I'm sick and haven't slept so I apologise for any mistakes I haven't read back through this I just wanted it done enjoy
"Remind me why we're here again?" Rose asked her wife as she gave a polite smile to a passing passenger.
The Doctor had brought her to Kassalie, an orbiting satellite station off of the planet Peupra that was a luxury holiday spot for the uber rich masses of space. Yaz, Graham and Ryan had wanted to visit their families which had left the travellers with too much time on their immortal hands to just sit around waiting for their companions to be picked up, when her wife had suggested the destination.
Now Rose had no complaints about the venue as she stood flute in hand decked in a satin burgundy slip dress, slit running up to her mid thigh with the blue light of the onboard aquarium cascading down over her in the lounge they were in. Nor did she have any complaints about the various snooty life forms surrounding her.
And well, her Doctor always looked good in a suit, and this regeneration was no exception. But the matching satin burgundy waistcoat the Doctor had pulled out with its gold buttons and detailing, with just a light grey long sleeved button up shirt beneath it, black bow tie at the throat and fitted trousers was a particularly pleasant sight, Rose thought as she looked her wife up and down from the corner of her eye.
"Well we are exactly," She paused to dramatically check her watch before continuing, "Two weeks overdue for date night. Besides, I know how much you like dressing up for a party."
Rose hid her smile behind the lip of her flute at her wife's antics, ignoring the cheeky grin the Doctor had shot her at the last sentiment. Rose did love a party and a chance to go out dancing with the Doctor. But part of her love for dressing up was really just the excuse to see her spouse in anything other than their usual attire. Which the Doctor knew even if Rose would never admit as much - they were vain enough as it were - because after two thousand years of marriage (give or take a decade or so) there weren't that many secrets left unknown.
"We've been a little busy for date night as of late." Rose said instead as she watched the unfamiliar fish swim by.
The Doctor hummed in agreement, "Can't exactly sneak out whilst the fam are sleeping what with Graham's sleepwalking. He could end up falling into one of the pools."
"We could always baby proof the TARDIS." Rose suggested, tongue tucked between teeth as she grinned, "If it doesn't stop Graham it'll at the very least help convince Jenny to leave Selene with us more often."
The duo hadn't seen much of their granddaughter since the Doctor's most recent regeneration, Jenny wasn't overly fond of the new crystal desktop, worried her perpetually toddler daughter might injure herself. Jenny was a very anxious parent. After all, she'd been born with the knowledge of how to be a perfect soldier, any progeny she may have had on Messaline would have been the same. Not a toddler with Timelord genetics that aged so incredibly slowly that her daughter had been the size of a human one-year-old for nearing five years now.
"That's not a bad idea." The Doctor said, already looking lost in thought as she considered the suggestion.
"Why thank you. They've been known to happen." Rose shot back cheekily before draining her glass and grabbing her wife's hand as she passed her glass off to a nearby server. "Come dance with me." Was all the warning she gave her dazed wife as she tugged her towards the dance floor. The Doctor stumbled a step or two at the sudden motion before her brain caught up with her feet.
"I'm not sure I remember how to dance." The Doctor warned.
Rose rolled her eyes with fond exasperation, "You say that every time and it has yet to be true."
"Well I'd hate to stand on your pretty toes," The Doctor glanced down at her toes visible due to the slit in her dress, "Or your shoes for that matter."
"Who says I'm going to let you get close enough to my toes." Rose teased.
"Careful dear," The Doctor teased back in the same tone, tugging her closer, "That almost sounds like a challenge."
Rose laughed, content in her wife's arms as she grinned up at her. The height difference was almost negligible this go around, especially in her heels. But leant against her wife as she was, she did have to tilt her head up a little to see the amusement shining back at her in the Doctor's gaze.
"It's only a challenge if there's any possibility of it happening."
"Cheeky."
Rose giggled.
"Come on, dance with me," Rose whined.
The narrowing of her wife's eyes and the mischievous smile stretching across her lips was the only warning Rose received as she was suddenly spun out across the dance floor with a squeal before being reeled back. Her back crashed against the Doctor's chest. Her wife bent down to murmur in her ear as Rose tilted her head back to rest on her shoulder.
