A/N: Beta'd by the ever-faithful RedShoeKitty.
A/N: I love feedback, it let's me know if I am doing right or wrong; that being said, enjoy my take on 'Countrycide'!
The excitement with the fae left a bit of a sour taste in everyone's mouth. Without Jeannie's intervention Estelle would have died, and it is quite likely that Gwen would have plowed right through Jack's orders to leave it alone, and something would have happened to her as well. A learning experience for everyone, thankfully with no additional scars to remember it by, the Torchwood team was grateful to see the backs of the fae. Tosh stored the weather-monitoring programme that she wrote, just in case they came back. Jack was cloistered in his office, and if a person could come to blows during a phone conversation, there would be blood; Ianto silently slides in through Jack's door, and takes the phone away from him. Ianto then proceeds to smooth the ruffled feathers of whichever bureaucrat Jack was taking his spleen out on, ending the chat on a high note and a chuckle. Jack had, meanwhile, settled himself into his chair with his arms crossed, his lip stuck out mulishly, which caused Ianto to laugh again once he saw Jack's expression. "We have to play nice; otherwise they'll go running to mama!" Jack says, "But why? 'Mama' is the Queen of England, and she likes us best!" Ianto rolls his eyes, perching near Jack on his desk. "She likes me best, you mean! I'm the diplomatic one in this relationship, and I have no idea how you managed to stay afloat before my arrival!" With this, Ianto leans down to plant a chaste kiss upon his mate's lips before gracefully gliding back out the door.
Jeannie had arrived back during their chat in Jack's office, and garnered the gist of the meeting through their link. Looking over the Hub, Jeannie cannot muster any energy to do any of the things that need to be done, and she heads down to their apartment to brood; Jack and Ianto share a concerned look, and kick the other three out for a long lunch before following her. They enter their apartment to find her prowling around the living space, unable to settle. "What's wrong, beautiful?" Jack asks with his brow wrinkled in concern. Ianto joins them as Jack wraps his arms around her and settles them onto their couch. They can both feel depression and guilt flowing over the link, and she won't meet their eyes. Ianto plants a small kiss behind her ear, "Tell us, it can't be that bad!" Jeannie shudders, and shows them via their link. They see her, at this time of her first life, with two children. They also realize that a birthday is approaching, and this is what has her depressed. Sighing in unison, Jack and Ianto hold Jeannie tighter, knowing that there is absolutely nothing that they can do to fix this. She was pulled out of her time (and off her planet), her DNA messed with, and then dropped back on the right planet, but several years too early. According to her memories, her youngest child had not even been born yet, and he was ten when she was taken. Too cap it all off, even when the two timelines merge again, she still can't go back. That would be really good, "Hello Dear! I'm a cat now!" Yeah, not happening. And so Jeannie is feeling lonesome for something that her mates can't really help her with, except to be there to hold her when she needs it.
Jeannie sniffs a bit, swiping the few tears that fell off of her cheeks, and takes a deep breath. "I can watch them from a distance, maybe be a guardian angel or something when the timelines merge again, but I can never be their mother again. It's gonna take me a bit to get used to the idea; I'll figure it out eventually, but never feel like I love you both any less, or that I cherish what we have any less, based upon what I lost." Her mates wrapped her up mentally and figuratively, ensuring that she was surrounded by love, warmth, and understanding.
Jeannie fell asleep in their comforting embrace, and it was late afternoon when the three surfaced in the Hub again; nothing was said about their absence, and they all got back to work.
Gwen calls Jeannie over to take a look at her monitor; "Does the rift go out to the Beacons? There have been quite a few people going missing in that area, and they want us to look in to it for them, since they can't figure it out." Jeannie's brows draw together, sensing something, but not sure what. "Let's take this to Jack." Jack bounces down the stairs from his office, always happy to leave paperwork behind, and the girls fill him in. He looks around at his team, and decides that they can do a team-building exercise, and maybe look into the disappearances a bit on the side; his mates, hearing what is going through his head, snicker quietly, and Ianto heads down into the bowels to bring up the gear they will need. In the meantime, Jack has called a meeting and everyone trundles up to the boardroom, with Ianto bringing in the usual beverages before seating himself next to Jack.
Once the team has taken a few sips of the coffee and settled down, Jack tells them about the case in the Brecon Beacons, and that he wants to use it as a bonding exercise for the team. Owen is less than thrilled when he hears that they will be camping, and is told to suck it up by his team-mates, leaving him with a disgruntled pout on his face. It's decided that they will depart the following morning, as the rift is supposed to be quiet for a few days, and UNIT can corral any weevils that poke their heads out of the sewers while they are gone; also, Jack broaches the topic of a short vacation for himself and his mates. With the rift in a quiet phase, the team sees nothing wrong with this, and the plans are finalized.
