A/N: Hi everyone, I hope you are all doing well. I was meant to post this yesterday but I was just too exhausted to even get out of bed. I've managed to pull myself together a little more today and that is only because I had to take my father to the hospital. He is having surgery today. Anyway, I've been enjoying writing this little story line and I have finished it. However, there is more to come. I hope you enjoy it.
The Doctor had spent what felt like hours pacing the room but now he was sitting on the edge of the sofa, his eyes closed. He was desperately trying to find Kari, to reach her, to talk to her, but he just couldn't get to her. She was there, he knew she was, but she was just too far for him to get to. The moment he had seen those wisps of gold he knew what was going on, and he was now regretting sending Kari off even more.
He didn't bother to open his eyes when he heard footsteps coming into the room and approaching where he was sitting. "Word seems to have spread that you're with the Rebellion, Doctor." Elijah said, the Doctor finally opening his eyes and looking at the man. "There's someone who wants to talk to you." He held out a round communication device and waited for the Doctor to take it.
The Doctor let out a sigh as he reached for it. He was not in the mood for this, he needed to focus on finding Kari, not talking to strangers. "Hello?" There was very little enthusiasm in his voice as he spoke.
"Doctor…" A very familiar voice called to him with a sigh of relief.
Suddenly the Doctor's mood changed. He sat up straighter and began to pay more attention. "Kari… Kari, are you okay? Where are you? I am so sorry. I never should have sent you away like that. I'm so sorry." He rambled, glad to hear her voice, to know that she was out there somewhere, that she was safe.
Kari couldn't help but chuckle a little at hearing him. She was feeling just as relieved as he was. "I'm fine, better than you will be when I get my hands on you. What were you thinking? Why do you always do things like that? Why couldn't you have just talked to me, told me what was going on?" She asked, letting out her frustration. "We have talked about this before. Stop knocking me out like that and just talk to me."
"I know, I'm sorry. Kari, I am so sorry. You're right, we should have stayed in bed. We shouldn't have come here." The Doctor was filled with so much regret. He was putting all the blame on himself. "Where are you? Are you safe?"
He heard a sigh coming from the other end of the device. "Doctor, this is not your fault. We came here for a reason. And yes, I'm safe. Your little plan to get me away from Terra Earth failed though." She told him, causing him to frown. "The TARDIS sent me away, into a bloody forest! I'm still here."
The Doctor didn't know whether to be relieved that she was still on the planet or annoyed that she hadn't been taken somewhere safer. Either way, it didn't really matter, not anymore. "Just stay where you are, I'll come to you. I'll come and get you." He told her, standing up and mentally preparing himself to leave. "Just tell me where you are."
"Doctor, you can't go out there. Hasn't anybody told you about what is going on out there in the dark?" Kari asked him, wishing that she could just be there with him so that they could sort all this out together. He could have been on the other side of the planet for all she knew, but it was highly unlikely.
"Yes, yes, yes. They told me, I know what's out there. I've seen it. I know what it is." He told her, not sounding concerned at all by these Night Terrors.
Kari was a little stunned. "What… what do you mean? You can see them as well? Bruno can't see them. I asked him and he couldn't see anything. I can see them, these little golden wispy things." Honestly, she was glad that it wasn't just her that could see them, it meant that she wasn't going crazy. "I think those things are what cause the Terrors. There's something about them…"
Now it was the Doctor who let out a sigh. "Yes, I can see them as well. Kari, I know what they are. This is all my fault. There's a reason that we are the only ones that can see them, Kari."
"What are they, Doctor?" Now Kari was getting worried, very worried. The tone of the Doctor's voice was making things a hundred times worse. "You need to tell me what they are."
He paused his steps, hesitating. "Kari, I can't tell you what they are, but you have to trust me. Please, just trust me." It was breaking him inside to know what those things were, and it just made him blame himself for everything even more.
"I will always trust you, Doctor, but you have got to give me something. Whatever is going on has scared you." Kari said, knowing that there was so much more going on that he wasn't telling her. He had never sent her away like that before, he would have only done it if something was very wrong, if he was that scared about what was going to happen. "I know that you've been here before, with me. Your past here is my future, I get that, but Doctor, you need to give me something." She was desperate to know what was going on.
