Eva shook her head as she looked around the TARDIS. The Doctor stood next to her, her hand still clutched in his and a worried expression on his face. Susan was still holding the railings, but Ian and Barbara were thrown away – Barbara landing on a nearby chair while Ian wasn't as lucky and fell to the floor.
The Doctor made a move towards Susan before realizing he was still holding Eva's hand. He looked at their intertwined fingers for a moment before letting go and going to check after his granddaughter. Eva's hand fell to her side and she looked back at Ian and Barbara just as the woman came back to and kneeled next to her co-worker.
"Ian?" she asked, shaking him gently. "Ian?"
"I'm alright," Ian groaned, slowly sitting up. "Oh... I must have hit my head. The movement's stopped," he added in surprise, looking around.
"We landed," Eva said, nodding towards Susan and the Doctor, who were checking the console's controls.
"The base is steady," Susan said.
"Well, sand, rock formation..." the Doctor added. "Mm, good."
"We've left 1963," Susan stated.
"Oh yes, undoubtedly," the Doctor nodded. "I'll be able to tell you where presently." He looked at the scanner, frowning at the number he saw there. "Zero? That's not right. I'm afraid this yearometer is not calculating properly... Well, anyway, the journey's finished." He looked down, noticing Ian as if for the first time. "What are you doing down there?"
"What have you done?" Barbara asked.
"Barbara, you don't believe all this nonsense?" Ian asked.
"Well, look at the scanner screen," Susan replied.
"Yes, look up there," the Doctor said as Ian and Barbara stood up, pointing to the screen. "They don't understand, and I suspect they don't want to," he added to Susan. "Well, there you are. A new world for you."
Ian's brows furrowed in disbelief, yet he still did as the Doctor told him to and looked at the screen. "Sand and rock?" he asked.
"Yes," the Doctor said, "That's the immediate view outside the ship."
"But where are we?" Barbara muttered.
"You mean that's what we'll see when we go outside?" Ian questioned.
"Yes!" Susan said proudly. "You'll see it for yourself."
"I don't believe it!"
"You really are a stubborn young man, aren't you?" the Doctor mocked.
"All right, show me some proof!" Ian called out. "Give me some concrete evidence! I'm sorry Susan," he added softly, "I don't want to hurt you, but… it's time you were brought back to reality."
"But you're wrong, Mr. Chesterton…" Susan sighed. When will they finally realize that this was real?
"They're saying I'm a charlatan," the Doctor stated. "What 'concrete evidence' would satisfy you, hmm?"
"Just open the doors, Doctor Foreman," Ian replied, and Eva had to cover a smile with her hand.
"Doctor who?" the Doctor asked, confused. "What's he talking about?"
"They're so sure, Ian..." Barbara said quietly.
"Yes, I know…"
"And remember the difference between the outside of the police box and the inside…"
"Yes, I know, but…" Ian sighed, turning to the Doctor once more. "Are you going to open the doors or aren't you?"
"No."
"You see?"
"Not until I'm quite sure it's safe to do so," the Doctor finished, looking at the console and scanner. "Well, the air's good, yes it is, it's good, excellent, excellent... You've got the radiation counter over there. What's it read?"
"It's reading normal, Grandfather."
"Splendid, splendid," the Doctor nodded. "Well, I think I'll take my Geiger counter with me in any case. So you, er, still challenge me, young man?" he asked Ian smugly.
"Well, just open the doors and prove your point," Ian replied.
"You're so narrow-minded, aren't you?" the Doctor asked. "Don't be so insular."
"Doctor, do you know where we are?" Eva asked, trying to draw the fire away from the teacher.
"Yes," the Doctor said, pleased as always at the chance to show off. "We've gone back in time, all right. One or two samples and I shall be able to make an estimate. Rock pieces and a few plants... But I do wish this wouldn't keep letting me down," he sighed, looking at the console. "However, we can go out now."
"Just a minute," Ian said, making the Doctor pause. "You say we've gone back in time..."
"Yes, quite so."
"So that when we go out of that door, we won't be in a junkyard, in London, in England, in the year 1963..."
"That is quite correct," the Doctor replied before adding, "But your tone suggests ridicule."
"But it is ridiculous!" Ian called out. "Time doesn't go 'round and 'round in circles! You can't get on and off whenever you like in the past or the future!"
"Really?" the Doctor questioned. "Where does time go, then?"
"It doesn't go anywhere," Ian replied as if it were the most obvious thing. "It just happens, and then it's finished."
"Oh..." the Doctor laughed, turning to look at Barbara. "You're not as doubtful as your friend, I hope."
"No," Barbara replied quickly.
"Barbara," Ian started, "You can't…"
"I can't help it!" Barbara called out. "I just believe them, that's all!"
