A/N: Hello everyone! Here we are again, another week has passed and another chapter has arrived for you. Enjoy!
When Kari woke up, she found the Doctor completely passed out beside her, still fully dressed, apart from his trainers and suit jacket. She couldn't help but smile at the sight of him, he just looked so peaceful and happy. It was very rare that she actually managed to catch him when he was sleeping.
She silently slipped out of bed, not wanting to wake him or Martha up as she made her way downstairs to grab a glass of water. Billy was gone. Jack had sent someone to get him, to take him to his new home and new life. He seemed happy enough when he left, and she just hoped he would stay that way.
It was still the middle of the night, and Kari no longer needed the lights on to know where she was going in her own house, so she was surprised when she found something blocking her path in the kitchen.
She backtracked and turned the lights on, her eyes going wide at the sight before her. "Oh, my God." She whispered to herself, before turning and charging up the stairs. "Doctor! Doctor, Martha, wake up!" She shouted, running into her bedroom and jumping on the bed. "Doctor, wake up!" She called, straddling him and shaking him awake.
He woke up so sharply that he ended up head butting Kari, both of them letting out a groan. "Kari, are you okay? What's wrong? What's happened?" He asked, his voice full of panic and concern.
Before she had a chance to answer, Martha came rushing into the room, dressing wrapped around her and her pyjamas. "Kari, what's all the…" she trailed off when she saw the way she was sitting on top of the Doctor. "Oh, I do not need to see this." She grumbled, turning away from the sight.
It was only then that Kari realised how it must have looked. "You two, down stairs, now." Kari ordered, grabbing the Doctor and pulling him out of the bed, before tugging at Martha's hand as well.
"Kari, can you please tell us what is going on?" The Doctor asked, as they were halfway down the stairs.
She stopped and turned to face them both. "I just came downstairs to get a drink, and bumped into someone in the kitchen." Was all she told them, before rushing down the last few steps. She was trying to hard to supress the grin that wanted to stretch across her face, because she wanted to see their reactions without giving too much away.
"Who could be so important that you would come rushing up the stairs, screaming and shouting for us to get up?" Martha asked, clearly not happy that she had been woken up when she had to get to work in the morning.
"Oh, you'll see." Kari said, stopping at the kitchen. She turned and looked at the pair, before flicking the kitchen lights back on, letting them illuminate the blue box that was parked in the middle of the room.
The Doctor couldn't help but grin. "Ah lovely, she's back. Took her time, mind you. Coordinates must have slipped from what I put on the DVD."
"Never mind that, the TARDIS is back. I don't have to work in that café any more!" Martha exclaimed with excitement.
Kari was happy, they finally had the TARDIS back and they could continue their travels through all of time and space. But she wasn't as happy as the other two, because she knew what was going to happen now.
"Kari, is everything all right?" The Doctor asked her, wrapping his arm around her waist and pulling her into his side.
"Yup, everything is fine. Glad to see the old girl, but a little sad at the same time." She admitted to him.
"Why are you sad?" He asked her, a frown forming on his face. He would have thought she would be just as excited to go exploring through time and space again as he and Martha were.
She shrugged a little as she leaned against him. "I don't know, I kind of liked it here. You know, no monsters, well, almost no monsters. No running around and saving the universe from our end. It was nice, to just spend time with you properly." She didn't dare tell him that she knew that as soon as she was back in the blue box she would probably end up somewhere else. "Anyway, get your things, time we hit the road." Kari said, giving the Doctor a quick kiss on the cheek before heading up the stairs.
She didn't bother to change, she just grabbed her phone and her other little bits before making her way back downstairs and to the blue box. The Doctor was already standing there waiting for her, his long brown coat draped over his arm.
"Are you sure everything is okay, Kari?" He asked her, giving her a worried look.
Kari nodded at him. "Yeah, like I said, going to miss the domesticated Doctor. It was nice to just be… I don't know, normal for a while, I guess."
