Okay, this is where the real fun begins. :)

Chapter Four

"Yes! I could do that!" the Doctor spun on his heel, turning back to his computer. There was a program that he had installed in the TARDIS, but he hardly ever used it. It was something along the line of AFIS, but instead of using fingerprints this program used anything you could put into it. Whether it was a strand of hair, a drop of blood, or anything from the person in question, it could find his, hers, or its identification. It had been years since he had used it, the last time having gotten him into trouble with the Museum of the Last Ones.

The Doctor crouched down next to the woman, pushing a few stray hairs out of her face. All I need is one small strand, just one strand, he thought as he ran his fingers through her long bangs, taking a few hairs gently between two fingers.

Her hand shot up from her side, her long fingers curling around him and securing his wrist in an iron grip. He yelped and fell backwards on his rump, totally having not unexpected for her to wake up.

"Don't even think about it," she whispered, using her hold on him to pull herself upright.

"Ah, now you decide to wake up," he smirked at her, though his tone said otherwise. "May I have my arm back?" he asked as he tugged on his still trapped wrist.

"You may," she released him, using her hand to run her fingers through her hair. She looked at him, her pine green eyes a bit unfocused. "How long was I out?"

"Um…I'd take a guess and say about ten minutes, but I don't know how long I was out," the Doctor answered with a shrug, folding his arms over his knees. "Who are you?"

"First things first," she replied as she held her hand out to him. For a moment he looked confused, but soon placed his hand in hers. She put two fingers on his wrist, leaving him with the assumption that she was checking his pulse. "I'm not an expert on your anatomy, but I think your hearts are still a bit out of synch. I'd take a stab and say that you were out for about two hours."

"Well, my hearts aren't supposed to be perfectly in synch…" he trailed off, catching a glint in her dark eyes. "And that's not quite what you meant. Never mind. Now then, it's my turn. Who are you? Or better yet, what are you?"

"Frost," she half closed her eyes, letting her voice create the cold atmosphere that her name suggested. "As to what I am, figure it out by yourself, Time Lord."

"I was about to do that before you woke up," he said, holding up one small strand of hair between two fingers. "Let's find out who and what you are!"

Frost leaned against the railing along the floor, letting her arms drape over her knees as she watched the man dance around the central console. For having been near death just a mere few hours ago, he certainly was very lively. And he was talking nearly a hundred miles an hour.

"….just got to push this button here," he said as he reached across the controls to press a flashing button. "And then I've just got to pull this lever and… here we go!"

The TARDIS made a series of clicks and whirrs as it read the strand of hair. The Doctor looked down at the woman, smiling a very big and goofy grin. He swung the monitor around to face him, waiting anxiously for the results. Frost smirked a bit, letting her amusement be known verbally. Deep vibrations came from within the centuries old engines, rattling the grate floor.

"I don't think you're going to find anything," she whispered.

"Oi! The TARDIS may be a bit old and rickety, but she'll find out who you are," the Doctor patted his ship affectionately as he spoke. "Her processor's still running strong and -"

The lights flickered until it was nearly pitch black in the ship. An ominous orange color seeped around the central column, casting shadows across the coral like columns. Silence crept through the air, making it thick with almost electrifying traits. The Time Lord whipped his head around to the monitor, his eyes lighting up with the intricate symbols that cropped up nonstop, some of them flashing with warning hues.

"What are you?" he questioned, turning on his heel to glare down at her.

There were sparks of fury in his dark brown eyes as well as a hint of fear as she gazed up at him with a steady look. To her, it seemed as if his mood was a bit intemperate. She held her silence for a while, driving him mad. There was nothing more amusing to her than seeing him question her about what he already knew.

"You know what I am," Frost looked off to the side. Her sterling hair fell over her shoulders and shielded the right part of her face from view.

