A/N: I'll say it before any of you can: "What the bloody hell was THAT?"

This chapter ... hmmmm ... how to describe this chapter then? It is the introduction of a few of the players that are joining in on this adventure. It doesn't necessarily move anything along, but gives you a little bit of characterizations on those who've come to help - and perhaps a tiny little whisper of just why they came in to help.

I apologise in advance if this chapter makes you simply shake your head, roll your eyes, and huff a little, but I needed to get a feel for all of them before the first of many battles for survival begin here.

I hope you enjoy this chapter. We get back to the Doc shortly.

~~oooOOOooo~~

The TARDIS rotor column whined quietly at the man who stood at her console with a flop in his hair, a bow-tie at his throat and a fitted purple tweed jacket unbuttoned to reveal a black vest and gold chain from which hung an elegant golden fob watch. He smiled as he lifted deep-set green eyes to the column.

"I know, Aunty. It's been a little while, hasn't it?" He winked and then lowered his gaze to the keyboard to watch his own fingers dance a series of carefully choreographed movements. "Wish we could've reunited under happier circumstances – but you know how Dad is. He's always getting himself into some sort of mischief and mayhem." He looked back up to the rotor column and smiled on one side of his mouth. His brows waggled just slightly. "Or is it you, you little minx, that wants the adventure?"

There was a light and airy chuckle from the doorway to the console room. "I think you'll find that in this case, Gal. That this whole mess was entirely your fault."

Gallifrey didn't look toward the doorway. Instead he lifted his eyes to where the column met with the ceiling and exhaled a long breath through an open mouth. "Which is why I'm going to make sure that what happened back then is not going to happen now."

He looked down at his arm, and to the delicate hand that had cupped gently around his elbow. At her whispered apology, he petted her hand and shook his head. "Cobblemouse, you have nothing to apologise for."

"Doesn't matter," she sang with a whisper as she nestled against his side. She pulled his arm up around his shoulder and looked up into his face with a smile. "I think you need some forgiveness for it."

He kissed lightly at the top of her head; on the very crest of a brunette braid inset with a fine golden ribbon that was cut far too long for the length of the plait down her back. He shuddered out a breath against her hair. "I can still feel him in there, you know. It sometimes feels like Dad wasn't able to get rid of him completely." His breath shuddered out of him. "And it really scares me that one day – I'm gonna be that kid again. The one who broke Dad's hearts."

"Don't' be daft," she answered back softly. "None of us would ever let that happen to you."

A second female voice caressed the air inside the TARDIS console room. This voice was not as soft and warm as that of Alyea Tyler. It was firm and spoke in a silken monotone that omitted any inflictions or emotion. When one spoke with Innocetjilluntermaclungbarrowmas, one listened only to her words; not a perceived underlying message.

"I believe, Cousin Alyea, that the task of minding the health and stability of your brother's mind is his own, don't you?"

Alyea drew back from Gallifrey and clasped her hands in front of her in respect. She dared not argue. Innocet had the ability to lever a physical slap without ever having lifted a hand to do it, and she used that trick on each and every one of the Lungbarrow children when they dared step out of line.

"Yes, Cousin Innocet," she answered dutifully. "You're correct, of course."

"Indeed," she answered back with a smile as she moved with enough grace as to look like she smoothly glided across the grated floor of the TARDIS. "I typically am."

Gallifrey watched with a lightly lowered head and a rise in his brow as Innocet moved into position across the console from where he and Alyea stood. "The girls…?"

"Are secure," Innocet answered smoothly. She let her eyes graze across the flight controls a moment. "They are currently sequestered in the library. This machine appears to enjoy the presence of children, so I am assured of their safety in her hands."

"This isn't Lungbarrow," he warned. "TARDIS doesn't exactly like being told what to do, and she's less eager to do whatever it is you expect her to."

"But," Innocet said without looking up from the console. "Your father does claim that while his capsule may not always do what's expected, she'll always do what's right."

Alyea smirked toward her brother. "Can't really argue with that, can you?"

Gallifrey shrugged and then sniffed indignantly. "I can argue with anything," he replied brazenly. "Right or wrong, I can have you believe anything I want you to believe."

"Which explains your ability to find yourself a wife," Tia teased playfully as she crossed the threshold into the console room. She winked as she passed by Alyea and covertly took hold of the fraying end of her hair ribbon and dragged a single silken thread from it along with her.

Gallifrey smirked a cheeky little smile and looked through his lashes toward his sister as she tied the silken thread to a lever on the console. "I quite literally have women throw themselves at me and claim to be my wife, you cheeky fledershrew…"

"I wouldn't boast about that if I were you," Innocet growled with obvious displeasure. "It's a sickening pride that exists in you Lords of time, isn't it? It's a shameful conceit for anyone who is bonded to another in the holy rites of marriage." She levered a steeled glare toward him. "Do bear in mind, Cousin Gallifrey, that the sexual conquest is not as victorious as is the intellectual defeat against another."

