Chapter Two
Wilf fought to keep himself under control.
"The Doctor?" he said trying to keep his voice steady. "What doctor are you talking about, sweetheart?"
Donna gave him a condescending look.
"The daft little alien dumbo that I've been traveling with for the past year," she said.
Wilf staggered back.
"But…he said…if you ever remembered him, you'd die."
"Yeah, well…it's not the first time the git's been wrong about something."
"But…how?"
Donna sighed.
"It's a long story; grandad and I really don't want to discuss it right now. All I want to know is did the Doctor say where he was going?"
"No. He just said his goodbyes and left."
"Bollocks. And this bloody alarm clock woke me up just before the Bad Wolf was going to tell me how to contact him."
"Who?"
Donna smiled.
"Like I said, long story. Okay, so…how can I contact him?"
Wilf walked over to the bed and sat down beside her while she thought.
"Rose is in the other universe with the other Doctor, so that's out. Um….let's see…there's Jack…but I don't know how to contact Torchwood…unless…"
She looked at Wilf.
"You think Torchwood would be listed in the phone book?"
Wilf shrugged.
"But, would Jack know how….Oh!"
"What?" Wilf said.
She clicked her fingers.
"Martha. Martha gave the Doctor a mobile in case she needed to contact him. She obviously knows the number, so I just need to ring her up and ask."
She frowned.
"Problem is…she and Mickey went off with Jack, which brings me back to finding the number for Torchwood….or…."
She smiled.
"UNIT. Martha works for UNIT. Surely UNIT would have a listed number."
"It's worth a try," Wilf said.
Donna frowned.
"Would it be in the phone book…no, maybe online at their website…or would they even have a website?" she muttered to herself. "Gotta have a website somewhere, they're a government agency and they'd have to have a number people can use to contact them. But…"
She sighed.
"If they do have a number, I'm sure I would have to go through a barrage of secretaries before I even got to talk to someone who knows the Doctor. I need a more direct way of contacting them. But, how do I do that?"
"Are there any more of the Doctor's friends who might know how to get in touch with UNIT?" Wilf asked.
Donna thought. Her eyes widened.
"Sarah Jane. Sarah Jane's a journalist; she might know how to contact them."
"Well, what are you waiting for? Get to it!" Wilf said.
"Right," Donna said, rising from the bed and grabbing her dressing gown. "I need the phone book. See if I can find her number."
She tied the robe around her and she and Wilf hurried out of the room. She ran to the living room. The phone was sitting on a small table by the sofa. She bent down, opened a door in the front of the table and pulled out a large phone booth. She grabbed the phone, sat down on the sofa and set it on her leg while she opened the phone book. She turned the pages while Wilf sat down beside her.
"Okay, Sarah Jane's last name is…Smith."
She looked at Wilf.
"And, of course, there are probably two billion Smiths living in London," she said.
She found the S section and began to scan the entries.
"Aha, yup…there are 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 Sarah Smiths listed and I haven't a clue where she lives."
She sighed.
"Guess I'll just go down the list one by one until I find her."
She put her finger next to the first phone number, picked up the receiver and dialed. It rang a couple of times before someone answered.
"Yes, hello, is this Sarah Smith?" Donna said. "Yes, hi, my name is Donna Noble. I'm sorry to bother you, but…have you by any chance traveled in the TARDIS with a man called the Doctor….you haven't…oh…I'm sorry, then, wrong number…sorry to bother you, bye."
She hung up.
"Next one," she said.
She dialed the number and waited. The phone was picked up on the fourth ring.
"Hi, is this Sarah Smith? Yes, I'm sorry to bother you, my name is Donna Noble. I was calling to ask if you have ever traveled in the TARDIS with a man called the Doctor?"
There was a moment's pause and then Donna rolled her eyes.
"No, lady, this isn't a crank call and I'm not drunk. I'm just trying to find a friend of mine, alright? I'm sorry to bother you, goodbye."
She slammed the phone down and shook her head as Wilf chuckled.
"Keep going, Donna, you'll find her."
"I hope so, I don't wanna end up in jail because someone thinks I'm a maniac and calls the cops on me," she said, picking up the phone.
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Donna sighed as she hung up on the last Sarah Smith.
"Nope, none of them know the Doctor, so I guess it's on to the next page," she said.
She turned the page and saw two more Sarah Smiths listed, she was about to call them when something caught her eye. Further down the page she saw…
Smith, S J
Playing a hunch, she dialed the number next to it.
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Sarah Jane opened the front door of her house and stepped inside.
"Luke?" she called out as she closed the door. "Are you in here?"
"Yeah, mum," she heard him say. "I'm upstairs in my room reading."
