Welcome to Torchwood

"Doctor, Yaz, meet the team!" Jack waved his hands expansively at the small group gathered in the Hub as the three of them stepped off the lift.

"Hi, I'm Gwen, Officer Gwen Cooper if you like," a dark-haired woman said in a lilting Welsh accent. She held out a hand to them both, "So good to meet you – Jack's been yammering on about you for months, Doctor."

"Dr Owen Harper," a skinny dark-haired man offered his hand, eyeing the Doctor curiously, "Thought you was a man though?"

Turning to Yaz, he flashed a cheeky wink, "What's your name again, gorgeous?"

"Officer Yasmin Khan," she shook his hand firmly, "Yaz to my friends, but I get to decide who those are."

"Ooh," Gwen laughed, clapping her hands, "she's got her head screwed on alright." She flashed a grin at Yaz, "Don't worry about him, harmless really, he is."

"Ignore them both," the bespectacled Japanese woman came forward smiling and offered a warm hand, "Toshiko Sato - Tosh – lovely to meet you by the way."

"And this," Jack grinned, pushing forwards a slightly serious, suited young man, "is Ianto Jones."

"I make the coffee," he spoke in a soft local accent.

"And it's the best coffee you'll ever have," Jack beamed, throwing an arm around Ianto's stiff shoulders.

"I'm pretty handy with a stopwatch too," Ianto said, deadpan, and Jack chuckled, reddening slightly.

"Right, well, like Jack said, I'm the Doctor and this is Yaz," the timelord smiled round at the gang, "And yeah, I'm a woman, problem?" she looked at Owen with raised eyebrows.

"Nope, no complaints here," he smirked, earning himself a smack on the arm from Gwen.

It was at that moment that something large and winged swooped down on them with a screech. Recalling the creatures that they had encountered on a distant planet only a week earlier, Yaz yelped in shock and threw herself at the Doctor, knocking them both to the ground.

The rest of the Torchwood gang fell about laughing.

"Don't worry about Myfanwy," Tosh chuckled, "she's actually pretty harmless."

"Unless you get between her and the barbeque sauce," Owen smirked, offering them a hand up.

"Hang on," Yaz narrowed her eyes at the creature soaring overhead, "are you telling me you keep a dinosaur in your base?"

"Consider her a mascot," Jack grinned at the pair of them. "Welcome to Torchwood, you two!"

"So, that's as far as we've got," Gwen said, spreading out the last photo for the group to see.

Once they had settled down around the large table in the office, it had taken only twenty minutes or so for the team to showcase their evidence from their current case. A handful of gruesome crime-scene shots and a few paltry witness-statements. All of this was lain out before them, dead faces shining under the strip-lighting. Yaz leaned in to peer at the final photograph, holding it up to compare with another in her hand.

"So that's –"

"Nine murders in five days, yeah," Owen murmured, grimly.

"And you've no idea what links them?" Yaz put the photos down looking sickened, "Other than the fact that they seem to have all drowned?"

"No, but we do know there's alien involvement," Tosh interjected, fingers flitting across her keyboard to bring up several more images. "This man," she gestured at the digital rendering of a victim, his face blue and bloated, "looks pretty normal, until you look at the body in low light with an oxygen mist."

She mapped an image over the top and those around the table drew in a collective breath. The man now glowed bright blue, most noticeably around the mouth and across the top of his head and shoulders.

"The same sort of thing happens with the others," Tosh continued, bringing up more images. A woman and her child, the front of their clothes splashed in a glowing radioactive green; a teenager, his hands and face shining bright purple.

"What the hell is that?" Gwen gasped, staring disbelievingly up at the digital images.

"It's bioluminescence," the Doctor breathed quietly.

"What?"

"Tiny creatures, bacteria, living in the water. Then oxygen, carbon, dash of enzymes, and suddenly – poof!" she gestured expansively with her hands, "Glowing water!"

"Not bad," Tosh agreed, nodding her approval at the Doctor.

Yaz bumped her shoulder against the timelord's, smiling at the adorable expression that lit up the Doctor's face.

"Great, so tiny bacteria are murdering people now, are they?" Owen interrupted, not impressed.

"That's not what she's saying," Yaz shot back, defensive.

"Exactly," Tosh seconded, "but what it does do is prove a theory."

"And what's that?" Gwen asked.

"That the water they appeared to have drowned in is seawater," the scientist pushed her glasses up her nose and looked around at the group expectantly.

"Of course!" the Doctor slammed a hand down on the table, making them all jump. "I should have seen that coming!"

"Well any time you fancy gracing us mere mortals with an explanation…" Owen quipped grumpily.

"Oh, shut it," Yaz and Gwen chorused together.

"LUCIFERINS!"

She looked around at four blank faces and Tosh.

"Doc, there's a time and a place for Harry Potter," Yaz muttered surreptitiously to her.

Ignoring her, the timelord explained, "It's the class of enzyme that catalyses the light reaction in the bacteria – usually only found in bodies of salt water."

"So," Jack broke his silence, sitting forward to join the conversation, "You're saying that these people all drowned in saltwater?"

Tosh and the Doctor looked at each other for a moment, then back at Jack.

"Yes," they said simply.

"But this man died in his back garden," Gwen tapped the photos, staring at them both, "and this woman and her daughter were in the woods. Tad far from the sea, don't you think?"

"Mmm," the Doctor hummed to herself, running a distracted hand through her hair, "I'm still working on that bit."

They stared glumly down at the photos, wracking their brains.

"Oh!" Yaz sat up suddenly, making them all jump in surprise.

"What is it?" Jack leant forward, listening.

