In the TARDIS

by mara-anni

Chapter 2: The Sun and the Moon, the Day and the Night

The Doctor's head popped out of the floor. He fished around for something in the toolbox he'd left by the edge, before he looked up.

'Where's Jack?'

'He went to bed two hours ago,' Rose told him, with a touch of admonition in her voice.

He just shrugged and disappeared under the floor again.

Rose sat cross-legged on the pilot's seat, listening to the Doctor continue chatting about the banana plantation on Villengard. She'd been nagging him to tell her about it for weeks and it seemed she'd finally worn him down. His voice came echoey and stifled from under the floor of the TARDIS where he was tinkering again.

She laughed when he reached the end of his story. 'Sounds like fun. Wish I'd been there.'

For a moment there was silence in the TARDIS; the sounds of the Doctor's tinkering had stopped.

She raised her eyes to check the hole in the TARDIS floor, but he wasn't there.

'Doctor? Everythin' okay?'

'What? Yeah, why?' Rose thought he sounded slightly startled, and figured he'd been concentrating on something she'd interrupted.

'Sorry,' she said.

He didn't reply, but the hammering, the twangs of metal scraping against metal, and the occasional sparks started up again.

'So, when you fix this... thingie...'

'Helmic Regulator.'

'Helmic Regulator. We'll finally be able to get to this Woman Wept planet? Why is it called that, anyway?'

'You'll find out when we get there.'

The Doctor claimed the TARDIS had suffered some damage since they'd nearly blown up the planet Pictos, and so navigation had been a bit of an issue—or at least, more of one than usual. If it wasn't for the fact that this time they actually had a particular destination in mind, they might not have noticed the problem till the next time they tried to visit her mum. The Doctor had finally decided that traipsing randomly across the universe wasn't working, and apparently he really wanted to show her Woman Wept. So he'd settled them in the Vortex while he and Jack fixed the TARDIS.

Which was taking far longer than he'd said it would. Not that Rose minded, really. Sometimes it was nice to have some quiet time, and since Jack had eventually slunk off to bed with heavy lids and a slightly singed fringe from a particularly large spark, she got to have the Doctor to herself for a while.

She bent, snatching a tool off the floor where the Doctor had left it. She turned it in her hands, ran her fingers over the circular symbols carved into it.

'Hey, I need that.'

'Well, you shouldn't have left it lyin' around on the floor where someone could trip on it.' She unfolded her legs and stood.

He rolled his eyes at her and twitched his fingers for the tool she held. She slapped it into his open palm.

'You could make yourself useful, then,' he said.

She sat on the floor next to the opening inside which the Doctor was working. It wasn't the most comfortable of floors to sit on, metal and grated as it was.

She wriggled.

'What?'

'This isn't exactly easy on the backside, y'know.'

The Doctor peeled his leather jacket off. 'Shove over.'

She shifted and he bunched his coat up and laid it on the floor, patting it when he was done to invite her back.

Rose moved to sit on top of the Doctor's jacket, while he ducked back under the floor. She found herself swallowing a lump in her throat; she was touched by the gesture. She didn't know why, really. It was just a stupid jacket, after all. But it was his jacket. He loved his jacket, never went anywhere without it. And he'd given it to her to sit on to make her more comfortable. It was so sweet; he could be so sweet sometimes.

She blinked back the mist in her eyes and smiled down at him when he called her name. 'Hand me the oscillator?'

The one with weird gold bands on it, she thought. She fished it out of the box and handed it down to him. She'd inadvertently learned most of the names of the weird tools he had, and some of the more mundane ones, like the plain tarnished spanner that sat right next to the strange contraptions that gleamed.

She spent a while sitting with him as he worked, sending tools down for him when he called out for them. Eventually, she ran out of tools because he never handed them back to her. He said he might need them again. When the box was empty, and with nothing else to do, she was starting to get restless and her bum had gone numb despite the Doctor's jacket.

She stood up and stretched, with a long yawn. The Doctor looked up at her.

