"Hello?" Gerald called out.
Chloe held Tommy's arm. "Tell them." She begged him.
"Tell us what?" Gerald asked.
"Tell them what to do." Chloe pleaded. She turned Tommy's head, making sure the man could look her in the eyes. "You're the only one who can stop this. If you don't, it's the end of everything! Tommy!"
Tommy stood up. He rushed up to the Torchwood Agents.
"Take me. I'm in there in the ward, in 1918. You have to take me so I can be here now. Just take me!" Tommy yelled. The Torchwood agents rushed off. Tommy turned to Chloe. "I'll be gone soon."
"Remember, the Rift key. Use it." Chloe pleaded. "You've got to get back into bed like you've never been away. Then use the key. Tommy? Remember. It's nearly time."
==ILWAS==
Chloe wanted to say she missed having Leah in her home. With Leah around the flat never went silent. One of her gadgets or gizmos would be going off, ticking away in Chloe's living or guest room. Without her niece, things got boring.
She didn't want to keep her away from her parents. It overjoyed Chloe to see Leanna and Thelma working things out. Even better was that her family came to her in the move. Her sister never seemed as bright as when Leah lived with them.
Leah took it a step farther, working at Torchwood. She became the unofficial second in command. If Chloe hadn't watched Leah slowly take it from Owen, she wouldn't have believed it. That it still happened amused Chloe and the rest of the team. Leah led the team with a passion- like she'd been meant to do it all along.
Not only that, Chloe had to hide less from her family. Leah made sure the things they did there could be things you could write home without feeling gutted. Saved the people, gave the alien a new life, things like that.
Chloe knew that her sister and sister-in-law always worried about how Leah would connect to people. Being an alien, a disconnect always came up. Leanna worried Leah would be a psychopath. Thelma worried she'd be lonely. Chloe saw Leah with her team, wondering how they could ever have imagined Leah would be so distant.
The friendliness of her niece just made the silence in her flag that much more noticeable. Everyone in her life seemed to move on. Gwen got her man, Owen seemed to be figuring out he liked Tosh, Leanna and Thelma got back together, even Jack and Ianto were getting together!
Who did Chloe have?
As of this Friday the 20th...Chloe had a prospective idea.
==ILWAS==
Leah remembered a day like this last year. Well actually two years ago. She hadn't been working at Torchwood Three yet in any capacity. Chloe hadn't told her what happened that day. If anything, her not knowing what happened today made Leah all the more curious about the practices of Torchwood Three.
She left home, ignoring the mushy romance between her moms. When she walked into the office, she walked past Owen and Tosh sneaking smiles, by Gwen smiling at her hand, at Ianto giving Jack tea. If Leah was a normal teenager, she would be upset that she was the only one single.
She wasn't, actually. Aunt Chloe stayed single. Yeah, Chloe had one night stands, those never lasted long. Leah occasionally thought about what it'd be like if Chloe got somebody. Another relative for her. Would they get to know Leah was an alien, or would they keep mum about it? Would they be human, or alien?
This line of thought wouldn't get Leah anywhere. She needed to get things ready for work.
Jack brought her, Gwen, and Ianto into his office. Leah wanted to learn what they had planned for today. The curiosity was getting to her.
Jack handed her a folder. Lean opened it wide enough for Gwen to see too.
Gwen nodded to the picture. "Who is he?"
"According to this, he's Thomas Reginald Brockless." Leah read off.
"Tommy." Ianto added.
"24 years old." Jack added.
Ianto tilted his head. "Sort of."
Gwen turned back towards him. "Well, he's either 24 or he's not." Gwen replied.
"That's not exactly true." Leah thought about the humans here. The one behind her in particular. She thought about herself, and her people. "A person can age very slowly, or be displaced in time. Which is he?"
Jack stood up. He walked to her side, grinning smugly. "He was born in 1894."
Leah hummed.
Gwen smiled, expecting a punchline. When none came she frowned in confusion.
Jack smiled at them both. He walked out of his office with Ianto.
Gwen turned to Leah. Leah held the paper, reading the rest of the profile. She followed out after Jack and Ianto. Gwen tapped her arm.
"Are they serious?" Gwen asked.
Leah nodded. "Makes sense to me. Doesn't tell me how old he is, though." She walked out of the office with Gwen on her heels.
Speaking of heels, what was her aunt wearing?
"Owen, you ready?" Jack called out.
"Yeah, nearly." Owen rushed about among the decks. He dressed up a light blue shirt, reaching for his lab coat. He stopped to glance at Aunt Chloe. "Is that a dress, Tosh?"
Tosh looked from her desk to Chloe. Instead of her usual business casual, she wore a deep teal dress to her knees. "I do believe it is, Owen."
"Shut it." Chloe chided. She tied a ribbon belt around her hip, making sure the bow aligned.
Leah didn't think she'd ever seen Chloe so dressed up.
"Well, where is he?" Gwen asked them.
"Where else would they put the bodies?" Leah chased after Jack and Ianto.
==ILWAS==
They'd brought him up from the vaults. They laid him out on the medical table in the medical pit. Owen and Chloe were at work to wake the young soldier up.
"He's been here for ninety years, longer than any of us. Any of you." Jack explained.
"Torchwood have used alien cryogenics since Victorian times. They froze Tommy in 1918." Tosh told them.
"So he's 24 or 114 years old. I know which one I'd choose." Jack winked at Gwen.
Owen pressed two wires to Tommy's chest. Chloe pushed an IV into his arm. "We have to wake him up every twelve months or so. Well, defrost him."
"Only for one day." Chloe explained. "Then he goes back in the freezer."
"Why?" Gwen asked.
"Check he still works." Ianto replied.
"One day, we're gonna need him." Jack stated.
Leah eyed the Captain. "Need him for what?"
Owen held up a syringe. "Right, everybody ready?" Not waiting for a reply, Owen stuck the needle in the man's neck. Once emptied Owen held the man's neck for a pulse. "Come on, Tommy."
The machine screeched with a flatline. Leah leaned closer to Jack, watching.
Owen grabbed the defibrillator. "Charging two hundred, clear!" Still nothing. "The thing's shorting. Charging three sixty. Clear!"
Tommy gasped. He slashed at Owen. Ianto rushed down to help him.
"Quick, quick. It's all right." Owen assured his patient.
"Get off me! Leave me alone!" Tommy yelled.
"Tommy!" Chloe tried to shout over the cacophony.
"Leave me alone!" Tommy punched Owen. Owen fell to the ground.
Leah leaned towards Jack. "I liked this guy."
Jack grinned, chuckling.
