Chapter 9
Author's Note: I'm so sorry this took so long, work took over my life. I love feedback!

The Doctor walked quickly to the car, paying little attention to the others behind him. All he knew was he needed to get out of that building; he had to get as far away from that thing as he possibly could. It felt worse than Jack; it felt corrupted, like a part of its essence had been tampered with. A thing was all he could decide it was. It wasn't quite a TARDIS, but it was sentient and feeding off of the Vortex. But why? he leaned on the SUV and shoved his hands in his pockets; the question plagued him mercilessly and finally he looked back up, half expecting them to have left without him.

"Why? What does someone want with a mutated TARDIS?" He rumpled his hair, making it stick out at all angles. "Why are they keeping it alive?" he looked back up at them expectantly. Rose was standing beside him, their arms touching; she looked grim as she stared at their feet.

"Who are we dealing with?" she asked quietly. "How dangerous are they?" He sniffed and looked up at the warehouse.

"Either they are very stupid, in which case they could be planning anything without full knowledge of the consequences and that makes them very, very dangerous." He paused and looked back at the team. "Or they know exactly what they're doing, in which case they know how horrific the consequences of their actions are, also making them very, very dangerous."

"Any ideas on how to find these guys?" Jack asked. The Doctor nodded at Owen, smiling faintly.

"We go back to base and run a scan for whatever residue we found in that room." he replied. "It's likely that whoever is feeding this, is carrying the residue around them, in their clothes, hair, shoes." He pointed at Gwen's hair, gold particles glistening in the sunlight. "Although that brings up a very good point, you've all got it in your hair." He gestured to River, Gwen and Owen. "I can explain Jack and I, but what I can't explain is Rose..." he turned to her, a frown appearing on his face. Rose smiled faintly back, squirming under his gaze. He was worried, she knew, and she felt bad for not telling him. It wasn't exactly a conversation she wanted to have in the parking lot of a deserted warehouse. "You haven't a speck of that residue on you. Standing there, it was like it you repelled it."

"Why?" she asked innocently. Her eyes flicked over to Jack and she tried to change his focus. "It happened to Jack too, is it because we traveled in the TARDIS?" The Doctor's eyes widened and he looked at Jack, his own fear threatening to choke him. River was smirking at him, waiting expectantly with Jack for his answer. When did he become so good at lying to her? He rubbed the back of his neck, guilt rushing through him as he finally just nodded.

"Yeah...that must be it." he said, his voice becoming several keys higher. Rose knew he narrowed her eyes at him, recognizing his obvious discomfort.
"Well that's easy isn't it, except...River?" she turned to her. "Have you traveled in the TARDIS? In the future I mean." River's mouth twitched, attempting not to laugh.
"Why yes, Rose I have. Not too long from now actually." she grinned as the Doctor sent her a deathly glare. Rose turned back to him, looking serious.
"Not to mention Gwen and Owen this morning, so maybe it isn't the TARDIS." she stated. Owen dropped his bag and crossed his arms looking annoyed.
"No, maybe it's something you ate." He said sarcastically. "Don't we have more important things to do?" The Doctor nodded in relief, pushing himself up and opening the car door. Rose glared at him.

"This isn't over." she said, poking him in the chest. He sighed, trying to hide the fact that he was anxious. He boarded the SUV beside her, thinking about the inevitable conversation they would have to have; he was worried about Rose. Her body shouldn't have been resisting the residue, but what did she have in common with him and Jack that would cause it? He watched her, their close quarters allowing him to pick up on her tense muscles. She was worried, he couldn't tell why, but he could sense her apprehension. That was another thing that bothered him, since when could he feel what she did? Humans weren't strictly telepathic, but he'd never been able to sense her emotions like this. He rested his hand on hers, his thoughts overwhelming him.
Rose relaxed slightly against him, encouraged by his gesture. Guilt harassed her, she hadn't specifically lied to him, but he needed to know, he had a right to know. And now he was worried about her, merely because he had no idea what was going on. She couldn't blame him, she'd only just got back and the reality of it still hadn't sunk in. She herself almost half expected to wake up in a Torchwood medical lab and find it was all a dream. Jack was plaguing her as well, if she could blame her own condition on the Vortex what excuse did he have? She rested her head on the Doctor's shoulder, taking comfort in his presence and attempting to shut out her thoughts.