A heavy silence hung over the team. Martha stood in the centre of the medical station, Owen's body laid out on the gurney in front of her. "The time is twenty-one thirty. This is Doctor Martha Jones. Autopsy on Owen Harper, Caucasian, age twenty-seven. Torchwood Officer five six five. Time of death witnessed at approximately twenty-thirty." She took in a sharp breath. "Autopsy begins." Ianto tensed behind Hally and Gwen started to turn away.
"Stop!" Jack yelled, he barged through the onlooking team members, hand clutching the railing as he looked down into the medical bay at Martha. "Nobody touches him till I get back, is that clear?" He didn't stick around long enough to let anyone respond, his coat flicking a farewell as Jack ran from the Hub.
Martha looked up at Gwen, who could only give her a shrug in answer. Hally clicked her tongue against her teeth and Ianto hummed. "I'll make everyone a coffee." He nodded, heading away from the group towards his trusty barista machine.
The rest of them dispersed slowly, Gwen taking a seat next to Toshiko, trying to offer her some comfort. Hally flopped into her desk chair, staring up at the dark ceiling, her fingers tapped absentmindedly on the armrest. She was numb, which surprised her. It was as if something inside her was not accepting that Owen was dead, that Owen's body was currently lying, cold and lifeless in the medical bay.
Everything had happened so quickly.
Again.
Her eyes narrowed, the tinny sound of her fingernail connecting with the metal in a steady rhythm keeping her mind level. Frustration itched across the surface of her skin, an uncomfortable prickly heat. She was starting to see why The Doctor had such a dislike for weapons. Weapons encouraged more weapons and they always ended up in the wrong hands. Her eyes fluttered shut, images burned into the back of her eyelids forcing them wide open.
She had shot him.
Professor Copley.
She had killed him.
Hally searched inwards for an inkling of guilt or fear but she felt nothing.
No.
Not nothing.
She felt good.
Good wasn't the right word, but the feeling wasn't a bad one. It felt right.
He would have shot Martha if someone hadn't stopped him and Hally didn't mind that it had been her. She pondered over the morality of it for a moment, intrigued by her own flexibility. The difference between killing Copley and killing Alina.
Interesting.
A soft cough to her right snapped her away from her thoughts. Martha's face scrunched into a frown as she watched Hally's hand, comfortably tapping on the chair. She stopped, flexing her fingers and cleared her throat.
"It's comforting."
"Hypnotic?"
Hally snorted a huff. "Something like that." The muscles in her body wouldn't let go of their tension, she couldn't shake off the growing tide inside her anymore. The numbness was wearing off, revealing the maelstrom underneath. Hally cleared her throat, rising to her feet swiftly.
"Are you ok?" Martha's gaze followed her, deep concern written across her face.
"Get Gwen to call me when Jack gets back." Was all she offered to the human before she removed herself. Hally didn't go far, she stayed in the Hub but she just needed to be away from the rest of them.
The humans.
She made her way into the lower level, changed into something more comfortable and hit the treadmill. She needed to get rid of the itchy feeling, the buildup inside her that she couldn't let out. Perhaps if she physically exhausted her body, the feeling would dissipate. She set the speed faster than it needed to be, her muscles protested irritably but they obeyed nonetheless.
I could have saved him.
Hally pushed through the thought, forcing her thighs to move faster.
Would Martha stay now that they needed a medic?
Could she do that? Could Hally really look the human in the face every single day?
No.
She needed to force the plan to bring back The Master into sixth gear, this existence was driving her crazy. She was alone and she was weak and it was awful.
Her legs burned, she kept pushing, unreasonable determination moving her forward. It hurt but she didn't mind. It helped take away from the uncontrollable storm inside her.
Her phone vibrated and she stopped. Gwen.
"He's back…" Hally could hear the uncertainty in her voice. She mumbled a response before hanging up and getting off the treadmill. Her lungs burnt angrily as air forced its way in desperately. Shoving a jumper over her head she stalked back into the central Hub, the team were gathered in Jack's office. As soon as she entered the room she knew something was off, there was a heavy tension between Jack and the rest of his team and Gwen was glaring at him, disbelief and accusation glittering in her eyes.
"You can't use it. Not after Suzie." She snapped at him, but it was clear by the look on Jack's face that he wasn't going to take her reluctance into consideration. Hally saw then what Gwen was talking about, Jack was holding a glove. A kind of glove a mediaeval knight might wear, it glittered darkly under the dim lighting of Jack's office.
Hally cocked an eyebrow. "What is it?"
Jack ignored her. "I'm using the glove. I'm bringing Owen back." Was the only explanation he gave before he stormed from his office, leaving the others to simply stare after him and follow begrudgingly.
"Umm, what?" Hally stared after him, her eyes wide. She followed him from the room, glaring at the back of his head as he rushed down into the medical bay where Owen's body still lay, unmoving.
"Are you really going to use that after what happened last time? Jack, the gloves are dangerous. At best it'll give us two minutes. At worst, it. Who knows what will happen?" Gwen overtook Hally in their pursuit of Jack, but he ignored both of them.
"It's not up for discussion." He shot Gwen a silencing look as he placed himself behind Owen's head, forcing the glove onto his hand.
"I thought the glove didn't work for you." Gwen watched him, the rest of the team and Martha fanned out around him. The look on Ianto's face told Hally that whatever was about to happen, it wasn't good.
"Different glove, different circumstances. This time, it has to work for me. I'm not going to give it any choice. Okay, if you've got anything you need to say to Owen, now's your chance." He swallowed and adjusted his stance, placing his hand, donned with the glove on the top of Owen's head. "Owen, it's Jack, can you hear me? Owen, hear my voice. Get a hold of it, let it draw you out, pull you out…"
Hally's eyes widened and she shot a disbelieving look at Gwen, the human grit her teeth in response.
No way.
It wasn't possible…
"I'm not getting any vital signs." Ianto commented, his stopwatch at the ready.
