Author's Note: I feel like this story is dragging a bit, but I've so many loose ends. Please let me know if you'd rather I end it swiftly, or continue on with other stories.
Martha walked around the main room of the HUB, stopping by the little kitchenette. On the wall there was a small series of post-it notes, each one labeled with a chore and how to do it. The very top one was less formal. Martha plucked it from the wall and read it.
"If ever I'm not able to come in, or I've finally given in to Torchwood and been driven mad, these are the basic functions that need to be performed in my absence. There is no point in making this more detailed, you guys'll pick up the slack, or I will when (if) I get back.
~Ianto Jones
P.S: Please do NOT touch the coffee machine. I don't care if I'm dead. NO ONE TOUCHES IT."
Martha laughed at that and then looked at the notes more closely. There were thirteen of them, not an exorbitant amount of work, but each one had six or seven points, and each task seemed more grueling than the last. Martha sighed, taking the first one down to complete it.
"Feed the Weevils:
The Weevil food is in the crate just inside the door of Cell Block A.
There are currently 23 weevils in residence.
Each get one liter of food a day.
Except Janice. She gets half as she is on a diet.
Jack is not allowed to feed Janice.
He is the reason she is on a diet.
Weevils cannot eat chocolate cake."
Martha smiled and shook her head. If ever there was an old married couple. She did a quick mental check of the layout of the HUB, and headed down to the Cells. Several of the sharp toothed, boiler suited creatures leapt at her from the corners of their cells. She couldn't help but jump at their every snarl and scratch. She moved quickly, grabbing the container of ground meats from the cabinent and scooping the servings in their paper bowls. Each bowl was then quickly tossed into the cells until she was at the end, a half bowl of Weevil Food for Janet. She could see why the creature was on a diet. Her boiler suit was bulging and her face was rounder than any other weevil. Chocolate cake indeed. She tossed it in, and watched with fascinated horror as the weevil tore at the container and messily devoured it. Then, as though in thanks, the weevil turned and bowed at Martha ever so subtly. The woman smiled. No wonder Jack had taken a liking to this one, she was nearly intelligent.
That chore completed, Martha left the cells, stopping in the kitchenette to wash her hands vigorously. She glanced back at Gwen, who was snoring loudly, her arm hanging off the edge of the couch and her leg sprawled over the back. She laughed softly, and grabbed another post-it from the wall.
"Feed the Team:(Only applicable if team mates are alive/ it's meal time.)
Owen is dead. He doesn't eat, but he likes to insult those who do, just brush it off. He has a right to be an arse.
Tosh will probably ask for a salad with no fat dressing. Get full fat, she can afford the calories, and add some biscuits from the cupboard if it's been a bad day.
Gwen will order something full of fat and carbs. Most likely meat or something covered in meat. Bring her extra napkins and the antacid from the drawer if this is the case.
Jack's food choices vary widely, from sushi to fried chicken. Just cater to his food whims, and try not to stare.
Martha couldn't help but laugh. The Welshman was so caring. She put that note back up, knowing that it wouldn't be needed for a while.
"Cleaning the Autopsy Bay:
Hopefully Owen has been merciful in his dissection/surgery/experiment and left you little to no mess.
That little ray of hope was dashed huh?
Sterilize all surgical instruments. It's the big silver box on the counter.
Mop/sweep/scoop-remains-from the floor. All things not marked for preservation is to be tossed into the incinerator.
(If Owen is really being an arse, toss something from his desk that looks important in too.)
Put all bodies/severed limbs/Pokémon into the morgue or incinerator as directed.
DO NOT LEAVE WEEVIL BODIES OUT. They explode when they decay, and that is a mess
Martha snatched the note from the wall, walking to the autopsy bay. There were two creatures in there, one looked to be ill, and was on the autopsy table, the other one looked little better, and was beside the table. It's limbs entwined with the other creature and a softly gurgling sound emanating from it. Martha coughed slightly, and the second creature turned slowly around. He grabbed the translator from the table and flicked it on.
"Who are you? What do you want?" Even through the translation she could tell that the creature was tired.
"I'm Martha Jones. I'm a friend of Torchwood." The creature seemed to nod.
"You are here to help us? Or torcher us like those UNIT people." Martha swallowed her anger. Unit had always been evil but this was a new low.
