"The wonderful world of space travel," Riley muttered. "Prettier it looks; the more likely it is to kill you."
Riley sat behind Rose gazing out the window as they drifted away from the ship. Rose was shaking softly and shook her head.
"He'll come for us," her voice quavered, but she refused to give up hope.
"No, it's too late," Riley said softly. "Our heat shield will pack in any minute, and then we go into free fall. We'll fall into the sun way before he has a chance to do anything."
"Well you don't know the Doctor," Rose murmured. "I believe in him."
"Then you're lucky," Riley said. "I've never found anyone worth believing in."
Rose slowly turned away from the window to look at him. Riley sat on the floor with his arms around his legs, glaring out at the deep space.
"No girlfriend?" Rose came and sat by him. "Boyfriend?"
"The job doesn't lend itself to stable relationships," Riley shook his head with a ghost of a smile.
"Family, then?"
"My dad's dead," Riley sighed. "And I haven't seen my mum in six years."
Riley turned to Rose.
"She didn't want me to sign up for cargo tours," he continued. "Things were said, and since then, all silent. She wanted to hold onto me, I know that. God, she's so stubborn."
"Yeah, well," Rose smiled. "That's families."
"What about you?"
"I lost my dad too," Rose nodded. "But I've got my mum. No silence from her. So much noise."
Rose raised her head to ceiling fighting back another round of tears.
"Oh, God," her voice broke. "She'll never know what happened to me. She'll just keep expecting me to come home one day. I-I'll just have disappeared. And she'll always be waiting."
"Call her," Riley whispered beside her.
⋆⋆⋆DW⋆⋆⋆
"I can't let you do this," Scannell said beside the Doctor.
"You're wasting your breath, Scannell," the Doctor growled adjusting the gloves of his space suit. "You're not going to stop me."
"You want to open an airlock—in flight—on a ship spinning into the sun," Scannell pointed to the empty pod chamber. "No one can survive that."
"Oh, just you watch," the Doctor glared at him.
"You open that airlock, it's suicide," Scannell tried to talk him out of it. "This close to the sun, the shields will barely protect you."
"If I can boost the magneticlock on the ship's exterior, it should remagnetise the pod," the Doctor said. "Now, while I'm out there, you have got to get the rest of those doors open! We need those auxiliary engines!"
"Doctor, will you listen!" Scannell's voice rose. "They're too far away! It's too late."
"I'm not going to lose her."
The Doctor looked directly at Scannell as he pulled the suit helmet over his head. He walked past the mechanic and stepped into the airlock. His thoughts drifted back to the last time he'd worn a space suit like this one. He had been dangling on the edge of a great pit, hundreds of kilometers beneath the planet's surface, and so far away from Rose. He had saved Rose from that black hole and death then, and now he could do it again.
"Decompression initiated," the computer called. "Impact in twelve fifty-five."
⋆⋆⋆DW⋆⋆⋆
"Hello?" Jackie's voice came through the mobile.
"It's me again," Rose whispered. "Sorry about earlier."
"I don't usually get two calls from you in a day," Jackie said. "Well, frankly I don't get any calls from you. Is everything alright?"
"Yeah," Rose tried to sound cheerful. "Course."
"Rose?"
"Mum," Rose stopped and took a deep breath. "You know I love you, don't you?"
"Of course I do," Jackie said. "What's brought this on?"
"I never say it," Rose sniffed. "Never get the time, or never think of it, and then… I really love you."
"Rose, what's wrong?" Jackie asked.
"Nothing," Rose looked back at Riley. "Promise."
"Where are you?"
"Just out."
"Are you with the Doctor?" Jackie said through the phone. "Is he treatin' you nice? He's not taken advantage of you, has he? I'll kill him."
"Mum," Rose sighed. "Please, can we not just talk?"
"Of course," Jackie said in a hushed tone. "What do you want to talk about?"
"I don't know, anything," Rose's voice broke. "What you had for breakfast, what you watched on telly last night, how much you're going to kill me for not calling you earlier. Just anything."
"Rose, where's the Doctor?" Jackie asked her. "Is he with you now? Has he abandoned you?"
"He'd never abandon me."
"It's a simple enough question."
Rose closed her eyes as tears fell down her face murmuring, "I'd better go."
"No, wait, Rose—!"
Rose ended the call. Tears flowed freely from her eyes as she thought longingly of her mum and the Doctor. She'd never see them again. Her mum would still be waiting for her to return with the Doctor. She wished the Doctor was here now. She needed him beside her, whispering to her that everything would be fine.
Rose let out a small sob and turned to Riley. He moved over to her and put an arm around her shoulders, trying to give some small comfort. Rose hugged his neck burying her head in his shoulder, sobbing quietly.
⋆⋆⋆DW⋆⋆⋆
"Impact in eleven fifteen. Heat shield failing at ten percent."
The Doctor took a step towards the glass wall, breathing heavily in his helmet. Reaching out he pressed a sequence into the keypad and the wall gave way. The Doctor held on with all his might as the air was sucked out, threatening to pull him into space as well.
Gripping the metal frame, he leaned his body out the portal. The unfiltered sun glared in his face, and he grit his teeth together. Slowly, he leaned a leg out of the frame moving closer to reach the electrical box on the ship's hull.
Panic flared up inside as he lost his footing, his upper half hanging tediously out the portal. With a grunt in pain, he pulled himself back up, not taking his eyes off the metal box. Holding on to the side, he stretched his arm out to reach one of the four buttons outside the box.
