Title: Trouble
Summary: Tosh has been caught with Hermione. Jack is not happy. Gwen's just trying to figure out what's going on.
Rating: T for references to sex, violence, and sexual violence
Word Count: 1284
Other Chapters: Reading "A Bit Much" first is probably not a bad idea.
Disclaimer: Harry Potter and all related trademarks belong to J.K. Rowling. I do not in any way profit from the use of these trademarks. The British Broadcasting Corporation owns Torchwood and all related characters, settings, and trademarks. I do not profit in any way from this material.
Pairings: Toshiko Sato/Hermione Granger
Contains: polygamy, open marriage, crossover
Warnings:references to rape, references to torture and murder

"You scared?"

"Should I be?" Tosh was. She'd sent Gwen a text asking Gwen how Jack had taken the news Tosh knew he'd have gotten as soon as Ianto showed up for work that day. Tosh knew she was in trouble when Gwen responded that she'd meet Tosh in the tourism office.

Gwen shrugged. "Jack is fit to be tied."

Tosh screwed up her face. "Ianto didn't have to tell him."

Gwen sighed and nodded. "... He kind of did, though."

"Shhh," Tosh said. She'd have told Jack too, though, if it had been anyone else.

Gwen looked up at Tosh silently for a moment. They both knew Tosh was stalling. She didn't want to face Jack. Not yet. She could defend herself, rationally. She wasn't sure how rational she was going to be with Jack yelling at her. And he was going to yell.

Tosh sighed. "Just tell me he's more worried than angry."

For just half a second, Gwen smiled. "I think he's angry because he's worried." She looked right into Tosh's eyes. "He told us to stay away from them to protect us, you know."

Tosh nodded. "I do know. I just... don't think I need protecting from her."

"She casts spells, Tosh."

"It's hard to find her threatening after you've seen her baby spit up on her!" Tosh said with a slight laugh.

"Oh!" Gwen said, smiling a little. "She casts spells and she has kids! The pros to this relationship are really adding up."

"I think her kids are cute."

"Will you still think that when you're their step-mummy and they're crying at three in the morning?" Gwen asked.

"Woah," Tosh said. "That's not going to happen. Not anytime soon, anyway. We're not even technically dating and she's still married to their father."

"Oh, so you're cheating with the spell-casting mother?"

"No! And whose side are you on, here?!" Not that Gwen would have any right to judge her if she were—

"Yours, Tosh!" Gwen said quickly. "Same as Jack. Same as Ianto. Always yours." She sighed. "We just want to make sure that you're okay. That she's not hurting you. And if you're acting strange and doing things you wouldn't normally—"

"Have I been?" Tosh asked.

Gwen paused. She thought about it for a moment, then shook her head. "We'd never have thought anything was wrong if Ianto hadn't seen you. I mean, the dresses, your mood... We could tell you in love. You've been happier, lately." Gwen smiled. "It's not a bad thing, if it's real. We do want you to be happy, just not if it means you're in danger."

Tosh sighed and shook her head. She sat down on the desk in the tourist office, close enough to Jack's office for her heart rate to be slightly accelerated but far enough away to still be comforting herself with the thought that, even though she was on the security camera already, shecould still turn around and go home and call in sick for the day. She certainly felt a little sick. The moment that she and Ianto had made eye-contact at the cinema, with Hermione clearly holding Tosh's hand, Tosh had known that shit was going to hit the fan when she came into work today. Jack did not like witches. When a team from the Ministry of Magic had been sent to take care of some dark magic afoot in Cardiff, Jack had clearly instructed the team to minimize their interactions with all magical beings. Tosh couldn't say with any sincerity that she'd even tried to listen.

"You must all think I have fantastic taste in lovers," Tosh said.

"The men aren't so bad," Gwen said. "Tommy was nice."

Tosh smirked despite herself. Tommy was nice. Yeah. "Hermione is nice too," Tosh said. "You'd know that if you'd actually talked to her the entire time she was here."

"Jack wants Owen to run a blood test to make sure she hasn't given you anything," Gwen said quietly.

"She hasn't," Tosh said quickly.

"So let Owen run the test," Gwen said.

"Maybe I will," Tosh said, because when it turned up nothing then maybe everyone would relax a little. "This isn't like Mary. We didn't even have sex until we'd known each other for months. I trust her more than I trusted Tommy. Only knew him for a few days, anyway."

Gwen shrugged. She still looked concerned, though.

"She wasn't raised a witch, you know."

Gwen squinted. "How's that happen?" Gwen smirked. "Did she just decide in university that she was going to cast spells from now on? Or did she take some kind of aptitude test and it told her she'd be perfect for witchcraft?"

"She was born a witch," Tosh said. "She just wasn't raised as one. She's from London. Her parents are dentists. They live in Australia now but I looked them up. They have an office and a phone number and... I called them. They're real. And Hermione's always talking about the importance of healthy relations between the magical and non-magical communities. She understands. She'd never hurt me."

Gwen mulled this over for a minute, and her smile slowly turned playful. "You called the parents of the married woman you're sleeping with. What on Earth did you say?"

"First of all," Tosh said, "I called their office. A receptionist answered the phone. Second of all, I panicked and hung up."

Gwen laughed, but not unkindly. "You panicked and hung up on her parents' receptionist?"

"Well, what was I supposed to say to the receptionist?! 'Just tell the Drs. Granger that the woman their daughter is sleeping with is on the phone and she'd love to come over for dinner sometime, if she can get a few days off and a plane ticket to Australia without explaining to her boss why she needs them.'" Tosh sighed. "Besides, I'd woken up in the middle of the night to make a very expensive phone call to Australia, just to make sure that she hadn't lied to me about her parents. I felt silly."

Gwen smiled, but she still looked disturbed.

"I know that Jack has his reasons for not trusting them," Tosh said. "Hermione told me all about the late 90s. The Death Eaters..."

"I don't know anything about it," Gwen said.

"It was bad," Tosh said. "Even by Torchwood standards. Even by Jack's standards. The things they'd do to people for fun... because they could. Hermione says that Jack's too alien for magic to work on him, but if he was around in the 90s, he'd have seen more than enough... but they're not all like that. And Jack must know that, or he wouldn't work with the Ministry of Magic at all. Hermione's not like that. She's on our side. Always has been."

"I hope that's true," Gwen said. She smiled at Tosh softly. "You really like her?"

"I really do."

Gwen shut her eyes and sighed. "I can't believe I'm saying this," she said, "but..." She opened her eyes. "Owen first. If the blood test comes back clean, I'll help you talk to Jack."

Tosh grinned. 'Help you talk to Jack,' probably just meant 'Hold you hand while Jack goes through phases of yelling at you and fussing over you for two hours,' but it was still nice to have someone in her corner. Maybe Tosh could win the team over, one by one. She knew they'd have trouble with a witch. Tosh had trouble with a witch. Hermione was worth it, though.