Disclaimer - I own nothing, blah, blah, it all belongs to the BBC. I make no money from this, and I have none, so don't sue me!

Right, should have added this on chapter 1 but forgot! This is my first attempt at fan fic, and I've never been the best story writer, but please review and give me your thoughts. Any suggestions/criticism welcome. I'm still in denial over Nine, as I know many of you are, so read and enjoy!

Walking a few paces from the TARDIS, Rose stopped and took everything in. The Doctor locked the door and came to stand beside her.

'Amazing, isn't it?' Rose said as she looked around in awe and saw hundreds of men hauling huge blocks of stone up the side of the pyramid.

'It certainly is, although I think we should keep our distance.'

'Probably for the best.'

They walked a little way before settling themselves near the riverbank. The sun was beating down, the heat dry and tiring. Rose smirked to herself.

'What?' The Doctor said.

'I was just thinking, Jack would've worn the loin cloth,' she teased.

The Doctor rolled his eyes. 'Well, Jack's not here, is he? And he wouldn't have got me in one either.'

'Spoilsport.' Rose said. 'How d'ya think he's getting on with that exotic dancer bloke?'

'Knowing Jack he's probably got a whole group of them feeding him grapes by now.' He grinned. 'It's nice though, isn't it? Just us, I mean. Like old times.'

Rose smiled back. 'Yeah, it is.'

They sat in companiable silence for a while, the sounds and smells of Egypt washing over them.

'You know, they say that the pyramids here were aligned with the stars of Orion's Belt. If you look at a map of the layout, you can see how they match up.' The Doctor said knowledgeably.

'Is that really true?' Rose asked.

'Well, there has been some dispute over it, but it's a known fact that the stars played an important role in ancient Egyptian mortuary religion. References to the night sky have been found in many of the Pyramid Texts, which were inscribed in royal pyramids of the late kingdom.'

'So why isn't the Orion's Belt theory believed?'

'It is, to an extent, but it's not been accepted by most Egyptologists. The main reason given is that the diagonal layout of the three pyramids can be easily explained by pragmatic considerations. The pyramids are built along the edge of a ridge which runs north east to south west. That, coupled with the need for the pyramids to be oriented towards north with a clear view of the northern stars, easily suggests that this is the case.'

'So which theory's true?' Rose asked eagerly.

'The Orion's Belt theory of course.' He grinned. 'They'll work it out someday.'

'It all sounds very romantic,' said Rose dreamily.

'I think all this heat's affecting your brain.'

'Hey!'

'The northern stars did play a part too, though.' He continued. 'Aligning the pyramid base using the northern stars ensured that it was oriented to the celestial pole - the invisible point in the sky which appears to govern the movement of the stars and other celestial bodies. The shafts in the Great Pyramid provided symbolic exit routes for the spirit of the deceased king, directing him towards particular stars or constellations with which he hoped to be associated after death. Aliging the pyramids with the stars provided a link between the king's earthly burial place and the celestial realm within which he intended to spend eternity in the company of the sun, stars and gods.'

'Wow. You know, if I'd had you teaching me history and science at school I would have paid much more attention.'

'Come on,' The Doctor said, smiling at Rose. 'Let's go and see what the market's like.'

The Doctor had already started to walk off when Rose was still trying to stand.

'Help!' She called, as she fell abck down for the second time. The Doctor turned round and tried not to laugh.

'It's the dress!' Rose retorted. She held out her hands and he pulled her up.

'Thanks.'

'That's alright, just don't sit down again.'

Rose rolled her eyes at him and they walked hand in hand away from the pyramid towards the market place.

'When it get's dark, will you show me Orion's Belt?'

'What, you've never seen it?'

'Never really looked before,' she confessed somewhat sheepishly.

The Doctor sighed at her. 'Rose Tyler, you have so much to learn.'

When they reached the market place, the Doctor managed to sneakily nab two pieces of flat bread. Rose took one gratefully, only just realising how hungry she was. She bit into it and made a face.

'Bit bland, isn't it?'

'All I can get I'm afraid. The food here's much better in your time.'

'Wow,' Rose said, looking into the distance.

'What?'

'Is that a palace?'

The Doctor followed her gaze. 'Looks like. Want to go have a look?'

'Can we really?'

The Doctor grinned widely at her eager face.

Roughly ten minutes later they reached the palace wall. Rose fell against it and caught her breath.

'Humans,' the Doctor said, to no one in particular.

'It's too hot,' she complained.

'Stop your whinging. You wanted to come here.'

Rose looked to her left and saw two guards walking towards them.

'Either they've come to give us the guided tour or we're in trouble.'

The Doctor smiled pleasantly at the men.

'Can we help you?' The first guard said.

'No thanks, just looking,' the Doctor said cheerfully.

'You must come with us,' the second guard said.

'No thanks,' the Doctor said nonchalantly.

Without warning, the guards each took one of the Doctor's arms and started dragging him towards the palace entrance.

'Oi!' shouted Rose.

'It's alright Rose, just a misunderstanding,' the Doctor called, looking back at her.

She ran up behind them. When were situations like this ever just a misunderstanding? Never, when it concerned the Doctor, she thought glumly.

'What's going on?' She demanded. The guards ignored her.

'Well, isn't this nice,' the Doctor said. 'I like meeting new people.'

The guards threw him through the palace entrance.

'Oi! D'you mind?' He said as he landed roughly on the sandly floor. Rose tried to follow but a group of guards blocked the entrance.

'Doctor!' She shouted out.

'Rose!' He shouted back as he was dragged away. 'Go back to the TARDIS. I won't long. Like I said, misunderstanding!'

Rose tried to push through the guards but they threw her backwards, pointing spears at her.

'Maybe not,' she said, paniced. Great, she thought. I can't have just one day without trouble, can I? The guards were giving her the evil eye, so she decided to retreat a bit and find somewhere to spy on the entrance. After all, he said he wouldn't be long, right? She found a large palm tree and sat under it. She wasn't sure how much time had passed, but sunset came and went and soon the stars were out.

Come on Doctor, she thought. You have to show me Orion's Belt, remember? A shiver of dread went though her. Misunderstanding? Surely, if that were the case, he'd have come back by now? Maybe they were just having a jolly good laugh and weren't aware of how late it had gotten.

Yeah, right.

The palace was now swarming with guards. There was no way she'd be able to get in unnoticed.

Sghing in defeat, she made her way back towards the TARDIS. Maybe he'd come out a different way and she'd missed him. Rose had a horrible feeling in the pit of her stomach telling her that this wasn't the case.

She kept an eye out for anyone, or, indeed, anything, that looked unwelcoming as she hurried back. She could take care of herself, but she didn't fancy her chances, especially when something was very clearly wrong.

As the TARDIS came into sight, she stumbled towards it with relief. Taking the key from round her neck, she opened the door and fell in, shutting it firmly behind her. She looked around. No Doctor. She ran down the corridor towards his room. 'Doctor!' She called. No answer. Right, keep calm, she told herself. Panicing won't help. She decided to go back to her room and take a shower. The wig was stuck to the back of her neck and her feet were covered in sand.

She let out a groan as the hot water slammed into her. She had to clear her head and devise some plan of action.