Torchwood: Aftershock (Pilot) Sixth Section

[madimpossibledreamer]

Main Points:
Torchwood/BtVS 'Casting' AU
Rating: T
Word Count: 2,293
Cast of Characters:
Destiny = Buffy
Captain Xan = Xander
Emily = Willow
Buffy/Angel is a thing
Summary: People have been disappearing in Cardiff.  Police Officer Destiny Sumner has been assigned to the investigation, only to find that she is not the only one looking at the evidence-something called Torchwood has ordered all police officers off the investigation and is conducting their own.  She isn’t willing to let this go, however, and in her desire to know the truth, she might find a little too much...

Eventually they were at the site.  Wherever that might be.

“I suggested we go here because it’s the latest one.  Just last night.  I figured if it was that recent it might still be active,” Emily explained, getting a bit of chalk and her scanny PDA thing out with her.

“Good girl,” Xan commented, squeezing her shoulder.  “If it’s still open, I’ll go in, okay?  With your magic you can still coordinate from here, right?”

Destiny shook her head.  “You never send one person in alone to deal with this sort of thing.  Hostage situations.  Multiple negotiators are best for a greater chance of success.”

A slight smile accompanied a shake of the head.  “And I thought Will quoted the rulebook at me enough for the team.  All right, I’ll go in, have a quick look around, and if I get noticed I’ll stall and tell them I’ve got a partner coming.  That way they hopefully won’t shoot you.”  Neither of them were quite certain who he was talking to.  “Don’t worry, I’ll be careful.”

“It’ll take me a little while to get it set up,” Emily answered, sounding distant.  “It’s there, dormant, but it’ll take a bit of magic to wake it.  And I’ll probably need to stay here to maintain it.  Why is it never that easy?”  She looked a bit pouty at that, like a lost puppy, and the Captain patted her arm.

 

Half an hour and some chalk and incantation later, there was a swirly oval of purple fire slightly bigger than a doorway floating in the middle of the street.

“Call Traffic Control or whatever the Welsh equivalent is and get them to re-route traffic from this street,” Xan stated absently, staring at the thing.

He stepped toward it, and Destiny grabbed his coat.  “Are you sure that’s a good idea?”

He grinned cheekily at her.  “Nope.  See you on the other side, hopefully.”  He saluted, then turned and walked into the flames.  They flared a bit, as normal ones would do if fed fuel, but there was no screaming, no blackened body, no Captain Xan emerging from the other side as if it was all a hologram.

Miss Sumner shivered.

 

Sixteen minutes later, things went wrong.  Emily’s eyes popped open, green mist swirling around inside them.  For a minute Destiny braced herself to be attacked.  Had Emily been behind this?  She hoped not.  The woman was sweet, and could be a good friend.  The voice when she spoke sounded far away.  “The Captain needs you.  There’s...” she frowned, as if trying to remember something she’d forgotten.  “There’s blood and a life to be spared.”  Her eyes returned to normal, and she looked scared.  “I don’t like the sound of that.  That sounds bad.”  She started breathing heavier, looking as if she was trying not to cry.  “You have to go.  I can hold it, but he needs you pronto.  Now.”

With a deep breath, Destiny stepped through the portal, hearing the woman muttering synonyms for ‘immediately’ under her breath.  Hopefully she was also concentrating on the portal, because Destiny didn’t want to get stuck here.

 

She ended up in an old cathedral, with cobwebs and dust and a creepy purple light throughout.

Wandering around finally brought her in front of the altar-the place was huge-and a kneeling, bound Captain Xan.  Standing in front of him was a man in purple and black robes-not pretty purple and black.  Terrifying purple and black.  A weird, ugly color of purple that should not exist ever.  Black hair, dark, glittery eyes, an aristocratic face that was thin and arrogant.

“Gwythr, you don’t have to do this.”  There was little fear in Xan’s tone, but the man did sound hurt.  So he’d known the dangerous Welsh man, and well, probably.

