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Chapter Text

Their routine worked. Minho and Thomas going off for their morning run, Newt awaiting their return in the sand. Frypan meeting them all on the beach with breakfast, and Gally joining them when he woke.

Well...

When he was Gally.

This was one of those mornings.

Just as Minho and Thomas returned to the settlement, they spotted Gally wandering with a wide-eyed, clueless expression, and both heaved a sigh. "Again," Thomas muttered.

"Again," Minho agreed as they detoured up from the sand.

Thomas jogged ahead to Gally and grasped his shoulder, which seemed skinnier than it should. "Gally?" he checked, hopeful.

A blink. Mouth slightly agape. "Sorry?"

Head dropping forward, Thomas took a deep breath through his nose, his shoulders sagging as he exhaled. "Okay," he breathed out, then lifted his head. "Name?"

Eyes darting around Thomas' face cautiously, not-Gally answered, "K-Kenny. Kenny Miller."

"Okay, Kenny," Thomas sighed, rubbing his hands down his face. "C'mon." He waved a hand towards the beach, then started leading Kenny down to the sand when he seemed to follow easily enough. "I'm Thomas. This," he patted Minho's shoulder when they arrived beside him, "is Minho. This," he gestured to the settlement, "is Safe Haven. No, you didn't end up here drunk last night, you haven't forgotten anything, and you haven't been kidnapped."

Kenny's eyes went wide. "Kidnapped?"

"I just said you haven't been," Thomas reiterated. He glanced to Minho, who was shaking his head slowly beside him, then back to Kenny. "How 'bout we explain, okay?"

Clearly completely lost, Kenny nodded his head.

Thomas waved for them to sit, the three of them settling in the sand. "Okay, this is gonna sound insane," Thomas warned. "And we know that. Trust me, I get it. But I'm gonna tell you what's happened, okay?"

A nod.

With a reassuring pat on the shoulder from Minho, Thomas began to explain. "About six months ago, me and both my partners got swapped for people who look exactly like us. I was running here on the beach with Minho, then I blinked and I was lying on a bed in a room I'd never seen before. Turned out I was in a house, and there was a guy downstairs calling me Stiles, because I look exactly like his son. You following?"

"Uh..." Kenny flicked his eyes between Thomas and Minho. "I... think so?"

"Okay. Well, it turned out we were swapped with alternate versions of ourselves from different dimensions," Thomas continued, watching Kenny's baffled reaction carefully. "Gally, who looks exactly like you, has an alternate version called Adam, who basically triggered this whole thing by touching something he shouldn't. Still with me?"

Kenny's eyes turned a little sad. "Uh... Maybe...?"

Chewing the inside of his lip for a moment, Thomas huffed a sigh. "Look, long story short, you've been put here, and Adam's where you were. Adam always goes where the new one was."

"New one?" Kenny frowned.

"Yeah, you're just the latest," Thomas sighed, scratching the back of his head. "The switches don't happen to me and Newt anymore, it was just the once, but Gally..."

"All the different Gally's keep getting shuffled up in different dimensions," Minho piped up. "And now you're one of them."

Two slow blinks, then Kenny whispered, "Can I go home?"

"You can," Thomas assured him. "When Rocket gets here, he can take you home. But he's gotta go 'round collecting everyone else first."

Kenny shook his head slowly. "Is... this a prank? Did Casey set this up?"

How many times had Thomas heard that?

"No," he sighed, then began listing things off on this fingers. "This isn't a prank, it's not one of your friends messing with you, you aren't in a simulation-"

"And I'd know," Minho cut in.

"-you haven't been sold to us, you haven't been conscripted or drugged, all your things are still exactly where you left them at home, and no, you don't have any weird new tattoos." With a snort, Thomas added, "That was a new one last time."

Kenny just blinked again.

"I'll get Vince," Minho nodded decisively, climbing to his feet. "Oh, and we've gotta add Kenny to the wall," he hummed, tapping Thomas' shoulder before heading up towards Vince and Jorge's home.

Eyes wide, Kenny spluttered, "Wait what?"

Thomas shook his head. "We're just getting all the "Gally"s to write their names on the wall of our cabin. It's kind of a thing for us." He glanced up when he noticed Frypan approaching with a covered dish. "Morning, Fry."

"Morning..." Frypan narrowed his eyes at Kenny for a moment, then sighed. "Another one?"

Rubbing his eye with the heel of his hand, Thomas gestured to Kenny with the other. "This is Kenny. Kenny, this is Frypan. And yes," he added quickly when Kenny made to open his mouth, "it's a nickname."

With an understanding nod, Kenny kept his mouth shut.

"You eat bread, Kenny?" Frypan asked as he sat himself down with them.

Kenny's confusion was plain to see on his face, but something about him told Thomas he was a little too meek to start actually getting upset with them. "Yeah..." Accepting a piece of bread from the dish Frypan held out to him, Kenny eyed it for a moment before taking a bite. "Casey stopped eating bread a month ago. Something about losing weight. She says she wants to stay looking good for her boyfriend, but he seems like kind of an ass, so I don't know why she wants to keep him around."

"O-kay..." With a raised eyebrow, Frypan simply offered Thomas some breakfast. "Also, where's Newt?"

A frown creased Thomas' forehead. "Oh..." He sat up a little and peered around the early-morning of Safe Haven. "He was here when we left..."

"Lost one?" Minho half-laughed as he appeared with Newt by his side. "At least know where one of your boys is, Thomas."

But there was something in Newt's eyes... Something curious, a little distant, and vaguely bemused. It sent a shiver up Thomas' spine. "Newt?"

Those familiar dark eyes moved to Thomas' face, but the spark of recognition was missing.

"Newt...?" Thomas stood and reached a careful hand for one of Newt's.

The eyes dropped to watch Thomas' fingers, the hand shifting away before contact could be made.

Heart pounding, Thomas asked quietly, "What's your name?"

Newt eyed him a moment longer, then answered, "Latimer," and Thomas' heart dropped. "Tim Latimer." He glanced over his shoulder at Safe Haven, then back to the group on the sand. "There is no war here."

"What...? Of course not," Minho scoffed, though Thomas could see the flicker of fear in his eyes. Attention darting to Thomas, Minho grabbed his arm. "You're still Thomas, right?"

Patting Minho's shoulder, Thomas looked to Tim and Kenny. "I'm still Thomas."

Grip tightening, Minho hissed, "Why's Newt gone? It's s'posed to just be Gally."

"Rocket said it wouldn't happen to you and Newt anymore," Frypan hummed, watching Thomas for a moment before offering some breakfast. "Vince's on his way down, yeah?"

Minho nodded, accepting some bread after Thomas.

"Sit down, then," Frypan sighed. Flicking his eyes to Tim, he added, "You too. Nothing we can do until Rocket gets here." He offered Tim some bread.

As Tim slowly joined the group sitting on the sand, he seemed cautious to take any food, gaze darting between Frypan and his outstretched dish.

"We've got plenty," Frypan assured him, shaking the dish encouragingly.

Tim looked down at his hands, which he quickly wiped on his - Newt's - pants before grabbing some bread and taking an eager bite.

"Where are you from, Tim?" Frypan prompted, glancing between Thomas and Minho with a look of concern mixed with understanding.

Curiosity twisted Tim's eyebrows, then he swallowed his mouthful. "England."

"There's no war in England," Kenny blurted out, cheeks turning red when the group looked to him. "Sorry..."

"I was in France," Tim corrected.

But Kenny only frowned. "There's no war in France, either."

"Perhaps not for you," Tim murmured, something distant but knowing filling his eyes as he took another bite of his bread.

"Mornin', all," Vince sighed, scratching the back of his head as he approached with a yawn. His gaze fell on Kenny. "Okay, kid, ground rules; no fighting, no judging the way we live, and if you see something that you don't agree with, keep it to yourself."

Kenny blinked twice. "Uh... Right..."

"We've danced this dance enough," Vince told him wearily. "Most of you guys've been fine, but some..." Though he seemed to be trying to find the right words, Vince shook his head and waved it away.

"We've got another problem," Frypan piped up.

Vince's face crumpled, rubbing at his eyes. "Fry, it's too early for this cryptic shit, just tell me."

Raising one hand, Tim answered on Frypan's behalf. "Private Tim Latimer, sir. I was visiting Private Hutchinson in the medical tent, following his injuries in the field. I'm certain I only closed my eyes for a moment, but now I find myself here." He glanced to the water. "A sight far more welcoming than the last beach I landed on."

Vince's eyes went wide, then darted to Thomas. "Are you...?"

"I'm still here," Thomas said quietly, keenly aware of the death grip Minho still had on his arm. "I'm not sure what's happened..." His head was a little dizzy, looking between the faces of two people he loved and knowing that neither of them belonged to him.

"Think I need a minute," Minho whispered, then lurched to his feet and strode off towards his cabin.

Slowly taking the space Minho left, Vince watched Tim silently for a few moments. "You're a soldier?"

With a nod, Tim explained, "When the war broke out, I enlisted with the rest of the boys from my school."

Vince processed this, then asked, "Which war?"

"The Great War, sir."

Kenny almost choked on his mouthful, coughing a few times before spluttering, "You're from World War I?!"

The bizarre serenity in Tim's face faded for a moment as he sucked in a shaky breath. "One...?" He squeezed his eyes shut and shook his head, biting off another mouthful of his breakfast. "I suppose time travel was to be expected," he murmured after swallowing.

"The hell does that mean?" Thomas frowned.

A flicker of a smile reached the corner of Tim's mouth. "If you knew the man I knew, you wouldn't ask such questions," he hummed, reaching into his pocket and retrieving a flat, round object on a chain.

Vince sent Thomas an exhausted look. "How come Newt's have to be the ones that know shit?"

With a quick glance around the group, lingering on a muddled Kenny and pensive Tim, Thomas muttered, "I wish I knew shit."

Chapter Text

Knowhere

A mechanical hum. A licking at his cheek.

Gally sighed through his nose. "Hey, bud," he croaked, not bothering to open his eyes as he reached up to pet the head of the furry creature attacking him with affection.

A happy little trill confirmed what Gally already knew; he was back on Knowhere.

"Okay, Blurp," he groaned, wrangling Blurp into his arms and sitting himself up. "Better find Rocket." Dragging one hand up to rub his eyes, Gally finally blinked them open to take in the now familiar scene of Adam's bedroom. It always surprised him how tidy it was in here.

Perfect being, indeed.

"C'mon." Clambering gracelessly from Adam's bed, Gally spared a moment to make sure he was dressed before sliding his feet into Adam's boots and heading out the door and into the elevated street above Knowhere. He knew his way these days, weaving easily through a sea of inhuman faces, many of which smiled and waved to him on his way past. Though he would rather still be asleep, he waved in return; it wasn't their fault he ended up here again.

"Human!" came the inordinately cheerful voice of Cosmo as the talking dog bounded across the street to meet him. She hopped up on her hind legs and planted her front paws against his hip. "You are back!"

"Morning, Cos," Gally yawned, holding Blurp with one hand and dropping the other to rub Cosmo's ears.

"Does Rocket know you are here?" Cosmo asked, tail wagging and tongue lolling out the side of her mouth.

"Just off to find him now." Once Cosmo had her fill of head rubs and dropped back down to her feet, Gally started towards Nebula's office. "How's it been?"

And so, Cosmo launched into an animated story of all the things they had been up to since Gally had last been unceremoniously dropped in Adam's place. Though he wasn't really listening, it warmed Gally's soul to hear her so excited.

Walking through the doors to Nebula's office earned him a quick, inky-eyed glance and a long-suffering sigh. "You're back," Nebula muttered, turning her attention back to the computer panel on her desk.

"Yep."

Without looking up, Nebula pressed a button on her collar and grunted, "Rocket. Human's back."

A crackly, "There soon, Nebs," came from beside the button.

Gally took a seat on a bench by the door, Blurp bundled in his lap and Cosmo jumping up to sit right up beside him. "Wonder who's been pulled into the cycle this time," Gally hummed, circling his fingers against the top of Blurp's head and earning a happy coo.

"Another you," Cosmo nodded wisely. "Another human, perhaps."

"Think they've all been human," Gally pointed out. "Except Adam, obviously."

"You must have human face," Cosmo grinned at him, and Gally couldn't help but snort.

The door to the office slid open, followed by a, "Mornin', humie."

Turning his attention to the raccoon standing with his hands on his hips, Gally gave him a weary smile. "Rocket."

"Y'know, this's startin' to get ridiculous," Rocket told him, waving a hand towards the door. "Not that we don't like seeing you," he smirked as Gally stood and headed out of the office again.

"Bye, Nebula," Gally called over his shoulder.

Nebula merely grunted before the door closed again.

"She's really warmin' up to you," Rocket snickered, giving Gally a good-natured elbow in the thigh. "Groot! Krag!" he called across the large open space in the middle of the haphazard settlement. "Coming for a Safe Haven adventure?"

Kraglin and Groot, who were sitting at a table with a handful of others, both nodded, though Kraglin didn't look up. "One sec, Cap'n." He scowled at the cards in his hands, then placed one in the middle of the table.

"Ah, not this time, Kraglin," grinned the woman across the table from him, who placed her own card down triumphantly.

With a groan, Kraglin dropped his cards and pushed a bag across the table. "One day," he huffed, then led a cheerful Groot away from the laughter of the table. "Gally," he nodded.

"Hi." With half a smirk, Gally chuckled, "You've gotta stop losing to her."

"I know, I know," Kraglin muttered as they set off down the street that led to the docking bay. "Tryna win back my pride."

"Pretty sure Nebula's got that in a jar somewhere," Rocket snickered.

"I am Groot."

Gally found himself laughing along with the Guardians of the Galaxy as they wound their way through Knowhere.

"Exactly, Groot!" Rocket cackled. "A jar under her pillow."

The journey to the docking bay and onto the Bowie had become almost soothingly familiar. A piece of Gally felt bad for Adam; he never ended up in the same place twice. At least Gally had the chance to make friends.

Once aboard the ship and settled in Adam's chair in the cockpit, Gally sat Blurp in his lap and combed his fingers through his fur. "How many are we at, now?" he checked with Rocket.

"Uh..." Rocket squinted at one of his control panels. "Including you and Adam, there's seven of ya now."

Kraglin let out a low whistle. "Lotta confused families."

"Yeah... At least Adam's been landing in some safe places recently," Gally hummed, watching Rocket's hands dart around his controls with ease.

"Nothin' as bad as Jill, anyway," Rocket agreed with a smirk.

"Jill was frightened," Cosmo pointed out, tilting her head at Rocket.

"Yeah, but... Somethin' funny about the perfect being cowering in the back yard while a skinny human woman throws shoes at him."

"I am Groot."

With a curious hum, Gally asked, "Yeah, d'you ever find out where Narnia was s'posed to be?"

Rocket barked a laugh as the Bowie powered up around them. "Eustace just says it's magic, so I ain't lookin' into it no more."

"Fair," Gally supposed.

"Even with all the work and new enhancements I've put into the engines, we're still gonna have to take a break in Safe Haven to recharge," Rocket explained, flipping a switch that lifted the Bowie off the docking bay floor. "But we're gonna have to start finding places to stop off along the way if this list of guys gets any longer. I'm a genius, but I ain't a miracle worker."

Gally braced himself in his seat as Rocket took the Bowie out into space. It may have been the sixth time he'd done this, but plunging into the infinite depths of space was still a little overwhelming. "We heard from home yet?"

Just as the words left his mouth, something pinged by Rocket's controls. "Speak of the devil." Rocket reached over and pressed a button. "Thomas?"

"You've got Gally, right?" came Thomas' voice, distorted through the interdimentional comm.

"I'm here, Greenie," Gally confirmed.

A sigh crackled through the comm. "Good. And... And what about Newt?"

Cold gripped Gally's gut as a confused look passed around the cockpit. "Isn't he there with you?"

"No... We've got some guy called Tim."

"Uh..." Rocket tapped at his screens. "Sorry, kid. Ain't no Tims in the shard... No Newt, neither."

"What...?"

More tapping, then Rocket shook his head. "All the guys in the shard look like Gally and Adam."

"But Newt's not in Safe Haven?" Gally asked, sitting forward in his seat. "Have you checked?"

"Tim's wearing his clothes."

Glancing down at Adam's t-shirt, with words in a language he could never read printed across the front, Gally muttered, "That happens when we swap..."

"Then..." Thomas fell uncomfortably silent, and Gally's stomach turned. "Then how do we get him back?"

Silence.

"Well..." Rocket scratched the back of his head. "Tell you what; we'll keep an eye out while we're rounding our guys up. Maybe he's just ended up with one of them." He snapped his fingers. "What's the new guy like? They know each other, maybe?"

"His name's Kenny," Thomas said quietly, "and they definitely don't know each other."

Gally sucked in a deep breath through his nose, closing his eyes as he exhaled. There must be an explanation. The answer had to be somewhere. This would make sense in the end, it had to.

"Gal?"

Opening his eyes again, Gally gave himself a reassuring nod. "Yeah?"

"You'll find him, right?"

Deep breath.

"I'm gonna try," Gally said firmly.

A shaky sound came through, then Thomas asked, "Can you do me a favour?"

Gally frowned slightly. "Sure."

"If anyone's hurt him, punch them for me."

Gally snorted, relief flooding his chest. "Promise. Though we both know Newt can take care of himself."

"Don't care. If someone's hurt him, I wanna see your bruised knuckles when you get back."

Ignoring Rocket snickering at the front, Gally rolled his eyes and told Thomas, "I'll do my best." He paused, breathing a quiet sigh before adding, "Love you, Greenie."

Thomas sniffed. "Love you, too."

The comm crackled off, leaving the hum of the ship in flight.

"I forget how violent your Thomas is," Rocket smirked as he set about activating the dimensional jump.

With a scoff, Gally muttered, "Yeah, you've never been punched by him."

Kraglin shook his head slowly by Gally's side. "I've had nightmares about it."

"Right," Rocket sighed, finger poised over the final button. "Ready to see where this Kenny guy's from?"

Bracing himself, Gally wrapped a protective arm around Blurp. "I guess," he murmured, trying not to think too hard about where the hell Newt might be.

God, he hoped he was safe...

WWI France

Spinning. Golden light. A distant sparkling sound, leaving a dizzy sensation in Newt's head.

"Huh...?" Blinking a few times to clear his vision, Newt found himself surrounded by dark canvas and dull metal bed frames. "What...?" His eyes landed on the bed he was sitting beside, then found the bed's occupant shifting his head.

A groan, then the man in the bed rolled his head to the side and peeked his eyes open. "Still here, Latimer?" he croaked.

"Uh..." Newt looked down, discovering a pair of military green trousers and a tired white undershirt rather than his comfy cargo pants and t-shirt. A sigh deflated his shoulders, his head dropping forward. "Shit..."

A feeble snort from the bed. "Never thought I'd hear a curse from your mouth. I guess war changes everyone."

Newt's insides turned cold. "War?"

The man on the bed narrowed his eyes at him, then sighed. "Did you hit your head, Latimer?"

Burying his face in his hands, Newt took two slow, deep breaths. "Okay..." He rubbed his eyes, then braced his hands against the edge of the bed. "Okay, how does Adam do this...?" Sitting himself up properly, he looked the man in the bed in the eyes. "My name's Newt. I'm not the guy you think I am; we've been, like... swapped? It's really complicated, and I've only done this once, but I think-"

"Shut up," the man huffed, dragging a hand up to rub the side of his head. "You've already saved my life, you don't have to make this evening any more bizarre."

"No, that's just it," Newt insisted. "I didn't save your life; I just got here."

Hand rubbing against his forehead, the man in the bed muttered, "I really don't have the energy for your games, Latimer."

Newt rolled his eyes and sat back in his chair. "Guess Adam has it easier," he mumbled. "People are already asking questions when you're gold." He frowned slightly when a distant noise reached his ears.

"Honestly, Latimer, you've always talked such nonsense, but-"

"Ssh!" Newt scanned the tent, straining his ears for the noise. "You hear that?"

A long-suffering sigh. "Please stop being so strange..."

"Can't you...?" The sound grew louder; a grating, wheezing noise, filling the tent. Newt's eyes caught a light in the corner, blue and flashing, a tall shape slowly flickering into view. "Please tell me you see that..."

"I was hoping you weren't about to say that," the man muttered, eyes locked on the shape.

The noise grew louder still, the image of a tall blue box fading fully into view before all coming to a stop with a THUMP. A few moments of nothing, then the door opened to reveal a man with dark skin and a dazzling smile darting out.

"Here we go!" the new man beamed, looking to the strange triangular contraption in his arms. "Time for you to do your thing, my beauty."

A young woman stepped out, eyes full of curiosity. "This's a medical tent," she murmured, scanning the equipment.

"Certainly looks to be..." The strange man set down the item in his arms and set it up on the floor, then crouched beside it and began fiddling with it. "Alrighty, let's get vindicated."

Newt's head was spinning. First, he found himself in the place of another of his alternate dimension selves, and now a man had appeared from nowhere and was behaving as though nothing were amiss. "What is that?" he asked dumbly.

The stranger glanced up at him, his eyes turning wide and bright as he leapt to his feet. "Latimer!" he beamed, stretching a hand towards him in awe. "Tim Latimer! Oh, so nice to see your beautiful face. This," he explained, gesturing to his strange object, "is my Vindicator. Vortex indicator; Vindicator."

