When Zana woke up the next day to her name being called, she half expected the Doctor to be at her door, telling her to get up and get ready, but instead, all she found was an empty TARDIS. Rose wasn't in her room, nor was the Doctor in the console room, which she found odd. Where the hell could they be?

"Doctor?" She called out as she ran a hand through her hair, tugging at the knots that had appeared in her sleep. "Rose? Are you two busy?"

No response.

"Doooctor? Come on, Doc."

Again, nothing.

She huffed and groggily walked back to her bedroom, nearly tripping over the pair of jeans she had been donning the day before. A curse escaped her lips as she moved towards her closet, absently grabbing an outfit before stepping into the loo. Might as well get ready for the day. Or night. Or whatever time she was going to end up in.

The control room immediately shined a bit brighter when Zana stepped foot into it, but she didn't seem to notice as she dialed Rose Tyler's phone number into her mobile. Within seconds she pressed the device to her right ear as she slid on her leather jacket and moved towards the doors.

"Come on...come on..." she murmured as she walked out of the blue box. Her eyes instantly started taking in her surroundings, which really didn't seem like much. It looked just like a normal London street, much to her disappointment. She had tuned out the ringing of the phone line, but that was abruptly interrupted when the voice of the Doctor filled her head.

"Zana? Zana, are you alright?" His voice sounded panicked, making the brunette frown as she turned in a circle, trying to find someplace she recognized, but to no prevail.

"I'm fine, Doctor. What's wrong? Where are you?" She questioned curiously.

"Zana, get back in the TARDIS," the panicked tone had turned to a more authoritative one, surprising her.

"What? Where are you two?" Her frown deepened as she strode down the sidewalk.

"That doesn't matter. Now get in the damn TARDIS!"

"I think you think you have authority over me, which you don't, by the way."

"Just do as I say, Zana," the tone of his voice sent a shiver down her spine.

"What's wrong, Doctor? What's going on?" The worry had seeped into her voice, but she didn't care. Something was wrong, really wrong, by the sounds of it. The Doctor was angry, and she knew what he was capable of when he was in this state of mind. But why wouldn't he tell her what happened? It admittedly takes a lot to get him cross. Press the right button, strike the right nerve...wait a second, where's Rose? "Doctor, what happened to Rose?"

"Zana, please! Just listen to me!" He sounded desperate now. "Look, I'm heading back to the TARDIS now, if you're not-"

Just as Zana turned a corner, she spotted two figures running down the sidewalk towards her. Almost instantly she recognized one of them as the distressed Time Lord, and a teenage boy, that had to be only a few years younger than her, and who was also carrying a strange makeshift contraption in his arms. She pulled her phone from her ear and pressed the 'end' button, locking eyes with the Doctor as he rushed towards her. And he did not look happy.

"Is it so hard for you to listen to me?" Was the first thing out of his mouth as he walked right up to her, his eyes not leaving hers.

"Apparently so," she replied, looking over the features of his face. He was beyond angry. He was livid. If Zana didn't know him, she'd think he was the one who had to be stopped. And who knows? Maybe he was.

He glared at her, "Zana, if you don't get back in that TARDIS-"

"Then what?" She challenged, crossing her arms as she looked up at him. "What would you possibly do to me, Doctor?"

He stared at her for a moment, neither of them backing down. There was no way Zana was going to just sit back in the TARDIS while he was out here in the middle of god knows what. She could help! On top of that, she needed to know what happened to Rose. Was she hurt?

"Doctor, we don't have much time," the teenage boy that was accompanying the Doctor spoke up, making the Time Lord sigh.

"You're right. Come on," he took off past Zana, towards his trusty spaceship. Within seconds he was in and out of it, confusing Zana as he dashed off down the street.

"I'm Zana," she introduced to the boy hurriedly as the two of them rushed after the Doctor. He didn't seem to mind that he had to carry god-knows-what in his arms as he ran, and he definitely didn't seem to notice the Doctor running beside him, pressing parts into the machine. "And you?"

"Tommy," he gave her a strained smile.

"Lovely to meet you, Tommy," she nodded. "What exactly are we running to?"

