"Well isn't this just great," Rose mumbled sarcastically.

"Oh come on," the Doctor said. "It's not that bad."

"We're trapped in a bloody dudgeon," Rose spat. "And handcuffed together!"

To prove her point she gestured to the cell using her hand that was connected to the Doctor's.

"So?" he shrugged. "We've been in similar predicaments like these before."

"Without your sonic screwdriver?"

"Well, no," he frowned. "But I'll still get us out of this predicament… somehow."

Rose groaned and ran her free hand through her hair angrily. 'It's gonna be fun!' he had said. 'No, we don't need any identification, they aren't psychic beings.' Well, turned out, they were psychic beings who could see straight through the Doctor's psychic paper. And apparently, they didn't like nonregistered visitors invading their parties and then "accidently" causing the dining table to explode. Ugh, it was all the Doctor's fault that they were where they were. Getting stuck in a smelly dudgeon was horrid enough, but also getting handcuffed to the Doctor with no sonic screwdriver? Such a pain.

She'd originally thought getting cuffed to the Doctor would be a fun experience, but instead, it just hurt to have the metal scrape across her wrist every time he moved. Now she just wanted to get free and go home to the TARDIS.

"Are you angry, Rose?" the Doctor's voice broke through her thoughts.

"What do you think?" she snapped, turning her head to glare at him. He flinched at her stare.

"I'm sorry," the Doctor glanced down to the black floor they were sitting on. "Sorry I got us into this mess."

"Well 'sorry' doesn't get us out," she retorted.

"I'm working on that," he tried to give her a smile but one look from her made his face slacken again. Turning her head away, Rose looked through the cell bars and saw the blue-skinned guard returning to them.

"Looks like we've got company again," she hissed to the Doctor. "Try not to piss him off again, will you?"

"Well, how are you two love birds now?" the slyly smiling alien came up to the bars, his green claws curling over them.

"We're fine," the Doctor spoke, and started to stand up, but then was pulled back since he was still connected to Rose.

"Still haven't gotten used to being stuck together, have you?" the guard smiled. "Well you better since you're gonna be stuck for quite a while."

"Well if that is the case, do you think you could get us water?" the Doctor hauled the angry Rose to her feet and started to drag her closer to the bars. "My companion here is a little thirsty."

Rose flashed him a look. Now what was he up to? The guard narrowed his eyes before turning away and walking back up the corridor to a small room. He returned shortly carrying a basin of water.

"Here," he shoved the water at the bars, but then found the bowl was too large to fit through.

"Oh, now that's a problem," the Doctor frowned. "Maybe you could just…"

"Shut up," the guard growled and Rose elbowed the Doctor, shooting him a warning glare.

"Back away," the guard grumbled as he opened up the cell door. The Doctor and Rose did as they were told, but Rose noticed the Time Lord sneak his hand into a pocket.

"Now drink up," the guard said. "This is the only water you'll, what the—!"

The man broke off with a yelp as the Doctor quickly withdrew a small bottle from his pocket and slashed the solution inside on the guard's face. The man stumbled back wiping at his eyes before his body gave a shudder and he collapsed to the ground.

"What the hell did you do?" Rose gasped.

"Little sedation potion, he'll be fine. Now, run!" Grabbing her hand, he sprinted them out of the cell and up the corridor. They had only gotten so far when a siren sounded, echoing through the whole place.

"Damn it!" the Doctor cursed and glanced down at their cuffed wrists. "These must have an alarm device on them that activated when we left the cell!"

Rose spat out a stronger curse word as the Doctor pulled them down a different hall. They hid down in the shadows, pressed up against the wall as they watched other guards run past in the main corridor. Once they had all passed, the Doctor jumped out quickly and began to run again.

Rose yelped as the metal cut her skin at his unexpected move. But she didn't have time to focus on the pain as the Doctor didn't stop running. The two time travelers ran through twists and turns in the dudgeons until they finally reached the stairs that led to the surface.

"There!" the Doctor cried happily. He was about to scale the flight when they heard the sound of shoes against stone ahead. Top-speed, he backtracked them into a closet beside the stairs.

"Just gonna have to wait here till all the guards are gone," he panted as the two caught their breath back. "Now, let's look at these cuffs."

He brought their hands up and Rose winced as pain struck her wrist. The Doctor didn't seem to notice and began to examine the link on his own, prying at is with his hands.

