Clara came back into the living looking as if she were on the verge of tears again. "He's not picking up," she said worriedly. "I tried three times."
"He's probably just rescuing a planet somewhere," Martha said as she gestured for Clara to sit down again.
"But he'd still pick up," Clara said. "It takes him a little while but he always picks up to at least tell me that he's busy."
Mickey nudged his wife. "Maybe you have a go."
Martha looked surprised for a moment, then produced her phone. She stared at it in her for a while, then realised that both Clara and Mickey were watching her expectantly.
"Haven't done this in years," she said quietly. She scrolled through the contacts on her phone and, after a moment's hesitation, called the Doctor.
Almost as soon as Martha heard the dial tone, the Doctor picked up the phone. "Doctor Jones!" he sounded cheerful, but Martha knew he was faking it.
"Doctor," Martha replied. She looked at Clara, surprise etched on her face. 'He's Scottish!' she mouthed. Clara nodded, the ghost of a smile appearing on her lips.
"How can I help you?" the Doctor asked.
"Doctor, can you pop over for a moment? There's someone here to see you." Martha crossed her fingers.
The Doctor paused, before replying with carefully chosen words. "Doctor Jones, is she a control freak who can talk faster than the speed of light and do that thing where her eyes inflate?"
Martha looked at Clara. "If I say yes, will you still come?"
The Doctor sighed over the phone. "Can you pass her the phone?"
Martha did as she was told and passed the phone to Clara.
"Doctor?"
"Clara! What's going on?"
"Doctor, you lied to me!" She vaguely registered that she was crying again, and made a mental note to lose that habit. "Where are you? Are you alone?"
"Clara, I'm fine. What's gotten into you. Why don't you just go home to P.E? Does he know you're visiting Martha and Mickey?" The Doctor sounded annoyed, but Clara knew he was just being defensive.
Unfortunately, she was sobbing now, and couldn't seem to put this into words.
"Clara?" Now the Doctor was confused. And concerned. "Are you all right?"
No reply. Only the sound of Clara sobbing, and the background noise of Martha trying to comfort her.
"Clara, can you pass the phone to PE?"
Clara shook her head, but obviously the Doctor couldn't see.
"Okay, give it back to Martha." Apparently he wasn't going to get any more information from Clara.
Martha grabbed the phone eagerly and quickly decided that she wasn't going to let him get a word in on this one. Nevertheless, she went out into the corridor so that Clara couldn't hear what she was saying, and become more upset than she already was. "Doctor, you absolute idiot! You just assumed, didn't you, that Danny would come back. Didn't let Clara tell you that he was back, just assumed and jumped on your high horse to do the noble thing and sacrifice your own happiness and wellbeing so your companion, your friend, might not feel guilty about it. Well, I'm telling you now, she is feeling as guilty as ever and you can get your Tardis right here, and fix things up!"
There was a silence, and Martha worried for a moment that she had pushed things too far.
"Danny didn't come back?"
Martha sighed. "He killed a civilian boy by accident when he was a soldier. He sent the boy back. Clara found the boy's parents and sent him home."
"Typical Clara," the Doctor muttered.
"What was that?" Martha asked, but the Doctor had already hung up.
A moment later, the familiar wheezing and groaning of the Tardis echoed through the flat as the Doctor landed in the living room. The blue doors opened, and the Doctor stepped out, holding out his arms.
Clara ran straight into them. It was the first time that this Doctor initiated a hug.
"Broke the habit," said the Doctor.