Daughter of Torchwood

Children of Earth

"In 1965 I gave the 456 twelve children."

Gwen looks at Jack horrified and wide-eyed, "You just... handed them over and hoped for the best?"

Clem cowers behind her, "You are in every nightmare I've ever had."

"I'm sorry. I'm really sorry," Jack looks down, "I..."

Clem surges forward, grabbing Gwen's gun. He shoots Jack in the chest and then looks horrified by what he's done.

Ianto rushes towards Jack, pulling his body into his arms, "Dad!" Starla grabs his hand.

Gwen tries to calm Clem down, "Okay..."

Clem brandishes the gun at her, "Stay away!"

"Give me the gun, Clem. Come on."

"You're on his side."

"Give it to me."

"And he's on their side. You're all involved!"

"Gwen, get away from him," Rhs panics, "He's dangerous!"

"I'm not dangerous!"

"We know! We know you're not. We know that."

"But that's a lie. Isn't it? Isn't it?" He stutters, "We both know. I... killed a man, her Dad. I am dangerous."

"Can I take that?" Gwen slowly moves her hand to the gun, Clem surrenders it to her and she passes it off to Rhys before hugging Clem.

Clem stares at Jack's body, "But it wasn't my fault... There is something up there. They want children. That man held my hand and took me to them."

Jack gasps back to life, gripping Ianto tightly.

"This is normal," Gwen tries to reassure Clem, "This is what he does. Starla knew her dad was going to be okay."

"No!" Clem flees the scene, running to a different part of the warehouse.

Gwen chases after him, "Clem! Clem, it's all right!"

Ianto speaks once he's helped Jack up and into a chair, "I can't believe you didn't mention this before."

"They didn't speak through kids back then. I didn't recognize the signs at first."

"That's not what I meant."

Rhys comes into the area, "They're coming back."

Clem and Gwen enter, Gwen with an arm around Clem, "The man who sent me and my friends to die can't die himself!"

"It was a protection, right?" Starla asks her Dad as he changes into a new shirt, "You knew they'd be back."

"I knew it was a possibility."

"But you still gave them the pay-off."

"We had no choice, Star!" He raises his voice a little.

"Why us?" Clem asks him.

"You wouldn't be missed," Jack doesn't look him in the eye, "All of this time, the one consolation I had was that... the deal seemed to work."

Gwen shakes her head in disbelief.

"It worked for forty-four years," Rhys seems to understand that Jack had no choice back then, "That's not bad for breathing space."

"Why was I left behind? What's wrong with me?"

"We know they only want pre-pubescent kids. Maybe it's got something to do with that. Maybe you were just on the cusp of puberty, not quite adult, not quite child..."