The Gemini Chronicles Chapter 5
Series: AMTBR
Title: The Gemini Chronicles
Summary: Torchwood and UNIT deal with aliens. So does the Gemini team... but they also deal with demons. Witches, ex-demons, genetically-altered humans, they all can find a home here.
Primary fandoms: Charmed, Whoniverse
Primary universe: S2U
Author's note: There is some canon/OC in this chapter, and it is a pairing that will be present for several chapters to come. It is not permanent, but something I felt necessary for character development. Cole needs to stop being so fixated on Phoebe.
Chapter 5 - Identity Crisis: Caleb looked helplessly at the two people in front of him. Had Paula known this was going to happen, he doubted she’d have been so gung-ho to take on the latest case that had come their way. Though he himself was glad he’d stood his ground and not gone undercover. Oh, yeah, definitely very glad.
~ ~ ~
24 Hours Earlier
“So what exactly is so suspicious about a successful marriage counseling program?” Cole asked Paula skeptically.
“They’re not just successful, they’ve got a 100 percent success rate. That just doesn’t happen.”
Cole sighed. “OK, fine. So are we talking demons or aliens?”
“Probably alien, but we’d best be prepared for something magical.”
“‘We’?”
“Yeah. We’re going undercover.”
“What, as a married couple?”
“Yeah. Benjamin and Astrid Rivers.”
“No way. No offense or anything, but no.”
“It has to be you.”
“Why not Caleb? He knows you better.”
“Caleb can’t act to save his life. He can’t even tell a decent lie.”
“Very true,” the man in question admitted, coming into the main room, a grin on his face. “I used to get us in trouble all the time at school, till I learned to shut my mouth and let Paula do the talking.”
“You never learned it. You just got sick of limping.” To Cole, she added, “Gwyn used to step on his foot to shut him up.”
“Whatever,” said Caleb easily. “Anyway, the point is that for now, you two are married.”
“Right,” Cole said uncomfortably. He glanced over at Paula, who seemed unconcerned as she checked over their fake IDs. But then she would be; it was her idea. Great. Just great.
~ ~ ~
“Relax, Ben,” Paula teased as they pulled into the parking lot of Briarwood Counseling.
“Shut up, Astrid,” Cole said. She just laughed at him. Which didn’t improve his mood any.
“Well, that hostility you’re projecting certainly makes us seem like we need counseling,” she commented mildly. “I guess it’s a nice touch.”
“Paula, why is it you seem to find this so damned funny?”
“Because it is. Lighten up, Turner.” She smiled at him. “Cole, honestly, relax.”
How could he explain that he couldn’t? He was wearing a wedding ring again, for the first time in months. It was silver, unlike the gold one he’d once worn, but still. The feel of it was the same. And pretending to be married to Paula... There were times he knew she was a Halliwell, a certain gesture or reaction that all four of the other Halliwells he’d known had shared, but that wasn’t what the real problem was.
The woman was getting to him. He couldn’t explain it. Once he’d thought he’d be blind to anyone but Phoebe, but lately he’d been thinking about a gold-eyed witch rather than a brown-eyed one. He just wasn’t sure exactly how to handle the situation. He didn’t exactly have a good history with this sort of thing.
Behind her casual teasing, Paula wasn’t nearly as much at ease as she appeared. Because she too was dealing with a rather unwise attraction. There was the whole skating-on-the-edge-of-incest feel to it, but it was more than that. She hadn’t really had any interest in men since Micah had walked out - except for those handful of rebound one-nighters when she’d been trying to drink away her pain - and this wasn’t something she’d wanted. But she couldn’t seem to help herself.
Somehow she had to get herself back under control. Having an affair with a coworker was a very bad idea. She’d broken so many rules, so many taboos, but she’d managed to avoid this one. Technically, Micah hadn’t been a coworker. She’d never been on Torchwood’s payroll. Though she supposed the one-night stand with River could be considered sleeping with a coworker...
Paula shook the thoughts away as she and Cole approached the entrance. They were undercover, which meant it was time to concentrate on business. Though in this case business was a little too aligned with personal issues for her comfort.
~ ~ ~
The process of getting a spot in the clinic was tedious, but basic. They filled out long questionnaires, asking everything from medical history to sex life. Well, we didn’t plan for this one, Paula’s voice echoed in his head.
Cole tried not to jump. Damn it, Paula!
Sorry. So, no sex life? That’ll help explain the tedium, and it’s not even a lie. Unless you’ve been spending your salary on hookers, which I don’t advise, by the way. You’re human now, you can catch things.
Funny. And no sex life is fine.
Are you sure you’re male?
Do you want to check? Maybe he shouldn’t have said that. However, it achieved his aim - namely to get her out of his head. In fact, she didn’t even look at him after that.
When they were called in to see the doctor in charge, a Dr. Rowlands. He took a look at their questionnaires, his eyebrows shooting up at a certain point. “Hmm. Yes, I can see the problem. Well, we can fit you in. In fact, a space just opened up in our residence facility.”
“Uh, sorry, residence?” Paula asked, not having to fake her sudden alarm.
“Yes, Mrs. Rivers. I think we need to get started on the two of you right away,” he said. She didn’t like the excitement that flashed briefly through his eyes.
“Look, I really don’t think -”
“Mr. Rivers, you agreed to whatever I felt was best for the health of your marriage. Trust me, this will be very beneficial.”
“That’s fine, Doctor. We just need to go home and pack,” Paula said quickly. “Come on, Ben, let’s go.”
