Chapter four

Last to know

Owen felt like this could of been a waste, but he could just feel something was off. The fact they got the woman back to the hotel was shocking enough, Natalie was not what Owen originally thought. The room had a new feel to it now.

"Look we're not going to hurt you, we're here to help." Natalie stood still, her hands played down her sides.

The woman was sat on a chair, it wasn't easy, she knew what she had to do, and it wasn't easy. "I told you, I said I need to go. Just let me go!"

Owen grunted, "This is a waste of time Nat!" He threw his hand up in the air in frustration. "She won't even tell us her name."

Natalie felt a pain, it wasn't even a big thing, but enough for her to know that it went through her. "We know you're not the first in this, but we want you to be the last."

"Hazel..." She looked up to Natalie now. "My name is Hazel," He voice was breaking, "And if I don't solve this, if I don't find what they need..." She pulled the collar of her shirt to show a flashing green light, "I die..."

Owen felt his eyes snap to the light, he moved to get a closer look to see whatever it was it was attached to her skin. He knew it was nothing of this world, or if it was it wasn't something he'd seen before. "Who are they? And what do they want you to find?"

Natalie Titled her head, it was a flash of knowledge that she didn't know where it came from. Her hand reached towards the light, her eyes snapped to Owen. "It's not a who..." Her eyes went back to the woman. "What do you need to find?" She asked taking her hand.

Hazel's eyes focused on Natalie, she didn't really know much, all she knew was the voice, the only voice that was commanding her. The thought was trying to get back to what she needed to do. "I have to find the undying..." She felt her neck, the light was under her skin.

Owen didn't know why, but it was a quick revelation, "They want Jack."

Natalie's head snapped around to look at Owen, "Why Jack?"

"Because he can't die," He froze for a moment, "Well he can die, he just doesn't stay dead."

Natalie laughed, "That..." She laughed a little louder. "Why am I not surprise?" She now went back to Hazel, "So you know what you have to do?"

Hazel had no idea what was going on, but her eyes went from Owen back to Natalie, "You're going to help me deliver the undying?"

Owen shook his head, "As much as I am shocked I am saying this, we're not going to give Jack to whatever this is." He shook his head, "Not now, not ever!"

"You know whatever is doing this, they are going to keep doing it, and the fact it's always in Cardiff, shows that..." Her eyes went to the chair, then she glanced to the open window. "You've got to be kidding me!"

Owen didn't even notice when he was speaking with Natalie, they'd both taken their eyes off of Hazel, and in the brief moment she was gone.


"So take me back to the Time Lord..." Tosh stepped forward, she didn't know what to make of it. Out of all the things she had been through, this was something that stomped her. "I mean why isn't there anything about it on our database?"

Jack took a breathe, "The Doctor, he's a Time Lord, and he doesn't trust Torchwood."

"But you're meant to be friends?" Gwen asked trying to not step on his toes, but for once maybe Jack would open up.

Jack didn't know what to do, it was easy for him to keep things to himself, Jack knew it was time. "I know that my life is a mystery to you guys." He turned to Ianto, "But I died, and then I wasn't dead." He brushed his hands over his face. "I thought I'd see The Doctor again I'd get something, anything to tell me I was going to be okay." He shook his head. "I am a fixed point in time, I'll be forever..."

Ianto placed a hand to Jack's shoulder, he knew this couldn't be easy for Jack to be so open. The moment was now, "So how do you think Natalie is also a Time Lord?"

Turning to Ianto Jack smiled, "The necklace she wears, it's a Biodata module." He remembered how The Master was an frail old man one moment, then he wasn't. "If my theory is right, that means Natalie isn't human. And all she has to do is open the locket..."

"Hold up!" Gwen jumped in, "You lost me at Biodata."

Jack laughed, "I forget you have such a simple mind..." Jack thought carefully about his words. "It's like a flash drive, but much better as it saves their essence to it, they can make themselves another species..."

"So she's human?" Tosh pointed out, "Why would she be human?" Her voice trailed off.

Everyone turned to Jack now, he could tell they all expected him to have to the answers, but in hindsight he didn't. While the room was silent, he knew that he had to say something to fill the void. "Well, I don't really know..."

Ianto nodded, "All we do know is that if this is the case we have to be careful."

"I thought you said she wasn't dangerous..." Tosh chimed in, she didn't know what to think, but if she was going to think anything, it was that she always knew it was going to turn out bad for them.


Owen felt the carpet under his shoes, he wasn't sure if it could take much of the pacing he was doing, but he stopped to see that Natalie was still staring out of the window.

