I know, I know - it's short, a little cliched and incredibly complicated, but it's actually the basis for the second part of this series that I always planned after this one. I really hope people can actually understand this - it took me a while to get things clear in my head, like Harry Potter I guess. The little verse I made up is rubbish, but it gets to the point and it will have to do. Knowing me, there will be continuity errors, so I am relying on you to point those out. Alright, here we go:

CHAPTER 7

"Theta." The voice called him again. The Doctor was now almost sure he heard the Tardis. Sitting bolt upright, he cautiously, allowed himself to transmit down their telepathic link. This didn't happen very often.

"Yes - it's me."

"Theta, do you remember what happened on the Game Station?" She hardly needeed to ask - Theta snorted in spite of himself.

"Of course I do! How could I forget-"

The Tardis interrupted him, sounding reproving. "That event had greater consequences than you know. Many things happened that day, and one of them is probably about to save your skin. Now button it, and listen up."

The Doctor stared. Had she actually said that?

The Tardis heard his thoughts, and chuckled to herself. Coming down the link it sounded like a wire short-circuiting, or very bad static.

"On that day, Rose looked into the Time Vortex. Now, no-one has ever done that before. No-one. Ever. The Vortex was overflowing after all those millenia, so as the prophecy foretold, a part of the vortex became Rose Tyler from the moment she looked into it. Her whole life long she has had that capacity in her to do such a great thing - she is Bad Wolf. It had lain inside her, dormant for 19 years of her life, until it was activated by the Vortex. Did you never wonder why she seemed perfectly suited to life on board the Tardis, like no other being before her? No ordinary human could ever have done that."

"Wait - there was a prophecy? About Rose?"

The Tardis laughed again. "Not just about Rose. Haven't you ever heard the 'Story of Creation'? Stanza 7, Verse 5."

"But that - that's just a kid's tale!"

"Not Stanza 7, Verse 5. It's the very last part of the rhyme, the one that takes days to recite, and it was put there by the Face of Boe for a reason."

"The Face of Boe?" Things were starting to get too complicated.

"Yes, I knew him as a child. Such an interesting boy." The Tardis commented wryly.

"But don't interrupt. As I was saying, the very last stanza was put there for a reason. Listen."

And the Tardis solemnly recited the following:

The future holds bleak, for our home, in the War of Time,
As death looms, Gallifrey is lost and only one remains,
The Lonely God,
Soon he will be joined, by the destined traveller, The Bad Wolf,
The little girl who does not fear the Vortex.
Together they travel, for upon her change, their futures are entwined for eternity.
The Healer and the Wolf, together through countless centuries.
And so the future of our race will be restored.

"... I remember now... the Lonely God?"

"Bo portrays you in a favourable light, as you can see."

"But what does this have to do with anything..."

"Don't you see? When she took in the Vortex, Rose became a part of me - she controls me and I feel her like no other. When she took in the vortex, she commanded that I keep you safe, no matter what the cost. In her desperation at the time, a fragment of Bad Wolf was channelled into the vortex, and she demanded that I use it, when your most wanted and needed to be saved. So I am coming - I sense Rose is in danger, we don't have much time."

"But-" There were a million questions whizzing through the Doctor's head.

"Theta - not now! I'll answer everything later - right now we have to get Rose."

With that, the Tardis shut down their link as a twinkling yellow light appeared in the corner. The Doctor shut his eyes as the light rapidly grew stronger until the whole room was illuminated. Suddenley, in a shower of golden rain, the Tardis materialised. The Doctor ran up to the Tardis and hugged her before running inside and yelling for joy.

"Yeehah! That's my girl. OK, where's Rose gotten to?"

The screen flashed green and gave him the location. The Doctor paled as he remembered the Spectre invasion force.

"The Houses of Parliament it is - I have a feeling the Earth won't have surrendered yet and knowing Rose, she's probably got something to do with it."

They left the building, and within seconds they had left the planet. Immediately upon leaving, the Doctor clutched his head, yeeling in pain. Within one minute, he was collapsed on the Tardis mainframe. As the Tardis shot as fast as possible towards Earth, she wondered frantically if she could get to Earth in time to save him.

I'm sorry - I know it was bad! I promise you it DOES get better.