Part 6) Awkward
I blinked and squinted at my reflection I'm not used to contacts, never needed them with 20/20 vision. After I got past the stage of agony putting them in, I looked at Jack in the washroom mirror. He, courteous as always, was standing behind me with a big stupid grin on his face clearly amused at my discomfort. At least he was done laughing. He was leaning against the adjacent wall with a laptop balanced in his hand. He typed something and I watched in amazement as the words appeared in front of my eyes. Then I read them.
"Do you ever stop?"
"I take that to mean the contacts are working?" he asked.
"Yes they are working and I'll have you know that I find your flirting right now very inappropriate."
"Who said I was flirting? What a dirty mind you have there," he snickered. I stepped away from the sink and put the container for the contacts into my clutch. We were standing inside a small washroom away from wandering eyes and suspicious politicians. Call me paranoid but I checked the stalls one more time before continuing the conversation.
"Whatever, so I just wear these contacts and then you can see and hear everything that I do?"
"That is the general idea. Now if my theory is correct then there is a very real chance that Andy Davidson is already dead and these aliens will not hesitate to kill again. I will be monitoring the situation from a distance if you feel that you are in danger then I want you to blink three times and I will come and find you. Understand?"
"What exactly do you think is happening here?" I asked.
"Decades ago the mayor of Cardiff had been replaced by an alien called a Raxacoricofallapatorian from a criminal family called the Slitheen. She wanted to blow up Cardiff with a nuclear plant and use the energy generated from the rift to travel across the universe. The Slitheen hide by killing a human and then squeezing inside the skin. They are large creatures so they typically target… larger people."
"And you think that these Slitheen might be inside Owena and Lionel?"
"It is a possibility. However, this would be the first time I've heard of them using the ood or going out of the way to control the police department."
"Maybe they know you're here and want to make sure they can combat Torchwood."
"That is a very real possibility and could explain the Ood. The Slitheen hardly seem like they'd be opposed to the use of slaves to gain intelligence." He was looking at me. The expression on his face was telling. I looked down at my feet suddenly very uncomfortable. There it was the topic I'd been desperately avoiding. The image of the dead Ood came forward in my mind, the sound of its shrieking and the fear in its eyes. I folded my arms across my chest I took a deep breath.
"I'm sorry, Anwen."
"Why are you sorry?"
"What I said yesterday about the Ood. We have no way of knowing when the kill order went out. The chances are as soon as its masters realized Torchwood was chasing it they cut the life support. Everyone makes mistakes and it wasn't fair of me to blame you for the Ood. When this is over maybe I'll tell you about my first day on the job or Gwen's. There really have been much worse than this," he offered smiling hopefully. It was a little thing an apology but I felt a smile pulling at the corners of my mouth like a load was being lifted off my shoulders. He could very well be saying this just to make me feel better but did it matter if that's exactly what it did?
"I'll hold you to that," I said heading for the bathroom door. I stopped and turned to face him. "Can I ask you a question?"
"I think you just did but I'll let you ask one more."
"Why didn't you let me drink the amnesia drug?"
"I thought I told you that already."
"You said you wouldn't offer me a job at Torchwood out of respect for my parents or what have you. That it had been a long twenty years. I sort of thought you were saying you'd want to be friends or something."
"I do," he said.
"Well then twenty years has made you shabby because when I want someone to like me, to be my friend, I invite them over for tea, go for a jog with them, talk to them and you know spend time together. So if I'm insane and there are no aliens and Andy really did just take off and retire how about we go get a drink?"
"That sounds like a great idea. I'm sure you've probably got a few good stories up your sleeve as a cop and all that," he said opening the door for me.
"Well no lasers and evil aliens but I was in a car chase once, first day on the job just barely out of training and…" I stepped out the door and stopped talking. Carwyn was there and he stopped short when he saw Jack and me coming out of the washroom.
"Sterlington and Mayor Clifford are ready to see us if you're not… busy," he said looking at Jack.
"Nope, we're finished here. It was lovely meeting you Officer Williams. If you'll excuse me there is an emergency that needs my attention at the bar," he said shaking my hand and walking away.
"Car…"
"It's none of my business. So do you still care about Andy's house being broken into or would you like to go back to the party and find the next one?" he covered his mouth and my jaw dropped.
"I can't believe you just said that to me."
"Anwen, I'm so sorry I didn't…"
"Shut up. Let's get this over with," I snapped gesturing for him to lead the way. We crossed the crowded dance floor in silence I kept my eyes on Carwyn's back and tried to forget my outrage. I can always talk with him later. For now I need to focus.
"Ready?" appeared across the contacts. I suppose Jack missed what just happened while finding some place to get set up.
"Ready as I'll ever be," I muttered as I spied Owena who this time looked at me smiled and waved as if we were old acquaintances.
"We can talk in my office," she said striding down a nearly empty corridor. Carwyn and I followed and Lionel fell into step behind me.
"Don't let either of them out of your sight."
"Thank you for doing this," I turned to say to Lionel. I smiled politely and slowed so I was walking beside him instead of in front of him.
"The pleasure is all mine," he said grinning so his chins wrinkled and bunched together.