Zana woke to a sharp stinging on the right side of her neck. A soft groan escaped her lips as she blinked a few times, trying to adjust her eyes to the bright fluorescent lights of the futuristic spaceship. She tried to raise her hand so she could rub her eyes, but she soon found that she was restrained. Great. Just her luck.

"Zana?" Rose's voice made her turn her head to see that she too, along with Mickey, was tied down.

"Are you alright? What about you, Mickey?" Zana asked her quickly, seeing that they weren't alone. The Clockwork Droids were watching them like hawks.

"They're going to chop us up, just like the crew. They're going to chop us up and stick us all over their stupid spaceship!" Mickey exclaimed as he panicked. Zana gulped as he looked at Rose. "And where's the Doctor? Where's the precious Doctor now? He's been gone for flipping hours, that's where he is!"

The gears of one of the droids clicked as it moved closer to the blonde. "You are compatible."

"Well, you might want to think about that," Rose told it, trying, but failing, to seem frightening. Zana leaned her head back onto the platform she was on and let out a deep breath. She had faith in Rose. Hopefully, she knew what the hell she was doing. "You really, really, might, because me and Mickey, we didn't come here alone. Oh no. And trust me, you wouldn't want to mess with our designated driver."

Zana gasped along with Rose as a blade extended from the droid's hand. It was a mere few inches from Rose's throat.

"Ever heard of the Daleks? Remember them?" Rose's voice sounded more panicked than before. "They had a name for our friend. They had myths about him and a name. They called him the-" a loud crash rang out, followed by a familiar voice drunkenly belting out a tune.

"I could've danced all night, I could've danced all night-"

Rose tried to ignore it, "They called him the..They called him the, the-"

Zana's eyes widened in surprise when the Doctor sauntered in, with his tie around his head and a goblet-looking cup in his hand.

"And still have begged for more! I could've spread my wings and done a thou- Have you met the French?" He suddenly quit singing and asked the three shocked humans. None of them answered. They simply gaped at him. "My god, they know how to party."

"Oh, look at what the cat dragged in," Rose glared at him, clearly annoyed. "The Oncoming Storm."

She couldn't tell because of the sunglasses he was donning, but Zana just had a feeling the Doctor rolled his eyes at the comment. "Oh, you sound just like your mother."

"What've you been doing? Where've you been?"

"Well, among other things, I think just invented the banana daiquiri a few centuries early. Do you know, they've never even seen a banana before!" He stepped up to her and grinned. "Always take a banana to a party, Rose. Bananas are good!"

"You can't be serious right now," Zana shook her head, still having trouble believing that the Doctor had just gone off and partied away while they had been here, being held captive by evil bloody robots.

"Serious as a heart attack," his grin widened before turning to the droid next to Rose and laughing. "Oh ho, ho, ho, ho, brilliant. It's you! You're my favorite, you are! You are the best! Do you know why? Because you're so...thick! You're Mister Thick Thick Thickety Thick Face from Thicktown, Thickania," he went to walk away, but turned back quickly, "And so's your dad."

"Wow. Don't spare its feelings or anything," Zana muttered sarcastically under her breath as he wandered around the room, ignoring the anxious look Rose was sending him. She did, after all, still have a blade to her throat.

"Do you know what they were scanning Reinette's brain for? Her milometer. They want to know how old she is. Know why? Because this ship is thirty-seven years old, and they think that when Reinette is thirty-seven, when she's complete, then her brain will be compatible," he informed, making Zana frown. "So, that's what you're missing, isn't it, hmm? Command circuit. Your computer. Your ship needs a brain! And for some reason, God knows what, only the brain of Madame de Pompadour will do."

"The brain is compatible," the droid informed with its monotonic voice.

"Compatible?" The Doctor's voice suddenly sounded a lot more sober, surprising the brunette. "If you believe that, you probably believe this is a glass of wine." He pulled off the droids mask and poured a red substance from the cup he had been holding into its head, causing it to seize up. The other droids spun into action, but he quickly reached over and pushed down a lever on the console. "Right, you three, that's enough lying about. Time we got the rest of the ship turned off."

