The trio hurled themselves into the lift, the Doctor soniced it, sending them up quicker. Evie examined her nails as they waited, while Amy clung on for dear life. The younger female couldn't help a slight smirk appearing on her lips as they left the metal box and walked across the marble floor of the reception area.

"You'll get used to it." She said. There was an almost undetectable trace of venom in her voice, which Evie hadn't even intended to place there. She'd meant her words to be a reassurance to the red-head, but it had come out all tangled. Amy stared at her, puzzled by her sudden coldness.

Rather than dwelling on her unintentional tone, Evie pulled the laser blaster out of her waistband and checked the power. Sighing, the Doctor raised his eyebrows at her and the teenager shrugged.

"I thought you were cool with it now. I mean, you even checked I had it back at Amy's house." She said raising an eyebrow.

"Yes, but that doesn't mean I want you to use it at every opportunity." He told her.

"I don't!" Evie protested. "I mean, it's not as though I shoot first and ask questions afterwards. Well, not most of the time anyway."

"Fine… just don't use it unless it's a matter of life and death." He ordered. Seeing the expression on her face he held up his hands. "Sorry, sorry… it's just an expression. You know what I mean."

The Doctor moved away to the left, checking the different doors that led off the reception area. After a moment's hesitation, Amy followed him. Evie looked around her, biting her lip. She could sense that something was going on, but she couldn't work out where. Following her instincts, Evie headed to the right, walking all the way to the end of the corridor and pushing open the office door in front of her.

A woman, dressed in a white shirt and tight black trousers, had her back to the teenager at the door and was riffling through a filing cabinet in the corner. Evie raised her laser blaster, aiming it directly at the woman's head. As though she'd heard the movement, or perhaps just sensed it, the woman turned a look of surprise on her face. Evie gasped, but she didn't know why. Opposite her the woman's face changed, now it displayed a mask of horror.

"Who are you?" The teenager demanded keeping her gun trained on the woman carefully. She tilted her head, trying to understand why her first reaction on seeing her had been to gasp. Evie was also trying to understand why she now had to fight to keep aiming the gun at her. Somewhere in the back of her mind there was a spark of recognition but she couldn't place her at all.

"You're not supposed to be here." The woman said, ignoring the question. She didn't seem fazed by the gun pointed at her either. "You really shouldn't be here. Not… not yet."

"What do you mean?" Evie asked lowering her gun. She was breathing deeply, tears forming in her eyes without her even noticing. They were blurring her vision, but there was nothing she could do about it. Suddenly a massive pain erupted in her head, spreading through her like a fire. She squeezed her eyes closed, dropping her weapon as she brought her hands up to her temples. A red beam exploded from the end of the blaster as it hit the floor, taking out a chair in a blaze of sparks and smoke. The teenager fell, almost in slow motion, curling into a ball on the ground.

"What is it? What's wrong?" The woman demanded leaping deftly over the laser beam with almost no effort and dropping to the floor beside the teenager, taking her head gently in her hands and laying it on her lap. She stroked Evie's hair, gently. Her tone became much quieter, almost as though she was pleading. "Please don't tell me it's your head?"

Their eyes met for a brief moment and a look of intense confusion appeared on the woman's face. She stared at Evie, taking several deep, settling breaths that caused her entire body to shudder. The confusion was replaced by something else; hope. The teenager felt a strange sensation, but the intense pain in her head was easing slowly and she was feeling much more like herself.

"Sorry to disappoint you," the teenager said, almost smirking, "but it is my head." She sat up, moving away from the woman, feeling incredibly disconcerted by her.

The woman looked even more worried by that news, if it was possible. Her eyes raked over Evie's face then she took a deep breath, deciding that she was alright again and helped her to her feet. Then she picked up the laser gun and handed it to her.

"You have to get back to the TARDIS. There isn't time to let the Doctor work it out for himself; tell him CAL. It's happened before… check the data core. He'll understand." She moved away from the teenager, flipping open the device on her wrist and tapping at it. "And one more thing, Evie; never lower your gun. Ever."

In a burst of light the woman vanished, leaving Evie staring astonished at empty space. She was completely overwhelmed. The teenager thought she should know who the woman was, but she couldn't work out how. The woman had clearly known all about her… and the Doctor. But how? How had she known her name?

Turning on her heels she sprinted back towards the reception area, looking wildly for the Time Lord. He was calmly scanning a panel and looked up, slightly amused as her footsteps reached him. His face fell as he instantly realised that something was wrong, but she swatted his hands away as she tried to recover her breath.

"Get off me!" She gasped. "CAL; the woman said CAL and to check the data core. She said you'd know what it meant."

"Woman? What woman?" He demanded.

Evie shook her head. "I-I don't know! She was just there and then… she went. She used a Vortex Manipulator I think."

"What did she look like?" He took hold of her upper arms, crouching slightly so that he could look into her eyes.

Evie sighed, not understanding why it was important. "Curly hair, beautiful... Does it really matter? What does CAL and the data core mean?"

"That's impossible… How could she…"

"Doctor!" Evie exclaimed, not caring whether it was impossible or not. She just wanted to get out of here after the woman's words. She didn't know why, but she found herself believing her.

"Oh… right." The Doctor looked distracted, before setting off at a run back towards the panel he'd been examining. "Do something useful with that gun of yours for once, shoot here… that exact spot." He ordered, pointing. Rolling her eyes and raising the gun half-heartedly she pointed and fired off a beam, not even concentrating on what she was doing. "Well put some effort into it."

"Sorry, dad." She said sarcastically, rolling her eyes at his patronising tone. "Do you need me to shoot again?"

"No… you've hit it." He said grudgingly. She raised her eyebrows and sighed, turning to look along the corridor to the room the woman had been in. "Are you listening to me, Evie?"

She jumped, his voice bringing her back to reality. "Yeah, sorry. What d'you need?"

He shouted out a list of instructions to the females and they followed them without questioning him, Evie helping Amy as much as she could; trying to make up for her earlier words. When they'd done as he asked they stood back, watching as he put the finishing touches to his creation.

"Just need to reverse the system and…" He jumped backwards connecting two plugs and laughing as they bucked and sparked against each other. There was a blinding flash of light and the three of them covered their eyes. When they looked, there were people all around them. "All in a day's work." He said grinning.

"Can we get out of here now?" Evie asked shivering. "This place gives me the creeps."

With a final glance along the corridor, the teenager replaced her gun in the waistband of her jeans and followed her companions to the lift.


Was the woman who I think she was? But how is that possible?

Gotta admit… I wasn't entirely sure what was going to happen when I wrote this… I don't even really remember writing some parts of it! I guess it just wrote itself! :P