Archive of Our Own

Chapter Text

!All important characters will be introduced here as they appear in chapters!

The fanfic "Is the Doctor's new companion is a witch?" presents...

Hunter Noceda.

 "I didn't tell you my name!"

Author art on the tumblr: astrolavas

Eleventh Doctor.

"Nice to meet you, Hunter".

Tenth Doctor.

"You are brilliant".

Ninth Doctor.

"Then, I'll help you..."

Rose Tyler.

"How did you get here?"

TARDIS.

«Time And Relative Dimension in Space».

Inside:

(9th and 10th Doctor's)

And others...

Chapter Text

Sometimes it seemed to him that an eternity had passed since the confrontation ended. Sometimes, on the contrary, it seemed that not a day had passed. 

Hunter felt he needed time to rest. He spent a lot of time helping to rebuild the Boiling Islands after the incident before his family could finally persuade him to relax and allow himself to recover. 

Hunter tried to object, but eventually gave in. He didn't want to admit it, but he really needed rest. It was necessary to distract. And yet he was not used to doing anything like a former soldier, he was simply not capable. There was always some kind of movement, some kind of goal. Hunter wanted to be useful. 

But, obviously, while he was in the Boiling Islands, it was beginning to hurt himself. So a decision was made.

And now Hunter stood awkwardly in front of the door to Noceda's house, waiting for the mother of his human friend, this wonderful woman, being precisely in human reality.

Honestly, it would be strange if she lived somewhere else.

Perhaps Luz was the only human who was so eager to move to the Boiling Islands. However, humans were not at all frequent guests in the Demonic Reality. Hunter shivered slightly, remembering one human, and immediately shook his head faintly from side to side, discarding unnecessary and very disturbing thoughts. 

Although, if Camilla moved now, it wouldn't be weird, would it? Still, her daughter mostly lives there, but most likely this is temporary. Luz said something about the university.

Hunter sighed heavily, staring dejectedly at the door.

Of course, he had been here before, but at that time the circumstances were completely different. Now it made him feel uncomfortable, although, unlike in the past, now the teenager was not at all an unexpected and completely uninvited guest. 

Probably because now there was some sort of choice in this matter.

Dark clouds were slowly gathering in the previously clear sky, now almost gray.  

Hunter shivered slightly, reminding himself that it rain doesn't boil on the Earth. Of course, last time they were all convinced of this personally, and more than once. And yet, after so many years of rightful fears of any weather changes of this kind, it was difficult to get used to it.

In fact, the rain here was quite pleasant. That's amazing! So cool and... Humid. And no burns. Wonderful.

Hunter liked the rain. And the local sky too. Although it was a little odd to watch. Unrealistic. Especially when it's so gray - someone might have found such an almost monochrome coloring rather dull: in fact, he knew that many humans thought so, but he himself did not think so. 

To be honest, Hunter found it extremely unusual and beautiful, especially when compared to the pink and orange colors of the sky in the Boiling Islands. And green trees! Also very beautiful. Although he could not tell whether the usual reds were more beautiful or such, being new and extraordinary, green really attracted more attention.

Realizing that he was lost in his thoughts, Hunter shook his head sharply and gripped the envelope tighter in his hand before looking around anxiously. Unfortunately, Luz's mom doesn't seem to have had time to get home from work yet. 

Of course, there was an agreement that the boy would come today, but, nervous, he seemed to come too early. 

Hunter looked up at the sky again. Although the rain did not boil here and could not cause him any harm, he still did not want to get wet. So it will not take long to catch a cold. 

Camilla will definitely be worried if this happens. He didn't want to bother such a nice woman.

Teen looked doubtfully at the house. If it presses close enough to the wall, won't it get wet? Theoretically, it was possible.

Then Hunter imagined Luz's mom coming in and seeing it. 

His long witch ears turned red violently under his hat and twitched in embarrassment. 

'No, that's definitely not an option.' 