"If you could touch the alien sand and hear the cries of strange birds – and watch them wheel in another sky… would that satisfy you?" the Doctor asked Ian.
"Yes."
The Doctor pressed the button that opened the door, marking at the desert that waited outside. "Now, see for yourself," he said.
"It's not true!" Ian whispered in shock. "It can't be..."
"Only it can," Eva said with a smile. "And it is."
"That's not on the screen!" Susan declared in triumph.
"Well, I've no more time to argue with you," the Doctor stated. "I must get some samples, Susan."
"Do you mind if I join in?" Eva asked.
"Not at all, dear," the Doctor replied, collecting his bag. "But we must get going immediately."
"Be careful, Grandfather," Susan said.
"Don't worry," Eva said, smiling as she followed the Time Lord out of his blue box. "I'll keep an eye over him."
She walked out, the heat of the desert surprising her as she stepped on the sand. It was easy to forget sometimes that when she was living through an episode, she was feeling the weather, too, and she shivered thinking of the cold night that was more than likely coming.
"It's still a police box," the Doctor muttered. "Why hasn't it changed? Dear, dear, how very disturbing..." He looked aside, noticing Eva standing next to him. "Oh... Oh, my... could it be?"
"Could what be?" Eva asked.
"When we met you, before –" the Doctor started, but Eva quickly cut him off.
"Spoilers!" she warned. "Hadn't been there yet."
"Hadn't been where?" the Doctor asked.
"When you met me, before," Eva replied. "Now, don't you have some samples to collect?"
"I..." the Doctor hesitated for a moment before nodding. "Yes, I do. Come along now, you can look at the sights later."
"Sights?" Eva repeated, walking next to the Doctor as he headed away. "What sights?"
EMH
"So," Eva said, sitting on a stone nearby as the Doctor looked around and started pulling things out of his bag. "What were you doing in 1963 while Susan was at school?"
"Nothing much," the Doctor replied.
"Okay..." Eva said slowly. "Care to elaborate?"
"There's not much to elaborate on."
"But there's still something, isn't there?"
"Well," the Doctor started. "I studied the society, learned more about the city..."
"Wandered around?" Eva asked. "Got lost? Ate bad food from street shops?"
"No," the Doctor said.
"Then how can you enjoy the city if you hadn't done those things?" Eva asked. "That's part of being a tourist."
"We weren't tourists," the Doctor said sternly. "We were temporary residents."
"Tourists," Eva repeated. "And tourists need to do tourists stuff. Which, of course, you didn't do."
"Why would we?"
"Not you as in you and Susan," Eva shook her head. "Susan had school, she couldn't have been a tourist. Just you."
"You are being ridiculous."
"You love it and you know it."
"I need to take samples," the Doctor said, shaking his head. "And I need you to stop bothering me."
"Alright, alright," Eva smirked. "Stopping to bother."
She reached into her pocket, taking out her cigarette pack and a lighter.
"Oh, no," the Doctor muttered, looking at her. "You smoke?"
"You got a problem with it?" Eva asked, a daring tone to her voice.
"I have a problem with the smell," the Doctor replied. "Honestly, the more I learn about you the more I wonder why Susan and I like you."
"You like me?" Eva asked. "Really?"
"Is it really that surprising?"
"I don't know," Eva shrugged. "I told you already, this is the earliest I met you. I don't exactly know what was the impression the older me made."
"About that," the Doctor said, frowning as Eva lit her cigarette. "I wanted to ask, what did you mean by not being to when Susan and I first met you?"
"I don't really understand what's unclear," Eva said. "The question pretty much answers itself."
"No, no," the Doctor said. "I'm asking why – and, almost as importantly, how – did you not simply –"
Eva jumped to her feet in fear when the Doctor dropped to the ground, revealing a caveman who stood behind him with an axe in hand. Her cigarette fell from her hand as she stared at him, trying to find a way to get both her and the Doctor to safety but finding none.
"Girl come," the caveman said.
"W-What?" Eva asked, her voice trembling.
"Girl come," he repeated. "Or Kal kills old man."
"Kal?" Eva asked "Is – is that your name?"
"Girl come!"
"Okay," Eva quickly said. "I – I'm coming."
Kal lifted the Doctor on his shoulder and started walking away before stopping and staring at Eva. "Girl come," he repeated. "Girl will make fire."
"Okay," Eva said once more, slowly starting to walk after him in the opposite direction from where the TARDIS was.
This was not going to end well.
EMH
Eva swallowed hard as she followed Kal into the cave, feeling the eyes of the tribesmen over her. Kal placed the Doctor on a large rock and Eva quickly rushed to him, checking him over to make sure he was okay.
She jumped back as one of the men neared her, but didn't let go of the Doctor's hand.
