"Ancient Rome!" the Doctor announced as he pulled aside the curtain for Jessie and Donna to step out. "Well, not for them, obviously. To all intents and purposes, right now, this is brand new Rome."

Jessie grinned as she looked around. "Welcome to the past, Donna."

"Oh, my God!" Donna gasped as she looked around as well. "It's . . . it's so Roman! This is fantastic!"

"Ha ha!" the Doctor laughed.

"I'm here, in Rome," Donna continued. "Donna Noble, in Rome. This is just weird! I mean, everyone here's dead!"

"Well, don't tell them that," Jessie advised with a grin.

"Hold on a minute." Donna folded her arms. "That sign over there's in English." Jessie checked the sign. "Are you two having me on? Are we in Epcot?"

"No, no, no, no," the Doctor replied. "That's the TARDIS translation circuits, just makes it look like English. Speech as well. You're talking in Latin right now."

Donna's eyes widened. "Seriously?"

"Mmm," Jessie agreed.

"I just said 'seriously' in Latin?"

"Yes, you did."

"What if I said something in actual Latin, like veni vidi vici?" Donna asked. "My dad said that when he came back from football. If I said veni vidi vici to that lot, what would it sound like?"

"I'm not sure," the Doctor admitted. "You have to think of difficult questions, don't you?"

"I'm going to try it," Donna decided, going up to a vender.

"I bet it sounds Welsh," Jessie snickered.

"Celtic? Really?"

"Ten bucks."

"Done."

"Afternoon, sweetheart," the vender greeted Donna. "What can I get you, my love?"

"Er . . . veni vidi vici," Donna told him.

Jessie giggled at the Doctor's face as he looked at her. "Cheater," he muttered.

"Huh?" the vender asked. "Sorry? Me no speak Celtic," he told Donna slowly. "No can do, missy."

"Yeah," Donna drawled out before rejoining them. "How's he mean, Celtic?"

"Welsh," Jessie replied with a smile. "You sound Welsh. There we are! Learn something everyday."

"Don't our clothes look a bit odd?" Donna asked as they continued walking.

"Nah," the Doctor replied, shaking his head. "Ancient Rome. Anything goes. It's like Soho, but bigger."

"You've been here before, then?"

"Mmm, ages ago. Before you ask, that fire had nothing to do with me." Jessie grinned. "Well, a little bit," he conceded. "But I haven't got the chance to look around properly. Colosseum, Pantheon, Circus Maximus. You'd expect them to be looming by now. Where is everything?" He pointed. "Try this way."

"Not an expert, but there are seven hills of Rome, aren't there?" Donna asked when they ran down a street into a plaza area. "How come they'e only got one?"

Jessie stared up at the one lonely mountain, and her eyes widened as she looked around in horror. "Oh, no," she whispered, just before the ground began to rumble.

"Here we go again!" one man shouted as venders began to try and catch their pottery.

"Wait a minute!" Donna gasped. "One mountain with smoke. Which makes this - "

"Pompeii," the Doctor whispered. "We're in Pompeii!"

"And the alarm didn't go off," Jessie added. "It's volcano day!"

***

They ran back to the TARDIS as fast as they could, but when the Doctor pulled back the curtain - "You're kidding," Donna gasped. "You're not telling me the TARDIS has gone!"

"OK," Jessie replied.

"Where is it?"

"You said not to tell," Jessie told her cheekily.

"Oi, don't get clever in Latin!"

"Hold on," the Doctor told them, going back to the vender. "Excuse me, excuse me," he said. "There was a box. Big blue box. Big blue wooden box, just over there. Where's it gone?"

"Sold it, didn't I?"

Jessie blinked, marching up to him. "But it wasn't yours to sell!"

"It was on my patch, weren't it? I got fifteen sesterces for it. Lovely jubbly."

"Who'd you sell it to?" Jessie demanded.

"Old Caecilius," he replied. "Look, if you want to argue, why don't you take it out with him? He's on Foss Street. Big villa. Can't miss it."

"Thanks," the Doctor replied, running off.

"What'd he buy a big blue wooden box for?" Jessie wondered, following.

"Ha!" the Doctor called when they ran into Donna. "We've got it! Foss Street's this way."

"No," Donna told them. "I found this big sort of amphitheater thing. We can start there. We can gather everyone together. Maybe they've got a great big bell or something we could ring. Have they invented bells yet?"

"What do you want a bell for?" the Doctor asked curiously.

"To warn everyone!" Donna answered excitedly. "Start the evacuation! What time does Vesuvius erupt? When's it due?"

"79 AD, twenty third of August," Jessie mused, using her time sense. "That'll make volcano day tomorrow."

"Plenty of time," Donna told them brightly. "We could get everyone out easy."

"Yeah, except we're not going to," the Doctor replied.

"But that's what you do!" Donna said in confusion. "You're the Doctor. You save people."

"Not this time. Pompeii is a fixed point in history. What happens, happens. There's no stopping it."

"Says who?"

"Says us," Jessie replied.

"What, and you're in charge?"

"TARDIS, Time Lords, yeah," the Doctor confirmed.

"Donna, human, no," Donna spat. "I don't need your permission! I'll tell them myself!"

"Standing in the marketplace announcing the end of the world?" Jessie snorted. "That's just asking for calling you a mad old soothsayer."

"Come on," the Doctor told her, taking her wrist. "TARDIS. We are getting out of here."