He quickly looked around for cover when suddenly there was a strange sound. The teen was instantly alerted. A transparent blue silhouette appeared before my eyes with a quiet grinding. 

He blinked. 

Hunter stared silently, amazed, at the blue booth that appeared out of nowhere. His heart raced loudly in his chest. 

First, as far as he knew, nothing exactly appeared out of nowhere in Human Reality. This was not completely normal even in the Demonic Reality, despite other strange things for outsiders! Secondly...

Hunter felt almost stunned as he watched the door open and the man walk out. 

Secondly...

He remembered it from his dreams.

Chapter Text

Previously:

Hunter felt almost stunned as he watched the door open and the man walk out. 

Secondly...

He remembered it from his dreams.

Hunter slowly took a step forward, feeling numb, as if in a dream. The man looked around. As he spotted the teenager nearby, an enthusiastic, wide smile graced his lips. 

"Ah! So there you are." The man said, approaching in just a few moments. Hunter swallowed quietly: the look in his brown eyes fell on the striped jacket and the bow tie around stranger neck. And that face... He stared at the stranger, unable to shake off a strong sense of deja vu. Maybe he just hadn't woken up yet? The man seemed to have turned serious and the bright smile gradually faded. "Is something wrong?" The teenager didn't answer, however. The stranger frowned, now looking rather alarmed. "Hunter?"

Hunter flinched and took a step back, looking warily at the stranger and accusingly. "I didn't tell you my name!" He felt his own ears press tightly against his head. A bitter sense of dread settled on his tongue. "Who are you?".

"Оh". The man looked at him for a moment. He was no longer frowning, but he was also far from exhilarated. Hunter stared at him, tense, but still unable to read the expression on the stranger's face. Something just seemed... partly wrong. Not right. The man looked almost lost, aloof and pained, and his too old eyes looked alien to his young face.

Just a moment and any such impression vanished without a trace. The man smiled again and held out his hand. "I am the Doctor. And you?"

Hunter looked irritably at the so-called "Doctor" and snorted, crossing his arms over his chest. He said, frowning suspiciously in displeasure. "But you already know, don't you?". Nevertheless, he introduced himself, muttering. "Hunter Noceda."

The doctor nodded, smiling wider. "Of course I do. Nice to meet you, Hunter." The man said with a strange intonation and looking a little thoughtful. Hunter stared at him, even more suspicious and frowning harder. "Well then, sorry, Hunter." And threw something.

The teenager reflexively caught the thing before he realized and looked at it in surprise with a strong sense of unease in his chest. "'Sorry? Sorry for wha..?"
Before he could finish his sentence, he was disappeared.

***

With a cry the teenager tumbled out of the blue vortex. He managed to regroup at the last moment and landed deftly on his feet. Hunter opened his mouth, not recognizing the place at all. "What the... What the Titan?" He muttered to himself in shock, looking around. It was a room, perhaps a store. Lots of mannequins stood around, dressed in different outfits. 

Hunter didn't like mannequins. Frankly, its gave him a little chills. Six months ago, one of the school's students decided to try his hand at mechanics and submitted a magic project in his class involving mannequins: as a result, Hexside was nearly taken over by self-copying crafts. Yes, it was an odd and yet quite fun day. 

But the impression remained from that time, and he did not want to repeat such an experience at all. Fortunately, Hunter was now in the Human Reality, so, of course, its were just ordinary mannequins.

'Still creepy.' He thought and then shook his head slightly. Okay, he could reminisce about his school days later, but right now he at least needed to figure out where he was!

"Who are you?" The blond stranger asked shockedly, looking at him and taking a few steps back. Hunter wanted to answer, realizing that he must have unwittingly frightened the poor person, but he only had time to open his mouth before he noticed something. "How did you get here?".

The mannequin was moving! It was raising its hand to a human girl. 

'That's impossible!' He was in the Human Reality, after all... But there was no time to think about it. Hunter exclaimed, grabbing the girl and getting her out of harm's way in time. "Look out!" Mannequins everywhere started move and began to approach.

