The Doctor woke to the sound of a woman screaming, "I trusted you! I did what you asked!"
Too groggy to do anything, the Doctor closed his eyes, so wanting to fall to sleep when he jerked up, sudden feelings of fear and anger coursing through him. If he concentrated, he could feel two pressures on his arms that resembled someone holding onto them. The woman's voice continued to scream as the Doctor clambered to his feet and looked at the surrounding area he was in.
He appeared to be in a cement cell something that took him a moment to remember why he would be in such a place, but then the memory of Kayla…Kayla...
Honestly, the Doctor didn't know how to react to the situation. There were just so many things the Doctor had kept from her, and he knew that Kayla was doing the same. The main question was who was willing enough to confront the other. And the Doctor knew he would never do that to Kayla, not with what he was keeping. But Kayla? Once in a past that was barely three months ago, before everything had exploded with Kayla walking out of the TARDIS, the Doctor wouldn't have needed to even pause to say that Kayla would never confront him on something like that. Now, however, the Time Lord wasn't so sure.
Wanting to do something destructive, an urge he had not had since his ninth form, the Doctor hit the wall brutally with a fist before wincing at the feel of his bones snapping. It was heal in a few hours due to his Time Lord biology and due to his body needing to use up his regeneration energy. That was another thing he hadn't told Kayla, though hopefully Kayla would understand that sometimes, secrets are best left unsaid.
"Let go of me! Let go of me now!" the Doctor jumped at the voice, one that was slightly familiar but much too high to be placed correctly in his memory. Though, if the Doctor seriously thought about it for a moment, he could nearly place the voice…and then the shrillness broke through. He had never met someone with such a high voice, such a painful one, but judging by how close the voice was – probably in the next room – the Doctor was about to meet the person.
And meet the person he did! Because in the next few moments that passed, the Doctor was being pushed aside by two guards wearing black bulky protective gear with 'Torchwood' stamped onto it. The door to his cell was standing open as two black women dressed in the same protective gear as the ones holding the Doctor, and a man dressed impeccably in a suit with a tray of food for two. The amount of food was, of course, explained by who had caused all the commotion.
That person was a passed out, at least for now, Kayla Harkness. But even without their psychic link, which was severally lessened because of their time apart, the Doctor could tell that Kayla was stirring in the arms of the guards. And judging by their expressions, they knew that as well.
Quickly and not so gently, the two guards stepped out of the cell and locked it behind them, leaving the man in the suit looking very awkward and uncomfortable.
"Right." He started with a hard swallow, "I'm Ianto Jones and I'm your guide to your imprisonment in Torchwood One!" He said in a cheery voice that made the Doctor scowl quite a bit, "Now before Kayla wakes up –"
"I'm already up you ass." Kayla snapped from the floor, her eyes closed.
Ianto nodded, not looking too happy about this new information, "Well, um, good. I hope you're feeling well."
"I'm not." Kayla replied as she lifted one hand up to rub at her forehead, "I'd kill for some aspirin." She added.
Before Ianto could reply, the Doctor cut into the conversation, "Don't give her aspirin." He commanded.
That statement caused Kayla to clamber to her feet and glare at the Doctor, "Don't you dare tell me what to do." She growled.
"Kayla you don't understand –" the Doctor started to try and explain, but Kayla wasn't done.
"It's bad enough that I'm stuck in this cell with you but if you ever try to control me again I will not hesitate to kill you." She threatened.
Clearing his throat awkwardly, Ianto stepped in between the fighting couple, "Please refrain from killing one another because you will be tried and put to death." He said in a calm voice." At this, Kayla and the Doctor slowly turned their heads to look at Ianto, "They're the rules." He stated, holding up a manual.
Kayla slowly nodded and then back away until she was sitting in a small chair, "What are the rules?" she asked. The Doctor, blinking, walked over to the opposite wall and sat down into another chair as well, his eyes flickering between Kayla and Ianto.
Seeming rather confused, Ianto grabbed something from his pocket and started to unfold a large pamphlet, "Do not try to break out of your cell are you will be killed. Do not try to kill one another or you will be killed. Every morning at six a guard will come and take each of you to your assignment for the day. Do not purposely fail in these assignments or your consequences will be swift. You will have three meals a day and in the case of an emergency, the doors automatically open."
Closing the pamphlet, Ianto smiled at the Doctor and Kayla, "I'm sure you two can figure out how to get out of the building." He said in a thin voice, "Now, do you have any questions?" he asked.
Kayla shook her head, and the Doctor, still looking at the brunette Time Lady, also shook his head, "No." he answered in a soft voice.
Swallowing, Ianto seemed unsure of what to do, "Right." He started, "I'll leave you be. Dinner will be here in about an hour. Goodbye." Turning away, he unlocked the door and locked it behind him.
Sighing, Kayla ran a hand through her hair, "Why can't I have aspirin?" she asked the Doctor.