'Where are you goin'?' He said.

'Actually, thought I might go for a walk through the TARDIS. I haven't done that in a while.'

'Oh…but…what about the tools?'

She squatted and waved her hand in his direction. 'You've got them all down there with you.'

He looked around himself as though surprised. 'Oh.' He looked up at her again. 'Alright, then.'

He looked a little lost and she laughed. 'I won't be long, and I'll make us a midnight snack on my way back.'

She skipped out of the console room, feeling light and happy and in the mood for adventure. She shook her head at herself. When was she not in the mood for adventure?

She and the Doctor, she thought, two peas in a blue box. She wondered how long he'd need to hammer away at the TARDIS before they could go somewhere. She should probably sleep, and she would, but lately she'd gotten used to sleeping only a few hours a night. Sometimes, the Doctor would take her to some random planet or moon or asteroid, after Jack had gone to bed, and they'd go exploring for a few hours. If he finished quickly enough, they might be able to do that again tonight.

It was late, according the time the TARDIS kept, and the corridors were in deep shadow, lit only with a dull ambient glow Rose had never been able to find the exact source of. She thought maybe it came from the join between wall and floor, like a soft night light. It should have been eerie. Rose had a thing about walking into rooms without turning the lights on first—she hated to do it and avoided it whenever possible. She remembered how scary she used to find the passage from her bedroom to the living room when her mum was in bed and everything was dark, and shadows shifted in the night; as a child, she'd have to bolt to the kitchen and dive for the light switch.

So walking along the TARDIS at night like this should have had her heart rate speeding up. But it didn't, it never had. The TARDIS was, to Rose, somehow inherently safe. Maybe it was the constant hum of the ship that was comforting, as though you were never really alone in the TARDIS, as though there were always someone watching over you. No creatures of the night were going to jump out of these shadows. Then again, she thought, maybe it was because she'd had so many real life monsters jumping out of shadows that a dark corridor no longer held the sense of menace that it used to.

Whatever it was, Rose was happy to be walking along hallways she'd yet to explore.

Turning left at the art gallery would have taken her toward the Cloister Room, which was probably the only place in the TARDIS she did find a little spooky if the Doctor wasn't with her. So she'd kept going, climbing another set of spiraled stairs.

She hadn't expected the cricket pitch. But then berated herself for not expecting it…after all, she'd found the stables on her first solo exploration. She kicked at the hard surface, and noted the wickets were in place, but the bails were off. Despite growing up with Mickey babbling at her about football, she'd never been into sports, so she made her way back through the pavilion and out again into the dimly lit corridor.

The Doctor had told her once that the TARDIS was as big as it needed to be. She wasn't sure why anyone would need all these rooms, but perhaps the Doctor was wrong about that. Perhaps it was more like the TARDIS was as big as it wanted to be.

Around the next corner, in stark contrast to the rough coral walls they were set inside, were a set of highly conspicuous French Doors of smoked glass. Most of the doors in the TARDIS were fairly uniform, but a few did seem to have their own little eccentric quirks; apparently this was one of them.

Rose pushed on the brass door handles and the door swung inward. She clapped a hand over her eyes and watched the colours dance a minute before she parted her fingers slightly and peered through them with a squint. The sun beat down from above her, warming her skin. Of course, she knew it wasn't an actual sun…it couldn't be. A lot of the rooms had 'outside' environments, but the overhead light bulbs in this room must have been nuclear powered or something. She looked up at the ceiling to see if she could make them out, but that just made her eyes water. It didn't matter, anyway. The room itself was much more interesting.

She felt like she'd slipped onto a Tuscan balcony in summer. Reclining sun lounges, like the two in the Observation Room, sat here and there atop the terracotta paved floor, with a couple of little round blue and white metal tables. Luscious potted plants were set at various places in a random pattern; deep purple flowers bloomed and stretched toward the sunlight. The jasmine that had spilled out of its pots and crawled across half the wall explained the lovely sweet scent.

