Title: Waiting for Orders
Characters: Andy with mentions of Gwen
Word Count: 752
Rating: G
Summary: Andy waits in a pub for Gwen and thinks on their friendship.
Spoilers: General Spoilers for Torchwood.
Disclaimer: Torchwood doesn't belong to me but the BBC, I'm just borrowing.
Author's notes: Written for the tw_lucky_7 challenge involving the prompt gluttony and the character Andy.
He couldn't understand it, not really, he must be a glutton for punishment, there was no other explanation. He was sat there once again, in a pub that smelt faintly of lingering smoke from years past, but was overpowered by the newer smells of vomit and piss. It wasn't his ideal meeting place, but as always he never gets to choose, once again he was just led along like a puppy following its master. He didn't even want to be here, but the call had come through and as always when he was asked to jump he asked how high.
He was sure that it was something to do with how he had been trained in the police, the mentality that he'd learnt about keeping himself and his partner safe, and loyalty within the force. Not that his partner had worked by the same principles, she was more, independent, he supposed, she liked to take the lead. Somehow Andy had found himself following her, letting her take control, even though he was the more experienced copper. Something he still did now that she wasn't even his partner, hell she wasn't even in the police force anymore, now she was Torchwood.
Torchwood, special ops, whatever you wanted to call them, they were the big guns, or so the police force knew. They were the ones that swept in and save the day, before swanning off, leaving the police with the problem of trying to piece things together and convict criminals with half their case file missing. There was hatred and distrust that ran rampant through the police force about Torchwood, and Gwen hadn't even known who they were, but now she was one of them. Liaison to the police she says she is, whilst working on many important cases, something he wouldn't understand, or so he is told.
Andy really doesn't mind meeting Gwen, she's a mate, or she was anyway, she seems rather distant since she took the special ops job, but he hates how all their meetings since she took the job have gone. He hates the way he feels afterwards, always feeling less than he is worth, just because of the way Gwen is. Not that he's saying that there is anything wrong with the way Gwen is, but her new job has given her a sense of importance that she can't help but show off. He wouldn't mind so much if he hadn't been the senior partner, but he was, and Torchwood took a less experienced officer for their staff.
Not that he grudged Gwen the job, he definitely wasn't jealous, he knew the odd hours she had to work, and he wasn't really interested, especially after seeing some of the spooky dos that she has had to work, even if the money is good. No, he's happy as a beat copper, its a good solid profession, and hopefully one day he'll make sergeant. His problem with Gwen and her new job was that they never see her anymore, not even for a quick few pints and a game of pool, she always seemed to be rushing off somewhere. The only time they really saw her nowadays was when she needed their help with something, not that he minded helping, but it was tiring.
She would ask for help, not tell you why, and make you feel inferior by not telling you, completely unintentionally. The thing that bothered him most though was the fact that he kept responding. Every time she contacted him asking for help he was there, whether it was a pub that stank of piss or a meeting by the bay, he turned up. He'd do whatever it was that she needed, and with a smile on his face, sometimes with a bit of moaning about it, just for a lark as a way to remember how they used to be, but he did it without any real complaint.
Like tonight for instance, here was sitting in an awful pub waiting for Gwen to arrive, when he could have had a date, he'd found himself turning down one of the most amazing women he'd ever met so that he could meet with Gwen. He really was a glutton for punishment, he couldn't see it any other way, most guys when given the choice between meeting a female friend about work and going on the date would take the date. Instead he found himself waiting for orders of what he had to do now to help Torchwood.
