OKie dokie, here's chappie three for the twenty or so people who are actually reading this. Don't you just love it when the hit counter bruises your ego?

The Doctor sprinted out across the street, Cale following closely at his heels. He glanced down at his strange device, then suddenly stopped and ran back into the middle of the street, hair and eyes wild from the run. Cale nearly tripped over him as the Doctor made his sudden 180. The Doctor paused in the middle of the street, looking down at the beeping device, before setting off down the street, only to stop again. This time, Cale ran face first into his back.

"Ow!" the teen grumbled. He rubbed his nose. "Warn a guy!"

"Ah, stupid little-!" the Doctor banged the device on his palm and it made another series of unintelligible beeps. He blew on it for good measure before holding it out in front of his face again. "There we go! This way, c'mon!"

Cale rolled his eyes and forced his legs to run after the Doctor, who was once again traveling down the middle of the street. They were lucky it was night; otherwise, someone would have run them over by now. The Doctor led them onto a sidewalk, still following the strange flashing beeps from the device. Cale trotted after him, pace considerably slowed as they both were tired from running for three blocks.

Suddenly, the device made and angry set of beeps and the Doctor frowned down at it. "Oh, not again!" he shook the little thing violently, and it made more beeps, this time holding out one long note. "Allons-y!"

"And, they're off!" Cale muttered as best he could, as he was short of breath. He ran after the Doctor, praying to whatever god that was listening that they could stop running now.

The Doctor stepped out into another street just as a black van with yellow flashing lights was coming barreling down it straight at him. His eyes were focused on his handheld device and he couldn't see it. Cale's heart leapt into his throat.

"Doctor!" he screamed as he grabbed the man's coat and yanked him out of the way of the speeding vehicle.

"What?" the Doctor consulted his device, then looked back up at the car. Suddenly, he was chasing after it. "This way!"

Cale sighed heavily and ran after him, not wanting to be left alone on a London street in the middle of the night. He was really starting to hate all of this running business. The Doctor took a sharp right into a dark alley, running for all he was worth down it, before slowing to a stop. Cale came up next to him, bent at the waist and panting harshly. The beeps from the device had trickled to nearly a stop as the Doctor looked down at it, frown marring his features. Cale let out a relieved sound. No more running.

"We lose it?" Cale asked, panting out each word.

"Yeah," the Doctor sighed, sounding disappointed. He turned around and pocketed the strange device. "C'mon, let's get back to the TARDIS and analyze that odd little pendant. See if we can't find something to go on."

"That sounds great." Cale took in a few deep breaths and forced himself upright. "Next time, we're so hijackin' some wheels."

"What, you're tired from a little bit of running?" the Doctor asked over his shoulder as he led the way back home.

"Little bit of runnin'?" Cale scoffed, hardly believing his ears. "That was a bloody marathon! I haven't run that much before in my life!"

"Oh, well, maybe you should." the Doctor suggested in a friendly manner. "I do a lot of running."

"That's encouragin'." Cale said blandly.

"I know, isn't it?" the Doctor tossed him a scary grin over his shoulder.

Cale gulped.

RSI

Donna followed the strange little marshmallow for as long as she could before she lost it completely. The only sound she got now was the sound of a trash can hitting the floor and a cat shrieking into the night. She frowned and followed the alley out to the main street, scanning it for the odd little being. She didn't see anything, but Stacy's taxi had arrived. Donna felt a pang of sorrow hit her like an anvil. Poor Stacy, who had not deserved to die at all.

"Stacy Campbell?" the cabbie asked as he pulled up to Donna and rolled down his window.

"No, she's gone." Donna said, breathing quick.

"Gone where?" the cabbie inquired, still wanting to collect his fare.

"She's just gone." Donna snapped, eyes frantically searching the street for any sign of Stacy or the marshmallow.

"Oh, great. Thanks for nothing." the cabbie said irritably. He rolled up his window, switched on his light and drove off, uncaring about Stacy.

Donna just watched him go, mouth open as she tried to catch her breath. This was turning out to be the worst day ever.

RSI

Donna gathered her courage for the second time that night and carefully twisted the key in the ignition until the car turned off. She rested her head on the steering wheel for a brief moment, before stepping out of the car and making her way up the driveway. Her mother was sure to be angry, but right now, she couldn't care less. A woman had died today, and she had been there when it had happened. She couldn't explain it, didn't really want to, and certainly not to her mother, nagging witch that she was.

With a heavy sigh, Donna opened the front door and stepped inside the house, leaning back against the door once she'd closed it. Today really had been crappy. Unimaginably crappy. Although, she could say with complete certainty, it was better than Stacy's day. That thought only made her feel even guiltier as she slowly made her way to the kitchen to face her mother's wrath and find a cup of tea. To make matters worse, the Doctor hadn't even shown up. She would have thought he'd be there when something like this was going down.

He hadn't been.

"And what time's this?" her mother's angry voice cut through Donna's thoughts.

She rolled her eyes skyward in exasperation. "How old am I?"

