There's always one thing I meant to ask Jack, back in the old days. I wanted to know about that Doctor of his and Flo's. The man who appears out of nowhere and saves the world, except sometimes he doesn't.
All those times in history when there was no sign of him. I wanted to know why not. But I don't need to ask anymore. I know the answer now. Flo was right. She was right because sometimes she and the Doctor must look at this planet and turn away in shame. I'm recording this in case anyone ever finds it, so you can see... you can see how the world ended.
Jack, Gwen and I sat in some sort of cafeteria. I wasn't really concentrating to be honest. I felt like the devil. I felt like I'd cheated everyone. Ianto and I both died and I got a second chance to live. That wasn't fair. And now it all made sense. The 456 had tried to kill us because of my son. Because if it had taken my baby, all hell would have broken loose. Rhys would have released the files of the government and the planet would have gone insane. And if they hadn't taken him, and killed us all, not realising that Jack and I would survive or that we also had Gwen, then there would be no protection. The children would be given up. And the parents, aunties, uncles, grandparents, cousins, everyone would go insane too. Either way... it would have destroyed the world. And now we had to stop the government giving up these children. Rose was right. An unborn child is going to destroy the world. It all made sense now. And we had to stop it. Fuck knows how. I glanced around, looking at the bodies laid out through out the halls, covered up. I think we were in some sort of school building, housing the dead from Thames House. Like I said, I wasn't really sure. I wasn't really concentrating. Frobisher and Bridget Spears sat down in front of us suddenly and there was a long silence as the three of us looked daggers at Frobisher.
"The threat still stands." Gwen snapped.
"Haven't we gone past that-" Frobisher began.
"No." I interrupted. "We haven't gone past that."
"My husband is still out there with everything you've done recorded on his laptop." Gwen said in agreement. "One word from me and he will release that information to the public."
"What do you think Torchwood is now? Do you think you're still players?"
I laughed coldly, "Torchwood is a institute by the Crown, do you think we're over?" Spears and Frobisher stared at me uneasily. "You've read the files of how Torchwood started presumably? I was there."
"That's impossible." Spears said. "That was with the werewolf and Queen Victoria."
"I was there." I said angrily. "I caused it. I pissed of Queen Victoria quite a bit. And I killed a werewolf. And believe it or not, The Doctor was my partner, boyfriend, whatever you want to call it... and I left him. How dangerous does that me?"
"So to answer you," Gwen said, looking at Spears. "We can try."
"We're at a tipping point right now." Frobisher said nervously. "Civilization's about to fall into hell. You want to start that descent a little earlier, go ahead."
"He's right." Jack said, making me and Gwen stare at him, dissapointed. "Look what happened. Phone Rhys. Tell him we've lost."
Gwen stared at him before getting up and walking away with a sigh.
"What about Lois?" I asked.
"I'm afraid Miss Habiba is in police custody, charged with espionage." Frobisher said.
"Then what about my daughter and, and her son?" Jack asked.
"They're free to go."
Jack swallowed, taking a breath, "Ianto Jones, he's got family back in South Wales, a sister. Has she been told?"
"We're not releasing any of the names, not yet."
"Then let Gwen tell her." I said. "You said yourself, the world is going to hell any second. Before it does... give us a moment of grace. Just take Gwen home, please." Frobisher stayed silent looking at us as we glancing back at Gwen sitting against a wall, hugging her knees as she cried.
"I can't look at her anymore." Jack gulped.
...
Jack, Rhys, Gwen and I stood in the helipad, watching the helicopter's blades spinning. Jack and I turned to Gwen and hugged the both of them before Gwen and Rhys ran off to the helicopter.
I quickly gave Gwen one last hug, "They've got kids. Ianto's niece and nephew. Save them." I whispered in her ear.
We watched as they stepped into the helicopter and a soldier cuffed me and Jack. Gwen looked back at us as the helicopter lifted into the air.
...
We'd been moved to some sort of holding facility, and we'd hit rock bottom. A policeman unlocked a cell door and lead the both of us in.
"Cell M-3, Captain Harkness and Miss Smith, 9:50 a.m." The policeman announced.