"Apologies my dear, allow me to acquit myself." Her breath ghosted over the shell of Rose's ear causing goosebumps to stir as she brushed her lips over the shell of her wife's ear, her hand trailing down her arm to stir further goosebumps.
Rose shivered in the Doctor's arms, her eyelashes fluttering at the sensation. Two thousand years of marriage and her wife knew just what buttons to push.
"You're more than welcome to try." Rose mentally berated herself for how breathy her voice came out. She dismissed the thought a second later as she stared into her wife's eyes, their marital bond humming pleasantly between them with their joint contentment. The Doctor had been right, it truly had been too long since their last date night.
Rose felt the besotted grin as it stretched its way across her lips but did nothing to stop it. Especially when the Doctor returned it with one of her own. The next second she found herself whirling around the dancefloor once more as she finally got her dance.
-x-
They'd been dancing for over an hour when they'd found themselves at the bar taking a breather.
"Thank you for this. I've missed this." Rose said, raising her head from the Doctor's shoulder to leave a peck on her lips.
A smug smile made its way onto the Doctor's face in response.
"Anytime." The Doctor paused to take a sip of her own hideously blue drink. "And you did take us to those gorgeous falls on Teherus for our last date."
Rose hummed from the Doctor's shoulder, "That was fun too."
"I love a good picnic." The Doctor agreed.
"I know you do, seems to be a core trait across regenerations." Rose teased.
The Doctor shrugged unrepentantly when her attention was diverted by the woman who joined them at the bar. Rose turned to face the new arrival, a Cohiness by the look of the teal furred mane.
"And I told Mesaeks that this was the perfect place to celebrate Yuletide but of course, she didn't believe me and now look at her."
"Sorry," Rose leaned towards the woman, "Sorry didn't mean to intrude. But did you say Yuletide?"
"Oh yes." The Cohiness beamed. "It's this quaint little festival that humans celebrate. We had some human visitors on Cohine when I was a girl and I've been in love with the tradition ever since. We celebrate every year."
The Cohiness seemed lost in memory as she stared blankly into space for a moment before turning back to the two time travellers with a smile. "Anyways, I won't keep you. Happy Yuletide." She said taking her leave.
"Happy Yuletide." The duo echoed, Rose distractedly while the Doctor was full of fever.
"Did you know it was Christmas?" Rose asked, turning back to her wife.
"Nope, no idea. You know I never land on Christmas when I'm aiming for it." The Doctor smiled.
"Mmm I know it's almost as if the TARDIS knows you're trying to land on the wrong day to our linear lives."
"Quite possibly."
Rose stared at her wife for a moment. The Doctor didn't seem concerned by this revelation at all, just another happy coincidence for her. Eventually, the Doctor became aware of her wife's stare.
"What?"
"You know what this means right? We never have peaceful Christmases, especially when the TARDIS is in charge."
"Oh come on it's not that common-" Just then the station rocked, cutting off the Doctor's dismissal as their feet went out from under them. Rose clung to the bar top, her heels no longer able to keep her upright as the ground became unstable.
An ominous creaking sound filled the air like the sound of metal scraping on metal as the station juddered to a halt, the overhead lights flickered out leaving only the glow of the aquarium on the far side to light the lounge.
"Right on cue." Rose panted once the sound died down and she was able to get her feet under her once more.
"Guess it's more common than I like to convince myself." Her wife reluctantly admitted.
"Hey, at least we can rule out the tuxedo of doom as being the cause of our troubles. It's just us!" Rose grinned.
"We do not cause trouble." The Doctor refuted.
"I know several of our friends who would argue the opposite. Including our daughter and goddaughter."
"Jenny and River do not count. They cause just as much trouble as we do." The Doctor shot back distractedly as she pulled her sonic out to run it around the room.
"So you admit we cause trouble."
The Doctor sighed in defeat, "Maybe a little."
Rose skipped over to her wife to take her hand with a beaming grin.
