Episode One: A Brother's Pain
Episode Syno: It's been two years since the 456 and Jack has returned and Torchwood is up and running once more. Jack, Gwen, and Lois set off to get a new doctor, but an alien dog invasion may mess up their plans.
Gwen Cooper walked with a smile on her face and a skip in her step. It had been a year since Jack had returned, and another year after that since the hub had been successfully rebuilt. Now, walking to the little shop door, it seemed as if everything was the same as it had been before 456. Taking the elevator down even seemed to be the same; it felt like nothing had changed. But as Gwen reached the bottom and walked into the relatively empty space, she knew this was not true.
"Good morning Lois," She greeted the relatively new member to Torchwood.
"Good morning Gwen," The girl greeted back. "Coffee?"
"I would love some," Gwen sighed happily and graciously took the cup. Little Eva had kept her and Rhys up last night and Gwen desperately needed the caffeine.
"How is my favorite new mother this morning?" Jack asked as he emerged from his office and took his own cup from Lois.
"It's been almost two years Jack," Gwen stated. "I'm no longer new to this."
"Would you rather I called you an old mother?" Jack suggested with a grin and raised eyebrow.
"Alright very funny," Gwen sat down and turned to look at the not-as-high-tech-as-when-Tosh-used-it computer.
"No time," Jack downed his coffee and turned to Gwen. "We've got business to attend to."
"And what business would that be?" Gwen asked, swiveling around to stare quizzically at him.
"We are soon to be in the midst of a new doctor," Jack answered. "I think it'd be best if you came along."
"Alright," Gwen nodded and stood up.
"Wait, you're leaving me alone?" Lois asked. It was, after all, only her second week and she had every right to be nervous. "What if something goes wrong?"
Jack placed his strong hands on her shoulders and looked into her eyes. "Don't worry. You'll be fine. You can do this." Lois just nodded and swallowed down her fear. "Good," Jack straightened up and turned around. "Ready?"
"So who are we going to see?" Gwen asked. The car had pulled up on a street with small but relatively nice houses. The two had walked up to house number 12 and were now waiting as banging from the back of the house came closer to them.
"He's an old friend, and by now a relatively good doctor," Jack told her, leaning in slightly to emphasize the point.
"How do you know him?" Gwen questioned. By this point the 'Ouches' were audible.
"I'm a friend of the family," Jack smiled and stuck his hands in his pockets.
"One sec!" A voice called out. Over 'one sec' later the door opened and a man appeared. He was holding the door open, as if if he didn't the door would close on its own. Only the waist up was visible; his legs preoccupied with stopping something from exiting the house. He had short black hair that clung to his scalp on the front and sides, but seemed to stick up slightly more in the back. He smiled widely.
"Hey there Jack," the man's body shook and a growling sound came from within the dark house.
"Hey Noah," Jack looked into the doorway. "Watch ya got there?"
"Uh, new dog, not fully trained yet," Noah smiled widely again and Gwen swore there was something familiar about it.
"Mind if we come in?" Jack smiled at the younger man.
"Mind getting your legs chewed off?" Noah asked back sarcastically. The two laughed a familiar laugh and the door opened wider.
Gwen followed Jack through the door into a thin hallway. Noah was holding a big, vicious dog by the collar and smiled up at Gwen as she passed. Jack led Gwen into a kitchen like room at the end of the hallway where she saw three more dogs walking around.
A door opened and closed and a multitude of barks escaped into the house before Noah joined them in the room.
"Sorry 'bout the noise," He said. "The others just aren't used to Sammy yet."
"I take it you like dogs," Gwen smiled and sat with Jack at the island.
"Love 'em," Noah smiled. "Tea?"
"No thanks," Jack said. Noah gestured to Gwen who shook her head. "We were actually here to offer you a job," Jack continued.
"What kind of job?" Noah leaned against the counter and stared intently at Jack.
"One that offers adventure, fun, and lots of gross alien guts," Jack smiled as if knowing what he said would catch the man's attention.
"Jack," Noah complained running a hand through his hair. "You know I can't."
"Come on Noah," Jack leaned forward intently. "Think about it. Big, slimy, alien stomachs, some with more than one."
"Stop it," Noah warned.
