Torn and Frayed

by ParahunterMathgeek

It's been a year since Angel joined Torchwood, and she finally gets a boyfriend! But when the team is abducted by aliens will they all survive? Book 2 in the Angel trilogy

Disclaimer: I DO NOT own Torchwood or its characters (only Angel!) and I also do not own the cover. Whoever created the cover gets the credit. I only put the text on it. Again, if you see ANY misspellings or misuse of a word, PLEASE tell me because it irks me. This is the second part to the Angel trilogy. The first one is Imaginative Minds.

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It had been a year since Angel had left the Doctor and went to work for Captain Jack Harkness in Torchwood. She was now seventeen and had her own apartment. She was sitting in it now, lounging in one of her very rare nights off. Her apartment wasn't big or anything special. It had a small kitchen, one bedroom, a living room and one bathroom. It was enough for her and the rent was cheap, plus, it was only a few blocks away from the Hub.

She had a driver's licence, but not a car. She was saving up for one, but with all the bills to pay she didn't have much left over. Her life was simple enough. It was go to work, come home, sometimes sleep, and then go back to work. She didn't date, didn't go out. Sometimes she went out with the others, but a lot of times they went to bars, and with her being underage, she couldn't go.

Her nights were spent alone, usually reading a book on her couch or watching reruns on TV. She had to admit she was a bit lonely. Angel set the book she was reading down and padded over to her small kitchen, opening the fridge and looking for something to munch on. She had milk and a package of sliced turkey in the fridge. Looking in her cupboards only brought up a box of mac n' cheese. "Grocery shopping tomorrow it is," she muttered.

Luckily, she had eaten before she left the Hub. Angel sat down on the comfortable chair near the window, rain pounding on it, and opened her book. She would have to make coffee at work tomorrow since she was out. She finished the book within the next hour and just stared at the rain. She curled her legs to her chest and just looked. Her pajamas were a simple pair of shorts and a tank top.

She watched all night as the rain went on, and then into the early morning hours. It still wasn't letting up as she got ready for work. Since it was only March and still plenty cold outside, Angel put on black leggings, an oversized bright orange sweatshirt and her black combat boots. They were worn out and molded to her feet. Angel didn't have that many clothes, and only three pairs of shoes.

Most of her wardrobe consisted of jeans, leggings, shorts and oversized sweaters. There were a few t-shirts here and there, but only a few. Picking up an umbrella, she ran outside, checking her watch. She ran, water splashing at her legs, her watch telling her she was already ten minutes late.

Since her head was down to avoid the rain, she didn't see the boy who was walking quickly with a backpack slung over his shoulder. He was late for school and it was ten blocks away! Angel bumped right into him and she lost her balance. Before she could fall, instincts made the boy wrap his arm around her waist to catch her. He was seventeen, the same age as Angel, but the differences between the two were shocking.

The boy was in his senior year, getting ready for a normal day of school. Angel had never stepped foot inside a classroom and was getting ready to fight monsters. Her umbrella had fallen and was blown away in the wind, leaving her completely soaked. "Are you alright?" the boy asked, realising his arm was still around her waist.

"Yeah," Angel breathed, looking into the deep vastness of his eyes. She had never seen a pair so blue. It was like the time vortex was trapped within them.

He helped her gain her balance back. "Thank you," she said, smoothing her soaked clothes.

"I don't think I've seen you around before. Where do you go to school? I'm James, by the way," he said, sticking out a hand.

Angel shook it and smiled. "I'm Angel. Oh, um, I don't go to school, exactly. I'm on my way to work."

"Oh! Well, is there any chance of me seeing you again?" James asked.

Angel took a pen out of her bun and it collapsed onto her shoulders. She always used pens to keep her buns together. Never know when you're going to need a pen! She rolled up his shirt sleeve and wrote her cell phone number on the underside of his forearm. "I'm off at six," she smiled. It was a Friday today, so she knew he wouldn't have to worry about going to school the next day.

She didn't know what it was, but something was drawing her to James. He was attractive with soft, brown hair that stuck up at all angles. It reminded her of the Doctor's hair. But his eyes really stole the show. They drew her in like a mouse trap. "I'll call you," James said back, feeling his own draw to Angel.

They stared at each other for a moment before breaking contact. Without looking back, both teens ran a separate way. Angel ran the rest of the way to work and was breathing hard when she arrived. She typed in the code for the door and it opened. Everyone was already there, dry and drinking coffee, when Angel came in dripping wet and shivering. Her sweater gave her no warmth and her teeth chattered.

Gwen was the first person over to her. "Come on, let's get you out of these clothes," she said, leading Angel to the bathroom. "Ianto, can you pour her a cup of coffee?" she asked. Ianto stood and went to the kitchen.

As soon as her and Gwen were alone and the bathroom door was locked, Angel stripped out of her clothes until she was only in her bra and underwear. Gwen and her were close enough to change in front of each other without caring. Gwen put a blanket around Angel and searched for clothes in one of the man cupboards. Finally, she found a pair of sweatpants and a t-shirt with The Beatles on it. With some more searching, she found a pair of clean socks.

Gwen went to hand Angel the clothes, but she was staring into space. Oh, Gwen knew that look. "What's his name?" she asked, handing Angel the warm shirt and sweatpants. She quickly changed into them, slipping the socks over her cold feet and letting her boots dry.

"Hm?" Angel said, looking over at Gwen distractedly.

"You've got the I-just-met-a-boy look. So, what's his name?"

"James. He caught me from falling this morning while I was walking here. Oh my God, Gwen his eyes are like a universe!"

Gwen smiled. Angel never got a chance to be a kid. She never got to have little crushes on her classmates, or experience her first kiss. She had all that ripped away from her. And even worse, she had her virginity taken without consent. And on top of that, got pregnant and was forced to get rid of the baby by being pushed down the stairs. But what Angel was confessing made Gwen ecstatic. She was allowing herself to have a crush, to be an actual teenager. "Are you going to see him again?"

"Well, I gave him my name and number and told him I get off at six. You think Jack'll let me off early?"

"Only if you don't tell him it's for a boy. If you haven't noticed, Jack is a bit protective of you." And it was true. Captain Jack Harkness, the man time bends for, the man who could kill without a second thought, was overly protective of Angel. He had known her the longest of all of them, and met her when she was still travelling with the Doctor. Jack had taken an instant liking to her, but when he met Angel, she was still broken from her horrible past.

He helped her through it all. He was there in places the Doctor wasn't, like when she woke from nightmares that often riddled her sleep, or when she forgot to eat. Jack kind of adopted Angel as his little sister, and Angel didn't really mind that. He was the closest thing to family she had ever had. "Hopefully it'll be a slow day today," Angel sighed, standing up.

When she got back to the main room, Ianto handed her a cup of black coffee, just the way she liked it. When she took a sip, her body warmed up. "You know I could have given you a ride if you called," Jack said, knowing Angel didn't have a car of her own. He also knew that at seventeen, she shouldn't have to be worrying about what bills to pay. He wished that she didn't work here, that she didn't know what lurked beneath the city, but she did, and it made Jack's heart ache a little.

"It's just water. It's not like I'm going to melt. Thanks for the coffee, Ianto." She raised her cup in thanks and took another sip. Ianto nodded and went back to doing whatever he was doing before. Angel couldn't see.

"With all the rain, I don't think it'll be a very productive day. The streets will be flooded and traffic will be crazy, so unless we go on foot, we have no chance in actually catching something. I doubt any Weevils will come out of hiding today, there'll be too many lights and people," Toshiko said, taking a sip of her own coffee.

"Well, it looks like it's time to catch up on some overdue paperwork, then. You all know you have some," Jack said, standing up and shrugging off his jacket. He went to his office to make some calls and finish up some of his own paperwork. Angel went to her desk, which was next to Owen's, and started some of her own. She didn't have that much, seeing as she usually finished it while the others pushed it off.

It took half an hour to get through it all, and she pulled up a book she wanted to read. Bag of Bones by Stephen King. She heard it was pretty good. She was reading all of five minutes when Owen rolled his chair over to her. He was bored, and messing with Angel was always a solution.

"What do you want, Owen?" she sighed with annoyance, putting the book down.

Owen, while he messed with Angel and she messed with him right back, cared for the girl. He didn't admit it, obviously, but he wouldn't exactly like it if she died. "So... What's his name?" Owen would know that look anywhere. She had puppy eyes for some bloke or another.

"Is it really that obvious?" she said, running her hands through her half-curled half-wavy hair.

"Pretty much. I feel bad for the bloke that has to put up with you."

Angel slapped him on the shoulder with her book and turned away, going back to her computer, switching over to the holding cell cameras. Whenever there was something wrong with the Weevils she was usually sent down there to deal with it since they were completely calm around her. She visited them sometimes. They weren't just wild and feral, they had a mind and soul. They were just angry because they were locked in the Hub and not with their family, and Angel understood that. It helped that she could communicate with them because of her telepathic abilities.

She kept and eye on the screen as she read, but Owen wouldn't let up. "His name is James! God, could you be anymore annoying?"

"Is that a challenge?" Owen asked, arching his eyebrows. A smile poked at the corner of Angel's mouth, but she hit him again. "Don't you have work to do?" she said, looking up at the cameras again.

"What is going on?" she mumbled to herself, zooming in on one of the cells. One of the Weevils was going crazy. Angel stood, placing a bookmark on her page and closing the book. "I'm going down to check it out." She put the bluetooth like device on her ear, making sure that it was on, and went downstairs. The Weevil bared its teeth at her as she neared. She held her hands up in surrender and sent soothing thoughts into its head.

After sensing that it was Angel, it calmed down a bit, but still thrashed. It was holding its shoulder, like the poor thing was hurt. She put her hand to her ear, pressing a button so she could speak. "Owen can you come down here with the first aid kit? I think he hurt himself." Delving a little deeper into the Weevil's mind, she saw he was a guy.

Using her ID card, she opened the cell and came in closer, sending soothing thoughts. A wave of pain came over her as she neared. The Weevil stopped moving and she let her fingers graze his hand, letting him know that she was going to be making contact. Weevils use telepathy to communicate and rarely made contact with each other, so she usually gave them a small touch to know that she was going to be physical.

Slowly, she moved the Weevil's hand off his shoulder. Red came out of it and she realized he had a nasty gash. He let her remove the jacket and shoulder of the shirt underneath so she could get a better look. "That looks like a nasty one. How'd you manage to do that?" she asked the Weevil. He let out a call of apology and Angel smiled.

Owen came down and walked slowly towards them. The Weevil tensed, but didn't move. They treated Angel like one of their own, and would never think of hurting her, but if they saw something as a threat, they wouldn't hesitate to attack it. He handed her the kit, having taught her some basic techniques and backed up. Weevils were unpredictable, and they could go off at any moment. Angel opened the kit and took out some preparation pads.

