Exit Wounds: When It All Falls Apart
Jack got quickly out of the SUV the team had taken to the warehouse that the signals Tosh had found were coming from, he wanted to get this over and done with quickly, he had things to do, people to see, but the Earth had to be defended…and with the Doctor's piloting, he was sure he'd end up seeing Angel sometime next month.
"Gwen," Ianto Jones, a former administrator of Torchwood One who had practically begged Jack to allow him to join Torchwood Three, left a message on Gwen Cooper's phone, a lovely Welsh woman, police officer, who had stumbled upon Torchwood and become an asset to the team, "We've texted you the location, we're querying four or five signs of life, definitely non-human. Get here as soon as you can."
"So, sure they're not Weevils?" Owen Harper asked, looking at Jack, those creatures were tricky, usually living in the sewers but vicious when they attacked which usually left him to patch everyone up. Owen was the resident medical expert for the team, previously a doctor till an alien caused the death of his fiancé and Jack had found him and brought him onboard
"Don't think so," Toshiko 'Tosh' Sato answered instead, the technological guru of the bunch, had been arrested by UNIT after she was forced to build a sonic modulator for a terrorist organization, till Jack got her out, "Different energy patterns, can't make sense of it. Not a species we've encountered before."
"Well let's hope they're friendly then."
"Owen, Ianto," Jack turned, taking command, "Take the other side of the building, check the upper floors," he nodded to Tosh as they ran off, "Toshiko with me."
She followed closely behind as they entered the building, looking around, their guns out, ready for whatever aliens might be hiding in there. They explored every level till they reached the top one, meeting up on either end of a hall, only one room left to check. They nodded at each other, rushing into the room, aiming their guns…
Only to see a small silver box on the ground, counting down from 20, a bomb!
"We need to get out!" Owen shouted, pushing Tosh out the door, always concerned for her first and foremost.
"We'll never make it out in time," Ianto countered.
Jack looked around, as the time hit 10, when he heard it…a faint wheezing noise…
"Run!" he shoved them, "That way!" he pointed, vaguely seeing an imprint of a large telephone box appear at the end of the hall, "Go!"
"What?" Tosh shook her head but was pushed on, the four of them running.
"Get in!" he cried…
And the doors opened, the four of them leaping in, landing on the ground, when a beep went off and the bomb exploded.
Tosh rolled onto her back to see a ginger woman shutting the door, the flames just outside it, before the room shook again and they all held onto each other, expecting to be blown up.
"There we go!" a voice shouted and the three non-immortal humans opened the eyes they'd squeezed shut to see a man in pinstriped brown suit pull a lever at a console, "Safe and sound!"
And then they noticed…the room was enormous! But…that box, they'd briefly glimpsed it as they ran for it, it was so small, looked a bit like a police box now that they thought about it, but still. What?! And how were they still alive?
"Alright there Jack?" the ginger woman called as she reached out a hand to help Jack to his feet.
The team just watched, stunned, as Jack jumped up and, using the hand he was holding, pulled the ginger into his arms, lifting her up as he spun her around, hugging her, "I'm brilliant! You have no idea how glad I am to see you!" he cheered, setting her down but hugging her again, "I could kiss you!"
"I'm right here Jack," the man in the pinstripe suit called, "You kiss her I'll have the TARDIS throw you out!"
Jack rolled his eyes and put his arm around the ginger woman's shoulders, "Yeah, like she'd," he nodded at the woman in question, "Let you do that to me."
"Can someone please tell me what the hell is going on?" Owen demanded as he sat up on the floor, Tosh still shaking beside him as Ianto stared at the bigger-on-the-inside room.
"Oh he's cheery," the man remarked.
"And you're rude," the ginger stepped away from Jack and walked over to the man, slipping an arm around his waist which made him beam.
"I'm Donna," another ginger woman, slightly older, stepped over to them, helping Tosh to her feet, "Sorry about him, like she said, he's rude and'll forget to introduce himself, and Angel just gets distracted by him a lot."
"Oi!" the man pouted while the other ginger, Angel Donna had said, just nodded and agreed, "That's true."
"Sorry," Ianto stood as well, snapping himself out of his shock, "But…who exactly are you?"
"I'm the Doctor," the Doctor grinned, "And this is my Mate, the Angel."
"That's not what they're supposed to call me," Angel reminded him with a poke to the side.
"Oh, right," he grinned, "Well, go on," he nudged her, "Say it," he wiggled his finger at her nose, "You know you've been dy…" he swallowed, "You've wanted to for ages."
Angel smiled and looked up at the team just picking themselves up, "Hello, it's nice to meet you, I'm Angie Harkness."
The team's eyes widened as they stared at her, Angie Harkness…Jack's baby sister…
"I usually go by Angel though," Angel added, "Or Angela Jones."
"Technically speaking," the Doctor cut in, "It's THE Angel of Gallifrey. Or, the Time Lady Angel. Or my Mate, whichever you prefer."
Angel smiled, "I like the last one."
The Doctor beamed at her, "Me too."
"Time Lady?" Tosh shook her head.
"You said she was your sister," Ianto looked at Jack.
"She is," Jack nodded, "I met Angie and the Doc after I went rogue from the Time Agency," he explained to them, "Travelled with them for a while, got to know them, and Angel…" he smiled at her, "She just grew to be like my little sister."
"Like you're my big brother," Angel smiled at him.
"He um," Tosh began, "He talks about you ALL the time."
"He never STOPS talking about you," Owen grumbled.
The Doctor beamed at that, pleased to know that Jack still spoke of Angel often.
Angel though, blushed and looked at the team, "Sorry but…which one of you is Ianto?" she looked between Owen and Ianto. She knew, of course she knew, but the Doctor didn't know that she'd kept tabs on Jack that entire time he'd thought she thought he'd died.
Ianto glanced at the team before hesitantly holding up a hand, "Me."
Angel walked over to him, standing before him with her eyes narrowed as she looked at him, searching his eyes for something, making him shift uneasily before she crossed her arms, trying her very best to look intimidating but to everyone besides Ianto she just looked adorable, "Are you very careful that you don't step on Jack's toes as his dance partner?"
"ANGIE!" Jack cried from behind her as the Doctor laughed hysterically, revenge was sweet!
"Um…" Ianto frowned, not entirely sure what she was talking about but then again, Jack had mentioned his sister was rather odd in her phrasings. He just assumed it had something to do with him being careful not to hurt Jack, "Yes?"
She beamed, "Good, now one more test…" she stepped closer...
And hugged him tightly.
Ianto blinked, a bit startled, but returned the hug when he saw Jack smiling at him over Angel's shoulders.
"Brilliant," Angel whispered as she pulled way, "VERY nice hug," she told Ianto before turning to Jack, "I approve."
"Glad you do," Jack laughed moving over to Angel and grabbing her around the middle, hugging her from behind as he lifted her up and spun her around, making her laugh, making the team smile to see him so happy.
