Previously…
"You see that?" Rex continued angrily. "They should be shutting down those camps right now. They're just talking about it."
"At least we've made it public." Esther muttered.
"Torchwood wasn't designed to fight politicians." Jack said.
"It seems like that's what we're turning into," I replied, squinting at the screen with disgust. "What with Frobisher, and now this…"
"If we really want to stop this happening, we need to look at the bigger picture." He sighed.
"Find out what the Blessing is." I nodded.
A little later, Jack and me were talking on the balcony for professional reasons. He'd ordered me to recount my conversation with Stuart Owens pretty much word for word in case I'd "missed anything significant", in his own words. That instantly wound me up, but I didn't let myself show it. In fact, I hadn't used that professional soldier skill, detaching my personal emotions from the situation, so much since Messaline. Oh, I needed to get as far away from Jack as possible as soon as the Miracle was over.
"There was nothing, he didn't know anything," I said for the eleventh time that evening. "Just the Blessing, that's it."
"You're absolutely sure? Nothing else-"
"No, Jack. I am absolutely certain there was nothing else."
"OK!" He sighed defensively, looking over the balcony for a few seconds before continuing. "Jen, this isn't us, is it? All this arguing." I grunted in reply.
"Jack!" We heard from inside, with a distinctly Welsh accent.
"Gwen's back." I said shortly, leaning over the balcony railing.
"Jack!" She repeated louder.
"Shouldn't you go see what she wants?" I snapped at him. He slid down the rail closer to me.
"Jen," he sighed. "I don't-"
"Jack, for god's sake!" I interrupted, pushing him away and stomping back to the door. "Gwen is calling you!" I took two steps inside before coming face to face with an anxiously determined looking Gwen.
"Hi!" I grinned, giving her a quick hug. "Good to have you back, Mrs Williams."
"You too," she replied distractedly. "Where's Jack?"
"Hey!" He called from behind me, right on cue. "I missed you. We've been discussing that Blessing stuff."
"Listen, you've got to come down to the car," she said, ignoring him. "I've got to show you something."
"Anything good?" Rex asked from the other side of the room.
"No, just, you know, stuff from back home," she said quickly, arousing suspicion. "Souvenir sort of thing. Come on."
"Alright, stop your nagging," Jack chuckled, leaning over the sofa where Rex and Esther were sat. "Told you she missed me."
"Yeah, today would be good, Jack!" Gwen called from the door. I went to follow them, but she stopped me. "Just Jack, Jenny." She muttered, a pleading look in her eyes. I scrutinised her for a second before nodding.
"What was that all about?" Esther asked.
"No idea," I sighed, turning to them. "But there's something not quite right," I thought for a couple of seconds. "Gwen had the I-5s."
"So?" Rex grunted.
"So check the cache!" I ordered, and Esther got to it straight away.
"Jenny, Rex. You gotta see this." She said after a minute. I went to the screen and read what I really didn't want to read.
"Gotcha." Rex muttered. We were laying amongst some long grass, looking down at Jack and Gwen and a load of people we didn't know, having followed them in the car till morning.
"Jenny, is this who started the Miracle?" Esther whispered as Rex cocked the gun in his hand.
"I don't know," I replied, keeping my eyes on the scene in front of us. "Rex."
"Yeah, yeah," he murmured, and a second later, the gun was fired. Down below Jack and Gwen snapped into action and disarmed the people around them.
"Her hands are up." I said, nodding towards the woman wearing the white jacket.
"You two ready?" Rex grinned at us.
"I'm ready." Esther nodded.
"Always." I agreed, and we drove down to the other members of our team.
I hopped out of the car as soon as we pulled up next to them.
"It's OK!" I called to Gwen, hugging her quickly. "Esther checked. Rhys and Anwen and your parents, they're safe."
"Thank you." Gwen replied, letting out a relieved breath.
"Next time, just ask for help," Rex snapped as he climbed leisurely from the car. "I'm sick of Torchwood acting like amateur clowns." I rolled my eyes and turned to Jack.
"This doesn't change anything." I said with a glare.
"Didn't expect more or less." He chuckled, and tried to pull me into a hug. Tried being the operative word.
"And you, you're going to live." Gwen said as I pushed Jack away.
"It's a talent of mine." He replied with his eyes still fixed on me in what looked like sadness.
"I meant every word." She stated.
"So did I." Jack nodded, turning his face to Gwen.
"Good." she said, and they hugged briefly.
"Now you lot," I began, turning to the woman and her team of security. "It's been a long day, and I really can't be bothered to chat. So, let's get to the point, shall we?"
"And what is that, Miss Foreman?" The woman asked. I frowned at the name.
"You'd better pray that death comes back to this planet by the time I'm finished with you." Gwen snapped.
"So tell us who you are before we let her loose." Jack finished, gripping Gwen's arm before she stepped any closer to her.
"I don't see how anything's changed," the woman said confidently. "You're still coming with me."
"Why would I do that?" Jack asked.
"You'll want to come with me because I can take you to the one man who knows how the Miracle began."
"Who?" I asked quickly.
"Angelo," she said. "Angelo Colasanto. He's waiting for you Jack, Rose. He's been waiting for such a very long time."
I was dying to get inside Jack's head and ask who Angelo was. His face fell when the woman said his name, so he had obviously already met him. I, apparently, was going to too somewhere out there in my future. That meant I had to be careful what they told me about whatever happened. We were driven in silence to a large house, and we all got out as soon as the driver put on the handbrake.
"They're with me," the woman said to the couple of guards stood either side of the house's main doors. "They've agreed to leave their weapons behind."
"But Esther's gonna stay outside." Rex said.
"Why? What for?" The woman snapped.
"She's going to keep an open relay to a hard drive back in Los Angeles." I explained quickly.
"If we go through those doors and disappear, then we have a record," Rex finished. "OK? So tell your goons to leave her alone."
"Come on. Angelo's inside." Jack said, looking me straight in the eyes before rushing up the stone steps and into the house.
