The Universe: Owen's Story - part two
Here's part two, I hope you enjoy it. Comments are love so please don't be shy.
Owen grabbed Toshiko by the arms, “Tosh I need you to calm down,” he said looking her in the eyes. “Tell me exactly what happened.”
Tosh had tears in her eyes but she didn’t shed them. Sometimes Owen thought he was the only one who could make Tosh cry. “I was asleep until Ianto started shouting, Manger was already there and moving towards him. Ianto had his gun out and was demanding that Manger bring Jack back. Ianto was moving backwards as Manger moved forward.” She frowned trying to remember the details; “Ianto was going to shoot him, I screamed at him not, because if he did we wouldn’t be able to get Jack back. I think I distracted Ianto because he looked at me and Manger reached out and…they were gone.”
“Great, now we have to find Ianto… we did find Jack he left us a message in an obituary. Right I’ll do a search from anyone in history called Ianto Jones…does he have a middle name?”
“No, you cross reference that with any deaths or obituaries and I’ll do searches on dates and locations that he know Manger has been to before he does seem to be a creature of habit and one that operates around the rift at that.” She pulled out her glasses and put them on. “Right let’s get to it.”
They once again set about searching history for their lost friend, Toshiko looked and looked again through every newspaper, news article and official document in the 1920’s right the way through to the end of the Second World War. Owen spent hours checking the names for everyone who had died in Wales from the beginning to the 20th century to the present date. The cog door rolled back and Gwen stepped through all bright eyed and brushy tailed.
“Are Jack and Ianto still having the week off” she called as she bounced up the stairs. No doubt that she was looking forward to a week in charge. Owen rolled his eyes at the thought off it. When Jack had been away before Gwen had attempted to take charge, all she really did was bark orders like the ones the police used to bark at her. If it hadn’t been for the fact that the team where extremely good at their jobs she wouldn’t have been able too run Torchwood for a friction of a second.
“Well sort off, if you count being kidnapped, ripped from time and dropped in god knows where having the week off. Then yeah they are” Owen turned to her stony faced. Her smiled faded as she realised that he was being serious.
“Oh my god…we need to…have you…oh god,” she put her head in her hands.
“Don’t panic too much, we’ve found Jack he’s alive the baby is safe. But we have no way of getting to him… we can’t open the rift and we’re not going too.” Gwen removed her hands from her face and looked at Owen. “Now we’re looking for Ianto, but we haven’t had any luck so far… maybe we’re missing something but without photographs it’s hard to identify him.”
Gwen decided to double-check the names Owen was finding in the records, and cross-reference with any photographs that could be found. Toshiko resorted to pulling up any and all photographs that she could find from the invention of the camera to the present date. She must have drunk her weight in instant coffee by the time Owen took over for her. She fell asleep on the sofa again; it had been almost forty-eight hours since Manger took Jack. Gwen was falling asleep at her workstation but Owen powered on the need for sleep died when he did.
He started to look through group photographs of miners, sailors, and factory workers anything that had more than one person in it. He figured as Ianto hadn’t have currency he would have to work and jobs that required you to do hard labour were always the easiest to get. He kept looking long after Gwen fell a sleep at her workstation and Toshiko woke up, made more coffee and returned to her work. She sat at her station one hand supporting her head the other tapping away at the keyboard.
A horrible thought crossed Owen’s mind what if Manger had took him to the future, here they would never find him. Just as his awful thought crossed his mind Toshiko shouted “I found him,” she pointed excitedly to a photograph she had on her screen. Gwen woke with a jump.
“Where?” she asked getting up and joining Owen and Tosh.
“He’s in this photo of some sort of crew, I think its he’s a waiter or something. Its defiantly a cruise ship.”
“What’s the date?” asked Gwen.
“The photograph is dated 1912” said Tosh slowly. Owen had a horrible feeling.
“Not April 1912… not April 14th 1912?”
Toshiko turned to Owen the tears that had been in her eyes all night were finally running down her face she nodded slowly.
“There must have been other cruise ships in 1912” said Gwen reasonably.
Toshiko scrolled down the page revelling the text at the bottom of the photograph. It read Titanic restaurant staff April 10, 1912.
“Oh Shit” said Owen turning away from the screen.
