XxxxxxXxxxxxxxXxxxxxxxx

This is a continuation (Book #10) of the series that follows Chapter 28 of Starting Over by TheDoctorMulder. The search for Samuel continues, while Arles serves as Karen's One. Rose is so upset with the loss of her son, that she's unable to use any of her new found Bad Wolf powers at all. Tony Tyler's revenge continues to pull him further from the family and the Doctor. Legate and Genie look for a good time to tell the Doctor of their engagement, but with Samuel missing, the TARDIS broken, and the Doctor ill, it's hard to find that perfect time. Lots of stuff happening.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Chapter 1 – Just Another Day

Several days passed, and no one heard from Samuel. The Doctor and Rose returned within hours of Lewis' call only to turn around to follow another led that might have been the Vesuos leaving orbit. King Lartius had send out twelve fleets to aid in the search. All hospitals had been told to look out for Samuel, Tony Tyler, and Poltious.

Poltious continued to remain silent in all of the Quauthin's heads. Nowhere was that silence louder than in Legate's. With the news of Vesuos having Tony and Samuel, Tony's ship had become the subject of a search that Jack Harkness was using all of the resources available to him to find. Both Lewis' ship and the space port had been connected together. Nothing seemed to help.

Arles had explained everything to Karen that Samuel had managed to avoid even bringing up. He told her of the Quauthin. The reason they were really there. Who John was. Who Lewis and Lance were.

As the days passed, Karen stayed at the beachfront home of her parents in Florida. She found she didn't want to do anything but sit on the third story balcony outside of her bedroom and listen to the ocean. She noticed that when she closed her eyes, she could still feel that pleasant electrical current that always flowed through her when Samuel touched her. She was unsure what it even was, but made her certain that he was still alive. Surely, she wouldn't be able to feel that anymore if something had happened to him.

Her Dad was working closely with Pete Tyler, and had even taken a job with Torchwood. President Howard Shepherd had given him permission to use whatever means he needed in order to help Pete find Samuel. Arles had told her that he had been on Lewis' ship, reading radar signals from all over the galaxies. Looking for one that Torchwood had identified as a possible suspect.

Karen sat on the rocking chair and thought of how Samuel's voice sounded when he said her name. How his eyes looked as she looked into that beautiful sea of brown.

"Hey." A familiar voice spoke.

She opened her eyes and turned to see Tony standing in the doorway of the porch. He brought her a cup of coffee. "It's cool out here. Do you need a jacket?"

She pointed back towards the door. "There's one just there."

He turned and handed her the wool coat that Samuel had given her. She laid it on her chest and inhaled his scent. It made her eyes pool in tears again.

Tony sat beside of her and sipped his cup of coffee. "Your Mom is making cookies, again."

She sipped her coffee. "Arles ate most of them, yesterday."

He grinned, "What she didn't send home for Soli. He's calling her, 'Ma'am Cookie'."

Karen smiled. "Mom told me that she's never liked you."

"Well. She only just met me."

"That's what I told her. She said you are completely different than what she thought you would be. She really appreciates you coming to see me every day since this happened. I do, too. I know you are busy."

He rose his eyebrows and sipped his coffee. "Samuel, is my family. And thus, you are too."

"Explain to me what this, 'One' is."

"Arles getting on your nerves?"

"No. That's just it. He's….amazing. He's called all of my professors and gotten me extensions on things. I went to send that proposal you wrote and he had made some edits and sent it already. He has…just became….everything I need."

"And that's not getting on your nerves?"

"It's odd. No."

Tony sipped his coffee, "Quauthin have a ceremony that they count as a marriage ceremony. It's called a Life Promise. It's what Pepper and I did when we visited their homeworld. We didn't want a big, press, hooplah. So, it was only me, her, and Lartius."

"Lartius can marry you?"

"He's King, I imagine he do whatever the hell he wants."

"Lartius is a King?"

He chuckled, "That sounds like Pepper when she met him."

Karen shook her head, "The world has gone crazy."

Tony nodded. "It always was. There is this thing that Quauthin Warriors are worth Ten men, so when one makes the Life Promise, he has to choose his Ten that will come to his wife's aid in the event he can't. Arles is One."

"Legate is Two." She realized. "What a neat tradition."

He sipped his coffee.

"So, you have Ten?"

He nodded. "I do."

"Who are they?"

"Well, most of them don't know so…" He tapped his lips. "But, in order, my Ten are: Soli, Lartius, John, Lance, Lewis, Pete, Legate, Poltious, Tony Tyler and Gene."

"Gene?"

"Genie. Sam's sister."

Karen closed her eyes tightly. Just hearing his name make her heart nearly stop.