The Weevil squirmed under her as they scrubbed his wound clean. She knew it hurt from experience, but it had to be done. "Calm down you big wuss! It doesn't hurt that much." She picked up a bandage and folded it, putting it over the gash. It wasn't deep enough for stitches. With some medical tape, she patched it to his shoulder. "Now, don't move your arm that much and you should be fine in a couple days. And try not to get hurt next time!"

Angel packed up the kit and moved out of the cell, closing it once more and waving goodbye to the Weevil. He sat down on the cement bench and huffed. Owen and her walked up the stairs together, Angel carrying the kit. Once upstairs, she put it back in the medical area and went to sit down on her desk, switching the computer screen from the cameras to her background. It was Robert Frost's Nothing Gold Can Stay.

She read it quickly and then went back to her book, the rain pounding on the ceiling. She loved the sound. A loud crack of thunder sounded and Toshiko jumped a little. She hated thunderstorms. Angel smiled a little and Toshiko glared. The two mostly talked about computers together, and they were a good team.

"Do we have anything in here? It's almost two in the afternoon and I'm starving!" Owen complained, finishing up the last of his overdue papers. Angel was a little hungry too.

"There's no way we can order in this weather," Gwen piped in. "And unless someone is volunteering to go out and grab something..." No one responded. Angel stood and went to the kitchen, looking through the cupboards and drawers. She found two boxes of mac n' cheese, cubed ham and some frozen broccoli. When she lived with her parents she only cooked and cleaned for them when she wasn't getting beaten, so cooking was practically programmed in her genes.

She started up the stove and put a pot full of water on to boil. Twenty minutes later there was mac n' cheese with cubed ham and diced broccoli sitting in a pot. Pulling out six bowls, she served them up and called out to the rest of the team. "I made food if anyone's hungry!" she yelled.

Sure enough, the entire team was there. "It's not much, but it's all we had in here."

They ate it anyway. Angel gave herself the smallest portion. She wasn't that hungry. Her stomach was in too many knots to eat. "Hey, Jack?" she called as the rest left the kitchen. Gwen gave her a knowing look and made sure everyone left.

"What's up, Angelcakes?" he said, using the nickname he had come for her years ago.

Angel smiled when she heard it. No one had cared enough to make a nickname for her until Jack. "Since it's a slow day, would you mind if I left early? Like, sixish? AndmaybeIcouldborrowtheJeep?" She said the last part so fast it mushed into one word. Angel never asked for anything, and it took all day plus an internal war to get the courage to ask Jack.

Jack knew that Angel never asked for anything, so he agreed to let her off early. "Why the Jeep?" he asked. They kept a couple cars in the garage in case the SUV broke down or became undriveable.

"I need to do some grocery shopping." It was only a half lie. If James actually called her, she wanted to look nice, and that meant getting a shirt that didn't go down to her knees.

Jack looked at her skeptically. He knew she was holding something back but didn't call her out on it. "Sure, just bring her back safely. And don't go so fast, the brakes aren't that great." He tossed her the keys to the Jeep and she caught them easily. She added it to the necklace that her ID badge hung on and went back to her desk.

Time could not have gone slower! Right as the clock struck six, Angel was out of there. She grabbed an unused umbrella from the dusty old coat room and went to the garage, but not without getting a thumbs up from Gwen. She kept her phone close and drove to a department store first. It was nothing special. It took her half hour to find something decent.

After that, she went to the grocery store and picked up some food for her house and drove home. Angel put the groceries away when she got upstairs and checked the time. It was 7:20. Her smile faded. "How dumb am I?" she mumbled to herself. "Why would anyone be interested in me?"

She set the phone down and started the coffee maker, letting it warm up. Just then, her phone rang. She answered it quickly. "Hello?" she answered.

"Is this Angel?" James' voice said through the phone.

"The one and only! What can I do for you?" She paced the length of the kitchen as she talked, her fingers nervously pulling at her sweatpants.

"It's James. We met this morning? I was wondering, if, um, you wanted to grab a cup of coffee? I know this great place called Moriartie's and it's not that far from where I bumped into you. The rain lightened to just a small drizzle."

"Sure! Why not? What time do you want to meet?"

"Is 7:40 okay with you?"

"Perfect!" She got the address of the coffee house and hung up. But then she started freaking out. What was she supposed to say? Was she supposed to arrive a little late or get there early? So, of course, she called Gwen.

"Angel? What's wrong? Are you okay?" Gwen answered.

Angel was in her room, changing into the skirt and blouse she bought earlier. It was a navy blue skirt with black flowers and a very light weight white blouse. "No! I'm kind of freaking out! I've never been on a date before! What am I supposed to do? Am I supposed to wear makeup and do my hair? I don't even own makeup!"

She could hear Gwen laugh from the other side of the phone. "Just be yourself! If he doesn't like you for who you are, then he's not right for you anyway."

Angel ran a brush through her hair and tugged on her boots. "But what if I get choked up or something? It's not like I have experience in this playing field."

"Find things you have in common, like books or something. If he doesn't like books, then he's not for you. I've never seen someone read as much as you do."

Angel checked the time on her watch and picked up her wristlet. She never went anywhere without it. It geld her money, ID badge when she was out in public, phone and pager in case she ever got called into work when she was out. "Thanks, Gwen! I've got to go! And remember, not a word of this to Jack!" She hung up the phone and ran outside. The rain had nearly stopped. She fished out the keys for the Jeep and got in, making her way carefully down the slippery roads.

She made it to the coffee shop five minutes after the meeting time and rushed in. He was sitting at a table near the window and she walked over to him, her head down. "Hi," she squeaked, her confidence fading. She had never actually talked to a guy her own age before, much less gone on a date!

"Angel, hi!" he said back, jumping up and pulling out her chair for her. She smiled out a thank you and sat down, crossing her legs over each other.

"How are you doing?" she asked him, a blush rising in her cheeks. She wasn't good at making conversation with people she wasn't familiar with.

"Suddenly, I'm feeling a whole lot better. Are you hungry? We can order something."

Angel shook her head. She didn't like people paying for her. James called a waitress over anyway. "Can we please have two coffees, black, and two turkey sandwiches please?" he asked her politely.

Angel smiled, she liked polite people. The waitress nodded and scurried off with their order. "You like your coffee black, too?" she asked, looking into those blue eyes that held a whole universe within them. She could spend forever looking into those eyes.

"Yeah! The bitter actually tastes good to me."

"It wakes me up in the morning, at least," Angel laughed, becoming more relaxed. Three years ago, if you told her that she was going to meet a boy and be able to talk to him like it was nothing, she would have laughed in your face, but now, here she was, talking to James like she had known him forever.

Their order came and Angel took a sip of her coffee. James did as well. "Cowell, by the way. That's my last name."

Angel froze. He was expecting a last name from her. She didn't have a last name. It was just Angel. She blurted out the first thing that came to mind. "Harkness is mine." She really hoped Jack wouldn't mind.

"That's interesting. Angel Harkness. I like it. So, Angel Harkness, where do you work?"

"At an institute. I just temp, though. My cousin runs the joint so he gave me a temping job." She had made up the lie about her job on the way over here. Torchwood has very strict rules on who can know and who can't. Telling civilians is a big no-no.

"And why don't you go to school? If you don't mind my asking."

"I, um, lost my parents a couple years back. That's when I stopped. It's kind of illegal to stop going to school before you're sixteen, so that's just going to be between the two of us," she said, whispering the last part. She didn't want to tell James the truth. What would he think of her if he knew she never stepped foot in a classroom?

"Oh, I'm sorry for your loss. My parents died in a car crash when I was three. My baby sister was only four months. We both survived and our grandmother took us in. She pays the bills and everything, but I have a part time job to help her out."

"That's nice of you. What's your sister's name?"

"Grace, but I call her Gracie. She's a couple months away from being fourteen."

Angel smiled sadly. She celebrated birthdays by herself. Since she didn't know her real birth date (thanks to the fact that it was a home birth and she didn't even have a certificate), she made one up. She decided on January first, the turn of the year. It was easier to remember than a random date. Plus, she could always tell when it was New Year's Day from the lights outside her window in the attic. "So, what's school like? I haven't exactly been in awhile."

"It's, well, school. Except now everyone's trying to force you into a career. If you want, on Monday, you can shadow my classes. The school allows it. I can say that you're thinking of transferring."

Angel perked up. She always wondered what school was like, and sometimes even asked Gwen. She was too embarrassed to ask anyone else. "Really? You would do that?"

"Yeah! I've never seen someone so excited about school before."

Of course, he didn't know that he had never gone. "Oh, that would be great!"

James smiled at Angel's smile. He'd known her for a full twelve hours and he already wanted to be her boyfriend. He could tell she didn't smile much from lack of laugh lines, and he sensed that she was lying about some of the details of her life, but he didn't judge her for that. Everyone had their secrets, and as long as hers wasn't that she murdered someone, he was okay with it. "So, if you're parents are gone, do you live with your cousin?" he asked. He wanted to know everything about her.

As if her sparkling green eyes weren't enough, Angel was beautiful inside and out. She listened to everything he had to say and laughed in all the right places. The light made her blond hair glow and look almost like a halo, which only added to her name. He thought she was absolutely fascinating.

At the question, Angel looked down into her empty coffee cup. "I live alone, actually. My cousin's place is too small."

"Alone? Don't you get lonely?"

"Who can get lonely when they're surrounded by books? You have a million different worlds to choose from." There was sadness behind her voice, and Angel knew it. She did get lonely. She got very lonely.

James could hear it and gave a sad smile, but played along anyway. His own room was covered in books. "You could go to Hogwarts or 221B! And who doesn't want to go there?"

Angel smiled again at his response. At least he liked to read. She checked her watch. It was almost eleven! She didn't realize it was that late. She had to be at work in seven hours! "Oh, wow! Is it really that late? I didn't even notice. I really should be going. I'll give you a lift home if you want. I don't want you walking alone at eleven at night."

She rose and pushed her chair in, getting some cash out to pay for the bill, but James stopped her. "I would love a lift home, but let me pay. It makes us men feel better," he smiled.

"Are you sure? I mean, I'll pay you back."

James put a twenty on the table. "No need. Loosen up a little. Let someone do you a favor once in awhile."

She smiled and put the money away. They walked out of the store, and James, so used to holding his sister's hand, slipped his through Angel's. After realizing what he'd done, he went to pull it away, but she tightened the grip. He smiled and looked down at the ground. Angel blushed and was glad it was dark so James couldn't see it. They walked hand in hand down the block to where the Jeep was parked. She got in the driver's seat while James went to the passenger side.

He directed her to his house, and she pulled up to a three story mansion-like place. "Wow," she breathed, taking in the brick building. It had ivy crawling up it's sides and trees on either side, giving it that haunted but beautiful look. "It's gorgeous."

"Grace thinks it's spooky. You see that curved part right there? That's my room. When I turned thirteen I asked Gran if I could move in there just so I could line the walls with bookcases."

