AN: YAY! It's finally done. This bloody bastard was more complicated to write than I expected, but I am quite proud of the results, and I hope you enjoy it too.

The Family of Blood

Herefordshire, England
27th April 2008

It felt like an eternity since his Human ears had been used, all of his senses blocked by this dusty old sack on top of his head, but whether he was only mad, or his hearing still worked after all these long years, he heard the movement of feet amongst grass, the shuffling of clothes, and a single man's calm and controlled breathing just a few feet away. "Come to lift my sentence, Doctor?" He asked, his voice hoarse and hollow from underuse, robbing it of any bite or sarcasm, before he felt something clutch at the sack on his head and pulled it away. However, to his utter dismay, he could only see the faint green blur of grass, the dull blue blur of the sky and a shadow of a figure dancing in his vision, the rest unable to be seen. "Hello? Who's there?" He asked.

"Just me." A male voice answered. "I have been able to lift some of your…current predicament off so you can talk. But that is all you'll be able to do." He added.

"You can't do anymore to help, or you won't?" He asked, and he heard the stranger just give out a snort and a laugh.

"No, of course I won't." The stranger said with another chuckle.

"Who are you?" He asked, but the stranger ignored him and continued in his ramble.

"You see, it wouldn't exactly be any fun watching you try to walk again, but you'd just end up right back where you started." Then, the stranger paused and gave a small "Hmm" sound that could still be heard. "Come to think of it, that would be fun to watch."

"Who are you?" He asked again, and he could faintly see the stranger's blur motion out to him with his arms, either in silent respect or mockery with a big, smug grin.

"You first." The stranger replied.

If he was able to care enough after all these years, he would have grinded his teeth in response, but he didn't. Instead, he just stared ahead with a small but permanent half smirk on his face, gave a sniff and said, "My name is "Son of Mine"."

There wasn't even a pause before the stranger responded, and yet again, it was a laugh both genuine and dry. "No, no, no, no, that's rubbish." The stranger remarked. ""Son of Mine"." He quoted before chuckling again, and the blur of his head shifted slightly for a few seconds as if he was shaking it in denial before he stopped. "That body you took, what was his name?" The stranger asked.

""Jeremy Baines"." He answered without pause, and the stranger's response was a small pause before one of his arms lifted up and what was the blur of his hand intensified and shifted to and fro like a small shake before it lowered again.

"Now then, Jeremy," The stranger started, his blur stepping forward a few more paces to stand a few inches in front of Son of Mine, before his head tilted forward with a click of his tongue, and he continued, "I want you to tell me everything about them."

""Them"?" Son of Mine reiterated. "Who are you referring to?"

"The Doctor and Clara Oswald." The stranger responded in a calm tone, and if Son of Mine was able to raise his eyebrows, he would have in response to those names.

"Why them?" Son of Mine asked.

"Let's just say I want to help them, as a friend." Was all the stranger said, and Son of Mine gave out a sigh in response.

"What do you already know?"

"That they're not married?" The stranger remarked, and his voice seemed to bear a little growl before he sighed. "No, I won't tell you. I just want to know what happened."

"You really want to know?" Son of Mine asked, and he could see the stranger's blur give a nod in answer. "The Doctor never raised his voice. Not once, and that was the worst of it. The fury of the Time Lord, and yet…he barely spoke a word."

"And Clara?" The stranger asked. "The only one who can quell that storm. What did she do?"

"Nothing." Son of Mine answered. "She did nothing."

The stranger gave a sigh. "You pissed them both off. Good job." He remarked before stopping in his small pacing. "So, you run across the Doctor and Clara, demand for his consciousness and they run away." The stranger summarized. "And it took you two months to find them. Why so long?"

"We…ran into a delay." Son of Mine answered after a pause. "We thought that the Doctor, the famous warrior Time Lord, would hide in the one place that we wouldn't think to find him. War."

1914

We couldn't tell where we were, but it was definitely on Earth. But the night was dark, the air full of smoke and blood, and for miles, it was only mud, discarded weapons and mutilated bodies. The ship was protected, but we had to be extremely careful. I was the one to go out, on my own, armed with a ray gun. I took over a single soldier, unfortunate lad. He was older than…the form I am stuck in now. He was rather generic looking, I'm afraid. Had brown hair, nothing noteworthy about his face except for his green eyes.

"Did this soldier have a name?" The stranger asked, breaking Son of Mine out of his tale for a moment.

"I…I'm afraid I don't remember. Never did find out, we were in a hurry." Son of Mine said, and a pause followed where he was sure that the stranger rolled his eyes.

"Typical. It was all very "Go, go, go!" for you then, huh?" The stranger quipped dryly, but he sighed when Son of Mine did not emote to it. "Continue."

"You have to keep yourself low, Son of Mine." Father of Mine said to me before I left the ship, and I did, keeping as low as possible to avoid the weapon fire, crawling through the bodies and the mud as I was hit by…a scent. One that was remarkably similar but not quite the same as either the Doctor or Clara Oswald. Taking a chance, I followed the scent, and it got stronger and more pungent as I crawled through the mud, until I came across a trench in the ground, and I slid in. I did not see anyone with me here except for a single man, leaning motionless against the trench wall with a rifle in his hands. Except he wasn't motionless as I stared at him. His hands were trembling, just a tiny bit, but his breathing was slow and calm. Rather tall fellow he was, wearing muddy soldier clothes, torn and scratched, but still wearable. I moved over to him, staring at his face, and I knew, the scent was coming from him. I took a deep breath, and amongst the blood and the smoke and the mud all over that form's face, I did smell it; He was an immortal. It could have been the Doctor, or another Time Lord, but the specifics didn't matter, we just needed an immortal. The man, when he heard my sniff, looked at me, and to my surprise, he grinned.

"Hello." He said, holding a single hand out, and I hesitantly took it. "Captain Jack Harkness. And who are you?" There was a single instant where I paused, unable to respond, as I never knew this form's name. The man's grin, when I failed to respond, slowly faded into a little frown. "I'm sorry, can you speak English?"

"Yes." I immediately responded, and he titled his head at me with raised eyebrows.

"So, what's your name?" He asked, and when I again didn't answer, his frown deepened into a squint. "What is a man doing as a soldier in the middle of a battle, when he can't even remember his own name?" In response, I just sniffed, bathing in the mixture of smells again, one of which was most definitely his immortality, but…something was wrong. His smell, the more I bathed it in seemed…wrong. Just wrong. "What's the matter?" He asked with a teasing smirk. "Caught the sniffles"

"Yes, I must have." I immediately responded, but he just shook his head with a chuckle, but this one was dry.

"Oh really? In amongst the dirt and the blood and the smoke? If I didn't know any better, which by the way, I do," He said with a grin before he went serious again, "you are possessing a Human, whoever you are. But why?"

Smart, I found, if a little too cocky. "I need you."

His grin returned for a moment. "Oh, I bet you do." He teased. "But why?"

"I need your life." I answered back, and the man paused, before he started to chuckle again.

"Well, you can't have it." Jack retorted as the gleam in his eyes suddenly went deadly. "I'm currently using it, even if I don't like where I am."

"You will come with me or you will die, and I will take your body regardless." I warned, but he shook his head with a cold chuckle.

"Nope."

"You will come with me!" I roared, pulling out my ray gun, but…I'm afraid I wasn't quick enough. Jack immediately raised his rifle, aiming it at my hand and he fired, the shot shattering the fingers holding the ray gun until my hand was painted in the river of Human crimson, and I remember the pain, the excruciating pain. I screamed and I cried, even if no one could hear me over the fighting and killing. I fell flat on my back, clutching at my hand as the man stood over me, his rifle pointed straight at my face. "Please don't-" I tried to whimper, even as the man took the ray gun and tossed it out of the trench, doomed to be destroyed in the battle above.

"Word of advice: You ever threaten someone, do it only once, or they'll call your bluff." Captain Jack warned me, admittedly a piece of advice I never did accept, to my stupidity. "You arrived here on a ship, yes?"

"Yes."

"Then take it and leave. I will only say it once, and if you don't follow the order, I will put a bullet in your head." He warned. "And you're lucky there is a war on, so no one else would even bother to see you. Now, get up and go." He said, before he stood calmly still, waiting patiently.

At that, I scrambled up to my feet, whimpering at the pain in my hand, and I crawled out of the trench and away to the ship. As soon as I got inside, I said, "Mother of Mine, we shall leave this body. It is useless, and this is the wrong time."

"Certainly." At that, through Mother of Mine's assistance, I left the body and secreted myself back into my holding orb, and the body was left behind on the battlefield as we took off.

"Ah yes." The stranger said, and Son of Mine blinked, despite the blurriness of his eyes, which, at a very slow pace, was starting to fade. "You met the flirt." He quipped sarcastically, but he sighed when Son of Mine did not respond to it. "What next?"

"Our time was running out. We had only one month left to live by the time I saw that war." Son of Mine continued. "So we thought to try one year before the war. We landed in a clearing in-"

"Blackdown woods, next to the village of Herefordshire." The stranger interrupted, and he took Son of Mine's silence as annoyance, to which he just chuckled. "So sorry, I thought that being rude would create some emotion in your voice. But, continue anyway."

"We landed in a clearing in Blackdown woods." Son of Mine continued, as if the stranger never interrupted. "But, to our luck, we already had someone waiting to greet us."

Blackdown Woods, Herefordshire
8:00pm, 10th November 1913

It was a strange sight indeed for one Jeremy Baines, slinking around in the cold and the dark. He had finally found the hidden spot of beer after being lost for hours, and he was hauling it out from a hatch hole in the ground beside a fallen tree in one moment, then in the next, he was looking up at the sky. There, hovering and moving downward ever so slowly was this bright green light, accompanied by a rather loud yet very strange and unrecognizable sound. Jeremy just stared in bewilderment as the light got lower and lower but before it could touch the ground, it disappeared, followed by a loud "Thud", and all was silent again. Completely forgetting the small crate of beer, Jeremy slinked around the tree and began to walk towards the place where the light had been. "I say, hello?" Jeremy called, but the only answer came in a sudden snapping branch that he stepped upon, sending a pulse of fright into his heart before he calmed down in spite of the silence. "Some…some kind of airplane?" He called again, coming down a tiny slip in the ground into a grass clearing. "You chaps all right?" Without warning, Baines walked straight into a wall, and a bright flash of green light filled his eyes as he stumbled back before it shut off as quickly as it appeared. Reaching a timid hand out, it contacted the invisible wall once again, and green light pulsed around his hand and across the entire wall. Looking up, Jeremy saw the wall come to a quick stop a few inches above his head, curving off and out of sight. Looking down, Jeremy saw almost a mirror image as the bottom of the wall curved downward and out of sight, and without further hesitation, Jeremy took his hand off the curved wall and the green light shut off again. "That-that's impossible." He stuttered to himself, but as he inhaled a sharp breath, he heard a hissing noise to his left, followed by a small thud on the ground before all was still again. Pressing a hand on the wall, the light stopped just a few inches to his right, showing a large man-sized hole in the wall and at its bottom was a ramp, and what would have been its top point was touching the ground. "Some sort of door." He muttered, raising his right foot up onto the lit ramp, but as he took his hand away, he found to his astonishment that his foot looked like it was floating in the air. Moving forward an inch, he climbed up onto the invisible ramp, and his hand unconsciously moved to where the curved wall would be, and the ramp lit up once again, but now the open hole was directly in front of him. "Hello?" He called, and his voice echoed slightly as it entered the opening in the wall. "Is anyone there?" He called again, but there was no answer. Keeping his hand pressed against the wall, he walked slowly inside the opening, and found himself turning a left, then a right, then a left before the green light shut off inside, drenching him into complete darkness, even with his hand pressed against the wall. Distantly, he heard the hissing, thudding and clicking of the ramp, possibly closing up the hole again, and Jeremy found his breath hastening unsteadily, but, to his relief, the lights turned back on. Except these weren't from the wall, instead they were within the room he stood shakily inside, and they were a darker tone of green, not as bright, but the pitch-black darkness was removed, and Jeremy could thankfully see once again. The room itself was very…odd. The walls had wires protruding from odd bumps like round stone, and they extended and curved up into holes within the ceiling. There were also hollow columns like stone that connected the grate flooring with the ceiling, and the walls were covered in tiny little lights. Somewhere flickering, others were a still and solid green. He also saw four green crystal orbs, sitting on little stands beside a large array of strange lights and machinery, and they glowed with the same green light like the rest of the ship, only a touch brighter, and yet it looked as if there was a sort of gas inside the orbs, but it was just floating around, slow and calm. But above all of this, Jeremy found, was that it was cold. It was very cold inside the strange room, and Jeremy found his body began to shiver and tremble, both from cold and from fear, and nothing he could think of was able to calm him down. "Hello?" He croaked out in a whimper, feeling his hands bracing against the wall behind him, eyes darting around the room, unable to find anything to focus on.

"Hello, little one." A disembodied female voice responded, the room echoing the voice all around him, and Jeremy found himself backing straight up into the wall, before he slowly slid down onto the floor. "Go ahead. Take a seat." The female voice said just after he did, but Jeremy could not tell if it was being sarcastic.

"Who's there? Who are you?" Jeremy asked, but he did not receive the response he thought he would.

"Decent enough of a form, wouldn't you agree, Sister of Mine?" A male voice asked, and Jeremy heard a little giggle, but this female voice was much younger than the one that spoke mere seconds ago.

"The age is right, this time at least, Brother of Mine." The second female voice responded, and he heard the male voice chuckle a little before the room fell silent again. "Oh, dear, the little boy has questions."

"They always do, Daughter of Mine." A second male voice responded, this one much deeper and sounded much older than the first male voice.

"I-I don't understand." Jeremy stuttered out as the voices grew silent again. "Who are you?"

"We are the Family." The older male voice answered.

"But who are you, little one?" The older female voice asked.

Jeremy had a small moment where he gulped in unnerved fear before he answered. "My name's Baines. Jeremy Baines." Then, without even knowing how they would respond, he asked, "Please, can I go?"

"Oh, I'm so sorry, Baines Jeremy Baines, but I don't think you can ever leave." The older female voice answered back, and Jeremy felt his body trembling at the answer.

"But who are you?" Jeremy asked, but his voice was a little mutter, and he received no answer. After he cleared his throat, he tried a different question. "Why can't I see you?" He asked, looking around the room for the source of the voices, but he still couldn't find it.

"An odd question." The younger male voice answered. "Why would you want to see us?"

"I…" For a small moment, Jeremy was a little stumped at that question, before he managed to regain his self-control once again. "I want to know what you look like."

"Oh, that is easily answered." The younger male voice answered, giving a little chuckle as it did. "All you would have to do is look into a mirror."

Jeremy blinked. "Why would I look into a mirror?"

"Because you are now me." Then, one of the green crystal balls popped open, and the small amount of matching green gas lifted up a few inches from its holder to float in the air, and it formed a little face. It was a very plain face, just a dark green sphere made of swirling gas, and it formed two empty sockets for eyes and a thin line for a mouth that stretched into a little smile. "Hello." The face said, and before Jeremy could move or retort in any way, the face swirled back into gas and dashed straight at him, leaving Jeremy screaming as the gas swirled around his head and entered into his own mind.

"You took over a student?" The stranger asked, but his voice was full of mischief.

"Yes. Why do you ask?"

"What did it feel like?" The stranger asked again, the mischief in his voice growing in excitement. "Did you feel his mind screaming and fleeing in his head, shrinking away into oblivion as you invaded his body? Did you enjoy listening to the mental cries of mercy before he died?" Son of Mine, for the first time in a very long while, blinked. Then, thinking back onto that moment as Jeremy's mind shriveled and died away, he unconsciously gave a little half smile at the memory. The stranger noticed, and Son of Mine heard him give out a little laugh of glee. "Look at that, children, he blinked!" He cried with another laugh. "See?! He can emote!" Son of Mine's silent response seemed to calm the stranger down, and he heard a little cough, before he muttered, "Sorry. Continue."