"Tommy!" Chloe pleaded. She held his arm, pulling it back enough so she could lean forward. She stared into his eyes. "Tommy, listen to me. Tommy Brockless." The man paused, looking up at Chloe. "It's me, Chloe."
Tommy stared back. "Chloe."
"Remember?" Chloe asked.
Leah leaned forward. She watched the two of them, curious.
Tommy nodded. He relaxed on the table. Ianto stepped back. Chloe did not.
Owen helped himself to his feet. "Gets harder every year."
"Good left hook, though." Ianto praised.
Chloe held Tommy's arm. "Do you know where you are?"
"Torchwood." Tommy replied.
Chloe smiled. "That's right."
Tommy smiled back. "Is it time again? Blimey." He started sitting up again.
"How are you feeling?" Chloe asked him.
"I could murder a cup of tea." Tommy asked.
Leah chuckled. Jack leaned back. "Ianto likes him too."
"I bet."
==ILWAS==
Leah and Ianto picked up the takeaway orders, unpacking it so Tommy could enjoy it. Ianto explained they tried to ease him into the tastes of the era, but nothing outlandish. So, no pizza. Tommy also seemed to have a taste for Chinese food. Ianto got some of the good stuff, while Leah went to their usual place to get food for everyone else.
Ianto handed Tommy a plate. The others sat around the table, filling up their own plates. "Don't expect the best china."
Tommy gratefully accepted. He grabbed a fork, already shoveling food in. "I'm starving."
Owen reached for some of Tommy's takeaway. Ianto moved the hand back. "Visitors only." Ianto warned.
"Here, tuck in. There's enough here to feed an army." Tommy invited. Owen grinned as he took some of it. Tosh rolled her eyes, playfully nudging at Owen's side. Chloe brought her plate over to sit beside Tommy. He gave her a once over. "Nice dress."
Chloe beamed. "Thank you."
Leah looked over at Jack. He still focused on filling up the plate. Leah wanted to talk to somebody about this, anyone. Was she the only one that saw it? Was this even okay, for Chloe to get close to Tommy? What about- what about when he goes back? What happens then, huh?
She caught Gwen's eye. Gwen seemed confused but also enjoying it. She smiled Chloe's way, beaming brightly in delight by what she saw there.
Great. So Leah would be the only one confused by this.
"Got your slacks on underneath. Is it that cold outside?" Tommy asked.
"It's the fashion this year." Ianto explained.
"1968 they were in miniskirts." Tommy told Owen. "Thought all my Christmases had come at once. Shame they haven't made a comeback."
"I still don't get it. Why is he here?" Gwen asked Jack.
"Like I said, one day we're gonna need him." Jack picked up a drink, tossing it towards Tommy before knocking it back.
"Do you even know what for?" Leah asked.
Jack met her eyes.
==ILWAS==
Owen and Tosh took Tommy for a physical evaluation. Chloe stood nearby to watch, keeping him comfortable. Ianto set about cleaning up the meal. Jack brought Gwen and Leah up to his office again.
"Saint Teilo's Hospital, 1918. There was a time shift." Jack explained.
"A time shift, seriously?" Leah asked, eyes wide. They taught those lessons during her team at the Academy. Time Lessons were one of the more important ones at school. Especially after Leah saw into the Schism. The Visionary and Leah worked hard so that Leah understood the many things that could break time. If she used her visions improperly or damaged time in any way, Leah needed to know the consequences and signs.
"What, what is it?" Gwen asked.
"Oh a bit complicated." Leah sat on Jack's desk, looking down at the hospital image in her hand. "It's a fracture in time. Think about it like your tectonic plates beneath the Earth." Leah held up her two hands, slowly pushing them together. "Separate until pushed together." Her one hand pushed harder, sliding on top of the other. "Causing damaging effects for everything above them. Eventually, they exist as one point in time."
"A slice of 1918, and-" Gwen began.
"A slice of the future." Jack nodded. "But we don't know exactly what slice. It could be tomorrow, it could be in a hundred years time."
"What will happen?" Gwen asked.
"It'll be small at first." Leah reasoned. "Little bits and pieces of 1918 will show up in the hospital. Sounds and smells from that time drifting over here. They'll get bigger and bigger. Maybe they'll see a nurse wearing the wrong uniform, a patient wandering the hall. When the time shift is complete, it'll cause a chain reaction of damage all over the planet. 1918 will bleed and bleed all over modern-day until they can't be told apart."
Jack grinned proudly at Leah. Leah didn't see why. These were basics. Things she learned on day one of her training.
"But how does Tommy fit in?" Gwen asked.
Leah turned to Jack. He walked over to his vault. "He helps to stop it somehow. Torchwood 1918 left us sealed orders." He pulled out a locked box. He passed it to Leah.
Immediately, Leah could feel the thing. It reminded her of boxes she had on her home planet. They weren't locked with Rift energy, more that they were locked like...almost like the human Time Capsules. Only Gallifreyan time capsules were a bit more strict on being opened at the right time.
She raised it up to read the side. "Eyes only documents. FAO Torchwood commander overseeing case 1918/T B."
"Tommy Brockless?" Gwen guessed.
Leah nodded. She lowered the box, staring at the lid.
"Well go on, open it." Gwen asked.
"I can't." Leah answered.
"You didn't even try."
"Cause I can't." Leah held up the box. "It's locked."
"Give her the key." Gwen told Jack.
Jack shook his head. "Doesn't have one."
"It's time-locked." Leah explained. "Timeshift, time lock, it makes sense." Gwen nodded, conceding that point. Leah twisted and turned the box, eyeing every corner. "The key is tied to the rift frequencies...a specific one...probably the other side the time shift. When the time shift is almost complete, the box should open with the mission report."
"Exactly." Jack nodded. He held out his hand. Leah handed the box over.
"But why would they keep us in the dark, Jack?" Gwen asked.
"I guess we'll find that out, too." Jack reasoned.
Leah frowned. "Cause that's always worked out for them."
"How do you know so much about it?" Gwen asked.
Leah shrugged. "Back on my planet, these were some of the first things I learned about."
"Seriously? They taught about rift energy?" Gwen asked. "Weren't you a bit...young?"
Leah tilted her head. "I was 8. It wasn't rift energy, it was temporal displacements and the possible consequences regarding the effects of it on a planet and subsequent effects for the relevant galaxies."
Gwen paused, staring at Leah. Jack just laughed knowingly.
Tommy and Chloe walked in. Tommy wasn't dressed in a hospital gown anymore. Now he wore a classy coat and suit, with slacks of his own. Chloe was still in the dress. "Ta-dah!" She cheered.
Tommy gave them a little twirl. "Seriously, what do you think?"
"You look like a film star." Gwen praised.
"Who, Charlie Chaplin?" Tommy asked.
