They lost the Doctor fairly quickly but it wasn't long before he came back, angry and frustrated.
"It's gone!" he called out.
"Eaten?" Idris asked.
"No," Eva said, studying the Doctor's face carefully. "It left."
"Not eaten, hi-jacked," the Doctor nodded. "But why?"
"It's time for us both to go, and keep together," Auntie said from behind Eva, startling her.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa," the Doctor said. "Go? What do you mean go? Where are you going?"
"Well, we're dying, my love," Auntie said. "It's time for Auntie and Uncle to pop off."
"I'm against it," Uncle informed them.
"It's your fault, isn't it, sweets?" Auntie asked. "Cos you told House it was the last TARDIS. House can't feed on them if there's none more coming, can he?"
"So now he's off to your universe to find more TARDISes," Uncle said.
"It won't," the Doctor said.
"Oh, it will think of something," Auntie said, before dropping off dead.
The Doctor rushed towards her as Uncle stood up.
"Actually, I feel fine," he said, before falling as well.
"Not dead," the Doctor said determinedly, though he knew he was lying to himself. "You can't just die!"
"We need to go to where I landed, Doctor," Idris said. "Quickly."
"Why?!"
"Because we are there in three minutes."
"We need to go now!" Eva said, pulling Idris only to be stopped as the woman-TARDIS put a hand to her abdomen.
"Ow!" she called out, looking at the Doctor. "Roughly, how long do these bodies last?"
"You're dying," the Doctor said, scanning her.
"Yes, of course she's dying," Eva said. "She doesn't belong in a flesh body."
"I could blow the casing in no time," Idris informed him. "No, stop it, don't get emotional. That's what the orangey girl says."
"Amy," Eva provided.
"You're the Doctor," Idris went on. "Focus."
"On what?" the Doctor asked. "How? I'm a madman with a box, without a box! I'm stuck down the plughole at the end of the universe on a stupid old junkyard!"
"Dear god," Eva muttered. "Has your bowtie cut off all of the blood supply to your brain? Twenty seven, remember that?" she asked Idris.
"Oh, I do!" Idris called happily. "It hadn't happened to him yet, has it?"
"It hadn't happened to me, either," Eva shrugged. "I still remember it."
"Don't you start ganging up on me!" the Doctor warned.
"Us?" Eva asked. "Ganging up on you? We would never! Right, dear?"
"Of course we would," Idris said, confused. "We always gang up on him." Eva gave her a look and Idris's eyed widened. "Oh, you wanted me to lie!"
"What do you mean, twenty seven?" the Doctor asked.
"Think, you idiot," Eva said. "Look around you. It's not just any junkyard."
"What is it, then?" the Doctor questioned.
"Look around you."
"Oh," the Doctor said, his eyes widening.
"Oh, what?" Idris asked.
"Not a junkyard," the Doctor said. "Don't you see, it's not a junkyard!"
"What is it then?" Idris asked.
"It's a TARDIS junkyard!" Eva called out.
"Come on," the Doctor said, rushing past her. "Ooh, sorry, do you have a name?"
"Seven hundred years, finally he asks!" Idris muttered.
"But what do I call you?" the Doctor asked.
"I think you call me... Sexy."
The Doctor looked around, embarrassed. "Only when we're alone!" he muttered.
"We are alone," Idris noted.
"Eva's here," the Doctor said.
"Eva doesn't count," Idris retorted, and the Doctor smiled, one of his hands holding Eva's as the other grabbed Idris's.
"Come on then, Sexy," he smiled, running away.
EMH
"A valley of half-eaten TARDISes," the Doctor said as he scanned the junkyard. "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"
"I'm thinking that all of my sisters are dead," Idris said darkly. "That they were devoured, and that we are looking at their corpses."
"Ah," the Doctor said. "Sorry. No, I wasn't thinking that."
