The New Teaches the Old
Torchwood Division 3
A/N: I do not own Torchwood or the characters of the Torchwood series.
Chapter 1: The New Member
Tosh sat at her computer thinking about Owen and Gwen's new relationship. Owen was examining a dead man for signs of alien intervention. Gwen watched him intently. Ianto was sitting at his secretarial desk going over the budget. Jack stood on the second floor balcony watching his team.
The team wasn't talking to each other. They recently had a discussion about the problems each had with Torchwood. However, none of them knew how Jack felt. That would all change when an American came to work for Torchwood in their division.
The next day the team was going about their business when Tosh decided to confront Gwen.
"Gwen?" Tosh asked.
"Yes, Tosh," Gwen answered, not looking up from yesterdays reports.
"Why did you decide to start sleeping with Owen?" Tosh asked quickly.
Gwen looked up from the reports to Tosh then to the floor. Owen heard Tosh's question and he came up from his station wiping off his hands. Jack came into the room and stood unnoticeable near Tosh's desk. Gwen opened her mouth to talk but then she closed it again.
"Tosh…I…" Gwen didn't get to finish her answer.
Ianto ran into the room, "Sir, we have a call from the police. They found a body with a strange marking on its forehead. The informant said that the 5th one this week."
"Let's go," Jack said as he headed for his coat.
30 minutes later
Tosh scanned the body for alien energy. The meter went crazy. "Definitely alien, Jack," Tosh informed. Gwen asked the police for their reports on the five bodies. Ianto and Owen set up a way to transport the body back to headquarters.
Jack was still examining the marking on the forehead when a young woman came up behind him. Jack turned to face her. She had long brownish-red hair and green eyes that sparkled in the sunlight. Jack looked almost surprised to see someone like her at a crime scene like this.
"Can I help you?" Jack asked with a smile on his face.
"Hi, are you Captain Jack Harkness?" she asked smiling.
Jack wasn't expecting for her to know his name, "Yes, who might you be?"
"My name is Katherine Bryan. I just finished a job working for the British government. They told me to come to you if I wanted to continue with a job dealing with extraterrestrial beings," she answered handing him her resume.
Jack began to read her resume and found she had done a lot of work with aliens, any type of government, and she has the qualifications of a parapsychologist/psychologist. When Ianto noticed the young woman and Jack looking intently at a piece of paper he walked over to them.
"Ianto, meet Torchwood's new member," Jack said, folding her resume and putting it in his pocket.
"Thank you, Captain!" Katherine said.
"Just Jack. Katherine Bryan meet Ianto Jones," Jack introduced.
Ianto smiled and shook Katherine's hand. Jack introduced Katherine to the rest of the team and had her help pack up the equipment. They headed back to headquarters asking Katherine questions. They learned that she lived in Centralia, Illinois in the US; she studied to be a psychologist, and was offered the government position in Britain because of her experience with extraterrestrials.
Gwen got along great with Katherine but Tosh seemed to be hesitant to accept another girl into the team. It was a little to compact in the SUV for six live people and one dead person in the last row. Somehow it ended up that Katherine had to sit on Ianto's lap.
"This is…awkward," Ianto stated.
"Yes, I don't usually get this close to guys I just met," Katherine replied to his statement.
"Ah, you'll get used to it," Owen added.
"You surely don't always use your back seat for dead people?" Katherine asked, looking at Gwen then to Ianto.
"No, this is a first since I've been here," Gwen answered, laughing.
"How long have you worked for Torchwood?" Katherine asked Gwen.
"About a year, now," Gwen answered.
Katherine looked at Tosh to study her body language. Tosh was facing front and every now and then she looked out the window to her right. She kept her laptop in her lap and only once looked at someone in the car…Owen.
Katherine realized that Tosh was the one who needed the most help. What she didn't know was that everyone was having problems…they were just better at hiding it.
They were now at headquarters and Owen and Ianto were now carrying the body inside. When Owen uncovered the body, Katherine was standing near the head and she saw the mark on the forehead and gasped. Jack looked at her then to the man's forehead.
"You've seen it before?" Jack asked.
Katherine regained her composure and answered, "Yes, when I saw it last it was on a ten year old girl. She was my little sister."
"Do you know what species?" Jack asked cautiously.
"They're called neglums. They feed off of the energy of the brain. If you open up the skull it will be empty. Somehow their process of taking the energy disintegrates what is within the skull," Katherine answered as she pulled out a picture.
The picture was of an open skull that had absolutely nothing inside of it. Not one drop of blood was visible. Jack, however, did notice that the skull belonged to a young girl. He looked at Katherine and saw the tears coming from her face. He handed the picture back to her, "Do you have a picture of the neglums?"
She shook her head yes and handed him another picture. The neglums had red and black eyes but besides that it looked human.
"The only ways you'll know it's a neglums is one, the eyes, two, it'll try to trap you at all costs, and three, it if speaks it'll sound like death. You'll know it if you hear it," Katherine described.
She also told them where their hideout is more than likely located. Then the team got to work on locating the specified areas on a map of Britain. Katherine noticed how quiet everyone was and pulled Jack aside.
"Is it always this quiet?" she asked looking at the team then to Jack.
Jack looked around at his team and finally decided to answer Katherine, "This is the second day in a row that they've been this quiet. I'm afraid if it keeps going I'll have to find a new team!"