As promised!


Chapter 10:

"What did he find?" Rose asked the TARDIS as she walked into the library. The TARDIS directed her towards a pile of books, a few of which open and the rest closed. Rose frowned when she saw the writing in most of them was in Gallifreyan – the only language the TARDIS didn't translate. "Anything you can translate?"

The TARDIS' hum was apologetic.

Rose sighed. "I figured as much."

Sitting down by the table, she opened one of the few books she could read and started reading, skipping whole words and sentences when she saw there was nothing about the creatures. She did find an interesting section about the Time Lords, which she filed fun her mind for later use. Smirking, she thought that the Doctor probably should have filtered the books.

Then she saw something that nearly made her jump up.

It was a drawing of the Doctor and her. At least, it looked like a drawing of them; a closer look told her they could have just as well been any man and woman in the universe, human or otherwise. They were walking hand in hand, as if they were drawn in the middle of a conversation. It looked so familiar it nearly freaked her out.

By the drawing there was a writing, which it first seemed unfamiliar but was gradually translated by the TARDIS into English. She seemed to have some difficulties translating the language, even though she managed to do it eventually – and apparently rather well, as it made sense. Frowning, Rose began reading.

Whatever they are, they seem to have an amazing capability of imitating. The Doctor and his friend Rose- The sentence sent shivers down her spine, -visited last week, and a moment after they'd left we found the beings looking like this. I thought they had no communication capability otherwise, but they didn't communicate in this form, either; it was as if they were incapable of communicating whatsoever.

They look Time Lord now – just like the Doctor – but we don't think they are, even though we cannot really tell. We've sent word to him, but so far he hasn't arrived and we believe he probably never will. It would be a great shame if they are Time Lord and he'd missed them.

Turning the page, she noticed the date was suddenly changed. The words seemed to have been written in a haste, as if something was happening at the time it was written.

They've disappeared, but no one knows were to. It's strange; most people cannot remember seeing them. It's as if they have erased themselves from our minds altogether. Maybe they never existed and I only dreamed it…

"Were they following us?" She mumbled to herself, her fingers touching the words over and over again. "Or was it someone else? No, they communicated, we saw them… But what if they are the same?"

"Who?" The Doctor asked behind her, causing her to turn around.

"Where's David?" She asked immediately in response, ignoring his question.

He tilted his head towards the boy, who was sitting on a chair nearby and reading a thick tome in what seemed to be English. "Reading. It'll probably take him a while."

"A long while."

He shrugged and sat down next to her. "We'll have the time to work. Who are the same?"

She handed him the book, showing him the relevant paragraphs. He read them quickly and frowned, turning the page over and over again to be able to look at the drawing and read at the same time. When he eventually looked up, he seemed as confused as she was.

"I thought there might be something in this book, but I didn't think there would be anything useful," He admitted. "But this… this is interesting. It suits something I found in an ancient Time Lord book." He pulled a book from the pile on the table, causing a few to fall to the floor. She hurried to get up to pick them up, but he waved her off. "We'll get it later."

She nodded briefly and sat back down, looking at him as he quickly flipped the pages, apparently looking for a specific page. When he finally reached it, he handed her the book. She looked down at the book filled with circles and then back up at him, raising her eyebrows in question.

"Right." He gently placed his fingers on her temples, closing his eyes in concentration. "The translation is a bit loose, because English is a lot less… developed in comparison to Gallifreyan, but it'll still be readable, I hope. If not," He added as he pulled back, "Let me know."

"That's why the TARDIS didn't translate it?" She asked, looking up at him.

He nodded. "In this case. She usually doesn't translate it both because it's our mother tongue and because it's very complicated. There isn't a single language more elaborate than Gallifreyan."

She raised her eyebrows. "Aren't you arrogant."

He blushed deeply. "That was one of the problems with the Time Lords. In a certain point in our existence the Time Lords became too arrogant. Especially the High Council." His tone turned darker and she knew he was talking about the Time War. "They only thought about themselves. The whole of time and space was being ripped apart, and they just added to the chaos."

She gently cupped his cheek, forcing him to look into her eyes. The dark, warrior look slowly faded away the longer he looked at her. When it was gone completely, he moved his head slightly and kissed her hand, silently thanking her for her support and help.

"So what does the book say?" She asked, her hand travelling down his neck and chest until it found his hand. He held her hand tightly, looking deep into her eyes. His eyes seemed to be telling her just how grateful he is she was there.

"Don't you want to read?" He asked softly.

"No." She handed him the book with her free hand, not breaking their gaze. "I'd rather have you reading." She smiled shyly. "Is that alright?"

He gave her a big smile as he took the book. "Of course it is." He took the book with his free hand and hurried to put his glasses on. She hesitated for a moment before leaving his hand and moving closer, resting her head against his shoulder as she wrapped an arm around him. He seemed surprised for a moment but then he wrapped an arm around her. "Alright then. Are we sitting comfortably?" He asked, imitating his teacher-self.

She giggled. "Yup."

"Here we go." He read silently for a heartbeat, looking for a specific paragraph. Finding it, he began reading. "'One of the creatures I have encountered in my travels is the'… I suppose you could call them the Hidden Ones or the Seers," He cut himself off when he realised he couldn't translate the name, "'they seem different than everything we've ever seen. The Time Lords have always assumed they were the very first race in existence, but it would seem we were wrong. We weren't alone.'"

