Articles Episode Breakdown: Exit Wounds by DJ Forrest

Written by Chris Chibnall

Directed by Ashley Way

Original Airdate: 4 Apr, 2008

Continuation from Fragments

Returning to where the SUV had been parked earlier, Owen supporting an injured Toshiko, curses Hart.

   ‘Bastard John’s taken our SUV.’

Ianto is tracking him on a hand held tracking device.

   ‘Looks like he’s driven it back to Torchwood.’

   ‘I'm getting readings of rift activity all over the city. Major rift flares at St Helen's Hospital, the Police Headquarters and the Central IT Server Station.’ Toshiko informs them reading the data on her own data reader.

Gwen’s answers her phone. It’s Andy.

   ‘Gwen, you've gotta get here right now. I'm serious, we need you.’ Andy insists as he makes his way down the stairs. Blood taints the walls. It’s pandemonium.

Reaching Rhys’ car, Gwen informs Andy that they’re on their way. Closing her phone she looks directly at Jack.

   ‘This is him, isn’t it? This is Captain John or whatever he likes to call himself.’

   ‘Rhys, drop Owen at the hospital. Tosh, Ianto, cover the Central Server building. Gwen, the police station, and take me to Torchwood.’ Jack instructs.

   ‘You think we're all going to fit in here?’ Rhys asks as everyone piles in.

   ‘Jack, these are traps.’ Toshiko insists, remembering their last run in with Hart.

   ‘So be careful. You know what he’s capable of.’

   ‘What about you?’ Gwen asks.

   ‘I’m gonna go reason with him.’

   ‘He just tried to kill us.’ Owen points out.

   ‘I was the only one who could ever control him. That's why the Time Agency partnered us.’

   ‘Did you just say Time Agency? Don’t tell me that’s based in Cardiff too.’ Rhys says as Jack climbs into the front seat.

As Rhys drives them back into the city, Owen wonders what Hart wants.  Jack intends to find out.

As the central door rolls back, Jack hears the sound of ‘I Lost My Heart to a Starship Trooper’ blast over the sound system. John Hart is waving a scarf like a fan at a concert.

   ‘Come on, sing along. It’s our song.’ He encourages.

   ‘We don’t have a song. And if we did have a song, it wouldn’t be this song.’

John shuts off the sound system.

   ‘You’re no fun.’ He pouts.

   ‘Thank you.’

   ‘I've been here quite a while. What kept you?’

   ‘We all survived. You know, if you're gonna set an explosion, you need to be more efficient.’

   ‘Oh, them, pfft.’ Hart waved them off, as he descended the stairs. ‘They were just prototypes. Had to test out a theory. How are they all, your little team?’

   ‘What do you want?’ Jack asks facing Hart across the Hub floor.

   ‘I want you to know that I love you.’

   ‘Funny way of showing it.’

   ‘No, seriously. You have to understand.’ Hart turns his back for a second. ‘I really do love you.’ Gripping the two semi automatic machine guns he turns back to face Jack and empties both clips in his partner. Jack is taken by surprise and falls face down into the water at the bottom of the tower. Dead.

   ‘Because this is gonna get nasty.’ John replies, lowering the guns.

Cardiff City Police HQ at 5:27pm.

Gwen and Rhys enter the police station to find dead bodies littering the corridors, blood spattering the walls, and white suited forensic officers reviewing the situation. Andy rushes towards Gwen relaying what’s happened.

   ‘They just appeared out of nowhere, across the whole building. They weren't human. At least, not like any human I've ever seen.’ Andy explains as Gwen quickly studies a body on the ground.

   ‘Half the station's in shock. Four most senior officers murdered. Everyone's running round like headless chickens. Whoa, Rhys, what you doing here? This is a crime scene, and a confidential crime scene at that. If it gets out what happened here gets out, there'll be a city wide panic.’

   ‘Rhys isn't going to go blabbing.’

   ‘Hey, I'm keeping more secrets than you'd believe.’

   ‘Oh, like what?’

   ‘Like a Time Agency based in Cardiff.’

   ‘Oh, it's not based in Cardiff.’

   ‘Brilliant secret. I ask, you tell. Well done.’

Gwen peers through the eye hole into the police cell then flips open the food slot beneath it for a better view. Angry weevils are gathered within, one snarls close to the door. 

   ‘Bloody hell. What are they?’ Rhys asks horrified.

   ‘Weevils. They live in the sewers.’

   ‘Tell me you're joking.’ He replies.

   ‘Don't mind if I subdue them, do you?’

   ‘Be my guest.’ Andy replies.

   ‘Ok.’

Opening a gas grenade she tosses it into the cell and closes the door quickly.

   ‘They killed the four most senior officers?’

   ‘Almost like it was targeted.’

   ‘Tosh, report where you are.’

   ‘Just entering the Central Server. No sign of rift activity yet.’

Central Server Building at 5:36pm.