"No, it's more than that. I know you, Kari. What else is it?" The Doctor asked her, just knowing that there was something more to what she was saying.
She let out a sigh, giving up on trying to keep it from him now. "I'm going to jump again, aren't I? The moment we step inside the TARDIS, I'm going to end up being pulled somewhere else. I've been here for too long now, I need to go to another point in time."
"That's why you're so worried and nervous." The Doctor stated, now understand what was wrong. "We can stay a little bit longer if you want to, I'm sure Martha won't mind."
Kari just shook her head at him. "No, you guys have been stuck here with me long enough. Time I went and had another adventure with you somewhere in your past, or future." She said, not really meaning it. She wanted to stay with him, she always had. She just wanted to stay with him and be there for everything, linear to his timeline, not jumping all over the place.
Soon enough, Martha was there with a small rucksack. "Right, we ready to go then?" She asked, more away and a lot more happy now that she knew they were getting out of there.
"On through time and space." Kari whispered, watching as the Doctor pulled out the key to the TARDIS and opened the door, Martha being the first to rush inside.
"It will be fine, Kari." The Doctor told her, sensing her hesitation. "We've had a good few weeks together, haven't we? Eh?" All she could do was nod at him. "And you still have so many amazing adventures to have with me, every one of me."
Finally, Kari managed to smile at him. "And I can't wait. There's a few people that I really can't wait to meet you know." She told him, slowly following him into the TARDIS.
"Oh, and who are they then?" He asked, holding her hand tightly as they walked towards the console.
"Well, Jo, Sarah Jane, K-9, the Brigadier, Susan, Barbara and Ian, and I guess, just everyone. I've been sticking with certain versions of you, at the moment at least." She told him, running her hand over the console and smiling at the humming she gave out.
There was a smile on the Doctor's face as well, but it was a sad one. "So, I guess it is still slightly early for you?" He asked, getting a nod in response. "Ah well, just means you have loads to look forward to."
"Too right I do. Nine hundred years of life with my Doctor, what could be greater?" She told him, getting a peck on the lips from the Doctor, just to show her that he approved of what she had said. "Anyway, since we all just woke up in the middle of the night, how about we all go back to bed?" She suggested.
"Nah, who needs to sleep when we have a time machine?" The Doctor asked her, before bouncing around the console, setting coordinates and planning their next trip.
"Uh, Martha does, and so do I." Kari told him, giving him a slight frown. "It was almost 2am, I went to bed at eleven, and I'm guessing you and Martha even later. We are not going anywhere until we have all slept." She said, rather firmly.
"You know what, I agree with Kari. A few more hours sleep couldn't really hurt, could it?" Martha called, backing up her friend. She wasn't exactly that tired, but she saw the sense in Kari's words.
The Doctor pouted at Kari a little, causing her to just shake her head at him. "Oh, okay, fine. But can I at least put her in orbit somewhere? Please?"
The look that he was giving her is what made her give in to him. "Okay, you put her in orbit, Martha and I will head off back to bed." She told him, walking over to him and giving him a hug. "I expect you to get some sleep as well." She whispered to him softly.
"Well, that depends. Where are you sleeping tonight? I find I sleep much better when you're there." The Doctor whispered back, taking her slightly by surprise.
For some reason, a smirk formed on Kari's face. "Where do you want me to sleep tonight?" She asked him, a little seductively.
The Doctor swallowed, having not expected that kind of response from her. "I… uh, well I…"
"I'll be where you can find me, okay?" She told him, giving him a quick kiss on the cheek. "Night, Doctor."
After walking with Martha to her room and saying goodnight, Kari found herself sitting on the edge of the Doctor's bed. She let out a sigh, before throwing herself back and looking up at the ceiling. "Please don't make me leave just yet. Let me have one more night here with the Doctor before I have to go. Please?"
There was a light humming coming from the ship, as if hearing Kari's plea and answering her. She couldn't help but smile a little from the hum, she had missed that sound so much.