"Owen, it's me, Jack. He's coming, he's coming." Jack braced, his face scrunched in concentration. Owen's body jerked and with a terrified screech, his eyes flew open.
"Oh, my God!" Martha cried.
"Holy shit…" Hally muttered under her breath, eyes glued to the now very animated body of Dr Owen Harper.
"What happened? Where am I? Oh God, I'm shot. He shot me!" Owen panicked, eyes searching frantically around him, trying to make sense of what he'd woken up to.
"Owen, you need to listen to me. We don't have long." Jack ground out through his jaw, trying his best to sound empathetic.
Owen strained his head, trying to look back at Jack. "Where am I? This isn't a hospital, this is the autopsy room. What am I doing here? Jack. oh, no. What's that? What's that?!"
"The resurrection glove. We lost you, but I brought you back." He rushed out, aware of Ianto's ticking stopwatch.
"How long have I got?" Owen's voice cracked, fear seeping in.
"We're at thirty seconds and counting." Ianto watched on.
Jack adjusted his grip on Owen's head, looking up at the onlookers. "Okay, team, say your goodbyes. Gwen."
Gwen's mouth dropped open but no words came out, she looked up at Jack, unable to form the words.
"Gwen, no offence, but I've only got two minutes to live. Tosh!" Owen barked. Toshiko practically jumped from her skin and shuffled forward.
"I'm gonna miss you." She leant over Owen, whispering something in his ear. Owen's face fell into one of conflict. Jack cleared his throat, adjusting himself so that Owen could look him in the eye.
"Owen, I need the code for the alien morgue. You're the only one who knows it…" Harkness winced as Owen's face scrunched with furious disbelief.
"You brought me back for that? For that?!"
"I'm sorry."
Owen rolled his eyes, reeling off the six-digit code. Jack nodded, reaching out to grab Owen's hand, holding it in a vice grip. "Sorry, I had to, to help you prepare. I know what death is. I want you to be ready."
Owen's throat bobbed as fear swam across his irises. "There's nothing. Just darkness."
"Two minutes…" Ianto muttered.
"Be brave. Owen! Owen!" Jack clung to his friend, but his body had relaxed once more, eyes closing. He was gone. Jack's head bowed, furiously blinking away tears. His grip didn't leave his hand. Silence hung over the team. No one had the words to move on from what they'd just witnessed. The moment continued to stretch on awkwardly, so Hally settled on, "Fucking hell."
Someone hummed in agreement. The sound had come from near Jack. But it hadn't been Jack, she knew his tone. It had been more like…
"I'm really gonna need that hand back…" The dead man on the table opened his eyes.
"Owen?" Jack's voice creaked out, barely a whisper.
Ianto glanced back at the stopwatch. "Two minutes, twenty."
Jack practically jumped backwards, removing the glove from Owen's skin. "Look, I'm not using the glove."
Owen looked from Jack to the glove and then back to the ceiling in exasperation. "But I'm still here."
Jack fought with the glove, throwing it on the floor as soon as he'd prised it from his fingers. Casually, Owen sat up on the gurney, taking a slow look around the medical station.
"Maybe I cheated it somehow? Maybe I wasn't meant to die so I'm being kept alive." Owen mused out loud, his teammates simply offered him empathetic winces. "Whoa!" His attention landed on the bullet wound in his chest and his curiosity got the better of him when he prodded at it gently.
Jack stared at him, offering him a light chuckle. "It's okay. I hate to say it, but you'll get used to it."
Hally hummed, breaking up the disbelieving stares Owen was receiving. "I guess that means no autopsy then?" She quipped lightly, needing the unbearable tension to dissipate. It seemed to work because Gwen snorted a laugh and Owen practically ran from the medical station, followed closely by Martha.
Owen grabbed his stethoscope, pressing the bell against his own chest. "No heartbeat. There's no pulse."
Martha crossed her arms, giving him a stern look. "Owen, you can't lead the investigation."
"Why not?" He grumbled, quickly trying to dress himself.
"Because you're the subject of it, and because you're dead." Her sigh was impatient but caring.
He cocked an eyebrow back at her. "Are you sure about that?" He began to scan across his body, the readings flicking up instantly on his desktop.
Martha grumbled lowly. "Yes, I'm sure."
Owen was ignoring her, looking at his results. "Well, I'm okay. Look, there's electrical activity in my brain." He noted proudly, turning to shoot Martha a lopsided grin.
"That shouldn't be possible…" The other medic muttered, stepping forward to analyse the data sceptically.
He shrugged as an explanation. "Well, I'm still here, and actually, I feel amazing."
Martha turned to look at Jack for answers as he'd been the one to bring out the glove. "So, where's the power coming from?"
Hally narrowed her eyes, looking between Owen and Jack. "Good question."
Gwen chipped in, referencing the last time the other glove had been used. "Suzie survived because she was draining energy from me. Owen could be doing the same to Jack."
Jack shook his head, eyes narrowing in thought. "I feel fine."
The team reconvened in Jack's office so Toshiko could scan both Owen and Jack together. She explained for Hally and Martha what she was looking for. "The Philemon filter detects biochemical energy. It's how we knew Suzie was draining Gwen."
"And?" Martha prompted, looking to Tosh's device for its verdict.
Tosh shook her head. "Nothing. There's no connection between them. It's not Jack."
"So what's keeping me ticking? I mean, the energy in my brain must be coming from somewhere." Owen voiced, looking to the others for ideas.
Ianto offered a suggestion. "This glove is different to the other one. Maybe different gloves do different things?"
Martha made a noise of distaste. "How many are there?"
Ianto offered her a small, teasing smile. "Two. Well, they tend to come in pairs. We fished the first one out of the harbour last year."
"But where does it come from originally?" Hally asked, looking from Ianto to Jack. "Perhaps the glove acts as some kind of conduit, and the energy is actually coming from wherever it was created?"
Jack hummed, nodding his head slowly. "Good idea… sadly, we have no clue where the gloves came from. Tosh, do an analysis of the glove, see you if you can find out? Owen, I don't need to tell you that you're under quarantine."
