[Fanfic] Untitled (Torchwood Fic)
Jul. 24th, 2008 10:13 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
walkwithheroesTitle: Untitled
Author: walkwithheroes
Word Count: 5, 908
Disclaimer: The idea of Torchwood is owned by the BBC and others.
Spoilers: None, really. Just general stuff from Doctor Who's second series and the tv series Torchwood
Summary: The story of the (often) missing Torchwood Four - or rather its last team.
Notes: This idea has been in my head for ages, and I kid you not, it took forever to write. And, well. . . feedback would be cool. Plus - Jack!
One:
Torchwood Four is founded in 1898. The entire team is male, all ex-military or current military. They stand like the soldiers they are as they are knighted. Torchwood Four, they are told, is the most secret of the Torchwoods; what the five men will see and do must never be shared with anyone outside the five of them – ever. Torchwood Four is a job they take for life; they leave behind their families and change who they are.
No one tells the five men the dangers they will face. No one tells them the horrors they will witness. . . do.
No one knows that all five men will be dead – killed – within eight years.
*
Jack found out about Torchwood Four in 1997; he stumbled upon its file inside the Hub. The team had five members: leader, medic, tech expert, weapons expert, and someone called ‘the keeper’. They ranged between the ages of fifty-four and twenty-three. The names in their files sounded more like childhood nicknames than proper given names. And, there was no real information on what Torchwood Four is or who its members were.
Jack became interested. It took him four years before he found any sign of Torchwood Four or its members.
*
The pub was crowded and full of smoke – there was a match on the telly, which meant the place was three times louder than usual, as well.
Alone in a corner of the place, a man sat nursing a beer. He looked to be in is late thirties, but there was something about him – a hardness, a tired look in his brown eyes, that let people know he was not up for cheering for a football team or for making small talk.
“Evening, handsome,” The man glanced up from his beer to notice someone standing next to his table. “Mind if I join you. . .”
The man scowled. “No need for the flirting. You’re him, right? Captain Jack Harkness – the man that cannot die.”
Jack took the offered seat, all the while keeping his eyes firmly on the stranger. “You know me?” He had meant it to sound a bit darker than it had come out; he couldn’t hide the pleasure in his voice. “They talk about me in Torchwood Four?”
“We don’t talk about you. We just know everything about you.” The man shrugged lightly. “Well, everything in your file, anyway.”
His lips curling into a smile, Jack found himself nodding. “So, which one are you? The Keeper?”
The man smirked. “He doesn’t get out much. Call me Gen.”
“Jen, as in Jennifer?”
“Gen, like General.” Gen took a sip of his beer. “I was a General.” He paused. “I think.”
“Think?” Jack smiled thoughtfully. “You don’t remember?”
Gen sighed softly. “You join up with Torchwood and you do so knowing that you have to give up a lot. But . . . when it comes to Torchwood Four, well . . . you’re recruited and to join you got to be prepared to give up everything, memories and all.”
Jack raised an eyebrow in disbelief.
“You join and They make you forgot – name, age, where you grew up, where you were born, your friends, your family. You forget everything, Captain. Everything but your skills.” Gen laughed bitterly under his breath. “Somehow, you remember pop culture, though. It’s alright, ‘cause. . . They make your family forget you, and all. You join Torchwood Four and. . . . you’re erased from the world.” The man shrugged. “It’s alright; no one ever lives more than ten years in Torchwood Three.”
Gen paused Jack his beer. “You look like you need a sip, friend.”
Jack took the beer gratefully. He knew Torchwood could be less than kind, but this seemed to be a bit much. They erased a person from the world to have them . . . have them do what? Jack licked his lips and took a small sip; the beer tasted odd – it. . .
“I won’t remember this conversation, will I?” He questioned, nearly angry.
Gen shook his head. “Sorry, friend. Top secret, you understand.” Gen paused in thought for a moment before, “But, you’ll remember bits and pieces. Things that’ll haunt you. It’s that way with us – we remember bits of who we were when we sleep. So, for today only, I’ll answer any questions you can think up.”
Gen had asked for questions, so Jack asked – he asked about everything.
Two:
In the 1970s, Torchwood Four began erasing its recruit’s memories upon their entrance to the group. To deal with the fact that none of the members remembered their names, the team began using nicknames.
Throughout their whole first mission, a person was called ‘Newbie’ or ‘Rookie’ or even ‘Kid’. After the mission, the rest of the team looked back for something that stood out about the new recruit – and whatever stood out was used as a base for a new name; this lead to members being called everything from Rum to Ralph to Jessie over the next few years.
*
Gen bit the inside of his check, as he stared at the younger man in front of him. This new comer had just completed his first mission – bagging and tagging aliens in the tubs of London. The newbie had been rash; reckless . . . he’d nearly gotten killed. The man was going to be trouble.
The leader of Torchwood Four looked to the two women beside him: the team’s doctor and the team’s technological officer. The doctor was called Ralph, due to the fact that she had vomited periodically throughout her first mission; the technological officer was called Sunny, due to the fact that she was always so damned cheerful.
“Well, lads . . . what do you reckon we call ‘im?” Ralph questioned, her blonde head cocked to one side. She took him in for a long moment before saying, “Jack-the-lad, that’s what he is.”
The newcomer raised a dark eyebrow. “I wouldn’t go that far.”
Gen waved a hand, completely ignoring the man. “I wouldn’t call him quick witted, Ralph. A rogue that’ll get killed, sure, but . . . he’s not smart.”
The team newbie felt like an animal in a zoo, with the three of them staring at him – at least Sunny was smiling slightly. The man shifted uncomfortably under their gazes.
“Look, I could just. . .”
“Ah!” Sunny clapped in utterly delight. “I know. We can call him Charlie.”
Gen laughed, his voice echoing through the hotel suit. “Charlie?”
“I can’t be called Charlie!” The man who would for the rest of his life be called ‘Charlie’ protested loudly.
“No, no.” Ralph said while nodding. “I think it fits ya.” She held out a hand. “Welcome to the team, Charlie boy.”
“I can’t be Charlie. I -” Charlie looked to Gen for support. “General, please. . .”
Gen shrugged. “Can’t be helped, Charlie.” Walking past the younger man, Gen gave him a quick pat on the shoulder. “Charlie, Torchwood Four’s Weapon Expert. I feel safer already.”
Charlie watched Ralph and Sunny file past him out of the room, all the while he was scowling. Charlie. He was stuck with that horrible name for the rest of his days. God.
“Alright, fine.” Charlie shook his head sadly. “I’m Charlie. But, I get to name our next recruit.” He pointed a finger at the other three. “And none of you are allowed to stop me.”
They all smiled, none of them having the heart to remind Charlie that in order for there to be a new member – one of them would have to die.
Three:
Starting in the 1980s, The Keeper stopped going on missions with the rest of Torchwood Four. It was during that decade that Torchwood came across new ways of using The Keeper.
The Keeper was the living computer of Torchwood Four – everything about Torchwood was stored inside that person’s mind. Alien technology that should not be used was used to turn a living person into a shell with a computer brain; no one ever brought up how inhumane it was to do what they did to The Keeper.
*
“What’s ‘The Keeper’?” Jack questioned. Already he was beginning to feel sleepy; it was taking all he had to stay awake.
“Who; who’s the Keeper, you mean.” Gen corrected with a bitter scoff. “It – he - was a person. Until Torchwood. They erased his memories - erased him from the world, like they did with the rest of us – but, they did things to his brain. Torchwood made his brain into a computer – able to remember anything that’s feed into him.”
