Torchwood: Divergence
Book Two: Adferiad

Chapter 9

December had seen things get busy again with the Rift for some reason, and brought the disappointing news that Johnson wasn't yet feeling capable of coming back to work and wasn't sure when she would. Christmas was now less than a week away, and all of Cardiff as well as most of Wales was blanketed in six inches or more of snow. For the city and other areas, it was very unusual, but festive. Also strange was that Weevil attacks and sightings were on the rise with no clear cause. Janice and Judy had been joined in the Vaults by Jerry and Joan, with at least six others of their kind the unfortunate subject of UNIT clean ups after attempts to capture them ended in encounters with lorries or other fatal circumstances.

"You don't suppose someone found a way to restart that horrid card game, do you?" Gwen wondered aloud as she and Jack came back into the Hub from their latest run in with the foul-smelling creatures, that had sadly ended with it falling from an icy dock into the bay. "No invisible Ianto to sort things out this time."

"I'm pretty sure this isn't like the Monsta Quest debacle," Harkness insisted with a slight frown, the expression rapidly changing to a feral smile. "Though I still wish he'd been invisible for just a few more hours. I had quite the plans for after the rest of you went home."

"You are a cruel and twisted man, Jack Harkness," his friend smirked. "Sometimes I wonder how poor Ianto ever puts up with you."

"Sometimes so do I," the American confessed quietly. "But back to the Weevil problem. I've seen this kind of thing happen before. Winter of 1984, an unusual number of them came above ground and were attacking people and pets. Turned out there was a giant Agapathian Slug crowding them out of the sewers and using them as snack food. That's when the colony started that moved into St. Mary's too."

"So, we need to check the sewers for other residents?" Cooper prodded. "How did you do it last time?"

"I was pretty steady with the team by that point, so me and four of the others walked the tunnels and pipes for two weeks," Jack shrugged. "Man, did we use a tonne of spray on that gig. Ended up finding the slug by its nine-inch-deep slime trail, nasty stuff was slicker than ice slush on glass. Super Slug was about sixty-feet long, wedged in a Y-junction and really cranky."

"How on Earth did you manage to get rid of it?" Gwen asked as she went to the kitchenette for a coffee.

"Blocked it coming and going in all directions with as much rock salt as we could haul down there, then flushed that part of the pipes with thousands of gallons of hypersalinated sea water," the Captain stated with a half-smile. "Dissolved it down enough that the remains washed into the water processing plant and no-one was the wiser."

"Let's hope whatever the problem is this time will be that easy to fix," Cooper sighed, looking up as the cog-wheel door rolled open.

"Where do you want this, Jack?" Ianto called, all but hidden by a bound but obviously beautifully bushy, wonderfully fragrant six-foot fir tree.

"Hang on and I'll give you a hand," Harkness replied, moving to assist the younger immortal. "I wasn't sure you'd be able to find anything this nice so late in the season."

"It was quite the run around, but I managed," his Changeling partner smiled, the two of them manhandling the tree to a spot out of the walkway near the fountain pool. "And I even found the ultrasonic pest repeller to avoid a repeat of last week."

"We've had Holiday trees in years past," Gwen pointed out. "Why did Myfanwy suddenly decide to go for some veg and attack that one?"

"We went the artificial route more often than not, plus there's never been a garland of spiced orange peels, dried berries, and real popcorn till then," Jack replied, helping to get the evergreen into its watering stand and properly secured. "That's most of what she went for. Martha had a nice idea, and it did smell really good, but apparently just isn't meant for the Hub. We'll stick to tinsel and lights with this one."

"I'm still finding bits of wiring, sockets, and wax cord when I clean up after the beast," Ianto frowned as he undid the ropes so the branches could relax. "Though she seems to be completely digesting the glass, bulb filaments, and ornament hooks just fine."

"Well, you found a fine tree to replace the other," Cooper decided with a smile, automatically looking up to the shadowed area far above Johnson's still dormant work station when the resident Pteranodon gave an inquisitive creel from her roost.

"I'll have your guts for choke-loops and feed you to the Weevils if you touch this one," Ianto threatened loudly, making the pterosaur squeak and duck into her cage like a guilty puppy. "Pest…"

Jack and Gwen both chuckled knowingly. Complain about the mess as he might, they were well aware that the young Welshman brought in special treats for the Pteranodon, and had witnessed for themselves the first time she'd seen her favourite caretaker after his return from Hell in August. It had been surprising and incredibly sweet to see the ancient creature chirp and bob like an excited chick, before chivvying the Changeling with her potentially deadly beak until he was close enough to put his arms around her neck in a welcoming hug. Even now, Ianto was the only one Myfanwy would allow to enter her sleeping enclosure without her being locked out of it or sedated. He was the only team member she would ever beg for eye-ridge caresses and the occasional belly rub.

There was even CCTV footage from a few late nights after the team had gone home, that showed how Myfanwy would come down to the Hub floor where Ianto was tidying up and creel for attention until he came to whisper endearments and stroke her beak. Sometimes she'd wrap a wing around him in an awkward but undeniably protective embrace and rub her head against his chest with a soft sound almost like a purr. Maybe the pterosaur remembered he was the one that sent her out for exercise the night the Hub was destroyed, or recalled that he'd found her after and got her safely tucked into the warehouse she'd first been captured in. Perhaps she somehow knew he'd sent a text to Martha pleading to have her sedated and properly looked after by UNIT before he'd headed to London in search of Jack. Whatever the case, Myfanwy had always been on her best behaviour with the young Welshman and still was for the most part… at least when not tempted by tasty Holiday garlands.

"Speaking of Weevils," Ianto stated, brushing a few loose fir needles from his coat and hair. "I ran into PC Davidson at one of the places I was checking for trees. He told me that two men from the city crews look to have gone missing this afternoon. They were supposed to be looking into a sewer blockage a few streets over from St. Helen's Hospital, tented the area, went down through the big gated part of the storm drains there and just vanished."

"Did Andy say he thought Weevils were responsible?" Gwen asked, somewhat surprised.

"No, that's the problem," the resident Guardian explained, moving toward the office to hang up his coat. "He said that he's seen Weevils in that area on a regular basis late at night, ducking into those very storm drains, dropping down manholes and the like after scavenging the bins in the nearby alleys. But he hasn't seen any sign of them whatsoever since the beginning of the month. About the same time the problems with the increased attacks started, and just after the first backup issues were reported in that run of pipes."

The three friends looked at each other, the same thought running through all their minds. There was a major problem brewing in the sewers, and it was apparently up to Torchwood to sort it out.

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AN: So, the Christmas adventure for Torchwood looks to involve Weevils and something much worse in the sewers… This could get messy.

Thank you to those reading the story. And thank you to those who have followed, favourited, and reviewed. NM