A/N: I am sorry it has been a long time since my last update; I have not been well at all.
Disclaimer: Do not own Torchwood no matter how much I wish I did, I write for fun and for entertainment, please don't sue!
Rose sat in silence with Gwen as she calmed herself down.
"We went there, New Earth, same year too, met the face of Boe and also the hospital. It was as if you were supposed to seek him out too." Rose said to Gwen. Gwen, who was staring out at the ocean just nodded. She stood up and closed her eyes, whispering a spell and created a light globe. She gave one to Rose and then created her own.
"Something to light in the hour of our need and from the darkness." Gwen whispered up to the sky. Rose stood up next to her and put her arm around Gwen's shoulder.
"No matter what happens, I will always be there to help and protect you." She said to her. Gwen nodded and they started to make their way back to the hub, holding the light globes in front of them. When they got closer to the town, Gwen made the globes disappear and they walked back through the town to the hub.
Gwen didn't want to go in, and said to Rose that she wanted to be alone and she went down into the hub. Gwen starred out into the bay, wondering what was going to happen to her, if she was even going to survive what will come. She knew that Jack kept saying that the 21st century it would happen; and she knew that Torchwood was ready, but was she mentally ready for what was going to happen? This was something different, she didn't expect to have a role in any of the end of the world stuff, well she knew she would within Torchwood, but a role as big as this? She felt the wind hit her face, a cooling breeze which helped her relax.
"A penny for your thoughts?" she heard a voice say, she turned and saw the Doctor standing next to her.
"You know that sharing things help lighten the problem." He continued to say to her as she continued to stare out into the bay. She didn't know what to say to him, she knew that she was scared and she didn't know what she could do. She had faced death several times at work, she had really thought several times that she was going to die and had no one to be able to share her experience, but now, even though she knew that she could not die, what would this do to her? This might be the exception to the rule, maybe this way she could die.
"I'm… scared Doctor. I know what is out there; I know that I have to help stop the end of the world… but it…" she didn't know how to continue. The Doctor looked at her, he knew that she was having a hard time being able to grasp the concept of everything, and since she has to also remember things from her past to be able to help and unlock abilities.
"You know Gwen; it is okay to be scared. I am scared for Rose everyday, not knowing what is going to happen to her and that she will leave me, not at her own choice, but because human nature will take its course." He said to her. Gwen wanted to tell him about Bad Wolf, but she knew that he was not supposed to know, not yet anyway. He turned and sighed.
"You know, the human race has so much more that it needs to achieve, this end of the world isn't really that!" he said
"Nothing is written in stone, time can be changed." Gwen whispered, the Doctor nodded, he knew that if something did go wrong that it would change the course of Earth's history. He couldn't allow this to happen, even if Gwen did have the ability, like Jack to never die, he knew that there was always an exception to the rule.
"You know that TARDIS doesn't like Jack since… well since the incident, but you, she likes and through you, she is beginning to accept the way that Jack is. But since it is part of you and your DNA, it is easier for her to accept it, Jack was an accident, and she hated it." He explained to her.
"But the TARDIS flows through him, and he passed that onto me when he saved me from…" she couldn't complete the sentence, it still brought back bad memories of when she died. "There is nothing there Doctor, nothing waiting for me to comfort me, and now… if I can't die and then I come back, just like Jack, I mean even the team do not know this, I am not sure if it would work!" she said as she turned to face him. "How am I going to be sure that I can avoid death?" she asked.
"The only way would be to test it, with someone you trust, and see what happens. I don't think that Zara would have lied to you and her people do have this amazing ability and also the TARDIS flowing through you, the connection for Jack I am pretty sure that you do possess the same ability." He said as he began to walk away. Gwen heard his footsteps getting fader and she turned to look at him.
"Doctor!" she shouted, he turned to face her. "Thanks." She said and he nodded and walked back to the hub.
Jack had seen Rose come in, and she explained that Gwen needed time to be alone. After about 30 minutes, the Doctor walked back in and also told Jack that Gwen had needed more time. He was getting frustrated; he knew he should leave Gwen alone, but after her last disappearing trick, he just didn't want to lose her. Ianto came in and brought him a cup of coffee.