Farringham School for Boys, Herefordshire
8:00am, 11th November 1913

When I entered the school, I was immediately questioned by another boy, one whose name I did not know, nor did he seem important, by any stretch of imagination. There was another boy in that room, a little younger, shining his shoes. There was something about him that was...odd. It wasn't a particularly strong scent, it was just…faint. It had something to do with his brain, which seemed a bit stronger than the others in the room, but not by much. I took a deep sniff to inhale the scent, see if I could determine anything, but I found nothing of note. I do remember the boy giving me a rather queer look, his face growing pale, but I could not tell from what. Once the other boy had finished asking what questions he wanted, even if I paid only half of my attention to him, I did listen to his idea of getting some sleep. I had to keep up some form of appearance, after all.

The stranger snorted. ""Some." There was barely anything left of Jeremy when you took over, and you wanted to keep "Some" kind of an appearance up?" The stranger asked, again with dry humor in his voice.

"I had to do the best I could." Son of Mine retorted. "Even with all the odd looks I did get in the end."

"Odd looks indeed." The stranger agreed with a little "Hmmph". "Anyway, you were saying?"

When the morning came, I took a little moment to wander through the main parts of the school. I could smell it, the scent of a Time Lord, the Doctor. Clara's scent, however, was…not there. If I wanted to find her, I would have to seek someone who smelt of absolutely nothing. At that, Clara was not the person to find. But all the parts of the Doctor's scent, faint as they was, were more potent around the school, but I could not find a source, like the scent was as confused as I was about itself. Then, just for a second, the scent inflamed. It became more potent, and it's source was definitely here, in this very building. But just as it appeared, it was gone, and the scent became faint and confused again. When one of the school staff started to ring a bell and the boys all started to race about for their rooms, I took a moment to hide in a little cupboard, and opened my connection to my Family. "There is a trace, but…somehow scattered. The scent is confused. But it's source is at this school, and we'd best arm ourselves. Father of Mine, find your form, and activate the soldiers."

Oakham Farm, Herefordshire

The soldiers switched on, a loose link opening between the minds of the Family and their own empty shells. Father of Mine, through the link, was able to see out through the hollow eyes of their new soldiers, which were dusty, old, and full of straw. The Family could not directly control their soldiers, and Father of Mine's newfound vision through them would be lost once he entered into a form. A form that he was currently waiting patiently for. Father of Mine's soldier was standing on a field, his body braced against a wooden pole and unable to move, yet he could use his arms and head, to an extent. It took what could have been minutes or hours, but soon enough, he saw an aging man walking up the nearby footpath, and Father of Mine immediately agreed that this form was perfect. When the man looked over at his scarecrow form, he ordered the scarecrow to wave at him, and the man froze for a brief moment as the scarecrow obeyed the order. Then, the scarecrow lowered its arm, and the man scowled, pointing over at it as he started to stomp over. "That is my property!" He snarled, and the man's short tempered yet authoritative voice reassured Father of Mine in his perfect choice. "You are trespassing on my land!" He growled again, stomping up to stand before the scarecrow, and Father of Mine ordered for more soldiers to quickly crowd around the man. "Come on, who's in there?!" The man demanded, reaching a hand through the old "Skin" of the scarecrow, only to pull out a handful of straw stuffing. "Is it one of those idiot boys from the school, is it?!" He continued to shout straight into the face of the scarecrow, even as it's hollow eyes stared back at him. "Come on! Out with-" The man stopped his ramble as his arm shot straight through the scarecrow and out the other side, confirming it to be empty. The man started to blink as his anger receded into puzzlement. "But how did you…" His question trailed off as Father of Mine figuratively sat back and let the soldiers do their work. As the others began to crowd up to the man, the one he faced tilted it's head to the side, and the action made the man jump back, his back hitting another scarecrow. When he turned to see the other scarecrows moving up close to him, the man dropped the handful of straw in his hand as he began to gasp and plead for mercy. "No! Help me! Help me!" He cried, before a scarecrow shoved a dusty and straw filled hand into his mouth to muffle his cries, and they lead him away towards the ship.

"Daughter of Mine, I believe it is your turn, now." Father of Mine said as he left the scarecrow and returned back to his present form of gas. "Use the soldiers, and find your form."

Daughter of Mine entered into a different scarecrow, this one facing a path that had a small side entrance by a long line of trees, and unlike the others was not attached to a wooden pole. It just assumed a patient position, but Daughter of Mine, unabashedly and very quickly, grew quite bored. It was always the waiting that grew on her…mental nerves, and she couldn't tell if she was whining in her head to herself or if she was silently screaming, "Come on! Hurry up!" Either way, she kept on waiting and waiting, before, just a little bit faintly, she heard a pair of small footsteps moving up the path, but it was out of sight. "Come on! Come on! Hurry up!" Daughter of Mine whined in her head, sure that if their newfound soldiers actually had brains, then they would be just as infuriated with her as her parents. "Sit still!" Mother of Mine would growl at her, but Mother of Mine was waiting patiently, for she would be the last to acquire her for-

"Hello." Daughter of Mine heard a little girl's voice speak, and when she refocused her attention again, she indeed saw a little girl standing in front of her scarecrow, dressed in pink and holding a balloon. She was looking at the scarecrow in a childishly curious way, and the scarecrow answered by waving at her, and the girl giggled. "You're funny." She said, and the scarecrow tilted it's head to the side. "Buh bye." The girl waved before walking off, and Daughter of Mine smiled in approval.

"That's the one." She simply said, and the underlying order made the scarecrow lower it's arm from its T pose position and it started to stalk off in the direction of the little girl. Once it's pace moved from grass field to footpath, the sound of its…"Feet" changed into a little shuffle of straw and old torn clothes. When the scarecrow got closer, Daughter of Mine saw the little girl's pace falter a bit in obvious puzzlement. She turned, and the scarecrow immediately stopped it's pace as she pointed at it.

"Excuse me." She said in a little voice as she blinked. "You have to stay still. You're supposed to be scaring crows." She said, restarting her pace but she only took her gaze off of the scarecrow once she was a few feet away, but her gaze kept flittering back onto it, and Daughter of Mine sighed.

"This is so not fun. She's not supposed to be looking!" She whined before she sighed again. "Crowd around her." She ordered to two other patient scarecrows that were standing in the nearby field, and they started to awkwardly run up to the little girl, which Daughter of Mine found rather funny. "Oh, they look so stupid running like that!" She said as she giggled again.

"They're made of straw and clothes, Daughter of Mine." Mother of Mine's voice echoed in her head, and Daughter of Mine mentally rolled her eyes.

"I know. It's just funny." She retorted as the two other scarecrows got nearer, and her own scarecrow started to move to refocus the little girl's attention on her again.

"Stop following me!" The little girl cried as she turned back to the scarecrow, just as the other two came up from the field and took her into a tight hug. The girl began to scream and cry for help, struggling as she could, but one of the scarecrows filled her mouth with some straw, muffling her cries as she was carried off to the ship.

"Much better." Daughter of Mine said in relief.

"No! Let me go!" The man cried as the scarecrows dragged him into the ship, his mouth now empty of straw as no one outside could hear him anymore. "Let me go! Please!"

"On his knees." Father of Mine's voice ordered, and the scarecrows shoved him down, even as his fearful eyes darted around the room, and his breathing hitched up as the sweat on his brow began to build. "We'll make this quick. What is your name?"

The man gulped as he took another breath, fruitless in his efforts to calm himself. "C-Clark." He answered, but the following tense silence told him that he had to expand that answer. "James Alfred Clark."

Father of Mine grumbled at that answer. "Too long. Mr. Clark will do." He said before sighing. "Soldiers, restrain him."

The little girl, still struggling, screaming and whimpering, was left to be restrained by only one scarecrow as the rest held the man still. "No! Let go of me! Let go of me!"

Father of Mine growled as his crystal orb opened, freeing the green gas within. "Humans." He snarled, the gas just pulsing with light at his words, swirling in a hovering orb, and James just looked on in frightened horror. "You whine, and complain, but you will be silenced!" He roared, and upon his final word, the gas shot forward to the screaming man's face, quickly muffled into choking gasps before the man went still. "Much better." Father of Mine said with a sigh as he clicked his neck and the scarecrows helped him to stand.

"Husband of Mine. Do you like your new form?" Mother of Mine asked.

He took a deep breath, and exhaled, giving a soft smile as he did. "Yes, Wife of Mine, this will do…very nicely." He said earnestly, taking in a deep breath of air.

"You…" Father of Mine turned with a puzzled frown, which melted into an impassive expression as he saw the little girl still whimpering, tears streaking down her face as she tried to comprehend what she saw. "You…what happened to you?" She cried, and Father of Mine clicked his neck but remained standing before her.

"Me? I just acquired a new body." Father of Mine answered simply, and the girl gulped with a sniff.

"I want to go home." She whimpered, but Father of Mine did not emote a response to that.

"You won't." He said simply, moving over to the crystal orbs where he gently took one into his grasp. "You must stay here with us."

"Why?" The girl cried, but Father of Mine did not immediately answer.

"What is your name, girl?"

"What does my name matter?" The girl asked back, her sudden courage mixed with her shaky whimpering voice, but it did not affect Father of Mine or the scarecrows in the slightest.

"What is your name, girl?" Father of Mine repeated, his voice bordering on a growl, and it made the girl gulp.

"Lucy. Lucy Cartwright."

"There we are." Mother of Mine cooed, but it was not genuine. "Wasn't that so simple, little one?" The girl did not answer at that, and Mother of Mine sighed. "Daughter of Mine, you have exquisite taste." She cooed, and this one was genuine, and the voice of a girl giggled in response.

"Lucy." Daughter of Mine called. "Do you have any family?"

Lucy blinked. "Why do you want to know?" She asked back.

"Curiosity." Was Daughter of Mine's answer. "So, do you?" Lucy, against her better judgement, and the small sniffs that made her sound like a frightened mouse, nodded. "Parents?" Lucy nodded. "Any siblings?" Lucy shook her head. "That makes it easy."

"Agreed, Daughter of Mine. Soldiers, restrain her." Father of Mine ordered, and two scarecrows moved to hold the girl in place on her knees, and she tried to struggle and free herself from their grasp, but it was fruitless, and the terror she had felt earlier had returned tenfold.

"No! Let me go! Please!" She pleaded, but no one paid her any mind. Father of Mine caressed a gentle hand on the crystal orb he carried, and as he took his hand away, the orb opened and the green gas from within started to float up in front of him, swirling around in a little orb until it formed a small face. But this face was devoid of any smile, in fact, it just bore a pair of glaring eyes, staring straight at the little girl, who began to weep again. "No, please! Please!" She cried, but the little gas face just squinted its empty eyes at her until it charged forward, and the little girl screamed and cried all the harder, even if it was the last thing she ever did.

12:00pm

"The trace is here, at this school." Son of Mine reported, Mother of Mine looking on through the eyes of a hidden scarecrow as Son of Mine was moving up towards said school. "Faint as it is, it always leads back here."

Mother of Mine had silently consented to that, before she opened the psychic link to her Family. "Husband of Mine, I think it is time for my form."

"I agree, Wife of Mine." Father of Mine responded. Mother of Mine could see the scarecrows moving off silently towards the road, where she could distantly see a woman on a bike, and she smiled.

"Mother of Mine." Son of Mine's voice cut in. "Just before you take a form, we need you to check on a teacher and a nurse."

A teacher and a nurse? Mother of Mine thought before she asked, "Why, Son of Mine?"

"They are both…let's just say…curiously odd, and I have a sneaking suspicion, but I need you to investigate further."

Spying? Oh, you are devious, Son of Mine. Mother of Mine mentally thought with a bit of mischievous glee. "I understand, Son of Mine." She said, as Son of Mine sent her a mental image of the teacher and the nurse. "Names?"

"I…don't know the nurse's, I'm afraid. But the teacher's is "John Smith"." Son of Mine answered, and Mother of Mine shut off her psychic link with him before she began to cycle through the visions of other scarecrow soldiers, somewhere hiding in bushes, somewhere standing in fields, others were strapped to field poles. Mother of Mine landed on one that could hear, albeit a little faintly, the sound of giggling mutters made by two people, one male and one female.

"Okay, now it's very clear." She heard a female voice say. "You want to be like this Doctor, this impossible man, just so you can impress me?"

Doctor? Mother of Mine tried to make the soldier turn its head, but it was braced against the pole. "Find a way to turn your head." She ordered the scarecrow, and it worked quickly to wrench its arms loose so it could free its own head. Turning it, Mother of Mine saw a tall man and a shorter woman, both brown haired and covered in layers of clothing. It's the two that Son of Mine showed me. Mother of Mine realized. And they know about the Doctor? Hmmm.

"Did you also forget that the Doctor has an eye for pretty ladies?"The woman teased, and Mother of Mine could faintly see John Smith's eyebrows go up.

"Him and Clara." John corrected, and the woman laughed.

They know about Clara too? Hmmm.

"If their tale about Reinette means anything-oh dear." John said in a whine, looking straight up at Mother of Mine's spy. "That scarecrow's all askew."

"Don't move. Don't do anything." Mother of Mine ordered the scarecrow, after a small moment of shock, watching as the pair walked up and the woman watched as John began to fix the scarecrow back up.

"Trying to be an artist as well?" The woman mused.

"Maybe." John answered with a chuckle as he fixed the scarecrow's head to be looking up and straight once again. "My mother, Verity, she used to be an artist in her spare time. Gave me some hints…I think." He admitted, and Mother of Mine, from the corner of her possessed soldier's eye, could see the woman's smile. When the scarecrow was properly fixed, John stepped back and gave the woman a nervous glance and a smile. "Well?" He asked, and the woman blinked at him. "What do you think?"

Trying to impress her, aren't you, Mr. Smith? Mother of Mine mused.

"Which scarecrow?" The woman asked, and John's jaw dropped.

"I'm not that skinny!" He retorted in a whine, and she snorted out a laugh at him.

"I protest to that!" The woman retorted as she stepped back to view the scarecrow properly. "All right, it looks good." She admitted before she blinked. "I mean…as good as a scarecrow can look, I suppose."

John Smith's jaw dropped again. "Clara, you are being unbelievably rude today!"

What? Mother of Mine muttered mentally. She's…Clara? The next few seconds passed by in a blur, and before she knew it, the pair had walked away from Mother of Mine's scarecrow, but she was too busy contemplating to pay them any heed. If she is the same Clara, not only would that explain why she knows the Doctor, but she could lead us to him, wherever he is. Unless…he turned himself Human. Yes, Time Lords had the technology to do that, and it would explain the faint scent. If he did, John Smith is the perfect candidate, right down to knowing all about him, and his banter with Clara…hmm… Mother of Mine mumbled in her head, thinking and thinking before she promptly left the scarecrow's mind to return back to her place in the ship. Could be. Maybe, but we don't have all the information. We need more.

"Wife of Mine."

Mother of Mine's mind calmed a bit at his presence. "Yes, Husband of Mine?"

"The soldiers have spotted a form for you, and it's not too far from the school. Do you want to observe?"

Mother of Mine found herself wanting to grin with joy, if she had a physical form that was. Instead, she kept it to a purring noise. "Why, I would very much like to." Switching to the vision of another scarecrow soldier, standing hidden in a tree line by a road, ordering it to walk out and halt stand still, and it's sudden movement brought a gasping halt to the biker.

"Who's that playing silly beggars? Nearly broke my neck." A woman dressed head to toe in black layers muttered after taking a breath to calm herself. "Who's that, then? Is it you, Saul?" The woman asked, but the scarecrow didn't respond.

"Come out, and take her. And dispose of her transport." Mother of Mine ordered, and more scarecrows popped out of hiding and walked straight up to the woman.

