2,646A/N: Hey, sorry it's been a while I've just been really busy with real life going on. it's just never ending! I just want to address something, this story is ONLY published here and is not on any other sites. If you see it somewhere else then please let me know as they have stolen it and permission has not been given for it to a. be published on other sites, b. translated into other languages to be published.
Now, on with the show!
Kari was waiting for her head to stop spinning. Everything around her was silent, and that just didn't seem right. She couldn't hear the Doctor in her head, she couldn't feel the TARDIS. She quickly opened her eyes, causing her to feel even more dizzy and to almost fall over. "Okay, woah. Not good." She mumbled to herself, resting her hand against a wall and trying to pull herself together. "Where am…" Kari didn't finish her sentence as she finally heard something, a noise coming from somewhere close by.
It sounded like someone putting a key in a lock. She held her breath as she listened. The key turned in the lock and she heard the door opening, the hinges squeaking a little as it did. Then footsteps, only 1 pair. The door closed. Kari was trying her best not to panic, not to freak out. She had no idea where she was or who had just entered where she was. Then it hit her, such a familiar smell. One that made her relax in an instant. "Jack…" She breathed, recognising his scent, knowing now that it was him who had just entered.
The footsteps she had heard were getting closer now and Kari watched the doorway, waiting for him to enter to see her. Luckily she didn't have to wait long and he entered the room carrying bags of shopping. He dropped them the moment he saw her standing there, leaning against the wall for support. "Kari…" He said, noticing how she seemed to be struggling and rushing straight over to her. "Hey, come on, you're okay." Jack added, grabbing her just before her legs gave way.
"Oh god, am I glad to see you." Kari said, letting her big brother help her.
Jack was trying his best not to show the worry on his face. "Kari, what happened?" He asked her as calmly as he could.
The only problem was, Kari knew exactly what he was thinking, and how he was feeling. He was worried about her, she looked tired and exhausted and just a complete mess. "I need sleep." Kari told him, trying to block out some of his thoughts and feelings. She couldn't deal with all that right now, she had too much other stuff going on in her own head to sort out. "I used the time vortex for something, I'm exhausted." There was no point lying to him, he would find out the truth eventually.
"Right, come on." Jack said, as he swiftly scooped her up into his arms. "You get some rest, I'll be here when you're ready. Okay?" He added, carefully carrying her up the stairs and to her room.
Once he placed Kari down on her bed he gave her the once over. She was already out of it, dead to the world. Jack knew that she was going to be like that for a few days at least, and he was going to need to stay there with her to make sure that she was okay and then find out exactly what had happened. It seemed like Kari had managed to get him to the right place at the right time with her request to go and stock up the house for her.
It was two days later when Kari finally started to show some signs of returning to the land of the living. Jack was downstairs in the kitchen when he heard Kari moving around upstairs. He sat there and listened, a cup of coffee in his hands. Then he heard the door to her bedroom open, using that as his cue to get up and put the kettle on, knowing that she was going to want a nice cup of tea.
Once Kari made it down to the kitchen and saw Jack there, she let a small smile slip onto her face. "So, I didn't dream that you were here then." She said, her voice a little hoarse. While she had managed to get a few days of rest, Kari knew that it was nowhere near enough.
While Jack waited for the kettle to boil the water, he stepped over to her and wrapped his arms around her tightly. "Hey, how are you feeling, Princess?"
Kari instantly hugged her brother back, glad that he was there, that she wasn't on her own. "I am so glad that you are here. I need you, Jack." She told him, before finally letting the tears fall. She had tried to be so strong for the Doctor, to hide all the pain she was feeling. She knew that he had not wanted to go, she hadn't wanted him to go ethier.
Jack didn't say a word, he just held onto her tighter. He knew that whatever it was that had happened, she would tell him, but right now she just needed someone to be there with her. He was just glad that she was okay, that she wasn't physically hurt and was being honest about how she was feeling. His Princess wasn't trying to keep everything to herself, which was a good thing.