"How did you do that though, just…appear?" Owen shook his head, "And what is this place?"
"This is the TARDIS," Angel explained as Jack set her down once more, "She's our ship."
"Our ship," the Doctor smiled, reaching out and pulling Angel from Jack's hold and to him, wrapping his arms around her from behind, holding her back to his front as he rested his chin on her head, "I LOVE the sound of that."
"It can travel anywhere in space and time," Jack added, "Just appears with that weird noise…"
"The brakes," Angel explained, "It's the brakes, the Doctor always leaves them on."
"But how did you know to go there?" Owen continued, it was really bothering him how they just…appeared. He was grateful for it, yeah, but he didn't like the idea of someone watching him…
"She's psychic," the Doctor winked.
Owen scoffed, "There's no such thing."
Donna crossed, "One minute we were all set to land in the Plass and the next Angel was shouting that we need to go to some warehouse in the middle of nowhere and then she ran to the doors and…"
Jack just laughed, "You're an angel Ang."
Angel gave him a smile, "Need to live up to my title, don't I?"
He shrugged, "I don't know, I sort of like Angie Harkness better."
She laughed, before gasping, "Oh!" she grabbed Donna's arm and pulled her over to Jack, "I need to introduce you to Donna," she smiled, putting her hand on Donna's shoulder, "Donna meet our brother Jack, Jack, our new sister Donna."
Donna and Jack nodded along before Angel's words reached them, and they stared at her, "Brother?" Donna shouted, the man was too handsome!
"Sister?" Jack gaped at the same time, how was he going to flirt now?
Angel nodded, "Jack is my older brother in every way that matters," she told Donna, and then looked at Jack, "And Donna became my sister because she had to be the Doctor's companion."
Jack looked at Donna and eyed her appraisingly, she did have a resemblance to Angel what with the ginger hair, "I've got another sister then," he hummed, "Well mom's sure got some explaining to do."
"And who are your friends?" the Doctor asked, stepping over to the gingers, nodding at the team who were still partially in shock, staring up at the room.
Jack grinned, "Owen, medical director, Toshiko…"
"Tosh," Tosh smiled.
"Technological expert, and Ianto," Jack put his arm around Ianto, "Our administrator, maker of the best coffee in the Universe."
"And your dance partner," Angel added.
Jack blushed faintly, "Yeah, and that. There's also Gwen, but she's home with her guy Rhys…"
"No she's not," Angel shook her head.
They looked at her.
She just smiled and led them over to the console, bringing up the monitor where they could see a car pulling up to the warehouse. A frantic woman, who vaguely resembled Gwyneth to the Doctor, got out and ran towards the smoking debris that was the warehouse with a slightly plump man running after her.
"You should probably tell her you're not buried in there," Angel frowned at the building, "It doesn't look safe."
"On it," the Doctor grinned, moving to the console and setting some controls, Angel helping, even Jack, and Donna a bit, impressing the Time Agent that the ginger also could fly the TARDIS even just a little.
~8~
"Oh my God," Gwen panted, her hands in her hair as she stared at the wreckage. She'd been late, overslept, just got a call from Ianto about meeting there and, just as they saw the warehouse…it exploded, with her team inside.
"Gwen!" Rhys ran up to her, trying to hold her back from running into it to check for their bodies, "You can't go in there! It's gonna collapse any second."
"But they're in there," she struggled, "I have to…"
Her words were cut off by a wheezing filling the air, a bright blue, police telephone box appearing two feet in front of her as they stared.
A moment later the doors opened and Jack was leaning in the threshold, "I heard someone calling for God," he winked, "You rang?"
"Jack!" Gwen gasped, leaping at him and hugging him tightly, before pulling away and whacking him hard on the arm, "What the hell happened?!"
Jack just laughed and pushed himself out of the box, stepping past Gwen, letting Owen, and Tosh, and Ianto, and Donna, and the Time Lords out as well.
"How did you all fit in that little box?" Rhys asked, "How did that box even get here?!"
"What is he doing here?" Jack eyed Rhys.
"Look, I was late, ok," Gwen huffed, "He gave me a lift. Are you all ok?" she looked at the team, physically touching them to see for herself.
"We're fine," Tosh smiled, hugging Gwen tightly, seeing her worried.
"We were lucky," Owen said.
"Jack's sister saved us," Ianto nodded at Angel.
"Hello," Angel waved at her, "Nice to meet you, Gwen right?"
Gwen just stared at her, "Oh my God," she breathed.
"Tell me, Gwen," the Doctor cut in, his arm around Angel's shoulders, "Are you from an old Cardiff family?"
Gwen blinked, a bit surprised, not quite sure what that had to do with anything, "Yes, all the way back to the 1800s."
"Brilliant," he beamed, looking at Angel, "Spatial genetic multiplicity!"
"You're being rude," Angel smiled at him, "You haven't introduced yourself yet."
"Right yes," he looked at Gwen, "Hello, I'm the Doctor, and this is Donna," he nodded to his other side where Donna was standing.
"And this is a spaceship," Donna nodded at the box, just to get it out there.
"A spaceship?" Rhys gaped.
Jack nodded, "They got us out in time," he told Gwen.
"Jack, who's done this?" Gwen asked him, concerned and confused.
Just as Jack went to answer, his Vortex Manipulator beeped. He held it up and a hologram of a man in an old-fashioned soldier's uniform appeared, his hair slicked back, the team groaned, clearly knowing the man while the time travelling trio stared, confused.
"Who's that?" the Doctor frowned.
"Captain John Hart," Owen grumbled, "Ex-Time Agent and ex-lover of Jack's."
"Jack, what does he want?" Gwen groaned.
"Oh, déjà vu!" the man in the hologram smirked, "Or did I say that already? Hey, team. Course, there might be a few less of you by now…" well at least they knew it was a recording, "Don't know if you liked my little gift. Course, you can't die. And with all that life, all that time, you can't spare any for me. Oh! Say hi to the family," the hologram hit a button on his own manipulator and another hologram appeared of a man, who looked surprisingly like Jack, standing there, his hands bound, in an old jumpsuit, worn from age and dirt, bruises on his face, scars on his neck.
"No...it can't be," Jack breathed.
"Jack…" Angel stepped beside him, staring at the second hologram for some reason, "Who is he?"
"Been a while since you've seen your brother, eh, Jack," John smirked.
"Gray?" Jack stared, his eyes filling with tears.
Angel's eyes widened as she stared at the hologram, taking Jack's hand in her own. Jack had a brother…she knew he had a daughter, he'd promised to introduce her to her and his grandson, and she knew he had a brother, he'd told her, but…he'd implied the boy had died. Yet there he was, and…she felt her stomach unsettle, there was something…wrong about him…he wasn't like Jack at all…
"Ok, here's what's going to happen," John continued, "Everything you love, everything you treasure, will die," Jack squeezed Angel's hand at that, "I'm going to tear your world apart, Captain Jack Harkness, piece by piece. Starting now. Maybe now you'll wanna spend some time with me."
