A/N: Thank you everyone who has reviewed so far, love you all!

Big thanks once again to AzureFalls, my beta xx

Chapter 2: Unexplained

Rose shuffled on top of her bed sheets. It was warm. Far too warm. She exhaled, puffing out her cheeks and blowing her hair from her face. How was she supposed to sleep when they were stuck on an island with no power? She smiled to herself. She thought about all those interviews she'd seen on TV when celebrities were asked which two luxury items they would take with them if they were stranded on a desert island. She now knew exactly what she would choose: the TARDIS and the Doctor.

Of course, one broken TARDIS on an empty beach and one Time Lord with no concept of a concentration span meant that her 'peaceful' night's sleep was continually interrupted by clanking metal and alien curses. The temperature had changed several times in the last few hours as the Doctor tried to figure out what was wrong with his ship. As another loud thud echoed through the TARDIS, Rose groaned and sat up, swinging her legs over the side of the bed to rest her feet against the cool metal floor. She closed her eyes for a moment, and rubbed her hand over her face. She knew she had to go and stop him destroying the TARDIS completely.

She dragged herself to her feet, smoothing down her flimsy nightdress. She crept to the door, opened it, cringing at the creaking hinges, and padded down the corridor towards the control room. It was eerie in the dark. A few emergency lights shone up from the skirting, the only illumination. Rose shuddered despite the heat, and quickened her pace. She didn't like it. Something was wrong, but she couldn't pinpoint it. Something about being stuck on this beach made her uneasy.

She reached the control room and pushed open the door. She ventured inside and found the Doctor under the flooring, working tirelessly, still wearing his shorts and Hawaiian shirt. She heard the sonic screwdriver whir, and saw a spark. The Doctor cursed again, in a language unfathomable to her human brain. She knelt down on the flooring next to him, and poked him on the shoulder.

"Found anything?" she asked vaguely.

The Doctor looked up at her briefly, and ran a hand through his hair. He sighed. Rose frowned. He looked tired. He was never tired.

"Nope, nothing. I've had to lock down the power, because every time I access it, it just drains out. I think I managed to save about fifteen percent. But, like I said, I've locked down the power so I've only got emergency supplies to work with here. It just doesn't make sense."

He sounded genuinely troubled, and Rose felt guilty, knowing there was probably nothing she could do to help. She decided to ask anyway.

"Is there anything I can do?"

The Doctor shook his head wearily.

Rose racked her brain for any ideas. "You managed to get her working when we were stuck in the parallel world. Can you do... whatever you did then?"

Again, the Doctor shook his head, and pulled himself up to sit on the floor opposite her, his legs dangling into the chasm in the floor.

"Until I figure out what's wrong, whatever energy I put in will just get drained out."

Rose looked at the Doctor's troubled frown. Sure, they were stuck at the moment, but they were on a beautiful beach. Surely it couldn't be all that bad...

She offered him a comforting smile. "I'm sure you'll figure it out. You always do."

The Doctor looked her straight in the eye. When he spoke, his voice was wavering.

"You don't understand, Rose. I can't access anything. The screen won't work, which means there's no navigation, which means I can't tell where we are. The life support's on minimum; it's a good job we've landed somewhere with an oxygen atmosphere. The heating system's broken; that's why its so hot in here, it's just seeping in from outside. There's no working plumbing, so we've got no water. With no electricity the food storage will be broken, too."

Rose's eyes boggled at the information. It was so much to take in. She shivered despite the heat.

"So..." she took a shaky breath, "What are the options?"

The Doctor sighed, and rubbed at his eyes. "At the moment, there's nothing we can do. Absolutely nothing. It's got to be something on the island that's draining the power, but we won't be able to find anything in the dark. We'll have to wait 'till the morning, then we can reassess our situation."

Rose's insides quaked at the Doctor's tone. He sounded so tired and... lost. She took a deep breath, and stood up, smoothing down her nightdress.

