The Doctor led them through doors and along corridors and up and down stairs until Evie wondered whether he actually knew where they were going at all. She kept sending Max looks underneath her fringe, wondering… wondering lots of things. How old he was, what it was like to live on another planet and what he was like, for starters.

They finally arrived at their destination the Doctor let them into some kind of office. There were yet more high-tech computer systems and gadgets lying around. He soniced the door closed behind them and started rummaging around.

Makenzie sat down heavily in a chair, breathing deeply. Evie watched him curiously – he had to be at least 70, maybe even older. She was impressed with his stamina. The Doctor had led them on a proper route-march to get here. Her attention turned to the other members of the family. Reenie and Neale were standing together a little way off, worriedly glancing between the Doctor and the window, out of which they could see for miles. The ground was so flat, with the exception of this hill. There didn't seem to be anything out there for a long, long way. Phoebe, who was maybe in her mid-twenties, was crouching beside her grandfather, making sure he was alright.

"So… Evie." Max said close behind her, making the teenager jump. She whirled around and found herself looking directly into his eyes, which were a curious violet colour. "Who exactly are you and… him." He turned and pointed to the Doctor who was shaking a lump of metal beside his ear, his face screwed up as he listened intently.

Shaking her head slightly at his madness, she turned back to the boy, putting her head on one side as she considered what to tell him. He was cute; very cute. With spiky dirty blonde hair, the beautiful violet eyes and a good, athletic build.

"I'm Evie Jones, orphan, eighteen." She said simply. "And he is the Doctor. Ancient, annoying and totally brilliant."

"I'm Max… obviously. Max Bale. I'm nineteen." He said quickly, as though he was nervous of her. Evie didn't blame him. The first time he'd seen her she'd been casually blasting the hell out of Cybermen. "The Doctor? What kind of name is that?"

Evie shrugged. "That's just his name. Just the Doctor."

"Oh… you and him?" Max asked looking as though he was trying not to intrude.

"Me and… oh! No!" Evie looked disgusted at the idea that there was anything between her and the Doctor. "No… there is NOTHING between me and him. Never."

Max looked pleased as the Doctor glanced up from the computer screen in front of him, beckoning her over. Smirking slightly, feeling important in front of the others, Evie immediately went to his side. He pointed out their new location on the system map and the teenager nodded, listening carefully as he explained where they were. It was the main control room, apparently.

"Why is it empty then?" She asked. "Surely they wouldn't just leave their most important room unguarded, like their prison." The Doctor shrugged; obviously he had no answers to her question.

"Look… these dots show all the life forms in the building; red for human, blue for Cybermen." The Doctor explained jabbing his finger towards the screen. Evie nodded, quickly counting the red dots. There were only six. She looked suspiciously at the Doctor, instinctively knowing that it was him that was missing from the screen. He glanced back at her quickly, reading her mind. A slight smirk played about his lips but he didn't say anything.

Phoebe screamed, making both of them jump and snap their eyes to her, wondering what was wrong. Her eyes were fixed on the door, through which everyone could clearly see the group of Cybermen marching towards them.

Before anyone could move, and the Doctor could stop her, Evie had grabbed the sonic screwdriver and sprinted to the door, unlocking it.

"I've got this!" She called over her shoulder, slipping through and locking it from the outside. She pushed the screwdriver into the back pocket of her skinny jeans and started shooting at the oncoming Cybermen. She knew she was either being brave or incredibly stupid, but she didn't care. Her initial fear of the metal men had dissolved and now all she felt was adrenaline running through her veins. Evie thought she was invincible. She was also showing off in front of Max and the others.

Dodging their laser beams by ducking around the corner as she saw one heading towards her, Evie ignored the Doctor's infuriated hammering on the door. Sure, he was angry with her now, but he'd soon get over it. Besides, she had this covered.

Each of her shots hit its target and soon the number of Cybermen coming for her was dwindling, the number lying in piles on the ground growing. Smirking to herself as she took out the last two with well-aimed shots, Evie turned to the door with her hands on her hips. Cockily she winked at the Doctor.

That was the last thing she remembered because a large, hard, metal hand connected with the back of her head and everything went black.

x-x

"I've got this!" Evie had shouted as she'd left the room, taking the Doctor's beloved sonic screwdriver with her and locking them in from the outside. He sprinted to the door, hammering his balled fists against it and shouting at the teenager to open the door right that instant. She either couldn't hear him or was choosing to ignore him.

The Doctor couldn't deny that she had immense skill with the gun. Almost effortlessly she was aiming and firing, ducking and diving round the corner to avoid being hit by the laser beams the Cybermen were sending her way. He hated to admit it, but he was incredibly impressed. But still angry; very, very angry.

"I'm going to kill her when she gets back in here." He muttered as she took out the final Cybermen. Turning to face them, hands on her hip and her annoying superior smirk plastered over her pretty features, Evie winked, reaching round to pull the sonic screwdriver out of her back pocket.

Too late the Doctor noticed a towering figure behind the girl. Where it had come from and how neither he nor she had noticed it before, he didn't know. All he could do was hit the door with the palm of his hand as the Cyberman brought its own metal hand crashing down on Evie and the teenager crumbled, hitting the floor almost in slow motion.

Scooping her into its arms, the lone Cyberman turned and carried her away down the corridor. The sonic screwdriver rolled out of her hand, coming to rest just in front of the door, teasing the Doctor who stared through the glass at it.

"Max!" He shouted jumping to action before the figures had even vanished from sight. "Watch those dots on the screen. I want to know where they're going."

The boy leapt to the monitor, watching it closely as the Doctor paced around the room looking for something to break through the glass. Picking up a chair, he carried it to the door and brought it crashing into the window. His face contorting with pain, the Doctor stumbled backwards as it just bounced off the glass without doing any damage at all.

"OK… Not going to work." He glanced around for something else to try and his eyes settled on the large lump of metal he'd been playing with earlier. Dalekanium; if he wasn't very much mistaken. But what a lump of the material used to make the casing of the Daleks was doing here, he had no idea. Grabbing the dense metal tightly, he threw it at the glass with all his might. There was a loud crash and the glass shattered. Kicking the shards out of the way, the Doctor was able to reach through and grab his screwdriver. Giving it a quick kiss and a polish on his jacket, he unlocked the door. "Right, Max. What's happening with the dots?" He asked urgently.