Fic: Precious Flowers, Chapter 4
Anyone remember this story? I started it ages ago and you all probably thought (if you remember it at all) that I'd given up on it. Well, I haven't. Here's the next bit. Sorry about the long wait. This has not been a good year for me and it's still not looking up. Next chapter is under way and will hopefully be finished in the next couple of weeks. Sorry for the long delays, but I'm a postgrad. Just finished my MA this autumn and have now started my PhD. Yay me. *g*
Also, I've gone back and given the previous chapters names, based on the Victorian Language of Flowers. More on that in my Author's Notes.
Title: Precious Flowers
Author: Cleo
Rating: PG-13 (so far)
Pairing: 9th Doctor/Rose, hints of 9th/Rose/Jack later on
Fandom: Doctor Who
Category: Romance, Adventure
Summary: A shopping trip to make some things up to Rose goes terribly wrong when a secret about the planet threatens to leave the group divided.
Author's Notes: As always, thanks to MorganSThomas since it was her story, Losing Rose, that inspired 'Precious Flowers' in the first place. Thanks also to jedda and fanged_geranium for the beta read.
The Language of Flowers:
“The language of flowers is not new, some flowers have held time-honoured meanings for centuries... even Shakespeare referred to flowers in several of his plays. It was the Victorians, though, who made the language of flowers into a fine art. People would send carefully chosen bouquets to represent their feelings. Inverted flowers would represent the opposite of the usual meaning.”
From Gift Fair - http://www.gift-fair.co.uk/language_flowers.cfm
Previous Chapters (now revised and named):
Chapter 1 - Among Chrysanthemums and Carnations
Chapter 2 - My Clematis Amid the Scent of Lavender
Chapter 3 - Zinnias Incased in Stone
Precious Flowers
Chapter 4
The Palest Blush of Camellias
The Tulorins had very literal minds when it came to naming things. The Plaza of Trees, like the Plaza of Glass, was very much what it sounded like. Walkways paved in white stone lined the edges and crisscrossed the heart of the plaza, but other than that it was basically a forest surrounded by tall white buildings.
The Doctor had actually been rather grateful for the length of the walk across the city. As much as he wanted to get to Rose as soon as possible, he knew he had to calm himself down first. His initial impulse, to find this Commission for the Protection of Females and start taking it apart bit by bit until he found Rose, was not a realistic plan of action. He needed to find out what they thought they were doing first, see if he couldn't get her back without bringing the full power of the Tulorin government down on their heads and putting either Rose or Jack in any more danger than usual. He could worry about dismantling the commission (and possibly the government) when Rose was safely back aboard the TARDIS where these nuts couldn't get to her. Besides, all he really needed was to be allowed to see her. He was sure that if he could manage to get himself and Jack in the same room with her, the three of them could find a way back out again.
Unfortunately, to manage any plan at all the Doctor needed to be in control of himself. Something that he was finding rather difficult at the moment. Strange, there had been a time when he'd been able to keep his head in any situation. But then, there had also been a time when he'd been a pacifist. That all seemed so far away now. The war had taken... well, it had taken everything. However, one of the many things it had taken was his belief that violence was never the answer. There were times, he now knew, when it seemed to be the only answer. And he'd learned to be very, very good at implementing that answer. Better than he liked to think about and far better than he ever had any intention of letting his companions know about.
The war had shattered his self-control as well, leaving him with a temper he couldn't always manage and a soul deep, irrational terror that he was going to lose the few things he still had. And that was the problem where Rose was concerned. There were times when she could calm him when nothing else could, bringing him back to reality and out of the darkness and silence the loss of the his people had left inside of him. But she was also the one thing in the universe that could strip away what self-control he had faster than any other. He'd known her for barely a day the first time they'd wound up shouting at one another, standing on a street corner in the middle of London, in the middle of an alien invasion. She could make him positively furious faster than any other person he'd ever known. And there was nothing that could take his control and reason and blow them away faster than a threat to his Rose.
Except that it was when Rose was threatened that he needed his control and reason the most. And so he spent the walk across the city struggling to bring his temper into check and force his mind to work clearly.
The trees of the plaza he now stood in were very tall and dense at the top, which meant that underneath their shade there was little undergrowth and the entrances to the buildings around its edges were visible through the trunks. The sky had clouded over during their walk, threatening rain and plunging the world into a sort of twilight. A single building dominated one entire side of the plaza, which while not as large as the Plaza of Glass was a football field in size at least. Instinctively the Doctor headed for it and as they neared it they could see the sign above the door - Commission for the Protection of Females.
The Doctor stopped then and took a deep breath. He turned to Jack and for the first time realized what the silent walk across the city must have been like for him. He was clearly worried and far more tense than the Doctor would have anticipated. The ex-time agent was usually calm and cool in a crisis, but just then he was watching the Doctor with a vaguely worried expression, as though waiting for the other shoe to drop. Which, the Doctor reflected, he probably was. Had he seemed that out of control to him? He'd thought he had been keeping himself in check fairly well while he fought his internal battle, but evidently he hadn't. Damn.
"How's the shoulder?" he asked, remembering the injury for the first time since they'd left the Plaza of Glass with a twinge of guilt.
"Fine," Jack answered, swinging his arm around to demonstrate that all was still in working order. "I'm ready for whatever you're planning."
"Nothing too strenuous yet," the Doctor assured him. "I'm going to try playing along for the moment, see if we can't get them to give us Rose themselves. Or at least let us see her. If seeing her is all we can manage though, be ready to make a break for it. We'll worry about taking this place apart after we get her safely out of it."
"Sounds good to me." Jack seemed relieved, though whether by the plan or by his manner the Doctor chose not to speculate on.
"Right," the Doctor said, eyeing the building with dislike. Societies for prevention of cruelty to animals, children, plants, robots, and solar systems he understood. Those made sense. But who actually felt the need to create something like this, an organisation apparently with the power to take any women from anywhere at anytime?
He glanced at Jack and felt the guilt return again. He didn't have just one companion anymore and as completely self-sufficient as Jack appeared to be, the Doctor knew he should have stopped to think about how this might have been affecting him as well. He'd just taken a little walk off the deep end without thinking twice about him. "Thanks, by the way."
Jack was clearly taken aback a little. "Huh?"
"For earlier," the Doctor said. "I wasn't exactly thinking clearly when we were talking to that guard back there."
"Hey, no big," Jack answered. He looked the Doctor straight in the eye and there was something more serious in his expression than the Doctor was used to seeing. "I understand. I'm worried about her, too. So, let's just go get her back."
He really had to learn to stop underestimating humans, the Doctor thought. Jack might seem shallow and irresponsible at times, but he'd once been a Time Agent and they didn't take fools. It had just been so long since another soldier had had his back that he kept forgetting now that someone did. Which was more than unfair to Jack.
