Inside the Darkness

Shoving open another door, Sonya burst through it and slammed her back against the wood, trying to shut it just before- too late, a large, black, furry paw reached through the crack and took a swipe at her arm. Letting out a gasp of pain, she jerked away too late, one of the claws had sliced clean through her jacket and shirt, into her flesh and leaving a bleeding wound. Clapping a hand around the fresh cut, she bolted away, racing across the empty platform towards another storage door, frantically trying to think of a place she could go.
This... Thing, had been chasing her for the past three hours, causing Sonya to use up what little energy she had stored away in opening wormholes repeatedly. But each time she got through a door, that paw would come through and block it from closing entirely.
Belatedly, she realized now because of this chase, she had left open several doors in the process, linking separate ends of the planet with tiny wrinkles that forced them together.
Putting on another burst of speed, she focused on the first door she ran through, determined to shut every one of them before several humans found themselves miles from home and, quite possibly, a couple of years out of their time. Ignoring the strain on her muscles and the fact both of her hearts were beating a bit too fast to be comfortable, she dove through the door, finally shutting it tightly before the beast managed to stop her. Pausing to take a breath, she looked around, searching for the door only to have a loud crunching noise draw her attention across the courtyard she stood in.
Apparently the thing had it's own thoughts on the same doors she had been worried about. And apparently it could shut them after going through. Or perhaps a wind was stirred by it's speed that caused a jet-stream of air to- Forget that, run!
Ducking around the corner next to her, she resumed her sprinting, frantically trying to find a place to hide and plan her next course of action. "Come on come on, just a bit farther..." She muttered to herself, casting a glance over her shoulder at the beast as it slowly gained on her, it's murderous eyes locked on her.

Whether or not the faces seemed familiar, Jim ignored them. Proceeding down the hall was the only thing to keep his mind focused. A few beers in him and he was tipsy, unbalanced and lopsided. But he didn't question his inability to stand up straight. The hall had thinned of crowds quite quickly, which grabbed his attention but didn't latch. His blue eyes were shut, dancing behind his eyelids to the white and yellow specks floating in the dark abyss. Too hard to focus, to unfocused to care. Until his body slammed against something. His eyes sprang open, a new light in them that contained an alarming amount of clarity. Focus was rare on off days. Especially for Jim. As he fixed his blurred vision, he noticed what the crash consisted of. A drunk and another familiar face. And he managed to make it all the way to the courtyard in a few seconds flat. "Sonya?" Jim asked softly, squinting before zeroing in on the sounds to his side. It sounded heavy, rough, and big. Skipping several steps to close more distance told Jim it had long enough legs. Could be good at leaping. Jim shook his head, trying to regain balance as his hand shot out to grip Sonya'a arm. "Don't mind me asking, but why are you running from something that looks like it's from Star Wars?" He didn't mean to whisper, and it didn't click in his head that he did. But the words were slurred, falling together, closer and closer with each word. He hadn't remembered getting this trashed. Just maybe one or two bar fights and some drinks.

The footsteps, or giant leaps, sounded closer. It was finally rattling Jim slightly more sober. Slightly. His grip on Sonya's arm tightened, "come on." It was all he thought needed to be said as he shoved her forward. Not hard, but not light. "I hear Chewbacca isn't nice this time of year." He added, looking pointedly at Sonya before directing his attention to the oncoming monster. This day would be more exciting than he thought.

Sonya's breath came out in gasps as she tried to regulate her breathing. "Damn... Respiratory bypass... Won't... Kick in." She finally managed to gasp out to him before stumbling in the direction he had pushed her in, barely able to stay on her two feet as she pushed herself to continue running. Casting a spare glance over her shoulder, her eyes locked with it's luminescent green ones as they glared at her from under a shaggy black mane. "I... I don't know... Why it's chasing... Me!" She added, looking over at Jim in confusion before staring back in front of them. Suddenly grabbing his hand, she pulled him around a corner and grabbed a door handle, yanking it open, they ran through into a elevator room. Letting go of him quickly, she reached over and jammed her finger into the 'door close' button, shutting out the beast as it appeared in her line of vision.
Finally able to rest, she leaned her back against the wall behind her and sank down to the floor, her breaths coming in heaves while her body trembled with exhaustion. Shutting her eyes tightly, Sonya tried to calm her hearts as they hammered away in her chest painfully. "Wh... What are you... Doing here?" She finally gasped out, looking up at Jim with a frown.

