The Defender of Time

Ten

Alessia awoke to the clank of her breakfast being slid into her cell through the food slot.

Her dinner tray still sat there on the too-grey ground, the browning banana and the uncracked eggs waiting patiently to be eaten. The new tray was just the same. One mushy banana, two raw eggs, and a stick of celery.

She yawned and rubbed her eyes, her back aching from the compromising conditions. The night had been restless. At least three times Oliver had woken her up with obsessive meows, either hungry, uncomfortable, or needing the bathroom, twice she'd coughed herself awake in the stale air, and she'd rolled off of the bench at one point during the night, landing harshly on her back. Cell conditions were absolutely not for her. Alessia could imagine her perfect fantasy; her bed, her bear, Clara (preferably), and some cocoa.

She took to cleaning the celery mindlessly, her head still on her thoughts of home. She continued for five minutes or so before remembering what she was doing and looking at the vegetable to find it still caked with a bit of dirt, but better. She held it securely in her teeth so she could use her hands to peel the banana in the hopes that Oliver would eat it. The celery was again unrefreshing, but at least it was something.

"Here, Oli," she whispered, pushing the banana toward him. "Eat up." He sniffed at it curiously, before taking a timid bite. Could cats even eat bananas? Was that healthy? Surely it would be alright, she assured herself, begging the thoughts of accidentally poisoning her new kitten not to intrude her already overflowing head. Alessia hadn't even had a chance to feed him yesterday, so he was hungry enough for anything.

Alessia laid back down on the floor, blowing air out of her nose in frustration. She hid her anger and anxiety well. If she wasn't in her own head, she wouldn't have known. Even Alessia didn't know everything that she thought. She spent hours convincing herself that this meant that and vice versa. She was determined to be okay.

On top of the stress of blending in, she'd missed another meal delivery, which meant she didn't have the chance to go through with anything. If she could only fit a little stone in between the food slot and the door, she'd have enough of a crack to be able to hear outside, and try to gather information. It was her best bet.

The little dreams she'd had during the restless night had been of her saving everything. First, she escaped her cell by kicking the door so hard it fell over, right on top of whoever was feeding her food.

She then walked down the hallways, keeping to the sides, like she was walking down an alley at noon trying to swipe an apple. It came naturally to her, sneaking around. So obviously, she did perfectly.

Alessia's captors were in a big office, with a sign that said "Little Girl Killing Zone", and a picture of a stick figure girl with x's instead of eyes. Alessia wasn't going to take any of that. She was going to stand up for all of the little girls in the world. She was Alessia Marie Oswald!! She was the bravest girl of them all!! If anyone was going to do it, it made sense that it would be her.

She broke in confidently, and everyone in the big office flinched at the sight of her. Ha! They were scared of Alessia. How little was she now? Now was her chance. She was going to lead a one-person rebellion and get herself back to TARDIS without anyone's help. And TARDIS would be waiting with (metaphorical) open arms.

Smiling at the fear on their faces, Alessia put her hands on her hip, saying something along the lines of "My name's Alessia Marie Oswald, I am thirteen days away from being nine years old, I am half human and half time-thingy, and I will burn this place to the ground!"

They'd used that term in a cop show Amy had shown her, where the criminal had said "Give me all the money or I'll burn this place to the ground!" It was powerful and scary, exactly what Alessia needed to win over everyone. She wanted to say it, and she had the perfect opportunity here.