Eventually he let her go and they both ended up sitting on the sofa with their drinks in their hands. "What year are we in?" Kari asked, taking a sip of her tea. She hadn't been bothered about it before, and to be honest she wasn't that bothered about it now. But she needed to know where Jack was up to, she needed to know what he knew.
"2015." Jack replied, watching Kari closely for her reaction.
Kari let out a sigh. "So why are you on Earth then?" She knew that he shouldn't be here, that he should have left Earth by now and be out there somewhere else.
The man beside her smiled at her. "Because you called me." He told her, before seeing the confused look on her face. "Look, sometime in the future, you actually manage to get this heap of junk working again." He said, showing her his vortex manipulator. "Because if you call me, if you need me, I will always be there."
"I've just seen him again." Kari said, wanting to get it all over and done with. If she didn't start talking about it now, then she would just hold onto it, and she knew that was not a good thing to do. "The Master… the Doctor and I just stopped him, and the Time Lords." Jack just looked at her, patiently waiting for her to tell him the whole story. "So, um… he was resurrected, but it went wrong. You know when there was that incident at Broadfell, that was him."
Jack just sat there and listened to her, letting her tell him everything that had happened, occasionally asking her a question just to make sure he understood everything and that he wasn't missing anything. She had told him all about what the Master was doing, what he had done to the human race, how he just would not listen to her no matter how much she tried to get him to understand that it was bigger than him. Then she told him about how she had protected him, stood up to the President and pretty much disrespected him in front of everyone. Kari was certain that she was never going to like Rassilon, hopefully she would never have to see him again.
Kari had explained to him that she hadn't just used the time vortex to protect the Master, but she had also used it against Rassilon. Then the Doctor had broken the link and sent them all back into the Timelock. Then she began to hesitate, and Jack knew what that meant. "It's okay, Princess. Just take your time." Jack told her, knowing that whatever it was that she still needed to tell him was something that she was struggling with.
"The Doctor he… he…" A lump was forming in her throat and she swallowed it while trying to blink back the tears. "We had to say goodbye." It was easier for her to say that to him than tell him that he had regenerated. Jack would understand what it meant, because the Doctor had gone around and said goodbye to so many people, he was one of them.
"Oh, Kari…" He said, taking her cup with his and putting them both on the table before wrapping his arms around her, comforting her and giving her the chance to let the tears out. "Hey, come on, it's okay."
She let the tears just stream down her face, not caring about the fact that she probably sounded like an idiot for crying over something she knew was always going to happen. But it wasn't about that, it wasn't because the Doctor changed, it was all about the way both she and the Doctor were feeling at that time. "He didn't want to go, Jack. He didn't want to change. And I… I didn't want him to either. You know what things were like with the man before him, we had so many rough patches, so many arguments. But with him, my sexy Doctor with the great hair, everything was just… perfect. He was the one who asked me to marry him, the first time that is. But he was first, for me."
There was still so much going on in her head, her mind running through all the things that they had done together, and all the things she still had to do with him. "It's always hard for you when this happens, Kari."
Jack was right, and she knew he was, but this was different. "I know, but this one, this was the hardest. I had to leave him before he changed, he went to say goodbye to everyone on his own. I wasn't there. The person who was there is me from so long ago. So young and naive. We weren't even engaged when she was there."
The man that was holding her couldn't help but chuckle a little. "You? Naive?"
Kari gave him a little nudge. "Shut up. You used to be arrogant and self obsessed, so you have no right to comment." She told him. "Anyway, there was something else that happened, or rather that was said." It had bothered her since the moment she had heard it, since Rassilon had brought it up. Some of it made sense to her, but it also really worried her as well, especially if she was right. "Rassilon said that I was a monster, an abomination. Then he mentioned the Timeless Child and the Child of Time. I… I know… I know who the Timeless Child is. He knew that I did. But the Child of Time…"
"Is knowing the truth going to change anything?" Jack asked her, resulting in Kari looking at him. "Does knowing really mean that much to you?"
