A/N: Thank you for being patient with me and sorry for this next chapter taking so long. Let me know what you think.
She was quick on her feet.
She had to be.
The minute Gwen Cooper put down the phone, it took her less than ten minutes to gather her things and run to her car. Once she had the postcode in the Sat Nav, she was away. Inside her bag was a loaded handgun ready for the trouble that would be waiting for her.
She was always careful.
She had to be.
Danger was everywhere, if you knew where to look; the difference was knowing what your limits were. There is a risk in everything we do, whether you were working with aliens, as a cop or even just in regular domestic life, walking along the streets of Cardiff late at night with friends after a night out in the pub. Danger lurked in the shadows, yet Gwen still didn't hesitate.
She always stayed informed on the job.
She had to be.
Along the journey, her phone rang. Ianto informed her of new information that Jack had acquired from the police. He held his breath, then said the words she was dreading. There was more than one of them. Gwen shuddered, her grip on the steering wheel tighten.
She thought they had a problem when they assumed that there was one of them, and now to find there was two and possibly more, but still not to be any closer to knowing who they were or how to beat them, made her stomach churn. She took a deep breath and wished she could have some targets again to take her stress out on. She needed something to calm her nerves, and her mind instantly thought of her lovely Rhys. She always thought of him, even more so when the day looked bleak. His smiling face gave her courage, and her foot pushed down on the accelerator.
On arrival the former police officer did a quick scan of the warehouse from the outside. It looked normal, intact, with no signs of damage or scorch marks. Nothing to suggest there had been a crash of any kind, if that's what did happen. Maybe they needed help? All the possibilities flooded her mind, but even if they did, no one could excuse their behaviour or the three dead bodies.
There was no one in sight as she edged closer to the building. Her hand pushed down on the handle and she was greeted by darkness and an eerie creaking coming from the door. Gwen pulled a torch from her jacket and aimed straight ahead of her. The light coming from outside hardly impacted the obscurity of the warehouse, but nonetheless she stepped inside.
Her hand felt around the door searching for a light switch when she felt something sticky coat her fingertips. Fighting the urge to gag, Gwen heard a quiet beep. Two green strips of light radiated in the middle of the room, highlighting a circular capsule ship. Lights from the ceiling beamed down her revealing the dank interior and the high-tech craft hiding away from the rest of the world. Gwen closed the door behind her and discovered not blood as she expected, but a black goo on her hands.
Her gaze drifted back to her amazing discovery. She had worked at Torchwood for years, but to be seeing an alien ship in front of her own eyes was something else. Staring in awe, Gwen felt frozen to the spot, her eyes wandering over the sleek design. Another beep sounded through the room and the capsule began to open. The top of the vessel cracked, almost splintering as a white light shone through, dissolving the outer layer layers revealing the cramped flight deck. Gwen wiped her hand on the back of her jeans and walked closer, cautious in case the security system was still working.
"Okay. This is new." She murmured to herself. "Nothing to worry about. It's just a ship… from outer space."
The words sounded ridiculous even to her. She had known of the existence of other species for so long, but in recent months they had dealt with weapon technology that had fallen through the rift or wild Blowfish aliens that had travelled to the planet that liked stealing fast cars. Nothing like this, this was a whole new level entirely. Torchwood London had always dealt with the bigger situations until last year.
Gwen's gaze focused on the two seats in the ship, then to the computer inside. The screen was slightly cracked around the edges and there were faint claws marks around the edge of the seats. Almost like they didn't intend on coming back now. Biting the bullet, she reached out her hand and touched the ship's cool exterior. A flash of light rippled through the capsule startling Gwen. The screen flashed, projecting an image of one of the aliens so it stood next to the confused woman. The alien matched the drawing that Clare drew except the creature looked timid, not vicious.
"This the video record of ship Altone 629." The voice was slightly higher pitched than Gwen imagined, but what stood out the most was how sophisticated she sounded. Should that be the voice of a violent creature that eats its enemies?
"If this record has been activated then the ship has been abandoned. The only people who can use these records are someone from my blood line or descendants of the Rift. An energy that can match the one from my powers."
"What?" Gwen squeaked, her eyes widening. She remembered when she first was introduced to John, he asked her if she came from an old Cardiff family and she nodded, telling him that it was a far back as the nineteenth century. When she asked why, he simply smiled and told her it didn't matter. Such a strange man, she thought. Was it possible that her blood line had absorbed energy from the rift that they had lived on top of for all these years?
She shook her head and listened as the video carried on. "We came to Earth on a mission but our assumptions of the humans were wrong. A once primitive race has grown, walking out into the light with weapons that could destroy all we hold dear. Our last chance. Their ignorance of the universe still stands but there are others, others with such knowledge, broader than I could have anticipated."
"Too right." Gwen smirked, crossing her arms.
"They are few in numbers but have worked in secret for years. A team called Torchwood." The alien places her hand over her chest. "I, Karicole pledge to do whatever it takes to save my race." Her tone changed, chilling Gwen to the bones. "If killing every human on this rock is just, then it will be."
