A/N: This chapter took me forever to write!
Chapter Twenty-Three: Devil's Planet
Since I didn't want Rose knowing about my powers we didn't go to an isolated area where I could push my limits and try and see how much of my past magical ability I had kept. Instead, since Rose wanted some time to just relax after the experience of having her face removed, they headed to an asteroid which had been turned into a spa.
"Wow," Rose breathed stepping out of the TARDIs and looking around in amazement.
They had landed in the receiving room which was a grand opulent place. There was what appeared to be a teleportation pad off to the side, but no one was coming or going. In fact, the entire place was very quiet. Probably because the asteroid was so large that you rarely interacted with other guests.
"Welcome," A blue young lady hurried over to greet them. "Are all three of you booking in as guests?"
"Yes. One full access pass for Rose Tyler, and two explorer's passes for The Doctor and Annamae Tyler." The Doctor requested handing over some credits that he pulled from his pocket.
"Of course. Come this way and I'll get you your pass." The young lady said, turning and walking towards a desk. "Your transportation machine will be perfectly safe where it is."
"Exploration pass?" Rose asked confused.
"While your sun bathing and getting your massage, Anna and I will be in the mountains." The Doctor answered with a smile.
"You said it's minus 7 degrees out there on a good day. Covered in snow." Rose pointed out with a frown.
"Precisely. You know the Doctor and I aren't in to the whole relaxation thing. At least, not relaxing the way you do it. We were thinking about leaving you here and going to the Library. Which is an entire planet dedicated to books. Millions of them."
"Only you… and the Doctor… can get that excited by books." Rose laughed.
"Right, here are you passes. The full pass grants you access to all the guest areas, simple swipe your card at the teleportation dock and select the destination you desire. You have been assigned room 101." Their guard passed over a plastic card with several alien languages repeating the user instructions on. "The exploration pass will grant you access to accommodation, you are in room 102, the shops, the eating areas and the outside area."
"How long is this valid for?" Rose asked curiously.
"Two weeks. However, if you wish to extend your stay, you simple must let us know and you can pay the excess upon leaving. Your change, sir." The lady handed some credits back to the Doctor.
"Thank you." The Doctor took the credits and his pass while he handed me my own pass.
"Right. Let's go grab something to eat before we go and pack what we need for expedition." I looped my hand through the Doctor's arm and grabbed Rose's hand.
"How long is this expedition?" Rose asked.
"As long as we want to take. It's up to the individuals on the trek. We can join a guided tour – bit boring – or we can go off on our own." The Doctor shrugged.
"We'll probably be gone the whole two weeks, but we'll keep in contact by phone." I promised Rose.
This little vacation wasn't just about Rose relaxing after her scare, it was for the Doctor and I to spend some time together, adventuring in a safe environment. By trekking off on their own, they wouldn't be interrupted by others and it would give them some space to be together without distractions.
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I had been somewhat surprised when we managed to get through two weeks at the resort without anything dangerous happening. That was not to say it was boring, they had plenty of fun and excitement, but they didn't find their lives in danger.
They collected a very relaxed, and tanned Rose, before getting into the TARDIs. The Doctor set their destination to random and they were off. They had decided on a random destination because it was sometimes more exciting – particularly for the Doctor who had already seen so much – to not know where they going.
When we landed, I frowned slightly, the TARDIs seemed very reluctant to actually touch down. Like she didn't like the planet she had landed on, and yet, she had been the one to decide to bring us here. The Doctor and I exchanged a look before leaving the TARDIs, which had appeared in a tight space.
"A cupboard. What is up with the TARDIS appearing in cupboards?" I asked the Doctor softly while she stroked the corner of her door.
"She likes out of the way places." The Doctor muttered with a frown. "But there isn't anything presently evident to explain what's wrong with the TARDIs. It's like…"
"She's queasy. She was very reluctant to land here." I filled in.
