A/N: Hey sorry for the wait for this chapter. I've been busy with work and other things in my life. However, here is the next chapter, I hope you enjoy it.
The group were heading away from Yaz's flat, walking across a bridge. "The place where Anna worked with me, it's just over the way." Jade told them as they walked. "I'm a research fellow in zoology, specialising in arachnids and arthropods. But spiders are our main focus, and we're seeing something very wrong in their behaviour right now." The Doctor and Kari were both listening to her, while Ryan and Graham were behind them, having their own conversation, just general chit chat.
"Had to be spiders, didn't it?" Kari ended up moaning, resulting in the Doctor wrapping her arm through hers. "Why did it have to be spiders?" After everything she had seen, all the terrifying monsters and creatures, spiders still gave her the shivers.
The Doctor could tell that Kari was not in a great place, that she was not just a little freaked out, but worried as well. "Nothing wrong with spiders." She said, hoping to calm her down a little. "All the ones I've met have been pretty friendly. They only get aggressive when they're scared."
While Kari knew that she was trying to make things better, she really wasn't. "Yeah, not helping, Doctor. Sorry. I just… I don't particularly like spiders. I think it's the way they move, and their legs." She let out an involuntary shiver. Even just thinking about it was giving her chills.
It didn't take them very long to make it to the place where Jade worked with Anna. "We reckon there could be around 21 quadrillion spiders on the planet in total." Jade said, while the Doctor began looking at all the specimens and information that was around the room.
"So what sort of research are you doing in here?" The Doctor asked her, while Kari tried her best to act as normal as she could. She knew that she had to just deal with it, to get over this little fear of spiders that she had.
The woman they had just met was more than happy to explain her work to the group. "We're interested in utilising the genetic strengths of arachnids. Ordinary spider silk is as strong as steel or as tough as Kevlar."
Kari let out a small shiver, while Graham made a comment that she completely agreed with. "That still don't make me like them."
The Doctor had noticed Kari's reaction, and she wished that she could make it better and stop her from feeling so worried and afraid. "Ooo, fun fact, if you weave dragline spider silk as thick as a pencil, it's strong enough to stop a plane in flight." She said, looking at some more of the specimens that were in the tanks around the room.
The look on Ryan's face said that he was a little impressed, but Graham's response expressed it even more. "You're kidding." Clearly he was not just impressed but also pretty surprised.
"I'm not. I've had to deal with it. Well, us and Amelia Earhart." The Doctor said, not realising what she was saying and the look that Kari was giving her. "You'd like her, she's a right laugh. So, what else are you doing in here?"
Kari just couldn't help herself. "Spoilers!" She sang, looking over at the Doctor with a smile on her face. She was trying to look anywhere apart from the spiders. "All these centuries and you still can't help yourself, Doctor." The look on her face told the Doctor that she was only teasing her.
Jade and the others were just confused. They had no idea how old the Doctor was, or Kari. They didn't know how long they had been travelling together for. "I've been working on an enzyme to increase the lifespan. Spiders can keep growing for as long as they live." Jade ended up saying, knowing that she needed to tell them everything that she could.
"That spider in Anna's flat was way bigger than a normal household spider." Ryan said, knowing that it had to have something to do with it.
The Doctor felt someone stand beside her, and saw the worried look on Kari's face. "Everything that is done here is secure, right?" She asked, looking over at Jade, who nodded at her. "And all your waste is discarded through a specialist company. Correct?" Once again the woman nodded at her. "And there is no way that Anna would have taken anything"
"No, she's not that kind of person." Jade quickly said, jumping to her friend's defence.
Kari nodded at her. "What is it you wanted to show us?"
The worried look on Jade's face faded a little, as she began moving from the desk she had been standing at and over to a large whiteboard. Reports of unusual spider activity in Sheffield over the last three months, from the police, pest controllers, and to us here." She said, flipping it over to the other side, showing the group the map with pins all over it. All the different sightings. All places where something unusual has happened involving the spiders. "Rare sightings, an increase in numbers, spiders you don't normally see at this time of year."
