Talking with Spike had been surprisingly helpful—but then again, Spike had been surprising her ever since she returned from her trip with the Doctor. It was hard to put it all on the soul, because he still was so… Spike. He still smoke, drank, swore, and was generally annoying. So once again, she just put him into the back of her mind and didn't think about him.
She left on a patrol of newer graveyards she had looked up during her uneventful day at Torchwood. According to the Watchers' records, Cardiff had never had much demon activity. It was, she now knew, because the Rift energy was unsettling. But that didn't mean there weren't—as Spike called them—"nasties" out there to be killed. They just stayed a bit more low profile. But that didn't pose a problem for an angry and frustrated Slayer. She took out a nest of five vamps, a pair of Fyarl demons, and an eventual total of three weevils throughout the night. The first weevil had been easy. The vamps, not even a blip on the problem radar. The second weevil, an exhilarating challenge. The Fyarl demons roughed her up a bit, making the last weevil a bit more difficult.
When she got home she took a tally of her injuries: one black eye swollen shut, a split lip, three long and deep gashes on her right arm, and several other bruises over various parts of her body. She showered, bandaged the gashes, and then went to bed feeling a bit more relaxed than before.
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The next morning, Buffy stood in front of the mirror debating how much cover-up to use. Even if she put an inch-thick layer it wouldn't hide the fact that she had a black eye. The split lip was almost healed, and most of the bruises were fading, but the gashes still needed to be bandaged, and her eye still looked like a sunset.
With one last look and a "what the hell" nonchalance, Buffy left for work.
She was early, and waked in to see Owen and Jack discussing something while Ianto was handing them coffee. Jack saw her first.
"Whoa!"
Owen turned. "Bloody hell!" He rushed over and looked at her eye, and then the bandaging on her arm. "I'll need to look at this. You were in one piece last time I saw, so what happened?"
"Probably out slaying," Ianto said. He walked off muttering something about getting the crazy woman a cup of non-poisoned coffee.
"I'm fine," Buffy said. "Believe me, I've had worse."
"Still, I want Owen to look you over, make sure everything's all right." Jack backed up the order with a firm look. "What were you doing last night?"
"My job," she answered while letting Owen take her down to his pit. Jack followed and stood at the railing above while Owen took off her bandage and examined the wound.
"Getting injured is your job?" Jack asked.
"No, it's just an occupational hazard," she snapped back. "There's only one rule for my job: don't die. I didn't, so yay me!" She didn't mention that now her one rule wasn't worth much anymore since she didn't stay dead anymore.
"You should have called for backup," Jack told her.
She hissed while Owen applied an antiseptic on the wounds. "I don't need backup. I can handle myself. But now I have the happy Buffy bonus of the services of Dr. Harper here." She smiled at him.
He didn't return it, and only nodded his thanks sarcastically while rebandaging her arm. "All right, the wound's fine. You did a pretty decent job of taking care of it. I recommend you get some ice for that eye. For a normal person, those gashes and that eye's gonna take at least a couple of weeks to fully heal. How long to you expect it to take you?"
"With the Slayer healing? A couple days." She looked up at Jack. "See, I'm fine."
"I won't argue with you this time," he said. "But remember, you're part of a team now. We work together."
They heard the cog door open and Gwen shouted a cheerfully Welsh good morning to everyone. Jack asked her to see him in his office.
"Any aliens to fight this morning?" Buffy asked Owen while he put the supplies away.
"I would have thought you'd have had enough fighting."
"Not possible," she said.
"No aliens today. Just the scheduled waking up of a frozen World War One soldier."
"A frozen soldier? Why was he frozen? And why are we scheduled now to wake him up?" She watched as he pulled out other instruments and set them to one side.
"It's a thing." He was about to say more when Jack yelled to see if he was ready. They both left the pit and saw Tosh entering the Hub. "Is that a dress, Tosh?"
"I do believe it is, Owen," she answered.
"It's cute," Buffy said, but she thought the jeans underneath were a bit silly. But that seemed to be the fashion in the city right then. Gwen walked by asking Jack where someone was and they all followed the Captain to the morgue. Tosh was staring at her eye.
"I know, I know. Just a small fight with a few weevils last night. Any special reason for the dress?" Buffy asked Tosh as they walked.
"No, no reason."
"He's been here for ninety years, longer than any of us," Jack was saying. "Any of you."