Toshiko and Ianto step carefully around the rows upon rows of servers, peering up and down the aisles.

   ‘This building houses servers for the military, police, NHS. Even looks after the server systems for the nuclear station at Turnmill.’

   ‘What problem did they report?’

   ‘Ghosts. In these server stacks.’ Toshiko replies.

   ‘How's the arm?’

   ‘Owen gave me industrial strength painkillers. Seems to be doing the trick.’ Toshiko turns her gaze opposite to Ianto and spies three cowled figures carrying scythes. ‘Ianto.’

He gives a short incredulous laugh.

   ‘Devils. Blasphemers. Pray to your heathen God, while in the Lord's name we cast you out.’ They stride towards Toshiko and Ianto. Without a second thought, Ianto and Tosh shoot them dead.

   ‘There we are then.’

   ‘Sorted.’

   ‘Owen, it's Gwen. Do you have anything to report?’

   ‘We've got some activity in the basement.’

St. Helen's Hospital at 5:39pm.

Angela, a duty doctor explained to Owen about the creature she’d seen after taking a fag break, chewing through the cables. She showed him the room she’d locked it in.

Owen rattles the door to draw its attention. It works. A face with sharp bloody teeth lunges at them through the door. Both doctors jump back alarmed.

   ‘What the hell is it?’ Angela asks.

   ‘Short answer, it’s an alien.’

   ‘Alien?’

   ‘Yeah. It's called a Hoix. The only profile we have is that it lives to eat, doesn't matter what. Caught one in Barry last year, in a kebab shop, he went through seven doner sticks in twenty minutes. Now, have you got the keys?’

   ‘What's that?’

   ‘All species sedative. Now food, you got anything it can eat?’

   ‘Only these.’ Angela hands Owen a packet of Northside cigarettes.

   ‘Right, perfect. Wish me luck.’

He bursts through the door into the darkened room, the sedative in one hand, cigarettes in the other.

   ‘Hoixie, where are you? Come on, porky. Come out, come out, wherever you are. There you are.’ Owen spies it at the back of the room. It growls a warning.

   ‘Look what I've got. They're actually very tasty. Get a load of one of these.’  Owen opens the packet and tosses individual cigarettes like breadcrumbs to the ever nearing Hoix. ‘That's it. Good boy, come to me. Come on, that's it. Try one of these. Okay.’ Owen eventually drops the rest of the packet on the ground and steps back a few feet, the creature within spitting distance. He watches it take the bait. As it bends down to collect up the packet, he lunges forward and stabs the needle into the fleshy part of its skull. ‘You really are quite stupid, aren't you?’

It’s 6:03pm. Jack is dragged back from death to find he’s strung up by chains, his feet off the ground. It takes him a few moments to realise the predicament he’s in. John walks over to him, informing him that comms and weapons have been removed.

   ‘This is a little extreme, don't you think?’

   ‘Oh, what? Suddenly you're anti-bondage?’

   ‘Why are you here?’

   ‘Well, see, now you're interested in me. It's always the same. Nobody cares until you tie them up. Number of reasons, actually. First of all, you were very rude to me.’ John climbs back up towards the computer workstations.

   ‘What?’

   ‘Very rude indeed. In front of people who barely knew me, you belittled me. I can't let that go.’

   ‘You're serious?

   ‘Second. You have all of time, eternity essentially, and you still refused to spend time with me. After all we've been through together. After all I've done for you.'

   ‘Where's Gray? What have you done with my brother?’

   ‘You don't realise. Actions, ramifications, ripples in the pond. It's beyond my control.’

   ‘Beyond your control. Please.’

   ‘It is. You need to understand that. So, localise the Rift storms, a few short sharp shocks.’

As John goes to the Rift Manipulator, Jack bellows angrily.

   ‘Don't touch those controls!’

   ‘Oi! I'm working here.’

John, using his own vortex manipulator sends electricity shockwaves through the chains and manacles around Jack’s wrists.

   ‘If you don't want that again, keep quiet.’

   ‘No.’

   ‘So, I think I'm ready to find the vantage point.’ John manipulates the Rift Manipulator. ‘A little power and we're all set.’

   ‘Hey! Whatever you're planning, we're going to stop you.’

   ‘Oh. Okay. Go on then, stop me. I hope you can.’ He watches Jack struggle to no avail. ‘Really? No? All right, let's go get ourselves a good view.’

At 6:28pm Cardiff City Centre, Jack and John are at the highest point of Cardiff Castle. It’s pitch black and the city is lit up like a Christmas tree, with coloured fairy lights of streets, houses and office blocks.

   ‘What the hell are we doing here?’

   ‘Now this is a good view.’

As Jack gets to his feet he attempts to attack John before he does something stupid, but Hart is one step ahead, and zaps Jack through his own VM.

   ‘I told you, no struggling.’

   ‘I can make things right with you.’

   ‘You don't understand. You can't ever make this right. Attention Torchwood employees. Evening all. Now, stop what you're doing.’

