Invasions

~Chapter 5~
Rose Brooch

Sitting in the car, Avery driving and Martha in the passenger seat, there was a pressing silence. Both knew the flaws in their plan. Both knew how desperately they were acting. But both also knew they had to do something.

"Jack works… worked for Torchwood… maybe his office has some clues?" suggested Avery.

"It's a long shot, but I guess it's the only reasonable first place to look," agreed Martha before sighing. "What are we doing, Ave?"

She bit her lip, simply continuing to stare at the road ahead. It was not really necessary for her to be staring at the road, seeing as she had turned the cruise control on while driving on the highway, and the car was driving itself, but Avery just didn't know what to answer. The easiest thing was to avoid the pressing fact that maybe, just maybe, he had actually left them to their own devices. Neither wanted to say so, but when their eyes met just briefly, both knew the other was worrying about the same thing.

The question was, why would he have left them all on their own?

The Tardis materialized in an office at the top floor of the Torchwood building. As he exited his ship, there was a strange silence all around him. He was in a building run by an organisation that existed all around the world. It was strange that there were no people working late in the evening as well or that there were no people preparing for late or early meetings. There weren't even any people cleaning up around the desks.

With quiet steps, the Doctor moved through corridors, trying his best to find someone. His plan was to find Jack as well, or at least any clues that indicated what was going on. His stomach was still twisted in agony about the present changes of time that had been made, and he needed to find out what was going on so he could stop it and repair time at least a little bit.

He stopped suddenly when the smell of roses entered his nostrils. He looked around at the sterile environment he was in, thinking it odd that this smell was there. Moving onwards through the grey corridor, he was suddenly surprised by the flashing of light. As if someone was taking constant pictures.

He began running towards the flashes, but found his pace had been inadequate as the flashes stopped before he could find its source. All he did find was a man, finally, standing in the middle of a meeting room. The walls of that particular meeting room were created by glass which gave the Doctor a free view of the man. Almost immediately memories of having seen him in articles came to the Doctor. This man was the Director of Weyland, the man who currently was taking over the deceased CEO's duties in order to keep the company running.

What he was doing in the Torchwood building was beyond the Doctor. But what was even more haunting was the proud smirk on his lips, as though he had just accomplished something amazing.

A brooch was pinned against his colourful suit; a brooch of a rose. The Doctor hid behind a corner as Director Thane started moving, making his way towards the elevator and leaving the Doctor all alone again.

Her foot slammed against the break. She had just taken a left, finding it odd how the big city seemed so empty and void of cars, when both women found the road had been blocked by news vans, reporters and police cars. Both gasped as the car came to an abrupt halt, and both women were confused as to what was going on.

They had arrived in Oakland a little over fifteen minutes ago. The sky was dark, and the moon was out, but from below the skyscrapers and artificial light, neither women could see the darkness nor the moon. Martha found the city quite interesting, while Avery thought Martha's cities looked much more interesting.

"What is going on here?" asked Avery, turning the engine off.

Martha lifted a finger upwards, pointing towards something high up, "Look! That's the Torchwood building."

Indeed, the reporters and police cars had all stopped in front of the Torchwood building. The skyscrapers reached high up, and at the very top a large, neon sign shaped like a T could be seen.

"They've gone a long way from being secretive…" mumbled Martha.

"Don't tell me something's happened again," sighed Avery, not having heard Martha's mumbling.

"Let's find out. It's what the Doctor would've done."

Martha exited the car before Avery could reply, and the young woman, her hand unwillingly double checking so the pocket watch was still in her pocket, followed suit. She felt a little bad about leaving the family car behind, but she figured they would return to it soon anyway.

Her mother would kill her if she didn't come back with the car intact.

Unable to see what everyone was taking pictures of, Martha and Avery decided to push through the crowd. Some people stayed firmly on the spot they had managed to get, glaring at the two women as they tried to pass by, while some actually helped them get to the front.

Police were standing there, making sure nobody crossed a specific boundary. A half circle of reporters had been created around the entrance of the Torchwood building, and Avery and Martha watched patiently until something happened.

A man wearing a colourful suit exited the building. A brooch was on his suit, formed like a rose. He waved at the reporters, who immediately began taking pictures of him. A couple of security guards tried to coax him to move away from the reporters and into a black car that was waiting for him, but there was something in the man's eyes that told Avery and Martha that he was too cocky to leave without letting them take a few good pictures and a statement.

"The board of Torchwood have agreed! I will, until someone more suitable is found, work as acting CEO for Weyland Foundations." He smiled, his eyes narrowing strangely as he did so, before waving at the reporters screaming questions at him.

Though now he had had enough, and finally decided to move along with his security guards into the black car. It drove away quickly, speeding off into Oakland. The reporters quited down, some immediately leaving while some others continued to take some pictures of the Torchwood building.

Martha and Avery glanced at each other, shrugging.

"You think that was important?" asked Avery.

Martha just shrugged, giving Avery a bored look. "Let's just head on inside somehow without these people noticing. We gotta find Jack."