Chapter Nine

****August 23rd 2007****

Even before Torchwood I had done an awful lot of running. But since joining, running was becoming a daily occurrence, whether it was chasing Weevils, running with Jack early in the morning or late at night or just running to get somewhere on time. My stamina and speed had increased, and it was because of this I was running ahead of Gwen and Owen, following Tosh directions in my ear in order to catch the alien artefact that had been detected.

"Owen, Gwen, Raven. Left into the alley. Right, thirty metres." Tosh said over the coms.

"What is it? What can you see?" Gwen asked, breathing heavily as she tried to catch up with me and the suspect. She didn't do as much running in the police as we did in Torchwood, and she was still trying to get used to it but outside of giving chase to a suspect she didn't otherwise exercise.

"I can't get a visual. Just a signal, definitely alien in origin. Diagonal right. Towards the castle. Jack, sharp right, twenty metres."

I followed a fast-moving male into the mall, making sure to plant my feet as we went from concrete to laminated floor to stop myself from falling over. Jack would have to get out of the SUV to follow them here, which Jack must have noticed because the tires of the SUV suddenly squealed indicating that he had slammed the breaks.

"Can you identify the target?" Jack asked, throwing open the doors and joining his team on foot.

"Still trying to get a visual. Twenty seconds to contact. Fifteen seconds." Tosh said, even over the coms we could hear her tapping furiously on her keyboard.

"No heroics. We've got no idea what we're dealing with." Jack reminded everyone, catching up with Owen and Gwen as they entered the main part of the mall prior to the train station

"Ten seconds." Tosh said before her voice raised in excitement. "Got it! Got a visual. Suspect's male, wearing a hoodie. Go, Raven!" she cheered as I appeared in her camera in close pursuit of the suspect.

I had my sites on the young man who was now my confirmed target; he was running flat out through the arcade now. But I wasn't going to lose him. I increased my pace slightly so I could roll under the security gate before it closed. I was getting closer now since the suspect had to slow down to jump the gate to the rail-station – he obviously wasn't used to such an action.

With the added obstruction of people on the rail station I was able to reach out and grab the man's jacket. However, after a bit of struggling he was able to shrug off his jacket and get away before I could get a good enough grip on him.

"You star, you did it!" Tosh cheered over the coms.

"Tosh?" I asked confused, the suspect had gotten away.

"You got it." Tosh clarified. Confused I looked down at the jacket and rummaged through the pockets until I found a device. It obviously wasn't of human origin (or at the very least known human origin). Holding it up, I didn't mean to press one of the flashing buttons but I gripped it with too much pressure when my hand slipped slightly on the curved surface.

Suddenly the train station was empty, and the world looked very grey. A steam train puffed away, and a young boy in short trousers and an old school uniform came out of the Booking Office. He was carrying a teddy bear by its leg, and a suitcase was dragged along behind him. Attached to the pocket of his pull over was a luggage label with his name on it. In my chest I felt such fear and loneliness.

"Hello? Who are you? Can you hear me?" I asked softly, trying to suppress the unexpected emotions and focus on the situation I found myself in. It was an avoidance tactic I learnt early in life to stop myself from being suffocated by my emotions in a potentially dangerous situation.

"I want to go home. No one knows who I am here. I'm lost." The boy wasn't talking, it was like I could hear his thoughts. He was wearing the cloths young boys would have warn when they were evacuated during World War 2, and his label designating him as Tomas Erasmus Flanagan. The young boy turned and walked away as the world faded back to the way it should have been.

"I'm sorry, that damn gate cut us off." Jack said as he, Owen and Gwen had finally caught up but I barely registered what he was saying, it was like he was speaking through a tunnel. My mind was clouded with the residue emotions that the boy had been projecting, pressing down on me like an anvil. "Raven?" he asked concerned, when my legs suddenly gave out. "Are you all right?" he knelt down in front of me, gripping my shoulders to support my swaying form.

"Jack." I breathed his name as tears finally fell from my eyes, my body falling out of my control as it began to shake from the shock. The device I had been holding fell to the floor.

"Hay," Jack pulled me into his arms, trying to hold me steady. "What's wrong? What happened?" he asked concerned, Owen coming over and quickly checking my vitals.

