Welcome to my TW universe!
Things you need to know: Only uses Series One - haven't seen Series Two yet. Very Important! Some episodes happen in a different order here. ' Greeks Bearing Gifts' and 'Ghost Machine' happened some time ago, 'Cyberwoman' about two weeks ago. Story opens one day before 'Everything Changes'. Hope you've got that - and the changes it makes - clear in your mind!
Finally, this hasn't been beta-ed. If anyone wants to after reading, all offers gratefully accepted - esp. re semi-colons! All scribblers love reviews, and I'm no exception, so please review if you have a couple of extra mins at the end of a chapter. Ta!
All the usual disclaimers apply - of course - except for the OC, who is mine, all mine!
One
"We need more bodies!"
Jack pulled a paper cup from the dispenser, filled it with water from the cooler. "Suzie, we've had two murder victims in a week. This is Cardiff not Detroit. What do you want me to do? Go out and stab someone?"
"No. No, of course not," said Suzie quickly. She massaged her forehead with her fingers. "It's just a bit frustrating!"
Jack rubbed her arm. "Have patience. If anyone can crack that glove, it'll be you."
"Captain," said Ianto from his seat at Jack's computer terminal. "She's there again."
Jack quickly swallowed his water, dropped the cup in the bin and moved to his desk. He leaned on the back of the chair and checked the CCTV image over Ianto's shoulder. "How many evenings is this?"
"Six. She just stands there with that bloody coffee, watching the Lift. She has to have seen us come in."
"Not possible," dismissed Suzie. She also came over, folded her arms and studied the image. "No one knows the Lift's there."
Eyes intent on the motionless little figure, Jack called out, "Tosh! Still no luck with ID?"
"Too dark." Tosh sounded frustrated. "Even with all the enhancements I can't get a high enough resolution. She's stayed in the shadows - apart from when she played kangaroo on the Lift that first night, and then that hood obscured her face."
"We'll rethink the placement of the cameras tomorrow," said Jack. "Maybe look at upgrading them, or altering the lighting. Tonight, however, we will end this. She's bugged us long enough. Let's get her down here. We can check her out properly, squirt a little fly-spray if necessary."
"Down here? You want her down here?" Suzie's tone was very sharp. "Having come within a scalpel-blade of being 'upgraded' a couple of weeks ago, I'm not sure I'm happy with that, Jack."
Ianto's chair jerked under Jack's hands. "Tosh?" queried Jack.
"All the readings I can get while she's in the Plass indicate nothing other than ordinary human female. The heat signature, for example. Absolutely normal. No hot spots - apart from the cup - and that registers spot on for a hot drink, no indication of weapons, nothing. I really don't think she's anything other than what she appears."
"Okay. Suzie, weapons issue just to be certain."
Suzie's gaze slid to Ianto's back for a second. Jack nodded and Suzie headed for the armoury.
She returned with their usual semis and handed one to Ianto as Jack, having checked and loaded his revolver, was buckling his holster to his waist. He moved out into the main workstation area. "Okay, let's be alert, people - just don't look like it. Owen, go issue an invitation to Miss Mystery."
Owen grinned and rolled back his chair. "With pleasure."
"Let's see if we can entice her over, find out if she really can see through the filter." Jack went down the steps to the lower level tapping at his wrist device. High above him, the square section of the soaring ceiling that opened into Roald Dahl Plass above swung away with a hydraulic hiss. Stepping onto the great stone slab of the Lift, he tapped again and the Lift ascended as he gazed up through the gaping hole in the roof.
He was about three-quarters of the way to the top when a sharp cry of, "Hey!" heralded a dark shape falling into his waiting arms.
The hood slipped away to reveal light-brown, rather shaggy, shoulder-length hair. Clear blue-grey eyes stared at him from sockets with dark smudges under, as if they didn't get enough sleep, though they looked wide enough awake at the moment. "Don't worry." He grinned. Catching falling girls was getting to be a habit. "I've got you."
"But who's got you?" asked the girl.
"It's just a lift." He set her on her feet and she shifted as far away as the square, unbarriered block of stone safely allowed, balancing well in her trainers, still clutching the takeaway cup she'd somehow managed to hang on to during her fall.
"Not Superman after all, then. Pity," she muttered absently in a voice as lilting as Ianto's.
