A/N: I am so excited! This is the first of the last two chapters of Eve of Something New, I will upload the next one tonight, and we will wrap up this segment of the BedTime Stories Saga!
Until then, you have this chapter to enjoy as well as another Outtake I posted into the BedTime Stories outtakes story.
"Well," the Doctor said as the TARDIS stopped shaking, "We've landed."
"So what's out there?" Martha asked.
"I don't know."
The medical student let out a short-lived, nervous laugh. "Say that again," she told the Doctor. "That's rare."
"Not even the Time Lords came this far," the Doctor muttered. "We should leave. We should go. We should really, really go..."
He looked at Martha before glancing at Eva, swallowing hard at the odd look on her face. Before he could stop it, his face broke into a grin and he grabbed his coat, throwing it on as he took Eva's hand in his and ran out.
Martha quickly followed the two, looking around at this odd new planet before spotting someone on the ground next to them.
"Oh my God!" she called out, leaning next to him and putting a hand to his neck. "Can't get a pulse," she muttered before looking at the Doctor. "Hold on. You've got that medical kit thing!" she exclaimed, running back into the TARDIS.
The Doctor sighed as he looked down at Jack's lifeless body.
"You knew he'd be here, didn't you?" he asked Eva, who couldn't bring herself to do anything but nod. "Oh, I'm sorry."
"Here we go," Martha called out as she ran out of the TARDIS again, medical kit in hand. "Get out of the way. It's a bit odd, though," she commented. "Not very hundred trillion. That coat's more like World War Two."
"It is," Eva managed out somehow, her voice shaking and not from the chill of the night. "He came with us."
"How do you mean, from Earth?" Martha asked in disbelief.
"Must have been clinging to the outside of the TARDIS all the way through the vortex," the Doctor said. "Well, that's very him."
"What, the two of you know him?" Martha asked, looking between the Time Lord and the Time Jumper and not missing the look on the latter's face. Was that fear she was seeing on her friend?
"Friend of ours," the Doctor replied. "Used to travel with us, back in the old days."
"But he's..." Martha started. "I'm sorry, there's no heartbeat. There's nothing. He's dead."
As if hearing her words, Jack gasped as he came back to life, sitting up and grabbing Martha.
"Oh, so much for me!" she called out. "It's all right. Just breathe deep. I've got you."
"Captain Jack Harkness," Jack said, smiling as the woman in front of him came into focus. "And who are you?"
"Martha Jones."
"Nice to meet you, Martha Jones."
"Oh, don't start," the Doctor said, rolling his eyes.
"I was only saying hello," Jack replied.
"I don't mind," Martha said, helping the immortal stand up.
"Doctor," Jack said tensely.
"Captain," the Doctor replied, his tone echoing Jack's.
"Good to see you," Jack said.
"And you, the Doctor said. "Same as ever. Although... have you had work done?"
"You can talk," Jack snorted, nodding at him.
"Oh yes, the face," the Doctor said, remembering everything that happened since he last saw the other man. "Regeneration. How did you know this was me?"
"The police box kind of gives it away," Jack shrugged. "And Evie only adds to it. I've been following you for a long time..." There was silence for a moment before he added accusingly, "You abandoned me."
"Did I?" the Doctor asked. "Busy life. Moving on."
"Just got to ask," Jack said. "The Battle of Canary Wharf. I saw the list of the dead... It said Rose Tyler."
"Oh, no!" the Doctor said, all tension lost from his voice. "Sorry, she's alive!"
"You're kidding," Jack breathed out in disbelief.
"Parallel world, safe and sound," the Doctor said with a smile. "And Mickey, and her mother."
"Oh, yes!" Jack called out happily, pulling the Doctor into a hug before pulling back and turning to Eva. "Come on," he said. "I know it hasn't been as long for the two of us but I'd say I still deserve a hug, don't I?"
"Of course," Eva said, her voice shaking. "Let's do that back in the TARDIS, yeah?"
"Evie, we're at the end of the universe," the Doctor said. "Don't you want to go out there and investigate?"
"Nope!" She didn't need to investigate to know what was out there. She knew exactly what was out there – the Silo, the spaceship and Professor Yana. The fob watch. The Master. "We could go explore somewhere else! You said once that you wanted to take me to an underwater city on some planet," she told the Doctor. "We could go there!"
"Evie..." the Doctor started carefully, but Eva ignored him.