"I happen to like causing trouble with you."
"Yeah?"
"Yes. Especially at Christmas. It's our own Christmas tradition."
"I suppose it is."
They grinned at each other for a moment, sharing in the moment as if their lives weren't quite possibly in danger again.
"What did the sonic find?" Rose asked after a moment, leaning over to look at the readout with her wife.
"Nothing interesting, unfortunately."
"Guess we'll do things the old fashioned way then." Rose grinned, tongue in teeth.
"The domestic approach?" The Doctor grinned back.
"The domestic approach."
There was a group of passengers on the opposite side of the lounge quickly working themselves into hysterics. Each shrieking over another in their panic.
"What just happened?"
"What was that noise?"
"This is ridiculous. I didn't pay for this."
"Where are the stewards?"
"But what happened?"
Rose and the Doctor had just made their way over to the panicking guests when a voice spoke on the overhead speakers, grabbing the attention of all those gathered.
"Attention passengers. We would like to inform you that there was a temporary breach in the hull, and while the issue has now been rectified, we ask passengers to remain vigilant as we have lost communication with Peupra. There is no cause for alarm and all guests will be compensated for the disturbance. We apologise as we work to fix the situation with the lights."
"Well, that doesn't sound good," Rose muttered to her wife.
The repeated reassurances weren't doing anything for Rose, of anything it only further heightened her sense of danger.
"No, it did not." Her wife agreed.
"Well, this is certainly a Yuletide for the books." The Cohiness from before chirped, seeming rather unperturbed by the whole thing. "Don't you think?" She turned to ask them.
"Oh definitely." Her wife nodded. "Sorry, we didn't catch your name?"
"Oh my apologies, I'm Gwcot. I'm here with my saaurn. And yourselves."
"I'm the Doctor and this is Rose, my wife."
"Oh, that's lovely." Gwcot beamed, her man ruffling in her excitement.
Another Cohiness shuffled over, looking harried.
"Gwcot! Did you hear we've been boarded? And they cannot make contact with planetary base."
"Oh Mesaeks, you do worry so." Gwcot laughed.
"Did she say we've been boarded?" Another voice piped.
"Yes, I heard the same." Joined another.
"Oh by the rings of Kahor we've been boarded!" And another.
And very quickly panic swept through the group once more. Gwcot looked befuddled and overwhelmed at the reaction of her fellow passengers, even shooting a reprimanding glance at Mesaeks.
Seeing the situation was getting out of hand the Doctor raised the sonic in the air and let out a deafening wail that silenced the group. Once hush had settled and she had their attention, she spoke.
"Let's not get ahead of ourselves. There was no such mention of this station being boarded, only of a breach in the hull. Now going by the lack of lighting it's quite possible that it was simply a small asteroid or piece of space debris that breached the hull through electrical. There's nothing to worry about." The Doctor reassured.
"But you can't be sure!" A voice retorted from the back of the crowd.
A murmur of agreement quickly followed.
"No, I can't. But that is the information we were given and there's no use getting ourselves in a tizzy over nothing until we know more."
Another murmur of agreement went through the crowd. Seemingly mollified, the crowd turned away and began to disperse.
Gwcot turned to the duo with an inquisitive look.
"Do you truly believe that Doctor?"
"We have no reason not to." Rose tried to placate with a smile.
"But this has never happened to Kassalie before," Mesaeks argued, coming to join the trio.
"They're quite right." Another voice joined.
They turned to find a male Uccaotanian who was standing there with a smirk. The man's black tailored suit stood out in stark contrast to his amber. The Uccaotanian raised his hands in supplication.
"I mean no harm, I think you did the right thing in calming the crowd, we would have had a mob on our hands otherwise." He tucked his hands into his pockets. "But these ladies are right, you can't know that something else hasn't occurred. And I worked on Kassalie for twenty years and nothing like this has ever occurred."
"Please don't say unsinkable or anything quite so absolute." Rose pleaded under her breath.
The Uccaotanian turned to Rose with a smile. "I recognise that reference. You're familiar with the mythology of Sol 3's legendary cruise ship?"
