I'm really sorry it's taken me so long to update my fic! It's my last semester of college and I'm graduating next month, so I've been really busy with homework, writing papers, and studying for my classes (here's to hoping it will all pay off). I hope you can forgive me!
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Chapter 3: The Call
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"Anyway," Earl began after the uncomfortable silence. "Shall we move on then?"
"After you," said the Doctor, and after Earl had passed him, he, Donna, and Jenny followed the alien down the street, listening as they were told about all the wondrous buildings which may or may not have been copied from Barcelona the city.
Earl's behavior became more and more desperate-to-be-liked, and the jokes cornier and cornier, so that by the time Earl had reached his workplace, Donna, Jenny, and the Doctor were only too glad to be rid of him. Of course, they put up a façade of being sorry that they had to depart, but as soon as Earl had entered the building where he worked, Donna, Jenny, and the Doctor breathed a sigh of relief.
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"Blimey! If he isn't the most-" The Doctor, running his hand through his hair in couldn't find the right word.
"Annoying?" Donna assisted. "Pathetic?"
"Pick your choice," the Doctor replied.
"I'm glad not all aliens are like that," Jenny commented.
"So am I, Jenny," said Donna.
She snuck a glance at the Doctor, who noticed and said, "And who are you staring at, Miss Noble?"
"I wasn't staring at anyone," Donna replied. "I was glancing."
"Technicality," the Doctor said simply.
"It may involve eye movement, space man, but there is a big difference between staring and glancing. For one, staring lasts longer than glancing."
"Have it your way, Earth girl," the Doctor retorted. He rolled his eyes when Donna stuck her tongue out at him.
Jenny decided to intervene before Donna and the Doctor became much more distracted. "Since Earl's gone, what are we going to do now?"
"Well, Jenny," the Doctor began. He put his right arm around her shoulders and looked down at her. "We are going to explore. Sight see until our legs start wobbling from tiredness. We are going to have a day full of fun and adventure, like we always do. And hopefully run into some fun mystery to solve at the end of it. Eh?" He grinned like a child at Christmas.
"What say you, Jenny?" Donna asked. She smiled at the Doctor's antics.
"I'm all for it," Jenny replied. "Maybe there's a pub nearby where we can get directions…" She trailed off at the Doctor's expression. "What's wrong?"
"No way is my daughter going inside a foreign pub," he responded. "There's no telling what kind of alien clientele you'll find. Not safe."
"Dad, I'm not a child, I can handle myself. I did come from you, you know."
"I know, and that's what worries me. I know I get into all kinds of trouble, and considering you're quite literally my flesh and blood, I can just imagine what you'll get into."
"But she isn't you," said Donna. She added innocently, "Dad."
The Doctor gave her a look. "Why is it you women always gang up on me?"
"We only do it when you're wrong," Donna replied.
Rolling his eyes, the Doctor said, "Ok, fine, suit yourself. But if we go to a pub for directions, I will be the one to go inside; you will wait outside, is that clear?"
"Crystal," said Jenny.
"Excellent!" was the now-cheerful reply. Jenny rolled her eyes.
Donna, Jenny, and the Doctor had quite the time on Barcelona; they spotted Earl around lunchtime when they stopped at a café to get something to eat. It was a lovely little café, as Donna described it, and had shining pale red counters and black and white checkered flooring. The tables were of the same red as the counters, but the plush seats were a sparkling silver color. Donna thought it looked like a badly put-together 1950's diner, and mentioned as much.
"Donna, remember," said the Doctor, "with an alien planet you're bound to get inaccuracies when implementing cultures and such from other planets."
"No really, space man?" Donna responded sarcastically. "I spent who knows how long traveling with you, I can certainly see how I wouldn't know about inaccuracies on other planets."
The Doctor glanced at her. "Sorry."
He spotted an empty table, so he, Donna, and Jenny went to it. As soon as they sat down, a waitress with blond curls came to take their orders; once she had left, Jenny's eyes went wide.
"Jenny? What is it?" Donna looked at her with concern.
"It's Earl!" Jenny replied.
"Stay calm and don't draw attention to yourselves," said the Doctor. Surreptitiously he turned, trying to get a good eye on Earl's position. He reported, "Looks like our friend is here to meet a business partner. Or not." For Earl had just glided out, looking sad. "Wonder what's up with him?"
"Maybe he's looking for us," said Jenny.
"Why would he be looking for us?" Donna asked. "We're just tourists, not Earl's lifelong friends. And don't start on me again about differences between alien planets and cultures," she added to the Doctor.
"I wasn't going to," he replied. He sighed. "Anyway, he might not be looking for us necessarily, but it looked as though he was looking for someone at least. But that doesn't matter to us," said the Doctor. "We're going to put that behind us and focus on what's to come."
"Speaking of what's coming," Donna nodded slightly in one direction.
Jenny and the Doctor turned and saw the waitress carrying their food and drinks; she set it down on the table and took the credit stick the Doctor handed to her.
"Thank you, sir," said the waitress. She scanned the credit stick and there was a beeping sound as the used credits were taken away; after it was finished, she gave it back. "Enjoy your meal," she said. Donna and the Doctor watched as she walked away.
"What is it, Doctor?" Donna asked him. She had noticed the rather sad expression on his face.
"She reminds me of someone I met," said the Doctor. "Just before I was reunited with you. It was on a spaceship one Christmas Eve. But no sadness for now," he said, returning with dizzying speed to his normal happy-go-lucky self, "we are going to focus on fun, just like I said."
