"Do we know what species she is?" Gwen asked, breaking the silence in the SUV. They were almost back to the hub, and the journey had been so far quiet.
"Not sure; not until I can run more tests and see if it matches up with anything in the database," Owen replied. "Tell you what though... She looks completely human. If it weren't for her crazy pulse I wouldn't have thought otherwise."
"What exactly do you mean by 'crazy pulse' Owen?" Jack called back from the front.
"Well, it almost seemed as though she had more than one heart, or at least some sort of superhuman one." Owen replied humorously.
Ianto laughed softly. "She can't be any sort of threat, though, can she? She didn't display any superhuman abilities whilst trying to escape."
"We can't rule out any possibilities just yet. Now, we have work to do." Jack replied firmly as he pulled into the parking space back at the Hub.
*****************************************
It was almost noon at the Hub and Ianto was already passing around the third round of coffees. The team stood looking down into the med bay, watching Owen work. The girl lay on the table, still unconscious.
"How long is she going to be asleep for?" Gwen asked.
"Don't know. The sedative should've worn off by now, I guess she must just be tired," Owen explained. He was in the process of projecting an body scan on to the white brick wall behind him. "Here. Okay, as you can see from this scan, she seems to be completely human, apart from having-"
"Two hearts." Jack interrupted. His face had gone ashen and a look of shock adorned his features. "She has two hearts."
"Right. Which does not match up with anything in the database. I have no idea what she is." Owen said, exasperated.
"I think I might. Call me when she wakes up," Jack said firmly, as he turned on his heel to walk away. "Ianto, with me. We need to go back and pick up that spacecraft."
"Jack-" Owen called behind him, but he was already half way to the door. Ianto scurried behind him hastily.
"There he goes again. Always a man of mystery." Owen mumbled, peeling of his gloves and tossing them in the bin. "Anyway, I could do for some lunch. I'll order Chinese."
"What about the girl? You're not just going to leave her unattended are you?" Gwen asked.
"Come on Gwen. You heard me before, she's human apart from having an extra heart. She's harmless." Owen scoffed.
As the girl began to slowly drift back into consciousness, she became aware that she was lying on a hard surface. Bright lights peeked through her eyelids, making her fidget uncomfortably. What had happened? The last thing she could remember was her planet... Ah, her beautiful planet. But no, it has been burning. It was dying. All of a sudden, the memories from earlier that day came flooding back. Crashing... Being found... Running... Getting caught- she had gotten caught! Her eyes flew open as she bolted upright, panting. A wave of dizziness flooded over her and she clutched the sides of the table she was on to steady herself. Her ribs still ached uncomfortably and it seemed as though every muscle in her body was a lead weight.
She appeared to be in a small circular lab, with bright lights shining down on the metal table she was sitting on. A computer close by was displaying an image- an scan- of a body. As she moved closer she could see the two hearts, and she sighed nervously. There was no denying it now, they knew she was alien. She could hear laughter drifting in from a room above. Why weren't they watching her?
"I could escape," she mumbled quietly to herself, finding comfort in hearing her own voice. "But they're not that stupid. They'd be waiting for me... Hmm..." She spun around and looked at the computer. Peeking over her shoulder to make sure the coast was clear, she clicked open a program that seemed to display information about the institute she was in. 'Torchwood' as it was called was an organisation dedicated to protecting the human race from alien threats. She followed links presented by the page, reading about the members of the team as well as past cases. They didn't always kill aliens they found, only those that posed a risk to any human lives. That was encouraging. She wasn't planning on killing anyone.
Feeling a surge of sudden bravery, now that she wasn't completely clueless, she decided to go and find the source of laughter, still drifting in from above. As she walked out of the lab, she found herself in a large, high-ceilinged room, with a wide metal column shooting through the centre. The word 'Torchwood' was printed onto the wall at the far side of the room. Computers and desks were dotted around the space, and stairs led up to other levels surrounding the main space. She spotted the others chatting amongst themselves in what looked like a boardroom. She wandered up the stairs that led to the boardroom and stood awkwardly in the doorway, just waiting for them to notice her.
Gwen was giggling softly about the joke Jack had just made, and the snarky comment Owen replied with. She looked up from her half eaten Chinese food and noticed the girl standing in the doorway. She stopped laughing abruptly, but smiled softly at the girl. "Hello," she said sweetly. The others' heads all snapped up instantly, taking in the sight of the girl standing there quietly.
