Just Imagine...

Magic Rooms

St Teilo's Hospital was deathly quiet. Which was rather ironic, Gwen thought as she walked through the dark, deserted hallways of the abandoned building. It was cold too, and Gwen pulled her jacket tighter around her, shivering.
"Mummy! Mummy!"
Gwen froze.
She had no idea where the voice had come from, but she was certain it wasn't a real person. Not from this time period at least. Had there been children at this hospital?
There was a giggle as two children, a girl and a boy, both with freckles like Gwen's on their cheeks, ran across the room in front of her. There was a rippling in the walls as they shifted, turning pale pink.
This couldn't be what the hospital had looked like, could it? And besides, Jack hadn't said anything about the ghosts changing the rooms.
Gwen looked around, taking in her surroundings. She was standing on a fleecy cream-colored carpet on a hardwood floor. A wooden cabinet with a tv and a couple pictures on it was to her right, and a grey couch was to her left. The two kids had ran through a door beside the couch and disappeared, and for some reason that made Gwen feel a little sad. She glanced at the pictures by the tv and had to do a double take, because what she was seeing was so surprising. One picture was of the team - herself, Jack, Ianto, Sam, Owen, and Tosh - all standing in front of an airplane. The other two were of Gwen and Rhys, and in the first one they were holding a baby wrapping in a pink blanket between them. The frame proudly stated "it's a girl!" in silver letters. In the second picture, there was a little girl with Gwen and Rhys, who looked like the girl who'd ran through before, only a bit younger. Rhys was holding a second baby in his arms, grinning proudly.
Gwen didn't know what to make of this, but she knew this definitely wasn't a part of the temporal shift. This seemed more like the future than the past.
Slowly, carefully, Gwen reached out to touch the picture of her and Rhys and the two children. There was a spark of electricity as it all disappeared, leaving Gwen in a cold, dark, vacant room once again. She shuddered.
"Gwen?" Jack murmured through her comms, making her jump.
"What?" She asked softly, smiling gratefully in the knowledge that her best friend was with her, even if he was on the other side of the abandoned hospital.
"Are you alright?" Jack prompted, sounding worried.
"Yes, just..." Gwen looked around the empty room once more, "I just saw a ghost. I think the temporal shift is getting stronger."
"Agreed." Jack said with a laugh.
He was walking down a dimly lit hallway, still feeling the chill despite his greatcoat.
"Should we head back?" Jack asked, but at that moment he heard the sound of humming. The air around him grew warmer as the doors in front of him swung open, rusty hinges squeaking, and Ianto walked through. Jack didn't actually recognize his lover at first, he was wearing completely different clothes - a short sleeved shirt, shorts, and sandals - and carrying a pitcher of lemonade. He was humming softly to himself, a contented and blissful little smile on his face.
"Ianto?" Jack asked, reaching out to him.
Jack's hand passed right through Ianto's body, making him shudder inexplicably. Ianto carried on like nothing had happened, still humming that sweet tune, then turned into the nearest room.
Jack ran after him, desperate to find out what was going on. He stopped when he realized he was standing in a fully furnished living room. There was a little boy stacking rainbow colored blocks and a little girl skipping around the room singing to herself.
"Dragons fly high, dragons fly high, higher than the sky, so the stars can be mine! Dragons fly high, dragons fly high, higher than the sky, it's dragon flying time!"
Jack realized it was the same tune Ianto had been humming before. Where was Ianto? Who were these kids?
"Jack?"
Jack started at Gwen's voice.
"Y-yeah," he stammered, "I'm fine, I just... saw some ghosts too."

"Are you okay?" Sam asked Tosh in a gentle voice as they left the hospital, her strong arm around Tosh's shoulders.
Tosh bit her lip.
"I'm fine," she lied, "I'll be fine."
"Listen, I know you had feelings for Tommy and stuff," Sam murmured, "and I just wanna say I'm... sorry it had to be this way."
"What are you talking about? You've been gunning for me and Owen to get together since day one."
"Well yeah, but that doesn't erase the fact that you have feelings! How shallow minded do you think I am?"
Tosh was suddenly distracted as warm air washed over her. She stopped as she spotted a young family in a room to her right, realizing with a jolt that it was her and Owen. Tosh was lying in bed with a baby in her arms, as Owen stood over him with a little boy clinging to his neck.
"Look, Samuel," Owen murmured, grinning, "there's your sister."
"Tosh?" Sam asked, snapping Tosh out of it.
"Huh? Yes. I'm fine." Tosh said shakily.
"Are you sure?" Sam pressed, "you seem... really rattled." Tosh saw her eyes dart to the room she'd been staring into, which was now empty as it had been before. "Do you wanna spend the night at my place? Jay won't mind."
Tosh nodded slowly, feeling tears starting to roll down her cheeks.
"Thank you, Sam." She choked out. Sam smiled sympathetically as they kept walking, following the rest of the team back to the outside world.
Before they left, Tosh cast one last glance back over her shoulder, and for a second she thought she saw a little boy standing in the doorway where she'd seen... whatever that had been.
But when she blinked, he was gone.