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m_findlowTitle: In need of protection
Fandom: Torchwood
Characters/Pairings: Torchwood team
Word Count: 500 words
Rating: PG
Notes: Written for Challenge 195 - Destroy at![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-community.gif)
anythingdrabble
Summary: The team are left to face the wake of what humanity is capable of.
Owen pulls himself back to his feet as the lowing from the creature finally ends. 'Shit,' he mutters, taking in the sight of it. 'Shit!' He swears more loudly the second time, kicking away the huge metal syringe that has been the creature's death sentence.
'Owen!' Gwen's slightly panicked cry cuts through the sudden silence. For just a moment everyone has forgotten that Rhys is lying there in Gwen's arms, shot and bleeding.
'Is everyone else okay?' Jack calls back, even as Owen is rushing over to assess Rhys' injuries.
Tosh nods, still clutched gently in Jack's arms where they've been pinned in place by the flailing alien and snapping wires that have been restraining the creature. Somewhere near the door leading out into the hallways, Ianto gives an unsteady wave, like all of the adrenaline has dissipated.
Owen works methodically to treat the gunshot wound. Rhys is lucky. The bullet has hit him in the shoulder. Nothing vital, just a bit of muscle damage that will heal up once he can get the slug out and stitch up the entry wound.
'I'm so sorry,' he repeats.
'It wasn't your fault,' Gwen replies, thinking he's talking about Rhys. Why wouldn't she? But Rhys will survive and not on account of anything Owen does. It's the space whale that Owen is apologising over. He's killed it and nothing is going to absolve him from that fact.
Tosh kneels next to him and offers whatever assistance she can. Out of the corner of his eye, Owen sees Jack pull Ianto into a fierce one second hug, before letting go. Today has been a calamity of near misses.
'I've done enough to stop the bleeding for now. Get him in the car and meet us back at the hub.' Gwen nods. Tosh offers to drive Rhys' car so that Gwen can fuss over him on the way.
Owen walks over to where Jack is standing by the creature, resting on his haunches. He brushes its skin gently with his hand even as the ends of his coat soak up the blood from the floor around him. Ianto is standing off to the side looking like a third wheel. Owen knows he doesn't need to apologise to Jack. Jack understands there was no other choice, even if it doesn't make the decision hurt any less.
'What do we do now?' Owen asks.
Jack's eyes don't leave the creature, continuing his stroking motions. He feels the same guilt even though he wasn't the one to pull the trigger. 'Nothing we can do. Destroy it. Hope that it finds a better place in death than it did in life. Burn this whole place to the ground and hope it never happens again.'
It's what Torchwood does, Owen knows - destroy evidence of alien life on Earth. Still it feels hollow and wrong. Their job should be to protect the planet from aliens, not having to protect aliens from the worst humanity has to offer. Maybe it's both.
Fandom: Torchwood
Characters/Pairings: Torchwood team
Word Count: 500 words
Rating: PG
Notes: Written for Challenge 195 - Destroy at
anythingdrabbleSummary: The team are left to face the wake of what humanity is capable of.
Owen pulls himself back to his feet as the lowing from the creature finally ends. 'Shit,' he mutters, taking in the sight of it. 'Shit!' He swears more loudly the second time, kicking away the huge metal syringe that has been the creature's death sentence.
'Owen!' Gwen's slightly panicked cry cuts through the sudden silence. For just a moment everyone has forgotten that Rhys is lying there in Gwen's arms, shot and bleeding.
'Is everyone else okay?' Jack calls back, even as Owen is rushing over to assess Rhys' injuries.
Tosh nods, still clutched gently in Jack's arms where they've been pinned in place by the flailing alien and snapping wires that have been restraining the creature. Somewhere near the door leading out into the hallways, Ianto gives an unsteady wave, like all of the adrenaline has dissipated.
Owen works methodically to treat the gunshot wound. Rhys is lucky. The bullet has hit him in the shoulder. Nothing vital, just a bit of muscle damage that will heal up once he can get the slug out and stitch up the entry wound.
'I'm so sorry,' he repeats.
'It wasn't your fault,' Gwen replies, thinking he's talking about Rhys. Why wouldn't she? But Rhys will survive and not on account of anything Owen does. It's the space whale that Owen is apologising over. He's killed it and nothing is going to absolve him from that fact.
Tosh kneels next to him and offers whatever assistance she can. Out of the corner of his eye, Owen sees Jack pull Ianto into a fierce one second hug, before letting go. Today has been a calamity of near misses.
'I've done enough to stop the bleeding for now. Get him in the car and meet us back at the hub.' Gwen nods. Tosh offers to drive Rhys' car so that Gwen can fuss over him on the way.
Owen walks over to where Jack is standing by the creature, resting on his haunches. He brushes its skin gently with his hand even as the ends of his coat soak up the blood from the floor around him. Ianto is standing off to the side looking like a third wheel. Owen knows he doesn't need to apologise to Jack. Jack understands there was no other choice, even if it doesn't make the decision hurt any less.
'What do we do now?' Owen asks.
Jack's eyes don't leave the creature, continuing his stroking motions. He feels the same guilt even though he wasn't the one to pull the trigger. 'Nothing we can do. Destroy it. Hope that it finds a better place in death than it did in life. Burn this whole place to the ground and hope it never happens again.'
It's what Torchwood does, Owen knows - destroy evidence of alien life on Earth. Still it feels hollow and wrong. Their job should be to protect the planet from aliens, not having to protect aliens from the worst humanity has to offer. Maybe it's both.