"You got to stop doing that." She spoke, but she knew he wasn't going to listen. "She couldn't of gotten that far, I mean it's a ten foot drop." He eyes going to the distance from the window to the ground below, it wasn't a high window, but it wasn't as if it was an easy escape.

Owen stopped his momentum, and then turned to see Natalie still staring out, "Well she did it, and for all we know we've given her a clue." He pinched the bridge of his nose. "This is just fucked up, I mean why would someone want Jack?"

"Well from what you've said Jack doesn't stay dead, he's undying." Natalie felt stupid repeating what they both already knew. "But!" Her attention turned to Owen. "What if there is something out there that wants what Jack has..."

Owen froze for a moment, "So do you think she's going to get the information and then go back to the bay to get Jack?" He spoke slowly, and wondered what they were going to do.

"Do you think it's something you should tell Jack about?" Natalie moved away from the window and then stopped to see that Owen's phone was already in his hand. "I'm guessing you do care."

"I don't care, I just don't want something big and bad to get the ability to not die." He went to type on his phone, but he didn't want to ring Jack and hear the disappointment in his voice.

Natalie went over to her Jacket putting it on, "Well why you stand around here, I am going out there and finding Hazel!" She watched Owen's face. "We'll not much is going to get done if we're standing around with our heads up our arses." She took her bag heading for the door, she didn't even give Owen a time to respond closing the door behind her.

Owen put his phone into his pocket, he let out a grunt. The message unsent on his phone.


Natalie loved the rush of running, she didn't even know why, but it was like her dreams coming to life. She didn't remember much of them beside war, but something else would come back whenever she ran.

Running gave her a feeling of joy, she couldn't even understand where this joy was coming from but she loved it.

Hazel was in her sight, she could make her out just a few feet ahead of her, and when she finally caught up her hands reaching out to grab hold of her, and in a flash she was no longer on the street.

"Son of a bitch..." Natalie felt her eyes looking around her new surrounding, "Guess I'm not in Kansas anymore..."

With Hazel on the ground in front of her, she felt her eyes looking around herself, she had no clue where she was. Her eyes were taking so much in, and for a brief moment she took hold of her locket feeling like something was warming up on the inside, a feeling of belonging.

Hazel kept low, her hands holding her neck, she didn't know what to do, but her eyes went to Natalie, "You shouldn't of come after me, you are so stupid!"

"Not stupid..." Natalie was sure she could feel everything around her, like the place was talking to her. "Just I wasn't expecting this..." She brushed her hands against a console. It was like little bits of a dream coming back to her, but then something about it made her think it wasn't really a dream.

In the shadows came a sound, it was like someone was moving about, it wasn't loud, but enough to catch Natalie's attention in the darkness. A feeling starting to move through her. "Well... Well..." A man clapped his hands. "You called and said you found the undying, but I just see a silly girl." He's voice was something that made Natalie feel uneasy, but she kept her ground.

"She knows the undying, they call him Jack..." Hazel kept to the ground, "You promised..." She whispered.

"You still failed, and even if you didn't..." The man pressed a button.

Natalie felt her eyes going to Hazel, it wasn't what she thought, but watching the girl turn to ash and hit the floor. Natalie stared at the man. "Why?"

"Why. Well you know who I am looking for, and a pretty thing like you is easy to make a trade." He smirked. "I like to think of getting a head of the competition." He now reached over to Natalie grabbing her by the throat, but froze catching his eyes on her locket and his smirk got wider. "And I just won The Doctor's lottery." He let out a sinister chuckle.


Jack felt his phone vibrate, for a second he was going to ignore it before picking it up. "She's gone?" He spoke more to himself than to the team around him.

"Natalie's gone?" Ianto felt lost, he didn't understand what Jack was saying.

Jack put his phone back into his pockets, "Gwen you need to keep on top of everything here." He gave Ianto a quick kiss. "Don't miss me." He whispered before looking back to Gwen. "I need to go, and I'll just have to explain everything else when I get back." He grinned before running away.

Gwen felt like screaming, "One day I'd like it if he didn't just rush off..."

Ianto touched his lips, but he wasn't mad. No he broke into a smile. "He's perfect."


Jack turned up to the hotel, he didn't know what to expect, but he found himself getting to the room that Owen was sitting in. He'd found his eyes staring down Owen trying his hardest to get what was going on.

"So start from the beginning." Jack was standing in front of Owen sitting on the bed, he placed his hands into his pockets. He was doing his best to listen.

