May 2006
The Torchwood team were disturbed by the sound of the cog door opening, looking up they saw Alex Rose Tyler standing there in black jeans and red off shoulder t-shirt, her hair now striped with white.
"Well what do you know? We're invaded by a giant skunk" Owen drawled from his position of leaning against Suzie Costello's desk.
"What? Jack still hasn't had the sense to fire Dr Twat?" Alex Rose shot back with a grin.
Owen snorted before he pushed off of Suzie's desk and gave Alex Rose a gruff hug. "What are you doing here kid? I thought you went to Poland"
"I did and then I was needed here" Alex Rose replied. "Jack is going to be calling a meeting in five seconds, so where is my brother?"
"Making coffees for the meeting in five seconds" Suzie answered as she grabbed hold some of the files on her desk and marched off towards the board room.
"Snotty cow" Alex Rose muttered causing Owen to snicker and Tosh to give her a disapproved look.
"Suzie isn't that bad, she just takes things seriously because she's second in command" Tosh said sternly as she got up to follow Suzie.
Owen snorted. "Whatever" he muttered.
"Harper, Tyler quit messing around and get into the board room" Jack snapped from the stair case that led to his office.
"Aye, aye Captain" Owen said sarcastically as he stalked off to the board room just as JJ entered carrying a tray of coffee.
"Alex! I didn't know you were here!" he said with a tone filled with glee and surprise.
"Only a passing visit I'm afraid" Alex Rose said pecking JJ's cheek as he walked past towards the board room. Alex Rose then turned round to face Jack who immediately scooped her up into a hug.
"How's my Alex Rosie?" he asked. "Was Poland all right? How's your mother? And your aunt?"
"I'm fine, Poland was fun-ish, Mum's still got that weird cold/flu virus, it's not getting any better, I'm beginning to get worried, she's saying things about the TARDIS in her sleep" Alex Rose said frowning. "And you can't keep asking about Donna, you broke up with her remember?"
"You're never going to let that drop are you?" Jack asked.
"Never, now let's get in there and tell them" Alex Rose said nodding to the board room. "Oh and they're not going to be happy with your choice"
Jack sighed as he offered his arm to Alex Rose who accepted with a sweet smile.
DWDWDWDWDWDWDWDWDWDWDW
"As you know these ghosts are part of some sort of alien technology that Torchwood One has found" Jack said in his best authority filled voice, Suzie, Tosh and Owen nodded remembering the shock when ghosts first started popping up everywhere. "I'm sending one of you in there undercover and I already made my choice"
Everyone but Alex Rose exchanged confused glances; JJ took one look at and tightened his jaw. "You've chosen Alex Rose?!" he shouted at Jack.
"WHAT?!" Tosh and Owen shrieked at the same time.
"Jack are you insane?" Suzie cried out.
"There's no way Alex Rose is going in there!" JJ said darkly. "Not after all the things they've done, also how the hell are you going to get past the medical exams? How the hell are you not going to be recognised?"
"Well you see..." Alex Rose bent down and pulled something out of her rucksack she had, she came back up wearing a realistic blonde wig. "Now you see with some eye contacts I'll get away"
"You look like Mum! You'll only definitely get captured" JJ snapped looking irritated.
"She won't" Jack said calmly. "She's already been through the examination; you're looking at Alexis Harper member of the resource department"
"How the hell did you manage it?" Suzie asked.
Jack looked slightly uncomfortable. "I and Yvonne have an agreement that'll last for the year"
"Urgh Jack really where is your dignity?" Tosh asked with a disgusted look on her face.
"Didn't think he had any" Owen muttered sitting back. "All right Harkness she can go but I want my protégé back safely"
"Owen she knows more about medicine than you do" JJ whispered.
"Yeah but I'm teaching her about alien anatomy" Owen snapped back. "When I'm gone and dead and rotting in hell she'll be the Torchwood Three Medic"
DWDWDWDWDWDWDWDW
"Miss Alexis Harper" a smooth voice came from behind her, she turned round to see a smart looking, gorgeous man dressed in a sharp suit. He had brown hair that was styled into neat tuffs and his eyes could rival JJ in the puppy dog department, actually it would win because it would so work on her. "My name is Ianto Jones I'm head of the resource department"
Alex Rose smiled back and shook his offered hand. "Nice to meet you sir" she said politely.