"And green colored spleens and kidneys," by this point Gwen was getting sick, but Noah looked as if he was trying, and failing, to hide his excitement.
"Alright fine!" Noah shouted at one point. "I'll take it. But you had better be telling the truth!"
"Good," Jack stood up. "Now let's go."
"Now?" Noah walked up to him and Gwen.
"Yes now, it's your first day," Jack headed towards the hall and turned around. "Come on."
"Can't I start tomorrow," Noah complained, although grabbing his jacket. "I really should stick around to take care of Sammy."
"No," Jack said strictly and strode out of the house with the two others right behind.
"So, where's Owen?" Jack stopped short of the car and closed his eyes like a man remembering he had forgotten something. "Jack…where's Owen?"
Gwen, unaware of how Noah knew Owen, still had to ask. "You didn't tell him?"
"No," Jack said under his breath, telling Gwen not to get involved.
"Tell me what?" Noah looked at Jack, knowing something was wrong. Jack remained silent. "Tell me what Jack?"
"Owen's dead," Jack replied quietly.
"He's what?" Noah took a step back in surprise as a mixture of fear, disbelief, and grief flooded over his face.
"He's dead," Jack pulled himself together and faced Noah. "Has been for over two years now."
"What!" Now the only expression on Noah's face was anger. Pure, unadulterated anger. "My brother has been dead for two years and you didn't tell me!"
"Wait, brother?" Gwen looked between the two, and then realized that Noah did in fact look like a younger version of Owen.
"Yeah!" Noah was steaming. "My only brother dies and this jackass doesn't even tell me!"
"It wasn't intentional," Jack said, obviously lying partway. "A lot had happened when he died and there wasn't time."
"There wasn't time!" Noah wasn't buying it. "Of course there was enough time! How dare you come ask me for my help when you don't even tell me about my brother! My brother that I trusted you to protect Jack! I trusted you!" Angry, sad tears started rolling down Noah's cheeks.
"Hey, I didn't ask for your help," Jack corrected. "I offered you a job."
"Well then I don't want it," Noah crossed his arms.
"Fine," Jack nodded.
"Fine," Noah spun on his heels and disappeared through the door.
"Well that went well," Gwen spoke sarcastically, but careful not to upset Jack, or push the matter any further.
"Don't worry," Jack opened the car door. "He'll be back."
"I'm not so sure Jack," Gwen got into the car as well. "He seemed pretty upset. And I can understand why."
"Trust me," Jack said. "He'll be back."
But Noah did not come back. For the next week Torchwood did not see nor hear from Noah.
"I hate to say I told you so (which in fact she didn't)," Gwen started one day upon entering the hub. "But I told you so."
"He'll be back," Jack said ever encouraging the idea.
"That's what you said a week ago sir," Lois said walking in. "And he hasn't shown up yet."
"Just give him some time," Jack reassured them. "Then he'll be back."
"And just how much time do you think he'll need?" Gwen asked. "How long does it take to get over a brother's death?"
Jack didn't want to answer that question. He didn't want to think about the countless nights and many years he spent missing his own brother.
A cell phone ringing saved Jack the pain. "Captain Jack Harkness," He answered the phone and turned away from the two girls.
"Why do you think Jack kept Owen's death from Noah?" Lois asked.
"I'm not sure," Gwen studied Jack for a moment. "You can never be sure with Jack."
"Alright ladies," Jack closed his phone and turned back to them. "Enough chit-chat. We've got work to do."
"Do you think it was a weevil?" Gwen asked.
The man lying on the sidewalk certainly did look like the victim of a weevil attack. His shirt was ripped by claws that had also cut through his chest, and his neck was mutilated by deep bite marks. Blood puddles had long been dried into the pavement and it was obvious the man was lying there for a while before being found.
"I'm not sure," Jack knelt down to the body. "It sure looks like it."
"What about these?" Lois pulled up the man's leg and exposed the ankle. The cloth of his jeans had been ripped at and there were bite marks in the man's skin. "Do weevils generally bite the leg?"
"No," Jack moved to study the marks. "These look like dog bites."
"So he was just attacked by a dog?" Gwen asked.
"No dog that I know of," Jack stood up.
"Gee, I guess it'd be a good thing if we had Noah here huh?" Gwen stated.
