Disclaimer: My story, not my characters.

Five

We, the Outcasts

"I have a question." Haley said suddenly, interrupting me. I hadn't been talking long, but still it was longer than I should have been, sitting between realms like this, off schedule, possibly in danger. I was anxious to reach the story's conclusion. When I looked at her, there must have been some annoyance in my expression because she straightened her back immediately. It took me a moment to realise she was trying to imitate how I sat. I wasn't quite sure how to react to that, though it did make something inside of me swell.

"Go on." I prompted, after a moment of silence.

"Is this a true story?"

"All stories are true, in their own way."

She blinked, confused. "...Oh."

Satisfied by her silence, I opened my mouth to continue where I left off…

"Then how do you know?" Haley interrupted again.

"How do I know what?"

She flinched, yet clenched her fists and carried on. "How do you know what Castiel thinks? Unless you're Castiel, but you're not so how do you know what someone who's not you thinks? I'm not you, and I don't know what you think."

I hadn't expected her ask that. She was slightly more clever than I gave her credit for. Still, she was human and susceptible to extreme arrogance that shouldn't belong to such a protozoa, so I kept my surprise to myself and fought down the tingling pride I felt within me. Such feelings were unacceptable, and would have to be reviewed later, once I got Haley safely to heaven.

"I am omniscient." I told her.

She blinked again. "Omni…omni-scent? Can I be omniscent too?"

"Fortunately not. You see, when a person dies, either my reapers or myself have to collect the soul and deliver it to its final resting place. If I collect the soul, I am then able to see every factor, every tiny moment or feeling, that lead to this person's death. Sometimes I am able to see the lives of other people around them, depending on the circumstances. It's often difficult to decipher one's memories from another's, so I created Walls in the mind to hold foreign memories back. But you cannot do this."

A thought just occurred to me: I have long since held these memories back because they are not my own. What will be the consequences of embracing them?

I looked at Haley. She was scowling, clearly uncomprehending of anything I just said. She was rubbing her arms as well, looking confused and frightened.

Concerned, I asked, "Are you feeling all right?"

She shuddered, a puff of fog escaping her lips. "I'm cold."

How odd. Ghosts don't usually feel the cold; they are the bringers of it. This wasn't the first strange thing I had noticed about Haley and I pondered why she was so different to the other souls I had collected. I was so busy thinking about this that I didn't notice her crawling towards me until she was already on my lap. I cringed, but didn't push her away. "What in heaven are you doing?!"

"I'm cold!"

I winced as she clambered over me until, finally, she sat cross-legged on my lap and I pulled my cloak around her. "Better?"

She nodded.

"Now." I sighed, "May I continue?"

"Yes please."

Theta lay in the dark, under his bed in the Provision House. Normally, he'd be scared, but there was a light on in the hall, casting a orange companion by his side. It was oddly soothing. He hugged his pillow to his chest and sighed. Downstairs, he knew the other boys were waiting for him, waiting to leave for the Initiation. He hoped that if he hid here long enough, they'd leave without him.

The floorboards creaked and the light was momentarily blocked out as someone came into the room. Koschei's face appeared next to the bed. "Permission to enter your time vessel, Captain Sigma?" he said, grinning.

Theta shuffled up to make room for him as Koschei slid under the bed to lie next to him. "I thought you wanted to be captain."

"I did. But then I thought about it and decided I should be navigator 'cause when you think about it they're the ones who get all the control. Now, hurry up, where are heading?"

Theta paused. "...The future." he said.

Koschei tapped the wooden panels above his head, making complimentary 'bleeps'. "The future's a good choice. I don't think they'll find us there."

"Are you hiding from Ra'an?"

"Yep. And Akhar. And Torvic. They're all at the detention already. It's a five hour detention! Can you believe that? That's just ridiculous. And I bet if I try to sleep through it, they'll throw books at me like when we fell asleep during morning lectures, remember?"

Theta rubbed his head, remembering the bruise. "Yes."

"Didn't get much sleep in that barn did you? Maybe…" he began tapping the panels of the bed again, "We could go back in time to last night and catch up on sleep…or go star gazing and sleep later. We can go back as many times as we want, we Time Lords."

