Part 2
Several days later, Toshiko sat at her workstation, working on some of her other projects, while one screen had several CCTV cameras from the area the Blowfish were seen, hoping to catch activity to indicate another deal. She had arrived not long before, so she also had another monitor like the first one, but fast forwarding through the footage of the CCTV cameras from the overnight.
When she came into the Hub, Ianto was already there. While he made coffee, Owen had arrived. As he served coffee, he explained that Jack was feeling much better and woke up only once during the night. He expected that within another day or two Jack would be back to work.
Owen and Ianto ended up down in the receiving dock in the underground parking helping Rhys with the offload. The evening before UNIT stopped finding reasons for delays after Ianto had spent time on the phone that evening with the Commander of the UNIT base. Rhys had left earlier in the morning with the truck containing the remains of a spaceship that had crashed in the English Channel the month before. Torchwood had arrived on the scene first and claimed the vessel as theirs, but had to rely on UNIT for recovery. Then it had taken two weeks to cut through the red tape for the initial release order. They had sent Rhys up to the facility holding what was scavenged back to Torchwood. When Rhys arrived, he had received excuses on why he could not take it that day, and was told it would be ready in a few days. A few days went by and Rhys was still waiting. Finally Ianto had enough. He wanted the parts in their Archives for safe storage, as well as being tired of hearing Gwen moan about missing Rhys and starting to feel like a single mother. Ianto also wanted Rhys to be home to his children. Rhiannon had told him how the kids were moping around after the second day Rhys was gone, and decided enough was enough. Torchwood had also been going without their general support and admin. For the last five years, Ianto only made the team coffee, but the rest of the general support he had done previously was now done by Rhys. Ianto still acted as Jack's PA, however over the years the role subtly evolved into Jack's unofficial second. Ianto spent more time dealing with officials that Jack did not want to deal with, as well as a full time field agent and maintaining the Archives. He also knew more about protocol than even Jack and was in charge of that. As time went on, his experience on the field also grew until he was able to make command decisions in a snap without becoming unruffled. Tosh and Owen had started to defer to Ianto's lead, feeling he was better in making decisions while knowing their opinions and suggestions would be heard by both Jack and Ianto and taken into consideration. Gwen was the only one who seemed to have problems with Ianto taking lead, feeling that she was in charge after Jack, and sometimes still attempted to treat Ianto like he was just the tea boy. Jack did not expect anyone to be treated that way, and that included Rhys. Now that Jack was pregnant again, Toshiko and Owen were hoping that Jack would finally make it official and announce that Ianto was his second. Gwen would still argue with Ianto (hell, she always had argued with Jack when she didn't agree with him!), but at least she could not attempt to take over leading the team.
While the men were down in the Archives, Gwen arrived with her youngest child who decided he did not want to be left at Rhiannon's and was clinging to his mother. It was why Gwen was late. She had been over to Ianto's sister's house, hoping to convince the little boy that he would have fun, as usual, at his Aunt Rhiannon's house with his cousins. Little Evan was not letting go of his mother, so Gwen decided it would be best to go to work with Evan. It was not unheard of having children at the Hub, so no one would bat an eye at it.
While Gwen was setting up Evan in an area designated as play area for children, Tosh noticed something on the footage from in the middle of the night. "Ianto!" Tosh called on the comm, "I need you up here now."
"Did you find something finally?" Ianto asked.
"Yes, but... just come up here. Quick."
A few minutes later, Ianto came rushing into the Hub with Owen and Rhys on his heels. "Tosh?" Ianto asked. "What did you find?"
Tosh shook her head. "It's... impossible." Her eyes went to Rhys, and then over to Gwen who was coming over to join them.
"What's going on, Tosh?" Gwen asked.
"A meet up, I think," Toshiko replied. "From what I can see, nothing was exchanged."
"Perhaps they have a supplier for the goods," Ianto mused. "Which if they do then we need to find whoever else is involved. Let's see what you have, Tosh."
Toshiko already had the footage back to the beginning showing three Blowfish waiting in a carpark to a warehouse.
Ianto frowned. "We are certain they are not operating out of any of warehouses in that area?" he asked.