"Right. Are you sure we've got no water?"

The Doctor nodded feebly. "I've not checked personally, but it'll be affected by the power lock down."

"Okay, well then, clean water, that's our first priority. Dunno 'bout you, but this heat's making me thirsty." She headed off to the kitchen to test his theory about the plumbing.

The Doctor watched her leave, then jumped back down into the hatch to continue his work.

Rose made her way to the kitchen, trying to ignore the lack of hums from the TARDIS. She tried the taps, but it turned out the Doctor was right: there was no water. Rose rummaged in the cupboards until she found a large metal bowl with a handle, almost like a cauldron. She wondered what possible use he would have for this. She smiled despite their situation, and quickly slipped back to her bedroom to change. She found some denim shorts and a vest top in her chest of drawers, pulled on her trainers, and grabbed a torch from her bedside table. She headed back to the control room, where she found the Doctor balancing precariously on the ledge that ran around the walls, about ten feet up. He was trying to reach a small panel in the wall, and Rose cringed as he almost tumbled. He clung to the wall and turned to face her.

"I'm gonna get some water."

The Doctor frowned. "Drinking water?"

"No, water to wash the pots. What d'you think? Yes, drinking water!" She couldn't help but laugh.

The Doctor cringed. "You're not getting... seawater, are you?"

Rose planted her hands on her hips and stared at him, an amused smile on her lips. "How daft d'you think I am?"

The Doctor's gaze lowered to take in her outfit before trying to respond. "I, um..."

"No, there's got to be freshwater here somewhere. What d'you reckon?"

He nodded. "Yeah, if we head inland."

"'We'? No, you stay here, work on the TARDIS. I'll be fine. I got this." She held up her torch triumphantly.

A thought passed through the Doctor's mind. "Is it working?"

Rose switched it on and off briefly to demonstrate. "Yeah, why?"

"'S just funny that... the torch is working, the sonic's working, 's just the TARDIS that's been affected."

Rose nodded in agreement, and headed towards the door. She peered out into the night, suddenly unnerved.

"Are you sure it's uninhabited?"

The Doctor nodded. "I was aiming for the 21st century when we landed; if there was life there'd be something to tell us, a radio tower, or something. There's nothing, it'll be fine."

"No... dangerous animals?"

"Shouldn't have thought so, not on a little island like this."

Rose wasn't at all comforted by his vague answer. The Doctor noticed her worried expression and smiled.

"Rose, you've had a face-off with a werewolf. I think you can handle a couple of spiders."

Rose's breath hitched in her throat. "S-spiders?"

"You'll be fine. I promise."

Rose took a deep breath to steady herself, switched on her torch, and headed out into the night. The Doctor stared at the door for a few moments, before turning back to the hatch in the wall.

Rose headed away from the soothing crash of the ocean, into the shrubbery that lead into the middle of the island. It soon thickened with trees and branches and vines, brushing against Rose's bare arms and legs. Barely visible through the foliage, the moon watched over her, casting thin beams of light onto her path to keep her from stumbling. She tried to keep all irrational thoughts about bugs and insects from haunting her mind, but all she could think of was her favourite children's film:

"Lions and tigers and bears, oh my!"

She turned suddenly as her mind started to play tricks on her. It was only a bird. She sighed in relief, clutching the bowl and the torch harder, and peered through the plants ahead of her. She could make out a sort of clearing not too far away. She quickened her pace, and smiled to herself as she found the clearing was actually a pool of water, deep and clear, trailing off through the forest towards the sea in a small tributary. A thin waterfall trickled slowly down a ragged hill at the other side of the clearing, giving the illusion of calm and serenity in the moonlight. Rose almost giggled to herself. It looked like the set of one of those fruity shampoo adverts.

She carefully made her way down to the water's edge, and filled the bowl. She stood up with all the elegance of a wobbly flamingo, and happened to glance across the water. She froze. Someone was watching her.

A/N: Hope you like, please review xx