"No, wait, please!" She cried, but the scarecrows took hold of her and just like the two previous forms, gagged her with straw, whilst Mother of Mine's scarecrow disposed of the bike.

"Mother of Mine, what did you find about that couple?"Son of Mine asked as the scarecrows hauled the struggling and weeping woman into the ship, watched closely by Father of Mine and Daughter of Mine.

"They know him, the Doctor." Mother of Mine said. "And the girl, her name is "Clara"."

Son of Mine's eyebrow quirked up. "The same Clara?"

"I don't know. She could be, but we need more information." Mother of Mine said, and Son of Mine nodded.

"Good point, Mother of Mine. They do live in the school, so perhaps we should investigate soon." He said slyly.

"Put her there." Father of Mine ordered, pointing to a spot by a wall, where the scarecrows forced the woman down into a sitting position, huddled against the wall.

"I don't understand." The woman sobbed, and Father of Mine looked at her impassively. "It's Mr. Clark, isn't it?" She asked, and one of Father of Mine's eyebrows went up. "What have I done wrong?" She asked, and Father of Mine blinked before he stepped forward.

"Nothing at all." He answered simply, and now it was the woman's turn to blink. "In fact, you're just what we need, girl."

"Mother of Mine is just so anxious to meet you." Daughter of Mine inputted, earning a look from the woman. "What is your name?" She asked, but the woman's gaze went back to Father of Mine before moving over to Son of Mine.

"Baines?" She muttered with a gulp. "This isn't very funny, sir-"

"I was talking!" Daughter of Mine spat with the slightest twinge of a whine, interrupting the woman who looked with fearful eyes at the little girl. "So shut up! Stop talking, cease and desist all whining, there's a good girl!" When she finished, Daughter of Mine took a deep breath before she smiled. "Like I said, before I was so rudely interrupted, what is your name?"

The woman sniffed, looking back to the little girl. "Ho-Holway. Jenny Holway."

"Why do you Humans do that?" Mother of Mine interrupted, and Jenny, despite the tears and the sniffing, blinked at the voice's words.

"Do…do what?" Jenny asked, looking around but failing to find the source.

"You introduce yourselves last name first. Why?"

Jenny blinked again, earning a little frown. "I…I don't know. We just do."

"Typical." Mother of Mine said with a sigh. "All right. Let me have a look at you."

"Get up." Father of Mine ordered, and Jenny, her form timid and nervous, slowly stood up and moved two feet into the center of the room, looking around for an exit, but they were all blocked by the form of a scarecrow.

"I know what you're thinking, girl." Son of Mine said with his back turned, tenderly taking the last unopened and lit crystal orb in his hands before he turned back around to look at her. ""Is there a way out of here?" Unfortunately, no. The only exit is shut." Son of Mine's simple words made Jenny look more fearful and downtrodden, but no one made a comment as a tense silence fell into the room, filled only by Son of Mine opening up the orb in his hands. Once he did, the gas within floated up into a ball, moved a few feet forward to be mere inches from Jenny's face, and then it stopped. The gas ball never moved any further back or forward, instead it began to circle around Jenny, who in her current terror, and unashamed puzzlement, found herself rooted to the spot, unable to move and unable to tear her eyes away from the gas.

"How old are you, little thing?" Mother of Mine asked in a low voice, almost a whisper, as her gaseous form hovered by Jenny's right ear, pulsing with light and throbbing in movement upon each syllable as she spoke.

"Twe…twenty-six." Jenny stuttered out.

"You looked…older." Was Mother of Mine's response. "Hmmm, you're a little too…plump, should I say. Would have suited you better if you were older." The gaseous creature circled around to hover in front of Jenny's face, and she gave another small purr amongst her muttering. "Wipe the tears from her face, Husband of Mine. I want to see her properly." Father of Mine, with an unkindly hand, wiped away the tears from Jenny's flinching face. "Why did you flinch?" Mother of Mine asked, her gaseous form hovering just an inch closer. "No, don't answer that." She quickly interrupted before Jenny could respond. "Intriguing. You're still afraid." Mother of Mine muttered before the gaseous form hovered back an inch. "Your attire is…a little grim, but it suits. Or, should I say, it will suit, very soon." Mother of Mine said, starting to hover closer and showing no signs of backing away.

"Please…" Jenny tried to say, but Mother of Mine's gaseous form latched onto her head, and her unspoken words were halted with a gasp.

"No, no." Mother of Mine said simply, burrowing herself deeper into Jenny's mind. "Nothing that simple." She said, not even allowing Jenny the courtesy to scream as her mind was obliterated. Her brain died with only one thought left within. That thought was on Jenny's last and only friend. Martha? Who is this Martha Jones?

"Really?" The stranger asked dryly. "She took that long to inspect her…"Form"?"

"Mother of Mine was so unlike Sister of Mine. She was…calculating in her decisions, or at least she tried to be."

The stranger snorted. "The next bit is rather easy to figure out. From the last memory of the maid, your "Muther"," He mocked in a bad Scottish accent, "went to see the maid's friend. Blah blah blah blah blah, stuff stuffety stuff, then under the cover of the oncoming night, you sneak over to the school."

"Yes." Son of Mine answered in a deadpan tone, earning a sigh and an obvious roll of the eyes from the stranger.

"Stiff as a board, this one." The stranger muttered, silently letting Son of Mine carry on with his tale.

5:00pm

"You could say it was wise of us to leave the scarecrows outside the school, for it would have attracted too much attention. So, I, Mother of Mine and Father of Mine walked into the school, up the stairs towards Mr. Smith's room, and barged in. We had to make as little noise as possible, for we didn't want to attract too much attention just yet. That would have been welcomed very soon. We also took the three remaining ray guns that the Family had. Sister of Mine's "Real-self" was expected at a local event, so she would not have required a ray gun. Walking inside the room, we found it, just as we expected, to be completely empty. "Mr. Smith? Ms. Oswald?" I called into the room, and obviously received no answer, to which I just snorted. "No one home."

"The maid was definitely hiding something." Mother of Mine said, taking Mr. Smith's had to inhale the smell, but she came up dry of information. "There's a secret around this Mr. Smith, and Clara is very important to it, somehow."

"Maybe, but I have scented him earlier today. He was plain and simply Human." I responded as I moved over to his desk and picked up a black book. "Although, I have not scented Ms. Oswald."

Father of Mine snorted as he started to search around the room with Mother of Mine. "Clara's scent was blander than wood."

"Yes, but that is more identifiable than any other of these Humans." I responded as I flicked open the book, and on the front, I saw the blue box, the Doctor and Clara's ship. "Well then, Mr. Smith is obviously hiding a secret." I said, and Mother of Mine moved over at once to peer over my shoulder.

"John Smith does know him, or is him, through some Time Lord technology." She said as I flicked a page over, and we smirked at the sight of Clara within the book. "And they do have something between them, if this means anything."

"Quite possibly romantic." I added as Mother of Mine stroked a finger across the cheek of Clara's portrait.

"That could work in our favor." Mother of Mine muttered before she snorted and moved away to continue her search. "Or it will backfire in our faces."

"Ugh, where have they disappeared to?" I growled lightly as I heard Father of Mine halt his searching, and he walked over.

"Son of Mine, I think this might help." He said, and he held up a small poster about the local event, the "Annual Dance", and Mother of Mine chuckled.

"Well, that makes it easy, Son of Mine." She said as I looked over, a smirk sliding back onto my face as I too remembered. "Because Daughter of Mine's already there." She said, voicing hers and my thought aloud.

"We've been invited to the dance." I quipped dryly, tossing the black book back onto the desk as we left the school. "Get some soldiers grouped up by the hall, Father of Mine. Only then will we go inside." It took the scarecrows a little while to group up outside, considering that they are only made of straw and old rags, but once they did, and our ray guns were fully armed, we marched up to the entrance of the hall, greeted first by an old war veteran, holding a cup in his hands, and he gave us a bright grin and a wave.

"Evening all! Spare a penny, sir?!" He asked as I got closer, but I only gave him a brief glance as I restrained the urge to snort.

"I didn't spare you." I said simply as I raised the ray gun and fired, disintegrating him into ash, which we followed up by calmly storming into the hall. It was quite amusing really, watching Father of Mine take command just by simply throwing down a hat hanger, roaring out a command for "Silence!" and killing the Human that protested. "We asked for silence!" I had to order as everyone in the room cowered away, and it thankfully did the job. "Now then, we have a few questions for Mr. Smith, and Ms. Oswald." I looked over at the two in question, the male utterly terrified, but the female, Clara, she was…quite unreadable to say the least.

"No, better than that." Sister of Mine interrupted, who had stood up from her seat to join us. "The teacher, he is the Doctor. I heard them talking."

"You took Human form." I deducted, not without joy, but John just frowned at me.

"Of course I'm Human." He retorted, and I almost rolled my eyes at his denial. "I was born Human, as were you, Baines. And you, Jenny, and you, Mr. Clark." He said to each of us in turn. "What is going on?! This is madness!"

It could have just been me, but I found his behavior rather amusing, and I laughed. "Ooh, and a Human brain too. Simple, thick and dull." I quipped, yet only my Sister found it humorous also as she giggled beside me.

"But he's no good like this." Mother of Mine reminded. "Protesting and thinking we're idiots."

I nodded with a shrug at her words. "Yes, Mother of Mine, you're quite right."

"We need a Time Lord." Father of Mine added as I stepped forward.

"Easily done." I said as I pointed my ray gun straight at John, who unconsciously took a step back. "Change back." I ordered simply.

"I don't know what you're talking about." John retorted, and I growled in response.

"Change back!"

"I literally do not know-" To my surprise, and inner amused relief, Mother of Mine sprang forward, wrapped an arm around Clara's neck and tugged her back towards us. "Clara, no!" John pleaded as Mother of Mine pointed her ray gun straight at Clara's face, and I found myself giving a small sigh in relief.

"She's your lover, isn't she?" Mother of Mine asked. "Doesn't this scare you enough to change back?"

It seemed rather like John found himself unable to answer, his eyes always darting back towards Clara, whose face I could not see. "Have you enjoyed it, Doctor, being Human?" I asked, lowering my gun to grasp it with both hands. "Has it taught you wonderful things? Are you better, richer, wiser? Well then, let's see you answer this: Which one do you want us to take? One to kill, or one to keep? Simple, contradicting Human or long living Time Lord?" I asked, waiting and watching as the man was still unable to answer. "Your lover or your life? Your choice."

"Make your decision, Mr. Smith." Mother of Mine demanded.

"Kane." Tim whispered as he reached into his pocket. "Get ready to run." He just got a nod in response as he held the watch carefully in one hand, one of his fingers ready to open it.

"Perhaps if that Human heart breaks, the Time Lord will emerge." Son of Mine muttered.

"Tim." The watch whispered in his mind, incoherent voices echoing in the background. "Scare them." Tim could see a single memory in his mind from the watch. It looked like a child, with a gas mask, but something about it was…off. Very off. Turning the watch so it would face the Family, he opened it for a split second, sending the memory straight into their heads. "Mummy!" A childish voice called through Tim's mind, sending chills down his spine, and from the way the Family reacted, it seemed like they heard it too.

"What was that?!" Father of Mine gasped, the four of them glancing around in sudden shock and it was just long enough for Clara to detach herself from Mother of Mine's grasp, wrapping her arms around her neck and yanking her away from the Family, where Martha took her place promptly and snatched the ray gun into her own hands.

"All right!" Martha growled as the Family regained their bearings, and both of their remaining guns, held by Father and Son of Mine, aimed straight at Martha as she aimed back, Mother of Mine looking with wide eyes between her captor and her Family. "One more move, and I shoot!" She warned, and Son of Mine smirked in response.

"Oh, the maid is full of fire!" Son of Mine spat gleefully as Martha glowered at him, despite the chill of fear rising up her spine.

"And you can shut up!" Martha spat back, taking a moment to aim the ray gun up at the ceiling and fired, shooting a perfect hole through the roof and letting a small amount of dust start to float down from the hole and into the room.

"Careful, Son of Mine." Father of Mine warned as Son of Mine's eye twitched at Martha's action. "We want to live forever, but we can still die first."

"But if we shoot her first…" Son of Mine started, even as Martha gave a little snort in response.

"Try it. We'll die together." Martha retorted, and Son of Mine squinted one eye at her.

"Would you really pull the trigger?" Son of Mine asked, almost in a mutter. "You look too scared."

"Scared and holding a gun's a good combination." Martha retorted. "Do you want to risk it?" Son of Mine in response looked over at the couple behind her, John Smith still looking terrified and bewildered, but Clara…was just stone. He couldn't tell if it was fear or anger or both. Either way, against his own judgement, he lowered his ray gun, and Father of Mine echoed his choice. "Clara, get everyone out."

"I'm on it." Clara responded, turning to look at the rest of the people in the room. "Everybody out, now!" She ordered. "Don't argue, just get out!" She interrupted before anybody could protest, and everyone, including Tim and Kane, moved quickly to exit the building. "Doctor!" She called, as John found himself slow to react in his fear. "John, hurry up!"

"But what about-"

"Mr. Smith, I think you should escort Clara to safety, don't you?" Martha interrupted, not breaking eye contact with Son of Mine as they stared each other down. She heard John and Clara just exit the hall in time when Mother of Mine wrenched herself from Martha's grasp, who had to back away with a tight grip on the ray gun to keep herself from falling over. "Don't try anything!" She warned, keeping the ray gun pointed up as she started to back away to the exit, yet the Family slowly, like predators, moved to follow her. "I'm warning you, or Sonny boy gets it." She said, giving a slight nod to Son of Mine.

"She's almost brave, this one." Son of Mine remarked lightly.

"I should have taken her form." Mother of Mine agreed. "Better suited all round, you are, and not so plump." She remarked, looking over Martha's form, her action making the woman get a cold shiver. "How old are you? Just below 30?" She asked, and when Martha didn't answer, she smirked. "A young woman out of her time. The things you must have seen." She muttered, as Martha vehemently shook her head.

"Stop it." She growled, keeping a tight two-handed grasp on the ray gun. "What did you do to Jenny?"

Mother of Mine blinked at that and gave a little shrug. "She was consumed."

"You mean she's dead." Martha deducted, and Mother of Mine just gave her a look in response.

"What else could I have meant?" Mother of Mine retorted. "Yes, she is dead, and her body's mine." She said before she blinked. "How odd that even in the end, she was still so very afraid. I would say that I did try to let her die with some precious dignity, but I'm afraid that it would be a lie, what with all the whimpering and the crying and the pleading. I'll say, her face was a disgusting mess after only a minute. I do wonder how you would have done in her place. Would you have been any braver, full of wit and biting courage? Or would you have been just the same? A groveling, pleading, crying mess?"

"Yeah, nice try." Martha retorted, and she quickly aimed her ray gun at a nearby table and fired, the blast combusting the table into splinters that forced the Family to cover their eyes with their arms, and in that moment, Martha used it to retreat from the building.

"Get the gun!" Son of Mine ordered but it was too late even for the scarecrow soldiers, as Martha had left the building. When they moved to pursue, exiting out the front door and down the tiny flight of stone steps, they could see Martha's silhouette fading into the darkness with the retreating audience of the hall. Growling out in a barely contained, arrogant rage, Son of Mine raised his ray gun and fired, but all of his shots either just impacted upon stone, shattering it into powder, or upon grass, cindering it but doing too much damage to set it aflame. But his efforts didn't matter, for Martha's silhouette had already disappeared into the darkness. "Ah, super!" Son of Mine growled out as the Family stood at the entrance of the hall, the small group of scarecrow soldiers standing behind them.

"We only have two weapons left." Father of Mine warned from behind Son of Mine. "We can't put ourselves into the line of fire anymore. It's too risky."

Son of Mine gave a "Mmm" in response. "I guess we'll have to create more soldiers." He said, turning to look at Mother of Mine. "They'll have gone back to the school, now. Tell me, Mother of Mine, that form of yours seemed to know the maid, as you said so. What else does she know?" He asked.

