Southerndown Ghosts 2

While they'd been busy, Astra had found her way back to the hotel, she hadn't found anywhere else to stay and the girls had gone. Which was fine, though hiding in that creepy hotel wasn't on her list of best ideas, it was her only one. She'd crept in through the kitchen door and was listening into the conversation being had by the Torchwood team. Something one of them had said, sparked a memory on something she'd read before. Quietly she pulled her own laptop from her bag, placing it on the kitchen counter she booted it up as quietly as possible. Once on line she searched for a story, that had occurred during 1896, when something similar had happened in Cardiff.

"So, what year do you think we should narrow it down to?" Jack asked, standing in the doorway.

Astra looked up in horror. Obviously she hadn't been quiet enough, "I..."

"I thought I told you to leave us alone."

Astra looked confused, "You did?"

Jack sighed, the only thing he'd wanted her to remember she hadn't, "So, what year?"

Astra looked back at her computer, "I umm... Remember reading something, supposedly from the late eighteen-nineties... About a gaseous being that inhabited dead bodies... and... gas pipes..."

Jack nodded, "Right..."

"Here..." She points to a paragraph, "Charles Dickens wrote that while in Cardiff he, a strange man and his beautiful companion investigated the local undertaker when the dead came back to life. The strange man, a doctor of some sort called the creatures Gelth. A young servant girl died in a fire that killed the Gelth. The rest is sort of nonsense, the strange man and his companion disappeared in a strange blue box. It's unfinished and just simple notes, Dickens died shortly afterwards."

Jack stared at the computer, "A strange blue box..."

She looked at him, "Yeah... It's funny... My book has a strange blue box that travels... And old London Police Box."

"What?"

"It's silly... Makes no sense and... I really should go..."

"You should, but you won't," Jack said.

Astra frowned, "I... I just wanted to know why I keep seeing you guys... Every time I deliver pizza to Ianto, I get a headache. In the car park... Your car, I..."

"What?"

"I've always seen things that don't make sense, but... I'm never in them... When I see you... I'm there," She looked distraught, "And the more I see you, the more I see and these headaches are driving me crazy..."

Jack scratched his head, headaches weren't a side effect of the Retcon, "Astra, listen to me. Go home!"

"I can't..."

"Why not?"

"Because I need to know what you did to me Captain Harkness! I need to understand what is going on here and what happened back in Cardiff. I need to know what happened before I turned sixteen. I need to know why I can never remember anything," Her voice was getting louder and desperate. Jack could see the anguish on her face as she spoke.

Ianto came into the kitchen while hearing the commotion, "What's going on?"

Astra looked spent, she'd given her all trying to explain her reasons to Jack, "I..." She couldn't get anything out. She didn't actually know what to say. What had happened?

"Astra, wait here. Ianto, Come," Jack said leading the way back to the dining room, he stood in front of the others, "It would appear the Astra's having a negative side effect to the Retcon, besides remembering with minimal stimulus... Debilitating headaches."

Ianto nodded, "After we found the body, she paused and looked in pain..."

They all looked at Gwen, she was the only one they knew that had recovered from the Retcon, "What?"

"Well, did anything like that happen with you?" Owen asked.

Gwen thought, "I was at the station, looking at a sketch of the weapon. I kept seeing Suzie with it... But that was it. No headache, but I'd written something on a brochure from the Millennium center and when I went there... thats when... well, you know."

The rest of the team nodded, "So? What are we going to do about it?" Tosh asked.

Jack sighed, "We're going to tell her the truth... Again... She just provided a vital part to this case... It's the least we can do."

The rest of the team nodded in agreement, "Ok, let's do it," Owen said.

"Ianto," Jack said.

The man nodded and went to get Astra from the kitchen, bringing her back into the room, he acted the perfect gentleman, making sure she was seated comfortably.

"Owen, Toshiko, Gwen, you know Ianto, and you seem to remember my name too," Jack said.

Astra nodded, "I know..." She said softly.

"Why don't you tell us what you know first?" Jack said.

