Davies Daycare; Cardiff, Wales
Anwen Williams wanted to be at the mall with Teleri and Wynn. Mrs. Purcell offered to take her. But there was some type of security concern. Rhiannon's daycare was a contained environment according to her mother. Anwen would have argued, but something about her mum's expression told her not to. That left her the oldest kid in the building by three or four years.
Make the most of it, Anwen told herself, as she sat down with her brothers. She didn't get to spend much time with Michael. Teaching him how to build towers with blocks was amusing. When Trefor was a baby, she'd done the same thing. Although he liked to throw blocks when he was frustrated. Michael just started as if waiting for them to tell him something.
Michael crawled over. Anwen picked him up and set him on her lap. Trefor looked up briefly from his Lego tower as if didn't approve. She figured telekinetically flying his model ship around the house later would make him feel better. He didn't understand Michael was their brother. They were too young for that conversation. From interacting with the future version of Trefor in Dublin, she knew she'd be tasked with explaining it. Michael's conception was the easy one. She didn't want to tell Trefor what had to happen for him to be born.
Unlike Trefor, Michael was more interested in snuggling than building towers. With all the stress between Ianto and Uncle Jack, it wasn't surprising. Anwen knew she should have said something to Ianto earlier. Maybe the three of them could spend time with Ken. That was less stressful.
Rhiannon walked over a few minutes later. "Do you have homework?"
Anwen did. They were studying government in history, and she hated it. "It can wait." Michael clung to her as if to emphasize her argument.
Rhiannon sat with them. "Is my brother okay?"
Another discussion Anwen didn't want to have. "Yeah."
Trefor disagreed. "Uncle Jack is being mean."
"They will figure it out." Anwen gave her brother a pointed look.
"Jack," Michael said.
"Dad. Say 'dad.'"
Michael hugged her instead.
Trefor looked up suddenly. "Call Uncle Jack."
That startled Rhiannon. "Why?"
"Bad guys."
Anwen handed Michael to Rhiannon and flipped open her wrist-strap. Trefor had empathy and a Rift ability. Both could sense danger. The Rift ability made people threatening him explode. "John Hart."
A minute passed. "Problem?"
"Security issue at daycare. We need you here now."
"How bad?"
Trefor moved closer. "Really bad. I can't target them."
The lights went out.
"Get everyone to hide." Anwen stood.
"I'm not hiding," Trefor argued. Four years old and already determined to protect people.
Anwen wanted to protect her brother. But depending on the situation, he was the best defense they had. "Stay behind me."
"What are you going to do?" Rhiannon asked.
"You don't want to know."
Torchwood Three
Alarms sounded disrupting the conference call. It ended in a burst of static. Jack Harkness and Gwen bumped hands reaching for tablets on the table. The computer clicked announcing the intercom activated.
"Intruders came through the Bristol Channel wall using alien technology," Ianto announced. "No breach."
Drowning Pool's "Let the Bodies Hit the Floor" came over the intercom mingling with the alarms. The maintenance bots programmed to throw stun pellets had been released.
Jack and Gwen stood.
"Can the guard dogs get out?" Jack asked about the pterodactyls knowing they were being overheard by the unwanted guests. He didn't want the creatures getting hurt.
"Yep."
Another alarm sounded. "They're trying to access cryo-stasis," Tosh announced, adding a moment later. "My lab just froze." Puff the Magic dragon joined the noise.
The conference room flat screen switched itself on. The original Pete's Dragon from the 70s film filled the screen.
"The program you used on Cattrel Industries?" Gwen asked, barely understandable through the noise.
Jack lead toward the door. "Anwen originally designed it to infect the lab while Luc was using it."
Davies Daycare
John Hart arrived and didn't like his wrist-scan results. The gunmen had ballistic shields and destabilizers. They were expecting a battle. With the hub under siege, the attackers must have expected the children to defend themselves. They knew about their Rift abilities.
His wrist-strap chimed, announcing a message. "Just arrived."
Anwen quickly explained what she knew. "How do I counter a destabilizer?"
It wasn't a conversation John wanted to have. "You can't target them directly. Hit the floor, walls, ceiling around them. It's like the playpen in Ianto's office."
"Is the shield under their feet?" Trefor asked.
