"Doctor?" Clara stumbled into the console room. She'd been wandering the infinite halls for nearly an hour now, but there didn't seem to be any sign of the Time Lord. "Hm. Maybe he's gone out." She went up the short flight of stairs, lightly dragging her fingers up the railing.
"Has he gone out, TARDIS?" Clara never knew what to make of the TARDIS's responses. How was she supposed to know if a flashing light meant yes or no, but she liked to ask anyways. Traveling could get lonely.
"Voice Interface, Program One."
Clara spun on her heel and almost ran face to face with a blonde woman, or a blonde woman's holographic image, anyways. "Who are you?"
"I am a voice interface of the TARDIS."
"Why do you look like that? Last time you looked like me."
"I am programmed to assume the image of a being close enough to the Doctor to provide comfort."
"Who are you then?"
"I am a voice interface of the TARDIS."
"No, I mean who are you really? Who's the girl?"
"Rose Tyler."
"Who is she, then?" Clara stepped closer to the hologram, examining the features of this Rose girl.
"Rose Tyler is a companion."
"Must have been a hell of a companion."
"Rose Tyler was the Bad Wolf."
"What's that, then? Bad Wolf. Why have I heard it before?"
"Bad Wolf is a piece of the TARDIS that manifested inside Rose Tyler."
Clara narrowed her eyes. "She's a TARDIS?"
"Incorrect."
"But you just said-"
"I stated that Bad Wolf is a manifestation of the TARDIS inside Rose Tyler. The Bad Wolf created everything and can scatter everything. She saw every end of time and all possible worlds, all possible timelines of everything and everyone. Including her Doctor."
"The Doctor was...Hers?"
"Incorrect. She was the Doctor's. They were each other's."
"Were they together? Rose and the Doctor."
"No."
"Did she love him?"
"Yes."
"Did he love her?"
"Yes."
"Did he tell her?"
There was a long pause in which the hologram of Rose stared blankly through Clara before flickering out of existence.
"No! No come back, I want to know more." Clara dashed over to the console and began flipping switches and turning knobs, hoping the image would spring back to life. "Come on, TARDIS! Tell me!" She gave up, slumping down onto the captain's chair and leaning her head on her arm.
"Memory Interface, Program One: Dårlig Ulv Stranden"
Suddenly, Clara wasn't sitting on a chair, nor was she in the Console Room, or the TARDIS at all. She was standing on a beach, a good ways off from anybody else, but there were at least four people there. As Clara began to walk closer, a man in a brown suit flickered into existence just in front of a blonde girl.
"Rose." Clara breathed, running to get closer and hear the conversation.
"Where are you?" Rose's blonde hair whipped around her face in the cold wind.
"Inside the TARDIS. There's one tiny little gap in the universe left, just about to close." Is that the Doctor? Clara wondered. Doesn't look the same. "And it takes a lot of power to send this projection, I'm in orbit around a supernova. I'm burning up a sun just to say goodbye." His voice wavered as he smiled on the last syllable. Clara noticed the tears in both of their eyes, and she felt some of her own appear too.
"You look like a ghost."
"Hold on." The Doctor, Clara had decided that he was indeed the same man, pulled out a little silver trinket and aimed it at something invisible to her and Rose. Is that the screwdriver?
"Can I?" Rose raised her arm, wanting to touch the Doctor.
"I'm still just an image. No touch" he whispered.
"Can't you come through prop'rly?" With the accent, Clara assumed that Rose must've lived in London, maybe Peckham?
"The whole thing would fracture." This Doctor had an accent too. Similar to Rose. "Two universes would collapse." Clara tore her gaze from the Doctor's broken expression and was hit with an even worse off looking Rose Tyler. Clara let an involuntary whimper escape her throat as a tear fell for the pair. What could have made this happen?
"So?" It was almost unintelligible, but both Rose and her Doctor donned watery smiles at her joke. They looked at each other, sharing this last moment. Clara felt as if she was intruding, but then the Doctor broke the contact and looked around.
"Where are we? Where did the gap come out?"
"We're in Norway."
"Norway, right." He mumbled, nodding as if he'd known all along, Clara choked on a bout of laughter he'd created.
" 'Bout fifty miles out of Bergen. It's called Dårlig Ulv Stranden." Rose's feelings were really starting to get to her, Clara could tell.
"Dalek?" The Doctor seemed surprised. Why does the Doctor seem surprised?
"Dalig. It's Norwegian for bad. This translates as Bad Wolf Bay." Rose looked up, smiling ruefully. Clara looked down at her feet.
"There's five of us now." She looked up. Have I missed something? They look different. Sadder.
"Mum, Dad, Mickey," Rose swallowed, "and the baby."
"A baby?" Clara spoke, her voice cracking and echoing through the memory.
"You're not..?" The Doctor looked hopeful, like maybe she was pregnant with a child and he wouldn't be leaving her without a piece of him. But in addition, he looked devastated. He must've been wondering what he'd do if she actually is, and the child is theirs. But...the TARDIS said they weren't-
"No. It's Mum." Rose's little laugh cut Clara's thoughts up, and confirmed the Voice Interface's intel. Clara trying to brush her hair behind her ears and when she was done, the memory had skipped again.
"I-" Rose choked on her tears. "I love you."
"Quite right too. And, I suppose." He took a breath. "If it's my last chance to say it." Rose looked hopefully up at him, and him back down at her. "Rose Tyler." Then he was gone, and so was Rose, and the Beach. Clara was back in the Console Room, staring face to face with the Doctor.
"Her name was Rose." Clara whispered, salty tears slipping down her cheeks. She reached out for him, as she cried, like a child. He took her hand in his, kissed her palm and hugged Clara close. "I'm so sorry." She shuddered against him.
The Doctor kissed the top of her head. "Oh you wonderful girl. I am too."
