A/N: Hi everyone, sorry for such a long wait. Recently it has been one thing after another, it seems like the past few months have just flown by and I haven't managed to achieve a thing. I hope you enjoy this chapter, I'm hoping that the next chapter will not take as long to get sorted.
The Trickster was there in his black robe, his nasty sharp and pointy teeth on full display. A shiver went down Kari's spin as she looked at the creature, but something else tingled inside of her, something that she couldn't explain. Then, two words came to her mind, no fear. She was not going to show any fear, she was not going to let that evil monster know that she was afraid.
A firm look set on her face as she glared at the Trickster, while the Doctor took an interest in what was now before him. "Ah, you look better in black. Or is white the new black?" He asked, his attention now focused on what was there before them all instead of Kari.
"At last, Doctor. I could feel this moment reverberating back through the ages. The meeting of the Pantheon of Discord and the last of the Time Lords." The creatures cloaked head turned slightly and focused on Kari, even though there were no eyes. "And of course, the Lady of Time, the Angel and Protector of Time."
Kari did her best and kept her face set like stone, to not give anything away. "Trickster." Her tone was so flat, so neutral, that even the Doctor looked at her with an odd expression. He could tell there was some tension rolling off her, but he wasn't sure how Kari was going to act.
There were a few more minutes of tension, where Kari kept her gaze fixed on the Trickster before the Doctor finally broke it. "I've know the legends of the Pantheon since I was a little boy. I've fought your shadows and your changelings. I never thought we'd actually meet."
"And I know the legends of the Doctor. The man of ice and fire, who walked among the gods, who once held the Key to Time in his hands. There are also the legends of the Angel of Time, always protecting, always fighting for what is right, always defending the Doctor. Now you are both surrounded by children." Kari knew that he was only taunting them, that he was trying to get a rise out of them, but she was not going to fall for it. And she would make sure that the Doctor didn't either.
"Yeah, well at least I know I have friends, and that includes those kids. Look at you, all alone in the universe, doing nothing but hurting others." Yes, Kari was being a bit snappy, but it was simply because she wasn't going to let the Doctor get sucked into the game that was being played. "What is the point of you? Why do you even exist?"
The Trickster and the Doctor were both taken back by what she had said. "You know why I exist, Angel of Time. But what of you? You have something waiting for you, both of you do."
Kari knew exactly where he was heading with that, and she was going to cut him off pretty quickly on that one as well. "The gate is waiting for us, yup, big deal." She said, before taking a step away from the Doctor and closer to the Trickster. "Let Sarah go. Now. Or I swear to you, Trickster, you will regret it."
"The fire burns within you. How much hatred do you hold in your heart? Oh, Sarah Jane Smith may be my prize for now, but there is one out there who is a much greater treasure." If the creature had eyes, they would certainly be twinkling by now, and Kari knew that.
Before she had a chance to say anything, the Doctor had jumped in, not entirely sure he liked what was going on before him. "What do you want with her? What do you want with Sarah?"
Finally, the Tricksters attention turned back to the Time Lord. "What I always want from any of those I visit. Her agreement. Goodbye, Doctor. Until we meet again, Kari, the Angel of time." He said, before disappearing right in front of them all.
"Okay, I only understood half of that." Clyde suddenly announced, grasping the attention of both Kari and the Doctor. "Anyone care to explain?"
"This whole thing has been a trick, a trap for Sarah Jane." Kari told them, a fire starting to burn even more inside of her now. "Peter has just been a pawn in this whole thing, he's been tricked as well. But what the Trickster wants, what he really wants, is Sarah's agreement. She agrees to marry Peter and that's it, he owns her. And what does the Trickster get out of this?" She asked, turning and looking at the teens in the room. "What has she failed to mention to Peter?"
I quickly dawned on Rani exactly what she was saying. "She forgets about her old life protecting the Earth."
Kari could only nod at her. "And without Sarah, and all of you lot as well, always saving the world, saving the whole universe from that tiny little attic, there will be chaos and destruction. That is exactly what he wants, what he needs." As she spoke she felt a warm tingling in the tips of her fingers, and a very small smile started to creep across her face.