"Well, I might just have something to say about that, Spaceman, Aussie Wolf," Donna spat.

"Yeah? I bet you will," Jessie muttered as they ran.

***

The earthquakes began again as they ran into the villa, and Jessie quickly ran forward to catch a marble bust falling from a pedestal. "Whoa!" she called, laughing and patting it as she put it back. "There you go!'

"Thank you, kind lady," an old man told them as he bustled up, the rest of his family getting stuff back together behind him. "I'm afraid business is closed for the day. I'm expecting a visitor."

"But that's us. We're visitors," the Doctor said with a grin and a wave. "Hello!"

"Who are you?"

"I am . . . " The Doctor paused, thinking. "Spartacus," he decided.

"And so am I," Donna added proudly.

Jessie rolled her eyes. "I'm the Bad Wolf," she offered.

"Mr. and Mrs. Spartacus?" Caecilius asked, pointing between the Doctor and Donna.

They instantly began shaking their heads. "Oh, no, no, no," the Doctor said in a rushed tone. "We're not . . . we're not married."

"We're not together," Donna added.

"Us two," the Doctor put in with a finish, taking Jessie's arm and pulling her to him possessively, shooting a glare over Caecilius's shoulder to where the boy lounging by the fountain with a goblet in his hand was looking her over curiously. "We're married."

"Oh, then brother and sister?" Caecilius asked, and the two blinked in confusion. Yes, of course. You look very much alike."

The Doctor and Donna looked at each other in confusion before saying together in the same tone of voice. "Really?"

"I'm sorry, but I'm not open for trade," Caecilius told them.

"And that trade would be . . . ?" Jessie asked curiously.

"Marble. Lopus Caecilius. Mining, polishing, and design thereof. If you want marble, I'm your man."

"That's good. That's good, because we're the marble inspectors," the Doctor said brightly, flashing his psychic paper, Jessie following suit.

The woman blanched. "By the gods of commerce, an inspection!" she gasped, quickly taking the goblet from her son and pouring what looked like wine into the fountain. "I'm sorry, sir, madam, I do apologize for my son."

"Oi!" her son grumbled.

"And this is my good wife, Metella," Caecilius added. "I must confess, we're not prepared for a - "

"Nothing to worry about," Jessie assured him with a smile. "I'm sure you've nothing to hide."

"Although," the Doctor spoke up. "Frankly, that object looks rather like wood to me."

Jessie beamed when she saw the TARDIS and walked up to it. "Definitely wood."

"I told you to get rid of it," Metella hissed to Caecilius.

"I only bought it today," Caecilius told them.

"Ah, well," the Doctor commented. "Caveat emptor."

"Oh, you're Celtic," Caecilius commented. "There's lovely."

"I'm sure it's fine, but we might have to take it off your hands for a proper inspection," the Doctor told them.

"Although, while we're here, wouldn't you recommend a holiday, Spartacus?" Donna asked meaningfully.

Jessie shot her a look. "Whatever do you mean, Spartacus?" she asked with a warning look.

Donna either ignored it, or she didn't care. "Oh, this lovely family. Mother and father and son. Don't you think they should get out of town?"

"Why should we do that?" Caecilius asked in confusion.

"Well, the volcano for starters," Donna began.

"What?"

"Volcano," Donna repeated.

"What ano?"

"That great big volcano right on your doorstep!"

"Spartacus, shame on you!" Jessie said loudly, striding forward and clamping a vice-like grip onto Donna's wrist. "We haven't greeted the household gods yet!" She quickly pulled her off, the Doctor following. "They don't know what a volcano is yet," she whispered. "Vesuvius is just a mountain to them. The top hasn't blown yet. The Romans haven't even got a word for volcano, not until tomorrow."

"Oh, great," Donna drawled. "They can learn a new word. As they die!"

Jessie blinked, looking down and away, and the Doctor wrapped an arm around her. "Donna, stop it," he ordered.

"Listen, I don't know what sort of kids you've been flying round with in outer space, but you're not telling me to shut up," Donna spat. "That boy. How old is he? Sixteen? And tomorrow, he burns to death."

"And that's my fault?"

"Right now? Yes."

"Donna, just . . . please," Jessie whispered, closing her eyes and shaking her head.

Donna opened her mouth to counter, but the Doctor sent her a withering glare she'd never seen on him before, and she closed it again as he pulled his wife closer.

"Announcing Lucius Petrus Dextrus, Chief Augur of the City Government!" a man declared, standing in the villa entrance.

"Lucius!" Caecilius greeted as a middle-aged man with a cloak over the right part of his body entered. "My pleasure, as always."

"Quintus, stand up," Metella hissed to her son, who reluctantly did.

"A rare and great honor, sir, for you to come to my house," Caecilius continued, holding out his hand.

Lucius made no move to shake. "The birds are flying north, and the wind is in the west," he spoke.

"Quite," Caecilius agreed, dropping his hand. "Absolutely. That's good, is it?"

"Only the grain of wheat knows where it will grow."

"There now, Metella, have you ever heard such wisdom?" Caecilius asked Metella.

"Never," she replied in a whisper, giving a small bow. "It's an honor."

"Pardon me, sir, I have guests," Caecilius added, turning to the three. "This is Spartacus, Bad Wolf, and, er . . . Spartacus."

