Among the Forgotten

by LizzeXX

11/OC -Time Lady- When the Doctor's regenerates, his Mate, Angel, is in for the most heartbreaking time of her lives. Cracks in time, Amy Pond, River Song, and many more trials will be thrown at her. How will everything affect her? Will she survive losing her companion Rory? What will she do when the Pandorica opens? And what happened to the Doctor? Sixth in the Heart of Time Saga.

30. Miracle Day: The Miracle

A/N: To start, I want to warn that this crossover will be a bit different than the actual Miracle Day series. Torchwood is not destroyed and still exists, Owen/Tosh/Ianto/Gray are all around, and Angel will be present. As a result, the Torchwood blip was never broadcast everywhere, Esther never called Rex/distracted him and so neither of them, nor Vera, got involved with Torchwood. Vera will be mentioned once or twice as a medical director, but beyond that, we won't be seeing them. As a result, all the scenes of them will either not exist (because they never got involved) or will be altered to adapt to Torchwood taking over. And, just to warn...the next three chapters are...going to be Doctor-lite! -gasp!- More about why in my last A/N :)

Enjoy!

Warning: This episode of Torchwood contains references to a pedophile, mentions of past rape, and past murder. This comes about mostly when Oswald Danes is mentioned and when scenes involving him occur.

~8~

Miracle Day: The Miracle

Angel walked silently through the TARDIS halls, her arms crossed before her, quiet in her thoughts. Rory had been gone not even a day and, passing Amy's room (the TARDIS had seemed insistent that the couple had two rooms till they were married), she could hear it, Amy was inside singing and dancing around her room, perfectly happy.

Which killed her.

She hadn't been able to stand it and had just…wandered…not really knowing where she was heading, but just…needing something to distract her from her thoughts, from her fears and concerns and hurt. But she missed Rory so much.

She sighed, the door to the kitchen sliding open, the TARDIS seeming to sense she might need some comfort food. Mint Oreo hot pepper sandwiches were, oddly enough, what she wanted to eat at the moment. And Gwen had thought that her own cravings of brownies and oranges was odd.

She stopped short though when she saw who else was inside the kitchen. The Doctor was sitting in a chair at the small table, a small mug set up before him with steam coming out of it, slightly hunched over, seeming as weary about everything as she was.

"Ah Angel," he offered her a smile though, seeming to come a bit more to life at her presence, "Um…how are you?"

She sighed, and could only shake her head sadly.

He nodded, understanding completely that it was a hard thing she'd just experienced. He still remembered how it felt to lose Rose to Pete's World. It was one thing when your companion dropped hints of wanting to leave or you had a talk about it and got to say goodbye, when you were expecting it. It was quite another when the companion disappeared so suddenly.

"Trouble sleeping?" he guessed.

She nodded, "Yeah," and glanced over at the refrigerator, opening it to get the tiny peppers out. She leaned in, opening a bottom drawer and pulling out a handful of hot peppers, straightening up, about to close the door when she noticed something, "We need more milk," she remarked, closing the door and setting the peppers on the counter beside her, moving to the cupboard to dig around for the mint creamed cookies as well.

"Yes," the Doctor winced behind her, "Sorry, I um, I haven't been able to sleep very much either," he explained.

"Oh?" she murmured, pulling the same amount of mint Oreos out of the container.

He nodded, though she couldn't see, "Ever since I regenerated really," he began in thought, "I just…can't seem to get comfortable, can't fall asleep."

"Sorry," she offered, moving a pepper between two Oreos to make a small sanwich.

"That's why I'm here," he laughed, knocking on the table, "Used the last of the milk to make some hot chocolate with golden sprinkles in it."

Angel froze at that, the mint-cookie-pepper sandwich halfway to her mouth, her eyes wide at what he'd just said.

"What?" she breathed, feeling herself starting to shake.

"Seems to be the only thing that helps me sleep," he laughed, taking a sip and sighing in happiness, "Has to be dark hot chocolate though and golden sprinkles, none of that yellow or colored nonsense."

Angel closed her eyes and put down the little sandwich, bracing her hands on the counter, she couldn't do this. Not right now, not now, not after losing Rory.

No.

This was too much, he had to say that didn't he? He'd always commented on her eyes in her last body, how they were like hot chocolate with golden sprinkles, he'd loved her eyes. And now all they were good for was a drink that would help him sleep?

She couldn't handle this right now, so she said the only thing she could think of that might help.

"Can I go see Jack?" she asked him.

"What?" the Doctor blinked a few times at how random the question was.

She took a breath and opened her eyes, turning around to face him, her arms crossed, "I just lost Rory Doctor…he…he was like a brother to me, like in Venice, I just…I need to be with my other brother right now."

The Doctor frowned, feeling rather hurt that Angel preferred to be with Jack, seek comfort from the human, rather than him. But…he couldn't say no to her. There was a pain in her eyes now, she looked near ready to cry and he knew that losing Rory had hit her terribly hard. He could understand what it was like to lose family and just want to be with the family you had left for comfort.

"Of course," he nodded, drinking the last of the hot chocolate before standing, dropping the cup into the sink to wash later and nodding towards the door for her to follow, the little mint-cookie-pepper sandwiches forgotten.

~8~

"I'm telling you Jack!" Owen followed Jack through the hub of Torchwood, papers in his hand, "Something is wrong."

"Look Owen," Jack sighed, trying not to roll his eyes, "Maybe you need a break…"

Owen gave him a look, "That's not what this is about."

Tosh was pregnant, about 6 months along, only just started to really show given the jackets she wore. They'd been married in a lovely ceremony in Queen Elizabeth I's court, had a wonderful honeymoon on an alien starliner, and returned to their normal lives in Torchwood…as normal as it could be that is.

Owen had been dividing his time between working with Tosh at Torchwood and returning to the hospital. He was determined that Tosh would deliver in a safe, non-Torchwood related area, and had begun to start trying to build up relations in the hospital again. He wanted to get to know the nurses who worked there, the doctors that might attend to pregnant women, the conditions, make some friendships so that, when the time came, Tosh would be well taken care of.

It had started to take its toll though, Owen was a bit more tired and stretched than before, especially given that he'd been cured of an affliction that had plagued him for a while. During one rather bad mission, he'd been killed and brought back. But the resurrection had gone wrong and he'd been in a semi-dead state. He hadn't needed sleep or food or even warmth, which had been one of the main reasons for him and Tosh never having been together. But they'd had many more missions since then and, using some more alien items they'd picked up, they'd been able to reverse it, something they both loved and hated. Loved because Owen was human again, which explained Tosh's pregnancy, but hated because Owen complained so much that he missed not needing sleep, had gotten more done. And now, all that, coupled with Tosh's pregnancy and taking care of her (not that the team wasn't all pitching in like they'd done with Gwen), they'd decided they needed help. Which was why…

"You should listen to him Jack," Gray called from where he was helping Ianto catalogue a few more pieces of alien tech.

Jack had called Gray in to help them. The team had been…tense…and a bit cross with that decision, especially Owen, but it had been Jack's final decision. And Gray had done well, surprisingly well. It didn't mean the team completely trusted him, but they trusted him enough to have their back during extreme moments. He'd proven to be an asset. Everything that had been done to him, that he'd endured, had made him more resistant to pain, he'd been able to focus better than them when injured, keep going longer, keep fighting past it. And having lived with those terrible aliens for as long as he had had given him a new perspective. He often thought of things in terms of what the enemy might desire which helped them enormously in working out why things were happening and what the enemy's next move might be.

He was still as quiet as he'd been when he'd truly been returned to Jack, though he was starting to speak up more. He didn't really argue with them or fight them on matters, more like he was just trying to fit in and not cause trouble. They were still wary of him, and likely would be for a while, but, in the same breath, of all the things he'd clearly intended to do…most had been stopped by the Doctor and Angel and the rest were fixed by the Time Lords as well.

Tosh was, surprisingly, the most accepting of Gray being there, which they were all still trying to work out how that had happened given he'd shot her and nearly killed her the first time they'd met.

Jack sighed and turned to Owen, "Fine, what's up?"

Tosh, who had been watching the small exchange from the computers, running her usual searches for alien activity, sent Ianto a look, making the man smirk. That was another good reason for having Gray there, Jack seemed to feel so guilty still about what he'd done as a child, that, if Gray asked him to do something, he did it.

"Thanks," Owen offered to Gray, who nodded and returned to his work, "Look," he stepped closer to Jack, showing him the files in his hands, the records from the local hospital, and then some, "Everyone in the hospital," he pointed out a number, "They're alive."

"Well that's good isn't it?" Tosh asked, looking over, "Means they're doing a good job."

"It's not that though," Owen shook his head though he smiled at her, "No one's died. At all."

"What do you mean?" Ianto frowned.

"It started two nights ago," Owen explained, "I was working late last night and we got a call from the morgue yeah, because they hadn't had anything new in 24 hours," he shuffled his pages, the others starting to gather around him, listening now, "I mean literally, not a single death. No heart attacks, no illnesses, no accidents, nothing, and it's not just that," he found what he was looking for and started to pass the papers out, "Another nurse just transferred in from Royal Hope, but she said that it was the same there. No one dead, 24 hours. I called a few mates from University too, some in America, Russia, Africa even…all the same. 24 hours and not a single death at all. And that was the other night Jack...it's been nearly 24 hours since then as well, still no deaths."

The team shifted and looked over at Jack, their gazes dropping to his arm, the same one that had been injured earlier that day…that was still injured…

Tosh frowned and moved back to the computers, typing away and shaking her head as a new search result popped up, "It's not just there," she called, "Its everywhere, the entire world Jack, no one's reported any deaths at all."

"What does that mean though?" Ianto looked at Jack, "What could have happened?"

"I wish I knew," Jack murmured…

When his phone range.

He looked down, smiling at the name that popped up, 'TARDIS,' and quickly answered, "Angie! Speak of an angel…" his smile faded though, making the rest of the team frown, "I'll be right there," he nodded, before dashing for the door without another word.

~8~

Jack stood in the center of the Plass, Gwen beside him with her daughter, Anwen. Gwen had been at home with Rhys but had decided to come in and see what was going on when she'd run into Jack wandering through the Plass. She was still with Torchwood, but her time was just a bit shorter with them as she wanted to be around her daughter more, understandably so. It was another reason for Gray to come onboard, he had as much experience as Gwen in fighting and was truly the man to have in a fight, his protectiveness and self-preservation instincts were phenomenal.

She'd offered to stay with Jack, let Angel meet Anwen properly, especially since the Time Lady had accurately predicted that it would be a girl. Apparently the woman had called Jack and mentioned she was coming right at that moment to visit and would meet him in the Plass. She thought Jack ought to be thrilled for that, but the man looked solemn and she knew that, whatever reason was behind the sudden visit, it was worrying him.

"So went outside all on my own," she murmured to Anwen, bouncing the baby as she fussed, "'Twas midnight, not a sound to be heard. And I looked up and a woman came out of the sky. Ah! Shining she was, like moonlight, her eyes white, blazing white. And then she started to sing like a thousand choirs. One woman with a thousand voices and it was beautiful..."

Her small story, that had managed to gather a smile on Jack's face, was cut off by a soft wheezing noise and a blue police telephone box appearing before them in the surprisingly un0crowded Plass.

"…be just fine Doctor," they could hear Angel speak from within, her voice growing louder the nearer she got to the doors, "Why don't you take Amy to…to the Trojan Gardens, or Arcadia, she'd like that, it'll be calm."

The Doctor must have said something because the next thing Angel said was, "I'll see you later," and stepped out of the doors, closing them behind her.

Gwen and Jack frowned instantly the moment they saw her, her expression, before she spotted them, was sad and…a bit hurt…weary…but then she looked up at them, a wide grin immediately broke out onto her face, "Jack!" she shouted, rushing right to him and throwing her arms around him, hugging him tightly.