"You can't just make up words," muttered the man on the bed.

Pointing a finger at the man on the bed, the new stranger snapped his fingers a few times. "Uuuuuuuuhh... Hutchinson!" he cheered. "And tell that to William Shakespeare. Who, by the way, massive flirt."

The woman snickered in disbelief. "I'm sorry, did William Shakespeare flirt with you?"

"Oh, you know it, babes," the stranger murmured as he pressed a few more buttons on his Vindicator. "Was definitely more interested in Martha though- Oh! Tim, you remember Martha, right?"

That feeling creeping up behind Newt's eyes was definitely a headache, he was sure of it. He stared back at the bright grin of the stranger and shook his head slowly.

The man's face fell. "Seriously? Doctor in training, about this tall, gorgeous..." The man held his hand up to demonstrate this Martha's height. "She was working as a maid at your school."

"That Jones girl?" Hutchinson scoffed from the bed.

A cold look filled the man's face. "You put some respect on her name, Hutchinson." He turned a far more cheerful look to his friend. "Bel, this is Latimer and Hutchison. I was their teacher for a while."

"We don't even know who you are, you freak," Hutchinson spat.

The man paused, then looked down at his hands. "No," he murmured. "I don't suppose you would." He held his hand out to Newt. "In case the TARDIS wasn't enough of a hint, I'm the Doctor. This lovely young lady, here, is Belinda."

Slowly accepting the Doctor's handshake, Newt admitted, "I still don't know who you are."

The Doctor frowned. "You have to remember me," he half-laughed. "At your school? 1913, Farringham School for Boys? The walking scarecrows, killer student, talking watch...?"

"Doctor, are you sure these are the boys you think they are?" Belinda tried carefully. "You could just be rambling at a couple of strangers."

"I never went to school," Newt realised quietly. "At least, I don't think I did..."

"Don't be ridiculous, Latimer, we met at Farringham," Hutchinson huffed, shifting in his bed. "You were a right little swat, and the lads all used to poke fun at you for it. You've always been strange, but this really is-"

The Doctor's Vindicator cut Hutchinson off with a beeping noise.

"Ah!" The Doctor bundled the machine up in his arms. "Wonderful. That's the reading taken." He stuck his head back inside the blue box, shoving the Vindicator back inside before reappearing and pulling the door closed. "Now, can either of you explain to me why my brilliant time machine, here," he patted the side of the box, "alerted me of a temporal-spacial anomaly in this area?"

Yep, that was definitely a headache behind Newt's eyes.

Chapter Text

"So... what'm I s'posed to do?" Kenny asked slowly, picking at the bread in his hands.

"Just wait," Vince sighed, gazing out across the water. "Rocket and the others'll be as quick as they can."

"Okay... But you said there's some guy in my place, right?"

Thomas nodded.

"So..." Fear filled Kenny's eyes. "So, some stranger's in my room? What happens when David or Sarah or Casey find him?"

With an apologetic shrug, Thomas countered, "How do you think any of them will react to meeting a guy who looks like you, but he's got shiny gold skin and gold eyes?"

Kenny's mouth dropped open. "What?"

"Adam's... different," Thomas explained as tactfully as he could. "He can fly, too, but we've told him he shouldn't do that when he ends up in strange places because it freaks people out."

Turning his stunned gaze to the waves, Kenny whispered, "They're definitely gonna panic..."

"Well... Adam's getting pretty good at explaining himself," Frypan offered as he munched on a piece of bread.

"As much as you can explain a 6'3" golden alien," Vince snorted.

Staring back at Safe Haven, Tim asked, "Is your friend alright?"

With a long sigh, Thomas admitted, "Not really. Min's been through a lot, like... mentally. Routines keep him stable. Even when this happens," he gestured to Kenny, "we've got a routine to handle it. But you..." Eyeing Tim, Thomas gave a meek shrug. "You've thrown the routine off. I'll check on him in a bit, but he's gonna need a minute to wrap his head around the change."

"I love routines," Kenny said quietly, keeping his eyes on the water. "My therapist says it's good for my anxiety."

A pause, then Vince looked to Thomas. "Didn't the last one say something about a therapist, too?"

"Yeah..." Thomas murmured, throwing his mind back to almost a month ago. "Said something about... managing stress, or something."

"Well... therapy's for lots of things," Kenny offered tentatively, seeming to relax a little when Thomas and Frypan gave encouraging nods. "So mine's, like, government appointed, 'cause of... things that happened a few years ago..." He shook his head. "But lots of people go to therapy. My therapist helped me deal with a whole lot of stuff, like my abandonment issues from my mom leaving me, the whole thing that happened in Mexico, some of my communication problems..."

Thomas blinked a few times. All of this seemed like it should be a far bigger deal than Kenny made it appear. "Right..."

"But mostly to handle my anxiety," Kenny nodded, bringing his knees up and wrapping both arms around them.

"So, you don't have a family?" Tim asked carefully.

A fond look filled Kenny's face. "No, I do. They're a bit kooky, but I think my new family's definitely better than my old one."

Tim stared at Kenny for a moment, then nodded. "A family found on the road is no less a family," he murmured.

Though slightly baffled, Kenny mumbled a little, "Yeah."

"You, sir," Tim began, looking directly at Thomas. "I'm curious... Do you know the Doctor?"

Thomas' body washed cold. "Wait, like... Like Doctor Dawkins...?"

A curious tilt of Tim's head. "Dawkins... He looked like me, didn't he?" he asked knowingly.

"Yeah, he..." Thomas frowned. "Is that who you meant?"

"No." Drawing circles with his thumb around the smooth, circular object in his hand, Tim explained, "He's just the Doctor. Wonderful and terrifying all in one."

With a snort, Vince muttered, "In my experience, anyone calling themselves 'the Doctor' is probably selling something illegal."

Tim smiled fondly down at the object in his hands. "He saved my life. And opened my mind to the universe. If not for him, and this," he nodded to the object, "Hutchinson and I would have been dead hours ago."

Tipping his head to see the object better, Frypan hummed, "What is it?"

Moving his thumb to the top of the object, Tim pressed a button that flipped it open. "It's a watch," he clarified, holding the watch towards the middle of the group so everyone could see the hands ticking. "It was once much more, but the Doctor gave it as a gift to me when it no longer held anything else."

Shaking his head slowly, Kenny stated, "You're kinda weird."

"You wouldn't be the first to say it," Tim shrugged, clicking the lid of his watch closed. "Though you've heard those words yourself many times. Often more harshly."

Kenny eyed Tim warily, shifting away from him. "I... What...?"

"I was born with a gift," Tim said softly, thumb circling his watch again. "Oftentimes, it feels like a curse, but it's served me well enough." His eyes darted to Vince. "Your lover wakes."

Vince jerked back as though he had been burned, then glanced towards his cabin to find Jorge shuffling out into the morning sunlight. "Y'know what? It's too early for this freaky shit," he said decisively, climbing to his feet and brushing the sand from his pants. "You two can deal with this just fine without me." With one last disturbed look at Tim, Vince jogged back up off the sand and headed for Jorge.

A few moments of silence passed, then Frypan commented, "You know how creepy that was, right?"

"I'm aware," Tim sighed, clasping both hands around his watch. He watched Frypan quietly for a moment, then told him gently, "She would. You need only ask."

Frypan stiffened, then followed Vince's lead by rising from the sand. "Thanks, but I'd prefer my thoughts to be my own," he said firmly. "I'm gonna go check on Min." With a quick look around the remaining group, he gave Tim a nod and strode up towards the settlement.

A moment of silence, then Kenny whispered, "Can you read minds?"

Eyes on his hands, Tim shrugged one shoulder. "The Doctor called it a low-level telepathic field. I understand the degree to which it invades privacy, but I haven't much control over it. Sometimes I just... know things."

Kenny narrowed his eyes. "Then maybe just don't say anything...?"

With a sigh through his nose, Tim told him, "There's much I don't say, Kenny Rossmore."

Fear flashed in Kenny's eyes. "Okay, man, that's really freaky-"

"Sorry." With an understanding nod, Tim assured him, "I'll do what I can to keep those things to myself. I've simply never felt as though I'm not the strangest sight before."

With a snort, Thomas supposed, "Yeah, they'll be here later to take you home."

Tim sat up a little straighter. "You truly don't know the Doctor, do you?"

"Sorry, man," Thomas sighed, shaking his head. "Only doctors I know used me as an experiment."

A slow nod. "But the concept of beings from other worlds is one you're familiar with?" Tim checked.

Eyes wide, Kenny spluttered, "Y-you mean, like... aliens?"

Thomas smirked slightly at Kenny's confusion. "Yeah, aliens and weird dimensional shit aren't new to me." He turned his interdimentional comm over in his pocket, then produced it to show the other two. "The guy I was talking to with this thing? He's not human."

"So Vince... When he said alien, he meant, like... space alien..." Kenny grasped his knees closer to his chest, and Thomas could see his hands trembling.

"It's okay," Thomas said carefully, reaching a hand for Kenny. When he didn't flinch or lean away, Thomas clasped his shoulder. "Look... I know this's all really weird, and definitely kinda scary, but Rocket's gonna take you home. It's gonna get weirder before that, but you will get home."

Kenny exhaled slowly, giving Thomas a nervous little glanced before whispering, "Okay."

"What about me?" Tim asked quietly. "If your friend has no knowledge of how I came to be here, and you aren't aware of the Doctor... How do I get home?"

Shaking his head, Thomas admitted, "I don't know. But we'll work it out. Okay?"

Tim lowered his eyes, but nodded all the same. "Alright."

Chapter Text

"Okay," Rocket sighed as the blinding golden light of dimensional travel faded from around the ship. "First up is Eustace," he announced, pressing a button on the panel in front of him. "He's where that chef was from, so parking ain't easy. I'll take us close, then Gally and Groot head down in the pod. Remember to use cloaking, and Groot, stay onboard. Humans ain't gonna question Gally, but they'll prob'ly freak out if they see you."

"I am Groot."

"We know you're friendly, bud," Gally sighed, hopping down from his seat, "but the humans down there don't know about aliens." He sat Blurp on his chair, ruffling his fluffy ears before looking to Groot. "Ready?"

A wooden grin came Gally's way. "I am Groot."

"Cloaking," Rocket informed the group, tapping a button to the side of his panel. "I'll let you guys know when we're close."

So Gally headed off through the ship with Groot by his side; a familiar scene. There was something comforting in the routine of passing through the clean ship interior, thumping the button to open the pod with his fist, sitting himself in one of the two seats within. They strapped themselves in, then waited.

Gally liked these little solo missions he and Groot would go on. If the local area allowed, Rocket would land the ship and a few of them would head out together, but in a city like this - Chicago, he remembered - there wasn't space for the Bowie on the ground. Instead, he got to go off with Groot in the shuttle pod.

Through the front window, the burning light of entering the earth's atmosphere flared, from which Gally shielded his eyes. The ship rumbled and shook, then stabilised.

"Good to go, you two," Rocket confirmed over the ship's comms.

Groot made sure the pod was sealed, then gave Gally a nod before detaching them from the Bowie and flying them off towards the ground.

The city had been awe-inspiring when Gally came down last time. Parts of it reminded him of the Last City, except the people here weren't cowering from a deadly virus.

Well, not anymore. Luca, who belonged here, had tried to explain some sort of pandemic that had swept this world a couple of years prior, but everything looked fine to Gally.

"I am Groot." As he brought the pod down in a large sealed section of ground beside a tall building, Groot looked to Gally and powered down the engines. "I am Groot."

"M'sure I don't need luck, but thanks," Gally chuckled, unfastening his safety belt. "I'll be quick. Oh, what did Luca say the code was for the front door?"

Groot checked his instruments. "I am Groot."

"One, nine, four, two," Gally repeated to himself, opening up the pod's door and hopping out. "Apartment 802. One, nine, four, two, one, nine, four, two..."

Jogging over to the side door to the building, Gally quickly typed the number into the keypad beside it, quietly proud of himself when the lock clicked. He let himself inside, then heaved a sigh at the sign stuck to the front of the elevator.

OUT OF ORDER.

Great.

Seven flights of stairs later, Gally slumped panting against the wall beside the door marked 802. All those stairs might be fine for Luca, but missing a lung made the journey far more of a hassle for Gally. "Okay..." he puffed, taking another moment before peeling himself off the wall and knocking twice on the door.

The sound of feet drifted from the other side, then the door opened to reveal the eerily familiar face inside. "Gally?" came an accent similar to Newt's, which they had all now been informed was English.

With a nod, Gally checked, "Eustace?"

"Unfortunately," Eustace sighed, glancing back into the apartment. "Who's is this?"

"Luca's," Gally nodded, then pointed to the little table beside the door. "Grab his keys before we go."

Eustace snorted and complied, shoving a small bunch of keys into his pocket before stepping out and pulling the door closed. "Yes, I don't think any of us would like to listen to the whining about being locked out again."

Shaking his head at the memory, Gally started them back over to the stairs. "Dammit..." he muttered, grasping the handrail.

"Ah, yes... Stairs wouldn't be much fun for you, would they?" Eustace mused as the two of them began their descent.

"Not really." Making sure to keep his breathing steady, Gally pointed out, "Down is better than up."

"I'm sure it is," Eustace hummed.

As they fell into silence, Gally was reminded that he didn't mind Eustace. He was one of the versions of himself that had accepted the strangeness more readily, and who didn't feel the need to fill every quiet moment with chatter.

"So," Eustace started as they reached the bottom of the third flight of stairs. "Is it the whole crew this time, or just the tree?"

Rolling his eyes, Gally replied, "Just me and Groot. No room for the whole ship."

A sniff, then, "Groot and I."

Gally huffed a sigh. "Y'know, I forgot how petty you can be."

"It's a wonderful language, Gally, the least you could do is use it properly."

"Shucking hell," Gally muttered.

"Day off, Luca?"

Gally and Eustace paused at the top of the next flight of stairs, both turning to the voice further down the hall.

An older woman with fluffy white hair stared back at them, eyes wide and mouth hanging open. "Oh..."

When Gally prodded him in the ribs with his elbow, Eustace gave the woman a quick wave. "I suppose it must be," he answered, then ushered Gally down the stairs.

"We're gonna have to tell Luca he might need to pretend he's got a twin," Gally said lowly, though he couldn't help the way his mouth twitched into a smirk. He glanced back at Eustace, who snickered when their eyes met.

"Whoops."

Suppressing a snort, Gally hurried them the rest of the way down the stairs and out of the building.

"Do we know anything about the new chap?" Eustace asked as Gally led him over to where the pod was parked.

Reaching a hand to seek out the cloaked pod, Gally shrugged one shoulder. "Apparently his name's Kenny." His hand bumped something invisible, then knocked twice.

The door to the pod slid open. "I am Groot."

"Yes, hello, Groot," Eustace sighed, stepping aboard and taking the free seat.

"He said we're late," Gally corrected, closing the door and standing between the two seats. "Which we couldn't do much about, since the elevator's busted."

Groot's barky face shifted into a look of understanding, giving Gally a pat on the shoulder. "I am Groot."

"I'm fine," Gally dismissed, lifting his arms as Groot grew a limb to wrap securely around his waist and he started the engines. "Still... kinda more worried about Newt."

Glancing up at Gally as Groot lifted the pod off the ground, Eustace frowned, "What's happened to Newt?"

Gally shook his head. "We don't know. But it looks like he's been swapped with a guy called Tim."

Watching Eustace's brow furrow further made Gally realise just how intimidating those eyebrows were. "I thought he and Thomas were supposed to be safe from all of this tomfoolery."

"So did we," Gally muttered, watching the city of Chicago disappear beneath them.

"Curious..." Eustace gripped the armrest of his seat hard. "You don't think... perhaps this nonsense could be spreading to our loved ones, do you?"

Gally's gut went cold. "I hadn't thought about it..." Shaking his head quickly, Gally said certainly, "Rocket would've said if there was anyone else in the shard."

A pause, then Eustace checked, "Was Newt in the shard?"

Heart sinking, Gally admitted, "No."

"So... it could be spreading and we'd have no idea," Eustace said slowly, knuckles turning white from his grip.

"I am Groot. I am Groot."

Eustace gave an impatient tut. "Yes, very useful."

"He's just telling us to stay calm." Taking a slow, deep breath, Gally nodded his head and laid a hand on Groot's shoulder. "You're right; worrying about it won't help."

With a huff through his nose, Eustace stated, "I still believe you've having me on about understanding him."

Groot grumbled from the pilot's seat. "I am Groot."

"Ignore him, bud," Gally hummed, patting Groot's shoulder as they reconnected with the Bowie.

As soon as the door back to the rest of the ship opened, the ground jerked beneath them as Rocket apparently sent them shooting back up to the atmosphere.

Gally grabbed onto Groot, grateful for the limb around his middle, then reached to press the button for the comms. "Couldn't you have waited 'til we were sitting down before flooring it, Rocket?" he scowled.

"You took too long. We gotta get a move on if we wanna get to Safe Haven before the ship needs a break."

"I took as long as I had to," Gally huffed. When Groot released him, he straightened his t-shirt before the three of them headed back on-board the Bowie. "Bossy," he muttered.

"My experience with talking rodents tells me that they're usually doing things for the better," Eustace commented as they headed towards the communal seating area.

Rolling his eyes, Gally told him, "Enough about your talking mouse, already."

Before Eustace could retaliate, the ship jerked beneath their feet. "Is he dimension jumping already?" he spluttered, hurrying over to take a seat on the sofa.

"Looks like it-"

"Hold onto your butts, copycats!" Rocket's voice sang through the ships speakers.

Gally barely made it to the sofa before he was thrown back against it, squeezing his eyes shut. "Dammit, Rocket," he muttered through gritted teeth, holding his breath through the rising noise and blinding flash of light before the ship fell still and silent. Huffing a sigh, Gally rubbed his eyes, then blinked them open to find Eustace stunned beside him and Groot clutching the doorframe with a grin on his face. "Stupid shank."

Groot's grin fell. "I am Groot?"

"No, not you," Gally sighed. He darted his attention to Rocket as he came strutting into the room. "Slow down a bit, man."

"We're tryna do this quick," Rocket shrugged. "Okay, we got a decent space to park in down there; who wants to go get Bobby?"

Raising his hand as he followed Rocket into the room, Blurp cradled in his free arm, Kraglin asked, "Which one's Bobby, again?"

"Ex-navy bod," Eustace nodded, sitting himself up properly and brushing off his pants. "Married to that lovely Frankie."

"Yeah, you two get on well, huh?" Rocket snorted, folding his arms. "Well, he's at Colin's place, so-"

"Oh, dear god, poor chap," Eustace cringed.

Shaking his head, Gally sighed, "Prob'ly a me and Kraglin job. You too, if you want, Cos."

Cosmo gave a happy little hop, then bounded over to Gally's side. "Colin is one with baby, yes?" she asked eagerly.

"Yeah... Man, it's a good thing we have the chance to warn each other about this shit," Gally chuckled, dropping a fond hand onto Cosmo's head. "C'mon. Before Rocket starts rushing us." He sent Rocket a pointed look.

"We're on a time limit!" Rocket protested, throwing his hands up.

"Yeah, and I can't run up stairs," Gally shot back. "You're lucky Colin and Kitty are only on the third floor."

"Well..." Pushing himself to his feet, Eustace offered, "I could always go in your place."

With a snort and raised eyebrow, Gally snickered, "We all know how much Kitty can't stand you."

A titter went around the group as Eustace huffed and accepted Blurp when Kraglin handed him over. "It isn't my fault she's dressed like a harlot."

"Yeah, but you didn't have to tell her," Gally smirked. Ushering Kraglin and Cosmo in the direction of the exit, Gally called back, "We'll try to be quick!"

Rocket's, "You better!" followed them out.

"Is now a good time to mention Kitty doesn't like me much, either?" Kraglin ventured carefully as the ramp lowered and the three of them began their descent to the ground.

Waving the notion away with his hand, Gally assured him, "She just thinks you look weird, Krag. Eustace flat out insulted her."

"He did get bruises for his trouble," Cosmo pointed out.

Gally snorted. "Well, yeah. And when I told Brenda about it, she said she would've done the same."

Bobbing her head in a nod as they reached the ground and headed for a block of flats, smaller than the building Eustace had been in, Cosmo hummed, "Brenda is good."

"She is," Gally agreed.

A pause, then Kraglin asked, "So... has Frypan made a move with her yet?"

Gally couldn't help but laugh. "Fry's the best. He's a great cook, always knows exactly what everyone needs, knows what he wants... But he's like the rest of us Gladers; no good at feelings. He'll never make a move on her without help."

Nudging Gally with his elbow, Kraglin suggested, "Then help him."

"Feel like I'd do more harm than good," Gally smiled ruefully, pulling open the door to the building. "Newt would be better." Something in his chest tugged. "If... If we can find Newt..."

"Hey..." Kraglin dropped a hand on Gally's shoulder as they headed into the block of flats, stopping at the foot of the stairs. "He'll be out there somewhere. Even if we don't find him straight away, Rocket ain't gonna leave him lost."

Gently headbutting Gally's leg, Cosmo added, "Newt will be safe. Rocket will find."

"He's not in the shard, though..." Gally closed his eyes and huffed out a breath, then straightened his back. "We've gotta get Bobby."

"Agreed," Cosmo nodded, trotting up the stairs ahead of them.