Chloe dragged him back out, giggling. "Come on." She and Tommy skipped out, Gwen just behind.
Leah nodded at them. "Are we okay with this, or can I make fun?"
Jack raised an eyebrow. "You're holding back?"
Leah grinned. Jack grinned back. The two walked out from his office.
"Jack, have you got any more of those pretty boys in the freezer?" Gwen asked.
"Hands off, missy. Chloe got there first." Jack teased.
Leah watched, interested in the new couple but hesitant too.
Tommy helped Chloe put on her coat. "Thanks for holding the fort while I'm out." Chloe threw her purse on her shoulder.
"Oh it's no trouble." Tosh replied with a giddy smile. She gave the fellow agent a small shove. "Go have fun for the rest of us."
Chloe laughed. She shoved Tosh right back.
"Where are you off?" Gwen asked.
"Drinks, pizza, and a film." Chloe answered. Jack and Gwen hummed in approval.
"What film?" Leah asked.
"Just- any." Chloe replied. "I'll be on the mobile if you need me."
Leah waved her off. "Go- and I won't tell Mum!" Chloe laughed, nervously.
"Have a lovely time." Gwen cheered her off.
"Bye." Jack joined in, waving goodbye to the giddy couple.
"Be home by midnight!" Leah teased.
Chloe glared warningly at her niece. Leah giggled. As they walked away, Leah's smile fell away into a worried frown.
"He's a frozen soldier from 1918." Gwen noted.
"Nobody's perfect." Jack walked back towards his office. He held up his arm. "Milady?"
Leah still looked out from where Chloe left. She slipped her hands in her pockets, cautiously staring ahead.
Something didn't feel right.
Still, she walked back with Jack. The Captain knew he would have to keep the Time Lady occupied. Time travel shenanigans were her preferred wheelhouse.
==ILWAS==
Chloe brought Tommy out by a pier. Tommy already loved it. The area changed a lot since he last woke up. She thought taking the scenic route would help him settle. He probably couldn't handle new cabs anyhow.
Lucky for them the weather was so nice. Chloe and Tommy could take a walk without worrying about rain.
Tommy excitedly dashed about their walk. He ran by everything he could, stopping to marvel at them.
Chloe thought it was adorable. She giggled, watching him go. "Slow down, what's the hurry?"
"I've only got one day, I want to see everything." Tommy explained. He dashed ahead to a statue.
Chloe fondly rolled her eyes. She followed after him. "Captain Scott sailed from here, when he went off to the Antarctic." They added that statue a few months ago- some new art piece from a museum.
"1910. I was sixteen." Tommy patted the bottom of the display. "Papers were full of it. Took him two years to get there and then he snuffed it." Chloe could imagine the excitement and joy. "So, what've you been up to since I last saw you?"
"Oh, this and that." Chloe explained. "Work, mostly." Tommy made a face, a sort of teasing smile. Chloe frowned. "What?"
"I knew you were going to say that." Tommy replied. He laughed. "It's what you always say. So. That was the niece? She was nice. That's what you said last year, that your niece was coming to stay with you."
"She stayed, yeah, for a bit." Chloe explained. "Moved back with her parents four months back."
Tommy smiled, sadly.
"It's not all bad. My sister moved down here, so I see them more." Chloe explained.
She loved seeing her sister more often. Ever since Chloe's actions got them in trouble in the first, lost them Leah for five months and only got her back during Canary Wharf, Chloe's life fell apart. She worked in a building that held her niece hostage. Every day she was told "if it's alien, it's ours".
That one alien was her's...Leah was her family. Losing her lost them all so much. Chloe already lost her mum and dad when Leanna came out. Leanna, Thelma, and Leah were all the family she had left. By losing her niece, she lost her family.
When they got her back, Chloe worked hard to keep that family together. It broke her heart that Leanna and Thelma started fighting. She offered to take in Leah- a daring, bold ask given what Chloe's actions had wrought. They shipped Leah off. They agreed that their house wasn't a stable environment for the child.
And what did Chloe do with that trust?
She led their niece straight into Torchwood's eye. Again.
Chloe deserved the scolding from Leanna. Worse yet, she deserved hate from Leah. Leah hated Torchwood's violence, their treatment of anything alien. For so long, Chloe thought Leah blamed Chloe for all of it. Leah found out while they waited for Jack to return. Leah said she could never hate her aunt. Not for anything Chloe could ever do.
Really?
Nothing at all, Leah?
Chloe remembered the nightmares. She woke up some nights to hear Leah crying in her room. Leah still looked towards the Torchwood cells in fear. Some nights, Chloe would wander into Leah's old room only to find it empty. Still in the haze of sleep, Chloe broke down crying thinking that Leah was taken again. It never took her long to remember the truth. Her heart ached every time.
But Chloe didn't want to think about those things. She only had one day with Tommy. She wanted to think about the good of her life so she could tell him all about it.
"I did take up Spanish class." Chloe admitted. "Went to the class and everything."
Tommy smiled. "How many?"
Chloe blushed. "...just two lessons."
Tommy laughed. "Oh! Practically an expert, then!"
"Shut it." Chloe teased. She pushed his arm, stepping closer to his side. She didn't step back. "There was a lot going on at work."
"You talk about your life like you've got no control over it." Tommy pointed out.
"Well, Torchwood's pretty much twenty four seven. Twenty four hours a day, seven days a week." Chloe explained.
"But you weren't conscripted. I mean, it's your choice, right?" Tommy asked.
Chloe leaned against the railing. She brushed some blonde hair from her face, looking at Tommy. "Yeah. I suppose it is."
Even for all the pain Torchwood caused her, all the years and months of strife, that destroyed timeline where it cost her life, Chloe still wouldn't give it up for anything.
==ILWAS==
Leah pushed for answers about the mission. Jack couldn't give her anything. All Leah could manage was an old photo of the Torchwood agents that picked up Tommy.
As she stared at it, Leah couldn't find any new solution. They pulled a man from their time, chronically froze him, and they were left without answers. For all the damage Torchwood caused in their antics, this was the one time they kept silent. It shouldn't irritate her, it should make her proud.
Why did they have to get smart here?
Gwen took a seat beside her. She smiled at the picture. "He's a bit of alright."
"That's the boss." Leah explained. "Gerald Kneale. He's forty-five."
Gwen hummed. "Nothing changes." She nodded to the woman. "She's alright too."
"Harriet Derbyshire." Leah supplied.
"Wonder what happened to her." Gwen mused.
"She died the year after that was taken." Leah answered. Gwen frowned. "She was twenty-six."
Gwen leaned forward, pulling the picture from Leah. Leah let the picture go, staring at the Hub around them. "So young."
