Torchwood: Equestria- Parallel Loose Ends

Earth
Phillydelphia Hospital
21st Century

Claire got used to the white noise of the hospital through her time working there. Every day when she sat down at her desk, her ears learned to tune out the array of hoof steps walking by, announcements to call doctors to other areas, and the conversations of ponies waiting. She worked undisturbed by all the noises, filling out paperwork and talking to ponies when they walked in. Though her job was simple, she enjoyed the steady pace of it, compared to other hospital employees who had to constantly rush about.

Shortly after lunch, two ponies entered the door across from her desk, a grey pegasus and a red unicorn. She scribbled in one more part of the paper she was working on, then looked up with a welcoming smile. “Hello, welcome to Phillydelphia Hospital,” she said. “Do you have an appointment?”

“No, we're not sick,” the grey pegasus responded. Both him and the unicorn next to him wore some sort of badge around their necks, and they each brought it up to show the clerk.

“Royal Sisters' health and safety department,” the red unicorn explained as the clerk checked their badges. “We're doing routine inspections of all major hospitals. We just need to look around, and we need access to all parts of the building.”

Claire paused before nodding, setting aside her paperwork. “Let me get somepony to cover for me up here, and I'll take you around our facility,” she said, leaving her chair and heading down a hallway.

Wing and Ruby stood patiently, casually glancing around the lobby. “I don't like it,” Ruby said softly.

“Me neither,” Wing replied. “I feel uncomfortable and have no idea why.”

“Same.”

**

Phillydelphia

The black pavement of Phillydelphia's streets amplified the heat of the sun, and ponies paused to wipe their brows as they traveled along. Even so, the work of a bustling city had to continue, so ponies trudged through the heat of the day, either walking slower to try and stay cool, or rushing to just get inside again.

One stallion amongst the crowd, a blue earth pony, walked slower than all the rest, even stumbling now and again, yet unnoticed by any around him. His eyes fluttered, and it appeared that his body struggled with each step, his body swaying this way and that, trying to keep balance.

After several loud, hard coughs, ponies started to turn their eyes towards him. He kept coughing, heaving, struggling to regain control of his lungs. A few ponies asked if he was alright, then gasped when he collapsed on the ground. Only moments ago, this stallion just looked tired, unworthy of any busy pony's attention. Now, everypony near him gathered to see what was wrong.

“What happened?”

“Is he dehydrated?”

“Quick, somepony get him to the hospital!”

Two pegasus ponies came forward, each grabbing at one end of the now unconscious stallion, and hoisted him up, carrying him away. Soon, the gathered crowd dispersed, returning to their regular schedule, the occurrence in the back of their minds as nothing but a strange incident.

**

Jack opened his eyes slowly, finding a white ceiling above him instead of sky. He felt a bed beneath him, and looked down to see a thin blanket, and a tube leading to his left foreleg. He pushed off the blanket partially, revealing a needle stuck in near the joint.

Listening intently, Jack heard nothing out of the ordinary. His bed was inside a temporary room, and the green curtain in front of him was open. He looked out into the hallway, trying to spot anything odd, any surveillance devices attached to the walls, something hanging from a vent. Nothing. He'd have to wait in order to look any further.

Whenever the Royal Sisters' health and safety department made inspections, two representatives came, according to Princess Celestia. He'd left Ruby and Wing to this job, then devised a plan to get a perspective of the hospital from every angle, and provide a way for the others to get inside at night unnoticed. The sickness spell on him still churned inside his body, and Jack silently wished he'd picked a different role to play.

After a few more minutes, a griffon entered the room, medical paperwork in a folder around his neck. “Ah, you're awake,” the griffon said, coming closer. “Don't worry, everything's fine now. You're in Phillydelphia hospital. That was quite a scare you gave us, we couldn't figure out why you just passed out on the street.”

Jack rubbed his head, still feeling the pain of the experience a bit. “Yeah, I don't know either. I started feeling weak, then I started coughing uncontrollably. Next thing I know, I wake up here.”

“We think it was just some random little virus you caught, but we're going to keep you here overnight just to be save,” the griffon replied. “Now that you're awake, can I get your name?”

“Jack Harkness,” Jack told him.