From another door on the opposite cell, someone shouted, "Captain, Flo is that you? Captain Harkness, Flo, it's me, it's Lois!" Neither of us bothered to answer her, staring ahead into space as the policeman removed our cuffs. "It's Lois!" The policeman stepped out of the cell and shut the door with a thunderous clang. "Captain?! Flo?! What are they doing, what's happening out there? Can you hear me?" With a sigh we both sat down on the cell bench. "What do we do? Captain? Flo?" We stayed silent and Jack closed his eyes, dropping his head as I layed my head on his shoulder, pulling my legs up to the side.
...
"On the floor! On the floor!" Jack and I looked up in shock, hearing commotion in the hallway. The both of us jumped to our feet, running to the door. It was suddenly opened by a bunch of guards dressed in black.
"What's going on?" Jack asked. "Hey!"
"Move." A soldier ordered us as we were dragged out of the cell and rushed us down the hall.
"Flo! Captain!" Lois shouted from her cell.
...
The two of us stood on a helipad, handcuffed, and having no idea what was going on.
...
Jack and I got escorted down the halls of Thames House, lead by Johnson, the woman who'd tried to kill us but in the end was now helping, and a bunch of other soldiers along with Dekker as well. Further down the hall, we noticed Alice and Steven. The two of them stood up as we passed them.
"Uncle Jack!" Steven exclaimed, running towards Jack.
"Hey, soldier!" Jack said as Steven hugged Jack, no that he could hug him back as the both of us were hancuffed. The little blonde boy looked up with me with a grin.
"Hello again." Steven giggled.
"We haven't got time!" Johnson said, trying to sound heartless, although deep down we knew she couldn't.
"Listen, stay with your mum, OK?" I said, smiling at him. Steven headed back to Alice and we continued to be escorted down the hallway. Alice shared a look with the both of us as we walked past.
"Sorry, would you..." Alice said to one of Johnson's female assistants as I glanced back. She quickly kissed Steven on the cheek, "I'll be back." She quickly hurried after us.
...
Dekker, Jack and I were led into a big open area full of equipment, lights illuminating the empty space left over. The three of us were led into the circle of equipment, our cuffs undone.
"This should be everything you need." Johnson said. "And if it's not, we'll find it."
"For what?" Jack asked.
"Wavelengths. The 456 are named after a wavelength, and that's got to be the key to fighting back."
"You're wasting your time." Dekker said dryly. "There's nothing you can do. I've analysed those transmissions for forty years and never broke 'em."
Without batting an eyelash, Johnson turned and drew out her gun, firing at Dekker's leg. He shouted out in pain, collapsing to the floor. She reholstered her gun and turned back to me and Jack.
"What do you think, Captain? Miss Smith?" Johnson asked us. "She," She nodded over at Alice, standing behind us. "Told me you were good. Was she right?"
Jack smiled. "Let's get to work." I helped him take off his coat, much like Ianto used to and threw it to the side as we walked off, getting started.
"Get us access to the Torchwood software." Jack said as we walked up to a laptop each, beginning to type. "Log on to the servers and..." The logging on sound pinged through the room. "Welcome back."
Dekker stumbled up behind us, leaning on a crate, with his leg wrapped in a bandage... Wherever he got that from. "It still won't work." He gasped. "There's nothing on there. It's useless."
"We've got technology way beyond you."
"We hacked into Torchwood years ago, you idiot. There's nothing."
"Bring him over here." Johnson ordered, glaring at him. Two soldiers walked over, lifting him up off his feet.
"Dad, come and look at this." Alice said. We looked over to find her at another laptop. We headed over to her, looking at the screen. "It's some sort of pirate station. They're trying to get the story out to the public. But they're taking the kids."
On the laptop, a clip played of school busses rolling by, one after another, each full of children.
"We're broadcasting this on digital one four one." A woman said. "It's the kids! Tell everyone to tune in to one four one."
...
"If we cycle the wavelength back at them..." Jack explained to Johnson, seeing as me and Jack had managed to work out a plan.
"I know what you're trying to do." Dekker called over. "A constructive wave." Jack and I stared at him warily. "Do you think people aren't working on that all over the world? But it's never gonna work. The effect would be like shouting at the 456, that's all. Just shouting."
"Why did Clem die?" I asked, looking at Johnson, knowing that she and Gwen were there when Clem died back in HUB2 when me and Ianto were too busy... well dying too.
"It was the 456 that killed him." Johnson said.
"But how did they do it? Why did they do it?"
"We've got the recording here." Johnson said, showing us a laptop.
