Chapter 8: Future to Past

I don't own Doctor Who or Torchwood whatsoever BBC does, and I'm just a fan with an idea. Excuse the language from here on out.

Flashback of Past Torchwood

The Torchwood team watched as one of their valued members of Torchwood was about to leave. One Avery Pond was going on her own personal mission. They were going to miss her quite a bit. Jack knew that she had come from a far gone future, as did Ianto. Ianto and Jack were her best mates there. She was going to find her version of the Doctor. She had come from a dark future, a future of trouble. Just as she was about to leave she said "When you see me again, it won't be me. It'll be a different version of me through time. A past version of me, and when she arrives, that is your signal that there is trouble, serious trouble. Trouble where you have to be a united front." She gave everyone a hard look before she disappeared in a flash of white light.

Out of Flashback

Avery's POV

I knew I had to be careful of what I said from here on out. I knew the team was just about to head to the conference room. Ianto walked up to me and handed me a purple tardis diary, I flipped through the book. It had nothing written within. I gave him a confused look and he said "You, yourself gave me this. Told me that the day you returned, you wouldn't be, the you, we know. And that you were to receive this." He flipped open to the very first page that I skipped, there was a note. A note from future me.

Dear 21 year old Avery;

You probably skipped this page in a true Avery fashion. And Ianto probably pointed out this page as instructed. You will need this, in order to keep track of where you are in time. Content wise, if past you will arrive or be there. I advise you don't be in the same area as a different version of you, in order to not cause a paradox. You'll understand in the future with the Doctor. You'll understand why this diary is used, as you will meet the inspiration for this probably as soon as you get out of this time period and back to the TARDIS. And the hard times will come; I know you don't understand at this moment. But once again, you'll understand what I mean when it comes. And in case you don't believe this being you... How about a secret only two people actually know, one that even Rory or Ianto don't know. You were the one who kept biting the psychiatrists when you and Amy went to those meetings. Good luck my darling. And remember...

~Future Avery Alecia Pond

I looked up from the book, and tore the front page out putting it away in my back jean pocket. I said to Ianto "Did you read the first page?"

He shook his head and said "No ma'am, it wasn't addressed to me. And so I thought I shouldn't read it. I had a note of my own anyways." He held up a note that looked like mine, I nodded. Ianto and I linked arms and walked into the conference room. I heard Owen say "Are you sure that it's not her Tosh? She seems to be acting the same as she did a couple days ago, acting all cosy with Ianto still."

Tosh looked at us questionably before she said "I'm not completely sure, but our Avery hasn't really been wrong yet. So it must be."

Jack looked at me, and said "Who am I?"

I shrugged and said "I don't know. You keep avoiding the darn question. You always talk about your travels, never who you are exactly."

Jack nodded and announced to the group "This isn't the Avery who was here a couple days ago." No one made any arguments.

Tosh walked up to the plasma as she tapped in commands. "I've run a profile on every reported temporal anomaly and tracked any physical or temporal pattern." She said as she showed us the world map on the monitor. From our location indicated by the big red dot, many red lines appear in the various locations. Whatever they did before I got here, had to be their fault.

I looked over at Ianto beside me, and he whispered in my ear "Before you got here, Tosh and Jack were stuck in the past. Owen opened up the rift and got them back, but caused all of this. There has been a huge spill of unusual activity around the world since. The public are thinking that it's Judgement Day." I nodded at him, understanding what he was talking about.

"Shit!" Gwen said

"The cracks in time trace back here to the rift. This city - this Hub – is the center. What you're seeing around the world are ripples and aftershocks. The rift is splintering because of you." Jack said looking directly at Owen.

"What?" Owen asked

"You opened the Rift without knowing what you were doing. You've caused the temporal cracks to widen. Time is seeping through." Jack replied

"If it wasn't for me, you two would still be in the 1940s. So are we going to sit around crying into our lattes, or shall we do something about it?" Owen said

"Bring those who've fallen through time back here, into the vaults." Jack ordered

"And do what with them?" Owen asked

"We'll deal with phase one first, then I'll tell you about phase two." Jack replied

"You can't control time. You can't send them back! What are you gonna do?" Owen shouted at Jack.

"We'll think of something!" Jack shouted back. Owen quieted down, everyone was quiet. Everyone who had been involved before I got here were quiet, guilty, and scared.