Shaking his head as he followed Gally up the stairs, Kraglin commented, "This all feels so... easy. We just show up and take your doppelganger from each place, then drop 'em all back home again. S'weird."

"I know," Gally murmured. That tugging in his chest came back. "Maybe Newt disappearing is some kind of karma..."

Kraglin patted Gally's back. "Doubt it. Karma don't mean much in the scope of the universe."

"Fuckin' weirdos," they heard muttered from down the hall. They glanced to the voice to find a man hunching his shoulders to hide his face as he darted down another hallway.

"Been called worse," Kraglin supposed.

Soon enough, they reached Colin's door, Gally knocking twice. The door swung open to reveal a woman with wild red hair and untidy makeup, a baby cradled in one arm. She narrowed her eyes at Gally, then reached behind the door and dragged someone with a matching face over by his arm.

"Bobby?" Gally checked.

"Hello, fellas," Bobby greeted with a short wave.

Rolling her eyes in disgust, the woman shoved Bobby out the door. "Bring back my Colin," she said firmly.

"Kitty," Cosmo piped up, tongue lolling in a grin. "Baby Pearl?"

Kitty's expression melted, crouching to rub Cosmo's head and offer her a look at the swaddled bundle of baby. "How are you, Cosmo?" she cooed.

"Well." Cosmo nuzzled Pearl's tiny hand, earning herself a sleepy squeak. "Hello, Baby Pearl."

"Sorry, Cos, but we really need to keep moving," Gally reminded her with a sigh.

Though her ears dropped slightly, Cosmo gave Pearl's fingers a lick, then Kitty's manicured hand, then trotted back to Gally's side. "Goodbye, Kitty. Goodbye, Baby Pearl."

"Bye, Cosmo," Kitty said sweetly. She shot the guys a glare, then demanded, "Colin," and slammed the door closed.

A moment's stunned silence, then Bobby suggested, "We should leave."

With mumbled agreements, the group turned on their heels and hurried back towards the stairs.

"I can't say I understand these places we end up," Bobby admitted as he followed behind the group.

"Can't say I blame you," Gally sighed, wincing at a stinging sensation in his chest. Rubbing at the pain, he added, "I'm glad I keep going to the same place."

"I would say I'm jealous, but I don't think I'd handle the place you describe," Bobby smiled ruefully.

Trotting cheerfully down the stairs beside them, Cosmo assured him, "Knowhere is wonderful place. Beautiful people."

Bobby dropped a hand to pet her head. "I'm sure you're right."

"Can I ask?" Glancing between the two identical young men as the group started down the next flight, Kraglin frowned, "Why do all of you pat Cosmo, but only Gally pats Rocket?"

Snorting, Gally pointed out, "There's a big difference between a dog and a raccoon, Krag."

"And their willingness to accept patting," Bobby added, shaking his head. "I'd be scared to lose fingers with Rocket."

With a smirk, Kraglin nodded, "Fair enough."

By the time they reached the Bowie again, Gally had to brace a hand against the wall, other hand pressed against his chest and breathing slowly. "Where're we going next?" he asked, watching Bobby and Eustace greet each other with a firm handshake. "Please tell me there's no stairs..."

"There's stairs," Rocket told him with a grin as he headed back towards the cockpit. "But he'll be on the ground floor, so you're fine!" he added over his shoulder.

"Who will?" Eustace called after him, sitting on the sofa with Blurp happily snoozing in his lap.

Silence for a few moments, then Rocket's voice came over the ship's intercom with a single word that made everyone in the mess deflate.

"Colin."

Chapter Text

"You detected a what?" Newt frowned wearily at the Doctor, rubbing his temples.

"A temporal-spacial anomaly," the Doctor repeated slowly.

"Oh, don't talk tosh," Hutchinson muttered, rolling his eyes.

But Newt's eyes went wide. "Wait... Wait, that could be me."

The Doctor tilted his head curiously, then pulled a strange handheld object from his pocket and pointed it at Newt. The object whirred, then the Doctor studied it closely. "What's your name?" he asked, flicking his eyes up to Newt again.

Relief washed through Newt's body. "Newt. I shouldn't be here."

"Too right, you shouldn't," the Doctor half-laughed, reading something on his device. "Hoo baby! You are a long way from home."

Lurching to his feet, Newt asked, "Can you get me home? Or..." He paused. "Or do I have to wait for Rocket...?"

Curiosity filled the Doctor's face. "Rocket?"

"The talking raccoon that brings Gally back whenever he gets swapped with an alternate version of himself."

Jaw falling open, Belinda deadpanned, "The talking what?"

"A talking raccoon?" the Doctor hummed, thumbing at his lower lip in thought. "Okay, you've got me intrigued. Where's this talking raccoon?"

"Some place called Knowhere," Newt explained, Belinda's disbelief churning something uncomfortable in his gut. "It's where Adam's from. He and Gally got swapped when Adam touched this... shard... thing. I dunno," he dismissed, shaking his head. "But they get swapped with other people sometimes. They all look exactly the same- well, except Adam, since he's gold, but me and-"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," the Doctor laughed, holding up both hands. "Slow down, pretty boy. Lotta information."

"Latimer, what are you-?"

"I'm not Latimer," Newt snapped, shooting Hutchinson a glare. He pressed his eyes shut and took a deep breath. "Sorry," he said as evenly as he could manage. "But my name's Newt. I know you don't get it... Fagin didn't get it, either. But I've been swapped with your friend, which means he's probably in Safe Haven with my friends."

Belinda raised her hand, brow furrowed. "I'm sorry, you're saying you've been, what? Pulled through time?"

Shaking his head, Newt sighed, "I'm from a different dimension. This isn't my world or my history or anything. It happens to Gally all the time, but it wasn't supposed to affect me and Tommy anymore."

After studying Newt's face for a moment, the Doctor nodded decisively. "Alright then, Newt." He waved a hand towards the blue box and flashed Newt a grin. "Step into my office."

"Uh..." Newt eyed the box. "No?"

"Okay." The Doctor clapped his hands together. "Who are Tommy and Gally?"

"Thomas," Newt corrected sternly. "Thomas and Gally. They're..." he paused, darted his eyes to Hutchinson, then back to the Doctor, "important to me."

Following Newt's eyes, the Doctor arched an eyebrow. "Well then, I can help you get back to them," he said patiently. "But first..." He waved at the box again. "You need to go inside."

Newt folded his arms. "Think I've spent enough of my life trapped in a box. Don't really feel like getting into one willingly."

"Trust me, honey, I just want to help," the Doctor assured him.

"You need to stop speaking to people in that way," Hutchinson stated bluntly, nose crinkled in disgust.

"Excuse you, Hutchinson," the Doctor scowled, "but you shouldn't be interrupting conversations that don't involve you."

"And who are you to be giving me orders?" Hutchinson snapped back.

"I was, at one point, Mr John Smith; your teacher at Farringham."

Hutchinson barked a laugh. "You're black."

Glancing to Belinda when the Doctor stood taller, Newt asked, "Would it help if I got in the box...?"

"Trust me, it's better than you think in there," Belinda nodded, waving Newt over and pushing open the door. "See?"

Newt's eyes went wide, gazing into the box in awe. What looked to be five feet wide from the outside was endlessly huge on the inside, with white walls arching into a domed ceiling. Winding ramps led from doors and looped around a central platform holding a tall column surrounded by what looked to be controls of some kind. "Bloody hell..."

"Shall we?" the Doctor suggested, voice clipped and eyes locked in a glare at Hutchinson.

"Yeah," Newt breathed out, stumbling into the box. He wandered along the entry catwalk to stand on the central platform, mouth hanging open as he stared up at the distant ceiling.

"Seems pretty impossible, huh?" Belinda chuckled by his side.

Nodding, Newt muttered, "That's one word for it..." His eyes fell on the Doctor as he pulled the doors shut. "What...?"

The Doctor took a deep breath, then shook himself and plastered on a cheeky grin. "This, my lovely new friend, is my TARDIS," he explained, waving a hand around the room as he strolled up to the controls. Leaning one hand on the console and propping the other on his hip, he asked, "What do you think?"

Shaking his head, Newt stated, "You're almost as crazy as Rocket."

Humming a satisfied little laugh, the Doctor told him, "It gets crazier, honey." He turned to the controls and flipped a few switches, then took the device from his pocket and plugged it into the console. "Now, let's take a proper look at you," he murmured, turning his eyes up to a round screen high on the wall.

Belinda's hand came to rest gently on the Doctor's arm. "You know he's just an old-timey idiot, right?" she checked quietly. "Whatever he thinks about you doesn't matter."

Throwing half a smile Belinda's way, the Doctor hummed, "I know. Now." He looked back to the screen, which now displayed an image of Newt. "Let's see what's up with you, eh, Newtie boy?"

"Please don't call me that," Newt muttered, eyes glued to the flawless 3D rendering of himself rotating on the screen. "What's all that?" he frowned, pointing out little whisps of golden light flickering around his image.

"That..." Pressing a few buttons, the Doctor zoomed the image in to analyse the whisps. "...is a very good question." He narrowed his eyes. "Some of it looks... like the essence of a Time Lord..." Gaze moving to Newt, the Doctor asked slowly, "You don't have a watch on you by any chance, do you?"

Newt patted down his pockets, then shook his head. "Why?"

A hum, then the Doctor shook his head. "Are these your clothes?"

"Uh, no." Holding his arms out to look over his outfit, Newt sighed, "When we swap, we swap clothes and everything."

Another hum, a curious crease forming between the Doctor's eyebrows. "I would've thought Latimer would have it on him... But if you don't have his or your own..." His eyes darted back to the screen. "There's something else there, too."

Tilting his head as he eyed the screen, Newt asked, "Something to do with the shard?"

The Doctor folded his arms and leaned his hip against the console. "Tell me about it. This shard."

"I'm guessing you're not talking about The Shard in London," Belinda supposed, leaning back against the railing surrounding the central platform. "The building?"

Newt just shook his head.

"Nice place," the Doctor hummed. "Y'know, I drove up the side of that on a motorcycle once."

With a snort of disbelief, Belinda half-laughed, "I'm starting to think you're making this stuff up."

"I'm not," the Doctor chuckled, locking eyes with Newt. "But 'shard' implies something broken. A broken piece."

"So... you don't know about it?" Glancing between the Doctor and Belinda, who gave him an apologetic shrug, Newt breathed a sigh. "Okay. I don't know much, because Adam doesn't explain himself very well, but apparently he touched this shard thing and that's what started off all this swapping business. It belonged to the... Oh, these people..." Scrunching his face up, Newt rubbed his forehead and huffed, "God, what did he call them...?"

"Time Lords?" the Doctor guessed carefully.

Newt snapped his fingers. "Time Keepers."

"Time Keepers?" Studying the image on-screen for a moment, the Doctor admitted, "I'm not aware of any Time Keepers... Unless you mean Time. As in the place?"

"Uh..." Newt was beginning to get dizzy. "Time's a place?"

The Doctor tipped his head. "Well... It was. I'm not sure if it survived the Flux or not..."

"Doctor, can we maybe stay on track?" Belinda suggested with a sympathetic look to Newt.

"It's difficult when I don't know what the track is." The Doctor pushed off the console and began pacing around it, one arm folded across his chest and the other propped up in thought. "Do you have Time Keepers in your dimension?"

With a shrug, Newt clarified, "I only know they have them in Adam's."

"Okay..." Tapping his chin as he paced, frowning at the floor, the Doctor pressed, "You don't know anything else about them?"

"Sorry," Newt shrugged.

"M'kay..." More pacing.

Tucking her hands into the pockets of her coat, Belinda piped up, "I've heard of, like, parallel universes on TV and stuff... Is it something like that?"

The Doctor pointed a finger at Belinda, though didn't look up. "I love the idea, Bel, but this isn't that. I've done parallel universes before. The Time Lords locked down the barriers between worlds long ago, but..." He huffed a sigh and gestured to Newt with both hands. "You aren't Latimer. You're not a version of him, or anything like that. You're Newt." When Newt nodded, the Doctor rubbed a hand across his chin and started pacing again. "Okay, you said before you'd never been to school; why?"

Brow furrowed, Newt asked, "Does it matter?"

"I don't know," the Doctor answered patiently. "I don't know what's going on. I'm trying to get as much information as I can so I can wrangle the answer to this mystery. So." He gave Newt a pointed look. "School?"

Heaving a sigh, Newt stepped back to lean against the railing of the central platform. "I might have done. But I don't remember anything before the Maze." Upon reading the curiousity in the Doctor's face, he explained, "It was an experiment. About thirty of us. Every month, one of us was sent up into the Maze, no memory of our lives beforehand. We got our names, and that's it." With a shrug, he added, "Tommy busted us out of the Maze, a lot of other shit happened, and now we all live on an island we're calling Safe Haven."

The Doctor moved to lean against the console, arms folded and facing Newt with an intense expression. "Experiment?"

"Yeah... Trying to find a cure for the Flare." The lack of comprehension from either the Doctor or Belinda had Newt sighing again and rubbing his eyes. "Long story. Short answer is that it didn't work."

Glancing between the screen and Newt, Belinda commented, "It doesn't sound very ethical..."

Newt couldn't help but snort. "Yeah, we're aware."

"But no kind of temporal experiments?" the Doctor checked.

"Nah, just... leaving a bunch of teenagers to fend for themselves in the middle of a Maze full of monsters."

The Doctor blinked, then huffed a laugh. "What kind of psychopaths...?"

"The organisation was called WCKD."

This time, Belinda was the one to laugh. "Sounds like the bad guys out of a book."

Irritation crawled up Newt's back, eyes hard as he stated, "A lot of people I cared about died, and I almost went with them."

"Right." Belinda's mirth evaporated with a solemn nod. "Sorry."

Shaking his head, Newt rubbed his eyes with one hand. "I just wanna get back to the people who matter."

The Doctor watched him quietly for a moment, then hummed, "Thomas and Gally. Your...?"

"Partners," Newt said quietly.

A nod. "Well, we better find a way to get you back to them, then." Whirling around to point up at the screen, the Doctor stated, "Whatever that energy around you is, I should be able to trace it back to where you were."

A mixture of excitement and relief swirled in Newt's stomach. "You can get me home?"

"That would be a new development," Belinda sighed, giving the Doctor a pointed look when he glanced to her.

"I'm trying, Bel, c'mon." Gesturing to Newt, the Doctor added, "And don't you wanna see what this's all about?"

A rueful smile pulled at Belinda's mouth. "I'll admit, I'm intrigued."

"Fabulous!" Just as the Doctor opened his mouth to say something more, he turned a curious look to the knocking that sounded on the TARDIS doors. "Oh..."

"Hello?" came a woman's voice from the other side, muffled through the doors. "Is there someone in there?"

Flashing Newt a sheepish grin, the Doctor chuckled, "We should probably take off, first." He grabbed a lever on the console and pulled it down, sending the ground shaking beneath their feet. The central column began to shift up and down, lights flashing vibrant rings around the walls of the room. "Hang on," he suggested, grabbing the console.

Newt gripped the railing behind him as the room seemed to drop suddenly. "Is it supposed to do that?" he worried.

A cheerful laugh left the Doctor's mouth. "Who knows, honey? I just know she works."

Holding on to keep from being thrown when the TARDIS jolted, Newt took a moment to wonder why he always had to be the one mixed up with strange doctors.

Chapter Text

Safe Haven

Minho was startled from his staring into space by a knock on his cabin door. Rubbing both hands down his face with a shaky sigh, he called out, "Come in."

The door creaked, Frypan's face appearing around it. "Hi."

"Hi." Taking a deep breath, Minho patted the space beside him on the edge of his bed.

Frypan shuffled into the cabin and pushed the door closed, then sat by Minho's side, hands clasped and elbows braced against his knees. "You okay?"

Flexing his hands, Minho nodded once. "M'okay." He glanced to Frypan and checked, "Anything else weird I should know about our new guys?"

With a wince, Frypan admitted, "Tim can kinda read minds."

"Right..." Minho huffed a sigh, then flopped onto his back, staring up at the ceiling.

A moment passed, then Frypan laid back beside him, hands folded on his stomach. "I know you're not good with change," he murmured, "but I'll listen if you need me."

"Yeah." Studying the ceiling, Minho asked quietly, "Have I told you anything about the simulations?"

Frypan shook his head. "Not really."

"You were never in them." With another deep breath to brace himself, Minho explained, "They used Gally and Newt and Thomas. Sometimes Alby. I got a lot of Ben, too. Even Aris. But even the ones where they tried to convince me I was in the Scorch, you were never there. Not once." Rolling his head to the side to look at Frypan's profile, he added, "That's how I know this is real. Because you're here."

After a moment's consideration, Frypan guessed, "So I'm, like, your anchor to reality?"

"Yeah."

Turning his head to meet Minho's eyes, Frypan smirked and gave him a nudge with his elbow. "Lucky me."

"Yeah, lucky WCKD were stupid enough to think you weren't important," Minho half-laughed, earning a wide grin from Frypan. "It's just nice to know I've got someone consistent here... If you get swapped with someone, I think I'll have a full meltdown."

"Well, I'll try not to get swapped," Frypan nodded certainly, turning his eyes up to the ceiling again. "What d'you think it's like for them?" he wondered. "Being in a different world like that?"

Minho shook his head, exhaling through his nose as he returned his gaze upwards. "Kinda glad I don't know. Sounds terrifying."

"Mm... Life's terrifying enough without sudden interdimentional travel."

Raising an eyebrow and glancing to Frypan out the corner of his eye, Minho prompted, "In Safe Haven? How's that?"

Frypan was silent for a long moment, then quietly admitted, "Tim said something... Saw something in my head."

"Saw what?" Minho asked slowly.

"I..." Struggling with his words, Frypan huffed, "I like Brenda. Like, really like her."

"Okay."

Frypan snorted. "It's not, really. She's so cool. And she's tough... She doesn't need me. She's this hot badass, and just the idea of trying to tell her how I feel makes me wanna puke."

Taking this in, Minho shifted to bump Frypan with his shoulder. "Glad I don't feel those sorts of things."

Barking a laugh, Frypan snickered, "Yeah, lucky you." With a short sigh, he shook his head. "Anyway, point is, normal life is scary enough without adding weird dimensional shit into the mix."

"Yeah, but... I understand normal life," Minho pointed out. "Well... mostly. But randomly ending up in another place where everyone thinks you're someone else?"

"I kinda think the guys who end up here have it worse," Frypan mused, swinging his legs. "You turn up on some random beach, a bunch of people explain a heap of nonsense to you, then a spaceship shows up with a talking raccoon for a pilot, who insults you before dumping you back home again. All because of something that had nothing to do with you in the first place."

Minho considered this for a moment, then nodded. "Maybe you're right," he hummed.

"I'll stick with my normal problems," Frypan smirked, pushing himself upright.

After a moment's thought, Minho sat up, too, then asked, "Why don't you tell Brenda that you like her?"

Frypan scoffed, then shot Minho a look. "Weren't you listening? She doesn't need me."

"So?" Minho shrugged. "Gally, Newt, and Thomas don't need each other, either. Jorge and Vince don't need each other. I don't understand that kind of thing, but I'm pretty sure needing each other isn't part of it."

Shaking his head with a rueful smile, Frypan sighed, "Brenda doesn't need to be wasting her time on me."

That sentiment shook something in Minho's gut. "Time spent on you isn't wasted, Fry."

Frypan just shrugged, hauling himself up off the bed. "If you say so." He tipped his head towards the door. "C'mon. We should prob'ly go save Thomas."

"From what?"

"The guy who overshares about himself and the guy who overshares about others."

Frowning as he climbed to his feet, Minho checked, "Wait, you're really serious about him being able to read minds?"

"I wish I wasn't." Frypan pulled the door open and stepped out into the morning sunlight, taking a deep lung-full of fresh air as Minho followed him out. "There's way worse places we could be. I'm glad we don't go anywhere."

"Yeah," Minho hummed. "Me too."

Frypan threw him half a smile, then slung an arm around Minho's shoulders and led him back down to the beach.

Sitting in the sand where they had left them were Thomas, Kenny, and Tim, who had now been joined by a curious Brenda. "But Newt doesn't get swapped anymore," she frowned, eyeing Tim.

"That's what we thought," Thomas muttered. His eyes lit up when Minho and Frypan rejoined and sank into the sand with them. "You good, Min?"

"As I can be," Minho shrugged, eyes flicking between Kenny and Tim.

Fidgeting in his lap, Kenny mumbled, "M'sorry for swapping with your friend..."

"You can't help it, man," Frypan dismissed with a shake of his head.

"And at least we kind of expected it," Minho added, eyes drifting to Tim. "You haven't, like... found any weird shards, right? Or been annoying any Time Keepers?"

Shaking his head slowly, Tim murmured, "The Doctor would be the closest, and I helped him. Though, Nurse Redfern may not have been happy about it..."

"Unless she's some all-powerful time creature, that prob'ly isn't it," Minho sighed, rubbing a hand down his face.

Tim paused a moment, then said, "The Doctor's a Time Lord."

"What's that?" Thomas frowned.

"A very old race of people who developed the technology to time travel," Tim explained slowly, as though he were learning the information himself as he said it. "He pretended to be human once, and stored his Time Lord consciousness in this." He raised his watch a little.

Eyes wide, Brenda spluttered, "You brought something with you?"

