Still don't own Doctor Who, so anything you recognize from the show is not mine. But I did buy my own little TARDIS replica at the used book store this weekend for an astounding sum of $5! So Christmas came early for me.

Not sure when the next chapter will be coming out since this is a holiday week. I'm just hoping to get the rough draft done before making the rounds to no less than two Thanksgiving dinners. So Happy Thanksgiving to everyone!

One last thing then I'll shut up and get to the story. Several people have said that they haven't seen Season Three of Torchwood so in the words of River Song… Spoilers

Torchwood Children of Earth Part I

God, Trisha hated paperwork. An endless drone of monotony all bound together in plain manila folders. Signing her name a few more times, Captain Tyler set down her pen and checked the clock. 8:37 in the morning. Things had been quiet lately, almost too quiet. Part of her was hoping for something exciting to happen. An alien invasion or maybe just a trip in the TARDIS, nothing too drastic, just enough to get her adrenaline pumping. She should have been careful what she wished for.

A few minutes later, in Cardiff, Gwen Cooper was making a withdrawal from a cash point when she heard yelling over her shoulder.

"Come on, Tyler. I don't have time for this. We have to go." A mother was prodding her son, trying to make him move, but the boy simply stood there, completely motionless.

Curious, Gwen made her way over to the pair. "Is there something wrong?" she asked politely, not wanting to frighten the woman.

"No, he's just playing," the mother replied, ignoring Gwen.

Slowly turning around, Gwen surveyed the area. Every child that she could see had stopped moving. They all seemed to be frozen in place, eyes glazed over, no response to parents desperately trying to get their attention. And then it was over, the children picked up exactly where they had left off, none of them the wiser. Gwen hung around just a moment longer before she turned on her heel and headed back to the Hub.

It was a quick walk and in no time she was logging onto her computer. A few strokes later the Torchwood programs were running, analyzing patterns. Police reports, camera footage. Anything, everything that might clue her into what was going on.

"Captain Tyler," her secretary called from the doorway. "Your nanny's on the phone. She said it was urgent, ma'am. Line One."

Trisha felt the hairs on the back of her arm pickle and a deep lump form in her throat. She reached over and answered the phone. "Hello, Miss Trumble." Her voice was lighter than she actually felt. "What's wrong?"

"Mrs. Tyler, it's the children. Both EJ and Jamie went catatonic for a minute or two. Nothing I did seemed to get their attention. It was almost like they were having one of those seizures that I've read about. The ones where they stop moving instead of shaking, but it happened to both of them at the same moment. I called Dr. Tyler and it keeps going to voice mail."

Normally, Leah Trumble was completely level headed. She was older, experienced, had been a nanny for years. Thoroughly vetted because of Trisha's position and the family's connection to the Doctor. For her to be in such a panicky state, something must be very wrong.

"I'll be right there," Trisha said calmly. "Keep a close eye on them and let me know if anything changes and if it happens again, take them straight to Dr. Tyler's office."

She'd hung up the phone before the other woman could reply and was halfway down the hall before turning back and telling her secretary where she was going.

"You can't leave now. We have a situation," her mother, Lt Colonel Hannah Stalwart, said from the other side of the hallway.

"Mother, I don't have time for a situation. Something's wrong with EJ and Jaime…"

"Both of them stopped around 8:40 this morning. Went into a catatonic state," Hannah stated as fact, before softening. "Or was it something else? Are they alright?"

For a long moment Trisha stared at her mother. "No, it's the catatonic thing. And they seem fine now. How did you know?"

"Because it happened to every child. Reports are pouring in from all over the world." Hannah pulled her into an open office and dropped her voice. "I know you're worried about your children. I am too. But right now, you can't go and I'm sure that Anthony is swamped at the hospital. Can you call Rose or Rory to pick them up? Might be useful to have them handy anyway."

That last sentence made no sense, but Trisha nodded. If this was happening everywhere she could be of more help here than at home. At least until Mum, Dad and Rory got here. "Yeah, just give me a mo."

Hannah nodded and stepped out into the hall. Immediately, Trisha pulled out her enhanced phone and tried to call Rose, Sabrina, Jenny and even the phone in the Doctor's TARDIS all to no avail. With a sigh she punched up Rory's number. He answered on the second ring.

"Hello Trisha! How is my absolute favorite sister-in-law today?"

She smiled despite the situation. "Aw, Cub, that compliment would mean more if I wasn't your only sister-in-law."

