Dead Man Walking... Again [for slayers_desire]

[fractured_agent]

It isn't the first time things have gone horribly wrong. But this is definitely new and novel, baffling and slightly terrifying.

Jack stands in the autopsy room, at the side of the gurney holding the dead body of Owen Harper. Dead... but not lifeless. Owen sits on the edge of the gurney, poking disbelievingly into the congealed bullethole in his own chest, and lifts two fingers to his own throat to feel for a pulse that isn't there. A sinister-looking metal gauntlet lays on the floor, forgotten in the chaos of Owen's miraculous undeath until Ianto scoops it up.

What did I do?

Things are getting out of hand. And while Jack doesn't know for sure who to call, his first choice - the Doctor - won't answer his phone. Fortunately, his second choice is no poor-man's replacement herself.

While Owen gets dressed, Jack steps to the side to make a call.

Comments

[fractured_agent]

Jack gives her a nod, giving her the all-clear. "Like it or not, none of us exactly have experience with this kind of conscious undeath," he says to Owen. "April's the closest thing to an expert I know."

"Well that just figures," Owen says. He's calming down about being dead, since nothing has really happened since he woke up, but it's still freaking him out.

"How so?" the unfamiliar woman asks.

[slayers_desire]

"Because I am a vampire. A type of undead." April approaches where Owen is sitting, but not examining him yet (without his permission).

[fractured_agent]

"A vampire?" The woman doesn't sound disbelieving, rather she's quite interested, but knows that now isn't the time to ask for details.

"April, this is Martha Jones," Jack introduces her. "She's on loan from UNIT and was helping us out when the mission went sour." She also traveled with the Doctor, he adds where only she can hear. "Martha, April Kent, a friend of mine from out of town."

[slayers_desire]

"Yes." April triggers her other side, allowing her eyes to go red. Her fangs to appear slightly.

"How did this happen?" Some details will be good right now. April also gives Jack a mental nod at his side note. Which incarnation?

[fractured_agent]

The one with the great hair. Tall and skinny, Jack answers.

Martha's definitely curious, but she's also very professional, and puts her curiosity aside for the moment. As far as they know, Owen might drop again at any moment, and they can't waste time chatting about April's fascinating condition. "It's a long story. I was helping to infiltrate a facility that was using alien lifeforms to manufacture pharmaceuticals. Owen was shot by the head researcher on our way out."

"I tracked down a resurrection glove so we could have a last goodbye," Jack says. He hasn't told his team where he found it, but he's sure they've figured out from the blood and torn clothes that he had a hell of a time getting it. "It's supposed to revive a recently-deceased person for a maximum of two minutes, and only while the wearer is making a conscious effort." He gestures towards the metal gauntlet in Ianto's hands, clearly not being worn or used by anybody. The thing feels menacing, almost alive, even though it isn't doing anything.

[slayers_desire]

"I am getting really... menacing vibes off that thing." April frowns deeply.

She places her hand near it, but not touching it, to see if she can pick up anything deeper from the metal gauntlet.

[fractured_agent]

"I told you not to use it," Gwen says nervously. "It's like Suzie all over again."

The glove has a powerful feeling of death around it. Nothing good can come of using it, though it's a bit late for them to know that now. There's a power in it like a fundamental force of the universe, the death that awaits almost all beings in the universe when they come to the end of their lives.

[slayers_desire]

"This object is literally death itself, in one object. All death. In the whole universe." April shivers.

She looks up at Owen. Regarding him through her blood-red eyes. "I don't think he is like me. A vampire."

[fractured_agent]

"Well thank Christ for that," Owen says, getting a little of his snark back. In his opinion, he's dealt in blood too much to have an easy time thirsting for it. It'd make his job a lot harder, too.

"But something did happen to him," Tosh says. "Is happening to him."

[slayers_desire]

April manages to keep her calm at that comment. There is still no love lost in her interactions with Owen.