Theta flinched. "Right…"

"What's wrong?"

He hesitated. "…I don't know if I can be a Time Lord, Kos. What if… what if I'm not meant for that?"

Koschei scowled, not hiding the bitter anger and confusion from his voice. "What are you talking about? Don't you want to be a Time Lord any more? You said yesterday you did."

Theta shrugged, not looking at his friend. "I was just thinking maybe I should join the army."

"The army?" Koschei repeated with disbelief. "Aren't you the one always telling me 'Violence will never get you anywhere'? Besides, you couldn't hurt anyone, let alone kill someone!"

"I could kill bad people…I guess. If I knew they were really bad, down to the core."

"No, you couldn't." Koschei narrowed his eyes at him. "Anyway, you don't really want to join the army, do you?"

Theta shook his head. "No."

"Somebody said something. Was it Torvic? No, it couldn't have been. He was with Akhar all night and all day. Was it Ra'an? He's always saying mean things. This one time…"

The floorboards creaked. The boys went silent.

The lights switched on. "Koschei! Theta Sigma!" It was Taluma. She passed by the bedroom, spotting Koschei's leg before he could duck it away. "You boys! Honestly! Why do you have to cause so much trouble? If you were in the Academy, the professors certainly wouldn't stand for his childish behaviour. Come on, now. Out you come."

They obeyed and crawled out from under the bed. Theta had the decency to look ashamed. Koschei just scoffed, rolling his neck. Taluma hustled them from the room and down the stairs. She sent Theta towards the main the door, reminding him gently not to forget his coat, and escorted Koschei down the corridor in the opposite direction.

Koschei turned once and called, "Meet me in the barn after!" and Theta nodded before leaving, joining the other boys outside.

"You'll do no such thing." Taluma said, sternly.

Koschei scowled at her. "I only put up with you because Theta likes you, but you're horrible!"

Taluma pursed her lips.

They walked the rest of the way in silence until, upon arriving at a room on the far side of the building, which faced the forest where Theta and Koschei met Castiel, Koschei turned to Taluma and said a loud and honest. "Sorry."

Taluma smiled. "Apology accepted."

Koschei went into the room, where Ra'an, Akhar and Torvic were waiting. Torvic was sat near the window, and the two tutors stood leaning against the desk at the front of the room. Akhar had his arms folded. Ra'an saw him enter and pointedly gestured to a seat. Koschei sat down, glaring at Torvic as he went. Torvic was staring at the wall and scowling. Under the desk, he was thumbing the switch knife. Koschei wanted to punch something. Why did the grown-ups let him keep that? It wasn't fair.

"He arrives at last." Akhar said. Koschei gritted his teeth. "Well, boys, you know how this works. Five hours with nothing but the clock to entertain you. Though, I suppose, if you made friends you could pass the time talking, otherwise..."

"I don't want to be friends with him!" Torvic declared.

"Right back at you, peasant!"

"Otherwise stay quiet!" Akhar said, his voice raised above theirs and silencing them. "I know you boys don't like each other but, believe it or not, it's not difficult for you to leave each other alone. You're going to the Academy soon - and it's a big Academy - you don't have to even look at each other." he looked at Torvic. "Torvic, remember our conversation. Let's just get past all this." he looked away, addressing both of them again. "Now, I'm going to leave you with Ra'an for the first half of the detention. I will return with your food and watch you for the second half. Afterwards, you will be escorted back to your rooms and you won't be allowed to leave until the rest of the boys return from the Initiation. Is that understood?"

A couple of grumbles from the boys. Akhar bowed to Ra'an and marched out.

"I'm bored already." Koschei said.

"I can always fight you." Torvic said.

"Be quiet, Torvic." Ra'an said, opening up a book, and Koschei flashed a triumphant grin.

Koschei woke up when his head slammed against the desk.

Torvic burst into hysterics.

"Serves you right." Ra'an said.

Koschei groaned and rubbed his forehead. "How long left?"

"Three hours."

This time, both Torvic and Koschei hit their heads on purpose.