"Need more light," he muttered and jerked his and Rose's hands toward the entrance. Again, Rose felt the metal slice her skin and this time she was sure that she has started bleeding.

"Stop it!" she gasped and immediately regretted hearing her voice crack. His head whipped around to look at her, concern covering his features.

"Rose, are you—?"

"I'm fine," she snapped and grabbed the chain so it wouldn't cut her again. "Let's just get out of this stupid place."

She wouldn't look at him, and shrugged him off when he placed his free hand on her shoulder.

"Rose, let me see," he said in a stern but caring tone.

"No," she glared at him. "Can't do anything about it now. Just get me out of here."

"Rose—"

His sentence was cut off though as a pack of guards raced past them toward the deeper dungeons. That was their cue to flee. Rose pushed past him, still holding onto the handcuff chain and led them up the stairs. The Doctor took her hand halfway up and gave it a small squeeze. She didn't acknowledge him but kept her gaze fixed ahead.

He took the lead once they were out in the open, running them into the forest and out of danger from the fuming aliens. They made their way through the trees until they reached the bigger-on-the-inside, blue box.

Rose let out a sigh of relief when they were safe inside, but didn't get to rest as the Doctor pulled her over to the main console where he charted a course away from the planet and back into the time vortex.

Now that they were in the light Rose glanced down at her wrist and winched. Blood had stained some of the underside of the chain and a large rash covered her whole wrist. Now that she was actually looking at it, the pain seemed to increase. She found herself blinking back tears.

The Doctor still hadn't looked at her and moved them both over to a coral beam where his long coat lay. He hadn't held her hand that time, so the link scrapped against her skin once more and she bit her lip to keep from letting out a cry.

Reaching into one of the pockets on the coat, the Doctor withdrew his sonic screwdriver saying, "Ah, here it is. Now let's get this chain off."

When he mentioned the chain he shook his wrist which also shook Rose's cuff. She couldn't fight the pain anymore and felt a few tears slip out and roll down her cheeks.

"I'll get yours first…" The Doctor trailed off when he saw the mangled state of Rose's wrist. His gaze flicked up her face and he immediately felt his hearts stop as he saw the tears falling softly down her face.

"Oh, Rose," he reached his freehand up to try to wipe her tears when he realized he was still holding the sonic.

"Just get it off," she mumbled and wouldn't look at him. He nodded and quickly turned the screwdriver on, running it along the chain link until it snapped open and fell away from her wrist. He undid his in the same fashion then dropped both the chain and his sonic to the floor so that his hands were free.

Gingerly he reached out and cradled Rose's bleeding wrist. She didn't speak as he turned the appendage in his hands, checking every cut and scrape. He'd forgotten how fragile human skin was…

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry," he whispered. "I'll fix this."

The Doctor looked up at her and saw her nod faintly. Carefully, he led her away to the infirmary on the TARDIS. She stayed silent when he cleaned her wrist and applied a healing ointment. He could tell that the pain worsened a bit when he did as a few more tears rolled down her face. He made short work of bandaging her wrist and when he had finished he brushed his thumb gently over the back of her hand and then placed a small kiss there.

"I'm sorry, Rose," he murmured reaching his other hand out to cup her face. She leaned into his palm, letting him thumb away her tears.

"It's alright, Doctor," she sounded tired. "I'll be okay."

"Can I do anything else?" he asked softly.

She was silent for a few moments before saying, "A hug would be nice."

The Doctor smiled a bit and wrapped his arms around her, holding her tightly to him, but making sure he didn't hurt her sore wrist. She squeezed him back, nuzzling her head into his chest. They stayed that way for a while, sharing in each other's comfort.

"How bout we go to the lounge and pop in a film?" the Doctor said with a kiss to the top of her head. "The Princess Bride? That film always cheers you up. Hey?"

She nodded into his chest, "That sounds okay."

"Good," he smiled and then reached around to scoop Rose up into his arms. She gasped in surprise and clung onto his neck for support.

"What're you doing?" she furrowed her brow.

"Going to the longue," he grinned and started heading in that direction.

"I can walk by myself, Doctor. I hurt my wrist, not my foot."

"I know."

"Then why are you carrying me?"

"Because I want you to have an easy night," he smiled. "And that means I'm taking care of you and am going to carry you to our movie night."

She rolled her eyes but smiled faintly, "Fine. But if you're my personal caretaker now, you're gonna have to make some popcorn and then let me use you as a pillow on the couch."

"As you wish," he said with a knowing smile.