The Doctor nodded, acknowledging both the spoken words and the unspoken ones as well. What ever happened, Jack would follow his lead and watch his back. They quickly fell into step as they started off again.
Like everything else, the building was made of white stone, with a small flight of stairs leading up to the entrance, consisting of two massive wooden doors which stood wide-open. They entered a brightly lit cavern of a room, with soaring ceilings and distant walls. Hallways seemed to lead off in all directions, each seeming to be equally cavernous. Two staircases, each grand enough for a castle, stood at either end of the far wall sweeping majestically upward. The whole scene was lit with a soft yellow light that seemed to emanate from the walls themselves. People headed to and fro, all men, and none taking the slightest notice as two more entered.
Jack let out a low whistle. "Nice architecture," he said. "Think it's intimidating enough?"
"It certainly gets the point across," the Doctor answered, spotting a large desk against the far wall with a grey skinned man sitting behind it. There were other desks along the wall, but this one seemed the largest and more importantly didn't seem to be currently dealing with anyone else, as many of the others were.
He tilted his head toward the desk and Jack nodded. "Let me do most of the talking, but try look as charming and harmless as you can," he said quietly as they headed across the room.
"Got it."
"Can I help you?" the alien behind the desk asked with a helpful smile as they approached.
"I hope so," the Doctor said, smiling and adopting as innocent a demeanor as he could manage. "I think there's been some kind of a mistake. My companion was taken earlier this afternoon and I was given this." He handed the card across. "I don't understand what this is all about, but we'd really like to get this cleared up as soon as we can. Is she here? Is she alright?"
The alien took the card smiling. His expression changed immediately after he read it and he curtly directed them to wait while he got someone to deal with them. A moment or two later a very young man, barely out of his teens apparently, arrived and lead them up the staircase to the left and down a succession of hallways before leaving them in a small room with a table and several chairs, asking them to have a seat and someone would be with them shortly. He'd nervously refused to answer any and all questions, no matter how politely he was asked.
"Great place," Jack commented, tossing himself into a chair. "Nice how everyone is so helpful and informative."
The Doctor paced around the room quickly, but there were no windows and besides the chairs and table - all wood and carved in simple, elegant styles - the room was empty. He finally took a seat next to Jack.
"I don't like this," the Doctor said.
"What's to like?" Jack shrugged. "These are the guys to kidnapped Rose. I wasn't expecting to feel all warm and fuzzy toward them."
Frowning, the Doctor shook his head. "But did you notice the looks? The sudden change in attitude after they saw the card?"
"What, the part where the looked at us like we were the scum of the earth? Yeah, noticed that. It was the same with that guard back in the Plaza of Glass. Get the feeling we've already be tried and found guilty of something?"
"Exactly," the Doctor said. "They take Rose without so much as a by your leave and then treat us like we've done something wrong. They clearly seem to think that we're the threat here. It's the why I can't figure out. Commission for the Protection of Females.... Protection from what is what I'd like to know."
"From whatever might harm them," answered a voice from the doorway. They turned to find a tall man, grey and bald with fish like-eyes striding in. "I'm sorry it has taken me so long to get here. I'm afraid we're a bit busy at the moment." He seated himself across from them and took out an electronic notebook from his pocket. "Now if you'll please give me your female's name and tell me which of you is the primary guardian."
"I am," the Doctor said without hesitation, seriously disliking the terminology. "And her name is Rose Tyler. What did you think was going to harm her?"
"Please," the alien said, holding up a hand and the Doctor bit back an angry reply and reminded himself that he was supposed to be acting calm and reasonable here. "How old is she and how long has she been in your care?"
"She's nineteen in Terran Standard Years and she's been with me for nearly a year in that same system," the Doctor said, forcing himself to relax and act normal.
"And before that?"
"She lived with her family." Somehow he didn't think saying that she lived with her mum and worked in a department store would go over very well here.
"Is she married or promised to anyone?"
"No."
"Has she ever been married or promised to anyone?"
"No."
"Are her parents still living?"
"Her mother is. Her father died some years ago."
"Who is her mother's guardian then?"
The Doctor raised an eyebrow, but managed to swallow back all the remarks that came to mind. "I don't know. No one told me."
"Did either of her parents have any other children?"
"No."
The Doctor could just hear the rain starting outside.
* * *
It was raining.
Rose could see it through the window from where she was sitting and hear it falling outside the little room she was in. She was alone for the first time since she got to this place and the sense of isolation was bothering her, though she couldn't have said why. The room she'd been shown to was nice, she probably would have thought it was charming under any other circumstances with the soft green carpet, the bed and the wardrobe in some kind of dark wood, and the window which looked out over the white roofs of the complex to green hills beyond. It was lovely, but she could hardly feel comfortable enough here to relax enough to enjoy it. She'd sat down on the bed not knowing what else to do and had woken just now, much to her own surprise.
It had taken about a half an hour for Rose to be fully scanned and tutted over by a nurse while she sipped gratefully at the tea they gave her. Nollon had spent the time working on a small computer screen he'd taken out of his pocket collecting all of Rose's details - name, age, species, allergies, religions she couldn't stand, favourite colour, all the basics. At the end of it, she'd been taken off again, this time to an entirely different part of the compound which meant walking across a skyway, which was when Rose got her first good look at where she was.
They were five stories up and the glass tube of the skyway stretched above a forest beneath them, through which Rose could see nothing. Behind them the massive cathedral-like structure of the commission blocked all sight of the city in that direction. More massive, though slightly lower buildings could be seen to their right and left, beyond which the mixture of trees and stone that was the capital city of Temrin 8 could be seen. They were on the edges of it here though and ahead of them, beyond the slightly smaller structure they were headed for, Rose could see green rolling hills, segmented by hedgerows. It looked rather like Devon, she thought, with an unexpected surge of homesickness. As much as she loved travelling the universe, there was always something nice about visiting home as well and it had been a while since they'd last been there.
"Is all of this the commission?" Rose had asked.
Nollon had laughed. "Of course not." He'd motioned to the left. "That is Hulori Hospital. It the finest institution for women's health on the planet," he added with some pride. "And that complex," this time he motioned to the right, "houses the department of Female Health and Safety of the University."
Rose had shook her head as they finally entered the smaller building behind the main commission. The corridors here were smaller, more human sized and less overly-grand. "You guys really have a thing about women, don't you?"
"What do you mean?"
"I mean, the CPF, the women's hospital, a whole segment of a university all about women... I mean, what is it with you guys? It's not that it's not flattering and all, but why?"
Nollon had seemed rather taken a back. "Why wouldn't we take a keen interest in your sex. After all, there are no children without women to carry them. None of us would exist if our mothers hadn't either given birth to us or laid our eggs. As children they protect us, nourish us. Once we are old enough, it is only right that we should care for them as they once cared for us."
