Near Dove Residence; Belfast, Ireland
John Hart checked over the less advanced maintenance bot the general sent. He wasn't sure the programming would work. The stun pellets would, though. He needed to contact Anwen to remote scan the program to attempt the transfer. He flipped his wrist-strap open.
"Anwen Williams."
"Are you okay?"
"Yeah. Did the general tell you I needed the stun pellet program?"
"Yeah. I'm with the bot now." A beat. "I changed the music."
John remotely scanned the bot at Torchwood Three. "To what?"
"Bodies by Drowning Pool."
He wasn't familiar with the song. Not that it mattered. "I have the program. Are you all right?"
"Yeah. I wanted to look at your destabilizer designs. Ianto took them from me."
"Shouldn't you be studying turtles."
"Komodo dragons."
John smiled. "You can tell me about them when I get back."
"Be safe." The connection ended.
"It shoots people while singing 'let the bodies hit the floor?'" Malcolm grimaced. "That kid needs help."
"Leave her be." John reached for the bot controls and one of the pellets levitated toward his hand. "Are you doing this?"
"What?" Malcolm said. "No. You are."
"Oh, dear."
Cardiff Police Station; Cardiff, Wales
Jack Harkness parked behind a string of police cars. The constables evacuated the station and established a base a block away. Prisoners they could rescue were relocated to other stations. From expressions, some were actually happy to see him. The situation had gotten that bad.
He had a portal device, destabilizer, stun gun and ballistic shield. From scan readings, the building had an impressive communication block. He would have to go in and find Gwen to portal out. Which would only be problematic if Rift abilities could hurt him.
"What are you doing?" DC Cowley demanded.
"I'm getting my teammate."
"There is a teenage girl with explosives."
"And?" The man tried his patience.
Cowley stood in front of him with his arms crossed. "You will make the situation worse."
Kissing the ridiculous expression off his face would. "I know what I'm doing."
When Cowley didn't move, he leaned in as if to kiss him, and the man moved. The constable manning the barricade moved it and Jack walked passed, heading for the station. The ground shock slightly as he reached the nearest door. The familiar building was empty. A crack snaked up the wall.
"Where are you?!" A young woman yelled.
He activated his ballistic shield and followed her voice.
Near Dove Residence; Belfast, Ireland
With Malcolm as his guide, John Hart approached the armed conflict. The bot would act as a distraction, but it couldn't throw the pellets. He tested his new ability on small trash and a few broken pieces of pavement. He could use the new telekinesis accurately.
He wondered if Nessa's help gave him Anwen's new ability or it had something to do with the shared bond for days. The CN had to be out of his system to safety portal. There was nothing he could do about it. He would ask when he got back to Cardiff.
John set the bot up behind the gunmen. "Count to twenty and activate this. Then get out of here."
"Be careful."
He used the portal device to reach an area near the conflict. Molly Elias was using a burning dumpster for cover. The gunman crouched behind a burned out van. It looked more like a stand-off than a shoot-out. John activated his ballistic shield. He held a destabilizer in one hand and a bag of pellets in the other.
John walked toward the middle of the conflict. As discussed, Malcolm activated the bot. It played the incredibly morbid song loudly, approaching the gunman. He would have to talk to Anwen when he got back.
The gunman reacted as expected. They shot at the bot, exposing themselves. John levitated pellets through the top of the ballistic shield, much like he intended with the bot, and directed them at the gunman. A few bullets bounced off the shield. The pellets hit. Three down. A fourth ran. Before he could launch another pellet, the man burst into flames.
Great. She could do that with minimal effort. "Molly, my name is John. I came here from Torchwood in Cardiff to rescue Malcolm."
"I did that," she yelled back.
"Darling, the men who scared you and threatened Malcolm can't hurt you. There are a lot of innocent people out here."
"I'm not hurting them."
"You damaged several cars, buildings, garbage cans. The fire department can't assess the damage until they know its safe." A beat. "You're angry. They used you to track your friend. The friend who came back for you."
"I need to find Malcolm."
"You're a danger to him right now." John launched three pellets through the top of the ballistic shield. "I need to disarm you and transport you to Torchwood. Once the drug is out of your system, you won't be a threat anymore."
"I love him. I won't hurt him. I can protect him like this."
She reminded him of Anwen when they were bonded. Anwen's love involved threatening to kill him. "No, darling, you can't." A beat. "You're not seeing clearly. The drug makes you feel invincible."
As if to prove his point, she stood up and walked toward him. "You can't hurt me."
Using a destabilizer through a ballistic shield took effort. She had already launched and attack while he prepared the weapon. The shield held, but it wouldn't for long. The destabilizer first blast had no affect. He aimed the second for her feet. It knocked her over. Before she could get back up, he hit her a stun pellet. It took two before she loss consciousness.
Malcolm appeared next to Molly. "You can help her?"
John tapped his ear com. "Am I taking Molly to Three or Four?"
"Four."
"I have a portable med-stasis unit. It will last a couple hours. ETA on transportation?" He didn't have to tell the general he couldn't portal with a CN victim.
"A few minutes."
"Where are you taking her?"
"Torchwood Four."
"The man you're talking to is there?"
"Yeah."
Malcolm lifted Molly and disappeared.
"Malcolm had other ideas. Did he make it?"
Cardiff Police Station; Cardiff, Wales
Gwen Cooper was unsure what she could do other than dodge Alys Meyler until Jack arrived. She didn't care much for the idea of being rescued.
"Alys won't hurt me."
"People do unexpected things were drugged."
"She's after you. Grabbing your children is believed impossible. She was promised a different type of drug if she could bring you in. It supposedly will give her a good ability." Emlyn bolted down the hallway.
Gwen splayed a hand over her face. She should have expected that. After interviewing the teenagers that were drugged with Malcolm Dove, she concluded they were crazy. Discussing normal teenage behavior with Bree said it wasn't the drug.
Having been in an interrogation room, she didn't even have a gun. She was a sitting duck. Even if she could get to a window, they were secured. The nearest security checkpoint required keys. If Alys was hunting her, she'd be expected to head for the nearest exit, even if she had no way to get through. That left her standing in the doorway, bracing herself every time the girl made the building shake. Adding to it, the walls were cracking. The building couldn't take much more.
Then she heard a familiar explosive blast. A Torchwood weapon good for taking out secured doors. Jack came for her. A crack in the ceiling near her made her wonder if it was in time. The building was coming apart.
"Gwen," he called, running down the hall.
She risked peeking down the hallway. "Over here."
Alys threw another tantrum, shaking the building. The cracking increased. Jack grabbed her around the waist, pulling her into the ballistic shield as the ceiling collapsed. The energy barrier held as the section of building crumbled around them. They heard a scream and the rumbling stopped.
The near brush with death and the close quarters made the impulse difficult to resist. She leaned up and kissed Jack. It was a line they'd never crossed willingly.
"Jack," Ianto said minutes later, bringing her back to her senses. "John disabled the communication block near the station."
"We're trapped. The ballistic shield is holding."
"The bots will have to take the nearest wall out," John said. "With other possible survivors, the bots will scan as they rebuild. Ianto is going to coordinate on-site while I bring the bots. Getting air to you won't take long. Getting you out will."
Gwen set her head on his shoulder. Jack set his forehead to the top of hers.