"All of you are." Leah replied. "Even me. I'm an infant to my people."
"Oh you are an infant, such a young little Lady you are."
Leah stood up from her seat. She grabbed her bag, tossing it onto her shoulder. As she went she grabbed her Bug (Zero-Hero) and Gwen's (Fiver).
"Where are we going?" Gwen asked. She stood up, grabbing her own bag and materials.
Leah walked to the door. "Out."
==ILWAS==
Tommy pushed the pool cue. The ball fell into the corner.
Chloe huffed. "Dammit! How'd you do that?" Chloe complained.
Tommy grinned at her. "You can catch up."
Chloe pointed a warning finger. "Don't patronize me."
"Give you women a vote, equal rights, look what happens, eh?" Tommy teased. Chloe lined herself for another shot. She missed, sending the white ball into the corner. "So, er, you got a boyfriend yet?"
"You sound like my sister." Chloe huffed. She put the ball down, trying again. She managed to get herself next to the hole. God she hated playing pool.
"Ah, so you haven't, then." Tommy smiled.
Chloe smiled back. Her cheeks warned because of her bad shot, totally not anything else. "You had a girlfriend? In 1918."
Tommy's smile was sadder. He lined up his next shot. "Yeah. Ellie. We courted for two years."
Courted, such an old style word. An old style romantic word. Chloe found she liked it. Being courted, hopefully by a strapping young bloke. Still she should be showing empathy to that bloke who lost his girlfriend. "What happened?"
"I, er, stopped seeing her last time I was home on leave." Tommy explained. He held the pool cue close, rubbing his thumb along the side. "The war changed me. I couldn't just carry on like before."
Chloe frowned. She could understand being changed in a war. She hadn't gone through war in a proper sense, she just survived in Torchwood. She fought aliens regularly on the streets. Once you see the world beyond, to see what came from the stars, how could you even begin to adjust to normal life?. "I'm sorry."
Tommy put away the frown. He smiled again at Chloe. This smile made Chloe feel like Tommy read her mind. After his days at Torchwood, he must have seen some of the stories she thought about. "Right pair we make."
==ILWAS==
This hospital had seen better days. Or maybe that wasn't right. The only days this hospital saw were full of pain and blood. Everyday there got filled with new ghosts and sorrows. Some days were better, perhaps. New babies born with ten fingers and toes. Maybe some people came home with a clean bill of health.
Leah could only see the grief. She walked on the hallways, feeling echoes of ghosts. Every bad day and broken heart. If she strained herself, she heard the sobs.
Worse yet, Leah could feel the cracks. Time already felt weaker here. Everything around the place had time fraying at it's seams.
Torchwood thought it could contain this?
Leah would be surprised if Earth didn't bust open like an egg.
She walked the halls. Gwen followed behind, like a faithful companion. They stayed silent as they walked. Leah wasn't open for conversation anyway. Pigeons flying occasionally flew by, spooking Gwen. Leah stayed focused on the feeling of time around here.
One hall had worse feelings than the rest. Leah wanted to throw up, her head spun so much. She stumbled walking. Gwen caught her, helping her get balance.
"Are you alright?" Gwen asked. "You look sick."
Leah let out a breath, shuddering. "Yeah, yeah, I'm fine." She stood up on her feet, balancing on her feet. She looked ahead. What she saw had her tensing still.
Gwen looked up.
A patient stood down the hall. Dressed in striped blue pajamas, crutches holding him upright, missing his right foot. He stared ahead, eyes blank.
Leah and Gwen gawked.
"Hello." Gwen greeted, awkwardly. The patient didn't reply. "I said hello."
"Gwen?" Leah began cautiously pulling the agent back.
The patient moved forward.
Leah stopped them. "Gwen wait."
Gwen flinched back. Leah held tight. "Can he hear us?" She looked at the patient. "Can you hear me?"
The patient kept moving forward.
"Look, can you hear me?" Gwen flinched back. Leah held tighter. "If you just-"
The patient walked through them.
Leah's head spun. And swayed, falling to her knees. Gwen knelt at her side, looking just as fucked up.
"What was that?" Gwen asked. She stood up, looking around for any sign of the patient.
Leah stood up. She shuddered as she got upright. "I told you. It's a patient wandering the hall, just like I said."
Gwen blinked. "The time shift? You think it's starting?"
"No." Leah started walking more intentionally. She knew what the time breaks felt like now. She could spot them better. "It's already started."
Leah moved through the hospital. Gwen rushed to.m stay beside her. Pigeons still fluttered by, spooking the agent. She stopped them before two hallways, turning down the one on the right.
"How can you tell?" Gwen asked.
"I find you, I had lessons." Leah replied.
They walked into a hallway. The lights flickered and blinked. Leah could feel why, rather than see it. The power lines kept coming in and out of phase with 2009.
"What are you looking for?" Gwen asked.
"Broken time." Leah explained. "It's distinct."
Leah led her through more halls. Lights flickered with more intensity. Leah could feel how close it was. She could practically taste the time thread.
She stepped into a hallway.
Out of nowhere, it was gone. Returned to its proper time.
Leah whined.
Gwen stopped at her side, panting. She hadn't expected to run that fast. "Leah, what-"
"I lost it!" Leah complained. "I had it, and I lost it! Do you know how embarrassing this is?! I'd be a laughing stock!"
"But Leah-"
"LAUGHING STOCK!"
"Are you alright, love?" A voice asked.
"No!" Leah turned. Instead of a ghost (like she hoped) or Gwen (like she expected), stood a man in a hard hat and construction jacket.
He, and his construction buddies, eyed her in concerned confusion. "You look like you took the piss."
Leah rather lost the piss. That's what made her so mad.
==ILWAS==
She was still mad as Jack arrived. She stuck by Gwen's side, muttering and ranting to herself as the ex-Time Agent approached.
"-not even beginning to talk about what my mentor would say! I should be able to find this thing blind. I should be able to walk in here, and know what's wrong! Instantly! And guess what I did?!"
"You lost it." Gwen replied. She looked at Jack, making her point clear.
"I lost it!" Leah stomped her foot, kicking at a pile of loose boxes.
Jack smiled, fond. "So. They're knocking down the hospital?" He let Leah keep up her rage induced destruction. He remembered how Terra could get during one of these moods, it was better to just let her tire herself out.
"Yeah, that's what they said." Gwen replied. "Could that have triggered the time shift?"
"YES IT DID!" Leah snapped. She stormed over to the other side of the room, pointing to a random spot of air. "This, this right here? Major pool of psychic energy. Hundreds upon hundreds of humans suffering in this exact spot. Over and over. All over this place. It fueled up that Rift like a fucking battery. The building itself is practically alive with it."