"As if she's gonna say yes." Clyde scoffed, really not believing that Sarah Jane would ever do anything like that. He knew her, and she would never do anything that would put the planet in any danger.
Except the Doctor knew her better. "But she will, won't she, because we're here." The moment he finished speaking, a rough grinding noise began to fill the room. "TARDIS! Beautiful. Yes!" He was very happy to hear that sound, to hear the noise of his beloved ship.
The smile on Kari's face grew even bigger as the blue started to appear. "She always has such impeccable timing, wouldn't you say Doctor?" She asked him, her fingers still tingling.
"It's homing in on me. Emergency program, protecting the pilot." He seemed so happy, but Kari was actually about to burst that little bubble of his.
The woman beside him coughed a little, grasping his attention. "Uh, actually, I think you'll find she homing in on me." She informed him, showing him her hands, letting him see the slight golden glow that was swimming around them. "She seems to think that I needed her more than you did."
The Doctor simply took her hands in his own and looked at them closely, turning them over several times. "Why would she think that? I mean, I know you two are linked and that with you being full of the time vortex that bond is amplified…" He rambled.
"Because of the Trickster." Kari informed him rather quietly. "Look, you'll find out eventually, I promise you, but all I can say, right now, is…"
"Spoilers." The Doctor said, finishing the sentence for her. All Kari could do was nod at him before some kind of energy began to flare around the TARDIS. "Look! That's pure artron energy." He exclaimed, getting more excited about the TARDIS coming back. "TARDIS power. Equal and opposite to the Trickster's power. That's how we can fight him."
Before the big blue box had even finished materialising, the Doctor charged towards it, his key in his hand. He managed to get in quick enough, but an abnormal wind had picked up once more. "Come on, move!" Kari cried, pushing all three kids forwards and towards the box. "Run!"
It was tough, they were being pushed back by an invisible force, while the Doctor was standing inside the doors of the TARDIS, holding his hand out, waiting for them, reaching for them. "Come on, all of you, get in. Come on now." He was beckoning them, but the wind kept on pushing.
Kari got behind Clyde and gave him one rather large, and rather rough, push. "Come on, Clyde! Get in!" She called, even though she knew what was going to happen next. The Doctor would grab his hand, but the wind would separate them. Before she knew it, the door to the blue box slammed shut, and Clyde was pushed up against it, the strange energy shocking him.
The young man was suddenly thrown backwards as the TARDIS started to fade from existence. Rani was quick to help him up while Kari and Luke looked at the spot where the blue box once was. "Now what?" Sarah Jane's son asked, looking to Kari for an answer.
"We carry on, and fight the Trickster. We get Sarah Jane back and then go home for a nice cuppa." Kari told them, turning her gaze to Clyde. "Remember, the power of the TARDIS can fight the Trickster."
"Yeah, and you're full of it. You said it yourself, you called the TARDIS, you're connected to it." Rani said, causing the two lads to look at Kari as well. "There has to be something that you can do."
"Rani, it really isn't that simply. Just because I'm linked to the time vortex it does not mean that I can fight the Trickster. It's the wrong kind of energy, it would do absolutely nothing. What we really need is some Artron energy, the residue of the TARDIS engines." Kari explained, keep her eyes still on Clyde. "Come on, we need to move."
The trio looked at each other, before following Kari out of the room where the TARDIS once stood and out into the reception area of the hotel. "So how can we fight the Trickster? What do we do?" Clyde decided to ask her, having noticed that she kept on looking at him in a strange way.
In just two steps, Kari was standing right in front of the young man, watching him very carefully. "It's not us, Clyde, it's you." She said, before gently reaching out and taking both of his hands. As she raised them up a swirling ball of blue energy appeared. "That's Artron energy, and you, Clyde Langer, got a massive shot of it when you slammed into the TARDIS. It's up to you to fight him."
"You're mad!" Rani cried, clearly not happy with what Kari had just said. "There's no way he can fight him, not on his own."