"Kari…" The Doctor really didn't know what to do. He couldn't tell her the truth about what was really going on there, he just couldn't. "This is all linked to what happened the last time we were here. Since that hasn't happened for you yet I can't tell you." He hoped that was enough for her, that she would leave it and focus on something else.
Unfortunately that was not going to happen. "You are hiding so much from me, but right now you need to tell me the truth, Doctor. Those wisps… they have something to do with me, don't they?" She had felt it from the moment she first saw them, and the way that the Doctor was acting was just making her more and more suspicious.
Another sigh escaped from the Doctor's lips. "Kari…"
"Don't, Doctor. Tell me the truth." She wasn't going to give up, she needed to know the truth.
The Doctor answered her with much reluctance. "Yes." It pained him to admit that, to tell his Kari that what was going had something to do with her. "But you have to understand…"
"How do I fix it?" Kari asked, cutting him off, not wanting to hear any of the excuses she knew he had lined up.
"It's not that simple." He told her, even though he wished it were. There was so much wrong with everything that was going on, he just didn't know how to explain it all to her without letting on too much about her future.
But Kari was not going to give up. "These things, they are all because of me. What is going on around here is because of me. People have died, Doctor, and it is because of me. I have to fix this." There was so much guilt flooding through her now and all she wanted to do was make things right again.
"Listen to me, you did not cause this. None of this is your fault. Yes, it is linked to you, but it is not because of you, Kari. You have to understand that." The Doctor said, trying to get through to her. "This is because of what happened before, because of what someone did the last time we were here. That person was not you, and this is not your fault, do you understand? This is not your fault."
While she wanted to believe him, she just couldn't. She had no idea what had happened and she knew that no one would tell her anything either. "Doctor, please…" Kari was on the brink of tears now.
The Doctor couldn't take it anymore and gave in, telling her only a few things that he probably shouldn't. "Those wisps, they are part of the time vortex. They broke away from you when something happened the last time we were here. Someone else was trying to harness the time vortex, to use it. It didn't end well. We stopped it." He told her, trying to gloss over as much of it as he could while still giving her enough so she would listen to him. "The only person to blame here is the one who was trying to harness the vortex in the first place, not you." He needed to make sure she understood that, that it was not her fault in any way.
Kari really didn't know what to say. If someone had been trying to harness the time vortex, did that mean they did something to her? Did they use the TARDIS? How did they do it? "So what do we do?" She ended up asking, trying her best not to think about what had caused all this, about what was going to happen in her future.
"I need the TARDIS and I need to come and get you. That is the first thing that needs to happen." The Doctor told her, knowing that the only way he was going to keep her safe was by keeping her with him. "Just stay with Bruno, and do not go outside, Kari. Promise me that for once you will listen to me and do what I say. Please." There was a hint of desperation in his voice.
"Okay." Kari said quietly, starting to understand just how serious all of this was. "I'll stay here and I won't go outside, I promise. But hurry up, Doctor, please." She hated it, but she would do as she was told for a change. She would wait with Bruno and Elsa until the Doctor could get to her. But she was still going to try and work out what she could do to help.
The Doctor let out a sigh of relief. He had been mentally preparing himself for a battle with Kari, to convince her that she needed to stay put. If he had told her the whole truth, told her everything that happened the last time they had been there… he couldn't even think about that. He didn't want to think about that. "Bruno will take care of you, Kari. I'll be there as soon as I can. We will get all of this sorted and then get as far away as possible."
He shouldn't have said those last few words as it sparked some more worry inside of Kari. "Doctor, you need to stop talking now." She warned him, holding back the million questions that she had. "Just go and get the TARDIS and then get me. Okay? Please." There was a hint of desperation in her voice and that was because of how worried and stressed she was now getting. Nothing was making sense to her and she hated it. The Doctor wasn't able to tell her anything and she hated it.
"I'll be there before you know it, okay?" At least he hoped he would.
There was silence for a moment before Kari finally spoke. "Okay. Just… don't do anything stupid. I know what you're like, Doctor." He couldn't help but chuckle a little at what she said. "I love you, Doctor."
