A/N: Well here is the next chapter for you all, with a few more tricks and surprises up my sleeve. Enjoy!
"So, Clara, how long have you been working at the bar for then?" Kari asked her, trying to make polite conversation as she prayed the Doctor would hurry up and cross their path.
The brunette turned, and smile at Kari as they walked. "Oh, only a few months, I needed some extra cash and had to get a second job. But I love it there." Clara told her. "So, have you just moved here? Because I've never seen you around here before. But you look… I don't know… familiar." She said, a frown on her face as she looked at Kari.
All Kari could do was smile at her. "I… uh, travel for a living. Well, usually. Taking some time off, you know, going back to the normal life for a while." Kari told the woman, trying not to give too much away.
"But why do I recognise you? Have we met before?"
"Oh, Clara…" Kari said, not paying attention to where she was walking. The next thing Kari knew, she was quickly being pulled back by the dark haired woman as a car came rushing past where she was about to step. "Blimey, that was close. Thanks." Kari said, watching as the car carried on speeding down the street.
"Are you okay?" Clara asked her, her face full of concern.
All Kari could do was smile at her. "Well, I wouldn't be if you hadn't have been here. Thank you, Clara Oswald, I do believe you just saved my life." It was strange, because Kari knew that Clara was always popping up in the Doctor's life, she was spread throughout his timeline, but he never really noticed her. But Kari had, and the woman had just saved her life.
"Yeah, uh, it was nothing." Clara said, starting to go into a little world of her own. "You're Kari…" She finally mumbled, while Kari stood there watching her. "Kari, Kari Conner, the Angel of Time."
Kari suddenly went wide-eyed at the woman. "What did you call me?" She managed to whisper, remembering all the other times that she had been called that. She still didn't understand it, and what had happened in the past still freaked her out.
"I remember… I remember you. And the Doctor." Clara whispered, a rather distant look on her face.
"Clara? Clara, listen to me, I know this is scary, but you have to trust me." Kari said quickly, taking hold of both her hands. "You're right, I'm Kari, the Angel of Time. You know who I am, it's all in the future, your future. But you won't remember this, Clara. But I will remember you." She said in a bit of a panic to reassure the woman before her.
"What… what do you mean?" Clara asked her, clearly a little scared now.
"I promise you, Clara Oswald, you will be remembered. There are so many days when you save the Doctor, when you save me. Today was just one of them." Kari told her, not even understand what was getting into her to cause her to say all of this. "There will be so many more, I swear to you. Oh, and you watch us run."
"Kari?" A voice suddenly called from across the street, causing Kari to turn her head and look. "Kari, what are you doing?" The Doctor asked her, rushing across the street and towards her with worry etched across his face.
"Doctor, I was just…" She said, before looking at Clara, except she wasn't there, she had just… vanished. "I got off a little early. I was walking to meet you."
"You should have stayed where you were. Anything could have happened." He told her, grabbing hold of her and hugging her tightly.
"I know. I'm sorry." Kari said, wondering what had happened to Clara. "I promise I will never do it again." All she could think about was where Clara could have possibly gone. She had been there one minute, and gone the next. Kari just didn't understand it, she was sure that she didn't just vanish into thin air like that.
"What's the matter?" The Doctor asked her, noticing that she wasn't really paying that much attention.
She quickly looked up at him and tried her best to smile. "Nothing. I just met a friend, well, when I say friend…"
"Spoilers?" The Doctor asked her, knowing that it was probably something to do with someone he meets in the future. Kari simply nodded at him, glad that he understood. "Well, come on then. Let's get home and I'll make you a nice cuppa. How does that sound?" He asked her, taking hold of her hand and giving it a squeeze as they began the walk back to the house.
"Tea sounds lovely, Doctor." Kari replied, letting him lead her home.
By the time they arrived home, Martha was sound asleep in her room and Kari was surprised that the place was absolutely spotless. "So, did you clean up, or was it Martha?" She asked, sitting at the breakfast bar while the Doctor started to make the tea.