"Good question." Jim mumbled, narrowing his eyes as he stared at the black Fleet issued boots on his feets. Scuff marks lined the laces and the leather at the very tip. If he knew the missions would impact his shoes the most, he would've bought more pairs. Or 'borrowed' someone elses. Shrugging off the thought, Jim went over the details of how he got here in his head. Frankly, he couldn't recall most of them. Getting off his ship was clear, walking towards the bar was a definite yes... After that it was fuzzy. He wasn't even positive as to where 'here' was. Glancing at Sonya, he smiled softly, "no idea. But it wasn't for monster hunting." He fell against the side of elevator, his smile mutating into a crisp smirk. The dings echoing from the elevator shafts, the rustling noises that would sound every time a small move was made, and the breathing from himself and Sonya worked his nerves. Trying his breathing contest against himself wouldn't exactly work again, nor did he want to turn his skin purple. Instead, he slowed his breathing, making it as quiet as he possibly could, and lowered himself down to the floor, smacking his head against the wall. "What are you doing here?"

((oh this is good, and I really want to enter but I just don't know how... ))

"Running, what else?" A soft voice replied for Sonya. In a parallel corner of the elevator, a tall young girl was smiling at the two of them. Her black hair was falling freely over her shoulders, her mismatched eyes looking between Jim and Sonya. She wonders if they know her...or will know her...knew her? Blimey verbs were so confusing.

She moved her gaze to the doors, pouting a bit "Nasty beast that is, isn't it? And big too. And smart. You should be careful about it" She turned to the two, smiling "Sorry I know foolish question but...where are we?"

"Um... Accident really. Not too sure how I got here, I was too busy running from that thing to keep tabs on everywhere I went." Sonya mumbled, her eyes closing as she leaned her head back against the wall behind her. "It started chasing me oh... Somewhere in Egypt, started running and didn't stop until now." Casting him a weak grin, she shrugged her shoulders and took a deep breath with a wince. "Now it kicks in, thank you." Sighing slightly, she regulated her breathing and felt her hearts calm down nearly immediately. "Now then..." Getting back to her feet, she studied the controls on the panel next to the door and jabbed her finger into the ground floor button and looked back over at Jim. "25th floor, not bad. I was thinking the fifteenth or something, but Twenty-five is a good number, love the number twenty-five..."

Casting a glance over at the woman, Sonya studied her curiously for a moment before shrugging her shoulders lightly. "You're guess is as good as mine at the moment. I don't exactly know where I brought us, just know it's somewhere safer at the moment. Though of course, that thing has my blood right now... I'm sure it can follow me anywhere I go at this point." She added, glancing down at her arm with a frown, watching as the blood dried on her shirt.

The young girl pouted again. So it seemed they don't know her yet. Oh well. Shrugging she went next to Sonya and put a hand over the wound. After a while, she took it back smiling at Sonya. The wound stopped bleeding.

"Love the number 25..why do we love 25? I thought you loved 3? Or was that just me?" The strange woman muttered, but then she shrugged "Anyway, big furry thing, why is the big furry nasty beast following you? Did you do something to the big black angry thing?" She cocked her head to the right, putting her arms behind her back.

