A/N: Well, only an hour later this week, I guess that isn't too bad. Anyway, I'm sorry if I have missed any spelling mistakes or grammatical errors, I will get round to fixing them eventually, I promise. Enjoy Part 3 of The Lodger.
Kari gave out a slight groan as she finally began to wake up. For some reason, everywhere was aching, and her eyes were stinging a little. Before she had a chance to rub them, a voice spoke to her softly. "Morning, Kari." The Doctor said to her, planting a kiss on the top of her head.
He hadn't slept. The Doctor had been awake all night keeping a close eye on Kari and making sure that she was all right. After talking with Amy he had noticed that she seemed a little warm, but now she seemed fine, and he hoped that she really was fine. He couldn't help but worry about her, especially since there were still so many things that she didn't know about. He knew she had been upset about her friends from Torchwood, but what Kari didn't realised was that the Doctor already knew about it, and he knew something that she didn't.
The woman in his arms let out another groan. "What time is it?" She had no idea, she couldn't see the clock that was sitting over to the other side of the Doctor. Also, she really couldn't be bothered to move and try to find out for herself.
"It's still early. I don't think Craig is up yet, I haven't heard him." He told her, pulling her a little closer towards him. "Why don't you go back to sleep for a bit, eh?"
"I don't want to. Besides, we have loads of things to do. We need to work out what the hell is going on so that we can get Amy and Sexy back here safely without them being lost forever." Kari was actually still half asleep, and her head was a little fuzzy still, the Doctor could see that clearly.
"They're not going to be lost forever, it's not that bad." He told her, before stopping and actually thinking about it. "Not yet, at least. Anyway, while you decide whether you're going to go back to sleep or not, I'll go and make you a nice cup of tea."
Kari didn't move as the Doctor reached down and kissed the top of her head once more, the only sound that came from her mouth was a groan when he gently pushed her away. "If you want me to go back to sleep, don't take away my pillow." It was clear that she was far from impressed with the Doctor deciding to move, even if it was to make her tea.
He simply chuckled at her as he shifted from the bed. "Come on, you know I'm not your pillow. I'll be back in a few minutes." The Doctor said to her, before quickly slipping out of the door. He listened as he passed Craig's room, and found that the man was still asleep.
With the Doctor gone, Kari quickly pulled her phone out of her pocket. Within a few seconds, she had the phone pressed against her ear as she listened to it ringing, waiting for the other person to pick up. "Amy, shut up, and listen." She said, not even letting her say hello or bothering to say hello herself. "I need you to search the TARDIS database, find the building plans for where we are, the Doctor is going to need them." Kari told her in a hushed voice.
"Well, hello to you as well." The Scottish red head on the other end of the call said. "Why do you want the building plans?"
"Because the building is wrong, I know it is. Look, I can't explain it all now, but it is very, very important. If you want us to get you and the TARDIS back, then I suggest you get onto it right now, Pond." Kari had missed the call that the Doctor had put in to Amy, and inside she was kicking herself for it as well. "Keep an eye on the numbers on the screen, the higher they get, the worse things will be."
"Wait, what do you mean, the worse things will be? Are you telling me that being thrown around in here isn't the worst of it all?" She could tell by the tone of her friend that she was far from impressed.
All Kari could do was let out a sigh. "Do you really want me to answer that?" There was silence, and she knew that Amy really wasn't too sure about hearing what Kari had to say. "I'll try to contact you again as soon as I can. Under absolutely no circumstances do you let the Doctor know that I've called." She had a plan, and she wanted it to go perfectly.
"Okay, fine. But can you please hurry up, I really don't like this, Kari." Yes, she could hear the fear in Amy's voice.
"I promise, Amy, we'll get this fixed as quickly as we can. Talk to you later." Kari said, before quickly ending the call and looking up at the ceiling. "I know who you are, and I'm going to put a stop to this. I'm going to make sure that no one else dies because of you." She hadn't really been sleeping for as long as the Doctor thought, she had been in her own world for some of the time, devising a plan.
Just as she lay back down and got comfortable, the door gently opened and the Doctor stepped back inside. "There we go, a nice cup of tea." He said, beaming away at her as he padded over to the bed and gave her the steaming hot mug. "So, how are you feeling this morning?" As soon as he said that he was kicking himself.
Although Kari hadn't forgotten what Jack had told her when she called him, she had other things to worry about. She hadn't been there to save them, but there were others out there that she could save. "I'm okay. You were right, everything ends eventually, and besides, I already knew it was going to happen some day." She was trying her best not to think about it too much, otherwise she would end up upsetting herself again.