"A name is but a cloud upon a summer wind," Lucius told them.

"But the wind is felt most keenly in the dark," Jessie said loftily, and the Doctor snorted.

"Ah," Lucius said, looking at her oddly. "But what is the dark, other than an omen of the sun?"

"I concede that every sun must set," the Doctor began.

"Ha!" Lucius crowed.

"And yet the son of the father must also rise," the Doctor finished, and Jessie beamed at him proudly.

"Damn," Lucius commented. "Very clever, sir. Evidently a man of learning."

"Oh, yes," the Doctor agreed. "But don't mind me. Don't want to disturb the status quo."

"You're usually the first to," Jessie giggled.

The Doctor nuzzled the top of her head. "So?" he asked, and she giggled again.

"They're Celtic," Caecilius explained.

"We'll be off in a minute," the Doctor added, reluctantly pulling away from Jessie and heading for the exit.

"I'm not going," Donna hissed.

"You've got to," Jessie told her.

"Well, I'm not!"

"The moment of revelation, and here it is." Jessie looked back to see what Caecilius revealed, and she blinked in astonishment. "Exactly as you specified. It pleases you, sir?"

"As the rain pleases the soil," Lucius replied.

"Oh, now, that's different," the Doctor commented as they looked at what looked like a circuit board. "Who designed that, then?"

"My Lord Lucius was very specific," Caecilius replied.

"Where'd you get the pattern?" the Doctor asked Lucius.

"On the rain and mist and wind."

"But that looks like a circuit," Donna told them.

"Made of stone," Jessie agreed.

"Do you mean, you just dreamt that thing up?"

"That is my job as City Augur," Lucius answered.

"What's that, then? Like the mayor?"

"Oh, ha," Jessie laughed. "You must excuse her, she's from Barcelona." She quickly whispered to Donna. "No, but this is the age of superstition. Of official superstition. The Augur is paid by the city to tell the future. The wind will blow from the west? Equivalent of ten o'clock news." She smirked.

"She's laughing at us." Jessie quickly straightened when she saw a young brunette woman in a pale yellow dress enter the room, swaying and looking rather sickly. "That woman, she uses words like tricksters. She's mocking us."

"No, no, I'm not," Jessie quickly lied, holding up her hands. "I meant no offense."

"I'm sorry," Metella apologized, walking to her. "My daughter's been consuming the vapors."

"Oh, for gods, Mother!" Quintus gasped, looking at his sister. "What have you been doing to her?"

"Not now, Quintus," Caecilius ordered.

Yeah, but she's sick! Just look at her!"

"I gather I have a rival in this household," Lucius guessed, eyeing her distastefully. "Another with the gift."

"Oh, she's been promised to the Sibylline Sisterhood," Metella replied proudly, showing the mark of an eye on the back of each of the girl's hands. "They say she' has remarkable visions."

"The prophecies of women are limited and dull," Lucius sniffed. "Only the menfolk have the capacity for true perception."

"I'll tell you where the wind's blowing right now, mate," Donna muttered.

The ground rumbled, and Lucius eyed her. "The Mountain God marks your words," he noted. "I'd be careful if I were you."

"Consuming the vapors, you say?" the Doctor asked curiously.

"They give me strength," the girl replied.

"It doesn't look like it to me."

"Is that your opinion . . . " She tilted her head. "As a doctor?"

Jessie's head jerked up, and the Doctor blinked. "I beg your pardon?" he asked.

"Doctor. That's your name."

'How did you know that?"

"And you . . . you call yourself Noble," she added, nodding to Donna. "And you . . . " She frowned, looking at Jessie. "The one howling in the night . . . howling at the deadly poison . . . the deadly Nightshade."

Jessie's eyes widened. "How do you know that name?" she demanded as Donna took her hand.

"Now, then, Evelina," Metella told her. "Don't be rude."

"No, no, no, no," the Doctor replied, looking at Evelina. "Let her talk."

"You all come from so far away," she whispered.

"The female soothsayer is inclined to invent all sort of vagaries," Lucius said.

"Oh, not this time, Lucius," the Doctor commented.

"You've been out-soothsayed," Jessie laughed.

"Is that so, Deathbringer of Asgard?"

Jessie's face blanched. "What?" she whispered, and the Doctor whipped, turning on Lucius.

"Why did you call her that?" he demanded.

"And you, man of Gallifrey? Do you agree with her? The strangest images . . . your home is lost in fire, is it not?"

"Doctor? Bad Wolf?" Donna whispered. "What are they doing?"

"And you, daughter of London," Lucius added.

"How does he know that?"

"This is the gift of Pompeii. Every single oracle tells the truth."

"That's impossible."

"Doctor." The Doctor turned to him. "The guardians. The protectors are returning."

"The protectors? Who're they?" the Doctor asked.

"And Nightshade, while the fire burns strongly in you, the cold is returning to you as well."

"What?" Jessie whispered.

"And you, daughter of London," Lucius added. "There is something on your back."

Donna quickly took a look over her shoulder. "What's that mean?" she asked, seeing nothing there.

"Even the word Doctor is false," Evelina whispered. "Your real name is hidden, save to one. It burns in the stars, in the Cascade of Medusa herself. You are a Lord, sir. A Lord . . . of Time."

She slumped, passing out, and Jessie quickly ran forward to catch her. "Evelina!" Metella cried.