"He talked about you both all the time," the woman said as we walked through the grandly decorated corridors. "His immortal friends in old New York. He never forgot."
"So if Angelo knew both of us, why did you ask Gwen to kidnap Jack only?" I interrupted.
"To not arouse too much suspicion," she explained. "We knew that if Captain Jack Harkness was taken, Rose Foreman would not be far behind." I glanced at Jack, unsure of what to think. He smiled at me.
"You inspired him," the woman continued. "You proved immortality was possible, and he devoted the rest of his life to finding out how to live forever."
"And he did it?" Jack said as we paused in our tracks. He couldn't have, I thought to myself. Jack was immortal because of the Bad Wolf. I was possibly immortal because of my Time Lord heritage mixed up with the progenation machine and the source, Dad and me assumed. Whoever Angelo was, neither of those things could have been how he caused the Miracle.
"And he's still alive? He's still young?" Jack smiled.
"Oh yes, he's still alive," The woman nodded, and we followed her around a corner. "Angelo Colasanto is still very much alive, but he's not young." The scene we were faced with was horrible. A very old man was laid in a hospital bed with a respirator and countless tubes coming from him, wired up to two machines either side of his head. I didn't even know him yet, but I still felt my stomach drop at the sight of his frailty.
"My grandfather waited all this time to live forever," the woman said. "And his wish came true… too late." I watched Jack's face as his smile faltered.
"What's wrong with him?" He asked.
"At his age? Just about everything." Angelo's granddaughter shrugged. I walked to the left of the bed and leaned against the wall, opposite Jack. He placed his hand gently on Angelo's forehead and opened his eye, apparently examining it.
"It's him." He said as he stood up again.
"You must be horrified." The woman stated.
"Why would you say that?" I asked.
"Well, he's grown so old."
"That's how we see the world sometimes." I smiled weakly.
"He's still young compared to me." Jack finished.
"This is for Esther," Rex announced suddenly, holding up his phone. "Just keeping an open line to make sure we're all safe."
"After everything I've heard about Torchwood technology, you're gonna rely on an open handset?" The woman asked disbelievingly.
"Yeah well, we had to leave LA in a hurry," Rex explained. "Thanks to someone I could mention. Anyway, what the hell's going on with the stock market?"
"It's falling," the woman replied, glancing at the TV screen on one of the walls. "It's been inevitable ever since Miracle Day, which I reckon is part of the plan."
"So you put a gun to my daughter's head for what? For this?" Gwen asked sharply. "So you get your revenge on Jack and Rose?"
"We weren't trying to hurt you." The woman said.
"Funny way of going about it." I snorted.
"I was carrying out my grandfather's final wish," she continued. "To keep you safe."
"So you don't want them dead, then." Gwen barked angrily.
"Wait," Jack interrupted, holding her back. "Do you mean you were protecting us?"
"There's a crucial distinction," she shook her head. "My grandfather cared for you, Jack. And he named Rose one of the kindest people he ever encountered. I, however, carry no such feelings toward either of you. You might be important in some way we've yet to work out, so it's best to keep you intact. But that's as far as the sentiment goes."
"So, why the hell, you know…" Gwen stammered. "Bollocks. Start again. Any chance of a drink? I could murder a pint of bitter right now." I grinned at her.
"Right, OK. Get the woman a drink." I said loudly, clapping my hands together and setting towards the photos I'd spotted on the mantelpiece behind Gwen. They were of Jack and me; some separate, some together.
"These are all of you," Gwen said quietly. "Both of you. Some of these… that's Torchwood," she pointed to one of Jack. "That's Cardiff. When was that?" She paused by one of Jack with a handlebar moustache.
"The seventies." He smiled.
"Moustache!" Gwen giggled. "And who are they, Jenny?"
"That's Dad and River." I sighed, looking at the bow tie clad man and the curly haired woman she pointed at.
"Are you in the oval office?" Gwen exclaimed.
"Looks like it. Best not to ask, though. That's not happened yet… it's all in my future."
"Is that what's happened here? Do you know Angelo yet?"
"No," I shook my head. "That's in my personal future, too. I told you, Jack and me don't travel in straight timelines. They're all wibbly wobbly-"
"Timey wimey." Jack finished.
"Yeah." I muttered.
"My god. He watched you for decades." Gwen sighed after a couple more seconds.
"But he never made contact." Jack smiled, turning to the man on the bed.
"You may not be ashamed of being old, but he was." The woman said.
"Hold on, so Angelo didn't cause the Miracle?" I asked.
"No," she replied. "He lived this long through natural means. He kept his body at a temperature two degrees below normal, controlled his caloric intake, kept his blood pressure below one ten…"
"Does that work?" Gwen asked quietly.
"Oh yes. Prolonging life is simple. But no one's worked out how to make a profit at it, so it's not advertised."
"And the whole time he was looking for immortality?" Jack asked.
"It's not as impossible as it sounds. You two are not the only remarkable things on this Earth," she continued, getting to her feet. Jack raised his eyebrows at me. "Consider the jellyfish. The species turritopsis nutricula is considered to be immortal. It's cells undergo a process called transdifferentiation. Quite simply, it can revert to a younger state, and grow old again. And then repeat, without limit."
"Regeneration." I mumbled to myself. "Almost." Actually, it sounded pretty much like my individual version of the Time Lord process.
"Yes, Miss Foreman," the woman nodded. "It's possible there are individual jellyfish upon this planet that have existed for thousands and thousands of years."
"We're not as special as we thought." Jack said.
"Speak for yourself." I retorted. I wasn't human, but Angelo and his family thought I was. They thought I was the same as Jack.
"Even within the human body, cancer cells are immortal. Stem cells," the woman continued. "In theory, they can divide forever. And this is the research that Angelo investigated. Well, they all did. Because my grandfather wasn't alone."
"Who were the others?" Jack asked instantly.
"Well, the story says that it started with three men, each representing a different family," the woman began. "And when you two were being-"
"Whoa, whoa, whoa. Stop there!" I interrupted loudly. "Right there! Just stop talking. Now."
