Disclaimer: Not my characters.

Three

A Life Of Duty

One thing I can say for certain about Castiel is this: He always attracted the rebels and low-lives, and welcomed them into his arms, almost as a testament of his fate. Theta and Koschei, the two renegade Time Lords, were no different to this. Of course, none of them knew what would inevitability become of them, but from the moment Castiel touched the Gallifreyan meadow, his fate with Theta and Koschei was intertwined.

The boys - eight years of age - had no idea what manner of creature they had just met. As Castiel soared into the sky, appearing as a streak of light to those below, Theta and Koschei stared after him. They stared long after there was nothing in sight. Eventually, they managed to tear their gazes away from the sky, to each other.

Theta opened his mouth. Then closed it. Then opened it again.

"W-what was that?" Koschei burst out.

Theta was breathless. He let out a laugh and swallowed a couple of times before speaking. "It looked like a shooting star – like a shooting star going up or something."

"Stars can't go back into the sky, Theta. Don't be stupid."

"I know that! I was just saying," Theta said, "And anyway, I've never heard of an 'angel-of-the-lord.' What do you suppose it was?"

In Gallifreyan, there was no word for 'angel' or any term that could describe the followers of God because in Gallifreyan there was no God. As beings who observed the flow of time and could travel in time, they considered themselves the oldest and mightiest beings in the universe. Really, the closest word to angel would in fact be 'Time Lord.'

Koschei hummed thoughtfully. "I reckon it was a...a...umm...Oh!" he gasped suddenly, making Theta jump, "A Toclafane! You know like in those stories your mama used to tell us; a Gallifreyan that has 'ascended into consciousness' - whatever that means. It makes sense because it's telepathic, like us. It spoke in our heads."

"Even if that was true, what was he doing here?"

"It's obvious, isn't it?" Koschei said, grinning. An idea had formed in his head; a game they sometimes played when no one else was around.

Theta's face twisted into a confused frown. "...It's not obvious to me."

"Oh, but you must know!"

"Tell me!"

"You mean you really don't know?"

"Koschei!"

His friend's smile vanished then. He looked round and then leaned in close. "Can't say here." he whispered in a conspiring voice. "They might hear us. Quick!" he grabbed Theta's arm and pulled him towards the silver forest. "He might have left us a message to tell us the right time and place."

"What are you talking about?"

"You haven't worked it out yet?" Koschei said over his shoulder, still pulling his friend's arm until they were surrounded by trees. Koschei glanced round again. The trees stood around them in silver lines. Where the sun filtered through the leaves, it looked like the forest was on fire. "Looks safe...for now."

"So tell me!" Theta demanded, getting impatient.

Taking one last look around, Koschei leaned in close and whispered at last. "He's come to rescue us!" He leaned away to watch the flicker of emotions of Theta's face.

It was a moment of confusion, before Theta's face slowly rose into a smirk, realising that Koschei was reeling him into a new fantasy. This was not to say that the boys had forgotten about Castiel, they were merely wishing him into their lives, and would do so until they forgot or found something else to entertain themselves with.

"Why else would he be here? He's come to take us to paradise. He's just going to get a...magic portal to help us get there. And then, he'll...HA!" Koschei lunged at Theta, scooping him up into his arms and throwing him over his shoulder. "Swoop down and grab us!"

Theta squirmed in Koschei grip, giggling and struggling at the same time. "Wait!" he cried through outbursts of laughter.

"What?" Koschei froze, worried that he'd hurt his already injured friend. He lowered him to the ground so he could take a look at the cut on Theta's leg. He'd completely forgotten about it when Castiel had arrived. It was only half-washed; watery blood dimmed the colour of Theta's tan, but the cut was sealed with a chained scab. It was slightly shorter than it had been a few moments earlier. It had healed slightly because of the Time Lord's regenerative biology.

Theta looked back at him with wide eyes; they were trying to be scared, but Koschei knew Theta's face like he knew how to breathe, and he saw the mischief behind them. He was playing with him.

"The beast Torvic!" Theta said, grabbing Koschei's arm and shaking it. "If he catches us, he'll claw out all our insides!"

"Then we'll fight. One minute." he ran off, coming back a moment later with two long branches, "Take a sword, soldier. It's just us two against his army. We have to fight them off until Castiel gets here. Oh NO!" Koschei bent his body in a strange way, "I've been hypnotised! Look out!"

