A/N- Yay I finished another chapter! Sorry it took so long, very busy couple of weeks and guess how they ended! I got sick! So minus sleeping for days, trying to catch up on homework, and other things... I found out we had an essay due! Well now that that's over(huzzah!) and break's here(HUZZAH!) and my family's coming(*Crickets chirping*) I will try and update this this week (omg!). Okay so… tiny little confession here… this bit, might seem a bit blunt but I'm not too good with emotion, as in it's a small problem I have, I can't really get emotions too well, as in understand them. So please say something if it seems like the character should be more emotional about whatever is happening… well ya… awkward note that got too long over with… on with ze story!

Chapter 6

Investigations

Gwen paused outside the science lab's door, taking a deep breath, she walked inside. Even though she had seen it just ten minutes before, the sight that greeted her still sent a chill of shock down her spine as she took in the body lying limp on the floor. Owen had thoughtfully closed the poor boy's eyes, but the respectful gesture did nothing to detract from the horror of the image.

It saddened her greatly whenever something like this happened, especially to a child. Her least favorite part of being a police officer was the duty of informing a person of their loved one's passing. She had always had nightmares of Andy knocking on her apartment door to inform her Rhys was gone, but since starting at Torchwood, some of those dreams turned into it being Rhys answering the door and Andy announcing her death. It was common knowledge on the Torchwood team that the four mortal members would probably not live to have many gray hairs. Owen was already technically dead, only when he 'died' it happened to not be too permanent.

What would happen if she died on a Torchwood related mission? She hoped to God Jack wouldn't do what they had done in the past- shove her belongings in a locker and come up with some alibi for her and not tell Rhys. But Rhys knew about Torchwood. Maybe Jack would change the rules?

This brought up the question of- if it was Torchwood related, who would inform Rhys(in her case). Would it be Ianto? Or Tosh? Hopefully not Owen, although he could act like a human being…sometimes. What about Tosh or Ianto? Gwen wasn't sure about Tosh, but she thought Ianto might have a sister in the Cardiff area. Would she be visiting this unnamed woman sometime in the future, informing her of her brother's passing?

She let out a loud sigh at her dark thoughts. Gwen had noticed this- since coming to Maine, it seemed as though her mind had a… mind… of its own. She had caught herself just an hour before wondering who would die first, Tosh, Ianto, or her. She wondered what had brought this on… this long-overdue worry over working for Torchwood.

"Gwen," Tosh's voice cut through the Welshwoman's thoughts, "Did you need something?"

"Oh, no," Gwen said, trying, and failing, to smile, "Jack just sent me here to see if you needed anything."

"Oh, we're fine," Tosh said, "I'm just waiting for this," She held up her scanner, "To come up with a precise match, and Owen's checking around the room for anything odd. The local police are coming to pick up the body."

Gwen nodded, she turned to leave, before pausing, "Have you been having trouble with your mobiles?"

Tosh nodded, "I tried fixing it, but nothing seems to work, it must just be the network."

"Right, I'm just going to look around a bit more," Gwen said, "You two need anything?"

Tosh shook her head, "We're fine, although if you see Ianto, can you tell him we might want to pull out the headsets. See if they are working."

"I'll do that," Gwen said before turning to leave the room. She pulled her phone out of her pocket, staring at it. Maybe there was something going on with the network. It could always be a possibility. She thought for a second then decided, she would take a few minutes to check out the mobile service, she didn't really have anything else to do. She'd already talked to all her faculty, and the students were all in class.

She headed off to investigate, watching the bars on her phone jump around on the screen.

Michael stared blankly at the wall of his room.

How could Malcolm…?

Why Malcolm? He would never commit suicide. He had always seemed the most cheerful of people to Michael. Even if that had all been a façade, Michael knew Kevin meant too much to Malcolm. Although he didn't know too much about the brothers, Michael understood that the reason they attended the school was because their parents were deemed unfit to raise them and their sister didn't have enough time to take care of two boys. Malcolm had always been protective of Kevin, even when it would cost him dearly, Malcolm went out of his way to help Kevin.

So why would he kill himself, leaving his younger brother to fend for himself in a world that had already left its mark on the boys?

Michael frowned. Maybe he hadn't killed himself, that was only what Miss Trails had told them. What if she was lying to them to stop the fact that there was a murderer in their midst spread around the school.

No. If there was a murderer, she would make sure everyone was safe, which would mean informing the student body so as to impose rules for their safety.

Maybe there was more to this than she was letting on.

Michael slid off his bed, walking decisively out of his room and heading for the science wing before he could convince himself otherwise.

As he neared the hallway, Michael took extra care to peer around the corners of the hallway to make sure no one would spot him. He heard footsteps approaching. His heart beat against his chest as though it wanted to jump out and run away just as his brain was screaming at him to. His legs wouldn't comply, so Michael stood frozen in the middle of the hall as a woman walked around the corner.

