A/N: Guys, I am really sorry if there happen to be any spelling and grammar errors in this chapter. Been running a little late with everything and I just know I've missed several things when I've read through it. If you spot anything, let me know so that I can fix it!
"Who are you? What am I doing here?" It was clear to see that she was scared. There were tears building in her eyes and she was trying to hard to control her shaking body.
It was the perfect opportunity for him to get what he had always wanted. "Kari, my love, there is no need for you to be scared. You've not been very well, you've been sick. What is the last thing that you remember?"
"I… I don't know… I can't… I can't think. Please, just tell me who you are." She asked him, trying so hard to remember what had happened, to remember where she was and why she was there.
"I'm Koschei. Do you remember? We met as children, we were best friends and we've been friends ever since. Do you remember that, Kari?" All she did was shake her head at him. "Kari, my love, I promise you, I am not going to hurt you. I would never, ever hurt you."
She tensed up at his movements, and she could feel her chest pounding. "What happened to me? Why can't I remember anything? You said I've been sick, sick with what?" She was so confused, because nothing was making sense in her head.
"Oh, Kari, you've been very ill. You were dying. Someone done something to you, something that was killing you. But I stopped it, I stopped what they were doing and saved you." As he spoke, he took small steps towards her. "I would never let anyone harm you, Kari."
"Why? Who are you to me?"
He took that as his chance, the best chance he was ever going to have. "Kari, look at your hand. Just look at your hand and you will understand." He saw her hesitancy, her indecision to do what he had said. "Please, just look."
Slowly, she looked down at her hands that were still gripping her arms tightly. Her eyes went straight to the ring that was sitting comfortably on her left hand, and her eyes widened. "What? But I… I don't…"
"We are to be married, my love." The man told her, trying his hardest not to grin or smirk. He had to keep up the act, he had to get her on his side. "The day we were due to marry, you became ill. As I said, someone was trying to kill you."
Kari woke up suddenly, her eyes snapping open as her hand flew to cover her mouth and the scream that was lodge in the back of her throat. The tears were already flowing freely down her cheeks.
"Hey, you okay, Princess?" It was only then that she realised that she had fallen asleep on her bed with Jack's arms around her. She had disturbed him when she bolted up on the bed.
Kari managed to nod at him, moving her hand away from her mouth and wiping away the tears. "Yeah, I'm okay." She hoped that he wasn't going to push it, like everyone else seemed to do. He could clearly see that she had a nightmare, there was no need to ask her about it as far as she was concerned.
All he did was give her a small smile. "Good, now come back here. I was nice and comfy then." He opened his arms back up, and waited for her to settle back down.
Eventually she did, after wiping her eyes dry properly and calming herself down. She didn't know how long she had been asleep for, but she knew it must have been at least an hour. Jack had been talking to her when she had finally fallen asleep. "Sorry, you were telling me about something that happened in Cardiff." Kari mumbled to him.
"It doesn't matter. You hungry at all?" She shook her head against him. In all honesty, she was a little hungry, but she didn't want to move, she didn't want to leave her room. She was quite happy to shut herself away from the universe for a few days. "Well, if you're not going to eat, you might as well get a little bit more sleep." Jack told her, causing her to tense up. "Hey, I'm going to be here the whole time, Princess. Go to sleep, you'll be fine."
"Okay, night, Jack." Kari mumbled, shifting around and getting herself comfortable once more. She was tired, she was very tired, but she had a fear of going back to sleep. The nightmares were making things so much worse, they were a constant reminder of what had happened.
Jack reached down and kissed the top of her head, making sure to hold onto her tightly, so that she knew he was still there. Someone needed to be there throughout the nightmares, so that what Kari woke up, they could calm her down and make her feel safe. He knew that was going to be the first step, helping her through the nightmares of what had happened.
Of course he was worried about her, and he wanted to get her to talk about it, but he knew from experience that pushing her was not the best way to do it. Just by looking at her he could see that she was struggling, that she was trying so hard to pushing it to the back of her mind and ignore it. Only Jack knew that she couldn't, she was strong, he would give her that, but this was far beyond the need to be strong.
