A/N: warnings: altruistic filicide attempt, swearing, gun violence, mention of traumatic religious institutions.

A new world - old fears

Theta felt the atmosphere shift and electricity build. There was a dropping sensation and flash of white.

The different smells hit him first. Hundreds, thousands, he'd never experienced before. The sounds followed; language, words and singing, buzzes and steps and business. The splotches cleared in his vision, and he could finally see. A different world, with different people - a different sky.

He looked up. A low, but shuddering, rumble came closer as a huge craft flew - really flew - over the built-up structures towering like the Citadel.

"It's a spaceship!" he cried, ecstatic, utterly forgetting the scary thing, a million questions whirling through his brain instead. "Where is it from? Where is it going? How does it function? How is it powered? What is it for? Who invented it? Why is it -"

Ulysses smiled and stroked his hair. "There is a limit to even my answering skills. How about we get something to eat so I can think about it? Or we can visit the place where the ships dock? The structure is built within the crust of the planet from previous seismic activity. Or we could explore this part of the city further?" There was a little hitch in their voice. "Whatever it is you want."

There was something different – something sad – in how Ulysses spoke. Theta tilted his head to the side, regarding them. Any other time he would worry about it but, here, in this new world, he sniffed something delicious and dismissed it instantly. He shook with excitement. "Alien food!" he cried.

Their smile grew. "Come, then. I know just the place."

On Gallifrey it was orderly and spacious, efficient and designed in a similar style; immaculate. This was the complete opposite. It was chaos, and it was glorious! A mess of all direction, sound and sense. The alleys were narrow and full of people who his imagination could not possibly conceive. Some had fur, some were see-through, some floated on technology, and some even looked like Galifreyians; yet, they all coexisted in the same place. They moved illogically and with no pattern, sometimes stopping in the middle of the crowded path for no reason. They wore clothes with no conformity to a style or colour, even within the same species, the only consistency being a uniform with a mixture of greens with black head gear and boots whom some wore – officials, perhaps?

And there were younglings here too. Some clung to their guardians, some played, yelled and ran in groups, whipping past the uniformed elders with no acknowledgement or concern for their lower status, disappearing into the crowd. But perhaps that didn't matter here? Perhaps there were no rules to follow, no expectation or history to uphold. It felt like a paradise.

Even the buildings were messy, built out of parts, odds and bits. Some were crowded with people, some were dilapidated and burnt, only the shell remaining. Some were painted in vivid red, or smothered with the same sharp poster over and over again.

This place was amazing!

Brilliant!

Fantastic!

There was one fluffy alien with floppy ears and a tail that moved like a metronome, wearing a stripey top and short trousers. They were looking at something outside a specialist archive - a contraption with whirling lights and tinny sounds. He was a little curious himself. How did it spin? What was its purpose? He stopped to observe it.

The alien caught him looking and energetically gestured at him.

"He's waving." Ulysses explained. "It's a friendly gesture. Repeat it."

He did, and the other youngling beamed and waved back more enthusiastically, their tail swinging rapidly side to side. He tried to match the waving, he also tried shaking his behind to match the movements.

And it worked! His 'wave' made both Ulysses and the youngling laugh, the fluffy being clutching his stomach. The alien made a different hand gesture, which he understood on Gallifrey to mean 'come here' but he wasn't sure. He looked up to Ulysses.

They pushed in his mind that he was correct - that it was okay to go. They let go of his hand. He was tentative. But the youngling bound up to him, grabbed him with both furry hands and yanked him forward.

He looked back to Ulysses, but, again, there was a push it was safe.

The alien seemed unable to use vocal language and, instead of speaking, pointed between two miss-matched housing structures made of different parts, leading to a narrower, darker path away from the busyness…

It smelled funny.

The creature tried to tug him forward, unworried. He, on the other hand, stayed rooted, glancing back to Ulysses with uncertainty. The area was too foreboding.

The fluffy youngling seemed simply to know. They bounded up to Ulysses and grabbed their hand without asking permission, unbothered by the difference in authority or position. Ulysses was a Time Lord, and the creature was not. But that didn't stop them.