Angel looked up at the house. "My apartment is so dull compared to this," she smiled. The house truly was beautiful.

"I bet it's great," James said, leaning in a bit closer towards Angel.

"It's got a lot of books," she whispered, leaning in closer herself. Their lips were just inches apart now, and Angel could feel James' breath against her skin.

"Then why don't we visit Hogwarts some day?" James said, making it so their lips were now centimeters apart.

"Yeah, let's do that." And they clashed together. It wasn't open mouthed or anything, just a little kiss. Angel was the one to pull back. A blush was rising on her cheeks and she looked down. She'd never really kissed someone like that before. She'd kissed the Doctor once to say goodbye, but that was two seconds. Her cheeks burned. "Well, um, I'll call you this weekend to give you the details about Monday," James said, his voice a little unsteady.

Angel cleared her throat. "Yeah, um, that sounds like a great idea."

James waved goodbye and jumped out. Angel made sure he was inside the house before she drove off. She didn't really remember the drive home, nor did she remember climbing the stairs to her apartment. The next thing she knew was that she was on her bed. Bringing a pillow up to her face, she screamed into it.

Her heart was hammering in her chest like it had never done before. A smile practically broke her lips and went from ear to ear. She didn't want to wake Gwen up in case she was sleeping, but there was no way Angel was sleeping tonight. It's not like she needed it. She usually stayed up for five or six days at a time.

The rest of the night was spent smiling and thinking about how great everything was. She shed her clothes and dressed in her pajamas, the smile never breaking. In the morning, she dressed for work in the usual leggings and sweatshirt, and she fought to keep a grin off her face. She didn't even need coffee!

She drove the Jeep safely back into the garage, her ID badge once again around her neck. She returned the keys to Jack and barely had time to sit down before Gwen sought her out. Angel was pulled along to the bathroom they went to yesterday and Gwen locked the door behind them.

"So, how was it?" Gwen asked, smiling. She loved that Angel was finally getting to be a teenager.

"It was amazing! He was nice, funny, charming, sweet. He even paid the bill! He listened to what I had to say and asked what books I liked and about me. No one's ever really asked me about me before. I had to lie through my teeth half the time but it was a nice gesture. I learned that he lives with his grandmother and has a younger sister named Grace, and his house is absolutely gorgeous. And then, right before he got out of the car, we kissed. Like, actual lips to lips kissing. It all sounds a bit silly that I'm so excited about that, but I am! He even offered to let me shadow his classes on Monday! School, Gwen! I have a chance to actually go to school!"

"He sounds great, Angel. I'm so happy for you!"

"And before you ask, yes, I checked. He's clean. No criminal record of any kind. Just the car crash and his parent's death certificates. He was born in London, at St. Miriam's hospital, June 25th. He is who he says he is, I promise."

Gwen let out a sigh. She was going to do a background check on the kid anyway, just to make sure. "I really am happy for you. This is what you should be doing at your age, not Torchwood."

"I can't imagine my life being any other way." Angel shrugged and stood, some of her excitement bubbling down now that she had talked about it. "You if I call in deathly sick on Monday, Jack will believe me?" Angel asked, walking out of the bathroom.

"I'll back it up for you. I don't think I'll ever see someone be more excited to go to school than you for the rest of my life."

"You're awesome, Gwen. I owe you two thousand!"

Gwen smiled. Like everyone else, it broke Gwen's heart that Angel had to grow up so quickly. And she really, truly was happy that Angel was doing something teenager-like. She watched as Angel walked giddily to her desk, where she checked activity in the city before turning her screen over to the Weevils. "What are they doing?" she mumbled, zooming in. Two were going nuts.

Angel pulled on her earpiece and took the first aid kit just in case. She lugged it downstairs and went to the first Weevil. He was holding his shoulder the exact same way the other one had been doing the day before. Angel patched him up and took a look around the cell. Nothing was broken or even sharp enough to make that kind of gash.

Only one thing was. The Weevil's claws. She checked both hands, and sure enough, the right one had blood dripping from it. "What'd you do that for?" she asked, cleaning up his claws.

The Weevil gave an apologetic call, much like the one yesterday had done. She patted him on the unhurt shoulder and went to go tend to the other Weevil. After that was done, Angel went back upstairs. She stayed until two in the morning, doing simple jobs she had put off because of work in the field. There was absolutely no activity or strange 911 reports that would draw the team to the field, and everyone was getting anxious.

Sunday showed the same result. "Is it just me or is this the calm before the storm?" Toshiko said, looking at the blank activity screen. Usually they would get at least a Weevil, but there was nothing.

"What do you think is coming?" Gwen asked, leaning in near Tosh's screen.

"I don't know, but whatever it is, it's scaring the Weevils. The gashes on their shoulders? It's a sign of anxiousness, worry. Why? I have no clue, but whatever is out there is making the Weevils stand on edge," Owen budded in.

He was right. Angel tended to all of the Weevils in the past three days, all with the same wound. "How long until the storm breaks loose?" she said, leaning back in her chair, glancing over the team. Jack was out on private business at the moment. He'd been cooped up in there for awhile now.

She left early the next morning, around three. James had called and told her that school started at eight, so at least she had a couple of hours. Her nerves were too in a bundle to sleep, so she spent the early morning hours looking for an empty notebook. She found one buried deep in her bottom desk drawer.

After that she took a nice long shower and got out at around five. She let herself dry slowly, because she had a hell of a lot of time to get ready. At six thirty, Angel called Jack. She plugged her nose with her fingers and had a "coughing fit" when he answered. "Jack?" she groaned, her voice sounding sluggish and tired. "I really don't feel well today. I'll work extra hours for the whole week, but today I just can't. My temperature is sky high and I can barely move."

"Just get well soon," Jack sighed and hung up the phone. He knew she was lying. Angel never called in sick. She came in with a 105.2 degrees Fahrenheit fever once. Jack had to almost forcibly drag her to the car and drive her home. There was something going on with her, but just like she didn't go into his personal life, he didn't go through hers. He liked that Angel was putting herself out there and maybe making a few friends her own age. The job took a lot of time out of your schedule, and everyone but Gwen didn't have a steady relationship.

On the other end of the line, Angel was surprised to hear that Jack was letting her off so easily. She smiled and got dressed, putting on black leggings and a blue sweatshirt that went about mid-thigh. Grabbing her wristlet and notebook, she walked out of the apartment and to the coffee shop that James and her went to. She bought two coffees and carried them the couple of blocks to his house, deciding that he should be up at seven.

She went up to his door and knocked like she had done it a million times. A younger girl in jeans and an AC/DC t-shirt opened the door. "Who're you?" she asked, looking Angel up and down.

"I'm Angel. You must be Grace. James told me all about you. You're prettier than he said."

Grace smiled a little at Angel's words. "James! Your girlfriend is here!" she yelled up the stairs.

James came running down, an unbuttoned button up covering his shoulders. Angel let her eyes quickly rake over his lean, but semi-muscled torso and then looked at the ground. "I brought you some coffee," she said, looking at the ground.

"Come in! Come on, we can go up to my room." He took the coffee and lightly grabbed Angel's hand, his shirt flailing in the wind coming in through the door. They walked up the stairs and to a room with a curved wall. The curved part was covered in bookcases, the rest was painted. Angel looked around in awe. The painted walls held pictures of a beautiful forest with stunning real-like animals. The bed was in the middle of the room and a closet stood to the right along with a dresser at the foot of the bed. The room was semi-cluttered with a shirt here and a book there.

"Did you pain these?" Angel asked, her fingers running over a snake sleeping on a branch.

"Yeah. About a year ago now. I got bored."

"This is from being bored?! I can barely draw a stick figure! These are absolutely amazing!"

James blushed and looked down at the ground. He took another sip of his coffee and buttoned up the rest of his shirt. He looked over at Angel. She wasn't wearing any makeup and she looked like she hadn't slept in days, but she was still beautiful. "Aren't you cold?" James asked, looking over at her. She only wore a sweatshirt and leggings.

"No, not really. It can get a bit nippy at times but I manage." She watched as James brushed down his sticky uppy hair. Angel smiled and James caught it in the mirror. "What?" he asked, a smile playing on his own lips.

"Come here," Angel smiled. She ran her hands through his hair and made it stick up again. "Don't even try to tame your hair. I like it when it sticks up." Although it reminded her of the Doctor at first, it didn't now. It was completely different.

James checked his watch and chugged the rest of his coffee. Angel had already finished hers. He tossed them in the trashcan on the way out. They walked hand in hand to the high school. A couple of people looked at her weirdly and she shied away, clinging to James. She really didn't like a massive group of people. "It's okay, they don't bite...much," he smiled down at her.

James was about six foot one while Angel was still a short five foot two. He towered over her by eleven inches. A couple of people called out to James as they walked. He went to his locker. They still had fifteen minutes before the bell. "I already cleared it with the school. You'll be shadowing my classes for the day. Most of them are AP, so don't get mad at yourself if you don't know the answer. I don't know the answer half the time."

Angel nodded silently, her eyes roaming all the different faces. When girls saw her hand clasped together with James' and glared, she figured he had to be pretty popular. Great, that's just what she needed. A boy came up to James and gave him a pat on the back. "What's up, James?" he asked. And then he noticed Angel. "Why, hello. I'm Kevin Tran and who are you?"

Angel looked him over. She could tell from the last name that he was of Viatnamese decent. He had brown eyes and shoulder length black hair. "I'm, um, Angel," she said, her hand gripping James'. She felt clingy, but people, in all honesty, scared her. With her past, she had a right to be scared. She had loosened up a lot since the Doctor had saved her three years ago, but she still didn't make good conversation.

"She's shadowing my classes for the day, which means she's shadowing yours as well since we have the same schedule," James said, looking at his friend. He noticed Angel's tight grip on his hand and smiled warmly at her. "Come on, we should start making our way to first period."

The three walked together, Angel's hand still in James'. His first period was math, and Angel sighed a breath of relief. She was good at math. They walked into first period where the teacher, who James introduced as Mr. Sullivan, tipped his hat to Angel. She smiled and sat down in a chair connected to a desk. She took the pen out of her hair which made her ponytail become unravelled, and opened her notebook.

The bell rang and everyone filed in. Mr. Sullivan put a problem on the board and Angel copied it onto her own paper. When she finished it, she looked around. Only one other person was done, so she went back to working on the problem. Well, she made it look like she was working on it.

Mr. Sullivan walked around the room, checking his students' work. About half the class had gotten it wrong. The answer was X over two plus Y equals Z to the third power minus X to the fifth. He stopped at Angel's desk. She had gotten it right. He had to say, he was impressed. "Can anyone give me the answer?" he asked, looking directly at Angel.

She sank a little lower in her chair. Mr. Sullivan sighed and called on James. "Mr. Cowell?"

"X minus Y to the third power equals Z to the fifth?" he said, unsure of himself.