Tony noticed. "It's a sacred thing, to be One. Arles has a hell of a job cut out for him."

"He's coming back." Karen insisted.

Tony pointed at her. "And never think he won't. He's depending on that."

She looked back him.

"When I was in the desert, Pepper didn't give up on me. It was all I could think about. Getting home. Leaving. Some moments, it was just….take another breath. And that's why I did. Pepper wouldn't give up on me, so I wasn't going to give up. I remember….hearing her voice shouting at me when I would have those low moments and realized it would just be easier to give up. She wouldn't allow it."

She nodded. "I understand."

"I've been where Sam is, and I'll tell you he only has three things on his mind. First, he misses you. Second, are you safe? He has named Arles as his One and knows we are also all here. So, he knows we have that covered."

"What's third?"

"How he's getting back. Believe me. It's third to all of that."

"Is it really?"

He looked back at her and smiled, "He's already proposed?"

She smiled and rubbed her fingers over her ring. "Sortof."

"You already have a ring."

She wiped a tear and smiled, "He made a note for himself in my planner to propose in six months. I told him that's how long he had to wait."

"Really? You're tough."

She nodded. "Yes. And then….it just….became an engagement. But, we didn't want to tell anyone. What with Legate and Genie-"

Tony shot out of the chair. "I KNEW IT!"

Karen looked up at him and rolled her neck back in surprise. "Uh….probably shouldn't have told you that."

He sat back down and pointed at her. "They are engaged, too! Aren't they?! That's it! I'm right!?"

She laughed for the first time in days. "Yes."

He slapped the arm of the chair. "I knew it! Damn, cradle robber! Damn, I'm so good!"

She shook her head. "Arles says the few people who know are betting on what John will do when he finds out."

"John doesn't know?" He covered his mouth and laughed, "Oh, this shit is getting better every second!"

She shook her head. "I shouldn't have told you! I'm just…insane!"

"Do I need to keep it to myself that I know?"

"Could you? I don't want to mess this up for them."

"Okay. I'll keep it to myself. Well, I'll tell Pepper, but…we'll keep it quiet." He sighed. "Hate to miss out on that bet."

"Well, we'll bet then."

"Okay." He looked back at her. "What do you think will happen?"

"Well, I think he'll be happy about it. It's his daughter and she's happy." She shrugged her shoulders.

"Have you met John?"

"No. Not yet."

Tony shook his head. "I say, he's going to hit him. I believe he'll bust Legate in the mouth. Give him a fat lip so he can't kiss her for a while. Especially, since he's stressed about Sammy and sick on top of that."

She asked, "He's sick?"

"Oh yes. And he won't stop looking for Sam long enough to rest to get well. Rose is getting pissed with him. They are on their way back here now."

She sighed. "So, it was another false alarm-"

"It was a false lead. But, we really need him here, at least to review what we already know. I'm sure we're missing something. It's just…..right there."

She wiped a tear from her eye. "Why did these men want your son?"

Tony sighed. "That's a fair question. You deserve to know. James Soler Stark, is actually Soler from a place called, Chaomlean, the only known son of a man there named Mageer. A figure from Legend that are extremely rare beings called a Khrele. They can pull the electricity that is around them, into their bodies and redirect it. Shoot it out of their hands, electrocute people, he's accidently shot John before. Scared the hell out of all of us."

"So, he's an alien?" Karen asked.

Tony nodded, "Yes. He is."

"Are you?"

He smiled back at her. "No. Although, you would be surprised how often I'm asked that. I think it's because no one can believe I'm really this good looking."

She smiled and shook her head. "That sounds like Arles."

Tony continued to explain. "Soli wears a bracelet like all of us do. That's the reason you've never seen him…be sparky. It turns that off. He practices so that he can hopefully, one day control it. He's getting better, but those of us that are close to him have grounding in ours to prevent any sort of accident. Samuel's has it. I'm sure of it."

She looked back at the bracelet of Samuel's she wore. "I'll be so glad when he returns and I can give this back to him."

"I've already made you another one. I can take that one off-"

"No. It's alright. Arles has shown me how to use it." She told him as she wiped another tear from her eye.

"Okay." He sipped his coffee.

"Will these things come back? Hurt Soli?"

"John blew up my ship to create the illusion that Soli had been killed. That was only a few weeks ago. Apparently these morons didn't get the message."

"Your ship? You have a ship?"

"I had a ship. John has another one for me that he's bringing back this time. So, I'll be back in business and I can go look for Sammy myself."

She wiped a tear that fell from her eye. "He could be anywhere."

"You're not giving up. Because, I'm not giving up. When you think you want to, remember that. Remember that he's depending on your determination to keep going. Alright?"

She wiped her tears and nodded. "Okay."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX