Title: Kitzenger v Danes

Author: GallifreyenCultOfSkaro

Rating: T

Characters: Jillian K, Oswald D, Esther D, Capt. Jack H, Gwen C, Rex M, Toshiko Sato, Dr Owen Harper, Ianto Jones, Rhys W (minor- for now), Anwen (minor) OCs….maybe mentions of Dr Vera Juarez in later chapters.

Summary: After Oswald attacks her, Jilly is determined to see him burn in a Module. But Oswald has other ideas….if Jilly wants to avoid becoming a Category Zero herself, she'll need the help of Torchwood. Hurt, broken and alone, she is found by Esther Drummond, who, after hearing her story, wants to help. And since Oswald almost killed Jack, he has no problem going along with the plan….but lies will be told, evidence will be twisted and unless Jilly and Torchwood can win their case in court, they could ALL end up as Category Zeros.

Set: After the scene where Oswald hits Jilly.

A/N: I know Tosh, Owen, and Ianto are dead. I have some surprises in store….and yeah, I know Jilly really has been asking for a slap at the best of times, but this was simply BEGGING to be written! Enjoy! Or not! Your choice!

As Oswald disappeared round the corner, the reality of the past few minutes hit Jilly Kitzenger, hard. Oswald….had attacked her. She was sure if she hadn't fought back when she did, she'd be dead, like that poor schoolgirl. Over the past few weeks, she'd been doing business with a murderer. It was easier than she'd thought to make herself forget that, but really, she'd been putting her life at risk and she knew she'd been asking for what she got. But still….she shouldn't stay. Oswald was a criminal, and he was dangerous. She didn't want him coming back and finding her. Oddly, after realising this, she felt calmer. All she had to do was walk away, and never come back. And Oswald wasn't getting away clean. She would see him labelled Category Zero and watch him burn in one of those Modules if it was the last thing she ever did. Not wasting any more time, she walked back into her room, pulled on her jacket and picked up her handbag, containing her car keys, purse and phone. As she was about to leave, she caught sight of herself in the mirror. Her face was deathly pale, even paler against her vibrant copper hair. Her lipstick had been smudged in the fight, but it still showed, a dark red against her ivory skin. Two large, dark, frightened eyes stared back at her from the mirror. She knew she had to leave before Oswald came back. She didn't look like she could fight off a small cat, let alone a man twice her size (and age). She hurried out of the door, not looking back.

Esther Drummond hurried along the darkened street, bag clutched tightly in one hand. She didn't mind doing the shopping really, but it might be nice if Rex or Jack helped out occasionally. But, of course, them being men, it fell to herself and Gwen to do it. Not many people were out, which was just as well. She didn't know who she would meet at half-eleven at night, on a dark, deserted street in a large city. It had rained earlier, and the night had a dark chill to it. Not wanting to stay out any longer than she had to, Esther broke into a run.

A sleek silver car jerked its way along the road, a shaky redhead behind the wheel. She tried to turn a corner, but found her hands were shaking too much and she hit the curb instead. Jilly had been driving for 10 minutes and no matter how much she tried, she couldn't seem to get control of the car. Sighing, she pulled over and got out of her car, deciding to walk until she found a decent hotel in which to spend the night. There were plenty in the city; she was sure finding one wouldn't take long. Her pace quickened as she walked, long shadows looming out at her, the slightest sound making her jump.

"Calm down." she told herself. "Just keep it together. You're Jilly Kitzenger. You can do this."

A car horn beeped a few streets away, loud and harsh. Jilly broke into a run, not watching where she was going. As she rounded the corner, she slammed into another running figure, sending them both to the ground. The blonde lady got up and held her hand out to help Jilly up.

"I am so sorry, are you ok?"

Jilly opened her eyes and looked up. The woman looked vaguely familiar…

"Oh my God, it's you. That Torchwood lady."

The blonde looked at her curiously. "Yeah, and I think I recognise you too….oh, where have I seen you before?"

"Jilly Kitzenger, Public Relations."

The blonde woman nodded. "Yes, that was it! You were with that Oswald Danes."

Jilly shook her head. "No! I have got absolutely nothing to do with Oswald bloody Danes!"

The woman from Torchwood knelt down beside her. "I'm Esther, Esther Drummond."

"Nice meeting you, Esther Drummond."