Jack had to laugh at that, spinning Angel around as he hugged her in return, setting her down only to rock her side to side till she laughed.

"Hello Angel," Gwen greeted with a smile, "Say hi to your guardian angel sweetheart," she held Anwen's hand up and made her wave too.

"Gwen she's beautiful," Angel walked over, leaning down to touch Anwen's cheek, "You look just like your mum," she whispered to the baby who gurgled, "I bet your daddy does."

"What?" Gwen laughed, shaking her head at her.

"She just said that Rhys says that all the time."

"How do you know that?"

"We were taught a few languages in the Academy," Angel told her, Baby, for some reason, had always been easier for her to pick up than other languages, probably because of her nephew though.

"And Baby was one of them?" Jack shook his head.

She nodded, giving him an example of just how ridiculous some of the languages could be, "Goldfish as well."

He laughed, but it was cut off by the sound of the TARDIS wheezing, the box fading away moments later. Jack frowned as he eyed it, something about all this not sitting right with him, "The Doctor's not staying?"

He couldn't remember a time, even before the Time Lords had Mated, where the Doctor was far from Angel's side of his own choice. He'd been forced away from Angel during the Year-That-Never-Was, but that was beyond his control. And the man he'd seen when they'd stopped the 456 had taken SO much convincing to let Angel go anywhere without him. It seemed...to easy. Why was he suddenly so ok with her being there and him staying in the TARDIS?

Angel shook her head, her smile fading a bit, "I wanted some alone time with my brother and his team. And besides, he's got his own companion to worry about."

"Where's yours?" Jack looked around, as though expecting some random boy to come running over, "I mean, you said companions on the phone the other day, I assumed you meant you had one too…"

"I um...I did," Angel said quietly.

The past tense wasn't lost on them.

"I'm sorry Ang," Jack whispered, reaching out to put an arm around her shoulders, the TARDIS completely gone now.

"Are you alright?" Gwen asked, placing a comforting hand on the girl's arm.

Angel smiled and nodded, resting her hand on Gwen's and squeezing, "I just wanted to see you all. Take...take some time away from everything and just be with family."

They nodded, "Well, let's not keep them waiting then!" Jack cheered, trying to brighten Angel up. She smiled at it, yeah, but…they could both see something else in her eyes, something that went beyond just sorrow for her companion, there was something else bothering her, and they were determined to find out what it was, as gently as they could because they didn't want to upset her any more than she already was.

Jack squeezed her to his side once more and off they went, heading for the Hub.

~8~

"Gray!" Angel laughed as her other 'brother' nearly crushed her in a bear hug that had her lifted off the ground.

The moment she'd entered the Torchwood Hub she'd basically been attacked with hugs! It had been…nice…she hadn't been hugged very often since the Doctor had forgotten her, Rory gave wonderful hugs but…with him gone now…it was just so nice to get a warm hug from so many people in such a short amount of time. It made her smile a real smile for the first time in such a long time.

"Put her down," Jack laughed as Gray did exactly what he did, hugged her side to side but while she was still in the air.

"She's turning blue!" Gwen added jokingly as she set Anwen in a small play area that Jack had insisted they set up in the corner so that he could see the little girl whenever she was brought to work with Gwen.

"I'm fine," Angel told them as she was set back down, "But…what's wrong?" she looked at them, all of them falling silent, "I'm psychic so don't bother trying to lie, I can tell something's worrying you. I know I interrupted something before…" she looked at them, "What's wrong?"

The team just looked at each other, tense, they had all gotten the same impression of Angel the moment they'd seen her, that she was…sad. They wanted this to be a good trip for her, a break, a nice moment, but…with the news Owen had just given them…it didn't seem like it was going to be all that calm or nice.

And they were in it alone, mostly. The hub was up and running and all their scans and software was up-to-date, they were invisible to the rest of the world. Quite literally too, Tosh had worked out how to not get them visible from space. The only ones who knew about them were the government, UNIT, and the Time Lords, all other facilities were in the dark and all evidence of Torchwood was always wiped off of systems as soon as they finished their work. If anyone tried to search for Torchwood, they'd get no results at all. Which might be suspicious in a way, but it also meant no one could find them.

And since they weren't sure it was alien in nature, it made sense that they hadn't been contacted about what was happening in the hospitals yet. It was like…people were only just starting to notice.

"Jack?" Angel turned to him, looking at him for an answer.

He sighed, scratching the back of his neck, trying to debate whether to answer or see if he might possibly get away with lying so as not to worry her. She'd sounded sad on the phone, and he knew that, whatever happened to her companion, must have been recent. He knew what it was like to want to get away from things. It was why the Doctor and the TARDIS weren't there. But he didn't want to worry her any more than she was.

But then Angel noticed something on his arm.

"Jack!" Angel gasped, her eyes wide as she gently reached out to grab Jack's hand, gingerly pulling his sleeve up, frowning as she saw what looked like scratches all over his arm...red and raw, "What happened?!"

"Weevil got me," Jack shrugged, trying to play it off.

"It...it hasn't healed," Ianto added, stating what was on all their fearful minds, it SHOULD have healed by now.

Angel turned her hand over, the palm of her right hand resting on the palm of his, her other hand moving to his elbow and concentrating, the team watching on as gentle golden waves wafted out of her hands, meeting in the middle and seeping into his skin, healing the cut

Jack smiled softly at her for that, "Thanks Ang," he whispered, dropping a kiss to the top of her hair.

"Jack…" Angel just shook her head, "Why aren't you healing?"

She'd sensed something…off…something terribly, terribly bad. But, it was just like in the Aplan maze, it was everywhere, there was so much that was wrong she couldn't work out what it was exactly. But seeing Jack as well had worried her, he felt...different when he'd hugged her earlier, off, not...not normal. Whatever it was that was wrong had affected Jack as well and THAT made it something she needed to help resolve in her mind, Jack was her brother, she wanted to help him as much as she could.

"We're…not sure," Ianto admitted.

"Something's happening," Tosh began, "It…it seems like people aren't dying."

"It's like with Jack," Gray added, "They're just…not dying."

"What?" Angel frowned, looking alarmed, how had she not sensed THAT?! Yes, she was a little distracted...alright a lot distracted...but something like this, something that was affecting all of planet Earth…THAT she should have sensed. She didn't understand her abilities sometimes. How she could sense such small things and miss so many big ones. Mickey had said psychics couldn't see everything, maybe that was it. Maybe she just couldn't see something that affected everything. Oh Mickey, he was so brilliant.

"And I'm not healing," Jack nodded.

Owen looked down as his phone rang, Gwen's phone ringing at the same time, "Harper," Owen answered quickly.

"Hello?" Gwen frowned as she listened to the frantic voice on the other end of her mobile.

"I need to get to the hospital," Owen and Gwen said at once, ending their calls moments later.

"Why?" Ianto frowned.

"What's wrong?" Tosh moved to Gwen who seemed near tears.

"That was Andy," Gwen swallowed, "It's my dad. He's in hospital," she looked at Jack before rushing to get Anwen, "Uh, I've gotta see him."

"I'll give you a ride," Owen nodded, "I've been called in as a medical…" he turned to Jack, "Expert," he added with a look and they all knew that it meant an alien threat might be the cause.

"I'm coming," Jack decided, "Angie, why don't you stay here with the team…"

"Can I go with you?" Angel cut in, shifting a bit.

Jack blinked at her question, at her actions after it, that…was different. Not quite so different than the previous Angels he'd known, but really quite different than the last time he'd seen her. She'd been so…sure, so take charge, knew just what to do and what was needed. Now she seemed…as insecure and timid as she had been when he'd first met her, unsure of herself.

"Yeah," he nodded, "Gray," he pointed at his brother, "Keep an eye on things," he gestured at Tosh and Ianto who shook their heads at that, but smiled. He always told Gray to 'keep an eye on things,' but in the end it really was just his way of trying to make Gray feel included. And, of all of the team, Ianto and Tosh were the few that didn't have a problem being around Gray alone.

"You got it," Gray nodded.

Jack grabbed his jacket and took Angel's hand as he led her out of the hub, glancing over at her when he felt her squeeze his hand to see her staring down at them with an odd look on her face, "You ok Angie?" he asked, seeing it.

She blinked and looked at him, a bit startled, "Yeah," she nodded, squeezing his hand again, "Just…missed this."

He grinned and winked at her, thinking she meant the adventure and the team.

Really though, she missed someone holding her hand.

~8~

"Right," Jack began as he stepped out of the car that he'd parked by the hospital, Owen having clearance as a doctor there to park nearer, "Gwen, you check on your dad. Angie, Owen, and I will…"

"Actually," Owen cut in, "Angel why don't you go with Gwen," he suggested, "She shouldn't be alone right now."

"Is that ok Gwen?" Angel asked her, putting a hand on the woman's shoulder.

"I'd love it," Gwen breathed, squeezing her hand, "And my parents have heard a lot about you, mum doesn't think you exist."

Angel laughed, "Will you be ok Jack?"

Jack, who had been looking at Owen suspiciously, turned back to her and nodded, "We'll meet you in an hour."

"Ok," Angel gave him a small hug before heading off with Gwen.

Jack waited till they'd disappeared around a corner before turning to Owen, "Any reason you sent her away?"

Owen sighed and rubbed his head, "A big one," he nodded, "You won't want her to see this Jack," he turned and led the way off.

"What's this about Owen?"

"You remember what distracted you from the Weevil?" he glanced at the man's arm.

"Yeah," Jack stiffened.

An assassin.

They'd been in the middle of a routine Weevil round up, when someone had started shooting at them. When they'd realized it was only HIM the assassin was trying to kill, he'd run off to lure the man away from the team, not wanting a stray bullet to hit one of them. He'd managed to corner the man, but he'd had a bomb strapped to him. When he'd realized he'd been caught and cornered (the rest of the team having followed him and surrounded the man despite his orders for them to keep back) he'd unzipped his jacket to reveal the bomb. They'd all run for cover and the man had detonated.

They hadn't thought much of it at that time. Who, besides the fixed point in time, could survive that? Now though, given what they knew about the lack of deaths, he was starting to get a bad feeling.

Owen pushed through a door into a back room, an examination room, to see one of the female doctors in the back, operating scrubs on, with a face mask and hair cover, gloves and a small team with her, one man taking notes, another pictures, and a third videotaping it.

"Dr. Harper," the woman breathed a sigh of relief, "May we begin?"

Jack and Owen stopped at the end of the medical examination table set up before the other hospital staff, staring at the body lying on it.

It was the assassin, looking like a mess of chunks of flesh and scorched clothing, severely burned, literally looking like a red choppy skeleton…

"Begin," Owen nodded.

The woman took a breath, nodding to the recorders, "Session begins supervised by attending surgeon Professor Marian Vincent and witnessed by Dr. Owen Harper and Captain Jack Harkness of Torchwood," Jack winked at her, smirking as she blushed a little, even though he was fully committed to Ianto, he could never pass up a flirt. Marian turned back to the body to distract herself, "The purpose of this enquiry is to determine..." she sighed, looking at Owen, "You'll see," she winced, "Following an explosion, one of the victims has been..."

The men stiffened, the woman falling silent as a faint wheezing sounded...from the body.

"Is he…alive?" Jack gaped at the body, now realizing why Angel should NOT be there.

"Yes," Marian nodded sadly, "They brought me in for autopsy but…this happened," she gestured at the man's wheezing and groaning, "I didn't know what the hell this was so I called you," she looked at Owen, "This man was right at the center of the blast...and yet he's still alive," she shook her head and began to try and describe what was happening for the records, "Clearly, the skin is burnt. He's not indestructible, just…undying. Ever-living. We're going to need a new vocabulary. But…" she glanced at the men and leaned forward to speak to Owen and Jack quietly, "We're getting the same results from all over the world."

