A/N: So I know I'm over two weeks late... sorry about that... Uni resumed and I kinda lost myself in the haze of going back...
Hopefully, it's a bit better now and I hope I can go back to posting on (at least a semi) schedule.
This chapter is my first attempt ever at writing Classic Who fanfiction, so any and all reviews about it would be very welcome.
The Doctor and Eva stayed in the room for a couple more minutes before Lux came in to set them free. They went upstairs, where they reunited with Donna but Even after Eva told the Doctor the reason he gave River his screwdriver, she couldn't stop crying.
She knew River was happy in the world CAL built for her – a world with Miss Evangelista, Anita and both Daves. A world where she lived her life, built a family and had two little kids to take care of. But, still, it didn't feel like enough.
Hours later found her sitting in a small garden the TARDIS created for her, a cup of tea in one hand and a cigarette in another.
"What was the date when you left the other universe?" the Doctor's voice asked from behind her.
"Why do you want to know?" Eva asked.
"Just... remembering something you told me a long time ago."
Eva sighed. "November 28th," she said.
"And it's been three days since?" the Doctor inquired.
"More or less," Eva shrugged.
"Okay," the Doctor said slowly. "So, assuming it had been three days, what would the date today be?"
The cigarette fell from Eva's hand to the ground. "Oh my god," she muttered. "It's... but it can't be, can it?"
"It is," the Doctor replied. "I should have realized it before, but I didn't." He stepped closer and pulled her into a hug. "Happy Birthday, Evie."
Eva shut her eyes tight, not returning the hug. "This birthday sucked," she said.
"I know," the Doctor said. "And I'm sorry, but it's not going to get any better soon."
Eva frowned, opening her mouth to ask what he meant when she saw the glow coming from her necklace.
"Where am I going?" she asked him.
"1971," he replied. "I'm going to be quite bitter, but I'm pretty sure that's more because of my nose than it is because of you."
"Will things ever get better?" Eva questioned.
"Yes," the Doctor said. "But they'll also get worse. And sometimes they'll be both."
"That's not very comforting," Eva said, looking at the Doctor as he took a step back.
"I know," he said. "But that's the best I can offer."
Eva closed her eyes, letting the locket take her away and opened them to see Jo opening a box.
"Stop her!" she heard a voice calling as smoke came out of the box. "That's a bomb!"
A man rushed forwards to stop her, but Jo hit him, sending him to the ground.
"I've got to open it!" she muttered, turning back to the box. "I've got to!"
"Of course I arrive when a bomb's about to go off," Eva groaned.
"I've got to open it!" Jo repeated. "I've got to open it!"
Another man rushed forwards and grabbed Jo, pulling her away from the box as a third grabbed the box and threw it out the window just before it exploded.
"There's going be some complaints about that, you know, Doctor," the second man – Sergeant Benton, as Eva now recognized – said.
"My dear Sergeant, if that box hadn't been tied, you wouldn't be here to receive any complaints," the third man said, turning around and allowing Eva to recognize him as the Third Doctor.
"Yes, sir," Benton said. "I mean, no, sir."
"What gave you the idea it was a booby trap, Doctor?" Yates questioned.
"She did," Eva stated, making the men in the room aware of her presence.
"What's wrong with her?" Yates asked.
"Almost certainly post-hypnotic alienation," the Doctor said, before turning his eyes to stare at Eva. "Decided to show up, have you?"
"Not the perfect timing, is it?" Eva asked. "Then again, when is it?"
"She's been hypnotised?" Yates asked.
Eva rolled her eyes. "Well, of course," she said. "Why else do you think she'd try to blow you all to pieces?"
"Come on, my dear," the Doctor said, taking Jo and leading her away. "Come and sit down over here."
"Get a chair, Captain Yates," Eva suggested, causing Yates to look at her questioningly.
"Do as she says," the Doctor instructed before turning back to Jo. "Come on, come and sit down here. Good. Just sit down here."
"But," Yates started, "I understood that under hypnosis it was impossible for –"
"You thought that under hypnosis it was impossible for a subject to be persuaded to do anything that was against his nature?" the Doctor questioned.
"That's right," Yates said.
"Well, it's a fallacy, Captain," Eva told him, leaning against the table. "The Master can completely control the human mind."
"Why am I not surprised you know what's happening?" the Doctor questioned.
"Why am I not surprised you're being rude to me?" Eva retorted.
"So he can just take over anyone he likes?" Benton questioned.
"No, not quite," the Doctor said. "No, some minds are stubborn enough to resist hypnosis."
"In any case, it doesn't last," Eva said. "Does it, Doctor?"
"No," the Doctor confirmed. "Away from the Master's influence, the mind struggles constantly to free itself."
"Is she in some sort of a trance?" Yates asked.
"I think the current jargon is schizoid dissociation," the Doctor said. "It's because she was forced to do something against her will and her conscious mind refuses to accept the fact. The result is a deep trauma."
"Jo, where's the Master?" Yates questioned.
"She won't remember that," Eva said, just as the Doctor had done the same.