It was a little while later when the Doctor quietly opened the door and stepped into his room to see Kari still in the same position but with her eyes now closed. He moved silently over to the bed, watching her chest slowly rising a falling, a sure sign that she was asleep. The last thing he wanted to do was wake her up, especially when he knew she had so much on her mind.
He gently slipped his arm under her legs, his other arm snaking around her shoulders so that he could carefully pick her up. The Doctor couldn't stop the smile that was stretching across his face as he looked at her in his arms. He really had enjoyed the past few weeks with her, they had been able to just spend so much time together and he really felt that everything was just perfect.
The moment he placed her down on the bed properly, Kari's arms wrapped themselves around the Doctor's neck, stopping him for going anywhere. "I thought you were asleep?" The Doctor asked her, watching her face closely.
"Maybe I was, maybe I wasn't. Maybe I was just waiting for you." Kari mumbled, clearly still half asleep.
"Well, if you let me go, we can both go to sleep." He told her, trying to keep himself from being pulled right on top of Kari. "Or are you just going to make me stand here all night?"
With a groan, Kari reluctantly let her arms drop from around the Doctor's neck so that he could get himself ready for bed. She hadn't actually meant to drift off to sleep then, but she liked the fact that she had woken up when the Doctor decided to get her into the bed.
A few minutes later, she felt the other side of the bed dip slightly, and she knew that the Doctor was finally there as well. She rolled over, shifting over so that she was as close to him as possible. "Goodnight, Doctor." She mumbled, letting sleep take her back over.
The Doctor gently placed a kiss on her forehead, a smile on his face. "Goodnight, my beautiful, brilliant, Kari." He wasn't really planning on going back to sleep now they were in the TARDIS, because he knew Kari was worried about just disappearing while she sleeps. He knew it had happened to her before, so he just wanted to be there for her.
It was several hours later when Kari finally decided to wake up, smiling as she saw the Doctor still there beside her. "Morning, Kari." He said to her, his eyes bright as he watched her.
A groan escaped her lips as she buried her head into the pillow. "Stop doing that." She managed to grumble into the soft, feather pillowed.
"Doing what?" The Doctor asked her, an eyebrow raised as he twisted a strand of her hair around his finger.
"That. Watching me while I'm asleep. You always do that. Why do you always do that?" She continued to moan, her face still buried.
The Doctor couldn't help but chuckle a little. "I do it because I can. When you're asleep, that's the only time I get a little peace from you."
Kari slowly turned her head a little, opening one eye and using it to glare at the Doctor. "I'd watch it, if I were you. You talk more than I do. At least I know when to keep my big trap shut and not make a fool out of myself or make everyone think I'm crazy." She told him, letting him wrap his arms around her and drag her towards him. "At least I don't feel the need to explain something at a hundred miles an hour, using big and complicated words that I know that no one else is going to understand."
"So, you don't ramble then?" He asked her, an amused look on his face.
"No, I most certainly do not. The only one that rambles around here is you, and you know it. You can never say something in a few simple words, oh no, it has to be a great big speech about it all, using all the technical terms that only you understand while the rest of us stand there looking like idiots." Kari told him, still not realising what she was doing. "I mean, sure, sometimes you make some really epic speeches, and I love them, I really do, but my God you can rattle on."
"Just like you're doing right now then." The Doctor said, making her sit up quickly, almost knocking him off the bed.
"Oh, my God." She mumbled, before putting her head in her hands. "It's rubbing off on me. I'm starting to ramble on like you do. I'm turning into a motor mouth just like you."
All the Doctor could do was laugh a little. "I did tell you I was used to use talking my ear off. Do you believe me now?" He asked her, watching her as she tried to tell herself she wasn't rambling still.
"No, because it was a fluke. It was a one-time thing. Not going to happen again. Not ever. Is that understood?" Kari asked him, poking his chest with a finger.
He nodded his head at her, trying so hard not to smirk at her. She was really starting to turn into the Kari he knew, the woman that saved him so many times, the one person who was there through his darkest days. She was going to do so many things that surprised him, he knew she was going to be brave through everything that happened. And for those reasons alone, he had plenty up his sleeve for her.