Astra thought, "You were at the University when Crystal died... And... I saw you at other scenes... And... The... what did you call it... Weevil, I followed you after that," She admitted, "To the Millennium Center, where you guys disappeared. I looked around and somehow found your elevator... Cool by the way!"

Owen grinned, "Yeah, it's our escape route."

She smiled shyly, "Captain Harkness introduced me to you all and showed me the Weevil... then..."

"It's Ok Astra. You remember everything pretty much," Jack said, sensing her hesitation to go on, "But right now we have a gaseous alien, what's next door?"

"A church and yes it has a working graveyard," Astra said.

"And the other side?" Tosh asked.

"Vacation home, that's all I know."

"Ok, so we have some possible fresh bodies there..." Jack started, he looked back at Astra, "Did that paragraph say anything about how the Gelth were destroyed?"

"Yeah, the servant died in a fire, not sure what type of fire though... Must've had some force behind it..."

"Like a gas fire?" Owen said.

"Plausible," Gwen said.

Astra looked up in horror, "Please do not tell me you're thinking of doing what I think you're going to do..."

"What, set the place alight?" Jack asked, "If we have to!"

"Oh god... What have I gotten myself into..." Astra groaned, "Burning down my best friend's Aunt's Hotel..."

From behind her, Jack laughed, "Not necessarily, though like I said, If we have to."

-T-O-R-C-H-W-O-O-D-

They had decided to turn in early, since the alien appeared to only be active at night, Astra had attempted to return to her room, but Jack had ordered her to stay with Gwen and Tosh. Something she had argued about. She didn't want to bother them, but Gwen and Tosh had taken her and lead her to their room, cutting her ramble on why she shouldn't stay with them short.

The guys laughed as a distressed Astra got taken away, "So, what are we going to do with her Jack?" Ianto asked.

Jack opened the door to their room, "I don't know."

"Well, you're not going to offer her a job like you did Gwen are you?" Owen asked.

"She's a school kid... You were a Doctor, Ianto already worked for Torchwood, Tosh was a genius and Gwen was a cop. You all had something to offer."

Owen held something up, "You might want to see this... For a school kid, she sure knows a lot about Aliens and I'm not talking like those sci-fi freaks. I'm talking the guys we fight."

"Where did you get this?" Ianto asked.

"It fell from her bag..."

Jack took took the sketch book from Owen and opened it up, he'd been wanting to get a better look at it since the first time she'd shown it to him, but what he found wasn't what he'd expected. Pictures of the TARDIS. It really was, a scraggly man with a long coat and obscene scarf coming out of it with a young woman coming out of it. Not Rose. He flipped past some Daleks and Slitheen. There was him, Jack Harkness, with a girl he did know girl and Rhiley Sparks, the man suspected of killing Crystal Trent. His thoughts were interrupted by Owen.

"Hey, that's you Jack!"

She'd titled all three, Rhiley, Boe and Romana, "No, it says his name is Boe..."

"Yeah, but he looks like you," Ianto said.

Jack was about to close the book, when a picture of just Rhiley and the girl caught his eye, he smiled sadly, "Who is she?" Ianto asked.

Jack looked at him and closed the book, "Who?"

"The girl. When Astra came to deliver us our pizza, you knew the name of the guy. So who's the girl?"

"Romi..." Jack said softly.

"That guy, Boe, it really is you?" Owen asked.

"It doesn't matter. Romi's dead, Rhiley never got over it and it's all in the past," Jack stated harshly, "Now get some sleep."

-T-O-R-C-H-W-O-O-D-

In the other room, Astra had gotten over not wanting to stay with Gwen and Tosh. She'd turned her attention to asking about Torchwood, "So... How did you two get involved in Torchwood... and aliens and things."

"Jack recruited me..." Tosh said, "From a very mundane job."

She looked over at Gwen, "What about you?"

"Oh... I used to work for the Cardiff Police. Till a case we were working got over run by Jack. I got curious and went searching."

"One of the team betrayed us... And after she killed herself... Jack offered Gwen to join, since she'd recovered from the amnesia pill."

"Amnesia Pill?" Astra asked, "Is that what Jack gave me?"

Gwen nodded, "Yeah... He tells you everything about Torchwood then takes it away... I couldn't imagine doing a regular job now..."