***

"She didn't mean to be rude," Metella told Jessie and Donna that evening as they kept watch over Evelina as she laid on her bed. "She's ever such a good girl. But when the gods speak through her . . . "

"What's wrong with her arm?" Donna asked as Metella started to unwrap the fabric from Evelina's forearm.

"An irritation of the skin. She never complains, bless her. We bathe it in olive oil every night."

"What is it?" Donna asked.

"Evelina said you'd come from far away," Metella replied, looking at Jessie. "Please. Have you ever seen anything like it?"

Jessie went forward, taking Evelina's arm and running her fingers over the dark area, and she blinked. "It's stone," she replied, looking up at Donna.

***

"Different sort of hypocaust?" the Doctor asked, leaning over the grill.

"Oh, yes," Caecilius replied. "We're very advanced in Pompeii. In Rome, they're still using the old wood-burning furnaces, but we've got hot springs, leading from Vesuvius itself."

"Who thought of that?"

"The soothsayers, after the great earthquake seventeen years ago. An awful lot of damage, but we rebuilt."

"Didn't you think of moving away?" the Doctor asked before blinking. "Oh, no. Then again . . . San Francisco."

"That's a new restaurant in Naples, isn't it?" Caecilius wondered.

The Doctor shook his head before hearing a small thud. "What's that noise?" he asked, peering down into the grill.

"Don't know. Happens all the time. They say the gods of the Underworld are stirring."

"But after the earthquake, let me guess. Is that when the soothsayers started making sense?"

"Oh, yes, very much so. I mean, they'd always been . . . shall we say, imprecise? But then the soothsayers, the augurs, the haruspex, all of them, they saw the truth again and again. It's quite amazing. They can predict crops and rainfall with absolute precision."

"Haven't they said anything about tomorrow?" the Doctor asked casually, just to make sure.

"No," Caecilius replied, looking at him. "Why? Should they? Why do you ask?"

"No, no, no reason," he replied quickly. "I'm just asking. But the soothsayers, they all consume the vapors, yeah?"

"That's how they see."

"Ipso facto," the Doctor commented again before reaching into the grate.

"Look, you - " Caecilius began to warn.

"They're consuming this," the Doctor explained, pulling his hand out and showing him the dust he'd pulled out.

"Dust," Caecilius realized.

"Tiny particles of rock," the Doctor confirmed, looking at what he held oddly before tasting a little bit and making a face. "They're breathing in Vesuvius."

"Wash your mouth out before I kiss you again," Jessie's voice rang in his head. "You got that?"

"Yes, sweetheart," he replied, dusting off his hands and standing up. "I will." He looked around before smirking and heading over to Quintus, who was lounging on a couch nearby. "Quintus, me old son," he greeted. "This Lucius Petrus Dextrus . . . where does he live?"

"It's nothing to do with me," Quintus replied with a snort, raising his goblet to his mouth.

The Doctor shook his head. "Let me try again. This Lucius Petrus Dextrus . . . " He reached behind Quintus and took a gold coin from behind his ear, and he smirked when Quintus eyed it. "Where does he live?" he repeated.

***

"Don't tell my dad," Quintus warned the Doctor that evening as they went through Pompeii.

"Only if you don't tell mine," the Doctor chuckled as he jumped into the window of Lucius's villa and looked inside. "Pass me that torch."

Quintus complied, and the Doctor jumped to the floor. He eyed the hypocaust that matched the one in Caecilius's villa before heading for a curtain next to the wall. He pulled it down and stared at the marble tiles that all looked like circuits. "The liar!" Quintus hissed as he joined the Doctor. "He told my father it was the only one!"

"Well, plenty of marble merchants in this town," the Doctor mused. "Tell them all the same thing, get all the components from different place,s so no one can see what you're building."

"Which is what?"

"The future, Doctor," Lucius announced from behind them, and they turned to see him standing there with a few servants and guards, smirking. "We are building a future as dictated by the gods."

***

"Strike a pose!" Jessie crowed to Donna, who smirked and threw her purple shawl over her shoulder, doing a rather impressive impersonation of Venus.

Evelina had gotten them both different togas and shawls. While Donna was simply wearing a purple dress, Jessie had decided to accept Evelina's offer and was wearing the silvery fabric with ease, gold accents clasping it to her body. "You're not supposed to laugh," Donna accused Evelina, who was giggling. "Thanks for that! What do you think?" She posed again, and this time, Jessie joined in the laughing. "The Goddess Venus."

"You should know better, Donna," Jessie warned as they both laughed. "That's sacrilege!"

"Oh, that is sacrilege," Evelina agreed with a smile.

"Nice to see you laugh, though," Donna told her. "What do you do in old Pompeii then, girls your age? You got mates? Do you go hanging about round the shops? TK Maximus?"

"I don't think they have those here," Jessie sniggered.

"I am promised to the Sisterhood for the rest of my life," Evelina replied.

"Do you get any choice in that?" Jessie asked.

"It's not my decision," Evelina replied sadly. "The Sisters chose for me. I have the gift of sight."

"Then what can you see happening tomorrow?" Donna asked.

"Donna!" Jessie spat.

"Is tomorrow special?" Evelina asked in confusion.

"You tell me," Donna replied. "What do you see?"

"The sun will rise, the sun will set," Evelina replied after a few moments, closing her eyes. "Nothing special at all."

"Donna, don't you dare," Jessie warned.

