Van Statten reluctantly got the Doctor released and the first thing the Doctor done was grab hold of Kari. "What the hell are you even doing here?"
"What do you think?" She told him weakly as he helped her to stand properly.
"How can you have been here for months?" The concern was just flooding him. He had no idea what they had done to her, and honestly, he didn't know if he wanted to find out.
"I may have arrived a little early." She whispered to him, holding onto his arm tightly. "Oh no, Rose. She…" Kari's mind had finally deciding to start working again.
"Kari, just stay calm. How are you feeling?" The Doctor asked her as they made their way to Van Statten's office.
"I'm… okay. Let's just leave it at that." She told him, pushing herself closer to him.
The Doctor let out a sigh. "Kari, you need to tell me what happened."
"Later. We have much bigger problems to worry about. Such as that Dalek and Rose being down there with it." She told him, still feeling weak, but nowhere near as bad as she had been.
When she had seen what was happening to the Doctor, she just lost it. She knew she was getting angry, she could feel it. It would seem that what ever had happened when she was angry, had given her a boost. She thought back to what the Face of Boe had told her, that she had the Time Vortex flowing through her. Kari could only assume that was what it was.
"Does that Dalek know that you're here?" The Doctor asked her, still worried about her.
"Nope. Never got a chance to see it. Van Statten locked me up and… but I knew it was there. I knew exactly what he was keeping there and what he was doing to it. And now I know what Rose has done." Kari told her, a grim expression on her face.
"Kari, are you sure you're okay?"
She smiled at him as best she could. "Of course I am. Come on, Doctor, how long have you known me for? I can survive anything. Trust me, this is nothing." She told him, knowing that there were worse days to come for both of them.
They darted out of the lift and into Van Statten's office. "You've got to keep it in that cell." The Doctor shouted, seeing Rose on the large screen in the room.
"Doctor, it's all my fault." Rose cried.
"I've sealed the compartment. It can't get out, that lock's got a billion combinations." The guard who was with Rose told them.
Kari snorted. "Yeah? Well, a Dalek's a genius. It can calculate a thousand billion combinations in one second flat. And you have about fifteen seconds before that door opens." She told them, knowing from the amount of times she had counted when she had watched the episode.
"Kari!" Rose called. "When did you get here? You're looking awful."
Kari just rolled her eyes. "Yeah, thanks, Rose. I feel bloody awful. Now, focus on the stupid Dalek." She shouted.
They watched, and waited. And just as Kari said, the door began to open. The guard who was down there began shooting at it.
"Don't shoot it! I want it unharmed." Van Statten called.
"Rose, get the hell out of there." Kari called, knowing exactly what was coming next.
Another of the guards took Rose and Adam, the boy from England, to keep them safe. While the Dalek smashed a monitor on the wall.
"We're loosing power. It's draining the base. Oh, my God. It's draining entire power supplies for the whole of Utah." Goddard cried.
"It's downloading. And before you ask, it's not just the energy. That Dalek has just absorbed the entire internet. It knows everything. And now, we are in even more trouble than before." Kari warned them.
"The cameras in the vault have gone down." Goddard told them as the Dalek destroyed all the cameras.
"We've only got emergency power. It's eaten everything else. You've got to kill it now!" The Doctor shouted to Van Statten.
"All guards to converse on the Metaltrons cage, immediately." Goddard called over the comms.
"Doctor, you have to trust me today. I know what's going to happen, and if I tell you not to do something, you sure as hell better listen to me." Kari called to him.
He looked at her, his curiosity rising. "What do you know?"
"Like I'm really stupid enough to tell you. Just trust me, and listen to me. I want to get the hell out of this place. I want a nice hot bath and a warm bed to sleep in." The Doctor nodded at her. He could tell that she had been through a lot, and he knew that there was no way she was going to tell him until she was rested.
"Tell them to stop shooting at it." Van Statten cried, seeing the guards firing at his prized pet.
"Mr Van Statten, that Dalek is killing them. There will be a lot more deaths if it isn't stopped." Kari warned him, her voice dangerously low.
"They're dispensable. That Dalek is unique. I don't want a scratch on its bodywork, do you hear me? Do you hear me?" He shouted, ignoring everything Kari had said to him.
Everything went silent, all the guards had been killed. "That's us, right below the surface." Goddard said, showing them the schematics for the building. "That's the cage, and that's the Dalek."
"This museum of yours, have you got any alien weapons?" The Doctor asked.
Goddard nodded at him. "Lots of them, but the trouble is, the Dalek's between us and them."
"We've got to keep that thing alive. We could just seal the entire vault, trap it down there." Van Statten suggested.
