Love Don't Roam (Reprise)
Disclaimer- I own nothing from Doctor Who, everything belongs to BBC. I am merely borrowing the episodes and characters for fun and claim no ownership over them.
Hello beautiful people! Thank you for all the reviews and favourites. It really means a lot to me and I'm glad people seem to be enjoying the story. So, I got this chapter up far faster than I have any other thus far! So, yay me!
This episode has undergone some pretty big changes since the last time I wrote it and I hope you all like the changes. I never really liked this episode but at the same time found the concept pretty interesting. I think my biggest problem with it as a whole is again, Francine Jones, she just annoys me through the whole episode and I really want to smack her.
Anyways, enough of my rambling. Please enjoy the chapter and let me know what you think. Oh, and Merry Christmas.
3.7: 42
Everything is quiet and peaceful within the TARDIS as she drifts inside the vortex, as it should be considering nothing should be able to reach the TARDIS while here. However, the doors to the time machine open and in walks in the young man who has been appearing in the Doctor and Rose's timeline even if they aren't always aware of it.
He walks towards the center of the console and smiles up at the rotor when it lights up, "Hello, Old Girl." he says with a gentle pat of the machinery.
That calm humming fills his mind and he smiles sadly at the time rotor.
"I know. I know." he interrupts the TARDIS, "I know you don't want to take them there but, you have to. If you don't you'll greatly alter their future, as you already know." there is silence for a long time before the young man sighs again, "Besides, if you don't take them, the Doctor won't figure out about Rose until it's much too late and you know what will happen if he doesn't find out."
The TARDIS' sad melody plays in his mind and he sighs.
"I know that too... I would give anything for them not to have to go through this or anything that comes after but... we can't change their timeline without causing severe damage to the timestream itself." he replies solemnly.
The two are silent for a small eternity before the young man sighs and starts heading for the door. He pauses when he reaches it and smiles at the time rotor, though it doesn't reach his eyes, "Just... take care of them, alright?"
With that he leaves the TARDIS, disappearing back into the timestream once more.
Rose wakes up to a firm, warm weight around her waist and she glances down to see the Doctor's arm holding her form tightly to his chest. A smile graces her face at the sight, realizing how much she's missed this during the time they slept apart - she idly wonders if the Doctor slept at all during that time but quickly decides not to pursue that line of questioning.
She shifts on the bed slightly to get in a more comfortable position but the Doctor groans in his sleep and tightens his arm around her waist, pulling her flush against him once more. Once he has her against him the Doctor nuzzles the nape of her neck before sighing in content.
Rose laughs at the action and lies down, knowing she isn't going anywhere until the Doctor awakens - grabbing her book off the nightstand to read while waiting for him to wake up to start the day.
A few hours pass with Rose reading quietly before the Doctor finally stirs and blinks up at Rose as if seeing her for the first time. She smiles down at him, "Good mornin'."
"Morning." he groans back, rubbing a hand down his face in an attempt to wake himself up more. "How long have you been up?"
"Not very."
The Doctor's eyes shift to the book in her hand that she is now more than half way through when last night she had barely started and the Doctor gives her a pointed look. Rose sighs.
"A few hours."
"Why didn't you wake me, then?"
"You needed the sleep." Rose says with a shrug. Now that he's awake and released her, Rose climbs from the bed and stretches out her stiff body. She hears the shuffling noise of the Doctor also climbing out of bed but doesn't turn around as she makes her way over to the closet to pick out her clothes for the day.
"So, where would you like to go today?" the Doctor asks as he also starts getting ready.
"Dunno." Rose answers honestly. She bites her lip nervously as she debates with herself for a few agonizing moments, "You need to speak to Martha though."
The Doctor stops what he's doing and turns to face Rose directly with a brow raised in confusion, "What do you mean? What do I need to talk to Martha about?"
Rose doesn't turn to face him, too nervous to do so, but she steels her resolve in this, "She fancies you, Doctor." she hears his chuckle of disbelief, "And you need to explain things to her properly before they get worse. You can't let her continue to believe that something can happen between the two of you, when you and I are clearly in a relationship."
"But... we already told her that we were, when we met her in the hospital." the Doctor protests, obviously not understanding the situation - like always, he doesn't understand the human element of things. "She already knows that I don't like her that way."
Finally Rose does turn to face him, her eyes ablaze with her anger and annoyance, "And until we had our conversation last night, I doubted your feelings for me, I doubted our relationship because you didn't tell me properly. Because you treated Martha differently than anyone we had aboard before." she points out. "So, if I thought Martha was more than a friend to you, and we're actually in a relationship, how do you think Martha's interpertin' everthin'? I can't be the one to tell her because she's just goin' to see it as me 'markin' my territory'. She needs to hear it from you, the one she has feelings for."
Silence engulfs the room as Rose gives the Doctor the time necessary to mull over her words and come to his own conclusion - she just hopes it's the right one. She can see the gears in his head turning furiously as he processes everything and ever outcome that can come from this before she sees him come to his answer.
The Doctor looks up and stares Rose right in the eye, determination in his gaze that has a small smile forming on Rose's face.
"You're right. I'll talk to her about everything before we head out today." he says seriously. "Best to resolve this now, then let things escalate further."
"Good." Rose replies before she gets back to preparing for the day.
The Doctor comes up behind her and wraps his arms around her waist and places a chaste kiss to her neck. "I love you."
Another smile tugs at Rose's lips, "I love you too."
The Doctor then leaves the room so Rose can get ready and heads to the console room so he can get things ready - both for his talk with Martha and where they're going for the day. Turns out he doesn't have as much time as he thought - and hoped - he would when Martha comes strolling into the room ten minutes later. Her entire face lights up when she sees the Doctor and he feels very much like a deer caught in headlights at the moment.
"Good morning." the medical student greets.
Now that Rose has told him how their companion feels about him the Doctor can see it as clear as day and he wonders how he ever could have missed it in the first place. He swallows past the lump in his throat and gives Martha a weak smile, "Morning."
"Where's Rose?" Martha asks after noticing their friend isn't in the room yet.
"Still getting ready." he replies, wringing his hands nervously. "So... I wanted to talk to you about something."
"Really? What?"
Panic begins to overwhelm the Doctor as he tries to get the words past his frozen lips but nothing comes out despite many attempts. His eyes dart around for some kind of rescue and his eyes finally land on the phone loosely clutched in Martha's hand.
"Why do you have that?" he questions, gesturing to the device.
Martha blinks, clearly confused by the sudden query and knowing on instinct that this wasn't what the Doctor wanted to talk to her about. Against her better judgement Martha decides to let him have this out and hopes that he will be more comfortable talking about whatever it is later.
"I was trying to call my sister, to let her know that I'm alright... but I can't seem to make it work." she explains absently.
"Give me that." the Doctor says before snatching the phone out of her hand. He starts moving the sonic screwdriver over it before replacing the battery in the back with one he removes from his pocket. "Right, there we go." he hands the device back to her. "Universal roaming. Never have to worry about a signal again."
Martha blinks in surprise before laughing, "No way." He just smiles at her, "This is too mad. You're telling me I can phone anyone, anywhere in space and time on my mobile?"
"As long as you know the area code." he answers with a shrug. "Frequent flier's privilege. Go on, try it."
Martha steps away and calls her sister's number, over joyed when she hears her voice over the line.
The Doctor smiles as he watches the medical student until he notices Rose in the doorway, looking at him with disappointment in her eyes. He smiles sheepishly at her, "Sorry... I panicked."
Rose shakes her head and comes to stand by his side, putting a gentle hand on his shoulder, "It's alright... but you still need to talk to her."
"I know. I know. I will, promise."
At that moment the TARDIS chimes, alerting the occupants to something, and the Doctor gives Rose one more smile before he turns to see what the TARDIS has found.
"Distress signal." he states.
Rose rolls her eyes, "Saved by the bell." she mumbles but does hope that whoever is in trouble will be okay until they get there to help them.
"Locking on." the Doctor continues as Martha joins the couple back at the console, having hurried off the call with her sister to return her focus on the task at hand, "Might be a bit of-"
They are all thrown to the floor as the TARDIS comes to an abrupt stop and the Doctor pops back up with a goofy smile on his face.
"Turbulence." he says. "Sorry." the Doctor helps Rose to her feet - completely missing the dazed look on the blonde's face as she hears faint whispers in the back on her mind - and smiles at both ladies, "Come on, ladies. Let's take a look."
With that he runs out the door with Martha hot on his tail. Rose shakes her head to try and clear the noise in the back of her mind but it does nothing to silence the voice. Sighing, the blonde hurries after her friends and closes the TARDIS door as they enter into a small and extremely hot room.
Steam is everywhere around them and the room has an eerie red glow that instantly puts Rose on edge, the voice in her mind growing louder now that she's no longer in the safety of the TARDIS.
