A.N. Hey guys! Chapter three whooo hoo! Well, I know that OC stories are hard to get into but I really hope you like it It's my first Doctor Who Fanfic, and I've worked hard on it. Remember, I love critic and I hope that this chapter isn't too boring. That review button is quite lonely down there, maybe you should give it a friend.

Chapter 3

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Zeta gingerly stepped forward and pushed open the door. As she crept inside, the door shut behind her, and with a strange whirring noise, the machine disappeared from the quiet street corner.

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Zeta stepped into the box, not expecting much but to see but the Doctor sitting in the little wooden cube. What she found was infinitely different.

She stood at the bottom of a small staircase leading into the expanse of a gigantic room. Long panels lining the walls arched up to the ceiling, and an intricate maze of hallways and staircases led into rooms beyond. In the middle of the room, the Doctor stood at a circular panel of controls surrounding a tall glass cylinder. The cylinder itself cast an eerie glow around the room, and churned loudly as he danced around the controls, pressing buttons and pulling levers. He glanced over and grinned stupidly at her stunned expression, and then he reached his skinny arm over and pulled a screen in front of him.

"If I'm right, then the Hetorfess will be pulled into the vortex right about . . ." he pulled a lever and the whole room jerked. "Now!"

Zeta was thrown to the ground in a wild tremor. As soon as the room stilled, the Doctor leaped down the steps and offered Zeta his hand. "Well, do you like it?" He gushed.

Zeta was speechless for the first time since they had met. Time slowed to a stop when she had entered the building...machine, box, room, whatever it was. Everything froze as she drank in the oddity before her...no, not oddity, a miracle.

She gripped his hand tightly as he pulled her up, as if he were her only lifeline. Standing, she leaned against the wall, afraid she might fall over. He turned and jumped up the steps two at a time, his giant coat swooshing out behind him. At the top he twirled around and put his arms out, showing off the room. "Isn't she beautiful?"

"Wait, but it... was.. justa box.." she straightened shakily and turned back to the door and grasped the knob.

"I wouldn't do that." He said before she could pull the handle. "We're drifting."

"Like . . . space . . ."

He nodded nonchalantly. "Yes. . . like space. Only, we're in the Vortex."

"What? The Vortex?" She looked into his face worriedly. He bobbed his head in a nod once again.

"The Vortex."

"Oh." Silence fell heavily over the pair and they listened to the sound of the machinery churning as he let her collect her thoughts. Trying to act indifferent, Zeta pushed off of the wall and slowly walked up the steps to stand next to him. All of space swirled around in her mind, a million possibilities filling her head. Thousands of questions pushed their way to the front of her mind, but for some reason, not a single one could pass her lips.

"Well, I was right about you being familiar with the extraterrestrial and all." She commented instead. Zeta stared up at him oddly, with a mix of wonder and astonishment. The Doctor chuckled. He always enjoyed seeing their first reactions.

"This is my TARDIS. That stands for Time and Relative Dimension in Space. It can take you anywhere in the universe, anytime in the universe." He mentioned cockily.

"You're alien." she laughed, incredulous.

"Marvelous, you've finally figured it out." He said with a grin, teasing her. She shook her head and bit her lip with a disbelieving smile. They stood there for a moment, looking at each other stupidly, neither knowing quite what to say, before the Doctor leapt into action.

"So! After the Hetorfess we go! You should know that Hetorfess's are extremely good trackers. They can pick up your scent anywhere on the planet, and a schnauz that powerful can be quite a nuisance sometimes, I can tell you. Very few of their species can travel through the Vortex without being torn apart. But it looks like this one can." He pulled the screen back over to him and pressed buttons on the controls while glancing at it every once in a while. "I am hoping...we can follow it." he slammed his palm down on a large button and the room jolted again.

"What do I do?" June shouted over the rumble.

"Hold on!" the Doctor shouted back, showing her all his teeth in a wild grin. He seemed to like to smile. He did a lot. Something he needed to get used to.

Zeta stayed true to the order are grasped the railing on either side of her. Her combat boots slipped out from under her and she was reduced to holding onto the pilot seat for support. Her fingers dug into the soft foam and nearly tore. She examined the black haired man tumble around the console. On the screen, random squiggles and circles that looked like code shifted around. As she watched, the Code changed and whirred about the screen in a troubled frenzy. It blinked red and flashed.

