A/N: So it is now 11pm and I only just realized it's November 23rd, aka the Doctor Who Anniversary... So I'm posting this today instead of tomorrow :-)


Christmas Eve of that year was a major change from the one that proceeded it.

For one, Eva and the Master weren't alone this time – they had Alex, who had only grown closer to Eva as time went by, and Lucy, who now went publicly by the name Lucy Saxon and made sure to arrange a proper Christmas Dinner for the four of them.

Of course, it could have been nice if the Master hadn't been called away because of the appearance of the Christmas Star above London's skies.

Eva stood on the roof next to Lucy and Alex, observing the Star from afar. It wasn't as much as close to Saxon Mansion, but the three still felt uneasy about its presence. Alex had a hand on his gun, ready to protect the two women on a moment's notice. Lucy bit the inside of her cheek, scared, nervous and anxious for her husband to come back.

Eva wasn't scared, anxious or worried, but she was far more nervous than the other two combined.

A week prior, the Master noticed that Eva was thinking of the Doctor more and more often as Christmas approached, and had her sitting in the living room for a conversation – as he referred to it, Eva preferred to use the term 'Interrogation'.

"Well?" he asked after a few long minutes of silence. "I can sit here all day, if that's what it takes. What will the Doctor do on Christmas?"

"I already told you," Eva said through gritted teeth. "This is an event that should never be changed. It wouldn't matter if I told you."

"I disagree," the Master replied. "You see, I'd like to be… prepared."

"There's nothing for you to be prepared for."

"Really?" he questioned. "Do you mean to tell me that what's going to happen isn't going to affect me at all? Can you tell me that I would be able to peacefully stay at home while events unfolded?" Eva didn't bother to reply. The answer was clear to both of them. "Didn't think so. Let's make it simpler," he said. "Professor Lazarus had just hired a new assistant by the name of Letitia Jones –"

"Don't hurt her!" Eva said quickly. "You – you can't hurt her. If you do then – then Martha will never travel with the Doctor long enough to get to the end of the universe. You'll be changing your personal history!"

"I won't kill her," the Master said, shaking his head. "I only need to hurt her enough to make a small difference. She could still keep working if, let's say, she was bound to a wheelchair."

Eva took a shaky breath, closing her eyes. He couldn't do this – he couldn't get her to do whatever he wanted just by threatening people she cared about.

But he could. And that was exactly what was happening. Alex's words from months back rang in her ears. She had to figure out what could she tell him without changing the way events should unfold.

When she finally spoke, she pictured Donna's face when the woman found out Lance sold her out to the Racnoss Empress, "Give the order."

"I'm sorry?"

"You'll understand when it's time," was all Eva said. "Give the order."

Now, she watched with Alex and Lucy as the Star was shot down by multiple missiles, the debris dissolving in the air before it could reach the ground. She fell to the ground, her legs no longer holding her up, and Alex quickly reached out to grab her.

He carried her to her room and left her on the bed where she cried for hours. She cried because the Doctor was so close, and she couldn't reach him. She cried because Donna was going to marry today, and now she had to start from nothing again. She cried because she sealed the fate of an entire species of aliens, albeit a murderous one.

Most of all, she cried because she didn't care about all the lives lost, as long as Tish was safe.

This may have been the first time the Master used the power he had over her to get her to tell him what she knew, but it was clear to see it wouldn't be the last. And if these were the consequences of this time… she dreaded to think what would happen next.

EMH

As hard as it was for Eva to admit considering everything that happened in the past year, she couldn't deny the Master did everything he could to ensure she enjoyed her second birthday with him as much as possible.

He woke her up that morning with breakfast to bed, making sure to take off her bracelet before her brain went fully into thinking mode, and told her that he had an entire day planned for their mismatched family – though he hadn't used those exact words. He had cleared the entire day of meetings and interviews, and made sure to let out false information of him being in other parts of the city than the ones he planned for the to attend, in order to throw the reporters off their backs.

They started the day by having a calm morning at the Mansion. Eva didn't expect the gifts Lucy and the Master handed to her, and she was even more surprised when Alex pulled out a gift of his own.

