A/N: Hey, I've changed the rating to M, because of the content of this chapter and what will be happening later on in the story.
"I think we've annoyed the locals" said Jack, suppressing a giggle.
"We're only been here twenty minutes" Rose murmured, packing away the laptop.
"Has to be a record"
They returned to their work, examining the corpse in front of them. Being a part of Torchwood meant dealing with dead bodies, but it was something that Rose never got used to. The smell was the worst, wafting through the air making you feel unclean.
"Pass me that scanner, Rose"
She handed it over to Jack and there was a quiet bleeping noise as a red light shone from the machine, passing over the body. Jack studied the readings and shook his head. "Yep, same signature".
Rose listened to the commotion behind her, but the even louder voice of a thick Scottish accent stood out. She bit her lip and knelt beside her boss. "There's going to be trouble" she said in a sing voice.
Jack stood up and returned the machine to the medical box next to him. From the distance he could see the forensic team being yelled at by a thin, scruffy man and curly-haired woman. Jack couldn't help but grin, he loved annoying the police.
Rose watched his expression, shaking her head. "If I get arrested, my mother is going to kill you!"
Jack shrugged. "Before or after he does" He said, gazing at the two officers marching towards them.
Without saying a word, simultaneously they both stood in front of the corpse, knowing that the officers would never have seen anything like this before. They needed to prepare themselves.
"Excuse me, who do you think are?" Ellie said, trying to keep her voice calm.
"Torchwood" Jack said as if it was obvious. "And you would be?"
"I'm DS Ellie Miller and this is DI Alec Hardy". she replied. Alec said nothing but his eyes focused on what they were trying to cover up. He stepped to the side but Rose noted his movements and followed, blocking a clear view.
Jack offered his hand to Ellie, smiling the famous Captain Jack smile. "Captain Jack Harkness" Ellie couldn't help but blush slightly and shook his hand.
"Stop it" Rose mumbled.
"And this is my colleague, the lovely Rose Tyler" Jack continued.
"Hello" Rose said, giving a friendly smile, silently praying that Jack wouldn't say the wrong thing.
Alec's eyes drifted upwards taking in Rose's appearance, her shoulder length blonde hair and her… surprisingly lovely smile. He coughed purposefully and the Torchwood dynamic duo turned their attention to him.
"What do you think you're doing?" he asked.
"Examining the body" Jack replied.
"Under who's orders?"
"If I tell you, I'd have to kill you" he laughed but Alec's cold stare silenced him. "Buzzkill" he muttered under his breath.
Rose stepped in before the situation took a turn for the worse. "We haven't contaminated the body, if that's what you're worried about"
Alec glared at her. "Move back, I want to see"
"I don't think…" Rose started, but Alec stepped forward, his piercing gaze making the young woman back away.
Alec's eyes widened.
Ellie slapped a hand over her mouth "What sort of monster…?" Her voice was barely a whisper.
They gaped in horror at the stripped carcass in front of them. A blood trail stained the grass as it led to a pool underneath a pecked clean skeleton. The rib-cage had been cracked open to (by Alec's guess) pull out the internal organs. The smell of dried blood was overwhelming to them, forcing its way down their throats.
Ellie knew that this was the place that the body was killed or possibly eaten. Jack and Rose sympathised with them, and knowing that it was the same reaction they had earlier that day.
Ellie stepped back, gasping for air. "How could anything?" She looked to Jack for answers. "How did this happen?"
"We don't know" he simply answered.
Rose looked at Alec, his expression was cold, but not distant. She knew he was holding it in. She wasn't sure if it was the anger or the disgust of the crime, but she knew that he would do everything humanly possible to catch the killer.
Ellie spun around and began to gag. Rose instinctively went to her side and patted her on the back. "Maybe we should get you back to your car" she suggested. She didn't wait for Jack to argue and led Ellie away from the corpse.
Both Alec and Jack watched them leave, anxious.
"We have all the results we need and your team can do their tests" Jack said, walking past Alec with the medical case in his hands.
"Hold on" Alec yelled.
Jack ignored him and continued on his path to his car. Alec saw Ellie sitting in their car, taking deep breaths, while Rose was comforting her. He only caught a brief part of their conversation, "… It's going to be alright…" before trying to catch up with this so-called Captain.
Jack placed the medical case back in the car before Alec managed to catch up with him. He could see the thunderous expression on his face and knew exactly how this was going to end.
"DI Hardy, I'm not trying to step on any toes. Let's try to be professional"
By the car, Rose saw Jack trying to reason with Hardy but her attention was focused on the shaken woman in front of her.
"You okay?" she asked.
Ellie nodded taking a sip of water from a bottle in she found in the side pocket. "I've never heard of Torchwood" she mumbled.
"We're not from around here" Rose answered.
"You're from London" It was a statement not a question.
"Yeah, born and bred"
"What are you doing here?"
Rose opened her mouth to answer but she heard the voices behind and assumed… no she knew that Jack had said the wrong thing.
"Torchwood has no authority here!" Alec shouted, eyeing the man in the military coat.
Rose trudged over to the bickering pair and Ellie quickly followed.
"Hey!". At first Alec assumed it would be Ellie shouting, but was stunned when he saw Rose walking closer. "Let's try to remember that an innocent person is dead"
Alec nodded. "Yes… we need to let our team…"
"No need" Rose cut in, "We identified the body as Billy Hanson just before you arrived"
Alec raised an eyebrow at her, puzzled. "How?"
"We matched the dental records already" answered Jack as Rose stood next to him.
Alec placed his hands on his hips, hardly believing what he was hearing. "You can't…"
"Spec ops" Rose clarified. "We get this information quicker than you. Stops any sort of delays"
Suddenly the thought of Helen hit Ellie. She had no idea, absolutely no idea. Ellie mentally kicked herself remembering how she judged Billy and called him a coward. Once the findings had been confirmed from a trusted source, Helen would need to be notified. Alec eyed both of the newcomers suspiciously. He didn't like not being kept in the loop.
Ellie sensed Alec's growing temper. "Would you both be willing to come to the station so we can talk about this properly?"
Years of working together, Jack and Rose didn't need to be telepathic to know what they were both thinking and the same time said "Of course".
Alec scowled, not sure who he was more annoyed at the intrusion of an unknown team or that Ellie was so calm.
"I hope this isn't an arrest, DS Miller?" asked Jack, in his most charming voice.
"Not yet it's not!" snapped Alec.
Jack frowned and pouted slightly. Rose shook her head, disapprovingly. Jack, I love you, but need to know when to shut up.