Title: Tears of the Weevil
Summary: As Lacey begins to lose Tosh the B.A.D.S make a startling discovery.
Rating: PG
Disclaimer: Don't own Torchwood, the characters or anything related to the show.
A/N: Earlier I listed Lacey's age as 24, but now I feel it's too old for her character, so I made her a couple years younger.
"Toshiko?" Lacey stood over the older woman, sitting on their couch. "Tosh!" She shook her, rousing her from her trance like state. The Asian woman looked up at her, he eyes wide with confusion.
"Who…who are you?"
"Owen…the door…someone-" Gwen tried to tell Owen there was someone at the door in between kisses. As the knocking grew incessantly louder he finally pulled away from her and tugged his T-shirt back on.
When he opened the front door he found Lacey standing in front of him. Drenched from the rain, her jeans and hoodie sticking to her. "Come on in." He shut the door behind her and followed her in to the living room.
"Lacey?" Gwen quickly buttoned her shirt up and moved aside to make room for the younger woman on the couch beside her. "What's wrong?"
"Tosh is having a bad night." The blonde explained. "She forgot who I was and went hysterical. She started screaming for Jack…wouldn't let me near her." Owen looked away from her as he spoke.
"This is the third time this month. She's getting worse."
"No!" The blonde's loud protests startled Gwen. The passion and fear in her voice surprised her. At the tender age of twenty-one she truly understood unconditional love. She'd given up her life to look after the woman she loved, refusing to give up on her; even when she didn't even remember who Lacey was.
"She is not going to an asylum!"
"She needs full time care Lacey. Professional care." He looked to Gwen for assistance, but she was in no position to make a judgement on Toshiko's welfare.
"She needs to be taken care of by people who love her! I don't expect you to understand either the concept of love or standing by your loved ones." Lacey growled.
"Now hold on a minute-" Gwen tried to interject but was silenced by the younger girl.
"You don't know anything about what he did! And you sure as hell don't know anything about me!" Glaring at them both she stormed out of the apartment.
Owen ran after her, once again leaving Gwen on her own. "Lacey!" He grabbed hold of her arm, stopping her in her tracks. "No one's abandoning anybody. But we have to be prepared. Tosh isn't going to get any better."
"Owen, the only thing keeping me here is Toshiko and the chance to save my future!"
"We will." He pulled her in close, holding her tightly. "We're going to find a cure and sort this mess out. It's a little hard without a time machine and the right blood…but we still have each other. I will never leave you again. Understand?" She nodded still crying in to his chest.
"I don't want to lose Tosh." She sobbed. "It's not fair. I love her Owen."
"Shh." He soothed, running a hand through her blonde locks.
"She's asleep." Owen looked up from the magazine he was reading as Gwen walked in to the bedroom. "We got halfway through the film and she fell asleep." Tossing his magazine aside she cuddled in to him. "Now where were we?" He let her kiss him but pulled away before she could take it any further. "I can't he admitted. "I just can't stop. Not with Lacey in the other room."
Gwen pulled away and sighed. "I've seen the way you are with her."
"There's nothing going on Gwen." He tried to reassure her.
"You're like a big brother to her." She smiled and kissed him again. "Night."
"Agent Emmerich." An agent addressed her as she entered her office. "I have something you may want to see. Pilkington's autopsy. We found DNA in one of the bitemarks. The Torchwood member who killed him, Lacey Cassidy, is not human. She has DNA markers of a weevil, but her genetics are completely different to all other known samples. It's like her human half neutralised the weevil infection."
Emmerich grinned as she looked over the report. "Looks like we may have found a cure after all."
Before Lacey or Gwen were awake the next morning Owen slipped out of the apartment to get to the lab and test the blood he'd taken from his daughter. Lacey stirred, suddenly awake and all traces of sleep gone. "Owen!" She shouted, but got no response. Tensing she swiftly made her way in to Owen's bedroom.
Gwen's eyes shot open as she felt a hand covering her mouth. Lacey stood over her, signalling for her to remain silent as she pulled her hand away. "Get dressed." She ordered. Just after pulling her jeans on there was a knock on the front door. "Stay!" She hissed. "Who is it? Doctor Harper isn't here at the moment."
"Perfect." Gwen heard the front door slam open. Lacey had ordered her to stay hidden out of sight in the bedroom, but once she heard the sounds of fighting she rushed to Lacey's defence.
She stopped in her tracks at the sight she found. The young blonde stood in the middle of the room, her T-shirt covered in blood, her eyes wild and her teeth bared and elongated. Three men lay around her, beaten and bloody.
"Lacey, sweetie are you ok?" Her gaze locked on to Gwen, staring in to her and yet right through her. "Sweetheart, it's me. It's Gwen." The younger girl shook her head clear.
"We have to get to Torchwood." She picked up one of Owen's shirts that had been left on the living room floor and pulled it over her blood stained T-shirt.