Ellie Miller watched her distressed boss for a moment before answering a question that challenged the world they lived in as well as his sanity. "Sir did you really…" she paused, trying to find the right words. "… did you see an alien?"

"I don't know, Ellie." he replied, leaning back against the wall. It was rare for Hardy to use first names with someone, even his friend. A fake sense of intimacy he once called it. But in this case, Ellie knew that his use of her first name, was a cry for help.

Alec hung his head in shame; the world around him was crumbling. Why did it come here? Why here of all places? What was in Broadchurch that was so appealing? Yet in all his confusion, he knew that the Captain was as scared as he was, he had just developed a better poker face. How long had Torchwood been covering up for these creatures? Were there others on the planet, and if there were, who else knew? He rubbed his sweaty palms together, the fear stuck in his throat.

The last time Alec had been this scared was when he went to have his heart fixed. The clean hospital made his skin itch. After several voicemail messages to his daughter and an awkward phone call to his ex-wife, Alec gave a heartfelt recorded message for Ellie to pass on if he didn't make it.

"If you die, I'll kill you." she murmured with tears in her eyes as the men in blue scrubs took him away.

Alec snorted and rolled his eyes, "Don't get soft on me, Miller." The doors closed and he let out a long, shaky breath.

A few hours later, with a soggy tissue in her hand, the doctors told Ellie the good news, the detective would live to see another day. The rest of the team was not overly pleased as Ellie but she was happy to get her a true friend back by her side. His courage gave her the strength to re-join the police force.

While Ellie was returning her focus to the law, the Scotsman was recovering and received a surprise visit.

"Hey, Dad," Frozen from the cold, his daughter, Sarah stood at the door.

He was lost for words for once. "Hi," was all he could manage.

They discussed their relationship and the truth of the Sandbrooke case. When the young teenager confronted her mother and discovered the truth, she got on the first train to see her father. That night they both made a promise to mend their relationship and to put the time in.

Overjoyed, when the doctors gave him the all clear, and he marched straight the Broadchurch police station to get his old job back. Together, Ellie and Alec worked on cases, not as horrific as Danny's murder but they fought as hard as they could to rebuild theirs and town's reputation.

"What do you want to do?" Ellie asked, examining his face for answers to what he was thinking.

His ran his hands over his face, feeling his stubble and sighed. "Have forensics search their house, see what DNA we can collect."

"Good call."

Ellie walked but not before glancing over her shoulder to see how he was. He sank to the floor, collecting the shattered remains of his world and groaned.

The detective felt like he was floating. Almost as if he was having a nightmare but couldn't wake himself from the fear. A fear of the unknown was rational. A human trait that kept a man on his toes. But to be scared of something that was fictional concept was unreasonable. But he saw it. Green skin, sharp teeth and abilities that a human could not possess. He raised a hand to his chest, the steady beat of his heart against his palm.

His long fingers ran over the rough material of the carpet underneath him, grounding his reality. He was at work. Work. Do not let this get the better of you, he thought. I can beat this. I can beat it.

"Oh, whose idea was it to come back to this god forsaken place?" he grumbled to himself.

"Well, that went well." Jack said, dryly.

Fiddling with the ends of her hair and her eyes locked on the door, Rose nodded. "Give it time."

"Someone sounds optimistic," Jack muttered, sarcastically.

The blonde shook her shoulders. "You need to be doing this job; otherwise you would never leave the house."

"Rose, I don't think he's going to help us." Jack said, pulling a chair next to her. He slumped into the seat and her brown eyes finally met his.

"He will. Innocent people are being killed. There is no way he is going to stand back and do nothing." Rose said, without a shred of doubt in her voice. "He's not that kind of man."

Jack shrugged. "He's dedicated, I'll give him that."

"Everything he thought he knew has been taken away from him, his whole view of the world put under the microscope. The world is so small and now he knows why."

"Have you heard yourself?" Jack asked, rolling his eyes. "I know you have a crush, Rose, but come on, we are on our own."

"My feelings for Alec have nothing to do with this and we are on our own because we choose to be." she reminded him.

Jack scoffed. "I'm not getting into this again. It's the not the time or the place."

"Well, when is the right time?" she pleaded. "When the planet is about to burn? When the Cybermen are going to take over? When Weevils are running around the city? Tell me when there is going to be a right fucking time, Jack?!" Rose slammed down the lid of the computer screen, the sound echoing through the room.

Anxious eyes and whispers followed Ellie as she weaved between the officers, while they gossiped about another gruesome murder case torturing them. It wasn't late, but only a handful of men and women lurked in the office, collecting information for their own workloads.

Her feet carried in the direction of Alec's messy desk, but amongst all the paperwork, a crucial item was missing: the Torchwood file. Everything they had collected on the team, including all they knew on Rose Tyler and Captain Jack Harkness was gone.

Her eyes scoured through the sheets. Nothing. Like it had vanished it thin air. She spun around and shouted out to a younger detective, typing at his computer.

"Mike, has anyone been in here?"

