"Can you remember anything?"

The Doctor was still leaning over Kamala, who was surprised by how comforting the older woman's presence was. She still wasn't sure what to make of the other two yet, though they hadn't done anything to make her feel uneasy. In truth, she was less focused on the people than she was on her unexpected location. She might have considered it gorgeous if it had been a bit brighter. She could almost tell that it was usually warmer, as if she could sense its core reaching out towards her, telling her about its suffering. If she was in trouble, then it apparently seemed that her new hosts were in a similar position.

"It's fuzzy," she replied, rubbing her forehead. "Like I told you, I was in my bedroom. I remember…suddenly being very cold. And then I was here, waking up in front of you." She scrutinised her observers carefully. "You didn't do anything to me, did you?"

"You're a very suspicious person, aren't you?" Dan said to her with an easy smirk.

"I'm a young Pakistani living in America. I've learnt to be suspicious." Her gaze was surprisingly steely for a girl her age. They didn't say so out loud, but it certainly impressed her small audience. "And I've had quite a lot happen to me recently so I'm wary of anyone who shows more than a passing interest in me."

The Doctor stood up, glancing at Yaz as she did so. Her companion folded her arms. "What are you thinking? If she's telling the truth…"

"I am telling the truth," Kamala made sure to tell her.

" Since she's telling the truth, that'd mean she got transported a very long way. I'm guessing some sort of teleport."

The Doctor nodded her head. "It'd certainly make sense. Well, besides how she came across a teleport of that power. And why someone would want to pick her up and place her there."

"Are you going to tell me where here is?" Kamala was giving them a hopeful smile. It was hard not to be already infatuated with her and she'd only been there for a few minutes. "What is this place? Some sort of art installation? I think I've seen this sort of thing on tv."

"I don't think you've ever seen anything like this place."

The girl crossed her arms in defiance. "Is that supposed to impress me?"

"It normally does with people who end up in here."

"I'm not a normal person." It was still a thrill for her to be able to say stuff like that and truly mean it. "Like I said, I've been through a lot. You don't even make the top ten of weirdest things to happen to me this week ." She'd stood up by this point, her legs shaky. Dan made a move to assist her but she waved him away, instead deciding to do it on her own. She didn't want them thinking she was weak, although she did have to use the pillar for support at one point, her left leg almost giving way completely.

"Yeah, I'm curious about that." The Doctor was prowling, something she regularly did when she was trying to coax information out of an opponent. Not that she felt this girl was a threat, but she'd made the mistake of underestimating people in the past. "You can't keep teasing us. Why don't you tell us about these strange events happening to you recently." For all the Doctor knew, they could be connected to what had suddenly brought the Tardis to this point.

Kamala narrowed her eyes. "Do you really expect me to do that? How gullible do you think I am? I fall unconscious and you're the first people I see afterwards. From my viewpoint, you've captured me and are trying to get information out of me!"

"Why would we do that?" Yaz asked, falling back into her police officer mode, her training kicking in. "Unless you do have some information that might be interesting to certain parties. Am I getting warm?" She still really wanted to know what the source of her glowing had been.

Kamala's expression changed ever so subtly, betraying a hidden lack of confidence. She'd thought she might be able to take control of the situation but that was obviously going to be more difficult than she'd thought. "I'm…not allowed to say." She didn't know these people. She didn't know what they wanted or what their objectives were. They seemed nice but people could be good actors. Was there a chance of getting out of there? They weren't exactly guarding the door. If she made a run for it, using some of her powers (that she was still getting accustomed to, especially trying to figure out the extremes of what she was capable of), then surely they wouldn't be able to stop her. Unless they had powers of their own. Or weapons. She'd heard a lot about the technology SHIELD had in use, and she'd seen firsthand the lengths the DODC were willing to go to.

The Doctor was giving her a soft smile that was making her want to trust her. It was rather infuriating. "Okay, that's fine. If you have a secret, or a few, then we're not here to coax them out of you. But what if I told you one of my secrets? And, in return, all you would have to do is consider doing the same for me. Like a trade."

Kamala blew a loose strand of hair out of her face, unable to hide her curiosity at the proposition. "I'm listening."

The Doctor nodded her head to their surroundings. "You're currently standing in the Tardis. It stands for Time and Relative Dimension in Space."

"It's certainly a cool name, I'll give you that." Kamala froze. "Did you say space? As in, actual outer space? Are you studying it? Are you scientists? Because I've got a really close friend who I think would be really interested in whatever experiments you're working on."