"Torvic, stop carving shapes into the table or I will take that knife off you."

Surprisingly, Torvic did as he was told.

"Can you at least read to us?"

"No."

Torvic swung back on his chair. "Is that because it's a dirty story?"

"Stop swinging on your chair."

Koschei's lip curled. "Avoiding the subject! It is a dirty story!"

Torvic tutted. "Oh, sir, you shouldn't have that near children! What will people think?"

'What will the ladies think?"

"He won't impress anyone with that - or will he?"

"Oh, I don't know..." Koschei titled his head. "I'll ask Taluma."

Ra'an slammed the book closed. He was red in the face and the boys laughed. "RIGHT! You two are..."

Akhar walked in.

"Oh thank Rassilon!" Ra'an hissed, and was gone.

The detention passed fairly quickly after that - though Koschei couldn't be sure whether he dozed off or not. Torvic spent the last two hours drawing shapes on the roof by reflecting light with his knife, occasionally glancing at Koschei. Koschei just looked out the window. Afterwards, they were escorted separately to their rooms, not once speaking a word to each other.

In his room, Koschei lay on his bed for a while and then, feeling agitated, got up and decided that he would sneak out to the forest for a few hours, before Theta and the other boys got back. It would be easy. The Provision House was almost empty: Taluma, Akhar, Ra'an and the cooks Sen and Frey, were the only adults in the building and, other than Torvic, he was the only child.

Koschei pushed himself out of bed and slipped out the door. He glanced both ways down the corridor before moving. On the way out, he heard Taluma, Torvic and Akhar talking in one of the rooms, but he didn't stop. He only managed to get fragments of their conversation:

"Sweetie, you have to take them..."

"I don't want to take them!"

"Torvic, we've been through this once, we've been through this a thousand times, you can't just..."

Koschei was around the corner and out the door a moment later.

Angels were the fastest flying creatures the in universe. It often seemed like they simply disappeared from one place and reappeared in another. Therefore, travelling a few thousand-billion light years was barely an hour's journey for an angel, even shorter when they knew exactly where they were going, and in no time at all, Castiel was on the surface of Gallifrey, back in the exact place he was a day earlier.

He slumped onto the grass with a sigh and waited for his tiredness to subside. He closed his eyes and let the sounds of the forest calm him down. Caws. Tittering. A quiet crackle as the wind slowly brushed through the trees. And soon, shuffling. Castiel's eyes flew open, chest lurching. The shuffling grew closer. He stood.

Koschei stepped out from behind the trees and saw Castiel. They both screamed, jumping away from each other. Koschei grabbed the nearest rock and lifted it above his head. Their eyes met, large blue glowing ones to green ones, and the two of them didn't dare move. They stood frozen. Koschei was breathing hard. Castiel stayed as still as possible. The wind picked up the silver leaves scattered on the forest floor and the orange sunlight burst out from behind the clouds and shone on Castiel's face. Silver leaves flew around them and the grass flexed. The two of them were completely dazzled by the other's existence. At last, as the sunlight shone in Castiel's eyes, the angel squinted and glanced down, breaking the trance.

Letting out a long breath, Koschei watched the strange glowing creature, edging slowly from the shadows towards him. He was still holding the rock, but it was posed by his side, almost forgotten. He tried to see behind Castiel – hadn't there been wings before?

He stepped on a twig, snapping it with a noticeable crack, and Castiel glanced back up at him, blinking rapidly. They both froze again, realising how close they were to each other now. Subconsciously, Koschei raised the hand holding the rock and Castiel, instantly sensing the danger, unfurled his wings to make himself look bigger. But this was what Koschei wanted to see and, amazed, he grinned and lowered the rock again. Castiel wondered if he should hide, but then the boy, with a determined scowl, spoke to him.

"You came back." he paused. "It's you, isn't it? Castiel? That angel-of-the-lord?"

Castiel swallowed. "Y-yes." he stammered. Then, remembering they didn't speak the same language, but both were telepathic, he repeated himself in his head and projected it to the boy.

Koschei swallowed and licked his lips. "What are you doing out here?"

His wings drooped. "I…I did something...bad."