"Oh, if you think there's going to be trouble, we could always… get back inside and go somewhere else." Rose said with a straight face before she and the Doctor laughed.
I rolled my eyes at the two of them. Danger junkies, the both of them. Yes, I enjoy the adrenaline rush which is associated with finding an adventure, helping a community or civilisation. But I also enjoyed our quite adventures where we simple learn about the culture we were visiting at the time.
The Doctor opened the door trapping them in the small storage space, which triggered a computerised voice. "Open door 15."
"Some sort of base." The Doctor whistled as they walked down a corridor. "Moon base, sea base, space base. They build these things out of kits."
The Doctor opened the door at the end of the corridor, which informed them it was door sixteen. It was odd, why did they have a connected computer system which informed them the door number they were opening and closing.
"Glad we're indoors. Sounds like a storm out there." Rose frowned at the ceiling where they could hear the sound of wind battering the structure.
"Something…. Doctor… there's something." I suddenly said with a frown. There was a presence trying to wiggle its way through my mental barriers. Fortunately, the number of times my mind had been battered over the last year meant that I had developed stronger shields which seemed to be able to withstand whoever this presence was. But they were strong and if they focused the attack, I'm not sure if I could hold them off for long without focusing completely on building the shields.
"What sort of something?" the Doctor asked curiously.
"A telepath. Strong one. I can't get a read on them without opening myself." I answered. I couldn't tell if the telepath was curious or maleficent.
"Well, we'll just have to keep an eye out." The Doctor turned his attention back to the corridor. "Human design. You've got a thing about kits. This place was put together like a flat pack wardrobe, only bigger. And easier."
"IKIA, for space stations." I quipped as they opened another door, which apparently led to 'habitation 3' which seemed to be some kind of dining area based on the tables and chairs.
"Oh, it's a sanctuary base." The Doctor announced happily. "Deep space exploration. We've gone way out. And listen to that, underneath. Someone's drilling." The Doctor lifted his finger to indicate they should listen.
"That's a big drill, digging very deep." I hummed thoughtfully, crouching down to touch the ground and feel the vibrations. A normal drill wouldn't create big enough vibrations to be felt through the station like this.
"Welcome to hell." Rose read, bringing my attention to the writing on the wall that she was reading. I frowned, that greeting was the only word that was legible. The rest was some kind of picto-graphic language.
"Oh, it's not that bad." The Doctor frowned.
"No," Rose laughed, "Over there."
The Doctor frowned at the wall, moving to crouch in front of it and closely study the writing. I went to join him before a massive headache slammed into me. It was like when I was looking at the base code of the universe, accept this language was different.
"Hold on, what does that say? That's weird, it won't translate." I faintly registered the Doctor's words as I leant against a table which was close. Trying to sort out this knew language which was forcing its way into my brain while also keeping out the telepath which had sensed weakness and was now trying to take advantage of it.
"But I thought the TARDIS translated everything, writing as well? We should see English." Rose asked starting to get worried.
"It doesn't translate Gallifrian." I finally managed to pull myself together. "Or a language not in the database."
"Exactly." The Doctor agreed. "If that's not working, then it means this writing is old. Very old. Impossibly old. We should find out who's in charge." The Doctor span sharply on his heal to the bulkhead door they hadn't entered through. I needed to stop the Doctor, tell him what was happening before my body shut down so I could focus energy on completely accepting the new language that was in my mind while keeping the telepath out. The telepath which was focusing more attention and power on me. "We've gone beyond the reach of the TARDIs' knowledge. Not a good move. And if someone's lucky enough…"
The Doctor stopped talking as he opened door 19 to reveal a group of aliens on the other side. These ones had tanned wrinkled skin, and tentacles which covered their noses and mouths. Coming from within the tentacles was a white tube which led to a white globe that they were carrying. The glob lit up while they were trying to communicate.
"Of! Right. Hello." The Doctor greeted in surprise. "Sorry. I was just saying, er, nice base." The Doctor finished awkwardly.