Jack stood up quickly, offering her one of his warmest smiles. "Our guest has finally awoken. Why don't you come and join us?" He asked, gesturing towards a spare seat at the end of the table. Now that she was standing before him, wide-eyed and awake, Jack could fully appreciate her appearance, despite the few blood and dirt smears across her fine-featured face. She had pale white skin that almost appeared to glow slightly when the light shone on it in the right way. Her eyes were an icy-blue colour, rimmed by darker blue. The fear that had once darkened her eyes had now been replaced by a meek curiosity. She had dark auburn hair, that could almost be described as bronze. It flowed down below her shoulders, where the ends curled up in little ringlets.
The girl moved to sit cautiously at the table. The smell of the foreign food assaulted her nostrils and made her feel nauseous.
"Would you like some food?" Gwen asked, noticing her eying the food.
"No... No thank you." She answered uncertainly.
"Coffee, then?" Ianto asked politely.
"I'm okay, I don't need anything." She replied, looking slightly repulsed at the dark, bitter smelling liquid in the others' mugs.
"Right, so, why don't you start off by telling us your name?" Jack questioned.
"My name really is Emily. I wasn't making that part up." She answered quietly.
"Okay, fair enough, Emily. Can you tell us why you're here?" Jack kept his voice level and kind, smiling reassuringly. She was still hesitant to give away information, and she glanced uneasily at all the faces, staring intently at her.
"My planet," she started, "it burned. I escaped. I came here in the escape pod you found. But it's not safe, travelling in that. I was lucky to get away with so few injuries, even though I can't remember much before I landed. I mean no harm to the human race." she finished, looking around the room nervously.
"Good," Jack smiled, "if you mean no harm we can all be friends. But there is one thing I really want to know. You have two hearts... Are you a Time Lord?"
Emily looked at Jack, shocked. "How... How do you know Time Lords have two hearts?" She asked, clearly taken aback.
"But was I right?" Jack asked insistently.
Emily looked at Jack for a long while before answering. "Yes," she said slowly, "I am."
Jack grinned at her. "I used to have a Time Lord friend. He was a great guy..." Jack trailed off, reminiscing.
"Hang on," Owen interrupted, his mouth full of food, "how are you a 'Time Lord'? You look like a girl to me."
The corners of Emily's mouth turned up slightly. "I am as much 'Time Lord' as you are all 'Man'. Collectively." She stated simply.
Tosh piped up then, her voice full of interest. "But if you're from another planet, how can you understand and speak our language?"
"My planet has a lot of intergalactic ties," Emily began explaining. "We have developed technologies that allow us to understand and speak other species' languages instantly."
"Your planet," Jack began, "Gallifrey, right?"
Emily smiled sadly. "Yes. Gallifrey, in the constellation Kasterborous..." She trailed off, her eyes rimming with tears.
"Gallifrey, with its orange sky, and forests with trees of silver," Jack began recounting what he'd heard of the planet before. Jack didn't notice as tears began spilling down Emily's cheeks.
"Jack-" Gwen tried to interrupt him, but he didn't seem to notice and continued.
"And the cities, made of glass... When the suns were shining on the silver trees, it looked like a forest on fire-"
"Stop!" Emily yelled as she stood up. Jack's eyes shot up to her, looking surprised. She drew a shaky breath. "I'm sorry, it's just... I can't-" she stuttered, choking up again. Gwen got up and walked over to her, pulling her into a hug. Emily was surprised, but burrowed her head into Gwen's shoulder thankfully.
"Emily, I'm sorry, I didn't think-" Jack started, looking apologetic.
"It's not your fault," she interrupted him, looking up with watery eyes. "It's just... Everything that's happened lately..." She left her sentence unfinished, staring down at her feet.
"Why don't you come with me, and you can get changed and freshen up a little?" Gwen asked, keeping a positive tone. Emily just nodded as Gwen led her out of the room.
Owen chuckled softly. "Good one, Jack. Who is your Time Lord friend, anyway?" He asked, sounding inquisitive.
"He's my doctor, the only one that can fix me." Jack replied, admiration colouring his tone. Leaving no time for replies, he swiftly walked out of the room.
Owen got up slowly, grumbling something about how 'no one could fix Jack'. He began to walk out of the room, but stopped in the doorway and turned back to look at Ianto. "Oi, tea boy, can we get some more coffee?" Owen snapped rudely, before marching back out.
Ianto sighed. "He just can't be nice, can he?"
Tosh smiled lightly. "But that's just his way of showing affection."