"I can tell you the year." Jim said, shutting his eyes as he thought. "2258. You're in my timeline or I wouldn't be here." Time travel was possible, yes, but the Red Matter was needed for that. And it was too hard to risk usage. So it had only been used once; for Jim a year ago on his first mission. He blocked out the memory as soon as it struck him and he opened his eyes. The natural electric, bright blue was clouded by the beer intake. He glanced at the newcomer, then at Sonya. "Once we get out of the elevator, I can tell you what building. Need to find my ship too. And the nearest intake simulator." The buzz of alcohol had died down, and Jim had never been one to be chaotic while intoxicated, but it forced the quality of 'jumping before thinking' into extremes. He would do about anything at this point, and wouldn't think twice.

Sonya glanced at Jim with a curious frown then crouched down in front of him, examining his eyes for a moment. "You have too much alcohol in your system, Don't you?" She sighed lightly and pulled her bag from her shoulders, shuffling through it for a moment before pulling a bottle of pills out and tossing them to him. "Take a couple of those, sober you right up without a problem. Last time I was with the Doctor I nicked them from his med bay on his ship. Figured might as well be prepared for any situation." Turning back around, she checked the panel to see where they were so far, five more floors, before she looked back at the woman with them. "Right then, who might you be anyway? I don't even think we've been properly introduced. I'm Sonya, this is Jim and well... We have no name for you, so unless you want to be called 'hey you' the entire time we're around, I would suggest a name. That would be nice." Shoving her hands in her pockets, she flashed the woman a bright smile before leaning back against the doors behind her.

The woman watch the two interact, and looked at Sonya with a warm smile "Of course I know who you are, how could I not? You just don't know who I am. Well, I don't know who I am..or how I've got here" she mumbled frowning a bit, but then looked up at Sonya with a smile "Call me Anna. That's what everyone calls me" she shrugged

Jim squinted up at Anna with a smirk, though what he was protecting his eyes from was unknown. "Well, hi, Anna. Like Sonya said, I'm Jim. Or James. Or McCoy. Basically the same thing." Jim's sentences ran together as he stumbled to his feet, glancing at the small bottle Sonya had tossed at him. He hadn't seen an actual bottle of the medicine in quite some time, due to the fact no one needed them anymore. An intake simulator always did the trick. Jim opened it, tipped a few pills out, recapped the bottle and pocketed the tablets. "Look, hiding in a elevator isn't-" Jim broke off, glancing at the doors as they slid away from each other, revealing the 25th floor. The building looked vaguely familiar, at least this floor did. Glancing at the two girls, Jim wandered out. "Jim!" A voice yelled from across the ground floor. This was the lobby of an obviously hugely expensive building area. The voice was recognizable enough. And it clicked, he knew where he was. "Come on out, I highly doubt Chewbacca will make a guest appearance right in the middle of a Fleet base." He said, waving towards them before unzipping the bottom of his brown leather jacket. It was an old jacket, one that should belong in a museum portraying Earth's 21st century history. And it did for a while, though the fact Jim stole it when he was ten and on a field trip meant something. He had been good enough to hack every basic protocol standing in his way.

Sighing, Jim swerved, walking hastily towards the exit of the building. Backwards. "Well, come on, guys. Standing in an elevator will get you nowhere." He grinned, a small attempt at lightning the very mellow mood of the occupants in the elevator. And his back crashing against one of the only not automatic doors was "planned" as a last minute gesture towards the idea.

Poking her head out of the doors, Sonya spotted Him and flashed him a wide grin. "Apparently you make me feel safe. I must have unconsciously thought of a place you would be comfortable in." strolling out from between the doors, Sonya began pacing around the area, inspecting nearly everything she could pick up, from a pen to a chair. Finishing the inspection, Sonya turned around and clasped her hands behind her back, eyeing the people gathered in the room and grinned. "anyone know just what the bloody hell it is that has been chasing me all over this planet for the past few hours? I'm sure someone had to have seen that thing.."

