A/N: Hey guys, due to unforeseen circumstances, updates will now be a day earlier than normal. This is going to be the time that new chapters are posted for a while, I hope that is okay with everyone.
The air was tense on the Valliant. The Master was very snappy, so everyone that was anywhere near him was on edge. He had managed to keep Kari away from the Doctor for a little over three weeks, but it wasn't exactly how he had planned it. Kari had been sleeping for almost all of that time.
The Master would check on her, spend as much time there as he could when he wasn't planning world domination. He would manage to wake her up, only for her to complain about the pain, and for her body to decide to rest some more. He wasn't entirely sure what was going on, but he was definitely starting to worry.
By the start of the fourth week, his worry was quickly turning into panic. The only person that had really noticed it was the Doctor, but not matter how many times he asked, the Master would never tell him where Kari was or what was wrong. Although he could put two and two together and work out that something was wrong with Kari.
"Where is she?" It was the same question that the Doctor asked him time and time again.
"Safe. She's safe." The Master replied, sounding a little weary. "That's all you need to know, Doctor."
The Doctor looked up at him from the bed of blankets he had been given on the floor. "Kari isn't safe as long as you have her. She will only be safe when you are locked up and she is back in the TARDIS."
There had only been two men who were not afraid of the Master and his moods, and the Doctor was one of them. Both he and Jack had been challenging him, doing their best to make him mad, trying to get a rise out of him. Neither of them had seen Kari since that very first day, so they would do anything to trick him into letting them see her.
"Kari is fine." The Master ended up saying through gritted teeth. "When she decides to finally get up, I'll prove it to you." That was what the Doctor had wanted, to see her, for proof. "In fact, why don't I go and wake her up myself right now? After all, it is time for dinner." He grinned at the Doctor before bouncing out of the room.
It was only when he grew closer to the room that Kari was in that he slowed and the expression on his face changed. The worry was back now, and the only way for it to clear was to find Kari awake. When he opened the door, he was disappointed. She was still sleeping, in fact it looked like she had barely even moved at all.
He quietly made his way over to the bed, and sat down on the edge, his hand reaching out and stroking Kari's hair. "Hey, time to wake up now, my precious Angel." He whispered to her, letting his lips touch her cheek. "There are people who want to see you. They don't seem to be able to believe that I've been looking after you." He waited for a few moments, but she still didn't respond. The Master let out a sigh, this was how it always seemed to be when trying to wake her up. "Come on, beautiful, the Doctor is waiting for you. He wants to have dinner with you."
After a few more moments, Kari finally started to stir, bringing only half a smile to the Master's face. He had managed to wake her, but only by speaking of the Doctor, and that was something he needed to change. "What's going on?" Kari mumbled, letting out a groan as she tried to move. "What… where's the Doctor?"
"The Doctor is waiting for you, my sweet. So it's time to wake up now." He was speaking to her so softly, so caringly, it just wasn't natural.
Kari tried to push herself up, which only resulted in a pain burning through her entire body, causing her to gasp at the sudden pain. "It hurts. Why does everything hurt?" She wondered, not fighting the Master off as he helped her to sit up in the bed.
He looked at her with serious concern in his eyes. "It will soon fade. It's just taking you some time to get used to it. But I promise, you'll be fine." The Master said to her, brushing some of her hair away from her face and looking deep into her eyes. Something wasn't right, there was something wrong with her eyes, only he couldn't quite put his finger on what it was.
"I want the Doctor. He can make it stop, he can do anything." Now the Master wasn't even sure she was fully conscious. Something about the whole way that she was acting was concerning for him, but he didn't really have the time to sit and think about it, not when he had something to prove.
"You need to get dressed, my precious Angel, and then you can go and see the Doctor. How does that sound?" He asked her, his hand resting against her cheek.
"What's wrong with what I'm wearing?" She was sitting there in the same clothes she had arrived on the Valliant in. She hadn't been awake long enough to get changed, she hadn't been awake long enough to do anything other than get under the blue covers.