Theta dodged as Koschei swung at him with his branch. He smiled breathlessly, raising with own branch to defend himself from Koschei's attacks. He moved to hit Koschei in the thigh, but Koschei twisted gracefully away. Theta huffed with jealousy - Koschei always seemed to be able to predict someone's next move.

Koschei hit Theta hard in the stomach and Theta stumbled backwards with an 'oof!'. "You might have to leave me behind!" Koschei said, jumping at him again. This time, Theta raised his branch just time to block the attack.

"Never!" Theta cried, shoving Koschei away. He swung for his shoulder. He hit him and Theta used the moment to leap forwards. He reached out and touched Koschei's forehead with his fingers. "You're free, now! Let's get to the fort. We'll be safe there!"

Koschei nodded. The two of them fled through the grass, yelling and waving the branches above them. It wasn't long before Koschei began to race Theta. "Come on!" he called, waving a hand. Theta kept up well for a while. They were equally matched when it came to speed - but then a shot of pain went up Theta's injured leg and he stumbled. Crying out, his leg collapsed, body rolling after it.

When Koschei reached Theta, the boy was brushing away blood and dirt, tears in his eyes. "Its fine." he said, "Don't worry about it. It's nearly gone anyway." Theta looked up and Koschei's hand was outreached towards him. Smudging blood and mud into Koschei's hand, Theta allowed the taller boy to pull him up. Theta groaned a little, his knee buckling, but he managed to stay standing.

Koschei's tiny face screwed up at the sight, but when Theta looked up, he grinned. "Hey, guess what?"

Theta blinked in confusion, "…what?"

"I'm an angel-of-the-lord – and I can fly!" Koschei went to stand in front of Theta and turned his back to him. He looked over his shoulder when Theta didn't jump on his back straight away, "Come on! Limited time offer this!"

Theta frowned. "You treat me like a tot sometimes."

"That's because you are one."

"My other leg works fine, you know!" To prove his point, Theta gave Koschei's shin a good kick and sent him to his knees. Koschei groaned and laughed at the same time.

"Okay! Okay! Seriously now. You can't walk like that."

Theta pushed out his bottom lip. "Well, I can, but since you offered..." then he jumped onto his back, and Koschei stood up.

Koschei was strong. He carried Theta effortlessly. Of course, it helped that Theta was lanky. As Koschei ran through the forest, almost tripping in the undergrowth, Theta whooped, throwing his head and arms back. Koschei laughed, keeping a firm grip on his friend's thighs, until he was confident enough to stretch his arms outwards like Castiel's wings. Theta squealed with happiness!

Until he lost his balance and toppled; then he was squealing with fright.

His hands flew around Koschei's face and neck and the other boy gagged. Koschei grabbed Theta's thighs to balance him. Theta's fingers accidentally went into his mouth and Koschei grumbled. But Theta wasn't listening. He just clung on tighter.

They crashed into a pile of leaves.

Spirals of silver, blue and purple were thrown into the air as the boys landed, both of them laughing breathlessly. Koschei shook leaves from his hair and threw his grin to Theta. Theta rubbed a new bruise on his elbow, but grinned back regardless. Koschei got up first and helped Theta to his feet before they left forest. Theta didn't climb back on Koschei's back because they both knew that 'Castiel' had done his job and taken them to 'paradise'.

Before them stretched a long strip of red land, empty except for them and a boulder - which acted as a warning for a sudden drop to a river. The grass moved slowly in the summer breeze, and the river was loud and soothing in the boy's ears. They stopped to rest next to the giant rock. Koschei heave a sigh, pressing himself up against it, sweaty long hair falling over his eyes.

Theta knelt down in the grass next to his friend. He pressed his open palm against the stone, as if he was listening for a heartbeat. Then his fingers moved to the two circular patterns carved there, side by side, and traced the ridges with his fingers, marking out his each signal that spelt their names. Their birth names. Their real names.

Koschei and Theta used to always meet at this rock early in the mornings. They would leave the Citadel and wander up to the moors to watch the sunrise. It didn't matter if one of them was late - the good thing about living on a planet that circled two suns was that if you missed the first sunrise, you could watch the second one a few hours later. After both suns had risen, the two of them would play together for the entire day!

