No sooner had Fish rounded up the rest of the team to tell the others about Henry's strange text than Ianto said that UNIT had rang. A terrorist bomb had gone off on a train bound for London. It hadn't been difficult for Fish to put the pieces together. His heart had plummeted into his throat and he'd nearly collapsed when Ianto had confirmed that Henry's train and the one derailed were one in the same. Though Henry could withstand normal injury, if something happened, if Henry were decapitated in the wreck… Fish's heart had practically stopped. He was wholly unprepared to face losing Henry.
There was the Game. There were other immortals and challenges but they were few and far between. Fish was a man of science and maths and the maths said that Henry would outlive him with or without death by Torchwood. The idea of life without Henry, of facing the few short remaining years of his life with the gaping hole in his heart had left him paralyzed. Fish felt he'd never known desperation until now.
He'd never been one to ask God or the universe for anything but he closed his eyes tightly in prayer. He'd spent his entire life living as best he could. God and the universe had given him the gift of great intellect. He'd tried to use that gift to make the world a better place with Torchwood even though it meant he would give his life for humanity's future. But then the universe had thrown Henry into his life. His willing sacrifice had to count for something didn't it? He offered up a promise. When his time came, he wouldn't rage against it. He'd walk up to the altar and lay down upon it like a lamb. All he wanted was Henry alive and safe in return.
"Can't we land this thing already?" Fish said, panicked as he gripped the straps holding him into his seat.
UNIT had sent a helicopter for them all and now they were hovering over the wreckage, waiting for their turn to set down. The helicopter landed with a jolt and Fish started undoing his straps and jumped out of the helicopter. His eyes immediately started to water, stinging from the stench of burning plastic and flesh. There were soldiers everywhere. Even though they were still in Wales, UNIT had taken over the entire clean up operation. It was simply too large and public a disaster for Torchwood.
Fish grabbed Miranda's arm. Both of them bent to avoid the helicopter blades. "We need to find him, Evie!"
"I know, Fish. We need to get to the epicenter of the explosion. If he saw the perpetrator, he'll be there," she said and give Fish a little shake. "You need to focus. Please."
He nodded and took a few deep breaths. The second helicopter set down and the rest of the team got out.
"Martha Jones, voice of a nightingale," Jack called out. Normally, he did so with exuberance and affection, but now his tone was subdued. Martha ran to hug the other former companion.
"Miranda!" Martha said, as brightly as she could manage. The two women hadn't seen each other in some time. The reunion was bittersweet.
"Martha, I wish the circumstances were better," Miranda said, giving the UNIT doctor a quick hug.
"Me too," Martha said, crouching low as she herded the Torchwood team away from the makeshift helicopter pad.
"The last of the fires are nearly out. Jack said Henry was on the train?" Martha asked.
"Yes, he's the reason we received our intel that this was an alien attack so quickly," Miranda said, standing up straight now that they were clear of the helicopter. She produced a picture from her phone, the one Henry had sent her and one of Henry himself. Martha had only met Henry once at Jack and Ianto's wedding.
"I don't recognise the species and I haven't seen Henry's name among the injured," Martha said, examining the first two pictures. She started tapping at her tablet. "Perhaps he's among the missing…"
"Whatever lists he's on, I need him removed. All evidence of him being on this train must be completely erased," Miranda insisted.
Normally, the Watchers would be the ones to ensure that there was no trace of an immortal of the Game but this was a unique situation. This act of terrorism involved aliens. UNIT and Torchwood had the area locked. The Watchers have operatives all over the world but they saw no reason to let Torchwood know that or to not let Torchwood do their work for them. Neither fact was something Miranda was privy to.
She produced another picture, a young woman with red streaks dyed into her hair. It was of Henry's Watcher. Both Miranda and Ianto's Watchers had showed concern for their colleague. "I also need to know if a young woman named Ashley Greenfield is on your injured or deceased list."
"Ashley Greenfield you said?" Martha started tapping on her tablet. "She's in grave condition at hospital. I've sent the information to your mobile. I'm sorry. They don't expect her to survive."
