Rose stood outside the TARDIS while she waited for the Doctor. They had parked, or really the Doctor had parked the TARDIS in the streets of a city that stretched for thousands upon thousands of miles in a looped circle in a sport stadium-like style in a space station. The looped circle of a city looked up at the starry space vista of a swirling nebula in the area of space which the huge, massive space station occupied.
The Ninth Doctor emerged from the TARDIS and Rose pushed herself off from leaning on one of the double doors of the TARDIS 'about time, I was beginning to think I'd have to go on without you' she said, the Doctor looked at her as he stepped out 'what, and get lost in the maze of these streets? It's a big city out there, could easily get lost with how intertwined and interconnected these streets are'. Rose scoffed 'it doesn't look that big' she said as she took a few steps from the TARDIS with her arms crossed before turning on the spot to look back at the Doctor 'wait till you see this place from above then you won't be so confident' the Doctor said with a grin. Rose just looked at the Doctor for a second before she said 'go on then, show me' the Doctor stepped towards her as he said 'once we've explored this place a bit and I've shown you around then I will'.
Rose then looked up at the space vista through the big wide opening in the space station 'I can't get over how beautiful that looks up there, waking up to that every morning would be priceless' she said, the Doctor grinned a bit as he said 'isn't it just, the problem is this place is almost so overcrowded that that wouldn't be possible, so that dream is a bit far gone I'm afraid, that and, despite the view, this place may not exactly be yours or anyone's choice of residence, it's not exactly the most lovely place to live, it's a bit like a red rose with a thorny stem in ways this place' the Doctor explained as he lost his grin.
Rose looked at him 'what do you mean?' she asked, the Doctor looked back at her after he had been looking on and taking in the immediate cityscape with all its intergalactic races of various species either loitering or going about their day, hovering cabs, vehicles, crafts and vessels in the busy sky above them 'poverty, slums, people who are in lesser situations, less privileged and worse off than others and most' he said. The Doctor acknowledged the look on Rose's face 'every place has it, it's inevitable in places like this where there's life and civilisation' he said, 'well why doesn't the system or whatever government this place has try to do something about it' Rose questioned.
The Doctor gave her a firm look 'and how would they do so in a place like this, of the scope and size of this place, they could do and they're probably trying, but then where do they start there's probably only so much they can do with what limited resources they have' he said. Rose just maintained her look of concerned questioning 'well they can still try can't they?' she questioned further before the Doctor changed the subject 'maybe, anyway enough about that, we've got a city to explore before I show you just how massive this place is' he said before he continued on while Rose just stood where she was to consider for a moment what he had just said. The Doctor continued around a corner as he looked up at the view of the space vista above the huge city they were in I forgot just much I liked that view he thought. Then, next thing he knew, as he thought to wait for Rose to catch up, just like that his vision or everything around him went white, almost blindingly so…
The TARDIS made the usual hollow *thud* as the Tenth Doctor and Donna gripped the control panel while the TARDIS landed 'right come on' the Doctor said as went to the double doors, grabbing his long coat along the way and putting it on over his blue suit. The Doctor was just about to leave through the double doors, with Donna close behind, when he remembered something and stopped 'oh that's right, I just about forgot about that' he said out loud to himself, Donna just looked at him expectantly waiting for him to continue and explain why he had stopped 'you go on ahead I'm just going to quickly check the flight systems, there was something not quite right with the TARDIS earlier' said the Doctor.
Donna went to the double doors of the TARDIS while the Doctor went to the scanner and started flicking switches, turning dials and all manner of buttons as he did…whatever the heck it was he was doing to check the TARDIS and its functions 'all right then but don't be long space man'. Stepping out through the double doors Donna stood with her back against the TARDIS to lean back on it while she waited for the Doctor.
At least a minute later the Doctor emerged through the double doors and ushered Donna along for them to go 'what was wrong?' she asked as the Doctor followed just a step behind her 'oh nothing major, just the time engines weren't synchronising properly' the Doctor replied, this made Donna look at him questionably 'you say that yet it sounds exactly so, kind of' she said 'could the TARDIS have blown up on us?'. The Doctor shook his head a bit for a second before he responded '…no…travel..just wouldn't have been as smooth' he said, Donna maintained her questioning look 'right 'cause that's really reassuring' she said in response to the Doctor's words. When he didn't say anything to her response it made her wonder a bit ha that's a change usually he always has something to say back to get the last word in Donna thought 'wow cat your tongue did it?' Donna said as she kept going, when the Doctor still didn't say anything that was when Donna noticed the subtle absence of the Doctor's footfalls. This made her turn…
To find the Doctor gone! Nowhere to be seen, not even running back to the TARDIS as if he'd forgotten something else or the double doors closing behind him or running down the road for or to something. Vanished, without a trace. Donna's mind began to race and she looked around frantically in every direction 'Doctor?' she said out loud to no one in particular 'Doctor?!' she said more loudly when she still couldn't see or spot the Doctor anywhere and not caring if she was getting any looks or glances her way.
Donna looked back at the TARDIS could he have gone back inside? She wondered, running back to the TARDIS she inserted the key the Doctor had given her some time ago into the lock and went through its doors. When she didn't find the Doctor inside her mind continued to race where the hell could he have gone? She wondered again 'DOCTOR!?' she said out loud again…