"Definitely not," Gwen replied. "We both went through the registries several times with no connection."
"Personally I think the bastards just enjoy the drama of it all, secret meetings by warehouses and all," Owen stated. "You ask me, they have TV in their lair, wherever it is, and those kids have been watching too much of it."
Ianto snorted. "They do seem to be the younger ones, don't they?"
"It's always the younger ones that get involved in stuff like this. The older ones tend to work alone," Owen pointed out.
"I'll have to agree with you," Ianto said as another figure walked across the car park to join the Blowfish. "So there's our new player. Human?"
"I hope so," Tosh commented as the newcomer revealed itself to be a woman.
"Son of a bitch!" Owen snapped.
"What the hell?" Ianto asked.
"Bloody hell, Gwen!" Rhys gasped.
The three men turned to look at Gwen and then to the monitor again. Talking to the Blowfish was Gwen Cooper, dressed in leather pants and corset with a cloak. On her head, she wore a black leather biker hat and goggles.
"No," Gwen insisted. "That can't be."
"That's you, Gwen!" Rhys exclaimed. "What the bloody hell are you doing talking to those fish people?"
Ianto crossed his arms and after sharing a look with Tosh, turned to Gwen. "Is that you?"
"Right, Ianto. As if she's going to own up to consorting with the enemy," Owen snapped. "Ianto, you better take inventory down in the Archives and make sure we have everything."
"That's not me!" Gwen insisted.
"It looks like you," Tosh said calmly.
"Alright, it does," Gwen replied, "but that's not me. What's the timestamp on the footage?" she asked Toshiko.
"4:20 AM," Toshiko replied.
"There you go then. I was at home, asleep." She looked at the others, who were still staring at her. She turned to Rhys. "Do you think I would leave the kids alone at home while I go consort with Blowfish? Really?" She turned back to Ianto. "Do you really think I'm capable of doing something like that?"
Ianto sighed. "She has a point," he said to the team, "but there's no denying what we're looking at either."
"Shapeshifter?" Toshiko suggested.
"Could be, but why use Gwen?" Ianto asked.
"Are you sure you didn't leave the kids?" Rhys asked.
"How could you even ask that of me?" Gwen snapped, her anger rising. "Look, I don't know who the hell that is, but it isn't me, even if she looks like it. I was at home! Evan was in bed with me. He's been in a mood the last couple of days while Rhys was gone for so long. He started to get clingy when I took him home from Rhi's last night. Do you think I would leave my baby alone in my bed when he is so obviously upset about one of his parents?"
"Gwen, calm down," Ianto insisted. "We have more questions now than answers. What else is new?" He looked at Rhys. "Why don't you go and spend some time with your son. Gwen, you too. I'm giving you both the day off."
Gwen put her hands on her hips and stared defiantly at Ianto. "You will not send me off just so the rest of you can conspire about me behind my back. I'm staying here, because I want answers too."
"Gwen, right now I'm thinking about your son, if he's been acting the way he is," Ianto said.
"You have no right to send me home anyway," she snapped.
"Oh come off it, Gwen," Owen said. "You think you're the bloody boss around here when Jack's not here, but you're not. There is no official second here, but the best one suited for the situation steps up when needed."
"Most of the time, it's been Ianto," Toshiko pointed out. "If anyone is second in command around here, it's Ianto. In case you haven't noticed, he's been making sure things run smoothly while Jack is out."
"Rhys, go see your son please," Ianto said, looking agitated. "And try to take your bloody stubborn wife with you. Gwen, listen, no one is condemning you. If we thought it was you, Owen and I would have been escorting you down to the cells already."
Owen nodded his head. "That's right. Now let us figure this out, while you spend some time with your family. After all the belly aching and moaning about needing to leave early to spend time with your family, the one time we want you to, you dig in your heels."
"Gwen, love," Rhys said, taking Gwen by her arm. "Let's go sit with Evan a bit, yeah?"
Gwen sighed and then after glaring at Owen and Ianto, she looked up at Rhys. "Yes. Of course. Let's do that."
As Rhys escorted her to the play area, Owen frowned, his beady eyes on the couple. He turned back to Toshiko and Ianto. "So if the kid's is so clingy and upset, just how is it that he's been playing in that room alone?"
