Games Part Three

Notes: Well, a lot of you poor delusional folks think I wouldn't kill Rose! Oh boy are you wrong…but we'll see. I'm feeling generous today. I may just ruin her shoes.

YamiKITG: Lol, I'm so so so so mean! Sorry bout that…anyway, here is the next chapter…feel lucky I had it poised to post. Thanks for reviewing.

Becsy Lexi: OK, you live in Bubble-Denial world. I'm mean…but come on, you know you love the cliff hangers. You know you do. Well, I do. Thanks for your very hyper review.

Morph: By gum, I think that's the funniest review I've ever got! Keep up the folly morph! It's more fun than you can shake a stick at…I think I just accidentally sent you ANOTHER invite, but ah well. I'll see you on messenger. BTW, I know it seems like the TARDIS is the bad guy (or girl) but I promise she isn't…you know I love the TARDIS…how could I make her evil? The real bad guys seems pathetic but…well, I wouldn't want to spoil it for you.

Banshee: Yay! You got it! Man, I LOVE those games…I'm still mourning for the loss of my beautiful purple Gameboy…especially since it had the PKMN Blue cartridge in it! Oh how I wept…Ah, you have so much faith in the nice side of my personality, but I fear you may be mistaken…depends if Crawdie got out of the airing cupboard or not. That's right. Rose's fate rests in the hands of an imaginary Totodile…fear for my sanity…I'm worried about Tear now. Let's send her urgent emails.

Dingbatt: I hope you're still OK in your tent…dreaming about Jack without a shirt…(starts drooling). Anyway, thanks for your review.

Forgive me Cossie! I just really wanted to post this!

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Send someone to love me

I need to rest in arms

Keep me safe from harm

In pouring rain

Give me endless summer

Lord I fear the cold

Fear I'm getting old

Before my time

Jack had gone now. He was glad. He didn't want an audience.

Time Lords don't cry.

The Doctor pulled himself together. He needed to fix the TARDIS, but most of all, he needed to get to Rose.

Rope, he needed a lot of rope.

He dashed to a storage room which was basically filled with crap. A broken fishing rot, a slightly damaged cricket bat, an old bath robe…this was where the junk of the TARDIS came to rest. The Doctor suspected he could make a fortune out of it all on eBay (…but that's another story…and will be told…another day…). And finally, a box stuffed with rope. He didn't know why he had bought it, but he was glad of it now.

He selected a thick, long section of nylon cord and ran back through the corridors, back to the area near Rose's room where the canyon had appeared.

But the canyon, however present it had been a moment ago, wasn't there. Neither was Rose.

The Doctor dropped the rope. It was hopeless. The TARDIS was huge, too huge to even begin to guess where his companion was now. His last minute shred of hope was in fixing the TARDIS, a job he somehow couldn't put his mind to just now.

Time Lords don't cry.

Rest assured my angels
Will catch my tears
Walk me out of here
I'm in pain

As my soul heals the shame
I will grow through this pain
Lord I'm doing all I can
To be a better man

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Red…all I see is red.

What's happening to me?

My Doctor…oh my Doctor, what have I done? Your beloved…I can feel her now.

Lost.

And everything around her is red.

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There was a moment, that could have been an hour, when Rose was beginning to wonder whether she actually existed anymore. Everything around her was red, such a piercing red, a fresh blood red. The colour of horror and gore and vampire movies.

She was drowning in colour.

Then, ironically, metaphorical drowning turned to actual water as she found herself diving headfirst into the TARDIS swimming pool. Water broke painfully around her face, a lot of which she swallowed. Arms flailing, she struggled to right herself, swimming towards the surface.

She gasped as her head burst into the calm, chlorine scented air of the tiled room. For a moment she felt indignant; the Doctor had never mentioned a swimming pool to her. Then she was distracted by the large amount of water she had breathed in, which her protesting lungs were now trying to cough back up. She swam slowly to the edge, hauling herself out. Her shoes were ruined (you see?), her makeup trashed, but she was alive (huzzah!).

