It had been two months since Kayla Harkness had last seen the Doctor, and she had never been happier. Sure she would miss the Time Lord and occasionally think about him, but otherwise she was actually living a normal, regular, human life. She had a job working in a school as the music teacher.
Sure she wasn't amazing at the flute, she never played it actually, but as long as she knew different notes and how to hold a tune while singing, she was pretty much golden.
The neighborhood that she lived on was the one she had walked down when she had first arrived. To them, she was a mysterious woman that all their children loved. Often she would come to the small house she had been lucky to find with several stressed parents begging her to babysit their children.
At first she had firmly said, 'no,' to every single person who asked. She would not spend her Friday nights watching children when she could have been relaxing after a day of watching children.
And then her first dizzy spell happened and then Kayla Hark remembered why it was nice to work for the Time Agency, which paid your bills if you brought in money.
Because suddenly, the Time Lady found herself staying up late trying to figure out Quicken and growling offensive names about a certain Time Lord under her breath. Often times she would end up yelling abuse at her computer and the horrible amount of money that a hospital visit she had not wanted to go to was costing her.
It was during one of these times that the brunette stiffened and looked out the window, her brow furrowing. She could have sworn she heard a car backfiring in the distance, but it was almost three in the morning.
Wincing at the time, which was just a sharp reminder of the three hours of sleep she might get, Kayla wandered back to her computer. The monitor was much too bright in the darkness, something she had never noticed until now. So she got up to go turn on a light and perhaps get some coffee.
Just as she got up, however, Kayla felt like something was pulsing behind her eye as her vision got blurry. With a slight moan of pain, she started to fall backwards onto the hard floor behind her. A voice made up of echoes yelled, "Oi!" and gently eased her to the ground, "I got you Kayla. It's going to be okay." The voice promised, though the brunette had no idea who it was.
When Kayla woke up, she thought for a second that she was dreaming, though whether it was a nightmare or not she was unsure. The reason for this was because she had woken up in a bed she had never been in before – this was not a new experience, and she didn't really mind much – but she knew exactly who the bed belonged to.
Because whenever the Doctor or Kayla had done anything that would require being in bed, it was in Kayla's bed. The Doctor said that his bed was too messy anyways, and Kayla usually was too busy thinking about getting into a bed as quickly as possible to request a certain one.
But those from the 52nd Century had a heightened sense of smell, and Kayla obviously knew what the Doctor smelled like, as embarrassing as that might sound. To her, he had a distinct smell that greatly resembled one of a pleasant pine tree.
And right now, Kayla was slowly waking up, her nose getting attacked by the smell of a tree of good smelling pines. She felt an alien hand run through her hair and the soft mattress under her moving as the Doctor shifted and drew Kayla closer to him.
For a second, Kayla wanted to sink into the Doctor's touch, but she felt the Time Lord sigh slowly and stop running his hand through her hair, "Kayla, I know you're awake." He said in a soft voice, "And I know you're angry."
Both statements were true, of course. The Time Lady was very angry at the Doctor for throwing her father's Vortex Manipulator out and for dragging her from her house, "You have every right to be, of course."
The brunette smirked slightly, the Doctor wasn't so clueless after all, "But what you did, leaving the TARDIS and blocking yourself completely was very dangerous!"
At this, Kayla's smirk slid off and her eyes popped open. Flipping over in the bed so that she was facing the Doctor, she glared up at him, "Don't you dare put this on me!" she snapped quite loudly.
Looking a bit shocked at this, the Doctor shook his head quickly, "Kayla I wasn't – I never – Bonding is dangerous! When a Time Lord or Lady is cut off from their Bond whether physically or mentally, they go crazy. They kill themselves because they are so lonely. And when a Bond dies…" the Doctor's lower lip trembled, "My parents were Bonded. They loved each other so much that it was beautiful. But a few months before my granddaughter, Susan, had graduated, my father died. It drove my mother crazy within four seconds. Usually it takes four months, but not my parents. She was taken by the High Council and my family never saw her again."
Tears slid down the Doctor's face, "Don't you understand, Kayla?" He asked in a low voice, "You would have died if I hadn't found you. Bonding is permeant."
It took a few seconds until Kayla understood the full gravity of what the Doctor was saying, "I'm stuck with you?" she asked before she could truly think about it.
A flash of pain shot across the Doctor's face, "I suppose so." He agreed slowly.
Kayla swallowed hard and looked at the Doctor for a long time without talking, "You threw out the last thing I had of my father." She stated, "You hurt me and betrayed the trust I had put into you."
