Not that she would ever admit it to anyone but when Chris woke up to tentacles in her face she screamed like a twelve-year-old girl. She had fallen asleep in the library of the Tardis after a shower and a relaxing meal with only The Doctor since Donna had been sleeping. They had only talked a little when Chris mentioned she wanted to see the library.
The Doctor obliged reluctantly, knowing he wouldn't be able to talk to Chris for a few hours. She had gone through a book on the differences between drama and literature and had been asleep for ten minutes when she had popped off.
After seeing that her only threat was an empathetic apology Chris relaxed. Automatically she was picking up vibes from the Ood that were surrounding her but Chris wasn't going to let that take away from her excitement.
She was with the Ood!
A thought popped into her head, courtesy of Rain, that destroyed her excitement. Rain had reminded Chris that none of the adventures that involved the Ood were pleasant. And after her experience in Pompeii Chris wasn't sure she was up for it.
Chris looked around for an exit and found one on the other side of the room. With care, Chris shouldered her way to the exit and tried to open the door. She started to panic when the door wouldn't open.
Sonic Rain reminded the girl gently.
"Oh," Chris muttered.
She took her bag off and rummaged through it for a few seconds before pulling out the sonic. As soon as the sonic was out and she was getting ready to use it the door opened. Rian was pushed through by an Ood, who immediately apologized. She was barely able to grab her bag off the floor.
"Chris get back," A voice, belonging to the tenth doctor, said. He sounded both worried and upset, a feat that Chris was sure only he could manage.
Chris looked over to see the Doctor armed with his sonic and Rose Tyler armed with a chair.
"Get back from the Ood?" Chris asked to which the Doctor nodded, "the Ood Ood? Why would I do that?"
Chris realized then that the Ood were chanting 'we must feed'. She pointed to the translation orb, almost with disgust, then up to the Ood it was connected too.
"You may want to fix that," Chris suggested. The Ood listened to her, he tapped the translation orb on his hand then tried again.
"We must feed you if you are hungry," The Ood offered, finally getting the translation orb to work properly.
"See, perfectly harmless, the Ood. Well, mostly." Chris told them before she was suddenly enveloped in a hug by none other than Rose Tyler. Chris froze, unsure of what to do. She didn't really want to offend Rose but she also didn't actually know Rose and she didn't particularly enjoy hugs. "Uh, Rose?"
"Sorry," Rose apologized letting Chris go, "I honestly thought you were going to die."
"Nah," Chris said, stuffing her hands in the pockets on her jeans, "That sounds boring."
"We apologize," The head Ood offered, "Electromagnetics have interfered with speech systems. Would you like some refreshment?"
"Uh," The Doctor said, looking to Chris for advice. Chris nodded, understanding that The Doctor wanted her assurance that the Ood were safe, "What the hell."
The three of them followed the Ood, Rose next to Chris and The Doctor behind them. The Doctor wasn't looking at Chris and it was confusing. He obviously knew who she was but he didn't seem to want to have anything to do with her. It was almost like he was angry, which just confused her even more seeing as this was only her third time meeting The Doctor.
"So where have you been in recent times," Rose asked curiously, drawing Chris out of her thoughts.
"The future." Rian told her, with a shrug, she wasn't entirely sure what she was allowed to, or supposed to, talk about. "I don't think I should talk about it, really. Spoilers and all."
"Just the future?" Rose asked, she definitely sounded sadder than she had a moment before, "Only the future."
"Yeah," Chris nodded, shoving her hands into the pockets of her coat.
"So this is the first time you've met me?" Rose asked. Chris nodded.
Rose stopped walking and turned to Chris who was watching her in confusion.
"Hello, m' name is Rose Tyler, 's a pleasure to meet you," Rose said with her tongue in tooth grin, extending a hand for Chris to shake.
"Chris Wesley, the pleasure is mine." Chris taking Rose's hand and giving her a wink.
"Do you have to flirt with everyone?" The Doctor asked suddenly, almost glaring at Chris.
"Jealous?" Chris asked before turning and walking away, leaving an offended Doctor and a laughing Rose behind her.