"Just relax sir; I am sure that she is okay. If you are so concerned, then ask Tosh to show you the CCTV of the bay, then you can put your mind at ease." Ianto said to Jack. Jack kissed the Welshman as he went to Tosh to see what Gwen is up to.
"Tosh, CCTV of the bay please, find Gwen." He said.
"Jack, she wants to be alone, do you really think that spying on her is a great idea?" Tosh said as Jack walked up to her. "I mean, it's wrong to do something like that when she doesn't know." Tosh explained as Jack stood next to her.
"I don't want her disappearing on me again." Jack said, Tosh sighed and did as she was told.
Gwen
knew that Jack would be getting more and more worried the longer she
was out here, but she really needed to know if she had the same
ability as him. She remembered Zara saying that it was possible that
she had this ability and in passing the test, the chances were really
high, but still, she was only quarter Giaian, not all abilities would
be passed on to her.
"How am I supposed to know." She said to
the bay in front of her. "Being able to heal, not die, live
forever, what if these abilities I didn't get?" she asked
herself. She sighed deeply, she could hear a sound, and knew that the
CCTV camera was turning to face her; she smiled as she knew that Jack
would be watching her. She thought about Jack, at least he knew that
he couldn't die, but how was she going to test it? The cold wind
blew her hair as she began to shiver. Pushing her thoughts aside she
made her way back to the hub.
Waiting for the cog door to
open, she let out a huge sigh. She walked through the door and hanged
up her coat and went to her workstation. The rest of the team was
working on something, and she looked and saw that her search was
finished. She read the information and then made her way down to the
prison cells to talk to her capture. He was sitting on the bench that
was in the cell, and smiled when he saw her.
"Princess, a
pleasure as always." He said to her as he did a mock bow.
"Please,
I don't need your sarcasm, I get enough from Owen as it is!" she
said as she pulled up a chair to the cell.
"What are you going
to do with me and my pixel?" he asked as he sat back down on the
bench.
"I am not sure, we need to have a meeting about this, but
as far as the inter-galactic council is concerned, you are my
prisoner and I can do as I see fit." Gwen said to him. "You know,
you were nice to me at the banquet." She said to him.
"I
didn't know that we would meet under such… circumstances shall we
say." He said to her as he walked towards the door. "I didn't
know that your relative would be on Earth with you."
"It was
lucky she was, and also that we could catch you. How could you hurt
such an innocent child?" Gwen asked him.
"I want the mineral
from their planet; it is so rich and great for power and fuel. But
they do not mine as much as other planets do as they feel the need to
preserve it."
"But their trade also deals in a lot of other
things; you can not expect them to ruin their planet where there are
other planets, not inhabited where the mineral can also be mined."
Gwen said as she stood up and paced in front of the cell. She heard
Squid let out a loud sigh.
"I am sorry Gwen, but this is the way
it was, and I know that you or nay member of your team can not change
this." He said, this made Gwen mad and she left him alone in the
cell and went to Jack's office.
"Jack, I need to test
something!" Gwen said as she stormed into his office and began
pacing, she was nervous and Jack could see this. He stood up from his
chair and put his arms on her shoulder to stop her.
"Gwen, what
has gotten you so jumpy?" he asked.
"What if I die, I mean
what if I don't have this ability, I am not a full Gian, only
quarter, we need to find out, if we get a gun, then go down to the
shooting range and test it…" Gwen said as she pushed Jack aside
and continued to pace. Jack took in a deep breath.
"No Gwen, we
can't do that. If you are not so sure, why not talk to the Doctor
and see what he says?" he said. Gwen stopped in her tracks, she had
already had the discussion with him, and she was at a lose as to what
to do. If she was right, and the feeling that she had, then she would
be okay, but it was better to be safe than sorry. Jack let out a loud
sigh and Gwen looked up at him. She had forgotten that she was in his
office as she began to drift off into her own world. Jack walked up
to her.
"Go to the Doctor, get in the TARDIS and take a trip, I
am sure that with him by your side, he will be able to help you with
your worries." Jack said and guided Gwen to the door. Before she
had a chance to say anything, he closed it and Gwen went off in
search of the Doctor.