"No, Kari's right. I can fight him, I'm the one that can do this." He assured his friend, before turning and looking at Kari once more. "Tell me what I need to do."
It was easy to see that Rani was feeling rather uncomfortable with what was about to happen. She was dead set against letting Clyde go and fight the Trickster on his own, but even Luke had told her that it was the only way, and that he would be fine. She still didn't want to listen, her eyes were like daggers every time she looked at Kari.
"All you need to do is get close to him. He's the Trickster, use his own tricks against him." Kari had plenty of confidence, because she knew that it was going to work. "I know you can do this, Clyde. Sarah Jane always picks her friends well, just believe in yourself and everything you fight for."
Clyde nodded at her, before he opened the large front doors to the hotel, allowing them all to view the vast emptiness that they were stuck in. "Trickster!" He shouted, while the brightness from the outside blinded Kari and Rani slightly.
It didn't take very long for the creature cloaked in black to appear. "Clyde Langer. Why do you call me?"
"I wish to serve you. I wish to join the Pantheon." Clyde replied, before stepping out of the doors.
Kari had to hold Rani back, before the doors slammed shut, separating them from Clyde and the Trickster. "Rani, he's going to be fine, trust me, okay? Clyde can do this, he is a lot stronger than you think." Kari told her, trying to calm her down a little. "We're all going to get out of this, Sarah Jane knows what she has to do."
"What do you mean? How do you know?" Of course, Rani wasn't going to just take Kari's word for it, that was just be too easy.
A sigh slipped past Kari's lips. "Sarah Jane has to talk to Peter, to get him to realise that he died and that the Trickster made a deal with him to keep him alive. It was all a trap, and now it is up to her and Peter to break us all out of here." She hated what was about to happen, she hated the fact that Sarah Jane was about to lose the man she had spent so many years longing for. It was breaking her hearts just thinking about it. "All deals with the Trickster must be broken."
"And what about Clyde? You sent him out there with the Trickster!"
"Clyde is fine, he'll have a bit of a headache in the morning, but he is absolutely fine. If my calculations are correct, he'll be with Sarah Jane right now." At least she hoped that he was, she hoped that everything was going as it should. "All Peter needs to do is withdraw his agreement. Then all of this is over, and things will go back to how they should be."
A few moments later, and they both heard the rough grinding sounds of the TARDIS engines. Without any hesitation, they both spun around on the spot and saw the big blue box coming into existence before their eyes. Kari couldn't help but smile at the sight of it, everything was going as it should.
It only took a second after it landed with a thump for the doors to open and the Doctor to come charging out. "Come on!" He called, grabbing Kari by the hand as he barrelled past her, leaving Rani to catch up.
Luke was just heading to them and stopped dead in his tracks when he saw them. "Doctor, you came back. Where's Clyde?" Unfortunately, there was no time to answer him, as Rani came up from behind and pushed him along with them, heading towards the room where the ceremony was at one point being held.
The doors flew open, and the four of them saw Sarah Jane, huddled on the floor, cradling Clyde's head in her lap. They all ran to her as quickly as they could, the Doctor quickly wrapping an arm around the woman as she sobbed a little. "Luke! Doctor, Kari! Oh, Doctor…" There was so much emotion in her voice, and she was doing her best not to cry.
"Our Sarah Jane. You did it. The trap's broken." He told her, while Kari gave an unconscious Clyde the once over. "Time's moving forward again, we're going home."
"Everyone, just hold on tight." Kari said, gripping the Doctor's hand and giving it a squeeze. She knew that he wasn't going to be there. Time was going to revert back, and he was not going to be there.
Within the blink of an eye, everything was back as it was. Rani's mother and father were sitting there in the front, Clyde, Luke, and Rani were all sitting beside Kari. The tin dog was hiding out of sight. Sarah Jane was standing before the registrar, alone.
"If any person can show just cause of impediment why they may not be joined together, let them speak now or forever hold their peace." The woman said, before all the whispering started. Rani's mother had noticed that the groom had magically disappeared, he had just gone.
