Okay, sorry for the delay, but Harry-Potter-Week was quickly followed by My-Bloody-Computer-Won't-Frelling-Work-Properly-Week. There's a change in POV, as promised, this is from Rose. It was also a total bugger to write! Hope you enjoy.

This chapter's for those wonderful folk at TIME AND CHIPS, because they showed me that people can really care for those they don't know very well. I'm so sorry for that mistaken post this week and I'm sorry I've been AWOL for so long. Thank you very much for caring.

Thank you so much to everyone who reviewed, I can't believe I've broken 100 reviews on for this. You guys rock. Keep those reviews coming!

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Part Seven: Little Girl Lost

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The sky outside the window slowly turns pink; a mixture of rainbows converging into the one colour, but its beauty seems irrelevant to her. It's almost night time again; almost time for the respite she has between silent empty days. She lives only for those moments; she lives for every second she gets to spend with him, even if she has little control over where they go and what they do. But he's getting control. She smiles at that thought. Her Doctor found a way, just as she's spent so long hoping he would. He's coming to get her, she knows he is…it's all that keeps her going some days.

It's not so much the loneliness that bothers her, not even so much the memories of her family and friends, because she had already made peace with the fact that she rarely saw them, she had already known that each visit might be her last…it's the memory of him that haunts her. She remembers everything even though she knows that he doesn't, not yet. She remembers every smile, every moment she held his hand, she remembers every time her heart missed a beat just because he was there beside her. She has no regrets, but she can't help thinking that there was so much more she wanted from him, so much she still wants. They didn't waste any of their time together, with the Doctor time was always at their disposal, and there's nothing she wishes to change. What she wants is more time, what she wants is to tell him how much he means to her.

"24, time to go."

She flinches as her given name is called. Name, she laughs, more like designation. She feels like she's been assimilated into a borg collective, like on Star Trek; 7of9 or something like that. She remembers watching with Mickey on Wednesday nights after work; her first job in the shop round the corner. One pound ninety an hour. Bloody slave labour, well that's what she'd thought at the time, but now she knows better. Working for smelly old Al had been the best job in the world compared to what faces her every day now. Her only saving grace is that the days are shorter on this planet than on earth, and the nights thankfully longer.

During the day she's expected to put up pretences and she knows the punishment of refusing. She's lost count of how long she's been here; lost count of the weeks she spent refusing everything, denying it all. They took things from her one at a time, her voice - when she wouldn't stop screaming for him, her hair - when she refused to let them ornate it, but worst of all…her dignity.

She clutches her hands into fists at her side, refuses to look down, refuses to acknowledge the leering gazes and hooting calls as she's led outside and around the courtyard. The wind gently whips about her causing a reaction in her body that seems to please the guards on duty, but still she cannot let them see that it's tearing her apart, because all she has left for them to take are her memories and she won't allow that. He is all that keeps her going some days, the light at the end of the tunnel, or some crap like that. Either way, it's everything to her, it's the only thing that keeps her strong enough to still say no.

"Ah, young one." The silky voice sends a strong surge of loathing coursing through her blood. "Once more we find ourselves standing in this room."

There are so many replies on her tongue, but her inability to speak would only add to the humiliation if she tried to reply without sound. A finger begins to trace its way up her arm and across the back of her neck, but she wills herself to remain still. She won't give him the reaction he's trying to get. He can do whatever he wants with her, but her spirit won't break. She isn't sure when it was that she first realised that the TARDIS was with her, but the knowledge that there was a chance to be remembered sparked some resistance in her quickly fading strength. She had almost said 'yes', almost allowed…she had almost signed her own fate. She had given up hope, but just before the word left her mouth she had felt the TARDIS, that small link to the Doctor had come into awareness and her fight to make him remember had begun.

She still remembers the last time she saw him, still remembers his screams as they ripped his memories from him. It hadn't been so hard for them to do the same to Jack, because they weren't so concerned with him, because they planned to separate the two men. No, all Jack needed was a temporary bout of amnesia where she was concerned, because he would have no means to do anything about it when they were done and he had been left on some planet, but the Doctor had caused so much more trouble. A ghost of a smile teased her lips as she realised what that meant. She was so ingrained in him that they had struggled to make him forget; he had fought them every step of the way as she had watched. It had taken days before the mixture of drugs, surgery, and torture had finally removed every part of her from his life. And she had watched. Watched as the only thing she clung to was ripped from under her feet.