"Distress signal transmitted." a computer announces.
"Whoa, now that is hot." the Doctor comments, looking around the room.
"Automated distress signal transmitted." the computer says once more.
Martha groans and sends a glare at the Doctor, "It's like a sauna in here."
"Burn with me." Rose mumbles.
Her companions both turn to her, Martha with a glare and the Doctor with a confused head tilt.
"That's not funny, Rose." the medical student snaps, not at all amused with Rose's comment.
"These look like venting systems." the Doctor starts, trying to draw the medical student's wrath away from Rose - though he is baffled as to why Rose would ever make a joke like that - and looks around some more, "Working at full pelt, trying to cool down. Wherever it is we are." He heads towards the only door in the room. "Well, if you can't stand the heat-"
"Get out of the fryin' pan." Rose finishes as she follows him out the door into the new area, taking off the jumper she had put on earlier to tie around her waist.
The trio is just taking in their surroundings when another trio - two men and a woman - come running towards them.
"Oi, you three!" one of the men shout.
Rose doesn't know why but the instant she sees these people she feels an overwhelming rage towards them, a rage that feels like it is burning her from the inside out. She grabs hold of the Doctor's arm to try and anchor herself and resist the urge to attack these people.
"Get out of there!" the woman screams at them.
"Seal that door now." the first man orders even though he pushes past the trio to do it himself.
The time travelers blink in confusion as they try to process what they've gotten themselves into now.
"Who are you?!" the woman demands. "What are you doing on my ship!?"
"Are you police?" the first man asks.
The Doctor raises a brow, "Why would we be police?"
"Do you need the police?" Rose questions further, trying to push aside the rage still boiling in her blood.
"No." the first guy says quickly. A bit too quickly for the couple's liking.
Martha shakes her head to try and keep her calm in this situation and be the voice of reason since clearly the Doctor and Rose aren't going to be, "We got your distress signal."
"If this is a ship," the Doctor starts, looking around, "Why can't I hear any engines?"
That's when his companions notice that the Doctor's right. The ship is silent, no sound of the engines running at all. This brings up some not so pleasant memories for Rose as she tries to push those to the furthest reaches of her mind.
"It went dead four minutes ago." the woman replies in a serious tone.
"So maybe we should stop chatting and get to Engineering." the second man finally speaks. "Captain."
"Secure closure active." the computer announces.
The trio of the crew look absolutely shocked by this development and stare around them in horror.
"What?" the captain demands.
"The ship's gone mad."
They all can hear as doors start slamming shut and locking and just as the door to the area they're in starts to close another woman joins them, looking behind her at the door that just sealed.
"Who activated secure closure?" she asks as she joins the group. "I almost got locked into are twenty-seven."
They all hear as the last door slams shut and then they are once more in silence. The woman who just joined them then notices their new 'crewmates'.
"Who are you?" she questions.
Martha smiles kindly at her, "This is the Doctor, Rose, and I'm Martha. Hello." She glances nervously at Rose, knowing their blonde companion is normally far more friendly at this but she seems almost angry at these people for some unknown reason that the medical student can't understand.
"Impact projection; forty-two minutes and twenty-seven seconds." the computer announces.
That worries Martha more than anything else at the moment. She spots the nearby porthole and moves over to gaze out. Her eyes widen at what she sees before her.
"We'll get out of this." the captain says in a voice that garners no argument. "I promise."
"Doctor." Martha whimpers.
The Doctor on the other hand looks at the crew around them in confusion, completely oblivious to Martha, "Forty-two minutes until what?"
"Doctor!" Martha calls gaining his attention. "Look."
She steps aside so the Doctor can look out the porthole and see the sun that the ship is slowly drifting closer to.
"Forty-two minutes until we crash into the sun." the captain says.
"Burn with me." Rose says again, earning her another glare from the medical student.
"That's even less funny now, Rose." Martha growls at her, "Stop it."
The Doctor gives Rose a questioning look but then turns his focus to the captain, prioritizing the lives they need to save and then he'll figure out what's wrong with Rose once they're all safe. "How many crew members on board?"
"Seven." the captain answers instantly, "Including us."
"We transport cargo across the galaxy. Everything's automated. We just keep the ship space worthy." the second guy explains further, giving Rose the side eye since he doesn't like the way the young woman is acting at all.
"Call the others. I'll get you out." the Doctor says as he starts running back to the door they left behind when they followed the crew away earlier.
"Doctor, wait!" Rose suddenly calls, quickly chasing after him.
"What's he doing!?" the young man from before shouts as the rest of the group also chase after the Time Lord.
"No, don't!" the captain tries to warn.
She is too late however, as the Doctor opens the door to the room they had exited only minutes before and is knocked down by a guizer of steam and he actually flinches at the intensity of the heat.
The young woman who had joined them last, puts on a wielder's mask and moves forward to close and seal the door to stop the steam from leaking out.
"But our ship's in there!" the Doctor protests as Rose helps him to his feet, keeping hold of his arm.
"In the vent chamber?" the young woman asks as she lifts the mask off her face.
"It's our lifeboat." the Doctor continues, ignoring the question.
The second guy from earlier shrugs his shoulders, "It's lava."
"No, she isn't." Rose says back before looking at the Doctor, "Why is it whenever we get in situations like this the TARDIS is always somewhere we can't get to? Seems to be a pattern."
"I don't know, but clearly she's not in the mood to give us an answer." the Doctor replies grumpily.
The young woman looks at a gage to see what the temperatures are inside the vent chamber, "The temperature's going mad in there. Up three thousand degrees in ten seconds, and still rising."
"Channeling the air," the first guy says. Rose notices the way he keeps eyeing Martha but seems to not notice this herself. The closer we get to the sun, the hotter that room is going to get."
"We're stuck here." Martha grumbles as she pinches the bridge of her nose to keep from screaming at the Doctor.
"Yeah Martha, Rose just said that." the Doctor replies, missing the angry glare the medical student sends his way, "So, we fix the engines, We steer the ship away from the sun. Simple." He swears he hears Rose mumble under her breath about things never being that simple but he chooses to ignore that comment as he turns to the crew, "Engineering down here, is it?"
"Yes." the captain confirms.
With that the group races down the hall towards the engine, hoping that the Doctor's plan will work.
"Impact in forty twenty-six."
"Not helping." Rose grumbles at the computer. She has a severe hatred for countdowns, every time she's come across one since meeting the Doctor's it's never ended well.
The group arrive in engineering and they all look around in shock at the utter destruction in the room. The Doctor instantly knows that this is because someone purposefully did this not because of the ship hitting anything or the gravitational pull of the sun.
"Blimey," the Doctor says, needing to fill the silence, "Do you always leave things in such a mess?"
"Oh, my God." the captain says as she turns in useless circles at the destruction of her ship.
"What the hell happened?" the second guy asks as he picks up some of the wreck and throws it aside once more.
The first guy from before looks hopeless, "Oh, it's wrecked."
"Pretty efficiently too." the Doctor comments. "Someone knew what they were doing."
"Where's Korwin? Has anyone heard from him and Ashton?" the captain asks the crew, who all answer in the negative.
"No." the second guy replies.
Martha ignores the crew as she looks to the Doctor for answers, "You mean someone did this on purpose?"
The captain hurries over to the intercom and turns it on, "Korwin, Ashton?" she asks, "Where are you? Korwin, can you answer?" When she still gets no response she turns back to the group, "Where the hell is he? He should be up here."
"Oh, we're in the Torajii system." the Doctor says, drawing everyone's attention back to him. No one had noticed him move our to a nearby terminal, but that is where he is. He turns to smile at Martha, "Lovely. You're a long way from home, Martha. Half a universe away."
Martha scoffs, "Yeah. Feels it."
The Doctor smiles again before looking back at the terminal.
"And you're still using energy scoops for fusion? Hasn't that been outlawed yet?"
Rose instantly notices how tense the crew - especially the captain - become at the Doctor's question. That anger is once more boiling under her skin again and this time she can't stop herself from glaring at the woman in charge.
"We're due to upgrade next docking." the captain answers. She then turns to the second guy from before who is examining the engine, "Scannell, engine report."
He looks up at her, "No response."
"What?" she says with a start.
"They're burnt out. The controls are wrecked. I can't get them back online." Scannell explains in a defeated tone.
The Doctor huffs a laugh at that, "Oh, come on." he says dismissively, "Auxiliary engines. Every craft's got auxiliaries."
"We don't have access from here." the captain returns. "The auxiliary controls are at the front of the ship."
"Yeah, with twenty-nine password sealed doors between them and us. You'll never get there in time." Scannell states.
