A/N: Hi all, sorry for the wait for this chapter. I know many of you have been looking forward to this so I really do hope that you enjoy it.
Clara just gazed at Danny, before holding out her hand towards the doctor. "Give me the screwdriver." She said. Her mind was already made up, it had been made up long before. Reluctantly the Doctor reached inside his jacket pocket and pulled it out, before placing it in Clara's hand. "Just point and think, yeah?"
"Yes." The Doctor said, not happy with what was about to happen. He wanted to stop Clara from doing it, but he knew that she wanted it to be done. It was between them, Kari had made that very clear, he needed to stay out of it.
With the sonic screwdriver now in her hand, Clara approached Danny. "Okay. I wasn't very good at it, but I did love you." She told him, pointing the screwdriver at him. Kari was standing with the Doctor, holding onto his hand tightly, knowing that he was bursting with emotions now as well. He was pretty good at hiding it in this regeneration but she could still feel it, Kari could sense everything emotion that was swirling around inside of him.
"I love you too." Danny told her, trying not to get too emotional.
Clara was struggling, turning the screwdriver over in her hand, trying to stop herself from breaking down into tears. "I'm never going to say that again."
Danny smiled a little. "Me neither."
Kari just couldn't watch it, and apparently neither could the Doctor. The pair had both turned their backs, there was no need for them to intrude on this. "This is killing her, Doctor." Kari called to him, knowing that he hadn't wanted Clara to do it. "But she would do anything for him. Clara has to live with this for the rest of her life."
They both heard Danny saying goodbye, before Clara turned on the Doctor's screwdriver. It buzzed and the end lit green for several seconds as she aimed it at the man she loved. A few seconds later, Danny's face was blank, emotionless, and the man straightened up.
As soon as the buzzing sound stopped, the Doctor and Kari turned to face them, just in time to see Clara rushing towards the cyberman, going to hold onto him. "Clara, no! Step away! He's activating! Clara, step away now! Don't." The Doctor cried, going to tug her off of him. But the Cyberman did nothing. "Danny? Danny, if you can hear me, if you're still there, what are the clouds going to do?" The Doctor hoped that there was still a hint of the man they once knew inside there, that they could trust.
"The rain will fall again. All humanity will die." The Cyberman said at the same time as Kari. She needed the Doctor to know that they could have known the plan without all of this, without Danny needing to be fully converted to connect to the hive mind. "And rise again as Cybermen." Kari also said, knowing that was what the Doctor would have said.
The Cyberman that once was Danny responded. "Correct." There was still nothing on his face, and it was a little unsettling for Kari, especially as her friend was still hugging him.
"How do we stop it?" The Doctor asked, hoping that there was a way.
His hope was very quickly shattered with the response he received. "We cannot be stopped."
Suddenly, Missy decided to make an appearance, beaming down from the sky with an open umbrella, really making herself look like Mary Poppins. Kari just rolled her eyes at the woman, knowing that she was trying to be dramatic. "Oh, that was brilliant! Oh, I love the telly here, but did you see that?" She said, heading over to where the group were standing. "Oh, Clara, you poor thing. You must feel like death. Let me pop away the pain." Missy started tapping away at her device, before the Doctor rushed over to her.
He wasn't going to let her do anything else, especially not to someone he and Kari cared about. "Don't you dare! Don't you think about it!" He said, grabbing it from her hand and tossing it to the ground.
"Oh, sorry, hon, I'm just getting a bit carried away. It's your friends, they're so more-ish. Hmm?" Missy said, while Kari gave a very slight nod to Clara. They had seen where the device had landed, but the Doctor and Missy hadn't. "Oh, stop looking all cross-pants. I'm here to give you a gift. Could you at least try and be excited?"
The Doctor was just confused now as he gripped a hold of Kari's hand tightly. "What gift?" He asked, wondering if he really wanted to know the answer to that.