Minho's heart thunked against his ribcage. "None of the others ever did that," he realised. "Clothes, belongings... nothing comes with when they swap." His eyes darted to Kenny. "Were you holding anything before you ended up here?"

Brow creasing a little in thought, Kenny nodded his head. "I was playing my DS on my bed. Holding it with two hands."

An awkward pause.

"Playing your what?" Frypan snorted.

"It's a game console," Kenny clarified.

Though that cleared absolutely nothing up, Minho surmised, "So, you had something in your hands, and it didn't come with you."

Kenny nodded firmly.

"So," Thomas murmured, eyeing the item in Tim's hand, "how come Tim has his watch?" 

The Bowie

As the ship came in to land on the massive grassy expanse behind a grand old house, Gally had to steel himself. Of all his doppelgangers, Colin was the most challenging. There was just something... unhinged about him.

This definitely wasn't the setting for him.

"Better go get him, Humie," Rocket suggested over the intercom, no small amount of smugness in his voice.

"Screw you," Gally muttered, dragging his hands down his face. "Right," he huffed, glancing around the mess. "Anyone wanna come with?"

Eustace and Bobby both shook their heads quickly, Kraglin offering him a cringe and apologetic look.

"Fine." Gally glanced to Groot. "Please?"

A shake of a woody head. "I am Groot."

Giving Groot a pat on the arm, Gally sighed, "Yeah, I know they'd freak. Thanks anyway, bud."

"Can I ask?" Bobby piped up, rising from his seat with a hand raised. "This is my home. Why can't I just..." he gestured towards the exit, "go?"

"In case it does something weird with the shard, Rocket says," Gally answered with a rueful smile. "I don't know how it works, but we don't wanna accidentally mess something up and not be able to get everyone back home."

Slumping back into his seat, Bobby heaved a sigh and propped his elbow on the sofa armrest, chin in his hand. "Fine. Tell Frankie I'll be home soon."

"Will do." Bracing himself with a deep breath, Gally strode off towards the exit ramp.

"Human, I will come," came Cosmo's tinny voice, scampering after Gally as he tromped down the ramp. "Colin is much work."

"Tell me about it," Gally huffed. Wandering up the paved path and steps that led to the back of the house, he commented, "Bobby's got it good here."

Tilting her head with a hum, Cosmo pointed out, "Big house, few people."

Gally couldn't deny that. Once they reached the glass doors at the back of the house, he knocked and peered inside, wincing before opening the door. "Lady Frances?"

In the middle of the large room was a lounge setting; chairs and sofas arranged around a table in the centre. On one sofa sat a young woman with her dark hair neatly styled, one hand over her mouth as she stared vaguely horrified at the man on the opposite sofa.

Spiky white-blond hair, intense eyes, legs crossed, leaning forward as he talked.

Colin.

"Hi," Gally spoke up, giving Frankie a slight wave when she sent him a pleading look.

"And here's the prime example," Colin said eagerly, waving his hands as he spoke. "We look the same, with tiny differences. If there were such a thing as reality, that shouldn't happen. It proves we're all just... just variations on a set number of bases. Reality would have infinite possibilities, but a simulation, now, a simulation is finite, no matter how powerful the computer."

"Shucking hell," Gally muttered stepping inside. "C'mon, Colin," he sighed, waving Colin over. "Leave Lady Frances alone."

"But she has to understand," Colin insisted, though he did climb off the sofa and pull his - Bobby's - shoes on. "You, me, her husband... We all look the same because the program can only hold so many possibilities."

Shaking her head slowly, Frankie told them, "I managed to shut him up long enough for him to get his shoes off the furniture."

Gally gave a solemn nod. "Bobby'll back soon," he promised.

"He'd better be," Frankie said seriously. "I've had quite enough nonsensical rambling for one afternoon."

"It makes perfect sense," Colin retorted, shaking his head with a patronising sigh as he headed for the door. "You're all just too deep in the simulation to realise it."

"Sure we are," Gally nodded placatingly, guiding Colin out the door. "Oh, you haven't seen Newt, have you?"

Colin waved a disinterested hand at him and started off towards the Bowie, Cosmo hot on his heels.

"Who's Newt?" Frankie frowned.

"Blond, 'bout this tall..." Gally held a hand up to show Newt's height. "Skinny, bit of an attitude when he's riled."

An apologetic shrug. "Sorry. Even if he were here, I've been too busy with that one," Frankie pointed after Colin, "to have noticed."

"S'okay," Gally sighed, running a hand through his hair. "Was a long shot."

"With haste, please," Frankie called after them as Gally stepped back out the door and closed it behind him.

"Yes, ma'am," Gally muttered, jogging off after Colin and Cosmo. "I don't have any other priorities."

As they made their way back up the Bowie's ramp, Colin supposed, "This shard thing found another one, then?"

"Kenny, apparently," Gally sighed, hitting the button to close to ramp behind them.

Colin hummed, rubbing at his chin. "Don't even have imaginative names."

"What?" Gally frowned as they wandered through to the mess.

"Well, Kenny, Gally, Bobby... They all follow the same syllabic structure, don't they?" Raising an eyebrow, Colin pressed, "Almost as if they're generated from a program."

"Shut up and sit down," Gally sighed, shoving Colin towards the sofa.

"How's Frankie?" Bobby asked, pulling a pair of glasses from his breast pocket and handing them to Colin as he plopped himself down beside him.

With a shrug, Gally gestured to Colin. "Overwhelmed."

"Your wife's a beautiful woman," Colin added, pushing his glasses up his nose, then fished a cigarette from his pocket and stuck it in his mouth. "Even gave me some fags. Anyone got a lighter?"

The Bowie lurched, Gally grabbing onto the support Groot grew for him. "Pretty sure it can wait," Gally grit out, bracing himself for yet another dimensional jump.

All this interdimentional travel couldn't be good for him. Rocket had told him there was nothing to worry about, but Gally was certain all this hopping back and forth must have consequences. Radiation or heart problems or something. He was already down a lung, he really didn't need to be making his health situation worse.

After the jolt of arrival in the next dimension, Rocket's voice came over the intercom again. "Next up; Luca! You're gonna need the pod."

"They're all two syllable names," Colin muttered, clearly having found a lighter and sucking in the smoke from his cigarette. "Easier for the computer to parse."

One hand over his face, Eustace groaned, "Can you please stop talking about this?"

"Colin," Gally started sternly, brushing down his shirt, "if you bring up simulations in front of Minho again, I'm gonna break your nose. Stop going on about it."

Colin just rolled his eyes, tipping his head back and blowing smoke into the air. "Whatever. Live in ignorance."

"Gladly," Bobby muttered, holding out a hand to Colin's cigarette. "May I?"

Passing the cigarette over with a shrug, Colin supposed, "We're all dying anyway."

"You're such a negative Nancy," Eustace huffed. "Honestly, I don't know how your Kitty puts up with you."

Colin smirked. "Prob'ly the same way your Jill puts up with you."

"Shuck me," Gally mumbled, heading for the exit again as Eustace made an affronted noise and began arguing back.

"Human." Trotting along by Gally's side, Cosmo told him, "Almost home."

"I am Groot," came from behind them, Groot's heavy steps following along.

"I know they don't mean to, but..." Stepping into the pod, Gally rubbed the back of his head with a long sigh. "Colin's a lot. And I know none of them had any say in any of this but... I just wish it would stop happening." He dropped a hand to rub Cosmo's head as he took his seat. "Not that I don't like you guys, but it's too much now. There's so many of us, and now Newt..."

Gently headbutting Gally's leg before jumping up into his lap, Cosmo assured him, "Rocket will fix. Find a solution."

Gally dropped his head back against the seat as Groot took his place and started the pod's engines. "He hasn't so far," he pointed out. "And we have no idea what's happened to Newt. We don't even know if he's safe..."

Cosmo plopped her head on Gally's shoulder. "Rocket will find Newt. He would never leave behind."

"Yeah," Gally sighed, closing his eyes and wrapping his arms around Cosmo. "Yeah, you're right."

Chapter Text

The TARDIS 

"Now!" the Doctor beamed, clapping his hands together when all the harsh movement of the TARDIS stopped. "We're in the time vortex now, so we shouldn't have to worry about any more interruptions. So." He turned to Newt. "We have to work out how to get you home."

"Please," Newt nodded.

"But we don't know where 'home' is relative to us, or how you got here," the Doctor continued, beginning his pacing again. "Whatever that energy is around you is a starting point, but I can't do much else until I understand."

With a heavy sigh through his nose, Newt asked, "Does the how really matter?"

"Well... I guess if we knew how you got here, the Doctor could just try doing the same thing in reverse," Belinda supposed, glancing to the Doctor for confirmation. "Right?"

The proud grin the Doctor gave Belinda made even Newt feel a little better. "You're learning, Bel," he hummed, slinging an arm around her shoulders in a sideways hug. "Problem is; if Newt here doesn't know how this all happened, it's tough for us to work it out."

Chewing his lip for a moment, Newt leaned against the railing behind him. "Does it help if I tell you it's different from last time?"

The Doctor's curious eyes flicked Newt's way. "Last time?"

"Yeah... I told you Gally and Adam swap a lot." When the Doctor nodded, Newt explained, "The first time it happened, me and Tommy got swapped, too. Tommy went some place called Beacon Hills, and I was put in the place of some surgeon who was being chased down for gambling debts." Dragging a hand through his hair, he sighed, "Adam touched the shard, and that looped Gally in. But because me and Tommy were so close to Gally, the shard's energy kinda... passed on to us, too."

"M'kay..." With a slow nod, the Doctor prompted, "So, what's different from last time?"

"The switch. There was this..." Newt waved his hands vaguely as he searched for the words. "Like... sparkly thing? Last time, I just blinked and I was somewhere else, but this time there was a kind of gold light and a sparkly ringing sound."

The Doctor hummed, brow furrowed in thought as he looked back up at the screen with Newt's image displayed on it. "Hang on." He turned to the console and pressed a few buttons. "Did it sound anything like this?" With a press of another button, a swirling, growing ringing sound eminated from the console.

"Yes!" Newt blurted out, eyes wide as he pointed at the console. "Yes, that noise."

Another hum, and the Doctor turned the noise off. He was silent for a few moments, then glanced to Newt. "That's the sound of regeneration."

Newt frowned a little. "What's that?"

"Regeneration is something Time Lords do," the Doctor explained, walking slowly around the console to stand toe to toe with Newt. "It's kind of like cheating death. When our bodies are dying, we regenerate into a new body. But." He pointed up at the screen. "It's also the sound that my watch made while it held my Time Lord consciousness. The watch I gave to Tim Latimer. And that energy around you," he gestured to the swirling gold lights on the screen, "looks just like what was stored in that watch."

That headache was coming back. "So... what's that mean?" Newt asked wearily.

"Well, I time travel," the Doctor explained, pressing a hand to his chest. "A lot. Time Lord; it's kinda my thing. I've been tavelling time and space for centuries." Stepping over to the console and giving it a pat, he added, "This is my time machine. If I'm right, that energy, which I dragged all across time with me before it was stored in the watch, has been tied into the the time streams somehow."

A slow nod, though Newt was still trying to piece things together in his head. "So... the Time Lord energy that Tim has and the Time Keeper energy that I have connected?"

The Doctor nodded, eyes on the screen. "That makes sense, right?" He tapped at his console for a few moments, scanning the instruments. "It's unlikely, but it fits."

"So... How come I didn't get swapped with this guy the first time?" Newt wondered, tucking his hands in his pockets and gazing up at the swirling energy on the screen above them.

"Who knows?" the Doctor shrugged. Folding his arms as he considered the question properly, he supposed, "Perhaps some dimensions are closer together than others. This surgeon guy you swapped with last time might just have been from the nearest dimension that had the right body in it."

"And your partner... Gally?" When Newt nodded, Belinda checked, "He's been swapped a lot in between?"

"Six times now," Newt sighed, rubbing his forehead with the heel of his hand. "If he even switched this time. Might've just been me."

Belinda glanced up at the screen, then back to Newt. "Maybe it took a while for the connection between the two different energies to form. Like an organ transplant; it takes the body some time to adjust and use the organ properly."

Newt blinked twice.

"Bel's a nurse," the Doctor clarified with a smirk.

Rolling his eyes, Newt rubbed at his forehead. "Surgeon, doctor, nurse... I ended up in some kind of hospital situation out there... Is there something about me that says 'healthcare'?" With a snort, he added, "Maybe it's some twisted way of reminding me I got so sick I nearly died."

Another curious look flashed across the Doctor's face, but he didn't press. "I'll set the TARDIS scanners to trace along the path that energy took," he decided, flipping switches and turning dials on his console. "Not so much the Time Lord energy, but that other one... If I'm right, you should be the only source of it in this universe, so it shouldn't be hard to follow."

Moving cautiously over to the console to watch the Doctor's hands darting about the instruments, Newt murmured, "I wish I had one of those interdimentional comms so I could tell Tommy I'm okay... He's prob'ly freaking out right now."

The Doctor turned a baffled look over his shoulder. "Excuse me? Interdimentional comms?" Leaning both hands on the console, he half-laughed, "Are you telling me I've been missing out on interdimentional phonecalls?"

"Rocket made them," Newt nodded. "So we could keep in touch whenever Gally disappeared."

A giddy laugh left the Doctor's mouth. "I wanna meet this guy. He sounds fun."

Gazing up at the screen above them, Newt sighed, "If you get me home, maybe you can."

Safe Haven

"I don't get it," Brenda muttered, staring at the watch Tim had placed in her hands. "How? No one's ever brought anything with them before, or taken anything. How come you have this?"

Tim shook his head. "I'm sorry, I don't know."

"You said earlier it 'held more'," Frypan hummed, clasped hands pressed to his lips in thought. "Something to do with that?"

A pause for thought, then Tim held his hand out, Brenda easily handing the watch back to him. "The Doctor... As I said, he's a Time Lord. He once hid himself on Earth as a human. That's when we met. His alias was a man called John Smith; he was a teacher at my school." Wrapping his hand firmly around the watch, Tim explained, "Everything that he was, all of his Time Lord nature, was stored in this watch."

Thomas snorted humourlessly. "Time Lord. Watch. Very clever," he muttered, rolling his eyes.

"Perhaps... the man who travels time and space saving the universe left his mark," Tim suggested, turning the watch over in his hands. "Some sort of... signature?"

Brow creased in thought, Minho tapped Thomas' shoulder. "You and Newt got taken that first time, but not again... Rocket said something about the shard's radiation only being left on Adam and Gally... But obviously not, right?" He gestured to Kenny, whose eyes widened a little at the attention. "It must be on Kenny, too, or he and the others wouldn't've ended up here."

"So... Tim got some, too?" Thomas wondered.

"But maybe not enough to do anything," Minho nodded.

Pointing to the watch, Brenda realised, "Until it met that thing."

Kenny slowly raised his hand. "Can I ask...?" His eyes darted to Tim. "You said... You said you met a man called the Doctor who travels through time and space?"

Curiosity filled Tim's face. "I did. Have you met him?"

"No..." Baffled, Kenny shook his head. "But I've-"

"Thomas? C'min Thomas."

All eyes turned to the interdimentional comm as Thomas retrieved it. "Rocket?"

"Yeah, so... Question for Kenny..."

"Oh!" Thomas rolled his eyes at himself. "Right, yeah... All the stuff with Newt, totally forgot." Meeting Kenny's gaze, Thomas asked, "Where you live... is there room to park a spaceship?"

Startled fear filled Kenny's features. "Uh... No..." Shaking his head quickly, he clarified, "We live in suburbia; there's people everywhere all the time. If you park a... a spaceship... people will freak out."

A crackly hum of consideration came through the comm. "Backyard?"

Kenny closed his eyes for a moment, taking a few slow, deep breaths, counting them on his fingers.

"Uh... Hello?"

"Give him a second, Rocket," Thomas sighed, watching Kenny carefully. "You good?"

Another moment, then Kenny opened his eyes and nodded, a little more settled. "Yeah, there's a yard. You'd need a small..." He braced himself with a breath through his nose. "You'd need a small spaceship if you were gonna park in the backyard, though. And invisibility. Otherwise Alison and the rest of the Home Owners Association will have a cow..."

"Yeah, yeah, we got cloaking," Rocket dismissed. "And the pod fits fine in a couple car parking spaces, so we ain't got nothin' to worry about. Just had to check before taking the whole Bowie down."

A crease formed between Kenny's brows. "Bowie?"

The long-suffering sigh that came through the comm had Thomas smirking. "Yeah, named after David Bowie. Moving on; you got family we gotta deal with? Anything we should know when we head in?"

"Um..." After a brief thought, Kenny shook his head. "Not really. I mean, they'll prob'ly get really mad at you, but I feel like that'd be pretty normal..."

A snort. "Yeah, no shit. Who we got?"

"My mom and dad, and my sister."

Rocket hummed again. "Got it. Thanks, kid."

"Hey, Rocket?" Thomas piped up, chewing the inside of his lip. "Is Gally there?"

"Sorry, kid, he's headin' down to get Luca."

"Right..." Steadying himself with a breath, Thomas ventured, "Any news on Newt?"

The moment of silence that followed answered Thomas' question.

"I dunno what to tell ya, kid," Rocket sighed, followed by a few clicking sounds. "I've been scannin' for him everywhere we go and tryna find anything about him in the shard, but..."

Hanging his head, Thomas mumbled, "S'fine..."

"Obviously it's not," Rocket pointed out. "Look, I'm doin' my best. I'll let you know if we find anything."

"I know," Thomas sighed, dragging a hand through his hair. "Thanks, Rocket."

"See you soon, kid."

The comm fell silent, Thomas gazing at it forlornly before shoving it back in his pocket.

"We'll get him back, man," Frypan said certainly, grasping Thomas' shoulder. "Every other time someone's been taken from us, we've got them back. Even if we have to go out looking like we did for Minho."

With a curious tilt of his head, Tim asked, "This his happened to Minho, as well?"

Minho shook his head. "I got physically taken," he murmured distantly. "Sometimes I forget about it."

"Good," Thomas sighed, reaching to wrap a hand around Minho's wrist. "Means you're getting past it."

A hum, then Tim told them, "I'm certain your friend will return. I have faith."

Kenny's eyes flicked Tim's way. "In the Doctor?"

"In the Doctor," Tim confirmed with a nod.

"Right..."

With a glance around the group, Brenda muttered, "As long as it works, doesn't matter who brings him back."

Chapter Text

The Bowie 

Groot made short work of flying the pod down into the pretty back garden of a quaint little house. The rolling green hills of the quiet countryside settled something in Gally's racing mind, and he wondered for a moment if it had the same effect on the others who ended up here.

Even Colin had seemed calmer when they picked him up from here last time.

"Jill and Eustace have lovely home," Cosmo commented as Groot brought the pod down to land on the grass between flowerbeds.

"Wish I could build something like it," Gally hummed. "Just seems... cozy."

With a few button presses, Groot powered the engines down, then glanced to Gally. "I am Groot?"

Gally patted his shoulder with a lopsided smile. "Why not? Jill's not gonna freak out."

A wide, woody grin spread across Groot's face as he opened the door. "I am Groot."

"Many flowers," Cosmo nodded eagerly as the three headed out into the garden. "Beautiful place."

"They must really like each other, too," Gally smirked. "Jill and Eustace, I mean. There's no other houses for miles." As he wandered down the path towards the house, he added, "I know I live on a island, but I've got everyone I know living there, too."

Groot eyed the plants they passed, gently dragging his fingers across the bark of a tree close to the house. "I am Groot?"

"Not sure," Gally admitted, looking up at the tree as he knocked on the back door of the house. "Never seen one before. Jill might know what it is, though."

Groot just hummed, a low, rumbly thing.

The door to the house opened, the sweet face of the woman within offering them a smile. "Gally. Cosmo." She looked up at Groot. "Goodness..." she whispered, fascinated. "Eustace told me, but seeing you for myself..."

"I am Groot."

"Indeed you are," the woman laughed lightly. "I am Jill." Holding the door open, she ushered them inside. "He's in the kitchen."

Gally snorted. "Of course he is."

Just a few steps down the hallway led them into a cozy kitchen, their latest target standing over the wood stove with his back to the door.

"Afternoon, chef," Gally smirked.

All that came back was a distracted, "Hi."

Rolling his eyes, Gally stepped inside to allow Cosmo, Groot, and Jill past him. "What're you doing?"

"Oh, Luca's been showing me his recipe for brandy sauce," Jill piped up, heading to Luca's side to peer into the saucepan on the stove. "I had just finished preparing the pudding for Christmas when he..." Searching for the right word for a moment, she settled on, "Arrived."

"It is Christmas?" Cosmo asked eagerly, hopping from foot to foot.

"Not yet," Jill chuckled.

"Traditionally, Christmas puddings are prepared a month in advance, then stored to mature before they're cooked up on Christmas Day," Luca explained, removing the saucepan from the stove and turning to rest it on a folded kitchen towel on the table in the middle of the room. He pulled a spoon from the front pocket of the frilly white apron he was wearing and dipped it in the saucepan, blowing on it before popping it in his mouth. After a moment's consideration, he nodded, then gestured for Jill to do the same.

"Why?" Gally frowned, watching Jill's face light up when she tried the sauce.

Clearly proud of himself, Luca turned his attention to Gally. "Maturing the pudding deepens the flavours. And if Christmas isn't the time for rich food, when is?"

