George
As the morning light invaded its way through the curtains, Gwen groaned. As the alarm filled the room with a screeching sound, Gwen's fiancé, Rhys, groaned. Reaching her hand out of the duvet and over to the bedside table, Gwen continuously slapped the alarm until it stopped beeping. Gwen lifted her head up off the pillow and read the time on the clock: '7.30am'. Gwen let out another groan.
"How about we both take the day off sick?" Rhys suggested, rolling over and draping his arm over Gwen.
"I would love to," she said in between kisses. "But.."
"Special Ops doesn't wait for anyone?" Rhys paused. "I know."
"I promise we'll do something special this weekend."
"Okay," Rhys sighed, lifting his arm up so Gwen could get out of bed.
Walking into the kitchen, Gwen let out a massive yawn that was followed by a large bang, sounding like a bomb exploding. "What the bloody hell was that?" Gwen asked, rushing over to the window.
As Gwen opened up the curtains, her jaw dropped as she saw what was going on in the world outside. Not only was it now pitch black outside but the sky was full of planes heading towards the centre of Cardiff, dropping bombs as they flew over. The fires from the bombings was illuminating the night sky to a luminous orange glow. "Rhys," Gwen called, looking back towards the bedroom before she turned back to look at what was going on outside. Looking down at the street, Gwen realised it wasn't her street anymore. Well, it was. It just wasn't her 2007 street. More like the 1940s street. Most of the windows were covered in black curtain or newspaper but all of them had tape on them in an 'X' formation. Looking up at the night sky, Gwen froze as she saw one of the planes dropping a bomb that was heading straight towards her street. As it landed at the end of the street, the whole house shook.
"Rhys," she shouted again.
Running back into the bedroom, Gwen found that there was no Rhys in the bedroom - she was all alone stuck in her flat in the middle of the 1940 Blitz raids on Cardiff. Grabbing her phone from the bedside table, she placed it to her ear and waited for someone to answer the phone at the other end.
Home
Dancing around the kitchen to the radio, I complemented my atrocious dance moves with ear-shattering singing. Placing my mug beneath the coffee machine, I watched as the liquid fall in front of my eyes, smiling as it filled the air with the strong coffee aromas. The rest of my family were on holiday in the South of France, meaning I had the whole house to myself for the next two weeks. I wasn't even sure why I was excited about it - I knew after the novelty wore off after two days, I'd miss Isobelle nicking all my clothes, Kieran begging to use my laptop but most of all, I'd miss mum's constant nagging at me to clean the bathroom or to do laundry.
Sipping on the cup of coffee, I took a huge sigh of relief. It was already 7am and I hadn't got a phone call from any of the team yet, asking me to come into work yet, meaning I could leisurely get ready before I had to go in. Turning up the music a bit louder, I grabbed my cereal box from the shelf and poured myself a bowl. Opening the fridge, I realised there was next to nothing in. "Looks like it's no milk cereal Wednesday today," I groaned to myself, walking over to the kitchen counter and grabbing my cereal from the side and sitting down at the breakfast bar with it.
Alternating between guzzling my coffee and crunching on the dry weetabix, I also managed to fit in singing along to the radio.
Once breakfast was out of the way, I climbed back up the stairs and jumped into the shower - turning up the radio even louder so that I could sing along in the shower. Just as I lathered up my hair with the shampoo that I had hidden in the bottom of my wardrobe since Christmas so that Isobelle, or mum for that matter, couldn't steal it and use it all before I had the chance to use it, my phone began to ring. "They'll ring back if it's important," I thought to myself. Nothing was more important right now than getting all squeaky clean.
Wrapped up in a towel, I grabbed my phone from the bathroom shelf and saw that I had a missed call from Gwen - crap. Scrunching my hair with another towel, I pressed the ring back button and placed the phone to my ear, making sure I didn't get it covered in water from my hair. I turned down the radio and waited for Gwen to answer.
"Hello," Gwen's voice answered on the other end of the phone line. "Sammy. Is that you?"
"Yeah," I smiled. "Sorry I missed your call. I was in the shower and didn't hear the phone ring." A little white lie never hurt anyone.
"Sammy, where are you?" she asked.
"My house," I paused. "Why? Do you need me to come into work?"
"Sammy, what year are you in?"
I laughed. "Gwen, are you drunk?"
"Sammy, I'm being serious. What year are you currently in?"
The seriousness in her voice started to make me panic. "Um, 2007?"
"Are you sure? Are you positive?"
"Yeah, why?" I asked.
If I wasn't in 2007, how could I be listening to Rihanna on the radio? If I wasn't in 2007, how could I be talking to her on my phone? I walked out of the bathroom and into my bedroom. Just as I was about to choose what outfit to wear today, something in the corner of my eye caught my attention - fire outside?
