Love Don't Roam

by kartronthepegasus

The Doctor and Rose survive the battle of Canary Wharf, getting to stay together. Finally allowed to have their forever. But when strange things begin happening to Rose and new and old threats begin to arise they are going to discover how difficult forever truly is. As they continue to travel through time and space, trying to find their forever.

10. 42

Love Don't Roam

Disclaimer- I own nothing from Doctor. Everything belongs to BBC, I make no profit from this.

Hello beautiful people! Thank you so much for reading the story until this point. And, thank you so much more for reading my original 'episode', it took a lot of work and if you're here for this chapter that means I haven't lost you yet. So, thank you again.

And so yes, the Doctor and Rose have finally admitted their feelings to each other, all thanks to Nine.

Here is the next chapter, one of the episode that I neither hate nor like. It's just sort of filler in my opinion. Nothing really substantial happens in this episode either than finding out about Martha's mother selling her out to Saxon. But, other than that there's nothing really 'important' about this episode.

I didn't change a whole lot to this episode and Rose does have her own arc in here so she's not taking Martha's role just like before. So, please let me know what you think and enjoy the chapter.

---

3.07 – 42

Rose blinks open her eyes and finds the Doctor still beside her, leaning against the headboard of his mahogany canopy bed, the TARDIS blue sheets pooled around his hips and a book in his hand as he reads silently to himself. She smiles and reaches out her hand to take his that is lying beside her on the bed. He blinks and looks down at her with a lazy smile spreading across his face. "Morning."

"Hi." She replies.

He leans down to give her a quick peck on the lips, "Did you sleep okay?"

She nods her head while stretching out in the bed, noticing the way the Doctor's eyes follow the movement and she smirks playfully, "What did you tell Martha yesterday?"

"Well… I told her I had other things to do. Such a fine word that is, things. I always liked that word."

"You're rambling Doctor." Rose teases.

"Sorry."

"I didn't say it was a bad thing."

He chuckles and leans down to kiss her again before climbing from the bed and getting dressed in his blue suit this time and slipping his red chucks on as well.

Rose stretches out her muscles before climbing from the bed herself and moving to the outfit the TARDIS laid out for her.

"Thanks Old Girl." She says with a smile before grabbing the clothes and moving to the bathroom attached to the bedroom. She pauses at the door and turns back to the Doctor. "When are you going to talk to Martha?"

He stops what's he's doing and turns to face her, trying to keep his gaze from drifting down her body and failing horribly, "Me? Aren't we-"

"No." she cuts off quickly. "You are the one she has feelings for and you know that she sees me as a rival for your affections, if I try to talk to her she won't hear it. You are the only one she will listen to about our relationship."

He sighs as he realizes the truth behind her words and nods his head, "You're right… I will talk to her, soon."

"Better not wait too long. Could make things worse for everyone." She says before disappearing inside the bathroom.

The Doctor sighs and runs his hands through his hair in frustration before leaving the room to head to the console room – not yet ready to have that conversation with Martha yet but knowing he will have to.

---

Martha leans over the console as the Doctor works at the controls, showing just a bit of cleavage but not so much to be considered inappropriate, as she tries to catch the Time Lords attention. She is a bit miffed when he just continues working away and doesn't look up. She is also still a little upset that he didn't want to spend time with her yesterday after the whole thing on the ship.

She had been waiting patiently for him in the media room and had worried Rose had forgotten to tell him about their movie night when the Time Lord had shown up. However, her joy had been short lived when he told her he had something else to do and that he would see her 'tomorrow'. He hadn't even given her a chance to reply before disappearing down the hall.

Martha had tried to search for him, to get an explanation but could never find where he went inside the TARDIS – she got the feeling the TARDIS was hiding him from her on purpose.

She doesn't understand what caused the change in him. Ever since their time with Nine and his private talk the Doctor seems to have a weight lifted off his shoulders and the tension between him and Rose is gone and the two seem stronger than ever. She also notices that he seems to be trying to put distance between her and himself, like he's uncomfortable with her all the sudden.

But, that can't be unless he's now embarrassed about his own feelings for her and is trying to backpedal and take back everything that's happened between them thus far – something Martha isn't going to let him do.

"So, where are we going today?" she questions, trying to draw his gaze.

"I was thinking the planet, Leechys." The Doctor says happily, completely oblivious to what the medical student is trying to do. "I always liked the name of it, Lee-ch-ys."

Rose giggles and rolls her eyes at him as she continues to sip her cuppa from the jump seat – not missing the way Martha is standing but knowing the Doctor is the one who has to talk to Martha about this, since he's the one who encouraged her, even if it was unknowingly. And she also knows how Martha has perceived Rose this whole time so if she tries to explain the relationship between the Doctor and herself the medical student most likely won't believe her. She would probably think it's just Rose projecting her own 'desires' instead of what really is going on, no the Doctor is the only one Martha is going to believe.

She gently touches the ring that is on her finger.

Martha opens her mouth to say something when her phone rings and she pulls it from her pocket, seeing that it's her sister. She answers it and steps away from the Doctor to have a moment's privacy to have this conversation.

The Doctor turns to Rose with a thoughtful expression, "Her mobile is better than yours." He points out.

"No doubt." Rose says with a smile, "Mine's about six years old now, never had money for a new one."

"I could get you one."

She raises a brow at him, "What for? Who would I call?"

His hearts sink as he remembers the fact that she has no one to call.

Martha rejoins him at the console as she tucks her phone back into her pocket, "Tish says hi."

The TARDIS suddenly shutters and the trio look around in confusion before the Doctor looks at a display on the console.

"Distress signal." The Doctor says quickly, getting to work just as quickly. Rose reaches down to hold tight to the seat she is perched upon as he continues his work. "Locking on. Might be a bit of-"

The TARDIS lands hard and the Doctor and medical student are thrown to the floor with Rose barely managing to hold herself upright on the seat – her cup tumbling to the floor with a clatter.

"Turbulence." The Doctor says as he gets to his feet, Rose coming to his side with him taking her hand in his. "Come on, Martha. Let's take a look." He rushes to the door, with Rose right beside him and Martha trailing after them.

They step outside and are instantly struck with the heat of the room they are in and Rose suddenly feels an overwhelming presence in her head – however, this time she doesn't get a headache as she tries to focus on her surroundings.

"Distress signal transmitted." A computerized voice says.

"Whoa!" the Doctor exclaims as he squints his eyes at the heat, "Now that is hot."

"Automated distress signal transmitted!"

"Ugh! It's like a sauna in here." Martha grumbles as she takes off her jacket in favour of her maroon tank top.

The Doctor looks around as he tries to figure out what's going on, his insatiable curiosity already taking over. "Venting Systems. Working at full pelt. Trying to cool down… uh… wherever it is we are."

"You thought you were so smart when you started that sentence." Rose teases, neither of her companions seem to notice the somewhat detached tone her voice has as a single tear runs down her cheek and blends with the sweat that is already forming on her face.

"I am smart." He counters, smiling at her and the familiar banter – he sees the way Martha frowns at the two of them but pushes it to the back of his mind so they can first figure out what's going on here. "Well! If you can't stand the heat…"

"Get out of the engine room?" Rose jokes as she follows him to the only door to the room, enjoying the way he chuckles, with Martha right behind her.

He opens the bulkhead door and they step out into some kind of hallway and the three breathe a sigh of relief with the lower temperature – though it is still way above normal. Above the door, Rose notices there is the words 'Area 29' written.

"Well, that's better."

"Definitely better." Rose agrees as she sheds her fuchsia hoodie and tying it around her waist.

Martha raises a brow and looks at Rose as she notices the blonde's lips are moving but that she isn't saying anything – at least not loud enough to be heard.

"Did you say something?" she questions.

Rose looks back at her just as confused, "No?"

The sounds of footsteps echo around them and the trio turn to see two men and a woman rush towards them.

"Oi!" one of the men shouts. "You lot!"

"Get out of there!" the woman yells after.

The man points to the door behind them, "Seal that door! Now!"

The trio is stunned and confused as the two men practically push the women aside to get to said door, Rose stumbling into the arms of the Doctor who holds her upright and wraps an arm around her waist. He glares at the two men as they seal the door.

The woman glares at them, "Who are you?!" she snaps. "What are you doing on my ship?!"

"Sight-seeing?" Rose jokes, earning a smile from the Doctor and a darker glare from the woman before them.

"Are you police?" the same man asks.

Rose notices the way he eyes Martha and can't stop the smile that tugs at her lips.

"Why would we be police?" the Doctor asks.

"We got your distress signal." The medical student says this time.

"We came to help." Rose adds.

Once again Martha notices that Rose seems to say something more but no words pass her moving lips. She raises a questioning brow at this but keeps her focus on the three new comers.

"Help?" the second man asks as he eyes Rose suspiciously, not believing her for a second.

"If this is a ship," the Doctor starts as he looks around, "Why can't I hear any engines?"

Both women blink and realize the Doctor is correct and look at the crew members before them.

"It went dead four minutes ago." The woman says brusquely.

The last man turns towards the woman with a serious expression, "So maybe we should stop chatting and get to engineering. Captain."

"Burn with me." Rose mumbles and everyone turns to her with raised brows.

"What did you just say?" the medical student asks first.

The blonde blinks and looks at everyone with more confusion then they are looking at her with, "I said something?"

Her words concern the Doctor greatly and he moves forward to cup her face in his hands, "Yes, you did."

"What did I say?"

Before anyone can answer they are interrupted.

"Secure closure active." The electronic voice announces.

The door behind them slams shut with a clang and seals. The captain spins around. "What?"

"The ship's gone mad."

Yet another woman comes racing down a separate hallway with doors slamming shut behind her as she makes her way to the group. "Who activated the secure closure? I nearly got locked in to area 27."

The last door closes, sealing the group of seven into area 29 and Rose tilts her head in confusion as the woman looks at the three of them just as puzzled.

"Who are you?"

"He's the Doctor and I'm Martha." The medical student introduces before the Doctor could. "She's Rose. Hello."

"Impact projection; Forty-two minutes and twenty-seven seconds."

Rose finally moves away from the Doctor's side – much to Martha's relief – and walks as if in a trance to the porthole window just behind Martha, a golden glow illuminating her face.

