A/N: Again, I'm sorry. been a very busy week. Teaching, planning, school trips. But I promise you, this chapter is going to have been worth the wait.
Kari must have cried herself to sleep, as she woke up to someone knocking on her door. She noticed she still had the ring in her hand, and quickly shoved it back in her bag before stuffing it under her bed.
She dragged herself over to the door and found the Doctor standing there. Her eyes instantly went to the floor. "Everything okay, Doctor?" She asked him quietly.
"I think we need to have a little chat, don't you?" Kari didn't like the way he was speaking. She could just tell he was trying to keep himself under control and not lose his temper with her.
"Sure." She answered, stepping out of her room and closing the door behind her.
As they walked, she kept her arms tightly wrapped around herself, while the Doctor kept his in his trouser pockets. She didn't look up, she just followed where he was going. It wasn't until he stopped in front of a door that she finally looked up a little.
He led her into a room that she had never been in before, his study. "So, you kissed Jack?" He asked her, after they had both been sitting in silence for some time.
Kari just nodded at him, still refusing to look up at him. "Yeah." She whispered.
"In 1941?" She nodded again. "I think you had better explain."
Kari let out a sigh, he really was going to hate her after all of this. "I jumped and ended up on his ship. I'd actually just left you, after we had gone to that space diner make entirely of glass."
He frowned at her. "That was a long time ago."
"I know. It was only the fourth time that I had jumped. He was pointing a gun at me. I sort of explained that I knew him in the future, mentioned a few things that no one else knew about him to get him to trust me." She told him. "I was a bit annoyed with you at the time. Because you were keeping secrets from me. This thing that everyone knows except me. Jack was the only person not to be hiding things from me."
"So that's why you done it? To get back at me? To hurt me?" The Doctor spat at her.
"No. I did it because I wanted to. I knew that it would only ever happen once, and I just took my chance. Rose was passed out on the bed, and I just kissed him." Kari had to force back the tears that were building. She didn't want them to fall, she knew the Doctor was upset and angry with her, and he had every right to be. "I knew as soon as it had happened that I was going to get into trouble for it. I even told Jack that."
"But you done it. That's what matters." He was definitely not happy with her.
"I know. And I know that right now you hate me for it. I just don't understand why it has upset you so much." She whispered. She knew she had to be careful, she didn't want him to know that she actually did know the truth now.
"Kari, one day, you will understand. I'm not sure when, but you will understand why this has hurt me."
"I never meant to hurt you. It's just… everyone knows something that I don't, something about me. It's something that is altering the time lines that I know. Everything is being rewritten with me around, and I'm just so sick of not knowing what it is." She told him.
"So after telling me that, why did you kiss me? Did you think that would just make it all better?" He asked, the anger still in his voice, but not as much.
"No."
"Then enlighten me, why did you kiss me?" He asked her.
"Because I wanted to. And I knew that if I didn't, then Donna would." She confessed. "You needed a shock. If I hadn't have done that, if I hadn't told you, or kissed you, then it would have been Donna doing it. I know, because that was how it was meant to be."
"So you kissed me so Donna wouldn't?" He asked her, a frown on his face. Kari just nodded. The whole time she had not looked up at him. "Why? Why did you not want her to kiss me?"
She didn't know if she really wanted to answer that question. She didn't know if she could. "Because… because I…" A tear rolled down her face and dripped onto her hand in her lap.
The Doctor let out a sigh. "Kari, I know none of this is easy for you. And I know there are times when we argue. I hate those times, and I also hate seeing you cry." He told her, before moving and sitting next to her, pulling her closer.
"I'm so sorry, Doctor. I really never meant to hurt you. I never knew it would upset you this much. I was only thinking about myself at the time. I didn't care what you thought." She told him, finally letting the tears stream down her face.
"Just, promise me you won't do it again? No more going around and kissing random people." He voice was much softer now, he knew how much Kari was sorry.
"I promise." She whispered, burying her head into his chest and crying a little more.
"Come on, you should go and get some rest. I know you need it."
Kari just shook her head. "No, I don't want to disappear when I'm on my own. You've always been there so far when I've left, I don't want to fall asleep in my room and wake up somewhere else."
