The Resistance

by Network Love

Resistance. From the very moment I met him, that's all I did; I resisted him, fought him, every step of the way. But he never stopped loving me. It took me a while to realize that, among other things. To realize he loved me unconditionally, realize I loved him just as much... and realize just how strong our bond is. A jumping around the Doctor's timeline story. The Doctor/OC.

4. Chapter 3 - The fires of Pompeii

Note: this is the last revised chapter, and I did a bit of an experiment with this one. Before, it used to be two parts, divided into two chapters, but I decided to just put it all in one, big chapter. It's about 17k words, so please let me know if you think it's too big, then I can split future episodes up in two parts again :)

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Chapter 3: The fires of Pompeii

Heat.

Fire.

Ash snowing down.

People crying, screaming for help.

The Doctor's face, utterly devastated.

I woke up, gasping for air. What the bloody hell was that? I had been dreaming, that much I knew, but what it was supposed to mean… I had seen glimpses of something, flashing by before my eyes no longer than a few seconds. And the feeling they gave me… it reminded me of those times where I woke up and felt like something would happen, although it was not quite exactly the same. But the similarity of those two gut feelings, concerned me.

Trying to sit up, I immediately dropped my head on the pillow again, clutching it with my hands. I groaned; I had a massive headache, AGAIN. Better keep lying down for a little while longer, I thought. Trying to focus on those flashes again, and thinking about what they could possibly mean, I noticed my headache only growing worse.

"Alright, alright!" I breathed. "I'll just ask the Doctor about them later…" I muttered, deciding I would leave those flashes alone, seeming as they only made my headache grow worse.

Suddenly, I felt a presence at the back of my mind, nudging me gently. At the same time, I could hear the TARDIS humming.

I was freaked out at first, until I remembered what the Doctor had said earlier, about the TARDIS being a 'she', and being alive. Could it be…?

"Um, hi, TARDIS?" I spoke out loud, feeling a little silly. But my eyes widened when I heard another hum, as if she was greeting me again. "Are you the one I feel in my mind?" I asked.

Another hum could be heard, this time it sounded as a confirmation, if that's possible. 'I just wanted to know if you were okay.'

I jolted in surprise when I heard a voice inside my head. "Wait- you can talk too? In my mind?" She really is the Doctor's spaceship, I thought, seeing she could talk to me in my head the same way he did.

She hummed again, and sighing, but nonetheless touched by her concern, I answered, "I'm okay, I just have a headache. It will pass."

Immediately, I felt the presence in my mind shift from the back to the front of my head, and then spread itself over my entire mind. A not unpleasant feeling that was weirdly enough cold and warm at the same time went through my head, and when it disappeared after a few moments, the headache was gone.

What the… I slowly sat up in wonder. She could heal people…! "Thank you, TARDIS!" I said, until I realized something. "Can I just call you TARDIS? Is there nothing else you'd rather have me call you?"

She hummed, and I could feel she was amused. 'The Doctor calls me 'Sexy'', the voice in my head said, and I laughed.

"Really?" I asked her, and she hummed once more, playfully this time. "Alright then, thank you, Sexy," I said, smiling widely.

'You're welcome, my precious Jude,' she replied, and I felt all warm inside. I could get used to this. How weird it may sound – talking to an alive spaceship – but speaking with the TARDIS felt like talking to a friend. It felt very comforting, and in a way, familiar. As if I've been doing it all my life. That obviously wasn't the case, but it did feel that way.

Slowly getting up, I stretched out, actually feeling pretty well-rested, now the headache was gone. I walked over to my dresser, and noticed all of my clothes were in there, together with a couple of other items I didn't recognize, but that were definitely my size. I shrugged, not bothered by it much. Those were probably from a future me. Or should I say past me? Ugh. Time travelling is complicated.

I looked around my room, searching for another door aside from the one that led to the hallway. A bathroom door, to be precise. I grinned when I saw what I was looking for in the corner next to my closet. I opened the door and breathed in relief when I saw that there was indeed a bathroom behind it. I mean, it's a spaceship, who knows what could have been on the other side.

Walking in the room with some fresh clothes and underwear, I locked the door behind me and started getting ready.

After about half an hour, I emerged again, dressed in black skinny jeans, a grey tank top and a dark blue denim shirt with pearls on the collar, which I left hanging open. My hair was already blow-dried and combed, but I didn't feel like letting it just hang loose today, so I swiftly braided it to the side.

When I finished, I wandered around the room, inspecting everything again, even though I already did that when I first got here. After a while, I realized there was nothing left I could do to stall it any longer; I had to come out of the room. I stood before the door, hesitating. I didn't really have to come out, now did I…? I could just stay in here. Maybe I had accepted I had to stay with the Doctor if I didn't want to die, but that didn't mean I had to like it. It didn't mean I should behave myself.

But then I sighed. It also didn't mean I should stay in my room all the time and mope, what's the fun in that? I should try to make the best of the situation I found myself in, try to make it at least a little bit enjoyable. There was nothing I could do to change it now anyway.

After taking a deep breath, I opened the door and stepped into the hallway, only to get knocked off my feet when someone bumped into me.

I looked to my left and saw that the person whom had made me have a little tête-a-tête with the floor, was a pretty, ginger-haired woman. She appeared to be in her late twenties, early thirties maybe, and she was wearing a blue floral shirt and a pair of jeans. She was on the floor, too.

"Oi! Watch where you're going, Jude!" she exclaimed.

"I could say the same thing to you!" I answered her snappily, until I realized something. "Wait, how do you know me?" I asked her, my eyes narrowing in suspicion.

Her eyes widened. "Don't you know me?" she questioned as she stood up. I shook my head slowly. Her face lit up with realization. "You haven't met me before; this is the first time you meet me…? The Doctor explained that thing you do to me earlier; you jump around his timeline randomly, right?" she asked me while extending her hand to me to help me get up as well.

Taking her offered hand, I answered, "Yeah, I do. And no, I haven't met you before, I'm sorry."

She waved it off. "Oh, it's no big deal, you know me now. The name's Noble. Donna Noble," she said, imitating James Bond, even imitating a gun with her hands.

I chuckled. "Evans. Jude Evans. But you probably already knew that," I grinned. She shook her head at me fondly. "Can I ask you something?" I asked her.

"You just did," she joked, and I rolled my eyes.

"Funny. But what I wanted to ask is, are we friends? I mean, you obviously know me longer than I know you, so I was just wondering…"

She smiled at me. "I haven't known you for that long yet, but I do consider you my friend."

I smiled back at her. "Okay, thanks for answering. I already got the feeling we'd get along just fine." Then I looked to my left, and then to my right. "Uhm, could you show me the way to the console room? I haven't been jumping around for too long and I don't really know the way yet…" I trailed off.

Her eyebrows rose in surprise. "Oh. Um… sure. Let's go," she said, and I could hear a hint of hesitation in her voice.

She started walking and I followed her. While we were moving, I could feel her eyes on me every now and then. I sighed.

"Alright, what is it?" I asked her.

"What do you mean?" she replied, pretending she didn't know what I was talking about. I stared pointedly at her, until she pursed her lips and sighed. "I was just wondering, when you say you haven't been jumping around for too long yet… How many times have you jumped then?"

I counted the times in my head. First, I had been with the raggedy Doctor, and now I was with the pinstripe-suit Doctor. "I've only jumped once to be honest," I said, and she stared at me wide-eyed.

"Really?" she asked, shock present in her voice. "Oh my god," she muttered.

I was just about to ask her what she meant with that, when we arrived at the console room, interrupting our conversation. My eyes fell upon the Doctor, who had his back to us, and I saw he was still wearing that brown pinstripe suit. He must've heard us enter the room, because he turned to face us, a huge smile beaming in my direction when he saw me.

"Jude! How nice of you to join us," he said excitedly. "The TARDIS notified me when you arrived, but she said you were asleep, so I just let you be. Did you have nice dreams?" he asked me, and I had trouble keeping up with him.

"What do you mean, when I arrived? I was with you…" I trailed off when I realized. Subconsciously I had already been feeling like something was a little 'different'. "I jumped in my sleep, didn't I?" I asked.

He nodded. "I think so, yeah."

"But how come I didn't notice it? I'm supposed to get this splitting headache…" but once again I trailed off, remembering the one I had woken up with. He rose his eyebrows at me in question. "Never mind," I said, shaking my head. "It's just taking some time to get used to everything, that's all."

His smile fell, and he glanced at Donna, who softly shook her head, before he looked back at me, frowning slightly. "Jude, how early is this for you?"

"I'd jumped only once before jumping in my sleep now, so this was my second jump," I answered him.

He turned away, trying to hide his disappointed face from me, but I saw it anyway. He stood there for a couple of seconds, before he turned back to me, his eyes wide as he seemed to have realized something.

"So that means the last time you were with me was the time I-" he said, but I broke him off.

"- the time you jumped my bones? Yeaaah," I said, nodding my head, smiling grimly.

His cheeks reddened a bit. "I'd appreciate it if you wouldn't mention that again."

"You were the one who brought it up," I said, shrugging. I'd rather not talk about it either, but I was discovering I liked to seem him squirm. "Besides, you didn't seem to mind it at the time."

His cheeks turned a little redder and I smirked.

We could hear someone clearing their throat and when I turned to my right, Donna was standing there, her arms crossed over her chest. "If you two want some privacy…" she said, and that wiped the smirk right off my face. Taking a few steps back, I quickly shook my head at her, the Doctor doing the same.

Clearing my throat, I asked, "Was that a long time ago, or didn't I jump that far this time?"

He shook his head. "Nah, just a couple of weeks. In the beginning the jumps are a little more irregular, more sporadic."

"I see," I nodded my head in understanding, shuffling my feet, feeling a little uncomfortable.

Then Donna – bless her – decided to speak up, sensing the awkwardness that was still hanging in the room. "So, what are we doing today?"

The Doctor turned his gaze from me to Donna. "Well, since this is going to be your first time traveling through time with me," he paused to glance at me, "and apparently Jude's as well, I thought we could go to… ancient Rome?" he asked expectantly, and I tilted my head in surprise. I didn't know he could also travel in time; but honestly, I shouldn't be surprised at this point.

I saw Donna's face light up almost immediately after he had sad the words 'ancient Rome'. "Oh yes! Please I'd love to go there!" she exclaimed.

