Director Tony Tyler

Anthony Tyler had taken over as the Director of Torchwood shortly before his father's death. The Torchwood that his father had built was strong and centered mostly on helping. Whether it was the world or helping stranded or lost aliens, Torchwood helped.

After he took over the reigns, he tried to steer it towards the same designs his father had. It went fine, at first. But as time progressed, Tony began hearing whispers. There were those who worked for Torchwood who wanted to go back to the old motto: "If it's alien, it's ours."

The whispers became stronger after Joshua's death. He'd tried going to his sister, to warn her. But she was buried in her grief and wouldn't let him in. He understood it, even if it broke his heart.

When rumors of the old Tyler mansion being haunted reached his ears, Tony was on edge. Some of his operatives had acted out of line recently. They weren't outright defying him, but their actions bordered on insubordination. They also bordered on breaking Intergalactic Law. But, he had no proof. The only person he knew who could get to the bottom of this was his sister. He couldn't even trust his own operatives. Even a few of the Council had been more brutal lately and others were pressuring him to retire. He shuddered to think of what would happen once he was gone, so he held on as long as he could.

It was Christmas Eve when he was finally able to breach the security of the little branch of Torchwood. What he found made his skin crawl and it took everything in him not to lose his lunch. They were planning on going after whatever was haunting the Tyler mansion, and they would be making their move soon. Tony had to protect his sister.

~DW~~DW~~DW~

Tony stood outside the gates of his childhood home and shivered. It seemed unnaturally cold, even for this time of year. Wind whipped around the mansion and it took him a moment to realize that it wasn't naturally occurring. No wonder people thought the place was haunted. If he hadn't known the story and the reasons behind it, he would've thought the same thing.

He stepped gingerly passed the gate, afraid to break his sister's solitude. He understood her grief and wanted to let her grieve but forces were moving and she was no longer safe.

By the time he reached the mansion, the wind was stinging. He didn't bother knocking on the door. The mansion was just as much his home as it was hers at one time. He pushed the door open and stepped inside.

After the roaring winds, the interior of the house was deafeningly silent. His breathing sounded harsh in his own ears and he guessed she probably already knew he was here. He stepped into the foyer where he'd grown up and gasped at the damage. The place was trashed. Mementos, pictures and even furniture looked like they had been thrown. There wasn't a single thing that hadn't been broken. Sitting in the middle of the carnage was Rose.

He took in her appearance and his heart broke for her even more. Their parents' death had been hard on her. He couldn't think how difficult Joshua's death had been. He approached her slowly.

"Rose." She didn't move. He tried again.

"Rose." She still didn't answer or give any indication she had heard him. He stepped in front of her and sat, facing her. Rose's eyes were open but moving rapidly, as if she were dreaming. He'd seen the same thing in aliens who had suffered severe trauma before Torchwood found them. More often than not, it took extensive therapy before they could even function properly in society. He knew that Rose was reliving her past traumas and he didn't know how to get through to her.

He did the only thing he could think of. He grabbed her hands in his own and squeezed. Her eyes stopped moving and her breath slowed marginally. He took that as a good sign.

"Rose." She blinked slowly but still looked straight ahead.

"Torchwood knows about you. They plan to come and find you and take you away. I need you to wake up and run."

"It's too late, Director Tyler." Tony froze on the spot. Rose froze as well, recognizing the voice. It belonged to Spencer Davis, the next in command after Tony. "Your father was a good man. A visionary. But he had too much of a soft spot for extraterrestrials and now we know why. How long have you harbored this Abomination?"

Tony felt Rose flinch at the use of that word. She lifted her eyes to his and for the first time since he walked through the door, her eyes were clear.

"We've harbored her my entire life. She's my sister."

"There's no way you are related. She's not even human." For the first time, Rose spoke.

"I haven't been human for a long time. But that doesn't mean I didn't start out that way."

"You can't just change your species."

"If that's what you think..." Rose didn't finish the statement. A shot rang out. She screamed as she watched Tony's body fall to the side. The agents who had invaded her home had shot her brother. The last remnant of her humanity. Her eyes glowed as she stood and the wind that whipped outside the house was suddenly inside.

"That was the wrong move, Spencer. Tony was the only thing holding me back. Do you really want to know what I can do?" Rose arched an eyebrow at him before flicking her hand. One by one, his agents disintegrated. "I can unravel you, atom by atom."

Spencer raised his gun, unfazed. Another shot rang out. Spencer expected Rose to fall, just as her brother had. Apparently, he'd completely missed the fact that she was basically a goddess. In a blink, she was gone.

Spencer glared down at the former Director's body.

"No matter where she runs and hides, Torchwood will always be there. Maybe you should have thought of that before running to protect her."