We were all going to a crime scene. I had no idea why, and I don't think anyone else did either. We got there, to see people milling around an area enclosed in yellow crome scene tape. We got out of the car, and walked over. A woman came up to us.
"At last. You must be Torchwood? My team bitch about you all the time," she said.
"And you are?" Jack asked.
"Detective Swanson," she said.
"I'm Captain Jack Harkness," Jack said.
"So I've heard. Are you always this dressy for a murder investigation?" Swanson asked.
Jack took off his sunglasses. "What, d'you rather me naked?" Jack asked.
"God help me, the stories are true," Swanson said.
Jack put the glasses back on. "So who's the victim?" Gwen asked.
"That's victims, plural,"Swanson said, pulling out some photographs. "Yesterday, a man was murdered at 96 Oakham Street, Alex Arwyn, 28, single, estate agent, here we go, that's from the scene of crime. Today, in here, we get two more, Mark and Sarah Briscoe, both 33, married, he's a surveyor, she works in education," Swanson said as we looked at the pictures.
"What about the smears of blood? Is that writing?" I asked.
"Work in progress. Come inside and see the finished thing," Swanson said. She turned, and we followed her into the house, through a licing room, down a hall and into a bedroom.
"Oh my god..." Gwen said. I looked around. There was a man and a woman in a bed, and there was blood all over. Written in blood on the wall above the bed, was the word 'Torchwood'.
"Looks like somebody wants your attention," Swanson said.
"They've got it," Jack said.
"We found a few of the killer's hairs from the first murder. Lab results should be in soon," Swanson said.
"Good, we'll need that. Now, if you could just clear the room? Some of this equipment is strictly need to know," Jack said.
"It was only a matter of time," Swansin said.
"What was?" Jack asked.
"Torchwood walks all over this city, like you own it. Now these people are paying the price - ordinary people, ripped apart, with your name written in their own blood. From where I'm standing, you did this, Captain Jack Harkness. You did it," Swanson said. She left, and Owen shut the door behind her.
"Still, at least we've got a head start. If it's someone we've pissed off, that narrows it down to... ooh, four or five million," Owen said. He snapped on a latex glove.
"And that's just the humans. Tosh, how we doing?" Jack spoke through the earpiece he was wearing.
"There's no record of Mr and Mrs Briscoe on our database. Nor yesterday's victim, and no link between him and the Briscoes. No connection between any of them," I heard Tosh said.
"Jack? They've got the results on the killer's hair," Gwen said, popping her head in the door.
We went outside, to where Gwen was standing with Swanson. Swanson had a folder.
"Initial findings say, Caucasian male, early 40s, smoker, drinks tequila. Doesn't match any DNA profiles. Only thing of interest is a compound we've never seen before. Recognise it?" Swanson asked, handing Owen the folder.
"Uh-Oh, we're in trouble," he said.
"What is it?" Gwen asked.
"Compound B67," Owen said.
"You're kidding," I said.
"Retcon. He's got Retcon in his blood," Owen said.
We were at base, in the meeting room. For Gwen's sake, Owen was giving us a class on the properties of Retcon. Everyone else present already what it was.
"B67, aka Retcon, aka the magic ingredient of the amnesia pill," Owen said.
"And this belongs to us? Whoever this killer is it's somebody we gave the amnesia pill to?" Gwen asked.
Ianto came in, and took a seat.
"Is he remembering that he's a serial killer? Or is he becoming a serial killer because of the Retcon?" I asked.
"Wait a minute. I've taken Retcon," Gwen said.
Jack grinned. "Then better stay away from sharp objects. Ianto, how many people have we given amnesia pills to?" Jack asked.
"2,008," Ianto replied.
"Hey, what if they all become psychotic?" Owen said.
"D'you have to sound so happy?" Tosh asked.
"I'm just saying. Mean Streets!" Owen said.
"Tosh, narrow the list down to fit Swanson's profile, start checking them out fast as you can. You two, there's got to be a link between the victims, find the link, find the killer. Get to it!" Jack ordered.
"Jack? If there is a link, why don't we just ask the victims ourselves?" Gwen asked.
"Not the right time for a seance, Gwen," I said.
"No, but there's always the glove," Gwen said."
"Heh-heh, no way!" Jack said.
"Not after what it did to Suzie," Owen said.
"Hold on, did I miss something? Who's Suzie, and what's this glove?" I asked.
"Suzie Costello, she used work here. The glove brings people back to life, just for two minutes. We could question the murder victims," Gwen said.
"That's exactly what she said. She was one of us, we trusted her and now she's dead cos of that thing," Owen said.
I held up a hand to stop them.
"Wait, Suzie Joan Costello?" I asked.
Everyone looked at me.
"You know Suzie?" Jack asked.
"I used to," I said. "We were friends when we were little. Then her family moved when I was ten, and I never heard from her again." I froze as I registered what Owen had said. I looked at him. "Wait, did you say she's dead?" I asked in shock.
