Doctor Who: Hold Your Breath
The Doctor slammed his palm against the metal bars in frustration. Rose sighed.
"Just sit, will ya?" she asked, exhaustion creeping into her tone.
With a grimace towards the bars, the Doctor walked to Rose's side and slid down the wall, his leather coat scraping against the stone like sandpaper.
"So, now that we have officially ascertained that we can't escape at the moment, will you please tell me what we are in here for? And why you're so mad?" Rose asked, her eyes closed as she leaned her head against his shoulder.
The Doctor shifted slightly, as always unable to sit still, "It is ridiculous," he growled slightly, "This whole planet is ridiculous."
Rose laughed lightly, "Being arrested by octopuses sorta clued me in on that one," she said.
"Octopi," the Doctor corrected automatically before continuing, "The planet is too hot for them to work outside, so they use slave labor. And guess who the slaves are?"
"So, why aren't we working?"
The Doctor shifted again, "Radiation," he said finally.
"Huh?" Rose asked, opening her eyes to look up at him.
"It makes the workers infertile, so they have to keep replenishing their population."
"So, again, why are we in here instead of out there… not that I'm complaining, mind you?" Rose asked.
The Doctor sighed and looked at the ceiling, "Theywantustoreproduce," he said quickly.
Rose blinked several times as she processed the words, "Oh," she said finally, her voice a high squeak.
After long seconds of silence, Rose looked up curiously at the Doctor, "This doesn't exactly look like a place I'd house my… breeding stock."
The Doctor chuffed out a laugh, "That's because I refused to cooperate."
"Oh," Rose said. She fell silent again. The Doctor assumed she had fallen asleep until she sighed deeply.
"You alright?" he asked, concern tingeing his voice.
"Yah," she said quietly.
He sighed now, shifting so he could look down at her, "What's wrong?" he asked.
"It's just…" she trailed off before hesitantly continuing, "Why did you refuse?"
The Doctor stood abruptly, pacing in front of the bars, his hand skimming through his short shorn hair.
"What kind of question is that?" he asked rhetorically, "Why do you think I refused? For one thing, it is completely degrading! To you and me! And you really think I would…" he cut himself off, his fists clenching as he gripped the bars tightly.
Rose stood and put her hand on his shoulder, "I just meant, why didn't you just say it was okay? I'm sure it would have been a lot easier to escape from there than it is here."
The Doctor laughed wryly, "It is not that easy, Rose. They don't take chances with breeding stock. They drug them so they are more… motivated."
"Oh!" Rose said with a gasp of surprise, "Then how could you refuse at all? Why didn't they force us to…?"
The Doctor turned his sharp, blue-eyed gaze on her, "They could try," he said, a low, dangerous tone to his voice. Rose wasn't sure if it was a threat or a warning, but either way it sent a shiver of fear down her back.