"You don't, and yet you still do." Owen muttered, a bitter smile creeping onto his face. With their instructions, the team turned to head out of Jack's office but his voice cut across them.
"Hal." The sound of her name was a command. Stay behind. It was stern, his previously jovial attitude had receded and now he was looking at her like a disapproving teacher.
She turned back to him and felt the rest of the team do the same, apparently, they had all decided to watch their inevitable disagreement with unapologetic interest. "Yeah?" She gave back to him, innocence creeping into her voice automatically, even before he'd accused her.
He clicked his tongue against his teeth, a sign that he wasn't buying her act. "That screwdriver isn't supposed to work for you."
Ah.
Yes.
With the whole, Owen coming back to life thing, she'd half forgotten that she'd shot Copley in front of the whole team, including Martha. With her husband's, very obnoxious, Laser Screwdriver.
Whoops.
"Mm…" She straightened up. She could feel the eyes of the team watching her with intrigue, listening in the hope of catching on to what Jack was referring to.
There was a hushed whisper, Owen "Screwdriver?"
Hally pulled the device out, laying it across her hand. It caught the light, glinting with an almost smug nonchalance. She cleared her throat, giving Jack a small shrug. "Well, as you saw, it does." She wasn't going to apologise to Jack. The rest of his team had weapons. It wasn't a ridiculous notion that she might have one too.
Jack held out his hand expectantly, she narrowed her eyes in response, wrapping her hand firmly around the cold metal. "It's mine."
"Oh, really?" His eyebrow rose in accusation.
"Yeah. Really. It works for me, therefore it's mine."
"Last time I saw that thing, it was blasting a hole in my sternum for the thousandth time."
Hally's face softened and she exhaled. "I know. But it's mine now, I wouldn't hurt any of you with it." She reasoned.
Jack huffed, his forehead creased into a frown. "The Doctor said it was isomorphically controlled, that it would only work for him?"
"The Doctor's an idiot." Hally rolled her eyes, the corner of her mouth curving into a smile.
Martha let out a soft snort of disbelief which captured Jack's attention. "It still is isomorphically controlled, isn't it?"
Hally sucked on the inside of her mouth, eyes meeting Martha's. This was certainly an awkward conversation to be having in front of the whole team. "Yep."
Martha nodded, she shook her head as a little knowing smile played at her mouth. Jack cottoned on to her meaning and scowled at them both before fixing Hally with a firm glare. "We'll need to take a look at it. Make sure it's safe."
"It's a laser screwdriver, of course, it's not safe." Hally quipped back. There was no way Jack would let her have it back if she handed it over.
He scoffed. "I just mean, I want to check that it's not going to suddenly explode. I wouldn't put it past its previous owner." Accusation was practically painted across his face.
She rolled her eyes in response, a hum of amusement at his stupidity. "It's not going to suddenly explode Jack, or suddenly go rogue. He left it for me."
Jack was unconvinced. "Jack…" Martha's voice caught his glare. The two didn't speak, they simply looked at one another. Some kind of silent discussion must have occurred because finally, Jack sighed loudly. "Fine." He muttered, shooting a final irritated stare at Hally.
Her own eyes softened and she offered him a nod of thanks, turning to meet Martha's eyes. The two women shared a silent moment. A thanks and a knowing acceptance.
Finally, the team trudged out of Jack's office. "What the hell is a laser screwdriver?" Owen tried to whisper to Martha.
Hally snorted, shaking her head. "It's basically just a blaster. But it does other things too…" She secured it away once more, partially relieved that she wouldn't need to hide it from the team any longer. It wasn't exactly a small, inconspicuous item.
"So where does the screwdriver bit come in?" Ianto, listening in, as all of them had been.
Hally chuckled, shaking her head. "Don't ask."
"Other things?" Martha cocked an eyebrow, eyes narrowing with interest.
Hally shot her a knowing smirk. "Yuhuh, it's also sonic."
Martha's face split into a reluctant smile. "But he said…"
"Yep." Hally rolled her eyes in agreement with the human.
Martha blinked and shook her head. "Men."
Hally just hummed.
She took a seat at her desk, perhaps there would be a link between the two gloves that might point to where they'd come from? She'd have to dig into the historical archives. Surely two gloves that brought people back from the dead would be documented by someone? Torchwood wouldn't have been the first group to come across and use the gloves. There would be a trail. She started in the Torchwood files, skimming quickly over the event reports tagged with the first glove they'd found. They'd called it 'Resurrection Gauntlet 1'. Catchy. As she skimmed, she could see Ianto was already updating the file with the gathered information about the second glove, or 'Resurrection Gauntlet 2', as it would most certainly be labelled.
It seemed strange to Hally, to have two gloves, a purposeful pair, that did such similar things. The differences were minor and yet… why would you bother creating a glove that had the power to bring someone back to life by draining the life of another as the first glove had done, if you had the power to bring someone back with seemingly no cost?
But Hally knew better, all energy came from somewhere, and there would be a hidden cost. Something that was coming for Owen. They would need to find out what it was, and fast.
Jack's voice echoed across the Hub as he strode across the central area, heading toward the darkened corridor. "Conference room, now!" Hally clicked her tongue against her teeth and reluctantly rose to her feet. The look Gwen was sharing with her informed her that she wasn't the only one who felt the need to petulantly rebel every time Jack pulled rank.
Nonetheless, everyone filed into the conference room a few moments later, Jack and Owen towards the head of the table, Martha stood over by the screen giving them a rundown of her findings. "Owen's body is undergoing some kind of transformation. His cells aren't decaying, they're changing."
"Into what?" Jack eyed Owen with interest.
Martha shook her head. "An energy I can't identify. But it's growing, all the time. He's about 40% something else."
"I don't feel any different." Owen insisted.
Jack exhaled a heavy breath. "We need to find out where this energy's coming from." Toshiko agreed, offering what she'd managed to find after examining the atomic makeup of the remaining glove. As they'd suspected, it wasn't originally from Earth.