He nodded. "Uh, yeah, that's what I said," he said.
"What happened?" I asked.
"It was the glove's fault," Owen said.
"How did a glove that raises the dead kill someone?" I asked.
"She was killing people so she could test the glove. Jack caught her, and she shot herself," Tosh explained, her tone grim.
"Suzie was killing people?" I asked. Owen looked at me in annoyance. I glared at him.
"Well I'm sorry, it just doesn't sound like the Suzie I knew," I said defensively.
"People change," Jack said. I looked at him, and had to admit that he was right. I would have never thought that I would be here when I was at that age.
"The glove stays in the safe where it belongs," Jack said firmly.
"These murders are happening because of Torchwood. So Torchwood has got to do something," Gwen said.
Jack and others sat there silently for a moment. I was still a bit shocked at the news of Suzie's death. Then Jack nodded reluctantly.
"It fell through the Rift about 40 years ago. Lay at the bottom of the Bay till we dredged it up. I always figured, this wasn't just lost. Whoever made it, wanted rid of it," Jack, pulling a metal glove out of locked box. We were in his office, and everyone was looking at the glove.
"You know, we never gave it a cool name," Owen said.
"I thought we called it the resurrection gauntlet?" Tosh said.
"Cool name," Owen said.
"What about the Risen Mitten?" Ianto suggested.
Everyone looked at him. He shrugged. "I think it's catchy," he said. I thought about it. I had admit, I didn't have anything better.
We were in the autopsy room.
"Jack? You OK?" Gwen asked.
Jack tossed Ianto a stopwatch, then pulled on the glove as he talked.
"Don't forget, the maximum resurrection time is two minutes. That's only cos Suzie had practice. The most we're likely to get is 30 seconds, okay? Tosh, you ready?" Jack asked.
Tosh was at her computer. "Ready. And, recording. This man was victim number one. Name - Alex Arwyn," Tosh said.
Jack put his hand on the dead man's head then started making some very interesting faces. I would have laughed, if everyone else hadn't been so morbid.
"Come on, Alex. Come back," Jack said.
"How does it work?" I asked.
"You just sort of feel," Jack said. "Like reaching into the dark. Finding the dead. I can't... I don't... Ah. Damn! Ah!" he yelled. He yanked the glove off as it made an electrical kind of noise. He shook his hand.
"Ah! Nothing! Sorry. Never was very good with this thing. Owen?" he asked.
"I tried last time. We all had a go, it only responded to Suzie," Owen said.
"Well, neither Lily nor I ever had a go," Gwen pointed out.
Jack looked at us.
"Who wants to try first?" Owen asked cheerily. Gwen and I looked at each other.
"I'll go," Gwen said.
Gwen and Jack swapped sides of the table so Gwen could reach comfortably. Gwen slid the glove on.
"It's cold," she said.
"It warms up," Jack said.
The computer beeped to show it was ready to record.
She put her gloved hand on the man's head. Her eyes were closed, and we watched.
On the table, Alex and Gwen gasped at the same time.
"Somebody help me! Oh, my God, help me, help me, help me!" Alex shouted.
"Alex! I need you to listen to me," Jack said.
"Somebody help! HELP ME!" Alex screamed.
"That's what we're doing! Alex, you were attacked. Do you know who it was? Who attacked you!"
"Who are you?" Alex asked.
"How long?" I asked Ianto.
"Where am I?" Alex asked.
"15 seconds," Ianto said.
"Who are you?" Alex repeated.
"I'm just I'm just trying to help, sweetheart. I'm just trying to help," Gwen said.
"I want my mum. Please! Let me see my mu..." Alex stopped mid-sentence, going blank as the machine emitted one long beep.
"He's gone," Owen said.
"Let me keep trying," Gwen said.
"Gwen, he's dead," I said.
"But I can bring him back," Gwen said.
"The glove only works once," Jack said.
"But I can do it, just let me try," Gwen said.
"Gwen. Look at me. He's gone," Jack said.
There was a long pause, and then Gwen pulled the glove away from Alex's head.
"That was amazing, she's a natural. 24 seconds!" Ianto said.
"Give Ianto a stopwatch, and he's happy," Owen said.
"It's the button on the top," Ianto said.
"What d'you think? Gwen? D'you want to stop?" Jack asked.
Gwen resettled glove on her hand. "No, let's keep going," she said.
"Recording. Victim number two - Mark Briscoe," Tosh said from her desk.
"Oh God, I can feel him, it's like a rope from my heart to the glove... Oh, it's so warm," Gwen said.
Mark gasped, and woke. He panted, but didn't freak.
"Hey, there. Just look at me. Look me in the eye. That's it," Jack said.
"Where am I?" Mark asked.
"You've been hurt, we don't have long, we need to know who attacked you," Jack said.
"Is my wife all right?" Mark asked.
Jack nodded. "We're looking after her. Now Mark, who was it?" Jack asked.
"It was that man. He belonged to Pilgrim, he went to Pilgrim," Mark said.