Koschei hummed. "Me too."

Castiel was surprised, but for some reason it made him feel better.

Koschei shrugged and dropped the rock into the grass. Castiel allowed his wings to melt back into his humanoid form. They didn't move any closer to each other.

A moment of silence passed. The two of them merely observed each other, like you would an animal you didn't wish to frighten.

"So...How come you don't talk?"

"Well...I haven't been taught your tongue, but all minds speak the same language. ...It's strange; I've been taught almost all languages. Just not yours." It must have been another thing about Time Lords that angels were forbidden to know.

"So you're telepathic..." he said, rubbing his lip, "Can you heal yourself?"

Castiel cocked his head. "Yes."

"Can you... travel in time?"

"Well, I haven't learnt this skill yet, but yes, angels can travel through time." Castiel knew for a fact that the archangels could do it. Time is fluid, like a river. It's only a matter of controlling the current.

"And..." Koschei was very close now. If he wanted, he could reach out and grab the angel. Castiel saw this, and did his best not to look intimidated. "Can you change your appearance?"

"Why all the questions?"

"I like knowing things. So can you?"

"Yes. Angels have true forms, and lesser forms, and some of us have vessels, which make us look very different." Castiel paused, thinking about what he knew about Time Lords so far. "You can do these things too, can't you?"

"Sort of."

Castiel squinted at the boy. "So...we're the same?" he asked, confused and delighted at the idea. He wasn't quite sure how to feel towards the boy, given recent events.

"That means we can be friends!" Koschei said. Then added, "Oh, well, I mean if you want to. I've ever been friends with such a funny looking thing before. Well, Theta's funny looking sometimes!" he laughed at his own joke.

"Theta? Oh! You mean the other boy, don't you?"

"Yeah. I call him Theta. He won't mind if you call him it too. Can I touch your wings?"

"I suppose..." Castiel unfurled his right wing and reached it out to the boy. "So, the boy's name isn't Theta?"

"Of course not." Koschei mumbled, eyeing the feathers made of light. He reached out cautiously and touched one with his finger. Castiel flinched, surprised at the feeling. No one had ever touched his wings before. "It's soft. Like a pillow."

"If the boy's name isn't Theta, then what is it?"

Koschei jerked back his hand and clasped it to his mouth, his face red.

Castiel was startled. "What is it? Are you hurt? I'm sorry. I've been told that some creations are sensitive to the Grace but I thought..."

Koschei's hand fell from his mouth and Castiel heard him laughing. He blinked.

"You're laughing? Is something funny?"

"You're rude!" Koschei accused, pointing a finger right into Castiel's face before curling up with laughter. "I like you more and more!"

"I'm confused."

"You're not supposed to just ask someone's true name like that! It's weird! You really are from another planet if you don't know that! Or maybe you're from up north. I hear they don't mind so much. Are you from up north, Castiel?"

Castiel cocked his head. "I'm very confused. If you're not suppose to ask for names, then how am I supposed to know what to call you?"

"You ask 'what should I call you?' Duh!"

"I guess that makes sense. But why not true names?"

Koschei shrugged. "Maybe because they're hard to say? My birth name is over sixteen syllables long." He said. Castiel noticed that he seemed to say everything like it was a competition.

Castiel smiled, "Mine is over twenty. Although we don't usually change our names; we shorten ours. ...so, may I call you Koschei?"

"Of course you can." Koschei giggled again, still at Castiel's rudeness. "Come on, Castiel. You have to meet Theta! I told him to meet me in the barn once he got back, so we can just wait there for him. He'll love you. He loves nature and aliens and things like that."

Koschei wandered back into the trees and, after some hesitation, Castiel followed, both curious and mystified.

It was getting dark. A shadow hung above the land, leaving a streak of orange against the horizon. The stars were visible, but Castiel chose not to look at them.

The hill sloped down and the trees became further and further apart until they ended completely and Castiel spotted a barn on the bottom of the hill. He hesitated a moment before he stepped from the woods and looked across the landscape. Beyond the hill and barn, the land was flat, covered in grass, and stretched for miles until it reached another row of jagged hills. There was another building in the distance, just below the other hills. Next to it, Castiel could just make out a tree and beneath it, a man. Castiel tensed, but relaxed when he realised there was no way the man could see him.