The Doctor could feel both of his hearts breaking a little. "I love you, Kari. Do not go outside and listen to Bruno." He replied, before quickly ending the call. He had to, he needed to get on with getting back to the TARDIS. Also, he couldn't take the pain that he was feeling, knowing what was going to happen in Kar's future.
He just sat there, his eyes closed, thinking everything over. The Doctor needed to work out a plan and he needed to do it quickly. The longer they were there for, the more danger Kari was in. If Cora knew she was there, if Cora found her…
"Doctor?" A voice called, breaking him out of his thoughts. "Is everything okay?" Elijah asked, having caught only snippets of the conversation from outside of the room.
"It's Kari, she's here." The Doctor replied, trying to pull himself back together. He couldn't fall apart, not now, not when Kari needed him. "She's safe, but I need to get her. I need the TARDIS."
A small smile began to appear on Elijah's face. "Well, I may have some good news for you then." The man said, resulting in the Doctor frowning at him. "We've got a few insiders who are due to guard your box on the next shift. I think we can safely get you there and get you in."
At hearing that, the Doctor's eyes lit up. It was the hope that he needed. "I promise you, once I have Kari we will end this, all of this." There was so much determination in his voice. Too much damage had been done to this planet, to Kari, and he was going to put an end to it. He would help the Rebellion to bring down those in power, those who have caused all of that damage and pain. The Doctor would not go back on his word.
"Oh, I believe you, Doctor. There are some who know exactly what happened the last time you were here, who know what you and Kari went through." Elijah told him, a hint of darkness feeding into his eyes. "We know what the President did."
"Kari can never be told." The Doctor told him quickly. "It hasn't happened for her yet, it is still all in her future." And he hated that fact. The fact that she still had all that pain and horror to go through. He would do anything to stop it from happening, but he knew he couldn't. It had happened for him, it was a fixed point, it had to happen for her too.
Elijah understood and nodded at him. "We need to move. It's about a 2 hour drive to where your box is, the guards are due to change just after we arrive."
The Doctor knew that those 2 hours were going to feel like an eternity, but it was a small cost to pay to get back to Kari. He just hoped that along the way he would be able to reach her, to find her in his mind so that he knew she really was safe.
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
While the Doctor began his long journey, Kari sat there in silence with Bruno, Elsa having gone to her room some time ago. She had promised that Doctor that she would stay inside, that she wouldn't go out there but she wanted to. There was something calling her, telling her to go out there. She had to resist.
"He is safe, Kari." Bruno said, interrupting her thoughts. "The Rebellion will get him here safely." Clearly he thought that she was worrying about the Doctor, but there was so much more going on inside of her head.
"I know. I'm just worried about the trouble he is going to get into on the way here." She said, letting out a sigh. "I just wish that there was something I could do. I feel useless." And she really did.
Kari knew that she had grown in her time with the Doctor, she had changed so much. Everything she had seen, all that she had been through, she wasn't as scared anymore. She didn't cry so much, she didn't pout, she didn't make situations even more difficult by being, well, difficult. She wouldn't argue with the Doctor so much, she accepted that he lied to her, kept things from her. She felt like she had become a better person, and it made it all the more harder for her to just sit there and do nothing.
Bruno could see that she was feeling restless. "I understand, Kari. The Doctor told you not to go outside, to stay here. However, maybe we could still try to work out what it is that you can see out there." Kari looked at him sharply. "You are just as clever as he is. You've seen them, you see them when no one else can."
"The Doctor said we are the only ones who can see it. That it's because of what happened last time." She told him, thinking back to the conversation she had with the Doctor. "He said that they are part of the time vortex, they're linked to me. All because of what happened the last time we were here." If Kari had been looking at Bruno, she would have seen the sad look that was on his face. "But I don't know what happened last time, because that hasn't happened for me yet."
"So tell me about the time vortex." Bruno asked, trying to distract her and help her to piece everything together. "What is it? How does it work?"
Kari looked at him curiously. "It's linked to me, a part of me. It shouldn't be possible, but it is. It's a dimensional plane that functionally forms the path between different points in time and space." She explained, trying to get her brain to focus. "But I'm linked to it, bursting with the energy from it. The Doctor needs the TARDIS to travel through time and space, I don't."