"Has…has someone attacked you?" Esther asked. "It's just that….well…your face is really pale, there's blood on your mouth, your shaking noticeably and you jumped when I said 'attacked'. Is everything alright?"

Jilly took a deep breath before pushing herself upright. "Can I trust you?"

Esther nodded. "Of course, I wanna help."

So Jilly told Esther everything, from the meaning of Category Zero to Oswald hitting her to when she ran away. All the while Esther listened like a spellbound child.

"Oh my God!" she exclaimed when Jilly had finished. "So that's why you're bleeding! Come on, I'll take you back with me and you can get cleaned up."

"Are you sure? I mean, not that I'm still working with him or anything, but isn't Oswald, like, one of Torchwood's most wanted? I represented him. When Jack tried to get him on your side, I'm the one who kept him doing PhiCorp's dirty work."

"Yes, but like you said, you no longer work with him, and he's hurt you quite badly. You need help."

When Esther and Jilly arrived at the place where Torchwood was currently set up, Jack was thumping a laptop and Rex was staring blankly at the same document he'd been looking at when Esther left, which was nearly an hour ago.

"Hey guys, anything new come up?" she asked, dropping the shopping bag on the floor.

Jack jumped up. "Esther, thank God you're back! How the hell do you work this laptop?"

Esther sighed and walked over to the table and pressed ctrl and z. "There you go, back to normal."

Jack looked rather sheepish. "….thanks."

No-one had noticed the pale redhead leaning against the wall, tired from the walk back, especially as her ankle was hurt. Esther coughed slightly and Rex finally looked up from the document. Jack turned away from the laptop. Esther nodded her head towards Jilly.

"Oh man, what's she doing here?" Rex asked exasperatedly.

"Look, I quite literally ran into her a few blocks away, she's tired and injured and she needs a place to rest."

"Why can't she just go back to her hotel and Oswald Danes?"

Esther ignored Rex's question and waited for the truth to sink in. His eyes widened.

"Oh my God, Danes did this?"

Esther nodded. "Just let her stay tonight. We can ask questions tomorrow."

Jack nodded. "Esther has a point. Oswald could and has been proven to be a dangerous man. I vote we let her stay."

Rex shrugged and turned back to the document. "Whatever you think is best, but don't expect me to help her on anything. As far as I'm concerned, she may as well be a piece of furniture." And with that he returned to the document. Esther turned to Jilly.

"You wanna lie down? That ankle looks pretty painful."

Jilly limped obediently to the nearest sofa and collapsed onto it, glad to finally rest.

"I can get you a painkiller if you want?" Esther offered. From her spot on the couch, Jilly nodded. Esther disappeared and came back a minute later with a tiny needle. "You're ok with needles, right? It's just that we don't have any tablets left, so it's either this or the pain."

Personally, Jillian Kathleen Kitzenger hated needles. She hated the tiny pointiness of them, the way they felt when they were pushed into her skin. The thought of them alone made her shudder. Esther must have seen the look on her face, because she burst out laughing and collapsed onto the sofa next to Jilly.

"Yeah, I hate needles too." she said. "God, I used to hate it at school when we had to have injections. But seriously, it's the only painkiller we have."

Jilly considered this. "Fine. Just don't….just be quick with it." She turned her head away so she didn't have to watch. Esther quickly injected the painkiller into Jilly's arm and actually felt the red-haired woman stiffen as the needle went in.

My God, thought Jilly, I felt that. I felt that painkiller running through me for a second. Creepy.

"You alright?" asked Esther.

"I'm fine; I just don't like needles that much."

Suddenly, Jack took it upon himself to check the time and go ballistic. "Oh my God, it's nearly 2 am! I'm gonna go get some sleep."

"I thought you never slept?" enquired a curious voice from the corner. Gwen Cooper emerged from the shadows.

"I do, occasionally." Jack replied.

Gwen nodded, and then turned to Jilly. "Us letting you be here, this means we're trusting you, giving you the benefit of the doubt. I didn't say anything when you came in because I was giving you a chance to get sorted out. Now you're sorted out, you can listen to me. You're not to go telling anyone any of our business, alright? What you hear, you keep to yourself."

Jilly nodded. "I understand."