Jack cuts the team loose for the day, with orders to return no later than 0600 the following morning; pastries and coffee will be provided, as usual. With very little fanfare, the Hub empties of its denizens, even Jack, Ianto, and Jeannie leave. They decide to have a meal, and then go see a film, returning to their apartment reasonably early for their trip the following day.
The triad awakens, ready to face the day; they had discussed their vacation plans the evening before, and would proceed to Ianto's cottage, which was an hour or so away from the area they were investigating, once they had finished looking into the disappearances. Suzie was riding up with Jeannie, while the others brought the SUV, and would meet at the camp site that evening; the two girls were looking forward to a day of just hanging out together. Once everyone was present that morning (if not necessarily happy), Jeannie kissed her mates goodbye, and they drove off, travel mugs of coffee and pastries at the ready.
Jeannie entertained Suzie with Owen's antics on the drive (relayed through her mates), and they were both in stitches over his reaction to grass. Jeannie had to pull off of the road for a short time when Suzie imitated Owen's expression and tone of voice. The hours passed enjoyably (at least for Suzie and Jeannie), and they arrived at the cottage late in the morning; after unloading the jeep, the girls sat on the porch with beer in-hand, enjoying the clear weather and clean air.
Suddenly, Jeannie stops talking mid-sentence, and her eyes lose focus; Suzie realizes that something has happened, and her assumption is proven correct when Jeannie's attention snaps back. "There's trouble; someone just nicked the SUV while the team were distracted by a decoy in the woods. I need to go, I can get there faster on four paws than four wheels; let me mark their location on your GPS, and you can follow in the jeep." Suzie nods sharply, and Jeannie programs the GPS while Suzie locks up the cabin. Before Suzie even turns around to head for the jeep, Jeannie has shifted and disappeared, her coloring providing excellent camouflage.
Running flat-out, Jeannie arrives at the small village of Brynblaidd nestled in a small valley, and creeps to the top of a hill to reconnoiter. Her paws make no noise as she creeps around the outskirts of the village, and her fur allows her to blend in quite nicely; she is looking for the SUV as well as trying to find out what is going on. Jack is watching through her eyes as the rest of the team have arrived and are waiting for Jeannie's intel on the village before continuing. Jeannie, crouching in concealment, sniffs the air, opening her mouth to taste it as well; something isn't right here. She doesn't sense anything that shouldn't be here, and there is no rift energy at all, but there has to be something! Her senses are telling her that the place is dangerous; she just has to figure out why before her much more breakable team-mates rush in. As she slinks along close to the ground, she catches the scent of blood; lots of blood; she sees several men walking around carrying bats and shotguns, and passes the information on to Jack. Once he acknowledges receipt, she backs off into the tree line to wait for full-dark; she moves best at night; her mates can clear the village while there is still daylight. While she waits, she considers what her senses are telling her: the villagers are armed, and the whole village is saturated with the stench of blood and fear. Her eyes widen when she realizes that the villagers have to be cannibals; it's the only answer that fits. Jack and Ianto had followed her mental pathway to the same logical conclusion that she came up with, and altered their plan of attack accordingly.
Jack sends Ianto and Tosh to scout around the buildings while he takes Gwen and Owen to search the houses. Gwen, unfortunately, failed to keep herself clear of the doorway when she opened it, and received a gut full of buckshot for her error. Apparently, a young hiker on his gap year had come through with his friends, and he was the only one left alive; he had holed up in the house they were searching, and was terrified. Gwen would survive; in the meantime, they retreat to the pub and barricade themselves in until night falls. Ianto and Tosh get ambushed, making Jeannie's hackles rise, and a low growl rumble in her chest. Ianto sends through their link that they are, indeed, dealing with cannibals, and his fear is obvious. Her ears flat against her skull, Jeannie slinks to the building where they're being held and her acute hearing picks up one of the men taunting Tosh and Ianto, talking about how meat needs to be tenderized to make it taste better, and then bled. The low growl turning into a full-on roar of rage, Jeannie slams through the window, scattering the cannibals in the room. Pouncing on the biggest man there, she sinks her claws into his shoulders, and rips his throat out with her sharp teeth; Jack crashes through the door on a tractor, adding to the mayhem of terror in the room. He very handily shoots to incapacitate, and then admires Jeannie's work on the head cannibal before releasing his team from their shackles; this was not quite the relaxing bonding exercise he had in mind when planning this little excursion!
Several hours later, the local constabulary has taken custody of the remaining cannibals (or their corpses), while the EMT's have checked out the team. With their work done, the team (minus Jack, Ianto, and Jeannie) climb into the SUV for the long ride back to civilization. Suzie is bemoaning the fact that she arrived at the village just in time to see Jack crash into the building on his tractor, thus missing most of the excitement; as she is uninjured, she takes the wheel to head back to Cardiff. The triad climbs into the jeep to head back to the cottage, where a nice hot bath and a fireplace await them.
A/N: I can't decide which chapter to write next: another episode-related chapter, or a backstory chapter. Let me know!