Previously:
"Andy" she cried out flinging her arms round him "long time, no see. How have you been? How's the force going? Got yourself a new partner yet?"
Andy stood there looking grave "Mel, I need your help…I need Torchwood's help"
"Andy Torchwood doesn't deal with Missing Persons" Melody said later that afternoon when Andy began his explanation.
"But this isn't an ordinary Missing Person situation Mel" Andy protested, "look" he pulled out his laptop and showed her a CCTV tape.
A young teenage boy was leaning against a pillar of the bridge talking, suddenly there was a flash of light and he disappeared, two minutes later the Torchwood SUV turned up and Jack ran off.
"Your boss is already involved Mel" Andy said "please I need help on this…it will be like old times Sherlock and Watson remember?"
"Which one was Sherlock?" Melody asked a small smile tugging at her lips
"Oh I'm Watson" Andy reassured her smiling back.
After interviewing the mother, Melody felt more determined to find this boy, with the help of Tosh she had discovered every missing person disappeared with there was a small spike of rift energy. As Tosh said the rift not only gives things out, it takes things too.
The little Missing Persons group the mother set up was just prove of how many people had been taken. Melody decided it was time to present her case to the team. Jack looked bored, Gwen looked nervous as if she knew something, Ianto wasn't looking at her in the eye, Owen was prating around and Tosh was the only one backing her up.
Jack said the case was close and the team agreed. Melody couldn't help but feel slightly betrayed by this.
"Why didn't you back me up?" she demanded as they walked home that night
"Melody, Jack, our boss ordered us to leave this case alone" Ianto argued
"No Ianto, you're my fiancée, you're supposed to back me up in these kinds of things, screw Jack Harkness and his orders" Melody snapped
"I rather not be fired and retconned" Ianto snapped back "I rather like to remember who the love of my life is thank you very much"
"Innocents are in danger Ianto" Melody said "it's my job to protect them"
"You're not PC Winters anymore" Ianto said "you're Torchwood and we do what Jack says, we don't go after lost causes"
"If that's how you feel, then maybe we need some time apart"
"What do you mean?"
"I'm going to spend a few days with Andy, he's my best friend and I haven't spent time with him properly since I joined Torchwood. He believes me on this case, hell he brought it to me. He'll help me"
She then walked away ignoring Ianto shouting her name. She marched onwards till she was at Andy's flat, she then spent the night talking to Andy and crying into her pillow. When she woke up the next morning, she was determined to find these people.
She spent all of her breaks with Andy when she was actually at the Hub she spent it glaring at either Jack or Ianto. She refused to speak to Gwen, Tosh and Owen and quite honestly the lovey dovey-ness between Tosh and Owen was becoming rather sickening for her liking.
She and Andy were conferring over a mug of tea and bacon sandwich when she finished off all the paperwork Jack dumped on her, she was about to pay when she realizes that she left her purse on her desk.
She saw someone moving in the greenhouse, worried that Gwen and the baby might be in trouble she ran up the stairs and threw the door open…only to see a topless Jack and a nearly topless Gwen snogging furiously.
"Oh!" she exclaimed blushing
The two pulled apart, Jack had a smug expression on his face while Gwen was blushing just as hard as Melody.
"I…I…I…saw…shall I just go?"
The two nodded and she flew out of the greenhouse. When she reached her desk she found a parcel the messy scribble was similar to Gwen's told her not to open it till she was out of the Hub.
She abandoned Andy. He's furious about it, shouting and screaming at her from his position on the docks but she can't let him get hurt. He's her best friend and if something happened to him she would never forgive herself.
And then she discovered the underground home for those that were driven to insanity due to the rift. Jack wasn't kidnapping people, he was helping them and Melody felt ashamed that the thought of him kidnapping had crossed her mind.
She went to Andy's flat and explained everything, he was cross but he sulkily forgave her, but she had to promise that she'll explain before she abandons him the next time, she could only hope that there won't be a next time.
Then she went home. She sat down in front of Ianto and held on to his hand tightly.
"I'm sorry" she whispered
"Don't be" he murmured "you had to do it, I take it you got the tracker"
"How did you…?"
"I gave it to Gwen when it was her turn, like Tosh gave it to me when it was my turn, like Owen gave it to Tosh and Susie gave it to Owen" Ianto said "it's a legacy for all Torchwood members, a test you could almost say, to see how much we care, how determined we are to defend Cardiff"
"You mean Jack tests us"
"No we test ourselves. We don't encourage, we watch, we assist silently. Tosh pretended to not know about it so she could give you the rift information."
"So you all seen what's there"
Ianto nodded
"It was so dark" Melody whispered
"Susie said it represented to darkness in all of us. She was a very depressing person when I think about it" Ianto said
"Like coming back from the dead and attempting to kill me wasn't a clue" Melody said sarcastically. She then looked thoughtful "I know about your darkness" she said quietly referring to Lisa "but what are Owen's, Tosh's and Gwen's?"
"Gwen's? Haven't got a clue, the only reason she's here is because she wants to be with her husband. Maybe she saw something out there while travelling and that's her personal darkness" Ianto said "Owen and Tosh…two very different stories. Stories I shouldn't really tell you"
"How different" Melody pressed, it was invading their privacy she knew that but curiosity always did get the better of her.
"Before Owen joined Torchwood he was a doctor not so far from Cardiff, he fell in love with a co-worker, Katie I believe her name was. They got engaged"
"Owen got engaged? Mr fear of commitment?"
"Yeah…she had a brain tumour, during an operation they discovered it wasn't a tumour but an alien attached to her brain. Jack swooped in and took it away. But Katie died. Drove Owen over the edge, he tracked Jack down and…well he's determination impressed Jack and he needed a medic at the time"
"So Jack hired Owen" Melody muttered
"From what I can tell Owen had hated Jack for a long time, still resents him at times. But most of it died after a while"
"What killed it?"
"Tosh of course, Owen had always loved Tosh. Tosh was reliable, she was intelligent, she was beautiful and kind and caring" Ianto noticed Melody's jealous expression "I'm only quoting Owen dear" he reassured her, the jealous look disappeared immediately "every time he got drunk he would admit his feelings about her to me. It's been ongoing for years; it's only now that he's completely over Katie and feels ready to pursue Tosh"
"Wow…" Melody muttered
"Tosh…Tosh was a criminal before she met Jack"
"WHAT?"
"She was imprisoned for treason" Ianto said "spies from another country kidnapped her mother, held her hostage, Tosh had to steal UNIT plans and build the weapons for them. She got caught"
"So what happened? How did she get out?"
"The weapon she built…the plans didn't work, shouldn't have worked." Ianto said "but she made them work. It impressed Jack and he used his contacts to get her out, technically this is her punishment, she's not allowed to leave Cardiff without Jack's and the governments permission. She can marry and live a life but Cardiff is her prison cell"
"I don't think she minds" Melody said
"She's got friends that she never had before, she'd got all the technology to play with and she's in love. She's happier with this than she was before the whole thing happened"
"And you tracked this branch down" Melody said remembering the story he told her "after bugging Jack plenty of times he gave in"
"And then there's you" Ianto said softly "you remember how you ended up working here"
Melody shuddered at the memory