"So, frozen?" Buffy asked.
"Torchwood have used alien cryogenics since Victorian times," Tosh explained. "They froze Tommy in 1918."
"So he's 24 or 114 years old," Jack continued. "I know which one I'd choose."
They took Tommy down to the table in Owen's pit, and all watched from above as Owen began the process of waking him up with Tosh there assisting.
"We have to wake him up every twelve months or so," Owen explained while he worked. "Well, defrost him. One day only, then back in the freezer."
"Why?" Gwen asked.
"Check he still works," Ianto said.
"One day, we're gonna need him," Jack said.
Needle in hand, Owen said, "Right, everybody ready? Come on, Tommy." Nothing happened so Owen grabbed the paddles. He even said "clear" like all the doctors on TV. Tommy woke up and immediately started struggling. Owen yelled at Gwen to take the paddles and tried himself to calm Tommy.
"Get off me, leave me alone," the young soldier said as he violently struggled with the doctor.
Buffy jumped over the side and down into the pit and held him as still as she could while Tosh talked to him.
"Tommy, listen to me! Tommy Brockless!" He stopped struggling and looked at Tosh. "It's me, Toshiko."
"Toshiko…" he said as if it was all coming back to him.
"Remember?" she asked.
"Gets harder every year," Owen muttered and nodded his thanks to Buffy for helping.
"Do you know where you are?" Tosh asked Tommy.
He sat up. "Torchwood."
"That's right."
"Is it time again? Blimey."
"How are you feeling?"
He coughed a bit. "I could murder a cup of tea."
Everyone smiled, and then looked at Ianto. His smile dropped and he left to get everything ready. As Tosh helped Tommy up and out, Owen grabbed Buffy's hand and looked at her bandaged arm.
"He didn't damage this, do you think?"
"No, it's still fine."
"She must work out a bit," Gwen said aside to Jack, still impressed by Buffy's agility and strength holding down Tommy. Jack just smiled and gave that knowing laugh of his. They all then gathered in the conference room for breakfast.
"Don't expect the best china," Ianto said. "Visitors only."
"I'm starving," Tommy said. "Here, tuck in. There's enough to feed an army."
"We should do this every morning," Jack said. "Breakfast, I mean."
"No arguments from me," Buffy replied taking a testing sip of coffee.
"He's not going to poison you, Buffy," Jack whispered.
Gwen heard. "You don't think Ianto would poison you? No, he wouldn't do a thing like that."
"I just like to follow the Boy Scout motto—be prepared," Buffy replied flippantly. Gwen looked to Jack, but he just shook his head.
"Buffy, I don't mean to be rude…" Gwen began and Buffy knew where she was going.
"Fight with a few weevils," Buffy said before Gwen could ask.
"A few?" Jack asked.
"Three, not all at once."
At the other end of the table Tommy was grinning. "1968, they were in miniskirts. Thought all my Christmases had come at once. Shame they haven't made a comeback."
Gwen whispered to Jack. "I still don't get it. Why is he here?"
"Like I said—one day, we're gonna need him." Jack turned to Buffy. "UNIT's been calling. They want to know why you left and joined us. Call them back when you've finished."
"And tell them what?" she asked.
He just looked at her for a moment. "I think that's up to you."
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When she called from her workstation, she wasn't too surprised that she wasn't put through to Colonel Gold. He had dealt with her often enough to know she was immovable when she had made up her mind. Instead she had to speak with his superior, General Painsburrow. The call was mostly to tell her that her actions, though quite unusual were forgivable, that they still wanted her at UNIT. He also kept warning her that they didn't like Torchwood, that they couldn't completely trust them, and that UNIT had told Harkness to let her go should she wish to return to UNIT. Buffy mostly listened—there was no point arguing. So she thanked him, politely said she'd keep it in mind, and then ended the conversation letting the General think he had gotten through to her.
As she looked around to see what was now happening, she saw Tommy helping Tosh put her coat on. It looked like they were going out on a date. 'So that's why she wore the dress,' Buffy thought. 'Good for her.'
"Thanks for holding the fort while I'm out," Tosh told Owen.
"No worries," he said. "Have fun. Be careful."
"Where are you off?" Gwen asked.
"A drink, film? Maybe a pizza," Tosh said.
Both Gwen and Jack said, "Aw, very nice."