Mother of Mine closed her eyes with a sigh, letting her mind recess into the empty shell of a brain that once belonged to Jenny. "Martha Jones." She heard herself mutter in the physical world, but her body was numb and left to stand completely still. Diving through the mind, she could feel tiny traces flittering about like the grey smoke from a burning candle. Some of them, she found, were completely inconsequential. But some did provide a touch of what she needed. It all amounted to one thing. "Lunch break." Mother of Mine muttered finally. "Martha would go for a bike ride, but it was always west. She never changed it, always west." There was now no more information to be collected, and Mother of Mine returned back to reality. "Husband of Mine, follow the route out west. Martha must have had a reason to always and only head out west, don't you think?" She asked rhetorically, and Father of Mine nodded.

"But we'll need the ray gun, and more soldiers tonight." Son of Mine interjected.

"The ship first, then." Father of Mine concluded before he handed over the ray gun to Son of Mine and stood up straight. "Soldiers!" He ordered simply before walking off with the scarecrows behind them.

"Sister of Mine." Son of Mine said simply, holding out the ray gun to her, and she took it with a smile before he took Mother of Mine's arm in his, and she wrapped her other arm around Sister of Mine's shoulders. "Well then…let's go to school."

Racing up to the front entrance of the school, the trio consisting of John, Clara and Martha all exchanged puzzled yet worried looks as they could hear the school bell being rung repeatedly without falter, and as they sprinted inside, slamming the front door behind them, they saw Kane and Tim trying to reach for the bell, yet the Headmaster was holding it back with a stern look on his face. "What in thunder's name are you two doing?!" He demanded, Kane and Tim halting themselves briefly at his order.

"Enemy at the door, sir!" They reported in unison. Their "Break of Character" must have provided a small amount of shock to Rodrick as he found himself unable to respond for a moment before he collected himself together again.

"Before I devise an excellent and endless series of punishments upon you two for your act at this ungodly hour, I demand you to explain your intentions behind this!"

"It's Jeremy Baines, sir!" Kane responded. "He's gone mad! Him and Mr. Clark, and they're about to attack the school!"

"Are they now?!" Rodrick retorted as if he didn't believe them, but when John and Clara stepped up to stand behind the two students, the fire in his eyes began to falter.

"It's true, sir, every word." John said grimly. "They have gone mad, and they murdered…" John stopped at that as his breathing turned shaky, and it made Rodrick blink.

"Murder? On our own soil?" He reiterated.

"It was Mr. Chambers, sir." Clara inputted. "He asked them what was going on, and they shot him."

"Just like that?" Rodrick reiterated, and Clara nodded, making him sigh. "So why would the danger come here?" He asked, and it made the couple glance at each other with a blink.

"Well, they said…" They started in unison before Kane interrupted.

"Baines threatened them both at gun point, sir. They never said why. They just did."

Rodrick took a small breath before he nodded. "Perhaps you all did well then." He said as he glanced down at the bell in his hands. "Mr. Smith, you will assist the teachers in arming the school, Ms. Oswald, you will have to alert Mrs. Redfern and prepare yourselves for the coming night. Same goes for you Ms. Jones." He said to Martha before clearing his throat. "Move it." He ordered simply, and the group dispersed from the room as Rodrick walked down to stand at the base of the stairs and started to vehemently ring the bell. "To arms! To arms!"

"Will you listen to that?" Mother of Mine remarked as they stood quite a distance away from the entrance of the school. "They're sounding the alarms. What chaos must be going on in there." She muttered with glee.

"You must not be so pleased, Mother of Mine." Son of Mine admonished lightly. "Without the Time Lord, these bodies are weak, and can still die. And they will be arming themselves, with guns." He added after a small shiver that he gave, remembering for a split second the agonizing pain he felt when he lost his fingers on a battlefield yet to come.

Mother of Mine sighed. "Yes, you're quite right." She admitted before she looked down upon her daughter. "Daughter of Mine." She said, earning a glance from the girl. "You're such a small little thing, aren't you?" She remarked, and Daughter of Mine understood what she was referring to. "Find a way in and spy on them." She whispered into the girl's ear, and she let the girl go to prance off into the night, unseen and unheard. Then, right behind them, they heard the rustling of leaves and twisting of branches, and they turned to see scarecrows emerging from the tree line, and they smiled.

"They've got their army, but so do we."

"What is going on?!" Joan demanded to Clara just as she finished putting on her nurse's outfit, moving quickly into one of the storage rooms at the back of the school's Ground Floor, and it was a chaotic mess. Students and teachers were handing out rifles and prepping them with ammunition, whilst Rodrick was walking out to the front entrance of the school with another teacher, Mr. Phillips, who was of similar age, but had dark brown, almost black hair, and a clean-shaven face. "Clara, what is going on?!" Joan demanded again, earning a quick glance from an equally anxious Clara, who to her surprise, was still dressed in the green outfit, not even bothering to change.

"It's Baines, and Mr. Clark from Oakham farm." Clara answered, not looking at Joan as she darted her eyes around the busy room. "They murdered Mr. Chambers at the hall, and now they're coming here." The answer seemed to make Joan need to take a breath, but Clara was already moving away, muttering vehement denials under her breath. "No, John!" She called, moving over to the man that had just picked up a rifle, and was looking at it like it was the plague. "You can't!" She said, and as he glanced up at her, she saw that his eyes were clouded. Is that fear? It must be fear. The Doctor was never afraid of guns, he was afraid of…holding them. Using them.

"I…" He gave a little chuckle before he shook his head and placed the rifle back down again. "Phone. Need to contact the police." He said, moving out of the room as Clara quickly followed, being watched closely by Martha and Joan.

"John, they are just boys! You can't ask them to fight!" Clara protested, and he stopped to turn around, waving his arms up in exasperation.

"I don't know what else to do!" He cried back, even as his lip quivered. "We-we could just contact the police, get them to deal with this." He muttered, but when he went to use the phone, he found the line itself was cut, leaving the phone utterly useless. "Well then, we will have to deal with it ourselves." He rambled, darting his gaze around the room and back to Clara again as he stepped away from the dead phone. "After all, these boys won't be boys much longer, in fact they're cadets-"

"John, stop it!" Clara interrupted, and he paused in his rambling to properly look at her wide eyes. "Can you not hear yourself?" She asked, stepping forward to take his hands in hers. "This is wrong. What you are doing is wrong and you know it." She tried to plead, but he shook his head.

"Clara, they would have killed you just to get to me." He refuted before blinking. "Well, not even me, exactly, just some man that is me but isn't me, but I don't care, I can't let you get killed." He finally said, and Clara sighed.

"John, I can't let you take up arms, not even for me. It's wrong, for the both of us." She said solemnly.

"But we don't have any other choice." John refuted, but she shook her head.

"There is always another way. The way you are wanting to go is wrong." She argued again, and he slowly let go of her hands, looking down at the floor with blinking eyes.

"You saw it, didn't you? I couldn't even touch a rifle without feeling…" For some strange reason, John did not know how to finish that sentence, and he chuckled bitterly under his breath. "Is that all me? Or that…the Doctor? Do we both think the same, Clara?" He asked, but Clara was not able to answer, for a fearful Kane stepped quickly into the room behind Clara.

"Mr. Smith, sir, they're here." He said, and both John and Clara's expression melted into one: Dread.

"What are they doing?" He asked, hiding the urge to gulp.

"They're outside the door, talking to the Headmaster."

That made John look up and Clara turn around with wide eyes. "What?!" They yelled in unison, rushing from the room, leaving Kane to follow them as they moved into the storage room, where the chaos had turned into muttering anxious whispers from students and teachers that were crowding at the windows.

"What is he doing?" Clara muttered, him, John and Kane moving to a spare window, and outside the front door stood Rodrick, a fellow teacher by name of Mr. Phillips, and in front of them, facing them, was Son of Mine, Mother of Mine, and…a very large group of silent, unmoving scarecrows.

Rodrick and Mr. Phillips, a teacher of similar age but with dark brown, almost black hair, stood outside the entrance to the school, staring at the two people they recognized, and the strange company they had brought with them. It took them a little while to speak, the teachers glancing at each other for a second before Rodrick stepped forward. "So, Baines and one of the cleaning staff. There's always a woman involved." He remarked dryly, and for a single moment, it made Mother of Mine chuckle at him, but it was a very…unkindly chuckle that made him get a cold shiver before he regained himself in a split second. "Am I to gather that some practical joke has got out of hand?"

"Headmaster, sir. Good evening, sir. Come to give me a caning, sir?" Son of Mine asked in a quick tone that yet again took the two teachers aback for a moment. "Would you like that, sir?" Son of Mine continued, earning deep frowns from Rodrick and Mr. Phillips.

"Keep a civil tongue, boy." Rodrick retorted, yet Son of Mine did not emote back in response.

"Come on, everyone, we can settle down, now." Mr. Phillips tried to interject, but he just received head tilting glances from the two, and it made him gulp for a moment. "Who are these friends of yours, Baines, in fancy dress?"

"Do you like them, Mr. Phillips?" Son of Mine asked, but he gave them no room to answer. "I made them myself." He continued as he moved to stand beside one of the scarecrows and as he did, he took out from his pocket his green ray gun, but kept it pointing down at the ground. "I'm ever so good at science, sir. Look." Without taking his eyes away from the two teachers, he raised his free hand up, grasped onto the scarecrow's arm and yanked it effortlessly from its socket, leaving bits of straw to float and flutter about before drifting down to the ground. "Molecular fringe animation fashioned in the shape of straw men." Son of Mine explained before he tossed the arm down to the ground, and the scarecrow did not protest, not in the slightest. "My own private army, sir. It's ever so good, sir." He said once again in a fast pace that took the teachers aback, if only for a moment.

"Baines, step apart from this company and come inside with me." Rodrick ordered, holding out a hand, but Son of Mine growled in response.

"No, sir. You sir, you will send us Mr. John Smith." He drawled the name out as he started to step forward. "That's all we want, sir, Mr. John Smith and whatever he's done with his Time Lord consciousness." He said before he stopped his walking and smiled. "Well…him and Ms. Clara Oswald, the bossy little English teacher that thinks she can play as a nurse. We will have them both, then we'd be very happy to leave you alone."

"You are not Baines." Rodrick growled out in a low mutter, and it made Son of Mine raise his eyebrows, but only for a moment. "Who are you that would speak with his voice in such a manner?"

"We are the Family of Blood." Son of Mine answered, but his voice bore no form of a warm greeting at all.

"Mr. Smith and Ms. Oswald said there had been-"

"Deaths?" Son of Mine interrupted, his expression finally bearing a genuine smile on it, but it was cold. "Oh yes, sir, and they were good, sir." Son of Mine spat out gleefully.

"Well, I warn you, this school is armed." Rodrick said, but Son of Mine snorted.

"All your little tin soldiers." Son of Mine remarked as he crossed his arms behind his back. "But tell me, sir, will they thank you?"

Rodrick blinked in puzzlement at that. "I…I don't understand."

"What do you know of history, sir? What do you know of next year?" Son of Mine reiterated in further question, but it just made the man blink again.

"You're not making sense-"

"1914, sir!" Son of Mine interrupted with a growl, stepping forward and only coming to a stop until he was but a few feet from Rodrick. "Our Family has travelled far and wide looking for those two and, oh, the things we have seen." He said, his voice now lowering from a growl to almost a mutter, and he blinked. "There is a war coming. In foreign fields, war of the whole wide world, and I was there." He admitted, and it made the two teachers blink. "Not in this form, of course, but I was there. It was…dark, the ground was covered with bodies of the fallen, those that had not fallen were still fighting, and the screams." His smile turned cold, but it was betrayed by a single tear that descended from his left eye. "I screamed, in a trench, when I lost these fingers." He held up his left hand, which was perfectly fine by all accounts. Then, he lowered his hand again, and looked back at Rodrick. "Do you think your students will thank you for all of that? For all the blood, and the screams, and the fire?" He asked, drawing out the final word with a low growl. "Do you think they will thank the man who taught them it was glorious?" He asked finally, the tear on his left cheek falling down to the ground, the trail it left still shiny in the moonlight.

"Don't you forget, boy, I've been a soldier." Rodrick growled back, but it just earned a head tilt from Son of Mine, as he stepped calmly forward. "I was in South Africa, and I used my dead mates for sandbags. I fought with the butt of my rifle when the bullets ran out and I would go back there tomorrow for King and Country-"

"Liar!" Son of Mine roared as he stopped walking, the word getting thrown in Rodrick's face and he was forced to take a step back. "I tried to figure you out earlier today." Son of Mine admitted, his voice softer but no less cold. ""Is this man a fool, or a patriot, or both?" But now I know. Look at your hand." Rodrick, blinking and unwillingly, let his gaze drop down to his hands by his sides, and they were trembling, despite his best efforts to stop it. With shaky breath, he glanced back up to see Son of Mine grinning coldly at him. "You are just a fool, trying to appear brave in the face of death." At that, the smile, once genuine, became a bit too tight, a bit too fake, and Rodrick thought he could see something flicker in Son of Mine's eyes. Something like a flame that began to tremble in wind. "You are just a mirror, and we're the ones staring inside." Son of Mine's voice fell almost into a trembling whisper, betraying his still fake smile as he blinked. "It always comes back to haunt you, being a fool." Son of Mine said as he stepped back a few paces and clenched his jaw, his smile disappeared to leave only a hollow expression filled only with those trembling eyes. "I'm afraid, sir, that your ghosts have arrived, and you can no longer outrun them." Without another word, Son of Mine raised his ray gun up, pointed straight at Mr. Phillips and fired, the blast disintegrating the man into screaming ashes, leaving Rodrick all by himself, trembling and sweating in fear. "Run along, Headmaster, run back to school. Board up your entrance and arm yourselves, if only to give you a little comfort." Son of Mine spat as his cold grin came back and his trembling eyes came back into control once more. "But we shall have the two we seek!" Son of Mine roared out and to get Rodrick into action, he fired a ray gun blast at a school stone wall, shattering it to pieces, and Rodrick fled into the school without a single word of retort.

Quiet. Daughter of Mine muttered as she crept silently through the school before moving to hide inside a very small cupboard, keeping the door open ajar so she could spy into the next room where most of the students and the two people her Family wanted most were standing, silent but uneasy. After a few small, aggravatingly boring minutes, she heard a man scream outside, a stone wall crumble and burst before the front door of the school opened and shut. Then, she saw a balding man with glasses move into the room, but the position he took inside made it unable for her to see him, but all she cared about was those two. "Mr. Phillips…has been murdered." The man said after what must have been a gulp. "Mr. Smith, Ms. Oswald, can either of you tell me why?"

"Honestly, sir, I have no idea." John answered, and his answer made Daughter of Mine frown.

"And the telephone line's been disconnected, sir." Clara inputted from beside him. "We're on our own."

It's a trick. It must be. His Time Lord scent came back with him to the school. Then, Daughter of Mine blinked to herself. Unless…maybe it came back, but not WITH him. And it can't be with Clara, she was restrained, unable to use her hands. And it's not with the maid, her hands were bare and in clean view. So…maybe it's with one of the students. Maybe.

"If we have to make a fight of it, then make a fight we shall." Rodrick said, trying to presume an authoritative voice, yet Daughter of Mine could not tell if his expression was true to his words. "We'll fortify ourselves in the courtyard, bar the main gate and set up a barricade. Gentlemen, ladies, in the name of the king, we shall stand against them!"

Fool. Daughter of Mine thought as she quickly left the cupboard and sped quietly up the staircase before anyone could notice, moving to hide next to a Second-Floor window overlooking the courtyard beside the front entrance. He is a fool, and afraid. But those two… Her inner musing trailed off as she watched students and teachers barring and barricading up a massive charcoal black gate at the courtyard entrance, yet as she observed, she saw a single student, being led from the courtyard and back into the school by one Clara Oswald. Didn't…didn't I see that kid at the village hall? I thought there was something off about him. Maybe… Without finishing the thought, Daughter of Mine hid further into the shadows of the room and opened a mental link to her family.