"I'm sorry, that is incorrect. Miss Harkness?" he said, looking at Angel. He didn't know why she was shy of her intelligence.

"X over two plus Y equals Z to the third power minus X to the fifth," she squeaked, sliding down in her chair, whishing the world would swallow her whole. She hated having everyone's eyes snap to her. James smiled a little, impressed.

"Correct! Good job Miss Harkness."

The class went by without Angel speaking another word, and Mr. Sullivan didn't call her out again, but every time he walked past her desk, she had the right answer jotted down in her notebook. The bell rang and James led Angel to his next class, a double block of English. "Oh, I love English!" James said entering the room. "Mrs. Wesley is the best."

"What have you guys been studying?"

"We're on poetry right now. Mrs. Wesley said something about Shakespeare today."

"Oh, I love Shakespeare. Much Ado About Nothing is one of my favorites! A comedy and tragedy all wrapped into one."

James smiled and sat down at a four person desk. Angel sat next to him, glad that there were no assigned seats. A woman who looked about in her late twenties came in, reciting one of Angel's favorite sonnets. "And yet, by heaven, I think my love as rare. As any she belied with false compare."

She turned on the Promethian board and switched it to the full sonnet. Angel already knew it by heart. It was beautiful. Shakespear describes this horrible, awful, ugly looking woman, and then says that he doesn't care what she looks like, or what other people think of her, because he loves her. "Shakespeare! Andrew! In the first two lines of the sonnet, what do you think he is trying to say about the woman he is describing?"

"That her eyes aren't bright and her lips are dull," Andrew responded.

Mrs. Wesley called on random people, asking them to explain what the lines meant. Angel watched, loving the way she was drawing the class in. She was never called on, and never raised her hand, just watched. It was a fascinating class, and she would have spent the rest of the day in there as she could, but the second bell rang and they were off again.

Next was anatomy, which Angel didn't pay attention to. She knew how the body worked and what every single bone was called. After that was lunch. "How do you deal with this every day?" she asked.

"It gets easier. Maybe you're just out of practice, eh? You seem to be doing pretty well for someone who hasn't been in three years."

They stood in line and James bought them each a slice of pizza. Angel took it with a thanks and they found a table outside. "But it's so boring! Don't you want to just jump through the window and never look back?"

"All the time. But if I want to go to college then I have to stay inside the window."

Angel laughed a little and took a bite of her pizza. It was charred on the bottom and rubbery, but she was hungry enough to eat it. Angel was laughing at something James had said when her pager went off. "Sorry, one sec," she said, and dug it out of her wristlet. 225 NY2S was sprawled across the screen. 225 was short for Weevil, and NY2S meant near you two blocks south. Gwen must have sent the page. She was the only one who knew where Angel was.

She sent a short page back and shoved it back in her wristlet. Angel stood. "I'm so sorry. There's an emergency at work and I have to go. I'll call you, okay?"

James looked down at his food, his face falling. He was really looking forward to spending the day with Angel. He had only known her for four days but it felt like eternity. Angel pecked him on the lips and took off running. She had to reach the Weevil before it hurt anyone. She opened her mind so she could try and locate it.

She ran towards the strongest signal coming from the south, her legs pumping harder as Angel pushed herself to go faster. Finally, she reached an alley where a Weevil was trying to get over the fence. "Oi!" Angel called, reaching her mind out, letting it know who she was.

She grazed her hand across the Weevil's foot, letting it know that she was going to use physical contact. "Get down from there, would ya?" she said. The Weevil calmed a bit and stepped down. It grabbed her hand suddenly, its claws making her palm bleed. She was about to pull away when a song played in her head.

It was fast paced and frantic, like a plea for help. They were scared. Angel brought the Weevil closer to her. "It's okay. We're going to take you back to the Hub and get you patched up." There was a deep gash on the Weevil's shoulders. It was deeper than any of the other ones and would probably need stitches. She paged Gwen the adress of where she was and sat the Weevil down on a pile of cardboard boxes.

"I'm just going to get a peek at this, okay?" she asked, her hands starting to remove the jacket it was wearing. The Weevil gave a painful call in response and Angel bit her lip. It was hurt and frightened, two things she was so used to feeling. Once the jacket was removed she tore away the bloodied fabric and looked at the wound. "Yep, you're going to need stitches. God, where are they?"

The SUV pulled up a couple minutes later and Angel gently guided the Weevil to the back, where Owen handed her the first aid kit. She opened it and took out a preperation pad, scrubbing the wound clean. "Feeling better?" Jack asked, raising his eyebrows.

Angel blushed and went back to work. "Aspirin does some wonders," she said, and threaded the needle. Owen had shown her how to do medical stitches in case anything happened. She stitched up the Weevil's shoulder and put a cloth bandage over it, using medical tape to hold it down. "Don't try to move your arm much and you'll be fine," she said, and closed the kit. The Weevil sent a song straight into Angel's head, and she tumbled back at the force.

It was one of complete fear and chaos. The song was so fast pace that it was hard for Angel to keep up with, but fear was the dominant feeling. There were some others thrown in there, but the force of the fear made her shake. She looked up at the Weevil, and while its teeth were bared, its eyes were scared.

"He's scared," Angel said, and put her hand to its cheek. The Weevil leaned into her touch. "There's something out there, guys, something big. It's coming, and it's coming soon."

No one said another word for the rest of the drive.

It had been two months since Angel started dating James, and it couldn't have been any better. James slept over at her apartment sometimes when he got into fights or felt lonely. Angel slept at his house when she couldn't bear to spend the night alone. On her rare nights off they went out. They didn't get to see each other everyday, sometimes it would be once a week, but it worked.

He made her laugh and vice versa. He was one of the people who made Angel actually happy. So, on Saturday, on her short forty minute lunch break, Angel went to go see him. She had made up her mind. She jogged to James' house and found him sitting on the front lawn, drawing the monsterous tree outside of his beautiful and haunting home. She loved seeing him draw. He got so focused and sucked into the drawing, that Angel just watched. She didn't speak or try to peek at his page. She just sat there and watched as his pencil moved furiously, as his eyes flicked back and forth between the object and page.

She came and plopped down beside him, her hair spilling around her. James smiled and went back to work. He was almost done with his drawing, but Angel's arrival made him want to put something new in it. Angel didn't interrupt. She stared up at the bright and cloudless sky, a rare sight in Cardiff. It was still a bit nippy, but warmer now since it May.

After twenty minutes or so, James set his pencil down. "What's up?" he asked.

Angel looked up. "Are you done?"

"Yep. Wanna see?"

"The answer will never be no," she smiled, and sat up. pulling her legs to her chest. James picked up the sketchpad and showed his girlfriend the drawing. It was the gnarled and mangled tree in a night sky, a lot of it shaded into a dark oblivion. It was beautiful. And then, at the base of the tree, it was like there was a spotlight. Like the person at the base was driving the night away and bringing light to the picture.

Their hair was spilled out around them, almost like a halo. As Angel looked closer, she realized it was her. "James, it's beautiful," she breathed. It truly was.

"Do you want it?" he asked. He saw the love for the art in her eyes. Angel absolutely amazed him. Unlike his past two girlfriends, she got along well with his little sister. Grace even liked her and constantly asked James when she would be coming back to visit. She was okay with having him come over whenever he needed to, but he never went over unless she was there. Angel was at work a lot, but they still managed to have a healthy relationship.

She never pushed him to do anything more than he wanted to do, and he never pushed her. He could tell that Angel had had some a lot of troubles in her past, and he didn't want to scare her away. She always offered to pay the bill, and once or twice succeeded, but he mostly paid before she could object. But because of that she usually paid for the coffee. James had stopped fighting with her about it.

"Really?" Angel asked him, snapping him out of his thoughts.

"Yeah. I could frame it for you."

"James that would be amazing. It's so beautiful. It can be the main piece in my apartment. Well, it'd be the only piece in my apartment but that's besides the point."

He smiled and put an arm around her shoulders, pulling her close and giving her a light peck on the lips. "Is there a reason you came or am I just that amazing," he said playfully.

"You wish. I actually came to ask about dinner tomorrow."

"What about it?"

"Well, we've been going out for two months now, and I've met your family already. I was just wondering, if, um, you would meet mine?" Angel played with a loose strand on her sweater as she awaited a reply, her gaze down at the ground. A million different answers ran through her head, but what James said was not one of them.

"If it's important to you it's important to me."

"Really? Because you don't have to if you don't want to."

"I want to. When and where?"

Angel checked her watch. She had to leave now if she wanted to get back on time. "Um, how about Solitude at eight?"

"Sounds good to me. I'll see you then."

Angel smiled and pecked him on the lips before leaving. She waved goodbye and then took off, half jogging half running. She made it back right on time, just when everyone else was coming back. Well, at least she had them gathered now. "Guys, could I talk to you for a sec?" she asked.

She paced nervously as everyone sat down, her hands pulling at her sweatshirt. "Well, um, I've been seeing this guy named James for awhile, two months now, actually."

Gwen smiled at her. She was wondering when Angel was finally going to tell the rest of them. Angel forced herself to stop pacing and looked at the group, her fingers nervously tapping on her thighs. "And I invited him to meet all of you, because, well, you're the only family I have."

"He's clean and is who he says he is," Gwen assured. She had done a background check even after Angel told her just to be sure.

"You knew about this?" Jack asked, looking at Gwen.

"She kind of guessed," Angel said. "Moving on. He knows nothing about Torchwood, only that I work at some sort of institute. I told him I temp here and I dropped out of school at fourteen because my parents died. I kind of panicked when he asked for a last name so ImighthavetoldhimitwasHarkness and that Jack was my cousin..." She closed her eyes and waited for the berating that was sure to come. After silence, she slowly peeked out of one eye. No one made a move.

"What's his name again?" Jack asked, running his fingers through his hair.

"James Cowell. He goes to the high school down the street. He's really nice. I've already met his family, and, well, I want you guys to know who he is. Like I said, you're my only family."

Jack sighed. He saw the excitement and fear bubbling in her eyes, and he knew that this was important to her. He's shared his last name with her before and didn't really care about that. "When and where?" he asked tiredly.

"Solitude. Tomorrow at eight. Also, he knows nothing about my telepathy."

"Fine. All of you back to work." He stood and went to his office. From up there he could see Gwen and Angel talking before they dispersed.

Angel went to her desk and finished up a report that was due awhile ago, and then went down to check on the Weevils. They had been calm for a month or so, but there was still something in the air. She could feel it. She grazed one of the Weevil's wrists to let him know she was going to make physical contact.

Her hand gripped his wrist more firmly, and she entered his mind. Like always, a song was playing. She listened to it for a few minutes. It was calmer than it had been for the past two months, but then a terrible screech went through her head and the song became more frantic. One of them was hurt badly. She didn't know where, but she knew.