"Are those things safe?" Mickey asked him as he used the sonic screwdriver to unlock the restraints around their wrists. Zana smiled gratefully at him when she was standing upright, earning a small smile back before he quickly moved back to the console of the ship, pulling his tie down so it was back around his neck and his sunglasses onto his head.

"Yeah. Safe. Safe and thick, way I like them. Okay. All the time windows are controlled from here. I need to close them all down," he informed quickly as he searched his pockets frantically. "Zeus plugs. Where are my Zeus plugs? I had them a minute ago. I was using them as castanets!"

"Why didn't they just open a time window to when she was thirty-seven?" Zana pondered aloud.

"With the amount of damage to these circuits, they did well to hit the right century. Trial and error after that. The windows aren't closing. Why won't they close?" the Doctor muttered to himself just as a bell dinged.

"What's that?" Rose frowned.

"I don't know. Incoming message?" the Doctor muttered.

"From who?" Mickey looked around the room.

"Report from the field. One of them must still be out there with Reinette. That's why I can't close the windows. There's an override."

"Oh my...that can't be good," Zana muttered as the droid the Doctor had poured oil on expelled it from its finger, onto the ground, and his shoes.

"Well, that was a bit clever," he murmured just as the off switch pulled itself back on, reactivating the other droids. "Right. Many things about this are not good. Message from one of your little friends? Anything interesting?"

She is complete. It begins," it replied before every single one of them teleported away.

"What's happening?" Rose inquired instantly.

"One of them must have found the right time window. Now it's time to send in the troops. And this time they're bringing back her head," he replied solemnly.

"Well we have to warn her somehow," Zana spoke up. "Doctor, how are we going to do that?"

He ran a hand through his hair, "I...oh! The time windows!"

"The time windows?"

"We can warn the past her, let her know what's going to happen!"

"I'll do it," Rose volunteered instantly.

"Right. Tell her to keep them talking. She's the only one they listen to," the Doctor told her quickly. "Hurry, go, go, go!"

"Zana, watch them," she nodded before taking off.

"Uh..." Zana went to reply, but she had already taken off. She turned back around to see the Doctor frantically pressing buttons and flipping switches, looking for the correct time window. She watched him a moment before stepping up to him. He was obviously very distressed about Reinette, and that intrigued her. They hardly knew each other, yet here he is, acting as if the world is ending. And what about Rose? Didn't they have something? "Doctor?"

"What is it, Zana? Kinda busy at the moment," he replied hurriedly.

"Have you met Madame de Pompadour before?"

"Not before today, no. Why?"

"Just curious," she shrugged.

"No, what is it?" He looked up at her, his work forgotten for the moment.

"It's nothing, Doctor. You had better hurry. A woman's life is at stake," she reminded him as she leaned against the TARDIS. "Go on, then."

He eyed her a moment before returning to what he had been doing. Mickey looked between the two curiously, and just when he went to ask Zana about the encounter, the Doctor had ordered him to go get Rose.

"Did you find the window?" Mickey asked.

"Of course I found the window! Now go! Quick!"

Mickey gave him a look before dashing off, muttering something under his breath.

A sigh escaped Zana's lips as she looked down at her worn trainers, "Why do you treat him like that?"

"Like what?"

"An idiot."

"Because he's Mickey the Idiot. Why else would I treat him like that?"

"What makes him an idiot? The fact that he got to Rose before you did?" She raised an eyebrow. The Doctor's mouth fell open a bit, but she continued. "Oh, don't act like I don't see how you two look at each other. Mickey's amazing and clever, and just as important as the rest of us. Don't let your infatuation with Rose blind you from that."

The Doctor stood there, stunned. Zana was slightly proud of herself for rendering the Time Lord speechless, but that didn't last to wrong, as Mickey quickly rushed into the room.

"Where's Rose?" Zana asked as the Doctor decided to start working on opening the time window. As soon as the words left her mouth, Rose rushed into the room.

"I don't get it. How come they got in there?" Rose asked, referring to the Clockwork Droids that were now in the court of Versailles, creating a huge commotion. The screams and the cries of the people hadn't gone unnoticed by the others, but Zana had chosen not to mention it. She had no reason to.

