Chapter 2
Jack pulled his suitcase down the stairs, it wasn't all that big but he didn't feel like lifting it. He plonked it by the door and was about to leave it there and get a drink when he noticed a letter on the doormat. The envelope was a pale blue colour, crumpled and tatty; it looked like someone had neglected to post it. Carefully Jack picked it up, he studied the writing, familiar, like he saw it every day, familiar. He turned it over curious on whether it had a return address or not, it didn't. He was about to break the seal when he heard a thump coming from the top of the stairs. He put the envelope on the sideboard ready to open later.
"Tegana, I'll do it!" Jack shouted as he reached the bottom of the staircase. Tegana was trying her hardest to haul her suitcase over the first awkward step.
"Leave it!" Jack ordered.
"Ok" Tegana said letting go of the suitcase and watching as it bumped down the 20 odd stairs. Jack caught it, almost falling with the impact.
"When I said leave it, I didn't mean let go!" Jack exclaimed his voice muffled through the fabric of the suitcase. Putting it on the floor he turned it around until he found the handle and then dragged it out to join his suitcase. Meanwhile Tegana bounded down the stairs.
"So are we picking everyone up or are then finding their own way there?" Tegana asked as she met her father coming back through the hallway and towards the kitchen.
"Ianto's meeting us here, but the rest are meeting us at the train station." Tegana nodded to show she heard and carried on to the fridge taking out a bottle of coke. There was a loud knock on the door.
"That was quick!" Tegana said unscrewing the lid of the coke and having to rush over to the sink when it fizzed out of the top. She took a swig out the bottle and realized that Jack wasn't in the room. The knock came again. Thinking it weird that Jack hadn't already answered it Tegana took her bottle of coke and headed to the door.
"Hi Ianto come in, Dad's somewhere!" Ianto stepped sheepishly through the door, it was like he never been here before, they both knew that, it was just how comfortable he had made himself within the house last time he had stayed that made it awkward.
"Got your suitcase?" Tegana enquired seeing that he had come empty handed.
"It's in the car," he informed her. Tegana took a peek outside before she closed the door; flash car, red and shiny! Jack came out of the living room; he smiled and nodded at Ianto -his form of greeting. Tegana sighed, why he wouldn't just say hello like every other person she didn't know! He ushered them into the living room, Ianto sat willingly on the cream sofa, Jack sat in the armchair and Tegana perched on the edge of Jack's chair.
"so I've booked the hotel, and the train tickets have you got the equipment?" Jack asked Ianto.
"Was going to pick it up on the way," Ianto replied.
"Well in that case I think we better get going!" Jack said getting up from his seat and heading to the door. Tegana and Ianto followed. Jack picked up suitcase, opening the door with his free hand. He placed the suitcase on the last step of three that led to their house. Tegana went to pick her suitcase up and put it on the same step when Ianto took it of her and passed it to Jack to save any bother.
While they left Jack to lock the door Ianto and Tegana took the suitcases to the car placing them in the empty boot, careful not to damage the red glossy paintwork.
"Hey you're not leaving your car in the train station car park are you?" Jack asked slightly worried as the car was relatively new.
"No I'm getting my brother to pick it up, he has been admiring it ever since I got it so I thought I'd let him have a go, on the condition that he makes sure that he keeps it exactly like it is." Tegana raised her eyebrows, she never heard Ianto mention that he had a brother and by the way that he reacted he had never told Jack either.
Jack got in the passenger seat and Tegana got in the back. Ianto started up the engine.
It was 11 o'clock at night and Anna Hanigan was out searching for her son, he promised he would be back at half past 10, she suspected him to be drunk and probably wandering the streets trying to find his house. So she wasn't too surprised to find him lying on the pavement not that far away from the house. She sighed and lifted one of Roberto's arms around her neck and hoisted him up from the ground, his whole weight straining his poor mother's shoulder blades.
Anna glanced back to see if any of Roberto's friends where in sight, being that it was his 20th birthday party/binge night she had expected him to be bring friends home, but all she saw was two bodyguards with black helmets and guns walking regimentally away from her. Thinking it odd but not really registering it, she carried on towards home.
Jack opened the door, bright lights blared out.
"Why are the lights on?" Tegana asked, peering pass her father. Jack didn't answer but walked cautiously into the main room.
"Owen!" Jack exclaimed. Tegana and Ianto dashed into the room intrigued by Jack's outburst.