"It makes sense." Jack stood at her side. Leah huffed. She pressed her back against the wall, sighing as she slid down. "1918, this place was full of wounded soldiers. They had four years of it. Passchendaele, the Somme, a million British soldiers killed during the Great War. It was like walking into hell. Believe me. I was there."
Leah looked back at him. Jack smiled down at her. He once would've been hurt by the memories, the grief of living the war twice. He talked about it the first time around with Terra, but now he had more people. He had Ianto, abd Leah, and Gwen.
Jack pressed on his bug Comm (Hark-Six). "Tosh? You got anything?"
"It's quiet. There was that one spark earlier, and then nothing." Tosh replied. Her voice coming from Zero-Hero. "I'll keep scanning."
"Leah?" Jack asked.
"The same here." Leah replied. "There's something here. It was stronger earlier but it's faint now."
Jack nodded. "Can you get it back?"
"It's a point of pride that I do." Leah told him. After all, if not even a Time Lady could keep track of a time shift, something must be wrong.
==ILWAS==
Back at the bar, Chloe sat at the table. She watched Tommy, proud.
"Yes, mate." The bartender asked.
"Half a bitter, and a pint." Tommy ordered.
Chloe smiled.
Tommy looked back at her. He smiled. Not a suave smile, more dorky. Chloe thought it was endearing. The smile fell fast. He looked over her head at something.
Chloe followed the line of sight. She saw a TV, broadcasting footage from the war front.
"And at least twenty Iraqi civilians have been killed by a roadside bomb in Basra, south Iraq. The soldier was on a routine patrol...the civilians were taken to a nearby hospital."
Chloe stood up. She walked to his side. "Iraq." She explained to him. It hadn't come up, probably, in his last few years/days.
Tommy shook his head. "Seems like there's always a war somewhere."
"It's not exactly a war." Chloe tried to argue.
"Looks like one." Tommy countered. Chloe took his word for it. They picked up their drinks, walking back to their table. "First year they woke me up, 1919, they told me it was all over. We won. The war to end all wars, they said. And then three weeks later, you had the Second World War. After all that. Do you never wonder if we're worth saving? The human race?"
Chloe considered it. She knew the right answer here would be 'yes'. Still, Chloe couldn't forget what she'd seen.
Then she remembered Leah. All the times Leah ranted about Torchwood- about the awful practices. All of that because of how much better she knew humans could be.
"I think they have their good sides." Chloe answered. "End of the day? Yeah, I think we are."
Tommy smiled at her again.
"What?" Chloe asked. "What?"
"I was just thinking. I'd do anything for you." Tommy replied. Chloe giggled. She picked up her drink, sipping at it to hide her smile. "Yeah, all you have to do is say, Tommy, you're my brave, handsome hero, and I need you."
"Is that all?" Chloe teased.
"And whatever it is, I'll do it." Tommy promised. Chloe met his stare. She saw that promise- no, that vow to her. That Tommy Brockless would give her the world if only she asked. "I mean it. Anything."
Chloe could only smile at him. She reached for his hand, holding it. Tommy squeezed her hand.
He winced. His free hand reached for his head.
Chloe panicked. "What's wrong?"
"I don't know." Tommy lowered his hand back onto her. "I just felt something."
That didn't sit right with her. Still. No one called her yet. Chloe wanted to believe that she could have this...she couldn't stop that nagging feeling.
==ILWAS==
Leah wanted to nip this in the bud. The feeling buzzed around her head. Irritating. Bothering her. By the suns she wanted to smack it!
Jack and Gwen could barely keep up with her. Leah herself kept forgetting to slow down so they could catch up.
As she walked, Leah heard something. Leah stopped. Jack and Gwen stopped behind her. Jack turned, looking back the way they came.
"Leah?" Gwen asked.
"Jack?" Leah asked. She looked back. "Do you-"
"Yeah." Jack replied. They both strained to listen.
"Jack? Leah?" Gwen asked
Jack and Leah hushed her.
"Go ahead." Jack ordered.
Leah marched back from where they came. Jack joined her. Gwen carried on by herself.
Leah could hear singing down the hall. The tune came in and out of phase. She strained to hear the song. It didn't sound mechanical, or recorded. A living being sang the song. The closer she got to the song, to the singer, the stronger the time shift felt in her mind.
Jack walked with her. Given that he came from another time, he had slightly stronger senses than Gwen. He couldn't sense time like Leah- he could hear the singing though.
As they walked down the hallway, Leah and Jack paused. The singing paused.
*ding*
"Tick tock, wind up the clock."
Leah froze. She turned back, hearts racing. Jack turned too. They watched a 1918 nurse push a man in a wheelchair, his head bandaged up.
"I like them all." The patient sang.
"I bet you say that to all the girls." The nurse teased him, pushing him along.
"Show me a skirt, and my brain simply whirls." The man continued to sing.
"Shush. Matron won't have singing. You'll get a good telling off if she hears you." The nurse warned. Her voice came out too giddy to actually be chastising the man.
They walked right by Leah and Jack. At no point did they look up to see the spectators. Leah could feel it in her mind. Like staring at a lighthouse, waiting for the light to shine on you. Well it shined pretty fucking brightly on her face as the two came by.
"I love their dimples and curls. Tick tock, wind up the clock." The man kept singing. "And I start my day over again. Tick tock, wind up the clock. And I start my day over again."
Leah grabbed Jack's arm. The nurse pushed them right in front of her. She was in awe of the moment, of feeling time be distorted like this. Also? It gave her a headache like nobody's business. A pressure pushing down on her skull, right behind her eyes.
"Jack?" Leah breathed.
Jack nodded. He clapped his hand on her's. "I know."
Tosh's voice went out from Leah's bug again. "Jack, Leah, are you seeing anything? I'm getting a spike in activity."
Leah took the distraction as a blessing. She rubbed at her head, to the aching part.
"Yeah, we've got a few ghosts here." Jack replied. "Gwen, you okay? Gwen?"
"Gwen!" Leah called out.
"I'm fine." Gwen replied.
Leah sighed. Abd slouched against the wall, still rubbing at her head.
Jack looked at her. "You got something?"
"Whatever they want Tommy for, it's gonna upset Aunt Chloe." Leah stated. Jack couldn't deny it.
==ILWAS==
Chloe laughed, running fast as she could in her fancier shoes. Tommy, still in some functional boots, made easy work of the chase. They'd been play-fighting since Chloe beat Tommy in a drinking game.
"I'm going to get you!" Tommy taunted.
Chloe laughed as he did. "Stop, stop now, please." She yelped as Tommy swept her off her feet, throwing her over his shoulder. "No, Tommy!"
