Chapter 3 – The Eternal Night

"Hold on!"

The Doctor ran franticly around the Tardis console, holding down that lever and pushing that button, whilst constantly glancing back at the screen, it was no use. The Tardis was jostling back and forth within the vortex, she couldn't get sufficient coordinates for the Planet Eternal and so the navigation systems couldn't lock on their current position and anchor their descent, in other words it was going to be a bit of an unorthodox landing. Martha tried her best to help the Doctor, holding down levers for him on the main console, Rose stood back and held on to the railings, she couldn't help but feel incredibly jealous. It had started out as a small, worried feeling which had now grown in to an unquenchable fire raging in the pit of her stomach. Jackie glared at the Doctor with disdain from the seat in the console room, Mickey hugged one of the sandy coloured pillars for dear life, he hated landings. They had only just managed to take off from Cardiff Bay when upon entering the vortex, the Tardis had immediately started to complain, Rose couldn't shake off the feeling she was trying to tell them something, make some kind of point, and she could tell the Doctor could sense it too.

"Okay we are nearing the planet's atmosphere, I'm afraid the journey is going to get worse. Hold on tight!"

The Doctor glanced over at Rose, he winked at her and grinned. She knew he loved all this, the landing, the adventure, impressing everyone in the Tardis with his knowledge and skill. She smiled back but the fire in her stomach didn't cease.

The Tardis began to shake violently, the Doctor coaxed her along with many words of comfort, he had complete trust in her to land them, relatively safely. Eventually they cleared the planet's atmosphere and nearing the inevitable landing, they all held on tightly.

"That's it old girl! Well done!"

The Doctor was immediately on his feet tending to the Tardis, stabilising her and parking her up, he was then straight to Rose's side, helping her up.

"Everyone okay?," the Doctor called across the console room.

"Rose?"

"Yep I'm fine," she replied.

"Martha?"

"Yep fine too."

"Jackie?"

"Yes I'm fine but you're bloody lucky that I am! You're landing a box not a freight train!"

The Doctor swallowed loudly and looked at Rose who just sniggered.

"And Mickey?"

An inaudible squeak emanated from below the console room floor where Mickey had been plummeted during the landing. Martha went to help him up.

"Okay! We're ready to go! Now a few new planet safety rules: number one, no running off! Number two, if you do get lost just wait by the Tardis and we'll come and find you. Number three...no wait, there is no number three. Okay onwards!"

The Doctor grinned cheekily at Rose.

They all gathered at the doors and the moment came...and passed. The doors wouldn't open! The Doctor tried banging them and sonicing them but to no avail, eventually he went back up to the console.

"Why have you locked us in old girl? What's out there?," he mumbled as he studied the screen, Rose by his side. He closed his eyes and listened to her, immediately her consciousness touched his, she whispered.

'Not yet, my little thief. For now the danger is too great."

Jackie shrieked and Mickey paled instantly and dropped to the floor, the three seasoned time travellers simply opened their eyes, the Doctor smirked, they had all heard the Tardis's complex consciousness in their heads and those who weren't used to it were feeling the effects.

"What the bloody hell was that!," Jackie shouted.

The Doctor grinned nonchalantly.

"Just the Tardis, nothing to worry about."

"It talks! You never said it talks!" Jackie was positively fuming.

"She's a sentient being, she has a mind a thoughts just like everyone else. She's telepathic though so I'd um...watch what you think if I were you." The Doctor tried to hide his giggle and winked at Rose and Martha.

Jackie turned on her heel and stormed away in to the Tardis, Mickey followed closely behind her.

"Well that got rid of them." The Doctor beamed.

"Nice one, Doctor! Still got the sense of humour I see," Martha laughed.

"Always," the Doctor replied.

"You've upset her though," said Rose. "Trust me you won't hear the end of that, no one upsets my Mum."

The Doctor gave Rose a cheeky look but tried to hide the feeling of terror he had bubbling away inside him.

"Now why can't we go out, girl?" The Doctor leaned in to the screen, glasses on.

"Well...looks like the air is unbreathable, for humans anyway." He looked over at Rose and Martha, then back to the screen. "It seems that the ground releases some kind of chemical creating deadly fumes, but only at night. Yep we definitely can't go out now, the atmosphere is like a toxic soup. What do you think?"

Both Martha and Rose leaned in, jostling each other to get a better view. The Doctor swallowed loudly.

"Yep, seems that way Doctor. Looks like we're gonna have to wait this one out, should be clear by morning, the Tardis definitely shows readings of humanoid type life so they must survive during the day. Looks like we're spending all night in the Tardis then!"

"How do you know that?," Rose asked confused. The Doctor frowned.

"Oh we were trained to be able to use and identify alien technology at Torchwood, pretty standard stuff really," Martha replied, still looking at the screen.

The Doctor looked unimpressed. Rose sighed, she remembered that her Mum was still on board and her heart sank, tonight was going to be difficult to say the least.

Once Martha had managed to coax Mickey out from hiding in their room after the incident with the Tardis consciousness, he had offered to cook dinner for everyone, he'd been working on his culinary skills apparently. Whilst Martha and Mickey were busy in the kitchen cooking, among other things, Rose managed to find some alone time with the Doctor.

"Are we not going to tell her Rose?"