Owen brushed his hands into his hair, he glanced up to Jack. "Hazel got away, and Natalie went after her. I didn't know she could run so fast. So when I caught up to them, and I tried to catch Natalie, but they both vanished." Owen felt his eyes studying Jack, he knew the man well enough to know he wasn't happy. "I tried..."

Jack held a hand up, "Just show me where they disappeared from." He started to head for the door.

Owen was quick to get up, he followed Jack to the exit, but he knew everything wasn't feeling right. He didn't know what happened to Natalie, but he knew that the women who this was happening to, was never seen again.

Jack kept close to Owen, he touched something on his wrist band, he could feel the activity closer to where Natalie and Hazel disappeared from. He then waiting a few moments, then turned to Owen. "Where ever Natalie is, it's not far from here." He turned to look around them. "Something here, isn't what it should be..."

Owen was looking around themselves, he didn't understand what Jack was talking about. He was looking around, trying to figure why he was worried, he didn't get attached to people. "What are you on about?" He then felt his eyes going around slowly to something catching the corner of his eye.

Jack didn't like the feeling of the hair sticking up on the back of his neck, he felt himself turning to Owen. "When you texted me, why was it important that I come here?"

Owen felt frozen, he then reached into his pocket to take his phone out, and then it dawned on him, he thought Jack was tracking them, he came because he always knew things. "I didn't text you Jack..." He felt his eyes following Jack's eyes.

Jack didn't want to say his name, he could only feel his eyes going to Natalie now, she was close to him, but for a second Jack could tell she wasn't with him, she was scared.

Owen went to take a step forward, but Jack was quick to placed a hand on shoulder to hold him back, "Owen, you don't want to mess with him." He took a deep breathe.

It was so much for Jack, it wasn't a person who'd he'd forget so quickly, but he thought he was dead. But here he was standing in front of him. He wanted to figure what was going on.

Natalie was standing still, she could see something behind Jack's eyes, and while she didn't understand what was going on. "Jack, I just want to say this isn't what I signed up for..." She felt the man's hand holding her at the elbow. "So I am not sure how I am going top my first week..."

Jack held a hand up, "Well I don't know if anything is going to top this..." His eyes were kind to Natalie, he didn't want to scare her. "If you want me, let her go!"

"Now why would I do that Jackie Boy..." A grin broke over his face making it look cruel. "I think I'll keep a hold of her." His voice was low, he kept focus on Jack. "But no hello... No how are you doing?"

Owen wanted to step forward, but again he felt Jack holding him back. "Come on Jack, we've taken on bigger wankers than him!"

"No we haven't." Jack felt like he was trying to not lose it, but it wasn't easy. "He's not what he appears."

Owen felt lost, "Who is this bastard?"

"Oh Jackie... Oh you haven't told your little friend about me. About us, our time together..." He let out a laugh that rang out loud. "I mean, you've not even said my name..."

"Jack not to sound ungrateful, but this man is a serious loony tune..." Natalie felt her eyes going to the person holding her. She felt lost, her eyes going from Jack to Owen.

Suddenly Jack notice she wasn't wearing her locket, he felt something deep in him. It was ready to make a drastic action, but he knew he had to hold it back. "Master!" Jack hissed through his teeth.

"Oh," The Master placed a hand to his chest, "Both my hearts just skipped a beat..." He chuckled, "But I think I know what you're looking for." He reached into his pocket taking out Natalie's locket. "Funny how The Doctor insisted we were the only ones left, and here we have a little solider..." He laughed more for himself. "And The Doctor is always one to keep so much to himself." He turned to look at Natalie. "You're a baby, probably fresh from the academy to fight in the time war. The Doctor could never stop himself from saving just one..." He snapped his attention to Jack slowly edging himself towards him. "No... no.. no." He waved a finger. "She's in her fragile human form, and if I happen to end that fragile life... No regeneration for you missy..." His eyes were now fixed on Natalie's confused expression.

She couldn't help but feel scared, her eyes trying hard not to get lost. She'd never seen this person before, but the things he spoke about reminded her of all she was dreaming. "Jack..."

"Yes Jack," The Master pulled Natalie a little bit closer, "Tell me, do you know about little..." He stopped staring at her face, "Was it Natalie?" He crinkled his nose, "You don't even know..." He snapped his attention now to Owen. "You have no idea."

Owen hated this, he was watching the fear in Natalie's eyes, his tried to hope that Jack had some kind of plan. His whole life he never even imagined the things he'd seen. "Jack, for fuck sake tell me this is going to end bad for him!"

"Yes Jack, is it going to end bad... For me?" The Master's hand moved up Natalie's elbow to her chin, he held her close to him taking in all of her face. "I remember being stuck in a human shell," He brushed his thumb over her cheek feeling a tear drop roll over it. "Don't be scared..." He whispered softly into her ear, his thumb still rubbing circles on her cheek. "I'll give you a chance to be free."