"I woke up this morning, looked out the window to see.."
I cut Gwen off. "There's been a bomb. Like in the street behind mine. A bomb has gone off and I didn't hear it?"
"Sammy, it isn't 2007. I think some how we've gone back to the 1940s Blitz."
I fell back onto my bed, trying to work out how this could have happened. If I was in 1940, how could I be talking to Gwen on the phone? Had everyone been transported back in time? The bombs were all going off outside my window, especially over at the city centre. I stood up and looked down at my garden that laid below my window but it wasn't my garden anymore - the trampoline at the bottom of the garden wasn't there anymore and had been replaced by a metal structured Anderson shelter.
"Sammy, we need to somehow get to The Hub. I need to ring the others and see if they are here too," Gwen began.
Walking back into my bathroom, I realised that Rihanna was no longer playing on the radio. Instead, it was replaced with 'run, rabbit, run, rabbit, run, run, run'.
"Sammy, are you still there?" Gwen asked.
"Yeah, I'm just.." I paused. "How did this happen?"
"I don't know, but don't worry, we'll find a way to get back. I need to ring the others but keep your phone on you, and if I can't get back hold of you, I'll come to your house - don't leave yours until you hear anything from me," Gwen instructed.
"Okay," I agreed, taking a deep breath, trying to keep calm.
The phone line ran dead and I put my phone down on my bed. Grabbing my jeans and hoodie from my wardrobe, I got into them as fast as I could - faster than I have done anything in my entire life. I looked back out of the window and froze for a moment. I didn't know what the hell was going on but I had never been so scared. All sorts of questions were running through my mind. What is we couldn't get back? What happens if it was just me and Gwen stuck in the 1940s? How would the others know where we were? What had even made us get brought back to the 1940s? I shook my head, trying to shake the questions out of my mind. I needed to stay focused. I might have been absolutely petrified of what was going on but I needed to stay focused.
1940 - Gwen's House
Rummaging around in her bag, Gwen managed to locate her ear piece but it was dead. Huffing, she threw it back down in her bag and grabbed her phone off the side. Ringing Jack's number again. she placed the phone to her ear but it was no luck - Jack just wasn't answering. His phone didn't even run to voice mail - it was just running dead as soon as Gwen dialled the number. Scrolling through her contacts, Gwen found Owen's number and began to dial it.
"Gwen?"
"Owen, this might sound stupid but what year are you in?" Gwen asked.
"Well, I'm supposed to be in 2007 but by the German bombers flying above, I'd say 1940?"
"Same with me and same with Sammy," Gwen began. "I've tried to ring Jack but just getting no answer. I don't suppose you know if Tosh or Ianto are in 1940 too?"
"Tosh is. She rang me about ten minutes ago. Ianto isn't answering his phone though."
"We need to meet up somewhere to find out what's going on,"
"Cardiff Bay in half an hour?" Owen asked.
"Cardiff Bay in half an hour, but be careful with the bombings," Gwen said, looking out the window at the German bombers as they flew above, heading towards Cardiff, dropping more bombs as they got closer and closer towards the city centre.
1940 - Home
Sat anxiously on my bed, I nursed my phone in my hands, waiting for Gwen to call back. Luckily the bombers had flown past my area and were much further in the distance. Learning about the Blitz in primary school was scary enough, to be here, experiencing it was a completely different level of scariness all together. It wasn't even like I was in some sort of simulator machine at a war museum - this was actually happening just outside my window. History was happening and I was being part of it. I shouldn't have been part of it. I should have been getting ready to go to work to see what aliens we could find today and saving the world. I should not have been trapped in a completely different generation to what I was born in.
Finally, my phone began to ring again.
"Gwen."
"Sammy, Tosh and Owen are here too. We're gonna meet at Cardiff Bay in half an hour. Keep your phone on you at all times and.."
I interrupted Gwen before she had a chance to finish her sentence. "Avoid the bombs?"
"Yes, avoid the bombs."
"Mission accepted," I smiled, letting out a little laugh, trying to make light of the situation.
"Good luck, Sammy and I'll see you in half an hour."
I took a deep breath. "Good luck to you too."
Ending the call and putting my phone into my jeans pocket, I realised I was now on my own for this. I had to somehow get to Cardiff Bay that was three miles away within thirty minutes whilst there was an air raid going on. After running down the stairs, I slipped into my converse and double-checked that I had my phone in my pocket. Taking a deep breath, I headed towards the front door. Opening it up, the noise of the bombings happening in the distance was even louder than it was from my bedroom - almost deafening. The smell of burning pervaded the atmosphere and smoke slowly began to drift down the streets. Taking another deep breath, I psyched myself for running. In the distance, the sun was breaking out through the night sky. If what we had been taught in history back in primary school when we were studying the Second World War, the blitz' air raids usually finished as dawn broke - I hope Mr Fletcher was right as his 'history is in the past' quote had recently been proved to be wrong.