"Son of Mine, Daughter of Mine, Wife of Mine." Father of Mine called out first, but Daughter of Mine listened nonetheless.

"Father of Mine. What have you found?" Son of Mine asked.

"Their TARDIS. The Doctor and Clara cannot escape." Father of Mine answered.

"Good. Keep a close guard on it, but don't bring it out just yet. We'll play it close to our chests." Son of Mine said, and Father of Mine's silence was enough of a response before he chuckled. "The soldiers gather and there is nowhere for them to run. War has come to England a year in advance." Son of Mine muttered on the other end of the link.

"Family of Mine, wait." Daughter of Mine interrupted, and she felt and heard them grow silent. "Hold the soldiers back. The Time Lord and his consort are playing some sort of trick." Daughter of Mine reported.

"Discover them out, Sister of Mine." Was all Son of Mine said in response, and it was enough for her to investigate.

"Quickly, Tim, get those bags piled up!" Kane ordered to Tim as they prepared the little barricade in the courtyard. "Could mean the difference between life and death for us." He quickly added, earning a glance from Tim in return.

"Not for us." Was all Tim said, and it made Kane give him a little knowing smile. However, their small moment was broken as Clara stepped in between them with a cough.

"Sorry for interrupting, but I'm afraid you need to come with me, Latimer." She said, not giving Tim a chance to protest as she took him by the hand and led him away, Tim only managing to send a worried glance in Kane's direction before he was dragged into an empty classroom, and Clara let go of his arm to shut the door. "Do you still have it?" She asked, but she held up a hand as Tim went for his pocket. "Just a "Yes" or "No" will be fine."

"Yes, Ms. Oswald." Tim answered.

"Then you will need to hide within the school." Clara said simply, and when Tim just blinked, she rolled her eyes and began to move him not unkindly out of the room. "Go on! Hide!" She ushered, and Tim left her alone in the room, that was until Martha came into just a few short seconds after him, closing the door behind her. Without a single word between them, they moved up and brought each other into a warm and much needed hug, before they parted with only their hands linked. "How have you been?" Clara asked, but Martha shook her head vehemently.

"Don't mind me. What about you? Are you okay?" Martha asked, but Clara just shook her head.

"I…I never thought it would be so…difficult to let him go, in the end." Clara muttered, her eyes kept glancing down to the floor, but a gentle squeeze of her hand from Martha brought her eyes back up again.

"I'm sorry, Clara." Was all she said, and was all she needed to say, but Clara just gave her a sad smile in return.

"You're going to have to give me a moment alone with him, before the fighting starts." The very thought made Clara give a sorrowful sigh before she shook her head to clear it off and brought Martha into one final hug. "Be careful." She said before she left from the room.

"You too." Martha called back as Clara strode through the school, walking towards the base of the stairwell where she could hear John giving out a command to two students.

"You're with Armitage and Thwaites. They know the drill." John said, and the two students, armed with rifles, left the room without a word, and John turned to look at Clara, where she could see that despite him trying to look brave, his eyes betrayed that mask. "Clara, it's not safe." He said, walking up to her, but she shook her head with a sad smile.

"It's not safe for either of us at the moment." Clara retorted with a small smile and blinking eyes as he took her hands, but it did nothing to stop them from trembling. "It was a fine evening, wouldn't you agree?" She asked, and he nodded with a little chuckle.

"Not quite as planned." He agreed, and she chuckled a little, but it quickly turned shaky that made his small smile fade. "Clara?"

"I…" Clara had to gulp to keep the knot in her throat down. "I never…" She trailed off again, feeling her eyes beginning to blur, and she blinked. "I'm sorry, John." She finally said, but her voice was little more than a whimper, even as she felt his hand cup her cheek. "I know that you never expected this to happen, that everything in your life is a lie and that I'm a lie and a coward-"

"Clara." He quickly interrupted her ramble, and she blinked up at him, but kept silent. "This is all true, right?" He asked, and when she nodded, he slipped one hand to the place where her dead heart was sitting. "Then what happened?" He asked simply, and Clara gave a sad, trembling smile.

"Rose." She answered, and his expression turned sad. "A dear friend who didn't know what she was doing." She added simply with a small gulp as she tentatively looked back up at him. "Does that help? Does that answer any fear-"

"Clara, stop." He interrupted, and she sniffed with a small shake of her head. "Do you really think none of it was ever real?" He asked, and she blinked.

"You're taking this all rather easy." She said, but a small stern glare from him silenced her.

"I'm not taking this easy, Clara." John admitted, but he took a small breath to calm his shaking. "And neither are you. So, was none of it real to you?" He asked again, and she shook her head.

"It was just your life." She said, and he wiped a stray tear with his thumb. "Not all of it was a lie." She said, her eyes imploring for him to see the truth before she continued. "You not bearing the idea to carry a gun, that is true."

"Is that something-"

"Oh, to hell if that's what the Doctor is like!" Clara spat, making John blink, and his small action made Clara's eyes widen and her lip quivered. "No, that's not…" She trailed off with a small sob before she took a breath to look back up at him. "John, please, you can't let them fight. They're just boys, they won't be able to handle it, and neither will you." She pleaded.

"Mr. Smith, if you please!" Rodrick called from outside, and just now they realized that the scuffling footsteps of students and teachers had ceased around them, and John gave a sigh with a small, defeated shrug.

"What choice do I have Clara?" He asked, and she blinked with a sad smile.

"You always have a choice." She said, and he returned the sad smile.

"I'm sorry, but I have to go." On that note, he leant forward to press one kiss upon her lips before he parted, letting go of her hands. "Please, Clara, stay here and keep yourself safe. Please." He pleaded, not waiting for an answer as he left the room, and Clara just looked down dejectedly at her hands before she inhaled a shaky breath.

"Damn you, Doctor." She whimpered, half of her voice a genuine anger, the other half…longing.

Where are you, little boy? Where are you? Daughter of Mine hummed in her head, silently pacing through the lower levels of the school, trying to follow the faint scent, taking a small moment to hide in a closet on the Ground Floor as she saw John Smith walk out of a room and towards the courtyard entrance. The Doctor going to join the fight? Hmm…from what we've heard…that may backfire in his face. Daughter of Mine mused as she slinked out of the closed and away from the entrance to pace further into the school. The scent kept leading her from room to empty room, sometimes to a closet or right back to the hallway, but the source of it all seemed to be in the center, right around the stairwell. Slowing her pace down to a creep, almost a crawl, she craned her ears and her eyes around the corners, looking straight at the stairwell, and right at the bottom, was the darkened figure of the boy Clara had led from the courtyard, sitting alone, looking at something in his hands but she couldn't see what it was. Then, all of a sudden, he glanced up to look at her, and what he was holding he put behind his back as he stood up, his features becoming properly illuminated as he stepped out from the shadows.

"Keep away." He warned, but Daughter of Mine just inhaled deeply, breathing in the scent coming from…whatever it was he kept hidden away in his grasp. "I know who you are. You're with that Family, from the dance."

He's been paying attention? Not bad…I think. "Who are you?" Daughter of Mine asked with squinting eyes. "What are you hiding?"

"Nothing." The boy dismissed just a bit too quickly.

"What have you got there?" She asked again.

"Nothing." He repeated, this time in a calmer voice, and it made her snarl impatiently.

"Show me, little boy." She snarled, bringing out her ray gun to aim it straight at his face.

To her surprise, and offense, the kid found it hard to not laugh at her, and she blinked at his barely contained sniggers. "You're serious? Think that I can get threatened by a little girl?" He asked, then all of a sudden, he stopped, and began to squint, but his eyes weren't entirely focused on her. "I wonder…" He muttered under his breath as he began to smile, and for whatever reason, Daughter of Mine did not like that sight. "I reckon, no matter who you are, you're still in the body of a little girl. How strong is she, do you think?" He asked and she began to blink in fear, not noticing that her grip on her gun was beginning to slacken. "Does she really want to see this?" Without any further warning, the boy raised his hand up to reveal that he was carrying a silver pocket watch, but before Daughter of Mine could do anything about it, he flicked the watch open for a split second and a small stream of golden light shot out and into her eyes. For a moment, Daughter of Mine was in a completely different room, standing at the foot of a steel stairwell. Beside her was a red headed woman in a white bride's dress, and above her was the Doctor, dressed much differently than John Smith. Around her was rain and fire, but she could neither smell nor feel any of it. However, she could most definitely hear it. Turning around, she saw a mass amount of water pouring into a gaping hole in the floor, and…there was a giant, crimson red spider. At least it looked like a spider, till she glanced at the horrific humanoid body that was attached. Daughter of Mine gave a sharp intake of breath at the sight of the spider, her previously raised arm dropping back to her side as the creature screamed and wailed in agony.

"No! My children!"

Turning back around, she saw the Doctor, staring at the spider in cold silence, at it made her tremble, her hands beginning to shake in fear, and then, she began to run. Her vision quickly turned into a blur, but she felt herself running on wooden floorboards until she ran straight into a wall, her head spinning and throbbing before her vision focused back into reality. She was still in the school, still in the same hallway, just facing a wall. Turning back around, she saw that the boy had vanished, and she was about to raise her arm to shoot at something when she felt a sudden dread was over her. The ray gun was gone, and it was not in the room. The boy must have stolen it after he had used the watch on her. She could also feel the distant voices of her Family calling to her in her mind, but she had to pause to calm herself as best she could, regaining her breath despite the fearful shaking in her hands. But if there was something positive to take from this, she had done it. She had found where the Time Lord, the real proper Time Lord was hiding. Inside a pocket watch, kept hidden by a craven schoolboy.

"Sister of Mine! What was that?! We felt-"

"Family of Mine, I have found him." Sister of Mine interrupted, and she felt her brother, father and mother all grow silent, and she continued. "His consciousness is kept inside a pocket watch, and it is in the hands of a schoolboy, hiding within the school." She felt it best not to mention the missing ray gun just yet, and it was the right choice, considering that she felt her Family smiling both proudly and in relief.

"Then it is time to begin." Son of Mine said at last. "Sister of Mine, get out of the school." He ordered simply, and Daughter of Mine conceded, moving quickly and silently to the back entrance, slinking off into the darkness as she heard Son of Mine barking out commands. "Soldiers! What are you waiting for?! Attack!"

"Attack!" The students and teachers heard Son of Mine order from outside the closed and barred wooden gate, and Rodrick moved to stand beside an armed John Smith, right behind Kane, who was position at the handle and trigger of the large machine gun, one that he had used for practice much earlier in the day.

"Stand to!" Rodrick ordered, yet John could see that Rodrick's hands were trembling, and it wasn't from the ice-cold air of the night. And yet, what was followed was complete and utter silence, filled only with the unsteady breathing of everyone present. Right until, without any warning, they heard a ray gun fire from outside the gate, and immediately, Rodrick yelled, "Get down!"

The ray gun hit its intended target, the wooden gate, and it burst into smoldering pieces, the students and teachers all screaming as they dropped down behind the any cover that they could get behind, and the combusted gate was accompanied by the sound of the nearby windows shattering from the flying pieces of wood. After this, the courtyard fell into a deadly silence, filled only by the ragged breathing of everyone currently present as they stood cautiously back up, yet their vision was clouded by the heavy fog of smoke, and they had to cover their mouths, even as they started to cough. "Stand to!" Rodrick ordered as best as he could, and a lot, but not all, responded to his order, even with slight hesitation. "Stand to!" He ordered again, but the few students and a couple of teachers that were lying on the floor did not move. When everyone glanced down at the motionless figures, they could see, for as short of a moment as they wanted to, that…they were bleeding. Pieces of thin, long wood were jutting out from their faces, their eyes staring without emotion. AS the silence grew thicker and heavier, they heard a small croaking gasp, and a young boy was gasping on the ground by the broken gate, a long, thick piece of wood impaled into his neck.

"Somebody help…" John's words were cut off as a scarecrow stepped through the smoke, which had started to quickly ease away, clearing their vision, yet it was still no farther than the gate. The scarecrow stared at them all, and the remaining students and teachers, including John and Rodrick were staring at it with wide eyes. In the uneasy moment, the scarecrow glanced down to the gasping student by its feet, growing weaker by the second, and it promptly leaned down, wrapped a gloved straw filled hand around the wood and pulled it out. The student let out a croak, even as his eyes began to droop and his movements grew weaker and weaker, but the scarecrow paid him no more mind. Instead, it turned its head to glance back up to the armed school group still watching it, but it's empty gaze was fixed on John. Then, without a word, as the smoke began to ease away like a curtain, more scarecrows, standing still, appeared behind it, all staring straight ahead at them, without emotion. Then, not removing their gazes from them, the scarecrows started to advance, stepping carelessly over the boy's body as they did.

"Open fire!" Rodrick ordered, and everyone present, ducking back behind the any cover, re-armed themselves with rifles and fired upon the scarecrows. The courtyard began to ring with the sound of bullet fire, the students flinching at the sound and their hands shook as they tried to hold their rifles steady, but with the sheer number of scarecrows, none of the bullets missed, all hitting them point blank. The scarecrows, immediately gaining wounds of bleeding straw, started to writhe on the spot, some starting to collapse to the ground on their knees.

John Smith held up his rifle, cocked it and aimed straight at the advancing mob. Yet, even as his finger caressed the trigger, he felt as though his own body was screaming, "No!". He tried to inhale a deep breath to calm himself, but every second he held that rifle as it was meant to be held, he felt his trembling growing worse. His hands shook, the rifle trembling just a tiny bit, and he tore his eyes away from the scarecrows to look at everyone present. The students, trembling just as bad as he was, had shiny rivers flowing down from their eyes as they stared with mourning pity at the scarecrows. Rodrick himself, unarmed and standing behind Kane, looked as if he couldn't stand the sight of it all, and Kane himself looked like he was about to take a sharp object and smash the large machine gun to pieces. AS more of the scarecrows kept falling down to the ground, John glanced back to the rifle in his hands, and he felt his hands removing the bullets from the rifle and readying themselves to drop the cursed tool, ready to end this whole fight. Before he had even started fighting, John Smith had already decided that he wanted no more of this. No more of all this fighting. No more-

"Cease fire!" Rodrick yelled as the rest of the scarecrows fell to their knees and stopped moving as they lay flat on the ground, and John Smith, with a sigh of relief, dropped the rifle to the ground, but nobody paid his action any mind. Even Rodrick ignored it, who stepped over the tiny sandbag wall and he started to walk amongst the fallen scarecrows, the ground littered with…"Straw." Rodrick muttered as he squatted down to pick up a detached scarecrow arm, yet it only felt solid due to it only being filled with straw. "Like he said. Just straw." Rodrick muttered, his shaking hand dropping the arm as he stood back up, staring out into the empty night beyond the ruined gate.

Behind them, they heard the school door open with a long creak, and out came the frightened looks of Martha, Joan and Clara, the last of which had draped over her dress a large and thick black coat, even as the lowest part of the dress that hung around her shins still poked its way out from under the coat. As soon as they saw the sight of bodies covered with straw in the courtyard, Martha gave a shaky gulp, Clara froze, and Joan put her hands over her mouth. John looked straight at Clara with a pleading gaze, and she did her best to give him a reassuring smile, but it was a little too shaky to fulfill the job.

"Stand to!" Rodrick suddenly yelled as a small figure came walking towards them, but as it came into view, revealing itself to be a little girl, Rodrick held up a hand. "Stand down!" He ordered, and any that had re-armed themselves, which wasn't many, lowered their weapons, all staring with wide eyes at the girl, yet for John, Clara, Martha and Kane, it was for different reasons. "You, child. It's "Cartwright", is it not? Come out of the way." He ushered, holding out a hand to Daughter of Mine, who was staring with dull eyes at the Headmaster.

