Odyssey

a Torchwood crossover story

by RoadrunnerGER

Disclaimer: I don't own anything of the related shows. I just love to play with their characters.

Summary: Abducted away from Earth and sold into slavery Team Torchwood has to fight for survival. Being left behind Tosh works with the Stargate team, going on a frantic odyssey across the universe in order to save her friends. Crossover, set s2

A/N: Thank you! That Gwen was annoying you tells me that I got her exactly right. On the show she's annoying me all the time. LOL Thanks to my faithful beta-reader. Enjoy

Chapter 6

"What are we going to do now?" Andy asked.

"Excuse me?" Rhys was confused. His mind still had to catch up with the news.

"Well, if the aliens got here there must be a way to follow them," Andy said. "So, Tosh, what are we going to do?"

"I don't know," she admitted.

"But doesn't your Torchwood have the means to…"

"If you're asking if we have a spaceship, the answer is no," Toshiko cut him short. "As much as I know the only ships we have on earth are the space shuttles. And UNIT's Valiant, but that's not a spaceship."

"Could UNIT have other ships you don't know about?" Rhys wanted to know.

"Probably. I planned to call my contact there anyway."

"Then you should do that," Rhys said, grabbing his phone. "C'mon. Here's the phone!"

"I can't call him from here," Toshiko told him. "I have to use a secure line or the call will be blocked. I should go back to the Hub…"

"And leave us here?" Andy rasped. "Knowing that aliens are out there that are kidnapping innocent people? I'll have to tell my superiors! We have to warn the people!"

Now that's not a good idea, Toshiko thought. Her hand slipped into her coat pocket and closed around a small box.

"No, Andy," Rhys suddenly replied. "You can't do that! All hell would break loose!"

"But the people have to know!"

"Listen to me, Andy," Toshiko said evenly, trying to calm both agitated Welshmen. "If you think crowd control at a rugby match is difficult, imagine trying to stem the panic if people believe you when you tell them that aliens are real and out to get them."

"But they have a right to know!" Andy insisted.

Slowly Toshiko got up and turned to the kitchen. "Rhys, I want a drink. We should all just have a drink and try to calm down, get our thoughts in order, and figure out what to do."

"I think I better go," Andy said, ready to get up. A hand on his shoulder stopped him.

"What are you going to do, Tosh?" Rhys demanded, "Give him a pill to wipe his memories like Gwen tried to do me?"

"My memories?" Andy's voice broke and he shot up from his seat, pushing Rhys's restraining hand off his shoulder. "You can't play with my memories!" he shouted, towering over Toshiko.

"Oh, yes, she could!" Rhys said. "Couldn't you, Tosh?"

For a moment, Toshiko froze. He sounded so certain. What had Gwen told him?

"That's ridiculous," she finally said, chuckling lowly. "Rhys, there's no such thing as amnesia pills."

"She gave it to me to cover up her affair with Dr. Harper," Rhys spat. "Doesn't know it didn't work. So don't lie to me, Tosh. Don't lie to Andy. We might need him."

Toshiko stood at the kitchen counter, clutching at the edge to keep herself from breaking down. She did not blame Rhys for his resentful tone. If he knew about Retcon and he knew about Gwen and Owen, he had every right to be angry, but they could not afford Andy making a fuss, no matter if he was believed or not.

"Rhys…"

"No, Tosh. You're the only one left. You've got to trust someone," Rhys argued. "We already know about Torchwood. Now Andy can prove that he's trustworthy." He looked at Andy promptingly. "You are, aren't you?"

"Of course I am!" Andy pouted.

Toshiko was torn. She really did not know what to do. If Jack was here, he would retcon Andy in a heartbeat, but Jack was not here and that was her problem in a nutshell. Before she could make a decision, Rhys took matters out of her hands.

"Come, Tosh. Sit down. I'll make us tea, okay? Sit down, Andy."

Both of them followed his request and Rhys went to boil water.

xXx

Only slowly Gwen was getting over her shock. When her gaze finally cleared and she looked around she was astonished and scared by the number of cages… and the people locked up in them. It was hard to comprehend what had happened. They had been taken by aliens, humanoid aliens, and were crammed into those cages like chickens to be hauled to the processing facility.

Then she did a double take and jumped to her feet and to the bars.