Rose, with a twinge of guilt, had wondered how long it had been since she'd called her mother. "Yeah, but... I mean, aren't you taking it a little far?"
"I'm afraid I don't understand. In what way?"
He'd seemed genuinely confused and Rose had given up.
They'd seemed to walk straight through the building until she could see those green hills again through the windows, before Nollon knocked on a wooden door just like a hundred others they'd passed. It had been opened by a slightly plump, middle aged man with a kind face and slightly greying hair. He'd been introduced to Rose as Tobis and after promising to 'keep her informed', Nollon left her there with him.
Rose had looked after him, feeling unexpectedly bereft. He'd been the only person she knew here and if he hadn't been exactly helpful when it came to getting out, at least he'd been nice about it. She'd made herself push that aside though, it was clearly going to be up to her to get herself out of here without help.
Tobis had led Rose into a pleasant garden surrounded by a pillared walkway, like the cloister of a cathedral, only smaller and round. A couple of benches and bushes and small flower beds sat within the centre, open to the sky above. Around that the covered walkway was paved in brown stone, the first not-white stone Rose had seen in this place. It was a sharp but pleasant contrast to the white pillars. Straight across from where she stood was an archway that led into what looked like a comfortable sitting area, with couches and cushions. The windows beyond looked out over the rolling farm country outside the city. Evenly spaced around the circular area to either side of them were wickerwork doors.
What had taken Rose aback though was that a girl was sitting on one of the benches in the garden, a book open in her lap. She'd been the first other female Rose had seen since she'd arrived here and for some reason she took her by surprise. She looked human and about twelve or thirteen, pale with long, straight brown hair and freckles. She'd given Rose a tiny, shy smile before going back to her book.
As he'd led her around the garden to the right, Tobis had told Rose that until everything was sorted out, she'd be staying here. He had an unexpectedly soft voice, almost velvety, which sounded strange coming from someone who looked like somebody's father.
He'd stopped at the fourth door along the right hand side, nearly halfway to the sitting area, and opened it, motioning Rose into the room beyond. Under any other circumstances Rose would have found the whole place charming. Under any other circumstances she would have been predisposed to like Tobis right off and would have be happy to lounge around in the garden for while and chat to the other girl. It may have been the very fact that under any other circumstances Rose would have liked the place that caused her agitation from earlier to hit her again full force.
"Look, this has all been a mistake. I shouldn't even be here. They seem to think that I'm being mistreated or something, but I haven't been. I... I just want to get back to my friends, okay?" She'd been beyond horrified to find herself suddenly on the verge of tears. Maybe it was the kind and understanding look on Tobis' face, she didn't know. She sat down on the bed with a thump and looked up at him, helplessly. "Can't you help?"
"I wish I could, Rose," he said kindly. "But that's not up to me. Don't worry though. You wouldn't be the first girl to end up here because of a misunderstanding. You have to understand though, they have to take every report seriously, just in case. Most of the time it all comes to nothing and if everything really is alright you will be out of here very soon."
"How soon?" Rose had demanded, trying to sound strong but somehow it came out sounding plaintive.
"I'm not sure. It could be as soon as tomorrow, if your guardians arrive quickly enough this afternoon and everything goes well."
Now, alone and worried and not even sure how long she'd been asleep, Rose sat on the little bed and bit her lip, tyring to hold back another annoying prickle of tears. Why the hell not today? Why couldn't they just let her go home when they all kept saying that they just wanted what was best for her? What was best for Rose was to get back to the Doctor!
She closed her eyes and took a keep breath. It was alright, she told herself. It wouldn't take that long for the Doctor to figure out where she was. In the mean time, she could start looking for escape routs.
Tobis had left her to 'get some rest' after telling her where the facilities were should she need to freshen up. Rose had tossed herself back on the bed, trying to think of a reasonable method of escape and had been asleep before she even knew she was tired. Stress, she thought, it had to be stress.
A knock on the door almost made her jump and she groaned inwardly. It wasn't like this was the first time she'd been imprisoned somewhere. The prison on Judicia had been worse than this and so had the one she'd been in last week. She couldn't put her finger on what unnerved her so much about this place, when to all outward appearances it was lovely. Although, it may have been that very fact that made it so uncomfortable.
"Yeah?" she called, standing up and smoothing her skirt down. Expecting another eerily solicitous male, she experienced the same surprise as when she'd first entered the garden and seen a another female. This girl was about Rose's height, though a bit on the plump side, and looked about Rose's age, though she was a light mint colour with hair a violent shade of blue. Rose had seen her kind of alien before, like humans they turned up almost everywhere, but just for the moment she couldn't remember what they were called. What really caught Rose's attention though was the livid bruise on the side of her face.
"Tobis sent me to fetch you for dinner," she said, folding her hands primly against the long skirt of her dress, which looked like something out of a Jane Austen novel. "My name is Cel," the girl added.
"Rose," Rose answered. She followed the other girl out into the covered walkway and shivered slightly in the unexpectedly chilly air the rain seemed to have brought with it. Rose rubbed at her arms a little, thinking longingly of her jacket which she'd taken off as the day warmed up and tucked into her bag with her shopping. And oh, that seemed an impossibly long time ago now.
"Are you being held here, too?" Rose asked, as much to distract herself from the sudden swell of longing as to learn something.
"Held?" Cel asked, eyeing her strangely as she led the way to the sitting room area Rose had seen when she first arrived. "That's an odd way to put it. I'm staying here, yes. Until the commission decides my case."
"But why?" Rose asked. "I mean, don't you miss your family, wouldn't you rather be home?" She couldn't help looking at that bruise again, worrying about what Cel had done to deserve that. She had a hard time imagining Tobis or Nollon raising their hand to anyone, but on the other hand she wouldn't have taken them for kidnappers either.
"What does missing my family have to do with anything?" Cel inquired, looking as confused as Nollon had looked when Rose had questioned him earlier.
"Never mind," Rose sighed, pleased to be entering the room which was warm.
From the main entrance to the area, Rose had only seen the chairs and couches, as she entered the room properly she could see more of it - bookshelves and a desk lined the wall to her right while to her left was a round table with chairs and what looked like a small kitchen area beyond it. The table was currently laden with food that smelled divine and reminded Rose that she hadn't eaten since that meat pie sort of thing back in the Plaza of Glass. Tobis ushered her into a seat next to Cel and made quick introductions. Rose eyed her fellow... well, captives, she guessed, with curiosity.
There were only five of them and all looked to be Rose's age or younger. On Cel's other side was the human looking girl Rose had seen in the garden earlier, whose name it seemed was Bephan. She offered another shy smile before looking back down at her lap, although there was no book there this time. Next to her was a another girl who also looked human except for her brightly turquoise eyes and matching hair, introduced as Katyä. Beside her was a green girl, the same kind of alien as Nollon apparently, who looked no more than ten or eleven. She piped up quickly enough and rattled off a very long name, none of which Rose caught, before Tobis placed his hand on her shoulder to quiet her and informed Rose that she was called Laris as he took his seat next to her. Next to him, on Rose's other side, was an elfin looking girl, with black hair, of perhaps sixteen, who gave her name as Alyssa in the a soft, clear voice.