Gen touched the back of his neck. “Supposed to have something back there, like wires or something, that they use to feed information into the brain and get it out, you see.” He shrugged. “I’ve never seen them.”
Gen licked his lips nervously, unsure of how Jack will take the next bit. But, than he
remembered Jack wouldn’t remember anyway, “It burns their brains, so Keepers only live two or three years. Torchwood One keeps them in cryo, in the basement. Only wakes them up for about twelve hours every six months – to input new data. The Keeper . . . just might be nearly as smart as your Doctor – if they let him stay awake long enough.” Gen made a ‘tsk’ sound. “Course, he’s brain would burn up in a day . . . if they kept him awake.”
Jack said nothing for a long time, but the look on his face said it all – he hated the idea. “He’s a person.” The man’s voice was soft, nearly dangerous. “They can’t . . . he’s a person.”
The other man’s face was expressionless. “He joined Torchwood Four of his own will, didn’t he?”
“He didn’t know that he’d be turned into a thing!”
Looking solemn, Gen nodded. “Can’t help him though, can we? I have it on good authority that this Keeper will be dead the next time they try and wake him up. The next one is going to be younger, I think. So, he or she won’t burn out so quickly.”
“How could -”
“Come off it, Jack. We’re Torchwood. This is what we do – one life for hundreds. You understand.”
*
The whole of Torchwood One was being destroyed. They had only come to debrief and now . . . now they were in middle of a Cyberman versus Dalek war. Rushing up the stairs in a military march, Torchwood Four tried to make their way back up to the medical lab – they couldn’t leave without their equipment.
“I’m just saying,” Sunny took a deep breath, worried what the others would say. “that we shouldn’t leave her.”
Ralph glanced back to the younger woman. “It’s not a ‘her’, It’s an ‘It’. Believe me, from a medical stand point, I can tell you, it’s not a person anymore.”
“She’s a person. We’ve all talked to her; twenty minutes every six months for the last year.” Sunny protested angrily. “We can’t leave her. She’s a member of Torchwood Four.”
Gen stopped long enough to let Ralph move past him – Charlie was taking up the rear of their march. “Look. . . Sunny – what have you ever heard It say? ‘Yes’, ‘Thank you for your information’, ‘No’, ‘That is not of importance’. Those are things a machine says, not a girl.” He tugged on her arm, pulling her forward. “Now, forward – go.”
Sunny did as she was told – she didn’t want to anger Gen. But . . . the idea of leaving an innocent person behind to die just wasn’t sitting right with her. “She’s laughed – once. Charlie said something stupid and I heard her laugh.”
At the rear of the line, Charlie froze – his gun pointed toward the stairs below, but his mind was a thousand miles away. He remembered it clearly – the girl had laughed at him. He had been standing in front of her, and just blurted out a stupid joke . . . because, because he had wanted to see what the girl would look like smiling. The girl’s lips had twitched and then, then . . . she had smiled crookedly and let out a small and unsure giggle. Charlie had thought no one had heard or seen that.
“Charlie?” That was Gen, already back at the front; Charlie knew the older man hadn’t even turned around to look at him. “You hidin’ things, Mush?”
Charlie shook his head, and kept his eyes peeled for Cybermen or Daleks. “No, General. . . I tell ya everything. Well, nearly.”
“Charlie!”
He could feel Sunday’s judgmental eyes on him. Judging him - hating him.
“Look,” Ralph cut-in. “I don’ want ta be rude, but . . . we really should stop this. I know you all love to go on and on, but. . . I am not dying. So – shut up!”
“Ralph,” Gen’s tone had a bit of an edge to it. “give us one second. Everyone stop.”
The group stopped in the middle of the stairwell, all four holding their useless guns at the ready. Gen looked them over, his mind racing. Could he really just live someone behind, knowing they could possibly have saved her – it – her?
“It laughed, Charlie?” Gen’s dark eyes narrowed on Charlie’s. “Or Sun just being a bleeding heart?” Swallowing, Charlie simply nodded. “Which one, boy?”
“She smiled and she laughed.” Charlie gave Ralph a pointed look. “Because she’s a person, right Doctor? She’s a member of Torchwood Four, so she has to come with us.”
Sunny was beaming, but Ralph and Gen didn’t look very thrilled about the idea of going back down six flights, just to get a girl. Especially with the sounds of gun fire becoming fewer and far between – Torchwood was losing. Now really was not the time for Charlie’s heart to start melting.
Then again, if they left the girl and she was found . . . with all that Torchwood knowledge in her head. . . God, why couldn’t they have stuck to computers? Why did they have to start using a person?
“Listen up, Ralph and Charlie - you two are going back down to cryogenics and picking up our little girl lost. Get whatever you need to take care of her, if it’s down there. Sunny and I’ll see what we can find in the medical laps. Wake the girl if you can, but be prepared. I’ve never seen anyone awakened from cryo, so. . . I’m not sure what will happen. Just make sure she’s quiet. All five of us will meet at the usual place.” Looking over his team with a mix of worry and pride – they were going to die, he was sure of it – Gen took a deep, if not shaky breath. “Sunny’s with me. If one group isn’t at the place in thirty minutes – go to Torchwood Three without them.”
*
The morgue was located in Torchwood One’s basement; it was also where they kept cryo. The basement was made of stone, with lots of lighting and a metal table in the middle of the room. In truth, Ralph was reminded of an operating room when she was inside the basement.
The doctor watched Charlie walk in the large cryogenics area with purpose. “Right.” He slugged his gun onto his shoulder, and began looking around. “They keep her in this area. . . I think. Ralph, keep a look out and, uh . . . find what they’d use to wake her.”
Ralph rolled her eyes, but stopped herself from saying anything nasty about Charlie trying to take charge. “I know what we should use to wake her up, but is it a good idea?” Charlie glanced at her, a questioning brow raised. “I mean,” Ralph sighed. “she could flat line or become scared and try and fight us. They may have just put her back to sleep, but . . . it’s still dangerous.”
Charlie glanced over to Ralph. “They always wake her in the medical lab. You’re thinking she could have a heart attack?”
Looking through a set of metal drawers by the door, Ralph nodded. “It’s possible. Cryogenics is a funny ol’ thing, Charlie.” She noticed a syringe full of yellow liquid – Ah! . . . the treasure. “Charlie -”
Ralph turned around just in time to see Charlie took a cryogenic ‘coffin’ out of the wall. She watched the younger man with interest. Quite gently, he ran a hand over the glass, a tiny smile playing over his lips. Wordlessly, he opened the ‘coffin’ up and lifted the petite girl out of the cold, metal thing.
Once she was on the exam table, Charlie exchanged a look with Ralph. “Well? Should we . . . wake her up?” Heart attack or no, he didn’t much feel like carrying the girl around.
The last member of Torchwood Four – The Keeper – was nothing more than a petite Asian girl, wearing nothing but a white sheet. Ralph had to admit to herself that it would be best if It-she –It died on the table.
“Hold her arms down, she might punch.” The doctor instructed sharply. With a gulp, she stuck the syringe roughly into the girl’s pale arm.
Charlie held tightly to the girl’s arms, waiting for her to jump up or convulse . . . something. Only. . .
Nothing happened.
“Is she. . .” Charlie stared down at the girl’s closed eyes. “Fuck’s sake, we don’t even know
if she’s got a heartbeat. We could of done this all wrong an’ now she’s dead and it’s our fucking fault, Ralph.”
Ralph looked sharply at Charlie over The Keeper’s body. “You an’ Sunny wanted It, yeah? So, we got It – and It’s broken.”