"You aren't the boss of me, Aussie Wolf," Donna told her angrily, pointing at her. "I don't know what kind of world you lived in before, but nobody tells me what to do, even if they're younger than me or smarter than me." Jessie stepped back and swallowed, turning away as Donna crouched by Evelina. "Look, don't tell the Doctor I said anything, because he'll kill me, but we've got a prophecy, too." Evelina quickly covered her eyes. "Evelina, I'm sorry, but you've got to hear me out. Evelina, can you hear me? Listen - "

"There is only one prophecy!" Evelina insisted.

"But everything I'm about to say to you is true, I swear. The Bad Wolf knows, too. Just listen to me. Tomorrow, that mountain is going to explode. Evelina, please listen. The air is going to fill with ash and rocks, tons and tons of it, and this whole town is going to get buried."

"That's not true!" Evelina wailed.

"I'm sorry. I'm really sorry, but everyone's going to die."

"Donna!" Jessie snapped, grabbing Donna's shoulder. "Don't tell her - !"

She gasped when Donna slapped her hand away, and Jessie flinched away, stepping a good few feet back, watching as Donna kept talking to Evelina. "Even if you don't believe me, just tell your family to get out of town, just for one day. Just for tomorrow. But you've got to get out. You've got to leave Pompeii."

Evelina brought her hands down, shaking her head, tears in her eyes. "This is false prophecy!" she insisted.

"Which is why she's going to shut up," Jessie sneered to Donna.

Donna merely glared at her.

***

"Put this one there," the Doctor said, helping to arrange the circuit boards. "This one there. Er . . . keep that one upside down, and what you got?"

"Enlighten me," Lucius replied.

The Doctor blinked. "What, the soothsayer doesn't know?"

"The seed may float on the breeze in any direction."

The Doctor sighed. "Yeah, I knew you were going to say that," he commented. "But it's an energy converter."

"An energy converter of what?"

"I don't know," the Doctor replied truthfully with a grin. "Isn't that brilliant? I love not knowing. Keeps me on my toes. It must be awful, being a prophet, waking up every morning. Is it raining? Yes it is, I said so. Takes all the fun out of life. But who designed this, Lucius? Hmm? Who gave you these instructions?"

"I think you've babbled enough," Lucius warned.

"Lucius, really. Tell me. Honestly, I'm on your side. I can help."

"You insult the gods," Lucius spat. "There can only be one sentence. At arms!"

"Oh, morituri te salutant," the Doctor commented as the guards drew swords.

"Celtic prayers won't help you now."

"But it was him, sir," Quintus said hurriedly, pointing at the Doctor. "He made me do it. Mr. Dextrus, please don't - "

"Come on, now, Quintus! Dignity in death," the Doctor told him before turning to Lucius and nodding. "I respect your victory, Lucius. Shake on it?" He held out a hand, but Lucius made no move. "Come on. Dying man's wish?" When that didn't work, he grabbed Lucius's arm from under his cloak and pulled, coming out with a stone hand and arm.

"But he's - !" Quintus gasped.

"Show me," the Doctor ordered.

"The work of the gods," Lucius replied, flinging his cloak over his shoulder to show that his entire right side was made of stone.

"He's stone," Quintus gasped.

"'Armless enough, though," the Doctor joked. "Whoops!" He threw the arm back. "Quintus!"

Quintus threw the torch at the guards, and the Doctor sonicked the carvings to fall as they went back through the window. "Run!" he shouted as they ran.

When they made it far away from the villa, the Doctor patted Quintus on the back. "No sign of them. Nice little bit of allons-y. I think we're all right."

"But his arm, Doctor," Quintus gasped. "Is that what's happening to Evelina?"

The ground rumbled, and a dog began barking nearby. "What was that?" the Doctor asked, looking around.

"The mountain?" Quintus guessed as the rumble came again.

The Doctor shook his head as he began to find a pattern in the rumbles. "No. It's closer." He looked around as things began falling over all around them. "Footsteps," he realized.

"It can't be!"

"Footsteps underground."

"What is it? What is it?"

The Doctor ran back towards Caecilius's villa and burst in. "What is it?" Metella was shouting. "What's that noise?"

"Doesn't sound like Vesuvius," Caecilius replied.

"Caecilius?" the Doctor asked. "All of you, get out!"

"Doctor!" Donna shouted as she, Jessie, and Evelina ran out. "What is it?"

"I think we're being followed!" The hypocaust grill flew off. "Just get out!" the Doctor shouted.

A creature of stone and flame emerged from the grill, cracking and breaking the floor around it. "Oh," Jessie began slowly. "My. God."

"The gods are with us," Evelina whispered.

"Water!" the Doctor shouted. "We need water! Quintus! All of you, get water!" Jessie and Quintus began acting immediately. "Donna!"

"Blessed are we to see the gods," one of the servants said in awe, stepping forward.

And he was promptly incinerated. "Talk to me!" the Doctor shouted, stepping forward. "I'm the Doctor. Just tell me who you are!"

Quintus and the last servant threw water from the pond on the creature, which made the fires go out. The creature crumbled to the floor, and Quintus panted, setting his bucket down. "What was it?" Caecilius asked.

"Carapace of stone, held together by internal magma," the Doctor replied, crouching down next to it. "Not too difficult to stop, but I reckon that's just the foot soldier."