Conversation was desultory at best during the meal. Almost no one spoke, except for Laris, who began rattling on about a different thing every five minutes before someone would kindly remind her of the food in front of her. Rose tried to raise the question of what they were all in for only to be met with a glare from Katyä, an appraising look from Alyssa and expressions of confusion from everyone else. Not even Laris attempted an answer, although that could have been because her mouth had been full at that point. All other questions regarding the commission were answered by Tobis with the same frustrating calm and assurances that she had nothing to worry about that she'd got from Nollon.
Eventually, she gave up questioning and focussed on the meal instead, wondering vaguely what the Doctor and Jack were up to. Had they found this place? Were they developing a plan to get her out of here even now? She hoped so.
When they finished eating they collected the dishes together and put them on a counter in the corner. Rose was about to ask where the sink was when the wall beside the counter opened and the whole counter moved along like a conveyer belt, taking the dishes and leftovers away. Rose leaned forward, wondering how it was triggering and if she could fit through that opening. Laris, standing beside her, misread Rose's interest.
"It's okay," she said, helpfully. "There's other food in the cupboards if you get hungry again later. There always is. Do you know how to play Recshal?"
"Umm, no actually," Rose answered hurriedly, hoping Tobis hadn't noticed her interest in the little opening in the wall, which had closed now.
"I can teach you," offered the girl hopefully. "It's a lot of fun."
Before Rose could think of a reasonable objection, Laris had taken her by the hand and was leading her over to a smaller table in the sitting area, rattling on about the game all the while. The other girls were already arranging themselves on the couches or chairs, apparently settling in for the evening. Laris pulled out a deck of playing cards of a type Rose hadn't seen before and proceeded to teach her a confusing game which you won by getting rid of all of your blue and purple cards, unless they had a green thing with tentacles on, called a Er while getting a hold of as many green and beige cards as possible, except if they had an Er.
Laris talked continually about everything from books to plants to solar systems but nothing, much to Rose's annoyance, about the commission or about what to do with an Er on a beige card when Laris had just put down an Er on a green card.
It was another hour before Tobis left them, wishing them all a good night and telling Rose that if he was needed, his room was the one just to the right of the main entrance. A bit of knowledge Rose tucked away for further consideration. With him gone, Rose felt there might finally be a chance at getting some answers about this place.
"How did you end up here?" she asked when Laris had, surprisingly as it seemed, paused for breathe.
The girl looked confused. "The guards brought me. Didn't they bring you?"
"Yes," Rose said. "But I guess I mean, why did they bring you?"
"Cause they thought I should come," Laris answered and Rose had to take a deep breath and remind herself that Laris was only a kid.
"But why?"
"Why does it matter?" Katyä interrupted, from where she sat reading a little ways away.
"Why does it matter to you if I ask?" Rose retorted, liking Katyä less the longer she was here.
Katyä sniffed. "Why are you here then?"
"I have absolutely no idea," Rose answered, her annoyance at the entire situation finally getting the better of her. "No one will tell me the first thing about this place or why I'm here or why anyone else is here, and when I ask all I get told is that I shouldn't worry about it! As if being kidnapped and held captive was something I shouldn't mind at all."
"Kidnapped?" Katyä said, in shocked horror. "How can you possibly..."
"You weren't born on this planet, were you Rose?" Alyssa asked calmly, putting aside the sewing she'd been working on."
"No."
"Oooo!" Laris almost squealed leaning forward.
Alyssa merely nodded. "Where you are from, are those who are harmed or mistreated not taken from those who mistreat them?"
"Kids are," Rose answered. "And animals. But I'm not a kid. I don't need anyone deciding that I'm being 'mistreated' or whatever and taking me away from my friends without asking my feeling on the matter first. Where I'm from that's called kidnapping."
"Here, when done by a proper authority, it is called intervention," Alyssa said, but was interrupted before she could get any farther.
"Where are you from?" Laris asked in some excitement, but she was drowned out by Katyä who had been practically vibrating with indignation while Rose was speaking.
"What right do you have to judge their actions as though you have the understanding to know what's best?"
Rose stared at her in shock for a second. "What right? This is my life, what right does anyone else have to decide there's something wrong with it?"
"You're female," Katyä said sharply. "As women we can't always know what is best for us. The commission is here to..."
"I sure as hell do know what's best for me," Rose interrupted, shocked almost beyond words. "And who are you do decide that I don't have enough brains to..."
"That's enough," Alyssa said firmly but without raising her voice, cutting Rose off. "From both of you," she added with a look at Katyä.
She turned back to Rose with a sigh. "This must all be very strange to you. I have been given to understand that off-worlders are often taken aback at our ways. But you must understand that this," she motioned around them, "is by no means a prison and we are by no means prisoners. We have merely been given a comfortable place where we are safe while a panel of adjudicators determines whether or not it is safe for us to return to our homes."
"If it's not a prison, why won't they let me leave," Rose demanded. "And who gives them the right to say whether I'm safe or not with the people I'm living with?"
"The law," suggested Cel, entering the conversation for the first time. She had got up to put the book she was reading back on the shelves when the discussion had started and was now leaning against the back of the couch across from the one Alyssa sat on, looking at Rose with frank curiosity. "I don't think there are any law books here, but if you asked Tobis or your case worker about it I'm pretty sure they could tell you about it."
"You have laws taking away women's rights to make their own decisions, huh?" Rose said dismally. "We have a lot of names for that where I'm from and none of them are nice."
"Here it is called protection," said Katyä, looking at Rose like she was a bug.
Rose snorted. "You would say that."
"Meaning?" Katyä demanded, but Alyssa held up her hand.
"Please, both of you. Arguing will do little good but upset everyone."
"It's a good system for the most part," Cel said. "It helps a lot of people. You may have ended up here as a mistake, Rose, I don't know. But for the most part the women who end up here are here out of genuine need."
"But who decides that?" Rose asked.
"The adjudicators."
"No, I mean who decided that I needed to come here in the first place? I sure wasn't making any complaints."
Cel shrugged. "The commission."
"They must have received some information from a concerned individual," Alyssa said.
Bephan spoke up then for the first time, not looking up from her book and speaking in a barely audible voice. "Anyone may contact the commission with information regarding the possible mistreatment of a female. The commission then takes that information and determines whether or not the situation seems serious enough to warrant the removal of the female from her guardian or guardians pending review of the situation by a panel of adjudicators."
They all fell still, staring at her in shock, and she blushed deeply when she noticed. "My... my b-brother is in university and I s-sometimes read his b-books," she stuttered, seeming to shrink in on herself in embarrassment.