The Master knew it was going to be a challenging task now, to get her out of the bed, washed and dressed. "Because you've been sleeping in it. And I don't think you would impress anyone by showing up to dinner wearing that, would you?" Kari managed to shake her head at him a little, but quickly stopped when her head started spinning. "Now, you need to get washed, my sweet. And when you're dressed, we can go and join the Doctor for dinner. How does that sound?"
She nodded at him, her eyes looking misty and nothing how they should have been. "And Jack? Where's Jack?"
"Big brother Jack is working. You know how busy he is at Torchwood." The Master told her, easily spinning her a lie. He knew that he could get away with it because of the state that she was currently in. He just hoped that her body would adjust quickly and he would have the bright, chatty, stubborn Kari back. "Get washed, I'll get some fresh clothes out of you."
Kari frowned and nodded at him, allowing him to lead her over to the door that led to the bathroom attached to her room. To say she was confused was putting it mildly, her head was so messed up that she didn't really remember what was going on. She remembered bits and pieces, being on the Valliant, finding the TARDIS that had been turned into a paradox machine, Martha and her family. But how she ended up in a bed with the Master watching over her, she had no idea at all.
Once she was safely in the bathroom and away from the other Time Lord, she leaned against the wall and took a few deep breaths. Not only was her head feeling rather muddled, but it was pounding as well. She knew that something wasn't right, the pain was something she couldn't explain.
Kari turned her head and looked at the mirror that was above the sink. Her eyes widened when she saw the state she was in, her hair was an utter mess and needed a good wash, but that wasn't the worst of it. "What has he done to me…" She whispered, running her fingers through her hair and looking at the end of it. The hair that had been more gold than brown, was turning back into the dark brown she had before she met the Doctor. "It… it just needs a wash. That's all it is. I need to wash my hair. It's the dirt and the grease, it's making it look darker than it is. That's all."
She quickly turned on the shower, making sure that the door was locked before getting undressed. Kari knew that making sure it was locked was pointless, the Master would get in if he wanted to either way. It took her some effort to get out of her clothes and into the shower, her arms and legs were aching and felt extremely heavy, but she somehow managed to get herself under the steaming water.
The moment she was under, tears rolled down her cheeks. She was trying to make sense of everything still, but it was such a struggle for her. "Pull it together. Just pull yourself together, Kari." She mumbled to herself, lathering up the shampoo in her hair. "Get washed, get dressed, go see the Doctor. Just get on with it."
She finished in the shower as quickly as she could, but it was taking her so long just to do the simplest things. The pain hadn't really dulled much, it was still there but she was doing her best to just ignore it, to think of something else.
Unlocking the door, her eyes caught sight of the metal bands around her wrist. She looked at them, and tugged at them, but they wouldn't do anything apart from slide up and down her arm a little. She couldn't find any catch on them, no way to undo them and take them off. "Why? What are they for?" She mumbled, trying to remember when they had appeared on her wrists.
Kari shook her head a little, before finally opening the door. The Master was still sitting there on the bed, waiting for her. There was a smile on his face the moment he saw her. "Ah, you took your time, my sweet." He said to her, getting up and walking over towards her. She was a little nervous, she had just come out of the bathroom and was wrapped up in just a towel. The Master noticed this, and stopped, holding his hands up. "I'm not going to do anything, you don't have to be scared. I'll leave you to get dressed. Oh, but I suggest you wear something fancy, you know, a nice evening dress." He told her, before leaving the room.
She was left standing there in shock, trying to process everything that had been going on. Nothing was how she had expected, and everything was wrong. It took her a few minutes to bring herself back to reality and force her body to start moving once more. She knew she had to do what she was told, get dress up nicely for the dinner they were going to have.