"Or the Eye of Orion! I know you love it there, and I didn't get a chance to see it yet. Or Andromeda! You wanted to take Peri and me there, right before the Timelash."
"Eva."
"How about Barcelona?" Eva asked, her voice turning frantic. "The planet Barcelona! They have... they have dogs with no... with no..."
"Eva?" Jack asked carefully, nearing the young woman and making her turn to look at him.
"Please, don't make me," she whispered. "Please, don't make me do this, please..."
"Is this going to end badly?"
Eva closed her eyes at the Doctor's question. Their trip here, at the end of the universe, will end with the Master returning and regenerating. He'll become Harold Saxon, win the elections and The Year That Never Was will start. From this point, in their timeline, it will only be three days from now. And she couldn't do it.
She always knew she would be forced to live through The Year at one point. She never expected to be able to change it. But she thought she'll be older than she is now, she was certain that she'll have time to prepare herself for what was going to happen.
She never wanted it to happen in the first place, least of all not now.
"Please," she whispered. "I can't go through it, I just can't. Please, I don't want it to happen, please, let's... let's just go back into the TARDIS. Fly away. Please..."
"Do you know about it because of your foreknowledge?" Jack asked.
"I only know about how things would have happened if I wasn't here," Eva said. "Maybe... maybe this is one of the things we can change. Maybe we can stop this from happening."
"Eva..." the Doctor sighed, leaning down next to her. "Did something in any of our pasts happen because of this?"
"It hadn't happened for me yet," Eva cried. "Maybe I – maybe I could still change it!"
"Did any of us, in our future, tell you about this?"
Tears were streaming openly from Eva's eyes by this point. "Jack," she whispered. "Jack told me. He..." She looked at the man who didn't know he was her father yet. "You said there was nothing we could have done to change it."
"Eva," the Doctor sighed. "I'm so sorry."
"Please, don't make me go through it," she all but begged. "Please."
"I'm sorry," the Doctor said, pulling her into a tight hug. "Oh, Evie, I am so, so sorry."
It took about fifteen minutes for Eva to calm down, and even then it was only after a combined effort of both Jack and the Doctor, whispering soothing words into her ear until she ran out of tears. Understanding that they now had no choice but to go out to see where they were, the Doctor offered Eva would stay in the TARDIS.
"No," she said quickly. "No – Don't – Don't go away. Please, don't leave me."
"I won't," the Doctor promised, taking her hand in his as they started walking. "I won't ever leave you."
They didn't walk in any particular direction, mostly trying to enjoy the views as they went. It didn't work so well for the Doctor, as he was too worried about Eva, but it seemed like it worked just fine for Jack and Martha, who were chatting happily.
"So there I was," Jack was just saying, "Stranded in the year two hundred one hundred, ankle deep in Dalek dust, and they go off without me. But I had this," he added, marking at his wrist. "I used to be a Time Agent. It's called a vortex manipulator. He's not the only one who can time travel."
"Oh, excuse me," the Doctor said, rolling his eyes. "That is not time travel. It's like... I've got a sports car and you've got a space hopper."
"Oh ho," Martha said, smiling at Eva. "Boys and their toys."
The smile drifted away from her face as she saw the scared, tense look on the other woman's face and she silenced once more, allowing Jack to go on with his story.
"All right, so I bounced," he said. "I thought 21st century, the best place to find the Doctor, except that I got it a little wrong. Arrived in 1869, this thing burnt out, so it was useless."
"Told you," the Doctor said, hoping to make Eva laugh – or smile, or scold him for his rudeness, or anything – but to no avail.
"I had to live through the entire twentieth century waiting for a version of you that would coincide with me," Jack told him. "Don't know what I would've done if it wasn't for Eva dropping by to visit every now and then."
"But..." Martha said slowly. "That makes you more than one hundred years old!"
"And looking good, don't you think?" jack flirted, making the Doctor roll his eyes. "So I went to the time rift, based myself there because I knew you'd come back to refuel. Until finally I get a signal on this detecting you and here we are."
"But the thing is," Martha started, "How come you left him behind, Doctor?"
"I was busy," the Doctor replied.
"Is that what happens, though, seriously?" she asked. "Do you just get bored with us one day and disappear?"
"Not if you're Eva," Jack said, smiling at the woman in question before frowning when he saw none of what they said affected her at all.
