Written by Chris Chibnall
Directed by Jonathan Fox Bassett
Original Broadcast 21 March, 2008.
On a dry
day, on an old abandoned site with derelict red bricked buildings, the
Torchwood SUV hurtles into view, skidding to a halt. Four members of Torchwood Three exit. Ianto, sends Gwen the co-ordinates of their
location, while he follows Jack, Owen and Toshiko towards the building where
suspect alien activity has been detected.
The four strong team are armed and ready.
‘So,
sure they're not Weevils?’
‘Don't
think so. Different energy patterns. I can't make sense of it. Not a species
we've encountered before.’
‘Well,
let's hope they're friendly, then.’
‘Owen,
Ianto, take the other side of the building. Check the upper floors,Toshiko with
me.’ Jack instructs.
Owen and
Ianto run on ahead to a large mill dead ahead of them.
Inside the
building Jack edges cautiously towards one of the empty corridors while Toshiko
hangs back.
‘Okay? Go.’ Jack says, as both take an
exit. The large corridor is empty but
Toshiko’s hand held scanner is bleeping erratically.
‘I'm
getting mirror readings on both floors. One creature at either end of the
building.’
‘Toshiko,
split up.’ Jack replies, clicking his fingers.
Both head off in different directions.
In another
area, Owen and Ianto do the same.
‘You
know, these creatures are very quiet.’
‘Maybe
they're sleeping.’
‘Or
hatching.’
‘Or
maybe they aren't creatures at all.’ Toshiko replies, spotting a square boxlike
object on the ground with a digital timer.
‘Just explosive devices.’ Jack locates one
at his end too.
With three
seconds on the object, Ianto is horrified.
‘Snap.’
Owen replies with 2 seconds on the clock.
The
countdown from 5 reaches zero, the building explodes, belching dust and debris
from all available windows….
All is
quiet in Gwen and Rhys’ flat as the mobile sings out. Gwen awakens with a gasp and realisation that
she overslept.
‘Shit.’ She says grabbing her phone from the
floor.
‘You
have one message.’
‘Gwen,
texting you the location. Appearing four or five signs of life.’ It’s Ianto
with the co-ordinates. Gwen scrambles
out of bed.
‘Shit.’
In the ruins of the building, as ceiling brickwork continues to tumble to the ground, Jack,
lies crushed under fallen brickwork.
Flashback…
1,392
deaths earlier…
Jack gasps
back into life, wearing Victorian attire, side burns, with a broken bottle
protruding from his abdomen.
‘Oh, not again.’
He cries
out at the bottle and leaning back against the wicker basket behind him, eases
out the bottle, that’s as painful coming out as it was going in. Two Victorian ladies Emily and Alice are
watching him. Jack notices.
‘Ladies.’
He laughs. ‘Torso of steel,
shilling a feel. Any takers?’ He pulls
himself up, still in considerable pain.
‘Bar fight, got a little out of control. Flesh wound. Whoa. Whoa! Still
not used to these…hangovers.’ He tells
them, aware that announcing that he still can’t get used to ‘coming back to
life’ might scare some people.
The ladies
walk casually towards him.
‘Captain Jack Harkness. How long have you
been there? Silent types. That's okay. I used to date a guy with no mouth.
Surprisingly creative.’
Alice, the
brunette, punches Jack in the stomach, before bringing up her knee into his
face. Jack falls heavily to the
ground. Before he can react, Emily sits
on his chest.
‘Listen, you only had to ask. Can we get a
room, though?’
Removing a
cloth handkerchief from her sleeve, Emily forces it into Jack’s mouth, laced
with chloroform, Jack passes out.
In the
basement of their headquarters, Jack wakes up tied to a chair and sopping wet.
‘When I said about getting a room, I meant
somewhere with linen.’
Alice throws more water at his face
before Jack’s shirt is ripped open and brass pads are attached to his
chest. These ladies do like a thrill!!!
‘Time was electrodes to the nipples meant
the start of a good night.’
Emily winds
the handle of the torture machine, that generates electricity. Jack laughs as it sparkles through his
body.
‘Full
power charge and still breathing.’
‘Pretty
advanced piece of equipment you got there. You ladies are ahead of yourselves.
Now where the hell am I?’
Alice picks up a revolver and points it
directly at Jack.
‘Put
that down before somebody gets…’
She pulls
the trigger. A short time later he gasps
back to life.
‘Why
aren't you dead yet?’
‘Been
trying to figure that out myself.’
‘We've
been monitoring you. You've been killed fourteen times in the last six months.’
‘Feels
like more than that.’
‘Who's
the Doctor?’
‘No
idea.’
‘Hmm.
The Doctor, he will be able to fix me. When the Doctor turns up, it'll all be
put right. You wait till I see the Doctor. First I'm going to kiss him, then
I'm going to kill him. Transcripts of your conversations with strangers, in
various drinking dens, since you first came to our attention.’
