Sorry for the wait, work and writers block and all that. Also, thank you for all the lovely reviews, I really enjoy reading them. I keep forgetting to say this, but this is an AU (if you haven't figured that out already. Next chapter will make that clearer.)

Rory crouched next to the limp body of the boy they'd discovered in the TARDIS, gazing unhappily at the dried blood on the boys face and clothes. He'd asked Amy to find some sort of first aid kit once he'd realised The Doctor was going to do no more than pace besides the stairs up to the centre console.

"How could this have happened?" Asked The Doctor, turning on one heel in order to begin pacing in the other direction. His hair was sticking up in a maniacal fashion after running his hands through it more than a few times.

"Looks like he was beaten up," Rory replied, carefully lowering the boys head and shifting to look questioningly at The Doctor as he let out an amused noise.

"Not that!" Said the Timelord, almost condescendingly as he gestured around himself, "How did he get in? The TARDIS was invisible!"

"Doctor." Rory spoke slowly, appalled. "He was beaten up."

The Doctor, as if somehow suddenly being struck by how apparently insensitive he was being, waved a hand nonchalantly as he sauntered over to crouch next to his companion. "Yes, yes, yes. It's terrible. We'll find who did it and.. Strike them down!" He glanced at Rory and shook his head, "Right, sorry. We won't do that. No striking anyone down." The Timelord huffed and stood up, one hand heading for his hair once again. "But how did he get in?" He asked, amid the noise of frustration Rory let out.

"I've got it!" Shouted Amy as she re-entered the console room. She hurried down the steps carrying an innocent looking green box, "Here." She said, kneeling down next to her husband and placing the box on the floor, flicking open the clasps in order to get to the first aid equipment inside. Rory began digging through the boxes items, pulling bits out every now and again. "So is he human?" She asked, tilting her head towards the boy, glancing between Rory and The Doctor.

"I- " Rory almost nodded, then stopped himself, worrying at his lower lip as he turned to look at The Doctor. "Is he?" He asked.

"He is." The Doctor said, lazily. "I've already scanned him with the sonic screwdriver. Doesn't seem to be dangerous, but you never know with you humans and all!" He seemed almost cheerful as he delivered the insult, but Amy and Rory ignored it, used to hearing slights against their race every now and again as The Doctor slid obliviously into cultural insensitivity.

Rory grabbed a wet wipe and began carefully dabbing it against the crusting blood under the boys nose. He wasn't bleeding anymore, but his eyes were rimmed with red and slightly swollen, giving away just how distressed he had been before he'd stumbled upon the TARDIS.

"Poor kid," Said Amy, frowning as she watched her husbands ministrations. She studied the boy for a moment, a crease appearing in her forehead, wondering what the story was behind this one, when suddenly she shot a hand out to still Rory as the boys eyelashes fluttered, eyes moving beneath lids. "I think he's waking up." She whispered, leaning a little closer to peer at the boys face.

Kurt had a feeling that he really, really shouldn't open his eyes. His head was throbbing and, whilst he half hoped he was curled up in bed at home, the floor beneath him felt cool and metallic, so it was likely he'd just passed out after a dumpster toss. How embarrassing, hopefully no one had seen.

...But he could hear voices, couldn't he? He could hear weird British accents talking around him and, oh great, he'd been found by strangers. Strangers who'd want to cart him off to the hospital or take him home and tell his father. The wall he was propped up against felt oddly, comfortingly, warm. Where the hell was he?

"Nnguh?" Kurt said, eloquently, as his eyes squinted open.

"Hello? Can you hear me?"

Kurt blinked, focussing on a brown haired man who was crouched in front of him and a pretty red haired woman who was smiling a little. He frowned at the question and flicked his eyes to glance around where ever he was, taking in the large room and the metal grating.

Oh.

The blue box. The bigger on the inside blue box that had locked itself when he'd entered. Only it couldn't have locked itself, because there were people in here now. What if they'd been in there the whole time? What if they'dlocked the door?

Kurt was vaguely aware of the young man talking to him, but still flinched away when he felt something soft and wet touch his upper lip.

"Sorry!" Said the man, holding up a damp cloth that was rusty with dried blood. "I'm just trying to clean you up, I need to check out the damage." He smiled kindly, and this was echoed by the woman crouched behind him.

"M'fine." Kurt murmured, pushing himself away from the panel in order to sit up straighter, trying to hold back the wince as his ribs shifted.

"Ah, he speaks!" Came an excited voice, introducing the other person that Kurt hadn't really registered yet. The man in question was stood next to the stairs leading to the control room, staring intently, uncomfortably, at Kurt.

Rory dabbed the cloth against the dried blood on Kurt's face again, ignoring the flinch that accompanied it. "This is Rory," Said the red haired lady, smiling kindly. "He's a nurse, you're in good hands. I'm his wife Amy," She gestured over to the man by the stairs, "That's The Doctor."

".. So this is like, a hospital?" Asked Kurt, glancing critically at the so called Doctor. He couldn't help but feel a little disgruntled as all three of the strangers started laughing. "It's not funny." He said, wincing as he shifted where he was sat. "This thing is impossible."

"Oi!" Said The Doctor, loudly. "She's not a thing and she's certainly not impossible. She's my TARDIS." He sounded fond, oh god, Kurt was amongst mad people.