"But she might," Yates insisted, not bothering to look at either of them. "Jo! Where is the Master?"
The Doctor sighed, looking over at Eva. "Got any suggestions, or are you planning to keep standing over there like a flowerpot?"
"I can see what you meant now about being bitter," Eva muttered. "Though the nose isn't nearly bad enough to warrant this."
The Doctor's hand jumped to his face. "What's wrong with my nose?" he asked.
"Nothing," Eva said. "Haven't you been listening? And if you talk to Jo enough it'll pull her out of the trance."
"How do you know it will work?" Benton asked.
"The way she always does," the Doctor said, looking at her with something almost akin to anger. "She simply does." He moved a chair closer to the one Jo was sitting on and sat down. "Jo, wake up," he said. "Wake up, Jo. This is the Doctor. You're amongst friends."
"It's no good," Yates said. "I think we're just wasting –"
"Do be quiet, Captain," Eva said. "With all the respect, the Doctor is in the middle of something and you're disturbing."
"Thank you, my dear," the Doctor said. "Though you are quite disturbing me, as well. Be quiet!"
"Doctor?" Jo asked.
"Yes," the Doctor replied.
"Doctor?" Jo repeated.
"Mmm-hmm."
"Doctor!"
"All right, all right," the Doctor said as Jo all but jumped out of her chair. "Calm down, Jo. Calm down. We're quite safe."
"Quite," Eva said with a small, victorious smile at Yates' direction.
"There was an explosion!" Jo said.
"That was a long way away," the Doctor replied. "Believe me, that was a long way away. Now, we're all quite safe. Look around you. See for yourself."
Jo did as she was told and relaxed a bit before her eyes landed on Eva. "Who is she?" she asked.
"That's Eva," the Doctor replied. "She's... an old acquaintance."
"Acquaintance?" Eva repeated. "I know you better than you know yourself, Mister!"
"Well, considering as I am here all of the time and you just pop in and out whenever you wish, I'd have to disagree," the Doctor retorted.
"The box," Jo said. "I had to open it! There was a voice."
"Yes, well, that voice," the Doctor said, looking away from Eva. "Where were you when you heard that voice?"
"A room," Jo replied. "I don't know where."
"Yes," the Doctor said encouragingly. "What sort of a room?"
"There was a desk," Jo said.
"Yes," the Doctor nodded.
"A telephone," she added.
"An office," Eva cut in. "It was a factory office."
"Yes!" Jo called out. "Yes, an office."
"Yes, well, where was that factory?" the Doctor asked, not bothering to look at Eva. "Do you know the name of the factory?"
"No," Jo said.
"Well, try and remember," the Doctor bit out.
"Give the girl a break!" Eva said. "She's just gone through quite the trauma."
"You'd know, wouldn't you?" the Doctor asked. "Why don't you pop out and come back when you won't be so annoying?"
"That's what you think happens?" Eva asked. "I just pop in and out whenever I wish?"
"Isn't it?"
Eva gave the Doctor a long, hurt look before heading to the door.
"Eva!" he called. "Isn't it?"
"Does it matter?" she asked, not sparing him a glance.
EMH
The Doctor found her twenty minutes later, smoking the fourth of a string of cigarettes. He sat down next to her, wrinkling his nose at the smell.
"So, you're smoking now?" he asked.
"Apparently," Eva replied dryly.
"Quite a lot, too, by the looks of it," he noted.
"Is this another conversation about my smoking habits?" Eva asked. "Because, frankly, I'm getting quite tired of those."
"No," the Doctor said. "This is an attempt to understand what you said earlier."
"Oh, so you care now?" Eva bit out.
"I always care," the Doctor said with a frown. "It may not always appear that way, but I care."
"Is that why you never bothered to ask how am I travelling around your timeline?" Eva asked. "Or where am I originally from? I know you haven't," she added." Because if you had, then you wouldn't have told me to 'pop out'."
"How do you do it, then?" the Doctor questioned. "Where are you from?"
"You wouldn't believe me if I told you," she muttered.
"Try me."
Eva took a long drag of her cigarette before replying. "I'm from another universe."
The Doctor's eyes widened. "Impossible!" he said.
"I told you," Eva muttered. "You don't believe me, so what's the point?"
"No, no," the Doctor quickly said. "I meant... Extremely unlikely. And yet quite possible, apparently, or otherwise you wouldn't have said that."
"Well, originally, I'm from here," Eva told him. "But, somehow, I ended up growing up there. This locket is all I have left of my father. It was forged using time energy –"
"I know that," the Doctor said. "But are you saying you don't control it?"
"Have you ever encountered metal forged using time energy before?" Eva asked, and the Doctor shook his head. "Me neither. It's kind of foreign territory here."
"So how do you know where you'll end up?" the Doctor asked.
"I don't," Eva replied. "I just appear."
The Doctor was silent for a moment. "I apologize for what I said earlier," he said.
"Apology accepted," Eva said. "I expect compensation later but for now, let's go and take care of the Master, shall we?"
"With pleasure," the Doctor said, helping Eva up and into the lab.
