Chapter 2

"What?" he asks, turning around. "Oh. Oh dear."

They both stare at the wall. The wall which has a pipe coming out of it that they didn't notice before. A pipe, coming out of the wall, with water swooshing out of it.

"Are they going to fill this room up with water? It's airtight!" she says, panicking slightly.

"Looks like it. They obviously couldn't wait long enough for us to suffocate from lack of oxygen, so they decided to drown us instead," he murmurs.

"Awww, well isn't that nice."

"I'm sorry, Rose. I'm so sorry," he turns to look at her again, grasping her shoulders. "But there's no way out."

"It's ok. Jack will find us."

"But what if he doesn't? It's a maze out there."

"I'm trying to be optimistic here," she tells him in an admonishing tone, then pokes him in the chest. "And here you are being all sombre and miserable. We're not going to drown in here."

She sounds so confident in her assurances that he smiles, half-believing her.

"That's better. You're smiling again. Now, where were we? You were going to say something."

"It doesn't matter," he replies, jumping up. "You're right, we have to get out of here..." He paces up and down the room, touching walls, hitting the door, pushing against the hatch again. He whips out his sonic screwdriver, flicking through all the settings, trying in vain to get the door to open. Rose just watches, her eyes flicking between the increasingly desperate Time Lord and the pipe. The water is slowly filling the room, and Rose wonders how long it'll take to fill up completely.

"Doctor? The water's at what, five inches, already, yeah? How long 'til it fills the room?"

He turns around, contemplating her question, but still not looking her in the eye. "Weeelll. I'd say...around eleven minutes? Give or take a few..."

"Eleven minutes," she repeats, letting out a breath. "I hope Jack's on his way, then."

The look of utter defeat the Doctor gives her almost breaks her heart. She can't let him lose faith in their friend.

She smiles and stands up, walking over to the Doctor. She stops right in front of him, and reaches her hand out to turn his head to face hers. Barely an inch away from him, she whispers, "Eleven minutes, and he'll save us, Doctor. We'll just have to wait. And hope." She intertwines her hand with his at their side, and to her utter surprise, he leans his head forward to press a kiss to her forehead.

He notices her shiver, but presumes it's because of the cold water creeping up to meet their legs.

"I know," he whispers back. Then he grins. "Can't ruin this suit, can I?" he says, forcing some joviality back into their conversation.

"Exactly," she smiles, and wraps her arms around his neck in a tight hug. "This isn't your fault, you know."

"Not what you were saying earlier," he mumbles into her hair, bringing his arms around her waist.

"Yeah, well, I was just arguing for the sake of it. Stupid, really. But seriously; don't feel guilty."

"It is all my fault though," he admits, pulling her back to look at her properly, his hands resting on her hips lightly. "And I am sorry."

"Stop apologising, you," she says tapping him on the nose affectionately. She bites her lip thoughtfully for a moment, which he definitely does not notice, and definitely does not keep looking at, mesmerised. Definitely not. "Doctor, considering we might drown in ten minutes time, would you like to tell me what you were going to say earlier?"

"Hang on, hang on - you can't manipulate the situation like that. And where did your confidence in our survival go, eh?"

She smiles at him cheekily. "Damn. Thought that would work."

He looks down at the water, currently reaching their knees. He considers his options. He could tell her what he was going to say, and they would be his last words to her before they drown. Or, they would be the last words he said to her before Jack saved them. And in that case, the words would be said, and he wouldn't be able to take them back. And then what would happen? Things would be awkward. And complicated. And she might leave him.

This is a problem indeed.

"Doctor?" she says, when she realises his not going to say anything.

"Hmmm?"

"I'm starving," she tells him. He chuckles at her, and she giggles back.

He remembers the flying object from earlier and pulls it from his pocket. "Muffin? Chocolate chip. Good enough last meal?" He hands it to her and she looks at him quizzically. "Yeah, I know. Weird choice of weapon, eh? Silly Parrots."

"Maybe they were counting on you picking it up. Maybe they're trying to fatten you up before they cook you..." she teases.

He stares at her appraisingly. "You're quite logical, aren't you? Clever human."

"Yep, that's me – not your average 'stupid ape.'"

"Definitely not a stupid ape."