The Doctor let himself stare at her for a few moments. It felt as if his mind was being deceived, being tickled and teased from seeing the whole picture. Time was being bent and broken, that much he was sure of. Perhaps time was starting to undo itself, starting to unfold and unwind. Maybe his feeling of being tricked was just his Time Lord instincts kicking in and telling him that this was not natural. It was few and far in between that he came across cases that could, or were, damaging the time stream as badly as he suspected in this instant.

"I may not know now, but I will find out," he crouched down so he was eye level with her. She turned to look at him, her dark pine green eyes cold and icy. "And when I find out what you are and what you're doing, I'm going to stop you. You can't make time bend to your will just because you feel like it! I was supposed to…." He trailed off a bit, being the one to turn his head away this time. Dying had been so close within reach, and it still stung at the moment when he thought of how he had almost slipped away from life. "The Ood foretold my death. They were years ahead of right now and they knew what was going to happen on this day. This was a fixed point that was supposed to happen, and you've stopped it. You can't just go around and stop important events whenever you feel like it!"

"But I can," she said very simply.

The orange light glinted off her dark eyes, creating an almost menacing illusion. He held her gaze, shifting on his haunches slightly as he studied the emotion in her eyes. The silence that moved about the control room allowed his keen senses to drift outwards towards the woman and analyze what was going on. Her breath was cool on his face as she inhaled and exhaled slowly and steadily. She was clam, no nervous twitches or actions gave any indication that she was lying.

"I thought that since I was the last of the Time Lords that I could too, but look at where that got me," he deadpanned as he stood up, turning his back on her and flipping various switches on the console.

"But I'm not a Time Lord," she whispered, carefully watching him as his shoulders slumped a bit as he leaned over the controls of his ship.

The central column started to pump up and down slowly at first before it gained some speed. It stayed the same orange color that it had started to display a minute ago. The Doctor glanced up at the column with a suspicious look, taking his eyes off it a moment to peer at the monitor screen. Everything had gone blank, literally leaving him in the dark as to what his ship was doing. She wasn't even speaking to him telepathically.

The floor jolted. Frost scrambled to get to her feet as the TARDIS tilted up on one side like a ship being bashed around in a high seas storm. The Doctor rammed into her as he lost his grip on the console. She hissed as his elbow connected solidly with her ribs.

"Sorry," he said as he bounced back up and reached for the console. He gripped the handrail as his ship tilted the other way. This time it was Frost who crashed into his gut.

"Sorry," she said in feigned apology much like he had earlier.

The ship groaned as it came in for one hell of a rocky landing….

The air inside the warehouse was still and chilly from the outside air that seeped in through various cracks up by the thick rafters. Rows upon rows of crates were stacked on top of each other, effectively creating a maze in the silent building.

A sudden breeze appeared from thin air as a rumbling, thumping sound echoed throughout the abandoned warehouse. The TARDIS materialized high above the ground, taking out several unfortunate crates that were on the top of the rows. It landed with a tremendous thud, coming to rest against a few splintered pieces of wood and a back wall.

A low groan came from within the doors of the blue box. Frost took a deep breath, trying to get her bearings straight. Eventually she came to realize that she was on her back against the doors. The ground beneath her moved a bit, causing her to turn and look at where she was laying. Hot breath brushed her face as she glanced up at the Doctor.

The Doctor had known something was wrong when his ship went haywire, and he had tried to brace for impact. He didn't exactly remember much from then until now. All he knew at the moment was that he could feel extra weight on top of him. His hearts were beating in a steady rhythm and he could feel another heart thumping along with his. That's when he concluded that Frost must have been sprawled across him.

"Hello," he mumbled. His hand grazed hers as he started to sit up, rubbing the back of his neck. "That's the second time that's happened today. Well, last time I woke up on top of you."

"You're not exactly the most comfy thing to land on," Frost stood up and ran a hand through her sterling hair, rocking back and forth on her heels for a moment before she regained her balance. She offered her hand to him, helping him to his feet. "You're all twiggy and have no meat on your bones."