"What's Pilgrim?" Jack asked.
"Oh my God, he had a knife," Mark said.
"No, Mark, he's gone, we don't have long, quickly, what was his name?" Jack asked.
"35 seconds," Ianto said.
"Max," Mark said.
"Trying Pilgrim and Max, get a description,"
"You gotta give us something more so we can catch him," Jack said.
"He's going," Owen said.
"There was... There was someone who knew him better... That woman... She was always talking to him..." Mark said.
"What was her name?" Jack asked.
"Where's my wife?" Mark plead tearfully.
"Her name!" Jack demanded.
"Suzie," Mark said.
Owen, Tosh, Jack and Gwen all looked shocked. I knew what they were thinking: Suzie that they used to work with.
The machine issued a long beep, as Mark died again. Ianto clicked the stopwatch.
"One minute five seconds," Ianto said.
"Jack? Did I hear that right?" Tosh asked.
"Could be anyone, there must be lots of women called Suzie," I said.
"Not connected to this case. We've been talking to the wrong corpse," Jack said.
We were in the meeting room again. The door squeaked as Tosh walked in.
"Pilgrim. A religious support group, more like a debating society, meaning of life, does God exist? All that stuff. The point is, it was tiny, more like a hobby, run by Mark Briscoe's wife, Sarah. She had all that stashed in the wardrobe. Handwritten and photocopied, that's why we couldn't find any records, she wasn't even online," Tosh said.
"No mention of Suzie, or Max?" I asked.
"Not a word. She didn't even keep a register," Tosh replied.
"It wouldn't be our Suzie, though. She wouldn't go to that support group bollocks," Owen said.
"How do you know? I mean, were you friends? Any of you? Who was her best friend in this place?" Gwen asked.
"She sort of kept herself to herself," Owen said. He looked at me. I shook my head.
"She changed enough since I knew her that she was capable of murder. I think your Suzie and the one I knew were two completely different people," I said.
"Well, then. If she needed to talk, maybe that's exactly where she'd go, a group of complete strangers," Gwen said.
"Could be. You've got a point, Gwen. Time we got to know our deceased colleague a little better," Jack said.
We were at a storage facility, a little later on. It was raining. Jack was unlocking a garage door.
"Have I got this right? When I die, you get to keep all my possessions? My whole life's gonna get stashed in a locker?" Gwen asked.
"Rules and regulations," Jack said.
"What if I leave all my stuff to Rhys?" Gwen asked.
"We'll stash him away, too. Tread carefully, people. With respect. This is the life of Suzie Costello," Jack said, stepping into the storage garage, which was full of boxes.
"That's all we are, in the end. A pile of boxes," Tosh said.
"Is her father still alive?" Gwen asked as we looked through some boxes.
"Don't know," Tosh said.
"But you must've looked him up? To tell him his daughter was dead?" Gwen asked.
"When Suzie left Torchwood, she was on the run. She wiped all her records. I couldn't retrieve her files, she was good at computers. Huh... She was good at everything," Tosh said.
"She was good at murder too. Laugh a minute, that was Suzie," Owen said.
"What's that?" Gwen asked Jack, who was looking through a book.
"A book. Emily Dickinson. Poet," Jack said. I lifted a piece of paper out of the box.
"Jack. Pilgrim. She's part of it," I said.
"That proves it, then. No choice. It's time Suzie came back," Jack said.
We were in the autopsy room again, and we were all standing Suzie's body.
"Do we all get frozen? Torchwood staff, when we die, do we all get kept?" Gwen asked Jack.
"Rules and regulations," Jack said.
"How long for?" Gwen asked.
"Forever," Jack said.
"Recording," Tosh said.
"Have you got your stopwatch?" Owen asked Ianto.
"Always," Ianto said.
"I'll record from my station. I'm sorry, but I don't want to look her in the eye. Sorry," Tosh said. She left, and bit awkwardly, and there was a silence.
"Anyone else?" Jack asked after a few minutes.
Ianto looked at Jack, and Jack looked at Owen, who looked away.
"Any advice? Yeah, I know. Empathy. Even though she did try to kill me," Gwen said.
"You and me both," Jack said. Gwen breathed out a bit shakily, and rested the glove on Suzie's head.
"I'm getting a reading," Owen said as the machine beeped. "No, it's gone..." he said.
The glove made a buzzing noise.
"Just...memories. Nothing living. She's too far gone," Gwen said, taking her hand away.
"What do we do now?" Tosh asked.
"Nothing we can do. That's it. We're out of options," Jack said.
I cleared my throat, and Jack looked at me.
"I could try," I said.
"What makes you think you'd get any different results than Gwen?" Owen asked.
"It worked best for Suzie, I don't know if you were aware, but she was slightly phsycic. I'm a class five telepath. There's a chance that this glove uses telepathic potential to yank people back from... beyond. I think I should try," I said.
Jack looked at me for a few minutes, and then nodded. Gwen took the glove off, and handed it to me. I stood by Suzie's head. I took a breath, and put the glove to her head.
