Chapter two: Torchwood

"No Jack." Gwen said firmly. "we are not doing that to my sister."

She frowned as Jack smiled at Gwen. "Come on, it'll give her a thrill."

"No way! She hates heights! She threw up on the merry-go-round last year."

She jabs Gwen in the side and glowers at her. I had the stomach flu and a fever of 103! Surely, this does not provide a basis to you argument!

Jack nods. "Agreed Gwen, come on. It'll be fun."

She shook her head. "No bloody way, Jack Harkness."

"Fine." He crosses his arms and looks at her. "Why don't we let Jacqueline decide if she wants to take the scenic route or not?

Jacqueline hesitated as she looked at her sister and Captain Jack. The whole time in the car, Gwen had told her everything about her job, fighting aliens from other worlds in Cardiff. She knew Gwen well enough to know that she wasn't fibbing, but, still, aliens was a little far-fetched until they started showing her all the equipment that they used. Doctor Owen Harper told how they'd waited several hours for Gwen to figure her way into their Headquarters. Owen was a sarcastic man and she suspected that he was quite the womanizer. Come to think of it, he probably went either way. However, as she listened to Jack talk, she decided that he held the world record for that particular title. Gwen was right, he was a flirt.

For some reason, she didn't know, maybe it was out of boredom or the night air, but she felt a little daring. The scenic route.

Jack laughed at Gwen who shook her head. "And what about her groceries? I know her Jack, she'll drop them and they'll land on something down there."

He nods. "Good point." He takes her grocery bags and hands them to Gwen. "You take them. See you down there." he turns and flashes that smile of his at her. "Let's go." She follows behind him as he pulls her up onto the sidewalk. "Now, there's a perception filter," he explains. "now, everyone can sorta see us but we don't register. It's kinda like a thing you see out of the corner of your eye." The ground moves from under her feet and she wobbles forward as the lift, or she assumes it's a lift, that's her only explanation for how the ground begins to lower away from under her feet. "Easy."

She turns towards him as the earth that she's familiar with lowers away from her. So, has anyone ever fallen through the hole by any chance?

He looks at her with part amusement and part disgust on his face as they step off the block. "I show you something fantastic and you find fault with it. You are like your sister!"

She shook her head and smiled at him. Do not bet on it.

"I am going to bet on it."

She smiles, waits a few moments before asking. So I guess several people have fallen through?

He glances down at her for a moment before shrugging. "Yeah kinda." She shakes her head as she grins in amusement. "You know, your sister asked the exact same thing when I showed it to her."

Gwen and I are very different, you'll see that. I think there is a possibility that we are half sisters actually.

His brow arches. "Really?"

I am not sure; I just suspect that I possibly have a different father.

He shrugs. "Leave a DNA sample with Owen and Tosh, they'll find out for you." The lift came to a stop and they got off. Her mouth dropped as she gazed all around her in amazement. "And this is Torchwood."

This is spectacular, I'm very impressed.

"You know, I think I'm going to like you." She jerks her head to the side and looks at him as he studies her with that smile of his. "True, you can't talk, but that doesn't hold you back." A shriek causes her to jump and look up at the ceiling. "That would be our pterodactyl." Her mouth drops open in surprise. "It's alive, and no, it won't eat you."

Well, you're still here, so, I wager that means that it won't eat people. She gazed around as they walked towards some steps that would lead them to the second level from the establishment.

The second level had a ton of computers and there was a pretty, kind-faced, woman typing away at one computer. She turned towards them and smiled at them. "Hi Jack. And who's this?"

"Gwen's sister, Jacqueline Cooper. Jacqueline, this is Toshiko Sato, computer genius."

Toshiko smiles a warm smile at her as she shakes her hand. "Great to meet you."

"You can just say Tosh," Jack says quickly. "it'll save you time."

Thank you.

Tosh didn't appear too uncomfortable, when compared to most people who found out she couldn't speak. "I'm sorry I can't read sign language."

Jack spoke up. "She said thank you, don't worry. Gwen and I both can translate for her."

"So, Gwen said from behind them. "I see Jack's giving you the tour. Impressive isn't it?"

Jack laughed. "Her exact words."

She shrugs. They seem to think we're of a like mind. She frowns. Where are my groceries?

"Oh, Ianto, he takes care of the kitchen supplies, so I gave them to him for safe keeping." On cue, a man comes from behind Gwen. "And here he is, the man of the hour."

"Ianto Jones." Jacqueline smiled at Ianto as Jack introduces them. He had a nice face, seemed like your average, all-around, nice person. He had bright blue eyes. "Ianto cleans up after us and gets us everywhere on time."

Ianto nods. "Yep. That's me."

"And he looks good in a suit." Jack adds with a smirk.

"Careful," Ianto says with a slight smile. "that's harassment sir." She smiles at his jest before taking his hand as he extends it to her. "Nice to meet you. Jacqueline wasn't it?" she nodded. He brought his hands up and began signing. Well, I can sign and read sign language as well, so we won't have any trouble communicating as well.

Her smile broadened. No, I don't think we shall. But, you can talk and I can sign.

"Thanks. I might be a bit rusty though."

"Stop showing off Ianto." Owen said dryly from where he was examining a clipboard.

Gwen asked him. "How'd you know that anyway?"

"My sister had a friend who was deaf. She kinda….ordered me to learn it with her so she could practice." He clears his throat and stepped away from her. "I've got to go get coffee."

She fell in line with him. I will help you.

"That's not necessary."

True, but I like being in the kitchen. I'm sure, if Gwen's mentioned me at all, she's mentioned my famous pizza.

"No, she hasn't."

Well, I'll have to make it for you all some time. I'm sure that with all this work you rarely get to go out and have home cooked meals.

Ianto arches a brow at her. "Do women still cook meals at home?"

This one does. I can't really order out, can I? She stands in the kitchen and looks around as he pulls out the coffee grounds. This was an amazing kitchen; it had everything a woman could want with cabinets and drawers to spare. She begins examining the cabinets, finding them bare. She shakes her head in disappointment. Why have cabinets, if they're empty?

"Yeah, we order out pretty much. Your groceries are in the refrigerator."

Thank you. She opened it up and shook her head. Sure enough, he'd put the spices in there as well. She pulled out the nutmeg and opened it up. She walked up to Ianto as he was pouring in the grounds and added a pinch of the spice as well.

He frowns slightly and eyes the nutmeg curiously. "What's that for?"

An old trick a friend of mine taught me. She reached for the salt and added a small dash. Her father owned this coffee shop and it worked very well because no one knew that he would put a hint of salt and nutmeg with the grounds. It takes away the bitter taste of coffee; gives it a bit more of an autumn taste. Depending on the season, I add other spices for a bit more flavor, like cinnamon or allspice.

"I see." He turns on the coffee pot. "Let's see if they even notice."

They will. You'll even notice that the smell is different.

Ianto nods as he studies her. "I hope you'll stick around. Things are a little more fun now that your sister's around."

She smiles back. I hope I can stick around too. It's nice….to feel almost normal for once in my life. she shifts her weight onto her other foot. Maybe I could take your job and you could get promoted to the next level or something like that.

He shakes his head. "You wouldn't like it, my job is rather dull."

Try working at a post office where you have to write down everything you need to say. That's dull!