Chris was surprised that they hadn't run into anyone. On the show, it had happened almost immediately. Then again, TV shows had a run time, hours could be shown in seconds.
She shook her head as she, Rose, The Doctor, and some of the Ood entered an empty room. She looked around at the dust before noticing the writing on the wall. This was where everything had started in the TV show, Chris realized.
"Welcome to Hell," Chris read aloud, looking at the writing that was written in black ink.
"It's not that bad," The Doctor said, the first words he had spoken since Chris' earlier comment.
"No, Doc, look." She pointed to the writing on the wall. It was unnerving, seeing it in person.
Open door 18. An electronic voice called out, drawing Chris' attention to the door.
The Doctor and Rose turned to look at writing as the door opened to reveal another person. He looked at the trio in shock, obviously not expecting there to be anyone there. Two guards followed the man into the room.
"What the hell?" He remarked, looking at the unplanned guests. "How did?" He slowly brought his com-device that was attached to his wrist to his mouth, not looking away from the humans and the time lord.
"Captain, you're not gonna believe this. We've got people. Out of nowhere. I mean real people. I mean three living people, just standing here right in front of me."
"Don't be stupid." A voice sounded out of the com-device, "That's impossible."
"I suggest telling them that." The man countered.
"He did say he wouldn't believe him," Chris murmured to Rose, causing the girl to giggle.
"But you're a space base. You must have visitors." Rose observed, "It can't be that impossible."
"Are you telling me you don't know where you are?" The man asked, now worried about the mental stability of the people in front of him.
"No idea!" The Doctor told him with a cheeky grin.
"More fun, that way!" Chris chimed in energetically, choosing to ignore the fact that she knew exactly where they were.
"Stand by, everyone. Buckle down. We have incoming. 'And it's a big one. Quake 0.5 on its way." A different voice warned through the com. The group of them shared a look before the man gestured frantically at the door he had come through.
"Through here. Now." The three of them followed the man and the guards as he kept yelling at them to run. Chris made sure Rose was in front of her as the Doctor followed behind the group. "Quickly! Come on. Move! Keep moving! Keep moving! Come on! Move it!"
Chris wasn't used to running that much or that fast and was panting by the time they reached the main console room. She placed her arms on her head as she attempted to catch her breath.
I need to start going on runs in my free time. She told Rain who just chuckled at her.
"Oh, my God, you meant it. People." A woman exclaimed, obviously shocked by their presence, "Look at that! Real people"
"That's us." The Doctor said cheerfully, carefully assessing the six other people in the console room, "Hooray!"
"Yeah, definitely real," Rose confirmed, sharing a look with The Doctor. Chris set her bag down on the ground and rolled her shoulders.
"Well, last time I checked, at least, it's been a time since that happened." Chris started to ramble, "I really should check again, just to be safe."
"My name's Rose, Rose Tyler," The blonde Brit said after rolling her eyes at Chris, land this is the Doctor. And the chatterbox is Chris Wesley."
"Come on, the oxygen must be offline." Another man said.
Chris was going to need introductions soon or everyone would be getting randomly assigned names.
"We're hallucinating, they can't be."
He reached out and grabbed Chris's' arm to confirm that they were real. She hadn't been expecting the touch and had reacted on instinct, grabbing the man's arm and quickly twisting it behind his back.
"Oh, shit, I'm so sorry," Chris said as soon as she realized what she had done. She looked around to see everyone in different states of distress, "it's instinct now and I really can't control it. Are you okay?"
"They're real!" The man said after giving Chris a reassuring smile. Though the way he was rubbing his shoulder didn't have her convinced.
"Come on, we're in the middle of an alert." The man, obviously the captain, reminded, "Danny, strap up, the quake's coming in. Impact in 30 seconds. Sorry, you three, whoever you are, just hold on. Tight!"
"Hold on to what?" Roses demanded, looking around the control room.
"Anything." The captain said, "I don't care, just hold on. Ood, are we fixed?"
Chris grabbed a hand each of the Doctor and Rose and led them to the stairs leading out of the room. She let them latch onto the railing before joining them and bracing herself for impact.