Gray blinked out, just as he'd looked up where Jack was, John following.
"We need to go, now!" Jack turned around, only to see that the SUV was too close to the warehouse, the building partially collapsed on it, crushing it.
"Bastard John's taken out the SUV," Owen grunted.
"Looks like he's in Torchwood," Ianto called, looking at a scanner in Tosh's hand.
Tosh nodded, "I'm getting readings of Rift activity all over the city. Major Rift flares at St. Helen's Hospital, the Police Headquarters, and the Central IT Server Station…"
Gwen pulled out her phone as it rang, one of her fellow officers, "Hey, Andy?"
"Gwen, you've gotta get here right now! I'm serious, we need you."
"Ok, I'm on my way, alright?" she hung up and looked at Jack, "This is him, isn't it? This Captain John, or whatever he likes to call himself."
"We need to get out of here" Jack shouted, spinning around.
"We can take my car," Rhys offered.
"We'll never fit 9 people in it," Jack shook his head, "It's too small..."
When the Doctor cleared his throat behind him.
Jack turned, watching as the Doctor smirked and nudged the doors to the TARDIS open, "All aboard," he called.
Jack smiled and ran into the box, Angel laughing as she joined the Doctor by the doors, "Go on," she nodded to the others to head in as well, "Plenty of room."
"You think we're all gonna fit in here?" Rhys scoffed.
Donna laughed and took the man's arm as he hesitated, "Wait till you see it!" she led him in, Gwen and Rhys staring at the larger space beyond.
"Doc, take me to Torchwood, then drop Tosh and Ianto off at the central server building, Gwen, the police station, and Owen, the hospital."
"Jack," Angel stepped beside him, taking his hand as he started putting in coordinates, "It's a trap, all of it."
Jack kissed her forehead, "I know, so I need you guys to watch my team for me," he looked between her, Donna, and the Doctor, "No one else I trust."
The Doctor nodded, "I can take the hospital with Owen is it?" he looked at the man who nodded, "I'm a doctor after all, Donna, why don't you go with Tosh and Ianto…"
"But I can't even med a fuse!" Donna reminded him, there was little she'd be able to do in a server building.
"Supertemp can do anything she sets her mind to," Angel reminded her, "Right?" she nudged her.
Donna sighed and smiled, "Right Supergirl."
"I suppose I get to go with Jack then?" Angel smiled.
"NO!" Jack and the Doctor both shouted.
She frowned, "Why?"
"You don't know what John's capable of Angie," Jack squeezed her hand, "I'd rather have you with Gwen in a police station…"
"Actually, maybe she should go to the hospital instead of me," the Doctor remarked, "Too many people running around with guns in a police station…"
"Oi!" Gwen glared at him for the slight.
"But like you said Doc," Jack countered, "YOU'RE a doctor, you can help more at a hospital."
"I'll be fine," Angel promised, kissing the Doctor quickly, "I'll be in a room full of people dedicated to helping and protecting others, think of it that way," he sighed but nodded, kissing her again, as she turned to Jack, "What about you?"
"I'm gonna go reason with John," Jack said.
"He just tried to kill us!" Owen shouted.
"I was the only one who could ever control him. That's why the Time Agency partnered us."
"Sounds familiar," the Doctor remarked, smiling at Angel as he kissed her hair, he was known to fly off the handle, get worked up, get frustrated, Angel was really the only one who kept him balanced and in control. Lord knew what he would be without her.
Rhys blinked, "Did you just say Time Agency? Don't tell me that's based in Cardiff too?!"
Angel blinked and turned to him, "And you're IN a time machine now."
"I'm in a what?!"
"Hold on!" the Doctor cut in, pulling a lever as the TARDIS took off, sending them crashing all over the place.
"Why's he doing this Jack?" Tosh shouted over the noise, "What does he want?"
"That's what I'm going to go ask," he said, his voice determined.
~8~
Jack stood outside the door to the Torchwood command center, taking a deep breath before entering, the door rolling away to let him in, only to hear 'I Lost My Heart to a Starship Trooper' by Sarah Brightman playing and John on the upper level waving a scarf over his head, dancing to it, "Come on! Sing along! It's our song!"
"We don't have a song," he stated, "And if we did have a song, it wouldn't be this song."
John pouted and put down the scarf, "You're no fun!" he raised his hand and pressed a button on his own manipulator, which beeped and turned off the music.
"Thank you."
"I've been here quite a while, what kept you?" he asked, heading down the stairs to join him.
"We all survived."
"I can see that," John eyed him appreciatively, "You know, you look pretty good for someone who just got crushed by a building."
"We didn't," Jack smirked, "We weren't even inside…"
John frowned, "You were, my scanners picked you up on the prototypes…"
"Yeah, well, if you're gonna set off explosions, make sure your target doesn't have a psychic for a sister," he crossed his arms, "She saw it coming and came to get us out just in time."
"What do you mean 'sister?'" John shook his head.
Jack shook his in return, not about to let him in on it, "What do you want?"
"I want you to know that I love you."
"Funny way of showing it, you know, my sister just gives me hugs."
John stared at him a moment as to why he kept bringing up a sister when he knew he only had a brother, before turning around, "No, seriously. You have to understand. I really do love you," he spun around, two machine guns in hand, and fired them off at Jack, shooting him right in the chest, till he fell over into a small bit of water on the ground, dead.
John walked over, looking solemnly down at the man's prone form, "Because this...is gonna get nasty."
~8~
"Just…try to keep calm," Gwen was saying to Angel as she led the girl and Rhys into the station, the Doctor having just dropped them off, "You'll probably see some bad things…"
"I'll be ok Gwen," Angel smiled at the woman for her concern. They stepped into the station to see police everywhere, blood everywhere, a body lying on the steps, two in the hall, medical examining them, taking pictures.
"Andy!" Gwen shouted, spotting a fellow officer.
"They just appeared out of nowhere, across the whole building," Andy ran to her side, "They weren't human, least not like any human I've ever seen. The whole station's in shock. Four most senior officers, murdered. Everyone's running round like headless chickens," Gwen stepped past him, and then he noticed Rhys, "Whoa, whoa, whoa. Rhys, what you doing here? And who're you?" he looked at Angel.
"I'm Angel, nice to meet you," she smiled, despite the gruesome scene before them.
"This is a crime scene," Andy shook his head, "And a confidential crime scene at that. If it gets out what happened here, there'll be a citywide panic…"
"Rhys isn't gonna go blabbing," Gwen told him, "And Angel's not going to say."
"I'm keeping more secrets than you'd ever believe," Rhys nodded.
"Like what?" Andy scoffed.
"Like a Time Agency based in Cardiff! And she's an alien with a huge phone box that travels though time!" he pointed at Angel.
