Chapter 1

Not for the first time in the last couple of days, Kari was hit with a wave of frustrated indignation, causing her to roll her eyes and close her book. She looked up as the Doctor stalked into the library, stopping just in front of her.

"Did you know?"

She frowned. "What?"

He abruptly sat down on the end of the couch near her and leaned forward, elbows on his knees.

"Did you know Rose was going to change when you started traveling with us?"

"For the millionth time, no. Why do you keep asking me that?"

He tapped a long finger roughly against her forehead, causing her to flinch back.

"You know way more than you should. Why wouldn't you know this would happen?"

She sighed. "Doctor, I told you that this didn't happen in my time."

He got up and started pacing, running his hands through his hair.

"But you knew something; Rose said you mentioned Game Station after she got burned by the console." He spun on his heel and stormed back up to her. "Why would you mention that?" He knelt down and stared into her eyes with dark, accusatory ones. "What aren't you telling me, Kari Maxwell?"

She leaned back as far as she could in her chair, trying to get away from his gaze, and tensed with anger.

"Do you seriously think I'm hiding something from you? Why would I start that now?"

A muscle twitched in his jaw as he clenched his teeth. "I don't know. Why don't you tell me?"

Sighing, she tried to push him out of her personal space, but only succeeded in rocking him back slightly as he caught himself on the arms of the chair. Her eyes narrowed.

"Let me up. I refuse to be pinned to this chair if we're going to continue this nonsense."

Reluctantly, the Doctor stood up and back, allowing her to stand. She gave him a tight smile as she struggled to get up, her leg still impeded by a brace.

"Thanks so much for the help."

He continued to glare as she paced in front of the fireplace. Rubbing her temples, she tried to wade through the anger, frustration, and accusation streaming from him to her and her own annoyance with him. Hoping he'd take a hint and tamp it down a bit, she squeezed her eyes shut and pushed as much of her anger toward him, smirking when he hissed in pain and surprise.

"What the hell was that?"

"That was me showing you just how absurd you are being! I have no reason to hide anything from you, especially when it comes to Rose. I have told you, repeatedly, that it was a hunch."

"A hunch? A hunch?! What the hell does that even mean?"

"It means that I looked at what had happened in Rose's past, combined it with what I presently saw happening to her, and got a decent idea of what that could mean. I'm sorry if you were too damn blind to even consider that you couldn't just pull the Time Vortex out of her and there be no after effects."

She stood her ground as he stepped into her, teeth bared, nostrils flared as heavy breaths puffed out.

"How dare you suggest that I'm blind to what's happening to Rose," he growled, clearly hoping to make her cower. It didn't work. It rarely did.

She took a step toward him and matched his gaze, her voice dropping low.

"Then how else do you explain you not even noticing she'd changed? Or is this like everyone but you acknowledging how you feel about her? A fucking Dalek knew you loved her long before you were even able to admit it to yourself."

"What does that have to do with anything?"

Kari cocked her head to the side. "Did she ever tell you what the werewolf said to her when she was still locked up by it?"

The Doctor blinked, caught slightly off-guard by the seemingly unrelated question. "Yes, that he wanted to bite the queen and create the 'Empire of the Wolf.' So what?"

"She didn't tell you what he saw in her? That she had a bit of the wolf in her and that she shone bright as the sun."

He took a couple steps back, frowning. "What?"

She stalked toward him, causing him to back up. "He saw the Bad Wolf in her; saw her glowing with the Time Vortex. She blew it off; forgot about it in the excitement of running from a werewolf. Didn't even think of it again until after she regenerated. Why should she? You'd told her everything was okay; that she was safe. And she seems to be, for the most part." She stopped a few paces from him, his back against a bookcase. "Now imagine if you had actually paid attention and considered what it actually meant for her to absorb the Vortex for as long as she did. You had it in you for barely a minute and you had to regenerate. She was able to fly the TARDIS through the Vortex almost two hundred thousand years into the future and decimate the Daleks before it started to burn her. How could you not think that would affect her in some way?"

He put his hands up in surrender, his voice quiet and calming. "Okay, you're right, I should've paid more attention. But that doesn't change the fact that you were very quick to put the pieces together. How were you able to do that?"

Kari sighed and turned away. "I already told you, I was observant."

"But that can't be it. I mean, yeah, you're observant and bloody clever, but to put together the events at Game Station with Rose's transformation takes quite the leap."

"Not when the idea's already been planted in your head," she mumbled, refusing to turn back around.

He placed a hand on her shoulder, anger and accusation dropping away, making room for curiosity. "Kari, is there something you haven't told me?"

She took a deep breath and let it out slowly, her shoulders slumping, her voice barely above a whisper when she spoke. "Yes."

The Doctor slowly spun her around and took her by both shoulders. "Tell me."

"You'll think it's stupid."

He lifted her chin, making her look at him. "If it gives me any insight as to what is going on with Rose, I'll think it's brilliant."

Sighing, she pulled out of his grasp and started pacing again. "Okay, know how I've told you there are several mediums in which your adventures are told?"

"Yes. Telly, books, comics, and audio stories. But you also said that this didn't happen in any of them."

"Right, but there's another form where it has, in several different ways."

He frowned. "What're you talking about?"

Stopping, she turned to face him, a hot blush running up her neck. "I'm talking about fan fiction."

"Fan what?"

"Fan fiction. Stories written by fans to fill in the gaps between shows or change the outcome of an adventure. There are literally hundreds of stories written by fans on this subject alone."

"How much truth is there to this 'fan fiction'?"

She shrugged. "No idea; I'm guessing very little beyond whatever they pulled from known stories. However, fans are observant, especially if they watch the same episodes over and over. Each time, they catch something new; something they hadn't heard or seen the last ten or 20 times they watched the episode. Like what the wolf said to Rose. For fans, that was a giant neon sign that said 'she's changed'. So they started working out theories with the obvious starting point being Game Station."

He deflated slightly before starting his own pacing. "So what you're saying is that I'm the only one who didn't know something was wrong?"

"I wouldn't say something was 'wrong,' considering what the outcome is, but, yes, it would seem you were the last to know yet again."

He shot her a quick glare, causing her to smile slightly, as he continued wearing a hole in the floor.

"Right, fine, point is that this is something I should've noticed happening and didn't. Makes me wonder what else I'm missing." He suddenly stopped and spun on the spot. "Show me."

Kari startled and blinked. "Show you what?"

"Show me this fan fiction. I want to see what else they've noticed."

Her eyes grew wide. "I…uh…I don't think that's a good idea, Doctor."

"Why not? You said there's not much truth to it beyond what they've gotten from the show or whatever. Can't be that much foreknowledge."

"Well, it's not that, exactly, though there would be a bit of that. It's just…"

"Just what?"

She sighed. "Nothing. Wait here. I'll go get my laptop."