Will they defeat the creature? Will they survive? Will Jack get his memories back? Read on …
Who?
Chapter Nine
It was all happening in slow motion. Ianto could see the creature – he wished it had a name – leaning to one side then swaying and leaning the other way. Its skin was blackened and smoking even more now, the slime seemed to have caught fire and spread Jack's cocktail all over its large body. But Ianto's attention was not wholly taken by this sight. He was concerned for Gwen who was too close to the flailing creature. If she didn't move, and soon, it would fall on top of her.
"Gwen!" he yelled but his voice was muffled by the folds of Jack's greatcoat. It – and Jack who was still inside – were on top of him, pinning him to the ground. They were in a heap and Jack was unable to get off him as he was pinned against the fire engine under which they were both lying.
"Here, let me help," said Andy Davidson, pulling on Jack's arm and releasing him. He had watched the two men tumble into the confined space and run to help, recognising he was out of his depth in dealing with the creature.
"Thanks," gasped Jack. He knew it was a mistake to wear the damned coat. Without that he'd have been able to wriggle free. He sat to one side as Ianto slid forward, getting to one knee.
"Gwen!" he shouted. He rose to his feet and made to go to her aid but was held back.
"You sure I can't die?" asked Jack urgently. At Ianto's nod, Jack ran towards Gwen shouting over his shoulder, "You'd better be right!"
Ianto and Andy watched as Jack sprinted forward, greatcoat flying behind him, and grabbed Gwen round the waist. He lifted her off her feet and kept running but her added weight slowed him. He had taken only two more paces before the creature, now a mass of smouldering, cracking and disintegrating substance toppled forward and fell. It caught Jack and, just before he was partially buried, he gave an almighty heave and threw Gwen ahead. She landed a metre away, rolled four times and lay still.
-ooOoo-
Owen was panting hard – he had run the last four miles and was knackered - when he rounded the corner into Beulah Road. There was a mass of people and police standing behind cordon tape and abandoned vehicles beyond that. He shouted, "Torchwood," to an officer and fairly dived under the tape and ran through the vehicles, noticing the SUV amongst them, and on to the row of shops. It was quiet here, the area having been cleared of people. Rounding a parked ambulance he started to slow and then stopped.
The smell of toxic burning was heavy in the air and he coughed as he walked forward. In front of him was a pile of blackened … cinders? He wasn't sure. Upwind of it sat Ianto, cradling a singed and dead Jack Harkness. No one else was in sight. Then there was movement from a shop with a shattered window and a battered Gwen appeared, helping some people out with her cop friend, Andy, coming up the rear. It took Owen a moment but then he remembered: these were the people who had been trapped inside the building.
"Gwen, anything I can do?" Owen asked, striding forwards.
"It's done. That," she looked at the cinders, "is all that's left of the creature. Could you help with these?" She indicated the five shocked people she and Andy were helping. "Check them over, maybe, and give them a drink with something in it."
Owen got the message, she wanted Retcon in their tea. "Sure. What about you? And Ianto and Jack?" He took the older woman's arm as Gwen released it.
"We're okay and Jack will be. He saved me, saved all of us even though he didn't know what was going on." Owen nodded and moved after Andy who was leading the group towards waiting helpers. "Keep everyone back, 'til Jack recovers. And, Owen, give Andy the Retcon too." The last was said under her breath.
"Will do." He helped the rescued woman to the waiting paramedics. Over the comms, he heard Gwen updating Toshiko.
The greatcoat was dirty, black and scorched in places. Ianto was patting at it, removing the worst of the damage as he waited for Jack to wake.
When the creature had fallen, pinning Jack beneath it, Ianto had gone to his side but the heat and fumes were too intense. Running back to the fire engine, he had found a heavy bladed axe then - coughing - used the blunt edge to sweep away the crumbled remnants of the creature and pulled Jack away from it, dragging him a metre or so. Leaving him, he had helped Gwen to her feet. She was dazed and had taken a few minutes to recover, sitting on the kerb with her head between her knees. Finally, he had joined Andy who, having himself checked Gwen, was forcing the metal door open to release the people inside. They were distraught and almost hysterical and it took both men some time to quieten them.
Only when all this was done had Ianto been able to return to Jack. He had taken his boss and lover in his arms and held him tight. Jack was dead, of course, no one could have survived what he had been through, and Ianto planned to wait until he awoke.
"Ianto, are you all right?" asked Gwen, coming up and squatting beside him. She was tired, dirty and had grazes on her face and hands. She brushed her hair out of her eyes where it had come loose.