~ ~ ~
“‘We just need to go home and pack’? Paula, are you crazy?” Cole yelled once they were in the car.
“No. We need to get inside, remember? Look, I don’t like it much either, but do you see another option here?”
“Yeah, we forget about this. They’re a damn counseling group, Paula, even if they’re not natural they’re helping people with it.”
“And if their idea of helping is some kind of mind control? If that’s what they’re doing, Cole, their patients are not giving consent. That makes it mind-rape. Do you understand what that is?”
“Yeah, I do.”
“No, I don’t think you do. I do. I know all about what mind-rape is. I can do it, hell, I have done it a time or two. If they’re doing that, Cole, I’m shutting them down.”
He stared at her. She was gripping the steering wheel so tight that he was willing to bet her knuckles were white under the black gloves. The expression on what he could see of her face was similar to one he had himself; the expression he wore whenever he thought about his actions as a demon. “Paula...”
“No, Cole. I don’t want to talk about it.”
“All right, fine. So, how long should we pack for?”
They’d reached a stop light, so it was perfectly safe for her to turn her head and give him full eye contact. She didn’t say anything, but she didn’t have to. He got it, and that meant something. More that that, he was willing to do something he wasn’t happy about to stop whatever was happening at Briarwood. That meant a lot more.
~ ~ ~
After they packed and returned to the clinic, they were taken to the residence facility in a clinic-owned van. An aide directed them to a room and left them there alone. Paula glanced around, taking in her surroundings. The room looked like a nice hotel room, with two nightstands, a bureau, and a bed. Bed, as in singular. Uh-oh.
“This is awkward,” Cole said.
“A little bit, yeah. But we’re civilized adults, so it’s not like we can’t handle it,” Paula said lightly.
“Do you snore?” Cole said with a grin.
She laughed. Yeah, they could handle this. “No, I don’t. Gwyn would’ve said; we roomed together during the summers. Do you?”
“No.”
“Good. What about kicking?”
“No. You?”
“No.”
“Well, we’re all right then.”
~ ~ ~
They had dinner in a nice dining room with other couples. Some, like them, were tense - though in their cases it was from true relationship issues - while others were almost nauseatingly loving. A few were in between the extremes, but only a very few.
It was a relief to get back to their room - except, Cole thought, for the fact that it was their room. That made it extremely uncomfortable. Paula seemed to be as uneasy as he was, which only made it worse. He tried to think of something to talk about, hoping to distract them both.
“So, have you ever gone undercover before?” he asked, curious.
“A few times,” she replied, then smiled. “The first time, I was working with an NCIS - Naval Criminal Investigative Service - agent. See, back then, I actually worked for DESI on an official basis, and I was on an undercover joint op.”
“Sounds interesting. So, was it fun?”
“Ir was a learning experience. I was in New Orleans, with an agent named Jennifer Shepard. I hear she’s the director now.” Paula smiled. “I’m not surprised. She was good. I picked up a lot.”
“You liked her.”
“Yeah, we got on pretty well. She’s another redhead.”
“And you didn’t kill each other?”
“Well, we argued a lot, but we were friends. I haven’t heard from her in a long time, though. Maybe I should look her up.”
“Maybe you should. Once we’re done with this undercover mission.”
Paula chuckled. “Yeah, I think I will.”
~ ~ ~
When it was time to get ready for bed, Paula went into the bathroom to change and Cole changed in the bedroom. Usually he just wore a pair of sweatpants to bed, but he added a worn T-shirt tonight. Somehow, he didn’t think going shirtless was a good idea.
Paula stepped out of the bathroom wearing a long, sleeveless gray nightgown. She still wore her black gloves. “Don’t you ever take those off?” Cole asked.
Paula shook her head. “No. I can’t. If I do...” She shook her head again, harder, but he could tell that this time the gesture was to dispel unpleasant memories. “Well, anyway, I don’t ever take them off. That’s why you’ll never see me in anything long-sleeved; long sleeves and long gloves don’t mix too well.”
“Oh. That must be fun in winter.”
“Says the California boy. Trust me, you have no idea how cold it can get in New England.”
“I was here before.”
“Yes, as a demon. Full-bloods are impervious to cold; half-breeds barely notice it.”
“I thought you weren’t a demonologist.”
“Not in-depth, no, but the basics I have down.”
“Oh.”
They didn’t say anything else, and soon they went to sleep. Cole tried to ignore the feel of her next to him and finally managed it, drifting off.
~ ~ ~
Paula’s eyes snapped open in the dark and she gasped, regaining herself. Remembering that she wasn’t alone, she reached out with her mind to ensure that Cole was still asleep before rolling quietly out of the bed.
The room had a large window with a window seat and it was there that she went, curling up and looking out at the night sky. It wasn’t anything new, she was used to nightmares. Sometimes they were about her brief descent into darkness after Diana’s death, but tonight...
She still remembered what had happened, in the future New York in the year 5246. How the Doctor had been murdered by his own evil double, the Valeyard, and how she and River had watched him die. And then, after that, they would have been stuck in a time not their own, except...
The TARDIS was mildly telepathic. Paula had always known that, since she could feel it - her - in the back of her mind. And so she’d come up with the idea of touching the console with her bare hands, hoping she could tap into the TARDIS like a person and get them home. It had worked, but...
She wasn’t a Time Lord, not even close. But for a moment, she’d gotten a clue as to what it would be like to be one. She’d seen, felt, heard, so much, and even eight years later, her mind couldn’t quite comprehend it all. The Time Vortex had taken her, much as it had taken another companion, Rose Tyler, but it had let her go.