"What else?" Bruno asked, listening carefully to everything that she said.
"Um, I can… well I can use it to do other things as well." Kari mumbled, not sure she should really be saying any of this. "I've… I've got this name. Something that people call me. I still don't really understand why, there is still so much that I am missing. But there have been times when people have called me Angel, or the Angel of Time. I've used the power of the time vortex to turn Weeping Angels into nothing but dust, to heal those on the brink of death, to save so many people and power up ships." She explained, thinking back to some of the times she had used it. "Every time I use it to do something like that, it hurts and drains me. One time I… I almost…"
Bruno could tell from the look on her face what it was she was trying to say. "You almost died. You pushed it too far, tried to do too much." Kari nodded at him. "So why do you do it? If it hurts and could kill you, why do you keep doing it?" He asked, having a feeling he already knew what her answer was going to be.
Kari gazed at him, her eyes locking with his. "Because I can help people. Why would I just stand there and watch people suffer when I knew that there was something I could do to help? To make things better?" It wasn't just about saving herself, she would have used the time vortex to save River, she had been planning on doing that, even if it killed her instead. She may have survived it, but she hadn't been given the chance to find out.
"You wouldn't, because that isn't who you are. You want to help people, just like the Doctor does." Bruno told her, making sure to keep Kari's gaze. "The Doctor brings hope wherever he goes for those who need it. For those who need help he will be there, and so will you."
"You know, don't you?" Kari said quietly, trying her best to read his face. "You know what happened last time, what happened to me." She knew that he had met her and the Doctor before, he had said as much. He also knew about what had happened, how they had helped, but she had a feeling he knew a lot more than that.
As much as he wanted to tear his eyes away now, to break the firm look that she was giving him, Bruno didn't. "Yes, I do."
"You were there."
Bruno didn't like where this was going, but there was no stopping the conversation now. "Yes."
"Then answer me this," Kari said firmly, wanting some answers, "what did I do wrong?" There was so much going through her mind so many thoughts and feelings that she just couldn't get straight.
What she had asked was not what Bruno had been expecting. "What?" He replied, a frown on his face.
Kari didn't break the gaze, she needed to know. "What did I do wrong for this to have happened? The Doctor told me that parts of the time vortex broke away from me, so what did I do wrong?"
It finally dawned on him what she was asking. "No, oh no, It wasn't anything that you did. It was her, it was what she was doing, not you. Kari, you did nothing wrong at all. You were trying to stop it, to hold it back. Believe me, you did nothing wrong." He told her in assurance, not realising what he had actually told her.
The seconds passed and eventually Kari pulled her eyes away from his. She knew that he was telling the truth, she could see it written over his face. Kari got herself up from where she had been sitting and went over to the window once more, pulling back the curtains and looking into the darkness. It was so much darker now and the golden wisps were much more visible. She could see them swirling around, floating in the sky. While they looked beautiful, she knew that there was something more to them.
Without even thinking about it, she put her hand on the glass as she continued to gaze out. The wisps seemed to freeze the moment she did, like someone had paused them. "I just want to help." She whispered while she looked at them. "I don't want people to keep getting hurt. I want to fix what has happened." As she said that, she watched them all as they seemed to slowly start moving again, but this time they were all moving in the same direction. They were moving towards her.
Kari didn't know what to do, if she should stand there and see what happens next, or if she should rush away in terror. Her curiosity won in the end and she stayed standing at the window, her hand pressed up against it as they came closer. "What do I do?" She whispered, "How do I fix this?" That was all she wanted to do, fix things and make it all better.
Bruno had heard her whispering and was now standing behind her a little, watching what she was doing and glancing outside. He was still unable to see anything but darkness. Then he noticed it, the golden glow around Kari's hand that was pressed against the window. "Kari, what are you doing?" He asked in concern.
She hadn't even noticed what was going on and turned to look at him, frowning. He nodded towards her hand. "Oh…" Kari said, now seeing the glow for herself. "Uh, okay…" Then her eyes were drawn back to the outside once more and she noticed that the golden wisps were now right on the other side, just out of reach of her hand. "I call you, you come to me. But how much of you is out there?"