While she was noticing that, Luke was noticing something else. "Where's the Doctor gone?" He asked, turning to look at Kari.
"He's taken the short cut. You know him, he doesn't like to wait around. And before you ask, yes, that really did happen Rani." She told them all, before Luke stood up and went over to a very distressed looking Sarah Jane.
"I'm sorry, everybody. I'm afraid the wedding is cancelled." The woman announced as she turned to face her room full of guests.
The moment she dropped her bouquet of flowers, Kari was on her feet, following the woman as she walked down the aisle, her head held high, and out of the room. She knew that Sarah Jane probably wanted to be left alone, but she wasn't going to let that happen, she was not going to let her friend suffer alone.
Sarah Jane only stopped walking when she was finally outside, back in the sunlight. "I'm so sorry, Sarah, I am so, so sorry." Kari said, feeling very guilty for what had just happened. Now that it was all over with, she wished she could go back and do it differently. Kari would tell Sarah Jane exactly what was going on, she wouldn't be afraid of the Trickster, she would save her friend for all the pain and heartache that was to follow.
"I should have known it was too good to be true." Sarah Jane commented, before the tears started to roll down her cheeks.
In an instant, Kari was there, her arms tightly wrapped around her, comforting her. "No, you can't think of it like that. Peter Dalton may not have been who you thought he was, but he really did love you. He was a good man, Sarah Jane, and he gave up everything to save you." The man had given up his second chance of life to be with her, he had set her free instead. "Come on, let's go home."
Kari drove them back to Bannerman road in silence. She was glad that she had her brother send a car to the venue, a plain, normal car. There was no way Sarah Jane could have faced going home in the wedding car, not after all that had just happened. As the minutes passed the guilt kept on building for Kari.
The moment they returned back at Sarah Jane's home, the woman was out of the car and had locked herself in her room. It gave Kari the opportunity to quickly make a phone call. After only one ring, the other person had answered her call. "We're back. Well, Sarah and I are back. She's locked herself in her room, I hope you're planning on showing up soon."
"Of course I am, I'm on my way now. I'll be with you in about half an hour." The Doctor replied, the sound of the time machine humming in the background and making Kari miss the ship even more. "And then you can explain everything that happened, right from the beginning."
Kari closed her eyes and rested her head back against the wall of Sarah Jane's living room. "There isn't really much to explain. I was here, I visiting Sarah Jane, and I was asking to be her bridesmaid. What else is there to it?" She really didn't want to go into it any more than that.
"Oh Kari, there is so much that I know you're not telling me. Look, that doesn't matter right now, just make sure Sarah is all right, I'll be there soon." He informed her, before the sound of the engines became a little louder. "I love you, Kari."
"I love you too, Doctor. Don't be too long, I'm sure the gang will be here soon." Now she was desperate for it to all be over. Although she knew what was going to happen, and that certain events had to happen, she still couldn't help but think on all the things she could have done differently.
She kept herself out of the way while her friend changed out of her wedding dress and tried to pull herself together. Kari ended up pottering around the kitchen, making tea and cleaning up the mess that they had left that morning. She was so distracted with her own thoughts that she didn't hear someone coming down the stairs and joining her in the kitchen.
"You didn't have to clean all that." Sarah Jane told her, making her jump out of her skin. "Sorry."
"No, I'm the one that's sorry. I should have told you what was going on Sarah, I knew the whole time and I didn't say anything." Kari said, really wishing that she could have a do over. "I'm so sorry."
A sad smile appeared on Sarah Jane's face. "It's not your fault, Kari. I wouldn't have listened to you, just like I didn't listen to Clyde and Rani. The Trickster had me under his power, there was nothing anyone could have done."
"I could have warned you before he put that stupid ring on your finger, that's what I should have done." She was angry at herself for letting things turn out the way they had, she was sick of always letting things happened because that's the way she had seen it happen. "I should have faced the Trickster the moment I arrived instead of hiding in the shadows like a coward."
