A/N: As always, I'm not a genius, and I rely rather heavily on Wikipedia and google to help me make the tech/sciency stuff look at least a little it right. I am not a physics brain (Biology, yes, Physics, no), and so I've done another bluff job to get it right. I hope it makes sense. Yes. This does take us somewhere. Points and bibs and bobs that will all lead to an unlikely allegiance…

The professor's name is actually pronounceable… I just whacked together a bunch of made up alien-like names… hahaha

~~oooOOOooo~~

The Mount Cadon campus of the Time Lord Academy was something to be seen. Much like the sentient home of Lungbarrow, the facility's architecture was a woven tapestry of majestic tall trees. Some of the twisting columnar branches were white, some were brown, and some even had its own natural mosaic multi coloured texture. The grounds of the building were littered with fallen leaves of both silver and a glassy transparency that glittered atop of the rusty red grasses and mottled grey stonework of the pathways.

Students of all ages, some mere children, others reaching their more silver years, milled around the campus. Age and gender did not seem to be a factor amongst the gathered groupings within the large student population. Several gatherings held pupils encompassing every age group and gender that were engaged in tightly civilized and intelligent conversation.

River Song and Rose stepped cautiously onto the campus grounds. Their focus was tight, their discomfort palpable. Even River Song, the unflappable and unstoppable fireball, was feeling slightly out of her league amongst the brightest of the Time Lord race. She knew that not all Time Lord Applicants were successfully admitted into the Academy. The testing criteria was intensive and sometimes cruel. Only a third of applicants actually made it to enrollment.

She should have felt pretty chuffed that she was among the Time Lord Elite. Of course she was very clever with intelligence that was off the scale against any human residing on planet Earth – but was she a match for a Lord of Time in training? Would this day come down to a battle of wits over intelligence just to make it through?

Her gaze fell to Rose, who gnawed nervously on her thumbnail as she looked about the place with terror. "Go into this like you're on a Torchwood assignment," she advised as she clutched Rose's wrist to remove her thumbnail from her mouth. "You've been assigned a covert mission on an alien planet…"

"Full of brilliant men and women…" she paused as a child no older than ten walked by her, his nose buried in a Quantum Mechanics text book. Her finger jutted toward him. "A kid, River. A kid!" She slumped and moaned. "I routinely make the Doctor look at me like I'm dribbling on my shirt, what hope do I have against and entire school of Doctors?"

"I do no such thing," the Doctor argued into her ear via the communications earpieces he'd insisted that they wear. "I happen to think you're brilliant."

Rose merely slid a look toward River and adjusted the seat of the thick horn rimmed glasses on the bridge of her nose. She rolled her eyes and mouthed. "Yeah, right. Whatever."

"I can see you, Rose," he clarified. "Everything. Remember. Whatever you two see, so do we."

"Which will be very important to remember if either of us have to use the bathroom," River muttered with mild distraction as she let her eyes trail over the rather impressive form of another of the students. She smiled at him as he offered her a friendly grin. "Oh. Yes. Please." She nudged Rose with her elbow. "It's not all bad."

Rose followed River's gaze and tilted her head to appreciate the confident swagger of a very attractive dark-haired Time Lord. "Oh. My. Well. We need someone to show us around, don't we?"

"We're both sitting right here," the Doctor groused. "Trying really hard not to be offended. Care to focus?"

"Oh," River breathed appreciatively. "I'm very focused."

"On your task," he snapped. "Not on the availability of the male cadets."

"Bit of a jealous streak coming out, I see, my loves," River remarked with amusement as they walked through an ornate pair of doors to lead them into the main building. She gasped. "Just when you think that nothing on this planet could get more spectacular…"

"This place appears," Rose finished for her. "Oh. Doctor. Where's your hand when I want it? You should be showing me around this place, not letting us just wander about on our own."

"I'll make it up to you, I promise."

"Sure you will," she sighed softly. She dropped her eyes to the folder she held in her arms to look at their schedule. "Quantum Mathematics? Are you bloody kidding me?" She whimpered painfully.

"Time Lords don't whimper," the Doctor warned lightly.

"This Time Lady will most definitely whimper," she corrected. "And whimper when she damn well feels like it." She strode with deliberate arrogance through the lecture hall doors. She offered the professor a respectful nod upon entering the room. "I hate the both of you right now. Hate. Considering divorce proceedings."

"That's not funny."

"Who said I was joking?"

River took her hand and tugged her to a pair of available seats just left of the middle aisle. "Don't worry. You'll be fine. We'll just hide in the lecture Hall and don't get noticed."