"Hey, this is not the end of the world." Jack said softly, Tosh nodded skeptically.

"I'm certain of that." Jack said firmly. The computer beeped, and Ianto got up to check it.

"Priority one attendance requested at the hospital. Mortality rate's gone through the roof. They're sealing off the area and designating it a hot zone." He said.

Owen got up and put his ear piece on and said "I'll go."

"Tosh, go with him." Jack suggested.

"Uh, no, thanks, I'm fine on my own." Owen replied

"And you'll be even better with me alongside." Tosh said firmly as she ushered him out. I could hear her say to him as they passed. "Shut up and come on." Owen and Tosh left the office.

Gwen glared at Jack. "Did you have to pick on him in public like that?"

"All our actions have consequences." Jack said

"And all your staff have feelings, Jack, even Owen." She replied

"Well, you would know." Jack said pointedly. He walked across the room. Gwen looked as though she couldn't believe he just said that.

"He brought you back." Gwen said after him, her phone rang. "Would you rather be stuck in World War II?" Jack didn't answer her, so Gwen answered her phone "Hello." Right after Gwen had her phone conversation with whoever it was, she got up, talked to Jack and they left. Not before Jack said to Ianto and I, "Avery, stay with Ianto. You're safest here. We'll be back in a bit. Ianto figure out why she's here."

I looked at Ianto and he just stared right back at me. We knew we couldn't tell Jack about the notes and the journal. We would just say that my vortex manipulator was affected by the rift and I was pulled back in time to this moment. I walked over to Jack's office and sat in his desk chair, I laughed "It's the exact same in the future!" Ianto and I laughed before we got quiet. I looked up at Ianto "How are we going to get me back? I only just got my dream of travelling with the Doctor! You do know about the Doctor right Ianto?" He nodded and said "Yes, you told me about him. He, Rory, and Amy are almost the only people you ever talk about. And then you curse about Mels." I stifled a laugh; the version of me they knew now, sounded a lot like me just a little different.

It was just an hour later, when Gwen and Jack came back with an unconscious Roman Soldier in tow. I quickly got out of the chair, and walked into the hub with Ianto. Ianto looked at me, as though he was waiting for a joke. I had no clue of what he was waiting for. The only thing the Roman Soldier reminded me of, was Amy. She always called their story, The Invasion of the Hot Italians. I smiled a sad smile; I would hope I could get back to her. I watched as they passed.

Ianto got another beep on one of the computers; he looked at me and said "Be right back, we have a Weevil on the loose." He left the hub to go catch it. I pulled out my phone, flipping through pictures of Amy, Rory and I. As well some pictures of just Ianto and me in the future, the future where I belonged.

Ianto came back with a handcuffed weevil, a few minutes later. I followed him putting my phone in my pockets as I walked. I followed him into the vaults. "Coming through!" Ianto said as I opened up the door for him. The weevil growled, Ianto sprayed it and subdues it before putting it in a cell.

"Thirteen more reports of Weevils on the loose. We can't keep up at this rate." Ianto said to Jack.

"Everything's on the increase." Jack replied

"Can you stop them making that noise?" Gwen said as the Weevils in the cells moaned.

"If you've got any ideas how." Ianto replied

"Maybe they're time sensitive. This disturbance may be too much for them." Jack said

"We're now full in all vaults across all nine levels." Ianto announced, there were many weevils in a single cell. Do you want me to activate the vaults below? It's just we've never used them since I've been here."

"Do it. Gwen, maybe you're right. Let's run a search on your dancehall buddy. We need to find him." Jack ordered.

"Okay." Gwen replied as she and Jack left the room. Ianto looked at me and said "You can go ahead. I don't need to be supervised." I laughed as I left him be. When I entered the hub where the workstations were, Owen and Tosh had returned.

"Owen. How was the hospital?" Jack asked

"Laugh a bloody minute." Owen replied, Tosh returned to her workstation, she was stunned for some reason. "They've got an outbreak of the Black Death." Owen announced.

"What? Oh, my God!" Gwen replied

"Have they got it under control?" Jack asked Tosh. Tosh didn't respond. Jack hit the desk with his hand, and Tosh snapped out of it looking at him. "Tosh! How are they coping?"

