[closed] SO THEY GOT OUT ALIVE.
When Adrian had awakened to find herself in the van transporting her to the jail where'd she'd be serving out the rest of her sentence, she'd panicked. Why was she here again, and not back -- in Discedo? The place she'd almost come to think of as home, despite only being there for seven months; the fact that she'd never thought she'd see America again making her grow complacent about the situation.
It had taken her a while to get used to being back on Earth again, but luckily, the nature of her confinement wasn't too different from the way she had felt back on Fortuna -- and although she'd spent almost every day for several months wondering if she'd just be grabbed back there again, like she had known had happened in the past, when she was nearly finished with her sentence, she was starting to regain confidence again. If she had survived Discedo, if she had survived jail, then there wasn't anything else she couldn't do, right? She'd done all that; now, she was free to get on with the rest of her life.
What she'd wanted to do, naturally, was contact Franziska; Adrian had always felt a little uncomfortable with the way things had happened between them -- but what stopped her was there was no guarantee that Franziska would remember. What if it had all been an elaborate dream? She'd spent more time than she'd care to admit to staring in the mirror after showering, wondering if the scientist's chip was still hidden somewhere, deep beneath her skin. What if it was all some elaborate alternate reality? What if she were going crazy? Crazier? She certainly hadn't told her counsellor in jail about Discedo; she'd wanted to be released, after all.
It was mid February now, and Adrian found herself in a lull; she'd kept herself busy after her release, trying to keep herself busy by pulling favours for all those she was grateful for -- like for Ms. Fey and Mr. Wright; and she was disappointed when she met them again that they clearly didn't remember their time together in Discedo -- then again, they had been both from the future, hadn't they?
God, it really had all been an elaborate dream.
She found herself thinking of Franziska more and more, lately, and that night, she was in a dingy motel room in Montana, visiting distant relatives because she didn't know what else to do with herself. She'd still kept the paper she'd had with Franziska's phone number written upon it; had enough time elapsed that there was a chance that Franziska remembered? What if she never did? Maybe it would mean another chance, a chance not to screw things up horribly this time -- but it would be weird. It would feel too much like lying.
And yet, she had to know. She'd spent her whole life being terrified of things, of possibilities, and she wouldn't let herself do that any longer. If...it turned out that Franziska didn't remember, then they could just drift apart. She would find her own way in life. People did it all the time, surely it couldn't be too hard!
She took a deep breath, trying to steady her shaking hands and erratic heartbeat, and dialled the number. Whatever happened, this phone call would mark the start of the rest of her life.