it started with a { LOW LIGHT }, koandi'r !

[The Doctor]

The Doctor’s life had become a lot more complicated. River was out exploring ‘old Cardiff,’ and Rose was nowhere to be found. Not that he thought it was the best idea to go and find her right now. She was still hurting, and he could understand that. So what was he doing in Torchwood? After seeing the inside for the very first time – video-links aside – the Time Lord had to admit that he was curious about the Hub. He wasn’t exactly sneaking around. Just because he popped in uninvited, that wasn’t really going to be a problem. Jack would understand. So, hands in pockets, the TARDIS materialised on Roald Dahl Plass. The tourist office door was shut, sign proclaiming ‘closed,’ but that didn’t stop him, either. Enter the sonic screwdriver, vibrating the lock mechanism until the metal clicked out of place. Perfect.

Slipping inside, the Doctor smirked to himself. He couldn’t help it. There was only a brief tour down a grey corridor before the familiar appearance of the central control area, another simple door stopping his entry. The team must have been away on one of their own missions. Torchwood’s whole purpose was to keep monitoring alien activity, after all. The Doctor only accidentally came across trouble wherever he went. He had to admire them all for that, no matter how the place had started up.

Thinking better than calling out, the Doctor nearly jumped when an unknown appeared out of nowhere, smiling at him. He didn’t recognise the young man, but he didn’t look surprised as he carried through a pile of paperwork. “Saw you on the CCTV,” he explained, sounding a little nervous. “Um, you must be here for the… the creature? He’s down in the vaults until we can work out what to do with him.”

“Where?” Gesturing down past the computer terminals, the Doctor just nodded a thank-you before heading in that direction. Sometimes he was glad that the team recognised him. It made life a great deal easier. But… ‘creature’? That was enough to get all of his curiosity working overtime. Was it something dangerous, or was Torchwood being a bit overzealous again? It wasn’t exactly the first time that something like that had happened, after all.

Once he had reached the vaults, the Time Lord wrinkled his nose. Dreary wasn’t the word for it. Each one was a cage. Glancing in each passing cell, he jumped at one angry Weevil. That couldn’t be it. Some of the cells were empty, too. What finally caught his eye was a cell that he had almost overlooked. That was, until he saw a flash of golden mane in the corner of his eye. Spinning around, he frowned, seeing what could only be a child. Was that… an Iphite? This far away from home? “Hello, you,” the Doctor smiled, remembering to keep up his telepathic barriers. The race were a race of empaths, if he remembered correctly. It had been a while since he had visited the colony. “I’m the Doctor. Are you alright?” The Iphite was small, only a young one, and he clearly didn’t have anyone to protect him. He didn’t need frightening any more.

[Koandi'r Piotr]

He wasn't dead. Not yet. Koandi'r was grateful for that. Still, his existance as of right then didn't feel so great either. After being dragged to this place, he'd had lots of humans with lots of white, uncomfortable, synthetic things on their bodies poke and prod and use all sorts of sharp and strange metal instruments on him. The Iphite cried a lot during that, but it had ended in what felt like ages ago. For now he was stuck in this small metal area, with not much to do. On top of being claustrophobic, the metal felt cold and unnatural, making Koandi'r even more uncomforatble. The child's lonliness had only grown over the hours, and although he cried earlier he had run out of tears.

They gave him food once or twice, if you could really call it that. He thought it was edible... processed something or other. It was white with brown edges, soft, and chewy. It tasted very bland and very strange. What he wouldn't give for something green... or better yet, something from home. Of course, all Ko really wanted to do was be at home, but that wasn't happening anytime soon.

What's worse, the thing across from him kept glaring and snarling at him, showing its sharp teeth and kept trying to force its way through the bars. Koandi'r could sense it was hungry... and although he had tried to convince it multiple times that he wasn't food, he couldn't seem to communicate with it at all. So the little Iphite had retreated to the furthest corner of his cell, very frightened of what might happened should the thing, whatever it was, get out.

And so he had sat until he heard a clanging of some sort. Like another human's feet in the hallway. He kind of smelled it, but he didn't sense anything. In fact, Koandi'r didn't bother looking up until he heard something he could understand. Looking up, he came face to face with what looked like a dark haired human. His eyes froze in a mixture of fascination and fear.

"... I can understand you..." he whispered in disbelief. "How?"

Koandi'r paused. "I'm Koandi'r ... and no, I'm not. I'm scared," he whimpered, eyes not leaving the Doctor. He didn't trust humans, especially ones that understood his language and shouldn't. Something about this 'Doctor' seemed different though... he smelled different... he sounded... different... there was that thumping again...

Koandi'r's ears perked up as he recongized the sound. "You have two hearts." he observed, drawing a bit closer to the bars. "... What are you?" he asked, hopeful that the answer was not human with two hearts.