"Are you still thinking about him?"

The sudden close proximity of his voice startles her and she can't stop her reaction. He laughs at her and she inwardly cringes. She's never heard a laugh so cruel and yet so beautiful. That's what makes this so much worse, the beauty and kindness that he adorns her with at every meeting. She would have preferred the same treatment the Doctor was given, at least that way it would be easy to know that she was making the right choice in refusing, instead of having reminders of how much easier her life would be if she would just agree.

He waves a hand and the constriction in her throat vanishes. She clutches at it, taking deep gasping breaths, making sure to vocalise them. Her voice is croaky and unused; the five minutes she's allowed during their meetings each day are far from adequate, but they're enough to form one word.

"No," she says instantly.

He laughs again. "My dear, how long do you intend to continue with this madness?"

It's the same conversation every night. He talks and she says nothing but 'no'. He taunts her with ideas of love and comfort, all the while raking his eyes up and down her naked form as if it's his to peruse at will. She hates it. She wants nothing more than to scream and shout at him, to tell him that she'll never agree to anything he wants, to tell him that her Doctor will come for her…but she's already done that so many times. She's lost so much already; so much of who she is seems lost to her and she's not sure she'll ever get it back. She wants to believe that the Doctor is finally on the path, that he's finally going to come and get her, but it seems so different this time.

"24, listen to Agnon."

She turns to 3, shaking her head softly. This is a tactic he began to employ the night after he first took her voice from her; the others will tell her of their lives, of how much better they are now, now that they agreed. She always shakes her head. They can't understand. Their lives were never like hers; they didn't have the Doctor.

"He always gets, 24."

"I'm a collector." The words echo in her head at the memory. He always gets. He collects. He always gets. Well not this time.

"You know he won't take you against your will, so you must agree. He can't force you; it's not in his nature," 3 rationalises, not realising that she's merely angering Rose.

"Against his nature?" Rose bellows. "He took me from my friends! He forced them to forget me! He took my voice, my hair, my clothes, my life! Don't you dare tell me it's against his nature!"

The sound echoes through the room, ricocheting off the walls and coming back twice as loud. As her words fade from the air, the heavy rain on the windows is all that can be heard. She's not sure when it started raining, but this planet's weather system is unstable - the Doctor had told her that when they landed - if only they'd had a heads up that the people were also unstable, perhaps the situation could have been avoided.

"I see we remain at an impasse," Agnon says, drifting undesirably close once more. "Until tomorrow then," he says with a wistful sigh, waving his hand at her throat and stealing her voice for another night.

She keeps her head up as she follows the guard back outside and around the castle. The rain is painful on her sensitive skin and she wants nothing more than to wrap her arms around her chest, but she won't give them the satisfaction.

She enters her room a few moments later with chattering teeth. She's freezing, but she knows that no towel will be forthcoming and she doesn't want to get her sheet wet; it's the only thing she has at night to keep her warm.

The urge to curl into the corner and sob uncontrollably is rising in her again, but she can't let them break her. She feels a gentle tug at the back of her mind and smiles, recognising the TARDIS instantly. The connection weakens with every passing day, but still it remains and she hopes it always will. The idea of the TARDIS being in her mind had originally seemed to wrong; she'd hated that it could read her mind without permission, but now? Well, without it, she'd have no hope of rescue. She'd have nothing.

She slides down the wall and crouches, her knees tucking under her chin and her eyes closing. She tries to reach out to him, but the TARDIS intervenes with what Rose likes to think of as 'call waiting'. The Doctor's out doing something, he can't come to her. She tries to take comfort in hoping that he's looking for her, but after yet another meeting with Agnon she can't help but lose a little more faith that she'll ever be rescued.

"So where are we?" Rose asks again, frowning as Jack and the Doctor roll their eyes good naturedly. She knows that they're both full of it, because she can always tell when they're bluffing; they've never been here before, they're just in the mood to show off. She doesn't mind really, because let's face it; what girl in her right mind would try to stop two fit guys trying to please her? Plus, the fact that she could get them to do anything for her gives them the right to get a little back every now and then, so she plays stupid and lets them show off.

"Rosie?"

She blinks and looks at Jack, who's frowning at her. She realises she's completely missed their latest explanation of whatever planet they're on and thus not let them show off. She smile and shrugs, knowing that they're not really bothered.

"Come on then, dozy," the Doctor says, reaching for her hand.