"Come on!" he yelled and he pressed the lowest button. "Go on, my son!"
Straining, he reached the button above it and pressed it firmly. The ship let out a loud sound and the wall shook slightly. The Doctor leaned further out of the room, gripping the edge with is fingertips.
"Doctor!" Scannell's voice came through his helmet. "How're you doing?"
"Argh! I-I can't!" the Doctor gasped as he desperately tried to reach the metal box. "I can't reach! I don't know how much longer I can last!"
"Come on!" Scannell cheered him on. "Don't give up now!"
The Doctor craned his arm further out, feeling it shake in pain. His fingers closed around metal hatch and he ripped the cover off. Another lever lay inside and the Doctor strained to reach it. His suit was burning against him, the sun beating down on him unmercifully. Desperately, he reached for the lever, his breath coming out it small gasps. Pulling with all his might, the Doctor screamed at the top of his lungs in pain. The lever gave way and the Doctor's arm dropped.
⋆⋆⋆DW⋆⋆⋆
The escape pod jolted, throwing Rose off balance with a small scream. Riley jumped over to the keypad as the word "remagnetizing" appeared on screen.
"We're being pulled back!" Riley said.
"I told you!" Rose cried. "The Doctor!"
⋆⋆⋆DW⋆⋆⋆
The Doctor grunted in pain as he pulled himself back into the airlock. He collapsed on the floor, catching his breath, and then turned to stare out at the sun, trying to pinpoint the pod. The fire of the star burned beneath him and he looked down at his surface. He could hear a muffled screaming in his ears as he stared at its lava covered crust.
"It's alive," he whispered. "It's alive. It's alive!"
The light burned against him, and he felt his body heating up. He couldn't take his eyes off the sun. The burning filled his chest and head, and his whole body shuddered. The sun flames reached hungrily up at him from the surface so far away. The Doctor tried to resist, tried to look away, but the fire just burned inside him. Franticly he squeezed his eyes shut and forced his body away from the portal.
"Doctor! Close the airlock now!" he heard Scannell's voice yell from the helmet. Keeping his eyes firmly shut, the Doctor reached out blindly and closed the airlock. His hands shook as he ripped his helmet off his head.
"Impact in eight fifty seven," the computer droned. "Airlock recompression completed."
The Doctor opened his mouth in a silent scream, gasping for breath as he collapsed to the floor. His whole body burned within him. Crawling along the floor, the Doctor dragged himself out of the airlock, coughing and gasping in pain. Fire burned from beneath his eyelids, trying to force them open. The Doctor held his head in his hands struggling to fight the thing inside him.
The pod docked behind him and felt the floor shake beneath him.
"Doctor!" Rose's sweet voice called out. "Doctor! Are you okay?"
The Doctor felt a hand on his shoulder and he turned away from the floor to face her. His eyelids opened briefly, letting the golden light burn beneath them.
"Stay away from me!" the Doctor screamed and forced his eyes shut. He pushed himself away from the others and backed up against the wall.
Rose jumped back from him, staring at him in shock. Her heart wrenched in her chest as she watched the Doctor gasp in pain.
"What's happened?" McDonnell came running up behind them.
"It's your fault, Captain McDonnell!" the Doctor said through clenched teeth. Rose turned to look at her, seeing McDonnell's eyes widen in fear.
"Riley, get down to Area 10 and help Scannell with the doors," McDonnell pointed behind her. "Go!"
Riley took one glance to the Doctor and then to Rose. Turning quickly, he ran down the corridor.
"You mined that sun!" the Doctor growled. "Stripped its surface for cheap fuel! You should have scanned for life!"
"I don't understand," McDonnell muttered.
"Doctor, what are you talking about?" Rose asked moving closer to him. The Doctor let out a scream and tilted his head back in pain.
"That sun is alive!" he screeched. "A living organism! They scooped out its heart, used it for fuel, and now it's screaming!"
"What do you mean?" McDonnell panicked. "How can a sun be alive? Why is he saying that?"
"Because it's living in me," the Doctor said with his teeth clamped tightly. Rose felt her heart skip a beat, and it was all she could to do to not run over to him.
"Oh my god," McDonnell covered her mouth.
"Humans!" the Doctor screamed at the top of his lungs. "You grab whatever's nearest and bleed it dry! You should have scanned!"
"It takes to long!" McDonnell defended. "We'd be caught. Fusion scoops are illegal!"
The Doctor let out an agonizing scream and pushed himself on his knees. Rose ran over and supported him as he fell forward. His gloved hands gripped her arms tightly and she could feel him shaking in her arms.
"Rose!" he gasped. "You've got to freeze me, quickly!"
"What?"
"Stasis chamber!" the Doctor was breathing heavily. "You've got to take it below minus two hundred. Freeze it out of me!"
The Doctor bellowed and fell against Rose. His face contorted with pain he spluttered out, "It'll use me to kill you if you don't! The closer we get to the sun, the stronger it gets! Med-centre! Quickly! Quickly!"
The Doctor screamed once more and his body shook. Rose tried pulling him to his feet, but he collapsed in her arms, dragging her down.
"Help me!" Rose yelled to McDonnell. The captain ran over and looped her arm under one of the Doctor's. Together they hoisted him to his feet and began to drag him to the med-centre. The Doctor cried out in pain, his face drenched with sweat. Rose held him close, blinking back her tears.
"Impact in seven thirty."