A/N: Hi guys! Sorry there was a bit of a delay before this chapter! It's a little extra long to make up for that. :3

Tyribon was a beautiful planet, to say the very least. The TARDIS had parked itself in a large grassy field, and the sky above was a dark purple. The clouds were liliac and the trees were brown and had little to no leaves. She sniffed the air and noted happily that it smelled like strawberries. In the distance, she could see a never-ending swamp covered in a luminous mist. Rose gripped the net tightly with one hand and the needle in her right pocket, stiffening her posture. Then she began to walk with confidence.

The grass squished beneath her feet, surprising her at first. It was moist, as if it had just rained. Rose shut the TARDIS doors and let out a deep breath. She had done this before, walking on an alien planet without the Doctor holding her hand, but this was the first time that he had been infected by a strange romance-inducing fly. Rose shivered at what Jackie must be going through right now. Her poor mother. Rose figured she should hurry.

She jogged lightly through the field, wanting to get to the swamp quickly but not wanting to tire herself out before the real challenge began. As she approached the swamp, the smell of strawberries began fading into the smell of mud and skunks and rotten bananas all combined. She scrunched up her nose and continued walking, trying to breath through her mouth. The ground was getting more and more moist, and she groaned as her trainers got buried in mud and filth. She had really liked those. Hopefully the TARDIS would be able to form her another pair, or make it, or whatever it was the ship did.

"Doctor, you owe me big time after this," she mumbled to herself as the bottom of her jeans became clad in muck as well.

After several minutes of trudging through the mud, eventually she spotted an animal in the distance. It was small and red and hopping about in a way reminiscent to how the Doctor flew his ship. She waddled faster through the thickening mud and raised her net. However, the frog hopped away quickly, blinking at her as if she was just a small insect here to bother him. Rose groaned and tried to move faster, but it seemed she was unable. She tried to climb above the mud to walk on the surface, but that was also impossible. She would have rubbed at her forehead if she had a hand not covered in mud.

It was smart, really. The red frog was small and light enough that it didn't sink through the mud. All of the other animals that she had seen so far were flying, so she supposed it wasn't a problem for them. After chasing the frog for several more minutes, Rose noticed that she had just gone in a circle three times. This was absolutely hopeless.

Rose licked her lips, trying to think of a solution. The little bugger was just teasing her, now. She realized that she could pick up some of the mud with her left hand, after she managed to free it from the mud. Unable to think of a better solution, she tossed a handful of the mud at the frog. It made a loud sound that was somewhere between a yelp and a 'ribbit'. Rose felt bad for the creature, but only a little bit since the cheeky bugger had had her chasing it over hill and over dale. She chuckled at that memory.

"Come here, you little..." she groaned, throwing more mud at it. With a grin, she realized the mud seemed to be weighing it down. Its hops were shorter, both in height and length. Rose threw more mud and tried to keep up with the frog who was constantly trying to shake it off. "Come on," she sighed.

After another hour, she had finally covered its back in mud. The frog laid down on its belly on the surface, seemingly exhausted from trying to escape her. She was almost to it, she knew. The frog blinked at her and instantly tried shaking its little limbs to get the mud off. Specks of it flew in all directions, hitting her face as well. Rose used all of her remaining strength to get as far above the mud as she could, preparing to leap towards the frog with the net in hand.

The frog struggled as much as she did as Rose climbed through the thickness that was devouring her. Then she leaped. She leaped with the net outstretched and prayed to every deity she did and did not believe in to please, for the love of god, let her catch this stupid frog. If only her younger self could see her now. Catching a frog on an alien planet to take its blood to her lovesick alien boyfriend. She should write a book.

At the very last second, the frog hopped away from her. She landed face-first into the mud, groaning. However, that wasn't the last of her problems. She felt a tugging sensation at her stomach, as if something without hands was grabbing her and pulling her into the muck. Rose instantly began struggling, trying to get her head above the mud. She couldn't breath and felt the mud enveloping her. Rose tried to clear her mind. It was like quicksand, right? And with quicksand the trick was to not struggle and stay calm. Rose began stilling her body which, with its every instinct, wanted desperately to rage against the capturer. Surely enough, her body sunk more slowly, though that didn't solver her problem of not being able to breath.

Tactfully, she lifted her neck and kept the rest of her body still. Rose managed to get the top of her mouth just above the surface and took in a huge, gasping breath. God, her body was absolutely exhausted from this struggle. What could she possibly do now? She was still slowly sinking through the mud. Would she stop sinking eventually and hit the bottom, or was it never ending? Before, when she had been waddling through it, she had thought she felt the ground, but perhaps it was just a harder version of mud.

Then, she felt the sensation of arms enveloping her and pulling her out of the depths.

"She's been a while," the Doctor pointed out, worriedly.

He had been pacing the flat for several minutes now, and Jackie could tell that he had been trying desperately not to overreact. To trust her, like a normal... Well... Boyfriend, would. Jackie still found the idea mind-blowing. The Doctor, as her boyfriend? The idea was simply laughable. The title definitely didn't fit whatever he was to her. Sure, he wasn't her husband either - that was even more ridiculous - but he was most definitely not her boyfriend. She honestly couldn't think of a fitting title.

"Doctor, I'm sorry," Jackie said, figuring that the gig was up. "She went to a planet to go find a cure for you."

She braced herself for his reaction. Surely he would be angry, maybe throwing furniture around or chasing after her daughter pointlessly. Or maybe he would just cry. This infected version of him was much more emotional.

Despite her expectations, he just sat down on the couch and sighed, rubbing the back of his neck. "Was afraid she'd do that."

Jackie's eyebrows shot to her hairline. "You were afraid she'd go to that planet?"

"Yeah," he hummed. "Guess I should go after her, then. Make sure she's alright, yeah?"

She frowned. "I don't think you understand. She took the TARDIS."

The Doctor chuckled. "What do you take me for, Jackie Tyler? A Wertian from the planet Drougol? No, I infused myself with a healthy dose of Huon particles while Rose was explaining her situation to you. I can transport myself to the TARDIS whenever I need to."

Jackie's face fell. "Doctor, please don't. She's doing this for you. You need to trust her, yeah? Or she'll be angry."

He seemed to consider this. "Angry?"

"Yeah, angry," Jackie nodded quickly, glad she had gotten through to him. "You don't want her to be angry with you, right? So just stay here until she's done doing whatever needs doing. Your ship will take her back safely."

His eyebrows furrowed. "But she could need me. What if she's hurt? Or in danger? She doesn't even know what that planet is like. What planet did she go to, Jackie?"

"Started with a 'T'," Jackie mused. "I'm sure it's safe."

The Doctor's eyes widened in recognition. "The doctor... He said... Tyribon. I need to go."

"Doctor?!" she exclaimed. "What's on Tyribon?"

Her last question was spoken to empty space, since the Doctor had closed his eyes and whooshed away like something out of a Star Trek movie. She groaned and sat down at the kitchen table, nursing her cup of tea. Those two were bloody ridiculous, they were.

A/N: Whew, cliff hangers, right? I just love them. Please leave a review and tell me what you think will happen next? I feel kind of bad for Rose. She kind of has the short end of the stick here, huh? Hope you enjoyed!