They walk out into the sunlight and are immediately startled to find that they're surrounded by a crowd of people. To all intents and purposes, they look human; granted, there's a slightly green tinge to their skins, but the sunlight isn't the right colour (something to do with ions in the atmosphere, the Doctor had said, not that she had let on she was listening - he might get the idea she wanted to hear science stuff all the time) so it might just be that.

"Hello," the Doctor says and she grins. His unfailing optimism that everyone likes to be greeted with a smile always sounds good in theory, but she never remembers anything good coming of those encounters.

After a lot of strange looks and a rather stilted conversation with one of the locals, the Doctor is soon leading them towards what looks like some castle Rose remembers her mum taking her to when they were on holiday. 'Course that was cause she fancied the bloke who ran the tours, Rose remembers with a smile.

She glances to her right and spots Jack eyeing up the locals. She grins when he turns to look at her with an all too innocent look on his face. There was definitely something about his cocky arrogance that was altogether charming, even if she was at a loss to explain it.

By the time they reach the 'castle' and begin walk through around inside the maze of corridors for a bit, Rose is bored. So bored in fact that they're seated around King Arthur's table before she so much as realises they aren't walking anymore; Well, she reasons, glancing at it, it is round

"Welcome."

The silky voice attracts everyone's attention and Rose can't deny that she's instantly drawn to the tall, majestic man that has just entered the room. If anyone could ever be said to be the epitome of the word 'gladiator', this man was it. Tall, dark, brooding, handsome, and more muscles than Vin Diesel, Rose can quite safely say, 'guh'.

"Hi," she says softly, drawing a frown from the Doctor. She notes that Jack is eyeing up their new acquaintance with just as much pleasure as she is, but cant help the smile on her face as the sees that the Doctor seems less impressed.

"I bid you welcome to our world," the newcomer says, taking a seat opposite them. "May I ask why you come to be?"

"In general or just here?" Jack asks with a wink. "Because if it's the first, I can introduce you to the practice."

Rose can't help chuckling and refrains from pointing out the obvious when it comes to reproduction. "We're explorers, you might say," Rose answers before the Doctor.

The man seems startled, but whether it's by her reply or her she's not sure. "I see. I admire exploration."

"I'm the Doctor, these are my companions, Rose and Jack," the Doctor says and she can sense the unease in him, but holds of asking anything. "And you are?"

"I am Agnon and this is my world."

"Is it now?"

Agnon nods. "These people are mine to rule such as I am theirs to demand of. They serve me and I serve them the best I can."

"And what do you do, Agnon, besides serving?" his voice has that slightly patronising lilt to it and Rose smiles, knowing he can see it out of the corner of his eyes. His hand tightens around hers briefly.

"I'm a collector."

"Really?" Jack asks, seeming interested by the wonderful artwork around them. Normally that would confuse her, but as all the portraits are nude she's in full understanding. She rolls her eyes at him and she shrugs. "I like 'em," Jack continues, teasing Rose into a reply.


"Oh, these are but trifles," Agnon says with a smile, unknowingly stepping into their flow before Rose can say anything at all. She looks across the table at Agnon and his eyes lock hers in an intense gaze. His voice has an almost hypnotic feel to it and Rose shakes her head slightly refusing to look back at him. He throws her off balance and he knows it. There's something about this world, something missing, but she's not sure what…and then she realises. Women; she hasn't seen a single woman since they got there and that's not a comforting thought.

A loud clatter startles her and her head pops up, that momentary hope that the Doctor has finally reached her instantly shattered when she sees 17 arrive with her night time glass of water. She nods, but doesn't smile at the woman.

As 17's pattering footsteps fade away, she tries the Doctor again, but to no avail. The TARDIS won't let her through. Rose knows there's a reason, she just wishes she knew what it was. She needs to know.

A flash of pictures and sounds assault her and she reels from the intensity. A moment later, breathing deeply, she sorts through the images the TARDIS sent her and smiles. They're memories of someone…memories of Jack. That's what the Doctor's doing, he's searching for Jack.

The memory of what they did to Jack is fresh in her mind and she smiles grimly. They'll pay for it. Agnon will pay for what he did to her friends, he'll pay for everything he does to her.

"I'm a collector."

The voice rings around in her head. He may be a collector, but not for much longer, because if there's one thing that Rose knows without doubt it's that the Doctor and Jack won't rest until she's home…she can't give up on them, because they haven't given up on her. That's what the TARDIS is giving her…hope.

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End of Part Seven

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