"She's going into shock. We need to warm up her core body temperature." Owen said urgently.

Jack shrugged off his coat and wrapped it around my body, trying to help preserve my body heat as I continued trembling in his arms.

"The machine..." I stuttered, latching onto Jack's warmth, trying to surround myself in his smell and focus. I needed to calm and centre myself. Otherwise I was going to go into full blown shock and that just wasn't how I dealt with things. "It showed me a little boy, and he was so… so scared."

I shuddered resting my head into the junction of Jack's neck, ignoring Gwen and Owen. "He was so alone. And I couldn't do anything. I was frozen." My grip tightened as I tried reducing the tremors and evening out my breathing, matching it to Jacks. "My god, Jack it hurt."

"It's okay." Jack soothed. "I've got you now. It's over. You just need to breath. In. out." Jack coached, exaggerating his breathing so as to help me match my breathing to his own.

"Let's get her back to the SUV," Owen said, "I've got an adrenaline shot which will help bring her out of this if she can't come back on her own."

"Owen, grab the device." Jack ordered, standing while lifting me into his arms. "Gwen, you're driving."

By the time we had made it back to the hub, I had calmed down significantly on my own, and waved off Owen's concerns. He had done a quick once over in the SUV and declared me fine just shocked, but he wanted to do a deeper scan just to make sure. I told him I would let him do that if I started feeling unwell, but it was just the shock of the emotions and seeing a ghost that had impacted me so much. Nothing more.

"This is the feed from the station camera. Raven grabs the kid. She's got his jacket, and he just slips out." Tosh said, playing the CCTV footage from the station.

"You okay with this?" Jack asked, standing at my side. He hadn't gotten very far from my side since I had clung to him in the station but neither had Owen so the other two weren't too bothered by this.

"Yeah." I agreed.

"Jack, Gwen and Owen arrive and you collapse. There's nothing else. Sorry." Tosh turned away from her computer.

"Maybe only I could see it because of the machine. Maybe, you have to be holding it to see what it showed me." I suggested with a frown.

"You pushed this button?" Jack asked, holding up the device.

"Yeah. I didn't mean to, but when I grabbed it my thumb slipped." I frowned over at the device not willing to touch it until we knew for certain what it did.

Jack's thumb hesitated over the button for a moment.

"Jack, don't." Gwen shouted, thinking that he was going to press it.

"Jack, please don't." Tosh also shouted.

"As if." Jack rolled his eyes at the team. He was used to being around alien artefacts, he wasn't just going to press the button when he didn't know exactly what it did. Raven got lucky that there didn't appear to be any long-term negative effects. "Toshiko, where do we start?"

"The guy you were chasing, I've got lots of CCTV. So, tracking him down's going to be easy. The little boy? You said there was a name on the card around his neck?" Tosh asked, bringing up a second search program.

"Flanagan. Tomas Erasmus Flanagan." I told her.

"Unusual name, that'll help. Run a full check. Births, marriages, deaths, criminal record, passports. However long it takes, wherever he is, we'll find him." Jack said, wanting to get to the bottom of this quickly.

"Found him." Owen called from the autopsy bay. "Flanagan, Thomas Erasmus. 74 Brynaeron Terrace, Butetown. He's in the phonebook."

"Gwen, Owen. Go visit and see what you can find out. Ianto, can you check the archives see if we've come across anything similar before. Tosh, continue checking that program. Raven, with me." Jack gave his orders.

He led me down to what appeared to be a gym. There were punching bags against the wall ready to be hung on the hooks, crash mates on the floor and in a rack along one wall were a variety of weapons.

"We can either talk, or we can fight. I don't mind which, but you need to stop bottling up your emotions and I figured we might as well get some training in as well." Jack shrugged off his coat as I looked over the room.

"I don't think I'm ready to talk yet." I admitted, shrugging off my own long leather coat.

"Alright then." Jack smiled.

Jack's fighting style was a mix between Bakator, Combato and Shippalgi. He was quick and aggressive, using his strength and size to try and land a hit. It was clear that before he learnt how to fight, he used to be a brawler because it would sometimes come through in the way he would throw a bunch with his body weight instead of with precision. I was smaller and not as strong so my fighting style was a combination of capoeira, bojuka, SPEAR, krav maga and systema. I relied on my ability to dodge, deflect and out manoeuvre my opponent, landing hits only when an opening was presented instead of trying to gain an opening by attacking.

