I will never let you fall
I'll stand up with you forever
I'll be there for you through it all
Even if saving you sends me to heaven

Red Jumpsuit Apparatus - Your Guardian Angel

Dead Man Walking: part 2

With a hot cup of tea in front of her, a relieved Pip on her lap, and the wood carving pictures in her hand Winter listened as Gwen explained the story of the Parish of St James. Owen looked tired, but he was dead, surely that meant he didn't sleep.

'Are we seriously going to act on something she's googled?' Tosh asked.

'What was the name of the parish church?' Jack asked.

'St Mary's.'

Winter looked up.

'That's where I found the glove,' Jack told them.

'Which makes the parish of St James…' Winter continued.

'The Town which would turn into a city called Cardiff,' Gwen completed the statement.

Jack put a hand to his mouth in thought.

'What happened to the town when death walked amongst them?' Owen asked.

They all turned to look at Gwen. She gazed back and answered sadly.

'People died, twelve people,' Owen's head drooped. 'Death needed thirteen souls before it had a permanent hold on the earth.'

'How did they stop it at twelve?' Jack asked.

'It just says faith.' Gwen replied.

Winter sighed. 'Well, what's that supposed to mean? Faith in what? Because I have no faith in any religion but I have every faith in Owen so a differentiation would be really helpful.'

Gwen shrugged. 'There's nothing else.'

Martha looked around the room and spoke up. 'Owen is changing, who knows what that energy is. What if it's making him a host, a gateway?'

'I've been thinking there's something in the darkness waiting for me to pass over,' Owen said, his voice was more shaky than normal, he was upset. Frightened? 'But I got it wrong, it's the other way around, it's trying to get here through me.' The watch on his wrist flashed and beeped and he asked Martha for the reading.

'Eighty percent' she replied.

'What happens when it completes?' Owen asked. 'We fight monsters but what happens when we turn out to be the monsters? When I do?'

Jack tried to calm him down but he was set on finding a way to stop himself. Winter looked up at him as he decided to kill himself for good.

'We can stop it,' she told him.

He shook his head exasperated. 'How? What are you going to do?' Owen argued.

'We'll think of something.'

'There isn't time.' He told her.

She stood up from the table letting Pip jump to the floor. 'I'll make time!'

'You can't stop it.' he argued back.

'We even haven't tried.'

'We are trying. We're trying right now!' Owen argued.

'This isn't good enough. You'll be dead.'

'I am dead!' He yelled.

She grabbed Gwen's folder of information.

'I've already lost you all once and it's going to take more than the grim reaper to take one of you away from me again!'

Before anyone could stop her she stormed from the room grabbing her coat and heading to the public library. There had to be more information somewhere.

TTT

She was deep in the city records when the call came in. Ianto sounded panicked, something happened at the Hub. The glove had attacked Martha and aged her, now she was dying. Death had escaped from Owen and Owen was still alive. She couldn't help a feeling that she'd missed something big back at the hub but this was more important she grabbed as many of the books as she could carry and ran past the archivist yelling for her to stop, straight back to the hub. Dumping them on Toshiko's desk.

She pulled her ear piece out of her pocket and tried to grasp what was happening in the hospital from the conversations between her team mates as she flicked through the books. Pip pulled one open and pushed it in front of her.

'Faith Pip. What does it mean.' She pulled another book off the pile and read from it, "Faith brought death to its knees." With a growl she threw the book on the ground and opened the next. "With Faith the creature fought." She wondered if it was something like the faith the people of earth had in The Doctor when The Master took control, but that required a Time Lord and satellites, there were no satellites when the plague hit Britain.

Pip flipped open the last of the books and she read the same passage again. Faith, Faith, Faith, Faith, Faith. Nothing to explain…wait.

Her hands sped across the keyboard as she tested her theory. Books were all different. They were written by different people, with different views and different ideals. They used different words to describe different feelings. In short, no two books were exactly the same even if they were on exactly the same subject but there was one word all these books had in common. Faith. And there was only one reason for that word to be included in every book, file and website she had come across. She pressed her hand to her ear piece and almost shouted the answer.

'It's a name!'

'Nemo?' Jack questioned over the comm links.

'It's a name Jack. Faith was the little girl who the priest awoke. Faith is a name!'

'How?' Jack replied.

'It doesn't say.' Her moment of genius suddenly seemed very small, she hadn't a clue why she had thought it was such a breakthrough originally. Suddenly static filled her ears and she ripped the earpiece off. Pip laid a hand on her arm and she looked at him, worry creasing her brow. After a few seconds her eyes homed in on the door. There was nothing more she could do but wait.