She’d been left different, of course. Her eyes had turned gold, and her talent for picking up languages - already enhanced because of her Whitelighter blood - had gotten even better. And her senses had changed slightly. She’d always been able to tell, through telepathy, whether someone had any level of power, if they were human, demon, or alien. But after the Vortex she could also sense when someone wasn’t in the proper time, or the proper reality.
But the memory of how it had felt... She’d burned with it, and sometimes she wondered how the hell she’d survived it. Even now she couldn’t have explained it. But she had, and the only harm it had done, in the end, was the nightmares that came back, of the burning, and of the awful disasters of years past and yet to come.
“Paula?” She jumped. Damn it, but she really needed to work on not missing people when she went all introspective.
“Hey,” she said quietly, looking up at Cole as he walked towards her.
He sat down next to her on the window. “You OK?”
“Yeah. Just a nightmare.”
He sighed. “Me too. Want to talk about it?”
“No. Do you?”
“Not really.”
She laughed. “You know, we’re a lot alike.”
“Yeah. You’re the only witch I know who takes the time to see both sides of the story.”
And just like that she knew what he’d been dreaming about. “Cole...”
“No, don’t. It’s fine; I’m learning to deal with it. It’s not easy, but I think I’m getting there.”
She smiled sadly. “I know how you feel.” She thought about that for a second and them amended her statement. “Well, no, I guess I don’t, exactly, but I have an idea, at least.”
“That’s something,” he said. “So, how did you get through the first few months?”
“I buried myself in research, investigations... Actually, I can thank Micah for giving me the drive to get this place off the ground. Sometimes though...” She shook her head. “Sometimes you just want to forget.”
She’d dropped her head, but he wanted her looking at him. He put his hand under her chin and lifted her face up. “And how do you do that?” he asked, his voice lower than it had been.
“You... well...” She couldn’t breathe properly.
“What?” He knew he was too close to her now, but he didn’t care. He didn’t mind the thought of that last bit of distance closing either...
The kiss started out gentle but soon became hard, passionate, and demanding. Part of Paula knew this was a really bad idea, but that part was silenced by the much louder part than just wanted this, wanted the man who was kissing her, wanted to chase away his heartbreak and her own.
~ ~ ~
Astrid opened her eyes slowly, feeling her husband’s arms wrapped around her for the first time in months. She didn’t want to get up and break the peace, but she saw it was half past ten, and she never slept that late. So, reluctantly, she pulled herself away. Oddly enough, Ben didn’t even stir. He wasn’t usually such a sound sleeper.
Then again, it had been a long time since they’d done more than sleep next to each other. Maybe she’d tired him out. With that amusing thought in mind, she walked to the bathroom for a shower.
She was about to step under the hot spray when she noticed the elbow-length black gloves on her hands. What the hell? She didn’t wear gloves like this, especially not to bed. She and Ben weren’t into costumes. So why was she wearing them?
Shaking her head, she took them off and moved to open the shower door. When her hand touched the metal handle, her mind was filled with fractured images, flashing by so fast she couldn’t make any sense of them. Crying out in fear, she jumped back, losing her balance and falling to the floor.
“Astrid?” Ben called from the bedroom.
“Ben, something’s happened to me!”
He ran in. “Yeah, you’re on the floor. Astrid, you’re fine.” He offered a hand to help her up. She stared at it as though she feared it would hurt her, shaking her head. He frowned, confused, before grabbing her hand to pull her up.
More images flashed through Astrid’s head, strange flashes of caves and a red, black-marked monster, and a pretty brunette woman. A pang of jealousy surprised her. Just who was that woman? She cried out and let go. “Ben What’s happening to me? I can’t touch anything without images popping into my head, they don’t make sense and I” She sank to the floor again, crying. Her head was killing her already.
And then it got worse. Because suddenly, voices filled her head, a chatter she couldn’t block out, getting louder and louder until it all became white noise. She screamed, curling into a ball. What was happening to her? “Ben, please, help me,” she whispered, though God knew how he was going to do that.
Ben could only watch helplessly as his wife sobbed on the floor. He didn’t know what was happening either. They’d come to this place to work on their failing marriage, and now Astrid seemed to be losing her mind.
That was when he heard a cell phone ringing, and he went to answer it, hoping foolishly that the person on the other line could help, somehow. He didn’t recognize the number on the caller ID, but he answered anyway. “Hello?”
“Cole?”
“I’m sorry, who?”
“Turner, it’s Caleb. Now stop being a smart-ass. Why are you answering Paula’s cell?”
“Who the hell are you and who is Paula?” Ben snapped. The voice on the other line was silent for a moment, and when the man spoke again, he sounded concerned.
“What’s your name?”
“Ben Rivers.”
“Oh shit.”
“Finally realized you’ve got the wrong number?”
“No, I Um Is your wife all right? Astrid? Or is she having problems? Hearing voices?”
“How did you If you did this to her I swear -”
“No, no, I didn’t do anything, but I know what’s happening. Look, just stay where you are and I’ll be there to speak to you.”
“Who the hell are you?”
“Caleb Carnahan, and soon you’ll know that anyway.”
~ ~ ~
If Astrid concentrated, she could push the noise back enough that she could think. Enough so that she could function, and listen to Ben as he explained what he’d been told on the phone. She didn’t know the name Caleb Carnahan either, but for some reason, she felt she could trust him. The feeling would have scared her if there weren’t worse things to fear. Like the voices in her head or what happened when her bare hands touched anything.
