Miranda blinked. Her head was throbbing and her entire right side was full of searing pain. She couldn't hear anything but a high pitched whine. Up. Get up. GET. UP. She yanked her left arm out from under her and planted her palm into the grass and tried pushing herself up but her palm slipped. She didn't even try to move her right arm. Lifting her head she glanced around for the rest of the team. Mickey and Martha were rushing towards her, ignoring Jack who was face down on the grass a dozen yards away from her. She rolled onto her back, using her left arm, she pushed herself into a sitting position. The pain in the side of her face and lower leg was receding but her right shoulder, arm and side were in agony. She tried to flex her right fingers and arm but neither would move. Nerve damage…? She touched her left hand to the left side of her neck when she felt something trickling, it came away smeared with blood. My eardrum… She took a deep breath and looked down and then sincerely wished she hadn't.
Pyraxian grenades contained a flammable gas under pressure that caused a fireball similar to napalm. The fireball was usually localized to a very small area, about a two metre radius around the grenade but the fire burned incredibly hot and sent out a concussive shockwave for about three times that. The edge of the blast had caught most of her right side and probably some of her back. Her clothing had been burned away as had huge portions of her skin. She could see charred muscle along her arm and shoulder. She felt bile rise in her throat as she noticed the white shine of bone exposed at the point of her of the skin on her side that she could see was blackened and bubbled. The high pitched whine was already gone, her eardrums had repaired themselves.
"Miranda! Don't move!" Martha shouted dropping to her side and opening her medical bag.
"Oh my God!" Mickey turned, staggered a few steps away and vomited on the ground.
"It's fine, Martha. Leave it."
"You have fourth degree burns! It is not fine! I have to irrigate them, stay still."
She reached out with her good arm tried to still Martha's attempts to pour sterile saline onto the burns. Then she realised that, as temporary Torchwood workers, Jack wouldn't have told Martha and Mickey about her. Well, isn't this going to be awkward.
"Martha, stop." She put her left hand out again, this time successfully grabbing hold of the saline bottle.
"Miranda, you're in shock. Mickey, hold her, I need-"
"Martha listen to me!" she shouted harshly. "Look at my face and watch."
"Miranda, please-"
"Watch!" she snapped.
She had felt the stinging pain on her face and neck and known immediately she'd sustained first and possibly second degree burns. They would heal the fastest. Mickey stood transfixed, watching the burns heal on her face and neck.
"Oh my God…" Martha put her hand over her mouth as she too watched the wounds heal themselves. "You're like Jack! But how!"
"I'll explain later. First, give me one of the pain med injections and let me borrow your comm unit. We need to contain the situation," she said, picking at the twisted ball of plastic in her own ear. "Martha! The comm unit!"
Martha recovered her wits and quickly removed her ear piece and handed it to the other woman then rummaged into her bag for the correct syringe. She buried the needle into Miranda's thigh and depressed the plunger, blasting the contents into the muscle.
"What should I do?" Martha asked.
"Mickey, go and see to Jack. Martha, help me to the SUV and then help Mickey. The local police have already evacuated the park. The grenade has gone off. It's parts have been vapourised by the blast so we don't need to do recovery. It's just the cover story and fire control we need to worry about." The other woman helped her to her feet as she screamed in pain.
"Sorry! Sorry!" Martha said, easing her grip on the woman.
Miranda gritted her teeth. She put the comm unit into her ear, tapped the side and heard Ianto's voice shouting.
"Jack?! Martha? Are you guys all right? Mickey?! Mandy?! Hello? Someone talk to me!" came his desperate voice.
"Ifan? It's Miranda. It was a Pyraxian grenade. It's gone off, the pieces have been vapourised by the blast. No civilian injuries but we need damage control. We need a cover story and local fire wardens." She looked upwards, the grass wasn't burning but some of the nearby trees were.
She leaned a little on the other woman and limped towards the SUV. "Where's Jack?" Ianto asked, his voice carefully level.
She could tell he was fighting down panic. "Mickey is checking him."
Mickey shouted over to them, "He's alive! Out cold though!"
"Martha help Mickey carry Jack to the SUV. Ifan? Jack's alive but unconscious. He only caught the concussion wave. We're going to head back to the Hub now, there's nothing more for us here."