When she looked in the wardrobe, she found it to be filled with evening dresses. Kari would have taken the time to admire them, to look through them all and take note of every little detail. But she didn't have the time to do that, she had to get dressed and get out.
It was almost an hour later when someone came knocking on the door to her room, before the Master's voice floated through the locked door, asking her if she was ready yet. After letting him know that she was actually ready, the door opened. "Well, you certainly do look stunning." The man said, circling her like a bird circling its prey. "Shall we go for dinner?" He asked, holding his arm out.
Reluctantly, Kari took a hold of his arm, knowing that she was going to need the support if she was to walk anywhere with her own aching legs. She didn't miss the smile that stretched across his face as her arm went through his. It made her stomach churn to know that he was enjoying every minute of it, of having her there.
The walk to the flight deck was made in utter silence. Kari didn't know what to say, she had questions that she wanted answers to, but just couldn't bring herself to ask them. All she could think about was the Doctor, and why she couldn't find him in her head. He had been in there for so long for her now that she barely even noticed it, but now that it was gone, she had.
As soon as they walked into the room, the flight deck where the Doctor was being kept, a lump formed in Kari's throat. The Doctor was sitting there at the table, looking so old and tired. "Doctor…" She whispered, relieved at actually seeing him but it was hurting to see the condition that he was in.
"Kari, what's he done to you?" The Doctor asked her, actually managing to get himself out of the chair as Kari pulled away from the Master and moved towards him as quickly as she could. "Kari, are you okay?" The moment the Doctor was within reach, Kari pretty much threw herself at him.
"Doctor…" Kari mumbled, holding onto him tightly. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. Please, I'm sorry."
The Doctor knew something was wrong, that something was very wrong. "Hey, shush, it's okay, Kari. It's okay. None of this is your fault. I promise you, this is not your fault." He was trying to reassure her, but also himself at the same time.
"Come now, my precious Angel." The Master said, finally yanking Kari away from the Doctor. "Why don't we sit down and all have a nice long chat." He took her over to the table, pulling out a chair and helping her to sit down. The Doctor was watching him closely, watching his every single move. "Now then, where should we start?"
The Doctor was now sitting down opposite them, glaring at the Master and concerned glances towards Kari. "You can start by telling me what the hell you've done to Kari!" The Doctor hissed at him.
"What makes you think I've done anything? As you can see, Doctor, there is not a mark on her. Not a scratch and not a bruise." The Master was gloating, proving to that Doctor that he had not laid a finger on his precious Kari.
"Have you looked at her?" The Doctor growled. "Have you actually looked at her?"
The Master took this chance to do what the Doctor said, to gaze at the woman sitting beside him. The first thing he noticed was her hair, and how it seemed more dull than before. "She's tired, Doctor. She knows what is to come, what do you expect?"
"No, you've done something more, just look at her!"
"Doctor, I'm fine. Really, I'm okay." Kari told him, trying to ignore the spinning in her head. She was utterly exhausted, and she just didn't know why. Everything was just a mess in her head, she knew that much, she was having problems thinking about things, things that had happened.
"Kari, tell me, when was the last time you saw me, this me? What happened the last time you were with this regeneration of me?" The Doctor asked her, sounding more than just a little desperate.
The Master just sat back and watched as a frown formed on Kari's face. "I… I don't… Rose… no, Rose, she's gone. She's trapped. Isn't she?" There was confusion on her face as she looked over to the Doctor. She was trying to remember, she was trying so hard, but her memories seemed to have just vanished. "Sarah Jane…"
The Doctor could feel his hearts pounding in his chest as he studied her. "Concentrate, Kari, just concentrate. Think about it, just think. Where were you before you came here, where have you been? Past or future?"
"I can't remember. Doctor, I can't… what's happening to me?" There were tears in her eyes now. She had no idea what had happened, or what was happening. She couldn't remember anything that had happened, she tried, she was trying as hard as she could, but she just couldn't.