"I'll be on the mobile if you need me," Tosh assured them.
"Have a lovely time," Gwen said.
Jack said, "Bye!"
As Tommy and Tosh left, Buffy's sensitive ears picked up some of Gwen and Jack's conversation.
"He's a frozen soldier from 1918."
"Nobody's perfect."
"Seems like today should be pretty quiet," Owen said to Buffy. "I don't anything bad's going to happen for you to fight after all."
"Did you have to say that?" she asked angrily. "Rift or Hellmouth, you've just jinxed us."
"No I haven't," he said defensively.
She just gave him the Buffy stare of "I'm going to be telling you 'I told you so.'"
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Sure enough, Gwen called Jack to come to the hospital where the bad was going to go down. She said she had seen a ghost. Owen spotted a small rift spike, but they didn't think it was time yet to call Tosh in. Then the spikes turned into little mountain ranges as Gwen and Jack saw more ghosts. Jack decided to call Toshiko. They all met once again in the conference room for a debriefing.
"Demolishing the hospital is what triggers the time-shift," Jack said to everyone.
"So, don't demolish it," Owen suggested.
"Too late," Jack answered, "it's already started."
"What happens next?" Gwen asked.
"Two different times should never exist simultaneously," Jack continued. "You want to be in 1918, or now. Not both."
Tosh started thinking out loud. "So when 1918 becomes fully manifest…"
"It's really going to screw us up," Owen finished.
"But I've heard theories that time is more like a bowl of stuff," Buffy said, thinking of the Doctor's rambling explanation of time. "How bad is this going to be?"
Jack picked up a piece of paper. "Okay… linear time." He crumpled the paper into a ball and threw it at her. "Screwed up time. Imagine your life as a straight line, from birth to death. Now, try drawing that line on the paper without straightening it out."
"It's impossible," Gwen said.
"That's why we've got to stop it," Jack said.
"Point made," Buffy conceded.
They left the room and Jack shouted to the upper levels. "Ianto! Is that box doing anything yet?"
"Still locked," was the answer.
"Okay," Jack said walking and giving orders. "We need to find out how fast the time-shift is happening. Get some idea when it's going to complete. Tosh, Owen, go to the hospital. We need readings. Cover the place with rift monitors. Buffy, help them out. Gwen, go through the files, see if there's anything we missed."
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Buffy had finished putting up the devices as Tosh had instructed, and was going to join her to see what else needed to be done. When she heard Owen talking she stopped just outside, out of sight.
"Just be careful."
"What do you mean?" Tosh asked.
"You're very close to Tommy."
"I've only known him for four days."
"Yeah. You've fallen for him, haven't you?"
"I can be myself with him. I don't have to pretend."
"No, I understand. I-I didn't think you had some weird fetish for defrosted men. I just, um… I don't want you to get hurt, that's all… if you have to say goodbye." Owen's concern could be interpreted two ways: one, as more of a brother looking out for his sister; two, as someone who really cared for Tosh, maybe even more than just as a brother. Considering that with the way Tosh looked at Owen at times, and how like Willow Tosh could be… Buffy was pretty sure that she just found Tosh's Xander.
Gwen contacted Owen over the comm and asked him to go check something out for her. Buffy walked in past Owen running out.
"Everything ok?" Buffy asked Tosh.
"Yeah," she answered.
"Listen, I couldn't help overhearing some of what Owen said, and can I say ditto? I've lost a few guys that I've cared about—they left me, actually—but I know how it feels. If you need someone… I've got violent movies and ice cream at my flat. You're always welcome to come by."
"Thank you."
A little while later the rift monitor started beeping. Then the lights flashed and an alarm sounded through the whole room. Tosh hurried out and Buffy followed. Not long after they were called back to the Hub and once again in the conference room.
Jack once again began the explanations. "In twelve hours, there'll be a brief moment when both times exist, before the time-shift completes, when Tommy can be here now, and in 1918. He needs to be in the hospital, ready to step from one time to another."
"So he'd be right inside the time-shift?" Gwen stated more than asked.
"And he can close the fracture that caused it," Jack nodded.
"And when the fracture's closed?" Tommy asked.
"1918 will be back where it belongs," Owen answered.
"So will I," Tommy said. "For good?"
"Yeah," Jack said. "You're the only one who can do this. We brought you from 1918 to now, and when you go back to 1918, your life will be like a thread stitching time back together again."
