Fieldtrip (Doctor and Othala)

The Doctor whistled a little bit as the TARDIS dropped both he and Othala out near 'The Silent Stones' inside the hidden forest. He smiled a little bit as he unhooked the chain from around Othala's neck and left it hanging around his own.

He wandered around the standing stones with a grin as he ran his hands along the cold stone,

"Hey Othala..." he called out to her with a small smile as he gestured to the setting sun to the left, "Is this a good place for a picnic do you think?"

Othala was very excited to be going somewhere with Florence, she really did like him very much and she was sure that they were going to be going somewhere nice and open for her to enjoy herself, and for him to enjoy himself as well.

When they arrived in an area full of old stones, Othala giggled happily and ran around the circle of stones with a bright smile on her lips, she felt so at peace here in the sunset in the wide open space.

"I like here!" she giggled "We have picnic now, what food you have?" Othala asked, poking the picnic basket with a happy smile on her lips, maybe he would have some ham and cheese sandwiches?

The Doctor had chosen this spot for their picnic for several reasons. First of all it was a nice, wide, open space so that Othala wouldn't feel at all enclosed or anything. Secondly it gave a great view of the sunset on this warm evening. And thirdly it allowed him to be near the Silent Stones, the only place he could really feel at peace with the world.

Seeing that Othala liked the stones as well, for a different reason than him to be sure, The Doctor chuckled a little bit and waved his wand. The picnic blanket spread out on the floor and he sat down with the basket,

"Hold on, hold on, I'm getting the food out." he scolded her playfully, "I have... some ham and cheese sandwhiches, some cakes, some coca cola, some crisps and some chocolate. What do you want first?"

Othala happily laughed when the Doctor scolded her for being so enthusiastic about getting all of the food out of the picnic basket, she just wanted to see what the Doctor would have brought for them to eat, and she really did love cheese and ham sandwiches.

Squeaking happily when Florence told her that he had brought ham and cheese sandwiches Othala sat down eagerly on the mat, her hand extended out towards him.

"Ham cheese please." Othala told him politely "I love ham cheese!"

It was then that Othala remembered something that she had been told about Florence in her History class, she was very upset by what she had been told in the lesson and she felt herself becoming a little upset now as she thought on it.

Seeing that she hadn't taken his playful scolding to heart, The Doctor grinned a little bit to himself. She was just enthusiastic about the food. If his suspicions were true then this was likely her first real picnic after all. He chuckled a little bit when she reacted to the cheese and ham sandwhiches. He'd heard her say that they were her favourite so had been sure to make some. Grinning, he handed her one of the sandwhiches,

"Well since you asked so nicely you can have this one!" he told her before smirking, "It has extra ham and extra cheese!"

The Doctor noticed though that her good mood seemed to wane a little bit and he blinked a little bit,

"Are you alright Othala?" he asked her, concerned, "What's the matter?"

Othala grinned happily when she was given a sandwich and she began to eat it immediately, it made her feel even better than she had been feeling already, but of course, it also help take her mind off the things that Professor Nickel had told her about what Florence had done int he past, if they were true.

"Sandwich nice." she said simply in the middle of a mouthful, before swallowing and smiling even more at the lovely taste of the sandwich "Thank you Florence for picnic, I not have one of them for long long time."

When he asked her if there was something wrong, Othala bit her lip a little and played with the sandwich crust that she had left, she never ate the crust on her sandwiches. But Florence wouldn't have known that, so she didn't tease him about it.

"I has question." she whispered quietly.

The Doctor chuckled a little bit at the speed at which she attacked the sandwhich. It was like she thought it was the best thing in the world. Although he had to say he rather preferred tuna sandwhiches to cheese and ham,

"I'm glad, I haven't made cheese and ham sandwhiches for a long time." he admitted with a grin before grinning wider, "Well then this will be one of many to come Othala!"

The Doctor noted that she didn't eat her crusts but didn't comment on it because it was obvious that there was something important she wanted to say. He smiled,

"Ask whatever you like."

Othala wondered how she was going to ask what she needed to ask without upsetting Florence, she hoped that he was going to be able to understand why she was asking them and she would not get told off for asking him about something that he might not want to talk about at this moment in time.

Nibbling on her lip for a few moments, Othala closed her eyes before asking in a very fast voice;

"ProfessorNickleToldMeVeryBadThingsAboutYouAndISaidThey
Weren'tTrueButHeSaidTheyWereSoAreTheBadThingsHeToldMeYouDidTrue?" she asked,

Hoping that he might be able to make sense of what she had said, a small blush still on her cheeks as she waited for the Doctor to answer.