Martha and Mickey got Jack buckled into the back seat of the SUV next to her. With a shriek of pain, she put on her coat to cover the wounds from view. "Mickey, you can drive us back to the Hub. Ifan? Alert local fire wardens and come up with a cover story, Jack said its your speciality. And can you bring the gurney to the garage? I don't know if Jack will be awake or not by the time we get back."
The drive back to the Hub was silent and tense. Martha and Mickey were both casting nervous glances back at the two immortals. By the time they had pulled into the garage, the pain in her face and neck was gone as well as the pain in her leg. Miranda opened the door and stepped out of the SUV. Martha moved to help her but she waved her off.
"Jesus, Mandy!" Ianto exclaimed when he saw her charred clothing. "Are you all right?"
"She looks a lot better than she did a little while ago, mate," Mickey interjected.
Ianto brushed his fingers across her forehead gently and then ran them through her singed hair. "Are you sure…?"
"I'm fine. Jack'll come around soon. Put him on the sofa in his office and keep him warm. Stay with him. He'll be confused when he wakes up. Martha, Mickey, after you help get Jack into his office, wait for me in the board room please. I'm going to get cleaned up a little."
She walked away from the rest of the team and headed for the medical bay. All of her first degree burns were gone and the second degree ones were still healing and stung. The fourth and third degree burns along her arm and side were fairly painless, the injection Martha gave her at the park managing her pain. She was pleased to discover that the arrangement of the autopsy bay hadn't changed much. The first drawer she opened still contained a pair of bandage scissors. She attacked her hair first, clipping the singed ends away and trying to even it out as best she could. She'd just managed to get her coat off and was about to start cutting away her clothing when Martha appeared in the autopsy bay.
"Let me help you," she said, taking the scissors from her.
Miranda stood still as Martha cut away her ruined blouse and trousers, examining the wounds as she went. She hissed as she got a closer look at the third and fourth degree burns along the other woman's ribcage and right arm. Much of her clothing was natural fibers, but her bra and blouse had both been a poly-blend that had melted into her skin.
"These should be debrided-" Martha began.
"No," Miranda interrupted quickly, "they'll naturally push out any foreign material. In a few hours, you won't be able to tell anything happened. I'll explain shortly, I promise."
The other woman seemed to accept this for now and helped Miranda change into a pair of scrubs. "I'm going to go check on Jack and Ianto, wait for me in the boardroom. I'll only be a minute."
Martha nodded and left reluctantly. She went to the sink and used a wet paper towel to remove as much of the soot as possible, pleased to see that whatever nerve damage there had been was repairing itself. She now had full use of her right hand and fingers. She walked over to Jack's office on bare feet.
Ianto was sitting on the edge of the couch next to a still unconscious Jack. He'd covered the older man with a blanket and was brushing his fingertips through his hair. "I'm sorry to disturb you, Ifan. I just need to get something from Jack's safe."
She punched in the code and opened the safe. She didn't miss his look of surprise. "Jack gave me the code ages ago. He hasn't changed it in 40 years." She pulled out the appropriate files and then relocked it. "I'll be in the board room. Jack hasn't explained me to Martha or MIckey."
Ianto winced. "I'm sorry, Mandy. I know you wanted as few people to know as possible."
"Neither here nor there. Let me know when he wakes up?"
Ianto nodded as she left the room. She glanced up at what used to be the boardroom. It was full of alien plants. She stuck her head back into Jack's office. "Where did you people move the bloody boardroom to?"
Despite the situation, Ianto smiled. "It's down the back."
"Thanks."
She found Mickey and Martha sitting with their heads together talking quietly at the table. She slid the reports towards them. "Read those then I'll answer any questions as best as I can."
She waited patiently for the two of them to finish scanning the reports. Jack had written them back in 1949. After the second World War, the two had run into each other in London. They'd recognised each other immediately. The truth had come out on both sides. There'd been a spectacular fight culminating in rough and angry sex. There'd been tears. There'd been yelling. Jack, in his anger, had written these reports for Torchwood about what she had told him. In 1951, he realised his error when Torchwood captured an immortal and started experimenting on him. With Miranda's help, they had freed the young man. Miranda had ruthlessly and viciously slaughtered the two Torchwood agents responsible. It had been Jack's first glimpse at the cold hearted savagery she was capable of. After that incident, Jack had taken the files and locked them away, determined to never allow Torchwood to learn of her people again. They'd worked for Torchwood side by side after that, Miranda in charge of the archives in order to locate any mention of her kind. It was when the two of them had started working on their long friendship.
