Disclaimer: I do not own Doctor Who (the show, including planets, aliens, creatures and anything else of their design) or any of the characters. I only own my OC Selene.

7. The Impossible Planet

" The TARDIS sounds a bit… off, don't you think?" Selene inquired from her spot leaning against the console. It had been a relatively normal day thus far, but the groaning sounds the TARDIS was making in place of the normal vworping sound were becoming a cause for concern.

Rose looked up at the console as she straightened her bright pink jacket, brows beginning to crease.

" Just a bit…" She trailed off.

" I don't know what's wrong, everything seems normal…" The Doctor muttered, concern leaking into his voice as he began to check switches, flicking one every once and a while to see if it would stop the noises that almost made his beloved time machine seem… sick. He would mutter some scientific words every now and then, which were completely lost on his two companions, who moved to stand at the railings. " Well, we're landing… Or, we're trying to land." The Doctor's forehead was still creased with concern as the wheezing and now sparking sounds of the TARDIS echoed around them.

" Maybe we're just in a tough spot?" Selene suggested, adjusting her multi-colored sweater, concern leaking into her mind as well. He made a noise of possible agreement and then sighed again.

" Well, let's at least see where we've landed, it couldn't be that bad," Rose said with a tiny laugh. With a final resounding boom that told them that they had landed, the Doctor immediately ran to the door, pulling it open.

" I don't know what's wrong with her…" He mused, stepping out and pressing his back to the side of the door. Hone of them seemed to notice the flickering lights on the outside. " She's sort of… queasy." The two women followed him out and shut the door as he Time Lord placed his hand on the door of the TARDIS and stroked it gently, as if touching the arm or back of another person. " Indigestion, like she didn't want to land."

" Well, if you think there's going to be trouble, we could always get back inside and go somewhere else…?" Rose trailed off as she stared up at him, biting back a laugh before the trio snorted and began to have a bit of a laughing fit. Rose put a hand on her stomach and the Doctor rolled his eyes as Selene covered her mouth with both hands, trying to mute her laugh, which was something she'd never been very fond of. Lately she'd noticed a bit more of self-consciousness around Rose and the Doctor, who acted very much like a couple even if they didn't realize it. She'd be lying if she said it didn't make her feel just a bit left out, but she wasn't about to bring it up.

" I think we've landed inside a cupboard," The Doctor said, voice laced with laughter. Selene was broken out of her thoughts by that comment and looked around with a smile still on her face.

" Cupboards? You know what, I love cupboards, you never know what you'll find; what if we've landed in Narnia?" She joked as she referenced one of her favorite books. Rose laughed again and rolled her eyes, bumping hips with her friend.

" You sounded scarily like the Doctor there, you do realize that?" She asked. Selene thought a moment before her eyebrows shot up and she grinned, leaning her head against the Doctor's arm.

" He's rubbing off on me; soon enough, I'll be wearing suits, ties and have ruffly hair."

" Oi, it looks good on me!" He protested in good nature before walking towards the door of the small room adding on, " Here we go!"

" Open door fifteen," Said a robotic female voice as the large metal door opened. They all stepped out and an almost deafening whooshing sound met their ears. The Doctor took note of the structure of whatever building they were in and said,

" Some sort of base- moon base, sea base, space base… they build these things out of kits!"

" What if it was all three?" Selene mused, shutting the door, which the automatic voice then said she did.

" That… that would be very interesting actually, I've never come across one of those!" He admitted.

" Glad we're indoors sounds like a storm out there!" Rose pointed out, looking up at the ceiling, the amusement from moments earlier gone. The Doctor pulled the next door open, to which the automated voice said,

" Open door sixteen." The Doctor seemed to ignore all other direction of conversation as he put his hands in his pockets and continued to speak about his earlier comment.

" Human design- you've got a thing about kits! This thing was put together like a flat-pack wardrobe, only bigger… and easier." The next door was opened, and they stepped into a large room, which was devoid of people. The metal walls were a tad rusted and there was a set of chairs around a small table, and the Doctor suddenly grinned, leaping down a small set of steps. " Oh, it's a Sanctuary Base!" Rose shut the door as he began to walk around. " Deep-space exploration. We've gone way out." Running over to his two companions, he pointed to the floor as they noted a sort of humming sound. " And listen to that, underneath. Someone's drilling!"

Rose looked at Selene and rolled her eyes a bit before something caught her eye and she slowly said,

" Welcome to Hell…"

" Oh, it's not that bad!" The Doctor exclaimed.

" No, over there!" Rose giggled, pointing to a wall, where the words she had previously spoken had been painted. Underneath that, however, were tons of different markings, like hieroglyphs… that should have translated due to the TARDIS' presence.

At spotting the markings, a harsh tug in Selene's head made wince slightly as another headache began to start up. She was convinced she probably had some sort of concussion from that car crash back in Boston- she'd get headaches every now and again, which made things increasingly difficult to think. What concerned her the most, was the fact that she could only remember big details about the show, not little ones, and the episodes she'd never been a big fan of were even harder to think of. She blamed all this on the pain that was starting to return at that moment, but she didn't think of it as a bigger concerning point… should it be?

" Hold on…" The Doctor trailed off. " What does that say?" He bounded over and crouched down by the marked wall, peering at the black symbols. " That's weird they won't translate…" Rose, who was crouched beside him shook her head in confusion. That didn't make sense…

" But, I thought the TARDIS translated everything, writing as well."

" So this should all be English…" Selene trailed off, ignoring the throbbing that increased inside her skull as she crouched down as well.

" Exactly. If that's not working, then it means… this writing is old. Very old… impossibly old!" The Doctor said in a hushed and disbelieving tone as he looked at the writing critically.

" A lot of impossible things have been happening lately though," Selene decided to point out.

" I won't deny that… but we need to find out who's in charge!" The Doctor leapt to his feet and towards another door in one movement, with the grace only he held. As she stood, Selene eyed 'Welcome to Hell' on the wall and knew that she should know what that means, what episode this probably was… but that damned memory block wasn't helping in any way! The Doctor began to turn the wheel on the door to begin to open it, continuing to speak. " We've gone beyond the reach of the TARDIS' knowledge, not a good move, and if someone's lucky enough-" The door flew open and standing there were three creatures.

" OH!" The Doctor yelled out in surprise as the trio of time travelers jumped back a step.

The creatures were humanoid in a way, standing like a human would, but their heads were flesh colored with narrow eyes and no nose, only a bunch of tentacle-like things falling on their face… almost like beards. They all held a sphere object in their gloved hands that was connected with a tube into their heads through the tentacles.

Oh God… Ood. No one can forget them, Selene thought to herself as she recognized the aliens. But why can I only remember them! And the red-eye disease they catch! Uhg! What else am I forgetting!?

" Oh! Right, hello!" The Doctor said catching his breath from the scare they'd just received. He put on a smile as Rose stared at the creatures, unable to know what to think of them. " Sorry, um… I was just saying, uh… nice base!"

" We must feed," Came three voices from the spheres the Ood held, which all lit up brightly. The Doctor's smile fell as they all stared at them in worry.

" You're going to what?" He asked as if he'd heard them wrong… and he hoped he had.

" We must feed."

" Yeah, I think they mean us!" Rose exclaimed as they began to back up when the Ood began to step towards them.

" We must feed. We must feed."

The trio joined hands and spun to run to the other door, only to find more Ood walking in from it.

" We must feed. We must feed." Another door opened and more Ood walked in. The odds were beginning to look bad. As the choruses of 'we must feed' continued to be spoken, the Doctor reached into his jacket and pulled out the Sonic, the three backing up towards the single table in the room. He pointed it at them as Rose picked up a chair to defend herself and Selene snatched up a broken piece of a metal rod, holding it like a baseball bat. The three scrunched together as they were closed in on by the crowd of the aliens.

Then suddenly no one moved.

No one spoke.

The Ood just stared at them.

The one closest to them then spoke again.

" We must feed…" He rattled and shook the sphere in his hand and then smacked it a few times before trying to speak again. " … You. If you are hungry."

Rose's head snapped to look over at the Doctor and Selene dropped her weapon with a clang. The words took a moment register for him. His brows raised in surprise at the pleasant and completely non-malicious voice and statement.

" Sorry?" He asked, sounding surprised. The Ood clicked a button on the side of the sphere, causing it to light up before it spoke again.

" We apologize. Electromagnetics have interfered with speech systems. Would you like some refreshment?" It inquired as Rose set down the chair she had held. The Doctor had yet to lower the Sonic, but who could blame him? He still had no idea what these creatures were. Selene blinked rapidly, still attempting to think through what was happening and the Doctor's mouth was open as he was only able to utter something around the lines of,

" Um…"

" Open door eighteen."

A loud buzzer echoed as a door swung open and three people (humans, as it would seem) stepped through, all wearing black leather jackets, army-green pants and dog tags. The man at the front wore a grey t-shirt and he stared at the three newcomers. The two behind him held gun-like devices, looking ready to fire if necessary.

" What the Hell?" He asked in a mixture of confusion, shock and what sounded like anger. " How did…" The man, clearly the leader of the three in the jackets, swiftly walked over to the Doctor, looking him up and down. He clicked a button on what looked like an intercom bracelet on his wrist. " Captain, you're not going to believe this. We've got people… out of nowhere. I mean, real people! I mean, three living people just standing here right in front of me!"