Right across Cardiff, from the police Station, the Central Server Building and Cardiff Castle, everyone with a comms unit can hear John.

From the Police Station, Cardiff Castle and the Central Server Building, all members of the Torchwood team, are keyed into Hart’s comms.

   ‘Jack, what's going on? Are you okay?’

   ‘Jack can't come to the comms right now. But if you leave a message, I'll be sure and pass it along.’

   ‘What've you done to him?’

   ‘No, no, wrong question. You should be asking what am I about to do to you?’ John replies.

   ‘Put Jack on right now.’ Ianto demands.

   ‘Eye candy! That was so masterful, so bossy, so basically powerless. Get up to the roofs of your buildings. Quickly now, spit spot.’

   ‘Why?’ Owen replies, bursting out of the hospital basement, taking the stairs. Leaving Angela with a drugged and sedated Hoix.

   ‘Owen.’ Angela calls after him.

   ‘Because if you don't, well, you'll miss all the fun.’

Back at Cardiff Castle, Hart ponders on whether he means fun or carnage.

Impatiently, he encourages the team to hasten to their respectful rooftops.

   ‘Gwen?’ Rhys calls after her.

   ‘Where's she going?’  Andy follows.

Jack has a horrible feeling he’s not going to like this, as he hears the beep of a countdown timer.

   ‘What're you doing?’

   ‘I'm sorry.’ John glances at the hand held device where the map of Cardiff city centre looks like a mass of pinkness estimating the fallout of the explosions.

   ‘No.’

   ‘Cardiff. Isn't it pretty? Doesn't it twinkle so? Take a good look. Remember this because it all goes so quick.’

As everyone reaches their rooftops, and Jack gets to his feet, a series of explosions ripple through the city.

   ‘Oh, my God ‘

   ‘Gwen?’

   ‘Oh, God.’

It’s devastating from up high, extreme chaos in the streets below. Sirens blare, buildings and car alarms ring out.

   ‘You've destroyed the city!’

   ‘Jack, hold me. Hold me.’ Hart pouts wrapping his arms around Jack.

Atop the Police Station, it’s too much to take in. Andy is aghast.

   ‘Oh, shit. Oh my God. What do we do? What do we do?’

   ‘Okay, get down there, keep everyone calm. Tell them to get every officer in. Run!’

Gwen yells giving Andy no time to dwell on the disaster befalling the city.

Back at the Castle, Jack watches helplessly at the carnage below.

   ‘What've you done?’

   ‘It's okay. It's all gonna be okay.’

He sees the familiar orange glow as John opens the Rift.  He struggles.

   ‘Stop.  Get off me.’

The light fades at the top of the Castle, both time agents have vanished, along with the comms signal.

   ‘Jack. Jack? Jack, can you hear me? Are you there, Jack?’ Gwen calls but to no avail.

   ‘I'm tracking a huge Rift flare over at the castle. It's been generated by the Rift manipulator at Torchwood.’ Toshiko reports.

   ‘Tosh, Ianto, Owen, are you okay?’

   ‘Yeah, we're fine.’

   ‘Still here.’

   ‘Me too.’

   ‘Good, okay, good. Tosh, do we have the scale of the damage on the city?’

   ‘Fifteen major explosions at strategic points across the city. There's currently a surge in traffic trying to leave the city but the explosions have cut off all major routes in and out. Landlines, mobile phones and IT networks all down. TV and radio off air. He's completely crippled us, Gwen.’

   ‘Shit.’

   ‘Don't want to be the harbinger of doom, but the systems which serve the Turnmill nuclear plant have all gone offline.’ Ianto reports as the Hub denotes the situation in RED from the Torchwood computer systems.

   ‘Right. Tosh, Ianto, you have to stabilise the nuclear power station. Make that a priority. Owen, what's it like at the hospital?’

   ‘Lost all power. The backup generators gave out in the blast. Every single machine in this hospital is down. It's a disaster.’

   ‘Okay. All of you, listen to me. We'll fix this. We're gonna put this city back together, we're gonna find Jack and we're gonna punish John. Now, I need you to be careful. Okay? Where are you, Jack? Where are you?’

Jack opens his eyes and gets to his feet to find himself in an empty grassy field. It’s daylight, it’s Cardiff. It’s 27AD!

   ‘We're safe.’ Says John walking towards Jack. ‘Now, before you do anything rash, you have to hear…’

Jack punches John and demands they return to the city immediately. Steadying himself from the attack, John laughs.

   ‘No way. We have to be this far to escape the trigger signal.’

   ‘What?’

Hart holds up his right arm showing the damage to his wrist.

   ‘Look at it. Go on. It's bonded to my skin. I can't get it off. Open it.’

   ‘Whoa.’

   ‘Ninth generation detonator.’

   ‘You're a walking bomb.’

