I'll be updating daily from now on since I've finished the fic! Yay!!! So anyway -ahem-, I'm starting my own little version of Torchwood series 4. And if you hate spoilers, don't look at the bottom of the page for the one thing I can guarantee you... Also, last chapter of this fic has a slight xover with Doctor Who series 4 with Donna. Just an FYI

Enjoy!


After a long fight with PC Andy, Jack finally persuaded him to give Torchwood custody of the child. That was, of course, after long periods of flashing Torchwood badges and reluctant coaxing from Gwen. She had never seen her boss so worked up before. This flash from his past must have really worked him up.

Then there was the issue of not having enough space in the SUV. That was when Andy had enough. He refused to lend him a squad car. A very pissed Jack had Owen call up a cab instead. "Gwen, you ride with Maria," Jack ordered, "See if she says anything else. Everyone else, with me."

Gwen climbed into the cab with the five year-old girl and told the taxi driver to let them off at the Millennium Center. The former police constable mentally noted that Jack owed her a little more on her next paycheck for paying the cabbie. Throughout the whole ride, she tried to make small talk with Maria, but the girl simply stared into space. Gwen almost had to pull her out of the cab.

"Come here," Gwen said, leading Maria along to the invisible lift. The slab of concrete descended underground and Gwen soon saw the Torchwood team watching her come down.

"So…" Jack prompted.

"Nothing," Gwen said, looking at the girl. "She said nothing the whole time."

"Scary," Maria pointed at the captain. Owen snorted but stopped when Jack shot him a glare that was filled with fear.

"What are we going to do?" Tosh asked.

"Well, we can't keep her in the vaults," Jack decided. "Get that spare room in the back proper for her Ianto."

"Yes sir," the Welshman replied and went off on his assignment.

Jack knelt down in front of Maria. "Are you her?" he asked before leaving.


It was six in the evening. Jack had nothing to do because, well… he couldn't think of anything to do. He was clueless. Rift patterns returned to normal which almost destroyed the link between Maria and those incidents. Nothing else unusual happened. For now, everything was a little too peaceful for a typical Torchwood day.

Ianto watched from a distance as Jack redialed the same number over and over again on the phone, only to sigh in exasperation. The impossibility of the case was bothering Jack, but something else was bothering the archivist.

Slowly, Ianto made his way over to Jack's office. "Jack?" he asked, slowly sneaking into the office. Jack looked up and tried to plaster a smile on his face. It didn't work to well as Ianto saw right through it. "What did Tosh tell you? When we were driving to the orphanage? Why Owen was angry"

"He was hung-over," Jack lied.

"Then he wouldn't even be on the case today," Ianto countered and strolled to Jack's desk. He placed his palms on the sturdy wood and looked Jack in the eye. "What did Tosh say?"

Jack saw that there would be no getting out of this one, no matter how hard he tried. "Owen thinks the reason you're out in the field is because you're shagging me."

Ianto's face flickered with hurt for a moment. Jack looked on in sympathy and reached out for the other man's hand. "Which is partly true," Jack continued, coming around the desk, "because I want you by my side." Jack pulled Ianto in for a tight embrace. "Don't listen to Owen. He's just being… well, Owen."

Ianto stayed silent and wrapped his arms around Jack. The two of them could have stayed like that forever if it wasn't for the ringing mobile on Jack's desk. The captain glanced over at the caller ID and immediately picked up.

"I've been calling all evening!" Jack accused to the person on the other side of the phone, who was most probably on the other side of the universe and time.

"Sorry. Little trouble with the Ood. Actually, still in it right now. Is something wrong?" the man on the other side asked.

"Why else would I call you?"

"True. Donna watch out!" the Doctor cried to his new companion. "What?" the Doctor asked Jack.

"The Rift…" Jack began but he heard a melancholy song at the other end. "Doctor, what's that song?"

"Well, I sort of locked in a cage with a bunch of Ood right now. Make it quick Captain."

"The Rift. No readings at all but stuff just pops up all around town."

"Nothing Torchwood Cardiff can't handle. You lot were at the end of the world."

"But Doctor," Jack persisted. "We've linked a little girl to it."

"So?"

"Her eyes. There're like…" Jack found that we couldn't go on anymore. "I'd know that face anywhere. She saved Rose."

"Who?" the Doctor asked. "For the universe's sake Captain, get to the point- oh…" The Time Lord realized what his immortal friend was indicating. "Can't be. How old is she?"

"Five."

"No…"

"What do I do?"

"I wish I could help you Captain, but Donna and I are kind of stuck here."

"You've got the TARDIS."

"Jack. I can't take care of every problem for you. Just know that one way or another that fixed point in time as to be there. No matter how much it hurts, Jack, she has to be there."

"I can't just send her to her death!"

"Welcome to my life." With that, the Doctor dropped the call, leaving Jack at the same point he had started from when the evening began.

Ianto looked at his lover expectantly. "We're on our own," Jack sighed and threw the mobile back onto his desk. Stepping out into the main Torchwood area, he said, "Owen, full medical report on the girl. Gwen, go with Owen and see if you can get a word out of her. Take this with you." The captain tossed the sketchbook.

"Coffee, Teaboy," Owen said.

"He's not the Teaboy," Jack snapped, "But just get him some coffee before he gets even more annoying than he already is."

"Yes sir," Ianto replied and disappeared to the coffee machine.

"Tosh! Any luck?"

"No," she replied sadly. "I'm analyzing the spikes now."

"Check both American and English government agencies for anything regarding her."

