Torchwood: Divergence
Book One: Dychwelyd
Chapter 2
In the wake of all the loss and trauma surrounding events with the 456, after the departure of a soul shattered Captain Jack Harkness, and once she'd given birth to her daughter that June, Gwen Cooper had vowed she'd never return to Torchwood or work in that secretive field again. Yet here she was back in the rebuilt, substantially larger heart of the Hub under the Millennium Centre, preparing to meet the personnel Martha had found to round out the team after having toured the much-altered main level of the base. She'd never dreamed that the Queen would agree to see her, let alone have the Monarch command that both UNIT and Whitehall were to help her start the organization up again, hadn't thought that Rhys would actually encourage her to do it and promise to back her up if she ever needed and extra team member. He'd even arranged to have little Ebrill at work with him in the office at Harwood's, his secretary, Ruth, having happily agreed to help play nanny and his drivers more than willing to act as doting 'uncles'.
So she was back on the job, and once more acting as the commander of the Torchwood team, much as she'd done the last time Jack had disappeared. Only now she didn't know any of the people she was supposed to take charge of and they didn't know her... or so she thought. She was surprised when the big, recently replaced cog-wheel blast door rotated open, and Martha escorted three people into the Hub.
"Gwen, meet your team," Jones stated with a half-smile. "You know Commander Camille Johnson, formerly of the SAS Ant-Terrorist strike team, she'll be your weapon and combat expert. Lois Habiba, she's had her clearances reinstated and will man the Tourist Information Centre kiosk upstairs when she's not helping out with communications and mission co-ordination once there's time to train her on the system. And this handsome young man has all the computer and gadget knowledge you'll ever need, as well as first-hand experience with a lot of alien technology. Gwen, say hello to Turlough, mechanical wizard and one time travelling companion of the Doctor."
"Mrs. Williams," the tall, thin red head smiled, extending one fine boned hand. "It's a pleasure to meet you."
"Just Gwen, and I still use my maiden name for security reasons," the former constable smile back. "So, you're another of the famous Companions. I'm sure Torchwood will seem fairly boring compared to roaming through Space and Time, but I'm very glad to have your expertise."
"Oh, my span with the Doctor was quite some time ago, and I still have the means to wander the Vortex if the mood strikes me," Turlough stated with a sly smile, his ice blue eyes sparkling. "But I've seen a fair few of the Torchwood files and I think I need this kind of work right now as much as the Institute needs my skills."
"Show off," Martha laughed, having met the young alien nearly a year before when he'd contacted UNIT about a message he'd intercepted from the Doctor regarding 'man-eating' angel statues. "So, we're your team, and ready to get to work."
"We?" Gwen queried in surprise.
"I'll be your acting Medic until I find a suitable replacement," Martha beamed.
"Brilliant," her 'boss' laughed, overjoyed to have so many familiar faces around her for this leap of faith, even if she didn't know them all that well yet.
"So..." Johnson piped up. "What's the first order of business?"
"Ah..." Cooper though a moment. "Lois, if you'd get some coffee going, we'll meet in the Boardroom. I want to go over the video footage Martha showed me, then start checking the computer files and Archives to see if there's anything of a similar nature that's been reported in the past. I'll go get your logins sorted, since I'm the only one with access at the moment, and we'll be set. So, choose a workstation... there are the main two, a smaller one over past them toward where the Hothouse is now, one in the Autopsy Lab, and lockers under the stairs to the new kitchenette to store your things. We'll do the full tour later, and I'll shout when we're ready to meet."
The group broke up like a sport team, Johnson heading to the small secluded array beyond the others, Turlough aiming for the expanded set up that used to be Tosh's, and Lois moving toward the kitchenette after Martha pointed the way as she herself went down into the double sized medical area. Gwen strode over into the new office between the entrances and the corridor to the lower levels, moved past the coat tree and stepped behind the big ebony wood desk to sit down and turn on the computer.
"Torchwood Three is back in business," she sighed as she turned on the table lamp occupying one corner of the desk, then hid her face in her arms atop the polished wood surface. "Please come home, Jack..."
The monitor screen beside her lit up, and after a moment Cooper straightened to quickly rub her eyes before getting on with the task of granting her new team access to the system.
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AN: Bit of a slow start, I know… hence giving you two chapters to start…