   ‘Add to that a surveillance circuit, to monitor my every word and action, and he has me doing anything I'm told. Because if I don't, boom. I'm not my own man. I thought you'd see that. But oh no, you're so self-obsessed you thought I'd want to blow up the stupid city, when I could be experiencing seventeen simultaneous pleasures in the Lotus Nebula.’ John notices a figure a distance or so behind Jack.

   ‘Oh no, just run.’

   ‘Oh please, that is the oldest trick in the book.’

   ‘Jack?’

Turning around Jack sees a young man with short cropped hair striding towards him. A look of happiness on his face.

   ‘Gray?’

   ‘I never stopped believing. I always knew we'd find each other again.’

He embraces Jack as the memories of the last time they’d been together floods Jack’s memory.

   ‘I'm sorry.’ Jack whispers embracing his brother.

   ‘Sorry's not good enough’

Withdrawing the knife from its sheath, Gray viciously stabs Jack and watches him die as John looks on.

   ‘Get a shovel.’  He instructs him.

It’s 7:39pm at Cardiff City Police HQ and Gwen has taken charge of the entire police force.

   ‘This was a targeted attack, designed to cause maximum panic. Usual emergency procedures won't cover what's happened here. This is where we find out how good we really are. Cover the whole city. Knock on doors, check on people. Tell people that they are safe and that it is being dealt with. Get out there and do your jobs.’

   ‘Bloody impressive, man.’ Rhys says as the Police depart.

   ‘She is that, yeah. Lucky sod.’ Andy replies watching Gwen in action.

It’s 8:01pm at the Central Server Building. The lighting glows red on the floor where Ianto and Toshiko work to kickstart the nuclear power station servers.

   ‘Go.’

   ‘It won't work.’

   ‘Nothing, sorry.’

   ‘We need to restart the Turnmill servers.’

   ‘What if you can't?’

   ‘Then the reactor goes into meltdown.’

   ‘Then I'm going up there.’

   ‘But Ianto… ‘

   ‘Look, if we can't fix the remote servers, there must be something I can do on-site to prevent nuclear meltdown.’

   ‘That would be suicide.’

   ‘Are we gonna discuss it, or are we gonna do it?’

   ‘Okay, but we both go.’

A tidy grave has been dug behind Jack Harkness. John clamps fortified wrist and ankle bracelets onto his partner. Jack calls after Gray as the young man walks away from him.

   ‘I looked for you. I searched for you for years. You were my first thought every day.’

   ‘What are you expecting, hmm? A loving reunion? Absolution? Me to say, it's okay, brother, I forgive you.’

Memory…

   ‘Take Gray and keep him safe. I got to go get your mother. Run!’

   ‘Those creatures, they live to torture. They kept us just on the verge of life. I'd lie there, hemmed in by corpses, praying to become one. Because you let go of my hand. Remember?’

   ‘If I could swap with you, I would.’

A flood of memories take Jack back to the Boeshane peninsula, screaming for his brother after the creatures pass over. Running back and forth across the beach. Jack remembers kneeling beside his dead father, his mother asking after Gray, broken that he’s gone. More screaming Gray’s name across the barren land.

   ‘Remember it again. I believed you'd come. But you never did. How long before you gave up, hmm? Months? Years? Decades?’

   ‘What do you want from me?’

   ‘I want you to suffer. I want your life. This is Cardiff, 27AD. The city will be built here, over the next two thousand years. Your grave will be the city's foundations. Your blessing of life becomes a curse. Each time you revive, with a throat full of earth, each time it chokes you afresh, and you thrash on the edge of death, you think of me.’

   ‘All right, calling a halt now. I can't let you do this.’ John steps in as Gray pushes Jack into the open grave.

   ‘Fill the grave.’

   ‘No way.’

   ‘Then the detonator on your arm gets activated.’ Gray threatens.

John looks down at Jack and frowns. Jack nods to him. Removing a ring from his finger, he kisses it and tosses it onto Jack’s chest.

   ‘What's that?’

   ‘It's, er, sentimental value.’

Jack looks up at the angry young man before closing his eyes, as shovels of soil land on his face and neck.

At 9:07pm, Gray arrives in the Torchwood Vaults by means of the Rift.  He takes in his surroundings and notes the Weevils huddled in the cells, sleeping.

Rhys finds Gwen sitting on the floor in a makeshift office at the police station.

   ‘Skulking, is it?’

   ‘Still no word from Jack.’

   ‘Hey, it's gonna be fine.’ He sits down beside her.

   ‘What if it's not? What if this is how it all ends? I can't do this, Rhys. I'm not up to it.’

   ‘Rubbish. Those coppers are out there now, because of you. Even if you don't believe in yourself, they did. And I do. You're a bloody hero, Gwen. So you keep going, because we need you.’

   ‘Will you marry me again?’

   ‘Yeah.’

   ‘Gwen?’ Tosh comms Gwen from the street. ‘I've got a Rift alert from inside the Hub, mirroring the pattern from earlier when Jack disappeared.’