They backed away, still holding hands.

'Titan!'. He had no weapons with him, not even the proverbial wooden staff, ordinary and not at all magical. He had only himself to rely on, and he had no idea what was even going on right now. It was more important, though, to help the girl right now.

Hunter tensed, quickly calculating the options in his mind. Brown eyes quickly glanced over the mannequins. Pushing away from the blonde, the teen jumped up and with a precisely honed motion knocked all the things to the floor, causing them to fall on top of each other.

He turned to the human girl and said earnestly.

"Run."

Chapter Text

Previously:

Hunter tensed, quickly calculating the options in his mind. Brown eyes quickly glanced over the mannequins. Pushing away from the blonde, the teen jumped up and with a precisely honed motion knocked all the things to the floor, causing them to fall on top of each other.

He turned to the human girl and said earnestly.

"Run."

As soon as they ran far enough away, the human girl instantly yanked her hand away. She looked apprehensively at the teenager, and yet the expression on her face was ever so demanding. Rose opened her mouth, wanting to say something, when a noise caught their attention. Both blondes synchronously turned their heads and stared at the suspicious man in leather. 

The man noticed them too and raised eyebrows, smirking slightly.

"Hello," He threw a glance behind them. "Quick thinking. Impressive."

"No, it isn't!" Rose refused such an assumption fast and frowned, looking now at the mysterious teenager and now at the similarly suspicious man. "Who are you two anyway? First you appear out of nowhere," She pointed at the boy, causing the leather-clad person to turn his attention to the boy. "And now also..."

The girl didn't have time to finish her sentence. Hunter, who had been watching the situation more intensely than following the conversation the whole time, stepped back.

"There's no time. Run!" This time he grabbed both humans at once, simply hoping that the other wasn't some horrible accomplice in the crime for the dummies or worse: their creator. Still, Hunter couldn't risk leaving perhaps just an innocent male to fend for himself, especially when the real level of danger was unknown.

But something told him it was a bad idea to let the empties catch up with them. A very, very bad idea. 

So...

The man in leather didn't argue. They all ran again before jumping into the elevator. The human girl was breathing heavily, a bit disheveled and exhausted. For Hunter, such a distance was no problem at all: he had trained all his life; frankly, he could run more than that even as a baby. However, it wasn't a pleasant memory.

Of course, Hunter didn't judge her, knowing full well that not everyone has that kind of qualifications, nevertheless against her backdrop the man was arousing... a little more doubtful. Sure, the distance for him would have been a tiny bit less, but this man didn't even look worried enough, while...

Oops. Hunter didn't know the girl's name.

"You just ripped his arm off!" She cried out in shock as the man... well, yes, ripped the mannequin's arm off. 

Hunter blinked.

Yes, definitely not someone ordinary.

"What was that? Some kind of prank from the students?" She turned sharply to the still unnamed teenager and demanded. "How did you make it look so realistic? You just fell down in the middle of the shop! And that blue vortex. Are you in cahoots with the jokers who did this?".

Hunter looked at her dumbfounded for a moment before bristling. "I helped you, and now you're laying claims on me?" He snorted, crossing both arms over his chest and looking at her incredulously. "I have no idea who you even are. Why would I want to engage in pranks?" Hunter rolled his eyes and muttered quietly to more for himself. "If I really only knew how I got here..."

The blonde instantly deflated. She gave a slight wince. "Okay. Sorry. But then what is this stuff at all? None of this answers any of my questions."

Hunter shrugged, but nodded and smiled at the human girl. Of course, her words were offensive, but there was no way he could blame the poor person for trying to justify the events that were going on. She obviously was stressed out. 

"Apology accepted. I'm Hunter," he hesitated slightly before also saying the last name. It had been a whole year, and he still hadn't gotten used to it. Not in a bad way. "Hunter Noceda. And you?"

"Rose Tyler," she smiled back. Hunter nodded and turned, staring at the man expectantly. The other one simply ignored it.

