Everything changes
by Soledad
Author's note: For disclaimer, rating, etc. see the Introduction
Several changes within the Hub had been made between Series 1 and 2 indeed. We never got an explanation what the reason for those changes might have been, so I simply decided that Ianto would be fond of a better organized workspace.
After an idea of aeshna_cyanea.
Chapter 02 – Dream Team
The return to the Hub did not turn out quite as triumphant as Jack had hoped it would be. The new team worked smoothly enough, with Andy and Mickey hauling the body bag with the dead Blowfish into the morgue and Sara Lloyd checking every inch of the SUV with all the thoroughness one had learned during almost a decade with SOCO.
"I'll write the report, then," Sally Jacobs said, and Lloyd, clearly in charge of this particular mission, nodded her thanks.
"You people write reports?" Jack asked in bafflement. "After a Blowfish hunt?"
That was something else not really practiced under his rule.
Lloyd shrugged. "It's no big deal. Mr. Jones has created form for various kinds of field missions; you just have to fill out the fields. It's usually done within ten to twenty-five minutes, depending on the case. I wish we had it this easy paperwork-wise while I still worked for the police."
"How did you end up working for Torchwood anyway?" Jack asked; then, glancing in Andy's direction, he added. "Both of you."
"I'm not sure about Andy," Lloyd admitted, "but I was suggested to Mr. Jones by Detective Swanson, as I was getting bored with SOCO routine and wanted to do something different. She's Torchwood's police liaison, and…"
"Since when?" Jack interrupted.
Lloyd raised a surprised eyebrow. "I beg your pardon?"
"Since when has Kathy been Torchwood's police liaison?" Jack clarified.
"Ever since you vanished into thin air," Lloyd said. "Mr. Jones contacted Detective Swanson and offered a more regular co-operation with the police… and coffee, whenever she'd come and synchronize actions," she added with a grin.
Jack grinned back at her. "Bet it bought her on the spot."
"Mr. Jones' coffee is the stuff legends would be born from," Lloyd agreed, laughing. "Sometimes I think it could be the peaceful way to world domination: get everyone addicted, and then threaten to put them on decaf. It certainly works with us."
"You mean he still makes you coffee, although he's the boss now?" Jack asked in surprise. Lloyd nodded.
"He still does almost everything he used to do before. All right, Emma runs the shop and Mickey cleans up after us and keeps the SUV in top condition – he is a car mechanic, after all – but Mr. Jones still deals with the Archives, and the paperwork that's the share of the Torchwood Director. And with UNIT and the PM's office, and occasionally even with the Queen. And he's forbidden anyone to even touch his coffee machine. He said that would be a sound reason for any Torchwood member to be summarily executed, and I have the uncomfortable feeling that he actually meant it. There was something in his eyes…" she mock-shivered,
Jack grinned in agreement. "Ianto can be scary… and very territorial."
The latter called up some very pleasant memories, and he was quietly indulging in nostalgia while they returned to the main Hub area.
That, too, had changed quite a bit during his absence. Most notably, the side area, which used to contain Suzie's (later Gwen's) workspace and a load of miscellaneous junk, including the Doctor's hand, had been cleared, and the boardroom had been moved to the other side. The old boardroom now housed a spacious lab, equipped with highly advanced technology, some of which looked suspiciously as if it had been moved over from Torchwood one.
Also, the coffee area has been moved down from the balcony to take its place by the stairs up to the balcony, close to where Suzie (or rather Gwen's) workspace used to be, so that Ianto now had a well-stocked kitchenette there. Several new terminals had been added to the main working area as well, indicating that Emma's remark about Ianto having hired some new personnel had to be taken literally.
Tosh's mysterious experiment must have run its cycle in the meantime, because she was back in the main working area. To Jack's relief, she looked exactly the same as he remembered, save from the fact that she was wearing a white lab coat, which she had never done before. She was also clearly in charge of the whole place in Ianto's absence, which actually made sense. With the exception of Owen, they were the ranking Torchwood members.
Jack chose to stand on the side and watch the interchange for the moment. Everyone
pretty much ignored him, but that was okay. He needed to get a general impression about this whole new situation first.
"Are you sure no more like him came through?" Tosh asked a bald, bespectacled young man, who was sitting at Gwen's former workstation.
