"You know, if you think about it, this is your fault." The Doctor scowled. They had little over three minutes before they would be totally submerged.
Jack stared in disbelief.
"What? How on earth is this my fault?" Jack asked watching the floor sink away. He was starting to feel ill.
"Well, before you came along, there was no tension between me and Rose, before there was tension between us she wouldn't have tried to save me by looking into the TARDIS, in which case I wouldn't have taken her back to her Mum and we wouldn't be floating forty feet above the floor." The Doctor spluttered, trying not to swallow any water.
"That's not fair. You know that tension would've built up eventually. If you weren't jealous the tension wouldn't have come about so quickly. Besides, you'd be dead if Rose hadn't looked into the TARDIS and we both know that I had nothing to do with her being desperate to save you." Jack replied.
The Doctor sighed. He knew Jack was right, but just for once he'd like to be able to stay out of danger for more than five minutes.
"Would this be a bad time to mention I get sea sick?" Asked Jack. The Doctor had to try very hard not to roll his eyes.
They had nearly reached the ceiling. The Doctor glanced around, looking for a way out. He saw a small ventilation shaft.
"Right." He said setting his Sonic Screwdriver. "We're getting out. Stay here, I need to get the shaft open."
The Doctor swam down and Jack watched him. It was funny, because every time he used the screwdriver, bubbles rose up. Jack's head was banging on the ceiling when the Doctor came back up to the surface.
"Follow me. It's not a very long tunnel but you'll need to be able to hold your breath for at least a minute, got it? If you're having trouble let me know. The screwdrivers got a breathing apparatus setting." The Doctor looked optimistic, but Jack knew that the likely hood of them getting out alive was slim.
They dived down and wriggled through the shaft one at a time. The Doctor found a locking system and worked as fast as he could to open the hatch. Jack felt himself begin to ache. He needed air. The Doctor had two hearts, he'd be alright for a bit, but Jack knew he wouldn't last much longer. Jack kept talking to himself in his head in a bid to keep himself conscious. A few seconds later (though it felt like years) Jack knew he was giving up the ghost. The Doctor had failed. Rose would die. His last thoughts before he slipped out of consciousness were of the time the Doctor, himself and Rose had visited a beach and had a day off. It's funny how even when they were taking a break they still ended up running for their lives.
The Doctor worked furiously. He could sense Jack slipping away. The TARDIS inside his brain was informing him of life readings. Rose was alive, but only just, Jack was unconscious and needed air quickly. The door behind them in the tunnel shut and the door in front opened draining the water. The Doctor gasped as fresh air hit his lungs. He dragged himself out of the tunnel and pulled Jack after him. In the previous room they had been forty foot in the air but in this new room they were only an inch from the floor.
The Doctor ran the screwdriver over Jack.
"C'mon. Jack don't you dare leave me and don't think I'm giving you the kiss of life either." The Doctor muttered as he worked frantically with the screwdriver. Jack sat bolt upright and coughed. The Doctor watched him cough and suddenly realised Jack was laughing.
"The kiss of life?" Asked Jack.
"Oh, shut up. Now is not the time." The Doctor dragged Jack up. "We need to find Rose and quickly."
They looked at each other; scales where beginning to grow over their noses and their arms were covered. If this was how bad they were, then Rose would be worse.
They ran down corridors desperately trying to find Rose and her captor. They skidded along and finally burst through a lunch room.
"Fantastic!" The Doctor cried.
"Enlighten me. Why is this fantastic?" Jack asked.
"The three doors." The Doctor cried throwing himself across the room. "One of them said lunch room!"
They burst through the door on the other side and found themselves in the room with the three doors. They opened the one they'd come through previously and found Rose almost unrecognisable. Her whole face was green as well as her arms and even her hair was starting to turn.
The Doctor and Jack ran forward.
"Well done Doctor." Said the evil woman who'd done this. "Shame you will die, isn't it? Well, that's if you leave of course. If you stay here you'll live as one of my scalies while your brain is used by me."
The Doctor ran over to Rose and Jack went to Jackie.
"Don't!" The Doctor shouted. Jack froze. "If you touch her there'll be two people who have to die."
Jack came back to the Doctor as he administered half the antidote to Rose. The effect was instantaneous. The scales began to fade and her hair turned blonde.
"Here," the Doctor handed the rest of the antidote to Jack and backed away, so as not to contaminate the pair again.
"But…" Jack didn't know what to say.