"We must fed." The creature at the front of the group said.
"You've got to what?" The Doctor took a step back so he was next to me.
"We must feed."
"Yeah. I think they mean us." Rose grabbed the Doctor's arm and pulled him back. Instead of stepping back with the Doctor, I stepped forward. Towards the creature, ignoring the opening of the doors and the other beings who entered. The Doctor made to grab my arm and pull me back, but I ignored him.
"Here." I touched the being's hand which was holding the orb and sent a small tendril of magic to the orb. The being was telepathic and was using the orb to verbalise his words instead of communicating as this species was designed to. The orb wasn't natural, but I couldn't do anything about that. Instead, I used my magic to stop the interference with the orb which was preventing him from talking. "There, try that." I told the being gentle with a smile.
"We must feed you, if you are hungry?" the being asked.
"They're harmless," I turned to the Doctor and offered him a smile. "I can feel it."
"We apologise for worrying you. Electromagnetics have interfered with speech systems. Would you like some refreshments?" the being requested.
"Right, um…" the Doctor tried to think of something to say but was interrupted by the door opening and allowing some humans to enter.
"What the hell?" The solider at the front demanded, the beings making room for him to come through. I stepped back so I was next to the Doctor and grabbed his hand, squeezing it. The solider lifted his arm to speak into a wrist-comm. "Captain, you're not going to believe this. We've got people. Out of nowhere. I mean, real people. I mean three living people, just standing here right in front of me."
"Don't be stupid, that's impossible." A voice responded over the comm.
"I suggest telling them that." the solider muttered back, continuing to stare at them in disbelief.
"But you're a sort of space base. You must have visitors now and then. It can't be that impossible." Rose frowned at the man.
"You're telling me you don't know where you are?"
"No idea. More fun that way," the Doctor offered a smile, squeezing my hand back.
Suddenly a voice was broadcasted over through the base. "Stand by, everyone. Buckle down. We have incoming. And it's a big one. Quake point five on its way."
With that announcement there was a sudden burst of movement as the solider was shouting at them to get through the door and follow him to another part of the base. I kept a tight hold on the Doctor's hand as we moved.
We finally got to another point in the base which looked to be the control centre where there was a group of people working quickly around the control panels.
"Oh, my god. You meant it." the black man with dreadlocked breathed in shock when he saw them entering the room.
"People! Look at that, real people!" a young woman breathed shocked.
"That us. Hooray!" The Doctor said awkwardly, watching the people.
"We're very real." I reassured them. "I'm Annamae, this is my sister Rose and my partner, the Doctor."
"Come on the oxygen must be offline." A boy with long black hair scoffed before coming over and poking the Doctor's arm to see if he was real. "No, they're real."
"Come on, we're in the middle of an alert!" The man who had first spoken when they came into the room suddenly called attention to himself and then began issuing orders. "Danny, strap up. The quakes coming in! Impact in thirty seconds! Sorry you three, whoever you are. Just hold on, tight."
"Hold on to what?" Rose asked, looking around.
"Anything. I don't care. Just old on."
"The railings." I pointed to said handrails which led to the doors. I held the rail with one arm and the Doctor with the other. Even though the Doctor wasn't actually projecting his presence it was helping to ground me just being in contact with him.
"Odd, are we fixed?"
"Your kindness in this emergency is much appreciated." One of the beings, an Odd, who had followed them into the room answered.
"What's this planet called, anyway?" the Doctor asked, trying to get an understanding of the situation.
"Now, don't be stupid. It hasn't got a name. How could it have a name?" a slightly older women scoffed. "You really don't know, do you?"
"And impact," the man who was likely in charge shouted moments before it felt like an earthquake hit.
The whole place shakes for a few seconds before settling. The Doctor stood, thinking that it was all over.
"Oh, well, that wasn't so bad."