"Can't you override the doors?" Martha asks. She glances at the blonde, wondering why Rose is being so quiet. She is normally so lively and always has a snarky comment up her sleeve. However, suddenly she is quieter than a church mouse and there seems to be rage radiating off her in waves. She seems almost as dangerous as the sun the ship is currently hurtling towards - and isn't that a terrifying thought.
"No. Sealed closure means what is says. They're all dead-lock sealed." Scannell answers the medical student.
The Doctor actually frowns at that, "So, a sonic screwdriver is no use."
"Nothing's of any use." Scannell snaps at the Doctor. "We've got no engines, no time, and no chance."
"Burn with me."
Everyone turns to Rose again.
"Why does she keep saying that?" Scannell says with a glare at the blonde.
"What's wrong with you, Rose?" the medical student presses, now a little more concerned about her friend than angry at her for the comment. She now realizes that Rose isn't trying to be funny, something else is going on with her.
"Just a little out of sorts is all." the Doctor answers the man. "Now, listen to you. Defeated before you even started. Where's your Dunkirk spirit?" No one says anything in return. "Who's got the door passwords?"
"They're randomly generated. Reckon I know most of them." the first guy says. When they all look at him he smiles sheepishly, "Sorry. Riley Vashti."
The Doctor smiles in response, "Then what are you waiting for, Riley Vashti? Get on it."
The smile slips from Riley's face.
"Well, it's a two person job. One, a technish for the questions, and the other to carry this." Riley explains before grabbing a device that he shows everyone, "The oldest and cheapest security system around, eh, Captain?"
"Reliable and simple, just like you, eh, Riley?" the captain replies.
Riley puts on the backpack, that has a built in computer on his back, "Try to be helpful, get abuse. Nice."
"Martha, go with Riley." the Doctor orders.
The medical student blinks in surprise from where she is standing in front of Rose, who seems a little catatonic at the moment and is just glaring at the crew before her, "What about Rose?"
"I'll take care of Rose. Always do." he answers, "Now get, on the clock."
"Right." Martha huffs, clearly not liking the brush off the Doctor's giving her as she moves to join Riley. "Make myself useful, yeah?"
Riley hands her the gun looking device, "It's remotely controlled by the computer panel. That's why it needs two."
"Got it." the medical student replies.
The two start heading towards the door the group entered from.
"Oi." the Doctor calls out. He waits until Martha looks back at him, "Be careful."
"You too." she responds, throwing one more worried glance at Rose before she leaves with Riley to get to work.
Suddenly the intercom crackles to life, "McDonnell. It's Ashton."
The captain hurries back to the intercom, "Where are you? Is Korwin with you?" she questions desperately.
"Get up to the med-center now!" Ashton replies.
McDonnell starts racing from the room and the Doctor glances at Rose, who nods her head to let him know that it's okay, before he runs after the captain. They race past Martha and Riley at the door on their way.
Rose moves over to stand near the young woman and smiles hesitantly to her, "Anythin' I can do to help?"
She smiles at her in return, "Can you help me clear these parts down?"
"Yeah."
"Impact in thirty-four thirty-one."
When the Doctor and McDonnell enter the med-center they see a man and a woman trying to hold another man down on the bed as they try to get him inside what looks like an MRI scanner.
"Argh!" the man screams, "Stop it!"
"Korwin, it's Abi!" the woman says as she tries to examine the man. "Open your eyes, I need to take a look at you."
"Korwin!"
McDonnell runs over to stand at Korwin's feet as she tries to figure out what to do.
"What's happened? Is he okay?" she asks the woman who is clearly the doctor of the ship.
"Help me! It's burning me!" Korwin shouts.
The Doctor moves closer but stays out of the way, trying to figure out is wrong with the man without knowing all the facts.
"How long's he been like this?" he finally asks.
"Ashton just brought him in." the doctor replies to the Doctor.
Still staying out of the way, the Doctor pulls out his screwdriver and scans the writhing man. He frowns at what the device tells him and he notices the glare the captain sends his way.
"What are you doing?" she demands.
The Doctor takes her by the shoulders and pulls her back a few steps, "Don't get too close."
"Don't be stupid." she snaps as she breaks free of the Doctor's grip. "He's my husband."
"And he's just sabotaged our ship." the man, Ashton, replies hotly.
The captain stops what she's doing and turns back to her crewmate with shock written clearly on her face, "What?"
"He went mad. He put the ship on secure closure, then he set the heat pulse to melt the controls." Ashton explains.
"No way. He wouldn't do that."
"I saw it happen, Captain!"
The Doctor, fed up with the human approach and listening to them argue back and forth, moves forward to stand over Korwin just like the doctor is, moving Ashton aside.
"Korwin?" he asks as calmly as he can, "Korwin, open your eyes for me a second."
"I can't!" the man protests in a loud whine.
"Yeah, of course you can. Go on." the Doctor tries to coax.
Korwin shakes his head, "Don't make me look at you, please."
Hearing the man's pain and feeling sympathy for him, the Doctor grabs the hypo-gun off the nearby tray.
"Alright now, alright now, alright now. Just relax." he says gently, looking to the lady doctor for confirmation, "Sedative?"
"Yes." she answers swiftly.
The Doctor quickly sedates the man and sighs in relief when he stops struggling. McDonnell moves forward again, despair in her eyes.
"What's wrong with him?" she pleads.
"Rising body temperature, unusual energy readings." the Doctor says before he finally notices the device that they had been trying to get Korwin within, "Statis chamber. I do love a good statis chamber." He turns to the doctor, "Keep him sedated in there. Regulate the body temperature... And, just for fun, run a bioscan and tissue profile on a metabolic detail."
"Just doing them now." she answers him with a smile.
"Oh, you're good." the Doctor says with a smile of his own. "Anyone else presenting these symptoms?"
"Not so far."
"Well, that's something."
"Will someone tell me what's wrong with him." McDonnell demands.
The Doctor turns to face her, "Some sort of infection. We'll know more after the test results." He smiles nervously at her, "Now, allons-y, back downstairs. Hey. See about those engines. Go. Hey. Go."
Though they are both confused and concerned about what's going on - and the fact that someone other than the captain is giving orders - McDonnell and Ashton scurry out of the med-center and head back to engineering so they can help get things going.
The Doctor smiles at the woman left in the room, "Call us if there's any news. Any questions?"
"Yeah. Who are you?" she asks.
He leans back through the door with one of his manic smiles in place once more, "I'm the Doctor. Nice to meet you."
With that he races from the room. She laughs at his antics and shakes her head, getting back to work. Now that her back is turned to her patient she misses the fact that the sedated man's hand twitches.
"Heat shield failing. At twenty-five percent. Impact in thirty-two fifty."
Riley is typing away at the portable computer and Martha is standing beside him, tapping her foot impatiently as she waits for him to get things going.
"Hurry up, will you?" she snaps.
"All right." he says back, in a much calmer voice than Martha, "Fix the clamp on."
She does as he instructed and glances down at him as he continues working on the keypad.
"What are you typing?"
"Each door's trip code is the answer to a 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."
"So you type in the right answer?" the medical student clarifies.
"This sends an unlock pulse to the clamp." he explains further, "But we only get one chance per door. Get it wrong, the whole system freezes."
"Better not get wrong then."
"Okay. Date of the SS Pentallian's first flight." he reads aloud, then smiles, "That's all right." he types something in the keypad, "Go!"
The clamp lights up green and the bulkhead door swings open for them. A smile lights up Martha's face.
"Yes!"
They gather up their stuff and head through the door.
"Twenty-eight more to go!" Riley says.
The Doctor re-enters engineering to find everyone hard at to try and repair the engines, including Rose - who he notices is still a little stiff around the crew but acting more like she normally does.
He hurries to join them, putting a comforting hand on Rose's shoulder as he passes her, and starts getting things together. As he works with the wires in his hands the Doctor reaches over as far as he can and turns on the intercom again, "Abi!" he calls out, "How's Korwin doing? Any results from the bio-scan?"
"He's under heavy sedation." she replies, "I'm just trying to make sense of this data. Give me a couple of minutes and I'll let you know."
The Doctor rolls his eyes and sighs, grumbling under his breath all the while, "Martha? Riley? How're you doing?"
"Area twenty-nine. At the door to twenty-eight." the medical student answers back.
"They've only got one door down." Rose says from where she is near the young woman.
The Doctor nods his head in agreement, "Yeah, you've got to move faster."
"We're doing our best." Martha returns, "Unless you'd like to switch places!"
"You don't know how to fix an engine!"
"Stop fightin'!" Rose interrupts before things can escalate.
Everyone goes silent, working away at what they're doing. None dare to make a sound.
"Find the next number in the sequence; three one three, three three one, three six seven." Riley said aloud, "What?"
This causes everyone to stop what they're doing, looking at each other in concern.
"You said the crew knew all the answers." they hear Martha say.