(I know the reply is sort but I'm on my phone)

(I'm on my phone too haha )


Dragging himself away from the glass door, Jim sauntered over to Sonya. "Yeah, not exactly. The floors you were on have been shut down for some time. I wasn't even supposed to be up there." He muttered, narrowing his eyes at a few people as they walked by. He rubbed the back of his neck in thought before glancing down at Sonya. "Plus, I didn't even see it. I may be... Incapable of..." He trailed off, motioning with his hand poorly in an attempt to say what he wanted. "Ah, to focus? Taylors wants me never off duty, because of the whole bar thing. I might agree with that." He whispered the final sentence, partly for aloud thinking. It took everything inside of him to stay patiently at Sonya's side. A few energy drinks on their last mission probably hadn't helped either. But when a company from the 21st century restores it's status as a widely requested product, of course there was the issue of wanting to try it all. Energy drinks were a small factor in the dilemma. "Even if they did see something, they aren't big on sharing information. Or anything out of the ordinary at all." Jim crossed his arms, pulling his eyes away from Sonya to survey the now entirely familiar building. He remembered more of how he had reached Sonya in the empty hallways, though bits and pieces were jumbled and fuzzy.

Sonya cast Jim an amused glance, a soft chuckle escaping her in the process. "You must be gone. I wasn't in this building until we stepped into the elevator. We were outside on the street. Sidewalks and such, then we walked into a doorway, well I should say run really, and we ended up in the elevator that took us here." Looking over at the monsters lining one wall, she stalked over to them and leaned down to talk to the man sitting in front of them. "Did you see anyone in this building like us until we walked through those elevator doors? Be honest now, no 'I'm not sure' or 'I might have seen you' I want a yes or no." Looking over her shoulder, she gestured for Jim to join her by the computers and smiled brightly. Her shining with what looked like mischief as she watched him. "I'm not going into detail but I have little talents of mine that I use on a basis. We were on the street just moments before walking into th e elevator. Trust a me, I ran across the planet in a matter of hours with doorways opening miles apart from each other."

Anna smiled brightly, coming next to them "Of course you have! You can jump!" she then frowned "No no that's not how you called it..." she shrugged but then looked at Jim pouting "You drank again. I thought that you will quit it..." she mumbled.
Well at least she knew where she was. She was in their past though she didn't remember how she got here. Anna glanced at the elevator, then at her hands. They faded for a moment, looking very transparent, but she tightened them in fists, returning to their solid form. She didn't have a lot of time left here

Jim glanced at Sonya for a fraction of a second. His head was pounding, but he knew she wouldn't gain access to the computer database if this was Fleet territory. So many passcodes, identity checks, and a lot more. Being his age, he would generally be on security level one. No other codes would be handed to him. But being twenty-five didn't stop him from knowing them. Jim trained his eyes on Anna instead, watching her curiously, "yeah. That's what I keep saying too." He replied to her pout, a smirk tracing his lips before he turned to look around. "But when you have more of a chance of dying the next day, you drink too much the night before." A memory flashed before his eyes and Jim tightened his left hand into a fist. There was never a good time for a bad memory to return. He heaved out a large and loud sigh, his eyes scanning over Anna for another minute with intense wonder. "But where did you get that idea anyway?" He asked softly after a moment. She, Anna, had been saying strange things this whole time, though he didn't question it as much as he should have.

Anna's head snapped towards Jim, hiding her hands behind her back. She flashed him a happy smile "Well you told me...or will tell me. In the past....well /my/ past. Your future" she grinned, but then she pouted again rubbing her head "I think..."

Blimey she hated when she didn't meet someone in the right order. It was confusing! At least they didn't look /that/ different only younger.

((sorry for the short message I'm on my phone))

Sonya shrugged her shoulders and wandered away, inspecting the room curiously as she did. In all her life, she had never really gone to anyplace like this until now. In all honesty, it was a complete accident they had ended up here in the first place. Glancing over her shoulder, she glanced over at the woman and Jim as they spoke with an interested glance before stopping in front of the elevator again, her head tilted to the side while examining it. Metal doors, that would be why, but the question was how, she pulled a door open, not slid it... "So, we're here, now what? We can't just keep hiding from that thing, eventually it will get bored and begin tearing apart people it comes across while trying to find me." She finally stated, turning back around to look at the people gathered, her eyebrow raised up high as she took in each face. "Look, I didn't ask for you lot to do anything to help, in fact, I got here by accident, I ran into Jim by accident as well. If I knew what that thing was, I'd go down there myself and take care of it without you. But come on, you have to have ran into something like that thing before. I don't know what it is, but it's violent."