The Doctor and Kari both looked at it. "Something's wrong with the spider ecosystem in South Yorkshire." The pair of women said at the same time. Everyone else in the room just looked at them strangely, while the Doctor and Kari couldn't help but grin at each other.
"Exactly. But we don't know what. They have nothing in common. Different species, different quantities. Some are large massings, some have been a profusion of web-building. I can't work out if they're confused, or angry… or scared."
Kari picked up the whiteboard pen that was sitting in the tray and passed it to the Doctor. "Or trying to send a message." She said, as the Doctor began drawing on the map.
"What are you doing?" Jade asked, watching the Doctor closely.
"Well, my Doctor is very clever, she always has been. Now that brain of her's can see things that others can't." Kari explained, as the Doctor drew more lines on the map. "And right now, she can see a spider's web."
When she had finished, there was one area, right at the centre of the web. "Where's that?" The Doctor asked, pointing to that big gap in the middle.
A sigh escaped Kari's lips. "The hotel that Yaz's mum works at. Where Yaz and her mum currently are. Come on, we need to get a shift on." She knew where they needed to be and why they needed to be there, and she really wasn't looking forward to it.
The Doctor looked at her, still a hint of concern in her eyes. "Still all knowing?" She asked, resulting in a slight nod from Kari. "You're worried, why are you so worried?"
"Because spiders are not my favourite things to deal with." Kari admitted. "I'd much rather face a fleet of Daleks, thank you very much." It was terrible how true that was. She didn't always have a fear of spiders, at least not that she could remember. Then again, there was a lot from her time before she met the Doctor that she couldn't remember. She couldn't remember when her birthday was, and now she didn't even know what her dad's name was.
They made it to the hotel where Yaz's mum worked. It was rather big and pretty impressive from the outside. "You better give Yaz a call." Kari said, handing the Doctor her phone. She always made sure her phone was with her now, always.
The Doctor took the phone and used her sonic on it. She didn't have Yaz's number, and she hoped that her screwdriver would give her a little help. "Hello?" A voice called after a few rings. It was not the voice of Yaz.
"Oh, hi. It's the Doctor. Is Yaz there?" She asked, knowing that she had to be there, that she had to have been connected to someone who was with her friend.
The woman on the other end seemed a little confused. "Yeah."
The Doctor waited, and then heard a familiar voice. "Hi, Doctor. You're never going to believe it." Yaz said, having taken the phone from her mother.
"Are you at the hotel where your mum works?" The Doctor asked her, looking through the huge glass doors that they were standing outside of. "Can you let us in?"
They stood outside for a few minutes, waiting for Yaz and her mother to come and open the doors, letting them into the building. "They are only spiders. They are only spiders." Kari told herself, trying to keep herself calm, to not panic. She knew what was going to happen, what they were going to find, but she was still very nervous.
It didn't take long for two women to come to the main doors of the grand building they were standing in front of. The moment they were let in the Doctor was reaching out and hugging the older woman who was with Yaz. "Hi, Yaz's mum." It was easy to see that she was excited to meet the woman, and Kari understood why.
"Najia." The woman said after the Doctor quickly hugged her, letting her know what her name actually was, before turning her head to her daughter. "Yaz, they can't be here."
The Doctor paid no attention to the fact that they shouldn't be there. "Najia, you made a very awesome human." She said, getting on to the reason why they were there. "Tell me what's going on."
Before Najia could answer here they all heard some very loud bangs, followed by some screams. "Was that gunshots?" Ryan asked, starting to feel himself freak out a little.
Kari knew what was coming, and in all honesty she just wanted to get it over with. "Yes it was, now come on." She said, before grabbing a hold of the Doctor's hand and running through the building with her. She knew exactly where they needed to go.
By the time they made it up to the corridor where the commotion had come from they caught a man in a suit rushing out of a room, his face just full of blind fear and panic. Both Graham and Ryan were stunned by the person they were seeing. "You are joking." Graham said in awe, looking at the man.