And even more unbelievable, instead of letting go when Ulysses didn't budge, they put all their strength to move his much taller and heavier guardian towards the alley.

"I think they want us to follow them." they said, not bothered by the rudeness at all. They held out their spare hand for him to re-take. "Do you want to go? It could be an adventure."

He glanced tentatively at the alley. It was dingy, but the curiosity was too much to ignore. This was the unknown. It was exciting. And his guardian would protect him. He took Ulysses's hand, letting the youngling lead them both.

The youngling set a quick pace. The towering structures blocked out the light, making navigation tricky. There were whirling machines that blew out hot air in his face. The ground was uneven and there were unfriendly looking spiky creatures that scurried away as they approached. Left, then right, they marched until the space opened up to rolling grass fields, but...

"It's blue!" he gasped. A deep, lush blue.

"Yes, and look." With their hand still in his, Ulysses pointed to a fenced off area, containing structures painted a mixture of different colours, noisy with younglings. "It's a 'playground'." Ulysses explained. "A place for younglings to play."

His face scrunched up. "Why?"

Something hurt flickered across Ulysses's face. "The reasons are your own. Whatever you feel. Whatever you want."

That was twice they'd told him that. He didn't really understand why. But before he could question it, the youngling pulled him towards the fenced off area. There were even more younglings within the perimeter, and a few guardians on benches or around the edges. Inside, there were wooden, wavy-like structures; things that swung, bounced, and rotated.

It did look quite fun.

Other younglings joined them on the 'slide'. A few of them could talk, and although he had no experience of the language at first, their gestures and common words meant it was pretty easy to pick up. It made the running from contraption to contraption more enjoyable.

Then Rel, as the other children called the fluffy being, randomly pushed him in the chest. He tried to repeat the action, but just as he was about to do it, Rel manoeuvred out of the way.

"Tag you're it." yelled a youngling who looked physically like a Gallifreyian, but with pointed ears, extended canines and pink skin.

All the other younglings screamed and cried, running away from him - avoiding him.

His hearts sank. What had he done wrong? He'd jumped from wooden block to wooden block in 'don't touch the lava', he'd swung on the swings using his own momentum to 'blast off' and survived the 'earthquake' when the muscular, and rather big, youngling vigorously shook the stepping logs suspended from the air by chains.

Was it because he was 'different'? Even here, on this planet so full of difference, did his own uniqueness matter? He wanted to cry. He thought it was safe.

"He doesn't know how to play." said one of them, but he didn't understand what that meant.

Rel came up to him, slowly.

He stood there. Not really sure what to do.

Rel gently took hold of his wrist and then lifted it up. He was scared of the alien touching him after he'd been singled out, but put up no resistance in case it made the situation worse - like it had done in the past.

Rel lifted his wrist to their own chest.

He stared at it, able to feel the fur under Rel's clothes. His gaze unsurely moved to Rel's face. What did this mean?

The alien beamed at him. "Tag, I'm it." they said.

Then the younglings screamed and ran again. He thought he'd somehow got it wrong again, but, as he stared stupidly on, he realised they weren't running from him any more, they were running from Rel.

Rel honed in on a chubby green blob of a youngling wearing nothing but short-bottoms. "Tag!" Rel yelled. In the next second he whipped around and ran, and now all the younglings were avoiding the blobby youngling.

Oh…

It wasn't him.

It was a game.

Blob-alien saw him standing there and made a sprint straight for him, their fat rippling as they ran, determination pure on their face. But he was a mighty and superior Time Lord… well he was training to be. He would not be beaten by such an inferior life form in a game of strategy. HA!

He turned to run, and ran face first into a support beam of the swing. Suddenly he was staring up at the sky. In the distance, he heard Ulysses call him from a bench on the perimeter.

Physically there was minor injury… but his pride… his pride had taken a mortal blow.

The blob alien squatted down and placed his palm on his stomach with all the spare time in the universe. "Tag." the blob told him in a smug and nasally voice.