After they had all eaten, Donna, Jenny, and the Doctor went on a tour of some of the more ancient looking buildings in their immediate area; they did not want to stray too far from the TARDIS.
All in all, the three time-travelers had a rather enjoyable day. They did not run into Earl again, although they did talk with some of Earl's colleagues at a recreation of the leaning tower of Pisa. There was some argument about why that particular tower had been placed on Barcelona, being that it was from Italy, not Spain; in the end, Earl's colleagues quite enjoyed how annoyed Donna became at the inaccuracy, while the Doctor looked on in amusement. Jenny, never having been to Earth before, was on the point of agreeing with Earl's colleagues when she caught her father's eye.
"Don't let it on to Donna," he whispered in her ear. "She'll skewer you."
Jenny nodded in agreement.
When he thought Donna could not take it anymore, the Doctor decided that it was high time to interrupt and change the subject; Donna looked like she was on the verge of shouting at the aliens (not that she didn't normally shout when her temper flared up, but she was trying to behave herself on this on occasion, and had so far done remarkably well).
"So how's Earl doing?" the Doctor asked, giving no indication of his now negative opinion of the alien.
"Ok," one of the aliens shrugged. "He seemed depressed about something when he got into work this morning."
"Couldn't be his partner, though, could it?" another alien said.
"Possibly," said a third alien. "They've been going through some rough spots; last I heard, they were on the verge of breaking up."
Guilt settled itself nicely at the pit of Donna's, the Doctor's, and Jenny's stomachs.
"No wonder he was acting oddly," Jenny whispered to Donna so that only she could hear.
"It's true," the second alien was saying. "I mean, the bloke does have periods of happiness like his normal self, but then he has bouts of depression and goes all crazy-like."
"Like how?" the Doctor inquired.
"He starts rambling about things, going off on tangents," the second alien replied.
"But if anyone is with Earl when he gets like that, watch out," said the third alien. "You're lucky you got away from him when you did. Earl's been known to practically stalk anyone if they're really nice and with him long enough during one of his bouts. In his mind, those people automatically become his best friend and confidant. He clings on like a lost puppy."
"That's so sad," Jenny said.
"At first, maybe," said the second alien. "But it gets very annoying after a little while."
"Yeah," Donna mentioned. "Started getting on our nerves after a bit."
"Now, Donna, I'm sure with some serious therapy (because Earl's behavior isn't going to change easily), he will be as right as rain," said the Doctor. "Although I'll leave it up to you fine gentlemen to do that, if you see fit. You've known him longer than I have, so you'd have a better feel for what Earl would respond to."
"True," said the first alien. He had been listening eagerly (if eagerly it could be called) to the entire conversation.
"Good idea," said the second alien. "I hadn't thought of therapy." He looked at his watch. "Well, its about time we get going. We get two breaks during the day: lunch and a short siesta. Earl will come out looking for us if we take to long in getting back."
"Don't let us stop you, then," the Doctor cheerfully replied.
He, Donna, and Jenny gave them a cheery farewell, then turned to each other to decide what course of action to take next. Since it was late afternoon and Donna and Jenny were feeling worn out from walking around all day, it was decided that they would all go back to the TARDIS. There they would relax and rest up a bit before venturing back out onto Barcelona. Or possibly, they would take the TARDIS to a different section of Barcelona; but they would cross that bridge when they came to it.
Once they entered the TARDIS, Donna and Jenny sat down and relaxed on the seat by the console while the Doctor took out his sonic screwdriver. He knelt down and took up one of the metal planks, pulling it clean from its position and exposing the wires and other assorted TARDIS machinery. After placing the plank to the side with a clang, the Doctor turn the screwdriver on and began intermittently turning it on and off.
"Dad?"
"Yeah, Jenny?"
"What are you doing?"
"Looks like he's fixing something." Donna said.
"Something like that," the Doctor replied confidently. "I noticed this old girl seems to be wheezing and groaning a bit more than usual whenever I take her into the vortex, so I'm just taking apart some of the wiring, and placing the parted wires with other wires, not the ones they were parted with, and then melding them back together with my handy-dandy sonic screwdriver."
Donna and Jenny stared at him.
"Blimey, and here I thought you were supposed to be Time Lords. Well, Ladies," said the Doctor. "Superior intellect and all that. Not that other people don't, they just have it in a different way. That's what makes this universe so amazing- there are so many unique aspects to it. But I'm getting off track." He stood up and gazed at Donna and Jenny. "I'm just doing some basic maintenance. Same way humans on earth have to maintain their cars to keep them running in tip-top shape."
"Are you finished?" Jenny asked.
"Just about!" the Doctor declared. He picked up the metal paneling and placed it back into its original position. Straightening up again, he wiped his hands on his trousers and placed the screwdriver in an inside pocket of his jacket. He smiled at his two favorite females. "Well, shall we go to another part of Barcelona, or do you want to stay inside the TARDIS for a bit more?"
Donna was on the point of answering when the Doctor's mobile rang.
The Doctor fished the mobile from his jacket pocket and looked at the caller ID; he flipped it open and placed the phone to his ear.
"Jack," was all he said, although the Doctor said it in such a way as to imply he was inquiring about either Jack's or Torchwood's well-being. Donna and Jenny could not hear what was being said on the other end of the line; but whatever Jack was saying, they could tell it wasn't all happy tales and fun times, for the Doctor's face, which before had been cheerful, became serious and alert.
"Dad?"
"Doctor?"
"Right," said the Doctor into the phone. "We'll be right there." And so saying, he hung up the mobile, placed it back in his pocket, and rushed to the console without delay.