I feel weird about this… I feel it isn't complete. I feel that even though you learned of the current destinies of everyone, you haven't gotten to see what actually is happening. Now I don't know about how other people write, but I can see the story laid out before me. I can see the story is still continuing, so I figure I'll still write some of it down. Yay! (Hopefully it's somewhat of a yay for you guys…)

20

I slowly raised my head. The completely still air was interrupted by something. It was probably just the door. Maybe Ianto had ordered a pizza, or Jack had just come in from going to a pub. I didn't find anything unusual.

The gorgeous wood-stained desk that I was sitting at was littered with papers, pictures, and pencils. The desk had been moved here just a few short weeks ago, but it had almost become my everything.

To anyone who knows me well, it would seem strange. Since I arrived here, which seems like forever ago, I had been an adventurous and excitable kid. Who wouldn't be? I am in what would feel like a movie to any kid. Here I sit for so long though. I sit and I write.

When there is a rift alert, I am pulled to attention. I hop up and head for the door, pulling on a jacket or a jumper or whatever is closest to me. I then follow the noise.

The still air is once again interrupted, but this time by that very noise. By that familiar beep I am brought out of my daze and out of my chair. Tossing a striped jumper over my head as I walked, I thought about the alarm.

I love the rift alert. I have actually grown to adore that angry beeping that wakes me up every couple nights. It means excitement.

"Jessica!" Jack called from across the hub.

I flashed him a quick grin before regaining my composure. This job… This home still makes me smile. It has been over a year!

"I was trying to come up with something new," I said to the captain whilst scanning over numbers on a screen. "I thought I could try to write something for you guys that is interesting again."

I heard Gwen, who came back once her baby was three months old, running up to us.

"What have we got?" She asked.

"We've got some rift activity just a few blocks away, but many more reports of people going missing a ways out of Cardiff. We might just have to spend a night and check it out."

"Ooohh no we're not." Ianto jogged in. "I am not having another cannibal incident. I was nearly killed if you don't remember. That was not my best of days."

"Ianto's right," I said, recalling what I had been told of the time they ran into a group of cannibals.

"Well unfortunately, that's our job. Plus I swear on my life that there will not be anymore cannibals."

"That's easy for you to say! You've got a million lives!" Ianto chirped after him.

"Yeah, and I swear on all of them."

Owen bolted up the stairs, and, having obviously heard what we were talking about, made a face at Jack.

TWTWTWTWTW

The five of us each packed our bags with a change of clothes and anything else we wanted. Tosh was staying back. She had broken her arm last week, so we decided to keep her off the field. We proceeded to hop into the black SUV, and go for a long and cramped ride out of Cardiff.

Being informed of the fact that it would be a couple hours to our designated area, I popped my earbuds in and chose a random playlist off my phone. I leaned against the window and stared out at the road.

I started to think about how every night, when I go to bed, Jack comes into my room to say good night to me. I thought about how we talk every night. He calms me down.

"So I'm just going to keep living. Forever?" I had asked.

"I think so," he responded.

"That scares me. Forever is really, legitimately frightening to me."

"I know, it makes sense to be worried now, but it is actually a good thing sometimes."

"But I'm stuck in the body of a thirteen year old girl. I can never get married. I can never drive. I can never even walk into a pub. I am going to live like a child for the rest of the earth's life."

By this point, Jack had sat down in a chair by my bedside. He knew the fears I had. He knew I feared loneliness, being forgotten, and abandonment. I am already fifteen. I haven't even grown. I know that I am going to look like this forever.

Taking my hand, he whispered, "I know it's scary. I know that it is a pain, and I know that it is forever, but it is also a gift. I have learned through my long life that you need to spend less time dwelling on what will happen. You get to meet the most wonderful people, see the greatest things, and even do some dangerous things that the average person wouldn't recommend doing."

I clenched my jaw. I sounded so pathetic. I don't want to be a person who is always complaining. I have so much to be grateful for! I should be especially grateful for the fact that the team cares so much for me that they want to calm me down.

We pulled into a small parking lot just as one of my favorite songs ended. I heard Owen start chuckling softly beside me. I looked at him, and then looked up and out the front window.