On rainy days, the two of them would stay inside the Citadel - the city was engulfed by a gigantic dome which was built to protect them from attackers - no rain was just a perk, even though there were days, when there was nothing fun to do in the Citadel, where they'd run out and splash around in the mud.

The Citadel was a vast shimmering city of silver and gold, and Theta and Koschei grew up similar households on separate sides of the city. Koschei grew up in the House of Oakdown with his parents, and Theta, with his parents, older brother and sister, lived in the House of Lungbarrow. Both were very respected families.

Both of their fathers would often have meetings in the Great Hall of Lungbarrow. Once, Theta and Koschei sneaked inside to listen to their chatter. Politics. War. Time. Those were the three topics they always discussed, looming over papers. Once, Theta let loose his pet cobblemouse, which ran across the table and threw all the plans and projections in a fluttering mess in the air. They burst into hysterical laughter while the usually calm adults were scrambling around, trying to catch the papers. To say their fathers were displeased was putting it lightly.

After that incident they spent their time chasing each other across the red pastures of Mount Perdition, where Koschei's father owned the land, and built dens out of sticks and mud in the forests, and tried to farm their own food - which put them in hospital for a week - and running around dreaming of a future they could not have.

When they turned eight years old, that life was over. At the age of eight, children were taken from their families and to the Academy. But first, they spent a week or so, depending on the child, in a Provision House to prepare for the many years they would spend in education. It was coincidence that the two boys had the same birthday - people often said that's why they had such a good bond.

So they were leaving home together. On that day, Koschei spent the first few hours with his family as they lectured him on what to do and not to do. Koschei gave a solemn, final goodbye before leaving for Theta's house. When Theta's mother opened the door and saw the paleness on Koschei's face that day, she pulled him into a hug. Koschei's mother hardly ever hugged him - but Theta's mother was warm and kind and always let him in. Usually, Theta would be sleeping when Koschei arrived, so Theta's mother would read to him while making breakfast. But that day was different. When she let him in that day, Theta was already up and sat on the stairs, his face wet with frightened tears.

Theta's mother packed them a basket full of fruit, with a kiss on the cheek for Theta and forehead for Koschei. She took hold of Theta firmly by the shoulders. "Don't you ever forget me, understand?" and Theta nodded "I won't, mother. I swear." Then she sent them away. They'd gone up to the moores and leant against their rock, chomping nervously through the food. Theta's mother gave them a blunt knife to dig out the seeds if they wanted to, and after a while of silence, Koschei challenged Theta to see how far they could spit the seeds. Later, Theta decided to use the knife to carve their birth names into the stone, so everyone would know - this place was marked by them; they owned it. He hid he knife under the plants when the Schoolmasters came to collect them.

Sat there now, with a throbbing cut on his leg, Theta traced his fingers along the etching. It was still raw. The sight of it made something well up inside him – a powerful force in his lungs and behind his eyes – unable to resist it, Theta let out a sniffled sob. A second later, a warm arm wrapped round his shoulders and pulled him from the rock and to a warm body. Theta pressed his face against Koschei's shoulder and wept. "I want to go home!" he wailed. He dug his nails into Koschei's arms and pulled, "Let's go home, Kos! We can climb the tree under my bedroom window and explore Mount Perdition like we said we would. Please...let's just go back…"

Koschei sighed loudly, clenching his fists, "Just because we don't have a home any more, doesn't mean we can't do all that stuff we planned. They'll have to lock us up first. Right, Theta?"

Theta said nothing, but at least he'd stopped sobbing.

"And anyway, home's no better than where we are now."

There was a moment of quiet.

"There's no Torvic at home." Theta said.

"I guess not."

Theta wiped his face. "What you said before..." Theta licked his lips, "We could do that, couldn't we? We could be Time Lords together and...travel through time and space. We could even find Castiel! I mean...if you wanted. I wouldn't do it without you."

Koschei looked at him through the corner of his eye, and then a smile pulled at his lips. His hand flew from Theta's shoulders to his hair and ruffled it "Naw! Such a cute little tot, you!"

Theta pushed him away, "I am NOT!"

"Yes, you are!"

"Am not!"

