Torchwood Meets Torchwood

Chapter Ten

        Becca and Owen poked around through the tunnels near the van, but nothing could be found. They retreated, and continuously fought over how to get back.

        “I’m telling you Owen, it’s this way!” Becca was ready to take out her gun and shoot him on the spot.

        Owen shook his head, “No, definitely this way,” he began walking away from her.

       Becca clenched her fists in annoyance. She was on the verge of grabbing Owen by the collar and dragging him the other way. She was saved by the sound of shoes splashing through puddles.

        They looked at each other, nodded, and darted toward the noise. They ran out and saw both Torchwood teams headed toward their cars.

        “Tori!” Becca called.

        Tori stopped and looked over her shoulder. She waved Owen and Becca over. They rushed over and were instantly filled in on what they missed.

        “Alright, here’s the situation: none of our devices are working except Gwen’s Gizmo and the comms,” Tori paced slightly as she explained.

        Owen frowned, “Is that even possible?”

        Tosh interjected, “I didn’t think so, but she’s right, nothing’s working.”

        “Well this is a load of—” Owen voice was cut off by a gunshot.

         A loud, piercing sound that punched it's way through the air and hit someone.

         It hit Ari.

        Ari opened her mouth and shattered the night with a loud screech. She started to shake violently. The bullet had missed Tori by millimeters. Everyone looked around widly, trying to find who had pulled the trigger. Tori rushed to Ari, who was now a bloody heap on the cement.

        “Arianna? Ari, can you hear me?” Tori gave Ari a little tap, but she was shaking too much. “What the hell… Rebecca, get over here!” Becca rushed to Tori’s side at once. Becca looked down at Ari.

        “I’m gonna need some supplies or something,” Becca said. Tori shook her head.

           “We need to get out of here. Now,” Tori said.

           “But look at her! Where are we gonna go?” Becca argued.

        “The Hub, of course!” Tori replied hastily, picking up Ari from the cement.

        “No way! The Hub is in no shape for this stuff yet. We just got it, we can’t—” Becca was cut off.

        “You guys can come to our Hub.” Jack said. He took Ari from Tori and carried her to Torchwood Four’s car. “Will she be ok in here for the time being? The Hub isn’t that far,” Jack asked Becca.

        “I’m not sure…. Yeah, I guess. I’m going to check her out and see why she’s shaking so badly…” Becca replied. Ari was shaking violently now and Becca’s worry grew. The car started and drove south.

        “…Becca…” Ari said weakly.

        “Don’t worry Ari, we’re gonna get you to the Hub,” Becca told Ari. “But first we need to know what’s going on. Where does it hurt?” Becca asked her.

        “It hurts everywhere, but especially where the bullet hit,” she pointed to the lower right of her rib cage.

        Becca shook her head and turned to where Tori and Jack were talking intently, “Tori, Jack! I think that-that the bullet was covered in something!” Becca looked down slightly and began mumbling, “Maybe snake venom, that stuff is terribly toxic and I don’t have an antidote and she will-,”

            Tori broke in impatiently, “BECCA! Get to the point!” Tori glanced at Ari and then back at Becca, “Quickly.”

            “Alright,” Becca looked back up at Jack and Tori, “She’s been poisoned. I mean she could be shaking from shock but I dunno I guess poison is more likely, yes, yes, she's probably been poisoned-”

            “With what?” Jack asked quickly, cutting off her rambling.

            Becca shrugged, “I don’t know, but the bottom line is, depending on what it is, I may not have much time.” Becca scratched her head and went into deep-thinking mode. Mumbling to herself, she went over every possibility in her head. “I’m going to have to determine what kind of poison exactly,” Becca continued. Looking at Ari, she noticed her pupils had gone tiny and they were not reacting to light.

        “Ari!” screamed Becca.

        Ari was having trouble breathing, something else pointing Becca in the right direction. Between spasms she replied, “Y-Yeah??!!”

        “The good news is that if it was snake poison you’d be dead by now!”

        Tori looked confused, “How is that good news?”

       Becca turned to her, “I was afraid it’d be snake poison, because I’ve heard of attacks using snake venom before, but anyways, pretty sure I don’t have anything to treat her. If it’s what I think it is, then I should be able to treat it.”

        Becca turned back to Ari and the car took a sharp turn. Becca grunted as she hit her arm on the metal door, but she had more important things to do than worry about her bruised arm when her friend was bleeding to death.

        Bleeding to death. Shit. Becca looked at Ari and realized she had yet to stop the bleeding. She looked around wildly for something to press down on Ari’s stomach. Not seeing anything, Becca screamed, “Alright someone needs to give Becca their shirt!”

        She eyed Jack, but before he could do anything a gray t-shirt came flying back from the front seat as the car turned sharply again. Becca grabbed it while it was still in the air and subconsciously noticed it was Owen’s. A grin spread across her face for a millisecond as she used it to apply ample pressure on Ari’s stomach area.

        “Tori! Come hold this!” Tori, who was turned around in her seat watching what was going on, got up and immediately relieved Becca of her duty so she could move on to making sure she had the right antidote.

        “Becca…” Ari’s voice was weak, and Becca moved over to look directly into Ari’s blue-green eyes.

        “Yeah, Ari?” Becca noticed her eyes were tearing uncontrollably; yet another thing to keep in mind.

        “Is it bad?” Ari asked.

       Becca laughed slightly, “Yes Ari, very bad, but you're in pretty damn good hands if I do say so myself.” Ari smiled for a moment, but her eyes quickly closed as she had another spasm attack.

        “Not good…” Becca said, and then she yelled, “Oi! Drive faster I’m losing her!”

        Grabbing a stethoscope, she checked Ari’s heartbeat; it was very fast, spiking her blood pressure. Ari had about nine symptoms, and Becca was ready to call it.

        “Got it!” yelled Becca.

        Tori and Jack looked at her.

        “She’s been poisoned with Diazinon, it’s an insecticide outlawed in the US,” Becca motioned toward Ari, “Increased heart rate, small pupils, increased tearing, and tremors - all indications I am correct.”

        Flicking her hair out of her face, Becca continued, “I saw a case just like this with a farmer out in Liverpool.” Tori’s hands were covered with blood, so Becca pushed her out of the way and applied pressure on Ari’s wound herself.

        “Can you treat her here?” Jack asked.

        Becca looked around and quickly shook her head, “I will need to give her a special antidote, retrieve the bullet, and depending on how much trouble she has breathing I might need to put her on a respirator. In addition, there is no telling how many fluids I am going to have to pump into her by IV. We need to get to your Hub now.”