The Doctor awkwardly rubbed the back of his head as the man's dark eyes scanned over the three, obviously not believing his eyes. His brown hair was swept out of his face just beginning to grey, and Selene could tell he had a severe look to him, which was something she might not like…

" Don't be stupid. That's impossible," Came a male voice from over the com system.

" I suggest telling them that," The man muttered in response.

" But you're a sort of space base, you must have visitors now and then it can't be that impossible," Rose said, staring at the man.

" You telling me you don't know where you are?" The man asked in a harsh voice, hands on his hips now.

" No idea. More fun that way," The Doctor replied with a grin.

" Stand by everyone, buckle down, we have an incoming. And it's a big one. Quake point five on its way," A woman's voice said over the base-wide intercom, causing the man to run and open the door he'd just come through.

" Through here, now. Quickly, come on! Move!" He shouted as the ground began to rumble. They all dashed into a new corridor, the door shutting and locking. Steam began to burst out of pipes as they walked and lights began to flash in warning. Suddenly everything began to shake as the wailing siren continued to drone on. All of it mixed together was doing nothing for Selene's head. " Move! Move! Keep moving! Come on!" The man shouted again as they stumbled along the passage, and Selene decided that she already didn't like him.

They came out of the corridor into what seemed to be command central and the Doctor and Rose managed to jog down the steps and stop to look around as the mixture of her head ache and still wobbly-legged from all the rumbling caused Selene to practically fall down them, being caught by the Doctor. She leaned back against him as he helped her stand straight and they soon found themselves locking eyes with three people huddled around a console. The first was a rather attractive tall blond man with grey-blue eyes, who looked worried and confused, the second was a shorter woman with wavy caramel colored hair, who eyed them quizzically, and the last was a man hunched over the console with chocolate colored skin, a goatee and dark hair, looking at them as if they were crazy.

As the man in the leather jacket worked on closing the door they came through, the man with the goatee's brows furrowed.

" Oh my God, you meant it!" He said in shock, voice matching the one of the person leather-jacket-man had been speaking to… and that made him the captain.

" People. Look at that, real people!" Said another woman, who looked to be in her very early twenties, wearing a black tank top.

" That's us, hooray!" The Doctor exclaimed with a grin.

" Yeah, definitely real," Rose said with an awkward tone and equally awkward smile. " Well, I'm Rose, Rose Tyler, this is Selene Thomas, and this- this is the Doctor," Rose said, pointing to her two friends.

" Come on! The oxygen must be off-line!" Said another man with straight, chin-length black hair, wearing a baggy hoodie. He stood up and swiftly walked towards the trio. " We're hallucinating. They can't be!"

" Trust me, we're not hallucinations," Selene muttered, rubbing her forehead as the throbbing increased. " This headache of mine is way too real… Nice to meet you anyway though, she said, patting him on the shoulder. He stared at her very real hand.

" No! They're real!"

" Come ON, we're in the middle of an alert! Danny, strap up, the quake's coming in!" The Captain ordered the man in the hoodie. He now sat in a chair by the console, glaring at Danny, who rushed back to his station. " Impact in thirty seconds! Sorry, you three, whoever you are. Just hold on… tight."

" Hold on to what?" Rose inquired.

" Anything. I don't care. Just hold on." The three searched for something to hold on to. " Ood, are we fixed?"

" Your kindness in this emergency is much appreciated," An Ood replied.

" What's this planet called anyway?" The Doctor decided to ask.

" Don't be stupid, it hasn't got a name," Said the woman with caramel colored hair as she sat in her seat. " How could it have a name?"

Well, that's an odd statement… The Doctor mused to himself. Selene arched a brow as the Doctor raised his. The woman stared at them.

" You really don't know, do you?"

" And, impact!" The Captain shouted.

The entire room began to shake, and everyone gripped onto what they held onto, Rose, the Doctor and Selene falling to the floor from the low railings they'd grabbed on. Everything stopped shaking and the Doctor stood, letting go of his support.

" Well, that wasn't so ba-" He fell as a violent tremor rattled everything. He fell into Selene, who, thinking of the best thing to do for him, grabbed around his waist to keep him still as he groped for the railing again. Fires began to appear on consoles and in corners, steam shot around everywhere and everyone was being thrashed around. Finally it stopped and leather-jacket-man began to put out the fires.

" Okay, that's it. Everyone all right? Speak to me! Ida!" The Captain called out.

" Yeah, yeah!" The caramel haired woman called out.

" Danny!"

" Fine!" Danny called out.

" Toby!"

" Yeah, fine," The blond man assured him softly.

" Scooti!"

" No damage!" The woman in the black tank top said.

" Jefferson!"

" Check!" Leather-jacket-man shouted out.

" We're fine, thanks, fine. Yeah, don't worry about us," The Doctor said as Selene helped pull him up, her arm still around his waist. He rubbed his head and Rose pulled strands of her blond hair from her mouth. Selene groaned and held her head in her hands as she felt sore spots from where she'd hit it against the floor in the shaking.

" The surface caved in. I deflected it onto storage five through eight. We've lost them completely," The Captain said, glancing at a monitor. " Toby, go check the rocket link."

" That's not my department," Toby told him, staring at him, clearly put-off by his demand.

" Just do as I say, yeah?"

Toby groaned in his head and walked towards the door Selene, Rose and the Doctor sat in front of, Selene scooted out of the way as he briskly walked up to the door and through it, looking rather annoyed.

" Oxygen's holding!" Scooti called out.

" Internal gravity fifty-six point six. We should be okay," Ida called out.

" Never mind the earthquake, that's… that's one hell of a storm!" Rose said as she listened to the angry sound of wind rushing outside. " What is that, a hurricane?"

" You'd need an atmosphere for a hurricane. There's no air out there, it's a complete vacuum," Scooti said, flicking a few switches.

" Then what's shaking the roof?"

" You're not joking. You really don't know," Ida said in surprise. " Well! Introductions. FYI- as they said in the olden days, I'm Ida Scott, science officer." She pointed to the captain. " Zachary Cross Flane, Acting Captain, Sir. You've met Mr. Jefferson, he's head of security. Danny Bartock, Ethics Committee."

" Not as boring as it sounds," He assured them. The trio smiled at him.

" And that man, who just left, that was Toby Zed, Archeology. And this," Ida moved over to Scooti and put her hands on her shoulders. " Is Scooti Manista, Trainee, Maintenance." She ran over to a switch on the wall and grabbed a hold of this. " And this… this is home." She pulled the lever.

" Brace yourselves. The sight of it sends some people mad," Zach warned with a dull tone of voice.

The shield of metal on the glass roof opened and red-orange light streamed in, revealing space and something completely impossible… so impossible it was making the Doctor's brain whiz with questions and possibilities. He shot to his feet first, Rose quick to follow, Selene straightening up slowly as they gazed at the sight above them.

A black hole.

There were no stars around them, just complete and utter black, the definition of pitch black, and the black hole roared on as it pulled in and absorbed chunks of rock and star, the red-orange light shining down on them. If Selene had to equate what it looked like to something, it would probably have to be the Eye of Sauron from Lord of the Rings. It was horrifying. They weren't that far away from it, and it should be sucking them up right now, killing them all… but it wasn't.

" A black hole… dear God…" Selene muttered, pounding head momentarily forgotten.

" But that's impossible!" The Doctor whispered as he stared up at it.

" I did warn you," Zach all but grumbled.

" We're standing under a black hole."

" In orbit," Ida added on.

" But we can't be!" He whispered in disbelief, the light of the space anomaly reflecting in his brown eyes.

" You can see for yourself, we're in orbit," She repeated herself.

" But we can't be!" The Doctor said louder, turning to look at her. Ida smiled a bit and said,

" This lump of rock is suspended in perpetual geostationary orbit around that black hole, without falling in. Discuss."

" And that's bad, yeah?" Rose asked.

" Bad doesn't cover it," The Doctor amended. " A black hole's a dead star, it collapses in on itself, in and in and in until the matter's so dense and tight it starts to pull everything else in too. Nothing in the universe can escape it. Light… Gravity…. Time… Everything just gets pulled inside and crushed."

" So they can't be in orbit. We should be pulled right in."

" We should be dead."

" Yet we're not," Selene added in, still staring up through the glass.

" Beyond the laws of physics. Welcome on board," Ida said to them.

" But if there's no atmosphere out there, what's that?" Rose asked, gesturing to the cloud-like ring around the black hole.

" Stars breaking up, gas clouds. We have whole… solar systems being ripped apart above our heads before falling into that thing," Ida replied.

" So, a bit worse than a storm, then?"

" Just a bit."

" Just a bit, yeah."

Another tremor rattled the ground, causing everyone to stumble, gazes ripped away from the sky.

Toby had just finished grabbing some roles of blueprints, which he now held under his arm, and stumbled into the corridor once the tremor hit. He righted himself when it ended and began to walk back towards command central, gaze fixed on the floor, when something odd happened.

