Hi, long time no see. I know it's been a while- 7 months or so - but I hope you can forgive me. Right after I posted my last chapter, a lot happened - some good, some bad - that took me away from the story. (It didn't help that this chapter gave so much resistance.) I could give excuses, but I won't.

Thanks to seeing a review telling me they hoped I'd update, I found my will to write this story rekindled. (So thanks for that! I didn't see the review til much later, but once I saw it, it motivated me to get back to writing the story.)

Enough of that. On to the story. Here's where we last left off:

Before the Doctor and Jack could react, before she even realized what was happening, Zoe found herself seized and dragged towards the last human by the imposing cloaked figure. She thought she heard Jack and the Doctor yell her name, but she couldn't quite hear over her pounding heart.

Nausea curled in her stomach the moment her mind caught up with her situation. In one second, she was leaning against the observation window, the next she was beside a smug Cassandra. Worst, she felt too weak and nauseous to do much more than try to tug her arm loose from the Repeated Meme's firm grip holding her hostage.

Unsurprisingly, her meager effort didn't so much as loosen its grip. In fact, the Repeated Meme jerked her backward, so her back hit its chest and it could pull her into a secure headlock. The simultaneous feeling of a metallic arm wrapped around her throat and of wires poking her beneath its robe filled her with unease. It was a strong reminder that the Adherents of the Meme weren't anything more than an idea. Robots programmed to do Cassandra's bidding. All it would take was a command from Cassandra, and she would be dead.

As if the universe heard her thoughts, it was at that moment she felt the cold graze of a gun at her head.

She knew it was a gun from two things. First, the cool, metallic feel of its barrel against her temple, and second, the way the Doctor's jaw stiffened and eyes blazed with tightly controlled fury. Frankly, Zoe didn't know how Cassandra didn't flinch at the cold rage emanating from him.

Even Jack's usually playful and laid back demeanor had vanished in an instant, replaced by something glacial and jaded as he stared down the last human. Though judging by his lack of surprise, she guessed this was one of those events he'd known was going to happen and had let happen in order to protect the timeline.

The Doctor stared down the last human. "Let her go, Cassandra."

Lacking any common sense, Cassandra laughed at him, a girly and bubbly sound. The wrongness of it had the hairs on Zoe's neck raise up. "Or you'll do what?"

Without waiting for a response, she shifted her gaze to the Repeated Meme holding her hostage and gave it a meaningful flick of her eyes.

Immediately, the Repeated Meme shuffled Zoe further into the room, so the doors could swoosh shut behind them, sealing them all inside the private observation deck. The three spiders crawled up along the walls onto the ceiling above them, their feet making a click-clacking sound as they went.

The Doctor narrowed his eyes and opened his mouth to no doubt unleash a stinging retort, but Zoe didn't get to hear what he said, as another unexpected wave of dizziness swept through her. She squeezed her eyes shut, riding the sensation out as best as she could.

Which meant not well at all.

Zoe felt her head slump in the Repeated Meme's headlock. If it weren't for the Repeated Meme holding her up at gunpoint, she'd have slid to the floor and crumpled into a useless heap. The only upside seemed to be her dark hair. Gravity had it falling in waves over her eyes, blocking out the room's harsh light and taking the edge off her headache and nausea.

She heard Cassandra say something back to whatever the Doctor had said, but her words didn't make any sense. Her voice was muffled and distorted like Zoe was hearing it across a great distance and not a mere foot away.

The last human seemed to be monologuing at them, and Zoe distantly wondered if she was revealing her evil plans like a stereotypical villain. Whatever she was saying, her words were interrupted by the abrupt feeling of the space station shaking.

Somehow the jarring motion seemed to crank the volume back up, because suddenly, Zoe could hear everything again with startling clarity.

The floor rumbled and roared beneath her feet, nearly knocking her and the others down. Even Cassandra's wheels almost lost their grip on the floor and had her sliding backward a couple inches. She was only stopped from falling by the quick actions of her boys, each grabbing her frame and anchoring her to the floor.

When the shaking subsided, the Steward's voice sounded from the ship's speakers, calm and assured and clearly lying through his teeth. "Honored guests may be reassured that gravity pockets may cause slight turbulence, thank you."

The Doctor glared at Cassandra. "We both know that wasn't a gravity pocket. They don't feel like that."