"Oi!" the Doctor shot her a glare as he grabbed his trench coat and shrugged it on before stepping outside the doors. "Are you coming?"

Frost crossed her arms and followed him out, instantly knowing that they were in a warehouse when her bare feet touched the cold concrete floor. It was dead silent, save for the quiet buzz of the lights far above their heads.

"Want to take a gander at where we are?" the Doctor asked, stuffing his hands in his pockets and staring up at the small windows along the top of the building.

"Siberia or Alaska," Frost answered with a shrug. "Wherever we are, it's abandoned."

"That's it? You're not even going to ask why it's abandoned?" he strode over to her, his brows perked curiously. "Blimey, I don't think I've met anyone who's never wanted to ask questions. You didn't even think it was strange that my ship was just a wee bit bigger on the inside."

"Okay then, why is the warehouse deserted?" she tilted her head up, amusement sparkling in her dark eyes.

"Well, let's find out," he said as he took long strides over to a corkboard that was peppered with sticky notes and memos.

Frost followed him, walking silently on her feet. She let out a low, approving whistle at the immense size and clutter of the board. A few pictures were tacked here and there, showing what must have been the workers out on trips in the wintry wonderland.

"Ah ha, I think we have our answer as to why this place is abandoned," the Doctor pulled a handwritten note off of the board, scanning it quickly. His brow furrowed and his face pulled taught as he finished the letter. "This is definitely why nobody is here anymore."

She took the proffered note from him, reading down through it. Certain keywords stuck out to her, sending a shiver down her spine. Dark red splatters dotted the old and faded paper. She looked up at him, trying to hide the frantic worry that she was sure had just appeared in her face.

"We shouldn't be here," she said slowly as she stuck the letter back onto the board. "We should go."

"Can't," was all he said in reply. Her face fell into the look of unimpressed and slightly panicked. "The TARDIS is repairing herself. It'll take about an hour or two before she's ready to fly again. That is, considering, that she'll even fly with you on board. If she doesn't fly, then I guess you'll have a long way to walk back home."

"You have no idea," Frost groaned, her American accent dripping from her words.

"Well, since we're stuck here, why don't we take a better look at where we are?" he turned away, letting his gaze drift upwards to the stacks of crates with black stenciled letters on them.

"You're going to use this time to try and figure what I am, aren't you?" she questioned, following close behind him.

"Oh yes," he smirked and glanced at her over his shoulder. "So, you're not fully human, but I can't tell what the other part of you is. You're very well disguised with tech not from Earth. And you're very powerful, considering that you got inside my ship midflight."

Frost nodded at the not fully human part as she caught up to him. He looked across at her, scanning her up and down.

"You must have a high tolerance to cold," he said. "How can you not be cold in a belly shirt and jeans while being bare foot?"

"There's a reason I'm called Frost," she gave him a humorless smile, revealing fangs in place of normal canines. She paused for a moment, cocking her head to the side much like an animal would. "You hear that?"

The Doctor stopped and stretched his senses outwards. There was a scuffling somewhere amongst the crates, something moving around in the maze of boxes. He shared a look with Frost before she split off in one direction while he went the opposite way.

Silence filtered through the air as she crept around a corner of one of the crates. Her feet came to a quiet halt as she tilted her head again; listening for the same sound she had heard earlier. So many years had gone by her, her senses getting sharper every time another year passed her by. When in doubt, she relied on her hearing. Nothing ever got by her. Except for the shadow that had just ran into the aisle a crate down from her.

"You have got to be kidding me," she hissed, following close behind whatever had just dashed the dark maze. Her nerves were on edge as it was, but considering that her senses should have been heightened. But she was keeping an ear out for the Doctor, making sure that he didn't get himself into trouble.

The shadow popped out from around a corner, its hand connecting solidly with Frost's jaw. She fell, temporarily winded. With an irritated growl, she kicked out and swept the shadow's legs out from under it. She was up in an instant, a knife in her hand and at the man's neck.

