They landed on the planet and the Doctor opened the doors stepping out into the wooded landscape. Rose followed, hugging her arms round herself, shivering slightly as the cool air whipped round her.
"Best to find their leader again," the Doctor said quietly. He was going to hold out a hand for her to take but after what he'd just put her through he decided against it.
Rose noticed and was slightly sad that he wouldn't take her hand. Her hearts ached but she tried not to think about it for fear of what would happen if she got mad at him.
She followed a little way behind him in silence longing for him to show some kind of affection. This was the one thing she didn't want to happen, him to stop all physical contact because of her feelings.
Deep down the Doctor's own hearts were aching and he knew that he shouldn't do this to Rose. But what else could he do? Pushing all thoughts to the back of his mind he decided he'd worry about getting rid of the nanites before anything else.
They wandered towards a large cave like building in the middle of the woods and carefully headed towards the room where the leader was located. The Doctor had made sure to land no where near the full moon.
There were only a few people wandering about and they all regarded the Doctor and Rose somewhat suspiciously. They reached the chamber with the leader and were asked to wait whilst the leader prepared himself.
When they entered the Doctor approached carefully whilst Rose hung back by the entrance.
"Hi there," the Doctor said. "We came to ask you what to do if we become affected with the nanites you use, cause you see my friend over there is having a bit a trouble with particularly strong nanites and-"
"The nanites only affect were-wolves," the leader cut across in a deep scratchy tone. The Doctor paused frowning.
"But my friend isn't a were-wolf," the Doctor replied slightly annoyed.
"How old is your friend?" The leader, whose name was Jok, asked, his old face lined.
"Nineteen, nearly twenty," the Doctor said confused.
"She comes from Earth, yes?" Jok glanced Rose up and down.
"Yeah," the Doctor nodded. "But I don't-"
"There is a legend," Jok interrupted. "Of an Earth girl who possessed great strength. Do you know what she was known as in the old myth? The Bad Wolf."
The Doctor stood frozen to the spot.
"That's why the nanites are affecting her," he whispered realisation hitting him.
"And why they are so strong," Jok agreed. "The nanites are clever, they are only as strong as their opposition, they don't realise how much they are affecting the Earth girl."
"What do I do though?" The Doctor said in worried tone. "She's only ever used her Bad Wolf power once, she can't control it."
"You must teach her," Jok said wheezing. "She will only be able to rid herself of the nanites if she knows how to use her power. There are some of us here who have outgrown the nanites because we can control ourselves in wolf state. The Earth girl must learn too, before she does some serious damage."
The Doctor nodded.
"Thank you," he said graciously and backed away, taking Rose's hand as he left. He decided that she'd need all the support she could get if she was going to have to awaken the power that had caused him to regenerate.
"What did he say?" Rose asked quietly, squeezing his hand slightly as they wandered back to the TARDIS.
"We've got work to do," the Doctor replied. "Don't worry we can get rid of them, we've just gotta do it ourselves is all."
"What've we gotta do exactly?" Rose asked suspiciously. The Doctor didn't answer straight away. He opened the TARDIS doors and let them both in.
He shut and locked the doors, setting the TARDIS in flight before finally turning to her and looking her straight in the eye.
"We've got to reawaken the Bad Wolf," he said watching her carefully. Rose stared at him wide eyed. She couldn't do that. There was no way she was going to become the person who'd killed him again.
"I can't," She said shaking her head determinedly. "No, no way."
"Rose," the Doctor took her hand again. "If you don't do this then you might attack me again. I can live with it, I know it's not your fault, but would you really be able to forgive yourself if you woke up one day and found you'd got rid of me in your sleep?"
Rose's lip wobbled dangerously and the Doctor pulled her in for a hug. He rubbed her back gently.
"It's essential we get rid of these nanites before it's too late," he whispered in her ear. Rose shivered slightly. "The Bad Wolf won't hurt me again. It'll be fine ok?"
"Ok," Rose said in a small voice. The Doctor rubbed her back again gently, trying to resist the urge to kiss her neck.
"We'll be alright as long as we're together," he stood back to look at her and saw she was crying. "What happened last time wasn't your fault, got it?"
Rose nodded and leant her head against his chest. The Doctor wrapped his arm round her shoulder protectively. He hoped that this would work; they couldn't go on like this for much longer.