"We'll get out of this. I promise." The captain says.

"Doctor." Rose breathes, a strange tone to her voice.

"Forty-two minutes until what?" the Doctor questions as he moves closer to Rose, gently pushing past Martha.

"Doctor! Look!" Rose says more forcefully.

The Time Lord moves to her side and sees the burning sun the ship they are in is hurtling towards.

"Forty-two minutes until we crash into the sun." the captain says sadly.

"We're going to crash into the sun?!"

The Doctor whirls around, "No we're not Martha." He then turns to face the captain, "How many crew members on board?"

"Seven, including us." She answers confusedly.

"We transport cargo across the galaxy. Everything's automated. We just keep the ship space worthy." The older of the two men starts to explain.

However, the Doctor isn't really listening to him, already heading back towards the door they had entered the ship from.

"Call the others, I'll get you out." He orders. "Not a moment to spare."

Rose turns around at his words and her eyes widen in shock.

The crew members rush to stop the Doctor who is trying to open the door.

"What's he doing?!" the younger man cries.

"No! Don't!" the captain yells at the same time.

"Doctor, don't!" Rose warns, getting a feeling in the back of her mind that she recognizes as the TARDIS, trying to warn them away – over top of the warming whelming feeling that is still invading her mind.

Martha looks at the younger woman in confusion, not understanding why Rose is trying to stop the Doctor from saving people. It's what they do.

But their warnings fall on deaf ears as the Doctor manages to get the door open only for a blast of heat from the now boiling room knocks him to the floor, releasing a surprised cry as he falls.

Martha instantly comes to his side to help him up from the floor while the woman who joined them later puts on a welder's mask and closes the door instead.

Rose wraps arms around her waist as a shiver runs down her spine, coming to the Doctor's side. "The TARDIS is in pain." She whispers.

The Doctor looks at her worriedly before turning to the Captain of the ship, "But my ship's in there!"

The first man blinks in confusion, "In the venting chamber?"

The woman who had closed the door takes off the welder's mask and turns to the apparatus by the door, reading the numbers that are there.

"It's our lifeboat!" the Doctor presses, desperation in his voice.

"It's lava." The second man snaps unsympathetically.

Rose sends a heated glare his wave which he pointedly ignores before she moves to the Doctor's side and takes his hand in hers. He gives it a squeeze in return, trying to calm himself with her presence.

"The temperature's going mad in there! Up 3000 degrees in ten seconds… and still rising!" the woman by the door announces.

The first man shakes his head in despair, "Channeling the air. The closer we get to the sun, the hotter that room's going to get."

Martha lets out a low groan and turns to glare at the Doctor, "We're stuck here! You had to park in the venting chamber, then?"

"Not like I did it on purpose" he snaps back. The Time Lord spins around a few times as his mind races for an answer to the conundrum presented to him, "So, we fix the engines, we steer the ship away from the sun! Simple!"

"Not that simple." Rose comments under her breath.

"Engineering's down here, is it?!" the Doctor continues, either not hearing Rose or ignoring her words altogether. He starts running down the only open corridor, pulling Rose along with him since he never released her hand.

"Yes." The captain answers to their already retreating backs, following after him with the rest following her.

"Impact in forty twenty-six." The computerized voice announces again.

---

The Doctor, followed closely by Rose – since he is still leading her by the hand – and the rest of their group run down a small flight of the stairs where the Doctor stops suddenly, looking around bemused. This causes Rose to collide with his back and to cause him to stumble off the stairs before he regains his balance and looks around the room before them.

"Blimey!" he exclaims, "Do you always leave things in such a mess?"

The Captain gaps at the destruction laid out before her, "Oh my god!"

"What the hell happened?" the man Rose has dubbed the angry man shouts as he moves further into the room to examine the carnage.

They all move closer to what looks like the completely wrecked engine. Wires, springs, and casings were all over the place, all steaming and sparking. They all walk around the piece of machinery, taking note of the damage.

Well, everyone save for Rose, who is still standing by the stairs, a far off look to her gaze. This troubles with the Doctor since he knows something is off about her – has been since they arrived but he can't put his finger on it, and then there are those troubling words she had uttered.

"Oh, it's wrecked." The man who had first spoken to them moans.

"Pretty efficiently too." The Doctor agrees as he moves around the engine, "Someone knew what they were doing."

He wanders over to the computer terminal that is nearby and starts trying to search it for information, the medical student watching him with wide eyes.

"Where's Korwin?" the captain asks. "Has anyone heard from him or Ashton?"

"No." the angry man answers his captain while Martha moves closer to the Doctor.

"You mean someone did this on purpose?" she questions, completely appalled with the idea. She notices from the corner of her eye that Rose is still near the stairs.

The Captain runs over to the intercom system and starts shouting into it, "Korwin? Ashton? Where are you?" she gives a moment's pause. "Korwin, can you answer?! Where the hell is he!? He should be here!"

The Doctor continues to scan the terminal for any vital information, specifically on where they are, with Martha standing nearby while the crew scurry about to try and fix the damage.

"Oh." The Doctor exclaims quite happily while he continues working at the terminal, ignoring the bustling around him. "We're in the Toraji System! Lovely!" he says. "You're a long way from home, Martha. Half a universe away."

"Yeah. Feels like." She grumbles.

The Doctor turns to the crew now, suspicion in his gaze though none but Rose would notice but the blonde isn't paying much attention to what's going on around her, staring off into the distance.

"And you're still using energy scoops for fusion?" he questions. "Hasn't that been outlawed yet?"

The two time travellers notice the guilty looks the four crew members send each other's ways but make no comment on it.

The captain dismisses him completely however, "We're due to upgrade next docking."

The crew get back to work at this, trying their best to ignore the Doctor's knowing stare.

This is stopped however when the younger man – the one who had been checking out Martha earlier stops nearby Rose and jumps back startled, letting out a small shriek.

"Why the hell are your eyes glowing?!" he snaps in fear.

Everyone stops what they're doing and turn to the pair to see – even from their distances – that Rose's eyes are indeed glowing gold, but only her irises. The Doctor instantly starts moving towards her.

"Are they?" Rose asks while tilting her head, but everyone can hear the somewhat detached tone she has. When the Doctor comes to stand before her and takes her face into his hands she looks up at him in confusion and pain, "Do you hear screaming?"

He shakes his head helplessly, "There's no screaming, Rose."

Confusion darkens her eyes further before she narrows her gaze at him, "No. I definitely hear screaming."

The angry man groans and rolls his eyes, "Blimey! The ship's gone mad and now this girl!"

He actually backs down when the Doctor whirls around to face him with a storm brewing behind his eyes, which are narrowed to glare at him.

"She is not mad."

The man nods his head numbly, understanding that saying anything against the woman before him is like signing his own death certificate.

Clearing her throat the captain turns to the man, wanting to get the focus off the girl hidden behind the Time Lord, "Scannell, engine report."

The angry man, Scannell moves over to the computer terminal the Doctor had vacated and the pulls up a bunch of data on the screen.

Everyone, including Rose this time, moves to stare anxiously over his shoulder with the Doctor slipping on his glasses to get a better look.

The terminal beeps several times but does nothing else.

"No response." Scannell replies after a beat of silence.

"What?!" the captain snaps in horrified rage.

Scannell points out the pieces of wires protruding from the wreck. "They're burnt out. The controls are wrecked. I can't get them back online."

"Oh, come on!" the Doctor exclaims as he pulls his glasses off. "Auxiliary engines! Every craft's got auxiliaries!"

"We don't have access from here. The auxiliary controls are in the front of the ship." The woman in the charge snaps as she glares at the Doctor like he's an idiot.

Scannell snorts dismissively, "Yeah, with twenty-nine password sealed doors between them and us."

"Fun." Rose says in a chipper tone that has the man glaring at her, to which she just smiles cheekily.

"You'll never get there time." He finishes.

"Can't you override the doors?" Martha asks, getting annoyed with the man now and knowing the Doctor is probably working out a way to save them now.

"No." Scannell snaps, "Sealed closure means what it says. They're dead-lock sealed."

"So a sonic screwdriver's no use." The Doctor says in frustration.

"Nothing's of any use. We've got no engines, no time, and no chance." Scannell says with a harsh laugh.

"Well, aren't you a quitter." Rose says with a harsher tone than necessary, confusing the Doctor since she is normally the most compassionate person anywhere they go, but it is like she is channeling someone else's rage.

"Now, Rose," he starts, putting a comfortable hand on her shoulder and rubbing circles on her back, "Now listen to you, Scannell, wasn't it?" he pauses for a moment, "Defeated before you've even started. Where's your Dunkirk spirit?" the Doctor turns to face the whole crew, "Who's got the passwords?"

"They're randomly generated." The other man tries, "Reckon I know most of 'em. Sorry. Riley Vashti."

"Right." The Doctor says with a nod before moving away from Rose, working through the whole puzzle in his head, "Then what're you waiting for, Riley Vashti?" he smiles at the young man, "Get on it."

"Well, it's a two person job." Riley replies as he fetches what looks like a large magnetic clamp and backpack looking device from the other side of the room. One, a technish for the questions, and the other to carry this. The oldest and cheapest security system around, eh, captain?"

"Reliable and simple, just like you, eh, Riley?" she snaps back.

The young man shrinks a little at the comment, a little bit of a sheepish smile on his face. He puts on the large backpack which contains a portable computer and keyboard inside.

"Try and be helpful, get abuse. Nice." He snarks.

"I'll help you." Martha offers as she moves forward, knowing she'll be of no help here in the engine room, "Make myself useful."

"It's remotely controlled by computer panel." Riley explains. "That's why it takes two people."

He moves to head to the exit with Martha made to follow when the Doctor calls after her, "Oi." His tone is deathly serious, "Be careful."

"You too." She replies with a shy little smile before following after the young man and leaving the room, throwing a worried glance Rose's way as she does.

"McDonnell?" a male voice calls over the intercom. "It's Ashton."

Captain McDonnell practically flies over to the intercom and grabs up the receiver with haste, "Where are you? Is Korwin with you?"

"Get up to the med-center now." Comes the serious reply.