"Oh, dear. Never-mind. Never-mind" Ulysses called out, pushing reassurance towards him.

Oh, this was war.

They played 'tag' then 'hide and seek' then 'skipping' with ropes. He was happy to find he excelled at this. He puffed out his chest when a few guardians came over to praise him amongst the crowd of younglings already gathered. One of them even approached Ulysses at their bench and escorted them over. Ah, so this was something to be admired even by elders?

"Ulysses, Look at what I do." he told them in the new language he'd learnt, feeling very smug.

"Yes, I'm looking." they said, replying in the same language, standing next to other guardians, enough distance away not to get hit.

One of the guardians - the blob-alien from their appearance - started to converse with Ulysses as he was demonstrating, which was irritating as it distracted Ulysses from their important task of observing him!

He picked up snippets of the pointless conversation as he jumped in time of the turn of the rope by the two younglings holding the ends.

"He's really just arrived today? He's picked up the lingo so quick."

"Yes, he's quite skilled at that." they said.

"And jump rope too. You must be proud."

There was a crack in their expression. "Quite."

"What's your secret?" another asked. "I can't get mine to sit five minutes with her Gens textbook."

"Just lucky, I suppose." they said, unusually distracted in their own thoughts.

Eventually, daylight faded and the playground became quiet. Only a few more-developed younglings were left, not counting him and Rel.

They sat on the swings in silence. Rel had the seat on his tummy, doing running jumps, tucking their legs in and letting gravity pull them down. Meanwhile, he sat peacefully and looked up at the clouds and changing sky, all sorts of pinks and deep blues he'd never seen. There were twin suns like Gallifrey, but the other sun seemed quite far away, and the moon was so close to the planet he could see the cliffs and craters of its surface. It was beautiful.

Rel jumped off the swing and tugged him towards a tall tree with dense branches.

When they got there Rel pointed up, turning to swing up to the closest branch.

By the time he'd hooked his foot on the first branch to follow, Rel was already a quarter of the way up, motioning him to hurry.

In his haste not to get left behind, he lost his footing transferring from one branch to the other and dropped. He scrambled to stop himself from falling all the way down, his legs suspending in the air. He stayed there stunned, his hearts thumping against his chest. He tried to gather his wits but his brain wasn't computing.

"THETA!" he heard Ulysses panicked call, both from below and in his mind. "Theta!"

He was too stunned to answer. Rel climbed down to meet him, then grabbed hold of his clothes and heaved. That seemed to jolt his neurons into firing. He swung his leg over the branch, lifting himself up with his new friend's help.

"Thank you." he said, still so stunned he said it in Gallifreyan.

Rel smiled and pointed up, a questioning look on his face.

He was about to nod.

"Maybe we should go, Theta." Ulysses told him in the mindscape.

" But…" He looked down to his guardian, then up to the top. "I want to see." he said - in the local language for good measure. "Please."

Ulysses huffed, telling him they'd been convinced. "Be careful." they replied quietly in his head; a despair and confliction within it that he didn't understand. He wanted to question it, but Rel was pulling him forward, and the thrill and excitement of having just defied death for such an adventure was too enticing to ignore.

He nodded and resumed his assent, albeit a bit shakier and much more careful than before.

When they reached the top, Rel led him to the edge of a sturdy collection of branches, pulling back the leaves to reveal the view.

He gasped. With the fence surrounding the playground no longer obstructing their view, he could see that the grassy, flat land began to slope downwards, becoming more wild and marsh-like, opening up into rolling hills until land met the stormy sea. The most towering, longest, cliff he'd ever seen - as if the crust of the planet had risen in one jagged slice - was thickly sandwiched between the sky and sea, disappearing into the horizon. Metal doors of various sizes were built into the cliff's edge, ships coming and going.

"It's beautiful." he said in awe.

Rel smiled, pulling out smushed food in a plastic wrapper from their pocket. They ripped it open and gave half the crushed spongy substance to him, scraping it on his hand.

Theta grimaced. He brought it cautiously up to his nose, sniffing it. It smelt sweet so he risked a taste. His eyes popped. So tasty!

