Mariah Cheasley was a girl who, though she may have looked just like you or I, led a life of mystery and adventure. Mariah lived in Wales, in the city of Cardiff. She led two, exceptionally different, lives. On the one hand she had her singing career, her friends and her relaxed life.

But on the other hand Mariah had The Agency. The Agency she worked for took care of the crime on the streets and other rogue agencies out to kill innocent people. The Agency also dealt with the supernatural and the extraterrestrial. The Agency was run by and totally composed of women over the age of eighteen. Mariah had just made the cut, having just turned nineteen when the Agency approached her two years ago.

Mariah was approached by The Agency because of her 'abilities'. Mariah had been born with unexplainable, paranormal abilities, with which she made her job much easier for herself. A short list of her abilities include: telekinesis, telepathy, enhanced senses {i.e. hearing, sight, smell, touch & taste}, the ability to heal her-self and others of any injury {excluding death}, she learnt extremely quickly and had great agility. Mariah was also strong, witty and courageous.

Mariah first met the Torchwood team at a night club about a block and a half from her town apartment. And though Mariah didn't know who they were, she felt that they were good people… even if their leader did seem a little cheesy. Mariah sat down, and even played poker with them. And they grew to trust her.

As the night went on however, Mariah couldn't help feeling a certain and rather strong attraction towards the man they seemed to follow. This made her uneasy. Mariah had been trained by The Agency to hide all emotion, not to show a single soul how she truly felt inside, and for the first time in her life, she found this hard. She hadn't felt this way about anyone for years – not since her induction into the army aged seventeen, in which she rose to the rank of Major.

This man kept looking at her, and she wondered, did he know? Could he possibly know about her and her abilities? Mariah thought about this whilst playing a final round of poker with them until – Diling…Diling…Diling – her mobile went off, at which they all gave her a look that seemed to say 'what are you up to now?'

"Sorry, excuse me a moment will you?" Mariah asked

"Yeah… go for it." One of them replied

Mariah got up from the table and answered her phone – it was The Agency.

"Are you in a secure location?" Came a woman's voice over the phone.

"No. Why would I be Serena?" Mariah replied. "Hold on a minute." Mariah made her way

out-side to better secure her location and also so no-one would be likely to hear her. "Ok,

what is it now?"

"The Shade is needed again. Come on, I'll be out the front in two minutes to pick you

up" Serena insisted. "You're at the Monkey Club aren't you?"

"Yes. Where else am I likely to be on a typical Thursday evening?" Mariah replied. "You'll need

to bring –"

"I know - I've already got it with me…outside, two minutes."

Mariah hung up, and headed back inside the bar. She collected her coat and bag and turned to go when she spotted two thugs sitting at a table near her. They were watching her every move. Mariah turned slowly on the spot until she was facing the group she had been talking to for the past hour, bade them farewell, and headed towards the door. Slowly at first as to not arouse suspicion, then quicker as she grew nearer the door. The next thing she knew, she was bolting down the ally way opposite from the club, heavy footsteps behind her, gaining all the time.

A door opened somewhere behind her and more people gained on her current position. Mariah spun around to face her pursuers, only to find them readying their guns to fire on her when 'BANG!' a shot was fired not from either of the thugs, but from directly behind them. One of the thugs dropped down dead. The other turned on the spot to shoot his partner's attacker only to be shot by another of the team which had come to her rescue with a stun gun. He fell, unconscious, to the ground.

Mariah watched the thug fall, for what seemed an eternity. The way the thug hit the ground made his expression seem almost peaceful. He came to a sudden stop, sending a cloud of dust into the air.

Mariah would not normally be so shocked to see such a thing as this, as it was usually her who shot the criminals down. She stared in astonishment at the faces of her saviors. They were none other that the group of people she had met and played poker with.

"Who are you?" Mariah asked. The expression on her face was hard to read, as the leader of the group tried to reassure her that everything was alright. He didn't answer her question, but merely escorted her back down the ally way, along the street adjacent from it and away from the scene of what had just happened. The others of the group dragged the unconscious thug along the street, ignoring looks from passers by. They heaved him into the back of an SUV whilst one of them beckoned for Mariah to come with them. She hesitated, then, as she started towards the car, her phone went off again.

Mariah answered it "Yeah what?"

"Don't worry. Amy got him. Go back to whatever you were doing." Came Serena's voice over the phone.

"Righto… will do. About to investigate something… can't talk. Bye." Mariah ended the conversation there and turned off her phone. She then walked slowly toward the SUV and the people who had helped her.

"Get in." One of them said to her in a rather unruly tone.

"Don't talk to her like that. Consider what she's just been through." Another of them scolded.

"Ianto's right Owen. Give it a rest will you."

"Ok, ok!" Replied the one they called Owen. "Will you please get in?"

Suddenly, another gunshot was heard and the team spun around to discover the source of the shot. But as they did, Mariah screamed in agony and fell to the ground holding her right side, blood spattered all over her clothes and arms. Blood spurted from the wound in her side, dazed with pain and confused; Mariah lay there clutching her side, feeling herself slip away from the scene and the noise of running feet and two more gunshots, before drifting off into darkness.