A/N:Hi! This has taken me ages to finally get up, but here it is at last! If you read and review, I'll love you forever and ever. I own nothing (but I'm working on changing that, hehehe) and this is un-beta'd. All mistakes are shamefully mine. (And I'm looking for a beta so if you are interested, then let me know!)

Onwards!

Prologue

Mrs. Hammel stepped out of the shop, wondering about her son, Harold, who had recently been promoted to bank manager. How is his daughter, Ann? How did her piano recital go? She was sad to have missed seeing Ann, but she was glad she missed out on having to sit through three hours of discordant plunking of the keys on the piano by Ann and the other young students. She was interrupted mid-thought when a blonde-haired young woman bumped into her. "Oh! I'm so sorry, ma'am! Are you alright?"

"I'm fine, dear," Mrs. Hammel replied. The blonde woman gave her a smile and turned back to her companion, a handsome young black man.

"Anyways," she said to him, "that's when the Doctor licked the woodwork and told us that the werewolf was allergic to mistletoe!" Mrs. Hammel stopped walking and gasped. Did she hear correctly? Was the young woman mad? The blonde woman turned back to Mrs. Hammel when she heard the gasp and asked, "Are you sure you're alright?"

"Yes, dear," she said, "I'm just catching my breath. I think I need to go and sit down." She turned away from the two and quickly hobbled away. She tucked inside a nearby café and sat down in one of the armchairs. She was still for a while, thinking the situation over. After a bit, she pulled out her phone. "Yes, hello, I'd like to report a woman. I think she's mad. She was talking very seriously about werewolves. She had shoulder-length blonde hair, and dark eyebrows. She was wearing a t-shirt decorated with the Union Jack. She and her companion, a young black man, looked like they were headed to the market. You're welcome. Yes. Goodbye." There was a click, and she put down the phone. She decided to stay in the café for a while. Who knows what the madwoman might do in the market?

Day One

She was holding the avocados when they approached her and Mickey in the market. They ushered her into a police car and thirty minutes later they arrived at a large, white building with the words Sutter Psychiatric Facility over the doors. The officers led her through the front doors to the desk in the middle of the room, where one of them spoke quickly and quietly to the woman at the desk. The woman led them to another door, and closed it once they had gone through. She was led to the nursing station, where she was given a plastic bracelet with her information on it. When the nurse finished clipping the excess plastic off of the bracelet and Rose turned around, the officers had gone. An attendant came up to Rose and said "This way, honey." Rose followed the attendant past the nursing station, past the dayroom, and down a dark hallway lined with doors on both sides. The attendant knocked on one of the doors at the end of the hallway. "Hey, Charlie, I've got a roommate for you. Her name is Rose." She pushed open the door.

The room contained two beds, two shelves, two tables attached firmly to the wall, and one bathroom. On the bed closest to the door sat a young woman. She had short red hair poking out from underneath a beanie, slanted green eyes, a pointed chin, and freckles dotting her nose and cheeks. She was hunched up against the wall with her knees up and there was a notebook resting against her thighs in which she was writing furiously. "Charlie," the attendant repeated, a little louder this time. Charlie jerked in response, sending her notebook flying onto the floor.

"Ah! Sorry, I didn't see you there. Hi. Charlie. That's me," she said. The attendant smiled and left, leaving Rose standing alone in the doorway, wide-eyed. "Don't worry," Charlie said with a smile, stretching her long legs out, "I'm only a danger to myself, not to others." She nodded her head towards the other bed. "That one's yours." Rose went over to the bed and sat down.

"I'm Rose," she said, since Charlie hadn't heard the attendant's introduction.

"Ooh, that's pretty. I love when people are named after plants. Lily, Willow, Rose, Heather, Ivy, Rose, they're all wonderful." Rose laughed at that.

"Oh, I agree! I knew a girl named Fern when I was younger. She was very mean, but I have always loved her name."

"I'm not entirely crazy, then, that's good." They both giggled, and Charlie went to pick up her notebook. "Hey, did you see what time it was when you were by the nursing station?"

"I think it was 4:30."

"Oh thank goodness, dinner's at five and I am starving."