"They teleported. You saw them. As long as the ship and the ballroom are linked, their short-range teleports will do the trick," the Doctor told her he ran from one part of the room to the other.

"Well, we'll go in the TARDIS!" Rose tried.

"We can't use the TARDIS. We're part of events now!"

"Well, can't we just smash through?" Mickey suggested.

"Hyperplex this side, plate glass the other. We need a truck."

"We don't have a truck."

"I know we don't have a truck!" He yelled, frustrated.

"Well, we've got to try something," Zana spoke up.

"No. Smash the glass, smash the time window. There'd be no way back," he informed with a solemn tone before getting back to work.

"Wait a minute," something donned on Mickey. "Where's that horse?"

"What's a horse got to do with anything?" Rose raised an eyebrow.

"He can use the horse to break through, can't he?"

"Brilliant!" Zana laughed excitedly. "We can save her!"

"Arthur!" The Doctor called for the white horse quickly, and within seconds, the horse galloped into the room. Without hesitating, the Doctor jumped on it's back and took its reigns into his hands.

"Be careful," Zana told him. "Got it?"

He gave her a small smile before taking off on the horse, the two of them jumping through the window, sending a few pieces of glass back in the humans' direction. When the excitement died down, they looked back at where the window had been to see a brick wall in its place.

"Rose?" Zana spoke softly as she moved towards her friend. Rose hadn't said a word since the Doctor had gone to save Reinette three hours back, and it was starting to worry her. She knew that the fact that they were stuck there didn't bother Rose, it was the fact that the Doctor couldn't come back that had sent her into silence.

The blonde shook her head at her name being called and turned to face her friend, "Yeah? What is it, Zana?"

"Everything is going to be okay, you know that, yeah? He's the Doctor, he'll figure something out...right?" Zana looked over her, seeing that she was on the verge of tears.

"He's gone..." her voice broke.

"Rose..." Zana stepped forward and pulled her into a hug. She stood there and tried to comfort her friend as she sobbed into her shoulder. She wasn't quite sure what to tell her. After all, she had no idea if the Doctor was coming back. Everything pointed to no, he wasn't coming back, and that admittedly worried her.

"Hey," Mickey sat down next to the brunette, who was leaning against the TARDIS, trying not to fall asleep. Five hours of waiting wore her out, surprisingly.

"Hey," Zana glanced over at him, leaning her head back against the blue, wooden door of the Doctor's spaceship. "Holding up okay?"

"Doing fine," he nodded. "Just worried about how we're gonna get back."

"Me too..." she admitted. "But I think everything's going to turn out fine."

"What makes you say that?"

She gave him a lazy smile and closed her eyes, "I'm quite the optimist, you'll find. Mind you, I slip in and out of optimism. Constantly being positive would kill a person, wouldn't you think?"

He chuckled softly, "Why haven't I met you before, Zana?"

"Before Christmas, you mean? Well, I'm an introvert," she smile slyly.

He nodded, "I get it. People can be a handful."

"Yeah," she agreed. "Definitely."

"Doctor!" Rose suddenly exclaimed loudly, making Zana jump in her place. Her eyes widened when she saw the Doctor himself pulling Rose into a tight embrace.

"How long did you wait?" the Doctor asked her with a smile as Zana and Mickey stood up and joined the two of them.

"Five and a half hours," Rose laughed, pulling away.

"Great. Always wait five and a half hours," he grinned before moving to hug Mickey, but instead shook his hand.

"Where've you been?" Zana chuckled and let the Doctor pull her into a hug.

"Explain later. Into the TARDIS," he pulled back and gave her a quick smile before rushing off towards the fireplace that had started everything in the first place. "Be with you in a sec!"

Mickey excitedly rushed into the time machine, followed by an equally excited Zana. Rose lingered behind, but eventually, she joined the other two. Zana plopped down on the captain's seat, grinning like an idiot at the console.

"Why her? Why did they think they could repair the ship with the head of Madame de Pompadour?" Rose asked the Doctor as he walked into the spaceship a few minutes later, his happy demeanor visibly gone. A frown formed on Zana's face as she watched him. Something had happened...