"Yeah," Owen rubbed his head, "We know."

"What if you detach the head?" Jack wondered, staring at the body, "I mean, would he stay alive...without his head?"

Owen nodded and gave Marian a look, "I suggest we find out."

The woman's eyes narrowed at that, but she turned and took a pair of clippers, moving to what was left of the neck and began to snip at the few strands connecting it to the spin and body. She stepped back when it was fully detached and, a moment later, the head's eyes blinked open, "Oh, my God."

"It's not a virus or evolution," Owen muttered, leaning in to look at the head closer, before turning to Jack, "This is deliberate intervention."

"But how?" Marian shook her head, one of the few doctors who knew about Torchwood given how many aliens appeared in her autopsy bay, "Who could do this?"

"No one on this Earth," Jack muttered.

~8~

"It'll be ok Gwen," Angel reassured the woman as they reached the hall to the room her father was being taken care of in.

Gwen nodded, when someone called out "Gwen!" she looked up to see Rhys walking towards her.

"Rhys," she hugged him tightly, Angel holding Anwen for the time, "What happened?"

"Your dad had a mild heart attack on Saturday night, didn't think anything of it, but then he had a second on Sunday, worse," he swallowed, "He had to be admitted, but he's stable now," he added quickly before sighing, "He's in luck though, if you're going to get sick, he didn't half choose the right day."

"What do you mean?" Angle asked, bobbing Anwen.

Rhys looked over as though just noticing her, "Angel!" he smiled, giving her a hug as well, "I see Anwen's taken a liking to her auntie eh?"

"Auntie?" Angel looked at Gwen.

"Haven't told her yet!" Gwen hissed playfully at Rhys who winced. She sighed and looked at Angel, "We didn't give her a godparent but just…a lot of aunts and uncles, everyone at Torchwood, and you, since you're Jack's 'sister.'"

Angel blinked and smiled, looking at Anwen, "Well then, hello Anwen, I'm your Aunt Angel, it's very, very nice to meet you," Anwen just smiled at her which made her beam and look at Gwen, "Thank you Gwen, it's an honor."

Gwen waved her off, "She probably wouldn't even be here if it weren't for you and the Doctor."

"Still, thanks."

Gwen nodded and they turned to head down the halls, glancing out the windows to see crowds of people gathered outside with candles, "Look at them," she murmured, they'd had a hell of a time getting in because of all those people.

"They're all gathering around the hospitals all over," Rhys remarked, "It was on the telly, calling it 'Miracle Day.'"

"Miracle Day?" Angel frowned…

'…Miracle Day…'

'…the Blessing…'

'…the Families…'

She shook her head, that was…not helpful at all. She had no idea what those words meant or in what context or when she'd hear them or what was important about them. Fat lot of good she was for a psychic.

"People stopped dying," Rhys said as Gwen and Angel looked at each other, "They still get hurt, sick, they just…won't die."

Angel shifted at that, she didn't like death, not at all, but…she knew it was a natural part of life, she knew it was needed for balance. Light and dark, day and night, life and death, it was needed to keep things from falling apart. And…these people, if they could get hurt and sick…they could feel pain…that wasn't life at all, that was just torment. And that was even worse than death, she hated seeing people in pain.

Rhys pushed open a door and let them in, Gwen's father lying on a bed, hooked up to monitors while her mother sat at his bedside.

"Gwen!" her mother breathed, getting up and going to hug her, "And…sorry, who are you?" she asked, spotting Angel.

"Angel," she moved Anwen to one arm, reaching out a hand to shake hers, "Nice to meet you."

Mrs. Cooper blinked and looked at Gwen, who smirked, "She's real," Gwen nodded, making her way over to her father's side.

"Hello," Mrs. Cooper gave Angel a small wave, before noticing Anwen reaching out for her, "Oh, look at her," she laughed as Angel handed the baby over, "Come here. Oh. Good God, she's enormous."

"Hi, dad," Gwen sat down and took her father's hand, "Hey. It's me. Hello."

"Gwen…" he breathed, smiling up at her.

"You," she pointed at him playfully, "Can stop all this nonsense, ok? I want you up and out of this bed, lazy old thing."

"Look at her, though," her mother continued, "She's huge."

"She's perfectly normal, mum."

"Thought you were being frugal. What are you feeding her? Lard?"

Gwen rolled her eyes, "Yes, I'm feeding her lard. Keep telling her that, and by the time she's 13, she'll have a psychological complex."

"Stop it now, you two," Rhys cut in.

Gwen sighed, "Sorry," she reached out and took her mother's hand too, knowing her mother did that when she was upset, distracted herself by commenting on everything.

"Me too," her mother whispered, Angel smiling at the family moment. She glanced over at Angel though, "You're an alien yes?"

"Time Lady," Angel nodded.

"What do you think it is?" she asked, "What happened to us? This...never-ending life. What is it?"

"I'm not sure," Angel told her gently.

"Should I be dead?" Mr. Cooper wheezed.

"I don't know dad," Gwen squeezed his hand, "Torchwood's working on it though," she looked at Angel and nodded, the men had said an hour, but they needed to work it out now.

~8~

Gwen and Angel sat before a computer in the nurse's station, Rhys behind them, showing them more websites documenting 'Miracle Day,' "It's all over the world. Look...look at this…" he brought up some world news, "Somalia has stopped fighting. Warfare is even worse when the bodies refuse to die. But take a look at North Korea...huh, spoiling for a fight. They've got a lot of soldiers who think they're immortal."

"The Miracle…" Angel frowned, noticing something, "It's only affecting the humans though."

"Exactly," Rhys nodded, switching to an insect site, "This says if insects stopped dying, we'd be overrun within 48 hours flat."

"Which hasn't happened."

"So this thing is being targeted at us," Gwen sighed, hitting a few more keys and frowning, "Planet Earth...on average, 300,000 people die every day."

"So…" Angel frowned, "If they stop dying, that's...almost a million people in three days."

Rhys nodded, thinking of Anwen, "Add to that 500,000 people born every day...another million every two days plus the first million."

"Bloody hell," Gwen rubbed her head, "We'll run out of room."

"We'll run out of food first," Rhys said grimly, "A guy on the telly was saying we've got four months and then society just collapses, everyone fighting each other for food like animals he said."

"No, you won't," Angel murmured and they looked at her till she noticed and glanced at them, "Because humans are better than that. You'd share, you'd help each other, when things get bad," she clicked another site displaying great acts of humanity throughout history, "You band together and face it."

"And that's why we need a Time Lord with us," Jack's voice said from behind them as he and Owen headed over, both looking a tiny bit weary from what they'd seen.

"Monday, in Shanghai," Owen held up a paper to show them, "11:36 there, was the last reported death...the last death on planet Earth, the last time anyone everywhere died."

Jack looked down as his phone rang, quickly answering it, "Tosh?"

~8~

Tosh stood before the monitors of Torchwood, Gray and Ianto behind her, staring at the screens, "Jack…you need to come back here."

"What's wrong?"

She glanced at the men and back at the message staring at her, "It's the Prime Minister, he needs us to go to America and join up with the UNIT headquarters in Washington D.C."

"Why?"

"The 456 Amendments to the US Code 3184," she closed her eyes, knowing Jack would likely not know about them, "Um, the extraction of alien experts during time of crisis. Well, it's been activated," she sighed, "We're being moved to America."

~8~

Angel sat between Jack and Gray on a small private plane the government had organized to take the Torchwood team to America so they might better handle the supposed 'Miracle,' as UNIT there had found some evidence regarding the Miracle in their country. The government had, at first, refused to let Angel come along, having not even allowed Gwen to bring Rhys and Anwen with her, having believed her to be just another human who was 'playing' Torchwood…

At least until Jack told them her name wasn't Angel, her TITLE was Angel. Which had confused the government representatives till he explained she was a Time Lady, Mate of the Doctor…which had made her wince, not having expected him to go quite so far in his description of her. It had been quite an obvious move that the entire team, even Gray who had only met her once, had noticed. She'd managed to wave it off as being embarrassed or modest, but Jack had given her a small look, sharing a secretive glance with Gray that made her feel like both her brothers knew something else was up. She WAS trying to be modest, she didn't like a lot of attention being put on her normally, and it got even worse when the entire team had jumped in to tell the representatives of her exploits and abilities and how she'd helped Earth in the past.

The representatives hadn't been very believing of it, which was understandable, so Jack had asked her to prove it. She'd used a tiny bit of the Vortex to heal a paper cut on one of their hands, Jack insisting (threatening) them to keep quiet about her ability given the new status of the human race as near immortal and what that meant for healing injuries and pain.

But she'd been allowed on the small plane with Jack, Ianto, Owen, Tosh, Gwen, and Gray (after having sworn to Rhys that she'd take care of them all). And there she was, sitting between her 'brothers' as they watched news feeds on the monitor, wanting to keep up-to-date for when they arrived.

Currently it was a news interview of a man, Oswald Danes, the caption said. He was among the first to be 'saved' by the Miracle Day.

Angel frowned as she watched him, according to the news, the man was a former school teacher who was convicted of…she shuddered at the thought…raping and murdering a little girl, only 12 years old. Her hand subtly went to her stomach, she didn't know the sex of the baby, she probably wouldn't for quite a while if the Universe held to its bargain and let her keep the baby, but…if it was a girl, she couldn't bear to think of anyone doing that to a child. It was truly a terrible, terrible crime, one for which he'd been sentenced to the death penalty, lethal injection, only for it to fail because of the Miracle starting.

He'd been freed on the accounts that he had served out his term and been 'killed' and that it would be forcing him to serve out time for a crime he'd already served time for, a loophole in the laws, along with something about cruel and unusual punishment. It seemed like millions were outraged by that decision to let him go, to let him roam the streets again.

While she didn't agree with death penalties or executions, she did not think a man like that should be let back out where children were.

"And you're aware there's an emergency legal mandate being passed through the courts right this very second specifically dedicated to sending you back to prison?" an interviewer was speaking to him.

They'd given her the control of the news feeds, letting her pick the program because they thought she might stop on one that would be important to know about later, given her feelings. But this one…it just disgusted all of them, yet she couldn't make herself change the channel.

"I understand that, yes," Oswald nodded.

"And what's your response to that?"

"I'll follow the letter of the law."

"Yeah," Jack scoffed as they watched, "Because he'd have a lynch mob after him if he didn't."

"Are you aware of how many people you've upset just by walking free?" the interviewer continued.

"I understand that," Oswald nodded.

"Upset everyone that did," Gwen remarked, thinking of Anwen, Tosh nodded, her hand on her stomach, having gotten special clearance from Owen to be able to fly with them, they already knew their baby was a boy but still, it was a child.

"Yes, but do you understand how people feel?" the interviewer stressed, "They are disgusted. They are..."

"Horrified," Ianto muttered, unable to help but think of his niece Mica. If that man had even ever considered anything involving his niece, well, he knew that he (and Torchwood) would have gone after the man, alien or no.

"The legal campaign to reverse your force majeure ruling has gathered over half a million dollars. What's your reaction to that?"

"I'm sure any of those people would find a statement from me offensive," Oswald said, "And I don't wish to add to their distress. It's better if I say nothing."

"What could he possibly say to that anyway?" Owen huffed, putting his arm around Tosh, needing to know she and their baby were ok, even with that monster on the streets, "Nothing, that's what."

"You've got nothing to say?" the interviewer scoffed.

"I think it's best," Oswald nodded.

"Mr. Danes, have you got nothing to say when you see this?" an image came up on the screen of a little girl, such an innocent little girl, "It's a face we all recognize from your trial. Susie Cabina. And she was 12 years old, Mr. Danes. Have you got anything to say now? Perhaps you'd like to use this opportunity, live on television, to say something to her family? We're waiting, Oswald. Do you have anything to say? Anything at all?"