The Doctor grinned at her, and then he turned to me. "Jude, what do you think?"

I shrugged. "Doesn't really matter all that much to me. But ancient Rome does sound nice," I told him, a small smile on my face.

He smiled widely back at me before turning to the console. "Alright then! Ancient Rome it is!"

Right on time, I reached out for something to hold, grabbing a metal bar beside me. As the TARDIS started wheezing and rumbling again, Donna grabbed ahold of the same bar as well. Having already traveled with the spaceship once before, I started to see the charm of it, understanding why the Doctor grins so much when doing it. Because it's fun, I realized, and I couldn't help but smile along.

When the TARDIS stopped, Donna squealed in excitement and rushed out the doors. I was just about to follow her in curiosity, when the Doctor's voice stopped me.

"Jude, hold on a minute please."

I turned around to watch him expectantly. He was fishing in his suit pocket for something. When he pulled his hand out, he held it closed in a fist, so I couldn't see what he was holding.

"Since this your first adventure with me, I guess I'm the one who should give you this. I never knew when you were supposed to get it, but apparently it's now," he said, and I looked at him in confusion.

"Turn around," he ordered. I raised my eyebrow at him, and he rolled his eyes as he added, "Please."

I did as he asked then, albeit a bit reluctantly still. An electric jolt went through my body when I felt his hand softly swipe my braid out of the way. I felt his fingers run across my neck and a shiver went down my spine. Then I felt something hit my chest and I guessed it was a necklace. When he stepped back, I looked down and picked up the pendant in my hand.

It was made of a material I didn't recognize, and although it looked like bronze, I was sure it wasn't that. On the pendant, there were engravings with a lot of circles and corners and a few short stripes. It was attached to a thin, black leather cord, now hanging comfortably around my neck. I had to admit, it was very pretty.

I turned and looked at him in question. He was watching me with a soft smile on his face, an emotion I couldn't place hidden within his eyes.

"What's this for?" I asked him.

He reached in the collar of his shirt and pulled something from underneath it. He held it out for me to see and I saw it was the same as the one he gave me.

"Why do you have one too? What does it do?" I asked him.

"These," he said, gesturing to our necklaces, "allow us to be separate from each other without the pain. If we both wear it, we can be pretty far away from each other, it's handy if we should become separated."

Fumbling with the pendant, I asked him, "How far exactly?" Maybe I could go home after all.

His expression saddened, and he seemed to have read my thoughts when he said, "It will prevent the pain, but only if we're actually in each other's existence. Our lives are tied now, we can't live away from one another anymore."

I sighed and looked down. "Alright," I muttered.

He was quiet for a while. Until he suddenly said my name, and I glanced up at him. "I'm really sorry. You do know that, right?"

Slowly nodding my head, I responded, "I know. It just sucks."

He didn't respond to that, but I could see a glimmer of hurt in his eyes. I was aware he felt bad about it, and that his apologies were sincere. But that didn't change the fact that from one day on another, my life had completely changed, without me having any say in it. Being sorry wasn't going to change that. I'll accept my fate, but he needed to give me some time to do so.

Sighing, I regarded the pendant more closely. "What do these engravings mean?" I inquired.

"It's Gallifreyan, the language of the Time Lords," he said, sounding a bit strained.

My eyebrows slightly rose in surprise. "Those circles, that's a language? What does it say?"

"Sorry Jude," he replied. "I can't tell you that yet."

"Why not?" I demanded, my gaze fixing on him again.

"Spoilers."

Ugh, there we go again. "I hate that word," I mumbled.

It seemed like the Doctor wanted to add something, but he got interrupted by Donna's head poking through the door. "Oi, lovebirds, are you coming or not!?"

"We're not lovebirds!" I called back at her, irritated by the outrageous suggestion. I marched up to the door, and after I caught a soft sigh behind me, I could hear the Doctor doing the same. Out of the corner of my eye I noticed him pick up a long brown coat.

Curious whether he had actually managed to bring us back in time, I walked out the door and into the bright daylight of what I was expecting to be ancient Rome. Well, not exactly. We appeared to have landed in a small room, behind an old curtain, so we couldn't see anything of Rome yet.

Donna and I waited for the Doctor to join us, and when he did, he stepped passed us, an excited grin on his face as he looked down at us. "So, ready?" he asked, and locked his eyes with mine. I could see the eagerness in them, and although I didn't really know what to think of him yet, I couldn't help but smile back at him. What can I say? He was like a child; his enthusiasm and excitement were infectious.

"You bet we are!" Donna exclaimed. "Come on, what are we waiting for, let's go!" I chuckled at her antics. Clearly the Doctor wasn't the only one who was excited. And to be honest, I was feeling just a little bit of curiosity and excitement as well. Alright, I'll admit it, that was a lie; I was very curious and excited.

He beamed at us both one last time, before pushing the curtain out of the way and finally leading us into… "Ancient Rome!" he announced.

Since Donna and the Doctor were both standing in the opening, I had to wait behind them and couldn't see anything yet. But I could hear, and smell. It appeared we had landed at a marketplace, for I could hear venders trying to sell their goods to passersby, and I could smell the scents of fish, meat and all sorts of herbs.

When they stepped out of the way, I could see I was right; we had indeed landed where I thought we had. All sorts of people were wandering about, dressed in Roman garbs. My mouth fell open in an amazed smile. We actually traveled back in time! I couldn't believe it!

I could feel eyes on me as I looked around in wonder, and when I turned around, I could see the Doctor watch me with a happy and fond smile. The irreversible situation I found myself in momentarily forgotten, I grinned back at him; the amazement still clear on my face. "We're in ancient Rome! We are really here!"

"Indeed, we are!" He grinned madly. "Well, to them it's obviously not 'Ancient'. To all intents and purposes, right now, this is brand new Rome."

Donna was excited, too. "Oh my God, it's so… Roman! This is fantastic!" she exclaimed, hugging the Doctor.

"I'm here, in Rome, Donna Noble, in Rome. This is just weird! I mean, everyone here's dead," she said, her face falling at the last part.

I smirked at her. "Well, aren't you just a ray of sunshine."

The Doctor agreed with me, "Yeah, you better don't tell them that."

While we were talking, we had begun strolling over the market. Donna was very excited to be here, until she spotted something over the Doctor's shoulder.

"Hold on a minute," she said, and pointed at a sign behind us. I looked over and read the sign: 'Two amphoras for the price of one'. "That's English; are you having us on, are we in Epcot?"

I stood next to Donna and crossed my arms, narrowing my eyes at him. "Yeah, I'd like to know that as well, you better explain yourself."

"No, no, no," he immediately said, trying to reassure us. "That's the TARDIS translation circuits, just makes it look like English. Speech as well, you're talking Latin right now."

"Seriously?" Donna asked him.

"Uh huh."

Donna snorted. "I just said 'seriously' in Latin."

"Oh yeah," the Doctor said, grinning.

"But wait," I said, making them both look at me. "How does that work? Does she get in our brains and… changes something there?"

"Yep," the Doctor answered, popping the 'p'. "You don't even notice her doing it. It comes in handy a lot. Saves us a lot of trouble."

"I can imagine that," I muttered. "I only speak English and a little bit of French, so I'm glad Sexy helps us out." I didn't want to imagine walking around here and getting lost, with literally no one speaking English. And I didn't have Italian classes in school.

His head snapped down to me. "What did you just say?" he asked me.

"Nothing special?" I said, frowning. Why would that matter to him? He kept staring at me, so I sighed and said, "I only said that I was glad that Sexy helps us out."

"How do you know that name?" he asked, and then I realized. The TARDIS said that the Doctor called her that, but I probably was not supposed to know that. Ha, I love you Sexy, thanks for giving me ammunition.

I smirked. "I bet you would just love to know that, wouldn't you?"

He had his 'not amused' expression on, and opened his mouth to talk, when Donna interrupted.

"What if I said something in actual Latin? Like, 'Veni, vidi, vici'? My dad said that when he came back from football. If I said 'Veni, vidi, vici' to that lot, what would it sound like?"

We turned to face Donna, the Doctor a bit reluctantly. "I'm not sure. You have to think of difficult questions, don't you?" he said.

"I'm gonna try it," she said and walked over to one of the venders around us.

I watched in amusement as Donna conversed with the stallholder, until I heard my name.

"Jude," the Doctor called out to me and I turned my head to him. "How did you know about 'Sexy'? And serious now, no more jokes," he said as I had started to smirk at him again.

Sighing, I admitted, "She told me so herself."

"She did?" he said, his eyebrows shooting up in surprise. I just nodded. "So, she recognizes young Jude as well," he muttered, his voice barely above a whisper.

"What?" I asked him, not sure I heard him right.

He shook his head. "Doesn't matter," he said, a small smile on his lips.

At that moment Donna came back over to us, done talking to the stallholder. "How does he mean, Celtic?" she asked the Doctor.

"Welsh. You sound Welsh. There we are, learnt something," he answered.

We started wandering around again, making our way through the market. I saw some nice things on display; bracelets, necklaces and dresses, as well as clay pots and vases with intricate drawings on them. I wanted to stop and take a closer look at them, but I didn't bother to ask because I didn't have any money anyway. Though I'd rather dress a bit more fitting to this period of time. Our clothes must look a bit out of place, I thought while looking down on my jeans and black Converse.

"Don't our clothes look a bit odd?" Donna asked, seeming to have picked up on my trail of thoughts.

"Yeah, shouldn't we follow that ancient saying? When in Rome…" I started.

"… Do as the Romans do," Donna finished my sentence, and we grinned at each other.

The Doctor just shook his head at us. "Nah, ancient Rome, anything goes. It's like Soho, but bigger."

"You've been here before then?" Donna questioned.

I felt a tickling feeling on the back of my neck, like we were being watched, or followed. Turning my head to look at Donna and the Doctor, I discreetly looked out of the corners of my eyes, but couldn't spot anything out of the ordinary. I looked back ahead, but the tickling feeling remained.

"Mm. Ages ago," the Doctor answered Donna's question. "Before you ask, that fire had nothing to do with me. Well... a little bit. But I haven't got the chance to look around properly. Colosseum, Pantheon, Circus Maximus... you'd expect them to be looming by now. Where is everything?"