Ah. So Cassandra did tell him her diabolical plans of sabotaging the ship to kill everyone for money. Wonderful. At least, Zoe hadn't had to listen to it. Gotta look at the bright side somehow.

Cassandra rolled her eyes. "Any fool with a brain could work that out. That was my spiders hacking the last of the ship's mainframe."

Something about their exchange struck her as familiar, particularly the Steward's broadcasted message and the Doctor's comment. Through her pounding headache, she struggled to figure out why those words seemed so important. She's sure she'd heard them before in Doctor Who…Then the answer hit her and she wished it hadn't.

"The steward," she breathed out in dawning horror.

"Oh, yes," Cassandra said, and Zoe could just make out her satisfied smirk. "He's dead. Just one of the first to go."

She closed her eyes in what felt like defeat. In the show, the steward had made that announcement right before one of Cassandra's spiders had killed him. It just took one robotic spider to deactivate his office's sun filter, allowing the sun to finish him off. The harsh reality of what had happened was agonizing to Zoe's conscience.

Her thoughts became sharp as razor blades coated in self-loathing and self-accusation. If only she hadn't listened to Jack and forced the Doctor to reveal the truth, she could have been out there, revealing Cassandra's plans.

The spiders would have been ousted and would never had the opportunity to sabotage the ship.

The Adherents of the Repeated Meme would have been revealed for what they are. Just an idea.

And Cassandra, well, she imagined she would have been arrested.

But no, instead she'd allowed herself to get distracted. She let herself get wrapped up in herself. And now, a life was lost.

Two, actually, the sudden realization adding to her guilt. There was that maintenance worker Rose had talked to, Billy something or other. The one who had to ask for permission to talk. She'd been pulled into the vents by the spiders in the show.

How could she have forgotten her? How could she have messed things up so badly?

Jack's furious voice pierced through her thoughts. "Not if I make you dead next," he said to Cassandra, "and save everyone else in one go."

She opened her eyes in time to see Jack pulling out his 1911 pistol from its holster and pointing it at Cassandra.

The Doctor looked as furious as Jack had sounded, but he blocked the time agent with his arm. "Put the gun down, Jack."

Jack simply smirked and sidestepped him, keeping the gun focused between Cassandra's eyes. "I have no intention of letting her leave this room with Zoe. My Zoe couldn't tell me the details, but I know you try to hurt her. You'll have a pretty little hole in your face before I let anything happen to her."

Cassandra looked unfazed by Jack's threat. "Oh, don't worry your ugly little head about it," she said. "I wouldn't hurt the merchandise."

Zoe swallowed hard, murky thoughts swirling in a thick haze. Merchandise? Is she referring to me?

"Boys, at arms!" Cassandra commanded.

Swift in their steps, her two attendants sprung into action, stepping from their mistress' side and raising their spray guns in unison.

Just as quick, Jack shifted the direction of his barrel to somewhere below Cassandra's frame. This time Cassandra tensed, as much as a tight span of framed skin can anyway.

Zoe's gaze followed the barrel. Aw, so she does have a brain. There, secured to a shelf beneath her frame, was a human brain floating in a huge jar.

The Doctor gave one last uneasy glance at Jack and his gun, seeming to give up on making him do anything, before turning his focus back on Cassandra and her boys. "What are you going to do, moisturize us to death?"

Though Zoe couldn't see the last human's expression from her position, she could easily imagine the smug curl of her lip. "With acid," Cassandra said, "but I have a better idea. As you know, my spiders are ready and primed to destroy the safety systems. When the planet explodes…Well, perhaps you should have listened to your know-it-all little friend here when you had the chance."

The only sign her words affected the Time Lord was the way his jaw tightened and fingers curled into fists at his sides.

"I could go on about how stupid you must be," the Doctor said, "to sabotage a ship you're still on, but I think we've already established your low IQ. I'd much rather ask what you want with Zoe."

"I was planning to manufacture a hostage situation with myself as one of the victims. The compensation would have been enormous, but then I got a good look at her. The girl may be a mongrel, but you can't deny her skin is beautiful. Flatness costs a fortune, but getting skin that looks like that," her cold eyes caressing Zoe's face in ways that had her skin crawling, "is priceless. When the ship burns with the planet, they'll assume she's dead. No one will look for her. Even better, all my shares in your rival companies will triple in price once you're all dead."

