Owen was farther from Gwen than he was comfortable with. She was close to the perp they were chasing, about to catch him. Damn, she was fast. They were investigating a series of earthquakes, the epicenter was always the same place, but Tosh had traced its origin to central Cardiff. Now, the signal was connected to the running kid. Owen rounded the corner and watched Gwen roll under the gate as the shopkeeper closed it down.
He noticed Jack running beside him when he yelled to the shopkeeper to open the gate. When they reached the gate they looked through at Gwen. She was right behind the perp. He and Jack watched as Gwen tackled him to the ground.
Relieved, Owen bent over to breath. "I'm not as young as I used to be." The 29 year-old laughed. Jack chuckled and looked at the shopkeeper. He was fiddling with his keys, trying to open the lock.
"You, my friend, are far from old." Jack shook his head and thought of his century old memories of being a TA.
A gunshot made Jacks head snap up. He and Owen whirled around in time to see Gwen fall backwards. He and Jack screamed her name and banged on the gate, hoping the kid had a bad shot. Owen stared at the perp. Something around his neck was glowing, loosely hanging around his neck, visible through the blackness of the night. He and Jack watched as the perp bent over and slung Gwen over his shoulder.
The shopkeeper finally opened the gate and the two men ran from the shop. The kid had a running start, but he had Gwen on his shoulder. He reached the harbor, looked back nervously at the two agents, and climbed the ladder down the wall.
"Gwen!" Jack screamed as he reached the harbors edge. He looked out at the water. A small boat was puttering away, and he could just make out Gwen's form. Her head was back, her knees were bent, and she looked like she hardly fit.
Jack finally noticed Tosh yelling in his ear. "Jack! What happened!? I've lost Gwen!" she sounded like she was on the verge of tears. Jack took in a sharp breath before answering.
"Gwen was shot. The perp took her with him on a boat off the harbor. Do you still have a lock on the kid?" He put all his hope in that signal.
"No, whatever it was he dropped it a few feet back." Jack closed his eyes. He could hear Owens sharp breathing beside him.
He turned and shone his flashlight on the ground. He spotted an object, shaped life half and arch, lying on the ground. He nearly vomited when he realized it was in a pool of blood.
He turned off his flashlight and picked up the device. His stomach flipped when he felt the stickiness of blood on his hands. Gwen's blood.
"Is this it?" he questioned.
"You got it." Tosh said when she compared the two signals. Owen was still staring out at the harbor, the boat now a small bump in the horizon.
"Now what?" he questioned. Jack just stared at the device in his hands.
"Now we go back to the Hub and hope for the best." Jack and Owen headed back to the car, their minds racing with thoughts of Gwen.
When they returned to the hub, Ianto was waiting with two cups of coffee on a silver platter. He looked worried.
"Thanks." Jack took his designated cup and drank from it absent-mindedly.
"Where's Tosh?" Owen questioned, taking a seat at his desk.
"Over here." She called. She was standing by Gwen's desk, running her fingers over the cool metal. Jack approached her slowly.
"What are you doing?" He placed his hand on the desk. He noticed his hand was a burnt red from Gwen's blood. He retracted his hand quickly, but left a red mark on the silver desk.
"Thinking. Thinking of how we can track Gwen and bring her home." Jack could tell she was fighting back tears. He noticed her rub her thumb on his hand print.
"I'll get some cleaner… and Kleenex." He turned and walked into the kitchen. He scrubbed his hands in the sink, trying to wash away Gwen's blood. He could still see her falling back into the darkness every time he closed his eyes. He shook his head of the thought and located a box of tissues and a bottle of Windex.
As he left the kitchen he noticed a mug next to the fridge. In bubbly green letters read "Gwen" and there were polka dots spotting the cup. He took a deep breath and touched the back of his hand to the mug. It was ice cold. Captain Jack Harkness wanted to cry.
After cleaning up and reviewing the chase, the team was nearly hopeless about finding Gwen. Owen was especially depressed; he knew her chances of survival were slimming by the minute. A gunshot wound anywhere for this amount of time was definitely infected.