Miranda sent up a silent prayer for the young woman. Henry might find her 'bloody intrusive' but he was fond of her. She quickly forwarded the information to Kiernan Davies, her own Watcher. She turned their conversation back to business, bringing up the first photograph again.
"Jack called him an Akkoran," she said. "He was likely killed in the blast."
"The evidence points to more than this single bomber," Martha said as she waved at the Torchwood team. "Do you know which carriage Henry was in? I can get a team to escort you."
"Towards the front of the train. I appreciate the offer of an escort, Martha but I can't let anyone else see him," Miranda said firmly.
"It's not very safe in there or pretty," Martha said. "There's a lot of debris and bodies."
"I'm no strange to carnage. As for danger," Miranda turned to the other immortals. "Ifan? Jack? Let's go."
"I'm not staying here!" Fish exclaimed. He bolted forwards and grabbed Miranda's arm.
Hart and Gwen had protested as well but Fish's objection was louder.
Miranda dragged Fish aside to try to reason with him. "You do not want to see him like this, Fish. I promise you that."
Fish shoved her and snarled, "I love him! So if you think I'm staying out here while he's burning in there you've got another fucking thing coming to you, Evie. Get the fuck out of my way!"
"And he would not want you to endanger yourself by going in there," she said. She grabbed his arms in an iron grip. "He will come back, you won't! Do you think his lordship would ever forgive me if I allowed anything to happen to you?"
Fish shook her off. Miranda thought he was acquiescing. Instead, Fish drew his side arm, pointing it at her head. "You let me through Evie or I swear to fucking God, I will put a fucking bullet right between your fucking eyes and step over your corpse to get to him!"
There was a madness in her friend's eyes. It wasn't an empty threat. Miranda couldn't afford to die such a public death in front of so many. "Fine, but this isn't going to be pretty. Jack? Ifan? Let's go."
The three immortals walked just in front of Fish like some sort of grizzly escort. The four of them made their way to the epicenter. The smell of burning plastic hung in the air and as they approached the carriage they needed. The foul stench of death and burning flesh grew thicker. The smoke stung their eyes and burned their mouths and noses. The ground was muddy, wet from the water used to extinguish the fires.
It was with reluctance the group split up to cover more ground. Jack, Ianto and Miranda all ventured off in different directions. Miranda had informed him that Henry's presence would be diminished if he were still dead. Fish was right next to the twisted carriages. He wanted to ignore the charred bodies but Henry was among them. UNIT had already completed search and rescue operations. They'd given their attention to the living first. Now, they were in salvage mode, cleaning up the wreck and retrieving bodies as they went. The Torchwood group was far ahead of the UNIT engineers. He stamped back his nausea as he let his eyes drift from corpse to corpse.
He slammed his eyes shut when he caught sight of a headless body. He couldn't open his eyes. The dread rose up in him, the grief choking his heart. Had that headless body been wearing Henry's suit? Was the love of his life truly dead? Would he ever feel Henry's touch again? Hear his voice, his laugh? What was his life without Henry in it? How could he go on? Fish felt ice running down the back of his neck. He gripped his belly as his heart began to break in his chest. The monologue began in his head over and over again. He couldn't breath. No… no…. no… He continued to back away, his legs threatening to give out from underneath him when, suddenly, he tripped. He ended up sprawled out on the muddy ground. He opened his eyes to see what he'd tripped over. It was an arm, jutting out from the carriage's ripped open wall… with Henry's watch on it.
"HENRY!" Fish yelled. He dove for the hand, gripping it. Henry was laying half out of the train, his arm outstretched… and he still had his head. There was a look of surprised terror frozen on his face and his eyes stared up into nothing. Fish broke down sobbing, cupping Henry's cold face in his hands. "HELP! Somebody help!"
Miranda skidded to his side and peered in between the jumbled seats and metal.
"Goddess below, he's impaled on his own sword," Miranda said. The sword's hilt was wedged against the seat, jutting up through Henry's middle and into the seat on top of him. She shined her torch, relieved to see that Henry's body seemed to be intact. His legs looked badly burned and severely broken but they were still attached. Missing limbs regenerated but the recovery was excruciatingly slow and painful.
