Kayla smiled at the Doctor. She had no idea why he had insisted that they go to her room to talk, yet here they were, in her room, sitting on chairs facing each other.

"I have something to tell you." He repeated softly, seeming awkward and unsure, something unlike him. Kayla nodded, giving him a sign to continue. Instead, though the brunet thought that she had to be going crazy, she heard him say in her head, 'We have a mental link.'

Kayla blinked, "What?" She tapped her head, "Did you just…" the Doctor nodded, "In my head?" Once again, the Doctor nodded, "But that's not possible!" the brunet protested.

This time, the Doctor shook his head, "Yes it is. Humans are largely mental, and that just strengths throughout the generations. Plus Time Lords are very telepathic. Due to our…romantic…relationship and how much physical contact we have together, we have a bond."

"Don't worry." He rushed to add, "You have strong mental walls, mostly because your brain isn't exactly made for a mental link, but I haven't looked or anything." The Doctor promised with a small smile, a careful look in his eyes as he studied her reaction.

Kayla…was in shock, and reasonably so. In a matter of minutes, she had found out that the Doctor and she had a mental link. In the 52nd Century, those were beyond rare, they were near impossible. Then again, so were Type 40 TARDISes and Time Lords. Sadly, the Doctor wasn't done.

'And there's-' He started in her head, "Sorry," he spoke out loud this time, "I just haven't done it in so long, it feels so…good." With a small shake of his head, the Time Lord continued, "On Gallifrey, Time Lord's had three options once they graduated and received their title. They could have a Chosen marriage, where usually their families picked out someone for them. That was the most common. It was easy to make good connections with others families if you had a…less than high ranking."

"Another one, which was done if the Time Lord or Lady did not like the person their families had chosen for them was simply not getting married. Your rankings fell but it was better than a loveless marriage, and since there was no such thing as divorce on Gallifrey…" The Doctor's voice faded away as if he was thinking of something unpleasant, "The last, and rarest, was getting Bonded. It's basically true love. You get Bonded and one of the steps is married.

Kayla titled her head, "Bonded?" She asked, rolling the word off her tongue like it was an interesting food.

The Doctor nodded, "Bonded." He agreed, "And Kayla, that's what we are." The Time Lord watched and waited for Kayla to react, and she did not disappoint.

First, she became pale, horribly so. Next, she glared at the Doctor. And last, she whimpered out, "You're saying that we're going to get married, that we're going to get Bonded, but I have no idea what the hell being Bonded means." Kayla pointed out, her voice shaking ever so slightly.

"It's a process." The Doctor started, pausing to think before he finished, "You kissed." Kayla glanced at his hands to see that he was counting down on them, "You get a mental connection." He continued, "You get married. And you…well…do it." Kayla and the Doctor both blushed, knowing full well what it was.

"So you think we're bonded." The ex-Time Agent stated.

The Doctor nodded, "Kayla, I have never loved anyone like I have loved you. You're my life, and I promised your father I would protect you." The Doctor moved towards her and pulled her up by her hands, and Kayla didn't resist, "I love you, and I will always love you." He wrapped his arms around her, "And I will never stop loving you." With that promise hanging in the air, he kissed Kayla deeply.

If it hadn't been for the traditions grilled into the Doctor's head, than he would have married and done it with Kayla right then and there, but he hadn't. Instead, the Time Lord and ex-Time Agent spoke about the subject that the two had naturally avoided: Kayla's father.

"Where is he?" Kayla asked. They were sitting in a small room the Doctor had said was his 9th's self favorite place to hide. It was his office.

The Doctor, more interested in Kayla's hand, which he was tracing patterns on, took a while before asking, "Who?"

Kayla gave him a sharp look, "You know who I'm talking about." She pointed out with a glare.

The Doctor nearly pouted, "Jack." He stated, and Kayla nodded, "Fine. I have no idea."

"Really?" Kayla huffed, aiming a disbelieving glare at the Time Lord.

The Doctor raised one hand in mock surrender, "Honestly!" He protested, "He's immortal but because the TARDIS couldn't stand that, I left him on Satellite 5."

Kayla lifted her hand from the Doctor's tracing, the Time Lord gave her a pout, and punched him harshly in the shoulder, "You left my dad on Satellite 5 because he's immortal?! HE'S IMMORTAL?! WHAT THE HELL DOES THAT EVEN MEAN?!" She shouted, her face growing red.

"Oi! You're still sick. No yelling or you'll hurt your throat." Despite his babying, when Kayla raised her fist, the Doctor flinched, "He's a fixed point in time and space because you brought him back. I have no idea when or where he is, but if we're going to meet him, we will." He answered softly.

Kayla let out something close to a sob, and soon, the Doctor hugging and rubbing her back as the ex-Time Agent sobbed into his shirt, letting out all the hurt over her father.

"I will find him." She promised at one point, "I will search for him and find my father."

It had taken much persuading on the Doctor's part to convince Kayla to go to the med-bay and get checked out, but it was only then when the Time Lord found something…troubling. As it turned out, the mental connection between the two was having an effect on Kayla. Whether it was positive or negative, he couldn't figure out. Kayla was sure that it was positive, but he wasn't.

"I'm going to be a Time Lady." Kayla stated randomly.

The Doctor nodded with a sigh, "Sadly, yes." He agreed.

"But how?"

"The mental connection." The Doctor answered.

Kayla shook her head, "How long until I'm fully Time…Lady?"

The Doctor just gestured to a screen where 40% flashed clearly, "I'd say a year." He finally answered.

Kayla let out a whimper, "I'm scared."

"So am I."

Oh poor Thief and Other Thief. Of course I knew about it, but could I say anything? Of course not! Well, actually, yes…or no? Oh stupid tenses. But that doesn't matter. At least Other Thief isn't leaving Thief over the whole Bonded thing. I never liked those on Gallifrey…I miss home, and my sisters.

Little bit of the TARDIS being sad. I liked that.

But never mind the time machine, Kayla is turning into a Time Lady? What?

AND A REVIEWS!:

Aka-Baka Hoshi: I used to love bananas, but now I can't really stand them. Don't know why...

TimeLordCompanion: Thanks! The TARDIS is a lot of fun to write.