Kari had seriously had enough with the man now. "Leaving everyone trapped with it, signing their death warrants. Rose is down there. I won't let that happen. Have you got that?" She spat at him. The Doctor gently squeezed her hand, trying to get her to calm down.
"It's got to go through this area. What's that?" The Doctor asked, pointing at a block on the schematics.
"Weapons testing." Kari said at the same time as Goddard.
"Give guns to the technicians, the lawyers, anyone. Everyone. Only then have you got a chance of killing it." The Doctor told her.
They knew more people were dying because of the Dalek. And Rose was still trapped down there, running away from it.
"I thought you were the great expert, Doctor. If you're so impressive, then why not just reason with this Dalek? It must be willing to negotiate. There must be something it needs. Everything needs something." Van Statten said.
Kari just laughed. "Daleks don't negotiate. They have one purpose and one purpose alone. To exterminate anything and everything that isn't a Dalek."
Van Statten just looked at her in shock. "What's the nearest town?" The Doctor asked, knowing that Kari was right.
"Salt Lake City." Kari and Van Statten said at the same time.
"Population of over one million." Kari continued, knowing what the Doctor's next question was going to be.
"All dead. If the Dalek gets out, it'll murder every living creature. That's all it needs." The Doctor told them.
"But why would it do that?" Van Statten asked, still not understanding the seriousness of the situation.
"Because it honestly believes they should die. Human beings are different, and anything different is wrong. It's the ultimate in racial cleansing and you, Van Statten, you've let it loose!" The Doctor shouted.
"The Dalek's surrounded by a force field. The bullets are melting before they even hit home." The Doctor called over the comms.
"But it's not indestructible." Kari said, a tiny hint of a smile on her face.
The Doctor just smiled at her, that was his Kari. "If you concentrate your fire, you might get through. Aim for the dome, the head, the eyepiece. That's the weak spot."
"Thank you, Doctor, but I think I know how to fight one single tin robot. Position!" The commander called from where they were stationed down in the loading bay where the Dalek was approaching.
Kari let out a sigh. "If people don't start listening to us, no one is going to get out of here alive." She knew just how many people died, and she hated it, because she couldn't help them. "And Rose is still down there."
After a few minutes of waiting, the screen on the wall came back on. "We've got vision." Goddard announced.
"Yup, because it wants us to see. It wants us to see the death of all those people." Kari spat, feeling her emotions start to get the better of her. "I can't watch this." She said, turning away as the Dalek shot its laser at the fire alarm, setting off all the sprinklers while it floated in the air.
The Dalek fired its laser at the soaked floor, electrocuting everyone standing in the puddles. Then it done to the same to the rest on the metal walk ways.
"Perhaps it's time for a new strategy." Van Statten said, while the Doctor tried to comfort Kari. "Maybe we should consider abandoning this place."
"Except there's no power to the helipad, sir. We can't get out." Goddard reminded him.
"You said we could seal the vault." The Doctor pointed out, holding Kari close to him. Her eyes had glazed over slightly, and it was worrying him.
"It was designed to be a bunker in the event of a nuclear war. Steel bulkheads." Van Statten told him.
"There is enough power." Kari whispered, as Goddard went to speak. "We've got emergency power, everyone always has emergency power. We can re-route that to the bulkhead doors."
Everyone just looked at her. "We'd have to bypass the security codes. That would take a computer genius." Goddard didn't seem to have much hope in the situation. She was constantly finding faults with everything.
"Good thing you've got me then." Van Statten said smugly.
"You want to help?" The Doctor asked, a little bit shocked.
"I don't want to die, Doctor. Simple as that. And nobody knows this software better than me." He replied, setting to work on the computer terminal.
"Sir…" Goddard got everyone attention back to the screen where the Dalek was now back on the ground.
"I SHALL SPEAK ONLY TO THE DOCTOR." The Dalek called on the screen.
"You're going to get rusty." He said, making sure to keep Kari safely hidden behind him.
"I FED OFF THE DNA OF ROSE TYLER. EXTRAPOLATING THE BIOMASS OF A TIME TRAVELLER REGENERATED ME."
"What's your next trick?"
"I HAVE BEEN SEARCHING FOR THE DALEKS."
"Yeah, I saw. Downloading the internet. What did you find?" The Doctor asked it, knowing that it would have found nothing.
"I SCANNED YOUR SATELLITES AND RADIO TELESCOPES."
"And?"
"NOTHING? WHERE SHALL I GET MY ORDERS NOW?" It asked, sound a little… sad. If it were possible for a Dalek to feel any emotions and feel sad.