The Weevil wrenched its wrist our of her hand and swiped at her. It managed to catch her cheek and tore two deep gashes in it before she could back away. Ignoring the pain in her cheek, she neared him, pushing soothing thoughts into the Weevil's mind. "It's okay," she said, ignoring the blood running down her face.

The Weevil, seeing what he had done to Angel, let out a sad call. Every other Weevil in the holding cells turned to him and growled. Angel heard feet on the stairs and quickly stepped out of the cell and closed the door. Jack came in quickly. He saw the blood on her cheek and the trail that went down it and onto her neck, all the way to her shoulder. The gash tore right through her cheek, and it was definitely going to need stitches.

"I'm fine. It's just a little scratch," Angel shrugged. The bleeding had mostly stopped.

"What happened?"

"He was just afraid, that's all. One of their own got hurt, and he was scared. Everyone lashes out when they're scared, Jack, it's nature."

"Come on, let's get you stitched up." They walked upstairs and to the medical area where Owen started to stitch her cheek. He was the only actual doctor in the room. She winced as the needle went through her flesh. Angel refused to take any anesthetic of any kind. It reminded her too much of her past. "Great, now I have to think up a story about how this happened," Angel grumbled.

"Who is this guy, anyway?" Owen asked, closing up the last stitch.

"James Cowell. He's just an ordinary person living an ordinary life."

"Two months, eh? Sounds pretty serious." Owen would deny it if anyone asked, but he wanted to make sure Angel was okay, that whoever she was dating was treating her right. He didn't think it would sit well with anyone if this guy was a rude misogynist or something.

"Well, I've stayed at his and he's stayed at mine, but not like that. I mean, we literally just sleep. He's good, Owen. He's good." She jumped down from the table and went back to work, but her head wasn't in it. She had to get back in focus several times throughout the day. That night, Angel went to a store and bought a dress.

It was a simple black one with cut off sleeved that stopped at the elbow and a hemline that reached just above her knees. She hung it in her closet when she got home. The next morning, Angel went into work practically buzzing with nervousness. The day went by normally, and when the clock hit seven Angel left to go get ready.

She walked home and took a shower, and then dressed. She dried her hair with her hair dryer and curled it lightly so that it fell in waves. She put on her boots and checked her watch. It was already 7:45! Quickly, she grabbed her wristlet and ran out of the building, feeling lucky that it was just a short eight blocks away. Walking quickly, she made it one minute before the clock struck eight.

She walked into Solitude. It was a well-known place and was nearly packed. Angel walked up to the counter. "Cowell party of seven?"

"Right this way. You're the second one to arrive."

Angel followed the man to a table near the window and saw James. He stood up when he saw her and smiled. "You look beautiful," James said, and gave her a small peck on the lips. He definitely saw the stitches on Angel's cheek, but didn't ask. A lot of the times she would have random injuries, and while James worried, he knew that Angel would leave her job if it was really hurting her. Angel smiled and looked down at his own semi-formal wear. He was in black, form fitting jeans and a dress shirt. James pulled out Angel's chair for her and she sat, pushing it back in before crossing her legs.

A few minutes later, Gwen showed up, followed by Ianto and Toshiko. James stood every time, greeting them and shaking their hands as they introduced themselves. Jack showed up a couple minutes later and James shook his hand, like he had everyone else. Now they were just waiting on Owen. Angel checked her watch. He was over fifteen minutes late! Finally, after another ten minutes, Owen showed up.

James was polite through the whole thing while Angel sent him daggers. "Sorry I'm late," he apologized. Angel knew he didn't mean it.

"It's fine. Owen was it?" James asked, looking over at him.

"Yeah."

There was an awkward silence that hung over the table before the waiter came. Everyone placed their orders and handed him the menus and the waiter scurried off. "So, James, how's Grace? I haven't seen her in awhile," Angel said, trying to break the silence and get a conversation going.

"She's doing great. Actually, she keeps asking when you'll come around again."

"That's nice." She smiled warmly and put her hand in James' under the table.

"So," Gwen interrupted. Angel sent a grateful smile her way. "How did you two meet?"

James started off. "It was that day of the huge storm. Angel was running- "

She interrupted the story. "And I wasn't looking where I was going. I tripped and James caught me before I fell."

"Angel, being the person she is, thanked me. And then gave me her number, which, I have to admit was pretty bold. I could have been a serial killer for all you knew."

"A serial killer that goes to high school?" Angel smiled up at James. Another silence hung over the table, and then the sound of forks as their food came. This was going a lot worse than Angel thought. She looked over apologetically at James who smiled in return. He knew how hard she was trying to make this work.

Owen opened his mouth to speak, but before he could get a word in Angel rammed him with thoughts. Her voice floated around his mind and he glared at her. "I swear to God, Owen if you say anything out of line your ass will be in the middle of the ocean tomorrow morning."

She pulled out, smiled politely, and then glared at the man across the table. Owen only smiled, knowing how to say something completely innocent but effective. "So, James, what does Angel's apartment look like? None of us have been."

Angel choked on the piece of steak she was eating and started coughing profusely. James looked at her, but she just gave a warm smile and drank a sip of water. Jack, who had been surprisingly quiet for the evening, now perked up.

James, completely oblivious to the team's stares, answered. "It's homey. Even I don't have as big as a book collection as Angel does."

Jack stopped and looked at the two. Angel blushed and sank a little lower in her chair. "You've spent the night then?" Jack asked.

"Yes, but we slept in different rooms, didn't we James?" Angel said, giving him a hint to stop talking and start lying.

James looked a little bit frazzled. "Oh, um, yes, of course! I slept on the couch."

Angel sighed. She needed some air. Standing, she excused herself to the bathroom. Her mind was boggled at the moment and she couldn't stay at the table. James was sweet and smart, but then Owen had to open that big fat mouth of his. Ugh! She was going to get him back big time for that one. Angel looked in the mirror.

Her face was flustered and her palms ached from having her fingernails wedged in them all night. She took a few deep breaths and smoothed her dress. She hated the thing. She was okay with skirts, but Angel just didn't like dresses. Taking another deep breath, she came out of the bathroom and went back to the table, where James looked very uncomfortable.

"Hey," he smiled as she sat back down. Angel nodded and gave her own smile. She felt sorry for her boyfriend and regrets about hosting the dinner came quickly. Angel shifted under the light from the ceiling. Was it just her or was it getting lighter in here? "Jack, do you see it?" she whispered, trying not to get James attention. He was talking to Tosh and Ianto at the moment.

"Yes."

The lights continued to get brighter bit by bit until it hurt to look at the ceiling. She blinded her eyes and looked over at James, who was looking at the ceiling skeptically. "It's time to get out of here," Angel said, and rose. She didn't want to get James caught up in what might be something to do with Torchwood.

But the lights only got brighter. She could no longer see the people beside her, much less the rest of the room. Not even her eyelids could comfort her. She was absolutely blinded, and there was nothing she could do.

---

Angel woke up slowly, not quite remembering how she fell asleep. She remembered the restaurant, and the bright lights, and then nothing. Her head throbbed and her eyes felt like she had stared at the sun for too long. She closed them for a second, trying to get over the brightness of the room she was in. When she opened her eyes again, it seemed a little more bearable. Angel stood slowly, her back leaning heavily against a wall.

The piece of fabric that grazed her leg caught her attention. She was no longer in her black dress, but in a tank top and sweatpants. She was now barefoot. Angel looked around the room. It was pure white with nothing in it. White walls, white ceiling, bright white lights, white floors. It hurt her eyes.

She looked for a door of some kind, and sighed when she found one. She went to open it, but the minute her hand touched the doorknob she was shocked. "Ow!" Angel yelled, and shook her hurt hand. A drop of red liquid landed on the white floor. She tried the doorknob again and got the door open without getting another shock.

She slipped into the hallway, her feet coming in contact with cool tile. The dimness of the corridor took her a second to adjust to after the brightness of the previous room. "Jack!" she called out, jogging forward. "Gwen? James! Is anyone there?" No one answered.

She turned a corner and bumped into a chest. Stumbling back, Angel lost her balance and fell. She looked up. "Oh, Owen thank God it's you," she breathed, her heart slowing a little. He helped her off the ground. As soon as she had her balance back, Angel slapped Owen- hard. "What the hell was that for?" he yelled.

"For opening that big mouth of yours. Now, let's go and find everyone else." They walked on, not exactly sure where they were going. It felt like hours and no one was showing up. "How big is this hallway? It goes on forever! I'm half expecting David Bowie to pop out," Angel said, turning around to face Owen.

He had been oddly quiet and she wondered why. "Owen? Hellooo?" she said, waving a hand in front of his face.

That seemed to snap him out of whatever daze he was in. "What?" he asked, swatting Angel's hand away from his face.

"There's definitely something odd going on here," she mumbled to herself. They walked on, twisting and turning in the long corridor. Angel called every once in awhile, but no one ever responded. After what she guessed to be another couple of hours, they hit a wall. A misplaced wall. A wall that shouldn't be there. Angel knocked. It was hollow.

"What the hell is a hollow wall doing in a hallway?" She turned back, only then realizing that Owen was going in a completely different direction. She let him go, knowing that something was up with the place. "Hello?" she called, and then pressed her ear up to the wall. All she heard was the echo of her own blood pumping.

Another call, some waiting, and then, "Angel? Angel is that you?"

She tried to decipher the voice. she could tell it was a man's voice, but it wasn't James. "Ianto? Is that you?" she called.

"Yeah, it's me. Do you know where we are? Or where I am? I can't see anything."

Angel looked around the hallway for anything she could use to smash the wall, but there was nothing. But if it was hollow, it couldn't be all that sturdy, right? "Ianto, back up a bit. I'm about to do something incredibly stupid." Angel backed up, set her shoulder parallel to the wall, and ran. She crashed into it, and the wall fell apart.

Now using her hands, Angel tore the exterior away piece by piece, her hand reaching out to grab Ianto's. Something warm grabbed her hand and she pulled at it, automatically thinking it was Ianto. She saw fingers, a hand, a forearm, and then it cut off at the elbow.

After that, it was just bone. A skeleton. "Hey!" Ianto's voice called. "I can't see anything! I can't see!" A skull showed its face, its eyes long gone. Its face was contorted in sick pleasure and Angel screamed. She punched it and then ran off, hoping the sick thing didn't follow her. She turned left and right, trying to find anything, something that would tell her where she was.

When she saw a door, she went for it, hoping it didn't lead to a room full of things that wanted to kill her. The room was bright, like the one she had come out of, and it took her a second to get used to the lights. Before she could take a step forward, a hand grabbed her by her throat and pinned her to the wall.

Angel struggled to breathe and looked at her assailant. "Jack?" she gasped, trying to get oxygen into her lungs. "Jack, it's me! Goddammit I can't breathe!" she yelled at him.

Jack's hand loosened and Angel sucked in air, glaring at him. After a skeptical glance, he backed away, but Angel could see he was still on guard. She knew that this place wasn't normal, and wondered what had happened to Jack. "Why are you still in here?" she said, her voice just now returning. Angel rubbed her neck.