Instead of answering him, she lifted her wrist towards her face and began speaking into it, much like she had done before the plane blew up."Cyberdears!" She called, resulting in all the Cybermen in the cemetery to suddenly pay attention. "Look at Mummy! Raise your arms. Lower your arms. Raise your right. Lower your right. Turn on the spot." Everything she said, they did. The Doctor was actually pretty horrified now, but Missy wasn't finished yet. "There are exits at the front and rear of the aircraft. Please follow the lights up the aisle. You see, Doctor? The power to slaughter whole worlds at a time, then make them do a safety briefing. Everyone who ever lived, man, woman and child, is now at my command. An indestructible army to rage across the universe. The more they kill, the more they recruit. Happy birthday. Oh! You didn't know, did you? It's lucky one of us remembers these things. Happy birthday Mister President." She said, before putting the bracelet onto the Doctor's wrist, smirking at Kari as she did so. But Kari wasn't phased by it, because she had noticed something that Missy hadn't, something that she knew Clara had spotted, but not Missy, the one who claimed to be in control of everything that was going on.
All of the Cybermen now addressed the Doctor and bowed their heads to him. They were following his orders and his commands now.
"Tiny bit pleased?" The Doctor was silent, not a word to say to the woman, which disappointed her. "Oh, go on, crack a smile. I want to see if your eyebrows drop off." Missy was so happy with herself, so pleased, and Kari was trying so hard not to grin like an idiot.
Finally, the Doctor found some words. "All of this… All of it, just to give me an army?" He wasn't convinced, there had to be more to it, surely this wasn't the whole of her plan.
Missy was glad to have finally gotten a reaction from him. "Well, I don't need one, do I? Armies are for people who think they're right. And nobody thinks they're righter than you." The Doctor went to take the bracelet off, but Missy quickly stopped him. "Give a good man firepower, and he'll never run out of people to kill."
"I don't want an army!" The Doctor shouted at her, pulling his arm away from her, and backing up a little with Kari right beside him.
But Missy wasn't convinced. "Well, that's the trouble! Yes, you do! You've always wanted one! All those people suffering in the Dalek camps? Now you can save them. All those bad guys winning all the wars? Go and get the good guys back."
Now it was time for Kari to speak up, because she knew that Missy was pushing the Doctor, and she could sense him about to get very angry and that was when he was likely to make mistakes. "Stop it! The Doctor is not what you think he is. You have lost sight of so much, and you do the most stupid things to try and get your way. I know you want your friend back, but this is far from the right way to do it. You aren't kids any more. This isn't a feud between two teenagers. You want your friend back? Well I want mine. Where the hell has that little boy gone, that one I met so long ago. The one who was so excited to see me, to hear all of my stories. What happened to that person? Hm? You moan and complain that the Doctor has changed, but so have you." Kari could feel so much going on inside of her, so much anger and fear and sorrow. It was all getting just a little too much for her.
"You're the reason I lost my friend!" Missy shouted, her eyes throwing daggers at Kari. "I lost my friend because of the Golden Angel, the Angel of Time."
Kari let out a sigh. "No, you didn't. You drove him away yourself. You changed, we both watched you change." She remembered that time on Gallifrey, that short time she spent with the young Doctor and Master. She had seen the change start then.
The Doctor couldn't take it anymore, he could see it was getting to his Kari. "Why are you doing this?" He asked, pulling the bracelet off his wrist.
Missy's attention went from Kari and to the Doctor. "I need you to know we're not so different. I need my friend back. Every battle, every war, every invasion. From now on, you decide the outcome. What's the matter, Mister President? Don't you trust yourself?"
The Doctor felt Kari beside him and glanced at her, she was giving him a small smile as she thought about all those times he asked if he was a good man, when he told people he wasn't a hero. He smiled back at her when it finally dawned on him. "Thank you. Thank you so much." He said, going over to Missy and kissing her on the cheek. "I really didn't know. I wasn't sure. You lose sight sometimes. Thank you!" He told her, before rushing back over to Kari and taking a tight hold of her hand once more. "I am not a good man! I am not a bad man. I am not a hero. And I'm definitely not a president. And no, I'm not an officer. Do you know what I am? I am an idiot, with a box and a screwdriver. Just passing through, helping out, learning. I don't need an army. I never have, because I've got them. Always them. Because love, it's not an emotion. Love is a promise."
Both Kari and the Doctor were smiling now, and they watched as Danny the Cyberman wrapped his arm around Clara, who was still holding onto him tightly. "And he will never hurt her. P E, catch!" The Doctor shouted, before throwing the bracelet towards the Cyberman who quickly caught it.