Ryan just echoed what Graham was saying. "No way."
But Kari noticed that Jade was completely different. She wasn't excited or surprised. If anything, she was disappointed and unhappy at who they were encountering. "Oh, no."
The Doctor was paying no attention to them as she whipped out her psychic paper and flashed it at the man in a hurry. "Crisis investigators. You just ran really quickly out of a room looking really scared. Tell me exactly what's going on, omitting no detail, no matter how strange." She said, not giving the man a chance to really register what all those people were doing there before him.
"A giant spider just smashed through my bathtub and took out my bodyguard, Kevin." The man told her, the shock still clear on his face.
"Right. Very succinct summary. Well done." The Doctor was surprised by the fact that he really had followed her instructions and not asked any questions, like she was used to people doing. "You just wait here with my... people. A spider smashed through a bath. Right." She added, before grabbing Kari's hand and dragging her into the room that the man had just come running out from, Yaz followed behind them.
When they entered they noticed that everything in the room was clean and tidy. It made the Doctor wonder what they would actually find in the bathroom. "So, what are you thinking then?" She asked Kari, knowing that she was still pretty uncomfortable with the whole situation.
"I am thinking that I really do not like spiders and would really like to get out of here soon." Kari muttered as the Doctor carefully opened the door to the bathroom. "Really do not like spiders."
The Doctor gave her a worried look, before turning her attention to the broken bath and destroyed bathroom. "The room next door is covered in cobwebs, top to bottom." Yaz told the pair, knowing herself that something very wrong was going on at that new hotel.
"Yeah, just like your neighbour's house." Kari told her, before getting a confused look from Yaz. "There is a really, really big spider problem in this city right now, Yaz." She added, hoping that it would explain at least some of what was happening around them.
The Doctor couldn't help but smile a little at how Kari was dealing with everything, even though she was not in the best of moods. "Glad to be home?" She asked, looking over at Yaz, before reaching into the inside pocket of her jacket and grabbing her sonic screwdriver out. With it in her hand and Kari beside her, she pushed it on, a quiet buzzing sound coming from it as she scanned the bath.
She then looked at Kari, with her eyes widened. She already knew what the Doctor had found and gave the woman beside her a nod as she put her fingers to her lips, signalling for all to be silent. "Be careful." Kari called to the Doctor, still very much worried about what was going on, even though she knew exactly what would happen.
"I will, I promise." The Doctor replied, knowing that Kari was worrying about her, before leaning over into the shattered bath and slowly lowering herself down into the massive hole to see what lay beneath. "Hi." The Doctor said, while Kari closed her eyes and imagined the size of the spider that she was seeing down there. "Looking for a Kevin." The Doctor wasted no more time and quickly pulled herself out of the hole, Kari grabbing her and helping to pull her up.
"Did you see it?" Yaz asked, while the Doctor quickly grabbed her arm lightly.
Kari was holding onto her other arm, dragging the Doctor out of the room. "Oh she saw it, she saw it really close." Kari told her, doing her best not to freak out. "Now come on."
The three of them rushed out of the hotel room and back into the corridor where everyone was waiting for them. The first person to speak was the man that they had met in that corridor. "Did you see it? Did you find him? Where's Kevin?" He asked all in one breath.
But the Doctor had bigger worries than answering his questions. "We need to move out of this area, quick. It's too dark, too deserted. Spiders love that. We need to go somewhere bright and busy."
"No, no, no, no, no. We need to get as far away from that thing as possible." The man told them, trying to take charge of the situation. Ryan seemed to agree with him.
That was when Najia spoke up. "I know the way out."
The Doctor seemed to approve of that and latched onto Kari's hand a little tighter. "Everyone, follow Yaz's mum." She said, before they all turned and began running away from the door which separated them and a massive spider.
"It's Najia." Yaz's mum replied, again, wishing someone would actually remember and call her by her name.
