"Nice to meet you, Theo." John held out his hand that Theo tentatively shook, "I'm John, John Smith."
"You're a professor. At the school." Theo brought up, doing his best to make small talk.
John nodded and continued to walk, "Yes, but I've never seen you there before."
"Ah, I'm helping out while the gardener is recovering from an injury. I prefer to get an early morning start when working at the school." Theo stuttered out as he walked with John.
"Did you see that?" A voice cried out, "There was something in the woods. This light."
Theo followed as John walked up to the lady who'd cried out, it was Joan the nurse who was with Martha and Jenny.
"Anything wrong, ladies?" John strolled over, hat in his hands, "Far too cold to be standing around in the dark, don't you-"
"There, there." Joan cut him off and pointed at the light in the sky, "Look in the sky."
Theo glanced at it for a second, not risking his headache getting any worse.
"Oh, that's beautiful." Jenny sighed.
John watched as the light faded, "All gone. Commonly known as a meteorite. It's just rocks falling to the ground, that's all."
Theo piped up, "Mister Smith...um...John. I'll be heading home now."
John turned around with a smile, "Goodnight, then, Theo."
Theo nodded and left with a small goodbye. His head was still killing him. It seemed like a walk in the night had only made it worse. He did the only thing he'd known for his life and slept. Watered his flowers and went to bed.
Now, as Theo walked off the only thoughts in Martha's head were the light that just flew past and how in the world Charls had managed to find their way to the Doctor. After a quick look around for a spaceship, Martha made her way to an old barn. Where the TARDIS was being stored temporarily.
"Hello." Martha sighed and closed the TARDIS door behind her, "Look at me, borrowed key and I'm talking to a machine."
Martha sighed again, remembering what the Doctor and Charls had told her before this whole mess.
The Doctor held up a silver fob watch, "Martha, this watch is me."
Martha grabbed it, "Right, okay, gotcha. No, hold on. Completely lost. Also, what's Charls doing?"
Charls was sitting on the floor, eyes closed and looked as if they were asleep. They were busy reorganizing a section of their library. Preparing for what was to come.
"The creatures following us are hunters. They can sniff out anyone," the Doctor explained while hurriedly piloting the TARDIS, "and me being a Time Lord and Charls being a Gray, well, we're unique. They can track us down across the whole of time and space."
"Huh." Martha swung her head, "And the good news is?"
"They can smell us, they haven't seen us. And their lifespan'll be running out, so we hide. Wait for them to die." The Doctor raised his eyebrows and glanced at Martha.
"But they can track us down." Martha said.
"That's why Charls is in their library - gathering up all the memories of me and anything time related. They can forget what they are and the creatures won't be able to find them. Nonexistence would work but Charls can't do that for a straight three months," the Doctor explained while keeping an eye on Charls.
"What do you mean?" Martha asked.
Charls gasped and opened their eyes, "I'm done. It's all shoved into a small side room to be locked up."
"Locked up?" Martha echoed in confusion.
The Doctor kneeled down, "Charls can forget things on purpose, it's how the Gray work, remember? We're going to lock away everything about us, the TARDIS, and anything similar into a small room in the library. Only accessible after hearing or seeing specific words or images. And we're making multiple locks on this door."
"So Charls is going to go back to being human?" Martha clarified.
"No," Charls shook their head, "I'm not going to be human. I'm going to forget I'm Gray. It's like before I met you and the Doctor. I didn't have these abilities or know what I was and therefore the only thing I could be was human. It's like that but on purpose."
"Ready?" The Doctor placed his hands on Charls' temples.
They nodded and took a breath. It took a few minutes until the Doctor returned and Charls passed out on the floor.
"They're going to be going by Theo Woods while hiding. Now it's my turn." The Doctor stood up and rushed to the console.
Martha followed him, "So you're hiding, both of you?"
He stood straight, finally calm, "I've got to do it. I have to stop being a Time Lord. I'm going to become human."
A headset lowered from the ceiling on a rattling chain.
"Never thought I'd use this. All the times I've wondered…" The Doctor watched as it lowered down.
"What does it do?" Martha asked in a quiet voice.
