Disclaimer: Doctor Who belongs to the BBC. I do not own any of it, nor do I get paid for it.

A/N Thank you for your awesome response on the last chapter. Loving it all!

Anyway, here is story #9. I can't believe there are only three more stories (excluding this one) left. But don't worry. I have already started planning the sequel.

So, this one is called 'Monsters of India' and I admit I was eager to write this one. Just because.

I have tried to be as accurate as possible with everything. If I make a mistake or offend anyone, I apologise in advance.

Happy Reading!

Monsters of India: Trapped

Rose was staring at the same page for the last thirty eight minutes. Her mind just wasn't in it. In fact, she knew exactly where her mind was.

The kiss. The Doctor had kissed her.

Not a thorough snog or even the least romantically inclined. Just a simple pressure of his lips against hers. But it had still sent butterflies fluttering in her stomach.

She had been trying to convince herself from the moment she had come on board, that the Doctor wasn't like ordinary blokes. And he wasn't. He was odd and brilliant and completely alien.

He was a thousand years old, for heaven's sake. Rose always felt incredibly immature when she was with him. But she was attracted to him, no doubt about it.

The Doctor was very handsome but more than that, he listened to her when she spouted her odd ideas and shared his own whimsical thoughts about it. He read to her, made her tea the way she liked it and showed her all of time and space.

If it hadn't been for the alien factor, Rose would have labelled them as being a couple from the get-go. As it was, she had no illusions.

She had met so many of his friends. People who had been an important part of his lives before she had come along. She knew each of them loved the Doctor in their own way. How could they not? He was wonderful and cared a great deal about his friends.

Perhaps if she had never met any of them, she would have been easily able to fool herself that the Doctor only thought of her that way. But knowing what she knew, she couldn't fool herself even a little bit.

Susan, Ian, Barbara, Jamie, Zoe, Liz, the Brigadier, Harry, Leela, Romana, Adric, Melanie were just some of the names and people she knew. She couldn't deny that each of them were special to him. His love and pride for them was visible each time he spoke of them or met them. Oh, he hid it well but his eyes shone every time.

So, the kiss could not have meant anything at all. In fact, in light of the conversation they'd had in Cardiff during the zombie incident it was very likely that the Doctor thought it was just a way to express gratitude. It may well have been a handshake in that case.

Well, that stung a bit then. As hard as she was trying to convince herself that it didn't mean anything, it was still obvious to her that she had already started loving him. Perhaps that was why she had been hiding from him since then. The TARDIS had been very helpful in that regard. Not that she was even sure the Doctor was looking for her. For all she knew, he was avoiding her too.

She felt a light flutter of wings before one of the bats landed on her shoulder. She turned her head and smiled at Jasper. "What do you think?" she asked him. "Did the butler do it?"

She giggled at her own silliness and closed her book. Agatha Christie would have to wait. Though she was sure that the secretary was the killer. But she had an alibi for the second murder. A second killer then. That would make sense. Perhaps the old teacher.

Stewart flew over to them and settled down on Rose's arm. She smiled at him too. Never would she have believed that she would befriend two bats. Her knowledge of the bats had been limited to the scary myths that she and her friends had discussed when bats in caves would get tangled in someone's hair. The thought still made her jittery.

But Jasper and Stewart had become a part of her life just as the travels with the Doctor. She loved every second of it. The good and the bad. She would never change it. And for that, she would push the kiss to the far recess of her mind and never bring it up.

A polite knock on the door sounded a moment after her mind was made up. She looked up and smiled at the Doctor who grinned at her. "Enjoying yourselves?" he asked, casting an amused eye on the bats and her.

"Oh yes," Rose said, surprised at how easy it was to interact with him as if nothing had happened. Whoever said that ignoring things did not make them go away obviously had no idea what they were talking about.

"Are they reading the book with you too?" the Doctor asked, looking at the copy of 'Cat Among the Pigeons'.

"Yep," Rose winked. Jasper and Stewart realised that their human perch was leaving so they decided to move to their usual, more permanent (read boring) perch. Rose sat up and looked at the Doctor. "So, where are we going?"

The Doctor rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. "Well, the other day you said...that you liked Jane Austen," he said. "So, I was about to suggest that we could go to Regency England. Maybe even meet the woman herself."

"Jane Austen?" Rose asked, her eyes wide. "Seriously?"

"Why not?" he countered gently.

Rose jumped to her feet and with a brilliant grin, was gone in the direction of the wardrobe room. The Doctor chuckled and returned to the console room to start plotting a course to Regency England. He had kept his attire much the same but had a top hat tucked under his arm. His clothes would be considered a tad modern but who knows, he might become a trendsetter.

He frowned as he waited for Rose to emerge from the wardrobe room. As was common these days, his thoughts inevitably drifted to the kiss he and Rose had shared. As much as he tried to convince himself that he had just been kissing her in gratitude for her help, he couldn't deny how the kiss had made him feel.

He wanted more, oh Rassilon did he want more. But he wasn't about to let himself ruin Rose's life by starting something between them. She was young and had a bright life ahead of her. He didn't need to see her timelines to know that. Her future was not with an old, selfish man like him.

The fact that he was madly in love with the young human girl was utterly inconsequential. He had decided that he would be her friend, her mentor, her shoulder, her hand to hold. Because one day she would leave. For something infinitely better than him. The thought made his hearts clench but knew that it was the responsible thing to do. He would keep his distance, just as she was keeping hers. Distance was good; it was safe.

"So? How do I look?"

He turned around and smiled widely. "Very nice, Rose," he said, taking in the light green dress she was wearing. Her face had almost no makeup as was appropriate for the era and her hair was in a modest knot at the base of her neck.