1940 - Cardiff Bay
After running as fast as I could run, which turned out to be pretty fast, I finally saw Cardiff Bay in the distance. Everywhere looked so different. I'd seen photos of Cardiff in the past but hadn't really taken much notice of how much changed in the past 60 odd years until now. Running across the flat land, I saw three little figures in the distance, looking back at me, waving as if to catch my attention. I turned around to see a German bomber swoop down across the bay and then back up to the skies as it continued its journey back to base, probably to wait until the next bombing. As soon as I reached the others, I placed my hands on my hips and leant over, trying to get my breath back.
"Any sign of Jack or Ianto yet?" I asked.
Toshiko shook her head. "Nope, nothing. All the intercoms are down."
Owen sighed, effectively summarising all of our feelings in one tiny word. "Shit."
2007 - The Hub
"Any sign of them?" Jack asked Ianto as he walked out of his office to find Ianto on the computer, searching for possible rift activity.
"Nothing," Ianto paused. "I've tried everything. The computer isn't picking up any rift activity in the last 24 hours. All communications with them are down. All four of their phones go straight to answer machines. I've tried everything. It's not even like we can contact their families to see if they know anything."
Jack didn't reply. He stood looking at the screen in complete silence before walking away, leaving Ianto to carry on searching for solutions on the computer.
1940 - Cardiff Bay
"You know you said about the rift taking things from the past or future and depositing them in the present-day Cardiff?" I asked. "What happens if it can do the opposite? What happens if it can also take people from present-day Cardiff and displace them in history, in time?"
Gwen and Toshiko looked at me as Owen stood looking up at the German bombers as they began to fly away into the distance, leaving Cardiff to deal with the devastating aftermath of a night of heavy bombing and air raids.
"It's the only thing I can think of that would mean that we're stuck in 1940," I added.
"It would make sense," Toshiko agreed. "We've never thought of it like that as we've never really had the evidence that it is capable of doing that but.."
"So if we're here, why aren't Jack and Ianto here?" Owen asked, cutting into Toshiko's sentence.
"I don't know. None of this makes sense," Gwen replied. "None of it at all. The whole universe has just all gone to shit."
"We need to find a way that if Jack and Ianto are still in 2007 to tell them where we are," Toshiko suggested.
"It's like we've been stolen," I sighed, sitting down on the floor and looking out at the Bay.
"If its anything like when Jack and I got taken back to 1941, you managed to open the rift to let us get back through?" Toshiko explained to Owen. "My laptop is at the Hub - they can get the rift open."
"Yeah, but remember what happened after it?" Owen asked, shaking his head. "Nope. Never gonna happen. Jack won't allow it."
"What happened?" I questioned, looking up at them both in confusion.
Both Toshiko and Owen looked at me before turning back to each other, ignoring my question completely. As I sat on the floor, I sighed. Gwen sat down beside me and sighed.
"So what do we do now?" she asked. "We have no equipment, no communication with Jack.. nothing."
"Nothing we can do," Owen shrugged. "Just wait."
"No, there must be something we can do," Toshiko argued, deep in thought, trying to figure a way out of this mess. "We need to be able to leave a message for Jack and Ianto. They don't even know where we are."
2007 - The Hub
Jack sat on the chair in his office, twirling around slightly as he looked out of the glass windows, admiring his empire. The unusual silence that filled the Hub was broken as Ianto rushed into the office. "Sir, they're not answering their phones," Ianto announced. "Not Gwen. Not Owen. Not Sammy. Not Tosh."
"Perfect," Jack slyly grinned, putting his feet up on the desk in front of him.
"This isn't the time to mess around, Jack. I can't get any of them and all the comms aren't working," Ianto paused, placing the dead ear piece on the desk in front of Jack. "I think something is wrong."
Sighing, Jack leapt to his feet and walked into the main part of the Hub, ready to find out where his team had disappeared to.
1940 - Cardiff Bay
"We can't just wait around here," Owen groaned, standing up from where we had all sat down on Cardiff Bay, looking out at the water. "We need to go back to one of the places where we fell through the rift in case it opens back up."
"But we don't know when we fell through, or even if we fell through," Gwen paused, looking up at her colleague.
