[006]

[grip_on_reality]

[Menzies arrives lying on the ground somewhere in the middle of the Plane. she's breathing hard, looking rather horrified and a little pale. she quickly sits up, looking down at herself in apparent confusion. then she starts to pat herself down, as though checking for injuries] All right... No gunshot. Fine now, then. Sure.

[taking a deep breath, she pulls herself to her feet, still looking completely frazzled. after a moment's thought, she takes hold of the ID badge that hangs around her neck. pulling it out, she briskly runs the edge of it along the back of one her hands, creating a small cut. she winces but watches with apparent interest as the cut bleeds red] And not dead. [she breathes a sigh of relief] First thing that's gone right all day... [she replaces her ID card before looking around, her expression uncharacteristically uncertain. she still looks pale and out of breath, and she clearly has no idea what to do now] Maybe this is payback for pissing off Ray.

[ooc: Menzies is in the middle of major trouble back home! See my OOC post for details.]

Comments

[grip_on_reality]

[Menzies doesn't respond. she's lying on the ground, staring up rather blankly and only half-conscious. her mind is still reeling from the onslaught of memory, mixed with the unfortunate fact that she very nearly got sucked into another mindscape before she made it out of there, and you're really not supposed to be able to interrupt that process]

[most_feared]

Goddammit.

[He leans over her and turns her head so he can try to get a look into her eyes and see how she's focusing.] Detective? You there? Come on, hang in there with me.

[grip_on_reality]

[between his voice and the physical contact, she's pulled back to reality. she groans, wincing as she focuses on him] What...what the hell just happened? [she cringes in pain] And what did they hit me over the 'ead with...

[most_feared]

I think he hit you with an idea. [He puts his arm behind her back to start helping her up.]

Either bastard has a kink for watching pretty ladies get offed over and over again [This isn't an unlikely scenario in his experience] or he's trying to work some sort of information out of you.

[grip_on_reality]

[she lets him help her without protest, her mind still reeling] I remember him now. I was supposed to meet him at a café after my shift! New arrival. [she gives him a pained look] What sort of information is he going to get by making me watch Manchester get invaded and killing me?

[most_feared]

Invaded? [He squints, thinking.] Is there something people would call on for help in that situation? [Because it doesn't sound like there's an MiB.] An organization? A person?

[grip_on_reality]

[she's still struggling to get her mind to focus] In Manchester? Me, mostly. There's some group, too--there was a massive cover-up in London after the Terravore. But I don't know about 'em--just that they're out there.

[most_feared]

What he's after is probably going to do shit to get you out of that. Who do you think could help? [He keeps her propped up. He's capable of some engineering and design, but not whatever that was.]

[grip_on_reality]

No, hang on. You might be onto something. [she straightens, trying to show Kay that she's all right to sit up now, though she's not planning to stand just yet] I was only in London because the Doctor was involved--I've been labelled some sort of an expert in the force. [she smiles wryly] Too many experiences with 'im. And what better way to get information on the Doctor than to put me through alien invasions! Oh, very good. [she sighs. really, she should have expected something like this to happen eventually]

[but as far as who can get her out of it...] If he is looking for information on the Doctor, then the Doctor might know 'im. Otherwise... [she turns to Kay] What else did you see in there? Any weapons? Any other people?

[most_feared]

I didn't see a gun. I heard someone immediately behind me though. [He stays crouched beside her, his hands folded over his knees.] But I've not really talked to the Doctor since the library. How would I get in touch with him?

[grip_on_reality]

Two people, then. Did you see anything else? I didn't get much of a look. [her position in the pod combined with the fact that she had to leave almost immediately was not very helpful]

[she sighs] Next time I see 'im, I'm giving him a mobile. But you might try a letter. That's supposed to work around this place, isn't it? [she's a bit torn about whether she should tell Kay that she'll take care of it, but it doesn't seem worth arguing over. still, she wishes she could do more to get herself out of this mess]

[most_feared]

Alright. I'll do what I can to try and get ahold of him.

You'll end up back in that thing whenever you go back, won't you?

