Thriller (Ada)

[Alec Harrison]

"Um, no?" Her reply sounded flat and sarcastic as it rolled off her tongue. "You honestly think that me, some random street urchin, is going to go back to all that? I've been running around this... building or whatever of yours, being chased by a madman, almost died a bunch of times, and just now I saw you shoot freaking lightning or something from your hands." She crossed her arms, smiling wryly. Alec response to the smile was a bemused frown, quite not liking her at this point in time. She gets mad at him for not wanting to be treated like an idiot, and suddenly he was the pompous one. "I don't know what the heck you are, or what you're doing half the time, but I'm not leaving yet."

"Galifreyan." he muttered for the second time.

Alec was getting tired of such a rotten day. Did it really hurt people that much to be nice to him? Would it kill her to at least not patronize him? Would it? He took a step backwards, relinquishing the gap.

"Look, thanks for saving me and all that, it was nice of you. I'd really like it if you didn't punish me for not falling at your feet by dropping me back off on the street." He exhaled roughly.
Here we go again. I'm the unreasonable one. Oh, but she wasn't done yet. "Just--augh. What I mean is, I'm not used to getting saved. Alright? Don't take it personally, I'm just not really the kind of girl people come back for."

So she suddenly had the right to feel sorry for herself? He shook his head, blue eyes refusing to meet hers.
"I can describe the feeling. When my father left, and my mother went insane? Or how about when my replacement family was killed in a fire- on my birthday? Or when I had the life sucked out of my head by my half-sister? Oh, here's a good one- when I was shot by my other sister's boyfriend, falling into an explosion that scattered my atoms across the galaxies? I'll tell you this: no one was there for me then." his frown had taken him over.

 She shrugged. "You still haven't told me what you are, Mister Alien."

"Alec Harrison." he grunted.

[Ada Clemency]

Gallifreyan, huh? That sure told her a lot. And now he wasn't going to look at her. What a pity that was, since blue-eyed Mister Harrison seemed rather adorably pouty. Now he was going on about his sad life, which, she had to agree, did seem pretty harsh. "Right, you win. Your life is the worst thing ever." Ada laughed quietly, just a little nervous. Still, she couldn't help but feel this was turning into his personal pity-party, and she wasn't going to be the chaperone.

"Well, it doesn't look like you'd have much reason to chase me down anyway, so here's my full name. Ada Beatrice Clemency. Hopefully we're even on that point." Alec seemed to fit him, somehow, in the same way the name Ada had always seemed to belong to her. As she did a double take on his words, though, the strangeness of it all filled her mind. "Wait, wait, wait." She shook her head, trying to pick out some words. "Galaxies? We're not in like... space, are we?" Ada looked around the room nervously, entirely confused as to what she was looking for. "Er, nevermind, I guess it wouldn't matter much anyway."

Grunts and frowns all around. Not very attractive, if you asked her. As Ada started wandering the room, looking at different parts of the church-like sanctuary, she called back, "You don't do a good neanderthal impression, Alec. And I hope you don't stay too terribly mad at me, I--"
Ada's words cut off abruptly as she turned over that word, that very, very important word in her mind. Gallifreyan. Like an unscratchable itch, it stuck to her mind. Burning with wonder, fear, and anticipation of what that word truly meant, Ada found herself unable to speak. She slumped down into the nearest pew, breathing only in the most shallow manner possible. All those pushed away images, those searing thoughts, they all came back with a vengeance. She could see them, again, those beings that ate from shadows, men in black clothes with faces she couldn't remember, the way the sun looked on another planet...

Her head felt warm. Too warm. Just now Ada realized that she had been rocking back and forth, like a child fearful of bullies. Arms clasped against her chest, she tried to forget those visions pervading her every thought now, but found she could not. Was this, she wondered, what dying felt like?

But she could not tell. She could only stare wide eyed toward the pulpit, wordlessly screaming.

[Alec Harrison]

"Right, you win. Your life is the worst thing ever." she said, chuckling.

Alec gave her a deadpan look. He didn't think it was funny.

"Well, it doesn't look like you'd have much reason to chase me down anyway, so here's my full name. Ada Beatrice Clemency. Hopefully we're even on that point." Alec seemed to fit him, somehow, in the same way the name Ada had always seemed to belong to her. As she did a double take on his words, though, the strangeness of it all filled her mind. "Wait, wait, wait." She shook her head, trying to pick out some words. "Galaxies? We're not in like... space, are we?"

"No. We're in my time machine. Which, I suppose, can go in space, and does frequently."
Ada looked around the room nervously, entirely confused as to what she was looking for. "Er, nevermind, I guess it wouldn't matter much anyway."

Alec's eyes narrowed. What was she doing?
"What is so interesting at the pulpit, Ada?" he said over her screaming.

[Ada Clemency]

((OOC: Yeah, it was supposed to be like... silent. Just air coming out, no legit screaming. I kinda failed at explaining that, sorry.))


Space. Time. TARDIS. It all made sense. More sense than she'd wanted any of this to make, honestly. The pieces of the puzzle were falling into place now, like leaves lighting upon a moving stream. In her mind's eye, she could see galaxies, whole galaxies, stretching out in the expanse of space, growing, falling, rising, all elastic against the flow of time. But here she was, talking to someone from Gallifrey. A... what was the word, that word that had stuck in her head as a child, but only just now had begun to hold meaning? There it was: Timelord.

Where had all this information come from? Ada had always knew things she shouldn't have, but this was just too much. Her head seemed to ache from the overflowing of information. As her vision went in and out, Ada regained control of herself. She could understand just a little of what had happened, but most of her knowledge had seeped back into the annals of memory, only to be called upon when needed. Her body only shook barely now, as Ada began to blink. "It's not the pulpit, it's... I saw things. That's all."

How could she ever explain what she had seen? Those things didn't exist, and they were eating away at her brain again. She didn't understand, and what were those words in her head about the TARDIS and non-linear universe? She wanted to accept it and let the images make sense, but she knew they weren't real. They couldn't be. That was why her foster parents had refused to take her to a psychiatrist--too embarrassing, such a weak-minded child. She'd have to put away her crazy thoughts again.

Yet she couldn't. Not this time. A sentence stuck out in her mind, and exited her mouth before Ada could understand what she had said. Even replaying it in her head, she wasn't sure what it meant.
"How many times can a timelord die?"