*************************************
Jack sighed and put his head in his hands. He was sitting in his office, overlooking the hub. A Time Lord. Emily was a Time Lord. He couldn't quite believe it, not just yet. Not until he could get The Doctor to come and see her. But that was his next problem. He had no way of contacting him, unless Emily could somehow.
"What am I going to do with her..." Jack mumbled to himself. They certainly couldn't send her back. They couldn't just let her go, either. He sighed again and sat back in his chair. He had difficult decisions to make.
*************************************
Emily stood studying herself in the mirror, eyeing the spare set of clothes Gwen had managed to find. She was down in the Hub's change rooms, looking a lot cleaner now that she had been able to shower. Her familiar icy eyes staring back at her from the mirror comforted her, as they were the only things she could recognise on this new planet.
"How are the clothes?" Gwen called, peeking out from behind a door.
"Fine," Emily replied. They were a little too large for her, but the skinny black jeans would suffice being rolled up at the cuffs and the blue tight-fitting top could pass as a loose shirt on her. Her own shoes hadn't been too badly damaged in the crash so she kept her black canvas shoes.
"They look great," Gwen smiled at her encouragingly.
Emily fidgeted uncomfortably. Whatever drugs Owen had given her before were beginning to wear off, and her injuries were demanding to felt. Her head was also pounding, clouding her vision and making it hard to think.
"Now, how about some food? I'm sure you must be starving." Gwen walked out of the room, not waiting for a reply.
Emily didn't feel like eating, but she followed Gwen out nonetheless.
As they walked out into the central part of the hub, the team appeared to have gone back to work. Jack was up in his office, bent over piles of paperwork, Tosh was busy pulling apart some piece of alien tech, Owen was at his desk, busily typing, and Ianto was, as usual, brewing coffee.
Owen looked up as they passed him. "Hey, uh, Emily," he started. "How are you feeling? The painkillers will be wearing off soon, and you did get banged up pretty bad."
"I'm fine." She lied. She hated showing weakness.
Owen looked skeptical, but nodded and went back to typing. He was quite sure she'd regret that decision, but if she didn't trust him, he wasn't going to force anything upon her.
Gwen ushered Emily into a small kitchenette. "What would you like? We have some left over Chinese... Pizza... We really need to get better diets, don't we? Gwen asked, giggling.
Emily smiled. Gwen was making such an effort to lighten the mood, too bad it wasn't working. "You know what, I just really don't feel like eating right now."
Concern flitted across Gwen's face. "You haven't eaten all day," suddenly, her expression changed to a dark look. "I'll tell Owen if you don't eat."
Emily stepped back, surprised. Perhaps the strong front she was putting up was more transparent than she thought. "Are you threatening me?" She narrowed her eyes at Gwen. "You'd tell him anyway whether I ate or not. Besides, why would he care?"
"He may seem unfriendly at times, but he's a good doctor. He takes that seriously, no matter who the patient is," Gwen's expression changed again to an innocent, pleading look. "Please eat?"
Emily sighed. She reached out a hand and grabbed the piece of pizza Gwen was offering her. She took a bite tentatively, not sure what to expect. It didn't taste bad, but as soon as she swallowed, she began to feel nauseous. She wasn't ready for eating again just yet.
At that moment, Jack walked into the kitchenette. "Emily. May I see you in my office?"
Emily nodded, grateful for the excuse not to eat the rest of the pizza. She handed it back to Gwen, who looked displeased, and followed Jack out.
Climbing the steep stairs up into Jack's office was less than pleasant, her muscles screaming with every movement. As she took the last step, face twisted in pain, Jack held out a hand to help her. She took it, grateful.
"You okay?" Jack asked, looking at her with concern.
"Yeah, fine." She puffed, out of breath a little.
Jack looked at her suspiciously. She really was rather transparent in hiding pain. "Okay. Take a seat." He gestured to a chair in front of his desk. "Now, about your future..."
Emily looked up nervously, threading her fingers together. She knew what was coming.
"There is a spare bedroom out the back of the hub, or we could rent you a flat if you'd prefer-"
She blinked in shock. "Wait- you mean I can stay here?!"
Jack grinned. It was good to see her so excited. "Of course, what did you think we'd do, kill you? Turf you out in the cold?"
Yes. That was exactly what she thought they would do. A proper smile graced her features. She hadn't smiled like that in a long time. "Thank you... I- don't know what to say."
Jack chuckled. "You don't have to say anything. You're part of the team now."