"I am but mate the Titanic was very much real. Not a mythical legend at all."
"Oh really? I must admit my knowledge of Sol 3 isn't quite as thorough as I'd like it to be. Perhaps we may chat once this little matter is settled. Jedaato." Jedaato introduced himself, holding his hand out.
"Rose Tyler." She responded, shaking his hand before pointing to her wife. "This is the Doctor, Gwcot and Mesaeks."
"Pleasure to meet you all. So Doctor?" Jedaato turned once more back to the Doctor.
"Well, I know as much as you, though I'd like to rectify that with a little exploration."
"You mean snooping." Gwcot corrected with a smile.
"We can't leave," Mesaeks argued. "You heard what they said. We must be cautious."
Gwcot sighed, "Ignore her she's always been rather timid."
"You don't have to come, Mesaeks," Rose reassured gently. "No one would blame you if you were to return to your room."
Mesaeks shifted uncomfortably, her mouth flapping wordlessly as she looked stricken.
"You seem to be the only ones who know anything. I'd rather stick with you."
"It's settled then." The Doctor clapped cheerfully before taking her wife's hand and heading for the door, their ensemble trio following behind them.
"Do you know where you're going?" Rose asked absently, not entirely interested in the answer.
Wandering around in the dark on a space station that had been potentially boarded wasn't the worst thing to have happened to her even in the last week. Wandering aimlessly was her speciality.
"Yep, studied the blueprints before we arrived."
Rose hummed, impressed, "That's more forethought than usual."
"It's our first date in a month and a half, I wanted to cover all bases."
Rose raised her hands in surrender, a wry smile on her lips. "Oh, I'm not complaining. So any idea what we're looking for?"
"Oh, you know the usual. Anything unusual."
"You two do this a lot don't you?" Jedaato asked.
"You could say that." Rose agreed.
-x-
They walked for a while, the corridor lit only by red emergency lighting, unable to find any signs of trouble.
"So what exactly is it that you two do?" Jedaato spoke up after a beat.
"Oh, this and that." The Doctor answered vaguely.
"Mainly this." Rose clarified unhelpfully as she tossed a cheeky grin over her shoulder at them.
Just then the Doctor came to a halt in front of Rose causing her to bump into the other blonde's back. Rose peered around her wife's back to see what had caused the sudden pause.
"Huh. Something definitely came through here." The Doctor commented as she stared at the scarred metal wall of the space station.
The surface was warped and bent but currently intact. Something had come through. And judging by the size of the affected area it was much bigger than just an asteroid. The size of a small passenger craft, Rose would wager. And as they were nowhere near electrical yet that blew the Doctor's previous lie completely out of the water. A conclusion that their travelling companions also seemed to be coming to.
"That won't no asteroid." Jedaato whistled, surveying the damage.
"No kind of space debris did this either, Doctor." Gwcot piped up next, nervously watching the Doctor from the corner of her eye.
"And we're still ages from electrical," Mesaeks exclaimed, beginning to panic again.
"Well, it was only a theory. And like any scientist, we can now discard that hypothesis for a new one in light of new evidence."
"This isn't a game." Mesaeks snapped, coming toe to toe with the Doctor.
"Of course, it isn't. But we're not going to get anything done by constantly panicking so let's just stay calm." The Doctor retorted offended by the remark.
"Let's just stay calm. We don't know anything we didn't already know. The crew told us there was a breach and we can see that. And Mesaeks it's not too late to go back if you're not…" Rose trailed off looking up at the ceiling as the emergency lights flickered, "Comfortable here."
"Attention passengers… we seem…" The intercom crackled, the words distorted as they echoed through the corridors. "Experiencing technical… remain calm… shortly."
A burst of static cut off the message replacing distorted words with shrill mechanical screeching. The quartet were quick to clamp hands down around their heads in an attempt to drown out the noise.
With one ear covered with her palm and the other pressed to her shoulder she wrestled her one sonic free of her box clutch, pointing it at the intercom and effectively plunging them back into blissful silence.
