A/N: Thanks for all the support so far, it keeps me a happy bunny.
Ellie listened to Jack's footsteps as they faded away before turning her attention to her boss. She shut the door, set down the mugs, fearing that she might throw them at Alec's head. One thing I asked him, one bloody thing.
"Don't look at me like that." Alec exclaimed.
"What did I say?" she said, not bothering to hide the anger in her voice.
"It was an innocent question." he lied.
"You are such a dickhead at times." Ellie remarked.
Alec disregarded the comment, continuing his argument. "How did they even know to come to Broadchurch, eh? They come from Cardiff, following the same killer. What do they know that they aren't telling us?"
"Well, thanks to you, we'll never know." Ellie said. "They were going to help us."
"Not if we do our jobs properly." he growled, leaving the office. "I'm going to get the confirmation on the body from the cliffs."
Alec stormed out the office, hearing the whispers of the other officers in the background. He ignored it, ploughing on through, but stopped at the bathroom. He stepped inside, grateful it was empty.
Catching a glimpse of himself in the mirror, he cringed. Bollocks. He pinched the bridge of his nose, leaning back against the wall. Keeping people at arm's length was only going push them further away.
The next morning, Rose woke in bed, her body sprawled across the mattress. She sighed, remembering her actions from the night before. She raised a hand to her face, groaning about her choice of words. Maybe she could have handled the situation better.
Rose heaved herself up, crossed her legs, examining her new surroundings. In the corner of her eye, she saw the alarm clock.
8.06am.
Rose fell back against the pillows, feeling her mind drift again. It was too early to focus on anything. She looked to the empty pillow next to her, feeling the soft material. He should have been here, helping them. But for his memory, she would keep fighting.
After a couple of minutes of brooding, she left her room and found Jack in the living room.
"Morning." he said, handing her a cup of tea. "Was just about to wake you."
"How can you be cheery this time in the morning?" she grumbled.
"Practice," Jack grinned. "We need to spilt up. I'm going to take a better look on the cliffs and see if we missed anything. I need you to go around town, see if you can see anything suspicious."
"Why?"
"There's a killer that could be hiding in human form. The people of Broadchurch won't be aware of the murder just yet, the police are keeping it secret for now. The last thing they need is another horrific death on their doorstep, so you need to be a fly on the wall." Jack explained.
"What about Helen Jones, Billy Hansen's girlfriend?" Rose asked, sitting down on the sofa.
"Let the police handle that. We're here to catch this alien before they find it, otherwise there'll be more bodies to clear up…"
Rose stared at her cup, the rest of Jack's sentence blurred together and became background noise. It wasn't because of arrogance or a lack of sleep, it was because she felt empty.
This time yesterday she closed a door on those boxes. His face was fading from her mind and it killed her. The big grin, ears, the warmth of his heart. One year and one day, and she still loved him.
The images of cold metal bodies marching through the corridors, the heavy footsteps, and the mechanical voices were forever branded in her memories. The echoes of scared workers, running for their lives for fear of being converted, but he saved them.
"DELETE! DELETE!"
He made his choice.
"DELETE! DELETE!"
She was left behind.
"Rose?"
She snapped awake. "Yeah?"
"You okay?" Jack studied her face, sensing the conflict within. He knew exactly where her mind was.
Rose nodded, taking a sip of her tea. Jack moved to the sofa, pulling her in for a hug. Feeling his concern, she rested her head against his shoulder. In the time they'd known each other, they had been through hell and back. The trust they shared meant that Jack or Rose could say anything freely. Better to share than bottle it all up.
"Ianto told me last night the bone in his leg has healed, but he's been left with a nasty scar." Jack informed her.
Rose wrapped her arm around Jack's middle, hugging him tighter. "He's lucky to have you."
"Is he? It was my fault."
Rose lifted her head. "We all make our choices. He chose to work at Torchwood. He knows the risks, we all do." she said in a firm voice.
Jack kissed her forehead. "You going to be alright?"
"I'm always alright." Rose smiled weakly, "Let's solve this case quickly, so we can go home."
"Hey, I got a present for you." Gwen shouted, walking towards the computers with their breakfast in her hands. Ianto was so engrossed in his computer screen, he didn't notice the smell of bacon wafting through the air.
"What have you found?" she asked.
He ignored her, the information on the screen loading in front of him was too important. He smiled to himself, hardly believing his luck. There was no other CCTV footage of the murder, the camera in the alley was broken. Typical, he thought, but that didn't stop him, it just meant he had to explore other options.
"Ianto, what have you found?"
"Something that is going to make Jack very happy." he said, snapping out of his daze.
"I don't need to know about your love life." she retorted.