"It's a fireman's lift." Tommy told her. It only made Chloe laugh again.
"Put me down!" Chloe laughed. She whacked his back.
It made Tommy laugh. "I'm putting you down. I'm putting you down." He lowered her back down.
Chloe straightened out her clothes. As a breeze blew through her hair, she smiled at Tommy. The glee on his face made her laugh all over again. He was so handsome when he laughed. Chloe couldn't often think about times she'd laughed this hard. Stuck in the Hub, stuck with Torchwood, Chloe didn't often have reasons to really laugh.
Even with Leah around, it stayed dour. Leah and Gwen tried to remind them to be human. Chloe spent the past few months watching everyone else succeed. Gwen got engaged. Her sister got back together with her wife. Tosh and Owen were getting closer and closer, Chloe kept waiting for them to start shagging. Even Jack- perpetually single, player, casanova Jack- got together with Ianto. What did Chloe have to bring her joy?
Tommy leaned in, planting a kiss on her.
Chloe froze.
Tommy frowned, worried. "What?"
"Nothing." Chloe smiled. Something in her felt different. Lighter, perhaps. Did this feel real? Chloe thought about this for years, especially closer to the day itself. She wanted to have someone. Was Tommy the right one? Chloe wanted to believe it- wanted to believe it so badly. "Thanks."
"Thanks?" Tommy repeated.
"Yeah. That sounded silly, didn't it?" Chloe reached back, brushing her hair down again. "Thanking you for a kiss. That- that's not a usual reaction."
"What?" Tommy asked.
Chloe giggled, feeling all a teenager again. "It's nothing. Just...thought I would kiss you first."
Tommy laughed. Chloe found herself liking that joy. She leaned forward to kiss him.
"Like that." Chloe told him.
"Thanks." Tommy replied.
Chloe giggled, pushing his arm. "Shut up."
"Thank a woman, and she just knocks you down." Tommy joked.
"So what do you want to do now?" Chloe asked him.
"Well, we could go back to mine but there's only room for one and it's bloody freezing." Tommy replied.
Chloe giggled. "You want to come back to my place?" She asked. Tommy smiled at her. "I'm hardly rushing you. You've known me for three years."
"Three days." Tommy replied.
Chloe might've leaned forward. Or Tommy. Maybe both of them moved together for another kiss, letting wind blow around them.
They pulled away, their lips just barely touching.
"...so...we should-" Chloe began.
"Yeah." Tommy cheered. "I'll race you. Come on!"
She watched him go. "You don't even know where I love!" She laughed. Before she could join in the race, her phone buzzed.
Joy, snatched from her again.
She answered. "Leah?"
"Chloe!" Tommy called back.
"You're being summoned. By me. Run fast! Time is collapsing!"
"What?" Chloe asked.
"No time to explain, just get moving!" Leah ordered.
Chloe looked up at her date. Tommy looked right back. Disappointment showed on his face. "We're on our way." She smiled at Tommy, trying to apologize with just her expression.
Tommy smiled back, but it quickly dropped into a frown.
==ILWAS==
Everyone gathered around the long table. Leah rushed around, seemingly on cloud nine but that cloud was also in hell.
"Demolishing the hospital is what triggers the time shift." Jack explained.
"So don't demolish it." Owen stated.
Jack shook his head. "Too late, it's already started."
"What happens next?" Gwen asked.
"Those two time periods start merging together. Two times cannot exist in the same space." Leah explained. "It'll cause a catastrophic meltdown of your entire existence."
"So, not good." Chloe stated.
"Very not good." Leah nodded.
"So when 1918 becomes fully manifest-" Tosh began.
"It's really going to screw us up." Owen finished.
Leah picked up a sheet of paper. "Imagine this as time. Linear, flat, normal progression. If I drew a like, it'd go right across without a problem. Normal. Makes sense yeah?"
The humans nodded.
"Now 1918 is coming into contact with 2009." Leah folded the paper in half. "Bet you think it looks like this, yeah?"
They nodded again.
"WRONG!" Leah crumbled up the paper. Loudly. In fact, it sounded like she tore the paper in places. She threw the ball at Owen's head. "Can you even draw a straight line there? Without straightening out and also fixing the holes?"
"It's impossible." Gwen answered.
Leah pointed at Gwen, approving.
"That's why we've got to stop it." Jack warned them. He walked out of the room.
The rest of the team joined. Tommy came out last.
"Ianto, is that box doing anything yet?" Jack called out.
"Still locked." Ianto called back.
"Okay, we need to find out how fast the time shift is happening, get some idea when it's going to complete." Jack stated. "Chloe, Owen, go to the hospital. We need readings. Cover the place with rift monitors. Gwen, Tosh, go through the files, see if there's anything we missed. Leah, you stay here to help with the time lock."
"But the hospital-" Leah whined. Jack glared. Leah rolled her eyes. "Fine. But I do it under protest."
"You always do."
==ILWAS==
The box wouldn't open. Leah tried over and over, still getting nothing for it. The other three men watched with some amusement as Leah raged against the box.
Gwen and Tosh called in from the hospital. They'd read the incident report before coming into the hospital. One of the agents left a detailed view of the other time they were seeing. 'We hear the roar of great engines. Outside is a woman in strange armour, ripping a Union Jack, perhaps some future heroine of the Empire.'
Why was that relevant?
Because Tosh looked out a window, and saw an ad for car insurance. An ad of a woman, dressed in what could be described as 'strange armor'.
So this time shift? It was coming soon.
That's not great.
This being the reason that Leah was smashing the time locked box onto the brick wall.
"OPEN!" Leah yelled. She threw it again.
The box hit the wall. It fell to the ground, not even causing a dent.
Leah screamed in rage.
Jack laughed. Ianto smiled, rolling his eyes at her antics. Tommy watched in concern.
"That's Chloe's niece?" Tommy asked.
"Yep." Jack answered.
"She's-" Tommy eyed her.
"TELL ME YOUR SECRETS!"
"-different." He finished.
"We know." Jack grinned. "I keep thinking I should get popcorn."
Ianto hummed. "She would throw it at you."
Jack laughed. It's entirely possible.
Leah yelled as she threw it again. The box smashed against the stone wall. At that moment, a golden glow began to shine.
"YES!" She rushed to the box. The three men sat up. A golden dust flowed out from the box, shimmering and flying out. Leah got nostalgia from the very sight. It reminded her of time lessons as a child. Of the golden glow she'd once seen in the Untempered Schism.
She popped the top. The metal creaked from disuse. She pulled out old parchments, unfolding them.
"Instructions?" Ianto asked.
"Yes." Leah read the page. She flipped it to read the back. Her eyes went wide. "For Tommy...and Aunt Chloe."
