"Where's the milk? Why are we always out of milk?" Zana groaned tiredly as she looked through the refrigerator. She had woken up only minutes earlier with a craving for cereal, but of course, the TARDIS was void of any milk. A frustrated huff left her lips as she grabbed a banana off the counter, sitting down at the table. "I swear, if we can keep hundreds of bananas, we should be able to keep a carton of milk. It's not that hard."

"Who are you talking to?" Rose walked in, already dressed for the day in a pink jacket and jeans. As always, her make-up was nicely done, complimenting her blonde locks. "Did you just wake up?"

"No," Zana replied, her tone serious as she took another bite of her banana.

"Right," Rose chuckled, sitting across from the teen just as the Doctor walked in, a joyous hop in his step. Zana gave him an annoyed look when he grabbed a banana and sat next to her, flashing a wide smile.

"What?" He raised an eyebrow, his smile still very evident. "Sleep well, Zana?"

"It's you, isn't it?" She questioned, narrowing her eyes at him. It had to be him!

"Sorry, what?" His grin fell as he glanced at Rose, who was only watching with an amused smile.

"You're the one who uses all the bloody milk and doesn't bother replacing it," Zana finished the rest of her banana with a huff. "It's really not that hard, you know, to just go get some more."

"Zana, you used the last of the milk a couple of days ago," he informed, his nerves calming slightly. He wasn't sure just what she was going on about."I know that because you had also used the last banana in your cereal."

The brunette raised an eyebrow, her mind going back a few days previous. When she realized he was right, she grumbled and stood up. "Right. I knew that."

"I'm sure you did, Zan."

"I did."

"Mhmm," he nodded.

"What? I did!"

"I'm not doubting you."

She gave him a look as Rose started laughing, "This is definitely entertaining!"

"Uh-huh," Zana muttered. "I'm going to get dressed. Don't leave without me."

"Wouldn't dream of it!" The Doctor called as she walked out into the brightly lit corridor, towards her bedroom.

Zana walked into the console room, her morning grumpiness replaced with a small smile. She was clad in dark, almost black jeans and a dark green knitted jumper, which were the first things she saw when she looked in her closet. She noticed Rose sitting on the captain's chair, her mobile pressed to her ear as she bid goodbye to her mother, and the Doctor returned her smile with a warm smile of his own, which admittedly made the brunette blush slightly.

"Have any idea where we're going today?" She decided to ask, busying herself by pulling her hair back in her usual ponytail. "Or are we just closing our eyes and hoping, as usual?"

"Sounds like a good idea!" The Doctor replied in his usual upbeat manner before yanking down on a lever. Zana was quick to grab onto the railing as the TARDIS started to shake and jolt through what the Doctor had called the Time Vortex. Rose let out an unexpected shout as she gripped onto the worn seat she was sitting in, making Zana and the Doctor laugh, but that soon faded once the sound of the ancient ship's engines reached their ears. The TARDIS sounded like it was struggling to land, but it eventually did. The Doctor and Rose were quick to rush outside, and Zana was just as quick to follow them.

"I don't know what's wrong," the Doctor murmured, resting his hand on the wooden door of his beloved ship. "She's sort of queasy. Indigestion, like she didn't want to land."

Rose looked at him with mock worry, "Oh, if you think there's going to be trouble, we could always get back inside and go somewhere else..."

Zana jumped slightly at their sudden outburst of laughs, but soon she was laughing as well. As she had found out back on New Earth, the Doctor's laugh was contagious.

"I think we've landed inside a cupboard," the Doctor informed once the trio had calmed. "Here we go."

Zana trailed close behind her fellow time travelers, the sound of howling wind becoming louder and louder as the Doctor opened an old, yellow door.

"Open door 15," an automated voice filled the air.

"Some sort of base. Moon base, sea base, space base. They build these things out of kits," the Time Lord rambled as Rose held the door open for her two friends before letting it close.

"Close door 15."

"Glad we're indoors. Sounds like a storm out there," Rose muttered, glancing towards the ceiling.

Zana nodded in agreement as they continued walking.

"Open door 16."

