For some reason it was a very difficult chapter to write. It is a little... I don't know...=). Please, review, and tell me what you think.
.10. All the Stars are Falling Down
The derelict building was quiet as they entered the ground floor. There was a vast lobby there, with beautiful, twisting stairs leading to upper levels. There was no furniture, but piles of rubbish and rags cluttered the floor, and several decomposing mattresses lay by the walls. It stank of damp, and dust and urine. The night was moonless, and the house was dark.
Martha shrugged, closing her fingers on the handle of a heavy torch. In the other hand she clutched the anti-weevil spray, her index finger posed over the nozzle. She looked back at Gwen who was holding a much smaller torch alongside a gun, so that the beam of light pointed exactly where the gun's barrel was directed. Very professional, Martha thought.
"We are mad," Mickey's voice whispered in her earphone.
"Shut up, Mickey," whispered Jack's voice.
"No, but... They're nocturnal, right? So what on Earth are we doing here, middle of the night? We should come here at noon. And bring along an army."
"Mickey, just shut it!"
"He's got a point, though" Ianto's voice chipped in.
"But where are they?" Martha asked. "You said the house was swarming with them."
"Maybe they've gone already."
"Now, everybody, just keep quiet!" Jack actually stomped his foot on rotten floor-boards. "Ianto, are you picking any movement?"
Ianto lifted up a motion detector and turned slowly around, the machine bleeping quietly and steadily.
"This is sooo 'Aliens'," Mickey sighed in awe. "This is sooo no good," he added on second thought.
"Nothing," Ianto said. "There's nothing. Switching to infra-red now, and... Still nothing. Just us."
"Okay, let's spread up," Jack ordered. "Ianto and Mickey – second floor. Gwen and Martha – first floor. I'll take the basement."
There were rags and piles of rubbish on the first floor as well. The odour was almost unbearable; it smelled like a cage of a wild beast. Or worse. Martha wrinkled her nose. Rooms were enormous, with rows of high windows letting in some starlight. Wallpapers were peeling from damp walls, and floorboards squeaked ominously underfoot. And there was no living creature there.
"They're really gone," Martha said, half disappointed and half happy with the fact. "We're too late."
"I hope they went back home," Gwen whispered, "that they are not lost anymore. It must be so awful to get lost like that..." her voice trailed off.
"Let's go back to the others." Martha sighed and turned to the door. Gwen lowered her gun. She stood there for a while, her long hair curtaining her face.
"Owen!" she shouted suddenly. "Owen! We're here, Owen! We've came!"
Martha gasped and turned back.
"We don't even know..."
"Owen?!"
"Gwen..."
"Owen, please! Please, Owen, show yourself! Owen?!"
"What's going on there?" the intercom asked in Jack's voice.
Gwen yelled wordlessly and kicked a pile of rubbish on the floor. And then kicked it some more. Martha watched her quietly.
"Nothing," Gwen said at last. She brushed her hair off her face. "We're done here."
Defeated, they walked slowly downstairs.
And there it was. The angel. It didn't even look human anymore – just an electric blue light, swirling and pulsating in the darkness. There was a hum of energy in the air – like the one you might hear when standing near a powerful relay station – buzzing, and crackling, and discouraging you from getting too close. Martha halted on the stairs and grabbed Gwen's arm, just to make sure she wouldn't do anything stupid. Ianto and Mickey nearly collided with them in their hurry. Jack emerged from the corridor leading to the basement. Beams of light crisscrossed, but the electric glow swallowed them all. Martha saw the light of her powerful torch dimming, then dying out completely. It seemed that the creature was able to drain the energy from almost anything. Mrtha felt her heart pounding. Hesitantly, she made a step forward. She saw Jack raising his hand in warning, and felt a shudder of Gwen's arm. She swallowed loudly.
"Who are you?" she said, her voice faltering a little. "Can you tell us, who you are?"
The hum of energy intensified and the blue light expanded a notch. There were white hot strings in it now, writhing threateningly.
"Please," Martha continued. "We mean you no harm. Is there a way we can communicate? Can you talk to us? That's all we want. Just talk."
Jack sent her an approving glance, his hand still up in a warning gesture.
The creature turned. A moment ago it had no distinctive shape, now Martha could see a human form hidden in a bright cocoon. She could even tell the creature's face, even though there were still no features to talk about present; just an oval shape above the angel's shoulders. Still, she had an impression that she was being watched intently. She drew a deep breath, and stepped down, onto the ground level's floor. Jack hissed involuntarily. Martha didn't want to risk a look back at Gwen, Mickey and Ianto; she just hoped that the men would stop Gwen from doing anything rash.
Martha steadied herself and drew another deep breath. "What would the Doctor do?" she asked herself. "What would he say?"
"Look," she raised her hands slightly, and then, equally slowly, she bent down and dropped the torch and the spray canister on the floor. "I'm not armed. I just want to talk. That's it. Just talk."