The Doctor held up a hand to stop her from getting carried away. Her energy was strangely infectious. "No experiments. Well, none at the moment. I am known to fiddle with the old bunsen burner once in a while."

"You might want to rephrase that, Doctor," Dan noted.

"Yeah, I picked up on that straight away, as soon as it was leaving my mouth. But it was too late by then. Hopefully I haven't weirded out our current guest."

Kamala shook her head. "I hear a lot worse from my family members on a daily basis, don't worry."

"That's good to know!" The Doctor was bounding over towards her, grasping her shoulders with both hands and leading her towards the doors. "Because I reckon we're going to get on like a house on fire. Well, not literally. That'd be quite bad. What's better than a fire? A controlled fire? A barbecue! We're going to get on like a barbecue!"

"Has anyone told you that you're a bit strange?" Kamala asked nervously, eyeing up the woman who was leaning close to her face. She smelt of biscuits and engine oil, a strange mixture.

"Constantly. These two never shut up about it, frankly. Now then…where was I? Oh, yeah…this really is my favourite bit. There's a reason that this place has space in the title."

She pushed open the doors theatrically, focused on the reaction on the girl's face rather than taking in the view herself. The Doctor dearly loved getting to show new people her home. The stars seemed to shine in Kamala's eyes as they were reflected back, the young girl taking a few steps closer. The Doctor made sure to keep her hands on her, just in case. The gravity bubble was holding just about after they'd put it through its paces, but there was no need to push the limit. The last thing she wanted was to have saved the girl and then lose her straight away.

Kamala's smile was as bright as the distant suns blinking at them as she gazed around at the beauty of it all. Yaz, although she couldn't actually see the reaction for herself, could picture it perfectly. She reckoned it would have perfectly matched the same look she'd worn when she'd seen it for the first time as well. Or, at least, the time she hadn't been plonked in the middle of it on the brink of death. She remembered when they'd been able to show Dan the same sort of view, the way he had gone quiet because words didn't quite do it justice. Kamala was the same, choosing to appreciate the moment instead of ruining it with whatever she could think to say.

"You're currently standing in the best spaceship in the universe," the Doctor proudly commented, smiling affectionately at the blue box. "Also, she's a time machine but we can leave that detail until later. We don't want to blow your mind too much straight away."

Kamala stretched out a hand, wondering what it would feel like to touch the nothingness. It tingled softly, though the Doctor wasn't going to ruin the moment by explaining that that was more down to the shields currently keeping them alive. She watched as the girl, brazened by the fact she'd been able to put her hand outside, poked her head slowly through the doors. She closed her eyes for a second, expecting something bad to happen, before realising that her new companions probably wouldn't have allowed her to do that if that was the case. Turning her head from side to side, she peered curiously at the outside of the ship, frowning at what she found.

"Where's the rest of it?" she asked, returning completely inside once again. She took in the console room with greater appreciation for what it represented. It was more of a marvel than she'd realised. She thought of what her dad had said on the rooftop and how they had named her because she'd been their little ms marvel. In comparison, this was very much a big marvel.

"Pardon?"

"The outside doesn't match the inside. The sizes are all wrong!"

"Hey! Let's not go around body shaming my ship. She's very sensitive about her weight!"

"But…we're in space!" It was all starting to dawn on Kamala. Maybe she'd just banged her head really hard.

"We are."

"How are we in space?"

"I told you. It's a spaceship! It's in the name. It's a ship…for space." The Doctor was already moving away, closing the doors behind her. She didn't want to let a breeze in.

"Are you aliens?"

"I am," the Doctor answered simply. There was no use avoiding it. It wasn't as if she was ashamed of it. "But they're human. As normal as they come."

"Hey!" Yaz complained. "I'd like to think we're a bit more than normal. At least, I am. Dan's getting there. Slowly."

Kamala slowly nodded her head. "Okay."

The Doctor was staring at her like a particularly interesting page of information, trying to decipher what she was hiding. There was definitely something different about her but she couldn't quite put her finger on it. "You don't seem too bothered by me being an alien? Have you had a lot of experiences with little green men? Which, I might add, is an insulting stereotype that I shouldn't really be purporting."

"No, it's just…we've had to deal with plenty of aliens down on Earth. Why should I be surprised by their existence now? Though I don't think I've ever seen any that look…like you."

"I'm hoping that's not an insult. I thought I looked pretty good. What do you think, Yaz?"

