this story is coming to you live from 11 at night, as usual i do not own SJA or DW. i have been hit by a sudden burst of writing-y-ness, and this story has evolved over the past 5 hours, it includes one of my favorite creature of all time so i really hope i did them justice. as always reviews and improvements are appreciated. and if i did my job right prepare to be scared
"Luke, Luke wake up your alarm is going off"
Marcus's eyes were still glued shut, after listening to a few more snores from Luke he gave up and reached for the clock himself, he hit the snooze button half a dozen times but the alarm continued
"That doesn't sound much like my alarm, where's it coming from?"
forcing his eyes open Marcus looked around the room, after a couple of minutes searching he traced the noise to his jeans on the floor
"Huh, it's my scanner, it's picking up some kind of distress signal, give me a second to decode it"
Luke sat up in his bed to look over Marcus's shoulders, before he could ask what was going on a T appeared on the scanner
"Uh-oh i recognise that, it's Torchwood, i wonder what trouble Jack has gotten into now"
The message finally finished decoding, a video of Captain Jack appeared on the screen
"Attention anyone receiving this message, this is an emergency pre-recorded broadcast, the Torchwood vaults have been breached, the angels are free or soon will be, you must stop them, end message"
Marcus looked over the files attached to the video message
"whoever Jack is he doesn't have a lot of information on these angels, all these files say is that they're a high category threat and if they escape the vaults the whole word is in danger, no change there then this world is always in danger"
Luke moved across the room to turn on his computer, after a few minutes waiting Mr Smith appeared on screen
"hello Luke how can i be of help"
"hey Mr Smith, we recieved a distress signal from Torchwood it seems serious, we could do with some help from mum"
"i am sorry Master Luke but Sarah-Jane is currently preoccupied with rescuing Rani from the primus program"
Luke turned to Marcus concerned
"is Rani OK?"
"Sarah-Jane and Clyde are currently freeing her physical form, i am tasked with breaking her mind free from the virtual prison primus has created, i am confident our plan will succeed"
Luke relaxed slightly in his chair
"OK well me and Marcus will deal with the angels, good luck Mr Smith"
Luke switched off his computer before turning to Marcus
"guess we have to do this one ourselves, come on" Luke pulled on his clothes and grabbed everything from around his room that they might need, his pen, his phone but he stopped when he each for his keys "oh my car, it's still being worked on in the garage, how are we going to get to Cardiff?"
Marcus stopped in his tracks
"stupid duck, umm let me think" Marcus paced back and forward "oh i got it follow me"
they both rushed down the stairs of the building and burst out into the outside
"where are we going?"
Luke was panting trying to keep up
"Mitch, he owes me a favour, hopefully i can talk him into lending us his car"
the sprint through the streets left them at the doorstep to Mitch's flat, they pressed the bell and eventually Mitch answered the door
"what are you guys doing? it's early"
he let them into the flat and they all stood in the living room
"sorry to wake you up but i need to call in a favour, we need to borrow your car"
the look on Mitch's face told them both he thought he was still dreaming
"not a chance" he looked at them carefully and took in the panicked expressions "why?"
Marcus looked to Luke
"my car is still being worked on and we need to get to Cardiff, it's a family emergency"
Luke had decided agaisnt mentioning the possible end of the world that usually followed his emergencies
"alright fine, but i've seen what happens to your car Luke, if mine doesn't come back in one piece then you two are in big trouble"
he threw them the keys and went back upstairs, probably to go to sleep, Luke and Marcus raced out the door and found Mitch's car
"damn i have gotta learn how to drive"
taking a brief moment to appreciate Mitch's car they both jumped in and Luke couldn't resist putting the roof down, pulling out onto the main road Marcus hooked up the sat-nav entering the adress for Torchwood
"Ok so what is Torchwood? And who is jack?"