Now Bruno was filled with concern and he pulled Kari away from the window, her hand leaving the glass. As it did, the golden glow faded. "Kari, what did you do?" He asked, trying not to show her how concerned he really was.
"I… I didn't…" Even Kari wasn't sure how to explain it. "I just…" She turned back to the window and noticed that the wisps were still out there, but higher up in the sky now. Before they had been low down, but now, they were going higher and higher into the sky. "I don't know."
There was a look of such confusion on her face and it was clear that she had no idea what had happened and couldn't explain it. "I think you best stay away from the window." Bruno said, taking her by the hand and leading her back over to the sofa. "Can I get you anything?" He asked, trying to distract both himself and her from what had just happened.
"Uh, no. No, I'm fine. Thanks." Kari said in a bit of a daze. She was questioning what she had seen, if it had been real. Had those wisps really been heading for her? Had they really come to her when she had called them? Now she had even more questions. "I wish the Doctor would hurry up." Kati told him, taking his screwdriver out of her pocket and holding onto it tightly. It was some comfort for her to have it there, to hold it tightly in her hands.
Bruno wished there was something helpful he could say, but he had no idea how long it was going to take the Doctor to get there. All he knew was that he was with the Rebellion and that they were going to get him to the TARDIS. In the meantime, the only help he could give was to keep an eye on Kari and to make sure that she was safe.
/\/\/\/\/\/\
The Doctor was getting more and more anxious. They had been on the road for what seemed like forever now and all he wanted to do was be with Kari. He could still feel her there, in his mind, and he could still see that thread. At one point it had begun to shine brightly, but soon faded back to its normal glow. It worried him, it made the Doctor think that something had happened to her, something bad.
Elijah had been watching him the whole ride, wondering what he was thinking. He had seen the expression on the Doctor's face change several times and although he wanted to ask him what he was thinking, he kept quiet. "We should be there soon, Doctor." He ended up saying, hoping that it would give him some sense of relief. "Do you have a plan?"
The Doctor opened his eyes and looked at him. "As soon as I'm in the TARDIS I'll go straight to Kari. Once she is with me in the TARDIS we can deal with these 'Night Terrors' which aren't terrors at all." He said, his main focus on getting his Kari back.
"What are they then?" Elijah asked, taking the Doctor by surprise. "These Night Terrors. I heard you earlier, I wasn't listening in, honest, but I heard you talk about them. You know what they really are."
"What they are doesn't matter. What does matter is that I can fix it. I can stop what is happening and fix it." The Doctor told him, not willing to go into details. "As soon as I have Kari we can fix everything and then leave. I'll help you stop Cora, but then we are leaving and never coming back." It was clear that the Doctor meant every word of that. He never wanted to set foot on Terra Earth again after this.
Elijah nodded at him in understanding. "Of course. I don't blame you. All the Rebellion wants is some say and control over our lives. The people have to live by whatever the leaders of this world say, we have no chance of a happy life with them in charge." You could hear the sadness in his voice as he spoke. "We want someone who is going to care about us, not themselves. All that woman has ever wanted was to be better than everyone else. She craves power and glory. She doesn't care about the people of this planet at all, no matter what she says."
"And it was her greed for power and glory that caused the problems in the first place. Cora wanted too much, and it backfired on her." The Doctor replied, trying not to think too much about the past. "We will help you. We will stop her."
There was an understanding between them both as they fell into silence once more. The Doctor went back to focusing on Kari, on making sure she was safe and seeing if he could reach her. He still couldn't. It was like there was something blocking his path, some kind of interference. Once he was in the TARDIS he hoped that it would be easier, that he would have a clear path to her. Right now, all he really could do was hope.
A/N: I do hope that you all enjoyed this chapter and have been enjoying this story still. As I've mentioned, I've got several chapters already written ip and ready to go, I just need to remember to post them!
A big thank you to all who have favourited/followed. Also, I am grateful for all your reviews, both the positive and those with criticism. I appreciate either and am glad that even after all these years and the lack of regular updating people are still reading and enjoying.
Take care of yourself, until the next time!
Pippa.