"No," Idris agreed. "You were thinking you could build a working TARDIS console out of broken remnants of a hundred different models. And you don't care that it's impossible."
"It's not impossible as long as we are alive," the Doctor said. "Rory and Amy need us."
"Okay," Eva said. "We'll build a TARDIS."
The Doctor smiled, kissing the top of her head before running off to scavenger whatever he could to build a TARDIS and Eva smiled at Idris.
"Ask him," Idris told her.
"Ask him what?" Eva asked.
"You know what," Idris said. "And I know that you're going to ask him. So ask him."
Eva sighed, moving closer to the Doctor.
"Can I ask you something?" she asked.
"Technically, you just did," the Doctor noted. "But, yes. Always."
"You told House I was one of a kind," Eva said.
"That I did," the Doctor nodded.
"But I'm not," Eva said. "There are more immortals. Jack, and... people you haven't met yet."
"Well," the Doctor muttered, "I can't say much for people I haven't met yet but I know you and Jack are different. He registers as human."
Eva stared at the Doctor, shocked. "And I don't?"
"No," the Doctor said. "Well, yes. Well... partly."
"What do you mean partly?"
The Doctor sighed, moving closer to Eva and taking a couple of her hairs, scanning them with his screwdriver.
"Here," he said, showing her the scans. "Part human."
"How much?" Eva asked.
"84 percent," the Doctor replied, causing Eva to glance at Idris.
"What are the other 16 percent?" she asked.
"Er..." the Doctor started worriedly. "Does it really matters?"
"Yes," Eva said sternly. "What are the other 16 percent?"
"Unknown," the Doctor admitted. "700 years and it's still unknown."
EMH
"Bond the tube directly into the Tachyon Diverter," Idris said, picking up a piece off the ground.
"Yes, yes," the Doctor said, pulling a big... something towards where Eva said, bored out of her wits. "I have actually rebuilt a TARDIS before, you know. I know what I'm doing."
"You're like a nine-year-old trying to rebuild a motorbike in his bedroom," Idris said. "And you never read the instructions."
"I always read the instructions!" the Doctor protested.
"You threw the instructions away, didn't you?" Eva asked, a mischievous smile on her face.
"There's a sign on my front door," Idris said. "You have been walking past it for 700 years. What does it say?"
"That's not instructions!" the Doctor huffed.
"There's an instruction at the bottom," Eva noted. "What does it say?"
"Pull to open," the Doctor replied.
"And what do you do?" Idris questioned.
"I push!" the Doctor called out.
"Every time," Idris said, rolling her eyes. "700 years. Police Box doors open out the way."
"I think I've earned the right to open my front doors any way I want!" the Doctor said, giving up on the piece he was pulling.
"Your front doors?" Idris asked. "Have you any idea how childish that sounds?"
"You are not my mother!"
"And you are not my child!"
"You know," the Doctor said in frustration, "Since we're talking, with mouths, not really an opportunity that comes along very often, I just want to say, you know, you have never been very reliable."
"And you have?" Eva snorted.
"She didn't always take me where I wanted to go," the Doctor said.
"No," Idris admitted. "But I always took you where you needed to go."
The Doctor paused, turning to look at her. "You did!" he said happily. "Look at us. Talking. Wouldn't it be amazing if we could always talk? Even when you're inside the box?"
"You know I'm not constructed that way," Idris said. "I exist across all space and time, and you and Evie talk and... run around and... kiss and... bring home strays."
She fell down, and the Doctor quickly caught her. "You okay?" he asked.
"One of the kidneys has already failed," Eva said, coming closer to them.
"It doesn't matter," Idris said. "We need to finish assembling the console."
"Using a console without a proper shell," the Doctor sighed. "It's not going to be safe."
"This body has about 18 minutes left to live," Idris said. "The universe we're in will reach Absolute Zero in three hours. And Eva travels through the Vortex unprotected all the time. Safe is relative."