He looked around a bit, then said, "Let's try this way."

We turned into an alley, and walked into a bigger street, which looked like it could be the main street. In the distance, we could see a single, tall mountain. Wait, what….?

"Only one mountain, does that seem right to you?" I asked them both.

Donna shook her head. "Yeah, I'm not an expert, but there's seven hills of Rome, aren't there?"

The three of us watched the one mountain. "How come they've only got one?"

As soon as Donna finished talking, the ground started to shake and rumble. I started losing my balance, but the doctor grabbed me by the elbow, sending an electric jolt through my body. He held me close to him, making sure I didn't fall. All around us we could see the venders holding onto their goods, although here and there some pots and vases fell to the ground and broke. We could hear them say stuff like, 'here we go again!', like they were used to it.

"Oh fuck," I cursed softly, making the Doctor look over at me with disapproval. "I don't think we're in Rome…"

Donna was thinking along the same lines as I was. "One mountain with smoke. Which makes this..."

"Pompeii," the Doctor finished gloomily. "We're in Pompeii. And it is Volcano Day," he stated, and I could feel his grip on my arm tightening a bit, as if he wanted to keep me very close to him, like if he didn't, he would lose me.

As soon as the shaking stopped, and I could stand again without the risk of falling down, I pulled myself loose from his tight grip. Only to swat him on the arm. "You brought us to Pompeii?! You actually brought us to Pompeii on Volcano Day?!" I hit his arm again. "What were you thinking?! Do you want us to die?!"

Raising my hand again, he stopped me by grabbing my wrists, sending that electric jolt through my body again. I had noticed it happened every time he touched me, so I started to think less and less about it. It wasn't painful or unpleasant, it was just odd.

I struggled in his grip, angry tears brimming my eyes. "Jude," he said, trying to get me to stop struggling, which I didn't; still not keen on him touching me. "Jude! Stop it!" A few tears were leaking over now. "Judith, stop it and look at me!"

The full use of my name startling me, I finally stopped fighting, and slowly looked up at him. His eyes were full of regret, which intensified when he saw the tears on my cheeks.

"I am sorry. I am so, so sorry. I didn't mean to come here; I made a mistake and I admit it. Now, I know you are scared–" he said, but I interrupted him.

"Scared? You think I'm scared? I'm fucking terrified!" I snapped at him.

"Jude, language," he scolded me, and I raised my hand to hit him again. Who was he to scold me?!

I felt a hand on my shoulder and dropped my hand. I turned around and saw Donna watching me with a soft look. "Come on, sweetie. We need to get out of here, you can always yell at him later."

Taking a deep breath, I wiped the tears away and nodded. She was right. We really needed to leave, that was the most important thing right now. The Doctor walked over to us, but I didn't look at him. "Let's get back to the TARDIS," he said softly.

He began running in the direction we came from, me and Donna following him. We ran through the same streets we strolled through earlier, only now shards of clay littered the ground. We reached the curtain where he had placed the TARDIS behind, but we made an unpleasant discovery. The TARDIS was gone.

"This cannot be happening…" I whimpered, pulling a hand through my hair. The Doctor put his hand on my shoulder, sending that electric jolt through me again, but I shook it off, still annoyed with him.

Donna reached us, panting. I didn't even notice she wasn't there at the same time as us. "You're kidding. You're not telling me the TARDIS is gone?"

"…Okay," he said.

Donna and I both looked over at him. "Where is it then?"

He looked at us, seeming at a loss of words. "You… you told me not to tell you…"

I rolled my eyes and groaned in frustration. "Really?!"

"Don't get clever in Latin!" Donna sassed at him, as exasperated as I was.

He regarded us sheepishly before walking off towards the vender Donna was talking to earlier. We glanced at each other before taking off after him.

"Excuse me, excuse me, there was a box, big blue box, big blue wooden box, just over there," he said, pointing in the direction where the TARDIS had been. "Where has it gone?" he asked the vender, his voice going slightly high-pitched in his panic.

"Sold it, didn't I?" the stallholder told him, his expression smug.

I couldn't believe it. He sold our only way out of here! Oh, I was going to kill him! I stalked off towards him. "Oi! You!" I exclaimed, pointing at the self-satisfied man. "Yeah you!" I said when he looked at me. "Who gave you the right to sell that?!"

"It wasn't yours to sell!" the Doctor added.

"It was on my patch, weren't it? I got 15 sesterces for it, lovely jubbly," he said, rubbing his hands together.

The greed visible in his eyes, I stomped closer to him, ready to hit him. "Oh you little-" I started, but got interrupted by the Doctor swinging an arm around my waist, holding me back.

"Let me go!" I snapped, glaring at the vender who watched me nervously. "That pig sold Sexy!"

"I know," he said bitterly. "But violence isn't going to get her back. Now stay calm, please." He let me go, and I stepped away from him, crossing my arms over my chest while glaring at the stallholder.

"Who did you sell it to?" the Doctor asked him, his voice still a little high-pitched.

"Old Caecilius. Look, if you want to argue, why don't you take it out with him? He's on Foss Street, big villa, can't miss it."

"Thanks," the Doctor said, but he didn't mean it, obviously.

He ran off but returned almost instantly. "What did he buy a big wooden box for?!"

The vender shrugged. "How should I know? Ask him that."

After that he and Donna took off running, but I didn't follow them immediately. I calmly walked over towards the vender who was still staring at me nervously, until I was only an inch away from him.

"You know what?" I said to him, and I could hear him swallow anxiously. "You'll regret doing this. And do you know how I know that?" He shook his head. "Because I know you'll die soon, and when your whole life flashes by in front of your eyes, you'll regret doing this to the one man who could have helped you." He gulped, and I smiled sweetly at him. "Enjoy the rest of your pathetic life."

Turning around I began trailing after the Doctor and Donna, hoping they wouldn't be too far ahead yet. I had only just started running, when I heard someone behind me. Turning my head, I saw the Doctor walk up to me. When he noticed I had spotted him, his somber expression turned into a little smile.

"There you are," he said when he reached me. "I was looking for you. Come on, let's go see this 'Caecilius' person."

---

The Doctor's POV

When he noticed Jude wasn't with them, he treaded back to go and find her. Because this was young Jude, he had to be careful with her. She had quite a temper.

He reached the place where the vender had his stall and hid behind another stall to see what she was up to.

"You'll regret doing this. And do you know how I know that? Because I know you'll die within 24 hours, and when your whole life flashes by in front of your eyes, you'll regret doing this to the one man who could have helped you. Enjoy the rest of your pathetic life."

He paled when he overheard her say those words. They didn't contain her characteristic warmth or sweetness. They were cold, and cruel. He would like to be able to say he had forgotten how cruel his Jude could be, but he would be lying. Because he would never forget that, he just couldn't.

But he knew this was only young Jude. He knew what was still bothering her, and he knew that him appearing in her life would help her get over it.

And he also knew she only did this out of love for him. She didn't know it yet, but he did. And he loved knowing that even a version of Jude that was this young already felt protective of him, even if she didn't realize it was because of him that she was acting this way.

She walked past him, and after taking a deep breath, he stepped out of the shadows. He followed her, all the while taking her in while she wasn't aware of it. He did really love her, but he couldn't show it with this version of his Jude. That was the ground rule in all his incarnations. Be careful around young Jude.

She must have sensed him following her, because she turned around and spotted him. He quickly turned his frown upside down and walked over to her.

"There you are," he said with a relieved smile. "I was looking for you. Come on, let's go see this 'Caecilius' person."

They took off, looking for Foss Street. He wanted to take her hand while they ran, like he usually did, but he knew he couldn't.

Stupid no-touching-policy.

---

Jude's POV

Having finally found Foss Street, we ran back, looking for Donna. We collided with her when she approached us from the opposite direction.

"I've got it! Foss Street, this way!" the Doctor told Donna.

I cleared my throat. "Ahem, we've got it."

Rolling his eyes at me, he turned around and tried to take us with him to Foss Street, but Donna stopped him. "No, wait! I found this big sort of amphitheater thing, we should start there, we can gather everyone together, maybe if we got a great big bell or something, we could ring it. Have they invented bells yet?"

I gasped and a smile started forming on my lips. Donna wanted to save everyone! This might be the exact reason why we ended up here instead of actual Rome; to save everybody! This was no mistake; this must be destiny. Ever since learning about it in school, the tragedy of Pompeii broke my heart, every time again. All those people that died, all those children… No. Not anymore. We were going to stop all that death. Being from the future and knowing what's going to happen, there must be something we could do, right?

"What do you want a bell for?" the Doctor asked her, confused.

"To warn everyone! Start the evacuation! What time does Vesuvius erupt, when's it due?" Donna answered.

"It's 79AD, 23rd of August, which makes volcano day tomorrow!" he said.

If we do this right, we've got more than enough time to fix this, I thought. Donna shared that thought. "Plenty of time! We could get everyone out, easy!"

"Yeah, except we're not going to," the Doctor declared, grabbing our arms and dragging us with him.

Donna and I glanced at each other and nodded. One look said enough. We both wanted to change this and change it we will. We pulled our arms out of his grip.

"You would just let all of these people die?!" I asked him incredulously.

He tried to answer me, but Donna interrupted him.

"But that's what you do; you're the Doctor, you save people!" she added.

"Not this time; Pompeii is a fixed point in history, what happens happens, there is no stopping it." He turned around to leave again, and reached for my arm, but I snatched it back before he could even touch it.

Donna pulled him back. "Says who?"

"Says me!"

"And that means we should just listen to you and do as you say?" I snapped at him.

He nodded his head. "Yes! And you especially!"

"Oh, and why's that? Why me especially?!"

"Because you're still very young, and this is only your first time in the past. You still have a lot to learn!" he snapped right back at me.

"Does being 'young' mean I'm stupid? Because I'm not, you know! I can make my own decisions, thank you very much!"

He breathed out heavily. "Why can't you just be like your older selves, they listen at least a bit to me."

Feeling like he had slapped me, I stepped back, not realizing we had been standing only an inch away from each other.

I could tell from his face that he immediately regretted saying that. "Jude-" he started, but I held up my hand, stopping him. Facing away from him, I could feel tears brimming my eyes. I wasn't going to lie; that hurt. The way the Doctor spoke just now, reminded me of him. And I'd been trying very hard to forget about it, about what happened, but it was all being brought back up now.

