EVOLUTION
THREE
Rose howled, "You are a coward!" when the door slammed.
She kicked the book across the floor, then threw open the door, stormed to the console and pounded repeatedly on it with her fists, bruising them.
"Oh my God," she cried and collapsed in a heap onto the floor.
She covered her head with her arms and rocked.
"Rose…" she heard.
She continued rocking.
"Rose…"
She looked up, wiping the tears from her eyes. That voice… that voice was a voice she'd not heard in a very long time.
"Rose…"
It was the voice of The Doctor; not The Doctor she currently knew, but rather the one she had known. The first Doctor she had met.
She pulled herself up and looked around, eyes wide with fear.
"Rose, it's okay, it's me."
By the TARDIS doors he stood, gazing down at her; leather jacket, black jumper and all.
She gasped and then hiccupped.
He smiled.
"Rose, you're seeing this because something has happened. Something has happened to you and you're in trouble.
"Not trouble like the dangers you and I were usually encountering, but another kind of peril…
"Something terrible has happened and it's made you wretched, and I can't have that, can I?"
Rose shook her head and whispered, "No." But she wasn't sure he'd heard her.
"Look at the console, Rose, by the display."
Rose moved to the monitor and looked down. A small piece of paper ejected itself from a slot. It contained several Gallifreyan symbols.
"Rose, think of it as a bus ticket. Good for one round trip.
"No time travel allowed. Just a simple excursion to somewhere in your home country; you can go to the Estate and visit your mum, or Mickey, or you can go somewhere else. It is totaly up to you.
"All you have to do is hold the paper in your hand and tell it where you want to go.
"The TARDIS will take you, but have a care," The Doctor lifted his arm and looked at his watch.
"She will wait an hour for you and then return to the point of departure, whether you are inside or not.
"Think of it as a gift or think of it as an escape. But whatever, think carefully first.
"And Rose…" the image looked directly at her and smiled.
"Never forget that I love you."