The smile on Kari's face just got bigger and bigger and she could feel herself relaxing a little. "You didn't notice, did you? While you were doing all your silly orders, while you were showing off, the one soldier not obeying." Kari couldn't help it, she couldn't help but point out what Missy had failed to notice.
Now there was plenty of confusion on her face. "No, that's wrong. That's impossible." Missy said, not understanding how that could happen.
Danny marched over towards Missy, stopping in front of her as he put the bracelet on his wrist. "The rain will not fall."
"Oh? Why won't it?" Missy asked, still missing the complete obvious.
"The clouds will burn." Danny told her, before she asked who was going to burn them. "I will burn them."
For an evil genius, she was really rather stupid at times. "How?"
"I will burn".
Missy scoffed. "One burning Cyberman is hardly going to save the planet."
Danny leaned in a little closer to Missy. "Correct." He told her quietly, before turning away from her and facing the rest of the Cybermen. He lifted the bracelet to his face and spoke. "Attention!" Every single Cyberman listened to his command and stood to attention. "This is not a good day." He called, knowing that they were all listening to him now. "This is Earth's darkest hour. And look at you miserable lot. We are the Fallen. But today, we shall rise. The army of the dead will save the land of the living. This is not the order of a general, nor the whim of a lunatic." Missy seemed to take some offence to that, but everyone completely ignored her. "This is a promise. The promise of a soldier!" Danny said, before turning to face Clara. "You will sleep safe tonight."
The rockets at the bottom of the boots on his feet ignited and he began to rise up into the sky, all the other Cybermen following him upwards. All the group on the ground could do was watch them, as they soared into the sky. "Danny Pink was a good man, and he will be remembered for this." Kari whispered, knowing that Clara would hear her.
They all watched as one by one the Cybermen began to explode, making the sky burn, burning away the clouds that were covering the world. Soon enough they were all gone, and a clear blue sky was above them. The sun shining down on Earth.
"Well. The clouds have all gone." Clara said, knowing that Danny had just died to save her, and the rest of humanity.
The Doctor was looking upwards, making sure that it really was clear. "Yes, burned up. Totally burnt. Burnt to nothing." Kari gave him a little nudge with her elbow, getting him to realise what he had just said. "Sorry."
"Ten zero eleven, zero zero by zero two." Missy said, sounding a bit like a broken robot.
Her words grabbed the Doctor's attention. "What did you say?"
"The current coordinates of Gallifrey." Kari and Missy said at the same time. But Kari wasn't smiling, she looked and felt so sad. "It's returned to its original location. Didn't you ever think to look?" The Doctor didn't believe her, he had no reason to believe a word that she said. "We can… we can go together, just us. Just like the old days." Something seemed very different about the way that she was acting, and it was bothering the Doctor.
They were interrupted when Clara spoke up. "Doctor, I'm assuming you'll remember those coordinates?" She said, holding out Missy's device, pointing it at the woman.
That was when the Doctor realised what she was planning on doing. "No. No, don't you dare. I won't let you."
But she ignored him. "Old friend, is she? If you have ever let this creature live, everything that happened today, is on you. All of it, on you. And you're not going to let her live again."
Kari stepped over to her friend, stopping in front of her. "Clara, all we're doing is not letting you kill her. We never said we were letting her live." She told her, knowing that she had to save her friend. "After everything she has done, if only I hadn't missed all those years ago." She really couldn't help but think about that day, about what would have happened if she had shot him. If he was the one with a bullet wound and not her. Did she really have it in her to shoot someone like that?
Clara seemed to be as surprised as the Doctor was. "Really?"
Kari nodded at her. "Yes." She said, holding out her hand and waiting. Clara gave her the device and the Doctor swiftly took it away from her. The look on his face said that he was very upset, and possibly rather angry with her. "Doctor…" She managed to say, before holding the device out himself and pointing it towards Missy.
The Doctor looked so torn. "You win." He finally said to his old friend.
Missy simply looked at him. "I know." She replied, closing her eyes. Just as the Doctor was about to activate the device, there came a bolt of energy from elsewhere. They all turned around and saw a lone Cyberman standing between some headstones.
