Hello again all. I'm sorry for the long wait for this part. I was finishing my exams and then I had Internet issues and I went to New Zealand, so it's been a while. And now, after exams I've decided to change from a Degree in Information Technology to a Degree in Arts, Majoring in Literature. So, we'll see how that goes... Anyway, like I said, in the previous chapter, one of the team decides to leave Torchwood. Who will it be? What are their reasons? Read on to find out.
The Title for this part is actually in Welsh and I hope it translated correctly to 'Team Unity'.
Heigia Hundeb
-Tuesday Morning-
They were sitting in the board room, going over the events of what had happened in Ireland and back in the Hub, when Jack suddenly turned to Astra, "How did that dinner go with Shannon's parents?"
She grinned, "It was good!"
"Yeah?" Gwen asked, interested.
Astra nodded, "Shannon has four brothers! Hot brothers I might add!"
"See, I knew it was a hot date!" Ianto said, looking at her.
"Tell us all!" Taye insisted.
She rolled her eyes, "It was nothing, Shannon's parents took us to the theatre after dinner and the boys escorted us. Mind you, Keely is seeing Michael again..."
"What about your date?" Jack asked, "No sparks?"
She laughed, "No... No sparks... My date... What's the saying... All the handsome men are gay?" She looked directly at Jack and Ianto.
Gwen laughed, "No way?"
Astra nodded, "Lovely guy though, bit nervous, but lovely."
Jack grinned his, 'and I know it!" smile back at her, while Ianto blushed slightly looking at Jack, "So what did you see?" Ianto asked.
"Pirates of Penzance," She replied.
"Rhys and I are going to see that, was it any good?" Gwen asked.
"Good? It's brilliant. We had the Australian version on video back in the home I lived in. I love that show!" Astra said, a huge smile on her face.
They turned back to the meeting at hand and for the next hour actually concentrated on work, but as they made their way out to the main hub,Taye grabbed Astra's arm and held her back.
"Can we talk?" He asked, once everyone else was through the door.
She nodded, "Yeah, what's up?"
He released her arm and leaned against the wall beside the door, "Something happened... In Ireland... It doesn't make any sense," He said looking at her.
"What?" She asked, moving back over to the table and leaning against it.
He took a deep breath, "He... Jack... Asked one of us to shoot him... To show the creatures he was immortal..."
"He is." Astra said.
Taye looked down at his feet and sighed, when he finally looked back up at her she could see the confusion on his face, "But... I asked them and they won't tell me anything... How do you know?"
Astra sighed, "Before Tosh and Owen died... I was in Southerndown with the girls from school, we needed to get away from Cardiff for a while, I got swept up into the mess that ensued and Tosh got possessed by the alien. When I went to get Gwen and Owen for help, she shot Jack. I asked him about it later, when we were alone and he told me that a very long time ago someone had saved him and now he couldn't die..."
"Why don't I know any of this?"
She shrugged, "From what I'm aware, for the longest time, only Gwen knew and the others had worked here for years. It's not exactly something that comes up in conversation..."
"I guess," He looked back down at his feet, "But that didn't stop anyone from explaining it later. I mean, Gwen shot him, right there!"
She got up and went to stand next to Taye, "Sometimes Jack is going to ask us to do impossible things, you guys more so, you're out in the field all the time."
He nodded, "Thanks for telling me."
"You're welcome," She made for the door, then turned back to him, "And Taye, don't let the fact no one told you, eat you up."
He nodded, then followed her out of the board room.
-T-O-R-C-H-W-O-O-D-
-Tuesday Evening-
Astra stared at her work station. Unlike Taye's, it was still void of the personal touches that should have been there. She looked up again as Jack recounted a story of Ianto and the blow fish that they'd fought in Ireland. She smiled, she liked working here. She liked the team, but again, unlike Taye, she knew how they had been.