"Everything will be all right, you'll still get to see them, you know that." Kari knew that, and the Doctor knew that as well. Things really were not what Kari thought they were, and although he wanted to tell her, he knew that he couldn't. "Now, what do you think we should do today?"
Before Kari could answer, someone was ringing the doorbell, a rather harshly at that as well. She frowned as she threw the covers from her legs and placed her feet on the floor. "I think someone should go and answer the door before it wakes Craig up." She was planning on doing it herself, but the Doctor reached the door before her.
"I'll go. You finish off your tea." He told her, before quickly disappearing out of the bedroom and rushing out of the flat and to the street door. But Kari didn't stay put, she began following him, drinking her tea as she went, she wanted to find out who was at the door.
She stood at the door to the flat while the Doctor pulled open the front door. "Er, delivery for Kari Conner?" A male voice called from outside.
"Ah, right, yes." The Doctor said, turning around and spotting Kari standing there. She took that as her hint and strolled towards the door, passing her mug to the Doctor and signing for the boxes that were piled outside. There weren't many of them, only two, but they were rather big.
The man nodded and left, leaving Kari and the Doctor to bring in the big cardboard boxes. "I have to say, he really did get that sent quickly." Kari muttered, knowing that it would have been her big brother sending her exactly what they would need for the next few days.
"Who did? What is all of this stuff?" The Doctor asked, lugging one of the boxes into the flat while Kari pushed her one across the floor. She couldn't be bothered to pick it up, because she knew that it was going to be slightly heavy.
"Uh, stuff from Jack. You know, we do need clean clothes and stuff." She replied, pushing the box into the flat. "Just be glad that I didn't ask him to ship over my whole wardrobe from the base, then we really would be in trouble."
They just closed the door behind them when a voice made them both jump a little. "Was that someone at the door?" Craig asked, clearly having only just woken up.
Kari smiled at him and stood up properly, putting her now empty mug on the counter top. "Yeah, sorry, it was the delivery men. Just had some of our stuff dropped off, enough to get us sorted for now." She knew that she had to keep the act up, for now at least.
"Oh, right. Is that all you've got?" Craig asked, nodded down to the two boxes that were now sitting next to each other.
"For now, yeah. We've got enough to survive, and my brother is always just a phone call away to help us out." She informed him, still keeping that big smile on her face. "We better go and get this lot unpacked."
Before Kari could reach down and pick up the box she had been kicking and pushing along the floor, Craig had picked it up for her. He was surprised by how heavy it really was. "Blimey, what have you got in here, a kitchen sink?"
She snapped her fingers, pretending she had just remembered something. "Damn it, I knew there was something I forget to pack. Oh well, I'm just going to have to survive with all these clothes, and shoes, and handbags. I do hope I remembered all my make up and hair products." She didn't actually wear much make up, and she really didn't use many hair products at all, but she needed to sound at least a little like a normal person, even though she really wasn't. Even before she had met the Doctor she hadn't exactly been normal.
Craig shook his head as he chuckled a little, before following the Doctor to the bedroom. "So, how was your first night? Did you both sleep all right?" Obviously the man was just trying to make polite conversation, not that Kari really minded, but the Doctor had other things that they needed to be getting on with now.
"I was out like a light. My brother told me some bad news last night, so I was a little messed up." She had no problems admitting that to him, she was pretty sure the Doctor had already told him anyway when they returned the night before.
"Right, well I'll leave you both to it. Just give us a shout if you need help with anything." Craig said to them, before swiftly exiting the room and leaving the pair alone.
When Kari turned to face the Doctor, she noticed that he had already opened one of the boxes and was rummaging through it. "How many pairs of shoes do you need?" He asked her, pulling out one pair after the other. "Do you really think we are going to be here that long?"
She couldn't help but roll her eyes at him. "Better to have too much than not enough. And anyway, I can always box it all back up again and get it sent to my lovely house." For some reason, she was thinking of that house a lot recently. It had been such a long time since they had been there, at least it had for her, she didn't know when the last time the Doctor went there was.
"Well this box is full to bursting with clothes, for you by the look of it." The Doctor said, sounding a little disappointed at that fact.
Kari decided to open up her box and see what was inside of there. The first thing she noticed was something red, and it really brought a smile to her face. "Oh, looks like some of your stuff is in here." As he rushed over, she pulled the item that was on top out and hid it behind her back.
"Ooh, this is brilliant." He told her, pulling out a jacket that looked exactly like the one that was hanging over the chair in the room. "I have to give Jack some credit, he does have some good style." He added, looking through the rest of the clothing that was in there.