“Excellent. I'm Dr. Cazan, nice to meet you.” Cazan sat down and scribbled a few notes onto his papers.

“I don't really see griffons in this city,” Jack mentioned. “Are you from around here?”

“Actually, I just transferred,” Cazan explained. “You're my first patient at this hospital.”

“Oh,” Jack replied nodding. “Interesting. Well, thank you so much for the help, Dr. Cazan. I hope you like it here.”

“I do, thank you,” the griffon told him, putting away the paperwork. “Actually, I'm more worried about two certain ponies liking it here more than my own feelings. I hear health and safety inspectors are in the building today.”

Jack gave a reassuring smile. “Oh, I'm sure they'll give this place a good review. This hospital seems to have a certain... energy to it.”

“I hope you're right.” Cazan chuckled, then stood up and backed away from Jack's bed. “Well, great to meet you Mr. Harkness, I'll leave you to rest. Just call for a nurse if you need anything, and we'll get you moved to an actual room in about half an hour.”

Cazan left, and Jack leaned back in bed. There was nothing he could do for now. He sighed when he realized ponies hadn't invented television yet. Perhaps a nurse had a book or magazine he could borrow. It was going to be a long day.

**

Wing and Ruby found nothing out of the ordinary as their escort took them throughout the hospital. Both kept out a keen eye, examining every inch of every hallway and room, looking for anything out of place, anything disguised to appear normal.

They moved from the first floor to the second, where most of the patients in the hospital slept if they needed to stay for more treatment. Claire continued to talk about all the wonderful features of the hospital, and the qualifications of the staff, while Wing and Ruby feigned smiles and approving nods, their minds more focused on searching for the source of the energy readings. They did their best to peek into patients' rooms, but Claire seemed to keep walking as if they weren't of importance.

With Claire in front of them, Wing shot Ruby a look of concern, and she understood the reasoning. She stopped Claire to ask for the location of the nearest restroom, saying her associate needed to go, and may as well inspect it while he was there. Claire provided simple directions to get there, and Ruby nodded to Wing, walking away with their escort and leaving Wing alone.

Wing walked down the narrow hallway, passing a counter with nurses behind it, scribbling on paperwork and filling shelves with supplies. He stepped out of the way of a bed carrying Jack as a nurse pushed it past him, and didn't make a second glance, keeping up the necessary appearance. With a casual glance over his shoulder, he made a mental note of the room Jack was placed in.

After examining a painting on a wall, attempting to spot any sign of something hidden behind it, he stepped in to a patient's room. The room was typical for a hospital, small, square, and white, a bathroom directly next to the entrance, and a bed placed in the center of the room. A couple more paintings decorated the walls to provide some color, and a red, cushioned chair for guests was placed in the corner. A teal colored, elderly mare laid in the bed, her wrinkled forelegs holding up a book.

After sweeping the room for anything suspicious, Wing raised a hoof and gently knocked on the wall. “Sorry to bother you, just checking to see how you're doing,” he said to the mare, putting on a smile.

“Oh, you're not a bother at all,” the mare replied. Her voice showed her age, but still sounded sweet. She lowered the book so it rested on her chest, and gave Wing her attention.

“I'm with the Royal Sisters' health and safety department. We're looking around here just to make sure everything is in good shape. Can I ask you how you like the hospital?”

The mare shrugged. “It's alright for me,” she told Wing. “There's not much in the way of accommodations that a pony my age needs,” she continued, chuckling. “All the nurses and doctors are polite, I feel fine here.” She paused, thinking if there was anything else to mention. “Although...”

Wing's ears perked up. “Yes?”

“Well, I've been having the strangest of dreams, every night. Not nightmares or anything, just really strange. Lots of patients have been saying so. I've tried to ask the doctors, they just say it's probably my medication.” She shook her head. “My pills didn't used to do that, though.”

Wing nodded, making a mental note. “Well, everypony's body changes, you can trust the doctors here,” he assured her, unsure if he just told her the truth. “I'm sure if there was something wrong, the doctors would know.”

“Thanks,” the mare replied. “It's nice to hear that from a pony not wearing a white coat. Sometimes I just don't know.”

“I understand. Having to stay in a hospital for so long can be stressful.” Wing paused, taking one last look around the room, shooting a glance underneath the patient's bed. “Anything else?”