"So, what are you writing about?" Rose asked, eyeing Charlie's notebook, "I mean, don't tell me if you don't want to. I'm just curious."

"Well, I'm writing a letter. I do this a lot. I started writing letters a year ago, when I got a job at a bookstore. That's when I started thinking. Don't get me wrong, I've always had a brain, I just never really used it until I—until I got the job. But for the past year I've been so full of thoughts and emotions that I've just needed to get it out somewhere. I never send the letters, and I don't think I ever will. I just write them so that I don't explode."

"Who are you writing to?"

"Everyone, really, even people I haven't talked to in years. Even people whose funerals I've attended."

"Oh," Rose feared that she had poked something that should have been left alone.

"Don't worry," Charlie said, smiling at Rose, "I'm done mourning. There are things that I just never got to say, and sometimes I miss being able to talk to them."

There was a knock at the door, and a nurse poked her head inside the room. "Five o'clock, ladies, it's dinner time."

Charlie swung her legs off the bed and walked towards the door. Rose was surprised to see that when Charlie stood up, she was very tall and very thin. She didn't look unhealthy, her shape fit her, but she reminded Rose of the models she saw in the fashion magazines she looked through whenever she went to the hairdresser. Rose shook herself, and followed Charlie out of the room.

Charlie led Rose through the unit and to the set of doors leading out into the hallway where the other patients were waiting. A nurse came over and unlocked the door, ushering them through. Rose went to follow everyone else through the doors, but the nurse held out her hand. "Sorry, honey, but you need to do a few things before you're allowed off the unit. Go over to the nursing station and ask Helen what you need to do. Don't worry; I'll bring a dinner back for you." She pointed past Rose, towards the nursing station, then left.

Rose went over to the nursing station and asked the woman sitting behind the desk, who she assumed to be Helen, "Hi, um, I'm not allowed to leave the unit until I do something? The other nurse told me to talk to you." Helen nodded and rummaged around in a drawer, pulling out a small, clear container.

"Tonight all you can do is pee in this here cup," she said. Rose blinked. "Tomorrow morning before breakfast the phlebotomist will be here and she'll take a blood sample. You'll be able to leave the unit after that." She held out the container, and Rose took it gingerly. "You don't need to do it right away, and if you need it there's a water jug on the table by the telephones and there should be cups over there, too." Rose thanked her and started to walk away when it struck her that Jackie had no idea what was going on. Well, Mickey had probably filled her in, but Rose needed to talk to her mother. Well, if she was being honest, the person she really needed to talk to was the Doctor, but she knew Jackie would throw a fit if Rose didn't call her.

"Helen? Can I use the phone?"

"Yeah, I'll turn them on for you. You have to dial nine first, by the way."

"Thanks." Rose took the container and went over to one of the phones. She poked in Jackie's number and waited as the phone rang.

"Hello?"

"Hi, mom, it's me, Rose."

Jackie Tyler verbally flailed for a while, and Rose let herself zone out.

"And he's just gone! Mickey and I tried to tell him but when we went to the alley the TARDIS was gone and he's not answering our calls and —"

"Hold on a mo', the Doctor's gone?"

"—the complete arse, how could he just leave? I could slap him! I will slap him!" Jackie continued, oblivious to Rose.

Rose stood there, letting her mother babble away in her ear while the reality of the situation rushed through her. She was in the loony bin, the Doctor was gone, and she had no idea how she was going to get out. The Doctor wasn't around to flash the psychic paper or unlock the doors with his sonic screwdriver, and Rose had the feeling that this wasn't a situation that she could flirt or fight her way out of. She allowed herself a minute or two of panic and terror, then set her shoulders and got to thinking.

Okay, what do I have to work with? I've got the clothes on my back and that's it as far as materials go; they have my purse locked away somewhere. I may not have my A-levels, but I do have a brain, and I've learned to be resourceful. I've got mum and Mickey on call, and more importantly I've got the motivation to get out of here in order to give that two-hearted, spiky-haired git a piece of my mind. What I need to do is figure out how this place works. I'll talk to Charlie about it tonight, but first things first.

"Mum? I don't know how long I'll be here. Think you can bring me some clothes and my toiletries?"