"It's not actually based in Cardiff," Angel patted Rhys on the shoulder, not disputing his second statement.
"Brilliant secret," Andy rolled his eyes, "I ask, you tell. Well done," before he frowned, "And what do you mean she's an alien?" he looked at Angel, "She don't look like those things, she looks like us!"
"I'm a Time Lady," she smiled, "Technically you look like me."
Andy opened his mouth to comment on that when they heard a growling through a door a few feet away. They walked over, Gwen cautiously opening the peephole to see Weevils inside, growling and snarling and rushing around the room, about four of them. Angel pulled Gwen back when one caught sight of her and lunged at the peephole.
"Bloody hell," Rhys breathed, "What are they?"
"Weevils," Gwen stated.
"Tell me you're joking," Rhys breathed.
"Weevils," Angel frowned, thinking about that species, "They…live in the sewers don't they?"
"Aren't you an alien?" Andy looked at Angel, "Shouldn't you know where they live?"
Angel blinked, "I'm a Time Lady not a Weevil Queen," she shook her head, "And I didn't do very well in school when it came to learning about other species, well, except humans…"
"You studied us in school?" Andy stared at her.
"We studied loads of species in school," she nodded, "But I didn't really pay attention much."
"Wait…you went to school?"
She laughed, "Andy, almost every planet in the galaxy has an education system of some sort, most important thing, being clever."
"Don't mind if I subdue them, do you?" Gwen asked, getting them back to point, as she pulled out a canister of something.
"Be my guest," Andy gestured at the door.
"What is that?" Angel asked, putting her hand on Gwen's to stop her a moment, "It's not going to hurt them will it?"
"Hurt THEM?" Andy gaped as he and Rhys said the same thing.
"They just killed people!" Andy added.
"That's no excuse to kill them either," Angel shook her head, "They're scared and frightened, they don't like being out of the sewers, someone forced them out."
"How do you know that?" Andy eyed her, suspicious now, here was an alien who seemed to know what the other aliens were thinking.
"She's psychic," Gwen answered, Jack had told them ALL about Angel, "It's a sedative," she reassured the girl, before tossing it into the hatch, closing it, a small bit of gas emitting under the door. She waited a moment till it cleared before looking in to see they were passed out and turned back to Andy as Angel moved to check the hole herself, "They killed the four most senior officers?"
"Almost like it was targeted," he nodded.
"It was," Angel remarked, staring at the Weevils, "Like I said, someone forced them out of their homes," she stood up quickly, swaying at bit, closing her eyes as she held her head.
"You alright?" Gwen moved beside her to steady her.
"Fine," she nodded, she'd begged the Doctor not to tell Jack what was wrong, not wanting to worry him while he defended the Earth, "Just…stood too quickly."
~8~
"Tosh, report where you are," Tosh looked down at the sound of Gwen calling over the comms..
"Just entering the Central Server," she replied, "No sign of Rift activity yet."
"So you lot protect the city?" Donna asked as she followed Ianto and Tosh into the building, "Like UNIT?"
"Yeah," Tosh nodded, smiling, "Much quieter than UNIT though, there's only five of us."
"MUCH quieter," Donna nodded, "You're not shoving people to their knees in broad daylight and waving guns around at them."
"So you've met UNIT then?" Ianto glanced at her.
Donna smiled, "Martha Jones called us up to help her with some Sonterens, er, Sontarans."
"How is she?" Tosh asked, Martha had come to work for them a little while ago, on loan from UNIT.
"That was you?" Ianto questioned at the same time, they'd been monitoring the Sontaran attack, the gas and the ATMOS, ready to step in if UNIT failed, but they'd succeeded at the last moment. Not to sound pompous but, they weren't really expecting UNIT to succeed.
"Oh yeah," Donna laughed, "I was the one on the Sontaran ship that got the teleport working."
"That's incredible, what was it like up there?" Tosh asked.
"Terrifying, not quite as bad as this though," she murmured as they entered a darkened room, full of computers and rows of wires, everything dark, and eerie, and quiet, it was weird how much more creepy Earth could be in a room like this than an alien ship was, "What is this place exactly?"
"This building houses servers for the military, police, NHS, even looks after the server systems for the nuclear station at Turnmill," Tosh explained.
"What problem did they report?" Ianto looked at her.
"Ghosts in these server stacks."
"Ghosts?" Donna scoffed, "Isn't that a bit Dickens? Not really alien is it? I mean, it can't be aliens can it? Or are they alien ghosts?"
"I think we're about to find out," Tosh remarked, hearing a faint growling behind them.
They turned slowly to see three men dressed in monk robes and holding scythes, "Huh," Ianto murmured, eyeing them.
"So…not ghosts then?" Donna asked hopefully, if they weren't ghosts then they were solid, then they could be knocked out or something.
"Doesn't look like it," Tosh nodded.
"But aliens then?"
"Could be," Ianto agreed.
"Devils!" one of the monks cried in a deep voice, "Blasphemers! Pray to your heathen God. While in the Lord's name, we cast you out!" they started to advance, their weapons raised…
As Tosh and Ianto just looked at each other and pulled their guns, Donna wincing as they shot the three men down.
"There we are then," Ianto remarked.
"Sorted," Tosh smiled.
"Wasn't that…" Donna frowned, before trailing off.
"What?" Tosh looked at her.
"A bit…weird?"
"No more than usual," Ianto shrugged.
"No I mean," she huffed, trying to think of a way to say it, "Three monks? In a service tower? Stopped by bullets?" she shook her head, "Wasn't it a bit…easy?"
Ianto and Tosh looked at each other again, now that they thought about it, it was really random and…very easy…
~8~
"Owen, do you have anything to report?" Gwen called over the comm. as Owen walked through the halls of the hospital, following a female doctor down the stairs, the Doctor casually following, his hands in his pockets, whistling a little tune. It was really starting to irritate Owen, but it was all the Doctor could do to distract himself from the fact that something was going on…and Angel wasn't with him, he wasn't with her, where he could protect her.
But she'd been right, she was in a room full of people who would die to protect others, probably as safe as she could be when he wasn't there to watch over her himself. And…she was in one spot, in one small building, there wouldn't be much running around, there would be ample food and drink and chairs for her to rest in…she wouldn't be stressing herself out which was what he wanted. He didn't want her to overexert herself.
"We've got some activity in the basement," Owen replied.
The Doctor pulled out his sonic and scanned it around just as they reached the bottom level, "Yep, picking up some alien DNA," he nodded, "Ooh," he hissed through his teeth, seeing the results, "You've got a Hoix loose," he grimaced, "Hate Hoix. Last one we met tried to eat Angel. Well, I say tried, I wasn't letting that happen. And he was probably trying to eat the pork chop she was holding. Probably shouldn't have let her do that, don't like her facing down dangerous aliens. Good thing I sent her to the station with Gwen, eh?" he nudged Owen, who looked highly unamused.