At first there was nothing. Then there was a warm feeling, and a kind of... buzz. I could feel something, but I wasn't sure what it was. It was grabbing at me. I was about to pull away, when I realized it was probably Suzie. I pulled, trying to get her back.
I gasped, and heard a gasp coming from the corpse below.
It was the oddest feeling. Like we were linked, but not a mental link, not one that connected two minds. Something else, something much, much deeper than that. I knew that they were talking, but they seemed so far away. I couldn't hear them. I felt Suzie struggling, struggling to stay. She pulled on me, using me as a kind of anchor. This was wrong, I knew it was wrong. She should be dead. I should let her go back. But I didn't know if Jack had gotten what he needed yet. So I held her.
Then I felt someone smack me, and I went flying backwards. I looked up, my vision blurred. I felt the glove go cold, and realized that the connection between Suzie and me had been severed.
"What happened? Did you get it?" I asked. I tried to stand, and fell back down. My vision cleared, and I looked up to see Jack standing over me. I grabbed the wall, and stood, leaning on it heavily.
"Jack? What happened?" I asked.
"You looked like you were having a seizure," Owen said. I looked at him, then back to Jack, and then to Suzie, who was now a corpse once more.
"Did you get what you needed?" I asked. He shook his head, and I cursed.
"You should have left me until you got it!" I said.
"You could have died," Jack said.
"So?" I yelled.
Jack looked at Owen. "I told you, it's the glove, they get hooked," he said.
"All right, don't make a fuss, it's over now," Owen said.
"Um, excuse me. I'm still counting," Ianto said.
"There's not much point, Suzie's dead," Owen said.
"No, according to the equipment, she's unconscious," Ianto said.
"What the hell's going on?" Jack asked as Owen checked a screen.
"Oh, my God. He's right. She's alive! Suzie's still alive. Look at her, she's bloody breathing!" Owen yelled.
"She can't be..." Jack said.
"Well she is," Owen said.
"One minute thirty and counting," Ianto said.
Jack and Gwen had taken Suzie down to an interrogation room, and Tosh, Ianto, Owen and I were sitting around the table in the conference room. None of us really knew what to do. Owen had looked at me, and said I was fine. We just sat, waiting in silence.
After a while, Jack came in. We all looked up at him expectantly.
"She gave us a place where she thinks we could find him, the Wolf Bar, and a possible next victim, Lucy Mackenzie," Jack said. I nodded, and got up, as did the others. I stopped at the balcony, looking down. Gwen was standing next to a wheelchair that contained Suzie. She looked up at me, and I looked away, not knowing what to think.
We were at the Wolf Bar. Tosh and Suzie had stayed at the base. All the rest of us were wearing the earcomms.
"Cover the exits," Jack yelled over the blaring music.
"Bloody hell, like I didn't have a banging headache already," I faintly heard Gwen say.
"Keep alert, people. To repeat, Max is described as 40, six-three, six-four, stocky, short dark hair, tattoo down his left arm," Jack yelled.
"That narrows it down!" Owen yelled sarcastically.
"Wait, I've got a match on that guy," I heard Owen said over the earcomm, which were set so we could all hear.
"Where is he?" Jack asked.
"Northwest Bar," Owen said.
"Show me," Suzie commanded from. "Owen, get in closer, which one do you mean?"
"Wait, he's going over for the... Wait, I've got a match on our girl, Lucy Mackenzie, the student," Owen said.
"That's her, that's definitely her," Suzie said. I turned, and headed through over to Owen.
"It's too late, he's going over," Owen said. I heard some odd noises, like a scuffle.
"Got the bastard!" Owen said.
"That isn't him," Suzie said. I could see Owen now. He had some bloke pinned down on the floor.
"Gwen! Behind you!" I heard Suzie yell through the earcomm.
I turned, but I couldn't see what was happening.
"I got him," Jack said over the earcomm.
Jack and Owen were down in the cells with Max, and Suzie was back in interrogation room. I kept glancing in the direction of the stairs that lead to that room, torn. I finally made up my mind. I got up, and headed down the stairs into the interrogation rooms.
Suzie looked up when I came in.
"Lily. It's been a while," she said. I nodded, sitting across the table from her.
"Funny. He said we would both had great potential. As far as I can tell, mine diminished throughout the years," Suzie went on. "How about you? What class are you now?" she asked.
"Class 5. Instinctive," I said. She snorted.
"And I'm dead. Or I should be," she said.
"They said that you killed people," I said. "Did you?"
She looked at me for a while, and then nodded. I looked down at my hands, clasped on the table.
"When did you get here?" she asked.
"About a month or two ago," I said.
"Was Gwen Cooper already here?" she asked. she said Gwen's name like Gwen was some kind of deadly disease.
I nodded. "Yeah," I said.
"So they replaced me immediately," she said.
I shook my head. "No, I think they just got another person," I said.
She looked at me. "Do they have her working the glove?" she asked.
