There was a huge crowd when Gwen finally found her classmate. They had gathered at the back of the shopping centre down town, the cops pushing them back. Gwen bit her lip and tried to see past the mass of bodies, but got nothing. Then suddenly she spotted a face she knew.

"Andy!"

Andy was that boy in her class that she knew had a crush on her but unfortunately for him, Rhys was much cuter.

"Gwen! You'v got to come see this! Some bloke's been killed!"

She forced herself through the crowd, using her strong legs and sharps elbows until she reached her friend. Some other people from the class where there too, sipping milkshakes and gobbling down burgers, trying to catch a glimpse of the (supposedly) bloodsplattered corpse.

She took the police tejp in her hands, standing on her toes trying to see past the cars.

"You see anything?"

"Andy, you'r the beanpole. If you don't see nothing, how am I supposed too?"

He just chuckled at her joking glare and after a moment she grinned back.

"Oi! You lot! This ain't a parade! Get out of here!"

She stuck out her tongue at the police that had started to shoo them away, but just as she was about to turn away, she saw something weird.

"Andy? You see that bloke?"

"Which one?"

"The one in the long coat! He can't be more then eighteen!"

"Blimey... I think you'r right!"

She cast a glance at the long coat disappearing between the blinking lights, then she looked up at the grey sky, feeling the first drops of rain. Letting her eyes fall again, she got an idea.

"You wanna go get something to eat, or are you meting Rhys...? Gwen? Gwen?"

Gwen was born and raised in Cardiff, she had spent her entire high school period hanging out at the centre during her spare time. She had been up the parking area more then once and it was just above where the corpse was.

She took the stairs, since public lift usually means public toilet, and got out at the fifth floor. She figured it was high enough not to get noticed.

It was raining for real now, and she pulled up her hood before she stuck her head out the hole in the concrete.

The body was right below her, and for a moment she couldn't really see it since three bright spotlights had been placed around it. The lights reflected in the wet pavement and for a second, it looked really beautiful.

Then one saw the look of horror on the dead face, the blood running away with the rain, down in the gutter. Something turned over in her stomach, but she refused to leave just yet.

Then, the boy in the coat walked into the light, and he was not alone. Gwen held her breath and if she focused, she could just make out what they where saying.

"Man, this weather is piss!"

"Oh stop it, it's just as bad in London."

There was a skinny guy with short hair and tight jacket, just like the one her friend Mark had, and a short woman with black hair. When she turned her face, Gwen could see she was asian.

"Come on you guys, it's not so bad!"

"Shut it Jack! Why are we here to begin with?"

It was the boy in the long coat. So he was Jack.

"Principals orders. Anything you can do for him Owen?"

"I don't even have to poke him to know he's dead. I can't do it with dead people...!"

"Point. Suzie?"

"I can try..."

The boy with the short hair was Owen, but Suzie was a tall girl that Gwen had not noticed before. Now she sat down by the dead mans head, carefully lifting it and placing her hand in the back of his head.

The police where keeping their distance, most of them not even looking. She could only wonder why they would let people her own age into a crime scene, weren't those suppose to be preserved?

"Take your time Su, no rush. Don't force it, let it come to you..."

"Jack, I know how to do this, shut up...!"

"Alright alright...!"

He was American, she was sure of it now. Had to be, or he had been watching way to much telly.

Suddenly, the rain stopped. For a moment, Gwen thought that it had let up, but then she saw that it was still raining over the crowd and the police cars. It was just around the group by the body that it stopped.

A chill went down her spine. She knew that if she didn't look away now, her life would change forever. Gwen Cooper didn't even blink.

There was a rush in the air, and all heat in her body disappeared. Then, as by a miracle, the dead and bleeding body on the ground gasped, opened his eyes and let out a cry.

"Blimey! Good going Su!"

"Shut up Owen!"

"Where am I? Who are you people? What happened?"

The boy in the coat, Jack, sat down and placed a calming hand on the not-dead mans shoulder.

"Did you see who attacked you? Did you see anything at all?"

"Who are you? What happened?"

Gwen was still trying to cope with the talking corpse as the american tried his best to calm the man down, but apparently, being killed was quite traumatic.

"Damn, how much time left?"

"I don't know, Ianto usually keeps track."

"Where is he then?"

"Detention."

"Ianto Jones's in detention?"

"He covered for me, now shut up Tosh, Owen! Please sir! You're dead, and you'll have to calm down and tell us what you know if we'er ever supposed to find the guy who did it!"

The not-dead man gasped, looked them over and frowned.

"You're just a bunch of kids! What're you going to do?"

"We brought you back didn't we? Please sir, tell us."

"I'm sorry, I didn't see anything... He came from behi..."

Then, just as suddenly as it had stopped, the rain started falling again. Gwen felt like she had been under water, like a cold hand had just released a tight grip on her lungs.

"Damn..."

"Sorry Jack."

"Not your fault Su. You did good."

"We should have told him who we where from the beginning."

"Yeah Owen, that would have worked wonders. It's not like people generally like us."

"Oh shut up Tosh."

"So whoever killed him was a coward..."

"Jack?"

"It takes a coward to just sneak up on someone and kill him... His wallet is still there so it's not robbery..."

Gwen leaned further over the edge, having a harder time hearing now that the rain was drumming down again.

"What do you think?"

Suddenly, she was looking into the americans eyes, finding him smiling up at her. The rest looked at him confused, then followed his gaze. Gwen almost yelped and ducked in behind the rail again. Her heart hammered in her chest and finally, she payed attention to that now very large part of her brain telling her to get the bloody hell out of there.

[It's not going to stick this close to canon for long, trust me. I accept one-word comments! Go nuts!]