Rel laughed, and he smiled back. They sat peacefully, looking out at the ships arriving and departing the cliff face, until a howl echoed from below.

At the sound, Rel perked up instantly. They speedily scanned the base of the tree until their eyes fell on a larger of their species. The elder looked in need of rest, but smiled through it when Rel waved at them.

Ulysses was still waiting, motioning him down.

By the time the elders had said their formal goodbyes, his eyes were getting heavy. His head dropped as Ulysses took his hand and guided him away from the playground, and possibly from the best day he'd ever had in his whole life.

He heard that horrid clicking-moan, snapping him awake. He'd forgotten about the spindly creatures. But they were back, whispering once more in Ulysses's ear.

Whatever they were saying to his guardian, distressed them awfully. Their back was to him, gripping the metal fencing along the riverbank of where they had brought him so much their knuckles were white. "Forgive me, Claire." Ulysses said, their voice breaking. "I don't know what else to do." Their shoulders shook.

Theta watched them for a while, before risking a glance at the creature.

It was there, next to Ulysses, staring at them. Waiting.

He noticed the metal machine from the box on a different bench to the one he'd been placed on, closer to where Ulysses was standing. "Is – is it broken?" he asked shyly, sitting up. He didn't look at the creature, but still a headache niggled.

Ulysses whipped around, pale and horrified, their face puffy. "You're awake."

He avoided eye-contact. He wanted to say something. Anything! But if Ulysses had the machine, then this was the wrong set of events… wasn't it? 'it's only temporary' he told himself. It was only temporary. He kept his eyes on the floor, but could see more of the creatures appear in the far corners of his vision.

Ulysses sighed, turning back to the river and looking out to the city, their presence low in the mindscape, ignoring his obvious fear. "You should be asleep."

"I'm sorry." he said, tensing as the words left his mouth, waiting for another outburst.

Ulysses winced in agitation. For a moment, Theta was sure they would shout, but their head drooped with a sigh, letting it go. "Did you enjoy yourself today?" they asked defeatedly instead.

His eyes flickered from creature to creature. They were all gathered around now, encircling them. "Yes." he replied, unconvincingly.

"I see." There was a pause. "Would you like to get something to eat? Are you hungry?"

The thought of going towards the creatures made his whole body shudder. He shook his head. "There's no need. Rel shared food with me."

Ulysses sighed, void of fight. "Are you sure? You are allowed, if you would like to? There's lots of things I think you'll like."

He shook his head again, clutching the material of his robe. Not if the creatures had whispered it. Absolutely not.

Disappointment was clear on Ulysses's face. "Right… very well." They opened their mouth, but nothing came out. So strange - for his guardian to be lost for words. "Let's return then."

"But what about your research?" he asked, looking up for a second out of surprise, before returning his line of sight to the ground, the creatures closing in. He pushed down his fear, trying to reason with his guardian - as Quences had. "I haven't done anything."

Ulysses wasn't looking at him, keeping their focus out onto the water. "Of course, you have. I wished to study the integration of multiple species and the effect on development. And now, thanks to you, I can include a Time Lord in my papers."

Theta didn't really believe them, but he couldn't think of any other reason for Ulysses to bring him here - to stray from their duties.

Again, Ulysses faltered in their speech, changing what they were about to say last minute. And while outwardly they seemed calm, Theta knew it was pretend. "I have something for you. A gift –" Their voice wobbled. "A mercy."

"What's that?"

Ulysses didn't answer him, which made his hearts sink, made his fear bubble. They always answered his questions - always. "Close your eyes." they said. "And stay very still."

Theta was scared. The creatures were receding - stepping backwards to remain facing him and Ulysses, the horrid clicking fading further into the distance. His stomach twisting, he clenched his eyes shut. He waited, and waited, hoping time would change and things would return to normal, but nothing happened. He felt nothing. It was too much to bear. He opened his eyes.

Ulysses was there, pointing the machine directly at his head. Their hand was shaking. "C – close you're eyes." they said, their voice trembling.

