Author's Note: Yes, it has been a while since I've updated and I apologise for the delay, particually ending on a semi-cliffhanger. You will be pleased (I hope) that the next chapter (and a half) are well underway and Chapter 28 may be posted at any time in the near future. This one's mainly plot, but I can guarentee action is coming really soon.
I admit, having a weekly Doctor Who fix does help me write this. But, no spoilers here.
One more thing; R.I.P Elizabeth Sladen. You will forever be in our hearts.
Chapter 27
An Encounter With A Lioness
'The past was one thing. Her own was a whole different can of worms.'
The school was very eerie at night. The cause couldn't be narrowed down to individual factors, but the Cambodian skulls that stared out into the dark played a major part. It was as though they were the eyes of the school and it was watching her. Pretty creepy, although Ace's nerves were already on edge after catching sight of those glowing eyes in the forest. She hadn't lost them either, and could still feel their stare on her back. She really didn't like the feeling of being watched constantly as it made her twitch uneasily all over, although there was no point searching for them now. They'd just disappear, and knowing they were there somewhere out of sight was worse than sensing they were just out of sight.
If she had been anyone else, she would have put the feeling down to paranoia. Normal people hardly get followed by creepy eyes. It's just their imagination most of the time, and those who really believe they're being followed are the sort people who are panicked by the slightest sound in a dark room. The sight of a mouse or the shadow of a hat stand could freak them out. Ace knew she was made of tougher stuff than that. What people found scary was pretty tame to her. She wasn't scared of much. She'd seen some pretty awful stuff than made common fears seems pathetic.
An outsider might think her few fears were quite strange, but they would hardly understand that they were justified. Oh sure, men in metal suits weren't scary unless they had an alien gun pointed at you and spoke mechanically. Pepper pots had lost their innocence long ago. As for her distrust of soup, well, that could have something to do with being the guest of an alien who didn't see anything wrong with putting humans on the menu.
Being scared was not something Ace liked to admit. Ever. But being very nervous about something, yeah, she could own up to feeling that. Right now, she was very, very nervous. And edgy. So edgy in fact that if she were a porcupine all her needle sharp spines would be on end. Being followed can do that to a person.
In Ace's world, paranoia does not exist. There is such a thing as worrying too much, but if you feel something is wrong, it probably is. When you travel about through time and space and your friend has plenty of enemies, you learn to ignore coincidences and trust every one of your gut feelings. If they scream, 'There's something there' then there is something there.
'It's not paranoia when people are usually out to get you,' she reasoned to herself. 'Sad but true. Gee, if I had a can of Nitro for every time someone or something was out to get me...'
A hidden obstacle in the darkness chose that moment to get in her way. Great, another bruise. Just what she needed.
The oddly shaped shadows and numerous concealed obstructions of the corridors also made navigating difficult however deliberately placed traps and snares were more of a concern to her than tripping over the occasional hockey stick. Ace didn't bother avoiding the later for it took too much effort, and reaching her destination did not require stealth, only speed if she were to reach it in time.
What she really needed was to find Kelly. What she'd tell her, she had no idea. Nor did Ace have a clue of how Kelly would be able to do anything about it. It wasn't like Kelly could just point a flashlight into the dark and scare the eyes away.
Ace didn't know it, but she was mostly driven by the need to tell someone about the problem. She could deal with things problems on her own, but big very important ones were something else. Tackling them alone would be extremely difficult. She'd usually turn to the Professor at times like these. If he didn't see fixing it an issue, then it meant it wasn't too hard for her to deal with. At least she was more confident about dealing with it herself.
Considering this, it was understandable that she sought Kelly's reassurance as an alternative to the Professor's. Both were quite capable and confidence in their abilities, and both were reliable, despite having faults of their own. Almost as though detecting these and other similarities between them on a subliminal level, Ace found herself calling out.
"Kit...?"
Standing at the bottom of the grand staircase, she stared up and caught sight of a figure that had halted.
Unseen by Ace, the figure smirked to the wall. Not that unusual for humour had to be released sometime. They turned and peered down to the ground floor to answer the call.
