A/N I know, I know, I've got a lot of stories already (I'm sure I've said that before... XD), but I had an idea for a story recently after I created a character based on a girl I met when I performed on stage as a Munchkin with Dani Harmer in the UK tour of 'The Wizard of Oz' (yes I actually did that! :-D). (Sorry, I mainly said that because I still can't quite believe it, not because I want to rub it in for anyone who wanted/ now wants to go and didn't, becuase that would be really mean.) Anyway, we had rehearsals for the show, and during them I made some friends. One of them was an eight year old called Charlotte, who looked spookily like Mia Talerico (and for those of you who have seen 'Good Luck Charlie' you'll get what I mean, as Mia plays Charlie (whose full name is actually Charlotte (I think, but even if it's not, Charlie is a shortened version of Charlotte)). Anyway, after the show I made a polyvore to remember her (because looking like Mia Talerico I had the perfect CLA), and then I decided to use her as a character, and so this story exists. Anyway, sorry about that ridiculously long A/N, but I just wanted to explain everything. Hope you enjoy the story. :-)

I did this already in my story 'The Girl With No Name', but I want to thank Linneagb for introducing me to polyvore. For the second time, if I didn't have an account, this story would never have happened. :-) I also need to thank her for finding the CLA for Charlotte's mum: Gloria Reuben. :-)

Charlotte POV

"I'll be back as soon as I can, Charlotte, I promise."

I began to cry as Mum said those words to me. We were standing outside the door to the social worker's office, a rucksack with my things in it, me about to be abandoned.

By my own mother.

No, no no no no, she wasn't doing it because she was selfish. And no, she wasn't doing it because she hated me.

She was doing it because she loved me.

Ever since Mum had lost her job money had been tight. I couldn't have new clothes, well, apart from a few cheap ones so I had something to wear. I couldn't have new toys, even if everyone else had them. We couldn't eat the same food anymore, living on food that Mum cooked and school dinners.

Which basically meant that whenever I was at home all I ate was beans on toast and shortbread.

I didn't mind. I didn't mind not having the new toys: I wasn't really that sort of girl anyway. I didn't mind not having loads of new clothes: I was happy with the ones I had. And I didn't mind the food: shortbread biscuits were my favourite.

There was only one thing I did mind.

The day Mum cancelled my acting, singing and dancing classes.

I was devastated. Acting, singing and dancing were my life. It was all I ever did. Life was just one big performance.

But not anymore.

I was pulled from my thoughts as Mum wiped my tears away, kissed me on the cheek, and then gave me a hug.

I hugged her back tight, wishing she didn't have to go, and that I didn't have to go either.

I was going to miss Mum.

Mum pulled away, giving me a smile, even though I could see she was crying too. I gave her one back, trying to be brave like she was.

Mum kissed me again, before pulling away, giving me a wave, and stepping back.

"Bye bye, Baby," she said.

And then she was gone.

I watched after her, knowing I had to wait here for the social worker, but at the same time wanting to run straight after her.

Before I could make up my mind what to do the social worker opened the door of her office, and looked puzzled when she saw me.

"Hello?" she said, the questioning obvious in her voice. "Can I help you?"

"My Mum said to wait here," I said, remembering what Mum had told me to say. "She said you'd find someone to look after me."

The social worker looked slightly shocked. "Has she left you then?"

I felt tears come to my eyes. "Yes," I said. "She just left."

The social worker put her arm around my shoulders. "Hey, it's alright." She paused for a moment. "If you come with me, I think I can find you somewhere you can stay."

She took my hand and led me into her office, sitting me down on the sofa opposite her desk. She then went and sat on the opposite side of the desk, before she picked up the phone.

"Hello," she said after a few moments. "Hi, Mike, it's Sarah." She paused. "Yeah, I've got a little girl here, her mum's just left her... Yeah, I know... Can you take her?" She paused again, before she gave a sigh of relief. "Thank you. Right, um, I'll bring her round in a few minutes." She then paused again, thinking hard, before she turned to me. "What's your name, Sweetie?"

"Charlotte," I said. "Charlotte Hayes."

"Her name's Charlotte Hayes," said Sarah, talking into the phone. She paused. "Yep, yep, OK, bye, Mike, bye."

She then put the phone down and turned to me.

"I'm going to take you somewhere called Elm Tree House," she said, giving me a smile. "You're going to live there for a while. Everyone's very nice."

I nodded, Mum having told me that that would probably happen.

I wondered where she was now.

She was headed to America, to try and get a job, because there were more jobs there than there were here in England.

And they paid more for the same jobs.

But she couldn't take me with her.

I was pulled from my thoughts as Sarah stood up and came towards me.

"Come on," she said. "Let's go."

I nodded, standing up (my rucksack still on my back) and following her out of the office, back the way I'd come with Mum, and out to Sarah's car.

She took a car seat out of the boot, put it in the back seat of the car, and then told me to get in. I did as I was told whilst she got in the front.

"We'll be there in about ten minutes" she said, starting the car.

And then we set off, me knowing those ten minutes were going to go very slowly indeed...

Gina POV

I was in the office when the doorbell rang.