"You're just a soldier without commands." The Doctor said, feeling a little smug now.
"THEN I SHALL FOLLOW THE PRIMARY ORDER, THE DALEK INSTINCT TO DESTROY, TO CONQUER." The Dalek decided. Kari was biting her lip behind the Doctor. All she kept thinking about was Rose, and how she was getting along. She knew she was going to be trapped with the Dalek. Even worse, caught by the Dalek.
"What for?" The Doctor asked. "What's the point? Don't you see it's all gone? Everything you were, everything you stood for." The Dalek asked what it should do, and the Doctor was only too happy to offer a suggestion. "All right then. If you want orders, follow this one. Kill yourself."
"THE DALEKS MUST SURVIVE!" It screeched.
"The Daleks have failed. Why don't you just finish the job and make the Daleks extinct. Rid the universe if your filth. Why don't you just die?"
The Dalek seemed to ponder on the Doctor's words for a few moments before responding. "YOU WOULD MAKE A GOOD DALEK."
The screen died and Kari tugged at the Doctor's hand. "It going to be fine, Theta. I promise." She whispered in his mind, making him smile a little. "Seal the vault." She ordered, turning to Van Statten.
"I can leech power off the ground defences, feed it to the bulkheads. God, it's been years since I had to work this fast." There was a grin on the man's face as he worked away.
"Are you enjoying this?" The Doctor spat at him, causing Kari to squeeze the hand of his that she was still holding onto.
"Rose is still down there." Kari reminded him, picking up the phone.
"This isn't the best time." Rose said when she answered.
"Rose, you have to get to level forty six, and fast. The vault's being sealed off so you have to keep moving."
"Can't you stop them closing?" She asked.
"We're the ones closing them. Listen to me, Rose. Stay calm, whatever happens, stay calm. The Dalek extrapolated your DNA, the DNA of Rose Tyler." Kari told her, knowing for a fact that it was causing the Dalek to mutate. "Now for God sake, run!"
"Done it. We've got power to the bulkheads." Van Statten said, as Kari put the call on speaker.
"The Dalek's right behind them." Goddard informed them, watching it gaining on them.
"Doctor, I can't sustain the power. The whole system is failing." The Doctor wasn't listening to him, He was watching Kari closely, she was staying calm, just a little too calm. "Doctor, you've got to close the bulkheads."
"I'm sorry." He whispered, before hitting the enter key. As soon as he did, the bulkhead started to close.
"The vault is sealed." Van Statten announced, feeling a little relieved.
"Rose, where are you? Rose, did you make it?" The Doctor asked her.
"Sorry, I was a bit slow. See you then, Doctor, Kari. It wasn't your fault. Remember that, okay? It wasn't your fault. And do you know what? I wouldn't have missed it for the world."
"EXTERMINATE!" They heard the Dalek cry, before the line went dead.
"I killed her." The Doctor said in shock.
Van Statten just looked at him. "I'm sorry."
"I said I'd protect her. She was only here because of us, and you're sorry? I could've killed that Dalek in its cell, but you stopped me." The Doctor spat at him. Kari was going to let the Doctor vent out his anger, she knew that he really needed to, because Van Statten needed to know what he had done.
"It was the prize of my collection!" The man argued.
"Your collection? But was it worth it? Worth all those men's deaths? Worth Rose? Let me tell you something, Van Statten. Mankind goes into space to explore, to be part of something greater." The Doctor told him.
"Exactly! I wanted to touch the stars!"
"You just wanted to drag the stars down and stick them underground, underneath tons of sand and dirt, and label them. You're about as far from the stars as you can get. And you took her down with you. She was nineteen years old."
"She still is." Kari said, a grin on her face. "It really isn't that easy to get rid of Rose Tyler. Believe me, we been through worse."
The Doctor just frowned at her. "Is this your all knowing power?"
She shrugged at him. "Maybe."
"I take it you're starting to feel better now then?" He asked her, hoping that she really was.
"Yeah, but there's one thing that will really make me feel so much better." She told him, taking a step over to Van Statten. Kari smiled at him sweetly before pulling be her arm and punching the man in the face, sending him to the ground. "Yeah, that definitely made me feel so much better."
The Doctor just laughed before pulling her into a tight embrace. "You've had some practice."
"Maybe a little. An old friend of mine taught me a few things not so long ago. He thought I might need it some day." She told him, both of them still beaming away.
"I think you broke my nose." Van Statten cried, holding onto his bloodied nose.
The Doctor just glared at him. "Be thankful it was her that hit you and not me. If I had, you would never be getting up again." He voice was so low, and intimidating. Kari knew that he was serious, and for once, she fully understood why.