Jack brought the Lift to a smooth halt, then had it descend, crossing his arms while he studied her. About mid-twenties, she was shorter than he'd realised from the CCTV, shorter even than Tosh, though stockier. Unremarkable facial features, except for those clear eyes, and a rather heavy jaw that led to a determined chin. Apart from the trainers, an expensive, designer sports brand, worn in but not worn out, she was nondescript, shapeless, almost tatty in faded jeans and baggy old grey hoodie. Like Tosh had said, ordinary. Only she couldn't be that ordinary if she'd seen through the perception filter in the Plass. On the CCTV, motionless in the shadows, hood drawn over her head, she'd had a patient stillness about her as she kept her evening vigil - a waiting - that seemed almost ghost-like. Now she was very much alive, head going like radar, sharp eyes darting around as they took in each new detail of the multi-levelled main chamber as the Lift's descent brought more of it into view.
"It's so quiet down here," was her only comment. She sounded almost relieved. "Except…" Her eyes searched the area even harder.
As the Lift finally halted, a raucous cry rent the air. The girl's head turned sharply up and she twisted around, craning her neck to see into the shadows near the roof. Jack grabbed her elbow as she stumbled off the stone block.
She removed her arm from his grip, still gazing up, mesmerised by the shape swooping and soaring high above them. "Pterodactyl?"
"Yes." Jack frowned at her quiet acceptance of the impossible. "It's good to see it flying so well again. Had a bit of a run-in with our last unwelcome visitor. Mind you, we made it plain exactly how unwelcome she was. She won't bother us again."
The girl's gaze finally dropped down to meet his. He could detect absolutely no fear in her eyes, only intense curiosity, a certain amount of wariness and, he thought, a hint of puzzlement. He hoped he was hiding his own curiosity and puzzlement better. They'd never had a visitor quite like this one. He grinned again, setting the full force of his personality behind the smile. "Welcome to-"
"Torchwood," she finished for him.
Jack blinked.
"You don't like spreading your name about up there, but you're not worried down here, are you?" she said, tipping her chin at the name blazoned on the brickwork.
He inclined his head in acknowledgement. Then began again, "Welcome to…the Hub, home of Torchwood Three." Her gaze had already wandered up to the next level, searching. "Come and meet the team," he said, leading the way around the great column of the shining fountain and up, his boots clattering slightly on the metal steps. Hardly a sound came from the trainers as she followed. He waved his hand in Tosh's direction. "Dr Toshiko Sato, computer genius." Tosh gave a wave of her hand and a bright smile. "Suzie Costello, second in command." From her workstation, Suzie's responding nod was very brief. She turned back to the metal glove before her and probed delicately. "Ianto Jones, major-domo and the public face of Torchwood in our little establishment upstairs." Now seated in Owen's chair, Ianto's nod was even more brief than Suzie's. "And I'm Captain Jack Harkness, commanding officer."
The girl's eyes were riveted to Ianto's hunched profile.
Jack leaned down to her level and said, "The suit's kinda cute, isn't it? I keep telling him it's a distraction but he keeps right on wearing it."
"What? Oh, sorry, who were you again?"
"Jack Harkness - Captain - CO."
Blue-grey eyes gave him the once-over. "Of course. Couldn't possibly be anything else, could you?"
Jack gave a crack of laughter. "No, I couldn't."
Her eyes ran over his holster. "That for me?" At his lack of response she added, "Your turn not to worry." She grinned in real amusement. "I'm harmless." Then her gaze was off again. "Messy lot, aren't you?" She waved her cup in the direction of the old coffee table before the brown-check sofa littered with the debris of their take-away dinner, pizza boxes and bottles scattered about.
Ianto rose hurriedly. "Sorry."
Jack pressed him back into the chair with a hand on his shoulder. "Later is fine."
Owen bounded down the steps from the circular security door that led to the conventional lift. Ianto quickly vacated his seat.
"You took your time," said Jack.
Owen gave a careless hitch of his shoulders. "Didn't realise I was supposed to be rushing."
"And this is Owen Harper," Jack told the girl.
"Doctor Owen Harper," corrected Owen.
"We've met." Her voice dripped resentment and animosity.
"Sorry about the little-" Owen made a pushing motion with his hands. He didn't sound particularly sorry. "Blame the boss," he added with a grin as he plonked himself down in his chair.
The girl gave her head a slow, disbelieving shake.
"So that's the team." Jack waited. "And you are?" he finally prompted.
She merely took the lid off her coffee and sipped, looking up at him from over the rim.
"Bit rude," said Owen, swinging his chair from side to side.
Tosh glanced up, her satisfied look indicating that they'd soon know anyway. Suzie's gaze remained glued to the glove.
The girl's eyes flickered to Owen for a second before returning her attention to Jack. "What about the other one?"
"What other one?"
"The other one. You're not the only ones down here."
"Oh. That other one. Okay, Miss Mystery." He held out his hand. "Come."
