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To Rose's surprise, Jack was originally a little apprehensive about the trip. But after a few minutes alone with the Doctor, he was up for it.
"Okay, Yekario Minor, here we come," said the Doctor as he activated the TARDIS. "So Jack, how's life?"
"Oh yeah, not too bad," replied Jack. "I got stabbed the other day."
"Really?" said Rose casually.
"Yeah, right through the stomach," confirmed Jack. "Honestly Rose, coming back to life's great and all, but couldn't you have made it so that I couldn't feel pain?"
"Well excuse me, I can barely remember what was happening at the time," defended Rose. "And all I really cared about was the Doc-" She stopped short and glanced down, embarrassed. The Doctor walked over to her and put a hand on her shoulder, trying to shut out the thoughts of their lips burning against each other, all of time and space running from her into him…
"Oh look, we're here," he said. "Okay, here's what's happening. We're all going into the main hive. Jack – it's your job to distract the bees. Luckily their eyesight isn't too good – they rely on their senses of hearing and smell. The TARDIS will translate anything you say into their language, but you will need to wear their scent, which I've got a bottle of here. You also need to shake your behind as you talk to them – that's how they communicate with each other, and they'll notice if you don't do it."
"No problems there," said Jack, grinning. But the Doctor still looked serious.
"I don't care what you do or say to them, just make sure they don't come near us. Rose and I will collect the honey using these jars." He held up a glass jar. "As soon as we're done, we leave. No detours, no nothing, got it?" His companions nodded.
"Good," he said.
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Rose and the Doctor jogged over to the main hive, hand in hand. Jack was walking behind them, and was already attracting some glances from the bees. They approached a large entrance in the shape of a hexagon.
"This is it," whispered the Doctor. "The echoes are very loud in here, so lower your voice." Rose nodded and stepped into the room. It was gigantic, the entire place dripping with golden honey. Rose licked her lips at the sight of it. There were various bees all over the place, each doing their job to keep the hive running efficiently. Jack noticed a large group of bees and, taking that as his cue, walked over to them.
"Hey," he said, moving his bum to the side. "How's it going?" The bees squinted, as if they already noticed something was wrong with him.
"Why aren't you working?" one of them asked.
"The queen ordered me to take a rest," replied Jack. "Said I'd been overworking."
"Lucky bastard," murmured one bee to another. Rose looked on in amusement.
"Rose, over here," the Doctor said. Rose wandered over to the spot where the Doctor was kneeled down. There was a large pool of honey, and the Doctor was already hard at work scooping it into the jar. It dripped all around the sides, so Rose helped to slide it back in.
"Now remember," the Doctor said as he scooped, "your mum needs to be very careful when she takes this. One spoonful should calm her down, and two will help her sleep."
"Got it," said Rose. The jar was full now.
"Okay, looks like we can go," said the Doctor, relieved. But Rose's attention was somewhere else.
"Doctor, look!" she exclaimed. She was pointing to a river of what looked like honey, but more solid and yellow.
"Ah yes, the supply of royal jelly," explained the Doctor. "Just a teaspoon of it will make any food taste sensational."
"Oo, can we get some?" asked Rose. The Doctor's shoulders tensed.
"Gee, I don't know, I mean we did what we came here to do…" he began.
"Oh please!" begged Rose. "I'd love to give it to Mum, I mean it's the least I can do for making her sick and all. Besides, you're always talking about how crap her cooking is." The Doctor sighed.
"Very well," he said. Rose grinned and hugged him. They made their way over to the river and started taking out the jelly, putting it into Rose's jar. The spoons couldn't make their way through it, so they just used their hands. At one point, they each went for the same bit of jelly, and their hands brushed. Rose looked at the Doctor, her face pink. Just then Jack came over to them.
"Guys, can we go now?" he asked. "There's only so much shaking this ass can do." He continued to shake it as he spoke. "I mean, this one bee was banging on and on about how great the queen was and all that, and I just wanted to tell him to shut the hell up!" The Doctor and Rose looked behind Jack, to where a big bunch of bees had congregated together and were buzzing furiously. Jack slowly turned around, realising his mistake.
"Oh," he said. "Listen, no offence guys. The queen's alright, if not a tad overweight."
"He has insulted our queen!" exclaimed one bee. "Get them!"
"Run," said the Doctor. They didn't need telling twice. They hastily gathered everything up and ran as fast as they could, back to the TARDIS.
"Me and my big fat mouth," muttered Jack as he ran. "Or should that be my big fat a-, well, not so much big and fat as firm and muscular…"
"It's my fault," said Rose. "I wanted to get some of this royal jelly, but I guess it took too much time. I'm the cause of your impatience."
"It doesn't matter whose fault it is," said the Doctor. "Look – we're almost there now." The TARDIS was only metres away. But as they approached, a group of bees surrounded Jack, making him fall behind.
"Jack!" cried Rose, who stopped and looked round.
"Don't worry about me!" Jack yelled. "Get back to the TARDIS!" Rose turned and continued running. The Doctor was standing in the doorway, his arms outstretched.
"Come on Rose!" he exclaimed. "You're almost there!" Rose ran towards the Doctor and practically dived into the TARDIS. But as she came through, so too did a bee, not yet fully grown, but still very big and very deadly. Rose stood up and looked at the creature in fear, specifically at its large poisonous stinger. Instantly the Doctor ran in front of Rose, blocking her from the bee's sight.
"If you want Rose you're going to have to go through me," he told it.
"Doctor, no!" protested Rose.
"I promised to keep you safe, and that's exactly what I plan on doing," said the Doctor. Rose shut her eyes as the bee flew towards her, its stinger facing her. She tensed up, only to feel a light prick in her stomach. She slowly opened her eyes, and found that the stinger had only just touched her. She'd need a bandaid at most.
"Well, that wasn't so bad," she said. "Thanks for doing that for me Doctor." She froze and looked down. The Doctor was lying at her feet, the stinger lodged right through him.
"Oh my god," said Rose. She tried to pull the stinger out but it wouldn't budge. Just then Jack came through the door. He surveyed the scene before him, and grabbed the now stinger-less bee and threw it back out the door. He then ran over to the Doctor and Rose.
"It'll be okay Doctor," Rose kept saying. "You'll just regenerate, and then it'll all be over."
"Rose … I'm dying …" gasped the Doctor.
"I know Doctor," Rose said. "And I know it'll be different adjusting to a new body. But I'll manage. I know it's you inside." The Doctor looked up at her, his face so sad. His mouth opened as if to say something, but then his eyes closed. Tears ran down Rose's face as she cradled him.
"Any minute now," she whispered.
"Rose," said Jack, touching her on the shoulder. "He's not coming back."
"Yes he is," said Rose, ignoring Jack's words. "He's a Time Lord, he can regenerate." Jack shook his head.
"No Rose," he said. "Listen – there are some substances that Gallifreyan biology can't handle. Aspirin is one example. Another example is the sting of a bee from Yekario Minor. One sting … and the Gallifreyan shuts down completely. Their brain stops, their hearts stop … and their regeneration cycle stops. Rose, the Doctor is dead." Rose shook her head, the tears now running down onto the Doctor's face.
"No, he can't be," she cried. "HE CAN'T BE! WAKE UP DOCTOR, PLEASE WAKE UP!" At that moment the TARDIS started up, and a familiar hologram flashed on.
"This is Emergency Programme One…"
"The TARDIS must have detected his death," realised Jack. "She's taking you home." It was at that moment that Rose realised that what had happened was very real. The Doctor was dead.
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For all of you who have seen the episode, I hope my modification of the Jack/Bender role was sufficient.
Next chapter soon.