"Because that makes sense." He snapped, holding in a groan as he shifted to his knees, intending on getting up and getting the hell out of there because the bullies must have moved on right? And he seemed to have walked from the frying pan into the fire, from neanderthals with mean right hooks to mad people defying the laws of physics.

Rory was there immediately, putting one hand on the boys shoulder to settle him. He tried to ignore the way he flinched and hissed at the apparent pain he was refusing to admit. "Okay, calm down. I know this is a lot to take in, but we can explain everything. You need to keep still though, you're hurt."

"I said i'm fine." Great, another stubborn person.

"What's your name?" Asked Amy, still crouched down and smiling a little.

Finally, the boy slowed, glancing up at each of them suspiciously. "It's Kurt." He said after a beat, "Very nice to meet you all, but now I think I want to go home."

"Okay! Now we're getting somewhere!" It had come to Kurts attention that this Doctor person got extremely over excited over the smallest things, he might have escaped from some sort of asylum. It was, to say the least, slightly unnerving the way he was being stared out by the mad man. "So Kurt," The Doctor was babbling, "Kurt from Ohio. Kurt with the bowtie. Nice bowtie by the way, I like bowties, bowties are cool. Kurt, Kurt, Kurt."

Kurt, who was getting sick of hearing his name, stared in bewilderment at this insane spectacle. The Doctor didn't seem to notice the looks he was receiving, or if he did, he didn't care.

"Kurt." He said, again. "Don't worry about getting home, we can take you. Like I said, TARDIS, Time and Relative Dimension in Space. We can get you home before you even leave. Just one, quick question though, that's all." He stopped, finally, staring hard at the boy. "How did you get in?"

"I just.." He paused, thinking for a moment before settling on: "The door was unlocked and I needed somewhere to hide. Can I just go? Please?"

"What were you hiding from?" Asked Amy, her voice calm and soothing. She seemed to be treating Kurt like he was made of glass and, whilst he couldn't blame her because he really probably looked terrible at that particular moment in time, it was incredibly annoying, especially for someone as proud as him.

"I was playing hide and seek." Kurt snapped, "I won. It was great. Now please, excuse me, I'm going home." And with that, he struggled to his feet, waving off Rory as he moved to help.

"I love hide and seek." Said The Doctor, "We should play hide and seek! It'll-" He caught the look on Amy's face and faltered. "Later. We'll play later. Stop!" He held his hands out in front of him, causing Kurt, who had been slowly limping towards the door, to freeze. "Okay, you were playing hide and seek, obvious lie but you don't want to tell us the truth so.. Yes, well. Stay right there though, we might as well take you home."

"I don't get into cars with strangers. I'll be fine." Kurt folded his arms, remembering his sore ribs as they twinged with the movement. He was a little disconcerted as Amy and Rory began grinning widely and The Doctor spun on one heel, bounding up the metal stairs to the weird console thing that took up most of the room.

The mad man began pressing buttons and pulling levers, seemingly dancing around the grating. Kurt, after a moments hesitation, rattled off his address, which only seemed to prompt more frenzied movements which included at one point, Kurt was pretty sure, pushing over a slinky. He was surrounded by insanity, the notion that these people were mad scientists had already briefly been considered, and the more he watched, the more he thought he might be right.

"You might want to hold on," Said Amy, walking up the stairs to hold on to a railing.

"What? Why? What's going to ha- Ah!" Kurt's sentence was abruptly cut off as the whole room bucked, causing him to fall into the wall, jarring his injuries so badly that his breath was momentarily stolen from him. He jolted forward with the next shudder, managing to grab hold of one of the railings near the door, knuckles turning white from the pressure of his grip. After a few moments, the strange, loud noise that had sprung up with the first movement of the room began to fade away as the box seemed to settle with a thud. Kurt felt like his knees were made of jelly, and he wasn't sure he'd be able to let go of the railing he was clinging to any time soon.

"What- What was that?" He asked, his voice higher than usual out of fright.

"Sorry," Said Rory, letting go of the stool he'd been holding onto and brushing his hands off on his jeans. "He should've given you more warning." He shot a frown at The Doctor, whose smile faltered a little. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine." Said Kurt impatiently. "What was that?"

"That's my TARDIS," The Doctor replied, fondly. "I told you, well I didn't tell you about that particular bit but it's too late for that now."

"It means Time and Relative Dimension in Space." Amy explained.

Kurt was still lost. "Which means what?"

"It means she's my ship, I travel in her." The Doctor said, "Through time and space."

"This is a time machine?" Kurt asked in disbelief, his voice heavy with scorn. He faltered at the three simultaneous nods he received. "This is a time machine." He repeated, taking a step towards the door. "Okay. Um, i'm just going to go then." A few more steps towards the door, he could reach the handle now. "Enjoy your travels." He said sarcastically, turning and opening the door (which was unlocked now, what the hell?) as quickly as he could.

Only to stop short.

"What the f-" He started, staring in bewilderment at the house and lawn in front of him. Where were the trees? Hell, where were the bullies? What in the world was-

"Told you!" Said The Doctor cheerfully, poking his head around the door next to where Kurt was stood. "Time and space, took you home. No need to thank me, really. You're well off aren't you?" All of this was said in one rapid breath and it took Kurt a moment to react, still in shock over the apparent journey he'd just taken.

"Took me ho- Doctor." He turned desperately to the Timelord. "This isn't my house."