" Toby…" A voice whispered. He paused and looked around as the power suddenly died down and left him in the dark for only a moment before it flicked back on. Off then and then on again. He looked around, expecting a fellow crewmember to be there, joking and laughing.

" Who's there?" He asked. No response. It's probably Danny; he loves to play mindless jokes on everyone… Toby thought to himself as he looked around again. " Danny?" Once again nothing. He shook his head and turned to the door, pulling it open.

" Close door one."

Toby reentered command central, the metal shield covering the glass roof again, and found everyone standing around the main control panel, with the exception of Selene, who now sat in a chair, trying to get her headache to stop.

" Rocket link's fine," He announced, setting down the blueprint roles. Zach acknowledged him with a nod and then clicked a button as a hologram of the black hole appeared. The Doctor pulled on his classes and let his chin rest in the palm of his hand as he examined it.

" That's the black hole officially designated K37 GEN 5," Zach explained.

" In the scriptures of the Faltino, this planet is called Krop Tor, 'The Bitter Pill.' And the black hole is supposed to be a mighty demon. It was tricked into devouring the planet, only to spit it out… 'cause it was poison," Ida explained, smiling slightly.

" 'The Bitter Pill.' I like that!" Rose said with a grin and a small laugh. The Doctor ignored her comment as his brows creased in confusion.

" We are so far out, lost in the drifts of the universe. How did you even get here?" The Doctor asked.

" Rocket ship…" Selene muttered to herself sarcastically, the headache taking a toll on her mood. She was honestly pissed off that she couldn't remember what was going to happen, and the stress of the black hole mystery wasn't helping anything. She rubbed her eyes and leaned back in the chair, sucking in a deep breath.

" We flew in," Zach replied. Selene smirked. Rocket ship or Star Ship or whatever they flew in on, she was still technically right. A hologram of the planet appeared with a pulsing red beam coming out of it, like sonar rings, from the center of the planet. " You see, this planet's generating a gravity field. We don't know how, we've no idea. But it's kept in constant balance against the black hole. And the field extends out there, as a funnel, in the distinct… gravity funnel reaching out into clear space. That was our way in."

" You flew down that thing? Like a rollercoaster," Rose joked, grinning once more. Sighing Selene stood, not being able to sit still any more, and stood between Rose and Toby, sweeping hair out of her face. Rose's constant jokes were also beginning to ware down on her nerves and she could feel her calm resolve beginning to slip, which was something she'd worked so hard to keep up over the years. Honestly, shouldn't they be worrying about the black hole?

She'd snapped angrily at so many people when she was younger and had gotten sick of it. Granted, Selene let herself snap at those she truly didn't like, such as authority figures that knew they had that much more power over people and figured they could do what they liked… Sort of like Jefferson and his stupid leather jacket, She thought to herself, sending a look at the security officer. And the thing was, she didn't want that resolve to slip. She wanted to be cool and collected like she normally was… but it didn't look like that was about to be the situation.

" By rights, the ship should have been torn apart. We lost the captain… which is what put me in charge…" Zach trailed off.

" You're doing a good job," Ida assured him with a comforting voice.

" Yeah, well, needs must."

" But if that gravity funnel closes, there's no way out," Danny added in.

" We had fun speculating about that," Scooti snickered.

" Oh, yeah, that's the word. 'Fun.'" He replied, lightly smacking her on the back of the head with a blueprint role.

The Doctor's brows were still scrunched up as he attempted to contemplate what was being told. Gravity field? Planet in orbit around a black hole? None of it should be possible, yet, like Selene and Ida had said, here they were defying physics. If the Doctor had one goal in mind at the moment, it was figuring out what the hell was going on.

" But that field would take phenomenal amounts of power! I mean… not just big but off the scale! Can I?" The Doctor pointed to a calculator.

" Sure, help yourself," Ida told him, walking to go hand it to him. An Ood walked over to Rose and Selene. He held a tray with two small cups on it, and the sphere in the other, which it then clicked and said,

" Your refreshments."

" Oh yes, yes, thank you," Rose said, taking one cup, Selene taking the other.

" Thanks…" She said softly, immediately sipping at the water.

" Oh! I'm sorry, what was your name?" Rose suddenly inquired the blue jump-suit wearing alien.

" We have no titles. We are as one."

" Um…" She said as the Ood walked away. She stepped over to Danny." What are they called?"

" Oh, come on, where have you been living? Everyone's got one," He teased.

" Well, not me, so, what are they?"

" They're the Ood," Danny replied.

" 'The Ood?'" Rose asked, wondering if she'd heard him wrong.

" The Ood."

" Well that's Ood." Rose smirked slightly.

" Very Ood. But handy. They work the mind shafts, all the drilling and stuff, supervision and maintenance. They're born for it. Basic slave race."

" You've got slaves?" Rose asked in shock.

" Don't start, she's like one of that lot, 'Friends of the Ood,'" Scooti scoffed to Danny, smirking.

" Damn straight," Selene said as she stepped up, sipping at her water again, her annoyances at the majority of the Sanctuary Base crew rising. " Do you really have to have slaves? Seems a bit morally wrong, yeah?"

" But the Ood offer themselves! Like, if you don't give them orders, they just pine away and die."

" Sorry, but do you like serving people all the time?" Selene asked an Ood that stepped towards them.

" It is all we crave," The Ood replied politely.

" Why's that then?" Rose asked, sounding upset.

" We have nothing else in life."

" Yeah, well I used to think like that… a long time ago…" Rose trailed off, staring at the alien in front of her.

" I seriously need some Aspirin…" Selene groaned as the headache continued to pound behind her skull.

" There we go! Do you see? To generate that kind of gravity field and the funnel you'd need a power source with an inverted self-extrapolating reflex of six to the power of six, every six seconds!" The Doctor said quickly.

" Six-six-six, that's ominous," Selene said.

" It's impossible."

" It took us two years to work that out," Zach said in surprise, staring at the tall brunette man.

" I'm very good," He replied, leaning against the control panel.

" But… that's why we're here. This power source is ten miles below, through solid rock. Point zero- we're drilling down to try and find it," Ida told them.

" It's giving off readings of over ninety stats on the Blazen scale," Zach added.

" We could revolutionize modern science." Ida had excitement clear in her voice.

" We could use it to fuel the empire," Jefferson supplied.

" Or start a war," The Doctor bleakly reminded, whipping his glasses off.

" It's buried beneath us… in the darkness, waiting," Toby said, meeting eyes with Selene and the Doctor.

" What's your job? Chief… Dramatist?" Rose asked. Selene rubbed her eyes and shook her head. The Doctor smiled slightly. Selene shook her head again. The poor blond man looked tired and worn, the last thing he needed was teasing.

" Let the man speak…" She mumbled, tying her hair back into a ponytail. The Doctor frowned at the noticeable change of attitude, but stored the fact away to ask about later.

" Well, whatever it is down there is not a natural phenomenon. And this planet once supported life… eons ago, before the human race had even learned how to walk," Toby explained, sending a slight nod to Selene.

" I saw that lettering written on the wall; did you do that?" The Doctor asked, remembering Ida had said that he was in the archeology department of the team. He gave a nod.

" I copied it from fragments we found unearthed by the drilling, but I can't translate it."

" No, neither can I, and that's saying something."

" There was some form of civilization. They buried something. Now it's reaching out, calling us in," Toby said adamantly. It was as if he'd given the subject great thought, which he had, and he'd said it many times before. The Doctor looked around at the Sanctuary Base crew and grinned, saying,

" And you came!"
" Well, how could we not?" Ida inquired, brow arched. It was an impossible idea not coming.

" So, when it comes right down to it, why did you come here?" The Doctor continued to grin. " Why did you do that? Why? I'll tell you why… Because it was there! Brilliant!" The Doctor turned to look at Zach. " Excuse me, uh, Zach, wasn't it?"

" That's me."

" Just stand there, 'cause I'm gonna… hug you. Is that alright?" Selene couldn't help but smile at the Doctor's request, only slightly noting the look Jefferson sent the Doctor.

" Suppose so," Zach replied, looking completely serious.

" Here we go, comin' in," He said, equally as serious as the two embraced. He broke out into a smile, Zach unable to suppress one as well. " Oh, human beings! You are… amazing! Ha!" He pulled away and looked at the captain. " Thank you."

" Not at all," Zach said with a nod.

" But apart from that you're completely mad. You should pack your bags, get back in that ship and fly for your lives," The Doctor insisted, steering away from his grinning happy mood and getting straight into his 'save the world' mode.

" You can talk. And how the hell did you get here?" Ida shot back. The Doctor stuttered over his words for a moment.

" Well, I've got this um… this…" He looked at Selene and Rose for help, but they looked just as lost as he was. " Ship, it's hard to explain. It just sort of appears.

" We can show you, we parked down the corridor from um…" Rose trailed off, trying to think of the name. " Oh, what's it called… uh, Habitation Area…

" Three," The Doctor supplied.

" Three. Three." Zach gave a worried look. If they were by Habitation Area Three then…

" Do you mean Storage Six?" He asked urgently.

" Uh, it was a bit of a cupboard, yeah. Storage Six, but you sa-" He froze as he remembered the captain's words from earlier… and from the looks on everyone's faces, his fears were confirmed.