‘You
know no one likes a smart-ass.’
‘Tell
us where he is and we’ll release you.’
‘Why
do you want to know?’
‘You're
in Torchwood, Cardiff.’ Emily tells him. Jack studies his surroundings. ‘The Torchwood
Institute was created to combat the threat posed by the Doctor and other
phantasmagoria.’
Jack
laughs.
‘He's
not a threat. The Doctor's the one who'll save you from your phantasmahoojits.’
‘Just
tell us his location.’
‘I
don't know!’ Jack snaps back, angry and
frustrated he struggles in his bonds. ‘He left me behind. I came here to find
him. He refuels from that Rift you have. Hoping if I stayed here long enough,
we'd find each other. Now, can I go?’
‘No.’
‘You
can't keep me here.’
‘Oh,
we can. Unless’
‘Yes.
Unless.’
‘Unless
what?’
‘There
are opportunities here, with the Institute.’
‘I'm
not for hire.’
‘You're
going to need currency.’
‘What's
the assignment?’
‘Missing person.’
‘Well,
when we say person.’
The
Blowfish is thrown to the ground by Jack.
He sits up pleading his innocence.
‘I haven't done anything.’
‘Twelve
burglaries, joyriding a horse and carriage, seven cases of pick-pocketing,
twenty four instances of consuming food without paying for it. It's like an
addiction with your species, isn't it.’
‘I’ll
make it up, I promise.’
‘Oh,
too late.’
‘It’s
just a bit of fun.’
‘This
planet's a century away from official first contact with alien life. You're
upsetting the schedule.’
‘Who
are you?’
‘I'm
Torchwood.’
Jack throws
the blowfish into the cell. Just behind
him is Alice,
watching.
‘I said sorry. You can't lock me up.’
‘He's
just a kid. Send him back to where he came from.’
‘If
only we could. The Rift only goes one way.’
‘What do you do? Observe and profile the
species and then transfer them to long term storage?’
Smiling, Alice raises the revolver
and shoots the defenceless alien in the head.
Jack is aghast and pulls Alice
away, knocking the revolver from her grasp.
‘Why?’
‘It
was a threat to the Empire.’
‘Like
me?’
‘You're
our ally now.’ Alice replies wrestling free of Jack’s grasp.
In the
candlelit office, Emily sits behind her desk and counts out Jack’s money. He sits quietly facing her.
‘If you don't want it.’
Jack takes
the cash and pockets it, rising to his feet.
‘Your
next assignment.’
’No.
I'm through with you people.’ Jack walks to the door as Alice enters.
‘Your
liberty is at our discretion. Work for us, you assist the Empire. Sever that
tie, you become a threat.’
‘And
you've seen how we deal with threats.’
‘It's good
money, Captain. How else are you going to earn?’
After
little deliberation, he takes the envelope, stares at the Torchwood motif then
flips it back at Emily.
‘See
what you think in the morning.’
Pausing a
moment at the door, Jack leaves.
‘He's pretty. But you're prettier.’ Alice adds.
In a dimly
lit ale house, Jack knocks back a shot of liquor. Grace, a young girl, with long hair tied in a
pony tail, stands at the opposite side of the table.
‘Can I read your cards?’
‘No,
thank you.’
She doesn’t
take ‘no’ for an answer and clears the table.
‘No,
really.’
She looks
at him a moment before placing three tarot cards on the table, face down. Jack watches her. The first card she turns over is the Tower. Second the Knight in shining armour. The third a little obscure.
‘He's coming, the one you're looking for.’
She turns over three more cards. ‘But the century will turn twice before you
find each other again.’ Grace tells him.
‘Ooo.
Are you for real?’ Jack realises after picking
up the card that Grace isn’t joking. ‘You
mean I have to wait a hundred years to find him? What'll I do in the meantime?’
Jack joins
Torchwood, from freelance agent in the Victorian era right up to the countdown
to the new millennium. He goes from
handwritten reports, typewriters to computers.
In the Hub, it’s New Year’s Eve, 1999, with only a few minutes before New
Year’s Day. In some parts of the world
including Russia,
they’ve already welcomed in the start of 2000.
‘Some parts of the world have already
welcomed in the New Year. Our cameras, of course, have been out in force across
the UK
tonight. Let's take you first to Cardiff.’
Says the reporter on the news broadcasting from London, Somerset House, where many people are
on the ice.
‘Hey,
when you joked about the Millennium Bug, I didn't realise it was gonna have
eighteen legs stacked with poison.’ Jack
shouts through as he enters the Hub, shrugging off his coat, hanging it on the
coat stand a few feet from the roll back door. ‘Anyone home? You know you're
supposed to party like it’s…’ Jack finds a colleague dead on the ground, a
bullet to the head. He sees a woman
lying nearby. Who could have done this?
He draws his pistol. Looking around he
discovers his boss sitting on a barrel staring at the television screen, a
sombre look upon his face.