"Owen said he went somewhere when he collapsed. Could the energy and the glove come from the same dark place?" Gwen offered, looking between Jack and Hally for confirmation.
Hally hummed, a grim expression sitting on her face. "It's likely. They won't be linked for no reason."
"What are we talking about? Another dimension? Parallel universe?" Jack asked her, his eyes glittering with questions.
Owen cleared his throat. "Yes, guys, I'm still here."
"Sorry." Jack mumbled. He shook his head and refocused on Owen. "Okay, you said there was something in the darkness waiting for you."
Owen's face paled and he nodded. "I felt it. I didn't see it."
"Where do you think you went?" Jack pressed.
"I don't know…"
Hally ground her jaw, reluctantly opening her mouth. "I hate to say this but… is there a chance that something is using Owen as a conduit? Those gloves… they have to originally belong to someone, right? Perhaps that someone is trying to push through?"
Six pairs of wide eyes landed on her.
After a moment of horrified silence, Owen swallowed. "That's a terrible thought."
Hally offered him a sympathetic grimace. "Well… it's just… seems like the most logical explanation for you still being alive. Someone is using you."
"Well, cheers…"
The team didn't dwell on the endless possibilities of what could be happening to Owen for too long. Jack, instead, handed out assignments. They still needed more information if they were to hopefully stop whatever was changing him. "Ianto, check our internal system readings for any dimensional anomalies in the last twelve hours. Hal, keep digging for any information on the glove, you're right, if we can trace anything back to where they came from or anyone else using them it could help figure out what's happening to Owen."
Hally nodded and the team dispersed, but not before she checked in with Jack. "You said you fished the first one out of the harbour right?"
Jack nodded. "Uhuh."
"Well… I'm going to run with the idea that someone threw it in there to get rid of it…"
Jack's eyes widened. "Oooh, perhaps. We'd always assumed it just came through the rift underwater."
She sent him a small smile as she found her way back to her desk. She joined forces with Gwen, both of them trailing through Torchwood files, wiki pages, old newspapers, everything and anything they could find, slowly piecing together a vague and highly estimated timeline for the glove but so far, they hadn't found anything that resembled what was happening to Owen.
However, the deceased human in question had managed to slip out of the Hub and go AWOL. Jack had left them to carry on searching while he went out to 'retrieve' Owen. They'd just received word that Jack had found him and they were on their way back, when Toshiko had gathered the others around her desk, worried. She'd dragged up CCTV footage of Owen right before he'd left. She pressed play, her eyes flicking between Gwen, Ianto, Hally and Martha as they watched.
Owen was stood up in the plant room, alone. He was muttering to himself. Then, his head turned so his face was visible to the camera. Hally heard Martha gasp. Owen's eyes were completely black, the white had been flooded with darkness.
He was speaking. Not a language of Earth. In a voice that wasn't quite his own.
"Melkurian abatha duroc minus mill kabal."
"Oh, my God." Gwen muttered and Toshiko nodded, swallowing as she stopped the image. She got up out of her seat and retrieved a small ovular device, a blue hue shimmered underneath its metal exterior.
"I need to know what Owen was saying. We should be able to play the translation through the computer's speakers." Tosh clipped the device onto her computer and it instantly blinked into life, running the recording through its translation mechanism. The translation device clicked and an artificial voice crackled over the speakers.
"I shall walk the Earth and my hunger will know no bounds."
Gwen swallowed, sharing a look with the others. "I've got a really bad feeling about this."
"You don't know the half of it." Jack's voice cut over them from behind, they turned to see him standing next to a sheepishly smiling Owen. He took them down into the holding cells to show them their new discovery. They watched as Owen took a step in front of the glass of a cell holding a recently captured Weevil. The Weevil sniffed up the glass but when its eyes found Owen it emitted a sound like a pained groan, backing up swiftly until it hit the back wall. Then it slowly got to its knees, cowering from Owen in a half bow.
He looked from the Weevil to the small audience. "So I'm King of the Weevils, maybe even Weevil Messiah. But whichever way you look at it, it ain't good."
Gwen shook her head. "No, it isn't, and I think it's happened before." She held out a few pages she'd printed out while they'd been researching. Jack took them, his eyes skimming through the details.
"Where'd you get this?"
Hally crossed her arms over her chest. "We found it in an article about the Black Death, and what you're looking at there are the first images of the Grim Reaper. 'I shall walk the Earth and my hunger will know no bounds'. In legend, the person who said those words was Death himself."
Martha frowned at Hally, raising a sceptical eyebrow. "But there's no such thing."
"Perhaps not literally. But there could be creatures who have been labelled 'death'. Myths and legends and all that." Hally shrugged, it wouldn't be the first time she'd seen it happen.
Owen huffed softly. "Yeah, but I'm dead. I'm not Death. There is a difference."
Gwen cocked an eyebrow, eyes drifting back towards the still hunched-over Weevil. "Does he know that?"
They headed back into the conference room so the whole team could pool their findings together, especially now they had a possible lead. Gwen presented the article they'd found on 'Death'. "Right, that wood carving dates back to the fifteenth century, to a small parish called Saint James. When they heard about the plague, they built a wall around the town. Unfortunately, that didn't prevent a little girl from dying. So the legend goes, the priest performs a miracle, brings her back to life, but she doesn't come back alone. She brought Death with her, and he walked amongst them."
Tosh's face scrunched up and she eyed up and down the table. "Are we seriously going to act on something they've googled?"
"What happened to the town when Death walked amongst them?" Owen cut across, Hally could hear the trepidation in his voice. He was slowly beginning to see himself as a threat.
Gwen opened her mouth to answer him, but the words didn't form. Hally cleared her throat. "People died. Twelve people. The creature they assumed was 'death' needed thirteen souls before it could stay on Earth permanently."
Jack looked between the two women. "How did they stop it at twelve?"
