A/N: Here we are, chapter three. Sorry it's taking longer to update lately, but I've got a lot going on and hardly any free time now. Nevertheless, hope you enjoy xx

Chapter 3: Unfathomable

Rose raced back to the TARDIS, trying not to spill the water, pushed the door open and ran inside. She slammed the door shut and leaned back against it, closing her eyes and trying to catch her breath. She put down the bowl and opened her eyes. The Doctor was watching her from the console with a look of intrigue, still wearing his shorts and Hawaiian shirt.

"You okay?" he asked.

Rose regained control of her breathing, and shook her head.

"Something... someone... was watching me."

The Doctor stared at her. "You what?"

"I found a pool, freshwater, in the forest. They were watching me. From the trees."

"What did they look like?"

"I dunno."

"What?"

"I... didn't actually... see them..." Rose confessed.

The Doctor couldn't help a smile twitching at the corners of his mouth. "Then... how do you know you were being watched?"

Rose glared at him, noting the patronising tone in his voice. "Because I know, okay? I'm not stupid, and I know when I'm being watched."

The Doctor tried to swallow down the numerous witty remarks that sprang to his mind. "Um... okay..." he couldn't resist teasing her a little. "Are you sure it wasn't a monkey?"

Rose's eyes narrowed, and she picked up the bowl of water, swinging it slightly by the handle. The Doctor eyed it nervously, and decided to pick his words carefully.

"Okay, you were being watched. There's nothing we can do right now; whatever, or whoever, it was, will be long gone by now. Best wait 'til morning." He pulled down a lever on the console, and sighed. "Nothing I can do here, either." He rubbed his eyes, and Rose felt sorry for him. He really did seem tired.

"Maybe you should get some sleep."

The Doctor grimaced at the thought. He really hated it when he had to admit to being tired. He yawned, and turned back to the console. "I just wanna try one last thing..."
"Doctor, you said there's nothing you can do here. You might be able to work it out when you've had some sleep."

He groaned. He hated admitting he was tired. But when he stifled a yawn that would have made a lion jealous, he had to admit defeat.

"But I don't like sleeping," he grumbled.

"I know, but it's for the best." She pushed him gently away from the console and towards the inner doors.

"Can't I just have coffee?" he asked.

Rose just shook her head, hiding a smile. "Right, you go off to bed, I'm gonna go put this water in the kitchen."

The Doctor headed off down a corridor to the right, mumbling under his breath about his superior Time Lord biology not needing to rest. Rose set off down the corridor to the left, and headed to the kitchen.

But the kitchen wasn't there. She found the door and opened it, but to her surprise found herself in the airing cupboard. She frowned, closed the door, and tried again. She knew that the TARDIS sometimes switched the rooms around, and maybe she was just messing around. But no matter how hard she tried, Rose couldn't find the kitchen. She found herself wandering in circles, getting annoyed. She eventually admitted defeat, and put down the bowl of water. She leaned back against the wall and let out a loud groan. It was still incredibly hot, and technically she should have been sound asleep. She couldn't cope with this.

The Doctor appeared in the corridor a moment later, a questioning frown plastered across his face. Rose noticed the open door several meters away, and sighed. He'd gone to the library.

"I told you to go to bed."

The Time Lord shook his head vigorously. "Nope, far too hot in here to sleep." He tugged at the collar of his Hawaiian shirt to demonstrate. His hair was an unrecognisable mess and he had shadows under his eyes. Rose felt sorry for him: she knew his normal body temperature was significantly lower than hers, so this heat must be unbearable for him. The Doctor noticed the bowl of water beside her.

"Thought you were putting that in the kitchen?"

"Well I was, but I can't seem to find the kitchen."

"What?"

"It's not there."

The Doctor blinked. Or at least, that's what it looked like through the dim glow of the emergency lights. "What do you mean, 'It's not there'?"

Rose shifted uncomfortably, and wiped her hair from her damp neck. "I mean 'It's not there'. I can't find it, I've been walking in circles and it's just... vanished."

"Rooms don't just vanish, Rose," he answered patronisingly.

"The kitchen has, Doctor," she replied in a similar tone.

He sighed, and stood up straight, with his 'let's save the world' look on his face. He stomped determinedly down the corridor. Rose just watched him go, not moving from her spot against the wall. She folded her arms and waited.

Twenty minutes later, he returned, looking mildly humbled. "Um..." he cleared his throat. "Yep, it's gone."

Rose couldn't help but smile, and the Doctor couldn't help but notice that cheeky little tongue of hers poking out between her teeth.

Rose picked up the bucket, and waved it pointedly in his face. "So what shall I do with this?"

The Doctor thought for half a second, snapped his fingers, and headed back to the library. Rose followed him this time, and found the dark room slightly cooler than the corridor. She breathed a small sigh of relief and set down the bowl. The Doctor stalked over to a cabinet, and produced two china mugs with a flourish. He set them down on the coffee table, took the bowl from Rose and poured out two drinks. Rose sat on the floor next to the squashy green couch, as she guessed it would be cooler. The Doctor sat opposite her at the other side of the table, leaning on the cold wood. He tasted his drink.

"Water seems clean enough, anyway," he remarked.

Rose raised an eyebrow at him. "You're welcome."

The Doctor just grinned sleepily. He rubbed his hands over his face, and undid a few more of the buttons on the front of his shirt.

"'S far too hot," he groaned.