"And you?" Hunter prompted. Blue eyes slid across to his face and Hunter suddenly felt uneasy for no reason. Something was wrong, and it wasn't about the sudden mannequins in Human Reality that had come to life (thats too, though, but not about that).

No, it felt like...

Like...

Hunter faintly shivered. No, it must have been someone else entirely.

'He's dead,' the teenager reminded himself. 'That's right, like, a hundred percent dead for a year now. Luz made sure of that. The only thing in common here are the blue eyes. That's just ridiculous. Calm down.'

And yet something about the man in the leather seemed completely wrong. Too... old.

'And now I'm just making it up,' Hunter mentally scolded himself, almost rolling his eyes at his own foolish paranoia and intrusive premonitions. Sure, it had saved his life more than once before, but it wasn't at all appropriate now. 'Wake up, Hunter. You're in the Human Reality. No magic, no curses, and no longevity.'

But there was still a place for the reanimated dummies, wasn't there?

"I'm the Doctor." The stranger's words quickly brought Hunter out of his reverie. He grinned lightly. 'Doctor, huh?'

'I guess that's a pretty unusual name for a human being...'

Of course, he knew people with the names King, Amity, the Collector, and other a bit odd names for these natives, including Hunter's own, but that was in the Demonic Reality. Not here. 

Before he went to Camilla, Hunter tried to learn even more about human reality now than he had before, and seemed to make time to ask Luz more questions than even Gus had. At the memory of "Number One Human Fan-in-Chief," a slight smile spread across his lips.

Hunter shook a head to himself, shaking out of his thoughts. This was neither the time nor the place. Soon the elevator reached the end, and Rose tugged on his hand as they began to exit.

"Don't freeze," she sighed before letting go of the teenager and hurrying after the Doctor, who was already heading anywhere fast.

Hunter grinned and followed them.

"You're not one to talk," he teased the human. Rose didn't respond, only glanced at the teenager, but a faint answering chuckle graced her lips.

"But who are you people? What's going on? And then what about Wilson?" She cast them both a look. 

Hunter snorted. "I have no idea what's going on, much less who this guy is." He pointed at the man before suddenly stopping abruptly. Rose tripped over him and oohed, but Hunter didn't pay proper attention.

Wait, Doctor? Just  the Doctor, too? There's no way that could be a coincidence!

Hunter looked closely at the man in leather. There seemed to be nothing in appearance similar to the type with the bow tie. Nevertheless...

"What kind of Doctor? Just... the Doctor? It's not like it's a hereditary title or anything, is it?"

That finally made the Doctor turn around and take a look at Hunter again, a little puzzled by the question. 

"Yes, it's me. Just the Doctor," he smiled, looking intently at the teenager. " That's a title, but obviously it's not hereditary. Why are you asking?"

'Ah, is that so,' Hunter flashed mentally. Although this Doctor looked very different and seemed like a different man, he couldn't be fooled so easily. The teenager was now almost entirely certain that it was the same person.

Hunter saw a lot of weirdness in Demonic Reality, and even more things that would seem weird to the humans.

"You." He resented. "You show up, throw me in the middle of nowhere, and now you pull this stunt with your change of appearance and act like everything's normal?" Hunter had had enough. He was done here. "Then, I'm sorry Hunter," the teenager mocked venomously. "An apology isn't enough. Send me back. Now."

Chapter Text

Previously:

'Ah, is that so,' Hunter flashed mentally. Although this Doctor looked very different and seemed like a different man, he couldn't be fooled so easily. The teenager was now almost entirely certain that it was the same person.

Hunter saw a lot of weirdness in Demonic Reality, and even more things that would seem weird to the humans.

"You." He resented. "You show up, throw me in the middle of nowhere, and now you pull this stunt with your change of appearance and act like everything's normal?" Hunter had had enough. He was done here. "Then, I'm sorry Hunter," the teenager mocked venomously. "An apology isn't enough. Send me back. Now."