‘Alex?’
‘Jack.
Just in time.’
‘Alex,
what happened? Who did this?’
‘Me.’
‘We
got it wrong, Jack. We thought we could control the stuff we found. And what's
it brought us? So much death.’ Alex
opens his hand revealing an alien locket. Jack trains his weapon on Alex.
‘What
happened to them?’
‘It's
good you're here. Always did have great timing. This place, its yours.
Torchwood Three. My gift to you, Jack, for a century of service as field
operative. Give this place a purpose before it's too late. Please.’
‘Alex,
listen. It's gonna be okay.’ Jack replies, lowering his gun. Close to tears.
‘No,
it's not. It's really not.’ Alex looks down at the ornate locket and closes his
hands over it again. ‘I looked inside.
It showed me what's coming. They were mercy killings. It was the kindest thing
I could do, so none of us see the storm.’
The
countdown begins for the New Year.
‘I'm
sorry I can't do the same for you. Twenty first century, Jack. Everything's
gonna change.’
The UK welcomes in the New Year with a wonderful
display of fireworks over London and the other UK cities.
‘And we're not ready.’ Alex presses a
handgun against his head and braces himself.
Jack jumps to his feet and yells, but it’s too late. Alex pulls the trigger splattering Jack with
blood.
In the destroyed building, Jack gasps back
into life. Gwen and Rhys are beside
him. He grasps Rhys’ hand, who is
shocked to say the least.
‘He was dead! I checked his pulse. He was
dead.’
‘All
right. Shush. Jack, what has happened? Where are the others?’
‘What
is he doing here?’ Jack points furiously at Rhys.
‘Look,
I was late, okay? He gave me a lift. You okay?’
‘Yeah,
yeah. Toshiko. She went the other way.’
Buried
under fallen masonry and brickwork Toshiko can barely see through the minute
gap. She hears Jack, Rhys and Gwen call
out her name.
‘Toshiko, yell if you can hear me!’
‘Toshiko!
Toshiko!’
She screams
for help.
Five years
earlier at Lodmoor Research Facility, a division of the Ministry of Defence,
the working day is almost at an end and as the office manager locks up his
office, only Toshiko remains working at her station.
‘Never
thought I'd say this to anyone here, but you work too hard.’ He tells her.
‘Another hour and I'm done.’
‘I wish the rest of them thought like you.
Half past five, they're out of here like a pack of dogs.’
‘You have a good evening, sir.’
‘I doubt it.’
Toshiko
watches him leave before pulling open her desk drawer. She flips over her drawer tidy and pulls the
key taped to the underside and unlocks his office door. Quickly, Toshiko accesses his computer and
memorises the access code X74JGF813W.
The security guard is seen on the CCTV currently on his rounds. Aware that time is of the essence, Toshiko
exits the office, locking it behind her, and hastens to another side of the
building, aware of the security cameras on every level. She watches as the camera moves and hastens
to the password controlled door, tapping in the access code from the
computer. She quickly enters as the
camera moves back towards her. In a
secure unit of files and folders from floor to ceiling on metal shelving,
Toshiko walks along the aisles till she finds the one she’s looking for. Tied with white cord, she locates the folder
‘For Your Eyes Only’ and unties it, opening the bag. Locating the plastic folder with secure press
stud fastening, she pulls out the blueprint for a sonic modulator and stuffs it
up her jumper. She fastens the folder on
the shelf and returns to her office, lifts her coat and leaves the building. As
she reaches the entrance, George, the night security is on duty.
‘Another late one, Miss Sato?’
‘You
know me, George. Married to the job.’
‘When
you gonna let me whisk you away from all this?’
‘As
soon as you clear it with your wife and grandchildren.’
‘Always
an excuse. Take care.’
‘Goodnight,
George.’
At home, in
the warmth of her own home, Toshiko opens out the blueprint, and begins to
construct the device.
Hurrying
along the quiet streets in the dead of night, Toshiko raps the door of a secret
location and awaits the metal door opening.
‘I've got it.’
‘Get
in.’
Toshiko is
brought into an office in disarray, Milton,
a bespectacled woman toys with a device, only stopping when Toshiko arrives.
‘I
want to see my mother. I want to know she's safe. Now.’
The woman
nods to the man that saw her in.
‘Show me the piece.’
Toshiko
withdraws the device from her bag. She passes the hand held device to the
impatient woman in the power suit who studies the craftsmanship.
‘Oh,
its beautiful. A perfect sonic modulator. Toshiko, you've done so well.’
‘Toshiko!’
Her mother exclaims upon seeing her daughter.
The man prevents a welcome reunion by keeping a hold of Toshiko’s
mother.
‘You've
got what you want. Now let her go.’
‘Oh,
except now you're the victim of your own success. Perfectly situated, proven
ability. You can give us so much more.’
Mrs Sato
speaks in her mother tongue to Toshiko.
‘And
what if I refuse?’
