Fic: Valiant 15/38
Title: Valiant Chapter 15/38
Author: MeiLin
Characters/pairing in this chapter: Gwen, Jack, the Master
Rating for this chapter: PG
Summary for this chapter: Gwen finds her footing and her resolve in the Cardiff underground.
A/N for this chapter: A version of this chapter appeared as part of the story "Darkness Under Heaven." It has been heavily edited and expanded.
Valiant Central Page
Gwen's first successful act as an insurgent was small, but satisfying. She was hiding in the sewers of ruined Cardiff waiting for the Toclafane to come for her. She couldn't imagine the Master was really going to let her escape clean.
But after a few hours of shivering in the muck and damp, it appeared she didn't matter enough to send someone or something after her. That couldn't be right. Gwen had no illusions about her own importance, but why go to all the bother of bringing her to the Valiant, and then to Cardiff? No, something was up.
All right, Cooper, she thought, run it down. If Torchwood had set someone--more likely, something--free, why would we have done it? She began cataloging the contents of her pockets, and found a Pakistan International Airlines napkin, a cough drop, her keys--and her abandoned earpiece. "Ah," she said.
Soon Gwen was on her way, moving through the sewer towards the remains of the Hub. Ianto's blood was still on her shirt, and if she let herself she could see Owen's sightless eyes and the bloody mess that had been Tosh's head, in the back of a lorry in Pakistan. She had to live for their sake. She was not a vengeful woman but now she would act for the dead, and, with hope, help the living.
All but one of her team were gone. She missed Jack desperately, and wished he were there to tell her what to do. But he'd been a good teacher. He'd suffered to help her get away, and she was determined to make him proud.
Gwen found a hole in the sewer wall, where whatever the Master had dropped on the Hub had breached it. Slipping through, she worked her way carefully down the wreckage until she reached the beginning of the relatively unscathed lower archives. She took out her keys, squeezed the tiny LED torch on her keychain, and walked in.
The archives ran deep below Cardiff, tunnels upon tunnels--more than a hundred years' worth, much of it uncataloged. She had her keys, she knew Jack's passwords, and she had Welsh luck on her side. She would see what she could salvage, and she'd move on. If the Master wanted to underestimate Gwen Cooper, fine. She could live with that. In the meantime, as long as she was alive, so was Torchwood.
Author: MeiLin
Characters/pairing in this chapter: Gwen, Jack, the Master
Rating for this chapter: PG
Summary for this chapter: Gwen finds her footing and her resolve in the Cardiff underground.
A/N for this chapter: A version of this chapter appeared as part of the story "Darkness Under Heaven." It has been heavily edited and expanded.
Valiant Central Page
Gwen's first successful act as an insurgent was small, but satisfying. She was hiding in the sewers of ruined Cardiff waiting for the Toclafane to come for her. She couldn't imagine the Master was really going to let her escape clean.
But after a few hours of shivering in the muck and damp, it appeared she didn't matter enough to send someone or something after her. That couldn't be right. Gwen had no illusions about her own importance, but why go to all the bother of bringing her to the Valiant, and then to Cardiff? No, something was up.
All right, Cooper, she thought, run it down. If Torchwood had set someone--more likely, something--free, why would we have done it? She began cataloging the contents of her pockets, and found a Pakistan International Airlines napkin, a cough drop, her keys--and her abandoned earpiece. "Ah," she said.
Soon Gwen was on her way, moving through the sewer towards the remains of the Hub. Ianto's blood was still on her shirt, and if she let herself she could see Owen's sightless eyes and the bloody mess that had been Tosh's head, in the back of a lorry in Pakistan. She had to live for their sake. She was not a vengeful woman but now she would act for the dead, and, with hope, help the living.
All but one of her team were gone. She missed Jack desperately, and wished he were there to tell her what to do. But he'd been a good teacher. He'd suffered to help her get away, and she was determined to make him proud.
Gwen found a hole in the sewer wall, where whatever the Master had dropped on the Hub had breached it. Slipping through, she worked her way carefully down the wreckage until she reached the beginning of the relatively unscathed lower archives. She took out her keys, squeezed the tiny LED torch on her keychain, and walked in.
The archives ran deep below Cardiff, tunnels upon tunnels--more than a hundred years' worth, much of it uncataloged. She had her keys, she knew Jack's passwords, and she had Welsh luck on her side. She would see what she could salvage, and she'd move on. If the Master wanted to underestimate Gwen Cooper, fine. She could live with that. In the meantime, as long as she was alive, so was Torchwood.