"I don't know! Her earpiece and phone are destroyed. We have no tracking device and no leads!" Jack ran his fingers through his hair. It was nearly four A.M. He and Ianto would normally be playing naked hide and seek right now…
"Jack, what about the device you found?" Toshiko asked. Jack rummaged through the oversized pockets of his WW2 coat and pulled out the blood-encrusted object.
"I'll clean it up." Ianto took the device and tried-but failed- to hide his cringe. When he returned the object was a sleek black obsidian-like material. Tosh looked it over and pointed to the side of it.
"It looks like half of it is missing," Toshiko lit up "If we find the other half-"
"We find Gwen." Jack finished for her. You could feel the hope and excitement and fear of being wrong in the air. This was an all or nothing shot.
"That's genius Tosh! Can that thing track the other half?" Owen was getting over-excited.
"Whoa whoa whoa… slow down. We don't even know where this tech is from; let alone what it does or how to use it. How do we know it's safe?" Jack wasn't letting his hopes up. There was an eerie silence that followed Jacks thought. They all knew he was right, but they wanted to find Gwen as well.
"We don't, but it's our only way of finding Gwen, and I'm not wasting any more time worrying about the consequences!" Ianto grabbed the device and pressed the only button on the device.
The ground shook and everything in the Hub rattled loudly. The Weevils were screaming in their cages. Jack grabbed the device from Ianto.
"Are you crazy!?That device could have done anything! Destroy the human race! Make the sun supernova!" Jack screamed at Ianto.
"And it also could have dispensed mints. I'm with Ianto, it was better to try than not to." Owen took a sip of his coffee. Jack glared at him, but his eyes softened. Owen looked like a teenager in stature, but a child in his eyes. He was terrified for Gwen, and Jack could see it.
Jack pulled Owen into a death-grip hug and tousled his hair softly."We're going to find her. I promise." He felt Owen nod his head against his chest. "I know." He whispered, and Jack let go of him.
Jack looked over at Ianto. He looked frazzled and tired. The coffee boy never ever looks tired. He grabbed Ianto's arm and pulled him into his chest. He kissed his forehead and whispered calmly in his ear, "Everything will be just fine."
"Um, Jack? I need to show you something." Tosh was standing at her station, looking excitedly at her monitors.
"What's up, Tosh?" Jack walked over and looked closely at the monitor. It was a projection of the earthquake's epicenter, "The earthquake, same epicenter, just like all the others." He commented.
"Not quite. The epicenter of the most recent earthquake is twelve degrees north of all the others." Tosh explained.
"So, we press this button and the other device causes an earthquake exactly where it is?" Owen was intrigued.
"Looks like it, and it also looks like our perp is on the move, with Gwen." Tosh rushed her words.
"We don't have any more time to waste, let's go!" Ianto was already running out of the Hub with his jacket on, car keys in hand. The rest of the team followed.
They rented a racing boat from the harbor and followed the coordinates on Tosh's mobile.
They came across an island that matched the coordinates of the earthquake's epicenter. Owen drove the boat to shore and the three men pulled the boat up on the sand.
The island was large, so there was no way the perp had already left the island when they *Cough*Ianto*Cough* pressed the button.
They split into two groups: Ianto and Jack and Tosh and Owen. Jack and Ianto dove right into the trees and bushes, meanwhile Tosh and Owen decided to walk the perimeter of the island.
"Can't you check for signs of life here?"Owen was impatient. They'd lost Gwen nearly twelve hours ago, and he was nervous.
"I tried, but there's so much life here that the technology can't define what's human." Tosh sighed. She'd imagined walking on a beach with Owen, but not quite under these circumstances.
"Well this bloody sucks. It's six A.M., Gwen is gone and I haven't slept a wink." He rubbed his eyes and groaned.
"I wonder if Jack and Ianto have found anything." Tosh attempted to sound hopeful.
Ianto had tripped over four tree branches and had taken Jack with him twice. Needless to say, Ianto didn't like a forest at night. Jack, on the other hand, was having the time of his life. He loved camping and being outdoors.