Luke thought back to the time he met Jack over the subwave
"Torchwood is an organisation that used to do the same job as mum more or less, Jack is...well he's Jack, I only met him once over a subwave network but mum told me he used to travel with the Doctor"
Marcus nodded before flicking through the info on Torchwood
"You know when i first learnt there was a country called Wales here on earth i figured it was actually built on a whale, surfing around the world, kind of a letdown when i learnt it was just a regular place"
it was going to be a long journey but Luke loved listening to how Marcus interpreted the world when he first got here
"how on earth would they fit a whole city on a whale?"
he stuck his tongue out at Luke before laughing
"give me a break i grew up on tales of star whales, huge creatures that drift through space, and they are big enough to build a city on"
feeling triumphant for the moment Marcus checked his messages, he found one from Bev
'hey Marcus we've almost got everything set up for tonight and Luke doesn't suspect a thing, Bev xxx"
he felt a sinking disappointment in the pitt of his stomach, how could he forget
'hi Bev we've got caught up in a bit of an emergency, not gonna be back in time for what i had planned, thanks for all your help, Marcus'
he let loose a sigh, turning to watch Luke as he focused on the road
"are you alright? your hair's turning blue"
Luke was watching him out of the corner of his eye
"oh yeah i'm fine" Luke shot Marcus a skeptical look "ok not fine but it's nothing to worry about"
Marcus was quite glad that Luke took him at his word, looking down the road they still had about ten minutes left in their journey, he just hoped that the angels hadn't escaped. Luke parked Mitch's car and they both got out and stared in dismay at the wreckage of Torchwood
"this could be a problem"
Luke couldn't help but agree
"ok Jack said in his message that the angels were breaking free of the vault, vault, vaults are underground, they are hidden deep, we need to look underground"
nodding Marcus flipped open his scanner and started a deep scan, after arguing with the device in his hands for a few seconds Marcus took off towards a side street
"you were right Luke, the vaults are deep, most tunnels that might take us close are collapsed but there is one remaining tunnel entrance close by, one that hasn't collapsed" he turned in circles for a few seconds looking for something his eyes fixed on a grate in the road and his smile disappeared "and there it is, unfortunately this stupid thing doesn't know the difference between tunnels, and sewers"
he spoke the last word like it left a bad taste in his mouth
"come on you big baby, at least we have a way down to the vaults"
Marcus kicked his feet and Luke was reminded an awful lot of Clyde
"but it stinks down there, and stop smiling, you know my nose is a lot more sensitive than yours"
Luke just rolled his eyes and used his pen to open the way
"blimey you can tell you used to be a prince, so delicate"
Luke knew his ruse worked the second the words left his lips, Marcus walked over and lowered himself down, Luke followed a few seconds later
"you know something Luke sometimes i really hate you"
the smile on Marcus's lips told Luke he wasn't serious but neither could deny that it really did smell
"follow me"
Marcus activated the light on his watch and lead the way, a couple of metres along and they started going down, Luke observed the change as recent building work was replaced by old worn bricks, after a few mintues of climbing they came to a dead end
"how interesting"
Luke noticed Marcus staring at his scanner as if he had never seen it before
"what?"
he turned the scanner to Luke a smile on the corner of his lips
"well according to my scanner this wall doesn't exist, it simply isn't there"
he knocked against the bricks to illustrate
"it must be one of Torchwoods defenses, how do we get through it?"
they both jumped out of their skins when someone walked in behind them
"well boys it helps if you have the key"
Luke was amazed to see none other than Captain Jack Harkness
"Jack" he stepped forwards to shake hands with the captain "what are you doing here?"
he tapped the device on his wrist
"i got the same distress signal you did, now Luke i remember you, but who's this"
Jack was looking at Marcus with a curious expression on his face
"i'm Marcus"
they both shook hands as well
"Solaran by the looks of you, i ended up on your planet a little while back, glad to see the war ended, place is looking a lot better than it did"
Luke couldn't help but smile at the postive buzz of emotions he could sense from his friend
"thanks, you mentioned something about a key"
Jack nodded and stepped forwards, pressing the device on his wrist Jack took a deep breath and stepped through the wall, Marcus and Luke took a breath as well and stepped through after him, when they took a breath on the other side their throats were attacked by a putrid smell that turned their stomachs, they both threw up, only Jack was unaffected
"are you two alright?"
they nodded trying to cover their mouths as best they could, all around them was carnage, a mess of flesh amongst the cold stone of the vaults
"what the hell happened in here?"