Jumping, the Doctor looked at her, "It'll kill you." He stated simply, "It's deadly to all Time Lords or Ladies."
"Then what am I supposed to do if I have a headache?" Kayla questioned angrily.
The Doctor shrugged, a sudden feeling of hot anger coursing through him, "Well usually I would be able to give you medicine from the TARDIS but I don't seem to have that since Torchwood took it from me." He snapped.
Shaking her head, Kayla muttered something under her breath, "I'm not doing this with you." She retorted to the Doctor before turning away and staring at the wall. Letting out a snort, the Doctor slowly counted down from three in his head. Right at one, Kayla whirled around on her chair and glared at the Doctor, "What the hell is your problem?" she asked him crossly, "You got rid of the one thing I had of my father's and when I confront you on it you literally brush it off!"
"You were obsessing over it! Kayla I thought your behavior was unhealthy and I had to stop it." The Doctor defended.
This time, it was Kayla who snorted, "Like you care about me." She scoffed.
Another spike of anger going through him, the Doctor rose to his feet and stalk towards Kayla causing her to do the same, "Do you even know what I did for the last three months?" he growled, nearly nose to nose, "I was searching for you every day and night. I didn't sleep for two months before I passed out in the TARDIS. Kayla if we had been apart any longer, we both would have gone crazy because you were blocking me and there was no physical contact." He tilted his head to the side and, with a very deliberate move, he placed one hand on Kayla's temple that she didn't move away, "You were feeling the side effects already." He started, as if reading something, "You have so many scars in here."
Suddenly, Kayla pushed the Doctor away, "Don't read my mind!" she snapped, "And don't touch me either!"
Swallowing, the Doctor turned away, "Right, sorry." He apologized, his gaze firmly on the ground.
Retreating, Kayla climbed onto the top bunk of the bunk beds in their cement cell and hugged her knees to her chest on it. Her brown eyes remained firmly on the Doctor as she watched every move he made. Knowing this, the Doctor made sure to make his movements slow and calm. The last thing he wanted was an angry, startled Time Lady.
But this however, didn't seem to please Kayla either, because, quite suddenly, she snapped, "Either stop moving or sit down."
At this, the Doctor turned and gave Kayla a look, "What is your problem?" he asked, a rage that had been pooling in him for far too long bursting out, "Seriously Kayla. What is your problem? If anything, you should be apologizing to me for getting us locked up in this cell." Kayla jumped down from the bed with a slight wince, but this didn't stop the Doctor from continuing. He was very, very angry, and Kayla was getting the blunt of it, "It's your fault that we're stuck in here, completely in utterly your fault." Kayla scoffed at that, which only made the Doctor even angrier, "What? Do you think I didn't notice that we're not in 2012?"
Kayla sighed, "Fine! Okay, I let the contact from Torchwood in 2012 use the TARDIS." She explained, "But that's only because someone threw out a perfectly good Vortex Manipulator."
The Doctor stared at her for a few seconds, his eyes widening, "You…you…" in complete and utter shock, the Doctor shook his head, "Do they still have the key?" he asked weakly.
As if this question had not occurred to her, Kayla blinked and then hissed something under her breath, "Yes." She whispered in reply to the Doctor.
And that's truly when the Doctor lost it. He let out a cry of horror and grabbed a chair and threw it against the wall. Still angrier, he started to kick said wall multiple times in his trainers, "You stupid girl! You stupid, stupid girl!" he cried out in disgust as he rounded on Kayla, who looked too shocked to even move, "Do you realize what you have just done?" Very slowly, Kayla nodded, but that just made the Doctor angrier, "When we get out you are never going into my TARDIS again."
Tears now running down her face, the Doctor felt a slight bit of guilt for hurting the brunette, but this emotion quickly became pure shock as Kayla reached a hand up and slapped him across the face with a resounding smack!
"Don't you ever, ever say that!" Kayla cried out, her emotions making her voice tremble, "Don't you ever kick me away Doctor." Her shoulder shaking, Kayla fell to the ground and curled up into a ball, sobbing hysterically.
Guilt stricken and surprised, the Doctor stared at Kayla for a few seconds before he knelt down and rubbed Kayla's back awkwardly, "Kayla…" he started to whisper before he trailed off as he realized he had no idea where that sentence was going. Instead, he gathered the brunette into his arms and carried her to the bottom bunk and carefully placed her under the covers before getting in next to her.
Perhaps he was wrong to forgive Kayla, and perhaps he should have left her on the floor. But a very important thing he had learned from his father was that once you were Bonded, you were stuck for life. The Doctor didn't really mind being stuck to Kayla. In fact, any excuse to be closer to Kayla was welcomed. But no matter how much they fought, how many times Kayla left the TARDIS, the Doctor would always love her.
So when the brunette kissed him rather sloppily on the lips, he kissed her back.