 

The doctor paused for a few seconds. Hunter's intense, demanding gaze never left him for a moment, but the man didn't seems to even care. The expression on his face was hard to read, Hunter didn't realize what emotion it was or what it was supposed to mean. It was nervous. He used to read people very well; it was a necessary skill for survival. Whether it was a criminal, an uncle former Emperor Belos, or a senior witch, the difference between understanding another's actions and emotions was the difference between good luck and bad luck, which could only mean life or death, or at best, "life or serious injury".

The Doctor is complicated. Now, realizing that this was the person who had thrown him here, there is no way Hunter could have downplayed it just because they weren't in the Demonic Reality. Enough things had happened since then to rule out that kind of thinking and not allow it again.

Hunter once again considered the little information he had at the moment. For starters, the Doctor was... Old. Hard to say how old, but enough so that the look in those blue eyes evoked a painful sense of deja vu, as if someone was taunting Hunter, pressing him into the ground with a heavy boot like a bug in one more time while a man too old and too powerful continued to unceremoniously meddle and run his life as if it were nothing.

Hunter wanted for no part of anything to do with the Doctor. He'd had to get enough of this brief interaction. And while he planned to deal with the unexplainably animated dummies first (because letting them run rampant in Human Reality, harming people, was completely irresponsible, and Hunter refused to be like that), after that he absolutely intended to go home and forget about it like a nightmare.

Speaking of reasons. Could magic have seeped into Earth in one way or another? Technically it shouldn't be possible. There has never been anything like that in this reality, there was virtually no natural magic here, otherwise humans (or some animals), just like witches, should have developed a special organ to produce and control it, even if it wasn't the bile sac. Humans didn't have that. Hunter also doubted Luz would have missed the witching animals, so they didn't have that either.

And even if they didn't have that as well, humans also didn't have any magical immunity like demons, for example, and none of the magical things, creatures, or diseases were known in the Human Reality as its own and not the product of myths, meaning infiltrators from the Demonic Reality.

So how did...

"You think I'm the one who sent you here? And I looked different?". The Doctor asked bluntly, interrupting Hunter's musings. He looked oddly pensive, and yet he was looking at the teenager seriously. Rose looked at them both confused, clearly not understanding what was going on. Well, their words sounded a little weird even to Hunter himself, he couldn't blame her.

Teen rolled eyes. "Yes. You did. And. I don't care. Send me back."

The doctor sighed, looking strangely tense for a moment before suddenly smiling broadly. "Right. Just for the record, what year is it?". He asked Hunter.

Hunter stared at the man. His face practically screamed: are you kidding me? But still he answered.

"2023".

The doctor said nothing, however Rose shrieked.

"2023?!" She looked at Hunter with her mouth open, looking equally shocked and incredulous, before sighing tiredly and shaking her head. Girl explained. "Man. This is 2005."

Hunter looked at her equally incredulous. "This is obviously not true." The calendricalization in his reality and here matched, there was no way he could have gotten the year wrong, thanks very much. Not to mention that if it was 2005, not only had he himself not even been created yet (probably even the predecessor was still alive), but none of Hunter's friends had been born either yet. Except for the Blight twins, but they weren't that close, more like good buddies.

The Doctor, still looking thoughtful, interrupted their argument. "If I looked different, why did you still think it was me?".

Hunter looked slightly awkward. "Well, there aren't many people who call themselves 'just the Doctor', especially around here. You were odd. He was odd. It all came together." He shrugged.

Besides, a change of appearance wasn't something extremely unusual, Hunter's best friend being the Master of Illusion and sometimes doing it for pranks, as did other students of illusion, aside from what had gone before on missions. Such things couldn't fool him so easily, and the Doctor, it felt like he wasn't even hiding.

Then, in his dreams, the mystery man with the blue box always had different faces.

Still don't understand why the change in appearance was necessary, though.