The idea of lying back in the sunshine was unbearably tempting. But she hadn't come to sunbathe—especially considering it was coming up on midnight outside this room—so she filed its location away for another time. She was strangely quite good at that; at finding her way around the TARDIS, considering its labyrinthine nature.

Rose smiled to herself. None of the corridors made any sense. Rooms weren't grouped in type or function, their location seemed utterly random. Rose wouldn't have had it any other way.

She ran her fingers along the wall as she walked further down the corridor, skimming across a roundel. For a moment she thought she'd heard the pitch of the TARDIS's hum change, but she decided she'd most likely imagined it.

The next door was just like any other and slid open when she touched the pad next to it. Rose found herself standing in the doorway blinking at what she saw. Slowly a smile spread across her face till her cheeks hurt and she laughed as she went in. The centre of the room was dominated by a full sized billiard table, ornate and gleaming. The lamp suspended over it was glowing down upon the green fabric. The triangle, already filled with coloured balls, sat at one end as though just waiting for someone to pick up one of the four cues that hung upon the wall and play.

But that's not what had Rose's cheek's aching. Nope…it was the arcade machines. In pride of place sat a classic Space Invaders, complete with red plastic buttons and seats. She was too young to remember its heyday, but one of her local chippies used to have a beat up old one just like it. This one could have been manufactured yesterday.

Rose walked along the rows—Pac Man, Donkey Kong, Bubble Bobble…which had a suspicious dent in the metal frame just next to the right hand controls.

'Stupid game, that one.'

She nearly jumped two feet in the air at his voice. She hoped he hadn't noticed. He hadn't seemed to as he was busy scowling down at the gaming machine.

'Nice arcade,' she said and moved on. 'Spend much time in here?'

'No. Didn't even know about the room. Anyway, this is borin', let's see somethin' else.'

'Are those bean bags?' She didn't wait for his answer, and skipped over to the corner nook. A huge TV, flat as a pancake, hung on the wall, beneath it a variety of gaming consoles were left on the floor in disarray. Some she recognised, like the Atari which had a cartridge with a picture of The Smurfs on it still in the slot, and the Xbox 360—Mickey had been banging on about wanting one of those. What would he say if he knew about the Xbox 720 and 1440 that sat next to it, their logos glowing green?

In front of the TV sat two large bean bags, one bright yellow and the other orange.

Rose dropped into one, wriggling until she sank right into it.

She grinned up at the Doctor. 'Nice bean bags.'

'You done, yet?'

She rolled out and got to her feet. 'Never seen it before, eh? Why's it here then?'

'I don't know, the TARDIS has a lot of ridiculous rooms she doesn't need.'

'Are you blushing?'

'No!'

'Yes you are, you're blushing.'

'I am not blushing. Time Lords do not blush.'

'Right,' she said, not masking the sarcasm, but hooked her arm through his. 'OK, show me somethin' else then.'

Arm in arm, they strolled down the corridor.

'I found a sun-room,' she told him.

'Oh. I'd forgotten about that one. If you use it, just don't forget the sunscreen. Your pink human hide will roast in minutes in there.'

'But not your Time Lord hide, I suppose.'

'Superior genes.'

It was Rose's turn to roll her eyes. She gave him a swat on his arm for good measure. He didn't say anything, but she saw his lips turn up ever so slightly.

A question occurred to her which she'd been meaning to ask for a long time. 'So, who waters the plants?'

'What plants?'

'The ones in the sun-room. There were potted plants everywhere. I checked, they're real.'

'Of course they're real. Of all the species in the universe, only humans have this strange compulsion to render plants in plastic, stick 'em in pots and pretend they're real.'

Rose considered that a moment. Her mum had several fake plants around the flat. Now that he put it that way, it did seem a strange thing to do. If you couldn't be bothered caring for them, then why not do without them entirely?

'So if they're real, they need water. How do they get it?'

'When it rains, of course. How else do plants get water?'