"Our race is the only race of campers! Celebrate your own originality!" Jack had told Ianto those words countless times, but he never seemed to see the joy of sleeping in the mud!
"Well I like solid ground that doesn't trip me every few steps." Ianto ducked under a tree branch.
"We should have a Torchwood camping trip here. It seems perfect-" Jack broke off midsentence.
They had reached a break in the trees. There were six sleek black huts, all lined up next to each other, on the opposite side of the enclosure. A man appeared from nowhere and walked over to them.
"Hello, welcome to our island, Captain Jack Harkness and Ianto Jones; we have been expecting your company." He spoke in an almost robotic voice. He motioned for them to follow him, and they trailed behind him towards the huts.
They noticed a slight ripple in the air and watched as the man stepped forward. When he did, he morphed into a beautiful creature. His arms were long, and he was a pale blue color.
Carefully, the baffled Torchwood agents stepped forward.
They were nearly blinded by the sunlight when they stepped inside the bubble. They looked around in awe. There were bee's buzzing around huge flowers and a tiny elephant-like creature was tromping around.
"This is Alachondria (Ala-kon-dria), my home. My name is Coryphaeus, my family, friends and I created this small world five generations ago, when our planet was ravaged and destroyed by a civil war." The strange man explained "Here we live peacefully, or we did until recently. An Alachondrian child left our habitat with our Zho. The Zho is the creator of life; our habitat is dying without it. He returned, but with only one half of the Zho." Coryphaeus looked anxious.
"Where's Gwen? What have you done to her?" Jack was annoyed the man had failed to mention her.
"The girl? She is in the second house, but we could not heal her wounds." Coryphaeus spoke sadly.
"You- you mean she's dead?" Ianto wanted to scream.
"No, we have her in a state of limbo; her medical state has not changed since she arrived. As long as she is there, she will be safe." Coryphaeus explained. Jack and Ianto were relieved, finally feeling able to breathe.
"Thank you, thank you for keeping her alive. I'm going to tell Owen and Tosh and have them come here immediately." Jack pressed the button on his Com and spoke aloud, "Owen! Tosh! We found Gwen and the boy. I'm sending coordinates now." He could hear questions in his Com, but turned it off anyway and sent them coordinates. They would know soon enough.
Tosh and Owen rushed through the brush, following the coordinates Jack had given them on Tosh's mobile. Soon they reached the opening in the trees; Ianto was standing in the middle of the enclosure.
"Where's Gwen?" Owen jogged over to Ianto.
"She's in there, alive. But there are some things you need to know first." Ianto explained everything, Alachondria, Coryphaeus, the boy.
"So you're telling me, there is a whole community in there, powered by the arch thingy, and Gwen is stuck in limbo?" Owen said, exasperated.
"Only until we decide to wake her up, once we wake her it's a race against the clock. She's been shot, and it took him three hours after he shot her to get here." Ianto explained.
"Let's do this." Tosh stepped forward and walked toward the huts. Owen and Ianto followed.
"This is magnificent! This technology is so advanced; just think of what we could learn from this!" Tosh looked around.
"Take as many notes and samples as you like, but I believe you may want to see your friend first." Coryphaeus appeared. Tosh and Owens eyes widened in awe.
"Tosh, Owen, this is Coryphaeus, leader of the Alachondrians." Ianto explained. Coryphaeus nodded and lead them to the hut Gwen was in.
When they stepped inside they were a little turned off. It was small, smelled of mold, and there was very little equipment.
"It used to be much finer than this, but when we lost the Zho everything started to deteriorate. Things began to devolve. We are nearly at the beginning of our civilization." Coryphaeus seemed worried.
"Your friend is right here." Coryphaeus lead them to the only other room in the makeshift hospital.
"Gwen…" Owen breathed. Gwen was lying on a table, a pillow under her head. Her torso was black with dried blood; her shirt was stiff and matted to her skin. There was a bullet hole about three inches from her belly button.