"I have you to blame for the constant use of that name."
Ace sighed, acknowledging her involvement. "It'll never stick."
"It certainly won't when you stop using it."
They both knew the chance of that happening was nil.
Kelly glanced at her for a moment. "I heard a bang outside."
The unspoken 'I know it was you' resonated through the air between them. It was then Ace's grubby appearance was brought into the light as Ace climbed the stairs, but Kelly pretended she couldn't smell the smoke that clung to the girl's clothes (Including the mysterious badge-less jacket) so she could take notice of whatever had made her senses tingle warningly. Ace looked odd, and that wasn't the leaves and twigs in her hair or the numerous scrapes and cuts that covered her arms like intricate tattoos or even the feeling of it being wrong of her to wear any jacket but her own signature one.
"There's something I need to tell you," Ace began.
Looking past the recent abrasions, Kelly identified yet another clue. Ace's eyes gleamed brightly despite the darkness (She had just exploded something. The adrenaline rush was to be expected) but a tiny dot of doubt or uncertainty flickered into them every few seconds. Accompanied by the need to tell her something, Kelly immediately became concerned. Ace did many things, not often safe things, but she never looked anything less than certain. Determination oozed off her whenever she chased the hint of an idea that struck her. If it wasn't that, it was exhilaration, generally following the determined gaze and directly following something 'wicked' occurring.
In short, Kelly had never seen Ace looking doubtful about anything before. Considering how extreme Ace's emotions tended to become (What happened an hour ago being a perfect example), she was probably right to feel concerned.
Unaware of how Kelly was evaluating her, Ace found herself in a dilemma. Now she'd found Kit and told her she needed to tell her something, she had to actually say something. What she felt that she needed to say was rather difficult because she didn't know exactly how to explain it or how to formulate the right words.
An image came into her mind, specifically a face that was becoming more and more familiar against her wishes.
"You remember that guy in the warehouse," she began, not quite sure where this conversation would end up going.
Kelly's neutral expression faded like a light being turned off. A glare formed and it stared at her viciously. Bad move, Ace realised too little too late as suddenly Kelly seized her arm. Still reeling at the abruptness of the action, she could do little else but stumble around to retain her footing, while Kelly dragged her half way across the landing. The possibility of being tossed over the railing clawed at her mind, no doubt caused by the unexpected fall out of a tree only minutes ago. However, when this scary and dangerous Kelly didn't adjust her grip to do so, Ace heaved a sigh of relief. She'd had enough of falling.
A moment later, realising where she was being taken, Ace wished otherwise. Falling suddenly seemed appealing, particularly when compared to being forced to cross the line that was forbidden to cross. The line however was only a warning of what lay ahead, and the unknown but indisputable terrors that lurked inside the impenetrable fortress that certain St Trinian girls called their own for a year.
It was the last place she wanted to go, but it happened to the first one on Kelly's list.
The third floorboard squeaked when Kelly reached for the door handle and Ace fully expected to be zapped by a hundred volts of electricity. She remembered all too well what happened last time. However, this time no bolt struck her. Kelly had disabled the defences somehow, probably with the key she'd slid into the topmost of the four locks. The key turned once, twice, three times clockwise then once anticlockwise for half a turn. Almost like a safe combination lock, Ace thought for a second. There was no click to inform her that the door had been unlocked, just the faintest creak when the door swang open only to reveal another door. Solid steel (what do you know? The twins had been right). Kelly inserted the key again, turned it once, and it opened.
Ace was pulled inside then released. She might have been able to beat her to the door, might have escaped, but she was frozen to the spot. Everything had shut down the moment she observed the contents of the room.
There weren't any torture devices, visible at any rate, or stash of confiscated weapons of mass destruction. That should have been reassuring. It wasn't. Not even Ace's fleeting thoughts of what the room might contain, or the nightmares others undoubtedly had about this place after antagonising Kelly once too often, came anywhere close to its contents. For the room was, simply, plain. Bare essentials only, except the new looking bar fridge that peeked out from under the desk where a computer monitor sat looking quite pleased with itself, almost as if it knew just how privileged it was to be there. The wooden chest in the corner was almost too normal to be in such a feared place.