"Do you mind leaving the Oncoming Storm outside please?" Kari asked him, really not wanting to see him angry any more. She seemed to be getting along with him, for now. Maybe it was because of what she had been through before he found her, either way, they weren't fighting.
The door opened and Adam walked into the room. "You were quick on your feet, leaving Rose behind." The Doctor spat at him, not listening to Kari's words.
"I'm not the one who sealed the vault!" He protested, just before the screen came back to life again.
"OPEN THE BULKHEAD OR ROSE TYLER DIES." The Dalek informed them.
"You're alive!" The Doctor exclaimed.
Kari just rolled her eyes. "I did actually tell you that, didn't I? I swear I told you that."
"OPEN THE BULKHEAD." The Dalek ordered.
"It's fine, Theta, do it." Kari whispered in his mind.
The Doctor looked at her and nodded. "I killed her once. I can't do it again." He said, before opening the bulkhead again.
"What do we do now, you bleeding heart? What the hell do we do?" Van Statten spat.
"Oh, shut up will you. You're giving me a headache." Kari said, taking everyone but the Doctor by surprise. "Adam, I think it's time we headed to your workshop. I know for a fact that you have a few un-catalogued things in there."
The young man just nodded at her and he led Kari and the Doctor down. "Broken, broken, hairdryer." The Doctor said, tossing different things to the side.
"Is that hairdryer strong enough to disrupt your sonic?" Kari asked, remembering something he will say in the future. All he did was give her a funny look.
"Mr Van Statten tends to dispose of his staff, and when he does he wipes their memory." Adam told them.
"Stupid bloody retcon." Kari mumbled.
"I kept this stuff in case I needed to fight my way out one day."
"What, you in a fight? I'd like to see that." The Doctor scoffed, looking at the scrawny boy.
"I could do." He protested.
"What're you going to do, throw you're a-levels at 'em?" The Doctor asked, making Kari giggle a little. "Oh, yes. Lock and load." He said, finally managing to find something that was a weapon and worked.
"Okay, come on then, Doctor. Time to go and finish this." Kari said, grabbing his arm and dragging him towards the stairs.
"I take it you know where we're going?" He asked, holding her hand tightly and the rather large, oversized gun in the other.
"Of course I do. Now, do you remember what I said earlier? About you listening to me?" The Doctor nodded at her. "Good, because that time is coming. Now shift it."
They carried on running until they finally reached Rose and the Dalek. There was a hole in the roof, with sunlight streaming in and the Dalek's casing open as well.
"Get out of the way. Rose, get out of the way now!" The Doctor shouted.
"No. I won't let you do this." Rose called back to him, standing in front of the Dalek, protecting it.
"That thing killed hundreds of people." The Doctor protested, keeping the gun aimed.
"It's not the one pointing the gun at me."
"I've got to do this. I've got to end it. The Daleks destroyed my home, my people. I've got nothing left but Kari now."
Kari stepped out from behind the Doctor. "Yeah, and look at the Dalek." She whispered to him, before walking over to Rose.
"What's it doing?" He asked, seeming a little confused.
"It's the sunlight, that's all it wants." Rose told him, smiling at Kari as she took her friends hand.
"But it can't…"
Kari let out a sigh. "It couldn't kill Van Statten and it couldn't kill Rose. It's changing." She told him. "Listen to me, Doctor, and stop this."
Slowly he lowered the gun some more, keeping his word and listening to Kari. "WHY DO WE SURVIVE?" The Dalek asked.
The Doctor looked at it with pity. "I don't know."
"I AM THE LAST OF THE DALEKS."
"You're not even that." Kari told it. "Rose did more than regenerate you. You've absorbed her DNA. You're mutating."
Its eyestalk swung round and focused on Kari. "INTO WHAT?"
"Something new. I'm sorry, I really am." She told it, knowing how this was all going to end.
"Isn't that better?" Rose asked, not really understanding what was going on. Kari just shook her head.
"I CAN FEEL SO MANY IDEAS. SO MUCH DARKNESS. ROSE, GIVE ME ORDERS. ORDER ME TO DIE."
Rose just shook her head. "I can't do that."
"THIS IS NOT LIFE. THIS IS SICKNESS. I SHALL NOT BE LIKE YOU. ORDER MY DESTRUCTION! OBEY! OBEY! OBEY!" The Dalek cried.
"Do it." Rose said, feeling a little scared.
"ARE YOU FRIGHTENED, ROSE TYLER?" She admitted that she was. And so did the Dalek.
Kari dragged Rose away as the casing closed before the Dalek levitated into the air again. The spheres on its case broke apart and surrounded it, creating some kind of force field, before the Dalek self-destructed.
