czarina_kitty

Title: Nightmares
Author: czarina_kitty
Fandom: Torchwood
Pairing/character: team
Rating: PG-13
Summary: TYTNW wasn’t forgotten completely
Warnings: Post TYTNW, references to torture and death
Disclaimer: I do not own, or make any money from the use of, these characters.
A/N: Posted in response to the jantosparkle Pornsgiving Party and the leftovers theme. I don’t see myself ever finishing this, so…

Owen arrived at the hub early that morning. Earlier than he had ever been without an emergency call out. Well before sunrise and well before anyone else. So early, in fact, that it spooked Jack. Saying that Owen was not a morning person was a vast understatement and if he was up this early something was very wrong.

“Hey, did you forget I was back? There is no need for one of you to be here all night anymore.”

“No, I just…”

“What is it Owen?”

“It’s going to sound stupid.”
“Just tell me.”

“Okay. I…uh…had a bad dream.”

“You had a nightmare?”

“Yeah, but it was…so real. I know it’s stupid, I’m an adult for fuck’s sake, but it really scared me. I didn’t want to be alone.”

“It isn’t stupid Owen. I know a thing or two about bad dreams. Come on, I’ll make some coffee and you can tell me all about it.”

“It was while you were gone, I think, but it seemed like it had been longer. Gwen, Tosh, Ianto, and I we had all been captured. There were these weird metal balls floating in the air and somehow they captured us. I tried to protect the girls, but there were just too many guards. They separated me from the others and…you were there.”

“Where were you, Owen? Where did they take you? Where did you see me?”

“I think I was on a ship. With Harold Saxon, on board the Valiant.”

“Oh, God. Today must be…Tell me what happened to you.”

“I really don’t want to talk about it, Jack. I just don’t want to be alone right now.”

“Owen, I need to know what happened. This may have something to do with where I was when I left.”

“You’ve been back for months.”

“When I left, it was longer than 3 months for me. It was over a year. Harold Saxon was…he wasn’t human. He was a Time Lord called the Master…”

“Time Lord? Like the Doctor?”

“Same species, yes, but he was nothing like the Doctor. The Master was, evil, insane. He kept me prisoner, tortured me for an entire year. It was months into that year when he captured you. And he killed you, one by one, while I had to watch. I watched you die. All of you.”

“How is that possible?”

“There was a paradox machine, a TARDIS modified to open a portal in time and space. When it was destroyed, everything went back to how it was before. You never died and only a few people remember what happened during that year.”

“So, what’s with the nightmares? Why now?”

“I don’t know. Maybe today was when you died, in the other timeline. Maybe this was an echo of your death, a ripple effect from being so close to the rift. I don’t know, but you’re here now and you’re safe. Why don’t you try to get some sleep? I’ll be nearby if…”

Jack was interrupted by the sound of the proximity alarm, announcing that Gwen had just arrived. She looked pale and even from across the room it was obvious that her eyes were red rimmed from crying.

“Gwen, what happened?” Jack asked, drawing her attention to the couch where he and Owen sat.

“Jack,” she said, crossing the room and collapsing into his arms. “I had the worst nightmare. It was so real.”

“Tell me about it.”

“I…We were all captured, Owen, Tosh, Ianto, and I. You were there, but you couldn’t help us. They took Owen away and then they came back for me. I tried to fight them, but I couldn’t get away. There were too many of them, guards and flying metal spheres everywhere. I’ve dreamed about the spheres before, but never like this.”

“When did you dream about the Troclafane? The spheres? How often?”

“Almost every night since…since you came back. Jack? What’s going on here?”

“You two go to Toshiko’s flat. Wake her up if you can, but it is probably too late for that. It wasn’t long after…” He stops talking as the door opens and Toshiko enters. One look at her and Jack could tell she was just as shaken up and the other two had been when they arrived. Maybe more so.

“Damn it. You two explain this to her. I need to go wake up Ianto.”

“He’ll be fine, Jack. We made it through our nightmares, scared, but intact. He’s strong, it’ll be okay.”

“You don’t understand. His death was…bad. It wasn’t quick and he was…” Jack ran towards his office as the sound of Ianto screaming filled the air.

“Owen,” Jack yelled from the bunker under his office. “I need you down here. I can’t get Ianto to wake up.”