"No, but if we go back to one of the places, we have more of a chance of finding out," Toshiko began to explain. "There is nothing we can do. Owen's right. We have to just go back to one of the places where we fell through in the hope that Ianto and Jack realise what's happened and open the rift back up - just like you guys did when me and Jack ended up in 1941."
"So this thing happens regularly?" I asked.
"You'd be surprised," Owen replied.
"Well, presuming we all fell through the rift, we all fell through whilst at our own homes," I observed. "Why don't we all go back to one of our homes?"
"We can't go back to my house as the street was close to ruins when I left," Gwen responded.
"Same with mine," Toshiko added.
"There is always mine," I suggested.
"No," Owen announced. "We can't go back to yours. It'd take us all day to walk there and we need to be there as soon as possible in case the rift opens up. And I don't suppose you have the 1940 currency to be able to pay for a taxi - that is if they even have taxis in 1940 Cardiff. We need to go back to mine."
2007 - The Hub
Taking over Toshiko's workstation in her absence, Ianto was searching around the software, monitoring the rift activity in the period since Gwen, Owen, Toshiko and Sammy were last in the Hub - last night. A graph on the screen displayed the usual readings. Ianto sighed as he realised there wasn't anything abnormal with the readings at first glance. Sinking back into the chair, he looked around the Hub.
"What would you do, Tosh?" he muttered to himself as he saw Toshiko's glasses lying on the desktop.
A few more moments of looking back up at the screen passed before Ianto lunged towards the screen to get a closer perspective of it. Focusing on one reading, he realised there was a slight negative reading - unusual as the usual readings were all positive. Locating the negative readings on a map of Cardiff, he paused before shouting Jack.
"What've you found?" Jack asked, rushing over to Ianto's side as Ianto continued to closely examine the rift's negative activity in four particular regions of Cardiff.
"Look," Ianto instructed, shoving the map of Cardiff that he had annotated to show the locations of the rift's activity. "There was four negative readings of rift activity this morning at 7.35am."
"So the rift is splitting?" Jack asked.
"No, but look at where they happened."
Jack looked back down at the map. "Their houses."
1940 - Cardiff City Centre
Trooping through the streets of Cardiff towards Owen's apartment, I had never felt so out of place in my entire life. Thinking about it, my New York Yankees hoodie and black skinny jeans with black converse probably wasn't my best outfit choice when I had been magically transported back to 1940, but I wasn't too bothered about what I was wearing this morning when I found out I had been taken sixty seven years back in the past and when German planes were dropping bombs over my head. To say the city had been devastated by bombings just hours ago, the city was calm - people were helping to rebuild their lives and other people's lives in their community. 2000s community spirit differed in many ways to 1940 community spirit - I was lucky if I even got a 'hello' from my neighbour as we coincidentally walked out of our houses at the same time in the morning to make our journeys to work.
"What happens if we can't get back?" I asked. "What happens if it isn't the rift? What if Jack and Ianto can't find out where we are?"
"We'll deal with that if it comes to it," Gwen smiled, trying to reassure me as she put her arm around my shoulders.
I nodded.
Finally reaching the estate where Owen's apartment block was situated, he stopped in the middle of the road. "Something is different," he uttered. "Something is definitely different."
I watched as he continued down the street, looking around in confusion.
"Owen, what is it?" Toshiko queried. "What's wrong?"
"It's gone."
"What?"
I looked at Toshiko and Gwen in confusion before we all looked at Owen, who looked as puzzled as we were.
"My apartment.. The apartment block - it should be here."
Owen looked across from where we were stood in the middle of the cobbled road to a building. Bolting across the road, Owen began to examine the building.
"It seems like some sort of dance hall," I remarked.
"Can I help you?" a voice asked from behind up.
Startled a little, we all turned around to be greeted by a little old lady. Flashing a warm smile to us, the old woman scurried past us to stand in front of the building.
"Um," Gwen stuttered slightly, trying to think of a reason as to why we were investigating the building.
I interrupted before the little old lady became suspicious and accused us of being German spies or something. "We got given this address by a friend of ours and we were just wondering what it is."
"Oh, that will be for the dance tonight," the old woman explained.
"Yeah," I smiled. "Is this the dance hall?"
"it is, dear," she clarified. "You aren't from around here, are you?"
"Not really," I responded. "Thank-you for your help."
"You're welcome," the old woman smiled again before she began to unlock the huge wooden door that was padlocked in front of us.
"Our friend is a bit useless and didn't mention what time the dance started," Owen said, putting on a fake laugh that made him sound sophisticated and like an aristocrat. "Would you mind telling us what time the dance starts?"
"It's six, dear," she answered before disappearing inside the building, locking it after her.
"Looks like we're going to a dance," Toshiko smiled.