She curtsied in return with a mischievous smile on her face. "Come on then," she said, linking her arm with his. "Let's see Jane Austen."

He grinned and opened the doors of the TARDIS with a flourish. Instantly a blast of hot air hit them, shattering any notion of being in England.

"Did you land us on the sun by mistake?" Rose asked with a gasp as she stepped out of the TARDIS.

The Doctor snorted as he looked around. "No, it's definitely Earth," he said.

"A desert then?" Rose asked, looking at the nearly abandoned place.

"Too humid for a desert," the Doctor said, sniffing the air. His brow furrowed as he bent down and touched the hot soil at their feet. "Aha! I was right," he said, picking up some soil and letting it drop through his fingers.

"Right about what?" Rose asked, the heat making the layers of clothing extremely uncomfortable.

"We're in India, Rose," the Doctor said excitedly, getting to his feet.

Rose's eyes went wide. "Really?" she asked.

"Oh yes," the Doctor said, jogging a few steps ahead. "Beautiful country. Amazing culture. So old and ancient with so many meaningful connections. The land of wealth, scholars, mathematicians, philosophers, warriors: brilliant!"

Rose laughed at his enthusiasm. "So where is everyone?" she asked. "What I do know of India is that it's filled with people."

"Good question," the Doctor said, frowning slightly. "A very good question. We are in western India as far as I can gather. We must have landed in a remote area."

"Well wherever we are, we should get out of these ridiculous clothes before going exploring," Rose said practically.

"Why?" the Doctor asked.

"Doctor, we are dressed in Victorian clothes in forty five degree heat," Rose said, like it was obvious.

"We could simply go back inside and try reaching Regency England," the Doctor said.

"And miss exploring India?" Rose asked, sounding almost scandalised. "You have to be kidding me. I've always wanted to come here."

"Good girl," he said approvingly. "Alright, go change. I'll wait," he smiled.

Rose was about to turn around to go back to the TARDIS when she heard the unmistakeable sound of the TARDIS dematerialising. She and the Doctor met each others' eyes for a split second before running towards the rapidly disappearing TARDIS.

"What is happening?" Rose asked in a frantic voice.

"I don't know!" the Doctor said, sounding agitated. He was trying to use his key but the door wasn't solid. "I can't get it open. I don't know what is causing it to dematerialise."

"Can't you stop it?" Rose asked.

The TARDIS disappeared completely and the Doctor stared in shock at the empty spot. "She's gone. My TARDIS is gone," he said, sounding extremely shocked.

"It can't just be gone," Rose said, trying not to sound hysterical.

The Doctor took out his sonic screwdriver and did a scan. "I'm afraid it is," he said. He met Rose's eyes. "We are trapped."

Rose inhaled shakily. "What are we going to do now?" she asked.

"I...I really don't know," the Doctor said, running a hand through his hair in frustration.

Rose nodded and tried to blink back the tears gathering in her eyes. They were trapped, with no way out. The TARDIS had simply vanished. And worse, the Doctor had no idea what had happened. "It's alright," she found herself saying. "You'll think of something. You'll find a way to get the TARDIS back."

"Do you think so?" he asked her, sounding almost scared as if he was afraid she was going to start accusing him of trapping her on purpose.

Rose took his hand and gave it a squeeze. "Absolutely," she said with conviction. "You'll do it."

The Doctor smiled at her faith in him. "Rose, I..."

The sound of a carriage pulled by horses echoed through the quietness of the place. The Doctor and Rose were instantly on alert as they sprang apart and started looking to where the noise was coming from. The place they were in was literally in the middle of nowhere. In fact, Rose couldn't even see electrical lines or anything around.

A carriage pulled up to them. The man driving the carriage was in his early twenties and was dressed as a redcoat. He jumped down and sprang into a salute. "Sir, Madam," he bowed. "I apologise for my lateness. The carriage wheel broke on the way and I had to fix it."

"Oh, that's not a problem," the Doctor said pleasantly. "Lance Corporal...?"

"Milton, sir," the young man answered. "Patrick Milton. Captain Wesson sent me to pick you and Mrs. Smith and take you to the cantonment, sir."

"Ah yes, Captain Wesson," the Doctor said, with an air of mentioning an old friend. Rose could however see that he was merely going along with the Lance Corporal's words. "How is he?"

"He's been in Bombay for the past week, sir," Lance Corporal Milton answered. "He will be back by tonight."

"Yes, in Bombay," the Doctor said, stroking his chin thoughtfully. "Well," he said, regaining his enthusiasm. "Lead on Lance Corporal Milton. To the cantonment."

"Yes of course, Doctor Smith," he said at once. He opened the door to the carriage and offered Rose his hand. "Mrs. Smith?"

Rose plastered on a smile and took his hand to climb into the carriage. Her heart was thudding as she realised that Patrick Milton was a British soldier in India and he had just called Mumbai 'Bombay'. She looked at the Doctor who had climbed in after her in the carriage.

"Yes," he said in a low voice as he caught the look on her face. "We are in India. Except..."

"We're in the past," Rose said, finishing his sentence. "This is during the British Raj."

"1893 to be precise," he said. "We are trapped more than a hundred years in your past."

A/N So yeah, a short chapter to get started.

1893 India. The British Raj. Fascinating historical period.

Anyway, the TARDIS gone and the Doctor and Rose stuck. That ought to be fun.

Fun fact: 'Cat among the Pigeons' the book by Agatha Christie that Rose was reading was the first Christie novel that I read when I was about 12.

Part 2 will be up on Thursday. See you then!

~ Phoenix