“Oh, this isn't too much trouble, but I'm sure part of your job description. The furnace has been broken for a good while, so it gets a little chilly at night. Think you can look into it?”

“Sure thing,” Wing said, looking up at the ceiling. The vents. A place he couldn't just jump up into in the middle of the day. “Thank you for your time, ma'am. Enjoy your day.”

Wing left the room and reentered the hallway, stopping by a couple more rooms to ask about dreams. Everypony said the same thing, making Wing worry. It was impossible that every patient in the hospital having strange dreams was a mere coincidence or side effect to medication. Something was happening that needed investigation.

The second floor was large, holding multiple wings for patients and several operation rooms, so Wing managed to catch up to Ruby and their escort before they finished. Claire continued to talk about the hospital, and Wing rejoined Ruby in the fake nods of interest, keeping his eyes peeled. It bothered him that besides some strange information from patients, they'd failed to find any source of alien activity so far. Time passed, and they finished the entire second floor, with nothing to come back to yet.

“Well, I think we're all done,” Claire said as their trip looped back to the stairway they'd taken up. “Do you have any more questions?”

Ruby immediately spoke up. “Yes. Doesn't this hospital have a third floor?”

Claire frowned. “I'm sorry, that's our research level. You have to have a key from our head manager to get in, and he's not here today.” Her ears flattened, and she leaned away slightly, glancing at the stairs that led up.

“That's a problem,” Ruby replied. She searched Claire's face for signs of lying, but she appeared innocent enough, despite some obvious nervousness at the mention of the third floor. They'd found their target.

“He should be here tomorrow, though. Would you be able to come back?” Claire asked.

“That's fine, thank you for your time today,” Wing told her. He moved for the stairway, then turned back. “Oh, I forgot my badge in the restroom. I'll be back.”

“I'll go with you,” Ruby replied. “Go on ahead, Claire. We'll be leaving as soon as he gets his badge and I make my own restroom stop.”

Claire nodded, and said goodbye, turning to head back to her desk. Wing and Ruby walked in the other direction, back down a hallway of patient rooms, until Wing slowed to a stop.

**

Though bored, the sickness spell kept Jack from feeling well enough to get out of bed. He at least had a private room now, which felt cozier than the initial recovery area.

Waiting for time to tick by, Jack thought back on his time here so far. He'd become inseparable from Wing any time they weren't working, and had grown to consider Ruby and Cazan close friends. His temporary stop in this universe to say hello to Wing had already turned into something longer, perhaps it would be worth staying even after they solved the threats and mysteries facing them. Jack had lived so long already, and with the strong possibility that he'd never die, hanging around for about a century would be just a blink of an eye. He could stay with Wing until the end of his days, but that thought both warmed and troubled him. He felt unsure whether he could handle losing someone close to him again. Watching them age, grow old, and die while he just kept on going. He didn't know which would be more painful, leaving before or leaving after Wing reached his final day.

His thoughts were interrupted by the sound of voices outside his room. The voices were familiar, and he leaned over in the bed, listening as best as he could.

“So, I think the inspection went well today,” he heard Ruby say.

“Agreed,” Wing's voice replied. “I wish we didn't have to come back tomorrow, but if we can't see the third floor without the head manager's key, there's nothing we can do.”

“It'll be alright, the first two floors are done so it shouldn't take long. Any problems we need to request further inspection for?”

“Just one, let's get somepony in here to check out the vents. Air conditioning is faulty, been making everypony a bit chilly at night. Probably one of the reasons patients are having weird dreams.”

“Sounds good.”

That was all the information Jack needed. He was grateful for passing by Wing while being transported to his room, knowing now that Wing made note of his location. During the day, none of them could do anything, but once night fell, only the absolute minimum amount of staff would be present in case of an emergency, just two or three ponies per floor. When that time came, and the sickness spell on Jack wore off, he'd be on his way upstairs.

**

As the two inspectors walked by one of the nurse counters, an orange stallion in a lab coat glanced up at them. He recognized the scar on the mare's cheek. He wished it had cut deeper.

The stallion leaned over the nurse working on the patient log. “Do we have any new patients in this wing today?” he asked.