She hummed a little as she crept up behind him. "Hmm, yeah, I'm not so sure about that. I mean, he did put this right on the top for you." She told him, before placing a bright red fez on his head. "I have no idea what inspired him to send that along with everything else, it's just going to be destroyed sooner or later."
But it seemed that the Doctor really didn't care, as he quickly looked at himself in the mirror with the fez on, and straightened up his bow tie. "He has great sense of style, that's why."
"Oh, of course he does." Kari replied, rolling her eyes as she started pulling her clothes out of the box that the Doctor originally had.
About half an hour later, Kari had managed to get most of the things sorted from the box. Jack had included all the bathroom stuff as well, shampoo, toothbrushes and toothpaste for them both, shower cream, and some other bits and pieces. Since she had found them, the Doctor had decided to go and take a shower, which meant he was likely to be gone for some time.
While he was gone, she plodded into the kitchen area and began gathering a few bits together to make some breakfast. Craig shuffled in, rubbing his eyes a little. "Sorry for waking you up with the delivery." Kari told him, giving him an apologetic smile. "I didn't realise they would be here so early."
"Nah, that's all right. I was already awake, I just couldn't be bothered to get out of bed." He told her, flicking the kettle on. "I'm just glad it's the weekend."
"I can't believe all three of us stayed in on a Friday night. God, now I really do feel old, staying in on a Friday night." Kari was actually doing pretty well as being a normal human being. She'd had a lot of practise in her past life.
Craig chuckled as he grabbed two clean mugs and threw some tea bags into them. "So, how long have you and the Doctor been together for then?" He didn't really know that much about his new lodgers, and he thought that maybe he should find out something about them both.
"Oh, feels like forever, really." The truth was, she had absolutely no idea what so ever. She was sure it was a few years now, but she really couldn't say. She hadn't been keep track of everything as much as she would have liked, she had accepted her life and was getting on with it, enjoying it. "We've known each other since we were young." At least that wasn't exactly a lie. "And we've been through a lot together. Honestly, if it weren't for him, I wouldn't be here. I'd be stuck in Cardiff living a very boring life."
"You're Welsh then?"
Kari shook her head at him. "No, I just used to live in Wales with my dad. My brother kind of made his home in Cardiff, but he's moved on now." She was trying to stick as close to the truth as she could. If she made up an elaborate lie, it was just going to come crashing down on her, because she would forget something sooner or later. "But now, my home is wherever the Doctor is."
Craig made the tea while Kari made them both some toast. They sat down on the sofa and talked for a while, just random things really, programs on the telly and favourite foods. Only, Crag was getting a little desperate to use the bathroom, but the Doctor was still in there. He went and knocked on the door. "Doctor?"
"Hello?" His voice called from the other side, slightly muffled by the sound of running water.
"How long are you going to be in there?" He really did need to get in there, and the Doctor had already been in there for so long.
"Oh, sorry, I like a good soak." It was obvious that the Doctor had no idea that Craig was politely trying to get him out of there. He was so obvious to many things, and Kari hadn't been listening in to help him and give him some advice.
But she was listening to the banging that came from above where she was sitting. And even Craig had heard it. Kari carefully watched as Craig opened the flat door and looked up the stairs, before he vanished out of sight. That was when she jumped off the sofa and headed towards the bathroom door. It opened just as the Doctor came rushing out, wrapped up in nothing but a towel with an electric toothbrush in his hand.
He grabbed Kari's hand and dragged her with him out the door and to the stairs. Once he was there, he brandished the toothbrush like a weapons, and Kari had to hold in the giggles so badly. "What happened, what's going on?" The Doctor demanded from Craig, who was now coming down the stairs to the flat above.
Craig was about to answer him when he noticed what e was holding. "Is that my toothbrush?"
"Correct. You spoke to the man upstairs?" All the Doctor wanted was answers, and all Kari wanted was not to giggle like an idiot at the way the Doctor looked. She had missed him slipping over in the bathroom, taking the shower curtain with him as he fell.
"Yeah."
"What did he look like?" Information, he needed information.
By now, even Craig was struggling not to let a few laughs slip out. "More normal than you do at the moment, mate. What are you doing?" The Doctor's hair was a mess, and the blue towel that was around his waist kept on slipping.
"I thought you might be in trouble." The Doctor replied, glancing back up at the top of the stairs they were standing at. He had his thinking face on, and Kari knew that he was running through so many different things, trying to work out what was going on up there and who that old man was.
"Thanks. Well, if I ever am, you can come and save me with my toothbrush." Craig said to him, before his phone started ringing inside of the flat.