"Thank you," Rose said. "That's the clearest answer about anything I've got from anyone all day."
Rose slumped back on her seat, wondering where the Doctor was and wishing that, where ever that was, she was there as well.
Also, I've gone back and given the previous chapters names, based on the Victorian Language of Flowers. More on that in my Author's Notes.
Title: Precious Flowers
Author: Cleo
Rating: PG-13 (so far)
Pairing: 9th Doctor/Rose, hints of 9th/Rose/Jack later on
Fandom: Doctor Who
Category: Romance, Adventure
Summary: A shopping trip to make some things up to Rose goes terribly wrong when a secret about the planet threatens to leave the group divided.
Author's Notes: As always, thanks to MorganSThomas since it was her story, Losing Rose, that inspired 'Precious Flowers' in the first place. Thanks also to jedda and fanged_geranium for the beta read.
The Language of Flowers:
“The language of flowers is not new, some flowers have held time-honoured meanings for centuries... even Shakespeare referred to flowers in several of his plays. It was the Victorians, though, who made the language of flowers into a fine art. People would send carefully chosen bouquets to represent their feelings. Inverted flowers would represent the opposite of the usual meaning.”
From Gift Fair - http://www.gift-fair.co.uk/language_flowers.cfm
Previous Chapters (now revised and named):
Chapter 1 - Among Chrysanthemums and Carnations
Chapter 2 - My Clematis Amid the Scent of Lavender
Chapter 3 - Zinnias Incased in Stone
Precious Flowers
Chapter 4
The Palest Blush of Camellias
The Tulorins had very literal minds when it came to naming things. The Plaza of Trees, like the Plaza of Glass, was very much what it sounded like. Walkways paved in white stone lined the edges and crisscrossed the heart of the plaza, but other than that it was basically a forest surrounded by tall white buildings.
The Doctor had actually been rather grateful for the length of the walk across the city. As much as he wanted to get to Rose as soon as possible, he knew he had to calm himself down first. His initial impulse, to find this Commission for the Protection of Females and start taking it apart bit by bit until he found Rose, was not a realistic plan of action. He needed to find out what they thought they were doing first, see if he couldn't get her back without bringing the full power of the Tulorin government down on their heads and putting either Rose or Jack in any more danger than usual. He could worry about dismantling the commission (and possibly the government) when Rose was safely back aboard the TARDIS where these nuts couldn't get to her. Besides, all he really needed was to be allowed to see her. He was sure that if he could manage to get himself and Jack in the same room with her, the three of them could find a way back out again.
Unfortunately, to manage any plan at all the Doctor needed to be in control of himself. Something that he was finding rather difficult at the moment. Strange, there had been a time when he'd been able to keep his head in any situation. But then, there had also been a time when he'd been a pacifist. That all seemed so far away now. The war had taken... well, it had taken everything. However, one of the many things it had taken was his belief that violence was never the answer. There were times, he now knew, when it seemed to be the only answer. And he'd learned to be very, very good at implementing that answer. Better than he liked to think about and far better than he ever had any intention of letting his companions know about.
The war had shattered his self-control as well, leaving him with a temper he couldn't always manage and a soul deep, irrational terror that he was going to lose the few things he still had. And that was the problem where Rose was concerned. There were times when she could calm him when nothing else could, bringing him back to reality and out of the darkness and silence the loss of the his people had left inside of him. But she was also the one thing in the universe that could strip away what self-control he had faster than any other. He'd known her for barely a day the first time they'd wound up shouting at one another, standing on a street corner in the middle of London, in the middle of an alien invasion. She could make him positively furious faster than any other person he'd ever known. And there was nothing that could take his control and reason and blow them away faster than a threat to his Rose.
Except that it was when Rose was threatened that he needed his control and reason the most. And so he spent the walk across the city struggling to bring his temper into check and force his mind to work clearly.
The trees of the plaza he now stood in were very tall and dense at the top, which meant that underneath their shade there was little undergrowth and the entrances to the buildings around its edges were visible through the trunks. The sky had clouded over during their walk, threatening rain and plunging the world into a sort of twilight. A single building dominated one entire side of the plaza, which while not as large as the Plaza of Glass was a football field in size at least. Instinctively the Doctor headed for it and as they neared it they could see the sign above the door - Commission for the Protection of Females.
The Doctor stopped then and took a deep breath. He turned to Jack and for the first time realized what the silent walk across the city must have been like for him. He was clearly worried and far more tense than the Doctor would have anticipated. The ex-time agent was usually calm and cool in a crisis, but just then he was watching the Doctor with a vaguely worried expression, as though waiting for the other shoe to drop. Which, the Doctor reflected, he probably was. Had he seemed that out of control to him? He'd thought he had been keeping himself in check fairly well while he fought his internal battle, but evidently he hadn't. Damn.
"How's the shoulder?" he asked, remembering the injury for the first time since they'd left the Plaza of Glass with a twinge of guilt.
"Fine," Jack answered, swinging his arm around to demonstrate that all was still in working order. "I'm ready for whatever you're planning."
"Nothing too strenuous yet," the Doctor assured him. "I'm going to try playing along for the moment, see if we can't get them to give us Rose themselves. Or at least let us see her. If seeing her is all we can manage though, be ready to make a break for it. We'll worry about taking this place apart after we get her safely out of it."
"Sounds good to me." Jack seemed relieved, though whether by the plan or by his manner the Doctor chose not to speculate on.
"Right," the Doctor said, eyeing the building with dislike. Societies for prevention of cruelty to animals, children, plants, robots, and solar systems he understood. Those made sense. But who actually felt the need to create something like this, an organisation apparently with the power to take any women from anywhere at anytime?
He glanced at Jack and felt the guilt return again. He didn't have just one companion anymore and as completely self-sufficient as Jack appeared to be, the Doctor knew he should have stopped to think about how this might have been affecting him as well. He'd just taken a little walk off the deep end without thinking twice about him. "Thanks, by the way."
Jack was clearly taken aback a little. "Huh?"
"For earlier," the Doctor said. "I wasn't exactly thinking clearly when we were talking to that guard back there."
"Hey, no big," Jack answered. He looked the Doctor straight in the eye and there was something more serious in his expression than the Doctor was used to seeing. "I understand. I'm worried about her, too. So, let's just go get her back."
He really had to learn to stop underestimating humans, the Doctor thought. Jack might seem shallow and irresponsible at times, but he'd once been a Time Agent and they didn't take fools. It had just been so long since another soldier had had his back that he kept forgetting now that someone did. Which was more than unfair to Jack.
The Doctor nodded, acknowledging both the spoken words and the unspoken ones as well. What ever happened, Jack would follow his lead and watch his back. They quickly fell into step as they started off again.