[grip_on_reality]

[her expression is sour] Probably. So I think I'll stick around 'ere for the time being. I could do with a holiday.

[most_feared]

I heard those were kind of nice. Liked them during my short stint into retirement. [Despite his joking, he's genuinely worried.] I'll start looking into a way to get ahold of him, alright? You gonna need anything while you're here?

[grip_on_reality]

[she gives him an amused smile] You were retired?

Cheers for that. [by this point, she's quite calm, particularly considering the situation. they have a course of action now, and she supposes that's the best she can ask for. once they've talked to the Doctor, then she can start worrying about how she's going to get out of this] Nah, don't worry about me. I've done it all before.

[most_feared]

Sounds like this asshole wants to make sure you've done it all before. But I'll believe you. [And he's not gonna go until she's ready to stand up at least, so he sits down beside her to wait.]

[grip_on_reality]

[she makes a face] Seems like it. But I meant I've stayed 'ere before--during the candy mess. Were you still here for that?

[she has a feeling that's the case, and she's grateful that he isn't making a big deal about it. she figures it's best to talk for a few more minutes, and then she'll give standing a go. that seems a better idea than pushing it]

[most_feared]

No, actually. Wasn't around for that.

[He pulls out a notepad, compelled to take notes out of habit. He's not actually ever gotten around to using his phone for it- he likes writing them in different languages anyway.]

[grip_on_reality]

[Menzies prefers paper to her phone as well, so she can't blame him] Well, it all happened a few months back. Candy started showing up in our worlds--but if you ate a piece, you...changed. Took us a bit to work it out, but basically? It made people's worst fears come true.

[most_feared]

God this place is a special sort of fucked up. [Scribble scribble.] What kept you on the Plane? [He chooses not to ask what her worst fear was. He's not even sure what that would do to him, if he ate one.]

[grip_on_reality]

Exactly what I was thinking.

Most people got violent--started destroying things, even going after innocents. Generally making a real mess of the place. I guess you could say I got lucky.

[she pauses, trying to think of how to explain] I met this fella once, named Lish. He came from a world where they affected their environment, which in his case meant he gave anyone around him bad luck. But Lish could shield one or two people--not to mention his employer had this dampening device to keep it in check. Not exactly the sort of thing you can find lying around Manchester, though. So when the people around me started getting hurt, I came here for a while.

[most_feared]

Hm. Makes sense. [More of a grunted statement than anything, but he's painfully aware of what you give up to keep people safe. Sometimes a whole lifetime, living outside of the world. You do what you have to do. That's why the fingers resting on the pen he's scratching the paper with have no fingerprints. Why his father died never knowing his son was still alive, and why his coworkers were always told that his family was dead if he asked.

Pretty unbearable if it's something you didn't choose for yourself. He does it willingly. Probably wasn't easy at all on her.] How long did it last for people.

[grip_on_reality]

[in a lot of ways, she's chosen a similar life. it's why she has the job she does--and why she puts all her time into it, even getting involved in alien cases when she has a day off. but the mess with the candy wasn't easy--mainly because there wasn't a damn thing she could do to fix it herself. if she'd tried, she just would have been putting everyone unlucky enough to get near her in danger. and while she's well aware Riku will probably never tell her what it took for him to get that apple for her, she knows something awful happened to him then. and between that and the man who died before she worked out what was happening, she still has a lot of unresolved guilt]

[but you get used to it] Ah, it wasn't one of the timed ones. They gave us a couple ways to get out of it. First, they told us that anybody who died would go back to normal. [her lips twist into a scowl] Dunno if anybody took 'em up on that, but soon after, they let us know there was actually something in the shop that could fix it. [she's still calm as she explains, but her expression is dark] I didn't get to see that part myself, but I bet you can guess the chances that they just let people walk in and back out with the antidote.

[most_feared]

[That pings his interest because of his earlier conversation with Ray.] Which one was the one to tell you about the antidote and whatever hell you had to go through to get it?

[grip_on_reality]

[she smiles wryly] Nobody. We got a note about that. But Meredith stopped by in person to tell us to start killing people. [which is just like this place, really]