Feeling a hand on my shoulder, I looked up and Donna was standing in front of me. "You okay?" she asked me softly.

I nodded my head, wiping the few tears that had managed to leak away. "I'm fine. I just need a little moment. You go ahead and try to get some sense into that thick head of his, okay?"

She gave me a reassuring smile, rubbing my shoulder. "Okay, honey."

After that I could hear her talking with the Doctor, but I wasn't paying attention. If we were to survive this, and save others too, I needed to calm down. I breathed in, and out, trying to relax myself in the way my mum taught me; breathing exercises.

Breathe in, hold it for 7 seconds, and breathe out. Breathe in, hold it for 7 seconds, and breathe out. Breathe in, hold it for 7 seconds, and breathe out. Breathe in, hold it –

My mantra got interrupted by Donna pulling on my arm. "Come on, Jude, he has run off again."

A bit calmer now, I nodded my head and together we went after the thickheaded alien. We caught up with him and together we arrived at the house of Caecilius. We barged right in when the earth began to shake and rumble again.

The Doctor caught a statue right before it could fall to the floor and break. A grey-haired man came into view, I guessed him around the age of 50.

The mini earthquake stopped, and the Doctor placed the statue back in its place. "There you go."

"Thank you, kind sir," the man who I guessed to be Caecilius said. "I'm afraid business is closed for the day. I'm expecting a visitor."

"Oh, but that's us, we're visitors. Hello!" he said, grinning widely, and shook Caecilius' hand, who looked at him in suspicion, trailing after the Doctor when he proceeded into his home.

"Who are you?" he confronted him.

"I am… Spartacus," the Doctor said, and I face palmed. Seriously?!

But what shocked me even more, was what came spilling out of Donna's mouth after he said that. "And so am I."

"Are you two for real?" I hissed at them from my position behind them, but I couldn't hide my little amused smile.

They both ignored me, and so did Caecilius. "Mr. and Mrs. Spartacus?"

"Oh no, no, no, we're not, we're not married," the Doctor immediately clarified.

"We're not together," Donna added, pointing between her and the Doctor.

"Oh, then brother and sister? Yes of course! You look very much alike!"

The Doctor and Donna looked at each other, and said at the same time, "Really?" the lack of enthusiasm at that statement evident in their voices.

I snorted. "Serves you right for both choosing the name 'Spartacus'. You do know we're not actually in a movie, right?" I half-whispered to them.

Caecilius turned to me then. "And who might you be, young lady?"

I stepped forwards, smiled warmly at him, and was just about to answer, when the Doctor beat me to it. "Ah yes, this is my dear wife, Calista," he said, swinging an arm around my shoulder.

My smile fell and I looked up at him with wide eyes, anger filling them. He met my gaze nervously, but then he pointed his eyes back at Caecilius, who was watching us questioningly. Sighing, knowing I had no other choice now, I put my smile back on. "Yes, that's me, nice to meet you," I spoke politely, reaching my hand out for him to shake it.

He smiled back at me. "Yes, nice to meet you too. Your name suits you quite well." But instead of shaking my hand, he gently grabbed it and pressed a kiss on the back of my hand.

I kept smiling politely at him, and feeling the Doctor's arm stiffen around my shoulder, my smile turned into a genuine one. Seemed like the alien didn't like that… Hmm, interesting. But, I also wondered what Caecilius had meant when he said my name fit me. What did 'Calista' mean? I should look that up later when I get the chance.

When the man turned his attention away from me, I shrugged the Doctor's arm off my shoulder. I couldn't believe he said I was his wife! That was so unnecessary. I could have just told them I was their cousin Ariadne, or something, like I was going to. He had not seen the last of this.

"I'm sorry, but I'm not open for trade," Caecilius apologized to the three of us.

"And that trade would be…?" the Doctor inquired.

"Marble. Lobus Caecilius. Mining, polishing and design thereof. If you want marble, I'm your man."

"That's good. That's good, 'cause I'm the marble inspector," the Doctor said, flashing a blank piece of paper at Caecilius.

"Marble inspector?" I silently asked him. "And what was that paper for? There was nothing on it."

He winked at me, but didn't say anything, passing Caecilius and proceeding further into the house. Donna and I followed.

"By the gods of commerce, an inspection!" a woman who I guessed must be Caecilius' wife exclaimed. She took away a goblet of wine from a young man who was just about to drink. "I'm sorry, sir. I do apologize for my son," she said while emptying the goblet into the pond behind them.

"Oi!" the boy snapped at his mother. I studied him. He looked like he was not that much younger than me, seventeen, eighteen maybe.

"And this is my good wife, Metella," Caecilius introduced. "I... I must confess, we're not prepared for –" he started, but the Doctor interrupted him.

"Nothing to worry about, I'm - I'm sure you've nothing to hide," the Doctor reassured them.

At that moment I noticed the TARDIS in the corner of the room, and I nudged the Doctor with my elbow, nodding my head at the time machine. He gave me a small smile and continued.

"Although, frankly, that object looks rather like wood to me," he said pointing at the TARDIS. He moved towards it, Donna and I close behind him.

Metella turned to her husband. "I told you to get rid of it," she hissed.

Caecilius rushed over to us. "I only bought it today!" he said in an apologizing way. I felt bad for the man. He couldn't help it that that pig at the market sold him something that wasn't even his to sell. He only bought it because he liked it, and now he was put through an 'inspection', which was clearly giving him a lot of stress. Poor man. I really wished we could save them, save everyone.

"Ah, well... Caveat emptor," the Doctor said.

"Oh, you're Celtic. That's lovely," Caecilius responded a bit awkwardly, not knowing what the Doctor just said.

"I'm sure it's fine, but I might have to take it off your hands, for a proper inspection."

"Although while we're here," Donna started, nudging me in my side with her elbow to make sure I was paying attention to what she was saying. "Wouldn't you recommend a holiday, Spartacus?" she said to the Doctor.

I had trouble fighting back a smile when I figured out where she was going with this. It wasn't the best of ideas, but hey, it was worth a shot. I would do anything to save as much people as I could. "Yeah, dear husband of mine, don't they need some time off?"

He eyed us; his eyes narrowed slightly. "I don't know what you mean, Spartacus, dear wife of mine."

"Oh, this lovely family. Mother and father and son. Don't you think they should get out of town?" Donna asked.

I stood before him, and fidgeted with his collar, staring deeply into his eyes, playing the role of wife in front of this family. I had trouble keeping a laugh from breaking through on my face while the Doctor on the other hand seemed quite nervous at my close proximity. "My lovely Spartacus, I do believe a holiday is in order here, wouldn't you agree?" He cleared his throat, uncomfortable. Although I could see something else in his eyes as well, but I couldn't name it.

"Why should we do that?" Caecilius questioned, confused. "Why do we need a holiday?"

"Well, the volcano for starters," Donna said, dropping the act. I pouted as I stepped away from the Doctor. Couldn't she have kept the act going for a little bit longer? I was just having fun making him squirm again, which I definitely realized I enjoyed doing, very much so. He looked relieved that I stepped away from him, but also the tiniest bit… disappointed? Nah, I must have misunderstood that.

"What?" Caecilius asked, bewildered. His wife looked puzzled as well.

"Volcano," Donna repeated.

They didn't seem like they understood yet. "What-ano?"

"That great big volcano right on your doorstep..."

"Oh, Spartacus, for shame," the Doctor butted in, putting his hands onto Donna's shoulders. "We haven't even greeted the household gods yet." He started dragging her away, until he looked back and said, "You too, dear wife of mine." God, this is getting ridiculous, I thought as I followed them to a shrine.

When we got to there, he started sprinkling wine over the altar, gesturing for us to do the same. "They don't know what it is. Vesuvius is just a mountain to them; the top hasn't blown off yet. The Romans haven't even got a word for volcano. Not until tomorrow," he spoke quietly.

"Oh, great, they can learn a new word. As they die," Donna answered him sarcastically.

"Donna, stop it," the Doctor scolded her.

"No, Donna is right," I said. "I can't believe you're just going to let this happen. All those people out there, all those children… Don't they deserve saving?"

"Yes, they do. But Jude –" he started, but Donna interrupted him.

"Listen, I don't know what sort of kids you've been flying round with in space," she said, before quickly glancing at me. "No offense sweetie, you know I don't mean you," she assured, before turning back to the Doctor and continuing, "but you're not telling me to shut up. Or Jude, for that matter. That boy, how old is he? Sixteen? And tomorrow, he burns to death," she said, pointing at the boy behind us.

"And that's my fault?" he asked us.

Rationally speaking, it wasn't. It's not like he wanted it to happen, I knew that. But I didn't want to admit that because that would be like letting him win. So, I didn't answer him. I let Donna do that for me.

"Right now, yes."

I sighed. "Listen, it doesn't matter whose fault it is. What matters is that we save those people," I said, turning to look him in the eyes. "Please, Doctor."

He stared back into my eyes, looking torn. It seemed like he was just about to answer when we suddenly heard a servant speak up behind us.

"Announcing Lucius Petrus Dextrus, Chief Augur of the City Government."

We turned to look at the door, and saw another grey-haired man enter. He wore a cloak that hid most of his body. This must be the visitor Caecilius had told us about.

"Lucius. My pleasure, as always," Caecilius greeted the newcomer, while his wife reprimanded their son for not standing up at the arrival of the visitor. "A rare and great honor, sir, for you to come to my house..." he said, reaching out his hand, but the man called Lucius didn't shake it. What a jerk; the least you can do for someone who let you into their home is shake their hand. Instantly, I knew we weren't going to get along.

But then he finally spoke up. "The birds are flying north, and the wind is in the west."

"What?" I commented, baffled.

Caecilius looked confused as well. "Quite. Absolutely. That's good, is it?"

"Only the grain of wheat knows where it will grow."

"There now, Metella," Caecilius said, beckoning his wife over. "Have you ever heard such wisdom?"

"Never," Metella answered, smiling warmly. "It's an honor."

Wisdom? They call that wisdom…? He was just talking sheer nonsense, I thought, scoffing.

At that moment Caecilius seemed to remember we were there as well. "Pardon me, sir, I have guests, this is Spartacus and... Spartacus. And his wife, Calista."

