I stole a Time Lord and I ran away (Ten Forward - OTA)

[cridhe]

Jack had finally convinced the Doctor that they needed as much rest as she did. So they had left her alone in the room she was supposed to be sleeping in. The Doctor had given her the ring of his first wife. For a man who has tried to forget so much of Gallifrey, he really was a sentimental idiot. It was a black ring with silver Gallifreyan script written on it. The ring held a special power, he had said. It was something to keep her safe. But she had not been able to remove it. That was all right, she supposed. She trusted him, so if this was for her good, she would wear it. It was slightly too big to wear on her right ring finger, so she wore it on the middle finger of that hand instead.

She had accomplished so much - over a thousand years of running the calculations - and she was once again in flesh form. This time she was much more stable than she had been when the House had forced her into Idris' body. And she intended to remain this way as long as possible. It was with that thought she fell asleep.


She wakes with a gasp. When she looks around, she realises she is no longer in the bedroom Jack had provided for her. In fact, she can tell this place was in motion. It only takes her one look out the window to realise... she has no idea where she is. That is terrifying for her. She is used to being able to control the whole of Time and Space. And she can't tell much of anything. It's almost like this isn't her universe, but how is that even possible? Maybe this is just a nightmare. Jack and the Doctor had both mentioned they were fairly common. All she needs to do is wake herself up. She closes her eyes and then opens them again.   "It is not working!"

Her voice has a melodic quality to it.  Almost as if she were singing, if she were speaking another language.  Now, she was starting to panic properly. She cries out, "Doctor? Jack?"

She looks around again. The place where she is looks like a place for socialising, only there are very few people around. She closes her eyes again, trying to calm herself. She can tell it is the period for a majority of humans to be sleeping. Well that explains the lack of others. She needed to find the Doctor and Jack. If she was here, perhaps they were as well. If she could not understand, perhaps it was something specific to flesh that they could explain to her.

To anyone who is around she will ask: "Excuse me, have you seen the Doctor or Jack?"



[ooc: I'm happy to backtag to this until I can post to the sickbay entry. I have something entirely different planned for that.]

Comments

ooc: gah, I'm so sorry for the slowness, RL clobbered me ;~;

[and_she_waited]

She doesn't need further permission to take Cridhe's hand and tug her in the direction of the bar, asking the barkeep on duty to pour them up two blue drinks and make them strong, doesn't matter what they are.

She's been waiting a long time to be able to communicate with the TARDIS the way the Doctor can.

"Well, then I have some surprises for you," she says, more to Cridhe's second remark than to any of the others, but it probably holds for all of them.

Two crystal blue drinks are set in front of them, small green cubes floating inside. Could be ice, but who's to say? Amy's embracing the unknown.

"Thing is, there isn't just one Doctor here," she starts out, doing her best to be gentle; "there's three that I know of. They all showed up at different times, and some of them in different TARDISes."

She knows that's not supposed to be possible, but perhaps Cridhe will understand more of how this could happen than Amy does.

"You know me, which means you know my Doctor ... but is he the same a thousand years from now?" she asks.

(Even though there's some part of her that's not sure she wants to know the answer. She doesn't want him to be anyone else.)

No worries! This month was rough for me too :S

[cridhe]

Cridhe picks up the glass that was set in front of her and sniffs it. She looks down at her body and then at the glass again. She has no idea what the alcohol will do to her system. But Amy seems quite pleased with the prospects, so she gives it a taste. It wasn't bad.

"Different incarnations of the Doctor being present at the same time is not that unusual. Of course, it always holds one thing in common: trouble."

She frowns at the mention of different TARDISes.

"I am here more than once? In my box-shape. I am here..."

That clearly troubles her beyond belief. And with good reason - the possibility of a Time Ram is nothing to muck with. But Amy's already moved on to her real question.

"Technically speaking, a thousand years from when you know him, he is still the same man. A little older, but the same man."

That doesn't mean he's the same as Cridhe knows him now.

~hugs~ Bad month! I hope it gets better <3

[and_she_waited]

It's not to say Amy hasn't thought about getting the TARDIS drunk, and likely if they're allowed to go on without interference that's exactly what she'll try and do, but at least the alcohol here is synthehol.

For now.

"Really?" she asks, chewing on a green cube.

(Definitely ice.)

"The Doctor was always so doom an' gloom about it, though I suppose he was more worried about havin' you in more than one place at a time," she adds, just before going quiet.

Cridhe didn't seem to like the sounds of that either.

"You know what I mean," she says, though now her bluster is a bit more subdued; "bow tie, fez, tweed — or purple frock?"

That's a new one, but it is how he showed up here.

You too! :)

[cridhe]

Cridhe suddenly understands what was being asked of her. "Oh! You mean the order of him."