Rose, Crystal and the Doctor were in
the medical bay with Owen as he was discussing the different aliens
that they have come across. Crystal was engrossed in a game that she
was playing, while Rose and the Doctor were listening intensively to
Owens conversation. Upon hearing Gwen's footsteps, the Doctor
turned and looked up at Gwen.
"Can we go somewhere to talk?"
she said to him, he nodded, gave Rose a kiss on the cheek as he went
up to her and the two of them walked out of the hub. Gwen explained
the idea that Jack had and the Doctor listened to her and agreed.
They went into the TARDIS where Gwen heard the ship greeting her. The
Doctor took her to the medical bay to check her vitals and also her
blood to see what would happen and how long it could take. Once he
was happy that she could survive a shot to the chest, he started the
TARDIS up and off they went to another planet.
Gwen stepped
out of the TARDIS onto the new planet, she was scared, regardless
that the Doctor said he had everything that he needed in case
something did go wrong, and that the chances of it going wrong were
slim, and she still wasn't sure how she was going to feel dying…
again. She looked around the planet and saw that it had rings like
Saturn. She smiled as she saw two suns rise in the distance and the
moon slowly backing away, allowing the day to come. The Doctor came
out and saw that Gwen was taking in the sights.
"I come here to
think, it's so peaceful and quiet, it helps my soul, for just a
short time feel relaxed." He explained to her as he walked up to
her.
"This place is amazing!" she said as she turned to face
him. "Okay, let's do this before I really get scared again."
She stepped back and walked a few paces into the distance. They had
discussed that they would use a laser gun and shoot at her heart, she
was worried as Jack had once mentioned dying by laser, the very first
time when he thought that he would never come back, so she wanted to
experience the same thing, somehow she had hoped that in doing this,
she would feel closer to Jack and understand what he went through the
first time. She took in a deep breath and let it out and signalled to
the Doctor that she was ready. He nodded, powered up the laser and as
she saw the beam heading towards her, she closed her eyes and allowed
it to hit her.
The pain was quick, and then the darkness surrounded her, just like the first time, she could feel nothing and sense nothing. She stood up, unsure that why she was on the ground of the darkness and walked around, finding nothing and feeling nothing. Minutes had passed, hours, days, she was not sure as the time seemed to stand still, but she felt something, like someone tapping her on her shoulder, she turned and saw a fairy and smiled. She was not expecting to see a fairy, and found it strange. The fairy flew towards her and went into her body, into her heart and she closed her eyes and took a deep breath and woke up.
Gwen gasped for
breathe that her lungs were burning for. She felt the Doctor put his
arms around her to calm her down and felt his two heartbeats against
her chest. She was back in the TARDIS, alive.
"How long was I
gone?" Gwen asked once she started to breathe normally.
"Nearly
an hour, I guess the first time must have been the hardest." He
said to her as he began to scan her. Gwen reached down and touched
her clothes, she could see the burn hole where the laser had burnt
through, but her skin was healed, just a slight burn mark was still
there. She sat there, remembering what happened in the darkness while
the Doctor checked her over. Once he was happy, he nodded at
her.
"Nothing, you are fine, the cells appear to be regenerating
themselves with the Gian DNA and your body is healing. I would say
that you inherited the same as your people. Also, that TARDIS seemed
to feel your pain when the laser hit you and you died, she cried out
to me, so the link that you gained from Jack seems to be stronger in
you than in him." He explained to her as she began to stand up. She
felt a bit shaky and held on to the side of the bed as the Doctor
walked up to her and took her waist and led her to a room.
"I
guess you are tired, the TARDIS has prepared a room for you to relax
in." he said as he took her there. The room was the most gorgeous
one that Gwen had ever seen, the walls were painted in a bright
sunshine yellow, a king size double bed laid in the middle of the
room, an open fireplace warming it and a book shelf full of books.
The Doctor put her on the bed and pulled the cover over her.
"The
TARDIS has a special link with you Gwen, she knows exactly what you
like and want. She will take care of you." The Doctor explained to
her as her eyes began to get heavy. "Just go to sleep and when you
awake, we will be back in Cardiff okay?" he explained to her and
she nodded, allowing the song of the TARDIS to fill her heart, head
and luring her into the safety of her dreams.