The Doctor decided to chance taking a bite out of a cheese and ham sandwhich of his own. Hopefully what Othala had to say wouldn't be too shocked or could at least wait until he had finished his mouthful. As he was finished his mouthful she spoke. Of course he had no idea what on earth she had said because she had simply said it too fast. He raised his hands as he swallowed,

"Woah... slow down there Othala." he told her with a small smile, "I couldn't catch a word of that... something about Viktor right?"

He opened a can of coke and took a sip. Having taken time to digest what she'd blurted out he seemed to have guessed what it was,

"Did he tell you about my clan?"

Othala blushed even more when she found out that she had spoken a little too fast for the Doctor to understand, after all she needed to be able to tell him what she wanted to know the answer to. Biting her lip she waited for him to digest what she had told him, hopefully she wouldn't have to repeat it.

Hearing Florence ask her about what Viktor had told her about his clan, Othala blushed a little bit more and she played with the crusts of her sandwich, tearing them into little bits while she spoke;

"He told me that you didn't like them and locked them in a big bubble with another family who didn't like them and now they're all eating each other and in pain and being mean to each other." she stated "You not lock people up? You say, people bad for locking me up...so you not do that...right?" she asked hopefully.

The Doctor smiled slightly at Othala. He didn't want her to think that he thought any less of her for speaking so fast and him not being able to understand her. It was his fault that he couldn't understand her after all. Or at least partially. He knew though that the answer and the question were both incredibly important to her.

Watching her tearing apart her crusts for a few seconds, The Doctor looked up at one of the Silent Stones. He was going to need the peace they gave he imagined,

"You weren't given the whole story Othala." he told her quietly, "Do you want to hear the whole story? It's not nice but it'll answer your question I think."

Othala, was not feeling any better about the fact that the Doctor had apparently done this when he did not tell her differently, she thought that it was really strange that he would want to tell her about something so horrible if it was going to be that bad.

Torn between wanting to go home, and just wanting to hear what Florence had to say, Othala decided that she owed it to him at least to be able to listen to what her friend had to say, and not just leave him on his own because of what somebody else said.

"Me like to hear story." she muttered quietly "Maybe Othala understand why Florence lock fambly up in bubble."

The Doctor was reluctant to look at Othala because he could tell that she was disappointed in him. Merely the fact that he didn't deny it was enough for the little girl to be distressed. To be honest he could tell that Othala would hate him if he just said yes. Locking someone away was surely to be the worst crime for Othala. And the thing was...

It was the same for him.

He hated what he had done but he hated the fact that it had been necessary in the first place even more. When she agreed to stay and hear the story he closed his eyes tightly,

"My clan... my... my family were once an amazing group of people." he told her, his voice soft, "They were inventors. Magical and muggle devices, spells, charms, runes... they made them all. And they made them all for the betterment of the world. They made no money from giving their inventions away. They were all so giving and caring."

He smiled faintly, a tear rolling down his cheek, before he paused and shook his head,

"They were. That's how I choose to remember them. Before... before my clan met with it's enemy." he told her with a sigh, "They wanted all of our inventions and wanted us to use them for the gain of their clan over the world. They were violent in their demands so we, me and my clan, fought back. We turned out genius into a weapon and used it against their brutality."

The Doctor opened his eyes and took a drink of coke before turning to Othala with a sad smile,

"It broke them Othala." he told her simply, "Fighting... for years... through time even! It changed them till they were as evil as the others. I couldn't let their evil hurt the rest of the world so I... I tricked them into going to one place and... trapped them in the bubble. So they couldn't hurt anyone else."

Othala didn't really understand what was going on with the battles through time, and she didn't understand how it worked, but the rest of the conversation was something that she could understand and she didn't like it at all!

What would happen if she became broken...woudl the Doctor lock her away again too? What if he just didn't like her one day and decided that he was going to do the same thing that her parents did to her, he liked runes too didn't he?

Now she felt completely insecure around the Doctor, he could turn on her any second if he locked his own family up.

"Why not you lock other clan up before they hurt your fambly?" she asked sadly "I no believe it true. You....you be a hypocryte. If you mean to my fambly, my special pictures dangerous if in wrong hands. I be dangerous in future?"

The Doctor was not happy having to relive those days. With every word he spoke he remembered more and more. He didn't want to remember the look in his father's eyes when he locked them away. He didn't want to remember the tears his mother had cried. He didn't want to have to remember what he had done before that, in the name of his clan. The lives he'd taken or even... erased.

When she asked him why he didn't lock up the other clan before they hurt his own clan he closed his eyes and a few more tears squeezed out. Oh how he wished he had. But he'd been told not to by his father so he didn't do it and they had all paid the price,

"I didn't know that they would hurt my family until it was too late Othala. There was nothing for me to do... I tried to go back. I tried to go back. I tried I tried I tried!" towards the end he was crying freely and had his knees to his chest as he hugged them to him, "I couldn't save them! All I could do was stop them from hurting others... I failed. As a son... as a brother... as a cousin... as an uncle... as a grandson... as a man... I failed them all..."