"Alyssa?" she called out, but the woman in the cage across the aisle did not react. "Alyssa Eldridge?"

Finally the young woman raised her head, her green eyes glazed over by desperation.

"Do I know you?" she murmured.

Gwen almost missed what she said. "No, you don't. I was investigating your disappearance, Alyssa. Is Calvin here, too?"

"I don't know," Alyssa replied. "I haven't seen him."

"How long have you been here?" Gwen wanted to know.

"I don't know. Seems like forever."

"How did you get here?"

"Do you have to shout like that?" a woman right next to Gwen spat. "We're not deaf. And we can go without your stupid rambling."

"Right. Just shut the fuck up," another woman agreed.

"Fine!" Gwen snapped. "Just shut the fuck up, too, ladies. Because you certainly won't do anything useful to get us out."

"And you will, chatting with the others?"

"Maybe I will," Gwen said snidely. "Maybe I won't. But I know that I won't sit on my bum, twiddling my thumbs."

"Do you have a hero complex?" a third woman threw in. "Look around you. Does it look as if anyone would get out of here?"

"We've got to at least try!" Gwen shouted. "Do you want to give up that easily?"

The other female inmates of the cage glared daggers at her. Trying to stare them down one by one Gwen realized that the cells were filled by gender. There were only women in this one, and only men in Owen's cage.

Great, Gwen thought. We're gonna kill each other.

"We don't want to give up, love," the woman who had last spoken said. "But unlike you we've been here for a while now and have seen a lot. We know that we won't get out of here. Not on our own accord."

"How can you say that?" While Gwen still thought about how to convince the others she allowed herself to have another look around and took in more than before. She saw how dirty most of the people were. She smelled the fear, but also urine and faeces. She saw the grime on the floor.

She saw that there only were the bars surrounding them. There were no toilets, no water tap, nothing but a bucket in the corner.

And finally she realized what she was really looking at. This was not like a livestock transport. This was a livestock transport. Whoever caught them believed them to be nothing more than animals.

At least they had no more respect for the people they abducted.

"The realization hurts, hm, love?" the woman taunted. "Now stop getting people excited."

"I didn't…" Gwen turned back to the bars, searching Alyssa's gaze. The young woman sat in her cage, watching Gwen in return.

"I don't know how I got here," she murmured just loud enough for Gwen to hear. "I was unconscious."

Same as I was, Gwen thought ruefully. She let her eyes drift over the row of cages to where she had heard Jack before. Where is he? Where's Ianto? She could not find them. Owen said that they are in the same cage.

"Who are you?" Alyssa whispered across the aisle.

"My name's Gwen Cooper," she said and hesitated. She should not say that she was with Torchwood.

"You said you were searching for me?" Alyssa prodded.

"I'm with the Cardiff police," Gwen told her and did not feel bad with the lie. She had been a copper once after all.

"Do you really think we could find a way out?" Alyssa asked fearfully.

"At least I refuse to give up the hope that we will," Gwen replied stubbornly, looking toward where Jack should be. He still was not to be seen.

"Nice thought," Alyssa mumbled, sounding less than convinced.

xXx

Toshiko was back at the Hub. Rhys had managed to talk Andy down and they agreed that they would wait for her to call her contacts before they decided together what to do next. So that was what Toshiko did before she continued her search on the database. She still had not found a fitting description. Maybe the invaders were not in there. Maybe Torchwood did not come across them before.

Declan Stoat had not been available when Toshiko rang so she left a message and was waiting for him to call her back. She was still reluctant towards UNIT after how they had treated her after her futile attempt to free her mother. Stoat, though, had proven himself to be reliable and so she trusted him to try and help her now.

Right then a Rift alert caught her attention. She had a look at the readings and decided on checking it out. Taking her guns she left the Hub and chased the SUV through the thick Cardiff traffic. Upon reaching the warehouse she wondered if it was such a good idea to be there. Once more she scanned the area and still got the same result, something inanimate that the Rift spat out onto earth.

Carefully, her scanner in one hand and her weapon in the other, Toshiko stalked into the warehouse and searched for what she believed to be some alien technology. It might be a shoehorn, but it might as well be an inactive war android or something with deadly radiation. Toshiko would detect radiation, but she would not know if it was harmless like a tin opener or dangerous like an Amok before she had examined it closer.

