Author's Note:

Crossposted from AO3.

"What are we even doing here?" Ram asked, again, like it hadn't been his idea. "Why is it always us?"

"Because no one else will, and someone has to. The Doctor…"

"Oh, fuck the Doctor," he snapped, ashamed of how pleased he was at the way Charlie recoiled. "If it wasn't for him, we wouldn't be in this mess. I'd still have a dad and both my legs, and Tanya wouldn't be an orphan. Sorry if I don't feel I owe him that much. I'm only here because… Because someone has to be."

April grabbed his arm, tight enough that it hurt. "Ram," she snarled. "Quit it." Charlie wasn't looking at any of them, even when Matteusz rested a hand on his shoulder. "Yes, we're all grieving something or someone. You don't get to make someone else feel worse to make yourself feel better, okay?"

"You're right." He shrugged her off and stared at the ground. "I'm sorry, Charlie. It's not your fault."

He shrugged. "It's alright. We all know it is."

"It isn't." April sighed, breath fogging in a huge cloud around her. "Look, are we going to go and look for this thing, or what?" She stamped her feet to try and warm them up. "What are we even looking for?"

"Something about our size, but with big teeth. Round by the bins, behind the dining room." Ram nodded in that direction so he didn't have to take his hands out of his pockets. "That way."

They trailed after him, keeping to the shadows as much as they could. The gate to the bins should have been locked, but it never was. Too many crafty smokers, and Ram thought that the school would rather have them tucked out of sight but on school grounds than out in the big wide world. Not that the school was safe. He pushed it open wider and it squeaked loudly, cutting through the night. Inside it was quiet and peaceful, without a hint of movement, and he sighed. "Maybe it's gone?" he suggested.

April pushed past him and pulled a torch out of her pocket. She flashed it across the bins and into the gaps between them, then darted it back to the first. "Is that…" Something moved and she took a step back. "Oh god, was that a rat?"

"I would like it to be a rat," Matteusz commented. "Rats at least belong here."

She grimaced but crept forwards, and they followed her. The rat, they hoped, was making a lot of noise behind the bin, eating something… It moved again and April yelped.

It was definitely not a rat.

The creature - alien - emerged from behind the bins, keeping one arm in front of its face against the light from the torch. Its other hand was full of food scraps from the bin, but it bared its teeth and continued to advance on them. Ram tried to notice details about it - brown, leathery skin, some sort of armour, very long fingers - but mostly he was aware of a lot of long, vicious teeth bared in a snarl at them. They backed up more and, reaching back, he got his hand on the gate. "I think… I think we should shut it in," he suggested. "Or run."

"Good thinking," Charlie agreed. Ram glanced down and, yep, Charlie's knuckles were white clinging so tightly to Matteusz's hand it must have hurt. "You're closest," he pointed out. "If you get out…"

All of a sudden the lights above them flashed on, blindingly bright after the darkness, and Ram swore as April vanished again. He blinked hard to try and clear it, and grabbed Charlie's shoulder to pull him backwards towards the gate. Someone pushed past him, though, and he lost his footing. There was a scuffle, and then the newcomer was pushing them all out of the yard. He slammed the gate shut and fumbled in his bag. "Stay there," he ordered. "Christ, I didn't sigh up for this."

There was the smell of food, and then their rescuer chucked something through the fence. It distracted the alien, and bought them time to breathe and get used to the light levels again. "What the hell were you doing in there?" the newcomer asked. "You could have been killed."

"Mr Jones?" Charlie asked. "What are you doing here?"

"That's what I just asked." He looked back over his shoulder at the yard and reached into his bag. "Look at it, all of you."

They crept closer to the gate again, and Ram got a better look. The alien was tearing into a whole roast chicken, eating the skin, bones, everything. It looked up at them and snarled again, but a well-aimed banana distracted it. "What is that thing?"

"It's an alien." Mr Jones told them, and Ram rolled his eyes. "It's from another planet, found its way here through a rift in time and space. That's what I do. I'm here because your school sits on that rift, and all the wonders and dangers of the universe are coming your way. Look into its eyes. You can see, can't you? Those are the eyes of a creature that doesn't know your world."

Ram snorted. "Yeah, and? So's Charlie. We see that look every time he goes online." He looked Mr Jones up and down. "Who are you, anyway? Are you UNIT?"

"He is your physics teacher," Matteusz said quietly. He stepped in front of Charlie and looked at the alien again. "What is it called?"

"It's a Hoix." Mr Jones sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "Not very bright. A bit like you, Mr Singh."

Charlie glared at Ram and stepped forwards. "What are you going to do with it?"

"What did I do?"

Matteusz was glaring at him too, and keeping himself between them and Charlie. "Do we need to catch it?"

Mr Jones pulled out an aerosol can. "You just told an alien hunter that your friend is an alien. Not very bright at all." He strode forwards, straight past Charlie. "Fortunately for Mr Smith, as long as he does his homework and doesn't cause me more paperwork than the Department of Education requires of me, I don't really care." He grabbed the gate and looked back over his shoulder. "One alien arrest in a night is enough."

He was like a ninja when he went to grab the alien. It really was pretty stupid, like Ram now felt, and was distracted by a Mars Bar. Then it only took Mr Jones a couple of minutes to get the spray in its face, restrain it, and get a hood over its head. "It'll eat through that before long," he said, brushing his suit down as he came back to join them. "I'll call UNIT to pick it up before morning, though."

"So… you're not UNIT?" Charlie asked, still half-hidden behind Matteusz.

"No." He locked the gate and pulled out his phone. "And you aren't registered with them?"

"Should I be?"

"Probably. How did you get here?" He tilted his head. "Not through the Rift?"

Charlie shook his head. "I was rescued and brought here, by a man called the Doctor. He…"

"For fuck's sake." Mr Jones huffed. "I'm actually going to kill him this time."