The Doctor rolled from toe to heel and over and back up, and smiled again, losing all his enigmatic look. "Well. You just want to go home, don't you? Then, I'll help you. There are things to do first, though." He stopped for a moment and stared at Rose sternly. "You. You go home. Forget what happened and do whatever it is you normally were doing there. And you..." The doctor looked at Hunter, however his speech was interrupted by Rose.

"Hey!" She was fairly indignant. Hunter would have been in her shoes too. "You're going to explain what's going on, now. Okay? If this isn't a prank or something, what is it then? And what were you two talking about?". She frowned suspiciously as she looked at the Doctor and unconsciously shifted towards Hunter, shielding him with her body. "Did you kidnap him or something?".

"Or something." The Doctor didn't bother to explain himself and pushed Rose towards the exit. "Go. Come on. Don't tell anyone what happened unless you want them to die. Come on!".

Rose, however, was stubborn. "No, I won't!".

Hunter breathed a sigh. He understood the girl's desire to find out what was going on and appreciated her instinctive desire to protect him, but the mannequins could show up at any moment and Rose wasn't helping at all.

He could protect himself and at least roughly figure out what was going on. The Doctor probably did too. Rose? Not so much. The poor human girl was probably so shocked. Hunter didn't want to worry about her well-being any more than he already did.

"Go." He reluctantly agreed with the Doctor and looked at the girl seriously. "Rose. Listen. I'm going to be all right. He will be too. We can protect ourselves, but the mannequins could show up at any moment. That needs to be taken care of. Go."

Rose stepped back hesitantly, shifting her gaze to both of them and biting a lip. No matter how stubborn she tried to be, it was obvious that this situation was stressful and shocking for her.

Hunter nodded. "Go on. It's okay."

So she did.

When Rose disappeared behind the alley, they looked at each other. Hunter raised his eyebrows. "What, we're going to stand there looking at each other now? I think there are more interesting things to do."

The doctor grinned. "You're right."

So, they went back into the building. Hunter followed, trying not to show any inner tension. There was no likability in the whole situation. Besides the fact that he had no desire to be here, much less with the Doctor, there were suspicious and unknown dangerous things in the building.

"I can see that there doesn't seem to be a big deal for you here, but I'd like an explanation," Hunter said irritably, following the man. "Why did you do it? How? Why did you apologize? And why are you now agreeing to send me back? What was all that for in the first place? Did you have something to do with those mannequins?".

The Doctor's answer was... surprising. The man explained without pausing for a moment, focused on... crafting something with his hands? Construct? Hunter frowned with a bit of doubt, watching the Doctor fiddling with machinery that had bare wires peeking out of it.

"I have no idea. Haven't done any of this yet, I'm meeting you for the first one tonight. I'm a time traveler. You could be considered one as well. This isn't 2023, kid. Although one would assume the apology was for sending you here unannounced. It's not something I usually do. It's probably to preserve the timeline, since now you've told me I did it, so I'll need to commit at the right moment."

It took some time to realize it. The words sounded akin to gibberish and replayed in the teenager's head several times. He mumbled, trying to comprehend before finally doing so. Time travel didn't sound realistic, and the words about maintaining scale had flown right past him, but hadn't Luz and Lilith proven the reality of such a thing? Even if it wasn't common knowledge in the Boiling Isles, time travel was an important part of the history they had, contributing to the rise of Emperor Belos. It gave a headache, except it didn't sound like an overly unrealistic scenario. Rose seemed genuinely surprised and flabbergasted at the statement about 2023, and maybe the store didn't look entirely right either, but Hunter wasn't versed enough in human culture to really distinguish between the fashions of 2005 and the current one.

It didn't get any better.

Hunter felt exhausted and incredibly miserable. There were too many events for one day, and all one after another, without a much-needed break. The Doctor's words would have seemed unbelievable and impossible, except that everything was coming together, and Hunter knew perfectly well that time travel was possible.

And while he didn't understand how it happened without the time pool, it still... still....

He squeezed his fingers together, digging his nails into his skin to the point of pain. The pain was good. The pain was familiar and understandable. 

