Chapter 3

Another week went by, and I dealt fairly well with everything that had gone on. Torchwood was explained to me as I sat on the couch, wide eyed and curious. Aliens? Now only one thing was on my mind. I wanted to see them in action.

"Jessica, you might have to stay here a while." Toshiko spoke gently to me.

"I know," I spoke much more cheerfully. "When do I get to see you guys working?"

Each of the Torchwood members laughed, and looked to Jack. Jack, who always seemed to be watching, looked surprised.

"You would need to train first," he chuckled.

"Train me," I said, holding out my hand, smiling.

Jack did in fact start to train me a few days later. I learned simple things about what to avoid, and what to look out for. I wanted to learn gun technique. Jack had said a quick no when I asked. He answered as though the subject was not at all open for discussion. I was disappointed.

Three days after that short discussion, an alarm went off and 2:00 in the afternoon. The beep apparently meant 'major rift activity'. Owen ran up from the autopsy bay, Gwen from the main part of the hub, and Jack from his office. They grabbed guns, and put them in their holsters.

"Can I come?" I begged them.

Jack shook his head at me and apologized, but Owen tapped my shoulder, and nodded ahead of him. Without anyone's knowledge, I pulled a pistol from the counter and tucked it into the back lining of my jeans, pulling my sweatshirt over it. The gun was a small semi-automatic handgun with a leather-wrapped handle.

I chased after the small clan of hurrying Torchwood members until we reached a black SUV. Jack saw me there, and looked skeptical, but decided there wasn't time to reprimand me. After hearing Tosh rattle coordinates over the device in his ear, Jack peered at me through the mirror.

"You can come, but you have to stay in the SUV." He obviously saw me open my mouth to speak against his words. "It's too dangerous, Jessica."

The car pulled up to a police-taped scene. "I see the amateurs made it here," Owen criticized as they hopped out of the car. I almost got up from my seat, but I did not want to make Jack think I would ignore everything he said.

Owen leaned over to Jack's shoulder and spoke something to him. After a few minutes' discussion, Jack motioned for me to come. I was so excited! I hopped out and ran to them.

"Torchwood." Gwen only had to speak one word for the tape to be lifted. The three walked onto the scene.

"You can't go in here," I was broken from my excited daze by a police officer who laid a hand upon my shoulder. He looked kind when he said it, but obviously wasn't going to allow me to enter.

"Oh, no it's ok, I'm with Torchwood." The words felt funny as they spilled from my mouth in a nervous hurry to see what was behind the police barricade.

"Sorry love, but you're a little young to be Torchwood." The blonde haired man stated.

"Um, Gwen!" I called to the team, who were talking to an officer up ahead. She turned and walked to us.

"What's wrong?" She looked between the two of us. "Andy, she's with us, you can let her through."

"She's Torchwood?" His tone was both embarrassed and insulted. "You won't hire me, but you will hire a kid?"

"We didn't hire her." Gwen laughed as she placed a hand on my back and urged me forward.

Unfortunately, the rift activity had not been as major as they had thought. A small ship had fallen through the rift, and had started a fire. The ship was empty, and did not cause too much damage. Jack had jokingly apologized for my first field visit not being a very entertaining one, but I hoped that had meant that he planned to take me on other missions too.

When we returned to the hub, I was shown around the base. Jack's long coat had been tossed to Ianto upon entry.

"Do you always wear the same thing?" I was referring to Jack's dark blue trousers, light blue shirt, and braces (or suspenders).

"It's comfortable!" The captain retorted in mock insultment, laughing as I did.

The next alarm came that evening. Everyone was tired, and ready to go home, but had to stay. Jack willingly allowed me to come this time, but was still nervous.

I once again tucked the gun into my jeans, and followed them to the SUV. Everyone moaned tiredly as we drove to the site.

There was no police tape here. It was just an old rundown house. The six of us climbed from the car and entered the house. The door had to be broken down. Ianto kept pushing me behind him every time we heard a noise.

When we reached the center of the abandoned home, we found what we had come for. A creature stood before us that was so distorted. A half of the body was hairy with sharp claws at the end of the two arms on its left. The right side was a man. The human side was torn up and bruised.

Tosh held out a small device and spoke in a worried voice. "It's a shape shifter. I think it's dying."

Jack stepped forward. "We can help you. Please, come with us."

Everything that came next happened so fast. One moment, I had been behind Ianto, staring curiously at the distorted beast before us, the next I was jumping in front of Jack. The apparent 'shape shifter' had pulled a gun up from its sleeve, and aimed it right for Jack. My reflexes had acted so much quicker than anyone else's. I pulled the gun from my jeans and shot the shape shifter, jumping in front of Jack and stopping him from being shot. The creature dropped like a rock and died.

"You saved my life!" Jack thankfully exclaimed.

My back still faced them all. I fell to my knees as I placed a hand over the bullet hole that was inches from my heart. I had not shot in time to save myself from being hit by a last attempt bullet.

I could see the light dimming around me, and I looked up. I was in Jack's arms. The captain was speaking to me, but I couldn't hear anything. A stream of tears gushed from my eyes as I felt myself slowly fading.

There was nothing to do. I closed my eyes.

End of Chapter 3! I hope you like it! Please review!