That seemed to remind Sarah Jane of something. "The moment you saw the him, you were overcome with anger, I saw it in your eyes. What did he do to you, Kari?"
Kari had managed to avoid telling the Doctor about it all, about everything that had happened, but there was no way she could avoid telling Sarah Jane, no after what he had put her through. "It was some time ago now, for me at least, but it hasn't even happened for the Doctor yet. He won't understand it for so long. So much had already happened and my head was already in a pretty bad place. The Trickster took advantage of that, he saw that I was weak and took his shot at getting rid of me." It was painful for her to remember, everything that had happened was etched in her mind, like someone had recorded it and kept playing it back for her.
Sarah Jane could see that she was struggling with her explanation, and so she casually poured them both some tea. "It must have been awful."
"It was terrifying." Kari whispered, her voice now deciding it didn't want to work. All of her courage was quickly draining away. "He trapped me, the Doctor and my friends. He showed me things, he showed me my father, begging and pleading for me to come home. He showed me a world where I was married to someone, with a house and kids and everything. And then he showed me another life, a life with the Doctor. A married life, with children, our little girl was called Amelia Sarah Jane." It was taking every ounce of strength she had not to break down and cry, she couldn't let it keep plaguing her. "Anyway, he told me that the last life, the happy life with the Doctor, was something that I could never have. He told me that I was better off returning home so that I could have a happy life with someone else. At that time, I didn't realise it was the Trickster."
"Oh, Kari…"
"He did the same thing to the Doctor, you know. He showed him things, he made him believe I wanted to leave. I will never forget the words that made me realise what was really going on, 'this life doesn't make you happy. I can give you a happy life, the life you dreamed do you say? Do we have an agreement?' Those final words were what put it all together for me." There was so much of the story that Kari had just skipped over, but there was no way she was going to explain the whole thing to her, or to anyone. "I realised that the Trickster wanted me gone. With me out of the way, the Doctor… well…"
Sarah Jane knew exactly what she was saying. "The Doctor would be a broken man, and the Trickster would have gotten exactly what he wanted. I'm sorry, Kari, I didn't know."
All Kari could do was look at her, a small smile on her face. "How could you? I hadn't told you before, I haven't even told the Doctor. All he knows is that there is something that happened with the Trickster in my past and his future. The only other person that knows is my brother, because he was there as well." Amy knew, well she knew some of it, but Sarah Jane would never meet Amy, and the Doctor hadn't met her yet either.
There was a moment of silence, before Sarah Jane let out a small laugh. "Look at the pair of us. Things could have been a whole lot worse, the Trickster could have won." Of course, she had to try and find the brighter side to it all.
"I wish I had stopped it all soon, Sarah Jane, I really do. I am so sorry that you had to go through all of that." The guilt she was feeling was never going to go away, Kari knew that.
"Now stop it, no more of that. What's done is done. There are so many things that could have been different, but I will tell you something, I would never wish that I hadn't met Peter." Sarah Jane told her, gently resting a hand on Kari's arm. "All your life you have to carry such heavy burdens, I don't blame you, not for any of this. I will never blame you, Kari."
It didn't take them long to get over it all and head up to the attic with a freshly brewed cup of tea. They both ended up sitting on the steps looking at the wall which once opened up to reveal a rather smart alien computer. "Go on, bring him back." Kari said, giving the woman beside her a little nudge.
"Mister Smith, I need you." Sarah Jane said, getting up from where she was sitting and going to stand in front of the wall.
Within seconds the wall started to unfold, the brickwork moving to reveal the alien supercomputer that was hidden behind it all. "Welcome back, Sarah Jane. Hello, Kari." The computer replied, still letting out a few hissing sounds as the wall finished folding out.
That was when they heard footsteps rushing up the stairs and towards them. "Mum, are you all right?" Luke asked as the trio burst through the door, still dressed as they had been at the wedding.
"I'm going to be fine, I've got you, haven't I?" Sarah Jane replied, the trio crowding her while Kari stepped off towards the side. She knew that Sarah Jane would be fine, those amazing children would make sure of that.