She merely sipped her coffee again.
Jack gave a shrug, changed his held-out hand to an extravagant gesture of 'this way' before shoving both hands in his pockets and heading for the cells, noting with satisfaction clear, scanned images of their visitor popping up on Tosh's workstation screens and that Owen had already set his station for a bioscan.
Mystery's reaction to what was almost certainly her first sight of a Weevil upped his puzzlement into bafflement. Though she inhaled sharply and her eyes widened, she showed no fear, nor even, considering what she was looking at, very much surprise. After a second or two, she waved her coffee vaguely in Jack's direction, who took it, his mouth curving at her imperiousness, and went right up to the clear, protective cell barrier and stared. The Weevil raised its head and stared dully back, baring its teeth.
Jack found himself wanting a little more wonder at least. "It's alien. Not of Earth. From another planet."
"Well, it's not exactly a man in a mask," in a very tart tone was all he got.
"We call them Weevils. We don't know their real names because they're not good at communicating. There's a couple of hundred of them living in the sewers, feeding off the - well, you can guess, it's the sewers. But every once in a while one of them goes rogue, comes to the surface, attacks. It's been happening more and more lately and we don't know why." Jack could tell she was listening but she didn't once look at him, for reassurance or anything else. Her eyes never wavered from what ought to seem monstrous to her, an alien that should have had her panicking, or screaming with fear, or something - anything! Slowly, the Weevil stood and groggily made its way over to the barrier. The girl raised her hand and placed her palm on the clear barrier. The Weevil copied, setting its gnarled and distorted hand palm to palm with the girl's.
"A stranger in a strange land," she murmured. "You're lost and confused, aren't you? And not very bright. Poor old girl."
"That poor old girl - girl? - girl ripped out the throats of two guys on their way home from the pub before we man-"
"Reacting to the unknown the only way she knows how. With violence and hate! Humans do that too, including some who don't have the excuse of being virtually moronic!"
The Weevil snarled, throwing herself at the barrier.
The girl jumped, jerking her hand away. Jack tensed, ready for rescue if required. It wasn't.
"Oh, hell! Sorry, I'm sorry." Only she wasn't apologising to him. Both her hands were on the barrier now. The Weevil calmed. Head on one side, the alien looked at the girl, then pulled back her lips in a small snarl and shambled over to her place in the corner, where her sedated gaze wandered vaguely about.
"Where do they come from?" the girl asked, her gaze still on the alien.
"We don't know."
Her head turned. "What with all that whiz-bang gear out there, you don't know?"
"They didn't come here in a spaceship. There's a rift in space and time running right through Cardiff. That's why we're based here."
"You mean, like a - a portal?" She caught on fast. Almost too fast. Jack began to wonder if he ought to just shove her into a cell of her own, without waiting for Tosh and Owen's reports.
He shook his head. "More like a wormhole; one end fixed here, the other waving around in space and time. Our friend here and her pals just kind of slipped through."
"So why don't you send them back?"
"We can't. We only monitor the Rift, we can't control it. All sorts of things get washed up here; creatures, time shifts, space junk, flotsam and jetsam."
"But you're not just going to keep her locked in there, are you?" Her eyes darkened with sudden concern. "You're not going to kill her?"
"We'll take her back to the sewers when we've got a minute, let her go."
"God, what an existence. Life in a sewer, all for falling into a wormhole!"
"So what are we supposed to do? Take her out for walks round the Plass on a leash?"
"Sounds like a good start!" She stalked passed, grabbed her coffee and began climbing the metal rungs of the steep, ship-style steps back to the next level.
The Hub was quiet, the work stations empty. Obviously Tosh and Owen hadn't found anything that made them consider their visitor any kind of threat. Jack frowned at his watch. Only eight thirty. They were in a hurry tonight; must all have dates or something. Lucky them. At least all alien technology had been locked securely away, he thought, noting with approval Suzie's empty bench.
The girl had stopped by the armoury, her eyes raking the ranks of weapons, of both human and alien manufacture, that lined the walls. "Necessary, I suppose," was her only comment, the words and slow nod of her head belied by a touch of disapproval in her tone.
Jack set his forearm on the glass partition above her head, deliberately too close. "Yes," he said. He brought his head down close to hers. "Very."
She didn't budge. "What were their names?"
"Whose? The team?"
"The men the Weevil killed. What were their names?"
She was obliquely apologising for her outburst in the cells. Jack shrugged. "I have no idea." He ran up the steps to the next level, heading for his office.
She chased after him. "But surely you must remember? What did you tell their families?"