They all rushed down the non moving escalators and down into the darkened loddy of the hotel. Kari felt her stomach turn when she saw what waited for them down there. "Oh, this is not good. This is very, very not good." She muttered as they all rushed towards the main entrance.
It was now covered with a thick layer of white, sticky webbing. "We just came in that way." Yaz said in bemusement. "How have they done so many webs so fast?"
"Never mind that, let's just get through them." Graham said while the Doctor was scanning the webs.
The man in the suit, however, was full of denial and just couldn't believe what they were all seeing. "No, this can't be happening. This is a protest. One of those eco-protests, huh? This isn't spiders. Spiders can't do that." He was so certain of it, so sure that this was all a plot against him, he just couldn't see the truth.
"These spiders can." Kari said, seeing the frown forming on the Doctor's face. "Those aren't normal cobwebs. They know we're here and they're trying to seal us in." She really didn't like the prospect of becoming spider food.
At least there was someone else out there who seemed to understand what was going on, Jade believed Kari and the Doctor. "They're trying to make the whole hotel their web."
All Kari could do was nod grimly at her while the Doctor answered. "And we're the flies. We're not leaving. We have to find out why they're here and stop them getting any further. We need to find a safe haven. Yaz's mum?" She still hadn't remembered the woman's name.
"Kitchen?" Najia suggested, herself having now given up on keep trying to tell them what her name was. If she was going to be called 'Yaz's mum' all day then so be it.
"Lead the way, Najia." Kari ended up saying, surprising the woman by using her actual name. Unlike the Doctor, she knew that the woman was getting a little fed up.
It didn't take long for them all to make it to the hotel kitchen, and they were all rather relieved to see that it was nice and bright, and not covered in webs. "Ah, good. This'll do. Okay, thinking. Need to be quick, spiders are moving fast. Why is this hotel the epicentre of spider activity?"
No one was able to say anything as the man who still hadn't introduced himself decided he needed to speak. "Wait! Nobody talk until you tell me what you're all doing here. Spiders. Plural?"
"Very plural." The Doctor answered, looking at the man. "Sorry, I don't know who you are." Kari had to stifle a giggle at this point, her Doctor was always so clueless at times, and she really did love it. It just reminded her of the time they met Agatha Christie and the Doctor had no idea whatsoever that she was standing there before them.
The man seemed to let out a chuckle of disbelief. "Oh, really? Cos you must be the only person on the planet that doesn't."
"Are you Ed Sheeran?" The Doctor asked him, before turning to face Kari. "Is he Ed Sheeran? Everyone talks about Ed Sheeran round about now, don't they?"
"I am not Ed Sheeran." He replied, sounding rather annoyed now. Clearly he didn't like the fact that there was someone out there who had no idea who he was. "I am Jack Robertson and this is my hotel. Just one hotel in an incredibly successful chain of hotels, which is just one small part of my business portfolio, as featured in Fortune Global 500. Does that ring a bell?"
Once again, the Doctor was oblivious to what that actually meant and looked to Kari for help. "Should I look impressed right now? Is that impressive?"
Kari shook her head at the Doctor. "No, dear. No need to even pretend to be impressed."
"He's running for President in 2020." Graham decided to say, hoping that it was going to be helpful.
Instead, it only confused the Doctor even more. "Ed Sheeran?"
"No! Him. Robertson. Aren't you?"
Robertson seemed a little unsettled and not in the mood to discuss himself, which Kari was surprised about. "I haven't declared my intentions yet. But, look, we're talking about spiders!"
Graham couldn't help but roll his eyes. "See? Typical politician. Avoiding the question."
"I am not a politician. I'm a businessman and I know how to run things." Robertson told them all, trying to defend himself.
Kari was getting a little fed up with it all, she wanted to get everything else with so that they could get the hell out of there. "Okay, listen, really don't care if you are running for President, even if it is just because you don't like Trump." Robertson went to open his mouth, but Kari quickly put her hand up. "No. Don't want to hear it. We need to figure this out, the spider issue. So unless you have anything helpful to say, please, just shut up."
