Torchwood: Exodus Code

Her voice was soft.
    ‘Gwen, stop! Please.’
    She turned, recognising Jack’s voice but not yet seeing him. ‘Jack? Jack?’
    It sounded like the old Gwen. Jack moved faster. ‘Gwen, let’s stop for a minute. I can help you. You know I can.’
    ‘Jack, please, leave me alone,’ she yelled. ‘I can’t be near them – I’m so afraid I’ll hurt them. At the moment, my head is clear. I know what to do.’
    ‘No, Gwen,’ Jack pleaded, ‘It’s not. You’re not thinking right – your brain chemistry’s been scrambled, you’ve been pumped so full of drugs…’
    Gwen smiled, and it was an odd smile that froze Jack to the spot. ‘Jack, I’m just doing what I can to protect them.’
    She’s going to jump, thought Jack, edging another step closer.
    ‘I can protect them. I’m beginning to make progress in figuring out what’s happening to you. I think something’s been triggered in your DNA,’ he said, doing his best to keep her talking. ‘Remember Torchwood. We’ve solved worse. We can figure out what’s happening to you.’
    ‘There is no Torchwood!’ screamed Gwen, ‘Don’t you get it? It’s gone. Over. They’re all gone. Tosh and Owen and Ianto and poor, poor Esther. You couldn’t save them, and you can’t save me. There’s only you, Jack. It’s always been only you.’
    Jack froze, stung by her words. Gwen’s anger wasn’t the fury of a madwoman, but cold, rational rage. He felt like he’d lost his last friend in the world. ‘No, Gwen. That’s not true. It’s going to be you and me. Both of us. For a long time.’ He risked a pleading smile.
    Gwen turned away from Jack and took a step towards the edge. Jack charged at her, badly misjudging how frail she had become in the past week. He grabbed her waist and twisted backwards. Her fists smashed into his face as they rolled onto the creaking planks, tumbling over and over…
    And over.
    It took Jack a few seconds to realise he and Gwen were falling.

44
    JACK AND GWEN hit the water still fighting. The force of the water ripped through Jack’s nostrils, bursting inside his head. Gwen’s legs tightened around Jack’s waist, and they plunged into the black sea.
    Christ. It was cold. Jack knew that if they didn’t start kicking up, they’d both drown. He’d surface eventually, gasping, gagging, but breathing again.
    Gwen would not.
    Gwen’s grip loosened. She knew she had to free herself from Jack’s embrace or he would save her, pull her back to the surface to the madness her life had become, to locked doors, straps on her bed, Rhys in a constant state of fear, and Anwen terrified of her own mum. It wasn’t right. She would not live that way. She would not let Jack save her. Not this time. Not ever again.
    As they continued to sink, Gwen pummelled Jack with her feet, kicking to free herself from his grip. Jack could feel that Gwen was in a rage again, battering his head, gulping water. Jack knew what she was thinking, and he knew his only chance to save Gwen was to save himself, to get them both to the surface. Now.
    Forcing air out through his nose, releasing some of the pressure in his lungs, Jack dolphin-kicked. Hard. Gwen’s movements were working against him, keeping him under the crashing waves, trying to climb onto his back and hold him down.
    Where was this strength coming from? Jack wrapped an arm under Gwen’s shoulder and for a fleeting moment, his Gwen stared back, the Gwen he loved, her eyes horrified, wide and panicked staring directly into Jack’s face.
    He would not let this woman go. This wasn’t about keeping Torchwood alive. It never was. This was about keeping alive the woman he loved more than a sister, a lover, a friend, more than his life now and for ever.
    They finally broke through the surface. Jack struggled to breathe. Gwen was coughing and gagging and trying to force herself back under. The waves were pulling them towards the jagged rocks of the beach, then dropping them back under, the current too strong for Jack to swim against and fight Gwen at the same time.
    Jack lost his grip on Gwen. Immediately, she kicked away from him. Jack yanked her hair and pulled her back, but Gwen’s rage was so powerful that Jack couldn’t tell now if she was trying to kill him, kill herself or trying to fight for her own life, all at the same time.
    She went under a third time, lunging away from Jack’s grip.
    Jack swam after her, locking his arms around her neck. Both of them treading hard beneath the