Alyea grinned a filthy little smirk toward her older brother. "Well," she drawled in a manner too much like her father. "That's probably why Gal here is letting his chest puff up about the other ladies across time and space who fancy him. He certainly hasn't got intellect on his side." She turned to look toward her older sister. "Am I right, Tia?"

Tia fluttered her lashes and smiled a purely innocent smile as she watched Alyea's face morph into confusion at the light tug the movement of her head. "I suppose so, Mouse," she replied against her fist as she stifled a snicker at Alyea twisting and turning her trunk to figure out why she could feel feather-like tugs at her plait. "You okay there?"

Alyea let out grunt of displeasure and finally spun in a complete circle in an attempt to cast off whatever it was that was tugging at her hair. She felt a very fine stand of silk cross over her shoulder and then her face and let out a panicked squeal.

"Spider web!" she cried out in horror. "Get it off me! Get it off me!"

Both Tia and Gallifrey spat out identical sounds of laughter through pursed lips as they watched their sister urgently batting away at imagined spiders. Innocet lifted her eyes, but slowly shook her head at the display.

"Cousin Alyea, I believe you have been pranked, child."

She narrowed her eyes between her brother and sister. "Which one of you?" she asked darkly. "And before you answer that, consider my methods of revenge and just how much more…."

"I certainly hope that you aren't referring to your telekinetic ability when discussing vengeance upon your brother and sister," Innocet interrupted sharply in warning with a shift of her eyes toward the youngest member of their party. "I have not spent near a century assisting with your training so that you can use those skills in your games of sibling rivalry."

Alyea lowered her head in a respectful gesture. "Of course not, Cousin. I wouldn't disrespect your honoured tutelage in such a manner."

"I would hope not."

Alyea could hear the snickering from both sides and was sure to glare at both of them with individually directed darkened glares that were full of threat and promise.

"And to think," she muttered under her breath toward her brother, who was still tapping away at the TARDIS computer. "You're actually a father. You're supposed to be the responsible one."

Innocet actually broke out into a smile with that comment. "Oh, dear child. Gallifrey is the product of your father. Genetics does suggest that no matter his incarnation, your brother – like your father – will always be a child inside a man's body."

"I'd like it explained to me why it's perfectly fine for a guy to act like a child whenever he wants, but when we ladies get a little juvenile we are sharply told to grow up and act our age!"

Innocet let her gaze fall back to the console. "I will discuss this question with your Academy professor and have him assign you the task of writing a paper so that you can analyze that quandary." Her tongue peeked just sly of the corner of her mouth and she did attempt to shield her smile. "Perhaps your father can arrange for you to deliver your findings and analysis at a council session so that it can be put to a referendum."

Alyea pressed her hands into the console's edge and leaned forward to lower herself down to be able to look into Innocet's slender and pale face. "You are definitely loomed from the same house as my Dad."

"Then you will know that it is the creed of Lungbarrow that what is said in jest…"

"Will always be put into practice," Tia finished with a laugh. "Oh, Mouse. You're in for it if Dad's getting involved. Worst thing on New Gallifrey is when Dad thinks he needs to help out with your academy assignments." She hugged her around both arms and her waist and let out a hum of sympathy against her ear. "I'm so sorry, Mouse. Your sanity has been a pleasure to get to know over the years."

Alyea whimpered just slightly and looked to her brother with pleading in her eyes. "Any chance that when we're done here that you can leave me behind? I'm only a decade away from graduation. Which means I'm qualified enough to teach on a class-V planet like Sol-III."

Gallifrey gave a flick of his head to shift his floppy fringe from his face and then blew out a breath. He half-smiled for a second as he let his eyes fly over the coordinates on the monitor, and then broke out into a victorious grin. "Oh yes," he cheered out as he swept his palm over a scroll wheel on the console top. "Brilliant. I am absolutely brilliant." He grinned toward his sisters and pointed at the monitor with both hands. "Do you see that, ladies? That is coding on a level unseen, untried, and untested by any other."

Both ladies shifted into a perfectly synchronized side lean in order to take a look for themselves. Alyea rubbed at her chin as her eyes widened in horror.

Tia's brows lifted. "Gal," she began nervously as she walked around Alyea to stand at his side. "You've basically just told TARDIS that she's got free reign over her pilot." She shifted her face closer to the data scrolling along the monitor. After a moment of looking though the swirls and whorls of circular Gallifreyan text she shook her head in disbelief. "Brilliant might be one word for it," she said slowly.

"Foolish might well be another," Alyea barked incredulously. "They have safeguards against Capsule rebellion against their pilots for a reason," she snapped. "They're sentient, Gal. They can turn on their pilot in an instant!"

"Which is something your Aunt would never do to Dad, or to any of us kids," he argued back. "You know that."

"She fights dad's coordinate inputs all the time," she shot back. "All. The. Time!"