The Doctor thought about her words for a moment. "Well, you still need to get some rest. So come with me." He pushed her away a little and held his hands out to help her up.
He held her close as they walked down the corridor a little until they reach a room that Kari had only been in twice before. The Doctor opened the door and ushered her inside, before leading her over to the bed.
"Now, you really do need to get some rest. I know from experience that this is going to have completely drained you. Even if you are a Time Lady." He told her, taking his jacket off and then undoing his trainers.
"You're not going to leave me here alone, are you?" Kari asked him, taking her own shoes off before lying down on the bed.
"Of course not. I could do with a few hours sleep myself." He told her, plonking himself down on the bed beside her. "I'll never leave you, Kari. Remember that." He whispered to her, before kissing the top of her head.
"You better not. Or I'll find a way to hunt you down and make you suffer." She warned him, shifting over on the bed so that she was resting against him.
Both of them fell asleep with a smile on their faces. Kari knew the Doctor was no longer upset with her, because he knew just how sorry she was for it. He knew that she didn't do it just to upset him, her world had just been turn upside down.
Kari opened her eyes when she heard someone clearing their throat. "Excuse me, do you mind telling me what your doing in my bed?" A familiar voice called to her.
She quickly sat up and looked towards the voice. Her eyes widened when she saw the Doctor standing there in nothing but a towel. But it wasn't just any Doctor, it was the one she had been so keen to avoid.
"Well? I'm waiting." Kari could tell from his voice that he was less than happy to see her.
She didn't answer him, she just climbed to the end of the bed and stumbled over to the door. Once she was out in the corridor she charged to her own room, throwing the door opened and reaching under her bed.
She pulled out her bag and ran back out again. Kari could feel both her hearts pounding in her chest as she ran as fast as she could to the console room. She knew that as long as she made it outside, she could get away from him, even though she had no idea where they were up to. Kari didn't care, she just wanted to get away from him as quickly as she could.
The two people in the console room just stared at her as she entered. "Oh my God. Kari, you're okay." Rose called. "Where have you been?"
"Hi Rose, Jack. Bye." Kari said, placing a hand on the door. She as she went to open it, she heard it click and lock. "Oh, come on. You have got to be kidding me." She shouted in frustration.
"You going somewhere?" The Doctor asked her, now fully dressed and wearing his black leather jacket.
"Yeah, as far away from you as possible." She spat at him. She was tempted to reach into her bag and pull out her vortex manipulator there and then, but she remembered River's words. He could never know she had it.
"Tough. You're staying here." He told her smugly, walking around the console.
"Oh, you think so do you?" She asked, stepping over to Jack. "Funny thing is, I know exactly how to get out of here without having to use the door."
The Doctor just looked at her and raised an eyebrow. "Really?"
"Oh yeah. See, you seem to be forgetting, I know an ex-time agent, who just so happens to have a vortex manipulator." Kari could actually feel her eyes starting to burn a little. She was still angry with him, and knowing that Jack was still there meant she knew it was after he abandoned her in Leadworth.
The Doctor snorted at her. "You don't even know how to use it. And it's broken anyway."
She just pulled out her sonic screwdriver and smiled at Jack as she stood next to him. "How about it, Jack? You and me, we can go anywhere in the whole of time and space. Just the two of us."
Jack didn't really know what to say to her, she could tell she was angry, but he could see the Doctor was getting angry as well. Kari could see his hesitation. "Come on, Jack. Just us, taking on the rest of the universe. How can you resist such an offer?"
"I think you and the Doctor need to talk. Better to leave me out of this." He said, kissing the top of her head before walking away from her.
Kari had not expected that, she had hoped that he would have been on her side. "You're loss, Jack." She said, shrugging her shoulders and trying to stay calm.
"Looks like you're stuck here." The Doctor told her smugly.
"No, I'm really not. I know a lot more than you do. I can jump at any minute, and end up as far away from you as possible. I could go to my room and disappear." Kari told him, knowing that she could use her vortex manipulator if she was alone.
"Yeah, but you wouldn't really do that, would you?"