McDonnell races from the room, with the Doctor hot on her tail after taking Rose's hand within his own and they run past Martha and Riley before heading down a different hall completely.

The pair look at them in confusion before continuing to set up for the door.

"Impact in; Thirty-Four thirty-one."

---

When the trio arrive at the med-center they see a man thrashing about in agony on the bed, by what looks like an MRI scanner with his eyes shut tight. There is a man and woman attempting to restrain him on the bed.

"Argh!" the man on the bed cries in agony, "Stop it!"

"Korwin?" the woman trying to restrain him says, "It's Abi. Open your eyes, I need to take a look at you!"

Captain McDonnell rushes to his side while the Doctor and Rose stop by the foot of the bed, "Korwin?! What happened?! Is he okay?!"

Korwin thrashes violently on the bed, "Oh God! Help me! It's burning!"

"The burning… He hears the screaming too." Rose mumbles making the Doctor look at her in concern as another tear slips down her cheek.

He turns back to the woman, Abi, "How long's he been like this?"

"Ashton just brought him in." Abi answers while still trying to restrain the man.

The Doctor reaches into his pocket and pulls out his sonic screwdriver and begins to scan the man on the bed, trying to figure out what's happening to him.

Captain McDonnell looks at him in panic, "What are you doing?!"

"Don't get too close." He orders her.

"Don't be so stupid. That's my husband!" the Captain snaps back as she stays by the man's side.

Rose just tilts her head to the side as she watches the scene before her, the golden glow of her eyes intensifying slightly.

"Burn with me." She mumbles again.

However, everyone is too busy with their own thoughts and arguments to hear her this time.

"And he just sabotaged the ship." Ashton says to the Captain harshly.

"What!?" Captain McDonnell exclaims as she stares at the engineer with wide eyes.

"He went mad." The other man explains. "He put the ship onto secure closure, then he set the heat pulse to melt the controls."

She shakes her head in disbelief, "No way! He wouldn't do that!"

"I saw it happen, Captain." Ashton says with a sense of finality.

The Doctor finishes scanning Korwin and checks the results his screwdriver gives him before he tries to speak to the man, "Korwin? Korwin, open your eyes for me a second."

Rose's eyes widen in panic and she latches onto the Doctor's arm, startling the Time Lord, "NO!"

"I can't!" Korwin says at the same time.

After giving Rose a concerned look the Doctor turns his attention back to Korwin, "Yeah, course you can. Go on." He urges.

"Don't make me look at you! Please!" he begs.

"He can't open his eyes." Rose agrees. "Don't make him look, please!"

Frowning intensely at this turn of events the Doctor moves down the bed and picks up a dart gun looking tool from the tray by the bed and says calmly to both Korwin and Rose, "Alright, alright, alright. Just relax." He holds the gun up for Abi to see. "Sedative?"

"Yes."

The Doctor nods his head before pressing the gun up to Korwin's neck and administrating the sedative. The man gives on last shout before he goes completely limp on the bed and the Doctor turns to Rose, pulling her close to him and rubbing comforting circles into her back as she stares absently at the man on the bed.

"What's wrong with him?" McDonnell asks as she stares at her husband.

"Rising body temperature. Unusual energy readings… " the Doctor says before looking at the MRI scanner machine and realizing what it is actually. "Stasis chamber. I do love a good stasis chamber." He turns to look at Abi, "Keep him sedated in there. Regulate the body temperature."

Abi eyes him curiously but says nothing as she hurries to do as he said, while Ashton eyes the 'new comers' with suspicion, still out of breath from wrestling with Korwin.

"And just for fun," the Doctor continues, "Run a bio-scan and tissue profile on a metabolic detail."

Abi glances up at him, "Just doing them now."

He grins at her, "Oh, you're good. Anyone else presenting symptoms?"

He tries not to look at Rose when he says these words but notices the way the Captain eyes her for a minute but she wisely keeps this opinion to herself – at least until she knows whether or not Rose is going to be a threat to the ship or not.

"Not so far." The medical officer answers.

"Well, that's something." He says with a sigh of relief.

Captain McDonnell is still standing by Korwin with a worried look on her face, "Will someone tell me what is the matter with him?!"

"Some sort of infection. We'll know more after the test results. Now, Allons-y! Back downstairs. Hey. See about those engines." The Doctor orders. Ashton made to leave the room but McDonnell stays by Korwin's side. "Go. Hey. Go."

The two leave the room and the Doctor takes Rose's hand within his own, planting a kiss on her knuckles. He heads to the door, pulling Rose along with him, "Call us if there's news. Any questions?"

"Yeah." Abi says with a laugh as she turns back to the equipment, not expecting an answer. "Who are you?"

Though he had just left the room the Doctor pops his head back inside with a manic grin in place. "I'm the Doctor."

He leaves down the hall, pulling Rose along with him. The confused woman shakes her head and starts to look over the few results she has. No one notices when Korwin's hand twitches on the bed.

"Heat shield failing. At twenty percent. Impact in; thirty-two fifty."

---

Riley and Martha finish setting up the device with the man typing away at the portable computer. The medical student rolls her eyes.

"Hurry up, will you?" she snaps.

"All right." Riley sighs as he types a few more things. "Fix the clamp on."

Martha does as he said and eyes him curiously.

"What are you typing?"

"Each door's trip code is the answer to a random question set by the crew. Nine tours back, we got drunk, thought them up. Reckoning was, if we're hijacked, we're the only ones who know all the answers."

Martha nods in understanding, "So you type in the right answer."

"This sends an unlock pulse to the clamp." Riley says, typing on the computer some more. "But we only get one chance per door. Get it wrong, the whole system freezes."

"Better not get it wrong, then." The medical student points out.

"Okay." Riley gives her a sheepish smile, a light blush dusting his cheeks though with how flushed he is from the heat the medical student doesn't notice the difference, "Date of SS Pentallian's first flight. That's all right." He types something in real quick, "Go!"

The lights on the clamp change to green and the bulkhead door swings open. The two smile at each other.

"Yes." Martha exclaims as they gather up the equipment and run through the door.

"Twenty-eight more to go."

---

The Doctor stops just outside of engineering and turns to face Rose as he cups her face in his hands. She looks at him in confusion.

"Rose, love, what's going on with you?" he asks, searching her face for any answer but sees nothing out of the ordinary other than the golden glow of her irises. "What's happening?"

"Doctor… how can you not hear it?" she returns, her voice far away. "The screaming? How can you not hear the screaming?"

He shakes his head helplessly and reaches into his pocket for the sonic screwdriver, "I'm sorry Rose, but I can't hear it."

"How can't you?" she snaps a little harsher, her eyes begging him to help her, to understand her. "No one else can hear it… Except for Korwin… I don't understand why no one else can hear it."

"Rose," he breathes, leaning his forehead against hers, "Love, I need to scan you. You need to let me to do that." His hearts drop painfully in his chest, "If you've contracted whatever Korwin has, our best hope of helping you is to catch it early."

She nods her head slowly, "I understand… but I'm not infected."

The Doctor begins scanning her and Rose watches the device as he moves it up and down to scan her thoroughly as she tries to ignore the screaming inside her head. She swears there is another sound underlining the screaming, one she's heard before but Rose is unable to place it and instead focuses on the man before her.

The Doctor looks at her with deep worry in his chocolate eyes.

"I'm not going to lose you Rose." He swallows past the lump forming in his throat. "I can't lose you. I've spent eight lives searching for you and one life trying to deny how important you truly were to me because I didn't think I deserved you. And I've spent the time we've had until now being an idiot. I'm not about to lose you now."

She reaches up carefully and places her hand on his cheek, noticing the way he subconsciously leans into her touch, which brings a small smile to her lips, "You're not going to lose me, my Doctor. Not going anywhere."

"We don't know what this is Rose, we can't take any risks." He says. The Doctor notices the cheeky grin she's giving him and smirks, "Shut up."

The sonic beeps to alert him that it's finished with its scan and he quickly examines the results. The scans show that she isn't human – which she hasn't been completely since the whole Huon particles thing but that's a different matter – but she's not showing the same readings as Korwin either. This means, Rose isn't infected just as she said, but this also means something else is going on with her too.

"Then what's happening to you Rose?"

"… I don't know how to describe it… It's like something is reaching out to me… Like Boe did back on New Earth… Calling out for help…"

He looks at her in confusion, remembering briefly that when she left him examine her mind in the meld back in old New York, he had sensed the beginnings of telepathy… Maybe that's what this is. Maybe she's connecting to someone telepathically.

Shaking his head to clear these troubling thoughts he looks directly into her eyes, "Tell me if it gets any worse, yeah?"

"I will." She whispers.

He takes her hand in his once more and the two run back into the engine room where everyone is working furiously. The Doctor releases Rose's hand and heads over to the intercom while she moves to offer her assistance to Ashton.

"Abi, how's Korwin doing?" the Doctor asks the medical officer. "Any results from the bio-scan?"

"He's under heavy sedation. I'm just trying to make sense of this data. Give me a couple of minutes and I'll let you know." The medical officer replies.

The Doctor sighs and switches channels.

---

Martha and Riley run as quickly as they can down the hall towards the next bulkhead.

"Martha? Riley? How are you doing?" the Doctor calls over the intercom.

They just reach the door and begin setting everything up.

"Area twenty-nine at the door to twenty-eight." Martha answers while placing the clamp against the door.

"Yeah, you've got to move faster!"

"We're doing our best!" Martha snaps back. "How's everything down there?"

"We're doing our best." He returns.

She rolls her eyes at his answer.

Riley reads the screen as the next question pops up.

"Find the next number in the sequence; 313, 331, 367… what?" he looks at Martha in confusion, a look she mirrors.

"You said the crew knew all the answers." She growls at him, a little miffed that he lied about this in such a dire situation.

He groans and hangs his head, "The crew's changed since we set the questions."

"You're joking." Martha says as she stares at him in horror.

"379!" the Doctor cries and everyone in the room turns to look at him in confusion.

"What?" Martha questions back.

"It's a sequence of Happy Primes. 379."

"Happy what?"

---

"Just enter it!" the Doctor snaps, his patience running thin with everything going on and the fact that she's not listening to him.