"She did work it, yeah. I brought you back though. She couldn't," I said.
"Is she sleeping with Owen?' Suzie asked.
I stared at her. "What does that have to-"
"Is she?" Suzie asked. I nodded. Suzie looked down.
"See? Replaced me completely," she said.
"Where did you go? When you moved away," I asked.
"Everywhere," she said. "Dad wanted to 'see the world'. We went all over. New York. Tokyo. The Taj Mahal. Thing is, he planned to get us around the world and back. He never thought about what would happen to us when we got back home.
"He blew it all. All our money. We ended up here in Cardiff. Eventually, Mom got tired of it and left. And after that, he started drinking. I took care of me. I was recruited to Torchwood, and... and after a while, I died," she said. She was staring at a point over my shoulder, lost in thought. She refocused on me after a minute.
"And what about you? What did you do?" she asked me.
"After we... a few years after It happened, I got into Torchwood London, as a field agent," I said.
Suzie laughed out loud. "So how'd you end up in Torchwood Cardiff?" she asked.
"After the battle of Canary Wharf-" I stopped, looking at her. "Were you... were you alive for that?" I asked somewhat tentatively.
She nodded. "Yeah," she said.
"I was in America. When I got back, they had assumed that I was dead. So, one thing I had to correct them on. But Mother was missing, assumed dead. So I moved to Cardiff. London was too full of bad memories. And good ones. Too many reminders." I shrugged. "I never was good with handling grief," I said.
Suzie nodded. " Yeah. So how'd you end up in Torchwood again? Did Jack find you?" she asked.
I shook my head, face going red. "No, I had a... an incident with Harper," I said.
Suzie leaned forward. "Ooh, what did you do?" she asked. I shook my head.
"Did you ever see him again?" I asked, changing the subject. She knew who I meant.
She sat up a bit straighter. "No, you?" she asked.
I shook my head. "No, I never did," I said. "I actually joined Torchwood because I was hoping I'd find him," I said.
She nodded. "Yeah. Not exactly the only reason I did, but a large part," Suzie said.
We sat in silence for a long while. Suzie was the first to speak.
"Could you do me a favor?" she asked.
"Depends," I said. "There are some things I can do. And some things I can't. What is it?"
"I'd like to see my father. Could you just ask Jack if he could let me go? To see him?" Suzie asked.
I shook my head. "There's no way he'd say yes to that. If you told us where he is, we could bring him in to see you," I suggested.
Suzie shook her head.
"I'm not letting him anywhere near Torchwood. If he's still alive," Suzie said.
"What do you mean, 'if he's still alive'?" I asked.
"He's got cancer," she said.
"I could contact him on your behalf," I suggested.
"And say what?" Suzie asked.
There was another long silence. She just stared at me.
"I'm really sorry," I said after a while.
"What for?" she asked.
"Bringing you back," I said.
"What, you didn't miss me?" she asked, widening her eyes with fake hurt. I shook my head.
"No, it's not that. You just seem... sad I guess. Like you don't want to be here," I said.
The corner of her mouth twitched. "I guess it's something like that," she said.
I stared at her for a long while, then I stood.
"Fine then. Wait here, I'll be back," I said.
"I'm not going anywhere," Suzie said dryly.
I stood, and walked out of the interrogation room. I went up the stairs, to my workstation. I looked up, to see that everyone else was in the conference room. Perfect. I ran back into the interrogation room.
"How would you feel about a field trip?" I asked. The place was rigged with cameras, but the rest of the team was going to find out anyway.
She looked at me. "Where to?" she asked.
"To see you father," I said.
"I was going over Suzie and Lily's medical records. I ran them through the philharmon filter. Watch the footage," Owen said, pointing at the computer screen. The screen showed Gwen and Mark. There was a kind of green light, moving from Gwen, through the glove into mark. "This is the moment when Gwen brought back Mark Briscoe, the husband. See? Now look at his death. See? The energy flow stops just as he's about to die. But have a look at what happened when Lily brought back Suzie," he said.
The screen showed a stream of energy moving from Lily to Suzie.
"What is that?" Gwen asked.
"Energy. Life. I don't know why it's different with Lily than you. Maybe it has somethign to do with her being a fairly advanced telepath. Maybe it has something to do with her previous friendship with Suzie. But Lily and Suzie seem to have a permanent connection and Suzie is getting stronger. It's still going, right now. She is draining the life out of Lily,." Owen said.
"There's always a price," Jack said. "The wearer of the glove can bring somebody back, but loses their own life in return."
"How do we stop it?" Tosh asked.
"We've got to kill her. Suzie's got to die," Jack said.
"Again," Gwen said.
"Who's gonna do it?" Owen asked.
" Like you said, I'm the boss," Jack said, pulling out his gun. He left. They all stayed in the conference room, waiting. The intercomm buzzed.
"Toshiko! Where the hell's Suzie? And where's Lily?" Jack demanded,.
"Interrogation Room," Tosh said into the intercom.