He let out a light chuckle. "It was a joint effort, actually. Martha told me what to do, and I done it." The Doctor said, causing her to roll her eyes at him. "Like I said, joint effort."
"And I take it nothing got broken? I don't need to save up to go buy another new toaster or anything like that, do I?" She asked him curiously, watching as he moved around in the kitchen making her some tea.
"Nope, nothing got broken. Everything was perfectly fine. Nothing to worry about at all, Martha and I managed." The Doctor told her as he poured the boiling water into the teapot. "So come on, how was your first day in the bar?"
Kari just smiled at him as he placed everything in front of her, before sitting on the stood beside her. "It was fun, actually. I may have been a little worried at first, I… uh, was having second thoughts about it before we left. Turned out to be a really good night. The people I work with are nice and most of the punters are friendly enough."
The Doctor just raised an eyebrow at her. "You were having second thoughts?" She nodded at him. "Why didn't you say anything? You didn't have to go if you didn't want to. There are always other jobs out there, Kari."
She let out a sigh. She knew he was going to say that. "Because I want to do something useful. And besides, if I hadn't of gone to work, then I never would have bumped into a certain someone." Kari reasoned. She knew that it was right, that if she hadn't gone to work at that particular bar, she never would have seen Clara, who just so happened to stop her from being stupid and getting herself hit by a car.
"So are you planning on going back there for a second shift? Or are you happy to have done the one and willing to stay home with me?" The Doctor asked her, pouting at her a little.
"I think the deal was to give it a week, my dear Doctor. It has only been one night, there are several more to go before you can even think of trying to convince me to give it up." Kari told him confidently as she started to pour out the tea. "And no amount of pouting is going to make me change my mind."
"Ah well, it was worth a try." He said, before taking Kari by surprise and pressing his lips against hers.
"You're trying to distract me." Kari managed to breathe when the Doctor finally let her go. "Stop trying to distract me."
"Now, why would I want to do that?" The Doctor asked her, a rather sly grin on his face as he spoke. "I find this is the best way to distract you. In fact, I think this is the only way to distract you." He told her, before leaning in a kissing her once more.
"Stop distracting me." Kari mumbled, her cheeks turning bright red as the Doctor pulled away again. She was used to that sort of behaviour from her bow tie wearing Doctor, but it was slightly different with it come from her Converse wearing Doctor. "I'm going to keep working at the bar for the rest of the week. And you, mister, need to accept that."
He groaned at her, still working on his pout to try and get her to change her mind. "Fine, if there is no way to convince you to stay here with me."
Kari couldn't help but chuckle at him a little. She was finding it rather amusing to see the Doctor try to pout at her, to be all cute and get her to give up her job and stay home with him all day and night. "Good, now hush up and drink your tea. I want to have another hunt through the library."
They spent most of the night in the library, as well as most of the day while Martha was at work. Once again Kari had dinner ready for the moment her friend came home. "Did he behave again today?" Martha asked her, helping her with the washing up.
"Yup, good as gold." Kari told her, passing her the plate she had just cleaned to dry. "Still dropping hints about me not going back to the bar and staying here with him."
Martha couldn't help but chuckle at that comment. "He really doesn't want you to work there does he?"
Kari shook her head at her friend. "Nope. But I'm going to keep working there for as long as needed. I mean, we need the money, I'm not going to sit on my backside and let you earn the money for all of us." She told her. "Plus, someone who works there, she's… well, she's kind of important. I know her, but she doesn't know me yet." She had to explain it, but without giving anything away. It was easy to say that it was someone who hadn't met her yet due to her popping up anywhere.
"Ah, so that's why you're so determined to work there." Martha said, a smirk working its way onto her face. "To spend time with your friend."
