A/N: Okay guys, here it is, the next chapter. I'm sorry if I have missed any spellings or grammatical errors.
Oh, and the poll is up on my profile!
Kari clutched hold of her head and let out a groan. The pain in her head was easing up and the world was starting to stop spinning. "God, I hate that." She mumbled, still not even attempting to move. She was upset that she had missed the rest of the meal with those from her new family.
"Who the hell is she?" She heard a man yell. Clearly he was annoyed.
"Kari?" Her head shot up as she recognised the voice that called her name. She smiled when she saw him, the Doctor, in his tenth regeneration. The skinny man in a suit and Converse trainers.
"That's me. Hello!" She called cheerily as she pushed herself off the floor. She looked around her, she recognised all the people there, but she was more interested in the trio smiling at her. "No one want to give me a hug? I've just been pulled through all of time and space and all of you just stand there staring at me."
The Doctor was the first one to move and hug her tightly. "Should have known you wouldn't miss out on all the fun."
Kari laughed a little. "Well, I'm just as much a trouble magnet as you are really aren't I? Except I don't get a bloody choice in the matter." The Doctor finally let her go, both of them grinning away. Before she had a chance to move away he pulled her back to him close and kissed her passionately. It was only when they herd someone clearing their throat that they broke apart.
They both blushed a little before Kari turned to face the others again. "Oi, super temp! Where's my hug?" Donna was hugging her next, also smiling away.
"Been getting into a lot of trouble I take it?" Donna asked her, chuckling as she pulled away.
"Oh, how can I not be?" She looked over at the woman still watching her. Kari put her hands on her hips and frowned. "River, get your backside over here now and show me how much you've missed me." Kari demanded. "Or I will be having words with your parents about you behaviour and possibly fill them in on some of the things you have been up to. I've just seen them, and I have got your mothers number in my phone."
River's face broke into a huge grin and she ran to Kari, lifting her off the floor as she gripped hold of her. "Oh, God I've missed you!" River cried as she finally put Kari down again.
Kari couldn't help but laugh. "I've missed you too, River. It's never the same when you're not around."
"Wait, you two know each other?" Donna asked in confusion.
Kari and River looked at each other before bursting out in laughter. After a few moments Kari managed to get herself back in control. "Unless there's another River Song running around out there. Oh, blimey that would be bad. I don't think the universe would be able to cope with two. Oh, there's a spoiler for you."
"Hey!" River cried in protest.
"Oh, you know I love you really. Now, let's see, where are we?" Kari paused for a moment. She had been so happy to see her friends that she hadn't seen the bigger picture. "Oh, The Library." She said quietly. If there was one adventure she didn't want to get involved in, it was this one. Trap her in a catacomb full of deadly statues, fine, but not there, not now.
"Kari? Is everything okay? You've gone as white as a sheet." River asked her in concern.
Kari quickly pulled herself together. "Yup, I'm fine. Okay, let's get this over with shall we? Doctor, what have you worked out so far?" Kari asked as she turned to him, once again twisting the ring around on her finger without realising it. He didn't miss the action and smiled at her.
"Just called up the data core and spoke to a little girl." Kari nodded, so far no one had died.
"Right, try another terminal and can we please get some lights in here?" Kari said, as she looked at the people all gawping at her. She wanted to actually laugh at the expressions on their faces, but she knew it wasn't really appropriate.
"You heard her, people. Let there be light." River ordered them before they both spotted the Doctor about to pick up her diary.
"Hands off, Doctor." Kari called as the pair of women walked over to him.
"You're not allowed to see inside the book. It against the rules." River told him as she took it away from him.
"What rules?" He asked her in confusion.
Kari let out a sigh. "Our rules." The Doctor frowned at her. He had no idea what was going on, he was so clueless as to who River Song was. She just had to keep remembering that one day, because of him, she becomes a brilliant and wonderful person.
The Doctor got to work on the terminal and books started shooting across the room. Kari was quick to dodge all the ones that headed her way. "So, you know River quite well then?" The Doctor asked as he continued to work.
