ALAN AND TARA'S DAY IN THE CITY

Chapter Eight

The women were giggling as they walked behind the men. Jack had decided to join in the fun and was trying to get Ianto to do it too as Alan and the Doctor teased each other.

"Come on, Yan, break out of your shell. I've seen you act goofy before. Who gives a damn what people think? We're gonna leave at the end of the day anyway. Loosen up and have some fun. Amuse Tara back there!"

"And that goes for the ladies as well. Let's all be spontaneous and goofy!" Alan said, looking back.

"Yeah, cause we can have fun and be ourselves today and who cares what others think?" Tara said.

"Well, get up here and be goofy with us," Alan said, beckoning to her.

Tara took her mother's hand and they walked up and got in between the Doctor and Alan.

"Getting roped into this as well?" he said.

"I guess so, Dear," Rain said.

They kept on walking and suddenly the Doctor stopped, his gaze fixed on the building across the road. Everyone stopped with him and noticed it was a huge marble building with two waterfall fountains on either side of some concrete steps. Two fountains on either side of the concrete plaza and three statues spaced out above the steps. At the top of the building was chiseled Detroit Institute of the Arts. Curious, the Doctor looked both ways and ran across the street while the others followed him.

"Sorry everyone, you know I'm a sucker for art and antiquities," the Doctor yelled back to them.

His feet hit the plaza and he slowed down. Putting his hands in his pockets he went up the steps and walked over to the central statue which was a copy of The Thinker by Rodin. He glanced at Tara and smiled when she came up beside him.

"This is The Thinker by Auguste Rodin. It's a copy of a very famous statue," he explained to her.

"He's naked. Is he thinking about putting some clothes on?" Tara said.

The Doctor sniggered.

"Could be. Probably thinking about how cold it is!" he said with a wink.

"NOOO!"

They looked over at Alan who was tugging on the front door of the museum. He turned his scandalized gaze to the Doctor as he pointed at the glass door.

"Clooooooooosed!" he moaned.

"What? No!" the Doctor said, running towards him as Tara giggled and followed behind him. "It can't be! I want in!"

"Me too!" Jack said, running from the other side.

Ianto rolled his eyes and the women laughed when the Doctor and Jack joined Alan at the door and all of them pressed their faces against the glass.

"IN!" Alan screamed.

"WE WANT IN! OPEN UP!" Jack screamed.

The woman laughed harder when they pounded on the glass. They all looked at each other and screamed, "IN!" The women glanced back down at the pavement and saw a couple of people giving them odd looks as they walked by. Rose waved at them and watched as they hurried away.

"Wait a tick, mates, I got an idea," the Doctor said to Alan and Jack.

Both men chortled when the Doctor pulled out his sonic screwdriver, looked around, unlocked the door and slipped inside.

"Oh God, we're gonna end up in jail before the day's out," Rose said to Rain and Madison.

The Doctor came back two minutes later. He came outside, locked the door and then held aloft a museum guide brochure in triumph as Alan and Jack applauded.

"Ha! No door can hold me out!" he said, putting it in his pocket.

"Did you see any art in there, Daddy?" Tara asked as they went down the steps.

"No, but I saw the security guard on the way to the information desk. But I eluded him because I'm brilliant," he said proudly.

All of them walked down the steps to the pavement and continued on their way. The Doctor put his arm around his wife and daughter and Alan and Jack did the same with their spouses as they walked along. The Doctor glanced at Madison who was walking beside them.

"We gotta find you someone, Maddie," he said. "We're all walking together and you're there out in the cold."

"I know," Madison said, pouting.

Tara hurried up and around to her side and her parents smiled as she took Madison's hand and walked with her. They walked up to an intersection and stood there waiting for the light to change.

"Hey, Baby."

All of them looked over and saw a ragged homeless black man smiling at Tara.

"You're a cutie," he said.

"Thanks," Tara said, unsure of what to say.

"You got a dollar?"

Tara shook her head. Alan reached into his pocket and pulled out a dollar.

"Bless you," he said when Alan gave it to him.

The light changed and all of them walked across the street. While they walked, Tara's attention was focused on some clothing shops across the street. Suddenly her foot hit a hole in the pavement. Everyone gasped as she stumbled and fell hard on the sidewalk.

