I had thought after my conversation with Susie I had put Gwen Cooper and all the nagging doubts she's inspired behind me. Everything had seemingly gone back normal. I read reports while the rest of the team typed industriously at their workstations. The most unusual thing all day was Susie spilling her coffee and even that wasn't much of a surprise given the way Susie had been twitching all day. She must be close to making a breakthrough on the glove. It's the only thing that gets her that worked up. When I asked her about it she told me she wasn't sure yet, that she had to wait and see. Susie keeping things to herself, another sign of Torchwood getting back to its regularly scheduled program. Any feeling of comfort I had about returning to the old routine was destroyed when I returned to my office at the end of the night to find Gwen Cooper's profile back on my desk. If I'd been able to sleep I would have thought I was trapped in a reoccurring nightmare. I picked up the file and was about to toss it into the rubbish bin for the second time when I realized the bin had already been emptied. I hit the call button on my desk.
"Ianto, my office, now." I knew he'd still be here, despite everyone else having left thirty minutes ago. The idea of just me and him alone in an abandoned building usually inspired plenty of fun scenarios in my mind, but none of these were forefront in my thoughts tonight.
"Yes, sir?"
"What's this?" I picked up the folder and waved it at him.
"It would appear to be a file of some sort, sir."
"Yes I know it's a file. In fact I know its PC Cooper's file. What I don't know is what it's doing here on my desk when I distinctly remember throwing it away this morning."
"I'm sorry, you meant to dispose of those papers, sir? Forgive me, I assumed they had merely slipped of your desk and fallen into the bin."
"And why, Ianto, would you assume that? I told you this morning, PC Cooper is yesterday's news."
"I would have thought sir, that even if you weren't intending to file the information away for future use, you would have at least deposited the paper into the recycling bin. We do try to protect the planet here after all."
"You're right Ianto, we all should do our part to save the world." I handed him the file. "Do with it whatever you see fit, just make such its not in my office when I get back. Don't forget to get the lights before you leave." I grabbed my coat and headed down to the vaults.
Staring into the eyes of the weevil I wondered as I had wondered many times before if the alien could sense something different about me. Something wrong. Not that the opinion of creatures incapable of coherent speech should matter to me, but then again it wasn't just weevils that I thought about. Strangers on the street, babies in their cradles, did they see me as other, as not quite same. Did my team? Had Gwen Cooper? Had I failed to measure up to what she saw as human?
Somewhere above me I heard the power generators switching on. What was going on? It couldn't be morning yet, could it? I checked my watch. 2:38 am. Way too early for anyone to come in. Something was wrong. I drew my pistol and moved as stealthy and quickly as I could toward the upper levels. Were we under attack? Why weren't the alarms going off? How had they breached our security?
When I reached the central hub the lights were on, but there was no one in sight. There was no evidence of sabotage or robbery. At least that's what I thought until I saw Susie's work area. A few stray papers were scattered on the floor, pens and pencils had been knocked out of their jar. Beyond that the desk was empty. I checked all the drawers. No research materials, no lab results, and most significantly, no knife or no glove. I ran over to the Hub's main computer to check the surveillance and discovered it was already on. Two windows stood out against the blue screen. The first was a short pop up message: Files Deleted. The second was a live video feed of the sidewalk outside. There were two figures standing outside the statue at three o'clock in the morning. I knew both of them. God, how wished I didn't know both of them. In fact I wish I didn't know either of them. It was Susie and Gwen, and Susie was holding a gun.
The view riding the lift up from the Hub to the street above was fantastic, charmed the tourists every time. The slow pace of the rise allowed visitors a nice leisurely amount of time to appreciate that fantastic view. It wasn't however so convenient for bosses who were trying to prevent employees from committing murder. As I reached the ceiling I was comforted to hear Susie was still talking. That meant Gwen was still alive.
"-Resurrection on demand for the whole world. Isn't that good? Isn't it though?" Was that Susie's plan for the glove? A world of walking corpses? "Well that's what I've been working for, all day and all night, the rest of them go swaning about, while I'm working." How did I not see this? "You've got to get inside this stuff, surrender yourself to it." I did see it, I just dismissed it, I called it dedication. "I did with the knife and the glove." I'm so sorry Susie. "And that's why the perception filter isn't going to work on me."
Pain. A million times worse than the worst migraine you've ever had. I was on the ground. Susie had shot me. No time to dwell on that now. I stood up feeling the gapping hole in my forehead still struggling to close itself.
"Put down the gun." My second in command turned to face me, horrified and disbelieving. Maybe resurrection sounded like a better idea in theory than in practice. Maybe it wasn't easy for her to face a man she's just killed. She looked so lost. Hard to believe this was my strong second in command. The woman who called me 'captain, my captain'. My friend. "Susie it's over. Now come with me." Even holding out my hand to her I had no idea what I would do. What could I do? Everyone had to be held accountable for their actions, but I had no idea what would be justice for Susie.
The sound of the gunshot ripped through the night air and Susie Costello's body fell lifeless onto the pavement. I couldn't think. All those years. All those years of shared danger, joking, arguing, flirting, to have it end like this? What had been the point?
"I, remember." Gwen's choked voice drew my eyes away from my fallen comrade. She had beaten the amnesia pill. Was this the answer I was looking for? "I remember." Gwen fell to her hand and knees, struggling to breathe. The amnesia pill couldn't have picked a worse time fail. This was the kind of experience the mind tried to repress and the rushing of returning memories was hindering that agenda. For the first time in a long time I felt unsure of my course of action. I was torn between comforting the living woman and tending to the body of the dead one. Watching the blood pool around Susie's head I figured I was too late to help her. I could still help Gwen.
"She killed them. John Tucker and the others. She said she did it for the glove. I remember, but I still don't understand."
I brushed the hair back from her face and cupped her cheek in my hand. "Gwen." When her gaze met mine I did a mental comparison of pupil size. They didn't appear dilated. Her skin didn't feel clammy or cold. Moving my fingers down to her throat I felt a strong pulse, a little faster than usual, but nothing in the dangerous range. Good, she wasn't going into shock. "We need to get you inside. Can you walk?" She nodded numbly at me, but her eyes were drifting back toward Susie.
"Look at me Gwen." I grasped her chin with my forefinger and thumb and turned her head so she could look no where but into my eyes. "I'm going to take care of it. I promise."