When they'd both put down the folders, Miranda looked at them. "Feel free to ask any questions. I'll try to answer as best I can."
"So you're not the same as Jack?" Martha asked quietly.
She shook her head. "No, my kind can be killed."
"How?" Mickey asked.
Miranda shifted nervously in her seat. It was, understandably, a piece of information she was extremely reluctant to give anyone. These are Jack's friends… They're from UNIT. "I'm not at liberty to say."
Martha asked, "Why didn't Jack tell us?"
"I don't tell people what I am lightly. Jack knows that. He probably assumed that since you two were only here temporarily you didn't need to know."
"What is this Game thing the report talks about?" Mickey this time.
Miranda sighed. The Game was usually the most difficult explanation. "It's not relevant."
Martha asked quietly, "How many of you are there? How did you get like this?"
"No one knows why we are the way we are. We're a very small part of-" Miranda broke off as she saw Ianto and Jack heading for the boardroom.
Jack immediately walked to Miranda, pulling her into his arms. She ignored the pain as the embrace dug the fabric of the scrubs into the newly formed skin across the healing burns. He kissed the top of her head before looking at her face and neck closely, wincing as he saw the bright red skin on her arm. The black flesh had already flaked away. Miranda braced her self. Jack would either be concerned or angry.
He reached up and brushed his fingertips along her cheek. "Are you all right?"
Concern it is… "I'll heal fine, Jack."
"What part of 'be careful' didn't you get, Will?" he demanded. "You know how volatile those grenades are!"
…Or perhaps both. "I was careful Jack. The circle wasn't visible until I moved it. This'd been a lot worse if I'd been standing even so much as half a metre closer. I move faster than most and I'll heal." She gestured towards Martha and Mickey. "That's why you and I take the risks, remember?"
"Do you have any idea what could have happened if it had gone off when you were leaning over it?! It would have blown your head off!" he shouted.
"And there would have been such a lovely light show. Pity we missed it." She recoiled away from him, her voice dripped with sarcasm.
"Will, I'm serious! You could have been killed!"
"I wasn't and you are overreacting!" she pointed out then forced herself to calm down. She realised that she needed to humor him. Recent events were bringing out his over-protective nature. She reached out for his hand, taking it in both of hers, placing the palm of his hand over her heart. "I'm alive and safe, Jack."
Jack leaned over and pulled her into his arms again, clinging to her tightly. He pressed a kiss to the top of her head. A part of her knew he was right, it had been a close call. If the device had gone off when she was leaning over it, it would have vapourised her head and probably most of the top half of her body, killing her permanently. And with no other immortal around, well at least her variety, her quickening and all that she was would have been lost.
She lifted her head out of Jack's chest and suddenly noticed the angry looks she was getting from Martha and Mickey, realising how their embrace must look. They didn't know about her past history with Jack. Then again that might not make the situation look any better. She stepped out of Jack's arms and cleared her throat. "I was just explaining things to Martha and Mickey since you neglected to enlighten them."
He nodded almost imperceptibly. "Martha, Mickey, I'm sorry I didn't tell you. I didn't think it would be necessary, you two were supposed to leave before Will started working."
"Why do you keep calling her 'Will'?" Mickey snapped.
Miranda looked at Jack and saw another almost imperceptible nod. "I met Jack in August of 1919. I was going by the name Wilhelmina Cho at the time."
"How fucking old are you?!" Mickey asked incredulously.
Why does everyone want to know that? "Anyone ever tell you that it's impolite to ask a lady her age?" Miranda quipped.
Martha snorted at that. The tension seemed to diffuse a little from the room. Jack took advantage of it to turn the conversation back to business. He moved to the head of the table and sat down. Miranda took the chair at the foot of the table and steepled her fingers in a very Spock-like manner. The injection earlier was starting to wear off a little and her right side was starting to sting but the pain was manageable.
"Okay new rules. Will and I can't die. We take the risks. Everyone got it?" Jack continued when he saw nods around the tables. "Okay, so what blew up was a Pyraxian grenade. The Pyraxians were a species that died out in the 45th century. They were arms dealers and weapons makers. All of their weaponry is stamped with a mauve circle. You see a mauve circle on something… hell you see anything mauve on anything, you back away and you let Will or I handle it. Clear?" Jack turned to Ianto. "Where are we with the cover story and damage control, Yan?"
