canon: everything changes

[pc_cooper]

It was a rainy, nasty night. Cold and wet as Gwen walked through the throng of police officers, peering over people's shoulders to get a look at the body in the alley, illuminated in the rain by lamps. A police officer walked by with coffee in a cardboard holder. She snagged one with a smile, "Aw, thank you

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[othercaptjack]

Captain Jack Harkness rakes his fingers through wet hair before shoving his hands back in his pockets. Cold night, as if Cardiff ever gets really warm. The team knows what they're doing, he doesn't need to give out instructions for once, so instead he just feels the cold rain on his face, the taste of it when he licks a drop from his lower lip

[thefirstsecond]

Suzie shakes her head, trying to pay as little attention to Owen's whining as possible. "Nothing yet. It's gotta connect- I've just gotta feel it."

Owen, shut up.

"I can't just flick a switch!" she says defensively, struggling to keep her mind on the glove. "It's more like access. It-- it grants me access."

It's always like this at first- hard to to over-ride the instincts that say she shouldn't be doing this, that she'll get burned. Then to focus, to let the glove take over her senses and let her need to control fade away into the background.

"Whatever that means," Owen grumbles, but suddenly he seems to be somewhere a little way away. It's working, it's-

"It's like-- Oh!"

And there, it's that little almost satisfying click as it happens, as the glove comes to life.

"Positions!" barks Jack, and Owen complains again. Suzie almost wishes he would get punched again

[oohshinyalien]

"There was... there was... Oh my God! What the hell's going on?!"

Tosh is kneeling on the wet ground next to the victim, with water dripping from her chin and the ends of her hair. She leans forward a little, towards the frightened kid. There's no time to comfort him; she gets straight to the point.

"Listen to me. We've only got two minutes, so it's important that you listen-"

He interrupts her before she can get any further. "Who are you?" he asks, confusion and panic taking over his voice.

"Trust me," she replies, her voice calm but hurried. There really isn't that much time. "You're dead."

"How am I dead?" She can tell he doesn't believe her- why should he? It sounds like something out of a Sci Fi novel. If I didn't work for Torchwood even I wouldn't believe me.Owen answers for her- "stabbed"- he'll be annoyed that she told the poor lad he was

[othercaptjack]

Jack crouches down slowly, looking at the dead - not dead - dead man. "What's your name?" he asks after a moment, voice calm.

The pale, wet face stares back at him, uncomprehending, but the calm voice and its question seems to reduce the panic, just a little.

"...John. John Tucker."

"Okay, John. Not long now." And hell knows that's a cruel thing to say, but it doesn't seem worth it to lie to this man, not right now, and Jack keeps his voice level. It's hardly the first time he's spoken to a trauma victim, though thinking about then never helps much. He knows how to say it, but what?

"Who are you?" asks John plaintively, so confused and still terrified.

"Captain Jack Harkness." He hesitates, then goes on. If this were a living person he'd be in advanced shock, but of course he isn't now.

"Tell me. What was it like when you died? What did you see? John, tell me what you saw."

Jack had tried to keep his voice steady, but urgency creeps through - what if this is the only chance to know he'll ever have? - as Suzie distantly says