[The Doctor]

He was absolutely terrified. Poor little Iphite. The Doctor kept a warm smile on his face, trying to work out exactly how he was brought to Cardiff like this. His people weren’t exactly the most technologically advanced, and they surely wouldn’t have just abandoned a child like that. There was a chair left at the far end of the cell run, too, which the Doctor thought would be handy in a little while. Not quite yet, though. He didn’t want the Iphite to think that anyone else was just going to leave him. Honestly, this one couldn’t be Jack’s idea, could it? In fairness, no one would understand what anyone else was saying. The Iphite language was exceptionally different to the standard English of this modern human. The Doctor, just like most occasions, knew the language and wasn’t going to subject the poor creature with anything other than a soothing rendition of his natural tongue.

“Koandi’r,” the Doctor repeated, making sure that the pronunciation was correct. “Don’t worry, I’m here now. No one’s going to hurt you.” The Torchwood of the past probably wouldn’t have thought twice about ‘getting rid’ of an unknown alien, but even the Doctor had to admit that the modern Torchwood was a million miles away from that. As soon as he spoke to Jack, or Gwen and the rest of the team he knew, they would understand and let Koandi’r go. Well, maybe not ‘go,’ as he was so young, but they’d look after him properly.

The observations that the Iphite made were spot on, though. “I do,” the Doctor grinned back. “I’m a Time Lord. And that’s the reason that I can understand you. I’ve been to your home planet before. Very beautiful.” He was about to go on, but then realised that he wasn’t exactly taking the little one’s feelings into consideration. “Ah, anyway. The humans here don’t mean you any harm. They’re here to protect their planet, and they have absolutely no idea what you are. The only reason that you’re here is to make sure you’re not going to hurt anyone. I’m sure of it.”

Glancing back down the corridor at the chair, the Doctor nodded over in its direction. “Hang on. I’ll be right back.” With quick strides, the Time Lord found and lifted the chair, bringing it back to the front of Koandi’r’s cell. Despite knowing that he was a child, the Doctor unfortunately didn’t know whether he’d make a run for it if the door was opened. It could end up being a death sentence for him, and the Doctor didn’t want that innocent death by his hand. “Okay.” Sitting down, the Doctor clasped his hands together. “Now… do you know how you got here? How you ended up so far away?”

[Koandi'r Piotr]

Koandi'r was relieved to be able to talk and understand and finally be able to talk to someone, to be comforted, to feel safe. Koandi'r moved close to the bars to try and stay near this mysterious Time Lord... whatever that was. All he knew is it wasn't human and it wasn't trying to hurt him and it could speak his language. And this Doctor guy had been to his planet before! Koandi'r could tell by his vocal pattern and heartbeat that he wasn't lying... and he was very grateful for that.

"But they kill things-" he protested after being explained that humans were only trying to protect their planet. "I wasn't going to hurt anything!" he said, a bit hushed because he wasn't sure what else was around. Koandi'r swallowed hard. "They're not going to hurt me?" he asked timidly. "Then why did they put me in here?" Ko looked at the Doctor with hurt eyes. Why was he sticking up for humans anyway? Didn't he know anything about them?

"Wait! Don't go-" Koandi'r called desperately after him, reaching his hand through the bars after the Doctor. Koandi'r winced and was ready to cry until the Doctor came back with what looked like something to sit on based on what he did with it.

Koandi'r wiped his eyes from his near tears. "I don't know. I felt something really strong... like it was pulling me. And then I ended up on Earth... and I kept running until one of them caught me and they put me here and now..." Koandi'r sniffed again wiping his eyes. "I just want to go back."

[The Doctor]

He really was terrified. Not that the Doctor blamed him, being so young and out of his depth. It sounded like the boy had been ripped through the Rift, and there was no easy way of taking him back – apart from the TARDIS, of course. “Yes, humans can kill things,” the Doctor conceded, “but they’re not all like that. Trust me.” The smile never wavered as the Time Lord tried to calm the Iphite down. “And, because they couldn’t understand you, they needed to keep you here just in case. A lot of aliens look harmless enough, but… well, some are downright dangerous.”

Pulling out a handkerchief from one of those hidden pockets inside his black suit jacket, the Doctor handed it through the bars to Koandi’r. “I’ll get you back there soon, don’t worry,” he then said, sitting forward in the chair. It would have been easy to pull out his sonic screwdriver and take Koandi’r straight back to his home planet, but this incarnation realised that he would need to tread a bit more carefully. It hadn’t been long since the whole episode with Rose, and Jack was probably angry with him. Diplomacy was the key, even though it would be terribly difficult. If he were able to explain the Iphite and how he got to Cardiff, then, that would be much better. Otherwise, the Doctor would end up stepping all over Jack and Torchwood’s toes. The last thing that he wanted was for any of them to resent any random appearances.

