Whispers surrounded me as I lay in complete darkness, my heart beating steadily in my ears as I reached out in both directions. A dull throbbing in my chest reminded me that I was hurt, and when I tried to sit up I found I couldn't; I was strapped down to the firm surface on which I was lying, wrapped in some sort of soft material that felt warm against my skin. Thankful that my arms were free, however, I continued to reach out on each side into the blackness when suddenly I could hear someone rushing towards me, murmuring "no no no no no" to himself. Hands took hold of my forearms, gently replacing them back to my sides. Alarmed, I started to struggle against the person. Quite suddenly, the man fumbled at my face and I realized that I'd been wearing some sort of mask which had shielded my vision. I jerked back as I was momentarily blinded by a light burning directly overhead. I made some inarticulate sounds of fear before jerking my hands from the stranger's grasp. This proved to be a mistake; pain ripped across my chest as I moved, making me fall back with a faint cry, my eyes squeezed shut against the light.

"Oh goodness…" the man murmured, patting my shoulders carefully, "I'm sorry, I'm so so sorry…"

This reaction was not at all what I'd expected, and I found myself opening my eyes slowly, still squinting against the glare.

"Erm…" The light was moved aside, followed by more of the same "sorry, sorry, so sorry…"

As my eyes adjusted, I found myself staring into the face of the spiky-haired man from before, the one wearing overalls, except now he was dressed respectably in a sweater and jeans. He continued to pat me as if unsure of what to do next, but before I could speak there was a clatter nearby and I heard the ginger girl speak.

"Oi, Rory, you're scarin' her, you lout!" The girl's decidedly Scottish accent matched her ginger hair, now once more in my view, and she looked indignantly at her male companion (apparently a person called "Rory") with a mixture of amusement and annoyance. Turning to me, she promptly began to loosen the straps holding me down as I stared at her speechlessly.

"I'm Amy," she continued, gently tugging one stubborn buckle aside, freeing my left leg, "and this is my husband… Rory… Sorry he scared ya before…" Here the young man shuffled his feet uncomfortably.

"I'm a nurse, see," he added, as the ginger Amy continued to release me by degrees, "You needed treatment and kept thrashing about… I'm sorry, but I had to strap you down so you wouldn't hurt yourself."

As the last strap fell away, Amy looked at me gently. "Better, then?" I nodded, grateful to be free once more.

"Where am I?" I couldn't keep the shakiness out of my voice.

The other two glanced at each other, then back to me. After a moment Amy smiled sweetly, slipping an arm beneath me and raising me into a sitting position on the edge of the table. "We're not really the best people to tell ya, love, let's wait until the Doctor gets back, okay?"

"…Doctor?"

Amy frowned slightly in thought before replying, "Not really a Doctor, not in the conventional sense, mind you…" She straightened the soft material around me which turned out to be a robe. "We're supposed to patch you up while he deals with that… Well, the man who was chasing us…" She faded off, smiling at me. "So what's your name, then?"

I paused a moment before replying, "Um, Hero. Hero Smith."

"Nice name," she replied, patting my knee. The sound of a door closing somewhere nearby made me turn nervously, and she repeated her smile with a gentle, "It's all gonna be alright, okay?"

I met her eyes, not sure what to think, but I recognized that she seemed to be telling the truth, so I nodded. Satisfied, she turned away from me and moved to the door of room, stuck out her head, and shouted, "Doctor! If you please!"

There was a rather loud crash from outside the door, and Amy giggled silently at Rory who had moved to my side in what I interpreted as a protective gesture. A moment later I heard that same familiar voice from before, saying, "Ah, that's where that thingamabob got to!" and the tall, slender mad in the mad bow tie hurtled into the room clutching a large flowerpot. He came to a screeching halt directly in front of me, and I was unsure whether to draw back or laugh.

He regarded me silently for a moment, long enough for me to take in his red suspenders, boyish grin, and lanky body. He looked like a jigsaw of a person that somehow, once put together, all made sense.

"Well then…" he said, carefully setting the flowerpot on the floor and taking a step towards me. He held out his hands in a peaceful gesture, tilting his head to one side as he looked at me, "Hello!" he crowed, smiling broadly, "So who are you, exactly?"

"Hero…" I managed, my eyes wide.