Ianto turned in his chair towards Jack. "I fed the story that the explosion was a petrol bomb, probably set by a bunch of chavs who found plans on the Internet. I figured that would be the most believable since it was in the middle of the park near the legal graffiti wall. Per usual, everyone seems to be buying it. Couple of trees caught fire, the local fire wardens put them out. You'll have my report at the end of the day, sir."
"Right, the reports. Now that Will is here, you guys need to start getting creative with your reports. There is to be nothing in any report to indicate what she is. We fudge where we can." Jack looked at Ianto again, who nodded. "Ianto, Gwen and I have discussed this. Aside from me, Will is the Torchwood operative with the most seniority and experience so as of now, she's second in command."
Miranda looked up suddenly. "Now wait a minute, Jack. My position here is temporary!"
"Yeah it is, but while you're here, you're second in command. End of discussion, Will."
He did have a point. Miranda had been working for Torchwood on and off since the 50's. When you added up all her time, she'd been a Torchwood operative for nearly 25 years. If she were mortal, that many years of service was unprecedented. "Surely Ifan or Gwen-" Miranda protested.
Jack silenced her with a look. She could see there was no arguing with him but she was going to discuss it in private with him later.
He continued, "Mickey, Martha, thanks for coming and filling in for a few days. It'd be great if you two could stay until tomorrow but I know the two of you need to get back to UNIT."
"We were planning on staying until the end of the week, Jack," Martha said. "Miranda, I'd like to check you over."
"It's not necessary, Martha-"
"Will, let Martha check you over. Yan, let's go get her things downstairs." Jack stood up from his chair, a gesture Miranda knew meant the discussion was over.
She reluctantly walked towards the medical bay behind Martha while Jack and Ianto disappeared down the north stairs.
"I'll get you a gown," Martha said, leaning over towards the cupboard.
"Not necessary, Martha," Miranda said, pulling off the scrub top and bottom, wincing as the new skin pulled. "You'll be able to see the burns better this way."
The first degree burns were long gone as were all the second degree burns. The third degree burns were still visible but at an advanced stage of healing, looking like little more than a freshly peeled sunburn. The fourth degree burns were still healing slowly, a quarter of their original size. Miranda was pleased to see the bone of her elbow was covered but she could still see small sections of muscle tissue on her upper arm and shoulder. Martha had put on a pair of gloves and was carefully examining each area.
"Like I said, another hour and you won't even know any of this happened," Miranda pointed out. She understood Martha's curiosity but she hated the waste of time.
"You heal that quickly, then?"
She nodded. "Faster than Jack does, usually." She knew that her fast healing was a result of her long life and the numerous heads under her belt but she wasn't going to confide that to the other woman. Wounds this severe would take a new immortal all day to recover from.
"What's going on between you and Jack?"
"You need to ask Jack that, Martha. It's really not my place to say," and it wasn't. She knew that Jack was as fiercely guarded about his past as she was. The personal question surprised her.
"You two are obviously lovers. Where does Ianto fit into all that?" Martha accused.
Ah so there it is. "Yes, Jack and I, we…" she searched for the right word and decided on a euphemism, "dabbled, on occasion. Right now, we are just friends, nothing more."
Martha was trying desperately not to laugh much to Miranda's confusion but she seemed to accept the explanation. "Are you in any pain? Do you need me to give you something?" she asked.
"It's manageable. Like I said, in an hour you won't even know anything had happened. By the time pain medication takes effect, I'll be healed."
When she picked up her discarded scrubs, she saw that they were both heavily soiled. She pulled a face and tossed them into the bin. She also saw the inside of her coat was ruined. When she opened the cupboard, it was empty.
"I'll get you another pair. I think Ianto keeps them in the medical storage cupboard," Martha said, heading for the stairs.
Miranda knew that by the time Martha walked down to the storage cupboard and back she could have just walked downstairs to her rooms. Her coat in her hand, she shook her head, "Don't bother, Martha. It's fine, really."
She strode, nude, from the autopsy bay leaving Martha a little gobsmacked. She walked across the main Hub floor, ignoring Mickey's open mouth stare. She went down the short staircase and down into the sub-basement. At the end of the corridor, she made a right, finding her rooms easily.
