A/N: Again, as I can't say it enough, a massive thank you to all who are reading this

Chapter 4- Don't Judge a Book

Tad had excelled himself by booking one of the nicest hotels in the city for the five UNIT soldiers. The plan was that they would stay in the hotel or the hub during the day and starting the next day we'd pull together and search for the plasmavores at night. When I visited the group in their hotel suite they were thrilled.

"This is fantastic," beamed one guy. He was called David Ross and despite his scary green eyes, he was pretty cool.

Another guy called Callum agreed, "It's like a holiday. Back at the base we've always got Captain Marks on our case. Here there's nobody yelling at us. And free room service"

The two girls Kathy and Jane nodded enthusiastically. Kathy had long blonde hair that she tying into a tight bun as she spoke, "And the work seems pretty easy"

I was sitting on the edge of the sofa trying not to look as awkward as I felt as the others laughed and joked with each other. Noah was next to me reading a book. He occasionally glanced up at me and to my surprise would hold my gaze.

It was a different dynamic to the one I was used to at the Hub. At the Hub we were relaxed, but there was always an underlying tension. Here, however, it felt more like a bunch of teenagers hanging out. Except they were all in identical white t-shirts with the UNIT insignia and combats.

Dad had been right about their ages. Noah was the oldest, and he was still only twenty, although I found this funny as I was still only eighteen myself.

"How long have you all been in UNIT?" I asked.

Callum stopped trying to make the games-console work and turned to face me, "Erm… five months I think"

From the looks I got I realised that my face hadn't hidden my shock well.

"What?" asked David.

"My Dad's not going to like that"

Noah put down his book, "Why not?"

"Because no offence meant but he'll think you're not experienced enough and that the Colonel has deliberately sent you guys to, erm… hold us up"

Noah shrugged his shoulders, "Wouldn't surprise me if that's the Colonel's plan"

Jane nodded, "It's a well-known fact that he hates you Torchwood guys"

"But we'll show him. We wont hold you up," said Noah and he grinned at me, "Promise"

TWTWTWTWTWTW

I was trying to run a translator programme on a broadsword we had found when Noah sneaked up behind me.

"Dayton"

I jumped, "Jesus Noah! What are you doing here?"

He smiled at me, "I was wondering if you'd get me a coffee. I've heard your skills are legendary"

I frowned, "Who from?"

"Your Tad"

"Huh, well I guess that's the ultimate seal of approval. I'll bring one over to you"

His face fell slightly, "Oh. I was just also kind of wondering if I could stay in here. I mean the rest of the soldiers are still in the hotel, and I'm going to go crazy if I have to spend every minute with them," he leaned forward to whisper and I could feel the heat radiating from his body, "And quite frankly its freezing outside"

"So much for the big brave soldier routine," I laughed.

He covered his mouth in mock horror, "Oh damn, you've found me out! I'm just a big wimp in reality!"

He smiled at me again and his eyes seemed to sparkle.

"Of course you can stay in. You can help me with this programme"

He suddenly looked a bit startled, like a rabbit in the headlights, "But I, uh… erm… I don't know anything about erm… whatever this is"

"I'll teach you then," I passed him my pda with a screen of symbols and then the broadsword, "Just try to match the symbols. Then I can run it through the translator"

He nodded and I went to get him his coffee.

I bumped into Tanwen in the kitchen. She was glaring in Noah's direction.

"What's he doing in here?"

"He's bored so I'm getting him a coffee. And then he's going to help me with the translation"

"Dad's gonna kill you. You know he doesn't trust him"

"I don't see why not. He hasn't spent more than thirty seconds in the same room as him. And its not like Noah would do anything"

"But he's UNIT. You know what Dad's like about them."

"I get that he hates UNIT, and I know none of us like them in particular. But Noah's different"

"How do you know?"

"Because I've actually spent a bit of time with him in the hotel. And he's the one that told us about UNIT. We owe the plasmavore lead to him"

"Doesn't mean I have to trust him"

"Oh shut up. I trust him"

"You barely know him," she looked at me and I felt myself blush. "You better know what you're doing," she said quietly.

I sighed as she walked out of the kitchen. Bloody Torchwood. Bloody UNIT.

It probably wouldn't matter if Noah was the nicest, most generous person in the world. In Torchwood's eyes, and therefore the eyes of my family, he would always be a UNIT soldier. And UNIT soldiers shouldn't be trusted.

"How you getting on?" I asked him as I gave him his coffee.

He grinned proudly, "I've matched up all this side"

"Brilliant, thanks," I couldn't help stare into his deep brown eyes for just a fraction of a second too long and like he had in the hotel he held my gaze.

I quickly tried to refocus on the task of translating. As I furiously typed codes and patterns to translate the sword the already limited conversation stilted.

"Erm, so when you're not being a soldier, what do you do?" I asked hesitantly.

"Um, I watch TV and DVDs, hang out at the pub erm…"

"Is that it?" I laughed.

"Dayton, I'm a twenty-year-old soldier for a 'secret' government organisation. What else would I be doing?"

"Good point. We hardly get to have a life around here. What's your favourite film then?"

"Star Wars"

"Oooh, a fan of the classics. Original or the new ones"

He grinned, "The originals. My dad was a fan and got me into them when I was a kid. I always wanted a light-sabre when I was growing up"

I smiled, "Me too. I would have been a brilliant Jedi, I could have done the ninja type stuff, and the mystical wisdom kind of thing"

"Yeah, shame there's no such thing as Jedis"

"There is though"

"What?"

"Yeah, well I think there is anyway. I mean there has to be a race like that somewhere in the Universe, I'm just hoping Obi-Wan comes through the rift some day. Hey, we could go watch it if you want. I mean this programme just needs to run now, and it doesn't need me"

"Can we?"

I nodded and pulled him to the Den. I grabbed the key from the shelf next to the door and he looked curiously at the lock.

"It's from when we were little. Dad was never… the most responsible parent and after he and Tad had to go Weevil hunting one day and Dad decided the best place to put Tanwen to keep her safe by herself was in an empty cell with a box of pizzas to keep her going Tad made him build the Den so we'd be safe if they had to leave"

Noah laughed and his eyes seemed to sparkle slightly in the light.

"It's really just for relaxing in now, but the lock gives a bit of privacy, and there's not much of that in this place"

I opened the door to my little haven and Noah gaped at our collection of DVDs.

"Star Wars will be on the shelf second from the bottom," I told him.

"How do you know?" he asked as he pulled out the correct DVD.

"Their alphabetical. Tad's borderline OCD. Just don't mix them up. Tad will kill you then Dad will resurrect you and kill you again because Tad will make decaff for a week"

He laughed again, "And lets face it I don't need any black marks on an already tarnished record"

"You haven't got a tarnished record"

His smile vanished, "Yes I do, they don't like me"

"They do like you"

"Oh come on Dayton. The first thing your Dad said to me was, 'Don't touch a thing. I don't want anything to get back to the Colonel.' He doesn't trust me"

I moved closer to him and he put the DVD down, "That's just them being idiots. They have no reason not to like you. I like you"

He made the distance between us even smaller, "Its nice to have a fan"

And suddenly I felt his soft lips touch mine. He pulled back after a second and watched me carefully.

"What was that?" I asked.

Noah flushed bright red to match his beret, "I just erm… I thought that erm… I mean if-"

I cut him off by pressing my lips to his own. After a few seconds I pulled away from him.

"Huh," he said quietly as he rested his hands on my waist, "You're Dad's really going to kill me now"

A/N: I promise that its going to get much more Torchwoody in the next chapter.