"I don't-" she spluttered.
"No, I know you don't understand. Me neither, actually," I cried, starting to pace. "I can't know what's going to happen. But-"
"Hold on," Jack said suddenly. "Back in 1927, you told me that you were on a mission from my future."
"I did?" I asked, and Jack nodded. "I did! Ha!"
"What are you doing?" Rex barked as I pulled up my vortex manipulator.
"This is when I go to meet Angelo," I told him. "I'm Rose Foreman, on a mission from Miracle Day. I can find out exactly what happened there."
"But Jack was already there!" Gwen argued. "He knows what happened."
"But I have foreknowledge now, Gwen!" I laughed. "I can go back and look for things that might cause the Miracle in the future, whereas Jack-"
"I wouldn't have picked up on things that might be significant." Jack finished.
"Exactly," I grinned. "Right, 1927. Jack, enter the date and coordinates for me, will you?" I held out my arm for him. "OK, thanks. Right then. I'll see you lot later."
"Wait, Jen-" Jack whispered, but I disappeared before he finished.
"Happy fourth of July!"
"Jack? You have a visitor."
"I'm on a mission from your future. So I can't tell you anything."
"A mission from my future, giving a fake name… Is something about to happen, Jenny?"
"You don't have to worry about that with me, Angelo. I'm your friend."
"So, Mr Harkness… and his acolytes."
"Tomorrow night, Gallaco Wharf, Bay Five."
"I hear the beads clicking at night, Angelo. Everything we do, you ask for forgiveness afterwards."
"I grew up in a village with two hundred people. Only two hundred. The sun would rise and the sun would set over the same two hundred people. And that was it. That was my world."
"I've got this friend. He's called the Doctor. He explores the world with a companion."
"It's a species of brainspawn, Angelo, treated as vermin on more than 150 planets that I know of. And valued as dinner on one other. It tastes like oysters."
"Jack. They shot him."
"He's been arrested, I'm sorry, Jack."
"This isn't you, now is it? You know this isn't you. You're not a murderer, Angelo, and Jack is not the devil."
"You disappeared! You left me, Rose! You left me to rot in jail!"
"É un miracolo!"
"É un angelo!"
"Il diavolo!"
"I know it was a fixed point, River, but I don't care!"
"This had to happen. If it didn't, then you wouldn't have come here in the first place."
"It's down to you now. Take Jack and get out of here."
"There were three men. Like they were making… an agreement."
"Time to move on. Good luck, Jack."
"And you, Miss Rose Foreman."
I reappeared in the same spot in Angelo's house. I looked around at everyone quickly, internally chuckling at Rex's and Angelo's granddaughter's shocked expressions, before pausing on Jack. He had slumped shoulders and his face was pale, full of pain and despair. I was next to him in two steps.
"I'm sorry." I whispered into his shoulder as I wrapped my arms tightly around him.
"Are you OK?" He asked, hugging me back just as tight.
"Of course," I chuckled weakly. "Are you? I'm sorry for being such a stupid-"
"No, that's OK, Jen," He smiled, setting me back on my feet. "You need to get cleaned up."
"Oh, now you want to," I teased as I glanced down at my shirt, which was ripped and blood-stained. "We didn't have any time for that eighty three years ago."
"All these years I've wondered," Jack started, leaning down slightly and lowering his voice. "Why you were there. And how you got us out."
"I think… I think," I stammered, frowning to remember. It was only an hour ago, yet the memories were blurred. "Dad. Dad was there."
"The Doctor?"
"Yeah. He got us down. You were still unconscious," I paused. "I thought I imagined him, but…"
"Shhh," Jack whispered, putting a finger to my lips. "Don't worry. He would have just wanted you safe."
"I know," I smiled, and turned to the others. "Right, where were we? Three families, yes? OK. Jack, back in the basement, you said you saw three men."
"Yeah," he nodded. "They made a deal."
"They formed an alliance," Angelo's granddaughter corrected. "To purchase the power of resurrection. When you escaped, the three families swore that they'd find the gift again."
"What were their names?" I asked.
"The Ablemarch family, the Costerdane family and the Frines." We turned to Rex immediately.
"Ablemarch, Costerdane, Frines," he said down the phone. "Did you get that? Ablemarch, Costerda-" he sighed and looked at Angelo's granddaughter. "Is Coster with a T-E-R?" She nodded. "Yeah, T-E-R. And-" Rex huffed again. "Could you spell Frines?"
"F-R-I-N-E-S." Angelo's granddaughter obliged as I rolled my eyes at Jack and Gwen.
"Trace them. I want you to find every single member of those three families." Rex said to Esther.
"Look, I don't care if it's 500,000 people," he continued. "I want you to find them all. Now."
"Anyway," I interrupted, looking at Angelo's granddaughter. "Sorry, what was your name?"
"Olivia Colasanto."
"Olivia. What did those three families do?"
"After 1928." Gwen added.
"Well, they lost you and Jack, but they still had their blood." Olivia replied.
"What?" I questioned sharply.
"They were collecting it," she repeated. "There was a lot of blood when you were being killed over and over."
"I thought they were draining it away." Jack mumbled.
"All they had to do was figure out how to use it." Olivia shrugged.
"But they can't have used our blood!" I exclaimed, starting to pace. "For a start, it's not the same stuff."
"But that doesn't work," Jack continued. "Your blood is what makes you the way you are, but there's nothing special about my blood in itself. That's not what made me immortal."
"Bad Wolf…" I muttered.
"Then why would the families want to kill you?" Rex asked.
"They thought we were the same," Jack replied. "But beyond that, I don't know."
"Whatever they were planning, my grandfather wasn't included," Olivia explained. "I think they considered him… inappropriate."
"What's inappropriate?" Jack asked with a chuckle.