"So, what? You're going to sell her to the highest bidder?" Jack said, shifting his feet in alarm and almost breaking his shooting stance in his surprise. Almost. His pistol never shifted away from its target: Miss Skin-on-wheel's brain.

"Oh, not at all," Cassandra said airily, even as she kept a wary eye on Jack and his gun. "I'll be the first to admit I'm a selfish being. I'm going to keep her all to myself. She has just the right shade of ivory I need for several skin-extension surgeries. When I'm done with her, I'll give everyone whiplash with how fast everyone's heads will want to turn and look at me."
Both the Doctor and Jack's mouths creased in horror and disgust.

All Zoe could feel was disturbed and not a little bit distressed at hearing Cassandra's plans for her.

This was definitely not in the show!

How could her presence screw up the timeline this much? Was it her powers that did this? Did she somehow turn Cassandra into a crazy, serial killer that stole girls for their skin like Buffalo Bill in Silence of the Lambs? Or was she always like this?

If the situation wasn't so horrifying, she'd find it funny how this situation would have fit in her murder mystery story, the one she'd been writing so furiously before she found herself in the Doctor's world…

Amelia, her FBI agent, was supposed to be kidnapped by the very black market dealers she was after. They were guilty of organ trafficking and harvesting everything from their victims, including…

…Including their skin.

Her thoughts nearly shuddered to a halt in stunned horror.

Their skin!

Somehow, some way, she did this. She'd changed Cassandra at a fundamental level with…

What? A thought? How exactly do her powers work?

The Doctor called her dangerous that night he took her with him from Jackie's flat.

Looking at Cassandra, at her thin, surgical scars piecing together what she now knew to be the skin of other girls like herself near seamlessly…

She couldn't help but agree.

She focused in on the subtle way Cassandra's skin tone shifted between different shades of ivory and beige and felt bile rise up her throat as she wondered how many girls became cosmetic 'merchandise' in the last humans' eyes…

Because of Zoe and whatever she'd done to mess things up so badly.

And now, the bitchy trampoline wanted to add her name to what must be a long list of victims.

She tensed, readying herself for a fight, as conviction overrode her fear. Like hell she'd let herself become a victim to Cassandra's vanity. She'd fight her way out if she had to.

Even as she thought this, she felt lethargy sink its claws in her even deeper, but she ignored the way her body was feeling. She refused to give in to weakness when her very life depended on her to act.

"Don't I get a say in this?" she asked the room at large, speaking for the first time since her capture. She was proud to hear her voice sounding strong, despite the way her stomach curled with nausea and guilt.

So much guilt.

"Zoe!" Jack cried with a shaky laugh. "You're awake."

"Zoe," the Doctor said, sounding just as relieved as Jack, if not more. Did they think she was unconscious this whole time? How out of it did she look? "Are you alright?"

Cassandra scoffed at the men before she could answer. "She has no say in what happens to her. She's just a beauty product now." Then turning her frame to face the Repeated Meme holding her, she ordered, "Now shut her mouth."

The Repeated Meme started to move its arm from around her throat. Most likely so it could cover her mouth with its robotic hand.

She refused to let that happen.

"Get off me!" she yelled, as she fought to get loose from the Repeated Meme's hold. "I'm NOT a thing you can use."

She gave everything she had as she struggled to pull away from its hold on her. Unfortunately, she didn't have much to give. Her movements were too sluggish and weak to make any real headway, and she was up against a cold, unfeeling droid. "Let. Me. Go!"

"I said shut her up!" Cassandra commanded. She felt the Repeated Meme reach up, and somehow she just knew it was going to knock her out with its gun. Just like it did to Rose in the show.

Zoe screwed her eyes shut, as panic filled her. She couldn't fight her way out of this. She only had her mind.

Without consciously doing it, she fed her fear, despair and defiance to her spiraling thoughts, all directed at her captor.

Let me. Go.

You're just an idea anyway.

So. Go. Away.

Disappear.

LEAVE ME ALONE!

The next thing she knew, the Adherent of the Repeated Meme wasn't holding onto her anymore — it was just gone. Like it had never existed in the first place.

With nothing holding her up, she tumbled to the ground, distantly aware of the warm liquid trickling from her nose.

