly less like he had to walk on eggshells. The Other Guy seemed to not be inclined at all to hurt Mateo, and indeed seeing as he had apparently attempted to comfort the child he may be as protective of the boy as Bruce was himself.

So seeing as the Other Guy wouldn't likely trample the child Bruce allowed himself to relax his rigid control slightly. He still refused to even let the chance of slipping up occur, but he allowed the Other Guy a little more wiggle room within the dark recesses of his mind. When he got angry he would allow his other side to voice his discomfort and allowed himself to feel that part of him, but Bruce never let himself get carried away.

Their ship had fortuitously ended up making land in South Africa once more, but with no reliable access to any kind of media Bruce was slightly hindered in picking the safest routes to travel. As a result of this handicap their journey through Africa was slightly hesitant and aimless, however they both agreed that they would head back in the direction of Asia once more.

Seeing as Mateo was rather terrified of extended water travel, and the inevitable sea sickness, they had to make do with the longer route across the land. This did work well at times as Bruce purposefully detoured them through some nature reserves. It cost more than Bruce would have liked but he found them a room in a small hotel and they spent a few days touring the area in a Land Rover watching the wildlife.

It was money well spent though as Mateo spent the entire time asking questions of the guide, who was very fluent in English and could reply easily, and staring at whatever animal was nearby. The child filled an entire sketchpad with drawings of animals and patterns in the evenings, and during the day he was constantly trying to find some kind of animal nearby. Once Bruce almost had to physically drag Mateo back into the vehicle to stop him from climbing out to follow after cheetah they had spotted.

Their wanderings were not always so pleasant though, and it was purely through luck and chance at times that the two avoided conflict. Passing through the borders of African countries had been relatively easy, Bruce had picked up good forged passports so they were rarely given a second glance. Even if people started to prod he could easily explain that he was a travelling doctor, and nine times out of ten the guards would let them through.

There were times when the pair had to leave areas at speed though. They had been in the process of through Egypt when the protests started up at the beginning of 2011. Whilst most other tourists in the area were able to catch hastily arranged flights back to their home countries Bruce was stuck trying to figure out how to get them both away quickly and safely.

He had been planning for them to travel across the land and drop back into India but apparently the whole area was boiling over with civil unrest. True the entire area from Iraq to Afghanistan had been an unsettled region for a while but they had had no trouble crossing the area on the way through the first time. They had hitched a ride with various lorries towing food which may have helped the situation.

However Bruce had been able to pose as a tourist and access travel resources, and what he saw worried him. In the year it had been since they had left China, crossed through Iraq and on to Brazil the region in question had seriously devolved in reputation. There were news reports of worries about child soldiers and Bruce was determined that they were not going to go anywhere near that. The life Mateo had might not be as sheltered as most children his age but there was no way Bruce would allow him to know that such things occurred.

Mateo's intense dislike of water travel cut off the option of travelling by ship, and rumours of pirates further limited that option. They couldn't fly legally either, airliners would record passengers and that could be disastrous if someone recognised him. They could attempt to head through Europe, but that was an insane idea and went against all of Bruce's rules.

So it seemed that they were stuck in Africa with no way back. That wouldn't have been too much of a hardship but both of them had agreed that they wanted to head back to India, and as much as Africa had excited them it didn't feel as home-like as Asia did.

They retreated from Cairo and every country that looked like they could erupt into violence and found elsewhere to stay. To Bruce it was infuriating as they were backtracking but he stamped down the feeling and focussed on their travelling. With everything else influenced by the outer world Bruce liked being in control of where they were headed, he liked be in control of something.

Mateo was the one to suggest trying to settle to helping people again until the situation calmed down and they could head back to India. There were plenty of countries and outbreaks to choose from but Bruce chose Kenya considering there was a large influx of refugees. They had been nomadic for a few months when the news spoke of a huge rise in people fleeing Somalia to Kenya, and that facilities for said refugees were rather limited and pathetic.

As good as their intentions had been, when they arrived in the area Bruce realised how naïve he had been. There had already been a large number of refugees coming into the area, and the huge rise in numbers made the situation dire. The American had been planning on alternating working with helping the refugees but it was obvious that plan would not work out; there were simply too many people in the area already looking to support their families through any means necessary.