"Star, are you alright?" The Doctor said as he and Rain came to her side.

"Ow!" Tara groaned as they helped her to stand.

The Doctor winced when he saw the enormous bloody scrape on her right knee. Tara rubbed her arm while he glanced around and brought out his tissue rejuvenator. Everyone gathered around him, shielding him from view as he used it to heal the skin.

"There we are, good as new," he said, running his finger over the smooth surface of her knee when he was done. "Anything else hurt?"

"My ankle," she said, pointing to her left ankle.

He crouched down and put the rejuvenator against her ankle.

"It's okay, my niece just fell and we're checking her out, making sure she's okay."

The Doctor glanced up and saw Alan talking to an elderly black woman who had stopped to see what was going on. He finished with her ankle and checked the rest of her body.

"Everything looks shipshape, Star. But in future, look where you're going, eh? Quit ogling the frocks and watch the pavement in front of you."

He tousled her hair when she rolled her eyes. She started to walk off again with the others and gasped when Alan scooped her up in his arms.

"My poor crippled niece," he said as Tara smacked the back of his head. "Poor baby, I'll carry you."

"Let me down or I'll spank you!" Tara said.

"Don't you mean pull a knife and hop around while you gut me like a pig?"

"Yeah, that too!"

Alan put her down and put his arm around her as they headed through an underpass. Tara looked around at the darkened interior. They were going through a pathway off to the side as car whizzed through. She looked down and made a face when she saw tons of trash and beer bottles, both whole and broken.

"Wanna carry me again, Uncle Alan, this is gross!" she said.

"Yeah, I agree," Jack said. "It's disgusting in here."

They hurried through it and came out the other side. Everyone jumped when Alan let out a gasp.

"WHITE CASTLE!" he screamed pointing at the restaurant right beside the overpass.

"Oh boy, here we go," Rose muttered to Rain and Madison.

"Hey, the boy likes his white castles," Madison replied.

"Oh yes, I'm getting some to take back with us. I missed eating gut bombs," Alan said, reaching for his wallet.

"Your what?" Tara said.

"Gut bombs, gut grenades, fart burgers, that!" Alan said, pointing to the restaurant. "Haven't you ever had sliders before?"

"No…"

Alan stared at her.

"Weeeell, you're gonna have em now!" he said as everyone laughed. "Come along, I gotta ease my castle craving!"

He hurried inside and everyone followed him. Tara held on to her mother's hand as they walked in. the interior was air-conditioned and the air was filled with the scent of frying hamburgers. Alan was already in the queue behind two people. Above the counter was a large menu that listed everything.

"Do you want something, Baby?" Rain asked her.

"I don't know. Are they any good?" Tara asked.

"Yeah, they're like little baby hamburgers and cheeseburgers and they have chicken and fish sandwiches too."

"I want a chicken one," Tara said.

The Doctor looked over his shoulder at her.

"How many, Star?" he asked.

"How many can I get?" Tara asked.

"Well, I could get you a bag of them and you can have them to snack on back home," he said to her.

"Okay," she said.

He beckoned to them and she and Rain came up beside him while he stood in the queue behind Jack.

"I'm getting a few things as well so we can share," the Doctor said. "I have to admit I developed a fondness for these burgers and I'd like to get a bag of them."

Alan reached the counter.

"Yes, I'd like a case of thirty cheeseburgers and three French fries and a large diet Coke," he said.

He glanced at his family and grinned.

"Trying to watch my weight," he said in a loud stage whisper.

He paid for his food and stepped back as Jack came up to order.

"Yeah, I'd like ten cheeseburgers, three onion chips and three chicken rings and a large Coke," he said.

He smirked at Alan.

"I'm not watching my weight," he said as Alan sniggered. "And these are for me and Yan."

"Suuuure they are," Alan said.

"Oi, what about me?" Rose asked as she stood behind the Doctor. "You get any of that food for me or am I gonna have to order some myself?"

"You're gonna have to order some yourself."

Rose looked at Madison who was standing behind her.

"That's what I figured," she muttered as Madison giggled.

Tara's eyes bulged when the lady behind the counter handed Alan a large cardboard suitcase. It was white and had the white castle logo on the lid with CRAVE CASE written underneath. Then she handed him a white bag with the logo on it and finally a large Diet Coke. Alan thanked her, took his items to a nearby table and opened the crave case. He plucked two cheeseburgers out of it and closed it back. With food in hand he walked over to Rose.