He obeyed, terrified. Something was horribly wrong. So wrong! There was pulsing in his ears, his breath hitched.

"No." Ulysses whimpered. "Don't – don't be scared. I'm - please, I don't want you to –" The next thing he heard was weeping, and it took him a few seconds to realise it was his guardian.

He opened his eyes again. Ulysses was on their knees, sobbing. "I can't. I can't!"

Theta stared at him, unable to comprehend what he was seeing. His guardian, like a youngling.

"I'm sorry." Ulysses repeated over and over. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry."

He looked around, eyes skittering on the ground to avoid the creatures. But there were none. He tentatively lifted his head. They'd gone. It was just him and Ulysses.

Had time shifted again? He didn't know. All he understood was that, for some reason, Ulysses was really upset. He wanted to do something. He carefully approached, then, in one surge wrapped his arms around them. "There, there." he said, then started to sing. Quentes, being as wise and old as they were, was right. Ulysses was not well. But Ulysses always treated him with kindness when he failed to live up to what was expected. It always made the situation better. And he hoped it would do the same for them.

But, instead, it broke them completely. They grabbed him, cradling him close to their chest in a strong grip. "I'm sorry." they said. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."

He kept singing and let Ulysses rock him, part-wondering if they'd been holding back this whole time, like he often did. Muddled and confused he didn't what he was feeling.

Then he heard a cry, like he'd heard in Ulysses study. Like Rel's elder but not quite. The one that had made his headache stop. He searched for the source, and in doing so made Ulysses pause.

One of the creature was standing directly in front of them. Several others were further in the distance, circled around them. They were back! He jumped in his guardian's hold. Ulysses shot to their feet, feeling both his physical reaction and, at last, his mental fear.

But this time, this time they could see it. They could see all of them. Their eyes darting to where they stood, their hold on him tightening.

"Who are you?" they demanded. "What do you want?"

"They've been whispering to you." he told them quietly.

Ulysses stilled for a moment. "For how long?"

He eyed the torso of the creature. It wasn't moving, which meant it was staring at him. "Since the study." he said in a small voice.

Their expression darkened. "Have they done anything to you?"

With that creaking moan, the creature raised its gangly fingers.

Theta jerked, burying his head in Ulysses's chest. He called out. Even though Ulysses was right there. He didn't want it to hurt him again, clenching his eyes shut, bracing for another headache.

Across the link he felt a seething ice-cold rage beneath Ulysses's pretend calmness.

There was a loud pop – a bang. A thud of something hitting the ground.

Theta blinked. Suddenly he was in the park, the light dim with only the distant sun in the sky. Ulysses's presence was dull and far away. Frantically he searched. He couldn't see them.

"Are you okay there?" Rel's guardian asked him, their hands on their knees, stooped down to his level. They were soft spoken and their voice was kind and patient, Rel looking on in concern.

There was no one else in the area. Just the three of them, and it was getting dark. Panic set in. Everything was going wrong, tears pricked his eyes.

"Hey, hey, it's okay." Rel's guardian soothed.

"I cannot pinpoint the location of my guardian, can you please assist me?" he asked, but in Gallifrayian. He wasn't thinking straight.

The Dog elder rubbed his back, looking nervously over their shoulder. "Can you speak Gens?"

Taking short breaths, he forced everything down. "I can't find my dad." he wailed.

"Oh, dear." she pulled him into a hug. And, being the only other elder he knew on this whole planet, he took it.

It didn't help that there was an urgency in her voice. That the hug was quick. It didn't help at all. "Come on. Let's get you out of the park."

As they hastily guided him and Rel towards the exit, the Dog-elder stopped as they spotted a crowd of four older younglings.

The younglings sauntered over to them, their posture demanding power. Wary, Rel's guardian took a long exhale, then continued to the exit as if they weren't there, their grip on his hand tightening.

"Park closed 30 minutes ago." one of them stated, a podgy-faced, green alien.

Rel's guardian's voice tremored. "We just lost track of time."

The bald alien with horns and big eyes sniggered, they looked at him. "He doesn't look like he's with you."

