We Watched Gallifrey Burn

Part 1

DOCTOR'S POV:

I lean against the TARDIS console as it makes its usual, wheezing, groan, settling in to rest upon the shores of Dårlig Ulv-Stranden.

Bad Wolf Bay.

Didn't think I'd be back here.

"Hey, cheer up" calls Jack from the back of the control room. "You get to see Rose again. Isn't that a good thing?"

"Yeah," I reply with a slight hesitation.

We slip out of the blue wooden box silently, and onto the moonlit sand.

Jack holds back to let the others out.

Jack, Martha, Donna - all here.

"Oi! Spaceman! Where the hell are we?" snaps Donna, her fiery red hair fluttering in the cool midnight breeze.

Man, how I wish I was ginger.

I turn to the group, hands tightly clasped out in front of my chest.

"Well, we're not gonna get anywhere with all that racket, Earthgirl, so I suggest we make our way to the Tyler estate. Allons-y!"

"He always has to say that," Martha drawls, emphasising the word always.

"Hey, it's a great word!" I frowned.

After about 11 kilometres of constant complaints, (Mostly Donna), we finally arrive at our destination.

We ring the doorbell, and it seems to resound throughout the entire neighbourhood.

After what seems like an eon, someone answers the door.

Rose Tyler.

"Guess who," I grin at her.

"I'd never have guessed," she beams back, with a tone of cheeky sarcasm. Oh, how I missed that smile of hers.

But the reunion is cut short.

She ushers us inside. You can tell by the expression on her face, and it's not looking good. We slump down on a long, yellow sofa, sighs of happy relief rise from the tired legs of the other companions.

We're offered tea and biscuits, and of course, we accept.

Never turn down an offer of tea and biscuits. It's impolite, and that's how wars start.

All eyes on Rose.

"Doctor, something sinister is stirring, far, far away, at the corners of the universe."

Her eyes full of mystery.

"Yes?" I edge her on, hinting for more information.

"To tell you straight, the walls of time - they're disintegrating. Just disappearing!"

She cries, the hope draining from her face.

I take a moment to analyse what I just heard.

"Disintegrating? Impossible. Simply impossible. Well, I say impossible, but I really mean improbable. Jelly baby?" I scoff. "Any proof?"

"The only reason for time, is so that everything doesn't happen at once,"

"Ah, Albert Einstein. Great man. Never met him though..."

"Yeah, saw him yesterday at the park. He died 1955. That's 54 years ago, Doctor. So tell me why he's wandering around modern day London?"

I pause. My mind races with all possible (And plausible) explanations for this strange, temporal phenomena. It draws blank.

"That's what I thought," Rose concludes. Her face brightens, a smile spreading across her lips. "So, when do we leave?"