Astra leaned back on one of the spare beds, "I used to think it was all in my head... Aliens and other worlds. Being able to travel through time. But after the attack at Canary Wharf and meeting you, I don't know... It makes me wounder who the hell I was..."

"Before they found you?" Gwen asked.

Astra nodded, "Yeah..." She sat up again and looked at them, "I had long since gotten over figuring that out, where I came from, who my parents were and all that... Till I figured out that Jack made me forget meeting with you... Now I want to know again and I don't know what to do."

-T-O-R-C-H-W-O-O-D-

At around midnight, Tosh's computer alerted them to a disturbance. The girls awoke, "Gwen, go get Jack and the guys!"

Gwen hurried out and knocked on the door before walking in, "Get up. Tosh has something!"

"Argh... Go away... Five more minutes mum..." It was Owen.

"Owen, get up!" Jack ordered.

Hearing the American's voice Owen shot up out of bed, causing Gwen to laugh, "Oi! What are you laughing at!" He glared at her.

She just smiled and walked back to the other room with the guys in tow. Tosh and Astra were sitting in front of the computer, while Tosh was trying to think up a plan of action.

"What have we got Tosh?" Jack asked walking in.

"The Gelth are in the walls, but there is some activity at the Church," She reported.

Astra pointed to something moving in the church, "Think that could a be a dead guy?"

Owen came up behind them to have a look, "Well, it's the only activity thats not in a pipe..."

"The church it is then," Jack said, "Get all our stuff into the car just in case."

Tosh packed up her laptop while the guys disappeared and Gwen gathered her bag. Astra shrugged and followed suite, she didn't fancy loosing any of her things if they decided to burn the place. What caught her off though, was when Gwen and Tosh holstered guns. The guys also came back in with guns on their hips.

"And you," Jack said pointing at Astra, "Are going to stay in the car!"

"You've got to be kidding right?" She said, holding her bag, "No way. I can help!"

"Astra, it's too dangerous," Ianto said, siding with Jack.

"I'm not waiting in the car! Come on, I'm a big girl and I can take care of myself. Some Alien can't do anything worse then what we humans can do to each other!"

That comment stopped them in their tracks, thinking about their visit to the Country. She was right. Humans were just as bad as the Aliens they fought to protect Earth against. Though, it did make them wounder what she meant.

Owen shrugged, "I don't see why not..."

Jack sighed, "I don't like it..."

The marched on downstairs, with their belongings and put them into the Torchwood SUV, Ianto motioned for Astra to do the same. She hesitantly put her bag with everyone else's.

"Ok, there's three entrances to the Church. Owen, Gwen, take the front. Tosh, Ianto go via the back," Jack ordered, "And you," He pointed at Astra, "Are with me. I'm not letting you out of my sight." Everyone nodded and headed off in the directions they'd been ordered to, before heading off after the others, Jack turned to Astra, "You do what I say, when I say it. Got it?"

She nodded, "Yeah," She hesitated before following, suddenly wondering if this was such a great idea. Pushing her doubts aside, she ran after Jack.

-T-O-R-C-H-W-O-O-D-

Owen and Gwen made their way to the front of the church carefully. Owen took to opening the door, while Gwen waited to the side. He remembered all to well when she'd been shot in the country. He could've lost her and at that stage he hadn't even realized he cared. He opened the door and silenced greeted them, then they headed in, as quietly as possible. There was a small foyer before entering the main alter room where the suspected alien inhabited body was.

They quickly searched out the room and met in the middle, "Clear?" Owen asked, standing right behind her.

"Clear," She confirmed, feeling his body close to hers, sent a shiver down her spine. A guilty shiver. She should have been thinking of Rhys and how to make it up to him that she'd been gone for several days, but no, now she was thinking of how good Owen smelt. Not good, "Ready to go in?" She asked, moving away from him and towards the next door.

"Uhh, yeah. Lead the way," He said.

Gwen opened the door this time, with Owen to the side. All seemed quiet as they made their way in, till about half way down the aisle. When a figure emerged from the adjoining room.