It used to be somewhat easier for the Doctor. He had known just the right words; how to use them to charm his opponents and to draw them into conversation. But the angel-creature was just looking at her, or at least the creature's face was still turned towards her. It wouldn't move, or speak, or signal its willingness to communicate in any other way. Maybe it couldn't understand her. The TARDIS would translate Martha's words whenever she wanted to talk to an alien. But the TARDIS wasn't there. Martha wasn't sure if the ship's influence hadn't dissipated by now. She used her hands to communicate, gesturing widely, but cautiously:
"Can we talk?"
The sound was so sudden and so powerful, they all screamed in pain and cowered with their hands pressed firmly to their ears. It was like a wave and it washed over them, leaving them semiconscious on the floor. The content of Martha's backpack dug painfully in between her shoulder blades. She squinted in brilliantly white blaze. Her earphone whispered in Mickey's voice: "Oh... my... GOD!"
Martha counted her limbs quickly, still in a haze of shock. She propped herself on her elbows and shrugged off the backpack's straps, leaving it on the floor, as she shakily got to her feet again. She blinked and looked around. Jack was up already, his revolver pointed at the creature. Martha gasped and looked back, at Gwen and Ianto. They reached for their weapons as well – a natural Torchwood's response to a threat.
"No!" Martha shouted, as threads of burningly white light shot off the angel-creature, and towards the three of them. "No, stop!"
Jack lifted his chin, turning his face away from the light which, unlike any other light, halted an inch from his watering, blue eye. Ianto and Gwen froze as well, pinned in spot by two other light threads.
"No!" Martha repeated. "Lower your weapons, just... just put them down."
She made another hesitant step forward, but it was enough for the creature to send another warning light thread, which hovered in front of her face. Much too close for comfort. Her eyes widened.
"No guns," she whispered. "We are not enemies. We are not a threat. You don't have to harm us. Please. You're hurting us."
She didn't look to see if the rest of the team listened to her advice, but they must have, as the creature withdrew its bright tentacles. Its light subsided, and its shape consolidated even more, but it was still almost translucent. Threads of energy retracted into the creature as it shifted slightly and then moved towards Martha. Its movement was fluid; it wasn't walking, but floating in the air. And then its face was only inches from her face. She was standing completely still now, dreading to move a muscle. Brightness burned her pupils, but she didn't dare to blink.
White and blue oval in front of her rippled suddenly, and features emerged; it seemed as if they surfaced from within, forming a shape, like a liquid poured into a mould. Martha could see the face now – a bridge of its nose, hollow circles in place of its eyes, high cheekbones, a suggestion of spiky hair above its forehead. Electric blue eyes opened, moved and focused on Martha's eyes. Thin lips parted and weirdly illuminated teeth appeared as the angel smiled at her.
She sighed involuntarily, her heart breaking.
"Owen?"
It was just looking at her. Maybe it was Owen, or maybe the creature simply took the form of the one person so clear in their minds, of the one person they wanted to see so much.
"Are you Owen?" she whispered again.
The terrifying bluish grin faded. The creature tilted its head, scrutinising Martha in an uncomprehending manner, as if she were as alien to it, as it was to her. Then the creature's eyes moved away and looked at something behind her. She didn't risk following its gaze, and stood completely still as it drifted around her, disappearing from her view. Only then did she turn carefully, holding her breath.
The angel reached for something on the floor. Martha didn't recognise it at first in the weird illumination, but then she knew.
The angel was holding the Cornucopia in its cusped hands. The mood candle Martha was supposed to return to the Hub, but had forgotten about it completely in her hurry to confront the creature. The angel bent its head to look closely at the shell. And it smiled again, turning back to Martha.
The shell began to glow. Red. Red. Bright orange. Impossible yellow. Sun-burning gold. And there was a strange aroma in the air – with a metallic tinge, like licking old coins. But the creature's light subsided slowly. Instead of being painfully bright, it was now blue like clear water. The Cornucopia turned into a beacon of energy, a little supernova, impossible to look upon, while the creature became a pillar of liquid glow, almost soothing for tired eyes. It opened its mouth.
"Ones you name Weevils," it spoke, its voice buzzing like electricity, "They mine. I take them. Not stand in way."
Martha bit her lips for a second. She wasn't sure if her voice wouldn't fail her.
"Are you Owen?" she asked finally.
"There... was... Owen. Owen is me."
"Oh, my God!" Gwen gasped. "But... are you...?"
"Owen is me," the creature repeated.
"But you are not him?" Jack said slowly. He came closer, but not too close. He was holding his empty hands up so that the creature could see them. The angel-creature gave him a slow look. "Owen is you, but you are not Owen, right?"
The creature shuddered. When it spoke again, its voice was almost human.
"Owen is a part of me. Still is. Not gone. But I am not Owen. I am more. I am a light of many."
Gwen sobbed quietly. She shook her head.
"But how? How is it possible? Did he die? Are you his soul? Are you his ghost? Are you an angel?" she almost shouted.