"There!" He nodded up towards the sky, causing Zana to gasp. Above them was a rather tall transmission tower, and a man appeared to be climbing it.

"Come on!" The Doctor grabbed the machine from Tommy's grasp and took off ahead. They sped up but were nearly stopped by the guard of the entrance.

"Wait, wait, who do you think-" the Doctor merely flashed the psychic paper and kept running. "Oh! I'm very sorry, sir. Shouldn't you be at the Coronation?"

"They're saving me a seat!" He shouted as Zana And Tommy caught up to him.

"Who does he think you were?" Zana questioned, making the Doctor look down at his psychic paper with a huff.

"King of Belgium, apparently," he informed absently, not sparing her a look. A frown formed on her lips as she watched the Doctor take off around the corner towards what she assumed was the console room of the tower. Why was he so cross with her? All she wanted to do is help him! But then again, when was the Doctor ever easy to deal with? "Keep this switched on. Don't let anyone stop you, Tommy. Everything depends on it. You understand?"

Zana watched as the Doctor showed Tommy what exactly he had to do with the machine he had completed, confused beyond belief. She had no idea what was going on, and that worried her. On top of that, Rose was missing, and the Doctor didn't seem too keen on telling her what was happening.

"What are you doing?" Zana spoke up when she saw the Doctor grab a large bundle of copper wire. Unsurprisingly, he didn't reply. He just simply ran out of the room. A frustrated huff left the brunette's lips before deciding to chase after him. "Doctor!"

"Zana, get back in there!" He called back as she looked down at the copper wiring that he was trailing behind him.

"No! You need help!" She replied.

He came to an abrupt stop and turned to face her, a look on his face that nearly made Zana step back in fear. "Stay down here, that's an order."

"Doctor-"

"Zana, please..." His light brown irises bore into her blue ones, making her gulp. There was an unrecognizable look in his eyes, and it was enough to knock Zana back to her senses. There was something there, something he wasn't saying...

"Alright...alright," she nodded, sighing as she stepped back. "Just, be careful. Please."

He gave her a quick nod before turning and rushing past the guard, up the stairwell, towards the transmission tower.

"You'll get yourself killed up there!" The guard called after him as Zana bit her lip anxiously. "Your Majesty!"

"Who is that?" Zana murmured to herself as the man she presumed the Doctor was after reached the top of the mast. "Whoever he is, he can't be sane."

Almost as soon as the words left her lips, red bolts of lightning shot out from the top of the transmission tower. Zana gasped and stepped back, blocking her eyes from the bright lights. It only took a few seconds for her to turn and rush back into the control room, having decided that it was probably the safest place to be. Tommy was looking around the room worriedly, making her frown.

"What is it? What's wrong?" Zana asked quickly. "Tommy!"

"Shush!" He exclaimed loudly.

"Did you just shush me? Did you really just-" she started, but he pushed past her, grabbing a bulb off the shelf behind her before running back and plugging it into the machine that the Doctor had built. Red bolts of electricity started to surround it, making her frown return. "What? Did you fix it?"

"I have...no idea..." he shook his head as the electricity died down. Everything turned silent. The only noise filling the air was that of...hold on.

"Is that the Queen? Is that Queen Elizabeth's coronation?" Zana stepped up to the small monitor on the control panel. "Oh my god, it is! We're in 1953!"

"Just figuring that out?" Tommy chuckled.

"You can hardly blame me," she gave him a small smile.

"What have I missed?" The Doctor's voice echoed from the doorway, making them spin around.

"Doctor! What happened?" Tommy questioned as Zana crossed her arms, looking over him.

"Sorted. Electrical creature, TV technology, clever alien life form," the Doctor smiled as he walked over to them. "That's me by the way. I turned the receiver back into a transmitter and I trapped the Wire in here."

"That's...that's a VCR," Zana realized, looking over the machine the Doctor had built. A laugh escaped her lips in amusement.

"I just invented the home video thirty years early. Betamax," he held up the VCR tape with a cheeky grin. "Oh, look. God save the Queen, eh?"

Zana glanced back at the monitor and chuckled softly, shaking her head.

