Written for the LongLiveIanto NonAnniversy challenge This one can be crack!fic for those inclined, but doesn't have to be. Pick an ep after "Day One" - and then make the entire series from then being in Gwen's mind, in her quest to be the last one standing, the best of the best, the ultimate champion to protect the world from alien threats. submitted by totally4ryo
Disclaimer: RTD and BBC (and all that it entails) owns them and all rights, if I owned them I would have fic writers doing the scripts, regardless of what RTD thinks (hmmm assassin!Ianto, Empath!Ianto, or vampire!Ianto or even all three as cannon, that'd be fun)
A/N: Again this is NOT Gwen-friendly as it's based on the idea that much of cannon Torchwood was a delusion of Gwen's. This is the story that started the series, however if more of the stories are posted here, you will notice that a majority are actually set before this story.
Oww.
Gwen's first thought was pain as she awoke. Her head hurt.
"Gwen? Are you awake?"
"Andy?" What was Andy doing here? She sat up quickly, only for the pain in her head to escalate.
"Whoa, easy there, Gwen, that was quite a knock you took in that bar fight; the doctor said that you should rest a bit."
"Huh?" What washe talking about?
"What are you talking about? What are you doing here? Where's Jack?"
"Who? Rhys just got here, he's just stepped out for a drink, but who's Jack?"
"Captain Jack Harkness? Torchwood?"
At that moment, Rhys came in.
"Hey Rhys, you know who she's talking about?"
Rhys gave a confused look. "Never heard of either," he said.
"Oh come on, Rhys! He was at our wedding...big great coat!"
"Uh…Gwennie, we're not even engaged; we've barely discussed it."
"What?" That couldn't be right. "What date is it?" There, that should help.
"July 3, 2006," Rhys answered.
"Okay, that's enough of the joke, it should be 2009!" How dare they keep up this charade?
As she finished, the doctor came in.
"PC Cooper, it's good to see you awake."
"I am not a PC anymore, I'm Torchwood," she insisted. This was too much, where WAS Jack?
"She seems a bit confused, doctor," Andy said, worry creeping into his voice, and continued to explain what Gwen had said before.
"It's not uncommon with head injuries for the patient to experience confusion, or hallucinations that are so vivid the patient believes they are real. Time is the best medicine for that."
"This JOKE has gone on long enough."
"I assure you, PC Cooper, this is no joke."
As he finished speaking he showed her a newspaper with the date; it was indeed July 3, 2006.
This couldn't be right; she was Torchwood, the last remaining member aside from Jack. Now she was the only one Jack could rely on, and maybe they could take their obvious attraction to the next level now that Ianto had died in the 456 attack. She had to get to Torchwood and find out what happened.
"I think it'd be wise to keep her overnight for observation," the doctor was explaining to Rhys and Andy.
"Okay, I'll be by in the morning, then," Rhys agreed as the doctor and Andy left.
"Gwennie, I'll let you rest now, I'll be back tomorrow morning to get you."
As Rhys walked out of Gwen's room he pulled out his mobile and dialed a number he knew by heart.
"There's been a development."
…
"Bad."
…
"Can't wait."
…
"I'll be there."
"Okay kids, thank you for coming in late," Jack enthusiastically greeted his team of Ianto Jones, Suzie Costello, Toshiko Sato and, last but not least, Dr. Owen Harper.
"Stuff it, Jack; I had a date with a brilliant, gorgeous woman. Can we get on with this so I can try and get back to it?" Toshiko blushed, lowering her eyes as Owen was his normal, charming self.
Ianto Jones, Second in Command, stood next to the Captain as he continued his explanation.
"We have a security risk."
"Right, Ianto; can you display the slides, you gorgeous Welshman, you?"
"Harassment."
"Nah, no fair, you didn't start using that argument until after they defined work place harassment."
"Just because I like it does not mean it isn't harassment," Ianto said over his shoulder, smiling, as he made his way to the projector.
Jack turned his attention back to his team as a picture of one PC Cooper flashed onto the screen behind him.
"This is PC Gwen Elizabeth Cooper, born August 16, 1978, and she is our security risk."
"How so, Jack?" Toshiko asked.
"Ms. Cooper had her first run in with us nearly 16 years ago."
"She, being the tender age of 13, decided Jack was her soul mate," Ianto added, and the team laughed.
Jack silenced them with a look before continuing, "It would be funny, except...Ms. Cooper has obsessive and delusional tendencies."