“Just a moment,” she replied, flipping the page and looking through names, dates and times. “One new patient today, a Mr. Jack Harkness. He's 3 doors down to the left of here.”

“Thank you,” the orange stallion said back. “Jack Harkness...” he whispered under his breath as he turned away. “Let's see what sort of fellow you are.”

**

After falling asleep that evening, Jack fell into vivid dreams. His entire life seemed to present itself to him, from childhood, to meeting the doctor, to forming the first Torchwood, and beyond. Though all these images were familiar, something didn't feel right. Something else was there, out of the corner of his eye. Or someone...

He was startled awake by a loud tapping on his window. He sat up in bed quickly, the effects of the sickness spell now completely gone from his body. He slid out of bed and walked to the window, unlocking it and sliding it open.

From the other side of the window came Wing, who gave Jack a tight hug as soon as he entered. After releasing the blue stallion from his embrace, he turned back to the window and waved a hoof, after which Cazan flew down from the hospital roof, carrying Ruby and her equipment bag in his claws. Wing and Jack helped Ruby get inside, after which Cazan flew in, shutting the window behind him.

“Nopony saw us enter,” Cazan whispered to Jack. “We made sure there were no possible witnesses before flying down from the roof.”

“Good,” Jack replied. “I heard your conversation before leaving,” he told Ruby and Wing. “There should only be two, three ponies at most on this floor. If we get past them, we can head upstairs.”

“There's definitely something on the third floor,” Cazan confirmed. “Anypony I asked either couldn't or wouldn't tell me anything besides the fact that it's the research level. I was kept on the first two all day.”

The four moved as a team, Jack leading the way as he peeked his head out from the room, checking if he could see any of the ponies on shift. Down the hall at one of the desk areas, one pegasus nurse worked diligently on the paperwork in front of him. There was no other pony in sight.

With the lights in the hallway off, the team managed to enter the hallway without casting any shadows to catch the nurse's eye. Jack motioned with a hoof, and the team inched along the edge of the wall, stopping every few seconds to check for reactions from the nurse. He continued his work behind the counter, yet to be disturbed by the patient leaving his room with a group that entered through the window.

Each member of Torchwood ducked low in order to begin the riskiest portion of the journey. Bit by bit, they moved forward, now traversing underneath the counter, only separated from the nurse by a very thin piece of wall. If any noise was made, or the nurse decided to get up, it would become clear very quickly that security needed to be alerted. None of the team knew if security meant local police or space ships.

They continued on, Jack letting out a silent breath of relief as he reached the end of the counter, standing up more normally again. Wing was next several seconds later, then Ruby. All that remained was Cazan, and at that moment, the nurse's chair swiveled.

Cazan froze in place, and the other three looked with wide eyes at the nurse, who stood out of his chair and stretched. “Coffee, coffee...” the nurse said to himself, yawning and closing the folder he'd been working out of.

A portion of the counter could swing outwards and inwards, to allow staff to come and go from the work area. That portion rested in the gap between Cazan and the rest of the Torchwood team.

None of them knew how much of the hospital staff was compromised. The pony on the brink of discovering them could be helping the strange happenings inside the hospital, or he could be a completely innocent pony. Regardless, he'd soon become aware of the team, and ruin the stealth of their entrance.

Immediately when the nurse pushed the swiveling portion of the counter, he saw a griffon's claws out of the corner of his eye, and turned in surprise. “Hey! What are you doing? If you need assistance you have the call button, nopony should be out at this time of-”

A powerful slap from Cazan's claw smacked into the nurse's head before he finished his sentence. Jack came running from the front of the line, looking down at the pony now laying on the ground. Cazan brought a claw down to the pony's neck, and nodded reassuringly at Jack.

“He's just unconscious,” Cazan whispered. “Benefit of being both a doctor and an agent, strong enough to knock a pony out and knowledgeable enough to not crack his skull when doing so.”

Jack helped Cazan slide the nurse back through the swiveling part of the counter, and together they lifted him into his chair and leaned him down on his paperwork. With no noticeable mark on the nurse's face, now he appeared to simply be asleep on the job.

Seeing no other staff in sight, the team rushed down the rest of the hallway and into the stairwell, not wanting to deal with any more problems. They kept their steps quiet, ascending the steps until they reached the next floor.