The question reminded John the boy was a young version of the general. "No."
"The sprinklers," Anwen said. "We set off the sprinklers, flood the hall like Jeannette did that club, and send a current through it."
"Stay out of the way."
"How do they shoot wearing a shield?" Trefor asked.
"They have to pierce the shield to fire."
Torchwood Three
Ianto Jones stepped from his office glowing blue. The ancient-related blue light flared because someone was in danger. The last time the government attacked the hub, the black ops group used Jack for a bomb and blew him up. They collected his body parts from the rubble, waited until he regenerated, and then encased him in cement. The blue light surrounded Ianto, swaying like a flame. He was determined it would never happen again.
Minutes later, Ianto sensed two approach. He couldn't see them at first. They materialized behind shimmering shields. He recognized the technology. When the hub returned, it had similar technology stored in the armories. They raised their weapons.
Ianto reached forward. Blue light raced down the hallway toward them. The weapons fired. He suspected destabilizers from the sound. The energy hit the blue light and fizzled. The men barely had time to register what happened before the light hit them. It wrapped around their shields, sizzling on contact. The devices overloaded and burst. Then their weapons crunched.
The men stumbled backward instinctively, the fear forcing them to retreat when it wasn't a rational possibility.
"What are you?" one of the gunmen managed as Ianto backed them into a wall.
"The office manager."
Davies Daycare
John Hart teleported to Anwen. His injuries were bad. Even with the internalized Nanogene, he needed medical treatment. Without back-up, he had no idea how he was resolving the situation. The general was the best bet. With the communication and portal device interference, trying to reach them could get him killed.
She moved over to him, worried. "How bad?"
"I'll live." He hoped.
"Uncle Jack?" Trefor asked.
"No," John said, the pain evident. "The hub's under attack."
"Can you teleport Trefor out?"
"I'm not leaving you," John emphasized.
"I have an idea," Trefor said.
Anwen and John looked at him.
"Break the floor." He holds his hand palm up and points at the gaps between his fingers. "No shield under their feet."
"If they fall, does the shield adjust automatically?" Anwen asked.
"No. It's manual." John tried to push himself up. He was in too much pain.
Anwen smiled a less than pleasant expression.
Anwen Williams peeked into the hallway as one of the gunmen pushed Katrine in front of him like a body shield. He knew where they were. She suspected he'd been told that with the fancy technology, they would be easy prey. It fit with using a preschool teacher as a body shield. A real man wouldn't have attacked defenseless women and children.
"Let her go." Anwen knew the gunman wouldn't.
He stopped with his back to the far wall. Anwen focused her telekinesis on the sign-in table behind him. She rarely lifted anything heavier than Trefor's plastic Millennium Falcon. The table dragged across the floor. The man turned and looked it. She lifted the vase and pulled it to her, impacting his shield. It worked as she hoped.
The man looked uncertain.
Anwen smiled as she pulled the desk across the floor toward him. "When you were given this assignment, you were told that shield would protect you. I'm guessing you didn't see the news report on Saint David's mall. The pedophile that exploded. That shield can only do so much." Anwen lifted the table. It wobbled in the air. "I can't hit you directly, but I can hit you." It shifted more as she focused on the plastic mat in front of the door. "All I need is one little hole. If you try to fire your weapon. Or struggle with Miss Katrine. That's all I need."
"I'll shoot her."
Anwen laughed. "And? You will have to drop her to come after me. All I need is one little hole. And the shield won't matter." Pause. "If you release her, I will let you live." She moved the mat toward him like a magic carpet.
The gunman pulled Katrine's hair.
Anwen tilted the mat up and slammed it into the shield. As she hoped, he wasn't very experienced with the technology and thudded into the wall. She used the table and hit the shield near his knees. It loosened his grip on Katrine. They stumbled forward.
"Target," Trefor said.
The gunman exploded with everything he was wearing, including the shield and weapons. Katrine screamed. Anwen's stomach heaved. She hoped John had retcon. Katrine needed it.
"This is Torchwood," John said, using his wrist-strap to access the gunmen's earpieces. "You have a man down. Check your scanners. He was vaporized. If you attempt to take anyone from this building, you will meet the same fate." He disconnected.
Anwen stepped back into the room. "That was melodramatic."
"And you weren't?"