"Yeah, I do. This is the first time you have met her, River doesn't really know that yet. This is going to get very complicated, very quickly." Kari told him.
The Doctor frowned at her. "Why? I mean, I know that you're time line is a complete mess. I never know when you're going to just drop in. How can it get more complicated?"
"Because later, I am going to do something very stupid. And if I survive my own stupidity then you're going to kill me, with help from River." She let out a sigh. It really was going to be a stupid thing to do, but she had to try. She had her reasons, she knew how it worked.
More books started flying across the room. Kari wondered how much of the time line she could change. Could she save all the people in the room? Including River? Time can be re-written, it was possible, but was River's death a fixed point?
"Cal, what is it?" The Doctor asked Mr Lux.
"Sorry, you didn't sign your personal experience contracts." The man replied with a smug grin on his face.
"Mr Lux, right now, you're in more danger than you've ever been in your whole life. And you're protecting a patent?" The Doctor spat at him. Kari let out a sigh, it was going to be a long trip.
"I'm protecting my family's pride."
"Well, funny thing, Mr Lux, I don't want to see everyone in this room dead because some idiot thinks his pride is more important."
"Then why didn't you sign his contract?" River asked the Doctor. "I didn't either. I'm getting worse than the pair of you." She said, nodding at Kari.
"Right, let's just get this over with. So, 100 years ago there was a message from the Library. 'The lights are going out.' Then the computer sealed the planet, and there was nothing for 100 years." Kari said, pacing slightly. She put her hand up to stop Mr Lux who was about to speak. "Don't bother Lux. I don't care. But there was one other thing in the last message, wasn't there River?"
River nodded at her. "That's confidential." Mr Lux protested.
"I trust them both with my life, with everything." River told him, looking at the Doctor and then Kari, a smile on her face. Kari had to stop herself from crying out, River's words just reminded her of what was to come.
"This is the data extract that came with the message." River said, passing it to the Doctor.
"Four thousand and twenty two saved. No survivors." Kari said as she started pacing the room again, not having to look at what it said. "That's the exact number of people who were in the library when the planet was sealed."
"But how can four thousand and twenty two people have been saved if there were no survivors?" Donna asked in confusion.
Kari went and stood with her super temp. "That's what this lot are here to find out. And Mr Lux, you can keep that thought to yourself, otherwise they will find a body. Yours."
The Doctor took Kari by the arm and pulled her to the side a little, still keeping them in the light. "Kari, what's the matter? You're a lot more short tempered than normal."
Kari let out a sigh. "Yeah, well, I know too much. If Mr Lux wasn't such an arrogant…" She had to stop herself from saying it. "Let's just say, this could be sorted a lot sooner, but someone is standing in the way. I know way too much here, and it's killing me, because I know what has to happen."
"You really don't want to be here do you?" Kari shook her head. "We really need to get you a vortex manipulator or something. That way you can come and go as you please, especially if you end up somewhere you don't want to be." She bit her lip, she already had one, but he was never to know about it.
"No, I have to stay. I'm here for a reason. I love all the adventures with you, you know that. I just don't like knowing so much about what's going to happen." The Doctor held her tightly and kissed the top of her head. He understood how she was feeling and why she was feeling that way. He just wished that there were something that he could do to help her.
They quickly broke apart when they heard a woman scream.
"Who screamed?" The Doctor asked, looking around the room.
"Miss Evangelista." Kari whispered, a tear slipping down her cheek. She watched as everyone rushed to where there was now an opening that no one had seen before. Kari had been so busy with what was going on that she completely forgot what was going to happen to the poor woman.
She wiped away the tears and went to see the others, knowing how difficult things were going to be, especially for her super temp Donna.
"Where's that woman? The nice woman. Is she there?" Miss Evangelista asked. Sitting in the chair was nothing but a skeleton, and the rags of her suit.
"What woman?" Mr Lux asked.
"My super temp." Kari said, coming up behind them all. She stepped over to Donna. "She means you."
"Is she there? The nice woman?" Miss Evangelista asked again.