"Gah, I'm gettin' old," Frost grumbled, wiping away a bit of dark red blood with the back of her hand from her lip. "So, you gonna tell me who you are?"

"A worker," he answered as his voice quivered. "You're not authorized to be here and one can't be too careful…."

"Nah, you were scared that it was one of the beasts come to get ya," Frost smirked and backed up, sheathing her knife. She crossed her arms and looked the man up and down. "Last survivor?"

"What? What do ya mean?" he asked as he brushed the dirt from his heavy jacket.

"The note on the board gave you away," she replied.

"Ah, that," he shook his head, rubbing the back of his neck. "Yeah, I can't get out, not that winter's hit. The roads are blocked and there's no fuel left for the snowmobiles or Cats. Wait, how did you get in here?"

Frost didn't answer, just looked at him coldly with her eyes half closed. She took a step back, motioning for him to follow her. He did so, but very slowly. She could sense that he was still very nervous, but he was craving human company. Every emotion rolled off him in waves and hit her like the ripples in a pool would. She stuck two fingers in her teeth and whistled.

"There's a survivor still left," she called out, hearing her voice bounce off of the crates.

The Doctor appeared from around the side of one of the crates. He smirked a bit at the sight of the disheveled man standing next to the woman. Perhaps now they could get to the bottom of what this monster was.

"So, only one left then? That's got to be a bit lonely, hasn't it?" he asked. Little thoughts trickled in the back of his mind on how he knew firsthand what it was like to be the only one left, but at least the man knew he wasn't the only human left alive. "How long have you been alone?"

"Four months," the man blew out a breath in irritation. "The storms are too bad for any machinery to get through to get out here, and nothing here has any fuel to run. Radios have been out since the creature started attacking, and the food supply's running low."

"Well, I can get you out of here once my vehicle's repaired," the Doctor said with a smile. "What can you tell me about the attacks?"

"Started 'round 'bout five months ago," the man sat on one of the smaller crates, rubbing the back of his neck. The look in his eyes and his posture suggested that it was a hard story to retell. "A few men just kept disappearing when they'd take machinery out. Whenever we'd go look for them, we'd just find the Cats still running and the guys nowhere in sight. The disappearances started getting closer to home base, until one day we all saw Tom just get hit like a ton of bricks at the bay door. He had just opened it and then wham! There wasn't even a sound, he got hit so fast. Panic spread like wildfire and everyone scattered, searching for the guns, but it was too late. You'd never hear it comin' and then it'd be right behind you. The only one that went down fightin' was Jesse, one heck of a shot, that boy was. He got off a few rounds with the 9mm and one with the 10 gauge. That thing just wouldn't die and took off runnin' with Jesse in its jaws."

"How'd you manage to survive?" Frost questioned gruffly.

"Hid down in the storage room," he admitted with a pitiful and guilty look. "Once it was clear I locked down all the doors."

"Did you ever get a good look at it?" the Doctor asked softly. The man turned and looked him in the eye with a hard stare.

"You ever see a tiger hunt?" he deadpanned.

"Yeah, once or twice," the Doctor nodded, and glanced at Frost. Her eyes were narrowed and she was nodding as well.

"Imagine a tiger that was nearly ten foot at the shoulders with horns like a ram and with indigo fur and neon spots," the man said.

"Interesting," the Doctor glanced down at the ground a moment, the gears in his mind turning in haste. "A feline like creature with horns… That sounds familiar."

Frost was also concentrating, but not on what the man had said. She tipped her head to the side, trying to cloud out the noises of the Doctor thinking out loud. The wind was blowing outside, coming in gusts and then stopping for a few seconds before picking up again. Creaking and popping came from the steel of the warehouse as it cooled down in the snowstorm. Amongst the natural sounds of the tempest, the sound of life stirred. The sound of breath as it fogged the nippy air and the sound of large paws went hand in hand.