‘Then
your mother stays with us. And your brilliance is used against her. Like this.’
Milton replies,
as she and her goon, wear ear protectors as she triggers the sonic
modulator.
‘No don’t.’ Toshiko begs, but it’s too
late. The frequency is loud and
painful.
‘PLEASE.’
Toshiko begs as her mother screams despite pressing her fingers against
her ears.
Milton lazily tosses a pair of ear defenders
towards Toshiko.
‘PLEASE STOP.’ Toshiko begs as she attempts to reach the ear
defenders lying between her and her mother.
The goon kicks her arm away. Her
mother continues to scream as a trickle of blood creeps from her hairline down
her forehead.
UNIT burst
through the door, weapons at the ready.
‘Turn it off! TURN IT OFF!’
Milton does as she’s told. They handcuff Toshiko and frogmarch her from
the building despite her protestations regarding her mother.
‘My mother. Is she all right? Is she all
right?’
Roughly
pushed into her cell, wearing a red all in one prisoner issue jumpsuit, Toshiko
stares at her surroundings, a narrow room with dirty grey walls, floor and
ceiling, with a tiny set of windows, high up above her.
‘This is a UNIT facility. Your rights as a
citizen have been withdrawn. You'll be held here indefinitely. We are not
required to provide you with legal representation. Anything you say will be
recorded. You will be allowed no communication with any person or organisation
outside this facility. There is no right of appeal. If you fail to comply with
the rules, we are authorised to discipline you.’ The voice echoes through the
ceiling microphone.
‘We
cannot supply you with that information.’
Time
passes. Food is served on a plastic
tray. Sleep is on the concrete
floor. Exercise is silently with other
inmates in a large red bricked room before returning to her squalid cell.
‘Prisoner
Sato. Inspection.’
‘What for?’ Toshiko replies.
‘Prepare
for inspection.’
She drags
herself up, her clothing dirty much like the damp floor. She has neither hope nor interest any
more.
As she
stands against the far wall, the door opens to reveal a man in a blue military
great coat.
Maybe
there’s hope after all.
In the
dull, dank communal area, seated opposite Toshiko, Captain Jack Harkness
watches as Toshiko drinks the large mug of soup.
‘Catering's as lousy as they say, huh?’
‘Where's
my mother?’
‘She's
safe. She won't remember being kidnapped. I wiped it from her memory. I hope
you don't mind.’
‘You
did what?’
‘Really,
just a little pill. She'll never have known.’
‘Who
are you?’
‘Nobody.
I don't exist. And for a man with my charisma, that's quite an achievement.’
‘Are
you a lawyer?’
‘Do I
look like a lawyer?’ Jack asks getting
to his feet. He walks around the table
towards Toshiko. ‘They're going to make
an example of you. Stealing official secrets in today's climate they're going
to keep you here without charge. Forever.’
‘They
can't do…’
‘They're
never going to release you. I'm sorry.’
Sitting on
the table, Jack holds out the sonic modulator device constructed by Toshiko.
‘You
made this, right?’
‘I
just followed the plans.’
‘Yeah,
kinda. But first you had to grasp the concept of what a sonic modulator does.
Most people would struggle with that. And another thing…the plans don't work.’
‘What?’
‘The
technical plans you followed, they were wrong. They had mistakes in them.
That's why the plans were shelved. But you, Toshiko Sato, you automatically
fixed things as you went along. What I'm trying to say is, oh baby, you're
good. I mean, you're good now. Imagine what you'd be like with a little
training. Oh. Shame you're gonna be locked up for so long.’
‘You've
got to get me out of here.’
‘If
you, come work for me.’
‘Really?’
‘Give
me five years; I'll get them to wipe your record clean. They owe me a few
favours.’
‘What
do you do?’
‘Protect
people. Least, that's what I'm aiming for. It's kind of a work in progress.’
‘What
about my mother?’
‘Limited
contact only. You can send her postcards. So what do you say?’
‘Why
would you trust me?’
‘Instinct. It's going to be dangerous. Think
you could bear a little danger?’
Toshiko
continues to scream in agony from the fallen debris in the abandoned building
as Gwen and Rhys try to alleviate her discomfort.
‘Stop. Stop. Stop. Tosh. Tosh, are you okay?’
‘You're
making it worse. It's pushing down even more now. I think I've broken my arm.
Gwen.’
‘Yeah?’
‘If
this pillar shifts down even more, it will crush me.’
‘It's
no good, Gwen. We're gonna need more strength.’
‘Look,
Jack has gone to find Owen and Ianto. You're gonna be fine, darling, all right.
You're going to be fine.’
‘You've
got to hurry, please.’
‘Gwen,
help Jack. I’ll stay here.’ Rhys
suggests.
‘Are
you sure?’
‘Yeah.’
‘I'm
going to come back for you, darling, all right? You're going to be okay.’
‘Okay.’