"Oh." The helpless human swallowed. The aliens had declared war.
Before she could begin to contemplate what this meant, the video flickered and showed both creatures standing side by side. The one calling herself, Karicole had her arm around the other, staring with love in her eyes at her partner.
They're lovers, Gwen thought, raising her eyebrow as they linked their hands.
While his colleague was at the workhouse, Ianto focused on his own leads. He told himself that it was nothing to do with how he wanted to proof that he was no spare part. But with his legs out of commission, he was limited in his abilities. The safest place for him to be was the hub.
And he hated it.
He knew he had helped with this case, but what if he had been a 100%; would they have solved the case quicker? Would innocent lives have been saved instead of being turned into dinner for two psycho killers? He couldn't help but blame himself. Staring at the computer, he felt useless. Ianto clenched his fists together, his nails digging into the skin, hoping to make himself feel something else other than guilt.
Being proactive, he decided to re-evaluate the material in front of him. They must have missed something, a link between everything. The only thing he could think of was Clare Foster. He could talk to her, but getting out of the hub was difficult by himself so searching the computers was the next best thing. Anything she did left some sort of mark in the world, whether it be shopping online or using her phone. Trudging through the files, there was nothing out of the ordinary since she had talked with Gwen, but she had booked a doctor's appointment that morning. Typing quickly, he scanned her medical records and discovered something very interesting.
Clare Foster was pregnant.
Ianto's gaped at the information and looked closely to see that she was six weeks in. He clapped his hand over his mouth thinking of that tiny life inside of her and realised that two lives would have been taken if the alien taken a different action. But that still confused him, why not kill her? She risked exposure even if she was drunk. Clare would have been an easy target and she wouldn't have put up much of a fight. She was so young though, too young to having a child at that age; she was almost a child herself.
And that's when it hit him.
Children? It's all about children.
Ianto would have jumped up from the seat he if could have, instead he settled for flinging his arms in the air, nearly knocking over the screen. He groaned at himself and then ran his hands through his hair.
"We're all idiots." he grumbled.
Gwen had told him that the alien had taken a look at Clare and then backed away. What if it could tell that she was pregnant? Would that have changed its decision? What if it couldn't bear the thought of killing an innocent baby? He quickly brought up the CCTV clip up of the alien in the park and re-watched the footage. The alien cried when it saw the children and showed emotion that would only be seen if it was a parent itself. Ianto remembered the look on his sister's face when she knew she was expecting, it was a look of awe.
What if these creatures came to Earth, not to invade but to have children?
The videos replayed themselves as Gwen figured out the controls of the computer, she leaned over and pressed a button, then resumed her seat on the ground, crossing her legs making herself at home. The video of Karicole and her partner loaded and the message repeated itself.
A deep voice came from the other alien and he recounted their journey. "Our ship does not fly like most crafts, it is developed from specialist technology that mimics our abilities and teleports from place to place. This allows us to remain undetected by our enemies and keeps us safe. The cube is our link to our home world and will be kept in our central control panel until the time is ready. Until the last stage."
"Okay so they are in the last stage, but what is it? What is this bloody mission?" Gwen wondered out loud, sounding frustrated.
"We chose this little planet because it almost matches the atmosphere of our old home. Same air and nearly the same orbit. Their resources will help us and then- then - then"
"Oh, not again." Gwen got to her feet and tapped the computer controls, hoping to regain the image. The crack in the system had affected the memory bank and video crackled and came to an abrupt stop.
"Maybe I should do the man method and hit it with something?" Gwen smiled, thinking of a couple of men she knew that occasionally reverted back to cavemen. A loud ring from her phone ended her trip down memory lane. Another phone call, no doubt more bad news. She loved this job, really she did.
"Don't tell me, Jack and Rose have been eaten as well?" she remarked sarcastically.
"No, but I've just found out that Clare Foster is pregnant."
"She didn't mention it." Gwen said. "When did she conf-?
"This morning," Ianto finished. "Look crazy thought, and I hope that I'm wrong because otherwise things are going from bad to worse, but what if the aliens came to here to breed?"
Gwen glanced up at the video, seeing the aliens with their arms wrapped around each other. Lovers? Their chance to save their race. Their old planet was once like Earth. Oh, bollocks. She bit her lip before muttering,"What if they came here to breed on Earth and they plan to stay as well?"
Miles away, hidden in plain sight was a beach hut on the cliffs, haunted by the murder of a little boy. The hut had been sold and unoccupied for months but now it was to become the birth place to a dying breed. Bringing new life in the world would wash away the empty feel of the place, and bathe it in something good. Sat on the sofa, Karicole hummed to herself songs of her home world as she stroked her belly.
The cube sat on the table covered in a sticky black substance from their ship, waiting for the last phase. Her eyes glanced up as the machine flashed a white light. Karicole stopped humming and smiled. Her partner picked up the cube and turned to her, an evil glint in his hollow eyes.
"They found the ship, Faricus. I think your warning wasn't clear enough." She chuckled.
"I won't make that mistake again." he smirked.