The Doctor
went back to the console room and sat down on his chair. The TARDIS
said something to him and he smiled.
"She is going to stop it
isn't she? I mean, she is strong enough?" he asked her, the
TARDIS said something to him and he looked puzzled.
"Help? From
whom?" he said, but the TARDIS did not answer this one. "You are
a strange machine when you want to be!" he said to her and she let
out a slightly angry sound, the Doctor smiled and went over, stroking
the console. He started getting the controls ready and they left the
planet, going back to Earth.
Jack was pacing in front of
Tosh's computer. Ever since he heard the door open and saw the
Doctor's jacket fly out, he knew that Gwen had gone with him. Tosh
confirmed by the rift activity picking up and then going down,
confirming that the TARDIS had left Earth with the two people inside.
Rose came up from the medical bay and went over to Jack, putting her
hand on his shoulder.
"Don't worry; she is going to be fine!
He knows what he is doing, and if not, I know that the TARDIS will
not allow anything to happen to her, thanks to you!" she said to
him. Jack looked at her, puzzled and she smiled her ever knowing
smile.
"One day Rose Tyler, you will tell me your secret and
then I could smile with you!" he said as she let out a small laugh
and went back to the medical bay to check on Crystal.
Gwen
slept peacefully, and knew that the TARDIS had something to do with
that. She woke up and stretched on the bed and wondered where they
were. She knew that the Doctor would have a lot to think about and
thought it best not to go and see him, but she heard the TARDIS
telling her that he was in the console room. She stood up and looked
down at her clothes, remembering that the burn hole was still there.
She went to the wardrobe that was in her room, opened it and saw it
full of clothes that were just to her taste and size. She stroked the
wall of the room and heard the ship talking back to her as she picked
out some new clothes and got changed. Once she was happy, she went
out of the room and to the console room where the Doctor was leaning
against the computer.
"Hi" Gwen said as she walked shyly out
of the corridor to the Doctor. He turned around and smiled as he saw
that she had changed. She walked up to him and he gave her a hug,
feeling like she needed one after her experience.
"Where are
we?" she asked.
"In the time vortex going back to Earth." He
explained as he showed her the computer monitor. She could see
colours swirling around on the screen and wanted to open the door to
have a closer look, but the TARDIS began to go down and descend to
Earth. Gwen walked towards the door and opened it and saw that they
were near the water tower and near the base. It was dark and she felt
the breeze hit her face. She knew that most of the team would have
gone home by now if nothing had happened. Gwen loved Cardiff, it was
where she grew up and also where her family live… well used to
live. Her parents died young and her grandmother went insane with the
ability that she had. Gwen shuddered at the memories of her
grandmother, she was the closest thing to a mother that she ever had.
When she passed away, Gwen was devastated again, and then she found
Rhys, and somehow managed to go on, becoming a police woman and then,
finding Jack. Standing out at the bay and allowing the feelings to
come back, and now, finding out more about her family, her past, her
life. She was happy. She heard the door to the TARDIS open again and
the Doctor stood out and walked beside her. He put his arm around her
and pulled her into a hug.
"Well, that was something different!"
he said to her, she let out a small laugh and looked up at him.
"You
know, you have nothing to worry about. I can also feel it, the Earth
moving, every time I reach out to you, it gets stronger and stronger.
I can hear humans dying, feel their pain and yet, I am happy for some
of them as it was their time. For most of them, it was too soon and
now, with my ability, I will never have to feel that pain again."
She said to him. The Doctor looked at her surprised at how much she
was developing.
"Gwen, never change, regardless of anything,
never lose your passion for love, life and everything. Keep fighting
and with you, Jack and the rest of the team, you can really make this
world better. Come on, let's go back before Jack has a fit!" He
said and she smiled at him as they stepped on the paving slab that
had the perception filter and the Doctor used his sonic screwdriver
and the lift went down into the hub.
As the lift
started to go down, Gwen and the Doctor looked down and saw the team.
Rose and Jack looked up to see the Doctor and Gwen coming down. Jack
noticed right away that she was wearing different clothes to when she
left. He walked up to her and nodded.
"Gwen,
did you have fun?" he asked
"I think we should discuss this in
private Captain" she said with a straight look on her face.