"Human design. You've got a thing about kits. This place was put together like a flat-pack wardrobe, only bigger. And easier," the Doctor continued as they walked down a small corridor, which lead to another door.

"Open door 17."

"Oh, it's a sanctuary base!" The Doctor informed as we stepped into a room, which was filled with a few tables and chairs, essentially a dining room. Zana looked around as the door closed behind her.

"Close door 17."

"Deep Space exploration. We've gone way out. And listen to that, underneath," he got quiet for a moment as motioned for them to listen to the strange noise. "Someone's drilling."

"Welcome to hell," Zana murmured, her eyes having landed on the odd writing almost as soon as she had walked in.

"Oh, it's not that bad!" The Doctor waved her off.

She gave him a look but chuckled nonetheless. "No, over there."

"Hold on, what does that say?" He frowned as he stepped towards the odd writing "That's weird, it won't translate."

"But I thought the TARDIS translated everything, writing as well," Rose gave him a confused look as Zana bent down to study the unusual script. She had to admit, it looked oddly familiar, but she couldn't place it. "We should see English."

"Exactly. If that's not working, then it means this writing is old. Very old. Impossibly old." With that, he stood up and started turning the wheel on the next door. "We should find out who's in charge. We've gone beyond the reach of the TARDIS's knowledge. Not a good move. And if someone's lucky enough-"

"Open door 19."

Zana let out a surprised shout at the sight before them, along with Rose and the Doctor. Before them stood a group of aliens, which Zana didn't recognize. They had tentacles where their mouths should have been, and in their hands was a small orb, which seemed to be connected to them, again, where their mouths should have been.

"Oh! Right. Hello. Sorry. I was just saying, er, nice base," the Doctor smiled awkwardly.

"We must feed," they replied in unison, the orbs in their hands lighting up with each word.

"You've got to what?" He frowned as Zana stepped back slightly. This couldn't be good.

"We must feed."

"Yeah. I think they mean us!" Rose exclaimed as the aliens started stepping towards the trio. Zana reached forward, following Rose's example and grabbing a chair as more and more of the odd creatures stepped towards them, their voices monotone.

"We must feed. We must feed. We must feed. We must feed."

The Doctor held up his sonic screwdriver in defense as Rose and Zana shakily held the chairs in front of them.

"We must feed. We must feed. We must feed. We must feed. We must feed. We must feed. We must feed. We must feed. We must feed. We must feed-" one of the aliens, who was right in front of the trio tapped on the orb in his hand. "You, if you are hungry."

The Doctor blinked, "Sorry?"

"We apologize. Electromagnetics has interfered with speech systems. Would you like some refreshment?"

"What?" Zana breathed as she lowered the chair to the ground.

"Open door 18."

Zana, Rose, and the Doctor looked up as a group of humans, all three clad in black jackets, rushed into the room, a look of bewilderment on their faces.

"What the hell? How did...?" The oldest of the three breathed before speaking into the device on his wrist. "Captain, you're not going to believe this. We've got people. Out of nowhere. I mean, real people. I mean three living people, just standing here right in front of me.

"Don't be stupid, that's impossible!" A voice replied.

"I suggest telling them that!"

"You're a space base," Zana frowned, folding her arms across her chest. "Surely you get visitors every once and a while?"

"You're telling me you don't know where you are?" The man frowned.

"No idea. More fun that way!" The Doctor grinned.

"Stand by, everyone. Buckle down. We have incoming!" A woman's voice filled the air. "And it's a big one. Quake point five on its way!"

The older man quickly turned and opened the door, "Through here, now. Quickly, come on! Move!" Everyone was quick to follow him down another small corridor as an alarm started to blare. "Move it! Come on! Keep moving. Come on! Quickly! Move it!"

Soon they were running into the control room of the base, which was occupied with people bustling about, preparing for the quake, Zana guessed.

"Oh, my God. You meant it!" A man, who Zana was assuming was the captain, exclaimed as his eyes landed on the three time travelers.

"People!" A brunette woman breathed. "Look at that, real people!"