From somewhere high above them, Charlie could hear the sounds of shouts, gun fire, and heavy Cybermen marching. He knew that his companion would leave the girl there if he let her, but the thing was . . . the girl had smiled at him, had laughed at his jokes. He had an image of her before Torchwood – a lovely and sweet girl, that’s what she must have been. She wasn’t a thing, and he wasn’t going to leave her to die.
Ignoring Ralph’s cold words, Charlie leaned close to the girl’s right ear and whispered, “Come on, Sleeping Beauty . . . wake up. Don’t be a coward, don’t die.” He put his hands on the girl’s bare chest, beginning chest compressions. Charlie knew that alone couldn’t help, but he was hoping it would start the flow of blood again.
“You can’t just -”
“Doc, get the defibrillator by the drawers.” Charlie didn’t even look up from his point of contact with the girl.
“Clear.” Ralph’s voice stated her tone one of annoyance. “I said ‘Clear’, Charlie.”
The Weapons Expert watched with wide eyes, as Ralph shocked the girl; he watched the girl’s body jump and convulse on the metal table.
“Come on,” Charlie clinched his fists tightly.
“Charlie!”
The girl’s eyes had shot open, and she was staring at the ceiling; her eyes were wide, feral. Without warning, she began thrashing about, screaming out, “Il mio cuore!” and “I don’t want to!” over and over in her horse voice. She was coughing, gasping for air, even as she screamed.
Rushing forward, Charlie put one hand over her cold mouth and used his free hand to try and hold one of her arms down; Ralph held down the other.
“Shush! It’s okay. . .” He looked over to Ralph, his brows knitted in confusion. “She spoke Italian.”
“So? Keeper’s are chosen -” Ralph was cut off by the girl punching her in the jaw. “Fuckin’ hell! Hell of a punch for a skinny kid.”
“Oi!” With force, he held her arms against her chest. “Stop it. Ok, hey . . . look at me . . . its Charlie, remember?” He kept his voice calm, not wanting to scare her further. The girl’s brown eyes flew to his face, she gasped in air, than fell silent. “You remember, then? I’m Torchwood Four, like you. We’re going to take you out, okay?”
Slipping off her long coat, Ralph glare half-heartedly at the girl. “Here,” she tossed it to Charlie. “put this on. . .”
“Not ‘It’.” Charlie warned, not unkindly. “Mio,” He smiled sweetly down at the girl. “I’m naming her Mio.”
Four:
Relationships of a sexual nature, between team members, were forbidden in Torchwood Four. The simple reason was, the five members would spend all their time together, in the field and off. It would be wrong to care more for – do more to protect – another member, more than a person would the others. Torchwood Four’s members had to be prepared to die for everyone – not try and live for one.
*
In the darkness of the hotel room, she watched the lights from outside flicker over the walls and the ceiling; the lights made patterns that were somehow familiar and comforting – it felt as if she had seen patterns like that before. Maybe she had, and maybe Torchwood had made her forget them.
A half-crazed, half-bitter giggle rose up in her throat, but she quickly swallowed it down before it had a chance to escape. She wasn’t crazy . . . she was just . . . just. . .
A mistake.
A living computer.
A girl.
My Mio.
In the next room, Mio – she was Mio, because Charlie and Sunny said she was – could hear the sounds of a headboard banging against the wall and loud moaning. She banged her head against her pillow, making sure to keep in time with the banging of Charlie’s headboard.
Charlie and Sunny had been having sex long before Mio had come along, and it seemed like they weren’t going to stop anytime soon. It was against the rules – if they were found out Gen could have them taken out of Torchwood Four. And since you weren’t allowed to leave Torchwood Four unless you were dead. . .
Mio wondered if Gen and Ralph knew about what Charlie and Sunny were doing; she wondered if they cared. It wasn’t as if Torchwood One was around anymore, so… it wasn’t as if they really had a boss to report to. For the last three weeks, they had been more or less getting instructions from Torchwood Two or Torchwood Three.
The banging of the headboard had stopped; Mio rested her head and closed her eyes tightly. She lay perfectly still and waited for Sunny to come back into the room – Mio didn’t Sunny to know the sleeping pills had stopped working.
*
The teacups clattered as Ralph put the little white things onto the wooden table. Gen was quietly reading the newest The Sun; absentmindedly he moved his elbows out of the way for Ralph. Without looking up from his morning paper, the leader of Torchwood Four picked up a teacup and took a short sip.
“Apparently,” Gen didn’t even look up from his paper as he spoke. “a woman in Hampshire says her dog was eaten by a shark – a shark, which was on land. Alien.”
Ralph cleared her throat. “I want t’ talk to ya ‘bout somethin’, General.”
“Yeah?” Gen turned a page in his paper. “Speak.”
“’Bout sex.”
Gen slowly lowered his paper, his eyes wide. “What? Sex?”
Ralph nodded. “Yeah, sex. I think Charlie an’ Sunny are havin’ it - sex.”
Gen licked his lips before swallowing. “First – stop saying sex. Second – I figured that ages ago, Ralph. Do try and keep up.”
Hating the idea of two people in love, Ralph frowned. “General, it’s against the fucking rules!”
“What rules?” Gen sighed in annoyance. “Torchwood is dying, Ralph. So, let there be love.”
*
When Sunny thought no one noticed, she spent hours watching Mio and Charlie interact with one another. Charlie always seemed to want to hold onto Mio – he was always watching the younger girl, touching her. It was as if he wanted to protect her – wanted to know she was a human. Despite everything Sunny always found herself jealous of the clear connection between Mio and Charlie.
*
The curtains blew gently in the wind, getting tangled up in themselves; it was oddly comforting. Mio closed her eyes and took a deep breath – feeling the presence of someone behind her. She could feel the warm breath on her neck – he was breathing her in.
“Charlie, Weapons Expert of Torchwood Four.” Mio turned slowly around a polite, but unsure smile plastered on her face. “How are you today?”
Charlie scoffed. “Shouldn’t I be asking you that?” He peered closely at her. “Not . . . you’re okay?”
Mio considered the question carefully for a long moment. Inside her head, a million thoughts raced; she knew a million things. And yet. . . she hadn’t burned from the inside, not yet. “I’m fine. I don’t . . . feel. . .”
“Bad?” Charlie cut-in with a wolf’s grin and a pat for her head. “Good girl. Sunny and I are going out – cover for us, okay?” Mio simply nodded and let Charlie leave her.
She stood silent for a moment, before finishing her sentence, “I don’t feel . . . a thing.”
Five:
What Torchwood Four actually did was always a bit of a mystery. They bagged and tagged certainly aliens, bought alien artifacts back to Torchwood One, and were known for traveling across the world in search of the unknown. However, they did a few other things – like kill.
*
Gen’s gun felt cool in the palm of his hand. A quick glance to his right let the man know that his second-in-command, Ralph was beside him. He offered her a tight smile, before cocking his gun.
“You sure this is all correct?”
Ralph gave him a look. “I won’t get this wrong. He’s in there.”
Gen looked from his gun to Ralph and back again. “You know what he did to deserve this? He
collects space junk; he’s a nutter. And they think he’s dangerous. So. . .”
Her face hard, the doctor frowned. “So we get rid of the threat.” Ralph shook her blond head slightly. “No choice. We’re Torchwood Four – we stop threats from happening.”
Letting out a bitter laugh, Gen shook his head. “Yeah, by killing a seventy-eight year old man.” His thoughts moved to Charlie and Sunny, who were on the other side of London, destroying a piece of pavement with a woman’s face melted into it – that had been done by the Doctor. Actually, Sunny and Charlie’s mission had freaked Gen out, which was why he had chosen to kill a harmless old man instead.
