Chapter 7: Homelessness

It was pretty cold outside and Hally had to find shelter quickly. She walked down a path and noticed a church to her left and what looked like a community centre to her right. She took the centre, when she got in she warmed herself up and sat herself down in a corner, Hally didn't know how long she was sat there but it felt like a lifetime, she had nothing to do, and no-one around, at least at the home something was always happening.

Hally, surprisingly, drifted off to sleep.

When she woke Hally started to panic, she couldn't remember why she was here.

Then everything started to rush back, the home, Torchwood, Jack, and the Centre.

Hally came out of the centre and started walking into town. She was walking past a wooden gate when she saw a spurt of grey run across the fence and jump behind it scuttling off as Hally neared the fence.

Hally climbed over the gate and remembered she still had the mans gun. She got it out and pointed it in front of her, she was in what looked like a dump, there were piles of stuff everywhere. A rustling startled her and she whipped round, the rustling was coming from behind a pile she edged over to the pile and waited.

" Ok, on the count of three." She whispered to herself.

" 1, 2, 3!"

Hally jumped out from behind the pile and came face to face with…

Jack.

They were both pointing a gun in each others face.

" Thought you wanted to leave Cardiff?" Jack asked.

" Big city, with loads of alien activity, couldn't resist!" She smiled at him, the swirl of grey rushed off in the opposite direction and Hally and Jack raced after it.

" I need back up, this things a menace!" Jack shouted down a walkie talkie, Glancing at Hally.

Gwen, Ianto and Owen got into the SUV.

" Jack always ends up needing us, even though when we offer to help in the first place he just says he can manage." Gwen said.

" It's Jack, Gwen what do you expect!" Ianto started to laugh.

They arrived at the dump and got out the car, raising their guns.

" Ok, Ianto, take the back, Owen, take the fence, and I'll take the side gate."

Gwen rounded the site and jumped over the gate.

She stopped dead.

Hally and Jack were running side by side chasing this whirlpool of grey. Gwen saw Hally stop, she pulled out her gun and shot at the grey blur. Hally then ran over smiling to where Jack was crouched.

Hally rushed over to Jack and crouched by the now still grey blob of liquid.

" Helecopian mist maker. When ever it moves it's particles separate and place together where it stops, thankfully tranquilising it makes it stop." Hally said.

Jack looked impressed.

He looked Hally in the eyes.

" You know, I'll need help getting this thing back to the HUB?" He smiled.

" Is that the best you can do!" Hally laughed.

Jack looked at her, grinning through his eyes.

" Ok, I'll join your stupid Torchwood!" Hally stood up, " I need something to do anyway." It was Jack's turn to laugh.

Gwen ran over, along with Ianto and Owen.

Hally was helping Jack get the thing into the SUV.

Hally got herself into the car and the rest of the team followed.

" What made you change your mind?" Gwen asked , obviously pleased Hally was coming back.

" I was bored." Hally smiled.

Trust Hally to never give anyone a straight answer.

Hally got back to the HUB and met the women looking extremely surprised.

" Oh yer, and this is Tosh, the other guy in the car was Ianto and you know the rest of us." Gwen told her.

" Hey, I only thought you were bringing back one alien and I wasn't expecting Hally!" Tosh said smiling.

Hally walked over to examine what Tosh was doing, she had a map of the whole of Cardiff on her computer and a load of graphs which kept giving off little radiation spikes.

" Nice!" Hally exclaimed pressing every button she could see.

Tosh laughed, " Yer won't find something like that anywhere else in the world, I cold teach you how to use it someday."

Hally nodded enthusiastically.

" Up the stairs and second on the right!" Jack shouted to Hally.

" What about it!" She shouted back.

" Your room you idiot!"

" Well how was I supposed to know?"

" You weren't!"

" Right!"

Hally ran up the stairs and came to the second door.

She opened the door and stepped into her new room. It had white walls and a cream carpet, in the far corner there was a bed with a blue duvet cover, by it was a little bedside table and on top a lamp. On the other side of the room there was a big wardrobe, a desk, a bookcase, and some draws.

Hally flopped herself down onto the bed and smiled.

It had been a very odd day.

Jack suddenly entered the room.

" We'll have to get you some stuff, like more clothes, books, stuff like that but for now your fine."

Hally laughed.

" Oh and that, isn't yours." Jack lent over her and looked into her eyes, as he did so he reached down and took Ianto's gun from Hally's pocket.

Hally frowned. " Hey, I might need that!"

" Come on, lets get you your own." Jack led Hally away from the room and further down the corridor, he stopped at an odd looking door, and pulled out about 100 keys all on one ring, he picked one out and stuck it in the lock. The lock clicked and he led Hally inside, all around her Hally could see different sorts of equipment from guns to swords and daggers, different sorts of liquids lay in jars. Gathering dust on their shelves. Jack picked up a light looking gun which had three settings.

Tranquilise, stun, shock. He handed it to Hally to have a look.

" Good no killing," Hally smiled, stuffed the gun in her pocket and walked back down the corridor.

" Just like her dad." Jack smiled to himself and followed her back to the centre of the HUB.

" So now that your Torchwood staff, I think you should tell me some interesting facts about yourself." Jack smiled at Hally.

" Ok, but only if you tell me about you as well, whatever I want to know?"

" Hmmm, maybe, depends what you want to know."

" Ok, anyway about me, I suppose you only let me go because you found out that I was a Time lord/ human? well I don't have a second name, just Hally, which may I add can be quite a drawback, I mean you've got all these cool people like, James Bond, Capt. Jack Harkness, Harry Potter and then there's me…Hally, really doesn't work! I'm 357 years old, my eyes change colour depending on what mood I'm in and…I don't like chips."

"Right, how come Harry Potter is on your list of cool people? And I didn't let you go because you're a Time lord it was for another reason, a reason you will never find out."

" Whatever, and me being half human and half time lord somehow implies me being able to do amazing things."

" What kind of amazing things?" Jack looked at Hally and smiled mischievously, Hally saw the look in his eye and nudged him with her elbow. She laughed and continued.

" Well you could say I have magical powers!" " Or something like that!" Jack smiled at her bemused. " And it also, for some crazy reason, means that I can't die! Ever. Nothing kills me, old age, explosions, silver bullets, stakes through the heart…" She laughed, " I'm indestructible!"

Jack turned to her surprised, then his face turned soft and sympathetic. " And how do you cope. Watching everyone you love die, having to just walk away?" Hally looked at him puzzled.

" You talk about it as if you can't die either?"

Jack sighed, " I can't" " Just like you I suppose, nothing killed me so far, bullets, javelin, falling off cliffs, HA you'd think we'd learn!" Hally looked at him and smiled. Jack looked down at this amazing girl, she was like him and yet so different in many ways, she was perfect, so beautiful, almost like someone had carved her out of marble, and yet through all her troubles she was still…happy. Jack caught Hally looking at him mirroring his gaze, he took her hand in his and gently squeezed it, she smiled up and him. At that moment Jack's vortex manipulator started to bleep.

" It can't be!" Jack started to run back the way they had come.

Hally turned round, what the hell was Jack doing, she had no choice Hally started to run down the corridor after him screaming his name.

" Jack, Jack! What the hell are you up to!"

" Hally, stay where you are, I'll be back!"

But Hally wasn't letting him get away, she'd had enough of people disappearing.

Hally ran back down the corridor, past the room with all the stuff, and through another door on her left, she spotted a door slam shut and followed.

" Hally? What? Where are you going?" Gwen shouted.

Hally looked back and gave Gwen that look, that look that showed that everything would be alright, and Gwen just stood there.