"Your kindness in this emergency is much appreciated." The leader of the Ood responded.
"What's this planet called, anyway?" The Doctor asked, having no sense of timing, a trait Chris knew wasn't going to go away.
"Don't be stupid." One of the women answered, "It hasn't got a name. How could it have a name?" The Doctor merely raised a confused brow in response. "You really don't know, do you?"
"And." The captain interrupted and Chris took that as her cue to tighten her grip and close her eyes, she never liked earthquakes, and this was much worse than an earthquake, "impact!"
The room shook with abandon and Chris gripped the rail, afraid to let go, even as the quakes started to subside. She knew that quakes always came in pairs. The Doctor, evidently, had forgotten that fact.
"Oh, well." The Doctor said, releasing the bar, "That wasn't so."
Chris felt a sharp pain near her eye when the Doctor lost his footing. She let go of the bar with one hand to create a shield between her face and the bony alien's elbow. She felt a trickle of something warm on her lip and let out a sigh.
"That's it." The captain said after the second quake has subsided, "Everyone all right? Speak to me, Ida?"
"Yeah, yeah." Ida, an older woman with dark hair pulled back into a bun, responded.
"Danny?"
"Fine." The man Chris had manhandled said.
"Toby?"
"Fine." A young man responded
"Scooti?"
"No damage" the woman that had spoken to them upon their entering the control room told.
"Jefferson?" Was the final person to be called for.
"Check!" The man who had first found them called.
"We're fine, thanks." The Doctor remarked sarcastically, unfolding himself from the position he had found himself in. "Don't worry about us."
"Speak for yourself," Chris quipped, plugging her nose to prevent getting blood on her clothes.
The Doctor looked over at Chris, a look of guilt forming onto his features as he knelt in front of her. He pulled a handkerchief out of his pockets and handed it to her. She accepted it gratefully and raised it to her nose.
"Surface caved in." The captain informed the group, "I deflected it onto Storage five through eight, we've lost them completely. Toby, go and check the rocket link."
"That's not my department." Toby protested.
"Just do as I say, yeah?" The captain said in a tone that said any more arguments would be ignored. Toby reluctantly exited the room.
"Oxygen holding. Internal gravity at 56.6. We should be OK." Ida said, checking over the stats, as The Doctor continue to help Chris stop her nose bleeding.
"Tell me, Doc," Chris started in a voice that was clearly teasing, "am I gonna live?"
The Doctor just shook his head before his attention was drawn to Rose who had been silent since the earthquake. She was staring down at her hands quizzically like she was trying to figure something out.
"Never mind the earthquake, that's. That's one hell of a storm." The Doctor said, shoving his hands into his pocket and giving that shrug that indicated he was trying to get information.
"What is that, a hurricane?" Rose asked, suddenly zoning back into the world around her.
"You need an atmosphere for a hurricane," Ida informed him, "There's no air out there. It's a complete vacuum."
"Then what's shaking the roof?" Rose asked, raising a brow at the woman.
"You're not joking. You really don't know." Ida realized, "Well. Introductions. FYI, as they said in the olden days, I'm Ida Scott, Science Officer." She gestured to the black man who was obviously in charge, "Zachary Cross Flane, Acting Captain, sir!" Next she pointed to the older man that had gotten them to the control room, "you've met Mr. Jefferson, he's Head of Security." Next was a man of Indian descent, "Danny Bartock, Ethics Committee."
"Not as boring as it sounds." Danny quipped with a wink at Rose who blushed shyly.
"And that man who just left, that's Toby Zed, Archaeology, and this." She pulled Scooti into an affectionate side hug, "is Scooti Manista, Trainee Maintenance, and this," She gestured vaguely to their surroundings before pulling a lever that controlled a metal shield over the window, "This is home."
"Brace yourselves. The sight of it sends some people mad." Captain Zach warned
The cover on the window was lifted to reveal the impossible. And that was coming from Chris, who was living the impossible. There was no way the endless expanse of black with dots of color could exist. And yet, there it was. Chris knew the reason, the creature in the pit, but still, seeing it first hand was an experience that kept all of her previous knowledge at bay.