"Are too!" Koschei laughed, "Okay, okay, stop now. You have to do what I say because I'm the captain, and you're the companion."

Theta's mouth fell open. "No! I'm the captain. You can be the...engineer." he finished lamely.

Koschei stared at him. And stared some more. Then he fell into hysterics and Theta turned red like the grass beneath him.

"You know, that doesn't sound so bad." Koschei said, laughter suddenly gone. He pulled Theta close again, resting his chin atop his head. "I'll fix all the messes you'll make. And...We'll travel anywhere we want and no one will ever stop us because if they do, we'll just run away again, and we're faster so they'll never catch us!"

They were silent for a while, leaning against their rock and looking up at the orange sky, both of them wondering about what it was like up there, with the stars. Joining their minds telepathically, they felt into a light doze, their heads filled with shared images of what they though space-time travel would be like. After a while, Theta shuffled away from Koschei and broke the weak telepathic connection.

"Kos?" he said in a small voice.

Koschei didn't open his eyes. He was still tired, neither that or irritated at something, judging by the small frown pulled on his face. "Hmm?"

"Can I still be the captain?"

Then Koschei and Theta were laughing again and the pain was forgotten for a while.

Theta dreamt of monsters. They were large and black with pupil-less eyes. In the dream, Koschei and Theta were running, the monsters blundering after them, but they were safe until Theta's leg gave way and he fell to the ground. The monsters were close now, each one with the same face, the face of Torvic.

Then Koschei transformed into a mighty beast, much more powerful and terrifying than the Torvic-monsters. He battled all the monsters at once in a clash of claws and teeth. Theta saw the glint of a claw and suddenly he was in the middle of the battle, watching the monsters all around him - only now he didn't know which one was Koschei. The monsters piled together, surrounding him with teeth and terrifying white eyes.

Theta jerked awake and a white eye was still staring at him. He froze. Slowly, he pulled the bed covers up so nothing but his eyes could be seen, never once looking away from that horribly bright white eye that stared back. Staring at it made his eyes ache.

It was a long moment before he realised that the white eye wasn't an eye at all. He pulled the covers down and saw that it was nothing but a lamp that had been switched on during the night. Next to it, Theta could make out a silhouetted figure, standing dark and tall against the light, watching him. He stifled a gasp and ducked under the covers again.

There was a chuckle. When Theta looked again, the figure had moved slightly and he could just make out who it was. Torvic.

Torvic was a tall boy with pale skin and green eyes to match. His limbs were short like coiled up springs and his fingers, which curled round something long and metal, were calloused like paper. The shadows from the lamplight enhanced the ghostly colour of his skin - many had said he was ill as a young Time Tot, to the point where many thought he would have died, but Theta couldn't believe it because Torvic looked so muscular and healthy despite his paleness.

He usually slept on the other side of the room, shared by eight other boys, including Koschei. Theta looked over at Torvic's bed just to be sure. After all, there had been hundreds of him in his nightmare, and Theta wasn't sure if he wasn't still in it - but Torvic's bed was empty. The covers were tangled and had been kicked onto the floor. There were also small pills shattered on the mattress, where a box of them had fallen over. Torvic probably stole freeze-dried pills for a midnight snack, Theta thought with disapproval.

Theta glanced back at the other boy and flinched when a bright light shone in his eyes. Torvic was using the reflection to shine the lamplight into Theta's eyes. Theta threw his arm up to shield himself.

"Aww." cooed Torvic, "Don't like that, little Time Tot? That's what you get for being awake!"

Theta lowered his arm when Torvic lowered whatever metal object he was holding, only to shine it in Theta's eyes again when they were unprotected.

"I bet you had a bad dream, you overgrown cobblemouse. You going to run off again? Well, if you do, don't come back. No one wants you here."

Theta wanted to say how he didn't want to come back anyway. He wouldn't have come back at all if the Chancellery Guard hadn't found him and Koschei, and dragged them back to the Provision House. But Theta bit his tongue and instead asked Torvic, "Why are you awake?"