Oswald fell silent, starting to sniffle as he looked at the picture.

"Give me a break," Jack muttered.

"S-s-s..." Oswald started to stutter, "I'm sorry."

"Excuse me?" the interviewer shook his head.

Oswald just sobbed, "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. "I'm so sorry."

"Is that it? Is that all?"

"I truly am," Oswald pleaded, "I swear."

Gray frowned, "Do you think he means it?"

"You didn't say sorry at your trial," the interviewer kept on him.

"I know," Oswald nodded pitifully, "I couldn't. I was scared. It's true. I tried to. I tried. I tried. Please."

"What good is sorry, Mr. Danes? Is it going to do anything for Mrs. Cabina every morning when she wakes up?"

Oswald just continued to cry, having a breakdown on screen, "I'm sorry. I'm sorry! I'm sorry! …I'm sorry."

Jack shook his head at the man and looked over at Angel to see her watching with tears in her eyes, "Angie?"

"No Gray," she whispered, turning the monitor off, "I don't think he means it at all."

Jack put his arm around her, knowing how hard it had to be for her to sit there and listen to a man who had done such a terrible crime, claim to feel sorry and to know, instinctively, in her soul, that he didn't mean a word of it. Angel always tried to see the best in humanity, and this…this was one of the absolute worst examples he'd ever seen.

~8~

Oswald Danes smirked to himself as he walked through the set of the news station after his 'touching' and 'heartfelt' interview.

The saps.

Another young woman that he'd had words with earlier had rushed over to him afterwards to apologize for being cold to him, amazing how one 'apology' could change the way people looked at you.

"Ooh, hold it!" a young ginger woman in a bright red jacket ran up to him, managing to slide into the lift with him and the police officer that had been tasked with escorting him, "Hold it! Wait!" she beamed as she managed to get in, "Thank you. Thank you so much," she started digging around in her rather large bag, glancing at him and the officer, "I don't suppose you have the time, do you?"

Oswald looked at his watch, "Five after two."

"Is it?" she blinked, "Oh, thanks," she looked at her phone and rolled her eyes, seeing that it was dead, "I am so stupid. I forgot to change the battery in this thing. Supposed to just do it once a year, Halloween or Christmas. But then you're thinking about candy or presents, aren't you?" she laughed at the joke, glancing at him subtly, "I thought you were very good."

"I'm sorry?" he looked at her, not really paying attention till just then.

"Jilly Kitzinger, Mr. Danes," she introduced, grinning, "I'm something of a talent spotter. That was the most amazing performance."

"Oh..." he shifted, a bit disturbed she'd spotted that, "It wasn't a performance."

"Right," she gave a smiling scoff, "No, of course. My mistake. Please, officer, don't shoot!" she held her hands up in surrender jokingly at the officer who chuckled at her, before presenting Oswald with a card, "But here's my business card. I'm in public relations. Not for this channel. I have other employers."

"I don't need you."

"I disagree, Mr. Danes," she smirked, "You have what we call a high media quotient."

"Oh, everybody hates me."

"No," she shook her head, "That interview has you trending on Twitter with the hashtag 'forgive.' You're really very good," she eyed him, already imagining what her employers would give her for nabbing this man for them, "Of course there'd be a fee. But I'd only take 10 percent of your earnings."

"Good luck," he laughed, "That's 10 percent of nothing."

"You didn't get paid for that?" she raised an eyebrow.

"It was a news show. They don't pay."

"Ok, Oswald," she scoffed, rolling her eyes, "That's really very funny…" until she saw his serious look, "You mean you didn't...you just didn't make a cent? Really? Ok, that is positively hilarious. Now I wish I could stay. I'm needed in Washington. But you hold onto my card, sir," she nodded at the one in his hand, "There's a reason churches are empty. People don't want to hear about heaven. They'd rather hear from a man who's gazed into hell…you. And frankly, if the devil himself were to walk this Earth, he'd need representation."

Oswald just smirked, "If the devil himself walked this Earth, he'd surely be working in PR."

Jilly grinned at that.

"Mr. Danes!" the young woman who had apologized to him earlier ran down the stairs beside the lift, "Oh, I thought you'd left, sorry, um, Mr. Tepper sent me. Oprah Winfrey's people are on the phone. She wants to talk to you. She asked for you personally. She wants you on the show."

Oswald smirked back at Jilly, "Looks like I'm doing fine without you."

"Mhmm," she smirked right back, "All the same, keep the card."

"I...think not," Oswald tore it in half right in front of her and tossed it in the waste bin as he followed the young woman to speak to Mr. Tepper.

Jilly watched him go a moment before smiling and walking off herself.

~8~

"We need a plan of action," Jack stated as they all gathered together in their plane seats, forming a giant lopsided circle for the 7 of them.

"What I don't understand is," Ianto began, "This thing that's happening to the world, this miracle or whatever they're calling it…it must have something to do with you two," he looked at Jack and Angel.

"Are you saying it's our fault?" Jack frowned, a little hurt that Ianto would say that.

"No," Ianto shook his head, "It's just…it's like everything's been switched around isn't it?"

"It can't be a coincidence," Tosh had to agree, "It's too specific."

"They're right," Gray nodded, "For everyone in the world to be immortal and then for YOU, alone, to be mortal…"

"You have to admit it's connected," Owen nodded.

"Doesn't mean it's either of our fault though," Jack defended.

Angel reached out and took his hand, knowing he was getting more riled up at the thought that they were accusing HER instead of the both of them, "It's ok Jack, it does make sense," she squeezed his hand, "I made you immortal," she frowned, "And now, somehow, someone had to have worked out how, taken what was done to you and…I don't know, broadcast it to the entire world."

"And since you're the source, you would be immune to it," Gwen nodded, "It's got nothing to do with you or Angel if the wires got crossed," she reassured him.

Angel sighed and rubbed her head, "I'm sorry."

"What for?" Gray frowned at her, the rest of the team look at her confused as well.

"It's just…it seems like every time the Doctor turns up, something goes wrong…"

"That's the Doctor, Angie," Jack reminded her.

"I don't know, maybe…maybe it's just Time Lords," she shrugged.

"What you think this happened because you came to visit?" Owen scoffed.

"Owen," Tosh whacked him on the chest, all of them seeing Angel was actually truly upset about that thought.

"I'm not sure," she admitted, "I just feel like…everything goes wrong around me too lately."

It was probably the baby, that little piece of the Doctor in her that had given her his luck. But she knew, she was talking about even before discovering the baby, she was talking about the Doctor's regeneration. Maybe…maybe something had gone wrong with it, maybe she'd distracted him or her presence there had made him too focused on her and the strain of trying to fight it had just…damaged him somehow. And his mind had had to block out everything about her to recover?

That was one of the more ridiculous theories she'd had. They were slowly becoming more ridiculous though, because the only ones that she could think of that might fit or work were…she was going to be erased by a crack in time, like Rory was, and it was echoing back on the Doctor since, in that case, they'd never have Mated, or…or he just regretted Mating to her and was trying to move on from her.

There was always that one theory that, perhaps, he just hadn't wanted to leave her, hadn't wanted her to be with another man so badly that he had blocked himself from being with her. Of all the theories, she hoped that was the right one, but she doubted it.

"That is a complete load of bollucks," Gwen told her, reaching out to squeeze her arm, "Whenever you turn up, things end up going very very right."

"If it weren't for you Angel, we'd be dead," Tosh whispered, squeezing Owen's arms as he wrapped them around her.

"Cardiff would be in ruins," Gwen agreed.

"I'd be dead," Ianto nodded.

"I'd have…" Gray swallowed, "I'd have done so much worse than just hurting Tosh, but you stopped me."

"You saved all of us Angel, literally," Jack put his arm around her shoulders, squeezing her to his side, "You saved me on Satellite 5, and you…you haven't stopped since then. And I'm not just talking about saving me or the team, you've saved so many other people, you've saved the Earth how many times? How many other planets and species are safe now because of YOU?"

"The Doctor…" Angel began.

"No," Jack cut in, "I'm talking about the ones YOU saved."

She bit her lip, considering that, "A few, I suppose."

"A few?" Owen snorted, making the others laugh, "Try the whole bloody Universe who knows how many times."

Angel started to smile at that.

"I'll tell you what Angie," Jack smiled at her, "I'm glad YOU'RE here and not the Doc, imagine the sort of luck we'd have then?" he started laughing, "You're the good luck charm remember?"

Angel smile went a bit sad at that, though the others didn't seem to notice.

"There's no one else we'd rather save the Earth with than you Ang…ie," Gray added, stumbling a bit over her name. He'd always called her Angel, it being Jack's thing to call her Angie or Ang, but...they were family.

Angel smiled fully at that, reaching out to take Gray's hand.

"And now you get to show us a thing or two about how to save the world," Owen nudged her.

"I don't need to show you anything," Angel shook her head, "You're already brilliant at that," she looked at each of them, smiling at her, there for her, wanting her there, "You amazing, incredible human beings," she shook her head, "I think you're the reason why I love the Earth so much, my friends, my family."

They smiled, knowing she meant Martha and Mickey and Donna and Sarah Jane and Rose too, but it was still nice to hear her say that.

"How do you do that?" Tosh shook her head, laughing, "That's really brilliant."

"Do what?" Angel looked at her.

But it was Gwen who answered, "We're trying to reassure you and you…still make US feel better at the same time."

Angel looked thoughtful a moment, "Just a gift."

"You are a gift," Ianto told her, the others nodding in agreement.

"Thank you," she whispered, tears in her eyes, and, for the first time in such a long time…they were happy tears. She took a breath though and shook her head, "Sorry," she laughed, "I got us off topic of the plan. Jack?"

He laughed, leave it to her to remind them they should be more worried about the rest of the planet than her, "As soon as we touch down, we need to start researching the morphic fields?"

"The what fields?" Gray shook his head, still a bit new to all that sort of talk.

"The Sheldrake Theory," Tosh began, "Passing connective information through the process of morphic resonance."

Gray just stared at her, before glancing at Jack, "Was that English?"

They laughed at that, "The theory states," Jack began to explain in simpler terms, "That a bunch of monkeys on an island learn to use a rock as a knife. Then monkeys on another island, 10,000 miles away, also learn to use a rock as a knife. That's a morphic field, it's what connects them and lets them learn the same thing at the same time."

"It's not a theory though," Angel cut in, "I've seen it in play, last…last Christmas," she shook her head, deciding to say it and not think about it and what had happened after it, "The Master returned while you were on honeymoon," she smiled at Tosh and Owen.

"What?!" Jack shouted, his eyes wide, "Angel why didn't you tell me that at the bar!?"

He would have wanted to know if the psychotic Time Lord who had been (in his mind) responsible for the death of his sister, not once but two times, had returned! ...mostly so he could kill the man himself. Then wait till he regenerated, and then kill him again.

She shrugged, "The um…the Doctor was about to regenerate," she said quietly.

Jack blinked, "Sorry," he said, quieter now, squeezing her hand, "What's the new boy like?"

"Bowtie," was all she could bring herself to say, and it seemed to be enough for Jack as he nodded his head like it explained everything, "Anyway, he used alien technology to tap into the morphic field, to turn every single human on Earth into him. So it's not a theory, it's fact, it exists."

Jack nodded, "The amazing thing about the miracle isn't that no one's dying, it's not that the Human Race has become immortal. It's that it happened to everyone at the same time," Jack agreed.

"It was instantaneous," Tosh whispered.

"And that's a morphic event on a scale that I have never seen before," Jack sighed, "Whatever's happening to this planet, it's massive!" he looked at Angel, smiling, "Looks like you're our expert on morphic events," he winked at her.