"Kari, it's not your fault, I swear to you, this is not your fault. You can't remember, because of him." Straight away the Doctor's gaze turned to the Master. "Whatever you have done to her is causing her to lose her memories. Now what have you done?"
There was a smirk on the Master's face. "I haven't done anything. Maybe she is finally starting to realise the truth about you, Doctor. Maybe all those memories with you are just too much for her to handle."
"No, I know you have done something to her. I know my Kari, and I know you have done something. What have you done?" It was clear to see that the Doctor was quickly losing his temper.
"I can't remember. Why can't I remember?" Kari mumbled, before turning to face the Master. "What happened? Why can't I remember?"
"You're just stressed, my love. You need to rest." He replied, gently stroking her cheek. Somewhere deep down she knew that his touch was wrong, that it wasn't the same as the touch she craved. "This has all just been too much for you. You will be fine."
Kari nodded at him, not sure whether to believe him or not. "I'm just… I'm tired. Everything hurts and I'm just so tired." She rested her head in her hands, not sure how much more she could take. Nothing made sense, not a single thing. She knew both the men that were there before her, but there was something at the back of her mind, scratching away, telling her that nothing was as it seemed. She just didn't know what it was.
"I know, my love, I know." The Master touched her again, causing the Doctor to grow even more angry and frustrated. "What do you want to do?"
Kari looked between the Doctor and the Master, trying to make a choice of what she wanted. For a reason that she couldn't explain, she felt safer when the Doctor was near, but she was just so tired. "I can't think. My head hurts so much. I don't understand anything that is going on." She eventually mumbled.
"Well, then, I suggest you go and get some more sleep. You look so tired, my love, rest will do you good." The Master said, getting up from where he was sitting beside Kari. "If you will excuse us, Doctor."
He helped Kari up, and was about to take her gently by the hand when she turned to him. "Let me say goodnight to the Doctor, please?" The Master looked at her, before nodding with a smile on his face. Kari walked around the table slowly, having to use it to keep herself from falling down. She knew her legs weren't going to keep her standing for much longer. "Goodnight, Doctor." She said, making sure that the Master could hear her before giving the old man a tight hug. "Something's wrong with me, I know it is. I don't trust him, but I trust you. Save me, Doctor. Please, save me." Kari then whispered, before letting him go.
For the first time, the Doctor managed to get a much better look at her. He had to admit that she really did look tired, but it was more than that. Her eyes had lost their sparkle, they seemed so much more dull than the last time he had seen her. "I'll save you, Kari. I promise." He whispered back to her, his eyes staying locked with hers.
He could see how afraid she was, and it was breaking his hearts to see his Kari that way. The Doctor was filled with so much regret now, as well as guilt for not listening to her in the first place. All he could do was watch as she left the room, hanging onto the Master's arm.
The Master was just full of glee and happiness. He finally had what he had wanted for so long now, and even though things hadn't turned out how he had expected, they were still working towards his favour. "How are you feeling, my precious Angel?" He was keeping his voice soft, but only with her.
"I don't know. I just… I feel like my whole life is being rewritten. Nothing makes sense. I know who people are, but I can't remember anything else about them. I know that you're the Master, you're Koschei. You looked into the untempered schism, and that was when the drumming started. The Doctor looked and he ran away. He's been running ever since." She turned and looked at him as they carried on walking. "How can I remember things like that, but not know what happened a few days ago? I know you, and I know the Doctor, I just don't remember how."
By now there was a worried look on the Master's face. He understood that she was going to be in pain, that it would take time for her to adjust, but he had never expected it to have such a major impact on her memory. "Tell me, my love, do you remember Jack?"
Kari looked at him, a blank expression on her face. "Jack? Captain Jack Harkness?" The Master nodded at her, wondering what she was going to say next. "He's a flirt. That man thinks that he can have anyone and anything. But not me. Oh no. I may have kissed him, but I would never…" She stopped mid sentence and turned to face the Master. "Please don't be mad at me for kissing him. It was when we first met. I knew it would never be anything more, please don't be angry."