Another possibility was that Koandi’r may have to get used to some of the alien-ness of Earth before being thrust into the almost impossibility of a Time Lord’s TARDIS. Meeting someone of another race was one thing, they were just another case of flesh and blood, but technology could easily frighten. The Iphite was practically faint with fear to begin with, never mind adding the idea that something could be bigger on the inside – how would that affect him?

“I think… I think a rift in space and time brought you here. But I’m sure we can fix it.” Of course he was sure. The Doctor knew he could do anything, and most of the time, he was right. “What time are you from? I mean, back on your planet. What year was it?”

[Koandi'r Piotr]

"I guess so," Koandi'r replied, his eyes moving momentarily to the hungry thing in the cage opposite. But it looked scary, and it was trying to hurt things. It was very clear about that. The Iphite didn't think he was scary looking... and he was running away, not running toward. How could they think he was dangerous?

Then again, if the thing across from him was what they normally dealt with, Koandi'r couldn't entirely blame them for thinking this.

Koandi'r was still trying to figure out why this Doctor kept sticking up for the humans. He knew they killed things often. He'd been to Iphitus. He knew that humans were the most feared creatures in the universe there. So why did he insist on sticking up for them? Unless... he worked for them.

Koandi'r's imagination went to dark places. This Doctor was trying to convince him humans were good. He was an alien, and yet not behind the bars like the others here. Koandi'r couldn't feel his intetions... he couldn't feel anything from his mind. It was if the Time Lord in front of him wasn't even there.

... Besides... weren't there no Time Lords left? He was lying.

Koandi'r studied the strange cloth a minute, just feeling the soft texture. What was he supposed to do with it. He didn't know so he just held onto it.

"5759," he said without batting an eye. "But I have to know... are you with the humans? The ones who put me here? Because you can stop lying anytime. I know there are no more Time Lords. I know that humans are killers. I know that you don't really want to get me home..." he said timidly, yet accusingly.

"Just go away," he said, feeling very hurt and alone and scared, turning away from the Doctor. He didn't step away from the bars though, even though he easily could. Deep down he wanted to believe it wasn't true... everything else pointed otherwise.

[The Doctor]

Koandi’r managed to get the idea in his head that the Doctor was dangerous – almost as dangerous as the humans that had him caged. Once the Time Lord heard the date, though, he knew that the boy would easily be taken out of everyone’s hair, right back to where he was supposed to be. For now, though, Koandi’r had to stay in Torchwood. It would only be until the Doctor could convince Jack to take the boy off his hands, and, well, the captain wasn’t exactly going to want to keep a child in Torchwood if he could be taken back home, to his parents. It was going to be excessively simple, actually. No real adventure involved. And, if the Doctor managed to time the TARDIS just right, Koandi’r could be back just after he was taken by the Rift. Easy-peasy, back in time for tea.

Of course, the Doctor expected a little resistance, but obviously the barrier that he had set up in his mind was a bad idea. “I’m friends with the humans here. They’re good, decent people. I know them, and I trust them. Considering this entire operation was here just to stop and capture me, well, that has to mean something, right?” Koandi’r’s voice was low, timid, and held something of a shake to it. Still, being called a liar about being a Time Lord stung. He sat for a moment, just looking at the Iphite, thinking about to deal with that accusation in the best possible way.

Leaning back in his chair, the Doctor then folded his arms, the smile faded as his expression became completely neutral. Well, there was only one way to prove himself to a being that used empathic skills naturally, wasn’t there. Never breaking eye contact, the Doctor let the barriers in his mind down, just enough to allow him to tap into the empathic field Koandi’r would use all the time, taking it almost for granted. I am a Time Lord. I’m the last of the Time Lords.

It was a simple message sent between minds. Slow and clear, so the Iphite would be able to understand him. Sighing sadly, the Time Lord then leaned forward more comfortably in his seat, ignoring the command to leave. “Are you going to trust me now?”

[Koandi'r Piotr]

Despite his accusations and urging the Doctor to leave, Koandi'r was only lashing out in fear. So deep down, he was glad that this Doctor person didn't leave. Though he was still skeptical about everything surrounding this Time Lord he'd never met before. And why shouldn't he be? He was on a strange, hostile planet and locked up in a cage and then...

Koandi'r looked it shot. "They set this up... because of you? And you still like them? Why? What if they found you here... wouldn't they put your right where I am?" he asked even more hushed and panicked than before. His only ally might be captured and then he'd never get out.

... And then the message came. Koandi'r felt the presence, then heard the Doctor's voice in his own mind. He smiled, because it was easy to tell when someone was lying mentally. And his hope had come true, the Doctor was telling the truth. "Yes, I trust you... thank you for helping me," Ko said, reaching through the bars to hold the Doctor's hand briefly. He squeezed it gently, a sign of his culture of respect and complete gratitude.