"Do you ever stop talking?" he asked the man with a huff before walking off after the female doctor as she stopped by a set of doors.
"Only for one thing," the Doctor told him, ambling on after him, "And I'm NOT taking a kiss from anyone but Angel."
Owen rolled his eyes at the man, Jack was right, 'the Doctor' could certainly gob on and on if given the time.
"Coming back from a fag break," the female doctor explained as they stepped up, "Saw the door open and there it is! Chewing through the cables. So I locked it in."
The Doctor grinned and knocked on the door…only for a rattling to sound inside, like something dropping something, and a Hoix slammed itself against the doors, making Owen and the woman jump back, but the Doctor just lean in closer to look at it.
"What the hell is it?" the woman gasped.
"Short answer?" Owen sighed, "It's an alien."
"Alien?!"
"Technically, it's a Hoix, I just said that, didn't I just say that?" the Doctor looked back at her before shrugging and turning back, watching the Hoix turn and leave, back to whatever itw was trying to eat, "Hoix, carnivorous, well, omnivorous creatures from a little known galaxy half a Universe away, lives to eat, everything it comes across. Sort of like the Racnoss but more of an animalistic mind to it, doesn't communicate, just eats. Managed to track one down to a warehouse once for a friend," he glanced at the woman again, "You wouldn't happen to have any water and oil would you?"
"What'?"
"Hoix are allergic to water mixed with oil."
"They are?" Owen blinked, that would have been useful to know, "Caught one in Barry last year in a kebab shop, it went through seven doner sticks in 20 minutes. Could have used that then," he muttered, before glancing at the woman, "Now, have you got the keys?"
"No need," the Doctor grinned, holding up the sonic, "Not a deadlock so I can get us in easy peasy."
"What's that?" the woman asked as Owen nodded at the Doctor and pulled a rolled up cloth out of his pocket, taking out something that looked like a large thin cylinder but with a sharp tip.
"All species sedative," the Doctor scanned it with the sonic, "Nice work."
Owen smirked, "Thank you," he nodded, "Now, food," he glanced at the woman, "You got anything it can eat?"
"Only these," she held up a pack of cigarettes.
"I can do you one better," the Doctor pulled out a raw steak from his pocket.
Owen stared at him, "Why have you got raw meat in your pocket? How did that even fit in there?" it was a decent sized piece of meat.
The Doctor shrugged, grinning like an idiot, "I have no idea."
Owen shook his head, hearing the rattling inside again, no time to waste asking about pockets, "Wish us luck!" he called to the woman as the Doctor soniced the lock and they ran in.
"I'll cover the Hoix," the Doctor said, suddenly serious, "Distract it, you sneak up around it and sedate it."
Owen nodded and stepped to the side, moving around the room.
The Doctor held up the steak, "Hoixy, where are you? Here boy. Come out, come out, wherever you are…"
He smiled as the Hoix appeared and started to inch towards him, its eyes on the steak.
"There you are. Look what I've got. That's it, good boy, come to me. Come on, that's it, here we are…now!" he shouted.
Owen leapt out and stabbed the Hoix in the neck with the sedative, "You really are quite stupid, aren't you?" he asked the alien as it sank to the ground, subdued.
"Oh nice team!" the Doctor held up his hand and high-fived Owen, the two doctors grinning down at the fallen alien.
~8~
Gwen watched Angel as she stood to the side, her arms crossed, staring at the white sheets over the bodies of the four officers, a frown on her face, looking…so sad.
"You alright?" Gwen walked over to her, putting a hand on her shoulder.
"Fine."
Gwen laughed, "Jack was right, you couldn't lie to save your life."
"I just…" she glanced at the bodies, "I don't like death. It's just…so final."
"Happens to us all," Gwen sighed, "Just a natural part of life but," she nudged the girl, "Think of it this way, when we're gone, it gives us more power to watch over the ones we love. Because we never really leave them, we're always with them, protecting them."
Angel smiled, "That's a nice way to think of it."
Gwen nodded, "Being a police officer," she looked around, "You have to be aware that it could happen, at any moment, and you need to be at peace with it."
"You are a brilliant woman Gwen."
Gwen smiled, "I know," she laughed.
Angel laughed as well when her expression grew distant, her smile fading.
"Angel?" Gwen eyed her, "You ok?"
Angel blinked…
...Jack struggled, dangling between two chains, writhing as he was electrocuted...
...the Torchwood team stood on rooftops, watching as bombs went off all over the city...
...Jack grabbed onto John, the two glowing with the Rift energy and disappeared...
...Jack gasped as he was stabbed through the gut by a sword...
"Oh my God," she breathed, grabbing the side of her head as she nearly fell against the wall, a searing pain ripping through her mind as she panted.
"Angel!" Gwen gasped, moving to help her, "Are you alright? What happened?"
Angel could only shake her head, "I have to go..." she breathed, pushing herself off the wall and running off.
'Doctor!'
~8~
Jack, hanging between two chains by his wrists, gasped awake, to find himself restrained, John before him, watching him struggle and thrash, pulling on the chains.
"Comms. and weapons have been removed, in case you're wondering, so no chance of rescue," John remarked.
Jack scoffed, "What part of 'my sister is psychic' did you not understand?" he glared a little at John, "She's knows exactly what you did to me."
John held up his hands, "Then where is she?" he smirked.
"This is a little extreme, don't you think?" Jack asked, not wanting to get into it, if Angel wasn't there at the moment it was because she was either dealing with something herself, not an option because he'd sent her with Gwen to keep her safe, or the Doctor found out and wouldn't let her into a room with a man who loved machine guns, something he would NOT fault him for.
"Oh, what, suddenly you're anti bondage?" John grabbed a photo in a frame, a book-like frame, one photo on one side, another on the other, one of the Doctor, Martha, him, and Angel just after the Year-That-Never-Was, and the other was of Alice and Stephen, not that anyone commented on it, he just told the team it was from a previous mission with Torchwood, that he had to play 'father' for some reason and was friends with the woman and her son, anything to keep his daughter and grandson safe.
"Why are you here?" he nearly barked.
"Well, see...now you're interested in me. It's always the same, nobody cares until you tie them up. Number of reasons, actually. First of all, you were very rude to me," he moved to the computers across from Jack, fiddling with them.
"What?!"
"Very rude indeed. In front of people who barely knew me. You belittled me. Can't let that go."
"You're serious?" he scoffed.
"Second…you have all of time. Eternity, essentially. And you still refused to spend time with me. After all we've been through together, after all I've done for you."
"Where's Gray? What've you done with my brother?"
John just stared at him, "You don't realize, actions, ramifications, ripples in the pond. It's beyond my control."
"Beyond your control?! Please!"
"It is," he sighed, "You need to understand that. So…" he resumed his work, "Localize the Rift storms, a few short sharp shocks..."
"Don't touch those controls!" Jack snapped.
