The Doctor

"So," began Rose, after shutting the door behind Ax, "Now that everyone is gone, and Aftran's agreed to give us a bit of privacy, are you going to tell me what's really going on here?"

"Well…" said the Doctor. He wandered around the TARDIS console, stopping on the opposite side to fiddle with some levers, "Right now we're working on a plan to stop an alien empire built on slavery the slavery of other species..."

"Oh shut it, " she said, "You know what I mean. The lights keep flicking on and off in here, I haven't slept in days, and you're not telling me or them everything. They think the TARDIS is just having a little engine trouble- you think they'll like being lied to twice now?"

"I've never lied. I just… didn't tell them anything I wasn't sure about."

Rose crossed her arms and stared him down. She was right of course- it wasn't often that she wasn't these days. Things weren't right. They hadn't been since they had dragged here. He had just been stalling until she noticed, or rather until she demanded an answer. He sighed and rubbed his forehead, leaning back against the railing.

"What, what is it?" she said. She uncrossed her arms and starting walking over towards him. Not angry anymore, but concerned. As she put a hand on her hand on his shoulder, he sighed again.

"The TARDIS is dying. Something's been sucking away the power ever since we crashed through to this universe. Or were pulled through, I haven't quite figured that part out yet."

"Pulled? Rose asked, "What do you mean pulled?"

"I don't know," The Doctor stood up and put on his glasses. He glanced over what was left of the functioning sensors. The answer was always the same, no matter how many tests he ran- something was draining the TARDIS. But whatever it was didn't have the power to pull through time energy through dimensions, so it wasn't responsible for the TARDIS initial entry. And Rose's dreams… something was putting them there.

"What could have enough to power to pull the TARDIS into another dimension though? The last time was because there were holes in the Time Vortex, right?"

He scratched the side of his nose.

"See, that's what I can't figure out," he said, "Because there shouldn't be anything that strong. Nothing that wouldn't leave some trace of itself anyway."

"There is something here, something that knows who we are, knows who I am…" Rose voice faded away softly as she spoke. The nightmares were getting to her, no matter how much she pretended otherwise. He hated it.

"Yeah," the Doctor turned and embraced her. It had been even worse last night. After the first one, Rose simply didn't go back to sleep. She said it was because she wasn't tired, that she had gotten enough already, but… He pressed his lips to the top of her head.

"Nothing we can't figure out," he said softly. She pulled away slowly, then brushed some her hair behind her ear. Her eyes stared up at his with a stern, serious gaze.

"Well, we can still help them, right? Those kids, I mean, they need us," said Rose, "How ever we got here, they need us, and that's what we do. Help people," He met her eyes and smiled gently.

"Yeah, that's what we do."

"Good," she said, smiling, "I mean, seriously though. Fighting off an alien invasion and school. God, they can't be more than 15. How are they managing at all?"

"Dunno. It's brilliant though. They're amazing kids."

"Yeah," she replied, and they both grinned. The lights flickered again and their smiles quickly faded. The Doctor wondered if he would have to put the TARDIS into hibernation, until he figured it out. If the power continued draining at this rate, the old girl might die, and he absolutely couldn't take that risk. He checked the readouts again while Rose looked on, her face nervous.

"We won't be able to use the TARDIS to get into the Yeerk Pool," he said, just a bit bitterly, "Not unless something changes between now and then. I should have asked Aximili or Erek while they were here. Maybe there's something about this universe. Those Sario Rips that they mentioned… well, it's unlikely, but I should have asked." He was a bit mad at himself for not being able to figure it out, to be perfectly honest. It shouldn't be this big of a puzzle. If the TARDIS wasn't in so much danger, he might have enjoyed the challenge.

"Erek will get us in safe," Rose said, trying to reassure him, "You can ask them about it tomorrow, yeah? They need their sleep- well Ax does, and Erek's got to get in touch with the other Chee."

You need to sleep. He wanted to say, but didn't. She wasn't going to, no matter what he tried. He couldn't fix the TARDIS and he couldn't fix her dreams. They were related, he was sure of that. Ever since Bad Wolf, Rose and the TARDIS had something, however slight, connecting them. And just like the TARDIS's lights flickered, Rose's eyes were losing their spark. Dark circles under them too, and her skin was getting paler. She saw him looking at her and smiled as wide as she could manage. Trying to make him feel better. He smiled back, just as forced.

The lights flickered again.