Huge trees surrounded the trio, their leaves so close-knit that only tiny portions of the sky were visible. The air was muggy, and the Doctor reached to loosen his tie, only to remember that it was already very loose on his neck from being tugged softly by...the Doctor shook his head and focused on the task at hand. He took out the sonic screwdriver and scanned the surrounding forest for alien activity.
"I'm picking up something from this direction, but the signal's been scrambled," he said, giving the sonic a few sharp taps. Captain Jack held up a device that scanned the area as well, and pointed out the static on the screen. He tapped his foot and shook his head at the puzzling thing.
Captain Jack looked out over the forest and leaned against the TARDIS. "I wouldn't bother you with it if my team wasn't currently preoccupied in Cardiff," he said, "We've been getting readings from this area for a while, but they didn't seem to pose a threat. Not many people would notice disappearances on an island nation such as this, but the locals did. They've seen things, Doc; alien things they said." Rose began to tap her foot on the undergrowth as she looked around curiously.
"I'm sure they have," the Doctor said slowly, sonic still buzzing toward the trees, "The signal isn't scrambled; it's singing."
"Singing?" Rose asked, "What's it singin' about?"
"I don't know but I have an awful feeling it's a way to lure humans toward it, and not to invite them in for tea." He eyed Captain Jack and Rose pointedly.
"What makes you say that, though? Could be just static, like on Jack's screen?" Rose said.
"Jack, Rose; what are you doing with your feet, then?" the Doctor asked cautiously. They all looked down. They were both still tapping their feet, and stopped as soon as they realized this. The Doctor kept his eyes on them as he increased the volume on the sonic screwdriver. They could hear, very faintly under the static sound, a strong and steady voice alternating between a few low notes. The notes kept the same beat the Doctor's companions had just been tapping out.
"I think," said the Doctor, "Whatever it is that's making this song wants you to go looking for it. Try not to wander off, you two."
"Try not to leave us by ourselves, Doctor." Captain Jack countered, "We should get a move-on before we're lured in." The Doctor led with Rose behind him. Captain Jack took up the rear with his gun ready. The three began their journey through the trees. Rose was delighted by the sight of lemurs and beautiful birds traipsing through the high branches, but soon became unnerved by the way they were sitting, so still, as they wandered deeper into the forest. They walked half a mile, and the trees swayed less in the breeze, standing rigid and dark. Two lemurs started walking slowly behind Rose, their eyes stiff in their skulls.
"Doctor, these arejust animals, yeah?" But he didn't hear her. As they took two more steps, the ground gave way in a flurry beneath them, and Rose found herself hurtling downward in a whirl of leaves and darkness, with the Doctor yelling beside her. Captain Jack was shouting something from above, but all Rose could hear was the rush of the fall.
The pair thudded to an earthen floor and pain jolted through their bones. Rose picked herself up, breathless and seeing stars. The Doctor jumped right to his feet and said, "Well that's one way to get to the bottom of this!" He steadied Rose and winked, "Get it? 'Bottom of this'?" Rose elbowed him sharply.
"Oi! That was quite good..."
"Doctor-"
"What? Can't have a bit of fun?"
"Doctor!" Rose pointed to a group of bulky lifeforms wearing spacesuits. The Doctor rocked back on his heels and nodded, embarrassed that he had not noticed them.
"Ah," he said, "Hello! What are you lot? Oh don't tell me...Raccorothorians! You're a long way from home. Nice trap you've set up here." Rose took in the creatures' blue and white faces, their long eyestalks, and scrunched, sinister mouths. Though their bodies appeared humanoid, the hands they were holding their guns with were covered in suction cups and looked like squids' tentacles.
"Lock up the humans!" said the nearest Raccorothorian. It had a feathery, slimy voice that bubbled on the "s." At its command, the four others with it surrounded the Doctor and Rose and prodded them roughly. The smaller one held up the Doctor's sonic screwdriver.
"I was unaware that the humans had sonic technology!" it burbled.
"Well I'm not ̶ er," the Doctor scratched his head, "Sorry, where was I? Ah yes, we humans do have sonic technology, and if you don't unhand us this instant, the other humans will use that technology to destroy you."
"This is one is not human, but a child of Gallifrey!" another Raccorothorian proclaimed, reading from a species scanner "And he lies! This planet has no such technology. His device will be confiscated." They took the sonic screwdriver, and for good measure, patted the pair down and took both of their phones.
"Worth a shot," the Doctor conceded as the pair was pushed down the corridor. Orbs of light, suspended from the low ceiling every few meters, lit the earthen halls. Rose noted that the place appeared to have been dug out in a hurry. Metal beams supported the dirt, and the construction was more haphazard than Rose had come to expect from advanced life forms. The two were led to a more developed hall. It was lined with doors that resembled a hotel hallway, rather than a dungeon. The Raccorothorians goaded them inside the sixth door on the right. The Doctor turned to petition for their release,
"Now hold on, why ̶ "
"We will let you live out your days here. Ask nothing else of us," the leader of the group said. Rose caught sympathy in its bubbling voice. The creatures turned their eyestalks away as the leader shut the door and locked it, by pressing its tentacle to a small screen outside the door.