"These are strange creatures..." the man stated, looking at the two of them.
"Is Za, son of the firemaker, afraid of an old man and a girl?" Kal asked. "When will Za make fire come from his hands?"
"When Orb decides it!" Za replied with confident.
"Orb is for strong men!" Kal said before marking at Eva. "Orb has sent me this creature… to make fire come from her fingers! I have seen it! Inside, she is full of fire! Smoke comes from her mouth!"
"As lies come out of yours!" Za mocked.
He took another step towards Eva, only for Kal to step between them, guarding her protectively as if the other man was going to take her away.
"They wear strange skins..." Za muttered.
"Za is afraid," Kal said with a smirk. "There was a strange tree. The creatures were in it. Za would have run away, had he seen it." Eva gasped as Za aimed a punch at Kal's face, only for the latter to jump back in time to avoid it. "When I saw fire come from her fingers, I remembered Za, son of the firemaker!" he said. "And when the cold comes, we will all die if you wait for Za to make fire for you! I, Kal, am a true leader! We fought, like the tiger and the bear. My strength was too much for them! He laid down to sleep, and I, Kal, carried him here so that the girl will make fire for you!"
"Why do you listen to Kal?" Za questioned.
"Za has many good skins," another, older man said. "He has forgotten what the cold is like."
"Tomorrow, I kill many bears," Za promised. "You will all have warm skins –"
"I say tomorrow, you will rub your hands together and hold them to the dry sticks, and ask Orb to send you fire," the man said. "And the bears will stay warm in their own skins."
"What I say I will do, I will do!"
"Bah!" Kal called out, waving in dismissal. "The firemaker is dead! You all carry dry sticks with you! But tonight, I make them burn! I am leader!"
Eva felt a tightening in her hand and looked down to see the Doctor's hand moved. She leaned closer to the Doctor and let out a relieved sigh when she saw his eyes fluttered open. Unfortunately, she wasn't the only one who saw it.
"The creature has opened its eyes!" a woman called out and the crowd gasped.
Eva carefully helped the Doctor sit up as he regained consciousness.
"Where's my..." he tried to say. "Wha..."
"Shhh," Eva said softly. "Take it slow. You've received quite a hit."
"Do you want fire?" Kal called out to the tribe, "Or do you want to die in the cold?"
"Fire!" the crowd called out. "Fire!"
"It is cold..." Kal said. "The tiger comes to our caves again at night... Za will give you to the tiger! Za will give you to the cold! Za rubs his hands and waits for Orb to remember him! My creature..." he said, grabbing Eva's arm and pulling her towards him, "Can make fire come from her fingers! I have seen it. But I, Kal, brought her here. The creature is mine!"
"She is just a girl in strange skins!" Za called out, pulling out his axe. Kal copied the movement, pushing Eva behind him once more. "Kal has been with us too long. It is time he died!"
However, before either man could strike, the older man placed himself between them.
"I say there is truth in both of you!" he called out. "Za speaks truth that fire cannot live in girls, and Kal speaks the truth that we die without fire."
"Will my father listen to a woman?" the woman who saw the Doctor was awake asked. "If this old man can make fire come out of his fingers, let us see it now!"
"I say what is to be done here," Za called out angrily. "Not old men and women!"
"Za tries to talk like his father, the firemaker!" Kal mocked. "Za does not want to see fire made! But I, Kal, am not afraid of fire! I will make my creature make fire!"
Eva felt herself nearly fall to the ground as, once again, someone pulled her hand. Another hand grabbed her and stopped her from falling and she saw the Doctor looking between her and the tribe worryingly.
"Can you make fire for them?" he asked.
"No," Eva whispered.
"Have you lost your lighter?"
"No," Eva said. "But I... they can't have fire now. I'm sorry."
"They'll kill us," the Doctor whispered.
"No, they won't," Eva replied. "They'll just... try to kill us."
"I will take them to the Cave of Skulls," Za said. "And she will tell me the secret!"
The Doctor stood up, making everybody around him and Eva step back in fear.
"You don't have to be afraid of me," he said. "I'm an old man, and Eva's just a girl. How can an old man and a girl harm any of you?"
"What does he say?" Za asked.
"Fire!" the older man called out. "He says they can make fire for us!"
"When did I say that?" the Doctor asked quietly.
"Selective hearing?" Eva suggested, grasping the Doctor's hand tightly.
"She makes it for me, and I give you fire!" Kal called out. "I am firemaker!"
"She will make it for me," Za said threateningly.
"So you can't make fire?" the Doctor asked. "Mind if I ask why?"
"Timeline Continuum," Eva replied.
The Doctor frowned. "Why do you know about Timeline Continuum?"
"You taught me."
"Why did I teach you?"