"We didn't tell them anything." He shrugged himself into his jacket and greatcoat. "Tosh and Owen dealt with it. Made it look like a gang-mugging gone wrong, I think."
"But-"
"You have questions and my throat's dry. Must be getting dehydrated. Can't have that. Come on, my shout." He led the way across to the security door leading to the conventional lift.
At the steel gates, he turned to check she was following. She'd halted before the Hand's container, was reaching out her own hand. Jack grabbed her wrist. "Don't!"
She froze, giving him a filthy look. "I won't hurt it!" She held his gaze. "Don't panic!" Her eyes lit with sudden amusement, which more than anything else made Jack slowly relax his grip and nod his assent.
With a final look at him, she placed her palm on the container. The Hand moved slightly in the preservative, the same as always. "It's not human. It's-" Her voice dropped, awed at last. "Old. But… not." She shook her head slowly. "I can't… It's…" she muttered as though something was on the tip of her tongue. "It's…"
"What?" he asked sharply.
He thought she was going to say Time Lord, but after a struggle she simply whispered "Torchwood?" leaving Jack feeling disappointed for the first time since she'd dropped into his arms.
The lift doors opened and Ianto stepped out. He gave Jack a slightly startled look. "Sorry, sir, I assumed you'd want to take the scenic route. I've just locked up." His look altered to significant as he gave the sheaf of hardcopy in his hand a small shake.
"That's fine." Jack tucked his hand under the girl's elbow to steer her back towards the stone slab.
She twisted herself out of his grip again as though she really disliked his touch and he began to wonder if her sexual orientation didn't include men. "I remember where it is," she said.
"You coming up, Ianto?"
"No, Captain. Got a couple of things to finish off." His eyes dodged about before meeting Jack's defiantly. "Don't worry, I'm not up to anything I shouldn't."
"I didn't think you were."
Ianto gave a small, pretend smile. "Anyway, Suzie's still around. I think she's putting the glove away. And she said she still had some data she wants to go over tonight."
"Tell her not to be too late, it can wait. She's spending too much time here; she should go home. And so should you."
"Yes, Captain." Ianto turned to the girl and removed her empty coffee container from her fingers. "I'll make sure it finds its way into the recycling bin. Goodnight - Ms Evans."
She didn't bat an eyelid at his use of her name, but simply gave him a smile. A smile that transformed her face, filled it with warmth and sweetness. "Goodnight, Mr Jones. Sleep well." She sounded as though she meant it and Jack wondered if her orientation simply didn't include him.
Once in the Plass, she stepped off the Lift straightaway and turned to look at the stone slab, now part of the wide paving kerb that ran around the fountain. Her gaze shifted as she watched the people who walked by, their eyes flicking over her in recognition of her presence, their gazes completely sliding passed Jack as he remained on the Lift.
She made eye contact with Jack. "What is it?"
He stepped down. "It's called a perception filter. They can sort of see us when we're on it, but we don't quite register. Like something in the corner of your eye. It only works on that exact spot." He pulled her back on, and she backed off as far as she could without stepping off, shoving her hands in the pockets of her hoodie. Jack resisted the temptation to sniff his armpits, pushed back his unbuttoned greatcoat and stuck his own hands in his trouser pockets. "Nice ass," he called to a young couple strolling passed, arms twined around each other. They ignored him.
"Which one?" asked the girl.
He looked again, considering. Then called out louder. "Nice asses."
The girl gave a chuckle and stepped off.
"Yours isn't bad either," commented Jack.
She rolled her eyes. "Bollocks. Flattery will get you nowhere."
"It usually gets me wherever I want."
"Not this time, buddy-boy."
Jack stepped off the Lift. "You really shouldn't be able to do that, you know."
Her gaze slid to the floor. A smile hovered around her mouth. "I have… clearer sight than some." She looked up. "How's it work?"
"No idea. But to hazard a guess, I'd say there was once a dimensionally transcendental chameleon circuit placed right on this spot which welded its perception properties to the spatial temporal rift. Basically, we know how to use it, not how it works."
"Seems to be an awful lot you don't know."
Jack quirked an eyebrow. "Do you know how your TV works?"
She had the grace to grin. "So it's a cloaking device. That's not so special; the Romulans have had those for ever."
Jack's brows drew together. "I guess you could call it that," he said. "Invisible Lift has a better ring though, don't you think?"
"I think it's dangerous. Someone might fall in. You ought to put a barrier around it, or some of that orange tape, maybe, like at roadworks."
"But then it…" his voice tailed off as he realised she was actually so comfortable with her experience at the Hub that she could tease.
"Wouldn't be invisible. Mmmm." She began to walk off. "So where we going, then?"