She dressed and slid the long black gloves back on. With them on she felt a little more secure, a little steadier. She was safe from part of what was happening, at least. Safe from what happened when she touched things, but not safe from the voices in her head. Was she going crazy? But did crazy people wonder if they were going crazy?
She came back into the bedroom and sat quietly on the bed. Ben sat next to her, taking her hand in his. “Whatever’s going on, I’m here for you. I promise,” he told her.
She smiled at him. “I know. I just hope this Carnahan can help us. Whoever he is.”
~ ~ ~
Caleb wanted to bang his head repeatedly on the desk. This couldn’t be happening. It just couldn’t. Now, if only Cole’s memory had been wiped, Paula could fix it, but if whatever the Briarwood people had could mess with Paula’s head, how could he fix it? He was a witch, but not a telepath, and he didn’t know much about this kind of thing.
Gwyn had been a psychic but her powers had been centered on the dead. Even if he could track her down, she wouldn’t be able to help. So it was down to him.
Think, Carnahan, he told himself, standing in Paula’s library. Surely there was something here. But then again Paula’s powers were still there. What if he took something of hers and made her touch it? She was a stranger to herself right now, so she should pick up on her own imprints. If that jarred her memory, then she could fix Cole.
He left the office at a run, heading for Paula’s apartment. He wasn’t sure what he was going to take with him, but it had to be something she used a lot, something she’d had for a long time. God, he hoped this worked.
~ ~ ~
Carnahan was a tall blond man with worried hazel eyes. He walked in holding a necklace. The pendant was a five-pointed star in a circle - a pentacle, Astrid thought. Why was he carrying that?
“Hi,” he said uncomfortably, looking at the two of them sitting together on the bed. Oh, this is going to be a problem later, she heard him think.
“What’s going to be a problem?” she asked.
“Uh Look, Ms. Rivers, could you take this? After you take off a glove?” he said, holding out the necklace. She stared at him.
“Why would I touch that barehanded? I thought you knew what was happening to me.”
“I do, but you need to do this. Please. It should make things clearer.”
Astrid stared at him, but the plea in his voice seemed genuine. His eyes echoed what she heard, and so, reluctantly, she took off her right glove and took the necklace.
Mommy and Daddy fighting, Daddy leaving
Mommy walking away from her in the mall, she’s all alone
One home, then another, why didn’t they want her?
His hands on her body, his mouth on hers Her head hurts so bad and then he collapses
Diana and Con, “You’re a witch.” Training, family, Caleb, Gwyn and Ryan, the best part of her life.
Diana murdered, hunting in the Underworld, Con dying to save her
The Doctor and River, traveling through time.
Micah, who had broken her heart without even looking back
Cole and Caleb again, Gemini and a undercover op
“Caleb?” she gasped, staring up at him.
“Hey, Red.”
“Excuse me?” The angry voice belonged to Ben - no, Cole. Oh, God, Cole. She’d slept with him, last night, and they’d definitely still been themselves. Shit.
But she could worry about that one later. Right now she had to fix him, before this got even messier. She turned her head, gold eyes locking on blue. She sent a hard jolt of power into his mind. He cried out before slumping to the floor, unconscious.
“Is he all right?” Caleb asked.
“When he wakes up he will be. Except for the headache, but that’ll pass.”
~ ~ ~
“So, Dr. Rowlands, who - or what - are you really?” Paula said coldly, staring at the doctor, who fidgeted under that cold glare.
“I’m just trying to help,” he said weakly.
“Mind-rape’s not helpful,” Cole snapped. “It’s manipulation. You’re taking away their choices, rewriting who they are. What if other people lied like we did? Not as much, obviously, but you’re changing people!”
“I’m so sorry, I just thought,” Rowlands said, crumbling.
Paula studied him thoughtfully. “You really mean it, don’t you?” Her voice wasn’t hard now, just curious. “You really came here to help people.”
“Came here? I don’t understand.”
“You’re an alien of some kind, or a human from the future, because there’s nothing in this time that’d do what you did except magic, and I’d’ve felt that.”
Rowlands closed his eyes, looking even more defeated, if that were possible. “I’m only trying to help people. It’s what I’m meant to do, help people find love. Or rediscover it. I helped you too, didn’t I?”
That didn’t bear responding to. Cole and Paula got up, Cole striding out without another word. Paula studied the doctor. “Help people without messing with their heads. The most you can do is lower their defenses a bit. That’s helping. And if you don’t, we’ll be back, and it won’t be to give a second warning.”
~ ~ ~
The vodka wasn’t helping. Granted, she’d only had half a glass, so maybe that was it. But unfortunately, the burning liquid was only reminding her of a visit to bar where she’d ordered something far less strong and had told a blue-eyed man that getting drunk didn’t help.
“Damn it!” she snapped, throwing the glass against the wall.
“Remind me not to piss you off.” She whirled to see Cole standing there.
“Ever heard of knocking?”
“Yeah, but I wasn’t sure you’d let me in. Look, Paula, about”
“We do need to talk about it, don’t we?”
“I think so. I’m not going to say I’m sorry, because I’m not, but I’m not going to expect anything.”
“I’m the woman; isn’t that my line?”
“I wouldn’t know. I’ve only been human for a few years and my only other real lover tried to kill me - actually, she did kill me.”
“Cole”
“Well, it’s true.”
“The only man I ever let myself love ripped my heart out the day he left me alone in a Dublin hotel. Neither of us have a stellar track record.”
“So where do we go from here?”
Paula closed the distance between them, standing right in front of him. “I don’t know. Why don’t we find out?”
