Author's Note
The Torchwood team discovers a strange device and when it gets activated they realize it has even stranger side effects.
The Disclaimer: I own nothing. All rights belong to Russell T. Davies and BBC. I make no money and intend no harm.
Thank you for reading. I hope you enjoy it, any reviews or comments would be great. :)
"We're close." shouted Tosh from the back of the SUV. Jack Stomped on the gas and the SUV flew through a busy intersection, narrowly missing several cars.
"Turn left!" said Tosh referring to her hand held rift detector. "We're nearly there." Jack took the corner at close to 90 MPH and Owen, Gwen and Tosh were thrown roughly around in the backseat.
"Take it easy, Jack!" said Gwen grumpily, rubbing her head where it had smashed into the window.
"There it is!" cried Tosh, pointing to an old, abandoned warehouse. The derelict building stood four stories tall. Its interior had been gutted and all that was left was a desiccated shell.
"I think I just saw something." said Ianto from the front seat.
"What? Where?" asked Jack.
"Third floor, fourth window from the right." Ianto replied promptly.
"What was it?"
"It was just a shadow, but it was moving." said Ianto.
They climbed out of the car, guns drawn and advanced, in a line towards the warehouse. The setting sun threw grotesque shadows around them as they neared the door. They tensed as Jack stepped forward and pushed the heavy, metal door open. Jack entered first, closely followed by Ianto, Owen and Gwen. Tosh brought up the rear staring intently down at the device in her hand.
Jack turned to them motioning for Ianto to follow him up the nearest flight of stairs and for the others to take the one at the opposite side of the building. Jack started up the stairs, his Webley leading the way. They reached the second floor landing and quickly scanned the room for movement.
All they saw was an empty room, its stone floor cracked and several of the windows broken. Jack looked across the room and saw the others. He nodded at Owen and pointed upward indicating they move on to the third floor. Owen nodded back and disappeared up the stairs followed by Gwen and Tosh.
Jack turned to Ianto and smiled at him roguishly and then proceeded up the stairs. Once on the landing they spread out covering every inch of the room. The device Tosh was holding beeped once.
"Sources indicate that the spike in rift activity originated from this floor and that whatever came through is still here." she said referring to the hand held.
"Well where is it then? I don't see anything." said Owen, exasperated.
"Um… guys," said Ianto pointing at the ceiling. "Look."
They all looked up at the same instant to see the same dark figure Ianto had seen in the window earlier clinging to the exposed rafters of the old building. In unison they raised their guns, at the same moment the creature leapt from the rafters. It advanced on Ianto and they all opened fire on it. Startled, the creature ran past Ianto, throwing him roughly to the ground and vanished through one of the broken windows.
Jack reached Ianto first and knelt beside him looking worried. "Are you okay, Ianto?" he asked.
"I'm fine." he replied, looking a little dazed as Jack helped him to his feet. "Nothing's broken, but I'll be a bit sore tomorrow."
"You were always gonna be sore tomorrow, Mr. Jones." aid Jack winking at him devilishly.
"Awwwww, C'mon Jack, we don't need to hear that." said Owen sullenly.
"What?" asked Jack "Jealous? You know there's always room for one more, the more the merrier."
"I'd rather shag Janet." said Owen looking disgusted. "You're a sick man Harkness, you know that?"
"You don't know that half of it." he replied flashing Owen a sly grin.
"Hey guys, I think I've found something." Tosh said from the other side of the room.
"What is it?" asked Jack, joining her.
"The creature must have dropped it when it ran off." said Gwen kneeling next to the object. It was a metal sphere about a foot in diameter and was covered in strange markings.
"I'm getting strange readings from it." said Tosh, once again looking at her hand held. "There's a kind of trace element I've never seen before."
"Well, let's get it back to the HUB and run some tests." said Jack
Gwen reached for the sphere. "NO!" shouted Jack. "Don't touch it. We don't know what it is or what it does and until we do, we proceed with caution." He removed his coat and carefully wrapped the sphere in the thick fabric, clutching it to his chest.
They arrived at the HUB a short while later and Tosh immediately took the sphere, careful not to touch it and proceeded to run a number of tests on it. Jack retreated to his office to wait for the results while Ianto went to make coffee. Gwen sat idly in front of her computer and Owen disappeared down into the vaults to check on Janet.
Ianto brought Jack his coffee and sat on the edge of his desk. Jack remained silent waiting for Ianto to say something and when he didn't Jack said "How you feeling?"
"Never better." Ianto answered.
"I worry about you, you know." said Jack.
"You don't have to worry." said Ianto not meeting his eye.
"But I do anyway." said Jack gently taking Ianto's hand in his. Ianto finally met Jack's eyes and smiled warmly at him, Jack smiled back, the gesture in no way forced as it so often was. They sat like that for a while, until the calm was broken by Tosh's voice shouting up at them.
"Jack, I think you need to see this." she said uncertainly.
Jack was out of his chair in n time, taking the stairs two at a time. He was at Tosh's side in seconds. Ianto followed more slowly joining Jack as Gwen left her computer to see what was happening. Seconds later Owen joined them, emerging from the vaults and looking at them curiously. "What's going on? What are you all looking at?"
He went to where they were all standing, staring transfixed at something on the table. Owen looked and saw the sphere lying on the table. The surface was no longer shiny, metal; it was a rich gold. The surface looked as if it were, undulating like the skin of a snake underneath the thick coiled muscle.
"What is it?" asked Owen.
Jack was startled from his reverie and looked "I don't know." he said looking at Tosh. "How did this happen?" he asked her.
"I don't know." she told him, bewildered. "I was just scanning for traces of radiation and my hand brushed against it and it lit up."
"Okay," said Jack forcefully. "No one touch it, it could be dangerous."
"What's that sound?" asked Gwen suddenly. The sphere had begun to emit a low humming sound which was getting progressively louder. "What's happening?' asked Gwen, sounding scared.
"I don't know." said Ianto, looking around. "I feel a bit weird though."
Suddenly the hum from the sphere became a deafening roar. It hovered a few inches off the table and then exploded with a flash of light, leaving them all unconscious. They awoke several minutes later feeling slightly disoriented.
"What the hell was that?" asked Owen, looking at Jack.
"How am I supposed to know?" he said, baffled.
"Well you are the expert aren't you, Captain?"
"Wait…what? I'm not Jack, I'm Ianto. I think you've gone mad Owen.
What! I'm not mad and I'm not Owen. It's me Gwen and you're definitely Jack."
"That's impossible because I'm Jack."
"Bloody Hell!" yelled Ianto. "You look just like me."
"Yeah and you look just like me." said Jack, his playful grin looking out of place on Ianto's face. "I look good from this angle."
You have got to be kidding me!" said Tosh feeling her chest awkwardly.
"Who are you then?" asked Jack.
I'm Owen and I'm a bloody woman! God, this is horrible" he said looking disgustedly at himself.
"Hey!" cried Gwen. "I don't look that bad."
"Is that you Tosh?" asked Owen.
"Yes it is!"
"Sorry," said Owen, sheepishly. "I didn't mean it like that."
"What's going on, Jack?" asked Gwen angrily. "I'm a man!"
"I don't know." said Jack. "But we'll figure it out, we always do."