"Now your duties will mostly consist in research and working in the archives, your desk is over there by Lisa and Zack" Ianto said showing her to the clean desk with a computer and her fake name engraved neatly in a plaque. "If you need anything everyone here is willing to help and I'm only through that door"
"Ok, thank you" Alex Rose said feeling a faint pink tinge growing on her cheeks. She hurried round her desk and sat down putting her bag on her desk.
"Here I'll make you a coffee, what do you take in it?"
"Oh...erm..." she couldn't remember if she drank coffee or not. "Milk and three sugars" it was how she liked her tea, wasn't it? She really couldn't remember.
"Milk and three sugars" Ianto repeated. "I'll get you a muffin, would you like blueberry, chocolate chip or toffee"
"Ch-ch-chocolate chip" she stuttered, what the hell is happening to her? She never stuttered, she never felt like her face was burning and she never felt both of her hearts beating really, really fast.
Ianto nodded and looked round the office, Alex Rose ignored the chorus of everyone's voices giving out their orders. She was too busy staring at his buttocks, it was a good firm...yeah she should really not be doing this; her eyes shouldn't be following his buttocks as it walked across the room...
Oh for Christ sake she was eighteen! She shouldn't be acting like some love struck fourteen year old!
"Hi, I'm Zack" a brunette man roughly thirty said leaning forwards holding his hand out.
"Alexis Harper" she replied shaking his hand firmly.
"Ianto is a nice guy, best head of department we had, always looks after us" Zack said, Alex Rose frowned, this was heading somewhere, she can tell. "And Lucky Lisa over there snatched him up"
Lisa turned round in her chair and beamed. "Are my ears burning?" she said. "Hi Alexis, I'm Lisa, like Zack said Ianto is a sweetie, its fantastic living with him"
Alex Rose flitted her eyes away from Lisa; she can't look at this woman without something strange and acidic bubbling away in her stomach. The woman was gorgeous with her dark skin, beautiful bone structure and great hair. Not as great as Ianto's but still great hair...
DWDWDWDWDWDWDWDWDWDWDWDW
Two weeks, two very long painful weeks. Ianto was rarely ever in his office, he was constantly helping someone, kissing Lisa, making coffees, talking to Alex Rose, bringing in food, kissing Lisa, god Alex Rose hated Lisa. She hated Ianto as well; well not really she just hated how he made her feel. She was constantly blushing, stammering and then every time she accidently touched him (by accident) it felt electrical.
She was terrified of electricity, this was incredibly terrifying.
However she had gathered a lot of information about the ghost shift and the void ship, she had the files sorted out neatly in her rented flat to give to Jack. But she had another problem.
Mickey Smith was here. She was seeing everything that will happen in the few weeks, every night she dreamt it and it all started since she bumped into Mickey Smith, he barely looked at her just muttered an s'cuse me before walking off.
Too many deaths were to come.
It was getting late, everyone but her had left the office. She was sure there were others in the building but the resource department were already dead at ten o'clock at night, she was attempting to avoid sleep. She let out a sigh and started gathering her stuff, she better go.
The corridors that haunted the nightmares that weren't visions were on low light. The last time she went down these corridors...no she shouldn't think of that or the other times. She shivered, there were a low growl and she bit her lip trying to not whimper very bad memories coming back to haunt her.
Suddenly something launched itself on her back, growling and snarling and trying to chew her neck. She squirmed beneath it, fighting to get away from this creature, she let out a strangled scream when a blasting shot could be heard and the creature slumped on top of her, crushing her with its dead weight.
She was shaking, she knew it and god she hated it. She felt the dead weight being lifted off of her and a soft tender touch that felt electrical to her as Ianto Jones's face hovered above her.
"Alexis are you all right?" he asked softly as he helped her up. His eyes widened as he saw her neck. "You're bleeding, oh god I'm sorry I was helping the caretakers feed the weevils and one escaped. Come on I'll get you to the Med-Bay and we'll get it fixed up" he reached out for her but she stepped away.
"NO!" she snarled, Ianto looked a bit shock and also a bit like a kicked puppy, she softened her facial expression and voice. "I'm sorry Ianto, I'm fine, it's just a cut, I got a first aid box at home, I can sort myself out" she babbled.
Ianto grabbed hold of her wrist firmly sending shivers down her spine. "You need a shot and probably a hot chocolate, you're in shock"
She pulled away from him and flipped her false blond hair. "I'm fine" she snapped before marching off with her head held high.
When she got home and had cleaned herself up she spent the first night in over a week dreaming properly, no visions.
She dreamt about Ianto Jones.