"Yeah, well just don't tell the Doctor. He doesn't know this person yet, and he won't for a very, very long time." Kari warned her, knowing that everything would just get that little bit more confusing if the Doctor saw Clara, or if she saw him. "Got to love my complicated life." She said, letting out a sigh.
Martha just looked at her, a concerned look on her face. "But would you want it any other way? You know, living here all the time. Working in the bar every night? Without the Doctor?" Kari knew what she was doing, she was trying to get her to remember everything that she had, the good parts of her crazy life.
"You know I wouldn't, Martha. The Doctor means everything to me, absolutely everything." Kari told her, her mind starting to wander a little. "I hate all this jumping from one place to another, never knowing where I'm going to end up or when I'm going to leave. But the best thing about it is, is that I always end up with the Doctor. Well, almost always." She said, thinking of that time with Van Statten. "But anyway," she said, quickly shaking her head, "it isn't just the Doctor, I have the rest of my family as well."
"Oh yeah? And who are they then?" Martha asked her, a slight smirk on her face.
"Well, there's my big brother, of course. And I got you. Not to mention all the past and future people I still have to meet." She said, trying not to smirk too much herself. "You know, I actually have a lot of people in my life, a lot more friends than I ever had before."
"Exactly, you got a great big, dysfunctional, time travelling family." Martha told her, her smirk just getting bigger on her face. "And you wouldn't want it any other way."
Kari just rolled her eyes at her. "Yes, I know. You're right. When did you get so old and wise, Martha Jones?" She teased, knowing it would wipe the smirk off her face a little.
She was right, Martha's mouth dropped open a little and her eyes widened in shock. "You're calling me old?" She said, giving her a light whack on the arm. "The Doctor is the old one, he's what? Over 900 years old. And you're the one that's… dating him."
Kari just raised an eyebrow at the woman. She had noticed the little stutter before she had said the world 'dating'. "Oh, I'm dating him all right. The Last of the Time Lords, and he is all mine." She said, a smirk on her face.
They both turned around when they heard someone nervously clearing their throat. "Are you ready yet, Kari?" The Doctor asked her, a faint tint of red showing on his cheeks.
All she could do was smile at him, and the way he seemed to be slightly embarrassed from catching a part of her conversation with Martha. "Almost, dear. Just give me a few more minutes." She called over to him, flashing him her best smile.
After finishing the washing up, saying good night to Martha and grabbing her coat, she was once again walking down the street with the Doctor. Her arm was linked through his, her body as close as she could get it as a terrible feeling churned through her insides.
"Kari, what's wrong?" The Doctor asked her, taking her by surprise. She didn't think that he would notice, she thought that she was covering it up well.
"Uh, what makes you think that something is wrong?" She asked him, trying to sound as natural as she could, while keeping her eyes focused on the path ahead of them.
The Doctor just raised an eyebrow at her. "Well, apart from the way you're clinging to my arm like one of us is about to vanish, I can see it in your eyes." He told her, his voice gentle and calm, even though he was worried about her.
Kari let out a sigh, and rested her head against his arm as they walked a little slower. "You know when you just get that feeling that something bad is going to happen?" She asked him, getting a murmur from him in response. "Yeah, I've had that feeling ever since we left the house. And I don't like it. I really don't like it."
That was when the Doctor stopped walking and turned to face her. "I think we should go back to the house." He told her, gazing deep into her eyes, freaking her out a little.
"Why? It's just a feeling I'm getting. It's probably nothing, just me being silly. I have my silly moments, Doctor." Kari said, a small frown on her face. She was surprised by his sudden change, the way he was suddenly saying that they should go back.
The Doctor shook his head at her. "No, you're not being silly. Usually when you get a bad feeling, something happens. I'm not letting you work in that bar where anything could happen. I'm not risking it. We're going home. Now." He said, tugging on her arm, trying to get her to move.
"Whoa, wait a minute." Kari cried, pulling her arm from his grasp. "It is just a feeling. I'm not saying something is going to happen, it could just be nerves. This is only my second shift, I don't want to mess up."