"I tried walking out a million times, but I always ended up here."

"I've been walking for hours. I found Owen, but I don't think it was really him. It was like something was controlling him, almost. Do you have any idea about what's going on here?"

"Well, we're probably not on Earth anymore. Whatever that bright light was brought us here, but I'm not sure if it took just us or the whole place."

"Why did you attack me like that? What's been happening to you?" Angel asked gingerly. He probably wasn't going to answer her truthfully, because it seemed like whatever happened had a personal meaning.

"I didn't see you. Come on, let's see if I can get out of here once and for all." They walked out, staying close by to each other, and started navigating the twisting halls once again. After what felt like hours, they still had nothing. Angel slumped against a wall. She gave up. It had been at least twelve hours since they were first abducted, and who knows how long she was asleep! It could be days or weeks since she was last seen on Earth.

She sat down and rested her head on her knees, her body tired from all the walking. Jack sat down beside her and put his arm around her shoulder. She leaned into him and sighed. "What happens now? Do we just keep walking forever?"

"We'll find a way out of here, I promise, but for now, you have to stay focused. We have to keep going."

Angel groaned and got up from the floor. They kept on walking, wondering where everyone was, until they came to a door. It was unmarked and a dark metal. It stood out in the bright hallway. Angel reached out to turn the doorknob, and pushed. The door flung open. Jack stepped inside first, making sure that if anything came flying their way it hit him first.

But nothing was there. It was an empty space. "Hello?" he called, hearing his own voice echo off the walls.

"Jack?" Toshiko's voice rang out. He stepped forward, but Angel pulled his arm to make him stop. From her encounter with "Ianto" she knew it could be anything. "It might not be Tosh," Angel whispered. "Be on guard."

They walked forward. "Tosh?" Jack called into the darkness. There were a few lights that shone dimly above them, but it didn't do much help.

"I have Gwen and Ianto with me. They're both unconscious but breathing. I don't know where Owen is."

"Tosh come into the light," Angel said, nearing where she heard the woman's voice. Angel and Toshiko were good friends, but at the moment, Angel didn't know who to trust. And maybe that was the whole thing, to turn everyone against one another. Tosh stepped into the light, and when no warning signals triggered, Angel ran over to her.

She wrapped her arms around Toshiko and Tosh returned the gesture. "Oh, thank God you're okay!" Toshiko said, releasing Angel.

"Same to you. Have you guys been in here the whole time?"

"Yeah. I woke up an hour at the most, and I didn't want to leave them here alone."

"Have you seen James at all?" Angel asked hopefully. Toshiko shook her head and looked at Angel sadly. Angel sighed and let Tosh lead her to Gwen and Ianto. "Jack! Come help us carry them into the light. They might be hurt."

Jack came over and carried Gwen while Toshiko and Angel carried Ianto. They set the two people down carefully in the small circle of light and started checking them over for any serious injuries. When none were found, Angel rested her fingers on Gwen's temples. "I'm going to see if everything's alright in their heads. Something weird is going on here."

She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, and then entered the mind of Gwen Cooper. She poked around a little bit, trying not to look at her memories. Those were personal, and Angel knew she had no right being in them. She roamed a bit, looking for something that seemed out of the ordinary, when a little light appeared.

Angel thought it was strange. What's a little bit of light doing in someone's mind? She followed it. It led her to a wall. Someone had built a wall in Gwen's mind to keep her from seeing something, or maybe it was what kept her from waking up. Angel pulled out, unsure of what to do. She didn't know what was behind the wall, and what would happen if she broke it.

Gwen could go crazy, or she could wake up safe and sound. "Someone built a wall in her mind. Ianto will probably have the same thing. If I break it, anything could happen," Angel admitted, looking up at Tosh and Jack, waiting for a response.

"Break it," Jack said, looking over at Ianto.

"Jack, I don't know what it'll- "

"Break it!"

Angel sighed and went back into Gwen's mind. She located the wall and broke it down, not knowing what was behind it and not staying long enough to find out. They waited for any response from Gwen before Angel moved on to Ianto. After a couple minutes, Gwen gasped and rose up from the ground, a hand placed over her heart. It took her a few minutes to collect herself, but she seemed okay.

Angel went over to Ianto and entered his mind. She was overwhelmed with a feeling she hadn't felt for a very long time: love. She tried to ignore it and wove her way through his mind, but it was powerful. Love is the most powerful emotion of all, and no one had enforced that more than the Doctor. As she tried to find his wall, she kept accidentally slipping, her mind not used to being in another's for so long.

She kept going, desperate to find it before a memory of his played in her head. And then Jack popped up. What? she thought. And then it all clicked. Ianto loved Jack. She had seen him make puppy eyes at Jack once or twice, and then Jack's suggestive looks back, but never stopped to think about it. She wondered if they had even gone out on a proper date.

Well, best of luck to you, Ianto, she smiled. Finally, she located the wall and tore it down, quickly pulling out of his mind, though a smile still lingered on her face. Angel rose and dusted off her legs while Ianto woke. She took a few steps back, giving him some space. He looked up at her, rising to his feet. She looked down at the ground.

"Where are we?" Gwen asked, interrupting the silence of the room.

"I don't know," Jack started. "But we're probably not on Earth anymore. I don't know if it's just us or the whole place that went. We still have to find Owen and James if they're up here."

"At least Owen knows how to take care of himself, but James? I'm the one who has to kill the spiders," Angel said. James was harmless. He couldn't hurt a fly.

"We all just need to stick together." Everyone nodded and started walking. Angel was drained from using so much energy and from walking for what she guessed to be a little over twelve hours. Ianto pulled her back a bit, the rest of the group still in sight but far enough away that they wouldn't be able to hear. "What did you see?" he asked her.

"Nothing. Poking into your memories would be a huge invasion of privacy, but I can't help what emotions you emit. Trust me, Ianto, he feels the same way even if he doesn't show it. Come on, we should catch up." She picked up her pace and caught up with the rest of the group who was now navigating the hallways Angel felt accustomed to. She just followed, her legs aching.

After what she counted to be five more hours, they stopped. Angel's body begged for rest. She had been walking the longest and was at a total of seventeen hours now, almost a full day. They were getting nowhere, and her hope was starting to fade. What was even the point of the abduction? To just watch them wander around like mice in a cage? She stifled a yawn and kept walking, her feet dragging.

"Jack, we're getting nowhere," Toshiko said, admitting the truth no one wanted to believe. "Wandering around like fools isn't helping."

"What else do you want me to do?" Jack yelled, clearly frustrated. He didn't know where they were or what was going on, and there was nothing he could do about it. That made him angry. His first instincts were to protect his team, and he couldn't do that if he didn't know what was going on.

"Let's just sit down for a minute and talk this over. We can come up with some sort of plan to find the others and get out of here."

Jack sighed and leaned against the wall. Angel sat, brought her legs up to her chest and then laid her head on her knees. She was about ready to collapse. Gwen sat next to her and smiled. "I'm sure they're okay," she said.

"I hope so," Angel mumbled back, stifling a yawn.

Toshiko and Jack talked strategy while Ianto, Angel and Gwen sat along the wall, each lost in their own thoughts. Angel felt a little bit of wind pass by her. Wait, there was no wind. Next thing she saw was Ianto holding his neck. "I think I've been shot," he said, pulling out a dart from his neck and then sinking to the floor.

Gwen and Toshiko were next, and then Jack went down. Angel felt a pinch at her own neck and fought to stay awake, but darkness overcame her. She swirled into the black abyss, no dreams coming her way, just darkness. It was like she was awake, but asleep at the same time. She could feel hands picking her up and carrying her, but she could move her body or even open her eyes. All she could do was breathe.

Angel didn't know where she was being carried off to, but she hoped that she would be with the others. Bits of conversations floated into her head, but it was only words. Meaningless words that didn't make any sense. She felt as her body was dumped onto a hard floor, but she couldn't make a sound. A light went on inside the room which she could see from behind her eyelids. "Wake," a voice said in her subconscious.

She snapped her eyes open and stood, her back straight and body at attention. What was she doing that for? Her body slumped into its usual standing position and she looked around the room. It was almost identical to the one she had arrived in, except this one had a bed. Angel didn't want to think about why. When she turned around, a body was slumped against the wall.

"Ianto!" Angel said, rushing over to his side. He was still unconscious. "Come on, Ianto," she pleaded, checking him over for any obvious injuries. "Wake up. Wake the hell up!"

Ianto woke with a start, his body reacting just like hers did. He stood at attention, like he was waiting for someone to give a command. Angel went up to him and put a hand on his shoulder to turn him around. She managed to do that, but Ianto still wasn't Ianto. His body was still tensed and straight as a pole. "Okay, something is definitely wrong here..." she said, trying to look around at any hint of a door. There was nothing. Just for walls and a bed.

She looked up at Ianto. His eyes were blank. There was no emotion whatsoever. "I'm just going to do a quick check, okay?" Angel asked, putting her hand around his wrist. All she needed was human contact to go fully into their brain. She could read someone's thoughts or feel emotions without touch, but to gain full access she had to have contact. Because the temples were much closer, it was easier, but she guessed the wrist was a good choice in this case. Angel delved into Ianto's mind, but nothing was there.

It was absolutely blank. No feelings, no memories, no dreams. There was absolutely nothing. Angel pulled out quickly. "What's happened to you?" she asked, pulling her hand off his wrist and backing up into the wall. There was something wrong with him, and she couldn't fix it. Ianto, his eyes as cold as stone, walked up to her, and that's when Angel really knew something was wrong.

Before she could react, Ianto's lips were on hers. It took her a couple seconds to register what was going on, but once she did her hands pushed him back roughly. She wiped her lips with her mouth half-open, not completely able to realize what just happened. "What the fuck was that?" she yelled at him.

Ianto's eyes, his stone cold eyes, flared with emotion and turned back into the eyes she had seen many times before. He called out in pain and sank to the floor, his hands gripping his head. "NO!" he yelled, as if internally fighting something. "Ianto, just calm down. Fight it. Fight it with everything you have," she said, sitting beside him. "You can do it, Ianto." She couldn't help him. If she went in and tried to help him, it would only cause him more trouble, because she would be seen as an intruder.

After a couple of minutes, he stopped, and stared. "No! Ianto, come back!" Angel yelled, looking into his cold eyes. "You fucking bring him back! Do you hear me? Bring him back!"

Ianto only stared. And then, he hugged her. Angel went rigid, unused to the contact. She didn't like fast movement. She went to hug him back, but a cold metal slipped around both her wrists, binding them together. She tugged at them, trying to break the handcuffs, but they weren't budging.

"Ianto! Whatever has gotten into your head you fucking fight back and release me! Get these off, Ianto or I swear to God you won't fucking live to see Earth again!" she screamed, using all of her strength to try and break the cuffs. Of course, the metal was stronger than her measly muscles. "Get these off me!"