"Doctor," Eva breathed out, "I promise I will tell you everything you need to know, as soon as our lives won't be in danger. Alright?"
"She is Kal's creature," Kal stated. "She makes fire only for Kal."
"Alright," the Doctor said quietly, before looking up at the tribe. "Take us back to our ship, and we will make fire for you! All the fire you want!"
"This is more of your lies..." Za said. "The girl cannot make fire!"
"There was a tree..." Kal said. "The creatures came from in it... and the fire... it came out of her fingers..."
"You ought to be strong like Za, son of the great firemaker!" Za called out, jumping on the rock the Doctor laid on earlier. "You all heard him say that there would be fire. There is no fire! Za does not lie! He does not say, 'I will do this thing,' and then not do it! He does not say, 'I will make you warm,' and then leave you to the dark! He does not say, 'I will frighten away the tiger with fire,' and then let him come to you in the dark! Do you want a liar for your chief?"
"Make fire!" Kal called out, pulling Eva away from the Doctor once more and shaking her frantically. "Make fire!"
"You are trapped in your own lies, Kal!" the woman said, laughing.
"Oh, great Kal, who is afraid of nothing!" Za mocked. "O great Kal! Save us from the cold! Save us from the tiger!"
"Make fire..." Kal repeated, rubbing Eva's hands together. "Make fire come from your fingers, as I saw…"
"I can't!" Eva cried out in fear. "I'm sorry, I can't!"
"Make…"
"I can't! I can't make fire!"
"Let the old man and the girl die," Za said, placing himself between Kal and Eva. "And we'll watch 'The Great Kal' as he kills his strong enemies!"
Kal let out an enraged scream, taking out his knife and placing it at the Doctor's neck.
"Make fire," he called out. "Make fire, or I kill him now!"
"Eva," the Doctor said evenly, "Don't."
"Or we'll keep them to take hunt with us!" Za laughed. "It's good to have someone to laugh at!"
"Doctor..." Eva whispered.
"Grandfather!" a voice called out from behind her, and Eva turned around to see Susan running towards Kal, beating him and forcing him to let go of the Doctor, who quickly grabbed Eva and pulled her towards him.
Ian and Barbara quickly joined, fighting with the cavemen. One of them managed to pull Ian to the ground and Eva quickly reached into her pocket and grabbed her lighter and a cigarette.
"Is now really the time?" the Doctor asked in disbelief.
"Trust me," Eva replied, managing to light up the cigarette just as a caveman raised his axe to smash Ian's scull. She took a long drag and let it out with a scream, making all of the fighting cease as cavemen and companions alike stared at her.
"Fire..." Kal breathed in disbelief.
"I am Eva, Breather of Fire and Smoke!" she said, glancing at the Doctor for a moment to see him nodding for her to go on. "If any of my... tribe people dies, there will be no fire!"
She took a step towards Kal, making him let go of Barbara who clung to her as soon as her arms were free.
"You..." Kal muttered. "You made fire!"
"Let them go," she ordered darkly, taking another drag of the smoke as she spoke. "Let us back to our... cave, and we will make fire for you."
"Liar!" an old woman called out. "Liar! She cannot make fire, only breath it in! Kill her! Kill her!"
"Take us back to our cave!" Eva called out, her voice trembling. "Take us to our cave and we will make fire!"
"I will take the fire you breathed," Kal said, grabbing Eva's wrist. "And I will be leader."
"No!" Za said, grabbing Eva's other wrist. "I will be leader!"
"I, Kal, will bring the fire!"
"No, I, Za, will bring fire!"
The cigarette fell from Eva's hand and was quickly stomped at by the arguing men.
"There is no fire," the old woman said. "There will never be fire."
Kal cried out in anger, raising his axe to hit Eva. The time traveller cowered away from it and closed her eyes. She knew what would happen – the axe would hit her and she would die, and later she would be revived and her secret revealed.
It didn't mean she was very keen on having her scull smashed.
"Wait!"
Eva slowly opened her eyes to see Za stopped Kal, who grumbled angrily.
"When Orb gives fire back to the sky, let him look down on them," Za said. "Then that is when they die! And Orb will bring us fire!"
For a moment, Kal did nothing but stare at Za angrily. Then, he glanced at the crowd and put the axe down. Eva let out a relieved breath that didn't last long as Za pulled her to her feet.
"By morning, you make fire," he said. "Or they all die. Take them to the Cave of Skulls!" he ordered the tribesmen, who did as they were told, making a move to grab Eva.
"You try to touch me, I will breath fire on you until there is nothing left but ashes," she threatened, holding her head high as she walked into the Cave of Skulls and, for lack of anything better to do, allowed herself to be tied down with the rest of the group.
Now, how were they going to get out of this?