"Doesn't make it any less true." She could hear the grin in his voice as he spoke. "So what's going on?"

Trisha sucked in a deep breath. "There's a situation. Something caused children all over the world to go catatonic at exactly the same time. Every child, including Jamie and EJ. The nanny is freaking out. I need to be here to keep an eye on the situation, Tony's going to have his hands full at work and I can't get in touch with Mum and Dad. Can you and Amy swing by the house and pick up the kids? Maybe run a couple of scans to see if you can find anything."

"Yeah, not a problem. We'll be right there and I'll let you know what I find." The playfulness had gone from his voice.

Trisha quickly gave him the date and time she needed him along with a reminder to come in through the front door so as not to scare Miss Trumble. Once they had rung off, she typed a quick message to Tony letting him know that Rory was on his way to get the kids, and to call her if he found out anything at the hospital. Straightening her uniform, Captain Tyler stepped back into the hall to join her mother. Time to save the world.

Back in Cardiff, Jack and Ianto had made their way back from picking up the Hitchhiker (a parasitic alien) from the hospital. They were flirting, teasing each other as they came into the main room of the Hub.

"Oi! Chuckle Brothers. I found something," Gwen said as Jack passed her.

In true Jack fashion, he seemingly glossed over what she said and started in on his own line of thought. "Yeah, well I want you to do a check on St. Helen's Hospital, specifically the morgue."

Gwen pointed to the machine nearest him. "Well, there's a computer, do it yourself." Ianto laughed. "Meanwhile, I've been getting reports this morning of seventeen road traffic accidents happening right across the country. All the way from Glasgow to St. Ives."

Jack shrugged and began his own search. "Sounds about average."

"Well, they all occurred between 8:40 and 8:41. Seventeen road traffic accidents happening in exactly the same minute and every single one of them involving children." She turned the screen so that the boys could see.

"That'll be the school run," Ianto thought aloud as he began digging further into accident reports.

"All of them just standing in the road. Not crossing the road. Just standing." Gwen gesticulated broadly. "I saw it myself, Jack. Two kids on Market Street, though. Well, they just stopped."

"Have we heard from UNIT yet?" Jack asked as he pulled out his phone to check for messages.

"I'm sure Trisha has her hands full and will be calling shortly," Ianto said reassuringly.

"Plus she has kids of her own. So far all reports seem to be school-aged children but who knows. This could be affecting kids as young as hers," Gwen said, coming to look over Ianto's shoulder.

"Same report from France. Fifteen road traffic accidents. All timed around 9:40. They're an hour ahead, so it was simultaneous." Ianto scanned the incoming reports.

"All of them with children?" Gwen asked.

"Yep," Ianto agreed. "Hold on. Still cross-referencing. Here we go. Reports coming in of RTAs in Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Luxembourg..."

Behind them Jack flipped his phone open and dialed Trisha mobile number. Her super-phone the line he knew she would answer.

"Captain Tyler." Her voice was clipped.

"Is that anyway to say hello to your favorite Torchwood agent?" Jack put a fair amount of charm into his voice.

"Jack, you know I like Gwen better than you," she teased him. "I take it you're calling about the thing with the kids?"

"Exactly, and I'm sure that you have plenty to tell me, but first, how are your kids?"

"It happened to them, too. Freaked the nanny out more than a bit. Cub is with them now, no signs of any type of permanent damage. Thank God. I tried to reach M.D. and B.W. unsuccessfully. I'll try again later." When Trisha was at work they used code to refer to Rory (Cub), the Doctor (M.D.) and Rose (B.W.). Trisha preferred that people not know that she had a close familial connection to the Doctor.

"Good. I'm relieved that they're alright." Jack paused and let go of the breath he wasn't even aware he was holding. "So what do you know?" He turned the phone on speaker so Gwen could listen in. Ianto had stepped out of the room.

And like flipping a switch, Trisha was back to being the consummate professional. "As far as we can tell at 8:40 GMT all of the children of Earth simply stopped everything but basic functions. It was as if all of their higher brain functions turned off. A minute later it was as if it never happened. No brain damage present in any of the children examined so far. We are still awaiting blood tests."

"Do you believe it's extraterrestrial in origin?" Ianto asked.

"Not sure yet." She paused. "Reliable third party scans are showing nothing in the immediate vicinity of Earth that could have caused this. Everything currently hanging out in the solar system is known friendlies. Mostly tourist ships."

Jack smiled; Earth had become a more tempting place for aliens since the demise of Torchwood One. And honestly, as long as they were peaceful they were welcome.

