Jonathan's truck drove far beyond the city limits of Kansas City. In fact, they were no longer near any city, big or small. By now they were on an old dirt road. The flat landscape was decorated by seemingly infinite wheat crop. They shimmered in a golden light in the sunshine…for the most part. The Doctor was watching everything through his viewing screen. The TARDIS was high above the truck, twirling around until the truck pulled over and came to a full stop. The Doctor, having seen on his viewer screen that they had stopped moving, had the TARDIS hover in mid-air before he ran to the door.
"Is this the spot?" called the Doctor from above.
Jonathan stepped out of the truck first, then the others did the same. "We'll have to travel on foot from here, Doctor."
The Doctor considered for a moment the possibility of letting the others on board the TARDIS and just simply flying to their destination, but then decided not to. Eva's parents would probably be too nosy, and assault him with never-ending questions. He had enough questions on his plate as it is. No. He would just land the TARDIS and cloak it so that it appears invisible. He gently lowered the TARDIS down in the middle of some wheat, then stepped into the field. After Wally exited the TARDIS, he closed the door. The Doctor then activated his sonic screwdriver and, in an instant, the TARDIS became invisible.
"Alright then!" said the Doctor. "Lead the way, Jonathan."
Jonathan grabbed two flashlights from the truck then led everyone into the thick fields, being careful not to get easily separated. Eva held her mother's hand. She was nervous. They both were. Mrs. Kent knew the truth about her little girl, but she was not sure that Eva was mature enough yet to cope with it. The Doctor was also concerned with what Eva's reaction could be. She had to have figured it out by now. He knew she was not human the moment she slammed her foot through the floor, back at Canary Wharf. When Wally came into the picture, he had a feeling that Eva was from Wally's universe. With her recent feats of super-human strength, hearing, and now agility, it all should have come together quite easily. But no, it didn't come together for her at all, and he could feel it. Perhaps she really had convinced herself that she was an Earthling. Perhaps she was still desperately clinging to the delusion that she was a human being. If that were true, the Doctor feared that Eva might break down the moment her fragile fantasy finally shattered to pieces, when she could pretend no longer.
"What could that possibly be like?" He wondered. "To live your entire childhood believing that you are a human being, and then being forced to realize that you're an alien?"
She must feel like she'd been lied to. Her parents must have tried so hard to make her feel like she was one of them; but she was still different, and she knew it. Perhaps that was why she was so anxious when she first met the Doctor. She was touchy since the first time he met her. "Stop staring at me! Just stop it!" she had yelled at him, after her foot went through the floor at Canary Wharf. "Get away from me!" she yelled again when he had discovered that she beat a Cyberman to death. Oh, and he wasn't about to forget her temper tantrum that she threw in Royal Hope Hospital. She went off almost immediately after that poor Judoon found that she was a nonhuman, and they mistook her for another murderer. She probably even killed a few people while she was busy throwing Judoon through walls, smashing everything in her way, and pounding her fists on the force field that was keeping them alive. How would she feel if she knew that she might have killed someone in her fits of anger?
The more that he thought about it, the more he realized that she never really needed the Doctor to help her at all, especially when she lived with her parents. Or did she? It wouldn't be a surprise to him if she lied about where she lived too. That was the main issue with his new companion, this "hero" that he was supposed to mentor: She lied to him. Perhaps it was because, deep down, there was a part of her that really didn't want to know the truth just yet. She wasn't just lying to him. She was lying to herself.
At this point, they were approaching an old, abandoned barn. Eva felt the lump in her throat as she saw Jonathan swing the doors wide open. A cloud of dust enveloped them, then disappeared. The barn had most of its paint chipped off, no doubt due to the weather and storms it must have had to endure over the years. The Doctor guessed that this place must have been here at least a couple decades. Though, the windows were kept intact and the structure itself was still in good shape. He had his suspicions that some of the barn's damaged features may not have been done by nature at all.
Jonathan stepped inside, motioning for everyone to follow him. It was almost pitch black, save for the sunlight that pierced through the windows. The inside was covered with dirt and dust. Old farm tools, ladders, and chicken wire lay strewn all over the floor. Eva tip toed her way ahead of the group, begin careful not to step on any of the sharp objects all over the place. She was soon close behind Jonathan. He suddenly came to a halt and shined his flashlight at the center of the floor.
"Eva dear," He said quietly. "I want you to rip a hole in the floor, right in the middle."
"What?" she asked.