"You gonna tell me what all that was about?" Zana walked alongside the Doctor as they made their way towards Tommy's home. "Or are you just going to wave it all off with a 'don't worry about it' and call it a day?"

The Doctor glanced down at her, "Everything's sorted. Let's not worry about it."

She let out a laugh, "Wow. Sometimes I can't believe you."

"Oh, it's my grandson, Oh, son!" An older woman called as they made it to a small neighborhood, making Tommy take off and embrace her.

Before Zana even knew what was happening, a flash of pink and blue rushed past her and engulfed the Doctor in a hug. She turned to see him lifting none other than Rose Tyler off her feet, a wide smile on his face. The young brunette ran a hand through her hair before walking past them, in the direction of the TARDIS. She almost wished one of them would call her, ask her to come back, but she wasn't surprised when they didn't. She didn't even think they noticed she had left. Why would they? They had each other.

It had to of been at least three or so hours later before there was a soft knock on her door. She didn't bother looking up from the mess of papers that were scattered over the desk the TARDIS had supplied her with when the door to her room slowly creaked open.

"Zana?" the soft voice of Rose Tyler filled her ears. "You alright?"

"Fine," she replied, flipping through the small stack of papers she has paper-clipped together.

"What are you doing?" Rose stepped inside and closed the door behind her.

Zana looked up at her, noticing that she was still in her outfit from earlier. "I'm just looking through a few things. Nothing to worry about."

"What are you looking into?"

She shrugged, "The coronation of Queen Elizabeth II. Strange day, I would say."

Rose bit her lip, "Look, Zana, I'm sorry-"

"For what?" Zana sighed and pulled off her glasses, setting them down on her desk. "You have nothing to apologize for."

"We should have waited for you-"

"You wanted an adventure. How can I blame you for that?"

She sighed and looked down, "I'm still sorry."

"It's fine, Rose. Really," Zana gave her a small smile. "I like your outfit, by the way. It looks nice on you."

"Thanks," Rose smiled in return. "I thought we were going to see Elvis."

A soft laugh left Zana's lips, "But you got London instead. How fitting. Anyway, where's the Doctor?"

"He said he had some things to work on in the console room," she shrugged, pulling the pink hairband from her hair, letting it fall loose.

"I'm sure he does," Zana mumbled. "You know, he's a difficult person."

"Tell me about it," she left out a puff of air as she sat on Zana's bed, which was still disarrayed from that morning.

"How do you put up with him?" Zana pondered, sliding her glasses back on.

"I've just grown used to it, I suppose," she chuckled.

"Hmm..." Zana looked over her before turning around in her chair so she was facing her desk. She tossed the papers she had been looking over into the trash bin beside her. She had almost forgotten that not everything she looked into would end up being a report or an essay.

"You'll get used to it," Rose assured. "It just takes a while."

"If I'm around long enough to get used to it," she joked softly.

"What do you mean by that?" Rose frowned.

"I was kidding, Rose," Zana waved her off. "You must be exhausted. You've had a long day."

"I am feeling a bit worn out," she murmured, rubbing her forehead. "Mind if I crash here tonight?"

"I don't mind," Zana mumbled, pushing her hair out of her eyes. "I'm not exactly tired, so I'll probably be up for a while."

She nodded, yawning as she closed her eyes. "Night, Zana."

"Goodnight, Rose," she chuckled softly, turning around so she was facing her desk again as the lights dimmed in her room. She blinked a few times, adjusting her eyes to the new hue of light before shrugging off her leather jacket she had neglected to take off earlier and laying over the back of her seat.

"Zana?" Rose called so softly Zana almost didn't hear her name pass through her lips.

"Yes, Rose?" She called back, looking back at her again.

She bit her lip, "I've got a question."

"And I'll more than likely have the answer."

"The Doctor...do you...do you think he...?"

Zana raised an eyebrow, "He what?"

A light shade of red flushed across her cheeks, "Do you think he fancies me, Zana?"

"And here I thought it was going to be a good question," Zana grabbed her notebook off her desk, along with a pencil. She stood from her spot and moved towards her bedroom door. "Rose, do you really have to ask?"

