AN: Here's the next chapter! Updates may be a bit sporadic, cause I've got a ton of other projects that I'm working on, but nonetheless I promise to keep the story going. Review and tell me what you think!

Disclaimer: I own nothing

"This is the police, open the door now!" yelled the commander of the squadron at the top of his voice, the sound of his pounding against the metal door thundering through the dark hall. "Open the door!"

Exasperated, the Doctor wormed his way through the cluster of heavily-armed police, bumping into their thick armor and large shields. "Here," he said, sonicking the door.

It slid open, revealing yet another dark corridor. At the end of the hall, there was a figure, but it was too swathed in shadow to make out anything else about it. Then they heard sauntering footsteps, and a man emerged into the dim light.

He wore a hospital gown stained with blood, and nearly every inch of visible skin was seared with red, bulbous scars. He was bleeding from his forehead, and it nearly completely painted the left side of his face.

"Please," he whimpered. "P-p-p-please help me!"

"It's alright," said the commander. "We're here to help. Just stay calm and someone will be with you right away."

In response, one of medical techs ushered him down the hall, whispering soothingly to him.

The Doctor felt his hearts tighten in horror at the sight. It made him scared to think what they could have done to Rose. He sighed, hoping to mollify the rising heat of his anger at the thought of them harming her. Still, his skin bristled as his thoughts of what they could have done continued to deteriorate. The moment he'd learned about the kind of things the program did to it's victims, he'd felt like he was going to be sick. Experimentation, drugging, torture. The whole purpose of the program was producing drugs and torture methods for warfare. It terrified him to think of what they could have done to his precious Rose.

They continued down the hall, and discovered even more poor men and women traumatized and in pain, only half-aware of their surroundings as they begged for help to no one in particular. It seemed as if the scientists in charge had known they were coming, and abandoned it in hopes of escaping, the cowards.

"Evacuate the victims," the commander said to his followers, and they did so, carefully guiding the men and women out of the dark corridor and to the safety of the nearby ship.

"We still need to find Rose," he said, turning towards the man.

"There's no sign of your friend, Doctor," he replied, his voice crisp from inside the suit.

The Doctor's hands clenched into tight fists, and his tone darkened. "I am not leaving without her."

The commander stared at him for a long time, then sighed. "Fine."

His hearts heavy within his chest, he went further down the corridor and took a right, stopping at a large white door. He could hear someone crying inside, and immediately he felt his hearts jump into his throat. He pounded on the door. "Rose?"

There was no reply, just further sobbing.
"Listen, whoever you are, I'm going to get you out," he said, fumbling with the sonic screwdriver and angling it at the latch. "Everything's going to be okay, I promise."

The door slid open, revealing none other than Rose herself balled up in a corner. She wore a white smock and white trousers, but they were stained with blood, and he felt his insides go cold at the sight. Her hair, once so golden, was now dull and greasy, matted and full of tangles. Her skin was so pale that she looked sickly, and she had lost a considerable amount of weight since the last time he saw her.

"Rose," he gasped, getting down on his knees and reaching out for her.

Rose flinched as he reached toward her, eyes wide with an animalistic fear, and his stomach turned as he realized that she did not recognize him. No, he thought, unable to cope with the idea that she no longer knew him.

"Rose, it's me," he said gently, stroking her shoulder even though she flinched away. "It's the Doctor."

Still, his words seemed to do nothing to comfort her. She continued to tremble violently, sobbing into her knees. He found himself at a loss for what to do. He reached out and pressed his fingertips against her temples, sending her something that was almost the equivalent to a mental hug, and immediately she wrapped her arms around him, burying her face in the crook of his neck.

"Shhh," he soothed, stroking up and down her back. "It's okay. You're safe now. No one's going to hurt you."

Back in the TARDIS, the Doctor guided Rose to the med bay and ran a few tests on her in hopes of understanding why she did not seem to recognize him. She eyed him warily the entire time as she sat on the bed, and every so often she would start to whimper and cry, and he would rush to her side, cuddling and whispering to her until she seemed stable again.

When the test results finally came back, the Doctor realized what was wrong with her. She was under the influence of a potent cocktail of hallucinogens and stimulants, designed to temporarily erase her memory and increase her fear so that she had no idea who or where she was, only that she was terrified beyond comfort. He felt his entire body tighten when he saw the results.

Sneaking a glance back at Rose, he saw that she had pulled her feet up onto the bed and was burying her face in her knees. He swallowed painfully, and reached toward her.

"Shh," he said, pulling away when she flinched at his touch. "It's alright. I'm going to make all the monsters go away."

She shook beneath his touch, but leaned towards him. Very gently, he pressed his fingertips against her forehead, sending her into a sweet, dreamless sleep.