"Chameleon Arch. Rewrites my biology. Literally changes every single cell in my body. I've set it to human." The Doctor sighed and turned around to Martha, "Oh! And Charls can't use this because I've broken it so it only works on me. They've got two hearts now, like me, so be very careful."
He grabbed the fob watch and placed it in the slot, "Now, the TARDIS will take care of everything. Invent a life story for me, find me a setting and integrate me. Can't do the same for you and Charls but they've got most things figured out. They're going to work with flowers, apparently. You'll just have to improvise. I should have just enough residual awareness to let you in. There's a lot of instructions that I have and I've recorded a video on the TARDIS for you. Tells you what unlocks Charls' memories and mine, too."
The Doctor continued to fiddle with the Chameleon Arch.
"But what about Charls, you won't be able to let them in? And if you're going to rewrite every single cell, isn't it going to hurt?" Martha watched as the Doctor slipped into the contraption.
He glanced at her, "Oh, yeah. It hurts. All the stuff about Charls is included in the video."
Martha breathed and returned from her memories. She turned to the console and played the video again. It came in two parts - one for the Doctor and one for Charls. Of course, the Doctor's was a much longer list that included bits of useless instructions like not letting him eat pears. Charls' video was more straightforward but contained a bit more nervousness in it.
"Is this working?" The Doctor tapped on the screen, "Martha, before I change, here's a list of instructions for when I'm human. One, don't let me hurt anyone. We can't have that, but you know what humans are like. Two, don't worry about the TARDIS. I'll put it on emergency power so they can't detect it. Just let it hide away. Four. No, wait a minute, three. No getting involved in big historical events. Four, you. Don't let me abandon you. And fi-"
Martha smiled a little and sped through the video.
"Hello?" Charls appeared on screen, "Do I really have to do this?" they asked the Doctor who was offscreen. They rolled their eyes and continued, "So, I'll be back to thinking I'm human. It should hold off the creatures for me - the Doctor has his own thing planned. We've figured out that I can be forced to forget something. I just gather all the things related to space, time, the Doctor, you, and other stuff and shove it in a side room in my library. The Doctor will be able to lock it with a few triggers. I have a list of the things that are required to unlock the door if we ever need to do that and they can be done in any order but all of them need to be done."
There was a bit of mumbling then a rustling noise before they spoke again, "Um, number one is telling me I have two hearts. Yes, I do have two hearts - I can't explain right now but if I know I've got two hearts that's a clue that I'm not human. Can't let that happen. The second would be to show me the TARDIS. That's pretty simple so a drawing or the real thing will do. The third is Circular Gallifreyan, just any old writings will do but we've set aside some prewritten ones, they should be on the console. The fourth would be to say Charlie Grey to me. Just say my name. Hell, these aren't very good but we're in a rush. The fifth would be for me to meet the Doctor and have him say I'm the Doctor. That's a big one. You'll need to keep me away from him while he's a human otherwise it could lead to trouble. Just seeing him will probably unlock the door a little. That's a maybe, though. We've only got five so if there's an emergency then...then it'll be faster for me to be me again. Stay safe, Martha."
The video ended with Charls giving the camera a stressed smile.
"But there was a meteor, a shooting star. And you've somehow gotten a job at the school. What am I supposed to do now?" Martha asked the screen and rewinded the video.
It was the Doctor again, "And twenty three. If anything goes wrong, if they find us, Martha, then you know what to do. Open the watch. Everything I am is kept safe in there. Now, I've put a perception filter on it so the human me won't think anything of it. To him, it's just a watch. But don't open it unless you have to. Because once it's open, then the Family will be able to find me. It's all down to you, Martha. Your choice. Oh, and thank you." The video faded away with the Doctor's smile.
"I wish you'd come back. Both of you." Martha whispered.
Theo woke up the next morning with no headache. Just some faint feeling that he was missing something and that was nothing unusual so he carried on with his day. Also, he was running late. Never a good thing - running late - but it happens to anyone. Theo sighed and rubbed his face, then changed into clothes more suitable to work.