Jack shrugged as the looked around, he turned to an outdated computer panel
"stay put, i'll see if i can pull up any of the video files"
Luke nodded but when he turned to Marcus he found his friend already gone, swearing under his breath Luke followed the footprints he could see in the grime, he found Marcus on his knees next to an alien
"please there isn't much time, it's our fault, we pushed it, chased the survivor across the galaxy, made it desperate, and in their desperation they created a monster, one of their own race, they destroyed its defences and now the angel is at it's most vulnerable, and it's most deadly"
the alien fumbled with a device on his waist, Luke took it when offered
"this contains all our information, everything we know about them, take it and let it guide you, four angels remain in this vault, but beware the survivor for it protects them and is an angel no longer"
the alien took a few more shuddering breaths and died, Luke reached over and gently closed it's eyes, they paused there for a few moments unaware of the danger
"get down!"
Jacks voice echoed through the vaults over the noise of his revolver, the dark shape above them shrieked in pain, before anyone could react something that was barely a shadow ripped passed Jack and he fell to the floor dead
"no!"
Luke rushed to Jack but when he searched for the pulse he couldn't find anything, Marcus reached out with his mind but couldn't sense anything either, he put a comforting hand on Luke's shoulder
"i'm sorry"
god how Marcus hated those words, but right then they were the only two he could think of
"i don't believe this he survived Daleks and who knows what else, he doesn't deserve to die here!"
the last word came out as a scream when Jack burst back into life
"oh that son of a, broke my kneck, hasn't happened to me in years" Jack took in the stunned faces of Luke and Marcus "ah yeah long story"
Luke was staring at Jack in disbelief
"you died"
Luke poked Jack in the chest a couple of times just to make sure he wasn't imagining things
"again long story, and i'd love to explain but right now we have to stay focused on the angels, now what did that alien tell you"
he looked up at Marcus who took it as his cue to start talking
"he said they were chasing a survivor, another angel maybe, it found it's way here, he said the survivors defenses were shattered and it was turned into a monster, he also said beware the survivor for it protects them"
Jack took in what was said
"them, who is them"
before anyone could answer Jack caught sight of something in the shadows, four silent statues frozen in place, Luke and Marcus followed his stare and caught sight of the angels
"why aren't they moving?"
Marcus was quite grateful they weren't but he couldn't help but ask, they were all so preoccupied with the angels that nobody noticed the slowly flickering lights
"Marcus your watch, the light is going out"
Jack looked from the light to the angels
"that's not all, they're getting closer" all of the lights dimmed at the same time for a few seconds and the angels had covered half the distance between them "run!"
They listened to Jack and ran back through the vaults as fast as they could, the silent angels chasing them relentlessly, Jack hit the device on his wrist and dived through the wall, Luke followed him seconds later
"Come on we need to get back onto the streets, sunlight should stop them from moving"
Luke nodded before wheeling around, even in the dim sewer light he could feel something missing
"Marcus" he made to walk back to the vaults door but the wall was solid again "Jack open the door"
Jack looked at Luke with a sympathetic expression on his face
"Luke we have to get out of here, we don't know enough to fight them, if we go back into that vault then we're at their mercy just like your friend, now follow me"
Luke stood resolutely on the spot
"Jack open it now"
the words were calm but Jack could see anger beneath the surface
"No, now the sooner you stop acting like a child, the sooner we can find a way to fight those things and rescue your friend, now follow me"
Jack turned on his heel and walked away Luke reluctantly followed, once back on the surface Luke looked over the device they had been given, after a few attempts it activated and displayed a list of information
"they are called the weeping angels, their primary defense is a quantum lock, when we look at them they cease to exist"
Jack turned and kept his eyes focused on the grate, this was the only way out of the vaults, under the sun the angels could be held here
"i'm sorry Luke, i know you're angry, but against creatures like them we needed to play it smart"
Luke looked up from the information in front of him for a few seconds
"logically i know you are right, but emotionally...i sometimes wonder if the Bane made me weaker or stronger when they gave me emotions"
Jack turned around to look at Luke
"your emotions make you stronger, don't ever think otherwise, and if you won't take my words for it look at the Daleks"
Luke considered Jack's words carefully, before turning back to the datapad
"they can drain energy, feed on it, that must be why the lights went out, but this last file is corrupted, the only thing i can make out is this"
he showed the words to Jack
"whatever holds the image of an angel is an angel" Jack considered the words carefully "makes no sense to me, but this is interesting the angels cover their eyes because if they ever look into the eyes of another angel they will be stuck that way, that must be why the Doctor told me to make sure they were transported as i found them, all four were looking at each other, just frozen like that"
Luke took back the pad and looked over it
"OK so if they can drain the energy out of your torch and Marcus's watch, then we need a source of light that they can't drain, like a fire"
Jack nodded in agreement
"OK i know where we could get some some torches, wait here i'll be back"
Luke watched Jack as he ran down the street before returning his gaze to the drain, he had to hope that Marcus was OK, if he wasn't the emotions that Jack said made him so strong would rip him apart. down in the vault Marcus was coming around, his head was throbbing, and the dull light of a computer screen in front of him hurt his eyes, after blinking a few times to clear his vision he noticed words on the screen
'you will help us'
becoming more aware of what was around him Marcus realised he was surrounded, the angels hadn't killed him and that was good, but Luke and Jack were nowhere in sight
"what do you mean? what help?"