Gwen gave him a defeated sigh, shaking her head. "It just says faith."
Martha's voice piped up, concern evident in her tone. "Owen is changing. Who knows what that energy is? What if it is making him a host, a gateway?"
Hally hummed lowly. Owen swallowed, rubbing his face with his hands. "I've been thinking there's something in the darkness, waiting for me to finally pass over, but I've got it wrong, okay? It's the other way around. It's trying to get here through me."
Hally clicked her tongue against her teeth, muttering under her breath. "I told you."
Jack shot her a silencing growl, shooting her a look that clearly expressed his impatience. She shrugged back at him childishly.
The monitor on Owen's wrist beeped, signalling an increase in the energy reading. "Er, 80%." Martha confirmed.
"What happens when it completes? You know, we fight monsters. What happens when we turn out to be the monsters, when I do?" Owen's voice was raised now, his panic seeping into his words.
"Even if we have to fight you, you're already dead." Jack countered back at him, the blue of his eyes freezing over.
"What do we do with the dead? Come on, what do we do? You embalm them. If we inject a formaldehyde solution into my veins, it'll petrify my neural pathways and freeze dry my brain. It's the only way to be sure." Owen demanded, he stared each one of them in the eyes.
No one argued against him.
Martha and Jack prepared the embalming solution together in the medical bay, once it was ready the team gathered back around Owen. An uncomfortable quiet lay across them, they all knew it had to be done, but all of them wished there could be an alternative.
Owen cleared his throat, hoisting himself up onto the table.
"Owen's at 95%." Martha looked between Jack and Owen, expectantly.
"Then let's not waste any more time. No goodbyes." Owen nodded firmly and let Jack and Martha fasten straps across his body and arms. Holding him down securely.
"Are you ready for the first injection?" Jack checked in. Owen nodded and Martha turned to retrieve the first solution. She paused, her hand hovering cautiously above the tray. The resurrection gauntlet had moved itself to sit across the syringes, blocking Martha's way in a silent warning. It shifted uneasily under Martha's gaze.
Jack hummed low in his throat. "Someone really doesn't like needles…"
Before anyone could move, the gauntlet reared back and pounced at Martha. She only managed a surprised squeak as it launched at her face, Jack rushed to her side, the both of them managing to prise it away. Jack chucked it at the floor and like a spider the glove scrambled underneath one of the cupboards, hiding itself.
"Lockdown!" Jack barked, the team immediately moved into their defensive positions and the Hub siren wailed as the doors slammed shut. Martha, with a hand from Gwen, climbed up over the railing and onto the upper platform of the medical station, leaving Jack down with the rogue gauntlet. Ianto stalked down the stairs, everyone's eyes darted across the floor, frantically searching.
Owen struggled against his restraints, trying to get up to help the rest of them. Jack held out his hand. "Owen, Owen, don't move. Everyone spread out. Shush."
Hally listened, she could hear the light clink of metal on metal. The glove was moving, circling around Jack underneath the cabinets.
"It's there." Gwen and Martha leant forward over the railing, Gwen's hand outstretched and pointing at the glove. Before Jack could even turn to look at it, it had jumped from the floor back at Martha. This time it attached itself to her face, its grip unyielding. Martha screamed and Gwen and Tosh rushed to help, but even with all three of them, the glove wouldn't budge. Jack slipped under the railing, adding his hands to the fight. Slowly, they managed to overpower it, hauling it away from Martha and back to the floor. Owen, who had managed to unstrap himself in the commotion caught it underneath his foot, holding the wriggling hand down under his shoe.
"Gun!" He cried, motioning to Jack.
"If you destroy it, the connection could be lost!" Tosh cried out.
"Now!" He barked, ignoring Tosh's plea. Jack threw his revolver over to Owen, who caught it, released the gauntlet and shot at it in a matter of seconds. The glove exploded, pieces of metal careening across the floor. They all stared at the deconstructed glove for a moment, it had been destroyed.
Owen was still conscious.
"Oh, my God… Martha?" Gwen's soft voice drew their attention back to Martha, who was slumped against the wall, staring at her hands. Hally took in a sharp breath, stepping closer to her friend. The glove had aged her, drained her youth. The Martha who sat on the concrete floor of the Hub looked almost eighty years old. Her dark hair had greyed and her skin had wrinkled and sunk around her once bright eyes.
"Martha?" Gwen touched Martha's hand gently. Martha wasn't responding. "What's happened to her?"
"It's the glove. It did this to her." Jack pressed his fingers to Martha's neck, checking her pulse. "Owen, help me with her." He threw over his shoulder. When Owen didn't appear at his side, Hally cocked her head to check on him.
"Owen!" Hally called out, eyes widening. His eyes had disappeared into darkness and his body was convulsing. He opened his mouth and a voice that wasn't his own hissed. "I will walk the Earth and my hunger will know no bounds."
Owen's body continued to shake violently as darkness seeped from his eyes and mouth. Something was coming through him in their world.
"Everybody, down!" Hally shouted. The swirl of darkness grew, solidifying into a semi-humanoid shape. It hovered over them for a moment, before shooting upwards, disappearing through the ceiling.
Somehow, Owen was still alive. Hally looked over her shoulder at him as he struggled to keep up with the pace of the others. They were rushing through Cardiff Hospital with Martha, her aged body was shutting down and not knowing what to do they'd brought her to the hospital.
Gwen rushed ahead with a semi-conscious Martha on a gurney up ahead, closely followed by Ianto and Tosh. Jack, Hally and Owen made up the rear.
"Where did it go? Owen!" Jack turned on Owen, eyes demanding answers. "So, what happened to that thing?"
Owen was holding his chest, he would be out of breath if he had any. "It's gone."
"So, it's out there…" Hally and Jack shared a grim look. Whatever had come through Owen could be anywhere by now and if the glove had done that to Martha, they could only imagine the damage the creature could do to the city.
The hospital doctor had hooked Martha up to multiple drips, supporting her body. She was sitting up in the bed, staring hopelessly at her hands, dotted with age spots. "It must be Death, because it's stolen my life."
