I'm so sorry! Life has been so busy, but now I'm back babes!
Thank you to sweetkitty for favouriting, it means a lot!
I hope you enjoy, and please review!
The next few hours went by in a blur for Toshiko. She refused to tell anybody what had happened to her, and Jack seemed to respect her wishes for that matter. It almost seemed as though nobody wanted it to be them who were back, as they scanned them, and interrogated them, and typed furiously on their computers, never letting them see what was on their screens. It felt wrong being on the other side of the screens. It wasn't until Ianto handed her a blanket, and wrapped it around her shoulders, did she realize that she was still wearing nothing but Jack's old shirt. She shivered, and huddled herself into the blanket, burrowing herself between the sofa cushions, not caring how much old pizza was under the cushions, not caring who'd done what on the couch, how much dirt was covering the couch, how many alien spores the cough had picked up in the great Alien Jam Jar incident of '06. She spent some time staring straight ahead of her, hours or minutes, she wasn't sure, but eventually she became aware of somebody kneeling on the ground in front of her, and another body on the couch beside her. She blinked her eyes back into focus, and recognized Jack and Ianto.
"Tosh?" Ianto asked worriedly.
"Tosh sweetie," Jack began, shuffling closer to her across the couch, "We want to take you back to your apartment. You can have a shower, get some you-sized clothes, and get some rest." She nodded absently, and found herself being separated from her warm nest on the couch, and swept onto the invisible lift square by Jack, as Ianto brought the SUV around. As they ascended into the open, Jack shrugged off his coat, and draped it over her small frame. It was big and soft and smelled like Jack, and it was comforting. Something about him had a soothing effect on her, and she felt safe in his presence. She remembered when he'd first saved her from the U.N.I.T prison, and she had been terrified, but fascinated of him at the same time. Maybe it had changed when he'd saved her life for the first time, or when he'd promised her a return to home in 1941. He seemed to trust her as well, care for her more than the rest of the team. A platonic kind of thing, she hoped. She knew what Jack Harkness was like…
But he'd never hurt her, not in a million years.
Her apartment had been vacant for Five months, and she'd been worried about the state of it, but Ianto had assured her that he'd been around a few times, looking for some sort of note, and making sure it was nice for when she did come home. They arrived at her apartment door, and realized with a jolt, that none of them had keys, as she'd left her handbag in the Hub five months ago, it was probably lost somewhere. Jack smartly popped the door open with his shoulder, and held it open for her to go inside. It was the same flat she'd left a day ago. Everything was how she liked it- somebody had tidied it though. The bed was made up, the window ledges had been dusted, and there were fresh flowers in a vase on the kitchen table. She smiled weakly, and slipped into the shower. The water pummelled on her shoulders, massaging her tired limbs. What a day. She stood under the hot water for what felt like hours. But Ianto's insistent knocking on the door, brought her out of her reverie, and she glanced up at the clock- a whole hour. She hurriedly turned off the water, and slipped out of the shower, wrapping a towel around herself, she let herself out of the bathroom, and into her bedroom. She picked out her favourite pair of pyjamas, and smiled she slipped them on. It had only been a day for her, but it felt like a lifetime. She ambled out into the kitchen, where Jack and Ianto were drinking coffee.
"Oh, so you decided not to drain the reservoir?" Ianto asked, with a sarcastic smirk.
"Been there, done that." Jack replied.
"Will he come back?" She asked, fear lashing across her chest.
"No." Jack replied instantly.
"Don't lie to me." She deadpanned, staring at him, her voice was hollow. He paused for a moment.
"Might do. Can't be sure." She nodded.
"Would you like us to stay?" Ianto asked. She nodded, and smiled gratefully.
The days whirled about her in a frenzy of nightmares. She'd dream that she was in the TARDIS, running from a shadow, that whenever and wherever she was, she'd look over her shoulder, and see that shadow. Every time she opened a door, she'd find herself back in her bedroom, and she'd slam the door in the face of whatever was in there. Eventually she'd awake to find herself pinned down to the bed by a member of the Torchwood team, informing her that she'd been having a nightmare- screaming and thrashing all over the place.