"Wouldn't I? Just like I wouldn't walk away from you if I were given that chance? If I recall correctly, you dropped me off on Earth, and I walked away without even turning back."
There was a smirk on the Doctor's face now. "Yup, and you've ended up right back here. Worked out well for you that, didn't it?"
That was when Kari lost it. "Do you really think I want to be here with you? I seriously hate you. I've always hated you in this regeneration." She shouted at him. "You are just so full of yourself. Like I said before, you think you are so much better than everyone else. You carry on like you are the only one that matters in the universe. Well guess what, Doctor, you're not."
"I do not…"
"Shut the hell up" She spat, her eyes were now burning brightly and the Doctor took a step back. "Do you know how many people have died and will die because of you? Those people, the ones who give their lives for someone else, they are the ones that matter."
"Kari…" The Doctor tried again, only for her to cut him off once more.
"You think that you are the only one who was hurt from the Time War? You think you are the only one who lost everything? Well you're not." Kari shouted. "You think you're so special because you're the last of your kind, but you really aren't. Because you're not the last."
She took a step closer to him, making him tense up. He couldn't remember a time when she had been so angry with him. "One day, you tell me how I truly am the same as you. So you're not alone, not while I'm still alive."
The Doctor just stared at her. "I think you need to calm down."
"No, I don't need to calm down. You need to stop being so egotistic and realise that not everything is about you."
"Oh, stop acting like a martyr." The Doctor said, rolling his eyes at her.
That made Kari snap completely, and her fist came into contact with the Doctor's face. She didn't care that it hurt, she was just so full of anger and just couldn't hold it in any more. She glared at him, ready to pounce on him when she felt someone's arms around her waist.
"Hey, you need to calm down now, Princess." Jack whispered to her.
"No, he needs to let me leave." She hissed, still glaring at the Doctor who was rubbing the spot where she had hit him. "I don't want to be anywhere near him. So far, the only time I have liked him has been when he found me, after I had been locked up for months."
"Van Statten." The Doctor spat, remembering that day all too well.
"That was the first time I actually saw you care about someone other than yourself. That was the only time you actually listened to me." Kari was ready to just break down in tears now. She still had Jack holding her back, but she wasn't really fighting him.
"I always listen to you." The Doctor told her softly.
She just shook her head at him. "No you don't." Kari told him, before taking a deep breath. "Let me go please, Jack. I want to go to my room."
Jack looked over at the Doctor who just shook his head at him. "Sorry, Princess. You need to stay here."
"Can someone at least tell me where we are then?" Kari asked, letting out a sigh.
"Cardiff." Rose called to her. Straight away her eyes lit up. If they were in Cardiff, it meant that Mickey was coming, and it also meant that a friend of hers would be around as well.
"Brilliant. I love Cardiff." Kari said, a little bit too enthusiastically for the Doctor's liking.
"Oh, and why is that then?" The Doctor asked, as he got to work doing some repairs.
"That's for me to know, and you to never, ever find out." Kari replied, glaring at him as Jack took her hand and pulled her along the console with him.
"Kari, I know you're not in the best of moods with the Doctor, but you really do need to calm down now." He whispered to her. "He came back, we all looked for you but it was like you had just vanished. The Doctor was frantic, he didn't know what to do."
"Yeah? Well it was his own fault, Jack." Kari told him in a huff. She really wasn't in a good mood, all she wanted to do was get out of there. "The only good thing about being here is that I get to see you again."
She sat herself down on the chair when there was a knocking on the door. The Doctor pulled out his screwdriver, glaring at Kari, before unlocking it.
"Who the hell are you?" Jack asked as he pulled the door open.
"What do you mean, who the hell am I? Who the hell are you?" A familiar male voice called from outside. Kari couldn't help but smile a little, she knew who it was.
"Captain Jack Harkness. Whatever you're selling, we're not buying."
"Get out of my way." The voice called, pushing Jack aside and stepping into the TARDIS.
"Don't tell me. This must be Mickey." Jack said as he closed the door.
"Here comes trouble. How you doing, Ricky boy?" The Doctor asked, still working away.
"It's Mickey." He shouted up to him as Rose went over to see her friend.