From Lucy, she got a beautiful dress that she had already changed into. The Master had gifted her with a pair of earrings that matched her bracelet in style and design but not in the uncomfortable side effects. Alex surprised her the most, somehow managing to acquire one of the paintings of her drawn from the time when she was Queen Elizabeth's ward.

"Wow," Lucy said as she helped to put the painting up in one of the rooms, "I thought it was just a story."

"Don't take it too hard," Eva said, looking at the painting with mixed emotions of amusement and embarrassment at having it put up in a room at the Mansion. "Sometimes, I think it was all just a story."

From there, they moved on to a small, secluded restaurant Lucy used to frequent with her family. As annoyed as Eva was when their lunch was interrupted by reporters, it was far too amusing to watch the Master get angry about it.

"It's okay," she told him when they finally moved on from the restaurant and went to try and find somewhere else for lunch. "I know you tried."

"But you hate the reporters," he said. "I wanted to at least make sure you didn't have to deal with them on your birthday."

"And it was a very nice thought," Eva replied. "But I'm still the daughter of Harold Saxon, and reporters are part of what it entails. Don't worry about it."

Even the small remains of annoyance were gone from both of them when the Master led them to the last event of the day.

"Rent?" Eva repeated in disbelief. "We're going to see Rent?"

"I remembered you saying you were about to go see it with your friend," the Master replied with a smile as they took their seats. "Never got to do it with her, so I thought you'd appreciate doing it now."

"I… I do," Eva admitted, letting out a small smile. "Thank you."

"Don't mention it."

Later on, the Master rethought that statement. Rent was, to say the least… odd. Unlike Sweeny Todd, which was a horror musical about old London town, this one was modern – the events, though fictional, took place only a decade and a half earlier – and, more than that, it was tragic.

"It's not tragic," Eva said when he told her that. "It's the opposite – it's about hope. These people don't live the American Dream, they're not even close to it. They have their struggles – money, drugs, HIV – but they go on. They live. They may not always win, but as long as they're still fighting, they never lose, either."

"Well, it certainly was…" Lucy started, struggling to find the right word. "Quite… vulgar, don't you think?"

"Sweeny Todd was about cannibalism," Eva told her shortly. "This wasn't any more vulgar than that."

"It was different, I think," the Master said, wrapping an arm around Eva. "Either way, I'm glad you liked it."

"I loved it," Eva told him, wrapping her own arms around him. "Thank you."

"Don't mention it," the Master said again, though this time he knew he won't question the sincerity of his words later on. "Happy birthday, Evie."

EMH

Eva stood at the side of the stage, glancing at Alex nervously.

"Do I really have to?" she asked for what he was certain was the thousandth time.

"You know you do," he sighed.

"Why can't you come with me?"

"You know why."

"Sasha…"

"Linny…"

Eva slapped Alex on the arm half-playfully before frowning. Ever since he found out about this nickname variation of her name and how much it annoyed her, he used it as a retort whenever she called him 'Sasha'. Admittedly, it had caused her to use the name less often, but it still slipped every now and then, and he would always answer the same way.

Though she knew it would stop him from calling her that, she didn't tell him she hated the nickname. It made her think of her younger Jack, living with Jack in Cardiff of the thirty first century. That thought made her think of Cardiff of the twenty first century, and of the promise she made to Ianto.

It made her think of the fact in about twenty four hours, the Master will be officially elected as Prime Minister of Great Britain. In less than forty eight hours, the Doctor, Martha and Jack will return from where the Master left them stranded on the end of the universe. And, in less than sixty hours, the Master will take over Earth and the Year That Never Was will begin.

The Master had already called her to his office a month prior, knowing that the Doctor's return was ought to be close to Election Day. This time, Eva didn't waste time arguing.

"The day after elections," she stated. "May I go now?"

Now was the night before elections, and Eva was about to go on stage and start the last of a long series of interviews. She will sit there, smile and tell jokes, and try to convince people to vote for the psychopathic alien with the charming smile, the beautiful wife and the loveable daughter.