A cork board had curiously been attached to the roof above the perfectly made bed and thumbtacks pinned numerous post-it notes and photographs into place. Ace tilted her head to read the handwritten notes (Notably messier than Kelly's usual handwriting but definitely hers) but they were unreadable except when lying down and looking straight up.
The door shut behind her with a dull clunk. Any possibility of escape vanished. Kelly turned to face her. There was no enraged expression in sight like Ace had imagined there'd be. Oh, she was annoyed all right, but nerved too. Her mask had slipped. Now the mysterious hidden face had been uncovered, Ace was immediately aware that she had absolutely zilch amount of control over the situation now. She stood on unsteady ground for talking to Kelly like this was unfamiliar. When the mask was on, Kelly's expression rarely betrayed what she really thought. Sometimes talking to her was like addressing a wall; the occasional twitch of her lips was the most visible sign of life.
Emotion was a strange sight to encounter after facing that for so long. Her eyes seemed to shine with brown flames that flickered embers out at you, as if testing your flammability. She dominated over you by leaning forward and regarded you carefully, sussing your weaknesses out.
The likeness to a feline creature, only just detectable when masked, was ever so much more evident now. No more little kitty cat. Now the most powerful and dangerous member of the felines, the king of the jungle, was staring at her prey. The St Trinian girls were her pride. She was their head, their leader, commander, defender, and this room was her den.
Ace gulped to herself. She'd really gone and put her foot in it this time.
The lioness spoke. "You promised not to talk about that." There were so many signals and facial expressions to observe and decipher. Once, those words might have been a statement of fact. Right then, the intention behind the words was unclear. But, regardless of the situation, you should never provoke a dangerous, angry creature, particularly when they belong to the large cat family. One wrong word or fast movement and they could lash out mercilessly.
Ace put up a defensive front; "Sorry." To her ears, it sounded like she was asking permission to speak, but she didn't dare risk anything else.
Permission was granted through the word, "Explain."
A demand or a request? She wasn't game enough to gamble on the second option, yet what was she to say? This hadn't been the way she'd planned to tell the truth. Despite that, if any time was a good time to tell, this was it. You're in the securest room in the school with the one person who actually might believe you, she reasoned to herself.
But how do I tell her? 'Hey Kit, you wanna know why I keep saying my life is complicated? Well I travel through time and space with a friend of mine, fighting bad guys and generally saving the world. I can't help but notice that something not quite right here and I think I just saw something in the forest. Just thought you should know.'
That idea was rapidly blown out of the water. It definitely was not the way to go. That would go down like a shot of Trinski; agonisingly slowly as it burns your throat; because this girl did not look in the mood for a life-changing moment or mind blowing revelations. She wanted information and straight to the point facts that wouldn't require any thinking or prior knowledge.
Start simple, she decided. Then, if necessary, give her some time before dropping the heavy stuff.
"That bald guy with the gun, I've seen him before," Ace explained.
Another of those considering looks, before, "Where?" was asked.
"At that bar. He was that guy who walked in who looked like he was a policeman." She quickly corrected, "He was the policeman who pulled us over."
Kelly didn't blink. "Yes, I know."
"You know?" questioned Ace, caught off guard yet again.
Heels tapped on the floorboards as Kelly turned to pluck a paper off the desk. "Police Constable Bill Scott. Thirty two years old according to this. Been in the Police for two years. Only," she continued, "it's all forged."
Ace glanced at the page she had been handed. She was no expert, but she couldn't find anything that screamed 'fake' about it. "Looks pretty legit to me."
Kelly disagreed and pointed out the inaccuracies with a deep red nail. "Wrong I.D number, passport listed is void and belonged to a man who has been dead for six years. Incorrect current resident address. Current tenant has been there for the last ten years, and never shared the apartment. All created to pass preliminary security checks, not intense scrutiny."