"You okay, Rose?" Kari asked, wrapping an arm around her friend.
She nodded. "Better than you by the looks of it. What happened to you?" There was concern in her voice and her eyes.
"Long story. Let's just say the Dalek wasn't Van Statten's only living specimen." All Kari wanted to do was forget everything that had happened. She knew she wouldn't have to live through it again, it was over now.
"What do you mean?"
Kari just smiled at her. "It doesn't matter. Come on, I think it's time we left."
They made their way back through the museum, the Doctor keeping Kari close to him. He wanted to talk to her, ask her exactly what happened, but something was telling him that she didn't want to talk about it. At least, not yet.
"A little piece of home. Better than nothing." He said once they reached the TARDIS.
"Oh, am I glad to see her." Kari said, resting her head against the blue box. There was a gently hum inside her head, the TARDIS seemed glad to see her as well.
"Is that the end of it, the Time War?" Rose asked the pair.
"We're the only ones left. We win. How about that." Kari knew the Doctor didn't feel like a winner. If she hadn't have been there, he would still be the last, he would be the only one.
"The Dalek survived. Maybe some of your people did too." Rose suggested, trying to cheer him up.
"We'd know. In here." He said, tapping his head. "Feels like there's no one."
"Oi, what about me?" Kari asked, shoving him a little.
"You don't leave your mind constantly open. You keep yourself closed off. I only hear you when you talk to me. I feel you, but it's always so quiet." Kari understood exactly what he was saying.
"We'd better get out." Adam said, as he came over to the trio. "Van Statten's disappeared. They're closing down the base. Goddard says they're going to fill it full of cement, like it never existed."
"About time." Kari said, before turning away. "I am going to have a well deserved bath. Been months since I last had one. And I should probably get some sleep as well."
"You going to be alright?" The Doctor asked her.
She just smiled at him and put her hand on the door of the TARDIS. "Course I am. She'll keep me safe, she always does." The door clicked open and she stepped inside.
As soon as her feet touched the grating of the TARDIS floor she let out a sigh of relief. "Home." She whispered, stoking the console as she passed it.
Once she was in her room, she ran herself a bath. Kari was still having trouble accepting the fact that she had been locked away for months, but the moment she started to undress she could. She had deep scars running down her front. The scars from where they dissected her.
She took a deep breath and lowered herself into the bath, letting the tears stream down her face. She had to keep reminding herself that it was over now, they weren't going to hurt her again. She could sleep knowing that she was safe, that the Doctor was there to protect her.
About an hour later she was getting herself dressed, refusing to look at herself in the mirror. Once she felt that all her scars were safely hidden, she headed to the console room where she knew the Doctor was waiting for her.
He looked up when he saw her, a small and concerned smile on his face. "How you feeling?" The Doctor asked, sitting down next to her on the seat.
"I'm okay. Better for having a bath and a clean change of clothes." She told him. Kari knew he was going to want all the details, but she didn't know if she wanted to tell him.
"How long were you there, Kari?"
She let out a sigh. "A few months. I lost track of time after a while. I lost track of everything. It all just passed in a blur really. And before you ask, I have no idea how I managed to end up getting there so early." She knew she was lying, but what else could she do? She couldn't tell him she had a vortex manipulator.
"Well, you're safe now." He told her, pulling her closer and kissing the top of her head.
"I know. It's good to be back in here. I've missed the old girl." There was a hum from the TARDIS, a happy hum. "So is Rose showing…" Kari let out a groan of pain as she clutched hold of her head. "Oh you are kidding me. Have I not had to suffer enough?"
The Doctor let out a sigh, he knew what was going to happen now. "Kari, I want you to promise me something." She looked up at him, tears building in her eyes. "The next time to see me after this, however far along, I want you to tell me exactly what happened in there."
She nodded at him as best she could, but the pain was building and the glow had already started to engulf her. "I'll see you later, Doctor. Tell Rose I said bye." She managed to whisper, before she was pulled from the TARDIS.
A/N: Well, that was certainly different wasn't it? Kari and 9 getting along? There must be something wrong in the universe somewhere for that to happen.
Things are going to get worse for Kari before they get better. But don't worry, there's lots of adventure, and shouting, and hugging.
I've got he next 13 episodes all planned, and partially written. So I am taking suggestions again to add to the list for the next lot. Either leave it in a review or PM me with suggestions.
Big massive thank you to everyone who has reviewed. You guys are just totally awesome. And a big thank you to everyone who has followed/favourited as well.
So come no guys, review, let me know what you think, hint at episodes that you want to see.
Pippa.