She thought about it. Yes, it did. It would explain so much, her life would make so much more sense if she was right. "I just… I have to know the truth."
Her big brother nodded at her. "Then yes. You are." Jack's answer was exactly what Kari was expecting to hear. "But that does not change anything, Kari. It does not change who you are. It does not change any of the things that you have done or will do. Do you understand?" He needed to make sure that she was okay with this information.
Kari nodded at him. "Yeah, I know. It just… explains so much. The time vortex, the travelling through time and space, the connection with the TARDIS, all of it." She couldn't help but think how when all of this first started, when her life changed and she met the Doctor, she had been so worried about it all, needing answers all the time.
"Still makes you the most impossible woman that I have ever met." Jack told her, trying to lighten the mood a little. He was glad that Kari had been able to share everything with him, that she hadn't held back and she let it all out. He was glad that she planned ahead for him to be there when she arrived so that she wasn't alone.
She shrugged her shoulders a little and she reached out and picked their cups back up, handing Jack his one. "Yep, and that is never going to change. I've got you wrapped around my little finger, Captain Harkness. You are at my beck and call."
The pair of them stayed there, drinking and just having a relaxed chat. Jack was asking Kari about all the other things that she had been up to while Kari wanted to know what Jack had been doing. She wanted to know where he goes off to now, now that Torchwood is no more. It seemed that with a working vortex manipulator, he just did some travelling. He hadn't gone back to conning people, in fact he just enjoyed going and seeing the sights.
"Almost bumped into you and the Doc a few times." He admitted as Kari let her eyes drift to the window.
"Sounds more like since I fixed it you've been stalking me." Kari replied, watching the rain hitting the glass. She wasn't sure when it had started raining, but she was enjoying watching it.
Jack had noticed that she started drifting a little and wondered if she was really listening to him much. "I just want to ask, who was the other woman?" He said, causing Kari to quickly turn her head and look at him. "I saw her, with you and the Doctor. Wild, curly hair, big smile. Bit of an attitude as well from what I saw."
The cogs in Kari's head were turning as she tried to work out what he was talking about. "What? Where? When?" She needed a little more detail if she was going to be able to tell him who this other person was.
A smile stretched across Jack's face now, he had her full attention. "The Space Station Diner."
Suddenly it all came flooding back to her and Kari's eyes widened as she realised who he was talking about. "Oh, my God. River. You mean River." She replied, knowing that could be the only person he was talking about. "But wait… you were there as well?"
He kept looking at her, that smile turning into a grin. "Oh yeah, I was there. So come on, who is she?"
Kari wasn't sure that she wanted to tell him. It just made her think back to what the Trickster had made her see. She knew it wasn't real, of course she did, but would Jack and… "That was River. She's my best friend, and a dangerous one at that."
"Wait, hold up. Is she the one that was in Stormcage?" Jack asked, causing Kari to nod at him a little. "Woah. Okay, not exactly what I was expecting. So, is she single?" She gave him a shove, a smile still on her face. "Okay, fine, I get it. She's off limits."
They stayed on the sofa for a little while longer, until Kari started falling asleep. She was still exhausted and her body still needed plenty of rest. She had been pulled before she had actually been able to rest from using the time vortex in a way that drained her. Jack managed to get her up to bed, promising that he would still be there in the morning when she woke up. He wasn't going to leave her until she was ready to leave herself. It made Kari threaten him with never leaving, or at least making him stay there for a few months with her.
Kari wasn't up early the next day. In fact it was long into the afternoon by the time she finally made her way downstairs. "Well good afternoon sleeping beauty." Jack said teasingly as Kari sat herself down at the kitchen table, before groaning and putting her head in her arms. "You okay there, Princess?" Something was telling him that she wasn't in the best of moods.
