After the departure of Emma and Diane, things returned to a sense of normalcy at Torchwood. Dany began classes at the university, usually returning to the Hub with some amusing anecdote about how simple everything was, except calculus. In all of her travels in time and space, she had never liked or understood calculus. For some reason, everyone found it very amusing. The daughter of a Time Lord, disarmed by calculus.
"Okay gang," Jack said one evening. "We've got a loose Weevil. You guys know the drill. Gwen, Owen, Tosh and I will go after it and bring it in. Danya, Ianto, you guys stay and watch the monitors. Everyone keep your comms open."
Dany and Ianto nodded. This had become usual for them. They would watch the monitors, but Ianto would make tea and they would chill out together. The well-dressed Welshman was quickly becoming one of Dany's close friends. AS soon as the others left, Dany took a seat in one of the desk chairs and propped her Converse-clad feet on the desk.
"Your tea, milady," Ianto said, handing her a mug and pulling over one of the other chairs.
"Thanks, Ianto," she said, giving him a smile.
"So, how's school going?" he asked, genuinely interested.
"Not too badly," she admitted. "I can't stand my calculus professor though. I swear, he's worse than some of the aliens I've dealt with, and that's truly saying something!"
Ianto laughed. "Well, other than calculus, how are the rest of your classes?"
"Delightful, I mean I have to resist the urge to correct some of the professors. It's an exercise in self-control, definitely." More than you realize⦠Dany thought. She had a bit of a temper problem, it took a lot to set her off, but with Owen acting like a jerk, she had been on edge a lot more than usual.
"Dany? Are you okay?" Ianto asked, concerned by her sudden silence.
She snapped out of it. "I'm fine," she said with a smile, taking a drink of her tea. "Jack, the weevil's inside the parking garage," she said into her earpiece. "Not too far from you now."
"Thanks, Dany," the voice replied.
"Just know," Ianto said, putting his hand on top of hers. "You can talk to me about anything."
The two of them stood up.
"Thanks, Ianto. That means a lot." She gave the taller man a hug, her head fitting right under his chin. He hugged her back.
"Friends look after each other," he said, looking into her eyes. She nodded in agreement. Dany got back on her comm, Jack was in the process of using some very colorful language.
"What's going on, guys? Did you catch the Weevil?"
"Someone took it," Jack said angrily.
"What?!" Dany exclaimed. "You're kidding me? What would someone want with a Weevil?"
"No idea," Jack said. "But we're going to find out. We're headed back to the Hub."
"Alrighty, see you in a bit."
Ianto looked at her, worried. Dany ran her fingers through her hair. It was going to be a very long night.
Gwen, Jack and Tosh returned to the Hub.
"Where's Owen?" Dany asked. Gwen just flapped her hand angrily and stormed off to do something. "They should have never gotten involved together," she said to no one in particular.
Owen returned later, having walked from the parking garage back to the Hub. Feeling the tension in the air, Dany refilled her teacup and headed down to her room to do her homework.
She was perched on the top of her bed, her back propped up by a few pillows against the wall and one leg hanging off the lofted bed when Jack knocked on her doorframe.
"Come in," she said, leaning over to see who it was. "Hello Jack."
"How's it going, Dany?" he asked.
"Pretty good, just wrapping up this homework. What's up?"
"Well," he said, leaning against one of her bedposts. "I was thinking about letting you come out in the field. We need all hands on deck for this Weevil situation."
"Really?" Dany couldn't believe her ears.
"Really," Jack said.
Dany sprung down off the bed and hugged him. He seemed shocked at first, but then returned her hug.
"Don't get too excited," he said, looking at her from an arms-length. "I said I was thinking about it, not that I actually was going to put you right out in the field."
Dany looked at him incredulously. "Really, Jack? Get a girl's hopes up." She climbed back up to the top of her bed and started typing a few things into her laptop.
"Aww, c'mon Dany, don't be this way," he said.
