Torchwood: Divergence
Book Four: Hatchweliad
Chapter 18

By 7:00 am the next day, Ianto was brace free ahead of schedule and in spite of the prior evening's set back, though he still evidenced a pronounced limp and was moving slower because of it. Martha had been impressed with his treatment of Jack's mangled hand as well as shocked by the necessary mitigation to get him back into the bedroom after his seizure, the entire team was fascinated by the ongoing regeneration of their Captain's missing digits, and sympathetic to Lois' new car being in the shop because of the Cybershade encounter. The only real downside to things, was that the Welshman's leg was not yet strong enough for him to go out on alerts yet, and their leader was somewhat cranky because of the pain involved in regrowing the two fingers on his left hand.

To give the pair time to finish recovering, Gwen was acting as lead on any alerts with Martha and a still slightly sore but vastly improved Turlough for back up. Ianto was set to be Co-ordinator and was helping Jack catch up on all his paperwork while things were quiet. So far there hadn't been much Rift activity, but the Outbox in the office was filling up nicely. Things were clicking along smoothly, everyone having been working on various projects around the base with an unprecedented lack of fuss, and the alert team was currently running down another ghost report. All was quiet, which was why Jack actually jumped when the phone on his desk rang at 8:12, the caller ID indicating it was from the kiosk upstairs.

"Lois," Harkness drawled as he fielded the receiver. "I am wearing my earcomm, you know."

"Yes, Captain," Habiba acknowledged evenly. "But I have a call to transfer to you. It's a Detective Swanson, says she's got a case to discuss that sounds like Torchwood business. Shall I put her through?"

"Yeah," the American consented, giving his partner a 'this could get ugly' look across the desk as the line clicked to indicate the call was rolling to him and he put it on speaker. "Detective Swanson. To what do I owe this pleasure?"

[I've been assigned a case the original responders couldn't handle, that I thought you'd be interested in, Harkness] the woman stated simply. [Blues and twos answered a call around 5:40 this morning, a milkman reported hearing someone screaming for help in a fenced construction site off Tresillian Terrace. Search of the area turned up a man in full military kit, dead but still warm when found. The problem we're having is what killed him.]

"Something with really big teeth?" Jack offered when she paused.

[No, that we could handle now] Swanson replied, sounding somewhat uncomfortable. [There's not a mark on him we can see, and I'm looking at him as we speak because we can't move the body. He died because he's got a thirty-centimetre steel support stanchion through his middle. But not like he was run through from falling on it somehow. He's standing at a bit of an angle like he was walking and lost his balance is all… it's as if he was a ghost passing through the metal though, and turned solid again part way so he got stuck like that. Does that make sense?]

"More than I'd like to admit," the Captain frowned, quickly accessing the system and tracking the policewoman's mobile signal. "I'm assuming the area's sealed off and tented. I've got a fix on your location; we'll be there as soon as we can. Thanks for the call."

[Thanks for the help] the Detective relied grudgingly. [I may not always be thrilled with you lot, and the local Precincts had to learn to deal with some really strange things over the past couple of years while Torchwood was shut down or whatever. But this one is way beyond my people's scope, so it's all yours.]

"We'll see what we can find out and give you what details we can that won't cause a fuss with the military or start a public panic," Harkness stated evenly. "Just keep the site locked down till we arrive and leave as much as possible exactly the way it was originally found."

[Will do] Swanson reassured, then ended the call.

"Send the location to Gwen's station," Ianto advised, already rising to limp from the room. "I'll do a sweep for Rift activity and anything else you think I should look for, then pull up the CCTV for the area."

"Check the whole construction site and at least a ten-block radius around it for any signs of temporal flux," the Captain suggested, coming around the desk. "I'll gather the team. We'll keep in touch over the comms."

"Gwen and Turlough still have the van out on that supposed ghost sighting in Blackweir," his partner warned, bringing up several programmes on the nearest workstation. "Should I have them meet you?"

"Route 'em over," Jack nodded, slipping the burn mitten back on his left hand to cover the only half regenerated fingers on it. "Tell them that Martha and I will bring equipment to collect the body. Martha! Full corpse kit! We've got a weird one!"

"Which is saying something for us," his Archivist murmured as he typed a number of searches into the system. "Location is a site where they've only just started construction on I'm not sure what, but definitely not the flats it was first slated for. Lots of clutter and potential for falling objects, no CCTV close enough to get a good look at the anything, so be really careful. I'll let you know what the Rift programme comes up with. Do you want anything from the Safe?"

"We still got that molecular drill you used when the Jackson Leaves trouble started?" Harkness asked hopefully, starting back toward the office, the younger man limping in his wake.

"Slot twelve," Ianto provided helpfully, fielding his companion's coat and holding it ready for him once he pulled the required item from the special Safe behind the desk. "Remember to keep anything important out of its focal range. And mind that hand, so you aren't cussing a blue streak because it got banged on something. Looks bad in front of the local Heddlu."

The American came to slip into his RAF greatcoat, dropped the pen-like alien tool into the right-side front pocket, then turned to give his lover a quick kiss.

"I'll be careful," he promised with a smile. "I need to grab one of Tosh's mini-cams. That way I can send you footage of the scene as soon as we arrive, get it documented before we have to tear things up to remove the body. Stay off your leg as much as you can, yeah?"

"Yes, sir," the young Welshman nodded, following the older immortal into the Hub once more.

The twenty-six-year-old went to settle into Gwen's usual chair, even as Martha appeared with two large hard cases and a body bag. She headed out the main door with their leader, the base seeming eerily quiet after they'd gone. Used to that by now however, the Changeling left behind simply concentrated on the scans and other searches he was running, automatically engaging his headset.

"Turlough, Gwen?" Ianto called evenly, waiting for a reply.

[No ghosts or other Time and Space hiccups in Blackweir] their tech expert responded, sounding rather disappointed. [Though we did find one really tripped-out housewife, who took her husband's meds by mistake the past two days and is now safely in the hands of Emergency Services. Considering what she was on, I'm surprised ghosts of her grandparents are all she was seeing.]

"Brilliant," Ianto breathed, not liking what he was starting to see on the monitors around him. "Got a new alert for you. Meet Jack and Martha at the co-ordinates I'm sending to your PDA. They've got the necessary gear with them, but need the van for later transport."

[Rogue alien menace?] Cooper's voice queried in his ear.

"Mysterious dead body," her friend explained. "The ever-charming Detective Swanson called Jack and asked to have Torchwood take the investigation. I'm checking for Rift activity in the area, and I'll let you all know what I come up with. You're heading into a new construction zone, so watch where you walk and what you touch, yeah?"

[Will do] Turlough reassured, the channel going quiet.

"Oh, that is so not good," Ianto murmured to himself, bringing up another programme to clarify the results of one of those already running.

Their initially peaceful day had just gone straight to hell.

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AN: So it begins…

Thank you to those reading the story. And thank you to those who have followed, favourited, and reviewed. NM