Ianto chuckled and pointed to the screen. A police report loaded up, showing images of the crime scene.
Gwen sighed, feeling strange about hacking into the police system, even with Jack's influence. It wasn't that long ago that she was PC Cooper, strolling the streets, stopping everyday criminals, now she was working all hours of the days fighting creatures from other planets.
"In the report it states that Clare Foster found the body. But that's not the good news…"
"How can there be good news?" Gwen said, confused.
"She said she saw the figure standing over the body of Hallway and I quote 'disappeared in a puff of smoke…'"
"But he disappeared in a few streets away, we have the footage to prove that." Gwen interrupted.
"Can you let me finish?" he snapped.
"Sorry, please continue."
"It didn't disappear. There was something in its hands that did."
"It was carrying something?" she mumbled.
"Maybe it got spooked. Sent whatever it was away."
"Why would something like that get spooked?"
Ianto's eyes scanned the rest of the report. It stated that Clare saw the attacker but the description that she gave was sceptical because of the amount of alcohol in her system. It could have been shock, although Ianto suspected that she was telling the truth but the police didn't know how to process the information.
"Oh, she is such a clever girl!" Ianto shouted, causing Gwen to jump out her seat.
"Care to explain?" she said, recovering from his outburst.
"Rose! Jack called me yesterday and said something about theory she had," Gwen waved her hand, inviting him to continue. "She thought that maybe this alien was protecting something."
"Maybe more valuable than its own life," Gwen pondered. "Anything else in that report?"
"No. I can do one better though. I just found Clare Foster." he said, tapping the screen with his finger.
"Tom, don't do that with the ball." Ellie said.
"Sorry." he murmured.
Ever since Joe had left, Tom had developed the habit of bouncing a tennis ball against the floor and catching it. It helped him focus his thoughts, but also let out his frustrations. He usually bounced it against the garden shed in the back garden but since they were walking down the high street, the pavement was the new substitute.
They walked through the busy high street, weaving between the tourists that had returned to town for the warm weather. Freddie babbled in Ellie's arms, clutching a chocolate bar that was slowly melting in the heat.
"Don't do that against the walls when we get to your Aunt's house." Ellie said, trying to not to get too angry at him. Really, her anger was aimed at her boss and his actions from last night.
"I don't want to go Auntie Lucy's place. Can't I stay home on my own?"
"No, you're too young. Besides someone needs to look after your brother." she said, passing the newly opened news agents.
Since Joe had gone to prison, Ellie had relied on her sister for babysitting. The consequences being that Ellie and Tom had become closer. The last few months had been traumatising for them both, but with each other's help, they'd survived.
Freddie was too young to understand, but when he asked for his "daddy", it broke Ellie's heart. It didn't take long for the town to find out truth, Tom was being bullied at school and the last of his friends abandoned him because of what their parents had told them. He tried to stay strong, hence the tennis ball distraction.
"Oh, Freddie, look at the mess you made." Ellie said.
While his mother was distracted, Tom bounced the ball again, caught it, but saw Chloë and Beth walking in his direction. Beth glanced up, seeing the anxious boy in front of her, yet her gaze darkened, more so focused at her old friend cleaning her toddler.
Unsure of what to do, Tom backed away, unaware of the newsagent sign behind him. He turned swiftly, colliding into the sign, falling to the ground. His arm scraped against the edge, grazing it, leaving him with a red mark down the side, fresh blood peeping through.
The tennis ball fell from his hand, bouncing away from his eye line. Ellie rushed to her son's side.
"Oh, my God, Tom are you okay?" asked Ellie.
"I'm okay, Mum." he mumbled, trying not to wince at the pain. It wasn't a deep cut, but enough the take the first few layers of skin off.
Tom pulled himself to his feet, trying to not aggravate it anymore. Ellie glanced up, seeing Beth and Chloë whisper to each other before walking in the opposite direction. She looked around and saw a the townspeople stare at her, muttering under their breaths, their judgemental eyes hounding her.
Don't let it in, don't let it in, she thought. For once, Alec was right about something.
"Bet that stings, eh?" she asked him, pretending it was just her and her boys.
"A little bit. Did you see where my ball went?"
"Sorry sweetheart, I'll get you another one." Ellie said, glancing around her.
Passing Freddie to Tom, she pulled the sign back to its original place.
Among the tourists watching the accident, a hooded figure stood, silently counting the adults walking by, waiting for its next move. It watched Ellie and her children stroll away, titled it's head, revealing a razor-sharp smile glistening in the sun. From its pocket, a tennis ball fell out, bouncing down the road as the creature disappeared in a puff of smoke, ready to hunt it's next meal.