"Are you sure?" Riley asks this time, "We only get one chance!"

"That would have been nice to know beforehand, yeah?" Rose says with a roll of her eyes as she goes back to helping clear some of the wires.

The Doctor sighs in frustration, his words filled with annoyance as he speaks in his trademark 100 words per minute, "Any number which reduces to one when you take the sum of the square of its digits and you continue iterating until it yields one is a happy number. Any number that doesn't, isn't. A happy prime is a number which is both happy and prime, now type it in!"

He turns to face the group with him now.

"I dunno, talk about dumbing down." He snaps, "Don't they teach recreational mathematical anymore?"

Rose giggles but says nothing as she helps Ashton reset some more of the wires.

---

Riley types in the answer the Doctor had given him and the pair hold their breath as they wait to see if the answer is indeed correct or if they just screwed everything up.

It feels like a small eternity before the green lights of the clamp come on and the bulkhead door swings open to allow the two to pass through.

"We're through!" Martha cries happily as they gather up the equipment.

"Keep moving as fast as you can. And, Martha, be careful. There may be something else aboard this ship."

She groans and rolls her eyes as she and Riley keep running for the next bulkhead, "Any time you want to unnerve me, feel free."

"Will do, thanks." The Doctor replies.

---

"Impact in; thirty fifty."

Rose groans and rolls her eyes, "No need to sound so chipper about it."

Everyone eyes her with looks of annoyance and she just shrugs and continues to help Ashton.

The Doctor turns to face the Captain, "So, shall we?"

She nods her head and the two begin helping the others in fixing the engine before time runs out.

---

Martha and Riley reach the door and start setting everything up once more, the medical student trying to remain as calm as possible.

Riley hits a few keys and the question appears on the screen.

"I can't believe our lives depend on some stupid pub quiz." Martha sighs before looking down at the screen with Riley. "Is that the next one?"

Riley drops his head to his hands and drags his fingers through his hair in a way that reminds Martha of the Doctor. He groans in frustration.

"Oh, this is a nightmare! Classical music. Who had the most pre-download number ones; Elvis Presley or the Be-astles? How are we supposed to know that?"

Martha gives him a hard glare that just screams her frustration and how much she wishes to strangle the man beside her at the moment.

---

The Doctor is scrounging through the broken equipment with most of the crew watching him aside from Rose who is still trying to piece together the scraps – doing a surprisingly good job at that as well.

"We need a backup plan in case they don't reach the auxiliary engines in time. Come on! Think! Resources! What have we got?" the Doctor asks.

"Doctor?" Martha's voice comes over the comm.

Everyone looks up at the sound of her voice.

"Yeah?" the Doctor asks, a hint of annoyance in his voice.

"Who had the most number ones, Elvis or the Beatles? That's pre-download."

"Elvis." Both the Doctor and Rose answer in sync and they share a secret smile that Rose punctuates with her tongue in her teeth.

"You sure?" the medical student questions.

"Mum was a fan, its Elvis."

The Doctor smiles, "Never go against Jackie Tyler."

"You always went against her." Rose teases.

"Oi!"

"Okay!" Martha cut in. "We're through. Rose, you're a star. Thank you."

The blonde isn't quite sure how she feels about Martha using the Doctor's own words to compliment her but pushes that aside to focus on the task at hand.

The Doctor turns back to the crew, "Now, where was I? Here comes the sun… No! Resources! So, the power's still working, the generator's still going. If we can harness that – ah!"

He looks excited as he meets Captain McDonnell's eyes and she catches onto his thought instantly.

"Use the generator to jump-start the ship!"

"Exactly! At the very least, it'll buy us some time."

"That is… brilliant." The Captain admits sincerely.

He grins at her, "I know! See! Tiny glimmer of hope!"

The Doctor glances over at Rose, still holding some pipes and casing in her arms, as she smiles at him. He knows that as long as she believes in him – as long as she's be his side – there is nothing he can't do.

"If it works." Scannell sneers.

Captain McDonnell looks at the man with a quelling look, "Oh, believe me. You're going to make it work."

Scannell stomps away looking dejected and the Doctor and Ashton look at the captain with looks of respect.

"That told him." The Doctor says.

"Impact in; twenty-nine forty-six."

"That's really getting on my nerves." Rose growls, much to the Doctor's concern.

---

Martha and Riley have just arrived at the door and are setting things up when her phone goes off in her pocket. She pulls it out and answers it without checking who's calling – something she soon comes to regret.

"Hello?"

"Don't you check your messages?" comes the angry voice of her mother on the other end. "I've been calling you."

"Yeah, sorry, mum. I've been really busy." She answers while watching Riley read the question quietly to himself. "Can I call you back?"

"No, I don't care how busy you are. You're going to listen to me." Francine snaps.

"Mum, please. I really have something important to do right now."

"No, we have to talk about this Doctor and Rose Tyler you've gotten yourself involved with." Her mother continues, missing the urgency in her daughter's voice.

"Mum, I don't have time for this!"

"When did you get so rude?" Francine grumbles.

"Sorry but-"

"I'll tell you when – Ever since you met that man."

"I'm sorry mum." Martha says harshly. "I love you and I'll call you back later."

"Martha, we need –"

Martha hangs up before her mother can finish her sentence and slips her phone back into her pocket, turning her attention back to Riley, "Have you got it, yet?"

At that moment the lights on the clamp turn green and the bulkhead door swings open.

"Let's go."

With that the two start running for the next bulkhead.

"Impact in; twenty-eight fifty."

---

"Doctor, these readings are starting to scare me." Abi says over the intercom.

The Time Lord looks up from his work on the engine with a raised brow, hearing the fear in the medical officer's voice. He moves over to the intercom, "What do you mean?"

"Well, Korwin's body's changing. His whole biological make-up."

The Doctor throws a worried glance in Rose's direction but stays focused on the conversation with the woman.

Everyone else has stopped their work and are now listening to the conversation as well.

"It's impossible."

Something in the background cuts Abi off for a moment before she speaks again, fear evident in her entire being.

"This is med-center!" she cries in absolute terror. "Urgent assistance requested! Urgent assistance!"

The Doctor glances at Rose, who nods her head and continues to work while he runs from the room.

"Stay here and keep working!" he shouts over his shoulder.

McDonnell stops whatever she's working on and quickly runs after the Doctor, the two men staring after her.

"Urgent assistance!" Abi cries again.

Erina moves over to the comm the Doctor had vacated. "Abi, they're on their way." She promises.

"What's happening to you?"

They can still hear her voice over the comm but she's clearly speaking to the man in med-center with her and not them.

"Burn with me." A voice that is a deeper version of Korwin's says.

"Burn with me." Rose mimics but no one hears her voice.

---

At hearing the very words Rose had been murmuring earlier the Doctor slows his pace which is when he discovers that Scannell has followed him – he had figured the Captain would since this is her husband but he hadn't expected the other man.

"Captain!?" Scannell shouts as he joins them.

"I told you to stay in engineering." The Doctor snaps, not too happy that the man had disobeyed him. Why did no one listen to him in situations like this?

"I only take orders from one person 'round here." He sneers as he passes the Doctor to continue to the med-center.

As they follow the Doctor looks at the Captain, "Oh, is he always this cheery?"

"Always." The captain agrees with a small smile.

---

Martha and Riley can also hear everything happening in the med-center over the intercom and look at each other worriedly as they continue to try and get through the next door, the young man hitting the few keys to bring up the question.

"K-Korwin… You're sick." Abi says, nearly crying with fright.

Riley types in the answer to another question he knows.

"Burn. With. Me!" Korwin says in a more menacing voice.

"That's what Rose was saying earlier." Martha realizes as she thinks back to those words the blonde had been mumbling under her breath when the first arrived here.

Riley looks at her terrified, "What!?"

"Never mind." She brushes him off as the bulkhead swings open and they start advancing once more.

Suddenly, Abi's screaming in echoing throughout the entire ship from over the intercom and the pair freeze in their tracks as they look at each other in fear.

"What was that?" Riley asks her in a whisper.

Martha runs to a nearby intercom and starts it up, "Doctor, what were those screams?" she begs in a panic.

"Concentrate on those doors!" the Doctor shouts back. "You've got to keep moving forward!"

The two look at each other before nodding and running off down the corridor.

"Impact in; twenty-seven six."

---

The Doctor, McDonnell and Scannell all run through the plastic curtain that acts as a door to the med-center and look around the room. They all notice the bed is empty and the medical officer is nowhere to be found either.

"Korwin's gone…" McDonnell gasps as she moves closer to the bed that once housed her husband.

"…In more ways than one…" the Doctor mumbles under his breath, glad neither of his companions heard it.

"Oh my god." Scannell breathes as he moves towards the far wall where there is a burnt outline of a body with their hands up in a defensive position.

Both the Doctor and McDonnell look over to see what he has and both are horrified by this discovery. The Doctor is the first to move towards the outline, taking a closer look at it.

"Tell me that's not Lerner." Scannell begs desperately.

"Endothermic vaporisation." The Doctor explains. "I've never seen one this ferocious. Burn with me."

"That's what we heard Korwin say." The angry man states.

McDonnell looks at them horrified at what they're implying, denial radiating off her in waves. "What?! Do you think?!" she shakes her head, "No way! Scannell, tell him! Korwin's not a killer! He can't vaporize people! He's human!" she then rounds on the Doctor with her eyes ablaze. "Besides, your little friend said the same thing! How do we know she didn't do this!?"

The Doctor turns to her with a dark look that is ten times as bad as the one he gave Scannell earlier when he accused Rose of going mad, and though she does stand her ground McDonnell does shrink away from him somewhat.

"We know she didn't do this because she has done nothing to harm anyone aboard this ship and has been trying to help you since we got here. There's also the fact that she's still engineering and was there when this happened, while Korwin was in here when Abi requested assistance." He states calmly. "You can deny the facts before you all you want, but don't try to blame Rose for something you have no proof of her doing."

She swallows past the lump in her throat and nods her head, some guilt building in her at the fact that she had blamed a woman for something she didn't do. She just can't accept that her husband is the one responsible and lashed out in response. She can see from the corner of her eye that even Scannell agrees with what the Doctor had just said.