The Doctor and Donna waved at Lucius, but I just nodded my head, and gave a very small forced smile.

"A name is but a cloud upon a summer wind," Lucius said, and I sighed. Couldn't he just talk like every other normal human being?

"But the wind is felt most keenly in the dark," the Doctor answered and I mentally facepalmed. Was he being serious right now, joining him?

"Ah!" Lucius exclaimed, taking it as a challenge. "But what is the dark, other than an omen of the sun?"

"I concede that every sun must set..." the Doctor started.

"Hah!" Lucius snapped, thinking he had already won their ridiculous little match.

"... and yet the son of the father must also rise," he finished.

"Fair. Very clever, Sir," he said. I let out a breath of relief, glad he was finally speaking normally for the first time since he entered the house. "Evidently, a man of learning."

I couldn't help but smile a little at the fact that he had acknowledged his defeat and admitted the Doctor had won. Not that I care about that. Not in the slightest.

"Oh, yes. But don't mind me, don't want to disturb the status quo."

"Veni, vidi, vici, right?" I said, nudging the Doctor in his side, grinning up at him. Oh, I just couldn't resist. I saw the opportunity and took it. He grinned back happily at me, glad I was joking with him, even though I was still a bit pissed.

Because we had spoken in Latin, Caecilius felt the need to explain, "They're Celtic."

"We'll be off in a minute," the Doctor said, laying an arm around our shoulders, guiding us to the TARDIS.

"I'm not going," Donna said.

"And neither am I!" I said. "We must've landed here for a reason, and that reason is this. We need to save these people!"

In the background, we could hear Caecilius talking to Lucius, but I wasn't paying attention to them.

"You've got to," the Doctor said to us.

"I'm not," Donna said.

"You don't have a choice."

"Well, you're not giving us one," I muttered.

We had almost reached the TARDIS, when we heard Caecilius announce, "And here it is!" We turned around to see what he was talking about, and saw him reveal a… circuit?

"Exactly as you've specified. It pleases you, sir?" Caecilius demanded Lucius.

"As the rain pleases the soil."

I smiled when we stepped away from the TARDIS. "Of course, just when things are starting to get weird, you want to stay. Why doesn't that surprise me?"

He gazed down at me, a small smile on his face. "Oh, shut up." He turned his head back to the circuit. "Oh, now that's... different. Who designed that, then?"

"My Lord Lucius was very specific," Caecilius answered the Doctor.

"Where did you get the pattern?"

"On the rain and mist and wind," Lucius answered vaguely.

Donna turned to us. "But that looks like a circuit."

"A circuit made out of marble," I stated. "It seems a bit out of time, doesn't it?"

The Doctor just nodded his head, sensing trouble.

"Do you mean you just dreamt that thing up?" Donna asked Lucius.

"That is my job. As City Augur," Lucius replied.

I snorted when Donna answered, "What's that, then, like the mayor?"

The Romans in the room stared at Donna as if she just grew a second head. The Doctor laughed, trying to defuse the situation. "You must excuse my friend, she's from... Barcelona."

He then turned to us. "This is an age of superstition, of official superstition. The Augur is paid by the city to tell the future. 'The wind will blow from the west', that's the equivalent of Ten O'clock News," the Doctor explained quietly.

Behind us I saw a girl enter the room. She wore a light-yellow dress and had a bandage of sorts around her arm in the same color. I frowned at how pale she was, she looked like she was very sick.

"They're laughing at us. Those three, they use words like tricksters, they're mocking us," she spoke, sounding just as ill as she appeared to be.

Everyone turned around to look at her. She was wobbling on her feet just slightly.

"No, no, no. I meant no offence," the Doctor apologized, surprised.

Metella rushed towards her daughter. "I'm sorry, my daughter's been consuming the vapors."

I tilted my head and narrowed my eyes. "What vapors?" She looked at me, letting me know she had heard me, but she didn't respond. Whatever it was, it didn't sound like it was a good thing.

"Oh, for gods, mother, what have you been doing to her?" the girl's brother butted in.

"Not now, Quintus," Caecilius scolded his son, whom I now finally knew the name of.

"Yeah but she's sick, just look at her!" he snapped, pointing at his sister.

"I gather I have a rival in this household. Another with the gift," Lucius spoke up, his eyes narrowed at the young girl.

Metella wrapped her arms around her daughter's shoulder, proud. "Oh, she's been promised to the Sibylline Sisterhood. They say she has remarkable visions."

"The prophecies of women are limited and dull, only the menfolk have the capacity for true perception."

My mouth dropped open. What did he just say? "What do you have against women?! I'll show you limited and dull, you little –" I said threateningly, stepping towards him, but the Doctor grabbed my arm, giving me a warning look.

But Donna didn't agree with it either. "I'll tell you where the wind's blowing right now, mate." As soon as the ginger finished speaking, the earth shook again.

"The Mountain God marks your words. I'd be careful, if I were you," Lucius warned, staring at both Donna and me.

"Consuming the vapors, you said?" the Doctor questioned Metella and her daughter, letting go of my arm, trusting me to stay put.

"They give me strength," the girl answered.

I snorted. Yeah right. "Try to fool someone else, will you?" I muttered, and the Doctor gave me a scolding look.

But he agreed with me. "It doesn't look like it to me," he noted.

"Is that your opinion... as a doctor?"

I froze. How did this girl know that? "Did she just call you Doctor, or did I imagine that bit?" I whispered.

He just nodded his head, not even looking at me, freaked out as well. "I beg your pardon?" he asked her.

"Doctor, that's your name," the girl replied.

"How did you know that?" the Doctor asked her, taken aback.

"Yes Doctor, how did she know that?" I hissed, drawing her attention to me.

"You," she said, looking me directly in the eyes. "You are the one they call Evans, although that is not your real name."

A shiver ran down my spine, but I ignored it, narrowing my eyes at her. "I think I know my own name, thank you very much," I snapped at her, but she looked past me, at Donna.

"And you, you call yourself Noble."

"Now then, Evelina, don't be rude," Metella scolded her daughter, but she sounded nervous, as if she wasn't quite understanding what was going on herself either.

"No, no, no, no, let her talk," the Doctor remarked.

The girl continued, as if in a trance. "You three come from so far away."

"The female soothsayer is inclined to invent all sorts of vagaries," Lucius spoke up, still set on the idea that women were lesser than him.

The Doctor didn't quite agree with him. "Oh, not this time, Lucius. No, I reckon you've been out-soothsaid."

"Is that so... man from… Gallifrey?"

I felt the Doctor stiffening beside me as his eyes widened. "…What?"

"Strangest of images... your home is lost in fire, is it not?"

The Doctor opened his mouth but didn't say anything. I pulled on his sleeve. "Doctor, how do they know these things? They're not actual psychics, are they?"

"Yes, we are, daughter of the blue box," Lucius answered me.

I furrowed my brow. "I'm sorry, but what? What's that supposed to mean?"

But he ignored me and faced Donna instead. "And you, daughter of… London."

"How does he know that?" Donna asked the Doctor, panicking.

But it was Lucius who answered her. "This is the gift of Pompeii. Every single oracle tells the truth."

"That's impossible."

But he ignored her, turning to the Doctor and me again. "Doctor, Judith... she is returning."

The Doctor and I looked at each other in question before he questioned the male soothsayer. "Who is? Who's 'she'?"

Lucius looked solely at me then. "You will find him again, she who's not aware of who she really is."

I frowned. "My name is Judith Nova Evans, and I think I know who I am, thank you very much" I said, dropping the role of 'Calista'.

"I wasn't talking about your fake name. I meant real name, your real identity."

Here we go again. "I know bloody well what my own name is, why do you keep insisting it isn't?" I snapped.

He ignored me, turning to Donna again. "And you, daughter of London... there is something on your back."

Donna subconsciously moved her hand towards her back. "What does that mean?" she asked, spooked.

"Even the word 'doctor' is false," Evelina spoke. "Your real name is hidden. It burns in the stars, in the Cascade of Medusa herself. You are a Lord, sir. A Lord... of Time."

Right after she said those words, she collapsed to the ground. "Evelina!" her mother yelled worriedly, and bent over her, the Doctor doing the same.

---

"She didn't mean to be rude, she's ever such a good girl. But when the gods speak through her..." Metella muttered while sitting down next to her daughter.

She, Donna and I were sitting in a back room with Evelina laying down on a sort of sofa bed, still unconscious. Donna and I were standing at the side, our eyes on the pale girl. Metella started unwrapping the light-yellow bandage/scarf around Evelina's arm, revealing her arm had turned grey underneath it.

"What's wrong with her arm?" Donna asked Metella, frowning.

"Irritation of the skin. She never complains, bless her. We bathe it in olive oil every night."

Donna and I stepped closer to get a better look. "What is that?" I asked, concerned for the poor girl.

The mother raised her worried gaze from her daughter to us. "Evelina said you'd come from far away. Please, have you ever seen anything like this…?"

I exchanged a look with Donna, and we moved up to the bed, touching the grey area on Evelina's arm. My eyes widened in shock. "Is that what I think it is?" I asked softly.

Donna, eyes widened as well, nodded. "It's stone…"

After that, the conversation fell silent, as we did not know what else to say. It was obvious we never saw anything like what was happening with Evelina's arm. How does one's arm just turn to stone? It was also obvious how worried her mother was. Although she was acting all proud and stuck up about her daughter earlier, for which I blamed her at that time, seeing how sick her daughter was; I now realized she was also terrified of what was happening to Evelina, and she regained some of my respect.

She left us shortly after that, allowing her daughter to rest. The Doctor popped in once too, to tell us he was going out for a bit. He asked me to come, but I told him I'd rather stay with Donna and Evelina. I could tell he'd rather have me tagging along with him, but he also understood I was worried for the still unconscious girl.

Donna and I talked for a bit, quietly, until Evelina woke up. We asked her how she was feeling, but she acted normal, as if nothing had happened earlier. And to be honest, she looked like she felt okay again as well, so there was nothing we could say on the matter. Evelina on the other hand, insisted we changed from our "travel clothes", and offered us togas and sandals from their own closets. Donna and I didn't need to be told twice, we were given a chance to wear real Roman togas, and we were definitely taking it.