"Just do it. You'll see."
He then turned to face the rest of the group. "Stand back, everyone."
Eva made her way to the center and forced her hands through the planks of wood that made up the floor. She ripped off the wooden planks one by one, with ease.
"How did you know she could do that?" asked the Doctor.
"Doctor," said Jonathan. "I've known ever since she was a baby."
Martha wrapped her arms around her husband and leaned into his shoulder, almost as if she were about to cry.
"We should have done better." She said quietly. "God knows we should have done better."
The Doctor couldn't help but agree.
In his mind, it was their fault that Eva was such an emotional roller coaster. How could they hide her from the truth for so long? Did they really think that someone like her would blend in with the rest of the populace? If even her own parents had lied to her for her entire life, then it was no wonder that she was so afraid when the truth began to manifest itself.
"Whoa!" Eva shouted in alarm.
Before her very eyes was a large object covered by straw and blankets. It started to elevate itself and burst through the floor with a loud snap. The straw fell off the object, and Eva threw off the blankets. She froze in surprise. Everybody did. Hovering above them was a small spacecraft, about six feet long. It was silver all over, save for the red wings at the rear. The spacecraft glowed, lighting the entire room. It floated towards Eva, who kept stepping backwards, away from the hole in the floor. Once it was safely away from the hole, it lowered itself back to the floor.
Eva stood frozen stiff for a good minute, barely breathing. Jonathan and Martha kept quiet, and held each other sorrowfully. The Doctor grew tired of looking at them being so mournful and walked toward the ship.
"Well look at that!" he said in awe. "It's beautiful."
Eva said nothing.
Wally tapped her on the shoulder. He had quietly moved right behind her.
"Go on." He said gently.
Eva took a breath and inched toward the left side of the ship. The Doctor felt around the front, marveling at its exterior.
"Look at this. What have we got here? Let's see. It looks like-"he paused for a moment to pull out his sonic screwdriver to examine the sides of the vessel. "Oh that's just unbelievable! It's not just made of metal, it was grown! Of course it doesn't seem like it contains any capability of block transfer computation, but then again if it's only purpose was to carry an infant, I suppose it wouldn't need it. Oh look. It even has a warp drive! Quite impressive too! Well, I say impressive but it's more than that. Even I'll admit. It's simply-"
"Alien." Eva interrupted. "It's alien."
The Doctor's enthusiasm faded. He looked sympathetically at Eva, and he slowly nodded his head.
"Yes. Yes it is."
Eva touched the silver ship, placing her palms onto it. She could barely believe this was all real.
"I…I'm an alien." She said, her voice quivering.
The Doctor slowly walked over to her, and gently placed his hand on her shoulder.
"Yes." He said quietly, and calmly. "Yes, you are."
Eva tried to compose herself, but she couldn't. She started to sob. The Doctor embraced her with a gentle hug, and let her cry.
"I'm sorry, Eva." He whispered. "I'm so sorry."
Eva didn't let go of him. For years she had lied to herself; and ever since she met the Doctor, she had lied to him. Now there was no hiding from it. No more lies. No more running away. She was different, she knew it, and now there was no denying it any longer.
"Look!" shouted Wally, pointing at the ship.
Eva and the Doctor immediately turned to face the ship. Eva's handprints on the ship had suddenly started to glow a bright blue color. The ship made a loud humming noise, and soon Eva's handprints had disappeared. The top of the ship slowly opened up, revealing a small chamber covered with a red blanket. The chamber was large enough for an infant to lay in.
Eva stuck her hands inside and pulled out the blanket. It was so soft, and a beautiful crimson color. She took a moment to hold it in her hands. She then handed it to the Doctor and returned to examining the chamber. Inside were clear, shining crystals and a smaller green one right next to them. At the front of the chamber was a series of buttons and screens displaying symbols that were incomprehensible even to the Doctor. Eva grabbed all but one of the crystals and set them gently on top of the red blanket. The only crystal she didn't grab was the green one.
As if by instinct, she held the green crystal in her hand and slid it into a small round slot above one of the screens. It slid in perfectly with a loud click, and instantly a beam of light burst from the crystal's tip. The light transformed into a small projection of a man wearing strange clothing. He wore a silver band around his head, and dressed in a green suit with strange symbols decorated around it. In the center of his chest was the only character that Eva was able to read: It was a large, silver and black "S".
"Kala Jor-El…" said the projection.
