Chapter 7
Jack had introduced the coffee lady as 'Tosh', settled Evie on the couch behind her desk and then disappeared. Evie was not happy about this. She'd brought him a doughnut and everything. And now she was starting to get bored. She scribbled half-heartedly at the colouring book in her lap and tried to think of something fun she could do. Then an idea hit her. The coffee lady had been on the computer for ages, maybe she'd let Evie have a turn. "Do you have Haunted House?" she asked hopefully.
Tosh turned to look at the little girl on the couch. She'd almost forgotten she was there. "What's Haunted House?" she asked.
"It's a story with ghosts in. And you use the mouse and click stuff and the trees turn into rockets."
"No. Sorry. No Haunted House."
"Have you got the birthday one? If you click the cake the candles go on."
"No. I haven't got any computer stories."
"Can I write my name with the buttons? Mummy lets me write my name with the buttons." This was nowhere near as fun as a computer story but since the lady didn't seem to have any it would do.
"Not now sweetheart. I'm working." Said Tosh. At least she had been until Jack had put her on babysitting duty.
Evie sighed in a theatrical manner and pulled her navy bag up onto the couch with her. Maybe she'd find something to do in there. She unzipped it and looked inside. CD, spare clothes, tourist information leaflets. Ah, leaflets. Those were promising. Now if only she could find some scissors. She would to have to ask she supposed. Now a bit happier Evie dropped off the couch and made her way over to the computer station. She prodded the coffee lady on the shoulder.
Tosh didn't even turn around. "Yes?" she asked.
"I need scissors." Evie stated.
"What for?"
"To cut leaflets."
"Well I don't have any scissors. I'm sorry." Evie's face dropped and Tosh felt quite sorry for her. The little girl was obviously bored out of her mind. So Tosh searched her desk for something to keep her occupied. She spotted her rubiks cube on the edge of the table; beside it was a pack of highlighters. She picked them both up. "I do have these," she said passing them to Evie "are they any good?"
Evie looked at the items she'd been handed. They were not scissors but they were better than nothing and she had been brought up to be polite. "Thank you very much." She said smiling sweetly.
Tosh smiled back. It was nice to see good manners in someone so young. "You're welcome." She replied watching the girl wander back to the couch. Hopefully those would keep her busy. Especially since she was actually getting somewhere with the infuriating remote control looking thing on her desk.
Evie coloured in an evil looking rabbit with a yellow highlighter then spent a few minutes fiddling with the rubiks cube before the boredom returned. She spotted the leaflets she'd pulled out her bag and remembered the need for scissors. Coffee lady had said she had none and Evie believed her. She was pretty and liked typing like mummy did. But Jack might have some, or Uncle Yan maybe. So with this thought in mind she slid off the couch again and went to look for them.
First she padded over to Jack's office but as she peered through the crack in the doorframe she realised he was on the phone again. Deciding he was probably busy Evie about-turned and headed back towards the rolling door to look for her uncle. As she did she heard someone moving around to her left. Had Uncle Yan gone that way? She didn't think so. But she could go and have a look anyway couldn't she? Maybe whoever was down there would have some scissors she could use.
Owen was humming along to his i-Pod while examining a weevil's liver, or what passed for one anyway as far as he could tell. This might not sound very interesting or exciting but he was rather enjoying himself. It had been quiet over the last few days and it was nice just to be able to work to his own schedule. The volume was on the loud side and the current track was a little guitar heavy so Owen didn't hear the sound of feet on the autopsy bay stairs. When he turned to look for the notes he'd left on the side though he nearly jumped out of his skin. There was a small person looking down at him over the railing. She, (he was guessing she from the pale pink polo-shirt) had definitely not been there before. 'Jesus...' he muttered and he hurriedly removed the earphones from his ears. He took a hesitant step forward.
The little person smiled at him. "Hiya." She said. "Do you have scissors?"
"Maybe." Owen replied looking her over. She didn't appear to be much of a threat and she certainly looked human. Then there was the fact she was speaking English with a Welsh accent, a local Welsh accent so that was in her favour. Unless it was just a very good disguise. But if she was a local how had she gotten into the hub unnoticed? She looked about two, maybe three years old at the most. And they'd just upgraded all the security systems. It didn't make sense. "Who let you in here?" he asked.
"Uncle Yan." The small person answered. "He let me press the button in the lift."
"Uncle Yan?" Owen echoed, confused. Then it dawned on him that Yan might be an abbreviation. "You mean Ianto? You're related to Ianto? Tall, dark-haired, tidily dressed Ianto?"
The little girl nodded. "Uh huh. Uncle Yan." She said.