"Oi, I'm working here!" John pressed a button on his manipulator and Jack was electrocuted, "If you don't want that again, keep quiet," he turned back to the controls.
"No," Jack called, struggling.
"So, I think we're ready to find a vantage point," John nodded, ignoring Jack, "Bit more power," he plugged a cable into the Rift Manipulator, "Routing the power from the nuclear reactor…and…" he grinned, watching the main column start to rise and fall.
"Hey!" Jack cried.
"And…" John nodded, hitting a button, "We're all set."
"Whatever you're planning, we're gonna stop you," Jack glared.
"Oh," John scoffed, "Ok," he moved around to the front of the computers, crossing his arms, "Go on, then. Stop me. I hope you can, really," he smirked as Jack struggled to break through but couldn't, "No? Alright, let's go get ourselves a good view," he pressed a button on the manipulator and Jack fell to the ground, in pain, John quickly making his way to him and grabbing him by the cuffs, hauling him up and forcing him off, up and up and up, as high as they could go outside Torchwood, into the night, up to the top of a castle tower.
"What the hell are we doing here?" Jack panted.
"This is a good view," John shrugged but then Jack lunged at him…only to be electrocuted again, "I told you, no struggling."
"I can make things right with you."
"You don't understand. You can't ever make this right," he hit a button on his comm., "Attention...Torchwood employees!" he smirked, knowing they were all listening, all over the city, "Evening all! Now, stop what you're doing."
"Jack, what's going on, are you ok?" Gwen came back.
"Jack can't come to the comms. right now. But if you leave a message, I'll be sure and pass it along."
"What've you done to him?" Tosh asked.
"No, no, wrong question. You should be asking…what am I about to do to you?"
"Put Jack on right now!" Ianto demanded.
"Eye Candy! That was so masterful, so bossy, so basically…powerless. Get up to the roofs of your buildings. Quickly now, spit spot."
"Why?" Owen asked, though they could hear him running, hear all of them running really.
"'Cos if you don't, you'll miss all the fun. Hold on a minute, do I mean fun or do I mean carnage? I get them confused. Are you running yet? No dawdling now!"
"What're you doing?" Jack eyed him as he pulled out a box, a detonator.
"I'm sorry," John said to him quietly, waiting till he was sure that every member of Torchwood was on a roof somewhere, looking out at the city, even Jack getting up to look, "Now...Cardiff! Isn't it pretty? Doesn't it twinkle so? Take a good look. Remember this...because it all goes so quick."
He held up the box…and pressed it…
And…
Nothing happened.
"What?!" John looked at the box, whacking it, pressing the button again, and again, and again, but still…nothing.
"Oh sorry!" the Doctor's voice came over the comm., "Didn't anyone ever tell you never to go to war against a psychic? And my Mate is the most powerful one of them all."
"I'm really not," Angel said modestly, "But I DID know about the bombs John," she continued, John looking stunned, "And what you did to Jack, that wasn't nice of you to hurt my brother like that."
He looked at Jack, stunned as the man just grinned at him, smirked really, "Told you."
"We diffused them," the Doctor continued, "Angel knew exactly where to look and with a little help from my trusty sonic screwdriver," there was a soft whirring noise of the sonic going, "The whole thing went kaput."
"We're not about to let you destroy the city John, I'm sorry," Angel told him, "We've found all 15 of the bombs, no one here will die today. No one."
John swallowed hard, Jack eyeing him as his hand went to his wrist, not to the manipulator but to something else on it, seemingly about to push it.
"No!" Jack lunged forward, not sure what it was, not willing to find out. He grabbed onto John…just as they both started to glow with the Rift energy…and disappeared in a flash of light…
~8~
"What just happened?" Donna's voice asked over the comm., still out there with Tosh and Ianto as the Time Lords ran around the console, the whole box going crazy and sparking wildly at the use of the Rift.
"John's opened the Rift," Angel told them.
"He's transported them both somewhere in time," the Doctor added.
"Jack?" Gwen tried the comm. directly linked to Jack, "Jack, can you hear me? Are you there? Jack!"
But there was no reply.
"Huge Rift flare over at the castle," Tosh reported, "It's been generated by the Rift Manipulator at Torchwood!"
"Oh you're good!" the Doctor grinned, when another spark went off.
"Something bad though," Ianto cut in, "John's routed all the power from the nuclear plant to the Rift Manipulator, all the systems are running at full power, they're gonna overheat."
"Right," Gwen sighed, taking charge, "Tosh, Ianto, Donna, you have to stabilize the nuclear power station, make that a priority. Owen, what's it like at the hospital?"
"Half the power's generated by the plant," he sighed, "We're losing more and more of it, but the backup generators are holding for now.
"Ok, all of you, listen to me. We're gonna fix this, we're gonna stop the plant, get the power back, we're gonna find Jack, and we're gonna punish John. Now, I need you to be careful. Ok? Where are you, Jack? Where are you?"
"Gwen?" Angel called, "We might be able to find Jack," she told the woman, "We'll run some scans see if we can track the backlash of the Rift."
"Good, do it," Gwen replied.
"I love it when you talk technical," the Doctor grinned at Angel, kissing her quickly, before they ran around the console, now calmed, and tried to find Jack.
~8~
Jack leapt to his feet, to find himself in the middle of a wide field, in the day, trees here and there, in the middle of absolutely nowhere.
"We're safe," John called as he walked out from the trees towards him, "Now, before you do anything rash, you have to hear..."
Jack just punched him in the face, "Take us back now!"
"No way. We have to be this far to escape the trigger signal!"
"What?" Jack shook his head, not understanding.
John just pulled the sleeve of his shirt back and held out his arm to Jack, showing him something, a wrist device bonded to his wrist, literally fused to his skin, "Look at it! Go on. It's bonded to my skin. I can't get it off. Open it."
Jack flipped it open, staring at the tech, "Whoa."
"Ninth generation detonator," John nodded.
Jack stepped back quickly, pointing at him, "You're a walking bomb!"
"Add to that a surveillance circuit, to monitor my every word and action, and he has me doing…anything I'm told. 'Cos if I don't...boom!" he threw out his hands, "I'm not my own man. I thought you'd see that. But oh, no, you're so self-obsessed you thought I'd want to blow up your stupid city! When I could be experiencing 17 simultaneous pleasures in the Lotus Nebula! Not that it even did any good with your bloody so-called sis…ter…" he trailed off, seeing something behind Jack, "Uh oh...just run."
"Oh, please, that is the oldest trick in the book," Jack shook his head, not about to turn around.
"Jack?" someone called behind him.
He turned to see the man from the hologram, his brother, walking towards him from across the field, "Gray?!" he breathed, remembering the time he'd lost his brother. They'd been running from an alien attack, he'd slipped from his hold and, by the time he'd realized that his brother wasn't with him anymore…it was too late.
"I never stopped believing," Gray smiled, "I always knew we'd find each other again!" he reached out and pulled Jack into the biggest hug of his life.