"Oh!" She jumped as she nearly ran into Michael, "I'm sorry, I didn't see you there."

Michael swallowed, not knowing what to do. He noted vaguely that she had the same strange accent as the man he had met early, just before lunch.

"I'm not sure you should be here," She said. She seemed nice, but you couldn't be too sure, what with a possible murderer on the loose.

"I'm looking for a friend," Michael almost let his surprise show at how steady his voice sounded.

"Well, I don't think they would be here," The woman said, "You alright? You look a bit shaky."

"Haven't been feeling too good," Michael lied.

"Oh, have you been to the nurse?" The woman seemed genuinely concerned.

"Yeah, I have," Well it was a partial truth.

"Well, I hope you feel better," She smiled, but it seemed obvious that she wasn't going to move until Michael left.

He turned around and headed to the front entrance, he heard her behind him for a couple minutes, but she soon turned a corner and he was alone.

Waiting for another few minutes, Michael headed back to the science wing.

This time he made it to the marine bio room, where Malcolm had… died, committed suicide… been killed?

He paused as he caught the smell wafting from the room. It smelled like blood. He was about to walk in and check out the room for himself for any clues, when he heard voices.

"Hey, Tosh, can you replay the video?" It was a man. If Michael was correct, he had an British* accent, but Michael wasn't the best with all the accents, so he couldn't be sure.

"Right, doing it now," A woman, same, or similar accent.

"Turn the volume up will you?" The man said.

"Mr. Carents? Miss Merry? I've got my science project!" Michael nearly jumped. It was Malcolm's voice, "I'll just leave it on the table."

"Malcolm?" Kevin. Michael frowned. They must be watching the science cameras Mr. Carents had asked to be installed the week before.

"Kevin…" Malcolm sighed, "I'll be right there. I told you, I'll go talk to those investigators soon, I was just gonna grab some lunch."

"Okay," Kevin responded feebly, "See you in a bit."

"Yeah, kay." There wasn't much noise after that, just a few rustles and footsteps. Then Malcolm spoke once more.

"What?" He sounded confused, after a bit there was a thump and Michael almost jumped as Malcolm shouted, "Stop! Stop! No! I won't! I told you I-" There was a pause"Kevin? Kevin!"

There were running steps, then a crash, he must have tripped, "Stop! Stop hurting him!" He shouted,, "I'll do anything! I'll do-"There was the sound of Malcolm taking a sharp breath, "What? Why? No! Stop! Stop hurting-" He choked on a sob then Michael heard footsteps followed by the scrap of glass on wood.

Michael stopped a shout of surprise just in time as there was a loud crash from video. Apparently Malcolm had smashed the glass.

There was silence, but Michael could hear Malcolm's ragged breath, as though he was in pain.

"Will you stop? Please," He whispered shakily. "Will you? If I…"

Malcolm didn't speak after that, Michael didn't hear much after that anyways, he was having trouble focusing, all he understood was that Malcolm had in fact killed himself. But he had been forced too. Michael had been with Kevin before they had found out about Malcolm's death. The other boy hadn't looked injured, only frightened by the fact that he didn't know his older brother's whereabouts.

None of this made sense.

Michael felt dizzy. Why would someone be forcing people to commit suicide?

Then his stomach seemed to realize he had listened to a boy kill himself, and the smell coming from the room wasn't helping. He doubled over, about to run for a nearby classroom when, for about the millionth time that day, he nearly jumped out of his skin as a woman spoke.

"Are you alright?" The voice came from right next to his ear.

He jumped away. It was a woman, probably the one from the room… Tosh. She was watching with a concerned look on her face.

Michael didn't know what to do. All he knew was that he had been caught spying.

Maybe it was the smartest thing to do, but Michael's brain wasn't working too well at the moment…

He ran.

Tosh moved to follow the boy who was sprinting away, more to see if he was okay then to stop him from escaping. He had seemed as though he was about to be sick.

"Owen, I'll be b-" She stopped as a loud beeping came from her side. The scanner.

She pulled it out of her purse, checking the screen.

3 Possible Matches

She looked at the list, making a mental note to tell Jack the three species, in case he knew any specifics about the aliens, then she scrolled down.

The specifics for the three unknowns.

Human hybrid- Human + Unknown

She looked at the details. Everything about this one was basically human, except the lifespan had an 'Unknown' blinking next to it. There were a few other places, but other than that it showed up human. Tosh started to have a suspicion of what, or to be specific, who, the scanner had picked up. She would have to check with Jack.

The last two didn't have much. Just a blinking- Scanning. Other than that helpful comment, there wasn't much else, but one showed the general area it would be.

