I started talking to myself after about a week. Holding actual conversations with myself. I didn't even notice when Ianto showed up, I was mumbled to myself about the space-time continuum. I didn't hear the door close though. I heard the soft click of the plastic tray touching the stone floor, but not the usual shut door after it. I continued my conversation, staring at the floor. I screamed bloody murder when something touched my arm.

"Shh...Charlotte, shh...it's okay." A warm hand run along my cold arm. I didn't look away from the floor, wondering if this was a hallucination from lack of sleep. "Charlotte, how about you come with me?" The voice was comforting, a low whisper. I pulled my thin blanket around me and forced myself to stand up. My legs were weak from not using them for the last weak and from lack of nutrition. The warm hand help tightly on to me around the waist and helped me up the stairs. I got to the stop of the stairs, my eyes burning from the bright light of the main room. All eyes went to me as I entered. I shifted my eyes from face to face before my legs gave out from under me. The warm hands picked me up, but I shyed away from them. They held onto my tightly and brought me over to the exam table. I tried to get off the moment I was set down, squirming and fighting against the hands that help me down.

"Melanie, give her a mild sedative, just to calm her down." A voice said. I tried to keep up my fight, by after a prick in my side, I had to fight to keep my eyes open. "Charlotte, just get some rest," was the last thing I heard before pure darkness surrounded me.

"She's malnourished, as well as dehydrated." The voice sounded fuzzy to me. I tried to open my eyes, but I was still too tired. It felt as if every ounce of energy I had was drained out of me.

"She's waking up," another voice said. "Charlotte, can you hear me?" I groaned quietly in response. "Alright, when you're ready, open your eyes. We have a few questions we want to ask you." I nodded once and mustered up the energy to open my eyes. Four people were crowded around me. Melanie was standing next to me with a clipboard, smiling at me kindly. Owen was checking my vitals, and Ianto was standing a few feet away with a plate of food. Jack was standing next to my head, his arms crossed.

"I'm glad to see you wake." He smiled genuinely at me. I gave a weak smile in return, but was too weak to sit up. There was a soft pillow under my head and a blanket around me. "We want to ask you a few questions. This isn't a test, we just want an honest answer." He uncrossed his arms and looked at Mel. "Give her a few minutes, let her eat and then feel free to ask away." He glanced at me once more before heading back into his office.

Owen moved over to help me sit up and Ianto balanced a tray in one hand, offering me a cup of water with a straw in it. I sipped the cool water, my tongue no longer feeling like sandpaper. When I had finished, he handed me a granola bar, already unwrapped.

It was odd for me, being pampered like this. I had been on my own since I was 16, it had been ten years since anyone took care of me. I devoured the food, stopping the stabbing pain in my stomach for a while.

"How are you feeling?" Mel looked me in the eyes. They were softer now. They were comforting.

"Fuzzy. I feel fuzzy. As if everything is a blur." I said in a weak voice. She nodded and sat on the counter across from the table.

"That will be a result of the sedative. It will wear off soon." She set her clipboard down. "Now, these questions I'm going to ask you, they aren't a test. They are just so we can get to know you better, figure out how that brilliant mind of yours works." I nodded. "Alright, tell me about where you were born, you're early childhood." I dug into my memory, looking for evidence of something I had buried a long time ago.

"I was born to William and Madeline Harris in Newport, Wales, Great Britain. I was an only child. My father was the CEO of Bank of Wales and my mother was a professor at University of Wales. I was raised by several nannies, who taught me how to speak French, Welsh, Russian and Spanish. At age two, I began home school. I finished primary school by the age of five, junior high by the age of six and high school by the age of eight. I got my college degree by the age of eleven, masters by the age of 13 and my PhD when I was sixteen." I could feel the curtain of fuzz wearing off and was beginning to think clearer.

"Your parents must have been very impressed." She smiled slightly, comforting me to continue. I looked at the floor, remembering my parents. They weren't home to even notice. "Charlotte?" I snapped my head up. "I won't make you talk, but this is helping us understand you better." I nodded.

"My parents didn't notice. They rarely spoke to me, and if they did, it was about how stressful work was and how they didn't have time to talk. They told me to go tell my nanny. When I was six, I remember my mother getting upset when she heard me call my nanny "Mum". I thought she was my mother. She was the one who took care of me. When I turned ten, I was half way finished with college. I wanted to impress my parents, so I showed them a paper I had written on physics. They didn't even glance at it. I spent the next six years of my life, doing nothing but try to show my parents how smart I was." I could feel myself closing off the memories that still stung me.

"What about friends? Did you have any friends?" Melanie said after she quickly wrote a note on her clipboard and set it back down. I shrugged.

"I didn't have any friends. Other kids thought I was a freak, I was rejected." I tried to seem indifferent about it, but it was something that had always bothered me. "Not many kids could do calculus when they were eight." Mel nodded, biting the corner of her lip.

"In your file, it says you ran away when you were 16." She just stated it as if it were more a fact then a question. I nodded, none the less.

"I could take care of myself and my home was a toxic place for me. I would never become anyone by sitting at home. I went out to find a job. I found people don't hire a16 year old, even if they do have PhDs." I tried to make it sound like a joke, but it wasn't funny to me. "I did side jobs for big companies, hoping I'd raise up in the ranks and get a better job. I didn't. I was a coffee girl for six years. When I turned 24, a organization contacted me. They said they wanted me to work for them because they had heard how smart I was. I took the job and it was there that I stared learning more about aliens. I did research for them. It was also how I heard of Torchwood. They didn't say anything about you, but they mentioned you. I looked everywhere for you guys, but you didn't seem to exist. Soon after that, they fired me for no reason. I had to make a name for myself, so I took matters into my own hands. I had the knowledge to hack into any computer, so I gathered information and about two months ago, I put this whole plan together. I figured if I couldn't do something good for the world, I could at least get some attention." It was almost strange how much flew out of my mouth. I hadn't told anyone this before. Mel nodded, took a few notes and stood up again.

"That's all I really needed." She smiled and handed me off to Ianto. He smiled at me kindly and led me over to a couch on the edge of the room.

"Now is usually the time when they take me back downstairs." I smiled. Ianto nodded and looked into Jack's office.

"Usually, but this isn't a usual situation. I have talked Jack into letting me take you to get some actual food. You have been locked up for two weeks and haven't had a decent meal in a while." He looked back at me. "What do you say to that idea?"

"Ianto Jones, are you asking me on a date?"