A/N: Thanks, as always, for reading!
Disclaimer: I do not own Doctor Who.
Instead of stopping at a destination, this time the TARDIS turned on the monitor to show a memory. This memory was the first time the Doctor was introduced to the Bad Wolf.
He had always wondered exactly what happened; he knew she had returned, carrying the time vortex inside her, but it had always been hazy. Even when he took it out of her, it didn't give him answers.
The TARDIS showed him now. He saw her land back in London and her going to the chip place with her mother and Mickey. A twinge of jealousy struck the Doctor when he saw the ex-boyfriend. He knew it was irrational, even after all this time, but he couldn't help it. He had always been jealous that Mickey had her, officially as a girlfriend, while he was too much of a coward to tell her how he felt. Even though she had his hearts forever.
When he heard Rose talk about the man in shadows who said she was going to have a great year, he froze. Of course she remembered, he thought. She always remembered when it came to me. He smiled to himself, the memory of him walking in front of his former self resurfacing. It had only been a few hours for him.
He watched, enraptured, as Rose enlisted the help of her mother and Mickey to open the TARDIS and help her return to him. He saw her open the floor and absorb the heart of the TARDIS. He saw the Bad Wolf emerge. He sucked in a breath.
As dangerous as that was, she was absolutely radiant. If I hadn't been so concerned with saving her life, I would have marveled at her beauty and power. I can do that now.
Even now, he wondered how she was able to support the time vortex inside of her for so long. It should have killed a human on the spot. But of course, Rose was special. And he always suspected that he never completely removed it. A part of it lingered inside her and always would.
He saw, from his safe distance, how much damage she actually did when she took on the Daleks. His beautiful pink-and-yellow human glowing gold. He still remembered her words:
"I see everything. All there was, all there is, all there ever will be.
I want you safe, my Doctor.
I am the Bad Wolf. I create myself. I take the words. I scatter them…in time, and space. A message to lead myself here."
A part of him knew that she would always be following him, always making sure he was safe. She had proven that when he hurtled himself into the sun to save the planet Earth. She may not be on this same world now, but her reach extended to protect him. He had felt the TARDIS cocooned as it hit the sun, felt the heat and the light brush by them, and they emerged unscathed. He hadn't wanted to admit it then, but he did now. It was his Bad Wolf that had saved him. She always did. And he knew she always would.
He watched as his leather-clad self embraced his Rose and placed his lips on hers to draw out the time vortex. The Doctor smirked at that. He could have easily drawn it out another way, but he had wanted to kiss her for a long time and since he knew there was a possibility that one or both would die, and that she wouldn't remember, he saw no harm in it. Besides, it did its job; removed the vortex which then of course caused him to regenerate.
I wouldn't have changed it for the world. I died for her. I was reborn loving her. My precious flower.
The monitor shut off and the Doctor sighed, rubbing his eyes.
"How many more of these do we have?"
It wasn't that he didn't not want to continue, he did. Oh he so did. He hadn't had enough of Rose Tyler in this form. But he was planning a very special surprise and like a child, was impatient to carry it out.
The TARDIS hummed at him that there were a few memories to go. He found himself smiling. More chances to see his Rose. More chances to maybe finally tell her how he felt. Something he should have done a long time ago.
An idea struck him and he had to do it.
"Please, can we take a detour?" he asked his ship. She hummed in response, reading his mind and knowing what he wanted to do.
He sighed. "Thank you."