Now that Owen looked at her properly she did look a bit like Ianto, only in miniature. Poor kid he thought. But at least she wasn't an alien threat. "So Ianto brought you into work with him?" he asked and tried to think of a reason Ianto would do such a thing. He was usually so sensible. Ridiculously sensible in fact.
"Yes." The little girl replied. Then she spotted a pair of surgical scissors on a tray. "Can I have those?" she asked.
Owen looked at the scissors then back at the little girl. He could think of a number of reasons why giving her a pair of sharp scissors to play with might be a bad idea. First one being Ianto would bollock him if he found out. "What do you need them for?" he asked, trying to think of a nice way to say no.
"For cutting." She answered.
"Well that's what they're usually used for. Anything in particular you wanted to cut?"
"Leaflets."
"And what are you going to do with them once you've cut them up?"
"Stick them to stuff."
Owen pursed his lips. "Sorry love." He said, impressed by his own genius. "I don't think we've got any glue."
"Oh." She seemed quite disappointed. Then she noticed what Owen had on the table. It looked a bit like plasticine but shinier and a yucky grey colour. It probably wasn't plasticine then Evie decided, plasticine was good colours like blue or red. And anyway big people didn't play with it unless they were teachers and that man didn't look like a teacher. So if it wasn't plasticine what was it? There was only one way to find out. "What's that?" she asked, pointing at it.
"That is what passes for liver in a weevil." Owen answered without thinking. Then his brain kicked into action and he realised mentioning weevils to someone who wasn't a member of Torchwood was probably a mistake, even if she was only three years old.
"What's a liver?" Evie asked.
Owen had been expecting 'What's a weevil?' and had opened his mouth to say 'Nothing. Never mind.' It snapped shut again.
"What's a liver?" Evie asked again and she descended the last three stairs to stand in front of Owen. She looked up at him expectantly.
"The liver is the largest organ in the human body. It has a number of functions. These include detoxification, glycogen storage…"
"What's glysgin?" Evie asked.
Owen took another look at the little girl in front of him, registered what age she was again and came to the conclusion that he may have to simplify a bit. "Well…" he said as he sat down on the step beside her "... you know why you eat food don't you?"
Evie nodded. "Food is for energy and energy is for playing outside."
"That's right. Good. Now when you eat food where does it go?"
"In your mouth then in your tummy."
"Good girl." Owen said pleased with how this was going. "Do you know what happens once it's in your stomach?"
Evie shook her head. "What happens?"
"The stomach produces gastric acid that..."
"Gasric acid." Evie repeated slowly, cutting Owen short. Then her brow furrowed in confusion. "Acid is bad. It burns things." At least that's what Ben from upstairs had told her and he should know; he went to the big big school at the end of the road.
Owen smiled slightly. He was starting to like Ianto's niece, she may be small but she was smart. "Some acid burns things. It's corrosive. But gastric acid just breaks food down so you can digest it better. It doesn't hurt you. Not usually anyway."
"Oh, ok."
"After the food is broken down it starts its journey through your intestines. Do you know where your intestines are?" he asked. He was starting to get into this teaching malarkey. It beat dissecting alien organs anyway, there was less mess for a start.
Tosh had got further with the alien device on her desk in the previous ten minutes than she had done in the last two days. Two or three things had clicked into place in her head that made the whole thing seem a lot simpler. She was quite pleased with herself. She was also rather pleased with Evie. The little girl had been so quiet and well-behaved; the rubiks cube had obviously been a hit. Deciding a break was in order Tosh turned to ask Evie if she would like something to eat. The couch was empty.
Tosh gave the room a quick scan but could see nothing resembling a small child. She'd lost her. She'd lost Ianto's niece. She couldn't believe it. How could she have been so careless? How was she going to explain this to him? He was seriously going to kill her. And Jack as well, probably more than once.
Tosh took a deep breath and managed to calm herself enough to start thinking rationally. Evie had been missing for ten minutes at the most. Probably not even that. So she couldn't have gone far. Now where would she have gone? Back to Jack's office? She seemed to like him. Tosh stood up and went to look. She realised before she'd gone ten steps that this wasn't the case, Jack's door was ajar and she could see the seat opposite his desk was empty. Now where else could she have disappeared to? The toilet maybe? Had Jack or Ianto told her where they were? Tosh didn't know. But it was worth a try. If she didn't find Evie before Ianto got back she was going to be in serious trouble.
(There we go. Finally. And I have no excuse for this taking so long other than the fact that for some reason I found it a nightmare to write. I knew exactly where I was going with it but I couldn't get the words quite right. I'm still not thrilled with it. Oh and thank you again to everyone who's been reveiwing. Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you.)