"Don't listen to him, he's winding you up." Rose told him, glad to see him.
"You look fantastic." Mickey told her, before giving her a hug.
"Aw, sweet, look at those two. How come I never get any of that?" Jack called, looking up at the Doctor.
"Buy me a drink first."
"You're such hard work." Jack said, sending a wink to Kari, hoping that it would cheer her up. But it didn't.
"But worth it." Kari let out a laugh at the Doctor's comment. Right now, she didn't think he was worth anything.
Kari just let her mind wander while the four of them talked. She already knew what they were saying. Explaining about the rift, the Gelth and how it's fuel for the TARDIS. All she could think about was getting out of there. She just wanted to run, as far as she could.
She had been dreading the time when she would end up back with him after what had happened. Kari knew that he was sorry, in the future, but right now, she still couldn't forgive him.
"You alright, Kari?" Mickey asked, coming and sitting next to her while Jack helped the Doctor with something.
"Be better when I'm out of here and away from dumbo over there." She said, nodding towards the Doctor.
Mickey couldn't help but laugh a little, which brought a smile to Kari's face. "Roes told me what happened. And I'm on your side, one hundred percent. Now come on, I didn't come to Cardiff to spend all day in this box. I came to spend it with my two favourite girls."
Mickey took one of her arms, and Jack took the other. Kari didn't know if she should feel flattered to be having so much attention, or worried for the real reason behind it.
"Should take another twenty four hours, which means we've got time to kill." The Doctor said as they stepped outside. He kept glancing at Kari, waiting for her to run most likely, at least that's what Kari was thinking.
"That old lady's staring." Mickey pointed out.
"Probably wondering what five people could do inside a small wooden box." Jack said, giving Kari a sly grin.
"What are you the captain of, the innuendo squad?" Mickey retorted.
"Oi, leave him alone, Mickey. He actually worked his way up through the ranks. And Jack is a captain of more than you will ever know." Kari said, whacking him on the arm lightly before going to drag the pair away.
"Wait, the TARDIS, we can't just leave it. Doesn't it get noticed?" Mickey wondered.
"Yeah, what's with the police box? Why does it look like that?" Jack asked as well.
"I thought you loved the retro look, Harkness?" Kari asked, a smile on her face as she looked up at the water tower, knowing they were being watched.
"Oh, I love more than just that." He said, causing her to roll her eyes.
"Do you two mind not flirting?" The Doctor growled.
Kari just glared at him before sending Jack a wink. She was going to do everything she could to wind him up now. "It's called a chameleon circuit. The TARDIS is meant to disguise itself wherever it lands. If we were in Ancient Rome then it would be a statue on a plinth. Except someone landed in the 1960's, it disguised as a police box, and the circuit got stuck." She explained.
"So it copied the real thing?" Mickey asked her while the Doctor just stood there, looking slightly annoyed.
"Yup, on street corners. They would phone for help, in a time before they had radios and mobile phones. Shove people inside if the arrested them while they waited for backup." She said, a smirk on her face.
"Why don't you just fix the circuit?" Jack asked the Doctor.
"I like it don't you?" The Doctor answered,
"Actually, he really doesn't know how to fix it, that's why. Anyway, come on. Cardiff, in the early twenty first century. I'd call it the safest place in the universe, but we're here." Kari tugged on Jack and Mickey's arms, pulling them along with her as she walked.
"You okay, Doctor?" She heard Rose asked as she strolled past them both.
"I've never seen Kari so angry with me before, and it's still early for her." He whispered to her as they followed behind the trio. "I thought she would have known by now."
"Yeah, but we both know she does find out. I mean, she told us didn't she? Well, she yelled at you a little." Rose said, thinking of a future Kari.
"She really does hate me, Rose. And I don't think there is anything I can ever do to change that." He said, letting out a sigh as they made their way to a restaurant at the end of one of the jetties.
"I swear, six feet tall and with tusks!" Jack said as they all sat down together. He was telling them all one of his stories, one that Kari already knew.
"You're lying through your teeth." The Doctor said, clearly not impressed. It hadn't helped that Kari had not left Jack's side.