Angel looked at them, seeing them looking at her with encouragement and smiled. She'd…almost forgotten what it was like to have people look at you like they thought you were brilliant and like they thought you could help them and work it out. Rory had looked at her like that, encouraging, faithful in her abilities, believing in her…the Doctor used to look at her like that. So, it was really nice to know that others still did.

Yes, she was clever, maybe not as clever as the Time Lords, but clever in her own way, and she was resourceful, and determined, and…she could do this. Because she had her family with her, she could do anything.

"Now," Jack spoke, "When we land, teams, Owen, you take the medical panels. Gwen, you and Gray hit the UNIT HQ with Tosh, Tosh I want all access to their databanks, connect it through to our equipment, Ianto help her get it set up."

"What about me?" Angel asked.

Jack grinned, "You, Angie, you and me are handling the paper trail."

~8~

A panel of medical experts stood gathered in various conference rooms of a large complex in Washington, D.C., all trying to work out new ways to run the hospitals and handle emergencies while also trying to determine what could have happened. Clearly it was something internal, so it had to be the human body at stake, that was their area of expertise.

"Surely you're not arguing that this is some kind of extraterrestrial virus?" a young female doctor scoffed at her peer for his out-of-this-world suggestion as their team gathered in one small room of the third floor.

"Well, I'm not ruling it out," the man shrugged, "No virus known to man could spread so rapidly."

"Exactly," a voice said from the doorway.

The entire gathering looked over to see Owen standing there, dressed completely contrary to his profession, black converse on, jeans, a t-shirt and leather jacket, his hair slightly stuck up.

"You're not the person they said would take coffee orders?" another man asked, eyeing him critically, all the others dressed in suits or business attire.

Owen laughed at that, "I prefer tea," he said.

"You're not America," the young woman narrowed her eyes at him.

"Never would have guessed that, thanks," he rolled his eyes, "Nope, not America, but an expert."

"Look, this isn't a place for Doogy Houser," the man who had suggested the alien-virus began, clearly thinking Owen either inexperienced or too young to be of any use.

"Dr. Owen Harper," he cut in, "Medical expert and alien examiner for Torchwood."

The room fell silent.

"You've heard of us then," he grinned, crossing his arms.

The occupants shifted, apparently, under the 456 Amendments, all gatherings of panels to discuss the crisis were to be informed of its origin and briefed on the experts that would be deployed, not that many people believed it was alien in nature, like that woman, but they were aware that, for Torchwood or UNIT to be there, that the higher authority had been brought in.

"Now," he walked in, holding up is phone, "I've got a treat for you all from Koontz at Tel Aviv Medical," he hit a button and the information appeared on a projection on the wall, "They're reporting all cellular necrosis has stopped. Which we already know," he nodded, "But what they did was try to kill living tissue in the lab, but the tissue's gone into hibernation."

"Wait a minute," the first man shook his head, "They're killing 'living' human tissue? What does that mean?"

"An assassin that came after my teammate set off a bomb," Owen continued as though he hadn't been interrupted, "Was right in the middle of it, and I saw him after, burned, charred, dead, but still moving, still seeing and thinking and conscious. Still living."

"So how is that hibernation?" the woman shook her head.

"It's hibernation because," he tapped another button and a new set of information appeared, "The hibernation isn't fixed. There's a natural oscillation, like they're increasing the life factor."

"Why is Howard at Mass General asking for more antibiotics?" another man, bald with glasses, asked from near a monitor, looking at various postings on the same site Owen had brought up.

"Who knows?" a younger man, probably the youngest doctor three, remarked, "They have plenty of supplies."

Owen rolled his eyes, this was going to be a long day. He didn't know if it was their franticness and inexperience in dealing with a situation like this, but he was starting to get a headache, "He's not asking for his hospital, he's talking about a policy change. And he's right," he looked over but the group was just staring at him, confused, oh dear Lord this was going to be a very long day, "This 'Miracle' has turned the entire Human Race into germ incubators. Hospital beds full of people who should die won't, which includes…" he gestured around, "Anyone?" before sighing, "People with infections."

"If they were dead," the woman started to nod, "The infection would prey on the corpse and no one would mind, but now that they're alive, they're just going to sit there and stay in the living body and..."

"Multiply," he agreed, "Now if you lot keep giving them antibiotics..." he gestured at them again.

"The infections will become resistant," the bald man realized, "In six months, drug-resistant organisms will be everywhere."

"There's no way this is going to get better is there?" the first man sighed.

Owen smirked, "Well it's a good thing you've got me then," he grinned, plopping down on a rolling chair and putting his feet up, "I'm brilliant…" he sat up suddenly though when his phone rang.

"We're not supposed to have phones at panel," the young doctor remarked.

"Diplomatic immunity," Owen shrugged, "And it's the missus," he smiled, answering the phone, "Tosh, what do you have for me."

"Medical examination in the UNIT database," she answered, "Something you ought to see, sending it to you now."

He looked t his phone as it beeped, "Got it, thanks love."

"Oh, calling me love in public," she laughed, making him smile, "They must be getting to you."

"Tell me about it," he groaned, "Five minutes in and not a clever voice in the room but mine," he ignored the glares he got for that remark.

"Well you are brilliant," Tosh remarked, "So be brilliant and work it out and come home so we can regroup and work out the next step."

"Aye aye," he joked, "See you soon," he flipped the phone closed.

"Now see here…" the first man began, clearly insulted by Owen's remark.

Owen just held up a finger, "If I think I'M brilliant, wait till you see what my wife found for you," he grinned, turning around in the chair and brining up an image of a medical examination…of an arm.

A completely detached and severed arm, cut upon in areas, but still…moving.

"It's proof," the medical examiner in the footage was saying, having sent the display to UNIT for help, "We have absolute proof. We compared the telomeres from yesterday with the telomeres from 48 hours ago. There's no doubt, they're shortening, which means we're still aging."

"What kind of immortality is that?" the first man frowned, voicing what they were all thinking.

"Tithonus," Owen remarked.

"Who?" the young woman frowned.

"A Greek goddesses asked Zeus to make Tithonus immortal," it was the young doctor who answered, "But she forgot to ask for eternal youth. He became so ancient and decrepit, he eventually shrank into a cicada. He begged for death."

"This is no miracle. This is just...this just means that sooner or later we're all going to hell."

"I'd go with later," Owen said, "Torchwood is working on this and we've got an expert of our own when it comes to immortality, two really. Believe me, this whole thing is temporary. We'll reverse it, eventually, we will set the world right again."

"But we can't assume that it'll just happen tomorrow," the first man stated, "Or even the next day, all we know is that things are different now."

"So we prepare for the now," Owen shrugged, "Look," he sighed, "The dead, the people who should be dead are gonna pile up, suffering and in pain till they wait for the reversal to happen. So we need to manage their pain, keep them comfortable till my team can fix this. Put out calls to start manufacturing painkillers, now, because I guarantee, if you wait it'll be chaos of people wanting relief and doing whatever it takes to get it. Best to provide it for them eh? Be the ones in control," he nodded, seeing them all in agreement, "Good, now that that's settled, I'm off for tea," he winked at them and sauntered out, chuckling to himself, he loved it when he got to prove his knowledge, be an asset, be in charge.

"Dr. Harper?" a voice called behind him, "I'm sorry, Dr. Harper?" he glanced back to see a ginger woman in a red coat following him, Jilly, "Sorry to bother you, may I walk with you?"

"You'd have to, I'm not stopping," he replied.

"Thanks," she smiled, jogging a little to keep up with his wide strides, "I was sitting in on the meeting just then and I hope you don't mind me saying, but you were magnificent."

He smirked, "I know."

"Just everyone in there, just yap, yap, yap, yap. But you just cut right through. It was...I could have stood up and applauded."

He glanced at her, already knowing she wasn't a doctor, "Why were you there? You're not a doctor."

"Oh, God no," she laughed, "Too squeamish. Jilly Kitzinger, public relations. Yes. Let me give you my card. Here," she handed him one, eager to get her name in with him, she was WELL aware of who Torchwood was by her employers, oh they would be thrilled to know she'd managed to track down a team member, maybe get an 'in' with him, maybe find out more about where they were and what they were planning and what they knew, be a little spy.

Owen took one look at the logo on it and shook his head, "I know Phi-Corp, I don't need drugs, thanks," he tried to hand the card back.

"No, I know," she just pushed it back into his hand, "I know, I know, I know. I know. I said, 'They're working hard in there. They don't need me getting in the way.' But my boss was like, 'Jilly.' And he gave me that look. So...but it's destiny, I think. Here we are, you and me, working together. Please take it."

"One condition," Owen stated, serious.

"Name it," she smiled.

"You shut up."

Jilly just kept smiling, zipping her lips as he took it.

"Thanks," he rolled his eyes and kept on walking, heading down the steps of the establishment, nearly groaning as he heard Jilly rushing after him, her heels clicking.

"I just have to ask," Jilly began, "Have you considered January 15th?"

"Which January 15th?"

"January 15th of this year, the Senate Committee For Drugs And Alcohol voted to ring-fence the national stockpile of surplus drugs for use only by the civil defense program, which does not technically include this current scenario. But you need that stockpile immediately. But I think it could be suggested that a few clever doctors talk to their senators to reverse that decision immediately," she smirked, which made Owen frown in suspicion, not that she seemed to notice, "I don't know. Just a thought, right? Never say never."

Owen paused and looked at her a moment, before his gaze drifted to something past her shoulder as she stood in front of him on the steps, having blocked his view. Jilly frowned and turned to see him staring at a man and woman with black hair and light eyes, one in a WWII jacket, the other in a dark blue dress, waiting by a black car. She frowned, squinting, recognizing the man, but not the woman.

"There are a few things I say never to," Owen remarked, having seen Angel's gaze flicker to the woman and then to him as she turned her back to face him again.

"And what's that?" she smiled perkily again.

"Gingers," he smirked at her, saluting her with the card before pushing past her and heading over to Jack and Angel, Jilly watching him go with a frown. It was a lie of course, he had no issue with gingers, Angel had been ginger at one point, but he really wanted that woman to back off.

~8~

Angel stood in the small flat that UNIT had rented for the team to work in, knowing that they preferred to work privately and with their own software and equipment, but agreed to be under 'supervision' of UNIT. Tosh was sitting at a desk with a few computers around her, Gray helping her set them up, while Jack and Ianto went through the files that UNIT had provided. Gwen and Owen, the man having returned the previous night chipper at having 'established his authority' with the medical panel, were gathering the last of the evidence that UNIT had claimed was necessary to bring Torchwood there from the UNIT base.

She really had no idea how the equipment worked and there weren't that many papers to go through so she was just flipping through channels on the TV, trying to see what might be on the news that could help them, staring at the large monitor affixed to the wall.

She frowned, stopping as she saw Oswald Danes giving another interview, "What happened to you in there?" the interviewer was asking.

"Something happened to all of us, not just me. Miracle Day arrived and...we all came out of it changed."

"But why do you think people accept you as an expert?"

"I'm no expert, but I'm a free man. And since the miracle, the White House has said nothing. Scientists have said nothing. I think the establishment is scared into silence. I survived. I can say what I want."

"Such as?"

"Well, is anyone paying attention to the profits that the drug companies are making?" Angel frowned at that, tilting her head, she'd never really concerned herself with the economies of other worlds before, having spent so long around the Doctor and with Gallifrey gone she hadn't ever really thought of money, " We need drugs more than ever. But I think we should take all those pills, those tablets, and those potions, and give them to people free. Yes, that's what I'm saying, because that's how radical the world needs to be right now. Free drugs, free health care, free access for all."

"You think that's practical?"

"Who's to say what's practical? That's pre-Miracle thinking."

"Can you turn that off?" Tosh called, shifting in her seat as the interview continued, "He gives me the shivers that one."

"Of course," Angel nodded, flicking the monitor off and shooting Tosh an apologetic smile, "Sorry."