‘Gwen,
this could've been you, couldn't it, if you hadn’t been late.’
‘Look,
Rhys, I haven't got time for this now, okay? I've got to go and try and find
the others.’
Under
another pile of bricks and mortar, a hand pushes a brick aside. With bloodied knuckles, desperately trying to
grip something solid, Ianto tries to pull himself free of his prison, with no
effect. He cries out at the terrible
pain in his shoulder.
Lifting his
head up, he hears Jack shouting from somewhere within the building.
‘Ianto!
Ianto!’
Twenty one
months earlier in a wooded region of Cardiff Jack struggles to overpower a
Weevil. As it bites into his neck an
unknown strikes the creature on the back with a stick. The Weevil, switches its attention to the new
attacker. Jack scrambles to his feet and
launches himself at the Weevil again, this time able to use the spray before
putting a bag over its head and injecting it with a dose of tranquilisers.
Jack winces
as he feels his neck after the savage bite.
‘Thanks.’
‘No,
thank you. And you are?’
‘Jones,
Ianto Jones.’
‘Nice
to meet you, Jones, Ianto Jones. Captain Jack Harkness.’
‘Lucky
escape.’
‘I had
it under control.’
‘You
think so? It looked pretty vicious. You're, er…’ Ianto says reaching a hand
towards Jack, who edges away.’You were bleeding.’
‘Had
worse from shaving.’
‘Looked
like a Weevil to me. ‘
‘I've
no idea what you're talking about. I’ll take him from here.’ Jack replies lifting the sedated Weevil over
his shoulder. He pauses beside Ianto. ‘Thanks
for the assistance.’
‘Any time.
By the way, love the coat.’
A sunny
morning across Cardiff
and Captain Jack Harkness exits the Tourist Information Centre and is met by
Ianto Jones with a mug of coffee.
‘Morning. Coffee?’
Jack takes
the mug and dubiously sniffs the coffee before taking a good sip.
‘Wow’.
‘I
want to work for you.’
‘Sorry.
No vacancies.’
‘Look,
let me tell you about myself.’
‘Ianto
Jones, born August 19th 1983. Able student but not exceptional.’ Jack continues as he strides on by, Ianto
eventually falls in behind him. ‘One
minor conviction for shoplifting in your teens. Number of temporary jobs,
mainly a drifter, until two years ago you join the Torchwood Institute in London. Junior researcher.
Girlfriend, Lisa Hallett.’
‘Deceased.’
‘I'm
sorry.’
‘Look,
you checked me out.’
‘You
knew what a Weevil was. Thought I was gonna have to come deal with you.’
‘But
instead you can see I have the right qualifications for the job.’
‘There
is no job. We're nothing to do with Torchwood London. I severed all links.’
‘Yet
when it burned, two members of your team scavenged the ruins.’ Ianto cuts in
ahead, slowing Jack to a halt, his hand against Jack’s chest. Jack gently eases the hand away.
‘I
don't want the equipment getting into the wrong hands.’
‘And
you're the right hands, are you? Trial period. Three months.’
‘No.’
‘Three
weeks. Three days. Let me prove myself to you. I’ll work for nothing.’
‘No.’
‘I saw
what they did at Canary
Wharf.’ Ianto stops Jack again and cuts in front of
him. Jack sighs, impatiently. ‘What am I
supposed to do with those memories?’
‘You
are not my responsibility. And we're not hiring.’
‘Same
time tomorrow then.’
‘There
is no job for you here and there never will be.’
‘I
really like that coat.’ Jack raises a
brow and smiles.
Night time
in Cardiff and
the SUV is driven by Jack Harkness along the quiet streets.
‘Toshiko, see if you can decode those
hieroglyphics.’
‘Already
on it.’
’Owen, take a cross-section of the
paramedics brain. Check it against the list of chemical agents.’
‘Will
do.’
‘Susie,
were going to need to dredge the reservoir. See if you can find the other half…’
The vehicle
slewed to a halt. Jack groaned. Ianto Jones was yet again, in front of him,
this time in a blue suit, shirt and tie.
He climbed out, less than patient.
‘Okay, this has to stop.’
‘No,
listen to me...’
‘I
don't have time for this. Look, I don't care what your problem is, I want you
out of this city by sunrise. There is no place for you here. Go back to London, find yourself
another life. Keep stalking me, I'll wipe your memory.’
‘No,
but the thing is…’
‘Look,
any conversation between us, no matter what the subject, is over. Finished.
Done. Forever. I'm getting back behind the wheel of that car. If you're still
standing in the road, I'm going to drive through you.’ Jack strides towards the
driver’s side as Ianto stops him in his tracks…again.
‘So
you're not gonna help me catch this pterodactyl then?’
With his
great coat removed, Jack prepares a large hypodermic needle, big enough to stun
a….erm…dinosaur!!!
‘Okay, that is the only special equipment
you've got?’
‘Yeah,
because I keep dinosaur nets in the back of the SUV.’