While he rushed in, the Doctor started to head up the stairs, a hand taking Kari's and trying to take her as well. But she pulled it back, and shook her head. There was no way she was going to go up those stairs, not when she knew what waited for them at the top, not when she knew who really created it all.
The Doctor could see the something was wrong, so even he stopped and looked at her. "Kari? Kari, what is it?" She shook her head again at him. "Kari, if something is wrong, then you have to tell me."
She could see the pleading look in his eyes, and she knew she had to give him something. "Doctor, you can't go up there." Kari ended up telling him quietly. "There's something you haven't noticed, and you should have."
Before the Doctor could ask her what it was, the street door opened and a woman came in. "Oh! Hello." She said, noticing the pair as she shut the door.
"Ah, hello." The Doctor had jumped a little, slightly taken by surprise by someone else having a set of keys. "I'm the Doctor, this is Kari. You must be Sophie." He said, holding onto his towel tightly and giving the woman some air kisses.
Kari couldn't help but roll her eyes at the awkwardness. "Don't mind him, he's always like this in the morning." She said to the woman, giving her a smile before following the Doctor back inside the flat they all shared.
"No, Dom's in Malta. There's nobody around." Craig was still on the phone when the trio entered. "Hang on a sec." He said to the phone, before looking up at the Doctor. "We've got a match today, pub league. We're one down if you fancy it."
"Pub league. A drinking competition." That was the conclusion he had come to, but Kari was quick to give him a little nudge to get his attention.
He looked down at her and waited. "Football, remember?" She muttered to him, knowing that he could actually play football, and was rather good at it as well.
Suddenly his eyes lit up. "Football. Football, yes. Blokes play football. I'm good at football, I think." He definitely was a little excited, that much was clear from the look on his face. The Doctor was wearing a rather large grin now.
"You've saved my life." Craig told him, before getting back to his phone call. "I've got somebody. Yeah, all right, I'll see you down there." Once he finished the call, he noticed the extra person that was floating about. "Hey, Soph."
"Hey, thought I'd come early and meet you're new flat mates." She said, as the Doctor wandered over to the fridge and pulled out the pint of milk that Sophie had just put in there.
He didn't pay any attention to the firm look that Kari was giving him, and instead spoke to the woman they had just met. "Do you play, Sophie?" He asked, before getting a very sharp elbow in the ribs, just as he started to raise the bottle to his lips.
Kari looked at him and shook her head while Craig began to speak. "No, Shop just stands on the side-lines. She's my mascot."
The woman in questions quickly looked at Craig. "I'm your mascot? Mascot?" She sound a little offended, and confused.
"Well, yeah, not my mascot. It's a football match. I can't take a date."
"I didn't say I was your date." Sophie frowned a little, while the Doctor looked between the pair.
Kari could see that Craig was looking rather uncomfortable now. "Neither did I." He said, not daring to look at Sophie, just proving his nervousness. She wanted to roll her eyes and knock their heads together, to get them to see that they both actually liked each other and needed to stop tip-toeing around the whole situation.
"Come on, Doctor, you really need to get dressed." Kari quickly said, trying to break the tension that was fast building in the air around them.
"The spare kit's just in the bottom draw." Craig called out to them as they headed to their room.
Kari was just about to shut the door when the Doctor stopped her and poked his head out. "You unlocked the door." He said, as if only just realising it. "How did you do that? Those are your keys." His fingers pointed to the keys with the fluffy pink key ring that Craig had been constantly fiddling with the night before. "You must have left them last time you came here."
"Yeah, but I… how do you know these are my keys?" Sophie asked him, as she held onto her fluffy keys.
Craig was just getting more and more nervous now. "I've been holding them." He admitted, hoping that no one was going to laugh at him for it.
"I have got another set." Sophie then said, holding up the other set of keys that she had used to get in.
"You've got two sets of keys to someone else's house?" The Doctor asked her, getting a confirmation from the woman. "I see. You must like it here too." He told her, before quickly shutting the door.
Kari just sat on the bed and looked at him. "Well, that wasn't as disastrous as it could have been." She said to him, knowing that he was actually doing his best at being a normal bloke. "Have you ever played football before?"
The Doctor rummaged around in the chest of draws and found the football kit that Craig had been telling him about. "Oh, I must have played it at some point. It can't be too hard to figure it out."
"Oh really? Do you know the off side rule? Do you even know what the actual point of the game is?" Kari wondered, hoping that he really did know something and that even though he was going to be pretty amazing at it, it wasn't because he was just lucky.
He stopped and looked at her, a blank expression in his face, which told her everything. He didn't have a clue about football, and he was looking to her for some help. She simply let out a groan and threw herself back on the bed, allowing the Doctor to get dressed without her watching him. She was avoiding looking at him, because she was more likely to embarrass herself more than anything, even if they were engaged.
