Eva wandered around the maze that was the castle, trying to pass the time until the Master was going to leave the dining room where he sat with Ranulf, his wife and his son.
She had only met the Time Lord once in person, and that experience was somewhat traumatizing for her. It was over two weeks ago for her, and with that fact came the realization that it had been nearly a month since she arrived here. She shook the thought out of her head.
She needed to focus on one thing, and one thing alone – what had happened since the first time the Master met her and until this point in time that he no longer wanted to use her simply as a weapon against the Doctor, but wanted her all to himself?
"Hello, she-demon."
Eva jumped, turning around to see the King – no, fake-king – standing behind her.
"Kamelion, wasn't it?" she asked allowed, hoping she didn't get the android's name wrong.
"My Master would like to see you," he said. "I will take you to him, now."
"I don't suppose I have much of a choice, do I?" Eva muttered.
"Not quite," Kamelion replied, marking her to start walking.
"Where are we going?" she asked.
"My Master will meet us in my chamber."
The King's chambers, Eva thought. That's good.
If she remembered correctly, the King's chambers was where the Doctor saw Kamelion's true form. If that was where they were heading, it wouldn't be long before the Doctor would come.
Almost as soon as they walked into his chambers, Kamelion took off his disguise and sat on a chair. Eva looked around the room, noting the lack of personal items as she tried to decide what she should do next.
"Sit," the Master's voice said, and she looked at the bed, seeing him marking at a spot next to him.
"I'm fine," she said stiffly.
"I must insist," the Master said. "And I believe it would be smart to do as I say, considering I have at least one of your friends."
Eva paused, trying to remember what happened at that point of the episode.
"Which one?" she finally asked.
"The funny-looking one who isn't the Doctor," the Master replied. "Turlough," he added when he saw she wasn't following.
"He isn't funny-looking!" Eva protested. "Besides, look who's talking."
"What is that supposed to mean?" the Master asked.
"Have you taken a look at a mirror lately?" she muttered.
"The Doctor looks like a baby," the Master retorted.
"He doesn't insult others over their looks," Eva replied. "Why did you want me here, anyway?"
"Don't act as if you don't know," the Master rolled his eyes.
"It's kind of hard when I really don't know," Eva said. "Why did you want me here?"
The Mater's eyes widened for a moment before a smirk settled on his face. "Oh, no," he said. "I think it would be much better to let you find out on your own."
"Then leave me alone," Eva stated, stubbornly remaining standing.
She looked around the room once more and her eyes fell on the lute. Remembering what happened in the episode, she lifted it and handed it to Kamelion.
"Play for me?" she asked with a soft smile, and the android started singing the song from the meal once more.
"We sing in praise of total war
Against the Saracen we abhor
To free the tomb of Christ our Lord
We'll put the known world to the sword..."
In the middle of the song, the door opened and the Master pulled Eva into the shadows. Kamelion looked up at the newcomer and stopped playing.
"Welcome, my demon," he said.
"Your Majesty seems in need of a doctor," the Doctor commented.
"Allow me to introduce Kamelion," the Master told him, not letting go of his painful grasp on Eva's arm.
The Doctor looked at Eva, surprised. "Tegan told me you were going to find the TARDIS," he said.
"I asked her to lie for me," Eva replied, trying not to wince as the Master pressed his hand even tighter around her arm.
The Doctor turned to the other Time Lord. "Your work?"
"Alas, modesty forbids such a claim," the Master sighed, moving forwards and dragging Eva along with him. "Kamelion is a tool of an earlier invader of Xeriphas. And instrumental in my escape from that benighted planet."
"This is your King John?" the Doctor asked.
"Look again," the Master instructed. Kamelion began to change and within moments, the fake-king was sitting on the chair.
"Impressive," the Doctor noted as Kamelion put his lute aside.
"A weapon used by the invaders of Xeriphas," the Master explained. "A decoy, capable of infinite form or personality."
"Interesting," the Doctor muttered, his eyes jumping to the Master's hand on Eva's arm for less than a moment, and Eva knew he was trying to plan a way to get her away from him.
"Well said, my demon," Kamelion said. "We are a complex mass of artificial neurons."
"And controlled by?"
"Nothing more than simple concentration and psychokinetics," the Master replied. "Look again."
This time, as Kamelion changed, he took the image of the Doctor.
"Can anyone play?" the Doctor asked.
"Please," the Master replied.
The Doctor concentrated and it wasn't long before a Master duplicate sat on the chair.
"Quite masterly," the duplicate said.
"As if one isn't enough," Eva muttered.
"You flatter me," the Master said. "How about..."
Kamelion changed again. When the changes settled, Eva saw herself sitting on the chair, wearing the same dress as she was now, only with a significantly bigger cleavage. She coughed, and the Doctor changed Kamelion into himself once more.
The Master sighed. "I prefer bad King John," he said.
"So, Kamelion, here, is bad King John," the Doctor said.