Gen, Leader of Torchwood Four and hero of the United Kingdom, indeed; it was more like he was Gen, the mass murder.
*
It had come Jack Harkness’ attention that someone was trying to sell Cyberman parts, in an illegal auction, in Japan. Busy with the Rift, he asked Torchwood Four to cover it – get the Cyberman pieces back. He never said how.
Gen had thought it all out – the entire auction was filled with alien artifacts. That meant Torchwood Four had to clean up the mess, and that meant taking everything and tagging it; it also meant getting rid of the sellers and buyers.
Sunny had used her skills to lock the doors of the hall; Charlie had given out the guns; Ralph put drugs into the water of the hotel, to make sure everyone was asleep; Mio was given sleeping pills and put to sleep in a room; Gen prayed for their souls.
*
Blinking back blood, Sunny felt a sharp pain in her neck. With a grunt, she sat up, feeling cold floor beneath her. Frantically, the technical officer of Torchwood Three looked around her: she was in a large white room with overly bright lights. Next to her, she noticed a very familiar body - Charlie.
Quickly, she crawled over to Charlie. Shaking him lightly, Sunny stared into his bruised face. “Charlie? Wake up, Charlie!”
The older man stirred slightly, one eye opening. “Sun? Sunny?” He clutched onto her, hugging tightly. “Do you know where we are?” Charlie murmured into her ear.
“Torchwood Four is currently inside a holding cell.” A familiar voice spoke up. The duo slowly turned to see Mio, sitting Indian style in a corner of the large room. She offered them a somewhat awkward, yet polite wave; despite the circumstances, Sunny found herself waving back. Mio gestured behind Charlie and Sunny, “General and Ralph are here, as well. But, they have yet to awake.”
Without thinking, Sunny crawled over to Ralph and tried to shake the older woman awake. While his teammate saw about the others, Charlie moved over to Mio. The girl seemed alright – no bruising or blood, at least as far as he could see.
Gingerly, Charlie moved some of Mio’s long hair off her shoulder and behind her back. “You were sleeping upstairs.” He stated lamely; Mio’s only response was to nod. Charlie glanced back to see that Gen was sitting up, looking rather put out. “Do you know where we are?” The girl nodded.
“Well, where are we?” Gen pressed, as he tried to wipe the dried blood off his nose.
Behind Gen, Ralph rolled her brown eyes upward. “Like she knows; she never knows what day it is. So, why should she know where we are?”
Mio cocked her head to the side, seemingly thinking about something important. After a long pause, she calmly stated: “It’s Thursday.”
Despite herself, Sunny laughed; as did Charlie.
Ignoring them, Mio went on, “Torchwood Four has been taken for The Game. It’s a battle royal between one hundred worlds. The Game will last for a very long time, but the winning world is safe from harm for another one hundred years.”
Sunny swallowed. She wasn’t sure what a ‘battle royal’ meant, though she was fairly sure that she and the others would not get out of this alive. However, what she was really worried about was Earth. “And the losers’ worlds, what happens to them?”
Still wearing her awkward, yet polite smile, Mio answered casually, “They aren’t safe from harm.”
Six:
Torchwood Four was meant to protect the world from aliens, and they did – at a cost.
*
Natsuki Aio had nightmares quite often, though she never fully remembered them when she woke up. She would remember flashes of faces and odd looking weapons; she would remember the smells of burning flesh, the feeling of needles being pushed into her brain, and the sounds of screaming, but she never really remembered what the nightmares had been about.
Natsuki would open her eyes to darkness and go about her morning routines, letting the nightmare slowly slip away.
Turning on the small television, she would smile softly to herself. The one room apartment filled with the sounds of pleasant voices – it was always a comfort after the nightmares. Natsuki would move around her apartment - always careful to place things exactly where she had found them – before taking a cup of hot coffee to the short legged, round table that sat just between the bed and the dresser that held the television.
Natsuki never got more than three sips in, before the sound of the door interrupted her morning. She would always turn toward the door and smile, somewhat awkwardly. “Okaeri Nasai.”
Her companion would smile, as he took his shoes off in the genkan. “Tadaima.” Awkwardly, he would slip on a pair of slippers, before joining Natsuki on the floor.
Whenever the news spoke of England, Natsuki’s companion would change the channel.
*
Thomas ‘Jon’ Jonathan never dreamed; he was fairly certain that he no longer could dream. He would wake up every morning to blinding sunlight pouring in from the window beside his bed. The feeling of a warm body curled up against his was the only thing that kept him in bed, despite the sunlight. But, after a while, he would get up and get dressed.
And every morning, like clockwork, Jon would go to the small store on the corner to buy a paper and read it, though he always threw the paper out before returning to the one room apartment he shared with Natsuki Aio.
She would smile awkwardly at him, and say; “Welcome home.” in Japanese.
And even though she couldn’t see it, Jon would return the smile and say, “I’m home.”
He would sit beside her, sneaking sips of her overly sweet coffee, and watch the morning news with her; although, he always remembered the change the station when news of England came on – she couldn’t be allowed to recall anything about their past.
*
Natsuki had memories of a life that was not her own, however she did not know that they were not her true memories. She remembered being orphaned at the age of three, of being placed in many foster homes before being adopted by her parents. Natsuki could recall becoming ill at age seven, going blind.
She also remembered being fourteen and meeting Jon – a twenty-two year old college student who had stayed with her family one semester nine years ago. Natsuki remembered Jon returning three years later; she remembered first dates, kisses. . . everything.
And everything Natsuki Aio remembered was a lie. All her memories were planted lies, because once upon a time, she had been Mio of Torchwood Four. She remembered none of those things, but Jon did – he remembered everything.
*
Jon had memories of a life that was not his own, and he knew they were not real. He remembered meeting Natsuki; he remembered going to work for her father; he remembered . . . everything. But the truth was – he and Natsuki’s lives had really only been lived for a year.
Jon remembered being Charlie of Torchwood Four. He remembered – all too clearly – The Game and the loss of his other three team mates; Gen dying in front of them, Ralph jumping off the cliff, Sunny. . . sweet and beautiful Sunny, who had told them to get Mio. . . dying in his arms, Mio’s eye sight being taken away in a gold flash of light. Jon – Charlie – could recall it all by heart.
But Natsuki – Mio – couldn’t. That was the deal he had made after they had won The Game:
“Put his back where you got us. But, give us normal lives. Take away Mio’s memories . . . her computer brain. Make her normal.”
And they had – at a price.
Jon – Charlie – remembered everything and his companion didn't; but that didn’t mean that Natsuki – Mio – wouldn’t recall things if pushed; she had a new life, but the old one was still locked inside her pretty head. And he knew that one day, something would trigger those real memories . . . and then, then . . . things would get ugly, because . . . because Torchwood Four was dead and buried on some alien world.
Torchwood Four was dead and there were a great many people and things that would kill for the information inside Natsuki’s – Mio’s – brain.
So, everyday he watched her, as he had so many times in their past life – protecting her from the monsters she didn’t even remember existed.
-The End
Cast List:
Adrian Lester as General “Gen”/Leader of Torchwood Four
Claire Rushbrook as Ralph/Medic of Torchwood Four
Justine Waddell as Sunny/Technical Expert of Torchwood Four
Richard Armitage as Charlie/Thomas Jonathan/Weapons Expert of Torchwood Four
Anne Suzuki as Mio/Natsuki Aio/The Keeper of Torchwood Four
Author: walkwithheroes
Word Count: 5, 908
Disclaimer: The idea of Torchwood is owned by the BBC and others.
Spoilers: None, really. Just general stuff from Doctor Who's second series and the tv series Torchwood
Summary: The story of the (often) missing Torchwood Four - or rather its last team.