   ‘Do you think it could be him? She asks getting to her feet.’

   ‘I can't check it out, I've got to get the Turnmill servers back online.’ Toshiko replies.

   ‘Tosh, I can't leave the police station.’

   ‘Yes, you can. If they need you, we'll be fine.’ Rhys insists.

   ‘Are you sure?’

   ‘I'll see you when it's all over. Go.’

Back at the Hub, weapon drawn, Gwen enters cautiously, and hears a familiar voice…

   ‘You took your time.’

   ‘On your knees.’

   ‘Honestly, it's just sex, sex, sex with you people.’

   Cocking the trigger Gwen screams for John to comply.

   ‘Now!’

He does as he’s told and kneels.

   ‘Hands behind your head. I'm gonna need a really good reason not to shoot you within the next twenty seconds.’

   ‘I know where Jack is.’

   ‘You're lying.’

   ‘He's buried alive, somewhere beneath this city. I came back to help you.’

   ‘You bombed this city’.

   ‘Listen to me. You have to believe me. It's Gray, Jack's brother, that's been doing all this.’

   ’Don't talk rubbish.’

   ‘He placed a bomb on me, molecularly bonded the detonator to my skin, I had to do what he wanted. Look.’ Hart gets to his feet and shows the damage to his wrist to Gwen. ‘He forced me to bury Jack and then he freed me. He told me I could go anywhere I wanted. I could've run, but I chose to come back here.’

   ‘Why should I trust you?’

   ‘They were separated as children. Gray was abducted. When I found him, he was chained to the ruins of a city on the Bedlam Outlands, surrounded by corpses. He was the only one left. The creatures had long since gone. Don't know how long he'd been there. He thought I was the rescuing hero. So, it took me too long to realise he'd learned terrible things watching those creatures. He let me trust him.’

John yells as he feels a sudden excruciating pain coming from his wrist.

   ‘The molecules are unbonding. Just like he promised.’ He removes the bomb from his wrist, taking a good portion of skin with it.

   ‘Oh, God. See? Free man, apparently. I didn't have to come back here. I could've run.’

   ‘You find Jack, I'll let you live. But you'd better be quick.’

   ‘Fine.’ Hart patches into the teams comms from his damaged wrist strap.  ‘Toshiko. I need you to run a trace for an etheric particle signal NME transmitting at two hundred betacycles.’

   ‘Gwen, where are you? What's he doing? Where's Jack?’

   ‘Trace that signal. We'll find him.’ Hart insists.

   ‘It's okay, Tosh. I've got him covered. Just do as he says.’ Gwen confirms, lessening Toshiko’s fears.

   ‘No signals even vaguely resembling that.’

   ‘No, there must be. That transmitter was guaranteed for five millennia through three ecological permalayers. It has to still be transmitting. If not, we'll never find him. He'll be buried forever.’

A sudden high pitched noise pierces the comms and deafens those inside the Hub.

   ‘What the hell is that?’

Climbing out of the sewers, the Weevils head out onto the street and attack at random. Gray also releases those in the Torchwood cells, his finger on a button of the vm, the creature’s mill about him, but do not harm him. He smiles.

   ‘Oh, there's Weevils loose in the lower corridors. Stay there, stay there. Oh my God, what's going on? How did they get out?’

   ‘It's Gray. He must be here in the city. He said he was gonna take Jack's life, destroy it from the inside out. A Weevil wake-up call could be just the beginning.’

Toshiko and Ianto are trapped.

   ‘Stay there.’ He instructs Toshiko as they flatten themselves against an alley wall, while a large family of Weevils growl past at the top of the lane. He radio’s the team.

   ‘Owen, Gwen, can you hear me? The streets are flooded with Weevils. They came out of nowhere. There's no chance we'll get to the nuclear power station in time.’

At the Hospital, Owen has a solution.

   ‘Manual life support. Get them round the hospital. Ianto, leave it to me. I can get there.’

   ‘How?’

   ‘King of the Weevils, remember?’

A group of Weevils cower down as Owen walks through the middle of them as they gather outside the hospital.

At the police station, Rhys with help from police officers push for all they’re worth to stop the Weevils from entering the establishment.

   ‘Push, will you. Have none of you ever been in a scrum.’

Eventually, a final push secures the door locking the Weevils out.

   ‘Bloody hell, how many were there? It's like Fort Apache the Bronx, innit’

   ‘Apart from the fact that the surrounding forces are savage aliens and we could all die, it's almost exactly the same, yeah. Thanks for that.’

Hart fixes a bandage around his wrist while Gwen searches the computers for a trace.

   ‘I am telling you I have run every scan possible. There is no signal traceable.’

   ‘Then try again. It's got to be there. Oi, I'm talking to you.’

But Gwen is more concerned about the Weevil in their work area. More Weevils enter, they’re surrounded.

   ‘You know you've got a real pest problem around here.’

Ianto takes out the Weevils. Gwen has never been so relieved to see him.