"So tired." She moaned, her head staying firmly down. While she was utterly exhausted and wanted to get some sleep, she couldn't. Kari would fall asleep for a little while and then wake up. Once she was awake again she found it very difficult to get back to sleep.
"Then go back to bed." Jack told her, put a mug down in front of her, wondering if she was going to want her tea or not.
Her hand instinctively reached out for the mug and she pulled it towards her. "No point." Kari muttered, before finally lifting her head up.
Now that he could see her, Jack saw the dark circles under her eyes. He knew why she was finding it hard to sleep, it was the same reason she could never sleep when she came to visit at Torchwood. "Well, drink up and then maybe we can go out for something to eat. Or I can take you shopping."
The mug that was just about to touch Kari's lips stopped. "Shopping?" She asked, interested in what Jack had to say. He simply nodded at her, a smile on his face. He knew that the Doctor very rarely let her go shopping, and that it was something that was likely to cheer her up. "Well, maybe we could go out for a little bit. Get some fresh air."
After finishing her tea, Kari rushed to go and take a quick shower and get dressed, then they were off shopping. Kari was glad to get out of the house for a while and spend some time with her brother, but she was missing the Doctor. It wasn't very often that she jumped and ended up somewhere without him. Plus, after everything that had just happened she really just needed to be with him to know that everything was okay.
Their shopping trip was still a good one, and Kari ended up buying things for the house rather than spending all of Jack's money on clothes. It just didn't feel right buying clothes with his money when Ianto wasn't there to give his opinion. She put all the bits and bobs in their new spot and told her big brother that she was going to just go and lay down for a while, take a nap. Jack had no problems with this, he was glad that she was at least trying to get some sleep rather than making out that she was fine all of the time.
It was a little while later that Kari faintly heard the door to her room creak open and soft footsteps padded across the carpeted floor, over to where she was laying. Then the bed dipped, resulting in Kari letting out a groan and rolling over. "Hey, shush. It's okay." A familiar voice told her softly. "Go back to sleep." Then the person reached out, pulling Kari towards them and wrapping their arms around her. She let out a content sigh and let herself drift back to sleep.
Kari fell into a rather deep sleep and it was almost 3 days later when she finally decided to start waking up again. This time it was more difficult for her, not only because of how deep a sleep she had been in, but also due to the fact that someone was holding onto her. She managed to force her eyes to open and saw the reason why she was unable to move. "Hi…" Kari said, her voice rough as she continued to blink away the sleep.
"Well, good morning. Glad you could finally join us." The person beside her, the one who was holding onto, said quietly. She couldn't help but let a little smile slip onto her face as she heard his voice, and that Scottish accent of his.
"When did you get here? And why are you here?" Kari asked, no longer attempting to move or get up.
The arms around Kari tightened a little. "Your brother called a few days ago. Told me that you were here and exhausted, only you weren't able to get much sleep."
She didn't mind that Jack had called him, she knew that he would eventually call for him, or she would have done it herself. "Yeah, well, I sleep much better when you're around." Kari told him. She was so glad that he was there, and also rather happy that it was this regeneration. "So, uh… is Jack still here or have you sent him packing?"
The Doctor chuckled a little. "He's still here. Down in his little flat. He said that he will stay for as long as you want him to, or until we are ready to leave." He told her, knowing that she wasn't yet ready to get up. "Go on, go back to sleep. Then later you can tell me all about the trouble you've been getting into and why you are so exhausted."
Instead of answering him, Kari just settled back down, making herself more comfortable again. She knew that Jack wouldn't have told the Doctor much, only that she was there and that she needed him. What Kari also knew was that the Doctor would not have questioned Jack and tried to find out what had been going on from him. She knew that she was safe and that she didn't need to worry.
Much to her surprise, she slept for a good few hours more. When she woke, the Doctor was still there beside her, a book in his hand. She had a twang of guilt suddenly, knowing that he had been waiting around, most likely bored, while she just slept. "Ugh, time for me to get up I think." Kari groaned, not actually wanting to move but knowing that she needed to.