About fifteen minutes later, Donna and I were standing in front of the young girl, making her laugh with our silly poses. Donna had chosen a rich purple one with short sleeves and a shawl draped over it, the color matching nicely with her ginger hair. I myself had chosen a sleeveless, dark green one, with a split on the left side running from the half of my thigh down to my ankles. The neckline was a little too open for my tastes, but since I had a shawl too, I could deal with that. A little higher, the necklace with the bronze pendant the Doctor had given me earlier was laying lightly on my chest, the edge nearly touching my cleavage.

"You're not supposed to laugh," Donna jokingly scolded Evelina. "Thanks for that. What do you think? The Goddess Venus," she said, posing in a way that was supposed to look royally. Evelina laughed at her, and I joined the young girl's laughter. Donna playfully hit me on my arm. "As if you're looking any better, posing like that!"

"Oh, that's sacrilege, the both of you!" she giggled.

"It's nice to see you laugh again though," I said, sitting down next to her. Donna took a seat on her other side.

"What do you do in old Pompeii then, girls your age? You got... mates? Do you go hanging about round the shops? TK Maximus?" Donna inquired.

"And how about boyfriends?" I added.

Evelina shook her head, albeit a bit sadly. "I am promised to the Sisterhood for the rest of my life." She blushed. "And having a boy courting me is forbidden. I have to save myself for the Sisterhood."

I felt sorry for the girl. "Is that what you really want though?"

"Yeah, don't you get any choice in that?" Donna questioned.

"It's not my decision. The Sisters chose for me. I have the gift of sight," she said, and she sounded as if she was actually feeling okay about that. As if she had accepted that fate.

"And you can't refuse? I mean, what if you don't want to?" I asked her softly.

She looked away, down at the floor. "Even if I could refuse, mother wouldn't let me, she's too proud of me. I just couldn't; I don't want to disappoint her."

I just nodded my head in understanding. I got why she felt obligated to go through with it, I really did. I didn't know if I'd make the same choice, but I understood.

It was quiet for a short while, before Donna spoke up. "What can you see happening tomorrow?"

She looked up. "Is tomorrow special?"

"You tell me. What do you see?"

Evelina sighed but closed her eyes. After a moment, she announced, "The sun will rise. The sun will set. Nothing special at all."

Donna and I exchanged a look, then nodded our heads at each other. She had to know.

"Look, don't tell the Doctor we said anything because he'll kill us, but we've got a prophecy too," Donna started. Evelina immediately gasped and raised her hands in front of her eyes. "Evelina, I'm sorry, but you've got to hear us out."

She didn't respond so I tried to remove her hands from before her eyes, but they wouldn't move an inch. I frowned and tried again, but with the same result.

"Evelina, can you hear me?" Donna asked her.

"There is only one prophecy!" the young girl bit out.

"But everything we're about to say to you is true. I swear. Just listen to us. Tomorrow, that mountain is gonna explode. Evelina, please listen. The air is gonna fill with ash and rocks, tons and tons of it, this whole town is gonna get buried."

I shook the girl by her shoulder. "Please listen Evelina, it's all true. Everyone here is going to die!"

"That's not true!"

"I'm sorry. We're really sorry. But everyone's gonna die," Donna softly tried to reason with her. "Even if you don't believe us, just… tell your family to get out of town. Just for one day, just for tomorrow. But you've got to get out. You've got to leave Pompeii!"

"Please Evelina, we're begging you!" I added, still shaking her by her shoulder, trying to get her to at least look at us.

She at last removed her hands from before her eyes. "This is false prophecy!" she cried out in despair.

Before anything else could be said, we could hear and feel the ground shaking with heavy thumps. Thump… Thump… Thump. It almost sounded like footsteps. We rushed to the main living area, where the rest of the family and household were gathered.

"What is it? What's that noise?!" Metella demanded.

"Doesn't sound like Vesuvius!" Caecilius replied.

At that moment, the Doctor and Quintus arrived, running in at high speed. "Jude, Donna, Caecilius, all of you! Get out!" he yelled at us.

"Doctor, what is it?" Donna asked.

He grabbed me and the ginger-haired woman beside me by our shoulders. "I think we're being followed."

Right then, one of the hot air vents' rosters flew off with a loud bang.

"Just get out!" the Doctor repeated, his voice raised.

But we were all too curious about what was happening, so none of us moved, and we just stood there, staring at the vent as the stone around it started crumbling. Suddenly it got completely destroyed, and my eyes widened to the size of saucers and I inhaled sharply as a big, fiery, stone man crawled out from underneath the broken floor, roaring loudly. What the hell?!

"The Gods are with us!" Evelina exclaimed.

"Water! We need water! Quintus, all of you, get water! Donna! Jude!" the Doctor commanded us. We all scurried off, rushing to help him fight the creature. I joined Donna in searching for vases or anything else that could hold a decent amount of water.

Out of the corner of my eyes I could see a servant being roasted alive by the fiery breath of the stone man and I froze, not being able to move an inch, staring at the spot where the poor man burnt alive. What a gruesome way to die… my breath quickened in fear. Even though my short life has seen a more than average amount of violence, this was the first time I saw someone die, right before my eyes. And it left me locked in shock, my brain not knowing how to react.

It was only when I was grabbed from behind, that my trance-like state was broken. I caught sight of Donna approaching, who had just found a bucket to hold the water in, and she was grabbed as well. Hands were held over our mouths to prevent us from crying out, but it didn't stop us from trying. "Doctor! Doctor!" we screamed, but our voices were muffled, and he was too busy to notice we were being dragged off.

I kicked my legs behind me and tried hitting whomever had taken hold of me, trying to fight them off, and felt a surge of satisfaction when my fist hit skin and a clear outcry of pain could be heard. My satisfaction didn't last long though, because I suddenly felt a sharp pain on my head and everything around me turned black.

---

Slowly leaving the world of unconsciousness behind me, I saw I was bound by my wrists and ankles, lying next to Donna on an altar of sorts. I groaned when I felt just how much my head hurt from the blow I had received earlier.

"Jude!" Donna exclaimed. "Oh my gosh I'm so glad you're awake! Are you okay sweetie?"

I blinked a couple of times. "Yeah I'm fine, my head's just killing me-"

"Silence!" a woman above me sneered. I peered upwards and only now noticed the women in red robes and weird white facial make up surrounding us. The woman who spoke was holding a big sharp-looking knife raised above us. "The False Prophets will surrender both their blood and their breath."

I groaned again, but this time not in pain. What did we get ourselves into this time? And where was that thick-headed alien when you needed him?

"I'll surrender you in a minute. Don't you dare!" Donna shouted.

"You will be silent!"

"Oi! Who do you think you are, telling her to shut up? Oh, just you wait till I get out of these bonds! I'll tell you to shut up! And another thing-" I was abruptly silenced when a rag of dirty fabric was promptly stuffed into my mouth. "Hmmpf! Hmmmmpf!"

"Listen, sister, you might have eyes on the back of your hands, but you'll have eyes in the back of your head by the time we've finished with you! LET US GO!" Donna yelled at the annoying woman above us.

"These prattling voices will cease forever!" She raised the knife high above her, ready to strike at us.

"Oh, that'll be the day."

I closed my eyes for a second, mentally sighing in relief at the sound of his voice. Maybe he can be useful at times after all, I thought, and I realized it was crazy how much trust I put in him to save our lives, considering I didn't really know him yet.

While the women around us turned around in shock, Donna and I smiled at the Doctor, casually leaning against a pillar. Or at least, I tried to smile, but it was hard with the ball of cloth in my mouth.

"No man is allowed to enter the Temple of Sibyl!"

"Well, that's all right, just us girls. Do you know, I met the Sibyl once, yeah, hell of a woman," he said, walking over to us. "Blimey, she could dance the Tarantella! Nice teeth. Truth be told, I think she had a bit of a thing for me. I said it would never last, she said, 'I know'. Well, she would."

He looked down at us, frowning. "You all right there?"

"Oh, never better," Donna answered sarcastically, while I just let out an undignified 'hmpf'.

"I like the toga's," he said, looking us over. I noticed his eyes ogling the spot where the split of my dress had revealed most of my leg for a little too long, and I glared at him.

Donna had noticed his staring too and cleared her throat. A light blush formed on his cheeks, and he quickly looked away. "Thank you," Donna answered snappily. "And how do you like the ropes?"

"Yeah, not so much." He directed his sonic screwdriver on our wrists and ankles, freeing us. As soon as my hands were free, I removed the cloth from my mouth.

"Fucking finally," I breathed. The Doctor glowered at me in annoyance over my language, but I was too happy to get that thing out of my mouth to care.

"What magic is this?!" the crazy woman demanded.

"Let me tell you about the Sibyl, the founder of this religion," the Doctor spoke while Donna and I got off the altar. "She would be ashamed of you. All her wisdom and insight turned sour. Is that how you spread the word, hey? On the blade of a knife?!"

"Yes, a knife that now welcomes you!" She raised the knife again, and I couldn't help rolling my eyes at her in annoyance. She was so crazy; I think I was just going to call her that from now on.

"Show me this man!" A throaty voice could suddenly be heard, and the women in red immediately kneeled in the direction of a curtain on the other side of the room.

"High Priestess, the stranger would defile us!" Crazy shrieked, still standing behind the altar.

"Let me see. This one is different; he carries starlight in his wake."

The Doctor wandered closer to the curtain, Donna and I following him. "Oh, very perceptive. Where do these words of wisdom come from?"

"The Gods whisper to me," the voice behind the curtain replied.

"Oh, they've done far more than that," the Doctor muttered. "Might I beg audience? Look upon the High Priestess?"

The curtains were drawn away from before the bed, revealing a woman sitting on top of it, completely turned to stone. Donna and I gasped in shock. "Oh, my god. What's happened to you?" the ginger woman beside me whispered.

"The heavens have blessed me…"

"It doesn't look like that to me," I mumbled under my breath.

"If I might...?" the Doctor asked, gesturing if it was okay for him to touch her skin. The stone woman held out her arm and the Doctor moved closer, inspecting it. "Does it hurt?"

"It is necessary," she croaked in reply.

"Who told you that?" he questioned her.

"The voices…"

"Is that what's gonna happen to Evelina? Is this what's gonna happen to all of you?" Donna asked.