"I can't believe the Doctor ran off like that." Luke said, trying to lighten the mood a little.
Sarah Jane looked over towards Kari out of the corner of her eye and noticed the sad smile on her face. "Sudden disappearing acts. That's him all over." She just hoped that Kari wasn't going to take any offence to that comment.
It was at that moment that everything changed, and both Mister Smith and K9 announced an escalation of temporal flux, which could only mean one thing. Within a few moments, a big blue wooden box was parked in the attic, with five people staring at.
"Doctor…" Sarah Jane said in shock, having not expected him to show up again.
The door was pulled open and the Doctor stood there, a rather confused and disappointed look on his face. "What do you take me for, Sarah? Just thought I'd go the quick way." He told them, before noticing where he was and having a little look by turning his head around. "Ooh, I like it in here."
"You should see the rest of the house." Kari called, now with a rather large smile on her face. "It's all amazing." She added, bouncing over to him and the TARDIS.
The moment she was in reach the Doctor wrapped his arms around her tightly. She didn't need to admit how much she had missed him and the ship, the way she was clinging onto him said it all really. Now she felt safe, everything was better now that he was there and she was back in the TARDIS.
However, their special little moment was soon broken when a voice spoke to them. "Can we have a look?" Rani asked, her eyes just pleading for the Doctor to say yes.
"What, in the TARDIS?" He asked, as if he couldn't believe what he was hearing. "Our TARDIS?!" This time the Doctor sounded a lot like he was shouting, while Kari simply rolled her eyes. "Course you can, yeah." He said, before stepping out of the way and taking Kari with him.
The three youngsters were absolutely amazed with what they were seeing, looking around the console and taking in everything they could. The Doctor and Kari were more focused on the woman that was standing before them. "You both came all that way for me." It seemed as if she couldn't really believe it, that they would come for her.
"You're so important. Not just to us." The Doctor told her, his arm still wrapped tightly around Kari.
"That Trickster wanted to end your story, but it goes on. Oh, the things you've done, they are rather impressive, I have to admit." Kari told her, so relieved that it was all over with and that in only a few short minutes she would be out of there and it would all just be a thing of the past.
"But the things you're going to do…" The Doctor couldn't help but smile, just like Kari was smiling away.
By now the youngsters were there, listening, watching. "The future. How about we… could go for a ride?" Luke asked, a hopeful look on his face.
"Or back. To the dinosaurs, yeah?" Clyde added, not really caring where they went, just really wanting a trip in a time machine.
Then it was Rani's turn to chip in with excitement in her voice as well. "Another planet?"
Before the Doctor could even think of responding, Kari had already opened her mouth. "Uh, no, I don't think so. For a start, you lot are grounded, literally grounded. By the Judoon!" She said, giving them her 'I'm really not impressed with you lot' look. "Take you off the planet and we're all in some serious trouble."
"Plus, your parents would never forgive me. Go on, out." Sarah Jane said, shooing them out of the doors so that she could speak to the Doctor and Kari properly. "Is this the last time I'm ever going to see you?" That was something that was plaguing her, would she ever see the pair of them again?
Straight away, Kari jumped in. "Of course not, you're stuck with us for life. It may be a bit of a long wait, but we'll be back." She said, before giving her a rather big hug. The Doctor was quick to join in, before the trio broke apart and the woman left the blue box.
"Come on, time to go." The Doctor told Kari, leading her over to the console and placing her hand over the lever. She looked up at him, and they both pulled on the lever at the same time, sending them hurtling through the time vortex and away from Bannerman road.
A/N: Well, I do hope that you liked it, and if you didn't, never mind. Right now I have got a lot of other things going on in my life, thing that take up a lot of my time, which is why I am finding writing rather hard. Recently I am coming home from work and an hour later I fall asleep. But there is light at the end of the tunnel, as the Christmas Holiday's are fast approaching. I'm hoping to catch up with a lot of things during that time, fingers crossed that I actually will.
Until the next time…
Pippa.