Notes: This idea has been in my head for ages, and I kid you not, it took forever to write. And, well. . . feedback would be cool. Plus - Jack!
One:
Torchwood Four is founded in 1898. The entire team is male, all ex-military or current military. They stand like the soldiers they are as they are knighted. Torchwood Four, they are told, is the most secret of the Torchwoods; what the five men will see and do must never be shared with anyone outside the five of them – ever. Torchwood Four is a job they take for life; they leave behind their families and change who they are.
No one tells the five men the dangers they will face. No one tells them the horrors they will witness. . . do.
No one knows that all five men will be dead – killed – within eight years.
*
Jack found out about Torchwood Four in 1997; he stumbled upon its file inside the Hub. The team had five members: leader, medic, tech expert, weapons expert, and someone called ‘the keeper’. They ranged between the ages of fifty-four and twenty-three. The names in their files sounded more like childhood nicknames than proper given names. And, there was no real information on what Torchwood Four is or who its members were.
Jack became interested. It took him four years before he found any sign of Torchwood Four or its members.
*
The pub was crowded and full of smoke – there was a match on the telly, which meant the place was three times louder than usual, as well.
Alone in a corner of the place, a man sat nursing a beer. He looked to be in is late thirties, but there was something about him – a hardness, a tired look in his brown eyes, that let people know he was not up for cheering for a football team or for making small talk.
“Evening, handsome,” The man glanced up from his beer to notice someone standing next to his table. “Mind if I join you. . .”
The man scowled. “No need for the flirting. You’re him, right? Captain Jack Harkness – the man that cannot die.”
Jack took the offered seat, all the while keeping his eyes firmly on the stranger. “You know me?” He had meant it to sound a bit darker than it had come out; he couldn’t hide the pleasure in his voice. “They talk about me in Torchwood Four?”
“We don’t talk about you. We just know everything about you.” The man shrugged lightly. “Well, everything in your file, anyway.”
His lips curling into a smile, Jack found himself nodding. “So, which one are you? The Keeper?”
The man smirked. “He doesn’t get out much. Call me Gen.”
“Jen, as in Jennifer?”
“Gen, like General.” Gen took a sip of his beer. “I was a General.” He paused. “I think.”
“Think?” Jack smiled thoughtfully. “You don’t remember?”
Gen sighed softly. “You join up with Torchwood and you do so knowing that you have to give up a lot. But . . . when it comes to Torchwood Four, well . . . you’re recruited and to join you got to be prepared to give up everything, memories and all.”
Jack raised an eyebrow in disbelief.
“You join and They make you forgot – name, age, where you grew up, where you were born, your friends, your family. You forget everything, Captain. Everything but your skills.” Gen laughed bitterly under his breath. “Somehow, you remember pop culture, though. It’s alright, ‘cause. . . They make your family forget you, and all. You join Torchwood Four and. . . . you’re erased from the world.” The man shrugged. “It’s alright; no one ever lives more than ten years in Torchwood Three.”
Gen paused Jack his beer. “You look like you need a sip, friend.”
Jack took the beer gratefully. He knew Torchwood could be less than kind, but this seemed to be a bit much. They erased a person from the world to have them . . . have them do what? Jack licked his lips and took a small sip; the beer tasted odd – it. . .
“I won’t remember this conversation, will I?” He questioned, nearly angry.
Gen shook his head. “Sorry, friend. Top secret, you understand.” Gen paused in thought for a moment before, “But, you’ll remember bits and pieces. Things that’ll haunt you. It’s that way with us – we remember bits of who we were when we sleep. So, for today only, I’ll answer any questions you can think up.”
Gen had asked for questions, so Jack asked – he asked about everything.
Two:
In the 1970s, Torchwood Four began erasing its recruit’s memories upon their entrance to the group. To deal with the fact that none of the members remembered their names, the team began using nicknames.
Throughout their whole first mission, a person was called ‘Newbie’ or ‘Rookie’ or even ‘Kid’. After the mission, the rest of the team looked back for something that stood out about the new recruit – and whatever stood out was used as a base for a new name; this lead to members being called everything from Rum to Ralph to Jessie over the next few years.
*
Gen bit the inside of his check, as he stared at the younger man in front of him. This new comer had just completed his first mission – bagging and tagging aliens in the tubs of London. The newbie had been rash; reckless . . . he’d nearly gotten killed. The man was going to be trouble.
The leader of Torchwood Four looked to the two women beside him: the team’s doctor and the team’s technological officer. The doctor was called Ralph, due to the fact that she had vomited periodically throughout her first mission; the technological officer was called Sunny, due to the fact that she was always so damned cheerful.
“Well, lads . . . what do you reckon we call ‘im?” Ralph questioned, her blonde head cocked to one side. She took him in for a long moment before saying, “Jack-the-lad, that’s what he is.”
The newcomer raised a dark eyebrow. “I wouldn’t go that far.”
Gen waved a hand, completely ignoring the man. “I wouldn’t call him quick witted, Ralph. A rogue that’ll get killed, sure, but . . . he’s not smart.”
The team newbie felt like an animal in a zoo, with the three of them staring at him – at least Sunny was smiling slightly. The man shifted uncomfortably under their gazes.
“Look, I could just. . .”
“Ah!” Sunny clapped in utterly delight. “I know. We can call him Charlie.”
Gen laughed, his voice echoing through the hotel suit. “Charlie?”
“I can’t be called Charlie!” The man who would for the rest of his life be called ‘Charlie’ protested loudly.
“No, no.” Ralph said while nodding. “I think it fits ya.” She held out a hand. “Welcome to the team, Charlie boy.”
“I can’t be Charlie. I -” Charlie looked to Gen for support. “General, please. . .”
Gen shrugged. “Can’t be helped, Charlie.” Walking past the younger man, Gen gave him a quick pat on the shoulder. “Charlie, Torchwood Four’s Weapon Expert. I feel safer already.”
Charlie watched Ralph and Sunny file past him out of the room, all the while he was scowling. Charlie. He was stuck with that horrible name for the rest of his days. God.
“Alright, fine.” Charlie shook his head sadly. “I’m Charlie. But, I get to name our next recruit.” He pointed a finger at the other three. “And none of you are allowed to stop me.”
They all smiled, none of them having the heart to remind Charlie that in order for there to be a new member – one of them would have to die.
Three:
Starting in the 1980s, The Keeper stopped going on missions with the rest of Torchwood Four. It was during that decade that Torchwood came across new ways of using The Keeper.
The Keeper was the living computer of Torchwood Four – everything about Torchwood was stored inside that person’s mind. Alien technology that should not be used was used to turn a living person into a shell with a computer brain; no one ever brought up how inhumane it was to do what they did to The Keeper.
*
“What’s ‘The Keeper’?” Jack questioned. Already he was beginning to feel sleepy; it was taking all he had to stay awake.
“Who; who’s the Keeper, you mean.” Gen corrected with a bitter scoff. “It – he - was a person. Until Torchwood. They erased his memories - erased him from the world, like they did with the rest of us – but, they did things to his brain. Torchwood made his brain into a computer – able to remember anything that’s feed into him.”
Gen touched the back of his neck. “Supposed to have something back there, like wires or something, that they use to feed information into the brain and get it out, you see.” He shrugged. “I’ve never seen them.”
Gen licked his lips nervously, unsure of how Jack will take the next bit. But, than he
remembered Jack wouldn’t remember anyway, “It burns their brains, so Keepers only live two or three years. Torchwood One keeps them in cryo, in the basement. Only wakes them up for about twelve hours every six months – to input new data. The Keeper . . . just might be nearly as smart as your Doctor – if they let him stay awake long enough.” Gen made a ‘tsk’ sound. “Course, he’s brain would burn up in a day . . . if they kept him awake.”