   ‘God, I'm so pleased to see you.’

Ianto intends to rid the Hub of all the pests, including Captain John Hart, Gwen wrestles the gun from him.

   ‘Hey, hey. Don't start. I'll make things right, Eye Candy. ‘

   ‘Then start by getting those Weevils down the Vaults before they recover. It takes more than a bullet to stop them.’

Each supporting a Weevil, Ianto, Gwen and Hart drag the creatures back into the cells.

   ‘You did what?’

   ‘Ianto.’

   ‘I didn't have a choice.’

   ‘There's always a choice.’

   ’Okay, can we just get these Weevils into the cells, please?’

   ‘If we don't find him, I'll kill you. Very slowly.’

The cell doors close behind them.

   ‘Whoa, what's happening, Tosh? Tosh. Ianto, my comms are dead.’

John Hart knows why. ‘Gwen?’

Gray stands in front of his cell.

   ‘I let you go. I gave you one trip. You could have gone anywhere.’

   ‘A question of honour.’

   ‘Gray. You're Gray, right? There's no need for this. We can help you. Just tell us where Jack is.’

   ‘His life's mine now.’

   ‘Where's Jack? What have you done with him? What have you done with him?’ Ianto yells after Gray.

It’s 9:42pm. Owen reaches Turnmill Nuclear Power Station and runs into the control room and spots Nira, a young technician in a lab coat, trying to boot up the system, to no avail.

   ‘What are you doing? Get the hell out of here.’ Owen growls, surprised to see anyone in the building.

   ‘What the hell are you doing here, more like?'

   'This system's going into meltdown.’

   ‘A soldier never leaves her post.’

   ‘Well, you can now, okay? I'm with Torchwood and we're dealing with this.’

   ‘Yeah? What do you know about nuclear containment structure?’

   ‘Well, you know, I'm only a layman but I'm presuming if you've run out of power, then the containment structures over-pressurised. The containment spray and cooling systems aren't working so the fuel probably can't be cooled down. It's overheating. So sooner rather than later there'll be a meltdown and radioactive material will be released into the atmosphere. Yeah? Roughly?’

   ‘Roughly.’

   ‘Right. You need to go. Be careful. There are creatures out there on the loose. Take this. It's a kind of mace.’

   ‘Sounds more dangerous out there than in here.’

   ‘Yeah, I'd say it's pretty much even. Go.’

   ‘Thank you.’ She takes the Weevil spray, grateful to leave.

Owen comms Toshiko back at the Hub with a confession.

   ‘Tosh, you're going to have to help me out here. I haven't got a bloody clue what I'm doing.’

   ‘Okay, I don't want you to panic, but the reactor's already hit the critical point.’ She says after bringing up Turnmill’s schematic.

   ‘Okay, you're telling me it's going into meltdown, aren't you. And I'm in the eye of the storm.’

   ‘Yeah, sorry.’

   ‘Right. Can you fix it?’

   ‘Of course I can. I'm brilliant.’

   ‘Yeah.’

   ‘I'm going to try and divert power from an auxiliary source back to Turnmill.’ Toshiko tells him as she taps at her keyboard singlehandedly, her other arm in a sling. ‘If that works, I can talk you through restoring the coolant system.’  Toshiko digs out her hand held computer device. ‘Right. Now…’

Without warning, the sound of a bullet hits Toshiko in the stomach. Thrown forward she remains standing but is aware of the red mark where the bullet hit. She looks up to see Gray, holding a pistol with a silencer attached.

Owen taps his comms.

Blood gushes from the stomach wound. Toshiko collapses on the ground, dropping her hand held device. Gray walks towards her, weapon still gripped in his hand.

The nuclear power plant has reached critical, alarms are starting to ring out. Owen panicks.

   ‘Tosh?’

   ‘Help me. Please.’

   ‘Tosh, can you hear me? Are you there?’

Gray rips out all the power cables from the computers while Toshiko can only watch.

   ‘I've heard people say death is such a waste. I imagine it more as a relief.’

   ‘Tosh, can you hear me? Tosh?’

   ‘What's it like? How does it feel?’ Gray asks tossing away Toshiko’s hand held device as she desperately tries to grasp it. ‘Are you afraid? Are you sad? You can tell me. The battle's done.‘

The Hub is filled with hollow banging.

   ‘What's that?’

Gray goes off in search of the noise. Toshiko rolls onto her stomach gasping at the agonizing pain.

Owen comms her again from the power station.

   ‘Tosh, talk to me. I need your help here, babe.’

Downstairs in the Holding Cells, Ianto, Gwen and John also hear the pounding.

   ‘What's that banging?’

   ‘Something's wrong.’

John gets to his feet, and toggles with a device in his hands.

   ‘Never mind that. I have an idea.’

Toshiko inches along the floor desperate to reach her hand held device. A trail of blood marks her path to the steps of the autopsy room. She cries out as she rolls onto the first step. Still the banging continues.