Jack took a careful step, "No," He didn't know what he was doing, but he didn't trust it.

Natalie didn't know what was going on, "You're going to let me go?" Her voice was shaking now, her eyes kept locked on The Master as she couldn't even start to understand what was going on.

"As soon as The Doctor arrives..." He smirked, "Cos I have a feeling he's keeping a tab on you." He took the locket from his pocket and put it back around her neck. "Open it!" He snapped at her.

Jack could tell this wasn't going to end well and he wanted to help, but with The Master's one hand holding the locket, the other was still holding on tight to her face. He had a look on in his eyes that Jack didn't want to test The Master at this point. "How do you know she's even a Time Lord, she could of brought that piece of junk from a yard sale or something..."

"Don't test me!" The Master squeezed his hand tighter on Natalie, he could feel her intake of breath. "Open it!"

Natalie wanted to cry, she could feel the tears, and her hands started to shake feeling them move towards the locket. "I can't..." She didn't know how, but something was beating from the locket, it was hard to describe it in words, but her hand held it tight. "I won't!"

Owen didn't understand what was going on, but he glanced around him, he didn't know what the sound was. It was some eerie noise filling the air, and the sound put a smile on Jack's face.

The Master felt his eyes searching around, he didn't think he's plan would work this quick, he didn't even know what was going to happen as the blue box materialise slowly. The Master lighten his grip on Natalie's face.

The Twelfth Doctor stepped out from the door, it was a dramatic motion, but froze for a second. "This isn't what I was expecting..." He turned to the inside of the Tardis. "You!" He turned to The Master.

"I see you have a new face..." The Master smirked big, but it was a kind of face he didn't trust.

The Doctor tried to keep his cool, he'd didn't trust any version of The Master, but he couldn't understand why the TARDIS brought him here until his eyes locked with her. "And your face is still the same." He felt his eyebrows narrow at the sight of The Master before he became Missy.

Jack wanted to laugh, but The Master was still holding onto Natalie in a expression of aggression. "Another make over?" He glanced over him with amusement. "Looking very Scottish."

"Jack," He felt his eyes going over Natalie, it was scary how so much would come back to him, and then it dawned on him why the TARDIS brought him here and now. "Trust you to find her..." His attention went to The Master. "I'd appreciate it if you let her go."

"Now why would I want to do that?" The Master's hand let go of Natalie, and in that brief moment his hand let her go Natalie made a run for it. The Master was quick to grab her arm pulling her back. "I mean she's nothing special..." He felt his hand moving her closer to him.

"You wanted me!" Jack snapped his attention, "She isn't important." With The Doctor here Jack felt a new ounce of confidence run through him.

"Jack as much as I know you love the situation revolving around you, but this isn't that time." The Doctor turned to The Master. "But this isn't the time to be threating a simple girl." His eyes trying to avoid Natalie's confused expression.

"Well I did want Jack, as I wonder how on earth he can still be alive after how long since you left him stranded?" He looked smug with himself. "What just over a hundred years?"

Jack felt his hands tense by his side, and he knew what The Master was trying to do to him. "You don't even want to know..."

"So Doctor, how can I get what he has?" The Master felt his eyes lock on The Doctor. "Or can I rip it from him?" He had a thought that made him chuckle.

Owen felt himself raising his hand, "Right, but why is Natalie so fucking important?"

The Doctor turned to Owen, "I like you," He pointed, "Well what is so Fucking important about Natalie..." He started to walk towards Owen, "I am wondering the same thing." He then stood beside Jack, "I mean she's not even that great to look at." He kept moving, he was studying the situation. "But Master," He got close, he placed his free hand on Natalie. "I think you're going senile in your old age."

"Me! Senile?" The Master was not liking this, "You don't even want to know." He was noticing The Doctor's hand on Natalie. "I know you too well..." His hand touching the locket. "I know enough to know she isn't just normal someone, because if she was just a plain human..." He pushed The Doctor off of Natalie, "You wouldn't of came!" He then pulled Natalie into his arms, he pushed a button on a watch he had on and they both vanished.

The Doctor looked frustrated, "Damn it!" He glared to where The Master once was.

"What do we do now?" Jack felt lost, he knew that Owen was starting to look the same as how he felt.

The Doctor could only stare out into the sky, "We're going to have to save her." He turned to see Jack standing next to him. "I'm guessing you found out what Natalie really is."

Jack shrugged, "I made my guess..."