"Doctor, or whatever your name is, you bring bad luck on this house," Metella accused.

"I thought your son was brilliant. Aren't you going to thank him?" the Doctor countered. "Still, if there are aliens at work in Pompeii, it's a good thing we stayed," he muttered, turning to Donna, before realizing she wasn't there. "Donna?" he called. "Donna?" He kept looking around, then realized with ice in his blood who else wasn't there. "Bad Wolf!" he shouted.

And then he saw Evelina trembling, staring at the door in horror. He growled, stomping over to her. "What happened to my wife and my friend?" he demanded angrily.

***

"You have got to be kidding me!" Donna groaned from where she was tied to a pillar.

She watched one woman with dark hair clothed entirely in red with a knife in her hand stand over the Bad Wolf, who had her eyes wide and was struggling where she was tied on the altar. "The false prophets will surrender both their blood and their breath."

"This isn't a good idea!" the Bad Wolf called, her voice high as she looked from sister to sister. "I'm telling you, this really isn't!"

"I'll surrender you in a minute!" Donna threatened. "Don't you dare hurt her!"

"Both will be silent!" the Sister declared.

"Listen, sister, you might have eyes on the back of your hands, but you'll have eyes in the back of your head by the time I've finished with you!" Donna shouted. "Let us go!"

"Really, stop it!" the Bad Wolf screamed. "Just stop it!"

"This prattling voice will cease forever!" the Sister declared, raising her knife high.

And Donna only saw a flash of brown before a hand grabbed the Sister's wrist and slammed the woman back against another pillar. "Any of you make one single move," the Doctor growled, sending ferocious looks all around at the rest of the Sibylline Sisterhood, "and each and every one of you is dead."

"No man is allowed to enter the Temple of Sibyl!" the woman gasped.

"Just us girls, yeah," the Doctor warned, letting her go before moving to the Bad Wolf's side, brushing her cheek with his thumb, the woman relaxing as soon as he touched her. "Do you know, I met the Sibyl once."

"Really?" she asked hazily.

"Really," he confirmed with a smirk. "Yeah, hell of a woman. Blimey, she could dance the Tarantella. Nice teeth. Truth be told, I think she had a bit of a thing for me. I said it would never last. She said, 'I know.' Well, she would." He kissed her forehead before looking at Donna. "You all right there?"

"Oh, never better," Donna scowled.

"I like the togas," the Doctor commented.

"Not really liking the ropes," the Bad Wolf whimpered.

"Yeah, neither am I," the Doctor agreed, flashing the sonic on her first, pulling her up to his side, keeping her tight against him before turning the sonic to Donna and getting her free as well.

"What magic is this?" the woman demanded.

"Let me tell you about the Sibyl, the founder of this religion," the Doctor began, pulling the Bad Wolf closer than Donna had thought possible as she buried her head into his chest. "She would be ashamed of you. All her wisdom and insight turned sour. Is that how you spread the word, hey? On the blade of a knife?"

"Yes," the woman replied, gripping her blade. "A knife that now welcomes you!"

The Doctor pulled the Bad Wolf further behind him, her arms wrapping tightly around him, when there was a hoarse voice behind them. "Show me this man."

The rest of the Sisters dropped to their knees while the one with dark hair spun incredulously. "High Priestess, the stranger would defile us!"

"Let me see," the High Priestess demanded. "This one is different. He carries starlight in his wake."

"Oh, very perceptive," the Doctor commented, stepping forward with the Bad Wolf and Donna close behind. "Where do these words of wisdom come from?"

"The gods whisper to me."

"They've done far more than that. Might I beg audience? Look upon the High Priestess?"

Donna gasped in shock when two of the Sisters drew the curtain away from the bed, revealing a woman encased in stone. "Oh, my God," she gasped. "What's happened to you?"

"The heavens have blessed me," the Priestess replied.

The Doctor held out a hand. "If I might?" he asked, and when she held out a hand in reply, he took it. "Does it hurt?" he asked.

"It is necessary."

"Who told you that?"

"The voices."

"Is this what's going to happen to Evelina?" the Bad Wolf whispered before turning around to all of the Sisters. "Is this what's going to happen to all of you?"

The dark-haired woman held out her arm, letting both women see her stone forearm. "The blessings are manifold."

"They're stone," Donna breathed.

"Exactly," the Doctor agreed. "The people of Pompeii are turning to stone before the volcano erupts. But why?"

"This word, this image in your mind," the Priestess said. "This volcano. What is that?"

"More to the point, why don't you know about it? Who are you?"

"High Priestess of the Sibylline."

"No, no, no, no, I'm talking to the creature inside you. The thing that's seeding itself into a human body, in the dust, in the lungs, taking over the flesh and turning it into what?"

"Your knowledge is impossible!"

"Oh, but you can read my mind. You know it's not. I demand you tell me who you are."

"We . . . are . . . awakening," the Priestess replied, a deeper voice taking over hers.

"The voice of the gods!" the dark-haired Sister exclaimed.

"Words of wisdom," the Sisters began chanting. "Words of power! Words of wisdom, words of power!"

"Name yourself!" the Doctor ordered. "Planet of origin! Galactic coordinates! Species designation according to the universal ratification of the Shadow Proclamation!"

"We are rising!" the Priestess declared.

"Tell me your name!"

"Pyrovile!"