"A stitch in time." Tommy smiled ironically.
"How?" Tosh asked.
Jack picked up a round metal 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."
"And that's it? I'm gone?" Tommy looked at Tosh while the room was silent. Ianto walked in carrying a box.
"Tommy, stay with Ianto. Tosh, with me." Jack got up and left the room. Tosh followed, and then Gwen, Owen, and Buffy also left. It wasn't long before Tommy and Ianto also came into the workstation area of the Hub.
Tommy had a box and put it down by the couch where Buffy sat. "Where's Toshiko?"
"Still in with Jack," Gwen pointed.
"So… tomorrow morning. What time is it now?"
Gwen checked her watch, but Ianto had his quicker. "Ten to nine."
"Always with a bloody watch," Owen whispered to Buffy, sitting next to her.
"So what do we do till then?" Tommy asked. Everyone just looked at each other. Tommy scoffed at them. "You don't know, do you?"
"What would you like to do?" Gwen asked with a kind smile.
"The night before we went over the top, we used to play cards, write letters. Have a drink, if anyone had some." Tommy sat down on the couch next to Buffy and Owen.
"I always just moped or sulked," Buffy said with disappointment, quietly and to no one in particular.
"Yeah, well, we could do that," Owen said. "The cards and a drink—not the moping."
"Yeah," Ianto agreed and turned to get the stuff.
"But you're not coming with me," Tommy said and Ianto stopped. "I'm going on my own."
Everyone was once again quite.
"So we're going with the moping," Buffy said with a sigh.
Tosh walked to her station and Jack leaned against the door frame.
"We were just wondering what, um, Tommy should do tonight," Gwen told them.
"Something that's not moping," Buffy muttered so only Owen heard.
Jack looked like he might say something, but Tosh spoke first. "He can come home with me. He's not our prisoner; he doesn't have to stay here. Does he?"
She looked to Jack. "No. If that's what you both want." The two looked at each other. "Tomorrow morning, 6:30."
Everyone moved their own way and Jack stood watching them all.
It was times like these that Buffy wished she could turn her brain off. Instead it kept whirling around, connecting seemingly random things, and handing her conclusions she didn't want.
Tosh may like Owen, like Willow once liked Xander, but there didn't seem to be anything happening between them other than unsaid feelings. So dating other people while still keeping a bit of hope was likely the case. She did dress up—in an actual dress, no less—for the day with Tommy. They went out on a date. They were going to spend the night together. Tommy was, for all his years at Torchwood, a man from an age still holding on to some Victorian morals. Spending the night together had to mean something to them… that they meant something to each other. Tomorrow morning Tosh would have to watch Tommy leave into 1918 and never return. It struck Buffy as too similar to her having to send Angel into hell—without the guy going evil and then getting his soul back at the last minute. Tosh was going to have to be extremely strong to do it… and from the way she looked at Tommy, it was going to hurt like hell. At least this time, unlike Buffy, she had someone who could understand and sympathise.
"Can I give you a lift home?" Owen asked Buffy.
She snapped out of her thoughts. "Yeah, thanks."
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Jack was going through papers when he heard Ianto come up behind him. "This time tomorrow, he'll be back in 1918."
"In his own time," Ianto said. "Would you go back to yours? If you could?"
"Why, would you miss me?"
"Yep." Ianto came closer.
Jack sighed. "I left home a long time ago. I don't really know where I really belong. Maybe that doesn't matter anymore."
"I… don't you get lonely?" Ianto sat on the edge of the desk.
"Going home wouldn't fix that. Being here, I've seen things I never dreamt I'd see. Loved people I never would have known if I'd just stayed where I was."
"Like your daughter," Ianto said. Jack wasn't surprised the Welshman knew. He had expected him to snoop around and find out anything he could about the "new girl." But he also sensed that Ianto now forgave him for suddenly bringing the blonde to the team.
"Yeah, but there are others I've loved differently. And I wouldn't change that for the world."
They shared a look, and that look swiftly fell into a kiss.
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In the morning, Jack decided that Ianto and Buffy should stay behind at the Hub to keep an eye on things while the rest went to the hospital. Buffy was grumbling when Ianto handed her a cup of coffee.
"I could have slept in, but no! I have to come in at six-stupid-thirty and sit for a while. I'd like to kick him so he can't sit down." She looked at Ianto who was staring at her. "What?"
