Chapter 10

Ianto put a fresh cup of tea in front of John. "Find anything useful?" he asked.

"I don't know," John answered, frowning at the screen. "It says here that she managed to catch the Chukh who made all those trains disappear, a few weeks ago... Couldn't it have something to do with this disappearance?"

"They didn't exactly make them disappear, more like snatched them right off the tracks, deposited the passengers and crew in a nearby cornfield and flew off with them in tow." Ianto chuckled at the memory. "Quite spectacular but not exactly a mystery."

John laughed. "Yes, alright, that doesn't sound like they would suddenly use a subtle way to kidnap someone."

Eliza came to sit next to them. "I've dissected him, it was really interesting. Now when does Pretty Brain come back?"

She had hardly finished her sentence when Jack's laughter was heard, and a moment later he and Sherlock walked in.

"So I told him: 'Not if you want to keep it in working condition.' He was not happy," Sherlock finished his story, grinning at Jack. Then he turned to John. "Did you learn anything?"

John's eyes wandered between Sherlock and Jack for a moment. Well, there was a change. "Not really," he answered Sherlock's question. "You probably did?"

The smirk Jack showed at that, was a little unnerving to say the least.

"Well," Sherlock shrugged. "Not much. We determined that it was indeed a case of alien abduction and that those behind it have a device capable of matter-specific teleportation." He turned to Ianto. "Does that sound familiar in any way?"
Ianto frowned. "Does not ring a bell, but I'll look into it." He took Eliza gently by the wrist. "You're coming with me," he said as he headed off to the archives.

"Why?" Eliza asked with a small pout, looking back at Sherlock.

"Because I need your help, of course," Ianto lied, winking at her.
Sherlock turned to Jack. "So, should we get to work on compiling a list of the species and factions most likely to hold a grudge against Torchwood?"

Jack nodded and turned to one of the computers.

...

To John's surprise, the two men were quite efficient in working together, and had grown a lot closer in the little time that they were gone. "Uhm, anything I can do?" he asked as Jack had gone off to find something in his office. He gave Sherlock an amused, somewhat questioning look.

"No, we're fine." Sherlock smiled at him and reached out to give his hand a quick squeeze. "Unless you could get Jones to make us some more tea."

John shook his head lightly and gave Sherlock a quick kiss on his lips. "I'm glad you get along with the arrogant anachronism. I'll go have a look what Ianto and Eliza are up to."

Sherlock nodded and focused back on the screen. Then as he heard Jack approach, he looked up with a smile. The man might be a little full of himself, but on further acquaintance, Sherlock had found him to be both interesting and easy to work with.

"Move, unless you want me to sit in your lap," Jack grinned, motioning at the position where Sherlock was sitting after turning towards John.

Sherlock laughed. "Oh. Am I in your seat, Captain? Well, excuse me." He moved over, still chuckling.

"No problem. It's not as if I'm opposed to the idea," Jack smirked, focusing on the screen again.

"Oh..." Sherlock blushed a little, then shrugged and leaned closer, so that he could see the screen too.

Jack sighed. "The teleportation skill doesn't really narrow the options down."

Sherlock shook his head. "On the contrary, it rules out quite a lot of species. It just doesn't point clearly to any of those left under suspicion. But it's still a great help." He straightened up. "I'm going to need a wall, some Post-Its and Blu-tack. And Jack," he leaned in again, reaching over the shoulder of the other man to point at the screen, "could you be a darling and print out everything about this group here? Both general information and their history with Torchwood."

Jack pulled up an eyebrow, but started printing. "Ianto will give you what you need. Why haven't they returned anyway? Do you think Eliza is dissecting them? I thought she only had eyes for you." He chuckled.

Sherlock grinned, feeling a little lightheaded and giddy from all the new wonderful mysteries piling up in front of him. "Can you blame her?" he said with a wink.

"Not at all," Jack grinned.

...

Soon, Ianto and John were back, having left Eliza with another corpse, and Sherlock was supplied with everything he needed to get to work.

Sherlock immediately started creating an intricate mind map of prints and notes on the largest available vertical surface, ordering the other three about indiscriminately.

Soon, Eliza was back as well.

"That was a quick post-mortem," John remarked.

She shrugged. "It wasn't really urgent anyway. She didn't have many special features, I had already seen everything before. And you know. I prefer to see Pretty Brain working. It will tell me more once I get to see the anatomy of it."

John frowned, but decided to trust Ianto with distracting her enough to not let that happen. At least she had calmed down a little now.

Sherlock smiled at her briefly in passing as he was headed for the pile of unsorted prints that pertained to cases in which the actual race had not been identified.