He continued to watch her closely, seeing that she was slowly drifting back to sleep, even though he could see she was trying to fight it. She may have had her eyes closed, but he knew her mind had been racing. But now her breathing had slowed, her grip on his shirt had loosened, and the muscles in her face has relaxed. Kari was finally sleeping once more.
"Leave Martha alone." She said, trying to keep her voice strong as she walked out of the house, doing her best to be confident.
"Ah, and there is she, my beautiful Golden Angel." The Master said, looking at her with a wide grin as he opened his arms out towards her. "Oh how much I have missed you."
"Yeah? Well I haven't missed you." She was trying to control herself, to keep it together and not let seeing him break her. "You are a lying, scheming, deviously, conniving, ruthless creature." She spat at him, striding towards him. "You are sick, and twisted, and you deserve everything that is coming to you. Including this…" And then she punched him, hard, in the face. She didn't care that it her hand made a few horrible cracking noises, or the pain that was now soaring through it.
"Oh I do like that, the fire burning inside of you. I can see it, right there in your eyes." He reached forward with his free hand, reaching out to touch her cheek.
She slapped his hand away, rather harshly as well. "Don't even think about touching me." She snarled at him. "The past three months have opened my eyes. I see everything so clearly now. I have seen what you have done, and I know what you are planning on doing." Her next actions surprised both the Master and Martha.
He found himself looking down the barrel of a gun, being held tightly by her. The look of his face was pure shock, and there seemed to be a hint of uncertainty in his eyes. "Please, like you know how to use a gun." He scoffed, hoping that he was right. But she proved him wrong, by pointing the gun over his shoulder and firing it at a tin can that was amongst a pile of rubbish.
An animalistic growl came from the Master's throat, before he reached out and wrestled with her to get the gun away from her. Both of them were struggling, and she wasn't afraid to kick out at the man to try and get him off her. Then there came a loud bang, followed soon by another, and their struggle stopped. Martha wasn't breathing, having no idea what had happened.
Then Martha saw it, the Master was holding the gun, while her friend was clutching onto her side tightly. "So, this is what it comes down to." She was struggling to keep herself up, and speaking was taking a lot more effort from her. "All this fighting, and in the end it's always me who ends up getting hurt. This is the last time you can hurt me, Koschei."
When Kari woke up this time, she didn't just sit up, she jumped off the bed and burst into tears. In an instant Jack was down on the floor with her, pulling her close towards him. He didn't say a word, he just held her while she continued to cry. He knew it was going to get worse before it got better, but it was still hurting him to see her so broken.
"Come on, Princess, you're all right." He whispered to her, gently stroking her hair as she sobbed into his chest. "You're all right, you're in the TARDIS, you're safe."
"Why… why won't… why won't it go away?" She muttered between her sobs.
"Hey it will go away, it's just going to take time, Kari. Everything takes time to heal, Princess, this is just the same." Jack knew he had to reassure her still, to let her know that everything would be okay in the end, that he would let her take as much time as she needed to get over it all.
Kari looked up at him, wiping away some of the tears from her red and puffy eyes. "How comes you're not trying to get me to talk about it? It's all the Doctor seems to want to talk about. Why aren't you pushing it?" She was curious about why he was acting so different.
He let out a sigh as she started to calm down. "Because I know you, Kari, and I know that you just need some time. You'll talk about it when you want to talk about it, and not before. The more someone pesters you about it, the more irritated you get with them, the more you push them away."
"I'm glad you're here, Jack." Kari told him, snuggling up to him again, even if they were on the floor of her room. "The Doctor, he's… he's constantly pushing me, trying to get me to talk about it. But I don't want to talk about it, Jack. I want to forget it, I want to wipe it from my head and be completely ignorant to what happened."
"I know you do, but it did happen, Kari, and no matter how much you want it to go away, it won't. The Doctor is just worried about you, and you know that." Jack told her, glad that she was starting to open up to him a little. He wasn't pushing it, and that was the main thing, not to push her to talk about it. "He loves you, Kari, he is never going to stop worrying about you."