"Then we need to get a move on," the Doctor said, holding the rope and pulling once more. "Eh, old girl?"
"Is there anything I can do?" Eva asked.
"Watch her," the Doctor instructed. "And... make sure she's not alone."
Eva nodded silently, walking towards Idris and holding her hand. Idris smiled and pressed Eva's hand in reassurance, a troubled look on her face.
EMH
"You'll need to install the time router," Idris said.
"How is this going to make it through the rift?" the Doctor asked, putting one of the last pieces into place. "We're almost there. Thrust diffuser. Er, Retro scope. Bluethingy."
"Do you ever wonder why we chose you all those years ago?" Idris asked him.
"I chose you," the Doctor said. "You were unlocked."
"Of course we were," Idris huffed. "We wanted to see the universe, so we stole a Time Lord and ran away. And you were the only one mad enough."
"Right," the Doctor said, jumping to her side. "Perfect. Look at that."
"Yes," Eva said sarcastically. "What could possibly go wrong?"
A piece disconnected from the console and fell to the floor. "That's fine," the Doctor said quickly. "That always happens."
"Really?" Eva asked.
"No!" the Doctor called, picking up a hose of some kind. "Hang on! Wait!" He gave it to Idris who connected it to the TARDIS and smiled, pulling Eva closer. "Right. OK, let's go."
"Follow that TARDIS!" Eva said with a smile, and the Doctor pulled a lever.
"Ah no, come on!" he called as sparks came out of the console. "There's rift energy everywhere, you can do it. OK, diverting all power to thrust. Let's be having ya!" The console nearly exploded and the Doctor pushed Eva behind him to protect himself. "No, no, no, no!"
"What's wrong?" Eva asked.
"It can't hold the charge," the Doctor said. "I can't even start it. There's no power! I've got nothing."
"Oh, my beautiful idiot," Idris said with a small smile. "You have what you've always had – you've got me."
She put a finger to her lips and then touched the console, sending time energy to it and making it start, the noise Eva loved so much ranging through the air, making her smile.
"My beautiful, brilliant TARDIS," she said with a smile as they flew away.
"Whoo-hoo!" the Doctor laughed happily, clinging to the console.
"We've locked on to them!" Idris called out. "They'll have to lower the shields when we're close enough to phase inside."
"Can you get a message to Amy?" the Doctor asked. "The telepathic circuits are online."
"Which one's Amy?" Idris asked. "The pretty one?"
"Just send the message!" Eva called out, trying not to fly outside.
"Hello, Pretty!" Idris said.
"Don't worry," the Doctor said, coming closer to her and talking to the screen. "Telepathic messaging. No, that's Rory."
"You have to go to the old control room," Idris said. "I'm putting the route in your head. When you get there use the purple slider on the nearest panel to lower the shields."
"The pretty one?" the Doctor asked in disbelief.
"He is pretty, in his own way," Eva said, making the Doctor pout. "Oh, don't worry. For me, you're always the pretty one."
"You'll have about 12 seconds before the room goes into phase with the invading Matrix," Idris went on. "I'll send you the passkey when you get there. Good luck!"
"How's he going to be able to take down the shields anyway?" the Doctor asked. "The House is in the control room."
"I directed him to one of the old control rooms," Idris said.
"There aren't any old control rooms," the Doctor said, confused. "They were all deleted or remodelled."
"I archive them," Idris explained. "For neatness."
"You've got about 30 now, don't you?" Eva asked.
"What?" the Doctor asked. "But I've only changed the desktop, what, a dozen times?"
"So far, yes," Idris nodded.
"You can't archive something that hasn't happened yet!" the Doctor called.
"You can't!"
"Keep going!" the Doctor called. "You're doing it, you sexy thing!"
"See," Idris called. "You do call me that. Is it my name?"
"You bet it's your name!" Eva laughed. "Send Rory the pass key!"
"Crimson," Idris said, transmitting to Rory. "Crimson. Eleven. Delight. Petrichor."