“Oh god,” said Gwen putting her hand over her mouth.
The hub was silent expect for the hum of the computers. Toshiko got up and moved over to the sofa she sat down and put her face in her hands. Gwen stared at the picture of Ianto and the other waiters on the screen, all dressed in their finest four days before they would surely all die. Owen just stood there marvelling in the fact that his body was no longer affected by these events. He no longer sweated, nor did his stomach tie itself in knots. He just felt numb and cold only it was his mind telling him he felt cold. He no longer felt anything at all.
Suddenly there was a strange beeping sound it filled the hub. Owen looked at Tosh who seemed to be wondering where it was coming from. It started to get more rapid, just as Owen figure out what it was it stopped. Then with an almighty bang the likes of which Owen had never heard before the cog door was blown right off its hinges. Owen and Gwen dived under his workstation arms over their heads. Toshiko fell off the sofa with a scream of pain. Owen crawled on his belly towards her; he rolled her on to her back. She had blood running out of her nose. It looked broken.
“Well, well, well if it isn’t the good doctor Harper and Miss Sato” said a voice from behind him, he turned slowly towards it stood over him was Captain John Hart and behind Hart stood a crew on five men and two women. All of them armed to the teeth and looking very mean. Captain Hart pointed at him and Toshiko, “That’s them” him informed his team. “Leave the other one she’s not important” he looked at Gwen, “kill her if you like.” Still on the floor Gwen tried to back away from a large black man who was moving towards her. He smacked her around the head with his gun. She went limp and slumped to the ground blood running down her forehead.
Owen picked Toshiko up and back away towards the autopsy room, “what the fuck do you want Hart?” he spat. He had a gun hidden in the medical cabinet if he could only get to it. He pushed Toshiko behind him, if anyone was going to get shot it would be the one that couldn’t die. A red haired woman just behind Captain Hart pointed a large mean looking gun at them and shot. He felt Toshiko’s hands tighten on his arm and grip his t-shirt and everything went strange. Something like a tight mask and body suit covered him completely he could move and he felt sure Tosh couldn’t either. As if he was hearing him speak from a great distantness Owen heard Hart said, “load them into the ship.”
Owen grabbed Toshiko by the arms, “Tosh I need you to calm down,” he said looking her in the eyes. “Tell me exactly what happened.”
Tosh had tears in her eyes but she didn’t shed them. Sometimes Owen thought he was the only one who could make Tosh cry. “I was asleep until Ianto started shouting, Manger was already there and moving towards him. Ianto had his gun out and was demanding that Manger bring Jack back. Ianto was moving backwards as Manger moved forward.” She frowned trying to remember the details; “Ianto was going to shoot him, I screamed at him not, because if he did we wouldn’t be able to get Jack back. I think I distracted Ianto because he looked at me and Manger reached out and…they were gone.”
“Great, now we have to find Ianto… we did find Jack he left us a message in an obituary. Right I’ll do a search from anyone in history called Ianto Jones…does he have a middle name?”
“No, you cross reference that with any deaths or obituaries and I’ll do searches on dates and locations that he know Manger has been to before he does seem to be a creature of habit and one that operates around the rift at that.” She pulled out her glasses and put them on. “Right let’s get to it.”
They once again set about searching history for their lost friend, Toshiko looked and looked again through every newspaper, news article and official document in the 1920’s right the way through to the end of the Second World War. Owen spent hours checking the names for everyone who had died in Wales from the beginning to the 20th century to the present date. The cog door rolled back and Gwen stepped through all bright eyed and brushy tailed.
“Are Jack and Ianto still having the week off” she called as she bounced up the stairs. No doubt that she was looking forward to a week in charge. Owen rolled his eyes at the thought off it. When Jack had been away before Gwen had attempted to take charge, all she really did was bark orders like the ones the police used to bark at her. If it hadn’t been for the fact that the team where extremely good at their jobs she wouldn’t have been able too run Torchwood for a friction of a second.
“Well sort off, if you count being kidnapped, ripped from time and dropped in god knows where having the week off. Then yeah they are” Owen turned to her stony faced. Her smiled faded as she realised that he was being serious.
“Oh my god…we need to…have you…oh god,” she put her head in her hands.