"Yes, she's here. Hang on." River said before pushing a button on the communications unit on her suit. "Go ahead. She can hear you."
"Hello? Are you there?"
"Help her." Kari said, giving Donna a nudge.
"She's dead." Donna croaked, unable to grasp the situation.
Kari looked at Donna. "I know. So help her." Donna nodded at her.
"Hello? Is that the nice woman?"
"Yeah. Hello. Yeah, I'm… I'm here. You okay?" Donna asked her. Kari took that as her moment to step back a little. She didn't want to have to hear the woman in her last moments, it wasn't going to be nice.
The Doctor and River both noticed her, they shared a look before the Doctor walked over to Kari. "Hey, come on. It's okay. You couldn't have stopped it."
Kari glared at him. "I could have stopped it, and I should have stopped it. I knew it was going to happen, but I was too wrapped up in everything else to remember."
The Doctor wrapped his arms around her, not knowing what else to do. They both continued to listen as Donna talk to Miss Evangelista, until she was gone.
"That was… that was horrible. That was the most horrible thing I've ever seen." Donna was almost in tears. It had been a traumatic experience for her.
"No. It's just a freak of technology. But whatever did this to her, whatever killed her, I'd like a word with that." River was not only upset, but angry.
"I'll introduce you." The Doctor said as he took Kari by the hand and let them back into the room they were in before. Everyone was quick to follow.
"He's going to need a packed lunch, River?" Kari said as the Doctor finally let her go.
"Hang on." River called as she searched through a bag to find something.
"What's in that book?" The Doctor asked as he spotted River's blue diary.
"Spoilers." Kari and River said at the same time, making them both grin.
The Doctor looked form Kari to River, before letting his eyes settle on River. "Who are you?"
"Professor River Song, University of…"
"To me, and Kari. Who are you to us?" The Doctor asked.
"Again, spoilers. Kari already knows, I hope." River looked at her. Kari just smiled at her, she knew who she really was in the future, but who she was to her and the Doctor, she hadn't really worked that out. All she knew was that they seemed to be pretty close. She was confident that River wasn't going to be romantically involved with the Doctor, her Doctor.
"River, you know my time line is more messed up than yours. I just randomly pop up wherever, there is no order. I know who you are, I know everything about you, but I'm still missing a lot. But at the end if it all, I know who you are, I know your life." River smiled at her, knowing that Kari trusted her without having to know all the little details.
River finally pulled a tin out of the bag. "Chicken and a bit of salad. Knock yourself out." She said as she handed it to the Doctor.
"Right, you lot. Let's all meet the Vashta Nerada." The Doctor said before getting on the floor with his screwdriver and scanning under the desk.
"You travel with him, don't you? The Doctor, you travel with him and Kari when she shows up." River said to Donna as the three women stood together.
"What of it?" Donna asked. She wasn't comfortable with River, but she was fine with Kari. "You know him, don't you?"
River smiled at Donna. "Oh God, do I know that man. We go way back, that man, Kari and me. The three of us, oh everything we have done. Just not this far back."
"I'm sorry, what?" Donna couldn't make sense of anything that River was saying.
Kari put an arm around River and leaned against her. "He hasn't met her yet. She sent him a message but it went wrong. It arrived too early, way too early. This is the Doctor in the days before he knew River."
"And he looks at me, he looks right through me and it shouldn't kill me, but it does." River was holding back the tears, and there was nothing Kari could do to help.
"What are you talking about? Are you just talking rubbish? Do you know him or don't you?" Donna said, rather loudly.
"Donna! Quiet, I'm working." The Doctor called to her. River looked at Kari with wide eyes, she just nodded, as if confirming what River was thinking.
"Donna? You're Donna? Donna Noble?" River asked her anxiously.
"Yeah. Why?"
"I do know the Doctor, but in the future. His personal future."
Donna looked at River in confusion. "So why don't you know me? Where am I in the future?"
"Okay, got a live one. That's not darkness down those tunnels. This is not a shadow. It's a swarm. A man eating swarm." The Doctor called, getting himself off the floor.