Jack and Ianto arrived seconds later and the three immortals began to try to free Henry from the seats and tangle of other corpses. Eventually they managed to untwist his body from them, dragging it out onto the mud.
"Jesus, Mandy," Ianto said, as he took in the sight. The sword had entered Henry's back, going straight through his belly. The blade was bent just above the cross guard and the hilt was nearly flush against Henry's back. The front of the blade arched to the side.
Miranda grabbed the twisted hilt and nodded. With Ianto and Fish holding Henry's body firmly, she yanked with all her strength and the blade came free. Sobbing, Fish gathered Henry into his arms. Miranda stretched out Henry's legs, pushing the bones back through the flesh. It would help them to heal faster. After he revived, it would be hours before Henry could walk without pain, possibly half the day.
Jack leaned over to her. "How long do you think?"
"Hours at least," she said. "We need to get him out of here while he's still dead."
She taped her comm unit. "Martha? Can you connect me to Colonel Ashline please?"
"Sure Miranda."
Several beeps sounded, indicating a change in channel.
"Colonel Ashline?"
"Doctor Ryan?" the deep Welsh voice answered.
"Yes, sir, this is Doctor Ryan. I have a personal favor to ask of you can you move us to a secure line?"
Miranda waited a few moments and she heard the static blast, characteristic of UNIT's frequency scramblers. "We're secure now, Doctor Ryan."
"Thank you Colonel. Someone who shares my 'abnormality' was aboard the train. I need to remove him before he revives but the site is under investigation. I need you to grant me special dispensation. I would owe you a debt, sir."
"Granted, Doctor Ryan, and don't think I won't collect on that someday," the Colonel said lightly.
"I hope that you will, Colonel, and thank you," she said disconnecting the line and then reactivating her comm unit. "Martha? I need a stretcher and a body bag as soon as possible. Tell Gwen and Hart that they can move in as well. I need to get this area processed."
After Martha answered her, Miranda disconnected her comm unit and crossed over to Ianto and Jack. "I'm going to stay with Fish. You two start looking for the alien's body."
Jack and Ianto moved off as Miranda stood behind Fish who was still cradling Henry's head in his lap. Martha, Gwen and Hart walked up not a few minutes later, a stretcher and Fish's portable kit in Hart's hands and a body bag in Gwen's.
Miranda knelt down and laid a hand on Fish's shoulder. The Australian looked up at her and then at the stretcher and body bag. Swallowing, he stood up and turned away. He couldn't stand to watch this. Hart came up behind him and tapped him on the shoulder, handing him his portable kit.
"Thanks, mate," Fish said, scrubbing at his face. "Look, I'm sorry I didn't tell you about Henry."
"Why would you? It's not your secret to tell," Hart said, confused. He gave Fish's arm a reassuring squeeze before he started for the carriage himself. Fish guessed to look for the alien body. Well, what was left of it.
Fish started gathering various samples, the work allowing him to distance himself from the carnage around him and his dead lover. Normally, Fish would have held onto Henry as he revived but the situation wasn't allowing that right now. Jack and Ianto emerged from the destroyed carriage carrying a body bag between them. Fish saw Ianto stowing the portable camera in his pocket.
"There's definitely some alien pieces in there. There's a head with horns…" Ianto said. "How are we working this, Jack?"
"This is a Torchwood case but for now, we're going to work out of the UNIT command centre and analysis tents," Jack said. He turned to Fish. "Ianto's going to take Henry back to your loft. He can revive at home and you can stay with him."
"This is important, Jack," Fish said.
"It is. Which is why I need you on top of your game, Fish, not wondering whether or not Henry is awake yet," Jack said, putting a hand on his shoulder. "The UNIT chopper will bring you back."
Fish sighed with relief. "Thanks, Jack."
"After he's awake? I want you back here," Jack insisted. He tapped his comm unit and began talking, turning away from Fish back towards the wreckage. He turned back to Fish and said over his shoulder, "Okay, maybe not right after. Make the sex quick though."
Fish blushed furiously as he took out his mobile. There were helicopters flying overhead, UNIT and media. Tom would be worried. Fish took out his mobile and sent a carefully worded text telling Tom that Henry was safe and that he and Alice to stay out of Wales until he or Jack said otherwise.