"Okay, hon, just checking. I'm going to have dinner ready soon and…"
She trailed off when she heard the phone ring. Stuffing her keys in her pocket, she threw her purse down and ran to the living room to answer it. She managed to pick it up on the sixth ring.
"Hello, "she gasped out.
"Um…Hi, I'm sorry to bother you, but are you S J Smith?"
"Yes, I am."
"Okay, I'm Donna Noble and…"
"Donna, hi, how are you?"
"Sarah Jane?"
"Yes, how are you?"
"I'm alright."
"How's the Doctor?"
"Well, that's kinda why I'm calling. You see, the Doctor…left me behind."
Sarah Jane's eyes widened.
"What? Why?" she said.
Donna quickly explained the situation.
"Oh my God, you poor thing. So…now you have your memories restored and you're no longer the DoctorDonna?"
"Yeah, a…being…restored me and now I'm trying to find the Doctor, so I can travel with him again."
"Well, I'm sorry, but…I don't have a way to get in touch with the TARDIS."
"I know, but Martha does. Martha gave him a mobile and she has the number, but the problem is she went off with Jack and I don't know how to reach her. By any chance do you have either Torchwood or UNIT's phone numbers?"
"I have UNIT"s number."
"Great, can you give me that?"
"Hang on, sweetie; let me go look it up."
Donna breathed a sigh of relief.
"Thanks, Sarah Jane, I owe you one."
She went to her computer, pulled up her address book and read Donna the number. Donna grabbed a pad of paper and pencil that had been sitting beside the phone and wrote it down.
"Thank you so, so much! I really appreciate this!" Donna said.
"No problem, I hope you find him again. And Donna….don't be a stranger. Like I told Rose, if you ever need someone to talk to, I'm here."
"Thanks, I definitely will keep in touch. You take care of yourself and take care of Luke."
"I will, good luck."
"Thanks, bye."
"Bye, Donna."
She hung up the phone.
"Okay, I'm one step closer to finding him," she said to Wilf. "Next in line is UNIT."
She picked up the phone and dialed the number.
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Colonel Mace looked up from his paperwork when his phone rang. He picked up the receiver.
"Sir?"
"Yes, Virginia?"
"Um…there's a call for you from a Donna Noble. She says she wants to speak to you and she's a friend of the Doctor's."
"Oh yes…yes, I remember her."
"Do you want to take the call?"
"Yes, I'll take it."
"Hold on a moment, sir, I'll patch her through."
There was a short pause and then Mace heard breathing on the other end of the line.
"Hello?" he said.
"Um…hi, is this Colonel Mace?"
"Yes, it is. What can I do for you, Miss Noble? Is the Doctor in need of something?"
"No, actually, I'm the one in need. I need to speak to Martha Jones. It's urgent. You don't happen to have a mobile number or some way I can contact her?"
"Is it an emergency?"
"It is for me, but not for the universe if that's what you're thinking."
"Hold on, let me bring up her file."
"Thank you, I appreciate it."
Mace turned to his computer and brought up Martha's file.
"Yes, I have her mobile number."
He gave it to her; Donna graciously thanked him and hung up. She smiled at Wilf.
"One step closer," she said to him.
Wilf nodded and smiled back while Donna dialed the mobile number.
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"Wow!" Mickey said, looking around the Hub. This is fantastic. I can't believe I'm actually gonna be working here.
"Don't get too comfortable yet, Smith. You're here on a trial basis right now," Jack replied.
Mickey narrowed his eyes.
"Why? Don't think I'm a good enough techie for your little gang?"
"No, I just want to see if I can actually tolerate your presence long term without going insane and punching your lights out."
Mickey flipped him off as Martha giggled. Just then, her mobile rang. She pulled it out of her pocket and answered it.
"Hello?"
"Martha!"
"Donna! Hi! How's it goin'? How's the Doctor?"
"Well…"
She quickly explained the situation. Martha's eyes widened.
"Oh my God, I'm so glad you're alright after all that."
Jack frowned and he and Mickey glanced at one another.
"Do you have that number for the mobile you gave him?" Donna asked.
"Yes, I do."
She opened her mouth and then glanced at Jack.
"Hold on, I need to get away from Jack. I have a feeling if he knows the number; he'll be bugging the Doctor nonstop with obscene phone calls."
"I will not!" Jack said indignantly as Mickey bent over laughing.
Jack glared at her while she moved to a corner of the room and whispered the number to her.
"I wouldn't use the number to make obscene phone calls, Martha Jones, geez!" he shouted at her.
Martha ignored him.
"Tell the Doctor I said hi when you do speak to him."