==ILWAS==
Everyone gathered back at the round table. Leah held the box, a proud show of her victory against the Torchwood time mechanics.
"In twelve hours, both 1918 and 2009 will exist at once." Leah explained. "Just before the time shift merges them for good. Tommy can be here now, and then when Torchwood first collected him. Tommy, you need to be at the hospital ready to return to 1918."
"So he'd be right inside the time shift?" Gwen asked.
"Yes. He can close the fracture from the time shift." Leah explained.
"And when the fracture's closed?" Tommy asked.
"1918 will be back where it belongs." Owen reasoned.
"So will I. For good?" Tommy asked.
"Yeah." Jack explained. "You're the only one who can do this."
"When they brought you out of your time, you became a single thread connecting back to 1918." Leah explained. "That thread stretched out to now. Once you return to your time, that thread stitches time back together again."
"A stitch in time." Tommy replied.
"How?" Chloe asked.
Jack pulled out a device. "This is a Rift manipulator. It's basically a key. Once you're inside the time shift, you can close the door behind you." Jack explained.
"And that's it? I'm gone?" Tommy asked.
"Tommy, stay with Ianto. Chloe, With me." Jack ordered.
==ILWAS==
Chloe followed Jack. She watched the rest of the team go off into the Hub.
"What happens to him?" Chloe asked.
"Three weeks after we send Tommy back, he dies." Jack answered.
Chloe gawked. She steeled her expression. "How?"
"He's shot by a firing squad." Jack explained.
Chloe took a deep breath. Already, she started tearing up. "I don't understand."
"In 1918, Tommy was suffering from shell-shock. That's why he was in the hospital. When Torchwood took him and froze him, they froze his most recent memories." Jack explained. "When he returns to 1918, he'll revert back to who he was. He'll be shell-shocked and so he'll be executed by the British Army for cowardice."
"They can't shoot him for that." Chloe snapped. "Maybe we could-"
"Lots of soldiers who were shell-shocked recovered enough to be sent back to the Front. But once they were there, they broke down again." Jack cautioned.
It gutted Chloe all over again. There was just no hope for Tommy then. "So they kill him?"
"More than three hundred of them." Jack answered.
"Then we don't send him back." Chloe stated. She would get Leah on her side. No way would Leah advocate for murder, much less Tommy's murder. He'd been brought up for a century as a lamb for slaughter. How was that fair?
"We have to." Jack insisted.
"I can't do that." Chloe shook her head.
"Yes, you can. He trusts you." Jack explained.
"To send him to his death?" Chloe asked, laughing bitterly.
"To help him save the future. It has to be you." Jack pulled out a parchment, holding it out to her. Chloe gawked at her own face. A Torchwood agent had drawn her exact likeness. Her eyes stared back at her, drawn in charcoal.
"Torchwood 1918 saw you with Tommy in the hospital, telling him what to do." Jack explained. "I know you. You're strong enough to do this."
"Does Leah know about this?" Chloe asked.
"She's the one that told me." Jack answered.
"Does Tommy know?" Chloe asked.
"No."
Chloe glared at the Captain. "If he asks me, what do I say?"
Her boss gave no answer.
==ILWAS==
Tommy walked towards Leah's desk. In his arms, he held his old clothes. A military jacket, and blue striped pajamas. Leah pointedly avoided looking in his direction. She pretended to be giving her bug-comm an upgrade.
"Where's Chloe?" Tommy asked her.
Leah poked the little bug, trying to work with the internal power structure. She actually had an idea to increase that by 25%. "Still...with...Jack."
Tommy nodded. He sat down at her desk, looking out on the Hub. "So, tomorrow morning. What time is it now?"
Gwen and Ianto reached for their watches. Leah sniffed. "8:50 pm, Cardiff, Earth, 21st century. " They stared at her. Leah didn't even look up, as if she hadn't spoken at all.
"So what do we do till then?" Tommy asked. Leah began twisting wires about. "You don't know, do you?"
"What would you like to do?" Gwen asked.
"The night before we went over the top, we used to play cards, write letters, have a drink if anyone had some." Tommy explained.
Leah lowered her equipment. She placed Zero-Hero's protective cap back in place.
"Well, we could do that." Owen replied.
"Yeah." Ianto nodded.
"I could go for a pint." Tosh cheered.
"But you're not coming with me." Tommy told them. At once, their joy died. Leah woke up her big. The little creature jumped on her hand, crawling along. "I'm going on my own."
It latched onto her shirt sleeve, buzzing twice. Leah welcomed the feel of a familiar heartbeat. She could use the reminder after all the time travel shenanigans today.
Chloe walked back in. Leah wanted to look up at her, to give some kind of comfort. She just...she couldn't think of any other way. Well...she had one idea...but it wasn't possible. Yet.
"We were just wondering what Tommy should do tonight." Gwen told Chloe.
"He can come home with me." Chloe stated, stern. Leah glanced up at her aunt. Chloe glared at Jack. "He's not our prisoner. He doesn't have to stay here. Does he."
"No." Jack replied. "If that's what you both want. Tomorrow morning, six thirty."
Leah got her things together. She looked back at her aunt to see the older human glaring at her too. It didn't make her feel any better.
==ILWAS==
Chloe brought Tommy to her place. Jack and Ianto stayed behind at the Hub, talking about Jack's past and time displacement. Gwen went home to Rhys, relaxing at home. Owen and Tosh actually went out for drinks.
Leah? She went to Lawrence and Anthony's house. She couldn't sleep. Back home, her moms were being all gooey with each other.
They turned to her, confused at her presence. Usually she came with Garfield, or with Owen. Leah by herself became something of an oddity.
"Everything alright?" Lawrence asked.
Leah took a deep breath. "I need to talk to myself."
==ILWAS==
Bright and early the next morning, the team of Torchwood Three gathered in front of the hospital. They walked inside together. Tommy wore his old clothes. The Torchwood Team hung up rift alarms all over the hospital.
"You know we can't be here when it happens." Jack cautioned.
Tommy nodded.
The alarms began to go off. Leah braced herself. They ran from the hallway, finding a spot where the alarms hadn't gone off yet.
"Come on." Chloe held Tommy's hand as they ran.
They reached an old hallway. Tommy made them all stop. Leah strained her ears to hear the song.
"We're safe for now." Jack assured him.
A nurse walked out. Again, she didn't notice them. She walked on without breaking stride.
Chloe put her hand on Tommy's arm. "Are you alright?" Chloe asked. Tommy didn't answer. "Tommy!"
He jolted. "Where is she? In 1918?" He winced, flinching back. He ran off.
As he ran, Chloe chased.