Tosh stared at Owen. "I don't believe you. He's okay, because he knows Gwen is close. Eventually he'll let out a wail to get Gwen running to him." She smirked. "Kind of like what Aubrey does to you." She winked at him.
"Hush now, Tosh," Owen warned her, but the grin on his face made Tosh bat her eyes at him, causing them both to laugh.
"I don't believe it's Gwen," Ianto said, "but that doesn't mean I'm not ruling out the possibility."
"If it was her, I'm sure there's a good reason," Toshiko said.
"Agreed." Ianto sighed. "Tosh, is it possible to follow her on CCTV? Let's see where she came from. Meanwhile, I'm thinking that looked like a meet-up to set something up."
"More tech," Owen said.
"Exactly. We need to find out where and when and put a stop to this," Ianto agreed.
OoOoOoO
"It's like she just vanished," Tosh exclaimed later in frustration to Ianto who stood behind him.
"I don't suppose there's a camera on the other side of those trees she disappeared in?" Owen asked.
"No," Tosh confirmed.
"Tosh, I know we didn't look because we went to the scene and didn't find anything to warrant using CCTV but in light of this new development," Ianto started.
"I'm already running a facial recognition program on the area that first night," she stated.
"Good. Let me know what you get," Ianto said. "I'm going to call Jack. I know he needs his rest, but he does need to know what's going on. I don't want to chance his feeling we're withholding from him. I'll be in his office, so call if you need me."
Ianto went into Jack's office, where he normally spent a portion of his day, whether Jack was there or not. The difference when Jack wasn't there was Ianto sat behind his desk.
He watched as Rhys came back into the main area of the Hub, carrying Evan and leading Gwen. Gwen excused herself and went in the direction of the toilets. Rhys started to get Evan ready for the trip home.
Taking advantage of the situation, Ianto sent Rhys a text to contact him if the other man noticed any odd behaviour from Gwen. He watched Rhys read the message, delete it and then glance up toward the office, giving Ianto thumbs up.
Ianto pushed the button on his mobile for Jack's number and continued to watch as Gwen returned and the family left the Hub. Ianto figured they would head over to Rhiannon's on the way home to pick Tamwen up.
His attention went to his phone call when he heard Jack answer. After checking how Jack was feeling and finding out Jack was in the kitchen making something light to eat, Ianto filled him in on the day's discovery.
"No way was that Gwen," Jack exclaimed. "She wouldn't do something like that."
"Not in her right mind. I agree, but I'm not going to clear her until we get more facts. However, I'm not going to throw her in a cell. I hope we're right and it never comes to that."
"Can you send the footage to my laptop?" Jack asked.
"Will do once Tosh finishes running through the CCTV from the first night," Ianto replied.
"She's checking if Gwen was there that first night, isn't she?" Jack asked, sounding as if he already knew the answer.
"Yes. I want to give her a benefit of doubt, but she did leave early that night. She wasn't with us around the time the meeting had happened."
"Damn. It's not looking good for her, isn't it?"
"Well, she was wearing a style of clothes that, well, I never saw her in before. I'll admit, if Rhys didn't yet, he might be wanting to see her in it in private." He had to chuckle.
"Oh really?"
"But there is something about the clothes that is bothering me, but I can't put a finger on it. Maybe when you see it, you might figure out what it is."
"We'll see," Jack replied, his voice muffled.
"You're talking with your mouth full, aren't you?"
"If I stopped, you'd be having me examined for alien takeover," Jack quipped.
Ianto snorted. "True, no matter how unfortunate."
"You married me anyway, even knowing this," Jack pointed out.
"I did have hope," Ianto joked back.
Ianto paused as he heard Toshiko call out for him. "Jack, hold on. It looks like Tosh found something." He saw Owen make his way across the Hub to stop behind Toshiko, resting his hands on her shoulders. "And it's not looking good," he added as he got up and walked out of the office. He left the call on as he hurried down the steps toward Toshiko's workstation. "What do you have?" he asked.
Toshiko pointed toward a monitor with a frozen image on it. There were the three Blowfish, and with them was Gwen. She was in dark linen trousers and a corset, the cut of it slightly different than the other one, but was still black leather. Ianto frowned as he studied the photo.