The Doctor nodded, "Yes." He confirmed, "But I –"
"No! You don't get to speak. Not about this. Doctor, I don't trust you, I can't. I love you, I always will, but my trust in you is broken."
Swallowing hard, the Doctor looked at Kayla, "Will you ever trust me again?" He asked slowly.
Kayla stared at the Doctor, "Not until you prove to me that I can trust you." She answered.
With the new mission for his life, the Doctor threw himself into trying to make Kayla as comfortable with him as possible. But how could he when all her things were in the house she had been staying in? The answer was obvious though.
So with a flourish, he set the TARDIS down on the corner of the street and beamed over at Kayla, who was leaning against one of the trees instead of helping like she usually was. Pain shooting through his hearts as he noted how tense she was, the Doctor grabbed his trench coat and pulled it on, "We're here. Right on the corner of your block." He reported to her.
Nodding slowly, Kayla walked over to the door and pulled it open, "'Danger – Keep out?'" She quoted from one of the gates the TARDIS had landed in between, "'No parking in front of these gates'" she added. With an arch eyebrow, she looked back at the confused Time Lord, "The corner seems to have changed." She said dryly.
"What?" the Doctor asked, "Let me see?"
Kayla moved aside quickly, making it so that the Doctor didn't even brush her arm, which made the Time Lord frown a bit as he looked out the TARDIS and at the gates, "Ah." He sighed, "A bit off course but still nearby." Stepping out of the TARDIS, he held the door open and allowed Kayla to walk out as well.
"You better be right." She muttered behind the walking Time Lord, "I'm not in a mood for a stroll around London."
The Doctor moved to take her hand, making Kayla flinch away a bit, "Let's just get to my house and go." She growled.
Nodding and trying not to look too hurt, the Doctor used his sonic screwdriver to open the gate and walked out of it with Kayla following him.
After watching the Doctor walk to the left and then turn around and walked to the right, Kayla was about to knock out the Doctor, steal the TARDIS, and go off by herself when the Doctor suddenly cried out, "I was right!" And ran forwards, making Kayla roll her eyes and speed up her walk just a bit, "30th Olympia." He cheered, holding out his hands under the banner celebrating the Olympics someone had hung on some light poles.
Kayla arched an eyebrow and crossed her arms, "Congrats." She said dryly.
The Doctor sighed and frowned, "Look Kayla-" he started, only to sigh once more and shake his head, "Never mind." He muttered.
Not really bothered by whatever the Doctor had been about to say, Kayla started to walk over to the Time Lord when something on a post caught her eye. Turning, she scanned the paper about a young child missing.
"Kayla?" She heard the Doctor's voice come from behind her, "Now I know I said I would- What are you looking at?" Interrupting himself, the Doctor walked over to Kayla and stood behind her, look at the poster with the brunette.
Very slowly, with a small fire starting in her eyes, Kayla turned her head, "Besides how worrying this is, do you know what I find odd?" His face taking a slightly scared expression, the Doctor shook his head, "This poster is nearly a week old," Kayla noted with a tap on the poster, "Yet it wasn't here when I left." Arching an eyebrow, she looked the Time Lord slowly, "Doctor, do you have anything you want to share with me?" she asked.
The Doctor quickly nodded, "It's been about a…month," at the last word, his voice went higher and he squeaked rather noticeably, "from the night I got you."
Blinking at this information, Kayla looked like she was about to kill the Doctor or laugh at him and then kill the Time Lord. Seeming to decide on the latter, Kayla took a deep breath, only for the Doctor to grab her hand in an automatic motion and call, "Come on," Over his shoulder.
Knowing that resistance was just a waste – the last time the Doctor had kept going and not noticed, though Kayla eventually kicked him in the shins – the Time Lady rolled her eyes and settled for growling death threats under her breath.
"Look at this." The Doctor breathed, sounding stunned as he came to a halt.
Yanking her hand out of the Doctor's grasp so that she could cross her arms, Kayla watched as the Doctor knelt down in front of the object and used his sonic screwdriver, occasionally feeling around as if he had dropped his contact lenses in the grass, "It's a soccer goal." Kayla noted dryly.
"Football." The Doctor muttered from the ground.
The brunette sighed, "Whatever." She dismissed, "The point is, why is it so important?" she asked.
Not answering, the Doctor started to giggle rather crazily, "Tickles!" he cried over to Kayla, "You should join."
"Not today." Kayla replied with a glance over her shoulder at the front door, which had just closed behind an angry look man. The missing boy's father, to be exact.