"The crew's changed since we set the questions."
There is a long pause before Martha speaks again, "You're joking."
The Doctor rolls his eyes as he keeps working, "Three seven nine."
"What?" Martha asks.
"It's a sequence of Happy Primes. Three seven nine."
"Happy what?"
Annoyance is becoming obvious on the Doctor's face, "Just enter it."
"Doctor." Rose says in a voice that is not the same that she usually uses to chastise him, it's pretty damn close.
"Are you sure..." Riley asks uncertainly, "We only get one chance."
The Doctor pinches the bridge of his nose to try and keep his tone calm, "Any number that 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 that is both happy and prime. Now type it in!" He sees the look Rose gives him and sighs again, "I'm sorry, but having to dumb it down so they understand! Don't they teach recreational mathematics any more?"
Rose chuckles, "I think you're the only one you enjoys math, Doctor."
He smiles at her in response.
"We're through!" Martha announces.
"Keep moving, as fast as you can." the Doctor returns. "And, Martha, be careful. There might be something else on board this ship."
"Any time you want to unnerve me, feel free." the medical student grumbles.
"Will do, thanks."
"Impact in thirty fifty."
"Be quiet, yeah?" Rose grumbles as she gets back to work just like everyone else.
Martha and Riley get the next door, setting up their device. She places the clamp against the door and looks down at her partner. "I can't believe our lives depend on some stupid pop quiz." she sees the question on he screen, "Is that the next one."
"Oh this is a nightmare!" Riley groans. "Classical music. Who had the most pre-downloads ones, Elvis Presley or The Be-atles?" He looks up at Martha hopelessly - he sees the annoyance on her face, "How are we supposed to know that?"
She groans herself before turning her attention to the ceiling.
"Doctor?"
"We need a back-up in case they don't reach the auxiliary engines in time." the Doctor says as he looks at everyone, "Come on, think. Resources. What have we got?"
"I don't think we'll be able to fix this engine." Rose adds.
"Don't give up yet, precious girl."
"Sorry." she replies.
"Doctor?"
They all look at the ceiling while the Doctor actually sags in annoyance, "What is it now?"
"Who had the most number ones," she asks quickly, "Elvis or The Beatles? That's pre-download."
"Elvis." the time travelling couple say at the same time.
"You sure? Only have one chance."
"Yes." Rose replies quickly, "Mum was an Elvis fan. Trust me, Martha."
The medical student bites her lips in contemplation for what had barely counted as a moment before nodding her head at Riley.
"Hope she's right." Riley mumbles, flinching when Martha kicks him in the shin. He types the answer in and they wait with baited breath to see if Rose was in fact right about her answer.
It takes what feels like an eternity before the clamp lights up green just like the first time and the door unseals. Smiles light up both their faces as they gather their stuff and start to head to the next door.
"We're through!" Martha announces loudly, "Thank you, Rose!"
"You're welcome."
The two hurried down the hall, knowing they have little time.
"Now, where was I?" the Doctor says as he focuses back at the task at hand, "Here Comes the Sun!" a smile is on his face but vanishes very quickly, "No, resources. So, the power's still working, the generator's going. If we can harness that... Ah!"
McDonnell catches onto his train of thought rather quickly, "Use the generator to jump-start the ship."
"Exactly." the Doctor agrees, "At the very least, it'll buy us more time."
"Burn with me."
The Doctor turns to Rose again, his brow raised in confusion, "You... Rose, do you know what you're saying?"
She tilts her head in confusion, "I... I have no idea why I keep saying that."
"Is she alright?" McDonnell asks.
"Yes, yes, yes." the Doctor says as he spins back to face the crew, trying to push down his growing nerves about Rose, "Just a bit of a headache. Back to the task at hand, use the generator to jump-start your ship."
"That's a brilliant idea." the captain replies uncertainly.
"He tends to have them."
"Rose." the Doctor says with a groan, "Anyways see, a tiny glimmer of hope."
The guys who is basically the embodiment of defeat, "If it works."
His captain actually glares at the man, making him stand ram-rod straight.
"Oh, believe me. You're going to make it work."
The man sets to work with the young woman chasing after him to help in whatever way she could. As he gets off to do as ordered the Doctor blinks owlishly.
"That told him." he says off-handedly. As everyone else gets to work, the Doctor leads Rose to the side. He brushes some hair out of her face, "What's going on, Rose? You've been acting strange since we got here."
She shakes her head helplessly, "I don't know... since the moment we landed, I have had this voice in the back of my mind... and... this anger has been building in me."
Listening to her words the Doctor thinks back to what happened back on New Earth and the idea digs deep within his mind. He hesitantly lifts his hand to the side of her head but clenches his hand into a fist. Rose notices the aborted move and looks at the Doctor in confusion.
"What is it?"
"Do you think I could..." he swallows past the lump in his throat, "Could I read your mind?"
Not sure what she was expecting, Rose nods her head in agreement. He places his hand carefully on her temple and the couple close their eyes as the Doctor explores her mind as if holding fragile dust in his hands.
"Impact in twenty-nine forty-six."
Martha and Riley get to their next door and she puts the clamp against the door like before. Her partner just get to work on the computer when her phone starts ringing in her pocket. Groaning under her breath, the medical student pulls it out of her pocket and brings it to her ear without checking the ID.
"Hello?"
"Hello, Martha?"
"Mum?" she squeaks, putting the phone between her chin and shoulder so she could hold it in place while putting both hands back on the clamp. "A little busy at the moment."
"That's all you have to say to me?" her mother snaps. "I have been calling you. Don't you check your messages?"
"Sorry, been really busy." the medical student says as she tries to think of a way to get out of the call.
"Is that all you're going to say?"
"Listen, can I call you back?"
"No, you'll listen to me. We need to talk about this Doctor and Rose." her mother cuts in.
"Mum, please, not now. I'm really busy and I'll call you back." Martha growls, hanging up her phone before her mother can say anything. She notices the strange look that Riley is giving her at the moment, "Don't ask."
"Wasn't going to."
She jumps a little when the clamp lights up and the door swings open.
"Let's go." Riley says, heading through the door.
She nods and the two of them hurry down the hall.
The Doctor pulls his hand away from Rose's face and stares at her with wide eyes that instantly has the blonde concerned. "What is it? What's wrong?"
"Rose... you're-"
"Doctor?" the doctor from the med-center interrupts for a moment. "These readings are starting to scare me."
The Doctor sighs, and though he wants to finish his conversation with Rose, he knows she'll never forgive him if he doesn't help these people. "What do you mean?"
"Well, Korwin's body is changing. His whole biological make-up." she explains.
This causes him even more concern and he and Rose look at each other.
"It's impossible."
Suddenly she goes quiet and the Doctor steps away from Rose as he gets a bad feeling in his gut.
"This is med-center! Urgent assistance requested!" she screams in utter terror. "Urgent assistance!"
The Doctor starts racing from the room, already knowing that something terrible has happened.
"Stay here! Keep working!" he orders as he flies from the room. He doesn't notice that McDonnell is following him.
"Urgent assistance!"
The young woman steps forward to offer comfort. "Abi, they're on their way."
"Burn with me." they hear over the com.
Those remaining in the room both turn to look at Rose with suspicion and fear in their eyes.
"I told you to stay in engineering!" the Doctor yells at McDonnell as he notices she's following him.
The woman glares at him as she pushes past him, "This is my ship, I don't take orders from anyone." She continues on her way and the Doctor sighs as he follows after her this time.
"Oh, you're going to be a handful."
A scream echoes through the ship and Martha looks around her with her stomach dropping out at the sound.
"Doctor..." she calls out uncertainly, "What are those screams?"
"Concentrate on those doors! You've got to keep moving forward."
"But..."
"It's important, Martha." the Doctor interrupts her, "You've got to keep moving."
"Okay."
"Impact in twenty-seven oh six."
The young woman moves protectively in front of Rose as the 'angry' man points a gun looking weapon at her.
"Scannell, you can't just threaten her." the woman states bravely.
"Move aside, Erina." he barks back while Ashton just watches the scene unfolding before him, "She said the same thing a Korwin's saying now. She knows something."
"She's been helping us since she got here. And Ashton, she's just showing any of the symptoms as Korwin was, right?" Erina pleads.
Ashton swallows before he nods, "She's right, Scannell. Miss Rose isn't showing any of same symptoms as Korwin and she hasn't done anything to hurt us or gone crazy like he did. If we don't get this started everyone is going to die."
"You can keep an eye on me, yeah?" Rose says now, "I get that I have you feeling fearfully, but we have to keep working."
Scannell mulls over their words and the situation at hand before putting the weapon down and turning back to the generator.
"Fine." he snaps. "But if she goes mad and kills all of us, it's on your heads."