"Right, well, I think it's time to get up now, don't you?" The Doctor asked her, tossing the covers to one side and jumping out of the bed.
Kari let out a groan and threw her head back into the pillow. "What for? I don't want to get up yet. The moment I get washed and dressed, I'm going to be yanked somewhere else. If I don't get up, I won't go anywhere." She told him, wondering why she hadn't been pulled anywhere else yet. She had been expecting to disappear sometime during the night, but she woke up with the Doctor.
"So, you're just going to stay in bed forever now then?" He asked her, grabbing himself a clean set of clothes. "Because I am pretty sure that you being in your pyjamas isn't going to make a difference to whether you jump or not."
"Leave me alone, it's my theory. I'm allowed to have my own theories you know. I'm the one that always gets dragged around, not you, so leave me alone." She grumbled, deciding to pull the covers over her head now as well to block everything out. She wasn't tired, but she just didn't want to move from the warm and comfy bed that she was in.
The Doctor just shook his head at her before heading into the bathroom to get showered and changed. He knew that she would eventually get up, because she was going to be hungry by the time he was dressed and ready.
The moment Kari heard the shower start, she reluctantly dragged herself out of the bed and quietly tiptoed to the door, opening it slowly and praying for it to be silent. She let out a long breath as she got into the corridor and shut the door behind her, before skipping down to her own room.
She knew it was time to get up, and to face the fact that she was going to be dragged somewhere else. Kari had enjoyed being with the Doctor so much, and she just didn't want it to end. The whole time they were there, living in her house, she finally felt like they were a real couple, doing normal things that couples do. They sat and talked, watched movies, played games, and just spent so much time together doing anything they wanted.
But she knew that was over now. Kari was already facing up to the fact that those weeks were over, that their time of being 'normal' had ended. "Well, it was fun while it lasted." She muttered to herself, as she went into her own bathroom to get washed and dressed. She decided to might as well get it over with, before she thought any more on how much she would miss the way they had been living.
It was almost an hour later when she finally stepped out of the bathroom, completely clean and fully dressed. Her hair was still damp, and turning into a golden, curly mess, but Kari really didn't care. She was too busy thinking about where she might end up next, and which Doctor of hers was going to be there.
She had just reached her door to go and see if the Doctor had decided on where next to take Martha when there was a light knocking on her door. "Kari? Are you in there?" Martha's voice called through the closed door.
Kari pulled open the door, a forced smile on her face. "I do believe I am, Miss Jones. What can I do for you?" She asked, trying her best to push everything out of her mind and just be happy that she was still there.
"Well, the Doctor said you had disappeared, and I was just checking that you hadn't decided to disappear off to your room. He… uh, he thought you might have left when you weren't there." The woman told her.
"Decided I needed to shower and get dressed myself, so that's exactly what I did." Kari informed her. "Has he decided where you guys are going next?"
Martha shrugged at her. "Not a clue. He was heading to the kitchen when I bumped into him, going to make you your tea."
Kari stepped out of her room, pulling her door closed behind her. "Well then, I guess we better go and make sure he doesn't destroy the TARDIS kitchen like he did mine." She said, causing Martha to laugh a little.
They were almost at the kitchen when Martha finally spoke up. "You miss it already, don't you?" she asked, taking Kari slightly by surprise. "The whole living a normal life with the Doctor. You already miss that, don't you?"
She nodded at her a little, the feeling of guilt bubbling inside of her as she did. "A little. It's just… we never spend that much time together all at once. Usually, I'm here, we have an adventure, and then a few hours later I get pulled away. The longest I've actually been with him at one time for was a few days. But that was mainly spent running around and saving the universe and all that." Kari admitted to her friend.
"I'm sorry. I can't even begin to imagine how hard it must be for you both." Her friend said, gently placing a hand on her arm. "It must be difficult sometimes."