The Doctor spots something on the floor and goes to pick them up and finds that they are the x-rays and bio-scan results that Abi had been looking at when she had called the Doctor before her death. He examines them and his eyes widen at what he finds.

Whatever was happening Rose, this wouldn't be the end result. What happened to this unfortunate man is not happening to Rose and it breaks his hearts that this man suffered such a fate.

"His bio-scan results." He says softly. "Internal temperature; one hundred degrees. Body oxygen replaced with hydrogen. Your husband isn't infected, he's been overwhelmed!"

McDonnell, still in deep denial over what has happened, snatches the scans from his hands, "The results are wrong!"

He looks around the med-center, completely ignoring the woman and her denial, knowing they have no time for it, as he tries to figure this conundrum out. "But what is it though? Parasite? Mutagenic virus? Something that needs a host body. But how did it get inside him?!"

"Stop talking like he's some kind of experiment!" the captain snaps, almost in hysterics now.

The Doctor kind of wishes he brought Rose with him now since he knows she would be better at dealing with the grieving wife than he is but he has no time to dwell on that thought as he turns to face the two in the room with him.

"Where's the ship been?" he asks in a quick voice. "Have you made planet-fall recently? Docked with any other vessels? Any kind of external contact at all?"

"What's this, an interrogation?" the Captain snipes bitterly.

"We've got to stop him before he kills again," the Doctor explains, trying his best to be gentle.

"We're just a cargo ship." The captain says completely distraught. She turns away from him and stares at the wall with tears in her eyes.

Scannell steps forward to comfort the woman, "Doctor, if you give her a minute."

The Doctor protests greatly on the inside at least but nods his head none the less, knowing if he lost Rose it would utterly destroy him. He would never recover from it, not really. He would probably be able to put on a façade, trick people into thinking he was okay, but he would be broken for the rest of his lives. He would probably be worse than he was in his last form, slowly losing himself and his identity until he was someone who wasn't the Doctor anymore.

The Captain draws a shaky breath, pulling herself back together before turning back to them, "I'm fine. I need to warn the crew… and your friends." She rushes to the intercom, her hands shaking violently but she tries to ignore that. "Everybody listen to me! Something has infected Korwin. We think… We think he killed Abi Lerner. None of you must go anywhere near him, is that clear?"

"Aye Captain." Comes the reply from Riley and Martha.

"Understood, Captain." Says Ashton.

---

"Erina? Get back here with that equipment."

The woman rolls her eyes and mutes the intercom before turning to open the storage closet with the tools the engineer asked her to fetch.

"Whatever you say, boss." She grumbles, "Go there. Come back. Fetch this. Carry these. Make drinks. Sweep up. Please kill me, now."

She closes the locker door and turns to head back to the engine room and comes face to face with Korwin and she drops everything as she backs away from him.

"…Korwin…" she whispers.

"Burn with me." He says. "Burn with me."

He lifts the filter of his helmet and a blinding white light streams out of it. Erina backs into the wall releasing a terrorized scream.

"Impact in; Twenty-four fifty-one."

---

McDonnell after finishing her announcement turns back to the Doctor with pleading eyes, "Is the infection permanent? Can you cure him?"

"I dunno." The Doctor answers evasively.

The Captain gives him a hard look as she moves closer to him, "Don't lie to me, Doctor. Eleven years we've been married. We chose this ship together. He keeps me honest. So I don't want false hope."

He releases a heavy sigh, "The parasite is too aggressive. Your husband's gone. There's no way back. Sorry."

She nods her head, quietly taking it all in, "Thank you."

Watching her with a worried expression for a brief moment, the Doctor walks closer to the woman as he jumps back into action, "Are you certain nothing happened to provoke this? Nobody's working on anything secret? Because it's vital that you tell me."

"I know every inch of this ship. I know every detail of my crew's lives. There is nothing." She replies sounding so sure, so certain, but that just doesn't add up.

Something provoked this creature to cause it to take over Korwin's body and sabotaging the ship, the screaming Rose is hearing in her head. It all points to something else going on here and the Captain knows what it is and is withholding this information.

"Then why is thing so interested in you?" he asks with a stern glare.

The Captain sighs and looks him in the eye, "I wish I knew…"

---

Riley and Martha have made it to the bulkhead of area sixteen and Martha, now having gotten the hang of this, is already setting up the equipment as the medical student turns on the intercom once more, "Doctor, we're through to area sixteen."

"Keep going." The Doctor says in reply. "You've got to get to area one and reboot those engines."

"We'll get there." She replies.

---

Ashton is working underneath the engine while Rose is gathering wires and pipes off the nearby table when someone enters the room.

"You get those tools Erina?" Ashton calls. "Because I-"

Rose turns around at the sound of his voice and her eyes widen with her backing up into the table, dropping everything that was in her hands, making a loud clatter.

"Dammit woman! I thought I told you- Whoa!" Ashton snaps at her, but before he can finish his scolding he is pulled out from underneath the engine by his ankles and comes face to face with Korwin. Said man forces him to his feet while Rose searches desperately for the comm button, her eyes trained on the two before her – the burning in her mind intensifying.

"Korwin! It's me – Ashton!" he pleads with the man who once was his friend. "We're mates!"

"They're getting too far." The being says in reply, its voice sending shivers down Rose's spin. "We must share the light."

Korwin holds Ashton by the head and the man releases an agonized scream as Rose lets out one of her own terrified one as she watches the scene before her.

"Heating shields failing. At twenty percent." The computer states, completely oblivious to anything than what it's programed to do.

Ashton puts on a helmet and the two turn towards the terrified Rose who keeps backing up until she is trapped in the corner of the room with both men closing in on her.

Korwin reaches her first and reaches up to open his visor but stops with his fingers on the dial and tilts his head as he stares at the scared woman before him.

"Burn with me." He says.

Rose's eyes widen as she looks at him with tears pooling in her eyes.

"It hurts." She says in reply, the golden glow of her eyes becoming more obvious.

Before she even knows what's happening, Korwin grabs her by the shoulders and pulls her smaller frame closer to his – his hands burning her shoulders slightly despite his gloves – and then pushes her hard into the wall behind her, where she strikes her head against the metal and falls to the floor unconscious.

---

Riley is having trouble with the latest terminal and hits it in frustration, "Come on!" he growls. "Everything on this ship is so cheap."

The pair hear a loud crash behind them and look at each other curiously as the banging continues from the direction they came from. Since it persists they both leave their tools and move to investigate who it is.

"Who's there?" Riley calls out.

Through the smoke they can see a figure standing there.

Standing there is a man in a helmet and they both raise a questioning brow.

"Is that Korwin?" Martha asks in fear, Abi's screams still echoing in her mind and she takes a tentative step backward.

"No, wait a minute." The young man examines the figure before them more closely and sighs in relief. "Oh, Ashton, what're you doing?"

"Burn with me." The entity returns.

Martha's eyes widen at the familiar, terrifying words, "Oh, you've got to be joking."

"Well, if you want to help…" Riley says, hoping he didn't just hear what he thought he did.

"Burn with me. Burn with me!" Ashton says again as he raises a hand to his Polaroid filter.

Martha grabs Riley by the arm and moves him towards the door to their right, "Move! Come on!"

She opens the door to a small adjacent area and then seals the door behind them once they are both inside. Martha cowers in the far corner and stares at the porthole window in the door with terrified eyes.

Riley quickly types in a combination on the keypad by the door and they both sigh in relief.

Ashton appears through the small window and starts pounding fiercely on the door but can't manage to get inside to where they are. Just in case however, Riley types something else into the keypad and a hatch next to them opens that Martha realizes leads to an escape pod.

"Are you serious?" she asks him dubiously.

"Do you wanna stay here for him to get you?" he snaps before they both climb inside the small pod. They seal the door behind them once they're inside.

"What's happening on this ship!?" Riley grumbles fearfully.

Martha looks around them, "Never mind that. Where are we?"

"Airlock sealed. Jettison escape pod."

A sinking feeling takes over Martha as she stares at the man beside her in shock, "That doesn't mean us?"

Riley doesn't answer her as he races to the small control keypad and starts typing furiously as panic begins to overtake Martha.

"Doctor!" she cries, unable to help herself as she hopes he can save her like he always does.

"Pod jettison initiated."

Riley is frantically typing on the keypad, trying to reverse the initiation. Outside the airlock Ashton stands watching the two panic inside the pod. The small screen on both keypads shows the status of the pod – 'jettison initiated'.

Martha spots the small communications terminal beside where Riley is working and dives for it, activating it with shaking fingers.

"Doctor!" she cries.

---

The Doctor, Captain McDonnell and Scannell all run into the engine room and look at the damage done there and gasp.

After seeing what happened to Erina, they are all shaken up and the Doctor quickly searches the room for his Rose but doesn't spot her anywhere. His hearts slam painfully in his chest but he tries to steam off his fear.

"I think it got Ashton too." Scannell murmurs since he doesn't see the engineer anywhere.

McDonnell shakes her head still in denial that her own husband could have done this and scans the room with teary eyes.

"Rose!?" the Doctor calls out.

The three remain silent aside from their breathing and just when the Doctor can feel panic and gut wrenching grief taking him over they hear a small groan in the far corner of the room. The Doctor whips around and races over there to find Rose lying in a bundle on the floor and he kneels by her side.

"Rose?" he asks gently, while caressing her cheek as carefully as he can.

It takes a moment longer but she finally manages to blink open her eyes and meets his gaze and gives him a tired smile, "Hello."

He breathes out a sigh of relief and smiles back at her, "Hello. You alright?"

"My head hurts." She mumbles as the Doctor helps her into a sitting position.

"What happened here?" Scannell snaps from behind the Doctor and Rose frowns as she gets to her feet with help from the Doctor.

She wobbles for a moment but gets her balance rather quickly.

"We working on the engines, we were, when Korwin came in." Rose explains slowly as she thinks back on what happened, "He… dunno, did something to Ashton… said something about 'sharing the light'… Made him like 'im… They knocked me out… then left I guess?"

"Why'd he kill Erina and 'change' Ashton, but leave you alive?" the angry man growls again.