"Erina, I need you to go get the equipment from storage." Ashton orders as he also climbs under the generator.
Erina sighs and heads out of the room.
The Doctor and McDonnell come into the med-center only to find it empty.
"Where's Korwin?" McDonnell asks in panic, "And Abi? They're both gone."
"Oh... I'm so sorry."
McDonnell looks at the Doctor and then at the wall that he's looking at and she gasps in shock.
"Tell me that's not Lerner." she pleads with him.
"Endothermic vaporization." the Doctor explains solemnly, "I've never seen one this ferocious." That's when he remembers the words Rose said and Korwin over the intercom, "Burn with me."
"That's what your friend, Rose, said." the captain points out.
"And Korwin over the com."
She shakes her head in denial. "What? You think...? No way! Korwin isn't a killer. He can't vaporize people! He's human!"
The Doctor picks up the scans Abi had been speaking of before her death.
"His bioscan results. Internal temperature, one hundred oxygen replaced by hydrogen." he states looking at her in sympathy, "Your husband hasn't been infected, he's been overwhelmed."
She snatches the scans out of his hands as she glares at him full of hate, "The test results are wrong."
"But what is it, though?" the Doctor bulldozes ahead, "A parasite? A mutagenic virus? Something that needs a host body, but how did it get inside him?"
"Stop talking like he's some kind of experiment!" she snaps at him.
"Sorry, no time to be gentle with this, everyone's in danger at the moment." the Doctor says, "Where's the ship been? Have you made planet-fall recently? Docked with any other vessels? Any kind of external contact at all?"
She glares at him again, "What is this, an interrogation?"
"We've got to stop him before he kills anyone else."
"We're just a cargo ship." McDonnell still denies.
The Doctor stares at her seriously, "Do you need a minute?"
"I'm fine." she says too quickly, "I need to warn the crew." McDonnell moves over to the intercom, "Everybody, listen to me. Something has... infected Korwin. We think he killed Abi Lerner. None of you must go anywhere near him, is that clear?"
"Understood, captain." Scannell replies.
"Erina?" comes Ashton's voice over the com. "Get back here with that equipment."
She rolls her eyes and turns off the intercom and opens a locker.
"Whatever you say boss." she grumbles. "Go there. Come back. Fetch this. Carry these. Make drinks. Sweep up. Please, kill me now."
Erina closes the locker to find a man with a wielders mask over his face as he glares at her. She jumps in surprise and drops all the equipment to the floor.
"Burn with me."
"Korwin?" she asks in a terrified whisper.
"Burn with me."
He starts to open the visor of his mask and a white light starts to bleeding out. Trying to escape from him Erina backs up to the wall but knows she has nowhere to go.
Suddenly, Korwin is struck on the back and drops to his knees. Erina looks up in surprise to find Rose standing there with a pipe of some sort in her hands. The blonde holds out her hand to Erina and the woman takes it.
Once Rose has her hand grasped within her own the two flee from the room just as Korwin starts rising to his feet once more.
"Impact in twenty-four fifty-one."
The Doctor and McDonnell continue walking back towards engineering, while checking every nook and cranny for Korwin. McDonnell keeps glancing at the Doctor as she debates with whether or not ask the question burning in her throat at the moment.
"Is the infection permanent?" she finally blurts out. "Can you cure him?"
The Doctor eyes her from the side before he looks straight ahead once more. "I don't know."
"Don't lie to me, Doctor." she snaps, "Eleven years we've been married. We chose this ship together. He keeps me honest, so I don't want false hope."
He sighs in defeat.
"The parasite's too aggressive... Your husband's gone. There's no way back, I'm sorry."
Silence envelops them while McDonnell absorbs that information.
"Thank you."
He nods his head in reply. They are both silent for a few minutes more as they walk down the hall.
"Are you certain nothing happened to provoke this? Nobody's working on anything secret? Because it's vital that you tell me."
She shifts her gaze away, "I know every inch of this ship. I know every detail of my crew's lives. There is nothing."
"Then why is this thing so interested in you?"
"I wish I knew."
For some reason - let's call it his years of experience - the Doctor doesn't believe this woman. She knows more than she's saying, or, she doesn't know what it is yet and they aren't going to find out until it's too late, something the Doctor isn't looking forward to.
Martha and Riley stop at the next door they need to open.
"Doctor, we're through to area seventeen."
She puts the clamp to the door.
"You've got to keep going. You've got to get to area one and reboot those engines."
"Understood." she replies.
Ashton is still working underneath the generator as Scannell is working above him when they both hear a loud crash.
"I'll go check that out." Scannell says as he picks up the weapon and heads in the direction of the sound. "You keep working."
"Got it."
Scannell heads out into the hall and looks both ways with his weapon raised, searching the area with his eyes. He hears the clack of footsteps and aims his weapon, nearly shooting Rose and Erina as they come around the corner. Both women scream until they see whose before them.
"You've got to stop aimin' that thing at me." Rose says.
"Scannell, Korwin tried to kill me." Erina rushes to explain, "Rose saved me."
"He's not Korwin anymore." Rose grumbles, "Where's Ashton?"
"Back there working on the generator." Scannell answers, lowering the weapon for the first time. "Let's go."
They all head back to engineering just in time to see Korwin lift Ashton up in the air.
"They are getting too far. We must share the light." Korwin says as he places a hand on Ashton's head and the man screams.
"No!" Scannell shouts as he readies his weapon.
Rose catches his arm, "No, it's too late."
With help from Erina she pulls the man away and they start back down the hallway.
"Captain!" Scannell yells into the intercom as they run, hearing the heavy footfalls somewhere behind them, "Korwin's infected Ashton. They're both dangerous now!"
"What?!" the captain shouts in return.
"Heat shields falling. At twenty percent."
"Come on." Riley says as they start setting up at the next door.
"Hurry up, then."
Riley ignores the medical student as he keeps typing on his computer before he hits it in frustration.
"Everything on this ship is so cheap!"
The bulkhead behind them suddenly clangs open and both turn to face it. Martha's instincts instantly tell her something is seriously wrong and she clenches her fists in anticipation.
"Who's there?" Riley calls out.
There is nothing for a moment before a man in a helmet steps out. Martha, remembering McDonnell's warning backs up a step.
"Is that Korwin?" she asks in alarm.
"No, wait a minute." Riley is quick to assure. A smile spreads across his face when he realizes who it is, "Ashton, what are you doing?"
The man takes a step closer to them and the hairs on the back of Martha's neck start to rise, everything about this just feeling wrong to her.
"Burn with me."
That confirms Martha's suspicion and she looks around for an escape. She knows they don't have time to get through the next door with the 'man' right there and they obviously can't get around him - unless one is willing to be the sacrifice for the other which Martha isn't willing to do.
"Well, if you want to help..."
"Burn with me. Burn with me."
He starts stepping closer to them still and reaches to lift the polaroid filter on his helmet. Martha grabs Riley's arm and leads him to the door on the side that leads them to an escape pod, "Move, come on!"
She opens the door to the small adjacent area the escape pod is in and once they are both through seals the door behind them. A moment later Ashton appears at the porthole in the door, staring through at them. Seeing the man that is trying to kill them appear makes Riley open the small hatch to the escape pod and they swiftly climb inside to escape their pursuer.
"What is happening on this ship!?" Riley complains once they are inside the pod.
"You really have no idea why any of this is happening?" the medical student presses.
"No. None at all." he replies, "We just deliver cargo."
"Airlock sealed." the computer chimes in at that moment. "Jettison escape pod."
Martha's eyes widen in horror as she looks at her companion. "Does that mean us?" When Riley goes pale then turns to the controls Martha screams and turns to the intercom, knowing there is only one person who can save them now. "DOCTOR!"
The Doctor and McDonnell return to engineering to find it in worse shape then they left it in and everyone missing from the area. He searches around futilely searching for Rose though it is clear she isn't here anymore.
"Where is she?" he demands though McDonnell doesn't know anymore than he does, "Where's Rose?"
"Doctor!" Martha's terrified voice comes over the comm. "We're stuck in an escape pod off the area seventeen airlock. One of the crew is trying to jettison us! You've got to help us!"
"I'm on my way!" the Doctor shouts back.
"Why is this happening?" McDonnell asks no one in particular.
The Doctor glares at her, "Stay here. I mean it this time! Stay hidden until someone comes back for you."
With that he takes off running. Once alone, McDonnell slinks into the darkest corner of the room and slides to the floor, desperate and silent tears trailing down her cheeks as she lets herself give into her despair.
"Jettison held."
"Thank you." Riley says with a sigh of relief.
They barely have a moment to take in this victory however.
"Jettison reactivated."
Martha screams and hits Riley a couple of times while the young man works frantically to save them.