"He loved a man," she replied. "He did go on to have a family of his own, and I think he loved my grandmother very much. But he never lied about you, Jack. And I think that Ablemarch, Costerdane and Frines found that a little unfortunate. As a result, Angelo was forced to watch them from afar." I watched the old man on the bed, the one who I considered a friend not long ago and many years back. He didn't deserve that.
"Jack," I started. "Bad Wolf. Rose made you immortal, we know that. But something must have been altered in your body to make you the way you are… how do we know that the three families were wrong? Maybe it is in your blood."
"Either way, we know that's what they used now. Jack's blood and yours, Jenny," Gwen said. "But what did these families do with it? What did they do to the world? They started in Manhattan, eighty years later the whole of the planet becomes immortal."
"Who's Jenny?" Olivia asked.
"Me. Reversed mortality?" I wondered aloud. "That's possible. Don't know how, but… hold on, morphic fields… Jack, morphic fields. Maybe?"
"Possibly." He nodded.
"But then, that means that if they used our blood, a mixture of yours and mine, then what's happened to the human race?" I questioned, panicking a little. "If it were just Jack's blood, then yeah, humans become immortal and Jack is mortal. But throw mine in there too-"
"Time Lord blood." Jack realised.
"Time Lord and human," I repeated. "If that's what's happened, then they have no idea what they've done."
"Well, I'd say if we've all been changed with Jack's blood nothing can be worse." Rex joked.
"This isn't funny, Rex," I snapped, my voice growing angrier. "Someone made the human race Time Lord once before, and people died. People died because of it."
"In 1998 we intercepted a message," Olivia injected as Jack touched my arm gently. "It was just one word: Blessing."
"We've heard about the Blessing," Jack nodded. "They found it. Whatever the Blessing is, the three families found it."
"Now it's time that we found them," Rex said. "Esther, you got any news for us?" He listened for a few seconds. "Esther. Esther? Esther? I think there's trouble." He ran to the window immediately and poked his head around the curtains.
"What is it, Rex?" Gwen asked. "What's happening?"
"Just tell us where we can find the three families, quickly." Rex ordered Olivia as he stamped back over to us.
"You'll never find them, that's the whole point," she replied. "They came out of New York with the motivation of keeping this secret. Where's the best place to hide yourself?"
"In plain sight." I sighed.
"Nobody move!" A woman yelled suddenly, and we moved back as three people holding guns rushed into the room, one of them holding Esther.
"This is the CIA!"
"Everybody, stay where you are! That's an order," the woman nodded to Esther. "You, with the others."
"Hey-" Rex tried as Esther was pushed towards us.
"Matheson, don't try anything." The woman snapped.
"We are arresting all of you for violations of the Miracle Security Act," the man said loudly. "This is the same as treason now, folks. And I want a word with Rex. Right now. Secure him."
"I'm sorry, but you're also violating the terms of Torchwood's services," I retorted, stepping closer to Rex as several people came to grab him. "We only split up if we decide to."
"Torchwood's services?"
"Yes, services. Be grateful we're trying to save you." I hissed, stepping forwards.
"Don't move!" The man shouted, raising his gun.
"Who the hell are you?" Gwen yelled from somewhere behind me.
"Brian Friedkin." Esther whispered.
"Yeah, of course it's Friedkin," Rex spat as a man handcuffed him. "If anyone's working for the three families, it's him."
"That's enough!" Friedkin cried. "Keep them covered. We may have to end this with an unfortunate number of Category Ones."
"Making threats like that, that's put you at a coward and a monster." I whispered at him.
"Get him out, take him out!" Friedkin ordered, his voice getting more erratic.
"You're not taking him." Gwen said, walking up to me.
"No, they're not." I agreed as they started taking Rex away.
"Back down." The woman barked.
"No, you're not!" Gwen repeated.
"Back down!"
"No!"
"No, you're not!"
"Back down!"
"OK, OK, all right!" Jack intervened as both Gwen and me reached the woman with the gun pointing at our heads. "OK? It's all right."
"Well, they've just taken Rex!" Gwen exclaimed.
"All right. OK?" He repeated, and I nodded.
"OK," Gwen muttered as we turned around. "I'm fine. It's fine." Within another second, though, she went to go back for Rex, and it took Jack and me to spin her around in the other direction.
"Right, right." She hissed as we let her go.
"They're not legitimate CIA." Jack said. We glared at the woman with the gun.
"How did you find us?" Esther asked.
"Ten hours ago," she replied. "Rex made a phone call to the brother of Dr Vera Juarez, expressing his condolences. We've been tracking his phone ever since."
"Doesn't make sense." Gwen whispered to us.
"No, it doesn't," I agreed. "Rex would've known they'd be tracing him." A couple of seconds later, an image appeared on the screen next to the woman. Friedkin's face, up close, with a blue circle around it.
"I-5s." I murmured to myself.
"You can't escape them," Friedkin said. "The families don't just pay me. They own me."
"Who did that?" The woman demanded.
"They are everywhere. They are always."
"What's it doing?"
"They are no one," there was a pause. "What?" Another pause. "What do you mean, transmit? Transmit from where? You're not wearing a wire, we already checked."
"Ha! He stole them." Gwen chuckled after rummaging through her pockets.
"Good work, Mr Matheson." I grinned, just as several more men entered the room.
"Mr Shapiro, you've got a confession from Brain Friedkin live on air." Esther called to them. The man in the centre looked at the screen.
"You're lying." Friedkin's face dropped. "You planned this." He listened to whatever Rex was saying for a few seconds, then pushed the gun into what I assumed was Rex's chest wound. I winced.
"Agent Friedkin, show yourself!" I heard one of the real CIA members shout.
"Good job," Friedkin smiled. "Very good job."
A few minutes later, we were all still stood around Angelo's bed, but Friedkin and his associates had been arrested.
"Jack, what's going to happen now?" I asked, uncertain but happy to be back in his head. "Torchwood won't be able to run alone now the CIA are here, will we?"
"I don't know," he replied. "All we can do now is wait and see."
"OK, let's see where we are." Shapiro said as he re-entered the room with Rex.