He went over to his tiny bathroom and washed up as best as he could. Then proceeded with his daily ritual and read his list. There wasn't anything too big today. The garden work at the school could be done, albeit a bit late, but it was better than nothing. After that there was the dance that night and he was asked to set it up. Although, the dance had been scheduled for the evening so Theo could set up shop in the afternoon. Yes, afternoon opening, that's nearly perfect.
John strolled through the village with Joan, they'd been talking about her husband when John decided that he should buy her a gift. Maybe try to cheer her up. Something symbolic and meaningful. They kept walking and passed by a small flower shop. The sign had an image of a stick of a foreign flower that John had never seen before. It was called Forest of Flowers. It was perfect.
"Joan, would you wait here for me for just a moment?" John asked before hurrying towards the shop.
Joan called after him, "What're you doing?"
He waved and stepped in the shop.
A small shop and certainly was a forest of flowers, nearly filled to the brim with blossoms of all sorts. The walls were lined with sketches of bouquets designs and the path was outlined by the small white where the floor was visible. The rest of the floor was covered with different kinds of flower pots and flowers.
"Hello?" John looked around for someone, "Anyone here?'
There was a rustling noise followed by some muffled words. Then, Theo popped up from behind a corner in the back of the store.
"Hi, sorry for the mess." Theo rushed to the desk and kept his head low.
John was surprised, it was Theo again, "Hello again. Theo Woods, wasn't it?"
Theo looked up and shrank back, "Hi, Mister Smith."
"Good afternoon, Mister Woods," John greeted back, "Still got those green eyes?"
Theo scoffed, "Mister Smith my eyes have always been green." Theo started to rifle through the papers on the desk, "So, what brings you here?"
"I've got a friend outside. Just wanted to get something for her." John pointed over his shoulder.
Theo glanced at Joan who was still waiting and raised an eyebrow, "Got yourself a lady friend, eh, Mister Smith?"
"What?" John's voice went high, "No, I'm just getting some flowers for her, okay? Something to comfort her."
"Comfort, eh?" Theo ran their hand through their hair and began to think of different flowers that were comforting but also that he still had.
Theo ran through the store then out the back door only to come back a second later, "I've got just the thing. Do you mind waiting?"
"Sure," John nodded.
Theo smiled then ran back outside and then came back with bundles of flowers which he set on a counter. It had been covered by scraps so John was surprised to know it was even there.
"What's that flower," John asked, "out on your sign"
Theo started to put together a bouquet of flowers, "It's a cherry blossom. Foreign flower that I saw in a picture book, pretty, innit?"
John hummed and nodded, "Yes, yes it is."
Theo fiddled with the bouquet before becoming satisfied and handed it to John. He looked it over and smiled.
"It's just some ferns, forget-me-nots, honeysuckle, thyme, zinnia and this is for you." Theo rattled off a few names of the flowers he'd added then handed a white rose to John.
"A rose, for me?" John asked and took the bouquet and flower.
Theo grinned, "Looks like you've never been with a girl before. White roses are like a symbol of a fresh start or innocence. You can have the rose for free but the bouquet I'll need you to pay for."
"Right," John patted his coat pockets and pulled out some money, "Will this do?"
"Good enough for me," Theo shrugged and pocketed the money, "I just do this as a hobby so any money is good."
John waved and left the shop, Theo smiled then retreated to the back. He ignored the small ache that was returning and continued with his day. John went back to Joan and gifted her the flowers, she seemed to like them. He ignored the feeling that he was missing something and continued with his day. He even worked up the courage to ask Joan to the dance that evening. Even the greater courage to snog Joan, too.
Martha had run back to the TARDIS, overwhelmed by her own thoughts. How could the Doctor - a man who she believed had no romantic attraction to anyone on Earth - fall in love? And how did Charls manage their way into the Doctor's human life with mere flowers? The videos didn't help much, they were just reminders that those two people didn't exist anymore.
"Do I really need to go to a stupid dance?" Theo muttered under his breath as he tried on a suit. He'd never really worn suits much, the waistcoat always seemed to suffocate him and give him headaches.
He turned to look at the side and the front again, "I don't even have anyone to go with."
Theo sighed and adjusted his bow tie. The dance was tonight and he'd need to just get through the night. Just one night without headaches or any trouble. It should have been easy.