Torchwood

The twenty first century is when everything is meant to change. Max had just managed to make it through the rift. However she had brought something with her, a creature that had been hunting her through time and space. In another time she would have been able to handle such a creature, but time had taken its toll and she was exhausted. Even on the roof overlooking Cardiff she could not comprehend what was happening to her. The lights twinkled against the darkness that night had brought onto the city. The hairs on the back of her neck stood on end as her senses kicked in telling her that whatever was hunting her was near.

She unclipped the rope from her pack and attached it onto the ventilation box that was situated in the middle of the roof. She was minutes away from being attacked and she had once chance to make it to the ground alive. She clipped the rope to her belt and looked towards the edge of the roof. Max could hear her heart beating in her ears as her feet pounded across the loose stones and towards the edge. At the last second she jumped. The comforting sound of the nylon scraping along the metal of her belt. The ground was getting closer, so fast; she was feet from the ground when the tension of the rope gave way. She landed on the ground and rolled into a crouch. Looking up towards the roof she saw the frayed end of the rope hurtling towards the ground. The creature had sliced through, it was certainly hell bent on killing her tonight. She ran, as fast as her legs would take her. Cars blared their horns at her as she ran in front of them, the smell of the exhaust fumes growing in her nostrils. The tears stung her eyes as she ran, how could it have come to this? She had been strong once, so strong that no beast would have stood a chance against her. Now she was running from what she had once hunted. She had not come here for an escape; she had come here to fulfill another task. A promise she had made a long time from now she had to keep.

Max walked into the alleyway, her breathing was laboured, her body weakening. The creature was merely feet behind her now, she turned towards it. It stood about seven feet tall, its scale like body glistening in the lights. Huge brown eyes looked at her, the soft clicking sound echoed down the alleyway towards her, the time had come. Her arms were positioned by her side; she had no weapon, no hope. What she had learned disgusted her, terrified her, and sickened her. She didn't have time to react before the creature was on her, its tongue running slowly up the nape of her neck. Her eyes closed as she felt the liquid enter into her blood stream, the searing heat that followed signaling the infection moving through her veins. The bright lights filled the alleyway as she waited for death, the creature's arms around her, not violently, but as a lover would. The sound of footsteps filled the alleyway, a familiar voice filling the air. She hit the ground hard as she creature leaped up towards the roof.

"Gwen, Ianto, Tosh get after that thing…Owen get over here!"

Jack moved towards the injured female, when he turned her over the colour drained from his face,

"M-Max?"

Owen looked towards the woman and then to Jack

"You know her?"

Jack nodded as Owen went to work

"Her vital signs are weak…she's fading fast"

Jack glared at him

"Do whatever you can…no holds barred!"

He wrapped his arms around her shoulders holding her up, Max gripped his arm, small beads of sweat had formed on her head.

"I'd…I'd heard you were here…"

Jack shook his head, although he could not believe what he was seeing, it kicked in memories that he had buried a long time ago.

"Shh…you just concentrate on staying alive ok?"

Owen glanced at Jack, a look at the said the prognosis wasn't good. Owen removed the stethoscope and draped it around his neck, removing a syringe he filled it with adrenaline
"This should keep her alive long enough to get her back to the hub"

Jack nodded before bringing his arm under Max's knees, he lifted her carefully and held her close. Owen packed up his gear heading over to the car.

Gwen aimed her gun ahead of her as she made her way across the roof. Ianto was behind her, Tosh checking the readings on her PDA.

"It's six hundred feet south and moving fast…there's no way we are going to catch it now…"

Gwen moved forward quickly, she knew this thing needed to be caught. Ianto aimed his gun and pivoted on his feet. Tosh's warning came seconds before the thing moved out

"There's two of them!"

The other swiped Iantos gun from his hand. Gwen was on it in seconds, she fired towards the creature, its screams filled the night air as it fell. Ianto looked towards Gwen

"Thank you"

Gwen nodded before moving over to the creature. Tapping the Bluetooth headset in her ear she spoke normally

"Jack, we got one of them…"

Jack spoke urgently

"What do you mean one of them?"

"There were two of them"

Jack growled

"Great…get it back to the hub…and be quick about it".

Gwen clicked off and looked to Ianto and Tosh

"We need to get it back to the hub".

Less than an hour later, Max was laying in the hub on a bed Owen had set up for her. Jack sat by her side, his hand holding hers. She had not changed a bit since he had last seen her. Her red hair was longer, her eyes still piercing blue. He remembered everything about her, how it felt to hold her, the softness of her lips on his own. He closed his eyes remembering. He felt her hand tighten in his

"Stop it…you're making me blush"

Jack smiled, his blue eyes looking directly at her

"I should be the one blushing"

Max grinned

"Y-yeah…I think it was both-"

She began coughing, a violent hard cough. Jack was on his feet in a second, he leaned over her

"Easy Max…take a deep breath ok?"

A few minutes passed before the coughing fit had ended. Jack lay her gently down, having held her in his arms tightly. Max looked at him,

"Next question…what the hell am I doing here right?"

Jack nodded, he had been waiting to ask the question but he needed to know what was going on.

"It's a long story, and being attacked by that thing wasn't what I expected".

Gwen watched from afar as Jack sat with the girl. Her right hand found the ring on her finger, her finger slid over the metal. Marriage still had not prevented her from being jealous when Jack was with someone else. Although it was something she would have to get used to it was not easy.

"So who do you think she is?"

Tosh question was one that each one of them had wanted to ask, but had not had the mind to. No one could even hazard a guess to who the young woman was, or what connection she had to Jack. Ianto spoke up, breaking the awkward silence

"None of us know what Jack has been up to while he was gone, could be she has something to do with that".

They each nodded…all of them wanting answers…but none of them willing to go in and get them.