Danger. His body knew he was in danger. They were much bigger than him - and Rel's elder, for that matter. He wanted to run. If only he was not such a 'defective' he could find Ulysses and have somewhere to run to.

The bulky alien with an angry face and half their hair shaved off, suddenly grabbed his clothes and yanked him out of Rel's guardian's grip. "That means he belongs to us."

He was so frightened, so violently jerked, it felt like everything in his body stopped working. Like he was suddenly hollow. Before he knew it, they were dragging him away. Taking him from the only familiarity he had on the whole planet.

"Oi! What're you doing!" said a new voice - in the language he knew but didn't remember learning. It belonged to someone who looked like a Gallifreyian, with dark skin and long curled hair, they were even wearing a red, animal skin jacket, like they were part of the army – a soldier. "He's just a kid!" they yelled, standing in front of Rel's guardian.

The bulky alien seemed further angered, rolling their eyes and scoffing at the soldier. "This is Church business." they said, keeping their grip on him.

The soldier didn't let the words get to them, like they didn't understand the language at all. "Are you deaf? I said let him go – NOW!"

The bulky alien looked the soldier up and down in disgust, like they were an insect on the bottom of their shoe. The whole horrid group tightened their positions, readying for a fight.

The soldier stood firm, facing the crowd with bravery. He saw them covertly flick a switch behind their back, but even he could tell, this fight was not in their favour. They were outnumbered. Rel's elder took a steadying breath and, pushing Rel behind them, stepped forward to fight with the soldier. But it was simple mathematics; they would lose.

The bulky one scoffed. They threw him to the side. He stumbled back, falling on his bottom in the mud, looking up at the four whom, from his position, now towered over him. He was nothing to them now, they were after the soldier.

As the group surrounded the others, he heard something behind him. He whipped around.

The person was solid, their clothes dark and combat-like, blending with the shadows. They wore a hooded half-robe with a mask and goggles, completely covering their face. The only clothing of lighter colour was a battered armband on their left arm with a green crescent moon on it.

He should be scared; a dark, militant Galifreyian-noid who hid their face. But he wasn't. He wasn't afraid. In fact it was the opposite, that everything would be alright.

She crouched down to his level. "Hey, are you okay? Are you hurt?" she asked softly.

She was speaking Gallifreyian to him. She was kind. And that was more than enough for Theta to trust her completely at this moment in time. He clung to her, bursting into tears. Ulysses was missing, the only connection he had to home was this stranger he didn't know.

The others had noticed, and were looking at them, but she continued as if they weren't even there. "Do you want me to pick you up?" she asked.

He nodded.

Without shifting her focus from the stunned aliens, she squatted down and wrapped an arm around his torso, lifting him, while her other hand hovered over a metal machine similar to the one Ulysses had.

He swung his arms around her neck and held on tight as she stood up. "Hey, it's okay." she said softly. She leaned her head towards him, and automatically he repeated the action, his mind reaching out for any sort of connection.

The mental presence that he felt was none like any Gallifreyian he'd encountered before. But it was… overwhelming - familiar. Safe, warm, accepted, wanted. As though she was his guardian, and he was her ward. Like he had two, if that was even possible. But the connection was not automatic. As if she had no telepathic ability, it was solely in his mindscape it was happening. She was going to protect him, though. He knew it for certain.

She pushed another stronger wave in his mind, which he somehow knew meant she was about to break the connection. She lifted her head away and turned to the soldier and Rel's guardian. "Hey," she said in 'Gens'. "Come stand behind me."

The group did as they were told, Rel's guardian shielding their ward behind them, while the soldier didn't take their eyes off the scary younglings, circling slowly around to the stranger.

"Pretty shitty thing to scare a kid like that." she told them, a harsh but low tone which caused the group of older younglings to freeze.

He saw their throats move under their skin. The silent alien with tentacles turned from yellow to purple. Their heart-rates increased, reactive chemicals flooding their systems. Each of their bodies were reacting - changing.

They were afraid.

They were afraid of the stranger.