"I'd have gone bonkers. That's the word, bonkers!" Rose said, a smile on her face.
"I mean, it turns out the white things are tusks and I mean TUSKS!And it's woken, and it's not happy." Jack continued.
"How could you not know it was there?" The Doctor asked.
"And we're standing there, fifteen of us, naked!"
"Naked?!" Rose could help herself and looked Jack over for a moment.
"And I'm like, oh, no, no, it's got nothing to do with me! And then it roars, and we are running. Oh my God, we are RUNNING! And Brakovitch falls, so I turn to him and I say…"
"I knew we should've turned left!" Mickey shouted, finishing off the story for Jack.
"That's my line!" Jack protested as they all fell about laughing.
"I don't believe you, I don't believe a word you say ever, that is so brilliant!" Rose said, trying to control her laughter.
A woman approached the table, holding a box covered in blue wrapping paper. "Excuse me, is there a Miss Kari Conner here?" She asked politely.
A smile formed on Kari's face. "That's me, hello." The woman looked at her, and then at a piece of paper she was holding in her other hand before passing the box to Kari. "Thank you." She had a good idea as to who it was from, there was only one person who would know she was in there and send her something.
"Who's sending you packages?" The Doctor asked, frowning away. "Who even knows you're here?"
Kari couldn't help but laugh a little. "Spoilers." She said, as she undone the silver ribbon. Everyone at the table was watching her, all of them seemed interested in what she had been given, and why.
There was a glint in her eyes as she carefully undone the wrapping, leaving a plain white box in front of her. She had to refrain from looking at Jack as she opened the box, that would just ruin the moment for her.
"Oh, my God." She cried, looking at the objects in the box. "I am so going to kill him later."
"Who are you going to kill?" The Doctor asked, trying to see inside the box.
"Nothing to do with you." She told him, as she pulled out a brand new mobile phone. She had been coping without one so far, she had her laptop and that was all she had needed. But someone felt it was time she had a phone as well. "Top of the range. Well, he always did have expensive taste." She said as she turned it over in her hands.
Kari saw darkness in the Doctor's eyes now. "No way, he did not get me that as well." She cried, pulling out a bracelet, covered with blue stones. She reached her hand down her top and pulled out the blue stone hanging on the end of a silver chain. "Now all I'm missing is the earrings." She joked.
"Is it your birthday or something?" Mickey asked her.
Kari just smiled. "In a way. This is now my third birthday this year. I think. Or has it been more than a year now? Either way yes, it is now my random birthday."
"Well, happy birthday, Princess." Jack said, kissing her on the cheek. "Want me to help you with that?" He asked her, pointing to the bracelet. She just nodded at him and let him attach it around her wrist. "Looks kind of expensive."
"Knowing him, it probably is." Kari told him as she fiddled around with it on her wrist. "Anyway, enough about that. I think we should be more interested in who the new mayor of Cardiff is. And the power station she's building." She said, nodding to the paper a man was reading on another table.
The Doctor quickly got up and snatched it away, looking at it for himself. "And I was having such a nice day." The Doctor said, looking at the woman on the front page, trying to hide from the camera.
"Looks like we have an appointment with the mayor. Better get a move on." Kari said, slipping the rest of the contents of the box into her bag. No one even noticed, they were too busy asking questions about the new mayor.
Kari stuck close to Jack as they made their way to the city hall. The Doctor had explained to Jack exactly who she was, and what happened with Margaret the Slitheen when they first met her.
"According to intelligence, the target is the last surviving member of the Slitheen family, a criminal sect from the planet Raxacoricofallapatorious, masquerading as a human being, zipped inside a skin suit." Jack ran through once they arrived in the foyer of the city hall.
"Okay, plan of attack, we assume a basic 57-56 strategy, covering all available exits on the ground floor. Doctor, you and Kari go face-to-face, that'll designate Exit 1, I'll cover Exit 2, Rose, you're Exit 3, Mickey Smith, you take Exit 4. Have you got that?"
Kari was about to say something but the Doctor got there first. "Excuse me. Who's in charge?" He asked.
"Sorry. Awaiting orders, sir." Kari knew that Jack used to be in charge and taking the lead, he wasn't used to being knocked down.