"Colonel Oduya is currently briefing John Frobisher at the Home Office. I wish we knew more but it's still early."

"He's back," Ianto said, poking his head back into the room.

"Who's back?" Gwen and Trisha said at the same time.

Jack grabbed the phone followed Ianto with Gwen on his heels. "What's he doing?"

"Waiting, just like you said. He's been there 20 minutes." Ianto pointed at the screen.

"Persistent," Jack said with the smallest hint of a smile

Ianto nodded in agreement. "Good sign."

"Dogmatic." Jack grinned.

"Always a plus." Ianto one upped.

"Oh, Christ" Gwen mumbled. "Never work with a couple, you two talk like twins! So who is he?"

"Rupesh Patanjali," Ianto answered. "He's the bodies-going-missing guy."

"Dr. Rupesh Patanjali." Jack shrugged. "We need a doctor and someone won't help me convince a certain Dr. Tyler to join our ranks."

On the phone, Trisha sighed in exasperation. "I've said it once I'll say it a thousand time s more. I'm not moving to Cardiff Jack. And I'm ringing off now, too much to do on my end. Call Cub see if he's found anything. Let me know if you find anything."

"I will. Talk to you soon." Jack hung up.

"You bastards," Gwen said with a grin. "This is exactly what you did to me." Neither man could properly hide their guilty smiles. "Guess it's time I played recruitment officer." Turning on her heel she strode out of the room and across the plaza to talk to the new recruit.

Chucking, Jack turned his attention back to the phone and dialed Rory's number.

"Hello, Jack." Rory's voice sounded tight as he answered the phone.

"Not having a good day, are we?" Jack teased, trying to lighten the mood.

"Just in the middle of analyzing EJ's latest brain scans. I'm not finding anything. Whatever this was, it either wasn't in there long enough to leave a trace or we are dealing with a highly advanced species. I also found nothing in her or Jaime's blood work. I've run full body scans, still nothing." Rory let out a sigh. "I wish Dad were here, or that we could get in touch with Mum and the Doctor."

It hadn't failed to escape Jack's notice that Rory was the only one of Rose's brood that wasn't calling the Doctor 'Dad'. "Don't worry, kid, we'll figure this out. But at least we know that there hasn't been any permanent damage. Have you seen anything on your scanners? Are you any closer to knowing what's there?"

"I ran a couple preliminary scans. Nothing so far. Whatever this is has me stumped."

"Never thought I'd live to see the day a Time Lord voluntarily admitted he didn't know something." Behind him, Ianto's phone started ringing and Gwen was running across the screen.

"It's happening again," Ianto yelled before running to the lift. Tersely, Jack told Rory he'd call him back and Ianto and Jack made it outside in record time. They reached Gwen just as the children around them started screaming. Well, it wasn't so much screaming as it was a high pitch screech. Then they started to speak.

"We… We…We… We… We are… We are… We are coming. We are coming." Over and over again every child all over the world repeated those chilling words. Who's coming? How were they doing this to the children?

And then it was over. The children snapped back to normal. Confused by why people were staring or why their parents were hugging them and crying. The children showed no outward signs of damage by what had just happened.

"We need to get back to the Hub and call the Home Office. This thing just went public and they're going to need our help," Jack said as he turned and ran. Ianto, Gwen and Rupesh followed him. Once they had reached the door, Jack turned to the newcomer. "Where do you think you're going?"

"I'm a doctor, I could help," Rupesh said as his phone rang.

"The world just turned upside down. They're going to need you at A&E." With that, Jack turned and left the man standing outside. Running up the stairs, he was greeted by the purplish TARDIS materialized in clear spot a few feet away from the main bank of computers.

"Anyone in need of some help here?" Rory asked, poking his head out of the Police Box doors.

Jack grinned. "Took you long enough to get here."

Rory stepped fully into the room. "Come on, Jack, one isolated incident on a world wide scale Torchwood could handle that on its own. But for it to happen twice," He shook his head. "That kind of problem requires an expert."

"Where's Amy?" Ianto asked.

"Calling Trisha and Tony to let them know we have the kids here. And she's trying to get in touch with the other TARDIS's crew. If they don't answer this time, I'll set up an alert with my ship to let us know when we can reach them."

Ianto and Gwen had moved to begin analyzing the data coming in. "It has to be some kind of broadcast. Something that could cause all the children to talk in unison," Jack mused as he turned on his phone again, this time to call Frobisher in the Home Office.