"Ianto, what is it?" Jack asked over the phone.
"It looks like Gwen, but there's something about her on the images," Ianto remarked. He put the call to Jack on speaker.
"It's Gwen again?" Jack's voice came through the phone.
"Afraid so, Jack," Owen replied. He looked at Ianto. "Do we need any more proof?" he asked.
"Tosh, can you trail her steps. Both forward and backward," Ianto requested.
"I already saw her arrival. Same as last night. She came out of the trees, but no sign of her entering them." Toshiko started to do a slow frame by frame forward on the footage.
"And we're likely to have the same ending," Ianto quipped. "I have an idea. Jack, are you up to hearing it?"
"I'm not there, Ianto. It's your show," Jack replied over the phone.
"Gwen's under heavy observation. I already have Rhys keeping an eye on her, but I think Rhys needs to take her out tonight, while we get into their home and install cameras. Tosh, I also want you to track Gwen through her phone. If it appears she's without it, let me know immediately." He sighed heavily. "It might be a long night, I'm afraid. If we're still working on this tonight, Tosh and Owen, when you break for dinner, go get Aubrey. Jack, I'll try to get home for dinner so I could see the kids before they go to bed."
"I have an idea," Toshiko spoke up. When she had Ianto's attention, she said, "I can have the programs run remotely. As on our laptops." She looked up at Ianto expectantly.
"If you could. But if we need to be on the move fast?" Ianto asked.
"I can go, and Tosh can stay home and coordinate," Owen suggested. "Maybe take Aubrey to the Hub and work from there."
"Sounds like a fair plan," Jack agreed. "Besides, it lets Ianto be home if or until he's needed."
"That's sorted then," Ianto stated. "Tosh, you work on the program. I'm going to text Rhys and see if he can get Gwen out of the house today, giving us enough time to work."
"And if it is her?" Owen asked. "I mean, if we have proof it's her, other than her face on CCTV."
"Then you bring her in and Owen, you're going to examine her," Jack spoke up. "Check for alien influence, or an imposter."
Ianto was nodding as Jack spoke. "I'm giving Gwen the benefit of doubt, despite the overwhelming evidence against her. I just can't believe Gwen would turn against everything she believes in. We've been subjected enough to her moral high road over the years to believe that she willing is consorting with Blowfish."
"Maybe she wanted a little alien flavour," Owen said with a grin.
Ianto rolled his eyes. "With Blowfish? She had better opportunities, if that was her desire. I'm going to spend the rest of the day going through the Archives. Just to make sure nothing is missing."
"And as Ianto said, it ends the same way," Owen stated, staring at the monitor to watch the image of Gwen disappear into the trees.
"Well, I think we know why they pick that particular warehouse," Ianto stated. "It's the only one with that cluster of trees close to the car park."
"I wonder where she goes from there," Toshiko mused.
"We're going to have to figure that out," Ianto said. "So now that we have a plan, I'm going to finish my call with Jack while I get us some more coffee on, and then I'll be found in the Archives."
"Good work, everyone," Jack said before Ianto turned the call off from speaker as he started toward the kitchen area to make coffee.
OoOoOoO
Rhys ended up suggesting taking Tanwen, who they picked up from Rhiannon's after they left the Hub, and Evan out for lunch and then to the park, allowing Ianto and Owen time to get into the house and set up cameras. They were out and back at the Hub before the Williamses returned home. Ianto continued with his inventory, enlisting Toshiko, who had completed the program and already had it sent to their secure laptops. Jack called in saying it was working, and he was taking first watch while they continued the inventory.
Satisfied that nothing was missing, they completed the inventory before dinner. They called it a night in the Hub, but met up at Rhiannon's house to pick up their children and go home until they were called out.
Ianto returned home to find Jack was feeling well enough to have a simple dinner ready for them. From experience, that worried Ianto. It worried Ianto more when Jack did not have any of the dinner he made, just wanting to spend time with his family as they had dinner together. All remained quiet as the night went on. Jack and Ianto got Meghan and Franklin ready for bed, tucked them in and read bedtime stories. Jack went to relax on the couch, keeping an eye on the laptop while Ianto went to shower and get ready for bed, hoping he didn't have to put his clothes on again.