I was surprised to see that Toshiko looked pretty happy with the situation - I didn't have her down for a 'dance' sort of woman. But then again, I didn't really have Toshiko down as any sort of woman. Since the moment I first met her - well, second since I could vaguely remember the first encounter with her, she only talked about work and stuff related to Torchwood. I knew Gwen was engaged to her long-term boyfriend, Rhys, but that was all I knew about my team mates. They all seemed to keep themselves to themselves - I suppose this job was that demanding that they didn't really have time for anything else. I'd only been working here for a week now and Torchwood had seemed to take over my entire life. I hardly saw my family. I rarely spoke to my friends. I was lucky to get seven hours sleep on a night time. I was always on alert for the next alien attack. But I wouldn't change a thing about the job.
"Looks like we need to go shopping for clothes first," Gwen added, looking at all our outfits that generally consisted of black and denim - something that hadn't even made its big appearance in Europe yet. "We can't go to a 1940 dance wearing these outfits. We need to fit in."
"Just one problem," Owen paused as we began to walk back down the road to the high street in search of a clothes shop. "We have no money."
"No but we have this," Gwen grinned as she pulled out a little tablet from her jeans pocket - an amnesia pill.
"You beauty," Owen laughed, grabbing hold of Gwen's head and kissing her forehead.
Making our way into a clothes shop - well, we presumed it was a clothes shop as it had a 1940s style dress on display in the window behind the paper taped X, we began to look around at all the fashion. Isobelle, the budding fashionista that she was, would have had a field day in this shop with the vintage designs. Apart from the wireless in the corner of the shop that was playing quietly swing music away to itself, the shop was quiet. Owen pressed the bell constantly on the counter as I looked around at the dresses which hung up on one side of the shop's wall. After a few moments, a middle-aged woman walked out of the back room and into the shop, smiling at us.
"How may I help you?" she asked.
I sighed a discrete sigh of relief - at least we weren't going to be drugging an elderly woman. I couldn't bare that.
"We're looking for outfits for a dance," Gwen replied.
"Well, you've come to the right place," the woman announced, squeezing through the gap in between the counter and the display of suits to help us look for outfits.
2007 - The Hub
Striding into Jack's office, Ianto set down two pieces of paper on the desk in front of where Jack was sat as he was trying to get the comms to work.
"What's this?" Jack asked Ianto, looking up from the sheets of paper.
"It's the rift activity from when Owen, Tosh, Sammy and Gwen went missing off the tracker," Ianto explained. "It's confirmed that they have been taken by the rift but we just need to know where they've been taken to."
"Explains why the comms haven't been working," Jack sighed, putting the useless ear pieces on the desk beside the sheets of paper that illustrated the rift activity graphs.
"I've ran the computer to cross-reference the rift activity at that precise moment in time with the rift activity of that moment in time through out history but that could take a couple of hours at least," Ianto added. "I'm also searching through the archives to see if there is any mention of them in different time periods but so far, I've had no luck."
"Good work, Ianto," Jack commented as he stood up and grabbed a file from beneath his desk. "I'll have a look in here for any clues to their whereabouts."
1940 - Cardiff Clothes Shop
"Would you like a cup of tea?" the woman asked us as we browsed through the dresses on the rack.
"That would be lovely," she smiled. "I'll come give you a hand."
As Gwen followed the woman into the back of the shop, she looked over her shoulder at us and nodded her head. With Owen disappearing into one of the changing rooms with a suit, Toshiko made her way over to where I was stood by the dresses.
"They're so beautiful, aren't they?" she asked, admiring one dress in particular.
After I noticed that she was eyeing up one of the dresses in my hand, I held it up to her petite figure. "Try it on," I suggested. "It'll suit you more than it'll suit me. Go on."
"Oh, I don't know," she hesitated.
"Tosh, you should have more confidence in yourself," I smiled. "You're a beautiful woman. Any guy would be lucky to have you."
"You really think so?" she asked, taken back a little by my compliment.
"Are you kidding me?" I laughed. "You're beautiful. You're intelligent. You're fearless. What guy wouldn't want that?"
Reluctantly, she took the dress from my grasp and smiled at me. "Thank-you," she replied.
"Go," I ushered, pointing to the free changing room.
I watched Toshiko saunter into the changing room, holding the dress proudly in her hand as she continued to admire it. Left alone with all the dresses, I sighed to myself. This being stuck in wartime Cardiff malarky wasn't so bad after all.
"Sammy!" I heard Gwen's voice call from the back room adjacent to the shop. In a rush, I walked into the back room to find Gwen holding onto the shop keeper that was collapsed in her arms. "I put the pill in her drink. As soon as she took a sip of it, she collapsed."