"She lives... Gwyneth lives..."

Gwen and Owen looked at each other, confused. They moved up the aisle, slower then before, guns drawn and aimed at the figure. It was dark in the church and they only had their torches for light.

"The girl lives..."

"What's he mumbling about?" Owen asked, "What girl?"

"I have no idea..." Gwen replied.

The figure, started to approach them. It came down the aisle, into the light. The body that the Gelth had taken was from a car accident, the body was mangled and disfigured, but from what they could tell, it had once been male.

They stopped a few feet from each other. The possessed body looked straight at Gwen, "The girl lives... She must die..." Then he came closer to Gwen.

"Get away from her!" Owen yelled, when the figure wouldn't stop, Owen started firing.

The sounds of the gun shots, brought Gwen out of her startled haze. She saw the mangled body approaching her, repeating time after time, "She must die."

She started firing too, for her own life. Suddenly, the body fell to the floor and a wispy blue figure emerged from the body. It glanced from Owen to Gwen, then rushed at Gwen. Owen tried to get to her, but the Gelth was too fast. The Gelth flew into Gwen and out again, it wasn't strong enough to posses a live body after losing it's last. Gwen fell to the floor from the force of the Gelth moving through her. Owen saw the Gelth disappear into the walls. He looked over at Gwen. She was still on the ground. He quickly went to her side.

"Gwen?" The concern in his voice was obvious as he held his hand out to her.

She looked up at him startled, "What? What just happened?" She asked while taking his hand.

-T-O-R-C-H-W-O-O-D-

Ianto and Tosh were inside the back area of the Church, where there were offices and living quarters. Oddly enough, the church seemed empty. Astra had said that the Church had a working graveyard, therefore had a active congregation.

"Where is everyone?" Tosh asked.

Ianto looked around, "I don't know... Maybe the Priests don't live here anymore... This Church is about as old as the hotel."

Tosh nodded as she looked through the rooms for any sign of life, "It's creepy though. This big old Church, empty..."

"Not quite empty. There's something here remember."

Toshiko sighed, "Right..." They were about to move out of the hall, into another area of the Church, when the doors around them slammed shut. Ianto grabbed Toshiko's arm and pulled her close to him. Standing back to back, they slowly looked around for a reason, with their guns drawn and ready. Out of the walls, the wispy blue forms of the Gelth start to appear.

They don't speak, they just circle the two, floating and jumping. A strange noise emanates from them as they creep forward to look at Tosh and Ianto closer. Suddenly, the Gelth leave them, as if running in fear as another Gelth appears from the walls. It's much larger then any of the others. It glanced from Toshiko to Ianto, then back to Toshiko.

"Humans are so limiting..."

It circled the two of them. Tosh and Ianto hadn't moved, fearing that if they aggravate the Gelth, it would kill them. Without warning, the Gelth rushed at them, but not at any one person, it went right between them, separating them the safety of the other. Now, the Gelth hovered in the middle while Tosh and Ianto were on either side. The rest of the Gelth reappeared and started circling them again.

Toshiko looked around her, confused by what was happening, "What do you want?" She asked.

"The girl... Gwyneth must die..."

Tosh looked past the Gelth to Ianto, who shrugged, "Who's Gwyneth?" He asked.

"She must die..."

The Gelth looked at Ianto, then looked at Toshiko. It then ignored Ianto and went, hovering around Tosh. It swooped and swirled around her, "TOSH!" Ianto yelled as the Gelth seemed to dive into her.

Toshiko Sato, stood there as if she hadn't heard Ianto. Probably because she hadn't, the Gelth had. Toshiko's eyes, glowed an eerie blue color as she looked at Ianto, "Gwyneth must die for killing my comrades..."

"What are you talking about? Tosh?" Ianto walked up to her, "Come on Tosh... I know you're there."

Toshiko held her hand up, the gun still firmly in place there, Ianto watched in horror as she brought it down. Then everything went black as the butt of the gun collided with his temple. Ianto's unconscious body collapsed to the ground with a thud.

Tosh then turned and headed out of the room in search of the rest of the team. The Gelth that had been circling them, scurried away into the walls again.