"Shut up!" Torvic hissed. He leapt down from the desk, and Theta blinked spots from his eyes. Torvic approached his bed and Theta shuffled away. Torivc sneered and abruptly held up the metal object for him to see, and he flicked a switch on the side. A blade snapped out. Theta flinched. He wrapped his fists in the duvet and stared at the knife, wide eyed. "It's great, isn't it? My dad gave it to me. Right before they took me." He tossed the knife in the air and caught it by the blade. It cut his palm but he didn't seem to care. Theta had to remind himself that Torvic had a knife because his father is a carpenter. He was highly respected by people all over the Citadel for his work, but no one admired him more than Torvic. "What did your parents give you?"

Blood was dripping onto Theta's bedsheets and he slowly crawled away and out of bed. The floorboard sucked the heat from his feet and he shuddered.

Torvic pushed the blade back into the hilt and wiped his blood onto Theta's bed.

"You... You shouldn't play with sharp things." Theta said.

Torvic shrugged, looking down at the knife like it held all the wonder of life within it. "I see grown-ups with sharp things all the time. Why should I be any different? It's not like you're going to tell on me - right?" Torvic pointed the sheathed blade at him with narrowed eyes. "Right?"

"Your hand is bleeding!"

"Your leg is bleeding."

Theta glanced down - but his leg was fine and Torvic laughed. Theta squirmed uncomfortably, because Torvic was right in a sense. His leg, although healed now, had been bleeding earlier, and also because of Torvic's knife. The boys of Provision House 5 had settled down for dinner in the hall, in clumps of friendship groups. Being there for three days had given them plenty time to claim which table they were going to sit at, their territory. Koschei and Theta had a small table in the middle of the hall, and Torvic was sat with his friends not far from them.

It wasn't long into dinner that Torvic started throwing the freeze-dried pills he didn't like at Theta's head. At first, Koschei and Theta chose to ignore him, but when Torvic started throwing abuse with every pill, with his friends egging him on, Koschei went red with fury and marched over to him. At first it was just yelling - then yelling turned into punching, and that turned into a violent wrestle. With this being the best excitement the boys had since arriving, everyone began cheering and whooping.

Theta had rushed over to break up the fighting - or at least try to convince Koschei to calm down so they wouldn't get into trouble when the grownups arrived - when Torvic's knife had fallen from his pocket. Torvic carried that knife wherever he went and, seeing it clatter to the ground, he ignored - or forgot - Koschei and plunged towards it. Koschei used this moment of blindness to subdue Torvic, but Torvic had already grabbed the knife. They wrestled like that for a while, when Koschei made a grab for the knife. Torvic rolled them over to evade this and - Koschei would later claim it was Torvic, and vice versa, but it happened all the same - someone pressed the switch on the knife and the blade snapped out, straight into Theta's leg.

The memory made Theta's throat close. Torvic threw his head back and laughed. "You're upset over a little cut? You're weak! See, look at my hand -" the cut had healed already, as if it never were, "It didn't even hurt. You're just weak."

"No, I'm not!"

"Okay, so hit me." Torvic challenged, spreading his arms out wide, "Get me off this bed, and I'll let you go right back to sleep - big day tomorrow, right? Come on! Do it!"

Theta tried to swallow the tightness in his throat. He had never hit anyone before. He had long legs for running over hills, and lanky arms for looking at the giant pictures in giant history books in his father's giant study. The closest thing to hitting someone was the playful shoves and kicks he gave Koschei while they played, but he never considered that to be hitting.

Sucking in a breath, Theta raised his arms to give Torvic the hardest punch he could throw... but then two arms wrapped round Torvic's chest from behind and Torvic was pulled from the bed and on the floor, being brutally kicked in the stomach. "You little piece of -!"

"KOS!" Theta shrieked.

Koschei glanced up momentarily, which gave Torvic enough time to jump up and drag Koschei down in a headlock. Koschei choked, twisted, and shoved a hand in Torvic's face to loosen the grip. "Get off me!" Koschei bellowed, punching Torvic in the mouth. Torvic rolled away with a cry.

The other boys were waking up now.

"What's going on?!" one demanded.

Another cheered, "A fight! Get him, Tor!"

Torvic was up on his feet as just Koschei, grabbing Theta's wrist, ran out of the room. Mere seconds later, Torvic followed and the room emptied behind him, excited boys spilling out into the hallways.