"Dunno." Rose admits.

"Doctor!" comes Martha's frantic voice cutting anyone off before another comment can be made. "We're stuck in an escape pod off the area 16 airlock! One of the crew's trying to jettison us! You've got to help!"

"Why is this happening!?" McDonnell questions in despair.

"Stay here, I mean it this time!" the Doctor says as he runs to the door, taking Rose's hand in his as he goes. "And jump start those engines!"

As they run down the corridor Rose glances at the Doctor and she can see the Oncoming storm brewing in his eyes. She squeezes his hand in an attempt to anchor him.

"We'll save her Doctor." She reassures.

He says nothing but tightens his grip on her hand.

---

In the escape pod, Riley types furiously to stall the jettison and Martha continues to scream and panic in the corner of the pod – wondering where the Doctor is.

He's never let her down, not once since the day they met. He's always been there when she's needed him so Martha has to wonder what's taking him so long to get here and save them.

"Jettison held." The computer announces.

Both Riley and Martha heave a sigh of relief as they take a moment to catch their breaths.

"Thank you." Riley gasps as he sags against the wall, smiling down at Martha, who weakly returns the smile.

Their moment of reprieve is short lived however.

"Jettison reactivated."

Martha screams in terror and starts to wildly slam her hands against the door, as screams rack her frame, tears pooling in her eyes.

Riley taps away on the keypad as fast as he is able as he tries to save their lives. "Come on!" An idea suddenly comes to him and he works quickly, "Tsilpinski sequence. This'll get him."

"Jettison held. Escape pod stabilized." The electronic voice announces.

The pair breathe another sigh of relief and Martha turns to him with a small smile, "You're pretty good."

---

The Doctor and Rose race down the hall full pelt as they try desperately to reach their friend in time. Their hands are still joined together between them as they race through the tight halls towards area sixteen, Rose noting each bulkhead as they come through them.

With his longer strides the Doctor gets through the door before she does and confronts the 'man' trying to jettison their friend.

"That's enough!" the Time Lord shouts, catching Rose around the waist to stop her from running past him, she clings to his arm in return. "What do you want? Why this ship? Tell me!"

Ashton stares at the pair – more at Rose than the Doctor – before slamming his fist into the keypad, thus destroying it.

Rose's eyes widen in shock and she tries to push past the Doctor but he holds fast, "No! You didn't have to do that!"

---

The sirens begin to sound within the pod and Martha shrieks in fear once more as she slams against the door as Riley tries to save them once more only for the horrible truth to come out.

"Jettison activated."

"He's smashed the circuit!" he cries helplessly. "I can't stop it! I can't stop it!"

---

The trio are in a stand off just outside the airlock with the Doctor staring the creature down.

Rose suddenly tilts her head to the side and the gold glow of her eyes intensifies – since it is still present in her gaze – as she looks at the creature before her.

"It's her fault." She murmurs.

Her words surprise the Doctor for a moment but he stays focused on the being before them. "Come on. Let's see you. I wanna know what you really are."

This snaps Rose out of her daze and she latches onto his arm more fiercely. "No!" she cries, "Doctor, you can't look him in the eyes! If you do-"

"I know Rose." He replies, never taking his eyes off the being before him, "I saw what happened to Abi and Erina; endothermic vaporisation. Or I become like them."

"Don't do this." She pleads.

"I have to know."

Ashton moves forward till he's standing nose to nose with the Doctor – the Time Lord pushing Rose away from him so she stumbles into the wall out of the path of the attack – and raises his hand to the latch of his visor. Just as he was about to open the visor, the possessed man is overcome and doubles over for a moment. He then stands up right again and moves past the Doctor back down the hallway towards engineering.

"Airlock sealed."

The announcement snaps the Doctor from his daze and he turns his attention to Rose, "Call and warn them in the engine room."

Getting a nod of confirmation from her he moves over to the door to the escape pod.

"McDonnell?" Rose calls from the intercom. "Ashton's on his way down. We know now he's been infected like Korwin, be careful."

"Korwin's dead, Rose." Scannell replies.

Rose feels her heart go out to the captain, knowing how much pain she must be in from losing her husband – even if that being had consumed him, the host was still Korwin and that must be unbearable. She's lost him so completely and never got to say goodbye.

---

Inside the escape pod Martha is still tapping hopelessly against the door, looking through the window for the one man she knows can save them.

"The thing's locked!" she shouts.

"Airlock decompression completed." The computer announces. "Jettisoning pod."

At that moment the Doctor's face appears in the window where Ashton had been and Martha's face lights up in delight, "Doctor!" she calls.

He mouths something to her but she can't hear what he's saying.

"Doctor!" she calls again.

Riley looks at her sadly, "Martha, it's too late."

"Doctor!"

He mouths something again but she still can't make out the words.

"I can't hear you!"

The Doctor tries one more time before the pod is ejected from the ship and starts drifting towards the sun that they are dangerously close to now.

"I'm sorry." The medical student whispers before she drops to the floor with tears in her eyes.

---

The Doctor watches as the pod drifts away with their friend inside and begins to wrack his brain for a solution while Rose just stands by and watches him, letting him work through this problem on his own, since she has no idea what to do, but will do what the Doctor needs her to do.

"We'll get her back, Doctor." She says.

"Course we will." He agrees. "Just need a plan."

He dashes over to the console behind Rose and activates it once more, "Scannell! I need a spacesuit in area sixteen, now!"

"What for?"

Knowing that time is of the essence and that they have no time to waste his patience with the disagreeable man finally boils over, "Just get down here!" He uses more force than necessary to turn of the intercom.

Rose reaches over and takes his face between her hands just like he does with her and looks him dead in the eye.

"Breathe Doctor." She says calmly, "We'll get Martha back. And then, we'll save the ship. But you need to stay calm for us to do that, yeah?"

Hearing the truth of her words and her presence alone does wonders to calm him and the Doctor leans his forehead against hers, "I know. I know. My Rose."

"I love you."

"I love you too, precious girl."

---

Inside the pod the two sit quietly while they are lost in their personal thoughts.

"The wonderful world of space travel." Riley says aloud, drawing Martha's attention. "The prettier it looks, the more likely it is to kill you."

Martha looks up at the window with resolve burning in her gaze.

"He'll come for us."

Riley shakes his head, "No, it's too late. Our heat shields will pack in any minute, and then we go into free fall. We'll fall into the sun way before he has the chance to do anything."

"You don't know the Doctor. Me and him… well, he's never let me down, never let anything happen to me. I believe in him."

The young man chuckles. He does think it's a little odd, Martha's words, given he thought that the Doctor and Rose were in a relationship given the fact that they hardly leave each other's sides, all their secretive looks and how fiercely protective the Doctor is of the blonde, but he guess that maybe he just misread the situation. He doesn't really know these people very well… if at all.

"Then you're lucky. I've never found anyone worth believing in."

Martha eyes him thoughtfully, "No girlfriend? Boyfriend?"

He shakes his head, trying not to eye Martha as he speaks, "The job doesn't lend itself to stable relationships."

"Family then?"

"My dad's dead and I haven't seen my mum in six years." He admits, "She didn't want me to sign up for cargo tours. Things were said, and since then, all silent. She wanted to hold on to me, I know that." He lets out a humour laugh, "Oh, she's stubborn."

"Yeah, well, that's families." She agrees. Martha can't help but think of Rose and how she has no family left. The poor girl is alone save for the Doctor and she feels her heart go out to the younger woman.

"What about you?"

"Full works. Mum, Dad, Dad's girlfriend, brother, sister. No silence there. So much noise." She says. Her eyes widen as the truth hits her at that moment, "Oh my God! They'll never know! I… I'll just have disappeared, and they'll always be waiting… wondering… They'll never know."

Riley, reaches out and puts a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"Call them."

---

The Doctor is now in a spacesuit and standing near the door.

"I can't let you do this." Scannell states.

"Don't waste your breath, Scannell." Rose says as she moves towards the Doctor. "You're not going to stop him."

"I can't believe you're supporting this madness! You want to open an airlock in flight on a ship spinning into the sun. No one can survive that."

"Oh, just you watch." The Time Lord smirks.

"You open that airlock, its suicide." The man continues, "This close to the sun, the shields will barely protect you."

Rose sends him a withering glare before turning the Doctor to face her with her hands on both sides of his helmet. They lock gazes.

"Just fix it quickly and get back in here." She orders firmly. "Don't look around. Don't stay out there longer than necessary."

He smiles, "I promise you, Rose."

She laughs, "Good. I want that spacesuit back in one piece, ya got that?"

"Yes sir."

They laugh at the familiar dialogue between them from the last time they were in a situation like this, both trying not to think of the shit-storm that turned into, before Rose pulls his head down and kisses him where his forehead is behind the visor, much like she did last time then pulls away.

"I'll see you later."

"Not if I see you first."

The Doctor turns back to the door and takes a deep breath to steel himself.

"If I can boost the magnetic lock on the ships' exterior, it should re-magnetize the pod. Now, while I'm out there, you have got to get the rest of these doors open. We need those auxiliary engines."

"Doctor, will you listen! They're too far away, it's too late!" the man shouts in exasperation.

"We're not going to lose her!" the Doctor shouts back, "We promised to take care of her and she deserves better than that."

With that said he allows Rose to step back to stand beside Scannell and then hits a button to open the door before stepping outside.

He stares out the window at the sun burning just outside.

"Decompression initiated. Impact in; twelve fifty-five."

---

Martha holds the phone up to her ear and listens to the ring tone on the other end. It feels like a lifetime before a voice finally greets her.

"Hello?"

"It's me again."

"Martha." Her mother says in relief. "Are you able to talk now?"

"Yeah… sorry about earlier."

"Is everything alright?" Francine asks with the intuition of a mother who knows when her child is in trouble.

"Yeah. Of course."

"Martha?"

"Mum, I… You know I love you, don't you?"

"Of course I do. What's brought this on?"

Martha swallows past the lump in her throat. She knows the Doctor will save her but she has to finish her conversation on the off chance he doesn't make it in time. She needs her mother to hear these words.

"I never say it. I never get the time." She admits as a tear slips down her cheek. "I never think of it… and then… I really love you. Tell Dad, Leo and Tish that I love them."

