"If you didn't like classical music why didn't you say so?" Nora scolded.
The two women walked hand in hand out of the concert hall into the night air and started down the street towards Miranda's car.
"Because I know how much you like the university concerts and we've already had so much trouble setting this up," Miranda said simply.
"You work too much, Miranda."
"I know. I'm sorry," she said with a smile, cupping Nora's face with her hand.
The two women hadn't been dating very long, barely a month and a half, but Miranda could count herself smitten. Nora was the type of person Miranda easily fell in love with, intelligent, witty and full of surprises. Miranda had known a lot of people in her life and it was rare someone could catch her off guard as often as Nora Ashline.
They both stood there, in each other's arms next to the car. Nora looked into her eyes and smiled, her bottom lip caught in her teeth.
"Would you like to come back to mine?" she asked, hopeful.
Torchwood and the rift continued to interrupt the progress of their relationship. Nora had taken Miranda's busy work life in stride and the two women spent time together when they could. This was only their fifth 'formal' date but the two women often met for coffee or brief lunches. Much to Nora's frustration, Miranda had been trying to take things slowly, until tonight.
"Yours sounds perfect," Miranda said. She leaned forward, kissing Nora soundly, running her fingers up through her dark hair and pressing her into the side of the car. When the kiss broke, Miranda trailed her lips down Nora's neck, pausing to suck gently on her pulse point. She felt that pulse quicken under her lips as one of her hands groped for the car door handle.
Bright headlights caught the attention of both women. Miranda looked up, placing herself between Nora and the vehicle barreling towards them. It was the Torchwood SUV. The tyres hopped up onto the kerb in the typical driving style of Jack Harkness. Miranda could see Ianto in the front passenger seat, looking as if he wanted to crawl under the pavement. With a swirl of coat tails, Jack got out of the SUV and strode towards her. Jack Harkness, you cock-blocking son of a bitch…
"Hi! Captain Jack Harkness," he said brightly, holding his hand out to Nora, flashing his thousand watt smile at her.
"Stop it," warned Miranda, swatting Jack's hand away from Nora.
"I was just saying hello," he said and then added, not sounding the least bit apologetic, "I'm sorry about this… Miranda. We've got to go. Work to do."
"I do have something called a mobile, Jack" she said glaring at the SUV angrily.
"No time. You were on the way," he said and in another swirl of coat tails, he walked back over to the SUV.
Nora was shifting nervously next to her, looking out of place and then her eyes fell on the SUV, more specifically the 'Torchwood' stenciled onto the bonnet. "You don't do medical consulting do you?" she asked.
"I'm sorry, Nora, I can't-"
"-explain," Nora finished for her. She let out a small chuckle and then shook her head. "It's fine, Miranda. We'll talk about it later. Go on."
"Thanks," Miranda gave her a peck on the cheek and started walking towards the SUV when a thought occurred to her. She dug into her pockets for her keys.
"Nora!" she called, tossing her the keys as she walked backwards towards the SUV. "Take my car back to your flat, I'm sorry about tonight!"
Nora caught the keys and laughed. "Stop being sorry and go."
With a weak smile, Miranda got into the SUV. The instant the door had shut behind her, Jack pulled the SUV into traffic with a squeal.
"Sorry about this, Will," Jack said.
"No you're not, Jack. Why don't you fill me in since you saw fit to let Nora know I'm Torchwood and ruin my date all in one go?"
"There's a large spike in Cathays Cemetery," he said, "and I didn't say anything about Torchwood!"
"It's stenciled onto the bloody bonnet, Jack!" she said with a groan. "Where are Gwen and Fish?"
"Meeting us there," Ianto said, speaking for the first time.
Miranda huffed out a sigh. While she saw the logic of picking her up on the way, she couldn't help but be annoyed at Jack's woefully obtuse behaviour. She would have to come up with something to tell Nora. You couldn't live in Cardiff for any length of time without hearing the name Torchwood and, as Fish had said once, they were the worst kept secret in the city.
The drive to the cemetery was quick. Jack drove through the main entrance and parked in front of the fenced off chapel. In front of the chapel, in the center of the grassy section was, ironically what could only be described as a coffin. Jack and Miranda moved forward to investigate just as Gwen's car parked next to the SUV.
Jack approached the 'coffin' first, scanning it with his wrist strap.