"I'll admit, it's not as difficult as it was. I mean, back when I first met the Doctor, he knew me and I had absolutely no idea how, even though I already knew everything about him." She said, remembering that day clearer than the rest of her life before then. "The day you meet the Doctor, is the day your life changes forever. My change was pretty drastic, I literally changed into a new person. I went from Karianne Conner, to just Kari."
"You know, the Doctor doesn't like it either. Every time you leave, he starts moping around the place, not able to decide on what to do next." Martha explained to her. Kari was actually quite interested to hear it all, because she never knew what happened when she left. "Sometimes it goes on for a few hours, sometimes a few days. It all depends on how long it takes for you to come back to him."
That shocked her, finding out that he waited around for her to show up again before taking Martha on another adventure. It didn't seem right to her. "So, when I leave, he just sulks until I show up again?" Kari asked, wanting to make sure she got it right.
Martha nodded at her. "Yeah, he starts missing you the moment you have gone. But his eyes light up the moment he sees you again. All the life comes back to him, it's like… I don't know, like you're the only thing he lives for. Like he can't stand to leave the TARDIS without you."
She let out a sigh, knowing that that wasn't how things were meant to be. She knew that in the future he wasn't so bad, he was able to go off without her, because he knew she would soon show up and join him. Maybe it was time to drill that into his head now, because he never used to be like that, so all Kari could think was that something happened to cause that.
"Kari? What's the matter?" Martha suddenly asked her, bringing her out of her thoughts.
"Nothing, just overthinking things. I do that sometimes, and I really shouldn't, it only makes things more complicated. Anyway, I need tea, so come on." She said, linking her arm through Martha's and dragging her along with her to the kitchen, where she hoped to find the Doctor.
She opened the door quietly, and saw the Doctor standing over at the counter, his head drooping a little as he stared at the mug sitting on the counter top. Kari recognised that mug, it was basically her mug, the only TARDIS blue mug that resided on the ship.
He hadn't noticed her walking in with Martha, he hadn't even noticed Martha, so she made sure to signal for the woman to stay quiet while she silently approached the Doctor. Once she was behind him, she wrapped her arms around his waist, taking him slightly by surprise. "Why are you so sad, Doctor?" She whispered, resting her head against him.
He managed to turn around while her arms stayed around him. "I thought you had gone. When I came back, you weren't there, and I thought you had left already." The Doctor admitted, a hint of relief starting to show on his face.
"Doctor, if I was about to be pulled away from you, you'd know about it. I'd be crying out your name until you were there. I don't like leaving without you knowing." She told him, her head now resting against his chest. "I don't like leaving you at all. I don't like seeing you so sad, and I really don't like knowing that you mope around here waiting for me to come back when I go."
He let out a slight groan. "Martha…"
"Ah, no." Kari said, quickly putting a finger on his lips to stop him from saying anything else. "Leave Martha out of this. She hasn't done anything wrong, no one has. But you need to promise me that you will stop moping around when I'm not here and go have some adventures. I'm always going to be there, eventually." She assured him, just hoping that it was getting through to him.
The Doctor slowly nodded at her. "Okay. If that's what you want me to do, than okay."
"Thank you." She whispered to him, before reaching up and giving him a quick peck on the lips. "Now, is that my tea that you were staring at?"
He reached around to the counter and picked up the mug for her. "Yeah, sorry. Here you go."
"So, everything okay with you two now then?" Martha asked, making the pair finally realise that she was still there and now drinking her own mug of tea.
Both the Doctor and Kari just smiled at her. "We're always okay, Martha." The Doctor told her, wrapping his free arm around Kari and leading her over to the table.
Kari couldn't help but smile as the three of them sat there, a tiny part of her huge family. "Now, do we have a plan for the day, or do I get to take us on a random trip?"
She saw a glint in the Doctor's eyes as he glanced over to Martha, both of them now wearing suspicious smiles. "Oh, I think I have a small idea of somewhere we could go. If you're allowed to stay for a little bit longer, that is." The Doctor told her, giving her a full-blown smile.