Jack took her hand in his, giving it an encouraging squeeze. "We'll find a way to reverse this." Hally had to stop the frown that inched onto her face.
How exactly was Jack planning on performing that miracle?
"Last time, back when Cardiff was a town, it killed twelve people." Gwen cut in, her voice trailing off in thought.
"So?" Jack caught her gaze.
"Why didn't it get to thirteen? And where does this 'faith' bit come into it?" She mused out loud. Jack nodded, turning to Ianto.
"Ianto, we need answers."
"I'm on it." Ianto pulled his laptop from his bag, setting up next to Martha.
Jack turned on Owen. "Owen, I want you back at the Hub. You're not safe."
Owen shook his head. "Jack, I'm free of it, I promise you. And I'm useful, I'm useful here. When it came through me, I felt it. I know what it is, I know what it wants. It's Duroc."
"And what is that?"
"Hunger."
A frown creased Jack's forehead, he moved over towards the window, peeking out between the shutters.
"Where do we look for it? Where do we even start to look for it?" Gwen voiced, echoing everyone's thoughts.
Jack's jaw tensed, his eyes glued out the window. "We won't have to go far. It's here."
Hally moved behind Jack to see what he was looking at, a small horde of Weevils were gathering outside the hospital.
"Why would it follow us here?" Gwen's face scrunched up in confusion.
Jack shook his head, turning back to the team. "I'm not sure it did. Maybe it senses the near-dead. If you were Death, wouldn't you target a hospital?"
Hally hummed softly, it made sense. At least they wouldn't have to track the creature down. But here in the hospital, it had a feast of options. It would reach thirteen victims in no time at all. Jack quickly made a call and started getting the hospital evacuated, Ianto with Toshiko's help, hacked into the hospital systems. They were already getting reports of four casualties in intensive care. They needed to get a move on.
The team split up, Jack and Gwen took the sixth floor while Hally, Owen and Tosh headed to the eighth. Ianto stayed behind with Martha, tasked with seeing if he could figure out how 'faith' defeated Duroc all those years ago.
As they came up the stairs and exited the stairwell, Owen tensed, checking around them. "It's here, I can feel it." He muttered under his breath.
Tosh bit her lip, shooting a fearful look at him. "Owen, you're scaring me."
He hummed, eyes flicking left at right, expecting Duroc to find them any second. "I'm not exactly reassuring myself. Come on."
Hally followed the pair, watching Owen carefully. If he could feel the presence of Duroc, they must still be linked somehow. Was it that Duroc could only exist alongside Owen? Or perhaps they were both animated by the same energy. Could there be a way that Owen could send Duroc back from where it came?
Hally clicked on the comm in her ear. "Ianto. The little girl who died and was brought back by the priest, is there anything you can find out about her?"
Ianto's hum vibrated over the device. "I'll have a look, anything specific?"
"No… I've just got a hunch. Faith." Hally murmured, hoping her hunch would pan out.
Owen led them through the seventh floor, pausing every now and again as if sensing which direction to go in. He hovered silently for a second, then burst through a side door and onto a parallel corridor. "Take my hand. Come on!" Owen called. Hally saw through the open door a young boy, backed up against a wall. Owen grabbed him, pulling him through the door away from the deadly touch of Duroc.
The kid in tow, the four of them ran from the corridor, heading to the stairwell and down onto the ground floor, intent on getting him out of the hospital and away from Duroc. Hally could hear Gwen's voice in her ear. They'd already had reports of twelve people dead. They were running out of time.
"I think we lost it." Owen gasped as they ran across the reception area. The doors in front of them and off to the right swung shut, locking them in. "Maybe not…"
Tosh was already pulling a device from her coat, pressing it against the glass. "If I can access the correct frequency…"
Hally looked behind them, darkness was beginning to creep through the door to the stairwell.
Owen pulled the young boy to the side. "What's your name?"
"Jamie Burton." The boy replied, looking up at Owen with big round eyes.
Owen nodded, touching his shoulder gently. "All right, Jamie. I'm Owen, this is Hally and Toshiko. We're going to get you out of here. What are you in here for?"
"Leukaemia."
"Jamie, you're going to be fine. I'll have this door open in just a second." Tosh threw over her shoulder, offering the boy a small smile of encouragement.
Owen kept Jamie talking while Tosh worked on the door. Jack's voice rumbled over the comms. "Ianto, what have we got?"
"Back in 1479, the priest discovered that Death needed thirteen souls to walk the earth for eternity." Ianto was reading from his screen.
"He stopped Death at twelve." Jack reiterated.
Ianto let out a hum. "Yes, Hally, It was Faith."
"What?" Jack clipped, wanting answers faster.
Ianto backtracked. "No, the little girl that died and was brought back to life. Her name was Faith. She stopped it."
"Well, how?"
"It doesn't say."
Hally felt herself straighten up, the darkness was congregating at the top of the stairs. Owen's eyes met hers and realisation flashed across his face. He shifted, jaw set in determination. "Faith didn't have anything to lose. She was already dead." Owen turned back to the boy. "Jamie. Jamie, you're scared, of course, you are. The last lot of chemo didn't work and you can't bear the thought of going through all that pain again, and I understand that, mate, I really do. But let me tell you that not everyone dies of this disease and the ones with the best chance of making it are the ones who believe that they can beat Death. And sometimes, just sometimes, you can. So watch and learn, Jamie Burton."
"Watch what?"
Owen got to his feet, passing the boy over to Hally. "Watch me beat Death."
The door behind them clicked open. "Come on!" Tosh called back to them, holding it open for them to come through. Hally took Jamie's hand and gave Owen a nod before she ushered the boy through the door.
It dawned on Tosh what Owen was planning to do, she stepped away from the door. "Owen? I am not leaving you to face that thing on your own."
"I know what to do."
"You don't know what we're dealing with." Her voice cracked with emotion.