Everyone watch them as Gwen followed Jack up to his office. Once the
door was closed, Jack wrapped his arms around Gwen and they began
kissing each other so frantically, Gwen allowing the tears to fall
down her cheeks from the emotions that she had tried to hide in front
of the Doctor.
"Gwen I was so worried!" Jack said as he pulled
away and checked her over. Gwen looked up at him as she undid her
blouse and showed him the mark where the laser had hit her. Jack
looked up at her, stunned.
"Let me tell you about me first time
then Jack, just like you told me about yours." She said as they
both sat down and Gwen began her story about being hit with the
laser. She didn't tell him about the fairy, not wanting to share
that just yet.
"Laser, like my first time." He said with a
smile on his face, she nodded.
"I wanted to somehow feel the
same thing you felt the first time it happened." She explained to
him. Jack went over to Gwen and wrapped his arms around her,
wondering what he did to deserve her.
The hub was silent as
they tried to hear what was going on in Jack's office.
"Leave
them alone! They have a lot to talk about!" The Doctor said as he
sat on the sofa with Rose. Ianto brought them both a coffee.
"Ianto,
if you weren't so busy here, I would have you on the TARDIS in a
heartbeat!" the Doctor said which earned him a slap from
Rose.
"Thank you sir. As for Jack and Gwen, you know what
happened; you were there, but the rest of us it is still a mystery."
The Doctor smiled at Ianto
"Gwen will tell you all what happened
in her own time, first, she and Jack need to sort things out about
where things are heading." He said as he sipped the coffee. Crystal
came skipping up from the medical bay and to the Doctor and sat on
his lap.
"Mine?" she asked pointing at the coffee, the Doctor
shook his head.
"No, maybe Ianto can get you something?" he
said, Crystal turned her eyes at Ianto and made a puppy dog look, he
laughed as he rustled her hair and went to get her something to
drink.
"Gwen and Jack fighting?" she asked, the Doctor shook
his head again.
"No, they are talking about stuff that needs to
be sorted here." He said. Crystal nodded and took the glass that
Ianto had brought her and drank the juice.
"Eyes hurt, no one
said playing was bad!" she complained, Rose laughed and picked her
up from the Doctor's lap
"Well, you shouldn't be playing for
more than three hours now! Come on, let's go and see Gwen." She
said as she made her way to Jack's office, with Crystal in tow
still drinking her juice.
"Gutsy lady!" Owen said as he came
out from the medical bay to see what was going on.
Rose took
in a deep breath and knocked on the door. She had noticed that the
blinds inside Jack's office were closed and she was hoping that she
was not disturbing anything. A few seconds later, Gwen opened the
door and smiled at her and Crystal.
"Cookie please!" Crystal
said as she wriggled herself free from Rose and hugged Gwen's legs.
Gwen laughed.
"I don't have any sweetie. Why don't you go
and ask Jack while the rest of us have a meeting in the boarding
room?" she said as Crystal let go and skipped to Jack. Rose
followed Gwen back down to where the team was sitting.
"Okay
guys, meeting, boarding room like three minutes ago!" Gwen said,
the team nodded and went to the boarding room while she went to her
computer and checked the CCTV of the cells, noticing that he was
still there.
"I can't die Rose; I mean it was strange, and
scary and something different and so many things all at once." She
said in a low voice. Gwen locked her computer and she and Rose went
to the boarding room. Rose didn't know what to say, she hadn't
yet experience it and it wasn't something that she was going to
test out. She thought about the possibility of her changing into the
Bad Wolf, maybe becoming a Time Lady? She had so many unanswered
questions she still needed answering herself.
Gwen punched
in the code for the boarding room and went in with Rose. She called
up the CCTV of the cells and they all saw the prisoner.
"So, I
was thinking…" Gwen began to say
"Wait, you vanish off with
the Doctor somewhere and you don't tell us what is going on?"
Owen said, Gwen sighed
"Owen, I will tell you when I am ready to
and not before." Gwen said as she looked at him in the eyes. "I
don't need any of your crap, not today!" she continued, still
starring at him. Owen wouldn't break, but he saw the look in Gwen's
eyes, what she was going through was something that neither he, nor
the rest of the team would yet be able to comprehend. He nodded to
her and broke eye contact, everybody in the room releasing the breath
that they didn't realise they were holding. Gwen turned back to the
screen in front and walked up to it.