Like everything else, the building was made of white stone, with a small flight of stairs leading up to the entrance, consisting of two massive wooden doors which stood wide-open. They entered a brightly lit cavern of a room, with soaring ceilings and distant walls. Hallways seemed to lead off in all directions, each seeming to be equally cavernous. Two staircases, each grand enough for a castle, stood at either end of the far wall sweeping majestically upward. The whole scene was lit with a soft yellow light that seemed to emanate from the walls themselves. People headed to and fro, all men, and none taking the slightest notice as two more entered.
Jack let out a low whistle. "Nice architecture," he said. "Think it's intimidating enough?"
"It certainly gets the point across," the Doctor answered, spotting a large desk against the far wall with a grey skinned man sitting behind it. There were other desks along the wall, but this one seemed the largest and more importantly didn't seem to be currently dealing with anyone else, as many of the others were.
He tilted his head toward the desk and Jack nodded. "Let me do most of the talking, but try look as charming and harmless as you can," he said quietly as they headed across the room.
"Got it."
"Can I help you?" the alien behind the desk asked with a helpful smile as they approached.
"I hope so," the Doctor said, smiling and adopting as innocent a demeanor as he could manage. "I think there's been some kind of a mistake. My companion was taken earlier this afternoon and I was given this." He handed the card across. "I don't understand what this is all about, but we'd really like to get this cleared up as soon as we can. Is she here? Is she alright?"
The alien took the card smiling. His expression changed immediately after he read it and he curtly directed them to wait while he got someone to deal with them. A moment or two later a very young man, barely out of his teens apparently, arrived and lead them up the staircase to the left and down a succession of hallways before leaving them in a small room with a table and several chairs, asking them to have a seat and someone would be with them shortly. He'd nervously refused to answer any and all questions, no matter how politely he was asked.
"Great place," Jack commented, tossing himself into a chair. "Nice how everyone is so helpful and informative."
The Doctor paced around the room quickly, but there were no windows and besides the chairs and table - all wood and carved in simple, elegant styles - the room was empty. He finally took a seat next to Jack.
"I don't like this," the Doctor said.
"What's to like?" Jack shrugged. "These are the guys to kidnapped Rose. I wasn't expecting to feel all warm and fuzzy toward them."
Frowning, the Doctor shook his head. "But did you notice the looks? The sudden change in attitude after they saw the card?"
"What, the part where the looked at us like we were the scum of the earth? Yeah, noticed that. It was the same with that guard back in the Plaza of Glass. Get the feeling we've already be tried and found guilty of something?"
"Exactly," the Doctor said. "They take Rose without so much as a by your leave and then treat us like we've done something wrong. They clearly seem to think that we're the threat here. It's the why I can't figure out. Commission for the Protection of Females.... Protection from what is what I'd like to know."
"From whatever might harm them," answered a voice from the doorway. They turned to find a tall man, grey and bald with fish like-eyes striding in. "I'm sorry it has taken me so long to get here. I'm afraid we're a bit busy at the moment." He seated himself across from them and took out an electronic notebook from his pocket. "Now if you'll please give me your female's name and tell me which of you is the primary guardian."
"I am," the Doctor said without hesitation, seriously disliking the terminology. "And her name is Rose Tyler. What did you think was going to harm her?"
"Please," the alien said, holding up a hand and the Doctor bit back an angry reply and reminded himself that he was supposed to be acting calm and reasonable here. "How old is she and how long has she been in your care?"
"She's nineteen in Terran Standard Years and she's been with me for nearly a year in that same system," the Doctor said, forcing himself to relax and act normal.
"And before that?"
"She lived with her family." Somehow he didn't think saying that she lived with her mum and worked in a department store would go over very well here.
"Is she married or promised to anyone?"
"No."
"Has she ever been married or promised to anyone?"
"No."
"Are her parents still living?"
"Her mother is. Her father died some years ago."
"Who is her mother's guardian then?"
The Doctor raised an eyebrow, but managed to swallow back all the remarks that came to mind. "I don't know. No one told me."
"Did either of her parents have any other children?"
"No."
The Doctor could just hear the rain starting outside.
* * *
It was raining.
Rose could see it through the window from where she was sitting and hear it falling outside the little room she was in. She was alone for the first time since she got to this place and the sense of isolation was bothering her, though she couldn't have said why. The room she'd been shown to was nice, she probably would have thought it was charming under any other circumstances with the soft green carpet, the bed and the wardrobe in some kind of dark wood, and the window which looked out over the white roofs of the complex to green hills beyond. It was lovely, but she could hardly feel comfortable enough here to relax enough to enjoy it. She'd sat down on the bed not knowing what else to do and had woken just now, much to her own surprise.
It had taken about a half an hour for Rose to be fully scanned and tutted over by a nurse while she sipped gratefully at the tea they gave her. Nollon had spent the time working on a small computer screen he'd taken out of his pocket collecting all of Rose's details - name, age, species, allergies, religions she couldn't stand, favourite colour, all the basics. At the end of it, she'd been taken off again, this time to an entirely different part of the compound which meant walking across a skyway, which was when Rose got her first good look at where she was.
They were five stories up and the glass tube of the skyway stretched above a forest beneath them, through which Rose could see nothing. Behind them the massive cathedral-like structure of the commission blocked all sight of the city in that direction. More massive, though slightly lower buildings could be seen to their right and left, beyond which the mixture of trees and stone that was the capital city of Temrin 8 could be seen. They were on the edges of it here though and ahead of them, beyond the slightly smaller structure they were headed for, Rose could see green rolling hills, segmented by hedgerows. It looked rather like Devon, she thought, with an unexpected surge of homesickness. As much as she loved travelling the universe, there was always something nice about visiting home as well and it had been a while since they'd last been there.
"Is all of this the commission?" Rose had asked.
Nollon had laughed. "Of course not." He'd motioned to the left. "That is Hulori Hospital. It the finest institution for women's health on the planet," he added with some pride. "And that complex," this time he motioned to the right, "houses the department of Female Health and Safety of the University."
Rose had shook her head as they finally entered the smaller building behind the main commission. The corridors here were smaller, more human sized and less overly-grand. "You guys really have a thing about women, don't you?"
"What do you mean?"
"I mean, the CPF, the women's hospital, a whole segment of a university all about women... I mean, what is it with you guys? It's not that it's not flattering and all, but why?"
Nollon had seemed rather taken a back. "Why wouldn't we take a keen interest in your sex. After all, there are no children without women to carry them. None of us would exist if our mothers hadn't either given birth to us or laid our eggs. As children they protect us, nourish us. Once we are old enough, it is only right that we should care for them as they once cared for us."
Rose, with a twinge of guilt, had wondered how long it had been since she'd called her mother. "Yeah, but... I mean, aren't you taking it a little far?"
"I'm afraid I don't understand. In what way?"
He'd seemed genuinely confused and Rose had given up.