Even though there was a smile on the Master's face, the rage was burning inside of him. "How could I ever be mad at you, my sweet?" He raised her hand and planted a gentle kiss on the back of it. "I would never hurt you, and I will never be mad at you."
"It was so long ago, I don't even really remember it. All I remember is that I kissed him, and someone was mad at me when they found out." There was a distant look in Kari's eyes now, like she had drifted off into her own little world.
"Come now, my love. You need to rest. Some sleep will do you good." The Master told her, opening the door to her room and leading her inside. Kari let him pull her along, not even thinking of struggling. "Get some rest, and I will come for you when the sun rises."
All Kari could do was smile at him. He had been nothing but kind to her. He hadn't tried to hurt her, he hadn't shouted at her, and he had let her do what she wanted. But it didn't stop that nagging feeling that something was so very wrong with the whole situation that she was stuck in. The moment she had laid eyes upon the Doctor, she had felt something stir within her, she just couldn't explain what it was. "Thank you. Goodnight, Master." There was a bitter taste in her mouth from saying his name, but she wasn't going to admit to it.
The man before her simply smiled even more. "Goodnight, my precious Angel. I hope you sleep well." His lips reached the top of her head, the smile still on his face. "If you need anything, anything at all, someone will get it for you." Kari just nodded at him, knowing that it was the right thing to do. "Until the morning, my love." The Master said, before leaving her alone in her room.
She stood in the same spot for several minutes, before she finally broke down in tears. "This is wrong, this is all wrong." She mumbled to herself between sobs. "I know it is. The Doctor, he's… he's…" As she thought of the Doctor, she unknowingly started to twist the ring around her ringer, the ring that he had given her. "I don't know. Why don't I know?" It was clear that it was all starting to get too much for her now.
The moment the Master had brought up Jack, memories came flooding back to her. Memories of the Doctor being hostile towards her, of shouting at her, of calling her names. She remembered walking out on him, and him just letting her go. But she only saw images of the Master smiling at her, of being kind to her. And it confused her even more.
Eventually, Kari cried herself to sleep. She had forgotten the promise she had made herself, the promise to no longer cry over silly little things. But she was so lost and so confused that she didn't know what else to do. When she was near the Doctor, everything felt different, she felt safe and loved, when she was with the Master, she just felt scared.
The Master kept a check on her, day after day as she hardly left her room. He would never admit it to anyone, but he was seriously worried. Whenever he woke her up, she told him how much pain she was in, and then she would lose consciousness once more. He had managed to keep the Doctor in the dark about it, to spin him a different lie each time he asked to see her. Even Jack was worried about her, because he hadn't seen her at all.
Six months had passed, six months in which Kari had grown weaker. The Doctor was anxious, because he knew something was wrong with Kari, he just hadn't been able to work out what. He had pleaded with the Master to let him see her, to let him go to her and make sure that she was okay.
So now he was waiting on the flight deck, which had become his home, for the Master to arrive with Kari. His eyes instantly fixed on the door as it opened, and the Doctor was sure that his hearts had stopped. Kari was so pale, there was no colour in her cheeks at all and there were dark circles under her eyes.
What bothered him the most were her eyes. He knew Kari's eyes, he knew how they glowed when she was angry or upset, he knew that when she smiled they sparkled even more, he knew that her irises were an amazing golden colour, not a dull brown. Even her hair had lost its golden sheen and was now a dark brown. "Kari…"
The Master was doing more that just holding her up and helping her walk, he had her in his arms, carrying her towards the Doctor. Even the Master was beginning to look tired and weary, as he walked toward a sofa that he had brought into the room just for Kari.
The Doctor sat down, before the Master gently set Kari down in his arms. "Oh, Kari…" The Doctor said, brushing her dark hair away from her face. "What has he done to you?" He cradled her, holding her as close to his body as he possibly could.