"Right. Here's the plan." The Doctor said, a smile on his face. "Like he said. Nice plan. Anything else?"
"Yeah, I have question. Why the hell am I stuck with you?" Kari asked, glaring at the Doctor.
"Because I want to keep an eye on you, make sure you don't run off."
Kari just rolled her eyes at him. "Talk about trust." She mumbled, feeling completely fed up now. It was clear that he currently didn't trust her, she felt like he was treating her like a little kid.
"Did you say something?" The Doctor asked her, pretending not to have heard.
"Yeah, I did actually. You don't trust me, do you?" She asked him bluntly, staring him down.
"Not right now, no. I don't trust you not to run off on your own." He told her, causing Kari to let out a groan.
"Present arms." Jack called, getting the group back to the situation at hand. Everyone pulled out their mobile phones, including Kari.
She looked down and noticed that she already had a message, asking her if she liked the gifts. She had to refrain from grinning madly, as the Doctor took hold of her arm and dragged her along the corridors with him.
"Do you have to drag me around like a child?" She spat at him, trying to pull herself away from him.
"Until you stop acting like one, yes."
Kari laughed a little. "If anyone's acting like a child it's you. You're clearly not happy that you aren't the only person in my life. So you feel the need to keep me by your side so that I don't have the chance to even talk to anyone else."
The Doctor just let out a sigh. "Why do you always insist on turning everything into an argument or a fight?"
"Because sometimes it's the only way to get through to you. Plus it makes me feel better." She told him as they turned the corner and started walking along another corridor.
"Even when something isn't my fault you take it out on me." The Doctor grumbled, loosening his grip just a little.
"Yeah? Well, you're easy to insult and annoy." Kari told him. "It's easier to just blame everything on you."
"And why is that?" He asked her curiously.
"Because you're the only constant thing in my life. Everything else is always changing. It just makes it easier to take everything out on you, since you're the one who is always there." Kari told him, without really thinking about it first. "And because you're an idiot." She quickly added. She was still angry with him, she wasn't going to let him get away with everything.
"Yeah, you keep reminding me of that. Anything else you want to call me?" He asked her, not actually expecting her to answer.
"Well, you're arrogant, self obsessed, pig headed, condescending…" Kari listed off.
"Thanks."
"You're welcome, dumbo." She replied, trying not to smile.
"Hello, we've come to see the Lord Mayor." The Doctor said cheerfully to the man sitting behind the desk.
"Have you got an appointment?"
"No, just old friends passing by. Bit of a surprise. Can't wait to see her face." He was beaming away. Kari was still trying not to smile, she knew what was coming, and she was looking forward to the running.
"Well, she's just having a cup of tea." The man replied, a little nervous.
"Just go in there and tell her the Doctor would like to see her." Kari said, making sure to put emphasis when she said 'Doctor'."
"Doctor who?" The man asked. Kari couldn't help but think of Ianto when the man spoke. It was the Welsh accent that done it for her.
"Just the Doctor. Tell her exactly that. The Doctor." Kari told him, noticing the Doctor grinning beside her.
"Hang on a tick." He said, getting up from his desk and heading into the room where Margaret, the Lord Mayor of Cardiff, was taking her tea.
They head a cup smashing when it hit the floor come from inside the room, before the man reappeared, cautiously leaving the room. "The Lord Mayor says thank you for popping by. She'd love to have a chat, but… er… she's up to her eyes in paperwork. Perhaps if you could make an appointment for next week?" The man said.
"She's climbing out of the window, isn't she?" Kari and the Doctor said at the same time, she finally let a smile creep onto her face.
"Yes, she is." He replied, before the Doctor pushed past him, dragging Kari into the room with him.
A/N: And so Kari has confronted the Doctor she was so desperate to get away from. I hope you all enjoyed it. There's more to come in the second part. I really enjoyed writing this episode, mainly because I knew Kari was going to give the Doctor hell and because she got to see Jack again.
Thank you for all the reviews, feel free to leave one and let me know what you thought of this chapter. And thank you to all the people who have followed/favourited, you guys are totally awesome.
Pippa.