Likewise, the gun, definitely alien in its construction, hit the floor with a loud clang and skidded past Jack's feet. It collided with the window barrier, lighting up and showing off a octagon geometric pattern before it dissipated into nothing.

Finding herself staring at the ceiling, feeling like a limp Annie doll with how her arms and legs felt like loose noodles, all she could think was a dizzy, What just happened?

Somewhere above her, Cassandra howled in rage.

The Doctor rushed forward and pulled her against him while Jack looked torn between doing the same and holding Cassandra's brain at gun point.

Not having any energy to fight the arrangement, Zoe did the only sensible thing she could do. She laid her head on the Time Lord's shoulder and closed her eyes, feeling leather press against her cheek.

"Zoe," the Doctor said. When she didn't respond right away, he tried again, voice sharp with worry. "Zoe!"

She rolled her head, willing for her stomach to hold still, and looked up at him through hooded eyes. She tried to say something, anything to let him know she was okay, but all that came out was a pained moan.

"Shh," the Doctor said, worry shining from his eyes. "Don't try to talk. Hold on."

Still holding her, she felt him slip his hand into his leather jacket pocket and pull out his sonic screwdriver. Then to her surprise, he stood up, lifting her up with him, so she had to wrap her arms around his neck to keep herself from falling.

Realizing he was carrying her bridal style — again — she would have blushed if she had the energy. For now, she just let herself feel safe, breathing in his cool, leather scent…and just tried not to pass out.

"Aren't you forgetting something?" Cassandra asked, as the Doctor walked past her frame with an armful of Zoe toward the room's exit. "You're not taking her anywhere. I am."

"No. You're not," the Doctor said firmly, his mouth a grim line.

Zoe felt his arms tighten around her, the screwdriver in his left hand pressing against her bare arm. She dared a glance up into his face and once again found herself glad she was on his side. She didn't want to be on the receiving end of that look.

The doors swooshed open, and the Doctor stepped into the hall with her. To her relief, Jack was only one step behind, having followed them out with his gun trained on Miss Bitchy Trampoline's brain.

This constant threat to their mistress's vital organ seemed to be the only reason her goons hadn't unleashed their acid on them — that and their mistress wouldn't want them to hurt the 'merchandise.' Zoe thought this last bit with an unconscious sneer.

The Doctor turned around to face the last human and offered one last cold smile. "No, you're not taking her anywhere. You're not taking anyone else ever again, because you know what I think?" He lifted his sonic screwdriver up. "I think you were stupid enough to sabotage a ship you're on, and on a faulty ship, anything can happen…

"Like doors locking guests in observation decks. With glitching sun filters."

Zoe felt her eyes widen at that. The Doctor wouldn't hurt her, would he? No, she thought, but he'd let her think he would.

She watched him swipe the door panel with his screwdriver. Its electric warbling signaling the doors to shut and lock the last human and her faithful minions inside the private observation deck.

If Zoe and the Doctor expected Cassandra to panic, to plea for mercy, they were mistaken.

As the doors started to close, Cassandra only smirked. "Oh, you remind me of my fifth husband. A dead fool." Then she glanced at her spiders, "Activate."

With that, explosions rocked throughout the platform of the ship causing the forcefields to drop. The sounds of screams and shrieks of panicking guests down the hall soon followed.

The jarring force of explosions caused the door to shudder midway and reopen, giving them a full view of the last human's smug smile.

"Safety systems failing," the Computer announced. "Heat levels rising."

Cassandra looked at the last Time Lord, expression cool. "I'm more than my good looks you know. Of course I have a way off this ship." She activated her teleportation beam, and she started to shift and fade from view along with her minions.

As she began to fade, her sapphire eyes locked onto Zoe. "Don't worry, dear. You're coming with me. Say bye, bye now."

The Doctor's grip on Zoe tightened almost painfully, even as she gasped as she felt the disorienting sensation of phasing away. Somehow, the last human had locked her teleportation feed onto her as well.

"No!" Jack cried out and pulled the trigger on his gun.

The deafening sound of a gunshot and glass shattering was the last thing Zoe heard before she felt darkness swallow her whole, and she knew no more.

Please review! Your reviews are my sustenance and help me know how I'm doing. I'd also love to hear your thoughts on Zoe and her power and the impact her presence has on the story.