Ace took another look at the paper. It still looked normal, and she couldn't even point out where half the information was stored, let alone what was wrong with it. Looks like Kelly had done her research and boy, had she dissected it in order to study every individual part. The amount of time and effort it would take, Ace had no idea but figured she'd give up after five minutes trying. Determination was one thing. Concentrating for a long period of time was another. Besides, Ace realised she'd have no clue how it could be done. But someone who did this for a living, they wouldn't have much trouble.
Had Kelly had much trouble? Unlikely, Ace deducted. Investigating and finding the truth were skills she probably used every day. How else could she know everything that happens at the school?
"Bill Scott didn't exist six months ago," Kelly concluded, either unaware of Ace's lack of attention or choosing to ignore it. "Popped up out of nowhere and has been watching us for weeks."
The last sentence had the force of a kick in the gut. "What?" exclaimed Ace. "Weeks?"
"Sometime in the last few weeks, the police were contacted regarding the sighting of a missing person." The Head Girl met her eyes. "An unknown and untraceable source told authorities the missing person was currently attending this school, and used the same alias; Ace."
If Kelly's previous statement had knocked the wind out of Ace's lungs, this one pushed her onto the edge of unconsciousness and pulled her back just so it could do it again. The past was one thing. Her own was a whole different can of worms. Any little nasty moment would crawl out given the chance. There was a reason she never looked back, yet it kept being shoved in her face. Remember this? Remember that? Or that time when...? Every time Ace had visited Earth since leaving it her dark past had reared it's ugly head on every occasion, like a TV program showing the same episode every week. She didn't like repeats. Once was enough for most of those memories.
Couldn't she go anywhere in the Universe without them snapping at her heels, nagging at her, taunting her, reminding her of what she'd done? Not even twenty years into the future at of the craziest schools in the world was enough distance between her and the worst years of her life.
There was no point avoiding the truth anymore. There wasn't enough time to figure out the best way to explain, she just had to say it.
"They're after Ace McShane," Ace told her, quietly. "That's who they want. She couldn't be me, could she?"
Kelly frowned. "You said you were."
Ace nodded slowly. "I did, didn't I? And you believed me. But they won't, will they?"
She sighed to herself. People were forever asking for the truth. They hardly ever liked it or believed it, so Ace had learnt to not mention it. It didn't seem to matter whether or not they accepted the existence of alien life and could travel through space with ease, time travel was deemed impossible wherever she went. Some didn't even understand the concept. Some were opposed to the idea or declared she was mad.
When faced with obstacles like that, telling the whole truth had become an increasingly rare event. Ace had taken to telling half-truths when she had the chance, and not answering whenever she had the option. When really pressed or threatened, she'd lie, although that had its problems for sure, but when the truth sounds ridiculous you don't really have much choice.
"Ace McShane can't be me because she'd thirty something, not seventeen," Ace continued. "They're not going to believe that I've travelled through time, I mean, who would?"
"I did."
Ace jerked her head up from the floor to meet Kelly's eyes. The death glare had disappeared, for the moment at least. Instead, curiosity seemed to glaze her brown eyes.
"Most people freak out. You're one of the few I've met who haven't," Ace told her, which Kelly looked rather pleased about. She was taking it as a compliment. "I wonder why only certain people accept it?"
Kelly shrugged. "It did seem a bit unrealistic, I'll admit. Thing is, it was not the strangest explanation I've thought of."
Ace blinked. Kelly had considered other things and thought they were even stranger than time travel? "Really?"
Kelly nodded. "It made sense in a way after comparing logic to the overwhelming evidence that supports your claim."
"What evidence?"
She smirked and started counting off her fingers. "Your name for starters, your outdated clothing when you first got here, those phrases you curse under your breath... It took me an hour to figure out what on Earth 'Gordon Bennett' meant."
That forced a grin out of Ace.
"What else…? Mainly little things that didn't add up like when you saw Taylor's iPod and couldn't figure out how she managed to get the music on it, or when you named the wrong Prime Minister, or when you couldn't find the windscreen wipers for the van after unleashing your smokescreen. No wonder you were a terrible driver."
"Hey!" exclaimed Ace. "You try driving a car from the 60's or 80's. I bet you'd have a little difficulty too."