"Mr. Rocastle, don't go near her!" Martha blurted out, and Rodrick glanced back at her with a dull glare.

"Behave yourself, and remember your place." He warned lightly, but Martha ignored it.

"Listen to me, she's part of it. She's with that Family." Martha pleaded.

"She was." Clara inputted, but who inputted next was Mrs. Redfern.

"Mr. Rocastle, I believe Clara. Please, step away from her." Joan said, even if there was a little spark of puzzlement in her eyes, but Clara gave her a thankful look, despite the hint of grimness in her features.

"Mrs. Redfern, Ms. Oswald, I have seen many strange things this night, but there is no cause on God's Earth that would allow me to see this child in the field of battle!" Rodrick retorted a little louder than he intended, and he tried to calm his outstretched hand as he looked back to Daughter of Mine. "Come with me." He ushered, yet, to their shock, Daughter of Mine smiled, trying to contain a giggle in her throat.

"Funny. You're funny." Daughter of Mine remarked, but in an instant, the smile went venomous and her hand reached into her coat. "And a fool." She spat, and before anyone could move, she whipped out the Family's last ray gun and vaporized Rodrick into screaming ashes. Everyone present either cried or gasped, and she growled, aiming the ray gun straight at them. "Quiet!" She snarled, and looked straight at Martha. "You, maid! I believe you have something of ours! Give it back!" She demanded, and with a shaky gulp, Martha withdrew the ray gun she held in her pocket. When Martha saw Daughter of Mine squint her glaring eyes at her, Martha let her shoulders slouch and she carefully tossed the ray gun across the ground, which stopped a couple of inches away from Daughter of Mine's feet. "Thank you." She smiled, but as her gaze flittered about the courtyard between student, teacher, maid or nurse, she still did not lower her ray gun. "Now who among you is capable of shooting me?" She asked, but the only answer she received was a small gulp from a shaking John Smith.

"Put down your guns." He ordered, and everyone gave him frightened yet confused looks at his command. "You will retreat in an orderly fashion back through the school." He continued, even as some of the attention was transferred over to watching Son of Mine stepping over the mess on the courtyard ground to stand beside Daughter of Mine, his ever-present permanent half smirk plastered onto his face.

"You have made up for your mistake beautifully, Sister of Mine." Son of Mine spoke through their minds, placing a hand on her shoulder for a moment, and the girl smiled in pleased relief. Then, Son of Mine stepped one pace in front of her, knelt down, picked up the ray gun and stood back up, clasping two hands over the ray gun behind his body. "Re-animate." He ordered mentally in a low mutter, and then, to everyone's horror, the scarecrows, dripping with loose straw, stood slowly back up and then turned around to look at them all before standing completely still. "Well? I do believe you have all received a new order." Son of Mine called as his eyes widened in gleeful madness. "Run!" He ordered at the top of his lungs, pointing the ray gun up into the sky and firing one blast, and it set the courtyard back into chaos. Everyone, including the TARDIS trio and Joan, began to run back into the school, and the scarecrows gave a slow, almost predatory pursuit, cutting off a large group from escaping and rounding them up to huddle in shivering discomfort and terror inside a dark classroom.

"One of them has it." A sudden, purring voice entered the room in the form of Mother of Mine, followed swiftly by her son and daughter. "Is he one of these boys, Daughter of Mine?" Mother of Mine asked, and Daughter of Mine moved around to closely inspect them all one by one, bare minutes ticking by as she kept muttering under her breath before she came to the last boy and gave a low growl.

"No, he is not here."

"Nor his friend?" Son of Mine added but Daughter of Mine shook her head again. "Right. Then we can kill this lot-" However, just as he was about to finish, the Time Lord's scent flared up again, it's source higher up in the building, and Son of Mine grinned. "Dormitory. Move!" The scarecrows and the Family moved out of the room, up the stairs and kicked open the dormitory, yet it was empty. However, as Son of Mine peered inside, he saw one of the windows was wide open, and he moved over to look outside, but saw only darkness. He even ignored the obvious sign of the previously caught students running out from the front entrance and into the darkness, instead opening up a mental link with their only missing family member. "Father of Mine, it's time to draw them out."

The tears ran freely from Kane's eyes as he huddled in the dark, clutching at his own cold, trembling hands as he willed the tears to stop, even if it took longer than he wanted. And yet, as he tried to calm his body, he heard a pair of footsteps to his left and he turned with a jump that quickly turned into relief at the sight of Tim, who almost looked smug and a little apologetic as he leaned against a tree. "I knew you'd survive." Tim said, earning a half glare from Kane.

"Go away." Kane retorted, and Tim rolled his eyes. "You're lucky you weren't there." Kane muttered as the glare faded away. "If you had stayed there with the watch, we would all be dead."

"I know." Tim muttered as he stepped away from the tree and knelt in front of Kane. "How are you, old chap?"

Kane gave a shaky yet reassuring smile as he just shrugged. "Not too well, right now."

Tim sighed and grasped onto Kane's arm to pull him up. "Come on. We've got to go."

"How will we find this…Doctor?" Kane asked, and Tim patted his pocket where the watch hid.

"He's already telling me. We just need to keep our eyes peeled."

"Come on, run!" Joan ordered to the rest of the boys at the back entrance, being helped out by John, Clara and Martha. "Get outside! Let's go! Quick as you can!" She kept yelling, even as the group began to grow smaller in number before the last boy left and disappeared into the darkness.

"Where's the rest of them?" Clara asked Joan, but before she could answer, they saw the approaching, waddling shadows of the scarecrows, and Joan shut and locked the door promptly.

"Right, you three, we're going." Joan ordered, her tone leaving no room for argument as they raced away into the dark shadows of the trees nearby. When they were alone, they slowed their pace down to a hasty walk, and Joan glanced back at them with pursed lips. "Explain." She said simply, and she earned a worried yet guilty shake of the head from Clara.

"Joan, we don't have time-"

"The details can be explained later!" Joan hissed before she calmed herself with a breath. "You said earlier that they had threatened you two at the hall." She said, nodding to John and Clara. "So it's obvious they were after you, but why?"

John didn't answer, his hands still trembling in fear, whilst Martha hung back in silence. Clara ended up being the one to answer, but it was after a blink, and a small intake of breath. "Me…John…we're not Human." She answered, and she waited for a reply, but Joan just looked at her, waiting for her to continue. "They…want us." Clara said finally, and was relieved when Joan nodded to her.

"I'll accept it for now, if even it does not make any semblance of sense." Joan quipped lightly, but it did not improve the mood as they heard the voice of Father of Mine calling to them nearby.

"Clara! Doctor!" John sent Clara a horrified look, and Clara took his hand, yet the action did not calm him. "Doctor!" Father of Mine called again, this time drawing out the name, and Martha was the one to move. When she did, however, she motioned for them all to keep quiet and keep low, and they followed slowly, slinking through the leaves until they squatted down behind large trunks, peering through the low hanging branches to see the TARDIS standing in front of the school entrance, surrounded by scarecrows, led by Father of Mine, who had his hands in his vest pockets. "Come back home! Come and claim your prize!" He carried on calling out, whilst Clara was unable to take her almost pleading gaze from John's face, as said man stared in bewildered awe and terror at the sight of the blue box. "Time to end it now!"

"You recognize it, don't you?" Clara asked John, whose lips began to quiver, and he shook his head.

"I've never seen her in my life." He denied, but Clara's small chuckle made him glance down at her.

"Yes, you have. You just corrected me." Clara smiled weakly, even as he shook his head again. "John, what's her name?"

John gave a little gulp as he continued shaking his head, staring straight at the TARDIS. "I'm not…" He tried to say, but it came out in a weak whimper that turned into a strangled sob. "I'm John Smith." He protested in a plea, and it made Clara's weak smile fade. "That's all I want to be, John Smith. Can't I be that?" He asked, finally turning to look at Clara. "Just one man, living his life. Am I not allowed that?" He pleaded through another choked sob, but Clara, with her own eyes going haywire, found herself unable to answer. "Am I nothing? Just a story? Can't I just stay with you?" He pleaded again, and Clara's lip quivered. "Am I not enough-"

"Stop it." Clara interrupted weakly as she tried to swallow the knot in her throat. "Don't take us down that path, please." She pleaded lightly, and he blinked at her.

"So why do you want him back?" John asked, and Clara just stared at him in sadness.

"Because I gave up my chance for this life." Clara responded simply, and as John gave her a puzzled yet sorrowful blink, she stood up, tugged him up with her and started to walk away from the trees, motioning Martha and Joan to follow. "Come on, we've got to keep moving." Clara ordered, and they ran off towards a nearby path, slowing their pace down for a moment as Joan moved in front of them, breathing in and out whilst she started motioning to a place off to their left. "Joan, we have got to keep-"

"Clara, please listen to me." Joan interrupted, and Clara stopped talking with a blink. "I know somewhere we can hide. It should be empty. Come on." And followed her they did, running down the path until they reached a small intersection by a stone wall, taking the left and running up to a dark house, one that looked very still, quiet and empty. As it came up close, the group of four slowed down their pace into a small trot, Joan panting a bit as she placed a hand onto her waist. "Oh, dear." She gasped a bit as she took another breath. "It has been a long time since I had run that fast." Joan muttered as she walked up to the front door and opened it, peering her head inside the dark house. "Hello?" She called, yet she held back as Martha tapped her on the shoulder, even as no response came from within the house. "No, it's all right, Martha." Joan interrupted before Martha could protest. "This place used to belong to the Cartwright's. And as morbid as the idea is, if that girl is just someone in the body of Lucy, her family would have been the first ones to realize it. And it would make them the first to…" Joan left the end of the sentence hanging in the air, and the three grimly understood, not needing to finish it aloud. "Come on, inside. Should be safe here." Joan ushered, stepping inside and only closing the door after the trio behind her entered, before she moved first to the table in the center of the living room beyond the entrance, where it was already set with a table cloth and china tea set, but as she laid a hand against the tea pot, she found it full yet stone cold. "The Cartwright family, they…let's just say it happened quite earlier in the day." Joan said as Martha rubbed her cold hands together for some warmth, whilst Clara kept herself close to John, keeping his hands in hers in an attempt to calm him. "It's…strange." Joan muttered with a blink, looking down at the table with a little sad smile. "How easily I seem to accept these ideas." She added, and Martha took a step forward to grasp her hand, and Joan blinked at her for a second before giving her a small, grateful smile. The moment ended however as John suddenly sat down at the table, his eyes still terrified, yet as Clara moved up behind him to place her hands upon his shoulders, his form calmed down a little bit, one of his hands moving up to hold Clara's.

"John." Clara called softly, moving around to kneel beside him, staring up into his terrified eyes with her own, big, brown and full of worry. "Please, talk to me."

John, as if removing a mist, stopped staring blankly and looked at Clara with a small quivering smile. "What do I do?" He pleaded in a small whimper, and Clara found herself blinking repeatedly as she tried and failed to come up with an answer.

"I…I'm sorry." Was all she could say, and the look John gave her was…something like accusing disbelief and…pure kindness, far more than a knowing apology. The moment however was broken as a sudden knock sounded on the door, and everyone shot the door terrified looks.

"Martha, who…" Joan started, earning the same anxious and fearful look in return from Martha, "who could it…could it be a student, or…them?" She finished timidly, and Martha shot the door one glance, and walked slowly up to it but she did not open it. Instead, she leaned against it with her ear and…she frowned. "What?" Joan whispered, and Martha shot her a little shrug.

"I'm not an expert or anything…but I don't think scarecrows knock…or sing." Martha added. The three blinked at her, even as they heard a low unintelligible mutter outside like a pair of voices humming, but Martha heard one of the voices say something like "Squash Banana" and carefully, with a cautious and timid hand, she opened the door. Standing outside, wearing very sheepish smiles that blended and clashed with the frightened look in their eyes was Tim and Kane, the latter of which looked as if he had been crying and sweating mere seconds ago.

"H-hello." Kane muttered to them, before he cleared a little knot in his throat.

Tim smiled in greeting as well before he glanced around, slinking his hand out of his pocket. "I brought…" He didn't finish the sentence, and as he unclenched his hand, Martha could barely see something silver with very odd engravings upon its surface, and she nodded fervently before grasping the pair of them by their shoulders.

"Get in, now." Martha growled lightly, tugging them inside before she shut and locked the door behind her.

"Tim. Kane." Clara breathed with a little smile of relief, even as she blinked. "Do you…" Clara's sentence trailed off as Tim opened his hand to show her the Doctor's watch, and she grinned. Standing up, she walked over and gently took the watch back into her grasp, giving Tim's hand a little squeeze with her other as she brushed a thumb over the watch. She couldn't hear anything from it, but it felt…not necessarily warm, just…familiar, and comforting. For a moment she felt herself relax in extra relief before she took a breath and looked back up to the pair of boys before her. "You two okay?" She asked, her eyes glancing over to the small scars on Kane's cheek from the combusted school gate.

"Yeah." Kane nodded lightly as he brushed a hand against the scars, still feeling a little splinter of wood jammed in one of the red scars and it gave him a little stab of pain.

"Clara?" John muttered as Clara turned back to him, holding the watch in her outstretched hand, and it made his eyebrows frown, yet his eyes widened. "What…"

"Hold it." Clara ushered softly, and John unconsciously stood up, but he did not move any further, his hands trembling as his gaze flickered between Clara and the watch.

"I can't." John pleaded, his voice little more than a whimper that they could barely hear.

"John, please." Clara pleaded, her eyes back to being wide and full of anxiety, but John just shook his head, even as his feet looked like they were about to take a step forward, yet he didn't.

"Latimer, you've had this watch all this time. Why?" Joan inputted, even if she still didn't fully get it, but she wanted some of the attention away from the trembling couple, and it made the couple relax just a little bit, to which she was glad.

"It was…waiting. Just waiting. Kept saying that the time wasn't right." Tim explained simply with a little air of dismissiveness that Joan both understood completely and did not understand for one single second.

"…okay." Joan muttered after a moment, receiving a little shrug from Martha in return that made her take a breath to recollect herself. "Why else?" She asked again.

For a moment, Tim blinked, and his shoulders drooped a little as his gaze failed to focus on anything but the floor. "Because I was scared of him. Of the Doctor."

Joan blinked a little. She wanted to ask who this Doctor was, but could not at present time. Instead, she asked, "What made you scared?"

Tim's gaze finally tore away from the floor to look up, this time however he was looking straight at John. "Because…I've seen him." Tim finally spoke after a small gulp, and John's eyes widened as his furrowed eyebrows deepened. "He's like fire and ice and rage. He's like the night and the storm in the heart of the Sun."

"Stop it." John muttered in a whimper, but Tim carried on.

"He's ancient and forever. He burns at the center of time and he can see the turn of the universe."

"Stop it! I said stop it!" John said a little more clearly for a moment before his voice sank back into a mutter.

"And…he's wonderful." Tim finally said as a small smile grew across his face, one that Clara started to echo, despite her smile trembling, and it made John blink.

"But…but he can't…" John tried to say, but it just came out in a stumbling stutter. "He sounds like some…romantic lost prince." He tried to explain and excuse all at once, but it stopped when Clara took a step forward, her outstretched hand still clutching the watch, still trembling in unison with her smile.

"And it's all true." Clara muttered softly. John blinked at her as his eyes widened and his eyebrows raised up, even as she reached her other free hand into her coat pocket and pulled out his black journal. "Everything in this journal is true. All of it may be a story, but it is a true story." Clara added as she relaxed her outstretched arm with a sigh. "All of it." She added, and there was a small moment of silence within the room, everyone staring back and forth between John and Clara. But just as John took a small gulp and began to step forward, the ground gave a sudden rumble as they heard something big give a loud booming crash and the windows all lit up with a sudden dark and fiery light for a few seconds before it faded into pitch black.

"What the hell?"