Jack was sitting on a wooden chair beside her, his head in his hands.
"Good, you guys are here. I have to go back to the boat. I left the other half of the Zho there, I didn't want to lose it." Jack got up from his chair.
"Actually…" Owen reached into the inner pocket of his jacket. He pulled out the Zho and handed it to Coryphaeus.
"The Zho! Thank you for restoring our life! Now we may be able to save your friend faster." Coryphaeus was very excited.
"Good, now let's connect the Zho and save Gwen." Owen rubbed his hands together.
"One thing, you and your friend can't be here when we reconnect the Zho. It sends off a wave of radiation that is deadly to your kind. We must disconnect your friend from our support system for a few moments. One of you must carry her outside the field. There you will all be safe." Coryphaeus explained.
"We'll do it. Let's do it now." Jack made the decision quickly. He placed his hands under her back and looked at Coryphaeus. Coryphaeus nodded and shut the machine down. Gwen jerked forward, gasping and choking on air. She pressed her hand against her now bleeding wound.
Jack lifted her off the table and ran from the room. The team followed him and a screaming Gwen out of the medical hut. He ran out of the field and turned to face the huts.
"Jack! Jack, oh thank God Jack, it's you." Gwen hugged him close and gasped against his chest.
"I know, I know. We're gonna get you out of this and Owen is going to fix you up as soon as we get inside." He kept looking at her stomach. It was bleeding; it was bleeding a lot, way too much. Ianto, Tosh and Owen were looking over at him, and he knew they had the same thought.
He noticed Gwen's hand relax. She looked like she was nodding off into sleep.
"No no no no no! Ianto, Owen, Tosh, get over here!" He press his hand over her wound in an attempt to stop the bleeding. He set her on the ground and Owen and Tosh ran over.
"She's getting weaker!" Owen felt her pulse. Tosh pulled off her jacket wrapped the arms around Gwen over the wound, tying them tightly. Ianto was holding her head, making sure she was breathing.
Coryphaeus walked out of the bubble. "It is done! Bring your friend in now! We are running out of time!"
This time Ianto carried Gwen inside, nearly stopping when he entered. The bubble was much larger now, the buildings were tall and there was flora and fauna everywhere. There were more Alachondrians, of all ages, everywhere. He broke from his trance and went straight for the second building.
Again, he had to stop. He had no idea where he was, the hospital had grown large and had many floors and rooms. Coryphaeus passed him and led him through the halls and up the stairs to a large room with a bed and medical equipment.
Ianto gently laid Gwen on the bed and Owen appeared at his side. At least Owen seemed to know what he was doing. Owen shooed them all out and examined Gwen.
He'd shot her near her spine, but it wasn't close enough to cause permanent damage. The bullet hadn't punctured any organs, but she had lost a great deal of blood.
"Coryphaeus! I need human blood, A positive." Owen turned to Coryphaeus. Coryphaeus opened a cupboard, filled with bags of blood.
"We have a stock of nearly every species' blood, mostly for testing." Owen pushed past him and looked through the bags for A positive. He pulled one out and immediately clipped it to a stand. He pricked Gwen's skin with an IV and attached the tube connected to the bag of blood.
He rubbed his face with his hands. He retrieved a long tweezer and looked at Gwen's stomach. He could see the bullet clearly. Shuddering, he retrieved the bullet from her flesh. He sewed the bullet hole closed and cleaned her stomach up. He scrubbed the grime, blood, and dirt off her stomach.
Two Alachondrian nurses entered the room and shooed him out. He left the room and went to find the others. He caught up with Jack and the others outside the hospital.
"How is she?" Jack rushed up to him.
"She'll be fine. Nothing punctured, no spinal damage, just some blood loss and a minor infection." He could see the relief in all their faces. They'd all been up for over 30 hours now, and now with all adrenaline wearing off, they were really feeling it. Ianto sat on the ground, his back against the wall of the hospital, and closed his eyes. Jack sat next to him and took his hand in his. Ianto put his head on Jack's shoulder and closed his eyes. Tosh sat beside Jack and Owen sat beside Tosh. Soon it was a wall of sleeping Torchwood agents.