Jack said nothing for a long time, but the look on his face said it all – he hated the idea. “He’s a person.” The man’s voice was soft, nearly dangerous. “They can’t . . . he’s a person.”
The other man’s face was expressionless. “He joined Torchwood Four of his own will, didn’t he?”
“He didn’t know that he’d be turned into a thing!”
Looking solemn, Gen nodded. “Can’t help him though, can we? I have it on good authority that this Keeper will be dead the next time they try and wake him up. The next one is going to be younger, I think. So, he or she won’t burn out so quickly.”
“How could -”
“Come off it, Jack. We’re Torchwood. This is what we do – one life for hundreds. You understand.”
*
The whole of Torchwood One was being destroyed. They had only come to debrief and now . . . now they were in middle of a Cyberman versus Dalek war. Rushing up the stairs in a military march, Torchwood Four tried to make their way back up to the medical lab – they couldn’t leave without their equipment.
“I’m just saying,” Sunny took a deep breath, worried what the others would say. “that we shouldn’t leave her.”
Ralph glanced back to the younger woman. “It’s not a ‘her’, It’s an ‘It’. Believe me, from a medical stand point, I can tell you, it’s not a person anymore.”
“She’s a person. We’ve all talked to her; twenty minutes every six months for the last year.” Sunny protested angrily. “We can’t leave her. She’s a member of Torchwood Four.”
Gen stopped long enough to let Ralph move past him – Charlie was taking up the rear of their march. “Look. . . Sunny – what have you ever heard It say? ‘Yes’, ‘Thank you for your information’, ‘No’, ‘That is not of importance’. Those are things a machine says, not a girl.” He tugged on her arm, pulling her forward. “Now, forward – go.”
Sunny did as she was told – she didn’t want to anger Gen. But . . . the idea of leaving an innocent person behind to die just wasn’t sitting right with her. “She’s laughed – once. Charlie said something stupid and I heard her laugh.”
At the rear of the line, Charlie froze – his gun pointed toward the stairs below, but his mind was a thousand miles away. He remembered it clearly – the girl had laughed at him. He had been standing in front of her, and just blurted out a stupid joke . . . because, because he had wanted to see what the girl would look like smiling. The girl’s lips had twitched and then, then . . . she had smiled crookedly and let out a small and unsure giggle. Charlie had thought no one had heard or seen that.
“Charlie?” That was Gen, already back at the front; Charlie knew the older man hadn’t even turned around to look at him. “You hidin’ things, Mush?”
Charlie shook his head, and kept his eyes peeled for Cybermen or Daleks. “No, General. . . I tell ya everything. Well, nearly.”
“Charlie!”
He could feel Sunday’s judgmental eyes on him. Judging him - hating him.
“Look,” Ralph cut-in. “I don’ want ta be rude, but . . . we really should stop this. I know you all love to go on and on, but. . . I am not dying. So – shut up!”
“Ralph,” Gen’s tone had a bit of an edge to it. “give us one second. Everyone stop.”
The group stopped in the middle of the stairwell, all four holding their useless guns at the ready. Gen looked them over, his mind racing. Could he really just live someone behind, knowing they could possibly have saved her – it – her?
“It laughed, Charlie?” Gen’s dark eyes narrowed on Charlie’s. “Or Sun just being a bleeding heart?” Swallowing, Charlie simply nodded. “Which one, boy?”
“She smiled and she laughed.” Charlie gave Ralph a pointed look. “Because she’s a person, right Doctor? She’s a member of Torchwood Four, so she has to come with us.”
Sunny was beaming, but Ralph and Gen didn’t look very thrilled about the idea of going back down six flights, just to get a girl. Especially with the sounds of gun fire becoming fewer and far between – Torchwood was losing. Now really was not the time for Charlie’s heart to start melting.
Then again, if they left the girl and she was found . . . with all that Torchwood knowledge in her head. . . God, why couldn’t they have stuck to computers? Why did they have to start using a person?
“Listen up, Ralph and Charlie - you two are going back down to cryogenics and picking up our little girl lost. Get whatever you need to take care of her, if it’s down there. Sunny and I’ll see what we can find in the medical laps. Wake the girl if you can, but be prepared. I’ve never seen anyone awakened from cryo, so. . . I’m not sure what will happen. Just make sure she’s quiet. All five of us will meet at the usual place.” Looking over his team with a mix of worry and pride – they were going to die, he was sure of it – Gen took a deep, if not shaky breath. “Sunny’s with me. If one group isn’t at the place in thirty minutes – go to Torchwood Three without them.”
*
The morgue was located in Torchwood One’s basement; it was also where they kept cryo. The basement was made of stone, with lots of lighting and a metal table in the middle of the room. In truth, Ralph was reminded of an operating room when she was inside the basement.
The doctor watched Charlie walk in the large cryogenics area with purpose. “Right.” He slugged his gun onto his shoulder, and began looking around. “They keep her in this area. . . I think. Ralph, keep a look out and, uh . . . find what they’d use to wake her.”
Ralph rolled her eyes, but stopped herself from saying anything nasty about Charlie trying to take charge. “I know what we should use to wake her up, but is it a good idea?” Charlie glanced at her, a questioning brow raised. “I mean,” Ralph sighed. “she could flat line or become scared and try and fight us. They may have just put her back to sleep, but . . . it’s still dangerous.”
Charlie glanced over to Ralph. “They always wake her in the medical lab. You’re thinking she could have a heart attack?”
Looking through a set of metal drawers by the door, Ralph nodded. “It’s possible. Cryogenics is a funny ol’ thing, Charlie.” She noticed a syringe full of yellow liquid – Ah! . . . the treasure. “Charlie -”
Ralph turned around just in time to see Charlie took a cryogenic ‘coffin’ out of the wall. She watched the younger man with interest. Quite gently, he ran a hand over the glass, a tiny smile playing over his lips. Wordlessly, he opened the ‘coffin’ up and lifted the petite girl out of the cold, metal thing.
Once she was on the exam table, Charlie exchanged a look with Ralph. “Well? Should we . . . wake her up?” Heart attack or no, he didn’t much feel like carrying the girl around.
The last member of Torchwood Four – The Keeper – was nothing more than a petite Asian girl, wearing nothing but a white sheet. Ralph had to admit to herself that it would be best if It-she –It died on the table.
“Hold her arms down, she might punch.” The doctor instructed sharply. With a gulp, she stuck the syringe roughly into the girl’s pale arm.
Charlie held tightly to the girl’s arms, waiting for her to jump up or convulse . . . something. Only. . .
Nothing happened.
“Is she. . .” Charlie stared down at the girl’s closed eyes. “Fuck’s sake, we don’t even know
if she’s got a heartbeat. We could of done this all wrong an’ now she’s dead and it’s our fucking fault, Ralph.”
Ralph looked sharply at Charlie over The Keeper’s body. “You an’ Sunny wanted It, yeah? So, we got It – and It’s broken.”
From somewhere high above them, Charlie could hear the sounds of shouts, gun fire, and heavy Cybermen marching. He knew that his companion would leave the girl there if he let her, but the thing was . . . the girl had smiled at him, had laughed at his jokes. He had an image of her before Torchwood – a lovely and sweet girl, that’s what she must have been. She wasn’t a thing, and he wasn’t going to leave her to die.