Owen exhaled. "Tosh." He stepped forward, an idea flickering over his face. He leaned down and pressed his lips to her mouth.
Hally's eyebrow quirked and both she and Jamie shared a look of coy surprise.
Then, Owen pushed Toshiko backwards, sliding the door shut behind her, locking it with the device he'd picked from her hands. Tosh's eyes sharpened with quick realisation that he'd tricked her. "Owen! Owen, no! Open the door! What the hell are you doing? Owen. Owen!"
Hally held Jamie tightly by the hand as they watched Duroc descend the stairs towards Owen, its body shifting in a haze of black with each step.
Owen faced the creature, his hands balled into fists. "How long? How long can you last here with only twelve victims? There's nothing here for you! Owen Harper's soul has left the building. There's nobody here but us dead men…"
"No! Owen!" The pain in Toshiko's voice pulled at Hally's chest. She reached towards the woman with her free hand, pressing gently on her shoulder.
"It's ok… I think he can do this." Tosh shot a desperate look over her shoulder at Hally, to which Hally gave her shoulder a squeeze.
Duroc shifted towards Owen, reaching out towards him with the haze of darkness, a flash of white bone underneath. Owen caught the approaching hand, grabbing hold of it. Duroc stumbled and tried to pull back but Owen kept his grip firm.
"What else have you got? What else can you do to the dead?!" Owen ground out as the darkness started to struggle against him, thrashing against the hold Owen had on its body. The pair stumbled to the right, both struggling to stay upright, a battle of strength.
Duroc reared back, pulling Owen with him but Owen held on. Toshiko called out helplessly watching as something shifted. The energy around Duroc began to swirl, tighten and flow into Owen. He held on until there was nothing left. Duroc was gone.
Death had vanished.
The doors clicked open and Toshiko pushed through, running straight for Owen. Ianto's voice clicked over the comm, Martha was ok, whatever Duroc had done to her had reversed itself.
It was over.
And somehow, Owen was still 'alive'.
Martha had stayed for only a few more days after that, once she'd run enough tests on Owen that she'd been satisfied his body was now stable. Well, as stable as a dead body could be. Owen had been reinstated as the Torchwood medic, despite Jack's misgivings.
Then, it was time for Martha to leave.
Part of Hally was definitely relieved.
Although she had to admit, it had been nice to see her friend again. Without the threat of The Master murdering her. Plus, it had been quite nice to have the human's backup against Jack and his disapproving stare.
Overall, Hally was glad to have seen Martha because now she knew, Martha was ok.
She was healing.
Her family was healing.
The Master hadn't been the end of Martha's world.
They would move past it.
The team stood out in the chilly night air, saying their farewells. Martha stood, grinning up at Jack. "Thank you. Well, it's been interesting."
He scoffed, a smug smirk tugging the corner of his mouth. "Oh, it's been fun. You know it has."
Martha could only hum in agreement. A twinkle appeared in her eye as she took hold of Jack's collar, pulling him down into a kiss. When she pulled away, a broad smile broke onto her face and she quipped to the shocked onlookers, "Well, everyone else has had a go."
Hally snorted, shaking her head. Martha drew her into a tight hug, one that she returned with a content sigh. "Take care of yourself." The human whispered.
Hally gave her a smile, squeezing her arm gently in return. "You too."
Martha pulled back. "Oh." Her eyes lit up. "Give me your phone, I'm putting my number in." She took Hally's phone from her outstretched hand and typed her number into it, calling it so they'd both be able to contact the other. "There, now you can call or text if you ever need anything." Martha's eyes glittered with familiar kindness and a hint of teasing.
Hally chuckled softly. "Thank you." The thanks was sincere as she took back her phone. "Same goes for you. You know where I am."
With that, Martha had left and the rest of the team had headed home.
Hally instead, had circled the harbour, restless. She should have been exhausted. The others had been. But something wasn't sitting well with her. Well, lots of things. In particular, she hated how powerless Owen's death had made her feel. Just another reminder that she was stuck on this planet, practically defenceless. Spending each day racing through to get to the next one because hopefully, the next day would be one step closer to The Master.
That too. She was getting impatient. How much longer was she going to have to wait? Why couldn't The Master have created a 'quick' resurrection plan?
The future held so many problems.
Her brain wouldn't let her stop thinking about them.
She passed by the windows of a bustling pub, happy chattering seeping out of the building along with the warm light from inside.
Hmm.
Hally pulled out The Master's phone and typed swiftly.
H – Are you free?
She didn't have to wait too long for his reply.
A – No. I'm currently tailing a 395-year-old while she aimlessly wanders around Cardiff at 11PM. It's too thrilling to miss.
H – Funny. I want to indulge in an unhealthy human coping mechanism and get drunk. Or a bit drunk. I'm not sure how drunk I can get like this. Will you join me?
A – I thought you had 'friends' for that kind of thing. Last I checked, Gwen enjoys getting inappropriately intoxicated on a work night.
H – Yes, probably. But I don't want to get drunk with anyone who is going to try and talk to me about why I'm avoiding my problems. I want to get drunk in silence. But not alone. Pretty please? You're watching me anyway. Why not just watch me from a closer distance?
She had to wait a few moments for his reply.
A – Fine. But not in there.
H – I wasn't going to go in there…
A – Keep walking. Take the next left. Third bar on the right.
H – Fine.
A – Oh, and you're buying.
H – Of course.
Hally moved away from the rowdy pub, following Armitage's directions to a cosy bar, tucked away on a side street. She entered alone and headed straight for the bar, met with the array of bottles against the back wall, Hally paused. The young barman, a tall skinny man dressed all in black moved in front of her.
"What can I get you?" He gave her a lopsided smile.
"Umm…" She rolled her lower lip between her teeth. "...good question." She muttered to herself.
