m_findlow | Torchwood: Fanfic: Until the end

Title: Until the end
Fandom: Torchwood
Characters: Gwen, Jack, Ianto, Tosh
Author: m_findlow
Rating: PG
Length: 661 words
Content notes: Major character death
Author notes: Written for m_findlow's prompt "Any, any, to the bitter end" at fic_promptly
Summary: Tosh is holding on for one final thing

Then sight of the blood on the steps made her own blood run cold. Before she could fathom what it meant, Jack had already flown down the steps, coming to confront the shocking reality that one of his team was hurt. For a moment, Gwen had hoped it was Gray, and not Tosh who was lying there on the floor, a thick pool of blood congealing across her petite stomach. No, this couldn't be happening.

She ran to Jack's aid, grabbing the emergency kits with which she'd become so familiar, injecting the painkillers as expertly as any doctor. Pain aside now, Tosh would be fine, she was sure of it. She'd stopped the meltdown at the nuclear power plant. That was good. And then she delivered the crushing blow. Owen was trapped there, inside the plant, about to be irradiated with nuclear coolant, and there was nothing anyone could do to stop it.

As Jack bundled Tosh's limp frame up into his suddenly huge arms, Gwen could already feel the tears streaming down her cheeks. Jack's own tears were also flowing, and though she couldn't see Ianto standing just a few feet away, she was sure that he too was crying, at least on the inside.

She prayed that Tosh would be okay, but deep down her mind had already accepted the truth. Tosh was dying, and there was nothing they could do. After everything they'd done, stopping weevils rampaging across the city, restoring critical power to the hospitals and power stations, finding Jack and stopping Gray, it had all been for naught if they couldn't save one of their own.

Even now she was looking up and smiling at Jack. That was Tosh, through and through. When she should have been trying to save herself, she'd sacrificed everything to instead stop the whole city from being destroyed. She and Owen both, Gwen realised. The smile was relief that she'd done something good, and maybe that the rest of them were here with her now, staying right until the bitter end. They were a team, more like a family, and it was important to keep your family close and be there for them when they needed you.

Gwen choked out a sob, still in disbelief when that tiny spark of life finally left her eyes. They should have gotten here sooner. If only they hadn't wasted those precious moments, reveling in their own freedom, and having Jack back, they might have reached her in time. In time to save Owen, in time to do more than let Tosh slip right through their fingers.

Jack pulled her tight against him, body wracked with sobs. Gwen was beside herself, brushing a hand through Tosh's hair, grabbing her hand as if she were only sleeping. It couldn't end like this. Things weren't supposed to happen this way.

She couldn't tell how long she sat there, curled on the floor, listening to Jack's sniffles and her own muffled noises. The hand on her shoulder startled her.

'It's not over yet,' Jack said, sniffing again, tying to help her up after he gently lay Tosh's body back down.

She understood what he meant; that the madness outside the hub was continuing, even though Gray had been take out of the picture. But it felt like more than that. It wasn't over until they'd made Tosh's sacrifice worthwhile. Though part of Gwen felt the unfairness of it all, that they couldn't even stay to mourn their friends, there was also no point in letting the city fall into chaos, undoing all the sacrifices they'd made to save it.

'Ianto?' Jack said, laying a hand on his shoulder, stood there stock still, though his eyes were red. Gwen saw him swallow hard and nod, ever so slightly, turning his head away from the body. There was a silent yet unanimous agreement that they had to keep going; for Tosh, for Owen, to whatever end lay ahead of them.

Torchwood: Fanfic: Until the end

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