Hunter hated time travel. Officially. It ruined his life and many others, it was the main cause of his sister's guilt complex. And now here he was, in complete obscurity, lost, in a foreign world and a different time.

Fine.

1. Attention, spoilers for the animated series Owl House! According to the plot of the cartoon, there was a time loop, according to which the main character, Luz (and Hunter's sister now), went into the past through a time pool (like natural portals in time on Boiling Islands or something) and helped the main villain of the story find what made him so powerful. Which eventually led to the fact that Luz decided to go back in time at all (well, you know), and the main villain did not touch them until a certain time, knowing what was going to happen.

Chapter Text

Previously:

He squeezed his fingers together, digging his nails into his skin to the point of pain. The pain was good. The pain was familiar and understandable.

Hunter hated time travel. Officially. It ruined his life and many others, it was the main cause of his sister's guilt complex. And now here he was, in complete obscurity, lost, in a foreign world and a different time.

Fine.

Hunter felt useless, worried, and resentful. He couldn't stop thinking about what had happened, even though it was of little use. Completely lost in his own thoughts, he continued to follow the Doctor, not really paying attention to things. There were many things that needed to be digested and accepted. Being a person completely accustomed to the constant unexpected, abrupt, sometimes surprising and almost always dangerous events taking place in his life, Hunter was more confused than ever. Time travel, magic in the Human Realm, a man changing faces and being completely careless about it all: yes, it was new even for the former Golden Guard.

One thing was for sure: the vacation in Human Reality was completely ruined. Hunter's heart ached. It was supposed to be a good time for him to get well, exploring and enjoying the Land in a way he had never been able to during his previous visit. Hunter almost shuddered at the thought, but quickly pulled himself together.

He started when someone suddenly grabbed his arm.

"Eh?" Hunter broke out of his thoughts and looked at the Doctor in confusion.

The man grinned at him broadly. It was bright, fun and wide, and yet without a single hint of happiness. It wasn't false, it was just that the blue eyes didn't reflect it, and it was very, very wrong. Hunter was good at reading people, and the presence of this man made him uncomfortable. He didn't seem malicious or unpleasant, and yet he remained inappropriate, and it wasn't even about the rather eccentric behavior or circumstances of their meeting. It was just... the Doctor himself.

And it wasn't good.

"It's time," he informed Hunter. Without providing any further explanation, he simply dragged further forward. Forward into the wall. The teenager braked sharply, he frowned irritably and looked at the Doctor.

"What do you mean?" Pulling away from the grip, Hunter asked. The Doctor rolled his eyes.

"This place is going to explode. Pay more attention to your surroundings. And now let's go, don't hesitate." The man replied no less irritably, somewhat sharply.

Hunter tensed, but allowed himself to be led away. This time, fortunately, the Doctor didn't grab onto him: in fact, he didn't seem to want to do it at all. It seems that this happened only because Hunter had previously ignored the Doctor's words that he obviously wanted to blow up the building. He didn't trust the Doctor at all, but he doubted that the Doctor wanted to blow them both up. So even if for some reason they were walking into the wall, maybe it was a worthwhile enough reason to save their lives.

Doctor took out his device again, there was a ringing and buzzing. A moment later, they were in a completely different place. Hunter flinched, recoiling. Looking around, he widened his eyes. Oh Titan. It was a completely different room, unlike anything Hunter had ever seen in his life before, and he had seen quite a few. In the middle of the strange steampunk-style room was something resembling a strange kind of flask on the control table.

But that wasn't what shocked him the most.

'Dreams come true.' Hunter thought in horror, looking around in fascination. His heart was beating loudly in his chest. It was a fabulous place, a fictional living house that could travel through time and change shape just like hers owner. The same character of the strange dreams haunting him as... unable to restrain himself, Hunter glanced at the mysterious man watching him with a smirk right now.

As the Doctor.

It couldn't be denied anymore, but he needed time to think about it, and that time obviously hadn't come yet.

