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

[slayers_desire]

"You have to understand... that dealing with this and how it will change your life.... that you might feel different later. And that is okay."

"Just ask Jack. Or myself. It is not easy to have unique situations."

[fractured_agent]

"It's better than being dead."

There are mixed feelings on this across all the members of Torchwood. They're relieved to still have Owen with them, but at what cost? Jack is the most deeply conflicted of all, with his sense of responsibility to his team. "For now, you're confined to the Hub. Strictly quarantine."

[slayers_desire]

April understands. There are people that she has lost, that she would be very relieved to have back. And she can sense the mixed emotions.

"You will have to find a way to make this work for your team. All of you."

"It is important that you feel like you still have a voice, and a place on the team," she speaks to Owen directly. She knows that sometimes it can be easier to make assumptions that an undead person -- is not a person.

[fractured_agent]

"Hard to do that from quarantine," Owen snaps, though his ire is directed towards Jack, not her.

Jack is unmoved by Owen's irritability. At this point, to him, Owen's temper is more a part of the scenery than something to really get worked up over. "It's just temporary while we get a handle on this. You're dead, Owen, and you're still walking around. Even I don't know what that means in a broader sense."

In a way, the two men have never been further apart, two sides of the same coin. One full of eternal life, the other with eternal death. And at the same time, that makes them more similar than they've ever been.

[slayers_desire]

April is not sure how complicated things will get, with Owen and Jack so far apart with their situations. It is yet another thing to pull them apart.

"Do you have any questions?"

[fractured_agent]

Martha raises her hand a little. "I have one. How is it that you know so much about Owen's condition when you're not the same?"

[slayers_desire]

"I am familiar with other undead, besides vampires."

April tilted her head. "Or are you asking, how I seem to be knowing exactly what is going on. And seem so confident about it."

[fractured_agent]

"That too," Martha admits.

[slayers_desire]

"I'm psychic, telepathic, and empathic."

[fractured_agent]

"She's not the only one, just the most talented one I know," Jack adds.

Martha nods in understanding. Two years ago, she would've protested that such a thing makes no sense. But then she traveled with the Doctor, and saw the universe. Nothing is impossible anymore. And if Jack vouches for it being true, that just makes it ironclad fact for her.

"So what'm I supposed to do now?" Owen asks. "I can't do my job but I can't go home?"

[slayers_desire]

"I could bring you some research on the undead, for you?"

[fractured_agent]

Owen's not sure if he should feel angry about that being a necessity, or grudgingly thankful for the offer. Jack decides for him. "As much as you can bring us. I realize this isn't exactly your typical undead scenario but anything related might help. Tosh, run an analysis on the glove; see if you can learn anything about what's different between it and the other one we had. Ianto, you know the archives best; find out if anything like this has happened before."

[slayers_desire]

"I wish I had better news." But she doesn't.

[fractured_agent]

"We can't always be the bearer of good news," Martha says knowingly. She and Jack share the memories of a Year That Never Was, where Martha spent her time roaming the Earth to convince its people to believe that they could fight back against a rogue Time Lord, the Master. It didn't always end well.

"April," Jack says with a nod. "We appreciate anything you can do for us. Bring your research to us as soon as you can." And you and I need to talk about whatever's inside of Owen.

[slayers_desire]

"It shouldn't take long. I will send a message to Wesley, and he will find as many as Owen wants."

Of course. When?

[fractured_agent]

As soon as it's convenient. Jack isn't sure whether whatever's animating Owen will wear off or not, or whether the entity is biding its time to strike. There are too many unknowns, and while he himself is an empath, he's never been very good at more than sharing emotions and finding direct routes to send messages to already-existing telepaths.

[slayers_desire]

We can go into the office. I can get the books PINpointed to me

[fractured_agent]

Jack can agree to that plan. Ianto and Tosh go about their assigned tasks. Gwen is a bit more uncertain what to do with herself, and goes to find some privacy to call her fiancé and get some reassurance.

Owen sits at his work station, compulsively checking his own wrist for a pulse again and again, more of an absent-minded tic than a real expectation of finding anything different. His entire world has been turned upside-down in the span of an hour, and he doesn't have the foggiest idea where to go from here.

Jack's office isn't exactly an enclosed space, but it's private enough. He offers her a seat. "You know, you're not actually the first psychic I called in on this tonight. I just didn't think I was going to need the big guns or I'd have started with you first."

[slayers_desire]

"Did the first one help at all?"

[fractured_agent]

Jack nods. "She did what I asked her to do. She read the cards to find out where the glove was. I'm still waiting to find out if that was a good idea or not."

[slayers_desire]

"I think... the glove would have been found no matter what you had did or tried, because it wanted to be found."

[fractured_agent]

"Yes. But using it on Owen..."

[slayers_desire]

"If not Owen, it would have been someone else close to you Jack."

[fractured_agent]

"This entity, or whatever it is... you think it was waiting for just the right opportunity?" It would make sense, but it'd also make him feel a little better to hear it.

[slayers_desire]

"Yes. And it has been waiting for this opportunity for a long time."