"No they're not... Find them, fast!" Jack ordered. Tosh leapt up, and ran out of the conference room, down the stairs to her desk.
"I can't see them. Hold on. Scanning," Tosh said into the intercom as Owen joined her. "Nope. Nothing on internal scans," Tosh said.
"What's going on, where've they gone?" Owen asked.
Jack ran over to them. "Just keep looking... Bring up the SUV," Jack said.
"Still there. I'll try exteriors... What about Lily's car?" Tosh said. She checked, and the car was gone.
"What's she doing?" Gwen asked, walking over.
"Getting herself fired," Jack said.
"Unbelievable," Tosh said.
"How stupid is that? Thinking she could just drive off," Owen said.
"Come on. Let's go get them," Jack said. The lights went off suddenly, and they were immersed in total darkness.
"What the hell...," Owen started.
"Ianto? Ianto?" Jack yelled.
He turned towards a source of light.
"Captain?" Ianto asked, shining the torch down to keep it out of the others' eyes.
"What happened?" Jack asked.
"But I thought you must've done it. We've gone into lockdown," Ianto said.
"Then reverse it!" Jack yelled.
"I can't. It's 100%. The doors are sealed. We're locked in," Ianto said.
"Everything's gone. Computers, mobile coverage, the lifts, everything... We're sealed in," Tosh said.
"How long does Lily have before she dies?" Gwen asked.
"Two hours, maybe less," Owen said.
"Come on! Think! If Suzie set up the lockdown, how did she do it?" Tosh said.
"Entered an override?" Owen suggested.
"No She's officially dead, the computer wouldn't give her access," Tosh said.
"Then how did she do it? What the hell did she do?" Jack demanded.
There's got to be an answer. Suzie couldn't physically start the lockdown, Lily wouldn't have let her. But there's no-one else!" Tosh said.
"Wait a minute... We've got a guest," Jack said.
He ran, and the others followed him, down into the cells, which were emergency red lit Jack pointed his torch at teh prisoner, who was now shirtless, sitting cross legged on the floor, rocking and chanting.
"...Stopped for me The carriage held but just ourselves and immortality Because I could not stop for death..."
"Is that a poem?" Gwen asked.
"I wonder. Emily Dickinson?" Jack said.
"But what does it mean?" Owen asked.
"It's a verbal trigger. Say it out loud, maybe repeat it 100 times over and the Hub locks down," Tosh realized. Jack nodded.
"But if that's part of the system, Suzie must've installed a vocal command programme, way back," Gwen said.
"Back when she was alive, yeah. Max is just a Trojan horse. Suzie planned this right from the start," Jack said.
"But how could she have planned on Lily being here? She died three months before Lily showed up. If we're assuming that Lily's link with Suzie is due to her being a class 5 telepath, then how could Suzie have planned that?" Owen asked.
"I don't think she did," Jack said. "Maybe it isn't Lily, but her. Maybe she... I don't know, maybe she did somehting to prepare herself to latch onto whoever brought her back." He turned away from Max to look at them. "Don't you see? Max, the Retcon, everything, it's all been a hoax to get us to resurrect Suzie," he said.
"She gave Max a whole complex of subconscious triggers," Owen said, beginning to catch on to what Jack was saying must have happened.
"Like, she dies, Max becomes a time bomb... He doesn't see her for three months and, wham, the orders kick in. He follows Suzie's program, and starts killing," Tosh said.
"And the whole chain of events forces us to bring Suzie back," Gwen said, eyes wide.
"And then she escapes!" Tosh said.
"You've got to admit That is not bad! I'm picking her for my team," Owen said.
"If she could lockdown the Hub, she must've installed a way of reversing it just in case," Tosh said.
"Yeah," Jack said.
It was a little while later, and they were all in the hub, trying to think up a way out.
"I've got reception, sir," Ianto yelled from by the water tower.
"How do you do that? We're sealed off!" Jack asked, jogging over.
"Just used the Water Tower as a relay," Ianto said."
Jack took the phone and went back to the desk.
"Nice work, Ianto!" he said. He went to dial, but paused, thinking. "But who the hell do we phone?" he asked. The others all looked at him.
"Well, how about the police?" Gwen suggested.
"Um, no," Owen said. Gwen turned on him.
"Do you have a better idea?" she asked. He stopped, and thought for a bout five minutes. Gwen got tired of waiting, and turned back to Jack. "Call the police," she said. Jack nodded, and dialed.
"Yes, I'd like to speak with Detective Swanson," Jack said. He paused. "Torchwood," he said.
"You'd better not be wasting my time," Swanson said.
"As a matter of fact I was wondering if you could do us a favour," Jack asked.
"The humble police, helping the mighty Torchwood? Why don't you just help yourselves? Like you normally do," Swanson said.
"Because we can't," Jack said.
"Why's that?" Swanson asked.
"We're sort of busy," Jack said, floundering a bit.
"Well, I'm busy too, try someone else," Swanson said.