“I can do that,” he said, bending to kiss her.
Title: The Gemini Chronicles
Summary: Torchwood and UNIT deal with aliens. So does the Gemini team... but they also deal with demons. Witches, ex-demons, genetically-altered humans, they all can find a home here.
Primary fandoms: Charmed, Whoniverse
Primary universe: S2U
Author's note: There is some canon/OC in this chapter, and it is a pairing that will be present for several chapters to come. It is not permanent, but something I felt necessary for character development. Cole needs to stop being so fixated on Phoebe.
Chapter 5 - Identity Crisis: Caleb looked helplessly at the two people in front of him. Had Paula known this was going to happen, he doubted she’d have been so gung-ho to take on the latest case that had come their way. Though he himself was glad he’d stood his ground and not gone undercover. Oh, yeah, definitely very glad.
~ ~ ~
24 Hours Earlier
“So what exactly is so suspicious about a successful marriage counseling program?” Cole asked Paula skeptically.
“They’re not just successful, they’ve got a 100 percent success rate. That just doesn’t happen.”
Cole sighed. “OK, fine. So are we talking demons or aliens?”
“Probably alien, but we’d best be prepared for something magical.”
“‘We’?”
“Yeah. We’re going undercover.”
“What, as a married couple?”
“Yeah. Benjamin and Astrid Rivers.”
“No way. No offense or anything, but no.”
“It has to be you.”
“Why not Caleb? He knows you better.”
“Caleb can’t act to save his life. He can’t even tell a decent lie.”
“Very true,” the man in question admitted, coming into the main room, a grin on his face. “I used to get us in trouble all the time at school, till I learned to shut my mouth and let Paula do the talking.”
“You never learned it. You just got sick of limping.” To Cole, she added, “Gwyn used to step on his foot to shut him up.”
“Whatever,” said Caleb easily. “Anyway, the point is that for now, you two are married.”
“Right,” Cole said uncomfortably. He glanced over at Paula, who seemed unconcerned as she checked over their fake IDs. But then she would be; it was her idea. Great. Just great.
~ ~ ~
“Relax, Ben,” Paula teased as they pulled into the parking lot of Briarwood Counseling.
“Shut up, Astrid,” Cole said. She just laughed at him. Which didn’t improve his mood any.
“Well, that hostility you’re projecting certainly makes us seem like we need counseling,” she commented mildly. “I guess it’s a nice touch.”
“Paula, why is it you seem to find this so damned funny?”
“Because it is. Lighten up, Turner.” She smiled at him. “Cole, honestly, relax.”
How could he explain that he couldn’t? He was wearing a wedding ring again, for the first time in months. It was silver, unlike the gold one he’d once worn, but still. The feel of it was the same. And pretending to be married to Paula... There were times he knew she was a Halliwell, a certain gesture or reaction that all four of the other Halliwells he’d known had shared, but that wasn’t what the real problem was.
The woman was getting to him. He couldn’t explain it. Once he’d thought he’d be blind to anyone but Phoebe, but lately he’d been thinking about a gold-eyed witch rather than a brown-eyed one. He just wasn’t sure exactly how to handle the situation. He didn’t exactly have a good history with this sort of thing.
Behind her casual teasing, Paula wasn’t nearly as much at ease as she appeared. Because she too was dealing with a rather unwise attraction. There was the whole skating-on-the-edge-of-incest feel to it, but it was more than that. She hadn’t really had any interest in men since Micah had walked out - except for those handful of rebound one-nighters when she’d been trying to drink away her pain - and this wasn’t something she’d wanted. But she couldn’t seem to help herself.
Somehow she had to get herself back under control. Having an affair with a coworker was a very bad idea. She’d broken so many rules, so many taboos, but she’d managed to avoid this one. Technically, Micah hadn’t been a coworker. She’d never been on Torchwood’s payroll. Though she supposed the one-night stand with River could be considered sleeping with a coworker...
Paula shook the thoughts away as she and Cole approached the entrance. They were undercover, which meant it was time to concentrate on business. Though in this case business was a little too aligned with personal issues for her comfort.
~ ~ ~
The process of getting a spot in the clinic was tedious, but basic. They filled out long questionnaires, asking everything from medical history to sex life. Well, we didn’t plan for this one, Paula’s voice echoed in his head.
Cole tried not to jump. Damn it, Paula!
Sorry. So, no sex life? That’ll help explain the tedium, and it’s not even a lie. Unless you’ve been spending your salary on hookers, which I don’t advise, by the way. You’re human now, you can catch things.
Funny. And no sex life is fine.
Are you sure you’re male?
Do you want to check? Maybe he shouldn’t have said that. However, it achieved his aim - namely to get her out of his head. In fact, she didn’t even look at him after that.
When they were called in to see the doctor in charge, a Dr. Rowlands. He took a look at their questionnaires, his eyebrows shooting up at a certain point. “Hmm. Yes, I can see the problem. Well, we can fit you in. In fact, a space just opened up in our residence facility.”
“Uh, sorry, residence?” Paula asked, not having to fake her sudden alarm.
“Yes, Mrs. Rivers. I think we need to get started on the two of you right away,” he said. She didn’t like the excitement that flashed briefly through his eyes.
“Look, I really don’t think -”
“Mr. Rivers, you agreed to whatever I felt was best for the health of your marriage. Trust me, this will be very beneficial.”
“That’s fine, Doctor. We just need to go home and pack,” Paula said quickly. “Come on, Ben, let’s go.”
~ ~ ~
“‘We just need to go home and pack’? Paula, are you crazy?” Cole yelled once they were in the car.