He was still worried about Jack, expecting the worse that night. He was not wrong shortly after they settled in when Jack started to have painful cramping that kept getting worse. Ianto knew what it was. He made a quick call to Owen, telling him that Jack was hitting the worse part of his pregnancy sickness, but unless things went worse than the previous two times, there was no need for Owen to come over. He assured Owen he would call if needed, and agreed for the doctor to come over in the morning to check Jack over.
It was a hard six hours, and thankfully everything remained quiet between the Blowfish and the Rift. It was painful to watch Jack in so much pain and unable to do anything about it. On the other hand, he knew that by the morning, after the cramping was over, and Jack got several hours undisturbed sleep, he would be good as new. It would be highly possible that Jack would be able to go back to work once he was cleared by Owen.
OoOoOoO
The next afternoon, Jack went back to work. The days went by with the usual assortment of Rift alerts and Weevil hunting.
All eyes were on Gwen during those days. She knew it. No one said anything, but she did recognize the alien spyware that was in the kitchen and figured it wasn't the only one in the house. She was not able to find more, but she knew more had to be there. She knew Rhys was also watching her carefully. It was frustrating and insulting, but she also knew if it had been the image of one of the others, and she was calling the shots, she would have done the same thing.
Gwen being Gwen, even realizing everything, she decided she could not take much more of being under close scrutiny. So later in the week when Jack and Ianto left early on a slow afternoon to see an estate agent, letting the rest of the team off for the rest of the day, Rift permitting, Gwen decided to make her first move in proving her innocence. Rhys was already at home. She was tired of calling to check in whenever she did not come straight home, but sent Rhys a text that she was going to get her hair trimmed and then shut down her phone. She drove to City Centre where she left her phone, knowing that she was being tracked by it.
Then she set off to hopefully find out more about the Blowfish and the strange woman who was wearing her face.
OoOoOoO
Jack and Ianto entered their flat, with Meghan and Franklin in tow. After taking off his coat and shoes, and Ianto got the children out of their outer wear, Jack ushered the two toward the bathroom to get them ready for bed. It was Ianto's turn to start dinner while Jack bathed the children and got them into their pyjamas.
Ianto turned on the laptop before heading into the kitchen. He was just getting the pasta, smiling to himself as he heard Franklin and Meghan laugh along with Jack when his mobile rang. Checking the caller ID, he answered it. "Rhys, what can I do for you tonight?"
"Gwen hasn't come home tonight," Rhys reported.
"What?" Ianto asked. "At all?"
"No." Rhys sounded worried, frustrated and angry.
"Damn. Hold on." He went over to the laptop and pulled up the tracking program set to Gwen's mobile. "She's in City Centre." Ianto typed a few commands and started to frown. "That's odd. She's been stationary for the last four hours. Dammit. Rhys, why don't you bring your heathens here? You can leave them with Jack while we go recover Gwen's phone and see if we can find her."
"Good deal. I'm on my way. Be there in ten."
"See you, Rhys." Ianto hung up the call and then checked to make sure nothing on the cooker would burn, sighing when he realized he had no idea when he would be able to eat. He should have convinced Jack for them to order too when they had stopped off so the kids could have dinner instead of eating just before their bedtime. Deciding to grab some chips or something if they passed somewhere on their search, he went toward the bathroom, where he found Jack finishing dressing Franklin, while Meghan was in her snuggly jammies.
Jack looked up when Ianto entered. "What's up?"
"You're going to have to handle bedtime yourself, and you're going to have Evan and Tamwen here too."
Franklin and Meghan started to jump up and down. "A sleepover!" Meghan exclaimed, clapping her hands.
"Yay!" Franklin exclaimed, throwing his hands up and bouncing up and down.
Jack sighed. "All right you two, you can go into the lounge until Tamwen and Evan get here, but then story time and bed. Got that?"
"Yes Daddy," Meghan said with a slight pout.
Franklin stuck his lip out, but nodded his head.
Ianto shook his head, studying Jack. "You're going to let them stay up a while, aren't you?"