"Well, if you insist." The Doctor replied, not taking his eyes from the book. Kari wasn't sure if he was putting on an act or if he was actually interested in the book. Then she listened to his thoughts and knew that he was just trying to act normal and not let her see how worried he had been about her.
"The sooner I get up and get myself together, the sooner I can tell you everything that has happened." Kari told him, knowing that she needed to tell him and that he wanted to know.
After saying that, the Doctor closed the book and looked over at her. "Well, if that's what you want." He told, before taking her by surprise by leaning down and kissing her. "You get yourself ready, and I'll go and make tea. How does that sound?" All Kari could do was nod at him in response, a little taken back by the fact that he had kissed her, that this regeneration who was not even much of a hugger, had kissed her. "Well, get moving then." He added, throwing his legs off the edge of the bed and walking towards the door, taking the book with him.
Kari just stayed there watching him as he opened the bedroom door and disappeared onto the other side of it. She could hear his footsteps as he went down the stairs. It was only when she couldn't hear his footsteps anymore that she decided to finally get herself out of bed. She had no idea what day it was, or how long she had been asleep for, but she knew that she was feeling a lot better now.
The shower that she took was a quick one. Kari knew that it was time to get moving and to get back to travelling the whole of time and space with her mad man with a box. She wasn't surprised to find the Doctor and Jack sitting there chatting when she made it down to the kitchen. "Well, good morning sleeping beauty." Jack said, getting out of his chair and giving her a tight hug. He wasn't sure how she was going to respond to having him call the Doctor, so he was a little cautious and trying to judge her mood.
"It's fine, Jack. I'm not going to go crazy because you called the Doctor." Kari told him, hugging him back.
He pulled away a little and looked at her with wide eyes. "What? How did you…"
A smirk took over her face. "I'm psychic, I thought you knew that?" Had he really forgotten what had happened to her? He had been there, with her and the Doctor, when she faced those Daleks. He couldn't have forgotten that already.
"No, you just have a higher psychic ability at the moment because of that incident with the time vortex." The Doctor interjected. "So stop being so nosey and leave other people's thoughts alone."
Kari couldn't help but roll her eyes at him. She knew that he wasn't being serious, she could tell from the thoughts and feelings that were coming from him. "Oh yeah, because I really enjoy listening to what other people are thinking. I mean, some people just have the most disgusting and disturbing things running through their heads."
"Oh yeah, what am I thinking right now?" Jack asked, giving Kari the biggest grin that he could. She looked at him, an eyebrow raised. "Time for me to go now, Princess."
She let out a sigh. "Do you have to?" She asked him, having heard his thoughts, knowing that he was getting ready to leave now. Kari hadn't really felt like she had spent that much time with him, she had spent too much of their time there sleeping.
Jack looked at her sadly now. "Yeah, time for me to move on. You've got the Doctor here and soon enough it will be time for you to both move on as well." He told her, hoping that she would understand.
The Doctor had seen the sad look on Kari's face and the way that her shoulders had dropped. He may not have been very good at reading people's emotions and knowing how they were feeling, but he could spot it with Kari in an instant. "Or you could always come with us." He announced, looking over at Jack. "You know, a few adventures before you head off back to… whatever it is you do these days."
While Kari's eyes lit up in the hopes that her big brother would say yes and travel with them for a while, she already knew what the answer was going to be. Jack was conflicted, because he wanted to spend more time with them, to get to know that version of the Doctor, but he didn't want to get in the way. He had his own life to lead now, one that he was happy with. "It's okay, Jack. I get it." Kari said, saving him from answering the question. "Maybe another time."
He knew that she was disappointed and quickly got up to give her a hug. "Yeah, of course. Another time, Princess." Jack assured her, hoping that she wasn't going to be too upset about it all. "I promise."
