A/N: My Brother came home from college! I'm so happy guys you have no idea. Sorry I didn't upload last weekend, there was a minor emergency that I needed to help out with and I wasn't able to finish the chapter. But here it is now, guys! Hope you enjoy it!

Chapter Four

The next time Anthea awoke from slumber, it was mid-afternoon and she was, for no apparent reason, exhausted. She had barely even finished her breakfast before she had crashed on the couch once again. What a pain; she hated missing time.

She pushed herself up and rubbed the sleep out of her eyes. Only after she tested out her stance, she carefully stood and walked to the left room, to where the Doctor had come out with breakfast. There was a faint mumble of low voices, accompanied by a light tinkling she recognized as metal on metal.

She yawned as she walked in, unable to help herself. Sitting on either side of a simple wood table were the Doctor and Martha. The woman was being fairly normal, cupping a mug of tea in her hands and talking in soft, accented tones. The Doctor, completely absorbed, was tinkering on the toaster contraption she had seen him working on last night. When the two noticed her, Martha stood up and hurried over to her, ushering her into one of the wooden seats.

"You should have called for me," She fussed, "You shouldn't be walking around on your own yet."

While Anthea knew that she was only sore, Martha didn't know that she wasn't completely human. Who was she to correct the woman? It would only draw attention to her unnecessarily. She saw the Doctor look up at his friend from behind a pair of glasses (he either looked really good, or she was lonely as hell), and shook his head at her. "Nah, she's fine. Be running by Tuesday." It was only Saturday. Anthea's head jerked up so she could look at him properly, surprised. Did he know? Would she have to run? Fight? She thought she had been careful.

Before Martha could even respond, the merchant shot up out of her chair and froze there for a second, seeing who would make the first move, eyes darting back and forth between the two. While Martha just stared at her in shock, the Doctor wore an expression of empathy, beginning to raise his hands in a calming gesture. She took a step back when Martha reached out for her, suddenly feeling cornered.

Unbeknownst to Anthea, underneath her feet had grown a bed of carnations that had not been there just a minute before, peeking through the seams of tile. The blood red of the flowers caught the Doctor's attention, and he stood slowly and pulled Martha back behind him, trying to prevent her from reaching out for their guest again.

Anthea was beyond frightened, and her instincts screamed at her to run, to go anywhere but here, you dolt, don't just stand there! But where would she go? She didn't know anything about this place and time, how was she supposed to survive in it?

She didn't get very far into her panicked thoughts, the Doctor's warm voice drifted over to her. "It's alright, Anthea, we won't hurt you. I know it's hard to trust me on this," his voice was firm but somehow comforting, like the safety of blankets in a cold winter's night. Still, it was hard to trust. Smooth talking didn't gain her confidence. "We don't want to hurt you. Martha comes from the two thousands, and doesn't even know about what you are, okay? And I am certainly against killing for profit."

Anthea just stared at him, skeptical. "How did you know?" She could hear her voice waver, but she didn't care. In response the Doctor nodded to the ground where the carnations lay. Anthea cursed. She just had to get scared, didn't she? She had gotten too comfortable! She was normally so in control, but in her sleepy haze combined with her panic, the flowers had grown around her. Now was not the time for this!

The Doctor looked at her panicked expression and tried to look as non threatening as possible, hoping she wouldn't run off. "Those flowers grew through the tile, and you're walking more steadily now than any human possibly could the day after an injury like yours. There's only a few species in the universe I've seen that can do that. You're a Seraphim." He reached out a hand for her, but she hesitated. "I know it must be hard to trust me because of how many people have tried to harm you, but please, let me show you I'm telling the truth. I want to help."

"Why? How?" She stuttered out, shocked. Everyone who figured out what she was tried to kill her - she just couldn't understand him. She was more useful for gene therapies than anything else - valuable, ability-giving gene therapies no less. What was the benefit of leaving her be?

"I'm not human either." He started again, looking her in the eyes, the firm reassurance of his voice once again tempting her to believe him. "I have strong mental capabilities, and I can let you see that I'm telling the truth. I know what it's like to be locked up and studied, and I have no interest of letting that happen to you." His hand was still held out for her, and Martha looked as confused as ever. She hadn't seen them with any weapons, and they had even helped her... no one had done that for her but her family. She really shouldn't trust them, she had no proof of their intentions, but he was offering to show her. She really shouldn't...