'When it…rains? Of course.' You know what, Rose thought, maybe some enquiries were better left to other occasions.

Obviously he was really talking about some elaborate sprinkler system or something, although now she couldn't help wondering how she was going to manage to catch the TARDIS raining on the plants.

She shook her head to clear it and was gratefully distracted by another door. This was a very different looking door to any she'd seen yet. It was large and hexagonal and made of the same coral as the walls. In fact, she'd nearly missed it. She stopped, pulling the Doctor with her.

'What's in 'ere?'

The Doctor reached out as she moved away from him and toward the door, and gripped her fingers, tugging her to a halt. 'Nothin'. It's just a room. Not very interestin'.'

Well, that did it. She was all the more intrigued now. Her natural curiosity wouldn't allow her to just walk away. She arched an eyebrow at him. If anyone could understand that it would be the Doctor.

She watched his face as his eyes darted to the door and back to her. She'd seen similar looks on him before. Thoughts. Memories. And behind that, an internal tug-of-war as though he wanted to show her…but didn't…but did. It never failed to remind her, that look, of how alone he'd been for so long. But he had her now. So she did what she always did: what came naturally.

'Is there any reason why I shouldn't have a look?' She pulled her hand out of his.

He'd resisted a little, but he could have stopped her if he'd really wanted to. She leaned against the door, a hand on the ordinary looking doorknob.

'No, but…'

She didn't let him finish; she turned the knob and pushed the door open.

'Oh.' He was right about the nothing to see part.

The room was completely bare. The light was soft, though, and there was something peaceful about the room.

Rose turned to the Doctor and saw the door silently close behind him. His fingers were twitching strangely at his sides and he was looking around as if he'd never seen the room before, either.

And then Rose realised something: She couldn't hear anything, anything at all. She'd become used to the quiet but constant background hum of the TARDIS, and she only noted it now for its sudden absence.

'Doctor, I can't hear the TARDIS!'

'No,' he said. 'You wouldn't. Not in here.'

'What d'ya mean? What's the room for?' She did a full circle, just in case something had appeared while she wasn't looking. It was the TARDIS, after all.

'It's called the Zero Room. I didn't know it was back. See? Listen.'

'I can't hear anything.'

'Exactly.' He ran a hand over the wall as if getting to know it again. 'It's curative. It's cut off from any and all external stimuli. Except for…'

He stopped suddenly and looked at her.

'Except for what?'

'The smell.'

'What sme…' she blinked as she noticed it for the first time. 'Is that roses?'

'Yes.'

'Why does it smell of roses?' She looked around for a plant or some kind of fragrance infuser or something.

'I don't know. It's always smelled of roses. No one's ever known why.' His voice had gone soft, almost distant as though he were talking to himself.

'Well, it's nice.'

When she looked up at the Doctor with a smile, she found him just staring at her, frowning. He was looking at her strangely, but she couldn't decipher what it was she saw on his face…his eyes seemed to almost burn, but the rest of his features were neutral.

'What?' she asked.

After another moment, he looked away from her. 'Nothin'.'

'Doctor? You okay?'

He turned and grinned at her in one of his lightening fast changes of mood and Rose felt herself unable to stop her answering grin.

'You want plants, Rose? I'll give you plants. The TARDIS has a garden, several in fact. Have you found any yet?'

'No! Really?!' She was imagining a greenhouse-type scenario, warm and tropical, but given the scale of everything she'd seen so far, it would be huge.

'Will ya show me?'

He opened the door, and with a gesture and a little bow held it open for her.

Then he took her hand. 'Gardens, swimming pool…'

'You found the pool?'

'Yep, it's a huge one this time, too. Pretty much anything you can imagine, the TARDIS has probably got somewhere.'

'Okay, gardens first, then you can show me the pool.'

'Your wish…' he said, and hand in hand they found another set of helical stairs.

A/N: Reviews are welcome. I was going to say craved, but that seemed too needy.