~~oooOOOooo~~

On a long table set up across the open doors of both TARDIS machines Ten had a pile of electronics. The same litter was in his lap. He had a pair of wires hanging out from between his teeth, and his sonic screwdriver whirred noisily. In a seat beside him, Eleven was in much the same position. Both Doctors were in the midst of creating what they believed to be the necessary gadgetry for the next phase of their plan.

They were both tightly focused on the projects at hand, but that didn't in any way diminish their focus of the twin monitors in front of them. Each monitor received a separate video feed from Cadon from the eye glasses the Doctors had insisted that the girls wear. The image was crisp, lag was minimal, and allowed them both to look that little bit deeper beyond the vision of the girls.

The microphones feeding the sound transmission was a small port on the right hand side of the frames, where it kissed at their cheek. It was in the perfect position to catch any and all sounds uttered by the girls, even the very quietest of whispers.

The Doctors made sure to cover off the bases. They wanted ears on to any and all worries and observations. They wanted to know the exact infliction in their tone so that they could, and would move quickly if things got out of hand.

…Which they wouldn't. Nope. Everything was going to go nice and smooth.

Ten wasn't hotly impressed at Rose's absolute discomfort at being at Cadon. She'd been thrown into far more volatile situations with far less backup protection available and had never uttered a single complaint. He didn't want to acknowledge that he was slightly disappointed, but he would definitely admit to being concerned as to the reasons behind her discomfort. She had no reason to be worried. He and the Eleventh Doctor were both more that adequately equipped to help her through any of the tough questions that could be thrown her way.

He bit hard on the wires between his teeth as he tightened his focus on the monitor showing her feed.

"What do you think," he asked Eleven quietly. "Does she know something that we don't?"

Eleven swiped his fringe from his eyes and looked up at the monitor. "She's got our mother's consciousness running through her mind. There's a pretty good chance that she's seeing something we aren't."

"Mum is a better telepath than we are." He hated to admit that. "Being surrounded by the Prydon energies from the mountain might be throwing some timeline images at her that could be spooking her, I suppose." He shook his head at himself. "We haven't exactly been giving her any exercises to help her learn to control it."

"Yes, well, perhaps you can work with her on that when you get back to Pete's World." Eleven straightened out a set of blue and red wires and measured them for length. "But let's not jump to conclusions. Her dealings with Time Lords hasn't been particularly positive to this point." He looked at the monitor. "I wouldn't blame her for being apprehensive, and neither should you. Look at us. We're so blasted panicked at the thought that we might bump into a cousin that we planned the landing for the Solstice – partway into the Academic year."

"and if we're worried…"

"Rose is going to pick up on it and react," Eleven finished. "One of the perils of a pairing bond, brother."

"That's very true." Ten tapped at the monitor ahead of him as Rose's feed momentarily flickered. "Oh. No."

Eleven looked up quickly. "What's wro … Oh No." He pointed to the screen and looked quickly to his brother. "Lovolruvalliplagnornelanlorir. Isn't he dead yet? He's got to be almost three thousand years old."

Ten covered his eyes in his hand for a moment. "He was already in his second thousand year when he tortured us at the Academy." He let the hand fall to cover his mouth and let out a long breath. "He can smell fear a mile away. If he catches even a whiff that Rose is feeling uncomfortable, he's going to go on the attack." He poked hard at the screen. "He looked at her. He's looking directly at her. Oh," he huffed on a dangerously breathy laugh. "He's found his plaything today. Going after the new kid. That's low."

"What lecture is this," Eleven spat in panic.

"Quantum Mathematics – Measurements in Quantum Mechanics."

"Good. Good. We're pretty strong in that field." He nodded feverishly and flicked on their muted microphone to establish connection. "Rose, sweetheart. You keep your ears on us, okay."

"Yeah, okay," she responded in clipped tones. "Why?"

"Your professor, Lovolruvalliplagnornelanlorir…"

"Shit, that's his name?"

"What did you think it was?"

"His home planet?"

"He's a Time Lord, he's from Gallifrey."

"Okay, so go on?"

"Lovolruvalliplagnornelanlorir was a professor back in our day, and wasn't a pleasant Lord to study under. I almost quit the Academy about four times because of him."

"Oh. Just. Great." A snort came down the line. "But that's okay. River's armed. We should be okay to seek vengeance for his torturing your younger self. If you want. We're playing hide and seek in the lecture Hall for now, so hopefully he won't notice us."

"I'm afraid you've already been quite noticed, Rose." He cleared his throat. "We suspect that he might press upon you ladies today to answer a few of his tougher questions."

"Shit."