"That's us. Hooray!" The Doctor jumped slightly as Zana waved.

"Yeah, definitely real. My name's Rose. Rose Tyler, that's Zana Kline, and, and this is the Doctor," Rose informed with a polite smile.

"Come on the oxygen must be offline. We're hallucinating. They can't be!" A younger man stepped up to Zana and poked her shoulder. "No, they're real."

"Come on, we're in the middle of an alert!" The captain reminded with annoyance in his tone. "Danny, strap up. The quake's coming in! Impact in thirty seconds! Sorry, you three, whoever you are. Just hold on, tight."

"Hold on to what?" Rose frowned.

"Anything. I don't care. Just hold on. Ood, are we fixed?"

The Doctor led his companions to a railing and the three of them took hold of it, gripping it tightly.

"Your kindness in this emergency is much appreciated," one of the creatures from before nodded.

"What's this planet called, anyway?" The Doctor asked as he looked around.

"Now, don't be stupid. It hasn't got a name. How could it have a name?" When the Doctor didn't answer the woman, she frowned. "You really don't know, do you?"

"And impact!" The captain exclaimed, followed by a few seconds of rough shaking, which had sent Zana and Rose onto the steps below them. Zana gripped tightly onto the railing as it calmed, but the Doctor simply stood from his place. Which, of course, wasn't a good idea.

"Oh, well, that wasn't so bad."

As soon as the words left his mouth, the base started shaking again, only ten times worse than before. One of the control panels burst into flames, and Zana swore under her breath when her ribs made contact with the metal step below her. She squeezed her eyes shut, holding on as tight as she could despite the pain until the shaking ceased. The crew of the base instantly started working on returning things to normal, extinguishing the fire, and fixing the controls.

"Okay, that's it," the captain informed once everything had calmed down. "Everyone all right? Speak to me, Ida."

"Yeah, yeah!" The woman in question replied.

"Danny?"

The man who had poked Zana nodded, "Fine."

"Toby?"

Yeah, fine."

"Scooti?"

"No damage.

"Jefferson?"

"Check!"

"We're fine, thanks, fine," the Doctor called as Rose and Zana sat up. Zana pressed her hand against her right side, hissing softly at the dull ache as she sat down beside Rose on the steps. "Yeah, don't worry about us."

"The surface caved in," the captain studied the computer in front of him. "I deflected it onto storage five through eight. We've lost them completely. Toby, go and check the rocket link."

"That's not my department," Toby frowned.

"Just do as I say, yeah?"

Toby sighed, but stood up and left the room, just as he was told.

"Oxygen holding. Internal gravity fifty-six point six. We should be okay," Ida gave the captain a smile.

"Never mind the earthquake, that's, that's one hell of a storm!" Rose breathed. "What is that, a hurricane?"

"You'd need an atmosphere for a hurricane," Scooti said simply. "There's no air out there. It's a complete vacuum."

"Then what's shaking the roof?" Rose raised an eyebrow.

"You're not joking. You really don't know. Well, introductions. F.Y.I, as they said in the olden days. I'm Ida Scott, science officer," she introduced. "Zachary Cross Flane, acting Captain, sir. You've met Mister Jefferson, he's Head of Security. Danny Bartock, Ethics committee."

"Not as boring as it sounds," Danny assured. Zana flashed him a small smile when he looked at her.

"And that man who just left, that was Toby Zed, Archaeology, and this is Scooti Manista, Trainee maintenance. And this? This is home," Ida yanked down on a leaver.

"Brace yourselves. The sight of it sends some people mad," Zachary warned the three newcomers as the overhead shutters retreated, revealing the impossible. The Doctor and Rose instantly stood up, their eyes widening at the sight above while Zana stayed where she was, too shocked to move.

"That's a black hole," Zana breathed, her eyes glued on the sight before her.

"But that's impossible..." The Doctor murmured.

"I did warn you," Zachary said simply.

"We're standing under a black hole."

"In orbit," Ida added.

"But we can't be."

"You can see for yourself. We're in orbit."

"But we can't be!" He repeated.

"This lump of rock is suspended in perpetual geostationary orbit around that black hole without falling in. Discuss."