Bruce was prepared to turn them around and head right away from the area when they were spotted. He had directed them to one of the many small roadside refreshment huts/shops that often sprung up on main roads and Mateo was sitting at a plastic table sipping a drink. As the adult Bruce was having a broken conversation with the shop owner about travel routes from the area when a bus pulled up outside.

It wasn't hard for Bruce to excuse himself and head back to Mateo as the owner was more interested in the sudden influx of customers. The observant child had already picked up on the potential problem and was hunched slightly in his chair as if uncertain what to do.

"Should we slip away?" Mateo asked.

"Finish your drink, it would look suspicious if we just up and leave now," Bruce advised.

So Mateo did as he was told but his constantly darting eyes revealed his unhappiness at the situation. It only got worse as the people from the coach approached the shop and formed a queue for refreshments.

"Hello there," an unfamiliar voice with a distinctly German accent called over.

"Hello," Bruce replied politely whilst trying to think fast.

"How are you doing? This weather is glorious is it not? In February it barely gets up to 10oC where I live," the German continued to chatter as he took a spare seat at their table.

Bruce internally groaned but kept a polite look on his face as the German settled himself in his chair. The man was quite tall and lean with neatly trimmed and combed black hair, with a fine and well maintained moustache. The pale blue shirt and cream pants didn't look particularly like the type that tourists usually wore, and Bruce idly tried to figure out what the man was. From the smart clothing and obvious personal grooming he hazarded a guess at possible a news reporter.

"I'd be worried if Germany was the same temperature as at the Equator," Bruce fought of his unease to continue the conversation politely.

"So what are you two doing out here? You are a long way from home," the man asked.

"We travel around a lot so I don't think we have somewhere to call home," Bruce said evasively. "But we were in the area and heard of the situation here and Mateo suggested we come and see if we could help. I didn't really think it through and it turns out we wouldn't be able to make even a dent here."

"What were you hoping to accomplish here?" the German prodded.

"I'm a travelling doctor," Bruce explained.

"Ah, like us all!" the newcomer exclaimed happily.

Bruce took a quick look at the others around them and realised that the man wasn't lying. Whilst their luggage had remained on the battered native coach the people themselves gave away a lot of details. They were surprisingly uniformed in their appearances, all had sensible haircuts and short beards if the males actually had facial hair. And their clothing had a similar theme of being practical and durable, rather than flimsily thin.

Whilst Bruce has seen a number of tourists before who seemed to sport a lost look, a couple of the group seemed rather absentminded. However another seemingly random member of the large group would come and assist them rather than leaving the unknown person to fend for themselves. And those that had the habit of forgetting what to do quite often sported a look that Bruce recognised from a number of his old colleagues.

"You're not all German though," Bruce said aloud as he heard a distinctly French voice amongst the hubbub.

"We are part of Doctors Without Borders, I am Kristian Weber," Kristian offered his hand.

"Bruce Johnson, and this is my son Mateo," Bruce gave the name off his forged passport.

"Nice to meet you," Mateo mumbled and extended his hand politely.

"What a well mannered young man," Kristian gave a smile that revealed his perfectly white teeth. "What were you planning to do now?"

"We wouldn't have enough money to follow our standard pattern here, nor the means to obtain more. So I think we will head north again and perhaps look into helping in some of the rural communities," Bruce lied.

"I'm pretty sure we have two spare seats on the bus," offered Kristian. "A few people ended up getting sick and had to cancel their places once everything was arranged. There is a facility we are travelling to with rooms for treating patients as well as wards, and sleeping quarters for staff."

"I doubt I have the right paperwork to be accepted," Bruce tried to decline.

"I'm sure that if we opened the idea for discussion them the majority of my fellows would be fine with you accompanying us. We can observe your bedside manner and check your diagnoses until we are sure you are satisfactory," Kristian's easily delivered solution blew apart Bruce's protests.

"Hang on I need to discuss this with Mateo," Bruce gave a polite and apologetic smile before turning his attention to the child at the table.

"What do we think? Should we stick with these doctors or head off again?" Bruce asked in Malayalam.

"I don't know, we don't want to run the risk of being recognised but there isn't a safe way back to India. At least we know we can be of use here, you can use their equipment and drugs and we would get free food and lodging," Mateo kept his face carefully neutral and calm as he spoke so as to not give anything away.

"We have to be extremely careful to use our false names, and if there would ever be reporters around we would have to find an excuse to get out of the limelight," Bruce rambled.

"I know Dad," Mateo gave the adult a reassuring smile. "We are already here and have been given a way to help people, I think we should take it."