Coryphaeus walked out nearly an hour and a half later and woke them. "Gwen is awake."
They all ran over to her room. They stopped outside the door and got their bearings together, brushing leaves off each other and fixing each other's jackets. They looked like a worried family. They walked in slowly with big smiles. Papa Jack and Mama Ianto seriously looked like overbearing parents.
Gwen looked much better, she was sitting up, there was color in her cheeks, and she wasn't coated in blood and grime.
"Would someone like to tell me exactly what's happened since I was shot?" she flattened her blue hospital gown with her hands and looked around at each of them. Jack told her everything that had happened, about Alachondria and Coryphaeus and the Zho.
"So now what, when can I go home?" Gwen questioned.
"We can leave now that you're awake. Our only issue is getting you back on the boat, it's all the way out at shore." Owen stepped forward.
"I can supply transport to your vessel, as compensation for harming your female friend." Coryphaeus spoke to Jack.
"Thank you, Coryphaeus. I will see to it that you and your people remain undisturbed from now on." Jack nodded his head. Jack and Owen helped Gwen out of bed and into a wheelchair, where she was wheeled to a sleek black pod with an opening. Tosh, Jack and Ianto had already boarded, and Owen was pushing Gwen.
"Wait!" a young, very young, Alachondrian child ran over to them.
"I just wanted to apologize for shooting you, and I want you to know that I brought you here because I didn't know what else to do and I knew you would be cared for." the boy spoke quickly.
"So it was you who shot me?" Gwen was confused. The child nodded.
"Well… don't do it again!" she tried to scold him. He was a scared child, far from home. She couldn't be mad under those circumstances. He shook her hand and turned to leave.
Owen helped her into the pod ad she took a seat next to Tosh. She looked at her palm. The boy had slipped an oval-shaped pendant into her palm when they shook hands. Like everything in the Alachondrian world, it was sleek and black. She ran her pointer finger across it, and jumped a little when it lit up. The words "I'm sorry" lit up the pendant. She reluctantly put the necklace on, and froze in her seat. An entire history flashed through her mind, from peace to war to running to Earth, it was the story of the Alachondrians. She noticed Tosh calling her.
"Gwen! Gwen! Snap out of it!" Gwen shook her head and put her hand to her throat, feeling the pendant. She looked at Tosh and took it off slowly.
"The boy, the little Alachondrian boy, he gave me this pendant. Put it on." She handed it to Tosh. Tosh looked at her weirdly, before taking it and putting it on. Her eyes grew wide. A moment later she shook her head.
"Their world, everything about them, it's all right here." Tosh felt the necklace around her neck, like Gwen had. She looked at Gwen, amazed.
"Let's go tell Jack." Gwen said, looking out of the craft where Jack, Ianto and Owen were standing, talking.
"Okay." Tosh helped her out of the craft, and the men ran over to help Gwen hobble out.
"You know, you could wait for us to come and get you." Jack laughed, steadying Gwen.
"I have to show you something. The boy who shot me, he gave me this. Put it on, Jack." Tosh handed the pendant to Jack. He looked doubtful, but put it on anyway. Just like Gwen and Tosh, Jack tensed up and his eyes widened.
"Gwen, this is remarkable. All the information we will ever need on Alachondria!" He babbled on and on, meanwhile Owen and Ianto looked very confused. Both had similar reactions to putting the pendant on. Owen handed it back to Gwen after his turn, and she put it around her neck, its effects gone after sending its message to the people intended to see it.
They got back to Torchwood, where Gwen switched from a hospital gown to regular clothing.
"I'm going to put all the information on Alachondria in the hard drive." Tosh immediately went to her computer.
"Make sure you put 'Ally' under relationship status." Ianto reminded her, helping Gwen to her desk.
Jack looked around at his team, swelling with pride at his family. They had just made an amazing discovery, made an ally, and gotten Gwen back. Now all he needed was his Doctor, and his family would be complete.