"That's a black hole." The Doctor said after a moment, glancing at Chris and then to Ida, "That's impossible."
"I did warn you," Zach said with some amusement.
"We're standing under a black hole! In orbit." The Doctor reiterated "We can't be."
"You can see for yourself," Ida commented, "We're in orbit."
"But we can't be." The Doctor repeated. Chris shook her head, removing the cloth from her nose and wiping up excess blood before standing up.
"Doc," She said, drawing his attention to her, "It's possible."
"This lump of rock is suspended in perpetual geostationary orbit around that black hole without falling in," Ida said with a nod to Chris who was currently having a staring contest with the Doctor.
"And that's bad, yeah?" Rose said, gaining the attention of Chris who walked over to wrap an arm around her shoulder.
"Bad doesn't cover it." The Doctor said with a shake of his head, "A black hole's a dead star, it collapses in on itself, in and in and in, until the matters so dense and tight it starts to pull everything else in too. Nothing in the universe can escape it. Light, gravity, time everything gets pulled inside. And crushed."
"So there can't be an orbit?" Rose asked, trying to make sure she understood, "We should be pulled right in?"
"We should be dead." The Doctor confirmed
Ida added solemnly: "And yet here we are, beyond the laws of physics. Welcome on board."
"But if there's no atmosphere out there, what's that?" Rose asked referring to the brightly colored clouds out the window.
"Stars breaking up. Gas clouds." Ida told her, "We have whole solar systems being ripped apart above our heads, before falling into that thing."
"So a bit worse than a storm, then?" Rose asked. Chris tightened her arm around Rose's shoulder and the blonde leaned into her side.
"Just a bit," Ida confirmed
"Just a bit, yeah," Rose repeated
"What's its name?" Chris asked from her spot on the ground next to Rose who was leaning her head on Chris's shoulder.
The door to the room opened and Toby walked in. The door slid closed behind him and he reported that the link to the rocket was in proper working condition.
"That's the black hole, officially designate Gem 5. In the scriptures of the Veltino, this planet's called Krop Tor." Ida informed them as Zach pulled up a hologram for them to look at, "The bitter pill. And the black hole is supposed to be a mighty demon who was tricked into devouring the planet only to spit it out because it was poison."
"The Bitter Pill." Rose grinned, "I like that."
"We're so far out. Lost in the drifts of the universe." The Doctor said, "How did you even get here?"
"We flew in, d'you see?" Ida pointed to a column on the hologram, "This planet's generating a gravity field. We don't know how we've no idea. But it's kept in a constant balance against the black hole. And the field extends out there, as a funnel, a distinct. gravity funnel, reaching out into clear space. That was our way in."
"You flew down that thing?" The Doctor asked incredulously.
"Like a rollercoaster. By rights, the ship should've been torn apart." Zach informed, " We lost the captain, which is what put me in charge."
"And you're doing a good job," Ida told him with a kind smile.
"Yeah, well. Needs must." Zach shrugged off the compliment.
"But if that gravity funnel closes, there's no way out." Danny reminded,
"Oh, we have fun speculating about that." Scooti inputted
"Yeah, that's the word, fun," Danny remarked sarcastically.
"But that field would take phenomenal amounts of power." The Doctor said, walking over to the command computer, "Not just big, but off the scale! Can I?"
"Sure, help yourself." Zach gave him permission and The Doctor got straight to work.
"Your refreshments." An Ood said, offering Chris and Rose a cup each of tea. Chris took a sip of hers and grimaced. There was too much sugar.
"Oh, yeah, thanks," Rose said, shaking out of her thoughts, "Thank you! I'm sorry, what was your name?"
"We have no titles." The Ood told her, "We are as one."
"Um." Rose wasn't quite sure how to respond to that.
Chris stood and walked over to the Doctor, cradling the warm cup in her hands but not drinking the sugary drink. She had no idea what he was doing but that was half of the beauty of it. Just watching the Time Lord work was something Chris could get used to doing.
"What are they called?" Rose asked Danny after she watched the Ood walk off.