"Not old enough to use a phone." her mother said, giving her that same look she had gotten as a teenager. She was wiping her hands on a dish towel as she spoke to Donna.

"I thought you were only moving back for a couple of weeks. Look at you."

Donna rolled her eyes and sat down at the kitchen table, hot mug of tea between her hands. This was going to be one of those long lectures that you could tune out but completely understand once they were finished. Say yes to everything, dutifully nod your head, then disappear as quickly as humanly possible. Lord, she felt like she was sixteen all over again. Not exactly a pleasant feeling, Donna realized bitterly.

"I mean, you're never going to find a flat, not while you're on the tool. Well, it's no use sitting there dressed up looking like your job hunting. You've gotta do something! It's not like it's the nineteen eighties, no one's unemployed these days. Except you. How long did that job with Health and Safety last? Two days! And then you walk out." her mother leaned over her chair briefly before stalking away. "'I have other plans.' Well, I've not seen them. Well, it's no good sitting there dreaming. No one's going to come along with a magic wand to make your life more better."

"Where's granddad?" Donna interrupted, taking a sip of her, now lukewarm, tea.

"Where do you think he is? Up the hill! He's always up the hill."

RSI

Donna climbed the large, weedy and unkempt hill towards her beloved grandfather. He lived with her and her mother, had done for a while now, but every night, he'd climb this old hill with his telescope and thermos and stare up into space all night long. Donna admired him for it. She carried his forgotten red thermos in her hand, letting it swing idly as she climbed. It was always good to see her granddad; he always said just the right thing to make her feel better. It was a gift, he'd told her once. Donna believed him.

She walked through the strange junk yard, approaching a sheet metal hut just as her grandfather emerged from it, all bundled up in his heaviest winter gear. It was fairly cold out, Donna noticed for the first time. She suddenly wished she'd thought to bring a heavier jacket. Oh well, ya win some ya lose some.

"Aye, aye, here comes trouble, ha ha." her grandfather greeted as he sat down in his old folding chair in front of his telescope.

"Permission to board ship, sir?" Donna said in her best military voice, affecting a perfect salute for good measure.

"Permission granted." her grandfather said, returning the salute with a smile. "Was she naggin' ya?"

"Ha ha," Donna made a high pitched noise, "big time." she handed her grandfather the thermos. "Brought your thermos."

"Oh, ta," he said by way of thanks.

"You seen anything?" Donna asked, idly pacing the small area around her grandfather's telescope.

"Yeah, I've got Venus, within a power and magnitude of minus three-point-five. At least, that's what it says in my little book." he told Donna as she laid a blanket out on the floor to sit on. "There, have a seat. C'mon, there ya go."

Donna smiled at her granddad as he guided her to the telescope. She peered into the scope and smiled, listening to him as he spoke. "Right. That's the only planet in the solar system named after a woman."

Donna pulled her face away from the scope and looked up at the planet. "Good for her." she looked back into the telescope. "How far away is that?"

"Oh, it's about twenty-six million miles." her grandfather responded, looking up at the planet with her. "But we'll get there, one day. Hundred year's time we'll be stridin' out amongst the stars jigglin' about with all them aliens, just you wait."

Donna laughed, resting back on her heels. "You really believe in all that stuff, don't you?"

Her grandfather laughed too. "It's all over the place these days. If I wait here long enough…"

"I don't suppose you've seen a little blue box?" Donna inquired wistfully, staring up at the stars.

"Is that slang for something?" her grandfather asked, giving her a curious look.

"No." Donna said with a smile. "I mean it. If you ever see a little blue box flying up there in the sky you shout for me, gramps. Oh, you just shout."

He smiled at her. "Ya know, I don't understand half the things you say these days."

"Nor me."

"Ah," he nodded his head, "fair do's. You've had a funny ol' time of it lately. There's poor ol', what's his name, Lance? Bless him. That barmy old Christmas, whew. I wish you'd tell us what really happened."

"I know." Donna acknowledge softly. "It's just, the things I've seen, sometimes I think I'm going mad. I mean even tonight I was in a…doesn't matter."

"Well, you're not yourself, I'll give ya that." her grandfather responded. "You just, you seem to be driftin', sweetheart."

"I'm not drifting." Donna denied, once again focused on the stars. "I'm waiting."

"What for?" her grandfather inquired curiously.

"The right man." Donna cryptically replied.

"Oh, ho ho!" her grandfather exclaimed with a laugh. "Same old story! A man! Ha ha!"

"Oh!" Donna laughed, shaking her head. "I don't mean like that! But, he's real, I've seen him. I've met him, just once. And then I," she sighed, "I let him fly away."

"Well, there ya are, go and find him." her grandfather suggested, waving his hand.

"I've tried." Donna said empathically. "He's…nowhere."

"Eh, not like you to give up!" her grandfather protested. "See now, remember when you was about six years old your mother said 'No holiday, this year', so off you toddled, all on your own and you got on a bus. To Bristol, ha! We had the police out and everything! Where's she gone then, huh? Where's that girl, eh?"