" You told us storage five through eight were…" Selene muttered. She exchanged glances with the Doctor before he took off running, companions at his heels.

" What is it!? What's wrong!?" Rose called out as their feet pounded against the metal grating on the floor. The Doctor began to quickly try and open a door.

" Stupid doors! Come on!" He hissed just before it opened and they bounded to the door they'd come through. The Doctor pressed the button repeatedly to no avail.

" Door sixteen out of commission," The computer announced.

" It can't be… it can't be!"

" What's wrong? What is it? Doctor, the TARDIS is in there. What's happened?" Rose asked as the Doctor peered through a porthole in the door. Selene sighed and caught her breath, shaking her head. She remembered just that bit more now… the TARDIS had fallen into the pit… They were stuck.

" The TARDIS is gone…" He muttered.

" Door sixteen out of commission."

" The earthquake… this section collapsed."

" But it's got to be out there somewhere," Rose tried to reason as she walked to the window. The Doctor looked at the distressed look on Selene's face and he knew she understood what was wrong.

" Look down," The two told Rose in unison. Rose glanced down from the landscape in front of her to see a deep, deep pit.

" It's bound to be miles deep," Selene said, shaking her head. " An earthquake that strong isn't going to leave minor damage…"

OOOO

" The ground gave way, my TARDIS must've fallen down," The Doctor right into the heart of the planet," The Doctor explained to Zach. " But you've got robot drills heading the same way."

" We can't divert the drilling," He said simply.

" But I need my ship! It's all I've got! Literally, the only thing!" The Doctor pleaded, following Zach across the room.

" Doctor, we've only got the resources to drill one central shaft down to the power source, and that's it. No diversions, no distractions, no exceptions. Your machine is lost. All I can do is offer you a lift if we ever get to leave this place, and that is the end of it." Zach turned on a note of finality and left.

" I'll… uh… put you on the duty roster. We need someone in the laundry," Ida said before swiftly leaving, not knowing what else to say.

" Open door one."

" Close door one."

The three time travelers were left alone with an Ood. The Doctor had a glassy-eyed look and he turned to look at Rose and Selene.

" I've trapped you both here…" He muttered in that regretful voice Selene hated to hear as he leaned against the console beside Rose, across from Selene.

" No, don't worry about us," Rose assured him. Everything shook slightly. " Okay, we're on a planet that shouldn't exist underneath a black hole, and no way out." She paused. " Yeah I've changed my mind. Start worrying about me."

The Doctor pulled her in for a long, tight hug, staring up at the ceiling as if he could see through the metal back at the black hole. It was those moments that Selene felt awkward and out of place. When they seemed to no longer acknowledge her presence and it made her feel like she just wanted to fade in the background, which was what she'd already been doing for years. When they pulled away, the Doctor sighed.

" Well, let's go find the mess hall, I'm sure we could all do with some food," He said as they headed for the door Ida had departed through. As they began to walk, the Doctor turned his eyes to Selene. " You alright?"

" Yeah, yeah, don't mind me. Just a stupid headache again…" She said, hoping to sound dismissive as she waved a hand.

" Another one?" Rose asked with worry. The Doctor's brows rose.

" Another? What, you've still had headaches? I would have thought they'd gone away after you healed from that car crash," The Doctor said, worry creeping into his voice as well. He wished she would have mentioned it to him way earlier so they could have figured out what was going on. He was fairly sure she'd completely recovered from her accident and this was concerning. She shrugged.

" Well, maybe I have a concussion, I'm not sure… But what I do know is I need to find some pain-killers, it's seriously hindering everything…" Selene said with a sigh as the pain began to press against her eyes.

" I've got something you can take, if you'd like," Came a familiar voice from a side corridor. They all paused and looked to see Toby standing there, hands in his pockets. Rose and the Doctor's eyes slid to Selene as they waited for an answer.

" If it isn't too much trouble," She said softly.

" Not at all, but I've left it in my quarters, just follow me," He nodded down the corridor. Selene turned to Rose and the Doctor.

" I'll catch up with you," She told them before moving to follow Toby, not noticing the slight smirk on Rose's face.

The first few moments of walking down the corridors were silent and a bit awkward. Selene fiddled with the sleeves of her sweater and she glanced up at Toby after a moment. That was one of the things she hated about meeting and being alone with new people; the awkward silences. And it didn't help when the new person was male… especially if they were attractive. And yes, she had to admit, she thought Toby was very good-looking. Blushing at her thoughts of attractive men (the Doctor slipped into her mind at that moment), she shoved the subject aside just as Toby spoke.

" I'm Toby, by the way," He said, extending a hand to her. She took it and smiled slightly.

" Nice to meet you, Toby, I'm Selene."

" Pleasure to meet you as well, Selene."

Silence ensued once more.

" I have to thank you for earlier," He said to her honestly as they rounded another corner. Her eyebrows creased as she looked up at him.

" Hm? Oh, do you mean defending your right to speak?" She asked. Toby nodded, awkwardly rubbing the back of his head. She couldn't help the small smile that appeared on her face. " Well, I know what it's like to not be able to speak when you want to."

" You do?"

" Yeah, I have an older sister, and even though we usually get along, she likes to think that since she's older she can just voice what she thinks is important to override what I think. It gets annoying really fast," She said, looking at him again. " And I know what it's like to be exhausted and try to keep functioning." Toby laughed and smiled for the first time she'd seen.

" Only every day of my life. Ah, here we are." He pushed a door open and stepped inside is quarters, heading for a shelf above a desk littered with research. Selene stepped inside and took the opportunity to look around at the copies of the mysterious letters.

" Must be pretty weird having been here with the same people for two years," She commented. Toby chuckled as he rifled around on the shelf.

" Well, you get used to it. Can't say that everyone doesn't get on my nerves or the nerves of the rest of the crew from time to time, 'cause we do, but we've learned to live with each other, all bound by our common interest for this planet," He told her, glancing to see her now standing beside him, looking at the ceramic fragments with the letters on them. She smiled slightly and laughed quietly, only wincing when the sharp pain in her head increased for a moment.

" Yeah, I guess that's how I ended up traveling with Rose and the Doctor; a common interest for adventure," Selene admitted. Toby grabbed a bottle from the corner of the shelf and opened it, shaking out two pills of what was presumably some sort of painkiller into the palm of his hand. He held them out to her.

" There you go," He said.

" Thanks." She took them from him before popping them into her mouth, swallowing them dry with minor difficulty, not caring what sort of futuristic medicine it was.

" Anytime. So, you enjoy traveling with your friends then?" He asked, sitting down in his desk chair by the two bunks behind him. He had to say, out of the three new people on the base, Selene intrigued him the most. He wasn't sure why, maybe it was because he thought she was pretty; beyond pretty in his own opinion. Toby felt comfortable around the new arrival, and found her surprisingly easy to talk to. He wanted to talk to her.

Selene smiled a bit at him. He was easy to talk to and she was actually happy to be able to spend time with him away from the others, where he seemed subdued and quiet. He was a great conversationalist. And, most importantly, he didn't annoy the hell out of her, like Danny or Jefferson did. At the moment, as the painkillers began to slowly take affect, her annoyance melted off slightly.

" I do, we go to great places, meet great people." Selene smiled again, but it faded slightly. " But sometimes I feel a bit outcast. Just sometimes, not often… but it makes it a bit awkward at times, you know? They've known each other longer, seem to act like a couple without realizing it and I'm just always… there. Third wheel kind of, I guess," She said quietly, finally admitting what she'd had bottled up inside. And she'd admitted it to a practical stranger and she didn't really care; it felt good to finally say it out loud.

" I'm sure that's not true. We've all had our ups and downs," Toby assured her with a small smile. She returned it and straightened up, taking in a deep breath.

" Thanks, Toby. I should get going, leave you to your research." Eyeing the lettering on the ceramics and paper, a chilling twinge ran through her, something about those damned letters kept bothering her… and the damned brain fog still wasn't letting her remember… " And since it seems I'll be here a while, I'll see you around." She smiled and waved, stepping towards the door.

" See you. And should you need anything else for your headache, just come find me," He replied, watching her leave. There was a pause before she stepped back into the doorway, a blush on her face.

" Um… which way to the mess hall?" She asked with an embarrassed voice. Toby chuckled.

" It's actually in Habitation Area Three. Head to the left, take two rights, open the first door and then follow the main corridor straight, you should find it, it's shorter than having to head back to command central," He told her. Nodding her thanks she walked off muttering,

" Left, right, right, door, straight…"

OOOO

" Entering night shift. Your chosen track for transition is Ravel's 'Boléro.'" The computer announced as said music began to play over the base-wide intercom system. Everyone began their duties: Jefferson over saw the Ood's work, Scooti was just outside the base in an orange space-suit fixing last-minute machines out on the planet's surface and Danny was counting off Ood and checking their numbers off on a clipboard.

Toby, now wearing latex gloves, held a ceramic shard under a lamp/magnifying glass object that attached to his desk, peering closely at the letters. Two years of research and nothing was coming up. Just the same markings. Nothing else. The music was playing softly in his quarters and he was dead-focused on his work. Suddenly, the music cut off with a slight screech and he froze, looking up. Shaking it off as nothing more than a technology glitch, he began to examine the shard again.