A silence that didn't last long.
"There's got to be someone on board for these technical issues to be continuing." Mesaeks was close to hysterics at this point and the continuing flickering of the emergency lights didn't seem to be helping.
"Mesaeks," Rose started grasping the woman's shoulders, "I know this is difficult and scary but you need to calm down or return to your room because you are going to be in danger otherwise."
Mesaeks clutched at Rose's forearms fearfully, eyes wide in the flickering red gloom.
"So you do think there's danger here?"
"We don't know that. But without proper lighting that's enough for you to get injured if you're running around distressed. Now take a deep breath, and try to relax."
Still clutching at Rose, Mesaeks copied her deep breaths and slowly she realised Rose.
"I'm sorry, you're right. My panicking has already almost caused a mob tonight." Mesaeks said with a wry smile looking embarrassed.
Rose shot her a comforting smile in return, "It happens to the best of us. Just try to stay with Gwcot. We still don't know what's going on here and some familiarity may help with the panic."
Mesaeks nodded before rejoining Gwcot, clasping her hand in her own.
Things were quiet after that. They traversed the corridors in silence beneath the flashing red emergency lights, still no signs of what had caused the intrusion nor the technical faults. They did, however, happen upon another four guests who looked overwhelmed by the current state of what was supposed to be a luxury getaway.
"Thank the goddess Santori! We haven't been able to find anyone with this dratted lights situation." The Omias of the quartet said.
The Doctor shot a friendly smile at them, cautious of their bewildered state. "Where were you heading?"
The Omias rolled their eyes, "We've been trying to get into our suites but none of us have had any luck. I bumped into these two who were having the same issue while I was trying to find a member of staff."
"Did you find anyone?" Rose asked warily. When the trio looked confused she elaborated. "Any of the crew? Any staff?"
Something must be very very wrong. First the intrusion, then the power failings which seemed to be getting worse and now it seemed the crew were missing. Because now that it had been pointed out to her Rose realised they too should have seen some form of staff by now. And judging by the wary caution she was picking up from her wife, the Doctor was thinking along the same lines.
"No, you are the only other people we've come across." This time it was the Dreoth that spoke up, her voice was surprisingly meek and barely carried across the short distance.
"I'm sure it's nothing to worry about. They're all probably focused on getting things back up and running or reassuring the guests in one of the main areas." The Doctor said with a tight smile.
"I'm Rose by the way." Rose introduced with a smile, trying to distract their group from the danger that was likely brewing in the dark. "This is the Doctor, Gwcot, Mesaeks and Jedaato."
Each of their little ensemble waved as Rose pointed to them.
"I'm Katjuc." The Omias introduced.
"I'm Xlaed." Introduced the Eoter that had thus far stayed quiet with an uncomfortable smile as though he found introductions to be quite tedious especially given their current circumstances.
"Loillit," The Dreoth introduced herself before turning to the Lomanopean she had linked arms with. "And this is Ser'hun."
Rose smiled warmly at the quartet, "How do you two know each other?" She asked in reference to their linked arms.
"We're neighbours," Ser'hun explained with a smile. "Both of us came alone and we ended up right next door to each other. We'd only had the odd conversation when we both found ourselves locked out of our rooms. Figured it was best to stick together to find help."
"Well we're looking for help ourselves - or at the very least answers - you're welcome to tag along." The Doctor chirped.
"How long have you guys been wandering around?" Asked Katjuc.
"Must be nearing 40 bars by now." Jedaato chimed from the back of the group.
32 minutes, Rose mentally converted, she'd gotten used to most of the different conversions she needed while travelling with the Doctor by now. Though they both struggled to remember how long a rel was.
She was leaning against the Doctor as this conversation occurred. Using her wife to stabilise her as she switched her strappy gold stilettos for the trainers and socks she'd stashed in her clutch. The Doctor clung to her forearm keeping her balanced as she swapped shoes in the dark.
"And you think you'll find anything like that?" Xlaed queried not sounding convinced.
"Well it's better than nothing especially if people are locked out of their suites, it's best to stick together in case there is more to this than a power failure." Rose shrugged.