"Alright then," Bruce smiled back and turned to their new company. "If the others agree with you then we would happily accept your offer."

"Alright then, I'll round them up and we will have a chat," Kristian stood immediately and called out to the others to gather together.

Whilst the thirty doctors gathered together for a discussion near the coach Bruce turned to Mateo and started up a rather awkward chat about what they would do to keep him entertained whilst Bruce worked. Although that didn't last long as Mateo merely smiled disarmingly and declared that if he could he would follow Bruce around. If not he would find some way of being helpful, such as fetching water, apparently the child was determined to follow in his adoptive father's footsteps.

Apparently not everyone was so easily convinced to accept the two of them as the private discussion between the thirty took a good ten minutes before Kristian even acknowledged them again. Even then the man only waved them over with a carefully neutral look on his face. The two were careful to ensure they had their three bags with them as they headed over to the bus.

"Everyone this is Bruce and Mateo, Bruce they want to ask you a few questions," the German explained.

"Alright. Erm hi everyone," Bruce turned nervously to the crowd. Mateo partially kid behind his leg and peaked out at the assembled doctors.

"I thought it was a bit irresponsible for a nine year old child to be out of mainstream education whilst you cavort around the globe," a rather prim and stern woman started without preamble.

"I'm ten," Mateo said indignantly before Bruce shushed him. It was a lingering reaction that Mateo had whenever someone miscalculated his age, when he was scrawny and malnourished it had happened a lot.

"My wife and I were separated and she got custody of Mateo. Unfortunately she died four years ago and when I heard I was fully prepared to settle down with Mateo so that he could receive the education he needed. However he enjoys the travelling, and I feel that he is getting the education he needs," Bruce defended his doctored story.

"I can speak five languages as well as English. My maths is good enough for someone two years older than me and I know enough of nature to fend for myself," Mateo backed his father up.

"Boasting is not an attractive habit," Bruce admonished him.

"I don't mean to but she's questioning your skills as my Dad! You've done a brilliant job home schooling me," Mateo protested. But Bruce continued to give him a lightly reproving stare so Mateo sighed and turned to the woman. "Sorry I butted into your discussion."

"If you are going to help us you won't have time to teach young Mateo here during the day," another older gentleman with grey hair spoke out.

"Mateo often came with me when I treated patients, if there is the time and space he would like to come with me and learn more medical skills. However I realise we might be run off our feet so I can set him work to do whilst I am in the clinic. I was assuming there may be a lot of children around that he could either play with or join their school, once he has picked up the language," Bruce outlined their plan.

"We'll have to see once we are there, for now we should decide whether they come with us," Kristian interrupted, anxious as he was for them to get back on the road. "All in favour of them joining raise your hands."

Twenty of the thirty assembled medical professionals did as instructed. The stern lady was unsurprisingly not among them, as well as the greying short man.

"It's settled then, welcome to the group," Kristian beamed at them.

And before Bruce and Mateo could fully realise what was going on they were on the coach in the middle of the vehicle and were heading back towards the refugee camp. There were a few people who were eager to catch Bruce's attention and assess his knowledge, and Mateo was worried that he would end up being ignored the entire journey. However before he could consider whether he should attempt to listen in on the conversation his father was engaged in someone came and sat across the aisle from him.

"You seem to have a talent with languages there Mateo," said the man in a British accent.

Mateo carefully scrutinised the speaker before he replied. Whilst he knew that everyone on this bus were likely trustworthy he had only just met them, and only properly spoken with two of them. If they were going to be living with them then he would have to get over his trust issues anyway. But he hadn't heard another British accent since he had left his relatives, and Mateo was a bit nervous of the familiar sounding words.

The man was still waiting for an answer when Mateo returned his thoughts to the bus. He wasn't that tall, shorter than Bruce, with what had been dark hair that had started to go grey. He had kind blue eyes and a strong jaw, a very straight nose, and seemed to be quite friendly. So Mateo decided to trust him.

"Dad says I do, I pick them up quicker than he does," Mateo said cautiously.

"Well you see I happen to know some of the languages spoken in the area, if you want I can start teaching you them so you can communicate with the people we'll be working with?" the man offered.

"Yes please! Er what is your name?" Mateo asked.

"I'm John," John smiled.

"Nice to meet you John," Mateo said and shook the man's hand before awaiting his lesson.