"Martha, what's wrong?" Francine insists, knowing this is out of character for her eldest child. She knows Martha loves her but there is definitely more going on here.

"Nothing. I promise."

"Where are you?"

"Just out."

"With anyone nice?" the mother tries.

Martha glances at Riley who smiles reassuringly at her, "Just some mates."

"What mates?"

"Mum, can we not just talk?" Martha pleads, not wanting to have the conversation with her mother about Rose and the Doctor. She doesn't want her 'last' conversation with her mum to turn into an argument.

"Of course." Her mum promises, "What do you want to talk about?"

"I don't know. Anything! What you had for breakfast. What you watched on telly last night. How much you're going to kill Dad the next time you see him. Just anything."

"Is the Doctor with you? Is he there now?"

Martha rolls her eyes despite the tears running down her cheeks as she reaches up to wipe them away, "Mum, just leave it."

"It's a simple enough question."

"I'd better go." Martha says sadly.

"Uh… no, Martha. Wait." Her mother insists.

"See you, Mum." Martha replies before ending the call and turning to throw her arms around Riley in a desperate hug, which he instantly returns as they both begin sobbing.

---

"Impact in; elven fifteen. Heat shield failing, at ten percent."

The Doctor hits button on the keypad on the console and opens the airlock. He recoils slightly from the heat and intense brightness of the sun but recovers swiftly and grabs hold of the outer frame of the ship, battling against the strong vacuum of space, as he moves along the hull of the ship. He's almost swept away a couple of times but keeps his grip on the ship firm as he stretches out as far as he can for the column of buttons just to the right of the airlock.

He misses the first time, but continues to stretch out his limbs, trying to get there.

"Come on! Go on, my son!" he cries.

He manages to hit the buttons but still has more work to do as he reaches for the box just next to the buttons, straining himself as far as he can.

"Doctor?" Rose voice comes over the comm, soothing honey within his ear, "How're you doing?"

He grunts as he stretches as far as he can to reach the lever that will open the box, gasping in breathes as he continues to strain himself past his limits, "I can't! I can't reach! I don't know how much longer I can last!"

"Come on, Doctor. Don't give up now!" she pleads with him, hope in her voice. "I know you can do this. Martha believes in you, and so do I!"

Those words are exactly like what the Doctor needs to hear and give him the boost he needs to reach out and finally grab hold of the lever, pulling it down full force and yank the cover off the box. With a scream of pain and strength the Doctor slams the lever inside down.

"Doctor!?" Rose calls. "Doctor, are you okay!?"

---

The escape pod gives a jerk and the occupants look around in confusion as hope begins to bubble up in Martha's chest.

Riley turns to the screen and his eyes widen in shock when he sees the word 're-magnetizing'.

"We're being pulled back!" he exclaims in disbelief.

Martha cheers excitedly as she gets to her feet. "I told you! It's the Doctor!"

---

As the Doctor struggles back into the airlock, Rose tries to speak to him through the comm as the pod slowly but surely makes its way back to the docking point. Unable to resist anymore the Doctor looks over the bottom lip of the airlock at the sun burning brightly just there and his eyes widen in frightened confusion as the light reflects intensely off his helmet as he watches the swirling molten surface.

"It's alive… It's alive…? It's alive…!" the Doctor gasps as the truth dawns on him and he finally understands what's happening to Rose.

"Doctor!" Rose screams. "Close the airlock now! The pod's going to crash into you! Doctor!"

"Airlock re-compression completed. Impact in; eight fifty-seven."

The Doctor literally falls out of the airlock on his knees into Rose's waiting arms as the woman holds him close, his eyes screwed tightly shut as he gasps in pain.

"Oh, no, Doctor." Rose says sadly, "I told you not to look."

The pod docks at that moment and Martha and Riley clamber out with the medical student coming to his other side instantly.

"Doctor! Doctor! Are you okay!?" she questions worriedly.

He opens his eyes briefly, revealing a white light shining from within, "Get away from me!"

Martha gasps in fear and quickly does as he said but Rose remains by his side as he closes his eyes tightly once more and writhes within her arms.

"Oh Doctor. Why did you look into the sun?"

"Get away from me Rose!" he begs.

McDonnell appears at that moment, coming from area fifteen and looks at the four in confusion.

"What's happened?"

The Doctor groans.

"It's your fault, Captain McDonnell!" the couple say at the same time, though the Doctor's voice is much more intense.

She looks shocked for a breath of a moment before she regains her composure and gestures down the corridor, "Riley, get down to area nine and Scannell with the doors! Go!"

He does as ordered without hesitation.

The Time Lord is struggling to stand as he clings to Rose despite telling her to get away from him as he still writhes in pain, "You mined that sun! Stripped its surface for cheap fuel! You should have scanned for life!"

Rose's eyes widen as she gets the final piece to the puzzle, "The screaming! The sun is screaming!" she looks up at the captain with tears and accusation in her eyes, "You hurt it!"

"I don't understand…" the Captain replies.

"Doctor, what are you talking about?!" Martha shrieks, trying to put the pieces together like the Doctor and Rose clearly already have.

He jerks in pain, almost taking Rose down with him as she tries to keep supporting him as the screaming in her head grows louder.

"That sun is alive!" the Doctor shouts. "A living organism! They scooped out its heart, used it for fuel! And now it's screaming!"

McDonnell looks between the three time travellers in absolute confusion.

"What do you mean? How can a sun be alive? Why is he saying that?"

"Because it's living in him." Rose says sadly, "I've been hearing its screams since we got here."

The Captain groans in horror as she realizes what she's done. "Oh my god…"

"Humans!" the Doctor sneers venomously, "You grab whatever's nearest and bleed it dry! You should have scanned!"

The Captain shakes her head in denial, desperate for them to understand her plight, "It takes too long! We'd be caught! Fusion scoops are illegal!"

"So, you decided to take the easy way out!?" Rose snaps with a glare that rivals the Doctor's when the oncoming storm takes over, "Endangered everyone so you could save money!?"

"I…I…"

The Doctor lets out another agonized scream and Rose wraps her arms tighter around him, the captain all but forgotten in her mind.

"You've got to freeze me, quickly!" he pleads.

"What?!" Martha asks in panic as she moves back to his side to help Rose support him.

"Stasis chamber! You gotta keep me… below minus two hundred. Freeze it out of me!" he explains desperately. "It'll use me to kill you if you don't! The closer we get to the sun, the stronger it gets! Med-center! Quickly! Quickly!"

The two women start to drag the Doctor to the med-center with the medical student looking back at the dumbfounded and horrified captain.

"Help us!" Martha shouts.

"Impact in; seven thirty."

"Shut up!" Rose snaps, unable to stand that robotic voice anymore.

---

As they break through the plastic door to the med-center Martha races ahead to grab the instruction manual so she'll know how the equipment works while the Captain and Rose move to get the Doctor to the bed.

All of them feeling guilty the more the Doctor screams in agony.

"I can do it!" Martha announces confidently.

The Doctor reaches out blindly, "Martha, where are you?!"

Despite the seriousness of the situation Martha can't stop the flutter of her heart at the fact that he's calling for her in his time of need.

"It's alright. I'm here." She reassures as she takes his hand in hers, smiling down at him though he can't see it. "Everything's fine. Stasis chamber, minus two hundred, yeah?"

The captain shakes her head fiercely, against this course of action. "No, you don't know how this equipment works! You'll kill him! Nobody can survive those temperatures!"

"He's not human! If he says he can survive those temperatures, then he can!" Rose snaps with a withering glare towards the woman as she brushes the Doctor's hair back from his face.

"Let me help you then?" the captain pleads.

"You've done enough damage."

Martha nods her head in agreement with Rose before moving back to read the manual though she is reluctant to leave the Doctor's side.

"Ten seconds. That's all I'll be able to take. No more!" the Doctor explains. "Rose!"

"I'm here." She reassures with another firm squeeze of his hand.

"It's burning me up, Rose! I can't control it! If you don't get rid of it, I could kill you. I could kill you all." He states desperately, "I'm scared! I'm so scared!"

"I am too." Rose whispers only loud enough for the Doctor to hear her.

"Just… stay calm." Their companion says as a few tears leak from her eyes. "You saved me, now I return the favor. Just believe in me."

He howls in pain, "It's bloody killing me! Rose, you have to tell her! Martha needs to know!"

"That's enough!" Rose snaps. "It's not happening, do you hear me!? I'm not done with this you yet, we still have so much more to do!"

"Rose…" he pleads.

"Everything's going to be alright." She reassures before nodding her head at the medical student and backing away. A tear leaks down her cheek as she watches the Doctor blindly search for her hand that is now outside his reach.

Martha starts up the machine and both women flinch as he screams and seizes in the bed, their hearts breaking for him but knowing they have to do this to save him.

"Heat shields failing, at five percent."

Everyone ignores the comment as they watch the numbers of the chamber continue to drop.

When the chamber hits minus seventy the machine suddenly shuts off and the three women look around in confusion as they try to understand what happened.

"No! Martha, you can't stop it! Not yet!" The Doctor cries from where he is in the stasis chamber, covered in ice crystals.

"What happened?!" Rose asks desperately.

The captain checks the readouts on all the nearby monitors before she realizes what's happened. "Power's been cut in engineering."

"But who's down there?" Martha questions.

"Leave it to me." The captain says as she races from the room, the two women watching her as she goes.

The Doctor lets out another round of screams and the two women exchange worried looks.

"Impact in; four forty-seven."

Martha notices the crystals from the Doctor's body have vanished and her eyes widen, "Come on. You're defrosting!"

"Rose, Martha." The Doctor calls from the stasis chamber. "Listen to me! You've got to go!"

"No way!" the medical student instantly says.

"Please, I've only got a moment! Go to the front, vent the engines. Sun particles in the fuel, get rid of them."

"Will that work?" Rose asks, getting that he would only be asking if it was necessary.

"Only hope," the Doctor admits. "Give back what they took."

"I'm not leaving you!" Martha protests once more.

Rose grabs her roughly by the arm and starts dragging her from the room, knowing they only have minutes left before they're all dead, "We have to."