"You two seem rather prepared for trouble." Xlaed continued gesturing to the shoes Rose had just slipped on.
"We go hiking a lot, I always keep a comfy pair of shoes on hand just in case this one decides to forgo transport." Rose teasingly poked the Doctor, trying to deflect.
Their recently acquired associates didn't need to know just how true that statement was. Rose had seen how quickly being prepared could spiral into being labelled the culprit and they didn't have time for that today. The quartet seemed to accept this explanation as they joined their mismatched group to continue down the winding corridors. The group chatted amicably as they walked, everyone desperate for a distraction from their current circumstances.
Eventually, they came to a fork in the corridor though.
"Which way?" Rose asked her wife.
"Not sure." Her wife winced looking down both corridors trying to decide which would be best.
"I thought you said you studied the layout?"
"Studied might have been a bit strong as I don't remember this intersection."
Rose sighed. Well, that sounded more like her Doctor than having the forethought to study blueprints before arrival. It was almost a relief despite the current frustration of the situation.
"Okay then, only one thing for it. You go left, I'll take right."
"You want to split up." Mesaeks' shrill voice piped up.
Rose turned to look at the Cohiness that once again looked back at her with trepidation.
"It's not ideal but we don't know how much longer these lights are going to last and we still haven't found anyone other than our little group."
"Rose is right. Splitting up is the best idea but you're not going by yourself." The Doctor told her sternly.
Rose opened her mouth ready to argue about her immortal status when another voice beat her to it.
"I'll go with Rose." It was Jedaato that had spoken.
"We'll come too." Ser'hun smiled at her while Loillit nodded firmly at his side.
"There, you see. No need to worry. I'll see you in a bit." She stood up onto her toes to press a kiss to her wife's cheek before starting down the right corridor. "Come on, you lot."
-x-
It had probably been about five minutes since she'd parted from the Doctor and the rest of their group and they'd yet to have found anyone else. But they had come to a dead end. All the surrounding doors were deadlock sealed and all that remained was a ladder leading up to a hatch that went gods knows where.
Rose was just tying up the length of her gown to make for easy ascension when the lights finally ceased their flickering and went out altogether.
"Suppose we're stuck here then." Jedaato was the first to break the silence that had fallen as darkness had descended over them.
"Not necessarily." Rose refuted.
"How so my dear?" Ser'hun asked.
Rose didn't answer as she rummaged in the depths of her clutch looking for the torch she knew she had stashed in there. In fact, she knew she had stashed several in the bigger on the inside dimension that all her pockets and bags were linked to.
She quickly managed to locate the first of torches, tucking it between her teeth, she made quick work of climbing up the ladder to sonic the hatch open. Once on the other side, she shone the torch down the ladder for the rest of her party to make their way up.
"You really do have everything in there," Jedaato commented as Loillit was the last to be pulled through.
"Don't suppose you have any more?" Ser'hun asked gently, in what Rose was beginning to realise was his usual jolly tone.
"One sec…" Rose answered as she continued to dig through her clutch looking for the other dozen torches.
Eventually, she was able to retrieve a further three torches that she passed out to the others. Once that was done she swung her torch around to see where they'd ended up. Judging by the thick pipes lining the wall she'd imagine they'd hit the maintenance section of the ship now that they'd passed the living quarters.
"You are like Cakzell Aboria." Loillit chirped as she worked her own torch on.
Rose turned to face the pinked face of the Dreoth.
"Who?" She asked gently, not wanting to offend her.
"Oh, she is a story figure on Dreo. She carried a satchel with her and in it is anything she wants at any given time. It is her given power and she uses it to help people on her travels because her true destiny is to assist others in their quests any way she can. Once she has helped enough people on her way to our great mountain Abori - that's where her name comes from - she will be able to pass on. Because otherwise she is doomed to immortality."
Rose smiled at the fond tone Loillit used all the while trying to ignore the similarities.
"Let me guess, favourite bedtime story?"