‘Torchwood
London
would've.’
Jack
hurries towards the fire escape of the stores deliveries warehouse. Ianto follows. The pterodactyl is flying around inside and dives
for them as they open the door.
‘Nope.’
They shut
the door. With their backs pressed
against the door, Jack is curious to know where Ianto found the creature.
‘Rift activity locator. Torchwood London. See? Quality kit.’
‘Yeah, it's quite excitable.’
‘Must
be your aftershave.’
‘Never
wear any’.
‘You
smell like that naturally? ‘
‘Fifty
first century pheromones. You people have no idea. Ready for another go?’
‘I'm
game if you are.’
‘Three,
two, one.’
Inside the
warehouse, Jack and Ianto split up as the pterodactyl flies towards them. It lands on the ground flexing its
wings. Jack and Ianto meet up and stare
at the magnificent creature.
‘We're not gonna harm you. You can't stay
here. Come back with me. I've got somewhere nice and big where you can fly
around.’
‘Okay,
so you let the pterodactyl in but not me?’
‘We
need a guard dog.’
‘I can
be that. Like a receptionist, building maintenance, food and drink. Dry
cleaning, even. That coat of yours must take a battering. Like a butler, I
could be a butler.’
‘We don't need a butler.’
‘Excuse
me. Dried egg on your collar.’
‘It
was a busy week.’
‘What
exactly is your plan?’
‘I'm
going to be the decoy.’
‘And
it will rip you to shreds.’
’Dinosaurs? Had them for breakfast. Had to.
Only source of pre-killed food protein after the asteroid crashed. Long story.
Here you go.’ Jack hands Ianto the syringe.
‘One injection to the central nervous cortex. I’ll keep it occupied.
Move.’
‘No.’
‘What?’
Ianto gives
back the syringe, he has a better idea.
‘It
knows me. I’ll be a better decoy.’
‘Way
too dangerous.’
‘No,
I've got a secret weapon. Chocolate. Preferably dark.’
Ianto and
Jack split up again.
‘I got
your favourite. Yeah.‘ Ianto whistles,
as Jack prepares the syringe. Ianto
edges closer to the pterodactyl as Jack sneaks up from behind. He tosses the
bar towards the creature who eyes it suspiciously before pecking at it.
‘It's
good for your serotonin levels, if you've got serotonin levels.’
Suddenly,
the pterodactyl notices Jack and turns around to focus on him. Ianto yells.
Jack runs towards the creature and grabs its legs as the creature takes
off and flies around the warehouse, in a bid to shake Jack off.
‘Whoa! Ianto!’
Still
gripping hold of the syringe, Jack manages to inject the creature before
releasing hold of its leg. He falls onto
Ianto.
‘Sorry.’
He apologises. Quickly, the roll
out of the way as the pterodactyl falls to the ground, this time, Ianto is on
top. They laugh relieved, and for a few
moments they can’t take their eyes off each other.
‘I
should go.‘ Ianto quickly gets up. Jack
remains on the ground for a few seconds longer.
As Ianto walks past, he gets to his feet.
‘Hey.
Report for work first thing tomorrow. Like the suit, by the way.’
Clearing
the fallen debris from off Ianto, Jack, with help from Gwen, helps Ianto to his
feet. Ianto is in obvious distress.
‘You
okay?’
‘My
shoulder. I think its dislocated.’
‘Can
you take this?’
‘Yeah.’ Ianto replies, certainly bravado kicking in.
With a
sharp lift, Jack pops Ianto’s shoulder back into place. Ianto screams.
‘Where
are the others? ‘
‘We
need your help to get Toshiko out’.
’Owen?’
‘No
sign yet.’
‘If
anything happens, he can't repair himself.’
‘Of
course, he can't heal, can he?’
‘Okay,
well help Rhys with Toshiko. Let us know when you find Owen. And be careful.’
‘Okay.’
‘Okay?
You all right?’
At the
other end of the building from where Ianto was discovered, Owen lies in the
rubble, his only attention, the broken glass from a window frame hanging
precariously above him. Any movement
could render him incapacitated or is it, decapitated?
Four years
earlier and not in Cardiff,
Owen sits on the bed with his fiancée, planning their wedding seating
arrangements.
‘Oh, go on, please. Please, please, please,
please.’
‘No,
you don't even like her, ever since she didn't pay for her share of the Chinese
in Leicester.’
‘Yeah,
but we want Julia to come and it'll look odd if we invite one without the
other.’
‘Oh
God, help me please. Help me, God.’ He groans placing the book over his head as
he lies back on the bed.
‘Three
tables done. Nine more to go. You want to back out? It's still not too late’.
‘Listen,
I'm marrying you even if it kills me, okay?’
‘Good.
Do you want a cup of tea? ‘
‘Yeah,
I’ll make one.’
‘I
think I can manage.’
In the
kitchen, Katie stands with a mug in one hand and a teabag in the other, with
little knowledge of what to do next.