He looked at her and let out a sigh. "Kari…"
"Doctor…"
"Please?"
She shook her head at him. "No. Look, I have my phone with me, I always have my phone with me. If anything happens, anything at all then I will call you and you can come running. If this feeling starts to get worse, I will call you to come and get me straight away. I promise." Kari told him, reassuring him that everything was okay and regretting telling him anything in the first place.
He just looked at her, a battle clearly happening in his head as he tried to work out what to do next. The Doctor knew she was stubborn, he knew the only way to get her back would be by dragging her. "Okay, if anything happens, anything at all, you call me straight away."
"I promise. I will call you." Kari told him, reaching up and giving him a quick kiss. "Now come on, I really don't think it would be acceptable for me to be late on my second night." She said, pulling him along with her a little and forcing him to continue their walk.
After having to assure the Doctor several more times that she would call him if anything were wrong, she finally managed to walk into the bar. "Hey, Kari." Cherrie called as she made her way closer to the bar. "You have a good day?"
Kari smiled at her as she pulled off her coat and chucked it behind the bar, making sure that her phone was safely in her pocket. "Yeah, I did actually. Didn't really do anything apart from spend time with my… uh, housemate."
"So, you don't live with the guy you're going to marry then?" Cherrie asked, nodding to the ring on Kari's hand.
She couldn't help the blush that crept up her neck and flooded her cheeks. "Uh, actually, he's one of my housemates at the moment." Kari informed her. "I currently live with him and our friend Martha. The three of us travel together usually, we're all taking a little break."
Cherrie couldn't help but grin. "When's the wedding then?" She asked her curiously.
"Well, we haven't actually decided yet. I mean, this is the first time we have actually been in once place for more than just a day for a long time. We tend to live a rather action packed and crazy life most of the time."
"Sounds exciting." Cherrie told her, putting away some clean glasses. "I'd love to travel, you know, just get in a car and drive or something."
"Then why don't you?" Kari asked her, wiping down the bar, since the place was still rather empty.
The woman let out a sigh. "I can't afford to. Plus I have other responsibilities." Kari just glanced at her, waiting for her to continue. "My mum, she isn't well. My sister never wants to help, so it's up to me to look after her." She said, a little sadly.
Before Kari had a chance to say anything, Clara came rushing through the doors, looking more than just a little stressed. "Clara? What's the matter?" Kari asked her, letting her feet take her over to the woman with Cherrie following quickly behind. "What happened?"
"I… I don't know. Something was following me." She said, trying to calm herself down.
"Someone was following you?" Cherrie asked her, looking at her with concern.
"Not someone, something. She said something." Kari corrected, her eyes still fixed on Clara. "What was it, Clara? What was following you?"
"I'm… I'm not sure. Every time I looked, there was nothing there. But you know when you get that feeling, the feeling that you're being watched? That there is something there, lurking in the shadows?" She asked, making Kari nod at her. She knew that feeling all too well. "Well that's what I felt."
Suddenly the feeling of dread that Kari had been feeling grew. "Cherrie, get Clara a drink, something strong." She said, pulling her phone out of her pocket. "I need to check something out." The woman nodded at her, leading Clara over to the bar as Kari headed to the doors.
She stepped outside and looked up and down the street, seeing nothing out of the ordinary. Kari was tempted to call to the Doctor, to tell him what had happened. But she didn't want to worry him, especially since she didn't really know what was wrong. Clara may have just been imaging something following her, she may have just been stressed and imagined it all.
Kari turned around, and headed back inside, just as the street lamp started to flicker, the lights in the other buildings slowly going out. "I couldn't see anything out there." She said, walking back over to Clara and Cherrie. "Whatever it was, it must have moved on."
Clara just looked up at her with worried eyes. "I know there was something there." She insisted, thinking that Kari didn't believe her. "I didn't imagine it."