"Oh, come on! Where've you been living?" Danny asked, "Everyone's got one!"
"Well, not me," Rose informed him with a cheeky smile, "So what are they?"
"They're the Ood," Danny told her.
"The Ood?"
"The Ood," Danny confirmed
"That's Ood." Rose smirked.
"Very Ood." Danny agreed, "But handy! They work the mine shaft, all the drilling and stuff, supervision and maintenance. They're born for it. Basic slave race."
"You've got slaves?" Rose asked, startled.
Only The Doctor noticed Chris stiffen at the mention of the Ood being a slave race. She took a deep breath, trying not to start anything.
"Don't start!" Scooti shared a look with Danny, "She's like one of that lot, the Friends of the Ood."
"Well, maybe I am, yeah," Rose said, making Chris let out a small smile, "Since when did humans need slaves?"
"But the Ood offer themselves," Danny explained, "If you don't give them orders, they just pine away and die."
"Seriously?" Rose questioned before turning to address an Ood, "You like being ordered about?"
"It is all we crave." The Ood said. Chris couldn't help but let out a shudder, The Doctor shot her a worried look that she ignored.
"Why's that, then?" Rose asked.
"We have nothing else in life." The Ood told her.
"Yeah, well. I used to think like that. Long time ago." Rose said looking over at her two friends with a grateful smile.
"There we go!" The Doctor exclaimed, wanting to change the topic, noticing that it was upsetting Chris. "D'you see? To generate that gravity field and the funnel you need a power source with an inverted self-extrapolating reflex of six to the power of six every six seconds."
"That's a lot of sixes," Rose commented, coming up to stand beside Chris.
"And it's impossible." The Doctor said, looking at Chris meaningfully. She shook her head, letting him know that she couldn't read his expressions.
"It took us two years to work that out," Zach said, looking at the Doctor in wonder
"I'm very good." The Doctor shrugged.
Not to mention humble, Rain added. The Doctor winked at Chris.
"But that's why we're here," Ida said, pointing to a spot on the hologram map, "This power source is ten miles below, through solid rock. Point Zero. We're drilling down to try and find it. It's giving off readings of over could revolutionize modern science."
"We could use it to fuel the Empire," Jefferson added
"Or start a war." The Doctor muttered and Chris couldn't help but agree.
"It's buried beneath us. In the darkness." Toby added, his voice dark, "Waiting."
"What's your job?" Rose asked after a beat, "Chief dramatist?"
"Whatever it is down there, it's not a natural phenomenon." Toby continued, voice back to normal "This, er, planet once supported life, eons ago, before the human race had even learned to walk."
"I saw that lettering on the wall." The Doctor told him, "Did you do that?"
"I copied it from fragments we've found, unearthed by the drilling," Toby said, a gleam of excitement in his eye, "I can't translate it."
"No, neither can I." The Doctor said, "And that's saying something."
"There was some form of civilization. They buried something." Toby said, "And now it's reaching out, calling us in."
"And you came." The Doctor stated.
"How could we not?" Ida shrugged.
"So when it comes right down to it, why did you come here?" The Doctor said getting excited, "Why did you do that? Why? I'll tell you why. Because it was there! Brilliant! Scuse me. Er, Zach, wasn't it?"
"That's me," Zach said with a confused smile
"Just stand there, cos I'm gonna." The Doctor moved closer to Zach opening his arms a little but giving him the chance to move away, "hug you. Is that alright?"
"Suppose so." Zach shrugged
"Here we go. Coming in." The Doctor said, wrapping Zach in a hug "Human beings. You are amazing! Ha! Thank you."
"Not at all," Zach said as The Doctor released him.
"But apart from that, you're completely mad." The Doctor said, sobering suddenly, "You should pack your bags, get on that ship and fly for your lives!"
"You can talk." Ida bristled, "How the hell did you get here?"
"I've got this, er, um," The Doctor said.
"He's got a ship," Chris interrupted, speaking for the first time in awhile, "it teleports. We can show you."
"We parked down the corridor from uh." The Doctor looked to Chris for help, "what's it called?"
"Habitation area." Chris supplied with a smirk before looking to Rose, prompting her to answer with a raised brow.