"Um, Owen got the place quarantined and organized treatments for those who've been infected." She replied

"Only consolation is, it's treatable in these days. But you know, what happens when the next carrier comes through, Jack? Someone carrying smallpox or Ebola, or something from the future we don't even know about? What do we do then?" Owen questioned.

"Yeah, well, it's not doing us any good standing around speculating." Jack said as he headed for his office. Owen blocked his path.

"We need to be prepared. We're helpless. All we're doing here is putting sticking plasters on gaping wounds!" Owen proclaimed to Jack.

"What do you suggest?" Jack said to Owen. I stood back watching, from Jack's attitude, it seemed like this wouldn't turn out well.

"I suggest you lead us and you tell us what the instructions are." Owen said

"Owen..." Gwen said warningly to Owen.

"No, come on. You're all thinking it too. You're the big man here. You keep all the secrets. Well, now's the time to tell us a few and tell us how the hell we're gonna get out of this!" Owen yelled

"You want to know a secret? There is no solution. I can't fix this. Because this was never meant to happen. The first thing you learned when you joined Torchwood was Don't Mess with the Rift. But you disobeyed those orders and now everything that's happening is down to you." Jack replied.

"I only disobeyed instructions to get you back." Owen said back to him.

"And now people are dying." Jack replied

"What? So I shouldn't have bothered?" Owen shouted at Jack, who didn't answer him. Owen got angry. "Who the fuck are you, anyway? Jack Harkness? You don't even exist. We've looked. So if you're not even a real person, then why should I follow your orders?"

"Get out." Jack said angrily.

"What?" Owen asked

"Get out! I'm relieving you of your duty." Jack yelled at Owen.

"No. You can't do that!" Tosh said to Jack

"Bollocks, you are!" Owen said to Jack

"Jack, wait." Gwen said, I looked over at Ianto as Jack walked up to Owen.

"You're done here." He said to Owen, in a very scary tone. Jack walked towards his office.

Owen scoffed "What, so that's it? The whole world is going to shit and you're going to fire me?"

"For God's sake! Both of you! We need to stick together on this." Gwen yelled

"If I can't rely on you, if I don't have your complete trust, you don't belong here. That goes for the rest of you. Anyone who agrees with Owen, leave now." Jack shouted at all of us. I didn't move, I just snaked my hand into Ianto's. I was scared, I had never seen Jack act like this. But this was the past, but it had to be a past that hadn't happened yet...

Owen turned to look at us, and none of us moved. "So now we know how it is. So that leaves me 24 hours to savor the good times."

"What are you talking about?" Gwen asked, even I knew what he was talking about. No one left Torchwood with their memories intact or alive.

"Think about it, Gwen. Nobody leaves this place intact. Sometime in the next 24 hours ... I get Ret-conned. All my memories erased. I don't know where or when, but he'll get me." Owen replied

"Jack, this has gone far enough." Gwen said, but Jack didn't back down.

"So I guess this is goodbye." Owen said angrily but defeated. He took his gun out and puts it on the nearby table. "Good luck with the end of the world." Owen took a couple of steps to leave, then turned to look at Gwen. "I would say thanks for the memories..."

Gwen burst with emotion and yelled at Jack "Jack, for God's sake!" Owen turned and left. The lights flash and the cog door opens, Owen left the hub. Gwen looked at Jack. Ianto and I looked at each other, I said quietly so only he could hear "The Team is falling apart..."

AN: isn't this interesting? I just finished watching the new Doctor Who episode Hide. That was a great episode! So in celebration of a great episode and another few clues on what in the world is going on in Doctor Who. I'm finishing up this chapter and starting up on the next. I do apologize for the mass amounts of curses, but that's Torchwood for you. And most of us here are grownups and besides, it is rated T for a reason. Granted it was just so I didn't overstep my boundaries in ratings. Well, till the next episode. I plan on revealing the mysteries feelings that Avery is feeling inside, even though it's pretty obvious to me. I AM the writer after all. Though after finally watching the first season of Torchwood, I'm going to go back and rewrite some of the Torchwood content in past episodes. Instead of Torchwood being based in London, it's Cardiff. The nearest city to Leadworth and her partner isn't Jack, it's Ianto. So apologizes for those of you who might of been cringing at the fact I got wrong of where Torchwood 3 is. Till next time!

~Incendiar Riddle