Chapter 11: Uneasy truce

Jack sat in his office, mulling over everything that had just happened. The SGC had decided to stick their noses in, despite the fact he'd told them in no slight terms to sod off. They had a this "Revelation" society to deal with, and they seemed to be almost like a Torchwood Junior. Oh, and Owen had found they had another wraith in the city, a female that seemed to be hiding out in the sewers. His day was looking better and better.

"Back already?" he said, not bothering to look up from his computer monitor as the figure entered.

"Look, all I'm saying is that you allow me and my team a couple of minutes to talk to the wraith," insisted John Sheppard. Jack was starting to wonder if the guy was on a permanent loop or something. "Just let us talk to it for a few minutes and we'll be able to get the answers you need.

"He," said Jack, flicking through the retro-virus file Tosh had given him. "You used the wrong personal pronoun," he clarified for the slightly bewildered

Lieutenant Colonel. "'It' implies that you don't know the gender, and I think we can assume that Gowen's male. And I said 'no' the first time you asked anyway."

Perhaps the man finally realised he wasn't getting anywhere. Sheppard turned and left Jack's office, without so much as a "by your leave". Jack opened the com-channels.

"Someone keep an eye on the SGC bunch, will ya?" he said to his team. "I don't want them sticking their noses into anything we don't want them to."

"Roger that," came Tosh's voice.

"Anything in particular you want them to avoid?" asked Ianto.

"Just use your common sense on this one," replied Jack.

"Anyone would think it was a conspiracy against the SGC," said Owen.

Jack merely chuckled as he closed the com-link. Well, there was no point in making these interlopers' lives any easier, was there?

***

John walked over to the rest of his team. Teyla was leaning on the edge of one of the gantries, while Ronon and Rodney were sitting on a sofa nearby.

"You been able to sense anything?" he asked Teyla, coming to stand beside her. She shook her head, a slightly puzzled expression lining her face.

"No. I am barely even able to sense the wraith that is here. It is as if something is generating a form of… static, meaning I am unable to detect the wraith."

"Torchwood?" asked Rodney, who had been listening in.

"I do not think so. The static appears to be of… organic origin, as if it is created by another being."

"Still could be Torchwood," said Ronon.

"We need to talk to that wraith," mused Sheppard, looking down at the work stations below.

"Oh, and how do you plan to do that?" Rodney asked scathingly. "They don't want us to "interfere", like we're spoilt kids! It's a wonder they haven't thrown us out yet. What makes you think they're going to let us help?"

John looked to Teyla, who shrugged.

"We could take advantage of the skills available to us," John suggested. Teyla sighed heavily.

"I will do what I can," she answered simply.

***

Heba sat in the cell with Gowen, her knees drawn up against her chest. He hadn't moved or spoken since that Torchwood woman, Gwen or something, had left and given Gown the pictures. She'd seen them before, when she had been round to the flat and from when she had taken a quick peek at his sketch book. Wasn't that how she'd found out what he really was?

A sudden movement caught her attention. Gowen was still seated on the floor, but he was shaking uncontrollably. Heba panicked. She didn't know what was happening or what she should do. Her feelings of anxiety and terror only escalated when Gowen threw back his head and roared, his face contorted with pain. She scrambled to her feet, her eyes still locked on her stricken friend. He was clutching his head now, and seemed oblivious to everything around him. Gowen fell forward and the drawings that had been so carefully laid out were scattered and ripped in his delirium.

The sound of hurrying footsteps drew Heba's attention away from her suffering friend. Gwen was standing just outside the cell with the other Torchwood woman. They opened the door and Gwen went over to Gowen while the other woman ushered Heba out of the cell.

"What's wrong with him?" Heba asked, terrified for her friend.

"We don't know," the woman said, "but we're going to do what we can for him, I promise.

Heba was no longer certain if she trusted Torchwood's promises.

***

Gwen knelt as close to Gowen as she felt safe doing. Gowen looked almost feral at the moment, and she wasn't even that certain of what she could do for him. One thing she was certain of though is that, friend or not, it would not be safe for Heba to be in the same room as a possibly crazed wraith. She realised she should probably question her own sanity for doing precisely that.

Gwen merely sat and waited. Soon, Gowen appeared to regain control. Breathing heavily, he looked up at her.

"What," he panted, "was the meaning of that?"

"You tell me," replied Gwen, "because I've got no idea what just happened."

The wraith appeared puzzled. "You were not the ones' responsible for that attack?"

"I've got no reason to lie to you," Gwen said soothingly. "What attack are you referring to? What just happened?"

Gowen didn't answer her. Instead he seemed absorbed by the ruined drawings in front of him. Gwen was content to let him take his time. Whatever it was that had happened, it had obviously shaken the wraith.

"Gwen," crackled Jack's voice over her com-unit, "you with Gowen?"

"Yeah, I'm right here," she answered, turning and waving at the security camera on the wall outside.

"Is he okay?" Jack asked.

"A bit shaken," Gwen replied, glancing back at Gowen. "He mentioned some sort of attack."

There was a static-filled sigh from Jack. "That'll be because one of our house guests turns out to have wraith DNA and is able to hack into the wraith psychic network. That looks like what happened here, though from the looks of her, our wraith friend put up a bit of a fight."

Gwen smiled to herself, if only because Jack had referred to Gowen as "friend".

"D'you want me to stay here for a couple of minutes, then? Just to make sure he's okay?"

"I'll leave it to your discretion, Gwen," he answered her. "In the meantime, I'm planning on sending a team to go and find our new girl."

"What team?"

"I'm sending Owen and two of the SGC team, including their wraithy one. I'm sorry, but we're gonna need any advantage we can take at the moment . Oh, and I'm letting the Revelation girl go."

This last statement came as rather a surprise to Gwen. She'd half-expected Jack to want to keep Heba in the base until they could work out a way to counter-act her Retcon immunity.

"We got a call from Andy," continued Jack. "The girl's parents have been going to the police and 'someone' dropped the hint that she was with us. If we don't let her go, we could be facing exposure. She did promise to keep her mouth shut, but that's the best we can hope for until we've dealt with the wraith."

"Roger that," replied Gwen quietly. She looked back at Gowen, still apparently mesmerized by the ruined pictures. "Oh, and Jack? Any chance you could bring me down the paper and such on my desk? And some tape."