"Just drink it ok. Someone has to be there to look after Rose and the TARDIS." The Doctor muttered.
Rose sat bolt upright, like she was awakening from a nightmare.
"Doctor." She whispered staring at him. She made to crawl towards him but the Doctor backed away.
"Don't. I'll infect you again. There's no more antidote." The Doctor said. Jack was just finishing off the antidote and as Rose watched him the Doctor could see all the memories come flooding back to her and the realisation of what was happening.
"No." She whispered. "No. Can't you do something?"
"No. You'll have to leave me here. Regeneration won't work because she's done something to the poison." The Doctor watched Rose. The pain in her eyes was unbearable.
"You can't leave me. That's just not fair." Rose whimpered, tears flowing down her cheeks. Jack left the two of them and went to check Jackie was ok.
"Life isn't fair Rose." The Doctor replied.
Rose couldn't stand it. She could taste the blue liquid of the antidote on her lips still. She reached a hand up to touch her lips and then looked at her hand. She could do it.
"Rose." The Doctor warned. He knew exactly what was going through her mind.
Anyone who has met Rose Tyler knows just how stubborn and determined she can be, especially when saving someone else's life. So really, the Doctor had no chance of stopping her. She crept closer and closer.
"If you're going to die, I want to be the last thing you remember." Rose whispered, pulling him as close as possible and kissing him. The antidote left seeped from Rose's mouth to the Doctor's. She could feel his tongue licking it up hungrily. But then he pulled away.
"Rose. Do you realise how dangerous that was?" He glanced down at his hands. The scales, thankfully, began to fade. "If that hadn't worked…"
"But it did." Rose said forcefully. "You saved my life with a kiss, I'm returning the favour."
Jack had carried Jackie over to the pair and was stood next to them.
"NO!" Cried a voice from across the hall. The woman had seen what had happened. "You will not leave!"
"Hmm, funny, but I thought that's what I was doing. It was nice knowing you." The Doctor stood up grabbing Rose's hand.
The woman hissed and the scalies began to close in.
"Run!" The Doctor ran, hand in hand with Rose, Jack not far behind them. There were lasers being fired from every which way. Several hit their targets, but not in a place that would be serious.
The Doctor fumbled with the key, but managed to throw open the doors of the TARDIS and get everyone inside before the scalies caught up with them. Jack took Jackie over to the door that led to the bedroom.
The Doctor didn't have time to do anything, because he found that Rose flung her arms around him before he could move very far.
"I thought I'd never see you again. I only remember seeing you leave to get the antidote, and then all I could think about was my worst memories." Rose mumbled. The Doctor didn't say anything at first, just hugged his best friend close.
"You didn't think I'd abandon you, did you?" Asked the Doctor.
"I knew you'd save me, but I thought you'd take me back to my Mum's before I woke up." Rose sniffed.
"No, Rose. You've proved that I can't get rid of you. Besides, I don't think I could live without you." The Doctor replied. "C'mon. I need to take your Mum home and then I'll take you back to Watopia."
Rose let the Doctor go and he laughed at her vacant expression.
"The planet with the frozen waves." He explained.
"Ok." Rose smiled. "That'd be great. I'm going to make sure Jack and my Mum are ok."
The Doctor nodded and began to set the TARDIS into flight.
Rose walked into the bedroom where her Mum was asleep on the bed and Jack was cutting strips of bandage.
"You ok?" Rose asked Jack, watching him tie bandage round several cuts on his arms.
"Yeah. Those lasers hurt though." He replied. "Your Mum's ok though. Looks like they just gave her sleeping pills or something."
Jack looked up. Rose's face was completely clear of scales but there were still several scratches and bruises. They'd obviously treated her badly. Rose glanced down at her hands. One of them was bleeding rather badly.
"Here. Let me." Jack rubbed some antiseptic into Rose's hand, apologising profusely every time she hissed in pain. He then bandaged up her battered right hand so she didn't rub it against anything.
"Thanks." She smiled slightly. "You know that love heart idea was a good one."
"What?" Jack looked stunned. "How do you know about that?"
"I'm not quite sure. I think it might be some kind of after effect from the time vortex." Rose replied.
"Well, there's no point talking to me about that. It's you and the Doctor who need do talk about that." Jack said.
Rose nodded. She knew she'd have to talk to the Doctor sometime, but she was hoping to wait. Maybe if she was walking under a hundred foot high wave, it might be easier