With remnants of his tears and his eyes rimmed with a slight red, the man gave Kayla a sour look, "I hope you understand Mrs. Smith that this is a hard time for my family. Which is why want to know what yours and your friend's game is." He growled harshly.
Straightening, the Doctor hurried over and awkwardly placed an arm around Kayla's shoulder, which she shrugged off, "Snakes and Ladders? Quite good at...Squash. Reasonable." The Doctor floundered awkwardly.
Kayla sighed, "Doctor shut up." She hissed to the Time Lord.
At this command, the Doctor nodded, "Doctor is shutting up." He stated.
The man, glaring at them, folded his arms sourly, his stance almost the same as Kayla's. The glower, however, only got worse as the Doctor rubbed awkwardly at the back of his head and came out with, "We're police officers!"
Kayla stared at the Doctor, looking just as taken aback as the father, "What?" she snapped.
Not noticing this, the Doctor nodded, "Kayla and I, we're married and…Kayla's an undercover agent! Yeah. Goes by 'Doctor Shut Up,' and I'm 'Doctor.'" He supplied in a rushed voice.
Obviously not buying this, the father's hands became fists as the glowered at the two, "Doctor shut. Up." Kayla snapped.
Turning his head, the Doctor frowned, "Kayla stop saying your name. You're blowing you're cover!" he said in an exasperated voice, "Mind you, she's a bit plain in the head." He added in a stage whisper to the father.
Growling audibly, Kayla glared at the Doctor, "When I'm done with you, you won't even have a head to be plain in!" Kayla threatened.
"I have no idea who the hell you two are, but get off my property." The father ordered, his fists shaking by his side.
The Doctor gave the man a pleading look, "Please sir, don't interfere. Official police stuff going on at the moment. Just take a second." Now looking like he wanted to kill the Doctor, the man took a threatening step forwards, "We're—We're police officers, forget the whole undercover agent stuff! I've got a badge - and- and a police car...you don't have to get- I can- I can prove it! Just hold on-" stammering, the Doctor started to fish through his pockets.
"You idiot." Kayla muttered as she leaned over and pulled the physic paper out of the other pocket the Doctor had been searching through, "It's always in there." Holding it out, she tried to give it to the man, but he slapped her hand away, sending the paper to the ground as Kayla winced slightly and took her hand back.
Now, it was the Doctor who was looking more like he was going to murder the man, "Oi!" he shouted, affronted, "Don't you touch her!"
"We've had plenty of coppers poking around here, and you don't look - or sound - like any of them." The man said in a rough voice.
The Doctor scratched at the back of his neck as he subtly moved in between Kayla and the angry male, "Let me just show you my badge-" he started.
"What are you going to do?" A woman suddenly called over to the three as she joined them. Like she was the dam opening, all the other neighbors rushed over and crowded around Kayla, the Doctor, and the father, all eager for answers to their questions.
Her eyes widening a bit, Kayla looked at the Doctor, who was quite occupied with showing his psychic paper to everyone. With a deep breath, she stepped in to the crowd and vanished.
Kayla was able to pick up on hidden signals, especially badly hidden signals, and the hidden signals between a young black girl that the brunette remembered to be Chloe and her mother were some of the worst hidden signals ever. So she decided to do the obvious thing. Not break into the house, but poke around the backyard.
And so far, the backyard was just like Kayla's. Void of anything that made it Chloe's backyard or her mother's garden. It was lifeless and soulless. And it smelled, oddly enough, of something vaguely like metal.
So she rubbed her hands together, and climbed back over the fence, only to land right in front of the last person she wanted to see.
"Kayla!" the Doctor cried out, "I was tracking the smell!" he cried out in a guilty sort of way.
At this explanation, Kayla took a deep breath and sniffed audibly and loudly before spluttering and coughing, "What is that?" she gasped in shock of the smell, which had suddenly gotten stronger and less like metal and more like something disgusting and burnt.
Moving to take her hand, something that made Kayla step back and not allow the Time Lord to do, the two walked next to each other and down the alleyway, "There's a residual energy in the spots where the kids vanished. Whatever it was, it used an awful lot of power to do this." He explained to Kayla before stiffening and pausing in a spot just as Kayla gasped and rubbed her temple.
"It's a power surge of somesort." She stated.
The Doctor nodded, "Danny Edwards cycled in one end but never came out the other." He started, perhaps he disappeared here."