Rose watched the creatures walk away from the small window in the door. She turned to look at the room, and her eyebrows drew together. She opened her mouth, then closed it.
"We're in a flat?" Rose snorted, "A proper human flat?" They were in the little walkway by what would be the main door. A small table by the wall held a decorative lamp and framed photographs of random people. She walked into the main room. It was a living room; a single couch and television set, a standard table with two chairs, and an array of decorative items that did not quite match. A simple bathroom off the main room was painted a soggy red. There was no kitchen, but there was a well-furnished bedroom with a large bed, dresses in silver satin sheets. Rose ghosted her hand over a tray of lit cinnamon candles. She was confused and afraid of being trapped forever, however she was very aware that the room contained only one bed and ̶
"Brilliant! I was starting to worry that out of all the human contraptions they could've stocked this cell with, they'd leave out anything interesting," the Doctor said, dashing to the wall opposite the bed, which was lined with bookcases. He slipped his glasses onto his face, as he looked them over hungrily. The shelves were crammed with old books that looked like they would be chosen last from a library.
"Now this is an odd assortment," he said, taking books off the shelves and leafing through them, "And there's something really strange about this setup, but I can't put my finger on it."
"Like…all the random human things, they don't exactly go together?" Rose suggested, rolling her eyes at the Time Lord.
"Oh, now that you mention it…" he looked around the flat more thoroughly. Rose followed him as he prodded at various objects.
"This telephone cord isn't connected to anything…there's a doorbell on the inside…a room service menu ̶ ha! ̶ how human is that?" The Doctor severely missed his sonic screwdriver, but appeared to already have ten ideas about the aliens' plans for them.
"What did it mean, the Raccorothorian leader, when it said, 'We will let you live out your days here?' They're not experimenting on people, then?" Rose asked.
"She," he replied, "She meant exactly that. And judging by the solidness of this door and the concrete behind these walls, we are going to have to do something we've never done before," he fixed his eyes on Rose. She took a step forward despite the nervous jitter rising in her chest.
"Yeah, Doctor?"
He shoved his hands in his coat pockets and rocked back on his heels, "We'll have to wait for Jack to save us."
"That's it? Just sit here and wait for Jack?" Rose tried to hide her absurd prurience. She believed that he had either forgotten about, or would like to forget, what had happened earlier. He kissed me…and we were about to…or at least I think we were about to...
"Rose," the Doctor was suddenly sheepish, "I…notice more than you realize." Rose's breath froze in her throat. The Doctor took a step closer to Rose and held her hand in both of his.
"That is to say, I can be a bit thick, but I know that you're just looking for a way to tell me that trying to be anything more than friends is inappropriate. I'll keep my emotions under better control, if you want. I'm so sorry to make this awkward for you, Rose. I'll do anything not to lose you, and if that means ignoring what happened earlier, I think I can do that."
Rose's rising smile fell, but turned into a snicker. She turned away from the stunned Doctor and laughed, "You really are thick! I've been looking for an opportunity to continue earlier, not ignore it!"
"Oh! Well ̶ " he was cut off as Rose pulled him by the lapels, gently but swiftly, to her lips and kissed him with all of the tender tension that she had been waiting to release. A wave of passion ran through the Doctor, and they stumbled into the bedroom. Aliens with a strange plot to let humans live to death? There was nothing to be done, so they chose to take care of more pressing issues.
Rose pulled off the Doctor's coat and tossed it over a chair. He kissed along her neck as she undid his buttons with urgency. He pulled his tie off. They took turns undressing each other, all the while fervently kissing one another and running their hands over the unexplored places. They collapsed onto the bed and giggled, as they were at a loss for an actual position to take. The Doctor sat up and pulled Rose onto his lap. She wrapped her legs around to his back, and they caught each other's eyes.
"Hello, Doctor," Rose breathed.
"Hello, my rare and alluring Rose" he chorused.
The fiery eroticism of the past moment turned to a more simmering heat. A tenderer mood was needed for the beginning of their new era, the era of love and loving. The Doctor grazed his hand down to Rose's inner thigh. She was perched so snugly on his lap, his erection evidence of his lasciviousness. He shifted her anyway, wanting to give her desires immediate attention. He began an easy foreplay. He was careful, wanting to hold onto that moment for all eternity.
"Doctor," Rose chided, "Don't be so gentle." And with that, his hearts pounded and he was all over her, and his fingers were replaced by his tongue, and in a sultry blur, they were ready; so ready. Rose climbed back into the Doctor's lap as the candles flickered on the table.
And they did not go gently, but rather, with all the captivating power of the Oncoming Storm and the Bad Wolf.
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