"His mind must have synced to the 456 back when he was a child." Jack said. "But they didn't need to kill him. He wasn't any threat. Unless maybe that connection hurt them."
"This is the 456 at the moment of his death. We've lifted the sound from the Thames House link." She pressed a button and a sound of the 456 screeching played on the laptop, showing up on the screen as a waveform as Dekker got up.
"That sound, Mr Dekker, what's that sound?"
"I don't know, it's new." Dekker frowned.
"Exactly. It's new."
Jack looked at me, hopeful. "We don't have to analyse the wavelength, just copy it. Turn it into a constructive wave. But we've got no way of transmitting."
"Of course you have." Dekker said.
"Shut up." I snapped at the man.
"Same way as them."
"We'll find something else."
"What does he mean?" Johnson asked.
"Don't listen to him." Jack said.
"Dekker, tell me."
"The 456 used children." Dekker said. "To establish the resonance."
"Meaning what?"
"We need a child."
"What do you mean?" Alice asked.
"Centre of the resonance. Hoo! That child's gonna fry."
Dekker chuckled as Alice's face began to grown scared. "No, Dad. No, tell them no." Alice begged.
"One child or millions." Johnson said regretfully.
"Dad, no. Dad, tell them no!"
"We're running out of time."
"Dad, no! No, Dad!"
"Captain!"
Jack quickly nodded as Alice's eyes rounded with fright and she began to run off, screaming, "Steven!" I turned, pushing Jack's shoulder so he was facing me. I raised my fist and punched him as hard as I could, glaring at him. He stumbled back, wiping a trail of blood from his lip, giving me a forgiving look. Not that I wanted to be forgiven by him, of course.
It was a bit of a blur after that. I screamed a lot, clutching onto Jack violently as he set up the equipment. Steven was carried in by a soldier and placed into the circle as Jack dragged me out.
"What are we doing, Uncle Jack?" Steven asked as Jack ignored him, going from one laptop to another. "What's happening? What do you want me to do?"
"Steven, get away!" Alice screamed from the hallway, being held back by soldiers.
"No!" I shouted. But it wasn't me. I didn't make myself scream... I. I was seeing gold. Literally. My eyesight had gone gold. And- My whole body had been taken over. I recognised it as regeneration energy and... oh my bloody son. My whole body was out of control.
"Flo." Jack began cautiously as everyone stared at me, "What are you doing?" I felt myself walking towards Steven. I raised my arm, energy shooting out and sending Steven flying across the a scream he landed against the wall and fell to the floor. Alice gasped, pushed past the soldiers and ran over to her son. Within a moment she stood back up with a sigh.
"Just unconcious." Alice sighed.
"I can use regeneration energy to kill off the 456." I said. Not me. But the baby.
"Your an unborn baby." Jack said, managing to work it it.
"BLOODY DO IT JACK!" I shouted. Me, this time.
Jack stared at me hesitantly before pressing a few more buttons. He stepped away as a humming, buzzing sound emerged from the equipment. I found my body stiffen and I began to scream. And that's all I can remember.
...
Jack walked hesitantly over to Flo's unconcious body and picked her upm hugging her tightly to his chest.
...
Jack and Alice sat on a narrow bench on the long hallway he'd been led down less than and hour before. Alice sighed, laying her head on Jack's shoulder.
"Is she going to be ok?" Alice asked, nodding to an unconcious Flo laying on the bench opposite.
"Fine." Jack nodded. "The Time Lord fetus can use an ultimate amount of regeneration energy in the womb."
"She saved my Steven." Alice said, tears of happiness dropping down her face. "I should wake until she wakes up, I need to give her something, say something, how can I forgive her I-"
"No." Jack sighed, standing up. "I'm going to set up a teleport, send her home..."
"Dad." She said sternly. Jack looked back at her. "You were going to give my son up. Kill him. Stay away." She spat, getting up and storming off. Jack squeezed his eyes shut before heading back into the room full of equipment, trying to find some sort of energy to power up her vortex manipulator.
...
"Incoming teleport." Mr Smith announced. Sarah Jane looked up in shock from sitting on the steps with her arms round Luke and Clyde and Rani between her legs. The teenagers looked up too as Flo's body appeared in the middle of the floor, unconcious. The four of them stared at her.
"Is she ok?" Rani asked quietly.
"Confirmed, just unconcious." Mr Smith said.