"What do you mean talking in unison? What did they say?" Rory questioned, moving to a monitor.

"Wait, Jamie and EJ… they weren't affected?" Gwen looked confused.

"No, I heard Ianto yelling that it was happening again. The TARDIS's scanners went off line for a minute. I assumed that she was strengthening her telepathic field to protect the kids." Rory gently prodded Gwen away from the keyboard as they pulled up the CCTV footage. "I need audio," he moaned.

"Here." Ianto started to play the footage that he had recorded out in the Plas.

"What this, then?" Amy asked, coming up and digging her chin into the top of Rory's shoulder so she could see what was going on.

The foreboding voices filled the air. "We are coming. We are coming." Their menace only lessened by the slight warble from the recording.

"Oh, that's creepy." Amy shivered. "And that happened all over the world?"

"As far as we can tell." Ianto shrugged. The gesture seemed outwardly casual but underneath he was filled with that excited tension that came with solving a crisis.

"Where are the kids?" Gwen asked.

Holding up her wrist, Amy showed her a small monitor. "Taking a nap. This thing here gives us audio, visual and will alert us if there is a significant change in their vital signs. Nifty bit of tech this is."

"Frobisher apparently doesn't have time for us. Worldwide crisis, millions of parents in blind panic and he doesn't need our help." Jack said, trying to keep himself from throwing his phone against the wall. The arrogance of that man.

Videos had started coming in from all over the world. Amy, Gwen and Ianto started analyzing the footage while Jack and Rory looked over whatever the Torchwood scanners, since the ones on the TARDIS hadn't been able to pick anything up. She had just used too much of her power to shield the kids from whatever had affected everyone else.

"Look at this," Amy said, pointing at the screen. There was another little girl repeating those words over and over.

Ianto shook his head. "We've seen this before."

"But this video is from Taiwan," Amy said as if it was obvious.

"Oh my God!" Gwen exclaimed. "She's speaking English."

"Exactly," Amy said with a nod.

Rory and Jack had come over and Rory's gaze flitted between the two women, trying to figure out what they were on about. Apparently, Amy had thought that she had come across something vastly important.

Jack spoke up. "Ok, I'm not getting it."

"This was taken in Taiwan," Amy explained again. "And she's speaking English. I've seen videos from France, Italy, China, Japan and all the kids are speaking English, only English. Never anything else."

"I guess if you scan the Earth from the outside, you would register English as the dominate language," Jack said, trying to work it out.

"Actually, that would be Chinese, specifically Mandarin," Ianto corrected. "At least a billion people speak Mandarin. That's three times as many as speak English.

Gwen grabbed their attention again. "So all the children are speaking in unison."

"Yes," Rory agreed.

"Every child, and one man." Gwen brought up a video of an elderly man chanting the phrase. She explained that the man was named Timothy White and he was in psychiatric ward at the Duke of York Hospital in Greenstead. Quickly it was decided that she would head out to interview the man, see if there was anything she could tell them.

Half an hour later Rory felt like they were getting nowhere. "Tony's using some of the tech I gave him a few months back on the kids in the hospital. But I'd love to be able to run a few of my own tests," Rory said, looking over some of the information that was being downloaded to his computer.

"Why can't you just use EJ or Jaime?" Gwen asked.

"Wellll," Rory started drawing out the word. "They weren't affected by the last round of whatever this is. So I wouldn't be able to find anything new." He tapped the one finger against the side of the monitor. "None of these new scans have shown anything."

"I'll be back," Jack said without preamble, shrugging on his coat.

"Where are you going?" Ianto probed.

"I've got an idea. See you soon." Without another word Jack turned and left.

Ianto stared after Jack for awhile before looking away. "Actually, I have somewhere I need to be, too."

"Anything we can help with?" Amy asked.

"No," Ianto said, shaking his head slightly. "Something I need to do on my own." And he left. Rory would have sworn he heard Ianto mumbling something about Jack not ever telling him anything.

"What's up with those two?" Amy asked, pointing at the door both men had departed through.

"Don't know. Looks like a bit of a spat though." Rory said with a little laugh. "Seems a bit strange to be arguing about domestics in the middle of a worldwide crisis, though, doesn't it?"

It was Amy's turn to laugh now. "Jack runs Torchwood. When are they not in the middle of a worldwide crisis? Or at least a nationwide one?" She turned him around in his chair and kissed him. "I'm so glad our lives are nothing like that."

The monitor on her wrist beeped. "Ah, I'll just go check on our niece and nephew while you save the world."