"Doctor!" she yelled, getting his attention. He rushed over, surprisingly quickly considering the floor was still bucking like a bull. As he gripped the screen tightly, not wanting to fall, Zeta watched as realization dawned on his thin face.

"Nononono not again! You can't do that!" he shouted at the screen, and then ran around the console, fiddling knobs and twisting strange devices.

"What? What's wrong?" the rumbling from the interior of the ship stopped as the TARDIS started coasting again. The Doctor slapped his palms down on the deck of the controls in frustration and cursed to himself, dragging his hands over his face.

"The Hetorfess, I've lost it. I could've tracked it back to its owner, and seen to all of this trouble they've been making. But now it's gone! How does it do that! That would take extreme technology...or...or. . . I don't know! And I was so close! So close an it's gone." He pressed his fists to his forehead and sighed. "Thirteen…I knew thirteen was unlucky." He muttered. Zeta sat up curiously.

"Thirteen what?" Zeta asked. He looked up, as if he had forgotten she was there.

"My thirteenth regeneration."

"What's rege-"

"Nah don't ask what regeneration is right now, the only important thing is that I haven't been myself recently." He smiled up at her. "Don't even know what I look like. Oh! And blimey, I should go change! Still wearing my old clothes I guess." He looked down at himself and brushed some dust from his mustard colored coat. It looked quite silly on him, she must admit.

Zeta slowly removed her own coat, cringing when it brushed the deep claw marks on her arm, which she had completely forgotten about in the excitement. As the Doctor babbled on, she gingerly prodded the ragged flesh, which had started to glow the same eerie purple as the Hetorfess's eyes. The Doctor glanced over and abruptly snapped his mouth shut in the middle of telling her about his new tastes. He leaped over to where she sat on the pilot's seat and kneeled by her arm. He smacked her hand away from the wound, and his expression darkened.

"It cut you." He stated grimly, surveying the gash. She pulled her arm away from his grasp.

"It's just a scratch." She put her hand protectively over her arm. She was fine. It barely hurt. He looked up at her sincerely.

"Zeta, if that thing hurt you, then this wound is seri-"

"I'm fine." She moved away. He grabbed her hand and pulled her back.

"No, you aren't. This particular species of Hetorfess are packed with powerful venom that can kill a human in less than fifteen minutes. You need special medical care, and lucky for you, you have me. I'm taking you to the TARDIS's medical unit." His eyebrows rose, as if daring her to argue.

"Well then Doctor, live up to your name and let's go get me fixed up." Zeta joked. She stumbled ungracefully to her feet, which earned her a chuckle from the Doctor. He led her up a flight of stairs and down various hallways until they reached a sterile white door.

The Doctor wrapped his skinny fingers around the door handle and pushed Zeta inside.

It looked like any old medial room you might find in a doctor's office. A table sat at the far end of the room, a thin sheet of paper resting on top. Cabinets, filled with every medicine you can think of, lined the walls. The familiar sterile smell of alcohol rested in Zeta's nose.

The Doctor led Zeta over to the table, on which she jumped up on. He then whipped on a pair of glasses and rummaged around in the cabinets, muttering to himself.

"Anti-poison or the Hetorfess. You don't come by cases like this very often. The medicine is very rare.." He removed a small glass bottle from the furthest cabinet, and moved over to a counter by the sink. "The medicine comes from a flower that's found in the depths of the jungles of Irohdren. You're lucky I keep it stored for just in case. . ." He mumbled, unscrewing the cap.

"Doctor…" Zeta didn't realize he didn't know. She supposed she should tell him.

"You humans. . ." He turned around, the cotton-ball in his hand soaked with the glowing solution that came from the bottle. He kneeled by the table and took Zeta's arm with his hand.

"Doctor . . ." Zeta insisted, louder this time. He was lost in his own rambles and continued treating her.

"Always getting into trouble . . ." he pressed the cotton-ball to her wound.

"Doctor!" Zeta said, grabbing his arm and forcing him to look up. Her warm caramel eyes met his sharp green ones. She looked at him meaningfully.

"I'm not human."