"Come on. Come on. Come on." Riley mumbles to himself as he fights against the thing trying to kill them, "Tsilpinski sequence. This'll get him."
"Jettison held. Escape pod stabilized."
Martha smiles at him in relief, "You're pretty good."
"Thank you."
McDonnell is still hiding in her own little corner when she hears footsteps. She covers her mouth to keep from making a sound as she peers around the engine to see who it is. Despite the wielder's mask covering his face she instantly recognizes the form of her husband and unable to control herself she steps out to approach him.
He instantaneously turns to face her.
"Korwin?" she asks, but remembers the Doctor's words, "What are you? Why are you killing my crew? What did you do to him? What have you done to my husband?"
Korwin stops and just stares at her, this sparks a small amount of hope in the captain. Hope that maybe the Doctor is wrong and that her husband can be saved.
"You recognize me. Korwin, you know me. It's Kath. Your wife." she pleads with him, trying to reach the man she loves through the creature that's trying to control him.
"...My wife..."
A smile forms on McDonnell's face, "That's right. You're still in there. I'm your wife."
All of her hope dies with his next words however.
"It's your fault."
Ashton keeps fighting with Riley to jettison the pod.
"That's enough!" the Doctor shouts, drawing the being's attention to him.
The two entities stare each other down, neither wavering in their resolve.
"What do you want?" the Time Lord presses, "Why this ship?"
Without saying a word, Ashton slams his hand into the keypad and shatters it. Thus keeping the jettison sequence from being stopped and from the Doctor using it to save his friend.
"What do you mean, it's my fault?" McDonnell asks as she backs away from Korwin, fear coursing through her like a fire, more tears leaking from her eyes.
"it's your fault." Korwin states once more, "Now burn with me."
Korwin is about to lift the visor of his mask to vaporize her just as he did Abi when suddenly dry ice engulfs him from above, knocking the man to the ground.
McDonnell looks around frantically and spots Scannell spinning a valve rapidly to spray the being with the dry ice. She moves to stop him - or maybe to try and help her husband - but Rose and Erina stop her by holding her arms.
"What are you doing!?" she demands.
"Freezing him." Scannell returns in a stern voice. "Ice vents."
"You'll kill him." McDonnell protests.
Rose looks at the woman sadly, her heart breaking for the woman, "He's not your husband anymore."
"But he recognizes me!" she returns through her tears, "He's still in there!"
"I'm sorry. But whatever that thing is it's not your husband." Rose repeats as she holds fast to the struggling woman.
"Come on. Let's see you." the Doctor demands of the creature, showing none of the fear he's feeling on the inside. "I want to know what you really are. I want to know how you've connected with my Rose."
Ashton stands nose to nose with the Doctor. Both fierce beings radiating power as they stand facing each other. He raises his hand to lift the visor to vaporize the Doctor when he suddenly doubles over in pain.
The Doctor blinks in confusion, clearly not expecting that.
"Airlock sealed." the computer announces.
Ashton rises back to his full height, steps past the Doctor and disappears back down the hall that the Doctor and he arrived from when getting to this area.
The Doctor releases a deep breath before he moves to the intercom. "McDonnell? Ashton's heading in your direction. Just like Scannell said, he's been infected like Korwin."
"Korwin's dead, Doctor." Scannell replies in a mute voice.
"Are you all safe?" the Doctor demands in worry.
"We're fine, Doctor. Everyone's safe."
Hearing Rose's voice has the Doctor sagging in relief before he remembers that Martha is in danger and he moves to look through the porthole of the door.
Martha bangs on the door in a futile attempt to open it, "This thing's locked!"
"Airlock decompression completed." the computer announces, "Jettisoning pod."
At that moment the Doctor appears at the window to the door and Martha smiles and taps on the glass. "Doctor!"
He mouths something to her in return but Martha can't understand what he's trying to say.
"Martha," Riley says in a defeated voice, "It's too late."
The medical student chooses to ignore him, "Doctor!" he is still mouthing something to her but Martha can't understand him at all, "I can't hear you!"
He says it one more time as the pod leaves the hanger and starts to drift towards the sun. Martha sags down in her seat, realizing what is actually happening.
"I'm sorry."
"Impact in seventeen oh five."
"What did he mean, your fault?" Scannell asks. He looks a little shocked when McDonnell just drops to her knees next to Korwin's body, "What are you doing? Don't touch him, he's infected and that's how they spread it. Through touch."
"You murdered him." she hisses.
"He was about to kill you." he argues back.
"He recognized me."
"But he wasn't your husband anymore." Rose says sadly.
She is taken aback by the rage the woman sends her way. "What do you know!? You've been saying the same thing they have been and yet you're still you. So, why couldn't Korwin still have been in there! You don't know anything!"
Rose can feel that rage from earlier boiling in her blood again as she sends her own seething glare at the woman.
"I am sorry for your loss." she says in an icy voice that has everyone looking at her in shock. "But, you have no right to be mad at me. The Doctor, Martha and I have done nothing but help you since we got here and if we hadn't acted right now your husband would have killed you! I can't imagine the pain you're suffering with right now, but that is the truth."
The captain looks properly abashed by Rose's words and she does feel guilty for the way she spoke to the young woman - a woman who has nothing to do with any of this and who she's unfairly directed her anger towards.
"So, what are you going to do, sit there until we burn?" Scannell cuts in - feeling new found respect for the blonde he's felt nothing but suspicion for since she arrived, "Because without you none of us stand a chance of getting out of here."
"Scannell!" the Doctor's desperate and angry voice cuts through the air, "I need a spacesuit in area seventeen now!"
The man blinks in confusion, "What for?"
"Just get down here!"
"Rude!" Rose reprimands.
"Sorry, but no time for manners, Rose." the Doctor replies, "Now get down here!"
McDonnell looks at him expectantly, "Well, go on. Do as he says."
"Ashton's still out there." he reminds everyone.
"I'll deal with him."
He nods and hurries off.
Rose turns to Erina, "We're going to go work on those doors."
"But I thought Martha and Riley were handling that." she points out as Rose takes her hand and leads her down the hall.
"If the Doctor needs a spacesuit, it's because it's the only way to save Martha. Meanin' she isn't workin' on the doors."
"The wonderful world of space travel." Riley grumbles. "The prettier it looks, the more likely it is to kill you."
"He'll come for us." Martha says in a confident voice.
Riley shakes his head in denial, "No, it's too late. Our heat shields will pack any minute, and then we go into free fall. We'll fall into the sun long before he has a chance to do anything."
It's Martha's turn to shake her head.
"You don't know the Doctor. He's never let me down. I believe in him."
"You and him are...?"
Martha nods with a small smile, "Yeah."
"I thought that he and Rose were together."
"They have a history. One I could never hope to get between or completely understand but no, they aren't together like that."
Riley lets out a huff, "Then you're lucky. I've never found anyone worth of believing in."
"No girlfriend? Boyfriend?"
"The job doesn't lend itself to stable relationships." he replies.
"Family, then?"
He looks even more sad after that.
"My dad's dead, and I haven't seen my mum in six years. She didn't want me to sign up for cargo tours." he explains, "Things were said, and since then, all silent. She wanted to hold onto me, I know that... She's so stubborn."
"Yeah, well, that's families." Martha returns with a faint smile.
"What about you?'
"Full works." she says with a laugh. "Mum, dad, dad's girlfriend, brother, sister. No silence there. So much noise." This is when a horrible realization dawns for the medical student. "Oh my God! They'll never know! I... I'll have just disappeared, and they'll always be waiting."
"Call them."
The Doctor finishes checking the last of the seals on his spacesuit.
"I can't let you do this!" Scannell protests much to the Doctor's chagrin.
"You're wasting your breath, Scannell." the Time Lord replies in a voice that brooks no argument, "You're not going to stop me."
"You want to open an airlock in flight on a ship spinning into the sun. No one can survive that." the man argues, apparently not getting the memo that the Doctor was done with this conversation.
"Oh, just you watch."
"You open that airlock, it's suicide." Scannell continues, "This close to the sun, the shields will barely protect you."
"If I can boost the magnetic lock on the ship's exterior, it should re-magnetize the pod."
At that moment Rose and Erina go racing past and start setting up the device to unlock the door. The Doctor blinks in surprise and turns to face them.
"What are you two doing?" he questions.
Rose turns to him with a smile, "Openin' the doors. Time's runnin' out and we need those engines, yeah?"
"Rose..."
She moves forward and kisses him lightly on the lips, "No time for arguments. I've got to get these doors open and you've got to save Martha. Just be careful."
Knowing she's right, the Doctor quickly kisses Rose himself and steps back to grab his helmet, "You too."
Rose nods then hurries over to help Erina while the Doctor steps through the airlock.
"Decompression initiated. Impact in twelve fifty."