They'd seemed to walk straight through the building until she could see those green hills again through the windows, before Nollon knocked on a wooden door just like a hundred others they'd passed. It had been opened by a slightly plump, middle aged man with a kind face and slightly greying hair. He'd been introduced to Rose as Tobis and after promising to 'keep her informed', Nollon left her there with him.
Rose had looked after him, feeling unexpectedly bereft. He'd been the only person she knew here and if he hadn't been exactly helpful when it came to getting out, at least he'd been nice about it. She'd made herself push that aside though, it was clearly going to be up to her to get herself out of here without help.
Tobis had led Rose into a pleasant garden surrounded by a pillared walkway, like the cloister of a cathedral, only smaller and round. A couple of benches and bushes and small flower beds sat within the centre, open to the sky above. Around that the covered walkway was paved in brown stone, the first not-white stone Rose had seen in this place. It was a sharp but pleasant contrast to the white pillars. Straight across from where she stood was an archway that led into what looked like a comfortable sitting area, with couches and cushions. The windows beyond looked out over the rolling farm country outside the city. Evenly spaced around the circular area to either side of them were wickerwork doors.
What had taken Rose aback though was that a girl was sitting on one of the benches in the garden, a book open in her lap. She'd been the first other female Rose had seen since she'd arrived here and for some reason she took her by surprise. She looked human and about twelve or thirteen, pale with long, straight brown hair and freckles. She'd given Rose a tiny, shy smile before going back to her book.
As he'd led her around the garden to the right, Tobis had told Rose that until everything was sorted out, she'd be staying here. He had an unexpectedly soft voice, almost velvety, which sounded strange coming from someone who looked like somebody's father.
He'd stopped at the fourth door along the right hand side, nearly halfway to the sitting area, and opened it, motioning Rose into the room beyond. Under any other circumstances Rose would have found the whole place charming. Under any other circumstances she would have been predisposed to like Tobis right off and would have be happy to lounge around in the garden for while and chat to the other girl. It may have been the very fact that under any other circumstances Rose would have liked the place that caused her agitation from earlier to hit her again full force.
"Look, this has all been a mistake. I shouldn't even be here. They seem to think that I'm being mistreated or something, but I haven't been. I... I just want to get back to my friends, okay?" She'd been beyond horrified to find herself suddenly on the verge of tears. Maybe it was the kind and understanding look on Tobis' face, she didn't know. She sat down on the bed with a thump and looked up at him, helplessly. "Can't you help?"
"I wish I could, Rose," he said kindly. "But that's not up to me. Don't worry though. You wouldn't be the first girl to end up here because of a misunderstanding. You have to understand though, they have to take every report seriously, just in case. Most of the time it all comes to nothing and if everything really is alright you will be out of here very soon."
"How soon?" Rose had demanded, trying to sound strong but somehow it came out sounding plaintive.
"I'm not sure. It could be as soon as tomorrow, if your guardians arrive quickly enough this afternoon and everything goes well."
Now, alone and worried and not even sure how long she'd been asleep, Rose sat on the little bed and bit her lip, tyring to hold back another annoying prickle of tears. Why the hell not today? Why couldn't they just let her go home when they all kept saying that they just wanted what was best for her? What was best for Rose was to get back to the Doctor!
She closed her eyes and took a keep breath. It was alright, she told herself. It wouldn't take that long for the Doctor to figure out where she was. In the mean time, she could start looking for escape routs.
Tobis had left her to 'get some rest' after telling her where the facilities were should she need to freshen up. Rose had tossed herself back on the bed, trying to think of a reasonable method of escape and had been asleep before she even knew she was tired. Stress, she thought, it had to be stress.
A knock on the door almost made her jump and she groaned inwardly. It wasn't like this was the first time she'd been imprisoned somewhere. The prison on Judicia had been worse than this and so had the one she'd been in last week. She couldn't put her finger on what unnerved her so much about this place, when to all outward appearances it was lovely. Although, it may have been that very fact that made it so uncomfortable.
"Yeah?" she called, standing up and smoothing her skirt down. Expecting another eerily solicitous male, she experienced the same surprise as when she'd first entered the garden and seen a another female. This girl was about Rose's height, though a bit on the plump side, and looked about Rose's age, though she was a light mint colour with hair a violent shade of blue. Rose had seen her kind of alien before, like humans they turned up almost everywhere, but just for the moment she couldn't remember what they were called. What really caught Rose's attention though was the livid bruise on the side of her face.
"Tobis sent me to fetch you for dinner," she said, folding her hands primly against the long skirt of her dress, which looked like something out of a Jane Austen novel. "My name is Cel," the girl added.
"Rose," Rose answered. She followed the other girl out into the covered walkway and shivered slightly in the unexpectedly chilly air the rain seemed to have brought with it. Rose rubbed at her arms a little, thinking longingly of her jacket which she'd taken off as the day warmed up and tucked into her bag with her shopping. And oh, that seemed an impossibly long time ago now.
"Are you being held here, too?" Rose asked, as much to distract herself from the sudden swell of longing as to learn something.
"Held?" Cel asked, eyeing her strangely as she led the way to the sitting room area Rose had seen when she first arrived. "That's an odd way to put it. I'm staying here, yes. Until the commission decides my case."
"But why?" Rose asked. "I mean, don't you miss your family, wouldn't you rather be home?" She couldn't help looking at that bruise again, worrying about what Cel had done to deserve that. She had a hard time imagining Tobis or Nollon raising their hand to anyone, but on the other hand she wouldn't have taken them for kidnappers either.
"What does missing my family have to do with anything?" Cel inquired, looking as confused as Nollon had looked when Rose had questioned him earlier.
"Never mind," Rose sighed, pleased to be entering the room which was warm.
From the main entrance to the area, Rose had only seen the chairs and couches, as she entered the room properly she could see more of it - bookshelves and a desk lined the wall to her right while to her left was a round table with chairs and what looked like a small kitchen area beyond it. The table was currently laden with food that smelled divine and reminded Rose that she hadn't eaten since that meat pie sort of thing back in the Plaza of Glass. Tobis ushered her into a seat next to Cel and made quick introductions. Rose eyed her fellow... well, captives, she guessed, with curiosity.
There were only five of them and all looked to be Rose's age or younger. On Cel's other side was the human looking girl Rose had seen in the garden earlier, whose name it seemed was Bephan. She offered another shy smile before looking back down at her lap, although there was no book there this time. Next to her was a another girl who also looked human except for her brightly turquoise eyes and matching hair, introduced as Katyä. Beside her was a green girl, the same kind of alien as Nollon apparently, who looked no more than ten or eleven. She piped up quickly enough and rattled off a very long name, none of which Rose caught, before Tobis placed his hand on her shoulder to quiet her and informed Rose that she was called Laris as he took his seat next to her. Next to him, on Rose's other side, was an elfin looking girl, with black hair, of perhaps sixteen, who gave her name as Alyssa in the a soft, clear voice.