The Doctor was thrown back onto the steps when a more severe quake shook the ground. This one was much worse, causing sparks and flames too appear on the consol.
Once the quaking had stopped, I blinked my eyes trying to focus my mind. I was able to keep the telepath from my mind, but the language. Oh, the language was pushing against my mind demanding I assimilate the knowledge. And then there was the TARDIs, she suddenly felt further away. She was fine, intact, but she wasn't as close as before which means she couldn't help with the assimilation process.
"Okay, that's it. Everyone all right?" the leader of the station asked. "Speak to me, Ida."
"Yeah, yeah!" The slightly older women confirmed.
"Danny?" the leader continued his role call getting a variety of response from his team. "Toby, Scooti, Jefferson?"
"We're fine, thanks, fine." The Doctor got to his feet, rubbing the back of his head. "Yeah, don't worry about us."
"The surface caved in." the leader said, looking up something on his screen. "I deflected it onto storage five through eight. We've lost them completely." He turned to the young man who hadn't really said anything yet, Toby. "Toby, go and check the rocket link."
"That's not my department." Toby scrawled angrily.
"Just do as I say, yeah?" the leader asked, half tired and half frustrated. Clearly, he was used to being questioned but he wasn't prepared to deal with it at that moment.
"Oxygen holding. Internal gravity fifty-six point six. We should be okay." Ida reported once Toby had left.
"Never mind the earthquake, that's, that's one hell of a storm. What is that, a hurricane?" Rose asked since the noise from outside hadn't decreased after the ground had settled.
"You'd need an atmosphere for a hurricane. There's no air out there. It's a complete vacuum." Scooti informed them.
"Then what's shaking the roof?" Rose asked confused.
I pulled myself to my feet using the railing as support. I needed more information before I could temporarily shut down to deal with the information. Information that the Doctor would likely need to help resolve the situation that this group of people didn't know they were in yet.
I must have zoned out because the next thing I noticed was Ida pulling a leaver which caused the roof top to open, revealing that there was a glass ceiling protecting them from the outside world. I blinked, staring upwards.
"Oh," I breathed. It was beautiful and yet devastating – a black whole, ringed by the dust and light of destroyed planets which were being pulled into its depths. And yet, they floated in orbit, not being pulled towards it. Not being crushed by the overwhelming force of gravity.
"That's a black hole." Rose swallowed thickly.
"But that's impossible." The Doctor turned to look at the people who were observing them.
"I did warn you." Zach, the leader, said with a hint of smugness in his tone.
"We're standing under a black hole."
"In orbit." Ida corrected.
"But we can't be." The Doctor said forcible moving to the control centre where Ida and Zach were working.
"This lump of rock is suspended in perpetual geostationary orbit around that black hole without falling in. Discuss." Ida said like this was a philosophy topic.
"And that's bad, yeah?" Rose asked hesitantly.
"Bad doesn't cover it. A black hole's a dead star. It collapses in on itself, in and in and in until the matter's so dense and tight it starts to pull everything else in too. Nothing in the universe can escape it. Light, gravity, time. Everything just gets pulled inside and crushed." The Doctor explained.
"This close, we should have been crushed to death." I tagged on.
"And yet here we are, beyond the laws of physics. Welcome on board." Ida smiled.
"But if there's no atmosphere out there, what's that?" Rose pointed to the dust which was being pulled over head into the black hole.
"Stars breaking up. Gas clouds. We have whole solar systems being ripped apart above our heads, before falling into that thing." Ida explained.
"So, a bit worse than a storm, then." Rose muttered.
"Just a bit."
Suddenly feeling my control slipping, I tightly grabbed the Doctor's arm bringing his attention away from the mystery before him.
"Annamae?" The Doctor asked in worry probably noticing something on my face that I hadn't been able to hide. "What's wrong?"
"Prison. Old Language. TARDIs trans…" I managed to get out before my eyes rolled and I collapsed, my mind shutting down to deal with the information.