She let out a groan as she tried to bury her head deeper into his slightly soaked shirt. "Well, I wish he would stop worrying so much. It gets annoying after a while." And she really did. It was fine at times, it just showed her that he really did care, but sometimes it just got way too much. "I just want some space, Jack. I mean, right now I don't want to be around the Doctor because I know he is going to constantly ask me if I am okay, to try and get me to talk about it all."
Jack understood exactly what she was saying. The Doctor had been pushing her when he shouldn't, because he didn't know how else to deal with it all. "Come on, Princess, you know he only wants to help you, he just doesn't know how."
"Leaving me alone would be a good start to helping me." It was clear to Jack that she was not going to let the Doctor back in yet, there was still something else going on behind those eyes of hers, he could just see it.
He knew that he had to try and find out what else was happening, because he just couldn't believe that it was just over the year that never was. She didn't want to be anywhere near the Doctor, she admitted that, but he didn't believe her reasons for why. "So, apart from the nightmares, is there anything else you want to get off your chest?" Jack asked her, not pushing, but just being curious.
Kari shook her head at him. "Not really, nothing important." Jack didn't miss it, the look of disappointment and sadness in her eyes. There was definitely something else there, something she was thinking about but didn't want to tell anyone.
"Hey, everything about you is important, Princess. No matter how big or small, you're always going to be important." He told her, planting a kiss on her hair. "Now come on, might as well go and get you a nice tea and I can get a coffee." Kari just let out a groan as he tried to move her, causing him to chuckle. "Not going to work, come on, Kari."
With another groan she finally pushed herself up and away from the man so that he could get up. But she made no attempt to get up form the floor herself. Kari just sat there, her arms folded across her chest, looking very much like she was sulking. "Well, I'll just wait here." She didn't want to leave her room, she didn't want to have to make conversation with the Doctor or with Amy. She was okay talking with Jack, Jack understood and let her be herself, and everyone else was just starting to annoy her.
Jack just yanked her up, before slipping his arm behind her knees and carrying her. "You're coming with me whether you want to or not, Princess. If I have to carry you, then so be it." He told her, trying not to smirk as she folded her arms across her chest and started sulking. Not matter how much she pouted at him, he would never give in, he knew her tricks, and they wouldn't work on him.
Kari was just hoping that they wouldn't bump into anyone on their way to the kitchen. The last thing she needed was to have to explain to Amy why a handsome American man was carrying her bridal style through the TARDIS. Also, she didn't want to have to see Jack flirting with her, because she knew Amy was likely to just flirt back.
"Hey, there's no need to be so grumpy." Jack told her, bumping her n his arms as he noticed the sour look on her face.
"I am not grumpy." Kari moaned, making sure to look anywhere but at him. "I'm just… sulking."
Jack couldn't help but chuckle at her. "Sulking, also known as brooding, moping, grumbling…"
Her elbow moved a little, and caught him in the ribs slightly. "Shut up, Jack. You are so not funny." There was a smile trying to work its way onto her face, but she was doing so well to keep it at bay.
But he had seen it, Jack had seen that little spark. "But I am totally handsome, right? I mean, just look at this face, how can anyone resist this face?"
"Stop it. I'm being moody, stop trying to make me laugh." Kari grumbled at him. "Then again, just looking at your face is enough to make me laugh."
"Ouch! Well that hurt, Princess." Jack wasn't going to take anything that she said to heart, he knew not to, because he knew her better than most. "That really hurt."
Kari wanted to roll her eyes at him, she really wanted to and it was taking so much effort to stop herself from doing it. "Yeah? Well good. You think to highly if yourself, Harkness."
"Wow, talk about a bad mood." His voice was light and joking, although he was a little disappointed by her reaction. "Anyway, time for some tea." They had finally reached the kitchen, and he managed to get the door open without even having to do a thing.
The TARDIS knew what was going on, she knew what was wrong with Kari, and she knew what people were trying to do for her. Although she knew there was something wrong with the man, the TARDIS also knew that he was the closest thing to a family that Kari had, and she wasn't going to take that away from her, not when she knew how much Kari needed him. That was why she was making things easier for Jack, because she knew he was only trying to help her.
Jack just plonked her down in the chair, while he set about making the hot drinks. "So, you want anything to eat yet?" He asked her, not noticing her getting out of the chair and pulling it over to one of the counters.