Kneeling down by the woman's motionless body, I felt for a pulse.
"She's fine," I smiled. "Just unconscious. The sedative must have reacted more with 1940 tea than it does with our tea."
"Don't suppose you could help me move her?" Gwen asked.
With Gwen holding one of the woman's arms, I grabbed hold of the other and we slowly shuffled her across the room. After plonking her down on an empty chair beside a table, Gwen and I retreated back into the main part of the shop to find Owen waiting for us. "Well, I'm sorted."
"Don't you look smart," I teased, looking at Owen in a white tuxedo with a black dickie bow.
"Very handsome," Gwen smiled.
As Gwen helped redo Owen's badly tied dickie bow and Toshiko was still in the changing room, I stood in the middle of the shop, silently debating with myself over what dress to pick for tonight's dance. Eventually, I picked up one dress and walked into the changing room with it. Hanging it up on the hanging rail, I yanked the curtain across and began to take my hoodie off. As soon as I had the dress on, I fell in love with it. The blue polka dot pattern complemented my slightly tanned complexion and the halter neck design with white waist belt made me feel so feminine. Looking at my reflection in the dusty mirror that was in the corner of the changing cubicle, I began to forget that I was actually from 2007 - I felt as if I was a woman living in the 1940s, not just stuck here temporarily. Stuffing my phone into my bra, I rolled my clothes up into a ball and carried them out into the shop. As I walked out, I saw Toshiko was stood nervously talking to Owen.
"See, I told you that you'd look amazing in that," I grinned to Toshiko.
"You think so?" she asked, looking down at her floral tea dress with a look of uncertainty on her face as I borrowed a pair of white open toe heels from the display and slipped them on.
"Yes! Doesn't she, Owen?"
I looked at Owen, waiting for him to back me up. "Yeah," he said, clearing his throat. "Um.. you both look amazing."
Toshiko began to blush as Gwen made her entrance from the other changing room in a black halter neck dress that had a black collar.
"Torchwood had a 1940s makeover," she laughed, grabbing a pair of black stilettos that were in the shop's window display. "My God, Sammy. That dress."
"It's perfect, isn't it?" I smiled, twirling slightly so the skirt of the dress puffed out a bit.
2007 - The Hub
"How long has it been now?" Jack asked as both him and Ianto stared at the computer screen in hope that the computer would have finished analysing the results.
"Three hours, twenty minutes and forty-seven seconds," Ianto replied. "Forty-eight. Forty-nine. Fifty. Fifty-one. Fifty.."
Jack interrupted his countdown. "This is why I could never have an office job," he sighed. "Too much waiting around."
"No," Ianto argued. "You just like shooting your gun and saying long words."
"Nothing wrong with long words," Jack declared. "They make it more exciting."
"Antidisestablishmentarianism," Ianto announced.
1940 - Cardiff City Centre
Walking up the street, trying ever so hard to not get my heels stuck in-between the cobbles on the road, I followed Gwen and Toshiko as they talked about the endless possibilities of what could go wrong with us being stuck in 1940.
"Girls, why don't we forget about being stuck here and just enjoy it?" Owen suggested.
I was surprised by his suggestion. For once, it was something positive. "Owen's right," I smiled as I caught up with them. "How many people from 2007 say that they've attended a legitimate wartime dance?"
"I bet Jack and Ianto haven't even realised we've gone missing yet," Toshiko sighed as we made our way up the steps to the dance hall's entrance.
"Probably too busy making use of all the free time and no interruptions," Gwen sniggered.
"Wait, they're.." I paused as I looked around, realising there was people around us. Lowering the volume of my voice, I continued to speak. "They're gay?"
Owen looked at me and laughed. "Sammy, you really didn't think Jack was straight, did you?"
"I.. I.." I stuttered. I didn't know what to think of Jack. "I don't know actually. He just came across as a ladies man, I suppose."
"That's the thing about Jack," Toshiko paused as a giggling couple rushed past us. "He doesn't really have a preference - if you know what I mean."
I nodded. As I thought about it, it all slowly started to make sense. He flirted with everything - it would explain a lot.
Walking into the dance hall, I was taken back a little by how amazing the room looked. At one end of the room was a swing band set up on the stage, playing jazz, swing and big band music to the many dancing couples that filled the floor. It didn't seem like the same place that was being bombed the night previously. Union Flags were displayed on every wall proudly and bunting of the Union Flag was hung wall-to-wall above the dancers. The sound of laughter and music filled the atmosphere. As soon as you walked into the room, you were hit with this sudden buzz of energy and happiness along with a feeling of patriotic pride. Gwen went off in search of a bar, leaving Toshiko, Owen and I in the dance hall.
