A/N: Look, look - I made the update day! *proud of self* This is a chapter that's all about details and character backgrounds. We're going to learn more about Suri and a bit about Rose's domestic side on the Tardis.

"Rose! Rose, wake up!"

She opened her eyes groggily, about to ask the Doctor why the hell was he in her room when she realized it was Jack's voice. The hard rock under her back did not resemble her bed on the Tardis either. Shivering a little from the damp, cold air of the cave, she sat up.

"What is it?"

"Are you okay? You've been asleep for quite a while now." Jack's eyes were full of concern and she had to smile over how daft both of her friends could be when it came to her wellbeing.

"I'm okay. Just a bit tired is all. Not over the poising properly yet, I guess." She shrugged and realized her mistake as Jack's eyes became stormy.

"Look, I'm fine," she hurried on. "Where are we?"

She stood up so fast she got dizzy and had to clutch at the wall to steady herself. As a result she cut her hand quite deeply on the sharp edges of the crystals lining the wall. Hissing, she jumped up and down for a minute, then smacked Jack when he started laughing.

"I didn't say I was awake yet. I only said I was fine otherwise."

"Not a morning person then, eh, Rosie? Funny, you don't seem to have any problems when we're on the Tardis."

Rose shook her head and smiled mysteriously, walking away from Jack and down towards the faint light shimmering at the end of the path. She wasn't about to tell him that the Tardis did her a favour most of the time and woke her up at least an hour before the Doctor came and pounded on her door to get up because he had something fantastic to show her. Or that she quite often spent an hour and a half in the bath, reading and playing with the bubbles on their rare days off and her good mood when she entered the console room was the result of her spending a couple of hours waking up before she attempted human communication. That, and the Doctor's bright smile as she stepped into the room. Well, the Doctor's bright smile always had the strange effect of waking her up fully before she even realized she opened her eyes.

"Aren't you coming?" she called back to Jack when she realized that he was still standing rooted to the same spot.

"Well, do you even know where you're going?" he challenged, crossing his arms and taking on that cocky expression the Doctor hated so much.

"Do I need to?" she asked with her tongue skimming over her teeth in a quick motion.

"It might interest you to know that we are about five hours' distance from the spot we arrived to, and that the path has been slowly but steadily descending, taking us deeper into the belly of the Palace. Or wherever we are. I'm not even sure we're still in the Palace to be entirely honest. This could be a power house of crystals underneath. Or these might have been escape routes for those pour souls that the Council deemed worthy of a prison sentence."

"Like us," Rose added.

"Like us," he nodded.

"Well, only one way to find out what is in the next cave."

A slow smile spread over Jack's face and he could feel the adrenaline rushing through his veins, his heart beat increasing until he could feel it in his throat, his eyes lighting up as Rose grinned back at him. Hand in hand, they ran.

"It's alright, don't try to get up."

Suri groaned and turned her head away from the intrusive voice.

"What? Who? Where?" her throat felt like sandpaper and she was grateful when a glass touched her lips and water trickled into her mouth.

She opened her eyes in alarm a moment later, reaching for her pesh-kabz only to find it wasn't there. She was about to slap the man crouching beside her, but he caught her arms and smiled encouragingly.

"I checked the water with the sonic. It's not poisoned or anythin'. Has lots of minerals too. Must come from an underwater lake. In any case, it's safe to drink."

Suri nodded tiredly - her head felt heavy and a dull ache was developing behind her right eye. She drank as the Doctor watched her carefully. When she was finished she handed the cup back to him, but he didn't take it. Instead he fixed his sharp gaze on her face and asked, "So how long have you been wearing the patches?"

"What patches?"

Her fingers twitched, but her face remained motionless.

The Doctor shook his head, "Come on Suri. No use in lyin'. You've been usin' the mood patches for ages, I expect hiding it from that Sisterhood of yours, but you ran out. Was that what your little excursion in the hospital was about? To get a fix?"