"And that's bad, yeah?" Rose spoke up softly, looking up at the Doctor as Zana gulped. Her bruised ribs seemed so small compared to the situation they had been thrown in. How could they even be here?

"Bad doesn't cover it. A black hole's a dead star. It collapses in on itself, in and in and in until the matter's so dense and tight it starts to pull everything else in too," the Doctor explained to her, his eyes glued on the dead star above them.

"Nothing can escape it," Zana added, chewing nervously on her bottom lip as she managed to tear her gaze away from the mass to look at her friend. "Not even light, gravity, or time, definitely not a planet. So we shouldn't be here...we should be pulled right in."

"We should be dead," the Doctor added grimly.

"And yet here we are, beyond the laws of physics," Ida gave the three a warm, almost sarcastic smile. "Welcome on board."

"But if there's no atmosphere out there, what's that?" Rose nodded towards the red clouds that were passing above them, a confused look on her features.

"Stars breaking up," Ida replied simply. "Gas clouds. We have whole solar systems being ripped apart above our heads, before falling into that thing."

"So, a bit worse than a storm, then," Rose nodded with a gulp.

"Just a bit."

"Just a bit, yeah," Zana let out a breath of air as she decided to stand. Ignoring the pain that shot through her side, she made her way over to the Doctor, just as another small shake shook the base. The Doctor instantly reached out and grabbed the brunette's arm to keep her from falling. "Thanks, Doctor," she smiled softly at him.

"You alright?" He murmured.

"I'm fine, yeah."

"Close door 1."

"The rocket link's fine," Toby informed as he walked back into the room, his eyes glancing around worriedly. Zana gave him a short smile as his gaze met hers, but soon she was staring at the projection of the black hole the captain had pulled up. Everyone gathered around the center control panel as the lights dimmed, allowing them to see the image better.

"That's the black hole, officially designated K three seven Gen five," Zach informed.

"In the scriptures of the Falltino, this planet is called Kroptor, the bitter pill," Ida told the group, a look of wonder in her eyes. "And the black hole is supposed to be a mighty demon. It was tricked into devouring the planet, only to spit it out, because it was poison."

"The bitter pill," Rose grinned at the Doctor and Zana. "I like that."

"We are so far out," the Doctor murmured as Zana leaned forward onto the control panel, trying to get a better look at the projection. "Lost in the drifts of the universe. How did you even get here?"

"We flew in. You see, this planet's generating a gravity field," Zach pointed at a red animation of the gravity field, which resembled a large, swirly funnel. "We don't know how. We've no idea. But it's kept in constant balance against the black hole. And the field extends out there as a funnel. A distinct gravity funnel, reaching out into clear space. That was our way in."

"You flew down that thing? Like a rollercoaster," Rose mused, a small smile on her lips.

"By rights, the ship should have been torn apart," he looked down, his voice growing somber. "We lost the Captain, which is what put me in charge."

"You're doing a good job," Ida assured, resting a hand on his shoulder.

"Yeah, well, needs must."

"But if that gravity funnel closes, there's no way out," Danny spoke up, his voice laced with amusement.

"We had fun speculating about that," Scooti chuckled slightly from her place at her computer.

"Oh, yeah. That's the word. Fun."

"But that field would take phenomenal amounts of power. I mean not just big, but off the scale!" The Doctor shook his head before looking at Ida. "Can I?"

"Sure," Ida nodded, handing him what Zana assumed was an advanced calculator. "Help yourself."

Zana leaned over the Doctor's shoulder, watching as he typed in numbers at an almost incomprehensible speed. There was no way he was coming up with those numbers that quickly...but who knew, maybe he was. Sometimes she forgot that he was, after all, a whole different species than she.

"Your refreshment, ma'am," one of the aliens from before stepped up to the teen, making her jump in surprise.

"Oh, thank you," she smiled politely as she took the cup from his hand. "I'm sorry, I didn't catch your name."

"We have no titles. We are one," the creature informed.

"You are as one? Like...a hive mind? Is that what you mean?" She frowned, taking a sip of her drink. "So all of you are...connected?"