"Yeah, you?"
"Fine, thanks to Jack." She put a hand on her boss's shoulder. "He'll be all right," she assured Ianto.
"I know. But someone needs to be with him when he wakes up. If he hasn't got his memory back this will be like the first time for him." They fell silent, both wondering what Jack experienced; he'd never been willing or maybe able to explain.
"Owen's dosing everyone with Retcon. I'll see if I can get the SUV up here, then we can take Jack back to the Hub." Gwen stood up pleased to see Ianto nod before returning to his obsessional rubbing at Jack's coat.
As Gwen walked back to the cordon, she took in afresh the scene around her. Shattered glass littered the ground; the display stand lay where it had been thrown; newspapers and magazines flew around, set free from the newsagent's shelves; emergency vehicles were parked where they had been abandoned, doors open and lights flashing. She felt like she was walking through a war zone. Reaching the SUV, she climbed in and started the engine, inching the large vehicle forward slowly between the emergency vehicles until she was close to Ianto and Jack.
The blackness was everywhere and the silence was frightening. There was nothing: no light; no sound; no feeling. It was a horrible place, this place of nothingness. Gradually, the blackness receded, a lightening of the space around him. And a sound came to him faintly. Thud – silence – thud - silence – thud, thud – silence – thud thud. It gained speed, became regular and closer. It was familiar, a sound he knew. A good sound. It was his heart beating again. Jack gasped for air, arms reaching out for something to hold onto, anything to prove he was alive. The pain was excruciating, raking every atom of his being. He was terrified. His hand encountered something solid - warm flesh - and a voice spoke, heard above the thudding of his heart, a vaguely familiar voice.
"You're safe, Jack, you're okay. Just relax, you'll be fine in a moment. You're fine, just fine."
The voice kept repeating the words and eventually Jack understood and believed them. His breathing slowed and his eyes focussed on a face, a pleasing face, Ianto's face. He realised he was lying in the young man's arms and was holding his hand; it felt good to do that. "Ianto?" he croaked.
"Yes, I'm here. Lie still a bit longer. You're fine now."
The pain grew less, faded into the oblivion he had just left. Jack did as he was told, happy to believe the man. Ianto had told Jack he was immortal and had been proved right. He could be trusted. Jack relaxed, letting his body rest against the young man's as he tried to remember precisely where he was and what had happened. The suburbs, they'd driven here in the big black vehicle, the shops, the creature … the creature! Jack started up, looking round wildly.
"Jack, what's the matter?" Ianto held onto his boss's shoulders.
"The creature, where is it?"
"Over there." Ianto gazed at the heap of cinders, some of which were blowing away in the slight breeze. "It's dead. You killed it."
"I did?" Jack turned to face Ianto and even through the coating of dirt and grime, Ianto could see he was aghast.
"You had to, there was no other way of stopping it. The trapped people are safe now as well as everyone else."
"Good, good." Jack looked a little reassured as he scanned the area. "Gwen? And Andy?" he asked.
"They're fine. Andy's taken the rescued people to the ambulances and Gwen's just coming. See, she's in the SUV." Jack followed Ianto's gaze and saw the big vehicle coming towards them.
"We did it," said Jack after a moment's pause. "We beat the alien!"
"Yes, we did." Ianto was smiling at Jack's childlike pleasure.
"My first alien!" Jack saw Ianto's smile falter and disappear; he understood. "No, my memory's not back." He shared his disappointment.
-ooOoo-
The clean up did not take long. Ianto and Gwen scooped up the remains of the alien and placed them in a container for later analysis. Owen helped the paramedics assess the trapped people; they were shocked and the owner of the shop, who had a heart problem, was giving cause for concern. They were all loaded into ambulances and ferried to the hospital but not before Owen had given each Retcon in their drinks. He managed to slip it into Andy Davidson's cup of tea too. Jack sat in the back of the SUV, put there by Ianto who told him that it was normal procedure and that he needed to recover. Jack felt fine but decided not to argue the point. In any case, he wouldn't have been able to help much; these people seemed to know exactly what to do without words.
Finally, the team climbed into the SUV and Ianto carefully drove it out onto Caerphilly Road and headed for the Bay. Traffic was still heavy but it was moving better than before. They dropped Owen by his abandoned car and then, in convoy, they carried on along the detours round the area still affected by the power cut that had brought the city centre to a standstill.
It was a tired and dirty group of people who walked into the Hub where Toshiko was waiting for them.
Will Jack ever get his memories back? Read the next chapter to find out …