"Aided and abetted by you, his demon," the Master said. "And your blue engine."
"It's cunning of you to confirm the superstitions put about by the monks," the Doctor commented.
"Irresistible," the Master shrugged. "Your arrival here was most timely."
"A gift," the Doctor said.
"But not as pretty as this one," the Master said, pulling Eva closer only for her to try fruitlessly to pull away.
The Doctor swallowed before talking, wandering around the room yet not taking his eyes off Eva for a moment. "The King turns the barons solidly against him, he is killed in battle or deposed, possibly in favour of King Phillip of France," he said. "He cannot therefore, offer Magna Carta. What do you think of it so far?"
"I couldn't do better myself," the Master said.
"Thus, the foundations of parliamentary democracy," the Doctor said as he cleaned a spot on Kamelion's head, "Will never be laid."
"Brilliant," the Master summed.
"You cannot be allowed to alter the course of history, even indirectly," Eva told him.
"How do you propose to stop me?" the Master questioned the two of them.
"I shall have to give it some thought," the Doctor mused, confirming Eva's fear that he still didn't know how to get her away from the Master.
She made a small movement, indicating her intention to kick the Master and get away, but the Doctor slowly shook his head. This will do nothing more than annoy the Master, and that result wouldn't do either of them – nor the world – any good.
"You haven't much time," the Master said.
"And you haven't your compressor," the Doctor noted.
"I still have my wits," the Master retorted, and the Doctor looked at him.
"So do I."
The Master smiled. "You would do well, my dear Doctor, to ponder that you played directly into my hand," he said.
"And into ours," Kamelion said.
"He has a mind of his own?" the Doctor asked, surprised.
"Indeed," the Master nodded.
"But highly susceptible," Eva added.
"Dominated by our demons," Kamelion said.
"You will know that the King and his dead brothers are believed to be the devil's work," the Master told the Doctor. "Your interference here with your dreary TARDIS has only confirmed this. You are, dare I say so, discredited demons. And as such you make a unique contribution to altering the course of history." He smiled slightly. "Hoist on your own petard."
"And where will you take your toy next?" the Doctor asked.
"Does it matter?" the Master asked. "You'll not be there to greet me."
"He wouldn't need to," Eva said. "You forget, Kamelion does have a mind of his own."
"He obeys only my will," the Master waved her comment off.
"Yes," she agreed. "But for how much longer?"
"For as long as I command it," the Master said. "Kamelion will not turn on me."
"No?" the Doctor asked, turning to the android and focusing.
As nothing happened, the Master started laughing. "You're getting old, Doctor," he said. "Your will is weak. It's time you regenerated."
"You won't win," Eva told him. "Not ultimately, and not at all."
"You're mistaken," the Master told her. "With Kamelion's unique ability at my command and with you at my side, it's only a matter of time before I undermine the key civilisations of the universe. Chaos will reign, and I shall be its emperor. And you will be there at my side to see it happen."
That sentence pushed Eva over the edge and she raised her leg and stomped on the Master. He hissed and his grasp on her arm weakened for less than a second. It wasn't long, but it was all Eva needed to get free and allow the Doctor to put his arm around her, keeping her away from the angry Master.
"The Earth is a primitive planet," the Doctor told the Master. "You won't succeed so easily elsewhere."
"Where I cannot win by stealth, I shall destroy," the Master stated. "That way, I cannot fail to win."
"You'll never succeed," Eva snarled.
"You'll see," the Master told her before turning to the Doctor. "Unfortunately, you will not be alive to find out. Which reminds me," he looked at the Doctor expectantly. "My compressor."
"Safely in my TARDIS," the Doctor said, pulling Eva even closer.
The trio jumped when loud banging was heard from the door.
"Your Majesty!" Ranulf's voice called.
The Master changed Kamelion back to the King's form and the android called, "Enter."
Through the door came Ranulf and his son, followed by two guards who were holding Turlough.
"Sire –" Ranulf started, pausing at the sight of the Doctor and Eva. "You have them."
"We have them," Kamelion corrected.
"Sire, they have slain my kinsman," Ranulf said.
"Such perfidy must not go unpunished," the King said. "We would have boiling oil. See to it."
Ranulf and his son nodded, satisfied, and left the room.
"Doctor..." Turlough said.
"Yes," the Doctor said, turning to look at the Master and Kamelion. "Yes. I'm not a demon for nothing."
"Very well, my dear Doctor," the Master said, watching Eva as the Doctor pushed her behind him and she walked to Turlough. "Your will against mine. So be it."
The Master and the Doctor concentrated, each of them trying to be better than the other and gain control of Kamelion.
"Everything will be alright," Eva told Turlough quietly.
"I know," Turlough said. "If only because if the Doctor loses, you'll get hurt and he'll never let that happen."
"Also in order to save you, Tegan and, you know, the bloody Earth," Eva muttered.
"That, too," Turlough agreed with a small smile. "But mostly to save you."
