Welcome to Torchwood

Tuesday found Rose and Joshua at Torchwood. Rose still had to talk to the Arcadians. While the Earth ddn't depend on the trade, it was nice to get a few things she missed from traveling in the TARDIS.

Joshua had his own negotiations this morning. He made his way towards Pete's office. Or he would have, if he knew the way. He hadn't wandered far, though, before Jake met up with him.

"Jake! Can you help me out?"

"Wacha need, Doc?" Joshua cringed at the nickname.

"Don't...don't call me that. Listen, could you point me in the direction of Pete's office?"

"I'm headed there myself, mate. You made a decision yet?"

"I...yeah. I'm going to for now There isn't much I can do right now. And honestly, I don't want to let Rose out of my sight."

"Still adjusting?"

"We both are."

"Anything I can do to help?" Joshua smiled at his friend. His only friend, really.

"Not really. This is something we have to figure out on our own."

"Fair enough. But really, if you do need something, let me know."

They walked towards Pete's office, sharing stories of their escapades since the last time they'd seen each other. It had been four years for Jake and two (technically three) for Joshua. Two years and a change of species. His life was exceptionally weird.

They entered Pete's office without knocking. Neither seemed perturbed by the withering look Pete gave them.

"You know, I could have been busy." Jake snorted as he and Joshua plopped down into chairs.

"Please, if you were busy, you wouldn't be in your office."

"True enough. Well, what bring both of you two my office?" Joshua fidgeted for a moment before answering.

"I came to tell you that I made my decision."

"Oh?"

"For now, I think, I'll work here. I may eventually change my mind. But I see what you've done here and I like it. I want to be a part of it."

"That's great. Rose did explain that we do a full physical, right?" At Joshua's confused look, Pete sighed.

"Umm, well, no, she didn't tell me. What will this all entail?"

"A physical, stress test, a psychological, and a psychic test."

"That's...wow." Pete let Joshua process everything for a moment before he continued.

"The physical is just your basic physical. The stress test monitors your responses to a variety of different stressful situations, including physical exertion. The psychological is exactly how it sounds. After I rebuilt Torchwood, I wanted people that were of decently sound mind. Having an imagination and an ability to be flexible and cope to new situations was also key. So we screen for that. The Torchwood here is known worldwide. We have branches in almost every country. We don't just deal with Great Britain like the other Torchwood did. Anything we do is for the benefit of the entire world. Lastly is the psychic. I only used that term because it's what most people know. We specifically test telepathy. Nothing too invasive, but we do want to see, on our more talented staff, that they can erect barriers quickly."

"I don't...I don't want someone strange in my head."

"Well, how about this. Get through the other tests and we'll cross that bridge when we get there." Pete smiled reassuringly at Joshua before nodding towards Jake.

"You think you can handle taking him around the facility today, Jake?"

"Oh, I think I can cope with it."

"Alright. Just, make sure to swing by before you leave."

~DW~~DW~~DW~

The day passed quickly for Joshua. The physical was just what he expected. There were a few scans he wasn't expecting, but after they were explained, he conceded. It would be nice to see on paper what he did and did not have compared to the Time Lord.

The stress test was not anything like he expected. Diodes were attached to him, but there were no wires hanging off of him. He was first placed in a virtual reality type helmet, which went through scenarios. The diodes measured his physical reactions. He also wore the diodes through a short obstacle course.

The psychological was a bit worrisome. The woman conducting it would raise her eyebrow at every few questions. He knew, well before the end, that she viewed him as clinically insane. Most who had to deal with him thought that. In the other Universe, he was certifiable on at least thirty planets, not mentioning his home world.

Finally, it became time for the psychic test. He was placed in a room that looked very similar to an interrogation room. And he waited. The longer he waited, the more nervous he became. Finally, the door across from him opened. He held his breath but let it out quickly when it was Rose who walked through the door. She smiled at him before taking the seat across from him.

"What..what are you doing here, Rose?"

"I'm the one testing you." Joshua looked confused, so she pressed on. "After the Game Station, I noticed it. I'd practice with the TARDIS for hours on end. I was afraid to bring it up to you and she promised me she wouldn't. Then we were separated. At first, it was difficult being here without having the TARDIS in my head. I finally began to cope, when we welcomed out first openly telepathic race here for asylum. They are actually the ones who normally do these tests but after your concern earlier, Pete asked me if I would do it."

"I...that was very thoughtful of him. So, how are we going to do this?"

"Well, you're a touch telepath, so let's start with that." Before Joshua could nod or draw in a breath, Rose grabbed his hands tightly in her own.

"Now, the point of this is to try and keep me out. I'll start slow then work my way up. Then we'll switch and you'll try to get into my mind. Ready?" Joshua nodded, and Rose began.

The touches were fleeting at first. Almost as if she were testing the waters. She quickly fell into a rhythm, bombarding his mind. He quickly threw up shields. Since his world was gone, he hadn't kept up with his telepathy as much as he should have. That was the biggest reason that Reinette was able to get into his mind so easily.

And he wanted to let Rose into his mind, so badly. Not that he wanted her to see everything. He had many skeletons in his closet. But the intimacy that could be shared through this joining was...brilliant.

Rose's onslaught on his mind slowed, then stopped. She stayed, just on the edges of his mind. He could feel contentment rolling off her in waves and knew she felt about this the same way he did. It took him a moment to realize that she was waiting for him to start his assault.

He started tentatively, just as she had. He was quickly convinced that she did know what she was doing and he doubled his assault. He slammed into her barriers, trying to find a weakness. She, surprisingly, didn't seem to have any. He lost track of time, but finally, he tired. Her defenses were better than his, if he were honest.

They hovered for a moment, on the edges of one another's mind. Finally, though, Rose broke contact. Joshua almost whimpered in response.

"C'mon, love. It's lunch time. After that, we'll go take a look at the cannon." Joshua could only nod, his head still spinning from the contact of her mind to his.

~DW~~DW~~DW~

They grabbed something from the cafeteria and ate in Rose's office. Jake joined them after a few moments. Calvin, the head of the R&D Department also joined them.

"Alright, here's the plan. Jake, you and Ryan will have anything that isn't actually tacked on. That includes mirrors and wires that are plugged in. Joshua, I want you to break the solder on all the pieces so we can take it apart carefully. Calvin, your team can take everything down to the Vault. I'll catalog as we go. We probably won't get this all finished today but I want the more delicate parts cataloged and put away. Everyone understand?"

Everyone nodded around the room. Joshua stood, taking his sonic out of his pocket and twirling it between his fingers. He waggled his eyebrows at Rose and shot her a cheeky grin.

"Alright. Let's get this finished."

~DW~~DW~~DW~

They didn't get it finished that first day, mostly because Joshua was awed by the contraption. He kept asking questions on how things worked. He was amazed that they could come up with this. He was even more amazed that it was Rose who'd initially thought of it.

"Well, I did the best I could. I got to thinking about vortex manipulators. We aren't able to craft anything like that but we could mesh the idea of the TARDIS and a manipulator. It took us a while to get it to work. It took even longer for me to find you. Any you."

"What did you use for a focus?" Rose held up a chain with a key dangling from it.

"My TARDIS key."

"Oh, that's brilliant."

Finally, 5:00pm rolled around and every started packing their things away. It was time to go home. For Joshua, it had been a long, informative, and exhausting day. It had also been very, very exciting. He wanted nothing more than to go home and see if Rose would let him into her head for real.