"We can't leave him, Rose!"

"I don't want to leave him either, but if we stay and he hurts us he'll never forgive himself." She reasons. "And if we don't try, then everyone dies."

She sees as the truth sets in Martha's eyes and the medical student nods her head. "We'll be back for you." She promises the Doctor for them both before running out of the room with Rose.

"Impact in; four eight."

---

The women continue to run down the hall and get through to area nineteen when they hear the beep of the intercom.

"Rose!" the Doctor's voice calls.

"Doctor?!"

"What are you doing!?" Martha asks as they keep running.

"I can't fight it!" he explains, "Give it back or… burn with me."

His voice drops horribly and both women gasp at the tone of his voice.

"Burn with me, Rose."

They ignore the pain in their hearts and keep running as fast as their legs will carry them down the halls.

"Impact in; two seventeen. Primary engines critical."

The announcement comes and this is when Rose releases an agonized scream and slumps against the wall. Martha stops and turns to face her, "Rose?"

"Keep going." Rose orders through gritted teeth. "Do as the Doctor said."

"But-"

"Go!"

Martha looks uncertain for a moment but nods her head and races off down the hall as quickly as she can while Rose slides to the floor, holding her head as the screaming becomes too much for her to handle.

"Burn with me!" a deeper version of the Doctor's voice says from behind her but Rose is in too much pain to acknowledge it.

---

"Why's in not working?!" Martha hears Riley as he panics.

"Collision alert. Fifty eight seconds to fatal impact."

Martha comes barreling into the room, "Vent the engines." She says, giving the Doctor's instructions.

Both Riley and Scannell look at her questioning.

"What?" Scannell asks.

"Sun particles in the fuel! Get rid of them! Do it! Now!"

The men spring into action to achieve this goal. They head to opposite walls and start turning dials to vent the fuel as requested.

"Come on, Doctor. Hold on."

Once all the dials had been turned the men reach the 'fuel dispersal' dial, which causes the ship to lurch violently and everyone aboard is flung about. However, the readouts show that the fuel is being successfully vented out of the bottom of the ship.

Martha holds tightly to the railing as the ship jerks some more.

The ship jerks a few more times before Scannell actually smiles.

"There! The auxiliaries are firing!" he exclaims.

The ship lurches one more time before it starts to pull away from the sun just as the countdown reaches one second.

"Impact averted. Impact averted. Impact averted."

Riley is breathing heavily and smiles as he sees what's happening.

"We're clear! We've got just enough reserves!"

With beaming smiles the two men embrace and laugh gleefully at the fact they survived.

Martha breathes a sigh of relief before something dawns on her. She spins around and starts racing down the hall.

"Doctor!"

---

"Impact averted. Impact averted. Impact averted."

As this announcement is broadcast-ed through the ship Rose releases a sigh of relief as the screaming in her head slowly dies down and is replaced with something akin to sympathy or apology. Most likely for the pain it unwittingly caused her.

She looks over her shoulder and spots the Doctor only one bulkhead behind her and smiles as she sees him lying on the floor gasping for breath. On shaking feet, Rose stumbles over and slumps down beside him with a tired smile.

"Hello."

He half opens his eyes and smiles at her.

"Hello."

Rose helps him up to his knees and once he's steady enough she throws her arms around him in a fierce hug, that he returns without hesitation.

"My precious girl." The Doctor murmurs as he hugs her closer, planting a kiss to the top of her head, "Are you okay?"

"Yeah… the screaming's stopped." She replies, tightening her arms around him, "You?"

"Terrible. But I'm getting there."

They smile at each other before struggling to their feet.

"Doctor!" Martha cries as she runs down the hall, her smile is split into a huge grin.

Rose pulls away reluctantly from the Doctor and steps aside to allow their companion to throw her arms around the Time Lord in a fierce hug. He does return the hug, relieved that she's okay, but a bit more mild than hers since he doesn't want to make things any worse or for Martha to read more into the hug than she should.

After a moment they pull away from each other and go to check on Riley and Scannell.

---

"This is never your ship!" Riley says as he examines the TARDIS.

"Compact, eh?" the Doctor says as he smiles up at his wonderful ship. "And another good word, robust. Barely a scorch mark on her." He rubs his hand along the panel work of the ship where there are some singe marks from the intense heat the poor machine had been stuck in this whole time.

"We can't just leave you drifting with no fuel." Martha says to Riley, feeling guilty about the whole idea.

"We've sent out an official mayday." Riley reassures her. "The authorities'll pick us up soon enough."

"Though how we'll explain what happened…"

The Doctor looks at Scannell seriously, "Just tell them, that sun needs care and protection just like any other living thing."

The man nods to the Doctor.

With the confirmation the Doctor turns on his tail, takes Rose's hand in his and heads inside the TARDIS to leave Martha to her goodbyes.

Martha goes to follow him but Riley catches her arm, "So… uh, you're off then? No chance I'll see you again?"

She shakes her head, "Not really. It was nice… not dying with you." They both laugh a little awkwardly at that. "I reckon you'll find someone worth believing in."

He stares at her a long moment. "I think I already did."

Martha smiles sadly at him before hugging him close to her, "I'm sorry… I already have someone… I can't be that someone for you."

---

Rose and the Doctor stand by the console, both drinking the cups of water the TARDIS had laid out waiting for them when the entered. The TARDIS sings happily in their minds, glad to have them back safely and that they are no longer roasting as with her as well.

"So… any damage?" she asks him carefully.

He shakes his head, "No. Internal body scans show no damage though my temperature is still elevated… making me feel like my insides are a puddle but other than that, I'm fine."

She laughs, "Anything I can do?"

"Nothing a cold bath can't fix."

"Then hop to it." She orders.

"But we need to wait for Martha." He argues.

She shakes her head, "I can get us into the Vortex. The TARDIS taught me how. Now, off you go."

"Yes sir." He jokes before heading off down the hall while Rose waits in the console room.

She brushes her fingers over the controls lightly, loving the feel of them under her fingers. She begins setting the controls just as the door opens and Martha walks in.

The medical student seems both baffled and disappointed that it is Rose at the controls instead of the Doctor.

"You know how to fly the TARDIS?" she questions with a raised brow.

"A bit." Rose admits with a shrug, "I can get us to the Vortex."

Martha nods her head, but still seems doubtful before she crosses her arms over her chest, "Where's the Doctor?"

"Went to his room, to cool down in the bath… all he needs to feel better." She explains. "Did an internal scan of himself. Just has a bit of a fever is all."

"That's good." The medical student says as she sighs in relief, the Doctor's screams still echoing in her head. She eyes Rose thoughtfully, "What about you, then?"

"Fine… bit of a lingering headache, but fine."

"Good." Martha says absently. "A bath sounds nice right about now."

"It does." Rose agrees before she starts heading down the corridor.

Martha blinks in confusion and looks at the Time Rotor, "What about sending up into the vortex?"

"Already done." Rose calls over her shoulder.

The medical student blinks in confusion and runs after the blonde, "But it didn't make the noise… or shake violently."

Rose shrugs, "The TARDIS helped me."

They walk in silence down the hall for a little bit before something dawns on Martha, "You know… I've never seen the Doctor's room… or your room, for that matter."

Rose glances at her from the corner of her eye.

"The TARDIS is big on privacy, won't let you go somewhere you don't have permission to go." Rose admits.

"Why wouldn't I be allowed in your room?" she presses, not understanding why she wouldn't be allowed in her companion's room.

"Think of it this way, when you still lived with your family; did you like it when they barged into your room without permission?"

Martha blinks and thinks back on all those years with her siblings and mother coming into her room at times when she wanted to be alone and how much it grated her nerves that they didn't respect her privacy. Thinking of it this way helps her to see Rose's point.

"I guess I understand that, then."

Rose nods her head but is thrown off when they come to a stop with the bedroom doors being right across the hall from each other. Martha's on one side, hers and the Doctor's on the other.

Martha looks at the TARDIS blue door with circle writing engraved on it with a raised brow. "Never seen that door before, have you?"

Not wanting to lie but feeling slightly uncomfortable as well, Rose nods her head.

"That's the Doctor's room." Not a complete lie.

The medical student's whole face lights up and she moves closer to the door to brush her fingers over the intricate detail there, "Have you been inside?"

"Maybe a few times."

Without even a second thought Martha brings her hand down to the handle and tries to open the door but the handle doesn't budge an inch. The medical student frowns and feels very disappointed that she isn't allowed to see the inside of the Doctor's room – especially since apparently Rose has.

"Guess it's locked."

"Probably… it is his bedroom." Rose emphasizes.

The medical student gives a weak nod before turning to her own bedroom, "Well, good night Rose."

"Night."

With that Martha slips into her bedroom and closes the door firmly behind her. Once it is closed the door vanishes and Rose releases a deep breath she hadn't realized she was holding.

"Cheeky ship." Rose mumbles, getting a tinkling feeling of amusement in the back of her mind from said ship before she enters the room herself.

She finds the Doctor's cloths strewn about the room and shakes her head affectionately while gathering them up before heading to the bathroom herself.

"Doctor?" she calls.

"Hmm?" he replies lazily from the tub.

She enters the bathroom and leans against the counter as he stares as her through half lidded eyes, "You really need to talk to Martha; soon."

"Why?" he asks, confused about this sudden topic.

"Just explaining to her about the TARDIS and privacy, yeah?" she starts, pulling her hair from the messy ponytail she had tied it in, "To prove the point, the TARDIS showed our door to Martha. She seemed to think she has all the right to enter, without permission." At his still somewhat confused look Rose rolls her eyes, "While you're bathing."

His eyes widen as he finally catches onto the meaning. Yes, the TARDIS would never let Martha in without his or Rose's permission – which he never planned on giving her – but it is definitely not a good thing that Martha just assumes she has permission to come into his room at any time, but especially while he's bathing.

"I will, promise."

She releases a huff of annoyance before heading towards the door, "Sure… let me know when you're done."

"Or you could join me."

Rose stops just short of the door and turns to him with a playful smile, "If I join you; we'll never get out of the tub."

"So?"

Rose laughs and starts to take her clothes off, with the Doctor's eyes watching her hungrily.