With a shrug, Gally admitted, "I don't know what that is."

Everyone in the room threw Gally horrified looks.

"Ask that Jorge guy," Luca suggested, wagging his finger. "He'd know. And Vince."

"Okay..." Shaking his head, Gally gestured towards the door. "We're kinda in a rush."

Nodding, Luca untied the apron and handed it to Jill. "I wrote all the instructions down," he explained, pointing to a piece of paper on the cabinet beside the wood stove. "But that one will keep for six weeks in the fridge. Just keep it covered in the fridge, and reheat it on the stove before serving the pud."

"Luca," Gally pressed impatiently.

"Yep, yep." Holding his hand out to Jill, Luca told her, "It was really lovely to meet you."

Jill accepted the handshake with a, "You too."

Then Groot extended his hand towards Jill, palm facing up. From it sprouted a little flower, which grew and bloomed to fill his hand, its decadent pink and white petals resting against his barky skin. "I am Groot."

Pressing the heel of his hand to his forehead, Gally huffed, "He wants to know what kind of tree you have out the back."

Awed, Jill gently scooped the flower from Groot's hand when he offered it. "It's a magnolia," she told him, cradling the flower with both hands. "What beautiful magic..." she murmured.

"Luca, have you seen Newt since you got here?" Gally asked wearily.

"No..." Brushing his hands off, Luca frowned, "Should I?"

Shaking his head, Gally sighed, "No, nevermind... Can we go, now, please?"

"Yep," Luca nodded, gesturing to the door.

"See you, Jill," Gally farewelled, ushering Cosmo and Groot out of the kitchen.

"Bye." With a wave, Jill added, "Lovely to see you all."

"You too." Gally grabbed Luca's arm and dragged him down the little hallway and out the back door after Cosmo and Groot. "C'mon."

"Impatient today, huh?" Luca half-laughed, following easily.

Shaking his head, Gally sighed, "I just wanna get back to Thomas. I'm worried how he's dealing with Newt being gone..."

"Yeah... So, what happened there?" Luca asked carefully as Gally pulled him aboard the pod.

"Don't know," Gally muttered, pushing Luca towards the passenger's seat. "Rocket's looking into it."

"Rocket will find," Cosmo assured him, giving Gally a gentle headbutt as Groot powered up the pod.

Gally rubbed a hand over his hair with a huff. "Hope you're right, Cos."

Soon enough, the pod was reattached to the Bowie and Gally was leading Luca through to the mess.

"This's still crazy unsettling," Luca muttered as he squeezed himself into the last space on the sofa. "Some glitch in the Matrix kind of thing."

Colin's face lit up. "A glitch, exactly!"

"Stop," Eustace groaned, covering his eyes. "Please, enough."

"What's the Matrix?" Colin asked Luca keenly, steepling his fingers.

Clearly aware of his mistake, Luca shook his head. "They're movies. It's not real."

Colin hummed, narrowing his eyes in thought.

"But you're from the eighties, so they haven't been made yet," Luca dismissed. "Uh, anyway..." He sent Gally an apologetic look.

The Bowie jerked beneath them, Gally grabbing onto Groot to keep his balance through the dimensional jump. He tried to breathe deeply; all this jumping was beginning to turn his stomach.

"Last one!" Rocket's voice announced over the comms. "Adam. Now, Kenny says you gotta take the pod. Use cloaking, land in the yard. His family might be a little freaked out, but doesn't sound like they're dangerous."

"Okay..." With another deep breath, Gally checked, "Should I go in alone?"

Rocket hummed. "Take Cosmo. But Cos, don't talk if they're panickin'."

"Understood," Cosmo confirmed as Gally and Groot headed back towards the pod.

"And don't forget to grab the comm, Humie."

"Yeah, I know." Plucking a comm from the wall beside the pod entrance, Gally slumped into the passenger seat.

"Is human alright?" Cosmo asked, hopping up to rest her paws on Gally's legs as Groot set them off on yet another rescue journey.

Gally just shook his head.

"Travel is tiring," Cosmo nodded wisely.

"I am Groot."

Dropping his head back, Gally admitted, "It's not just the travel."

"I am Groot."

Cosmo gave a little yip. "Groot is right; all will be well."

Something warm filled Gally's gut. "Y'know, the first time I was taken away from the Gladers, I ended up with some really bad people. They used me, turned me into a soldier... didn't actually give a shit about me." He lifted his head, reaching to rub behind Cosmo's ear. "I got lucky this time."

Cosmo gave him a dopey grin, tongue hanging out the side of her mouth.

"I am Groot." Pointing in the direction he was flying, Groot scowled at the directional controls.

"They do all look the same, huh?" Gally hummed, sitting up to gaze out the windscreen at the rows and rows of perfectly matching houses they were hovering above. "Are we cloaked?"

A firm nod from Groot.

"Okay... Does the shard tell us which house he's in?" Gally asked hopefully. "I don't really wanna go knocking on every door..."

Groot pressed a few buttons. "I am Groot..."

"Never had to narrow the field before," Gally muttered, staring at the houses.

A satisfied grunt from Groot, then he pointed at one of the houses in the middle of the row.

"Okay, backyard," Gally reminded him, petting Cosmo's head as Groot maneuvered the pod down between rows of neat white fences separating properties. He tucked the comm safely into his pocket, breathing a long sigh when Groot powered the pod down. "Stay here, bud," he nodded, patting Groot's woody arm. "Me and Cos will get Adam."

A nod. "I am Groot."

With the ramp lowered, Gally led Cosmo out into the perfectly neat yard. "Remember, Cos," Gally whispered. "No-"

"No talking," Cosmo finished for him. She bobbed her head in a nod, trotting along by Gally's side.

Bracing himself with a deep breath, Gally stopped at the back door to the house, then knocked firmly. Nothing for a moment, then the door slowly peeked open, revealing a man eyeing him mistrustfully. "Hi... I'm here for Adam?"

The man stepped back slowly, then suddenly held a frying pan out in front of him like a weapon. "No sudden moves," he warned, but the threat was dampened by the vague fear dancing around his eyes.

Gally raised both hands. "No sudden moves," he confirmed. "Can I come in?"

The man's eyes darted between Gally and Cosmo, then he shuffled backwards a little, frying pan still pointed at them.

"I'm Gally." Closing the door behind them as they stepped inside, Gally found himself in a kitchen, spotting Adam in slightly too-tight t-shirt, sitting bolt upright in a chair by the table. "Hey, man."

"Gally," Adam nodded, his eyes lighting up when they landed on Cosmo. "Hello, Cosmo."

Cosmo scampered over to Adam, leaping up into his lap and licking his face.

"David!" hissed a woman holding a wooden spoon in Adam's direction. "Why'd you let them in?"

Hands still raised, Gally took in the startled family, a girl not much older than him standing beside her mother with a large cooking knife in one hand. "Okay... You guys are Kenny's family, right?"

The woman's eyes flashed angry, waving her spoon at Gally. "Where is he?" she demanded.

"He's fine," Gally assured her, taking a careful step forward. "He said you weren't violent, but..." He gestured to the improvised weapons.

"Why'd you take him?" the man pressed.

"I didn't. Can I ask your names?"

"That's David," Adam piped up. "And Sarah with the spoon, and Casey with the knife."

"Shut up," Casey snapped, jabbing the knife at Adam, who barely flinched.

"How...? Why do you both look like Kenny?" Sarah asked cautiously.

Casey snorted. "Kenny if he was cool."

"I told you." Attempting to rise to his feet, Adam suddenly had all three family members pointing kitchen utensils at him, so stayed put. "There are more of us."

Slowly lowering his hands, Gally offered, "You can talk to Kenny, if you want."

David whipped around with the frying pan, keeping it between himself and Gally. "Yes. Now."

"Okay." Gally grabbed the comm from his pocket and pressed it. "Rocket, can you put us through to Safe Haven?"

"On it."

The comm crackled, then Gally checked, "Greenie?"

"Here, Gal."

"Can you put Kenny on?"

A moment of nothing, then a confused, "Hello?"

"Kenny!" Sarah blurted out, eyes wide.

"Mom?"

"Fuck, Kenny, where are you?" David asked quickly.

"I'm on a beach."

A baffled look passed around the family.

"Everyone here's pretty nice... but I wanna come home."

"We'll bring you back soon, Kenny," Gally assured him. "Once we've got Adam aboard, we're coming straight back to Safe Haven." He paused a moment. "I think."

"What do you mean you think?" Sarah snapped, glaring at Gally.

"Well... I'm not sure if we're picking Newt up first or not..."

Adam's eyes went wide. "Newt? Where's Newt?"

With a meek shrug, Gally admitted, "We don't know..."

"Hi, Adam."

"Hello, Minho," Adam greeted cheerfully.

"Hold on, back it up." David looked to the frying pan in his hand, then huffed and set it on the kitchen counter. "What happened?"

Gally rubbed his forehead with a tired sigh. "Kenny was swapped with me and Adam. It's just a thing that happens... But we'll go back to where I belong, then Adam and his friends will bring Kenny back with them. Promise."

"We do this a lot," came Thomas' voice through the comm. "Someone who looks like Gally shows up and we take care of them. Kenny's fine."

Rolling her eyes, Casey challenged, "Name the other people this's happened to."

"Eustace, Bobby, Colin, and Luca," Gally answered easily. "They're all on the ship, waiting for us to come back so we can take them home."

Sarah lowered her spoon. "Ship?"

"Their spaceship," Kenny explained through the comm. "Apparently."

Casey dropped her arm, but kept a tight grip on her knife. "Of course Kenny got abducted by aliens."

"That's what Scott called it," Gally hummed.

"He did, didn't he?" Thomas half-laughed. He paused a moment, then checked quietly, "So... still no Newt?"

Heart sinking, Gally sighed through his nose. "Sorry, Greenie."

A long sigh. "Yeah..."

"Rocket will find," Cosmo assured him.

The family yelped, fear filling their eyes, both Sarah and Casey aiming their utensils at Cosmo and Adam.

"Cos," Gally sighed, dragging a hand down his face. "We said no talking."

Ears dropping a little, Cosmo nodded with a quiet, "Sorry."

"The dog talks," David spluttered, pointing an accusatory finger at Cosmo.

"I'll see you soon, Greenie," Gally muttered into the comm as the family started panicking and talking over each other. "Love you."

"Love you, too."

Tucking the comm back into his pocket, Gally took a deep breath, then barked, "Enough!"

The room fell silent, five pairs of startled eyes darting his way.

"C'mon, Adam," Gally huffed, waving a hand to the door. "The sooner we go, the sooner we get Kenny back." He met David's gaze. "Kenny will be back. Soon. But the ship will need a break after getting us to Safe Haven, so you'll have to wait."

Sharing a nervous glance with Sarah, David carefully asked, "How long?"

Gally shrugged. "Couple hours? But Kenny's fine. Rocket will bring him back as quick as he can." He looked to Adam again and snapped his fingers. "Come on."

Rising to his feet and keeping his distance from Casey's knife, Adam shuffled over to the door with a downtrodden Cosmo by his side.

"Cos..." Gally sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Shucking hell," he muttered under his breath, then crouched to hold Cosmo's face in his hands. "I'm not mad at you."

Cosmo's brow raised hopefully above her big round eyes.

"Promise." Rubbing at Cosmo's fur with his thumbs, Gally added, "Good dog."

Face splitting into a grin and tongue lolling out the side of her mouth, Cosmo nodded, from paws skipping keenly and tail wagging. "I am good dog."

"You are." Dipping forward to knock his forehead against the top of Cosmo's head, Gally heaved a sigh and climbed to his feet. "C'mon, shiny," he insisted, waving Adam towards the door.

"Wait!" David blurted out as Gally finally got Adam and Cosmo outside. His eyes darted around the three of them before landing on Gally. "You swear you'll bring Kenny back?"

Placing a hand over the scar on this chest, Gally said firmly, "On my life. He'll be back safe and sound."

Sarah grabbed David's arm. "You don't believe them, do you?" she hissed, eyeing Gally mistrustfully.

"Don't think we've got a choice," David sighed, waving a hand at Gally. He locked their eyes intensely. "Just get Kenny back here."

With a firm nod, Gally headed out after Adam and Cosmo. "Let's go," he muttered.

"It was lovely to meet you all," Adam called back through the door as Gally pulled it shut.

"C'mon," Gally sighed, planting one hand on Adam's shoulder and steering him towards the cloaked pod. He was keenly aware that Adam was letting him do this; if he didn't want to go, Adam could toss Gally aside like a ragdoll.

"You're stressed," Adam commented as Gally pushed him onboard the pod.

"One of my partners is missing," Gally snipped, plopping down in the passenger seat and folding his arms. "Of course I'm stressed."

A beat of nothing, then Groot silently set them back off to the Bowie. Gally was actually impressed by the Guardians' ability not to speak for the journey, which extended all the way back to the mess.

As Gally braced himself for the next jump, Adam blurted out, "I'm sorry."

Gally pressed his eyes shut with a sharp huff. "You gotta stop apologising. 'Sorry' doesn't undo this." He gestured to the sofa crammed with their doppelgangers. "It doesn't undo what's happened, it doesn't stop it happening again, and it doesn't find Newt. It's not your fault anymore, just stop."

Though Adam opened his mouth to speak, the Bowie jolted, almost sending him tumbling as they made their final dimensional jump. He used his powers to stabilise himself, golden light swirling around his hands and feet as he looked at Gally much like Cosmo had before.

"Shuck me," Gally muttered, slumping against the wall as the trembling of the ship stopped. Taking a few deep breaths to settle himself, he pointed a stern finger at Adam. "Stop looking at me like that."

The sadness around Adam's eyes only deepened.

"Just..." Covering his face with both hands, Gally grit out a frustrated noise, sliding down the wall to sit on the floor.

Everything was so messed up.

Nothing for a moment, then a chirp sounded as fur brushed Gally's arm. He peeked past his fingers to find Blurp by his side, nuzzling at his bicep. "Hey, bud," he whispered.

A curious coo in response.

"Go give Adam a hug," Gally suggested, giving Blurp a little nudge and nodding towards the golden alien standing rigidly in the middle of the mess. "Go on."

Blurp hopped up and licked Gally's hand, then scampered over to Adam, sitting at his feet expectantly. A tooth-filled grin split across his face as Adam scooped him off the floor, nuzzling at Adam's face with a gleeful trill.

A heavy, woody hand landed on Gally's head. "I am Groot."

"Yeah, I know," Gally sighed, dropping his head back against the wall. "We'll get him back." Eyeing the various copies of himself crammed together on the sofa, Gally mumbled, "Eventually."

The TARDIS

Newt was sitting on the edge of one of the ramps circling the central platform of the TARDIS, legs swinging off the edge, staring into the distance. The Doctor had been muttering and pressing buttons for nearly half an hour, running scans and tests and whatever else the console was capable of.

It hurt Newt's head. He just wanted to get home.

"I know he's chaotic," Belinda murmured as she climbed down to sit beside him. "But he's brilliant."

Newt watched the Doctor press a few more buttons and study his instruments with a furrowed brow. "Sounds like another doctor I know," Newt muttered. "Maybe it goes with the territory."

"I doesn't," Belinda chuckled, shaking her head fondly. "Trust me. I work with a lot of doctors; this is unusual."

Shoulders slumping a little, Newt sighed, "Guess I've just got bad luck, then."

Folding her hands in her lap, Belinda nudged him gently with her shoulder. "I'm not here by choice, either."

Newt flicked his eyes to Belinda's rueful smile. "No?"

"Nope." Heaving a sigh, Belinda explained, "I got abducted by robots that took me back to their planet, which was named after me."

"You've got a planet named after you?" Newt frowned.

A weary nod. "Missbelindachandra One." Rolling her eyes, Belinda dismissed, "Because of a crazy ex of mine. Long story. But..." She nodded to the Doctor darting around the TARDIS console. "He saved me. Told me he could take me home. But for some reason, the TARDIS can't travel to Earth on the 24th of May 2025, where I need to be, so we're taking the scenic route."

Casting his mind back to the TARDIS arriving in the medical tent, Newt prompted, "The Vindicator?"

Belinda nodded, shifting to lean back with her hands behind her for support. "Apparently, the more readings he takes, the more he can narrow down the proper coordinates and get me home."

Something twisted in Newt's gut. "How long's it taken?"

"This won't take as long," Belinda assured him, but Newt noted that she avoided answering his question. "If I understand what he's saying correctly, we should be able to follow that thread of energy straight back to where you came from." She offered him a slight smirk. "Without all the detours."

Exhaling slowly as he pushed his hair back from his face, Newt muttered, "I hope not."

"C'mon!" the Doctor exclaimed from below them, eyes trained on the screen high on the wall. "C'mon, my darling, you can do this."

With a sideways glance to Belinda, Newt whispered, "Does he usually talk to it?"

Brenda swallowed a laugh. "The first time I saw him with the box, he threw his arms around it and kissed it."

"Right..." Shaking his head, Newt snorted, "And people think my relationship's weird."

A laugh bubbled up from Belinda's chest, soothing Newt's nerves. "There's three of you, yeah?" When Newt nodded, Belinda shook her head with a smile. "I can't even find one guy, let alone two."

"I didn't really find mine," Newt hummed, eyes falling back to the Doctor darting around. "They just... happened."

Belinda gave him another little nudge. "A bit like ending up here?"

Unable to contain a laugh, Newt clarified, "Thankfully less unpredictable." He tipped his head. "But only just."

The next few moments were filled only with the ambient hum of the console room and the clicking of buttons.

"Your life before sounds... terrifying," Belinda commented quietly. "I'm glad you found happiness."

Newt hummed. "Me too."

"Aha!" The Doctor leapt into the air with a cheer, then bent down to kiss the TARDIS console. "You beauty." Throwing a wide grin up at Belinda and Newt, he announced, "We've got it!"

Scrambling to his feet and hurrying around the ramp with Belinda at his heels, Newt checked, "You can get me home?"

"I certainly can," the Doctor beamed, bowing dramatically. "Now." He snapped upright and began flipping more switches. "This could get a bit rough, so..." With his hand poised on a lever, the threw Newt a cheeky wink. "You might wanna hang onto something."

Newt barely had time to grab the rail before the Doctor gleefully threw the lever. The floor dropped, the whole room shaking around them and lights flashing like mad to the tune of the Doctor's laughter.

Glancing to Belinda clutching the rail beside him, Newt wondered if this Doctor was actually completely mad.

Chapter Text

It was Brenda who heard it first, as it always was. Thomas had to wonder if she had heightened hearing, and what that might mean for privacy around Safe Haven, but that thought became less important as the Bowie neared the beach.

"That's... a spaceship..." Kenny muttered in awe, gazing down the beach as sand was blasted in all directions by the Bowie's landing.

"Sure is," Thomas hummed, already heading off towards the ship as her engines powered down.

"Fascinating," Tim murmured, following at Thomas' side as Kenny stumbled to keep up, Minho, Brenda, and Frypan behind them.

Tapping Tim's shoulder, Kenny asked, "Have you ever seen a spaceship before?"

Tim shook his head as the three of them came to a stop. "I have seen one explode, though."

There wasn't time for Kenny to ask for clarification as the Bowie's ramp began to lower, revealing the people within. A strange wash of relief flooded Thomas as the ramp hit the sand.

Down the ramp jogged Gally in Adam's clothes, who immediately wrapped Thomas up in a hug, burying his face in his shoulder with a tiny, "Hi."

"Hi..." Thomas hugged back, opening his mouth to ask what was wrong, when Gally mumbled the explanation;

"I couldn't find him."

Cold settled in Thomas' gut. "Oh..."

"M'sorry."

Resting a hand on the back of Gally's head, Thomas whispered, "It's not your fault."

Their moment was interrupted by voices coming down the ramp.

"There has to be something you can do."

"I told you, scribbles, I ain't in charge of it."

"But what happens if I'm at work when it happens? I work with knives and molten sugar; someone could get seriously hurt."

"I dunno what to tell you."

"If this happens in the middle of service, Carm will lose his shit-"

"I can't help you!" Rocket snapped, glaring up at Luca trailing along at his side. "I ain't your mama, go cry to someone else about it." Turning his attention to Kenny and Tim, he gave them both a nod. "I'm Rocket. It's my sorry job to get you fellas home."

Nothing for a moment, then a breathless, "Wha...?" left Kenny's mouth, swaying on his feet before his eyes rolled back and he collapsed on the sand.

"Kenny?" Thomas rushed out, dropping to his knees by Kenny's side.

"Poor chap's fainted," Eustace sighed, wandering over with both hands in his pockets. "In my experience, talking rodents do have that effect."

"You call me a rodent one more time and I'll leave you here," Rocket snarled, then focussed his attention on Tim. "So. Where the hell're you from?"

Watching Luca and Bobby scoop Kenny off the sand and lie him on a blanket that Brenda hurriedly spread out, Tim shook his head a little. "I'm not sure how to explain it in relation to where we are."

Rocket nodded with a low hum. "I ain't gonna lie to you; you're not in the shard. I dunno how to find your home."

"But you'll work something out, right?" Gally checked, clutching Thomas' hand tightly. "You'll get Newt back?"

"Maybe if someone worked out how to pull the plug, none of us would have to worry about anything ever again," Colin commented from the foot of the ramp, pushing his glasses up his nose and folding his arms.