She takes a few bites of the muffin, and holds it up to his mouth. He takes a bite of it too, then grimaces. "Yuck."

"What do you mean, yuck? It's gorgeous!" she exclaims.

"Now who has a weird appreciation for food?"

"It's not weird."

"Well, neither is me liking bananas."

"And me."

"And you," he agrees, chuckling.

The water's reached their thighs now, and still they cling to each other in their half-hug. The muffin's gone in a few more mouthfuls, and the Doctor watches her intently.

"What?" she asks self-consciously. "I told you, I'm starving."

He laughs. "You're beautiful," he says, before he's had a chance to check the words.

She blushes. "What? Where'd that come from?"

He scratches his neck awkwardly. "I don't know. Sorry. It's just..."

"Yeah?"

"I don't want to lose you."

She strokes his cheek softly and then realises what she's doing. She drops her hand. "I know. But you know what? I'm pretty stubborn." He nods his head in agreement. "So I reckon you're stuck with me for a really long time."

"Good." He draws her into another hug and they stand in silence for a few minutes.

"Jack's taking his time, isn't he?" Rose mutters when the water level reaches their shoulders.

"I'll never forgive myself if you we don't get out of this today."

"But we will, so don't worry about it."

"But what if we don't?"

"Why are you being so negative? You're never usually like this."

"That's because I usually have a plan."

"Doctor," she says, pulling back and taking his head between her hands. "Say you're right, yeah...Say you're right, and we do drown...what happens to you?"

He turns his head and refuses to look at her.

"You regenerate, yeah?" She waits for him to answer. "Yeah?"

He nods, but barely. "But there's always a choice."

She looks up sharply. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"I can choose whether to regenerate or not."

"But you would, yeah? You'd choose to live," she insists.

He shrugs.

"Doctor. You wouldn't just give up."

"Wouldn't I?" he asks, looking her in the eye.

"They need you, Doctor. Jack...everyone. The universe needs you," she tells him, half-laughing.

He grasps her wrists in his hands, fixing an intense gaze on her. "And what if I need you?" he asks her desperately.

Rose stops laughing, now painfully aware that he's being serious. Her eyes widen and it's all she can do to shake her head and murmur a quiet "No."

"Yes," he argues.

"Don't. Don't say that. Doctor, whether it's today or fifty years time, I'm going to die. But you have to carry on, and find someone else. You have to. You have to. Promise me that you'll never give up, Doctor," she begs him, shaking his shoulders forcefully, tears suddenly in her eyes.

"Rose..." he begins.

"Promise me." She pushes her forehead against his. "Please."

He hates seeing Rose so upset, so he decides that now is the time to make her feel better.

Now is the time to lie to her.

"Ok, ok. It's ok, Rose. I promise, please don't cry, it's ok," he tells her, stroking her hair softly.

"Thankyou," she replies, breathing a sigh of relief. A relief that is short-lived when she sees that the water level is still rising, and in around a minute or so she'll be submerged. She blinks back tears, knowing now how very unlikely it is that she'll actually survive this. If Jack hasn't come for them yet...maybe he never will.

The Doctor notices this too, and due to him being a good few inches taller than her, he lifts her up to keep her face level with his. To give her more time. She's shocked at his movements for a moment, wondering just how he managed to lift her legs up and around his waist so quickly.

How ironic that the moment reality is playing out like her favourite dream, it's also close to re-enacting her worst nightmare: being separated from the man she –

"Rose," he whispers.

"Yeah?"

"In about thirty seconds..." he trails off, unable to finish his sentence due to the lump in his throat.

"He's not coming, is he?" she says quietly. She feels the Doctor shrug beneath her fingers still grasping his shoulders.

He clears his throat. "In a few seconds, I'm going to do something that's going to shock you. But trust me. It's for your own good."

"Ok..." Rose manages to say, lifting her chin upwards to try and keep the water from flowing into her mouth.

"Ok. I promise, this isn't some trick or hidden agenda; it's purely to save you. It doesn't mean anything. Weeelll, it does, actually, but that's irrelevant. Basically, it's going to keep you alive, and that's all that matters to me right now..."he rambles. She stares at him, confused, and slightly panicked about how close she is to slipping under the water.

And without a moment's more hesitation, he kisses her.