She found what she was looking for on the south side of the building. It was not that big, something metallic with lots of buttons and a display at what she believed was the top. After scanning it she decided that it was harmless. So she picked it up and put it in the containment box she carried with her. Time to return to the Hub.

When she steered the SUV past the Plass she saw Rhys and Andy cross the street.

"What are they doing here?" she thought aloud and drove down into the parking garage under the Millennium Centre from where she could enter the Hub through a tunnel. Getting out her mobile phone she called Rhys.

"Rhys, what's up?" she asked.

"We just couldn't sit and twiddle our thumbs," he said. "Can't you let us in and find us something to do?"

Toshiko sighed. Unlike Andy, Rhys had been in the Hub before. Should she let them in? Jack would be furious. But Jack was not there. None of the others was there. She was all alone.

She choked.

It was her decision to make. Can we trust Andy? I hope so. He'll have to prove himself. Otherwise I'll have to retcon him when Rhys isn't around.

On a monitor of her workstation she saw the men standing near the water tower.

"Okay, Rhys," she agreed. "Step up on the stone." Seeing him comply and pull Andy with him she activated the lift and the stone rode down to base level of the Hub.

Andy could not speak. His mouth hung open as he gaped at the wonders around him. Once secure on ground he tried to speak, but his mouth opened and closed like a fish's on dry land.

"Snap out of it!" Toshiko ordered. "Rhys, I just collected some driftwood from the Rift. I need to put it away safely. Don't get me wrong, but could you make us some coffee?"

"Can I identify the coffee machine?" Rhys asked innocently.

"What? Why?" Toshiko asked back, confused.

"Between all the alien stuff… which one's the coffee machine?"

"The one in the kitchen area over there?" Toshiko said, pointing in the right direction and barely managing not to say duh. "Andy, I want you to sit on the couch over there and not move until I get back."

Andy nodded and crossed the main area of the Hub to comply.

"And don't touch anything!" Toshiko called as she hurried down to the vaults to contain the presumably harmless item until it could be properly examined.

"Okay, guys," she said upon coming back up to the rec area. "I'm still waiting for a call. Thank you, Rhys." Sighing she accepted the mug from him and sank down on the sofa. "Mmm."

"So… Is there anything we can do?" Andy asked.

"Right now?" Toshiko said. "Can't think of anything. I need to know what I can do first."

Rhys nodded thoughtfully. "I understand that. Still… just sitting around is driving me nuts."

"You could clean out the cells," Toshiko suggested.

"Erm… not that nuts," Rhys rushed to say and picked up his own mug to drink.

Toshiko hid her chuckle by sipping at her coffee. The phone saved her from having to make small talk. She rushed over to her workstation and answered the call.

"Yes, Declan," she said. "Yes, did you hear about those disappearances? Some people even reported UFOs to the police…"

She listened for a moment, then Declan had questions as well.

"Yes, we went out to see what caused the uproar. We saw small ships that came down to land on the beach. We… witnessed an abduction… Yeah, my question is if you know someone who can take an investigation out into space… Yes, because those invaders took humans. They're not likely to bring them back, don't you think?"

It became harder for her to talk when Declan now queried what she had in mind and why it was so important for her.

"You know, Declan, that really shouldn't be the question. Because you already know that the assailants will be back if we don't try and fight them now…. Yes, Declan. I just wondered if you'd know someone who, well, who can contact the Doctor… I know about Jack's connection with him, but he doesn't have the means to contact him. As the Doctor used to work with UNIT on a regular basis in the 1970s I thought that you might know…"

He did not know. Toshiko heard it with dread and she sounded choked when she asked if Declan knew anyone else who might be able to contact the Doctor. Her voice made Declan suspicious and he asked the one question that had Toshiko in fresh tears.

"It's… they have… the aliens, they took… they took Jack," she sobbed. "And Owen, and…" her voice trailed off with grief. "I have to find them. I have to bring them back."

For a moment the line was silent. Then Declan finally made the decision that put a crooked smile on Toshiko's face.

"Thank you, Declan," she said. "I'll owe you."

Toshiko finished the call and leaned back in her chair. She did not know if she could do this. What would she have to do to get them back? Was there any way at all to find them? Right now she could only think of Jack's mysterious friend, the Doctor. He would be able to help. If she could not contact him she had no idea what to do.

Hanging her head she thought miserably, In that case they'll be lost.

tbc…