Gwen gave her one last look that was impossible to read before curling up on another sofa and going to sleep. Jack shrugged and found a mattress to lie down on, Rex doing the same. Esther, still seated next to Jilly, pulled her feet up off the floor and made herself comfortable where she was, not bothering to find a spare mattress. Jilly did the same thing, wincing slightly when she moved her ankle. Soon, everyone but her was sleeping soundly, and she couldn't help looking at the people that –she had to admit it- probably saved her life. Gwen was tucked away under a blanket. Her face should have been peaceful, but it wasn't. Something about it just….wasn't. Even in sleep, her face was impossible to read. Gwen Cooper-Williams, the Impossible Woman. Rex was sprawled across his mattress, facing the ceiling, a blanket lying discarded. Jilly wondered why he wasn't freezing cold. She was. Jack Harkness, as odd as he was flirty, seemed to sleep weirdly as well as live life as thoroughly weirdly as was possible. He slept on his side, sort of half curled up, head resting on his arm. Whilst Gwen's expression had been as difficult to decode as the Rosetta Stone, and Rex's expression has simply said 'I'm sleeping', if Captain Jack Harkness hadn't have had his eyes closed, Jilly could've sworn he was studying some extremely fascinating minute creature on the floor. He didn't quite look….happy, exactly, but he was not far off. She turned her head to look at Esther, blissfully sleeping on the other end of the couch. She was the only one who looked truly peaceful, blissful, like an angel. Like a sweet, innocent child. A sweet, innocent child who had most likely saved Jilly Kitzenger from being murdered or going mad. Jilly realised how tired she was. Closing her eyes, she finally slipped away into sleep.

She was running down a long, dark tunnel. She didn't know how she could even tell it was a tunnel, because all it was was darkness, it was just black. She was running faster now, someone was chasing her, they'd nearly caught up with her….someone was grabbing the back of her jacket. She wriggled out of it and fell to the ground. She pushed herself up and kept running, but there was a shadow looming towards her, too quickly for her to avoid it. She fell slap-bang into it, and strong hands picked her up. She was staring right into the face of Evil, and only then did she realise she was looking at the face of Oswald Danes.

"I've caught you now, Jilly." Oswald breathed. "You are mine, and this time you cannot escape…."

"No, no, stop!" she screamed, desperate for someone, anyone to hear her. "Stop it, Oswald! Please, please!"

Suddenly, the darkness dissolved into the hotel room, her hotel room. She was backed up against the wall, and Oswald was right in front of her, hitting her, screaming and swearing at her.

"It was all your fault!" he was screaming. "You called the cops, you got me arrested. I'm gonna burn in that oven, Jilly, and it's all your fault!"

He was hitting her harder now, and tears of pain sprung to her eyes. "Ow! Stop, stop, just stop it now! Get off of me! I'll stop them burning you, I'll do anything, just stop hurting me!"

Once again, the scene around her changed. They were in one of the modules, and someone outside was locking the door. Before she knew what was going on, flames sprung up all around her. Somewhere behind her, Oswald Danes laughed.

"You and me, Kitzenger! They're burning us both, together, and you're going down with me!"

She jumped up, slamming herself against the door, over and over, screaming for help, tears pouring down her face, flames licking nearer, nearer. No-one came. The flames begun to creep up her legs, and Jilly screamed in pain and collapsed. Oswald kept laughing, the flames engulfed her body and she could do nothing but scream and scream for help that would never come. Still nobody came, and she began to lose consciousness.

'You and me Kitzenger…..they're burning us both…..you're going down with me….'

Someone was shaking her, calling her name. Slowly, Jilly became aware of the cold, hard floor underneath her, of a sharp pain in her ankle, of the people standing over her. Esther was kneeling by her side, a worried expression on her face.

"Jilly? Jilly!"

"Wh- what?"

Esther breathed a sigh of relief when she saw Jilly was awake. "Are you ok? You were tossing and turning, saying things like 'stop hurting me' and you were screaming."

Jilly tried to calm her breathing. "It was nothing." she murmured tiredly. "Just….just a nightmare."

She could tell from the look on Esther's face that she didn't really believe that it was just a nightmare, but the blonde didn't say anything. Months later, when all the evidence came together and everything else fell apart, she would come to wish she had.

A/N: So, how was it? Good, bad, terrible, awful….please review and tell me?

Cheers,

GallifreyenCultOfSkaro xxx