Eva grabbed onto the console, waiting for Amy and Rory to figure it out and open up the passage. An image transmitted into her head and she smiled.
"They did it!"
"Shields down!" Idris declared. "We're coming through," she informed Rory. "Get out of the way or you'll be atomised. I don't know," she added in response to something he said.
"It's not going to hold!" Eva cried out as the console exploded.
The Doctor grabbed her and pulled her to the ground, just as they materialized into the TARDIS. She looked up when the explosions stopped, standing up.
"Doctor!" Amy called, running towards him and pulling him to a hug.
"You did wonderful," Eva said, hugging Rory. "It's fine now."
"Not good," Idris muttered. "Not good at all." The Doctor rushed towards her and helped her stand up. "How do you walk around in these things?"
"We're not quite there yet," he said. "Just... hold on. Amy, this is... Well, she's our TARDIS."
"Except she's a woman," Eva said. "She's a woman, and she's his TARDIS."
"Our TARDIS," Idris corrected. "That's what he says. And he's our Doctor."
"I can't be in both groups," Eva rolled her eyes.
"Oh, you and I both know you play both groups," Idris told her with a smile.
"She's the TARDIS?" Amy asked.
"And she's a woman," the Doctor nodded. "She's a woman and she's the TARDIS. What?" he asked at the odd look on Amy's face.
"I'm trying to decide whether it was you or Eva who wished really hard."
"Oh, shut up, Ginger!" Eva laughed.
"Not like that," the Doctor said.
"Hello," Idris said, smiling. "I'm... Sexy."
"Yes, you are," Eva laughed.
"Still shut up," the Doctor told Amy.
"The Environment has been breached," House said. "Nephew, kill them all."
"Where's Nephew?" Rory asked nervously.
"He was standing right where you materialised," Amy said.
"Well, he must have been redistributed," the Doctor said.
"Meaning what?"
"We're breathing him," Eva said, disgusted.
"Another Ood I failed to save," the Doctor muttered.
"Doctor," House said, clearly surprised by his presence. "I did not expect you."
"Well, that's me all over, isn't it?" the Doctor asked. "Lovely old unexpected me."
"The big question is, now you're here, how to dispose of you?" House asked. "I could play with gravity..." They all fell to the ground. "Or I could evacuate the air from this room and watch you choke."
Around Eva, everybody started chocking and anger and fear rose within her as she crouched next to the Doctor.
"Stop!" she screamed. "Stop it!"
House stopped, and Eva could have sworn even though he had no form, he was looking at her with undisguised interest.
"You should have died," he told her.
"Yeah," Eva said. "Heard that one before."
There was a moment of silence, and then, "Why shouldn't I just kill the rest of you now and keep you for myself?"
"Because then I won't be able to help you!" the Doctor called. "Listen to your engines. Just listen to them. You don't have the thrust and you know it. I'm your only hope for getting out of your little bubble, through the rift, and into my universe. And mine's the one with the food in!" he added.
"You just have to promise not to kill them," Eva said. "That's all, just promise."
"You can't be serious," Amy told him.
"I'm very serious," the Doctor said. "I'm sure it's an entity of its word."
"Doctor, she's burning up," Rory said from where he was next to Idris. "She's asking for water."
"Oh, no," Eva said, rushing to her. "Everything will be okay, dear. Everything will be okay."
"Hang in there, old girl," the Doctor told her. "Not long now. It'll be over soon."
"I always liked it when he calls me old girl," Idris told Eva.
"I know you did," Eva replied. "You still do. You will."
"You want me to give my word?" House asked. "Easy. I promise."
"Fine," the Doctor said. "Okay. I trust you. Just delete... 30% of the TARDIS rooms, you'll free up thrust enough to make it through. Activate sub-routine Sigma-9."
"Why would you tell me this?" House asked.