She glanced back at the screen when it beeped, Access Restricted it flashed. It had been like that for more then two months. It had been Ok in the beginning, she'd just checked out the alien technologies and documented them. Experimented a little, but as time had gone on, she'd been doing more and more. Surveillance during ops, Hacking into CCTV or other servers, maintaining the hub's systems and so forth. More and more, the small amount of access she'd been given on her first day wasn't dealing with her work load. She found herself continually asking Ianto or Gwen to let her into the system. She refused to ask Taye. It was probably pride and she knew it. It definitely wasn't that she didn't like him, they'd become good friends since he'd joined, he was sort of like a big brother. She frowned and clicked cancel. She'd made a decision while they were gone.
Jack eventually made his way to his office and she followed. She closed the door behind her and he looked up, "What is it?" He asked.
"I need to talk to you."
He nodded and motioned to the seat across from his desk. She shook her head, "I'm fine standing, " Jack nodded and looked worriedly at her, "Jack, I need to know where I stand with the team."
"What do you mean?" He asked. He thought she fitted in pretty well with the team.
She sighed and fidgeted with her hands nervously, "I mean... I'm trying to keep your systems running and every five seconds I have to beg the others to give me access. I've given everything to this job and I still don't know if this job is mine. Are you looking for someone to take this job? Or are you going to string me along forever?"
"Astra..." Jack sounded exasperated... He really didn't want to have this conversation now.
"Please Jack, I need to know. I know you don't want to replace Tosh. I don't want to replace Tosh, but..." She paused and took a deep breath. She closed her eyes for a moment, as if composing herself, "I can't continue to work like this. I'm going to quit at the end of the week. I'm sorry." With that, she walked out of his office, before she changed her mind, which would be a very bad thing at this time.
She left him sitting there stunned and it took a few moments for him to fully process what she'd said, "Astra!" He called after her, but she was saying good night to the others. He sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. He had given up searching for someone. Gwen had been right when she'd suggested Astra. She maintained the hub like a pro. Tosh would've been proud of her. He sat down at his desk. He needed to make a decision. The end of the week was in only three days. He moved some things around on his desk, looking for the file he'd had on possible Technical experts, flipping through them, none of them stood out. Sure, they had brilliant qualifications, far better then a third year university student, but none of them had the personality traits he wanted in aTorchwood operative.
-T-O-R-C-H-W-O-O-D-
-Wednesday Afternoon-
They'd been lounging around, enjoying the lull in rift activity. A game of basketball, Gwen and Astra against Taye and Ianto. Jack had tried to referee, but the girls had objected when he allowed Ianto to get away with fouls.
"I did not!" Jack insisted.
"You did to!" Gwen argued!
Taye was laughing, because he had no complaints about the situation, they boys were winning. Astra gave him a playful jab to the ribs, "I'd stop laughing if I were you mister!"
He gave her a sarcastic salute, "Yes ma'am!"
She stuck her tongue out at him.
Gwen stared at her, "And you're not helping!"
"Sorry..." She was about to blame it on Taye when she saw something pop up on one of the screens on her work station, "Hold that thought Gwen!" She called as she ran over. She typed something in and watched as the read out scrolled over the screen, "There's rift activity nearCastell Coch."
"Let's go!" Jack ordered, throwing the basketball to Astra.
-T-O-R-C-H-W-O-O-D-
The SUV made it's way through Cardiff with Jack at the wheel. The lull in activity had been good. It had given him a chance to think, but he had yet to come up with anyanswers to his problem. He also hadn't informed the others and judging by the earlier game, Astra hadn't told them either.
"Any idea what we're looking for?" Jack heard Ianto ask.
"Not a clue Ianto," Astra said, "I've searched the CCTV footage and can't find anything alien or odd, there have been no police calls, so it's not violent, it might not even be alien, but an item or something, but even so, I'd say it's in a back area or storage area. I'm trying to home in on a distinct signal, but the rift is still playing up in the area. I'll let you know when I find something."
"Thanks," Ianto said.
"How bad can an item be?" Taye asked.
Jack and Ianto glanced a each other, then at Gwen, "Well... After the Ghost Machine..." Ianto started carefully.