"Cross-referencing with the rift activity monitor, doesn't look like it," the guy replied with a London accent. He, too, was wearing a white lab coat, meaning that he must have been some sort of scientist, too. The thin goatee and a baldness probably made him look older than his actual years; he might have been in his early thirties.
Mickey came in at that moment to report to Tosh. "The car's been impounded," he said. "I'll get it back to the owner in the morning."
Tosh nodded and looked at Sally Jacobs. "How's the victim doing?"
"He'll live," the pretty blonde replied. "I've administered the minimal dose of Retcon to the entire family and suggested that there was merely a burglary gone wrong. Ianto will have to synchronize stories with Detective Swanson later, though."
"He's good at that," Tosh agreed, turning to Lloyd. "So, I understand the species is already in the database?"
Lloyd nodded. "Bio-profile's onscreen now. Nothing in his genetic make-up likely to contaminate the city."
"Thank God for small favours," Tosh murmured. "Mickey, can you deal with the body when it's cold?"
"Do you want me to put it into the freezer?" Mickey asked.
"Until somebody can do a proper autopsy, yes," Tosh said. "After that – no need to keep dead aliens in storage. A few DNA samples will be enough."
Mickey nodded and scurried off after his business. Tosh went to her own workstation and sat down, starting to type away at a speed that made her fingers look like a blur.
"You guys got pretty organized without me," Jack commented, getting fed up with the way they were all ignoring him.
Tosh's rapid-fire typing stopped for a moment, and she looked up at him over her glasses seriously.
"Well, we had to," she said with a hint of accusation in her voice, despite her visible effort to remain professional.
Jack looked around the changed main area. "And you did quite a bit of redecoration here, too, I see," he said. "Not that I wouldn't like the new look – the new board room is particularly an eye-catcher – it's just… well, different."
"We've rearranged things, so that more people could work in here at the same time," Tosh replied. "We had no other choice, Jack! You left us, and we had to see how we could manage. And don't think it was easy!"
Jack sighed. "I know. I'm sorry."
"We knew nothing, Jack!" Tosh was trying very hard to keep her calm. "Gwen's gone ballistic when she realized you'd run off with the Doctor without as much as by-your-leave. She was throwing tantrums everywhere, from the police trough UNIT even to the Prime Minister's office. She stirred up so much trouble that Ianto had to Retcon here and fire her the moment he's been established as the Director of Torchwood Three! Somehow she had come to the idea that she was entitled to lead the team in your absence, and none of us was having that."
"Of course not, it would have been ridiculous; she was the rookie, after all," Jack snorted. "But how comes that Ianto was the one to step into my shoes? I wonder what might have motivated the Queen to choose him, of all people."
Tosh shrugged. "You forget that Ianto has worked for Torchwood longer than any of us – save from you, of course. And he knows a great deal about what Headquarters used to be up to and has most of the old codes and passwords in his head. Including the ones that would provide access to Torchwood One's funds."
"He never told me a word about that," Jack said accusingly.
"You never asked," Tosh pointed out. "You1ve always been so prejudiced against London that you never wasted a thought on what might have happened with all their resources and properties. They did have vast founds, you know. They built Torchwood Tower, just to reach that interdimensional Rift above Canary Wharf – and that wasn't the only thing of that magnitude they built."
"So, what happened to their wealth, then?" Jack asked.
"The properties in and around London went back to the Crown, with the exception of certain warehouses containing data storages and alien artefacts, which were annexed by UNIT," Tosh answered. "Torchwood House got some of the funds, and so did Archie in Glasgow. The rest came to us with Ianto."
"What about the other survivors?"
"Most of them chose to be Retconned or ended up in insane asylums," Tosh sighed. "Trevor here," she nodded towards the bald bloke at Gwen's workstation, "worked for UNIT for a while but gladly accepted a job here. He's an engineer, and a good one; a delight to work with. But Ianto is the only surviving archivist of Headquarters. The last one of the guys who knew the codes and the passwords. So he's practically considered the rightful heir of One's wealth – as long as he brings it to Torchwood. Which means: to us."
"Ain't we the lucky guys?" Jack commented sarcastically.