"You're right." Donna replied with a smile. "'Cause see, he's still out there. Somewhere. I'll find him, gramps. Even if I have to wait a hundred years, I'll find him."

RSI

Cale yawned and watched from the strange car seat in the middle of the TARDIS as the Doctor bent over the Adipose Industries free gift, magnifying glass in his hand. His hair was still wild and sticking up everywhere, more so than usual, and Cale was sure he looked about the same, only more exhausted. He could fall asleep right in this seat, probably would in the next five minutes or so it took the Doctor to decipher exactly what that pendant actually was. It couldn't be that hard, the thing was tiny, only a limited number of things it could actually be in the 21st century.

"Oh, fascinating!" the Doctor said to Cale. Cale barely heard him, as he was yawning again. "It seems to be a bio-fed digital stitch specifically to-"

The Doctor looked up from his analysis of the pill for Cale when he noticed the boy had gone quiet. He smiled softly when he spotted his young charge. Cale had slumped over in the seat, eyes closed and breathing deeply, obviously asleep. He must have been far more tired than the Doctor had realized from all of the running. Setting his magnifying glass down on the TARDIS console, the Doctor walked over to Cale, gently shaking the boy's shoulder.

"Cale, Cale?" the Doctor called softly. "Wake up, kiddo. You don't wanna sleep here."

"Hmm, what?" Cale jerked awake, eyes blinking blearily against the bright light in the TARDIS.

"Go to bed." the Doctor instructed kindly, giving Cale a nudge. "Go on, off you go, get some sleep. You'll need it for tomorrow."

"Yeah," Cale said around a yawn as he stood. He made his way sleepily down the hallway, raising his hand in goodnight to the Doctor. "G'night, Doc."

"G'night!" the Doctor called absently back, once more focused on the Adipose Industries gift. He'd explain it to Cale in the morning.

RSI

"It's my turn for the car, what do you need it for?" Donna's mother protested as her daughter went about climbing into the aforementioned machine.

"A quick get away." Donna grouched as she slammed the door and started the engine. Time to head back to Adipose and implement her plan.

It was simple, really, she thought as she merged into traffic. Get in using her Health and Safety ID, then hide in the bathroom all day long. Boy, was that going to be cramped. She suddenly had doubts that she could sit in one place all day long. She didn't have a choice, though, she needed to find out what happened to Stacy and she needed to do it quickly. The poor woman deserved that much, at least. Mind resolved, Donna gripped the steering wheel tighter, held her head high, and made her way to Adipose.

RSI

The Doctor ran about the TARDIS console, making an almighty racket and setting their new coordinates. He'd thought it would be a good idea to move the ship and go to Adipose by a different route. Cale agreed. The boy watched as the Doctor hit a part of the console with a mallet, wincing in sympathy for the poor ship. He didn't understand why the Doctor had to randomly bang the hell out of different components, but he wasn't one to question something that worked. If it's not broken, don't fix it, was his motto. And the Doctor's, apparently. Well, most of the time, anyway.

"So, what are we gonna do today?" Cale asked as the ship began to make its usual grinding, whining noise.

"Break in then, wait out the day." the Doctor responded as the TARDIS finished materializing. He walked to the doors, opened them, and then stepped out into an alley, that strangely, had a compact blue four-door sedan parked in it.

"Uh…where?" Cale asked as they walked out onto the street.

"Janitor's closet." the Doctor nonchalantly replied.

"Um…what's a janitor?" Cale asked, feeling distinctly stupid.

"What's a janitor? Janitor's keep the place clean. You do have those in the 51st century, right? Is there something wrong with the TARDIS' translation circuits or something?"

"No, I understand you perfectly." Cale answered, feeling even more the fool. "I'm sure they have 'janitors' in the 51st century, we just call them somethin' else, Doc."

"Oh. Right. Of course." the Doctor covered. He shrugged. "I knew that."

"Uh-huh," Cale said disbelievingly. He frowned when they arrived at the same fire door the Doctor had jury-rigged yesterday. "Why park somewhere else when we're gonna go in the same door?"

"It's not the same door." the Doctor told him as he used his sonic-screwdriver to open it. A familiar shower of sparks erupted on the other side of the glass. "Yesterday's door was on the other side of the building. Come on."

"It was?" Cale asked as they slipped inside. He scanned the almost exactly the same hallway, unease settling in his gut. "Sure looks the same."

"Trust me, it's not." the Doctor led him around a maze of hallways until they came to a small janitor's closet with a sign next to it that said, 'No smoking or naked lights.'

"Naked lights?" Cale asked as the Doctor once again picked the door lock. "Now I really feel like and idiot, what does that mean?"

"It means," the Doctor started to explain as he locked them in the closet, "that you can't just wave an unprotected light bulb about willy-nilly."

"Uh…what's a light bulb?" Cale cleared his throat nervously, stuffing his hands in his pockets and giving the Doctor a sheepish look.

"Blimey! Are you sure there's nothing wrong with the translation circuits?"

The fun really begins in the next chapter, so stay tuned! And, many thanks to you 28 people who have taken time out of your day to read this fic. You are much appreciated. REVIEW!