"Yes. And then some," Ten replied. "But you are in luck, ladies. The Doctor and I happen to be specialists in Quantum Mathematics. Well, we have to be, don't we? Pilots of the TARDIS and all, travelers throughout time and space. Knowing a thing or two about how this whole hop skipping and jumping in between times and the theoretical knowledge behind the …"

"Doctor!" Her voice was a very harsh whisper. "I love you. Normally I love your rambling, too. But if you think you're going to get me through this then you are going to have to learn to: Slow. It. Down."

"Which is why I'll do the talking," Eleven muttered. "Sandshoes here does tend to rattle it all off a bit too quickly."

Ten just rolled his eyes.

"But for now, Ladies," Eleven warned. "You might want to listen to Lovolruvalliplagnornelanlorir. If he thinks that you're not listening, then he'll throw a theory at you and keep you standing at the front of the entire Quantum Mathematics lecture hall until you complete the equation to prove it."

"And if I can't?"

"Yes. Well." He looked at Ten. "We were lucky enough that we knew the equation, so we never did find out."

"Fine."

"Oh she's not happy," Ten muttered as he propped his elbow up on the table, slipped on his glasses, and cupped his chin in his hand to focus tightly on the screen and the lecture being held.

Eleven dropped into an identical position at his side. "Then you best use that big Time Lord brain of yours and figure out a spectacular way of making it up to her."

"Already considering options," he hissed as he leaned forward to increase the volume so they could hear much more clearly. "Oh," he suddenly breathed with a gleeful giggle. "Measurement probabilities and wavelength collapse. I love this stuff."

"Time Lord fist bump," Eleven chuckled as he distractedly pointed a fist to his brother. Ten quickly bumped it with his own. The both hissed a fairly quiet sound of explosion and then leaned a few inches closer to the monitors to partake in the morning lecture.

An hour into the lecture, and all seemed to be smoothly rattling along. Ten had taken to taking extensive notes as newer theories and working hypotheses were presented. Eleven had fallen into a fascinated lean with his chin seated in both hands, his jaw hung open and his eyes were wide and locked on the monitors. Both Doctors found themselves uttering desperate pleas every time one of the girls took their eyes off the professor to either look at the ceiling or to look at each other in boredom.

"Come on, girls," Ten moaned with obvious jealousy. "This is great stuff."

"Doctor," Rose whispered softly. "When you decided to tutor me in high school, why wasn't it physics? A base understanding would have helped me latch on to any part of this."

"Focus, Rose," Eleven urged softly.

Both Doctors suddenly sat up straight in their chairs as the monitors shows the swift approach of the professor. He strode directly to where Rose was seated and glared at her. The glare had both men slide back in their chairs as though to back away as far as possible.

"Do you feel as though my lecture is not stimulating enough to maintain your focus, young Lady?"

She muttered a swear under her breath.

"Choose your words really carefully," Ten warned fast. "Swearing is not an option."

"Well," Lovolruvalliplagnornelanlorir demanded hotly. "I posed a question to you. What is your response?"

"My response," She began slowly, with slight unsureness, "Is best reserved for outside of the lecture hall. As a mark of respect to our honoured professor, of course."

This seemed to intrigue the Professor. "A challenge, then, pupil?"

Both Doctors leaned their cheeks on their fists to watch how this was going to play out. Rose was a decent bluffer, but this was set to completely push her skills to the limit.

"Are we going to help her out," Ten queried Eleven.

"Let's see where she's going with this first. If we need in, we'll jump in."

"Not so much a challenge," Rose offered with a clearing of her throat. "more of a query regarding the most recent advancements of the theoretical framework for wavelength collapse."

"Then feel free to share your thoughts with our peers." He folded thick arms across his chest. "You are Rose, of Lungbarrow, yes?"

She nodded. "If our honoured professor gives permission to be questioned. It has been recently documented that Earth studies have used quantum decoherence to provide an explanation for the absence of quantum coherence after measurement." She took a breath. "It is believed that Decoherence correctly predicts the form and probability distribution of the final eigenstates, and explains the apparent randomness of the choice of final state in terms of einselection. Your lecture didn't take that into consideration. In fact you stated quite clearly and without room for interpretation otherwise that wavelength collapse continues to raise serious concerns regarding the measurement problem."

There were cheers from both Doctors as they high-fived each other. "That's my beautiful Rose," Ten purred through the mic. "I told you. You're brilliant. Absolutely brilliant."

Elation was short lived, however, as Lovolruvalliplagnornelanlorir's expression morphed to insulted anger. "Are you another of my pupils who is obsessed with that insignificant little green planet? Earth," he bellowed as he turned to walk down the centre aisle stairs. He paused to look up at her. "You will follow me Rose of Lungbarrow."

She looked with desperation to River, who had shrank apologetically into her chair. Help me, Doctor she mouthed to River before she straightened her Prydon Cadet robes and followed the professor.