" Toby." It was the voice from earlier.

Toby spun around to look behind himself, once again expecting to see someone. But, like earlier, no one was there. He turned back to his work again.

" I can see you," The voice said again. Completely fed up, he spun back around, putting the ceramic piece back down, bracing his hands on his knees.

" Danny, is that you?" He asked in annoyance. He wasn't kidding when he told Selene crewmembers got on everyone's nerves now and then. And, if it was Danny doing this, he was seriously pissed off. No response. " It's—it's not funny, alright?" No reply. " Dan?"

Toby stood up and swiftly walked to the door, opening it up with a buzz as he stepped into the corridor. No one was there, but, knowing Danny, he was probably hiding around the corner, silently laughing to himself.

" I'm—I'm trying to work, Daniel." He took a few steps down the hall after yet another empty silence. " Look if—if, that's you, then can you just stop it?"

With a whir, the electricity powered down. Then it whirred back on, leaving Toby answerless and a bit confused to the power glitches. Spinning on his heel, he marched back into his room, glancing around one more time before shutting the door.

Back in Habitation Area Three, the Doctor was examining the script on the wall underneath the words 'Welcome To Hell,' with Rose sitting at his side. He was sitting on the ground, scribbling down notes and copies of the letters. The majority of the small crew were sitting at a table.

" Danny, check the temperature in Ood Habitation. It seems to be rising," Zach's voice said over the intercom. Danny, who had just finished dinner and had been nowhere near Toby's room, stood, ready to go check on the temperature. Rose stood and went to go get food, reaching for a metal tray.

" Help yourself. Just don't have the green… or the blue," Scooti said with a smile and a laugh, walking off with her own food. Selene walked up beside Rose, having just walked through the door. Rose gave a smile and the two walked over to a window and looked in at the Ood on the other side.

" Um, a bit of that, thanks," Rose said unsure, pointing to something. It appeared she'd gotten the blue.

" Would you like sauce with that?" The Ood asked.

" I'll have a go yeah. I did that job once. I was a… a dinner lady. Not that I'm calling you a lady. Although, I don't know. You might be," Rose said, stumbling over her own words. Selene, who was facing the Doctor's direction snickered slightly. " Do you actually get paid though, do they give you money?"

" The Beast and his Armies shall rise from the Pit to make war against God," The Ood suddenly told them in a pleasant voice. Both women's heads snapped around to look at the creature. Their jaws were slack and their eyes were wide. They shared a glance before looking back at the Ood.

" What did you just say?" Selene asked, glad that her headache was now only a dull push in her head, which gave her more room to think about whatever the Ood had just told them. It smacked the sphere in its hand with a crackling sound.

" Apologies. I said, I hope you enjoy your meal," It amended, earning a small nod from Rose and Selene, who then took the tray and headed for an empty table.

Danny was headed for Ood Habitation, and as he shut the door, the computer then, as usual, said,

" Close door three."

" 'Close door three,'" Danny mocked.

" He is awake." The computer announced. Danny stared at the door, and the speaker beside it.

" What did you just say?" He asked.

" Close door three."

Toby had been sitting in his chair, staring at the markings for what felt like forever. He didn't feel like getting up and heading to the mess hall, he needed to find out what the symbols meant, what that ancient language was trying to tell them.

" Toby…" The voice hissed. Slowly looking up, he realized the voice was inside his quarters… just behind him. He began to turn, but then the voice spoke again. " Don't turn around."

" Dan," Toby muttered. His breathing and heart rate picked up as he finally realized something. " That's not Dan…" He was about to spin as fast as he could to spot the owner of the deep, menacing voice, but was once again stopped.

" Don't look at me!" It ordered.

" Who—who—who are you?" He stuttered out, getting increasingly worried.

" I have so many names…"

" If—if I could—"

" If you look at me, you will die," It told Toby darkly.

" B-but who are you?" Toby inquired.

" I'm behind you, Toby. I'm right behind you." He began to turn his head. " Don't look, don't look at me. One look and you will die. I'm reaching out Toby… I'm so close… Don't turn around. Oh, I can touch you…"

That was it. Toby spun around, holding his breath. No one was there. He could have sworn to God that someone was there. He let out the breath he'd held in, his heart racing. But… the door was open, he was sure he'd closed it. He always closed it. Thinking he must have left it open in the last time he'd checked the hall, he turned back to his desk. Maybe he was just tired and hallucinating…

As he turned, he froze when he saw the pot shards in his hands. They weren't riddled with that mysterious script anymore. They were gone.

Suddenly, the palms of his hands began to itch. He set the shards down and pulled off his gloves. He paused and then flipped his hands over, staring in shock as he saw what was now inscribed in black across his skin. The letters now took residence on his hands. He stood quickly and stumbled back as he looked at his hands, just noting that his face began to tingle. He grabbed for the nearest reflective thing and found something akin to a mirror. He held it up and nearly gasped, but was too shocked to do so.

The markings were covering his face and neck, but most disturbing of all, the irises of his eyes were blood red. His lips had a blue tinge to them, and soon his whole body felt like it was being pulled and poked with tiny needles, and it wasn't pleasant. He tossed the mirror aside and fell to his knees before keeling over onto the floor, completely unconscious.

Back in the mess hall, the lights flickered. The Doctor looked up from his book of notes and Selene, sitting beside Rose, stopped tracing match equations doodled on the table with her finger, looking up at the lights. Ida, who was walking across the room clicked the comm. button on her wrist.

" Zach, have we got a problem?" She asked.

" No more than usual. Got the Scarlet System burning up—might be worth a look," Zach replied. Ida smiled at the time travelers sitting at one of the tables.

" You might want to see this—moment in history," She told them with an excited tone in her voice. She truly loved her job, everyone could tell. She ran to a switch and pulled it, the metal visors of the roof pulling down so they could see the black hole again. Ida pointed. " There. On the edge. That red cloud? That used to be the Scarlet System. Home to the Pelushi, a mighty civilization spanning a billion years, disappearing… forever… Their planets and suns consumed." Rose, Selene and the Doctor watched with saddened looks on their faces. They'd been to enough places and met enough people to know how sad this event truly was… " Ladies and gentlemen… we have witnessed its passing." She moved to close it, but the Doctor said,

" Uh, no, c-could you leave it open? Just for a bit? I won't go mad, I promise."

" How would you know?" The Doctor smirked for a second before letting it drop. " Scooti, check the lockdown. Jefferson, sign off the airlock seals for me." As everyone departed, the three were left alone again.

" I've seen films and things, yeah, they say black holes are like gateways to another universe," Rose said, obviously hoping for something good.

" Not that one," The Doctor told her. " It just eats." Selene sighed and stared up at the disappearing rocks. She thought of how horrible it must be to have your entire world just sucked up and eaten away in a few short seconds… one minute it's the middle of the day and then the next; absolutely nothing.

" Long way from home…" Rose whispered. The Doctor eyed her and leaned across the table and pointed to the sky.

" Go that way, turn right, keep going for, um, about, um, five hundred years and you'll reach the earth," The Doctor told the two women. Rose pulled out her phone and snapped it up, sighing.

" No signal. That's the first time we've gone out of range. Mind you, even if I could… what would I tell her?" She asked softly, staring back up at the black hole. She turned back to the Time Lord. " Can you build another TARDIS?" She laughed slightly.

" They were grown, not built. And with my own planet gone, we're kind of stuck," He replied in a quiet voice.

" You know, it could get worse. I mean, we've got food, drink, new people…" Selene pointed out.

" And they said they'd give us a lift," Rose said.

" And then what?" The Doctor asked, looking right at her.

" I don't know. Find a planet… get a job… live a life—same as the rest of the universe," Rose suggested, and suddenly that little bubble that would occasionally wrap around herself and the Doctor appeared and Selene stared down at her hands. The Doctor blew out a breath.

" I'd have to settle down…" He said with realization. He sniffed. " Get a house or something, a proper house with—with—with—with doors and things, carpets! Me! Living in a house!" Rose began to laugh. " Now that… that is terrifying!"

" You'd have to get a mortgage!" Rose sang as the two laughed.

" No." The Doctor dead-panned.

" Oh, yes."

" I'm dying, that's it, I am dying, it is all over," He joked.

" What about me? I'd have to get one too! I don't know it could… could be the same one. We could both…" She met his eyes as he looked at her with an unreadable look she looked back up at the sky. " I don't know, share. Or not. You know, whatever. I don't know. We'll sort something out."

" Anyway…" The Doctor coughed awkwardly.

" We'll see…"

Selene looked between the two. Somewhere after the Doctor had mentioned a house for the first time, she'd stood up and walked up the small set of steps and sat on the top one, leaning her forearms on her knees. She internally sighed and looked at her hands again, inspecting the slightly chipped ends of her nails. A new feeling had stirred inside her stomach as she watched the two act like a bickering couple, something they tended to do with increasing frequency. She couldn't place it at that moment, but as she watched the two exchange awkward glances, the word finally hit her.

Jealousy.