"Strange, I didn't know it could see where they were," Tosh muttered, ignoring Owen's confused 'What?' from behind her.

The general area was the hotel.

She pulled out her phone.

The Doctor headed out of the gate, making a beeline to the town, cutting through the woods to get there as fast as he could. He had a suspicion of what was causing this, but he had to be sure. He needed to get a scan of the school, and there was only one place he could do that even if it meant exposing her to Torchwood's equipment.

The TARDIS.

"Right, thanks," Jack turned to Ianto, "Tosh has a lead, we're going to follow it." Returning to his mobile, he continued to Tosh, "Tosh, try to get more details on this guy, and tell Owen see if you can find a match on any of those things the scanner said, and if you see Gwen or Martha, tell them to meet us at the hotel."

After Tosh's word of affirmative, Jack closed his phone, sticking it in his pocket and led the way to the van parked out front.

"So… What're we looking for?" Ianto asked.

"Anything that looks out of place. Tosh thinks she picked up on the signal for an alien ship, but it'll probably be camouflaged," Jack responded, "Some ships when they're camouflaged they use something that seems common on this planet, maybe a statue or something similar. That, or it's invisible. If that's the case look for foliage that looks disturbed or like it shouldn't be there."

Ianto nodded as the van came to a stop in the hotel parking lot.

"What about the alien?" Ianto asked.

"Let's just find the ship first," Jack said.

"But wouldn't-"

"If we find the ship it'll narrow down what species we're dealing with," Jack cut him off, "Which will be very helpful if they're violent. That way, we know how to fight them."

"So, why're we going in here?" Ianto asked as they entered the small hotel lobby.

"Find a map," Jack answered, "We might want to mark down where we've been."

"Good idea," Ianto said, "I'll find one."

"Okay, I'm going to head up to the room, Tosh asked if we could pull out the headsets, apparently the mobiles aren't working too well out here. She installed some alien software in the headsets so we'll be able to communicate easily." Jack said, ignoring the strange look their fellow patrons were giving them.

"Fine, they're in the smaller case in the closet," Ianto said, "Meet you back here in five?"

Jack grinned and headed off while Ianto turned and looked for something resembling a tourist information area. Although why a town as remote as this would have one was beyond him.

Five minutes later, Ianto was sitting comfortably in one of the large armchairs in the center of the lobby, looking over the map a young woman at the front desk had kindly giving him.

"Got them," Jack nearly jumped down the stairs as he came in, "Ready to head out?"

"Yup," Ianto stood, folding the map neatly and picking up the metal briefcase and following Jack out the doors.

As they headed out of the hotel, Jack took the case from Ianto as the Welshman pulled open the map once more. Ianto moved to walk back to the parking lot via the path skirting around the small cluster of trees, but Jack shook his head and walked straight into the small peninsula of trees.

"It's shorter this way."

"You know," Ianto began as he glimpsed a palm leaf mixed in with the evergreens, "This place has some strange foliage."

"Yeah, I've noticed that," Jack said, "Especially at the school."

"And over there," Ianto nodded to his right where a small group of strange looking bushes were clustered beneath a large pine tree.

Jack broke off from their path and head over to inspect the bush. It had large, thin leaves that had a purplish tinge. The berries were a light blue with red streaks. Every now and then, Jack was sure he caught a flare of vivid blue streak up the stem, but it was too fast for him to catch with certainty.

"This reminds me of something," He frowned, "Not sure where from. I'll have to think about it," He stood. He moved to go, but realized Ianto wasn't following.

"Ianto?"

"I think I found that out of place object," Ianto said, staring at something behind the large pine tree.

Jack walked over to the younger man's side, following Ianto's gaze.

He stared. He was positive his mouth was hanging open, but he didn't care.

Standing in the clearing surrounded by a circle of enormous pine trees-

A Police Telephone Box.

Or as Jack knew it-

The TARDIS.

Soooo, minus it being a little bit short... good, bad, terrible, 'Oh my gawd this is godly!'... how 'bout you tell me in a *looks around* Ya, you in the corner! RIGHT! A...*Drumroll*

REVIEW! Wow! Sorry, I'm a bit hyper. But still, reviews are always appreciated *nudge nudge*, even criticism, especially when it has to do with English words versus American. Once again, thanks for reading and the 20 (my gosh!) reviews and the 19(Ooh) favorites and 31(*gasp*) alerts. As we(not we, that's a general word, I don't say this... often) say from where I come from- Thanks ya'll

*I've decided to keep this as 'British'(thank you for the tip Popcornzoe, I hope I got all of them) as where I'm from, we don't see the distinction between British and English(however obvious it is), so as I'm picturing Michael as an American kid, he probably would say British... just a note...