Despite the deadly combination of martial arts that the two of us were employing, neither of us could land a solid hit since we were both well practised. We both fought to disable and test each other, not to injure or to kill. After nearly thirty minutes I was able to get under Jack's defence and flip him. However, on the way down, Jack was able to grab my arm and pull me down with him. I ended up on top of him, the both of us breathing heavily in exertion.

Jack took the opportunity presented and flipped us so that he was on top, my hands resting gentle on his chest but I made no move to push him off me. Jack hesitated a moment, looking in my eyes to make sure I wouldn't regret what he was about to do. Seeing no doubt or hesitance in my eyes he leaned down and captured my lips in a strong and passionate kiss.

"Wow." I breathed when we finally broke apart for breath.

"Come on, Tosh probably has results by now." Jack said, pushing himself to his feet and offering me his hand.

"Thanks," I smiled at him.

"Any time." Jack responded.

"The sparing or the kiss?" I asked him challengingly.

"Either." Jack smirked and I laughed.

"I wouldn't mind doing either again." I admitted to him.

Fighting like that had allowed the adrenaline to pump through my system giving me courage to admit what I might not otherwise have been able to. I didn't get close to people, I didn't trust them with my emotions or my person. But Jack, he was different. Despite having only been on the team for just over a week, despite having only known the man for just over a week, I trusted him.

"Jack, Raven." Tosh called them over. "I found the kid."

"Good." Jack nodded his head as we both went to read what was written.

"There's nothing in the archives." Ianto informed them as he handed out coffee to those already there.

"It was a slim chance." Jack dismissed, accepting the coffee.

"Thanks' Ianto." I said gratefully accepting the warm tea he had prepared me instead of the coffee. He had been told what happened at the station, and was helping me in his own way (just as Jack had done).

At that moment Gwen and Owen returned from speaking with Thomas.

"Our friend with the alien machine in his pocket is one Sean Harris aka Bernie." Jack filled Gwen and Owen in.

"And what he's doing with an alien machine is anyone's guess. Nineteen years old. String of convictions. Burglary, shoplifting, credit cards." Owen said reading through the file.

"Do warn me if he's dropping in." Ianto said sarcastically.

"The theft conviction. He was stealing tyres off a car when the owner turns up, gives him so much grief, he apologises. Starts putting them back on again, which is when the police show up. And here. Shoplifting conviction. Bottle of vodka and three Pot Noodles." Tosh said in amusement.

"A criminal mastermind." Owen said sarcastically, also amused by the conviction. "Got anywhere with that mystery object?"

"Alien, of course. Gorgeous nanotechnology, makes NASA look like Toys 'R' Us." Jack said bringing up the test results he had running while they were sparing.

"Well, you've really narrowed things down, haven't you?" Owen said, rolling his eyes.

"So, what next?" Tosh asked, looking to Jack for instructions.

"This kid, Bernie, where does he live?" Jack asked Tosh.

"Splott." Tosh answered.

"Splott?" Owen asked in disbelief.

"I believe estate agents pronounce it Sploe." Ianto put in his two cents.

"This is wales." I reminded them at the disbelieving looks they went Ianto's way.

The sun had risen by the time we made it to Splott. Gwen and Tosh went to question the mother, Owen went to look around the neighbourhood to see if he could find any of Burnie's friends. Jack was off, doing who knew what, while I was just wondering the neighbourhood, trying to get the layout of the place.

The few people I talked with weren't happy with Bernie Harris. He was a right angle (and working for Torchwood really wasn't helping my tendency for sarcastic mental commentary), owing people money, selling dodgie fags and various other things that has made him rather hated by the people of Splott. They said he hung around the park a lot, but recently he's rarely been seen around the place. And considering the anger the people expressed to him, that wasn't very surprising.

"Raven." Jack contacted me over the coms.

"Jack." I responded, touching the button on the com so he could hear me.

"We're heading back to the train station." He said, his voice was tight with anger.