Conversation was desultory at best during the meal. Almost no one spoke, except for Laris, who began rattling on about a different thing every five minutes before someone would kindly remind her of the food in front of her. Rose tried to raise the question of what they were all in for only to be met with a glare from Katyä, an appraising look from Alyssa and expressions of confusion from everyone else. Not even Laris attempted an answer, although that could have been because her mouth had been full at that point. All other questions regarding the commission were answered by Tobis with the same frustrating calm and assurances that she had nothing to worry about that she'd got from Nollon.
Eventually, she gave up questioning and focussed on the meal instead, wondering vaguely what the Doctor and Jack were up to. Had they found this place? Were they developing a plan to get her out of here even now? She hoped so.
When they finished eating they collected the dishes together and put them on a counter in the corner. Rose was about to ask where the sink was when the wall beside the counter opened and the whole counter moved along like a conveyer belt, taking the dishes and leftovers away. Rose leaned forward, wondering how it was triggering and if she could fit through that opening. Laris, standing beside her, misread Rose's interest.
"It's okay," she said, helpfully. "There's other food in the cupboards if you get hungry again later. There always is. Do you know how to play Recshal?"
"Umm, no actually," Rose answered hurriedly, hoping Tobis hadn't noticed her interest in the little opening in the wall, which had closed now.
"I can teach you," offered the girl hopefully. "It's a lot of fun."
Before Rose could think of a reasonable objection, Laris had taken her by the hand and was leading her over to a smaller table in the sitting area, rattling on about the game all the while. The other girls were already arranging themselves on the couches or chairs, apparently settling in for the evening. Laris pulled out a deck of playing cards of a type Rose hadn't seen before and proceeded to teach her a confusing game which you won by getting rid of all of your blue and purple cards, unless they had a green thing with tentacles on, called a Er while getting a hold of as many green and beige cards as possible, except if they had an Er.
Laris talked continually about everything from books to plants to solar systems but nothing, much to Rose's annoyance, about the commission or about what to do with an Er on a beige card when Laris had just put down an Er on a green card.
It was another hour before Tobis left them, wishing them all a good night and telling Rose that if he was needed, his room was the one just to the right of the main entrance. A bit of knowledge Rose tucked away for further consideration. With him gone, Rose felt there might finally be a chance at getting some answers about this place.
"How did you end up here?" she asked when Laris had, surprisingly as it seemed, paused for breathe.
The girl looked confused. "The guards brought me. Didn't they bring you?"
"Yes," Rose said. "But I guess I mean, why did they bring you?"
"Cause they thought I should come," Laris answered and Rose had to take a deep breath and remind herself that Laris was only a kid.
"But why?"
"Why does it matter?" Katyä interrupted, from where she sat reading a little ways away.
"Why does it matter to you if I ask?" Rose retorted, liking Katyä less the longer she was here.
Katyä sniffed. "Why are you here then?"
"I have absolutely no idea," Rose answered, her annoyance at the entire situation finally getting the better of her. "No one will tell me the first thing about this place or why I'm here or why anyone else is here, and when I ask all I get told is that I shouldn't worry about it! As if being kidnapped and held captive was something I shouldn't mind at all."
"Kidnapped?" Katyä said, in shocked horror. "How can you possibly..."
"You weren't born on this planet, were you Rose?" Alyssa asked calmly, putting aside the sewing she'd been working on."
"No."
"Oooo!" Laris almost squealed leaning forward.
Alyssa merely nodded. "Where you are from, are those who are harmed or mistreated not taken from those who mistreat them?"
"Kids are," Rose answered. "And animals. But I'm not a kid. I don't need anyone deciding that I'm being 'mistreated' or whatever and taking me away from my friends without asking my feeling on the matter first. Where I'm from that's called kidnapping."
"Here, when done by a proper authority, it is called intervention," Alyssa said, but was interrupted before she could get any farther.
"Where are you from?" Laris asked in some excitement, but she was drowned out by Katyä who had been practically vibrating with indignation while Rose was speaking.
"What right do you have to judge their actions as though you have the understanding to know what's best?"
Rose stared at her in shock for a second. "What right? This is my life, what right does anyone else have to decide there's something wrong with it?"
"You're female," Katyä said sharply. "As women we can't always know what is best for us. The commission is here to..."
"I sure as hell do know what's best for me," Rose interrupted, shocked almost beyond words. "And who are you do decide that I don't have enough brains to..."
"That's enough," Alyssa said firmly but without raising her voice, cutting Rose off. "From both of you," she added with a look at Katyä.
She turned back to Rose with a sigh. "This must all be very strange to you. I have been given to understand that off-worlders are often taken aback at our ways. But you must understand that this," she motioned around them, "is by no means a prison and we are by no means prisoners. We have merely been given a comfortable place where we are safe while a panel of adjudicators determines whether or not it is safe for us to return to our homes."
"If it's not a prison, why won't they let me leave," Rose demanded. "And who gives them the right to say whether I'm safe or not with the people I'm living with?"
"The law," suggested Cel, entering the conversation for the first time. She had got up to put the book she was reading back on the shelves when the discussion had started and was now leaning against the back of the couch across from the one Alyssa sat on, looking at Rose with frank curiosity. "I don't think there are any law books here, but if you asked Tobis or your case worker about it I'm pretty sure they could tell you about it."
"You have laws taking away women's rights to make their own decisions, huh?" Rose said dismally. "We have a lot of names for that where I'm from and none of them are nice."
"Here it is called protection," said Katyä, looking at Rose like she was a bug.
Rose snorted. "You would say that."
"Meaning?" Katyä demanded, but Alyssa held up her hand.
"Please, both of you. Arguing will do little good but upset everyone."
"It's a good system for the most part," Cel said. "It helps a lot of people. You may have ended up here as a mistake, Rose, I don't know. But for the most part the women who end up here are here out of genuine need."
"But who decides that?" Rose asked.
"The adjudicators."
"No, I mean who decided that I needed to come here in the first place? I sure wasn't making any complaints."
Cel shrugged. "The commission."
"They must have received some information from a concerned individual," Alyssa said.
Bephan spoke up then for the first time, not looking up from her book and speaking in a barely audible voice. "Anyone may contact the commission with information regarding the possible mistreatment of a female. The commission then takes that information and determines whether or not the situation seems serious enough to warrant the removal of the female from her guardian or guardians pending review of the situation by a panel of adjudicators."
They all fell still, staring at her in shock, and she blushed deeply when she noticed. "My... my b-brother is in university and I s-sometimes read his b-books," she stuttered, seeming to shrink in on herself in embarrassment.
"Thank you," Rose said. "That's the clearest answer about anything I've got from anyone all day."
Rose slumped back on her seat, wondering where the Doctor was and wishing that, where ever that was, she was there as well.