Tosh gave him a hard look. "It was either that, or UNIT taking over here. Forgive me for supporting Ianto all the way, but you of all people ought to know what a UNIT take-over would have meant for me."
"They wiped your record," Jack said.
"They didn't wipe their own memories; and we all know how easy it is to reconstruct lost data," Tosh said. "I'm glad you're back, Jack, I missed you, and I know I owe you my life. But do not try to turn me against Ianto. Because that would be wrong – and you'd lose."
Jack was fairly shocked by this confrontation. He wasn't used to quiet, timid Tosh being this outspoken. Tosh realized this, and her manner turned softer, more compassionate again.
"I'm really glad to have you back, Jack. We all are. Where were you anyway?"
"I found my doctor," Jack answered slowly, not wanting to go into any detail. But Tosh understood it nonetheless. She was the only one of the team – the old or the new team – who had met the Doctor in person. Granted, it had been a previous incarnation, but still…
"Did he fix you?" she asked quietly.
Jack put on his usual wide, self-confident, thousand megawatt grin that didn't quite reach his eyes.
"What's to fix?" he asked back. "You don't mess with this level of perfection."
But he knew he hadn't fooled Tosh. The rest of them, yes, but Tosh had known him for too long and too well to buy the act. Fortunately for him, before Tosh could have asked his bluff, her computer started beeping, and she turned back to the screen.
"Rift activity!" she said. "Get your gear, people, there's work to do! Lloyd, you stay here and keep watch. I'm going out with the team."
"Can I come with you?" Jack asked. "Like in old times…"
Tosh hesitated for a moment, but – appreciating the fact that he'd actually bothered to ask – she finally gave in.
"All right. Sally, stay behind. Try to reach Ianto and tell him he should come back as soon as possible. No details; I don't know how secure the landline of Torchwood house is, and you know mobile phones won't work there. Let's go, folks!"
Andy and Mickey grabbed their kit and jogged down to the garage, Jack in tow, happy to be there again, even though it seemed there might be problems later. Before leaving, Tosh glanced at the Blowfish on the table in the autopsy area.
"Lloyd, do a thorough scan on this guy, will you? I don' want any… surprises, should he be wired with something more than just cocaine."
Lloyd nodded her understanding, and Tosh rushed off after the boys.
It was already dark when they reached the source of the Rift activity: a sidewalk outside of ha large garage building. The police and SOCO were there, too, sealing off the surroundings of a dead body, lying on the ground. Detective Swanson, as elegant and self-confident as always, frowned in displeasure when the Torchwood SUV pulled up.
"What's Torchwood doing here?" she demanded angrily. "This is a clear and simple murder case!"
"No, I don't think so," Tosh scanned the body with her little hand-held device. "I can read fragments of Rift energy around the neck, arm and shoulders."
"Which means he was grabbed... and pushed," Jack added helpfully.
Tosh nodded. "That would certainly explain the residual energy cluster."
Jack rolled his eyes. "How did you ever manage without me?"
"They were at least a lot less annoying and self-important," Swanson muttered sotto voce.
Jack flashed her an unrepentant grin. "I love you too, Kathy."
Swanson gave him a dirty look. "Sure, whatever," she glanced at her own people who were just out of earshot. "So, there's a potential killer on the loose"
"Bipedal, and most likely humanoid," Andy supplied.
"Thanks, Davidson," Swanson looked at Tosh again. "Any other alien tech involved, Doctor Sato?"
Tosh shook her head. "No readings to suggest that."
"Okay, let's get back and see what we can piece together," Jack suggested. Tosh arched an eyebrow, and he hurriedly back-pedalled. "Sorry, old habit. Hard to break. You were saying…?"
"I was saying that we can have leave the scene and let SOCO in. I've seen everything I needed to see; the rest is the jurisdiction of the police."
"We've got positive identification on the fingerprints," Swanson consulted his palmtop. "It seems our victim here has a criminal record as thick as the phone book. Petty theft, mugging, burglary – all in the same, or a similar category."
"You mean, it could be self-defence… in theory?" Andy asked, looking up at the car park building. "That was a long way to fall, in any case."
"If he tried to rob someone up there, it is possible that the other guy tossed him to save himself," Swanson looked down at the knife the dead man was still gripping tightly. "There's blood on the blade; perhaps he's wounded his murderer, in which case we might have the DNA in our database."