“No. We need to get inside, remember? Look, I don’t like it much either, but do you see another option here?”
“Yeah, we forget about this. They’re a damn counseling group, Paula, even if they’re not natural they’re helping people with it.”
“And if their idea of helping is some kind of mind control? If that’s what they’re doing, Cole, their patients are not giving consent. That makes it mind-rape. Do you understand what that is?”
“Yeah, I do.”
“No, I don’t think you do. I do. I know all about what mind-rape is. I can do it, hell, I have done it a time or two. If they’re doing that, Cole, I’m shutting them down.”
He stared at her. She was gripping the steering wheel so tight that he was willing to bet her knuckles were white under the black gloves. The expression on what he could see of her face was similar to one he had himself; the expression he wore whenever he thought about his actions as a demon. “Paula...”
“No, Cole. I don’t want to talk about it.”
“All right, fine. So, how long should we pack for?”
They’d reached a stop light, so it was perfectly safe for her to turn her head and give him full eye contact. She didn’t say anything, but she didn’t have to. He got it, and that meant something. More that that, he was willing to do something he wasn’t happy about to stop whatever was happening at Briarwood. That meant a lot more.
~ ~ ~
After they packed and returned to the clinic, they were taken to the residence facility in a clinic-owned van. An aide directed them to a room and left them there alone. Paula glanced around, taking in her surroundings. The room looked like a nice hotel room, with two nightstands, a bureau, and a bed. Bed, as in singular. Uh-oh.
“This is awkward,” Cole said.
“A little bit, yeah. But we’re civilized adults, so it’s not like we can’t handle it,” Paula said lightly.
“Do you snore?” Cole said with a grin.
She laughed. Yeah, they could handle this. “No, I don’t. Gwyn would’ve said; we roomed together during the summers. Do you?”
“No.”
“Good. What about kicking?”
“No. You?”
“No.”
“Well, we’re all right then.”
~ ~ ~
They had dinner in a nice dining room with other couples. Some, like them, were tense - though in their cases it was from true relationship issues - while others were almost nauseatingly loving. A few were in between the extremes, but only a very few.
It was a relief to get back to their room - except, Cole thought, for the fact that it was their room. That made it extremely uncomfortable. Paula seemed to be as uneasy as he was, which only made it worse. He tried to think of something to talk about, hoping to distract them both.
“So, have you ever gone undercover before?” he asked, curious.
“A few times,” she replied, then smiled. “The first time, I was working with an NCIS - Naval Criminal Investigative Service - agent. See, back then, I actually worked for DESI on an official basis, and I was on an undercover joint op.”
“Sounds interesting. So, was it fun?”
“Ir was a learning experience. I was in New Orleans, with an agent named Jennifer Shepard. I hear she’s the director now.” Paula smiled. “I’m not surprised. She was good. I picked up a lot.”
“You liked her.”
“Yeah, we got on pretty well. She’s another redhead.”
“And you didn’t kill each other?”
“Well, we argued a lot, but we were friends. I haven’t heard from her in a long time, though. Maybe I should look her up.”
“Maybe you should. Once we’re done with this undercover mission.”
Paula chuckled. “Yeah, I think I will.”
~ ~ ~
When it was time to get ready for bed, Paula went into the bathroom to change and Cole changed in the bedroom. Usually he just wore a pair of sweatpants to bed, but he added a worn T-shirt tonight. Somehow, he didn’t think going shirtless was a good idea.
Paula stepped out of the bathroom wearing a long, sleeveless gray nightgown. She still wore her black gloves. “Don’t you ever take those off?” Cole asked.
Paula shook her head. “No. I can’t. If I do...” She shook her head again, harder, but he could tell that this time the gesture was to dispel unpleasant memories. “Well, anyway, I don’t ever take them off. That’s why you’ll never see me in anything long-sleeved; long sleeves and long gloves don’t mix too well.”
“Oh. That must be fun in winter.”
“Says the California boy. Trust me, you have no idea how cold it can get in New England.”
“I was here before.”
“Yes, as a demon. Full-bloods are impervious to cold; half-breeds barely notice it.”
“I thought you weren’t a demonologist.”
“Not in-depth, no, but the basics I have down.”
“Oh.”
They didn’t say anything else, and soon they went to sleep. Cole tried to ignore the feel of her next to him and finally managed it, drifting off.
~ ~ ~
Paula’s eyes snapped open in the dark and she gasped, regaining herself. Remembering that she wasn’t alone, she reached out with her mind to ensure that Cole was still asleep before rolling quietly out of the bed.
The room had a large window with a window seat and it was there that she went, curling up and looking out at the night sky. It wasn’t anything new, she was used to nightmares. Sometimes they were about her brief descent into darkness after Diana’s death, but tonight...
She still remembered what had happened, in the future New York in the year 5246. How the Doctor had been murdered by his own evil double, the Valeyard, and how she and River had watched him die. And then, after that, they would have been stuck in a time not their own, except...
The TARDIS was mildly telepathic. Paula had always known that, since she could feel it - her - in the back of her mind. And so she’d come up with the idea of touching the console with her bare hands, hoping she could tap into the TARDIS like a person and get them home. It had worked, but...
She wasn’t a Time Lord, not even close. But for a moment, she’d gotten a clue as to what it would be like to be one. She’d seen, felt, heard, so much, and even eight years later, her mind couldn’t quite comprehend it all. The Time Vortex had taken her, much as it had taken another companion, Rose Tyler, but it had let her go.