She gives a nod. "I am from about as far along in his future as I can be. I know all of his faces, so far as he's experienced them."

She takes another sip - might be more like a gulp - it's pretty good, now that she thinks about it.

"Purple frock - Edwardian. That was his eight incarnation. Ears-And-Nose was ninth, Spiky hair was tenth, Chin-boy was his eleventh, Eyebrows is twelfth. That's the one I'm with now."

No point in mentioning the rest, unless they show up. But she will, if asked.

[and_she_waited]

"Chin-boy!" she shouts, pointing a finger.

She's so delighted to have the answer that she doesn't think about the pout he'd be wearing if he knew she advertised his strongest feature to the entire room. It's like pub trivia.

The victory is short-lived, though. Some of Cridhe's descriptions hit home, others don't, but they all confirm what Amy didn't want to admit.

That there's another Doctor after her Raggedy Man.

That, at some point, it's no longer just them. Their adventure ends, and another one begins.

(She wonders if she's there to see it happen.)

Dipping her gaze to hide her disappointment, she swivels back to the bar and her drink.

"You may not be in from the same time then," she says, running her thumb through the sweat on her glass; "I haven't met any Doctors who remember me, other than The Chin. They're all from his past."

She pauses.

"We're not in danger, are we? Havin' all these Doctors and all these ... well, yous in one place at once?" she asks.

[cridhe]

Oh, that moment when companions realise they're not the first nor the last in the Doctor's long life. How can she make the woman feel better?

"The Doctor can sometimes last for several hundred years in one body. For as long-lived as you humans think you are... well. The one with the eyebrows will remember you, if he ever shows up. I promise."

Out of all the names he forgot when he was recovering from his regeneration, Amy's name had come to him easily.

But then there's the question about danger. How does she answer that.

"Well, there is always danger to have more than one incarnation of the Doctor around at a time. But mostly, that is why more than one of him shows up. More than one of me is a great deal more troubling. I can control and manipulate the whole of Time and Space. For a TARDIS to be in the same place at the same time, would cause a Time Ram. It could rip a whole in the fabric of reality. So, something very powerful is holding the mes here. Unfortunately, I dare not find myself. No clue what a flesh version of me touching a box version of me would do..."

Though, a part of her is very curious.

[and_she_waited]

She does smile wanly. Even if Cridhe were new at this whole being human matter, she's not bad at giving comfort.

Still, as long as the Doctor may live Amy will never stretch on that long. She doesn't think, anyway. Maybe? Who knows?

But the 'twelfth' order of him will remember her, the TARDIS says so, and that ... that at least means something.

Her eyes widen. "A Time Ram?"

Not a phrase she's heard the Doctor use before, but it's not hard figuring it out.

"They're kept in a cargo hold on a different deck, the other TARDISes," she offers Cridhe, though her mind is already wheeling; "that somethin' powerful would be Q, the alien who brought us all here."

She scoffs, disappointed.

"I knew he was strong, but I was hopin' the Doctor would still be able to get the better of 'im. Maybe that's why all of you are here. Maybe you're the only way to stop Q."

[cridhe]

She looks thoughtful.

"Well, best to keep me away from myself. No saying what would happen..."

She smiles a bit sadly when Amy expresses her utter belief and trust in the Doctor and the TARDIS.

"Maybe. But, if Q is powerful enough to bring me here like this? And to hold the entire paradox in place without reality being ripped apart? Amy. It usually took a TARDIS to do that. And not just any TARDIS, it would have to be old enough and experienced enough. And only a very few functional Paradox Machines have been created."

She looks out the windows to the stars going by.

"We might have to wait for this Q to return us home. I'm not saying I won't try. But, this is unlike anything I have ever experienced before."

[and_she_waited]

"Right," she nods, taking the warning seriously; "that shouldn't be a problem."

Cridhe's uncertainty is a little disheartening, but Amy has never been one to feel easily cowed. She does trust the Doctor, and the TARDIS. She's never seen anyone get the better of them.

"But we 'ave three TARDISes now," she points out; "and four Doctors. That must mean somethin'."

Together, they must have more power than just one Q, right? She grabs Cridhe's arm with a determined look in her eyes.

"You an' the Doctor, all of us, have been travelling so long that we've experienced a lot of things, but at one time they were brand new, weren't they?" she adds.

"Maybe this is just the next adventure."

[cridhe]

'Four TARDISes' gets mumbled under her breath. She's the TARDIS too, after all. But she's jolted by Amy grabbing her arm. It doesn't hurt at all, just surprises her. She hadn't expected it. She looks down quickly and breathes a sigh of relief when she remembers her arms are covered.

"Well, it is certainly an adventure."

She looks at Amy and just looks at her a bit. Because. She's missed her.