"That is what hive mind means," the Doctor murmured without taking his eyes off his calculations.

"Yes, thank you," she gave him a look.

He gave her a cheeky smile before tossing the calculator onto the control panel, turning everyone's attention towards him. "There we go. Do you see? To generate that gravity field, and the funnel, you'd need a power source with an inverted self extrapolating reflex of six to the power of six every six seconds."

"That's a lot of sixes," Rose wandered aloud as she moved to stand next to Zana.

"And it's impossible."

"It took us two years to work that out," Zach frowned as he eyed the Doctor curiously.

The Doctor bit back a smirk, "I'm very good."

"But that's why we're here," Ida spoke up, turning Zana's attention to the woman. "This power source is ten miles below through solid rock. Point Zero. We're drilling down to try and find it."

"It's giving off readings of over ninety stats on the Blazon scale," Zach informed.

"It could revolutionize modern science!"

"We could use it to fuel the Empire," Jefferson added hopefully.

"Or start a war," the Doctor said pointedly as he pulled off his glasses and slid them into his pocket. Zana frowned slightly. It's always the worst-case scenario with him, isn't it?

"It's buried beneath us, in the darkness, waiting," Toby spoke up softly, his voice seemed distant as he stared off into space.

"What's your job, chief dramatist?" Rose glanced over at him with an amused smirk, making the Doctor and Zana bit back a laugh.

Toby merely rolled his eyes, "Well, whatever it is down there is not a natural phenomenon. And this, er, planet once supported life eons ago, before the human race had even learned to walk."

"I saw that lettering written on the wall. Did you do that?" The Doctor asked him as Zana stood up straight and pressed her hand to her bruised rib. It was starting to throb, which irked her. She hated that feeling.

"I copied it from fragments we found unearthed by the drilling, but I can't translate it," Toby sighed.

"No, neither can I," the Time Lord shook his head. "And that's saying something."

Zana rolled her eyes, "It looks familiar to me, but I can't place it. It seems like some sort of...religious text. Don't you think, Doctor?"

"Perhaps..." he nodded, sparing her a glance. "I highly doubt it though. How could it be? Even if it was, it's certainly nothing a human can recognize."

She sighed. He did have a point.

"There was some form of civilization," Toby informed, causing them to look at him again. "They buried something. Now it's reaching out, calling us in."

The most fantastic smile covered the Doctor's features, which for some reason made Zana smile as well. "And you came!"

"Well, how could we not?" Ida had a smile of her own.

"So, when it comes right down to it, why did you come here? Why did you do that? Why?" In typical Doctor fashion, he gave absolutely no one time to answer. "I'll tell you why. Because it was there. Brilliant. Excuse me, er, Zach, wasn't it? "

"That's me," the man in question nodded.

"Just stand there, because I'm going to...hug you. Is that all right? "

Zach smiled softly, "I suppose so. "

"Here we go. Come on, then," he stepped forward and pulled the captain into a tight embrace, making everyone smile. Who knew when the last time this crew had been this laid back. The Doctor certainly made things lighthearted...at times. "Oh, human beings. You are amazing! Ha! Thank you."

"Not at all," Zach chuckled.

"But apart from that, you're completely mad. You should pack your bags, get back in that ship and fly for your lives," the Doctor's mood seemed to dampen slightly. Zana internally groaned. She will never get used to this man's bipolar tendencies, which is saying something, considering she's bipolar herself.

"You can talk," Ida scoffed. "And how the hell did you get here?"

"Oh, I've got this er, this ship. It's hard to explain," he scratched the back of his head. "It just sort of...appears."

"We can show you, we parked down the corridor from um..." Rose bit her lip as she thought, making Zana smile. "Oh, what's it called? Habitation area-"

"Three!" the Doctor exclaimed as he remembered.

"Three! She nodded in agreement. "Three."

Zach turned somber instantly, "Do you mean storage six?"

"It was a bit of a cupboard, yeah. Storage six. But you said...you said...you said storage five to eight!" and with that, he turned, nearly knocking Zana to the ground as he dashed out of the room.