And the stranger was protecting him.

And, well, now he was sure he was safe, he felt he could handle such pathetic, inferior, younglings who he was not frightened of at all - nor was he ever! He copied what he'd learnt on the playground and stuck his tongue out at the bulky one. "They all a poo-poo heads." he said in the local language.

Rel's elder looked horrified, while the soldier looked between them, confused. But the stranger agreed it was a most fitting insult, as she burst out laughing at the eloquence of it.

The bulky alien puffed out their chest, their bravery returning.

And with it, his fled completely. He held on tighter to the stranger and buried his head in her shoulder, Rel whimpering behind him.

"It's okay." the stranger told him, briefly touching their heads together again, sending him feelings of reassurance.

"Bev!" the green one hissed. "It's that guy – the one that cleared Bilslkic."

He looked up, just to see 'Bev' pull back their arm, charging at the stranger, and therefore him.

She took out the metal device and pointed it at Bev, activating it.

Bev froze on the spot, as if a statue. The previous momentum of Bev's run made their stiff body tip forward, but when their body made contact with the ground, it returned to its normal flexibility. They appeared uninjured, yet the ordeal clearly had an impact, making Bev sweaty and wobbly as they hobbled up on all fours.

The remaining three, stunned and incapable of moving, looked up from Bev to the stranger in horror.

The stranger took a step forward. "I told you to –"

They frantically scurried away, like insects which had been disturbed by a bright light. Her tone wasn't menacing at all, but Bev's reprimand had been enough.

He, the stranger and Dog-elder and Rel watched them until they disappeared into the darkness. Satisfied, she holstered the device. "Well… I think they got the message." she said, turning her attention to him. She pulled her mask off and the hood with it, the two attached. "Are you okay?" she asked.

He stared. They looked fully Gallifreyian, with thick wavy orange hair - like the sky - and piercing blue eyes. He nodded, in awe. He was sure, somewhere long ago, he'd seen her before.

She swivelled around to Rel and Dog-elder, addressing them in Gens. "You two? Are you okay?"

Rel nodded fearfully, worried by the stranger's appearance, the guardian even more cautious, keeping Rel behind their body.

But the stranger didn't notice, instead her attention focusing on the soldier. "Martha?"

"Yeah, yeah, I'm okay." she said in the other language, letting out a shaky breath, resting her hands on her knees.

"Sorry." the stranger said… or was she a medic… or was it something else? "The trackings are all over the place, I couldn't get an exact location... and," Trepidation coloured her voice. "- I can't get through to Jack."

"No, or me." Martha said glumly. "It's started, already."

The medic pressed her lips together.

Martha was about to say something, but then her attention shifted to him, and her face fell. "Wait… is that – is that him?" she asked, like she was seeing something impossible.

He looked to the stranger for guidance. She smiled at him. "Yeah, it's him." She pointed to Martha. "This is Martha, she's my friend, and she's wondering if you're okay."

He bowed his head. "I'm well, thank you."

But even though Martha wore a soldier's jacket, they didn't seem to understand.

"She can't speak Gallifreyian." the medic said.

Oh.

"I'm okay." he said in the other language.

He felt the medic's hold go slack - just for a moment. "You know what we're saying?"

Was he not supposed to? Had he done something wrong? He averted his gaze, worried he was in trouble.

"It's okay." the medic said. "Just surprising, that's all. Quite cool, actually - very cool."

He heard the genuineness in her voice, preening at the praise, but Martha was still staring. "He's so young." she said.

The medic's – no she was called something else... was it… Penelope? - expression slipped. "Yeah." she said sadly, placing him down on the ground. "But we –"

He panicked, and clutched on. "No." he said quickly. He felt a lot safer with her. And now she was all he had!

"Hey." Penelope pressed her forehead to his, and with it, love. He felt better. "It's just so we can change your clothes."

His face scrunched up. "Why?"

She paused. "Because you're all wet."

No, he wasn -

Oh.

Yes, he was… and it wasn't just damp from the mud. "I'm sorry." he said, completely ashamed of himself.