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I managed to catch Annamae before she could hit the ground, hard enough to hurt herself.
"Doctor, what's wrong? What happened? Is she alright? Please tell me she's not bleeding?" Rose rattled off with wide eyes, watching the Doctor gentle place Annamae on the floor, making sure her head was supported.
"Is she alright?" Ida asked coming around the console to see if she could help. "Should I get the medical kit?"
I didn't say anything at first, scanning her with the screw driver to see what was wrong. This was more than just the attack of a telepath. Her mind was highly active, like she was absorbing knowledge. I gentle placed my hand on either side of Annamae's head and connected my mind to the surface of hers. Her shields let me pass into her mind, where I found an overwhelming amount of information being assimilated. I couldn't understand it so I gentle withdrew.
"She's fine." I reassured Rose who was crouching next to us, her eyes shining with concern.
"Fine! She just collapsed?" Rose said outraged.
"It's a healing sleep. She'll wake up in an hour or so." I said, gentle lifting Annamae and moving her to a collection of chairs which were out of the way. Ida grabbed a spare jacket and pillowed it up under her head. "Thank you."
"You sure she's okay? We have a medical room." Zach offered.
"If she doesn't wake in an hour, or if her condition changes." I checked Annamae's vitals to make sure that they were stable. "Then we'll need a medical room."
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"The Rocket links fine," Toby announced as he sulked into the room.
"Can you bring up the information on that thing?" The Doctor asked, moving to the console while Rose stayed with her sister. However, the Doctor never turned his back on Annamae, standing always so he could see her.
Zach called up a hologram over the central console.
"That's the black hole, officially designated K three seven Gen five."
"In the scriptures of the Falltino, this planet is called Kroptor, the bitter pill. And the black hole is supposed to be a might demon. It was tricked into devouring the planet, only to spit it out, because it was poison." Ida explained the legend.
"The bitter pill. I like that." Rose commented with her tongue in tooth smile.
"We are so far out. Lost in the drifts of the universe. How did you even get here?!" the Doctor demanded, not sure if he was annoyed at the humans or impressed by their sheer stubbornness and determination to go to places they really shouldn't
"We flew in." Zack changed the hologram to show a tunnel which was originating from the planet. "You see, this planet's generating a gravity field. We don't know how. We're no idea. But it's kept in constant balance against the black hole. And the field extends out there as a funnel. A distinct gravity funnel, reaching out into clear space. That was our way in."
"You flew down that? Like a rollercoaster." Rose commented between disbelief and impressed.
"By rights, the ship should have been torn apart. We lost the Captain, which is what put me in charge." Zach admitted despondently.
"You're doing a good job." Ida reassured him.
"Yeah, well, needs must." Zach muttered with a frown.
"But if that gravity funnel closes, there's no way out." Danny explained the situation they were in. how much they were risking their lives on the off chance that the gravity funnel – which shouldn't even exist – would remain open long enough for them to complete their work and get out.
"We had fun speculating about that." Scooti smiled.
"Oh, yeah, that's the word. Fun." Danny muttered sarcastically.
"But that field would take phenomenal amounts of power. I mean not just big, but off the scale! Can I?" The Doctor motioned to the calculator that rested by Ida's hand.
"Sure. Help yourself." Ida handed the calculator over.
Turning his back slightly on the humans so he was facing Annamae the Doctor started rapidly working out calculations on how much power that field would need to counter the pull of the black whole. He was vulgarly aware of Rose becoming insulted at the fact that humans were keeping Ood – the creatures that had offered them food – as slaves.
"There you go." the Doctor announced, placing the calculator so Ida and Zack could see it. "Do you see? To generate that gravity field, and the funnel, you'd need a power source with an inverted self-extrapolating reflex of six to the power of six every six seconds."
"That's a lot of sixes." Rose blinked.
"And it's impossible." The Doctor finished.