Although she was doing her best to hide it, Kari was disappointed and upset. It felt like it had been forever since she had last had an adventure with Jack there. It felt like she hardly got to see him anymore. "So, I guess you're going to be off right now then?" The sadness was even slipping through into her voice.
Jack was actually starting to feel guilty and considering changing his mind. But he knew better, he knew that the Doctor was there for her now, he didn't need to be there. "Sorry, Princess. But I promise you'll see me again soon. Okay?" He told her, hoping that she couldn't try to do the puppy dog eyes on him. If she did, then he would completely change his mind and stay.
Lucky for Jack, she didn't. "Okay, Jack. I'll see you soon." Kari replied, hugging him just a little tighter. She was glad that he had been there for her, that he had been there for her to talk to and to support her after what had happened. If she had been on her own then she knew she wouldn't have been able to cope.
"Love you, Princess." Jack said, kissing the top of her head as he let her go and turned to the Doctor. "Take care, Doctor." He added, the Doctor nodding back at him.
Then he was gone, and it was just Kari and the Doctor left in the house. Kari knew that it was time for her to tell him what had been going on. "So, um… I've finally been to the Gate." She told him, playing with the mug that was between her hands. "Didn't… didn't exactly go how I expected it to."
The Doctor pulled the mug away from her and held onto her hands instead. "No, because you thought something was going to happen to you. Maybe you were going to regenerate as well." He said, causing Kari to frown at him. She had to admit, that thought did cross her mind more than once. "Instead you stood up for the Master. You stood up to Rassilon and fought against him. Luckily you didn't drain too much of your energy doing that."
"No, which I'm surprised about. I honestly thought it was going to be something so much worse. What happened to me was nothing. Especially when you…" Kari let her eyes lock with his. "I know how hard the regeneration was for you. You weren't ready to go, you just didn't want to go yet. And then I had to leave you." She will always feel guilty for that, even if she made it there in the end, before he finally changed.
"But you came back. Just like you promised you would." The Doctor told her, knowing that she just needed to get it all out. Honestly, he was fine with it all, he made his peace with what happened long ago. When he changed into the man he was now he was able to let it all go and move on. "I know how much you loved that man."
Kari was quick to shake her head at him. "No, no it isn't that." She told him, knowing that she had to explain. "It was more that we had a closer relationship. The man before him, Northern big ears, we had so many ups and downs. With that man, my skinny idiot with some really great hair, we always had a good relationship. We didn't fight."
The Doctor raised one of his wild eyebrows at her. "Skinny idiot? I'm sure there's something else that you used to call him. Now what was it?" He asked her, knowing exactly what she used to call that man.
A sigh escaped her lips, she should have seen this coming. "Doctor Sexy. Are you happy now? My grey haired Scottish Doctor with wild eyebrows." Oddly enough, the Doctor chuckled at her response and she caught a hold of one of his thoughts. "Yes, I do have nicknames for every single regeneration of you."
"Of course you do. Why wouldn't you?" He asked, putting both the mugs in the sink. "Now come on, adventure awaits!" The Doctor called, grabbing her hand and taking her out of the door to the back garden. Kari couldn't help but smile when she saw the TARDIS sitting there, but wondered why they had stopped. She turned around and saw that the Doctor had a set of keys in his hand and was actually locking the door they had just come through. "I remembered this time." He told her, before finally coming over and joining her. "After you."
Kari smiled at him as she looked back at the magical blue box that she loved so much and called her home. She rested her hand on the door and it clicked open. "I'm glad to see you too, Sexy. Let's go somewhere amazing." Yes, she was glad to be back, and going from the loud happy humming noise she was hearing, the TARDIS was happy to see her too.
A/N: Again, I can only apologise for the long wait for the update, things have really been a little hectic in my life recently. On a nother note though, David Tennant back as the 14th Doctor! How fantastic was The Star Beast? I am so glad to see him back, and to have our Donna back as well. I can already see how things would go with Kari there as well.
Anyway, must dash, so much to do and so little time. If only I had a TARDIS of my own...
Pippa.