She was jealous. How could she not be? She'd only just realized she had fallen for the Doctor, what, last big adventure they had? And since then, she found it hard to be around the two when the acted all… lovey-dovey without noticing it. She felt self conscious standing beside Rose, she had to admit. She always had perfect make-up, an area Selene never quite excelled in, and the blond was gorgeous with perfect while Selene thought herself rather plain with unruly hair that hated any style she forced it into. Rubbing her eyes she sighed and shook her head. God, why did she have to fall for the Doctor?

'Cause he's amazing and sort of perfect, that's why… She thought to herself. Oh, boy, the headache's gonna come back now, isn't it?

" I promised Jackie I'd always take you back home…" He looked over at Selene, who was rubbing her eyes with creased brows. Though he couldn't promise anyone she knew he'd get her home, since her real home was completely inaccessible, he had promised himself in his head that he wouldn't let her get harmed and that she'd always have somewhere safe to go, which just so happened to be the TARDIS, which he'd happily heard her refer to as her new home once or twice.

" Everyone leaves home in the end," Rose whispered.

" Not to end up stuck here…"

" Yeah, but stuck here with you, that's not so bad," She replied.

" Yeah?"

" Yes." They smiled at each other and Rose turned to grin at Selene. " And Selene'll be with us all the way! By the way…" A sly smile came across her features. " You get the painkillers?" Selene looked up and nodded.

" Mm. Yeah, Toby was really nice about it," She said, smiling slightly, standing up to sit back beside Rose again. Rose bumped her shoulder against Selene's.

" He's kind of a looker, isn't he?" She teased, grinning. Selene raised an eyebrow, resting her cheek in the palm of her hand. The Doctor's brow creased as he watched the two. So was this what they talked about whenever he wasn't around?

" He is," She agreed, a very faint blush rising to her cheeks.

" I think he fancies you, just saying."

" I've only known him for a day, not even that long."

" Well, I still think he does, and we will be stuck here a while… so…" Rose smirked again, enjoying teasing her friend. Selene rolled her eyes and laughed slightly. The Doctor's mouth pulled down in a frown at the conversation, brows still creased. For some reason, some odd, unexplainable reason, he didn't like thinking about Selene and the young blond archeologist. Luckily he was spared from having to listen to any more of that conversation when Rose's phone rang.

" D-didn't you say we had no reception?" Selene asked as Rose answered and held it to her ear.

" He is awake," Said that same voice that had talked to Toby. Rose threw her phone down onto the floor quickly, staring at it in fear.

In Toby's quarters, the blond man sucked in a breath as his red eyes shot open as a tiny smirk pulled at his blueish lips.

OOOO

After explaining what she heard over the phone, the Doctor decided they should visit Danny, who had to check on Ood habitation. The Doctor ran down a few steps and jumped the last few to land on the catwalk Danny stood on.

" Evening!" He said cheerily, walking over to him.

" Only us!" Rose added.

" They mysterious couple and their tag-on friend," Danny greeted. Selene shot him a look.

" Ha-ha-ha. That was a sarcastic laugh by the way," Selene said, mood slipping back to annoyed at the man's comment. Danny smirked at her.

" Still got that headache?"

" No, actually, it went away, then we stepped in here and you started talking and it came back," She shot back, crossing her arms. The Doctor and Rose gave her a surprised look. She never sassed anyone. At least not when they'd known her.

" You always this sassy?" He inquired, still smirking.

" Not usually."

" Mm. Well, how are you all then? Settling in?"

" Yeah, sorry, straight to business. The Ood—how do they communicate?" The Doctor asked as he took a glance to where rows of Ood sat on benches below the catwalk in a chain-link fence enclosed area, which was open to the steps. " I mean with each other."

" Oh. Just empaths. There's a low-level telepathic field connecting them. Not that it does them that much good. They're basically a herd race, like cattle," Danny explained as he continued to type away on a monitor.

" This… telepathic field, can it pick up messages?" The Doctor inquired, brows creased.

" 'Cause Selene and I were grabbing dinner…"

" And one of them said something kind of… Odd," Selene finished.

" Huh! And odd Ood," Danny hummed.

" And then I got something else on my… um… communicator thing," Rose decided on, earning a nod from the Doctor.

" Oh, be fair! We've got whole star systems burning up around us. There's all sorts of stray transmissions. Probably nothing." He grabbed a clipboard and went to the top of the stairs. The trio stared at him. Nothing? There was no such thing as 'nothing' anymore. " Look if there was something wrong, then it would show. We monitor the telepathic field. It's the only way to look after them. They're so stupid they don't even tell us when they're ill!" Selene clenched her jaw at his last comment but turned away to face the monitor.

" And this is what monitors the field then?" She asked. With the exception of Danny, they all gathered around the screen, which read 'Basic Five.'

" Yeah, but like I said, it's low-level telepathy. They only register Basic Five," Danny informed.

" Well, that's not Basic Five," The Doctor said as the numbers rose. " Ten… Twenty." The Ood all lifted their heads. The Doctor faced Danny. " They've gone up to Basic Thirty."

" But they can't!"

" Doctor… the Ood," Rose said, voice laced with worry. They all spun and went to the railing as Danny checked the monitor, as the Ood all faced them. " What does Basic Thirty mean?"

" Well, it means they're shouting, screaming inside their heads!"

" Or something's shouting at them…" The Doctor muttered.

" But where's it coming from?" The younger man asked. " What is it saying? I mean—what did it say to you two?"

" Something about The Beast in the Pit…" Rose trailed off.

" And about a war against God…" Selene reminded, a distant sound in her voice as the only bit of information she could remember was resurfacing. Red Eye. The Ood were about to obtain Red Eye.

" What about your communicator? What did that say?"

" 'He is awake.'"

" And you will worship him," The Ood all answered in unison.

" What the Hell?" Danny asked. The Doctor grasped the railing and again said,

" He is awake."

" And you will worship him."

" Worship who?" No answer. " Who's talking to you? Who is it?"

OOOO

Scooti walked into Toby's room saying,

" Toby, I've got your expenditure." She stopped when she noted the lights were off and that he wasn't there. She set a blue book down on the table just as she heard a hiss and the computer say,

" Open door forty-one."

" Close door forty-one."

" Forty… one…" She bolted from the room and towards door forty-one, which was around the corner. She pressed a button beside the door. " Computer, did you open and close door forty-one?"

" Confirmed."

" But that's the airlock. Why would you open the airlock? It's the nightshift, we're not allowed outside. Has someone gone out?"

" Confirmed."

" But who was it?" Scooti pressed.

" Cannot confirm."

" Okay… but hold on, I know, tell me whose spacesuit's been logged out."

" No spacesuit has been logged out," The computer informed her.

" But… you're not making any sense! You can't go outside without…" Scooti broke off her sentence and she took a step away from the door. Why was she arguing with the computer? It was probably broken. She pressed the button on her comm. system. " Zach, I think we've got a breakdown on door forty-one. It's saying somebody's gone outside onto the planet's surface." She released the button and got static. " Zach?" Static. " Zach!" More static. She quickly pressed the button on the side of the door. " Computer, trace fault."

" There is no fault."

" Tell me! Who went through that door?" She demanded.

" He is awake," The computer informed.

" What?"

" He is awake."

" What's that supposed to mean?" Scooti asked in complete confusion. She didn't understand what it was supposed to mean. The computer had never said anything of the sort before…

" He bathes in the black sun."

Scooti stepped away from the door as a whirring sound signaled the metal plates of a window to its left opening. She stepped over to look though, shocked at what she saw.

Toby, very much alive, stood out on the planet face, head tilted back, legs braced apart, arms away from his sides. Slowly, he turned to look at her, grinning so wide he showed his teeth, eyes still an unbelievable red, the markings still covering his skin.

" Toby…" She muttered. She didn't understand how her fellow crewmember was still alive out there. He should be dead. " But there's no air, there's no…"

Toby continued to grin at Scooti, raising his right hand towards the window, eyes meeting hers. With a finger he seemed to beckon her outside… and for some reason… she became drawn to him. Eyes locked on his, she raised a hand as if to reach through the glass and take his. He still beckoned with his fingers, grin fading in the slightest to a darkened smile.

" No! Stop it! You can't be!" She shouted as she broke out of her trance. The grin completely dropped and he began to slowly clench his fist, the window beginning to crack. Gasping, Scooti ran for a door. " Open door forty! Open door forty!"

Toby's intense gaze followed her as she crouched down, yanking at the door, screaming,

" Open door forty! Open door forty! OPEN DOOR FORTY!"

The window shattered and Scooti's hands were ripped from what she held onto and she screamed.

OOOO

The Doctor, Rose and Selene had been inspecting the Ood when everything began to shake.

" Shit!" Danny yelled as the computer sparked, sending him reeling back.

" Emergency Hull Breach. Emergency Hull Breach," The computer repeated.

" Which section!?" Danny yelled into his comm. system.

" Everyone, evacuate eleven to thirteen. We've got a breach," Zach replied. " The base is open, repeat, the base is open!"

Soon every single person on the base was running and stumbling through the base, throwing open and slamming shut doors as they all converged in a corridor. As the last door was slammed shut, Toby fell to the ground having been tugged through by Jefferson, skin and eyes completely normal again.

" Breach sealed. Breach sealed," The computer said.

" Is everyone alright!?" The Doctor asked in a panic. " What happened, what was it?"