Martha dials in the number and then brings the phone to her ear. It rings a few times before the recipient picks up.
"Hello?"
"It's me again. Said I would call you back." Martha says around the lump in her throat, "Sorry about earlier."
"Is everything all right?" her mother asks.
"Yeah. Of course."
She sees the disapproval on Riley's face but chooses to ignore him.
"Martha?"
"Mum, I... you know I love you, don't you?"
"Of course I do." Francine replies easily, "What brought this on?"
Martha shakes her head, "I never say it. I never get the time. I never think of it, and then..." she swallows once more finding it harder to breath and a strange wetness on her cheek that she doesn't want to admit is there, "I really love you. Tell dad, Leo and Tish that I love them."
"Martha, what's wrong?"
"Nothing. I promise."
"Where are you?" her mother asks.
"Just out."
"With anyone nice?'
"Some mates." she answers vaguely.
"What mates?"
"Mum," Martha groans, "Can we not just talk?"
"Of course. What do you want to talk about?"
Martha thinks but no answer comes to mind, "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? Or Rose?" Francine practically growls at her, "Are they there now?"
Martha rolls her eyes and wipes her tears away, "Mum, just leave it."
"It's a simple enough question."
"I'd better go."
"No, Martha, wait-"
"See you, mum." before her mother can say anything else Martha hangs up the phone. She and Riley stare at each other as the full depth of their situation finally sets in and they hug each other crying in despair.
"Impact in eleven fifteen. Heat shield failing. At ten percent."
The Doctor rolls his eyes at the computer but when the outer airlock door slides open he grits his teeth against the intensity of the sun's rays. He climbs to the edge and since he has no safety line he holds onto the edge and stretches as far as he can.
"Come on! Come on!" he hisses, "Go on, my son!"
He manages to hit the two buttons and then stretches for the box just beyond them, straining himself beyond his limits.
"Doctor, how are you doing?" Scannell suddenly asks.
"I can't! I can't reach!" the Doctor shouts back. "I don't know how much longer I can last!"
There is nothing but silence and the Doctor groans in protest against what he's doing.
"Yes, you can do this."
"Rose?"
"Come on, Doctor." she encourages.
"What about the doors?"
"Erina and Scannell have those, yeah?" she answers, "You can't give up now, we need to save Martha."
"For Martha..."
"For Martha."
With that boost from his precious girl the Doctor manages to tear the cover off the box and with a big shout he finally pulls the lever.
The two in the escape pod are suddenly jostled from their embrace and look around in confusion, hope instantly sparking in Martha's heart.
"We're being pulled back." Riley exclaims after looking at the keypad.
Martha squeals in delight, "I told you! It's the Doctor!"
After pulling the lever the Doctor falls back into the airlock and crawls towards the door, gasping for breath.
"Doctor?!" Rose calls out to him, "Are you alright?"
While checking to make sure that the pod is indeed returning the Doctor stares at the sun and that's when he sees the truth.
"It's alive. It's alive. It's alive!"
As his body begins to burn from within, Rose's agonized scream fills the Doctor's ears.
"Doctor, close that airlock now!" Scannell shouts from where he and Erina are working, both wondering what happened to Rose to cause her to scream like that. "That pod's going to smash into him."
"Keep working!" McDonnell's voice suddenly call up to them.
The two do as their captain says as she tends to Rose, who is in a crumpled heap on the floor .
"Airlock recompression completed."
The door slides open the Doctor removes his helmet as he crawls through the airlock just as the pod docks. He reaches out and takes Rose's hand in his as the couple lie on the floor.
"Doctor! Rose!" Martha screams as she and Riley enter the ship. "Are you okay?"
The Doctor opens his eyes briefly and they shine a brilliant white before he slams them shut once more.
"Stay away from me!" he shouts.
"What's happened?' the captain questions.
"It's your fault." the couple say at the same time, "It's your fault, Captain McDonnell!"
The captain swallows past the lump in her throat, "Riley, get down to area nine and help Scannell with the doors, send Erina back to help us." he doesn't move, staring at the two on the floor, "Go!"
That sends him into action and the young man races off down the hall.
"It's your fault, McDonnell. You mined the sun." the Doctor explains in a shout as he writhes in pain, though he never releases Rose's hand, "Stripped its surface for cheap fuel. You should have scanned for life!"
"I don't understand."
"Doctor, what are you talking about?" Martha tries to clarify, cause she's completely lost as well.
"That sun is alive." Rose continues on, "A livin' being, like us. When she mined for fuel, she took from its heart! Now it's in so much pain, screaming in agony and completely enraged!"
"What do you mean?!" McDonnell screeches, "How can a sun be alive? Why are you saying that?"
"Because, it's living in me and inside Rose's head."
Realization dawns on the captain's face and she looks completely devastated by this revelation just as Erina returns. "Oh... my... God..."
"Humans!" the Doctor growls, "You grab whatever's nearest and bleed it dry! You should have scanned!"
The two ladies look to the captain for some sort of explanation and just watch her shake her head.
"It takes too long. We'd be caught... Fusion scoops are illegal."
Martha's eyes widen when all the pieces finally fall in place. Why the crew thought they were police when they first arrived. Why they had been so shifty whenever they asked questions about what they do. Why the captain had been so defensive since the get go.
"You've got to freeze me, quickly." the Doctor demands.
"What?" Martha asks in confusion.
"Statis chamber. You've got to take it below minus two hundred! Freeze it out of me! 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!" he pauses a moment but then something seems to occur to him, "And keep Rose close to me!"
Martha glares at the captain, "Help me!"
The two women start to help the Doctor to his feet while Erina goes to help the young woman who had saved her life, hoping now she can return that favour.
"Impact in seven thirty."
The group enter the med-center and Martha grabs up the instruction manual while Erina helps Rose sit down near the stasis chamber.
"I can do it!" the medical student declare as she looks over the instructions.
"Martha, where are you?" the Doctor pleads - unknowingly feeding Martha's belief that he has feelings for her since he called for her before anyone else.
She moves closer to him, "It's all right, I'm here." she turns to McDonnell. "Just help me get him up." As they move to lie him in the statis chamber Martha focuses on the Doctor once more, "Statis chamber, minus two hundred, yeah?"
"Where's Rose?" the Doctor asks desperately, searching around blindly since his eyes are still closed tightly.
Rose reaches up weakly while keeping her other hand on the side of her head and loosely grabs the Doctor's hand, giving it a squeeze to assure him that she's there. He returns the gesture instantly.
Martha looks away from the affectionate interaction and looks back at the instructions. This is when McDonnell comes forward.
"No, you don't know how this equipment works." she says forcefully, not wanting anyone else to die, "You'll kill him. Nobody can survive those temperatures."
"He's not human. If he says he can survive, then he can." Martha argues, ignoring the shocked looks on McDonnell and Erina's faces at this news as she continues with what she has to do.
"Let me help you, then." McDonnell offers.
Martha glares at the woman, "You've done enough damage."
She blinks at the harsh words and takes a step back, not knowing what else to do.
"Ten seconds!" the Doctor says, clenching at thin air after Erina gently pulls Rose's hand away from the Doctor's as they prepare to freeze him, sending him inside the statis chamber. "That's all I'll be able to take! No more!"
"Got it." Martha answers as she prepares to start up the machine.
"Martha!"
She jumps in surprise and looks up at the Doctor from the controls, "Yeah?"
"It's burning me up! I can't control it!" he gasps, "If you don't get rid of it, I could kill you! I could kill you all! I'm scared! I'm so scared!"
"Just stay calm. You saved me, now I return the favour. Just believe in me." the medical student assures him.
"It's burning through me! Then what'll happen?"
Martha glares at the Doctor, noticing from the corner of her eye that the worse the Doctor gets the more pain Rose appears to be in.
"That's enough! I've got you."
The Doctor shakes his head, "There's this process, this thing that happens if I'm about to die. Rose can explain it."
"Shush," Martha interrupts. "Quiet now. Because that's not going to happen. I won't let it happen. Are you ready?"
"No."
Martha uses the joystick to send the Doctor into the chamber and types 200 into the keypad. Once that is done, she pushes the green button and flinches slightly as the Doctor screams, watching as his body temperature starts to drop.
"Heat shields failing. At five percent."
The Doctor's core temperature just gets to minus seventy when the power suddenly cuts out and the Doctor lets out a moan of protest.
"No! Martha, you can't stop it. Not yet!" the Doctor shouts in despair.
Martha looks to the captain for answers, "What happened?"
"Power's been cut in engineering."
"...Korwin..." Rose breathes.
McDonnell glares at the girl, "He's dead." she bites out before turning to Martha, "Leave it to me." With that she races from the room.
"Impact in four forty-seven."
Martha taps her foot impatiently, glancing from the door to the Doctor, "Come on!" she moans, "You're defrosting!"
