Thank you again!! I can't say how much I appreciate the lovely reviews… you guys make my day every time.

Discliamer: I take no responsibility for marital squabbles over whether it's Bobby or Robert ! ;-) LOL
(Thank you for that smile. I can really appreciate it.)

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Chapter Four: Bad Behaviour

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"Timmy!" Abby jumped out of Mickey's big black truck before he'd even come to a full stop and ran across the car park when she saw Tim leaning up against the railing looking out over the bay.

He turned at the sound of her voice and smiled. It was a forced effort.

Abby swept him into a huge hug. "I heard what happened. Are you all right?"

He held her a moment before disentangling himself from the warmth of her embrace. "Yeah, yeah, I'm fine," he couldn't shake the feeling that everybody hated him; he'd used not feeling well as an excuse to get out of the Hub and get some fresh air. The truth was he just wanted to be away from the others… especially Ianto and Jack. "Word travels fast, huh?" he tried to turn it into a joke. "The new guy is an idiot," he didn't laugh and he couldn't make himself meet her gaze.

"Don't say that! Everybody makes mistakes and Jack said it wasn't even your fault."

Tim stuffed his hands into his pockets, "I could have gotten somebody killed, Abbs." Ianto. Jack. Myself… If Abby had been there… he'd wanted his first assignment to be with her, but if it had been her and not Ianto… not that nearly getting a stranger killed was any better than getting a friend killed. "Maybe I should stick to writing."

"You can't quit over one bad day! Come on. There's a café down boardwalk, let's go get a cup of coffee. It won't be as good as Ianto's, of course. But sometimes getting away is what really matters." She slid her arm into his, clearly not going to take no for an answer.

He forced another smile. Somehow he had the feeling that the last thing he should do right now was ask Ianto Jones for a cup of coffee anyway. "I can't believe you started drinking coffee," he said.

She shrugged. "It's all Ianto's fault. I barely touch the stuff except for his."

He nodded and waited while Abby used her com to tell Mickey where she was going before asking about Cowbridge.

"It looked just like you'd expect a town called Cowbridge to look," she told him with a broad grin. "But there were all these neat little shops…I've got to go back! I could only talk Mickey into giving me fifteen minutes to shop. I bought myself a new pair of earrings and some great wool socks. I got you a pair, too."

"You didn't have to… thanks…" he relented to her smile. Just as long as she didn't try to put in a kilt or something…

When they reached the café, he opened the door for her.

"Hey, Tarra!" Abby called to one of the waitresses. She was young and had deep cherry red hair and thick black eyeliner; with her uniform she wore skeleton earrings (although that might have to do with Hallowe'en being only a month away… or maybe not). "My favourite table open?" Abby asked.

"Help yourself, Abbs. Tea?"

"Yes, please. And this is my friend Tim... he's like the rest of them with the coffee."

Tarra chuckled and nodded as she got down two cups, one for coffee and the other set up for hot tea.

"Could I pretty please get you to make us a couple of those amazing chocolate malts, too?" Abby begged.

The waitress smiled, "Have a seat and I'll be there in a tick."

"You are SO awesome!" Abby beamed back at her as she made her way to a quiet corner booth. She pulled out of her coat and slid in.

Tim sat down across from her; he still felt glum. "What about whatever it was that landed…?" he asked, mostly to give himself something else to think about than the way Ianto had kept glaring at him, as if he really expected Jack to… or him to…

Abby shrugged, "Just a rock. I took a scraping and some soil samples, but I'm betting it's nothing. It landed in some guy's field, though. Man was he pissed, especially when we told him we were quarantining the field until I could get those tests run," she rolled her eyes. Then, "I wonder if pissed means pissed over here or just drunk," she wondered aloud. "I'll have to ask."

She reached across the table and laid her hands on top of his, "I can't wait for you to meet the rest of the team, you're going to love Gwen and Wendy. I hate being the only woman on shift… but with Gwen being pregnant, she's getting some extra time off. Not that I mind working extra hours… I seriously love this job. I never thought I would… I mean, there I was today mucking around in some guy's field with Mickey, and Jack lets me carry a gun and everything," she grinned. "I am so happy we're going to be working together again. It'll be almost like old times."

"Except for the whole aliens part." And Abby carrying a gun… now that scared him, he was just wise enough not to say as much aloud.