"No, no, no... It's just because we can't at the moment because we're sort of stuck," Jack said.
"In what way?" Swanson asked.
"We're locked in," Jack said.
"You're locked in?" Swanson asked.
"Just a bit," Jack said.
"Locked in where?" Swanson asked.
"Um. In our own base," Jack said, though it looked like it caused him physical pain to say it.
"You're locked inside your own base?" Swanson asked.
"And it's not funny," Jack said.
"And how am I supposed to help you, exactly?" Swanson said, laughing a bit.
"We need a book of poetry," Jack said. He heard her laugh again.
"It's NOT funny!" he stressed.
"Alright, fine, I'll get you your book of poetry. If you do something for me," she said.
"What?" Jack asked.
A few Minutes Later...
"All right, Captain Jack, just say that one more time. Nice and clear," Swanson said. She had the entire station assembled around the phone, which she'd put on speaker.
"We're locked in our own base and we can't get out," Jack said. Jack heard the entire police force roar with laughter. "OK, you've had your fun. Now Listen, Detective Swanson, one of our team is in danger," Jack said.
"Right, you lot, back to work," Swanson said, picking the phone back up. "OK, we've got it. The Complete Poems, it's gonna cost you 20 quid."
"What does the book say?" Jack asked.
"Er, I don't know, what am I supposed to do?" Swanson asked.
"Find 'I Could Not Stop For Death'. Read out the next verse," Jack said.
"What if it doesn't work?" Swanson asked.
"Read out the whole book," Jack said.
"It's gonna be a long night," Swanson said, flipping through the pages.
Suzie and I were in the car. We'd been driving a while. I wasn't sure how long. There was a question I wanted to ask that was nagging at me, but I wasn't sure if I should ask. I decided to try.
"Suzie, can I ask you something?" I asked.
"Sure," Suzie said.
"When you're dead... I mean, when you die... What happens?" I asked.
"What do you want me to say?" Suzie asked.
"The truth," I said.
"Really?" Suzie asked.
"Tell me," I said.
"Did you take up religion?" she asked.
"Just sort of in passing," I said.
"Do you believe in Heaven?" Suzie asked.
"I don't know," I said.
"Yes, you do. What do you believe?" Suzie asked.
"I like to think that if there is a heaven, then it's different for everyone. Because heaven is supposed to be a reward for being a good person, and everyone as different ideas of perfect," I said.
Suzie stared ahead out the windshield. "That's a nice thought," she said.
"So what's out there?" I asked.
"Nothing. Just nothing," Suzie said.
"But, but if there's nothing, what's the point of it all?" I asked.
"This is. Driving through the dark. All this stupid, tiny stuff. We're just animals, howling in the night, cos it's better than silence," Suzie said. She paused. "You know, I used to think about Torchwood, all those aliens, coming to Earth... What the hell for? But it's just instinct. They come here cos there's life, that's all. Moths around a flame. Creatures clinging together in the cold," Suzie said.
"So when you die, it's just...,"
"Darkness," Suzie said.
I stared ahead for a long time. I suppose I could have... I don't know. Given up. But I did realize that if what I thought about heaven and afterlives had any merit at all, then I had to take into account that Suzie had killed people. According to what I believed, she was going to hell. And maybe for her, that was hell. Just darkness.
"Parting is all we know of / heaven and all we need of hell," Jack said aloud. "No, try another," he said.
"'Success is counted sweetest / by those who ne'er succeed'. "Christ, she was a bundle of laughs," Swanson said.
"Success is counted sweetest by / those who ne'er succeed. Nope," Jack said.
"Wait a minute, just had a thought... If words cause the lockdown, maybe numbers reverse it... Try the ISBN, every book's got a different number," Tosh said.
"You getting this?" Jack asked Swanson.
"Yup, hang on, I'm looking..." Swanson said.
"Read it out," Tosh said. She was at her computer, ready to type.
"The keyboards aren't working," Jack said.
"But The membrane underneath might just recognize the code," Tosh said.
"Got it!" Swanson said. "ISBN 019 8600 585," she said. Jack relayed that to Tosh, who typed it into the keyboard. There was a hum, and the lights went back on.
"That's it! Everybody, move, move, move! Kathy, thank you," Jack said/
"Pleasure!" Swanson said. Jack hung up. He, Owen and Ianto ran out, heading for the SUV. They got in and started driving.
"I've got the tracker on Gwen's car. It's a hospital. Giving you the co-ordinates now," Tosh said.
"On the way. How long's she got?" Jack asked Owen.
"It's only a guess, but I'd give Lily about 40 minutes," Owen said.
Jack dialed Kathy again. "Kathy, I want the road ahead clear. I'm gonna break the speed limit, big time," Jack said,
We were in a dark hospital room. Suzie's father was lying on a bed with wires and tubes going in and out of him. My head was absolutely killing me.
"Oh, my God, this headache, it's..." I put a hand up to my head. It came away red with blood. "What's happening to me?" I asked.
