There was another long pause in which Gabriel's chest clenched and he wished he hadn't said anything at all. "No," he said in a low voice. "We couldn't find him. His office at the Institute, his apartment--there was no one there. Hadn't been for days."

Just gone. Gabriel hadn't believed Malcolm's assertion at first; not until he started running into the furniture and felt how dusty, how grimy, it had been. No one there, not for a while, and he hadn't even known.

His chest clenched again. He hadn't even known the Doctor for long, and already he m--regretted the Time Lord's absence. He'd been smart. Interesting. Fun to talk to. Someone other than his brothers and a Kali-wannabe to rely on.