"I haven't done anything." The Master told him, sick of having to repeat the same thing to him over and over again. "I haven't touched her. I would never in the whole of eternity even dream of hurting her."
"Then what's happened to her?" There was a glare on the Doctor's face, as he placed his hand on Kari's forehead. He was trying to find something, anything that would help him to discover what had happened to her.
The Master ran a hand down his face. "I don't know." His voice was quiet, and the Doctor wasn't sure he had heard him right at first. "I just don't know."
That was when the Doctor spotted the metal bands on her wrists. "What are these?"
"My own creation. Kari was always saying how she wished she could stop jumping, that she wished that she had some control over the time vortex. That's what I've given her, control. Now she can't jump, she can stay for as long as she wants." The Master explained, wondering why it had taken the Doctor so long to even notice them.
"Control?" The Doctor spat at him, tugging at them, trying to get them off. "You haven't given her control! You've put a barrier around it, stopping it completely, you blocked the time vortex and it is killing her!" He ended up shouting.
The Master looked at him with wide eyes. "What?"
"The time vortex, it's a part of her, you've been suffocating her. Didn't you even notice? Did you not notice her eyes? You're killing her!" It was clear to see that the Doctor was more than just a little bit angry. He was angry with the Master, but annoyed with himself as well. He should have noticed it soon, he should have worked out exactly what it was that was causing Kari to feel so tired and be in so much pain all the time.
"No, you're lying."
All the Doctor could do was glare at him. "Does it look like I'm lying?" He hissed. "Look at her, just look! You cut off the time vortex, and by doing that you cut off who she was. Without the time vortex, her body can't cope, it can't manage. Why do you think she is always so tired, always exhausted? She can't even remember anything, because it's all too much."
It finally began to dawn on the Master exactly what he had done. Everything the Doctor had told him was true, there was not a single lie there. He knew about the time vortex, about how it was a part of her, he just didn't think that those bracelets would end up killing her as well.
The Doctor was holding Kari tightly in his arms, the fear still running through him. If the Master didn't remove those stupid bracelets, then Kari would die. "Take them off. Take them off her now!" The Master didn't move, he just continued to stare at the woman in the Doctor's lap. "I said, take them off!"
He pulled out his laser screwdriver, and in a daze he pointed it at one of the bracelets on Kari's wrist. The metal band snapped open and fell off, before he moved on and done the same to the second one. The instant they were both on, a golden mist grew around Kari. The Doctor just held onto her tightly, whispering in her ear and telling her that she was going to be fine.
A few moments later and the glow had faded, but Kari was still there. Her hair had its golden shimmer back, and she looked much more relaxed. Her face wasn't twisted from pain, it looked as if she were simply peacefully asleep. But the Doctor knew she wasn't completely peaceful, not now that he was finally able to sense her again. Her memories were still a complete mess, and he was worried that it would be some time before she remembered everything. If she remembered anything.
A/N: Well, that's another chapter down. Sorry if I missed some spelling or gammer errors, I'll admit that I was kind of in a rush when doing my final read through.
Let me explain why I'm posting a day earlier. I've recently started my final placement, which means I don't have access to post at my normal time. I thought it would just make it easier to post the day before, since I should be at home doing nothing.
Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed the chapter, and that you are looking forward to the next one. This was going to be a 3 parter, before getting back to the final episode, but it's turned into a 4 parter. I hope you guys don't mind that took much, if I had carried on the way I was going, it would have been a 5 or 6 parter.
Now, I just want to say thank you to everyone who has favourited/followed, you guys are just total brilliant. And for you all people who have taken the time to leave a review, thank you so much, you are fantastically awesome. Please, keep the reviews coming!
I should probably shut up now, and let you guys ponder over what is going to happen in the next chapter. If anyone wants to share their theories, please do so. I love hearing what others think may or may not happen.
Pippa.