"Which way?" she asked innocently, observing him over the top of her laptop screen. "I have no idea what on Earth you are talking about." She shot him a wink and a mischievous grin. Jack just shook his head and headed back to the door.
"You are trouble, Danya Song, with a capital T."
She flashed him her best "who, me?" smile and he left. She returned to her computer screen, typing away rapidly. She kept that up for another hour or so before calling it a night, cuddling under her duvet and falling into an easy slumber.
Dany woke up the next morning, took a shower, ran a flat iron through her chocolate-colored hair and dressed in black skinny jeans, black leather heeled boots and a silver top. She slid her gun into the holster at the small of her back and her sonic screwdriver into the top of her boot. She grabbed her laptop on her way out her door.
"Morning everyone!" she said, coming up into the main part of the Hub.
"Morning yourself," Owen said, obviously in another of his perpetual post-Diane bad moods.
"Good morning Dany," Ianto said, handing her a steaming teacup.
"You are a saint, Ianto Jones," she said, giving him a one-armed hug before perching on the couch, setting the cup on the armrest and opening the laptop. She didn't have any classes today, so she got to hang around the Hub all day.
"Listen up, everyone!" Jack called, coming down the stairs from his office. "I have an idea of how we can catch those guys who stole our Weevil."
"Do tell," Dany said, looking up from her screen.
"We put a tracker in Janet's jumpsuit and set bait."
Dany looked at him. She could never understand why he named the Weevils, and to be perfectly honest, she wasn't wild about the idea. Obviously anyone who was kidnapping aliens weren't doing it to be nice.
"And Dany," Jack said, turning his attention to the young woman. "I want you to stay out of this one. It's going to be too dangerous."
"Whatever you say, boss." She said, turning her attention back to the rift monitoring program she was rewriting. She understood where Jack was coming from, especially in this case. It wouldn't be good if these alien abductors got their greedy little hands on a Time Lord.
Dany and Ianto were on monitor watch again, leading the team based on the signal being transmitted by the tracking device. Which, as it turned out, the abductors had stuck to a fence to lead the team off their trail.
"Damn it!" Dany exclaimed, pounding her fist against the desk. "We were so close!" She buried her hands in her hair and thought for a minute. "Wait, I have an idea!" Dany shut her eyes, letting the information float around her. "We need to get someone on the inside. Investigate from within."
"Great idea," Jack said, coming in the door. "But who are we going to send in?"
"I'll go," Owen offered.
"Good." Jack said. "Tosh, get a back story concocted."
Dany returned to her room, perching once more on her bed and working fervently on her laptop. She wanted to surprise Tosh and the others with the new rift program soon.
She lost track of the time she spent on the program until her earpiece started beeping at her. She touched it to activate it.
"Danya! Where the hell have you been?" Jack asked.
"Downstairs in my room," she replied. "Why?"
"We found out what's happening to the Weevils. They started a kind of fight club. We're on our way there now. I have a feeling Owen is going to do something stupid. I'll let you know."
"Much appreciated." She said, rolling her now-stiff shoulders back. She was nearly done with the program. She sat there for a bit, admiring her handiwork, until an ashen-faced Ianto rushed down the stairs.
"Dany! C'mon!" He said. "Owen's in the hospital!"
Dany vaulted off her bed and grabbed a jacket as she followed Ianto out the door and into his silver car.
"What happened?" she asked.
"He got into a cage with a Weevil."
"You're kidding me."
Ianto shook his head.
They got there and rushed into the room where the rest of the team was gathered around the hospital bed.
"I didn't want you to save me," Owen said angrily.
Dany bit back what she was dying to say, and then thought about it. Would she ever love someone so much that she couldn't live without them? Sure, she loved her Mum and Dad, but that was different. Owen was willing to be mauled by a Weevil because Diane left. She couldn't imagine something like that.
A/N: Hello again! Look at this, two chapters in one day! Pending how much writing time I have tomorrow, there may be another new chapter this weekend as well. We shall see.