He tossed a piece of chicken into the shadow, and less than a second later all that was left was the bone. "The piranhas of the air. The Vashta Nerada. Literally, the shadows that melt the flesh. Most planets have them, but usually in small clusters. I've never seen an infestation on this scale, or this aggressive." The Doctor explained.
"What do you mean, most planets? Not Earth?" Donna wondered.
"Oh, yeah. Earth and a billion other worlds. Where there's meat, there's Vashta Nerada." Kari told her. "You can see them sometimes, if you look. The dust in sunbeams."
"If they were on Earth, we'd know." The ginger woman countered.
"Nah. Normally they live on road kill. But sometimes people go missing. Not everyone comes back out of the dark." Everyone in the room shifted a little uncomfortably. Kari knew what she was doing, making out that everything was fine when it really wasn't.
"Every shadow?" River asked, the concern in her voice, looking between the Doctor and Kari.
The Doctor looked at her. "No. But any shadow."
"So what do we do?" She asked him.
"Daleks, aim for the eyestalk. Sontarans, back of the neck. Vashta Nerada?" The Time Lord said, wrapping an arm around Kari.
"Run. Just run." Kari called at the same time as the Doctor. The Doctor looked at her eyes and he could see just how scared she was, and he hated it.
"Run? Run where?" River had noticed the way she was acting as well.
Kari let out a sigh. "This is an index point. There has to be an exit teleport somewhere." She said, both the Doctor and River looking at Lux. Sure, she already knew where it was, but they still had to get everyone else out.
"Don't look at me, I haven't memorised the schematics." He snapped back at them.
"Doctor, Kari, the little shop. They always make you go through the little shop on the way out so they can sell you stuff." Donna called in excitement.
The Doctor just beamed at her. "You're right. Brilliant. That's why I like the little shop." He called, having just looked around the corner and seen what he needed.
"Okay, let's move it." 'Proper' Dave called, heading towards the door.
Kari just tugged on the Doctor's hand and pointed behind Dave as he walked. "Actually, Proper Dave? Could you stay where you are for a moment?" The Doctor asked him.
"Why?" He asked, not knowing what was going on.
"I'm sorry. I am so, so sorry." The Doctor said, and Kari knew that he meant it. She knew that tone of his, and she knew the Doctor never wanted anyone to die.
"You've got two shadows." Kari said, looking at them on the floor. They were both coming from different angles, when there was no second lighting source anywhere that could have made the second.
"It's how they hunt. They latch on to a food source and keep it fresh." The Doctor told him.
"What do I do?"
"You stay absolutely still, like there's a wasp in the room. Like there's a million wasps." Kari told him softly. She knew what was coming, and she hated it. She wasn't sure how she was managing to keep herself together. Kari wanted to get out of there as fast as she could, but she didn't want to see anyone die, and especially not River.
"We're not leaving you, Dave." River assured him.
"Course we're not leaving him. Where's your helmet? Don't point, just tell me." The Doctor asked him.
"On the floor, by my bag." Dave told him, as Anita went over to get it for him.
"Don't cross his shadow." Kari warned, making the woman step around it.
"Thanks. Now, the rest of you, helmets back on and sealed up. We'll need everything we've got." The Doctor told them all.
The instantly started to do as the Doctor told them, while he put Dave's helmet on him. "But, Doctor, we haven't got any helmets." Donna just had to point out.
"Yeah, but we're safe anyway." The Doctor told her, not very convincingly.
"How are we safe?"
"We're not. That was a clever lie to shut you up." The Doctor told her. "Professor, anything I can do with the suit?" He asked River.
"What good are the damn suits? Miss Evangelista was wearing her suit. There was nothing left." Lux bellowed. Kari wanted nothing more than to just slap the man, but she knew that wasn't going to help the situation.
"We can increase the mesh density. Dial it up to four hundred percent. Make it a tougher meal." River told him, as Kari pulled her screwdriver out from her pocket.
"Okay." The Doctor got to work straight away on Dave's suit. "Eight hundred percent. Pass it on." The Doctor called, going to pass his screwdriver to River.