"Don't you see, it's not where they died, but what they were doing when they died?" Yaz gabbled quickly, pulling one of the marker pens over and scribbling furiously on the post-it notes. "This man was watering his garden, while the kid here was cleaning his face ready for a date, and these two," she pointed at the bloated corpses of mother and child, "were out looking for tadpoles in a stream."

She glanced at the Doctor for confirmation and saw a look of comprehension and pride spread across her face.

"Yaz, you are BRILLIANT! I could kiss you!"

"Why are the pretty ones always gay?" Owen quipped when Yaz blushed pink.

"And why are the smart ones always morons?" Gwen shot back, clipping him lightly around the ear.

"You two, quiet," Jack pointed at his colleagues, before returning his attention to Yaz, "go on.

"It's the water – they all died in or near water. I don't know how or why, but the sea water, or at least particles of it, is mixing in with fresh water sources. That's how the particles are getting into them."

"Ok," Jack nodded, serious again, "So we've got seawater that can move and also kill. Well at least it's a start."

He sat back in his chair, contemplating.

"Look, I'm not being funny," Gwen interrupted, "but we've been at this for a while, maybe we need a break." She glanced at her watch, "Shit, it's nearly seven and I promised Rhys I'd be home for tea."

"That's right run off to lover-boy," Owen rolled his eyes, but Yaz saw him glance wistfully in the officer's direction.

"Good idea," Jack stood up, his braces pulling tight across his shoulders as he stretched, "I think we should sleep on it."

"Do you two need a bed for the night?" Gwen turned to the Doctor and Yaz, "Only it's not much but I do have a sofa bed I can set-up if you fancy?"

"Sounds delightful, thanks," the Doctor grinned back.

"Yeah, brill, cheers," Yaz agreed.

"It's a bit cosy, mind, but I'm sure you two are used to snuggling up," Gwen added, holding the office door open for them.

"Oh, we're not –"

"We, um –"

"Denial, not just a river in Egypt, huh?" Jack grinned at them, and the team sniggered as the pair followed Gwen out of the door, colour rising in their cheeks.

"Oi, scooch over?"

Yaz shifted along as far as she could on the tiny sofa-bed, feeling the cushions dip slightly as the Doctor slipped in beside her. Her eyes had become accustomed to the semi-darkness of the room, and she grinned as the timelord patted about her, still blinded by the bright lights of the bathroom. Sighing, she felt a warm weight settle in against her side, trying to wrap around her with –

"Bloody hell your feet are cold!" Yaz squeaked, trying to shove the virtual blocks of ice away from her.

"Warm me up then?" the Doctor whispered into her ear, trying to wriggle her foot between Yaz's warm shins.

"Gerroff!" Yaz giggled, trying to muffle her laughter with the duvet.

The more she struggled, the more the Doctor clung limpet-like to her. Eventually, she gave up, the timelord firmly insinuated around her, and settled for a playful jab in the ribs.

"If I get frostbite, I'm blaming you," the younger woman huffed.

"How about a frost-less bite?" the Doctor's eyes glinted in the reflected streetlight, and she made a mock lunge for Yaz's neck.

Sniggering, Yaz ducked out of the way, grabbing the Doctor's hands and pinning them against her pillow.

"Back, foul beast!" she whisper-shouted, grinning as she shook a fist triumphantly in the air, half-straddling the blonde.

Blowing the hair out of her eyes, the Doctor smiled wickedly up at Yaz, "Oh yeah?".

And with surprising coordination, she locked a knee between hers and rolled, flipping their positions. Yaz huffed in surprise as she found herself flat on her back, the Doctor pinning her hands to her sides and grinning mischievously down at her.

"Pretty maiden, you vill succumb to my curse, ah ah ah!" the Doctor feigned a terrible Eastern European accent, as she bent down to the younger woman's neck again.

With a snort of laughter, Yaz pulled the Doctor forward and off balance, rolling away and clambering quickly up to sit on the back of her legs. Locking the timelord's arms gently up behind her back, Yaz leant down to whisper into her ear.

"I'm maiden in Sheffield, Doc – pure steel and don't you forget it."

"M'ok," the Doctor mumbled into the pillow, "I s'rrender".

Grinning, Yaz relaxed her grip on the arms, resting back on her knees and laurels.

"FOOL!"

The shout of glee came too late, and Yaz was once again flat on her back, staring at the orange flickers of passing headlamps as they lit the ceiling. She had no idea how it had happened, but the Doctor was sitting astride her hips, putting the finishing touches to a cord that now bound her hands together.

"What? How did you- "

"Oh, Officer Khan," the Doctor smirked down at her, "you may be top of your class in self-defence, but I," she winked, pulling the cord tighter, "trained with Houdini."

"Is that right? Well I just happen to – " Yaz muttered, trying to distract the Doctor while she tried unsuccessfully to free her hands, " – seriously, what kind of knot is this and where did you get the rope from?"

The Doctor stuck her thumbs through the empty belt-loops of her dressing-gown, "… and as for the knot, it's a Greek classic. Nice guy, Gordias."

"I see," Yaz sighed, dropping her bound wrists and rolling her eyes at the timelord, "so are you planning to untie me any time soon?"

"Well, I could," the Doctor leant down, breath tickling her ear, "but where's the fun in that?"

Yaz shivered deliciously, feeling the tingle as a nose brushed against the tips of her ear, tracing the curve around.

"Oh," she moaned in surprise as teeth closed gently on her dark lobe.

This was new. Her breathing hitched as the Doctor tugged gently at the soft skin, and she lent her head to one side, granting her better access. Releasing the lobe, the timelord pressed her mouth close to Yaz's ear again, whispering with hot breaths.

"…and you are definitely overdue some fun."

*** TO BE CONTINUED ***