The door they found was clearly not meant for typical pony use. There was no knob on the pale white door, and no key hole for the “manager” to put a key in. The only thing that appeared to be a lock mechanism was a large, circular shaped cut out in the wall, but there was no sign of any circuitry.

“How could they possibly keep the entire staff from asking about this floor?” Wing asked. “Unless the entire staff has been taken over...”

“Not many think to question their boss,” Jack said. “If new management came in, they probably justified it as new and important medical research. Higher security needed.”

“I can second that,” Cazan said. “There are actual medical research wings that require security to protect others, even other doctors,” he explained.

“Fair enough that normal staff wouldn't ask questions,” Ruby said, looking behind them to check for any ponies coming up. “But we know better, and we need to get in. A better question for the moment, how does this lock work?”

Jack leaned his head in close, peering into the circle. “I don't see any circuitry. Might be camouflaged like our own headquarters door.”

“The hole's too big for a hoof,” Wing noted. “I feel like something would fit perfectly in there.”

“I've got some tools, I'll see if I can hack in,” Ruby said.

“Wait,” Cazan interrupted, holding a claw up. “I added something to your equipment bag, let me see.”

Ruby turned so Cazan could reach the bag draped over her, and he pulled out one of the two identical gold coins the team found on the pegasus who broke in to Twilight's castle, and the murderer from Manehattan. “Jack, you said you had a hunch events were more connected than we thought,” he said, holding up the coin. “Let's test your theory.”

Cazan reached out his claw, and to everyone's surprise, the coin appeared to match the size of the hole. Cazan pushed the coin in, and a loud hum emitted from the wall, followed by a hard click. Jack gently pushed the door, and found it now unlocked.

“I don't know if I'm more happy or worried that the coin worked,” Jack said.

One by one, the team slid through the door, quickly closing it behind them once they all passed through. The lock clicked back into place, and Cazan noted a similar hole next to this side of the door. The key could get them out as well.

The third floor seemed to be one giant room. One could barely see from one end to the other, however, as dozens of tables and tall shelves took up space, with no hallways and adjacent rooms like the floors below. Whoever or whatever now controlled the third floor of Phillydelphia hospital turned it into one giant experimentation lab.

The main lights on the floor were off, but several lamps scattered throughout the area provided dim, yellow light. All the tall shelves were made of glass, letting the dim lights pass through them and reflect off. The team saw the reason no hallways or extra walls remained; the entire space was packed with furniture and strange equipment. Vials filled with differently colored liquids, odd looking medical tools, and stacks of papers rested on every counter and shelf. They felt as if they just entered a maze.

“Stay... quiet...” Jack whispered. He stared across the floor, and the others followed his eyes until they saw what he saw. A single pony sat on a stool at the far end of the floor, working on something in front of him.

The stallion had an orange coat and dark red mane, and when the team squinted they could make out a horn on his head. They spread out into the maze of shelves, making a careful advance on the pony, giving him as small of a chance as possible to escape.

Step by step, Jack approached with held breath, not daring to make a single sound that would alert the stallion to their presence. There was plenty of physical evidence to examine on this floor, but he hadn't expected to catch an actual worker during their late night break in.

Everyone sneaked up on the stallion at a snail's pace, each member of Torchwood coming in from a different angle. Wing shivered from the cool air, noticing what the patients were talking about when it came to temperature, bud didn't realize how close he was to a shelf. His body bumped against it only slightly when his body twitched from the cold, but the movement was enough to shift a set of test tubes sitting in a beaker, making a slight clink.

Immediately, a pistol levitated out from in front of the orange stallion, and a laser blast shot out in the direction of the noise. Wing dove to the floor, and the other three started to charge at the stallion before his yell ceased their assault. “Stop!”

Hearing the rage in his voice, and not wanting to risk more blind shots at them, Jack, Ruby, and Cazan complied. “Any closer and I'll kill you all now,” the stallion muttered, anger being held back in his voice. His voice was deep and throaty, yet still came out smooth.

“Whatever you're doing here, it needs to stop,” Jack told the stallion.

“Fine by me, I no longer need this place, Jack,” the unicorn replied.

Wing, Ruby, and Cazan all looked at Jack when the stallion mentioned his name. “How...” Jack breathed.

