The scene around him was a turn of the century Cardiff, bricked houses and red roofed tiles with sandy type flooring underneath his boots. The scene however was becoming a violent blur as he ran, several tufts of sand lifted around him due to the heavy impact his feet were making on the ground. He winced as some grains flicked into his eyes. He rubbed them, continuing to run, his thoughts directly related to the woman he was chasing. Incredibly beautiful, but equally dangerous – she was like a stick of dynamite being examined by the bomb squad with fear of explosion. "Damn woman I swear..." He stopped running for a second as he caught a glimpse of her curvy behind making a dash around a corner into a dark alleyway, followed by the sound of a pistol firing. "Alice!" He shouted again, his voice strained with worry, and yet he was determined to find out why she was even worth of worry. He knew the dedication that came with a team, that one never left another behind. He was struggling to find reason with Alice for the woman had no self control, nor did she bother to think about anyone but herself. But right now, she was running into clear and present danger – although he could not die; Alice could, and the last thing he wanted was to lose a team member before their time. Normal logic would suggest that she deserved to die; but in the eyes of Captain Jack Harkness, this one was different. The first time he was on duty with her, she had killed an alien in cold blood. Jack recalled the feeling of horror he was experiencing the creature barely had time to explain itself. "Alice!" By the time he reached where he saw her running last, she had gone. His feet stood in a puddle of blood and he crouched, touching it briefly with his fingertips. It had not yet coagulated, which meant that the blood was fresh. It looked human, much to his disappointment.
Getting to full height once more, Jack turned his head left and right as his eyes swept the general area. Nearby he could see the casing of the bullet that had been recently fired and he wandered toward it picking it up between his thumb and forefinger. That was not a Torchwood issued bullet. In fact, it resembled a sickening memory the last time he had seen such a bullet as the pit of his stomach growled in agreement. He was striving not to believe that this bullet casing belonged to his rival. But why would he be here in the first place? Surely Earth was not interesting enough to test Captain John Hart's desires. "Alice", he called, turning around slowly but keeping a hand on his own pistol just in case. "Look, if this is some way of trying to prove yourself to me..." not too far away as Jack's eyes snapped to meet the blood curling scream of his female team mate it appeared to come from the roof. "For Pete's sake..."
Jack later heard a thud as he looked up and roughly two meters above him, brunette hair was glistening over the guttering, teasing with flicks of blood as the breeze caressed its curls. Struggling to contain his panic, Jack looked for a quick way up to the roof. Instantly he found himself thinking like Alice and spotting a nearby downpipe, where he ran a few meters until he swiftly grabbed it and started to scale himself up the wall. His fingertips smeared against bloody fingerprints and Jack felt a little sick with no thanks to the smell coming from the roof. It smelt of blood and exposed organs with a hint of semen. He struggled to think what sort of pain his corrupted lover was in. He swung himself around to the left of the pipe and rolled onto his side where he then got to full height and pulled his pistol, his chest heaving anxiously. There he saw Alice laying there, her throat ripped open. As she breathed, blood spurted from the artery and dripped around the base of her head. As his eyes drifted further along her body he noticed she was naked – the organs within her chest exposed and her heart missing. It was beating in the open palm of her hand, as if it were mocking Jack in some way. Oddly, though, the heart was larger than most human hearts Jack had seen during his time on Earth. He tried to contain the blood pouring from Alice's horrific wounds and it seemed to be a lost cause for Jack. He was covered in blood and it only seemed to be getting worse. "I'm so sorry", he said to her. "Do you know who did this to you?"
Alice's eyes closed. It was apparent she was trying to speak and so Jack forced himself to remain silent. No sound came from her lips apart from struggled breath.
Disappointed, Jack soon realised that he did hold a deep respect for Alice. She was like Jack in a way, he realised. Her scent could drive any man or woman wild and he wondered if she was from the fifty-first century like him. Of course, that was impossible, because he would have known if she was. He stroked her cheek, and with a sigh he removed his rough military coat in an attempt to cover her abused body. Yet, bloodied fingers clasped his wrist and wild eyes met his therefore stopping him from his actions. It surprised him, for moments ago he had thought she died.