" Oxygen levels normal."

" Hull breach!" Jefferson called out. " We were open to the elements. Another couple of minutes and we'd have been inspecting that black hole close quarters!"

" That wasn't a quake, what caused it?" The Doctor demanded. Rose and Selene noticed Toby kneeling on the ground, shaking as he began to stare at his hands, flipping them over and taking in gasping breaths. Sweat beaded on his forehead and neck and he seemed frightened. Selene quickly knelt and wrapped her arm around his shoulders rubbing his arm, and Rose crouched down to rub his back, both trying to ease his panicked state.

" We've lost sections eleven to thirteen. Everyone alright?" Zach asked.

" We've got everyone here except Scooti," Jefferson informed between deep breaths. " Scooti, report," He said into his communicator. Static. " Scooti Manista? That's an order. Report."

There was a tense silence when the young woman didn't respond.

" She's alright I've picked up her bio-chip. She's in Habitation Three. Better go and check if she's not responding. She might be unconscious," Zach told them, much to everyone's relief… but not Selene's. She was slowly regaining some details… and the ones she remembered weren't pleasant. " How about that, eh? We survived." Toby checked his hands again.

" Habitation Three. Come on, I don't often say this, but I think we could all do with a drink," Jefferson grumbled, heading to the opposite end of the corridor. " Come on."

The Doctor crouched down in front of Toby, asking,

" What happened?'

" I don't—I don't know. I—I was working and then I can't remember! All-all that noise. The room falling apart. There was no air!" Toby stuttered out in a panicked voice, face pink.

" Come on, let's stand," Selene said as she and Rose helped the man stand.

" Come and have some Protein One," Rose grunted as he leaned his weight on them.

" Ooh, you've gone native!" The Doctor teased.

" Oi, don't knock it, it's nice. Protein One with just a," She clicked her tongue, " dash of Three!"

As they entered Habitation Three, everyone was looking around in confusion. Scooti was no where to be found. Everyone spoke in a jumble of words and phrases that made it impossible to figure out what was going on besides the fact that Scooti was no where to be found. As everyone quieted down, Toby took a seat with the trio of time travelers around him, sighing as Jefferson reported back to Zach.

" Zach, we've got a problem. Scooti's still missing."

" But it says Habitation Three."

" Yeah, well, that's were I am, and I'm telling you, she's not here!" Jefferson argued. The Doctor's eyes were drawn to the still exposed glass ceiling and his brows pulled down.

" I've found her," He said grimly.

They all followed his eye sight and the only words spoken were by Rose as she muttered,

" Oh my God…" She covered her mouth and Selene's jaw tightened. Scooti Manista floated outside in space, drifting ever so slowly towards the black hole, eyes still open.

" I'm sorry. I'm so sorry," The Doctor muttered quietly. Everyone in the room felt sick. Completely sick and heart broken.

" Captain…" Jefferson's voice came out gruff and low. " Report. Officer Scootori Manista PKD… Deceased. 43K 2.1."

" She was twenty…" Ida muttered. " Twenty years old…" She rushed over to the lever on the wall and switched it back, the metal shields slowly moving back to obscure the view of the black hole and the last sight of Scooti they'd ever see.

" 'For how should man die better than facing fearful odds, for the ashes of this father… and the temples of his Gods?'" Jefferson muttered sadly.

The constant rumbling they'd all gotten used to suddenly died off.

" It's stopped…" Ida said quietly.

" What was that?" Rose asked, stepping over to the Doctor. " What was it?"

" The drill," He replied.

" We've stopped drilling. We made it—point zero," Ida announced.

OOOO

" All non-essential Ood to be confined," Zach commented over the intercom.

The majority of the crew was gathered in a room directly over the hole where the drilling had been occurring.

" Capsule established. All systems functioning. The mineshaft is go. Bring systems online now," Ida called out, wearing an orange spacesuit, helmet under her arm. The Doctor walked up to Zach, wearing the same spacesuit.

" Reporting as a volunteer for the expeditionary force," He said.

" Doctor… this is breaking every single protocol. We don't even know who you are!" Zach reminded him.

" Yeah, but you trust me, don't you? And you can't let Ida go down there on her own. Go on. Look me in the eye. Yes you do, I can see it. Trust," The Doctor replied with a little bit of cheek, smirking in the slightest.

" I should be going down."
" The Captain doesn't lead the mission. He stays here, in charge."

" Not much good at it, am I?" He asked with a sigh. The Doctor gave him a look, which made him sigh, calling out, " Positions! We're going down in two. Everyone, positions! Mister Jefferson! I want maximum system enhancement."

Rose and Selene stepped over to the Doctor, as he pointed to a gage on his wrist.

" Oxygen, nitro-balance, gravity. It's ages since I wore one of these," He said with a grin.

" I want this spacesuit back in one piece, you got that?" Rose said with a teasing tug on his suit.

" Yes, Sir!" The Doctor began to secure his helmet on.

" It's funny, 'cause people back home think that space travel's gonna be all… whizzing about and teleports and anti-gravity… but it's not is it? It's tough."

" I'll see you both later," He told them.

" Not if we see you first," Rose teased. She giggled quietly and took a hold of his helmet, pulling his head down to kiss the glass above his forehead before letting go, which let Selene give him a tight hug as she whispered,

" Be safe…"

He then disappeared into the rickety elevator-like device that would lower himself and Ida into the pit.

" Capsule active. Counting down in ten… nine… eight… seven… six… five… four… three… two… one… release," Zach counted down over the intercom from command central. Rose and Selene waved to the Doctor one last time before he began to lower down, disappearing into the dark. Selene briefly peered over the edge and shuddered.

" Too damn deep…" She muttered.

They walked over to a control panel, Rose picking up the comm. system and holding it nervously. Selene stood to Toby's left, who was sitting on a box, arms around his knees like a scared child, still shaking and sparing his hands a glance every now and then. Selene had remembered what had happened to him the moment the Hull Breach had been announced, but she wasn't letting that change her opinion of Toby, not the Beast that used him like a speaker, but Toby Zed, the blond Archeologist who was kind and had a nice smile. She rubbed his shoulder giving him a comforting smile as Zach then announced to Ida and the Doctor,

" You've gone beyond the oxygen field. You're on your own." The two switched on their oxygen supply

" Don't forget to breathe. Breathing's good," Rose said into the comm.

" Rose, stay off the comm.," Zach told her.

" Fat chance!" She replied. After a few more moments everything shuddered again, causing everyone to grab onto something to continue to be stable. " Doctor? Doctor are you alright?" Rose asked in a panic.

" Ida, report to me!" Zach waited in between the pause. " Doctor!"

" It's alright, we've made it, we're getting out of the capsule now," The Doctor replied as he switched on a torch, stepping into the darkness of the pit.

" What's it like down there?" Rose's voice asked as they looked around the bleak, rocky hole.

" It's hard to tell… it's some sort of… cave? Cavern?" He replied, brows creasing characteristically as he looked around. " It's massive!"

" Well, this should help. Gravity globe," Ida said, tossing a faintly glowing orb into the air, which then stayed suspended, glowing brightly. From that light, they were able to see what looked like carvings and huge arched door-ways. " That's… that's… My God, that's beautiful!"

" Selene… Rose… you can tell Toby we've found his civilization," The Doctor said.

OoOoOoO

" Oi, Toby! Sounds like you've got plenty of work!" Rose called out to him with a laugh and a smile, not noticing how he was still taking shaky breaths as he tried to hug himself tighter and tighter. Selene, however, did, and knelt down beside him, comfortingly rubbing his shoulder. He met her eyes and she could read the fear and confusion in them. She wrapped her arm around his shoulders and quietly rubbed his arm again, hoping to help him relax again.

" Good, good. Good," He muttered, touching and looking at his hands with an almost paranoid nature. Who could blame him, though?

OoOoOoO

" Concentrate now, people. Keep on the mission," Zach urged, sounding excited. " Ida… what about the power source?"

" We're close. Energy signature indicates North-Northwest. Are you getting pictures up there?" Ida asked hopefully as she and the Doctor neared the huge arch. " There's too much interference. We're in your hands."

" Well, we've come this far. There's no going back."

" Oh, did you have to? 'No turning back'? That's almost as bad as 'Nothing can possibly go wrong' or 'This is gonna be the best Christmas Walford's ever had!'" The Doctor complained.

" Have you finished?" Ida asked with a strained smile.

" Yeah. Finished."

OoOoOoO

Zach and Danny began a conversation; apparently the Ood weren't responding to Danny's commands and, worst of all, the telepathic field had reached Basic One Hundred, which should be impossible.

" What's Basic One Hundred mean?" Rose asked.

" They should be dead…" Danny replied.

" Basic One Hundred's brain death," Jefferson agreed darkly.

" But they're safe, they're not actually moving?" Zach asked, hoping for clarification.

" No, sir,"

" Keep watching them. And you, Jefferson, keep a guard on the Ood," Zach instructed.

" Officer at arms!" Jefferson commanded to his two guards.

" Yes, Sir," One replied.

OoOoOoO

" Isn't it a tad dangerous to fire a gun in here? This place looks like it's just ready to let the bullets ricochet," Selene said, nodding to the walls. " Not to mention what happened with that Hull Breach not too long ago."