"What is it? What's wrong?" Rose shouted as she followed after him.

Zana didn't need to follow them to work out what had happened. She didn't want to. She didn't think she could stand seeing the Doctor's distress. His TARDIS...it was gone, literally swallowed by the planet they were standing on, and not only was it the one thing the Doctor had, but it was the one thing that was able to take her back to her own time, her own planet.

"Oh my..." Ida breathed, resting a hand on the brunette's shoulder. "I'm so sorry..."

Zana shook her head and swallowed hard, "It's all he had..."

"The ground gave way. My TARDIS must've fallen down right into the heart of the planet," the Doctor explained, for the fourth time, as Zach looked on in dismay. Zana could tell the captain felt sorry for the three newcomers, but she also knew there was nothing he could do. "But you've got robot drills heading the same way."

"We can't divert the drilling," Zach sighed and shook his head.

"But I need my ship! It's all I've got...literally the only thing..." the Doctor's voice nearly broke and the tears in his eyes made Zana's heart ache.

"Doctor, we've only got the resources to drill one central shaft down to the power source, and that's it. No diversions, no distractions, no exceptions. Your machine is lost. All I can do is offer you a lift if we ever get to leave this place, and that is the end of it," Zach gave the Doctor and Rose a sad smile before walking past them. He placed a hand on Zana's shoulder as he walked by, and for a moment she thought he was going to say something to her, but he just smiled at her and kept walking.

"I'll um, put you lot on the duty roster," Ida tried, but miserably failed, at sounding optimistic. "We need someone in the laundry."

"Open door 1," the automated voice called out as Ida left the three alone in the control room. "Close door 1."

"I've trapped you here," Zana could faintly hear the Doctor say to Rose as she leaned her head against the metal railing. She was sitting on the same step that had bruised her ribs not even an hour before, fighting the urge to cry, and that only made her angry. There was the Doctor and Rose, staying strong, clinging each other, while she sat alone, on the verge of tears. She watched as the Doctor held his precious Rose close to him in a tight embrace, and the only thing she could think of was that she wished she had met him sooner, that she had met him long before Rose did. It was wrong, she knew, on so many different levels. They were literally stuck, with no possible chance of going home, and all she wanted was to be the one the Doctor was holding.

She had never felt lonelier.

The catering area of the base was just as drag and depressing as the control room was, which, of course, didn't help Zana's mood at all. She was currently sitting at a table far away from the others in the hopes that they'd get the hint that she wanted to be left alone. After all, being alone is what she did best.

But the Doctor didn't care.

"I'm sorry," he apologized the moment he sat down in front of her, which for some reason annoyed her. "I'm so, so sorry."

"I know," she sighed, avoiding his emotion-filled gaze. "I don't blame you, Doctor. It's not your fault."

"I brought you here."

"I chose to travel with you, Doctor. Even if I didn't fully know what I was signing myself up for at the time, I chose nonetheless. If anything, I got myself stuck here."

A sigh escaped his lips and seconds later Zana felt his fingers lace through hers, "I told Rose to bring back ice for your side."

Zana looked up at him and frowned, "How did you know?"

"What kind of doctor would I be if I didn't know?" He smiled softly just as Rose walked over and sat down beside the teen.

"How you feeling, Zana?" Rose gave her a warm smile as she handed her an ice pack.

"Surprisingly okay," she tried to return the smile as she gently pressed the ice pack to her injured rib. A sharp pain shot through her, but she just clenched her teeth together as the lights flickered. It seemed to be a usual occurrence.

"Zach?" Ida called to the captain through her communicator. "Have we got a problem?"

"No more than usual," Zach's faint response was barely heard by the trio. "Got the Scarlet System burning up. Might be worth a look."

Ida turned to the three time travelers, "You might want to see this. Moment in history." She stepped up to a small control panel on the wall and above them, the shudders covering the ceiling opened up to reveal the sky above. Zana gasped softly, along with Rose as their eyes widened. "There. On the edge. That red cloud? That used to be the Scarlet System. Home to the Peluchi, a mighty civilization spanning a billion years, disappearing forever. Their planets and suns consumed. Ladies and gentlemen...we have witnessed its passing."