"Very good," the woman in question replied without thinking before her eyes went wide. The Doctor appeared oblivious to her embarrassment, though, sadly for her, Dan had definitely picked up on it.

"But this is good!" the Doctor continued with gusto. "Finally! Someone who remembers all of the invasions you're constantly put through. You'd be amazed by how much humans are capable of forgetting. It can be incredibly frustrating."

"How…how did I get to space then?" None of this was making sense to Kamala. Frankly, hardly anything had been making sense recently.

"That's what we'd like to know," the Doctor replied, hands on her hips as she turned to face their visitor. "We found you there, floating away. It's a minor miracle that you survived the ordeal. It's a major miracle that we happened to stumble across you in the nick of time."

Kamala pinched the brow of her nose. "You mean…you're not the ones who brought me here?"

"For all we know, you brought yourself here. Maybe by accident, maybe on purpose. Though I don't know why you'd do it on purpose. Space is a lot colder than New Jersey. I'd much prefer the latter climate."

"I was in space. I was in space." Kamala was slowly repeating it like a mantra, as if saying it over and over again would make it seem more plausible. "I was in space! I'm just like Captain Marvel!" She began to jump around giddily, her dreams coming true. Maybe her powers had allowed her to fly past the Earth's atmosphere like her hero and the experience had been too much for her on a first go, accounting for her apparent blackout.

"Who?" Dan asked, puzzled by her remark. He was confused by her whole reaction. What sort of person actively wanted to end up in the empty vastness of space?

Kamala froze. Had she just heard correctly? "Who? What do you mean…who?" She pinched the bridge of her nose in disgust. "Captain Marvel! Carol freaking Danvers! How have you not heard of her? Have you been living under a rock?" Her voice was gradually getting more high pitched as she went on, the incredulity building up within her. She needed to show them her bedroom for an education because all three of them were wearing clueless expressions. "The strongest Avenger?"

"I don't think I've heard of these Avengers…" the Doctor said with a confused pout. "Are they like a band? Are they like that No Direction?"

"One Direction, Doctor," Yaz helpfully corrected her.

"Fine. Are they like One Direction?"

"No!" Kamala was close to tearing her hair out. "Come on, you must be pulling my leg. You said that you were from Earth! You can't live there and not know about the Avengers! Antman! Doctor Strange! Captain America!" Their faces just became more blank with each name. "You must know about Iron Man! Please tell me you know about Iron Man! Tony Stark was the genius."

"There's only one genius around here and she's currently wearing yellow braces." The Doctor pulled at them to accentuate her point.

"I've based my entire personality around the Avengers since my early childhood and you're saying you've never heard of them. How can you have gone through life without knowing about superheroes?"

The three of them stood still at that. Dan sniggered. "Superheroes? Like in the movies? Don't be daft! They're fictional!"

Kamala rolled her eyes and decided to prove him wrong straight away. With a small amount of effort (it was becoming easier with every time she did it), she stretched out her arm. It glowed its usual purple and grew bigger, stopping just in time to pat Dan on the head. He jumped away at the contact, cowering from what he'd just seen. Yaz had rushed behind the console for protection whereas the Doctor had moved forward, eyes blazing with curiosity.

"What the hell was that?!" Dan shouted. They were all wanting to know the answer to that.

"Do you still not believe in superheroes? Because I am one."

"Well…" Yaz said slowly, doing her best to process what she'd just seen. "At least that explains the glowing we first saw around you. Then again…when I say it explains everything…I think I'm more confused than ever."

"Confused?" the Doctor echoed. "I'm astounded! I'm astonished! Most of all, I'm completely flabbergasted! That was amazing!" She was quickly in front of Kamala, scanning her with the sonic in a haphazard swirl of limbs. She'd never been one for subtlety.

"Is that some sort of weapon?" Kamala asked. Sure, she reckoned she could take them all out without much fuss, but it was hard not to be wary.

"The sonic? Of course it isn't! It's a scientific piece of equipment, highly advanced, with a super sleek design of my own creation. Do you like it?" She paused for a split second, waiting for the girl to nod her head. "It's meant to scan pretty much anything that the universe can throw at us. But you…you're completely frying its circuits! What are you? The energy signatures permeating off of you are through the roof! It's nothing like I've ever seen. In all honesty, such a force should probably have killed you by now but there you are, still standing. Humanity…resilient till the last. And you definitely said that you're human, right? You weren't lying? Because I'm putting together a load of the pieces and the jigsaw isn't looking very…humany-y." Maybe there was a better way of phrasing it but she was simply too excited to study this unknown phenomenon. She didn't get on with the universe all the time, but she adored it when it threw her an interesting curveball like this.