The Doctor looked right in to her eyes as he held her close beneath the vaulted ceiling of the grand Tardis library.

"I just...I don't know how to Doctor. I don't think it's the right time."

"Okay. If you feel its right," the Doctor smiled in response, she grinned back.

The Doctor moved in closer and pressed his lips against her forehead.

He whispered. "I love you."

They moved to sit on the sofa and remained there together, just holding each other. Rose smiled warmly, she had never felt this comfort, this strange and wonderful man had captured her completely. She realised in that moment that he was everything she needed and could ever need, they would be together always. The Doctor lay with his legs hanging off the end of the sofa, he had Rose on his lap, he held her as if he could never let her go. She ran her hands through his hair absent-mindedly, playing with every strand, usually he never let anyone touch his hair but she was, well always had been, the exception. The time passed wonderfully slowly as they enjoyed each others company, what they had failed to notice was the door close gently and Jackie disappear down the corridor.

Martha appeared in the doorway moments later, Rose and the Doctor slowly and regrettably moved apart when she appeared.

"Dinners ready," Martha said with a grin. "I'll leave you two to finish up here..."

"No we weren't...ya know," the Doctor said guiltily.

Martha just laughed and shut the door behind her.

Rose went very red and got up off the sofa, she struggled to flatten down her hair which had got a little unruly during the heated moments they had had on the sofa. The Doctor cleared his throat and tapped her on the shoulder.

"Rose?"

"Mmm?"

"Why don't we finish up here?" He grinned cheekily as she turned around.

She laughed. "You! Cheeky! Oh all right then!"

The Doctor and Rose eventually turned up to dinner half an hour late looking rather dishevelled, Martha just smirked when she saw the Doctor.

"What?," he growled.

She just pointed at his face and Mickey chuckled inaudibly from the corridor, the Doctor shot him an annoyed look.

"Your dinners in the oven," Martha added and then left.

Rose found the Doctor looking in the reflective oven door and wiping the lipstick off his face furiously when she entered the kitchen, not looking too smart herself. They ate dinner and together and then went to the living room where they found Jackie and Mickey watching TV, they had tried to resist the urge to hold hands on the way down the corridor. This separation from Rose was proving hard for the Doctor, he loved Rose so much and wanted to always be near her. If they were alone...well lets just say they would have spent a lot of time together day and night. They took their places on the sofa opposite each other, the Doctor thought he would break the tension.

"Well it seem the planet's toxic atmosphere will have cleared up by first light tomorrow, by the Tardis calculations. So we can go out early tomorrow and discover this new world. Exciting hey!"

His injections of enthusiasm was met only by a grunt from Jackie and a smirk from Rose. Oh I give up, he thought.

"Well I'm off to bed. Early start tomorrow and all that!" He ignored Jackie's questioning about the fact that he never slept as he left the room, he was finding this way too difficult. He needed to be alone with Rose again, what happened earlier wasn't enough. He formulated the plan and headed straight for the back rooms in the Tardis, he opened the dusty doors with a loud creak. He was sure it was in here. He cleared old bookshelves and opened in every drawer until he found it, the old book he knew he owned. The tatty pages curled at the edges, the distinctive gallifreyan on the front cover swirled across the back and the spine. He opened it carefully, mindful of its age, and flicked to the page he knew very well. He often came to this room to refresh his memory of this fact, he needed it sometimes, especially when Rose had been stuck in that parallel universe, he physically shuddered at the horrible memory. There it was, the page he needed. An old Gallifreyan soothsayer had written this text, it aimed to educate people in the subtle arts of the Gallifreyans, they were a complex people and with training and concentration, they could command a power akin to a kind of magic. The books instructed one in ways to hone these talents and practice the words needed for such an action. The Doctor read and re-read the extremely familiar lines of old high gallifreyan script, he knew that he could recite them instantly but he wanted to check one last time, just to make sure. He closed the book and stood up straight smoothing down his blazer and tie. He ran a hand through his hair and steeled himself, it was time. He headed straight for Rose's room and knocked hurriedly, she opened it a crack and then sighed with relief.

"It's you. I thought you weren't coming for a minute. Come in."

They immediately started getting undressed, she frantically kissed him and pushed him down on to the bed. They tried their best to be quiet so Jackie wouldn't hear them, the Doctor greatly hoped the Tardis would help with sound-proofing the walls, he could do without Jackie bursting in on them, but all was quiet outside.

They lay side by side, Rose slept soundly but the Doctor just stared at the ceiling, that had been amazing but he certainly wasn't tired. Slowly he leaned over to Rose and lay his forehead on hers, he felt her soft breathing and knew it was time. He face her and murmured in a low voice the old familiar gallifreyan, the words rolled off his tongue with ease as if he had said this to many. The truth was he had chosen her, he had never repeated these words to another being in all his long years of existence. He had been waiting to use those words for so many years, he had just declared his love for Rose in the language of the old high Gallifreyans, this created a bond which could not be broken. She was now truly seared on to his hearts and he fell asleep content.

The next morning Rose awoke to the unusual occurrence of finding the Doctor asleep next to her, she stroked his hair as he woke up.

"Thank you," she whispered in his ear gently. "I love you too."

He grinned broadly, she knew and she loved him as much as he loved her, they lay together for another hour, just taking each other in once again.