"I will and thanks Martha. Good luck at Torchwood."
'Yeah and good luck traveling with the Doctor. I'll talk to you later, bye."
"Bye."
Donna hung up and hugged Wilf.
"Bingo! I finally got the number and now it's time to bring alien boy back to me," she said.
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The Doctor sat on the captain's chair staring numbly at the rotor while it oscillated. He had no idea how long he had been in the vortex and at the moment, he didn't care. Without his companions, he had no real desire to go anywhere or see anything.
His head jerked towards the console when he heard Martha's mobile ringing. He stared at the storage compartment it was in, debating whether or not to answer it. The phone kept on ringing and ringing and finally, with a sigh, the Doctor rose from his seat, pushed the button and grabbed the phone when it shot out of the hole.
"What does UNIT want me to do now, I wonder?" he muttered as he opened the phone.
He pushed the talk button.
"Hello?"
"Well, well, well, 'bout bleedin' time. Call me crazy, but I believe you swanned off into time and space and forgot something, didn't you?"
The Doctor froze, his eyes bulging out of his head when he recognized the voice.
"Yoo-hoo, you there? You must be cause I can hear ya breathin'. I just went through thirty minutes of ringing up various people to get this number, the least you can do is say hello."
"D…Donna?" he sputtered out.
"No, it's Fergie. I'm here to sell you a subscription to Weight Watchers, of course it's me!"
"But…you…it…no, it…it can't be…it's impossible."
"Yeah, well, I've seen many impossible things in the last year."
"But, you can't. You can't be remembering. You should be dead now!"
"Well, E.T. the extra-thick-restrial, one thing you have to know about us Nobles, we are notoriously hard to kill. Now, I don't want to wait forever, so here's the thing. Today is June 28th, 2008 and it's currently….8:52 in the morning. I'm giving you ten minutes to get your scrawny, boney, alien butt back here before I find a way to pull myself back into your TARDIS. And, by God, you better pray that doesn't happen because I will make my wedding day look like nothing. You got that?"
Tears streamed down the Doctor's face.
"Loud and clear, ma'am," he said.
"Good, the clock's starting now and trust me, I will watch every single second. So, get back here and pick me up!"
"I'm coming as fast as I can."
"Good. I'll be here."
She hung up the phone, looked at Wilf and let out a squeal of joy as both of them embraced.
"Oh, darling, he's coming back for you! I'm so happy!" Wilf said.
Donna began to weep with joy at the thought of seeing him again. She suddenly had a thought.
"Wait, where's mum?" she said. "I suppose I'll have to go break the news to her and hear all about how I'm gonna be wasting my life traveling with the Doctor again."
'Your mum left early this morning for a doctor's appointment and to do some errands. You just go ahead and go with the Doctor, I'll handle her."
They hugged again. Just then, both of them heard the familiar wheezing sound coming through an open window. Donna let out a yell and sprinted towards the door while Wilf tried to keep up with her. She flung open the door and laughed when she saw the Doctor emerging from the TARDIS.
"Donna!" the Doctor said, running towards her.
He grabbed her and she yelled when he picked her up off the ground and spun her around.
"Oh my God, I've never been so glad to see you in my whole life!" Donna said.
"You and me both," the Doctor replied, setting her down.
He smiled at Wilf.
"And it's good to see you again, as well."
"Yup, I'm just glad this time we have a reason to celebrate."
The Doctor took hold of her shoulders.
"What happened? How did you manage to get your memories back and not burn up?"
"It's a long story and I'd rather tell it to you when we're back in the vortex. Now, if you don't mind, I'd like to get back on board."
The Doctor stepped aside.
"After you," he said, gesturing to the open doors.
Donna grinned and ran into the TARDIS while Wilf embraced the Doctor.
"You take good care of her, "he said. "And come back and see us when you can."
"That's a promise on both counts. You take care of yourself too."
The Doctor let go and patted Wilf on the shoulder. With a wave, he turned and went back into the TARDIS, silently thanking the universe for granting him this one small mercy. He closed the door and looked at Donna who was leaning on the console.
"So, where were we?" he said, strolling up the ramp. "Ah yes, you mentioned you wanted to meet Charlie Chaplin…or was it Charlie Brown?"
Donna laughed.
"I think we'll go with Charlie Chaplin if it's all the same to you," she said.
The Doctor embraced her.
"Your wish is my command, Donna Noble."
With a sigh, Donna sat down on the captain's chair watching happily while the Doctor started up the TARDIS. As he flew her into the vortex, she grew excited at the thought of sharing all new adventures with him and thanked the Bad Wolf for raising her from the dead and giving her back the life she loved so much.
THE END.