Peeling his eyes away from Anna, Jim crossed his arms, shaking his head slowly as he thought. Never had he seen a thing like what was chasing Sonya, unless you counted old movies from the 21st century. And he hadn't seen those since he was a kid with his half-brother. Blinking away the thoughts, Jim held up a finger as if telling them to wait. Though what he was expecting them to wait for wasn't clear, even for him. He needed more time to think and to clear his head. Moving towards the computer behind an abandoned counter space, Jim pressed a thumb to a security analyzer. Hacking it would be simple enough, he had done that numerous times, but a few more strikes and he'd lose his ship. Laughing softly, Jim nodded as the computer powered up. It was an older version, something he hadn't seen it quite some time. But the Fleet member generally positioned at the desk was a history buff and most likley enjoyed things from decades ago. "I never said I wanted to help you, Sonya. But I don't believe in no-win scenarios and it seems like you've gotten yourself twisted into one. Meaning, I'm curious and a hell of a lot more reckless than Chewbacca." The computer continued scanning Jim's thumb prints at a slow rate, which he was no longer mentally complaining about as he grinned at Sonya and Anna.

Sonya felt a grin break across her face at his words as she strode over to observe what he was doing with interest. "At least you know a horrible situation when you see one. Some people I've met..." She shook her head with a low laugh at the memories that flashed through her head. "They just don't know when to run and when to fight. They just do what comes to their head at the time." Resting her hands on the desk, she eyed the screen curiously. It was more advanced than anything she had seen from her time, but older than any of the others here at the moment. She cast a critical eye over the machine then turned her head to study the other ones in the room with a small frown. "Do you think you can look up what that thing might be? I don't exactly have a picture but I can sketch one out from what glimpses I did get of it..."

Jim nodded slowly, reaching across the desk to snatch a Fleet labeled notebook. He flipped it open, tore out a single sheet of light blue paper, and handed it to Sonya. He tossed a pen on top of it and smirked. "Go right ahead. Sketch your heart out." He stepped away from the computer, mentally forgetting his reasoning as to why he started it up in the first place. "And don't think I don't do the whole 'do what comes to mind' thing. Leaping before thinking is what I'm known for." Pulling off his leather jacket, he placed it on the back of the chair and rolled up the sleeves to his yellow Fleet shirt. It was a fairly new one that he had been given within the week, though he had managed to get several small rips in the fabric and dirt stains over every side. Well... Maybe one or two were blood. He couldn't remember. "You got all access to the computer and the database. Including records on just about every member of the Fleet, though that seems sort of like side information." Jim glanced around, expecting people to wonder and look at them, but not a single turn of the head in their direction took place. "I'll go down to the file rooms. See what I can find there." He turned away, preparing to head back to the elevator as he rolled his sleeves up some more. "And don't be embarrassed if you use some of that side information to look me up. I'm not complaining." He called over his shoulder, a smirk appearing as he stepped into the elevator, pressing a finger against the UG button.

Anna watched the two of them interact, though her attention was drawn by what looked like a broken computer. She tilted her head to the right, looking at it and poking it. Nothing happened, and Anna pouted as if she expected something to happen. She followed Jim with her eyes, and in a blink of an eye Anna wasn't in the room anymore.
"Can I join you" asked Anna, inside the elevator next to Jim, after the door closed "Well you can't really do anything now, since the elevator is already moving, but it's always polite to ask" She smiled brightly shrugging, sitting in the same position they first saw her in. "So, file rooms. Sounds kind of boring. Is there /another/ reason why you wanted to get out of the room?" Her head tilted to the right again.