Ignoring Ralph’s cold words, Charlie leaned close to the girl’s right ear and whispered, “Come on, Sleeping Beauty . . . wake up. Don’t be a coward, don’t die.” He put his hands on the girl’s bare chest, beginning chest compressions. Charlie knew that alone couldn’t help, but he was hoping it would start the flow of blood again.
“You can’t just -”
“Doc, get the defibrillator by the drawers.” Charlie didn’t even look up from his point of contact with the girl.
“Clear.” Ralph’s voice stated her tone one of annoyance. “I said ‘Clear’, Charlie.”
The Weapons Expert watched with wide eyes, as Ralph shocked the girl; he watched the girl’s body jump and convulse on the metal table.
“Come on,” Charlie clinched his fists tightly.
“Charlie!”
The girl’s eyes had shot open, and she was staring at the ceiling; her eyes were wide, feral. Without warning, she began thrashing about, screaming out, “Il mio cuore!” and “I don’t want to!” over and over in her horse voice. She was coughing, gasping for air, even as she screamed.
Rushing forward, Charlie put one hand over her cold mouth and used his free hand to try and hold one of her arms down; Ralph held down the other.
“Shush! It’s okay. . .” He looked over to Ralph, his brows knitted in confusion. “She spoke Italian.”
“So? Keeper’s are chosen -” Ralph was cut off by the girl punching her in the jaw. “Fuckin’ hell! Hell of a punch for a skinny kid.”
“Oi!” With force, he held her arms against her chest. “Stop it. Ok, hey . . . look at me . . . its Charlie, remember?” He kept his voice calm, not wanting to scare her further. The girl’s brown eyes flew to his face, she gasped in air, than fell silent. “You remember, then? I’m Torchwood Four, like you. We’re going to take you out, okay?”
Slipping off her long coat, Ralph glare half-heartedly at the girl. “Here,” she tossed it to Charlie. “put this on. . .”
“Not ‘It’.” Charlie warned, not unkindly. “Mio,” He smiled sweetly down at the girl. “I’m naming her Mio.”
Four:
Relationships of a sexual nature, between team members, were forbidden in Torchwood Four. The simple reason was, the five members would spend all their time together, in the field and off. It would be wrong to care more for – do more to protect – another member, more than a person would the others. Torchwood Four’s members had to be prepared to die for everyone – not try and live for one.
*
In the darkness of the hotel room, she watched the lights from outside flicker over the walls and the ceiling; the lights made patterns that were somehow familiar and comforting – it felt as if she had seen patterns like that before. Maybe she had, and maybe Torchwood had made her forget them.
A half-crazed, half-bitter giggle rose up in her throat, but she quickly swallowed it down before it had a chance to escape. She wasn’t crazy . . . she was just . . . just. . .
A mistake.
A living computer.
A girl.
My Mio.
In the next room, Mio – she was Mio, because Charlie and Sunny said she was – could hear the sounds of a headboard banging against the wall and loud moaning. She banged her head against her pillow, making sure to keep in time with the banging of Charlie’s headboard.
Charlie and Sunny had been having sex long before Mio had come along, and it seemed like they weren’t going to stop anytime soon. It was against the rules – if they were found out Gen could have them taken out of Torchwood Four. And since you weren’t allowed to leave Torchwood Four unless you were dead. . .
Mio wondered if Gen and Ralph knew about what Charlie and Sunny were doing; she wondered if they cared. It wasn’t as if Torchwood One was around anymore, so… it wasn’t as if they really had a boss to report to. For the last three weeks, they had been more or less getting instructions from Torchwood Two or Torchwood Three.
The banging of the headboard had stopped; Mio rested her head and closed her eyes tightly. She lay perfectly still and waited for Sunny to come back into the room – Mio didn’t Sunny to know the sleeping pills had stopped working.
*
The teacups clattered as Ralph put the little white things onto the wooden table. Gen was quietly reading the newest The Sun; absentmindedly he moved his elbows out of the way for Ralph. Without looking up from his morning paper, the leader of Torchwood Four picked up a teacup and took a short sip.
“Apparently,” Gen didn’t even look up from his paper as he spoke. “a woman in Hampshire says her dog was eaten by a shark – a shark, which was on land. Alien.”
Ralph cleared her throat. “I want t’ talk to ya ‘bout somethin’, General.”
“Yeah?” Gen turned a page in his paper. “Speak.”
“’Bout sex.”
Gen slowly lowered his paper, his eyes wide. “What? Sex?”
Ralph nodded. “Yeah, sex. I think Charlie an’ Sunny are havin’ it - sex.”
Gen licked his lips before swallowing. “First – stop saying sex. Second – I figured that ages ago, Ralph. Do try and keep up.”
Hating the idea of two people in love, Ralph frowned. “General, it’s against the fucking rules!”
“What rules?” Gen sighed in annoyance. “Torchwood is dying, Ralph. So, let there be love.”
*
When Sunny thought no one noticed, she spent hours watching Mio and Charlie interact with one another. Charlie always seemed to want to hold onto Mio – he was always watching the younger girl, touching her. It was as if he wanted to protect her – wanted to know she was a human. Despite everything Sunny always found herself jealous of the clear connection between Mio and Charlie.
*
The curtains blew gently in the wind, getting tangled up in themselves; it was oddly comforting. Mio closed her eyes and took a deep breath – feeling the presence of someone behind her. She could feel the warm breath on her neck – he was breathing her in.
“Charlie, Weapons Expert of Torchwood Four.” Mio turned slowly around a polite, but unsure smile plastered on her face. “How are you today?”
Charlie scoffed. “Shouldn’t I be asking you that?” He peered closely at her. “Not . . . you’re okay?”
Mio considered the question carefully for a long moment. Inside her head, a million thoughts raced; she knew a million things. And yet. . . she hadn’t burned from the inside, not yet. “I’m fine. I don’t . . . feel. . .”
“Bad?” Charlie cut-in with a wolf’s grin and a pat for her head. “Good girl. Sunny and I are going out – cover for us, okay?” Mio simply nodded and let Charlie leave her.
She stood silent for a moment, before finishing her sentence, “I don’t feel . . . a thing.”
Five:
What Torchwood Four actually did was always a bit of a mystery. They bagged and tagged certainly aliens, bought alien artifacts back to Torchwood One, and were known for traveling across the world in search of the unknown. However, they did a few other things – like kill.
*
Gen’s gun felt cool in the palm of his hand. A quick glance to his right let the man know that his second-in-command, Ralph was beside him. He offered her a tight smile, before cocking his gun.
“You sure this is all correct?”
Ralph gave him a look. “I won’t get this wrong. He’s in there.”
Gen looked from his gun to Ralph and back again. “You know what he did to deserve this? He
collects space junk; he’s a nutter. And they think he’s dangerous. So. . .”
Her face hard, the doctor frowned. “So we get rid of the threat.” Ralph shook her blond head slightly. “No choice. We’re Torchwood Four – we stop threats from happening.”
Letting out a bitter laugh, Gen shook his head. “Yeah, by killing a seventy-eight year old man.” His thoughts moved to Charlie and Sunny, who were on the other side of London, destroying a piece of pavement with a woman’s face melted into it – that had been done by the Doctor. Actually, Sunny and Charlie’s mission had freaked Gen out, which was why he had chosen to kill a harmless old man instead.
Gen, Leader of Torchwood Four and hero of the United Kingdom, indeed; it was more like he was Gen, the mass murder.
*
It had come Jack Harkness’ attention that someone was trying to sell Cyberman parts, in an illegal auction, in Japan. Busy with the Rift, he asked Torchwood Four to cover it – get the Cyberman pieces back. He never said how.