Jack looked at her with an I-know-so-don't-go-there look. Gwen through her hands up in the air, "Just saying."
"So if this wasn't an alien, why are we still here?" Lois asked.
The answer came within seconds of her voice. A black, bubbling substance began to ooze out of the wounds. The team stepped back and watched as a blob began to form. Jack took a container out from a brief case and carefully scooped the still bubbling goo into it.
Studying it the three watched as it moved inside the container and tried to grow as it seemed.
"Let's get this back to the lab," Jack said. "I've got a feeling this was an alien."
Gwen rushed her way into the hub after the early morning call she had received. She didn't mind too much, she was already up with Eva, but the urgency in Lois' voice made her worry. What had happened?
When the doors opened, the hub was in a mess. Lois and Jack were nowhere to be found and Gwen began to panic. Just as she started to get flustered, she heard Jack yell something she couldn't make out and soon a small, black puppy was running towards her and the open door.
"Stop him!" Jack yelled.
"Uh, uh," Gwen looked around for something with which to catch the beast.
"Gwen, here," Gwen looked to Lois and caught the box that she threw.
Gwen lunged forward as the puppy ran full speed at her and trapped the miniature dog in the box. She kept her arms tight around it as the box physically shook as the dog tried to escape.
"Nice dive," Jack said in huffs as he reached her.
"What is it?" Gwen asked. She let Jack take over the box and stood upright.
"We're not sure," Lois said. "Jack just woke up and it was here."
"Did you check the CCTV?" Gwen was already rushing to the computers.
"A little too busy trying to contain it," Jack told her as he struggled with the box. The puppy was now jumping against the top and barking, more like yelping, at high voice.
"Oh my…" Gwen stopped here and Lois came up behind her.
"What is it?" Jack asked. "Where did it come from?"
"Remember that goo we picked up from the dead guy?" Gwen called over her shoulder.
"Yeah?" Jack replied.
"That's the puppy," Lois said. "It seemed to have formed into it, and then knocked the container off."
"Wonderful," Jack rolled his eyes. His phone started to ring and Jack managed to hold the box with one hand as he answered it. "Hello?...Oh, hey there Noah. Look now's not really a good…what?...Well, how many?...We'll be right over."
"What was that?" Gwen asked. Jack quickly flipped the box opened and closed the top before the puppy could escape.
"That was Noah. He said last night his new dog went psycho and killed the other ones," Jack explained.
"Is he ok?" Gwen asked standing up quickly.
"Well, he did sound a little weird on the phone," Jack said, pondering that statement.
"Jack, he was really close to his dogs. You should have asked how he was," Gwen said.
"I was more preoccupied," Jack shrugged his shoulders. "Now let's go."
"Should we take the dog with us?" Lois asked.
"Might as well."
When Noah opened the door there was no question that he was upset. His eyes were red and puffy, and his nose was red as well. He frowned at Jack but opened the door wider and let them all in. The puppy was stuck in a cage and was becoming more violent, as were the barks coming from down the hall.
"What's that?" Noah asked in a quiet voice.
"Some kind of alien dog," Jack answered. "Which room?"
"That one," Noah pointed to a door, and before he burst into tears again, he walked to the kitchen.
"Alright team, be careful, this dog's dangerous," Jack placed the cage on the ground and drew his gun.
"Are we sure it's just one dog?" Lois asked. The group drew closer to the door and it was obvious now that there was indeed more than one dog behind the room.
"I'm guessing there's more pups in there?" Gwen suggested.
Jack drew his gun closer. "Let's find out."
He opened the door and the three just stared at the scene in shock. Not only was the living room in total disarray, but it was sickening. There was the mother dog Sammy sitting in the corner whilst ten little black puppies continued to worsen the condition of the room. There were ten bodies of other dogs spread about the room with holes in their neck.
Jack stepped back and closed the door before any of the dogs managed to see them. He nodded towards the kitchen and the three joined Noah along with the other pup in the cage.
"So?" Noah turned to them, his cheeks still a little wet.
"Well, I'm not quite so sure exactly what to make of this," Jack confessed.
"Well, let's go over what we know," Gwen started.
"We know that this is obviously something alien," Lois said.
"And the mother dog-"Jack started.