"It's an escape pod," he said, bending down, "from a Banting class four deep space vessel. They're from the thirty fourth century."
"Someone could be alive in there," Miranda said. She bolted forward but Jack held her back.
"Go grab the medical equipment first. This thing is a cryo-unit. Whoever is inside is fine."
Fish, Gwen and Ianto were waiting by the SUV.
"What is it, Miranda?" Gwen asked.
"Jack says it's an escape pod from the thirty fourth century. There could be someone inside, I need the medical equipment. You all hang back here, let me and Jack open it up."
Once she'd heaved the heavy medical case from the back of the SUV, she started towards Jack. "How do we open this thing up?"
"We don't," Jack said tersely.
"What? Why?"
"The call sign on the side, DSV-42028-B. It's an escape pod from the DSV-Linnaeus," Jack explained. "It was a medical ship sent to investigate a plague on a colony world. The ship broke orbit to meet a supply vessel but never made the rendezvous. It was assumed lost."
"It's still intact? The seals? The biofilters?" Miranda asked, terrified. Unleashing a futuristic alien plague onto the planet could mean the end of humanity.
"Tight as a drum. But we can't open it. We can't risk that whoever is inside is infected."
"We'll have to take it back to the Hub and put it down in the morgue, the drawers in the special biohazard section."
"I'll have Gwen call Rhys, have him bring it over to the Hub with one of the vans or smaller lorries."
Jack bent down to pick up the medical kit. The two immortals walked back towards the SUV and Jack called out to Gwen. "Hey, Gwen? Can you give Rhys a call? We need a small lorry or van to get this thing out of here and back to the Hub."
"Miranda said it was an escape pod, Jack? Anyone inside?" asked Fish. The Australian looked tired, he was still getting over a bout of flu.
"Don't know, Fish. We can't open it. There's a biohazard risk."
"Biohazard? Is it safe, Jack?" Gwen asked.
"Perfectly safe, Gwen, no worries," Jack assured.
"I'm all for saving who we can, Jack, but those cryoprocessors won't hold forever. Wouldn't it be more prudent to destroy it?" Fish asked, quirking an eyebrow. Gwen threw him a slightly dirty look. "Don't look at me like that, Gwen. If the pod is set to open should the cryoprocessors fail, we could unleash a plague on humanity. It would be armageddon."
Jack shook his head. "We can't properly destroy it, we don't have the technology. All we'd end up doing is ruining the seals and breeching the hull. It's safer this way. Even if the cryoprocessors fail, the pod'll still stay sealed."
It took less than an hour for Rhys to arrive with a small Harwood's van. The pod was so heavy and bulky, it took all of them to get it loaded.
"Rhys? Have Gwen follow you back to the Hub. Leave the van in the Hub garage and then you guys can all head home. Ianto, Miranda and I can handle getting this thing down to the morgue with the trolly. Fish? Tomorrow I need you to look into setting this thing up to some monitors. I want to make sure it's cryoprocessors are running well at all times so we can maybe save whoever's inside at some point in the future. And come in late, you're still sick. I don't what to see you in the Hub before noon. See everyone tomorrow," Jack said and everyone dispersed.
Ianto, Jack and Miranda waved at Rhys and then Gwen and Fish as their team members drove off.
"Hey Will, it's still early, turn in the report tomorrow. We can drop you at Nora's on the way back." Jack said.
"Thanks, Jack."
As they started to load their unused equipment back into the SUV, Miranda felt the flare of the presence of another immortal in her head, a tight pressure between her temples. She stiffened, grateful she was standing behind the two men.
"You know what, Jack? You both go on. I think I'm going to walk."
"Walk?" Jack asked as he opened the boot.
"Yeah, just a little air…" she said slowly, as she tried to quickly formulate a lie and keep her tone light. "I need to think of what I'm going to say to Nora. You both go on."
She backed away from the SUV enough to look around while Jack and Ianto were busying themselves with loading the medical kit into the boot. It didn't take her long to spot him, a tall, lanky looking man with scraggly blonde hair and beard, Adaf Terfel.
"Don't be silly, Mandy," Ianto said, closing the boot with a dull thud. "We'll drop you back at Nora's. It'll be faster."