The hallways were a blast of light compared to the dark dorms. As Theta was dragged along by Koschei, he could see the cuts on his friend's chuckles, the tension between his shoulder blades, and the dirty shoes on his feet. Why was Kos wearing shoes? He couldn't help but think before Koschei spun round and shoved Theta behind him. Torvic stopped chasing them. The hallways were growing fuller, and fuller, louder and louder.

Theta grabbed Koschei's arm and cried, "Don't, Kos! Just calm down." but Koschei ignored him.

As boys began to gather, Torvic busted lips curled up with determination. He looked Koschei dead in the eye and then glanced at Theta behind him. "Why don't you run back to your barn, cobblemouse?" Torvic sneered, looking to Koschei for his reaction. "Try not to throw up this time."

The growing group of boys laughed. Theta flushed with humiliation. That was the catalyst. With a snarl, Koschei lunged forward a fist. The cheers turned into roars.

Torvic dodged Koschei's blow - but only just; Koschei caught his eye. Torvic winced in pain. He lost his footing, but a wall of boys quickly pushed him back. A wrestling ring of boys were gathered round, whooping and cheering, laughing and some even making bets. All the while more boys waking up from the sound and rushing out to join the thrill.

Theta wanted to intervene, to try and calm down his friend, but he remembered the feel of the blade through his flesh at the dinnertime fight and how badly it ached. So he did what he was good at. He ran.

Soon, the cheering and the thudding as bones and body smacking against the walls woke the adults. Five of them came charging down the corridor; three of them intervened. One grabbed Koschei's arms just as he was about to hit Torvic, another grabbed his feet, which had lurched forwards as an alternative form of attack after his arm was grabbed, and the third grabbed and dragged Torvic away. The other two worked through the process of silencing and shuffling away the crowd.

Koschei was still struggling, his fingers itching to get another punch in. "Separate!" the man shouted who had hold of Koschei's arm, pushing Koschei against the wall and securing him there with a powerful hand. The man, Koschei could now see, was one of the schoolmasters, Ra'an.

The other man, Akhar, who had been holding Koschei legs, had put him down and was addressing the crowd, some of which who were still whooping, drunk on excitement. "Be QUIET, all of you!" he screamed, and the boys flinched, the sound dropping suddenly - although there were a few lonely whoops that shouted out, and these boys were pulled away from the rest by the two other men and made to stand alone, almost as if they have also been a part of the fighting. "Is this how a group of future Time Lords supposed to act?!" Akhar demanded, his face turning red like the early morning sky from fury, "I think not! Incidents like this cannot, and will not, go unpunished."

"He started it!" Koschei hissed, spitting out blood.

"We don't care who started it!" Ra'an snapped, looking deadly so close to Koschei. "Koschei. Torvic. This is the sixth occasion in three days! Why can't you boys get on?"

"And it seems like everyone else decided to show up..." murmured Akhar, eyes darting over the heads of the boys. He frowned. "No, wait...where's...Where is Theta Sigma?"

"Check the barn!" Torvic spat, wiping blood from his chin, "It's where he belongs!"

Growling, Koschei lunged at Torvic again but Ra'an anchored him down with two hands.

"Koschei! Torvic!" Akhar said, looking at them firmly, the vein in his neck throbbing with trying to stop himself was shouting again, "Your Initiation have been suspended."

Koschei's mouth fell open, "But he started it!" he shrieked.

"That's so unfair!" Torvic shouted, just as dismayed, "You can't do that!"

"Who's in charge? Oh yes. Us. I think you'll find we can." Akhar turned sharply to the crowd when he heard some of the boys sniggering, "Your behaviour is being monitored. If we see anything we don't like, you will be punished just as equally. And...if you continue to act repulsively, I see to it that none of you go through Initiation. You can work with Gan, the cleaner, for the rest of your days."

A grumble went through the crowd.

"Now." Akhar said, taking slow breaths, "Back to bed all of you. Torvic, come will me. Ra'an, deal with Koschei and then locate Theta Sigma. He couldn't have gotten far."

Obediently, the boys wandered off back to their rooms, sharing the odd mutter and facial expression that communicated more than words ever could - some even sent rants through telepathy. Throwing a dirty look over his shoulder at Koschei, Torvic followed Akhar down the corridor and round the corner. Koschei pressed his back against the wall, eyes downcast. His jaw was sore and his eye bruised from the fight - but it was the humiliation of having his Initiation suspended that caused the redness in his face. How would he explain to Theta that he wouldn't be going to the Academy with him after all?

