Walk The Earth: Doctor Who/Studio C [Book 2]

Bad Wolf Rising (Epilogue)

Bad Wolf Rising

(Epilogue)

The TARDIS was empty.

Some goodbyes were always easier than others. It was a simple fact of life, and the Doctor had gotten used to goodbyes.

"You can spend the rest of your life with me. But I can't spend the rest of mine with you. I have to live on. Alone. That's the curse of the Time Lords."

Ironic, he thought, that he had spoken those words to Rose soon after he regenerated into this body. As he took flight, he couldn't help but comparing the empty TARDIS now with how it felt just after he said goodbye to her.

This time, though, no woman appeared dressed in white.

Instead, it was the sound of a foghorn and a sharp shake of the TARDIS that sent the Time Lord flying to the grating, half catching himself on the jumpseat and the console.

Poking in through the TARDIS wall was the bow of a ship.

The Doctor coughed as dust rained down, the TARDIS's domed interior buckling and breaking around the strange ship's bow.

"What?" he exclaimed, getting to his feet as the foghorn continued to blare. "What?"

One of the ship's life preserves had fallen to the floor and he scrambled over to it, eager for any clue as to what had just happened. On it was written a single word in bold, black lettering.

TITANIC.

"What?"

~~~

In another London, far away, a blonde woman stood on a balcony, overlooking a city that was not her home and never would be. Ten years, she'd been here now. Ten excruciatingly long years.

Despite the cold weather, the jar to the balcony was ajar, so the woman could hear the radio chattering away in the background. "Storms continue to ravage southwestern coast of Norway. Evacuations are in progress..."

The woman heard her name called from behind and turn around. "Mickey," she said with surprise, watching her friend coming to a stumbling, panting halt beside her.

"He's back," Mickey managed.

Her eyes widened. "When you say he, you mean...?"

"Not the Doctor, sorry," he apologized. "Our link. Our link back to the prime universe."

"What do you mean, he's back?" she asked. "He disappeared. That was months ago."

"I dunno what happened, I was just running some tests and suddenly, we could pick up on him."

Her eyes widened. "But that... that's..."

"Brilliant," Mickey said. "We've made so much progress on the Dimension Cannon... if Link's back, we can use him to aim. We can send you toward him instead of trying to pull him toward us and hoping the Doctor notices."

The woman shook her head. "You'd think he'd have realized by now, but no. Can't pull out those glasses for three seconds, can he?" She lost herself for a moment, a soft smile tugging on her lips as the image of the Doctor, 3D glasses askew on his face, popped into her head.

"Well?" he'd demanded, beyond excited. "Isn't anyone gonna ask? What is it with the glasses?"

"What is it with the glasses?" she had echoed with equal enthusiasm.

"I can see!" the Doctor exclaimed. "That's what! 'Cause we've got two separate worlds, but in between the two separate worlds, we've got the Void. That's where the Daleks were hiding. And the Cybermen traveled though the Void to get to here. And you lot, one world to another, via the Void! Oh, I like that. Via the Void!" He pulled his glasses from his face and pushed them onto hers. "Look! I've been through it. Do you see?"

She remembered the particles dancing around him, blackish-green dots visible through the glasses. "What is it?"

"Void stuff," he answered.

"Like, um... background radiation!"

"That's it. Look at the others," the Doctor said, spinning her around. Mickey, Pete, and Jake—one of Mickey's coworkers from the parallel world—were all covered in the same stuff. "The only one who hasn't been through the Void. Your mother. First time she's looked normal in her life."

She'd giggled while her mother had exclaimed "Oi!"

She was drawn from the memory as Mickey spoke her name again. She sighed. "You'd think the Doctor would notice by now that Link's gotta be covered in Void stuff." She paused. "Oi, you've got me calling him Link again."

"Well we don't know his real name, do we? Got anything better to call him?" After a moment, she was forced to shake her head.

"Suppose not. C'mon then, Mickey. Let's go."

Before either of them took a step, though, the radio made itself known to them once more. "Thanks to its making landfall on Darlig Ulv Stranden, some are calling it the 'Bad Wolf Storm.'"

She smirked.

She was the Bad Wolf. The Doctor was the Oncoming Storm.

If that wasn't a sign, she didn't know what was.

Rose Tyler turned away from the balcony, intent on finding her way home.