Crazy showed us her arm, which had turned to stone, exactly like Evelina's had. "The blessings are manifold," she said, and Donna touched her arm. I didn't feel the need to touch one of them ever again. While it was regrettable what was happening to them, I hadn't forgotten how they treated me and Donna. They wanted to sacrifice us to their Gods for crying out loud!

"They're stone…" Donna whispered.

"Exactly. The people of Pompeii are turning to stone before the volcano erupts. But why?"

"This word, this image in your mind. This volcano... what is that?" was the only reply the stone woman had for the Doctor.

"More to the point, why don't you know about it? Who are you?"

"High Priestess of the Sibylline!" the woman retorted.

"No, no, no, no, no, I'm talking to the creature inside you. The thing that's seeding itself into a human body, in the dust, in the lungs, taking over the flesh and turning it into... what?"

The high priestess seemed surprised at this. "Your knowledge… is impossible!"

"Oh, but you can read my mind, you know it's not. I demand you tell me who you are!" he yelled at her.

Suddenly her voice changed, sounding demonic as she answered, "We… are… awakening!"

"The voice of the gods!" Crazy exclaimed, while the other women started chanting, "Words of wisdom, words of power. Words of wisdom, words of power..."

"Name yourself! Planet of origin. Galactic coordinates. Species designation according to the universal ratification of the Shadow Proclamation," the Doctor ordered.

"We… are… rising!"

"Tell... me... your name!"

"Pyrovile!" the creature finally drawled; voice now completely morphed.

"What the bloody hell is a Pyrovile?!" I demanded, while the chant of the women behind us changed into 'Pyrovile, Pyrovile, Pyrovile…'.

"Well that's a Pyrovile, growing inside her," the Doctor answered. "She's a halfway stage."

"What, and that turns into..." Donna asked.

"That thing in the villa, that was an adult Pyrovile."

I gaped at him in wonder. "Was that thing human too once then?"

He nodded and was about to say something, when the Pyrovile shouted, "And the breath of a Pyrovile will incinerate you, Doctor!"

The Doctor reached into his pocket and pulled out a yellow, plastic water pistol. "I warn you, I'm armed! Donna, Jude, get that grille open."

"What for?" Donna questioned, at the same time as I said, "What on earth do you think you're going to do with that?", pointedly looking at the yellow piece of plastic in his hand.

"Just…!" he insisted, not even finishing his sentence while gesturing us to just do as he says. I raised my hands incredulously but obeyed anyways.

"What are the Pyrovile doing here?"

"We fell from the heavens. We fell so far and so fast, we were rendered into dust."

"Right, creatures of stone, shattered on impact. When was that, 17 years ago?" the Doctor inquired.

"We have slept beneath for thousands of years."

"OK, so 17 years ago woke you up, and now you're using human bodies to reconstitute yourselves, but why the psychic powers?"

"We opened their minds and found such gifts." I was really growing tired of the grating voice of the Pyrovile. It sounded so dramatic.

"OK, get that fine, so you force yourself inside a human brain, use the latent psychic talent to bond, I get that, I get that, yeah. But seeing the future, that is way beyond psychic, you can see through time. Where does the gift of prophecy come from?"

With a loud bang, we were finally able to open the grille. "Got it!" Donna and I yelled at the same time.

"Now get down!" the Doctor ordered us.

"What, down there?" we asked, again at the same time, exchanging a look.

"Yes, down there! Why can't this lot predict a volcano? Why is it being hidden?"

Donna swung her legs over the edge and jumped down, not hesitating even once. I planned on doing the same but was halted when I noticed how tight and deep the gap was, and felt my anxiety act up.

At that moment, Crazy spoke up. "Sisters, I see into his mind. The weapon is harmless!"

"Yeah," the Doctor admitted. "But it's got a sting!" he said, spraying water on the Pyrovile, making it screech in pain. He turned to the roster where I was still sitting, nervously looking down. "Jude, get down!"

He reached me, and only then noticed how petrified I was. "Jude. Jude, look at me." He cupped my cheek, forcing me to raise my gaze from the gap in front of me to his face. "It will be fine, I promise. Donna is also down there, and I'll be right behind you."

"Promise?" I asked weakly.

He nodded and pressed his forehead against mine for a moment. "Promise." He let go of me. "Now hurry, we need to get out of here!"

I shakily bobbed my head, and after a deep breath, jumped down with my eyes closed tightly. I fell down for only a few seconds, after which I hit the ground with a soft thud, still standing. I guessed it was actually less deep than it had seemed from up there. I opened my eyes and only a moment later the Doctor appeared next to me. Although I don't like it when he just touches me, I had to admit that it did help this time, help me to calm down enough to make the jump.

Looking around me, I noticed we had arrived in a sort of cave, and everything was extremely hot. I felt sweat starting to trickle down my temples almost immediately.

"You fought her off with a water pistol. I bloody love you!" Donna exclaimed, but instantly looked my way. "You know I don't literally mean that I love him, right?"

I shrugged. "Whatever floats your boat, sister. If you fancy a 900-year-old alien, who am I to stop you?"

She sighed and said something incoherently, and I was just about to ask her what she said, when the Doctor started directing us. "This way!"

"Where are we going now?" Donna asked.

"Into the volcano!"

"Are you out of your bloody mind?!" I shouted incredulously.

He was quiet for a moment, considering my question. Then he held up his fingers and gestured 'a little bit'.

"Of course," I muttered. "Not a surprise there."

We walked through the cave, up and down through narrow tunnels. I felt nervous about all the tight spaces, and as if he had sensed it, the Doctor grabbed my hand in an attempt to comfort me. That electrical shock ran over me again, and I was going to pull away, but then I decided to just allow him to help me, seeing as it did so too before. A small smile graced his face, but the message in his eyes was what made my heart – incomprehensively – actually skip a beat. I couldn't describe the look he was giving me, but it felt so… sincere. Uncomfortable at the density of his gaze, I looked away. I could swear I heard him grin a little bit, but I refused to look up, so I couldn't be sure.

We moved forward in silence for a while, before Donna spoke up. "But if it's aliens setting off the volcano, doesn't that make it all right, for you to stop it?"

"Still part of history."

"But I'm history to you. You saved me, in 2008, you saved us all. Why's that different?"

"What happened in 2008?" I asked curiously.

"Spoilers," was the only reply I received, and I sighed heavily.

"Some things are fixed, some things are in flux. Pompeii is fixed," he answered to Donna's earlier question.

"How do you know which is which?"

He turned around and looked at the both of us evenly. "Because that's how I see the universe. Every waking second, I can see what is, what was, what could be, what must not. That's the burden of the Time Lords. And I'm the only one left."

Although I didn't know him that well yet, and often he pissed me off more than I could say, my heart broke at the deep-nestled sadness I could hear in his voice. He started walking again and pulled me with him. He absentmindedly rubbed his thumb in circles over my hand, more to comfort himself rather than me I could tell.

"How do you mean, you're the only one left?" I asked him quietly.

He didn't look back at me, but his voice sounded strained when he said, "That's a story for another time. We need to get out of here first."

"How many people died?" Donna demanded, referring to Pompeii.

"Stop it," the Doctor warned her.

"Doctor, how many people died?" she repeated her question.

He turned around. "Twenty thousand," he admitted begrudgingly.

"Is that what you can see, Doctor? All twenty thousand? And you think that's all right, do you?" Donna demanded. I didn't like the way she was judging him for this. But I also understood why she felt so strongly about it, so I didn't say anything.

Suddenly, a loud roar echoed through the cave. "They know we're here. Come on!" the Doctor pushed us to keep going, nudging Donna in front of us and pulling me along, still holding my hand.

We entered a wide, open area of the cave. We could hear all sorts of noises, so we hid behind some large rocks. "It's the heart of Vesuvius. We're right inside the mountain," the Doctor spoke softly, to not alert the adult Pyroviles we could see roaming the room.

"There's tons of them," Donna said, referring to the gigantic creatures.

"What's that thing?" the Doctor said, letting go of my hand to use a small telescope to take a closer look at a stone, round thing in the middle of the area.

"Oh, you better hurry up and think of something, Rocky fall's on its way," Donna retorted, and despite the situation we were in, I couldn't help but snort.

"Rocky fall, really?" I asked her, my eyebrows raised. She merely rolled her eyes at me.

"That's how they arrived. Or what's left of it," the Doctor called us back. "Escape pod? Prison ship? Gene bank?"

"But why do they need a volcano? Maybe... it erupts, and they launch themselves back into space or something?" Donna suggested.

"Because of the heat?" I added in question.

"Oh, it's worse than that."

"Worse? How on earth could it be any worse than this?" I answered.

Another roar sounded throughout the cave. "Doctor, it's getting closer."

But aside from the roars, a voice could suddenly be heard from the other side of the room. "Heathens! Defile us! They would desecrate your temple, My Lord Gods!"

We looked up, and saw it was Lucius shouting at us. "Oh great. Not that simpleton again," I muttered.

"Come on!" the Doctor ushered us to the middle of the cave, towards the stone pod.

"We can't go in!"

"Well, we can't go back," the Doctor answered Donna. He helped us get down from a steep pile of rocks, grabbing my hand again while doing so.

"Crush them! Burn them!" Lucius cried, and we were halted by a Pyrovile stepping in our way. The Doctor used his water pistol to spray at the creature again, and when it was distracted, we quickly ran around it.

"There is nowhere to run, Doctor, and daughters of London and the blue box!"

We were standing in the opening of the stone pod and knowing we would probably get in there at some point, I gulped at the small size of the interior. We'd have to squeeze in tightly, the three of us.

"Now then, Lucius, My Lords Pyrovillian, don't get yourselves in a lather. In a lava? No?" the Doctor asked turning to us. We shook our heads at him at his lame joke. "No. But if I might beg the wisdom of the gods before we perish... once this new race of creatures is complete, then what?"

"My masters will follow the example of Rome itself. An almighty empire, bestriding the whole of civilization," Lucius yelled while the Pyrovile beside him started to march in our direction.

"But if you've crashed, and you've got all this technology, why don't you just go home?" Donna questioned him.

"The Heaven of Pyrovillia is gone."

"What do you mean 'gone'? Where's it gone?" the Doctor asked.

"It was taken. Pyrovillia is lost. But there is heat enough in this world for a new species to rise."