"Pyrovile!" the Sisters chanted, eyes wide. "Pyrovile! Pyrovile!"

"What's a Pyrovile?" Donna asked.

"Well, that's a Pyrovile, growing inside her," the Doctor replied, nodding and standing up. "She's at halfway stage."

"What? And that turns into . . . ?"

"That thing in the villa," the Bad Wolf replied tensely. "That was an adult Pyrovile."

"And the breath of a Pyrovile will incinerate you, Doctor!"

The Doctor and the Bad Wolf simultaneously pulled out two very different things: the Doctor a plastic yellow water gun, and the Bad Wolf her own sonic screwdriver. "I warn you, we're armed!" the Doctor warned before nodding at Donna. "Donna, get that grill open."

"What for?"

"Just . . . " Donna rolled her eyes but ran over. "What are the Pyrovile doing here?"

"We fell from the heavens," the Pyrovile replied. "We fell so far and so fast, we were rendered into dust."

"Creatures of stone shattered on impact," the Bad Wolf muttered. "Makes sense. Let me guess, this was seventeen years ago?"

"We have slept beneath for thousands of years."

"OK, so seventeen years ago, you woke up, and now you're using human bodies to reconstitute yourselves," the Doctor said. "But why the psychic powers?"

"We opened their minds and found such gifts."

"OK, that's fine. So, you force yourself inside a human brain, use the latent psychic talent to bond. I get that. I get that, yeah, but seeing the future? That is way beyond psychic. You can see through time. Where does the gift of prophecy come from?"

"Got it," Donna told them, pulling the grate off.

"Now get down."

Donna blinked. "What? Down there?"

"Yes, down there," the Doctor shot back before turning back. "Why can't this lot predict a volcano? Why is it being hidden?"

"Sisters!" the dark-haired woman announced. "I see into their minds! Their weapons are harmless."

"Yeah, but they've got sting!" the Doctor warned, squirting the water inside at the Pyrovile, who screamed in pain. The Bad Wolf sonicked the ground at the Sisters' feet, sending them falling to the ground. Donna's eyes widened as they ran to her. "Get down there!"

"You fought her off with a water pistol," Donna said as they climbed down. "I bloody love you!"

"This way," the Doctor said, pointing.

"Where are we going now?"

"Into the volcano."

Donna blinked. "No way!"

"Yes, way. Appian way!"

***

"But if it's aliens setting off the volcano, doesn't that make it all right for you to stop it?" Donna asked.

"Still part of history," the Doctor replied.

"But I'm history to you," Donna pointed out. "You saved me in 2016. You saved us all. Why is that different?"

"Some things are fixed, some things are in flux," Jessie tried to explain. "Pompeii is fixed."

"How do you know which is which?"

"Because that's how we see the universe," the Doctor replied. "Every waking second, we can see what is, what was, what could be, what must not. That's the burden of a Time Lord, Donna, and we're the only ones left."

"How many people died?" Donna quizzed.

Jessie turned back towards the path. "Stop it," she warned.

"How many people died?"

"Twenty thousand," she choked out.

"Is that what you can see?" Donna challenged. "All twenty thousand? And you think that's all right, do you?"

"Shut up!" the Doctor shouted at her, and Donna recoiled as the Doctor put an arm around Jessie, who was shaking. He looked around when something roared nearby. "They know we're here," he said tensely. "Come on."

***

"It's the heart of Vesuvius," the Doctor explained when they looked out over a cavern full of Pyrovile. "We're right inside the mountain."

"There's tons of them," Donna whispered.

Jessie squinted, pointing to the opposite side. "What's that thing?"

The Doctor took out a monocular to check. "Oh, you better hurry up and think of something," Donna muttered. "Rocky fall's on its way."

"That's how they arrived," the Doctor decided. "Or what's left of it. Escape pod? Prison ship? Gene bank?"

"But why do they need a volcano?" Donna asked. "Maybe it erupts, and they launch themselves back into space or something?"

"Oh, it's worse than that," the Doctor muttered.

"How could it be worse?"

"It's getting closer," Jessie warned.

"Heathens defile us!" They looked up to see Lucius staring down at them. "They would desecrate your temple, my lord gods!"

"Well, there goes the neighborhood," Jessie commented.

"Come on!" the Doctor told them, beginning to run towards the pod.

"We can't go in!" Donna shouted.

"Well, we can't go back!" Jessie retorted.

"There is nowhere to run, Doctor, Deathbringer of Asgard, and daughter of London!" Lucius declared.

"Now then, Lucius," the Doctor warned, "my lords Pyrovillian, don't get yourselves in a lather." He looked over his shoulder. "In a lava?"

"No," Jessie muttered.

"No," he agreed, turning back around. "But if I might beg the wisdom of the gods before we perish. Once this new race of creatures is complete, then what?"

"My masters will follow the example of Rome itself," Lucius answered. "An almighty empire, bestriding the whole of civilization."

"But if you've crashed, and you've got all this technology, why don't you just go home?" Donna asked.

"The Heaven of Pyrovillia is gone," Lucius replied.

"What do you mean, 'gone?'" Jessie demanded. It sounded just like the Adipose planet. "Where's it gone?"

"It was taken. Pyrovillia is lost. But there is heat enough in this world for a new species to rise."

"Yeah, I should warn you, it's seventy percent water out there," the Doctor told him.

"Water can boil," Lucius sneered. "And everything will burn, Doctor."