Jack shrugged. "Off you lot go now," he said. Ianto moved to the side as the children left the bathroom, chattering excitedly about their friends coming over for the night. Jack offered Ianto a weak smile. "What makes you think that?"
"Because they both have you wrapped around their finger, Jack," Ianto replied amused.
"And they both have your pout," Jack pointed out, standing up and grabbing a towel to wipe down the bathroom.
"When they don't have yours," Ianto replied.
"What's going on?" Jack asked.
"Gwen. If you go by her mobile phone, she hasn't moved from the same spot in City Centre for almost four hours. Rhys just called and said she hasn't been home all night yet." Ianto frowned.
"It's not looking good for her, huh?"
"We'll see."
"I'll run operations from here. If needed, I'll get Tosh back to the Hub and send Owen out to assist you and Rhys," Jack stated.
Ianto studied Jack's face. "If we really need another body out there, I'll give you a call. You can drop the kids off at the Hub with Tosh and join in the search." He gave Jack a nervous smile.
Jack pulled Ianto into his arms. "You be careful out there. You hear me, Ianto Jones-Harkness?"
"I do my best," Ianto replied. "I have a lovely family waiting for me."
"That you do," Jack replied. He moved his head to kiss Ianto. The kiss grew deeper and Ianto's skin started to tingle.
When they pulled apart, gasping for air, Ianto grinned at Jack. "A little extra good luck there?"
Jack winked and grinned at Ianto. "I'm afraid I intend to keep you around for a very long time."
"I should be scared," Ianto deadpanned. "Well, let me say goodnight to the heathens and be ready to leave when Rhys gets here. I have pasta heating. Try to save some for me, yeah?"
"I'll try." Jack took Ianto's hand and together they left the bathroom and headed down the hall toward the lounge.
OoOoOoO
Ianto and Rhys stood in the lot next to St. John the Baptist, where they found Gwen's mobile in the foliage. With a sigh, Ianto called Jack to inform him. They had no idea where Gwen could be. While Ianto and Rhys looked around the city, including by the warehouses where she had been spotted before, with no luck. The two finally returned to Ianto's, where they found all the children at sleep and Jack propped up on the couch, watching CCTV, with jazz playing softly.
Ianto entered the living room with Rhys and came over to kiss Jack softly. "Anything?" Ianto asked.
Jack shook his head, and moved the laptop aside to stand up and stretch. "Nothing. At least not in that last area. It's been quiet." He frowned as he gazed out one of the wide, almost floor to ceiling windows to the bay beyond. "This is not looking good for Gwen."
Ianto shook his head, looking over to Rhys, who had a frown deeper than Jack's. "I can't believe this," Rhys muttered, "but I have to agree."
Jack turned to face Rhys. "I'm sorry, Rhys."
"It's not you who needs to be apologizing," Rhys replied.
Jack came over to stand next to Ianto. Placing a hand on Ianto's back, Jack said, "I saved dinner for you. There's some for Rhys too if he didn't eat yet."
"We grabbed some chips while we were out, but it only took the edge off. I'm starving," Ianto replied. "Do you want more, Jack?"
"No. I'm good. Rhys, why don't you stay tonight? It will have to be the couch, but since the children are all settled for the night, why wake them up."
Ianto added, "We'll be having an early start tomorrow, and I'm sure you'll want to be part of it, yeah?"
"Yeah. I do. I want to find out exactly what my wife is up to. The nerve of that woman." Rhys grunted in frustration. "I'll tell you, I don't know what I'll do if she's up to no good with those Blowfish."
Jack and Ianto traded pained looks. "If she's guilty, Rhys, Torchwood has ways to deal with traitors," Jack said. "Why don't we get all the facts first before we start talking about options?"
"I understand," Rhys said deflated. "I won't get in the way."
Ianto placed a hand on the other man's shoulder. "Let's go eat."
"I'm going to get ready for bed," Jack said. "I hate tiring out so early."
"You're pregnant, Jack. Listen to your body. Rhys and I will behave out here." He winked at Jack, who cracked a grin while Rhys laughed.
Jack said his goodnights to Rhys and as he left the living room, Ianto led Rhys over to the kitchen, deciding they will eat at the breakfast bar.