Disclaimer: Don't own the characters.
Warning(s): SLASH!! Oh and the characters may seem a little OOC. AU now that Season Two has started as it is NOT going to link into season two.
The Year That Never Was.
Chapter Four.
"Someone's coming!" Brydie said worriedly, rushing into the pub from where she'd been pegging out the washing on the line, "Coming across the fields!"
"Brydie, take Gwen and get everyone inside. Lock the doors. Only open up for one of us three. Tosh, Yan, you're with me," Owen ordered, grabbing his gun form the bar and one of the knives he always carried. Tosh, after handing Gwen to Brydie, put her own gun and holster on and then helped Ianto put his on.
"What the plan?" Tosh asked as they stepped out into the sunlight, immediately spotting the man heading their way. He was dressed in dark clothes and looked really out of place and on his back was a huge rucksack, apparently stuffed to the brim. They could also see he was armed with a shotgun.
"Challenge him and if his answer isn't satisfactory we shoot him," Owen answered, drawing his weapon from it's holster. Tosh and Ianto did the same.
"As long as he doesn't shoot us first," Tosh pointed out.
"And any shots would bring the spheres down on us," Ianto pointed out.
"Then I'll slit his throat," Owen gestured to the knife in his belt.
"Why don't we try not killing him?" Tosh suggested. The guy had noticed them approaching him and had changed his direction so he was coming directly at them. But he was also walking more warily, much like they were, his hands gripping his shotgun tightly.
"Who are you?" Owen shouted once they were close enough.
"Who are you?" he asked back.
"We asked first!" Owen shouted. Ianto resisted the urge to mutter something about maturity. This wasn't the time. The guy put his hand into his pocket and drew out a black ID holder which he threw rather violently to Owen. Owen didn't move to catch it and it struck him in the middle of his chest. Keeping his eyes on the man Owen bent and picked the ID up.
"PC Andrew Davidson," the guy said calmly. Owen glanced down to check.
"I know your name…" Tosh said slowly. "How do I know your name?"
"Ever been arrested by me in Cardiff?" the young man asked cheerfully.
"We don't get arrested," Owen said cockily, almost as if the world was back to normal. Ianto smiled slightly, taking the ID from his lover he looked at the photo himself. Without a beard and with neatly cut hair Ianto recognised him immediately,
"Andy. PC Andy. You're Gwens PC Andy," Ianto said quickly. The mans gaze snapped to Ianto, his face twisted slightly in a frown. Then he nodded. Ianto turned to Owen and Tosh, "He's Gwens PC Andy."
"Well now that we've clarified that my name is Andy and my old partners names was Gwen how about we sort out who the hell you are?" Andy suggested.
"We're Torchwood."
"Oh Bloody Hell! Of all the people left in the world I have to bump into spooky Torchwood!" Andy huffed loudly, putting on a silly voice for 'spooky Torchwood', "So where is Gwen?" Ianto and Tosh looked down, biting their lips. Owens face just hardened even more.
"Gwen died in the attack."
"I'm sorry," Andy mumbled, a flash of the smiling woman he loved lighting up in his memory, "She was…amazing."
"Yes she was."
"Could you lower your guns please? You know who I am now and I'm not here to kill you. I'm here to talk to you actually," Andy looked pointedly at the guns. Slowly they lowered and were returned to their holsters. "Thank you. Now…any chance of a cup of tea? I haven't had one in…well a year actually?" His voice was cheerful and his grin infectious.
"I think we can handle getting you cup of tea," Tosh smiled.
"Then you can tell us this 'story' of yours," Ianto said, turning to return to the pub, leading them away. Tosh turned to go too but Owen stopped Andy following with a hand on his chest.
"Hand over your weapons," he said calmly, "Just because we now know each other doesn't mean I'm letting you enter our camp armed like you are." Andy nodded calmly and handed over the shotgun and then a pistol from the back of his jeans.
"That's all I've got," he said once Owen had them both. Only then did the two men follow after Tosh and Ianto. Tea was quickly made, although Owen and Tosh went for coffee and then everyone gathered around Andy in the main room. Once stripped of his pack and layers of warm clothing they could all see how thin he was under his light blue t-shirt and jeans.
"So what's this story?" Tosh asked.
"It's the story of Martha Jones, the woman who is going to save the Earth," Andy replied with a grin. "If you watched the first contact broadcast you'll have seen her, she was one of the three trying to stop the Master."
"The woman with Jack," Ianto mumbled.
