Jack sat in his office, watching the team work below him. Toshiko and Gwen were trying to work out something to do with the rift; Owen and Ianto were out checking up on it. And Rachel sat at Owen's desk, examining an alien artefact. It had been over a month now since she had come through the rift. He watched her for a while, thinking. When the hell had she become a proper member of the team? He honestly couldn't remember how they had got some things done without her. Even Owen was (grudgingly) impressed by the extent of her knowledge of most things alien. And there were some field missions some of them would never have come back from if she weren't so good at kicking ass. Jack sighed. Still the rest of the team didn't trust her. They hadn't spoken to her properly since he'd instated her (unofficially of course. Any attempt to properly hire her would have involved some very awkward questions, and Jack had no desire to get bogged down with more paperwork). Except for Ianto. It had taken him a while, but he had forgiven her for holding him at gunpoint. Now they were almost inseparable. The extent of the young man's ability to forgive amazed Jack sometimes. He was pleased, obviously, for he felt that if Ianto weren't quite so forgiving, they would not be doing … whatever it was they were doing. What were they doing? It had started off as just a part time shag, a way of making them both feel better. But now… he thought about the way his heart beat just that little bit faster when he was around Ianto, the way his stomach flipped slightly when they touched, even by accident. Jack didn't like it. He didn't want to feel this way about anyone, not when he would have to leave them behind….

His train of thought was interrupted by a knock on the door.

"Jack?" it was Rachel "Jack. I thought I recognised this, and I was right."

"So, what is it then? Weapon?" he asked, grinning, "Honestly how did we ever manage without you?"

She smiled. "Flattery will get you everywhere. Anyway, it's nothing major. Sort of like a sleep grenade. This baby gets activated and BOOM! Mass unconsciousness for about 18 hours. A good way of dealing with a lot of enemies, without killing them."

"And that's nothing major?! Sounds great, get Ianto to stick it in the vault."

As she turned to leave, the phone rang. "Hang on a minute would you, Rach?" he said, and picked it up. "Hello? … yes sir … yes, I understand … no, I think we have someone perfect for that. … Um…new girl. Trial period. No … I understand that, but … yes. Yes of course. Goodbye." He hung up, and sat there looking at the phone.

"Err – Jack? You ok?"

He looked up at Rachel. "… Yes. Sorry. Right! Briefing needed!" he leant out the door "Gwen! Get Owen and Ianto back here, if they haven't found anything by now, I very much doubt they're going to! Briefing in ten!"

"What the hell was that about?" wondered Toshiko.

"No idea babe" Gwen replied, turning on her headset to get hold of the boys, "but whatever it was, I doubt we're going to like it."


"I just had a very interesting call from UNIT." Jack began as soon as they were all seated. "A school about 25 miles from here. The pupils are acting … strangely."

"How strange? Like that school in London with the mega-geniuses?" Owen queried.

"No. nothing like that. They're all… um … ok this is going to sound silly, but they're all taking up construction classes. Metalwork, woodwork, everything like that." There was a puzzled silence.

Ianto looked up. "And why is that our problem? What, are they planning to take over the world with candlestick holders and badly made spice-racks?"

Owen snorted, and Jack shot him a Look. "We don't know what they're doing." He admitted "but UNIT want us to check it out"

"So, what, one of us has to pose as a teacher?" Gwen sounded worried. "Bags it's not me, I was rubbish at school."

"No, I was thinking more along the lines of … a pupil." He looked at Rachel.

"No. No way." Gwen was staring at him. "Jack, she's just a child."

"exactly." He said "they won't suspect her. A new teacher turning up and they may be suspicious. A student can make friends, find out stuff."

"It's too dangerous Jack!"

"Rachel can handle it!"

"I have handled worse." the girl admitted. Gwen glared at her.

"That's not the point; she's not even official Torchwood! We can't go putting her into an unknown situation like that!"

Jack sighed. God she annoyed him sometimes. "Gwen, she is willing to do this. And she can handle herself well. You should know, she saved your butt last time we went out! She can do this."

Gwen glared. She did not like to be reminded that the little new girl could handle things better than she could. "Fine. But if this doesn't work out…"

"It will" he said, soothingly. "I promise. Now, Rachel, we need to come up with an identity for you…"


A week later Jack and Rachel were driving towards the school in Gwen's car. They would have taken the SUV, but Rachel pointed out that the word 'Torchwood' written on the side might have given away the game slightly. For a secret organisation, they advertised a lot.

"So, tell me your life story." He commanded, "Without looking"

"Ok." She thought. "I am Rachel Harper, 16 years old. I live in Cardiff with my dad Captain James Harper aka you, His wife Gwen Harper, my brother Owen, and his girlfriend Tosh." She paused. "Why isn't Ianto part of my little make-believe family?"

"I couldn't think of a believable role for him to play" Jack told her "somehow I didn't think that Daddy's other shag would go down too well."

"Really?!"

He grinned. "Plus, if they are going to try and keep an eye on us, he can sneak around without suspicion."

"You think they might watch you? How is that going to work, isn't Gwen going to want to go home to Rhys?"

"We've sorted it. I didn't tell him the whole story, didn't think he'd be too happy with his wife living with someone as handsome as me. But anyway, we're all going to stay at Toshiko's flat."

"Cool." Rachel stared at the road ahead.

"Are you sure you're going to be ok?" Jack asked, watching her out of the corner of his eye.

"I'll be fine. Like I said, I've been in worse situations. Why anyway? What happened to 'she can do this'?"

"Because despite what I said to Gwen, the fact remains that you are only 19. And, like it or not, I do feel responsible for you."

"I don't need you to Jack" she was silent for a few seconds, "but thank you"

"You're welcome."

The car pulled into the long driveway and they saw the school for the first time.

"God, this place looks gloomy" Rachel commented "just for once; couldn't the bad guys carry out their plans in, like, a 5 star resort?"

Neither of them noticed the figure in the bushes. It watched them as they parked and went into the school, before slowly turning round and melting back into the shadows. These two could be trouble. And that could not be allowed.

To Be Continued...

Any comments/reviews greatly appreciated :)