Gallifrey took his sister's chin in his fingers and held her face in a manner to force her to look closer at the command on the screen. "Read the code fully, Mouse," he warned. "TARDIS has been prompted to ignore commands given to her by any non-symbiotically linked pilots. Which doesn't include Dad. They've been symbiotically linked for centuries. If Dad gives any command to her circuits, then she is bound to automatically override any other commands that she's been issued – including this code."

Tia hummed thoughtfully. "You've also tried to expand her telepathic shielding to cover mum and you out there, I see."

"Without much luck I'm afraid," he muttered defeatedly. "She took a hell of a flight to get them here in the first place, and it took a lot out of her. She might have it in her to dematerialize back into the Vortex, but her protections…" He blew out a breath. "I'm not really sure how much power she has left in her."

Tia nodded. "And now that you've not only crossed into your own time stream, but you're trying to rewrite your own history, she's using a lot of energy trying to hold off the paradox."

Gallifrey rubbed affectionately at the console. "Always trying to keep us kids from getting into trouble, aren't you, Sexy?" He blew out a breath. "I'm only rewriting flux lines, I promise you. The fixed point, well, that's being kept intact."

"Till we all get to Earth, of course," Tia ventured morosely.

"I can try and boost her energy if you get me into her cloister room," Alyea offered. "There's a lot of theory being thrown about at the Academy about being able to increase operating power an injured capsule in order to be able to return to dry dock on Gallifrey. Perhaps I can try…"

The entire console room suddenly shuddered as the TARDIS felt the hot wash of telepathic energies burst through her latched front doors and roll through each of her rooms. Her rotor column beeped, trilled, and then whined as each of the four Time Lords in the main console room tremored under the onslaught of energies that was released by the opening fob watch outside the TARDIS doors.

Alyea quickly ran to the doors and quietly unlatched the lock to peer outside into the room. She gasped to see her brother's child-self perched atop his mother's knee with a look of fear on his pale and lightly freckled face.

"Gal," she whispered inside a harsh hiss. "What do we do now?"

"Just wait," he hissed in reply. "Just. Wait."

Tia pushed up her sleeves and stalked to the doorway. "Well. I say we make this family vacation worth the hell we're going to get from Dad when he finds out what we're doing, and get on out there to save mum and little Gal." Her brow pinched. "And also me, I guess, considering I'm swimming about in mum's belly right now … ew to that image."

Gallifrey snorted. "And you claimed to not be ready for this…"

"Oh," she scoffed. "I'm all for going in one-on-one, or four, or six if you count mum and little you, seven if we count Aunty TARDIS…" She waited to be interrupted and huffed to find three sets of eyes curiously waiting for her to finish her thought. She slumped. She winced. "I'm just not so ready for." She winced tighter and swirled her hand in the air with a roll of her wrist. "For that."

Innocet put her hand on Tia's shoulder in a rare show of support. "You are free to step away if you desire, child. This can all come to pass without you having to intervene in the abhorrent manner asked of you by your brother."

Tia shook her head. "Dad's safety is worth the demons, Cousin."

"Speaking of Dad," Alyea offered with a hard whisper as she waved her family over. "He's caught on the other side of the door. And he's in a panic."

"Not unusual where Mum's concerned," Tia whispered softly.

They all jumped in surprise when their father pounded aggressively on the other side of the doors. The fury they could hear in his tone made them all wince, but only Innocet found voice to remark on it, but only after the Master had levied a threat to take his son from him.

"This I will not allow," she said with a growl as she walked to the console and rounded her arms to insist that the others follow. "Your capsule might not have the available power to fuel a telepathic storm, but we most certainly do."

Gallifrey jogged down the ramp to join her. "What'd you mean by that?"

"We form a telepathic shield to protect your mother and yourself from that man's assault." She rolled her eyes. "Really, Gallifrey, I am somewhat disappointed that you didn't consider that yourself."

"I did, but the TARDIS doesn't have the power to sustain it." His eyes widened. "Unless you mean blocking it completely?"

Alyea looked worried. "That would shield out Dad as well. He'd lose them completely from his mind. It'll drive him insane."

"It's either that or we let the Master into your brother's mind, Alyea," Innocet advised somewhat coolly.

"No," Gallifrey thundered out in a snarl. "I'm not letting that happen again. Never again." He swept his arm through the air in a demand for them all to surround the console. Once in position he gave a hard clap of his hands. "Right then, Team Lungbarrow," he said with a smirk and a flick of his head. "Time to turn the silo into a Zero Room … We'll apologise to Dad later … Contact, anyone?"

Tia sighed. "Not that I fancy being inside your mind, but yeah. Contact."

Both Innocet and Alyea offered their consent to join and the foursome closed their eyes in concentration. As the strangled cry of the young Gallifrey curled it's way in through the TARDIS doors, his older self touched his palm to the rotor column.

"We're giving you all we've got, Aunty. Help us help them."

An invisible wall of void rushed from each exterior wall of the TARDIS at the same moment that a gunshot's pop blistered through the air.

And the entire silo went silent.