"I'm here to help. To watch over you until the others can get back." HE seemed to nod again.
"How many of Torchwood died. How many deaths are we responsible for." Martha wanted to reach out for creature, despite it's appearance it was obviously upset.
"None. No one died. Captain Harkness and Mr. Jones are in the hospital, injured, but alive." The creature's color seemed to brighten slightly.
"And Miss Sato, Doctor Harper?"
"Toshiko was injured, but is well enough to go home, and Doctor Harper is watching over her." Glib made a gurgling sound.
"Thank the stars. Is there anyone who can tell me exactly what happened? I would like to know how to thank for saving my partner." Martha blinked, the bunt use of that word slightly jarring. They were a couple then, that explains the attatchment.
"Not as of now. I only vaguely know the details myself." There was a stirring from the autopsy table and the other creature, Fall, rose slowly. Glib grabbed a bottle of water from the table with one tentacle, and poured it over the other creature. Martha noted the change in color wherever the water touched.
"I can tell you what I know." Glib wrapped his tentacles around Fall, assurances and affirmations pouring forth far too fast for the translator to pick up.
"There is no need now, I'm just glad that you're alive." Martha made to leave, figuring it polite to give them their privacy, but the paler one gently placed a tentacle on her shoulder.
"Come human, you should hear this too." She swallowed her fear of the touch and nodded stepping closer.
"When they separated us, I feared for your life. With what they did to me, stringing me up and cutting, burning ripping my flesh, I could only hope that they had swiftly killed you." Martha held a hand to her throat. It sounded so much like what the Master had done to Jack on the Valiant. She was horrified that UNIT was capable of such cruelty.
"Then I heard them speak of the thing that stole you, and I knew that you were dead. You couldn't be alive." Martha's brow furrowed, and Glib turned to her.
"The one you call Myfanwy." A tentacle pointed upwards. "Swooped in and carried me here. Ianto Jones brought me down, and Doctor Harper healed me." Martha smiled. It seemed to second nature for Ianto to help.
"Ianto Jones! He, he saved me, they were doing to him as they did to me. I heard his screaming, saw his wounds. They were testing the things that the made from me on him." Martha's fist clenched tightly at her sides. No one had spoken of testing.
"What kind of experimenting?" Martha nearly growled, and Glib and Fall shared a look.
"They injured his eyes, making it so that he could barely see. Then they injected him with sum serum made from me, and his sight came back. But when he rescued me, he said it was leaving him again. Unstable, they called it." Martha could have screamed. They had blinded Ianto, for the sake of testing! But then she froze and turned quietly to Fall.
"He saved you? But you said he was injured." Fall's color changed slightly
"He was. I do not know how, but he and Captain Harkness carried me into the light. I thought I was finally safe, until the Vile woman shot the Captain in the heart. Then they both collapsed, Ianto and the captain, and I on top of them. I was unconscious after that." Martha simply nodded, numbed by this information.
"It appears, Martha Jones, that both Fall and I have to thank Ianto Jones for our lives. Tell me, when will we be able to?" Martha's throat went dry, and she turned sadly to the creatures.
"I don't know. He is comatose. He may never wake up." There was a high pitched keening sound from the two creatures, and they both turned a near fiery red.
"We both owe him a life debt. We must serve that." Martha shook her head.
"He won't want you too. He only did it to see you live free." The aliens, rose on their tentacles.
"It must be served, or we will perish. An empathic being like him has sealed himself to us with the act." Martha nearly laughed.
"Ianto? An Empath? He's good at reading people, sure, but an Empath? You have to be kidding me!" The creatures sat back down, but their colors remained the same.
"He is, and a powerful one. He has formed a bond with the Captain Harkness. They are a pair, like Fall and I." Martha blinked and then nodded. She was out of her depth and in Doctor territory.
"All right then. Tomorrow I'll go to the hospital and check on Ianto. Fall laid back down on the table, paling considerable back to blue.
"The vial. It had the serum in it. Captain Harkness had it. Bring it here." Martha was confused, but nodded, scribbling the point on a scrap of paper from Owen's desk.
"Alright, Yes. I shall." This seemed to placate the two creatures, as they turned ti each other, the words coming from the translator were enough for her to quickly shut it off and rush from the autopsy bay, back to the kitchenette with a blush.