"I'm sorry," Jack murmured, his eyes filled with tears, seeing the scars on his brother's neck, he'd been such a young boy, a child, Stephen's age, and the aliens that took him…they were notorious for torture.
Gray smirked, only John able to see it over Jack's shoulder, "'Sorry's not good enough," he spat, stabbing Jack in the stomach with a sword, watching emotionlessly as Jack fell to the ground, twitching, the sword still in his chest before he died.
He looked up at John, "Get a shovel."
~8~
"Go!" Ianto called as Donna held a torch behind him, letting him fiddle with some wires, giving him light.
"It won't work!" Tosh huffed as she tried her own controls.
Ianto tweaked another wire and sighed, "Nothing, sorry."
"What do we do now?" Donna looked at them, she really was out of her depth here, she had no idea what to do or what she could do to help, she really could barely mend a fuse and this was nuclear physics or something.
"We need to re-start the Turnmill servers," Tosh told her.
"And what if you can't?"
"Then the reactor goes into meltdown."
"Then I'm going up there," Ianto nodded.
"What?" Donna gaped.
"Ianto!" Tosh shook her head.
"Look, if we can't fix the remote servers, there must be something I can do on-site to prevent nuclear meltdown," Ianto reasoned.
"That could be suicide!"
"Are we gonna discuss it, or are we gonna do it?"
"Ok, but we both go."
"No," Donna cut in, "The THREE of us go."
"Donna…" Tosh began, shaking her head.
Donna, while not a part of Torchwood, had proven herself to have the spirit of one of the team, she had to have that to travel with the Doctor and Angel, but this…this was really dangerous.
"Look," Donna cut in, "I know I may not be able to help, but Angel's my sister, we're close, if anything goes wrong, she'll sense it, I know she will. She'll sense me more than you," she explained, "If I go, if anything goes wrong, she'll know to come and get us."
The Torchwood team looked at each other before nodding, at least they had some semblance of safety now. That Donna woman, they could almost see her as Jack's sister as well, she really was remarkably brave.
"Right then, let's go," Ianto nodded as they headed for the door.
~8~
Jack had woken to life only a few short minutes ago and was standing, shackles on his ankles, his hands bound, before Gray, John fixing them on while he just stared past him at his brother, "I looked for you," he told the boy, "I searched for you for years. You were my first thought, every day."
"What are you expecting, hmm?" Gray nearly sneered, "A loving reunion? Absolution? Me to say, 'It's ok, brother, I forgive you.' Those creatures, they lived to torture. They kept us just on the verge of life. I'd lie there, hemmed in by corpses, praying to become one. Because you...let go...of my hand, remember?"
Jack swallowed hard, tears in his eyes, he had let go, "If I could swap with you, I would."
"Remember it again. I believed you'd come, but you never did. How long before you gave up, hmm? Months? Years? Decades?"
"What do you want from me?" Jack shook his head.
"I want you to suffer. I want your life. This is Cardiff. 27AD. The city will be built here, over the next 2,000 years. Your grave will be the city's foundations. Your blessing of life becomes a curse. Each time you revive, with a throatful of earth, each time it chokes you afresh, and you thrash on the edge of death, you think of me."
"Alright," John cut in, growing more upset with the plans for Jack, "Calling a halt now, I can't let you do this," he walked to Gray but the man just shoved Jack into the pit that had been dug.
"Fill the grave," he ordered John.
"No way," he said firmly.
"Then the detonator on your arm gets activated," he glared at the man, moving his hand over the controls to the bomb.
John looked down at Jack, unhappy, but Jack just nodded at him to do it. John's lips twitched into an almost smile before he took of a green ring he wore and kissed it, tossing it into the hole, to Jack.
"I don't need it," Jack told the man.
"What's that?" Gray demanded.
"It's, er, sentimental value," John replied, before starting to shovel the dirt in, Jack closing his eyes, letting it happen as Gray watched him get buried alive.
~8~
Deep in the Torchwood vaults, there was a flash of gold Rift energy as Gray stepped out. He turned, looking around at the cells around him, Weevils within.
~8~
Rhys walked through the police station till he saw Gwen sitting in a back room, curled up, clearly upset, "Skulking, is it?"
"Still no word from Jack," she said as he moved to sit beside her, "Or Angel and the Doctor. They haven't found him," Angel had run off after she'd had a little funny moment, the Doctor appearing moments later and the two disappeared, she knew now it was to stop the bombs. But they hadn't come back and they hadn't found Jack.
"Hey, it's gonna be fine."
"What if it's not? What if this is how it all ends?"
"Gwen?" Angel's voice called through the comm..
"Angel!" she gasped, "Have you found him?"
"No," the Doctor answered, "All the activity with the Rift is skewing our sensors, we're just getting static. That's why we needed to contact you. Is any of the team back at Torchwood?"
"No," she frowned, "Why?"
"We've got a Rift activation alert from inside the Hub, mirroring the pattern from earlier when Jack disappeared."
"D'you think it could be him?" she straightened.
"We're about to check it out," Angel cut in, "Do you want to come with us. I know you're worried about Jack."
"Yes, definitely," she nodded, getting up. She quickly kissed Rhys and ran out of the room, out of the station, to where an old blue box was appearing on the sidewalk.
~8~
The TARDIS appeared in the middle of Torchwood, Gwen stepping out with her gun ready just in case it wasn't Jack. She still couldn't get over how the box travelled in time and space, but there were bigger things to worry about. The Time Lords stepped out after her, following her, the Doctor getting distracted by all the technology around while Angel just frowned and looked behind them…
"Hello John," she said.
Gwen spun around, her gun ready, as the Doctor pulled Angel to him at the sight of the man standing there.
"You took your time," he remarked.
"On your knees!" Gwen shouted, aiming at him.
"Honestly, it's just sex, sex, sex with you people!"
Gwen cocked the gun and aimed it back at him, "Now!"
"Gwen don't!" Angel rushed past the Doctor and right in front of the gun…severely giving the Doctor dual heart attacks at the sight of her standing before John, between him and Gwen, "Don't!"
"Angel move!" Gwen demanded.
"No, I'm not going to let you hurt him."
"He took your brother!" Gwen shouted, her arms starting to shake, "Why would you defend him?!"
"And that's just it," the Doctor stepped forward and pushed her hand down, not about to let her continue to hold a gun at his Mate, "She wouldn't defend him if she didn't have a reason!" and with that, he moved to stand beside her, blocking John from Gwen, "And…what reason is that?" he asked her a little quietly.
Angel shook her head, "He's not himself," Angel explained to Gwen, thankful she didn't pick up the gun again, "Really, he's being forced to do this, like the Weevils were forced out."
"How do you know?" Gwen demanded.
"Psychic," the Doctor nudged her.