Before Rose could reply, Zana stepped out into the corridor. Her eyes instantly closed, the bright lights a noticeable contrast from the dim ones of her room.

"You alright?"

The brunette fought back a groan when the Time Lord's voice rang out. She almost turned back into her room but decided against it. After all, what good would it do to ignore him?

"Fine," she eventually replied, opening her eyes to see him standing before her. "The light's a bit bright, is all. What do you need?"

"I came to check on you," he informed, rubbing the back of his neck. It was a nervous tick of his. "You seemed a bit cross-"

"I'm not cross," she said simply, running her thumb over the sharp point of her wooden pencil.

"Could've fooled me."

"Doesn't take much."

He sighed, "You're a handful."

"Anything less would be a disappointment," she retorted.

He gave her a look before exhaling deeply, "Well then, if you're not cross-"

"Then it appears we don't have anything to converse about."

"Well, I wouldn't say that."

"Wouldn't you?"

"No, I wouldn't," he gave her a disbelieving look.

"Hmm," her eyes trailed over his form, taking in his appearance. He had ditched his suit jacket somewhere and his sleeves were rolled up to his elbows. She guessed he really was working on the console. "What's with the hair?"

He frowned before it donned on him, "I thought I was taking Rose to see Elvis Presley."

"Right," she nodded. "Well, I'm sure that if you two had actually gotten there you would have enjoyed it."

He sighed, "Zana, I'm sorry for acting as I did. Really, I am."

"I'm not mad, Doctor. I'm not. You and Rose have both apologized. I'm good. Really, I'm good," she stepped past him, down the corridor.

The Doctor ran a hand through his hair, sending it in different directions as he followed her, "What's wrong, then?"

She shook her head, "I don't like being told I can't help."

"I was trying to keep you safe! It's not like you listened anyway!"

"Did you expect me to?" she raised an eyebrow.

The Doctor paused, "No..."

"All I wanted was to know what happened to Rose, you know," she muttered. "But you seemed set on keeping me out of things."

"Just Rose?" He asked quietly, his voice seeming to betray himself.

"Yes, Rose," she walked through the doors leading to the library, seemingly oblivious to his tone. "You two had just left without me. I don't mind that, but the fact that you tried to keep me out of things annoys me." She sighed, "I don't know, Doctor."

He sighed, "I just wanted you safe..."

She glanced up at him from the corners of her eyes, "I know you're used to protecting people, Doctor. But I'm fine."

A frown formed on the Time Lord's lips as he stared at her for a moment. Zana risked a glimpse into his eyes, but much to her surprise they were unreadable. She bit her lip as he shook his head. "Alright. If you say so."

"Good," she nodded, sitting her notebook and pencil down on top of a reading chair. She settled down into the chair herself after grabbing a few random books from the nearest shelf, but the Doctor was still standing in the doorway. Zana watched as he kept glancing in her directing, occasionally muttering things under his breath as he did so. It wasn't uncomfortable so much as it was...out of character. Maybe it wasn't for him, she didn't really know.

She watched him for a few moments, forgetting her intentions of reading the books she had grabbed, "You're already here. You might as well sit and talk, you know." He blinked and straightened his posture, looking like a deer in headlights. After opening and closing his mouth several times, his cheeks turned a dull pink and he was down the hall as fast as he could go. She raised an eyebrow, staring at where he had been standing before standing up and walking out into the corridor. "Doctor? Doctor, where'd you go?"

Disappointment seemed to flush through her as she found he was nowhere to be seen. Her brain started to come up with an explanation as to what the hell had just happened, but for the first time in a long time, no reasonable answer came to mind. It almost seemed like he was worried about her...

Zana shook her head as she walked back into the library and sat down, trying to calm her thoughts. The last thing she needed was to give herself false hope or even entertain the idea of fancying the Doctor, or vice-versa. She was just a passenger on the TARDIS, nothing more, and she was positive that was how the Doctor saw her.

After all, she's no Rose.

A/N: Hi, guys! So, so sorry for the late update, and the short update, and the more than likely rubbish update...