Minho visibly winced at Colin's voice. "Can't he stay on the ship?" he muttered.

Planting a shiny hand on Colin's shoulder, Adam simply gave him a look, at which Colin rolled his eyes, but stayed silent.

"This is extraordinary," Tim murmured, gaze moving around the faces of the seven identical men on the beach. "Although, I think your theory may be a little far-fetched," he glanced to Colin, "it's impossible to deny how incredible this is."

"He's coming 'round," Bobby piped up from his place crouched by Kenny's side.

A grumble, then Kenny's eyelids fluttered. He blinked them open, staring blankly at Bobby's face above him. "What...?"

"We told you, Kenny," Thomas reminded him as Kenny slowly sat himself up. "You all look the same."

"Yeah..." Kenny's eyes moved to Luca on his other side, scanning his arms. "You've got tattoos," he said dumbly. "And you smell like Christmas."

Luca snorted, giving Kenny a firm pat on the shoulder and pushing himself to his feet. "Eustace's missus was making their Christmas pud when I got there. Gave her my recipe for brandy sauce."

With a low hum of approval, Bobby nodded, "Can't have pud without brandy sauce."

"Oh, oh!" Cosmo came bounding into the middle of the group. "Human does not know Christmas." She turned her big dark eyes up to Gally. "No?"

A stunned look passed around the gathering, broken by Vince's voice as he and Jorge approached. "Christmas ain't exactly high on the list of priorities when the world's ending."

Thomas glanced up at Gally in confusion, earning a clueless shrug.

"I look forward to the day I can have a normal Christmas," Tim sighed.

Snapping his fingers, Bobby pointed to Tim. "What year are you from?"

"1915."

Even Colin cringed at that.

"Shit, man..." Luca muttered, running a hand through his hair.

"I was in France," Tim explained, only seeming to paint more pain into the faces of the others. "Myself and a chap I went to school with, we barely dodged death on the front. I was sitting in the medical tent with him, then..." He gestured to the beach.

"A soldier?" Bobby rose to his feet and brushed the sand from his pants, then held his hand out for Tim. "Lieutenant Robert Jones, Royal Navy." He shrugged a little. "Just call me Bobby."

A little stunned, Tim accepted the handshake. "Private Timothy Latimer. Tim."

"First time you've looked surprised by anything," Thomas half-laughed.

Clasping Tim's hand between both his own, Bobby said seriously, "Thank you for your service."

"Seconded," Eustace piped up with a nod. "I might have been evacuated during the last war, but I know more about it than anyone ever wished me to. Any man brave enough to sign up for that deserves respect."

An uncomfortably solemn silence settled over the beach until Kenny clumsily clambered to his feet. "I guess 21st century life isn't so bad..." he mumbled.

Luca heaved a sigh. "Tell me about it." When Kenny looked to him, he clarified, "2023."

Eyes widening a little, Kenny pointed to himself. "2015."

"1984," Colin spoke up, waving a hand. "If anyone's interested."

"We're not," Rocket grunted, tapping at a tablet in his hands. "Man, if I knew literally anything about why skinny, here, got swapped, maybe I could work out where Newt-"

"Ssh!" Brenda hissed, holding up both hands. "Everyone shut up and listen." Tilting her head, she turned slowly. "You hear that?"

Straining to hear, Thomas held his breath. A sound. A distant, echoing sound, gradually growing louder. Wheezing and scraping, like laboured breathing through metal lungs.

"Hang on..." Luca frowned.

Colin stepped forward. "Wait, is that...?"

The sound continued to grow, then Brenda pointed out a shape wobbling and fading into view. "The hell is that?"

Louder and louder grew the noise, the shape eventually materialising in front of them with a THUMP and silence. A tall blue box.

The door to the box flew open.

"Newt!" Thomas exclaimed right as Newt raced from the box and threw his arms around him and Gally.

"It's me," Newt exhaled, grasping handfuls of Thomas and Gally's shirts. "I'm okay."

Gally clutched both his boys tightly. "What even happened?"

Shaking his head a little, Newt admitted, "You'd have to ask the Doctor."

"Who?"

"Well, I'd say that was a success." A dark-skinned man with a wide grin stepped onto the beach from the box, followed by a woman with round, fascinated eyes.

Pulling back from their reunion hug, Newt waved a hand towards the box. "This is the Doctor and Belinda."

"Doctor...?" Tim shuffled a few baffled steps forward, wonder written into his features.

"Latimer!" the Doctor beamed, sweeping over to Tim and grabbing his face in both hands. "Wow..." He grabbed Tim's arm and dragged him over to stand side by side with Newt, a hand on each of their faces to hold them next to each other. "That is crazy." A laugh bubbled up from his chest. "They look exactly the same... Bel, are you seeing this?"

Belinda wasn't even looking, her eyes scanning the beach. "Uh... Doctor...?" When he glanced back at her, she pointed to everyone else.

Casting a look around, the Doctor's eyes went wide, abandoning Tim and Newt to gaze around at the array of identical faces. "Oh, my word..." he murmured, glee building in his expression. "Oh... This... This is amazing!"

"How...?" Belinda whispered as she moved to the Doctor's side.

"I have no idea," the Doctor half-laughed. "Clones?"

"They're nothin' to do with each other," Rocket stated, arms folded and an unimpressed glare aimed up at the Doctor. "They just look the same. The same face from different dimensions."

Wonder filled the Doctor's face. "And you must be Rocket," he supposed.

"Doctor..." Belinda grabbed the Doctor's arm. "Wait a minute..."

"How can I wait? This is fascinating!" the Doctor gushed, shaking free of Belinda's grip to dart around the people gathered on the beach. "Tiny differences," he murmured. "Slightly differnt ages, varying muscle mass..." His eyes landed on Luca. "Tattoos." Then to Adam. "Gold. But all essentially the same man."

"That what I'm saying," Colin huffed, waving a frustrated hand. "The program can only run so many permutations-"

"Would you stop talking about simulations?" Minho snapped, a harsh glare aimed at Colin. "This is real. I'm not in the simulations anymore."

Colin rolled his eyes, but raised both hands in surrender.

A curious look came Minho's way as the Doctor moved back to Belinda's side. "That sounds intriguing, but not a priority right this second," he said to himself. "Okay, so..." He shook his head. "Okay, Newt said something about a shard... Who touched that?"

With an awkwardly cleared throat, Adam raised his hand, eyes down.

"Adam," the Doctor deduced, pointing a finger at him. "Okay, so-"

"Can we stop for a second?" Belinda blurted out, eyes filled with horror. "Doctor... You don't see it, do you?"

The Doctor frowned. "See what?"

"Okay, is anyone else going to say it," Colin began, striding across the sand, "or do I have to be the one to point out that this," he slapped a hand on the side of the blue box, "is the fucking TARDIS?"

Eyebrows shooting up, the Doctor half-laughed, "Excuse me?"

"The TARDIS," Luca stated, glancing to Kenny nodding in agreement by his side. "I recognised the noise it made. That's the TARDIS from Doctor Who."

"And you lot still think this's real?" Colin scoffed. "This is one of the most iconic things in sci-fi history."

Thomas raised his hand slowly. "Uh... what's going on?"

"That's the TARDIS," Kenny repeated, pointing at the box. "From the longest-running sci-fi TV show ever." He turned to Tim. "You asked if I'd met him; no, but I know about Doctor Who."

Grasping the Doctor's arm, Belinda muttered, "This's like Mr Ring-a-Ding all over again."

"No, no, wait..." The Doctor patted Belinda's hand. "What did you notice?"

Huffing a baffled laugh, Belinda pointed at Luca. "For a start, he's from The Bear, he," her finger moved to Kenny, "I'm pretty sure is the kid from We're the Millers, and that..." She looked to Rocket. "Rocket Raccoon. That's an MCU thing. One of my old flatmates was obsessed with Marvel movies and..." Her eyes grew wide as Groot tromped his way over to stand behind a nonplussed Rocket. "You're Groot."

A nod. "I am Groot."

"Oh, he's like those things from Lord of the Rings!" Kenny spluttered. "The uh... Ents!"

Shaking his head as he grasped Kenny's shoulder, Luca muttered, "Don't..." His gaze flicked to Belinda. "How do you know about The Bear?"

Belinda eeked out another laugh. "It's an Emmy-winning TV show."

A deep frown pulled Luca's brows together. "It's a restaurant."

The Doctor's eyes scanned the confusion rolling through the group. "You must be Thomas and Gally," he supposed, standing in front of them. "Newt told me about you..." He glanced around the beach, then up to the settlement. "You belong here, yes?"

"We've been here nearly a year," Thomas nodded.

"Okay..." Backing towards the TARDIS, the Doctor instructed, "Everyone stand with the people you belong with. Everyone who doesn't have someone, just line up over there." He gently grabbed Tim's arm and guided him over with himself and Belinda.

Slowly but surely, the group reorganised, the Guardians all standing together at the foot of the Bowie's ramp, everyone from Safe Haven grouping together, and the others lining up along the edge of the sand.

"Am I allowed to ask what the fuck is going on?" Vince grumbled, moving to the front of the gathered Safe Haven occupants.

"I'm trying to work that out," the Doctor murmured, tapping his lower lip with his thumb.

"But no one's in danger?" Jorge checked, following Vince to the front. "Safe Haven is still safe, si?"

Belinda's eyes bulged. "Gus."

"What?" Jorge frowned.

"Jorge looks like Gus from Breaking Bad," Luca sighed, arms folded easily across his chest. "I tried so hard not to mention it last time."

Pointing a stern finger at Luca, Jorge stated, "Don't drag me into this, hermano, or I'll set Brenda on you."

"Please," the Doctor interrupted, raising his hands to defuse the situation. His eyes darted back and forth for a moment, then he whirled around to Tim. "You don't have the watch I gave you, do you?"

Tim silently produced the pocket watch.

"I knew it..." Carefully taking the watch, the Doctor wandered into the middle of the sand. "Which one of you knows the most about this shard?" he asked the Guardians. "And can you analyse this," he held out the watch, "to compare what you know?"

Rocket held out a hand. "What is it?"

"Just a watch, now," the Doctor explained, allowing Rocket to take the timepiece. "But I stored my entire Time Lord consciousness in it, once upon a time. I think that's why poor old Tim was dragged into this mess."

"M'kay..." Rocket turned the watch over in his hands, then pressed the button on top to flip it open. "Groot, come help me with this. Krag, Cos, Adam, keep an eye out here." With a brief, mistrustful glance at the Doctor, Rocket turned on his heel and strode off up the Bowie's ramp with Groot close behind.

"Okay." The Doctor turned to the line of identical faces. "Let's work this out."

Chapter Text

Pacing back and forth, the Doctor pointed a finger at Belinda. "Bel, tell me what you know about this fella," he suggested, dropping a hand on Kenny's shoulder. "Or what you think you know."

Belinda glanced around the group, then breathed a sigh. "Kenny, right?" she checked, earning a startled nod. "Okay... Well, I haven't seen the film in a while, but he went on a roadtrip to Mexico with three other people who were pretending to be a family called the Millers. Something to do with drug running."

"I... don't like that you know that..." Kenny muttered, both arms wrapped around himself. "We're... we're supposed to be in witness protection."

The Doctor held up a patient hand to stop him. "Okay. And you recognise this lovely young man, too?" he pressed, waving to Luca, eyes on Belinda.

Nodding, Belinda explained, "From a TV show. The Bear. It's about a guy called Carmy taking over his dead brother's sandwich shop and turning it into a fancy restaurant." She gestured to Luca. "Luca first shows up in season two, when The Bear's pastry chef goes to Copenhagen to stage with him."

"Season two?" Shaking his head, Luca huffed, "I'm a person. I've worked in hospitality for fourteen years. Meeting Marcus wasn't the start of my life." He paused, scuffing his shoe against the sand, adding a mumbled, "Changed it a lot, though."

The Doctor was immediately moving on. "Okay, what's your name?"

"Colin. Games developer." Arms folded and eyes trained on the Doctor's face, Colin told him, "I've been reliving the same few days over and over while some lucky prick called Stefan calls the shots on the ending." He shrugged slightly. "Sometimes I die, sometimes he dies, sometimes he murders his arsehole of a father... Bit of a crapshoot."

A beat of nothing as everyone wrapped their heads around Colin's words, then Thomas gave Minho a gentle nudge with his elbow. "Guess that makes sense of the simulation he keeps going on about," he muttered.

Minho just nodded slowly.

"Okay..." Shaking his head, the Doctor half-laughed, "Alright, that's thrown me." He glanced to Belinda. "You know that from anywhere?"

With a sigh through his nose, Luca rubbed his eyes. "Bandersnatch."

Colin's eyes flicked startled to Luca. "The fuck'd you just say?"

"It's a choose-your-own-adventure type thing," Luca explained, decidedly not looking back at Colin. "On Netflix. Part of Black Mirror."

Mouth opening slightly, Belinda murmured, "I think I've heard of it."

"Stefan's game's called Bandersnatch..." Plucking a cigarette from his pocket, Colin slipped it between his lips and muttered, "So he's the main character..."

"And you?" the Doctor continued, his confusion slowly morphing into excited fascination.

"Bobby."

When nothing else was said, the Doctor gave Bobby an encouraging nod.

Bobby glanced around the beach, clueless. "I'm... not sure what to say."

"What's the most notable thing to happen in your life?" the Doctor prompted, hands pressed together and pointing at Bobby.

"Uh..." Bobby thought for a moment, then supposed, "I solved a murder with the woman I'm now lucky enough to call my wife."

"Brilliant!" the Doctor beamed. "Tell us about that."

Hands tucking into his pockets, Bobby shrugged slightly. "I was caddying at a golf course near the edge of a cliff. Followed a lost ball, spotted a man lying almost dead on the beach below."

The Doctor raised an eyebrow. "Almost dead?"

"Well... I thought he was dead, then he grabbed me and said, 'Why didn't they ask Evans?' before... passing on."

Brow falling into a deep frown, the Doctor stepped back. "Wait, wait, wait..." he muttered, hands raised as though in suspense of his brain. "Agatha Christie!"

"Quite..." Eustace turned a curious look Bobby's way. "I've read many a Christie. Why Didn't They Ask Evans? was one of hers."

Blinking slowly, Bobby frowned, "Who?"

"Agatha Christie," the Doctor nodded firmly. "Absolutely wonderful woman. Clever, quick-witted... genius writer." With half a half, he added, "Drove like a madwoman."

"You can't have met Agatha Christie, too," Belinda sighed, folding her arms. "I draw the line there."

"No, he did," Kenny said quickly, almost as though he was worried his nerve would run out before the words could leave his mouth. "He did, with his friend Donna and a giant wasp."

The Doctor pointed a stern finger at Kenny, though raised his hands innocently when Kenny's gaze turned frightened. "Okay, so you know me," the Doctor said slowly, scanning Kenny's face with his eyes.

"Anyone post-1963 would know you," Colin snorted, tipping his head back to blow smoke into the air.

"We don't," Thomas piped up, shuffling past Jorge and Vince to stand at the front of his found family. "And all this," he waved his hands around the group, "sounds completely insane."

"Wait," the Doctor murmured, eyeing Thomas carefully. With a snap of his fingers, he asked, "Bel, what did you say WCKD sounded like?"

Belinda glanced to Newt, eyes widening slightly. "Like... bad guys out of a book..."

"A book, exactly." Something wild and curious flashed in the Doctor's eyes. He snapped his attention to Eustace. "Tell me about you."

Straightening his shoulders, Eustace recounted, "Eustace Scrubb. And I suppose the most notable thing in my life was my travels in Narnia."

"Narnia?" was spluttered from various baffled faces.

Eustace lifted a brow. "You've heard of it?"

"I've had people telling me whole life that I look like that kid from Narnia," Luca said bluntly. "There's an actor I look like that people mistake me for. Narnia, Bandersnatch, Guardians of the Galaxy, fucking Maze Runner." He waved a frustrated hand in Gally's direction. "I get that one a lot. And I've been trying real hard not to make all those connections, because it makes me sound completely unhinged, but now I'm standing on a fucking beach with a bunch of guys who look exactly like the actor everyone says I look like, and saying that they are those characters, and I'm having a hard time not freaking the fuck out." Breathing hard from his outburst, Luca dragged his hands through his hair and insisted, "I'm Luca. I'm real. I dunno what the fuck is going on and my poor fucking therapist's gonna cop a lot next time I see her."

Silence.

"Ok-ay..." Thomas took a cautious step forward. "Can I just...? Maze Runner?"

Huffing a long sigh, Luca rubbed both hands down his face, then nodded. "Guy who looks like me," he gestured to Gally, "a guy from Teen Wolf," to Thomas, "and the kid from Love Actually," and to Newt.

"Oh my god, he is!" Belinda exclaimed, slapping a hand over her mouth as she looked between Newt and Tim. "Older, obviously, but you're right."

"Let's slow this down again," the Doctor suggested, his eyes definitely catching the way Minho grabbed Gally's arm. "So... a couple movies, some book adaptations, some TV series..." He huffed half a laugh. "It's all just fiction..." Turning in a circle, gesturing to everyone. "Everyone. One great big web of fiction, all interconnecting and weaving together and crossing each other over and over and over."

Belinda frowned. "But if it's fiction... how'd it affect us? In the real world?"

"This is the real world," Minho spat from between clenched teeth.

"Are...?" Belinda reached for the Doctor's arm. "Doctor, those people in the television said we were characters..."

Shaking his head, the Doctor took Belinda's outstretched hand, patting it as he assured her, "No, babes, we're real." His gaze passed around the group, pausing briefly on the Bowie. "Maybe it's all real. All of it. Maze Runner and Guardians of the Galaxy and period dramas and wacky comedies..." Fascinated glee crossed his face. "Maybe it's all real. It's real, and in different worlds, writers are reaching across dimensions. Their imaginations are accessing worlds, or maybe creating them, and communicating those real stories to us in film and TV and books." He clutched Belinda's hand to his chest. "Oh, Bel... Oh, honey, the universe just got so much bigger."

A few moments of nothing, then Adam stepped forward, hand half raised in question. "Um... Does that mean I... broke something? When I touched the Time Keepers' shard?"

The Doctor tipped his head in consideration. "I never got any readings telling me the swap between Tim and Newt was dangerous, so I don't think breaking the barriers between dimensions has caused any developing damage..." he murmured thoughtfully. "But you've certainly opened the different worlds up to each other."

Bobby sat himself heavily on the sand, rubbing the heel of his hand against his forehead. "Film and television become so ubiquitous that it's possible to know all of this?"

A smirk twisted Belinda's mouth. "You just wait... Television gets way bigger."

"And apparently started, what...? Turning people's real lives into TV?" Luca frowned, throwing his hands up.

"All of you... of us..." Dropping Belinda's hand as he gazed around the beach in awe, the Doctor grinned, "We're connected through a web of stories. The same faces linking totally disparate lives and worlds, never meant to cross, and yet..." He threw his arms out. "Here we are," he laughed.

Dropping his cigarette and grinding it into the sand with his shoe, Colin pressed, "So is it real or not?"

"Yes," the Doctor stated emphatically. "You're real, Colin, all of us are real. Everything is real. Every show you've ever watched, every book you've ever read, every-"

"Video game?" Colin prompted with a raised eyebrow.

"Probably," the Doctor nodded quickly. "Every story, every fairytale... Everything's real." He turned his gaze up to the sky. "It's all out there somewhere, living out its days and telling every single story."

Luca flicked his eyes down the line to Eustace. "Even Narnia...?"

"Even Narnia," the Doctor chuckled. "With its talking animals and magic."

Turning all this information over in his brain, Thomas looked to Luca. "You said something about Teen Wolf?"

"You look like one of the guys in it," Luca nodded.

"Stiles," Kenny confirmed. He shifted back from the judgmental look Luca gave him, defending himself with a mumbled, "Casey watches it..."

"Stiles..." Thomas looked to Vince and Jorge, who, though baffled, nodded in confirmation. "I was swapped with Stiles. I've only been swapped once, and I ended up in his bedroom. Met his dad, Noah, and his best friend, Scott."

One hand slowly lifted to cover Kenny's mouth as it hung open. "Oh my god, Casey'll go crazy..."

"If she even believes you," Colin snorted. "A web of infinite stories? Good luck convincing your girlfriend not to leave you after that."

Nose scrunching in disgust, Kenny muttered, "She's my sister."

"Who you snogged," Luca smirked.

Kenny's face flushed dark. "Once!"

"It was way more than once!"

"Okay!" the Doctor laughed awkwardly, clapping his hands together. "Enough of that."

As Eustace helped Bobby up off the sand, Thomas felt fingers sliding between both of his own sets, glancing either side of him to find Newt and Gally, Minho still clutching Gally's arm. "So... A web of stories?"

The Doctor hummed. "Seems so."

Nothing for a moment, then Belinda murmured, "The barber would've killed for this."

Barking a laugh, the Doctor agreed, "Oh, yes he would."

Chapter Text

Minho gazed around the mess of bodies on the beach. He and the other Gladers, his family, had settled sitting in the sand while their visitors occupied themselves. He watched Bobby and Eustace chatting with Tim, Kenny following Adam around the Bowie in awe, Luca answering the questions of an excited Belinda, and Colin muttering to himself around another cigarette.

How had they even reached this point?

"Alright," Rocket announced, striding down the Bowie's ramp. "I've had a look at this watch thing."