"Thanks," Tosh grinned back, before cheered, "And we are up!"

"Just in time too," Owen called as he walked in with Gwen, casting a quick glance at Gray who had moved away from Tosh, and tossed Jack a phone, "Catch."

"And this is?" Jack eyed it curiously.

"That assassin," Gwen began, not noticing Jack making cutting motions at his neck and shaking his head frantically.

"What assassin?" Angel turned to him sharply.

Jack winced, "That's how the Weevil got me, there was a man shooting at me."

Angel blinked, "Why didn't you tell me?"

"Didn't want to worry you Ang," he smiled at her, handing her the phone, "Let's just say we're even for the Master coming back and start fresh."

She rolled her eyes good-naturedly, "Deal," and shook his hand.

"What about the assassin?" Ianto asked, coming to lean against the sofa beside Jack, crossing his arms.

"That phone belonged to the man who organized for it to happen, a Mr. Friedkin of the CIA," Gwen told them.

"UNIT traced a deposit to the assassin's bank account to that phone," Owen nodded, moving over to Tosh and starting to massage her shoulders, having seen her rolling them when he walked in.

Tosh beamed up at him and took his hand, kissing it quickly in thanks as he dropped a kiss to her hair, Angel smiling sadly as she watched them, so happy for them but unable to help being reminded of the Doctor and her and how they'd been.

"And that," Gwen pointed at it as Gray took it from Angel to examine, "Is not his ordinary phone. There's only one number on it, blocked, but that means…"

"He's got a contact," Jack sighed, "Someone told him to send the assassin after me."

"It could be anyone," Ianto frowned.

"And if they sent one," Gray sighed, concerned for his brother, "They'll send more. You never give up the hunt when the target is within reach. They nearly got you once Jack."

"They…" Angel murmured, looking at the phone with a frown, taking it back.

Jack eyed her closely, knowing that look, "What is Ang?"

She blinked, staring at the phone, "They," she emphasized, looking up at them, "I…I don't think it's just one person who contacted him…I think there's more than one of them," she looked back down at it, "And they're everywhere."

The team shifted at that, "Well then," Jack grinned, "We better get to work."

~8~

They hadn't left the flat all day, each of them working on how to try and find out more about what was going on. They knew now that the assassin was connected to the Miracle Day and that it was linked to Jack and, by association, Angel so they'd focused on different areas to try and get something worked out.

Jack was researching the morphic fields while Ianto worked on trying to dig deeper into the assassin's life, to try and find out if he was connected more deeply to the Miracle or was just a hired hand, taking the attempt on Jack's life a bit more personally than the others. Tosh was trying to crack the contact on the mobile while Owen went over medical records, applying his knowledge of aliens to try and work out what exactly was happening to the Human Race. Gwen was targeting Friedkin, finding out all about his back story while Angel and Gray had been creating a collage of information and locations on the wall, all the information they had of the Miracle, the times it happened, the examples of the different forms of life now, from normal to brain dead and everything in between, before the three of them had decided to venture out into the streets and get dinner for everyone.

"Gwen," Ianto looked up when she entered, "Andy's moved Rhys and Anwen to a safe house so they should be just fine."

"Good," Gwen breathed a sigh of relief, "It is absolutely mental out there."

"This one TV show's claiming that the Miracle's a virus," Gray explained as he and Angel set down the Chinese food onto the small coffee table in the sitting room, "But then another website said it was the plague…"

"Everyone seems to be panicking and trying to clear the shops," Angel murmured, "But they haven't thought to try the restaurants though," she shrugged, leaving it up to the mindset of panic.

"Oh, and the new cult out on the street," Gwen walked to the window and pulled a curtain open so they could see below, a line of people holding candles, marching silently, with white masks that had a sad face on it with a tear just…walking, "They call themselves 'The Soulless.' Apparently, everlasting life has robbed mankind of their souls."

"That's rubbish," Owen scoffed.

"But this is gorgeous," Tosh smiled, digging into her sweet and sour chicken, having been craving something sweet and sour all day.

"Did you find out anything on Friedkin's phone?" Jack looked at Tosh.

She held up a finger, munching, before swallowing, "I traced the number on it, but it hit a vine."

"A what?" Angel frowned.

"A vine is when you trace a number back," Jack began to explain, "But the trail branches out again and again. Piggyback those secondary numbers spreading out almost exponentially."

"So, instead of tracing one number, you're chasing 500,000," Gray finished, having picked up quite a lot from the team.

"Maybe you could help," Ianto looked at Angel, "Try and point her in the direction of the right vine to follow?"

Angel blinked, "I could try yeah," she nodded.

"Brilliant," Tosh grinned.

"I also think we should try and find out more on Oswald Danes."

They looked at her, "Why?" Owen frowned, "What's he got to do with anything?"

"I dunno," she shrugged, "But he's…he's everywhere like they are."

Jack nodded, "He's on every channel. We need to investigate anyone making a profit out of all of this."

"On it," Ianto called, motioning for Tosh to stay seated on the sofa and finish her meal as he carried his to the desk she'd been using, Jack smirking at that, leaning over to watch him walk to the desk.

"Stop it," Angel laughed, seeing him eyeing Ianto's bum.

"Try searching his family history," Tosh added, glancing at Ianto over her shoulder.

"Got it," he nodded, starting to type away.

"Urg," Gwen grimaced suddenly, wiping down her tongue, "Don't drink that," she gestured at her soda can, "This lemonade is flat."

"It's lemonade," Gray remarked, "It's supposed to be flat."

"Tastes horrid."

Angel eyed the can and reached forward, "Can I?"

"Be my guest," Gwen ushered it away from her, drinking some water to get the taste out of her mouth before pulling a laptop up to her, getting back to her searches to distract her.

Angel cautiously sipped it, "Tastes fine to me," she shrugged, drinking more of it.

"That settles it then," Owen laughed, "Definitely an alien."

Jack swallowed his egg roll, "I tried to do a search on morphic fields because that's the best that I could work out, that some sort of morphic field suspended the Human Race. But it's got to be more than that."

"What do you mean?" Gwen frowned.

"It's like there's some sort of energy behind this, a will, a drive, a consciousness, because this miracle, it's more than people just surviving. They are so alive. We've seen it, Owen and I, bodies at the morgue burnt and broken, still alive, staring right at us. They weren't even allowed to be unconscious. It's as if something is willing them to go on, each and every individual forced into life."

"So, what did the search say?" Ianto asked.

"That's the problem. Everybody's had the same idea. Morphic field gets 10 million results."

Tosh nodded, "Then I'll go through them," she got up, "Off Ianto, come on," she gestured him out of her seat, "That's MY job."

Jack smirked and patted the sofa beside him of Ianto to sit.

"Ah!" Gwen cheered, "I found something about the…ATF?"

"What's the ATF?" Angel frowned.

"The ATF is the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives," Jack answered, of course he WOULD know that particular department, explosives and firearms were his specialty it seemed.

"Whatever it is," Gwen waved him off, "They asked the CIA about information on a warehouse here in Washington, but Friedkin forwarded the request onto ancillary three times…what's ancillary?"

"It's a paper chase," Ianto spoke this time, having ample experience with it, "Way to lose something in the system."

"So…" Owen began, "If he tried to stop people from seeing the warehouse…"

"Then maybe he was paid to protect it," Gray agreed.

"He's hiding something there," Angel realized.

"It's at 3rd and Boston, south west," Gwen called.

"Alright," Jack grinned, brushing off his hands as he looked at his team, "So we've got a mission."

~8~

"Tosh," Jack called into his phone, on speaker, as he, Angel, Gray, and Gwen pulled up to the location, "We're here, 3rd and Boston."

"Right," Tosh said and they could hear typing at the keyboard, "Security profile says the guard's on a quarterly rotation. He checks in with base every 15 minutes starting on the hour."

"Got it," Jack turned in his seat to look at Angel and Gray, "Ever seen Gwen in action?"

Gwen smirked.

~8~

The car, without Jack or Gray, pulled up to the security guard as he made his way over, "Hi," Angel smiled at him from the backseat as he checked there first.

"What can I do for you?" he asked.

"Could you help us?"

"Sure."

"Wonderful," Gwen called, motioning him to the front as she pulled out a map, "We're a little bit lost. Sorry. The British abroad, hopeless, honestly. I think we're trying to get to Boston Avenue…" she blinked and looked back at Angel, "Is it Boston...Boston Road?" before turning to the man again, "Or Boston...is it Boston Street?" before reaching through the window and grabbing his tie, yanking him down hard till he smashed his head against the car and was knocked unconscious.

"You do that a lot?" Angel frowned, getting out of the car.

"So many times," Gwen sighed, doing the same, careful to step over the man as Jack and Gray ran up.

"How much time do we have Angie?" Jack asked.

"11 minutes," she answered promptly.

"Right, Gray," he pointed at him, "Keep watch," he patted his brother on the shoulder, "Guard the car."

"On it," Gray ran back to it, hopping in the front as they ran off to the doors.

They found a panel on the wall with the controls for the locks in it, "I can unlock it," Gwen remarked, "But only by tricking it into thinking it's booting up for the day, but that means all the lights come on, the computers boot up."

"I might be able to help," Angel stepped up and rubbed her forefinger and thumb together, building up a little spark of energy which she zapped at the controls, the lock beside them clicking, the lights still off.

"Brilliant!" Jack cheered, hugging her to his side as Gwen pulled the door open, all of them rushing in. They turned on some torches, looking around at the dark warehouse, filled with boxes. Jack wandered over to one on the ground, "Let's see what's in this," he handed Angel his torch to pull the box open, pulling out tubs of what looked like enlarged pill containers.

"Are those…drugs?" Angel frowned, not having the best memory of them given what the 456 had been about to do to the children of Earth.

"Legitimate drugs," Jack nodded, "You getting this Tosh?" he tapped an earpiece.

"The contacts are picking up everything just fine Jack," Ianto answered instead.

"What is it?" Gwen squinted, reading the labels, "Metanec?

"Metanec is a painkiller," Owen explained, "Non-narcotic. They keep you painless and wide awake."

"Which is a little too perfect for what's happening," Angel murmured.

Gwen stood and looked around, her light flashing on more and more boxes, "Thousands of them. Millions of them."

"Phi-Corp," Jack spotted on a box.

"Did you say Phi-Corp?" Owen asked.

"Yeah, you know Phi-Corp," Gwen cut in, "Big pharmaceutical company. We've got Phi-Corp. It's everywhere. Worldwide."

"Yeah, Gwen, I know what it is thanks," Owen remarked, "That woman I told you about, that Ginny…"

"Jilly," Tosh laughed, correcting him.

"Doesn't matter, she works for them."

"Jack," Angel called, having wandered to a clipboard, "This says there was a delivery yesterday."

"When was the first one?" Gwen and Jack wandered over.

Jack took the clipboard and flipped through it, "Way back. Oh, hold on. Deliveries go back at least a year, all for drugs. All from Phi-Corp…" he looked up when Angel walked away from them, "Angie?"

"This way," she murmured, frowning as she led them through the factory, to a back door, pushing it open to reveal an enormous room beyond, filled with even more drugs, tons of them.

"Oh, my God," Gwen breathed.

"Bigger on the inside than the outside," Jack joked, nudging Angel.

"All of them are painkillers," she stated, just knowing it.

"They're ready for a war," Owen remarked, him, Ianto, and Tosh seeing it on the laptop.

"No," Angel shook her head, "They were ready for the Miracle," she looked at them, alarmed, "Phi-Corp knew it was coming."

~8~

Owen was not a happy camper as he entered the panel that night, he'd gotten a call to come in, some other crisis arising and had had to leave Tosh and Ianto alone, that, coupled with his lingering jet lag had made him irritable and tired and not in the mood to put up with people who had no idea what they were dealing with and just going to complain about it.