Most of the ice has melted from the Doctor's body and he is starting to thrash about again much like he had been before.
"Martha, listen." the Doctor growls, fighting to remain in control, "I've only got a moment! You've got to go!"
She glares at the Doctor, angry at him for even suggesting such a thing.
"No way."
"Get to the front. Vent the engines. Sun particles in the fuel, get rid of them." the Doctor instructs.
"I am not leaving you."
"You've got to give back what they took."
"Doctor!" Martha protests.
"Please go."
Martha stops just before she make another protest and glances at Rose. The blonde is in just as bad shape as the Doctor but manages to give Martha a weak nod. She realizes that this is the only way to save those who remain on the ship including her Doctor and Rose so Martha sighs.
"I'll be back for you." she says before racing from the room.
"Impact in four oh eight."
Erina watches the two in the room writhe in pain and wishes there was something she could do to help them.
"Riley, Scannell, Erina." Comes McDonnell's voice over the comm. "I'm sorry."
The young woman blinks in confusion.
"Exterior airlock open." the computer announces and Erina realizes what her captain must have done and her heart breaks. A tear slides down her cheek but she doesn't let her grief overwhelm her.
The Doctor's thrashing and moans start to grow in volume and Erina looks at him in concern. She goes to move towards him but Rose catches her by the ankle. She glances down at Rose in confusion.
"...Hide..." the blonde says in the strongest voice she can muster.
Knowing that Rose is saying this for a reason, Erina runs over to the desk on the other side of the room and quickly ducks behind it. A moment later the Doctor falls out of the statis chamber and stumbles to his feet. He fights to keep his eyes shut but when he does open them to glance down at Rose they are nothing but brilliant white light.
Rose screams in agony and falls to her side, holding her head as if she is hearing a noise no one else can, her scream echoing through the ship.
The Doctor looks at Rose a moment longer before he just walks out of the room, albeit on unsteady feet.
Erina waits until the sound of steps fades before she hurries over to Rose's side. She notices that the blonde is mumbling something under her breath and determines what she's saying.
"Burn with me."
Martha races through the doors as fast as her feet will take her, her heart pounding in her chest and doing her best to ignore the warnings of the ship. They are of no use to her and all she can think about is doing as the Doctor instructed.
"Martha!" the Doctor's strain voice comes over the comm. She stops in her run to look around.
"Doctor, where are you doing?" she asks.
"I can't fight it!" he replies, "Give it back or burn with me."
Her heart drops at the words, realizing that she is losing the Doctor. She starts running again, pushing herself twice as hard.
"Burn with me, Martha."
"Impact in one twenty-one."
She runs despite the protests of her body, flying through the corridors, and nearly stumbling over the knee knockers a few times in her haste to reach the front of the ship.
"Collision alert! Collision alert!"
"It's not working! Why's it not working!?" she hears Riley scream.
"Collision alert! Fifty-eight seconds until fatal impact!"
At that moment Martha comes flying into the room, startling both Scannell and Riley with her sudden appearance and she takes a moment to take deep breaths.
"Vent - vent the engines. Dump the fuel." she says around gasps for air.
"What?" Scannell asks in confusion.
"Sun particles in the fuel." Martha explains in haste. "Get rid of them. Do it. Now!"
The men hurry to do as she said and Martha looks at the ceiling pleadingly.
"Come on, Doctor. Hold on." she whispers.
There is a loud bang. "Fuel dump in progress. Fuel dump in progress."
A smile lights up Martha's face.
"There!" Scannell exclaims in delight. "The auxiliaries are firing!"
The ship lurches but then starts to move away from the sun just as the countdown gets down to those fatal final numbers.
"Impact averted. Impact averted. Impact averted."
Martha takes a moment to sigh in relief. A moment to take in their victory when she remembers, her eyes widening in the process, "Doctor!" she says before racing to the back of the ship.
The Doctor struggles to his feet, having keeled over when the sun left his body, and looks at his surrounding, a smile pulling at his lips. He takes deep, calming breaths now that he is in control of his body once more and there isn't an entity trying to change him into its instrument of death.
"Doctor!" Martha shouts as she runs to him and throws her arms around him in a tight hug.
He hugs her back, just not as fiercely, as he takes in the fact that they survived and are safe. The medical student just pulls away when the Doctor remembers something himself and his eyes widen much like Martha's had.
"Rose." he whispers. He just turns to race down the hall himself when he sees, a few areas down the way, Rose coming towards them with Erina supporting her. She smiles - tired and weak but a genuine smile none the less - when she sees him and the Doctor runs down the hall to her, pulling her into his arms and hugging her as if his life depends on it. She hugs him back in the same manner. "Rose."
"Doctor."
Neither notice the happy smile Erina gives them. They don't notice as Riley and Scannell join them from the front of the ship. And they definitely don't notice the jealous and pained filled look Martha is giving them despite the fact she is glad both of them are safe and sound.
The crew look at the TARDIS in confusion as the Doctor smiles happily at seeing his beloved ship.
"This is never your ship." Scannell denies what his eyes are showing him.
The Doctor smiles at him, still tightly gripping Rose's hand in his, "Compact, eh? And another good word, robust. Barely a scorch mark on her."
"That's our girl." Rose says with a fond pat to the TARDIS, earning her a smile from the Doctor and a kiss to the top of her head.
Martha ignores their signs of affection and focuses on the three before them, "We can't just leave you drifting with no fuel."
Riley shakes his head, "We've sent out an official mayday." he says. "the authorities'll pick us up soon enough."
"Though how we'll explain what happened..." Scannell says in disbelief, still trying to wrap his mind around everything he's seen today.
"Just tell them. That sun needs care and protection just like any other living thing." the Doctor says seriously, making sure they all hear him.
"We'll make sure they know." Erina promises. She smiles at Rose and moves forward to hug the blonde. "And thank you, for saving my life."
Rose smiles and hugs her back, without letting go of the Doctor's hand, "You're welcome. Just take care of yourself, yeah."
"I promise."
The two smile at each other as Erina steps back to join her crewmates. Riley looks at Martha with a somewhat hopeful expression.
"So... um... You're off then." he says. "No chance I'll see you again?"
"Not really. And I already told you how things are back in the escape pod." she says. Riley briefly glances at the Doctor and Rose but decides to keep quiet, not wanting to cause problems between the three. "It was nice, not dying with you. I reckon you'll find someone worth believing in."
Riley smiles slightly, "I think I already did."
Martha gives him a kiss on the cheek, "Well done. Very hot." she says with a smile before walking into the TARDIS.
The Doctor and Rose say goodbye before they join their friend inside the TARDIS.
"So... Didn't really need you two in the end, did we?" Martha tries to joke. She notices the way both frown and looks away for a moment in guilt, "Sorry. How are you doing?"
"Been better." Rose admits. "Will be nice to have a nice long bath, yeah?"
The Doctor smiles down at her, "And a nice long rest."
"Sounds good." Martha agrees. That's when she remembers something else, "Oh no, mum." She pulls her phone out of her pocket and quickly dials her mother's number as she disappears down the corridor.
The Doctor sends them back to the vortex before he also starts to head to the corridor, but a tug on his hand stops him. He stops moving and turns back to Rose to find her staring at him.
"Doctor, what happened to me back there?" she asks. "Why could I hear the sun in my head?" He looks away from her and Rose cups his cheek and forces his gaze back to hers, "Please. No more secrets, yeah?"
The Doctor sighs and scratches the back of his head as he tries to think of how to explain this to Rose, "I don't know how it's possible, because the Huon particles wouldn't have been able to do so, but... Rose... somehow... you're telepathic now."
She blinks at him owlishly, "I'm what?"
"When I checked your mind earlier, I heard your 'voice', similar to how I would hear another Time Lord, but I've never heard it before. But that explains why the Face of Boe and the sun were able to connect to you. Somehow, you've developed telepathic abilities... which is also why it got so bad at the end. When I connected with your mind I accidentally left you vulnerable to the sun, so when it took a hold of me, it's connection with you multiplied indefinitely."
"So... I can read minds now...?"
"Sort of... in a way." the Doctor says. "We're going to have to teach you how to shield your mind so beings won't be able to connect with you like that anymore and so you'll only be able to use your abilities when you want to." He sees the fear on her face. "Don't worry, Rose. I'll figure out what's happening to you."
"Said that before." she whispers.
"I mean it, Rose. I'll figure out what's happening to you and how to help you, I promise." he says with a small smile. "But, we'll do that tomorrow. Right now why don't we go have a nice bath and a good night's rest."
She smiles at him and nods her head in agreement. He wraps an arm around her waist and the two walk off down the corridor together. Once they are out of the room the time rotor flashes red and the sound of drums fills the room but no one is around to notice any of this.