"Because we want to get back to our universe as badly as you do," Eva said. "And he's nice."
"Yes..." House said slowly. "I can delete rooms, and I can also rid myself of vermin if I delete this room first. Thank you, Doctor, very helpful. Goodbye, Time Lord. Goodbye, little humans. Goodbye, Idris." There was a short pause before he added, "I'll see you soon, Eva."
The room burnt in a bright white light as it was deleted. Eva held on to Idris, scared to let go in fear of ending someplace else, but it wasn't long before she found herself back in the familiar Console Room she learned to tell was this Doctor's.
"Yes," the Doctor said, looking up. "I mean you could do that, but it just won't work. Hardwired fail-safe. Living things from rooms that are deleted are automatically deposited in the main control room."
"But thanks for the lift!" Eva called out happily.
"We are in your Universe now, Doctor," House said. "Why should it matter to me in which room you die? I can kill you just as easily here as anywhere. Fear me. I've killed hundreds of Time Lords."
"Fear me," the Doctor said darkly. "I've killed all of them."
"I don't understand," Rory muttered in response to someone Idris told him. "There isn't a forest in here."
"Yeah, you're right," the Doctor said as he took Eva's hand and brought her to her feet, moving a stray curl from her face as he did. "You've completely won. Oh, you can kill us in oodles of really inventive ways, but before you do kill us allow me and friends Eva, Amy and Rory to congratulate you on being an absolutely worthy opponent." He pulled Amy to her feet and marked the two girls to clap.
"Congratulations!" Amy said shakily.
"Well done," Eva bit out.
"Yep, you've defeated us," the Doctor went on. "Me and my lovely friends here at last but definitely not least the TARDIS Matrix herself, a living consciousness you ripped out of this very control room and locked up into a human body and look at her!"
"Doctor, she's stopped breathing," Rory muttered.
"Enough!" House said. "That is enough."
"No," the Doctor said, holding Eva so tight it hurt. "It's never enough. You forced the TARDIS into a body so she'd burn out safely a very long way away from this control room. A flesh body can't hold the TARDIS Matrix and live. Look at her body, House," the Doctor repeated.
"And you think I should mourn her?" House questioned.
"No," Eva said, a smile starting to form on her face. "I think you should be very, very careful about what you let back into this control room."
Idris moved once more, breathing out golden time energy that started filling the room.
"You took her from her home," the Doctor said. "But now she's back in the box again and she's free!"
"No!" House said. "Doctor, stop this!" he called out in pain. "Stop this now!"
"Oh, look at our girl," the Doctor told Eva. "Look at her go! Bigger on the inside! You see, House?"
"Make it stop!" House said.
"That's your problem," the Doctor continued as if House said nothing. "Size of a planet, but inside you're just so small!"
"Make it stop!" House repeated, and Eva smiled, not a hint of mercy in her features.
"Finish him off, girl," she said, and House's cries of dying filled the room.
When they stopped, a warm light filled the room.
"Doctor? Beauty? Are you there?" The two turned around to see Idris standing once more. "It's so very dark in here."
"We're here," the Doctor said, walking to her.
"I've been looking for a word," Idris said. "A big, complicated word, but so sad. I've found it now."
"What word?" the Doctor asked.
"Alive," Idris said. "I'm alive!"
"Alive isn't sad," the Doctor said, bemused.
"It's sad when it's over," Eva told him.
"My Beauty understands," Idris said with a small smile. "I'll always be here. But this is when we talked and now even that has come to an end." She paused, before adding, "There's something I didn't get to say to you."
"Goodbye?" the Doctor asked quietly, tears shining in his eyes.
"No," Idris said. "I just wanted to say... hello. Hello, Doctor. It's so very, very nice to meet you."
Idris started disappearing and a tear fell on Eva's cheek.
"Please!" the Doctor said, his jaw shaking. "I don't want you to... Please!"
But Idris burnt away, and they were left alone.