"What?" he rubbed his head as he entered the room of the main panel, the one that he'd been assigned to was now the one running practically the entire bloody country's medical changes and he wasn't even an American citizen!

"The 50 percent of pregnancies that spontaneously abort are not aborting," one of the men said, the bald man from the other day, "Genetic mistakes are suddenly viable."

"No baby is a mistake," the young doctor cut in.

Owen rolled his eyes, "Where are you from then?"

"Providence," the boy smiled, "Dr. Carey Murphy."

"Maybe when you graduate," Owen scoffed, "We're not talking religion here, we're talking medical facts. That's brain outside the skull, no skin, no face, and if you want to get religious, tiny souls, suffering, endlessly in a squishy watery hell. Yeah, these are mistakes."

They all looked over suddenly as a mess of pills fell onto the table, "Oh, hell," Jilly, who was sitting at the end of the table, cursed, before grinning sheepishly at them, trying to gather her fallen samples, "Sorry. Um, but actually, I think we can help. Jilly Kitzinger. Hi. Pain management in newborns is something we've already got going on at Phi-Corp, so we can roll out a strategy."

"We've got a bigger problem," another doctor called, "Somebody got off a plane from New Delhi in Boston and now we've got cholera. I warned you!"

Owen hunched forward and rubbed his head, "Boston's got clean water, next?"

"The birth issue…" the bald man picked up again, "They put contraceptives in the water in India, mainland China. We might have to look at that."

"That's not a serious proposition?" the woman from the other day scoffed.

"Buy a condom," Owen cut in, "Look, we need to talk about the situations in the ERs. Long-term doesn't matter if you lot can't work out how to handle the short term. This is going to be fixed, this is going to end, focus on the short term, pleasee. You're running out of space, you need more. Simple as that."

"We'll put it on the agenda," the bald doctor remarked sarcastically, "But we're getting pretty far off track. Can we talk about the contraception option with professional distance?"

Owen just got up and walked out, let them handle their own medical disputes, he was only there to see if it was an alien matter yet no one was considering it, find the root, find the source, of it and things would be fine, they'd resolve themselves.

He nearly groaned, hearing high heels rush after him, "It's been raining on and off," Jilly began, catching up to him as he paused to look out the window of the rainy D.C. area, "Like it wasn't end-of-the-worldly enough."

"Please leave me alone."

"Can't," Jilly laughed, smiling widely, far too perkily, "Phi-Corp needs feedback from medical staff. Why don't you come and talk to us? I mean, Phi-Corp can really do something."

"And make a profit at the same time," he scoffed.

"Well, companies profit by turning situations round to their advantage. But isn't that how every human damn being gets through their day? Come in and say hello. Just once?"

Owen rolled his eyes, knowing that Jack would want the in, all of them, especially Angel, suspicious of the woman since he'd mentioned she worked for Phi-Corp, "Maybe."

"I'll take that as a yes!" she cheered, "Oh, God. I've got to go. Busy, busy. But you have my card," she pointed at him, "You won't regret it. And that's a promise!"

"I regret it even now," he muttered, that woman didn't shut up! He shook his head, grumbling to himself as he made his way back to the car. He'd done as UNIT requested, he'd gone to the panel, he said what he had to, if they didn't listen, not his fault. At least now he'd fulfilled his obligation and could go back to the flat.

~8~

"Ok," Jack called as the four of them entered the flat again to see Owen back, "We do a deep search on this Phi-Corp. I want to peel back security and find everything."

"I can hack the company records," Tosh called, getting on it.

"I got the company history," Ianto agreed, heading for the laptop Jack had been using earlier.

"I can do European operations," Gwen held up a hand.

"I've got a search running of all the hospital that utilize their products," Owen nodded.

"Good team!" Jack cheered, moving to Ianto's side to watch him over the man's shoulder.

Gray looked over at the wall of information, about to add the newest photo evidence to it when he saw Angel standing before it, her arms crossed, seeming sad…the sort of sad you were when you knew no one was looking. He walked over to her and put a hand on her shoulder, "Want to take a walk?" he asked her.

She glanced back at the others, knowing that she wouldn't be able to help much with all the computers being used, "Yeah," she nodded.

"Jack we'll be back in a few," Gray called, leading her out of the room as Jack watched.

The Torchwood team exchanged a concerned look, they'd noticed a change in Angel as well. Hopefully Gray would be able to help her a little, like she had helped him.

As soon as they stepped out into the chilled air, Gray took Angel's hand, just walking with her in silence. He knew how much the quiet could help or hurt depending on what you wanted. He'd wait till she was ready to talk. That was one reason Jack kept trying to distract himself with the Miracle Day, urging them all to work on it, because he could tell, whatever was bothering Angel, it wasn't something she was ready to talk about, he'd push her and she'd go quiet and he didn't want that. He thought, he could talk to her when it was over, knowing she'd use the Miracle day as an excuse to focus on the humans before her.

But HIM? He was good with quiet, he liked quiet more than the sounds of screams.

"I'm not gonna ask what's wrong," Gray began as they wandered aimlessly around the block, "I won't ask you to tell me because it's for you to decide what you want to do or say or when," he glanced at her, "I just want you to know, if you ever do want to talk. I'm here."

Angel nodded, "I know."

Gray nodded too and fell silent once more, just giving her what she needed, peace and quiet, no hounding, no sneaky little looks, just...two siblings walking to clear their heads.

"Thanks," Angel added quietly, really appreciating his patience.

He smiled, "You're welcome."

~8~

Oswald Danes grunted as he was thrown out onto the sidewalk before his motel. He'd snuck out earlier, just to go to a local diner, get some food that didn't remind him of prison, when he'd been harassed by two teenagers who had chased him down. Luckily, or what seemed like luck, he'd run into two police officers and begged for help. They'd sent the teens off and offered him a ride back, which he'd gratefully taken, but they'd only brought him to a deserted spot to beat him, before dropping him off at the motel again.

He winced, rolling onto his stomach and coming face-to-face with a pair of bright red high heeled shoes, "Rough night, Oswald?" a woman said.

He grunted as he looked up to see the ginger woman from before, the one with the card, smiling down at him, "Oh, God. What was it? Was it Jill, or...no, let me guess. Jillian?"

"Jilly," she reminded him, "Jilly Kitzinger. Told you, you'd need me. Now, we have a very important meeting to go to, so you can get cleaned up on the plane to DC."

"DC?" he panted, "Why?"

"These are the times that make men, Oswald. So it's your choice. Stay where you are or stand up tall and stride across the skin of the world. Which is it?"

"Well, let's see..." he pushed himself, with a faint cry of pain, to his feet, "If that's a promise of help, you'd better deliver...Miss Jilly Kitzinger."

"I will, sir," she nodded, firm, "I promise."

"I'll hold you to it," he smirked, "Lead on."

~8~

Jack was, oddly, a very happy hungover person. After Angel and Gray had stepped out for the night, Ianto had finished up his search and Jack had proceeded to drag the poor man to the back bedroom with a bottle of vodka in hand, claiming 'mortal man, mortal needs.' The team was infinitely thankful for the thick walls of the establishment.

Which was contrary to the mood Owen was currently feeling as he was forced to attend a presentation by Phi-Corp as an 'in' to see what was going on. He'd called Jilly and agreed to attend, knowing he'd be able to keep a better eye on the woman and let Ianto do what needed to be done. Ianto was the more professional of the bunch, he'd fit in better than them wandering the halls of Phi-Corp.

"We very much appreciate your coming," a man in a suit greeted him as he walked in, "Phi-Corp knows how busy you must be."

"Yeah," he hissed a bit, "Doubt that. Now where's Gilly? I was supposed to meet her."

"Miss Jilly Kitzinger is the organizer," the man smiled, "This is the meeting," he turned and led him down the hall to a lecture room full of doctors and other medical experts, "I think you may know some of these people. Andy Collier from Johns Hopkins. Shelby Lewis, shortlisted for the Lasker Prize…"

"Don't really care," Owen cut in, "Can we just get this over with?"

"We're starting in five," the man nodded.

"Right, and the little boy's room is?"

"Second door on your left," he gestured at the hall.

"Right," he nodded, heading out into the hall, glancing around to make sure no one was watching him as he headed to a side door, opening it to see Ianto there, "You ready?"

"Ready," Ianto pushed into the building.

"Let's go."

"Wait," Ianto grabbed his arm, "Jack says you go back to the meeting, keep Jilly Kitzinger there for as long as you can."

"You're joking," Owen scoffed, he really didn't like that Jenny woman.

"Go," Ianto insisted, giving him a nudge in that direction.

"Are you giving me orders?"

"Jack's rubbed off on me," Ianto shrugged, heading in the opposite direction.

"When was that?" Owen called, laughing, "Last night?"

"Five minute ago," Ianto joked.

-Nice- he saw pop up in his eyes, wearing the recording contact lenses.

"Thanks," he smirked into the reflection on a window as he headed up a set of stairs, only to frown when he saw who was walking down the other side.

~8~

"Oswald Danes?" Tosh frowned as the man came on screen in Ianto's vision.

"What's he doing?" Gwen asked.

"Meeting someone," Angel answered.

"Do we tell him to follow them?" Gray looked at Jack.

"No, no," Jack shook his head, "No way. Let him stay on the mission."

"Was Ianto able to find out anything about Oswald Danes?" Angel asked.

"Nothing special," Gwen remarked, crossing her arms, "Apart from being a monster."

"As far as it seems, he was just executed on the right day," Tosh nodded, "He doesn't seem to be involved."

"He is now," Angel murmured.

Gray frowned and moved over to a laptop, doing his own search on Danes, on the latest interview, "I'm sorry, no," Oswald was saying, Gray glancing up as Jack came to watch over his shoulder, "I have been forgiven. A substantial number of people have forgiven me. I can feel that in my heart, in my guts. Forgiveness, it's like a tide or a storm. It clears the air. I'm very lucky to have been forgiven, and I feel very...I feel very blessed. And I think of forgiveness as a cure."

Tosh reached out and picked up her mobile, calling Owen, "Are you at the meeting yet?"

"Yeah," he huffed, seeming irritated, "It's not a meeting though, it's a presentation."

"Keep the line open," Gwen whispered, "We can hear and record it."

"Got it," Owen suddenly went quiet.

"Hello," another man began to speak, "And thank you for coming. I'm Congressman Patrick Morganthall. Some of you are listening to us from Los Angeles..."

"A congressman?" Tosh frowned.

"Phi-Corp was ready, worldwide."

"If they knew about the miracle," Gray wondered, looking at them all, "Does that mean they caused it?"

"I don't think so," Angel frowned, "I think…it's just one piece of a larger whole…"

"Our modern drug prescription system has served us very well for many decades," the congressman continued, making them all look at the phone, "But times have changed. Times have changed a great deal. The need for drugs is far outstripping the access to the people with the means to prescribe them. Something has got to change. That's why, later today, I will be introducing legislation to make all prescription drugs, all painkillers, antibiotics, almost all medications available without a prescription."

"It'll, what, multiply sales by tenfold?" Gwen frowned.

"Try 1,000," Tosh shook her head.

Gray got up and moved over to them, handing Jack the laptop, not seeing the man catch Angel's eye and gesture her over, "They're really cashing in on this aren't they J…" he looked over, the girls as well.

"Where's Jack?" Tosh blinked.

"Where's Angel?" Gray countered.

"Bloody wonderful," Gwen muttered.

"I'm not just talking about new laws," the congressman spoke in the silence, "I am talking about making an entirely new society. Now, this is a massive enterprise, ladies and gentlemen. But it's up to us. All of you are experts..."

"Jolly just left!" Owen hissed into the phone, making them jump.

"Call her!" Tosh shouted quickly, "Call Jilly Kitzinger."