"That would make sense," Rose mumbled, rolling her eyes.

He blushed again. "Like I said, the Time Lords developed into very arrogant beings. Some of them, anyway." His tone was darker as he said that, but when he continued, he was back to his regular light self. "We actually had numerous ideas as to how we were created; there were legends, facts, theories… It was very similar to the ideas you have on Earth. Created by God, please," He rolled his eyes slightly.

She rolled her eyes again. "Whatever you say, Time Lord." Her voice was showing him just how much she didn't care.

He pouted but continued. "'The Hidden seem to be very different from everything we've known. Sometimes I'm not certain they even have a form. A research through some of the Ancients of Gallifrey's Journals reveals that they have encountered them as well. They're very easy to forget or not pay attention to, which makes me believe they are using perception filters'."

"Just what we had in mind." Her voice was quiet.

He nodded. "'I shall try to communicate with them, although they do not seem fond of communication. It's not that they don't understand us, I think, but they honestly don't want to talk. They do seem to have an incredible intellectual ability, though'.

"The next time he writes about them is a few months later," The Doctor added before continuing. "'I have managed to communicate with them. They have no name – at least not one they are willing to share – but they really are as clever as they seemed to be. They recognised me – although how, I cannot tell – and communicated in English, nothing less. At first I thought it was the TARDIS' translation abilities, but it wasn't the case. When they spoke amongst themselves, they used their own language; a language we've never heard before.

"'I attempted to communicate with them in Gallifreyan, but they couldn't understand most of the things I was saying. I had only later discovered why; Gallifrey was probably one of the few planets in the universe that they haven't reached. They couldn't understand Gallifreyan because they've never heard it, the same way we've never heard their language.'" The Doctor turned quiet for a long moment before closing the book. "He never wrote about them again," He told Rose. "Whatever they said in that conversation, he couldn't remember a single thing."

"Sounds familiar."

"Yeah." He put the book back on the table. "I've been looking for some of the journals of the ancients of Gallifrey last night. Since I… burrowed… my TARDIS," He finished eventually, once again blushing slightly as she started laughing, "I don't really have everything here. But I think I may have found something."

She expected him to pick up another book and start reading, but when he remained silent, she pulled away slightly, looked up at him and asked, "What did you find?"

He was staring forward, looking as if he hasn't even heard her question. "They said 'Time Lord'," He muttered.

"What?"

He turned his head to look at her. "The ancients of Gallifrey believed they were a race who watched planets and beings from their creation to their deaths. In a way, they were similar to us, except we changed history the way we thought was best. There was one planet, though, that they couldn't reach – Gallifrey."

"Why not?" She asked quietly.

"Gallifrey was defended. The only time unwanted creatures managed to get to Gallifrey was the Time War. They never managed to watch the Time Lords, which is probably why they were fascinated with me." He picked up another book and began reading quickly. "'They recognised me as a Time Lord, but seemed to have no knowledge about me or our race otherwise. They were curious, but refrained from talking to me most of the time. However, they seemed to have incredible knowledge about almost every other race in the universe.'

"He thinks they were watching for a reason," The Doctor explained as he continued reading silently. "There. 'I asked them whether they were interested in trade. We would share our knowledge in exchange for theirs. I assumed the High Council would even grant them entrance to Gallifrey on certain conditions, but they refused. They claimed preserving the order of the universe is more important than gaining knowledge. When they discussed it in their native tongue, I could understand them repeating the words Gallifrey and Time Lord, but for what purpose, I can only imagine.'"

"Then that's what they said?" She asked, looking up at him again. "Time Lord? They recognised you as a Time Lord?"

He nodded. "I think so." He placed the book back on the pile. "They wanted to understand the Time Lords, but now that Gallifrey is gone, they have no way of doing that."

"Except for you."

"Except for me." He echoed quietly in agreement. Getting up – and nearly making her fall, which earned him a glare – he started talking again, walking back and forth in front of her. "So they're watching the universe but rarely communicate with others. They claim they're 'preserving the order of the universe', whatever that's supposed to mean. Whoever they are, they managed to survive the Time War and still keep on watching. And they were interested in me because I'm a Time Lord.

"But it still doesn't make sense." He moved a hand through his hair, messing it up. "They didn't have to knock us out. They most certainly didn't have to keep us there, awake, for over twenty hours. And why were they interested in you?"

"Thanks." She said dryly.

He immediately realised what he'd just said. "I mean, why would they be interested in a human? They have access to Earth, so they obviously know everything there is to know about you."

She shrugged. "Maybe they thought I'd bring you back to the TARDIS," She suggested. "Then they definitely wouldn't have a chance to study you."

He grimaced at the words she used, but didn't comment on it. "Maybe."

She hesitated for a moment, watching him standing in front of her, looking thoughtful. "Doctor?" She asked quietly, causing him to look at her. "I think we should probably go back there. Maybe now that we know what they are and what they did… they'll communicate with us."

"Maybe." He stared at her for a moment before adding, "But why would they burn down the town? They barely agreed to communicate with others; burning a place down seems a lot worse."

"You think something else did that?" She asked, immediately understanding the way he was thinking.

He nodded. "It has to be."

"All the more reason to go back there."

He looked at her quietly for a moment before nodding. "Probably, yes."