Loillit giggled, still staring down at the torch in her lap, "I used to have it read to me every night as a girl. I was always very fond of the idea that our true purpose in this universe is to help others."
Rose stood from where they'd all been sat around the hatch heading in the direction they'd been blocked from below by the deadlocked doors. The other three rose to follow after her. It was a bit of a squeeze they had to duck down to make it work but make it work they did.
"What is it you do back home?" Rose asked softly.
"I came from an old family with more money than they can ever spend. I set up a fund for people who actually need it. Most of my relatives are old with no children, I'm practically the sole beneficiary of my family's sprawling fortune, they were happy to see it go honestly." Loillit explained.
"Coulda done with people like you when I grew up," Rose muttered. "What about you two?"
"I'm an architect." Jedaato started, "Uccaotania has a bit of an overcrowding problem. My firm works on innovative housing solutions. Originally projects like Kassalie had been considered. Satellite housing. But it wasn't possible."
"I'm a travelling professor. I mainly bounce between planets giving lectures at whatever university requests me. This trip was a gift from my granddaughter. She recently came into quite a sum of money after the death of her husband and she didn't know what to do with it."
"I'm sorry to hear that."
"Don't be," Ser'hun chuckled, "He was a repulsive man. I had been attempting to help her flee the situation when he became sick. He won't be missed. But the trip was a thank you for my help as well as an attempt to separate herself from her departed husband's wealth. And well there may have been a pointed remark about retirement in there too."
"And what about you Rose? What are you and the Doctor?" Jedaato asked next.
"How do you mean?"
"The two of you seem fairly comfortable navigating such bizarre circumstances and yet you didn't clarify who you are? Sisters looking for trouble?"
Rose came to a sudden halt as a startled laugh escaped her lips.
"Sisters?"
"There is a little of a resemblance." Loillit backed Jedaato.
"The Doctor is my wife." She wasn't going to go into how recent that was or how that could change along with her spouse's face. "And I suppose you're right. We mainly do this. Just happen upon somewhere and help out if need be. We seem to have an uncanny ability to find trouble."
"A true Cakzell." Loillit grinned at her.
Rose laughed, "I don't think so. We're just tourists really."
Loillit shrugged with a smile, "If you say so."
-x-
They'd been crawling through what Rose was sure was a maintenance duct for about nine minutes when they stopped short at the sight of figures on the other side of a wall of pipes. Rose instructed the other's to turn off their torches as she set her own to dim as she crouched down to watch. She wanted to avoid being seen before she knew who they were if possible.
"They don't look like they should be here," Jedaato murmured from behind her.
Rose had to agree with him there. While all the guests had been decked out in glamorous gowns, robes and suits and the staff had been visible in their distinctive uniform. These figures wore neither. They were scruffy looking and would look more at place back on the Estates that Rose had grown up on.
"I want you guys to go back. Head for your rooms if you can and if you see the Doctor tell her I've found our something unusual but otherwise I want you to keep out of trouble, understood."
She turned to look each of her small team in the eye, the weight of two thousand years evidence in her own as she stared at them. They nodded slowly in a move that seemed more befitting of children than anything else.
"Good. I've got it from here, you go on."
She watched them scamper back the way they came silently. Thankful that they'd followed instruction, she breathed a sigh of relief and began wiggling her way through the wall of pipes that separated her from the group that she was sure were the ones responsible for the earlier breach.
She'd gotten her foot stuck in one of the last pipes when she felt something bash her on the back of the head. And then her ankle was forgotten as she was falling and succumbing to the darkness.
-x-
When she woke up she was chained up in what looked like a storage room. Rose frowned blearily at her surroundings. Her head was throbbing and it was making it hard to focus, she knew it wouldn't be long until her accelerated healing took care of it, but it was still irritating. As were the cuffs at her wrists, she thought to herself as she tugged weakly at them her strength still sapped from the bash to the back of the head.
When she turned her head to the side she found her wife in a similar position to herself. Except she was grinning at her.
"Hiya dear. Looks like we found the intruders." The Doctor told her cheerily.