Gwen sighed, "Items are sometimes worse then the aliens... They don't come with instruction manuals...The Ghost Machine... it allowed Owen and me to see things from the past. I saw a little boy lost during the war... But Owen saw a teenage girl getting raped..." She looked out the window, then back atTaye , "He hunted down the guy who did it. But we came across another Ghost Machine that allowed us to see the future as well. Owen was holding a knife. I thought he was going to kill the guy. But what really happened was Owen took the knife from the guy... He handed it to me... The guy then charged at me, impaling himself on the knife..." She turned back to look out the window.
"Taye, just because something is inanimate doesn't mean it's not dangerous. We follow all procedures as usual," Jack said. He pulled the SUV to a stop in the parking lot ofCastell Coch.
The jumped out of the SUV, "A location would be great Astra," Jack said, taping his ear piece.
"Hold your horses Jack, there's a lot of interference," Came her reply. They approached the old Castle while they waited for her reply, "Ok, it's somewhere near the front left tower... I think..."
"You think?" Taye asked.
"Got a problem with that? The rift is being finicky now."
"Let's go," Jack said, breaking up the conversation, "Ianto and Taye, take the first floor, Gwen and I will take the second," after nodding their understanding, they entered the castle and made for the tower. Taye and Ianto stayed to explore the first floor of the tower while Jack and Gwen made their way up the stairs.
-T-O-R-C-H-W-O-O-D-
Jack slowly lead the way up the stairs. While they thought their latest hunt was only an object, that hadn't been confirmed. They could still be dealing with an actual live alien. He looked back at Gwen, she was making her way up right behind him, but her face was dark and she hadn't said a word since the conversation in the SUV.
"You know..." He started, "Ianto and I could have explained to Taye..."
She shrugged, "I know. Can we just do this?"
Jack sighed and nodded. They reached the top of the stairs. The large cylindrical room was full of fancy furniture and only marred by the wall of tourist brochures. They spread out and searched the room. Removing pillows from couches, opening draws and cupboards.
"There's nothing here," Gwen finally said. Her voice was almost hollow and monotone.
Jack nodded, "Yeah..." He watched as she headed to the stairway up, but moved to intercept her. He blocked her way, "Gwen. If you need to talk..."
She glared at him. That glare that always made him just a little afraid of her. Very few people in his life could do that. His dear friendRomi had been one of them, Gwen, even Astra had a glare that could stop him in his tracks. Why was it that the women in his life could do that? "Jack, let's just do what we came to do," She attempted to push past him again.
"No," He said firmly, then pushed her down onto one of the antique couches What happened to Ed Morgan wasn't your fault. For heavens sake Gwen, you were a cop and he did a horrible thing to that poor girl. He was suicidal. one way or another he was going to die!"
She didn't look at him for a few moments, but then stared up at him, hatred burning in her eyes, "BUT IT DIDN'T HAVE TO BE BY MY HAND!" She cried.
Jack knelt in front of her, "I'm sorry Gwen. I really am..."
She shook her head and got up, "Forget about it Jack. We've got work to do."
-T-O-R-C-H-W-O-O-D-
Ianto and Taye spread out as the entered the room on the ground floor. They heard Jack and Gwen making their way upstairs. They split up and circled the room. They gave it a once over without touching anything first, but then started to go through cupboards and draws.Taye dropped to the floor, checking under a desk, three chairs and a couch.
He got up and shook his head, "Nothing."
Ianto nodded in agreement, "Shall we go to the third floor?"
Taye nodded, "Yeah."
They made their way up the stairs, much the same way Gwen ad Jack had earlier, but instead of entering the second floor room, they continued onto the third. This room was definitely a storage room. Boxes piled on top of each other covered most of the open space. Ianto heard Taye groan.
"Let's get this over with..." Ianto said. They started looking on top of the boxes, inside the boxes, behind them. The boxes contained tourist brochures, souvenirs and various other things for the tourist shop on the bottom floor. They were making their way towards the other side of the circular room whenIanto felt something odd in one of the boxes. Looking down, he saw a large black thing. There was a screen that took up half of the item. He picked it up and turned it over in his hands, "I think we have something..."Ianto said.
Taye came over and looked at it, "Looks alien."
Ianto nodded and tapped his ear piece, "We've got it."