"So when's my Initiation, then?" he grumbled.

"We won't know until further notice." Ra'an answered. "Kos...what was all this about?"

Koschei shrugged.

"Silence is often a mask for deception." Ra'an said. "Perhaps it's a good thing your Initiation has been suspended. We could get you a special tutor to help control your anger."

"He hurt Theta!" Koschei said at last, "I couldn't just do nothing."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes! He was hurting him! I saw it."

"Okay." Ra'an said - meaningless. "You should return to your dorm. I'll talk to the professors about the new date for your Initiation and get back to you."

"You're going to punish Torvic, right?" demanded Koschei.

"We already have."

"And what about at dinner? You didn't punish him then!"

Ra'an's eyes flashed, "How we run this establishment is no business of yours. You're too young to understand. Now, back to bed with you."

Saying nothing, Koschei slid off the wall and walked away with his head down, cheeks flushed, and fists clenched. He passed a woman on his way and mumbled a quick, "G'night, Nurse Taluma." to her before disappearing into his room.

Ra'an, whose eyes had followed Koschei until he vanished, lifted his gaze to meet Taluma's and he sighed at the sight of her. "Oh, I'm sorry to have woken you, Taluma."

But Taluma just smiled, "That's quite all right, Ra'an. Are all the boys in bed now?"

"All except one." Ra'an replied, "Theta Sigma has run off again. Twice in one day!"

Taluma's eyes widened with concern. "Well, do we know where he's gone?"

"I suspect the barn."

The nurse nodded. "Of course."

It wasn't the first time Theta Sigma had gone to hide in the barn. In fact, when the boy first arrived three days earlier, he'd rushed off into the barn before he'd even step foot inside the Provision House, claiming that he was home sick. Rumours flew amongst the other boys like pollen spores in a daisy field that he'd vomited in a feeding troth - beginning the cycle of teasing and bullying from the others.

"Besides it's dark; he wouldn't have gone far." Ra'an continued. "You should get some sleep, Tal. I'll fetch him."

"I'll go will you - and, before you protest, Theta will prefer it if I go. He's very smitten with me."

Ra'an raised his eyebrows as Taluma went to the doorway and swapped her slippers for her outdoor boots. "Is he now?" he questioned with a frown, and Taluma suddenly laughed loudly, and had to clamp her hand over her mouth at Ra'an's expression. "What is it? Why are you laughing?"

Taluma simply waved her other hand and, still giggling, she opened the door, the two of them stepping out into the twilight. The horizon was lined with a gold and red trim since the second sun was only just disappearing into the ground, following the first. The taste of night was strong and rich on the air, and the smell of flowers and damp grass surround them like a fog. It was warm also, since it was quite late in the summer season.

"I don't know why you're so sweet on him." Ra'an said as they made their way through the freshly cut grass; there were still rags of red grass clippings scattered around. "He causes a stirring wherever he goes, runs away, cries all time..." Taluma interrupted here, saying "surely not all the time..." but Ra'an insisted, "No, it's all the time!"

"He's just missing home. I was the same."

"He has friends!" Ra'an said, "Koschei and he grew up in the same area, didn't they?"

"You just don't understand. We can't all have parents like yours."

"My parents were good to me. They made it perfectly clear that it was strictly business between us. They told me everyday since the day I was born that I was leaving home at eight. The deal was that they fed me, clothed me, kept me warm for eight years, and in return I made good on our name. They created me. It was fair."

"That's how it should be." Taluma agreed, "But, Theta Sigma isn't like that. I don't know why, but he needs a little more support than the other boys."

"You're not his mother, Taluma, and he's not your child." Ra'an said, gently but sternly. "None of them are."

Taluma flinched, her hand instinctively coming to rest on her stomach. "...I know." she choked out a moment later.

Ra'an saw the pain in her face and carefully reached over to take hold of the hand on her stomach and ease it away. He held it gently in his, stroking his thumb over her soft skin. "He talks to you, though."

"Well, he's in the infirmary often enough." Taluma seemed to brighten up at the topic change.

"Gets into fights, does he? He'd make a good soldier."