~8~

Ianto was sitting at Jilly's desk, having made his way with much subtly and finesse, to her office, picking the lock, and getting inside, right where her computer was just sitting open. It wasn't even password protected! So he'd stuck the memory stick in and begun copying all her files…

When a message popped up in his vision.

-Kitzinger coming!-

His eyes widened and he jumped up with the memory stick, looking around, frantic, before rushing over to a large bookshelf, and hiding on the side of it just as the door to the office opened and Jilly entered.

He held his breath and…

Her phone rang.

"Dr. Harper!" Jilly grinned, "Hello."

"It's Owen," Owen spoke, his voice loud enough for Ianto to hear despite him whispering on the other end, "I'm in the screening room and I've got some questions, could you…"

"Of course!" she cheered, "I'll be right there, I'm all too happy to answer any questions you might have," she headed out of the room.

Ianto let out a breath of relief and stepped around the bookshelf, "Dodged a bullet there," he muttered to his reflection as he stepped out of the room after Jilly.

~8~

"That he did," Gwen nodded as they all sat back in their seats, relieved Ianto had made it in and out safe.

But then a phone vibrated.

"Is that…" Gray frowned.

They looked down to see Friedkin's phone vibrating, "They're calling Friedkin," Tosh whispered.

"Or they're calling us," Gwen grabbed it, nodding at Tosh who began recording and tracing the call, "Hello?" she answered, taking time to speak to try and give Tosh more to work with, "Who's there? Who are you? Who am I talking to? Who is this?"

There was a click as the phone call ended.

"Nothing," Tosh huffed, "It hit a vine."

"They could've traced that mobile," Gray frowned.

Gwen sighed, "Right," she grabbed her own phone, "Hello? Colonel Thomas?" she nodded, reaching the D.C. UNIT's head, "We need relocation."

~8~

Angel glanced down the hall of a hotel, Jack beside her, as she grabbed the knob of the door before her, a small spark of gold jumped from her hand to the lock and it clicked.

"Thanks Ang," Jack whispered, kissing the back of her head, "Now, I need you to wait outside for me to deal with him ok?"

She bit her lip, not liking that plan, but something told her she wouldn't want to be in that room with Danes, she got the shivers just seeing him on TV, knowing what he did, she could hardly bear it. She nodded, "Be careful."

He shot her a wink and ducked into he room, Angel glancing down the hall before moving to head out, the mobile Jack had given her to hold (so as not to give away his location) buzzed and she stopped, seeing the text.

Meanwhile in the room, Jack had just stepped into the room when Oswald walked in from the bathroom, "Ok, you ready for me?"

"Yeah..." he said slowly, "Sure."

"I'd apologize for being late, but it wasn't my fault. I was needed elsewhere. This will be going out live, yes? Can you tell me who's interviewing me?"

"Yeah," he floundered, "It's, uh..." before shaking his head, "Sod it!" and whipped out his gun, aiming it at Oswald, who didn't seem all that surprised by the move.

"A man like you was always on his way."

"You met with Phi-Corp today. Why?"

"You'll have to ask them."

His grip on the revolver tightened, "Did they mention the name Jack Harkness? Have you heard that name?"

"Never," Oswald smirked, "Why do you ask...Jack?" he grinned as Jack stiffened, "I figured if you cared that much about the name, it's probably yours."

Jack's jaw tensed, "What about the Angel?"

"And who's that?" Oswald chuckled, "Your car? What are you doing here?"

"I just want you to talk," he pulled a recorder from his pocket and held it up, switching it on.

"What about?"

"I saw you on television, saying you feel forgiven for taking the life of a child. That's a lie! I know that's a lie," he couldn't even begin to describe the nightmares he had of what might have happened to Stephen if Angel hadn't been there to stop them, to help. He woke up at times physically sick, his mind inventing all sorts of horrors about what that wave would have done to the child.

"How do you know that, Jack, with such certainty?"

"Tell the truth! The murder of Susie Cabina, you don't feel sorry at all."

"Oh, the truth is...she flaunted it," he smirked, "Her innocence. Most people, they get hit or whatever, it's hours before the bruises rise up. But they showed right away with her. It was like...I was painting on her. And she looked so beautiful. I thought it couldn't get any better than that. But, oh, Jack, I swear to you, right then, at the end, I felt her life leave...and she left through me. Do you know that feeling? And I relive it every single night, because...that was the best moment of my life."

Jack scoffed, disgusted, now very happy he'd told Angel not to come in with him, the girl would be in tears hearing the man talking of the little girl like that, "Now I understand. You're doing all this 'cos you're searching for one thing. One simple thing. Execution. World without death, so you get to live. And it's killing you."

"Jack, what are you going to do with that recording?"

"Now I'm going to Broadcast Center. Figure I might broadcast it."

"Excellent," Oswald smirked, "If only I didn't have to do this. Boys!" he shouted and two rather large men entered the room, "Take that recording off him."

Jack backed up but was grabbed and the recorder twisted out of his hand, "Argh! Ah!"

"I did visit Phi-Corp and they were kind enough to offer me protection," Oswald told him.

"In exchange for what?" Jack grunted.

"The message," he looked at the men, "Don't hurt him, just...get rid of him. It's nice to meet you, Jack Harkness," he looked at Jack appraisingly, "Well, you can hurt him a little, but not the face. That's how it's done these days."

He laughed as the men dragged Jack out of the room, pulling him into an empty room and proceeding to beat him, punching him in the stomach and sides until he collapsed to the ground. They hefted him up and dragged him out to the front entrance, chucking him out onto the street.

"Jack!" Angel gasped, rushing to his side to help him, glancing around at the people gathered around the front of the hotel, watching monitors of the news playing. She placed her hand on his side, gold seeping into him, hidden by his jacket, healing his few bruises.

"Thanks," he gasped with relief, feeling the pain subside. Who needed painkillers when you had Angel? He swore, her just holding his hand made him feel worlds better.

"Let me be clear," they heard Oswald speak and looked over to see the news was playing his latest interview, "I'm not calling for free drugs, I'm calling for free access to drugs. I want every American to have the power to be able to buy whatever they want and need without a prescription. If that means that some drug companies are going to make a profit, maybe that just ensures they'll take better care of us. Because government has abandoned us. And I'm thinking of companies like Phi-Corp."

"They got to him, didn't they?" Angel whispered to Jack, clutching his hand as she helped him stand, the two of them watching the growing crowd in concern.

"They'd never abandon us, because they need us. If we're talking about medication, it's safe to say that I'm somewhat of an expert. I spent a lot of long years in solitary confinement, dangerous man, companies like Phi-Corp tried to put me on a drug machine but every drug..."

"Yeah," Jack swallowed, "Yeah they did."

"They stick with us. And I'm asking you now to join with me in this great enterprise as we all walk across the fragile skin of this wide world...together. The future is now endless, and it's terrifying. I am offering you my hand to walk on this long journey...together. Walk with me. That's all I ask. Walk with me."

"They're going to walk with him right into hell, aren't they?" Jack shook his head, seeing people starting to clap and jabber about the interview.

Angel could only look around sadly, the Doctor had always used to call her his guardian angel, the thing that guided him out of the dark. And now...she wasn't sure she could do it. How could she help lead the entire Human Race out of hell, when they were willingly walking towards it.

"We need to go," Angel squeezed his hand, turning to lead him back to the car, "Friedkin's contact tried to call him, the location might be compromised, UNIT's relocating us."

"To where?" he frowned.

"California."

A/N: So, only Angel is there with the team :) I know a bunch of you probably wanted the Doctor there to get whacked by Jack (lol that rhymed) but I sort of hinted that Amy's Choice would affect this story. That one was Angel-Lite, this one is Doctor-Lite :) I think Angel really needed a break and to be around people who remembered her and could help build her back up a little :) I hope any changes I made to this series are believable and understandable. Given that I'm trying to fit 10 episodes into 3 chapters there might be some small scenes that will be skipped over but later summarized, like Oswald at the diner and getting beaten, instead :)

And I know, Tosh is pregnant too lol :) But Gwen was in Children of Earth and now Owen is cured, I think Anwen just needs a playmate and it will be motivation to get the Miracle sorted out quicker :)

I know some of you might be concerned about Angel's bargain in the last chapter. I see it more as, she's just going to focus more on the baby, if he remembers FANTASTIC! If not, she'll try to accept it. She's spent a while worrying about why he forgot her and what she can do to get him to remember, that moment was more her realizing she can't keep worrying about it, it's not healthy for her or the baby, and that she needs to focus her energy to making sure that everything's ok if she wants to keep the baby that badly :) She's not giving up per say, he's still her Mate, she still loves him, she still wants him back/to remember her, but for the moment, until she either has or loses the baby, she's going to focus on being healthy and not making herself sick over it for her own sake :) Just to reassure you a little :)

And we have a new submission for the HOTS challenge! :) (link also on my tumblr)

All I Want For Christmas is You, by Moonlit Night199, (the fanfiction site)s/9555852/1/Heart-of-Time-Saga-challenge-All- I-Want-For-Christmas-is-You

:)

Some notes on reviews...

Hmmm...I'm not sure about the Ganger, just since the Doctor emphasized (a lot lol) that the Ganger was the same as him, so I could see him reacting to Angel the same way as the Doctor (depending whether or not he's remembered by then ;)). I can say that one of them will notice more about Angel since she sometimes has expressions when his back is turned and the other might catch a glimpse of it ;) I think she'd be SO beyond happy if he remembered, it was more of a she wasn't going to actively worry about it, she can't because it's not healthy especially with the baby, but she won't be giving up hope that he'll remember, more that she'll accept it if he never does :) I think she knows he'd protect the baby, but I think it would crush her to have him do that just because it's a baby and not because it's 'HIS' baby sort of thing :) I can say there'll be a few episodes coming up where the Doctor starts to semi-remember those memory flashes :) So that gives her a bit of hope yup :)

I'm not sure if she's moving on more so understanding that if he never remembers then he never remembers and there's nothing she can do about it :( I think she'll hold onto the hope that he will remember her, but if he doesn't, she'll try to accept that :)

I can't say whether she'll wear the bracelet or not, I can say it'll pop up a few more times. But I don't think she'd wear it nope, just because of her thoughts where, if she misses something or doesn't get a vision, she can still feel when he's in pain or needs help :)

I suppose now that we've got Jack, the question is...will she tell HIM about the baby and the Doctor's amnesia? It seems like she'll try to put off people asking her personal questions till after they save the Earth (unlike the Doctor lol, 'now? you want to do this now?! :)) But I so can't wait till Sunday for 12! Yay ^-^ I feel the same, I want to know but, in the same way, I almost don't because I'm terrified like 'what if I can't see them as the Doctor? He's not Matt!' lol :)

The light does restore things, so it might restore his memories, you never know :) We've seen a bit of Angel's reaction to the cracks erasing things, how ill she feels, I can say that with time being erased, Angel will have more of a reaction to it :) We'll have to wait and see though :)

They'll be seeing Sarah Jane in the 'Death of the Doctor' SJA crossover and she (and a few other companions) will be popping up from time to time throughout Series 6-7 and beyond :) I'm going to be including past companions more in this saga (so far) than the other OC series I've written :)

It is weird, we're more than halfway done! I'm both excited to get to the next story and sad that this one's almost over :(

Lol, my parents look at me like that too whenever I check my reviews at night, I do a little tiny dance in my chair whenever I see even 1 review and they just look at me like I've gone completely insane :)

I think Angel's visions would eventually evolve into voluntary ones where she can concentrate and have one yup :) I haven't written it out yet though, mostly because there are a few other levels/aspects of what she sees that she has to reach before then in terms of what she sees/how she sees it. But yes, I think she will eventually be able to will a vision :) Not for a while though :)

That's great! Congrats on the views! ^-^