He didn't respond. It wasn't Ianto, Angel knew that much. It was his physical form, but something else was controlling his subconscious. If Angel couldn't stop whatever happened next, she knew not to blame Ianto. You can't blame someone for something they have no control over, right?

Her feet were backing up on their own accord, horrible memories from her past surfacing. Her knees hit metal unexpectedly, which caused them to bend and her to fall. Her back landed on a soft material that only made her sink farther. Angel struggled to get up without the use of her hands. Her body writhed and wiggled in the sinking mattress, but she couldn't get up. Her feet kept slipping on the floor, making it hard to get a firm grip.

A warm hand grasped her wrist and pulled her up quite easily. Angel went rigid. Fake-Ianto stared at her, his eyes back to being stone cold. "Remember, Ianto! Remember Jack and what you feel for him. I know you're in there! Just remember!" she yelled. If love couldn't get you off mind control, you were lost, especially if it was as strong as Ianto's. "Remember your family, your friends as a kid. Remember the first time you kissed someone. Remember your first girlfriend or boyfriend. Remember what makes you Ianto!" she yelled. She was desperate.

He stopped for a moment, his falsetto image flickering, but then going back. Angel backed up once again, careful not to fall once more. Fake-Ianto stopped her, his hand weaving into her hair and pulling, making her head snap backwards. She let out a strangled cry, her neck straining.

"You petty humans," Ianto spat, his face turning into one of anger. "Think you can just take over what we had first."

Angel was speechless. She had never heard such hatred come form Ianto's voice, even though they weren't his words. "Who? Who is we?" she asked, her head throbbing from the tight grasp.

"You. You are different. I felt you in this head. This body is only temporary. He won't last long, but you? You might last a week. Maybe."

"Then take me! Get the hell out of him and take me," she gasped as his grip became tighter. Ianto's face came extremely close to hers, and she could feel his breath fan across her skin.

"Oh, but I'm not finished with him yet. He's fun."

"Get out of him," she growled, her voice thick with anger. No one had the right to possess someone. It was barbaric.

"Oh, I will. Once I get what I want..." And then lips were kissing hers roughly. It hurt, and she wriggled under his grasp, but her hair was only pulled harder. He bit her mouth, and it took everything in her to not gasp. Teeth clashed, and she felt her lips bruising.

Air. She needed air, but that didn't seem to matter. She gathered what she could through her nose, but it was being used up quickly. Another bite that drew blood, but Angel kept her mouth tightly shut. "Alright," the life form possessing Ianto snarled against her lips. "If you won't play fair, neither will I."

She didn't say anything even though a sarcastic retort was on the tip of her tongue. She couldn't risk opening her mouth. Another pull at her hair, and she automatically gasped. A chunk of hair had been half ripped from her skull, and she could feel a little bit of blood trickle down her neck. A tongue thrust into her mouth and Angel bit- hard.

She kept biting until she tasted blood. "You little bitch!" Fake-Ianto yelled.

"Just tell me who you are!" she yelled back, a pain on her lips and head.

"We are the Dalks! Originated on what rubble you people call Earth, but we were shoved to Seminitity! You filthy apes wanted everything to yourself!"

"Every man for himself, pal," Angel snarled.

"I am Conulta, second in command of Shalata, commander of all Dalks. You will treat me with respect you ape! You were nothing! Nothing!"

"Well look around, Con! We are everything. And no matter how fucking hard you try to tear us down, we will survive. You want to know why? Because we are human! We survive! And yeah, we might be stupid and start wars, maybe blow things up once in awhile, but we are superior. We evolve into what we have to. And we will survive anything you throw at us you barbaric animal!"

Conulta shoved Angel against the wall, holding her there by the throat. She writhed beneath his touch, trying to get out of his grasp. "I saw you when you were just a speck in the universe. I saw you evolve from stupid little creatures to even stupider things. How dare you call me barbaric. How dare you think you are superior!"

Angel was ready for that. Her plan was going in the right direction. "What creature is so cowardly that they can't even show its own face," she growled at him, her lips turning into a snarl.

"I am anything but a coward you filthy ape." And he stepped back. Ianto's body shook violently, and it took everything in her to not run over and see if he was okay. His head snapped back, mouth open, and a milky-white smoke came out of it. It seemed like silk, but soon molded itself into a humanoid shape.

Ianto slumped to the ground and Angel resisted the urge to go to him. "You think you're so clever, don't you?" Conulta mused, the shape with no features coming to the ground. It looked like a human with a head, arms, legs and feet, but there were no distinctive characters. No eyes, ears, mouth, hair. There was nothing.

"I know I am. Because I'm guessing that if you have to inhabit a body you won't live for very long without one. And a body needs to be living for you to possess it. Ianto is dead, and all there is left is me. You really want to take a chance and go into my brain?"

"Your puny little human brain is nothing compared to mine."

Angel looked up. There was fire in her eyes, and steel in her tone. She set her jaw and stood up straight, looking right into the shape in front of her. She looked deadly serious. The shape backed up a step, seeing the rage in Angel's eyes. "You just killed one of my own. I'm all rage and war in here, hopped up on adrenaline and motive to kill you without a second thought. So, Conulta, second in command of Shalata. Do you really want to take the chance?"

"This is not the last of me, ape." He disappeared and so did the handcuffs on Angel's wrists.

Angel ran over to Ianto. She knew he wasn't dead, and guessed that Conulta wouldn't check. Her guess was right. She felt his pulse. It was steady, he was just unconscious. She slapped his cheek a little, trying to wake him up. "Ianto you can pull through. Just follow my voice. Come on, you can do it," she instructed.

Ianto stirred and opened his eyes. He shot up and looked around frantically. Once his gaze landed on Angel and her battered form, his features immediately filled with guilt. He was conscious for the whole thing, but unable to escape the hold of whatever had him. "Oh, god, Angel. I'm so sorry," he said, taking in her bruised lips and bloodied neck.

"Don't look at me like that. It wasn't you, it was some stupid creature. On one hand, I learned who they are. On the other, I think they hate me now. Come on, we have to find a way out of here." She helped him off the ground, but guilt still nipped at Ianto's gut. He didn't like to hurt people, but would if his life or another's was in danger.

Angel looked in every nook and cranny for a door or lever or something that would get them out of the room, but there was nothing. And then she remembered the ever sinking mattress. "Help me lift this," she said to Ianto. They pulled the mattress off the bed, and to her surprise, there was nothing beneath it. She looked under the bed frame. There was a floor beneath that! "But how is that possible?" she said, looking into the black void.

"Where do you think it leads to?" Ianto asked, looking over the edge.

"I don't know. Wanna find out?" Before he could answer, she jumped feet first into the void. It turned out to be more like a slide, and she crossed her arms over her chest. It was pitch black in the void, and she had no idea where she was going, but she had to be going somewhere. Unless she just jumped into an abyss. That would be bad. After about ten minutes of slipping and sliding on cold, hard ground, she landed on tile. It wasn't much different from the void.

Angel crawled out from wherever she was, and she was surprised to find a room similar to the one she was just in meet her eyes. Except, this one had two different people in it. Jack and Toshiko. Jack had a bloodied lip and Toshiko was against the wall, standing tall. But there was fear in her eyes. She didn't notice Angel at first, and Angel held a finger to her lips when Tosh's eyes landed on her.

She crept up behind Jack, but Ianto's arrival ruined her surprise plan. Jack turned around, but it wasn't him. "Is that all you do?" Angel snarled at the Dalk possessing Jack. "Possess people and go after women? Well, you picked the wrong group you son of a bitch." She curled her hand into a fist, pulled it back, and punched Jack as hard as she could in the throat. The blow would have broken his windpipe, making it impossible to get air into the lungs, which in turn makes it impossible for the brain to function.

The brain, with lack of oxygen, will start to shut off organs that aren't relevant for survival. His kidneys would go first. Jack sank to his knees, hands clawing at his throat as he struggled to breathe. His heart would be slowing now, the brain slowing all functions to preserve oxygen. His movements were sluggish, and a strangled cry left his mouth. Jack had maybe a minute left at most. Jack's skin was starting cyanosis, which makes it bluish from lack of oxygen.

He clawed at his throat a bit more, and then sank all the way to the ground. "Sorry, Jack. It was the only way to get him out of you," Angel said as Jack's heart stopped. The Dalk came out of Jack, took one look around the room, and left. Word about how they won't give up must have gotten out. They still had to find Gwen. Ianto went over to Toshiko, making sure she was okay.

"I'm fine," Tosh insisted. "A little shaken, but fine. What was that? It's something we've definitely never seen before."

"They're called Dalks. They need a body to possess or they won't live long. I think we're on their ship but I can't be sure. Apparently, they hate the human race for taking over Earth," Angel answered, keeping an eye on Jack. He should be coming back in a minute or two.

"Angel, what happened to you?" Tosh asked, looking at Angel's bruised and bloodied face. Ianto looked at the ground.

"It's unimportant. Are you okay, Tosh? What happened here?"

Toshiko looked at Jack lying on the floor, and then over to Angel. "I woke up first and noticed Jack in the room. He woke up a couple minutes after me, and I knew something was off. It wasn't him, but it was. And then he advanced on me, and I punched him. I'm fine, Angel."

Jack came sputtering back to life, gasping for air. His hands were still clawing at his throat and it took him a second to get used to breathing again. "I'm sorry," Angel said, her fist throbbing from the punch. "It was the only way to get it out of you."

Jack stood, his body tense. "And what exactly was in me?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.

Angel didn't have time for his suggestive comments. "A Dalk. I assume we're on their ship. Ianto and I found a way to get out of here if you guys want to join us. We still need to find Gwen."

Ianto helped her remove the mattress once more, and like she expected, the void was still there. She jumped in, letting herself be bumped against the wall. It was longer this time around, but she didn't think of it and landed in the same spot. Again, she crawled out from under the bed. Gwen was unconscious still, but Angel could sense another presence in the room.

She rose from the ground and started to go over to Gwen, but the Dalk had other ideas. It must have been waiting for another body. It dove straight into Angel, trying to overcome her mind. She fought it, and it fought back twice as hard. She was already drained from having to go into Gwen and Ianto's mind earlier, and she was losing the battle. "Get the fuck out of my head!" she screamed, sinking to the ground and fighting back with all her power.

Jack went to her side, helping her up, while Toshiko and Ianto went to Gwen. "Don't touch me, Jack," she growled, stepping away. Half of it was her, the other half wasn't. Those weren't her words, but it was her actions. She wanted someone to help her, but they couldn't.

Jack backed off and went to Gwen, but kept an eye on the seventeen-year-old girl. Angel kept fighting, but the Dalk wasn't giving up. "Did you not hear about me?" she screamed. "I'm not like them!"