"Three." Rose offered
"Three." The Doctor repeated with a smirk of his own.
"D'you mean Storage Six?" Zach asked and Chris frowned
"It was a bit of a cupboard, yeah." The Doctor said, "Storage Six? But you said. You said. You said Storage Five to Eight."
The Doctor took off, Chris on his heels. At each door, he would get more and more frantic. Chris wasn't sure what to do. She didn't know how the Doctor would react when he realized that Chris had known that this was going to happen. Hopefully, he wouldn't create too much of a scene.
"What is it, what's wrong?" Rose called, running after the two.
Open door 19.
Close Door 19.
"Come on!" The Doctor growled when the doors weren't opening fast enough for him.
Open door 17.
Open door 15.
Door 16 out of commission.
"It can't be!" The Doctor yelled.
"What's wrong?" Rose asked, catching up to them "What is it? Doctor, the Tardis is in there what's happened?"
"The Tardis has gone." Chris panted, she tried to keep her breathing under control.
Door 16, out of commission.
"The earthquake. This section collapsed." The Doctor said, choosing to ignore Chris. He wasn't mad really, more disappointed than anything. Chris knew how important the Tardis was to him but she hadn't even warned him that something was going to happen to the only thing he had left of home.
"But it's got to be out there somewhere," Rose said, moving to stand next to the Doctor. She shot Chris a worried look before looking to the Doctor again.
"Look down." The Doctor said, pointing at where the Tardis was floating in the distance.
The Doctor took a deep breath before turning to Chris. Only she wasn't there. He shook his head. He was slowly getting more and more angry with the girl. They had talked about this before, how she needed to warn him when things were going to get bad. And this was pretty bad as far as things went.
It completely slipped his mind that she had only been in his future.
He stalked down the hall, intent on finding Chris and having a word with her.
Except when he found her all thoughts of his stern words flew out of his head.
Chris was on the ground down the hall with her arms wrapped around her head. She was rocking back and forth with tears running down her cheeks.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry." The Doctor heard her mutter and he knelt next to her, making sure to give her space. He'd made the mistake of touching her during a panic attack before.
"Chris," The Doctor said gently, "It's okay, I'm not angry. I promise."
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry." Chris continued to mutter, not acknowledging the Doctor's presence.
She knew he was there though she couldn't bring herself to respond. While one part of her understood that he was telling the truth, that he wasn't angry, a larger part of her was blaming herself.
"Chris," The Doctor called again, "I need you to breath with me."
Chris continued to mutter the mantra she had learned all those years ago. The words soon became a comfort to her. Though her breathing was still coming in quick gasps.
"I'm going to hug you now." The Doctor warned before gently wrapping his arms around her. Chris tensed before melting into the embrace. She focused on the double beating of his hearts and his steady breathing. Using the sounds as anchors against her growing panic.
You're okay, Chris His voice sounded in her head, a calm radiating from where his mental presence had brushed hers.
Chris couldn't respond. The panic had pushed Rain to the back of her mind and was forcing her to shrink in on herself. The sudden realization that Chris was hurting Rain stopped her mind from thinking. She went silent and closed her eyes.
I am so sorry, Rain. Chris apologized silently, I am so, so, sorry.
You can't control it, Chris. Rain said to Chris, accepting the apology gracefully.
Chris? The Doctor sounded worried and that's when Chris realized he had been trying to get her attention verbally.
She opened her eyes slowly to be greeted with concerned brown ones closer than she had expected, causing her to startle. She let out a sheepish smile before pulling away from the Doctor in order to address him properly.
"I'm good now," She said with as much of a smile as she could currently muster, "well, I will be. After a nap and a good cup of tea."
"Are you sure?" The Doctor asked, his voice gentle, "because you know it's okay if you're not, right?"
Chris leaned in and gave him a squeeze before shifting away so that she could stand up. The Doctor was up before her and offered her a hand. She accepted it and was lifted into another hug.
I hate seeing you like that. The Doctor told her.
I hate being like that. Rain responded for Chris.