"Hey, hey, it's okay. Everyone's body does weird things when they're feeling something really big - nice or not."

He wasn't convinced.

"It's true. When I'm really laughing, I can't help but fart. The more I laugh the more I fart, it ends up like an orchestra - lethal."

Theta blinked at her.

She blinked back, clearly expecting something.

"That's disgusting." he said bluntly.

Martha cracked up with laughter.

"Ouch."

"He gets that from you." Martha said, still smiling.

"Yeah... sorry." she said, but he didn't understand. "Let's get you changed." Penelope said, lowering him down, and he didn't resist this time.

Penelope slung off the backpack from her shoulders and rummaged in the large compartment. "Although…" She looked him up and down. "… you look like you'd be a five-to-six now more than a twelve to thirteen." she said to herself, pulling out some clothes for him.

He tentatively glanced between Rel, their elder, and Martha. "But…"

"It's okay, I'll hold a towel around you."

"Don't look." he told Martha firmly, narrowing his eyes.

Martha held up her hands, smiling. "No looking. I swear."

Penelope told Rel's guardian in Gens. The guardian nodded and turned her back, while Rel stayed where they were, gaping at him. The elder quickly noticed and turned their ward around.

The clothing was just a little too big for him, and definitely not Gallifreyian. Trousers, a top, trainers and, lastly, a hoodie… was that the word? He studied it a moment, noticing the similarities in colour. "It's like yours."

Penelope smiled, although didn't face him. "Can I look?"

"Yes."

She turned. "Yep. And it's special, it'll protect you from those creepy things."

Well, in that case, he hastily put it over his head, Penelope helping thread his arms through.

"I take it you're not a cleric?" the Dog-elder piped up carefully from behind them.

Penelope jerked back. "Fuck no." she said, offended, while Martha looked between them, trying to guess what was said.

Dog-elder relaxed a little. "Sorry, it's just the way those teenagers looked at you - I thought you were their commanding officer or something."

"No, we're just with him." She tilted her head to him. "Done?"

He nodded, and she took the towel away and folded it into her backpack with his robes in a plastic bag, strapping the bag back on her back. She addressed Rel's guardian. "I didn't think the Church of the Papal Mainframe were still around, this day and age?"

The guardian's mouth opened, thrown utterly by Penelope's answer. It took them a while to recover. "You must be from pretty far out." they told her. "It's the Church of the Silence now. And there everywhere around here - the whole three sectors. Just this End they've opened three missionaries in the last two quarters."

"Missionaries? You mean those kid-snatching factories."

As if she had said some sort of secret password, Rel's guardian unwound completely. As if that one statement was enough for sole trust to be given. "Yeah, you've seen what they do to the foundlings - turns them into that." They nodded in the direction the older younglings ran to. "I have a friend in Rotto's town five yits from here, she -" They paused, glancing at Rel and then at him, there was pain in their expression.

"I'm sorry." Penelope said, sincerity in her voice.

Rel hugged the guardian, in return they stroked their head and redirected the topic. "Maybe we should get going before any more initiates turn up." They nodded to the exit.

The elders were quiet as they walked out of the park and back through the narrow streets, now scarce with people, his hand in Penelope's, and Martha close to his side. They all seemed on edge, which made him nervous.

He heard a rustling sound which no one else seemed to notice. His eyes carefully watched the ground in trying to locate the source. He didn't remember why - only that it would hurt if he did.

But it wasn't. It was an animal on all fours, looking directly at him with glowing eyes. In Gallifreyian he didn't know the word, but in the other language he did - a wolf. The hairs of his arms stood up.

Something bad was coming.

A/N: Sorry it took so long to update... had a bit of a crisis.

Last chapter, and in this one, there's some hints that Theta is remembering/starting to remember his time on Earth. On the wiki it said that the Doctor did spend some of his childhood on Earth (I think it was to explain some comment about a riding a steam train or something?) so here I've made it so he doesn't remember as an adult, but he was 'raised' by both Penelope and Ulysses for a bit before the recall of the Renegades.

As always, I appreciate any reviews :)