"She'll take a double of the Bowmore, on the rocks and a bottle of…" Armitage leant over the bar slightly, eyes scanning the wine bottles neatly stacked on the right of the bar. Then he turned slightly and looked Hally up and down. "The red Bertani." He nodded the bartender over towards the bottle. He gave Armitage a hum of approval before moving away to grab their order. Armitage took the whiskey, leaving Hally to pick up the bill and bring the bottle over to the table. He'd sat near the back of the bar, a booth nestled away from the other tables.
Hally sat down opposite him, wasting no time pouring herself a large glass of the dark red liquid.
Silence.
Perfect.
Armitage nursed his drink slowly, not saying a word as she gulped down her own like she was dying of thirst. Pouring herself another glass she settled back into the seat, a crease of a frown sitting permanently on her face.
Being around the stoic assassin was somehow easier than being around the Torchwood team. The people she considered her friends. He knew exactly who she was and he didn't care. He didn't judge her because… well he probably didn't care enough to bother.
Hmm.
No, they felt like friends too?
A small smile pulled at the corner of her mouth as she tried to imagine the man across from her 'hanging out with friends'. It seemed almost impossible.
Unease was tugging at her stomach. She took another unnecessarily long sip, willing the effects of the alcohol to hurry up and numb her aching chest. Before the Biodampener it had taken her a much greater volume to feel any of the effects, but on the Valiant it had barely taken two large glasses before the pleasant hum had infected her brain.
God, Jack was going to be so angry at her.
Urgh, and The Doctor. His face. She could see it now. The disappointment. Anger flared in her gut.
Hypocrite.
Her fingers tapped against the solid dark wood of the table.
One, two, three, four.
She brought the glass to her lips.
Armitage's eyes slid lazily down to her hand, but he said nothing.
God, she was…
So… full.
She hated it.
Where was it supposed to go?
This fullness. This constant pressure inside her.
She wanted to scream it out.
To have the world around her crack and break under the pressure.
But it didn't.
Everything remained obnoxiously fine.
It shouldn't have been fine. She was…
It should have bent under her will.
The universe was rebelling.
Owen was dead.
She could have saved him. She could fix him.
It was as if reality was laughing at her, gloating at her weakened form.
Her jaw clenched and her teeth ground together.
The rhythm beat against the table as her fingers connected with the hard surface.
One, two, three, four.
"What used to happen?"
Armitage's voice had her gaze snapping to his.
"What?" There wasn't any emotion in her voice, just a sharp question.
He didn't move, didn't shift under her hard stare. He just stared back. Eyes forever cold. Bored.
"When you got angry, what used to happen?" The eyebrow over his right eye twitched upwards with slight interest.
Her eyes narrowed, glimmering with weariness. "You've seen what happens."
He grunted in understanding as the memory passed over his face. He'd seen her destruction first-hand. "Might not be the best coping strategy." He murmured, the icy blue, almost grey holding her in a sharp stare.
Hally clicked her tongue against her teeth, taking a long sip from her glass. "You sound like Alina." She cut back. "Would you like me to offload all my feelings onto you?" She quirked an unimpressed eyebrow at him.
"Fuck no." His face twitched with a scowl. "Don't ever do that."
A laugh escaped her and she shook her head, using the momentary silence to refill her glass. She could feel the pleasant buzz creeping into the corners of her mind, almost cushioning it, taking away the sharpness of her thoughts.
"Purely selfishly, I'd rather you didn't explode everything and everyone around you when you're 'having a bad day'." He clipped, swilling the ice around in his glass with a soft tinkling sound.
Hally rolled her eyes in response, running a finger underneath the necklace stuck around her neck. "Well, once this thing is off, I won't need you to babysit me."
"Perhaps not."
She glared fruitlessly at the immovable muscle in front of her, before conceding their staring contest in favour of drinking. He just watched her, silent and still. It should probably have bothered her more than it did, the knowledge that The Master was keeping her under surveillance even after his death. Although Armitage was also helping her enact The Master's resurrection plan, she knew deep down that everything he did for her, was also at The Master's request.
A control freak, even in death.
A resigned sigh pulled from her chest.
At least she had Torchwood and her flat, those felt separate from this.
Separate from bringing back The Master.
She had a life on Earth, a life she quite liked.
Not that she could ever convince The Master to stay here. They'd have to leave, run. She might even miss it, her life. Not that she wouldn't go with him. Of course, she would. There was nothing she wanted more. But sometimes, it would be nice to have the option. The option to see her father, or come back to Earth and see Jack. But once she'd brought back The Master, there would be none of that.
She couldn't live in two opposing worlds.
She had this, The Master, Armitage, plans to run across the universe and then she had another life, Torchwood, human friends and a flat with mostly dead houseplants.
A small frown tugged the centre of her forehead. "Where do you live?" His eyes had never left her face, but as hers focused on him she saw the corner of his mouth twitch upwards. A low growl vibrated in her throat as irritation flared in her gut. "Seriously?"
He fixed her with a look that clearly said 'Where did you think I lived?', which she responded to with an indignant huff.
"Unbelievable." She tutted, shaking her head. "How have I never seen you?"
His mouth pulled into a full smirk this time. "Because I'm good at my job." Then he hummed. "You know, you're quite a noisy neighbour."
She didn't give him the satisfaction of a response, instead taking a long gulp from her glass while glaring at him.
Urgh.
She felt like a child.
A 395-year-old Time Lord being babysat by a human.
It was ridiculous.
It was hilarious.
She had destroyed thousands of Daleks, had taken down assassins and warriors three times his size. But right now she felt about as dangerous as a toddler.
Well, a toddler with a Laser Screwdriver.
She narrowed her eyes in thought, bringing her glass to her lips as she considered him. "I want you to train me, work on my hand-to-hand combat."
His head tilted an inch to the left. "From what I've seen, you're already trained in multiple forms of combat."
She pressed her tongue against the back of her teeth. "Yes. But right now I'm weaker. Brute strength isn't working for me so I need to change my technique." She countered. The glint in his eye told her that he agreed.
"Why not ask Jack?"
"I don't want to ask Jack."
His eyes narrowed and he considered her quietly. "I'll think about it."