It was, for lack of better phrase, nerve-wrecking.

"How long?" she asked quietly.

"Thirty seconds," Alex replied, glancing at his watch. "They're going to call you any second now."

"Better get ready, then," Eva sighed, taking a deep breath to calm herself down.

"Don't forget to smile," Alex said, and the two fell into a comfortable silence as the interviewer of the talk show spoke.

"And now," he said, "You all know her – the young woman who quickly became our very own national sweetheart. Only 21 and the heiress of one of the most influential families in Britain, her face is on the front page of almost every newspaper, please give it up for Miss Eva Saxon!"

Eva put on her most practiced smile as she walked on stage, waving at the crowd and sending the occasional kiss before sitting down.

"So, the interviewer said, leaning forward in his seat and closer to her. "Wow! Where do we even start?"

"The beginning seems to be a favourable option," Eva joked.

"That it does, that it does," he laughed. "But, when it comes to you, where is the beginning?"

"At the opposite side than the end, I'd assume?"

Again, the interviewer and the crowd laughed, and Eva smiled in response.

"Well, we might as well pick a spot and go on from there," the interviewer commented, looking through his cards. "We know quite a lot about you, considering your father's position as lead runner to the Prime Minister post at the moment, but let's hear your side of events, shall we? You just graduated second year of university, didn't you?"

"I did," Eva confirmed. "I study History at UCL."

"Quite an interesting choice, considering your father's job."

"Is it?" Eva questioned. "We study our history because it tends to repeat itself. By looking at the past, we can use it in order to create a better future – and, in the end, isn't this what we all aspire to achieve?"

Her smile was perfect, every break in her sentences deliberate. Lucy sat with her for hours, teaching her how to attend to an interview, how to respond to every question. Her answers were practiced and memorized, but she knew how to make it seem as if she spoke freely.

Just another day, she told herself. Just another day before he's Prime Minister, and I can drop the act. One more day.

"Well, when you say it like that…" the interviewer smiled. "Speaking of the past, I know it's not as far back as the topics you study but what can you tell us about the events of the past couple of days?"

"Honestly?" Eva shrugged. "Nothing."

"Come on," the interviewer tried. "Royal Hope Hospital disappeared for hours before reappearing, and the people on board claim they travelled to the moon. Just an hour ago, we received reports of an alien-like creature creating havoc in the Lazarus labs. Is there really nothing you can tell us?"

"Dad makes sure to keep work as separate from home as he can," Eva replied. "He says that Lucy and I already have too much public focus in our personal lives. When it's just the three of us at home, we try to be as normal a family as we can."

"And here is the point where I think you for so kindly preparing me for the next question," the interviewer smiled. "Lucy Cole – now Saxon. After twenty years of just you and your father, it couldn't have been easy to add another person to the mix. Especially not when that person is your father's significantly younger wife."

"What do you call significantly younger?" Eva asked.

"Well, she is closer to your age than she is to his."

"At a matter of fact, she isn't," Eva replied. "You need to remember that my father had me at a very young age. The age difference between Lucy and I is quite similar to the age difference between the two of them – eight years in comparison to nine. I don't believe that counts as significantly younger. And," she added, "While I don't believe I'll grow to see Lucy as my mother, that is mostly because I'm already a grown woman myself. I don't feel the need for a mother figure in my life, but I still see Lucy as a very close friend."

"So it seems," the interviewer said. "We have numerous pictures of the two of you walking hand in hand across London."

"We like spending time together," Eva said simply. "I'm sure if you keep looking you'll find that, when he can, Dad joins us, as well. We're a family. An unconventional one, but a family nonetheless."

"Not something to be taken for granted, I'm sure," the interviewer said, smiling softly at her. "Our time is almost up. Is there anything else you'd like to say to our viewers before it's time to go?"

"Well…" Eva smiled. "There's one thing, but I'm sure you all already know it…" She looked right at the camera, and focused on the countdown until this nightmare was over as she put on her brightest smile. "Vote Saxon!"