"Yep, it's me. Captain Jack Harkness at your service." Jack said, with his most charming smile.
Rose promptly walked right up to him and slapped him.
"What? Rose-" He started.
"You nearly scared us to death. Don't ever do that again." She said, eyes blazing.
Jack turned to the Doctor for support, but the Doctor just shrugged and put his hands in the air as if to say 'Not my fault," with a smirk on his face at the same time. Clearly he's still jealous of me, thought Jack. Why can't he see that Rose never had eyes for anyone but him? He had never been able to understand why the Doctor refused to acknowledge the growing mutual attraction between him and Rose. Shaking his head ever so slightly, he pushed those thoughts to the back of his mind.
"Well, I see that you still are one fiery little woman. Remind me to never cross your path."
"Will do," Rose said with the smallest of smiles, and Jack knew he was forgiven.
"I do have to say, Jack, I never really figured you for a man with monkish taste." The Doctor raised his eyebrows as he eyed the black robe that Jack had donned.
"Yeah, well neither did I." Jack flicked the coarse fabric of his decidedly monk-like robe with what seemed like vague annoyance. "Let's just say I may be in trouble. She's a sweet girl, but nasty temper, and far too much sway over the police here. I find it's a little safer hiding this handsome face." His eyes spotted Voldy, still tucked into Rose's arm, and smiled. "So cute dog there. I thought about getting one to protect me from the cops here, but I figured that too many stall owners know who I am." He grinned. "Well, I'd say most of them know me pretty well... What's his name?"
"She named it Voldy." Said the Doctor, with disdain.
"Come on, it fits!" Rose protested, hugging Voldy. The chihuahua sized dog reached up and licked her chin, as if saying he agreed.
"Weellll... Maybe." The Doctor allowed.
Jack rolled his eyes and cut in. "Look, as much as I'd love to listen to this lovely exchange, we've got some work to do. Nice as this place looks, it's got a lot more going on than noseless dogs."
"What is it? I know we haven't been out of the market yet, but it seems pretty harmless. That is... aside from the poorer district." Rose said with a sour look on her face.
"She's just mad because she got cheated when she bought Voldy." The Doctor said, smiling.
"She snatched the credits out of my hand and told me the price had changed! I was holding Voldy, did you expect me to drop him and wrestle her for the credits?" Rose fumed.
"Guys, focus. There's something wrong with this place." Jack's face was dead serious.
"Well, what is it then?" Said the Doctor.
"The golden stall. The most popular stall, there's something wrong with the owner. Babulus Canink, that's his name."
"What's wrong?" Said Rose.
"I read up on Barcelonian history before I came here. Yes, not my usual style but I really didn't want to mess up its history. Anyway, he basically founded one of the biggest and richest family businesses here on this planet."
"Jack, get to the point." Said Rose with aggravation in her voice.
"He should have died more than forty years ago." Said Jack.
"Oh. And how did he manage that?" Said the Doctor quietly.
"I don't know. That's why I'm so glad you showed up." Jack said.
"How did you know we were going to be here, anyway?" The Doctor asked.
"Oh, I know you've always wanted to take Rose to Barcelona, so I set my Vortex Manipulator for the height of the Barcelonian Empire. I've been waiting here for a year now."
"Verrry sneaky." The Doctor rolled the r's.
"Very Jack." Said Rose.
"Right! Well, if we're to get to the bottom of this mess, we've got to get cracking." The Doctor started pacing back and forth down the alleyway, eyes narrowed in concentration. "Now, let's see. There's always a chance it's not Canink, meaning a shapeshifter or some sort of clone. But no, someone would've noticed, even little things like different mannerisms or the way you grip a glass could all add up to a red alarm to someone who knows him well... And it's not like he's secluded, you said that he founded one of the biggest family businesses here in Barcelona, so he's got to at least have a wife or concubine as such that would be close enough... And even if she was taken care of, and if he's such a big shot as you say, he's got to have all sorts of meetings and appointments as well as servants and attendants watching him all the time... Oh, that's it! Oh, I am really brilliant. I really really am."
"Yes, Doctor, we know you're brilliant. Now what is it?" Rose, already tired of Jack beating around the bush, was severely annoyed. She loved the Doctor, but sometimes he could get caught up in whatever was inside his head and forget there were people around him.
The Doctor whirled around, a grin on his face. "Gold isn't found in this planet, or any of the surrounding planets in this entire galaxy. None of these planets even have tools necessary for working gold. Canink would have to ship it in from galaxies away. So why go to all this trouble to have a golden stall? Why go to all this time and expense just to outshine the other business owners when you're already the most prominent and popular business?" The grin dropped off the Doctor's face when he realized that both Rose and Jack were looking at him with puzzlement. "Oh, come on. It isn't that hard to figure out, even humans like you could do it." The Doctor looked vaguely irritated when the quizzical expressions continued. "Don't you see? The secret is in the stall! It's not real gold."
"There's no way," said Jack, shaking his head. "I had my suspicions about the stall, and I checked it out for any trace of gilt or painted iron. There's nothing."
"Ah, yes, but I am willing to bet you weren't expecting a perception filter." The Doctor again brandished the sonic. "Luckily, with a little help from my favorite screwdriver, we'll soon be able to see it in its true form. Now hold on, go to find the right setting." The Doctor fiddled with it, letting out a few choice Gallifreyan curses as the screwdriver proved difficult. "Come on, come on... Yes! There we go, setting thirty four. Now, allonsy!" He walked out of the alley quickly in the direction of the stall, Jack and Rose in his wake.
When they arrived, they once again elbowed and pushed their way through the crowd, which thankfully had dwindled down from thirty-something to twenty-something. The Doctor pointed the sonic straight at the counter, and pressed the button.
Jack and Rose gasped as the golden facade melted away to reveal a stall made of some sort of green stone with iridescent purple glints. More surprising though, was the fact that none of the crowd seemed to have witnessed the transformation. They still were shouting and pushing, eager to get the best of the best.
"Doctor," started Rose slowly, "Why hasn't anyone else noticed?"
"I set it so that only we could see through the perception filter. Didn't want to scare people." The Doctor's tone was brusque. He had tucked his hands in his pocket, and was staring at the foreign stone. His eyebrows were drawn close together, and while he didn't look enraged, Rose could see traces of the Oncoming Storm.
"What is it?" Jack, like Rose, had noticed the Doctor's expression.
"The Untempered Schism was a rip in the space time continuum, located on Gallifrey. It was surrounded by rocks. Big ones, too. I can still remember them looming above me as I stared into the Schism. Being so close to the rip infected them with a sort of power. If you knew how to do it, you could gain longevity from them. They were called Flamelican." His voice was hard now.
"But I still don't understand. Gallifrey burned." Rose said it flatly. She knew it to be a fact.
"I guess someone stole these right before the Time War began. Of course we wouldn't have noticed. It was war. And it appears that Mr. Canink has got his hands on the Flamelican." The Doctor's dark eyes were heavy with anger, regret, and sadness, all at the same time.
"But how?" Jack knew the answer. But he also knew it had to be asked.
The Time Lord's entire body seemed to burn with ancient rage. "That's what we're here to find out."
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