"Sammy," Noah interrupted.
"The mother dog," Jack insisted, staring at Noah. "makes her puppies by killing other living organisms."
"So what's our next move?" Gwen asked.
"We kill them," Jack said.
"You can't," Noah insisted.
"Would you rather we let her go out on a killing spree just to make more babies that will probably grow up to kill too?" Jack asked.
"No, but there has to be another way," Noah said. He crossed his arms and his eyes became wet again. "What about those cells you have. Can't you put them in there?"
"And feed them what?" Jack countered. "Noah, we don't know anything about them."
"So, that's no reason to kill them," Noah stopped leaning against the counter and stared intently at Jack. "There has to be something we can do!"
"Well then what do you suggest?" Jack asked.
"We can lock them up and then find out what they eat. We can learn about them and then keep them alive," Noah half-begged.
"Noah we can't!" Gwen recognized that voice. It left no room for argument and to attempt to do so was suicide. But it was apparent that Noah had a death wish.
"Let me take care of them Jack," Noah said, reveling in his idea. "Sammy ate the dog food before, so it must be ok. And I can keep them away from people."
"Oh, because that worked out so well the first time?" Jack mentioned.
"Well now I know what I'm doing Jack please. You have to give me a chance," Noah's puppy-dog eyes stared intently at Jack.
Jack's jaw moved around and he contemplated this dilemma. "Fine," He said, much to Gwen's surprise. "But if anything happens it's on you."
"Deal," Noah nodded and Jack stood up. Jack looked as if he was going to say something, but changed his mind and walked down the hallway.
"Noah, are you ok?" Gwen asked.
"I'm alright," Noah said, his determined face turning solemn again. "Really I'm fine. You know, lost ten dogs but gained ten new ones right," it was obvious Noah was just putting on a brave face as he hurt inside.
"Gwen, Lois!" Jack called from the front door. "Let's go!"
"Take care," Lois said.
Noah nodded to the two of them and they joined Jack outside.
"Can I help you?" Lois looked up to the man who had recently walked through the shop doors early that morning.
"Good morning, my name is Mr. Markson," The man said. He was very tall and had on a suite. His hair was short and brown and his eyes small and green. "I demand to see Captain Jack Harkness and the team Torchwood. It is of upmost importance."
"And what importance would that be?" Lois asked carefully.
"I need their help finding my dogs," The man explained. At this, Lois nodded and knew to what he was referring. She reached under the desk and pushed the button that would allow the man to walk into the hub. Lois noticed the man had iron wrappings on his legs as he passed.
"Captain Harkness?" The man ran into Jack as he was making his way to his office.
"Yes?" He asked, just as cautious as Lois.
"My name is Mr. Markson and I require the assistance of Torchwood," he informed.
"For what?" Jack put his hands in his pockets and stared the man down.
"I have lost my master's dogs you see. And they are very dangerous," The man explained.
"These dogs wouldn't happen to make puppies by killing other living things would they?" Gwen asked. She had been at the computer but now joined Jack and Lois by the man.
"Yes, exactly," Mr. Markson looked between them. "Why, you haven't seen them have you?"
"We have," Jack said. "They're being contained."
"Where?" The man looked around frantically. "Do you have iron cells down here?"
"No, they're being taken care of in a friend's house," Jack said.
"Are you out of your mind!" The man yelled. "Have you any idea what these creatures can do. The only thing that can successfully contain them is Iron. By letting them stay there you very well could have just endangered the entire planet!"
"Why don't you calm down and tell us what's goin on," Gwen said.
The man sighed. "These dogs , as you know, kill to reproduce. One organism for one dog. Now my master doesn't want any of his people to be sacrificed just for his dogs so once every couple of years we release them into a wild reservation so that they kill enough animals for the number of puppies they need, 10. Then we come and collect them. But when I went to get them, on was missing."
"Wait, they only need ten puppies?" Jack asked. The man nodded.
"Then why did this one make 11?" Lois asked.
"Once they reach ten pups, the mothers stop killing. But if they are around a large group, and end up making more than ten, she won't stop until she's contained for over 24 hours," The man explained. "Which means you allowed her to escape into the public where she won't stop until we catch her."