Lovolruvalliplagnornelanlorir continued to project his deep and thundering voice toward all pupils as he dismissed Rose's claim of Earthen Scientists. He led Rose to a large whiteboard and dramatically flipped it around to reveal a very small problem equation. With a smile he handed her a whiteboard marker and bowed.

"There is still another forty five minutes until the end of this session. Using this Earth Science that you so eloquently quoted, I ask that you provide a solution."

Rose gulped rather loudly. "Oh. Sure. Yes. Of course."

"Do know, pupil, that this problem equation has only ever been solved by one of my students." He patted her condescendingly on her shoulder. "In over two thousand years of instructing Cadon students, only one. I don't presume that you will be my second, but please try."

Rose stared at the equation. "Please, boys. Please tell me that the pupil who solved this equation was you."

Eleven moved in close to the monitor, unsurprised that Ten was mirroring his exact movements. Together they analyzed the equation.

"No," Ten muttered. "Not this one."

"Master was the one who solved that one," Eleven mused thoughtfully. "but give us a moment to talk and let us see what we can come up with." He looked to Ten. "Factoring in Earth formulas as well, of course."

"Don't be too long," she pleaded. "They're all on the staredown right now. I'm not a fan of being front and centre. That's more of a River thing."

The two Doctors quietly spoke between the two of them. Ten jutting down quick points and notes, Eleven working through the numbers on a separate sheet of paper. After approximately seven minutes and thirteen seconds, Ten let out a single laugh of victory.

"Okay, Rose, honey. We've got it. You ready?"

"You solved it?" she squeaked quietly.

"Of course we did," he huffed as though somewhat insulted she thought otherwise. "Walk in the park. Now. Listen closely…"

It took almost the full forty five minutes to decipher the various equation information provided by both Doctors and draw it accurately on the board. When she was finished, she capped the marker and stood back to admire the Doctor's work.

"My clever boys," she whispered. She readied to set the marker back into the cradle, but paused with a deep tilt of her head. "Oh. Yes. Definitely," she purred in a giggle. "Plenty of room for that."

The Doctors watched with curiosity as Rose returned to the board and began to draw in the blank space remaining on the board. A series of loops and circles and more circles within circles. She added key dots, and then the finishing lines, and stepped back.

Now satisfied, she recapped the marker and set it on the cradle. She gave a respectful bow to the Professor. "I believe you will find your problem solved – using Earth theoretical principals in combination with accepted Gallifreyean methods."

His eyes flicked to the board and locked on the Circular Gallifreyan message that finalized her presentation. "What is it you have signed your problem with, pupil?"

She gave him her most innocent stare, trying hard to ignore the muffled laughter from River Song in the gallery. "It's an Earth quote I have spelled phoenetically into Gallifreyan for you, Honoured Professor. I believe the language wholly appropriate given that I have provided solution using theories of Earth scientists."

Lovolruvalliplagnornelanlorir took moment to carefully sound out the letters. "Get stuffed, you daft twat." He frowned. "And this translates to?"

"It translates to: Thank you, Honoured teacher," she lied with a bow. "Now, may I be excused?"

"You may," Lovolruvalliplagnornelanlorir replied sternly. "Rose of Lungbarrow, I look forward to analyzing your continued progress."

The two Doctors were very quiet. Their lips were identically pursed and their expressions close to completely neutral. With slow and deliberate movements they turned toward each other and then continued to turn to look back at their silent TARDIS machines.

"Oh," Ten growled darkly. "I don't approve. Not at all. Not in the slightest." He flicked his finger in between the two machines. "Whichever one of the two of you is responsible for that, there will be repurcussions."

"They're both looking pretty smug," Eleven muttered with an unimpressed look.

"You can just see them high-fiving each other, can't you?"

"Both of you," Eleven charged. "Bad girls."

~~oooOOOooo~~

Lovolruvalliplagnornelanlorir stayed behind in the lecture hall after the last of the cadets had exited. He had his back hunched and his hands pressed into the table top when his assistant, a Time Lady with crystal green eyes, raven hair and blood red smile, stepped in to provide him with his afternoon schedule.

"Is everything fine with you, Lovol," she asked with intimate familiarity in her tone of voice. "What do you need?"

"Sylvania," he answered gruffly. "Please clear my schedule for this afternoon. I must speak with Arcadia as soon as possible."

Sylvania touched tenderly at his arm. "I can make those arrangements for you immediately. Is all okay?"

He shuddered. "I just felt as though time herself just walked into my Lecture hall."

"Don't be so foolish," she said with a soft laugh. "Lovol, my dear. I think that you've been working too hard."

"I still wish to discuss. Please make the arrangements."

"Yes, Lovol."