“I know many things, Captain Harkness, many things that others don't bother to know,” the stallion said. “How's that scar, Ruby?”

A mix of dozens of emotions flooded Ruby, mostly surprise and rage, but her intuition kept her from charging forward. “You...” she said, for only one pony outside of her life could know of the scar. “Why are you doing all this? Why did you hack my ship in the first place?”

The stallion placed his head on the counter for several seconds, groaning before he brought it back up and answered. “To try and show you what you seem to have so easily forgotten. All of you, so ignorant.” He paused, letting out a low chuckle. “Well, except Jack. Jack knows a lot that you don't, he just won't tell you.”

This turned everyone's eyes to Jack once more, and Jack only became more confused. He didn't know how the stallion could know his name, or what knowledge he was referencing. He wanted nothing more than to apprehend this stallion, but his aim with the laser pistol had been nearly accurate enough to kill Wing, and the unicorn didn't even look. Another problem came into Jack's view when the unicorn slid his left hoof across the table. He wore a vortex manipulator. If they pressured him, he'd just escape again. Now was the time for information.

“I don't know what you're talking about,” Jack said, trying to get more out of the stallion.

“You do, the others don't,” he replied. “They see it all when they go to sleep, then they forget the moment they wake up. Fascinating, how ignorant the universe is of the truth.” He continued to adjust something in front of him, hidden from the eyes of the others. After a few more changes to whatever he worked on, he set it down, grinning at his work. With his magic, he spun his stool around to see the others, revealing his face to them for the first time. His eyes were the same shade of red as his mane and tail, and his sly grin was not one Jack wanted to see. “It's in your dreams, all of you,” the stallion said. Jack and Ruby's hearts dropped when he reached for his vortex manipulator, knowing they weren't in a position to stop him. “I no longer have need for this hospital, my research is complete and you can have it back. Ask Jack why he really came here... if any of you survive the next sixty seconds. You've done much to help this world, but will you sacrifice yourselves?”

With those words, the stallion hit his vortex manipulator and disappeared. Jack and Ruby rushed forward, and their hearts dropped at the sight of the device on the table. Both of them recognized the cylindrical object to be a future tech explosive, and the timer set for sixty seconds began ticking down.

“Can you defuse it?” Jack asked, rushing his words.

“Not with sixty seconds, I can't. Not this type of bomb,” Ruby replied.

“Bomb?” Wing and Cazan said in unified shock, running to see the device.

“We could get it out of the hospital, but there's no way we get it out of Phillydelphia in time,” Jack said, trying to find a plan that would work. “Something is going to explode.”

“What if we took it straight up?” Cazan mentioned. “Do we have time to get it high enough that the blast wouldn't affect anything?”

“Yes, perfect,” Jack replied. “Ruby, can you levitate it high enough?”

“Hold on,” she said, taking a close look at the bomb as the timer ticked past the forty second mark. She recognized the technology of the bomb, and noted the notches of red and orange along the edges, meaning she was incapable of helping. “This is from my time, I've seen this before. It has a magic trigger, I levitate this and we're done.”

“We need something right now, or we lose everyone in this hospital!” Jack stammered.

“Jack, when I mentioned taking the bomb upward, I wasn't thinking magic.”

The other three turned their heads to Cazan, understanding the meaning behind his words. Ruby shook her head, desperately trying to think up another option. Jack looked at Cazan with somber eyes, the pain of this necessity tearing into him. For a long moment, no one spoke, their minds trying to fight back reality, refusing to believe it. Cazan's face didn't move. He stood by the words he said, an reached out for the explosive.

“No, I'll do it,” Wing said, coming forward.

Cazan snatched the bomb into his claw before Wing could get there. “You're young, you're not doing this. I've lived out the good parts of my days.” Wing wanted to object, but Cazan looked at him sternly, and with a tear trickling out of his eye, the pegasus stepped back. Cazan looked down at the explosive in his hand, the timer getting closer and closer to its end, and took a deep breath, letting out a sigh.

“Jack,” he continued, spreading out his wings to prepare to speed down to the second floor and out a window. “Find this stallion who's giving Earth so much trouble.”

Jack nodded. There was nothing left to do, only one terrible decision over a worse one. He stood up straight, looking into Cazan's eyes. “I promise.”