A/N: It's a week after "Exit Wounds", and the team are struggling. Jack's become a recluse and is refusing to let Gwen or Ianto near him, and at the same time the only two functioning team members are swamped trying to keep up with their work. And Rhys is (even more) annoyed with Gwen for spending so much time at work. Unable to cope, Gwen calls in Martha, hoping that she will be able to help Jack. Or at least persuade him to let her into the room. Gray's actions have changed the team forever… but will they be able to pick themselves up from this?
Spoilers: Season 2 up to AND INCLUDING 2.13, "Exit Wounds".
Warnings: Mention of character death. Scenes as-yet-unwritten may feature swearing. I'll warn you about that when I get to it.
Read and Review, please!
Picking Up The Pieces
It had been a week. One long week since Cardiff – and Torchwood – were decimated. Jack had withdrawn into himself, avoiding Gwen and Ianto's attempts to talk to him. He would leave occasionally, grimfaced and silent, before returning a few hours later. He didn't tell them where he was going… but a few times they followed him. He spent the time just walking around the city, mostly. They had a theory that he was trying to atone for the attack on the city that he was supposed to be protecting.
The city was actually recovering remarkably well. Gwen's actions – taking command of the police temporarily, and making sure that every officer was out looking after people – had helped. The fires were extinguished, the rubble was being cleared and the injured were being cared for. The city was beginning to heal itself.
Torchwood, however, was in a much worse state. Jack refused to see or talk to either Gwen or Ianto. He stopped doing the ordinary, day-to-day things that he was supposed to do. The only thing he did, without fail, was attend the memorial services and funerals for those killed in the explosions. He always stood at the back of the venue, and he never spoke to any of the mourners.
Gwen and Ianto were left to pick up the pieces by themselves. A week ago, when Tosh had breathed her last in Jack's arms, Gwen had said that she didn't think she could carry on. Jack had reassured her, and it was that reassurance that helped her keep going.
And it was hard work. Two people doing work that should have kept five people very busy was an equation that was never going to end well. They had to keep going with their usual work, repair the damage from the attack, keep one eye open for new alien-related problems, and try to look after Jack at the same time. Remarkably, they were actually managing the first three. Well, neither of them had slept properly all week, they were living off pizza (which was usually cold by the time they managed to eat it), and Gwen had barely seen Rhys. If she had to guess, she'd say that she'd probably seen him for about ten minutes. In total. And most of that had been Rhys moaning at her, the usual complaints about her spending too much time at work. But she had barely thought about Rhys all week. She had too much else to do
Ianto… well, where Gwen was more concerned about the city, Ianto was more concerned about Jack. Every morning he knocked on the door of Jack's office, trying to talk to him.
Every morning he was told, in no uncertain terms, to go away. But he kept trying. He had started leaving mugs of coffee and plates of food outside the door, but the drinks and the food always just sat there, growing steadily colder, ignored. Ianto didn't have the heart to throw them away, so each night when he was elsewhere Gwen would go up and retrieve that day's plate and mugs, and quietly dispose of the contents in the kitchen.
After a week, Gwen sat down with Ianto in the Boardroom.
"We can't go on like this. Just filling in and trying to do as much as we can. It won't work and eventually one or both of us is going to have a nervous breakdown."
"I know. But what else are we supposed to do? It's just us now. Jack's useless, we can't rely on him any more."
"But if we could find a way to help him, then it would be three instead of two, and the other million things we need to do would get a bit easier."
"Great idea, Gwen. How are we supposed to help someone who won't even talk to us?"
"I had an idea about that. We need someone who knows Jack better than we do."
"Are you suggesting we get Captain John to help?"
"No. I'm suggesting we call Martha. She's his friend, she might be able to talk to him. She might be able to do what we can't and get him out of his shell."
"And if
she can't?"
"If she can't… maybe she'll be able to
contact that Doctor that Jack talks about."
"That's a lot of ifs."
"I know."
"But we can't really do anything else, can we?"
"Not really."
"Okay then. Do you want to make the call or shall I?"
"I will."
Gwen found Martha's mobile number on the computer database, and quickly dialled.
"Hello?"
"Martha? It's Gwen Cooper, from Torchwood."
"Oh, yeah. How can I help?"
"Um, I
need to ask a favour. It's a big favour."
"What?" Martha
sounded worried.
"Did you see anything on the news about Cardiff last week?"
"Yeah, there were these explosions, right? Was that something to do with you guys?"
"Yeah. Yes, it was. Uh… I don't know how to say this… the explosions were set by Jack's brother…"
"His what?"
"His brother. I didn't know either. But anyway, two of us died, and it hit Jack really hard. He doesn't talk to anyone any more, he hardly leaves his office and if he's eaten recently he hasn't done it while I've been here. We're swamped here, and we really need him. I'm pretty sure he needs us too, but he won't let us near him."
"Gwen… who died?"
Gwen swallowed hard. "Owen. And Tosh."
"I'm sorry."
"Can you get down here?"
"Yeah, I can take time off from work, but I don't know what I can do."
"You're his friend. You might be able to get through to him."
"Oh, god… sure. I'll get on a train tomorrow morning."
"Thanks, Martha."
"No problem. Still don't think I'll be able to help much, but I suppose it's worth a shot."
"Uh… there's something else."
"What?"
"You travelled with the Doctor, right?"
"Ye-es…"
"Do you have any way of contacting him?"
"Why?"
"If you can't help Jack, I thought maybe the Doctor might be able to."
Gwen heard Martha take a deep breath. "Yeah. I can contact him, if it's an emergency."
"Well, I think this qualifies as an emergency."
"Okay, Gwen, I'll come down. I'll try and talk to Jack. But I decide when, and if, it's necessary to contact the Doctor, okay?"
"Fine."
"Okay. I'll call you when I get to Cardiff Station."
"Bye."