She took his hand and stepped forward. "How is this going to work?" Her voice sounded like she had spent the previous day screaming at some cheesy boyband, hoarse and wavering, and even though the Doctor held her right hand firm, it still shook from adrenaline pumping through her system. Oh, how she still wanted to run. How embarrassing.

"I'm just going to place my forehead against yours, and I'm going to let you see into some of my thoughts, alright? Just right now, in this moment, so you can know that I'm telling you the truth. I even knew a Seraphim once, a long time ago. I can show you that I helped her, if you want." He gave her a small smile and she nodded her head, determined.

"My mom..." Anthea paused, trying not to tear up at the mention of her mother. "She used to do something like that. She could manipulate auras to share thoughts." Anthea smiled back at him, a still shaken. That bit of information gave her a small comfort, though. She was familiar with something here, at least, although her mom's ability probably worked differently. People can't lie to their own thoughts.

They both sat down at the table again, Anthea landing harder than she would have preferred with a resounding thud. "Martha," The Doctor began, "I'll explain this all later, but if you could give us a few minutes." Anthea watched as the other woman inched her way out of the room, a peculiar expression on her face. Anthea looked away, embarrassed. Nice way to confuse your host, dumbass. The Doctor looked back to her. "Are you ready?"

She took a deep breath. Her mother used to do shit like this all the time when bartering so she knew she wasn't getting screwed. Anthea could do this, no problem. Definitely. For sure. After shaking out her hands a bit to hopefully get rid of excess nerves, she nodded. "Yeah. I'm good."

The Doctor leaned in and rested his forehead against hers gently. She barely had anytime to flush at all before she began to feel a rush of emotions and thoughts that weren't hers. She could feel everything. The truth and concern inside his head. How he had saved others of her kind before he even met her. She even saw a snowy planet - a dinner with someone; whoever it was seemed happy. She was had large, beautiful wings that glittered in the light like snow.

She could tell he was telling her the truth. It wasn't a guess, it was as certain as if she had thought it herself. She was safe. She wasn't in danger, not here. Not with the Doctor here. He helped people. She could feel the need to save, to help. She didn't need to worry.

He pulled away from her at gave her a slight smile. She just looked at him with wide eyes, mouth slightly open in surprise. That was... strange, but somehow exhilarating. She was so at peace, but at the same time she could feel her insides brimming with energy. She had to take a breath. "Thank you for sharing that..." Her voice was soft but not scared - not anymore. "Who was that woman? She was beautiful."

He looked off to the side, looking a bit lost in his memories before they refocused on her. "She was an old friend. I met her while on a trip to a planet called Hal, where it's winter all year round. She was there building an ice house with just her ability. It was an incredible thing to see."

Anthea looked down at the carnations she had made just minutes before, her face flushing. "My ability is phytokinesis..." She drifted off with small sigh, "I grow plants." She wasn't an especially big fan of her ability, though it did have its uses for a life support system.

"Oh, it's lovely. You said you lived on a ship? I'm sure it livens up the place." He paused and looked at Anthea again, before standing and gesturing to the sitting room. "C'mon. Why don't you tell us what happened to you. Martha could use an explanation." She followed him into the room, leaving the flower-infested kitchen behind.

Martha was sitting in one of the armchairs across the way from her, fidgeting and nervous. Anthea wondered if she looked like that earlier. As soon as they entered the room, the woman 's gaze locked onto them and started asking questions, but the Doctor managed to calm her down for the moment, if only so they could all get settled.

Then they were all just sitting down, and they even had tea, with a blanket wrapped around Anthea's shoulders to make her feel more comfortable. She always found them to be comforting. Although, the Doctor and Martha seemed to be waiting for her to start talking, an awkward silence hanging over the three wayward time travelers. She didn't really want to divulge information about her past. It wasn't that she had a shady past, it was just... painful to bring up some of these old memories. but these people were being so generous, she felt obligated. They should know more about the person they're letting into their home. She sighed and set her tea onto the table.

"Where do I start..."