Thanks to Helen Pattskyn for my first ever review (yay!). Here's the next chapter. Hope I don't disappoint.
Disclaimer : I don't own Torchwood!
Chapter 1 – QWERTY
"I don't think I can go on. Not after this."
"Yes we can. We all can...The end is where we start from."
That had been two weeks ago. The three surviving members of Torchwood three gazing at the screen wondering what was going to happen. They had lost two vital members of their team. Toshiko Sato and Owen Harper. One was in the depths of the morgue, oblivious to the world around her. The other was just a pile of radioactive dust.
"It's time like this when I think immortality is a total bitch! Seeing everyone I care about die when all I can do is watch."
Jerking back to reality, Captain Jack Harkness gazed at the paperwork strewn about his office. Numerous potential recruits. It had to be done, but it just didn't feel right. He tried not to think of it as replacing them. He was just being realistic. They were short of a computer expert and a medic. He was hoping that UNIT would allow Martha to temporarily help out again but apparently, she had been called out to Utah. Something to do with Geocomtex. As a result, they needed help. They were barely surviving on assistance from freelance operatives.
Luckily, the rift had relatively calmed down, so there wasn't too much danger to worry about.
"Sir!" Ianto's voice brought him back to attention. "We have trouble!"
So much for peace. Jack did what always did best. He flashed a smile at Ianto and tried to make a joke out it. God knows he needed the morale booster.
"You've run out of coffee?"
Ianto smirked. The closest thing to smile in a fortnight. "Yeah, but that not important at the moment."
"Yan, how can you say something like that?" Jack replied incredulously. "Torchwood without coffee is like the Lone Ranger without Tonto. They just go together."
"There will always be more coffee sir, at the moment we've picked up reports of a murder around Crwys road. Apparently died under unusual circumstances."
"Unusual?" This would have to be good otherwise Ianto wouldn't have brought it up.
"The body had been incinerated, no traces of gas, no petrol, nothing. Not really an everyday occurrence."
"Spontaneous combustion?"
"Could be. Gwen has just gone to get the SUV."
"Okay Yan, I'll be there in ten."
--
Alleyway, Crwys Road, 12:17pm
"Okay, we'll take it from here. Call your group back." Jack announced to the police officer.
"Bloody Torchwood!"
Jack watched as the disgruntled officer went to recall the others. He was beginning to think that they might as well start advertising. Torchwood was rapidly becoming the worst kept secret in the whole of Wales. For the third time that day, he was snapped back to reality when Ianto patted him the shoulder. Catching up with him and Gwen, they walked into the makeshift tent concealing the corpse.
"Oh God!" Gwen exclaimed, almost gagging. "I haven't seen anything this burnt since one of Rhys' drunken fry- ups."
The corpse was an absolute mess. It was just a mass of cracked, black flesh, hanging off scorched bones. What intrigued the trio was the expression of the corpse. The facial features were contorted into a look of pure terror.
Jack looked over to Gwen who had clasped a portable scanner to the body and was waiting for the results.
"So who are we dealing with Gwen?"
Gwen peered at the scanner. "It's still extrapolating a DNA sample." Seeing the bemused expression on the two men's faces, she gave a slight giggle. "Sometimes a little technobabble is good for the soul," she explained remembering Jack saying something along those lines when she had started.
The machine emitted a bleeping noise, indicating that the sample had been scanned. Gwen quickly ran the sample across the British database. The results were instantaneous.
Name – Ben Ketteridge
D.O.B – 17/6/82
Nationality – Welsh
Injuries sustained – Multiple fifth and sixth degree burns. Major internal displacement. Severe mental trauma and multiple lesions.
Gwen was amazed with the results. The journey up to crwys road had mainly consisted of the trio wondering what may have caused this murder. She relayed the results to Jack and Ianto, instantly disproving Jack's spontaneous combustion theory. Whatever had happened was definitely not natural, but with the lack of rift activity, it was difficult to determine just what was behind this.
"So what we're dealing with is either purely human or something that came through the rift ages ago…" Jack was cut off by Ianto outside.
"Gwen! Sir! You might want to take a look at this."
Ianto was crouched a few yards away from the tent by a group of bins. When the others joined him, he gestured towards a large grey misshapen lump.
"What is it?" asked Gwen.
"It seems to be the remnants of the bin lid," Ianto replied.
"I think we can eliminate the first option," decided Jack. "Besides, it's highly unlikely that anyone would fail to notice a lunatic wielding a flamethrower."
"Well, nobody's perfect," quipped Gwen.
--
Back at the hub, things were just getting more and more confusing. The corpse had been placed on a gurney in the autopsy room so the team could run further tests. Jack thought that there had to be some alien involvement. The organ displacement was what had piqued his interest. Nothing human could have done that. He walked over to one of the computer consoles and logged on. As he waited, he was greeted by Ianto with a cup of coffee. He squeezed Ianto's hand affectionately and thanked him.
"What are you doing Jack?" he asked.
"Accessing the CCTV camera. We should be able to see something."
The monitor displayed the CCTV footage from the previous night. It showed Ben Ketteridge walking down the street, turning into the alley way. If only he had known that these would be the last few moments of his life. He walked down the alley and suddenly stopped dead in his tracks.
"There! Look in the corner of the screen." Jack exclaimed, pointing at the monitor.
A figure had appeared out of nowhere in the alleyway. Tentacle like appendages shot from the back of its head and secured Ben, preventing his escape.The figure approached him with an outstretched palm, engulfing the poor man in flames. Jack and Ianto were lost for words.
"Hey you two, what are you…" Gwen trailed off as she noticed the footage on the screen.
The figure was now standing. Gazing at the charred corpse. Suddenly its head jerked at an unusual angle in the direction of the CCTV. The figure phased directly in front of the camera. It was a man dressed in rather ridiculous robes and a flame tattoo on his neck. The most disturbing feature of this person however, was probably the dull unresponsive grey eyes. The figure's hand moved in the direction of the camera. Suddenly, the footage ended. The CCTV had been terminated, but the camera hadn't been destroyed. No sound of broken glass or dented metal. All that remained was a guttural voice uttering a single word.
"Mainframe."
That's another chapter done. Please R&R. Thanx.