"Hold on a minute, mate," Gwen interrupted. "Rex, look. I need to know. Did you plan this whole thing from the start?"
"No, I just improvised when these Colasanto people appeared." He replied.
"You could have warned us." She said lightly.
"People seem to be talking over me, which is fascinating and rare," Shapiro interjected loudly. "And forbidden."
"Yeah, but not forbidden to us, right?" I smiled. "After all, we're not CIA. Well, only Rex and Esther." He stared.
"I'll come back to you," he said threateningly. "First of all, we're going to deal with this Colasanto woman. The granddaughter Olivia, have I got that right?"
"Yes," Olivia replied, standing up from the decorative sofa. "And as far as I'm aware, the CIA does not have the authority to operate on American soil."
"Get her out of here." Shapiro ordered.
"This is my property." She argued as a man took her away.
"Take her to the safe house. Tell her to line up her lawyers so I can piss on them, long and hard." Shapiro continued. I was going off him rather quickly.
"Was that necessary?" I asked. "Really, Mr Shapiro. I would have thought better of a CIA boss."
"Is she one of the Torchwood clowns?" He turned to Rex, who nodded.
"Torchwood did more to piece this together than the entire CIA." Gwen snapped.
"Which one of you is that English girl, Cooper?" Shapiro asked.
"Neither of us." I replied.
"Neither of you is Cooper?"
"No, I didn't say that."
"So which of you is it?"
"I am," Gwen said. "But I'm not English and I'm not a girl."
"Gwen, this is Allen Shapiro," Esther interrupted, lowering her voice. "Don't. Really, don't."
"Well, he's not scaring me," Gwen continued. "Hello."
"I am sick of her already. Can we deport her?" He muttered. "Let's deport her." Immediately, one of the suited guards went to grab Gwen's arm before I stepped right in front of her and Jack pushed him back slightly.
"Hey hey hey, leave her alone." He ordered.
"Don't you dare." I said amongst the similar murmurs of Rex, Esther and Gwen.
"Sorry sir," Rex began, stepping towards Shapiro as everyone quietened. "With all due respect, Gwen Cooper has proven herself to be extremely useful. I think it's worth keeping her on our side." There was a pause.
"Did you sleep with her?" Shapiro asked.
"Pardon me?" Gwen exclaimed loudly.
"No sir, I did not." Rex shook his head.
"Because most women that bitter, you've slept with," Shapiro continued. "Now, that girl, what was the other one? Smith, am I correct?"
"Right." I nodded.
"You didn't make that mistake. You're too weird for him," he said, then turned to Esther. "Did you make that mistake?"
"No," she replied, sighing. "No sir, I did not."
"Esther Drummond. Rex said you did a good job out in the field." Shapiro stated.
"Thank you, sir."
"In my opinion, you deserted your post. I'm docking your pay," he turned to Jack. "And what is it with you, Red Baron? You got Snoopy up your ass?" I snorted involuntarily as Rex and Gwen both giggled.
"While you're wasting your time, Mr Shapiro, we've got the names of the people who are responsible for causing the Miracle," Jack said authoritatively after shooting us a glare. "I suggest we get to work."
"Torchwood is gonna work for the CIA?" Shapiro asked with an amused expression.
"I think the CIA can work for Torchwood." Jack replied sternly.
"If you're lucky." I added. Shapiro scrutinised us for a couple of seconds.
"We've got a plane ready and waiting twenty minutes away," he started. "The sooner we pool our resources, the sooner we can end this thing. All right, let's go, everybody out."
"Jack, Angelo?"
"I know."
"What about him?" Jack asked quickly, walking over to Angelo's bed. "We've got a very sick man here."
"Didn't you read the news?" Shapiro snapped sarcastically. "Nobody dies. There's a nurse around here somewhere. You got two minutes," he pointed to one of his guards. "Don't leave them alone." Then, it was only Torchwood and Angelo plus the CIA guard left. I began to pace up and down the width of the room as Jack returned to his spot behind the bed.
"Jack, did we just join the CIA?" Gwen asked.
"I think we did." He replied. I stopped in between them both. Suddenly, there was a communal sense of amusement that I could feel, and we all grinned at each other with a mix of surprise and glee.
A few seconds later, a loud explosion boomed from outside. It sounded close, and I instantly broke into a run. When we reached the open steps, it was clear what caused the noise. A car was being engulfed in hot flames on the drive, and I could only agree with Gwen's breathy exclamation of "oh my god."
"Who was in there?" Someone asked.
"Friedkin, Colasanto," Rex sighed. "I don't know how many others."
"God dammit." Shapiro growled. As we remained watching the burning vehicle, I felt Jack move back into the house. I didn't say anything to him. I knew he was going to take the horrible opportunity to be with Angelo alone. We were ushered inside after two minutes. Gwen and Esther plonked themselves on the bottom steps and Rex leaned against the stair rail as I paced up and down the hall. We stayed silent.
"Help me!"
"Jack? What is it? What's wrong?"
"Angelo, help me!"
"I'm coming." Immediately, I sprinted towards the room where Jack and Angelo were. My eyes widened as I took in the sight of Jack desperately pressing his hands down on Angelo's chest, clearly trying to stop him dying.
"He can't be!" I exclaimed, stopping at the end of the bed.
"Jack, what's happening?" Gwen asked from behind me.
"But he did!" Jack spluttered, waving his hands frantically in Angelo's direction. "He's dead, he died."
"Jack, are you sure?" I frowned nervously.
"Yes, Jen! He died right in front of me!"
"OK, think about it Jack-" Gwen started as I scanned him with my vortex manipulator.
"Gwen," I interrupted solemnly. "He's right. Angelo's dead." There was a silent pause before the CIA members sprung into action.
"All right, come on, step back," they were saying. "Clear the bed. We have an emergency." We were shoved into the doorway to watch them gather around the bed, and I clutched Jack's hand instantly.
"Jack, just let the medical staff take a look at him, OK?" Gwen pleaded.