"What is with you today…?" she smiled up as Tarra brought over the malts. "Thanks."

"Any time… you guys need anything else?"

"You hungry?" Abby asked her companion.

"Not really…"

"Just a basket of chips, then," Abby said to the waitress, before he could finish. "They have the best chips here…. But I swear, though, I have got to bug Jack for a long weekend so I can go to London. I've been here a whole month and I haven't been to London yet."

Tim forced a smile. His stomach was tied up in knots and he didn't feel like eating or drinking coffee or even tackling the giant chocolate malt sitting in front of him, even though he loved chocolate malts.

"Are you sure you're feeling all right?" Abby asked. "You look a little pale."

"Yeah. Fine. Just… a headache, I guess."

"No one's going to say anything if you want to take the rest of the day off… it wasn't like you were expecting to start today, anyway."

He waved it off, as much as he really did want to go back to her place lie down. "I'll be fine."

With a forced effort, Tim dug into his malt. He drew the line, however at the basket of 'chips' that arrived a few minutes later, especially when Abby proceeded to drown them in salt and vinegar…

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Tim came back into the Hub to find a new person there… probably not Gwen, she didn't look pregnant. She did look as if she'd stolen half her wardrobe out of Stevie Nicks' old hippie trunk, however.

"So this is the infamous Tim," she said with a raised eyebrow. Her tone was soft, her smile was serene... it made him blush.

"Be nice," Abby instructed. "Timothy, this is Wendy Shutten… Wendy, the infamous Tim McGee."

"I thought I was the only infamous man around here," Jack teased, coming up behind them. He wrapped one arm around each of the ladies' shoulders. Neither seemed to mind.

Tim would have sworn he leered right at Abby, his gaze going straight for her chest… but she remained oblivious. She was too nice… she honestly thought his flirting was innocent…

Jack turned his lecherous gaze on Wendy, wearing a cat that at the canary smile (or maybe a 'king of the castle' smile… his expression practically branded his name across their bodies, marking his territory, lest Tim get any ideas of his own.)

Tim cleared his throat, feeling uncomfortable.

"Are you sure you're all right?" Jack asked; his tone sounding sincere enough, but his expression… "Ianto went to lie down…" leaving me free of the ol' ball and chain for a while, he cast another suggestive little glance at Abby and then Wendy. "Maybe you should too."

Tim shook himself. He felt as if his head was stuffed with cotton. "Yeah… yeah, maybe that's not a bad idea…"

"Yan's already got the bed, but there's a sofa in my old quarters… I used to live here," Jack explained.

"Yeah. Sofa's fine. Thanks, Boss," he tried to smile.

"Here," Abby volunteered to show him down to Jack's quarters… Tim looked at her carefully out of the corner of his eye as she walked him to Jack's office. There was only one logical explanation for her knowing where Jack kept his bed… his bedding (she got him some blankets and a pillow, once they'd descended the ladder…. Having his bedroom right under his office must make for convenient rendezvous, Tim thought.)

"Here," Abby said in a hushed voice, arranging the bedding on the comfortable old plaid sofa. "Just lie down and get some sleep. You're really not looking too good," she added, leaning in and kissing his cheek. "Sorry," she said of the giant lipstick smear; Abby tried to wipe it off with her thumb, but all she really did was smear it around worse. "There's a bathroom through there."

"You ah… you know this place pretty well," he tried to keep his tone neutral. The room didn't exactly scream 'den of iniquity' but he suspected that Jack didn't need much in the way of the usual accoutrements. His aftershave was enough to get the idea across that he had one thing on his mind and one thing only. Tim blinked… his thoughts felt slow… laboured… fuzzy…

Abby was talking: "Sometimes I work nights. Since Jack and Ianto moved out no one's here to keep Myfanwy and Janet company at night."

"Janet?"

"I'll introduce you later," she promised with a bright Abby-smile. "Just get some rest. I'm running some tests on that thing you guys found," her eyes betrayed her concern, even if her tone didn't.

Tim nodded; he found himself not believing she was going to be running any tests… After all, a boss like Jack Harkness, a place this big… there had to be dozens of quiet little corners she and the boss could… he shook himself. The Captain had been very clear… but then again, his partner had been in the room. Not that Tim expected he would have admitted to some stranger that he was sleeping with the female members of his staff.

Abby tucked him in and made her way back up the ladder… Something was definitely off.