“Don’t panic too much, we’ve found Jack he’s alive the baby is safe. But we have no way of getting to him… we can’t open the rift and we’re not going too.” Gwen removed her hands from her face and looked at Owen. “Now we’re looking for Ianto, but we haven’t had any luck so far… maybe we’re missing something but without photographs it’s hard to identify him.”
Gwen decided to double-check the names Owen was finding in the records, and cross-reference with any photographs that could be found. Toshiko resorted to pulling up any and all photographs that she could find from the invention of the camera to the present date. She must have drunk her weight in instant coffee by the time Owen took over for her. She fell asleep on the sofa again; it had been almost forty-eight hours since Manger took Jack. Gwen was falling asleep at her workstation but Owen powered on the need for sleep died when he did.
He started to look through group photographs of miners, sailors, and factory workers anything that had more than one person in it. He figured as Ianto hadn’t have currency he would have to work and jobs that required you to do hard labour were always the easiest to get. He kept looking long after Gwen fell a sleep at her workstation and Toshiko woke up, made more coffee and returned to her work. She sat at her station one hand supporting her head the other tapping away at the keyboard.
A horrible thought crossed Owen’s mind what if Manger had took him to the future, here they would never find him. Just as his awful thought crossed his mind Toshiko shouted “I found him,” she pointed excitedly to a photograph she had on her screen. Gwen woke with a jump.
“Where?” she asked getting up and joining Owen and Tosh.
“He’s in this photo of some sort of crew, I think its he’s a waiter or something. Its defiantly a cruise ship.”
“What’s the date?” asked Gwen.
“The photograph is dated 1912” said Tosh slowly. Owen had a horrible feeling.
“Not April 1912… not April 14th 1912?”
Toshiko turned to Owen the tears that had been in her eyes all night were finally running down her face she nodded slowly.
“There must have been other cruise ships in 1912” said Gwen reasonably.
Toshiko scrolled down the page revelling the text at the bottom of the photograph. It read Titanic restaurant staff April 10, 1912.
“Oh Shit” said Owen turning away from the screen.
“Oh god,” said Gwen putting her hand over her mouth.
The hub was silent expect for the hum of the computers. Toshiko got up and moved over to the sofa she sat down and put her face in her hands. Gwen stared at the picture of Ianto and the other waiters on the screen, all dressed in their finest four days before they would surely all die. Owen just stood there marvelling in the fact that his body was no longer affected by these events. He no longer sweated, nor did his stomach tie itself in knots. He just felt numb and cold only it was his mind telling him he felt cold. He no longer felt anything at all.
Suddenly there was a strange beeping sound it filled the hub. Owen looked at Tosh who seemed to be wondering where it was coming from. It started to get more rapid, just as Owen figure out what it was it stopped. Then with an almighty bang the likes of which Owen had never heard before the cog door was blown right off its hinges. Owen and Gwen dived under his workstation arms over their heads. Toshiko fell off the sofa with a scream of pain. Owen crawled on his belly towards her; he rolled her on to her back. She had blood running out of her nose. It looked broken.
“Well, well, well if it isn’t the good doctor Harper and Miss Sato” said a voice from behind him, he turned slowly towards it stood over him was Captain John Hart and behind Hart stood a crew on five men and two women. All of them armed to the teeth and looking very mean. Captain Hart pointed at him and Toshiko, “That’s them” him informed his team. “Leave the other one she’s not important” he looked at Gwen, “kill her if you like.” Still on the floor Gwen tried to back away from a large black man who was moving towards her. He smacked her around the head with his gun. She went limp and slumped to the ground blood running down her forehead.
Owen picked Toshiko up and back away towards the autopsy room, “what the fuck do you want Hart?” he spat. He had a gun hidden in the medical cabinet if he could only get to it. He pushed Toshiko behind him, if anyone was going to get shot it would be the one that couldn’t die. A red haired woman just behind Captain Hart pointed a large mean looking gun at them and shot. He felt Toshiko’s hands tighten on his arm and grip his t-shirt and everything went strange. Something like a tight mask and body suit covered him completely he could move and he felt sure Tosh couldn’t either. As if he was hearing him speak from a great distantness Owen heard Hart said, “load them into the ship.”