"It took us two years to work that out." Zach announced, half impressed that this man was able to do that maths in under five minutes, and half annoyed.
"I'm very good." The Doctor informed them with a self-confident smile.
"But that's why we're here. This power source is ten miles below through solid rock. Point Zero. We're drilling down to try and find it." Ida explained their presents on this planet. So, it wasn't just about curiosity and expanding their horizons – they were here to try and harness a power that should be impossible.
"It's giving off readings of over ninety stats on the Blazon scale." Zack tagged on.
"It could revolutionise modern science." Ida admitted with a smile and a shine in her eyes which showed that she honestly believed that the power would only be used to improve their current understanding and use of science.
"We could use it to fuel the empire." Jefferson added.
"Or start a war." The Doctor tagged on darkly with a frown. He knew humans, he knew how their governments worked. Give them access to a power sauce like that and they would just make weapons out of it. Yes, they may use it to improve their travel or their science and technology but they had done the same with coal and oil. Turning it into more than something passive, but into something to power their weapons.
"It's buried beneath us, in the darkness, waiting." Toby said with a seriousness that added weight to the situation they were in; making something more dangerous or mysterious based on his tone.
"What's your job, chief dramatist?" Rose asked Toby, an incredulous note in her voice at what Toby had just said.
"Well," Toby straightened, affronted. "Whatever is down there is not a natural phenomenon. And this er, planet once supported life eons ago, before the human race had even learned to walk."
"I saw that lettering written on the wall. Did you do that?" The Doctor questioned.
"I copied it from fragments we found unearthed by the drilling, but I can't translate it." Toby admitted.
"No, neither can I. And that's saying something." The Doctor muttered with a frown, glancing over to Annamae. From the flood of knowledge her mind had been assaulted with it's possible that she might be able to tell them what the lettering meant when she woke up. Or at least, give them an idea of what it said.
"There was some form of civilisation. They buried something. Now it's reaching out, calling us in." Toby smiled in wonder.
"And you came." The Doctor glancing between all of the crew in amazement.
"Well, how could we not?" Ida questioned, like their presence was forgone.
"So, when it comes right down to it, why did you come here? Why did you do that? Why? I'll tell you why. Because it was there. Brilliant. Excuse me, er, Zach, wasn't it?" The Doctor was brimming with energy as he addressed the captain.
"That's me." Zach confirmed hesitantly.
"Just stand there, because I'm going to hug you. Is that all right?" The Doctor confirmed. Annamae had mentioned that humans didn't particularly like to be hugged by strangers, no matter how proud he was feeling of the humans in question.
"I suppose so." Zach confirmed.
"Here we go. Come on, then." The Doctor gave Zach a very awkward hug. "Oh, human beings. You are amazing! Ha!" The Doctor disengaged from the hug. "Thank you."
"Not at all." Zach muttered, still awkward and completely unsure about how he should respond.
"But apart from that, you're completely mad. You should pack your bags, get back in that ship and fly for your lives." The Doctor said seriously.
"You can talk." Ida huffed a laugh of disbelief at the order they had just been given from a complete stranger. "And how the hell did you get here?"
"Oh, I've got this er, this ship. It's hard to explain. It just sort of appears." The Doctor rubbed the back of his head awkwardly.
"We can show you," Rose offered when she noticed that the Doctor was getting looks of disbelief. "we parked down the corridor from er… oh, what's it called? Habitation area…" Rose trailed off clicking her fingers thoughtfully.
"Three." The Doctor filled in.
"Three. Three." Rose confirmed.
"Do you mean storage six?" Zach exchange an awkward look with Ida.
"It was a bit of a cupboard, yeah." The Doctor agreed before something registered. "Storage six. But you said. You said… You said storage five to eight." The Doctor turned and bolted from the room.
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I groaned in pain as I came out of my forced meditation.