"Thief," she hip bumped him back, "But really Gwen just…look," she turned and held out a hand to John, the man hesitantly putting his arm in her hand, letting her pull the sleeve back and show Gwen the thing fused to his skin, "It's a bomb."
"How did you know that was there?" John asked her, "You didn't even see me before now…"
"She really IS psychic," the Doctor told him.
"And you thought Jack was lying," she murmured to him, startling him as he really had.
"Speaking of Jack, I know where he is," John began, "He's…"
"Buried alive, somewhere beneath this city?" Angel asked, the answer just coming to her now. She wished she'd sensed that BEFORE they'd spent all that time trying to find Jack through time via the Rift.
John stared at her a moment, "…yes," before he shook his head, "I came back to help you. You have to believe me," he looked at Gwen, "It's Gray, Jack's brother, that's been doing all this…" he looked at the Doctor as he soniced the bomb, "I wouldn't bother, it's molecularly bonded to my skin. I had to do what he wanted."
The Doctor scoffed, "And I'm very good with a sonic," he remarked, flashing it, "This is gonna hurt…"
John hissed as he felt something loosen on his arm, the molecules unbonding, but taking the skin with it as he ripped the bomb off him and threw it away, despite it being deactivated by the Doctor, "Oh my God!" he grimaced, gripping his wrist at the pain of his skin coming off, before he took two deep breaths, "He forced me to bury Jack and then he told me I could go anywhere I wanted. I could've run, but I chose to come back here."
"Gray…" Angel began, "What happened to him?"
"They were separated as children. Gray was abducted. When I found him he was chained to the ruins of a city on the Bedlam Outlands...surrounded by corpses. He was the only one left. The creatures had long since gone. Dunno how long he'd been there. I thought I was the rescuing hero. So, it took me too long to realize he'd learned terrible things watching those creatures..."
"Gwen," Angel looked back at her, seeing the woman still distrustful of John, "Please, for now, trust him. He didn't have to come back here. He could've run. But he chose to help us."
Gwen swallowed, Jack had also mentioned Angel was a forgiving soul, but SHE couldn't risk forgiving the wrong person, "You find Jack, I'll let you live," Gwen told him, "But you'd better be quick."
John nodded, holding up his manipulator, "Toshiko. I need you to run a trace for an etheric particle signal NME transmitting at 200 betacycles."
"Gwen, where are you?" Tosh came over the comm., "What's he doing? Where's Jack?"
"Trace that signal, we'll find him."
"It's ok, Tosh," Gwen reassured her, "The Doctor and I've got him covered. Just do as he says."
Tosh sighed and a moment later reported, "No signals even vaguely resembling that."
Angel frowned and glanced over at the TARDIS a moment.
"Uh, no, there must be," John shook his head, that ring he'd given Jack, was a transmitter, "That transmitter was guaranteed for five millennia through three ecological permalayers, it has to still be transmitting. If not, we'll never find him. He'll be buried...forever."
The Doctor just smiled, "Leave it to Angel then."
"What?" Gwen looked over.
"She can do it," he nodded, he hadn't wanted to stress her by asking her before, wanting to use the TARDIS, but that was through space and time, he didn't think she was THAT powerful yet, to sense Jack like that, but she should be able to sense Jack if he was somewhere in the city, "She can find her brother no matter what."
"That's all well and good but feelings and sibling bonds won't do much good," John scoffed.
"You don't understand," Angel sighed, "It goes beyond that. I'm…" she swallowed hard, knowing she'd have to say it, to save Jack, to get them to believe her, "I'm his creator. I have a bond with him that's stronger because…I made him what his is. I can…I can always feel him, where he is, when he's in danger because…he's a part of me."
The Doctor blinked and looked at her, stunned, now it made sense why she was able to hug him at the end of the Universe but not stand Lazarus, JACK was HER creation, made from HER use of the Vortex. But…that also meant she knew the man had been alive all that time, "Why didn't you tell me?"
"I wasn't sure if we'd meet him again," Angel said, "And I didn't want to think about what I'd done. If I didn't say it, then it was just sibling bonds, but…seeing him, realizing it was more than that…" she shook her head, "I didn't want to admit what I'd done to him had really happened."
"What you did to him might just save his life," Gwen reminded her, "Right then, we need to…"
Suddenly they all hunched over, flinching at a piercing note that rang through the air, forcing them all to cover their ears, even the Time Lords, as the note reached all across the city.
"What the hell is that?" Gwen breathed.
~8~
Out in the streets, Weevils emerged from every entrance to the sewers, attacking civilians, men, women, and children as they flooded the streets.
~8~
Gray stood before the Weevils in the holding cells of Torchwood, smirking as he pushed a button on the manipulator he'd taken from Jack, opening the cells, letting them out. They ran past him, ready to find the food they could smell coming from inside Torchwood.
A/N: I know that, in the episode, the Torchwood team was in different areas when the bomb went off. But…this started differently, Jack is more in a rush to get back to Torchwood so I could see him hurrying the team and them all ending up in one spot :) There will also be some slight changes to the episode, but I've given (what I hope are) believable excuses and manipulations of events that will still allow some things to happen while preventing others :)
And poor Angel, not only is she not feeling well, but her visions seem to be starting to physically hurt her AND her other 'brother' is running around trying to kill people :'( Be prepared for fear, tears, heartbreak, emotional moments, smiles, and more heartbreak in the next chapter }:)
Now, about the final episode (no spoilers), but OMG! WHAT!? O.O I think I'm literally still in shock :)
Some notes on reviews...
I watched the start of Supernatural, seasons 1-5, I tried watching season 6 but I felt like it just went a bit downhill and I just couldn't get into it as strongly. But I would LOVE for Castiel to be in an episode, just because he's so funny in the show :) With the Doctor's attitude and excitement I could see Castiel being so confused as to why he's so happy when there's a looming danger ahead. Lol, angels can travel in time a bit so I could see him and the Doctor debating time travel :)
I thought that too about Jenny. It was just too similar a story to not notice, at least to me :)
Oh, believe me, my writing really does need the edits. I tend to get so excited as I write that I have SO many spelling errors that I don't fix till I've written the whole episode out. And I miss nearly half of them the first read through because I forget I'm supposed to be looking for errors and not just reading the chapter lol :) I think, writing out 'A Christmas Carol' for Angel, I kept spelling Doctor as Dcrtor the entire time :)
True, I could wait, but...I just feel like, if I stop and don't come back to it, then I've left everyone with false hope. But then again, if I do kill Angel off and then later find time and want to come back to the story, I can't, because the way I have it ending if I do kill her off...well...there's no 'rest of the show' after that point so there would be nothing to come back to. -sigh- so many things to think about, but hopefully with school over there'll be a bit more time :)
I can say that, the outlines I had for Series 7 DID have Jenny (the daughter) popping up quite a few times, even a little in Series 6 and once in Series 5 too :)
And a very Happy 8th Birthday to Bonnie! I hope you get lots of presents and some very good cake :)