"Very much a human. Like I said, New Jersey, born and bred. My family came over from Pakistan, with Indian heritage." She was incredibly proud of every aspect of her genetic makeup. She wouldn't allow anyone to belittle her for it. Especially not now she could actually embiggen herself.

The Doctor was scanning her again, the metallic whirr high pitched and rather annoying to Kamala's ears. "Hmm. Yep, you're not lying. That's definitely human DNA. Although…" She basically had her face pressed up against the sonic, trying to focus in on the readings it was giving her. "The sonic is definitely picking up on some subtle mutations going on that you might want to look at. I wouldn't be surprised to find that's the cause of your…um…powers? Do you call them powers? But I can't possibly know what caused the mutation in the first place."

Kamala smiled sheepishly. "Yeah, my friend told me all about that. We're still trying to…figure it out. Not that I'm going to complain about it after what it's given me."

Yaz stepped forward tentatively, concerned that she might show off her skills again. Dan was still cowering behind cover just in case. "So you actually…want these abilities?"

"Why wouldn't I?" Kamala looked as if she truly couldn't understand feeling the opposite way. "I'm now just like the heroes I've looked up to all my life. I can help and save people. It's allowed me to feel more like myself than ever before."

"And she's right to be grateful for them," the Doctor said. "Since they just saved her life. It was that glowing that created a sufficient force field around her body to keep her protected from outer space. It was rushed and hastily put together, but it did the job."

"Well, I didn't even know that I did it so I can't account for it being slightly mishap. Sheesh!" She shook her head at them. "But just look at the way you're staring at me. Have you not looked at your phones recently? Social media? I can safely say that I've been trending lately, whether that's a good or bad thing, I don't really know. Have you not heard of Night Light? Which, I might add, is definitely not the name I'm going with."

"I'm sorry. I guess I haven't updated my phone in a while but I'll make sure to do it once I've got a spare moment. But you're talking as if superheroes are just a normal thing in society."

"They are! You're English, right? You have superheroes there, right? You must do. Though…now I think about it…I don't think I've heard of any and I'm literally obsessed with superheroes. But they are a normal thing now. I suppose Captain America was the first proper one, though Captain Marvel has always been my particular favourite."

Dan tapped the Doctor on the shoulder. "You said that her body was mutating, yeah? Maybe that's affecting her brain too because that's the only way she'd actually believe this nonsense."

"I heard that," Kamala growled. "Was my display not sufficient enough for you?" An idea suddenly popped into her head. "I have photos! On my phone! I'm always saving the best shots of superheroes. That was mainly to fuel my imagination when I'd dream of fighting alongside them, and I guess I don't need a fictional reality for that anymore." She was still giddy about that.

They crowded around her as she swiped through her specially curated photo album, going through different images. Promo shoots of Iron Man for multiple cover magazines. Bruce Banner before and after images. Sketches from World War Two of Captain America and Peggy Carter. A photo someone had taken whilst on a flight as a lightning storm and an Asgardian god greeted them amongst the clouds. Doctor Strange walking around in normal clothes, only for the cloak underneath to betray his true identity. And then there were the multiple photos of Captain Marvel. Some had her in her pilot's outfit, taken from before her change. Others showed her in her full glory, sporting the iconic costume. Kamala stared dreamily at the figure.

"Well, this doesn't prove anything," Dan complained, gesturing to the phone dismissively. "They're obviously photoshopped."

"I've heard about people like you," Kamala responded through narrowed eyes. "Hero deniers. They have definitive proof of their existence and yet they still choose to argue that they're fake. Why? Why are you like this?"

"Because superheroes don't walk around Earth like you're claiming! I think I would have seen it on the news. Trust me, I'd be glad to know they were there. They could help me carry my shopping, not that I usually buy a lot." Living alone, all he really needed was a few pot noodles and microwaveable meals, a sorry indictment of the way he'd been living his life.

"Kamala," the Doctor said pleasantly, shooting a subtle glare in Dan's direction. He really wasn't helping. "You said that Earth has dealt with alien invasions before. Could you tell me what sorts?"