"Huh? Oh, yeah, sure sweetie. I'll be over at seven for visiting hours."

"How'd you know when those are?"

"I called the nurse earlier and she told me."

"Alright, love ya."

"You, too. 'Bye."

Rose hung up the phone and looked over at the clock. It was 5: 50. Rose looked at the pee cup on the table, sighed, picked it up and walked back to her room.

.&.

Charlie sat at the end of the long table and picked at her food, her thoughts jumping back and forth.

Rose is . . . unusual. She hasn't said anything weird, there's just something about her. She looks normal, even clean, which is more that I can say of most of the people here. She would stick out here for just that but there's something behind her eyes, something wild and burning. What's the source of the flame? What has she seen that set her soul on fire?

Oh, shut up you flowery, nosy nincompoop. She's just a girl, albeit a girl with issues considering where we are. You need to get back to reality; she's not some mysterious character in a book, she's a girl in a psych ward. Get your shit together, Charlie. If there's anything burning behind her eyes, it's the last remnants of her sanity.

She attempted a bite of mashed potatoes and nearly gagged, seriously regretting that decision.

.

.&.

Rose returned the pee-cup to the nursing station just as the other patients were returning from dinner. A nurse handed Rose her dinner and she went and sat down on the couch in the dayroom. Charlie came and sat down next to her.

"Hey,"

"Hey, I would avoid the mashed potatoes if I were you," warned Charlie as Rose removed the cover plate. They both looked at the offending potatoes for a moment. Rose sniffed them and jerked backwards, the plate wobbling dangerously on her knee.

"That is—that is vile. Oh my gosh."

"Yup. The food here is utilitarian with the occasional dash of mold and terror."

Rose picked glumly at her food, thinking fondly of an omelet the Doctor once made for her. It had been after an adventure that had kept them up for days. When they had finally returned to the TARDIS they crashed on the couch in the library without even considering walking all the way to their separate rooms. She woke up the next morning when the Doctor picked her up off the couch, blankets and all, and carried her into the kitchen. He sat her down in one of the chairs, plunked a steaming mug of coffee on the table in front of her, and for the next few minutes all she could focus on was the glorious rush of caffeine through her system. The crunch of eggshells shook her out of her trance and she looked up to a very strange sight; the Doctor was cooking. She was strongly tempted to point out that he was breaking his whole "no domestics" rule, but she was too curious and hungry to risk pissing him off and losing a once-in-a-lifetime, Doctor-cooked breakfast. Rose's stomach growled furiously when the smell of cooking egg and cheese hit her nostrils. The Doctor turned away from the crackling pan to grin at her, and she stuck her tongue out to him. Soon they were both seated at the table with omelet-laden plates in front of them. Rose wasted no time in digging in, and it was delicious. When she gave him the thumbs-up, he beamed like a kid on Christmas morning. She kicked him under the table and he stole a forkful of omelet off of her plate in retaliation. She was too hungry to fight him for it; not only had they not slept for days, they hadn't eaten either. They continued their meal in companionable silence until the Doctor dribbled a piece of egg down his front and Rose couldn't resist a snort. He glared halfheartedly as he cleaned himself up, a smile tugging at the corners of his lips.

It's no good thinking about that, Rose, he's not here and it doesn't look like he will be any time soon. Don't be a sap—she told herself as a lump rose in her throat—buck up; you'll get through this just fine.

Rose got up and threw away her untouched food, returning to the couch right as an attendant finished setting up the movie they were to watch. Rose missed the title, but it was an unusual American movie about cars. There were scantily-clad women in abundance and a lot of revving of engines and gun-waving and other attempts at the display of masculinity. Rose paid no attention to the movie and instead found herself trying to recall the twists and turns of the rooms and hallways of the TARDIS, making a mental map as she went. After a while, thoughts of the Doctor's unprecedented abandonment seeped through her mental stroll through the TARDIS. She fought to repress the sting of his betrayal and continued her exploration of the TARDIS.

.&.

Charlie felt Rose tense up beside her a few minutes into the movie, and Charlie looked over. Rose was staring with absently at the wall a bit below the television. Her eyes were glassy and her fists were clenched at her sides.