"Doctor!" Father of Mine called again, his expression quickly setting into an impatient scowl, even as the rest of the Family walked out to stand behind him. "I'm afraid, Son of Mine, that they will not fall for it." Father of Mine said without turning around, still looking at the nearby tree line of Blackdown woods.

"I'm not entirely sure how I feel about that." Son of Mine responded, yet his voice was nothing more than a curious mutter. "Strange." He added, his gaze darting around the trees but it was hard to see much of anything in the pitch black of night.

"Then we will have to improvise." Father of Mine inputted as he turned around. "Best if we just scare them out?" He offered and the rest of the Family grinned at him.

"Soldiers! Guard this thing!" Son of Mine ordered, before he turned around. "Family of Mine, back to the ship." Without any further discussion, they walked out into the woods until they reached the green grass clearing, entered back into their ship and started to prime up the power. "Father, Mother, Sister of Mine, prepare the armaments." Son of Mine ordered, and they diverted most of the primed power towards the ship's…volatile weaponry, before Son of Mine walked back to the main console of the ship, above which was lay their now empty orb shells. Son of Mine brought up a green holographic map before he brought up a countdown timer as Mother of Mine walked over and looked upon the map.

"Hmm…the village." Mother of Mine muttered in a low purr, her reflecting the green light of the map like a sinister twinkle before she inputted the co-ordinates and looked over to Son of Mine. "Fixed targets." She reported with a smile that he returned as he laid a hand over a large shell-like button in the wall that barely covered a green light.

"And the countdown to our sport begins." And with his words, he slid the shell over the light until it was completely covered, and Son of Mine looked at the map with his half smirk still on his face. "Make a mess of the place, and then they will all scurry out. The Doctor, Clara, their maid friend, the boy, the watch, they will all come to us."

All of them walked up to the windows of the little Cartwright cottage, staring out into the night to see a giant ball of fire soaring across the sky until it crashed into the village, leaving behind a cloud of flame where it had landed. The impact of each ball of fire made the ground tremble, the cottage shaking a little in response, even as they all continued to stare in wide eyed horror at the catastrophe that lay beyond their little hideout. "The village. They're destroying…" John's trembling words trailed off as he stepped away from the window before he took a breath and walked over to Clara to snatch the watch from her hands.

"John, don't." Clara pleaded, thinking the worst of his action, but instead he just walked back to the center of the room, standing still as he stared at the watch that lay in his hands.

John didn't pay them any mind however, as he could hear very faint whispers coming from the watch, yet it was in his mind not in his ear. ""Closer"." He repeated in a mutter, their little commotion making everyone else take their attention away from the outside mess and back onto the couple.

Tim took a step forward as he looked at the intent staring that John was giving the watch. "Can you hear it?" He asked.

John did not look up from the watch, but they could see him giving a very faint nod. "I think he's asleep. Waiting to awaken." John muttered to nobody in particular, yet they still heard it.

"He only spoke to me. Why me?" Tim muttered, and John gave a sniff with a shrug.

"Oh, low level telepathic field." He explained dismissively, and his sudden change in behavior made Clara's face split into a wide, trembling grin. "As Clara would say, "You can see dead people!"" He said dramatically that made Clara laugh before John's trembling face returned and he looked at Clara with wide eyes. "Is that how he talks?"

Clara gave a shaky nod. "Yes. All you have to do is open the watch." She implored gently, even with the obvious pleading in her eyes.

John looked between her and the watch before he began to shake his head vehemently. "I must end this. I…I can give them this." He said with a blink, holding the watch up, but Clara started to shake her head, the smile fading off her face. "If they want the Doctor, they can have him. I just need to give them the watch."

"No." Clara muttered, but he ignored her.

"The-then they can leave, and I can stay as I am-"

"You can't!" Clara snapped, and he stopped talking. "You give them that watch, they will spread cruelty and war across the whole universe for every child they have and there will be no stopping them!"

John blinked at her with incredulous eyes. "So your job was to execute me?"

His question made her sudden anger fade away, and she shook her head. "No."

"You just had to stand by and watch me take my own life?!" John demanded, but she shook her head again.

"No."

"Don't you have any better ideas, Clara?!" John snapped, and she blinked but resisted the urge to either slap him or take a step back. "You sleep in his bed, you must occupy his every thought! If you didn't stop him from doing this, then what are you?! What exactly do you do for him?!"

Clara did not emote anything for a small second, before her smile returned, this time soft, and looking him in the eyes, she responded, "I have a duty of care." In an instant, her words seemed to remove his agitated anger, and he was left staring at her like she was some mythical creature, unable to believe she could exist.

"Clara…" He tried to say something, but he found his lips trembling again as a knot formed in his throat, but she just continued to smile at him.

"I know, John. I'm sorry too." All her words did was it made his eyes begin to water, and he felt a tear slipping down his cheek, yet Clara noticed, making her smile fade into a soft look. "Martha, Joan, Tim, Kane, could you please leave us alone for a moment?" She asked without taking her eyes away from him, but she heard them concede, and they quickly but quietly shuffled their way out of the room. When they were alone, Clara sighed and stepped up to him. "Come here." She ushered, and brought him into a hug as he began to weep into her shoulder, his choked words of apology muffled into her neck, yet all she did as rub his back and gave a low "Shhh" under her breath into his ear. "I'm so sorry it had to end like this, John, but it would never have worked, not really." She said, her words starting to calm him down for a moment as she gave another sad sigh. "My heart doesn't work and…I can't have a family, not anymore. That was the price of a life eternal with him. But I wanted you to have a life, for a little while. One where you could be happy. It was the least I could do, since I couldn't do much else."

When John's weeping had subsided into small sorrowful gasps, they parted just a little from their hug to look upon each other, but all he could do was plead in a whimper. "Help me." John croaked out with a sniff. "I don't know what to do."

Clara's head tilted to the side a little as she continued to give him a soft smile. "I'm sorry, John, but it has to be your choice. That's the rule. The Doctor will return by your consent or he shall stay inside it forevermore." When John looked at her, her eyebrows lifted a little as she gave a small chuckle. "You already know what I want to happen, but that is not my choice. All I can say is how sorry I am."

John gulped, his hand unconsciously moving to cup her face and she leaned into the brushing thumb. "Was it all real for you?" He asked, and she nodded.

"Yes, it was."

For a moment he did not know what to say. "Clara…" He muttered out before he fell silent for a few moments, just gazing at her. Then, to her relief and surprise, he smiled softly. "I forgive you."

"Oh, I hate waiting." Daughter of Mine spat as she paced about the room, receiving raised eyebrows from her Family as they continued to work at the console, still firing the balls of fire upon the nearby village. "We could blast them all into dust, a-a-a-and then fuse the dust into glass, t-then shatter them all over again!" Daughter of Mine spat out gleefully before she groaned, realizing that her brain was running too fast for her mouth, and she whined. "Aww, that would take too long!"

"There will be no concept of too long for us very soon, Sister of Mine." Son of Mine interrupted. "Breathe." He quickly added before she could speak again. "Breathe-"

A footstep inside the spaceship interrupted Son of Mine, and the Family fell silent. They all turned to the entrance of the room as the footstep became a pair, and in walked a very terrified and sweaty John Smith, all on his own, his lips trembling and his hands shaking, and his eyes red, almost like he had just cried to his heart's content. "Just-" Whatever the man was about to say was interrupted as the ship gave another tremble from the fire balls outside, and John stumbled, his hand flinging wild all-over nearby shell buttons that reverted back under his touch, letting the green light from underneath blink out free into the ship. "Just-just stop the bombardment, please!" John cried, and the Family all shared a look. "Please, I'll do anything, just stop it!"

"Where is Ms. Clara Oswald?" Son of Mine asked, as John's eyes darted around the room, trying to quickly take in the scene around him. "She would have-"

"She-she got hit." John interrupted, and the Family sighed. "I saw her, she got trapped inside a building within the village, and…"

"Damn." Son of Mine half spat, but there was no disdain or venom, just…nothing. "Doesn't matter. We were only curious as to how her biology worked. Looks like it will have to remain a mystery." He quipped before John reached into his pocket and pulled out-

"Here." He said, holding out their third and last ray gun, the blaster end pointed at himself. "I found the boy, and I have the watch. I had to take it from him, said you'd do worse if you didn't get it back."

"Generosity." Son of Mine remarked lightly, before he strode forward to take the ray gun and glanced at Mother of Mine. "All right, Mother of Mine, just this once." Mother of Mine nodded, reached over to the console and halted the bombardment. Then, as he placed the ray gun down at the main console beside the other two, he looked back to John, took a deep sniff, and the confirmation made his smirk grow wider. "You still smell Human, but you do have the watch as you say?"

John blinked vehemently as his gaze darted between all four of them. "Look I-I-I can't-I can't pretend to understand, not for a second, but I want you to know I'm innocent in all of this!" John pleaded. "He made me John Smith! It's not like I had any control over it-" John, as he took a step back, tripped a little and his hand went to balance himself upon more shell buttons before he regained himself and looked back to see the Family staring at him in bewildered disgust.

"He didn't just make himself Human, he made himself an idiot." Mother of Mine muttered with blinking eyes, but Son of Mine just shrugged.

"Same thing, isn't it?" Son of Mine remarked sarcastically, earning a little laugh from Mother of Mine before John Smith spoke again.

"I don't care about this Doctor of yours." John admitted. "I lost someone I cared about because of him. I just want you to go. So, I've made my choice. You can have him." He admitted, reaching into his pocket and thrust out his arm, almost shoving the silver watch right into their faces as he began to shake. "Take him, please! Just take him away!" He cried, and Son of Mine took a step forward before he reached out with a serene smile to grasp the watch.

"At last." Son of mine muttered, turning a little to show the watch to his visibly relieved Family before, without looking back, he thrust out his other arm to clutch at John's suit. "Don't think that saved your life." Son of Mine growled before he pushed John away into a wall, and John had to reach a hand up to slow his fall, his hand brushing against more shell buttons before he could grasp onto something solid to stop himself. "Family of Mine, now we shall have the lives of a Time Lord. Now, we need no longer fear the inevitable." And without another unneeded word, Son of Mine flicked the watch open as the Family all closed their eyes and breathed in deeply. But nothing happened. Nothing changed. They smelt nothing. Opening their eyes, they looked to see that the watch was empty, just a regular silver watch ticking away, and Son of Mine felt himself grow both angry at the betrayal, and also just a little bit afraid. The Family turned back to look at John, still huddled on the ground, still terrified and sweaty, and Son of Mine closed the watch with a little growl. "It's empty, you fool."

"What?" John muttered in a blink as he gaze went back and forth between him and the watch. "Where's it gone?"

"You tell me!" Son of Mine spat as he tossed the watch back, and John, to their eye widening surprise, caught it effortlessly and the terror on his face slid away into a relaxed and effortlessly smug grin, yet the eyes were trembling with something much colder now.

"Oh, I think the explanation might be you've been fooled by a simple olfactory misdirection." John explained as he stood up and started to twirl the watch about in his hand before he blinked. "A little bit like ventriloquism of the nose. It's an elementary trick in certain parts of the galaxy. I used to do it a lot with my old friend back home." He added as he pocketed the watch and took out a pair of black rimmed glasses and placed them on. "But it has got to be said, I don't like the look of that hydroconometer." John tutted as he leaned over to gaze into the wall, and the Family suddenly felt the ship beginning to pulse and whine around themselves. "It seems to be indicating you've got energy feedback all the way through the retrostabilisers feeding back into the primary heat converters." He rambled as he leaned over into a steel pillar in the room and tapped it with his knuckle before he gave a dramatic gasp. "Because if there's one thing you shouldn't have done, you shouldn't have let me press all those buttons." John tutted again as he pocketed his glasses and started back to the entrance. "But, in fairness, I will give you one word of advice: Run!" He said with a wink, and the ship started to blare out an almost ear-piercing alarm, the green lights of the ship turning red, and the Family felt themselves all jolt up as John sprinted out of the ship.

"Get out! Get out!" The Family sprinted from the ship and outside, running and running as fast as they could to get away, losing sight of John before, without warning, the ship exploded in a cloud of flame, the force knocking them flat onto their faces in the grass, their ears ringing from the explosion as they saw the field very clearly in the sudden light, which quickly settled into a low flame. Clicking their jaws with a groan to stop the ringing in their ears, they were about to stand up but a pair of footsteps right in front of them halted them dead as a sudden cold shock fell over the Family. The ship was gone, they had no means to retreat, and without the ship, their connection to their improvised army was lost, and the scarecrows will have turned into dust. And their weapons. They, in their newfound horror had left them inside the ship, and now they would be nothing but ash. The pair of footsteps came closer and closer before it stopped and they all looked up to see John, no, the Doctor, standing there and his face bore a very cold and unmoving expression of complete and utter anger. They knew they were now helpless and alone. They were doomed.

"You made it so easy for him. He didn't have to do anything." The stranger said lightly, and Son of Mine felt himself breathe in a little as his strapped body began to tremble lightly. For a second, he thought he saw the stranger more clearly, a man with brown hair, but then his eyes blurred over, and it was his own tears that blocked his vision again. "What did he do?"

Son of Mine knew the answer, but found himself unable to say it for just a few moments as he had to gulp down a little knot in his throat before he closed his blurry eyes.

We did not move from the ground in that moment. We were helpless and alone. And yet, he never raised his voice. That was the worst of it. The fury of a Time Lord and yet, he never spoke no more than a mutter. "Get up." He ordered simply, and we found our bodies obeying instantly, standing up, shivering, our eyes unable to stay fixed upon him as he glared at us all with those cold eyes. Without a word, he led us to the TARDIS, and we could do nothing against him. For a small moment we wondered, "Why? Why would this Doctor flee, run away from us and hide when he fought with gods and demons and the Daleks themselves?" As he split us all up, we figured it out. He was being kind, trying to give us a chance, one that we never took. Then, he made us watch. He wrapped my Father in unbreakable chains, forged in the heart of a dwarf star, and left him to rot inside a pit, deep within an abandoned ship, floating in space. Then, he tricked my Mother into the event horizon of a collapsing galaxy to be imprisoned there forever. The screams they gave were the last thing I ever heard of them. He left me for last, imprisoning my Sister inside a mirror. Every mirror, of any kind. If you ever look at your reflection and see something move behind you just for one second…that's her. That is always her. The last time we talked, he still visited her, once a year, every year. Sometimes he brings Clara along, and I hope that one day they might forgive her. As for me, as you can clearly tell, I was suspended in time and the Doctor put me to work standing over the fields of England as their protector. We wanted to live forever, so the Doctor made sure that we did.

The door to the silent cottage swung open, and all pairs of eyes excluding one moved onto the Doctor, still dressed in John's suit, and he walked into the cottage. His eyes briefly glanced over to Martha, Joan, Tim and Kane with a little nod, before they moved to Clara, who had her arms wrapped around herself and was staring out the window with a sorrowful expression. Without a word, Martha motioned for Joan, Tim and Kane to follow her out of the room, leaving the two alone for the first time in months. "Clara?" The Doctor called softly, moving over to stand beside her.

"Is it done?" Clara asked in a cracked voice, but he placed a hand on her shoulder in response.

"Clara, look at me." Moving his other hand to her cheek, he turned her around to look at her, seeing her eyes streaming with tears as her lip trembled. "Nothing that happened here was your fault." He muttered, and her eyes widened up at him as she shook her head.

"No, it was." She whimpered, trying to stop him from pulling her into a hug. "We chose this place on a whim, and people died. I never tried to stop you and people died. I didn't do enough to stop-"

"Clara." He interrupted, and she stopped, only making little whimpering and sniffing noises as he looked down at her. "It was not your fault."

Clara gulped with a sniff. "How can you say that?" She whimpered, and he gave her a small smile.