I started to laugh a little too, as I noticed the crowd of confused cops circled around a large alien ship. They looked so completely shocked and unaware of what to do.

Jack and Ianto slipped out of the front seats, and the rest of us followed from the back. We hadn't expected there to be anything tangible here. We were only coming to investigate some disappearances. (When I say we, I mostly mean the team and I am coming along. I can help with some things, but I am not the greatest with some of the meters and machines that they know how to use.)

The five of us walked up to the crowd of officers, and as Jack said "Torchwood", they parted. As usual, a stray arm reached out to grab me away from the approaching group, but was swatted away by the medic. I always earned strange looks, which bothered me, but I absolutely refused to stay back.

The team was about to begin inspecting the ship, when a man decided to walk straight past us and stop in front. He crossed his arms and stared us up and down. He audibly cleared his throat several times.

Jack seemed to be ignoring him, and continuing working, but he paused with a smirk. "You know," he started. "I used to date someone who would do the same thing. He'd do the most obnoxious things to make his presence known."

"You cannot come in here and expect to take over. You see this machine could be very dangerous. This land is outside of Cardiff. You have no command over our officers here." I have to admit, the man was trying incredibly hard to look intimidating.

Ianto made a slightly audible laugh, and a face which practically said "Now he's done it".

"You're new here, aren't you?" Jack queried. "You see, we're Torchwood. I'm guessing you're new if you haven't heard of Torchwood. Ask any other one of those officers. You can even ask people who are not involved in the government. They will tell you that we are not to be messed with."

"Am I supposed to be intimidated by you?" He stood his ground.

The captain was beginning to get irritated. "Look. I get you fired with a single phone call. I can make your family forget who you are in a matter of minutes. I can even make you forget everything about yourself. Yes. Yes you can be a little intimidated."

By now a group of people had begun to approach the man. They realized the situation he was in and started to motion him away from us. He looked like he did not want to leave. He looked so firm in the fact that he was going to get us away from the ship which we should have started inspecting several minutes ago. One man came up to him and actually grabbed his arm to pull him away, saying something along the lines of "Are you trying to get us all killed?"

Finally, with everyone out of our way, the team began to pull out the rest of their machines and scales.

The ship was from the planet Tarko. Jack recognized the species' work, and, as usual, had some story about a time he had visited the planet.

"The Tarkotoans are very intelligent creatures. They can be very friendly and helpful, but if they want to be, they can also be extremely dangerous. Their higher knowledge is easily used against enemies," he concluded.

We were all impressed. "Are we considered enemies?" Gwen asked, being the one to snap back to the issue the quickest in the moment.

"Well I don't know, but I am guessing yes, if they have anything to do with these disappearances. "

TWTWTWTWTW

After what seemed like forever, we located the Tarkotoan who had come here. The Tarkotoan had very pale skin, which, from a distance, would appear white, but up close looks slightly bluish. He had large eyes, but the pupils seemed to take up most of the space. He had hair on his head, just like a human, that looked like it was bleached to a very light blond. His figure was slim, and he wore a mangled tan outfit, which hung on him slightly. The shirt was thin and long, and it came all the way along his arms until it met his bony fingers. The translator took a while to work properly, and by that time, the alien was so flustered that it didn't matter what we were saying.

"Please, just calm down, love." Gwen was currently pleading with him to settle down and stop kicking wildly at the walls of the room we were standing in, in the hub.

Everyone had tried different things. She tried to speak softly to him, Ianto tried to reason with him, and Owen even tried to be a little harsher.

He wore himself out eventually. He walked over to the corner of the room and slid down the wall. He pulled his knees up to his chest and stared around the interrogation room.

I was actually in the corner across from him. I had my headphones in and was working on sketching his face. I realized that the kicking and yelling had stopped, and looked up. I noticed the alien sitting across the room staring at me.

I made eye contact with him for a while. Eventually, I ended up picking up my papers and my phone, and scooting across the room to him. His big eyes watched me come closer, but he didn't move.

I stopped when I was sitting right beside him and handed him one of my headphones. His thin blue fingers reached around it and took it. He stared curiously at the device for a while.

"You put it in your ear," I said, motioning to his ear with one hand, and pointing to where it was in my ear with the other.