he closed his eyes and felt a whirl of movement around him, opening his eyes again he saw the words had changed
'at the heart of this city is a rift, contained inside is a feast, but we cannot reach it, you will help us access it'
a rift, Marcus knew there was some kind of anomaly in Cardiff, his scanner had picked it up
"what do you mean, how can i do that"
he closed his eyes again and felt the same whirl of movement
'this vault is filled with technology, use it'
they wanted him to create a device that could tap into the rift energy
"i'm not sure i could do that, even if i could, who knows what kind of damage that could cause to the city, hell the planet"
closing his eyes one more time he waited for their response
'this is all we need you for, if you will not help then you have no need to be alive'
Marcus exhaled, he didn't know where Luke was, but he had faith that his friend was going to help, he had to play along for now
"OK, help me round up all the technology in this vault, let me see what i have to work with"
they were gone in a flicker of the lights
"Luke please hurry"
on the streets Jack had returned two medieval torches in hand
"OK with these we should have enough light to keep the angels in sight long enough to rescue Marcus, after that we can figure out a permanent solution"
Luke nodded and climbed quickly back into the sewers, taking the torches as Jack passed them down, lighting both with his pen they made their way back down to the vaults
"unlock the vault, i'll go first"
nodding his agreement Jack unlocked the vault and Luke stepped through the wall, Jack followed moments later
"OK so far so good"
they both stepped carefully, trying not to make a sound, unfortunately Jack didn't notice the puddle of slime and slipped in it losing his footing he landed hard on his side, on the other side of the vault Marcus heard the sound, twisting the device in his hands he let it drop to the floor
"sorry boys but that sound like my rescue"
not even daring to look back Marcus ran as the adhesive bomb he had hastily assembled exploded, he ran as fast he could down the vault corridors, before long he could see a flickering light, with Luke and Jack at the center
"Luke!"
before either boy could move there was a blinding flash of light behind them, they all closed their eyes on instinct, and when they opened them again the torches had been knocked to the floor extinguished
"you two stay close" obeying jack they all stood back to back, trying to make out shapes in the dark "not that i'm complaining but why aren't they attacking?"
in the shadows Marcus could see a flicker of movement
"they want the rift, but they can't get to it, they wanted me to build something that they could use to access it"
Marcus knew Luke was afraid, he wanted to comfort him, but stuck in the dark he was afraid too, he reached out for Luke's hand, but before he could find it they were knocked apart, a lone dangling light on the ceiling flickered briefly into life revealing words carved into the wall
'help us'
Marcus pushed himself to his feet, he could hear Jack and Luke somewhere close by
"we can't do that, there's no telling what that could do to the planet"
then something knocked against the light and it swung slowly backwards revealing more words on the wall
'then he...'
Macus watched in slow motion at the light swung back in the opposite direction
'...will die first'
Marcus turned to where he knew Luke was, no doubt in his mind who they were targeting, he felt his fear replaced by something else, something fierce and angry like fire he reached for it and the feeling burned through him, lighting the corridor with a raging light, he saw the angels stopped in place, surrounding Luke, they would not take him
"Marcus, how are you doing that?"