"Um, no, could you leave it open?" The Doctor asked softly as Ida moved to close the shudders, "Just for a bit. I won't go mad, I promise."

"How would you know?" She asked softly, with which he simply replied with a knowing smile. "Scooti, check the lockdown. Jefferson, sign off the airlock seals for me."

Jefferson and Scooti nodded and quickly set to work. Soon, Ida followed them out of the dining area as well, leaving the three alone.

"I've seen films and things, yeah," Rose spoke up, supporting her head on her hands. "They say black holes are like gateways to another universe."

"Not that one," the Doctor muttered absently. "It just eats."

"Long way from home..." Rose sighed.

"Go that way, turn right, keep going for um, about, um...five hundred years, and you'll reach the Earth," the Doctor informed, his eyes glued on the sight above them.

Rose grabbed her mobile out of her jacket pocket and turned it on, but to no prevail. "No signal. That's the first time we've gone out of range...Mind you, even if I could. What would I tell her? ...can you build another TARDIS?"

"They were grown, not built," the Time Lord exhaled deeply. "And with my own planet gone, we're kind of stuck."

"Maybe not for long," Zana spoke up, pulling the melting ice pack from her side and setting it on the table. "Zach said they'd give us a lift when they were finished here."

"And then what?" The Doctor looked over at her.

"I-I mean, I don't know..."

"We could find a planet, get a job, live a life, same as the rest of the universe," Rose shrugged.

"I'd have to settle down...Get a house or something. A proper house with, with doors and things!" The Doctor exclaimed, obviously very put off by the whole idea, but his two companions merely smiled. "Carpets! Me, living in a house! Now that, that is terrifying!"

"You'd have to get a mortgage!" Rose added with a joyous laugh.

His eyes widened, "No."

She nodded, "Oh, yes."

He shook his head, "I'm dying. That's it. I'm dying. It is all over."

"What about me? I'd have to get one, too. I don't know, could be the same one..." Rose tugged at her ear as she cleared her throat. "We could both, I don't know, share. Or not, you know. Whatever. I don't know. We'll sort something out-"

"Anyway," the Doctor interrupted while Zana visibly cringed. Surely there were smoother ways to do that.

"We'll see," Rose chuckled nervously.

"I promised Jackie I'd always take you back home..." The Doctor's eyes filled with sorrow as he looked at Zana. "And your parents..."

"They don't even know where I am..." Zana realized, worry filling her. "They won't even have the slightest idea where I am...oh, my..."

He quickly took her hand again, "Oh, Zan..."

She blinked back tears and shook her head. She never even told her parents that she had started traveling with the Doctor and Rose, and now, she never could. "It's okay...I'm fine..."

Rose wrapped an arm around her shoulders and pulled her into an embrace, "We'll look after you, Zana. I promise."

Zana knew that that meant to sound kind, and she appreciated it more than anything at that moment, but she felt...degraded. Like Rose saw her simply as someone she had to teach, to mentor, and not as her equal. But that was daft of her to think. She knew fully well that Rose saw her as a friend, a best friend, she'd dare say. It was her bloody emotions getting in the way again. That was one of her faults, she had figured out long ago that she was more emotional than she left the universe perceive.

Rose's arm pulled away from Zana as her phone started to go off. A curious look formed on all three of their faces, because they all knew that it should be impossible to get a call. Just as Zana went to question her friend, Rose threw her mobile to the ground in fear, which immediately sent the Doctor and Zana into defensive mode.

They should have known something darker was happening here, on this impossible planet. They really should have.

A/N: I'm back! Hiya! How is everyone? I really, really hope you enjoyed the chapter! Well, I hope you're enjoying the whole book, at that. I tried to get across just how emotional Zana can be in this chapter because I feel that that's one thing about her I haven't really touched on too much. If there's something about Zana you'd wanna see more of, just send it my way. I love to challenge myself! I've fallen in love with Zana, it would seem, and I sincerely hope you are beginning to as well! :D