Tears of the Phoenix Of Time (A Torchwood Fanfiction) - Completed

Phoenix had spent the last week in a state of shock from the death of Fred. Exactly one week after his death, she had decided to get over her grief and start doing something productive. Which was why she was now sitting in the train station. She planned to see the world, do SOMETHING with her life that wasn't this. Her old nature of procrastination had leaked through the walls she had put up from grief, and she had been putting off actually preparing and leaving her old home in London. The first step was to do something Milah had asked her to do just before she died, which Phoenix had not done whilst Fred was still around. On the occasion of her beloved almost-father's (her nickname for him) death, she had decided to do one last thing for Milah and Fred. She was clutching tightly to the piece of paper she held, which had one word on it. 'Cardiff.' When Fred had found out he only had a week to live, he had given her a sealed envelope and told her not to open it until his death, and that address was all it contained. So that was where she was heading now. There was a chime, signalling that her train was about to arrive. When it did, she stood up and began to push her way on through the mass of people, trying to avoid contact wherever she could. For some reason she had never liked contact with people, preferring to keep her distance and watch from afar, which explained why she didn't like places like the station. Once she was sitting down, she gazed out the window, and saw the back of a man wearing a brown trench coat hurrying onto another carriage. For some reason, the sight of him made something twinge inside her, but before she could register it, the man had disappeared.

The train journey was uneventful, and she didn't see any more of the mysterious stranger. When she arrived, she remembered when she had last stood on that platform. About two years after they had taken her in, Milah and Fred had decided to move closer to London, and so had packed up their belongings in Cardiff and moved with her. However, she always felt like she had left something in Cardiff, but she could never place exactly what. It was a niggling feeling in the back of her head she had never been able to get rid of, which was always accompanied by the feeling that she did not fit in. Milah had taken her to a doctor, who told her a lot of teenagers felt that way, but she insisted it wasn't that. However, he refused to believe her. She brushed it off, and pushed through until she reached a taxi, which took her to the centre of Cardiff, as she had nowhere else to go and that seemed a logical place to start her hunt, for what she was not sure. When she arrived, she started walking aimlessly around, for a few hours, exploring the place and looking for what Milah and Fred could have possibly been talking about as the sun was setting.

She suddenly felt a weird tingling sensation. When she stepped away, and it went away, but when she stepped back it was there again. Looking around, Phoenix couldn't see anything different about the spot that made her stomach sink and twist uncomfortably. Suddenly, a man wearing a blue military coat pushed past her, and she overbalanced, but regained her balance just in time to see him running off into a park. She decided to follow him, almost as if her gut were pulling her to him. She ran after him, almost silently, until she thought she lost him.

Suddenly, there was a rustling in the bushes and a strange creature wearing what looked like jumpsuit with a bald head and strange teeth jumped out next to her. She stared at it as it looked back at her in an almost challenging way. Something was telling her to back away and leave because that creature looked dangerous, but her curiosity took over her. The creatures tilted head, pleading eyes and almost defensive stance all lead her to the conclusion that it wasn't going to hurt her.

"Hello there," Phoenix cooed in a voice used to address babies and pets.

The strange creature grunted and took a step backwards.

"Don't worry, I don't want to hurt you," she continued, extending a hesitant hand in its direction.

Just as it was about to step forward again, it heard something that made it jump in fright and run off. Phoenix was annoyed at how close she has gotten to helping and understanding that creature. This irritation was increased as the same man in the blue military coat that she had been chasing stepped out from the trees with a gun raised.

"Who are you?" He demanded.

Phoenix stayed silent, not knowing what to say. The strange man repeated his question with more intensity and stepping closer to her in a menacing manner.

"Milah." It came out almost by itself. She didn't want to use her dead adopted mother's name, but she felt this strange compulsion to keep her real name hidden that she couldn't explain.

He nodded, dropping his gun and intense gaze.

"Did you see anything....strange?" He asked. Phoenix knew exactly what he was talking about but the want to lie to him kicked in again and she shook her head.

She saw it before it happened. The creature ran up behind him and jumped on him, dragging its teeth through his shoulder. He yelled out in pain, as he was dragged to the ground.

**A/N What does everyone think so far? I'm thinking about changing the pov next chapter and converting this story into first person (from Phoenix's pov of course.) Thoughts on this change would be helpful, I just thing first person makes it a bit more interesting. Also thanks to Graceisadragon for the new cover! She's awesome, go check her out!

Xx Hart**