Kari narrowed her eyes at him. "What are you up to, Doctor? And don't you dare say nothing, because I know you, and you're up to something, and Martha is involved in it as well." She said, making sure to give Martha the look she was giving the Doctor.
"Me? Up to something?" He said, pretending to be offending. "I'm not up to something, am I, Martha?"
"Nope, don't bring me into this. I just want to finish my tea, not get involved in your little domestics." She warned the two, taking another sip at her tea.
This time it was Kari who pretending to be offended. "Domestic? This isn't a domestic, Miss Jones. This is me, being very suspicious of the pair of you. You had plenty of time to plot and scheme while I was in the shower, more than enough time actually."
The Doctor could do nothing by smile. "Oh, look who's playing detective this morning."
"Well, Martha was the one to come to my room, and not you, Doctor. Now, usually if you think I've left, you come to my room to check, if you can't find it, then you know I'm not there. So, my door was there, you had Martha come and get me while you worked on something. The water had only been boiled for a few minutes at the most, so you hadn't really been in the kitchen that long, because I know someone else tends to turn the kettle on when she knows someone is coming. The walk from my room to here took longer than normal, because Martha and I were talking, most likely Miss Jones was trying to delay our arrival to the kitchen, give you even more time to plan something." Kari said, making both the Doctor and Martha look at her with their mouths hanging open. "You were deep in thought when we arrived, more out of it than usual actually. You weren't just worried that I might have left, because you were confident I was still here. No, you were thinking about this little scheme of yours, and if I was going to like it."
The pair didn't really know what to say, when finally the Doctor shook his head. "You've been reading too many detective stories, Kari." He told her.
She just looked at him, a grin on her face. She knew exactly what she had done, her own little piece of deduction like Sherlock Holmes. "Did I get anything wrong?" Kari asked him, giving him her sweetest smile.
"Uh, well…" He said, rubbing the back of his neck. "Uh…"
"Ha, gotcha!" Kari said, knowing that she had totally won and caught him out. "So come on then, what is this grand scheme of yours?"
He let out a sigh, knowing that his surprise wasn't going to be too much of a surprise now. "Martha, take Kari and make sure she puts something warm on. And I mean warm. Both of you. Now, off you go. I'll see you in a bit." The Doctor said, kissing the top of Kari's had as he got up from his chair and rushed out of the room.
"I knew it." Kari said, still smiling away. "I knew you were both up to something."
"Yeah, but how?" Martha asked her, as the both decided to go and head towards the wardrobe now that they had finished their tea.
"Martha, I know the Doctor very well, so I know when he is up to something. His first big mistake was sending you to come and get me. I sneaked out of his room, and if he had been that worried that I had left, he would have come himself. Plus, maybe I have been reading a few too many detective stories." She told her, making them both burst out laughing. Kari was in a good mood, and so was everyone else in the TARDIS. She just hoped that she wasn't going to get pulled away before they had spend one more day together in their magical blue box.
A/N: So, I hope you all enjoyed it. It went a little differently to what I was planning, so I'm afraid there are going to be a few more original chapters before we hit a new episode. Sorry about that.
Reviews time!
1. You will not have to read both stories (1-8, 9-12) to understand it or for it to make sense. When I finally start posting 1-8, there will be an intro chapter to explain it all. But essentially they will be separate.
2. I'm not very good at writing more than a little smut, I'm trying to keep this story in the T section, rather than M. But, I may be convinced to do a few M rated one shots.
3. My list of wanted chapters is going longer, I'm afraid I may have to do a poll to see which ones to focus on first, so keep you're eyes peeled.
Not too many to answer today, but thank you all for lovely reviews.
Okay, one final little note. I've updated my unpublished list on my profile, it now includes how many chapters have been written. I'm thinking of posting one, but with no guarantee of regular updates. So have a look if you want, it does include some Doctor Who stories.
Anyway, that's all for now. See you all next week!
Pippa.