"There, I'm sharing with you," he said, handing her one.

"That's decent of you, thanks!" she said while Madison snickered.

He took the other one up to Tara.

"Here ya go, have a sample," he said, handing it to her.

Tara stared at the tiny cheeseburger nestled in the little open box. She reached in, took it out and bit into it.

"Mmm," she said while she ate it. "Good, this is good."

The Doctor looked at his wife.

"I suddenly have a feeling I'll be needing three of those thirty burger cases now," he said while Tara giggled.

They went up to the lady and the Doctor ordered two cheeseburger cases, a ten sack of chicken sandwiches and three large Cokes. The Doctor handed Tara the sack and Rain one of the cases and they took their Cokes and went over beside Alan who was sitting and waiting for them beside his food.

"So now what do we do with this stuff?" Tara said.

"Now…we go back to the car and put them inside so we can have them for later," Alan said.

"Yeah, but shouldn't we go back and get a minivan…like I told you to in the first place, Goober?" Tara said.

"You're not the boss of me!" Alan said quickly.

The Doctor and Rain giggled as he threw his head back and folded his arms over his chest.

"I told him to get a minivan cause I figured we were gonna get stuff," Tara said to her parents. "But noooooooo, Dorkbutt wanted the Camaro!"

The Doctor and Rain laughed harder when Alan gave her an incensed look.

"I didn't hear you complaining when we were cruising down the road with it, Mungo Jerry!" he said to her. "But yes, I s'pose if they're all coming with us now, we need to go back and exchange our sweet ride for a big bulky people carrier."

"He's angry cause he can't pick up hot chicks with his cool ride now that you're here," Tara said to her parents.

"He better not be picking up anybody in his cool ride," Rose said as she carried a sack of hamburgers and chips over to them.

She sat her Coke down on the table next to Alan and gave him a warning look.

"I've behaved myself…at least when it comes to flirting," Alan protested.

"Just keep it that way," Rose said.

"Just keep it that way!" Alan said in a snotty voice.

"Oooh, mate, that was gutsy," the Doctor said as Rose stared at him angrily.

"Excuse me, are you mocking me?" She said as Madison, Jack and Ianto came up beside her.

"What's going on?" Ianto said, setting his bag of burgers down on the table.

"Uncle Alan was a smartass to Aunt Rose," Tara said.

"When is he ever not a smartass to Aunt Rose?" Jack said.

"Exactly my point! This isn't the first time I've done this and there's no reason to get up in arms because I was just having ya on and bein' silly like we agreed and please, please, please, please don't punch me," Alan said to Rose.

"Oh go ahead, Rose, knock some sense into him," Rain said.

Alan stood up and grabbed the handle of his crave case.

"See this? This has twenty eight burgers in it which makes it awfully heavy and I could very well knock some sense into you, Rainy Painy."

"See this?" Rain said, pointing to her straw. "This is a blunt object that will be very painful once it goes in your eye."

"See this?" Jack said, pointing to himself. "This is me being a sex symbol."

He snickered when everyone slowly turned their heads and stared at him. He shrugged.

"Well, I can't help but toot my own horn sometimes," he said with a grin.

After they got everything together, they decided to head back to the car so Alan could take it and trade it in for a minivan for the day.

"Do I have to?" he whined. "I was planning to land Daisy on top of it and put it in a showroom. It's not like we'll ever be in Detroit again."

"No, you take it back and be responsible," Rose sald.

"You mean, responsible as in the time we left the people carrier sitting in a car park at Julie's block of flats because we tired of the holiday and didn't want to go through the trouble of returning it. Is that the responsible behavior you're on about, Rose?"

They giggled when Rose coughed.

"Well, alright we did do that but she didn't nick it and put it in her TARDIS."

"Yeah and where we're going, the people managing the Hertz will be long dead and won't give a care," Alan said to her.

"Just…return the motor and get us a people carrier and quit whinging about not getting the bleedin' Camaro, yeah?"

"Yes, Misses Killjoy!" Alan said, rolling his eyes.

Everyone laughed when Rose took off after him and the two of them ran down the pavement for several feet.

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