Hello again, lovely people!

I know I said that I would be continuing without reveiws, I would like to point out that I still want them! Thank you to Specialfrancine for reviewing every time.

AN IMPORTANT NOTE IS HERE! LOOK AT IT AND MAKE SURE THERE ARE NO MISUNDERSTANDINGS!

Originally this story was one of my more light hearted fics; focusing on Starling regaining memories and gaining family relationships. But of course, Starling took the story and tore it up into little bits. She told me it was boring and made me write THIS mess.

So, this story is about to take a more interesting course, one with a more mature mind set. I hope everyone's okay with that.

Also, if you see anything that's like; 'Dear god what is this madwoman writing?' pleasepleaseplease tell me! I need to know that I'm not going overboard. I have no editor, so this is all my undiluted writing. If it's too much TELL ME. I don't want to lose my silent stalkers and other various peoples away!

Starling

Chapter four

Starling had been planning on visiting Gwen, she really had. She liked the woman's accent. It was easy to listen to, like Ianto's was. But there was so much more to look at here. There were all these wires and computers and lights and strange noises and plants and ohmygod that's a lot of pictures and rooms and oh dear lord it was so distracting. She couldn't possibly be expected to keep away from all of it, could she?

At least that's what she told herself as she wandered down the grill steps of the hub. There was too much to look at here. And it was in the future. That in and of itself made it all that much more interesting. This was much better than the world she had been born in. By far, it was better.

Starling had covered the heavy leather of her boots with the snow walking furs she had in her hidden pocket, so that her steps were silent. She had noticed that the scales on the soles of her shoes were loud on the metal and concrete floors. If she was going to wander, she was going to do it unhindered by these strange future people. She had the concerned that Captain Jack Harkness would follow her.

Silent as shadow, Starling ghosted through the strange space. Above her was a huge dome ceiling, which had a giant nest of some sort on it. There may or may not have been movement in the shadows of the cave-like nest; so she remained wary of it. Reflections of water from somewhere were mesmerizing, and she spent a long minute staring. The huge thing in the center of the underground base was bizarre in her eyes.

She thought that it had a dangerous aura about it, and had no right to be near any living thing. But here these idiots had it right front and center. Were the future humans really so oblivious? Starling shuddered to think that she would possibly be living in this time frame. She would be the first to say that yes, there were fantastical things littering the whole place; she would also be the loudest to say that it was a dangerous distraction. With such a threat so demurely sitting in their base, they should be watching it like hawks.

Heaving a mostly silent sigh, she went to examine the enormous door. It had a cage around it, which she found strange for a door. If something happened and one got locked out, how were they supposed to get out? And the door itself was a metal hunk; how was one supposed to open such a door at all? What if there was a fire? So much electricity in one place was a death trap. There would be a fire or something. Then what would these idiots do?

Deciding that this whole idea was a big mess, and she was not going to deal with it, she drifted again.

Starling gravitated to the med-bay. She may have woken there after the forced sleep; but there had been no thoughts to look then. She had wanted to know why she was there. She had wanted to know who those strange people were, and she sure as hell wanted to know how she had fallen from a Gap into this place.

Starling scowled. This whole mess was upsetting. She wanted to go back. She had things to finish, battles to fight, people and places to find. There was no time for this nonsense. None at all.

They were going to worry about her. They were going to be looking, panicking. How could she keep them all from turning on each other from this place? If they were left alone too long, there would be blood. How was she going to be saved if they were all fighting? What if they got caught? She hadn't appointed a leader!

No.

Stop it.

They weren't going to fall apart.

Dale could hold them. Or at least he could hold Jade. And if he held down Jade, he had the rest of them.

Calm down Starling.

Shaking her head to dispel the thoughts plaguing her, she pulled up her hood and blended into the thin shadows. She had learned lots of useful tricks like that while traveling.

The short tempered man - Owen - was tapping out something on a tray filled with little boxes. The little boxes had letters and numbers on them.

It looked suspiciously like a type writer, except the whole rest of it was missing. What good was typing with just the keys if there was no paper? Or ink for that matter? What the hell was wrong with these people?

He was staring at the screen, and Starling noticed that letters were appearing on it, moving quickly to form words seemingly by magic. She carefully watched the correlation between his quick moving fingers over the keys and the words on the screen.

Oh. The tray was somehow connected to the computer.

Another distraction.

Pushing that to simmer with all the other information she had gleaned from raiding Captain Jack Harness's office; Starling looked over the small room.

Those knives are so nice. Don't you think so honey? Whispered her mind. Starling clenched her jaw. She had felt the cracks in her mind open when she fell, and had curled up behind the desk of a tourist office in hopes that this part of her wouldn't escape. But she had been distracted. This place was so distracting. I think we should try them out. There's such a lovely guinea pig right there. He would bleed so nice.

I don't want you. Go away. Starling desperately willed the voice away, but it was making her palms tingle. Her tongue remembered the taste of blood.

You know you waaaaaaaaaaant tooooooo love. It's boiling in your blood right now isn't it. I can tell. The voice cooed. Starling turned abruptly and walked as quickly away from the tempting knives and the live flesh of the future people. DON'T YOU DARE WALK AWAY! It screamed now in outrage. Starling stopped in her tracks, her whole body frozen in torn wills.

The mental voice cooed at her invitingly.

Her sanity tugged at her, reminding her that these people had been kind to her.

There is no such thing as kind remember? Nobody treats you kind.

There the mental barrier went up.

It flew up, thick and strong. It cut off the voice. It cut off the harm of the memories the voice brought with it. It cut off the pain.

Starling blinked, her eyes suddenly wide and innocent. Pulling her hood down, she skipped away to sit herself down in Gwen's unsuspecting lap.

And nobody was the wiser that they had come close to being victims of a serial killer.

Soooooooooooooo... yeah

If there are any questions or flames for going insane, please review and tell me? Insanity needs reviews to! It gets lonely in that padded cell and eats the walls. Nobody wants that.

Loves and Hugs,

Inkstained Narrations.