‘Katie.’
‘Yeah?’
‘Er,
water.’
‘Yeah.
‘ She smiles lightly and goes to fill
the cup with tap water.
‘From
the kettle.’ He says gently.
She smiles
politely again and tops up the mug with steaming hot water.
‘Milk.’
‘Stop
nagging me. I don't want to have milk. I've never liked milk. I want to have…‘
‘Tea.‘
‘I
want to have tea without…‘
‘Milk.’
‘Tea
without milk.’
She starts
to cry. The sheer frustration she feels
at not being able to remember even the little things. Owen is by her side in an instant.
‘Darling, it's all right. It's all right.’
In the
Consultant’s office, Owen stares out of the window at Katie, smoking quietly
outside. A set of brain scans sit in the light box hanging from the dark blue
wall beside the desk.
‘I got your invitation. Still going ahead? ‘
‘I
promised her a summer wedding.’
‘Before
all this.’
‘This
changes nothing.’
‘Owen,
it will change everything.’
‘You
don't know for certain.’
‘We've
been through Kate's test results more times than any patient in my whole
career. You've looked through them yourself. All the evidence suggests she has
early onset Alzheimer's.’
‘The
youngest case in medical history. ‘
‘It
doesn't mean we're wrong.’
‘Please.
Run more tests. Let's just try one more MRI scan.’
‘An
MRI isn't going to make any difference.’
‘You
don't know that. Now, you have said yourself that this is unlike any case that
you've ever seen. Now, maybe you've missed something.’
‘Owen ‘
‘You
don't understand, Jim, okay? One day she's fine, she's perfect memory, the old
Katie, and the next there's nothing. She's blank. Now, I am losing her and I
don't know what to do about that, okay? So please. What's the point of me doing
this job if I can't help my own fiancée? ‘
’I'll see what I can do. ‘
‘Thank
you, Jim.’ Owen stares back out of the
window and smiles down at Katie who smiles back.
In their
bedroom late at night, Owen watches Katie sleeping. At the hospital he watches as she has her MRI
scan, desperate for a miracle.
‘It's like being lost in a place you know
really well, you cant get your bearings. Sometimes it comes back to you, and
sometimes. I'm sorry, Owen.’ Katie tells him.
‘What've
you got to be sorry for?’
‘I
don't want to put you through this. Last night, I dreamt that you left me.’
‘Oh,
come on. Nobody's leaving anyone.’
Jim reveals the results of Katie’s scan. Owen can’t believe it.
‘How is that possible? ‘
‘We
don't know. I've never seen anything like it. It's not the brain deteriorating;
it's a clear physical tumour.’
‘That
wasn't there last week.’
‘Not
that we saw. You were right to ask for another scan.’
‘So,
what do we do now?’
‘We
have to view this as good news. Katie, we need to take you into surgery soon as
possible, and remove the tumour.’
‘Do
you understand? Katie?’
‘I
can't remember your name.’
‘Are you sure she's up to this?’ Owen asks
Jim, who is scrubbed up and ready to operate.
‘We're
going to do everything we can for her.’
The
procedure takes a long time but Owen waits, and waits….and waits. The theatre room doors rattle and move
slightly, startling Owen. From behind
him stands a man in a blue great coat offering sincere apologies.
‘Who
the hell are you?’
‘I
tried to tell them you should prepare for the worst.’ Jack explains as he
attempts to enter the theatre. Owen stops him.
‘No,
you can't go in there.’
Jack pushes
ahead and enters the room where he finds all the theatre staff dead. Owen follows after him and finds his Katie in
the same condition.
As Owen
takes a closer look, he sees something unusual attached to the top of Katie’s
brain. A starfish like creature, one
raised tentacle reaching out.
‘What
is it?’
’I'm sorry. I tried to stop them. She's dead.
That thing in her head is an alien life form. It incubates in the brain,
disrupting the shape and functions. When it's attacked or threatened, it emits
a toxic gas that's fatal to humans. It clears pretty quickly.’
‘She
can't be dead. She can't be dead. I'm calling, calling the police.’
‘Tell
them that Torchwood's already here and dealing with it. That'll save them a
call-out. I need to take her brain back with me.’
‘Don't
touch her. Don't touch her. Don't touch her.‘
Swift as
you like, Jack chloroforms Owen.
Owen struggles, but he’s no match for the
stronger man.
Waking up
many hours later in a hospital bed Owen Harper removes the drip from the back
of his hand. A nurse comes to see him.
‘How are you feeling? ‘
‘Where
is she?’
‘Where's
who?’
‘Katie.
Katie Russell. She's a junior doctor. She works here. We're about to get
married.’
‘Let’s
get you back into bed.’
‘Get
off me. Where is she? Where is she? Where is she?’
Wearing a
dressing gown over his hospital gown, Owen recounts the details after his
fiancée went into theatre to a doctor in his office. The man takes notes.