"She's walking the Earth, telling the story I'm about to tell you. She tells the people just like you, those resisting the occupation, she tells the slaves working in the camps and she tells them to pass it on. Just like I'm doing. This is what she says," Andy brought out a little slip of paper from his pocket and his audience frowned slightly, "What? My memory's not brilliant and it's an old habit to jot important information down. Now listen in." He cleared his throat and began. "If Martha Jones became a legend, then that's wrong, because my name isn't important. There's someone else. The man who sent me out there. The man who told me to walk the Earth. And his name is the Doctor. He has saved your lives so many times and you never even knew he was there. He never stops, he never stays, he never asks to be thanked. But I've seen him. I know him. I love him. And I know what he can do. Someday soon there'll be a countdown, a countdown for everyone to watch. When that countdown comes we're to use it, we're to think of him. The Doctor.""How is thinking of him going to save the world?" Owen asked sceptically.
"Hold your horses, she explains that," Andy said, looking up from his notes to glare at the other man, "It may not sound like much, thought, prayer if you want to call it that but it will save the world. The Master has a telepathic field over the entire world, linking each and every one of us. And if we all think of the Doctor at the exact same moment…well you just wait and see what happens. Spread this message, tell everyone you can. Get the word out there. The end of this reign of terror is coming."
"Well, that's a quite a story," Owen said finally, breaking the silence that had followed Andy's speech.
"What are we going to do about it?" George asked quietly, shifting little Gwen in his arms. They all took turns looking after the little girl who was quite vocal now, no words of course but lots of gurgles and nonsense. Brydie rose quietly and gathered people's now empty cups, listening in of course as she went to wash them up in the kitchen. Sometimes it was hard to break old habits like cleaning up empty cups.
"Do as she says, wait for the countdown," Tosh slipped down off her chair and snuggled in close to George's side, leaning her head on his shoulder. It hadn't come as a surprise when people began pairing off in their group. Owen and Ianto had started it really. George had asked Tosh 'out' a week after the funeral and they'd been together since. And it was those two who really took care of Gwen; they were like a little family most of the time. Ellen and Tom coupled up around the same time. Brydie and Drew however were still dancing around the subject with much matchmaking from the others. It was only a matter of time.
"And tell anyone else you see," Andy pointed out.
"We don't see anyone else. We're a little off the beaten track," Ianto pointed out, "You're the first person that's ever come across us." Andy looked a little bit surprised at that, as if he had been expecting them to have a regular trawl of visitors.
"But we could go to the hub," Owen said quietly.
"Huh?" Tosh and Ianto looked at him surprised.
"If help is needed we can do good from the hub, we can help Jack more from there than from here," Owen continued. Ianto nodded slowly. "We'll leave tomorrow morning, there'll be lots of work to do at the Hub to get it working again."
"And we'll have to keep it off the Masters radar," Ianto pointed out.
"What about the others?" Tosh asked, looking to George worriedly.
"They can stay here, we've got spare weapons, they'll be safe," Owen answered, "Anyway Gwen couldn't make that journey." All eyes shifted to the little girl sucking happily on her thumb, a habit she had only just started doing. "So, this will be our last night together until all of this is over. I say we have a party."
And have as party they did, there was food, music courtesy of Tosh and her laptop, there was even dancing. It wasn't until well past midnight that they all went bed, snuggling in their beds in their couples. Andy was surprised to be invited to join Ellen and Tom in their bed.
Morning came all too soon and the three pulled out their long un-used rucksacks. They packed their clothes and enough supplies to get them to the hub, they were considerably lighter than the last time the three had worn them, almost a year ago. Andy was given some supplies too as he readied his things. Tosh had taken George upstairs to say goodbye in private while Owen and Ianto made sure that the others would be all right without them. They were assured that they would be fine.
"Well this is goodbye for now then. We'll email you once we get to the hub," Ianto said as they gathered outside for the final farewell.
"How long will it take you?" George asked, "To get to your hub I mean?"
"It took us a week last time but we had a car for a while then so maybe a fortnight," Owen said calmly, "If we don't email you within a fortnight…well…"
"Yeah, I know," George interrupted him, not wanting to hear the 'we'll probably be dead', "See you later." Hugs were given, tears were shed especially by little Gwen who received many kisses from the three. Andy was given as much of a farewell as they were, hugs and all. Not so many kisses for him though.
And then they began walking.
It took then nine days in the end to reach Cardiff. They walked from dawn to dusk, using every second of light available and they spent each night snuggled under the same blanket for warmth, not wanting to risk having a fire going all night. On the eighth day they passed the burnt out shell of a car and on closer inspection they realised it was the SUV, their SUV. They moved on quickly, not wanting to see what remained of Gwen.
Sneaking through the streets of Cardiff was the hardest bit off the journey, avoiding patrols of spheres as well as people, the slaves coming back or going to work. They were almost spotted a couple of times but they made it, arriving at the broken door to the tourist office. It was exactly as they had left it, the Hub was pretty much in pieces. The only difference to the image in there memories was the layer of dust over the place.