"Gotcha." She said, smiling away as she held up her own sonic screwdriver. Kari recognised it in an instant, since it was her that went missing for a good few hours to make it.
"What's that?" The Doctor asked, looking at the screwdriver in her hand with wide eyes.
"It's a screwdriver." River told him, while Kari just got to work with her own screwdriver.
"It's sonic." The Doctor pointed out, still in shock.
"Yeah, I know. Snap." She said, before getting on with the rest of the group.
Kari finished with her screwdriver and went over to the Doctor. "You need to get Donna out of here." She whispered to him. He nodded at her before grabbing hold of Donna and dragging her out of the room.
"Kari, is everything okay? You're so quiet." River asked her, looking at her in concern.
"I'm… fine. I'm okay. Could murder a cuppa though." She told her, trying to stay calm.
"You're more scared now than you were when we were on the Byzantium. I know something is bothering you." There was a look of concern in her eyes, because it was true. Even though she was scared with the Angels, she wasn't as bad as she was now.
"Honestly, River, I really am fine." Kari closed her eyes, and in her mind she could hear Donna screaming.
"Doctor!" River shouted, causing him to run back into the room. "Look." She nodded at Dave.
The Doctor frowned at the man and carefully walked around him. "Where did it go?" He asked, noticing he now only had one shadow.
"It's just gone. I looked around, one shadow, see." He said, sounding a lot happier than he had been before.
"Does that mean we can leave? I don't want to hang around." River said, throwing Kari a concerned look. River knew her all too well, and no matter how many times she told her she was fine, she wouldn't believe it, because she knew it wasn't true.
"I don't know why we're still here. We can leave him, can't we? I mean, no offence." Mr Lux said.
His words made Kari snap. "Shut the hell up. How about we just leave you here, hmm? Your family, your pride, your patent. Why don't we just leave you here and let the Vashta Nerada rip the flesh from your bones?" She growled at him, her eyes burning brightly. "There are so many people I have seen die that I wanted to save, but I can assure you, Mr Lux, you are not one of them."
River and the Doctor both stood there, their mouths open, looking at her in shock. They had been seen her get angry before, The Doctor had even been on the receiving end of it more than once. But they had never seen her this bad.
The Doctor and River quickly made their way over to her. "Kari, it's okay, you just need to calm down." The Doctor told her, wrapping his arms around her tightly. "I promise you, everything will be fine."
"You know he's right, darling. Getting worked up isn't going to help now, is it?" River whispered to her, lightly rubbing her back.
"I'm sorry." She mumbled into the Doctor's jacket as he held her. "They're in his suit. They're going to kill Dave."
The Doctor looked at her quizzically before looking up at River. Before either of them could say anything, 'Proper' Dave was calling out. "Hey, who turned out the lights?" He asked, sounding a little panicked.
"No one, they're fine." The Doctor told him, gently passing Kari over to River who held onto her.
"No seriously, turn them back on." Dave ordered, his ear and panic rising.
"They are on." River told him, still rubbing Kari's back and trying to get her to calm down.
"I can't see a ruddy thing."
"Dave, turn around." The Doctor asked him quietly, fearing what he was going to see.
The man slowly turned to face the Doctor, his visor completely black. "What's going on? Why can't I see? Is the power gone? Are we safe here?" Dave asked.
"Dave, I want you to stay still. Absolutely still." He was still for a moment, before his whole body started to jerk. "Dave? Dave?" The Doctor called to him. "Dave, can you hear me? Are you all right? Talk to me, Dave."
"I'm fine. I'm okay. I'm fine." Dave replied.
Kari let a few more tears slip down her face. "He's gone. He's ghosting." River looked over at the suit and saw the light flickering.
"Then why is he still standing?" Lux asked.
"Hey, who turned out the lights? Hey, who turned out the lights?" Dave repeatedly asked.
"Dave, can you hear me?" The Doctor said, taking a step forward and towards the man.
"No, Doctor, don't!" Kari shouted, pulling herself away from River.
"Hey, who turned out the lights?" Dave asked, before grabbing the Doctor by the throat. A skull hit the front of the helmet, making everyone feel just a little sick and uneasy.