He nodded in thought before putting it in place with some assistance from me. He had a look of utter shock as the music started playing, and seemed incredibly tense, but in a minute he almost had a relaxed smile on his pale lips.

"Do you like this?" I asked him.

"Yeah," he said, nodding. I was only slightly surprised by him speaking.

We sat like that for a while, and many different kinds of songs played. I realized after a while that he liked Rock and he liked Musicals, but he didn't care for Pop or Rap. I showed him the picture I was sketching of him and he smiled. He took a pencil and paper from next to me, and started to draw me. He was a remarkable artist.

"You know, my drawing's going to need a name," I said. "What's your name?"

"Erik."

"Erik," I repeated. "Nice to meet you Erik, I'm Jessica."

"Your name is beautiful," he said.

"Thanks, I like your name too. It suits you."

"It is short for Erikainshen. It means 'brave' in an ancient language from my home planet."

I noticed that the rest of the team had made their way out of the room, which meant that they were probably all hovering around the one-way window above us, and spying. They would pry me for answers later, but I didn't care. Right now I was interested in the potential of making a new friend.

"So Erik, what brings you to earth?" I questioned, signing the bottom of my picture with a bolded "Jessica A. Harkness".

"I am, well I was, a prince, from the planet Tarko. I was exiled here because I refused to comply with some of the high council's rules. I guess I crashed because I don't know how to fly, and caused some damage because I don't know what half the things in that ship do to the people around me."

"You're a prince? You should have said something! I could…" He started to cut me off.

"No. I was a prince, by blood, not by choice. I am not anymore."

"How old are you?" I asked, not sure of how to respond to learning he was once royalty.

"In your earth time, I am sixteen years of age."

"Well I'm fifteen earth years old. It's funny, I look younger. I don't change."

He sat up straight and cocked his head at me in thought. He looked me up and down before returning to looking me in the eyes. "How interesting. Are all humans this way?"

"No, just Jack and I. By the way, they aren't trying to hurt you. They're just worried that you are trying to hurt us. Several people have gone missing in the place where you were found.

Erik looked horrified and extremely saddened. It was so interesting how the Tarkotoan reacted to things. His face scrunched up and his eyes seemed to get even larger, despite their already being large. "I never would ever mean to hurt anyone!" He began to slam the heel of his hand against his forehead. "I didn't want to hurt anyone. I didn't know how to fly. I just…" He broke down, continuously hitting his head with his hand.

I reached out and grabbed his hands. I scooted in front of him, so I could gain control of his arms. "Erik, Erik, stop. You need to calm down. It's not your fault." I heard rustling from the doors, followed by hurried footsteps.

By the time Jack and Owen had reached us, I already was cradling him in my arms. As cliché as it may sound, I knew exactly what he needed to hear. I also knew he needed to feel comforted. I smiled as I thought about the scared girl I was when I first came here. I learned that I could never die. I learned I could never age. I was terrified. Then I was given support, comfort, and love. I couldn't have asked for more than that.

The captain and the medic were both crouched in front of us. Both had the same unsure expression on their face. I silently put a finger to my lips. They understood and remained silent as Erik cried himself to sleep in my arms.

When I was sure he was out, we moved him to a bed on the other side of the room. I laid a blanket over him.

"So what was that about?" Jack asked.

I made a huffing sound and ran a hand through my loose hair. "His name is Erik. He was a Tarkotoan prince who was exiled to Earth. He's a kid, and he's really sweet, so don't you dare bring up people disappearing when he wakes up."

"Well why are they disappearing?" Owen asked.

"Because he was sent hurdling through space in a ship that he had little control over. He's sixteen; I doubt he had had much experience in flying those things. It hit the ground, and probably some people, but he didn't mean to hurt anyone, trust me, I can tell."

"So he was exiled here? What are we supposed to do with him?" Owen questioned.

"I don't know," Jack said, staring down at the now sleeping blue alien.

I was only praying that they would not do anything bad to him.

Okay well here's a chapter 20! Let me know you guys' thoughts and if you want me to continue writing. By the way, (just saying) I don't own Torchwood, The BBC, or any of its characters, aside from Jessica, Erik, a few other OC's, and the Tarkotoan race. I also own the plot of this story, but not of the show. Okay, that's all for now, bye! ~Lexi~ 3