Oh, dear. I really hope she's not batty. Margo the dog-killer just left yesterday, I don't think I can handle another scary roommate.

Come on, Charlie! Have a little sympathy. She just got dumped in the loony bin, she's probably pretty freaked.

Charlie pulled her blanket off from around her shoulders and awkwardly placed it on Rose's. Rose looked over, startled out of her reverie. Rose pulled the blanket tighter around herself and smiled in thanks. She relaxed visibly and settled into the couch. They attempted to watch the movie, without either of them having any idea of what was going on, until an attendant came over to pause the movie and announce "Visiting hours!"

.&.

Rose looked over towards the nursing station and saw her mother, blonde ponytail, heavy eye makeup, pink tracksuit and all. She let out a sigh of relief and walked over to where her mother was standing. Rose could tell Jackie was nervous; she was standing stiffly and she was gripping her purse so tightly that her knuckles were white. Rose put her hand on her mother's back and Jackie jerked around to face her. She relaxed as soon as she saw Rose and had her in a tight hug in an instant.

"Hey," Rose mumbled into her mother's hair. Jackie hugged her tighter, but surprisingly remained silent. Rose started to worry. Jackie was only ever silent if she was really freaked.

"Hey, mum, it's okay, everything's gonna be okay."

Jackie pulled out of the hug, but took hold of Rose's hand. "Where can we go to talk?"

"Hell if I know, lemme ask—Helen? Where do we go to visit?"

"Your room, but I have to go with you to check what your mom brought you. It'll only take a minute, then you can have alone time." Rose nodded and led Jackie down the hallway to her room. Helen followed behind.

The door was slightly ajar and voices seeped out into the hallway as the three women approached.

"Goddamnit, Charlie, it was supposed to be temporary! And seriously, a fucking bookstore?" a voice hissed. "Alan has been calling every day, and you need to get your shit together so they don't forget about you. There are so many girls that would kill for your spot. You are an ungrateful little snot." Someone snorted.

"Why don't you tell me how you really feel?" Rose the recognized the second voice as Charlie's.

"You—"

Rose and Jackie had frozen outside the door, unsure of what to do. Helen seemed to have no such qualms and knocked loudly on the door, pushing it open. Charlie and the other woman, who looked so similar to Charlie that Rose assumed it was her mother, were sitting across from each other on Charlie's bed. They both looked towards the door as it swung open, but the difference in their actions tempted Rose to laugh. Charlie's mother had snapped her neck around to fix them with a fierce glare while Charlie looked over casually and smiled warmly at the newcomers.

"Everything okay, ladies?" asked Helen.

"We're fine," Charlie's mother snapped. Charlie continued to smile. Helen raised her eyebrows, but did not comment.

"I have to do a check, so we're going to be in here for a little bit. Would you like me to get you two a visiting room?"

"No, I was just leaving," Charlie's mother said as she shot Charlie a glare. Charlie rolled her eyes as her mother stalked from the room.

"Would you like me to leave?" Charlie asked.

"No, you're fine." Rose smiled at her to show she meant it. Jackie still looked a little lost, so Rose situated her on the bed. Helen removed the contents of the bag that Jackie had brought and carefully went through them. She zipped up the bag and picked it up.

"The contents are fine, but I have to put the bag in the locker," Rose nodded her consent and Helen left with the bag. Rose settled on the bed next to her mother and looked over at Charlie.

"Mum, this is my roommate, Charlie. Charlie this is my wonderful mum."

Jackie gave Charlie a wave and a smile, but Rose could tell she was still uncomfortable. Charlie noticed it too, and told her the same thing that she had told Rose when she had arrived:

"Don't worry; I'm only a danger to myself, not others." Jackie gave her a wan smile, and turned back to Rose.

"Have you hear from the D—him?"

"No." Rose tried to hide the uncertainty in her voice, but her mother noticed and squeezed her hand.

"That ruddy bastard. When I see him I'm gonna slap 'im so hard his heads gonna spin." Rose squeezed her hand back in appreciation for her mother's rather violent way of showing she cared. "I'm sorry Rose, but I can't stay. I've gotta take gran in for her checkup. I love ya, 'kay?"

"Give my love to gran," Rose said, and kissed Jackie on the cheek.