She’d been left different, of course. Her eyes had turned gold, and her talent for picking up languages - already enhanced because of her Whitelighter blood - had gotten even better. And her senses had changed slightly. She’d always been able to tell, through telepathy, whether someone had any level of power, if they were human, demon, or alien. But after the Vortex she could also sense when someone wasn’t in the proper time, or the proper reality.
But the memory of how it had felt... She’d burned with it, and sometimes she wondered how the hell she’d survived it. Even now she couldn’t have explained it. But she had, and the only harm it had done, in the end, was the nightmares that came back, of the burning, and of the awful disasters of years past and yet to come.
“Paula?” She jumped. Damn it, but she really needed to work on not missing people when she went all introspective.
“Hey,” she said quietly, looking up at Cole as he walked towards her.
He sat down next to her on the window. “You OK?”
“Yeah. Just a nightmare.”
He sighed. “Me too. Want to talk about it?”
“No. Do you?”
“Not really.”
She laughed. “You know, we’re a lot alike.”
“Yeah. You’re the only witch I know who takes the time to see both sides of the story.”
And just like that she knew what he’d been dreaming about. “Cole...”
“No, don’t. It’s fine; I’m learning to deal with it. It’s not easy, but I think I’m getting there.”
She smiled sadly. “I know how you feel.” She thought about that for a second and them amended her statement. “Well, no, I guess I don’t, exactly, but I have an idea, at least.”
“That’s something,” he said. “So, how did you get through the first few months?”
“I buried myself in research, investigations... Actually, I can thank Micah for giving me the drive to get this place off the ground. Sometimes though...” She shook her head. “Sometimes you just want to forget.”
She’d dropped her head, but he wanted her looking at him. He put his hand under her chin and lifted her face up. “And how do you do that?” he asked, his voice lower than it had been.
“You... well...” She couldn’t breathe properly.
“What?” He knew he was too close to her now, but he didn’t care. He didn’t mind the thought of that last bit of distance closing either...
The kiss started out gentle but soon became hard, passionate, and demanding. Part of Paula knew this was a really bad idea, but that part was silenced by the much louder part than just wanted this, wanted the man who was kissing her, wanted to chase away his heartbreak and her own.
~ ~ ~
Astrid opened her eyes slowly, feeling her husband’s arms wrapped around her for the first time in months. She didn’t want to get up and break the peace, but she saw it was half past ten, and she never slept that late. So, reluctantly, she pulled herself away. Oddly enough, Ben didn’t even stir. He wasn’t usually such a sound sleeper.
Then again, it had been a long time since they’d done more than sleep next to each other. Maybe she’d tired him out. With that amusing thought in mind, she walked to the bathroom for a shower.
She was about to step under the hot spray when she noticed the elbow-length black gloves on her hands. What the hell? She didn’t wear gloves like this, especially not to bed. She and Ben weren’t into costumes. So why was she wearing them?
Shaking her head, she took them off and moved to open the shower door. When her hand touched the metal handle, her mind was filled with fractured images, flashing by so fast she couldn’t make any sense of them. Crying out in fear, she jumped back, losing her balance and falling to the floor.
“Astrid?” Ben called from the bedroom.
“Ben, something’s happened to me!”
He ran in. “Yeah, you’re on the floor. Astrid, you’re fine.” He offered a hand to help her up. She stared at it as though she feared it would hurt her, shaking her head. He frowned, confused, before grabbing her hand to pull her up.
More images flashed through Astrid’s head, strange flashes of caves and a red, black-marked monster, and a pretty brunette woman. A pang of jealousy surprised her. Just who was that woman? She cried out and let go. “Ben What’s happening to me? I can’t touch anything without images popping into my head, they don’t make sense and I” She sank to the floor again, crying. Her head was killing her already.
And then it got worse. Because suddenly, voices filled her head, a chatter she couldn’t block out, getting louder and louder until it all became white noise. She screamed, curling into a ball. What was happening to her? “Ben, please, help me,” she whispered, though God knew how he was going to do that.
Ben could only watch helplessly as his wife sobbed on the floor. He didn’t know what was happening either. They’d come to this place to work on their failing marriage, and now Astrid seemed to be losing her mind.
That was when he heard a cell phone ringing, and he went to answer it, hoping foolishly that the person on the other line could help, somehow. He didn’t recognize the number on the caller ID, but he answered anyway. “Hello?”
“Cole?”
“I’m sorry, who?”
“Turner, it’s Caleb. Now stop being a smart-ass. Why are you answering Paula’s cell?”
“Who the hell are you and who is Paula?” Ben snapped. The voice on the other line was silent for a moment, and when the man spoke again, he sounded concerned.
“What’s your name?”
“Ben Rivers.”
“Oh shit.”
“Finally realized you’ve got the wrong number?”
“No, I Um Is your wife all right? Astrid? Or is she having problems? Hearing voices?”
“How did you If you did this to her I swear -”
“No, no, I didn’t do anything, but I know what’s happening. Look, just stay where you are and I’ll be there to speak to you.”
“Who the hell are you?”
“Caleb Carnahan, and soon you’ll know that anyway.”
~ ~ ~
If Astrid concentrated, she could push the noise back enough that she could think. Enough so that she could function, and listen to Ben as he explained what he’d been told on the phone. She didn’t know the name Caleb Carnahan either, but for some reason, she felt she could trust him. The feeling would have scared her if there weren’t worse things to fear. Like the voices in her head or what happened when her bare hands touched anything.