Though there were a few patches that made the Doctor stiffen and Kayla stumble and have to grab on to the Time Lord's shoulder before flinching and pulling the hand away as if she had been burned, there were no clues that told Kayla and the Doctor where the children had gone and what had taken them.
"Oh no, it's a cat." Kayla suddenly hissed as they walked back down the small street and pausing in front of the houses that ended the road, "I hate those. They're bossy, and their hair gets everywhere." After a second, Kayla looked at the Time Lord, "They're a bit like you, actually." She noted.
The Doctor pouted slightly and turned around, "My hair doesn't get everywhere." He stated, "And I'm not bossy!" He added as an understatement.
As if insulted by them, the cat slashed its tail in the air and stalked into a box, though this action went unnoticed by the Doctor and Kayla, who were too busy fighting to notice, "You are soo bossy, and as for your hair?" Kayla snorted and arched an eyebrow, "Have you noticed your amount of hair?"
The Doctor ran a hand through his hair, making it stick up even more than before, "I don't shed!" he protested.
Suddenly, the sound of a cat meowing in apparent terror effectively interrupted their fight as both Kayla and the Doctor stared at the box, which rattled violently once before the cat's meow echoed away. Running forwards with Kayla following, the Doctor stumbled backwards and grabbed on Kayla's hand tightly, "Whoa! Hoo-hoo-hoo-hoo!" He chuckled.
Wrenching her hand from the Doctor's with a glare at the Time Lord, Kayla studied the box, "The cat's gone." She stated.
The Doctor nodded, "Iron residue. Blimey! That takes some doing!" he replied with a smack of his lips.
Kayla sighed, "So whatever it is it's very powerful?" she snapped.
Not looking rather worried, the Doctor nodded, "It can harness huge reserves of ionic power." He agreed, "Find the source and you will find...whatever has taken to stealing children and bossy animals. See what you can see."
"Did you just order me to do something?" Kayla snapped sharply, her eyebrow arching in challenge.
Swallowing, the Doctor nodded, "Yep." He said with a pop on the last letter sounding as if he didn't have a care in the world.
Very slowly, Kayla shook her head, "Why don't you look around for the source and I'll gather my items." At this statement, the Doctor frowned in confusion, "We're leaving tonight, no matter what's going on. I just want to go back to the TARDIS and away from you."
Not even putting forth a fight, the Doctor sighed and nodded, "Okay." He agreed.
Of course trouble had to follow Kayla everywhere, in fact trouble seemed to actively seek Kayla out and usually the brunette was willing to face it with her favorite Time Lord at her side. But when she was in a bad mood and angry at the Doctor? Trouble was the last thing the brunette wanted.
So when she turned to her house only to see her garage door shaking widely, Kayla nearly let out a string of curses that would have made her ex, who often had cursing battles with her and her father when they were quite drunk, blush. As it was, she did hiss, "Oh damn it," as she eyed the door, "Why can't it be the Doctor who finds this? I even went here to escape the trouble."
Shaking her head and muttering choice words about the Doctor, the brunette walked carefully over to the garage door and with a sigh and a grunt, she opened. Instantly, with the threat now available to attack her, Kayla tensed, but after several seconds of nothing, she hesitantly looked into the garage…
She screamed out of shock as something that looked like a violent circle of scribbles whooshed towards her, a strange buzzing noise accompanying it. With a whoosh, the circle came towards her, causing Kayla to jump out of the way and reach for her gun, which is why she finally did curse rather violently, because that gun happened to be lying on an abounded space station.
For the first time in a very, very long time, Kayla Harkness was defenseless. Of course she was probably going to die but that didn't worry her. She was fine with dying, but she wasn't fine with going down without a fight.
So instead of shooting the circle of violent scribbles, Kayla did the next best thing and started to search for a weapon, her eyes flashing upwards to check the scribbles. But then some sort of force swished past her head, causing Kayla to jump. With a cry of pain, she felt her left ankle twist and a barely audible crack as her ankle broke.
Falling heavily to the ground with a wince, she sucked her breath in sharply as her vision blurred and she focused more on not crying and at least facing her death head on.
But right before the wires were on her, the Doctor appeared, favoring his left ankle as he soniced the mass of wires while standing over Kayla.
Instead of staying to watch however, Kayla exhaled slowly and passed out.
About an hour or two later, Kayla Harkness had gathered her object, taken a shower, gotten her ankle mended by the TARDIS, and was now standing next to the Doctor, her arms crossed across her chest, "I still don't understand why we can't just leave. It's not breaking any laws of time." She stated in a voice that was quite crisp.