‘He was wearing a military uniform. He had
an American accent.’
‘I
promise, we have checked all the security footage. There was no such man. ‘
‘Jim
Garrett was poisoned by some alien toxin, by some’
‘Jim
Garrett was in a car accident.’
‘The
American said that he wanted her brain, and there was an alien creature or.
This happened, okay? This is not some trauma or delayed grief or whatever
you're scribbling down.’
‘Katie's
tumour was inoperable. There was nothing anyone could have done.’
‘This
is just wrong.’ Owen cries.
‘I'm
giving you three months prescribed rest. Don't come into work.’
‘Yeah.’
In the
Security Office Owen finds his account of Katie’s operation, different to the
one he sees played back to him on the CCTV.
‘This isn't right. He was there. It wasn't
just me. He was there too. That is not what happened. That's not what happened.’
Owen kneels
down to read the message on the nearest arrangement of flowers over the grave
of his fiancée. As he tries to compose
himself, wiping a tear from his eye, he spots a figure at the other end of the
cemetery, a tall man in a blue military great coat. He gets to his feet and runs over. Jack Harkness braces himself.
Charging
towards him, Owen throws an angry punch flooring Jack. Within seconds he’s laying in to Jack,
screaming at him, distraught and broken.
‘You could've saved her! You could've saved
her! You could've saved her!’
Owen
attempts to strangle Jack but in his emotional state he crumples and cries
against him, tearing at the grass.
‘I couldn't.
I really couldn't.’
Jack
comforts Owen.
Later after
calming down, Owen walks with Jack through the cemetery.
‘You're not a figment of my imagination, and
I don't know what's happening any more. Maybe this is what a mental breakdown
feels like.’
‘You're
fine. It's the rest of the world that's delusional.’
‘Why
her?‘
‘There's
no reason. Your life doesn't end with her. What are you gonna do now? Go back
to work? See echoes of her in every corridor? You need a purpose. I'm building
something. I need a medic.’
‘And
you want me?’
‘You
made them take more scans. You kept trying to track me down. You don't give up
easily. I need someone like that to work with me in Cardiff. ‘
‘To
fight aliens.’
‘Exactly.’
‘Look
I don't know what happened to Katie, and I don't know who you really are, but
there is no such thing as aliens.’
‘You
think?’
Owen opens his eyes as he stands inside the large underground base known as The Torchwood Hub. He can't believe his eyes.
‘I'm having a breakdown. Mental collapse.’
‘Owen,
why did you become a doctor?’
‘I
thought if I could save one life, mine would be worthwhile. But you save one
and there's another, and another, all clawing at you, demanding to be saved.
And even if you do succeed, you can never save enough.’
Placing
both hands on Owen’s shoulders Jack smiles at him.
‘Maybe
here you can.’
In the
abandoned building, Gwen has found Owen.
‘Heavens. Careful. If that falls…‘
‘Okay,
softly.’
Gwen
reaches towards Owen as the window frame drops a little further. Gwen yells.
‘Okay.’
‘Just
be very careful.’
‘Okay,
all right. I'm gonna get you out. Okay, this one?’
Gwen
carefully and quickly begins to remove loose bricks from around Owen’s body.
‘Look,
you have to do it very, very gently’
‘Okay.
It isn't going to drop on you.’
As if it
heard, the glass slips further still.
‘Whoa!
‘
‘Quiet.’
’Okay, okay, silent.’
‘I'm
going to do this as quickly as possible. Listen to me. I'm going to get you out
of this. Look at me. Trust me. Okay, Owen, hold my hand. ‘
‘Slowly.’
‘Hold
my hands.’
With his
eyes still fixed on the pane of glass, Gwen hauls him away just as the glass
falls and shatters to the ground.
Gathering
outside the building, the team regroup.
The dust is still settling.
‘You okay?’
‘Yeah. You all right? Tosh, what happened?’
‘Broken
arm, bruised ribs. About an inch away from being crushed by a girder. ‘
‘You
were lucky.’
‘We
all were.’
‘Jack,
who's done this?’
Jack picks
up a holo-message on his VM. It’s
Captain John Hart.
‘Oh,
no.’
‘Jack,
what does he want?’
‘Ooo,
deja vu. Or did I say that already? Hey, team. Of course, there might be a few
less of you by now. Don't know if you liked my little gift. Of course, you can't die. And with all that life,
all that time, you can't spare any for me. Oh. Say hi to the family.’
John Hart
projects another hologram.
‘No way. It can't be.’
‘Been
a while since you've seen your brother, eh, Jack.’
‘Gray?
‘
‘Okay,
here's what's going to happen. Everything you love, everything you treasure
will die. I'm going to tear your world apart, Captain Jack Harkness, piece by
piece. Starting now. Maybe now you'll want to spend some time with me.’
The message
ends.
Jack is
determined to settle this once and for all.
Next month:
Exit Wounds