Gen had thought it all out – the entire auction was filled with alien artifacts. That meant Torchwood Four had to clean up the mess, and that meant taking everything and tagging it; it also meant getting rid of the sellers and buyers.
Sunny had used her skills to lock the doors of the hall; Charlie had given out the guns; Ralph put drugs into the water of the hotel, to make sure everyone was asleep; Mio was given sleeping pills and put to sleep in a room; Gen prayed for their souls.
*
Blinking back blood, Sunny felt a sharp pain in her neck. With a grunt, she sat up, feeling cold floor beneath her. Frantically, the technical officer of Torchwood Three looked around her: she was in a large white room with overly bright lights. Next to her, she noticed a very familiar body - Charlie.
Quickly, she crawled over to Charlie. Shaking him lightly, Sunny stared into his bruised face. “Charlie? Wake up, Charlie!”
The older man stirred slightly, one eye opening. “Sun? Sunny?” He clutched onto her, hugging tightly. “Do you know where we are?” Charlie murmured into her ear.
“Torchwood Four is currently inside a holding cell.” A familiar voice spoke up. The duo slowly turned to see Mio, sitting Indian style in a corner of the large room. She offered them a somewhat awkward, yet polite wave; despite the circumstances, Sunny found herself waving back. Mio gestured behind Charlie and Sunny, “General and Ralph are here, as well. But, they have yet to awake.”
Without thinking, Sunny crawled over to Ralph and tried to shake the older woman awake. While his teammate saw about the others, Charlie moved over to Mio. The girl seemed alright – no bruising or blood, at least as far as he could see.
Gingerly, Charlie moved some of Mio’s long hair off her shoulder and behind her back. “You were sleeping upstairs.” He stated lamely; Mio’s only response was to nod. Charlie glanced back to see that Gen was sitting up, looking rather put out. “Do you know where we are?” The girl nodded.
“Well, where are we?” Gen pressed, as he tried to wipe the dried blood off his nose.
Behind Gen, Ralph rolled her brown eyes upward. “Like she knows; she never knows what day it is. So, why should she know where we are?”
Mio cocked her head to the side, seemingly thinking about something important. After a long pause, she calmly stated: “It’s Thursday.”
Despite herself, Sunny laughed; as did Charlie.
Ignoring them, Mio went on, “Torchwood Four has been taken for The Game. It’s a battle royal between one hundred worlds. The Game will last for a very long time, but the winning world is safe from harm for another one hundred years.”
Sunny swallowed. She wasn’t sure what a ‘battle royal’ meant, though she was fairly sure that she and the others would not get out of this alive. However, what she was really worried about was Earth. “And the losers’ worlds, what happens to them?”
Still wearing her awkward, yet polite smile, Mio answered casually, “They aren’t safe from harm.”
Six:
Torchwood Four was meant to protect the world from aliens, and they did – at a cost.
*
Natsuki Aio had nightmares quite often, though she never fully remembered them when she woke up. She would remember flashes of faces and odd looking weapons; she would remember the smells of burning flesh, the feeling of needles being pushed into her brain, and the sounds of screaming, but she never really remembered what the nightmares had been about.
Natsuki would open her eyes to darkness and go about her morning routines, letting the nightmare slowly slip away.
Turning on the small television, she would smile softly to herself. The one room apartment filled with the sounds of pleasant voices – it was always a comfort after the nightmares. Natsuki would move around her apartment - always careful to place things exactly where she had found them – before taking a cup of hot coffee to the short legged, round table that sat just between the bed and the dresser that held the television.
Natsuki never got more than three sips in, before the sound of the door interrupted her morning. She would always turn toward the door and smile, somewhat awkwardly. “Okaeri Nasai.”
Her companion would smile, as he took his shoes off in the genkan. “Tadaima.” Awkwardly, he would slip on a pair of slippers, before joining Natsuki on the floor.
Whenever the news spoke of England, Natsuki’s companion would change the channel.
*
Thomas ‘Jon’ Jonathan never dreamed; he was fairly certain that he no longer could dream. He would wake up every morning to blinding sunlight pouring in from the window beside his bed. The feeling of a warm body curled up against his was the only thing that kept him in bed, despite the sunlight. But, after a while, he would get up and get dressed.
And every morning, like clockwork, Jon would go to the small store on the corner to buy a paper and read it, though he always threw the paper out before returning to the one room apartment he shared with Natsuki Aio.
She would smile awkwardly at him, and say; “Welcome home.” in Japanese.
And even though she couldn’t see it, Jon would return the smile and say, “I’m home.”
He would sit beside her, sneaking sips of her overly sweet coffee, and watch the morning news with her; although, he always remembered the change the station when news of England came on – she couldn’t be allowed to recall anything about their past.
*
Natsuki had memories of a life that was not her own, however she did not know that they were not her true memories. She remembered being orphaned at the age of three, of being placed in many foster homes before being adopted by her parents. Natsuki could recall becoming ill at age seven, going blind.
She also remembered being fourteen and meeting Jon – a twenty-two year old college student who had stayed with her family one semester nine years ago. Natsuki remembered Jon returning three years later; she remembered first dates, kisses. . . everything.
And everything Natsuki Aio remembered was a lie. All her memories were planted lies, because once upon a time, she had been Mio of Torchwood Four. She remembered none of those things, but Jon did – he remembered everything.
*
Jon had memories of a life that was not his own, and he knew they were not real. He remembered meeting Natsuki; he remembered going to work for her father; he remembered . . . everything. But the truth was – he and Natsuki’s lives had really only been lived for a year.
Jon remembered being Charlie of Torchwood Four. He remembered – all too clearly – The Game and the loss of his other three team mates; Gen dying in front of them, Ralph jumping off the cliff, Sunny. . . sweet and beautiful Sunny, who had told them to get Mio. . . dying in his arms, Mio’s eye sight being taken away in a gold flash of light. Jon – Charlie – could recall it all by heart.
But Natsuki – Mio – couldn’t. That was the deal he had made after they had won The Game:
“Put his back where you got us. But, give us normal lives. Take away Mio’s memories . . . her computer brain. Make her normal.”
And they had – at a price.
Jon – Charlie – remembered everything and his companion didn't; but that didn’t mean that Natsuki – Mio – wouldn’t recall things if pushed; she had a new life, but the old one was still locked inside her pretty head. And he knew that one day, something would trigger those real memories . . . and then, then . . . things would get ugly, because . . . because Torchwood Four was dead and buried on some alien world.
Torchwood Four was dead and there were a great many people and things that would kill for the information inside Natsuki’s – Mio’s – brain.
So, everyday he watched her, as he had so many times in their past life – protecting her from the monsters she didn’t even remember existed.
-The End
Cast List:
Adrian Lester as General “Gen”/Leader of Torchwood Four
Claire Rushbrook as Ralph/Medic of Torchwood Four
Justine Waddell as Sunny/Technical Expert of Torchwood Four
Richard Armitage as Charlie/Thomas Jonathan/Weapons Expert of Torchwood Four
Anne Suzuki as Mio/Natsuki Aio/The Keeper of Torchwood Four
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no subject
Date: 2008-07-25 11:07 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-07-28 02:56 am (UTC)Never has the title 'Untitled' been more appropriate - for a team that doesn't exist, a fic without a name
Thank you for getting that! I was scared no one would.
and the twisty ending
:) If you knew me, you'd know I love twist endings. I have a think for taking things (endings, chliches, etc) and twisting them around.
Honestly? I have thought about writing more. Ok - I actually have huge backstories on all five Torchwood Four members and have lots of ideas for what happens to Charlie/Jon and Mio/Natsuki. So, I suppose something could come of that. Someday.