The Doctor squeezed a little tighter before letting Chris go. She gave him a grateful smile before looking around to see where they were. She saw no signs of Rose and was grateful that the girl hadn't stayed there to witness her like that.
Once The Doctor was sure that Chris would be alright he grabbed her hand and led her back to the control room. He became a little more tense with each step. Chris had distracted him from the state that his Tardis was in but now he was starting to worry.
"She's gonna be fine," Chris said. The Doctor looked at her in confusion but she just smiled at him instead of repeating.
"The ground gave way." The Doctor said upon entering the control room, "My Tardis must've fallen right into the heart of the planet, but you've robot drills heading the same way."
"We can't divert the drilling," Zach informed him.
"But I need my ship! It's all I've got! Literally, the only thing!" The Doctor said and Chris knew what he was talking about. She gave the hand that was still holding hers a gentle squeeze.
"Doctor, we've only got the resources to dig one central shaft down to the power source, and that's it," Zach said, "No diversions, no distractions, no exceptions. Your machine is lost. All I can do is offer you a lift if we ever get to leave this place. And that's the end of it."
"I'll put you on the duty roster." Ida offered giving the Doctor an awkward pat on the shoulder, "We need someone in the laundry." Ida left the room and the rest of them awkwardly followed, leaving Chris, The Doctor and Rose alone.
"Ah yes," Chris said, not even bothering to hide the sarcasm, "I've traveled this far with only doing laundry in mind, that's all I've ever wanted in life."
"I've trapped you here." The Doctor apologized to Rose, who had her arms wrapped around her middle.
"No, don't worry about me," Rose said, her voice thick.
The Doctor gave her a look
"Okay," Rose conceded, "We're on a planet that shouldn't exist, underneath a black hole, with no way out. Yeah changed my mind. Start worrying about me."
The Doctor enveloped Rose in a hug which she gratefully returned. It was only the opening and closing of the door that alerted the Doctor to Chris leaving the room. Rose gave him a small smile and a nod of the head and he kissed her forehead before leaving the room to find Chris.
Chris walked down the hall with her bag on her shoulders. She wanted to get a better sense of the layout of the base. She wasn't sure how long they would actually be there. Her sense of time was getting better but she still thought of certain events in terms of dramatic time, rather than real time.
She continued to wander only to find herself in the room where they 'stored' the Ood. She studied them before setting down her bag and sitting tailor-style on the ground. She leaned forward on the platform, letting Rain commune with the Ood, who were all staring at her.
Chris heard the Doctor enter the room but didn't turn to face him. She was paying more attention to what Rain was saying. It occurred to her that with the creature in the pit talking to the Ood was not the brightest plan but they were an interesting species that she had always wanted to know more about.
"Did you know that they sing?" Chris asked, her voice quiet.
"What do you mean?" The Doctor asked, moving further into the room. He sank to the floor next to Chris, looking out over the Ood.
"The Ood, their song is beautiful." She looked over at the Doctor, tears in her eyes, "They're not singing right now."
The Doctor looked out at the Ood before looking back at Chris with understanding in his eyes. He sometimes forgot how astute Chris was at telepathic connections, especially with the more empathetic species.
"And you know why, don't you?" The Doctor asked sensing that there was more to the conversation that she was saying.
"Yes. I know it gets fixed but still. I don't know when that's going to be for me and the fact that I can't do anything right this minute hurts." Chris closed her eyes, "how do you deal with not being able to help?"
"I do what I can to help someone else," The Doctor said, his voice gentle, "you won't be able to save everyone."
Chris sat in silence, listening to the murmur of Rain talking with the Ood. She wasn't able to understand them, but it seemed that Rain could.
"I'm going to go check on Rose," The Doctor told her after a moment. He stood up and waited for a response from the woman.
"Try the cafeteria," Chris offered, "I'm going to stay here for a bit. I'm still kind of processing."
"Alright, if you need me then I'm sure you'll figure out a way to find me." The Doctor said before exiting the room, leaving Chris with the Ood.
A/N: (Edited)! Hello all! I was able to edit this, turns out you can watch Doctor Who on Amazon Prime (who knew?)