The Doctor hurried over and crouched by Rocket's side to study the tablet in his hands. "Interesting..."

"See this?" Rocket pointed to his tablet. "That's the shard, and that's the watch. They're not the same energy signature, but they lined up. Sorta synched with each other."

A hum, then the Doctor's eyes narrowed at the tablet. "And these... Are they connected to the two people Thomas and Newt swapped with before?"

Drifting over behind Rocket and the Doctor, Minho peered down at the tablet. The screen was filled with information, none of which he could decipher if he tried, but it seemed the two pilots could make something of it.

"That one's Stiles," Rocket nodded, pointing to one, "and that's Dawkins."

Another hum. "And you haven't been able to stop more of these connections from being made?"

Heaving a sigh, Rocket shook his head. "I dunno how. I ain't a miracle worker; that shard is way beyond me."

"Can I give it a try?" Glancing over his shoulder to the Bowie and startling slightly when he found Minho standing there, the Doctor asked Rocket, "Did you bring the shard with you?"

With an affirmative grunt, Rocket explained, "It's how we jump between dimensions. Got it hooked up to- Holy flarkin' hell!" he spluttered as he whirled around and almost walked straight into Minho, clutching his tablet to his chest and aiming an accusatory glare up at him. "What're you doin' sneakin' around?"

"I was just curious..." Stepping aside to allow Rocket past, Minho muttered, "I don't get what's going on."

Though Rocket just rolled his eyes and stomped back up the ramp, the Doctor dropped a comforting hand on Minho's shoulder. "It's a lot, isn't it?" he asked knowingly. "Even though this happens a lot?"

Minho bobbed his head in a nod. "I spent a long time in and out of simulations," he admitted quietly. "No idea what was real and what wasn't... This shucks with my head."

A hum. "You've got a good group here," the Doctor assured him, squeezing his shoulder. "Proper little family."

Something knotted in Minho's chest loosened, nodding his head again. "Yeah, I do."

The Doctor flashed him one of his blinding grins. "We're gonna sort this out, okay?" he murmured.

"Okay." Exhaling through his nose, Minho watched the Doctor jog up the ramp and into the Bowie. He shook himself, moving to return to the Gladers, but instead found himself face to face with Adam. "Oh."

"You're stressed," Adam commented.

Rolling his eyes as his shoulders relaxed, Minho countered, "You point out the obvious."

Adam just nodded. "Rocket is working towards stopping the swaps," he said slowly, golden eyes darting away for a moment. "With the Doctor's help, he may succeed." A pause. "We would not see each other again."

Something twinged in Minho's chest. "I guess not..."

"If they succeed... I shall miss you."

It occurred to Minho that every time the Bowie returned to Safe Haven, Adam would seek him out. He was surprisingly easy to talk to, despite their differences.

Minho supposed their similarities were more important than what set them apart.

"Yeah, I... think I'll miss you, too," he realised. "Wonder if we can stay in touch. Y'know, with those interdimentional comms."

Adam tilted his head. "Possibly. Although, if Rocket and that Doctor man repair the boundaries between dimensions, I don't think the comms will continue to work."

Heart sinking a little, Minho hummed, "Makes sense, I guess..."

Pressing his lips into a line, Adam furrowed his dramatic eyebrows. "I suppose none of us thought of that part."

Minho snorted. "The 'making friends' part?" He shoulders dropped when Adam nodded. "Think you're right."

"Y'okay?" Brenda piped up, appearing by Minho's side and jabbing him fondly with her elbow.

"Yeah..."

"This may be the last we all see of each other," Adam explained, fingers fidgeting with the pockets of his - Kenny's - pants.

Realisation melted across Brenda's face. "Oh..."

Across the sand, Minho noticed Gally sitting with Blurp bundled in his arms and Cosmo lying by his side with her head resting in his leg. "Gal's gonna miss them..."

"Well, we don't know that the Doctor can even help Rocket," Brenda pointed out, waving her hands to dismiss the idea.

"Well, he is kind of brilliant," Belinda chimed in as she joined them with a little wave. "He can kinda do anything."

A snort, Luca folding his arms across his chest and raising an eyebrow at Belinda. "Apart from get you home, apparently."

Belinda breathed a resigned sigh. "He's working on that."

"Is he?" Luca asked dubiously.

"He's built a machine," Belinda explained, gesturing towards the TARDIS. "Everywhere we land - in our dimension, anyway - he's takes a reading with the Vindicator so that he can narrow down the coordinates to May the 24th 2025."

"Right..." Frowning slightly, Minho asked, "He's gotta find coordinates for a date?"

"The TARDIS is a time machine," Belinda clarified. "I don't understand how it works, but I've been back and forth in time a lot recently... It's actually kind of amazing." Something distantly sad filled her eyes. "But I do really want to go home."

"Um..." Kenny shuffled over, raising his hand in question. "Why can't he just take you home? He can control the TARDIS, right?"

Shaking her head, Belinda sighed, "Apparently he can't. We keep bouncing off May the 24th, no matter how many times he tries."

Luca and Kenny shared a look.

"What?" Pointing between the two of them, Belinda pressed, "What was that about?"

"..so if I calibrate the TARDIS to the shard's radiation frequency," came the Doctor, striding back down the ramp with Rocket scurrying after him on all fours, "I should be able to follow it to all the ends of its strands and detangle the affected people so they aren't yanked unceremoniously between dimensions!"

"And then you give it back, right?" Rocket checked as they raced across the sand.

"It's just a calibration," the Doctor assured him, reaching into his pocket and producing a key on a long chain. "You can have it back to take everyone home, don't worry."

"Doctor!" Luca called out, making both pilots freeze at the TARDIS door.

Both eyebrows raised curiously, the Doctor waved one hand. "Yeah?"

Luca gestured to Belinda. "She needs to get back to May 24th?"

Stepping back from the TARDIS, the Doctor nodded firmly. "2025 awaits," he grinned. "Just need one more reading on the Vindicator, then I should be able to isolate the way back."

"Uh huh." Luca glanced to Kenny again, whose confusion sank deeper into his features. "You've got a time machine."

A vaguely baffled yet amused look crossed the Doctor's face. "...yes?"

"And for dumb sci-fi reasons, you can't land on the 24th of May 2025?" Luca clarified.

"Yes."

Kenny raised his hand again. "But you can land on earth earlier than that?"

A shrug. "Sure," the Doctor confirmed. "We've been to a few different times on Earth while collecting readings. That's how we found Newt, here." He flashed his charming grin at Newt, who was watching from his place in the sand by Thomas' side.

"So." Colin lurched to his feet, taking a few purposeful steps to put himself by Luca. "Why don't you land on the 23rd of May and just..." he opened his hands, cigarette pinned expertly between two fingers, "wait?"

Silence.

"Is... Is that an option?" Belinda asked slowly, eyes narrowing at the Doctor.

With a quick shake of his head, the Doctor stated, "I can't explain it right now, babes. Calibration to do." He whipped around and shoved the key into the TARDIS door lock, then darted inside.

Belinda's mouth fell open, turning slowly back to the group. "Has he dragged me halfway 'round the universe for nothing?" she asked lowly.

"I mean..." Luca shrugged, now a little cautious with the look on Belinda's face. "There's a bullshit sci-fi reason he can't take you back; maybe there's another bullshit sci-fi reason he can't do that?"

Though Belinda opened her mouth to speak, a string of colourful curses screeched from the TARDIS.

Snickering, Newt commented, "Rocket wasn't prepared for the TARDIS."

Belinda rubbed her eyes. "No one's prepared for the TARDIS."

Chapter Text

Fifteen minutes later, the Doctor and Rocket ushered everyone from the beach up to the amphitheatre. Once everyone was seated facing the two pilots at the front, the Doctor propped both hands on his hips and nodded, "This is much easier to address everyone."

"Just say what you gotta say, Doc," Rocket sighed, rubbing one hand over his eyes.

"Okay." Clapping his hands together, the Doctor cast his eyes around the gathering. "As I'm sure you're all aware by now, all this mess was caused by this shard, here." He gestured to the golden crystalline piece Rocket was carrying in a clear case. "It's unlike anything I've ever seen, and has the potential to be incredibly dangerous in the wrong hands."

"Ain't it a good thing it's in the right hands, then?" Rocket jumped in, a smug look aimed up at the Doctor.

The placating smile the Doctor threw back at him was all teeth. "Sure. Now, as evidenced by Tim's arrival here in Safe Haven, this whole thing is slowly starting to spread. It's not necessarily dangerous as is, but we don't need it to get out of hand until the entire universe in every dimension is being pulled into one place, do we?"

A round of shaken heads in response.

"So... Rocket and myself have come up with a plan."

Rocket snorted. "And it's all you, man."

Though he tipped his head in a 'sort of' motion, the Doctor admitted, "I'll be doing the heavy lifting. So." He gestured to the group of Gally's lookalikes. "Rocket's gonna take you all home, just like he always does. Tim will come back with me and Bel, so there's nothing to worry about there. However..." The next grin he offered the group was halfway nervous. "I'm gonna need to drop in on every one of you in your own dimensions."

"Why?" Colin frowned, mistrustful.

The Doctor pulled a hand-sized device from his pocket. "I need to tie you all back into your own worlds with this," he explained. "Disconnect all the energy that connects you to the shard and fix you in your own dimensions again."

"So..." Glancing around the group, Eustace checked, "We won't end up here again?"

Snapping his fingers, the Doctor pointed at Eustace. "Exactly."

Nothing for a few moments, then Adam slowly raised his hand. "We'll never see each other again?"

"Thought of that already, Goldie," Rocket assured him, pulling one of the interdimentional comms from his pocket. "The Doc, here; he's gonna fix everyone in their own worlds again, but we ain't undoing nothing with the barriers between dimensions. Looks like it's safe to leave 'em open, so we'll still be able to talk to each other with these."

Adam's face lit up. "We won't lose contact?" His eyes flicked to Minho by his side, then back to Rocket. "We won't lose our friends?"

Despite all appearances, Rocket clearly held a soft spot for Adam and his ability to find a friend apparently anywhere. "You ain't losing your friends," he said certainly, the clearing of his throat doing very little to hide his fond smile. "But no one should be actually seeing each other again. Not unless I can find a way to control this thing." He shook the case in his hand.

"Thing is," the Doctor continued, raising both hands as though preempting a riot, "I can't just pop to every dimension and fix things on my own. Now that I have all my readings from the shard, I can get to all your places no problem, but..." His eyes drifted to Vince and Jorge. "I'm going to have to borrow these three," he said carefully, pointing to Gally, Thomas, and Newt.

Jorge sat up straight defensively, Vince dropping a hand on his shoulder and pushing himself to his feet. "Why?" he demanded.

"Because I can fix everyone back to their own places and detach them from the shard," the Doctor explained slowly, one hand outstretched to keep Vince at a distance. "But I have to sever the connection between each of these boys to their interdimentional counterparts."

"Why can't you do that here?" Vince pressed.

With a regretful huff, the Doctor waggled his device. "This is science, not magic. I can't just snap my fingers; I need all the threads together to untangle the knot."

Vince flicked his gaze to Adam, whose eyes widened. "So how come you don't need him? Isn't he the whole reason this happens at all?"

"Yeeeeeeaaah..." With a wince, Rocket told him, "Adam touched the shard in the first place, but... looks like Gally's the anchor point for the energy. That's why all the new guys always end up here and he always comes back to Knowhere."

"And me and Newt ended up part of it because we were next to the anchor," Thomas murmured, eyes on the horizon as he processed.

"But why Thomas, then?" Vince insisted, shoulders rising with tension. "It doesn't happen to him anymore."

The Doctor's placating smile came back. "But it did," he pointed out. "He's still connected to this Stiles fella through the shard. We'll have to visit the other two from the first time this happened so we can untangle them, too."

With an exhausted groan, Newt dropped his head into his hands. "Please no." Peeking up at the Doctor through his fingers, he huffed, "No one wants to go see Dr Jack bloody Dawkins."

"Wait... The Artful Dodger?" Luca piped up, eyes wide with fascination as he studied Newt. "Jesus, you do look like him, huh?"

Glancing to Luca cautiously, Bobby guessed, "They made a television program of Oliver Twist?"

"They've made a lot of TV and movies about Oliver Twist," Belinda half-laughed, shaking her head. "But The Artful Dodger is about Jack Dawkins at age 30, working as a surgeon in Australia." She leaned back against the step behind her. "All the historical medical practices are fascinating."

"Me and Marcus have been watching it between kitchen experiments," Luca nodded quickly. "We've got an idea floating around to do with mixed berry syrup and-"

"Hold on." Holding up one hand and nose wrinkled in disgust, Belinda spluttered, "You're making a dessert inspired by Victorian surgery?"

With a slightly sheepish shrug, Luca clarified, "The colours, yeah."

"Anyway," the Doctor interrupted loudly to regain everyone's attention. "Yes, we need to go see Jack Dawkins." He offered Newt an apologetic glance when he breathed an exasperated sigh. "And Stiles. They're both still connected to the shard, and until everyone's disentangled from its energy, there's no guarantee this can't happen again."

Arms folded, Vince eyed the Doctor silently for a few moments. "And you'll bring them back safe?" he checked, more a threat than a question.

"My good sir, I always aim to bring my friends home safely," the Doctor assured him, giving Vince a dramatic bow. "Cross both my hearts."

"Both...?" Vince shook his head, waving his own question away. "I don't wanna know. But if you can guarantee those boys come home safe..." With a weary look to Gally, Thomas, and Newt, he supposed, "You can take them with you."

"Can we go, too?" Brenda asked quickly, hand shooting up.

Jorge's eyes almost bulged out of his head. "What?"

"C'mon," Brenda complained, gesturing around the eclectic group. "Me, Fry, and Min only ever get to see this bit. Safe Haven's interesting to all these guys, but we live here and see it all the time. I wanna see another world."

The grin that spread across the Doctor's face was full of promises of adventure. "I'd be happy to take you along."

"But..." Jorge lurched to his feet, grabbing Vince's arm for support. "Mi alma, you can't seriously be considering this," he hissed.

Breathing a long, heavy sigh, Vince looked to Brenda's pleading face. "Fine."

"Vince!" Jorge protested as Brenda punched the air with a cheer.

Turning to Jorge, Vince took both his hands. "She grew up exploring, right?"

Conflict filled Jorge's eyes. "Yes, she did..."

Vince gestured to the Doctor. "This could be one of the last chances she gets to explore something new," he pointed out. "It's not like any of us are leaving this island any time soon."

"Jorge." The Doctor stepped up beside them and grasped Jorge's shoulder. "I promise I'll keep her safe, okay?"

Sucking in a long breath through his nose, Jorge let himself deflate as he exhaled. "Alright," he agreed begrudgingly, though the tiniest smile flickered at the corner of his mouth when Brenda cheered again.

"You're coming, too, right, Min?" Brenda checked, poking Minho with her elbow.

"Well..." With a quick look to Adam, Minho asked the Doctor, "Will you need to go to Knowhere?"

With a nod, the Doctor confirmed, "Knowhere will be our last stop before I bring everyone back here."

Turning a smirk to Adam, Minho chuckled, "I guess you can show me Knowhere when I get there, then."

Golden face lighting up, Adam nodded, "You must meet Drax. And Nebula." Looking across to Kraglin, he checked, "Nebula won't mind?"

Kraglin snorted. "Nebs is gonna hate this.

"Eh, she hates most things," Rocket shrugged dismissively.

"Fry?" Brenda asked eagerly.

The fondness in Frypan's eyes was plain to see. "Yeah," he agreed, briefly startled by the sudden hug Brenda gave him before settling and leaning his head on her hair. "Should be fun. Besides, I gotta meet this Marcus Luca told me all about last time."

"You'll love him," Luca said certainly. "You've got a lot in common."

Beaming around at the group, the Doctor clapped his hands together again. "Fabulous! Rocket, is the Bowie ready to leave?"

"Give her ten minutes," Rocket nodded.

The Doctor huffed a satisfied sigh. "Right, then we're all decided. Rocket takes all these boys home, then I bring the Safe Haven gang with me to detangle all this shard business and make sure everyone stays put. We'll meet the Guardians on Knowhere to finalise the tying off of the connections, then I bring the Safe Haven gang home, return Timmy to Hutchinson's bedside, and then Bel and I can go back to collecting our readings for the Vindicator." He paused, then breathed a laugh. "Insane. Today's been completely insane."

"Hey, Vince..." Harriet slowly approached the amphitheatre from the direction of the settlement. "Don't wanna interrupt, but we might need a hand over at the well."

"Okay," Vince sighed, dragging a hand through his hair. "I'll be there in a minute."

Kenny's eyes went wide, locked on Harriet's face. "Missandei?"

"From Game of Thrones!" Belinda exclaimed, a smile of pleasant disbelief showing off her teeth.

"Nope!" Jorge waved both hands, shooing Harriet away. "No, no more of that," he demanded as Harriet made an eager exit. "You boys stop talking, go swap your clothes back, and please, please get out of here."

Chapter Text

Safe Haven

With everyone back in their own clothes, Minho made sure to drag Kenny and Tim over to the outside wall of Gally, Newt, and Thomas' cabin, shoving a knife into Kenny's hands. Once Kenny had cautiously scratched his name into the wood, and Tim had done the same, Minho took them back to the gathering on the beach as Gally lookalikes began filing up the ramp to the Bowie.

"This is it, then?" Kenny checked carefully. "I'm going home now?"

"Sure are, kid," Rocket grunted, waving Kenny further up the ramp. "C'mon, we ain't got all day."

"But this is..." Kenny's eyes drifted out across the settlement.

"It's weird, man," Luca sighed, dropping a hand on Kenny's shoulder. "Tell your therapist."

Shaking his head, Kenny muttered, "She won't believe me."

Luca shrugged. "Frame it as a dream. Mine thinks I had a weird psychotic episode, but since I'm pretty much fine, she's just... keeping an eye on it."

"'Pretty much' fine?" Kenny pressed cautiously.

Waving his hand, Luca dismissed, "Weird nightmares. Nearly knocked Marcus out swinging a fist in my sleep." He guided a baffled Kenny up the ramp. "It's fine."

"So... Tim stays here?" Minho asked slowly, one finger aimed at Tim as the gaggle of 'Gally's disappeared into the Bowie.

"He'll come back to our dimension with us," the Doctor nodded, flashing another of his dazzling grins. "Get him back to Hutchinson's bedside."

"At least he's alright," Tim murmured, hands tucked into his pockets, where he had safely stowed his watch. "I'd been worried." Something pained flickered across his face. "I'm sorry he spoke to you as he did."

With a rueful smile, the Doctor nudged Tim with his elbow. "No need to apologise for him. Now." He clapped his hands together, gaze flitting around the remaining people on the sand. "Everyone coming with me, please make your way over to my wonderful ship." He gestured to the TARDIS with a flourish.

A flash of light, then Adam appeared, floating just above the ground with his powers swirling around his hands and feet. "Vince, Jorge..." He dropped to the sand. "Before I leave, I would like to thank you both for putting up with consequences of my mistake. I understand how inconvenient it's been."

Vince blinked, clearly baffled. "Uh... Yeah, kid. Don't worry yourself about it."

"It's been... an experience," Jorge added tactfully.

Grinning, Adam stepped forward and wrapped an arm around each of them in a rigid hug. "Thank you." He pulled back, nodded, gave the Gladers a quick, "See you soon," and flew back into the Bowie as the ramp slowly raised.

A beat of silence, then Vince huffed a long sigh. "Weird kid," he muttered, dragging a hand down his face.

"Good heart, though," Jorge supposed.

Another clap of hands. "Right, let's get going," the Doctor encouraged, ushering people towards the TARDIS.

"Don't we need to give them a bit of a headstart?" Thomas frowned, gesturing to Bowie still parked down the sand.

Tim shook his head as they made their way over to the tall blue box. "The TARDIS travels time like an ocean. Time is no longer a linear path, within its walls."

Raising both eyebrows, the Doctor chuckled, "Nice one, Timmy. I like that." He pulled a key from his pocket and unlocked the TARDIS doors. "As Timothy said; time travel. We could walk in, press a button, walk straight back out, and be at Kenny's house three weeks after this moment."

"Um..." Raising her hand, Brenda piped up, "I know I suggested us all coming with, but... How're we all gonna fit in there?"

Another dazzling grin. "Wait and see, baby," the Doctor beamed, then threw the doors open and strode inside, Belinda and Tim following quickly behind.

"There's plenty of room, Bren," Newt assured her, a smirk dancing around the corners of his mouth. "C'mon." He took Thomas' hand and led the charge through the TARDIS doors, clearly pleased with himself at the sounds of bafflement and awe from behind him.

"You ended up here?" Minho blurted out, eyes wide and jaw hanging open as he wandered around the edge of the central platform.

"Nah, I was in a tent somewhere," Newt chuckled, folding his arms and leaning against the railing. "But then this thing showed up and it was just... par for the insanity, I guess."

"Whoa..." Gally muttered, leaning by Newt's side. "I'm used to space stuff, but this is..."

"Yeah..." Thomas agreed vaguely, eyes on the ceiling way above them.

"You have records?" Brenda asked suddenly, rushing to the jukebox beside the console. "Wow..."

"Are there other rooms?" Frypan pointed to the circular doors at the end of winding ramps.