Suri lowered her eyes mid-sentence and tried to keep still, but her refusal to meet his gaze told the Doctor all he needed to know.

"I'm not judging. There's certainly enough on this planet to want to escape from. But you don't seem the type to do it for fun. Which one did you get addicted to?"

She remained stubborn and silent for a few minutes, but the Doctor didn't let up. Staring at her in silence, he waited until she was ready.

"Power surge."

"What?"

"That's the name of the patch. I don't know what ones they have where you come from, but it's a fairly new one around here. It keeps you from getting tired - you can go without sleep for a week or more. You don't get lightheaded if you don't eat. It's… it's great."

The Doctor sighed and held out his hand to her.

Suri got to her feet shaking from head to foot, and promptly threw up on the Doctor's shoes. He had the decency to hold up her hair and hand her another glass of water when she was finished.

"It doesn't seem so great to me," he added in an undertone and Suri opened her mouth to argue, but a sudden spell of dizziness caused her to collapse into the Doctor's arms instead.

"Funny how people do this a lot around me. Although most people's reasons tend to be better than being breathless because they just snogged a giant slug for the last fifteen minutes."

At Suri's incredulous look, the Doctor grinned and added, "I have this companion. Jack Harkness, he's called. He likes to think he's a Captain," he scoffed.

"And this Captain snogs giant slugs on a regular basis, does he?"

"Oi! He is not a Captain; he just likes to think he is. Impress people with the title…" The Doctor frowned. "But yes, he has the habit of snogging everything that moves, breathes and has the inclination to kiss back."

Suri smiled a little and shook her head.

"You could put me down you know. I might not be able to stand on my own two feet at the moment, but there's no need for you to stand in the middle of the room, holding me up."

"Right. Sorry."

The Doctor guided her to one of the larger crates at the far side of the room and she lay down with a groan.

"So, this power surge patch. How long have you been using it?"

"You said you won't judge," she said weakly.

"I won't. I just want to know how long you'll be out cold before we can form an escape plan. You're not that heavy, but I'd rather not carry you out unless I have to. Not having two hands during a breakout is bad enough, but not havin' even one makes things rather more difficult than necessary."

Suri swallowed hard, her pixie-like nose scrunched up and admitted in a very small voice, "Since I was five."

The Doctor's barely audible 'oh' didn't encourage her too much.

"And how old are you now?"

"I'm nineteen."

He whistled and ran a hand over his close-cropped hair.

"Well, Suri, we're gonna be here for a while."

She sighed and closed her eyes in defeat. She always knew she'd have to face the consequences of using the patch so much, she just didn't count on doing it in the middle of an escape.

"What… What will happen to me?"

It was the first time she'd shown any kind of fear and the Doctor's hearts warmed a bit. Silly little apes (quite in the literal sense, for she was from a hybrid race of monkeys, fruit-people and highly evolved humanoid robots from the 75th century). He shook his head and gave her one of his true smiles, the one that lit up his whole face and made his eyes look as bright as the stars where he came from. It was usually reserved for Rose only, but he didn't see any harm in trying to cheer his newfound friend up with it if he could.

"It's not as bad as it seems, really," he said innocently.

"Yeah? Well, how bad is it, exactly?"
"Oh, you'll most likely keep vomitin' for the next few hours, you'll probably be quite dizzy, have stomach cramps, shortness of breath and extreme muscle fatigue. Also cold sweat and probably a high fever. Itchy skin. Burning eyes. All in all, not the end of the world." His manic smile was still in place when Suri looked up at him with round, horrified eyes.

She laid her head back down and groaned. This was going to be a long couple of hours.

"It'll probably last for a couple of days. Five at most."

Suri groaned louder.

"I'll go and see if there's any food in one of those creates. I've got a banana, but that's hardly enough for both of us. In any case you can't eat for a while yet. But better get ready to camp out here for a bit."

A/N: Thank you for reading. Reviews, favs and follows make my world go round and keep me writing, so please leave one if you enjoy this story.