"I never said that you did, Clara." She told her gently, knowing that she was still freaking out a little. "Are you sure you didn't see anything? Anything at all? Anything that shouldn't have been there?"
"I don't know. I don't think…" Clara was cut off when all the lights in the bar suddenly went out, causing Cherrie to scream, along with a few of the punters.
Kari was quick to pull her phone back out, using the screen on it as a light. "Okay, calm down everyone, it's just a power cut." She told them all, thinking of the best way to keep the situation under control. "Cherrie, is there a torch or some candles or something anywhere?"
"Uh, yeah. Torches, I'll go get them." Cherrie said, before disappear to the back room where the office was.
"Right, I suggest you all drink up and head home." Kari called to the customers. "I have no idea how long this power cut is going to last, and there is no point sitting here drinking in the dark." There were a few grumbles from people, but the sound of chairs scraping across the floor told her that they were listening and heading out of the bar. "Clara, are you okay?"
"Yes, I'm fine. Just a little freaked out." She admitted.
Kari nodded, understanding that she was scared, even more so since she had already had a strange evening. "Well, everything is going to be fine. Now, you going to be okay for a minute? I just need to do something." Clara nodded at her and Kari looked down at her phone.
"Kari? What is it? Is everything okay?" The Doctor's voice called, clearly full of concern and worried.
She let out a sigh. "We've just had a bit of a power cut. Something doesn't feel right, Doctor. I need you, I need you here right now." She told him, trying to keep herself calm.
"I'm on my way. Do not go anywhere." He said, before ending the call and leaving Kari to wait around for him to show.
"Kari…" She heard Clara call, causing her to turn her head. Her eyes widened at what she saw as the lights flickered on for just a few seconds before going off again.
"Clara, it's okay, everything is going to be okay." Kari told her, using her phone as a light once more as she carefully stepped towards the woman. "And whatever you do, keep your eyes on it. But whatever you do, do not look at the eyes. Understand?" She asked, keeping her eyes locked on the stone figure before her.
"Kari, what is that thing?" Clara asked, her voice wavering a little.
"An Angel, a Weeping Angel." She said, winking one eye after the other. "Keep your eyes on it and back away from it. As long as we look at it, it can't move." Kari told her, quickly tapping her phone to make sure the light from the screen didn't go out.
Clara stepped back slowly, taking a tight hold of Kari's hand the moment she was in range. "But it's a statue. How can a statue move?"
A sigh slipped past Kari's lips. "It can only move when it's not being observed, as long as we can see it, as long as we keep looking at it, it is just a statue." She explained, glad that she had called the Doctor and knowing that he was on his way there to them now. "So whatever you do, Clara, for God sake, do not blink."
"And what does it do? I don't understand."
"A Weeping Angel feeds of potential time energy. If it touches you, you will get sent back in time, and all the days that would have been become food. That's what it will do, send you back in time so that you die in the past." Kari told her, before hearing a noise coming from behind them. "Cherrie? Is that you?" She called, hoping that it was. But there was no answer, and her gut was telling her that there was something bad behind them. "Clara, keep looking, don't blink."
Clara nodded, and Kari gave her hand a quick squeeze. "No blinking. I can do that." She heard the woman whisper to herself.
Kari took a deep breath, before slowly turning her head, scared of what she was going to see behind her. Her stomach churned when she saw another Angel, reaching out towards her and Clara. "Oh, now we're in trouble." She muttered.
"Why? What is it?" Clara asked her, the fear and panic obviously growing in the woman.
"Clara, you need to keep looking, this Angel isn't alone. It's got a partner in crime, and they want us. They want to feed of our lives, and I'm not going to let that happen."
"Can you stop them? Tell me you can stop them." The woman said to her desperately.
Kari just kept praying that the Doctor would move his backside and get there. She needed him, because she really didn't know how much longer the two of them were going to be able to keep those Angels locked for. "Course I can stop them, we're both stopping them as long as we look at them."