"She became obsessed with Jack and believed that they were destined to be together, and that he knew this as well and loved her in return," Ianto said.
"So she didn't meet you, I take it?" Owen asked.
"Oh, she met me, she just disregarded my presence. How exactly she rationalized my presence I could not begin to know. It could be anything from that Jack was biding his time with me until he could have her, to I was nothing more than hired help," Ianto answered.
"Regardless, after her first encounter with aliens and, in turn, Torchwood, we were going to allow her to maintain most, if not all, of any problematic memories due to her age and possible side effects. However, because of her obsessive tendencies…"
"Stalking," Ianto piped in.
"We were forced to retcon her."
"So what's the problem? We just retcon her again."
"It's not that simple, Owen," Ianto said.
"Since that first time, through subconscious efforts or dumb luck she has had run-ins with us as frequently as a couple months or, on one occasion, as long as a year and a half apart," Jack finished.
"Then why is this the first time we've heard of this?" asked Suzie, who had been there the third longest.
"Her run-ins with us the last few years have been minor and easily taken care of; in fact, we were already preparing for retconning her again after her seeing you all use the glove," Ianto supplied.
"But we were notified earlier tonight that she suffered a head injury on the job that caused some sort of hallucination, leaving her believing it's three years in the future and she's a member of Torchwood, and, if her attitude is anything to go by, an importantmember."
Tosh started to speak before Jack silenced her by raising his hand. "And before you ask, we've already checked and there have been no temporal anomalies that could suggest that what she thinks is the truth."
Tosh nodded, satisfied with the answer.
"And further complicating the issue, she seems to have some mild, unrecognized level of precognition, possibly related to an ancestor being directly involved with the Doctor and the Rift, and, despite dismissing things she doesn't like, can be "unconsciously perceptive," as her boyfriend has described her. Noticing things and not recognizing them, but integrating them into a fantasy, not realizing they are true or accurate. So there is a high possibility, due to her precognitive abilities and things she may have picked up on during a time stalking us, that at least some of her hallucination could be accurate," Ianto added.
"Who gave you the information?" asked Suzie.
"That would be me," said Rhys Williams, stepping through the doorway.
"And you are?" asked Owen.
"Rhys Williams. I work at a Harwood's Haulage, a lorry company. Gwen Cooper is my girlfriend."
Jack continued on before the onslaught of questions: "Rhys was half-raised by Ianto and me, when his parents would freelance with Torchwood. When Ms. Cooper was in college, Ianto and I thought it would be a good idea to have someone we could trust keep an eye on her. Rhys has remained trusted as he grew up and allowed to keep his memories when his parents retired, and is our contact in case we need a lorry. What we didn't count on was him actuallywanting to date her."
"She's not that bad, when she's not obsessing over Jack…or eyeing another guy…or screwing another guy…oh hell, she's great in bed."
Everyone chuckled at that.
"That aside, retconning someone with a head injury could be anything from ineffective to deadly. So retconning is not a good choice now," Owen commented in full doctor mode.
"Exactly," agreed Jack with Ianto nodding.
"So we need options, and no, killing her is not an option. Ianto did some TARDIS-style timeline checking and at the moment she is important to the timeline; most likely she'll have a child who will be important, or a grandchild, or some variation thereof."
The team groaned as the most obvious solution was thrown out.
"Sorry everyone, but we wouldn't want to mess with the timeline," Ianto responded.
"Ya know, sometimes having a Second in Command who has a TARDIS as one of his parents is a pain," Owen groaned.
"Options, people," Jack bellowed.
With that, they brainstormed through the night to find an answer to Gwen Cooper.
After they had an answer and were preparing to leave Jack called to Suzie, "Oh, Suzie, we're shutting down the glove research."
"But Jack...!"
"We ARE shutting it down."
She looked at him with an almost-glare before turning and leaving.
"What? Why do Ihave to go to Providence Park?" Gwen yelled.
"Now Gwennie, the doctors think it best, especially since you're still confused about what's happened," Rhys tried in his most soothing voice.
"I know what happened; something is trying to make me think I'm crazy!"
"Ms. Cooper! If you refuse to go calmly I will be forced to sedate you," the doctor said firmly.
Gwen quieted; she would just have to bide her time until she could get to Torchwood and Jack.
As they wheeled her through the doors she could have sworn she saw Ianto Jones giving the doctor a very strange-looking handshake.