Mike had told me there was a new girl, Charlotte, arriving, and I assumed it must be her.

I went to the front door, opening it, and saw a small girl I assumed to be Charlotte and Sarah, a social worker I knew well.

But there was no sign of Mike.

"Hi, Sarah," I said, giving her a smile. I looked down at the girl. "And you must be Charlotte. I'm Gina."

The girl nodded, looking slightly scared, but handling the situation well.

"Well, come in, come in," I said, opening the door wide and ushering them in. Charlotte began to look around curiously, obviously taking in her surroundings.

"Is Mike around?" asked Sarah. "We need to get her paperwork done."

I sighed. "I'm not sure where he is at the moment, I'll go and see if I can find him." I paused. "If you want to go through into the office I'll meet you back there."

Charlotte and Sarah went into the office, and I headed off to the living room, the last place I knew Mike had gone.

When I got there everyone was sitting on the sofa, coffee table and pool table, looking miserable.

"What's happened?" I asked.

Lily looked up. "Tracy collapsed," she said. "She couldn't breathe properly."

My heart went out to Tracy then. Obviously Mike was with her, making sure she was OK.

"I'm sure she'll be alright," I said, putting on a brave face. "Mike's looking after her, he knows what he's doing."

The kids seemed to relax slightly, but understandably they were still worried.

"We've got a new girl," I said, changing the conversation. "She's going to need somewhere to stay, so can you girls sort out who's going where?"

Tee nodded. "What's her name?"

"Charlotte," I said. "Oh, and she's eight."

Tee nodded again, taking in the information, before I left the room.

Charlotte POV

As we got to the doorway before the door to the office I could hear some people talking in the room opposite. It sounded like they were sad, and they were talking in quiet voices.

And then someone began to cry.

Sarah then put her arm round my shoulders, ushering me to the office.

We then went and sat on the sofa together, waiting for Gina to come back.

A few minutes later Gina came into the room.

"Sorry for the wait," she said. She sat down on a chair opposite us. "Our trainee care worker collapsed just before you arrived, so Mike's with her at the moment."

Sarah looked shocked. "Is she alright?"

"I think so," said Gina. She looked to me. "I just thought I'd let you know, babes, because today might be a bit different."

I felt sad. I'd heard someone crying just now, and I didn't like anyone being upset.

"Hey, don't worry, babes," said Gina. "She'll be alright."

I nodded, although I still felt sad.

"Do you want me to get someone to show you round?" asked Gina.

I nodded.

"I'll show you to the living room to meet the young people then," she said. "I would get Tracy to show you round, but..." Gina trailed off as I nodded in understanding.

"That's OK," I said.

Gina smiled. "Come on, then." She took my hand before I stood up and left the office.

As we left the doorway a man came out of the room opposite, looking upset.

"Mike," said Gina, making the man stop. "Is Tracy alright? Lily said she'd collapsed."

Mike sighed. "She um, she had a panic attack." He paused. "I've, um, given her the rest of the day off, to relax a bit."

Gina nodded, agreeing.

"What's a panic attack?" I asked.

Mike sighed again. "Um... It's like, when you get really sad or scared, and you can't cope, your body doesn't work properly for a few moments, which is why Tracy collapsed." He gave me a reassuring smile. "She'll be fine though, don't worry."

"Come on then, Charlotte," said Gina. "Let's go and meet the others, yeah?"

I nodded, before Gina began to lead me to the living room.

When we got there all of the other children were sitting on one sofa and the furniture around it, looking miserable. A girl with blonde hair in a ponytail smiled at me as I came in.

"Hi," she said, coming forward. "I'm Tee."

"I'm Charlotte," I said, giving her a smile back.

Another blonde girl turned to Gina. "Is Tracy alright?"

Gina nodded. "Yes, Mike said she's fine."

The girl looked relieved, as did everyone else.

"Right, well, everyone, this is Charlotte," said Gina. "I hope you'll all make her very welcome."

She gave me a smile, before she left.

Once she'd gone everyone introduced themselves. There was Carmen, Lily, Liam, Frank, Gus, Elektra, Johnny, Tee, Toby, Sapphire and Harry, along with the care workers Mike, Gina and Tracy.

"Do you want me to show you round?" asked Tee once I knew everyone's names.

I nodded.

"Come on, then," she said. She then left the room and went in the direction of the office.

"This is the office," she said. "If you want to talk to Mike and Gina then..."

I stopped listening. There was someone crying in the room opposite again, probably Tracy I realised, but I could hear Mike in the office.

Tracy was all on her own.

I went past Tee, opening the office door.

"Charlotte?" asked Gina as I came in. "Is everything alright?"

"Tracy's crying," I said.

Immediately Mike stood up and left the room, going into the room where Tracy was.

And, as I looked through the door before he closed it, I felt so sad.

I hated to see people upset, and I started to cry.

Tee noticed my tears and put her arm round my shoulder. "Hey, what's wrong?"

"I don't like people upset," I said.

Tee knelt down and have me a hug. "It's alright," she said. "Tracy will be alright."

Tracy POV

As soon as Mike came into the room I felt a sense of relief. I hated it in here on my own, just being left to my thoughts.

