"And maybe this is why when Pandora opened the box that carried such calamities which inflicted all of mankind, gentle hope emerged too."
- an excerpt of Nikita Gill's poem "Where Hope Comes From"
or in which
the timechild is saved and finds the...
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Cardiff, Wales 1872 ***
Pandora found it odd, how her parents pushed her to be around Jack Harkness, more than that of her best friend Annabeth, or her friend, Genevieve. But the twenty-one-year-old thought nothing of it beyond them being grateful that a gentleman had found her in the woods that day and not another man with less than pure intentions.
So simply Pandora spent her days with Jack, enjoying his company. They often promenaded around Cardiff staying close to Pandora's home in an attempt to keep her on the good side of town so she couldn't get hurt and expose her alien characteristics. Jack had been telling Pandora jokes, laughing along with the blonde, her eyes wandered around them, watching the people they passed as she listened to Jack's voice.
Jack froze suddenly knocking Pandora out of her head as he stared at a man in front of him. "You up for an adventure, Andy?" He asked his eyes were sparkling with something akin to mischief as he gestured with his head to somewhere in front of them where a fish-man-thing was pickpocketing an older woman.
The man-creature-alien was humanoid in appearance only his head was replaced with a large fish. If Pandora remembered correctly the head of the alien in front of her was a blowfish.
"Absolutely, Jack!" She said with a grin as he slid his arm out from hers and grasped her hand. "Okay, let's run!" He tugged her along as she gathered her skirt in one hand allowing her to keep pace with his slowed run.
"There is a rift in time and space running through Cardiff and sometimes it lets things through," Jack explained Pandora barely understood what he was speaking about, as they dodged people who shot the pair nasty looks as they near sprinted down the sidewalk. "Things?!" She asked as she began to pant, running, particularly in her corset and a rather heavy dress, had never been Pandora's thing.
"Aliens, my dear! Aliens! " Jack called as they chased after the alien who pushed things as he passed them to try to slow them down, it worked though very poorly. Jack jumped over the items leaving Pandora to stumble over them as they ran after the alien. "Aliens.." She muttered to herself as she ran to catch up with the Alien and Jack.
They reached the alley the Blowfish-Alien had gone down, it was a dead end. The fish-man was banging helplessly on the wall. He turned to where Jack and Pandora were watching him, Pandora with a cocked head of curiosity and Jack with eyes narrowed into slits.
"Where are you from?" Jack asked the alien. His voice was cut short in a way that Pandora hadn't ever heard before. Jack kept a hand in front of Pandora preventing her from getting any closer as she inspected every fish aspect of his head.
"Why would I tell you that, your probably Torchwood. You just kill my kind! No mercy from Torchwood, no Sir.." The fish snarled.
"What the hell is Torchwood?" Jack asked, suddenly a gunshot blew from behind Pandora, one hitting between the eyes of the fish, and one hitting Jack in the center of his forehead. "Jack! No no no!" She caught him as he fell, red blood stained her blouse As she melted to the floor with him. Tears raced down Pandora's cheeks as all logic left her brain in her grief.
"Don't worry he'll be back in a couple of minutes." The voice from behind her spoke, she turned to them, two women stood behind her one still holding the gun that they had shot the fish alien and her best friend.
"Who the hell are you?" Pandora asked through her stifled tears.
"We're Torchwood."
Pandora gestured for them to explain as she watched the bullet push itself out of his head, the blood on his face remained as the wound sealed. Jack gasped awake, one hand going to cup Pandora's face. "Hello, Andy." He smiled at her. "Hello, Jack. You scared me half to death." He chuckled and shift to look at the women who stood behind him.
"Who the hell are you?" He asked, Andy, smiled at how similar the two think since they had been friends for years. She squeezed his hand as he sat up from where he was and leaned across Pandora's lap, bloodstains had soaked through her blouse and onto her skirt.
The women rolled their eyes.
"We're Torchwood, and you two are coming with us."
Jack scoffed. "Like hell we are."
"Oh no, you are." They shot Jack again and placed a cloth over Pandora's mouth and nose, she pulled at the woman's hand as she panicked before everything began to spin, and she fell to the ground.
