Torchwood: Divergence
Book Two: Adferiad
Chapter 29
Time to drag the subject back to the Holiday.
"Hey, we still have time before the rest of the team gets here," Gwen pointed out excitedly, quickly going over to the tree to fetch the two packages she'd placed there earlier. "I opened your gifts, so you should open mine while I'm here to see if you hate them."
She handed each of her friends a festively wrapped box, then sat back down on the couch to watch as they got the ribbons and holly printed paper off. Jack wiped his hands with a napkin and went for the joyful abandon approach, tearing into his present gleefully. Ianto on the other hand popped all the tape, folded the undone paper and laid it neatly aside on the table. Both resealed boxes were clearly labelled "Sweet Tush Wet Wipes – Light Lavender Scent – 100% Hypoallergenic!".
"Aw, Gwen, you shouldn't have," Harkness grinned. "I always wanted to have a sweet tush."
"Just open it, Captain Inuendo," Cooper laughed, having expected exactly that reaction, though Ianto smiling and rolling his eyes heavenward as he silently mouthed 'He already does' at her was rather a shock.
The strip of shipping tape came off each package, the two immortals delving into the tissue within to extract the hidden items there. Jack came up with a vintage World War II RAF officer's cap to match his great coat and replace the original destroyed more than two years ago with the Hub, a pair of supple deerskin driving gloves tucked inside it. Beside him, Ianto extracted a long, blood red neck scarf and a pair of butter soft black leather winter gloves.
"Where did you ever manage to find one of these in such good shape?" the Captain smiled, fondly looking over the cap that appeared to have never been worn and somehow slipped through time from the early 1940's.
"The shop Ianto got his new coat from," Gwen admitted, able to tell the man was pleased with her choice. "Rhys helped me sort through dozens to find one with the proper rank markings, unused surplus from the same decommissioned storage that those black great coats came from. We kind of guessed at the size for it and both pairs of gloves. I hope they fit."
Harkness made sure the crown and wings emblem was secure, expertly ran the browband between fingers and thumb, then flipped the cap on and settled it in place before pulling on the driving gloves and snugging the hook and loop wrist straps.
"Perfect," he grinned, turning to his partner for approval.
"Very dashing," Ianto smiled, sliding the scarf around his neck and giving his own gloves a try. "Three for three."
"Brilliant!" the former PC beside Jack cried cheerfully.
"This calls for more hugs and kisses," Harkness insisted, urging his companions to their feet. "And a big thank you."
"Anything to see my boys happy," Gwen laughed, more than pleased to exchange embraces with the two and a little surprised by the very solid kiss she received from both.
"Thank you," Ianto smiled as he turned her loose, rubbing one end of his new scarf against her cheek. "Silk-Cashmere blend, very nice. Warm and dressy all in one, plus the gloves are lined in the same material. You know I like my matching sets."
"And you look so good in that colour," Jack smiled, glad the morning had started off in such a positive way after the night they'd been through. "But much as I hate to say it, our new finery should be safely tucked in the office so we can take a look at what the Rift did last night. I am officially reclaiming leadership of Torchwood Three."
The American reluctantly removed the cap and gloves, handed both over to the twenty-six-year-old beside him.
"Gloves will be in your coat pockets, cap on the filing cabinet behind the desk until I can acquire a proper wall hook like you had before," Ianto promised, heading across to disappear beyond the office door.
The Captain and their long time associate moved to the active work station, the latter pulling up the Rift activity log she'd accessed earlier.
"Um… looks like only a single spike last night around 10:00 pm," Cooper read off. "Average size, centred near Trowbridge… but I can't tell if anything came through."
"What's that little blinking box on the top monitor?" Jack asked. "Looks like a tiny Welsh Dragon icon."
"Firewall alert," Ianto warned as he appeared behind them, hurrying over to Turlough's station and bringing it on line. "I'll check it… try a mass transmission filter on the Rift data. That should flag if anything solid enough to have some weight came through with the energy surge."
Gwen tapped away at her main keyboard, the young Welshman at the next work area using all of its three keyboards as well as the mouse and the touch screen on the centre monitor. He didn't have any illusions about ever being as good as Tosh, but he did know his way around computers fairly well. Several minutes ticked by, the Captain waiting not so patiently to hear the results.
"Something did drop through," Cooper reported, trying to get more details. "Less than adult human equivalent mass… no biological signatures, so likely tech of some sort or just debris."