At this, the Doctor frowned, "You're still blocking me." He chose to reply with instead, "Is that going to stop?" he asked carefully.
Kayla scoffed and shook her head, "When you don't lie to me and not answer my questions then I'll consider it."
A flash of pain flew across the Doctor's face as he stared at Kayla for quite a few moments, an awkward and pregnant silence growing between them, "What attacked you," the Doctor started slowly, "was graphite. Basically the same material as an HB pencil."
The coldness slid off Kayla's face as she looked at the Doctor in utter confusion, "What's a…HB pencil?" she said haltingly.
The Doctor blinked, "What?" he asked, "You don't know what a pencil is?"
Kayla shrugged, a blush starting to stain her cheeks, "I've never heard of one." She muttered while staring at the ground.
For a second, the Doctor looked like he was in danger of laughing at the brunette, but with a cough, he turned away, "It's an object that's used for writing." He explained.
"So I was attacked by a pencil scribble?" Kayla said slowly, "Which means whoever did this was frustrated."
The Doctor's brow furrowed and he turned around to look at Kayla, "Why do you say that?" he asked.
Kayla shrugged, "Usually whenever I got frustrated when I was younger I scribbled on a piece of paper." She explained shortly.
After a few moments, the Doctor nodded and sniffed the small scribble before letting Kayla do the same, "Brought into being with ionic energy. Whatever we're dealing with, it can create things as well as take them. But...why make a scribble creature?!"
Running a hand through her hair, Kayla's brow creased as she thought in silence. Next to her, the Doctor scratched at his neck, "Chloe!" Kayla suddenly shouted out with a grin on her face, "She draws a lot but the last week of school she wasn't there."
"And you think she's connected to this?" the Doctor asked.
Kayla nodded, "Her mom was acting odd earlier in the street and, frankly, it's our best shot."
About ten minutes later, Kayla Harkness and the Doctor stood in front of Chloe Webber's glass front door. Raising his hand, the Doctor was about to knock three times on the door when Kayla's hand shot out in front of him and rang the doorbell.
"Oh." The Doctor sighed as he put his fist down, "I probably should have noticed that."
Kayla nodded, "Yep." She agreed stiffly, cuing an awkward pause.
Thankfully, however, Chloe's mom opened the door with a slight frown only a minute later, "Hello?" she asked, suspicion flickering across her dark face, "Can I help you?" she asked.
Before Kayla could make the proper introductions, the Doctor beat her to it, "Hello! I'm the Doctor and this is Kayla. Can we see your daughter?" he intoned bluntly while Kayla sighed next to him.
"No! You can't." Chloe's mom snapped instantly.
Not even looking like he was disappointed, the Doctor grabbed Kayla's hand, causing the brunette to frown and remove it from his grip, and said, "Okay! Bye." With a small shrug before once again grabbing the brunette's hand and pulling her after him.
"What are you doing?" Kayla hissed, too shocked to move her hand out of the Doctor's grip.
Instead of waiting, the Doctor winked at the brunette just before Chloe's mom called to them, "Why?" Shocked that the Doctor's plan had worked, Kayla allowed herself to turn along with the Doctor, their hands still clasped, "Why do you want to see Chloe?"
The Doctor shrugged, "Well, there's some interesting stuff going on in this street, and I just thought - well, we thought - that she might like to give us a hand." He explained carefully, making sure that he didn't out right accuse the young girl of anything.
Next to him, Kayla nodded, "I remember her from school, she was very smart."
At this, Chloe's mom grinned slightly, "She is." She agreed softly.
Shrugging the Doctor sighed, "We'll let you get on with things. On your own. Bye again!" with a slight wave, the Doctor and Kayla turned away.
"Let go of my hand." Kayla hissed at the Doctor.
Complying instantly, the Doctor shot the brunette a worried look, "You okay?" he asked softly.
Before the brunette could answer, Chloe's mom called out once again, "Wait!" she cried. Once again, Kayla and the Doctor turned, only to see the strong facade slipping off her face, making her look vulnerable and scared, "Can you help her?"
The Doctor smiled, "Yes, we can." He agreed.
I am so, so sorry that it took so long to post this! I had some problems with my homing situation which led to me having to use my phone for internet and conserving my data. But now I'm back and posting every Saturday...or I guess this Monday...yeah...
Anyways Doctor Who is back and remember, if we reach 75 reviews then there's gonna be a spoiler.
Also, don't forget to go to my tumblr. I have some info about my fanfiction that will all be posted in the final A/N
And...REVIEW TIME:
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