"I don't think he starts the fights." Taluma knew. Theta had told her about Torvic's bullying and about how Koschei comes and fights him away. Theta always spoke of Koschei as if he was the hero of some sort of dazzling fairytale - but Taluma was worried for Theta. Why was it that Theta spent more time in the infirmary than Torvic and Koschei combined? What would happen when Theta, or someone else, got seriously injured? Koschei may be Theta's best friend, but Taluma wasn't sure if he was the best role model. She wanted Theta to make new friends - but three days was a little early, wasn't it? Especially for a boy who wouldn't stay put long enough.

"His Initiation is tomorrow night, isn't it?" Ra'an said, and Taluma nodded, still very much lost in thought. "He's not exactly...impressive, is he? Nothing like his brother. You remember him? Irving Braxiatel. Now he had something in him; a sort of determination. I wasn't surprised at all at the results of his first Academic year. He was brilliant."

They approached the barn - a brittle, wooden building that had been disused for years. It was in use back when Provision House 5, and the land that surrounded it, was used for farming. That was back when everything was farmed, before the introduction of freeze-dried pills for sustenance. The door gave a groaning creak as it swung open and they stepped inside. Ra'an spotted the bed up on the second floor of the barn; a bed made from two over-turned mangers, covered in a layer of straw, and a scratchy blanket on top, and shook his head incredulously. "Why does he have to sleep out here?"

"He doesn't want the others to hear him crying."

"Why does he have to cry all the time?"

Taluma gave him a look, "You know why."

"They'll be no crying in the army."

Taluma shushed him. She stepped up the short ladder onto the second floor, where Theta was hiding under the blankets, with Ra'an following. Ra'an looked over the bed and rolled his eyes. "Don't pretend you're not awake! We're not idiots!"

"Come and sleep in the house." Taluma said gently. "You don't have to be alone. If you can hear me, you're very welcome in the house with the other boys." There was no answer from Theta, but she wasn't expecting one, so she carried on without a pause. "I'll leave the door unlatched. Come in any time." She motioned to Ra'an to leave and, looking uncertain, he complied and climbed back down the ladder.

"He can't just run away crying all the time if he wants to join the army." Ra'an said to Taluma as they walked away.

"He doesn't want to join the army. I keep telling you."

"Well he's not going to the Academy, is he, that boy? He'll never make a Time Lord."

Under the covers, Theta flinched. Tears were just beginning to dry on his face, but more were soon spilling out from his eyes. A sob escaped him as he heard the door to the barn shut. He heard the voices repeated in his head: Torvic's, Ra'an's, his father's: You're weak! He'll never make a Time Lord. Why can't you be like Braxiatel? Theta lay awake late that night, swallowing tears with his sobs, and when he finally slept, he had nightmares.

References:

Doctor Who, series 8, "Listen."

Toclafane - (Doctor Who, series 3, "Sound of the Drums.")

"Time Lords ascended into consciousness" - The Time Lords plan in New Who, 2009 special 'The End Of Time Part 2'

Time Tots - very young Time Lords. (taken from the Doctor Who Wiki) I'm assuming children under 10 are considered Tots since a Time Lords childhood is pretty long even if they age like a human. The Doctor said in new-series 4, episode 'The Stolen Earth' that he was a kid at 90.

Chancellery Guard - Gallifreyan police force (Classic Who: 'The Deadly Assassin.')

Freeze-dried pills - common Time Lord food. (taken from the Doctor Who Wiki)

Irving Braxiatel - the Doctor's older brother (Doctor Who spin-off novels: 'Virgin New Adventures' He also appeared in many audio-dramas and a animated spin-off series called 'Bernice Summerfield')

"Children of Gallifrey are taken from their families age of eight." - the Doctor to Martha and Jack (DW, series 3, "Sound of the Drums.")

"oldest and most mighty race in the universe, sworn never to interfere, only to watch." - the Doctor to Martha and Jack (DW, series 3, "Sound of the Drums.")

"Do you remember my father's land back home? Pastures of red grass, stretching far across the slopes of Mount Perdition. We used to run across those fields all day, calling up at the sky…" – the Master to the Doctor (2009 special: 'The End of Time.')

"…Not that you could call it childhood. More like a life of duty." – the Master to Wilfred (2009 special: 'The End Of Time.')