"Then the whole planet is at stake," the Doctor concluded before nodding. "Thank you. That's all we needed to know. Sweetheart?"

Jessie opened the escape pod, and they all got in before the door closed. "Could we be any more trapped?" Donna commented before the temperature rose. "Little bit hot."

"See?" the Doctor asked, gesturing wildly around at the circuit boards. "The energy converter takes the lava, uses the power to create a fusion matrix, which welds Pyrovile to human. Now it's complete, they can convert millions!"

"But can't you change it with these controls?" Donna asked.

"Of course I can, but don't you see? That's why the soothsayers can't see the volcano."

"There isn't a volcano," Jessie realized. "Vesuvius isn't going to erupt because the Pyroviles are stealing all its power."

"But you can change it back?" Donna asked.

"We can invert the system, set off the volcano, and blow them up, yes," the Doctor confirmed. "But that's the choice, Donna. It's Pompeii or the world."

Donna stared at him. "Oh, my God," she whispered.

"If Pompeii is destroyed, then it's not just history. It's me. I make it happen."

"Doctor, the Pyrovile are made of rocks," Donna tried to explain. "Maybe they can't be blown up."

"Vesuvius explodes with the force of twenty four nuclear bombs," the Doctor replied darkly. "Nothing can survive us. Certainly not us."

"Never mind us," Jessie whispered, putting her hands on the lever.

He stared at her. "Push this lever, and it's over," he reminded her. "Twenty thousand people."

Jessie nodded. "I know," she replied simply, tears sparkling in her eyes.

The Doctor swallowed, putting his hands on top of hers. Then Donna placed hers next, nodding at them, understanding what they had to do. Together, the three of them pushed the lever down, and around them, Vesuvius finally erupted.

Their small hideout was launched as well, and Jessie screamed, the Doctor holding onto her tightly. They crashed, and the Doctor ran to open the pod. "It was an escape pod!" he realized, and then they took off running.

"Gods save us, Doctor!" Caecilius shouted when they ran into the villa.

Jessie took one look at the family cowering, Evelina crying into her arms, Quintus holding her tightly, before she closed her eyes and ran blindly for the TARDIS. "No!" Donna shouted. "Doctor, Bad Wolf, you can't! Doctor!"

Jessie ran inside and beelined for the captain's chair, sinking into it, head in her hands as she listened to the roars around them. "You can't just leave them!" Donna shouted angrily.

"Don't you think we've done enough?" the Doctor shouted right back at her. "History's back in place, and everyone dies!"

"You've got to go back!" Donna yelled. "I am telling you, take this thing back! It's not fair!"

"No, it's not," the Doctor agreed.

"But your own planet! It burned!"

"Don't you see that, Donna?" Jessie snapped, looking up, tears falling from her eyes. "Can't you just understand why we can't go back? If we could go back to save them, we would. But these things just happen! We can never go back. We just . . . can't! We can't!"

"Just someone," Donna pleaded. "Please. Not the whole town. Just save someone."

Jessie swallowed and looked at the Doctor, who looked back at her. "Once in a while, someone lives," she whispered.

The Doctor nodded and flipped a few levers before heading back to the door entrance. Evelina and Metella were ushered in first, followed by Quintus and Caecilius. Jessie curled herself up on the captain's chair, and Evelina cried, heading in her direction. Jessie wrapped her up in a hug before holding an arm out to Quintus, and he joined the small hug as the Doctor piloted the TARDIS away from Pompeii.

***

"It's never forgotten, Caecilius," the Doctor told them as they stood on a cliff overlooking Pompeii. "Oh, time will pass. Men'll move on, and stories will fade. But one day, Pompeii will be found again. In thousands of years, and everyone will remember you."

"What about you, Evelina?" Jessie asked, squeezing her hand. "Can you see anything?"

"The visions have gone," Evelina replied softly.

"The explosion was so powerful it cracked open a rift in time, just for a second," the Doctor explained. "That's what gave you the gift of prophecy. It echoed back into the Pyrovillian alternative. But not any more. You're free."

"But tell me," Metella told him. "Who are you, Doctor? With your words, and your temple containing such size within?"

"Oh, I was never here," the Doctor replied. "Don't tell anyone."

"The great god Vulcan must be enraged," Caecilius mused. "It's so . . . volcanic. It's like some sort of volcano. All those people . . . "

Metella sniffed, and Caecilius hugged her tightly. Jessie gave Evelina and Quintus one last hug before she followed the Doctor and Donna into the TARDIS.

"Thank you," Donna whispered.

"Yeah," the Doctor replied, staring at Jessie, who just leaned against the coral structures, watching the TARDIS rotor. "You were right. Sometimes we need someone." He nodded. "Welcome aboard."

"Yeah," Donna echoed as the Doctor sent the TARDIS spinning into the Vortex.

***

So while Jessie obviously likes Donna, they're exchanging some tension in here that obviously hurts Jessie. Might get a little Oncoming Storm on Donna, and more love between our two resident Time Lords to keep making up for "Struggling To Adjust." Capeche?

But I really did like this episode. I loved the predictions (Rose coming back!!! :D) but I really loved the Doctor pointing out to Donna about fixed points in time. That was one reason I didn't really like what he did with Martha. With Rose and Donna, they learned about the problems with fixed points, and Martha . . . didn't.

An interlude will be coming soon!