"You most certainly are," he went on, "that was some pretty heroic stuff you pulled back there, have I thanked you yet? No? Well, then thanks a lot, you really did me a huge favor back there!"

"No, I mean…" I stammered, "my name is Hero."

The man paused, slightly embarrassed at his misunderstanding, his grin fading slightly as he regarded me.

"Ah, yes… My mistake. Well, suits you, doesn't it?" His grin returned, I couldn't help but smile back at him very shyly.

"So!" he continued, turning to his companions, "Hero the hero, you're probably wondering where you are, am I right? Yes, well, you're going to be surprised, but you've earned it." Turning back to me he gently took hold of my upper arm and helped me to stand. He regarded me carefully to make sure I was comfortable before putting his arm against my back and slowly steering me from the room.

We came out into a very large, brightly lit room, at the center of which was a circular board of hundreds of gleaming buttons, levers, wires, and so many other things that I could hardly recognize, Is that a phone?, and this platform was surrounded on the walls by pillars and lights… In all, it looked kind of like a control room, a very odd control room at that…

The man beside me, this doctor, was looking around just like I was with a look of interest on his boyish face as if he, too, was seeing the room for the first time. I didn't quite know what to make of him yet; he seemed like part-child, part-man, part… something else.

"Now, this isn't the fun bit, that part's over here," he said, interrupting my thoughts, and he began to lead me towards some small double doors on the other side of the control panel. Amy and Rory were walking behind us, both smiling like they were excited for something.

"It's… very nice," I said, letting myself be steered and wondering what sort of place this was. We approached the doors, and he pushed one open, gesturing for me to go out. After a second I complied, finding myself standing on a lonely mountainside. There was a warm breeze blowing against my face and I could hear a bird chirping somewhere nearby.

"Where…" I began, turning back to face the man, and froze when I saw what it was I had come out of. Standing before me was a bright blue police box, like one of those one sees sometimes in old movies. It seemed to be only about four feet across on each side, and it was sitting on the grass of the hill on which I stood. I gaped at it for a moment, unsure of what I was really seeing. Looking around wildly, I saw at the base of the hill my school, far far away. At least that look familiar. Turning back to the police box, I could see the man and Amy and Rory all looking out at me, grinning widely. Slowly I reached out a hand and let my fingers drag across the blue painted wood sides of the box. It felt real to my touch. Then I moved around it in a matter of seconds, not letting my fingers leave the sides, measuring it with my eyes.

It was so… small.

So what had I seen inside?

Not really knowing why I didn't run away then and there, I turned back to the three people looking at me and moved towards them. They parted for me to pass, and I walked back inside and was once more greeted with the same, very large control room. There was silence as I stared around breathlessly, glancing out the door to reassure myself that the same grass and air was indeed still there. It was.

"What is it?" I squeaked, staring at the tall man. He smiled at me very kindly, talking a step towards the control panels and spreading his arms to indicate the room before answering,

"It's a TARDIS."

"Excuse me, what?" I stammered.

The man looked like he got this question asked every day as he rattled off, "Time And Relative Dimension In Space. TARDIS." He rocked back and forth on his heels in obvious delight as I continued to gape around me.

"It's…" My voice cracked slightly, "It's bigger on the inside…"

"Yes!" the man cried joyfully, pointing at me and smiling like I'd won some sort of guessing game. "But, more importantly," he went on, "it's a time machine."

I blinked. "What?"

"And a space ship. Well, it's mostly a time machine, good at traveling through time, space as well…" He was rambling, and I was shaking slightly. "I'm the Doctor," he finished, nodding his head at me slightly, "I fly the TARDIS."

"…F-Fly?"

"Of course! Amy, Rory, want to go for a spin?"

The other two people in the room looked at me, and Amy patted my arm soothingly as Rory said, quietly, "You can say no, alright?"

My mouth opened before I could stop it, I was so curious about how I knew the wild-haired man, the Doctor, wanted to know how I could know his voice so well, and I heard myself gasp "yes."

The Doctor winked at me before spinning around to face the console in the center of the… TARDIS. He began pushing buttons, pulling levers, moving around and around the center of the room as lights began to flash, machine parts began to move, and I could feel the whole room shuddering under my feet and realized that we were moving.

And thus began a new chapter in my life.

My new life on the TARDIS.

And so it begins! *scary music* But really, if you likey, please review! I enjoy getting feedback of all sorts :)