In the Cryostorage, Gray pulls open a freezer unit and discovers….a dirt stained Jack Harkness.

   ‘I forgive you.’

   ‘How did you survive?’

Jack laughs as he gets up from the unit.

At the Torchwood Hub, in the year 1901, Alice Guppy is just a little bit excited.

   ‘How long since you first discovered it?’ Charles asks peering at the crackling device on the desk.

   ‘Three days now. Just one signal, regular as clockwork. But I haven't told you the best bit. I can track it to a physical location.’

   ‘Where?’

Using the ghost detection monitor that Gerald and Harriet used during WW1, Alice leads Charles to the park, not far from the Castle.

   ‘It's here. Twenty feet down, but it's definitely here. Start digging.’

Back at Torchwood HQ Jack grows tired of the questions.

   ‘We found you in a twenty foot grave. Do you want us to just accept that?’

   ‘Yes, I do.’ Jack replies.

   ‘You're supposed to be out there working for us. Who gave you this ring?’ Charles asks.

   ‘I've crossed my own timeline. I can't be allowed to meet myself. A lot of lives depend on this. You'll be protecting the future. That's what you're here for, isn't it? And now I need you to put me in the morgue. Freeze me. Set the alarm to defrost in a hundred and seven years time.’

Jack faces his brother as he stands within inches of him.

   ‘I forgive you, Gray.’

   ‘Don't you walk away from me. Don't you walk away from me!’

He chases after him along the corridor as Jack strides away.

   ‘Stop. Stop!’

   ‘I've forgiven you. I gave you absolution. Now do the same for me.’ Jack turns on his brother, tears in his eyes, pain in his heart.

   ‘I prayed for death. Those creatures, the things they did to us. Because of you. The favourite son, the one who lived, who will always live. The only strength I have is my hatred for you.’ Gray growls bitterly.

   ‘I didn't know. I didn't realise until it was too late. ‘

   ‘I begrudge you everything. I want to rip it all from you. To leave you screaming in the dark. I will never absolve you. All of it, it's your fault.’

With tears falling, Jack embraces his brother and can only apologise for the actions to follow.

   ‘I'm sorry.’

Distraught but knowing there’s no other way, he suffocates Gray with a cotton handkerchief, laced with chloroform.

   ‘I know. I know, Gray.’

Tweaking the motherboard of the device in his hand, John manages to trigger the recall alarm for the weevils.

   ‘What have you done?’

   ‘Recall signal. Time for all the pets to return home.’

The Weevils return to the sewers.

Up on the Police station roof, Andy and Rhys watch the streets clear.

   ‘What happened? Where've they all gone?’

   ‘Abergavenny?’

Back at Turnmill Owen is going out of his mind.

   ‘Tosh? Come on, girl.’

Reunited with her hand held device, Toshiko powers up the power station with a few taps on the screen. Owen is relieved as the power is restored.

   ‘Here we go! Right, you've done it, Tosh. We've got power. You okay?’

   ‘Yeah, I'm fine.’

   ‘Right, what's going on there?’

Tosh reaches for a tray of syringes on a table, a gauze dressing pressed against her wound, she leans back against the operating table.

   ‘Just a machine malfunction.’

   ‘You hurt?’

   ‘Who, me? No, I'm fine. It's just my arm.’

   ‘Okay.’

   ‘I'm sorting out another painkiller.’

   ‘Good.’

Pulling the lid off the syringe with her teeth, Toshiko stabs her leg with the solution to numb the pain.

   ‘Okay.’

Tosh tosses away the spent syringe and reaches forward to collect her device.

   ‘Well, come on, let's do this.’

   ‘All right. Okay. Oh God, Owen.‘ Transferring the data to the wall screen, Toshiko sees the current status of the reactor.

   ‘What's the matter?’

   ‘There's no way to stop the meltdown. It's too far gone.’

   ‘Okay, okay, that is not good, is it? Come on, Tosh, there's got to be something. There's always something. Come on.’

   ‘The only option now is to vent the flow channels internally.’

   ‘Vent them where?’

   ‘The area you're in is a containment building.’

   ‘Yeah. ‘

   ‘You need to set up a time delay programme. Channel the fuel into that bunker and instigate permanent lockdown. Seal the building, and the meltdown will be contained within. And obviously, remember to get out.’

   ‘Yeah, I think I can remember that bit.’

   ‘I'll open the system protocol. You just need to enter the timeframe and authorise it, okay?’

   ‘Okay, Tosh, let's do this thing. And, Tosh? Thank you.’

   ‘That's what I'm here for.’

In the Holding Cells a familiar figure unlocks all the doors. Gwen throws herself at her Captain.

   ‘Jack?’

   ‘Oh, thank God.’

   ‘We thought we'd lost you.’

   ‘Never. Never.’

   ‘Quite a queue for the hugs.’

   ‘Always has been, always will be. Nice use of the ring. Thank you.’