They watched as it pointed towards something and Kari was the first to move. "Kate!" She shouted, reasling who it was and what had happened. "He saved her. Her dad, he saved her." She said as they reached the woman, laying there, alive.
That was when it dawned on the Doctor. "Of course. The Earth's darkest hour and mine. Where else would you be?" He looked up at the Cyberman and finally realised for himself who it was. The Doctor saluted him, Brigadier Alistair Gordon Lethbridge Stewart. Who bowed his head before blasting off into the sky. "Thank you."
Kari was feeling relieved, to a certain extent. Although her head was still reeling from everything that had happened that day. She was proud for not having a complete breakdown like she thought she would, and for standing up to Missy. "Come on, it's time to get out of here." She announced, wanting nothing more than for a bath and some sleep. All Kari was hoping was that she wasn't going to get pulled somewhere else before she had a chance to do any of that. She really needed a break.
The moment Kari was in the TARDIS she felt safe, and at ease. Without any hesitation at all, she headed straight for her room. The moment she opened the door to her bathroom she found the bath already filled and waiting for her. She couldn't help but let out a sigh. "Oh, thank you, Sexy."
Kari didn't know how long she had been sitting in the bath for, but she knew it was time to get out when there came a very loud hum from the magical ship. She dragged herself out of the bath and got herself dressed, before heading to the console room where she found only the Doctor. "Where is everyone?" She asked, knowing that Clara and Osgood at least should have been there.
"Oh, I've taken everyone home." He said, dashing around the console. "The TARDIS wiped Osgood's memory. She has no idea what happened." Kari wasn't that surprised considering that Missy was meant to have killed her.
"Good. She doesn't need to remember what happened to her." All Kari wanted to do now was get a little sleep, but something was telling her that was not going to be happening any time soon. "Come on, out with it, Doctor." She said, knowing that he wanted to have a chat with her, which meant do his best not to yell at her.
He stopped what he was doing and stood in front of her as she leaned against the console. "You knew?"
Not exactly what she had been expecting, but not a surprise question either. "Some, not all." Things changed, they always changed when she was there. She wasn't going to tell him that she knew everything that was going to happen, as well as who Missy was.
"Missy?"
"What about her?" Kari was really not starting to like where this line of questioning was going.
"You knew?" The Doctor was being very sharp with her, and she didn't really like it.
All Kari could do was let out a sigh. "Yes. I knew. From the moment I saw her I knew exactly who she was. It took all of my strength not to scream, not to flee in terror from her." Kari needed to make him understand that it had been difficult for her as well, to see Missy after all that had happened. "After the year that never was, all that happened, I just…"
The Doctor understood and wrapped his arms around her. "I know, Kari. It was a horrible year. All those things he put you through, all that pain and suffering." He was starting to realise that maybe now wasn't the best time to start questioning her, to find out exactly how much she knew about what was going on.
The problem was, she knew so much more, she knew that Missy wasn't gone, she knew that she would be showing up again. She also knew about Gallifrey. "She lied, Doctor." She told him, causing him to look at her. "The coordinates. Gallifrey isn't there. She isn't dead, either." Kari knew it was going to break the Doctor's hearts to hear it, to know that Gallifrey wasn't there, that he wasn't going to find it. "I'm sorry, Doctor. If I knew more than I would tell you, but that really is all I know. You go to the coordinates she gave you and there is nothing there, which just makes you angry."
He looked at her, a curious look on his face. "Why are you telling me this?" Usually she kept it all to herself, but not this time.
"Because I know how much you want it to be true. I can't bear the thought of you going to look for your home and it not being there. For you to be so upset and disappointed. I'm sorry." Kari really didn't want him to have to go through all of that, especially if she jumped and he went on his own.
The Doctor didn't really know what to say. Instead of answering her, he just wrapped his arms around her tightly. He so badly wanted to find Gallifrey, to find his planet, to know what happened to it, but there was something else that was so much more important than that to him. "You don't really like Missy very much, do you?"
Kari couldn't help but chuckle a little. "What gave it away?"
"Well, you really didn't like her kissing me, did you?" The Doctor replied, chucking a little himself.