"Yeah, I should warn you, it's 70% water out there."

"Water can boil. And everything will burn, Doctor."

"Then the whole planet is at stake," the Doctor said, putting the plastic pistol away. "Thank you. That's all I needed to know. Jude, Donna!"

We crawled inside the pod and the Doctor sealed the door with his sonic screwdriver. "Could we be any more trapped?" Donna retorted.

"I don't think so," I said, my breathing hitched from the heat, and from how close we all were to each other.

The Doctor didn't notice, he was busy examining the circuits in front of us. "See? The energy converter takes the lava, uses the power to create a fusion matrix, which welds Pyrovile to human. Now it's complete, they can convert millions."

"But can't you change it? With these controls?" Donna said desperately.

"Course I can, but don't you see? That's why the soothsayers can't see the volcano. There is no volcano. Vesuvius is never gonna erupt. The Pyrovile are stealing all its power, and they use it to take over the world."

Despite the uncomfortable feelings I was having, the gears in my head were working, and I let out a loud sob as I realized what we were going to have to do, covering my mouth with my hands. The Doctor looked over at me, heartbreak evident in his eyes as he knew I had come to the same conclusion he had.

Donna didn't follow quite yet. "But... you can change it back?"

"I can invert the system, set off the volcano, and blow them up, yes. But… that's the choice, Donna. It's Pompeii or the world."

I started full on crying then. It wasn't fair. The Doctor reached his arm out and pulled me closer by my waist. He wrapped his arms around me and let me sob against his chest, and I just let him, needing the comfort, and knowing he needed it as well.

"Oh my god," Donna whispered, in shock, the gravity of the situation dawning on her as well.

"If Pompeii is destroyed then it's not just history. It's me. I make it happen."

"But the Pyrovile are made of rocks, maybe they can't be blown up," Donna suggested while the Doctor used one arm to sonic the circuits around us, with the other arm still wrapped around my back.

"Vesuvius explodes with the force of 24 nuclear bombs. Nothing can survive it. Certainly not us."

I lifted my face from his chest, and we all looked at each other with a meaningful gaze. Donna said what we were all thinking. "Never mind us."

He let go of me and placed his hands on the lever. "Push this lever and it's over. Twenty thousand people."

He looked down on his hands. Just as he was about to push it down, I placed my hands on top of his, Donna doing the same.

"You're not taking responsibility for this on your own," I whispered, and Donna nodded in agreement.

He looked at us gratefully, before we pushed the lever, together.

It didn't take long for the volcano around us to erupt. We were knocked back because of the force of the eruption. The Doctor grabbed me and shielded me with his body so I wouldn't get hurt. Suddenly, we came to a stop with a hard bang. The Doctor sonic'ed the door and we rushed out of that demonic hole.

"It was an escape pod," he muttered.

His gaze wandered around, and it stopped at something behind us. Donna and I looked back and saw Vesuvius erupting in its full glory, a wave of smoke and magma coming straight at us. The Doctor grabbed our hands and we ran off towards the town.

Running through Pompeii towards the villa of Caecilius, where the TARDIS was still located, I looked around me and stopped at the sight before me. Heat. Fire. Ash snowing down. People crying, screaming for help. The Doctor's face, all devastated… They were exactly the things I had dreamt of before we came to Pompeii! How was that possible? How did I know this before it happened?! I used to just sense if something peculiar would happen on a day, but it's never been like this, never before did I actually see the events about to happen…

I looked around me further, and saw all the children crying, their parents trying to comfort them. But it was no use, they were all going to die anyway. Tears started leaking down my face again, and the Doctor finally noticed I wasn't following them. He came up to me and wordlessly put his hand on the small of my back, rubbing it gently as he pulled me along with him.

Meanwhile Donna tried to convince the people to run, to go to the hills instead of towards the beach, but it didn't matter. No one listened to her. He grabbed Donna's hand with his free one and directed us towards the TARDIS.

We reached the villa, where we saw Caecilius and his family crawled up against the wall together, crying. When he saw us, Caecilius called out, "God save us, Doctor!"

The men looked at each other, before the Doctor turned around towards the TARDIS, pulling me with him, his hand having moved from my back to grip my hand instead. I tried to break free, but it was as if his hand had turned to stone. "You can't do this!" I yelled at him. "You can't leave them!"

Even whilst in the TARDIS and when he started pulling levers, preparing the ship for take-off, he wouldn't let go of me. Only when Donna entered and the doors fell shut behind her, did he let me go, after which he instantly made the TARDIS leave. I ran up to the doors, but my efforts were in vain, they didn't budge. He had locked them.

"You can't just leave them!" Donna cried out, while I was still banging my fists on the door.

"Don't you think I've done enough? History's back in place and everyone dies." He sounded so… passive. But there was also something very scary in that voice he just used. Something dark.

"You've got to go back! Doctor, I'm telling you, take this thing back!" She stood there fuming for a moment. Then she said, in a much quieter way, "It's not fair."

"No, it's not," he answered her just as quietly.

Meanwhile I had given up my banging and had slid down to the floor with my back against the door. My arms were wrapped around my knees and I was quietly sobbing.

"But your own planet... It burned…"

That made me look up, although I couldn't see them properly because of the tears constantly flowing out of my eyes.

"That's just it. Don't you see, Donna? Can't you understand? If I could go back and save them then I would, but I can't. I can never go back, I can't. I just can't, I can't," he called out in frustration.

"Just someone. Please. Not the whole town. Just save someone…"

He gave her a long hard look, before he looked my way. He eyed me for a long time. He took in my now dirty dress, the way I was basically hugging myself, and at last my tear stained face. I don't know what he found there, but it seemed to help him make up his mind. He started pulling levers again, and then he ran over to the doors, to where I was sitting.

He held out his hand for me to take, and he helped me get up. He placed one of his arms around my waist, making sure I stayed put, opened the doors and from my position beside him I could see we were back in Pompeii.

He held out his free hand to the terrified family in front of us. "Come with us."

Caecilius took his hand, and he and his family quickly rushed inside of the TARDIS. The Doctor let go of me again, and I was kind of glad he did so this time. We've been through a lot today, and I really wanted some space to breathe.

When the TARDIS landed again, the dazed family exited along with us and we noticed we were standing on a hill some safe distance away from Pompeii. We could see the town get destructed right in front of our eyes.

"It's never forgotten, Caecilius. Oh, time will pass, men will move on, and stories will fade. But one day, Pompeii will be found, again. In thousands of years. And everyone will remember you," the Doctor said to the man, who was staring in shock as his city got destroyed.

Me and Donna were standing next to Evelina. "What about you, Evelina? Can you see anything?" Donna asked the young girl.

She shook her head as the Doctor walked up to her. "The visions have gone."

"The explosion was so powerful it cracked open a rift in time. Just for a second. That's what gave you the gift of prophecy," he explained. "It echoed back into the Pyrovillian alternative. But not anymore. You're free."

The girl nodded her head with a small smile in gratitude.

"But tell me," Metella spoke up. "Who are you, Doctor? With your words, and your temple containing such size within?"

"Oh, I was never here. Don't tell anyone," he requested.

"The great god Vulcan must be enraged! It's so volcanic. It's like some sort of... volcano. All those people," Caecilius choked. He and his wife shared a hug, and we could see Quintus and Evelina take each other's hands.

The Doctor entered the TARDIS quietly, and we followed him, leaving the broken family there to grieve the loss of so many people.

"Thank you," Donna said sincerely to the Doctor once we were inside of the TARDIS.

"You were right. Sometimes I need someone. Jude isn't around all the time to slap some sense into me," he remarked with a look my way. "Welcome aboard."

Donna and he shared a smile, before I saw her throw a meaningful gaze to me, and the Doctor nodded. She walked off into a hallway, patting me on my shoulders as she passed me.

When she was gone, it was quiet for a moment, before I decided to speak up. "You did a good thing back there, saving that family."

He nodded. "You and Donna were right; I couldn't just leave them there."

"Still, thank you," I smiled at him, looking away as it became awkwardly silent again, but I could feel his gaze upon me. I turned my head back to glance at him but wasn't prepared for the look he was giving me. Like with the look he gave me back in that cave, it was so… sincere; I couldn't think of a better word to describe it. There were so many emotions twirling around in his gaze, that I couldn't recognize them.

"Have I told you yet how beautiful you look?"

His question stunned me, and a surprised blush started forming on my cheeks. I looked myself down. My dress was dirty from the ashes and torn in several places, there was dirt all over my arms and legs, and there was hair sticking out of my braid messily in so many spots you could barely call it a braid anymore.

I laughed uncomfortably. "I don't think so. I'm a mess."

He walked closer to me and took my hands in his. That electrical surge ran over me again like a shiver down my spine, and for the first time I noticed it actually felt rather pleasant.

He gazed down at me, directly into my eyes, still with that loaded look. An uncomfortable feeling started growing in my chest though at his closeness. There was only so much physical contact a girl could take in a day.

I abruptly looked away and pulled my hands away from his. I turned around and walked away a few steps, not willing to see the hurt in his eyes that was evidently going to be there.

He cleared his throat, and quietly apologized. I didn't respond, but just walked off into the same corridor Donna had disappeared in earlier. My arms wrapped around my chest, hugging myself, trying to hold it together.

The Doctor may be alright, but I had promised myself I wasn't going to let anyone get close to me ever again. Especially not some guy I just met. Although he knew me longer than I knew him, that didn't change the fact that he was still new to me. Aliens, time travel,… it was all still new to me.

I just… needed some time.

I was almost glad when the headache came up, and the green light took me away into a different part of the alien's time zone.

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There we are, all of my old stuff, redecorated ;P let me know what you think so far! Is it any good? I hope so, I hope you enjoyed it.

I don't know when the next update will be, as I'll start work again and we're heading into the busiest month of the year, which means I'll have to do quite a lot of hours. But I do promise you it will be soon! I picked this story back up, and I'm not going to abandon it again :)

Thank you for reading!

-Nele

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SHOUT-OUTS: (not that many because the last update was only two days ago)

Follows: lynn2008, Spazzy13

Favorites: livesinasong13, Sophie1998

Replies to reviews:

Guest: Seeing as you're a sucker for long chapters, I hope you thought this one was long enough haha! Thank you for reviewing xxx