Phela: The Beginning: CH 6 Pt 1

brose1001

The sun had been down for a couple of hours when the rift opened up in the sky above, spitting out a smallish meteorite. The team scrambled out to the SUV, then sped to the crash site, discovering that the Army had already arrived, and cordoned off the area. Gathering their kits together, Jack, Ianto, Tosh, and Owen went through the barricades. Ianto stayed back to talk with the commander, while the others proceeded to the site for samples. After smoothing their ruffled feathers, Ianto politely thanked the commander, and then went to help the others. As he was descending the embankment, his feet slipped out from under him, and he tumbled down to the bottom, right into Owen. Owen's chisel, which he had just grabbed from his kit, went flying in an arc, and smashed a small hole in the surface of the meteorite; a pinkish gas swirled out of the hole, hovered for a moment, and then quickly flew away through the darkness. Ianto closed his eyes in mortification, swallowing thickly at his own clumsiness, and waited for Jack's reprimand.

Jack, knowing what is going through Ianto's mind, just shakes his head, asking, "You're not hurt, are you? That was quite a rough tumble." Opening his eyes and sighing, Ianto replies, "No broken bones, just a slight loss of dignity. Can't believe I fell! We should get back, and see if we can figure out what it was, yeah?"

With that comment, the team gathered the rest of their samples, and headed to the SUV for the trip back to the Hub.

Suzie and Jeannie had used the Torchwood satellite to track the gas once it left the site, and had followed it to the clubbing district where it made a home for itself inside a young woman in an alley. They watched the CCTV of the woman entering a nearby club while the facial recognition software looked for a match. By the time the team returned, a match had been found: Police Constable Gwen Cooper.

A 999 call was made from the club manager, indicating that there was an attack of some kind in the club; the club had been shut down, and the scene secured by the local constabulary by the time Torchwood arrived. The manager showed them the pile of dust on the floor, and then allowed them to view the CCTV footage of the incident. Quickly retconning the manager, they took the footage, and returned to the Hub to regroup and decided what they were going to do next. With very little to be accomplished while the programs ran, Jack kicked the team out for the night, with orders to be ready for a long day tomorrow.

Jack, Ianto, and Jeannie settled down in the apartment sitting room, chatting about the case. A bit of teasing was thrown Ianto's way for tripping over his own toes, to which he responded with a well-known hand-gesture. Retreating to less volatile subjects, the trio consumed their dinner, and then went off to bed.

Jack, Ianto, and Jeannie went to PC Cooper's place of residence the following morning, after ascertaining that she had neglected to show up for her shift that day; Ianto waited in the alley near the fire escape, while the other two knocked on the door to the flat. The door opened a crack, and Jack introduced himself with a blinding grin, trying to charm his way in. Cooper's eyes widened and she bolted for the fire-escape, landing in Ianto's arms with a grunt. Ianto immediately sedates her, then scoops her up and heads for the SUV, where he meets the other two.

Now ensconced in a cell, PC Cooper is screeching about how they can't do this, and she has rights, and what the hell is going on? Jack enters her sight, and says, "You've been possessed by a sex-crazed alien; sit tight, and you'll be okay. Once we figure out how to separate you from the alien, we'll let you go." She was less than thrilled at this pronouncement, and let her displeasure be known, at great volume. Jack sighed, and then went back upstairs. He informed the team that no one was to go down there except him, as the alien was exuding strong pheromones that might draw them in, which would be a death warrant. He appeared to be somewhat immune, as he had his own pheromones, and should be a bit safer. The team agreed, this being a sensible precaution.

Her gaze taking in each of her team-mates, Jeannie says, "I can find out what we need to do to save her…if she can be saved. Save both of them." Her eyes meet Jack's seriously, "But I have to touch her skin. I can see her possibilities if I can touch her skin."

Jack shakes his head. "You have to touch her? That means that you will be vulnerable to her, and I am not willing to risk you."

Jeannie meets his gaze serenely, "You'll be there to pull me out; besides, skin contact is skin contact, be it via lips or fingers; I'll see her possibilities either way. And anyway, did you forget that I'm not human anymore?" Jeannie flexes her hand, small sharp claws extending from underneath her fingernails to tap on the table.

The rest of the team watches on, with Owen grabbing his PDA to make a note in Jeannie's record about claws. Ianto wears a slightly worried look, but trusts that Jack will keep her safe, and Jeannie is quite capable of defending herself if need be. Tosh and Suzie are monitoring the possessed woman's cries of anger as they segue into sobs of despair as she weakens.

Jeannie says, "We're running out of time, Jack. We need to go now, or we'll lose them both for sure."

Jack looks hard into Jeannie's eyes, and then shares a speaking look with Ianto before nodding. They both stand up, and head for the cells. Right before they enter the hallway which holds Cooper's cell, Jeannie stops, and takes a deep breath, showing the first sign of uncertainty that Jack has seen since this whole debacle started. "Are you sure?" He asks gently. Nodding her head decisively, Jeannie squares her shoulders, and opens the door.

Jack has his Webley out, hanging loosely from his hand by his side. They arrive at the cell, and Jack punches in the code, standing back to allow Jeannie room to enter the cell. He leans back against the far wall, watching attentively as Jeannie slowly walks towards Cooper's shuddering form. Cooper suddenly stills, her green eyes glittering up at Jeannie through her disheveled fringe. She slowly stands, and the pheromone levels in the cell rise dramatically. Jeannie sniffs the air disdainfully; "Sorry sweetheart, those don't work on me." Cooper lunges forward with a shout, and Jeannie grapples with her until she manages to get her hand around the back of Cooper's neck, wrapped snugly around the nape, and they both stop. Breathing heavily, Jeannie suddenly detaches herself, and jumps back through the open cell door, slamming it shut again. Jack gathers her in his arms after holstering his firearm, soothing her trembling.

Once she has calmed a bit, they both return to the boardroom to discuss what she 'saw'.