He half turned to her and shrugged, then carried on with his own work. Ellie groaned. It couldn't just disappear into thin air. Someone must have it.

As she began her frantic search, a swirl of green smoke materialised in corner of the room.

Rose leaned her head against the cold wooden door, hoping to overhear the Broadchurch's officers at work. Silence filled the space and she sighed. Her boss was content sitting on the chair, picking his nails while she wanted to kick the door down. Rose Tyler did not like staying still. It was a bad habit she picked up from John, along with some of his good ones.

The wolf roamed her cage, back and forth waiting to let free. The door wasn't locked, but leaving now could harm their case rather than help it.

Rose was struggling to remember a time when she could relax. Her days and nights were filled with dread. Not long ago she critically injured one of the aliens, easing their odds to win. Where could he go for medical attention? Then again, she had seen aliens that could heal quickly. The world was filled with strange things, why was she one of the few that could see it?

Finally an American accent spoke. "If you stare at that door any longer, it'll burst into flames." Jack smirked at her over his shoulder as he reached for their equipment.

"Glad you think this is funny!" she snapped.

The Captain pouted and he held his hands up in mock protest, wiggling his fingers. While her back was turned, Jack sought his phone from his pockets, his eyes widening in delight when he saw a message from his faithful lover.

Got what we needed from vault. Leaving now. xx

"Everything's connected." he whispered to himself. It was the first lesson he learned from John and the one that always stayed with him. He pocketed his phone and was greeted with an anxious look from his colleague.

Rose noted his actions and arched an eyebrow. "What?" He simply smiled at her. "What? Am I missing something?"

"Remember John used to give those lectures telling us the littlest of things should not be overlooked?"

"Yeah," a warm smile spread across her face. Those were the days. He used to go off in little tangents – occasionally about bananas – mostly it was about technology and sometimes it was how stupid people could be. He called them apes. Not an offence term by any means if anything he loved how people saw the world sometimes. "What about it?"

Giving her a warm smile, he simply replied, "He was right."

Tilting her head, she regarded her boss. However before she could open her mouth to enquire about the sudden change in mood, the lights cut out. Darkness bathed the room leaving the team blind.

"Whole building?" Rose mused.

"Reckon so," Jack replied, his hands waving about, searching the bag. A moment later, he pulled out two torches, shinning the beam around the room.

"They're here."

"Oh, yes."

The blonde could see the faint outline of the smug grin. Rose instinctively held her hand in front of Jack and a second later she felt the familiar weight of her gun. Her fingers clasped around the handle and she ventured to the door.

The door opened with an eerie creak, like the sound you expect to hear a haunted house, Rose thought; nevertheless she carried on with Jack taking the charge.

The torch lights flickered from wall to wall, hunting for signs of blood or scratch marks.

Their calling card.

She hated to think of how long they have been in the building. But where the hell was Alec? Was he hurt? Was he and Ellie and dead?

Keep it together, Tyler.

Then she heard it.

A scream.

A woman screaming for her life.

Her breath hitched. Rose bolted dashed to find the source of the noise with Jack on her heels. They rounded the corner. Jack came to a standstill and nodded at the door on their right.

Kneeling down, Rose inspected at the glass by the frame and her eyes fixed on a bloody hand print that had smeared down the glass. Someone was reaching out for help.

Rose swallowed the lump in her throat and without comment or hesitation, pushed open the door. The room before them was the beating heart of the department, which now lay in ruins. The bodies of hardworking men and woman were sprawled across the floor, their expressions forever contorted in looks of horror and fear. The alien had come through like a whirlwind taking out what it considered a threat and left just a quick. The carpet was soaked from the blood; the slashes across the necks were deep. Jack knew they succumbed to their injuries in seconds but kept the information to himself, Rose didn't need to know. She wouldn't take any comfort in it.

"No Ellie," Jack said, shining the light over the faces of the officers, "and no Hardy."

When his friend didn't respond, he glanced up, his eyes locking on the blonde in the small office. Her shoulders were shaking. Trying to contain the emotion surging from her system as she examined the scene. The desk had been overturned, claws marks down the middle. Her eyes were locked on a scribbled message on the back wall.

Jack took one look at the bloody message, spun around and punched the filing cabinet that was open.

"This isn't our fault." Jack mumbled. Rose wasn't sure if he was telling her or himself. Guilt is something that can plague a person, especially in a job like this.

"Isn't it."

"Rose?!"

Alec stumbled into the room, his breaths unsteady and his feet dragging his weight as he came closer to the pair.

"Are you okay?" Rose rushed over to him, her hand reaching for his.

Jack's lips thinned as he watched them, crossing his arms.

"Did you see it?" Rose asked, desperately, "Did it hurt you?

Using the back of his hand, he wiped the cold sweat brow. "Where's Miller?"

"Alec, I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry." Rose whispered.

She pulled away from him, revealing the sadistic taunt behind her. A clear message for what was to come next.

"A MOTHER WOULD UNDERSTAND US."