“Oh, Xan,” he tutted, “...so sure of yourself.  Et ca neshaul!” he yelled, and several snake-like creatures slithered past.  One slid up to her, looking up at her with a blunt end of its body that had no eyes or mouth.  How was it even looking at her?  She tried not to breathe, and eventually it went back to its belly, cutting her ankle slightly with sharp side fins as it slithered off into the dark.  The voice sounded like a snake’s, dark but smooth, hypnotising even.  “Things are beginning to change, old friend.  Torchwood used to have the power, but not anymore.  We are the ones with the power now.  Now you shall become a sacrifice to the Ones Who Will Walk the Earth!”  From somewhere in his robes, he retrieved a sword and stuck it through Xan.

She tried not to scream as the Captain made a gasping, choking noise, slumping forward.  His lips moved, but no sound came out, and he pitched forward, the blade pushing even further into his stomach.  Blood started to stain the floor, spreading slowly.

“Bring forth the Haunted Sleepers into this endless night!” he crowed at the empty space that reverberated with the words, and the cathedral started to change.  The stones forming the mosaics at the edges of the room unfolded, as if there was some kind of mechanism underlying the area,  revealing glass box upon glass box of people, either dead or asleep.

“Y-You!” she yelled, voice shaking, gun at the ready.  “You’re under arrest.”

The man turned to her with a mocking smile.  He was middle-aged, she realized.  “And what are you arresting me for, young copper?”  He chuckled.  “Witchcraft?  Dark magic?”  He gestured, and suddenly her gun was clattering out of her hands, as metallic ropes grew out of the floor and tied themselves around her ankles and wrists, legs and arms, until she could barely move.

“K-killing him,” she answered, voice shaking.  With a foot, the man nudged the Captain until he was lying on his side, staring at her with lifeless eyes.  The sword started to fall out slightly, and she did her best to keep her lunch of pizza where it belonged.

The man stepped over the Captain as if he was of little interest.  “Really?  How did you expect that this would go, that I would surrender myself to Torchwood willingly?”  He laughed.  “I had worked for Torchwood long enough that I do not wish to surrender myself to that fate.”

Her eyes widened.  Then she saw a bit of movement behind the man.

Xan’s hands weakly pulled at the sword, trying to get it out.  She almost shouted at him to stop, that that would only make him bleed more and then there’d be no hope of saving him then.  But he stopped moving again, and she thought she was probably imagining things.  Just in case though, she had to distract the man.  “You’re Torchwood?  I didn’t meet you this afternoon.”

He sneered.  “I despair of your intellect, girl.  Of course you didn’t meet me.  I was a former member of Torchwood.  Loyal agent for fourteen years, and then Captain Know-It-All stabs me in the back and leaves me for dead.  I’m...freelance, now.”

She frowned.  “I don’t believe you,” she stated boldly.

Gwythyr smiled at her.  She didn’t particularly approve of being thought of as a child who couldn’t possibly understand.  “I can tell you’ve barely met the man.  You can’t trust him.  You have no idea what he’s capable of.”

Clearly, that was true, as the Captain stood up behind the sorcerer, bloodspattered and a little weak but none the worse for wear.  She had to distract him.  “Well, I trust him more than you.  And...um...”  she was losing his attention.  Think, think.  “...And so does Emily.  And I trust her.  We’re best friends, even.”

He laughed and shook his head.  “You’ve barely met the girl.  It’s obvious you’re new to the team.  Listen to me when I tell you that nothing good comes of Torchwood.”

“Yes, but women make friends quickly.  It’s obvious you’re not the sort that people would want to be friends with, so it only makes sense your life went badly.  I feel like I can trust her.”  If only there was some way of getting in touch with Emily and warning her about the situation.

“You can never trust anyone!” he roared.  Apparently there were anger issues in this picture.

The body, greatcoat, blood and all, was standing behind the sorcerer, tall and firm.  “Apparently not,” Xan agreed.  The man half-turned and the Captain shot him in the head.

I am not alone.  I was never alone.  Blood will take your soul... the cathedral whispered, and they both shivered at that.

“How-how are you alive?” she asked, shaking.  Best to ignore that.  Whatever it was, it was just trying to freak them out, and doing a marvelous job of it.  The ropes that had been holding her dissolved into nothingness.

He smirked at her tiredly.  “It’s this whole neat little trick.  Like Wolverine.”  That wasn’t really an answer, but she suspected that she wouldn’t really get one.  “Believe now?”

