One
Toshiko Sato was never late for work. In the five years she had worked for Torchwood she had never been late once, and today would not be any different. Because there had been a power outage some time after she had gone to bed the night before, her alarm had not gone off at its proper time-luckily for Toshiko, her mobile's alarm served as a back up in case of such emergencies. Unfortunately, her mobile's alarm was set for ten minutes after her regular alarm; thus she was ten minutes later that she's planned and had been unable to stop and get a bite to eat before going into work, luckily, Gwen had mentioned bringing in croissants for the team.
As Toshiko entered the Tourist Information Centre that served as the front entrance into the Torchwood Hub, she saw Ianto sitting behind his desk, perusing a stack of flyers advertising live performances by bands such as Blue Gillespie, whom Toshiko had never heard of. "Good morning Ianto." Toshiko said, smiling kindly at her colleague.
Ianto gasped, and the stack of flyers he had been holding flew around the room, landing scattered all over the floor. Apparently, Ianto had not heard Toshiko quietly entering the shop. "Why are you always so quiet Tosh!" Ianto teasingly reprimanded her, stooping to pick up the spilt flyers.
"Sorry Ianto, it's just my nature I suppose." Toshiko responded, helping Ianto sort out the mess. "Is anyone else in yet?" she asked, handing a stack of pamphlets to Ianto before gathering together another.
"Jack was here earlier, but he left...seemed to be in a hurry. The others haven't arrived yet." Ianto answered, putting all of the flyers into a big pile and setting them on his desk. "He left you a note by your desk." Ianto added, smiling at Tosh.
"Really? What about?" she asked, puzzled.
"I didn't read it." Ianto pointed out, smiling even wider as he tapped the button under his desk that allowed entrance into the Hub.
"Right." Toshiko nodded at Ianto and entered the long corridor that would take her to the lift.
As she reached the Hub, the cogwheel door slid to the side to allow her entry and the metal gate doors parted. Toshiko was shocked that the Hub's lighting system was off, Jack had been there, and since when did he care about wasting electricity? Toshiko turned left and went to the circuit system, turning on the lights. Immediately, the Hub was illuminated.
Going up the steps to her workstation, Toshiko turned her computer on and set it to scan for Rift activity. She found the note, scrawled in Jack's familiar handwriting:
Tosh, when you arrive at work, I would like you to monitor the Rift activity as per usual. I would also like you to check the Torchwood archives and databases over the past 129 years for any strange occurrences involving religious sects. Include all denominations. Thanks,
Jack
Tosh set the note aside and put her glasses on. Looking at her bank of computer monitors she checked the Rift activity detection program that she had developed to quicken the process. Apparently the Rift activity around Wales was no more or less than its usual level, so she closed the program.
Sitting down in her chair, Toshiko quickly reread the note from Jack and began completing the tasks he had asked of her.
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Gwen Cooper had woken up late that morning. Because of the power loss, her alarm had not gone off as planned and both she and Rhys had overslept. Luckily, Rhys had gotten a call from his best friend Banana Boat and had been able to leave the flat in time to be only a few minutes late for work- not that Jack would care...necessarily.
She opened the door to the Tourist Information Centre awkwardly. She had promised the team that she would bring in croissants one day and had figured that Jack wouldn't be quite as cross with her if she brought in one of his favorites. Inside, she spotted Ianto, sitting behind his desk. "Morning Ianto" Gwen, grinning widely.
"Morning" Ianto replied, standing up and opening the door for Gwen as she had her hands full.
"Thanks. How did you get here on time? The power was out last night?" Gwen asked, stepping into the corridor."
"Oh..., I, uh, stayed here last night." Ianto said hurriedly, avoiding making eye contact with Gwen.
"I see..." Gwen said, deciding that if it made Ianto uncomfortable, it was not worth upsetting him. "Is Jack in?" she asked.
"Not at the moment, no. He should be back later." Ianto said, glad that Gwen had changed the subject.
"Well, I guess Jack won't get his croissant, then. Thanks Ianto." Gwen said, closing the door and heading down the corridor to the lift.
Once out of the lift, she entered the Hub and saw that only Toshiko was there. And as usual, Tosh was deep into her work, not even noticing that Gwen was there. "Morning Tosh!" Gwen said brightly, handing her a croissant."
"Good morning Gwen." Toshiko said distractedly.
"I brought you a croissant, as I promised." Gwen added, noticing that Tosh had yet to register the warm breakfast food.
"Oh, right. Thanks." Toshiko said, finally looking away from her computer and seeing Gwen for the first time.
"You're welcome. Have you heard from Owen or Jack?" Gwen asked, setting her belongings down on the workstation next to Toshiko's, the one that had previously belonged to Owen.
"Not Owen. I got a note from Jack asking me to go through the Torchwood archives and databases over the past 129 years that involve religious sects of all denominations." Toshiko replied, removing her glasses and rubbing the bridge of her nose.
"Anything I can do to help?" Gwen inquired, logging on to her computer.
"No, thanks...I'm just feeling a little off today. Must be that storm last night." Tosh said, replacing her glasses and getting back to work.
Gwen knew exactly what Toshiko meant.....
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Owen Harper had been late for work plenty of times. There was one time that he hadn't even showed up for work; it had been his second week working for Torchwood and he'd gone out the night before for a few drinks, which turned into too many drinks. The next day, the hang over from hell had convinced him to shut his mobile off and stay home, making Tosh have to cover for him by posing as a medic, the famous 'Space Pig' incident.
Now that Owen was a dead man walking, he had no use for sleep, and alcohol had no affect on him any more, so instead his spent his nights wandering the streets of Cardiff. Which also meant that he had no reason to late for work anymore.
He entered the Tourist Information Centre and noticed that Ianto was no where to be found. Hmmm, he and Jack are probably shagging right about now....Oh well, they'll just have to take it somewhere else. I've got work to do. Owen thought, exiting the lift and stepping foot into the Hub. Toshiko and Gwen were already working.
As Owen made his way to the Autopsy Room, he noticed that Toshiko did not even acknowledge his presence. That's weird. Usually she's making puppy dog eyes at me. He thought, going down the concrete steps to his new workstation.
Last night, he had finished putting away the body of a victim of a Weevil attack. He had decided to head home for the night and finish the paperwork the next day. Just as he was about to begin on said paperwork, he heard footsteps. Looking up, he saw Ianto carrying a cup of coffee. "I know it doesn't do you much good, but I thought you could use some coffee." Ianto said, handing Owen the warm mug.
"Cheers." Owen said, taking of sip of the warm beverage and feeling nothing.
Taking this as his cue to leave, Ianto turned, and made his way back up the concrete steps into the main Hub area. Owen watched Ianto leave and then took another sip of his coffee. God, what I wouldn't give to taste Ianto's coffee again! Owen thought, wishing he had gotten a hangover and not reported for work the day that Torchwood and Martha Jones had infiltrated the Pharm...that was the day that he had been shot and killed, the worse day of his life.
After a few more moments of self pity, Owen drank some more coffee and set to work on filling out the paper work on their John Doe. He had filled out some papers so often that he could pretty much do it without thinking. The answers were all the same, all that had to be changed was the date and such. I don't know how much longer I can go on like this Owen thought, wishing, not for the first time, that Death had permanently taken him.