Chapter Text
Gwen walked through the ward, following a nurse. Melody was trotting behind, holding her bag so she could find everything she’d need. The patient they were there to visit had been brought in the night before with deep gashes running across her chest and burns covering the right side of her face. She’d been on a friends hen night and at some point she’d gotten separated from her group. Noone was sure what exactly had happened between the time she lost track of the group and the moment she staggered into the street, narrowly missed by a car that had slammed on its breaks as she stumbled into the headlights. Now she lay in a hospital bed, stitches holding the flesh of her chest together and wrappings covering one side of her face, an IV feeding her painkillers.
“She’ll be a bit loopy so I’m not sure how much she’ll be able to tell you.” The nurse said quietly, stopping just in front of the curtain.
Gwen gave a reassuring smile in return. “We won’t push her. It’s just best to get a basic statement as soon as possible.”
“I’ll introduce you then grab you some chairs.”
“Thanks.”
She pulled the curtain aside enough for them to enter. “Miss Tailor? There are two officers here to talk to you. Is that ok?”
“Yea.” The woman replied, her voice rough, as if she’d spent the night screaming.
Gwen stepped forward. “Hello Jennifer, is it ok if I call you that?”
“Jenny.”
“Jenny. I’m Gwen and this is Melody. We just want to ask you about what happened last night.”
The nurse swept out and returned with two chairs before rushing off again as there was a new beeping sound from the other end of the ward. Jenny slowly looked around with her uncovered eye.
“We can take as long as you need and anything you can give us will help.” Gwen continued in her warm, friendly, way.
Jenny focused on her. “You won’t believe me.”
“Try me. I’ve seen some strange things in my line of work.”
She paused, thinking it over, the sound of Melody picking out pencils catching her attention. “Is… She taking notes?”
“She’s our sketch artist. She’ll try and put an image together from what you describe.”
“You really won’t believe me.”
“Tell us anyway. It might help to get it out in the open.”
Jenny paused again, the haze of the drugs slowing her thoughts. “It was… taller than me. Pale skin… It had red eyes. Bright red. It laughed when it saw me… But its voice was high pitched. Like those noise boxes you get in halloween toys. Like a witches laugh… I thought he was wearing a costume. He had this spiky helmet on, but his face looked wrinkly… He was wearing this white overall thing with metal clips and a cape… I think it was a cape… He had claws. Metal claws, curved like a cats… He… He slashed at me and… And I…”
“It’s ok. Take your time. You’re safe.”
“I tried to push him back then.... I don’t know how but… He spat fire. It was blue. I just saw blue and white fire… That’s when I tried to get to the street… He just jumped up onto the edge of the roof. Just standing there and then up and into the dark… A person can’t do that, can they?! That was a monster.”
“Jenny, calm down. You need to rest, ok?”
She sunk into the pillows supporting her, a hollow look in her eye. “I told you you wouldn’t believe me.”
“I do believe you. I believe you were attacked. I believe you were hurt and I’m going to try and make sure that it never happens again.”
“I… Sorry, I’m… I’m so tired.”
“You’ve done great. Why don’t you get some sleep now, yea?”
The woman didn’t answer, she just closed her eye and let the painkillers carry her away again. Gwen looked over to Melody who’d been sketching furiously. She’d been reading Jennifers thoughts more than listening to what was being said. Getting a first person view of the night befores events to ensure she got an accurate image of the thing that had attacked the poor woman. She had time to study it, see the sparks it made by running its tongue over its lower front tooth, smell the stench of rotten eggs it seemed to exude, see the dark membrane connecting its arms like a glider. When she was done she looked up at Gwen and gave a nod to say she was ready to go. She closed the book and slid it into her bag with her pencils and pens before standing. The collective sound of the patients and staffs minds swirled in her head, no longer held back by the shield that reading one mind specifically offered. She was better than she used to be at not being overwhelmed but she still found it extremely loud and a little disorientating. Gwen guided her out and to the car before asking about what she’d drawn.
“It definitely wasn’t human.” Melody took her sketchbook out and opened it to the newest image, handing it to her friend. “I’m sure Owen can work out how it breathes fire but I’m sure it ignites its breath by running its tongue over its bottom tooth. It makes sparks. It had copper claws and a helmet to match.”
“Those look like screens on its wrist guards.”
“They looked like them in person too.”
