(Cardiff)

Life without Mia was … strange, to say the least. Kelly missed her. Of course she did. They were sisters in everything but blood.

Joshua and Conor seemed to be taking her disappearance quite hard as well. Conor hardly ever drew anymore, and Joshua spent most of his time huddled in his bed, gazing out the window.

The only beacon of hope was that she would soon have enough money to buy herself a phone, and then contact Mia.

But that hadn't lasted for long. Her boss had been arrested for drug dealing. Unemployed, without a hope of talking to her 'sister', she felt even worse.

She regularly took walks to the water tower, walking on the Roald Dahl Plass (she liked it there), and down to the bay, staring out at the sea, her hair blowing everywhere. She came here every day for the beautiful view.

"Don't."

Unperturbed by the stranger behind her, without turning around, she asked, "Don't what?"

"Drown yourself," said the stranger; a male.

"Who said I was going to drown myself?" she asked, looking over at him. He was brown-haired and subdued, and was watching her interestedly.

"Your eyes."

"Who are you?" she asked him, frowning ever so slightly. "Why are you even talking to me?"

"A friend," he answered. "And because I'm dead."

She turned back to the ocean. "So what, you make a habit out of convincing people not to kill themselves by telling them that you're dead?"

"I am."

"Of course you are," she said sceptically.

A short silence. He had come to stand beside her.

"I'll tell you a secret if you tell me one."

"My sister's an alien," said Kelly after a pause, deciding that the least believable thing would be the best to tell a stranger, and then suddenly considering if he was telling the truth.

"I am dead," he repeated. "Look."

She looked, and clapped a hand to her mouth in horror.

"I was shot," he said, quite calmly, covering the horrible wound again.

"How are you—?"

"I'm not alive," he interrupted quietly. "My heart doesn't beat. I don't breathe. I can't feel … I tried to drown myself here. It didn't work."

"Do you want to die?" Kelly asked him. "Properly, I mean."

"Yes."

"But you can't?"

"No."

Silence.

"Your sister's an alien?"

"Yeah," Kelly sighed.

"And that's why you want to kill yourself?"

"I don—"

"Is it?"

"No," she answered truthfully.

"Why, then?" he asked her.

She sighed again. "She left. To go travelling with her parents."

"And they didn't take you?"

"She's not actually my sister," she explained. "Not really. We're not related. We just grew up together."

"Adopted?"

"Orphanage," she corrected.

"What kind of alien is she, your sister?" he asked curiously.

"I don't know."

It was strange, standing here with a stranger, telling him the biggest secrets of her life. But she did not really care.

"What's your name?" she asked him.

"Owen."

"Kelly."

"Well then Kelly. I'll tell you something … your sister might not be as far away as you think."

"What do you mean?"

"We're right next to a rift in time and space. And it's my job to take care of what comes through it."

And with that, he set off, leaving Kelly staring after him.

Owen was standing there, in the exact same spot as the previous day, when Kelly arrived.

"Still thinking about drowning yourself?" was his greeting.

She gazed out at the water.

"… no."

"Glad to hear it. Heard from your sister?"

"She doesn't know how to contact me," Kelly said. "Would you know what kind of alien she is?"

"Tell me about her."

"She looks human," she told him. "But she's got two hearts."

"I'll get back to you on that," he said. "Want an ice-cream?"

"No."

"Coffee?"

"Go on, then."

"Where have you been?" Gwen asked immediately.

"Stopping someone from drowning themselves," Owen replied. "Don't worry. I won't get under your feet. Is Jack in?"

"Gone out with Martha. Catch-up," she replied, watching him shrewdly. "Why?"

"Nothing," he said. "I'll just get some coffee and be off."

"Owen!" she followed him.

"What?" he asked, pouring coffee into a foam cup.

"Jack wants to keep an eye on you!"

"He's not even here."

"Tosh is worried about you," she tried next.

"There's nothing to worry about," he lied, leaving with two coffee cups.

"Why've you got two cups?" she yelled after him.

"Told you! I stopped someone from drowning!"

Gwen rolled her eyes.

"Thanks," Kelly murmured, accepting a cup of coffee.

"Still hung up about your sister?"

"I guess I am."

"Then I am here to offer you a distraction," he said, smiling slightly. "If I can persuade the side, that is."

She watched him curiously, sipping her coffee.

"Come and work for Torchwood."

"Your alien place?" she asked.

"Why not? You've have experience with an alien, and I'm sure you're pretty enough to convince Jack to let you join the team."

"Excuse me?"

"Joke! Joke!" he held his hands up in surrender.

"Right."

"I'll introduce you to Gwen, if you like. And I think Toshiko and Ianto are there …"

"All right then," said Kelly. "Let's meet 'the side'."

Owen had taken her to the Torchwood hub, introduced her to Gwen, Toshiko and Ianto, and given her a brief overview of what Torchwood did while they waited for Jack, adding that he (Jack, that is) wasn't the only person who investigated aliens; Sarah-Jane Smith did it too. Then Jack had arrived.

"We don't need any more people."

"I grew up with an alien," Kelly told him. "Eleven years. I practically raised her."

There was silence, during which Jack studied her. "What kind of alien?"

"I don't know exactly. She was abandoned on a doorstep. She didn't know her family until quite recently."

"Can you describe her?"

"Looks like a human. Two hearts," Kelly said quickly.

"Two hearts?"

"Yes."

"But he was the last one," Jack muttered to himself, but Kelly heard, and so, it appeared, did the Torchwood team, as they exchanged glances. "He said he was the last one … what's her name?"

"Mia Song."

I know that the second series of Torchwood wasn't set in 2011, but it's the only series I've seen, so I don't know about the one that would match up with Kelly's timeline. And I wanted to add Owen in. So sorry, again. Maybe there's some plausible explanation for it. If there is, I don't know it.

I'm not too happy with this chapter. I might re-upload it. What do you think?