Luke stared in shock as his friend's face twisted in concentration, behind him Jack was almost lost for words
"Luke, Marcus and i have them in our sights, you need to find a way to stop them before that light fades"
even as Jack spoke the strain on Marcus's face doubled
"alright, the quantum lock will fade in the dark, the torches are gone, think, ugh come on, there has to be something" his mind stopped at the information he was seeking "whatever holds the image of an angel is an angel"
weaving past the angels he grabbed at broken monitor glass on the ground, retrieving all the pieces he needed, he pointed his pen at each tinting one side of the glass until he could see a perfect reflection, twisting pieces of wire he found on the ground he tied the mirrors in place, each one covering the angels eyes
"Luke hurry up"
the light around them was fading, 1, 2, 3 he turned to the fourth angel, just as he attached the mirror the light faded, but the angels remained in place, he rushed over to Marcus who had collapsed
"Marcus are you alright?"
his only response was gently squeezing Luke's hand, Jack smiled before turning to the angels
"OK i'm impressed, what did you do to them?"
Marcus slowly opened his eyes and let Luke sit him up
"whatever holds the image of an angel is an angel, including their reflections"
Jack nodded in understanding
"and if one angel ever looks into the eyes of another they will be stuck like that, unless something can break their line of sight, brilliant, you really are something else kid"
smiling at the compliment Luke pulled Marcus to his feet, and supported his friend out of the vault
"speaking of brilliant, how did you do that? that light, i've never seen you do anything like that"
despite the exhaustion he felt, Marcus couldn't help but let a proud smile cross his face
"hatred isn't the only emotion that can physically change me Luke, that light has a name in the ancient Solaran language that roughly translates as 'the protectors light' i didn't honetly think i had it in me"
as if to prove his point he stumbled and nearly collapsed again, Jack supported his other side
"you two must be close, a desire that strong wouldn't have come from just anywhere" he looked at them both sideways "like i said Luke, your emotions make you stronger and love is about as strong as it gets"
Marcus stumbled again, they all stopped talking for the rest of the climb out, it took them almost three times as long but finally they were out in the cool evening air Luke jumped when his phone started ringing, it must have only just regained its signal
"Luke, where have you been, Mr Smith said you went to Cardiff and got involved with Torchwood, you could have been in real danger, and why weren't you answering your phone"
holding the phone at arms length he passed it to Jack
"Sarah-Jane it's Jack, i know you're mad but they are fine, and without there help we could have had a serious problem on our hands"
Jack seemed confident in his charm but Sarah-Jane was not easily calmed
"i should have known you were involved Jack, you get them back to oxford right now or angels will be the least of your worries"
Luke took back his phone to say goodbye to his mum, once he hung up he looked at Jack and burst out laughing
"it's not funny, i've fought an entire fleet of Daleks and they're still no comparison to your mother, reminds me of the time i tried to take you in for tests"
Luke's laughter subsided
"you tried to take me?"
Jack raised his hands in apology
"we were worried you could be a threat, but when i approached your mother not only did she say no, but she went on to say that if i came near you again she would have that robot dog of yours vaporise any trace that i was ever male"
Luke's laughter returned full force, all the evil in the universe and it was his mother that scared Jack the most
"alright enough fun at my expense, where's your car, i'll drive you back"
they put Marcus in the back seats and Jack pointed the car back towards London
"Jack what are we going to do about the survivor?"
he knew it was still out there
"don't worry i haven't forgotten, but it's best if i go after it alone, it will have a harder time killing me than most"
Luke nodded his agreement and was quite grateful that he didn't have to go against the angels again, after a few minutes of silence Luke heard Marcus phone in the backseat grabbing it to prevent it from waking his friend Luke flipped it open to see who was texting
'ok well i'm sure you'll get another chance to surprise him Bev xxx'
curiosity getting the better of him Luke looked at the messages from before and couldn't help but smile
"good news?"
Luke turned to Jack
"Marcus had been planning a special night, two years since we first met today, he must have wanted it to be a surprise"
he felt the smile creep further across his face
"sorry, guess this business with the angels got in the way"
Luke knew his friend had been disappointed that today hadn't gone quite as planned, but just knowing that Marcus had planned this was enough, climbing over the seats into the back he curled up next to Marcus and fell asleep, even in the dark he knew he was protected and all thoughts of angels and demons were washed away in his dreams.
can't resist a sappy ending, in all honesty i loved the idea of bringing jack back, but found him to be a really difficult character to write for, hope i did him justice, points to anyone who can pick up all the little references i littered around this story, there are loads of them, anyway time for bed
hint for next chapter: but i got wise, you're the devil in disguise?