Rose bit down on her lip, trying to keep her eyes from his chest. "Yep," she agreed.

The Doctor noticed her strange expression, and frowned. "What?"

"Nothing, Doctor. Nothing."

He sighed, fished his sonic screwdriver from his pocket and flicked the switch a few times.

"Well, the sonic seems to be working. So why isn't the TARDIS?"

Rose shrugged, her mind tired of whirring through the possibilities. The Doctor noticed her vague expression and nodded in undecided agreement.

"If I'm being honest, Rose, I have absolutely no idea how this could have happened. No idea what's going on. No plan."

Rose stared at him, and blinked once. "What, again?"

He nodded.

"So we're stuck again?"

The Time Lord struggled for an answer, and settled with, "Well, white sandy beach: it's a bit better than an impossible rock orbiting a black hole."

They went quiet in momentary reminiscence. Eventually the Doctor stood up, stretching his limbs, and dragged Rose to her feet.

"Come on, can't sit down there all night."

"So are you going to get some sleep?" Rose questioned.

He groaned. "If I have to..."

----

Dawn. The sun rose up from it's watery bed and spread it's light across the island. A tall man in a brown suit and a pink and yellow girl emerged from a blue box on the beach.

"Morning," Rose yawned, looking slightly more crumpled than usual.

The Doctor nodded. "We sort this out today. We work out who or what is keeping us here, and we fix it today," he announced in a determined tone.

Rose mirrored his nod, trying to look as eager as he did. Truth be told, ever since she found out they were stuck, she'd found this place creepy and almost claustrophobic.

The Doctor set off along the beach, unconsciously reaching out for Rose's hand and clutching it firmly. Rose smiled at the contact; such a simple gesture, but it made her feel so much better to know that he was there with her. She sighed, her countenance lifting a little. After all, it was only an island; if worst came to worst they'd make it off the island somehow and get to the nearest mainland. She skipped to get in step with him.

"So, what exactly do we know up to now?"

The Doctor looked at her with intrigue. "Nothing new."

She pouted, slightly put out. "Yeah, but... doesn't it help to go over the evidence, or something?"

A smile twitched on the Doctor's mouth. "'Evidence'?"

"Yeah, like in all those mystery dramas on ITV. The sleuth goes over the evidence one last time and something clicks into place."

The Doctor chuckled. "Who are we then, Poirot and Miss Marple?"

Rose grinned. "Good old Agatha Christie."

"Yeah... I bet she'd be brilliant. We'll have to go and see her at some point."

Rose nodded into agreement, and tugged lightly on his sleeve. "Come on then, what have we got so far?"

The Doctor cleared his throat. "Well, we arrived here, and the TARDIS seemed a bit peaky. Good day on the beach. Tried to leave, couldn't."

"And you said all the energy is being drained somehow. So whatever energy you put in is just going to drain out again."

"Yep, that's why we have to find the source. And when we find the source, we can... what the...?"

Neither had been paying particular attention to their journey, but they had been walking along the beach in a straight line for nearly twenty minutes, and were suddenly faced with the last thing they'd expected to see. Rose looked back over her shoulder.

"But that's impossible."

"Yep," the Doctor agreed. "Much more than unlikely. Definitely impossible!"

They had come face to face with the back of the TARDIS. The Doctor walked around the familiar blue box in wonder, trailing a hand across the wood. Rose peered further up the beach, shielding her eyes from the sun with her hand.

"... completely impossible, because we just left her about twenty minutes ago. There's no way we could have walked round the whole island in twenty -"

"- Doctor."

The Doctor came to a stop next to Rose, and followed her gaze, squinting against the sun.

"Now, that wasn't there before."

It was hard to tell through the sunshine, but it looked like a funny statue of some sort, quite a way up the beach, with people next to it.

"I'm putting an end to this now," the Doctor said, and set off towards them. "Rose, stay here."

"Be careful," Rose called.

As the Doctor set off towards the people, one of them started off away from him, further down the beach. The Doctor broke into a run, and the mystery stranger sped up his escape. Soon the stranger was out of sight, and the Doctor reached the others. Rose never once took her eyes off the Doctor.

"What?!"

Rose jumped at the voice behind her, and spun round.

"Doctor?! But you just... I mean you were..."

She turned back to look at the figures. Two of them, next to something large and solid. The Doctor was just as puzzled as she was. The last thing he'd expected to find was Rose, or the TARDIS.

"What is going on here?" he muttered under his breath, fishing in his jacket pocket. He found a pair of modified opera binoculars, and held them up to his eyes. He focused on the figures further up the beach. The TARDIS, Rose and himself, facing away from them. He could plainly see the back of their heads and his jacket tails blowing in the warm breeze.

"Impossible."

He returned the binoculars to his pocket, and without a word of explanation, rushed into the TARDIS. Rose followed him.

"What is it, Doctor? Who are they?"

He rushed over to the console, sonic screwdriver in hand and desperately tried to get the monitor to work. It didn't. He looked back at Rose.

"Us. They're us. That's how I ended up back with you after I left."

He gave up on the monitor, and rushed back outside. To his surprise, the other figures and the other TARDIS were no longer there. Rose saw this from the doorway, and shuddered. The Doctor ran a few feet forward, before stopping and spinning around on the spot.

"This is... unfathomable. What the hell is going on here?"

----

A/N: Let me know what you think. Anybody figure it out? xx