What just happened?

Her mind buzzed. She'd had an argument, then fell through…

What had she fallen through?

Whatever had happened, she needed to get back to the Doctor.

There were two doors leading out of the swimming pool. She tried the one on the left and found herself in a huge greenhouse, which at least explained where the Doctor produced all his 'organic vegetables' from. She remembered the strange looking things he'd said were 'a bit like carrots', which she'd vowed never to touch again after one bit her mouth. She observed a tomato plant that seemed to be growing tentacles. This also explained why the ketchup on the TARDIS tasted so weird.

With every greenhouse comes bugs. The TARDIS greenhouse had red beetles with menacing pincers scuttling along the floor and around the plants. They looked like an odd mix of scarab beetles and scorpions, insects that Rose did not particularly favour. This was why she cried out when one dropped from a tall, withered tree and landed on her neck. She tried her best to swat it, and experienced a sharp pain on the back of her neck.

Then it was gone.

Rose suddenly felt very different.

With her hands curled into fists, she decided to find the Doctor at once.

To kill him.

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"Huh."

"What?" Jack looked up from his magazine.

"Just…huh."

"OK."

There was a pause.

"It's definitely disappeared."

"What?"

"Whatever was in the TARDIS…the untraceable thing…"

"The bug?"

"I suppose."

"Where is it now?"

"That's the problem. For a moment the sensors were picking something up in the greenhouse, but now it's gone."

"Huh."

"Exactly." The Doctor scratched the back of his head thoughtfully. "We should take a look." Jack folded up his magazine and followed him as they crossed the control room. He'd noticed that the Doctor was no longer willing to talk about Rose or where she might be now. The man seemed to have composed himself, but now it was like he was trying to forget Rose ever existed.

And he had his 'I'm really bothered but I'm not going to show it' face on.

Jack thought back. The Doctor had insisted that he'd pushed Rose and it was his fault. Jack wasn't sure whether to believe it or not. He knew the Doctor would never hurt Rose, never. But Rose was too experienced now, too careful to just fall into a gaping chasm like the one that had been in the TARDIS.

Go easy on my conscience

Cos it's not my fault

I know I've been taught

To take the blame

That was another thing. The Doctor had tried no more crazy rescue missions as far as he was aware. This troubled Jack most of all. Crazy rescue missions were what the Doctor did. It was so unlike him to just give up.

Whatever was happening to the TARDIS, whatever had happened to Rose…it was beginning to affect the Doctor too. And Jack had to admit, it was getting him down as well.

Something was messing with them…

"Rose!"

Jack heard the Doctor's voice from just around the corner. Deep in thought, Jack had allowed himself to fall behind. Now he ran to catch up.

It was Rose. She stood as if nothing had happened, completely unconcerned. Her hair was matted into thick strands, as if she'd somehow got it wet. Her shoes squelched as she approached them.

She smiled.

As my soul heals the shame

I will grow through this pain

Lord I'm doing all I can

She placed her hands round the Doctor's throat and began to squeeze the life out of him.

To be a better man

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I felt their influence leave me as suddenly as it had come.

The red cleared. I could see again.

The hole was closed.

They were still there, scuttling out of sight. Four of them. One for each of the humans, one for me and one for the Doctor.

All had left to dominate her.

I watched helplessly as the girl my Doctor chose from so many was taken. I could no longer hear her, no longer see her.

She became a mist of red.

Blood will have blood…

She's there now. He's so happy to see her, but she can't see him.

All she sees is red.

I will not allow her to take my Doctor.

I shock her mercilessly.

She will not hurt him again.

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Dun dun DUN! I let Rose live once…will she live again? I hope you've all worked out that the italics are the TARDIS of course…who is very protective of her Doctor.

Still, we'll see. I may be generous. I may allow the girl to live.

But only if I get some cookies! ;)

Eevee

A/N: Song list will be in the last chapter if anyone's interested…anyway, Robbie fans will have worked out that they're all his songs anyway. I love Robbie…