Author's Note: The name in parenthesis after the chapter title indicates whose point of view the chapter is from. This chapter, for instance, is Gwen's point of view. Happy reading!

Gwen Cooper was in a hurry. She was late for work (which honestly didn't matter that much, but still, Jack sometimes liked to pretend that this was a somewhat normal job) and it was freezing. She wasn't paying attention to anything around her as she barreled through the streets with her head down and her hood up. If Jack has us chasing after anything in this bloody weather I will kill –

Her thoughts were interrupted as she collided with someone who hadn't been in front of her a second ago. "What the hell?" Gwen sputtered, putting her hood back on her head, as it had just fallen off. Upon closer inspection Gwen noticed that the person she had run into was a young woman, about the same height as Gwen herself.

"Sorry, I wasn't really paying attention," Gwen drawled in her Welsh accent. When the young woman didn't acknowledge her presence, Gwen's temper started to rise. "Excuse me, I apologized, now I think it's your turn!" The young woman jumped as if she hadn't noticed Gwen's presence until just then. As she turned around Gwen noticed that she was quite young, in her late teens or early twenties. She was pretty, but there was something… off about her. Is she twitching? Gwen wondered, unnerved.

"Do you see them?" The young lady whispered. Gwen started to back away slowly. This one's a nutter, she thought sadly. Pity, she's a pretty thing.

"I knew it, you can't see them either!" the young woman exclaimed in a very American accent, closing the gap that Gwen had just created between them. "That's right, sweetheart…" Gwen muttered as she stepped away once more. A nutter and a tourist, lovely.

"They're under that perception filter again!"

Gwen, who had been several paces away by then, froze in her tracks. I'm thinking about work right now, so I just imagined this girl saying that… right?

"What did you say, sweetheart?" Gwen asked as she turned to face the girl again.

The girl looked surprised that someone was actually speaking to her. "There are people watching me," she said slowly. "Constantly. But no one believes me because they're under some perception filter thing!"

"…so no one can see them, right. But how do you know they're there?" Gwen questioned curiously. If this girl actually knows about perception filters, maybe something's up.

"Because they remove it when no one else is around- it's really hard to explain." The girl grabbed Gwen by the arms. "You know what a perception filter is? Can you help me?" she asked desperately.

"Yes, I believe I can," Gwen said kindly. Even if she is insane, this is the kind of bonkers thing that is right up Torchwood's alley. Let's see what the team will make of her.

"Follow me," Gwen instructed as she started walking again. The young woman matched her stride beside her.

"So you know about perception filters, then?" she asked Gwen.

"Yes, I do. It's part of my job. I work for Torchwood, an organization that investigates the…" Gwen paused, trying to think of the right word. She didn't want to give too much about Torchwood away to this stranger. "…abnormal. My name is Gwen, by the way."

"That's a pretty name. I'm Autumn," The young woman said politely. "And if you investigate the abnormal, you're exactly what I need. It's a long story, so I'll just tell it when we get to… wherever we're going."

"Sounds good to me," Gwen said, smiling at the younger woman. They linked arms and walked the rest of the way to Torchwood.

Author's Note: This is my first multi-chapter story! I hope y'all like it. :) I know this was a short chapter, but stick with it, it'll get interesting! Please review!