EMH
It was a unique experience to watch the Doctor work. Even though Eva didn't understand almost anything he did, the way he inspected the different parts of whatever it was he was building showed he understood – something she didn't find often in his later regenerations.
She was so distracted by his work, that she didn't notice the door opened until the Doctor greeted the woman who came in.
"Hello, Jo," he said. "Are you feeling better?"
"Yes, I'm fine," Jo said politely. "Thank you."
"That's good," Eva said with a soft smile.
"I just wanted to say how sorry I am," Jo added.
"What on earth for?" the Doctor asked, confused.
"The bomb!" Jo called. "I might have killed you all."
"Oh, that was nothing to do with you, my dear," the Doctor replied. "That was the Master."
The door opened once more to reveal Brigadier Lethbridge Stewart.
"You're supposed to be on sick leave, Miss Grant," he said.
"I'm okay again now, sir," Jo told him.
"Oh," the Brigadier said, "So you've recovered your memory, then?"
"No, I'm afraid I haven't," Jo replied. "I've tried and tried to remember."
"Don't," Eva instructed. "It'll only make things worse. Leave your mind alone. Something may pop up of its own accord."
"Yes..." the Brigadier said slowly, turning to look at her before his eyes widened. "Eva?"
"You know her?" the Doctor asked, surprised.
"Why wouldn't he know me?" Eva asked, confused.
"Well, he never met you with me, that's for sure!"
"You..." the Brigadier muttered. "What are you doing here? I saw you just a couple of hours ago, at –"
"Spoilers!" Eva quickly called out, making the Brigadier frown in confusion. "Time travel," she shrugged. "I don't always meet people in the right order, so the Me you saw a couple of hours ago is still in my future. Sorry for the confusion."
"But..."
"I think it would be best not to say anything else, Brigadier," the Doctor cut in. "We wouldn't want any of you accidently telling the other something you shouldn't. For now, I think reintroductions might be in order for Eva's sake."
"I know who you are," Eva told the Brigadier. "Sorry. It's complicated."
"Well," the Doctor said slowly, glancing at Eva once more before turning to the Brigadier. "i don't believe there is anything you need to know about her other than the fact that I demand her to be treated with the same level of respect you show me."
"Wait," Eva said, frowning. "How come he didn't see me with you?"
"Well, that might have something to do with the fact that this is the first time I've seen you since I was sent to Earth," the Doctor replied.
"What?" Eva asked. "The first?"
"I started thinking you gave up on me already," the Doctor said. "Or, perhaps, that you don't want to be with me anymore now that I don't have the ability to take you anywhere other than the park and back."
Eva paused at that. "I'd love you to take me to the park and back," she said. "And I would never give up on you."
"Can the two of you have that conversation later?" the Brigadier asked, shaking himself from the shock of seeing Eva. "We're short on time as it is and we can't just sit about waiting for something to pop up from Miss Grant's mind or for the two of you to settle your differences. If my agents don't turn up something soon, I'm going to surround and search every factory on that list."
"You know, Brigadier," the Doctor started. "Your methods have all the refined subtlety of a bull in a china shop."
Eva covered her smile with her hand, and the Brigadier opened his mouth to reply when the door opened and Yates walked in.
"Any news?" the Brigadier asked, choosing to focus on that, rather than the Doctor or Eva.
"Well, it's a bit tenuous, sir," Yates said.
"Well, out with it," the Brigadier ordered.
"You know the field where we found Professor Philips' car?" Yates asked. "Well, Sergeant Benton noticed that the turf was all churned up. So he did a bit of checking and he found that a circus had just left."
"Oh?" the Doctor asked. "Where's the circus now?"
"Tarminster."
"I'll get some of my men down there with photographs of Philips," the Brigadier said. "Someone at the circus may have seen him."
"I haven't been to a circus for years," the Doctor said. "I think I'll go myself."
"All right, Doctor," the Brigadier nodded. "I'll get you an escort."
"No, thank you, Brigadier," the Doctor said, taking Eva's hand. "Eva is the only escort I need. Don't want a lot of soldiers crashing about, do we?"
"Can I come?" Jo asked.
"Er, no, Miss Grant, I don't think so," the Doctor started cautiously.
"Not just yet," Eva told her.
"But I'm fine now," Jo protested.
"Miss Grant," the Brigadier said warningly.
"I'll need some photographs of that man Philips," the Doctor said, heading towards the door.
"Oh, they're in my office," the Brigadier replied. "But I still don't see why you don't want members of my company to come with you."
"Very simple, Brigadier," the Doctor said, heading outside. "I don't need anybody else when I have my Eva."
"Flattery won't help you," Eva stated.
"Well, we'll see about that," the Doctor said. "An investigation in a circus. Quite better than the park and back, don't you think?"
"Quite," Eva agreed, holding his hand tight as he led her to the car.
A/N2: So, anyone has any guesses as to how does the Brig knows Eva?
Until next time, you can look for me on Tumblr (mayalr96, Fandoms All Day) for sneakpeeks and updates, or on pa tr eon (Delete the spaces on the site name, ffnet is annoying. username: Mayalr96).