Jack's phone began to ring and he answered it hastily. "Hey Noah…yeah we know," Jack turned to Mr. Markson. "Where would the dogs go?"
"They're likely to be somewhere with lots of people and lots of open space," he replied.
"Yeah, Noah, meet us at the Central Park," Jack hung up the phone. "Let's go guys."
"You sure they're going to be here?" Noah met the team and they looked out into the crowd.
"It's the perfect conditions," the man said.
"What now?" Gwen asked.
"We split up into two teams," Jack explained. "Noah and Gwen go left, Lois, Markson and I go right. Remember, there are 11 puppies and one mother."
"Here," Markson handed Noah a type of gun. "It's an iron woven net. It's the only thing to catch them in."
"Thanks," Noah nodded and the two groups split up.
"We're still missing the mother," Lois said, "And that's only if the others got the rest of the puppies." 7 little black puppies were yelping and scratching, trying to escape the netting.
Jack turned on his ear piece. "You guys got a head count?"
"We have 4," Gwen answered.
"And we have 7," Jack nodded.
"So where's Sammy?" Noah's voice could be heard.
"Spread out, she's got to be around here somewhere," Jack looked around with a sigh. "And hurry before someone gets hurt."
"Here Sammy," Noah and Gwen entered the small forest trail leading from the park.
"So why'd you name her Sammy?" Gwen asked as they looked around.
"Dunno," Noah shrugged. "Just seemed like a good fit."
The two walked in silence for a moment.
"So were you and Owen close?" Gwen questioned.
"Look, I don't really wanna talk about that," Noah mumbled.
"Of course. I'm sorry," Gwen nodded.
"It's alright."
"HELP!" SOMBODY HELP ME!"
Gwen and Noah took off running towards the sounds of the scream. Inside the forest they saw a women on her back as the large dog attacked her. Noah quickly shot the net at the dog and started running towards the woman as Gwen called in Jack.
"What do we do?" Gwen ran up besides the now screaming woman.
"What happened?" Jack and the others appeared soon after.
"She's been bit," Noah explained.
"That's not good," Markson pointed out. "The pup needs to stay inside a host body for at least ten hours. If the host isn't dead, it'll kill it."
"Can you get it out of her?" Jack asked Noah.
"If I had some more equipment maybe," Noah studied the wound.
"The heart of th pup should be in the bite wound. It's the only place you can touch at this stage," Markson explained.
"There's a hospital just down the road," Lois mentioned.
"Let's hurry," Jack picked up the struggling girl and Markson went about adding the mother and the four other pups to the collection before they set off.
Inside the emergency room it didn't take much work to get to a station. Noah closed the curtains and went about examining the leg.
"How far deep does it go?" He asked.
"We're not sure," Markson said.
"Right," Noah was quick to knock out the woman before he started to poke about the wound. Gwen couldn't put her finger on it, but there was something off about him when he was working.
"I think I see it," Noah bent closer to the wound and grabbed some tongs off the cart. He reached the small device into the bite mark and dug around until he caught on something. With a quick tug, Noah pulled back and the tongs were holding a small black lump with more black substance flowing around it. After a minute of exposure to the air, the goo stopped flowing and simply dropped around the sides like putty.
"Thank you Captain," Markson said. "I don't know what would have happened if my master found out we came back one dog and litter short."
"Just be careful where you put those things," Jack said. "And next time keep an eye on them."
Markson nodded and left to return to his planet with the dogs.
"Jack?" Noah walked into the office. He had come back to the hub to help with clean up, seeing as some of it was his fault.
"Noah?" Jack raised an eyebrow.
"I wanted to apologize," Noah walked up to the desk with his head bowed. "I shouldn't have pushed so hard to keep them. I almost got someone killed, and more could have as well."
"Don't be so upset," Jack smiled. "If we had killed them we would have had to deal with an angry alien instead. I'd much rather prefer the dogs."
"I'm still sorry," Noah continued. "And as your employee I promise that I'll follow your directions more."
"What makes you think you still have a job?" Jack crossed his arms and smiled at him.
"Jack," Noah sighed.
"I'll see you tomorrow morning," Jack nodded.
"Yeah, you will."
AN: So yeah, there it is. Hope you like it. Thanks to my dad and friend Hillary for helping out on some parts. Review and let me know what you think please.