"Short fuse?" The Doctor called to her, sensing that Kari wasn't really feeling in such a great mood.
Kari looked at the Doctor beside her. "Spiders, Doctor. Give me a fleet of Daleks anyday, but not spiders." She said, giving an involuntary shiver. "Once these lot have finished coming up with conspiracy theories, what should we do?" She knew what was going on around them, how they were all coming up with ideas for who was behind this, including it being Russians to kill Robertson.
"I never realised you were so scared of spiders before." The Doctor said, a slight frown on her face.
Kari simply shrugged a little. "We don't have spiders in the TARDIS so it's never really been a problem before." And it really hadn't. She couldn't think of any adventures that she had been on with the Doctor so far that involved spiders.
They were pulled from their private conversation when they heard Yaz, Ryan and Graham all shout. "Says us!"
Najia just looked at them in confusion. "How do you all know each other?"
"Mum, can you shut up a second?" Yaz asked, trying not to be rude to her mum, but also knowing that they needed to focus.
The Doctor finally pulled herself together and knew that she was about to upset Kari. "Right, we need two things. Plans of the hotel and a captive spider." She turned to look at the woman standing beside her. "Sorry." She muttered, knowing Kari was not going to be happy with it.
It seemed that Kari was not the only one who wasn't pleased with the Doctor's plan. "I'm not getting near the spider."
"Ryan, Graham, you fancy going spider hunting?" Kari said, hoping with all she had that they would say yes and that she wouldn't have to go. She could tell by the look on their faces that they weren't happy about it, but there were no protests at least. "Cheers guys, really appreciate it."
Soon enough, Ryan and Graham were out there, trying to catch one of the spiders, while everyone else was now in Robertson's office, looking at the plans for the hotel. "Now, hotel plans. Let's see." The Doctor said, going through the files and finding the one she wanted, pulling it out and laying it flat on the desk to look at.
Robertson looked over her shoulder at the plan, a frown on his face. "That can't be accurate. It doesn't even have my panic room marked on it."
The Doctor ignored him and looked towards Yaz's mum instead. "Any issues with spiders before today, Najia, here or at home?"
"My home?" The woman asked her in confusion.
Kari let out a sigh, she knew where this was all going, and she knew the truth about what was really going on. "One of your neighbours had a spider problem. The Doctor thinks the link between both places is you."
"I knew it. And I'm going to litigate you until your last breath, Nadia." Robertson suddenly announced, his voice full of anger and venom.
"It's Najia. And I've done nothing." The poor woman was back to having people not calling her by the correct name, and it was getting tiresome. All Najia really wanted to do was go home and have a nice cup of tea while trying to forget about everything that had happened, such as losing her job before the hotel had even opened.
The Doctor looked at her. "Are you sure?" She wasn't convinced, and the Doctor knew that there was no way Kari was going to tell her anything.
"Sorry, but who are you?" Najia asked, looking at the Doctor. "How'd you know my daughter? Why have I never met you before?"
Yaz rolled her eyes at her mum. "Oh, not now."
However, Najia was not going to give up. "Yes, now. It's not a difficult question." She pressed, wanting to get some answers from her daughter.
"Yaz and I know each other from work. The Doctor is my fiancée. Yaz and I have been working on a case together and the Doctor is here to help. She's brilliant like that." Kari told Najia, having very quickly come up with something to say. She really didn't feel like listening to a back and forth conversation that was going to get them absolutely nowhere. "Now, I've got a question for you, Mr Robertson. How long did it take for you to build this hotel?" She asked, even though she already knew the answer. She needed to get things back on track now.
There was a look of surprise on his face, clearly he hadn't expected Kari to speak to him, or any of the group, like that. Not when everyone acted like the Doctor was in charge. "Five years. We have fifteen of these hotels throughout the world now. Repurposing former industrial sites into luxury leisure venues."
"Repurposing? What was the site before?" There was a hint of concern on the Doctor's face, as well as curiosity.