"I'm really sorry Lily. You're getting shot in the head. Slowly. And believe me, it hurts," Suzie said. She pulled off her head scarf, lightly touching the gunshot wound. "Almost better. Completely gone, soon," Suzie said. I collapsed, my knees giving way.
Suzie got up out of the wheelchair and walked over to the bed. "Dad?" she asked.
"It's me, Dad. Wake up! Dad? It's Suzie," she said. He opened his eyes and looked up at her. "Hello, Dad," she said. She pulled his breathing tube.
"And goodbye," she said, watching as he gasped for breath.
"What are you doing?" I asked.
"Oh, that's worth coming back for. Sending him into the dark. Just what the bastard deserves," Suzie said.
"Suzie, I don't understand," I said as she grabbed me under the arms and hauled me into the wheelchair. "You love your Dad. Why did you do that?" I asked. Her face was hard.
"Relationships change. So do people," she said. She wheeled me out.
We got to the car, and she pushed me in, leaving the wheelchair behind. She got in the driver's side, and started the car up.
"Suzie, why? We were friends," I said weakly, fighting the darkness creeping into the edges of my vision. I could stay alive. I was strong. I would not go.
"I'm sorry Lily. I didn't think it would be you. I thought it would end up being Owen, or Jack or Tosh. I never thought it would be you," she said.
"Why don't you stop?" I said. My head hurt so much. It was so hard to fight. But going to sleep, giving up, that would be so easy. I wanted to sleep. I was so tired. I shook my head, concentrating on the pain to keep awake.
"I can't. And I wouldn't if I could," Suzie said.
"Why not?" I asked. I had to keep talking. Talking was good.
"Because life is all there is. And I'd do anything to stay. Anything," Suzie said.
I tried to sit up straighter, but I couldn't. I could feel myself slipping. I banged my head against the chair, keeping myself up. I had to fight. I had to stay awake. I couldn't go, not yet. Not yet. The car stopped. We were... I couldn't see. It was all blurry. I heard a door slamming, and then Suzie pulled me out of the car, dragging me with her.
"It's beautiful, Lily. Can you see? We'll take the ferry. Go out. As far as we can. Keep on running cos he won't hurt us. We'll keep on going, you and me," Suzie said. I was slipping. I tried to hold on, but it was so hard. I closed my eyes.
It was dark. But it was warm. I felt... safe. In the oddest way, I felt... free. I couldn't see anything, couldn't hear, but I didn't need to. I was safe, protected. Nothing could touch me. And I didn't need to worry. Not anymore.
I couldn't see, or hear, of move... what was there to move? But I knew I wasn't alone. There was something else there. Something so much older. Wiser. And there were other things to, smaller things. Things that felt more like me. I had no sense, I just knew. I would have been smiling if I had a body. I felt like I was... home, I decided. I felt like I was home.
I jerked awake with a bang. I gasped, wanting to scream as my headache flared. I was in so much pain. It was so bright, I couldn't see anything.
"Hey, it's okay, you're gonna be alright," someone said. I knew that voice.
"OWEN FUCKING HARPER, I SHOULD HAVE KNOWN!" I screamed. I swung my fist up, feeling satisfied when it connected with something soft. He yelped, and wriggled away.
"What the bloody-"
"SEND ME BACK! I WANT TO GO BACK, SEND ME BACK!" I screamed, banging on the surface below me. It was wood.
"Hey! Stop, Lily, STOP!" someone else said. They grabbed me. I looked up,to see Ianto. I stopped flailing, and just sobbed.
"Please, I want to go back, please take me back," I begged.
"Owen, get a sedative," I heard Jack said. I squirmed, but Ianto held me still. I glared at Owen as he stuck the needle in my arm. Then I felt a lot calmer. I closed my eyes, and drifted off.
I was standing in the body storage room. It was the next day. I had apologized to Owen for giving him a black eye(Though I wasn't remoseful in the least). Jack and Ianto were putting Suzie's body back in storage. I was reminescing, wondering what had happened to Suzie to change her so much.
"Thanks for doing this," Jack said.
"Part of my job, sir," Ianto said.
"No, I should be doing it, but..." he sighed and leaned against the locker. "One day, we're going to run out of space," he said. Ianto looked at him thoughtfully, and then continued writing. Jack turned and walked away.
"Oh, Jack?" Ianto called. Jack paused, and turned to look back. "What do you want me to say on the death certificate?" Ianto asked.
"Good question," Jack said.
"She had quite a few deaths in the end," Ianto said.
"I don't know. Death by Torchwood," Jack said.
"I'll put a lock on the door, just in case she goes walking again," Ianto said.
"Nah, no chance of that. The resurrection days are over, thank God," Jack said. He turned to walk away.
I wouldn't be too sure of that," I said. Jack turned to look at me.
"Why not?" he asked.
"There's a rule with gloves Jack. They always come in pairs," I said. Jack looked back at me for a minute, and I looked away, back at Suzie's body. Jack turned again and walked off.