The telepath was still attempting to get into my mind, but my shields had held. But the continual battering was leaving me with a headache. The language that had forced itself into my brain had settled and would have created a dull throb on its own. My meditation stint had been enough to settle the information, but not enough for me to be able to instinctively access that knowledge. If I wanted to know anything, I would have to actively be looking for the information.
I forced myself into a sitting positioned before I opened my eyes since the pressure on my head caused a brief moment of dizziness.
"Hay, you're awake." Ida was the one to notice my movement.
"Where's the Doctor and Rose?" I asked, glancing around the room and not spotting them.
"They were talking about how you got here, the ship you parked in storage six? Then they took off." Zack explained.
"Storage six collapsed, taking our ship with it." I explained why the Doctor had taken off, even though they had likely guessed. I leaned forward slightly on the bench I'd been placed on, resting my head on my hands. The dizziness coming back even though I hadn't moved.
"It's gone." The Doctor announced returning as he strode back into the room, clearly agitated.
"But she's okay." I comforted the Doctor.
"Annamae!" The Doctor quickly crossed the room and dropped in front of me. "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine." I offered him a smile that didn't quiet hide the pain. "You okay?" I asked him. I knew how attached he was to the TARDIS and to have her separated from him by a distance they probably won't be able to cover was going to be like someone squeezing his heart.
"I'll be fine." The Doctor smiled a more believable smile then what I had managed. "You sure that the TARDIs is okay?"
"Yes, I'm sure. She's not happy, but she's okay. I can't quite connect with her cause she's close to the telepath whose attacking my mind. I reach out to her…"
"And you reach out to the telepath." The Doctor finished. "You got any idea what we're facing?"
"It's old, very old. And angry. It's…. it's trying to get free." I explained as best I could.
"Do you know where it is?" The Doctor questioned.
"Their drill destination." I pointed to Zach who was still working at the controls. "I can't get an exact location cause the power is blanketed. I can't isolate it. But if you go down – you find the being and the TARDIS."
"So, not completely stranded." The Doctor smiled, relief settling in where before he had been hiding worry. "You going to be okay?"
"Yeah, I'm just going to sit here for a while. You go and convince them to help you find the TARDIS." I waved the Doctor away. Rose had been hovering nervously in the background, waiting for them to finish their conversation before she approached.
"If something happens," The Doctor trailed off his offer of assistance. I nodded to show I understood before he went to talk with Zach and Ida. While we'd been talking the majority of the space station team had left the room.
"You okay?" I asked Rose, offering her a hand so I could pull her down onto the seat next to me. I didn't think I had the strength right not to stand up and comfort her, so she was going to have to come down to my level.
"I think I should be the one asking you that." Rose muttered, resting her head on my shoulder as they watched the Doctor try and convince Zack to help him find the TARDIS.
"I'll be okay. The Doctor's taught me how to keep out a telepathic attack, it's just that I don't have the biological advantage of a Time Lord's brain." I joked lightly, trying to put Rose at ease.
Since she had started travelling with them, she had been slowly losing her naivety and seeing the world for what it truly was. There were still moments when she would say or do something which would remind them of how young she truly was, but she was growing and learning. Soon, they were going to have to let her go so that she can learn how to be independent. Rose had always had me or mother to full back on, and even on her travels when she had been in danger or something had gone wrong, the Doctor or I had been there. She needed to learn what it was to live without them always there to hold her hand.
"Sometimes I forget how dangerous travelling with the Doctor can be, and how much we're risking every time we step outside of the TARDIS, and then…" Rose trailed off, staring up at the ceiling above them.
"Any regrets?" I questioned softly, assessing her face encase she tried lying to me or hiding how she was really feeling. For the time being they were effectively stuck here, and they might be stuck in this time forever if the Doctor can convince the crew to let him go down and search for the TARDIS.
"No," Rose shook her head. "Travelling with you and the Doctor… it's amazing. The things we've seen and done. I wouldn't change it for the world."