Jack also stood up, confused and turned towards her. "Will, why don't-" he broke off as he saw how she was standing and looked around himself, seeing the man by the road. "Oh no…"
"What are you two on about?" Ianto asked, turning as well. He followed the two immortals' gaze. Seeing the lone man watching them, he came to the only conclusion he could. "Oh my God…" he breathed, and then whirled to stare at Miranda, his eyes wide.
She looked from Jack to Ianto and then back to Jack again and said simply, "Take care of each other. I love you both."
"Don't!" he shouted, reaching out for her arm.
"You gave me your word, Jack," she said gently.
His shoulders shaking, Jack let go of her arm, turned and kicked the SUV's tyre. Miranda locked eyes with Ianto for the barest of moments before she turned and set off across the manicured grass, weaving between the headstones without a backward glance.
Terfel didn't move. He was standing on a pathway near the edge of the cemetery. His eyes were like blue ice, boring through her. His mouth twisted in a licentious smile.
"Well, well… my Chink harlot!" he laughed. "I thought I'd made fish food out of you."
Miranda didn't answer, merely observing Terfel.
Her silence seemed to make him uneasy and he started to circle her. "How long were you floating at sea? How many times did you die before you beached?"
Again, Miranda didn't answer him. He was edgy, jittery. It was a weakness.
"I've thought about you, that sweet little cunny of yours," he said taking a step towards her, the lust in his eyes burning. "You know we could come to some… arrangement."
Miranda suppressed a shudder of revulsion and feigned interest. She had expected this, for Terfel to ask for her body in exchange for her head. There was a time early on in her life when she may have made such a deal, but not now and not with this man.
"We have an audience." Terfel sneered.
"They are of no concern," Miranda said, "and little consequence."
"Which means they are both," Terfel said with interest, taking a step towards where Jack and Ianto were standing.
Eager to take Terfel's focus off of her friends, Miranda stepped towards the cemetery fence and she made a deadly error. She was so preoccupied with removing Terfel's focus from Ianto and Jack, she'd walked away too fast, turning her back to her enemy and stepped through the gate first, with Terfel behind her. Seeing the advantage, he seized her by the hair, spinning her around and crashing her face into a tree. He slammed her head into the tree again, stunning her. Miranda fell to the grass with a thud, blood trickling down her cheek from where her scalp had split.
With a cruel laugh, Terfel delivered several sharp kicks to her gut and chest. Miranda felt a few of her ribs snap. She dug into the waistband of her trousers, managing to retrieve one of the tiny finger blades concealed there. When Terfel went for another kick, she grabbed his ankle and drove the blade into his calf. Howling, he staggered backwards and fell, cursing at her. Miranda tried to drag herself to her feet but sharp pains shot through her abdomen and a wave of dizziness and nausea crashed down on her. Internal bleeding…
Furious, Terfel stood and limped back over to her, the tiny blade in his hands. With an angry howl, he fisted his hand into her hair again and twisted her neck to face him. He pressed the blade into her left temple and then dragged it down her cheek.
"Not such a pretty little whore now are you!" he screamed at her and then drove the blade into her left eye and Miranda screamed.
Terfel yanked the blade from her face and tossed it aside. His hand still fisted in her hair, Terfel draw his own knife and plunged it into her chest. Miranda screamed again. The blade had punctured her lung and she felt tightening in her chest as it became harder and harder to breath. The world around her blurred and swam.
The sound of ripping cloth brought her back into focus. Terfel was using the dagger to cut away her trousers. Miranda seized the moment while Terfel was distracted. Desperate, she managed to twist in his grip, bringing her leg up and kicking Terfel square in the chest, knocking the wind out of him. He fell backwards gasping. Miranda scrambled on all fours towards the cemetery gate, managing to cross onto holy ground before Terfel got to his feet. She collapsed, face first onto the grass, gasping for breath, fighting to remain conscious and, most of all, hoping that Terfel would obey the rules of engagement.
He shouted at her and laughed, undaunted that his quarry had crawled to safety. "I am coming back for you, you filthy little whore. Your slanted cunt and your head!"
Miranda heard his footsteps fading into the night. She was dimly aware of the sound of squealing tyres and the SUV's engine. Something heavy and warm was wrapped around her and an exotic scent filled her nose. Jack… she tried to say but words wouldn't come. Strong arms lifted her up and she heard a scream of pain, not realising the scream had come from her. The smell of a spicy aftershave drifted down. Ifan… The last sound she heard was the SUV's doors slamming shut.