Burning Cosmos {A Torchwood Story Three} [COMPLETED]

18. Not Everybody Dies

"I shall walk the Earth, and my hunger shall know no bounds."

Gwen's been making herself useful and digging up a storm, all of which makes me extremely uncomfortable. The words that Evy told me I had uttered with pure black eyes was spoken by Death Himself - so that means that it's coming into the mortal plane through me. And fucking fast by the looks of it.

So what do we do in Torchwood when we don't know how to stop something bad happening? We freeze it.

Whilst Martha and Jack prepare the formaldehyde and ethanol solution they'll be injecting into my veins and freeze-drying my brain with, Gwen and Evy prepare me.
Gwen's hands glide over the trunk she folded my clothes into, and looks up at us. Evy is smoothing my white sleeves over my long undershirt, making her hands busy so she doesn't burst into tears. It's an Evelina thing - the last thing I'll see her do.

"Are you sure about this?" Gwen asks me, and I pause before saying, "I can't sleep, I can't drink, and I can't shag. And they are three of my favourite things."
Evy drops my collar and runs out of the room, her rapid steps echoing on the hardwood. I think I hear her sniffling, but maybe that's just desperate hope.

The only reason I'm still holding it together is because Gwen is here, staring at me. She stares at me for a moment longer before wrapping me in a comforting hug, erasing all of our past trysts and cementing our friendship further.
My exhales shudder and I clutch her back. "I don't wanna be like this."
I don't know which this I'm talking about, but either way I'm not going back.

I release Gwen from her grip on me and she stands back, tear tracks soaking her foundation into clear. Her eyes are red, and she sniffs long once. If Evelina were here instead of her, I would let my guard down and hug her one last time; cry and tell her I'm scared. But it's Gwen, so I just pull my features into a stony expression and walk out of the room and through the Hub to the autopsy room.

As I sit on the gurney, the same place Evy used to sit and swing her legs as we kissed, where I've pondered a million different ways to tell her I love her, Martha and Jack begin to strap me in before I put out a hand and say, "Wait."
They regard me curiously. I continue: "I want Evelina to do it."
They all turn to her, as she sits on the stone steps and opens her mouth in an O.
"Owen, are you-"
"Yes," I reply to Jack firmly. I want the last person I see to be her. Only her.

Evy gulps as she moves forward. Her eyes travel to me and then to Martha, as the doctor nods then turns to the equipment table. Then jumps back and screams.

There's a moment of freezing, before the glove jumps to Martha and we all snap to action.

"Lockdown!" Jack shouts and latches onto the glove, pulling with all his might, as the rest of the team fan out and get weapons; leaving me to struggle with my strapped-in self. The girls pull Martha up to the upper level of the room while I free myself, and Jack says to me, "Don't move."

The entire room is silent. Sitting up, frozen, my eyes scan quickly across the floor.
"Where did it go?" asks Gwen.
"I think it went under the cabinet," Evy breathes out, her voice shaking.
Jack eyes Martha, who looks scared out of her mind - and that's saying something. "Are you all right?" he asks her.
She nods. "Yeah. I think so."
The Captain lets himself breathe out a little, but it's interrupted by the sound of scuttling from everywhere across the area.
We turn our heads every which way, trying to spot the metal glove, but it suddenly goes quiet. Which is even more alarming.

Especially when it clamps onto Martha's railing.

The glove latches onto her face and Tosh runs to her with Jack and Gwen, but I grab a gun and stare as I watch Martha's hand turn wrinkled.
With a grunt, Jack rips the glove off and it flies over to me. I waste no time in pinning it under my foot and pointing my gun at it before shooting the fucking thing into final oblivion. I don't want these stupid gloves around any longer; none of this would've happened if they didn't exist!