"You two!" the Doctor called out. "We're at the end of the universe, all right? Right at the edge of knowledge itself and you're busy blogging! Come on," he added, heading towards a cliff nearby and looking at the sight that was revealed to them.
"Is that a city?" Martha asked.
"A city," the Doctor nodded, "Or a hive, or a nest, or a conglomeration," he stretched out the word, frowning again when Eva didn't react. "Like it was grown. But look, there. That's like pathways, roads? Must have been some sort of life, long ago."
"What killed it?"
"Time," the Doctor sighed. "Just time. Everything's dying now. All the great civilizations have gone. This isn't just night. All the stars have burned up and faded away into nothing."
"They must have an atmospheric shell," Jack noted, looking at the sky. "We should be frozen to death."
"Well, Martha and I, maybe," the Doctor said. "Eva... debatable. Not so sure about you, Jack."
"What about the people?" Martha questioned. "Does no one survive?"
"I suppose..." the Doctor sighed. "We have to hope... life will find a way."
"Well, he's not doing too bad," Jack said, nodding at a man who was running on the land underneath the cliff.
"Yes, he is," Eva muttered just as a group of... somethings rounded the corner. "That's a hunt."
"Come on!" the Doctor called out, starting to run and pulling Eva with him.
"Oh, I've missed this," Jack laughed as they ran, picking up his pace until he was the first to arrive to the man. "I've got you."
"They're coming!" the man called out. "They're coming!"
"Jack, don't you dare!" the Doctor called out as Jack pulled out his gun, making the immortal change his aim and fire at the air, the noise making the tribe stop.
"What the hell are they?" Martha asked.
"Futurekind," Eva replied, hanging on to the Doctor as her head started spinning again.
She was supposed to calm down, to relax, to rest... and instead she was running for her life from human-eating monsters.
"There's more of them," the man said. "We've got to keep going."
"I've got a ship nearby," the Doctor said. "It's safe. It's not far, it's over there..." he trailed off as more Futurekind came from the area they came from. "Or maybe not."
"We're close to the Silo," the man said. "If we get to the silo, then we're safe."
"Silo?" the Doctor asked.
"Silo," Jack nodded.
"Silo for me," Martha added, and the Doctor only needed one look at Eva's terrified face to know he was going to get her to safety – and if that meant Silo, then that's where they were heading.
They started running again, the man leading the way until they reached a metal gate.
"It's the Futurekind!" he called out. "Open the gate!"
"Show me your teeth!" a guard ordered. "Show me your teeth! Show me your teeth!"
"Show him your teeth," the man instructed, and they were all quick to obey.
"Human!" the guard said. "Let them in! Let them in!"
The Doctor pushed Eva in first, allowing the rest to follow before going in himself. The gates closed behind them and Eva all but fell to the ground, her vision spinning.
"Evie!" Jack called out. "Is she okay?"
"She should be resting," Martha said. "She shouldn't be stressing herself."
"Humans," one of the Futurekind said. "Humani. Make feast."
"Go back to where you came from," the guard said, aiming his gun at the tribe. "I said, go back. Back!"
"Oh, don't tell him to put his gun down," Jack muttered.
"He's not my responsibility," the Doctor replied.
"And I am? Huh, that makes a change."
"Not now," Martha scolded. "Eva needs you, and you can't be there for her if you're too busy fighting."
"Kind watch you. Kind hungry."
Slowly, the tribe backed away, leaving the group of five alone with the guards.
"Thanks for that," the Doctor muttered.
"Right," the guard nodded before looking at Eva. "Is she alright?"
"She will be," Martha replied. "She just needs rest."
"Okay," the guard said. "Let's get you inside."
"My name is Padra Toc Shafe Cane," the man they came with said, rushing towards the guard. "Tell me. Just tell me, can you take me to Utopia?"
"Oh yes, sir," the guard said proudly. "Yes, I can."
EMH
It took Eva a couple of minutes to regain her breath, and several more before her vision stopped spinning. By that time, they were already inside the Silo and Jack stood with his hand around her waist, keeping her close as the Doctor spoke to the guard.
"It looks like a box, a big blue box," he said. "I'm sorry, but I really need it back. It's stuck out there."
"I'm sorry, but my family were heading for the Silo," Padra said. "Did they get here? My mother is Kistane Shafe Cane. My brother's name is Beltone."