"There's a man over there."

Koschei looked where Castiel was looking. "Oh yeah him. He's a hermit. He's always been there, so everyone ignores him. Come on, Castiel, it's this way."

"What's that other building? The one next to the hermit."

"That's Provision House 5. Me and Theta live there now. It's rubbish. We used to live in the Citadel. That's back the way we came."

They continued their decent. Castiel looked at the opposite side of the the land. It was flat there also and dropped suddenly down a steep cliff. "What's that way?" he asked.

Koschei reached the barn and unlatched the door. "Um...I think there's a village around there somewhere. That's where the peasants live. They don't live in the Citadel because they're poor. Come on in."

Castiel stepped into the barn. Koschei bolted the door shut behind them.

The barn was warm. There was a layer of dry hay and soil on the floor and a musky smell in the air. Light filtered through the rafters in the roof and reflected off a collection off mirrors leaning against the corner. Scattered around the barn where strange things Castiel had never seen before: metal contraptions that were broken down and rusting. In the hayloft, a ladder lead up to a small bed made from two over turned troughs and a wooden plank. Despite this, it looked comfortable: There was a thick mattress and a blanket and pillow, neatly made up.

Castiel cocked his head. "Who lives here?"

Koschei laughed. "No one! It's a barn. You know. For animals. Don't you have animals where you come from?"

"Um...no."

"Really? No cobblemice or fledershrew? What if you want a pet? What if you want to eat?"

"We don't have pets." Castiel replied, not even sure what a 'pet' was. "And we don't eat. I mean, we can. But we don't have to. Same with sleep and most other things creations do."

"Oh. That's strange."

Castiel frowned. "It's not really that strange."

Suddenly the barn door unlatched and another boy walked in. Theta froze when he saw Castiel.

"Theta!" Koschei ran and yanked his friend into a tight hug. "How was it? Did you pass? Was it hard? Where academy professors there?"

Theta just stared at Castiel the whole time. "Um...it was...yes..."

"...'Yes'?" Koschei repeated, frowning, and saw that Theta was staring at Castiel. He thought about this a moment, then grinned, pulling Theta closer to him and bringing him closer to the angel. "Oh Theta, it's Castiel. He's back. Come on. Say hello."

"...Hello."

"Uh..."

Koschei bit his lip. "Wait for it."

Castiel stared.

Theta grinned suddenly. "You're really beautiful!"

"There it is."

"Huh? What?"

"Nothing. You carry on. Ooh! Theta, touch his wings! They're really soft!"

Theta looked at Castiel. "May I? It's not rude or anything is it?"

Castiel shook his head, stretching his wing towards Theta. He didn't understand why the boys liked his wings so much, but it felt good to be admired. Theta just looked at the wing at first. Then the boy reached forwards eagerly, but with surprisingly gentle fingers, clasped a handful of feathers. Castiel shivered.

"Am I hurting you?" Theta asked.

"No. It's just that we don't usually touch each others wings. I'm not used to it." He saw the panic in Theta's face and quickly added, "There's nothing wrong with it, we just don't do it."

Theta relaxed. "I guess its because you all have wings. I mean, I wouldn't be fascinated by Koschei's arm because we all have arms, but there's nothing wrong with touching it." To demonstrate, he gave his friend a gentle push. Koschei just smiled.

Castiel smiled too. "I see. You're right. That does make sense."

Theta let go of his wing. "You're amazing."

Castiel's chest filled with warmth. He raised his head and stretched out his wings above him like glowing fans. He revelled in the boy's exchanged looks of awe.

"Fly!" Koschei commanded. "Come on, show us!"

Castiel did. He lifted into the air with a powerful gust that threw the boys off their feet and onto the hay. It hurt but they just laughed, tipping their heads back and watching Castiel fly in circles above them. The barn was a little cramped - every time Castiel whirled past he sent a gale that blew back the boy's hair and left them breathless.