Three Months Later:
The Doctor knelt next to Kayla on the floor, holding her brown hair – which had become longer over the months – back as she vomited into a toilet. Her forehead and neck were a blotchy red and covered in a sheen layer of sweat.
"It's okay Kayla, it's okay." He promised, though they both knew that this, like every single morning since three weeks ago, would not be okay. Nothing about their situation was remotely okay, actually. They were trapped in a cement cell, though their bunk bed had been replaced with a bigger one for them to sleep in, and, quite surprisingly, after about two months Torchwood One had connected their cell with a smaller one to serve as a bathroom, which was where they were now.
Plus there was the whole deal with the mysterious non-existing sphere ship and the so called "ghosts," but that was an entirely different matter.
Shaking, Kayla leaned against the Doctor's chest, "Try to get Mickey to give me something for a headache." She whispered to him in a tired, weak voice, "I'm sure this is just a stomach bug or something."
Personally rather skeptical of this assessment, the Doctor bit his lip, "Let me help you to bed." He offered, knowing that Kayla would be too weak to walk by herself into their bed. But like before, she started to protest only for the Doctor to scope her into his arms and put her gently down on the bed. He carefully checked her temperature only to sigh as he saw that she still was reading at a slight fever.
"I love you." The Doctor promised as they both heard the familiar sound of the guards coming towards them, "Mickey will stop by at around 10 to check on you. After the ghost shift." At the name, Kayla barely managed a wince, "I know love. I'll try to fix it." He promised.
Too weak to nod, Kayla's eyes fluttered close as her lips formed a smile. Watching this for a second, the Doctor ran a hand throw his hair, thinking hard as the guards led him out and two medical officers filtered around Kayla to check on her. He hated leaving her, he really did, but before Kayla had fell as ill as she was now, they had decided that the Doctor must keep working for Torchwood and Yvonne. As long as he was in the know, they could find out a way to stop whatever Torchwood was doing.
Besides, who would stop the ghost shift or make sure that Rose Tyler didn't suggest that Kayla should be a mercy kill? As always, it was the Doctor.
I am so, so, so sorry this is late. I literally have no excuse except for school. But don't worry, I have a three week break coming up so that should be nice.
As for this chapter, I love fluff, and I love Kayla/Doctor fluff. So this chapter was just...fluff. And, Kayla's sick with a stomach bug or something, so it's even sweeter.
And now, since we hit 75 reviews (I love you all and I just want to hug you), here's the preview for the next book, which title's WBA soon:
"What are you doing?" Kayla asked as she entered the console room of the TARDIS. The black dress that she was wearing was just a tad bit tighter than normal, but she supposed she had to get use to that. And her mind going a bit crazy, as well.
Though judging by the bang from under the gridded floor of the console room, that would mean that there would be two insane people running around in a time traveling, space ship.
But back to the matter at hand. The Doctor was, for no reason apparent to Kayla, under the gridding of the TARDIS.
"I'm trying to do something." The Doctor answered as a spark flew up from the floor.
Kayla arched an eyebrow, "And what is that you're trying to do?" she prompted.
Not answering, the Doctor popped up from the floor and ran to the console, "One second, I just need to take the shields down for a few minutes..." his voice trailing away as his concentration left the conversation, the Doctor fiddled with some buttons and levers, made a happy shout, and disappeared under the floor.
This meant that Kayla was the only one who heard the noise behind her, and that meant she was the one to turn around and see a slightly older ginger woman in a wedding dress. Her appeal, of course, reminded Kayla that she and the Doctor still had to get married since her father was dead, but this thought was not the most important one to the brunette. Instead, the Time Lady was trying to figure out why there was a stranger in the TARDIS.
Did you like it? Yeah? Yes? You know you did. I did.
And now...review time:
Aka-Baka Hoshi: I feel like Kayla has a problem with trusting too much. She never found a balance between not trusting and trusting, so she does them in the extreme. When she trusts someone, she really trusts them, but when she doesn't trust them then they knowing about her. With the Doctor, she trusts everything to him because she loves him. When he threw out the Vortex Manipulator, to Kayla it was the Doctor breaking her trust because he did something that hurt her. They'll talk about it a lot more during the Christmas special, but at the moment while it seems like they've made up, there are still some problems between them both.
NicoleR85: The Doctor doesn't like Rose. Not at all. So having him put in position where Rose is in power is not good for him. She holds grudges.
AxidentlGoddess: It was really sad to kill of Chloe. I have an idea of that species of aliens that draw show up in book 4 but it depends on how everything works out.
Guest(1): In a way, Kayla did overreact, but to her, she reacted perfectly fine. To Kayla, what the Doctor did is pretty much the worse thing ever. To the Doctor, he really just wanted to help. Plus, he also wanted to make sure that Kayla never found out about the Vortex Manipulator being fake...And as for hurting the Doctor, I really don't know what you mean.
Guest(2): The Doctor loves her a bit too much. Trust me, they'll have a lot of talking to do during the Christmas special and such.
And that's all! Bye!