Soon enough he was almost ready, and speaking to Amy. "So, we're going out. If we hang about the house all the time, him upstairs might get suspicious and notice us."
"Football. Okay, well done. That is normal." Amy actually sounded a little surprised that he had found something to do that was normal for a bloke to do on a Sunday.
"Yeah, football. All outdoorsy. Kari could do with fresh air. Now, football's the one with the sticks, isn't it?" Kari could actually hear Amy letting out a groan as she let one out as well. It was going to be a rather long and tiring day, she was sure of it.
She got up from the bed and stepped over towards the Doctor. "Don't worry, Amy, I'll do my best to keep him out of trouble."
"Hmm, and who's going to keep you out of trouble?" Amy asked, knowing that she was just as bad as the Doctor at getting into trouble. They were both troublemakers, and if they didn't start it, they attracted it like magnets.
Kari knew that if she didn't come up with a really good answer, Amy was going to be constantly checking up on her. "Uh, my brother has eyes on me. He always has eyes on me, especially when I'm on Earth." It wasn't exactly a lie, but it definitely wasn't the whole truth either. "Anyway, gotta go!" She called, before yanking the device from the Doctor's ear, ending the transmission. "You've got your shirt on the wrong way." She had to tell the Doctor, looking at him and the backwards shirt.
He rolled his eyes at her, before fixing the shirt. "Right, football. How hard can it be?" The Doctor said, opening the door, ready to go and play the game.
But Kari wasn't ready, she hadn't even gotten changed yet. She was still in the same clothes she had ended up sleeping in. "Hang on, I still need to get changed." Kari reminded him. "You hogged the shower all morning, go and get something to eat, and make me another cup of tea while you're at it. I might as well have one before we have to leave." She knew that Craig was probably in the bathroom now, which meant the Doctor was about to go and embarrass himself, and most likely her as well, in front of Sophie.
An hour later, and the four of them were walking into the park. "What are you actually called?" Craig ask the Doctor, having been wondering about his name since he had first said it. "What's your proper name?"
"Just call me the Doctor." He replied, gripping Kari's hand a little tighter with a smile on his face.
"I can't go up to these guys and say hey, this is my new flat mate, he's call the Doctor. And this is his fiancée, Kari." Craig protested, as they neared his group of friends.
The Doctor glanced at him in confusion. "Why not?" He asked, wondering what was wrong with his name. Of course people always questioned his name, the follow up question usually being, Doctor who.
"Because it's weird." That was the best thing that Craig could think of to say.
Nothing more was said between the two men, as they approached the football pitch where Craig's friends were waiting for them. "All right, Craig, Soph." The man said, before looking at the Doctor and Kari. "All right, guys."
"Hello, We're Craig's new flat mates. I'm called the Doctor, and this is my brilliant Kari." The Doctor told him, holding onto Kari's hand still, his gripping always getting a little tighter when other people were around. It made Kari think that he got a little worried when they weren't alone, when they were with people he didn't know.
"All right, Doctor, Kari. I'm Sean." He said, nodding a little to the pair. "So, where are you strongest."
The Doctor looked to Kari for help, because he had no idea what the man actually meant. "Just put him anywhere, you'll be surprised at his wide range of skills." Kari told him rather proudly. She knew he was going to absolutely fantastic at football, and she couldn't wait to cheer him on along side Sophie. Although, Sophie should really be cheering on Craig, not the Doctor, because Kari knew that Sophie liked Craig just as much as he liked her.
Soon enough, the game was underway, and Kari was standing there at the sides, jumping up and down as the Doctor really did show off some fancy footwork with his football skills. He was definitely good, scoring one goal after the other, impressing everyone, everyone except for Craig. Kari knew that he was not going to be impressed, the Doctor was getting all of the attention, and he wasn't exactly working as part of a team. Trouble was sure to follow, she just knew it was.
A/N: I just want to say a big thank you to all of you who have continued to support me and my stories. And for those of you who keep on flaming, especially those who leave anon reviews, why are you even wasting your time if you hate this story so much?
I've been getting a lot of messages complaining that Kari isn't doing anything, so can I just point out that we haven't really gotten into the story yet, well we have now, but we hadn't before. And in regards to the Tosh and Owen thing, Kari hasn't been there, no one know's if she will be there, except for me. All the things I refer to are for a reason. So if I'm mentioning that episode of Torchwood, then there is a reason for it.
Apart from all of that, I hope you all enjoyed the chapter, and a big welcome to all the new readers. Until the next time...
Pippa.