Rose was very familiar with this tone it was the Doctor's 'I'm - being - interrogated - which - means - everyone - cares - and - has - to - listen - to - what - I - have - to - say - and - I'm - having - a - great - time - because - of - it' voice.
"I think it would be more accurate to say they found us, considering we're the ones chained up," Rose grumbled.
"Silence. You must pay for your crimes." One of the scruffy-looking fellows stepped forward, welder mask hiding their face from view.
"Oh, and what crimes might those be?" Chirped the Doctor.
Rose twisted her wrists and adjusted her stance as got comfortable in her position knowing this was going to take a while.
"The guests of Kassalie come here to display their wealth and make a statement while ignoring the suffering going on on the planet below. Peupra's children are starving while the wealthy flaunt their decadence. We will not allow it to continue."
"So what? You're going to kill everyone on this space station? Do you think more won't come? You think that will feed your children?"
"Our children must eat. Without the greed of the rich stealing our resources, harvests will be plentiful."
"And what about the staff? The crew? The guests that won or were gifted their spot on this station? And how do you plan on telling your children what you did?"
"Those who side with the rich will be treated as their equals."
"And what about us?" Rose piped up. "We're not guests. Not staff neither. We're technically not even here."
"Such falsehoods won't save you now."
"Oh come on. A big fancy place like this has got bio scanners keyed to each guest's room. Go on, scan us. We're not registered. We're not here." The Doctor jumped in.
Another of the Peupras stepped forward to scan the Doctor and Rose only for the scan to read as the Doctor said it would. According to Kassalie's records, they didn't exist.
"How is that possible? You're lying. We know you are guests."
"Nah, mate. Didn't pay a penny for this place. We're stowaways." Rose answered this time.
"Not possible. Kassalie does not have stowaways."
"Just like it doesn't have intruders either?" The Doctor quipped.
The Peupra growled. "It matters not. We will not allow our children to starve while they live on, unburdened by pain or conscience."
"Let us go and we can help you find a better solution."
"It's too late for that. We have already dealt with the majority of the space station; only a dozen or so remain."
A chill ran through Rose at the news. That explained why they hadn't bumped into anyway else on their travels. They were already dead. Likely locked behind the doors that couldn't be opened, out of sight so as to not raise alarm.
Rose shifted her hands and feet again. This time moving into a better position to retrieve the sonic from where she'd tucked it into her. It wasn't difficult to remove. Nor was it difficult to free herself and her wife of their restraints. From there it was a simple matter of dealing with the intruders and fixing the comms to the planetary base on Peupra to inform them of the station's inhabitants' circumstances.
With the Peupra onboard restrained and unconscious in many cases they went off to find their little team from before to notify them too. They wouldn't stick around for the clean up they never did once the trouble passed, but it was the very least they could do.
Rose collapsed against the TARDIS doors once they made it back on board.
"Ya know I'd like just one uneventful Christmas." She mused.
"Well, it wouldn't be our Christmas then." The Doctor retorted.
Rose hummed, "I suppose you're right."
She tugged at her wife's waistcoat. "Forgot to say earlier, love the new look."
A look of smug satisfaction settled over her face. "I knew it."
Rose laughed at the self-assured arrogance.
"And you look stunning as always my dear. Though the trainers with the tied up dress are definitely something." The Doctor teased as she took Rose's hand to spin her around in front of her to better appreciate the odd ensemble.
Rose laughed again even as she allowed herself to be spun for her wife's teasing.
"It's practical." Rose defended before a sly expression settled over her features, "I've seen you voluntarily wear odder."
"Fair point." The Doctor conceded using the joined hands to tug her against her to press a kiss against her lips. "Merry Christmas, Rose Tyler."
Rose beamed up at her wife, content in her arms even after the day they'd had, "Merry Christmas, Doctor."
A/N: The fact we're never gonna get a christmas adventure with Jodie is cruel so here's... this. Anyways I havem't stopp thinking about 13 in 12's clothes and this fanart with 13 is a waistcoat by inkbery on tumblr. But then I got distracted trying to get to the plot which took forever and was meh
Outfits will be on my tumblr