Attack of the 10 foot child (open)

[koandir]

Koandi'r panted as he raced into the park. The screams of the humans he passed only agitated the "little" alien more. Even though he towered over most of them he could feel the crowd's mixed emotions: fear, hate, confusion, and everything in between. It wasn't his fault he ended up here. He didn't want to be on Earth, and he wasn't entirely sure of how he appeared among humans. After all, humans were one of the most dangerous races known in the galaxy, vanquishing far more fearsome races.

The seven year old dove into a bush, the ten foot hairy frame making itself as small as physically possible. He tried to hug himself and hide among the vegetation, but he was far too big to fit without being overly obvious that he was hiding there. He whimpered and began sobbing.He didn't care how he got here, or that he would get rejected for his human smell if he ever returned to his home planet. He just wanted to go home.

[Gwen Cooper]

Gwen was just leaving the office of her OBGYN. She had requested the morning off so she could make everything really official. Liz had recommended an outside doctor that specialized in pregnancy as opposed to Gwen’s idea of just using Liz. She was glad she had gone, though. It gave Gwen a sense of normalcy, something she rarely got these days.

She was just closing the door to her car when she her mobile rang. It was Leo.

“Hello, pet. What’s happening?” Gwen asked in greeting.

”I know you had the morning off but there is something happening at a park near your location that I was hoping you could help me with.”

Gwen startled. At first she feared that Leo knew that she was at the doctor’s office but then she remembered that every Torchwood member had a tracking device on their cars. “Sure. I’m just finished and was about to head over to the Hub anyway.” Gwen started her car up. “Where am I heading?”

Leo sent her the coordinates. “I’ll be there shortly. I’m just trying to find the keys to Jack’s Alfa. Bloody stupid car and those two have the SUV.”

Gwen smiled. Jack’s Alfa Romeo Guilietta was lovely to look at but was an electrical nightmare. He rarely took it out and Leo said it was for a good reason. It stalled out randomly and was in the shop more than out. Leo tried to work on it herself but gave up after Jack insisted on hovering. Even Ianto refused to drive the silly machine.

“You need your own car,” Gwen said, pulling into traffic.

Gwen could hear Leo trying to start the Alfa in the background. “I know! I swear, though, I’m not buying anything flash. Jack buys flash and…I’m surprised this thing doesn’t have Torchwood embossed on the side. I mean, we used to be a secret organization. When I left we were a secret but the past ten years I was hearing rumours of you lot all the way in the States. I mean, honestly. I leave and the whole of Torchwood goes public.”

Gwen pulled over to the side of the road near the park. “I’m here. What am I looking for?”

Leo tried to start the Alfa again and screamed in frustration as she pounded the steering wheel. “Sorry, Gwen. Yeah, there was a Rift Alert. Something came through but I’m not sure what. I’m still having issues reading the Rift information you lot have.”

Gwen opened her glove compartment and removed her gun she had stashed there earlier. “I’ll start looking around.” She rang off the call to the sounds of an extremely frustrated Lorteen.

Gwen had to smile again. Even only a year ago she couldn’t have believed she would be working side by side with an alien. Sometimes, Leo made it hard to believe she isn’t human but then there were moments when it was blaringly obvious.

Locking the car behind her, Gwen tucked her keys into her pocket and the gun into the waistband of her jeans. She began to scan the park but didn’t need to look too far. There were children running and screaming and not in the usual playground crazy sort of way. Gwen ran right over and saw the large creature hiding in the bushes. Her hand twitched to her gun but stopped when she heard the sound it was making.

It was crying.

Gwen changed her tactics. “All right, nothing to see,” she said, wishing Ianto was here. He was good with people and crowds. Even in her time as a WPC she was never really good at crowd control. “Go on! It’s obviously a hurt animal. The authorities are on their way.”

The kids and few adults reluctantly meandered off.

Gwen took a tentative step toward the furry bush. “Hello. It’s all right. I won’t hurt you. If you come out I can take you somewhere safe. Somewhere away from these people.”

She waited a tic before crouching down to peer into the bush. “My name is Gwen,” she said with a smile. “I’d really like to help you.”

[koandir]

Koandi'r buried his head and closed his eyes. The old psychology was still true even for alien children. He figured if he couldn't see the humans, they couldn't see him. But he felt their judgmental stares burning on his skin. He could feel the fear, the curiosity, the hostility. Or was that last one the murderous intent that the humans were so well known for? The furry alien squeezed his eyes tighter shut, knowing that even though that tended to get rid of his nightmares about humans that the ones around him weren't going to go away. He sobbed harder, trying to catch his breath enough so he could run again.

He peeked out at the crowd from between his fur-covered fingers. Even though if he stood up he would tower over all of them, he felt very small at that moment. The screaming didn't help when he did in fact peek. He squeezed his eyes shut and covered his ears, which were ringing from the sensitive receptors' sudden exposure to the siren of the scream. It only lasted a few seconds but his ears kept ringing afterward and he kept his eyes closed.

Koandi'r suddenly felt a dramatic change in the emotions around him. Things had become strangely more... tranquil. He sniffed in his crying and opened his eyes.


The human took a tentative step toward him. “您好。它的所有权利。我不会伤害你。如果你来了，我可以带你安全的地方。某处远离这些人.”

She waited a tic before crouching down to peer into the bush. “我的名字是格温,” it said, showing its teeth. “我真的想帮助你”.

He probed quickly into her brain to see her emotions, simultaneously showing his. The human in front of him was nothing like the others, she didn't seem to fear him. And there was a second presence as well, one that remained fairly calm. This was strange, he had never seen a human with two sets of emotions. But he had also never been to a human this close. Even though the empathetic connection remained open for a few moments, the human's mind would soon experience a strong glimpse of his intense fear.

As the human crouched down Koandi'r thought the worst. He let out a scream of pure terror and scurried backward. He leaped to his feet revealing his full height and jumped into the small tree. He huddled up his knees and hugged the trunk for protection Koandi'r whimpered and watched the human carefully to see what it would do next.

((It's what Gwen said in chinese. Language barrier and all. And the "second presence is Gwen's child.))

[Gwen Cooper]

Gwen felt like a wall of emotion had hit her. It was only for a brief moment but it was there. The creature was empathic. She felt relieved. At least if they didn’t understand one another it could read her intent.

Then it shot past her and jumped into a tree, hugging it tightly. “Oh, love,” she sighed, standing up and walking to the tree. She took a deep breath and calmed her own emotions. This creature was more afraid of her than she could ever be of it. She watched it for a moment, shaking with fear and clinging to the tree for dear life.

She placed a hand on the trunk of the tree as she tried to think of a way of getting it down. How could she prove that she did not want to hurt it. An idea struck her. Ianto was always giving her chocolate and candy. He always made sure her favourite was tucked in her jacket pocket when it was that time of the month. Funnily, she hadn’t told him that time of the month won’t be happening for a long while. Instead, in her pocket, she had two bars of chocolate.

Gwen quickly unwrapped one and held it up to the creature. “Sweetheart, try this. It’s lovely. It will make you feel happy. Chocolate is amazing that way. And then I can take you for a ride in my car and we can visit my friends. Please, darling. I won’t hurt you.”