"Not if the killer came through the Rift," Tosh sighed. "Still worth a try, though. Andy, take a sample before SOCO would take over. If the police can't identify the killer, we still might."
Swanson raised an elegant eyebrow. "You run a DNA database on your spookies?"
"We kinda have to," Tosh replied. "Some species would be impossible to identify without it… or some individuals. The Weevils for example – at least the ones we've run into so far – all belong to the same genome. The individual differences are so small, we'd never know which one it is without a DNA scan."
"Weevils… they are the weird blokes with the faces like Halloween masks, right?" Swanson asked. Tosh nodded. "Why do you want to identify the individual ones?"
"We're trying to keep a check on their population," Tosh explained. "Any sudden growth in their numbers would mean grave danger for the people of Cardiff. As soon as there aren't too many of them, they're even moderately useful, since they live off the sewer rats. But they need to be watched constantly."
"It's like chipping wild animals," Andy added, while expertly taking a sample of the blood on the dead man's knife. "Only that the Weevils would remove the chips – they seem to be sensitive to the signal those send out – so good, old-fashioned observation is the only option left."
"I take your word for it," Swanson shuddered. "The few times I've come up and close them were enough for a lifetime."
"I don't blame you," Tosh glanced at her watch. "Well, guys, let's go back to base. There's nothing else for us to do here."
"Shouldn't you try tracking back the residual Rift energy to figure out where the murderer has gone?" Jack asked, while Mickey and Andy were already heading back to the SUV.
"That's exactly what I'm going to do, Jack; and that's why we need to go back to the Hub," Tosh replied tiredly. "With Trevor's help, I've updated the scanners of the base, so that we can track any unusual energy signatures all over Cardiff. If the killer has come through the Rift, we're supposed to be able to find him."
"You're supposed to?" Jack repeated sceptically.
Tosh shrugged. "This is a brand new installation. We haven't got the chance to see how it works… until now."
"You've made quite a lot of changes while I was gone," Jack commented.
Tosh shrugged again. "Well, I'm a scientist, Jack. I prefer the scientific method to just running in headfirst, guns blazing, and Ianto lets me do things my way. Besides," she added quietly, "when one of us dies, we stay dead. So we kind of try to avoid the dying part."
That was, of course, very true, and Jack couldn't find a proper answer. They got into the SUV, taking the back seats, where Tosh could continue working on her laptop, and Andy took the driver's seat, declaring that he wanted to get back in one piece, thank you very much. Mickey wasn't very happy with that and looked as if he'd want to fight about it, but a look at Tosh made him reconsider. Jack was secretly impressed how well Tosh had the volatile young man under control. She was tiny but feisty under that timid geeky exterior, and now that she'd been put in charge, it showed, too.
Andy turned out to be a very good driver, which wasn't really surprising from an ex-cop. He got them back to the Hub in record time, without even violating any traffic rules.
"I'm taking this sample to Lloyd," he said, getting out of the car. "Mickey, can you give the SUV a thorough check? Your little stunt while we were chasing the Blowfish might have dislocated something, and who knows when we'll need the car again."
"Yes, Massa," Mickey grunted disdainfully.
Andy gave him a frown. "Don't be ridiculous! I could give it a look, too, but you've got a better chance to spot anything that isn't as it ought to be. You're the car mechanic, after all; I'm just a beat cop. An ex-beat cop," he corrected himself before he started to climb the stairs leading into the main hub area.
Jack suppressed a grin. It seemed that Mickey hadn't really changed that much, despite having spent some time in a parallel universe, playing action hero. He made a mental note to ask him how he'd managed to get back… and why.
Tosh's mobile phone rang as she was getting of the SUV, and she nodded with a relived expression when she saw the caller's ID.
"Doctor Connelly, it's so good of you to call back. Yes, one of those cases. No, it's a species already in our database; we just need a full anatomical mapping. So, when could you come over and do the autopsy? Yes, tomorrow would be fine, barred any emergencies. We'll keep the body in the morgue for you. Nineteen hundred? Excellent. See you then."
She disconnected and touched her earpiece. "Emma? Doctor Angela Connelly is coming to do the autopsy on the Blowfish at nineteen hundred tomorrow. Can you see that she gets in without being seen? There's no need for anyone to know she's doing freelance work for Torchwood. Thanks."
