As the TARDIS whirred through the Time Vortex, a low hum could be heard from all parts of her. For once the Doctor did not feel comforted by her melodic sounds. In fact, he did not even notice her attempts at comforting him. And the Doctor noticed everything.
The Doctor sat down on the floor by the console, thinking about the scene he had just left behind. Thinking about what he should have said, what he never said. Ever. He ignored the aftershocks of the star's explosion. He thought of past memories, all melding together. The fighting the Daleks, the Slitheen, the Cybermen . . . and so many more. Her looking into the heart of the TARDIS, him taking it from her, him regenerating, the Bad Wolf gone forever.
Bad Wolf. DÃ¥rlig Ulv-Stranden. Bad Wolf Bay. Maybe it wasn't gone forever. Maybe it had just been dormant, waiting for a time to shine through again. The Doctor allowed himself this tiny bit of hope. The Bad Wolf had not shown itself since that fateful defeat of the Daleks, would it really just show up for a three minute reunion?
The Doctor stood up and wiped his tear- stained face. He needed to figure this out, and moping about was not going to get her back.
"We're going to get Rose back." The doctor promised the TARDIS.
Rose Tyler was crying silently in the back of Pete's SUV. She knew that it had taken a lot of her remaining emotional strength saying goodbye to him, but in some ways she was glad to have some closure. To know it had not all been for nothing, to know the plan had succeeded. In other ways it was awful to have it confirmed that she was stuck here forever in the place that was all wrong, without the TARDIS and without the Doctor. She hadn't wanted to leave Bad Wolf Bay, but she couldn't pull her family even farther from their new daily patterns. Or hers for that matter. She wasn't used to having a nine to five job anymore, even if it was Torchwood, which dealt with ah, interesting things. Alien things. Rose was more used to being on-duty all the time, but at the same time being off- duty all the time. She was used to working with the flow of time, all of its infinite twists and mystery.
Anyway, she knew there was nothing left of the Doctor on Bad Wolf Bay, or the Bad Wolf itself. Thought why it reappeared now, after being gone so long was a mystery to her. A mystery she might just look into.
She smiled through her tears. Maybe she would see him again. And that hope was enough to fuel her.