"You insane man", she began with a chortle; blood pouring from her mouth and covering her yellowed teeth. "You insane... beautifully insane man". Alice smiled a little. If only Alice could tell him the truth, reveal her deepest secret.
When Alice shared her bloodied smile, it made Jack's heart break. He inwardly vowed that he would find her killer, if it would take a hundred years then so be it.
"I'll find the bastard who did this to you", Jack said softly. "I promise". The wind around them picked up and a brief growl came from below. A pack of wild, hungry dogs were circling the scene, ready to grab whatever was left of Alice Guppy.
Seconds later, Alice gave one last final gasp and she sat up, gripping Jack's tie and allowing her blood to stain it as it dripped through her fingers. She stared at him, her wild eyes darting but then suddenly paused as she finally found his soul.
"Don't wait up for me".
She died in his arms with a limp, her heart rolling from her hands and spurting one last beat of blood. And then Jack cried, holding her close with his hand cradling the base of her head.
The century had turned again, this time drifting into a powerful new millennium all together. The world was becoming more aware of alien life with London and Cardiff somehow being at the centre of it all. The defeat of the 456 caused a lot of uneasy tension between the Governments of Earth, hostilities fresh when it came to international talks at the United Nations. On top of that, mysterious deaths and objects were now scattering around the Brisbane City area, a thriving city located in the state of Queensland, Australia. Public outcry for answers and control only meant one thing. The Prime Minister frowned as she switched off the television and turned to face her cabinet as they sat at the round table in one of the more private rooms in Parliament House. Her eyes fell upon the Foreign Minister as he sat there looking rather nervous, sweating and pulling at his collar. After recently being sacked from the top job himself, tensions were indeed high between the pair. He was struggling to find answers to explain this sudden spike in alien situations and he passed a yellow folder to the PM across the table. She took it in silence, a logo stamped on the front looking like an arrow of honeycombs. She opened the file and clicked her jaw.
"Torchwood?" She asked him, shaking her head and flicking through the documents. "Are you suggesting we build such an organisation?"
The foreign Minister shook his head and pushed his glasses up the sweaty bridge of his nose. "One already exists, under the Brisbane River; apparently it has been there since the turn of the Century".
"Torchwood London was destroyed a few years ago. Cardiff has rumours of one Gwen Cooper struggling to put it back together after their own Government ordered the deaths of their operatives... something suggests that reforming an organisation here would only bring their operatives unnecessary attention". Slowly she sat down in the high chair, eyes glancing at the folder once more. "This man", her finger tapped the photograph of Captain Jack Harkness; "...has been involved with the organisation for over a hundred years".
The Minister sighed once more, taking off his glasses and rubbing them in thick circular motions with the corner of his shirt. He put them on again, catching the photograph of the immortal man. "He is alien himself. However, he was reported missing immediately after the 456 invasion".
The Prime Minister got to her feet and turned, gazing through the window at the grounds before her. She was beginning to have a change of heart about Torchwood, perhaps Australia could benefit from such an organization controlling alien technology. "Find out what you can about the old team", her attention was now diverted to the Minister for Defence.
"No files exist", he said. "I have sourced the location myself. Completely destroyed internally, it would cause a large black hole in our budget to refit it".
"Is it a price we can afford?" The Prime Minister asked the Treasurer who nodded.
"Providing the Media is kept quiet about it". The Treasurer spoke. He seemed a little nervous, no doubt information like this would get leaked to the Media and he wasn't sure how the public would react to an organization built around protecting their country from alien influences.
The Prime Minister nodded to herself and sat back down again. "I want Harkness to supervise this new team. I don't care what it takes. Find him. Feed him millions of dollars if you have to, I want the institute rebuilt and ready for action within three weeks". She noticed the Treasurer twitching. "Something to add, there?"
The Treasurer looked between the Foreign Minister and the Defence Minister. "Seems to be a bit of an impossible feat, don't you think? The institute was completely destroyed. Valuable resources we put aside for building new schools would be fed into building..."
The PM shook her head. "Protecting our country from alien threats is just as important as building new schools. But the fact is, if the 456 are still out there... we'll be ready for them. Do what you can. I want a report in twelve hours". She stood, as did the others, and she left the room.
"I'll contact London and see if there's any word on Harkness", the Foreign Minister swallowed hard, eyeing his counterparts nervously as the group also exited.