"I don't know what it means," the creature answered. "I found Owen. Owen is me. Owen is safe. All are safe. I am a light of many."
"Do you have a name?" Martha asked.
"Name?" the creature blinked. "Like Owen – name? No. Many Owen – names. No one name."
"How shall we call you, then?" Ianto muttered.
"Still preoccupied with names, I see," the creature said and stopped dead, as if surprised. "Name me," it requested after a while. "Names are good."
"Light," Ianto whispered, his lips trembling. "Is it ok? Light?"
Owen's face smiled at him ghastly.
"Light is good."
"Why are you taking Weevils? Where are you taking them?" Jack asked.
"Home," Light answered. "They are lost. So lost. This... this world is not safe anymore. It cracks and shifts as we speak. Not much time left. The world crumbles. There was an alteration made to its matrix and now it is weakened. The wall is thin and the weird is seeping through. It may not withstand. Not safe. I am sorry."
It half-turned as if ready to go.
"Wait, what do you mean?" Jack asked urgently.
"All the stars are falling down," Light said sadly. "They fall and they die. Sorry, Jack. Sorry, Martha. Sorry, Gwen. Sorry, Ianto. Sorry..."
"Mickey," Mickey whispered.
"Mickey," Light repeated. "Sorry. But it is nearly time."
"Time for what?" Jack insisted.
Light looked up, its glowing face melting, all resemblance to Owen disappearing in an instant.
"Here it comes," it said ominously. "The wave. I pity you. May you continue, all of you. May you withstand the wave. May you survive its afterimages."
"What..."
"Here it comes!" Light brightened, twisted, lost its human shape. "It comes now!"
And it was gone.
"No wait, wait, you can't go now, you can't, Light! Light!? Light?!"
Jack rushed forward frantically, but he only grasped the falling Cornucopia. He yelled in pain and dropped it to the floor, where it still gloved a supernova gold for a while, before its shade turned first to deep amber, then to red, and finally to its usual greenish tint.
"Oh, shit!" He looked at his palms, covered in ugly blisters. They were gone in a blink of an eye, though, and he clenched his fists in anger. "Damn it all!"
"So... what did it mean?" Mickey asked quietly. "I didn't... I guess that was a warning... right? And was it Owen or not? Cause..."
"Shut up, Mickey," Martha said.
Gwen walked up to Jack, her body stiff, her lips pursed. She raised her head to look into his face. And then she opened her arms, just as he opened his. They held each other in tight embrace for a moment. After a while Ianto joined them, and Martha followed suit. Mickey only shrugged.
"A group hug now," he sneered. "Lovely. It is shut up, Mickey this, shut up, Mickey that, generally, shut your gob, Mickey, cause we just wanna cuddle! The other Torchwood wasn't as mad as this one, you know. And they weren't pushing me around all the time. And they wouldn't tell me to keep my mouth shut when I wanted to ask an important question..."
"Shut up, Mickey," said Jack. Gwen was sobbing, with her face buried in his lapel. "Shut up and come 'ere!"
"Yeah, you wish!" Mickey jumped back.
"It was a warning, though," said Ianto. "May you withstand the wave, and here it comes. It sounded very warningly to me."
They stepped back from the group hug, looking at each other anxiously.
"A warning about what?" Martha asked. "What's the wave?"
"Donna spoke about cracks and rifts as well," Jack said. "She spoke about paradoxes seeping through rifts. It all sounds so familiar."
"The wave," Gwen murmured. "It freaks me out."
"It's the here it comes that freaks me," said Ianto. "Here it comes as in now?"
A dog howled outside. They all shrugged at this sound, so sad and lonely. But it wasn't lonely for long. There were other dog's voices joining in the howl, and even a fox's barking coming from the junkyard of a garden.
"Now, that can't be good," Mickey gasped, just as the floor trembled under his feet. He fell backwards, luckily landing on a damp and stinking mattress. Jack managed to keep Martha from falling; Gwen grabbed the stairs railing, and Ianto fell to his knees with a painful moan. The entire building shook, groaning and creaking. Dust and flakes of paint snowed on their heads. Jack looked up and saw cracks spreading across the ceiling.
"Run!" he yelled, pushing Martha in front of him, and reaching towards Ianto and Gwen. They didn't need to be told twice. Bricks were showering from bulging walls now, and the staircase collapsed with an overwhelming noise. The cloud of dust surrounded them in an instant. They were running blindly, tripping over unidentified objects, the ground moving under their feet. Somehow they all managed to find the exit, and they tumbled down the stairs onto the wild lawn in front of the house.
A moment later there was no house to talk about; just a huge pile of debris. And still the earth was shaking and rocking, and thrashing them around. The trees surrounding the once-a-house pile of debris swayed, and some of them fell down heavily. They could hear the SUV's alarm nearby; they could hear hundreds of car alarms wailing and screaming in the distance. And when they looked up they saw the worst of it.
"All the stars are falling down!" Gwen shouted. "Look! All the stars are falling down!"
To be continued...