" I'm firing Stock Fifteen, only impacts upon organics," He replied, loading his gun.

" Comforting," Selene muttered.

" Keep watch, guard them," He ordered a female guard.

" Yes, Sir," She replied.

" Is everything alright up there?" The Doctor's voice asked.

" Yeah, yeah," Rose lied.

" It's fine," Zach assured.

" Great!" Danny said cheerfully.

OoOoOoO

The Doctor and Ida came across a large, metal, circular thing embedded in the ground.

" We've found something," He informed, stepping onto it. " It looks like metal, like some sort of seal. I've got a nasty feeling the word might be 'trapdoor.' Not a good word 'trapdoor.' Never met a trapdoor I liked."

" The edge is covered with those symbols!" Ida exclaimed, shining her light at the symbols on the edge.

" Do you think it opens?" Zach questioned.

" That's what trapdoors tend to do," The Doctor replied with a frown. The things seemed to hate him and love making him fall through them, it was usually very unpleasant.

" 'Trapdoor' doesn't do it justice! It's massive, Zach! About… thirty feet in diameter!" Ida sounded excited beyond belief. That moment was what they'd all been waiting for.

" Any way of opening it?"

" I don't know. I can't see any sort of mechanism."

" I suppose that's the writing. It'll tell us what to do. The letters that defy translation," The Doctor said stepping off the metal door.

OoOoOoO

" Toby, did you get anywhere with decoding it?" Zach asked.

" Toby, they need to know that lettering, does it make any sort of sense?" Rose asked, and Selene stood, feeling Toby tense up drastically, bowing his head and curling his arms so they covered his face, his hands touching the backs of his shoulders, elbows resting on his knees. Her brows furrowed.

" Toby?" She asked slowly.

" I know what it says," He told them, his voice almost sing-song and like he knew a secret none of them did.

" Then tell them," Rose said, sounding a bit confused.

" When did you work that out?" Jefferson demanded.

" It doesn't matter! Just tell them!"

Toby bent forward dropping his arms as he slowly looked over at them. The symbols marked his skin again, his eyes were that startling crimson and his lips and ears had a bluish tinge to them again.

" These are the words of the Beast," He said in a deep voice that wasn't his own. Rose took a step back before lunging forward to try and pull Selene back as Toby slowly rose. Everyone stared at him in shock. " And he has woken." He began to step towards them and Selene backed into Rose, ending up right by Jefferson's side as he rushed forward, gun aimed at the archeologist. " He is the heart that beats in the darkness, he is the blood that will ever cease. And now, he will rise!" Toby then grinned, head tilted down so he gave an intimidating stare.

" Officer, you stand down. Stand down!" Jefferson shouted. Toby's grin faded as he eyed the man.

OoOoOoO

" What is it, what's he done?" The Doctor asked in a panic, stepping away from Ida. He heard a buzz of static and nothing else. " What's happening? Rose! Selene! What's going on!?"

OoOoOoO

" Jefferson?" Zach asked back at command central as the intercom gave out. " Report. Report!" He hit buttons to try and get it back, but nothing worked.

OoOoOoO

" Officer, as Commander of Security, you will stand down and be confined immediately!" Jefferson ordered as Toby stretched his arms and rolled his head, causing his neck to pop, like he was getting used to being in his own body.

" He's come out in all those symbols on his face, they're all over him!" Rose muttered into the intercom.

" Toby, Toby, listen! Snap out of it, I know you can!" Selene talked to him, as he slightly bared his teeth, rolling his head around one more time before stepping forward again.

" Mr. Jefferson, tell me, Sir… Did your wife ever forgive you?" Toby's lips moved but once again, a voice that was not his own spoke, deep and evil.

" I don't know what you mean," Jefferson whispered.

" Let me tell you a secret… she never did!"

" Officer… you stand down and be confined!"

" Or what?" He snarled.

" Or, under the structures of Condition Red, I am authorized to shoot you!" Jefferson said, readying his gun with a tight jaw.

" But how man can you kill?" He inquired, not just eyeing Selene but yanking her forward and to his chest, clearly stating if Jefferson shot him, he'd shoot her as well. Selene's panicked breath caught as she eyed the barred of the gun less than a foot away from her. Toby's hands held her upper arms like a vice and she shot Rose a look that clearly said to not help her. If she was going to be killed, she wouldn't let the Doctor be alone. Toby smirked and then opened his mouth, eyes glowing and all the symbols began to float off his skin in black streaks of smoke, curling like snakes, all flying to the Ood that stood to the side, being absorbed.

Toby suddenly gasped and coughed, hands falling slack from Selene's arms before he dropped, passing out, Selene ran back towards Jefferson and Rose as the Ood stared at them with glowing red eyes.

This is it… Selene thought to herself.

" We are the legion of the beast," Every single Ood on the Base said in the deep voice they all began to fear.

OoOoOoO

" Rose? What is it? Selene!?" The Doctor demanded, hating having to be left in the dark. He looked at Ida. " I'm going back up!"

" Report. Report!" Zach's voice said.

OoOoOoO

" Jefferson! Report!" He looked around the empty room. " Someone REPORT!"

OoOoOoO

" The Legion shall be man, and the legion shall be few," The Ood spoke.

" It's the Ood," Rose said softly into the comm.

" Sir, we have contamination of the livestock…" Jefferson said into his comm. system.

" Doctor, I don't know what it is," Rose continued. " It's—it's like they're possessed!"

" They won't listen to us…"

OoOoOoO

" He has woven himself in the fabric of your life since the dawn of time. Some may call him Abbadon. Some may call him Krop Tor. Some may call him Satan," All the Ood spoke. In the compound, one of them walked up the steps towards Danny and a guard and they watched in shock and horror and confusion, unsure what to do. The guard ran to the steps and Danny ran to the intercom.

" Sir, it's the Ood!"

" ... Or the Bringer of Despair…"

" They're out of control!"

" The Deathless Prince, the Bringer of Night."

The Ood stopped in front of Danny and the guard, who was about to shoot when the sphere in the Ood's hand flew out and hit his forehead, promptly electrocuting him.

" These are the words that shall set him free."

Danny bolted from the room.

OoOoOoO

" Back up to the door!" Jefferson shouted, gun aimed at the Ood. Rose and Selene and the female guard backed up towards the door as the Ood continued to advance.

" I shall become manifest…"

" Move quickly!"

" I shall walk in might…"

" To the door! Get it open!" He shouted.

" My Legions shall swarm and swell across the worlds…"

OoOoOoO

The pit began to shake.

The Doctor stumbled on his way back to the capsule.

The trapdoor clanked and the center dropped…

" Doctor!" Ida called out. " It's opening!"

Managing to stumble back, the Doctor watched on as the rest of the door opened in segments revealing a deeper, darer pit…

OoOoOoO

Zach fell off his chair and grabbed onto the console as everything shook again.

" We're moving! The whole… thing's moving! That planet's moving!" He began to open the shields of the roof, staring up at the sky. " The gravity field… it's going! W-we're loosing orbit! We're gonna fall into the black hole!"

OoOoOoO

" I am the sin and the temptation and the desire. I am the pain and the loss."

" Get that door OPEN!"

Selene began to pull on the handle hands slipping slightly.

" … And the dead will come. I have been imprisoned for eternity. But no more!"

" Door sealed. Door sealed." They were all backed up against the door and pounding against it to no avail… the Ood got closer and closer…

OoOoOoO

" The Pit is open. And I am free!"

OoOoOoO

TO BE CONTINUED…

Afterword: Hate me for the late update and the TO BE CONTINUED? XD Aha! I know you do, but you also love me… right? I hope so! Anway, I hope you liked it! We saw a different side of Selene! Sassy, sarcastic Selene! And jealous too! And also, what is UP with those headaches of hers? Only time will tell…

REVIEW REPLIESSSS!

grapejuice101: I'm glad you like it and glad you think they're cute together! Hope you liked the chapter! Thanks again!

: I'm glad you pointed out that she was becoming Mary-Sue-ish, I tried to steer her away from that in this chapter, but I'm not sure if I did… anyway, I'm glad you've enjoyed it thus far! Thanks again!

notwritten: I'm glad you like it! Thanks again!

DoubleHeartedHuman: Your review made me smile so much! Ahhh! Thank you so, so much! Yeah, I think that even though she knows she's already fallen for him now, she's still trying to convince herself she hasn't XD I hope you enjoyed the update! Thanks again so much!

Whyna Katran: It's fine, I understand not everyone can get online or remember XD But I'm glad you've been enjoying the updates! Thanks again so much!

The Yoshinator: When they were talking about Toby the Doctor didn't seem too keen on the idea of them together… hm… XD I wonder what this means! Aha! Lolz, well thanks again so much for the review! Hope you enjoyed!

And thank you to those who have added this to their story alerts or favorites! It means so much!
Okay, if any of the line divisions are off, I'm sorry, my computer freaked out and did weird things then didn't let me delete them… so… yeeaaahhh….

What did you guys think of that original scene between Selene and Toby? It randomly came into my head today when I stayed home sick, but I hope it isn't weird or anything… Anyway, thanks again you guys! Let me know what you think!

~Mary