"American?" Tosh questioned. Jack quickly pulled up the page that he and Ianto had discovered about the FBI case. Tosh nodded in understanding. "But she has a Cardiff accent."

"And we fight aliens every day. Disregard the accent. If anything links tell me."

Tosh nodded and continued to type as Jack wandered over to the medical wing. He leaned against the railing as Owen and Gwen came in with Maria. "We're just going to do some tests," Owen said in an angelic voice. Jack almost laughed at how fake it sounded. Owen glared at his boss before directing his attention back to Maria. "This is Gwen," he introduced. "She'll hold your hand if you need it."

The little girl nodded and looked back at Jack Harkness. She tilted her head in question and then looked at the doctor again. Owen was holding a hypodermic. Maria shook her head slightly, as if objecting to being poked at. Owen rubbed some iodine on the girl's arm as Gwen comforted her. "It will only be for a second," she said.

"When did I become a pediatrician?" grumbled Owen and carefully inserted the needle into Maria's bloodstream. Maria closed her eyes shut tightly.

"You can open your eyes now," Gwen told Maria in a motherly sort of way. Owen was capping the syringe with the girl's blood and setting it on a tray.

"You've been to the doctor's before?" Owen asked. Maria nodded. "I'm just going to check your ears, nose and eyes. Is that OK?" Maria nodded again and Owen began his procedures.

"Nothing out of the ordinary," the doctor informed his boss as he took out another instrument. In his hand, he held a small hammer-like tool. "This is going to test your knee jerk reflex," Owen told the girl. "I'm going to hit you slightly on your knee. Just stay still OK?" Maria nodded again, refusing to speak.

Owen let the hammer tap slightly on the girl's left knee. No reflex. "Is that bad?" Gwen asked.

"No. Only if she jerks her other knee." Owen proceeded to tap the right knee. This time, there was a response. Owen furrowed his brow. "I'm going to do this again, OK Maria? If you need to kick, don't hold back alright?" Maria nodded and Owen repeated the test, only getting the same results.

"What does it mean?" Jack asked.

"Neural or nervous damage. Electrical signals aren't going to her brain." Owen put up the tendon hammer. "Usually you're supposed to get the same reaction on both sides. Both kick means the electrical signals go to your brain. A negative means that the signals aren't getting there, but that just means you don't have that strong of an electricity flow to your body. Right now, it means that the left side of her brain is negative."

"Left side?" Gwen asked.

"Your nerves cross over. Left brain controls the right side of your body and vice versa. Where's that coffee?"

"You're in the middle of an examination Owen," Jack scolded just as Ianto appeared.

The archivist handed a folder to Jack and the coffee mug to Owen. "Tosh told me to give you that," Ianto said, talking to Jack. The captain nodded contently as he flipped through its contents. In it was a complete history of the girl in America, named Mary oddly enough, and Maria of Cardiff. "She also said that the Rift analysis might take a while."

Jack nodded and directed his attention to Owen and his five year-old patient. "So…" Ianto said, gesturing at Maria.

"Vitals look good. Blood test is running but apparently she's got nerve damage," Owen filled him in. He was about to crack another sarcastic statement but thought better of it under Jack's slightly glaring face. Had he not forgiven him about earlier? "We might have to test psychological. See if she's been in any trauma etcetera. And rift activity, if she's linked to the incidents across town."

"What have you got there?" Gwen asked, indicating the folder.

Jack gave them a look that seemed to say, not in front of Maria. They looked back in understanding and the question dropped at that.

Just then, Tosh called to her boss. "Jack!" she cried as the captain made his way over. "So I cleared up the scanners. It turns out there was an interference with the machines."

"What sort of interference?"

"Like a transmission. The Hub automatically accepted it and it canceled out the scanner for just long enough before the 'aftershock.'"

"Can we trace it?"

"Unknown source."

Jack's shoulders drooped in frustration. "Boardroom in five," he ordered.


They sat around the table in silence for what seemed like years before Jack came up and slapped the file on the table. No one moved as Jack sat down. Letting out a grunt, he motioned at the file. "Go on," he offered. "Dissect it. Tell me what you think."

Reluctantly, Gwen made the first move and took a paper out of the file. The rest of her team members followed suit, switching papers after they were done reading them. Jack started on passively, interested on what his team had to say when they were finished. If he guessed right, they had nothing to say. Nothing that they felt wouldn't hurt the situation.

He was right. Owen placed the last paper back into the file and even took the time to neatly straighten the papers. No one met Jack's gaze.

"So?" their boss prompted.

Still no one spoke.

"As I thought," Jack told them and then stood up. "Sleep on it," he ordered them. "This ends tomorrow."

With that he waved at the door. They were all anxious to escape Jack's presence, but Ianto stayed behind, knowing it was only right.

"You can go home if you want to Ianto," Jack said softly. No stay please. Please stay. I need someone. I need you. But Jack knew that he had to be selfless at times as well. He was a fixed point, but that didn't meant the world just had to revolve around him.

Ianto shook his head, as if reading Jack's mind. The captain wondered if maybe that was a possibility. Torchwood One employees had to have demonstrated a certain amount of telepathic ability and when they joined, they had to receive more training on it. "You need me here," the younger man said, taking Jack's hand.

Jack nodded subtly, leading Ianto to his office and the bed that lay in the adjourning room. There was none of the usual "fun" tonight. Ianto knew that Jack just wanted to rest. All the immortal needed that night was someone to hold him and listen to his heartbeat. And all Ianto needed was the same exact thing.


Spoiler for my upcoming fanfic: You have been warned!

|
V

Ianto is totally coming back in a mysterious way, because I can't live with emo Jack.