Torchwood: Divergence
Book Two: Adferiad
Chapter 26
All was quiet and dark in the Hub when Gwen came in around 5:45 am. She engaged all the lights, turned on the Christmas tree, and stowed her coat and purse at her work station. Picking back up the totes she'd brought in, she went to place two wrapped packages under the tree, left a smaller one on Turlough's station, went down to put another in the middle of the exam table for Martha, and had left Lois' on the desk up in the kiosk. Then she took out the last item, a smallish Torchwood Archive bag stuffed full of iridescent shred and glitter, with a dark green chenille wire attached to the bottom so it could be secured to the top of the tree. A quick boost with a four-step and the topper was in place. Empty, the tote went over with her purse, while the still full one was carried up to the kitchenette. As Cooper hunted for a large plate, she thought about the night before.
She'd made it home right around 10:00 pm, just in time to help Rhys change the baby and put her back to bed. Then she and her husband had cuddled up on the settee to share a small glass of sweet wine.
"How were those two when you left?" Rhys had queried, having been worried about the Hub's normal residents after the phone conversations he'd had with his spouse earlier.
"Both've been better," Gwen had admitted, passing the glass after taking a sip. "I've honestly never seen Jack that shaky and rattled before. And poor Ianto trying so hard to be strong and supportive, when watching Jack unravel was enough to put him into seizures. Apparently when it was at its worst, our good Captain got violent and tried to hurt himself, accidentally broke a couple of Ianto's ribs when he was forced to restrain him. He felt guilty for doing it, our Changeling felt guilty for getting hurt because he thought it just made matters worse for Jack. Plus, he'd been doing himself damage fighting the seizures… tore muscles, had nose bleeds. They caught up to him not long before I left though.
"God, those two just kill me sometimes. Both so stubborn and so desperate not to hurt or worry the other now. At least they were settled enough that I wasn't afraid to leave them alone. I just hope they manage to get some rest tonight so they're feeling more themselves in the morning. And I'm so glad the rest of the team had gone home before they came out of their room. I know it was hard for them to have me see them in such a vulnerable state, having the others there as well would've been too much."
"They trust you though," Rhys had stated confidently. "You were the other part of the Torchwood Three Musketeers for months before the whole 456 mess, yeah?"
"Yeah," Gwen had half-smiled, accepting the glass of wine back. "You were the Fourth in London, and had been since before the whole Zombie mess here. Still are in my book, and you do a fantastic job, Mr. Williams."
"I can do something else fantastic too if you're ready for bed," her husband had grinned, wiggling his eyebrows when she'd turned to look at him.
She'd finished the wine in one gulp, then giggled and bolted for the kitchen to put the glass in the sink. Rhys had been waiting to follow her upstairs with a playful growl, and they'd soon disappeared into their room hoping that luck would see the next day be better than the last… both knowing that for the night, luck had nothing to do with it.
It had been a good night, and now here she was back at Torchwood, hoping her friends would soon rise with the traumas of the past 24 hours well behind them.
Gwen was arranging squares of gingerbread, snowflake shaped iced biscuits, bite-sized bits of plum pudding, and tiny red currant topped custard tarts on two plates she'd found, when Ianto appeared from the office. His hair was spikily rumpled, he still looked dead tired, was barefoot, and only clad in a pair of old track bottoms that didn't quite fit anymore and rode low enough on his hips to prove he wasn't wearing anything under them. The eternal twenty-six-year-old made his way into the kitchenette, went about grinding coffee from several containers, never saying a word as he put it on to brew in the side pot and loaded the rest of the mixed beans into the main machine for use in individual beverages later. Then he turned to Cooper, gave her a sleepy smile and leaned over to kiss her on the cheek the way she imagined he would his sister or mother.
"Good morning," Ianto murmured, starting for the stairs once more. "Thanks for bringing breakfast. We'll be out in a bit."
The young Welshman disappeared back into the office a moment later and his friend blinked dazedly. If it weren't for the coffee brewing beside her, she'd think she just imagined the Changeling's brief appearance. Hoping it was a good sign, she went back to unloading the bakery boxes she'd stopped for on her way in.
Bless the owners of said bakery, who opened every day but Sunday at 5:30 am, rain or shine, and even unlocked their doors at 7:00 am the last day of the weekend and Holidays. She was fairly sure the couple lived above the shop and weren't happy if they weren't baking. She'd given them a Christmas card with a gift certificate to the French place near the Memorial when she'd stopped this morning, and they'd been so pleased they'd packed her order with extras of everything, even throwing in jars of clotted cream and lemon curd.
Gwen got the goodies arranged then pulled the cling wrap box from the drawer near the basin, and covered both plates to keep the treats fresh while the coffee finished up. She went down to get her work station booted up, pulled her mobile from her pocket when it jingled to indicate she had a text message.
Apparently Lois' car had gasped its last and been towed to the garage, so Turlough was swinging by to pick her up on his way to the base and they'd be late. Another jingle popped up a message from Martha indicating she'd be in at 7:30 or 8:00 once she'd run an errand for her absent husband, and that Johnson would not be in… still. So, they had the breakfast goodies all to themselves for a while. She smiled, pulling up the Rift log as the waited for the Hub's immortal residents to appear.
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AN: Yeah… Sleepy Ianto was too cute to resist.
Posting Saturday and Sunday until New Year's Day… And I'll be doubling up as well as posting when I can during the week, because I really want to at least get through Christmas Eve by our own Christmas Day. Happy Holidays…
Thank you to those reading the story. And thank you to those who have followed, favourited, and reviewed. NM