"Firewall blocked a potential probing signal shortly after the Rift spike," Ianto called, still running through the system. "No second attempts. Signal originated… near Trowbridge. Can't be coincidence."
"CCTV in that area's not the best right now because a lot of it's still under construction with the neighbourhood renovation and expansion going on," the former PC remarked, accessing it anyhow and running the recordings back to the proper time frame. "Let's see if they caught anything."
"Looking at the signal itself, I'm not sure that it was actually meant as a probe or anything else invasive," Ianto frowned. "It actually looks more like a distress call of some sort and something here at the Hub was trying to act as a receiver."
"Whoa…" Gwen exclaimed, back tracking the footage she was viewing. "Come look at this."
The two men gathered close behind her, all intently watching the central monitor as she ran the CCTV recording frame by frame. The saw the flare of the Rift opening, the few active street lamps picking out something falling through.
"Is that…?" she began uncertainly.
"A metal dog?" Ianto finished, looking at his partner when the older man drew a sharp breath.
"K-9," Harkness stated in surprise. "He used to belong to the Doctor, but he gave him to that one bygone Companion of his, Sarah Jane Smith. How the hell did he get in the Rift?"
"So, he's not dangerous then," Cooper surmised.
"Oh, he's armed and pretty damn dangerous," the American half-smiled. "But not for us. K-9's a good dog."
"Should we go pick him up?" his Archivist queried, glancing over as the big rotating door opened to admit Turlough and Lois. "Is he even still there?"
"Breakfast by the couch," Gwen called to the newcomers, re-accessing the CCTV to see what it currently showed. "Happy Christmas."
"I don't see him," Jack frowned. "Wait… there are tread marks in the snow leading to a spot just past the hedge against the Estate fence. At least he knows enough to hide. Yeah, we should go get him, see if he's damaged."
"What are we looking at?" Turlough prodded as he came up behind them with a cup of white coffee and a square of gingerbread.
"Rift spike last night near Trowbridge," Harkness explained. "Spit out what appears to be K-9, and he sent a distress signal when he emerged. I don't know how he got in the Rift, but we can't leave him out on the streets."
The slender redhead frowned, sat his breakfast on the drinks mat of his station and pulled his mobile from his trouser pocket. A quick dial and a few rings later, he half-smiled.
"Sarah Jane," he called pleasantly. "It's Turlough… Happy Christmas to you too. No, I'm in Cardiff… yes, I've hired on with Captain Harkness at Torchwood. Listen, I hate to bother you so early, but we've had a strange occurrence. By any chance has K-9 gone missing?"
The young alien listened, his frown returning.
"I see," the thirty-year-old nodded. "No, we'll get it sorted… Thanks for your help… Tell Luke I'll send him another Dorpramian engineering puzzle to figure out after the New Year… You too."
"K-9's right there with her, and she hasn't had any troubles with him since the Doctor gave her a new unit some time back," he stated quietly. "I do know that there were at least four units in storage on the TARDIS maybe more, and a couple have been destroyed in years past. The only one I'm aware of that was 'lost' intact, was the one he left with a former Companion who stayed on Gallifrey. I can try to contact him while you go fetch the stray if you like."
"You do that," the Captain urged. "Ianto and I will go pick up the K-9 in Trowbridge, take him to the storage facility near Splott and hole him up in an empty bay or something. He may be the Doctor's, but who knows what happened to see him lost in the Rift. I don't want to risk bringing him here to the Hub till we're sure he's safe."
Ianto handed Turlough his Christmas envelope, passed Lois hers on the way to the office, and left Martha's balanced in the branches of the tree. Then he disappeared, only to return in less than a minute wearing his coat and carrying Jack's as well as the older immortal's holstered Webley. Headsets went on, the Changeling pulled his Desert Eagle from the weapons locker, tossed his lover the SUV key fob, and they were out the cog-wheel door. Turlough headed out almost on their heels, leaving Lois to blink rather dazedly at Gwen.
"Welcome to Christmas at Torchwood," the former constable half-smiled, raising her coffee cup. "Cheers."
Habiba returned the salute, then went to sit on the couch. Cooper put on her comm and joined the younger woman. Barely 7:00 am and they were already off and running. But with luck, the Rift would mind its manners for the rest of the day and preferably the next. It was the Holidays after all.
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AN: You knew Christmas Eve wasn't going to be quite smooth sailing, right?
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