"He is undead. Not a zombie. Not a vampire. But definitely not alive."

[fractured_agent]

"This happened once before, with the other glove," Gwen says, biting her lip. "I brought Suzie back, and she survived because she was draining energy from me. I almost died. Owen could be doing the same to Jack."

[slayers_desire]

"I am not sensing any energy drain between the two. Nor such a bond that connects Owen's current state to Jack's situation."

[fractured_agent]

"Then what's keeping him alive?" Tosh wonders.

"The glove itself, perhaps?" Ianto speculates.

[slayers_desire]

"No. I don't sense any energy or bond between Owen and the glove either."

"The glove might have attempted to tap into Jack's energy, but was unable to handle it. And this is the result."

"But he is... just undead. He is going to stay in this state."

((bed))

[fractured_agent]

Owen doesn't want to be dead, but the implications of being stuck as undead are starting to sink in, and though he does a decent job at hiding it outwardly, inside he's starting to panic. "So that's it, then?"

[slayers_desire]

"I am afraid so." April can sense his fear and panic.

"May I?" She gestures to Owen's hand, seeking permission to touch him. She wants to get a better sense of what this truly means for him.

[fractured_agent]

Owen's first reflex is to say no and pull away, but he realizes quickly that she's not trying to comfort him, she wants to examine him. And as a doctor, that he knows. "Fine," he mutters. "Fair's fair, right?"

[slayers_desire]

Of course, April examining him is a lot different than a typical examination for a doctor. She takes his arm, and closes her eyes to call upon her voices.

She wants to know if the panic and fear will overcome Owen. What problems he will face. And if there is any solution (which she doubts).

[fractured_agent]

Owen's unlife will not be an easy one. He's been given extra time in the world of the living, but it isn't permanent like Jack's endless wellspring of life. And he'll need to be careful - any injuries will not heal, and any close examination by a doctor will quickly reveal that he's a walking talking corpse.

But more than that, there is a darker energy inside of him, much like the power April sensed from the glove. A separate entity, slowly growing stronger. Something moving in the dark that lies beyond life.

[slayers_desire]

"Well... your unlife is not going to be east. Any injuries you take... won't heal. Unlike Jack, or myself, that means if you do get injured -- that injury stays with you. You are basically a corpse, that has life. So you will have to be careful when it comes to other doctors or scientists."

Jack... there is a darker energy inside of him. Something like what I sensed within the glove. A separate entity...

[fractured_agent]

"So no change to my social life then," Owen grumbles. "Spend half my time underground anyway."

Jack watches Owen warily when April alerts him to that knowledge. He's possessed?

[slayers_desire]

Maybe the entity in the glove has possessed him, and that is why he is like this. I could attempt to remove the possession... but doing so, would result in his immediate death. The possession is linked to his unlife

"Well, you should expect some changes. You won't feel hungry anymore. Or thirsty. You won't feel pain."

"Also... undead sort of get a smell to them."

"And if the weevils feared me as a predator, I am not sure how they would react to you."

[fractured_agent]

Martha is incredibly curious about how April can say things like this and know that it's exactly true. The others are all taking her at her word, so she believes it. She just wants to know how. But again, she holds her questions for a more appropriate time. "If he won't heal from injuries, shouldn't he steer clear of Weevils and field work altogether?"

Tosh nods. "I'd think so."

"I'm still right here," Owen says irritably.

Jack considers all of this. He wouldn't even be here right now if I hadn't used the glove... whatever's causing this is my fault. I've lost too many people to just give up on him. To give him a glimpse of life and then take it away... but if the thing inside of him gets out...

[slayers_desire]

We should ask him Jack. I know you don't want to lose any more people... but this is his life. And he has a hard one in front on him, to deal with this. You could lose him emotionally...

"What do you want to do, Owen?"

[fractured_agent]

"About what?" Owen says, resisting the urge to look at the permanent bullethole in his chest again. "I'm dead. What's there to do?"