The man began a long, heartfelt speech to Eva, but she only stared back at the man in confusion. He was addressing her in a language that neither the TARDIS's translator nor the Doctor could understand.
"Wait a minute!" said Eva, annoyed. "I don't know what you're saying. Who are you?"
The projected man stopped talking and looked at her in sadness. He closed his eyes for two seconds, then reopened them and spoke once more.
"Kala Jor-El." He said in English. "You do not know who I am, but I am your father. My name is Jor-El. By this point in time, you should be of age to realize that you are not of this world that you have lived in; and you have many questions that need answers."
Jor-El's face became downcast, and his voice was filled with sorrow. "I only wish that I could be there physically to answer them for you."
Eva couldn't believe it. Her eyes widened, and although she wanted to somehow shut it all off and run away, she knew that she had to face it. She remained silent, and stood still.
"I can, however, answer the most obvious question you have." He continued. "Your name is Kala Jor-El. You are the sole survivor of the planet Krypton. Our planet was the most technologically and socially advanced in the known universe, yet not even Krypton was destined to last forever. It was only a matter of time before our end would come. I could not save our universe from the antimatter wave, nor could I even save all of Krypton, but I knew that I could at least save you."
"Antimatter wave?" asked the Doctor, curious.
"Long ago, a terrible evil struck our universe in the form of a white wall of light that dissolved everything it touched. The terror swept across the universe, and it was only a matter of time before it would close in on our planet. I saw the coming danger in advance, and tried to warn the people. They did not listen to me. I then searched to find a planet that would be suitable for you, and that was unaffected by the white terror, but there was none. Even the perfect choice, a planet called 'Earth', had already been taken by the antimatter wave.
I had no choice after that. I took this experimental rocket, the first to be able to withstand the harshness of warping between dimensions, and modified it so that it would suit an infant. I placed you inside, along with crystals imbedded with all the knowledge of our people, and sent you to a universe that had managed to remain unaffected by the Crisis that had claimed us all. This vessel carried the most precious treasure in all of Krypton. You, my daughter. For in your veins runs the proud heritage and legacy of our people, and our universe. On my chest is the symbol of our family: the House of El. It is also on the blanket I sent with you. Wear it proudly, and with honor. Remember me always, for although I am no longer living, I will always be with you."
The image of Jor-El faded away, and Eva was left standing overwhelmed and breathless.
She glanced over at blanket that the Doctor was still holding, and set the crystals aside on the ground. He smiled warmly at her as she inspected the blanket. There it was. In the very center of the crimson blanket was the shield symbol of her family, and still unbeknownst to her, a symbol of hope. It was a large, yellow, diamond shaped outline. In the center, there was an "S". Eva held the blanket close to her heart, and smiled back at the Doctor. She then turned toward her parents. They held each other in their arms, burdened by their mistake.
"We should have told you years ago, Eva-" Said Martha. "When you were just nine years old, you accidentally tipped over our tractor. Not long after that, you claimed that you could hear the tapping of pencils from the classroom across the hall of your school."
Eva shook her head. "I don't remember."
"We told you," said Jonathan, ashamed. "-that it was all in your mind. The tractor was just a dream. The things you were hearing was just your imagination."
The Doctor glared at them angrily, fighting fiercely to hold his tongue. Even Wally was visibly upset.
"Why?" Wally blurted. "Why would you do something like that?"
"Because we were scared out of our minds." Jonathan admitted. "You ever find an alien spaceship crash on your farmland? You ever raise a child that looks completely normal but is too scared to play with the other kids because she might take their little arms off with a hi-five? What do you do with a problem that?!"
"So when she started to manifest her natural abilities," said the Doctor, coldly. "You brainwashed her."
"Well hold on there!"
"No. That's what you did."
"How dare you!" yelled Martha.
The Doctor ignored her. "And because of that, she never learned to embrace her heritage, or control her natural abilities. Worst of all, she never learned courage, responsibility, or even honesty. You failed in almost every way."
Jonathan's eyes were filled with pure outrage. As much as he wanted to punch the Doctor square in the jaw, he couldn't. He knew that the Doctor was right. They didn't want to deal with their daughter's 'problem', so they tried to force it to go away.
"Jonathan and Martha Kent." Said the Doctor, calmly but with an air of bitterness in his voice. He walked right up to them slowly, and with each step they could almost feel his anger.
"You failed." He said again, this time with angst.
"We know what we did, Doctor." Growled Jonathan. "You've said enough!"