When Jackie had left the room, Charlie turned to face Rose. "Alright, I've gotta ask, how'd you get stuck in here?"

"I was at the market with my mate Mickey when the cops showed. I guess someone had made a call saying that I was saying strange things and that they thought I was dangerous. Now I'm stuck in here. Can I ask the same for you?"

"'Course. I have a slightly more valid reason for being here than you, honestly. I swallowed a bottle of aspirin and my mum decided that it would be a great day to show up at my apartment to say hi. Needless to say, she took one look at me and next thing I knew I was in the ER. This isn't exactly the first time this has happened, either. It's the fifth. Three times during my last two years of high school, and two times in the past year. The nurses here are pretty used to me by now." She smiled and kept her tone light, but Rose detected a hint of discontent.

"I'm—I mean, wow."

"Sorry, that's kind of a lot to throw at a person in one go."

"'s okay, I just wish I could do something to help, but I'm kind of at a loss here." Charlie laughed.

"That's what everyone says, but I appreciate it nonetheless. If it makes you feel better, even the doctors don't know what to do. They throw medication after medication at me, they force me into endless hours of therapy, and somehow I keep ending up back here."

"What do you think the problem is, then? What are they missing?"

"I just keep landing in confusing and shitty situations. It's just bad luck. The one thing they're right about is that I have absolutely no respect for my body and well-being."

"Huh."

"So what's your story? What's your life like when you aren't stuck in here?" Rose thought about how to answer that. If she was honest, Charlie would start thinking she really belonged in there. But she didn't want to make up some fake life. There was something about Charlie that made her trust her. She wanted to keep her around, too. If she was stuck in here alone she didn't know what she would do.

"Well, I've got no A-levels, so I'm kind of limited as far as jobs go. I was working in Henricksen's, you know, that clothing shop?" Charlie's eyes widened.

"Wasn't that the shop that blew up? Please tell me you didn't have anything to do with that." Rose burst out laughing at Charlie's last statement.

"I wasn't the one to blow the place, no, but I was there that night. I got stuck in the basement and was freaking out when this bloke showed up and got me out. The place popped right after that. Since I was without a job, when he asked me to go traveling with him, I said yes. He's my best mate now. We were only here to visit my mum and now I'm stuck in here." Charlie gaped .

"That's quite a story!"

"Yeah. So what about you? What's your life like?"

"I work in a bookstore now, well, if I haven't lost my job for not showing up at work. But, I used to be a model. I was picked up by a scout when I was at the beach over spring break during my junior year of high school. It was everything I wanted. I got to travel, people told me I was beautiful, I got to do independent study instead of go to class every day, I was making money, and I met all sorts of important people. But that little fairytale didn't last forever. There are a lot of nasty people in the industry that use their power and position to take advantage of young girls that are far away from home. I was one of those girls. There's really nothing you can do about it when you're a million miles away from home and so many people come in and out of your life. It's really easy for them to do what they want and disappear. I tried to quit, but mum lost her job and dad's long gone, so I would have no way of paying for university unless I kept working. It didn't help that I had no way of explaining to mum what had happened. She was thoroughly determined to make me as successful as possible, and nothing was gonna get in her way. She would just claim that I was making it up because I didn't want to have to work hard. So I kept at it for a few years until I had enough money in my college fund. I was home and living with my livid mother, so I spent a lot of time at the bookstore near my house. I was there so much that the owner –Mr. Doughty—took pity on me and offered me a job. I got my own apartment, got a bird, and a year later, here I am."

"That's—wow. We're quite a pair." It felt like there was something Charlie wasn't telling her, but Rose didn't want to push it. She had told her a lot already, and it wasn't as though Rose had been entirely truthful with her either.

They decided to go back out to the dayroom to watch the rest of the movie with everyone else that didn't have visitors. Then it was time for everyone to take medication—thankfully Rose couldn't be given medication until she met with the psychiatrist, so she was okay for now—and go to their rooms. Rose changed into the pajamas her mother had brought her, and found her lids drooping with exhaustion. It had been a very eventful day. She was grateful when sleep came and saved her from thoughts of the Doctor and her unusual and frankly terrifying situation.