"Is she..." Hunter's voice was hoarse. He cleared his throat and corrected himself, look around again. "How did we end up here?"

The Doctor frowned in confusion for a moment. "She? Do you mean Rose?" Hunter tried his best not to show that he wasn't talking about a human girl. "Rose should be fine, she's already gone." Then he flippantly explained. "So, we entered there, used the corridor, got out here. You won't understand."

Hunter felt more stupid than ever. Here he is, just a few moments ago telling Rose that they will figure it out, and then he just wanders after the Doctor like a lost palisman in search of his master.

He was better than that. And yet even his uselessness did not give the Doctor the right to talk to him in this way. After all, it wasn't his fault that they were in this situation. The teenager opened his mouth to say something, but was interrupted.

"So," the Doctor stopped in front of the TARDIS console, crossing his arms over his chest and looking expectantly at Hunter. The attentive gaze of the old blue eyes was disturbing, causing painful, completely disturbing and unpleasant associations. He preferred not to think about it. Not at all. "Who are you?"

Hunter froze for a moment, and then looked at the source of all his current problems in confusion.

"Excuse me?" He raised his eyebrows with an expectant look, refusing to give up.

"Who are you?" The Doctor repeated the question exactly, looking at the teenager point-blank. Anyone would have cringed under that gaze, but not him. He had years of practice. "You handled the mannequins easily, as if it didn't cost anything. Clearly trained, you claim that you met me once, but with a different face. And yet you immediately recognize me here, as if a completely different appearance means nothing, and then you seem to accept the idea of time travel quite easily. I could believe that all this is just a huge series of coincidences, but for a simple teenager everything goes too easily." He thinks out loud, continuing to nag his companion with his gaze. "And everyone knows that there are no coincidences."

Instead, Hunter was outraged.

"Who am I?" He grinned venomously, firmly withstanding the Doctor's suspicions. In fact, it got to him. Time frame or not, whatever it means in this context, but it is the Doctor's fault in the first place that he is in this situation right now. And yet the man dared to accuse him, expressed suspicions, as if he had the right to do so? Hunter tried to be as nice as possible, being in such a situation with the instigator of the incident, who by a terrible coincidence is also the only one who could send him home, but it was beyond his strength. After many years of uncomplaining submission, obedience was sickening, and even more so obedience to this stranger. Old, troublesome and bad, causing by no means the most pleasant associations. Hunter finally exploded. It had been an absolutely terrible day, and his patience was running out. "Who are you? How dare you? Is it your fault that I ended up here, and still, since it happened, I haven't really asked you more than one question, but instead you decided to ask me? Isn't that too brazen? Oh, wait, I'll answer it myself. Yes, it is. I don't care about your reasons, it doesn't even concern me, I just want to get home as soon as possible and pretend that this is the same stupid dream as everything else always is."

The words poured and poured out of his mouth until there were no words left that Hunter wanted to say, and the anger naturally subsided after the outburst of emotions. Then his heart sank sharply into his heels, the youth's eyes widened, and his ears, hidden under a slightly slipped hat during the adventure, twitched in fright when he realized that he had just told his only ticket back at the right time. Hunter looked at the Doctor warily, trying to figure out his next course of action depending on the other person's reaction.

However, the Doctor himself seemed to prefer to focus his attention not on the teenager's sharp words, but on something else.

"Dream?" Hunter's eyes widened slightly, barely noticeably, before quickly returning to their usual expression. He denied it and pretended to be annoyed.

"Yes, as in the expression."

"Really?". The Doctor raised his eyebrows.

"Really."

They stared at each other stubbornly for a while. None of them wanted to give up.

Then the Doctor suddenly grinned broadly. "Good."

"Good?" Hunter was confused, staring at the man as if he were crazy. Which he was. The Doctor just nodded.

"Yep. Good. It's good."

Teenager only frowned in response, continuing to stare at the madman in disbelief.

1. The TARDIS is the name of the Doctor's ship. It is a living, conscious ship using the pronouns she/her.