So I did manage to write another chapter… good, good. This took a while to write because I have three stories in my head – this one, my FictionPress story, and another fan fiction which will never be written because frankly it is pure Mary-Sue from start to finish.

Disclaimer: OMG, cheese! (it's probably best not to ask)

Conflict

Then I'll have to stop you myself.

Jess

I had a plan, of sorts. I'd had to think fast, but the one conclusion I'd come to was this: strength or power wasn't going to be enough to defeat the rift. I had to think of assets (and think of them in a less pessimistic way than the last time we had to talk assets when the Time Agents were running amok). There was one big difference between me and the rift – the whole reason this had started. The rift couldn't feel. All it wanted was to feel. And feeling was something I was very good at.

The rift wanted feeling, yes, but it only wanted good feelings. Bad feelings were easy for me. Pain – the death of my daughter. Loneliness – what this power had created for me. Even tiny feelings, like the tiny spark of resentment I felt for myself for letting myself get in too deep with the first human closeness in years. All of this I dragged out and intensified. It hurt. Bad memories, the ones you'd rather forget, forced to play over and over again. But the effect was startling. The flickering lights of the rift converged, settled for a brief second in the shape of a person, before writhing and twisting in pain.

There were hisses from below. The others would be watching, wondering what I was doing. He would be wondering what I was doing.

Stop! The shriek from the rift re-focussed my mind.

Why? It's no worse than what you were doing.

All I wanted was to be more than I am. I don't want to hurt people.

Then why the light show?

These feelings… I can't control them. How do you stand it? All this inner conflict.

A lot of practice.

Please… stop. I'll leave you. I'll do anything. The transparent begging surprised me. I didn't think the rift was in that much pain. I felt a flicker of remorse for what I was doing.

What about a deal?

What kind of deal?

If you leave, and never do this again, you can keep a connection.

Keep the feelings?

Just through me.

But… that would give you more power than ever.

I can do it. I won't let you hurt anyone else.

The air around the rift shimmered, its form rippled; collapsed; vanished. The crisis was over.

Ianto

From the ground, the scene was bizarre. The rift light was coalesced around Jess. Then it flickered into a writhing human. It remained like this for a while, and then, without warning, it vanished. The bronze dragon circled round twice before gliding gracefully down and landing in front of the four of us. Jess slid down its side and dropped to the ground. Something seemed different about her; it took me a few seconds to work it out. Her eyes were no longer dark brown. They were liquid green-gold, like cat's eyes. The way she landed was also catlike, smooth and elegant. Somehow the rift had made her… Cat.

She was still her though. As she landed, poised and sinuous, she grinned the sharp, quick smile I recognised. But then I felt the atmosphere change subtly.

Jess

Anger burned out from John, colouring the air black. I could see the black mist rolling off him – the rift hadn't been kidding when it had said I would become gifted. He stepped forward and the fury burning in his eyes was so intense I shrank from it, flinching away. In my head, the rift showed me one of my memories – in a hotel room, trapped against the wall by him, anger radiating out of him like it was now. He took another step, and Tia dropped her head to my shoulder, expressing worry. I would have loved to reassure her, but I felt the exact same way. He stopped, close enough for me to have to resist the urge to shrink away, and I swear I could hear a growl issuing from his throat.

"Why did you do it?" The question caught me off-guard, as did the even tone of his voice. A drastic contrast to his black eyes.

"What would you rather I did?" OK, so antagonising John was risky, but his attitude – like I was meant to just let the rift wreak havoc without trying to stop it – was annoying me.

I pushed him too far. The anger blazed out – the air turned so black for a second I couldn't see – and he grabbed me by the shoulders, hands constricting and painfully tight. "I would rather you didn't do that. I would rather you didn't leave the rift unpunished if you insist on taking all responsibility. And I would rather you didn't cut deals with something that tried to kill you!"

Shit, I should have guessed he'd notice any differences and know the reason why almost immediately. And now his anger had got my back up. "Well, you weren't making much progress. I think it's only fair someone who knows what they're doing gets a chance at helping."

Blackness clouded the air, choking and thick. I could definitely hear a growl now, and the others could too. Jack stepped forward. Brave man – I didn't have the courage to move right now.

"Enough, John." His words had the opposite effect to what he'd intended. John snarled and rounded on him. Freed from the intensity of his glare I darted back to join Ianto and Gwen. I could feel my hands shaking – nothing could scare me as well as the dark side of John. Tia breathed warm air over me, which helped a little. Jack dragged John away from me, and shoved him into a side alley. I turned back to Ianto and Gwen, and they couldn't look away quickly enough to stop me seeing the emotion in their eyes. Tia nudged me gently.

Back home?

I nodded. She was right; we needed to get her out of here before the paparazzi arrived. She moved from standing to half-lying, and I climbed up her side. A small part of me noticed that it was easier than before. Ianto and Gwen stepped back, and with a powerful leap upwards we were airborne. All I wanted was to escape now. I let the dark emotions and blacker memories slip away behind us. But one thought refused to leave: why did I have to get myself into situation where I fell in love with sociopathic ex-Time Agents?

OK, so it's short, but on the plus side there is only one more chapter to go so this story will definitely get finished, although the Saga may continue… eventually.

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