She rolled her eyes a little. "Hmm, yeah. You didn't really like me kissing Jack now, did you?" Kari retorted, knowing how jealous he was back in those days. "Didn't like me kissing anyone. Didn't even like me talking to anyone. And just for the record, I wasn't jealous. I wasn't happy, or impressed with what she was doing. Plus, it was so obvious how uncomfortable it was for you, I needed to stop your suffering." when Missy had been kissing him, he had no idea what to do or where to put his hands. It had actually been slightly amusing for Kari to see.
"Well, thanks for that." He said, before lightly kissing the top of her head. "So, what do you want to do now?" He hoped that she was going to be staying around for a little longer, he didn't want her to go yet, he wanted to spend some more time with her.
Kari shrugged her shoulders at him. "I really don't mind. Just being here with you is good enough for me." She told him, being completely honest. She had been able to get her bath, which was much needed. Honestly, she wouldn't mind getting some sleep, but that could wait if she got to spend some more time with this Doctor. But there was something that was bothering her, something that Missy had said. "What happened at The Gate, Doctor?" As she said it, he tensed up. "Missy said something about it, she knew that I hadn't been there yet. Why? What happened?"
Suddenly the doctor let go of her and started bouncing around the console again like the mad man that he is. "You know what happens. At least I hope you know what happens."
That wasn't the answer she wanted, nor was it good enough. "Yeah, he decided to give the whole of the human race his face, apart from a few who are protected, brings back Gallifrey, sends the Time Lords back into Hell. But what else?" Kari knew that she was missing something, some so big and so important.
He stopped in his tracks and turned to face her. "I can't. I'm sorry, Kari, I can't tell you anything. It hasn't happened for you yet, and if I tell you, things could change."
Kari wanted to argue with him, to push him, but she knew he was right. "I remember that night, when you regenerated. You said you didn't want to go." That heart breaking scene was etched into her mind, one that she would never forget. "Ood Sigma was singing you to sleep, and you went and visited everyone, looked back on all those who've travelled with you… us. Then you turned into my floppy haired madman." She said, chuckling a little. "From Doctor Sexy to floppy haired madman."
The Doctor just smiled at her, at what she was saying. "And what about me? What do you call me now?" Of course he wanted to know, she always came up with names for him, and he really didn't mind.
"Grey and Scottish. The one with the eyebrows." Kari told him, trying her best to keep a serious look on her face. "I mean, have you seen them? They should have their own designated planet! They have a life of their own, I swear."
Within seconds he was in front of the monitor, trying to check out his eyebrows. "Oh, come on. They're not that bad. Are they?" He wasn't sure if Kari was being serious or just trying to wind him up. "No, come on, there's nothing wrong with them!"
By now, Kari was trying her utmost best to hold in the giggles, but it just wasn't working and she had to let them out. Her burster of laughter caused the Doctor to look at her, and roll his eyes. "Oh, Doctor…" She breathed, trying to calm herself down. It wasn't working very well. "Oh, your face…"
There was only one thing that the Doctor could do to stop her and her giggles. He stepped over to her and reached a hand under her chin. "Do my eyebrows amuse you?" He asked, while Kari tried so hard to hold the giggles in. "Well?" Kari shook her head a little, watching as he raised an eyebrow at her. That was all she needed to let loose again. This time the Doctor knew exactly how to calm her down, and lightly pressed his lips against hers.
Kari's giggle stopped instantly and the TARDIS was silent, apart from the natural humming. It felt like hours had passed, but minutes later the pair separated. "So, want to go and find some trouble?" Kari asked, feeling very happy and rather excited.
"These eyebrows were made for trouble." The Doctor told her, before sending them hurtling through the time vortex. He had to admit, he was happy to see Kari in such a good mood, especially after what had happened. Although, he did wonder, would Kari have acted differently if she had been to The Gate? If she had already gone through all that, would things have turned out differently? He would never admit it to her, but he worried so much about the things that happened, and how they could change the woman that he loved.
A/N: I have really enjoyed writing these episodes and exploring the dynamic between Kari and Missy. It really has been great fun. I have started on the next episode and I'm pretty excited about that one too.
I just want to say a big thank you to everyone who has left a review, I do love reading your comments and I appreciate your feedback and view on my writing and this story. There have been many new followers since I last posted as well, so hello to you all and I hope you continue to enjoy this story.
Until the next time,
Pippa.