Daughter of Torchwood

On The Run

The smoke from the Hub's destruction hung in a thick, choking veil over the Plass. Starla clawed her way back to consciousness, her hearing muffled by a shrill, metallic whine that made the world feel tilted. Her vision was a blur of grey ash; the familiar geometry of the water tower was gone, replaced by a smouldering crater.

"Ianto?" she croaked. She remembered his arm around her, the desperate heat of her father's last kiss, and then the world turning inside out. She stumbled to her feet, her brown boots skidding on loose debris. She was covered in grit, her chambray shirt torn at the shoulder. For a second, she thought she saw a dark shape disappearing into the shadows, but a muffled, rhythmic pounding drew her eyes toward a white ambulance idling near the pier.

Gwen's screams cut through the air. Starla sprinted toward the vehicle. Through the back window, she saw two men in green paramedic uniforms pinning Gwen to a stretcher.

Starla didn't hesitate. She grabbed a heavy fire extinguisher from the open side door. As the first paramedic reached for a syringe, she swung with every ounce of fury, the metal canister connecting with his skull. He crumpled instantly.

"Starla!" Gwen gasped, biting the arm of the second man and shoving him back. Starla followed through, delivering a brutal kick to the man's groin before bringing the extinguisher down on his head, knocking him cold.

The silence that followed was heavy with the smell of ozone. Gwen scrambled off the stretcher, pulling Starla into a crushing hug, "Oh, thank God. I thought you... I thought everyone was gone."

"I'm okay," Starla whispered, her frame shaking, "But Dad... the Hub... everything's gone."

"We find him later," Gwen said, her voice hard. She stripped the sidearms from the unconscious men, pressing a Glock-style pistol into Starla's hand. "Right now, we survive."

As they stepped out, a tiny red dot danced across Gwen's chest. "Sniper! Get down!" Starla tackled Gwen to the pavement just as a bullet shattered the ambulance window. Starla rolled and fired back, providing enough cover for them to scramble into the front cab.

Gwen slammed the vehicle into gear and roared away, pulling up in the shadow of the Millennium Stadium. "Who do you work for?" Gwen snarled, climbing into the back to confront the waking paramedic while Starla kept watch. When the man stayed silent, Gwen pressed the barrel of her gun against his eye, "You tried to kill us. Our friends are in that rubble. Don't think I won't pull this trigger."

"Government," the man finally stammered, "I just follow orders."

"Why would the government destroy Torchwood?"

"I just do as I'm told!" he screamed, lunging with a hidden syringe. Gwen shot him through the foot, his cry of pain echoing in the cramped space.

"Let's go," Gwen commanded. They made a frantic detour to Mavis's house, Starla's Gran was away in Spain, thankfully, to grab a spare jacket and some cash.

Minutes later, they burst into Gwen's flat, waking a bewildered Rhys. "Get up! We're being hunted!" Gwen shouted, tossing a backpack onto the bed.

"Starla? What's going on, man?" Rhys fumbled for his trousers, looking at the teenager standing guard at the window with a gun.

"Torchwood is gone, Rhys. Ditch the phone, ditch the book!" Gwen grabbed a contact lens case and the keys. Starla dropped her own phone on the counter, but not before sending a coded message to Mr Smith in Ealing.

The landline rang. Rhys answered before Gwen could stop him. "It's Ianto," he whispered.

Gwen snatched the phone, "Ianto? Are you okay?"