"Why would you need an outsider to do the autopsy?" Jack asked, bewildered. "What happened to Owen?"
"Owen's been suspended," Tosh replied, heading for the stars in Andy's wake.
That baffled Jack even more. "What for? Has he refused to take orders from the new director?" he emphasized the word, dripping with sarcasm.
But Tosh was not taking the bait.
"Medical reasons," she answered simply. "He was unable to deal with the guilt about having killed you."
"But I forgave him!" Jack was still not getting it. "I forgave you all, haven't I?"
"You have, and I do believe that you meant it," Tosh replied. "But you also left us, only moments later, running away with a big smile on your face – we saw you on the CCTV… and Owen wasn't the only one who found it hard to deal with that, you know. At least I can understand that you wanted to return to the Doctor; I've met him, too. But the others – Gwen, Owen and especially Ianto – could only see that you left us; and left us happily."
"It turned out a lot less happy reunion than I've hoped for," Jack said grimly. Tosh nodded.
"I can imagine. If the security vids of Headquarters are any indication, he's changed a lot; and not just on the outside. I'm sorry he couldn't help you, though."
"He didn't even try," Jack laughed humourlessly. "I'm an impossible thing, did you know that?"
"Of course," Tosh deadpanned. "I've been working for you for years. One kind of notices the impossible part after a while."
They both laughed, this time more honestly, and then Jack returned to the original topic.
"So, Owen…?"
Tosh shrugged. "He… he just snapped, you know? After it became clear that you wouldn't come back any time soon, he began drinking rather heavily; even tried to shoot himself once, but his hand was trembling so much that he missed, thank God. I think all those things, with Diane, with the Weevil fight club, and with Abaddon and your leaving, proved too much for him, in the end."
"I see," Jack found this news deeply disturbing. "Where's he now?"
"He's in Providence Park, undergoing therapy," Tosh replied. "We hope he'll be able to return one day and take over at least some of his duties again, but it will take time. No-one could tell us how much time."
"I'm sorry," Jack said sincerely. "He could be a pain in the arse, and that not in a good way, but deep down he's a decent guy. I know you've got feelings for him…"
"Had," Tosh corrected. "I'm over it now… over him. He'd hurt me once too often; I decided that I won't put up with that kind of abuse any longer."
"Good for you," Jack said. "And since we're talking about old colleagues anyway, what's become of Gwen? I mean, aside from being fired and Retconned? Has she gone back to the police?"
"Oh, no, they wouldn't have her back!" Tosh tossed open the door leading to the main Hub area. "For a while she worked as a temp for Harwoods, the firm where Rhys got a job as a manager, but… well, you know how bossy she can get when she thinks she's right…"
"… which means every time she opens her mouth," Jack said with rueful fondness. He liked Gwen, he really did, but she could be a real trial sometimes.
Tosh nodded. "Well, the bosses at Harwoods didn't get mesmerized by her hypnotic eyes the way you used to," she said. "She's gotten herself fired within the month – and Rhys, too. That poor man had worked like a slave for years to get that job, and Gwen ruined it for him in barely more than three weeks. That was when they broke up."
"They did what?" Now Jack was completely baffled. "I thought nothing short of the end of the world could separate those two. Even if she cheated on him from time to time. He always forgave her for everything."
"Well, yes, Gwen found someone more of her liking and simply left him," Tosh said. "Packed his suitcases and placed them in front of the door of their shared flat, too. It wasn't pretty; losing one's dream job and long-time girlfriend and the flat he's been paying for all the time on one lousy day."
"And where's Rhys now?" Jack asked, making a mental note to look up the poor guy. After all, he was responsible for this whole mess… to a certain extent. Had he not hired Gwen in the first place, perhaps none of this would have happened.
"He's here," Tosh answered, stepping aside, so that Jack could enter, too.
Only from this angle did he saw the small office that had been established next to Ianto's kitchenette. The door of the little room stood ajar, revealing a desk within; a desk with a computer and a phone on it. Behind the desk sat Rhys Williams, talking to someone on the phone about the delivery of foodstuffs to the tourist office on the following day.
~TBC~