He sat down next to me. "Charlotte said you were crying," he said. His voice softened. "Are you alright?"

I didn't reply, resting my head on his chest like I had earlier, drawing comfort from him. He wrapped his arms around me as tears made their way down my cheeks.

And then I realised something.

"Charlotte told you?" I asked. "Who's she?"

"She's the new girl I told you about, remember?" explained Mike.

In all honesty I didn't remember, as at the time I'd had too many other things going on in my head to be paying any attention to what Mike was saying, but I nodded.

"Well, she arrived while we were in the quiet room," continued Mike. He looked down at me. "She's really worried about you, you know."

"How old is she?" I asked.

"Eight," said Mike.

Eight? I thought to myself. Why is she so worried about me when she's only eight and she's never even met me?

Just then the door opened, revealing a little girl, who I assumed was Charlotte, in tears.

"Hey," said Mike gently. "What's wrong?"

Charlotte froze, before she went back out of the room.

I moved off Mike, before he got up, left the room, and came back with Charlotte in his arms, her arms wrapped around his neck. He was gently stroking her back, trying to calm her down.

"Hey, Charlotte," I said.

Charlotte turned her head to look at me.

"Why are you sad?" I asked.

Charlotte stopped crying, and Mike let her down onto his lap, where she turned so she was facing me. "I don't like seeing other people sad."

"Neither do I," I said. I put my hand on Charlotte's. "And I don't like people being upset because I'm upset either."

Charlotte crawled over to my lap, hugging me tight as she began to cry again.

"Are you upset about your mum?" asked Mike, who obviously knew more than I did about why she'd been brought here.

Charlotte nodded. "She's gone to America to try and get a job, and I don't know when she'll be back."

As Charlotte said those words I felt sick. Cam going to New York was still too raw for me to think about, and now Charlotte was going through the same thing I had.

And I knew I had to protect her.

Mike rubbed my back as I hugged Charlotte tight, trying to calm her and me.

We sat like this for a few minutes, before Charlotte spoke up.

"Can Tracy come while Tee shows me round?" she asked, looking up at me.

Mike looked to me, and I nodded, wanting to make Charlotte happy.

"Go on, then," said Mike, giving us both a warm smile. "I'll go and sort out your paperwork, Charlotte, and then I'll meet you back here. Yeah?"

Charlotte nodded, and I gave a nod too, putting on a brave smile.

"Come on, Charlotte," I said, standing up and taking her hand. "Let's go."

Charlotte nodded and smiled at me, before we made our way out of the quiet room.

Tee was standing outside, and gave a smile when she saw me.

"Are you OK?" she asked.

I nodded, although I could feel tears springing to my eyes again.

Mike turned around and saw me. "Trace." he said, gesturing for me to follow him, and so I let go of Charlotte's hand and did as I was told.

"I gave you the rest of the day off for a reason," he said gently. "Tee will look after Charlotte, just, take the chance to relax, yeah?"

"But I need to look after Charlotte," I said.

"No," said Mike. "What you need to do is rest, and calm yourself." His voice was firm but gentle, making me know there was no point arguing.

I nodded, and Mike gave me a smile, before turning to Charlotte.

"Charlotte," he said.

Charlotte turned round.

"Tracy doesn't feel very well, so it's just going to be you and Tee," Mike continued. "Is that OK?"

Charlotte nodded. "Yeah, that's fine." She turned to me. "I just thought it might make Tracy happy."

I went to step forward and say I'd come with them on the house tour, but the look on Mike's face told me not to.

And he was probably right.

"I'm alright, Charlotte," I said, trying to reassure her I was OK. "You just go with Tee, don't worry about me."

"Are you sure?" asked Charlotte.

I nodded. "Yeah, I'm fine."

Charlotte smiled. "OK." She then turned to Tee. "Where are you showing me next then?"

And with that Tee began the tour (presumably again, as Charlotte had said next), and they both walked off in the direction of the living room.

And Mike wrapped his arm around my shoulders, pulling me in for a hug as the tears began to fall.

A/N Should I stop it here?... Yes, I should, because I'm going swimming soon, and then hopefully I'll have some lovely reviews (or horrible reviews, I'm not really fussed as long as they're truthful and not overly mean XD) when I get back. (Hint hint. XD) Anyway, hope you liked the first chapter of... I haven't named this story yet so I'll have to do that before I put it up. XD This was actually supposed to start at the beginning of series 2, but because of my love of 'Chain Reaction' I started it there instead. Which is weird, actually, becuase after I'd done that I realised that both Charlotte and Tracy have mums that have gone to America for work, and I only realised it when I was doing a conversation between them in my head. XD (And actually that conversation turned out nothing like I imagined it, but oh well, it never does. XD) Anyway, I've made polyvores for Charlotte and her mum on my account ("snow-pony", as the profile link disappeared), so go and look at them if you want. :-) Hope you enjoyed, please review! :-D

I will be updating 'Shattered Links' next, as I should have done that ages ago, and then this will probably be after. Just thought I'd let you know (and then you can bug me if I don't XD). :-)