Eliza grinned and followed him. "Can I help you? I'm smarter than the rest of them," she said with a wave at the others.

"I don't doubt it," Sherlock said. "But I don't need smart right now, I need strong." He turned to Jack and held up some papers. "These files mention confiscated artifacts. A lot of them. I need to see them."

Jack nodded. "Ianto, show Captain Watson the archives and bring all the objects Mr. Holmes wants to see."

Sherlock smiled gratefully as he shrugged off his jacket, rolled up his sleeves and began comparing the unidentified cases to the species already up on the wall.

Ianto frowned at the appreciative grin spreading on Jack's face as he watched the detective at work. Then he turned to John. "This way, Doctor," he said.

"Just call me John," the doctor smiled at Ianto, following him. "They seem to get along quite a lot better," he remarked once the others couldn't hear it.

Ianto sighed. "Yes, I've noticed. I expect Jack will be making his move soon."

John pulled up his eyebrow. "His move? I hope you don't mean..." He cleared his throat. "Sherlock won't be interested."

"Oh, Jack does not care if he is gay or not, once he's set his sights on him. And he can be very persuasive." Ianto chuckled dryly. "Very persuasive."

"I don't mean that Sherlock isn't gay. I mean he's loyal." John pressed his lips together.

"Loyal?" Ianto looked at him, then his face lit up. "Oh, you mean...?" He chuckled. "Well, maybe Jack will find himself thwarted for once."

"I may hope so," John said, a grim expression clouding his smile. "So, what kind of artefacts do you have here?"

Ianto paused. "I would tell him to back off, if I thought it would help." He put a sympathetic hand on John's shoulder. "But yes. He does seem loyal, your detective." He smiled and then turned towards the room. "I think it would be easier to answer what kinds of artefact we don't have here. The answer would probably be 'None'." He moved down the rows of shelves. "But the ones we're looking for, are those related to transgressions involving teleportation." He turned a corner. "Down here."

...

"Sherlock, have a look at this. We found a corpse, a few days ago, and Eliza told us that the alien who stole its eyes must have had tentacles. This species has tentacles and is capable of teleportation. What do you think?" Jack pointed at one of the files.

Sherlock whirled around and rushed over. His hair was a complete mess from the uncountable times he had already run his fingers through it in excitement. "Let me see," he said, taking the file. "Yes. Currently active species... teleportation technology... but no previous direct interaction with Torchwood." He grinned at Jack. "Someone you haven't managed to make an impression on yet?"

"At least not actively," Jack smiled. "I'm glad that means that I've made the right impression on the only consulting detective in the world."

Sherlock chuckled. "An impression certainly. Still not sure if it's the right one. There's something about you, Captain, that I just can't figure out."

Jack chuckled and stepped closer. "I could let you investigate me quite closely," he smirked.

Sherlock frowned briefly, then smiled. "I'm sure that would be very interesting. But maybe we should focus on the missing Ms Cooper first, before I give you my undivided attention."

Jack grinned. "Of course you're right. Ah, there we have our strong men with their attributes."

John gave him an unimpressed look. "Where shall we put everything, Sherlock?"

Sherlock motioned to the coffee table as he turned to the wall, searching for an appropriate spot for the tentacle-alien file.
As Ianto put his box down he attempted one of his meaningful, but rarely effective, glares at Jack.

Jack grinned back at Ianto and went to stand next to him, unpacking one of the larger teleportation devices they had found long ago. "Why are you looking like that?" he asked cheerily.

Ianto frowned. "Can I ask you something, Captain?"

"Of course, go ahead. But remember that we are in the middle of finding Gwen."

"Not that kind of question, Sir." Ianto sighed. "I was just wondering: would the fact that someone is already quite spoken for, make you more or less likely to pursue them? Or wouldn't it make a difference either way?"

Jack frowned. "I guess that would depend on what the other wants. Why? Did you just get engaged to Captain Watson?" he asked in mock earnest.

"No. But he and Mr. Holmes are together. So don't get too carried away." Ianto sighed, knowing it wouldn't make much difference if Jack managed to convince himself the detective was interested. Resisting a creature like that was really beyond what could be expected of Jack.

"Interesting," Jack grinned. Now that information created a lot of new possibilities. "Could you get us some coffee, dear Ianto?"

Ianto's sigh was almost painful. "Of course ... Sir." He headed off to the kitchen.

Jack's gaze softened for a moment, then he got up and brought the device to Sherlock.

Sherlock turned to him, an eager gleam in his eyes. "Now I bet you can show me how to work this thing, right?"