The flat was made up of converted storage main room was a combination of kitchen, lounge and dining area with a small toilet off to the left side. To the right there was a doorway that led to the only bedroom and it's en suite. When Miranda entered the flat, Ianto and Jack were pulling the protective sheets off of the furniture. She barely noticed Ianto's goldfish expression or Jack's lecherous smirk as she grabbed one of the suitcases and disappeared into the bedroom with it. She let out an ancient curse as she saw there was no mattress on the bed. She lifted the suitcase onto the upholstered bench at the foot of the bed, unzipped it and started rummaging for something to wear.
"Not that I'm not enjoying the view, Will, but I thought I told you to let Martha check you out?" Jack said from the doorway. He was leaning against it nonchalantly, his arms folded over his chest.
"That thing with Martha was a waste of time. I'm fine," she said more harshly than she'd intended.
He snaked his arm around her waist and leaned over her, pressing his chest into her back. "Hey, take it easy."
She paused at his touch, remembering the last time he'd done this. They'd ended up not leaving the room for the rest of the day. Of course, there had been a mattress on the bed at the time and Jack's current lover hadn't been in the next room. "Jack, stop. Step back."
"What? Why?" he said, giving her a confused look.
Again… woefully obtuse. "You don't think it will look unseemly if you have your naked ex-wife pressed up against you with your arm around her?"
Jack dropped his arm and took a few steps backwards.
"That's what I thought." She turned back to the suitcase and dug in it for a minute and pulled out her dressing gown. Jack raised an eyebrow when he saw it. The embroidered pink silk gown had been a gift for their first anniversary. Again, Miranda had chastised him for the extravagance. "You kept that too?"
She looked around the room as the gown settled over her shoulders, the silk cool against her skin. She lifted her right hand, surprised he didn't notice earlier. Despite the soot crusted into it, his eyes widened as he recognised the silvery ring on her middle finger, encrusted with diamonds and sapphires. It was her old wedding band. "I kept a lot of things, Jack." She waved her hand around the room. "You and Ianto should move down here."
Jack shrugged one shoulder at her. "I hadn't thought about it."
"It's bigger than that hole under your office and you two-"
"Why the sudden interest in my living arrangements, Will?" Jack interrupted sharply.
"Just want to see you happy, Jack," she shrugged, "but you're right. It's not my business."
Before Jack could stop her and apologise, Miranda had left the room. He heard the sound of the refrigerator opening in the distance. He sat down hard on the bench and glanced around the room. He reached forward, pulling the protective sheet off the dresser. He saw the old bottle of cologne that Miranda had bought him that he'd never used. It was sitting next to an antique silver shaving set he'd forgotten was down here. The dresser itself was empty. After Miranda had left, he'd moved out of here that night, taking all his things with him.
Jack closed his eyes, remembering how the dip of the bed had woken him. He'd watched her through half closed eyes as she'd dressed and taken her sword. Worried, Jack had gone upstairs and activated the locator beacon in her comm unit. He had followed the signal that led to an abandoned lot in Splott. He'd heard the battle before he'd seen it, the archaic sound of swords echoing in the night. Miranda was clearly winning so he'd stayed back, not interfering. Then the fight had turned.
The other immortal, a tall blonde man, had been slowly advancing on Miranda as she backed away, circling to her left. He'd seen it, glinting from the streetlights, a broken beer bottle. Miranda who hadn't taken her eyes off her opponent, didn't notice. He had watched as her heel had come down on the rounded glass. It had rolled under the pressure causing her to lose her balance. The man had instantly capitalised on the opportunity, sprinting forward and thrusting his sword deep into Miranda's belly. She hadn't even screamed. Jack had watched in horror as Miranda had squared her shoulders and closed her eyes, her lips moved possibly in prayer as the man had raised his sword for the killing bow. Jack had acted on instinct, drawing his Webley and had emptied the revolver into the other man. Staggering and weak, Miranda had beheaded him and had taken the quickening, dying in Jack's arms shortly afterwards.
The fight back at the Hub after she'd revived had been spectacular. There had been rough angry sex followed by yelling and tears and angry words. She'd packed her things and left that very night. It had been the one condition of her long association with him, that he never interfere in her challenges or the Game. He'd felt breaking that promise had been worth it. If he hadn't shot the other immortal, Miranda would now be dead. She hadn't spoken to him for over a year after the incident. He had missed the immortal woman's friendship profoundly. The past few years they had worked hard to repair their friendship, again. Jack sincerely hoped they could manage it.