"Shhh…." Frost held her hand up, glancing at the Doctor. Now that silence had fallen, she could most definitely hear pacing somewhere in the crates. And by the look that the skinny man was giving her, he could hear it too. The only one left in the dark was the lone survivor.

Silence was always the first sign that something was about to go wrong. At least, that's what the Doctor had always thought. And as he snapped his head up at a groaning from the crates, it proved to hold true once again. He yelled out and jumped out of the way when the boxes tumbled down and shattered on the floor as a large creature leapt from the top of them.

It landed on all fours, muscles rippling beneath a thick indigo pelt as it impacted. A long tail swept out behind it, the tip twitching as it eyed up the three people with violent steel blue eyes. Its power was unmatched in this world, a single paw alone being the size of a human head and its jaws capable of crushing a ribcage.

All the people scattered as it shot out a paw and claws like giant thorns slid out of their sheaths. Letting out a terrifying roar, it sprang after one of them.

"Doctor!" Frost screeched, coming to a halt behind a crate.

"A little busy!" the answer came back as she caught sight of the man run down a row of crates with the beast hot on his tail.

She growled, quickly scanning the area for anything that'd be useful as a weapon. Her knife was a toothpick compared to the creature. No, she needed something much bigger and more solid. A brief smirk passed over her face as she found what she needed lying amongst the wreckage of the crates.

The Doctor slid across the floor as he took a sharp corner. If he hadn't been running for his life, he might have found it humorous how the creature failed to turn on a dime and instead fell onto its side, sliding into a stack of crates that gave way and crashed to the concrete floor. It got up and shook itself off before dashing down the aisle that the Doctor had gone down.

"Persistent, aren't you?" he yelled over his shoulder. The creature bared enormous fangs at him and growled.

He felt the tips of its claws reach out and barely brush him before the beast retracted its paw and looked up. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Frost jumping off a crate with a pipe held above her high above her, the muscles in her arms straining to keep it aloft. The weapon connected solidly with the creature's head, and they both came skidding to a halt.

"That was either brave or dumb," the Doctor said as Frost stood up and brushed dirt off her bloodied elbows.

"Saved you, didn't I?" she grumbled and bent down to look at the creature better. "Well, you're the alien expert. What is it?"

"I don't know," he shrugged, bending down and examining its head as well. "It's built like a feline, so it's probably from the far corner of the universe, somewhere by Negatheria and over in that cluster of planets would be my guess."

"What's it doing here?" she asked.

"Probably was exiled, or crash landed," he suggested. "However, it doesn't seem sentient enough to pilot a ship, so I'd say it was deliberately put here."

"Kind of like putting a mongoose in with a bunch of garter snakes to just see how it'd play out," Frost chuckled slightly, earning a stern look from the Doctor. "Humans don't know how to handle something like this yet."

"Yeah," he stood up, shoving his hands down into his pockets. "Probably should take it home, though. That is, considering I can figure out where its home is."

Frost opened her mouth to respond when out of the corner of her eye she caught its ear rotate. Maybe that knock on the head wasn't as effective as she had first thought. Standing up, she was about to issue a warning when one eye shot open. Both she and the Doctor were quick to react, jumping to either side as it reached out with a massive paw, but she wasn't the one to receive the hit. The Doctor stumbled to the ground as the creature stood up and barely looked down at him before lunging with its mouth wide open.

She screamed, but the threat fell on deaf ears as the creature bounded away with a flailing Doctor in its mouth. Getting to her feet as fast as she could, she followed the retreating tail of the creature until they wound up at a wall. Before she got there, she could hear the tin shifting and arrived just in time to see the tip of its tail disappear through a massive tear in the wall.

"I disturbed the Hourglass," she whispered, baring her fangs in defiance. "But I'm not letting you fix it."

Da da da! And there goes the Doctor, getting himself into trouble once again. Thanks for reading and reviewing! :)