"Nothing," he said. "Who am I to interrupt the ramblings of a crazy woman talking to herself?"
Like always, she tested the coffee before fully drinking from it. "Well," she said, "I guess it was worth coming in if only for the coffee from the Coffee God."
"The title is actually King of Coffee," he said.
"So modest?" Buffy said while crossing her arms.
"The others should be back soon," he replied and quickly left. Despite the difference of speech patterns, some of her mannerisms were eerily similar to Jack's. When Buffy first arrived he had been unsettled by an amount of jealousy. Now that he knew she was Jack's daughter, he was unsettled by the fact that she looked Ianto's age. Knowing Jack Harkness was hundreds, or even thousands (who really knew?), of years old was one thing. Seeing the daily proof of it was another. Oddly enough, the vampire slayer thing didn't upset him in the slightest. This was Torchwood after all.
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When the team came back, they rushed in to check the monitors, but the alarms started blaring.
"Whoa. What's happening?" Gwen asked.
"The time-shift hasn't closed," Buffy said as she turned from her computer. "It's only been getting more active."
"Toshiko, show me the city, now!" Jack ordered.
"It's spreading out from the hospital," she said.
"What the hell are they?" Gwen asked while looking at the screen with dots popping up all over the city area.
"Chunks of the past erupting into the present," Jack said.
"They're everywhere," Owen said from his station.
"What happened to that rift key?" Buffy asked.
"Tommy isn't using it," Tosh said.
"Why not?" Ianto asked from behind her.
"I don't know," she said angrily. "Because he's just gone back to ninety years ago, because he's shell-shocked?"
"One of us will have to go back," Jack said to Owen.
"Jack, wait!" Owen protested, stopping the Captain as he moved to leave. "You'll get stuck in 1918. I've got an idea." He ran down to the autopsy area and starting moving and pulling out equipment. "The time-shifts are forcing the rift open. If we're quick, we can use it to our advantage. A tiny amount should do. We know Tommy's exact location in time. If we send an image of you through to him…"
"I can go into Tommy's mind," Jack finished.
"As a psychic projection," Owen agreed. "Yes, if we're lucky."
"And Tommy will be able to see you," Gwen added.
"I can make him use the key," Jack said. Jack and Owen got ready for the injection, but Tosh spoke.
"Let me do it." Everyone below looked up at her. Buffy, standing next to her, put a hand on Toshiko's. "He trusts me."
Jack stopped, and looked around while thinking. He nodded. "Okay."
Only moments later Tosh was in the chair all hooked up to the head monitor. "How long have I got?" she asked Owen.
"Minutes," he replied.
"You've got one shot, Tosh," Jack told her. "That's all."
"All right?" Owen asked. She nodded, and he gave her the injection.
As supportive as Buffy wanted to be, she couldn't watch. Someone had to keep an eye on the time-shift anyways. But even as she watched the dots, over and over her mind played one of the worst moments in her life.
She held her sword ready for the kill when his eyes glowed. His whole demeanour changed, and Buffy could feel the power that had just come through him, but she didn't want to accept what it meant. Not now.
"Buffy?" Angel sobbed. "What's going on? Where are we? I-I don't remember."
Though she knew the curse had once again given him his soul, she couldn't quite believe it. Not now. "Angel?"
"You're hurt." They both looked at the wound and then he hugged her tight. "Oh, Buffy… God. I… I feel like I haven't seen you in months." She leaned more into the embrace as he continued to talk. "Oh, my God, everything's so muddled. I… Oh… Oh, Buffy…"
Buffy cried and hugged him just as tight, but Acathla was waking up. She let him go, trying to prepare herself for what she knew she had to do.
"What's happening?" Angel asked with confusion.
She whispered and reassured him—the hardest lie to tell. "Shh. Don't worry about it."
They kissed, but she could feel the portal growing.
"I love you," she whispered. And he whispered it back, as if driving the sword through her heart. She touched his lips one last time. "Close your eyes."
Pain, anguish, confusion, love and betrayal—they were all written on his face as she stepped back and watched the man she loved be pulled into hell.
Buffy pulled out a piece of paper and wrote a note for Tosh. "Ice cream and making fun of vampire movies—my flat. Buffy." She left the note on Tosh's workstation, grabbed her things, and left.