That was when the worse thing that could have happened, happened. Kari hadn't been paying attention to her phone, and the screen flashed off. The second it had, Kari was quick to get it back on again, only to find both the Angels closer, and the grip on her hand gone. "Clara…" She whispered, knowing what had happened. "You took Clara."
She could see that both the Angels were smirking at her, and she carefully moved to a position where she had both of them in her sights. "Well you know what, Angels? You just made one hell of a big mistake." She spat at them, feeling her temper start to flare. "Do you know what they call me? Who I really am?" Kari asked, even though she knew they were not going to answer her.
"I'm Kari Conner, I'm the Angel of Time. You want time energy? I'm full of it. I'm linked to the time vortex, I'm the best meal you could ever have." She told them, feeling the time vortex pulsing through her now. "You should have gone for me first, you should have left Clara Oswald alone."
"Kari!" The Doctor shouted, bursting through the doors. "Oh, Angels, not good." He said, suddenly stopping where he was and pulling out his screwdriver.
"You want time energy, Angels?" Kari growled at them, completely ignore the fact that the Doctor was there. "Well have it. Have it all!" She shouted, letting the golden glow that had been surrounding her spread out and reach towards the Angels.
"Kari, what are you doing?" She heard the Doctor shouting at her from where he was rooted to the spot. He had never expected to get there to see her trapped with two Weeping Angels, but he was more shocked at how she was dealing with them.
"I told you, big mistake." Kari growled, before watching as the golden glow from the time energy surrounded the Angels, getting brighter and brighter with every passing second. "I hope you enjoyed your last meal." She said, before both the Doctor and herself were thrown off their feet.
The Doctor let out a groan as he pushed himself off the ground, finding himself covered with dust. His eyes quickly snapped up to where he had seen Kari standing, and he saw her lying on the floor. "Kari? Kari, are you okay?" He called to her, rushing over towards her. "Hey, Kari?" He whispered, just as the light flickered back to life. He looked around the room, noticing that there was dust everywhere, and no Angels in sight. "Come on, Kari. Time to wake up now."
She groaned quietly, moving her hand up towards her forehead. "Oh, I really hate that." She mumbled, before feeling the Doctor wrap his arms around her. "Oh, so you made it here then?"
"Yeah, I made it. Are you okay?" He asked her, brushing her hair out of her face so that he could look at her properly.
"No. They took her, they took my friend. Actually, I think they took both of them, and my boss." She whispered to him, trying not to let the tears that were forming in her eyes fall. "I hate the Weeping Angels. I really, really hate them."
The Doctor just held onto her tightly, sensing that she needed him there. "Come on, you're coming home. No arguments." He told her, before helping her up. The moment he did, her legs gave way and she almost dropped right back down to the floor.
"I don't think my legs are working, Doctor." She mumbled, holding onto him tightly. He swept her off her feet and into his arms in one swift movement. "Can we go home now?" She asked, burying her head into his jacket, still trying to hold back the tears. She had never expected to see the Angels there as well, for Clara to have bee taken away from her by them. She never expected the time vortex to take over and destroy the Angels right there and then. But it had happened, and she was struggling to deal with it, especially since all her energy had just been sapped out of her.
A/N: I bet none of you saw that one coming now, did you? A lot of you wanted more Clara, and now you've had a bit more Clara. This isn't the last Kari is going to see of her, before she meets the Doctor.
To answer the question a few of you have asked me, yes I will be doing the 50th episode at some point, don't you worry about that. I've already started mapping it out in my head, and it's coming along nicely.
And onto the thanks, a big thank you to every single one of you that have read this story, especially those who have sat there and read the whole thing all at once (All 50 odd chapters in one sitting, I'm impressed). Thank you to all who have followed or favourited the story and a massive thank you to everyone who has reviewed.
Now, I love reviews, they really do make me smile. I do read them, and I like to hear what you think, ad to give suggestions of things you would like to see. So please, leave a review you lovely people.
Pippa.