"Why, are you cooking?" Kari asked him, now standing on the chair and opening the door to the cupboard.
He finally turned around and saw her, a frown on his face. "Uh, what are you doing?" Jack leaned against the counter top, watching her and wondering what she was up to.
Kari ended up standing on the counter once the door was opened, and she reached right up to the top shelf, pushing things around. "Looking for something. He better not have eaten them, or I'm going to kill him." She grumbled, obviously searching for something. Jack could only keep watching her curiously, until a triumphant grin spread across her face. "Ah, there you are!"
A moment later, she was pulling a rather large, round plastic tub out of the cupboard, almost dropping it in the process. "You need a hand there?" Her big brother called to her, seeing that she was having trouble.
"No, I got this." She replied, managing to step back onto the chair and off the counter, getting herself down and placing the tub on the counter as she did. Kari jumped down from the chair, grabbing the tub and sitting back down at the table. When she looked up, she saw Jack just watching her. "What?"
"You got a secret stash of something?" He wanted to know what was in there, of course he did, but he still didn't want to push her, not just on the nightmares, but on anything.
The lid was wrenched off, revealing her secret supply of biscuits and chocolates. "The Doctor is always eating the Jammie Dodgers. He never leaves any for anyone else, so I have to have my own supply hidden away from him." Kari explained to him, digging her hand in and pulling out one of the biscuits. "He loves them, they are his favourite and he doesn't like to share them."
"What, not even with you?" Jack asked her, walking over to the table with two mugs in his hands.
Kari just shrugged her shoulders at him as she took her tea from him. "Sometimes, depends on what type of mood he's in. Also, depends on what regeneration I'm with. This one is the worst for Jammie Dodgers, with others it's bananas and with one it's jelly babies."
"Oh yeah, I know all about the Doctor and his bananas." Jack replied with a chuckle, remembering back to when he first met the Doctor and Kari and how the Doctor switched his blaster for a banana. "So…"
"Don't." Kari warned him, having a feeling that he was going to ask her either about the nightmares or if she was all right or something like that. "Don't, Jack."
"What? I was only going to ask you what you wanted to do after we've had a drink." He protested, taking a sip of his coffee. It was nowhere near as good as the ones Ianto made, but it was better than some of the other coffees he had tasted. "I want to spend as much time with you as I can before the Doctor decides he's had enough of me and sends me back to Torchwood."
She was still surprised that he was actually there of she was honest. Kari knew that Jack never went on any adventures with that Doctor, with her bow tie wearing Doctor. She was sure that the pair of them never actually met. It was understandable that Jack wanted to spend time with her, she wanted to spend time with him as well. "I don't know, I don't really mind as long as it's just us. No Doctor."
Jack raised an eyebrow at the comment. "No Doctor? What, you scared I'm going to start flirting with him?" He was trying to be cheeky, to do something that would make her laugh or make her smile.
"No, well maybe a little, but no. I just want to spend time with you, Jack, and just you." There was something in her voice that was bothering him. He was desperate to dig deeper and find out what was really going on, but she was in such a fragile state that he really didn't know how to deal with it.
Instead, Jack settled on trying to remember where a certain room was. It was a long time ago, but there was a room somewhere in the mass of the incredible ship that Kari loved. It was different from all the other rooms that he had ever seen, the TARDIS had built it just for her. "And you'll get to spend time with me, Princess. Once you've had your tea and biscuits, we can go and hide somewhere that the Doctor won't find us. Okay?"
Kari nodded at him as she took a bite of the biscuit, before offering the tub out to Jack. "You want one?" He smiled at her as he took one. The pair of them stayed there, drinking and snacking in silence, with Jack occasionally shooting Kari a smile.
"Right, time for some quality brother and sister time." Jack told her once they had both finished and Kari had hidden her secret stash away again. "We get to go to your favourite room and do absolutely nothing at all."
She didn't struggle with him as he grabbed hold of her hand and pulled her out of the kitchen. "Jack, I don't have a favourite room, apart from my room where the Doctor can't bother me." Kari ended up groaning as he dragged her down the corridors.