"We'll probably never know. There was massive damage to the computer memory banks. It probably got confused," he replied quietly as he stepped up to the controls of his ship and flipped a few switches. "The TARDIS can close down the time windows now the droids are gone. Should stop it causing any more trouble."

"Are you alright?" Rose's voice softened, having noticed his mood change as well.

"I'm always alright," he gave her a small, obviously fake, smile before looking back down at the controls.

Mickey reached out and took Rose's hand, seeing that the Doctor wanted to be alone. "Come on, Rose. It's time you showed me around the rest of this place."

Rose took one more glance at the Time Lord before following Mickey down one of the many endless corridors.

"I'm sorry," Zana voiced softly once they were out of earshot, making him jump slightly.

He turned around to look at her, "About what?"

"About Reinette," she sighed. "I'm guessing something happened."

"Yeah..." he looked down at his trainers.

Zana stood up and stepped up to him, "I'm here if you need anything."

"Thanks, Zana," he nodded and smiled at her, just as he had done to Rose moments before.

She took his hand, "I'm serious."

"I know," he let out a sigh. "Really, I do."

She looked at him, a sad look on her face. She felt bad for him. He obviously really liked Reinette...

"I'll leave you alone, then...Goodnight, Doctor," she squeezed his hand before dropping it and making her way down a corridor, the opposite direction her two friends had gone earlier.

"There's no way this is the original copy," Zana muttered as she looked over the cover of the worn book she had in her hands. "And I'm pretty sure he didn't name it Nostradamus's Big Book of Prophecies."

She flipped open the book and looked over the worn pages, marveling over the writing. She wasn't quite sure how she was reading it, though. Nostradamus was French.

"What have you got there?" the Doctor's voice made her jump in surprise, nearly dropping the book in the process. Luckily, the Doctor had caught it.

"A book. What else would I have in a library?" Zana replied once her heart rate calmed. "And why does it say it's the original copy? And what's with the wonky title? I mean, it's obviously Les Propheties, but there's just no way that this is the same journal Nostradamus wrote in."

"Oh, it is," the Doctor said simply, looking over the pages. "He gave it to me after I stopped the Cybermen from upgrading him. They thought that his gifts could be useful."

She raised an eyebrow as he handed her the book, "Cybermen? And even if they did 'upgrade' him, whatever that means, it would be useless. He didn't actually predict the future, you know. People believe that due to his book being mistranslated."

"See, he knew people like you were going to say that."

"No, he didn't."

"He knew you were going to say that too."

She gave him a look, "There's just no way a human can do that."

"Who said he was human?"

"Doctor, he-...wait, what?"

He chuckled and shook his head, "Don't worry, he was human. A very special human."

"That's just...I suppose I've always been one for logic," she chuckled and looked down at the cover, tracing the faded words with her finger.

"Sometimes logic just gets in the way of what's really there," he replied, a small smile gracing his lips as he watched her inspect the book. She definitely intrigued him, there was no denying it.

"Well, I had better be off to bed," Zana spoke up after a moment of comfortable silence. "Might I ask what we're doing tomorrow?"

"Haven't the foggiest," he grinned. "More fun that way."

"You just go where the wind takes you?"

"That's me."

"That's probably the reason why you end up having to save people."

"It's a good thing I do it then, huh?"

She smiled, "I suppose so. Well, I'll see you in the morning. Sleep well, Doctor."

"And you," his eyes followed her as she left the room, and he couldn't help but let his smile return. He was really starting to appreciate letting her stay on board the TARDIS. He had done it for Rose's benefit, after all. She had practically begged him to let Zana stay, and no matter how hard he tried, he could never say no to Rose. But, maybe...part of him wanted her to stay as well. There was no denying that she was clever, and he liked clever. Then again, there was a lot that he didn't know about her. He hadn't exactly known her for all that long, and for all he knew, she could be someone who was out to make his life a living hell. It sure wouldn't be the first time that had happened to him, and he was willing to be it wouldn't be the last time, either. He may not know too much about his new companion, but there was one thing the Doctor knew for sure...

Zana Kline was definitely something else.

A/N: Sorry it took so long to update. :/