He shook his head,

"No Othala you won't ever be that dangerous. They wanted to destroy the world just to win." he smiled ever so slightly, "And besides... I know you'd never want to hurt people. And I can help you with your pictures so you can control them."

Othala's eyes widened in panic and she just stared at the Doctor as he started to cry, and when he started to shout at her she thought that he was becoming angry at her and she flitted away a few paces to stand by one of the large stones, almost hiding behind it.

She had no idea how to handle a crying man, let alone one who was shouting at her and she was now becoming a little bit afraid of once more, now that she knew that he was capable of doing something like that both being that powerful and that mean to his family.

"What if me no want you help?" she asked quietly "Me no like the story you tell me, it make me feel angry and sad with you Florence. I no know what to do now..."

Leaning against the stone, Othala closed her eyes and she slid down to sitting at the bottom of the stone hugging her knees to her.

The Doctor thought he was stronger than this but he just wasn't. He wasn't over this, what he'd done. Of course he'd always said that he'd remember it. Back when he first... when he first did it, he had brought himself back everday. To see the price of failing to act. To remind himself of the evil in the act he had done. It... hurt. Even just remembering it hurt but he couldn't just ignore it.

As he tried to pull himself together he saw Othala fleeing from him. Was he that scary? Was he the monster that he thought himself to be in the back of his mind? He closed his eyes as more tears escaped him. It was funny, this was the first time he'd cried since the sealing,

"Y... you don't want anything to do with me do you?" he asked her, his own fears talking, "You think I'm a monster. If it's any consolation... I don't know what to do either."

He trailed off towards the end. He wanted to get up, to tell Othala that it was all alright, but he couldn't. All he could see were the faces. Oh god the faces! All of them looking at him! Some crying! Some screaming! Some even laughing, thinking it was a joke. But no. It was all really. He locked them away. He sobbed weakly, falling down on his side, lacking both the will and the energy to pull himself back up.

Othala didnt know what she thought about Florence at this moment in time, she owed him so much because he had rescued her from the horror of being locked in the basement of her family home, and she owed him for helping her with her pictures and with her reading.

She had thought that they were good and close friends, but the Doctor that she knew would never have done anything like this, which was why she was unhappy to find out that the thoughts she had about him all this time were wrong.

"You're scary when you cry like that. Me no like it when you cry like that, you sound like shouting at me and you sound like monster when you cry cause you make weird noises." she said simply. "I no know what I think Florence, I only 12. I never even see man cry before."

Timidly, she moved forwards and sat back down on the mat, deciding to stay near the Doctor in case he decided to fall over again; "Silly Doctor, you fell over."

The Doctor held his head in his hands tightly, his fingers digging into his skin slightly as he stayed as still as he could. He just wanted it all to go away, to all be over with. Why did he have to be the one to take this burden? Why couldn't someone else have done it? Anyone else? Why couldn't he have been spared this? Oh yes. That's right, he had to do it. It was, in some ways, his fault.

He paused when she told him that he sounded like a monster. Monster. Oh god how he hated that word. And oh... how it fitted him like a glove. He closed his eyes for a few seconds, taking a few deep breaths as he forced himself to stop crying. Locking away his emotions. He slowly got up from off of the ground and stretched out his legs,

"Yeah I guess I am a bit like a monster huh?" he agreed with a fake smile before chuckling weakly, "Of course. Sorry to have to be your first."

He hated this. He hated the fact that no matter what, no matter where he was, or with whom, he had to be strong. Strong for the school. Strong for the country. And strong for Othala. He wasn't blind, he could see he was a massive source of her strength. And that meant that he couldn't afford to lose it again. His own feelings be damned, a little girl needed him more than he needed help.

Othala felt a little mean when the Doctor stopped crying that she had said all of those things, she had probably made him feel worse and she didn't want to make her friend feel bad, it was beginning to make her sad as well and she bit her lip lightly.

When the Doctor stood up away from her, Othala blinked and she stood up too and wrapped her arms around the Doctor's waist, snuggling her head into his chest, maybe all he needed was a hug? That always helped her when she was sad, but she rarely got one.

"I sorry if I make you sadders even more Doctor, I just no know what to say!" she explained, squeezing his waist a little harder "So I just hug you when you sad, it help me when I sad I know."

With a small smile on her lips Othala looked up into the Doctor's eyes and stood up on her tippy toes to wipe away his tears with her slender fingers;

"There, my old Florence 'gain, no more crying monster. You no allowed to be sad no more, Othala help!"