"As I was saying, I was thinking that we…" Gwen began to say as her head began to hurt. She grabbed the chair and Owen came rushing over to her along with Rose.
"Gwen, talk to me." Owen said as he guided her to a chair.
"My head, it really hurts!" she said as she let out a painful moan. "Maybe I have been overdoing it." She said as her eyes began to roll into the back of her head and she passed out.
"Crap, not again!" Owen said as he picked her up. "She has to stop fainting." He muttered to himself as he and Rose went out of the boarding room and passed Jack.
"What happened?" he said.
"Passed out again, just go and finish the meeting!" Owen said as he walked past him and went to the medical bay. He laid Gwen on the bed as Crystal looked up from her handheld computer.
"Gwen's tired, she needs sleep?" she asked.
"Yes little one, she needs to rest. Why don't you go get the Doctor to check her out while Rose and I go back to Uncle Jack's meeting okay?" Owen said as he bent down to the child's level after putting Gwen on the bed. She smiled and nodded and went to the Doctor while Rose and Owen went back to the boarding room.
Jack looked at the rest of his team and sighed, his second in command, and his girlfriend was back in the medical bay from exhaustion. This wasn't good. He looked up and saw Owen and Rose come into the boarding room and they sat down.
"Okay people, we need ideas what to do with him, what Gwen was thinking was something that was not her, it was if she was somehow possessed by her anger. Anyway, ideas which we rationally discussed were taking him to the inter-galactic council or back to send him to Gia and allow the people there to decide his fate when Crystal goes back today."
"Wait, the little one is going back?" Owen said
"Yes, she has been here long enough and her life has been in danger, I am sure that she will be back in a month or so when Gwen has to go." Jack said.
"We should give him to the people of Gia and destroy the pixel." Tosh said "However, I would like to see what these pixels are before we destroy it." She continued, Jack nodded.
"This was also the idea I was thinking, so anyone against this?" he asked, no one raised their hand and Jack nodded "okay, I guess we should tell the Doctor about our choice and get Crystal back home." He said. He clapped his hands and him and the team left the boarding room and went back to the main hub.
After checking Gwen over and confirming that it was just exhaustion, he went back to Rose who was explaining to Crystal that she had to go home today and also that they were going to let her people decide about the prisoner.
"I want Gwen to come!" she protested.
"Gwen is sleeping, she should say here and get back into her normal routine, she will come over in a month to see you." Rose explained, but this didn't calm the child. Rose took her to Jack's room and they started to pack her things.
"Why take them home when I am coming back?" she asked, Rose agreed, why was she doing this?
"Okay, I am sure that Uncle Jack has a place to look after them. Come on, the Doctor is going to the cells with Jack to tell the guy what is going on and we are to wait in the TARDIS." Rose explained.
"Can I say bye to Gwen first?" Crystal asked, Rose nodded and they quickly went to the medical bay before going to the TARDIS.
The Doctor and Jack were talking to the prisoner; the Doctor was putting him in handcuffs and leg chains.
"You even try to escape, and I will throw you into the time vortex, do you understand?" he said to him, he nodded and they escorted him to the TARDIS. The Doctor saw that Rose and Crystal were already there and Jack had agreed to come on the trip with them, as the TARDIS was now beginning to like him. Once they got to Gia, Crystal ran to Zara and explained what had happened. Jack bowed down to the leader and she returned.
"Where is Gwen?" she asked
"Sleeping for a bit. We have the prisoner for you." Jack said as the Doctor brought him out of the TARDIS.
"Thank you for taking care of Crystal as a token of our appreciation, here is a gift for you Captain Jack; you will always be a friend to us from now on." Zara said as she handed him a box, it was so small that Jack put it in his pocket before bowing and going back into the TARDIS. Crystal ran up to him and hugged his leg.
"Tell Gwen I love her and will be back Uncle Jack!" she said, he nodded as he bent down and kissed the girl's head and went into the TARDIS. The Doctor spoke to Zara for a bit longer and then entered and the two headed back to Earth.