Then he sucked in his wings and transformed into a ray of light. After a moment of free-falling, he formed his wings again and burst back up. Then again, he swooped back down. He re-enacted that moment in his rite of passage when it all went wrong. It was on that second swoop, barely minutes into his performance, when he'd slipped up and fallen. This time, he did not.

This time, the audience cheered.

Koschei had grabbed Theta's arm and was shaking it. "See look! He changed his shape! I told you he's like us."

Theta just gawked.

Castiel chuckled. He flew up into the rafters and wove in between them, careful not to touch one. Eventually, he flew into the centre of the roof and flattened his spread wings like paper, so he drifted to the ground. He bowed his head. He curled in his wings and tucked them away. He felt a smile tug at his lips. Stood there, performance finished - that was the way he'd always pictured it.

Then something knocked him sideways.

He fell onto his back with a grunt. Koschei had pounced. "Haha!" he cried. "Got you!"

Castiel blinked, and Theta pounced too. "You were brilliant, Castiel! That was the most amazing thing I've ever seen!"

After that, it was almost as if he was part of another world, and yet like it was a world he'd always been part of. The boys began to pretend that they were imprisoned and planning a rebellion against something called 'Torvicans.' It reminded Castiel of when angel pretended to fight, but it was just for practise. When he asked Theta what they were practising for, Theta had laughed and said they were playing. Angels didn't play - what would be the point? - but Castiel enjoyed it. Especially when Koschei said that Castiel was the strong and powerful one who'd help them win.

When the games became tiring, they perched on the bed in the hayloft and opened the small doors traditionally used for transfer hay. A wisp of cold air breezed in. The night sky was clear and the stars were bright.

"It's late." Theta whispered.

Koschei sighed. "Yeah.

"Taluma will come look for us soon. We should go. Castiel?"

Castiel was scowling at the stars. He slammed the doors shut, making the boys jump, and stood. He stretched his wings.

"Are you leaving now?" Theta asked, standing too. "You don't have to."

"Well I..." he stopped.

This idea, I must say, was a bad one, though not quite as ill-conceived as that which brought him to this moment in the first place. But when Castiel thought of heaven, all he could think about was how horrific it had become to him. No. He didn't want to return there. He didn't even want to think of that festering place. But he did want to know why; why had things gone the way they had? Why were Time Lords and angels forbidden to meet? What was the purpose?

Do I know? But of course. I was there when the law was made.

Perhaps, Castiel thought, if he stayed here he could find out the truth. He could judge the Time Lords for himself.

"I have decided to stay a while." he told the boys, "I want to learn more about your world and its people. Though...I don't have anywhere to stay..."

"You can stay here!" Theta cried.

"Yes!" Koschei said, jumping up. He turned to gallop towards the barn doors. "That's a great idea! I can't wait to see everyone's faces when I tell them we have an alien in the barn!"

Castiel panicked. He couldn't let other Time Lords know about him. If heaven reacted badly to Time Lords, how would Gallifrey react to angels? These boys were young and did not know him, but there was a chance the older ones would. Would they attack him too? Besides, his presence may disturb the planet and heaven would surely notice and punish him for good.

"You must keep me a secret!"

Koschei stopped and moaned. "Aww, why? The only reason we didn't say anything before because the Chancellery Guard caught us and the tutors wouldn't stop yelling, then everyone was asleep, then Torvic started..."

"Please! You must. What can I do to convince you?"

Theta and Koschei looked at each other. Koschei chewed his lip. Theta raised an eyebrow at him.

"If you're worried, I'll keep you secret." Theta said, "No questions."

Castiel smiled gratefully at him.

Koschei rolled his eyes. "Well, all right then. I'll keep quiet too. Sheesh."

In heaven, there is a place where the angels can train alone. It looks like a large empty field when you first enter it, but when one begins to train, the landscape changes to meet the trainee's temperament and mood. Balthazar was there now and the landscape was rough and jarred. The air was hot and wet. There were mountains and burnt trees, and every now and again, something that looked a little too much like Castiel would swoop down from the sky and attack him. Balthazar stood in the centre of it all, holding a sword he'd made himself, tense and waiting.