Kelly's eyebrows rose in amusement. "Those antiques?"
"They weren't 'antiques' back then!" Ace defended.
"I never thought anyone from the 80's would be able to work a computer, let alone surf the Internet."
"I doubt you could get my tape-deck to work!"
Kelly let that comment slide. "How long have you been here, in this time?" she asked, changing the topic with ease.
"However long I've been here," Ace replied.
"Two months. You've only been here that long?"
Ace nodded.
"That… is quite an achievement considering what time period you've come from." Kelly's grin faded, a thought occurring to her. "But that means no one from the outside saw you until three weeks ago."
"Except," Ace added, having just figured it out for herself, "that was when this policeman guy found us twice in the one night. He already knew who he was looking for."
Kelly agreed, "Exactly what I was thinking. Someone told them you're here."
"My money's on Josey," Ace muttered.
Despite not getting on with said girl too well either, Kelly did not allow the accusation to persist. "Whoever they are, they know your real name."
"That should make it easier, but it doesn't. It's not like I've been telling everyone," Ace told her. "You're the only one who knows the name 'McShane', and I know you didn't tell on me."
Kelly glanced sideways.
"What?"
"That's… not quite true." She suddenly looked away, almost… guilty. "It's my fault, Ace."
Ace blinked. "What do you mean, 'your fault'?"
Kelly bit her lip and hesitated for a second before answering. "I had the Geeks look you up the day you arrived." Having said that, she reached into a drawer on the desk and pulled out a thin pile of papers that had been neatly stapled together. She handed it over.
Ace's eyes frantically scanned over the first page.
Missing Persons File # 278,147,226
Name: Dorothy 'Ace' McShane
DOB: October 9, 1970
Date/s Missing: Disappeared: November 20, 1987 (Aged 16)
Found: Sunday August 31, 1989
Disappeared Again: September 1, 1989
Found: February 24, 1993
Disappeared Again: February 26 1993
Missing From: Perivale, England
Info: Goes under the name of 'Ace'. Anglo-Saxon, brown eyes and hair, normally tied back in a ponytail or braid. Wears a black leather jacket with 'Ace' on the back that is covered in badges. Usually carries a large backpack with her. About 5 feet and 2 inches tall.
Sightings:
1: After being expelled from her school, Greenford High School, Ace stayed at home while awaiting application into another school. She was last seen by her mother heading into her bedroom.
2: A woman matching Ace's description wearing a white shirt, black skirt and tights, was seen on the 23rd November, 1988, at a jazz performance of Courtney Pine's. After the jig, she asked for an autograph and then disappeared without a trace. Witnesses reported that there was a jacket matching hers hanging on the back of her chair that vanished as well.
3: Last seen in Perivale between August the 31st and September the 1st, 1989, by locals including her friends, Ange, Shirella and Derek. She was wearing her badge covered jacket, a red long sleeved shirt, Doc Martins and black tights.
4: A woman matching Ace's description was reported to have stayed at Gore Crow Hotel, Lake Vortigern, England for a night in late February, 1993. The owner of Gore Hotel stated that later the next day, she drove away in an old yellow car with a small group. She was wearing a three quarter sleeved green shirt, long black tights, black shoes, and gold earrings. One of the guests at the hotel at the time claims that this woman was also carrying a black badge covered jacket and called herself 'Ace'.
Ace stared sightlessly at the paper for a moment before furiously flicking through the other sheets. Her heart sank lower with each page. Her old life had been spelt out by a missing person's report, several police records (One detailing the fire that burnt down Gabriel Chase), a list of employees at the Perivale café with her name highlighted, her birth certificate, criminal record and a few outdated photographs. Midge stood in the most recent of the photos beside Ange and a much younger looking version of herself.
'I won't cry,' she told herself as emotions started to bubble inside and tighten her throat. 'I will not cry.' She inhaled deeply, and briefly closed her eyes.
"Ace…"
"I'm fine, Kit." She commanded her quavering voice to return to normal. "Really, I'm fine. I just… It's been a while, that's all." As much as the sight of her old friends hurt, she couldn't help but look at them again. "Who's seen all this?" she asked, staring at the photo.