Robertson, however, just had a rather blank look on his face. "I don't have... clarity on that." It was clear to see that he had absolutely no idea what the land had been before he started building on it.
But they were in luck, there was someone else who did know everything about it. "I do." Najia announced, taking everyone but Kari by surprise. "Coal mines. This was mining land." She was going to be the manager of that place, she wanted to know everything about it, and the land that it had been built on.
"Doctor, we need to see what's down there." Kari said quietly, knowing what they were going to find.
The Doctor was in front of her in a heartbeat. "Why? What's down there?" Even she knew that something wasn't right, but now it had just been made a thousand times worse by Kari telling her she needed to see the coal mine.
"It's not good, I can tell you that much." Kari told her, before closing her eyes and letting out a sigh. "This isn't an invasion or a take over. This was caused by some idiot who was taking shortcuts."
Now the Doctor was frowning at her. "What do you mean?
Kari shook her head at her. "It doesn't matter. You'll understand when you see." She told the Doctor, before looking over at Yaz's mum. "Najia, you know this place inside out, can you take us down to the coal mine?" She asked, already knowing that she would be able to.
"Yeah, of course." Najia said, picking up the plan and taking a quick look at it. They all headed out of the office and started wandering through the building. The Doctor couldn't help but give Kari worried glances as she held her hand tightly. "We've just passed the entrance to the back of the spa. We should be here now." Najia called, breaking the silence.
"You're not going down there. It's too dangerous." Robertson called from behind them. He wasn't walking with the group, he was hanging behind a little, reluctant to go where they were going.
All the Doctor could do was scoff at his remark. "I eat danger for breakfast. I don't, I prefer cereal. Or croissants. Or those little fried Portuguese…"
Kari coughed a little. "Rambling…" She whispered, knowing that the Doctor was getting off track.
The Doctor smiled at her. "Never mind, it's not important." She said, just as they began to approach some rather large doors.
"Ha! See?" Robertson called, rushing past them all and towards the door. "Look at this. Keep out. Danger of death. You are not authorised to go in here." He said, pointing to all of the signs and notices on the door telling people to keep out.
Kari rolled her eyes, knowing that it would never stop the Doctor. "Dude, I've all the authorisation I ever need." The Doctor said, whipping out her screwdriver and using it on the keypad. The keypad sparked and they all heard the door unlocking. She turned and looked at Kari with a grin on her face. "I call people dude now."
Before they had taken a step inside, Jade had caught up to them. "Doctor, I need to speak to you."
"We need to do it as we walk." The Doctor told her, taking a tight hold of Kari's hand again as they both stood in front of the heavy doors. "There's something behind this door people want to keep locked away." She said, before her and Kari slipped inside.
Robertson was clearly not impressed. He had lost all control of the situation and he really didn't like it. "Oh, sure, it's a party. Everybody can come."
"Thanks." Jade said, as he held the door open for her. "Doctor, I've seen these spiders before."
Najia was just about to walk in behind her daughter, but Robertson put an arm out to stop her. "But you."
A smile formed on the woman's face. "You're not the boss of me any more." She informed him, before ducking under his arm and going to join the rest. He had made it quite clear that she no longer worked for him and he was not about to tell her what she could and couldn't do now.
A/N: Again, I apologise for the wait. I was meant to post this the other weekend but I had a sickness bug and now I have confirmed Covid. Unfortunately, working in a school means that there is a real risk and I have picked it up from one of the kids. It was a good job I went and got a test as my dad was meant to be staying with me before his operation! I had no symptoms and the lateral tests were all negative up until yesterday. Kind of made things difficult, but so far I am doing okay with it (I'm also glad I'm double jabbed).
Moving on! I really hope you enjoyed that chapter. I have got the next part written and read, I just need to remember to post it. A massive thank you to all those who have left a review, it really is nice to know how much people still enjoy this. I can't believe how long it's been going on for to be honest.
I won't keep chattering on. So until the next time,
Pippa.