"After you Professor Wu..." Said Dr. Petr Dedov with an elaborate bow.
Harry Wu rolled his eyes at his friend's weak attempt at humour and joined the cue for lunch.
Both men had been attending a conference on Semi Classical Gravity and the Unruh Effect in Paris when they had been approached by UNIT command and sent to Cardiff earlier in the morning. The urgency of the situation resulted in the pair not having a chance to eat breakfast. Now with it being close to 5pm in the afternoon the friends were famished.
After they collected their share of pizza they grabbed a couple of cans of soda and looked for a place to sit. They soon came across a young woman with braided hair sitting alone at a collection of boxes.
"Mind if we join you my dear?" Petr asked in his thick Russian accent.
"Oh...please feel free to." Lois said shyly hoping the pair wouldn't notice her current dishevelled state.
The trio ate in peaceable silence when suddenly John came to join them. He sat down on the box besides Lois and began to devour his food with gusto. Lois found herself staring as he practically shoved an entire slice of pizza in his mouth in one bite.
"Well it's obvious from watching both you and Jack eat. Table manners are no longer required in the future." Gwen said to John, as she and Rhys approached to join the group.
"Huh..." John slurped as he tried to chew his mouthful of pizza. The others in the group marvelled that he had yet to choke as he chewed on his food. "What's wrong with the way I eat?" He asked confused at the way the others were looking at him. Gwen just looked back at him with an exasperated look and shook her head in disbelief.
Rhys quietly told her in Welsh to quit picking on John. Gwen couldn't believe her husband would defend John's deplorable table manners and told him so. The others in the group watched the couple bicker back and forth between each other while they ate their lunch. But, because no one else the hub actually spoke Welsh. No one had an idea of what the couple was arguing about.
Although the real cause for the couple's tiff was stress and exhaustion. Their tempers were running high and they were getting a little loud. Several people in the hub took notice when Gwen suddenly stopped bickering with her husband and stood up from her group facing the various piles of debris still in the centre of the hub. Ignoring her still arguing husband; She took several steps forward and began to stare at a pile of rubble partially submerged in the brackish water.
Seconds later, she dropped her plate of pizza and shouted at the top of her lungs. "I think I see it Jack...I think I've found the safe." The entire hub flew into a roar of excitement as she tried to make her way to the item in question.
"Don't you dare go into that filthy water Gwen!" Rhys shouted at his wife as she approached the water's edge. "You've got to think of the baby's safety. God knows what you could catch from that disgusting pool." He shouted, as he made his way across the hub to reach her. Luckily, John was faster than Gwen and pulled her back seconds before she jumped into the water.
"Let the soldiers get it." He hissed at her wondering what she was thinking. "Just point it out to us." He said softening his tone when he saw the anger and confusion on her face.
"I'll get it." Jack said as he approached the pair. Gwen pointed to the spot she was sure she had seen the end of the safe protruding from. As Jack entered the water. He was joined by Lt. Martin and two other soldiers. After about 15 minutes of removing debris that kept the safe partially submerged underneath the water. The men freed the heavy column of glass and metal, carrying the item in question to the centre of the room. After a quick glance, Jack found the cell that contained the tin, that hopefully held the much needed blueprints.
It took several minutes with an oxyacetylene torch before they were able to free the tin from safe's cell.
But much to everyone's relief, the greatly needed ancient blueprints were safe and more importantly dry, despite being submerged underwater for nearly a week. Jack happily gave the documents to Malcom and Jonathan and allowed the men to coordinate their teams into action.
Lunch was quickly forgotten now that the repairs could start. Jack quietly instructed Rhys and John to hide the rest of the safe deep within the vaults. Stressing to them how important it was that the others not see where it was hidden. He then asked Gwen and Lois to help Mr. Finch get the dorms ready for the already exhausted team. Lastly, he asked Beth and Jorge to rally anyone not working on the Rift Manipulator to keep up with the cleanup effort. For the first time in nearly a week, Jack finally felt the smallest glimmer of hope.
Mr. Finch had been delighted with the news that the repairs were now underway and that Gwen and Lois were now assigned to help him. UNIT was sending cots and basic uniforms for the team to use but other necessitates: linens, toiletries, food, etc... would have to be purchased and curfew would be starting in a few hours. He suggested however, the women to take the time to go to Gwen's and get cleaned up before heading out to Tesco.
Once they arrived at the flat, Lois insisted that Gwen have first go at a shower (it being her flat after all). While waiting for her turn to clean up she laid some old newspapers over the sofa and tried to relax and watch a little television. She fell asleep a few seconds after she sat down, remote still in her hand and the television still turned off. Gwen came in 20 minutes later and reluctantly woke her.
After nearly 15 minutes in the shower and Lois was still scrubbing herself clean. She had never in her entire life felt so dirty. So, she was making the most of the first shower she'd taken in days. She generously added another squeeze of rose scented shower gel to her flannel and rubbed herself over for a third time. Finally convinced she was no longer dirty, she reluctantly pulled herself from the warmth of the shower.
She quickly dried herself and put on the clean clothes that Gwen had given her to use. Fortunately they were close to the same size. Lois was mildly OCD in nature and had been reluctant to borrow Gwen's clothes But, a quick look over both of their ruined outfits resulted in everything they were wearing ending up in the bin (shoes included). Luckily the bra & panties she was now sporting had still had the tags of the very posh shop they had been purchased from on them (a yet unused bridal shower gift Gwen had assured her).
Her final act of grooming was a rigorous brushing of her teeth. She had nearly burst into tears when Gwen presented the new, unopened toothbrush to her. Her mouth had felt so dirty and foul over the past several days. Lois just couldn't believe how good the simple act of brushing one's teeth felt.
Feeling human once again, she exited the bath to find her companion sitting on the bed crying. Gwen quickly turned her head away from Lois and wiped away her tears with her hands.
"Oh... I'm so sorry... I don't wish to disturb you." Lois mumbled embarrassed to have intruded on other woman's grief.
"Don't be silly." Gwen said as she rose from the bed. "I just had a little too much free time to myself and started thinking about things I can't change and friends that I miss." She pulled a tissue from the box on her bedside table. She wiped her eyes and nose and willed herself to stop crying.
Gwen quickly changed the subject to spare them both more embarrassment. "We need to get going now, anyways. Mr. Finch called while you were in the shower and the store will be closing an hour before curfew starts. So we've got to hurry." She said as she left the bedroom, heading toward the flat's small kitchen.
Grateful for a chance to end the awkward moment Lois quickly followed her out. Double checking that they had the credit card Mr. Finch gave them, Gwen gave Lois a set of keys.
"Aren't you going to drive us there?" Asked Lois confused.
"Those are the keys to Rhys' car. I'll be driving mine, because I'm sure we'll need both to carry everything we need." Gwen said as she was walking towards the front door. "You can drive can't you?"
"Yes I can but, my driver's license is in my purse and it's still being held by UNIT."
"Well I guess you'll have to be super careful and not have any traffic violations then." Gwen said jokingly as the two women left the flat to start their shopping spree.