Twenty minutes later she was pacing two a fro, Pip balanced on her shoulder and her fingernails bitten down as far as they would go. She yelped as the door rolled open and the team stepped through. Jack looked up at her and smiled broadly. She looked quite the picture. Hair pulled back in a messy bun with pencils sticking out every which way, her violet eyes were wide with worry and there was a highlighter mark down her arm where she'd obviously tried to scratch it and left a trail of purple instead. He stepped aside to reveal Owen at the centre of the group. She relaxed and grinned, flinging herself forward into a hug. Owen patted her back and let her pull back but flinch when she smacked his chest.

'Don't.' Smack . 'You.' Smack. 'Ever.' Smack. 'Do that.' Smack. 'To me.' Smack, 'Again!'

Jack laughed and pulled her off him giving him some room.

TTT

Winter sat on Jack's desk, her hair brushed out and her arm scrubbed clean. She swung her legs from the table fingering Jack's captains hat. It was a bit dirty, she should ask Ianto how to clean it.

'Knock knock.'

With a start she looked up to see Martha standing in the doorway her things in her hands.

'Hey.'

'Hey, you off?'

Martha nodded. 'I have a fiancé to get back to.'

They smiled at each other.

'Well then, see you around.'

Winter nodded and waved. Martha walked out of the door, but after a few second returned. 'I'm sorry, you know about before. It was out of line. It's just. We all worry about you. We just want you to be okay. The Doctor would kill me if I let you go crazy.'

Winter nodded. 'It's alright, I shouldn't have flown off the handle, you were only trying to help. But seriously, I'm fine. I will be fine.'

Martha nodded and smiled, walking over to Winter and pulling her into a hug. 'We'll catch up soon, you can come visit me some time. Though, I can't imagine you get bored much, living here.'

Winter laughed and Martha took her leave. It was funny how things turned out. She looked out of the office to see Owen sat, staring at his computer. Sighing she got up from the table and exited the office, leaning up against his table.

'You okay?' she asked.

'Just realised I can't sleep,' he told her.

She smiled sadly. 'Sorry.' They sat in silence for a moment before she continued. 'Think of it as extra time. You can do things you couldn't before, learn a language or an instrument. Read War and Peace.'

Owen snorted. 'That what you would do?'

She shook her head. 'No, I overdosed on sleeping pills.'

He shot her a look and mumbled an apology.

'It doesn't matter. Look what I'm saying is that the Owen I know won't sit around doing nothing, he'll play some daft computer game, or finish an extra autopsy, or maybe finally win that ridiculous arcade game in Jack's office.'

Owen smirked. 'Thanks.'

She smiled and got up to go to bed and kissed him on the cheek. Before leaving the room she turned to speak to him once more. 'Are you sure you're going to be alright?'

He spun around on the chair and smirked at her.

…

'Have a little faith.' She rolled her eyes and left for bed.

…

Hope you enjoyed this. More soon, I promise.

['Zaziness': I know it's sad, but this ones got a few sweet moments in it so hopefully that makes up for it. I must admit the whole crack in the wall thing wasn't a call back to Amy just something I can remember doing when I was scared as a child. I'd try and focus on something else and concentrate all my thought on it but my mind always rebelled and went back to thinking about the scary thing. The Doctor was a last minute add in but I just really needed to write some more for him. I think, in another life, winter and the doctor would have made a great team and would have got on really well but she's too attached to Jack and the team to leave them. As for the breath, no she wouldn't die, it's more like her breathing switches with her mind. So she's seeing and thinking in the TARDIS as well as breathing. All that's left at the hub is her body. To them she's seem dead but she's really alive and well in the TARDIS. Once again you hit the nail on the head with the idea of the TARDIS rejecting Owen. That was completely the plan. Well done for spotting it. Hmm, Petruchio, I didn't realise they both started with a P. lol we should have play dates! HA!

'Sonotalady': You're not insane, just very tolerant :) I liked Jack's response too. It just seemed perfect for him to be very careful of what he says until they get him back. Sometimes I think Jack being serious is just as funny as him joking around. I adored the scene where she yells at them, I was frowing and having such a go and then just cut it down to make it short and snappy. The result was a nice little telling off that both Jack and Owen really deserved. I'm glad you liked it. I always enjoy writing for DT's doctor so adding him in this chapter was such a treat for me.

'Rachy Babes': Thank you :D I put in a few more Owen Winter moments in this because I know you all like them. I would be all up for Pip taking down the weevils. I think he could use a gun if he had to. And if that failed, maybe hand grenades.]