Donna meets Torchwood

Donna Noble had never been the type of person who liked being excluded from anything. Ever since she was a little girl; once, the boys in her class at primary school had decided to have a competition involving measuring their… Well, you get the idea. Donna had insisted on being involved somehow, but before they had had a chance to do anything, she had run and told the teacher. That hadn't exactly made her popular with her classmates, not that she cared. She had also never been the type of person to care about what anyone thought of her. That was just who she was. Even with the Doctor, her best friend.

That was what had been so surprising when she had first met Captain Jack Harkness. For the first time since her almost-wedding, she had caught herself hoping her hair looked okay, instead of a fuzzy mess. And when Jack hadn't really seemed to care, she had been horrified to find herself going out of her way to get him to notice her. When he had left, she had been both disappointed and relieved that she could now go back to just being Donna.

Or so she had thought.

Ianto was in the middle of sorting through some reports when a furious knocking at the front door of Torchwood caught his attention. Despite the fact it was raining heavily outside, the knocking could be heard clearly. Straightening his tie, he made his way around the front desk, flicking on the kettle as he went, and pulled open the door. Before he had a chance to say anything, the woman shoved him aside and welcomed herself into the room. "About time!" she snapped, slipping off her sopping wet coat, "I thought the world was going to freeze over before you let me in."

He frowned, closing the door as a gust of icy wind buffeted his hair, and was briefly thankful for the warmth of Torchwood's front room. "May I help you?" he asked, confused.

The woman rolled her eyes, "No, I just wandered in here because I thought it was a night club," she scoffed, "Of course you can help me. I'm looking for Jack."

For a split second, a sense of protectiveness surged through Ianto at the mention of Jack's name, but he immediately threw the silly thought aside. "Um, can I know your name, ma'am?"

"Ooh, aren't you the proper one?" She smirked, "I'm Donna Noble. I travel with the Doctor, and I figure it's safe to bet you've heard of him."

Ianto's eyes widened. He had certainly heard of him; Jack hadn't talked about the Doctor in length, but every time he did mention the mysterious man, he got a certain light in his eyes that made Ianto feel all warm inside. He had learned that the Doctor almost always travelled with a companion, showing them the whole of time and space in his TARDIS, saving the world more times than anyone could count. Scouring his memory, he realised that Jack had mentioned a Donna. It was times like these that Ianto's fantastic memory came in handy. "I'll tell Jack you're here," he told her, regaining his former composure and offering her a small smile.

Donna nodded, and Ianto felt a flash of irritation at the way she looked at him, like a servant. But he swallowed down his annoyance, gesturing for Donna to wait before disappearing further into the depths of the Hub where the rest of the team was working. As soon as he was sure he was out of Donna's sight, he quickened his pace and waited impatiently for the rolling door to open. Gwen was leaning over Tosh's shoulder, pointing at the computer screen as she spoke, most likely about the new piece of equipment they had been working on to sooth the Pterodactyl, which had been becoming more and more distressed as of late. Ianto had conflicted feelings about the dinosaur that had taken up residence in Torchwood: on one hand, it had been the first creature he and Jack had captured together, but on the other it had mauled Lisa. He shoved the thought from his mind as the familiar gnawing at his guts like rats began again, a feeling he had just started to rid himself of.

Owen was nowhere to be seen, and neither was Jack.

After checking his office (and feeling his cheeks grow warm as the memories of what had happened with Jack and himself in that very same room a few times) and still not finding him, he ducked out once more and leaned on the railing overlooking the rest of the expansive space. "Does anyone know where Jack is?"

"No clue," Gwen replied without looking up, "He's Jack."

"Good point."

"I thought so."