"I know you." Was all he said, and she closed her eyes as she began to silently weep, and he brought her into a warm hug. "Hey, it's all right. It's okay." He muttered, placing a kiss upon her head. "Shhh." He uttered into her ear as he stroked her hair, and he felt her sniff into his neck. "You're okay, Clara, you're okay." He muttered, drawing back a little to look upon her properly. "Hey, look at me." Her scared and water filled eyes flickered back up to his, and he smiled. "I would have you know, Clara, that you were far braver than me in the end." He said with a soft grin, his thumb still stroking her cheek, if only to wipe away at the tears. "You kept yourself out there, looking out for me. I'm not sure if I can ever thank you enough for it." He admitted with a little chuckle that made her smile, if only for a moment.

"But all those people…" Clara tried to say as her lip quivered, and he just drew her back into the hug.

"No, no, no, no, no." He muttered, rubbing her back to stop her from crying again. "That's not on you, Clara, never."

"I can't let you have all the blame." Clara whimpered. "It's not fair on you."

The Doctor smirked. "Tough." He retorted which made her give out a little choked laugh as he drew back to lean his forehead against hers. "Come on, Clara. You'll be okay." He reassured, stroking her cheek again, and the little action made her smile. "Hello, stranger." He quipped lightly, pressing a kiss to her nose, and she giggled, making him grin, even if the giggle was a little croaky.

"I missed you." She muttered as she nuzzled into his neck again, feeling him plant a kiss on her cheek. "Don't you ever do that to me again, you hear?"

The Doctor chuckled. "I can't make any promises, Clara."

"Oh, I hate you, you bastard." She growled lightly, and he just shook his head.

"No you don't." He teased, and she let out an involuntary giggle. "See? You're okay now. Told you so." He teased again as he tickled her side a little, and she let out a yelp. "There's my girl." The Doctor quipped lightly as he drew her back a little to plant a kiss upon her lips. "I missed you a little too much, gorgeous."

"Stop it." She blushed, even if the refute was little more than a squeak, and he laughed.

"We have got some catching up to do." He hummed in a sing song tone.

"Stop it!" She squeaked again, earning another laugh. "The others are waiting in another-"

"Just a little longer, eh?" He interrupted lightly, and she cursed.

"You're a complete fucking bastard, you know that?" She muttered, feeling the rumble in his chest from another laugh.

"I know." He retorted, the two of them staying in the comfortable hug for a few more moments before she spoke again.

"Doctor…" For a moment, it looked as if she did not know what to say, but, careful as to not extract herself from his hold, she reached a hand into her coat to pull out the book and flicked it open, and the Doctor saw the portraits of all his past regenerations. His smile faded as Clara's finger tapped on the incarnation after 8 and before 9. "Why have you never talked about this one?" She asked, but the Doctor did not respond, his eyes never leaving the face. When he did not move for a few moments, he found himself blinking as Clara's hand cupped his own face, her worried eyes staring into his. "Hey, you don't have to tell me if you don't want to."

To his surprise, the Doctor quickly shook his head. "I do. It's just…" He trailed off as his eyes closed with a sigh, yet they reopened when Clara planted a kiss on his other cheek.

"When you feel ready to talk about him, know that I'll still be here. Okay?" The Doctor nodded and she smiled warmly at her. "Yeah. You'll be okay." She muttered and he smiled, planting one more kiss upon her lips before he drew back with a sigh.

"I think you are right." Clara blinked, and he rolled his eyes with a little groan. "About you're earlier comment. There's a nurse that will want some explaining." Clara slowly nodded to that before they walked over to the door and opened it, spotting Joan, Tim and Kane, but, to their puzzlement, no Martha. "Where's-"

"She's gone to that box." Joan answered, and looking up the little hill, they saw Martha entering into the TARDIS, and they shrugged. "She did say that you two owed me some explanations." Joan added with a lift of her eyebrows, and they quickly nodded.

"Tim, Kane, you might have to wait a little longer, sorry." Clara said to the two boys that just smiled at her in response as they let Joan into the cottage. "Where do you want us to start?" Clara asked, and Joan sighed.

"Are you both like that Family, creatures from another world?"

"I am, she isn't." The Doctor answered with a small shrug.

"Is…is everything you said about yourself true, Clara?" Joan asked, and Clara blinked at her for a moment.

"Yes…and no." Clara answered. "I'm not really a nurse, just a teacher, from another time."

"And your heart? You said that you had lost the feel of it in an accident when you were a child. Is that true or…"

"No. It was a price for…living."

Joan did not need to ask for that to be reiterated as Clara drew John's black journal out and placed it into her hands. "What's this?" Joan asked.

"When John would fall asleep, he would dream, of his life as the Doctor. When he woke up, he wrote them all down into this. "The Journal of Impossible Things", he called it. Go on, have a look."

Joan opened it up, smirked with a little roll of her eyes at the single portrait of Clara before she turned another page, and was greeted by the Doctor's many faces. "You can change your face?" Joan asked, and the Doctor nodded.

"I'm a Time Lord. I can live forever if I wanted to. Changing my face is part of that." He answered.

Joan nodded before she closed the book and kept it within her grasp. "Why did they want you two? The Family?"

"The Family of Blood are like mayflies, they live no more than three months. They needed me to live forever." The Doctor answered before he sighed. "As for Clara, they were just curious."

Joan blinked as her eyes went to Clara. "Are you all right?" She asked, and Clara smiled, despite it being just a tad too sad.

"Now I am."

Joan gave Clara a smile as her head tilted down a little. "How long will you stay?" She asked but when they didn't answer, she sighed. "Do you want…"

"Keep it." Clara interrupted, making Joan's eyes widen a little. "You wanted answers, they're all in there." Then, Clara detached herself from the Doctor and moved over to take one of Joan's hands. "Promise me something. Find someone." But before Joan could sputter out a response, Clara reiterated. "Better yet, live. The Family were right, Joan. Earth will be warring against itself soon. You should make the most of your time before that happens."

Joan gave a reassuring smile despite her eyes appearing just a little uncertain. "I'll try my best." She responded, and Clara held out her arms in silence, and Joan consented to a small hug. "You take care of her." Joan said to the Doctor, and he beamed at her.

"You have my word." The Doctor responded as Clara and Joan parted their hug and the couple moved to exit the cottage.

"Take care, Clara." Joan said to Clara, and Clara smiled in farewell before they closed the front door behind them, spotting Tim and Kane still waiting, yet Martha had not returned.

"Come along, boys." Clara ushered to the pair, and they stood up to follow her and the Doctor.

"Weren't you two supposed to be bullying each other?" The Doctor asked as they walked up the hill to the TARDIS, spotting Martha leaning against it, dressed back into her leather jacket and leather pants, her hair tied up behind her head.

"No, he was bullying me." Tim answered, pointing to Kane. "We just didn't think that the school would never catch on to it." A small cough from Clara made him blink with a smile. "Well…apart from you." He said to Clara, who just winked.

"You all right there, Kane?" The Doctor asked, pointing to the little scars on said boy's face, to which he just shrugged.

"Didn't lose an eye, thank goodness." Kane quipped lightly, and they smiled in return. "But we'll be okay, in the long run."

The four of them paused as the Doctor turned to look at Kane with a frown. "How'd you mean?"

"The watch." Tim answered for Kane, and the Doctor slowly nodded. "We might survive, as long-"

"As you are careful." Clara interrupted in admonishment, which made the boys chuckle.

"I'll say." Martha inputted, the four turning back round to see her walking a few paces down the hill from the TARDIS to stand before them. "You won't get through what's coming just by some fortune telling and a bit of luck." When she finished speaking however, her face paled a little at the mischievous smirks on the boys faces. "Don't you dare make that a book." Martha growled lightly, and they just grinned innocently at her.

"Oh, what a brilliant idea!" Kane beamed, and Martha rolled her eyes despite chuckling a little.

"Oh, come here." Martha ushered, moving forward to wrap the both of them in a short hug before parting. "You two better take care then." She said, slapping Kane lightly on the cheek and ruffling Tim's hair before moving away back to the TARDIS.

"Tim," The Doctor started, moving up to Tim as he withdrew something from his pocket. "I'd be honored if you would have this." Holding out his arm, he handed Tim the silver pocket watch, and Tim took it with a small blink that turned into a frown as he held it.

"I can't hear anything." Tim muttered, and the Doctor shook his head with a small chuckle.

"All gone now. It's just a watch. But keep it with you. You may need it." The Doctor said before giving a little wink as he patted Tim and Kane's hands before walking away.

"You two look after each other." Clara said, moving up to wrap them in a hug and giving them both a little kiss on the cheek. "Rascals." She muttered in a low growl that made them laugh as the trio walked up to the TARDIS doors and opened it, Martha and the Doctor stepping in first before Clara shot them one last look over her shoulder. "You'll love this bit." She said with a wink as she closed the doors behind her, and, to their eye widening surprise, the box started to shimmer, the wind picked up around them, and then, it vanished.

"Nah, still don't get it." Kane remarked, earning a laugh from Tim as they strode away from the hill and back towards the school.

"Right then. Molto bene." The Doctor remarked as they piloted the TARDIS lazily in the Vortex before him and Clara moved over to Martha. "You all right?"

Martha gave a little smile, yet it was a bit too tired. "Just been a while since…"

"Of course you can see your family, Martha." Clara refuted, earning a scoff from said person. "Anyway, how are you?"

"Tired, but…I'll be okay." Martha nodded with a small shrug.

"Oh, I never said it enough, but…thank you for sticking with us." Clara said, and Martha without another word bounded up to bring them both into a hug. "We all need a decent rest now." Clara muttered lightly.

"Not yet." The Doctor said, earning a frown from the pair. "Just one more place."

France
1914

In June 1914, an Archduke of Austria was shot by a Serbian, and this then led, through nations having treaties with nations, like a line of falling dominoes, to two boys from England walking together in France on a terrible day.

"Incoming!" A voice yelled somewhere nearby, but Tim and Kane paid them no heed as they struggled through the wet mud, the fire of guns and bombs flaring up all around them, the night too cold and too dark that they could sometimes barely see a thing, or even feel through their ice-cold fingers.

"Tim." Kane muttered through a hoarse throat that he had to clear with a cough. "Time."

Tim nodded, one of his arms around Kane's shoulders to keep the tired boy steady beside him, whilst his other arm dug into his pocket for the silver watch, and he opened it. "One minute past the hour." Tim muttered, and then a chill unlike the cold washed all over him. He knew this moment, from so long ago, back at school. "It's now." He realized, his eyes darting about into the dark sky above their heads as he gripped onto Kane with a tighter hand. "Hutchinson, this is the time. It's now."

From the use of his last name, Kane also remembered, and without a single moment of hesitation, even as they heard a mortar shell screeching towards them, they both exclaimed, "To the right!" and they leapt into a nearby ditch, splashing their lower halves with ice cold muddy water, yet the dreadful sensation was ignored as the shell impacted so very close to them. The explosion left their ears ringing, their bodies covered with a fresh batch of mud, yet, with a wash of breathtaking relief, they were left unscathed and alive.

"Look at that." Kane muttered, both of them looking back to the spot they had just stood in, which was now a little crater from the mortar shell. "We're alive." The realization re-energized the two boys, and they began to laugh. "You hear me?! We're alive!" Kane yelled at Tim, who was just laughing at him in agreement, before they both helped each other up from the mud with a tight grasp on their shoulders. "Come on! We'll make it! Come on!" Without another word, despite the relieved grins on their faces, they began to walk as fast as they could on the battlefield, not daring to look back, and hoping beyond hope that they would survive. They must. They had a promise to keep.

The War Memorial
2008

Both of the boys, now old and weary, were side by side at the ceremony, still gratefully alive. They both knew, however, that their lives would end very soon, for they had lived for long enough. They had seen it all. The war to end all wars, the war that followed too soon after, the war that left the world on the brink of nuclear annihilation, and yet, through all of that, they were still alive. They had traveled, got married, their wives dead by many years now, their children grown up and having families of their own, before Tim was told that he would be condemned to a wheelchair for the rest of his days, but it did not matter to him. He was alive. Kane was alive, and that was good enough. But they were at the ceremony for one last job: A farewell to a time long past. In front of them was a Vicar, a brunette female, who was reading a passage from a book, but before they could let their own ears listen to the words, before they could let the words into their own minds, they both felt two hands upon their shoulders. Turning around just a bit to see, they saw the kind yet sad smiles of their old teacher and nurse standing there, yet they had not aged a day since they had left within the box. They were dressed in much different clothes now, yet Clara still looked like a teacher, much to their amused bewilderment. Next to the couple they saw Martha, still not aged a day and yet, beside her, was a small group of people, all of which looked quite similar to her. The oldest female, who they already guessed would be Martha's mother, walked up beside them and placed her own hand upon Tim's shoulder, giving him yet another kind but sad smile, even as she did not say a word. It was involuntary when the tears came, but no one berated the two old men, both happy to see them still alive and well after all these years, before Kane reached over to grasp Tim's closed hand, holding the silver watch underneath as they let the rest of the ceremony play out before their tear filled yet relieved and joyful eyes. They had lived, they had said goodbye, and now, they could rest, with the final few years they had left.

Well after Son of Mine had finished his tale, his eyesight had returned, seeing the green field before him much clearly now before the stranger turned his back upon him and began to leave. Son of Mine felt a sudden jolt from a scared curiosity, and before he knew it, he blurted out, "Wait!" The stranger stopped but did not turn around. "You never told me your name." Son of Mine clarified, and he felt suddenly sure that the stranger was smiling at him, which was confirmed as he turned back around. The man was clean shaven, was the same height as the Doctor and looked like he was trying to go for stylish incognito, what with the sleek black trousers and coat with red lining, yet the top was unbuttoned to show a dark green button shirt underneath.

"My name?" The stranger asked with dark yet mischievous light brown eyes. With a grin that he seemed to struggle to contain and a side eye glance, he moved over and held out his hand. "Harold Saxon." Then, with a blink and a widening grin, he took his hand away. "Never mind. You can't…you know…" He motioned to Son of Mine being restrained.

Son of Mine, in an action that made Harold blink, took a deep sniff and his eyes widened. "You're a Time-"

"Mr. Saxon, sir." A voice came from behind Son of Mine, and another man stepped in front with a pad and a piece of paper, earning a bewildered frown from Harold.

"Aug, I'm in the middle of something here." He motioned vehemently between himself and Son of Mine, and Augustus sighed.

"Sorry, sir, but it couldn't wait. Guest list for tomorrow night." He said, holding up the paper, and Harold sighed.

"At this rate, the old goat will get a heart attack before he gets younger, not after." Harold muttered as he looked it over, and shook his head as he finished. "Pen." He ordered, and Augustus gave him a pen so he could write on the list. "Keep an eye on those two. Oh, and…" Harold pulled out a small card out of his pocket, "be sure that they get this." He ordered as he wrote down two words on it.

I'm watching. ;)

Harold grinned as he gave the card and the pen to Augustus. "Now, go on. Get!" He shooed with motioning hands, and Augustus gave a nod as he walked away without a word. Then, almost as if he remembered that Son of Mine was still there, he turned back and placed one arm behind his back as the other reached into his pocket to pull out a small device. "Well, it was nice chatting, but you were so bloody boring." Harold said before he chuckled, held up the device and pressed a button. To Son of Mine's surprise, music started playing and immediately Harold began tapping his foot for a moment. "It takes the truth to fool me, and now you've made me angry." Harold hummed as he walked up to Son of Mine, shoved the scarecrow mask back onto his face and started to walk away with his arms outstretched and his eyes staring up at the sky, letting the music wash over him as he walked carelessly down the hill, the bottom of his coat flapping in the wind. "Be seeing you two soon." Harold muttered with a serene smile.

I can't decide

Whether you should live or die

Oh, you'll probably go to heaven

Please don't hang your head and cry

No wonder why

My heart feels dead inside

It's cold and hard and petrified

Lock the doors and close the blinds

We're going for a ride

AN: Heh. Heh. That was fun, especially writing…him. :D Anyway, as always, thanks for reading and leave a review if you wish. :)