"Everybody knows about the Chitauri." To Kamala, this was her ideal situation, getting to geek out unabashedly. "They invaded New York with the help of Loki, Thor's brother, obviously. Carol Danvers was kidnapped by the Kree and lied to for a large part of her life before learning the truth about her powers. Then you've got Thanos. It's a name that has the power alone to render people into nervous wrecks. If it weren't for the Avengers, half of existence in the universe wouldn't have come back."

The Doctor formed an 'o' shape with her mouth. "So…no Daleks? Cybermen? Space rhinos picking up a hospital and putting it on the moon?"

"What are you talking about? And you have the cheek to think that I'm insane?"

"Could we just…have a minute?" The Doctor held up a finger and then was escorting Yaz and Dan a few steps away, keeping them in a tight huddle.

"What is she?" Yaz asked immediately. "Some sort of alien?"

"I told you, she's very much human."

"The sonic could have got it wrong," Dan pointed out. "We've already established that."

"Will you stop doubting my sonic?"

"But it's the only obvious explanation! I have no clue how she did that with her hands. Maybe…it was some sort of trick with the lights."

Yaz looked at him sceptically. "The lights in here that aren't currently working?"

"It's an evolving hypothesis."

"What if…" The Doctor was holding up her hands, preparing them for what she was about to say. "...she's actually telling the truth? Maybe these superheroes do exist…"

"Of all the things I expected to come out of your mouth, it definitely wasn't that," Yaz replied. "Have you heard what you just said? We live on Earth! We'd know about this!"

"That's the thing though…what if it isn't your Earth?"

Dan was rubbing his forehead to ease the dull ache of his brain throbbing. "Okay, you've officially lost me now."

"When we were crashing, I told you that I thought I'd been through this before. And I'm starting to remember. The vortex suddenly disappearing, reality seemingly fading away…it's because we accidentally left our reality."

"I need a lie down."

"What are you trying to say?" Yaz was at least willing to hear her out.

"It might just be possible that we've entered another universe."

"And…is that possible?"

"Technically, yeah. If things go drastically wrong, which they obviously did before. Parallel worlds definitely exist. I've ended up in a few over the years. I just didn't think that had happened because we ended up in space, instead of on Earth. Their Earth. Her Earth."

"What would cause the Tardis to do that?"

"I don't know," the Doctor answered honestly with a shrug of her shoulders. "You'd have to be pretty unlucky and you know our track record when it comes to that."

Dan was slowly recovering from the bombshell. "Is there any way of finding out for sure that we're in a different universe?" He laughed bitterly. "I never thought I'd be saying that. Does this mean we're going to be back late for tea? I've got this pasta dish I was hoping to try…"

"That might have to wait for a while. Sorry, Dan. As for finding out…well, the easiest way to do it would be to look at Earth, which would quickly show differences from what we know. I say easy…but we're currently stuck in space, a part that I can't identify. At first, I thought my geographical knowledge was slipping but at least this parallel universe idea should mean I'm not slacking."

"Every cloud, hey?" Yaz gave her a small, uneasy smile. "So we're still trapped…"

"Sadly. Unless the Tardis suddenly has a major influx of energy to make the trip to Earth, we're completely stationary." Something flashed in the Doctor's eyes. "Energy…"

She turned around, prompting Kamala to look at them expectantly. "Have you finished talking about me behind my back?"

"We weren't actually discussing you. We were planning on how to get you home. I'm presuming that's what you want."

"I am worried about what my parents will be thinking. That's if they've noticed my absence. Who am I kidding? Of course they have. Can this thing get me home?"

"It can. Just…not in its present state. Our journey here depleted the engines. It needs a spark of energy, that's all. Something for me to direct towards the engines and I should be able to get us back safely. Moderately safely. Maybe a few cuts and bruises."

"Where are you going to get that energy from though?"

"I was hoping…you would give us a helping hand. Quite literally, with what you showed us just then. You are radiating cosmic energy, something the Tardis can harness. It's a bit similar to putting diesel in a petrol car. It's definitely not a perfect match and it'll leave a bad taste in her mouth but it'll do the job. It should be a relatively short trip, thankfully."

"Will it hurt?"

"I'm not going to lie to you…it probably will. I'll try to work as quickly as I can but that's all I can promise you. You'll be acting as a fuel source for a spaceship. That's no laughing matter. It'll be like giving it a jumpstart, just on a much larger scale. But this is our only option, unless you want to stay here and hope that someone nice happens to come along and picks us up."

Kamala thought about it for a few moments. "I've always wanted to fly a spaceship."