She dressed and slid the long black gloves back on. With them on she felt a little more secure, a little steadier. She was safe from part of what was happening, at least. Safe from what happened when she touched things, but not safe from the voices in her head. Was she going crazy? But did crazy people wonder if they were going crazy?
She came back into the bedroom and sat quietly on the bed. Ben sat next to her, taking her hand in his. “Whatever’s going on, I’m here for you. I promise,” he told her.
She smiled at him. “I know. I just hope this Carnahan can help us. Whoever he is.”
~ ~ ~
Caleb wanted to bang his head repeatedly on the desk. This couldn’t be happening. It just couldn’t. Now, if only Cole’s memory had been wiped, Paula could fix it, but if whatever the Briarwood people had could mess with Paula’s head, how could he fix it? He was a witch, but not a telepath, and he didn’t know much about this kind of thing.
Gwyn had been a psychic but her powers had been centered on the dead. Even if he could track her down, she wouldn’t be able to help. So it was down to him.
Think, Carnahan, he told himself, standing in Paula’s library. Surely there was something here. But then again Paula’s powers were still there. What if he took something of hers and made her touch it? She was a stranger to herself right now, so she should pick up on her own imprints. If that jarred her memory, then she could fix Cole.
He left the office at a run, heading for Paula’s apartment. He wasn’t sure what he was going to take with him, but it had to be something she used a lot, something she’d had for a long time. God, he hoped this worked.
~ ~ ~
Carnahan was a tall blond man with worried hazel eyes. He walked in holding a necklace. The pendant was a five-pointed star in a circle - a pentacle, Astrid thought. Why was he carrying that?
“Hi,” he said uncomfortably, looking at the two of them sitting together on the bed. Oh, this is going to be a problem later, she heard him think.
“What’s going to be a problem?” she asked.
“Uh Look, Ms. Rivers, could you take this? After you take off a glove?” he said, holding out the necklace. She stared at him.
“Why would I touch that barehanded? I thought you knew what was happening to me.”
“I do, but you need to do this. Please. It should make things clearer.”
Astrid stared at him, but the plea in his voice seemed genuine. His eyes echoed what she heard, and so, reluctantly, she took off her right glove and took the necklace.
Mommy and Daddy fighting, Daddy leaving
Mommy walking away from her in the mall, she’s all alone
One home, then another, why didn’t they want her?
His hands on her body, his mouth on hers Her head hurts so bad and then he collapses
Diana and Con, “You’re a witch.” Training, family, Caleb, Gwyn and Ryan, the best part of her life.
Diana murdered, hunting in the Underworld, Con dying to save her
The Doctor and River, traveling through time.
Micah, who had broken her heart without even looking back
Cole and Caleb again, Gemini and a undercover op
“Caleb?” she gasped, staring up at him.
“Hey, Red.”
“Excuse me?” The angry voice belonged to Ben - no, Cole. Oh, God, Cole. She’d slept with him, last night, and they’d definitely still been themselves. Shit.
But she could worry about that one later. Right now she had to fix him, before this got even messier. She turned her head, gold eyes locking on blue. She sent a hard jolt of power into his mind. He cried out before slumping to the floor, unconscious.
“Is he all right?” Caleb asked.
“When he wakes up he will be. Except for the headache, but that’ll pass.”
~ ~ ~
“So, Dr. Rowlands, who - or what - are you really?” Paula said coldly, staring at the doctor, who fidgeted under that cold glare.
“I’m just trying to help,” he said weakly.
“Mind-rape’s not helpful,” Cole snapped. “It’s manipulation. You’re taking away their choices, rewriting who they are. What if other people lied like we did? Not as much, obviously, but you’re changing people!”
“I’m so sorry, I just thought,” Rowlands said, crumbling.
Paula studied him thoughtfully. “You really mean it, don’t you?” Her voice wasn’t hard now, just curious. “You really came here to help people.”
“Came here? I don’t understand.”
“You’re an alien of some kind, or a human from the future, because there’s nothing in this time that’d do what you did except magic, and I’d’ve felt that.”
Rowlands closed his eyes, looking even more defeated, if that were possible. “I’m only trying to help people. It’s what I’m meant to do, help people find love. Or rediscover it. I helped you too, didn’t I?”
That didn’t bear responding to. Cole and Paula got up, Cole striding out without another word. Paula studied the doctor. “Help people without messing with their heads. The most you can do is lower their defenses a bit. That’s helping. And if you don’t, we’ll be back, and it won’t be to give a second warning.”
~ ~ ~
The vodka wasn’t helping. Granted, she’d only had half a glass, so maybe that was it. But unfortunately, the burning liquid was only reminding her of a visit to bar where she’d ordered something far less strong and had told a blue-eyed man that getting drunk didn’t help.
“Damn it!” she snapped, throwing the glass against the wall.
“Remind me not to piss you off.” She whirled to see Cole standing there.
“Ever heard of knocking?”
“Yeah, but I wasn’t sure you’d let me in. Look, Paula, about”
“We do need to talk about it, don’t we?”
“I think so. I’m not going to say I’m sorry, because I’m not, but I’m not going to expect anything.”
“I’m the woman; isn’t that my line?”
“I wouldn’t know. I’ve only been human for a few years and my only other real lover tried to kill me - actually, she did kill me.”
“Cole”
“Well, it’s true.”
“The only man I ever let myself love ripped my heart out the day he left me alone in a Dublin hotel. Neither of us have a stellar track record.”
“So where do we go from here?”
Paula closed the distance between them, standing right in front of him. “I don’t know. Why don’t we find out?”
“I can do that,” he said, bending to kiss her.