Burning Cosmos {A Torchwood Story Three} [COMPLETED]

25. Two Funerals And A Wedding

Jammed the phone lines, got the singularity scalpel, cornered the Nostrovite. In front of everyone. Looks like Retcon in the champagne this evening.

The alien, disguised as Rhys' mother, has Gwen's mum in a chokehold. We all hold position around her with our guns up, steady, waiting. In the centre, a few steps away, is Gwen.

I look to Owen as he stands slightly further away than me, and his glance is nervous. Without the singularity scalpel, he's in more danger than the rest of us.

Gwen talks evenly, making calculated steps, and waits until the alien has thrown her mother off to pump her full of bullets. The alien squeals and black blood squirts out as it runs away, and immediately Jack and I are after it.

Leaving Owen and the rest to sort out the party, we dash through endless hedges and fancy topiaries, trying our best to follow it. It's too fucking fast! Even with multiple bullet wounds, it can outrun a Time Agent and a Time Lord.

Eventually we run out of steam, as we look around to find only us in the gardens.
I lean over to catchy breath, my gun on my thigh. "What are we gonna do, Jack? Bullets don't stop it and it's too fast for us. We don't even know enough about the race. What the fuck are we gonna do?"

Before he can reply we hear more gunshots, and run back to the house together. The maze of rooms confuse both of us and we hop in and out of each room til we find the one Owen, Tosh, and Ianto are in. On instinct he pulls a gun on us, at Jack, and I slap it out of his hands.
"What are you doing, you twat, it's us."

Owen lowers his gun, and with a disappointed grimace says, "It thought I'd gone off."
I snort before trying to cover it up. Come on, you gotta admit it's a little funny.

"Right, we need a bigger gun," Jack orders, still a little out of breath. "Everyone, get to the SUV. I'll deal with the rest."
We run to the car and all help put together the biggest fucking gun I've ever seen. Jack wields it like it's nothing and heads towards the barn, where the alien is seen fleeing in that God awful green dress.
We watch him go, and as we do, Owen takes my hand. I look to him and find him watching me with tired, warm brown eyes.

I speak first: "I'm glad it didn't eat you."
"Me too. I don't think I would've tasted very nice anymore," he remarks, then smirks. "You, on the other hand, I'd like to test just to make sure."
"You two are as dirty as Jack," Ianto comments in his soft Welsh accent, and we all laugh and go back inside.

After a funeral, there's gotta be a wedding.

~∆~

With the alien gone, the bride not pregnant, and only one human dead (poor Mervin), it's time for the exchanging of the vows.
The team all line the third row, sitting upright in respect. I look over at Owen watching the union in front of him with a solemn yet calm expression, like he's watching a particularly fascinating TV show. At the end he claps with the rest of us, and actually breaks a smile, to Gwen and then to me.

It's a marvel to watch. And I love him for it.

But I do have to break the obligatory joke: "See, Owen, I hate to break it to you, but you are a human being with actual emotions."
He gasps like a villain in a movie and points at me. "You take that back!"

At the reception, we all sit at a table together. There's not really any point in attempting small talk with the rest of the party - we're Retconning them all in about twenty minutes time.
The bride and the groom dance slowly in the middle of the room, surrounded by a few couples reminiscing the time at their own weddings. Something as intimate as a first dance is so haunting to watch for someone like me, but I keep watching. I don't know why. It's something to do with my relentless loyalty to hope.