Eva smiled as the Ranulf walked back into the room but didn't listen to the conversation that was going on, instead choosing to focus on the spot where she knew the TARDIS should appear at any moment.
She smiled as it had, turning back to the Doctor who had managed to gain control of Kamelion and changed him to look like Tegan, pulling the duplicate into the TARDIS.
"I've had quite enough of you, whoever you are," Turlough said, breaking free of the guards that held him. "So don't try me too far."
"Turlough, Eva," the Doctor said, and Turlough entered the TARDIS.
"No!" Eva heard the Master call as she turned to the TARDIS. "I've had enough of this. If I can't have you, neither could he!"
It felt like time slowed down. Eva could see the Doctor's eyes widening as she felt something akin to a sting in her chest, and a small gasp of surprise left her lungs. Black spots started to appear in Eva's view as she fell into the TARDIS, and suddenly the world went back to its normal speed.
She heard the Doctor scream and someone close the door as she started seeing blood pooling around her. The pain in the chest came quickly and at once, when somebody touched the sword the Master stuck in her back.
"No," she heard the Doctor mutter, pulling her into his arms. "No, she's too young! Turlough! Fly the TARDIS away. I'm taking her to the med-bay."
"I'm coming, too," Tegan declared, and the Doctor picked Eva up, running through the halls of the TARDIS.
The blur of colours that was the corridors' ceiling as they ran was the last thing Eva saw before blackness overcome her.
EMH
She woke up in the Med-Bay. Well... woke up might be the wrong term, but there really wasn't any way to properly describe the feeling of being pulled over gravel, every cell in her body protesting as she was thrown back into the world of the living.
Looking at herself, she saw that she was still wearing her bloody dress. As much as she wanted to change out of it, she also knew that she had much important things to do at the moment.
She stood up, her bare feet touching the cold ground and headed towards the door. She saw a glimmer of gold on a table and reached out for it, putting her necklace back on.
She only hoped it wouldn't activate before she had the chance to see the Doctor.
As she walked towards the Console Room, she could hear voices speaking.
"What are we going to do with him?" she heard Tegan's voice asking.
"I don't know," the Doctor replied. "Don't particularly care, too."
"Do you trust him?" she heard Tegan's voice asking.
"Yes," Turlough replied.
"It seems you're outvoted," the Doctor said, though his voice lacked the emotion this statement should have had.
"I'm very grateful, Doctor," Kamelion's voice said. "Where will I be quartered?"
"Well, you can have my room, for all I care," Tegan muttered.
"As you wish," the Doctor said impassively.
"What are you doing?" Tegan asked.
"I'm taking you home," the Doctor replied.
"Home?"
"Your own time," the Doctor explained. "I assume that's where you prefer to be."
"Don't you dare, Doctor," Eva managed to let out, causing one woman, two aliens and an android to turn and look at her with shock.
"But..." Turlough muttered. "You were dead!"
"Wouldn't be the first time," Eva said. "And I suppose not the last one, either."
"How is that possible?" Tegan asked. "People don't just die and gets brought back again."
"No, they don't," Eva agreed. "But I do." She spread out her arms to show them her body. "Wounds healed, any bleeding I had stopped and I'm good as new." She looked at the Doctor, frowning when she saw him pointing his sonic screwdriver on her and scanning. "Doctor?"
"Shh," he said, continuing the scan. "I don't know who you are, but you can't be Eva. I saw her die. I held her as she died and she is not you."
"Would anybody but me know that you already set the coordinates to the Eye of Orion?" she asked. "Or that you think I smoke too much? Would anybody else know that the first time we kissed from your point of view was when the Master brainwashed me into distracting you, any way I can?"
"Eva died," the Doctor said, his voice breaking.
"Yes, I did," Eva said. "And it sucks, and, to be honest, quite painful. But it's not the first time, and it's not the tenth either. If I'm right, it should be something around the fiftieth," she added, remembering how many times she died while on Titan. She took a step towards the Doctor, knowing what the scans in his screwdriver were showing him. "It's me."
"Evie?" the Doctor asked, his voice heartbroken as he stopped scanning.
"It's me," she repeated, raising a hand to his face and wiping away the tears. "It's me."
The Doctor pulled Eva into a tight hug, holding her as if he was scared that she would disappear as soon as he stopped. Which, considering everything, was a legitimate fear.
"It really is you," he whispered. "You're alive. You're here."
"I am," Eva replied. "And I'm sorry, I'm really, really sorry."
The Doctor closed his eyes. "You're going now, aren't you?"
"Yes," Eva replied. "But you'll see me again, soon." She took a step back and smiled at Tegan and Turlough before her eyes fell on the Doctor again. "Yes," she said.
"What?" the Doctor asked, confused.
"Yes, I'll date you." She smiled. "I did tell you I'll give you an answer, didn't I?"
A small smile crossed the Doctor's face when the white light took Eva once more.