"They'll tell us the same," I shook my head. "Really, Gwen. He's dead."
"But he can't be, Jenny, he just can't be," Esther said as she stumbled towards us in confusion. "It's impossible. Nobody can die. He's just Category One."
"We both scanned him!" Jack cried. "He's gone!"
"But is it everyone? I mean, did the whole world just change back?" Rex asked calmly amongst the beeping of the scanners. "And if so, what happens to me? Hmm? I was supposed to die," he turned to one of the CIA members. "You, tell Langley to go online, check the hospitals, check with everyone. 'Cause if he's dying, then who else is dead? Matter of fact, just come with me. Excuse me." And with that, Rex shoved between Jack and me and left the room.
"He's dead!" Jack shouted to the room at large, causing Shapiro to drop Angelo's cold wrist and finally accept what we'd been telling them. Angelo Colasanto had died.
We watched the forensic team clear away everything from the bed and surrounding area, leaving it looking as though no one were ever laid there. My thoughts were racing with questions. How did Angelo do it? Well, there was a morphic field around the bed blocking the Miracle. That was obvious. But would it lead us any closer to the Miracle?
"How?" Shapiro asked sharply as soon as the room was empty of forensics. "Only him, no one else. The only man in the whole wide world to die. The Miracle continues, minus Mr Colasanto. So how did he do it?" We responded only in glares. Shapiro sighed and took a couple of steps across the room.
"We've taken the body for autopsy. Any idea what we're gonna find?"
"Don't know." I snapped.
"We should go," Jack said in the same tone. "Jen, come on."
"No no no no no," Shapiro countered. "Nobody is leaving. This house is secure."
"It's not a crime scene." Jack said.
"Are you sure about that?" Shapiro replied. "Dying of old age can now be considered a crime. Something happened here, and we are going to search this place for every last bit of information. And nobody is gonna leave until we know exactly what happened. So you can stay just where you are, Captain." I scowled at the man as he paced during his 'speech' until he left the room.
"You'd think people in charge of something like the CIA would be… not Shapiro." I muttered as Jack sat down heavily on the bed.
"I'm sorry." Gwen whispered. "Both of you."
"Yeah." Jack nodded.
"And you really don't know what happened to him?" She continued after a short pause. I glanced at Jack.
"Should we tell her?"
"No."
"Are you sure?"
"What is it, Jack?" Gwen asked seriously. "Come on, what's wrong? Are we in trouble? Jenny?"
"Yes." I murmured.
"We're in trouble because he died?"
"Yeah." Jack replied, still staring at some empty space in front of him.
"But why?" Gwen persisted. I opened my mouth to reply, but found myself unable to formulate the words. Instead, I shook my head at her shortly and looked at the floor. She sighed, but not out of frustration. A second later, as I took a seat next to Jack, Gwen's phone rang in her pocket. I listened to half the conversation she had with Rhys rather than try to get anything out of Jack. He needed to sit in silence for a while.
"Hello?"
"Rhys, how's Anwen? She OK?"
"Yes, I'm fine, Rhys. But is Anwen OK?"
"I can't tell you. I don't trust the phones these days. And we've got these family people everywhere. And Jack's just as bad. Honestly, you should see him right now, Rhys. He's sulking. And he's got Jenny wrapped around his finger, she's not saying anything either."
"Yeah, I heard."
"Oh, they're doing that old thing, keeping secrets. Won't tell me. Will you?" I turned around with a slight grin as she looked at us disapprovingly. "God knows what's going on. What time is it there?"
"Hmm. How's Dad?"
"Is he conscious?"
"Like someone planned it."
"Could be. I think we've been manipulated for decades," I twisted my body to face her. "It's not like the old days with Torchwood. I mean… we knew what we were fighting there, but this… this is like the whole world is changing, and we're just so tiny." I looked at Gwen sadly. There was no way that she, of all the humans on Earth, had made herself small. Gwen Cooper was so much more.
"Not yet, sweetheart. But soon. Soon." I span back as Esther entered the room and touched my back lightly in comfort. I smiled at her, grateful for the gesture. She began to walk up and down the foot of the bed as Gwen hung up her phone, frowning at the floorboards. She stopped next to one and continuously tapped it with her foot.
"What are you doing?" Jack asked her, leaning across me to see.
"You seen this?" She asked, crouching down. "Maybe it's the floor."
"What do you mean?" I pushed.
"Well, we're going through evidence like Angelo's body did something. But the only strange thing with this room is the floor," I glanced at Jack as he sighed. "I knew something was bugging me. Look, the bed's on a sort of platform."
"Esther, don't. Just leave it." Jack ordered, standing up.
"But look, it's not part of the original design, it can't be." She frowned.
"Esther, really." I warned gently.
"But-"
"Esther, seriously," Jack continued. "Listen to me. Don't say another word. Just leave it."
"Jack?" Gwen muttered authoritatively from her chair.
"It's the floor." Esther realised, and I groaned quietly.
"Esther. Stop. Right now." Jack spat. Gwen glared at me in challenge. I quickly looked away as Shapiro sauntered into the room, plastering a smile on my face like Jack.
"This is a hell of a lot better than nicotine gum, let me tell you," Shapiro said, holding up a cigarette. "You know what the rumour is from Washington? If cancer cells are immortal, well then, the Miracle switched them around and made them plain mortal. They're keeping it quiet in case there's an outbreak of spontaneous joy, I mean, we can't have that. But it means we've got nothing to worry about. We can smoke our way into the next Great Depression." And with that, he took a long drag on the cigarette as I wrinkled my nose at the smoke. Esther and Gwen were still trying to get answers from us using just facial expressions, and I was doing my best to ignore them. Jack didn't want to tell them, so I wouldn't either.
"Now," Shapiro said, exhaling a puff of smoke. "Does somebody want to tell me what's going on between you four?"
"Nothing." Jack shrugged as I smiled sweetly next to him. Shapiro turned his dubious gaze to Gwen and Esther, both of whom struggled to hide their previous expressions.