"My lady," Owen smiled as he offered his hand to me, placing his other hand behind his back, as if he was pretending to be courteous. "May I have this dance?"
Just as I was about to take his hand, I looked over at Toshiko, who was stood beside me, looking disappointed. "Why don't you dance with Tosh?" I suggested, taking hold of Owen's hand and offering it to Toshiko instead.
"Come on, Tosh," Owen sighed.
Toshiko's face lit up as she took hold of Owen's hand and he led her into the middle of all the dancing couples. I smiled as I watched them rock together in time to the music - Owen looking a little bored but Toshiko looking like she was on top of the world.
"How come I haven't seen you here before?" a voice from behind me asked.
Turning around, I saw a military man stood behind me, looking directly into my eyes with a warm smile across his face. I had to admit, he was pretty gorgeous. Dark brown hair was swooped across the top of his head, held in place with gel - and lots of it. His eyes seemed to twinkle in the light as he looked at me.
"I mean, I'm pretty sure I would have remembered seeing someone as stunning as you here before," the man smiled, making me blush slightly. "Care to dance?"
The stranger held out his hand in my direction, waiting for me to take hold of it. Gracefully grasping hold of his hand, I was led onto the dance floor, still mesmerised by the man's beauty. Clasping hold of my hand, the man wrapped his other arm around my waist and brought me closer in his hold. My heart felt as if it skipped a beat.
"I'm George," he introduced.
"Sammy," I smiled.
"So, Sammy," George said as he continued to look into my eyes. "You're not from around here, are you?"
I could feel myself getting lost in his beautiful brown eyes. Gently shaking my head, I brought myself back to 1940 reality. "No," I lied. I couldn't exactly tell this man, who was practically a stranger, that I was actually from sixty years in the future and that I just so happened to slip back in time because I work at an agency that hunts down aliens. "I'm from London."
"London?" he asked, seeming surprised. "The big capital. Haven't been there for years."
I smiled as we carried on to dance together, swaying in time to the music. Looking across over George's shoulder, I saw Toshiko and Owen, still dancing together. Owen was looking at me as I danced with George, rolling his eyes as he realised I was looking back at him. Toshiko, on the other hand, looked like she had been drugged and was in the middle of hallucinating - smiling from ear-to-ear like a Cheshire cat.
"So George, how come you haven't been deployed to the front line yet?" I asked George, removing my concentration from Owen and Toshiko.
"They're sending me out next week," he sighed.
"Oh," I paused. "I'm sorry."
"It's fine," he smiled, spinning me around before taking back our original dance position. "It's my duty, right? Fight for our country and all."
I couldn't help but admire his bravery and courage. If that was me, I'd be crying and demanding for my mum. "I guess you've just gotta enjoy every second before you go out there," I said.
"And that's exactly what I intend to do," he replied, not taking his eye contact from my eyes.
2007 - The Hub
As Ianto and Jack reemerged from Jack's office - Ianto looking very sheepish and Jack looking very satisfied with himself, Toshiko's computer began to bleep. Rushing over, Ianto examined the results that appeared on the screen.
"It's finished," he smiled to Jack.
"Perfect timing," Jack slyly grinned.
Rolling his eyes, Ianto sat down on the seat at Toshiko's workstation and began to analyse the data.
"What does it say?" Jack asked, tucking his shirt into his trousers before he joined Ianto at Toshiko's computer.
"They're in 1940."
"1940?" Jack questioned.
"Look, the rift activity this morning when they went missing corresponds with the rift activity recorded in 1940. I've even cross-referenced it with the readings in all four of their locations and it says the same thing - both today and in 1940."
"2nd August 1940," Jack read from the data sheet.
"But it doesn't explain why they've been taken back to 1940," Ianto sighed. "And why didn't we get taken back to 1940 too?"
"The rift must have splintered in four locations, taking those with close connections with rift activity," Jack proposed.
1940 - Dance Hall
Walking across the dance hall towards the bathrooms, I smiled to myself. I was quite enjoying this evening, even if we weren't supposed to be here. The history textbooks in school didn't mention anything about how much fun the wartime spirit could be. I hadn't had a good night like this in ages.
As I walked down the empty corridor towards the bathrooms, I felt as if someone was following me. Turning around, I saw Owen not far behind.
"Are you following me, Doctor Harper?" I laughed, stopping so he could catch up with me.
"I just wanted to warn you."
"About what?" I asked, getting slightly confused as to what I needed 'warning' about.
"Don't get too involved with that guy," Owen said in a serious tone. "We don't belong here. We shouldn't really be mixing with people that belong in 1940. Two time eras shouldn't collide."