“Is this a normal day at the office?” she asked, as he took off his greatcoat and generously lent it to her, even though he might be suffering from shock from...being dead...

“Yep.”  He was grinning like the Cheshire cat, like that was a selling factor for the job position.

Lord help me, it is.  I’m completely off my rocker, she realized.

They emerged through the fire again.  The sunlight seemed a little bright, after everything.

“Emily, we need to try and see if we can revive any of the people who were taken.  The Epiqi escaped, so we’ll have to keep an eye out for that.  And then I’d like you to try and see if you can destroy that place.”
    Her eyes flew open, and she gasped a little at how bloody his clothes were.  “O-okay.  I’ll help do that...thing...”  She quickly muttered a few more phrases and ran to the SUV, coming back with even more equipment.

Emily frantically scattered dust from a pouch over each of the people, taking readings with the scanner thing as she did so.  Destiny walked over to Xan, who was leaning against the wall.  “So, do I have a job?”

“Let us know if you need any help!” the Captain stated and waited for an affirmative from the witch before proceeding.  “Sure, if you want it.”

She nodded, glancing around again and drawing the coat tighter around herself.  “What is this place?”

He shrugged.  “It’s like a waiting room.  Have to be here and fulfill certain requirements before you can pass into the other end.”  That sounded ominous, but she didn’t think she was getting a more thorough answer.  Yet, anyway.

"Who was he?  He said he'd worked for Torchwood."  She wasn't likely to get a very thorough answer on that one, either.

"He had.  Then he started acting a little psychotic.  The Captain at that time fired him."  Yep, as expected, that answered very little.  Like how the two knew each other.

“What was he hoping to do?” she asked, shivering again.

“Probably?  Bring the other dimension-or something from that dimension, into our world.  Which could be apocalyptic, so...you probably saved the world today, Miss Sumner.”

“I couldn’t have done it without you,” she stated smiling, and he grinned back.

“Great team.”

 

They were only able to rescue six of the people.  They were confused, scared, but willing, luckily, to follow orders.  Xan directed them to the SUV to wait.  They were reluctant but willing to walk through the purple flames, so Destiny kept having to escort them one at a time out.

The rest just wouldn’t wake, and Emily looked up, lip trembling.  “Th-they were dead.  L-like, really dead.  We weren’t quick enough.”  She looked like she was about to burst into tears.

Destiny couldn’t help but pull her into a hug.  “We saved some of them.  That’s what matters.”  Her t-shirt was getting wet, but she didn’t really mind, not when the adorable woman really needed it.

If she wasn’t imagining it, the Captain looked proud of her for a moment.

Once everyone was out of the portal, Emily threw some sparkling red dust into the swirling portal.  “I call upon the power of the Goddess, invoke her to cancel the dark magick.  Burn this bridge once and for all.”  For a second, they saw the cathedral, which burst into red and purple flames, as did the portal, and slowly both of them disappeared.  

Xan offered everyone a drink, smiling and flirting with the various victims and telling them that in such a case they could become dehydrated.  In any case, they needed to get home.  Some lived close enough that they could merely walk; the rest piled into the SUV and off they went.

The driving hadn’t really gotten any better, but she’d forgotten about it by the time she remembered something crucial.  Destiny shouted as they pulled away from the last house.  “Brynmor!”

“Relax,” Xan grinned, shaking his head.  “You’ve still got time.  Your flat is the next stop.”

“Can I have your mobile number?” Emily whispered, and they quickly traded numbers.  The red-head leaned in for another hug before Destiny was out the door, in the block, and in her door.  She had just enough time to change into a nice skirt and top before her beautiful Welsh boyfriend entered, whistling.

“What did you do today?” Brynmor asked.

“Oh, relaxed and had fun.”  She leaned in for a kiss.  “But not as much fun as I’m going to have with you tonight.”

A young girl sat in the dark, rocking back and forth.  “It’s coming, it’s coming, and the shockwave will destroy us.”

“This isn’t over, Torchwood,” a man in a robe promised, snarling.  But they didn’t know of what was to come, not yet.

 

 

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