She heard herself speaking, but it wasn't her voice. It was a variation of it. Her voice had turned deeper, lower. It wasn't hers. "You are an ape," she spat out. "Exactly like them. Filthy, stupid apes!"

She gripped her hair and answered her own voice. "We're human! And you know what humans do, jackass? We fight and we fucking survive!"

The force of the next blow hurled her across the room, and Angel flew into the wall. She landed hard on the ground, but signaled the others to stay away. "You. You are the one Conulta couldn't get passed. A little girl? A coward he is! I should be second in command, not that fool!"

"Conulta was smart! You are obviously a brainless bastard. Get out of my head or I'll take us both!"

Another blow and she was slammed up against the wall head first. Her mouth let out a groan of pain. "You think you can kill me?" she growled, eyes hardening.

"I know I can kill you. I'm guessing that you can't stay in a dead body for long. I can trap you in here and we'll both go down. How would you like that you filthy alien?"

"Conulta was a coward. You are an ape! A filthy little ape who has no knowledge!"

"Is that all you can come up with? One little animal? I've got more bravery and knowledge than you will ever have. So I'm going to say this one last time. GET THE FUCK OUT OF MY HEAD!" And with a final blow, the Dalk was pushed out of Angel mind. It was flung out into the open, the milk-white silky texture not taking form. It fled the room.

Angel slumped down, breathing hard. The fight had wiped the rest of her energy. Gwen had woken up sometime during the fight, and Jack left her side and went to Angel. He helped her off the ground. She stood steadily, but when she took a step, collapsed. Jack caught her before she fell and helped her back up again. "I'm fine," Angel argued, standing up again.

She went to take another step, but the same thing happened. "No, you're not. Those things had enough power to take over me, and nothing gets passed this brain. You have to be wiped by now," Jack shot back. He was worried. That fight was powerful. So powerful it sent her flying across the room. To get the Dalk out of her without dying must have used up what little energy she had left.

"Okay, got me there, but I still don't need help."

"It's okay to admit it, you know."

Angel looked up at Jack, a sadness but fierceness playing in her eyes. "Not where I'm from." Jack put one arm around Angel's waist and put hers around his shoulder. She let herself slump against him, but kept on walking. There was still no door. Ianto and Toshiko lifted the mattress, and sure enough, there was the void. "What is that?" Gwen asked, looking into the deep hole of darkness.

"It's our way out," Jack answered, helping Angel in. She broke away from him and went in by herself, completely ready for the ride down. After only three minutes she landed in a dark area with a couple of light spots. She moved out of the way for the rest of the group. On shaky legs, she managed to walk into one of the spots.

She heard everyone land and turned towards them. Suddenly, the whole place was filled with light, and Angel shielded her eyes. "Even my best couldn't bring you filthy apes down," Owen's voice echoed over them. Angel looked around. They were in a huge arena. It had to be at least two football fields long.

"Owen?" Toshiko called out, looking around the arena.

"Oh, he's in here somewhere. I can feel him squirming. It's quite amusing."

Angel rejoined the rest of the group and tried to locate where Owen's voice was coming from. If she could find out where he was she could get the Dalk out of him. Owen was dying, and she guessed the Dalk had been in him from the start. It had been over twenty four hours already, but she still didn't know how long they were out for when they first arrived. "What do you want from us?" Gwen shouted. It was a serious question and not a plea.

"It's just tests to see how weak you all are. How easy it will be to invade."

"That's illegal!" Angel yelled. Being with the Doctor had given her some new information. She had learned some alien rules. "Earth is a level five planet! The Shadow Proclamation forbids invasion of a level five planet!"

Jack looked at her and raised an eyebrow. Angel shrugged. "But who is faster? The Judoon or the Dalks? The Judoon are almost as mindless as you are!"

"I think we have proved ourselves as intelligent and functional beings! If a seventeen-year-old woman can fight off your second in command, think about what the human race can do together!" Angel yelled, still trying to find the voice. Since the echo bounced off all the walls, she guessed that he must be up above somewhere.

"We were here first! We saw this planet become solid. We saw it rise from rubble and ash and become powerful!"

"You were here first? What are we, in second grade! And where are you? What kind of coward doesn't show his own face!" Angel tried using the same trick she had on Conulta, but whoever was in Owen was ready.

"Don't you try that on me, ape! I am Shalata! Commander of all Dalks! You will respect me!"

Jack was the one who spoke this time. "Respect my ass! You expect respect when you are as mindless as we are?"

"You think I am mindless? I will show you just how mindless I can be, ape," Shalata snarled. And then Owen was in front of them. It was like he came out of nowhere. Jack smirked. His plan had worked. In two seconds flat Jack was behind Owen and restraining his hands. Angel ripped a piece of cloth off her tank top with her teeth and tied his wrists tightly together. Ripping off another piece, she tied his ankles together as well. Her stomach was now fully exposed, but she didn't care at the moment.

Jack kept Owen's wrists in his hands, just in case. "Where is he?" Angel snarled, walking up to Shalata.

"Who do you speak of?"

"James! Where is James fucking Cowell?"

"He is dead. Has been since the first minute. I only needed you six."

Angel punched Owen's face. "Liar!" she screamed.

"Don't believe me then."

Toshiko came up and held her back, because Angel was ready to swing again. Angel seethed, but stepped back. It was Toshiko's turn to talk. "Two people are not supposed to be in the same brain. You are suppressing Owen every minute you're in there. You're killing him."

"Correct. Maybe you are not as mindless as we thought."

Out of the corner of her eye, Toshiko saw Angel say something into Ianto's ear. He nodded, and they looked at her. It was a cue to keep Shalata's eyes of them. Tosh moved to an angel where his back was towards them, and motioned Jack to move Owen's body. He did. Angel and Ianto were off, their footsteps falling silently as they ran.

Toshiko kept talking for as long as she could, and Jack butted in when she had nothing to say. Finally, after about half an hour of meaningless argument, Angel's voice came over the loud speaker. "We have your ship controls. Either you let us go and never return to Earth, or we all go down."

"What is your proof!" Shalata yelled.

"Ianto," Angel said. The lights went on and off again. "If you want your ship full of the last of your species to survive, you beam us back to Earth and never come back. Because we are not mindless apes. We are the human race, and we will never give up. We will keep fighting, and fighting, fighting. And then we will win every single time. Don't you ever try to go to war against the human race, because you will lose."

Owen writhed in Jack's hands, and then the being inside him came out. Owen slumped in Jack's arms, unconscious. Jack untied him and checked his pulse. It was getting stronger by the second. A couple minutes later, Angel and Ianto joined them back in the arena. The lights kept getting brighter and brighter until it blinded them, and there was nothing they could do about it.

---

When Angel cleared her eyes, she was back in the Hub at Torchwood, and back in her clothes from the dinner. She checked her watch. It was eleven thirty in the morning! Though which morning she had no clue. She looked around. Everyone was here. Everyone except for James.

She looked around some more, and then saw a body slumped on the ground a couple feet away from them. She ran to it. Her fingers took the pulse of the boy in front of her. There was nothing. An odor was already coming from the body, and it had surpassed the stiffness point, going into decomposition. According to the state of his body, they were on that ship for three Earth days.

James lay on the floor, no external injuries showing. He was killed internally. His eyes, the eyes that contained the time vortex within them, were open, unseeing, staring upwards. Angel took his cold, decomposing hand in hers and closed her eyes. "No!" she yelled, tears making their way down her face. "Come back! You can't do this to me!" she screamed. "You can't leave me here!" She was crying full out now, tears streaming down her face. "Please, don't leave me."

Arms pulled her away from the body, but she fought against them. "Don't you dare! Don't you fucking dare!" She turned around and tried to get out of Jack's arms, but he held her against him. "You let me go Captain Jack Harkness! You fucking let me go!" And she pounded on his chest with all her might, tears creating a river on her face. She fought until she collapsed into sobs against Jack, who held her tight against his chest.

His own eyes were full of sadness. He couldn't stand Angel, or any of his team, looking so hurt. Everything was quiet except for the sound of Angel's tears. Her heart was breaking in two. James Cowell was the only person she loved romantically in her whole existence. They fit together like two peas in a pod, and now he was gone. It only reminded her not to let anyone in, because they would leave no matter what.

With herself reminded of this, she stopped crying and wiped her eyes. She didn't turn and look at him. "Jack, get him to a mortuary. I will not let you keep him here. He deserves a proper burial. I'll go inform his family."

Jack looked at her change in emotion. She was still heart broken and sad, he could see that, but she had shut herself off. "Okay," he said simply. He wasn't going to fight her on this.

Angel nodded and took the keys for the Jeep. She walked outside, tears managing to make their way onto her cheeks, and quickly wiped them off. Suddenly, her black dress seemed right for the occasion. She got in her car and started to drive, her emotional state becoming unstable once more. She broke down at a red light and couldn't stop crying. She tried her best to compose herself as she got nearer to James' house.

She pulled up into the driveway and wiped her eyes once more, sniffling. Angel stopped the car and got out, slowly walking up to his front door. She rang the doorbell. It took Grace two seconds to answer. "James?" she asked opening the door. Her face fell a little when she saw Angel. "Oh. Angel, come in. Do you know where James is?"

Angel looked down at Grace and fought to keep the tears in. How was she going to handle the death of her brother? "Is Gran around?" she asked.

Grace nodded. "She's in the living room making some calls. It's been three days since we last saw you guys." She led Angel to the living room where Ms. Cowell was just getting off the phone.

Angel gestured to the a chair. "Grace, you should take a seat." Grace sat down, her expression becoming more worried. "Where's James? Is he okay?"

Angel cleared her throat. "Ms. Cowell, Grace. My name is Angel and I work for an institute called Torchwood. I'm sorry to inform you-" she cut herself off to compose herself. "I'm sorry to inform you that we have declared James Warsaw Cowell dead." She couldn't go on and tears poured from her face. Ms. Cowell was already crying, and Grace was barely holding it together. "We do not know the cause of death, but we will find out and inform you as soon as we do." Angel was sobbing now. "He is at the local mortuary now. His funeral will be paid for by Torchwood in respect for James. I'm sorry for your loss."

Grace stood and went over to Angel. There was fury in her eyes. Grace slapped Angel across the face. "You got him killed! You put him in danger with your job! Get out of here! Get out!"

Grace pushed Angel out the door and slammed it on her. Angel walked back to the car and got in just before it started raining. It seemed to fit her mood. She pulled out of the Cowell's driveway and drove to Moriartie's. The place where Angel and James had their first date. And she completely broke down. She pounded on the steering wheel in anger, tears pouring down her face.

Why did he have to meet her? Why couldn't he have met a normal school girl with a normal life? Grace was right, she put James' life in danger by being with him. "I'm so sorry," she sobbed, her head resting on her knees, her dress soaked with tears. "I'm so sorry, James. Oh, god, I'm so, so sorry."

And she stayed like that for hours, mourning over the loss of her first love.