“We’re probably not looking for just a creature then. Let’s get back and see what the others make of it.” She handed back the sketchbook and got the car started, the thrum of the engine filling the silence. “How did the weekend go?”
She shrugged. “As well as could be expected I suppose. Mum and dad were both quietly breaking down. Persephone was inconsolable. I got to babysit Hayden while everyone else was at the funeral. They didn’t want to put him through that… He’s grown a lot since the last time I saw him. He still really likes biscuits.”
“That’s sweet.” Gwen smiled softly. “I’m glad you got to spend some time with him.”
“Me too. He likes the colour yellow and he hates the tweenies. I ended up putting on music videos for him before his nap… He… Doesn’t look for his mum anymore.”
“So soon?”
“She wasn’t exactly attentive. But his dad’s a decent guy so he’ll be ok. He knows his family love him.”
“Are you ok?”
“Better than I was… My mum kept asking me to quit and move back with her.”
She paused and glanced over. “Are you…”
“No. I’m not going back. Working for Torchwood… It’s the first time in my life I haven’t just felt like a burden.”
“I’m sure they never thought of you like that.”
“Maybe not, but I did. I know this job is dangerous, even when you’re just in the office, but it’s worth it. There’s no going back after it either.”
She nodded, her eyes back on the road ahead. “Torchwood… It isn’t just a job. It’s part of you… I suppose you more than most people.”
“Never stood a chance, did I?” Mel smiled softly.
“Do you hate it?”
“No. I wish it hadn’t happened the way it did but I’m glad I met Jack.”
“I think all of us could say that too.”
Ianto had immediately recognised the image when he saw it and rushed down to the archives to find where from. He returned with a much older book, bound in leather, the pages yellowed from age. He opened it carefully to show a pencil sketch, dated eighteen thirty nine, that seemed to show the same being.
“This hasn’t been digitised yet so it wouldn’t come up on the system. It’s a compendium sent from Torchwood one at some point in May eighteen ninety two.” He explained.
Jack studied the images. “Huh. I remember talk about this. Not much but some.”
“It’s quite a popular urban legend from the time.”
“I spent a couple of decades drinking what was basically moonshine. Urban legends passed me by unless I was in a fistfight with one. Anyway, that was before I landed here. By the time I heard of anything it was just whispers on the wind.”
Melody tilted her head, peeking at the next page of the antique book without touching it. “Who put it together? Wasn’t Torchwood founded in eighteen seventy nine? So, it couldn’t have been an agent.”
“You’ve been doing your research.” Ianto said with an edge of surprise. “It was. This book was found in the personal effects of a man known as Jacob Baker. He lived to be over one hundred and fifty years old due to contact with an alien artefact. He spent the time searching for aliens just to catalogue them, but of course that was what eventually ended his life. I’ll show you the report on him later.”
Gwen frowned. “They don’t look like the same one. And this one looks like he’s had a clothing update.”
“Going by the screens on its wrists my best guess is that they’re both from the same group, just years apart.” Jack picked up Mels sketchbook. “Probably didn’t come through the rift which means it must have some kind of transport. Tosh, any sign of a ship landing recently?”
Tosh quickly sifted through anything unusual her sensors had picked up in the last month. “Not that I can see but if it was a small vessel it could have slipped through unnoticed.”
“Keep at it. Gwen, ask around with your old friends for any reports of strange lights in the sky, unexplained fires or suspicious knife attacks. Ianto, can you collect anything in the archives that could help us put together what this thing wants. Owen, we’re going to have a look around the scene, see if anything’s been missed.” He placed the book down and took his coat from Ianto who was already holding it out for him. “Oh, and nice work today Melody.” He nodded and smiled.
Mel blushed slightly and pushed down the burning sensation she’d been feeling across the right side of her face. “Of course. I’m happy to help.”
The police tape had been removed from both sides of the alleyway, but the blood hadn’t been cleaned from the pavement yet. It would wash away as soon as it rained but it was a stark reminder of the attack of the night before. Scorch marks decorated one wall, the thin layer of moss having been burned away with the intense heat. On the other side was a wall that separated the alley from a small chip shop.
“Be right back.” Owen said, leaving Jack a little confused as he watched the medic turn the corner towards the takeaway. He’d tell him off for just going off to get food later. In the meantime he decided to turn his attention back to the scene. The guttering on the opposite building had snapped and shards of black plastic were scattered around. It had jumped onto the lower roof of the shop so it must have come from this side and broken the guttering as it made its way down. It made sense for the thing to use the rooftops to move as the modern streetlights would make it difficult to move undetected otherwise.