"The computers are down but you can check the paperwork," the guard told him. "Creet!" he called out and a young boy popped his head into the room. "Passenger needs help."
"Right," Creet said. "What do you need?"
"A blue box, you said?" the guard asked the Doctor.
"Big, tall, wooden," the Doctor nodded. "Says Police."
"We're driving out for the last water collection," the guard nodded. "I'll see what I can do."
"Thank you," the Doctor said, replacing Jack before starting to head after Creet and Padra. "Are you okay?" he asked Eva quietly.
"No," she replied.
"Well, the crazy flesh-eating monsters are already behind us," Jack commented. "How much worse can it be?"
Eva didn't reply and the Doctor and Jack exchanged worried looks, both of them wondering what could possibly be worse than nearly getting eaten.
"Kistane Shafe Cane!" Creet called out as they walked between rows of people sleeping on the floor. "Kistane Shafe Cane? Kistane and Biltone Shafe Cane? We're looking for a Kistane and Beltone Shafe Cane!"
"The Shafe Canes, anyone?" Padra asked. "Kistane from Red Force Five? My name's Padra!"
"Anyone? Kistane and Beltone Shafe Cane? Anyone know the Shafe Cane family? Anyone called Shafe Cane?"
"It's like a refugee camp," Martha muttered.
"Stinking," Jack said, unfortunately just as a man stood in front of him. "Oh, sorry. No offence. Not you."
"Don't you see that?" the Doctor said, pulling Eva closer as he looked around in astonishment. "The ripe old smell of humans. You survived. Oh, you might have spent a million years evolving into clouds of gas, and another million as downloads, but you always revert to the same basic shape. The fundamental humans."
"Kistane Shafe Cane!"
"End of the universe and here you are," the Doctor went on. "Indomitable! That's the word. Indomitable! Ha!"
"Is there a Kistane Shafe Cane?" Creet called out again, this time making a woman stand up.
"That's me," she called out.
"Mother?" Padra asked in disbelief.
"Oh, my God. Padra!"
"Beltone?"
"It's not all bad news," Martha commented, smiling slightly at the family reunion.
Eva closed her eyes, unable to return the smile. They were all going to die. Every single person in this room was going to die – and not in the regular "Everybody knows that everybody dies" way. They were going to fly away to Utopia only to find out there was nothing there but darkness. They were hanging onto hope, but soon they will become the Toclafane.
And there's nothing she can do to stop it.
The Doctor let go of Eva, handing her over to Martha as he started working on the keypad next to a door they passed on their way. Even though the feeling of another human being was comforting, Eva couldn't help but think of everything that other woman was going to go through – everything her family was going to go through.
She wanted to be anywhere but here.
"Captain Jack Harkness," Jack told someone behind her. "And who are you?"
"Stop it," the Doctor told him. "Give us a hand with this. It's half deadlocked. I need you to overwrite the code. Let's find out where we are."
They worked together on opening the door, finally managing after several moments. The Doctor smiled, taking a step forwards and Eva's eyes widened as she remembered what was behind that door.
"No!" she called out, letting go of Martha to grab the Doctor by the back of his coat, making him fall backwards on her. Still, she thought as he rolled off her, making sure she was alright, it was better than going forwards and falling several dozens of feet.
"Now that is what I call a rocket," Martha said in shock, looking at the giant spaceship in front of them.
"They're not refugees, they're passengers," the Doctor said, pulling Eva closer to him once more as he looked the ship up and down.
"He said they were going to Utopia," Martha recalled.
"The perfect place," the Doctor said. "Hundred trillion years, it's the same old dream. You recognise those engines?" he asked Jack.
"Nope," the other man replied. "Whatever it is, it's not rocket science. But it's hot, though," he added as they closed the door once more.
"Boiling," the Doctor agreed. "But if the universe is falling apart, what does Utopia mean?"
Before any of them had a chance to reply, a man ran to them. He looked for a couple of moments between the Doctor and Jack before focusing on the latter.
"The Doctor?" he asked.
"That's me," the Doctor said.
"Good!" the man – Yana – called out, grabbing the Doctor's hand and pulling him away, Eva dragging behind them. "Good! Good. Good. Good. Good. Good. Good. Good. Good."
"It's good apparently," the Doctor laughed and Eva let out a shaky breath.
No, it wasn't good, she thought to herself. It really, truly wasn't.