Kari just got herself to the Doctor and pulled out her screwdriver. "Get your hands off him." She growled, using her screwdriver on the suit and pulling the Doctor away from it. "Everyone get back from it. And that means you as well, Doctor." She shouted, making everyone move.
The suit took a step forward, a clumsy step. "Doesn't move very fast, does it?" River pointed out as they watched it.
"It's a swarm in a suit." Kari told her. "But it's learning." She added, seeing the four shadows spread out from the suit.
"What do we do? Where do we go?" Lux asked in a blind panic. It was the first time he had found his voice since finding out what Kari's temper could be like.
"See that wall behind you? Duck." River called, pulling a gun out and firing it at the wall behind him.
Kari smiled at her a little, as did the Doctor "Squareness gun." They both said at the same time.
"Reminds me of Villenguard. I still need to do that." She said, as River ordered everyone out of the room.
"You said not every shadow." River wondered, as they stood between the high shelves of books.
"Nope, but any shadow." Kari warned her, just as Dave started calling again. "Now move!" She pushed River ahead of her and felt the Doctor grab hold of her hand as they ran.
After gaining some distance, the Doctor stopped and started to sonic the lights. "Trying to boost the power. Light doesn't stop them but it slows them down." He told River, who was watching him with interest.
"So, what's the plan? Do we have a plan?" River asked, keeping a close eye on Kari. After her little outburst earlier, she knew something was more than a little wrong.
"Your screwdriver looks exactly like mine." The Doctor said, looking at River's one in her hand.
"Yeah, the pair of you gave it to me." River said, getting smile from Kari.
"I don't give my screwdriver to anyone, except Kari. She is the only one I would ever give it to." He said, grabbing Kari's hand and giving it a squeeze.
"I'm not anyone."
"Who are you?" He asked her, and not in a very nice way either.
River just ignored his question, the same question he was going to be asking her for years to come. "What's the plan?"
"The Doctor teleported Donna back to the TARDIS. But she isn't there." Kari whispered.
The Doctor turned on his screwdriver. "Kari's right, she's not there. I should have received a signal. The console signals me if there's a teleport breach."
"Well, maybe the coordinates have slipped. The equipment here's ancient." River suggested.
Only the Doctor wasn't so sure. Still holding onto Kari, he dragged her to one of the interfaces nodes. "Donna Noble. There's a Donna Noble somewhere in this library. Do you have the software to locate her position?" He asked it.
Slowly the head of it turned to face him, shocking the Doctor. "Donna Noble has left the library. Donna Noble has been saved." The node had Donna's face.
"Donna…" The Doctor whispered, hugging Kari tightly.
"Donna Noble has left the library. Donna Noble has been saved."
River was quick to join them. "How can it be Donna? How's that possible?" She asked.
"Donna Noble has left the library. Donna Noble has been saved."
"Dave's coming." Kari whispered, pulling herself away from the Doctor a little. Then they heard Dave as well, repeating his last words about the lights.
"Doctor! Kari!" River shouted, trying to get their attention. "Doctor, Kari, we've got to go now!" She shouted at them, grabbing both of their arms as she ran past them with everyone else.
They ended up trapped, shadows one way, and the swarm in the suit the other. "Doctor, what are we going to do?" River asked him in a panic.
Kari knew that they were going to have to keep running. She knew that Donna was safe, that they would get her back. But they were going to lose more people on the way, and she was going to lose River. But Kari was determined not to let that happen. She was going to make sure that River didn't die today, no matter what it cost her.
A/N: So, you probably all know exactly what Kari is going to do, but is it going to work? Well, I know! You'll just have to wait a few more chapters to find out.
Thank you to everyone who has favourited/followed, I can't believe how many people there are reading this story now. And a huge thank you with loads of hugs to everyone who has reviewed. I really appreciate your comments and feed back, and it's nice to know what you all think.
I'm going to shut up now. Expect the next chapter to be on time next week (Sorry, I know a week is a long time, but even though it's summer, I'm still busy).
Pippa.