A creature swept out from the burnt forest. Balthazar swung the sword and the creature vanished in smoke. Balthazar turned, just as another flew past him, almost knocking him off balance. Almost. Balthazar retraced his steps and lashed out as the creature moved towards him again. The creature screamed as it disappeared. Balthazar frowned, a little disturbed. That scream sounded a lot like Castiel too. He shuddered and, while he was distracted, another identical creature appeared to his right, swept across his face and knocked the sword from his hand. His sword spun through the air and smacked into a swamp. Balthazar flashed towards it when another one of the creatures swept down from the sky towards him.

Then the creature vanished. Uriel appeared, and the landscape immediately flattened into the empty field.

Balthazar snarled at Uriel. "Do you mind? I'm trying to train!"

Uriel raised an eyebrow. "Was that what that was? Looked more like torture. What's wrong with you?" Balthazar just hissed. Uriel rolled his eyes and said, "I'm looking for Castiel. Have you seen him?"

Pulling the sword from the grass, Balthazar snarled, "Meditating."

"Something I recommend for you after you're done here. He's at the Pinnacle then? Of course. Well, I shall go there now and see him..."

Balthazar spun round. "Wait! Uh...He's in my secret room. Doesn't want to be disturbed. Like, at all. For a week. He's a little shaken up, you know what I mean?"

Uriel cringed. "What a distasteful place to be. …Though I'm not surprised he's uneasy. After Daniel and Raguel, and with every angel asking for him – you know how many brothers and sisters have approached me asking for him? Bordering on trillions."

Balthazar sighed, "They're keen. Daniel's giving me the silent treatment, but other than that everyone's been after me. I mean, that's not new. The ladies talked to me all the time – but not about Cas!"

Uriel rolled his eyes. "Yes, I'm sure you're suffering." He paused. "I should talk to him. The sooner he gets out there, the sooner everyone will stop talking about it. Take me to that room of yours."

Balthazar shook his head. "Best not. We should leave him to it."

"He can't stay away forever. Our superiors haven't dropped this. They'll speak to him eventually, and we need to prepare him for that."

"Look, I really think we should just give him time. Let's go have a duel or something."

Uriel narrowed his eyes. "Castiel is troubled and you want to duel?"

"Our garrison wants us in top shape remember?"

Uriel gave him a level look. "He's not in your secret room."

"No, he isn't."

"You don't know where he is."

"No, I don't."

Uriel sighed. "What did you do?"

"Oi, what makes you think I did anything?"

"You talked to him last."

Balthazar folded his arms. "All right. Fine. I may have upset him."

"May have?"

"That's not the issue! We can get together and sing kum-ba-yah later, but...Castiel is missing."

"I know." Uriel said. "That's why I was looking for him."

"No, I mean he's missing."

"Oh my god. You mean he's back there."

"In the best case scenario." Balthazar sighed, "Look we just have to pretend he's still here. We'll be busy with the new garrison anyway. We can just say 'Castiel's still a Fledgling so why would he hang out with us?'"

"Yes, of course, everyone will believe that!" he shook his head, "Even if they did, how do we explain Castiel's disappearance, especially to the superiors – who will come to us first!"

"I know!" Balthazar snapped, "But they're not yet, and all we need to do is keep up the act until Castiel gets back."

"What makes you think he's coming back?"

Balthazar paused, needing to swallow a lump in his throat. He glared at Uriel. "Because I told him he couldn't."

References:

"Violence will never get you anywhere." - Classic Who - Sea Devils

Mount Solace and Solitude - Nu-Who - series 3

Hermit under the tree - Classic Who - Time Monster: The Doctor talks about his conversations which an old man under a tree outside where he used to live, and how the old man had always been there.

Walls - Supernatural season 6

Gallifreyan animals: Cobblemouse - basically a mouse, Fledershrew - bat

There isn't much information on Gallifrey out there, but I'll reference whatever I pick up. Mostly, I'm going about this in my head. Like with any culture though, they'll be lot's of similarities, random and strange differences, some things that make more sense and some that make less sense, and a lot of awkwardness for both parties. Hope you enjoy it.