"I've boarded up the door to the tourist office, you need any help Tosh?" Owen asked, kneeling by the woman lying on the floor with her upper body hidden by the computer table.
"No, I'll be alright," she answered, leaning out briefly to smile at him.
"Where's Yan?" Owen asked, not seeing his lover anywhere.
"Jack's office," Tosh answered sadly. Owen sighed, rose and walked slowly up the stairs and into the office that had always been a bit of a time capsule to the team. Ianto was stood behind the desk, his hands resting on the dust covering folders strewn carelessly over its surface.
"They didn't touch in here," he mumbled quietly, a tear falling down his cheek. "Everything's the same…"
"Once we were gone this place was no longer a threat," Owen said softly, "Have you checked the vault?" Ianto shook his head, his hands moving to pick up a framed photo on Jack's desk, a photo of the team taken at Christmas. Owen moved to the vault in the wall and typed in the code, remembering it from the unfortunate incident with Abaddon. The vault clunked loudly after a year but it worked, bring up item after item which Owen checked through. "I wonder if the archives are ok too…"
"I'll go check them in a minute," Ianto said, taking a deep breath he straightened up and wiped his wet cheeks, "But first I thought I'd try and get the coffee machine going."
"Those words are music to my ears," a kiss followed.
Tosh worked steadily on the computers for three hours straight, cannibalising all the computers until she got one up and running. Ianto had found that the coffee machine hadn't actually been damaged and just needed a thorough cleaning before it would brew those delicious drinks they all remembered. Owen had been the one to check the archives in the end, finding them intact. He'd also found Janet. Hibernating. Apparently Weevils hibernated when they couldn't get food. Myfanwy however was no where to be seen, she was either dead or on the loose.
"I'm going to email the others and then I'll see what I can find out, see if there's any more news," Tosh said, sitting at her old desk. Owen and Ianto, checking the list Owen had made of the archives off against the old list nodded.
At Hub ok, bit of a mess but was to be expected. We're getting on with things. How are you lot? I hope nothing has happened. And George, I miss you. – Tosh.
It was a bit more sentimental than she would have liked but she knew it needed to be said. Waiting for the reply was horrible, she couldn't even concentrate on finding out the news. But then the reply came through.
All ok here. Gwen missing you. We miss you too. Take care of yourselves. Oh and Tosh, George says he misses you too. – Brydie.
"They've replied, everything's alright back there. Now I'll look for…oh," Tosh broke off as a window popped open on her screen. "The Master's broadcasting to the world." Ianto and Owen hurried to stand behind her as the broadcast began.
/ "My people! Salutations. On this, the eve of war…lovely woman…But I know there's all sorts of whispers down there. Stories of a child walking the earth, giving you hope. But I ask you, how much hope has this man got?" \\
"He's insane," Tosh whispered.
"He's talking about Martha Jones," Ianto pointed out. As they'd been speaking the Master had turned the camera onto a man sat in a wheel chair. The Doctor.
/ "Say hello, Gandalf. Except he's not that old, but he's an alien with a much greater lifespan than you stunted little apes. What if it showed?" \\
"What's he going to do?" Tosh asked fearfully as the Master turned to the man, turning his back to them.
/ "What if I suspend your capacity to regenerate? All 900 years of your life, Doctor, what if we could see them?" \\
"Oh My God!" Tosh gasped, looking away as the Master turned his Sonic Screwdriver on the Doctor, the Doctors scream resonating around the hub as he writhed on the screen, falling from the wheelchair. Ianto grabbed Owens hand and squeezed it painfully tight.
/ "Older and older and older…Down you go Doctor! Down, down. Down the years." \\
The Doctor wasn't on the screen any more and the Master finally stopped his torture, looking down at something at his feet, his face clearly showing confusion.
"What's he done?" Ianto asked worriedly. No one answered him.
/ "Doctor?" \\
"He's gone too far," Owen breathed worriedly as the Master began to look nervous. But then all of a sudden he straightened looking thoroughly confused. And then that grin was back briefly before his face filled the screen, his eyes storing hard at them, at the whole world but at one person in particular.
/ "Received and understood, Miss Jones?" \\
The three of them said nothing as the Master turned the camera off and the screen went blank, there was nothing they could say really.
None of them slept that night, they couldn't. They ate, all sat on the couch close together and they sorted out the Hub. But no matter how hard they tried or how tired they felt they just couldn't sleep, they all had the same feeling that something was going to happen.
And happen it did. Not long after dawn Tosh's computer beeped and another window popped up. And this time, as the three gathered around it, they saw it wasn't the Master on the screen. It was Martha Jones, they recognised her from the broadcast of a year ago, being led into the Valliant's control room.
"Oh shit."