A/N – I don't own Doctor Who. Thank you for sticking with me to the next chapter. Hopefully things from here on out don't get to confusing. Basically Rose was bounced off the wall in the last episode of season two (well a little bit more complicated than that but…) and both have finally got over their stage of trying to hide their feelings for each other and actually say "I love you". The next 4ish chapters are written so…I will be uploading manically. Enjoy!

Chapter Two: Lost in the Dark

The Doctor blinked at his sudden blindness as he steadied himself and Rose against the counter. As a Time Lord he had excellent night vision, but the black inside the TARDIS was so complete that even he could not see Rose's face, inches from his own. "Rose, you okay? No further injury from the lack of light and the rough ride?" He tried to sound cheerful but it ended up sounding rather forced.

"Yeah, I'm alright, just can't see a thing. How 'bout you, your super Time Lord senses picking up somethin'?"

"Nahh, nothing, I am blinder that a vorthog from Auria, and those things can't see their own…Never mind, the TARDIS shouldn't be doing this. I have to get to the control room and see if I can fix it." He reached for his sonic screw driver, feeling around in the pockets of his habitual suit. He realized, in the excitement of the day, he had forgotten it back in the control room.

Rose's grip around him was getting rather uncomfortably tight; she obviously had no idea in her nerves how tight she was holding him. Another time he might have marveled how strong she had gotten in the three years that he had known her, but now he had other things on his mind. "Miss Tyler, I need you to let go of me for a moment, I love you too, but I currently cannot serve the role of teddy bear and fix the TARDIS."

"Oh, right," she said rather guiltily as she let go of him quickly, "Sorry 'bout that, it just sorta startled me."

"I am going to start toward the control room, I should be able to sort out was has gone wrong from there. Hopefully is nothing more than a power loop in the main control panel, easily fixed," The Doctor announced, none to sure of his prognosis, "Stay here until I get the lights back on, the TARDIS is a big ship and I don't want you to get hurt blundering around in the dark."

"Of course, I have been livin' here for a couple of years now, and even then I haven't seen the entirety of her. I'll stay here with the bacon and wait for the lights to come on," She grinned invisibly, "Make it quick, we have chips, to get and knowin' the TARDIS we will probably have to try a few times till we actually get them."

The Doctor turned to go, feeling his way awkwardly across the kitchen, trying to avoid the still hot pan. Walking halfway down the hallway he stopped, he heard a sound coming from behind him, the sound of a kitchen door opening. Turning back he sighed, "Rose, I thought I told you to stay in the kitchen. I know you want to help but it will be quicker for me to get there alone."

Silence met his ears, "Rose, is that you?"

A gentle touch started scratching at the edges of his mind and knew that what ever was in the hallway with him wasn't Rose, she didn't have telepathy. Slowly backing away he bumped into the wall; he edged along it until he was at the end of the hall. What ever it was, it was between him and Rose and that did not make him happy. The scratching stopped. Waiting, he held his breath, trying to decide how to get back to Rose without alerting the thing to his plan.

A blow to his mental defenses made him gasp, only in his schooling days on Gallifrey had he felt this vulnerable. Then he had been stuck in a feedback loop with a crowd, reinforcing their emotion until they almost rioted. Disorientated the Doctor looked up to find the lights back on and all presence in the hallway gone.

Running back to the kitchen he flung open the door. "Rose?" He called out, expecting to hear her happy response admonishing him for the lights. Instead he was faced with an empty kitchen, bacon still littering the floor.

A/N- I still have chiblis and they are starting to overrun my house…i.e. please review if you have the time, thank you.