"I'll meet you back at the van." I responded, not questioning as to why we were suddenly stopping the search.

I caught up with the group under the bridge. Jack was marching ahead of the group, with Tosh and Gwen behind him trying to reason with him for some reason that I couldn't fathom. They had obviously done something to annoy him and Jack was trying to get through to the team that sometimes they didn't get their own way and they had to do things they didn't like and that he was in charge of the team and he didn't need them questioning his authority when in the field (even if they weren't currently in a life threatening situation).

"Er, I don't mean to be picky, but I think I can spot some flaws in this." Owen spoke up, and I noticed that he was holding the alien deviance instead of Jack.

"I'm sorry, I thought you were the guys who gave up looking for a nineteen-year-old kid this morning." Jack snapped turning around and glaring at Gwen, Owen and Tosh. "I figured maybe you were after something more exciting. A bit of a challenge."

"If it helps," I spoke up, drawing Jack's attention to me. "The neighbours told me that Bernie spends a lot of his time around the park, smoking. He's bound to turn up there if we wait long enough."

"Tosh, I want you back at the base, monitoring CCTV for the park." Jack ordered, nodding his thanks for the information I had gathered even if I was unsuccessful in finding the kid.

"Guys, come here." Owen said harshly, but the others had sped up and couldn't hear what he was saying.

"Owen?" I asked, turning around having been the only one close enough to hear him. My eyes widening when I saw the device had activated.

"OWEN!" I shouted, but I was too late because he had pressed the button.

Owen had frozen, his eyes widened in fear and his breathing short and harsh. The moment he started moving again I pulled him into a hug ignoring my discomfort in the face of Owen's distress.

"She, she was so scared. I couldn't, I couldn't move. I couldn't help her. I couldn't help her." Owen said breathing harshly.

"It's okay, I've got you. It's over." I told him softly as Jack took the ghost machine, choosing not to say anything. The last time he had seen Owen show anything but cynicism and anger was when his fiancé had been killed, and he hadn't exactly handled that particularly well since he was still pulling himself out of a dark place.

"Jack, head back to the base. We'll catch up." I told him softly, wanting Jack to get Tosh and Gwen away before they made Owen feel worse. Owen never let anyone hug him, comfort him, as I was doing now. He didn't like appearing weak. Whatever he saw must have been bad if he was letting me hold him. And from what he was muttering, I could guess at what he had seen.

"You sure?" Jack asked, also guessing at what Owen had seen and worrying about Raven's mental health if she was the one who stayed for Owen.

"Yes. Go." I ordered.

Jack nodded and herded a reluctant Tosh and Gwen back to the van.

Owen was still having trouble calming his breathing, so as I gently led him away from the bridge and down to the river, I hummed softly. I didn't say anything, just waited patiently for Owen to speak on his own. He wouldn't say anything if I pushed for information before he was ready, and even than he probably wasn't going to tell me much. After a couple of minutes, Owen had calmed down and we came to a stop overlooking the river bank.

"Thanks, for not letting the others see me like this." Owen said, straightening up and soothing his shirt.

"Do you want to discuss what you saw?" I asked him.

"Not really." Owen muttered.

"You saw a woman being rapped." I told him, stopping him from having to say it. Bottling this up wasn't good for his mental health. And they were in the middle of a case, if Owen let his emotions get hold of him, distract him, it could be disastrous.

"How?" Owen asked looking at me sharply.

"Because you kept saying she was so scared. That you couldn't help." I told him, keeping my voice gentle. "In your line of work, you've seen a lot of things, physical assault wouldn't have shaken you this much."

"You're too perceptive." Owen muttered.

"It's more than that. Because that machine makes you feel the emotions of the victim. Which means that you would have felt what that women felt. Owen, you don't like feeling like a victim. You don't like feeling weak and powerless."

"You've only known me for nine days." Owen shook his head in disbelief, not denying that he was so shaken because he had felt completely helpless.

"You offered me someone to talk to, and I know you wouldn't want to talk with Jack about something like this. So I'm offering you someone to talk with. Someone who can understand what it's like to be powerless."

"Thanks, kid." Owen offered with a smile that was more genuine than the one he had given her before. "Come on, let's head back to the hub."