"I'm sorry, Jack," Esther began warily. "But we're trying to find out how Angelo Colasanto died."
"Esther-" I muttered through gritted teeth.
"I think there's something under the floor." She finished, ignoring my interruption.
Shapiro quickly called back the forensics team, four of whom returned and began lifting the floorboards. Rex strolled in purposefully soon after, full of questions about what was going on. None of us answered, instead watching the team cut into the floor, Jack and me reproachfully. In a couple of minutes, they managed to remove all of the wooden boards to reveal a golden pattern beneath.
"OK people," Shapiro said loudly. "Thank you very much. Leave the room immediately. Good work. Wait for my call," the forensics people left with the panels, and Shapiro turned his head. "Captain Harkness, Miss Smith. What is that?"
"No idea." We lied simultaneously.
"Tell us what it is, please, because if you could hear my sister volunteering to be categorised, you would help." Esther pleaded, making me feel guilty.
"Look, if they say they don't know, then they don't know. OK?" Gwen shrugged, leaping to our defence.
"I've read the Torchwood file," Shapiro started. "Are those materials extraterrestrial?"
"I said they don't know," Gwen snapped. "Now get out of their faces."
"The file also says that Cooper and Harkness inevitably form an alliance, and the best results can be achieved by separating them," Shapiro continued, pausing as I glanced between Jack and Gwen slightly nervously. "OK, get her out of here. And I mean it this time. Deport her. She's no longer welcome in the United States. Get her out of the country!" I stepped in front of her protectively before guards appeared to take her.
"Don't touch me!" Gwen ordered as one reached around me to grab her.
"Leave her alone." Jack commanded.
"Oh, you have something to say?" Shapiro exclaimed sarcastically. "Please. Even the girl is protecting her better than you," he turned to Gwen as I glared. "I'm sorry, Miss Cooper, but from this moment on, Torchwood is defunct. You will be removed from American soil immediately, and God help Great Britain."
"With me. Don't cause trouble." One of the guards said as he pulled Gwen away from us.
"Jack, I'll find you," she called confidently as she walked out of the room. "Jenny! I will, I'll find you, Jack."
"Sir, you've got to reconsider this." Rex asked Shapiro.
"You can't do this." Jack added.
"Then talk." Shapiro snapped.
"No, you really can't send her away," I said calmly. "I'm not American, either. Are you going to deport me?"
"As much as I would like to, Miss Smith, files show that you are of superior intelligence and you appear to know what's going on. So talk."
"The CIA doesn't have any authority over me, you're not deporting me!" Gwen yelled from the hall. "I'm coming back!"
"Still got nothing to say, either of you?" Shapiro said angrily. "Well then, you're not gonna mind if we dig this thing up and take it back for analysis."
"Jack, we're going to have to."
"You can't," Jack groaned. "I'm sorry, OK? You can't touch it."
"Oh, he speaks at last!" Shapiro joked.
"Jack, come on. What the hell is it?" Rex asked. Jack and me shared a glance.
"It's a transmitter, of some sort." I sighed.
"OK, what does it do?"
"Well, it mostly proves our theory that immortality is caused by some sort of morphic field." Jack snarled.
"Wait a minute," Shapiro cried. "You know what's causing the Miracle?"
"Course we don't!" I replied. "Saying it's a morphic field is like saying it's radiation, or Time Lord science. It's vague."
"We still don't know how, where or what is creating it." Jack finished.
"So it transmits, what, some sort of field that cancels out the first one so Angelo could die?" Esther confirmed.
"And where did he get it?" Rex asked angrily.
"I don't know, can't know everything!" I exclaimed.
"How big is this field?" Shapiro asked, actually making me grateful for a sensible question. "The whole house?"
"Smaller," Jack answered. "About the size of that panel."
"So we could stop the Miracle if we could create a field as big as, what, the whole planet?"
"No, you need a structure like this panel as big as the whole planet."
"Well, I'm sure we'd be able to replicate its effects." Shapiro said, reaching down to the panel.
"Don't touch it!" I cried, pulling his arm back.
"That's a proper null field," Jack explained. "You change the dynamic and it could nullify everything, even life."
"Well then, you two need to make it safe."
"We're not experts."
"You're the closest thing we've got, now make it safe!" Shapiro shouted. "And then we're gonna take this thing back to Langley."
Half an hour later, we were still in the room with the panels. We were working on Shapiro's orders, even though neither Jack nor me had the slightest clue where to start to make a null field safe. I tried to call Dad to get help, but he didn't pick up. Sighing, I put Rory's phone back in my pocket just as Jack called me over.
"Jen, scan the panels." I did as I was told.
"Good Gallifrey." I exclaimed.
"Exactly."
"Esther, Rex?" I summoned. "Could you give us a hand?"
"We need you to hold these pattern blocks in place." Jack said, and they meandered over slowly.
"All right, which ones?" Rex asked.
"These, here." I replied, indicating a couple next to me.
"I'm really sorry about this, but I didn't know." Esther said immediately.
"Yeah, now listen to me quickly," Jack said, brushing over her apology. "I've broadened the transmission so it's nullifying sound waves. No one outside the field can hear us."
"So, make yourself look busy," I muttered. "Just stay where you are, and no one can hear us."
"What are you two talking about?" Rex snorted, nodding at the people on the other side of the room. "They're right there. Hey, you can hear me, right? Hey!"
"Rex!" I snapped, hitting his arm lightly.
"Would you turn around and not look at him?" Jack ordered.
"They can't hear us?" Rex realised.
"It's a null field."
"No. No way."
"Don't attract attention," I instructed. "Look busy. Be subtle."
"All right," he nodded. "Esther, I want you to count to a hundred out loud. All right? Just keep counting. Go ahead, go." I looked at Esther as she confusedly began. Rex jumped up next to me and took a few steps back.
"One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight…" I heard Rex bang into something behind me, apologising to the CIA members in the room. Jack shook his head in frustration as I chuckled.
