A special shout-out and thanks to specialfrancine for hers/his comments throughout this story. A virtual cookie and hug for you!


Ianto Jones was, as usual, the first to come in. He greeted his captain good morning, before going to where the coffeemachine was, preparing some of his golden liquid to himself and his co-workers. He was surprised to see the girl he'd found yesterday by the machine.

"Good morning," he said, smirking a little at her jump.

"Morning," she muttered, as if she wasn't used to the common greeting rituals.

"Would you care for some coffee, miss Lydia?" She hesitated, but nodded. He quickly made her a cup of latte, offering it to the girl. She took it, and sipped. At once she put it down, sticking her tongue out.

"Hot," she said, almost apolegetic. Ianto chuckled, making Lydia, to his joy, smile a small but genuin smile.


When Jack answered 'come in' to whoever (Ianto, he knew) knocked on his door, he didn't expect both Lydia and Ianto. He smiled at them, and raised an eyebrow at the cup Lydia was holding in her hand.

"It's coffee," she explained. "Mr. Ianto made me a cup."

"It's good, isn't it?" he asked. She nodded and smiled. "I hope whatever's in your hands is coffee as well, Ianto, 'cause I really need it."

"I thought as much, sir. Here you go."

"Thank you, Yan," the captain said, accepting the cup. They both turned to leave, but halted when the captain spoke again. "Could you stay for a minute, Ianto? I need to speak with you."

"Well of course, sir. But the others will be coming soon, and they too need their coffee."

"Lydia can give it to them. Is that okay, Lydia?" She nodded, turned and walked out. The two remaining wtached her collecting the cups Ianto had prepared on a tray, before the archivist turned to his captain.

"Yes, sir?"

Jack shook his head, as if collecting himself, before he spoke. "The girl is not well, Yan. She... she was a prostitute. Against her own will. She's broken." Ianto was silent for a while, processing the information.

"Well... We can't keep her here, at Torchwood. It's too dangerous for a girl at her age. We should hand her to people who deals with this sort of stuff. She probably has a family?"

He nodded, "A mother and a sister. And you're right, we're Torchwood. We deal with aliens, not broken children. But I get the feeling there's something more to her."

Ianto, who had sat down by this time, raised his eyebrows. "How so, sir?"

"Have you noticed how she keeps tilting her head to the left, as if she's listening to something? I think she's listening to something inside her head."

"You do realize, sir, that you're insinating the girl's crazy, right?"

His boss chuckled. "I meant something real. An alien, most likely."


When Owen Harper, Toshiko Sato and Gwen Cooper arrived to work that day, they did not expect to be handed coffee. No, scratch that. They did expect to be handed coffee, just not by the girl who'd come in yesterday. A bit baffled, they accepted the cups that was offered them at the entrance.

"Shouldn't you be resting?" Gwen asked, once she had sat down by her desk. Lydia shook her head. "No, I'm to awake. Besides, I'm wondering where I am, and it's no use sleeping if I want that answered."

"Jack didn't tell you?" said Tosh. Again the girl shook her head. "Well, love," their doctor said, "welcome to Torchwood."


Yeah, I know, lame ending, but I'm uninspired and needed to end the chapter some how. Hoping to get in some action next chapter! Feel free to give ideas.

Reviews: What authors feed from. Without it, they're dead and easy prey to real life outside fanfiction.