"Leave it out," I smiled. "It's just a bit of fun."
"I just don't think it's a good idea."
"Why?" I questioned. "Getting jealous?"
"Don't be stupid," he replied.
"Sammy, is everything alright here?" George asked as he appeared in the corridor.
"It's fine," Owen replied hastily.
"Sorry, I asked Sammy, not you."
"Yeah, it's fine," I smiled. "This is just Owen, my friend."
George walked towards me, putting his hand on my shoulder as he stood behind me.
"You go back in there and enjoy yourself," I smiled, tapping George's hand that rested on my shoulder gently. "I won't be too long. Just going to freshen up a bit."
"Okay," George sighed before he kissed me on my cheek and paced up the corridor and through the doors into the main hall.
Left in silence again, Owen looked at me. "Just be careful, Sammy. You're new to this whole travelling thing. I wouldn't want to see you get hurt because, trust me, you will."
"Fuck sake, Owen. I know what I'm doing," I groaned. "Thanks for looking out for me, but I don't need looking after. Especially by you."
"Okay," Owen said, defeated.
2007 - The Hub
"We need to use the rift manipulator," Ianto concluded. "I know what happened after the last time we used it but we can't leave them back in 1940. We need them here. This would have been solved in seconds if Tosh was here and you know it."
"But opening the rift could cause it to splinter every more, causing more damage than it did last time."
"You really want to leave them stuck in 1940, do you?" Ianto argued.
"No but.."
Ianto cut Jack off. "But its the only way we're gonna manage to get them back."
"Ianto, we can't open the rift. It's too dangerous. I forbid it. If you open it, I.."
"You'll what?"
Jack didn't answer.
"That's what I thought," Ianto argued. "Look, Jack, it's the only way. Unless you've got a better way of getting our team back from 1940, then I'm gonna open the rift and nothing will stop me."
Picking up his gun from the side, Ianto loaded it and pointed it at Jack - his trembling finger on the trigger.
"You wouldn't," Jack laughed, calling Ianto's bluff.
Pulling back the trigger, Ianto stood motionless as he watched the bullet rip through the air in front of him as it made its way towards Jack. Everything seemed to go in slow motion. As soon as the bullet hit Jack's chest, ripping through his shirt and body, he collapsed onto the floor.
"What the fuck happened here?" a voice exclaimed from behind where Ianto was stood, still holding the gun directly in front of him as he stared at Jack's lifeless body that was sprawled on the ground.
Ianto turned around - his eyes filled with tears - to see the rest of his team in the middle of the Hub.
"How did you get back?" Ianto asked. "I hadn't even opened the rift up."
"You shot Jack?" I asked, startled. I stood still for a moment before I rushed across the room to try and save Jack. Feeling for a pulse, I began to panic. "You've killed him! He's dead!"
"No, wait a minute," Owen said.
"But how did you get back?" Ianto asked.
"We thought you opened the rift?" Toshiko paused as she tapped around on her computer's keyboard.
"No."
"Uh, hello," I shouted, looking up from Jack's body in confusion. Why did they all act so casual? Jack was dead. I had Jack's blood all over my hands yet nobody seemed to be taking the blindest bit of notice of me, or Jack's mutilated body for that matter.
"That's a pretty dress. Really brings out your eyes."
Looking down, I saw Jack laid in a pool of blood, smiling up at me. "But.. But.. I.. I.. You didn't have a pulse. You were dead. You got.." I looked at his shirt to find that the bullet wound had disappeared. The only evidence left to even suggest Jack got shot was the blood on my hands and the blood on the floor.
"Can't die," Jack announced as he got up off the floor and brushed himself down as if nothing out of the ordinary had happened.
"Sorry about that, looks like I shot you for no reason," Ianto apologised.
"Seems like the rift was just correcting its mistakes," Toshiko claimed as she studied the data on her computer screen.
"But how can't you die?" I asked, still confused as to what had just happened. I wasn't even bothered about the rift right now. "I saw you get shot. You were dead. You didn't have a pulse."
"Sammy, I'll explain it to you another day but for now, just believe me when I say that I can't die."
Reluctantly, I nodded and agreed to let it drop. Although I agreed to let it drop, that didn't stop me wondering a million and one questions silently to myself.
The questions that were racing around my head soon came to an end when I looked up at the conference room.
"Oh, fucking hell," Owen groaned as he looked up and realised what I was looking at.
"Who's that?" Jack asked, looking as confused as I did when I saw Jack resurrect from the dead.
"He must have followed you back through the rift," Gwen said.
"That's George," I paused, looking up in confusion at a dazed George.