"Thirty, thirty one, thirty two…"
"Holy shit," Rex exclaimed, crouching back down beside me. "This is insane."
"They can still see us," Jack said quickly. "Keep your heads down, facing away, like you're concentrating, OK?"
"This thing's real." Rex mumbled.
"How does it work?" Esther asked.
"I can't tell you. That's the point," Jack replied. "Just listen. Jen and me knew this stuff the second we saw it. Yes, it's alien technology. The only examples of it on Earth were in the Torchwood Hub. They were buried in the ruins."
"But Angelo had people watching." Esther said.
"Exactly," I nodded. "Must have salvaged it, knowing the Miracle was coming. Don't blame him, really."
"So what did he do? Trigger it with your DNA or something?"
"Maybe that was revenge, or maybe giving me a clue," Jack said. "But there's only one course of action left now. You have to get us out of here."
"Are you crazy?" Rex exclaimed.
"Turn your head." I reminded.
"Jack, listen to me," he continued. "The CIA is not the enemy. That's why I brought them in. Don't you understand? You don't…" he paused as people walked past, mumbling to himself. "Look, you don't need to run any more, OK? We can protect you."
"There's a reason why Torchwood was secret. We kept things hidden from the human race," Jack replied. "This technology is a science the world should never know."
"How can you know that?" Esther asked fearfully.
"Because you lot can't deal with it," I said. "You'll use it for something it's not meant for. Wars, fighting… imagine the stealth technology of a null field, hiding bombs, planes, shielding one side from radiation while the other side burns. It would be the end of the human race. The technology would send Earth's future to damnation."
"She's right." Esther sighed.
"Whose side are you on?" Rex scoffed.
"Even if the government had this one panel and they put people inside and they died, it's the same thing as the ovens. It's control over life and death and we've seen that that doesn't work." She exclaimed.
"But you trust us, don't you?" Jack asked. "Both of you? After all we've done. Please, I'm begging you, get us out of here. Look, this is the alpha plate. Without it, this is just a bunch of metal. You've gotta get us and the plate away from this house."
"Jack, listen to me," Rex hissed. "We can't, OK? We are the CIA and this is a genuine CIA operation."
"This is history, Rex. This is everything." I snapped. "Please. Get us out." I looked at him for several seconds before he moved. He sighed, getting to his feet as Jack slipped the alpha plate into his shirt pocket. Shaking his head, Rex walked away, and we were left unsure whether he was getting us out or not.
"Jack, Jenny," Rex called as he strolled in a little later. "Shapiro wants to see you both." I smiled at him quickly, communicating my thanks. "Wait a minute," he said, speaking to the guard about to escort us. "You might wanna get your coat. He's outside by the forensics vehicle." The man turned back to get his jacket, but Rex smacked him over the head as soon as he had his back to us, knocking him straight out.
"Thank you." Jack said.
"Yeah, just shut up," Rex barked. "Now listen, this is the story. Jack and Jenny knocked him out, held us at gunpoint and stole a car, OK? All right, come on."
"You're not coming with us?" Jack asked as we rushed down the hall.
"We can't," Rex replied. "That's why we've gotta keep our faces out of this. I'm sorry, Jack, but the CIA has a chance of solving this things now. And they need me and Esther, we can help."
"There's a courtyard this way." Esther said as I nodded in agreement.
"All right, now listen," Rex said quietly, creeping out of the building with us. "There's gonna be a guard on the gate. I'll tell him that Shapiro authorised a car. Just keep your heads down. Go, go, go!"
"Which one?" I asked, looking around at the dozens of vehicles parked in the area.
"I don't know, they're all the same," Esther whispered. "Just chirp the thing." Jack pressed a button on the key that Rex gave him and the car in front of us beeped unlocked.
"Hey, stop! I said stop!" A man yelled as we ran to the car. There was a loud bang, and I followed a bullet's path through the air. It hit Jack. He groaned and fell to the ground, holding his side as blood poured out.
"Stay where you are!" The man ordered, holding the gun at us.
"You," I hissed. "You just shot him! He's my friend, and you shot him!"
"So I did." He sneered.
"You have no idea what you've just done." I whispered, anger bubbling in my throat.
"And what are you going to do about it, little girl?" He jeered. Then, I lost control. The next seconds passed in a blur. I vaguely remember taking the steps right up to the gun, having the metal press against my chest, right between my hearts. I must have attacked him. I ripped the gun from his hands and used it to crash against his head, kicking him in the stomach as he held his skull in pain.
"Get him out of here, go!" I screamed at Esther as Rex appeared and helped her pick Jack up from the floor and put him in the car.
"He saw me, Rex!" I heard Esther cry as the man tried to stand up straight. The car engine roared as I stormed towards the man, but before I could do any more damage, Rex came up behind him and knocked him out.
"Jenny, get out of here!" Rex yelled. I looked around, noticing that Jack and Esther had already taken the car and gone Rassilon knows where.
"Come with me!" I shrieked.
"I can't," he said. "Someone will have heard that shot. Now go." I looked at him wide-eyed for a second, gathered my thoughts, then did what he said. I ran out of the gates. I kept running and running and running, through the night, no idea where I was headed. Alone, only two items with me: my vortex manipulator, which I couldn't use because the CIA knew I had it and would therefore be tracing any time shifts, and Rory's phone, which they would also be tracking. No contacts. No defence. No clue whether or not my mortality had reversed. And the worst thing? Jack was shot, possibly dying for the final time.
Run, Jen. That's all you can do. You've always loved that part.
LunaRoseDiCaprio: Good Gallifrey, it's been a while. Yeah, I don't really have an excuse. Well, I guess I do... busy few weeks on placement with pretty much no time as well as coming home for Christmas and Christmas shopping/decorating/seeing people... Also a longgggg chapter :) Thank you for waiting this long for an update! *Should* be finished with Miracle Day by the end of the year, then we'll get back to the Doctor and the Ponds.
Also, The Day of the Doctor. Wooooooowwwwwwwww.
Read & Review! xx