She woke up two days after her return, naturally for once. She rubbed her eyes vigorously with her hands, and sat up, looking about her. Sunlight streamed in through a gap in the curtains, and she ever heard a bird chirping outside. Hearing movement in the kitchen, she swung her legs out of bed, and made her way to the source of the noise. The red-haired girl sat at one of the stools at her kitchen bench, flipping through a magazine.
"Morning." Tosh greeted cheerily. The girl spun around, clapping a hand to her heart.
"Gosh, you scared me there!" She exclaimed.
"Why?" Tosh asked with a frown, as she took a mug from one of the cupboards.
"I gave you enough cough medicine to put a horse down." She confided. Tosh backed up into one of the cupboards. There was a moment of tense silence, as the girl inspected the beige suede of her shoes, embarrassed.
"You're good!" Tosh complimented. The girl laughed, and Tosh surveyed her. "What's your name again?" she asked, peering over the top of her glasses.
"Hm? Oh, Adele." She said vaguely.
"Right, sorry, just I didn't…" Adele waved it off. As she did so, something on her hand caught the light, and Tosh gasped, leaping forward and grabbing the hand.
"Is this a-?" Tosh asked in surprise. Adele nodded nervously.
"Ianto asked me a month ago." She mumbled, blushing.
"Oh congratulations!" Tosh squealed, eyeing the neat row of diamonds on Adele's finger.
"We're still not sure if we're going to go ahead with it." She admitted nervously.
"What?" Tosh asked, aghast.
"Well, as we're both working for Torchwood, Jack might not approve." She whispered, eyes wide.
"Jack will!" Tosh exclaimed, pulling a stool from under the bench, and sitting down opposite Adele. "He's happy for anyone to have a chance at happiness, or normality." Adele smiled.
"I doubt we'll ever be normal." She said with a small laugh. "Our kids will probably grow up wandering around the hub!"
"Jack would love that." Tosh told her sincerely.
"Are you two close?" Adele asked. Tosh nodded.
"He's like my best friend and a stranger all at once, you know?" Adele nodded, and said nothing, waiting for her to continue. "Not that Yan's not my bestie any more," she said, putting on a stupid voice with the word bestie. "But Jack understands so much of what has happened to me!"
Adele made a noise of recognition.
"And now it all has happened, I have no idea what I'll do about Owen! I mean I can't be the same around men who I don't know, or know would ever potentially want to be with me, but I sort of found myself drawn to him, yet he can't get to close, you know." Tosh ranted, her speech coming to an abrupt halt. There was a pause in the conversation, in which Adele observed her.
"You must think me pretty stupid if I'm not picking up what's happened." She said, eventually. Tosh hung her head. "I would advise," Adele continued, resting her chin in her palm, "That you don't rant to the others about this, if you don't want them to know." Tosh nodded.
"What do you think happened?" Tosh asked her. Adele sighed slightly, and thought for a moment.
"I think that the skinny one was the assaulter," she began, and Tosh nodded. "He looked upset by something, and you were taking care of him, but I could see he dead fancied you." Tosh swallowed thickly.
"Well done, Holmes." Adele smiled.
"You want to know what else I think?" Adele said, draining her mug.
"What?" Tosh asked.
"I think that Owen is in love with you. He doesn't even know it himself, but he does. He's worried and scared for you, and not being able to be near you is killing him. But I think he'll wait until you're ready." Tosh nodded, and Adele continued.
"I also think that you've slept your worries away, seeing as you're so cheery all of a sudden, and that you ought to have a shower, get dressed, put on those killer boots," she said, gesturing to the brown leather high heeled boots by the door, "and come outside and get some fresh air with me, maybe even stop by the hub?" Tosh nodded, stood up and placed her mug in the sink.
She appeared in the kitchen doorway, dressed in a skirt, blouse, and smart jacket, wearing the said boots. Her gun was clipped to the waistband of her skirt, and she nodded at Adele.
"I'm ready." She informed her new friend. "I'm ready for anything."