It's been a year since Jack took over Torchwood 3. A year since Alex had killed everyone there then committed suicide in front of him. A year alone and it wasn't working.
He hadn't wanted to bring anyone in after the incident with Alex. Torchwood got people killed, he knew that all too well, so he was reluctant to bring anyone into this world of aliens and wonder, and death. Jack needed someone and he knew it.
He was overrun with weevil hunts, technology slipping through the rift, and the occasional hostile alien bent on taking over the earth. He had died more often in this past year than he ever had while working at Torchwood so he decided it was finally time to start recruiting.
He didn't want just anyone though; he needed the right person for the job. The first person he chose would be his second in command and he needed someone smart, tough, dedicated, but mostly he needed someone with a heart.
That was when he met Suzie Costello.
He had been following a rift alert that had come in, some sort of alien technology, when he ran into her. The signal was just around the corner and coming in his direction and he rushed to meet it head on. He almost knocked her over in his haste to get to the signal. He mumbled an apology then ran forward a few steps.
Nothing, he didn't see anything that even remotely looked like alien tech. Then he remembered the woman he had just bumped into, the one with the enormous bag. She had to have it, so Jack took off after her and the alien signal coming from that bag of hers
. He watched as she made her way to a nearby building and went inside. He stood across the street waiting for the light to come on in one of the flats. Moments later a light in a third floor window came on and he saw the woman cross to the window and close the curtains. He waited an hour before the light went off again and he made his move.
He stood at her door and tapped a few buttons on his wrist strap to disable any alarms then took a small tool kit from his pocket and proceeded to pick the lock on the door. He managed it in seconds but thought to himself I must be slipping should have been through at least three seconds earlier. With that thought he silently entered the flat careful not to make a sound.
It didn't take him long to see he was definitely in the right place. Alien tech cluttered the small flat, some broken, some repaired, and some in pieces.
How did I miss this he thought she has been collecting this stuff for a while now why didn't I know about her before? He looked around at her collection and saw some things he recognized, a few broken hologram projectors, a sonic device of some sort and a disassembled laser gun he recognized from the 46th century when he had one waved around in his face. He walked over to the central table and picked up some papers, notes on each item. This woman is amazing he thought.
At that moment the light came on and he heard a woman's voice say "Who are you and what are you doing in my flat?" Jack turned to face her and was met by the barrel of a gun.
Not even phased by the weapon in her hands, he stepped around the table and picked up a device and looked at it then said "This is in good condition, I used to have one of these. Sonic blaster, very handy when surrounded by gasmask people. It ran out of battery though and I couldn't get a new one cause a friend of mine blew up the factory at Villengard. He was right about the bananas though."
The woman stood unfazed by the utter nonsense the man in front of her seemed to be spouting and simply said "Get out," as she cocked the gun.
"You know, I like you. What's your name again? Anyways, you seem to have a way with this stuff, see you around," and with that Jack left the flat and a stunned woman standing there holding a gun.