"You should see the wardrobe," Brenda gushed, hands resting on the console, far from any buttons of levers. "It's bigger than my share-house."

Brenda's eyes wandered up the centre console and across the shape of the ceiling, wandering around it in awe until Frypan caught her elbow. She dropped her gaze to frown at him, only for him to offer her half a smile and point to where her foot had been about to land; right off the edge of the platform. "Oh... Thanks."

Minho watched the fond flicker on Frypan's face fade into something tinged longing and sad. "Oh, it's really bad, huh?" he whispered to Thomas at his side.

"Yeah," Thomas agreed quietly as Brenda ran off up one of the ramps. "Even you can see it."

Though he wanted to be offended, Minho had to admit Thomas was right. "Do we do something?"

An elbow landed in Thomas' ribs before he could answer, a soft but admonishing look coming from Newt. "We've gotta let him do it himself," Thomas sighed quietly.

"He won't," Gally mumbled.

The Doctor, darting around the console pressing buttons, called a quick, "Everyone in?" over his shoulder.

Checking the impossibly large space, Newt nodded, "We've got everyone."

"Just make sure they all make it back," Vince insisted from the door, head poking through but both feet still planted firmly in the sand outside. "This... whatever it is..." He waved a hand around the room, visibly overwhelmed. "I don't get it, but bring them home safe."

Turning to the door, the Doctor gave Vince a firm salute. "They'll be home, safe and sound, before you can miss them."

Vince's mistrustful eyes darted around the room, then he stepped back, Jorge's hands appearing to drag him away.

"Okay." Whirling on the spot to face the console again, the Doctor flipped a switch, the seemingly wooden doors swinging shut with a firm click. "Ready?" he asked, a smile creeping up his face as he glanced around the room.

Newt grabbed onto the railing, prompting his partners and friends to follow suit.

"Perfect," the Doctor beamed, then yanked on a lever that sent the room shuddering. "Interdimentional travel!" he laughed as yelps sounded throughout the console room. "Just a little unpredictable."

"Tell me about it," Gally sighed wearily.

Suburbia

Kenny stood stunned in his backyard. With a final wave from Groot and cheerful bark from Cosmo, the cloaked pod closed its door and whooshed back up into the sky, his eyes seeking the invisible ship and leaving his jaw on the lawn.

"Oh. My. God." Blinking twice, he stumbled a few steps back, forcing himself to inhale when he realised his breathing had stopped in his shock. Heart pounding, he turned on the spot, his feet automatically carrying him up to the back door of his home.

"Kenny!"

The moment he was through the door, Kenny found himself wrapped up in a frantic hug, Sarah's hands petting his face to check he was alright as Casey and David squeezed him so hard his ribs creaked. "Hi..."

"Where've you been?" Sarah spluttered, clearly having decided Kenny was fine and throwing herself into the hug with the rest of the family.

Something in Kenny melted, relaxing and dropping his head onto David's shoulder. "Doesn't matter," he dismissed, squeezing his eyes shut and revelling in the smell of home.

"Are you fucking with me?" Casey jerked back and smacked him hard in the shoulder and, yeah, that felt right. "There was a guy - he was gold - and another guy that looked like you and a talking dog-"

"Let him breathe, Case," David insisted, though his grip on Kenny's ribcage did little on that front.

Shaking his head and full of fondness for his crazy little family, Kenny told Casey, "There's a talking raccoon, too."

Casey's jaw dropped then she raised both hands and shook her head. "Okay, never mind. I was worried about you, but if you're just gonna-"

"You were worried?" Kenny asked, eyes round with delight.

"My brother went missing!" Casey defended, folding both arms tightly across her chest.

"Aw..." Sarah cooed, sharing a look with David. "They do love each other."

Casey made a disgusted noise in the back of her throat. "Shut up."

There was a noise. A scraping, wheezing, groaning noise...

"Oh, uh..." As the noise grew louder, Kenny raised his voice to be heard. "I uh... There's kinda people coming? To fix things?"

"What is that?" David demanded, shouting to be heard as the noise grew and grew and-

THUMP

And there, in the nook of their kitchen, stood the TARDIS. The doors flew open, the Doctor's face lighting up when his eyes landed on Kenny. "Ah ha! It's worked!" He darted into the room and raced over to grab Kenny's face, beaming up at him. "Worked like a charm! Hi, Kenny, how long's it been?"

"Uh..." Kenny lifted his arm to glance at his watch. "I've been home five minutes."

"Excellent!" the Doctor cheered, raising both his hands in glee. "Gally, c'mon out! Let's get you guys untangled."

A moment later, Gally emerged from the TARDIS, followed quickly by Newt, Thomas, Brenda, Belinda, Minho, and Frypan. "Hey, man," Gally sighed, arms folded and hip leaning against the kitchen counter as the Doctor pulled his strange device from his pocket and started it whirring.

"What kind of Doctor Who clown-car bullshit is this?!" David spluttered, grabbing Sarah and Casey by their arms and pulling them a step back.

"It's... kind of exactly that..." Kenny stumbled as the Doctor dragged him to stand by Gally's side. "This is the untangling bit?" he guessed hopefully.

"With the help of my sonic screwdriver," the Doctor waggled the device before pointing it back at Kenny, "I'm disentangling you from the energy of the shard. You'll never be pulled away to Safe Haven again, and you never have to worry about which of the others ends up here in your place."

"This's your home?" Brenda asked, gazing around the kitchen in awe.

"It's... yeah." Shaking his head at the absurdity, Kenny pointed out, "It's a pretty normal house."

"It's so..." Brenda waved her hands as she searched for her words. "Clean," she settled on.

"It's a nice kitchen," Frypan hummed, eyes scanning the utensils.

"Who the fuck are these people?" David snapped, shooting Kenny a frantic look.

Though Kenny opened his mouth to answer, Casey's eyes flew wide open, pointing a finger at Thomas and blurting out, "Stiles!"

Thomas rolled his eyes so hard Kenny was sure it must have hurt. "Thomas," he corrected. "But I get the confusion."

"Ohmygod, you're Dylan O'Brien," Casey breathed out, one hand pressed to her chest as if to check her heart was still beating.

"No," Thomas huffed, pushing his hair back from his face. "I'm Thomas."

"No, but you play Stiles in Teen Wolf," Casey insisted, shooting David a glare when he tugged her arm to keep her from approaching.

"It really is all just stories," Belinda murmured, fascinated. "Just stories in stories, linked by the same faces..."

Nodding eagerly, the Doctor loudly whispered, "It's so cool!"

"And you just... live here," Brenda half-laughed, shaking her head as she peered out the window into the backyard. "It's so... safe."

Hands knotting together into front of him, Kenny asked, "Did you take Tim home?"

"He can't go home 'til me and Bel go home," the Doctor explained, eyes on his sonic screwdriver as it hummed and whirred. "He's in the TARDIS."

"I found him some books from his time period in the library," Belinda added with a reassuring nod.

"He doesn't really want to see glimpses of what the future might look like," the Doctor elaborated. His eyes flicked back and forth, then the sonic screwdriver bleeped and a grin split across his face. "And done!"

Heart in his ears, Kenny checked, "I'm untangled?"

"One hundred percent free from interdimentional shard energy," the Doctor nodded firmly, tucking his screwdriver back into his pocket triumphantly and sticking a hand out to Kenny. "Wonderful to meet you, Kenny Miller."

Kenny slowly accepted the handshake, head spinning when the Doctor vanished back into the TARDIS in a flurry of coat. "Right..."

Holding up his fist for Kenny, Gally nodded, "Was cool meeting you, dude."

"Yeah..." Giving Gally an awkward fist-bump, Kenny supposed, "You too."

Gally's eyes flicked to the rest of Kenny's family. "We found him," he told them, grabbing Newt's hand. "In case you were wondering. But Kenny's back, as promised." He grabbed Brenda's sleeve before she could wander off into the rest of the house. "C'mon, back in."

With a playful huff, Brenda shook Gally's hand away and headed back into the TARDIS, followed by Frypan's gaze before Frypan himself stepped back inside.

"I love your film," Belinda said quickly as she hurried through the doors.

An overwhelmed dizziness filled Kenny's head. "Bye, I guess." He glanced to Minho and Thomas. "And... thanks. I think."

Thomas smirked, pulling Minho through the TARDIS doors, Newt sliding from Gally's grasp to go after them.

"No offence," Gally sighed as he stood from the counter, "but hopefully see you never."

"See you never," Kenny agreed wholeheartedly, nodded so quickly his neck hurt.

With a snort, Gally gave the room a brief wave, then disappeared into the TARDIS, the doors clicking shut behind him. The next moment, the large blue box flickered, that wheezing, groaning sound starting again, then both noise and box faded from existence, leaving the kitchen eerily silent.

"What," Casey started slowly, "the fuck?"

Kenny huffed a long sigh and shook the trembles from his hands. "I'm gonna go to my room," he decided, heading for the hall. "But..." He paused in the doorway. "It's nice to be back." With a fond smile at his baffled family, he hurried off to the stairs, halfway hopeful that interdimentional switching hadn't lost him his game's save file.

Chapter Text

Chicago

Three days after his return from the insanity, Luca found himself properly settled again. Throwing himself into work had buried all the crazy under routine and careful precision, but a few proper night's sleep and Marcus' quiet support by his side had finally brought him back to the real world.

"You good?" Marcus checked from beside him as they prepared violets for the evening's service.

Keeping his eyes on his hands, Luca bobbed his head in a nod. "I'm good," he murmured, reaching to give Marcus' bicep a brief squeeze before grabbing his next flower. "Promise."

Marcus gave a low, accepting hum by his side. "Good."

When Luca flicked a quick glance Marcus' way, his chest bloomed warm from the secret little smile he wore. The following breathless laugh they shared planted normality firmly in Luca's gut. He let his eyes wander out across the kitchen, spotting Sydney writing in a notebook at her station with Carmy muttering conversation by her side.

Luca would find a way to break that idiot out of his social incapabilities someday, even if it killed him.

He offered Jessica a nod as she arrived for the day, which she returned without stopping on her way through to the dining room, where Richie had sequestered himself half an hour prior.

Normal. So much normal. No matter how frantic service became later, or if he had to listen to Carmy barking insults at Richie beforehand, this was his perfect normal.

Then he heard it. A scraping, wheezing noise, slowly filling the kitchen. A tremble overtook his hands, his tweezers clattering unceremoniously onto the stainless steel benchtop.

"Lu?" Marcus frowned, hand gravitating to Luca's elbow as his eyes scanned the room. "You hear that?"

"Fuck," Luca hissed, gaze darting to the large blue box that faded into view by the stoves. "Fuck."

All the noise stopped with a solid THUNK, and there stood the TARDIS in all its impossible glory. The doors creaked open and out bounded the Doctor, who quickly scanned the room with his eyes, a wide grin spreading across his face when they landed on him. "Luca!" he cheered, arms open wide as though anticipating a hug. "Our tattooed beauty. C'mere, let's get this sorted-"

"What the fuck?" Carmy spluttered, a wild look filling his eyes.

The Doctor shot him a disapproving look. "No need for that."

Luca's stomach dropped as the Gladers and Belinda piled out of the TARDIS, gazing around the kitchen in awe. "No, you can't..." He rushed around the benches, waving his hands in a meek attempt to usher the Gladers back into the box. "You guys can't be in here-"

"Luca," Carmy barked, halfway between stunned an furious. "Who the fuck are all these people?"

The kitchen door burst open, Richie and Jessica stumbling to a stop. "What's with the high school dropouts?" Richie asked slowly.

"What's that?" Carmy demanded, waving a hand at the TARDIS.

"How'd it get in here?" Sydney muttered.

"Who're these people?"

"What the fuck is happening?"

"This's a kitchen!"

"What is this?"

"Why's that guy look like Luca?"

"Get them out of here!"

"Luca, the fuck is this?"

"What kinda fucking-?"

"Stop!" Luca yelled, voice cutting through the cacophony, hands balled into fists and chest tight as he tried to breathe. "Everyone just shut up. Don't," he warned Carmy as he clearly opened his mouth to try again, aiming a stern finger at his old colleague. "Don't."

An uncomfortable silence settled over the kitchen.

"Sooooooo..." the Doctor ventured carefully, both hands raised between himself and Luca. "I'll just-"

"Do your thing," Luca cut in, heart rabbiting in his chest.

With a silent nod, the Doctor rummaged in his pocket for his sonic screwdriver.

"Hey..." Gally stepped forward, grabbing Brenda's arm to tug her back towards the TARDIS. "Sorry, man, we didn't mean to..." his eyes flicked around the room, "interrupt." He planted a hand on Luca's shoulder.

"Don't touch me," Luca muttered, roughly shrugging Gally's hand away.

Another silence, broken only by the whirring of the Doctor's screwdriver as he apparently began his job.

"Luca," came Sydney's tentative voice. "What's the Love Actually kid doing here?" She nodded to Newt, who sighed through his nose and rolled his eyes.

Pulse loud in his ears, Luca didn't answer. None of this insanity was supposed to affect his life. His work, his friends, they were supposed be separate from this bullshit. Why hadn't this happened this morning, while he was shuffling around his kitchen making coffee, when he would have written it off as lingering tiredness and continued his day without having to think about-?

"Lu." A large, warm hand settled between his shoulder blades.

"M'fine," Luca mumbled, though he realised his eyes were clamped shut and his jaw was aching with tension.

A snort. "Sure." The arm that snaked it's way around Luca's middle gave him a gentle squeeze. "I know you told me about this stuff, but it's different actually seeing it..."

Peeling his eyes open, Luca glanced to Marcus, who was studying Gally's face with fascination. "Adam's weirder."

With a startled laugh, Gally nodded, "Way weirder."

Marcus hummed, fingers curling into Luca's shirt and relaxing the muscles down Luca's back. "Dunno... Think you'd look good gold," he smirked.

"It's not just how he looks," Luca sighed, rubbing at his eyes.

"Nothing wrong with Adam," he heard Minho grumble, though Luca refused to acknowledge it.

A pause, then the Doctor hummed, "This is taking longer..." His brows drew together. "Kenny had only been to Safe Haven," he supposed. "Whereas Luca's made the trip twice; Safe Haven and Cambridge. There's more to untangle."

"Fuck..." Luca exhaled, dropping his head back. "Just hurry up and get out of here."

"I'm trying, honey, be patient," the Doctor chided lightly, eyes on his screwdriver.

A beat of nothing, then a face appeared from behind Gally. "You must be Marcus."

Marcus' eyes widened, then narrowed as he studied the person in front of him. "Frypan?" he guessed.

Grin spreading across his face, Frypan looked to Luca. "You told him about me?"

"Don't think he believed me 'til now, but yeah." Luca chanced a look around the kitchen, grateful that Jessica seemed to be keeping Richie's curiosity at bay, but wincing when he noticed Carmy practically vibrating with anger.

"It's so cool to actually be in here," Belinda whispered, hands clasped against her chest. "Actually in the kitchen of The Bear."

"You shouldn't be," Carmy snapped, striding two steps closer before Sydney grabbed his arm to stop him. "The fuck d'you think you are?"

"Done!" the Doctor announced as his sonic screwdriver bleeped. "Alright, everyone back inside," he instructed, grabbing Thomas' shoulder and walking him into the TARDIS. "C'mon!" He poked his head out the door as he tugged Minho in by his sleeve. "Lovely to see you again, Luca," he grinned. "Enjoy your freedom."

Brenda guided Frypan towards the doors, leaving just Gally and Belinda still standing in the kitchen.

"Bye," Gally nodded, both hands tucked in his pockets.

"Yeah..." Dragging a hand through his hair, Luca half-laughed, "Never talk to me again."

Snorting as an amused grin filled his face, Gally chuckled, "Done deal." He offered Marcus a nod, glancing to his hand at Luca's hip, then threw Luca a knowing little smirk before turning to the TARDIS and disappearing inside.

"It's so cool to see you all," Belinda told them as she stepped backwards into the box. "Like... so cool." Her eyes lingered on Luca and Marcus for a moment before she waved and closed the doors. A second later, the TARDIS began to fade from view, its groaning, grating sound pulling it into nonexistence.

Silence.

"The fuck?" Carmy demanded, eyes burning holes in Luca's head. "What-?"

"Nope." Luca held a hand up to stop him. "No. We don't talk about this. Ever. It's done, and I don't wanna hear it."

"Fucking-"

"No."

"You-!"

"Everything good, Jeff?" came a voice from the back entrance, everyone turning their gaze to Tina as she cautiously glanced around the stunned kitchen.

"Everything's fine, T," Marcus assured her, tugging Luca back towards their station. "All good."

Tina raised an eyebrow at him, her gaze moving to Sydney dragging away a fuming Carmy, then tipped her head. "If you say so, mijo," she shrugged, tying her apron as she made her way in.

Back at their station, Luca took a deep breath through his nose as the kitchen slowly went back about its business, plucking his tweezers from the benchtop. Marcus' hand wrapped around his own, holding it firm until Luca met his gaze.

"Good?" Marcus checked quietly.

Chest deflating as he released his breath, Luca nodded his head once. "Good."

"'Kay." Returning his hands to their work, Marcus murmured, "We'll talk about that later."

Luca dropped his forehead onto Marcus' shoulder, steadying his breathing before agreeing, "Later," then righting himself and moving to prepare his next violet.

London

Colin sat cross-legged in his throne of a chair, fingers steepled in front of his mouth and elbows braced on his knees. He knew what he was waiting for. He wasn't sure how many rotations of Stefan's bumbling had passed, but he knew it was likely to have no bearing on what would eventuate. This had nothing to do with Stefan.

This was Colin's main character moment.

The idea huffed a short laugh out his nose. One should always be the main character in one's own story; it was about time Colin's life wasn't dictated by Stefan. If only for a little while.

The noise didn't startle him. He was waiting for it. The sound he had heard scraping its way out of his television speakers many an evening. A swirl of wind swept through Colin's study, ruffling pages of open books and flapping the curtains. He didn't flinch when the box appeared. Nor when the door flew open.

"About time," he commented, not moving his gaze from the chair opposite him.

A pause, then, "Oh." Feet strode across the room, placing their owner in Colin's eyeline. "Colin."

"Doctor." Colin let his gaze move up to the Doctor's face, expression neutral. His eyebrow ticked at the sound of more feet stumbling out of the TARDIS. "And everyone else."

Brows twisting curiously, the Doctor asked, "Are you ready to be disentangled?"

Colin hummed. "I suppose it's time to relinquish my importance."

A baffled look crossed the Doctor's face, then he crouched in front of Colin's chair. "Colin," he started, voice low, "everyone's important."

"Not here in the land of Stefan's decisions," Colin countered, allowing his arms to fall onto the armrests of his chair and fixing the Doctor with his eyes. "C'mon then. Better get to arbitrarily separating me from the rest of the worlds floating in the servers of this simulation we call life." He rolled his eyes at the disgruntled noise he heard from the group that had entered his domain. "I've died many times. Often from jumping off that balcony," he added, waving a distracted hand towards the glass doors leading to the outside. "None of your attempts to convince me this is real are ever going to change the fact that I know what it feels like when my body splatters on a solid surface below. That I've felt my life ebb away through what little consciousness remains within my shattered skull." He cocked his head at the Doctor's startled expression. "Maybe I should put it this way; I don't want it to be real."

With a long breath out through his nose, the Doctor nodded. "Alright." He produced his sonic screwdriver and waved a hand to usher someone over. "We'll get this fixed."

The whirring of the screwdriver filled the silence, then Gally came into view in Colin's peripheral vision. "That's... That sucks, man."

Colin just hummed, staring through the Doctor.

A pause, then Gally gave Colin's forearm a solid pat.

"Your pity changes nothing," Colin told him frankly. "Though, thank you, I suppose." He drummed his fingers against the armrests of his chair. "Someday, I hope to die and know it's final. Even if it takes Stefan beating me to a pulp to get me there. Fascinating though this situation is, I'm tired of it. Someday, I hope I stay dead."

The distant sound of crying drifted through the closed door of the study.

"Is that a baby?" Belinda asked quietly from somewhere out of Colin's view.

A nod. "My daughter. Pearl."

"Cosmo loves her," Gally commented.

The corner of Colin's mouth ticked up in a smile. "Kitty loves Cosmo. I'm sure Pearl would, too, if she were old enough to form those kinds of opinions." He drew a long inhale through his nose. "This really will be the last glimpse of other worlds I ever see, huh?"

"With any luck," the Doctor murmured, entirely focussed on his sonic screwdriver.

With another hum and without moving his gaze, Colin reached to the side table by his chair and grabbed a cigarette. He popped it between his lips, then blindly grabbed his lighter, flicking it until the tobacco caught alight. Filling his lungs with burning smoke, he dropped his lighter back in its place, tipping his head back to billow the smoke into the air above him.

A bleep. The whirring stopped. "Finished."

Yet another hum. "Then I guess this is adieu." The sound of retreating steps made Colin lift his head, his eyes finding Gally's back. "Live for me, Gally," he said seriously, meeting his eyes when Gally glanced back at him. "Live with everything you've got."

Gally wavered for a moment, then gave Colin a firm nod before vanishing inside the TARDIS. The box itself dematerialised, just as Colin had seen it do countless times on the television. Shaking his head, he returned his gaze ahead of him, taking another drag from his cigarette and wondering if this would be the thing that finally changed his outcome and set him free.