“Jack.” Owen called from the chip shops roof.
The captain swirled around, caught a little off guard. “So that’s where you went.”
“What else would I be doing? There was a bin round the front I could climb onto and look what I found up here.” He tossed a small, shiny, object down. It was a broken claw that looked like it was made of copper.
“Any sign of where it went after it got up there?”
“I can see a few roof tiles have been shifted. Though, thinking about it, the thing can only go so far using the rooftops unless it can walk up walls too.”
“Once it’s out of a populated area it can take the sidewalk.”
He sat on the edge of the roof. “There’s something I don’t get though. I can see how this thing pulled it off but not why. I mean it’s smart enough to use technology, it can breathe bloody fire and it’s aggressive, so why let the girl live? It could have easily killed her and escaped before anyone found out. It doesn’t make any sense.”
“I have a few theories.”
“Care to share them?”
“I’m just hoping I’m wrong.”
“Oh for the love of…” He jumped down from the wall. “What do you think it’s planning?”
“I think it’s a scout. It’s testing how much humans’ll fight back, what they can survive.”
“So it’s going to attack someone else or go for its ship to report back to the rest.”
“Exactly.”
Ianto flicked through yet another file before handing it over to Melody to digitize, “pain redefined” by Disturbed playing quietly from a cd player sitting on a chair near the door. The extra effort would save them both time later and she seemed to like the little document digitizer as much as Tosh had. This was the oldest part of the archive and though it was a lot more orderly than the newer areas the actual system that had been used was a little haphazard. He’d been intending to get to it but it was a big job with having to digitize all of the documents at the same time. All of them were hand written and some had already partially degraded.
He pulled a book from the shelf in front of him. “This one needs to be placed in library three. If it stays here I think it’ll fall apart before its next use.”
“Got it.” She took it with cotton gloves and placed it in a separate box with three other books, a divider between each. “Mouse damage?” She asked, holding the little alien device against it to make a copy.
“I don’t think so. The books nearest to this wall tend to get slightly damp and they get mouldy over time. I can treat it chemically to preserve it but it’ll still need to be moved.”
“Lovely.”
“If it gets any worse you’ll have to go and get a respirator.”
She frowned behind her dust mask. “I’m fine.”
“With mould spores that have been growing around items that could have come from anywhere in space and time for the last hundred or so years, I’m not risking it.”
“Ok, but only if you do too.”
“I physically can’t get sick. I’ll be fine.” He could almost feel that she was pouting at him as he brushed off the idea and pulled down another heavy book. He checked the index at the front and saw an entry with a familiar title. “I think we’ve got something.”
“Oh?” She cleared a space on the table in front of her for him to place down the book.
He opened it to the page it had stated and found a report from a Torchwood agent speaking about a run in with the spring heeled demon, then renamed Spring-heeled Jack. It was dated April eighteen eighty nine, a good fifty years after the initial reports of the creature, and described a spree of attacks on mostly women who were out past sunset. They were all linked by the trademark gashes across the victims chests and the extensive burns they were left with. Though there was no image the description of the creature was the same. Torchwood had intended to capture the creature but found themselves trying to bargain with it after it took a hostage. It spoke like a gentleman of nobility and showed an unexpected level of intelligence. They convinced the being that it would be unharmed if it agreed to answer the agents questions and let the hostage go, though the Torchwood of the time didn’t exactly stick to their end of the bargain. The second the hostage was freed they broke the creatures legs and dragged it off for interrogation. It would not speak, even after days in custody and no amount of interrogation would change that. It possessed a military esque level of discipline and eventually it passed away without speaking another word. Its ship was never found and the attacks stopped. Its bones had been preserved and stored at Torchwood One so were most likely long gone.
“That was… Brutal.” Melody said as she finished reading the report.
Ianto nodded. “This is why we have the reputation we do. Until very recently this would have still been protocol.”
“But things like this could cause wars. What happened to diplomacy?”
“You’re talking about an organisation put together at the height of British imperialism. The general idea was we could take whatever was thrown at us.”
“How have we not been wiped off the face of the Earth yet?”
“Most races assume we’re a lot more powerful than we are exactly because we acted like we were. That and the Doctor. Let’s just be glad that Torchwood’s changed.”
She absentmindedly rubbed her hand across her ribs. “Yea... Yea, I suppose so.”