Kelly began talking very quickly, almost as though to soften the blow. "The Geeks found most of it. As for who they might have told, it's hard to say but they all think 'McShane' is your mum. Polly and I are the only ones who know otherwise, and she wouldn't tell anyone. No one would have been able to retrieve the files off her laptop so whoever told on you must have figured it out themself."
"That leaves everyone else, doesn't it?" Ace replied hollowly.
"Ace, I'm sorry," Kelly said with what appeared to be as much conviction and honesty as humanely possible.
Ace's emotional guards started working to patch up her broken defences. Automatically, she tried to brush the whole thing off like it was nothing. "It's not your fault."
"But, it is," Kelly returned, unaware of how her words were restricting Ace's recovery and emotional stability. "I was the one who made them look you up. They wouldn't have tried as hard to find all this if I hadn't pressured them. Ace, I am sorry, really I am."
If Ace had been her usual self, she would have noticed the value of the confession and accepted the sympathy. But she wasn't. In her current state, words of sympathy were not what she wanted to hear. She didn't want to hear anything. Escaping and getting away from everything distressing her was what she really wanted. It had failed her only minutes previously. Running away to blow something up didn't seem to be working as well as it used to. Surrendering to her flared emotions hadn't helped then either.
Ace willed her inner rage to engulf her and let her temper deal with it all. It refused to obey her command and stayed, infuriatingly, dormant. Even it wasn't going to help her. Perhaps it was as tired as she was. Maybe she had unleashed it all in the forest, or its strength had been sapped away by the sight of those unblinking eyes that peered at her in the dark.
Unable to feel angry or run away, Ace closed her eyes and attempted to shove everything into the corner of her mind. It argued with her, suggesting she just let it go. Why not? She sensed it drain away as she breathed deeply. It was almost... relaxing, she realised. Could this be how people remain calm despite the things occurring around them? They just let it flow through them like wind in the trees? Was this what the Professor meant when he had been blabbing on about 'mental control'?
It was an odd sensation to be sure, and Ace had never felt it overcome her before. Her emotions seemed to have been reset by the experience. She'd never felt so neutral in her life. But being neutral had to be good right? It certainly wasn't negative because she didn't feel angry or annoyed at all. Just... content to think things through. And it was easy, finding ideas when not inhibited by emotions.
Maybe there was a method in Kelly's madness. Donning her mask could be her way of achieving this. Speaking of Kelly, she looked rather troubled, even distressed, as though horrified at the idea that she had caused all this to happen. 'But it's not her fault,' Ace thought to herself. 'How could she have known that I was a time traveller before I told her? She couldn't have, yet she still feels she is to blame.'
"We should be doing something, shouldn't we?" Ace suggested feeling suddenly motivated after controling her emotions. "We should go find this guy before he finds us, right? If we find him first, we can figure out what he wants and stop him."
For a moment, Kelly just blinked uncomprehendingly at her. Then her brown eyes flickered back to their usual shine. The mask slipped back on, and Ace realised she'd missed seeing it. As a powerful tool Kelly used to her advantage it didn't seem quite as intimidating now because Ace had seen the face and personality behind it. The knowledge seemed to highlight certain details about Kelly's masked features and allowed her to identify the emotions they conveyed.
Right now, determination oozed off it; the classic Kelly emotion. A hint of a desire to make up for her mistake also revealed itself, meaning she hadn't completely forgiven herself, but she wasn't about to let a second pass without doing something to rectify it. That, Ace decided, would do.
Kelly nodded, accepting the idea proposed. "Yes. That's what we'll do."
"Do you have any idea where he might be?"
Kelly bit her lip again, either not having a clue or not liking the answer she was going to give. "No," she admitted. "But I know how we can."
"Really?" exclaimed Ace. "How?"
Kelly nodded slightly to herself, a plan falling into place somewhere behind her shining eyes. "Meet me where you hid your backpack at eight tomorrow night." With the very wide toothy, dangerous smile of a Cheshire cat, she continued, "We're going hunting."