"Ah, Jack, I was wondering when you lot would turn up!" Owen pulled his suitcase towards him ready to leave.
"We told you to meet at the train station!" Jack said shaking his head in utter amusement.
"Oh that's why no one else is here!" Owen realized, took him long enough. Tegana giggled and Owen grinned, he was always getting things wrong and didn't seem to really take note of what the consequences could be.
Jack headed for the weapons and Ianto headed for the laptop. Tegana noticed that Owen had packed a first aid bag which was on top of his suitcase, but everyone had forgotten to include Tosh's analysing equipment within the packing requirements.
Tegana recovered the large case that the equipment went in and started to carefully dismantle the high-tech telescope that Tosh had permanently on her station. Bit by bit she placed it into the case, marvelling at how easy it was to fit the pieces back into the foam shapes that had been cutaway to allow the equipment to be carried safely. Once it was all packed away neatly and placed by Owen's suitcase, Tegana began to search the hub to check that they had missed anything else.
Near Gwen's station there was a small device, that Tegana knew to be called a simulo, she noted that it recorded stuff like a conversation or captured a whole event on audio. She picked it up wondering if her father would find it any help on this case.
"Hey, dad, do you want the simulo?" Tegana popped her head into the armoury, where Jack was placing one of the more futuristic pieces of ammunition in a bag.
"The what?" Jack asked half not understanding what she was asking him and half not having listened in the first place.
"The simulo." Tegana repeated waving it in front of her.
"Oh, that, yes, is that what Tosh called it, simulo?"
"No, that's its real name." Tegana felt like she was talking to someone dumb and not her father who was an expert at most things.
"But we never found out its real name." Jack said. He stared at his daughter, and there was a moment of silence when both wondered how Tegana could've possibly know what the recording, audio gadget was called when no one on earth had ever heard or seen one before, it was an alien gadget that had no place to belong on earth.
"I'll put it in your bag then." Tegana said breaking the silence and trying to move the topic on. It freaked her out, her knowledge being bigger than her father's; she didn't understand how it could be so. She had just looked at the object and instantly knew what it was called.
Jack watched as Tegana left the room. His mind was whirling with unanswered questions and possible answers. He only wished that he had actually caught the Doctor before he gave Tegana to him. At least then he would know and would be able to explain to Tegana when the time came.
"Are you ready Jack? Owen's been waiting for ages, I've got everything we need computer orientated, Tegana seems to have packed Tosh's equipment up, just waiting for you!" Ianto told him brightly although out of the corner of his eye Ianto noticed that Jack looked a little dazed.
"Yep, be there in a sec." Jack said breaking the daze and coming back to the usual Jack. Hurriedly he tied the bag up and slung it carefully over his shoulder, carrying it into the main room.
Gwen and Tosh had found each other in the middle of the hustle and bustle of the Cardiff train station, they were now both searching avidly for any sign of the rest of the team. Gwen looked at her watch, 10 minutes until three, the supposed time that Jack told them he would get there for. Notifying Tosh on this new bit of information, they agreed to wheel their suitcases over to the bench and rest for a while and let Jack find them instead.
Tosh brought a newspaper from the little stall very close to the bench they had parked their suitcase at. She sat down next to Gwen, unfolding the paper and skipping the sports section. She skimmed through the news, stopping to read an article if it took her fancy and then carrying on. Gwen peeped over her shoulder, she was bored, nothing else to do and right now reading a newspaper seemed the only thing to keep her occupied.
"Hey look at that!" Gwen pointed to an article titled 'Son found suspiciously dead after raid.' Tosh averted her eyes to where Gwen was pointing; she read the story of Roberto Hannigan found dead in the streets on the night of his 20th birthday.
"Don't that sound slightly suspicious to you?" Gwen asked.
"What sound suspicious?" Gwen jumped she had been too engrossed in reading the article to notice that Jack, Ianto, Owen and Tegana had joined them.
Tosh handed the paper to Jack pointing out the correct article that he should be reading. With Ianto, Owen and Tegana trying to see it too it became slightly squashed.
"Yeah I agree, suspicious. Look we can talk about it on the train cause if I'm not mistaken that is the signal for us to start boarding." a whistle had gone and Jack had been the only one to notice that people had started to move from the platform and onto the train. He handed the newspaper to Tegana (who had been unable to read it due to Ianto and Owen blocking her view,) and picked up both suitcases, leading the way as they all boarded the train.
'London here we come!' Jack thought optimistically.