"No, I'm not quite finished yet. You see, I'm not really her coworker; and neither is Wally over there."
Wally smiled awkwardly and waved 'hello'.
"I'm an alien, just like your daughter is. And Wally over there? Well, he's just weird. That box I have is for traveling through time and space, and I'm taking your daughter with me."
"W-what?!" exclaimed Martha.
The Doctor smiled gleefully and rushed towards Eva. He twirled happily and faced the Kents, Eva on his left, and Wally rushed to his right.
"Yes, that's right." He said cheerfully, with his arms around Eva and Wally's shoulders. "I am taking your daughter away from you!"
Martha's jaws were wide open in disbelief. Jonathan started to protest, but the Doctor cut him off.
"Oh, Wally and I will take good care of her! Don't you worry, Mr. Kent!"
"Now, wait a minute! You can't just show up from out of the blue and steal our daughter!" yelled Jonathan as he stomped angrily towards the Doctor, his hands curled tightly into fists.
His smile never faded. "Sure I can! Eva, what do you say?"
Eva was too mesmerized by the blanket to pay any attention to what was going on around her. She heard them, but it was all just white noise compared to the flurry of thoughts going through her head. Finally. Everything clicked together. Everything made sense.
"I'm not dreaming any of this, am I Doctor?" asked Eva.
"Not one bit." He answered.
Jonathan swung back and was about to land a solid punch square into the Doctor's face.
"Pa, wait!" called Eva.
Jonathan froze.
"Don't hurt him. I want to go."
"What?!"
Jonathan felt his heart shatter. Suddenly his anger was gone, and he felt as if something precious had been violently ripped out of his being.
"But, but Eva…"
Eva ran towards the only parents she had ever known, and hugged them gently.
"Ma, Pa, I need this."
Martha objected. "But why? All of a sudden?"
"I've been traveling with him for a while now, and just as you haven't been completely honest with me… Well, I haven't been completely honest with him. I think it's about time that all changed. I mean, yeah he may be kind of a jerk at times-"
"Thanks, Eva." Said the Doctor, sarcastically.
"-But I met him on…"
She froze mid-sentence. They don't know yet. The "ghosts" were still appearing off and on, but the invasion hasn't started yet. There was still time. She could save them! She glanced behind her shoulder, locking eyes with the Doctor, as if waiting for a confirmation. He knew what she wanted to do, but glared at her and shook his head "No". That was his timeline. That was her timeline. The invasion was already set to happen tomorrow. Nobody should tamper with time. Well, except himself; but he knew what he was doing. He was the Doctor. He was always right.
Eva felt a cold shiver run down her spine. She figured that the Doctor would object to her tampering a bit with time. But, she reasoned, that it was never really confirmed that they were killed by the Cybermen. Even if she told them, surely that wouldn't change anything drastically. The invasion would still happen.
"I met him on a day when I felt the most hopeless that I'd ever felt in my life. He saw me at my lowest point, and you know what he did? He didn't run from me. He didn't convince me that it was all in my head. He listened to me, and held out his hand. Travelling with him was the best decision I've ever made."
She held on to her parents, wrapping them in her embrace.
"Aw Ma, Pa, I love you both so much. I don't wanna leave you, but it's for the best."
Martha asked silently, "Will we ever see you again?"
Eva struggled to hold herself together. She fought her tears. She didn't cry, but dear God she wanted to.
"Ma, Pa, I need you to do something for me. Tonight, pack a few things and come here. Stay here until tomorrow night, okay? Promise me. I can't explain, but it's the only way I can ever see you again."
"All right, Eva." Said Jonathan. "I may not understand it all, but we'll do as you say. You just promise us that we'll still get to see you."
"I promise." She said, overjoyed.
The group had made their way back in front of Jonathan's truck, and prepared for their inevitable parting. The Doctor, not being much for goodbyes, activated his sonic screwdriver, allowing his TARDIS to become visible again. As he went to open the door, Jonathan called out to him.
"Doctor! You take good care of her now."
"Will do, Jonathan!" he smiled.
"Bye Ma! Bye Pa!" said Eva as she waved goodbye before stepping into the TARDIS.
Wally waved goodbye, and rushed inside.
The Kents gazed upward as that strange blue box floated upwards above their heads and dematerialized, carrying their little girl inside. They embraced the hope that this Doctor character would take care of her, and that she would not only safely return one day, but grow into wonderful person that they knew she could be.