"No! I know what'll happen. They'll send me back to the Front. I'll be back in the trenches. Help me." Tommy shouted at them, raging.
"You've got to go." Chloe pleaded.
"Why me? You're no better than the generals." Tommy snapped.
Chloe flinched back. Leah glared, boldened by the remark.
"Watch the blood-soaked old generals in action." The Cyberman spat at them.
"I am not an officer!"
"Watch your mouth!"
"I'm the one who carries you out of the fire. They're the ones who light it."
Leah wasn't like that. She- she had no choice. This was out of her control. This was out of her control! She wasn't a-
"Typical officers. Got to keep those hands clean."
Leah shook her head. All the shifts in time were hurting her pain. She was clearly hallucinating.
"Sitting safely behind the lines, sending us over the top." Tommy yelled. "Any one of you lot could go, but you're not, are you. You're sending me."
"We belong here." Jack explained.
"I'm sorry." Chloe pleaded.
"I've been shoved from pillar to post all my life by the Army, by Torchwood." Tommy ran to a wall. He slumped down against it. "All this time I've had, it means nothing."
Jack knelt by his side. "Tommy."
Tommy threw up his shoulders. "Get off."
"Tommy, get up." Jack ordered.
"No!" Tommy yelled.
"Jack." Leah called out.
"Leave us alone." Chloe stated, firmly glaring at them. "Please."
Jack looked up at Leah. She stared at Tommy.
"And didn't all of those beautiful speeches just disappear in the face of a tactical advantage?"
Leah shuddered.
Jack nodded. "You've got two minutes." The rest of the team walked out. Leah was the last to leave.
Well she left a while ago. Her body was just catching up with her mind.
All Leah could see what a Cyberman. A PE teacher. Or- or did he take math? Leah couldn't remember. Her head was spinning. Where was she again? Which one was she? Why did her head hurt so much-
==ILWAS==
Danny Pink
Must protect Danny Pink
Can't let him die can't let him die let's go to hell because I forgive her I always forgive her she's always been important to me she's always mattered to me
But Danny hurt him. And he matters too. He matters so much he's always mattered so much and Danny hurts him by calling him general and calling me general made him hurt even worse but he matters but Danny Pink matters
I can't let Danny Pink die
Author he's just such an ass
The things I do for love
==ILWAS===
"Come on, Leah, come on!"
Leah blinked. She stood on the street now. Or sat, rather slumped against a wall. Her head still hurt something awful. She couldn't quite make out the shapes in front of her.
Only one really stood out. Mainly because even after all this time his presence gave off waves of wrongwrongwrong!
"Jack." She greeted him with a smile. Her smile dropped as she was hit with a new wave of pain. "Ugh I hate today."
Jack held her shoulder. He helped her to her feet. She looked back to the hospital-
"Ready for orders, Ma'am!"
-before turning back. "Jack my head." She begged.
"We're leaving." Jack assured her. "We did our job."
Leah nodded. "Good." Then she let herself fall asleep.
==ILWAS==
Leah woke up in the Hub. The world was still shaking. She heard people shouting- her friends.
Leah fell back asleep. In her head she heard she dreamed of dark water and flying umbrellas...
==ILWAS==
She's important
He's important
I am not a general
I am not an officer
I made my choice, and I'm sticking by it
==ILWAS==
The Rift hadn't closed yet. Tommy fell back into shell-shock. He hadn't been able to push the button. Lucky for everyone, Owen found a solution in using Tommy's drawn blood. They used it to create a psychic link.
Chloe connected with Tommy. A Tommy who stared at the rift manipulator with no idea about it.
"It's me. Chloe. I'm here to help you. No. Do you know what it is? Tommy, it's a key. You have to use it. It's all right. No, you are not. For the future. For me. Because you're my brave, handsome hero. Tommy, use the key. Thank you."
The time shift ended. 1918 stayed where it was, 2009 stayed where it was. Everything was fixed. Everything.
In fact, a nurse walked up to Tommy's bedside to tell him just that.
"Lucky for you, Mr Brockless, that she called me." An amber eye winked at him. "Even more that we worked something out."
But that's less important. After all, Tommy Brockless died three weeks later. That a new man popped up in the Haven at the same time can't mean anything.
==ILWAS==
That night, Leah brought her aunt to Lawrence's house. Chloe hadn't wanted to be alone tonight, and wanted even less for her niece to be alone. Her mums were out at a couple's counsel session. That gave them all a chance to bond.
Chloe should probably be freaking out that her niece hung out with vampires. Also with Owen. Honestly? This was the least crazy thing this week.
Leah waved at her friends. Vampire and human alike.
Lawrence approached them first. Garfield and Anthony continued to warm-up together.
"Hello! This is the aunt I've heard about, yes?" Lawrence asked. "Agent Chloe Johnson. Might I call you Chloe?"
Chloe shook the vampire's hand. "It's fine." Chloe replied.
Leah grinned. "It's only sometimes creepy when you do that."
"Oh don't pretend you haven't done the same." Lawrence teased.
Chloe grinned. "She does it to you too?"
"Often." Lawrence joked. "Leah, I assume you want your usual partner?"
"If ya wouldn't mind." Leah grinned.
"Fighting or meditating?"
"The second one."
"Take Garfield. He's been tense this week." Lawrence instructed. Leah nodded, dutifully walking over to her friend.
Chloe watched them go. She saw her niece with a boy, a boy just a few years older than her. Her heart ached. Just the night before, she smiled and laughed with someone she could've grown to love. She'd been robbed of that chance.
"Chloe?" Lawrence began. Chloe looked up at him, coming back to modern times. "I was going to train with Owen tonight. After last time, I gave the man my world."
Chloe wasn't surprised. Even here, everyone had a partner. Leah had that boy. Lawrence had Owen. She wouldn't be surprised to find that the attractive looking bloke had someone, hidden away.
"Would you mind working with Anthony?"
"Of course." Chloe nodded her head.
"Great." Lawrence grinned. "Anthony!"
"Coming!" The young vampire rushed over to them. Lawrence nodded at them, walking off with the only other Torchwood Agent. "Hello there. Anthony Davies."
"Chloe Johnson." Chloe held out her hand. She stared into Antony's brown eyes. Anthony held her hand, shaking it. "Nice to meet you."
"Nice to meet you." Anthony replied. He smiled, like he'd forgotten he could. "We- uh. We should start."
Chloe nodded. As they walked to a corner of the gym to fight, she might've blushed.
==ILWAS==
AN: Hey did you know nobody can agree what this episode is called? Two options, and nobody can agree about its exact name. Is it 'to the last man' or 'last man standing'?" Literally no one knows!
Thanks to Fili9999 for following