All Jack could do was smirk at her. "Ah, not yet you haven't, but I know of this one room that this impossible ship creates just for you."
"Yeah? And what room's that?" she asked him, trying her best to sound bored. She wasn't bored, she was rather interested in this room and what Jack knew about it. He was always very good at avoiding spoilers around her, which she was grateful for.
"You are just going to have to wait and see, Princess. But don't worry, the Doctor isn't likely to bother us there." He told her, before leaning a little closer to her. "She tends to keep him away when she knows he isn't wanted." Jack whispered, resulting in a very slight hum from the ship around them.
"So, Sexy keeps him away from this room, whatever this room may be?" Her curiosity was rising now. "Because it's kind of like our room? Yours and mine?"
Jack thought about it for a moment. "Yeah, I guess you could say that. Our special place that only we get to go to, a Doctor free zone. That's what you wanted, right?"
A pang of guilt hit her suddenly. It wasn't that she didn't want to be anywhere near the Doctor, it was more the fact that she just wanted him to leave her alone. "I'm not avoiding him, if that's what you're thinking." Kari told him, defending herself. "I just know that he is going to keep asking the same things over and over again, and I don't want that. Plus, I want to spend time with my big brother Jack." She gave him a little nudge with her hip, causing him to grin at her.
"Hey, I know you're not avoiding him or anything like that. You've had a tough time, Princess, you just want some time to take it easy and relax. And that's fine. There is nothing wrong with that at all." Jack knew she felt guilty, it was written all over her face, but he also knew that she was stubborn and was not going to listen to anyone.
Without even realising it, they had reached their destination. Kari had just been letting her mind wander, and Jack was doing his best to think of a plan. When they stopped, Kari looked up at the door and frowned, seeing her name and Jack's engraved in the deep blue wood.
When Jack saw the look on her face, all he could do was grin. "Yeah, it really is our room."
Kari just shook her head as the door clicked open and she stepped inside. The first thing that hit her was the sound of rushing water, and the smell of flowers. Her eyes widened when she finally got a glimpse of what was in there, and her mouth dropped. "What… what the…"
Jack simply chuckled at her, as he dragged her further into the room. "She made this just for you, and I'm lucky enough to get to see this place with you." He told her, tugging at her hand and leading her over to where the large sofa was.
"Why… why is there a sofa…" It was clear that Kari was slightly in shock, Jack was the first time he had seen it as well. "This is… just…"
"Exactly what you wanted. You got yourself a Doctor free zone, and we get to just relax and do nothing at all." Jack said, settling himself down on the couch and taking Kari with him.
She was in too much of a daze to even bother to fight against him, so instead she collapsed into the sofa beside him and gazed at the sight before her. It truly was amazing, an impossible sight in and impossible ship. A short distance before her, was a huge waterfall. It was just impossible for it to be shoved into a room, because she couldn't see the top of it at all.
Down at the bottom, where the crystal clear water crashed into the pool, were hoards of different flowers. There were a range of colours, from violets and blues to oranges and reds. Her eyes, ears and nose was being attacked by everything around them. Her eyes were still transfixed on the rushing water as she cuddled up to Jack, resting her head against his chest as she lifted her feet up and placed them at the other end of the sofa. It was one of those moments that actually made her forget about everything else that was going on, about all the bad things that had happened and where every worry that she had just magically disappeared.
Kari was at ease, and happy, just lying there with her big brother, watching the water fall over the edge and charge down the side before colliding with the pool. Her mind was blank, there was nothing there to bother her, and that was exactly what she wanted.
A/N: Again, sorry for any spelling mistakes and grammatical errors that were present in this chapter. I will do my best to hunt them down and destroy them.
Okay, so, there are a few more chapters to go before we get on to the next chapter, but trust me, it's going to be good. I hope.
Thank you to everyone who has favourited/followed the story, welcome and I'm glad to see that so many of you enjoy it! And for those of you who always take a little bit of time to leave me a review, thank you all soo much! Reviews mean a lot to me, because you help me see where I'm going right, and where I need to kick it up a gear, so thank you.
Now, I need to go and perfect next weeks chapter, so until then, my lovelies!
Pippa.