   ‘It's the least I could do. Listen, Gray's in the Hub.’

   ‘I know. It's done.’

Toshiko smiles weakly as the Systems Protocols are initiated. Flow channels are diverted. Until…

   ‘Oh, no. Owen, get out of there. There's a power surge in the system. When that hits, it'll trigger an emergency lockdown.’

Owen is trapped inside as the doors close faster than he can reach them.

   ‘No! No! Tosh! Toshiko, I can't get out. Not like this. Not like this! I'm not dying yet! Get me out of here, Tosh. Get me out of here. I've died once; I'm not doing it again. Where's Jack? Where's Gwen, Ianto? Come on! You want to watch the dead man die again?’ He yells angrily.

   ‘Owen, just stay calm.’

   ‘Oh, why should I do that? Where's the fun in that? I'm gonna rage my way to oblivion.‘

   ‘Please don't.’

   ‘Why? Give me one good bloody reason why. One good reason why I shouldn't keep screaming.’

   ‘Because you're breaking my heart.’ Toshiko sobs.

   ‘I'm sorry.’

   ‘It's my fault.’

   ‘No, no, no, listen. No, it's not. Don't you dare go there, Tosh. I'm really sorry. What's gonna happen to me, Tosh?’

   ‘I can't.’

   ‘Please, okay? I need to know.’

   ‘The containment chamber will be flooded with the irradiated coolant.’

   ‘Ah. My body will slowly decompose as I watch.’

   ‘I should've been able to stop it.’ She cries bitterly.

   ‘Oh, come on, Tosh. There's no way you could've anticipated that power spike. Come on. Besides, you've saved my back so many times in the past. Right from the moment I joined.’

   ‘Your second week, I had to cover for you. Pretend I was a medic, because you were hung over and unreachable.’

   ‘What was it, Space Pig?’

   ‘Space Pig.’

   ‘Yeah. We never did get that date, did we, you and me? We sort of, er, missed each other. It was my fault. I didn't notice until it was too late. I'm sorry.’

   ‘Me too. ‘

The Coolant Venting begins.

   ‘It's starting.’

Owen gets to his feet, facing death once more.

   ‘Owen. ‘

   ‘It's all right. Really, Tosh. It's all right. Oh, God.’

   ‘Owen. ‘

White-out.

Jack runs into the Hub and sees the trail of blood leading towards the Autopsy room.

   ‘Toshiko? Toshiko? Gwen, I need help down here.’ Jack yells as he bounds down the steps. ‘You okay?’

   ‘Okay.’ Toshiko is relieved to see Jack.

Hart appears horrified at the top of the steps.

   ‘The nuclear plant at Turnmill. Owen's there’. Ianto reveals to Jack and Gwen.

   ‘Sealed in. Rerouted the blast. I couldn't save him.’

   ‘Tosh? There you go, darling.’ Gwen gives Toshiko another shot of painkillers. ‘Talk to me now, come on. Hey, Tosh.’

As Toshiko gazes up at Jack, she finally loses her fight and dies.

The next morning, Rhys and Gwen watch the news together on the sofa.

   ‘And Cardiff city centre is today recovering from a series of devastating explosions. City leaders say it's too early to account for the full scale of the damage that also saw sightings of vicious animals on the streets of the city.’

As John Hart descends the steps into the Autopsy room, Jack is bent over the cryogenic unit taking a final look at his brother Gray.

   ‘My whole life I was looking for him. Now I have to lose him all over again.’

   ‘You cryo-freeze him and then what? Wake him up in a hundred years and he's miraculously better? Because that's not gonna happen. Maybe killing him would be the release he needs.’

   ‘There has been enough death.’

   ‘You didn't struggle when I buried you. Like you were allowing it.’

   ‘It was my penance.’

   ‘It's not your fault.’

Jack shoots John a look before kissing his brother goodbye and sealing the unit, sending him down to the freezer.

   ‘Need help with those Rift predictions?’

   ‘A lot of this planet I haven't seen. You like it so much, thought I might take a look. Maybe see you around.’ He places a hand on Jack’s chest and reaches up to kiss Jack on the cheek. ‘I'm sorry for your losses.’ He leaves.

Ianto updates the personnel files while Jack packs away Owen’s personal belongings. It’s an emotional time for all of them. Tears and heartache.

Gwen packs away Toshiko’s things. As her data for her final log out are confirmed, a short video pops up.

   ‘Okay. So, if you're seeing this, I guess it means, I'm, well, dead. Hope it was impressive. Not crossing the road or an incident with a toaster. I just wanted to say, it's okay. It really is. Jack, you saved me. You showed me all the wonders of the universe and all those possibilities, and I wouldn't have missed it for the world. Thank you. And Owen, you never knew. I love you. All of you. And I hope I did good.’

   ‘Now we carry on.’

   ‘I don't think I can, not after this.’

   ‘You can. We all can. The end is where we start from.’